Send2Press Newswire

NewsChannel 5's Troubleshooter Stories Prompt New Bill to Protect Ohio Homeowners

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:16:01 GMT

CLEVELAND, Ohio, June 11 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- NewsChannel 5 Troubleshooter Joe Pagonakis is making a difference! His stories about problems between northeast Ohioans and their home improvement contractors have led to new legislation designed to protect home owners throughout the state. Pagonakis' stories caught the attention of State Senator Bob Spada (R-North Royalton), who today passed Senate Bill 275, legislation which would provide stronger consumer protections against home improvement contractors who defraud Ohio homeowners.

"Ohio consumers know they have a friend in Troubleshooter Joe Pagonakis," comments Jim Scott, NewsChannel 5's interim news director. "They also know that when we say On Your Side, we mean it!"

Pagonakis, part of the NewsChannel 5 Investigators, aired Troubleshooter reports which included a couple from Macedonia who hired a contractor to build an in-ground pool for their family. They paid him $25,000, and in the end, he left them with nothing but an eight-foot hole in the ground. Another case involved an elderly woman who hired a man to repaint her home. She paid him $2,000, but he never returned.

Troubleshooter Joe has been responding to the needs of consumers throughout northeast Ohio since April 2007. Just this year, his reports have saved viewers $85,000 in goods and services.

As Senator Spada began work on the legislation, he learned just how widespread these type of cases are in Ohio. In fact, in 2007 alone, the Attorney General's office received 2,068 complaints from Ohio consumers. Senate Bill 275 provides more opportunities to hold fraudulent contractors accountable and to recoup losses under the Consumer Sales Practices Act (CSPA) and through providing more protections on the front-end that will help consumers weed out the bad contractors from the good and hopefully, to avoid these situations altogether.

Specifically, SB 275 provides that for construction jobs that exceed $1,000, there must be a written contract between the homeowner and the individual doing the work and the contractor in these situations will be required to maintain general liability insurance of at least $250,000. Contracts made between homeowners and contractors must specify details of work to be performed, costs, dates, information about the contractor, including their address and tax identification number, a "right to cure," which gives the contractor a short window to correct any mistakes to the homeowner's satisfaction before a dispute becomes a matter for the courts, and other information. Once the terms of the work have been agreed to, the contractor must provide the homeowner an estimate of any excess costs that may arise and is prohibited from misrepresenting any aspect of the transaction, from the nature or quality of the work or materials to the cost of the project.

Under SB 275, failure to comply with these provisions and other existing laws, can be considered an unfair or deceptive act and a violation of the CSPA. The CSPA was crafted in 1972 to prohibit deceptive, unfair, and unconscionable sales practices in consumer transactions and serves as a strong deterrent to fraud as those found guilty could be liable for roughly three times the amount of the financial damage they inflicted.

"At a time when our economy has slowed, costs are up and many families are struggling just to stay in their homes, we can least afford to ignore the deception and fraud of those who would take money from homeowners and fail to live up to their side of the bargain," Spada said.

"Everyone who has been involved in the crafting of the legislation before you today was moved by the dozens of homeowners who wrote letters or came in to testify about their experiences and there was unanimous agreement that something had to be done," Spada said. "SB 275 answers their concerns by ensuring that homeowners enjoy the protections of the Consumer Sales Practices Act, that prosecutors have adequate tools to bring these unscrupulous contractors to justice and that the consumer has a much better chance of entering into a fair contract or of recovering their losses if they are deceived."

Senate Bill 275 is supported by the Ohio Attorney General's Office. Having passed the Senate, the bill now goes to the Ohio House for further consideration.

The E.W. Scripps Company (NYSE: SSP) is a diverse and growing media enterprise with interests in national cable networks, newspaper publishing, broadcast television stations, electronic commerce, interactive media, and licensing and syndication.

The company's portfolio of media properties includes: Scripps Networks, with such brands as HGTV, Food Network, DIY Network, Fine Living, Great American Country and HGTVPro; daily and community newspapers in 18 markets and the Washington-based Scripps Media Center, home to the Scripps Howard News Service; 10 broadcast TV stations, including six ABC-affiliated stations, three NBC affiliates and one independent; United Media, a leading worldwide licensing and syndication company that is the home of PEANUTS, DILBERT and approximately 150 other features and comics; Shop At Home, which markets a growing range of consumer goods directly to television viewers in roughly 55 million U.S. households; and Shopzilla, the online comparison shopping service that carries an index of more than 30 million products from approximately 55,000 merchants.

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Copyright © 2008 Send2Press® Newswire, a unit of Neotrope®
TAGS: Send2Press Newswire, Ohio State Senator Bob Spada, WEWS NewsChannel 5

Non-Profit Group Discovers Kentucky Commission, Historical Society, Transportation Cabinet Weren't Legal in Issuing Lincoln Specialty Plate

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 11:31:51 GMT

$22,500 of Taxpayer Money Allegedly Spent on 'Vanity' Plates

FRANKFORT, Ky. - Nov. 5 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- "It's not legal, not appropriate use of public funds, and a deep insult to non-profit organizations across the Commonwealth who have worked to legally get, or even have just thought about getting, specialty plates," said Don Shelton, spokesman for the Kentucky Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans. "In the process of studying the procedures necessary to get a specialty plate for our non-profit, we stumbled across a plate sponsored by the Kentucky Historical Society that didn't go through the proper processes," Shelton continued.

Records show that the Kentucky Lincoln Bicentennial Commission voted $22,500 of money the legislature budgeted to it, for use by the Kentucky Historical Society to apply for a Lincoln Bicentennial specialty license plate. The law, however, requires a minimum of 900 individual applications to accompany the overall plate application, from citizens actually planning to purchase the plates for their vehicles, along with a $25 fee from each applicant. The Transportation Cabinet confirmed in the SCV's investigation that instead of 900 or more individual applications, there were none, and that taxpayer money was being used to cover the $22,500 that should come from individual plate applicants. The plate is scheduled to be available in December.

"Basically, it appears that the taxpayers have shelled out $22,500 so a few people could have, in essence, 'vanity' plates," said Shelton. "The subject of the plate isn't important," he continued, "It might even be a nice plate. What is important is that the law was circumvented, and taxpayer money was wasted to do it."

In the wake of this alleged "scandal," the Kentucky Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans calls for the co-chairs of the Kentucky Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, Tommy Turner and State Senator Dan Kelly, and Executive Director of the Kentucky Historical Society, Kent Whitworth, to resign or be replaced. "We believe these men knew the law, yet circumvented it," said Shelton. The Kentucky SCV also calls for the funding and expenditures of the Lincoln Bicentennial Commission to be reviewed, in light of this irregularity, and for an investigation to see how this slipped through the Transportation Cabinet. "We expect other non-profits to make the same demands as they learn about this; it affects us all," Shelton concluded.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans was founded in 1896 to honor the memory and heritage of Confederate soldiers, sailors and marines.

KRS 186.164 (11) - If the cabinet approves a request for a special license plate, the cabinet shall begin designing and printing the plate after the group collects a minimum of nine hundred (900) applications with each application being accompanied by a twenty-five dollar ($25) state fee. The applications and accompanying fee shall be submitted to the cabinet at one (1) time as a whole and shall not be submitted individually or intermittently.

Copyright © 2007 Send2Press® Newswire, a unit of Neotrope®
TAGS: Send2Press Newswire, Kentucky Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, Sons of Confederate Veterans

A Balanced Approach to Fire Protection Offers the Greatest Benefits

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 10:40:03 GMT

NBFAA Urges the Inclusion of Fire Detection with Suppression Devices

IRVING, Texas - Nov. 2 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- A balanced approach to fire protection that includes the installation of both fire detection and suppression systems will save lives according to the National Burglar & Fire Alarm Association (NBFAA), and for that reason, NBFAA urges that consumers support two legislative initiatives now pending in Congress.

"The members of NBFAA are committed to the fight to save lives from fire-related deaths and believe that, in addition to the firefighting community, there are two major weapons in that fight - detection and suppression. Sprinklers and smoke detection together cut a person's risk of dying by 82 percent and provide for greater protection of lives, homes and businesses. Two important pieces of legislation which are currently pending in the 110th Congress, H.R. 2882 and H.R.1409, have the potential to save lives. We strongly urge consumers to get behind these bills," explained NBFAA President George P. Gunning, CEO of USA Alarm Systems.

The College Life Safety and Fire Prevention Act, H.R. 1409, introduced by Rep.Vito Fossella, R-N.Y. and several co-sponsors, would establish a demonstration incentive program within the U.S. Department of Education to promote the professional installation of fire alarm detection systems, or other fire prevention technologies in qualified student housing, dormitories, and other university buildings.

H.R. 2882, the "Long-Term Care Life Safety Act," introduced by Rep. Michael Arcuri, D-NY is designed to establish a grant program within the Department of Health and Human Services to promote professional retrofit installation of fire alarm detection systems and other fire prevention technologies in assisted living facilities, nursing homes, and hospice facilities.

"Only automatic and manual fire alarm systems give advance notice to all of the occupants, staff and just as importantly, the fire departments and emergency first responders. The elderly in these facilities often cannot save themselves, and many times lack the hearing capacity to listen for the shrill beeping of a smoke alarm. Smoke detectors installed on a fire alarm system are UL-listed for commercial use and have audio and visual notification appliances required by the Americans with Disabilities Act for the hearing impaired. It is this advanced warning that accounts for a decline of more than 50 percent in residential fire deaths in the U.S. since the1970's " explained NBFAA Government Relations Committee chairman Michael Meridith, president, Security Equipment, Inc., Omaha, Neb.

"Fire alarm detection along with suppression is the formula for fire safety. In fact, the NBFAA has in the last year undertaken a national campaign entitled 'Fire Detection + Suppression = Fire Safety.' It seems quite clear to our industry that in the past only sprinklers were considered when rules were developed. This is unfair to the students in college facilities and to the elderly in long-term care situations, as well as to the staff and the families of those who rely on these institutions for safe living and working environments," added Meridith.

The NBFAA believes that the life safety community must work together to ensure a balanced fire protection system so as not to rely on any one single fire prevention technology to protect lives and property. The association approved a white paper this year, "A Balanced Approach to Fire System Design: Alarm & Detection Alongside Suppression" that outlines NBFAA's position.

For more information about these bills and what you can do to support them, contact NBFAA's lobbyist and Director of Government Relations John Chwat, at Chwat & Company, Inc., 625 Slaters Lane, Suite 103, Alexandria, VA 22314. He may be reached by phone at (703) 684-7703 or by e-mail at Gov.Info@alarm.org.

The white paper is available on NBFAA's Web site at www.alarm.org.

About NBFAA
NBFAA, a non-profit 501(c) 6 trade association, is the nation's oldest and largest organization dedicated to representing, promoting, and supporting the electronic life safety, security, and systems industry. Member companies specialize in a wide spectrum of services to commercial and residential consumers, including security and fire alarms, video surveillance, access control and monitoring. In cooperation with a federation of state associations, NBFAA provides government advocacy and delivers timely information, professional development tools, products and services that members use to grow and prosper their businesses.

The NBFAA may be reached at (888) 447-1689 or on the Web at www.alarm.org.

National Burglar & Fire Alarm Association (NBFAA) - 2300 Valley View Lane, Suite 230 - Irving, TX 75062 - Toll Free (888) 447-1689 - Local (214) 260-5970 - Fax (214) 260-5979.

Copyright © 2007 Send2Press® Newswire, a unit of Neotrope®
TAGS: Send2Press Newswire, National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association, College Life Safety and Fire Prevention Act

Children's Health Organizations and Advocates Endorse YES Vote on Missouri Stem Cell Initiative

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 15:20:00 GMT

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YES on 1 Campaign Urges Fair Coverage of the Wine at Food Stores Initiative

Mon, 21 Aug 2006 20:13:00 GMT

BOSTON, MA - Aug. 21 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- To Editors and Reporters: As you may know, Question 1 on the November ballot will update Massachusetts law to allow grocery stores to apply for a locally approved license to sell wine to their customers. Naturally, Question 1 is opposed by liquor stores, who would prefer not to have competition from grocery stores in wine sales.

Recently, we have seen a number of news articles in which local liquor store owners and their political allies make demonstrably false claims about Question 1 - and other articles in which our YES on 1 campaign coalition was not contacted or quoted to ensure fair and balanced coverage.

While most states allow grocery stores to sell wine to consumers, a 72-year-old Massachusetts law still prevents most grocery stores from selling wine - and gives a virtual monopoly to liquor stores (who now control 85% of wine sales in the state). Question 1 will simply give town and city officials the option to issue a wine-only license to qualified food stores that carry the range of food products "typically found in a grocery store," including "meat, poultry, dairy products, eggs, fresh fruit and produce, baked goods and baking ingredients, canned goods and dessert items." (Question 1, Section 15B, Paragraph 1.)

Contrary to claims made by opponents, Question 1 is not about beer or liquor or convenience stores. And, grocery stores that get local approval for a wine license will be required to pay annual license fees and state taxes to cover enforcement costs. (Question 1, Section 15B, Paragraph 3). Moreover, state and national law enforcement statistics show that grocery stores are as good as, or better than, liquor stores at enforcing minimum drinking age requirements and other laws.

We respectfully request that before publishing any stories or editorials about Question 1, that you contact us. We also encourage you to read the measure for yourself and review the other information posted on our website at www.WineAtGroceryStores.com. Our day-to-day press liaison is Kim Hinden, who can be reached at 617-877-2995. We look forward to talking with you about this issue.

Paid for by YES on 1: Grocery Stores and Consumers for Fair Competition, P.O. Box 400, Needham Heights, MA 02494.

Proposed Public Agency Accountability Ballot Measure

Tue, 15 Aug 2006 15:56:00 GMT

Ballot measure for setting forth requirements for holding public agencies, public employees, and elected officials accountable

LOS ANGELES, CA - Aug. 15 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- According to CATRIPATI.com a ballot measure setting forth requirements for holding public agencies, public employees, and elected officials (including judges) accountable will be filed on August 31, 2006 with Bruce McPherson, California Secretary of State.

Please visit the Propositions tab at www.CATRIPATI.com to comment on this proposed measure.

To learn more about alleged corruption and malfeasance in the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, and the California Superior Court please visit www.CATRIPATI.com.

For more information, please contact Krish Tripati at tripati@sbcglobal.net or 626-796-2231.

Louisiana Independent Pharmacies Association: Independently Owned Pharmacies Face an Uncertain Future in Louisiana Due to Federal Budget Cuts

Mon, 08 May 2006 22:20:00 GMT

Louisiana Pharmacists Look For Hope In Passage of House Bill To Rectify Federal Budget Cuts

BATON ROUGE, LA - May 8 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- With drastic federal cuts impending, most independent community pharmacies face a very uncertain future. "I've been in business for 10 years and this is the first time I've truly feared for the future of my business," said Ricky Guidry of Guidry's Pharmacy in Iowa, Louisiana.

The federal government is cutting up to 40% of the Medicaid reimbursement that allows pharmacies to profitably serve this needy population. This cut will have the affect of cutting the profitability of most independent locally owned pharmacies by upwards of 60%.

"These cuts will have a direct bottom line impact that will likely cause us to lay off workers and cut back on our ability to service our patients," stated Allen Cassidy of Cassidy's Pharmacy in Jennings, Louisiana. Most of the revenue of locally owned locations comes from filling prescriptions. A large portion of those prescriptions are from patients utilizing Medicaid.

The average independent pharmacy will realize a significant drop in profitability, and some of the most needed pharmacies, those in small towns and rural areas, will become unprofitable all together. "If nothing is done, we will have many communities that will lose their ability to fill prescriptions without having to drive up to 50 miles away," stated Kyle Ardoin, President and CEO of the Louisiana Independent Pharmacies Association. "People will see services dry up and locations disappear if nothing is done."

Louisiana patients rely on locally owned community pharmacies for over 30% of the prescriptions filled in this state. This is twice the national average for reliance on locally owned pharmacies. In many areas well over 50% of the prescriptions come from these independent pharmacies. "Several parishes have one pharmacy, an independent pharmacy," noted Ardoin.

There is current legislation proposed by House Speaker Joe Salter (D-Florien) that would partially alleviate this situation. HB 1262 would set a minimum state Medicaid reimbursement at $15.00 per prescription filled. The current maximum is at $5.77. "This legislation could, literally, save dozens of independent pharmacies," concluded Ardoin.

California Ferret Lovers Plan Ballot Initiative to Legalize Ferrets

Wed, 29 Mar 2006 17:42:00 GMT

SAN DIEGO, CA (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- California ferret enthusiasts launched a new website in the latest attempt to legalize ferrets in California, one of only two states where they remain illegal. The new website for California Legalization Initiative for Ferrets is www.legalizeferrets.org.

The website is designed to measure if there is enough support in California among the unknown number of ferret owners and others to mount such an ambitious effort as a ballot initiative.

Organizers want at least 3,000 people to sign up by either paying $10 and pledging to collect 100 signatures or pay $100 with no signature requirement. Once (and if) the 3,000 goal is reached, the Initiative will be filed with the California Secretary of State's office. The website promotes "The 3,000 Club." Members of the club will get a membership card with their unique number, which we hope early numbers will provide bragging rights.

The website keeps a constant count of how many members have signed up as we count up to 3,000. In addition, people can buy bumper stickers. T-shirts and other memorabilia will be offered shortly. The website also features a photo gallery, "Ferrets in our Families" where members have submitted photos of their contraband pets.

While the ballot initiative may seem an unlikely avenue towards ferret legalization, California ferret owners have no other choices after failure in front of the Fish and Game Commission, the Courts and the state Legislature. Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed last year's ferret amnesty bill as "too bureaucratic" and a current bill, AB647 was earlier stripped of its ferret-amnesty clause.

For more information visit http://www.legalizeferrets.org or contact Pat Wright at (619) 303-0645 or cellular (619) 757-7426.

Ferrets Anonymous of San Diego, Domestic Ferret Initiative of 2006, PO Box 3395, San Diego, CA 92163 info@ferretsanon.com.