State Not Bound by Statute of Limitations

The state Supreme Court recently ruled that the state is not restricted by statutes of limitations or repose when bringing lawsuits (State v. Lombardo Brothers Mason Contractors, et al.). 

In the case, the state filed a lawsuit 12 years after construction of the UConn law library, alleging construction defects.  In 2009, a trial court ruled that the statute of limitations had run out.  But in November, the Supreme Court reversed the trial court, holding that the state is protected by the common law doctrine of "nullum tempus occurrit regi" (time does not run against the king.)  

An analysis of the case in the Connecticut Law Tribune describes the implications of the decision for public works contractors, who may have to defend against lawsuits years after a project is completed. Some construction attorneys predict that the General Assembly may consider legislation addressing the ruling.  In the opinion, the Court noted that the decision on whether to abrogate the doctrine of nullum tempus is one the legislature should make, not the Court.

In the Law Tribune article, Attorney General George Jepsen noted that it is rare for the state to wait so long to sue.  He noted that "we act in the broad public interest. In this particular instance, until they ripped the building apart, years after the faulty construction, we didn't know how poorly executed the construction was."

The full text of the opinion is available on the Judicial Branch website.

Study Finds Small Business Workers Losing Coverage

The Commonwealth Fund issued a report on November 1, 2012 that shows the share of U.S. workers in small businesses (those with fewer than 50 employees) who were offered, eligible for, and covered by employer-sponsored health insurance has declined over the past decade.  From 2001 to 2011, the share of people under age 65 covered by employer plans fell from 68 to 57%.  Most of the erosion occurred among small firms.  One in three (33%) of workers in small firms had health insurance through their employer in 2010, compared to more than half (55%) of workers in midsize firms (50 to 99 employees) and more than one in seven (71%) workers in large firms (100 or more employees).  The report also points out that small businesses pay more--nearly 18% more--for the same benefits than do large firms.

Town-by-Town Voter Turnout Statistics

Curious to know what voter turnout was in your town this past election? The secretary ofthe state recently released voter turnout statistics for each of Connecticut's 169 municipalities. Statewide, turnout was 73.77%, a decrease from 2008's turnout of 78.14%. Still, Connecticut's 2012 turnout ranked seventh nationally, according to the secretary of the state, and every municipality in the state had turnout of at least 50%.

Bridgewater led the way with 94.75% turnout and was the only municipality to exceed 90%. Just missing the 90% mark were Middletown (89.86%) and Ridgefield (89.42%). Twelve municipalities exceeded 85% turnout.

Hot Report: Interlocal Collaboration and Regionalism Grants

OLR Report 2012-R-0491 describes the laws authorizing (1) towns to collaborate on different activities and (2) state grants or other financial incentives for towns that do so. This report updates OLR report 2011-R-0364.

Many statutes allow towns to collaborate on different activities. Some give them broad authority to (1) collaborate on any activity they can perform separately, (2) jointly finance projects and activities, or (3) share tax revenue. Other statutes specify the activity and how towns may collaborate to undertake it. This includes allowing towns to establish a regional entity to perform a specific municipal function (e.g., health, education, or waste management) and join together to implement a regional property revaluation program or purchase employee health insurance.

The law authorizes various state grant programs and subsidies to incentivize towns to join together to deliver a service, purchase capital equipment, or implement a capital project. The Regional Performance Incentive Grant Program provides grants to towns and regional entities for jointly performing a service they have been performing separately. It has been used to fund a variety of regional initiatives, including information technology, public safety, and public works-related projects.

There are also a number of grants and subsidies for towns that collaborate to provide specific public services. For example, the State Department of Education (SDE) administers a competitive grant program for school districts and regional education service centers (RESCs) that establish interdistrict cooperative programs. In addition, the Office of State-Wide Emergency Telecommunications (OSET) offers financial incentives to encourage towns to consolidate their 9-1-1 operations.

Towns that join together to purchase capital equipment may qualify for the Intertown Capital Equipment Purchase Incentive Program, which pays up to 50% or $250,000 of the cost of buying or leasing a vehicle or other equipment. Groups of towns collaborating on a capital project are also eligible for Small Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP) grants.

For more information, read the full report.

A "Back to the Future" Solution for a "Back to the Future" Need

Years ago, people lived in multifamily houses in dense urban neighborhoods and used sidewalks and streetcars to go to back and forth to work places, factories, offices, stores, schools, churches, etc. But these urban neighborhoods eventually gave way to new single-family homes in rapidly expanding suburbs where new roads and highways made it easy for people to drive to new shopping centers, movie theaters, and workplaces in more remote places.  Well, housing researchers suggest that urban-style "back to the future" is back in vogue, but the supply of such housing is limited, writes Atlantic's Christopher Leinberger in 2010.

Stan Humphries, the chief economist for Zillow, an online housing research firm, saw that metropolitan area declines in housing values masked local differences when he plotted these trends on satellite maps. Looking at the Washington DC metro area, Humphries saw that "in densely built inner suburbs like Arlington, Virginia, and in the walkable urban neighborhoods in the District of Columbia, prices typically dropped about 20%. Housing on the suburban fringe, on the other hand, lost about half its value."

Humphries' analysis suggests a pent-up demand for walkable, urban-style housing. But creating such housing requires a big investment in new bus and rail systems. Who's going to pay for this very costly infrastructure? In the old days, "real estate developers, sometimes aided by electric utilities, not only built the [rail] system but paid rent to cities for the rights-of-way," Christopher Leinberger wrote.

Are developers going to foot the bill for rail systems as they did in the old days? Leinberger doesn't really say, but Connecticut, on a project-by-project basis, has allowed developers to fund housing infrastructure by creating special taxing districts authorized to issue government bonds backed by future property taxes. Leinberger thinks residents in existing neighborhoods might be willing to pay extra property taxes for the infrastructure because it would boost property values.

Text Messages Help Smokers Quit

According to a recent NPR article, a review of studies published by the Cochrane Collaboration found that smokers who receive continuous, supportive text messages are more likely to quit smoking than those who do not receive them or who receive them less frequently. The review, conducted by Dr. Robyn Whittaker at the University of Auckland in New Zealand analyzed five studies with over 9,000 subjects trying to quit smoking. Smokers in the intervention groups received several text messages each day containing either motivational messages or quitting advice. Those in the control groups received less frequent text messages or were given information online or by phone.

Whittaker estimated that the text messages increased the chance of smokers quitting within six months from 4% to 5% in control groups and from 6% to 10% in the intervention groups. Based on these findings, some state and local health departments are exploring new online texting systems to support smokers trying to quit.

Decorate with Care: No Invasive Species

When decorating for the holidays, be sure to avoid using invasive species.  The Connecticut Department of Energy andEnvironmental Protection reminds state residents that the attractive Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus), formerly used in wreath making and other holiday decorations, is an invasive species.  A 2004 state law prohibits selling or moving invasive species.  People who find Oriental bittersweet for sale in Connecticut are asked to contact Connecticut's Invasive Plant Coordinator, Logan Senack, at 860-208-3900.

Oriental bittersweet fruits are red with a yellow outer covering. Although very colorful, this plant is highly invasive and should not be used in holiday decorations. Photo by Les Mehrhoff, IPANE.

Department of Revenue Services Says Medical Marijuana is Taxable

According to recently issued guidance from DRS, sales of marijuana by licensed dispensaries will be subject to Connecticut's 6.35% sales and use tax. 

Special Notice 2012(5) also points out that licensed marijuana producers may be able to claim the state sales tax exemption for farmers (CGS § 12-412 (63)).  This exemption allows entities engaged in agricultural production as a trade or business to be exempt from the sales and use tax for purchases of tangible personal property used exclusively for agricultural production.
 

DRS also notes that qualifying patients, physicians, primary caregivers, producers, and dispensaries will be considered in lawful possession of marijuana and therefore not be subject to state's excise tax on illegal sales of marijuana.

Can Oil Dealers Convert Too?

With the Department of Energy & Environmental Protection's recently issued draft energy strategy calling for a significant effort to encourage natural gas use instead of oil for home heating, a recent article on hartfordbusiness.com highlights a company that has lasted for 86 years by adapting to the energy trends of its times.  According to the article, Daniels Energy in Portland was founded in 1926 delivering firewood and coal for home heating.  Within a few years, the company began delivering oil too, and over the decades added heating system conversions, air conditioners, propane delivery, solar hot water systems, and even retail electricity sales to the services it offers. 

While oil dealers maintain that potentially losing half of their customers to natural gas would be devastating for the industry and its employees, companies like Daniels are also looking at the business opportunities that could arise from increased installation and servicing of natural gas equipment.  However, company president David Daniels adds that even though his company will be "fine" it won't be able to maintain the same number of employees it currently has.

Future-Proofing Our Institutions (and the State's Economy)

"Today our institutions are up against new challenges: a rapidly accelerating pace of change, hyper-competition, the commoditization of knowledge, and ever-escalating demands for social accountability," says Gary Hamel, author of What Matters Now: How to Win in a World of Relentless Change, Ferocious Competition, and Unstoppable Innovation (2012). However, our institutions aren't wired for change. Instead they're wired to be disciplined and efficient, something that comes from "routinizing the non-routine." Adapting to change means organizations must give up outdated routines and "future-proof" themselves for change.

How do you future-proof your organization? According to Hamel:

1.   Anticipate change by resisting the tendency to avoid or ignore disconcerting developments; paying attention to new technologies, unconventional competitors, and unserved customers; and act out how changes will affect you.

2.   Solicit options from employees, vendors, and customers and learn how to experiment cheaply by using storyboards, simulations, role-playing scenarios, and cheap product or service mock-ups (i.e., rapid prototyping).

3.   Become flexible by subdividing large, complex organizational units into smaller differentiated ones; allowing people proposing new products and services to compete for resources with those invested in established ones; and multiply the funding sources for developing new products and services.

4.   Avoid (a) investments that preclude future mid-course corrections, (b) inflexible product designs and service models; and (c) investing too much in one product or market.

5.   Program your organizational DNA for resilience by challenging your employees to come up with new ideas, studying how other entities change and adapt, and using the web to foster collaboration.

Here are more of Hamel's ideas:

New Teacher Evaluation Systems Bad for Students?

Nationally, there is much debate about whether using student standardized test scores to evaluate teachers is fair to teachers, given that those with more challenging students run the risk of being labeled as ineffective no matter how well they teach. Now, some are questioning whether this type of teacher evaluation system is also bad for students.

The Washington Post’s The Answer Sheet blog discusses the shortcomings of evaluating teachers using student test scores. It cites a recent American Institute for Research report on the New York State teacher evaluation model that found when the percentage of a classroom's students with disabilities or in poverty increases, the average teacher evaluation score decreases.

Add to this a new survey of 500 New York principals regarding the “student growth score” evaluation model. Seventy-three percent of principals surveyed felt that the “ineffective” label assigned to some of their teachers was either a "not very accurate" or an "inaccurate" reflection of that teacher based on their observations and the performance of that teacher’s students.

In the survey, some principals stated that next year they would reassign certain teachers to less needy students so they could protect excellent teachers from an ineffective rating. Others expressed concerns that excellent teachers would choose to leave for schools or districts with less needy students to avoid the risk of an ineffective label. This suggests that new teacher evaluation systems may be discouraging teachers from taking the most challenging assignments and thus decreasing the chances that needy students will get the best possible teachers.

Move Over Mom, Dad's Buying The Barbies This Year

The New York Times is reporting Mattel and other toymakers are marketing girls' toys to fathers, many of whom are doing the holiday shopping these days. In fact, for the first time in Barbie's 50-year history, Mattel has introduced a Barbie construction set.

This new marketing scheme reflects not only that dads are shopping as much as if not more than moms, but that parents want their girls to develop their spatial skills, which would ultimately help them compete with boys for careers in math, science, engineering, and technology jobs.

But have no fear, traditionalists. The sets made by Megablocks are pink, and the construction choices include fashion boutiques, mansions, and ice cream carts.

Payment Fraud

This past year, the Federal Reserve banks in Boston, Dallas, Minneapolis, and Richmond and the Independent Community Bankers of America surveyed financial institutions and others about payment fraud and their methods of combatting it.

Of those responding, 93% reported financial losses due to fraud but 69% estimated their losses at less than 0.3% of revenue.  About 85% of respondents stated that their fraud losses increased or stayed the same in 2012 as compared to 2011. Financial institutions reported counterfeit or stolen card use at the point of sale or online as the most common types of fraud involving their customers' accounts.

For most payment types, spending on fraud prevention exceeded actual losses except for (1) debit signature payments and (2) mobile payments.  The report points out that spending on fraud prevention in these two areas could reduce losses. When asked about 15 different internal controls and procedures to combat fraud, the report found that 12 were in widespread use, adopted by over 80% of financial institutions.

Feds Pull Plug on Telemarketer Scammers

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) temporarily stopped five Arizona- and Florida-based companies from making robocalls that allegedly defrauded consumers of hundreds of thousands of dollars by promising to reduce the consumers' credit card interest rates for fees ranging from several hundred to several thousand dollars.

But, the companies did "little, if anything, to fulfill their promises," the FTC said.

Federal courts have granted the FTC's request to temporarily block the operations, which allegedly made millions of illegal pre-recorded calls from "Rachel," or "Cardholder Services."

"At the FTC, Rachel from Cardholder Services is public enemy number one," FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz said. He said his agency is "cracking down on illegal robocalls by bringing law enforcement actions and pursuing technical solutions to the problem."

Hot Report: Right-to-Die Laws

OLR Report 2012-R-0477 summarizes laws or legislation in other states concerning the right to die as well as Connecticut bills on this topic.

Two states, Oregon and Washington, currently have statutes providing a procedure for a terminally ill patient to request medication to end his or her life. These laws are sometimes referred to as “death with dignity” or “physician-assisted suicide” laws.

Massachusetts voters considered a ballot initiative this year to enact a law allowing state-licensed physicians to prescribe medication for terminally ill patients, under prescribed procedures, to end the person's life. Voters rejected the initiative by a narrow margin, 51% to 49%.

While Montana does not have an assisted suicide statute, the state's Supreme Court ruled in 2009 that doctors have a defense to prosecution for assisting a suicide with the person's consent. Under Montana law, a victim's consent to conduct is a defense to prosecution. But consent is ineffective when it is against public policy to permit the conduct or the resulting harm. The court ruled that a physician's aid to a terminally ill, mentally competent adult is not against public policy and thus a person's consent can be a defense to prosecution (Baxter v. Montana, 354 Mont. 234 (2009)).

Connecticut last considered a right to die bill in 2009. The Judiciary Committee bill (SB 1138) was similar to the Oregon and Washington laws. The committee voted to box the bill. In recent years, similar bills were introduced in a handful of other states (such as Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania).

For more information, read the full report. 

Housing Market Shows Signs of Recovery, Despite a 10-Year Low Median Price

The Warren Group recently released Q3 data indicating that the number of home sales in Connecticut has increased every month in 2012.  The median sale price, on the other hand, is the lowest it's been in 10 years.  Data on condo sales and prices shows a similar trend.

But, according to this press release, the fact that prices are at a low is not necessarily a bad sign.  The Warren Group CEO, Timothy Warren, stated, “the drop in prices is concerning, but it’s typical to see sales volume increase before prices do in a recovery period.”  Warren remarked that the increases in year-to-date home sales by 13.1% and condo sales by 7.2% are strong signs that the housing market is recovering.

Hot Report: DEEP Comprehensive Energy Strategy

OLR Report 2012-R-0484 summarizes the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection's draft 2012 Comprehensive Energy Strategy.

The draft 2012 Comprehensive Energy Strategy issued by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) in October 2012 presents a series of policy proposals intended to expand energy choices, lower utility bills, improve environmental conditions, and create clean energy jobs. It focuses on five, sometimes overlapping, energy strategy sectors: natural gas, energy efficiency, electricity, industry, and transportation. Although the strategy contains significant research findings, this report focuses mainly on the recommendations proposed as a result of those findings within each sector.

In discussing the natural gas sector, the strategy concludes that natural gas is a cheaper, cleaner, and more reliable fuel for heating, power generation, and possibly transportation. It recommends a variety of proposals intended to encourage (1) people to convert their homes and businesses to natural gas and (2) gas utilities to expand their infrastructure.

For energy efficiency, which the strategy identifies as the most cost effective way to reduce energy bills, the strategy recommends improving funding for efficiency programs and expanding the programs to include more potential customers. The recommendations for the electricity sector similarly stress the importance of efficiency measures, but also propose measures to reduce electricity use, promote and expand renewable energy systems, and increase system reliability. Recommendations for the industry sector generally focus on adapting the gas, efficiency, and electricity proposals to the specifics of industrial needs, but also include suggestions to encourage water conservation and create an Advanced Energy Innovation Hub.

The strategy's recommendations for the transportation sector focus on reducing the amount of gasoline and diesel fuel consumed in the state while encouraging the availability of a diverse refueling infrastructure.

For more information, read the full report.

New Federal Law Makes It Easier for Veterans to Get Commercial Drivers' Licenses

President Obama last month signed into the law the Military Commercial Drivers' License (CDL) Act of 2012, making it easier for veterans to obtain CDLs. A driver needs a CDL to operate a large truck or bus.

Under thel aw, service men and women will be able to obtain CDLs in the state where they are stationed, regardless of their permanent residence. Previously, states could not issue CDLs to a person who was not a permanent resident.

Next Year's Medicare Program Costs Announced

Federal Medicare officials just announced increases in Medicare Part B (outpatient services) premiums and deductibles for 2013.  The monthly premiums will go up 5%, from $99.90 to $104.30. This marks the first time they have broken into the triple digits, but is less than the 9% increase the program's trustees predicted earlier this year.  Nevertheless, advocates for the elderly point out that premiums have risen 130% since 2000 -- nearly as much as gasoline prices.

For less-wealthy recipients, the changes will be felt as smaller-than-expected Social Security increases. The Social Security COLA next year is 1.7 %. After Part B premiums are deducted, seniors receiving a $1,000 monthly benefit will see a net increase of $12, or 1.2 %; the net increase for those receiving $2,000 will be $29, or 1.45%.

High-income seniors (those with incomes exceeding $85,000 for single filers and $170,000 for joint filers), who already pay surcharges on top of the standard premium, will pay the 5% increase plus surcharges that rise with income.  Their Part B increases will range from $42 to $230.90.

CONNECTICUT SCHOOL DISTRICTS REACH FINALS IN FEDERAL RACE TO THE TOP GRANT COMPETITION

The Bridgeport and Hartford school districts are among 61 finalists for district-level Race to the Top grants, the U.S. Education Department has announced.  Other finalists include New York City, Newark, and Philadelphia. Three other Connecticut applicants, New Haven, Norwalk, and the Capitol Region Education Council, did not make the cut.

To be eligible to apply, districts must serve at least 2,000 students, with at least 40% from across all participating schools coming from low-income families. The Education Department received 372 applications from school districts, school district consortia, and charter school networks in 41 states and the District of Columbia.  It plans to award an aggregate of $400 million in grants to 15 to 20 winners by December 31, 2012.  Grants will vary from $5 million to $40 million, depending on district size.

Winners must promise to:

1. implement teacher, principal, and superintendent evaluation systems by the 2014-15 school year;
2. measure student performance against state-adopted college and career-ready graduation requirements; and
3. have data systems that can link individual students to teachers and provide timely data on student academic growth.

The new competition is the fourth round of federal Race to the Top grants.  Only states were eligible to apply for the first three. Connecticut competed in the earlier rounds, but did not win.

http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop-district/index.html

Report Attempts to More Accurately Count College Completion Rates

A criticism of college completion rates is that they capture only full-time students who start and finish at the same institution, thus not accounting for part-time or transfer students. The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center recently released a report that seeks to more fully measure completion rates.

The report found that, when nontraditional enrollment patterns (e.g., part-time and transfer students) are taken into account, the national college completion rate increases, from 42% to 54%. The data show that more than one-fifth of the students who (1) complete college do so in a nontraditional manner and (2) are counted under traditional measures as not completing college actually do complete.

Additionally, the report found that most students who earn a four-year degree after starting at a two-year institution do so without earning a degree at the two-year institution. According to the report, 15% of students who started at a two-year institution earned a four-year degree within six years, but two-thirds of these students did not earn a two-year degree.

However, the report also showed that part-time students struggle to complete college; at least two-thirds of part-time students dropped out without earning a degree.

http://chronicle.com/article/New-National-Tally-of-College/135792/

What's This "Fiscal Cliff" Everyone's Talking About?

For those of us a little confused about federal budget and tax policy, the Tax Foundation recently released a primer on the "fiscal cliff" that lays out all of the tax provisions and budget bills expiring on December 31, 2012. 

The tax changes scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2013 alone are wide-ranging:

·       The 2001 and 2003 tax cuts "Bush tax cuts" are set to expire, which would increase marginal income tax rates, increase the tax on long-term capital gains and qualified dividends, decrease the standard deduction for married couples, and decrease the child tax credit.

·       The estate tax will increase, from 35% on anything above $5.12 million to 55% on anything about $1 million.

·       The alternative minimum tax (AMT) patch is set to expire, resulting in tax increases for taxpayers earning between $50,000 and $200,000.

·       The employee portion of the payroll tax will increase from 4.2% to 6.2%.

·       Several dozen tax deductions will expire, including those for tuition expenses, alternative fuels, and mortgage insurance premiums.

http://taxfoundation.org/sites/taxfoundation.org/files/docs/sr204.pdf

Workplace Health Clinics' Usage Rate Remains Steady

About 4% of U.S. families visited a workplace health clinic in 2010, the same percentage as in 2007.  This is according to a recent research brief by the National Institute for Health Care Reform, reporting the results of a national study by the Center for Studying Health System Change.

According to the research brief, workplace health clinics are most common among large private employers or government employers.  Certain industries also show higher usage rates for such clinics, such as manufacturing.

Most visits to workplace health clinics are for minor or routine care.   In 2010, the most common primary reason for a visit to such a clinic was vaccination (63.7%), followed by physical exams for school, camps, or employment (31.1%), new illnesses or symptoms (26.5%), and work-related injuries (11.3%). The most common reason for choosing workplace health clinics was the convenience of the location (63.6%), followed by lower cost (38.0%), more convenient hours (35.1%), and no need to make an appointment (26.8%). (Respondents could select more than one answer to these questions, and thus the totals are more than 100%). 

http://www.nihcr.org/Workplace-Clinics

 

Federal Workers Not Feeling the Love

Salary freezes, tight budgets and a dim view of federal work held by many Americans have soured the motivation and commitment of many government employees, according to a survey released on November 21. Federal employees still think that their jobs are important, and many are passionate and dedicated to their agency’s mission, reports the Washington Post. But increasing threats to their pay and benefits and criticism of their work during the national debate over government spending have taken a toll on morale, results of the Employee Viewpoint Survey show.

“Today’s federal leaders are facing significant challenges in keeping the workforce motivated and engaged in light of frozen salaries, slashed budgets, and recent public sentiment toward federal employees,” John Berry, the government’s personnel chief, wrote in the introduction to the survey, which was posted on the Office of Personnel Management’s Web site.
    

Links:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/survey-federal-workers-morale-dropping/2012/11/21/5a21a86e-3414-11e2-bfd5-e202b6d7b501_story.html

http://www.fedview.opm.gov/2012files/2012_Government_Management_Report.PDF

Torrington Commission Rejects Methadone Clinic Proposal

Torrington's zoning commission is facing the threat of a lawsuit after denying a zoning application for a proposed methadone clinic.  As the Register Citizen reported, board members agreed with the city planner's recommendation that the proposal was "not compatible with the neighborhood in terms of traffic, health, safety."  Members of the public also turned out to voice their opposition to the project, citing traffic and safety issues. The attorney representing the clinic will appeal the decision.

Only one board member supported the application on the grounds that the federal American with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discriminatory siting practices and opens the city to a legal challenge.  A 2005 issue brief produced by the National Conference of State Legislatures addresses how the ADA and other antidiscrimination laws limit local control of substance abuse treatment programs.

http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/health/siting-of-facilities.aspx

http://www.registercitizen.com/articles/2012/11/15/news/doc50a481afdcf42920404713.prt

Federal Health Care Law Would Cause Insurance Costs to Fall for Small Businesses

The federal Affordable Care Act, if it had been in full effect in 2012, would have increased employer-sponsored insurance coverage and reduced the cost small businesses pay for employee health coverage, according to an Urban Institute study released in October.  As reported by Kaiser Health News, the study shows that the number of people covered by employer-sponsored insurance would have increased by 2.7% and costs-per-person for small businesses (fewer than 50 employees) would have decreased by 7.3%.  Mid-size businesses (between 100 and 1,000 employees) would have seen a 4.6% increase.

Urban Institute study:

http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/412675-Implications-of-the-Affordable-Care-Act-for-American-Business.pdf

Kaiser Health News:

http://capsules.kaiserhealthnews.org/index.php/2012/10/study-health-insurance-costs-to-fall-for-businesses-under-50-employees/

What is Storm Surge?

Storm surge is the water rise, beyond the predicted tide level, that a storm generates. By contrast, a storm tide is the total water level rise during a storm, combining the tide and storm surge (see picture 1, below). According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), storm surge is often the greatest threat to life and property along the coast during a hurricane because it can cause extreme flooding particularly when it occurs during high tide. The combination of surge and waves can increase damage directly along the coast since surge allows waves to impact buildings further inland.

NOAA explains that storm surge is produced by the force of winds moving cyclonically around the storm and pushing water toward shore. Low pressure associated with intense storms has a minimal impact on surge compared to the impact of wind force (see picture 2, below). How much storm surge will occur at a specific location depends upon many factors such as storm forward speed, size, angle of approach to the coast, and central pressure; shape and characteristics of coastal features; and the width and slope of the continental shelf (shallow slopes are more likely to produce greater surge).



 

Picture 1: Storm Surge vs. Storm Tide

(Source: NOAA at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/surge/) 



 

Picture 2: Hurricane Storm Surge Wind and Pressure Components

(Source: NOAA at

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/surge/) 

Residents Advised to Check Out Charities Before Responding to Solicitors

The consumer protection commissioner and the attorney general are warning Connecticut residents to ask questions of telemarketers before deciding whether to make a charitable donation. Solicitations, including those from scammers, generally increase during the holiday season.

Charities that solicit money are required to register with the Department of Consumer Protection and residents can check charity information on https://www.elicense.ct.gov. Complaints may also be registered there.

The press release offers advice on how to avoid scammers and being misled. These include, among other things:

1. asking who is calling,
2. asking for written information on the charity,
3. donating to recognized charities,
4. giving in non-cash methods,
5. being mindful if prizes are offered for donations, and
6. asking the solicitor not to call or hanging up.

The New Industrial Revolution? When Did That Happen?

It's happening right now, according to Wired's chief editor, Chris Anderson. When was the last time you saw an army of drafters hunched over tables using T-squares and slide rules to convert ideas and concepts into meaningful images for machine operators to convert raw materials in parts for others to assemble into products?

Well T-squares and slide rules have given way to computer screens and keyboards.  What's more, computers can digitize images into codes and electronically send them to other machines for cutting, bending, welding, or shaping raw materials into parts.  

Okay, but hasn't this been going on for a while? "The biggest transformation is not in the way things are done but in who's doing it," according to Anderson.  In his new book, Makers: The New Industrial Revolution, he describes how individuals, working in basements and garages, are "using digital tools, designing onscreen, and increasingly outputting to desktop fabrication machines," and, because they're the Web generation, they "instinctively share their creations online."

That wasn't true in the old days. "Because of the expertise, equipment, and costs of producing things on a large scale, manufacturing has been mostly the provenance of big companies and trained professionals."

So, can anyone be a Henry Ford? According to Anderson, "The digital transformation of making stuff is doing more than simply making existing manufacturing more efficient. It's also extending manufacturing to a hugely expanded population of producers--the existing manufacturers plus a lot of regular folks who are becoming entrepreneurs."

Childhood Obesity In The News

According to U.S.News and World Report, a recent study in Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research links childhood obesity with joint pain, poor physical functioning, and mental health.

Researchers analyzed medical charts from 175 obese children, of which 51 reported lower extremity pain. These same children also scored lower on measures of physical function and psychosocial health than those who did not report such pain.

According to Dr. Vonda Wright, an orthopedic surgeon at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, "Our hips and knees bear five to seven times our body weight…The heavier the child, the bigger the pressure on the joints and cartilage, and that can be painful. It sets up their soft tissue for inflammation."

In order to effectively fight childhood obesity, early intervention is essential, according to a recent study cited in the Chicago Tribune. Researchers at the National Childhood Obesity Center in Stockholm, Sweden observed 643 children divided into three age groups: six to nine years, 10 to 13 years, and 14 to 16 years old. The children were also divided into groups of moderate and severe obesity. They found that over the three year study period, behavioral interventions such as learning healthy eating habits and increasing physical activity helped the youngest children to lose weight but had almost no effect on the oldest children.

The researchers note that "more and more evidence points to early childhood as a pivotal time for preventing in young children an obesity trajectory that is hard to alter by the time they enter middle school."