Despite Annual Shortfalls, Jacksonville City Budget Keeps Rising

As mayor seeks more cuts, some are asking: “Where is the money going?”

Posted: May 3, 2010 - 1:51am

By Matt Galnor

Every spring since Mayor John Peyton took office, the words “budget shortfall” ring from City Hall as Jacksonville leaders try to craft a spending plan for the next year.

Yet every fall, when the City Council signs off on the budget, it’s more than the previous year.

Since Mayor John Peyton took office in 2003, the city’s annual revenue has ballooned $265 million, records show.

But expenses, Peyton counters, have gone up even more — annual pension contributions have doubled, and health insurance costs have double-digit percentage increases about every year.

More Tough Decisions Ahead on City’s Budget

Submitted by Ron Littlepage on May 1, 2010 - 11:47pm

Mayor John Peyton says the City Council acted courageously last Tuesday when it approved increasing city fees, including doubling the garbage fee.

I’ve heard several other choice descriptions of what the council did, and courageous wasn’t among them.
But, like it or not, what the council did was necessary to begin getting the city’s financial house in order.
And it was just one step of many that need to be taken.

Peyton met with council members last Thursday and began laying out his budget plans for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

Florida Senator Wants Plans for Drilling Halted

Posted: April 30, 2010 - 11:58pm

By Steve Patterson

FERNANDINA BEACH - As sheens of spilled oil drifted in the Gulf of Mexico, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said Friday that President Barack Obama should drop plans for expanded oil exploration off Florida's coast.

"I've said to the White House, 'Don't you dare think about your five-year plans [for offshore oil leases] ... We're just not going to let you,' " the Florida Democrat said hours after visiting Pensacola and checking preparations for a potential oil landfall.

Obama proposed expanded oil drilling in the Gulf and preparations for oil and gas exploration along the South Atlantic in March. The Interior Department has been collecting public comments on plans that would be implemented in five year-phases, holding a hearing in Jacksonville last month.

Several First Coast Judges Keep Their Posts

Posted: April 30, 2010 - 12:38pm

By Scott Butler

Several First Coast circuit and county judges have been re-elected with no opposition, supervisor of election offices announced Friday.

They’ll serve additional six-year terms as of January 2011.

The Duval County judges are John A. Moran, Russell L. Healey, Eleni Elia Derke and Ronald P. Higbee.
Two county judges in Clay — Timothy Collins and Richard Townsend — also retained their seats after having no opposition when qualifying ended Friday. St. Johns County Judge Charles J. Tinlin kept his judgeship.

Alliance for Retired Americans - Friday Alert, April 30, 2010

Friday, April 30, 2010

(Alliance for Retired Americans)

Alliance Members Protest Across the Country as Fiscal Commission Meets in DC
On Tuesday in Washington, DC, the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform met for the first time. Erskine Bowles, former Chief of Staff to President Bill Clinton, and retired Sen. Alan Simpson (R-WY), co-chair the Commission. Click on http://bit.ly/bsw4qW for a list of the 18 members who make up the panel. The Commission could determine the future of Social Security; however, after Tuesday's opening session, it plans to hold most of its meetings outside of the public eye, behind closed doors. Activists have been contacting their elected officials, saying that the Commission's deliberations - and the future of Social Security - are too important to be kept secret. Alliance members sent more than 3,600 letters to their elected officials driving their point home this week.

Virgin America Taps Points International to Power Frequent Flyer Options for Elevate Members

TORONTO, April 26, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ ----Elevate Members Gain Ability to Buy, Transfer and Gift Points on Virgin America's Web site

Points International Ltd. (TSX: PTS; OTCBB: PTSEF), owner and operator of the world's leading loyalty program management Web site, www.Points.com, has added Virgin America's Elevate frequent flyer program to its Points Partner Network. The 1.3 million members of the airline's Elevate frequent flyer program now have the option to buy points for themselves, transfer points from one member to another, or gift points to other members via Points' industry-leading miles and points purchase platform.

Lufthansa’s First-Class Makeover Aims to Out-Ritz BA

April 27 (Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Lufthansa AG will seek to out-Ritz British Airways Plc by evoking London hotel luxury in a makeover of its first-class cabins.

The revamp, to be unveiled when the German carrier gets its first A380 superjumbo on May 19, features high-gloss wood veneers and brown and beige leather, said Michael Oakey of Heath Tecna Inc., which is supplying seat components. The in-flight service will include wines chosen in tastings by frequent flyers, airline spokesman Jan Baerwalde said.

Alliance for Retired Americans - Friday Alert, April 23, 2010

Friday, April 23, 2010

(Alliance for Retired Americans)

Alliance Seeks Open Government as Fiscal Commission Holds Its First Meeting

Two important summit meetings will be held in Washington next week to discuss ways of reducing the federal deficit. The first will be President Obama's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, which holds its first meeting on Tuesday, April 27. In advance of the meeting, the Alliance sent a letter on Thursday to Bruce Reed, Executive Director of the Commission. The joint letter - from Barbara J. Easterling, President of the Alliance, Ruben Burks, Secretary-Treasurer of the Alliance, and Edward F. Coyle, the Alliance's Executive Director - stated that while retirees fully support President Obama on the critical need to reduce our nation's budget deficit, many have been troubled by statements by commission members suggesting that Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid will be a primary focus to meet deficit reduction goals.

European Airlines Press to Get Everyone Home

AP – Condensation trails of aircraft are seen over Frankfurt, central Germany, Thursday, April 22, 2010, as

By SLOBODAN LEKIC and CARLO PIOVANO, Associated Press Writers Slobodan Lekic And Carlo Piovano, Associated Press Writers – Thu Apr 22, 10:04 am ET

BRUSSELS – European airports sent thousands of planes into the sky Thursday after a week of unprecedented disruptions, with airlines piling on more flights and bigger planes to try to get as many people home as possible.

Nearly all of the continent's 28,000 scheduled flights, including more than 300 trans-Atlantic routes, were going ahead. Every plane was packed, however, as airlines squeezed in some of the hundreds of thousands who had been stranded for days among passengers with regular Thursday tickets.

Former Continental CEO's 2009 Pay Worth $3.3M

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: April 23, 2010

Filed at 8:27 p.m. ET

DALLAS (AP) -- The former CEO of Continental Airlines Inc. got a compensation package valued at $3.3 million in his final year leading the nation's fourth-largest carrier, according to an Associated Press analysis of a regulatory filing made Friday.

The airline's new CEO has vowed to reject his $730,000 salary and any bonuses until Continental earns a full-year profit. It lost money the last two years, but analysts predict it will post a profit in 2010.