AT A GLANCE Features of the new training center include: - Portable models that simulate rooms of a house demonstrate proper and improper construction techniques. - One model demonstrates actual fire damage. - The model home features dozens of cutaway sections, showing wiring, materials and plumbing behind the walls. - One room of the house is built to be flooded.

It began three years ago with a modest suggestion.

Erie Insurance had been buying up old homes in its eastside neighborhood, and Greg Paige and Chris Zimmer, both vice presidents with Erie County's second largest employer, wondered if the company could re-purpose an old house on East Sixth Street into a learning laboratory for claims adjusters.

The specifics of that idea would ultimately be discarded.

But the vision that grew from that spark is due to be unveiled today -- and it's a long way from the original plan.

The company has invested millions in the new Erie Insurance Technical Learning Center, a 52,000-square-foot facility on East Seventh Street between French and Holland streets that Erie Insurance believes is unique in both size and scope in the U.S. insurance industry.

"This is state of the art," said Chip Dufala, executive vice president of services for Erie Insurance. "We are not aware of anyone having a facility of this caliber."

Behind the brick and steel facade is a 14-bay auto shop with alignment equipment, classrooms, paint booth and prep areas, where adjusters can brush up on auto body repair skills or learn the latest about aluminum body panels.

At the west end of the building is something more unexpected. Inside the training center, which adjoins the company's new parking garage, is a two-story 3,000-square foot house built to train adjusters about property damage.

This gleaming, cavernous building, announced in July 2013, has a simple purpose: It's a training ground for claims adjusters and would-be claims adjusters from across the Erie Insurance footprint, which includes 13 states and the District of Columbia.

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Training ground: Erie Insurance unveils massive new facility

1/13 Wildcats Weekly presented by Armored Roofing
It #39;s the moment you #39;ve been waiting a month for! Wildcats Weekly presented by Armored Roofing returns with an extended conversation with Head Coach John LaFontaine. We also give you a peek...

By: Wichita Falls Wildcats

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1/13 Wildcats Weekly presented by Armored Roofing - Video

WHEELING -

Roofing and general contractor Stephen J. Gretchen, 44, of McMechen, WV was convicted of failing to report cash payments to his employees and fraudulently collecting insurance benefits for staged damage to his vehicle Wednesday in Wheeling.

According to United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, Gretchen admitted he knowingly under-reported the wages, tips and other compensation that he paid to his employees. He admitted that in 2011 he paid certain employees in cash "off the books." In a press release, Ihlenfeld said Gretchen reported he paid no wages, tips or other compensation to his employees. In actuality, he paid about $22,880 to his employees.

Gretchen also admitted to filing a false claim with his insurance company for a camping truck. He said he paid an employee to deliberately and repeatedly damage the trailer, but reported that the damage was caused by a hit-and-run accident. The insurance company sent Gretchen a check for $27,776.85 via FedEx in June 2012.

Gretchen pled guilty to Filing a False Employee Quarterly Federal Tax Return and one count of mail fraud. On the first count he faces up to three years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. On the second count, he faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

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Local Roofing Contractor Pleads Guilty to Defrauding IRS

Samuel Fuller would go on to a career as the uncompromising director of such films as "Shock Corridor," "The Naked Kiss," "Pickup on South Street" and "The Big Red One" (inspired by his Army days in World War II).

But on May 9, 1945, Fuller was serving in the 1st U.S. Infantry Division when, armed with a 16mm Bell & Howell camera, he documented the aftermath of the liberation of a Nazi concentration camp in Falkenau, Czechoslovakia.

According to Fuller, he was asked to record the gruesome spectacle of the emaciated bodies of the near-dead, as well as burial preparations of the victims, by his battalion commander, Captain Kimble R. Richmond. The death-camp survivors, Fuller wrote, "raised their bald heads and looked at us, eyes sunken in anguish, their mouths agape, a hand here and there reaching out, grasping for anything, begging us for assistance in helpless silence."

In addition, the townspeople of Falkenau - who professed ignorance of the camp's true nature - were compelled by Richmond to witness the proceedings or face execution. They, like the viewers of Fuller's footage, could not turn away.

Credit: Directed by Samuel Fuller. Courtesy of Christa and Samantha Fuller, Chrisam Films, Inc. and the Academy Film Archive

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2014 additions to National Film Registry - CBS News ...

Avon Products Inc. (AVP) boosted sales in Russia, increasing its ranks by tens of thousands in the second half of last year as the plunging ruble prompted more people to seek additional income selling goods door-to-door.

Our sales have been growing both in volume and value, Avon country chief Elena Starkova said in an interview in Moscow. December was magnificent, exceeding our forecasts.

The additions swelled New York-based Avons labor pool in Russia by more than 10 percent, Starkova said, declining to give the exact number. Smaller competitors Oriflame Cosmetics SA (ORI) and Herbalife Ltd. (HLF) said they also added representatives in the country in 2014, without being specific.

The ruble weakened 43 percent against the U.S. dollar last year as falling prices for oil, Russias biggest export, compounded the effects of U.S. and European sanctions over President Vladimir Putins incursion into Ukraine. The economy contracted for the first time in five years in November, heralding a recession, while real incomes dropped 4.7 percent, according to the latest government data.

We are being joined by all the categories of people seeking additional income -- state employees whose living conditions have soured, students, pensioners, Starkova said. It was similar during the 1998 and 2009 economic crises.

About 4.3 million Russians are now involved in direct sales, a number that will keep growing as long as the economy and ruble remain weak, according to Tamara Shokareva, who heads an industry lobby group.

During economic crises, more people usually get involved in direct sales to earn additional money or buy consumer goods at lower prices, Shokareva said.

Direct-sales companies, which avoid the costs of running retail stores, generated the equivalent of about $4.4 billion in sales in Russia in 2013, led by Avon and Amway Corp., according to Shokarevas group.

Starkova said Avon started noticing problems in the economy in the first half of 2014 and reacted with an anti-crisis consumer basket. The product includes items women cant do without at the cheapest possible price, such as shampoo for 59 rubles (89 cents) and skin cream for 79 rubles, she said.

Avon produces about half of the cosmetics it sells in Russia at a factory near Moscow, which helps keep prices low even after the rubles decline, Starkova said. The company limited price increases on imported items to no more than 10 percent last year and may do the same this year, she said. While that doesnt cover the ruble depreciation in full, it helps the company maintain market share, she said.

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Avon Says Russia Magnificent as Ruble Drop Swells Sales Force

"Dee's going to be the disruptive one," Latos said.

Adding Gordon's game-changing speed in front of sluggers like Stanton and free-agent pickup Michael Morse gives the Marlins one of their most dynamic lineups in years. The club now has one of the fastest players in the game setting the table for one of the league's most imposing sluggers.

With the Dodgers last year, Gordon swiped a Major League-best 64 bases. The Marlins haven't had a player lead the Majors in steals since Juan Pierre posted his franchise-record total of 65 in 2003.

A lack of speed was a weakness of the 2014 Marlins, who stole just 58 bases -- fourth fewest in the Majors.

Marlins introduce Gordon, Latos and Morse

The Marlins introduce a trio of new stars with Dee Gordon, Mat Latos and Michael Morse, who are all ready to take Miami to the next level

Now with the projected lineup of Gordon at the top of the order and Christian Yelich hitting second, Miami has two running threats in front of Stanton and Morse. Along with stealing bases, they are capable of scoring from first on a double.

"Stanton and Morse, those are the guys who are going to knock Dee in," Latos said. "Those are going to be the guys you're scared of. Pitchers are scared of them, but they can always walk them. You don't want to walk Dee."

The question with Gordon is if he will get on base enough. He batted .289 with a .326 on-base percentage and 31 walks in 2014. Gordon also struck out 107 times. If he is struggling at the leadoff spot, the Marlins have versatility in their lineup to adjust. Yelich is experienced leading off, and Martin Prado can bat second.

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Speedy Gordon gives Marlins dynamic lineup

January 14, 2015 - Major League Soccer (MLS) Portland Timbers PORTLAND, Ore. - The Portland Timbers have added radio play-by-play broadcaster Jake Zivin in an expanded, full-time role with the club and Samantha Yarock as a versatile reporter who will feature on Timbers television broadcasts and online video content for the 2015 season presented by Simple, it was announced today.

Zivin enters his second season as the radio play-by-play announcer for Timbers broadcasts on 750 The Game and will assume a new, expanded role as web stream play-by-play broadcaster for the club's T2 USL PRO home games in 2015. Garnering extensive experience with Major League Soccer - interning in the league's broadcasting department and working for two years on the production staff for ABC/ESPN's MLS and U.S. National Team broadcasts - Zivin will be the main play-by-play broadcaster for T2. Zivin joins the Timbers after spending four years at KEZI-TV in Eugene, Ore., including three as the station's sports director. He began his career in Montana, where he was the sports director at KECI-TV in Missoula. A native of Evanston, Ill., Zivin graduated from Carleton College in 2007 with a degree in mathematics.

Yarock joins the Timbers as a reporter who will contribute to Timbers television broadcasts and online at Timbers.com following time as an on-air talent and content producer for MLSSoccer.com. Before working at MLS, Yarock, whose Timbers online coverage begins at the MLS SuperDraft on Thursday, earned a master's degree in multimedia communications from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, where she reported and did play-by-play for the university's men's and women's NCAA basketball games. Yarock, who also holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin, hosted and produced segments for GoStanford.com and interned for the sports departments at KPIX-TV/CBS 5 and KTVU/FOX 2 while in the Bay Area.

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Timbers Announce Additions to Broadcast Team for 2015 Season

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