FAIRHAVEN James Romero, 77, of Fairhaven, passed away Saturday, March 8, 2014 at home surrounded by his family after a long illness. He was the husband of 55 years, of Claudette R. (Fournier) Romero.

Born in New Bedford, the son of the late John and Mary (Almeida) Romero, he was a lifelong resident of Fairhaven. Jim graduated from New Bedford Vocational High School and later served in the U.S. Naval Reserve. He was a Master Electrician and member of the IBEW #223 for over 35 years.

He loved music and played the saxophone and keyboard in several Jazz bands in his younger years. Jim coached youth hockey many years and was also a SCUBA diver, and did work with the fire department on several rescue and recovery situations over the years. He enjoyed reading, crossword puzzles, yard work, making model planes and general "Mr. Fix It" things for his family and friends. He most enjoyed time spent with his family especially his grandchildren and great grandchildren.

He is survived by his wife; three sons, James Romero and his wife Sandra of Rochester, Steve Romero and his companion Theresa Norton of New Bedford and Gary Romero and his wife Jessica of Fairhaven; four daughters, Denise Marujo and her husband Steven of Fairhaven, Cheryl Walker and her husband Arthur of Marion and Janet Romero Botelho and her husband Walter and Susan Romero Smith and her husband Terry all of Fairhaven; two sisters, Rosalie Teixeira and her husband William and Elizabeth Galary all of Titusville, FL; 13 grandchildren; 10 great grandchildren; a great, great granddaughter; and several nieces and nephews.

A celebration of life will be held Friday, March 14, 2014 from 6-8 pm in the Fairhaven Funeral Home, 117 Main Street, Fairhaven. For memorial register or facility directions go to, http://www.hathawayfunerals.com or call (508)994-9471.

PLEASE NO FLOWERS, instead make a donation in Jim's name to the Shepherd's Pantry, P.O. Box 760, Fairhaven, MA 02719.

You may leave your condolences or share memories by signing the Guest Book here

Read the rest here:
James Romero

COEUR d'ALENE - It's a tribute to the American worker, who Dean Haagenson said is very much underappreciated.

"You don't appreciate the electrician until the electricity goes out, and you don't appreciate the plumber until the sewer backs up," he told the city of Coeur d'Alene's General Services Committee on Monday. "Those are the people who make this country work and we need to appreciate them."

Haagenson, CEO of Contractors Northwest, Inc., is donating the $50,000 statue titled "American Worker" to the city, and wants the piece to be located in McEuen Park, which his firm is in the process of constructing.

He hired local artist Terry Lee to sculpt the bronze statue, which should be completed within the next few months.

Lee presented to the committee a "very rough draft" marquette of the piece he plans to sculpt for Haagenson, and explained the process he will use to create the bronze sculpture.

The statue will be a construction worker that stands a full 6-feet, 2-inches tall, and it will be placed on a 3-foot by 3-foot base that is anchored in concrete.

It will also include a plaque that reads: "To the farmers, loggers, miners, constructions workers and all who build America, thank you. You have made our country great and prosperous."

The statue will weigh 300 to 350 pounds, Lee said, and because it is set in concrete and reinforced with steel rods, it will be very difficult to remove.

Lee said he will send it to a welder this week, who will build the frame. Lee will begin sculpting the statue out of foam, clay and wax beginning next week.

That process, he said, should take somewhere close to two months, and then he will hire a mold maker to come to his place to make the mold so he doesn't have to risk damaging the clay and wax model in the shipping process.

Read more here:
Tribute to the working man

hide captionPresident Barack Obama promotes job training at General Electric's Waukesha, Wis., gas engine plant in January.

Job training programs are failing to turn out enough skilled workers to fill job openings in the U.S., a phenomenon that puzzles some European companies that expand into the U.S.

President Obama freely admits that America needs to improve the way it trains workers. In a speech at a General Electric manufacturing plant in Wisconsin earlier this year, he said, "We gotta move away from what my labor secretary, Tom Perez, calls 'train and pray.' You train workers first and then you hope they get a job."

In other words, not enough Americans are training for the jobs industry needs to fill. Nationwide, about 4 million job openings are going unfilled, but 10 million people are unemployed, according to Labor Department statistics.

The phenomenon is puzzling to some European companies that have expanded to the U.S. and are used to a more skilled workforce.

The German Way To Train Workers

The White House has tapped Joe Biden to review America's jobs programs, a move welcomed by the German American Chamber of Commerce in Atlanta, which represents about 1,500 German companies throughout the South.

"It's pretty much that middle gap," explains spokeswoman Martina Stellmaszek. "They have no problems finding engineers there are great engineers in the United States or really very low-qualified jobs there is also no problem filling that. But it's really that middle segment where in Germany, we have the vocational training system to exactly train for that."

Stellmazek is referring to the three-year apprenticeship every German trade worker must undergo before being certified in a skilled job. They work three or four days a week at a company and go to school for the other one or two days. The Chamber of Commerce awards the certificates and sets standards for what is taught in vocational schools.

"If you have a certificate that you're an electrician, it doesn't matter if you do it in Hamburg or Berlin," Stellmaszek says. "Companies know what they get."

The rest is here:
What Germans Know Could Help Bridge U.S. Workers' Skill Gap

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 17:22 EST, 7 March 2014 | UPDATED: 17:56 EST, 7 March 2014

15 shares

36

View comments

Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds have revealed details of share awards worth more than 35million.

Eleven members of the RBS executive committee, including boss Ross McEwan, cashed in long-term bonuses and were handed new awards potentially worth more than 23million.

At Lloyds 10 bosses have become eligible to cash in long-term bonuses worth more than 12million.

Payday: Eleven members of the RBS executive committee were handed new awards potentially worth more than 23million

Winning: At Lloyds 10 bosses have become eligible to cash in long-term bonuses worth more than 12million

See the article here:
RBS and Lloyds in line for share awards worth more than 35m despite widespread losses

Published: Wednesday, March 5, 2014, 12:56a.m. Updated 9 hours ago

New Kensington officials said they are repairing the city-owned parking garage on Fourth Avenue.

Employees and students at the Citizens School of Nursing, located in the former Citizens General Hospital on Seventh Street, have voiced concerns about the safety of the three-story structure.

Complaints include poor lighting, rusted stairwells, a non-functioning elevator, poor winter maintenance and leaking ceilings

With three open houses at the school coming up, administrator Linda Ebel said she's concerned about the parking garage as prospective students' first exposure to the school. We want our students to feel safe and like it's a good environment, Ebel said.

Councilman Tim DiMaio said the city recently fixed stairwell lighting, several doors and decking. He said the elevator has been repaired but must be inspected before it can be used.

DiMaio and City Clerk Dennis Scarpiniti said they plan to bring in an electrician to address lighting elsewhere in the garage and plan to power-wash and paint the stairwells.

DiMaio was skeptical the leaks could be fixed if it's water trickling through expansion joints in the cement. But city officials said they would examine whether any pipes or other areas are leaking.

Ebel said a homeless person who had been frequenting the garage has not been seen recently.

Mayor Tom Guzzo said the city would do all it could to ensure students and others using the garage felt safe.

The rest is here:
New Kensington repairing city-owned garage on Fourth Avenue

Ruling will be sought on legal status of Thai govt

Asia News Network - Monday 3rd March, 2014

With the 30-day constitutional deadline for a new House of Representatives to convene after a general election today, a legal question has arisen as to whether the caretaker government can still be ...

Asia News Network - Monday 3rd March, 2014

A Muslim religious teacher was killed on Sunday and his son seriously injured in a gun attack outside a school in Thailand's Narathiwat province. The murder was the latest in a series of what ...

ABC Australia - Monday 3rd March, 2014

Thailand Anti-government protesters in Thailand have retreated to a central Bangkok park, freeing up traffic after blocking big intersections for more than a month, but Thailand's four-month ...

Euro News - Monday 3rd March, 2014

Anti-government protests in Thailand have moved to a central Bangkok park, allowing traffic to circulate freely after a month-long blockade shut down the main intersections of the capital. However, ...

eTN - Monday 3rd March, 2014

Read more from the original source:
12 Years A Slave wins Oscar for best picture.

Panic gripped Osmania General Hospital on Monday morning after an elevator carrying 16 persons including a doctor, patients and hospital staff got stuck between two floors. It was after a harrowing two hours that the occupants were rescued by Fire Department personnel.

Eyewitnesses said the lift, carrying around 15 persons, stopped between the ground floor and the first floor, reportedly due to overloading. The people inside immediately shouted for help and alerted relatives over their mobile phone.

Hospital authorities called in an electrician as well as the lift engineer, but they could not do much as they lacked proper equipment. Afzalgunj Police and Fire and Emergency Services Department personnel who arrived, broke open the iron grill of the lift and brought its occupants down with the help of a ladder.

Luckily, the lift had an iron grill otherwise we would have had to supply oxygen through a pipe inside the lift, said Gowliguda fire officer A. Srinivasa Rao.

The problem occurred as it was an old lift. Those rescued did not suffer any injuries, hospital officials said.

Read more:
Elevator gets stuck in between floors at OGH

MOSES LAKE - Moses Lake Senior Center officials got a couple of improvement projects knocked off their "to-do" list thanks to a group of Lowe's Home Improvement volunteers.

Senior Center General Manager Carry Liles said a handful of Lowe's employees and their families spent a couple of days this month working on various projects around the center.

They installed a new roll-up kitchen window in the senior center's meeting room, an electric door on one of the building's entrances and a second door just inside the building, she said. The projects were all tasks Liles had been wanting to get done, but couldn't because of a lack of funding.

Liles said she saw the chance to get one of the projects taken care of when Lowe's approached her earlier this year and asked if there was anything they needed done around the center.

"We told them there were three projects we had on our list, and to pick one," she said. "We said they were all important projects so whichever one they could do would be very much appreciated."

However, much to Liles' surprise, Lowe's decided to take care of all three projects.

"They did it all, we thought they were going to do one project, but they did it all," she said.

Liles said the center can better accommodate their patrons now that the projects are complete.

The new roll-up window benefits those who use the center's Birch Room, she said. Various groups hold lunch meetings in that room and it's also where visitors play Bingo and do other activities. Before the roll-up window, people had to get up and walk back to the main dining area to get their food or drinks.

"It's an inconvenience and it's not easy for people who use walkers or are in wheelchairs," she said.

Read more here:
Lowe's helps upgrade ML Senior Center

New locker rooms and restrooms will be built at the Corona del Mar High School pool, just one of many back-burner projects benefiting from extra city funding recently made available.

The $338,000 contribution to the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, requested by City Manager Dave Kiff, draws from higher-than-expected revenues in Newport Beach this fiscal year, coupled with last year's budget surplus.

The City Council on Tuesday appropriated more than $14 million to help pay for a wide array of improvements throughout the city, such as the locker rooms.

Most of the money $12 million came from a revenue surplus in the general fund in fiscal year 2012-13.

Another $1.2 million came from other funds like the IT strategic, lifeguard headquarters and tidelands funds, according to a staff report.

Of the $2.82 million in increased revenue estimates, the city appropriated $1.1 million. The money came from increased property tax estimates, plus more sales and hotel bed taxes from an improved economy.

The funding, which had not yet been given a specific budgetary use, will contribute to a wide array of needs, including a general liability fund, retiree health insurance and city improvement projects.

Municipal projects that will benefit include expansion of the LED streetlight conversion, Ocean Boulevard pavement replacement and concrete alley replacement in Newport Heights. Reforestation efforts and park re-landscaping will also get extra support.

The Fire Department will receive funding for paramedic emergency services, lifeguard dispatch equipment and facilities maintenance.

"The council has made it clear to me that they want to see more and more money going back into the community, so that's what I'm proposing to do with almost all of the surplus and the increased revenue," Kiff wrote in an email last week.

Read the original here:
Extra cash in city coffers being put back into community

Five stories that have North Texas talking: A big weekend for a Dallas-themed movie; Greg Abbott's personal connection to the Texas gay marriage case; Allen ISD is closing its palatial stadium due to cracks; and more.

How will Dallas Buyers Club do at the Oscars on Sunday? The film has earned six Oscar nods, including a nomination for best film. Matthew McConaughey is up for a nomination for actor in a leading role, while Jared Leto is in the running for actor in a supporting role. The film also earned nominations for film editing, original screenplay and makeup and hairstyling. The film portrays a Dallas electrician and hustler, Ron Woodroof, an HIV positive man in the 1980s who helps AIDS patients get the medication they need. Dallas Buyers Club was a big winner at the Golden Globes. McConaughey plays Woodroof, who decides to fight the death sentence the disease promised to those who contracted it in the 1980s. McConaughey dropped about 40 pounds for the role. The public radio show The Takeaway explored the movie this week in its Real People/Best Pictures series the show interviewed William Waybournwas the president of the Dallas Gay Alliance in the 1980s. Woodroof was a volunteer there, and also received services through the center's clinic. Waybourn discussed Woodroof and the movie. On Thursday, KERAs Think discussed all things Oscar. NPR recently reported on the process of making the movie it was a long, complicated process. Last fall, NPR reported on Woodroofs days in Dallas.

More here:
How Many Oscars Will Dallas Buyers Club Earn At Sundays Academy Awards?