| Loonie surpasses $1.10 US
The Canadian dollar continued its lofty flight as it passed $1.10 US on Wednesday while the U.S. dollar continued to weaken. Shortly after the start of trading in North America, the loonie was up more than 1.75 cents at $1.1027 US. The U.S. dollar continued to lose ground against other currencies. The greenback fell to another record low of $1.4703 US against the euro, while the British pound hit $2.1051 US, a level not seen since since May 1981. The latest of advance of the loonie will most likely send economists back to the drawing board to redo their forecasts for the dollar. The currency has appreciated much faster than many observers had been expecting. The Canadian dollar regained parity with the U.S. greenback in September. The loonie has been setting new records since Oct.
The SNP and the mystery of the vanishing bobbies
THE Scottish Government suffered a major and embarrassing setback yesterday when Kenny MacAskill, the justice secretary, admitted his long-awaited plan to put an additional 1,000 police on Scotland's streets might not deliver a single extra officer. .
Sights and sounds of a decaying Forth Road Bridge
We need to be investing in improvements to shared transportation systems - trains, buses, trams, car-pooling - rather than finding ways to accommodate more and more individual metal boxes for commuters. And we need to end the practice of building commuter belts and housing estates so far away from employment centres that commuting is necessary in the first place. .
Filed under: CollegeBasketball
She set out as she had done every Sunday afternoon for years. She locked her door, turned to the weather, and held the hand rail as she stepped carefully down from the porch. Once on the ground she adjusted her hat on her gray head. As this was a winter day in the Christmas season, a cold day, she also adjusted her coat. Had it been raining, she would have pulled a large lawn and leaf bag, as if it were a poncho, over her head and upper body. Most times she shouldered her hand bag. This day she also shouldered a bulging plastic shopping bag. She walked along the dirt road that would lead her to the paved road that would lead her to the highway. Her only company was her shadow, small and indistinct at her feet. She walked without the deliberate care of someone unfamiliar with the terrain, but neither was her gait quick.
Gardner faces builders over moratorium
It could have been a case of Daniel walking into the lions' den, but Frederick County Commissioner Jan Gardner received a cordial reception Friday in an address to the Frederick County Builders Association. Gardner said when she was invited to speak some time ago to the group, she expected to give an update on the state of the county. Instead, she found herself explaining the county's initiative to put a halt to new residential construction for the next two years. The commissioner emphasized that the reason for the initiative was driven by transportation issues. "I get 200 e-mails a day," she said, "and every single day some of those are on traffic problems." She said the county has made progress on school construction, but the needs of transportation is the overwhelming issue.
Losing vacation time to bankruptcy
Baltimoresun.com's tax-advice column features three experts from the Hunt Valley accounting firm SC&H Group answering questions about preparing your return every Monday until April 17. To be included in the following weeks, please use the form at the right side of this page to submit your questions.
Barbara Smith, Baltimore: I worked for a company that filed for bankruptcy. When they filed, they owed me 20 days of vacation. I filed as a creditor on the bankruptcy. I have been notified by the court that the 10 years is up and the company never came out of bankruptcy. Can I claim this as a loss, as the debt will never be paid?
SC&H Group: Individual taxpayers file on the cash basis method of accounting. Since you did not include any of the accrued vacation in your income in previous years, you do not get a bad debt or other deduction for the lost income.
Public wants input on Carroll police unit
There is no appreciable difference between the cost to run a future unified sheriff's department and the cost to operate a county police department," Powell said. Sheriff Kenneth L. Tregoning said he has urged county commissioners for 21 years to create a law enforcement master plan, which has not been done. Suddenly there is a sense of urgency to get somewhere without any plan in place, he said. For several years, he has pushed for his department to assume primary responsibility for law enforcement in the county. "There is no sound reason that the county is going forward at this speedy and reckless pace to dismantle the sheriff's department," Tregoning said. "Here they want to change the entire face of law enforcement, and they have not had one public meeting. I find that disgraceful," he said.
Deborah Carter
We even have a new full-time HSA support person in each high school. It's crazy. Watch the BoE wrestle with setting the academic calendar sometime, as they try to accommodate everyone while entire months are pre-empted by the state for their tests. I've said it before: I signed on to be a teacher, not a test prep technician. The more experience I have in the field of education, the less satisfied I am with traditional tests as a means to measure what students have learned. It isn't just because of my own personal observation, although every year shows me more about how differently each child learns; we also have increasingly more information about the way the human brain functions. Tests have their place. In Latin, I need to know how much vocabulary a student has memorized, and tests are an easy way to find out.
Collier church finds town's sweet tooth with holiday cookie sale
Another evening they baked cut-out and thumbprint cookies. "We're not as big as the large churches where people pick cookies out of bins, but we have a great time," said Mrs. Riedl. Besides the popular and traditional nut rolls, about half of which have already been spoken for, this year's sale will include, in part, Oreo bonbons, chocolate chips, cherry bonbons, ladylocks, pecan tassies, sugar cookies, caramel cups and snowbells plus a separate table of other holiday favorites, such as brownies, banana bread, hardtack candy, blueberry-lemon coffee cake, pumpkin rolls and caramel chocolate-dipped apples. A box of about 30 assorted cookies will sell for $10, and prices on the individual items will vary. "I hope it keeps growing every year," Mrs.
SOUTHGATE HAILS GIBSON SUPPORT
I want to deliver results to repay his faith. Steve is a very successful businessman and he has obviously seen something in me that he thinks can make it work. "The world of football is very fickle - one minute you are useless, the next you are a hero. "The main thing I have learned in my first 18 months of being a manager is not to get carried away with the hysteria, whether it's for you or against you." .
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