| Warner’s plan thwarted by Caribbean protests
HAVING GOT his own way for so long in the Caribbean, it appears the little guys have come out fighting against Fifa vice-president Jack Warner. The Sunday Herald reported last week how Warner had instructed the tiny Antigua and Barbuda football association to hand over nearly £100,000 to meet undocumented expenses to discredited former official Chet Greene. They were given until last Thursday to pay or they would be expelled from Fifa. However, Merv Richards - the president of the local association and brother of cricketer Viv - has called on Fifa to intervene and investigate and Antigua and Barbuda have been given a stay of execution. .
Population, Hispanics, Labor Force
Hazleton, Pennsylvania, population 31,000, enacted an Illegal Immigration Relief Act ordinance in July 2006 that requires landlords to verify that their tenants are legally in the US, imposes a $1,000 a day fine on landlords who rent to unauthorized foreigners and revokes for five years the business license of any employer who hires one. The ACLU sued to block enforcement of the ordinance, due to go into effect in mid-September 2006; enforcement was stayed pending preparation of a new ordinance to deal with some of ACLU's objections. Six other cities had anti-illegal migrant ordinances in summer 2006, and at least 25 are studying them. In 2005, two New Hampshire police chiefs began arresting illegal migrants for trespassing until court decisions stopped the practice. On New York's Long Island, the Suffolk County Legislature adopted a proposal that prohibits contractors from hiring illegal migrants.
NBH posts fiscal gains
Palmisano, CEO of NBH, the parent company of North Adams Regional Hospital, said the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2007, showed a surplus of $325,000 on $78.4 million in total revenue. "We had an excellent year last year," Palmisano said. "But we're not out of the woods yet. To make a profit of $300,000 in an $80 million budget is nothing. So I don't mean to imply that the turnaround is complete." He said that a $2 million essential community provider grant from the state helped get the budget back in the black, and that he hopes to get the institution to the point where that grant is no longer a part of the profit-and-loss formula. State Sen. Benjamin B. Downing, D-Pittsfield, said the grant did exactly what it was designed to do: "Put them over the top and help them to have a positive year." Downing credited Palmisano with doing "a tremendous job" getting the entire medical community involved in the turnaround.
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