For my last blog I wanted to write about something that most likely is having an effect on each of our lives currenty and that is the continously rising gas prices.
According to an article in the Star Tribune on May 7th, 2008 titled "Oil jumps as diesel, heating oil supplies drop" oil prices again rose to a near record $124 a barrell today.
The same article also states that the national average at the pumps for gas is $3.61 a gallon for regular gasoline, while the average gallon of diesel is costing customers $4.24 a gallon. It also states that because of these prices consumers are also getting hurt in the grocery and retail stores as well.
I guess this just raises the questions of what needs to be done and what can be done to lower these prices.
Prices where they are at are a huge burden on many people making it tough for them to do anything other then what is necessary because they simply cant afford it. I see this first hand every day in our family business. Our sales have dropped off 40% in the last 6 months and we hear similar things from almost everyone.
I personally feel that the government needs to act fast and correct this problem. Whether it be making it mandatory for cars to get higher miles per gallon, or drilling in alaska its pretty obvious that action needs to be taken.
When i hear stuff such as car companies could make cars get 60 miles to the gallon if they wanted to, or we could support ourselves with oil on our own if we started drilling in certain places on our own country it makes me mad that steps like that arent being taken.
All I hear about is how oil companies are making record profit after record profit while the rest of us are paying for it by having to cut things out of our lives just so we can afford it at the pump, it's just appauling to me and I'm hoping that something is done soon.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Blog #6
I wanted to write this blog reacting to an article I came across today on the home page of AOL titled "Slain Soldier's Parents Sue T-Shirt Maker."
The just of this article is that the parents of Tennessee soldier Brandon Read, who was killed in Iraq, are suing a t-shirt maker for 10$million dollars for using their sons name on the back of a anti war t-shirt. The reasoning behind this is because they claim his name was used with the intent to make a profit.
The t-shirt, according to the article reads "Bush lied" on the front and "they died" on the back and then lists the names of fallen soldiers.
The reason I was interested in this article is because I have a cousin who was recently shipped to Iraq to start a 9 month tour there. I know personally if something like this happened to him I would be disgusted by it as well.
I think its irresponsible for the t-shirt maker to be using these names without the consent of the families of these victims of war. I understand and agree that everyone should be entitled to free speech but in this case it goes beyond that. Not only does this re-inflict emotional pain to the families of these victims it also speaks for these fallen soldiers.
What I mean by this is that for all we know the soldiers names on the back of those shirts were proud to serve and die for their country and were for the war in Iraq. Associating their names in Anti war shirts or protests to me is giving the disctinction that those particular soldiers were against it and were not proud to serve their country.
I again am curious to hear opinions on this topic.
Personally I hope more people join in this law suit against this t-shirt maker.
The just of this article is that the parents of Tennessee soldier Brandon Read, who was killed in Iraq, are suing a t-shirt maker for 10$million dollars for using their sons name on the back of a anti war t-shirt. The reasoning behind this is because they claim his name was used with the intent to make a profit.
The t-shirt, according to the article reads "Bush lied" on the front and "they died" on the back and then lists the names of fallen soldiers.
The reason I was interested in this article is because I have a cousin who was recently shipped to Iraq to start a 9 month tour there. I know personally if something like this happened to him I would be disgusted by it as well.
I think its irresponsible for the t-shirt maker to be using these names without the consent of the families of these victims of war. I understand and agree that everyone should be entitled to free speech but in this case it goes beyond that. Not only does this re-inflict emotional pain to the families of these victims it also speaks for these fallen soldiers.
What I mean by this is that for all we know the soldiers names on the back of those shirts were proud to serve and die for their country and were for the war in Iraq. Associating their names in Anti war shirts or protests to me is giving the disctinction that those particular soldiers were against it and were not proud to serve their country.
I again am curious to hear opinions on this topic.
Personally I hope more people join in this law suit against this t-shirt maker.
Blog #7
I wanted to write this blog about the 400 plus children found at a polygamist ranch in Eldorado, Texas. This has been all over the news recently and I am sure that most of you have heard about it by now.
For those that havent, according to an article in the Star Tribune on April 23, titled "Phone number in abuse report at polygamist retreat linked to woman accused of false claims" states that police raided the ranch in Eldorado, Texas after calls were made purportedly by a 16 year old girl saying her 50 year old father abused and raped her. The article goes on to say that this girl was never found but abuse of other girls was evident.
A similar article on the subject in the Star Tribune today April, 24 titled "Court to hear Texas sect mothers' pleas to see children while huge custody case goes on" states that a total of 437 children were seized from the ranch and taken to local shelters and group homes.
The article goes on to talk about how this is now triggering a large custody battle and mentions a women holding a sign which read ""SOS; Mothers Separated; Help."
I guess the reason I wanted to bring these things and this story up is because I am curious as to everyone elses reaction to this story.
Should these women have rights to all these children if they are found to be theirs threw DNA testing?
Personally I think this is discusting and in this case the mothers should not have parental rights. How can they possibly care for all these children? Not to mention the article talks about abuse and rape, someone needs to be held accountable for all this.
This has to be horrible for all those children. Having to be moved around like this, taken from their home, it talks about the "culture shock" they will now all face. It's a sad situation. I would really like to hear someone elses reaction and opinions on this.
For those that havent, according to an article in the Star Tribune on April 23, titled "Phone number in abuse report at polygamist retreat linked to woman accused of false claims" states that police raided the ranch in Eldorado, Texas after calls were made purportedly by a 16 year old girl saying her 50 year old father abused and raped her. The article goes on to say that this girl was never found but abuse of other girls was evident.
A similar article on the subject in the Star Tribune today April, 24 titled "Court to hear Texas sect mothers' pleas to see children while huge custody case goes on" states that a total of 437 children were seized from the ranch and taken to local shelters and group homes.
The article goes on to talk about how this is now triggering a large custody battle and mentions a women holding a sign which read ""SOS; Mothers Separated; Help."
I guess the reason I wanted to bring these things and this story up is because I am curious as to everyone elses reaction to this story.
Should these women have rights to all these children if they are found to be theirs threw DNA testing?
Personally I think this is discusting and in this case the mothers should not have parental rights. How can they possibly care for all these children? Not to mention the article talks about abuse and rape, someone needs to be held accountable for all this.
This has to be horrible for all those children. Having to be moved around like this, taken from their home, it talks about the "culture shock" they will now all face. It's a sad situation. I would really like to hear someone elses reaction and opinions on this.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Drinking Age
I have heard recently that some of our state officials and legislators would like to see the state of Minnesota's drinking age lowered to 18.
Investigating this a little I again found a Star Tribune article on the subject.
The basic idea behind the article was that by lowering the drinking age to 18 it could lessen binge drinking and prevent deaths.
Honestly to me that makes absolutely no sense. I personally can say that I dont drink, and I dont have anything against people that do, as long as they do it responsibly.
I think that these under age people who are going out binge drinking and hurting themselves or even dying are because there at an age where there not fully mature yet. It's just a game to them, there out with their friends and they think its cool to get "hammered" or "wasted" or whatever your preffered term is.
Now you wanna lower the drinking age from 21 to 18 and make it easier for them to get access to alcohol. I could be wrong but I just dont see the benefits.
Yeah, a lot of the times they will probably find a way to get the alcohol anyways, but at least make it tough on them.
Doing this your going to have high school seniors that are 18 able to go out and buy there alcohol and now instead of huge college parties where I think a lot of kids are getting this alcohol your now going to add high school parties where kids are going to be of legal age to buy their own alcohol. Doesnt seem like a good idea to me at all.
I cant speak for everyone but this article bothers me. Alcohol is already abused so much in our society I dont think we need to add to the problem.
I personally think this would do the exact opposite of its intent and only increase deaths and binge drinking.
Investigating this a little I again found a Star Tribune article on the subject.
The basic idea behind the article was that by lowering the drinking age to 18 it could lessen binge drinking and prevent deaths.
Honestly to me that makes absolutely no sense. I personally can say that I dont drink, and I dont have anything against people that do, as long as they do it responsibly.
I think that these under age people who are going out binge drinking and hurting themselves or even dying are because there at an age where there not fully mature yet. It's just a game to them, there out with their friends and they think its cool to get "hammered" or "wasted" or whatever your preffered term is.
Now you wanna lower the drinking age from 21 to 18 and make it easier for them to get access to alcohol. I could be wrong but I just dont see the benefits.
Yeah, a lot of the times they will probably find a way to get the alcohol anyways, but at least make it tough on them.
Doing this your going to have high school seniors that are 18 able to go out and buy there alcohol and now instead of huge college parties where I think a lot of kids are getting this alcohol your now going to add high school parties where kids are going to be of legal age to buy their own alcohol. Doesnt seem like a good idea to me at all.
I cant speak for everyone but this article bothers me. Alcohol is already abused so much in our society I dont think we need to add to the problem.
I personally think this would do the exact opposite of its intent and only increase deaths and binge drinking.
Earth Hour and Global Warming
Reading the Star Tribune newspaper this morning I came across an article titled "Lights out for Sydney as Earth Hour ticks into Australia" that I found rather interesting.
My initial reaction to this article was that I never even heard of "earth hour" before, and my second reaction was how much do I really do to help control the global warming problem?
This immediately brough to mind something I seen on the home page of AOL the other day about a large ice sheet the size of Manhattan breaking off into the ocean and how concerned scientists were about that.
I've always thought global warming was a huge issue. To be honest I think most of us, at least at times, are guilty of not worrying about it because theres a good chance that it wont effect us majorily in our lifetimes.
I personally believe theres a general attitude amongst many that we should just let the next generations worry about global warming instead of taking all possible prevantative measures today.
Looking into "earth hour" a bit more I found that Minneapolis will be participating in it from 8-9pm tonight, saturday the 29th.
According to an additional article in the Star Tribune today, all lights in the city of Minneapolis municipal buildings will be turned off for one hour except for those that are felt to be necessary for public safety.
I think this is a great move by the city. I think it also shows just how easy it is to help prevent this problem. I think all of us can easily cut out things on a daily basis that would have a huge impact in preventing global warming.
After reading about "earth hour" i plan on participating in it from 8-9pm tonight as well as doing more in the future to help fight global warming.
My initial reaction to this article was that I never even heard of "earth hour" before, and my second reaction was how much do I really do to help control the global warming problem?
This immediately brough to mind something I seen on the home page of AOL the other day about a large ice sheet the size of Manhattan breaking off into the ocean and how concerned scientists were about that.
I've always thought global warming was a huge issue. To be honest I think most of us, at least at times, are guilty of not worrying about it because theres a good chance that it wont effect us majorily in our lifetimes.
I personally believe theres a general attitude amongst many that we should just let the next generations worry about global warming instead of taking all possible prevantative measures today.
Looking into "earth hour" a bit more I found that Minneapolis will be participating in it from 8-9pm tonight, saturday the 29th.
According to an additional article in the Star Tribune today, all lights in the city of Minneapolis municipal buildings will be turned off for one hour except for those that are felt to be necessary for public safety.
I think this is a great move by the city. I think it also shows just how easy it is to help prevent this problem. I think all of us can easily cut out things on a daily basis that would have a huge impact in preventing global warming.
After reading about "earth hour" i plan on participating in it from 8-9pm tonight as well as doing more in the future to help fight global warming.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
As our nation's economy struggles so do many local businesses
By Chris Szyplinski
Recession? Maybe. Tough times for many Lino Lakes businesses? Absolutely.
As our government continues to assure us that we are not heading into a recession, many local businesses are struggling due to the slowing economy.
“From what I see and what I’ve heard from people things are slow at a lot of places around here,” Cathy Seidenstricker, Moundsview High School special education para said, “I work at Michello’s restaurant during the week helping kids with the school work program and I see that first hand…not enough people are coming in to support the business.”
Other restaurants don’t seem to be fairing much better.
“All of my accounts are down right now,” Mike Johnson, sales representative for Reinhart Food Service said, “ People aren’t ordering as much food as they normally do because sales in their restaurants have dropped off a lot in the last few months.”
Unfortunately this problem seems to extend past local restaurants as many businesses are struggling.
“Lately I have had fewer repeat customers,” Katie Allen, owner of Allure Salon said, “What I keep hearing in my business is that people aren’t going out simply because they don’t have the money…and those that do still don‘t because they are worried about being the next laid off at their jobs”
Even work programs at the local schools are being effected.
“Businesses are even beginning to cut down the number of students they let us place in work programs because they can’t afford to pay them,” said Seidenstricker.
One thing these business owners agree on is that they believe their current struggles are directly linked to the economy.
“The economy is terrible,” Shawn Dieringer, Manager at Spirit Hills Liquor said, “Is there really any question that we are in a recession?”
The federal government’s answer to this problem is the new economic stimulus package recently signed by President George W. Bush.
According to the United States House of Representatives website, most tax payers can expect to receive an additional rebate sometime in the upcoming months. This rebate will range from $600 for individuals who earn less than $75,000 per year to $1200 for couples that earn up to $150,000 per year. In addition, families will receive an additional $300 per child.
It is the government's hope that this package will help boost our nation’s struggling economy. But do local businesses owners feel that this will be enough to help?
“Its not even a band aid on a huge sore. It doesn’t even begin to cover what we need to get the economy stimulated,” said Allen.
Other owners were cautiously optimistic about the plan.
“I think it could help some, there are people that will go out and spend that money,” said Dieringer, “But I think it will depend on the situation because a lot of people are having trouble paying their bills and house payments and I think the money will go towards those types of things first.”
In addition to the stimulus plan there are other things these business owners feel could be done to help.
“If the government really wants to help small businesses they should alleviate payroll taxes,” said Allen, “ My tax alone is $2000 every two weeks, to me that cost is astronomical.”
Only time will tell how much of an effect the government’s stimulus package will have on our economy.
Lets hope for the sake of these struggling businesses that it is a positive one.
Recession? Maybe. Tough times for many Lino Lakes businesses? Absolutely.
As our government continues to assure us that we are not heading into a recession, many local businesses are struggling due to the slowing economy.
“From what I see and what I’ve heard from people things are slow at a lot of places around here,” Cathy Seidenstricker, Moundsview High School special education para said, “I work at Michello’s restaurant during the week helping kids with the school work program and I see that first hand…not enough people are coming in to support the business.”
Other restaurants don’t seem to be fairing much better.
“All of my accounts are down right now,” Mike Johnson, sales representative for Reinhart Food Service said, “ People aren’t ordering as much food as they normally do because sales in their restaurants have dropped off a lot in the last few months.”
Unfortunately this problem seems to extend past local restaurants as many businesses are struggling.
“Lately I have had fewer repeat customers,” Katie Allen, owner of Allure Salon said, “What I keep hearing in my business is that people aren’t going out simply because they don’t have the money…and those that do still don‘t because they are worried about being the next laid off at their jobs”
Even work programs at the local schools are being effected.
“Businesses are even beginning to cut down the number of students they let us place in work programs because they can’t afford to pay them,” said Seidenstricker.
One thing these business owners agree on is that they believe their current struggles are directly linked to the economy.
“The economy is terrible,” Shawn Dieringer, Manager at Spirit Hills Liquor said, “Is there really any question that we are in a recession?”
The federal government’s answer to this problem is the new economic stimulus package recently signed by President George W. Bush.
According to the United States House of Representatives website, most tax payers can expect to receive an additional rebate sometime in the upcoming months. This rebate will range from $600 for individuals who earn less than $75,000 per year to $1200 for couples that earn up to $150,000 per year. In addition, families will receive an additional $300 per child.
It is the government's hope that this package will help boost our nation’s struggling economy. But do local businesses owners feel that this will be enough to help?
“Its not even a band aid on a huge sore. It doesn’t even begin to cover what we need to get the economy stimulated,” said Allen.
Other owners were cautiously optimistic about the plan.
“I think it could help some, there are people that will go out and spend that money,” said Dieringer, “But I think it will depend on the situation because a lot of people are having trouble paying their bills and house payments and I think the money will go towards those types of things first.”
In addition to the stimulus plan there are other things these business owners feel could be done to help.
“If the government really wants to help small businesses they should alleviate payroll taxes,” said Allen, “ My tax alone is $2000 every two weeks, to me that cost is astronomical.”
Only time will tell how much of an effect the government’s stimulus package will have on our economy.
Lets hope for the sake of these struggling businesses that it is a positive one.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
News Article Teaser
I have decided to focus my news article on the recent struggles of our nations economy. More specifically, the purpose of my article is to investigate and find answers to the following questions: Are we currently in a recession? How is this effecting our local businesses? Do these businesses feel enough is being done to ensure their survival?
The reason why I am interested in doing this article is because my family owns an Italian restaurant and this issue is effecting us first hand.
Our restaurant is located in a strip mall with several other businesses. In addition to our restaurant there is also a hair salon, a gas station, a fitness place, a bank, karate, a coffee shop, a liquor store, and a gas station. Over the past year our mall has seen two store closings with the loss of a dry cleaners and a video games store.
To help answer the questions I noted above I have begun speaking with the owners of these businesses to see how the recent economic struggles have effected their businesses.
So far I have found out the following with regards to the businesses in our strip mall:
Since the opening of our restaurant we have seen a slow increase in revenue each year since we opened doors in February of 2004. But over the last 3 months our business has seen around a 50% decrease in normal revenue for those months.
Generally by this time of year we have around 35-40 banquets for sports teams booked for the months of March and April. So far this year we have 10.
Our food venders report much of the same for the other restaurants they deal with.
I understand the purpose of these articles are to get us experience in reporting stories so thats why I will not include any quotes or much more information from our family restaurant. I plan to use this only to help strengthen my article if need be.
The karate place next to us has told me they are down about 40-50% of the students they normally have. Bill, the owner, has told me "All of the karate places in our chain are experiencing this, normally we have around double the studens that we have coming in now.
The liquor store since the holidays has seen their sales drop off completely. Sean, the owner, has told me "lately there are a lot of days when we only get a few customers here and there, its really slow."
The salon has had a drop in revenue as well, and lately has seen fewer repeat customers then normal. The owner Katie is a good friend of my dads and said she will be happy to speak with me more in depth about this and the questions above. I will have this to include in my article in the near future.
I know that businesses generally expect to be slower this time of year. But I have heard from each of these owners on plenty of occasions that they have never seen anything like this before.
Within the next few days I will be speaking with bank, the gas station, and the fitness place. I will also be asking these business owners their opinions on the topic of, is enough being done to help? Specifically, if they feel the new government stimulus checks will help their businesses.
I have also noticed recently in the Star Tribune, and on the news as well, information about other larger businesses. Things such as employee cuts and revenue decreases. I might look into this information further as well to see if it can add to my article.
The reason why I am interested in doing this article is because my family owns an Italian restaurant and this issue is effecting us first hand.
Our restaurant is located in a strip mall with several other businesses. In addition to our restaurant there is also a hair salon, a gas station, a fitness place, a bank, karate, a coffee shop, a liquor store, and a gas station. Over the past year our mall has seen two store closings with the loss of a dry cleaners and a video games store.
To help answer the questions I noted above I have begun speaking with the owners of these businesses to see how the recent economic struggles have effected their businesses.
So far I have found out the following with regards to the businesses in our strip mall:
Since the opening of our restaurant we have seen a slow increase in revenue each year since we opened doors in February of 2004. But over the last 3 months our business has seen around a 50% decrease in normal revenue for those months.
Generally by this time of year we have around 35-40 banquets for sports teams booked for the months of March and April. So far this year we have 10.
Our food venders report much of the same for the other restaurants they deal with.
I understand the purpose of these articles are to get us experience in reporting stories so thats why I will not include any quotes or much more information from our family restaurant. I plan to use this only to help strengthen my article if need be.
The karate place next to us has told me they are down about 40-50% of the students they normally have. Bill, the owner, has told me "All of the karate places in our chain are experiencing this, normally we have around double the studens that we have coming in now.
The liquor store since the holidays has seen their sales drop off completely. Sean, the owner, has told me "lately there are a lot of days when we only get a few customers here and there, its really slow."
The salon has had a drop in revenue as well, and lately has seen fewer repeat customers then normal. The owner Katie is a good friend of my dads and said she will be happy to speak with me more in depth about this and the questions above. I will have this to include in my article in the near future.
I know that businesses generally expect to be slower this time of year. But I have heard from each of these owners on plenty of occasions that they have never seen anything like this before.
Within the next few days I will be speaking with bank, the gas station, and the fitness place. I will also be asking these business owners their opinions on the topic of, is enough being done to help? Specifically, if they feel the new government stimulus checks will help their businesses.
I have also noticed recently in the Star Tribune, and on the news as well, information about other larger businesses. Things such as employee cuts and revenue decreases. I might look into this information further as well to see if it can add to my article.
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