August 30th, 2010
Maine’s Department of Labor is expected to release its 2009 Occupational Fatal Injuries Report – in September 2010. The report details fatal injuries that occur each year by industry as well as demographically.
August 30th, 2010
Worker deaths fell in 2009, with a significant drop in forestry-related deaths leading the way, according to a preliminary federal report on workplace safety. And while forestry and logging regularly make the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ list for most-dangerous jobs, the industry saw fatal injuries fall by 50 percent last year…
…however, and the BLS classification for both industries, “agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting,” remained the most dangerous in the annual survey…
Full Article in Bangor Daily News
August 27th, 2010
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August 26th, 2010
By: ADAM JENSEN
Associated Press
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CALIF. — The reduction of forest fuels in Lake Tahoe Basin has reached unprecedented levels since 2007’s Angora fire. But the increased volume has caused concern among some residents who feel the efforts may diminish the mountain lifestyle that brought them to the woods….
Land managers, some residents, contend the…tree thinning is necessary to reduce…susceptibility to catastrophic wildfire.
California Tahoe Conservancy Deputy Director Ray Lacey…said the projects need time to achieve their full potential.
Read the entire article in the Washington Examiner
August 25th, 2010
Democrat Libby Mitchell
Gubernatorial contender Elizabeth “Libby” Mitchell has pulled out of a Thursday morning forum because two unenrolled candidates were not invited to attend, organizers said this morning.
Mitchell, a Democrat, Republican Paul LePage and unenrolled candidate Eliot Cutler were all scheduled to appear at a “leadership roundtable” in Bangor to answer questions about cross-border economic development. It would have been the first time the three candidates appeared together. Unenrolled candidates Kevin Scott and Shawn Moody were not invited.
Read Full Article in the Portland Press Hearld
August 25th, 2010
AUGUSTA — The Maine Senate is returning to the Statehouse to vote on nominees for judgeships, boards and commissions.
More than 70 of Gov. John Baldacci’s nominees are up for Senate confirmation votes on Wednesday.
August 24th, 2010
By Courtney Schlisserman
Sales of existing houses plunged by a record 27 percent in July as the effects of a government tax credit waned, showing a lack of jobs threatens to undermine the U.S. economic recovery.
Purchases plummeted to a 3.83 million annual pace, the lowest in a decade of record keeping and worse than the most pessimistic forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News…
Source: Bloomberg.com
August 24th, 2010
In his morning note, David Rosenberg warns of more economic bloodletting ahead.
The article in yesterday’s WSJ titled Specter of Layoffs Stalks Wall Street really resonated with us. As we said in yesterday’s note, the size of the securitized loan market has shrunk 60% in the past two years. Balance sheets, production, order books and staffing requirements are all rightsizing to this new semi- permanent landscape of reduced credit availability.
Read the entire article from Business Insider
August 17th, 2010
Housing starts reported:
Building Permits: Privately-owned housing units Down vs. revised June 2010 figures
Single-family authorizations Down vs. revised June 2010 figures
Housing Starts: Privately-owned housing starts Up vs. revised June 2010 figures
Single-family housing starts Down vs. revised June 2010 figures
Click Here to read U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development report
August 17th, 2010
By Matt Wickenheiser – Email Matt
Staff Writer
Independent Eliot Cutler
Gubernatorial candidate Eliot Cutler is named in at least one active class-action lawsuit connected with the bankruptcy of a mortgage giant that he oversaw as a member of the board of directors.
Cutler’s campaign sent out a media advisory last week, saying an upcoming ad campaign would criticize him for his involvement in Thornburg Mortgage Inc.
Read the full Article in the Kennebec Journal