BART labor talks continue as planned strike looms

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Bay Area Rapid Transit managers and union leaders returned to the bargaining table Sunday in hopes of heading off a strike that would create traffic nightmares for San Francisco area commuters for the second time in a month.

Representatives from BART management and the agency's two largest employee unions negotiated for about 14 hours Saturday and resumed bargaining Sunday morning as a midnight deadline loomed.

Big differences remain on key issues including wages, pensions, worker safety and health care costs, but the parties expressed some optimism that an agreement could be reached to avert a strike planned for Monday.

"The parties made some important but incremental moves yesterday, and I hope to get to a deal," Josie Mooney, chief negotiator for the Service Employees International Union 1021, said Sunday before heading into negotiations. "If the parties work very hard, then it's certainly possible in the amount of time we have left."

"There was definitely movement from both sides," BART chief negotiator Thomas Hock said as he left negotiations late Saturday night. "Hopefully, if we keep moving, we will get to a proposal that both sides can agree to."

BART's two largest unions issued a 72-hour notice Thursday that employees would walk off the job if they didn't reach agreement on a new contract by midnight Sunday.

Bay Area agencies are preparing ways to get commuters to work if there's a strike, but officials say there's no way to make up for the BART system, which carries about 400,000 riders a day.

"BART really is the backbone of the transit network. No other transit agency has the ability to absorb BART's capacity if there's a disruption," said John Goodwin, spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.

If there's a BART strike, transit agencies are planning to add bus and ferry service, keep carpool lanes open all day and even give away coffee gift cards to encourage drivers to pick up riders. They're also encouraging workers to avoid peak traffic hours or telecommute if possible.

When BART workers shut down train service for four days in early July, roadways were packed and commuters waited in long lines for buses and ferries. The unions agreed to call off that strike and extend their contracts until Sunday while negotiations continued.

A strike this week could lead to more gridlock than last month's strike, which came around the Fourth of July holiday when many workers were on vacation.

Bay Area and state officials have been pressuring BART managers and union leaders to reach an agreement this weekend, saying a strike would create financial hardship for working families and hurt the region's economy.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bart-labor-talks-continue-planned-strike-looms-165001996.html

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Verizon Wireless lowers the bar with 500MB Share Everything plan

Ah, the wonderful world of wireless carriers. You can almost guarantee that if one makes a move, the others will soon follow. We're still hoping that AT&T and Verizon will succumb to peer pressure and resume offering unlimited data plans, but until that day comes, you can look forward to lots of fine tuning of their tiered share plans. The latest move comes from Verizon, which has introduced its lowest cost offering yet: a 500MB shared plan that runs $40 per month. This rings in at $10 less than its 1GB shared data plan, but when combined with a single smartphone, you're looking at paying $80 per month for unlimited talk, text and 500MB of data that's subject to overage fees. Compare this to AT&T, which just announced a 300MB share plan that costs $70 once bundled with a smartphone. Either way, this presents a cheaper option for some, but it won't be fun keeping such a close eye on the meager data allotment.

Update: This article previously drew a comparison that was based on the price of a feature phone at Verizon, which costs $30 per month. We've updated the article to reflect Verizon's $40 monthly charge for smartphones.

Filed under: Wireless, Mobile, Verizon

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Via: @VZWNews (Twitter), WSJ

Source: Verizon Wireless

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Common Science Standards Ignite Debate at Kentucky Public Hearing

The Next Generation Science Standards sparked intense debate at a public hearing last week of the Kentucky state board of education, with opponents using highly charged language to criticize them, according to the Courier-Journal newspaper of Louisville. The main lines of critique were aimed at how the standards handle the issues of evolution and climate change. Among the fiery adjectives leveled? "Fascist" and "atheistic."

Meanwhile, supporters said the education changes are critical to help Kentucky keep educational pace with other states and allow students to be amply prepared for college and careers, the newspaper said.

The state board of education appears to agree with the supporters, since it voted unanimously in early June to adopt the standards. However, state officials have cautioned that the recent vote is not the final word. Beyond the public hearing, the standards also are subject to review by legislative committees, which could lead to changes to the standards before they are finally adopted. And as I reported recently, the chairman of the education committee in the Kentucky House of Representatives is no fan of the new standards. In fact, he penned a sharp critique that was published in the Courier-Journal, focused primarily on evolution and climate change.

I should note, by the way, that Kentucky's current science standards include a strong emphasis on teaching students about evolution. Here's one excerpt:

In a quick scan, I found only a passing reference in the existing state standards, however, to climate change.

Kentucky is one of the 26 lead state partners that helped craft the Next Generation Science Standards in collaboration with several national organizations. All the lead states have agreed to give serious consideration to adoption. So far, beyond Kentucky, four states have stepped forward to adopt the standards: Rhode Island, Kansas, Maryland, and Vermont.

This month, the Delaware education agency will hold a series of public hearings to discuss the standards.

In Florida, where state officials have previously signaled strong interest in adopting the standards (though it's not a lead state), the verdict is out. For one, last month, the vice chairman of the state board of education seemed to signal his skepticism with the common science standards, citing a recent review by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, and argued that the state should look elsewhere for guidance.

"The long-awaited Next Generation standards also received a C, which is a surprising disappointment," said board member John Padget during a board meeting in June. "Sometime soon, within the next two years, Florida has to raise its science standards. ... When the time is right, I will advocate for the adoption of either California's or D.C.'s standards, or a combination of the two. This approach will save time, money, and energy, and we won't be reinventing the wheel." (Both California and the District of Columbia were given an 'A' grade by Fordham.)

It's worth noting, however, that by the time Florida might adopt the California standards, those standards probably won't be in place anymore in California. That's because California also is one of the lead states that helped to develop the standards. It's expected to vote on them later this year. Although they may well face some opposition, early signs suggest they will likely win adoption.

Back to Florida, one other matter that could complicate things is the political bombshell that dropped today when state Commissioner Tony Bennett announced his resignation. The action comes following a series of news stories about steps Bennett took while Indiana's K-12 chief last year to boost the grade of a charter school run by a political donor by tweaking the state's A-F accountability system.

Source: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2013/08/common_science_standards_ignite_debate.html

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Estee Lauder eyes buoyant cosmetics demand in Africa

JOHANNESBURG: Estee Lauder plans to expand its presence in sub-Saharan Africa by rolling out its $1 billion brands, Clinique and MAC, to tap into strong demand for luxury cosmetics among the region's middle class, a company executive said on Wednesday.

The high-end cosmetics company will introduce Clinique, its second biggest brand with sales over $1 billion, in Nigeria this year and in Mozambique in the near future, Sue Fox, Estee Lauder's managing director for sub-Saharan Africa, told Reuters in an interview.

It launched MAC makeup in Nigeria's largest city Lagos in February after being "inundated" with requests and will be opening another store there within weeks, Fox said.

"There's massive interest from the consumers there in international brands," she said. "We're very excited about the potential of MAC in Nigeria. That's led us to pursue a strategy with MAC that will ensure that we're able to bring the brand to consumers in other markets."

The company has earmarked a second new market for MAC, its third biggest brand, this year and another two or three in 2014, adding to new partner stores in Botswana and Zambia.

It is also about to enter Cote d'Ivoire for the first time with fragrances, currently its biggest category in Africa. Estee Lauder's partners in designer fragrances include Tom Ford, Michael Kors Holdings Ltd and Coach Inc.

Fox said Estee Lauder views sub-Saharan Africa as "a long-term build," citing its youthful population, brisk economic growth and urbanisation. The region, with the exception of South Africa, is its newest market.

"The potential of Africa, we believe, is extremely positive and we wouldn't be entering unless we believe that there was long term sustainable growth," she said.

"Our target consumer is the emerging middle class, the established middle class and that affluent African consumer who's probably extremely well travelled and very brand savvy."

However, the main hurdle to the company's growth in Africa is the lack of retail infrastructure outside South Africa.

"We would probably be going a lot faster if there was the availability of retail space," Fox said. "The concept of department stores doesn't really exist outside of South Africa. I think there are great opportunities for retailers and for mall developers in sub-Saharan Africa. Brands want to be there."

Estee Lauder is focusing on cities with the biggest growth potential, said Fox, and has identified key locations such as Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt in Nigeria, as well as the capitals of Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and Angola.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international-business/estee-lauder-eyes-buoyant-cosmetics-demand-in-africa/articleshow/21516976.cms

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