Coastal business chambers urge public to comment against new TWIA proposed rate hike

CORPUS CHRISTI — The United Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce along with the Port Aransas, Ingleside, Rockport-Fulton, Portland and Aransas Pass chambers hosted a press conference early Monday morning, July 29, at the Solomon P. Ortiz Center to alert the media and the public about the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association’s (TWIA) plan to raise rates by 10 percent on policyholders.

In a press release, the United Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce said that the increase comes at a time when many in the Coastal Bend are still recovering from Hurricane Harvey and after rates have already risen 71 percent in the past 11 years. Raising rates will put pressure on many households not able to afford insurance, and those with mortgages possibly being pushed into default as they are unable to make increased payments.

The release also stated that rate increases are detrimental to economic development as employers seeking to locate here will find it too expensive for their employees to live here.

Now, Gulf Coast residents have an opportunity to tell TWIA “No to new rate hikes” ahead of the Aug. 6, board meeting in Galveston.

Read more: https://www.mysoutex.com/san_patricio_county/news/coastal-business-chambers-urge-public-to-comment-against-new-twia/article_e3b26924-b220-11e9-88c7-2b8cb2b94bb3.html

Jimmy Kimmel Live: Trump Attacks Baltimore

Democratic Debate 2019: Top takeaways from Beto O'Rourke's presidential debate performance

Democratic Debate 2019: Top takeaways from Beto O'Rourke's presidential debate performance

Trump 'rodent' tweets ring true at Kushner-owned apartments

BALTIMORE (AP) — Davon Jones doesn't have to look far to see the irony in President Donald Trump's tweets that Baltimore is a "rat and rodent infested mess." His apartment owned by the president's son-in-law has been invaded by mice since he moved in a year ago.

"I don't know how they come in," Jones says. "Every time I catch them, they come right back."

Jared Kushner's family real estate firm owns thousands of apartments and townhomes in the Baltimore area, and some have been criticized for the same kind of disrepair and neglect that the president has accused local leaders of failing to address. Residents have complained about mold, bedbugs, leaks and, yes, mice — plenty of mice. And they say management appears in no hurry to fix the problems.

"They don't care," says Dezmond James, who says he has spotted as many as three mice a week since he moved in to the Commons at White Marsh in suburban Middle River four years ago.

Read more: https://www.news-journal.com/ap/national/trump-rodent-tweets-ring-true-at-kushner-owned-apartments/article_db7db928-25e1-53f6-a3fd-74acd80fe79a.html
(Longview News-Journal)

Jimmy Kimmel on Democratic Debate

O'Rourke debate guests are black men who kneeled for anthem

When Democrat Beto O'Rourke takes the stage in the second round of presidential primary debates on Tuesday, three young black men from Michigan who were inspired by ex-NFL player Colin Kaepernick to kneel during the national anthem before their high school football games will be in the audience as guests of the former Texas congressman.

O'Rourke reached out to ex-Lansing Catholic High School football players Michael Lynn III, Matthew Abdullah and RoJe Williams and spoke with them by phone last week. Teammate Kabbalah Richards is away at college and unable to attend the debate but also was on the call.

O'Rourke had learned of the men's story when one of their families donated to his U.S. Senate campaign after seeing his viral defense of NFL players who chose to take a knee to protest police brutality and racism, his campaign said.

In a statement to The Associated Press on Monday, O'Rourke said the four "have served their community in one of the most American ways possible."

Read more: https://www.victoriaadvocate.com/ap/politics/o-rourke-debate-guests-are-black-men-who-kneeled-for/article_9df08761-eeef-5cbe-a154-0cce1b4ee8b4.html

O'Rourke debate guests are black men who kneeled for anthem

When Democrat Beto O'Rourke takes the stage in the second round of presidential primary debates on Tuesday, three young black men from Michigan who were inspired by ex-NFL player Colin Kaepernick to kneel during the national anthem before their high school football games will be in the audience as guests of the former Texas congressman.

O'Rourke reached out to ex-Lansing Catholic High School football players Michael Lynn III, Matthew Abdullah and RoJe Williams and spoke with them by phone last week. Teammate Kabbalah Richards is away at college and unable to attend the debate but also was on the call.

O'Rourke had learned of the men's story when one of their families donated to his U.S. Senate campaign after seeing his viral defense of NFL players who chose to take a knee to protest police brutality and racism, his campaign said.

In a statement to The Associated Press on Monday, O'Rourke said the four "have served their community in one of the most American ways possible."

Read more: https://www.victoriaadvocate.com/ap/politics/o-rourke-debate-guests-are-black-men-who-kneeled-for/article_9df08761-eeef-5cbe-a154-0cce1b4ee8b4.html

Public sector employees contribute to the state's economy. They shouldn't be vilified.

Public service workers are among Connecticut’s greatest assets. From teachers to sanitation workers to first responders, they care for our children, plow our roads, build our bridges and work to keep our neighborhoods clean and safe. They choose to spend their professional careers doing work that can be difficult to leave at the office at the end of the day, often affecting their own families by choosing to serve their communities.

More often than not, public sector workers are bringing home less money than they could by doing similar work in the private sector, but not without good reason.

Yet these workers are too often vilified for having the security that comes with a defined benefit retirement plan. It’s time to change the narrative that wealthy and corporate special interests are spinning about pensions.

From the start of their employment, public employees pay a percentage of their wages into their pension with every paycheck. Their employers also contribute to their plan, and this money is then professionally invested. As long as they have been working and paying into this system for the minimum number of years required by their employer, they will receive a modest but guaranteed benefit for life once they retire.

Read more: https://www.courant.com/opinion/op-ed/hc-op-blake-pension-security-0729-20190729-lgrd7n7rgfdxdiriz3si4kt57q-story.html

Blumenthal: Bottled water containing hazardous PFAS chemicals sold throughout Connecticut in July

Bottled water from Massachusetts containing hazardous PFAS was sold at stores throughout Connecticut this month, unbeknownst to consumers, demonstrating the need for federal regulations regarding the so-called forever chemicals, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal said Monday.

“The federal Food and Drug Administration has a statutory and moral responsibility to set limits on these kinds of chemicals found in food [products]," he said. “It’s failed to do so.”

Last month, the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services tested the levels of PFAS within bottled water from Spring Hill Dairy Farm in Haverhill, Mass. — and found them to be about twice as high as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended limit, Blumenthal said.

While the EPA has set an advised limit of 70 parts per trillion for the chemicals, the New Hampshire agency determined the levels in the bottled water from the farm to be between 120 and 137 parts per trillion, and promptly alerted Massachusetts authorities, Blumenthal said.

Read more: https://www.courant.com/politics/hc-pol-bottled-water-pfas-ma-farm-blumenthal-fda-standards-20190729-5of3gt4t2jg6pjcyqasmf45t6e-story.html