A Damn Heartless Shame

Florida man says Wells Fargo sacked him over daughter’s cancer treatment costs 

The company claims that Yovany Gonzalez was fired because of falsified timesheets, but he insists the case has more to do with heartlessness than malfeasance.

Yovany Gonzalez via MySpace

Yovany Gonzalez of Palm Beach County, Fla., is suing Wells Fargo for allegedly firing him because his late daughter’s cancer treatments were too costly.

A Florida man has filed a lawsuit against his former employer, claiming that the company fired him because his late daughter's cancer treatments were too costly.

Yovany Gonzalez worked as a securities broker at Wells Fargo branch in Palm Beach County, Fla., when one of his children, Mackenzie, was diagnosed with cancer in 2008, ABC News reported.

The 36-year-old says Wells Fargo terminated him nearly two years later — three days before his daughter was to undergo an operation to remove a tumor.

Gonzalez claims in the lawsuit filed Thursday that the surgery was cancelled because the family was no longer covered by Wells Fargo's health insurance.

Charitable contributions, however, eventually funded Mackenzie's surgery.

She died in 2011 at age 6.

Pa. woman accused of killing fiance on wedding day

HOKENDAUQUA, Pa. — Authorities say an eastern Pennsylvania woman stabbed her fiance to death during an argument on their wedding day.

Na Cola Darcel Franklin is charged with criminal homicide in the death of 36-year-old Billy Rafeal Brewster in their Whitehall Township apartment.

Police say they found Brewster bleeding shortly after 2 a.m. Saturday. District Attorney Jim Martin says he was pronounced dead at a hospital.

The (Allentown) Morning Call reports that at her video arraignment Saturday, the 31-year-old Franklin wept and choked out, "I did not kill him on purpose."

FACT CHECK: Social Security’s funding shortfall adds to budget deficit _ in a roundabout way

WASHINGTON — Now that Social Security is paying more in benefits than it collects in taxes, there is a fierce debate among politicians, academics and advocates about whether those shortfalls are adding to the federal budget deficit.

The issue is important because the federal government’s annual deficit already exceeds $1 trillion, making any more borrowing tough to swallow. If Social Security is adding to the government’s financial problems, it becomes even more urgent to fix it.

The Facts: Social Security’s shortfalls are adding to the federal budget deficit, in a roundabout way. One big reason: The rest of the government has been running such huge deficits over the years that it has spent all of the surpluses accumulated by Social Security.

Click here to find out how it works.

Foreigners Gobbling Up American Homes

(Newser) – The Canadians are coming ... for our real estate. A weakened dollar coupled with a buyer's market is prompting foreigners to snatch up expensive homes here in the US. Of the $928 billion spent on US real estate in the year ending in March, $82.5 billion came from foreigners. Our neighbors to the north accounted for the most, with 24% of all foreign home sales, followed by the Chinese at 11%, reports Forbes. And while Russians might get the most media attention for the millions they drop on swanky apartments, buyers hail from all corners of the globe, including Argentina, South Korea, Armenia, Peru, Brazil, and Malaysia.

Powerball Jackpot Rises to $305 Million

Treasury employee Linda Tarkenton of Philadelphia holds a blank U.S. Treasury check before it's run through a printer at the U.S. Treasury printing facility. Photo by William Thomas Cain/Getty Images.

34 Social Security Secrets You Need to Know Now

The reason is that taking the right Social Security benefits at the right time can make a huge difference to a retiree's living standard.
Unfortunately, Social Security has some very nasty "gottcha" provisions, so if you take the wrong benefits at the wrong time, you can end up getting the wrong, as in smaller, benefits forever.

Also, the folks at the local Social Security offices routinely tell people things that aren't correct, including about what benefits they can and can't receive and when they can receive them. Taking Social Security benefits -- the right ones at the right time -- is one of the biggest financial decisions you'll ever make, so you need to get it right.

Getting it right on your own, however, is neigh impossible. One of my engineers and I calculated that for an age-62 couple there are over 100 million combinations of months for each of the two spouses to take retirement benefits, spousal benefits and decided whether or not to file and suspend one's retirement benefits.

There are also start-stop-start strategies to consider. Each combination needs to be considered to figure out what choices will produce the highest benefits when valued in the present (measured in present value). For some couples who are very different in age, survivor benefits also come into play. In that case, the number of combinations can exceed 10 billion!

Smiley, Cornel West to promote book at S.C. State

PBS late-night talk show host and bestselling author Tavis Smiley and educator and philosopher Cornel West will promote their new book, “The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto,” on the S.C. State University campus Wednesday evening.

Smiley and West will appear at 7 p.m., with more details to be released later. The event is free and open to the public.

In their book, published by SmileyBooks, Smiley and West advocate a new socioeconomic system based on a foundation of “fundamental fairness.” In the book, they support “good public policy that prioritizes and delivers living-wage jobs, support for single mothers and pragmatic training and employment of low-skilled and unskilled workers so that all Americans will have a chance to lift themselves out of poverty.

S.C. judge rules against Catawbas in pursuit of York County casino

Read more here: http://www.heraldonline.com/2012/04/24/3919278/sc-judge-rules-against-catawbas.html#storylink=cpy

A judge has ruled against the Catawba Indian Nation in its attempt to build a casino on its York County reservation, but even opponents of the casino expect the tribe to appeal the ruling.

Judge J. Ernest Kinard ruled against the Catawbas in their lawsuit against South Carolina and the state's top law enforcement officials over the tribe's gaming rights, Kinard’s law clerk Wilson Davis said.

Read more here: http://www.heraldonline.com/2012/04/24/3919278/sc-judge-rules-against-catawbas.html#storylink=cpy

New Jersey Nets say ‘goodbye’ Newark, ‘hello’ Brooklyn

Infant stabbed in neck at social services building in Baltimore; mother in custody

In 1958, America accidentally dropped a nuclear weapon on two little girls’ playhouse

For certain rural residents of the Carolinas during the Cold War, apocalyptic anxiety hit disturbingly close to home. In 1958 and 1961, the American Air Force lost nuclear weapons over the skies of South and North Carolina, respectively, raining potential apocalypse on the folks below.

In both incidents, complete catastrophe was avoided thanks to that ever-potent combination of foresight and unmitigated dumb luck. And in the former incident, the bomb fell square on some unsuspecting children's playhouse.

The first accident occurred over Florence, South Carolina on March 11, 1958, slightly after 4:30 in the afternoon. An American B-47E bomber was flying from Savannah, Georgia to Bruntingthorpe Air Base in England for exercises — onboard was a Mark 6 30-kiloton fission bomb.

Boeing secures option on more land in South Carolina

Boeing has secured an option to buy 94 additional acres near Charleston, S.C., an option that if exercised could significantly increase Boeing’s presence in that region.

An April 23 story in the Charleston Regional Business Journal said that Boeing paid $10 to Stone Mountain Industrial Park for an option on the land, and right of first refusal until July 30, 2014.

The land is adjacent to the Boeing Interiors Responsibility Center, about five miles north of Boeing's final assembly plant for 787. The interiors center builds interior parts for 787s.

Cuban Actors Disappear En Route to New York Film Festival Premiere

In a case of life imitating art, a pair of young Cuban actors who were expected at the New York premiere of their film about defecting to the U.S. have disappeared after landing in Miami. 

The film "Una Noche" is about three young Cubans who decide to flee the country on a raft after one of them is accused of assault. The film follows the day they attempt to make it 90 miles across the ocean to Florida.

All three of the film's stars—Anailin de la Rua de la Torre, Javier Nunez Florian and Dariel Arrechaga—were expected to appear at New York's Tribeca Film Festival for the premiere. But Torre and Florian, both 19, were nowhere to be found the night of the event.

Stress Rises on Social Security

Report Says Program Will Exhaust Reserves Three Years Earlier Than Expected

Social Security, which pays retirement and disability benefits to 56 million Americans, will exhaust its reserves by 2033, three years sooner than previously estimated, a new government report said Monday.

A Surprising Risk for Toddlers on Playground Slides

Death on the Border: Shocking Video Shows Mexican Immigrant Beaten and Tased by Border Patrol Agents

The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and his wife just bought part of the 76ers

To most of your parents, Will Smith owns the only rap lyric they can reliably relate word for word -- "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air" theme. And because everyone seems to know that Will Smith was "born and raised" in West Philadelphia, it makes complete and total sense that he and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, are members of the latest group to pay way too much for an NBA team. The team, as you and your parents would guess, is the Philadelphia 76ers.

Job fair scheduled Oct. 27 at Prince of Orange Mall

The free event will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27, and is being sponsored by the Prince of Orange Mall and state and local agencies.

The job fair comes at a time when unemployment rates in The T&D Region are hovering around 15 percent.

 “We hope this might remedy it,” said John Timmons, S.C. Department of Social Services program manager. “We are comforted by the fact that Universal Trade Solutions will bring with them 100 new jobs. It is a step in the right direction.”

Read more: http://www.thetandd.com/news/local/article_3764c2bc-f9db-11e0-8f6c-001cc4c002e0.html#ixzz1bDnGkeQU

Read more: http://www.thetandd.com/news/local/article_3764c2bc-f9db-11e0-8f6c-001cc4c002e0.html#ixzz1bDmXUYbf

 

Read more: http://www.thetandd.com/news/local/article_3764c2bc-f9db-11e0-8f6c-001cc4c002e0.html#ixzz1bDmBBeiB

Making South Carolina a high-tech hotbed
Some say making South Carolina a hotbed for technology can be an uphill battle because from the outside looking in, the Palmetto State appears to be lagging behind. Tuesday, industry insiders worked to change the high tech picture for the state.

“South Carolina is the tip of the spear in so many different ways around new initiatives that involve technology and is a huge market for growth,” said Mike Carter with South Carolina based tech company eGroup.

Woman Accused Of Throwing Cupcakes At Husband Charged With Domestic Battery

After that, she reached for the box of desserts and directed a fusillade of snack cakes at his head and body, her husband told police. Several of the confections apparently hit their mark, as the man's head and shirt were smudged with icing when officers arrived, according to a police report.

Medicare will cut Social Security’s “raise” in 2012

After two years without an inflation adjustment, the Social Security Administration is expected to announce a 2012 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) of more than 3 percent next week. That would be a sizable raise in this economy, and very welcome news to seniors hit hard by rising costs, slumping home equity and very low returns on fixed-income investments.

Rep. Jesse Jackson Calls on Government to Hire All Unemployed Americans for $40,000 Each

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. has offered his own $804 billion jobs plan that calls on the federal government to hire the nation’s 15 million unemployed Americans for jobs paying roughly $40,000 each, and bail out all the states and cities facing budget crises.

“Now we’re making some progress,” Jackson said, comparing the legislative gridlock in Congress to the states that seceded from the union during the Civil War.

"We've seen Congress is in rebellion," he said, "determined to wreck or ruin at all costs."

Most Food Stamp Recipients Have No Earned Income

Some 70% of households that relied on food stamps last year had no earned income, a new report shows.

Thieves steal wheelchair of girl with cerebral palsy

Over the weekend, Georgia bandits made off with a family's van with very special cargo within: the
wheel chair of a 9-year-old girl with cerebral palsy.

Without her custom made wheelchair, Aysia Clements is homebound and unable to attend school.
Her parents, James and Batoya Clements, were left with no other option other than to beg for the thieves to return the purple and black chair with their daughter's name engraved on it.




13 Best Job Sites for Baby Boomers

The first step to finding a new job is to look in the right place, and these sites are especially beneficial to experienced workers who are looking to fill a particular niche in the labor market. Take a look at these top sites for the experienced worker -- maybe one of them has the perfect opportunity waiting for you.


Employees Wanted: 10 Middle-Class Jobs That Are Actually Growing

Where did all the jobs go? And where did all the good jobs go?
It's a question 13.9 million unemployed Americans and countless disgruntled workers have wondered since the "Great Recession" began. Most jobs seem to be hiding in the health and educational services, with 544,000 openings as of April 2011.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects that the U.S. will add 15.3 million new jobs between 2008 and 2018, and a whopping 15 out of 30 jobs with the most projected openings and vacancies will pay wages that are above the national median wage for all workers in the United States.


10 Middle-Class Jobs That Will Vanish by 2018
By the year 2018, the manufacturing industry will lose 1.2 million jobs, the mining and oil/gas extraction industry will lose another 104,000 jobs and utility companies will lose 59,000 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

But outsourcing and foreign competition aren't the only reasons for shrinking industries. The needs of our economy have changed in recent years while companies have become leaner and meaner in order to survive.

Oral Sex May Cause More Throat Cancer Than Smoking in Men, Researchers Say

A virus spread by oral sex may cause more cases of throat cancer in men than smoking, a finding that spurred calls for a new large-scale test of a drug used against the infection.

Researchers examined 271 throat-tumor samples collected over 20 years ending in 2004 and found that the percentage of oral cancer linked to the human papillomavirus, or HPV, surged to 72 percent from about 16 percent, according to a report released yesterday in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. By 2020, the virus-linked throat tumors -- which mostly affected men -- will become more common than HPV-caused cervical cancer, the report found.