BP Spill: How You Can Help.
By: Erika Mariz
Because of the oil spill's changing trajectory in the Gulf of Mexico, Florida faces the threat of contamination from the oil spill. Many people would like to lend a hand in case Florida is affected. Although currently volunteer and employment opportunities are limited in Florida, there are many ways to help both through community programs, county programs, and possibly through BP sponsored programs.
BP stated that only trained, paid workers will be allowed to handle oil-contaminated materials. Contact with crude oil or crude oil contaminated materials without proper training could be hazardous to your health. As such, it is advised against conducting any cleanup or recovery activities without the proper training and supervision from the authorities. To be added to BP's volunteer database, interested individuals are asked to register with BP's Volunteer Hotline, 1-866-448-5816. A local coordinator will contact you if and when volunteer help is needed.
There are also volunteer opportunities within Florida counties including reporting oil sightings, pre-oil landfall beach cleanups, fundraising, and other activities.
To view the opportunities available in your county, please visit http://www.volunteerfloridadisaster.org. Local opportunities in Pinellas County include beach and wildlife monitoring. To report oil along the shoreline, please call both the BP hotline at 1-866-448-5816 and the State Warning Point at 1-877-2-SAVE-FL.If you are not able to lend a hand, but can make a donation, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium has set up an Oil Spill Emergency Fund, and donations can be made by calling the aquarium at (727) 441-1790 or visiting www.seewinter.com. Also, the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary in Pinellas is accepting donations of items such as towels and Dawn dish soap to treat oiled birds.
If you see an injured or otherwise distressed animal, please do not attempt to help it or transport it on your own. Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research has been contracted to handle oiled wildlife. If you find a distressed animal, please contact call 1-866-557-1401.
Lastly, for those who have boating vessels available and would like to volunteer, the Vessels of Opportunity (VOO) program provides local boat operators an opportunity to assist with response activities, including transporting supplies, assisting wildlife rescue and deploying containment and sorbent boom. Only vessel captains and employees that have completed training and meet the requirements are eligible to work in the BP Vessels of Opportunity program. The vessel owner does not need to be the operator or part of the crew. Owners and captains will receive a phone call when they are selected for hire. If interested, please call (281) 366-5511 for more information.
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| Banks Investigated
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has launched an investigation into eight banks to determine if the misled mortgage ratings agencies regarding mortgage securities. Cuomo's office will investigate how the banks profited from bundling and selling sub-prime mortgages.
During the housing boom, Wall Street banks often packaged pools of risky subprime mortgages. The securities were then given top-notch ratings and investors purchased them, in part, because of their high
Banks subject to the investigation included: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutche Bank, Credit Agricole and Merril Lynch, which is now part of Bank of America.
The rating agencies, such as Standard & Poors, Moody's Investors Service and Fitch Ratings Agencies were paid by the banks to grade their securities. Investors relied upon the ratings services for objective evaluation, not knowing that the information was inaccurate.
The securities have been widely blamed for the mortgage crisis and costing investors billions of dollars in losses. The ratings agencies have come under fire for giving high ratings to pools of sub-prime and non-performing mortgages.
Criminal accusations continue against banks like JP Morgan, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank for betting against mortgages sold to customers.
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Pro Soccer Returns to Bay Area
After a ten year absence from the bay area, professional soccer has returned. The Tampa Bay Rowdies opened their season in May with a win in Baltimore.
The new league, the North American Soccer League, is a second division professional league with twelve teams from Miami to Vancouver. The Rowdies play their home games at George Steinbrenner field, spring training home to the New York Yankees.
At their home opener in May, over 8,000 fans cheered the team on to a last minute tie. The Rowdies schedule runs through October. To find out more information click: Rowdies Website
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Timing of Bargains
Buy Ketchup in May and Fly at Noon: "A Guide to the Best Time to Buy This, Do That and Go There" by Mark Di Vincenzo gives consumers the inside track on how to maximize a bargain. So what are the best tips for finding a great bargain?
Hotel Rooms: The best time to book a room is Sunday at 4 p.m., by calling the property directly and speaking with a manager to see if they have availability. The phrase "I am calling for rates and availability" is known by hotel managers to trigger the best deal.
Air Travel: In addition to each airline's web specials, the cheapest fares are usually at offered at 3 p.m. on Tuesdays. Most airlines announce fare sales on Monday nights, which triggers competitors to match those discounted fares. Typically, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays are the best days to fly.
Groceries: Wednesday is the beginning of the week for markets, so you can get a discount on the previous week's goods.
Dining Out: Restaurants are least crowded on Tuesday nights and large chains will often offer their best deals then.
Cars: The best time to buy a car is on the last Tuesday or Wednesday of the month for the best deal, as the dealer wants to meet its quota at the end of the month. Also, the best time to buy a car is from September through December. You can expect to save 10 to 20 percent on the previous year's model, and if you can hold out until December, your savings will be even bigger.
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| At the Movies
By: Alison Parker
While summer belongs to popcorn movies, big-budget blockbusters, sequels, prequels, and "threequels", it's the brainier films that have caught my eye this year.
First up is Christopher Nolan's first movie after The Dark Night, simply entitled Inception. The film stars Leo, fresh off his Uncle Marty's excellent 1950s shudder-fest Shutter Island, as well as Ellen Page and frequent Nolan collaborator Sir Michael Caine.
Imagine everything in your life is already planned out as you maneuver a pre-determined course, while The Adjustment Bureau makes slight alterations according to its masterplan. This is a brief synopsis of The Adjustment Bureau.
According to VideoETA, it is based upon a Phillip K. Dick short story. You may remember Phillip K. Dick as the scribe for the source material of the following movies: Minority Report, Total Recall, and Blade Runner, A Scanner Darkly.
The Adjustment Bureau stars Matt Damon, and Emily Blunt who gained attention around Oscar time for her portrayal of the regal namesake in The Young Victoria. Looks interesting but critics may cry it derivative slop since it shares certain thematic elements of The Island, The Time Machine, The Butterfly Effect, The Matrix, Dark City, and many others.
If neither of these films has whet your appetite and blockbusters aren't your style, head on over to Tampa Theatre. Topper, To Have and Have Not, His Girl Friday, and Leave Her
to Heaven are the classic films playing this June at the historic cinema. All four offer a chat after the movie, so don't rush off as soon as the credits roll. His Girl Friday is one of my all-time favorite films, so I hope you will take the chance to see Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell's paragon of witty repartee on the big screen.
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We are supporting Thomas Ramsberger for Circuit Judge in Group 20.
We think he would make an excellent judge and would urge you to review his credentials.
You may find out more about Tom on his website below.
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We are supporting Keith Meyer for Circuit Judge in Group 27.
We believe that Keith would make an excellent judge and would urge you to review his credentials.
You may find out more about Keith on his website below.
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We are supporting Susan St. John for Circuit Judge in Group 30.
We believe that Susan would make an excellent judge and would urge you to review her credentials.
You may find out more about Susan on her website below.
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Hurricane Forecast
NOAA has issued an alarming hurricane forecast this year stating that it will be an "an active to extremely active" season. Predictions include:
*14 to 23 storms big enough to be named.
*Eight to 14 hurricanes/storms with winds of 74 mph or greater.
*Three to seven major hurricanes - those with winds exceeding 111 mph.
That is the most named storms NOAA has forecast since it began issuing the outlook in 1998. Only 2005 had more actual named storms: 28, including 15 hurricanes. NOAA predicted more storms than actually occurred only once, in 2006.
"We could be facing one of the more active seasons on record," NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenko said at a news conference.
The hurricane season is June 1 to Nov. 30, but most storms occur in August through October.
Another concern is the BP oil spill. State and federal emergency planners are worried about a storm surge that could carry oil from the Gulf spill far inland. |
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G&A News & Notes
*G&A is a proud sponsor of the Tampa Bay Rowdies, Tampa's new professional soccer team that plays its games at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.
*On May 4 G&A hosted a reception and fundraiser for Tom Ramsberger's judicial campaign. Thanks to all those that came out to support Tom.
*10 Connects News profiled the case of Bickhart v. Americana Cove where a mobile home park is attempting to evict a handicapped young man. You can view the story here:
*On May 18 G&A hosted a reception and fundraiser for Susan St. John's judicial campaign. Thanks to all those that came out to support Susan.
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G&A Email Directory
Erika Mariz
Joseph F. Milligan
Jason A. Cox
Heather Dussault
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About Our Firm
Gallagher & Associates Law Firm, P.A. accepts cases throughout the Tampa Bay area.
Our main practice areas include: insurance litigation (including toxic mold, sinkholes, hurricane claims and denied insurance claims), real estate & business litigation (including foreclosure defense and lender mortgage fraud), accident & injury litigation, consumer law, and employment litigation.
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