Jul 02
PROVIDENCE – Nortek Inc. announced Thursday the retirement of Richard L. Bready, longtime chairman, president and CEO, and the appointment of J. David Smith as interim CEO, effective Friday.
Bready retires after 36 years at Nortek, a leading global manufacturer of residential and commercial ventilation and technology products. Under his leadership, the company said, Nortek grew into a diversified manufacturer of building products in four areas: residential ventilation, technology, residential air conditioning and heating, and commercial air conditioning and heating.
“With the 2009 restructuring, the successful acquisitions of Ergotron and TV One, as well as the recent refinancing of the company’s balance sheet behind us, Nortek is now solidly positioned for the future,” Bready said in a prepared statement. “Theref
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Jul 02
The Virginia Board of Social Services made a decision this week that setback efforts to allow communities throughout the state to create families through adoption. In addition, the board showed signs of disregard for interests of children within the foster care system of Virginia.
The board decided against new proposed regulations that would end discrimination based on sexual orientation by licensed child adoption agencies. Opponents argued that these new regulations conflicted with Virgina state policy and faith-based child welfare agencies.
These state officials and agencies neglected to take into consideration that Virginias foster care system is in desperate need of waiting adoptive families. Read more…
Jun 29
Jan Brewer, the governor of Arizona, signed a bill enabling married heterosexual couples to have priority consideration when adoption agencies are placing children for up adoption or foster care.
Despite receiving over 500 pieces of mail from Equality Arizona supporters asking her to veto the bill, Brewer to the action to sign the bill on Monday. The board chairman for Equality Arizona, Tom Mann, criticized the Brewer’s actions in a statement.
“The governors action today is harmful to children in foster care and group homes who are seeking a permanent home and the support of a loving, caring family,” Mann said. Read more…
Jun 29
WESTERLY – A traveling exhibit, “The Many Faces of George Washington,” will be on display at the Colony House in Newport through July 9.
The exhibit comprises 7-foot-tall panels that present views of Washington as a general, statesman, farmer and visionary entrepreneur, using color graphics of paintings, photographs and iconic objects from the Mount Vernon collection.
It is an invitation-only exhibit, except for July 4 when it is free and open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
In celebration of the holiday, a special reading of the Declaration of Independence will take place on the steps of the Colony House – the same place it was originally read in July 1776.
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Jun 29
NEW YORK – Mortgage applications in the U.S. fell last week even as borrowing costs dropped.
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index decreased 2.7 percent in the period ended June 24 from the prior week, the Washington-based group reported Wednesday. The group’s purchase gauge fell 3 percent to the lowest level since late February, while the refinancing measure declined 2.6 percent.
Unemployment above 9 percent and a surplus of distressed properties are keeping consumers hesitant about entering the real estate market. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Ber
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Jun 27
Consumer spending probably climbed at the slowest pace in almost a year and manufacturing cooled as dimmer job prospects and elevated commodity costs weighed on the U.S. expansion, economists said reports this week will show.
Purchases rose 0.1 percent in May, the smallest gain since June 2010, according to the median estimate of 63 economists in a survey before a Commerce Department figures tomorrow. The disaster in Japan also held back American factories this month, a survey of purchasing managers may show.
The highest gasoline prices since 2008 and unemployment hovering around 9 percent caused households to pare spending, which may temper demand at factories already contending with higher input expenses and supply chain disruptions. Read more…