The national media has a funny habit of over-simplifying complicated topics.Most of the time, they do so as to create overarching segment questions — Is Russell Wilson the MVP? Are the Seahawks Super Bowl contenders? Were the 49ers exposed? — but on Tuesday, it seemed that commentators at ESPN, Fox, and NBC decided to play the blame game.They claimed Jimmy Garoppolo lost Monday night’s game for the 49ers. … CLICK HERE if you are having a problem viewing the photos or video on a mobile device
Vodacom, First National Bank and Sanlam have been voted tops in an annual consumer satisfaction survey.The survey with a moniker bigger than a mouthful – the “internationally measurable consumer satisfaction index research in the long-term insurance, telecommunications and banking sectors”, or the SAS index survey – was conducted by South African Satisfaction (SAS) Index in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).The survey measured some 27 critical drivers of “customer satisfaction and delight”. Some of these included quality and efficiency of staff, general attitude of staff and whether client information is kept up to date.The survey is an annual initiative designed to encourage competitiveness across industries. According to the DTI, it is unlike similar benchmark offerings and is comparable to similar surveys in the US and Europe – such as the American (ACSI) and European (EPSI) studies. It is the third year running that the survey has been conducted.View the full resultsof the survey.See comparable statistics (US and UK).Results indicate that South African customers are more satisfied than their counterparts in Europe and America. However, the DTI says this may be because South African consumers “have lower expectations”, suggested by a recent consumer survey conducted by the department.The DTI says the survey raises important issues about the level of consumer protection and awareness in South Africa. The results clearly show low levels of awareness about consumer rights, and limited support mechanisms to promote consumer activism and protection on the ground.Of consumers surveyed 55% did not know any consumer rights at all, 85% asked for more information on consumer rights, 79% did not know of any consumer rights organisations and only 2% belong to a consumer NGO. The DTI says this “poses a challenge to all government, industry and consumer activists to improve services and raise consumer awareness of their rights and expectations”.Improvement across the boardThe survey shows that overall improvement has been seen in all the sectors:TelecommunicationsLooking at the industries individually, the ranking of the players in the telecommunications industry remained consistent. However, the industry as a whole showed a 5.5% point improvement.Although Telkom showed a substantial improvement ahead of the launch of the second fixed-line operator, it is not yet delivering the same level of performance as the more competitive cellular industry. On the brighter side, the survey shows that Telkom is doing significantly better than the telecommunication industry in both Europe and the US in satisfying its customers.Vodacom and MTN continue to lead the telecommunications field, but Cell C is well on track to challenge the more established players on service levels. Vodacom and MTN are producing the sort of satisfaction levels that one would expect from global players, making their results even more significant.Banking industryAccording to the DTI, the banking results confirm the success of its investment in the SAS index to improve service levels. Significant levels of improvement were reported by all of the big four banks. FNB and Standard Bank still scored higher than Nedbank and ABSA, with their improvements setting a new benchmark for competitors in the banking industry. As was the case last year, South African banking customers remain more satisfied than banking customers in America and Europe.Long-term insurance industryThe DTI says the better banking and telecommunications service levels may be one of the reasons for the new entrant, the long-term insurance industry, trailing behind banking and telecommunications as far as customer satisfaction is concerned. Little separated the top long-term insurance performer (Sanlam) from the least well received (Liberty Life) – a result the DTI attributes to the highly competitive nature of the industry.The department says the study will be rolled out across all major industries in South Africa in the near future, providing local and international comparisons to fuel the ongoing drive of local businesses to achieve world-class customer satisfaction.SouthAfrica.info reporter
Share Facebook Twitter Google + LinkedIn Pinterest Rural business development in Ohio and West Virginia is getting a boost thanks to a $200,000 grant presented to the Ohio Cooperative Development Center, housed at The Ohio State University South Centers in Piketon.The funding is one of 29 grants awarded Oct. 3 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture through its Rural Cooperative Development Grant program. The federal agency awards a total of $5.8 million to help rural cooperatives create jobs and support business expansion, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a written statement.“America’s rural communities have incredible potential to create jobs and expand economic opportunities,” Vilsack said in the statement. “Many rural businesses and organizations are succeeding under the cooperative business model, and with access to additional resources, they can boost job creation and create an environment where more products are made in rural America.”The grant will be used to help businesses and individuals in rural Ohio and West Virginia explore cooperative opportunities in several industries, including energy and wood products, according to Sam Rikkers, administrator of USDA’s Rural Business-Cooperative Service, who announced the grant awardees during a visit to the centers in Piketon.The grant will provide the opportunity for groups exploring cooperatives and for emerging cooperatives to access one-on-one technical assistance throughout their development process, said Hannah Scott, program manager of the Ohio Cooperative Development Center.The center is part of Ohio State University Extension’s work to increase economic productivity and job and business development in the region. OSU Extension is the outreach arm of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University.“The center’s mission revolves around rural economic development,” Scott said. “We provide assistance to businesses in order for them to become drivers of economic growth in their communities.“We’re appreciative of USDA’s support of this work this year and throughout our history. OCDC has been working in Ohio since 2000 and has recently expanded to offer services in West Virginia.”As a result of the funding, the development center will provide a seed grant program to develop and expand cooperatives, she said, with a goal to assist 20 businesses and eight startups.The grant will provide a beneficial boost to the region, Scott said.According to the Appalachian Regional Commission, residents in Appalachian Ohio and West Virginia experienced 8.9 and 7.2% unemployment, respectively, from 2011 through 2013, with a per-capita income in 2013 of $24,855 and $26,020 and a three-year poverty rate of 17.6 and 17.9%, respectively.During the past five years, the center has provided more than 2,900 hours of technical assistance and has assisted with the formation of 35 cooperatives and other business entities in a variety of industries, Scott said.That has resulted in an estimated 194 new jobs and 229 retained jobs. It has also resulted in the investment of $72,000 in seed grants, she said.Examples of work that the USDA grant can fund include conducting feasibility studies, developing business plans, providing leadership and operational improvement training, and facilitating strategic planning for individuals and businesses in rural areas, Scott said.For more information on the Ohio Cooperative Development Center and its programs, contact Scott at 740-289-2071, ext. 227, or scott.1220@osu.edu.
YouTubeThe Jameis Winston crab legs story was one of the craziest of the year in college football, and based on a clip from ESPN’s “Draft Academy,” we may not have had the whole story after all. On the “Combine” episode of ESPN’s series, while going through interview practice with Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh, Winston went into detail about the crab legs incident, explaining that a Publix employee had “hooked him up” with the free food before someone else called security on him.
This certainly changes the story, and seems like it could be an NCAA issue, especially if this is a common occurence. We’ll continue to update on this new development as more unfolds.
SAN FRANCISCO – MoviePass, a startup that lets customers watch a movie a day at theatres for just $10 a month, is limiting new customers to just four movies a month.The move comes as the sustainability of MoviePass’ business model comes into question. Because MoviePass is paying most theatres the full price of the ticket, the service loses money with just one or two movies in a month. The average ticket price in the U.S. is about $9, though $15 and up is common in big cities.MoviePass regularly changes its promotions and rates, and it’s not clear whether the one-movie-a-day deal will return. It appears customers who have already paid under the old plans aren’t affected, but it’s not known whether they would be able to renew under the more generous terms. MoviePass would say only that it is “continually testing various promotions.”The service’s movie-a-day deal was popular among moviegoers, many of whom were seeing more movies at theatres than they normally would have. Without MoviePass, going to the movies was worth it only a few times a year for many people. Ticket prices keep rising, and moviegoers have plenty of cheaper alternatives, including Netflix.But the service also has struck a nerve with the movie industry. Adam Aron, CEO of the giant theatre chain AMC, has called MoviePass’ price “unsustainable.” AMC initially threatened legal action, but seems to have backed off.MoviePass wants to work out ticket discounts and revenue-sharing deals with theatres on the premise that it’s driving more people to theatres. The company is also eyeing a share of concession sales, saying moviegoers are more willing to buy popcorn and soda when scoring a “free” movie. But theatres have balked at offering MoviePass anything.MoviePass’ parent company, Helios and Matheson Analytics, has warned in a financial report that MoviePass’ future is in “substantial doubt” because it “has incurred losses since its inception and has a present need for additional funding.”MoviePass now has more than two million subscribers, up from 20,000 when MoviePass slashed prices to $10 a month in August.
With an increase in demand for these hampers, the donation will be of great help for the Salvation Army.If you would like to donate to the Christmas Hamper Campaign, donations can be dropped off at the Community & Family Services office, 10116 100 Ave.Distribution Day of the hampers is Wednesday, December 19th. FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – The Doig River First Nations presented a donation in the amount of $2500.00 to the Salvation Army for their Christmas Hamper Campaign.Chief Trevor Makadahay presented Cameron Eggie, Executive Director – Northern Centre of Hope with the Donation at the recent ‘World Cafe’ event held December 5th at the Northern Grand Hotel.The donation was given to go towards the Christmas Hamper Campaign, a service that the Salvation Army provides for anyone in the community to apply for. Unlike the Food Bank, an income matrix is used to assess and prioritize the need. The Salvation Army assesses household income vs expenses to determine the value of the hamper.
Kolkata: Supriya Chattopadhyay, wife of the state Power minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, died due to prolonged illness on Thursday.She was 72-year-old and is survived by her husband, two sons and daughter-in-law. She was suffering from kidney ailment for nearly a decade. Chattopadhyay was actively involved in politics since her college days. Chattopadhyay nee Sengupta joined the Chatra Parishad and became one of its leaders in the late 1960s. Also Read – Bengal family worships Muslim girl as Goddess Durga in Kumari Puja A post graduate in History she was a well-known figure on the College Street campus of Calcutta University. During the Naxal movement when clashes between the Maoists and Chatra Parishad students became frequent, she had played a major role as a Chatra Parishad leader and addressed the students. She was respected by all for her fearlessness. She was a close aide of Priya Ranjan Das Munshi and Subrata Mukherjee. She travelled in Colombo and Russia as a delegate. She was the chairman of the Education cell of Trinamool Congress for a brief period. Chattopadhyay was the political secretary of Bengal Chief Minister Siddhartha Shankar Ray and accompanied him when administrative meetings were held in the districts.
The Real Madrid fans have spoken in all fronts, they overwhelmingly want Santiago Solari to keep his job as the first squad manager from now on.The deadline for Santiago Solari as the Real Madrid manager is right around the corner, his last match as the interim manager will be against Celta and the fan base has decided that they want him to stay as the boss for the rest of the season.The three wins in three matches from three different competitions were enough, scoring eleven goals with a clean sheet was more than enough for an important part of the fans to decide that the Argentine boss is the ideal man to salvage the season at such an early stage.Many Spanish media outlets from the city of Madrid have conducted their own polls this week after Los Blancos defeated Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League in such a convincing fashion, the ones who voted loved what they saw from Santiago Solari and most are willing to give the man a chance to prove that he is a great manager who can take Los Blancos to yet another trophy-winning season.In order to keep the information from any poll as trustworthy as possible, we decided to only take the numbers from a single news outlet that conducted a poll this Thursday and is also one of the most respected sources in Spain.Santiago Solari has the big job at Real Madrid for now, but the race for a permanent manager is still alive | @DeanJonesBR: https://t.co/tpJJVDlVBB pic.twitter.com/N6QlXKFiFW— B/R Football (@brfootball) November 8, 2018Diario AS took the liberty to ask a good 56.535 readers from their publication about Solari, they wanted to know how many of them wanted the Argentine manager to get the job as the manager for the rest of the season at least.The response from the readers was swift and convincing, as a staggering 82% of people have voted for Santiago Solari’s appointment as the new manager.We also have a feeling that this number will go up even more if Los Blancos manage to defeat Celta de Vigo in Balaidos, doing that would really get Santiago Solari that hot seat and it would prove that he is capable of making the squad win away again despite any complication that presents itself.But the main reason why Solari has mostly won the respect and adoration from the fans and the board members, has a lot more to do with the gambles that the manager made in the little time he had to maneuver as the Real Madrid manager.There were at least three complicated choices he made, that ultimately gave the advantage because he was fortunate enough to get positive results after making such decisions.Solari has impressed at @realmadridenAnd his positioned has been strengthened
Zidane reveals Sergio Ramos injury concern for Real Madrid Andrew Smyth – September 14, 2019 Zinedine Zidane has put Sergio Ramos’ availability for Real Madrid’s trip to Sevilla next weekend in doubt after withdrawing him against Levante.Could he get the job permanently?🤔https://t.co/JqVVJmpij1 pic.twitter.com/lT8tr1yKRg— MARCA in English (@MARCAinENGLISH) November 9, 2018We will start with the goalkeeper problem, a dilemma that even manager Julen Lopetegui wanted to avoid and Zinedine Zidane predicted since last season.For some strange reason, Florentino Perez doesn’t want Keylor Navas as the main goalkeeper in the club and has been trying to replace him for several years without success.Now that the president doesn’t have anyone to contradict him, buying Courtois was only the beginning of the end for the Costa Rica international and Solari made the right choice by leaving him on the bench for the two important matches.Fortunately for the boss, the gamble paid off as Los Blancos have a clean sheet with Thibaut as the goalie.The other gamble was a safer one with Vinicius Junior, a young talent who will inevitably become a great player and has responded perfectly to Solari’s trust after Lopetegui humiliated him in front of everybody.So far in the three matches he’s played, Vini already provided two assists and scored a goal that has at least granted him the chance of maybe getting more minutes against Celta in order to completely save the job for Solari once and for all.Solari to make closing argument for revived Madrid job https://t.co/ayk0l8oZ6l pic.twitter.com/RjO4tvI9ol— Cleansheet (@Cleansheet) November 9, 2018What the decision that Florentino will make in regards to Santiago Solari’s future in Real Madrid? Please share your opinion in the comment section down below.
KUSI Newsroom, KUSI Newsroom Serious crash on Northbound I-805 Posted: January 1, 2019 January 1, 2019 00:00 00:00 spaceplay / pause qunload | stop ffullscreenshift + ←→slower / faster ↑↓volume mmute ←→seek . seek to previous 12… 6 seek to 10%, 20% … 60% XColor SettingsAaAaAaAaTextBackgroundOpacity SettingsTextOpaqueSemi-TransparentBackgroundSemi-TransparentOpaqueTransparentFont SettingsSize||TypeSerif MonospaceSerifSans Serif MonospaceSans SerifCasualCursiveSmallCapsResetSave SettingsSAN DIEGO (KUSI) – A man is in critical condition after being hit by a car on the 805 north freeway.The accident occurred on the 805 north just south of I-5.Authorities say a man in a blue vehicle was outside of his vehicle when he and his car were struck by a silver Mercedes just after 2 P.M. New Year’s Day.Police are still investigating the crash, the driver’s identity has not been released.No one else was injured. Categories: Local San Diego News, Traffic & Accidents FacebookTwitter
June 14, 2019 Updated: 12:31 PM KUSI Newsroom, VISTA (KUSI) – Ex-NFL tight end Kellen Winslow II, who was convicted of forcible rape and misdemeanor indecent exposure and lewd conduct counts earlier this week, will be retried on charges involving two other alleged victims on which jurors deadlocked, prosecutors announced Friday.Jury selection is tentatively set for Sept. 30 at the Vista courthouse, with opening statements and testimony expected Oct. 7 in Winslow’s retrial on eight felony and misdemeanor counts, including forcible rape and kidnapping.Following about a week of deliberations, jurors found Winslow guilty of raping a woman in Encinitas and exposing himself to two others. The panelists indicated that they were leaning toward guilty verdicts on each count on which they were ultimately unable to reach a consensus, leading San Diego Superior Court Judge Blaine Bowman to declare a mistrial on those counts Tuesday morning.Winslow was convicted of raping a 58-year-old homeless woman — Jane Doe 2 — last May, exposing himself the same month to Jane Doe 3, who was gardening in her front yard in Cardiff, and touching himself in front of a 77- year-old woman — Jane Doe 5 — at a Carlsbad gym in February. He faces nine years in prison on those three counts.The 35-year-old son of former San Diego Chargers legend Kellen Winslow was acquitted of masturbating in front of Jane Doe 5 on a separate occasion.The jury was unable to reach consensus on rape and kidnapping charges involving a 54-year-old hitchhiker allegedly targeted last March in Encinitas, and a 17-year-old girl who was allegedly raped in 2003 at a Scripps Ranch house party.Winslow was initially charged last summer with raping Jane Doe 1 and 2 in Encinitas in early 2018, as well as exposing himself to Jane Doe 3 in her yard. Following his highly publicized arrest, Jane Doe 4 subsequently came forward to allege that he raped her in 2003 at a home in Scripps Ranch, when she was 17 and he was 19.Earlier this year, while Winslow was out on bail, he was arrested for exposing himself to Jane Doe 5 at a Carlsbad gym. Bail was revoked following his arrest in that case.At a hearing Friday morning, defense attorney Brian Watkins unsuccessfully argued Friday that Winslow should be released on $1 million bail, as the charge on which he was acquitted was the basis for revoking his bail earlier this year. But the judge ruled that Winslow will remain held without bail because he’s facing time in prison, making him a flight risk and “a substantial danger to the community.”Winslow is due back in court on Aug. 14 for a hearing on pretrial motions.In his closing argument last week, Deputy District Attorney Dan Owens told the jury that Winslow “took from these women what he wanted. Kellen Winslow took from these women again and again and again. This man took what he wanted from them and threw them away like trash because that’s what he thought of them.”Owens said none of the five women knew each other, yet their accounts yielded common details and similar physical descriptions of the suspect.Winslow’s attorneys, Marc Carlos and Brian Watkins, told the jury that the charged incidents were either consensual sex or never occurred at all.Winslow II grew up in San Diego and attended Patrick Henry and Scripps Ranch high schools before heading to the University of Miami. He played for four NFL teams between 2004 and 2013.RELATED STORY: Jury finds Kellen Winslow II guilty on multiple charges including rape KUSI Newsroom 
Categories: Local San Diego News FacebookTwitter Posted: June 14, 2019 Prosecuters to retry ex-NFL tight end Kellen Winslow II