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(02/02/11 1:19am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The price of gold has increased by more than 400 percent from what it was 10 years ago.Because of this fact, many people have searched their homes for old or unused jewelry, coins and other gold items to be sold for cash.The price of gold per ounce Tuesday was $1338.93, while 10 years ago it was $266.70 per ounce, according to www.goldprice.org. Jeweler Dan Osborne from Williams Jewelry, Inc. in downtown Bloomington said he attributes this spike in price to a rise in oil prices. The price began to rise exponentially at the end of 2007, according to a graph on www.goldprice.org. Williams Jewelry will take almost anything that has gold in it. Antiques, flatware or earrings are all options, though they cannot take gold leaf, which is what can be found on the edges of book pages, because it is too thin to be sold and reused. Besides gold leaf, just about everything made of gold is taken.“I’ve seen some gold teeth that people have brought in before,” Osborne said.The authenticity of the gold is determined by an acid-test system where the rate at which an acid dissolves a gold streak shows whether or not it is authentic. Osborne said a necklace was brought into the store in the last few months marked as 14 karat gold. Both the necklace owner and jeweler were shocked to find out that the necklace did not pass the acid test. The necklace was determined to be a fake, therefore it was worthless. The necklace remains in the store as a reminder of what a fake can look like, Osborne said.But jewelry stores are not the only places where gold can be sold for cash.Travelling companies will often come to cities where they will buy people’s gold, though depending on the company, it may be safer to sell to a local jeweler. Osborne said he once read of people who sold their gold to someone at a weekend expo. Everyone whose gold was purchased received a check that bounced the following day.“I wouldn’t sell to anything that’s not going to be there tomorrow,” he said.Still, there are plenty of reliable gold buyers travelling the country, including the International Coin Collectors Association, which will be in Bloomington from today to Saturday at the Holiday Inn on North Kinser Pike.Since May 2009, 99.99 percent of the checks written have cleared, according to information from the ICCA. The ICCA travels the U.S., usually with several shows going at once throughout the country.The ICCA buys not only gold and silver, but also antiques, sports memorabilia, firearms and comics, among other valuable items. There were not many prospective sellers at the event Tuesday due to the weather, though ICCA event tour manager Paul Draper said on a normal day they will see 60 to 100 people.Draper said he occasionally comes across rare antiques or coins and often they are items with values unknown to the seller.Two weeks ago a greeting card signed by Elvis Presley was bought by his group for $1,200. Draper has also come across bayonets from the Civil War and World War I and a full array of Nazi artifacts such as coins, helmets and flags.Draper said he recently met someone who brought in several coins for sale. Among them were two foreign coins from about 400 C.E. The owner ended up receiving $20,000 for them. “They were very excited about all the extra cash in their pocket,” Draper said.
(02/01/11 3:25am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>One day after the Jan. 25 State of the Union address, Vice President Joe Biden, chair of the Middle Class Task Force, visited the lithium-ion battery systems manufacturer Ener1, Inc. in Greenfield, Ind.As part of the “White House to Main Street Tours,” Biden took a tour of the plant and then spoke to an audience of 336 workers and invited guests at 11:45 a.m.“It was a great honor to be selected by the vice president,” said Brian Sinderson,, director of corporate communications of Ener1. The vice president spoke of the United States’ continued commitment to the advanced vehicle industry.“As the president said last night, by 2015 we will have one million electric vehicles on the road,” Biden said in a press release, referring to President Obama’s State of the Union Address. “Once America has set a goal as a nation, we have never, never not achieved it.” Ener1 received a $118.5 million grant from the U.S. government’s $2.4 billion Recovery Act in 2009 to expand its production of hybrid and electric vehicles. The company was required to match the $118.5 million before receiving the grant.The grant allowed Ener1 to disperse more than 100 jobs amongst the three Indianapolis-area plants: Indianapolis, Noblesville and Greenfield in 2010.Also, the grant is projected to create up to 1,400 jobs in manufacturing and engineering by 2013 among the three plants in Central Indiana if federal loans and enough high-power battery orders come through.“In general when a government gives a subsidy it works out pretty well,” said David Greene, clinical professor of the Kelley School of Business. “The company and government are making a bet that electric cars are a good thing that consumers will want to buy.”Ener1 is an energy technology company that, along with producing lithium-ion battery packs for electric car makers such as Volvo and TH!NK ,a company with a plant in Elkhart, Ind., manufactures commercial fuel cell products and electric vehicle drivetrain products.Sinderson said the grant has already helped the Greenfield plant build two new assembly lines and will allow them to purchase additional testing equipment for the plant.“As the market increases this coming year, we’ll be able to expand,” Sinderson said.
(01/28/11 2:42am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Time is running out to nominate a volunteer for the City of Bloomington Volunteer Network “Be More” Awards.The deadline for nomination forms is 5 p.m. Feb. 1.“We want to find some of the volunteers that have been really active in the community, so we can celebrate and shed light on their work,” said Bet Savich, director of the City of Bloomington Volunteer Network. “We want the whole community to know about both the volunteers and the agencies they represent.”Winners will be announced at the “Be More” Awards Celebration on April 5 at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. Every winner will receive $500 for their project or volunteer agency. “The winners love receiving the money for the organizations that they’re so passionate about,” Savich said.Savich said any campus group that has done volunteer work can be nominated.“We definitely want college students to be nominated,” Savich said.One of the nine categories is specifically designated to recognize the work of an IU or Ivy Tech Community College volunteer. However, college students may win in any of the nine categories.There were several IU student nominees for last year’s awards ceremony. IU senior Allison Lester was one of the volunteers nominated last year. She worked for the nonprofit fair trade store Global Gifts. “The nomination was really nice, and it surprised me. It was really out of the blue,” Lester said. “I always thought of the work I did at Global Gifts as something to do with my friends a couple of hours each week.”Volunteers are often nominated without their knowledge. Lester said she was notified of her nomination last year through a Global Gift e-mail newsletter. IU student Matthew Brown was also nominated for his work with Global Gifts last year. An independent panel of judges evaluates the nominees’ applications. Some of the judges are representatives from the “Be More” Awards’ sponsors such as United Way, the Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County, WTIU and IU Credit Union.“It’s the hardest job I do,” said Renee Chambers, program director of the Community Foundation. “You see so many people who do amazing things. It’s hard to choose just one.” Typically 85 to 90 volunteers or volunteer groups are nominated each year for the nine award categories. They range in both age and types of projects they’ve completed.“People in Bloomington have a very can-do attitude,” Savich said. “If they see a lack in the community, they’ll start a group to address the need, it’ll often become a non-profit, and people will join with others to help.”
(01/21/11 5:13am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It was only junior Erik Huber’s first day volunteering at the Habitat for Humanity site, and he already had to help build a house.The project is part of Bloomington’s participation in the national 40 Days of Peace project, which started Monday. 40 Days of Peace is part of the Communities of Peace initiative from the national organization Service For Peace. This initiative is designed to call for individuals, families, businesses, non-profit organizations, neighborhoods and law enforcement agencies to give back to their communities through volunteer work and citizenship. Those who wish to volunteer can go online to sign a pledge that they will work to better their communities.It starts on Martin Luther King Jr. Day because of King’s efforts for community peace and brotherhood.“It feels good to be part of something bigger, even if I’m only one person,” Huber said.Bloomington officials said they decided to participate in this national program that offers opportunities for people to serve together in a variety of projects to improve the community. Habitat for Humanity of Monroe County offers such opportunities year-round but is calling for more volunteers — like Huber — during these six weeks.Bloomington resident Peter Bartczak also responded to the call. He has volunteered for Habitat since 2003. “I wanted to use my retired time to help other people,” Bartczak said.Habitat’s current aim is to build seven houses with the goal of completing them in March. This project began in October, but new volunteers are especially encouraged to get involved throughout the 40 Days of Peace, said Meagan Niese, development director of Habitat for Humanity. “It’s our goal to have people on the site who are enjoying what they’re doing and to see the joy that is Habitat,” construction site supervisor Adrian Starnes said. Volunteers of all experience levels can be found at the work site. Starnes said sub-contractors are only required for technical jobs such as plumbing or electrical work. Other than these jobs, each house is built almost exclusively by outside members of the community. Often families that plan to move into Habitat houses work at building sites. Along with a demonstrated need and the ability to pay for the cost of materials to build the new house, families must put in 250 hours of “sweat equity,” which includes working on other houses, Starnes said.“Often these people are living in houses that don’t have windows, doors or electricity,” Brett Fagan, AmeriCorps construction assistant, said. “Habitat gets them into self-sustainable living conditions.”Though the 14th and Woodburn Habitat site was not open Monday, some of the workers chose to donate their time in other ways. “The past two years I’ve worked at the soup kitchen over Martin Luther King Jr. day,” Fagan said. “This year I worked at the Community Kitchen making snacks for the children.”
(01/19/11 3:34am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>An organization that served 211,322 meals and snacks last year has been operating out of a headquarters no bigger than a garage.But after working in such a small space for several years, the Community Kitchen will be moving to a new location late this summer or early next fall. Renovations to this building will begin in March.Located at 917 S. Rogers St., the Community Kitchen of Monroe County serves dinner six days a week year-round and has several other food service programs within the community.The recently purchased building is also located on South Rogers Street. Once the building is renovated there will be approximately 1,100 more square feet for kitchen and prep space.Executive Director Vicki Pierce said funding for the new location has been in the works for several years and has come from numerous sources. “We were fundraising in any way possible,” Pierce said.The kitchen also received a $200,000 federal grant called the Community Development Block Grant, which was acquired through a competitive application process.The main benefit of this new location will be improved efficiency, Pierce said.“We can’t keep growing the way we want to in this location,” Pierce said.Currently the kitchen must keep most of its food supply in off-site locations because there is not enough room in the space that currently exists. This becomes problematic, Pierce said, because the kitchen has to pay the transportation costs to bring food back to the kitchen from the off-site locations. Another benefit will be the enlarged space to seat those who come for dinner, Pierce said. Throughout the past decade the number of those who frequent the kitchen has increased measurably.“It’s a weird phenomenon,” said Adam Sommer, kitchen supervisor for nine years. “Every year there gets to be more and more people who come in.”In the new location there will be seating for about 100 people, 50 more than the current facility can seat, as well as additional round-table seating for families.“We’re really excited to allow people to have an intimate family meal here,” Pierce said.The Community Kitchen has been operating out of its current location for approximately 20 years, Pierce said, though the kitchen itself opened in 1983.The current building is somewhat crowded; it is full of activity 9 a.m. until well past dinner from 4 to 6 p.m. Meals are prepared for hundreds of children each day through programs like Backpack Buddies, which provide meals for school children to take home and eat during the weekends.Pierce said 65 percent of the work the Community Kitchen does is targeted to children.“When we’re feeding kids, we’re investing in their future,” Pierce said.Volunteers also participate in the Community Kitchen experience. Some are regulars while others only work once or twice, Pierce said.“This is my first time working,” IU senior Joseph Blanchard said. “I really wanted help out with the community.”
(01/18/11 2:40am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>More than 415 people filled the Buskirk-Chumley Theater on Sunday as Wendell Potter, former head of corporate communications at health insurance giant CIGNA, attempted to blow the whistle on corporate insurance.After resigning from his post at CIGNA in May 2008, he began tireless efforts to protest the immoralities of corporate public relations. By publishing his first book, “Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR is killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans” and going on tour, Potter has attempted to shed light on the health care industry. The book signing and speech by Potter as well as a screening of the related 2007 Michael Moore documentary “Sicko,” which was also a critique of the injustices of the health insurance industry, was sponsored by Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Care Plan. Considering his 20 years of experience in corporate public relations, first with Humana and then with CIGNA, it may have been difficult to imagine that Potter’s next career move would be to become what Time Magazine calls “the ideal whistleblower” in the campaign against the injustices of the health insurance industry.“I didn’t think I’d get this involved,” Potter said. “It was very scary, but I decided if I ever had the chance to make a difference, I wanted to.” Yet it was a personal decision following events during the course of a couple years that made him want to turn in his papers. “There were three strikes that occurred to me before I decided to resign,” Potter said. The first strike was the release of “Sicko.” It was part of Potter’s job to discredit this film in order to maintain a positive reputation for CIGNA. “It was especially daunting to me to disprove because I realized Michael Moore had gotten it right,” Potter said in his speech.Shortly after, on a visit to his hometown in Tennessee, he came upon a makeshift clinic in nearby Wise County, Va., where hundreds of people were lined up in front of a barn to receive health care. The death of a CIGNA policyholder was the final strike against the health insurance industry for Potter.It was also Potter’s job to deal with “squeaky wheels,” or policyholders with complaints. One such family was that of 17-year-old Nataline Sarkisyan in late 2007. Sarkisyan was a patient in need of a liver who was eligible for transplant, according to doctors at University of California, Los Angeles. Yet Sarkisyan was deemed ineligible by a CIGNA employee who claimed the surgery would be experimental.While her surgery was eventually allowed after her family and their lawyers generated enough bad press, CIGNA’s approval came too late. Sarkisyan died within hours of the news from CIGNA.“That did it for me,” Potter said. “I could not in good conscience continue working.” Potter said the main reason for the injustices committed by health insurances giants is their greater concern for meeting the expectations of Wall Street shareholders and analysts like Goldman Sachs than the needs of actual patients.While a health care act repeal may be underway, Potter said this attempt is a smokescreen to allow health insurance companies to strip out consumer protections that would be beneficial.“It’s a shame that corporations have so much political power,” Bloomington City Council representative Isabel Piedmont-Smith said after Potter’s speech. However, the health insurance industry is a proponent of some provisions of health care reform, such as the requirement that nearly everyone buy health insurance by 2014 or be severely fined. “If people were well-informed and not victimized by the industry, it’d be a no-brainer,” said Chris Stacks, Indianapolis physician and member of HCHP. “Health insurance companies do not add any value to the transaction. There’s no point to pay 25 percent to a middleman.” Potter recommended college students stay informed and get involved to make necessary changes. Students can call congressmen, write letters to the editor of their local newspapers, and stay informed on current events. “This is important for all of us,” Potter said. “Young people need coverage as they get older. They need to think ahead.”
(01/14/11 4:42am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Farmers planning to grow organic this year can look to the government for start-up assistance.The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service has set aside $50 million in the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to implement conservation measures and systems on organic farms.While forms of EQIP have been around since the mid-1990s, it is only since the 2008 Farm Bill that support for the organic movement has been emphasized in the program’s contents.“The ultimate goal of the program is to address resource concerns,” said Mary Jo Woodruff, program manager for the conservation stewardship program of the NRCS.Because organic farming is such a different process than regular farming, Woodruff said, this bill will help provide technical and financial assistance.Financial assistance is limited to $20,000 per year per farm. The money can be used for things such as crop rotation, pest management, nutrient management, forage and biomass planting, cover crops, prescribed grazing, waste utilization, windbreaks and more.For some, this financial assistance can speed up the process of making a farm organic by several years, according to an Iowa farmer’s experience on the EQIP website.To certify a farm “organic,” owners must go through an application process and pay application fees or certifier charges, which vary based on crops or farm size.The application is a continuous process with a March 4 deadline this year.Though many farmers across the country have taken advantage of this program, some remain uninterested. Indiana has had fairly low participation because farmers are often new at organic growing, state EQIP specialist Adam Heichelbech said.However, Heichelbech said EQIP is looking for new ways to reach out to smaller organic farms so they receive assistance.Judith Schad of Capriole Farms in Greenville, Ind., has had experience with the Harrison County members of the NRCS, the parent organization heading EQIP.“I have not had much luck with these programs; and while the people sent from the NRCS have been wonderfully helpful, as a small farmer, the advice was geared more toward a factory farm,” Schad said.Capriole Farms is an 80-acre farm that has approximately 450-500 goats and provides local restaurant FARMbloomington with goat cheese. “We’ve always been very environmentally conscious,” Schad said.This program has a long-term impact that begins with farmers such as Schad and continues on through the food distribution process to restaurants such as FARMbloomington.“This change will likely not impact us in the immediate future but might further down the line,” FARMbloomington manager Chase Potter said via e-mail. “We choose to deal with as many small local producers as possible.”FARMbloomington is known for buying organically grown food from local farms. The chefs work closely with suppliers and often visit the farms where restaurant food comes from.“We’ll continue to buy from responsible local sources as much as possible,” Potter said. “Hopefully this provision will encourage other farmers to see the value in organics.”