In a case that's receiving national attention, former Clackamas County election worker Deanna Swenson has been charged with ballot tampering. Ms. Swenson, a 55-year-old mother of two from Beavercreek, has served without incident as an election worker for at least 15 years. Around October 30 or 31, Ms. Swenson allegedly filled in a handful of down-ballot races left blank to cast additional votes for Republican candidates. However, Ms. Swenson was in a poor state of health; a lifelong asthmatic, she was suffering from a severe sinus infection, head cold and bronchitis ...

Dubbed the largest collective settlement in the Treasury Department's history, HSBC Holdings agreed to pay $1.92 billion in fines to U.S. authorities. The penalty assessment was based upon HSBC's conduct in violation of the Bank Secrecy Act and other U.S. sanctions. It has been reported that the bank's breakdowns in anti-money laundering (AML) compliance was particularly egregious, specifically allowing hundreds of million of dollars from Mexican drug cartels to flow through accounts in the United States. This penalty assessment does not merely flow from a single act ...

Greg Carpenter, General Manager of the Holiday Inn Express Simpsonville Hotel was recently appointed to The Board of Director's for the for Greenville Hospital System's Freedom Weekend Aloft, presented by BiLo. The annual Memorial weekend event will take place at Heritage Park in Simpsonville, SC from May 24-27, 2013. Freedom Weekend Aloft is a popular hot air balloon festival that has been a tradition in the Greenville area for over 30 years. Past festivals has also included amphitheatre concerts, family fun zone, 5K walk/run, artist showcase, and a lacrosse tournament. ...

The Hampton Inn & Suites Scottsboro AL Hotel is offering special holiday rates. Available now through December 31, 2012, guests will receive room rates starting at: - $89 per night, weekdays (Sunday - Thursday) - $79 per night, weekend (Friday - Saturday) Holiday rates are subject to availability. Select "Best Available Rate" when booking. This property is part of the Hilton Honors program, which lets guests earn rewards for stays. "Perfect for business and leisure travelers alike, the Hampton Inn & Suites is the ideal place to stay in the ...

Clark & Washington, Chattanooga bankruptcy attorneys, note that the holiday season is one of the easiest times of the year to rack up massive amounts of debt, which could lead residents to bankruptcy and other financial troubles. The desire to give great gifts this holiday season can cause many Chattanooga residents to amass debt that they had not planned for, and can often be the first step to financial troubles, like bankruptcy. Great sales and nifty gift ideas can play on shoppers' passions and keep them from considering the bottom line. Once January hits, so ...

Filing for bankruptcy is often a very hard decision to make for most Americans. Aside from the negative effects this financial status can cause, it is also difficult for most people to accept their losses. Most consider the act a state of failure, an admittance of wrongdoing. The Atlanta bankruptcy law firm of Clark & Washington wishes to tell residents that this could not be any farther from the truth. Everyone makes mistakes, but it is how one reacts to these mistakes that define their character. The firm cites the example of former U.S. President Harry Truman to ...

OrthoAtlanta know that it's easy to shrug off an injury as nothing and ignore the little twinges that happen for the next day or week, but the Atlanta orthopedic doctors want to encourage people to have their primary care physician check out the injury just to be safe. The problem is that sometimes sprains and strains and even hairline fractures may not seem that bad during the adrenaline rush of a competition. While pain can be an indicator of the severity of an injury and convince people to see an Atlanta sports medicine professional, it is not the only factor to consider. ...

The Tampa bankruptcy law firm, Clark & Washington, remind Tampa residents that bankruptcy can actually be a chance to start over, much like boxing great Mike Tyson. Tyson was one of the foremost boxers in the 1980s, rising quickly to fame and infamy between his bouts in the ring to his many legal troubles. In the 1980s, Tyson was the premier boxing champion, battling against such boxing greats like Evander Holyfield, Michael Spinks and Buster Douglas. He stood, for a brief period of time, as the undisputed championship of the world, but his personal legal troubles ...

Atlanta orthopaedic surgeons group, OrthoAtlanta, encourages people to avoid football injuries through proper strength and flexibility training. Most football injuries occur in the knee or ankle, and Atlanta orthopaedic doctors at OrthoAtlanta encourage people to properly shield and stretch those important areas. With the warm weather, Atlanta orthopaedic surgeons at OrthoAtlanta caution people to be careful while out playing sports, even if it's just in their own backyard. There is an increase in the number of sports related injuries during the summer months, because ...

Nicaragua is on track to record double-digit growth in tourism visits this year, considerably higher than the original 6.5 percent growth projected at the beginning of the year, according to Tourism Minister Mario Salinas. "We registered 11.4 percent growth between January and October of this year. While we don't yet have the final numbers for November and December, we are in high-season months so it is reasonable to expect we could finish with at least 10 percent growth," Salinas told The Nicaragua Dispatch. Tourism revenue is also up 12.5 percent through ...

ETC Venues now offers award-winning training spaces at 12 locations in both London and Birmingham. The latest addition to ETC Venues' collection can be found on Moorfields, just a short stroll from Moorgate tube station. This is the second venue found in Moorgate; the first, 120 Moorgate, won the BDRC VenueVerdict Gold Standard Venue Award this year along with other London venues Bonhill House, Paddington, The Hatton and ETC Venues Victoria. On top of that, ETC Venues also won the BRDC Number One Brand for Service in a Mid Sized Venue Group award. So why is ETC Venues ...

Private fleets and carriers can take many incremental steps to effectively reduce fuel consumption and improve miles-per-gallon (MPG) in anticipation of the higher cost of the more fuel-efficient heavy duty trucks to be manufactured between 2014 and 2018, said Andy Stopka, Vice President of Maintenance for NationaLease, the North American full service truck leasing organization in a blog posting. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, working jointly with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, is requiring new trucks produced during that time period to ...

Executive Chairman and Founder John Symond today agreed for the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) to increase its shareholding to 80 percent, by acquiring a further 47 per cent. John Symond will continue as Executive Chairman of Aussie and will retain a 20 percent shareholding, while continuing to be involved in the growth and direction of the company. "We welcome this arrangement as CBA's increased interest in Aussie is a great opportunity for the company to further accelerate our growth. We now have the opportunity to grow by investing in our product and service offerings ...

TapSnap is bringing the next big innovation in event entertainment to cities across North America, with a groundbreaking new phototainment franchise. "We created TapSnap because we believe work should be fun," says Scott McInnes, CEO and Founder of TapSnap. "This is a new breed of lifestyle franchise. You get the flexibility of a part-time business with the potential of full-time pay. You get to be part of exciting parties and events with your machine, and best of all, you help people make photo memories that could last a lifetime. We think it's about ...

A new phototainment system like you've never seen before is ready for the holiday party season in Vancouver, starting with a volunteer appearance at the BC Children's Hospital Foundation's 26th Annual Crystal Ball on November 29. TapSnap is the photo booth gone open-concept and highly interactive, seamlessly integrating a giant 42-inch multi-touch screen with social media to give event guests a "phototainment experience." "TapSnap may the best holiday party guest you'll ever have - it knows how to break the ice, get people laughing and having a blast," ...

The client came to Financial Consultant Diane Rosenkrantz with a big vision: he wanted to start a DVDNow Kiosks business with nine or ten automated movie rental machines. The total cost, including inventory, was in excess of $200,000. All he needed to get it off the ground was financing. His finances were in good shape but he didn't want to deplete his cash reserves or take out a loan. Rosenkrantz and her company Tenet Financial Group helped the client gain access to start-up funding he didn't know he had: a 401(k) plan from his previous employer. "You are ...

Major tobacco companies are getting in the game and Big Pharma is fighting it tooth and nail via heavily funded special interest groups and anti-smoking groups that maintain the quit or die mentality. Millions of U.S. smokers have made the switch and the industry has grown to over 300 million a year in revenues. Over 25 current studies, trials, and tests stating that the electronic cigarette is 400 to 1200% more effective than NRTs and much safer than smoking tobacco according to the Tobacco Analysis blog run by Dr. Siegel. Big Pharma is spending millions upon millions ...

South Beach Smoke has been in business in the United States for several years now and reviews are commonplace online, but Smokers Utopia is one of the only websites where consumers can find a balanced, honest review on the products that they offer. "We like knowing that consumers can come to us and get an honest picture of what each company is all about," says Teresa Peach of Smokers Utopia. "The last thing a serious buyer wants is a review that's full of a bunch of sugary fluff about the company just to push their products. By now, consumers know how ...

Jewelry trends come and go, but timeless keepsake jewelry is forever. The Vintage Pearl has seen double digit sales growth each year for the last five years by making sentimental, personalized jewelry that is classic, beautifully crafted and hand-stamped to capture memories of loved ones and special times. The company, founded in 2007 by Erin Edwards, started as a hobby and grew to a home-based business. Edwards, a stay-at-home mom who had been looking for a creative outlet, taught herself to make hand-stamped jewelry. It became such a passion that she soon began selling ...

SafeSchools, LLC, the leader in web-based safety and compliance solutions for schools, today announced that they would provide complimentary access to their 'Managing the Aftermath of Tragedy' courses to every school district in the U.S. and Canada. "As news of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School reached our offices on Friday, our hearts were broken once again by another senseless school shooting," said Brian Taylor, President and Chief Executive Officer, SafeSchools. "We know that every school district grieves with the Newtown community and ...

Anesthesia is quite safe these days. But sometimes putting a patient under to fix one problem, such as heart damage, can harm a different organ, such as a kidney. Now a group of researchers led by Holger Eltzschig, MD, PhD, a professor of anesthesiology at the University Colorado School of Medicine, has found a group of molecules that fend off damage during anesthesia. "This is a promising discovery," says Eltzschig, who practices at University of Colorado Hospital. "It suggests a new way to promote healing." In an article published Dec. 12 in the New England Journal ...

This press release is available in Spanish. A detailed letter entitled “Methodological flaws in the estimation of abortion in Latin America: Author’s reply to Singh and Bankole” was published today in Ginecología y Obstetricia de México (Ginecol Obstet Mex), a Mexican peer-reviewed journal specialized in Obstetrics and Gynecology. The letter is a reply by researchers from the Institute of Molecular Epidemiology (MELISA) to researchers from the Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI) regarding methodological flaws that led to a significant overestimation of induced abortions ...

IRVINE, Calif. (December 18, 2012) – The Hass Avocado Board (HAB) is supporting research to improve understanding of the unique, positive benefits of consuming fresh avocados to human health and nutrition. Clinical studies are currently underway to investigate the relationship between avocado consumption and risk factors for cardiovascular disease, avocados' potential positive role in weight management and diabetes, and avocados' ability to enhance nutrient absorption. In November 2012, the first study supported by the HAB and conducted by researchers at the University ...

Because of the process involved in the formation of sperm cells, there should be an equal chance that a mammalian egg will be fertilized by "male" sperm, carrying a Y chromosome, as by a "female" sperm, carrying an X chromosome. The symmetry of the system ensures that roughly the same number of males and females are born, which is clearly helpful for the species' long-term survival. Surprisingly, though, many mammals do not produce equal numbers of male and female offspring. The discrepancy could theoretically be explained by differential fertilization efficiencies ...

Daejeon, Republic of Korea, December 18th, 2012—Cell phones are becoming ever smarter, savvy enough to tell police officers where to go to find a missing person or recommend a rescue team where they should search for survivors when fire erupts in tall buildings. Although still in its nascent stages, indoor positioning system will soon be an available feature on mobile phones. People widely rely on the Global Positioning System (GPS) for location information, but GPS does not work well in indoor spaces or urban canyons with streets cutting through dense blocks of high-rise ...