Policy sees pokies peter out
Stuff.co 30 July 2013Fancy a flutter on the pokies?That could be more of a challenge since Auckland Council passed a sinking lid policy for class four gaming machines.This will mean when one gaming machine venue closes another one cannot be issued a consent to open.They will also not be able to relocate from one area to another.In 2009 the Waitakere City Council implemented a sinking lid policy that had the potential to decrease the 498 pokie machines in 38 venues out west.Today there are 480 in 36 venues.Henderson Massey Local Board chairwoman Vanessa Neeson supported the 2009 policy but has since changed her mind.She says the sinking lid policy will be pointless when SkyCity has the go ahead to put in new machines when the new convention centre is built.“My concern is that people will go to the casino and the money won’t be going back into the community. I know you can’t stop gambling but pokie machines are particularly harmful. I feel like it’s not a level playing field.”Mayor Len Brown says his discussions with SkyCity have led to the company agreeing to trial harm minimisation measures such as facial recognition technology which would link to a database of known problem gamblers.SkyCity has 1647 pokies and under the agreement reached with the Government they can install another 230.http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/western-leader/8977091/Policy-sees-pokies-peter-out
FaithLifestyle Pope starts tweeting as @pontifex by: – December 12, 2012 41 Views no discussions Share Sharing is caring! Share
Share Tweet The Pope said he was pleased to be using Twitter and offered his followers a blessingPope Benedict XVI has sent his first much-anticipated Twitter message using his personal account.The Pope was shown pressing a button on an iPad tablet at the Vatican.The message read: “Dear friends, I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter. Thank you for your generous response. I bless all of you from my heart.” A spokesman said earlier the pontiff would “reach out to everyone” with accounts in eight languages. After his introductory tweet on Wednesday, Benedict posted two follow-up messages.They focused on promoting the Church’s recently launched Year of Faith – an initiative intended to re-energise Catholicism.“How can we celebrate the Year of Faith better in our daily lives?” the pontiff asked. And he answered: “By speaking with Jesus in prayer, listening to what he tells you in the Gospel and looking for him in those in need.”Benedict’s English account already has more than 700,000 followers and is growing fast. So far, the Pope’s accounts @pontifex – which mean “pontiff” or “builder of bridges” – are only following each other.Last year, the Pope sent his first tweet from a Vatican account to launch the Holy See’s news information portal.The leader of the world’s 1.2 billion or so Roman Catholics is expected to sign off, rather than write, each individual tweet himself. New platformsThe Pope’s tweets are also expected to highlight messages from his weekly general audience, Sunday blessings and homilies on key Church holidays as well as papal reaction to world events.The Vatican has long shown interest in using the latest communications technologies to spread the faith with the inventor of radio, Guglielmo Marconi, setting up Vatican Radio in 1931.The Catholic Church also already uses several social media platforms, including text messages and YouTube, to communicate with young people.Papal aides say the pontiff himself still prefers to communicate in longhand rather than using a computer keyboard. Pope Benedict’s six-year papacy has been bedevilled by poor communications.Embarrassing clarifications had to be issued over such thorny issues as his 2005 speech about Islam and violence, and his stance on condoms and HIV.BBC News
Share 16 Views no discussions Tweet Share Sharing is caring!
PLP leader Perry Christie (R) and his deputy Philip ‘Brave’ Davis celebrate their party’s election victory on Monday night. Photo: Donald KnowlesNASSAU, Bahamas — Perry Christie led his Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) to a landslide victory in Monday’s general election in The Bahamas, wiping out Hubert Ingraham and the Free National Movement (FNM) in one of the biggest wins in Bahamian political history.The PLP appears to have won 29 of the 38 seats in Parliament — 20 in New Providence, three in Grand Bahama and six in the Family Islands, according to unofficial results.It appears as if the FNM has managed to hang on to only three seats in New Providence, two in Grand Bahama and four in Family Islands.“I would like to extend with the deepest humility my thanks to the Bahamian people for reposing their confidence in me and my party and for doing so in such a powerful and unequivocal voice. Now that the general elections are over, the hard work must now begin,” Christie told thousands of jubilant supporters who gathered late in the evening to celebrate the PLP’s victory. “I pledge to you that I will give my very best and my colleagues who will join me in the new government will do the same. Great challenges lie ahead, but with God’s grace and the support of the Bahamian people, we will overcome the challenges and restore peace and prosperity to our beloved land.”Outgoing Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham conceded defeat shortly before 10 p.m. at the FNM’s headquarters. He also announced that he would not lead the party in opposition and would resign his seat in parliament, ending a more than 30-year career in frontline politics. He led the FNM to victory in 2007 and previously served as prime minister from 1992-2002.“I shall return to private life from whence I came,” Ingraham told solemn supporters.He said:”The Progressive Liberal Party has won the election. I want to publicly congratulate (Christie’s) party.”It was a short and bitterly contested campaign that led many political pundits to predict in the lead up to the election that the race was too close to call. That did not turn out to be the case.The outcome of this general election represents a massive miscalculation by the FNM of its support among the electorate.By Erica WellsNassau Guardian Managing Editor Share LocalNews Opposition wins in Bahamas by: – May 8, 2012
By Greg Soukup After a lap two yellow, the next 18 circuits saw non-stop racing as the leaders dealt with lapped traffic every inch of the way. Jake Martens passed Bubak on lap seven to grab fourth, then moved up to third on lap 11. EAGLE, Neb. (Sept. 1) – Jason Martin won his second RaceSaver Nationals crown in three years with another impressive run to the $2,500 checkers Sunday night at Eagle Raceway. Hobby Stocks – 1. David Carter; 2. Jeff Ware; 3. Jeff Watts; 4. Ryan Sutter; 5. Ben Becher; 6. Adam Wasserman; 7. Jeremy Brandt; 8. Chantel Bade; 9. Brett Saathoff; 10. Ryan Gilland; 11. Dylan Lauenstein; 12. Roy Armstrong; 13. Daniel Jackson; 14. Khrysta Stransky; 15. Shaughn Hendrix; 16. Spencer Galaway; 17. Michael Hansen; 18. Tyler Saathoff. “I’m super proud to do this. We finally got a second one,” Martin said. “Last year we just didn’t get the job done last year and that really kind of ticked me off all year. I kind of had a chip on my shoulder. “I’m really, really proud to get this second win at RaceSaver Nationals.” The 2017 champion and 2018 runner-up topped the pinnacle event for IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Cars ahead of Trevor Grossenbacher and pole starter Jake Bubak. Bubak passed Martens and Grossenbacher on lap 17 to move into third with Martens holding fourth; Martens spun out with 11 to go, moving Grossenbacher into fourth. David Carter’s IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock victory was his first at Eagle since the 2017 season. Kaleb Johnson and defending race winner Kevin Ramey rounded out the top five. Teams from 14 states competed at the seventh annual event and nine states were represented in the 27-car main event field. “That really was the key for me to get a good start. That was a long race and the track changed a lot,” he added. “Early on it was pretty good and then it got pretty slick there towards the end, getting into turn three, especially.” 
RaceSaver Sprint Cars – 1. Jason Martin, Lincoln; 2. Trevor Grossenbacher, Bennet; 3. Jake Bubak, Arvada, Colo. 4. Kaleb Johnson, Sioux Falls, S.D. 5. Kevin Ramey, Fort Worth, Texas; 6. Tyler Drueke, Eagle; 7. Ethan Barrow Bloomington, Ind.; 8. Bradley Sterrett, Bloomington, Ind.; 9. Anton Hernandez, Arlington, Texas; 10. Brooklyn Holland, Fresno, Calif.; 11. Joey Danley, Lincoln; 12. Andy Shouse, Oklahoma City, Okla.; 13. Jake Martens, Fairview, Okla.; 14. Michelle Melton, Flower Mound, Texas; 15. Stuart Snyder, Lincoln; 16. Dustin Stroup, Fremont, Ohio; 17. Justin Clark, Hamersville, Ohio; 18. Dusty Ballenger, Harrisburg, S.D. 19. Luke Cranston, Holcomb, Kan.; 20. Mike Boston Lincoln; 21. Mike Moore, Des Moines, Iowa; 22. Keith Martin, Burleson, Texas; 23. Adam Gullion, Lincoln; 24. Ryan King, Bennet; 25. Shon Pointer, Grand Island; 26. Toby Chapman, Panama; 27. Jason Howell Fort Worth, Texas. Grossenbacher moved to third on the restart and advanced to second two laps later. The last change in the top four came with seven to go as Bubak moved back to third. Californian Brooklyn Holland raced her way onto the starting grid by winning the “C” feature, finished eighth in the “B” and ended the main event in 10th. Martin became the second two-time RaceSaver Nationals champion, joining Jack Dover (2014 and 2016) in the accomplishment. Jason Martin earned his second RaceSaver Nationals crown in three years with an impressive run Sunday night at Eagle Raceway. (Photo by Joe Orth) Feature Results After a multi-car tangle at the start of the race, Martin took advantage of his starting spot in the middle of the front row to grab the lead when the first lap was officially in the books. Johnson, Grossenbacher and Bubak, winner of the Friday qualifier and Saturday’s Jake Ita Memorial Race of Champions, rounded out the top four. “I knew the start was going to be crucial because Jake sets a pretty torrid pace. I knew there was water on the bottom of three and four, so I kind of pushed Kaleb up a little bit, held my line and made sure that I was out of the water and that maybe Jake was going to stay in it,” said Martin, who also took home the lion’s share of contingency awards.
Milan, Indiana—Ripley Crossing has received the Basic Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement Accreditation in 2019.This accreditation is evaluated and presented by independent accreditor, Providigm, a HealthStream Company. Through Ripley Crossing’s use of the abaqis Quality Management System, Providigm is able to verify that Ripley Crossing is continually assessing the quality of the care they provide to their residents against federal regulations and standards at an ongoing rate, and correcting identified issues.“CMS released revised regulation for skilled nursing facilities requiring a comprehensive program for Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI).” says Andrew Kramer, M.D., Chief Executive Officer at Providigm, “The new regulations revolutionize the way SNFs manage quality assurance by requiring a comprehensive data-driven approach. Through their use of abaqis, Ripley Crossing has proactively adopted this methodology and is an excellent example of a facility constantly monitoring the quality of life and care of their residents and implementing changes to make them even better.”“Ripley Crossing is extremely proud of the work their care team has accomplished to achieve this accreditation. They take quality seriously and strive to give their residents the quality of life and level of dignity they deserve”.
He added: “I’m not making excuses for not performing as well as I’d have liked to have done. I’m glad the team won and I was happy to help the team. “We’ve got nine games left and it’s nine cup finals in my opinion. I’m hoping to remain fit and God willing I can for those nine games.” The Reds’ current injury concern surrounds goalkeeper Jose Reina, who missed the last game with a calf injury. His participation in training has been restricted this week and Rodgers will make a decision on Friday on whether the Spain international travels with the squad to face Southampton. “He hasn’t trained so much this week, but he’s coming along better and had a real good response to some of the work,” said the Reds boss. “We’ll find out by today for definite if he’s going to be fit.” Midfielder Joe Allen also requires an operation to cure a long-term shoulder injury but the Liverpool manager said they would not stop the player joining Wales for their internationals this month. “It is something he has been playing through,” Rodgers said. “He has an operation he will probably need but he has been fine with it for a few years. “Since October he has really felt it and it is something that, at the right time in the next couple of months, we’ll look to get organised. But at this moment he is involved with the group and will be involved with the Wales squad and we’ll look at it after that.” Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge is looking to make the most of the club’s last nine matches and finish the season on a high. The £12million January signing has scored five goals in eight appearances but a thigh injury has forced him to sit out two matches during that time. He returned for last weekend’s 3-2 win over Tottenham but was understandably short of his previous sharpness. However, he is now looking to push on in the final two months of the campaign, and he told liverpoolfc.com: “My fitness is fine. When I came back for the Tottenham game I trained for a couple of days prior to that. I didn’t feel as sharp as I could have.” 
Press Association
Our Sports ReporterGUWAHATI: The Lawn Bowling Association Assam today felicitated its players who won medals from different national and international meets recently. The felicitation ceremony was presided over by President of Lawn Bowling Association Assam Durgadas Boro and was graced by Siddhartha Bhattacharya, minister of Education. Tania Choudhury of Assam becoming the first ever Indian to win an international women’s individual event medal bagging a bronze in the Asia Pacific Lawn Bowls Championships at Gold Coast in Australia last month. Tania also bagged a bronze in women’s triples partnering Rupa Rani Tirkey and Sarita Tirkey in the same championship at Gold Coast. India was represented by as many as five bowlers from Assam in the said championship. They are: Tania Choudhury, Nayanmoni Saikia, Bangita Hazarika, Anand Narzary, Mridul Borgohain. Apart from Tania the other four players, who accompanied her in Gold Coast, were also felicitated today in the function. It may be mentioned here that Nayanmoni Saikia, Bangita Hazarika, Anand Narzary and Mridul Borgohain earlier won medals in different championships. The other medal winners present in today’s function were Ananya Saikia, Mridul Bora, Ruptu Gogoi, Putul Sonowal, Dipankar Sarma, Bitupan Rabha, Amiya Gogoi, Benazir Rashid and Anwesha Bora. Also Read: Assam Emerge Champions In National Lawn Bowls
“But look we’ve a good squad and a good group of players and we’ll be hoping to do very well in the league.”That game throws-in at 2 o’clock today and Tipp FM will bring you full live coverage from 1.45pm in association with Supermacs. The Premier County travel to the Athletic Grounds to take on the Orchard County. Peter Creedon’s men face 7 rounds of games in the Division and he says they would be aspiring towards promotion heading into the end of April.He said: “We’re realistic enough, we’ve been involved four years, anything can happen. I suspect that six points coming into your last game or two you could be in the hunt for promotion and you could also be in relegation difficulties. 
The Nigeria amputee football team, Special Eagles, currently in Angola for the Africa Amputee Football Cup of Nations, have called for urgent fatherly intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari towards alleviating their poor condition at the tournament.The Special Eagles landed in Benguela, venue of the competition, on Wednesday night to return to the competition after nine years of absence due to lack of funds.With only solidarity support from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) which was not sufficient to foot their bill, the 15-man team of 10 players, two coaches, one back room staff and two officials travelled on the strength of flight tickets provided on credit by their travel agent. Speaking on arrival in Angola, President of the federation, Alhaji Suleiman Isah, said while they are still expecting the Federal Ministry of Sports to approve some support for them, it has become necessary to appeal for the intervention of the President Buhari on the plight of the national amputee football team.“It is tough for us but we needed to make this trip to keep hope alive for the amputees who have decided to counter their physical disability by engaging respectably in sports.“They have been absent from the Africa Nations Cup for nine years because there was no funding support. It will devastate the boys badly if they missed this edition again,” observed the Isah.“Unfortunately, the only support we got was from the NFF and it is not enough to cover the cost of flight tickets even as we dropped some players. We bought tickets on credit just as we also procured jerseys, tracksuits, boots and other equipment on credit. The worst part now is that we don’t even have a dime to give to the players as allowances both at the competition and on return,” the amputee federation president stressed.The Nigeria amputee football team will open their Nations Cup campaign against Liberia today, Friday, October 4. Their subsequent fixtures are against Cameroon, Tanzania, Sierra Leone and host Angola on October 8.With experience from the Mexico 2018 World Cup, the Special Eagles are rated amongst the strongest team in Africa to challenge for the trophy against Angola who are current world champions.Share this:FacebookRedditTwitterPrintPinterestEmailWhatsAppSkypeLinkedInTumblrPocketTelegram
Super Eagles players Victor Moses and Shehu Abdullahi have been named in the CAF XI for Matchday 5 of Russia 2018 World Cup qualifying (African section).Moses and Abdullahi were impressive as they helped Nigeria seal a sixth final appearance with a 1-0 win over Zambia in Uyo on Saturday.This is Moses’ third straight selection after he made the team for the recent clashes with Cameroon.Other players on the list include Liverpool star Mohamed Salah (Egypt), South African forward Percy Tau and Senegal defender Kalidou Koulibaly.RelatedSuper Eagles Stars React To Victor Moses’ Sudden Retirement (Tweets)August 17, 2018In “National Team”Rohr Makes Two Changes For Czech Republic FriendlyJune 6, 2018In “National Team”Eagles Secure Slim Victory Over Poland With Moses PenaltyMarch 23, 2018In “National Team”