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MANSFIELD Personal electronics are banned at Liberty Lake Day Camp, so campers like 13-year-old Joey Miller spend their days swimming, fishing and playing soccer. They might not be doing that much longer.

If current plans to build a warehouse near Liberty Lake are approved, runoff from the new development might worsen flooding at the day camp, rendering portions of the site useless, camp owner Andy Pritikin said during a public hearing last week.

It would jeopardize a huge section of my property, Pritikin said. Im afraid that nobody has really looked into this.

Pritikin addressed the state Department of Environmental Protection on Tuesday during a crowded hearing on the warehouse and several other Mansfield-area developments. Supporters of the camp packed the Mansfield Municipal Building, with the crowd filling every seat and spilling into the hallway.

Miller was there, holding a large poster scrawled with the slogan: SAVE LIBERTY LAKE. Before the hearing, a DEP official reminded the audience that the warehouse proposal was only a proposal and that the DEP would hear concerns, but not address them. Answers to residents questions would come in writing within a few weeks, the official said.

About 10 people, ranging from camp counselors to parents, spoke out against the warehouse development during the two-hour meeting.

Several others took the microphone to condemn other developments proposed for Mansfield, such as a sewer project that could spur development in the rural community. But most of the people were there on behalf of Liberty Lake, as evidenced by their T-shirts and impassioned three-minute speeches to the DEP.

This camp gives kids an experience that I dont want taken away, said Shannon Callery, 15, a counselor and former camper. Flooding changes that experience.

Callery was one of several speakers who told personal stories about the camp.

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Warehouse proposal presents new threat to Mansfield's Liberty Lake Day Camp

Lashai and Tray-Sean Ben Salmi of Eton Road, Ilford, received the first copy of their book on Monday.

The book, entitled Kidz that Dream Big! Essential tips on how to have fun! dream big! and make money doing what you love, provides practical tips on achieving your goals.

Lashai, 12, said: When I received my copy I was really excited. I was really pleased it was finally here.

The book gives advice on how to apply for grants and turn hobbies into businesses by setting up websites.

After her mother Sabrina published a book last year, Lashai said she wanted to do the same.

I was inspired by my mums book and wanted to say Im a published author and especially to give children a way to access the information, she added.

The book draws on her own experience of being frightened going to conferences and people not taking her ideas seriously because of her age.

I was bullied at school which helped my awareness and that cannot stop you from achieving what you want to achieve and its given me more ideas on how to help kids to dream big, she said.

After she started writing it her younger brother Tray-Sean wanted to help.

He said: I just wanted to help her, she was doing it and I wanted to take part. I was amazed when it arrived on Monday. I was shocked.

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Ilford brother and sister pen book inspiring other youngsters to follow their dreams

An Expat's Unexpected Personal Growth

Sometimes the biggest lessons in your personal development come when you're least expecting it. That happened to me in the last few years. Things were kind of looking down for me so I took the opportunity to move to Cebu Philippines. I have been living in the Philippines for a bit more than four years now.

Though I didn't move for personal growth, it has turned out to be one of the biggest benefits of my new life in the Philippines. I primarily moved for the lower cost of living. I did gain that but I have also seen a remarkable improvement on my outlook in life. Here's how:

Personal Development Though the Culture of Others

It started within a few days of moving to Cebu. I was sitting on the back of a motorcycle with a large sidecar attached. I looked around at all the poverty, the wild noises one will hear here and the unsafe mode in which I was traveling.

I thought to myself, "What have you done?" That was a moment of fear and thinking I had made a huge mistake. Then I looked around and I saw all the happy people. Filipino people living with far less than I have. These people are often living in huts with no air conditioning, sometimes with no electricity, in homes that look like they are falling apart and often even without running water.

I noticed how happy these people are and I thought to myself, "There are millions of happy people here. If they can do it, I can do it." Though I didn't realize it at the time, it was the beginning of a journey. This journey didn't require a plane or a car, it required an open mind.

I then began to delve into the culture of the Philippines. I began to ask a lot of questions and many times when I asked Filipinos my questions they seemed to be defensive. I often explained, I do not think the Western way is better. I simply am seeking to understand. Once I did that, I found the defensive answers would disappear.

As I began to understand, I thought about why these differences would come about. I concluded that the differences in our histories are the main factor. Humans adapt to their environment and the environment of the USA, England or Germany is very different from that of Asia and the Philippines.

With this open minded approach to the Philippines, I found myself beginning to take on some of the culture of the Philippines. As I did, I became a more contented person. Some of this I feel comes from understanding how much I have in the way of material things. I find it harder now to complain about things that don't go my way when I have so much going my way.

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The Unexpected Ways You Can Grow as a Person

ROCKFORD The city will save millions of dollars as it transfers operation of its Coronado Performing Arts Center to a private management firm. Equally significant, perhaps even more so, is the projected dramatic turnaround of the citys primary revenue source for economic development initiatives.

The citys Redevelopment Fund, awash in red ink, has for years struggled to ignite meaningful economic development. In turn, the city has leaned on its few other tools to spur development, most notably tax increment finance districts. The city has 29 such districts, many of which are underperforming and running deficits of their own.

But with management of the Coronado falling under the Rockford Area Venues and Entertainment Authority, combined with other city budget decisions, the Redevelopment Fund can reclaim its purpose and potential.

Rockford has no shortage of economic development needs. The citys economy relies heavily on manufacturing and leaders are trying to grow a firm foothold in the aerospace industry. Mayor Larry Morrissey is fond of describing plans for a downtown riverwalk and a whitewater kayak course on the Rock River. The Amerock building downtown, and the city-owned Barber-Colman industrial property a few blocks south, are considered by many as prime, though costly, sites for redevelopment. Suddenly, Rockford may have the money to tackle some of this stuff.

Aldermen are asking themselves how the city should spend it.

We dont want to repeat our mistakes with the Redevelopment Fund, said Ald. Venita Hervey, D-5. We need to build a strong guidance policy. Thats what we need to decide and thats what Im going to be proposing to the City Council.

Purpose drifted after creation The Redevelopment Fund, fed by hotel, restaurant and liquor taxes, was established in 1978 to first cover any operating shortfalls at the former MetroCentre, then to aid redevelopment downtown. But in the intervening years, aldermen didnt uphold that guideline. Pressure to tap the fund for all sorts of city needs intensified in the 1980s, following Rockford voters decision to rescind the citys home rule powers.

The loss of home rule left the city with fewer options to pay for economic development and cultural initiatives. The Redevelopment Fund became an easy target. Only 40 percent of Redevelopment Fund cash generated since 1978 actually made it to the MetroCentre by 2009.

Then, three years ago, the arena faced a financial crisis, and aldermen stopped the bleeding by expanding its public subsidy while taking steps to correct decades of Redevelopment Fund mismanagement.

Today, a new entity governs the arena, Davis Park and the Coronado. The RAVE authority, governed by a public board of directors, pays private venues management firm SMG $200,000 a year to operate the three facilities. The combined city subsidy to those venues has shrunk and is projected to shrink further. The city last year reworked its contract with the Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau and as part of that deal and is sending less hotel tax revenues to the bureau than it previously did.

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Coronado consolidation helps free up cash for Rockford's growth

(PRWEB) June 30, 2012

Recently, USA Payday Forever announced that they are developing a new series of personal finance documentation meant to help customers understand how to handle their finances. However, they are now announcing that the development of these documents have to be put on a hold. USA Payday Forever has not released information pertaining to their reasons for the delay of these new documents, but they have assured customers that their regular payday loan services are still available.

Another important detail that USA Payday Forever revealed is that while the documents are being delayed they are putting their resources into the further development of their payday loan website. They have said that progress is slow on the redesign efforts of their website, which they have hired an outside firm to work on for them. They do not have an estimated time of arrival for this payday website redesign as of yet, but they have said they would release that information as soon as it became available.

USA Payday Forever is having their cash advance website redesigned for a few different reasons. They have repeatedly stated that the redesign is a part of a large effort to expand their abilities to better serve their cash advance and personal finance customers. This was agreed upon with their personal finance partner company. The special training they gave to their customer service representatives further enhanced the plan.

Also, as a part of their grand plan, USA Payday Forever and their partner company developed new payday loan services, as well as updated old ones. These new changes are slated to appear when they announce the re-launch of their website.

About USA Payday Forever USA Payday Forever is an online company that helps consumers to find and obtain cash advance and payday loan services. For more information about USA Payday Forever, please visit their website at http://www.usapaydayforever.com.

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USA Payday Forever Forecasts Delay Of Personal Finance Help Documents For Their Website

NEW YORK, June 29, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SKIM, an international market research agency, will sponsor and present at the InnoCos USA Conference on July 11-12 in New York City. Paul Janssen, SKIM's director of communication research, and Sourabh Sharma, project manager on SKIM's consumer research team, will present "Bring Your Innovation to Market: Leveraging consumer insights from new product development to marketing." This presentation follows a well-received and highly rated SKIM session at InnoCos Europe 2012 in June.

Janssen and Sharma will present a case study about on-pack packaging communication for a personal care product. The case study will illustrate how innovations require a deep understanding of the consumer throughout many phases of a product's life cycle, from product development to launch. Understanding how to communicate a product's benefits, how to exemplify the reasons to believe, and how to best position an innovative offering is key to determining what triggers consumers. Through an interactive case exercise, attendees will evaluate claims and participate in a workshop to learn best practices derived from SKIM's meta-analysis of claims across multiple consumer product industries. These strategies can be applied to on-pack communications as well as communications testing across every phase of the product life cycle.

Janssen is considered an expert in the field of claims and communication. He advises clients including Unilever, PepsiCo and Philips regarding the optimization of claim and communication strategies for specific marketing initiatives. Sharma has multiple years of experience in brand management and product development in the cosmetics industry and at L'Oreal. He works with SKIM clients to extract value from the rapidly evolving brand-to-consumer social media interface. Sharma will serve as a chairperson for InnoCos USA on Thursday, July 12th.

InnoCos brings together senior executives from the cosmetics and personal care industry to discuss key issues related to front-end innovation, new product development and high-growth markets. For more on InnoCos USA 2012, visit http://www.skimgroup.com/innocos-usa-newyork.

About SKIM

Founded in 1979, SKIM is a dynamic and rapidly growing market research agency with offices in New York, Rotterdam, Geneva and London. A San Francisco office will open in the summer of 2012. Combining market-specific expertise and knowledge of advanced research methodologies, SKIM is a valued partner for multinational companies in consumer packaged goods, healthcare, consumer health, telecommunications, technology and financial services. Leading companies around the globe rely on SKIM researchers for strategic guidance on pricing, communication and new product development. Visit http://www.skimgroup.com for more information.

The SKIM logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=12864

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SKIM to Present "Bring Your Innovation to Market: Leveraging consumer insights from new product development to ...

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire -06/29/12)- LNG Energy Ltd. ("LNG" or the "Company") (LNG.V) announces that effective July 2, 2012, Dave Afseth, has elected, for personal reasons, to resign as President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Afseth has been instrumental in the development of the Company over the last 5 years and will remain on the Company's board. The board extends its sincere appreciation to him for his effort and time in that role.

The Company is also pleased to announce that David Nelson, the current General Manager, Europe of the Company, has been appointed as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company as of July 2, 2012.

Mr. Nelson is a Geological Engineer with over 32 years of geological, engineering, and commercial experience in the energy industry, focusing the last 20 years on European and Central Asian oil and gas provinces. Prior to joining LNG, Mr. Nelson served as President and Chief Operating Officer for Direct Petroleum Exploration and as Business Development Engineering Manager for TransAtlantic Petroleum Ltd.

The Company also announces that Dr. Robert Gayton has resigned as Director effective July 2, 2012 for personal reasons. The board extends its gratitude for his efforts and guidance as Director.

Further to its news release of April 10, 2012 relating to the farm-out of the PPL 319 license in Papua New Guinea, the farm-out process is still progressing with interested parties currently conducting technical reviews of data provided to them.

"Dave has been with LNG since we entered PNG in 2008 and has made a significant contribution to the position that we are now in," said David Cohen, Chairman of LNG. "Today LNG has substantial prospects in three major areas: PNG, Poland and Bulgaria and we wish Dave much success as he steps down from an operating role in the company. Bob Gayton has been fully involved at board level and we are very appreciative of his time and input to the Company."

LNG is a Canadian exploration and development company focused on developing oil and gas reserves in Papua New Guinea, Poland and Bulgaria. LNG holds a 100% interest in approximately 5.5 million acres of prospective oil and gas properties in Papua New Guinea. LNG is operator and has a 50% net interest in approximately 360,000 gross acres of prospective shales in Poland together with San Leon Energy. LNG also has a 20% net interest in approximately 734,000 gross acres of prospective shales in Poland together with BNK Petroleum Inc., Sorgenia E&P S.p.A., and Rohol-Aufsuchungs Aktiengesellschaft. LNG has also entered into a farm in agreement relating to 405,080 acres of prospective argillite formation in Bulgaria with Direct Petroleum Bulgaria EOOD, a subsidiary of TransAtlantic Petroleum Ltd. LNG shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "LNG".

LNG ENERGY LTD.

David Afseth, President & CEO

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

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LNG Energy Ltd.: Appointment of New Chief Executive Officer, Board Update and PPL 319 License Farm-Out Update

wwltv.com

Posted on June 29, 2012 at 10:06 AM

NEW ORLEANS A 2012 graduate at Mt. Carmel Academy was awarded the Congressional Award Gold Medal, a physical fitness and personal development award.

Amanda Nicole Kruse, the daughter of Dr. Mark and Debbie Kruse, of Metairie, was the only Louisianan to win the award this year.

This singular charity of the United States Congress challenges young people to meet fitness goals, to volunteer their time, to work on personal development, and to take part in an expedition or exploration. The program is for young people ages 13 to under 24 years of age, so a student could take 10 years to meet all of the goals. Amanda, however, earned her Bronze, Silver, and Gold Certificates and her Bronze, Silver, and Gold Medals all in just two and a half years, said a statement from Mt. Carmel.

Kruse is the eighth Louisianan to win the medal since the program began in 1979.

"It makes me feel good to help people. God granted me with so much, so it is my responsibility to help those less fortunate," said Kruse.

According to Mt. Carmel, Kruse has dedicated about 1,800 service hours through 17 different charities since ninth grade at the school.

Kruse plans to attend Louisiana State University in the fall, and, in June, she went to Washington, D.C. in June with her parents to receive her award.

"The Congressional Award gave me a lifetime of memories that I will cherish," she said. "Without the program, I would have never thought half of the things I did were possible."

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Mt. Carmel grad wins prestigious congressional gold medal

Amritsar, Jun 27 : After a scam of Rs 1.45 crore by a personal assistant of a Punjab Cabinet Minister Gulzar Singh Ranike was unearthed, the district authorities today ordered a high-level inquiry in the entire government grants meant for development purposes in the district during 2011-12.

District Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal ordered the inquiry conducted by a team of three officials, headed by Additional Deputy Commissioner (development) Sandeep Rishi.

An FIR has already been registered against PA Sarabdayal Singh and many others, including the staff of Bank of Maharashtra and ICICI under various sections of IPC. However, no one had been arrested so far.

Inspector Sukhwinder Singh Randhawa SHO of Civil Linbes Police Station told UNI that raids were being conducted to nab the accused.

Mr Rishi, when contacted, said the embezzlement of government funds of Rs 1.45 crore came to light after a thorough probe by the district development project officer Gurpartap Singh Nagra following the reports of misuse of government money released in 2011 before the assembly elections in 12 villages of Attari assembly segment.

Rishi said in a thorough inquiry, it was found that the PA allegedly opened number of fake bank accounts in the name of fake sarpanches and later the amount to the tune of Rs 1.45 crore was encashed by him.

He said Rs 1.45 crore was sent to Attari constituency for the development of the segment and the government grant was deposited and withdrawn from the fake bank accounts by the PA. Also, fake report was submitted to the Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar that the money had been spent in various development projects.

Earlier, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit to the city in January 2012 had also alleged that the government funds sent for development were not being properly utilised. (UNI)

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High-level inquiry into scam by PA of Cabinet minister

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/dgblq7/the_shorter_mba) has announced the addition of the "The Shorter MBA - 2nd Edition" book to their offering.

Few people can afford to give up the two years required to study for a Masters in Business Administration, but the techniques that are taught on an MBA course are invaluable. Here, in one short, pithy book, the essentials that students labour for months to learn on an MBA are outlined and explained.

Above all, this is a practical book that covers everything required for commercial success in business. The Shorter MBA is divided into three parts:

- Personal development

- Management skills

- Business development

and uses the latest research and business school studies to explain everything succinctly and clearly.

The Shorter MBA is a complete course in:

- Finance and accounting

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Research and Markets: The Shorter MBA - 2nd Edition: The Fast Track to the MBA Essentials - Updated and Refreshed for ...