Indiana Resident with Lifelong Aspirations to Enter Funeral Profession is Inaugural Recipient

DEERFIELD, ILL. — September 2, 2010 — Selected Independent Funeral Homes Educational Trust announced today that it has awarded its first ever Second-Career Scholarship to Robert Bogue of Frankfort, Ind., in the amount of $1,500 toward his studies in the Funeral Service Education Program at Vincennes University.

The scholarship was created to meet the educational needs of the increasing number of second-career professionals entering the funeral industry seeking positions as funeral directors, a role traditionally filled by family members who have grown up in the business and whose ancestors have owned and operated funeral firms for decades if not generations.

Bogue, who is currently employed full-time as a Journeyman Lineman at Frankfort Light and Power, is also putting one of his two daughters through college at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., as he continues his own education. “With one daughter in college and another in high school, this scholarship will afford me a greater opportunity to achieve my lifelong desire of becoming a funeral director,” said Bogue.

He also works as a part-time funeral assistant at Goodwin Funeral Home in Frankfort and is an ordained deacon with more than twenty-five years’ experience in youth ministry. Bogue says he believes it is his calling to become a funeral director and help others in their greatest time of need.

The Second-Career Scholarship is one of several programs of the Selected Educational Trust which was founded by Selected Independent Funeral Homes, a worldwide professional association of independent, locally-owned funeral homes founded in 1917.

In order to be eligible for the scholarship, applicants must not be related to an owner of a funeral firm currently in operation and must be currently enrolled in a Mortuary Science program at an accredited school. By creating the program, the Trust hopes to attract and assist future practitioners interested in entering the profession.

“We are thrilled to have Robert as the first recipient of our Second-Career Scholarship,” said Robert J. Paterkiewicz, Administrative Trustee for the Selected Educational Trust. “He truly exemplifies what this program is all about. His desire and life experience combined with his education in the field will be a tremendous asset to the funeral service industry.”

Upon graduation, Bogue hopes to one day become a partner or owner of a funeral home and carry on what he calls a “noble profession.”

About the Selected Educational Trust

The Selected Educational Trust was established in 1982 as a charitable organization to develop and present educational programs on business management, counseling, personnel management and other topics of interest to the membership of Selected Independent Funeral Homes. Since then, it has expanded its role and funding opportunities to benefit the entire funeral home profession.

This fall, it will hold its inaugural Fundraising Gala and Silent Auction in conjunction with Selected’s Annual Meeting on October 1 at Walt Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. More information on the Selected Educational Trust and its activities can be found on its all-new website at www.selectedtrust.org.

Editor’s Note: Photo of Robert Bogue available upon request. Please contact Lisa Gunggoll at lgunggoll@lg-pr.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Lisa Gunggoll, LG-PR
708.829.8669 (mobile)
lgunggoll@lg-pr.com

From the newswire: Selected Independent Funeral Homes Educational Trust Awards First Second-Career Scholarship

BRUSSELS (AFP) – Stand-in Germany captain Philipp Lahm on Thursday denied he had any problems with coach Joachim Loew’s decision to retain Michael Ballack as permanent skipper for the Euro 2012 campaign.

Ballack, 34 later this month, is out of Friday’s Euro 2012 qualifier against Belgium in Brussels as he recovers from the ankle injury which ruled him out of the World Cup, but will captain Germany again when he returns.

In his absence, Lahm will take over where he left off in South Africa by captaining the side against the Belgians, but Loew has said Lahm will lose the skipper’s armband once Ballack returns from injury.

“You have to accept such decisions,” said Lahm, who led Germany to third at the World Cup, at the German team’s hotel on the outskirts of Brussels.

“Now it is up to me to lead the team again in the next two games as captain.

“I am looking forward to it and I have the confidence of the players around me and I am looking forward to leading them.”

Loew announced the decision on Wednesday to stick with Ballack as his captain, but until he recovers from injury, Lahm will captain the side with Bastian Schweinsteiger as his deputy.

The decision has not been greeted with universal praise in Germany with many football fans happy with Lahm’s style of captaincy, while Ballack has clashed with both national team-mates and coaches on and off the pitch in the past.

Ballack is expected to return for October’s qualifiers against Turkey and Kazakhstan when he could win his 100th cap for Germany having already won 98.

Having returned to Leverkusen and the Bundesliga this season after a four-year spell in the Premier League with Chelsea, Ballack’s side were hammered 6-3 last Sunday by Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Ballack was substituted in the second-half and booed off the pitch by Leverkusen fans.

He was missing from training with Leverkusen on Thursday with a stomach infection.

Germany will face Azerbaijan in their second Euro 2012 qualifier in Cologne next Tuesday.

From the newswire: Stand-in skipper Lahm brushes off captaincy snub

NEW YORK – Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki has defeated Chang Kai-chen of Taiwan 6-0, 6-0 to advance to the third round of the U.S. Open.

Wozniacki needed only 47 minutes in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday to put the “double-bagel” on Chang. The Dane won 52 points to only 24 for her opponent, and has lost only two games in her first two matches at Flushing Meadows.

Wozniacki is seeking a return trip to the U.S. Open final, where she lost to Kim Clijsters last year. She earned the top seed when world No. 1 Serena Williams withdrew because of a foot injury.

From the newswire: Wozniacki rolls to a double bagel at US Open (AP)

An offshore petroleum platform exploded and burned Thursday in the Gulf of Mexico off Lousiana, west of the site of BP’s massive spill.

No leak was reported by Mariner Energy, owners of the platform, however the U.S. Coast Guard said that a mile-long oil sheen is spreading from the site of the platform.

The Coast Guard said no one was killed in the explosion, which was spotted by a commercial helicopter flying over the site Thursday morning.

All 13 people aboard the rig were found floating in the water in survival gear called “gumby suits”, sticking close together, Coast Guard spokesman Chief Petty Officer John Edwards said.

“These guys had the presence of mind, used their training to get into those gumby suits before they entered the water. It speaks volumes to safety training and the importance of it because beyond getting off the rig there’s all the hazards of the water such as hypothermia and things of that nature,” CPO Edwards said.

The platform was in about 340 feet of water, considered shallow water and far less than the roughly 5,000 feet where BP’s well spewed oil and gas for three months after an April rig explosion.

The crew were rescued from the water by an offshore service vessel, the Crystal Clear, and taken to a nearby platform, said Coast Guard Cmdr. Cheri Ben-Iesau.

All were being flown to a hospital in Houma to be checked over. Cmdr. Ben-Iesau said one person was injured, but the platform’s owner, Houston-based Mariner Energy, Inc., said there were no injuries.

“Mariner has notified and is working with regulatory authorities in response to this incident. The cause is not known, and an investigation will be undertaken,” the company said in a statement.

“In an initial flyover, no hydrocarbon spill was reported,” Mariner said. It said the platform was located on Vermilion Block 380, approximately 100 miles off the Louisiana coast.

The platform is a fixed petroleum platform that was in production at the time of the fire, according to a homeland security operational update obtained by The Associated Press.

The update said the platform was producing about 58,800 gallons of oil and 900,000 cubic feet of gas per day. The platform can store 4,200 gallons of oil.

Seven Coast Guard helicopters, two airplanes and three cutters were dispatched to the scene from New Orleans, Houston and Mobile, Ala., Cmdr. Ben-Iesau said. She said authorities do not know whether oil was leaking from the site.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said President Barack Obama was in a national security meeting and did not know whether Obama had been informed of the explosion.

“We obviously have response assets ready for deployment should we receive reports of pollution in the water,” Mr. Gibbs said.

Mariner Energy focuses on oil and gas exploration and production in the Gulf of Mexico. In April, Apache Corp., another independent petroleum company, announced plans to buy Mariner in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $3.9 billion, including the assumption of about $1.2 billion of Mariner’s debt. That deal is pending.

Apache spokesman Bob Dye said the platform is in shallow water. Responding to any oil spill in shallow water would be much easier than in deep water, where crews depend on remote-operated vehicles access equipment on the sea floor. Mariner said in initial flyover for no hydrocarbon spill.

A company report said the well was drilled in the third quarter of 2008 in 340 feet of water.

The platform is about 200 miles west of BP’s blown-out well. On Friday, BP was expected to begin the process of removing the cap and failed blowout preventer, another step toward completion of a relief well that would put a finals eal on the well. The BP-leased rig Deepwater Horizon exploded April 20, killing 11 people and setting off a three-month leak that totaled 206 million gallons of oil .

From the newswire: Mile-long oil sheen spreading from Gulf oil platform blast: U.S. Coast Guard

PERRYSBURG, Ohio (AP) — Owens-Illinois has acquired Brazilian glassmaker Companhia Industrial de Vidros for $603 million, expanding the U.S. company’s reach in South America.

Owens-Illinois said the purchase includes future tax benefits with an estimated present value of $140 million. The benefits include federal and state incentives for development in Brazil’s northeastern region, where CIV is the leading glass container producer.

Owens gets two plants, one in the state of Pernambuco and one in the state of Ceara. Together, they employ about 1,300 workers producing glass containers for the beverage, food and pharmaceutical industries, as well as tableware. The acquisition is expected to boost the company’s production capacity in Brazil by about 50 percent.

The company said it expects the acquisition will boost regional net sales by about $200 million in the first full year of operation.

The transaction “directly supports our strategy of expanding our presence in emerging markets with robust earnings growth potential,” Owens-Illinois Chairman and CEO Al Stroucken said.

The company recently expanded operations in Argentina, China, Malaysia and Vietnam, and opened new glassmaking furnaces in Peru and New Zealand.

Shares of Owens-Illinois Inc., which closed the all-cash transaction Wednesday, gained 66 cents, or about 2.5 percent, to rise to $27.16 in Thursday afternoon trading.

From the newswire: Owens-Illinois buys Brazilian company for $603M

Kevin Pendleton (left), Luster’s International Design Team technical director, talks with an L.A. Fitness patron

CHICAGO (August 27, 2010) — Luster’s® Renutrients™ and L.A. Fitness partnered to host a fun-filled afternoon of physical fitness last Saturday that gave women the tips and tools to maintain good looking hair after rigorous work outs.

After receiving free access to any one of three L.A. Fitness group exercise classes and a fitness evaluation with a personal trainer, women received personal hair care prescriptions at the Sweat and Hair Center from Luster’s International Design Team.

Kevin Pendleton, Design Team technical director, and Design Team stylists, gave live demonstrations on how to use Renutrients products in tandem with consumers’ regular work-out routines.

“Luster’s Renutrients has several products, including the Slick Stick and Shape & Style Mousse, that give women who want styling options the flexibility to create and maintain great looking hair, even if they lead a physically active lifestyle,” said Theresa Stevenson, Renutrients brand manager.

Participants received the exclusive Luster’s Renutrients Workout Tool Bag, which was packed with product samples, a full-size Slick Stick and work out essentials including a pedometer and branded water bottle.

About Luster Products

Luster Products, Inc. has served the needs of African American families through its premium personal care products as well as its contributions to the community for more than 50 years. Today, Luster Products employs more than 400 people worldwide. The company’s products are sold nationally and internationally through a dynamic sales force and numerous retail outlets.

Luster Products’ main facility — corporate offices, plant and warehouse – is situated on 17 acres in Chicago’s Stockyard Industrial Park. An aerosol production plant is located in suburban Blue Island, Illinois. Luster also has branch offices in London and South Africa.

About Renutrients

Renutrients is for the woman who values great styling options that lead to great looking hair. Renutrients products are enhanced with special ingredients like avocado, aloe vera, olive and coconut oils that nourish the hair. The Renutrients complete system offers a salon quality relaxer and unlimited styling possibilities while pampering the hair from the inside out.

For more healthy hair and styling options or where to buy Renutrients products, consumers may visit www.lusterproducts.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Christopher Brown IV
312.543.3946
Christopher@owensmorris.com

From the newswire: Renu You With Luster’s® Renutrients™ Gives Women the Secret to Workout Proof Hair

Give Big will use network’s reach to honor university supporters’ service, encourage others

CHICAGO, Sept. 2 /CHICAGOPRESSRELEASE.COM/ — In an effort to honor, encourage and support the thousands of Big Ten community members who give back, the Big Ten Network is launching Give Big, a major community service initiative.

Beginning Friday, the network will feature a top community-service effort of a Big Ten supporter during Big Ten Tailgate, which visits a different Big Ten campus each week during football season.  Some profiles will focus on the efforts of famous athletes such as Wisconsin’s Devin Harris and Minnesota’s Karl Mecklenburg, as well as remarkable projects undertaken by community leaders better known locally.

“Dedication, commitment and community are all important aspects of the Big Ten conference,” said Big Ten Network President Mark Silverman. “Give Big recognizes that being a part of the Big Ten means giving back to the community in a big way.”

While Give Big salutes these charitable efforts on the air, it will also look to engage the Big Ten Network’s passionate and growing audience on a dedicated website (www.BTNGiveBig.com) and other social-media sites to funnel their enthusiasm and support toward these worthy causes.

Beyond sharing inspirational stories, Give Big will provide real tools and ideas to help others Give Big at www.BTNGiveBig.com.  Through partnerships with organizations like Teach for America, Special Olympics, the REACH Foundation, Coaches vs. Cancer and others, the initiative will connect viewers, students and supporters with great organizations and outlets for service.

“We are really looking forward to sharing some of these remarkable stories with our viewers,” Silverman said. “We’re hopeful that the unmatched passion of Big Ten fans and the exposure for their programs will generate even more support for these great causes.”

The first Give Big profile airs Friday during Big Ten Tailgate, which originates from the University of Iowa and features John Heineman. Heineman is a 25-year-old University of Iowa graduate who began volunteering at the Iowa City Free Medical Clinic during his sophomore year.  In addition to the countless hours he spent at the clinic, Heineman swam the English Channel to raise money for it, bringing in more than $19,000.  

For more information, go to www.BTNGiveBig.com.

The first 12 honorees are listed below.

School

Honoree

Cause

Air Date

Iowa

John Heineman, Iowa graduate and volunteer

Raised $19,000 for the Iowa City Free Medical Clinic by swimming the English Channel.

Sept. 3

Wisconsin

Devin Harris, Badgers’ basketball standout

In 2007, founded 34 Ways to Assist, which focuses on the health and well-being of youth through basketball camps, clinics and education, as well as providing kids a safe place to play.

Sept. 10

Illinois

CeCe Marizu, swimmer

Co-founded Students Leading Social Change, works with Hometown Heroes, in which Illini athletes work with local youth to spread anti-drug and gang messages.

Sept. 17

Michigan

Charles Woodson, Brian Griese & Steve Hutchinson – UM players

The three coordinated efforts to raise funds for C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital @ University of Michigan.

Sept. 24

Minnesota

Karl Mecklenburg, Minnesota and All-Pro NFL football player

Founded the REACH Foundation, which provides kids with educational and outdoor experiences intended to provide the opportunities and resources needed to succeed in school and in life.

Oct. 1

Penn State

Sue Paterno, philanthropist and wife of Head Coach Joe Paterno

A philanthropist and community leader, supporter of Special Olympics of Pennsylvania for more than 30 years and a board member since 1991.

Oct. 8

Michigan State

John Shinsky, football player and educator

Founded City of the Children, an orphanage that provides a safe and nurturing environment for abandoned and disadvantaged children.

Oct. 15

Ohio State

Kurt Coleman, OSU and Philadelphia Eagles football player

Works with Uplifting Athletes, a national non-profit that raises the profile of rare diseases through outreach, research, education and advocacy.

Oct. 22

Indiana

Meaza Yalew, IU graduate

Started Lady Lioness Cycling, comprised of African-American women, and now working with City Year.

Oct. 29

Purdue

Kyle Adams, football player

Involved with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which challenges athletes and coaches to make a positive impact in local communities by encouraging, equipping and empowering them to make a difference.

Nov. 5

Northwestern

Elissa Clapp, tennis player

Recruits top college graduates for Teach for America as part of the movement to end educational inequity.

Nov. 12

Big Ten Conference

Bruce Weber, Illinois Men’s Basketball Coach

Involved in Coaches vs. Cancer, a national collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

Nov. 19

About the Big Ten Network: A joint venture between the Big Ten Conference and Fox Cable Networks, the Big Ten Network is the first internationally distributed network dedicated to covering one of the premier collegiate conferences in the country. With approximately 350 live sporting events, and nearly all of them in HD, the network is the ultimate destination for Big Ten fans and alumni across the country, allowing them to see their favorite teams, regardless of where they live. The network operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, showcasing a wide array of classic-to-current sports and televising more Olympic sporting events and women’s sports than has ever been aired on any other network. Original programming highlights activities and accomplishments of some of the nation’s finest universities. Each year, the network offers between 35 and 40 football games, 105 regular season men’s basketball games; 55 women’s basketball games; dozens of Big Ten Championship events; studio shows; coaches’ shows; and classic games. The network is available to more than 75 million homes across the United States and Canada, and currently has agreements with more than 300 affiliates, including AT&T U-Verse, Atlantic Broadband, Cablevision, Charter, Comcast, Cox (Cleveland, Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, Omaha), DirecTV, DISH Network, Insight, Mediacom, Rogers Cable (Canada), Shaw Cable and Shaw Direct (Canada), Time Warner Cable and Verizon FiOS. For updated information on the Big Ten Network, go to www.BigTenNetwork.com.

SOURCE Big Ten Network

http://www.BigTenNetwork.com

From the newswire: Big Ten Network Launches Major Community Service Initiative

Illinois regulators are raising questions about plans for a controversial power plant. They say the so-called “clean coal” project would hike electric bills across the state.

Building any new power plant costs money, and ratepayers would pick up much of the tab. The question is how much, and whether the Taylorville Energy Center’s environmental benefits justify the price.

The Illinois Commerce Commission finds electricity from the plant would cost substantially more than power from other sources. And commissioners say the benefits are uncertain.

The ICC sent its analysis to legislators yesterday. The report says residential bills would likely rise about 2 percent – more for commercial customers.

An official with Tenaska, the company behind the plant, says it’s worth it to get relatively clean power, and a market for Illinois coal. He says the state needs to invest in generating capacity, or pay much higher prices later.

The Taylorville plant would turn the coal into synthetic natural gas, and capture much of the carbon dioxide.

Originally reported by Chicago Public Radio. Read the original article here.

From the newswire: State Questions Value of ‘Clean Coal’

States and local governments have recently noticed, however, that Moody’s is including in its contracts what’s known as an “indemnification clause,” which helps protect the agency from lawsuits, according to Bloomberg.

The clauses, Bloomberg explained, push liability onto the issuers; in the municipal bond market, lawsuits that hold the issuer responsible for bad ratings could ultimately cost taxpayers.

Moody’s acknowledged the clauses, but said they’re not new.

“These types of indemnification clauses are common in business services agreements,” said Moody’s spokesman Michael Adler told Bloomberg.

And it seems Moody’s hasn’t been the only rating agency doing this, either:

Fitch “has long included indemnification language in its agreements,” said Daniel Noonan, spokesman for the company in New York.

S&P has entered into “revised agreements with many issuers over the last several months,” said spokesman Edward Sweeney in New York.

As the Center for Public Integrity reported in June, ratings agencies fought hard against language in the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill that would expose them to more liability. From the official summary of the bill (PDF):

Liability: Investors can bring private rights of action against ratings agencies for a knowing or reckless failure to conduct a reasonable investigation of the facts or to obtain analysis from an independent source.

While this sounds straightforward enough, the effects of the final language are still unclear. The bill essentially requires issuers to get permission from the ratings agencies in order to include their ratings in offering documents for bond sales. If a rating agency agrees, it exposes the agency to liability if the ratings are wrong. Here’s Fitch reacting:

Fitch is not willing to take on such liability without a complete understanding of the ramifications of that liability to Fitch’s business and the means by which Fitch may be able to effectively mitigate the risks associated therewith.

The solution? Moody’s, Fitch, and S&P have all asked for their ratings not to be used in official documentation. There’s a separate SEC rule, however, that requires ratings to be included in the offering documents for asset-backed securities in particular, but that rule has been temporarily suspended until Jan. 24, 2011.

After the rule suspension expires, rating agencies will likely be exposed to more liability for ratings of those securities, but it remains unclear whether that will be true for other bonds. One thing’s for sure — agencies are doing what they can to “mitigate the risks” and minimize the degree to which they can be held responsible for their own mistakes.

Originally reported by ProPublica. Read the original article here.

From the newswire: Moody’s Escapes SEC Lawsuit, Now Moves to Shield Itself From Liability

CHICAGO – September 2, 2010. Governor Pat Quinn today issued a statement regarding the resignation of Michael Randle as director of the Illinois Department of Corrections, who is leaving the state to pursue a new opportunity.

“I have accepted the resignation of Illinois Department of Corrections Director Michael Randle, effective September 17. I appreciate Director Randle’s dedicated service to the state of Illinois during these challenging times, and will name his replacement shortly.”

From the newswire: Statement from Governor Quinn on the Resignation of Department of Corrections Director Randle