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SAKONNET AREA The state cant afford to properly care for its roads and bridges and needs the estimated $27 million that tolling the new Sakonnet River Bridge might provide each year.

So says Michael P. Lewis, director of the state Department of Transportation, who visited this newspaper last week to defend the toll proposal.

Governor Lincoln Chafees 2013 budget includes a plan that would hand over the Sakonnet River and Jamestown-Verrazzano bridges to the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority and allow RITBA to place tolls on the Sakonnet span when it is finished.

He is aware that people in this corner of the state feel strongly about the subject, Mr. Lewis said, but the state has about run out of transportation funding options.

We dont have the money, plain and simple, to maintain our bridges, he said. And he predicted that, with the present climate in Washington, the situation will only get worse. There isnt a status quo option. Without tolls, the day the new bridge opens, we wont be able to adequately maintain it it will go the way of the old Sakonnet Bridge.

The administration is pushing the toll issue now because there is a window of opportunity that will close forever in about 12 months, he said. Once the new bridge is complete and the old one removed (the Coast Guard permit requires that the old bridge be gone within 18 months after the new bridge is done), it will be too late to add tolls.

Mr. Lewis said the DOT thinks the Sakonnet River Bridge is the best candidate for tolls in part because it sees one-and-a-half times more traffic than the Newport Bridge. He said there would be no need for toll booths since tolling could be automatic.

Local lawmakers have already pledged to fight tolls either on the Sakonnet River Bridge or the Mount Hope Bridge. Rep. Raymond E. Gallison Jr., Rep. John G. Edwards and Sen. Walter S. Felag Jr. introduced bills earlier this year aimed at preventing the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority from instituting tolls on the Mount Hope and Sakonnet River bridges.

And Senator Louis DiPalma told the Senate Finance Committee recently that another toll would isolate Aquideck Island and hit county businesses hard.

Mr. Lewis acknowledged that people in Newport and Bristol counties believe it is unfair to toll only bridges here while their tax dollars have assisted projects throughout the state like the Iway.

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DOT chief pushes Sakonnet Bridge toll

SHES as much an institution at Olympians as the inspiration behind the clubs name is and this year will see Dot Burgess surpass a half-century of service.

Burgess has been there almost from the clubs beginnings and is a testament to longevity, with this season her 51st of grade hockey in Tamworth and for Olympians.

We (family) came up here in 1956 (from Mayfield), Burgess recalled.

I played juniors down at No. 3 Oval in those days (now Bicentennial Park).

Then in 1961, Beryl Griffiths, who had founded the Olympians club a few years earlier, asked her to play for Olympians.

Dot was still a teenager at the time and over the years has enjoyed her share of success with the club, winning a handful of titles in the 20 plus years she played in first grade.

There were a few years too they were minor premiers but beaten at the final hurdle.

We had two or three years when we went through undefeated and got beaten in the grand final, Burgess said.

It was a different game back then rules, equipment and even the competition.

We used to go to carnivals, Burgess recalled.

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Dot's a sticker for her sport

MORIARTY, N.M. (KRQE) - Veteran Department of Transportation employee and Torrance County Commissioner Lonnie Freyburger is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Freyburger, who has been a DOT manager for nearly 25 years, has also served on the Torrance County Commission for the last 16 months, which he recently found out was against state law.

"(My supervisor) left a message that said, 'I need to talk with you. It's urgent,'" said Freyburger, who received the message earlier this month. "He told me I had to by the end of the day either resign from the highway department or resign from the commission."

According to State Personnel Director Gene Moser, classified state workers, including most DOT employees, can't hold partisan elected office.

"If they are elected, then by law, they must resign their position from state government," said Moser. "That was the concern to remove politics from the classified act."

Freyburger said he had no idea it was against the law. He told News 13, he got permission from a supervisor last year giving him the okay to sit on the county commission.

State officials said that's not an excuse. Freyburger was placed on paid suspension and given an ultimatum.

"The law is the law," said Adjutant DOT Secretary Mike McEntee. "We have to follow it. We are the government."

McEntee and Moser both said they don't know how Freyburger flew under the radar for more than a year.

McEntee said the department has launched an investigation to find out who allowed Freyburger to hold elected office.

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DOT worker breaks law, given ultimatum

Shares of Green Dot (Nasdaq: GDOT) hit a 52-week low yesterday. Let's look at how the company got here and if cloudy skies are still in the forecast.

How it got hereWhy Green Dot, a provider of prepaid debit cards, is trading at a new low is a general mystery to me, as the entire credit services sector has been on fire. Credit processors Visa (NYSE: V) and MasterCard (NYSE: MA) have both seen double-digit international transaction growth, while Green Dot's direct prepaid card competitor, NetSpend Holdings (Nasdaq: NTSP) , also logged robust growth with the number of direct deposits climbing by 20%.

Green Dot has been no slouch either. Despite management claiming the company missed its target growth for its most recently ended quarter, Green Dot grew revenue by 26% and non-GAAP income by 40%. The company has also been aggressively adding high-profile companies to its network, including Sears Holdings' Kmart and Rite Aid, which is in addition to longtime partners CVS Caremark, Walgreen, and Wal-Mart.

How it stacks upLet's see how Green Dot compares to its peers.

GDOT data by YCharts

It appears that investors are anticipating pressure on prepaid debit companies' business from American Express' (NYSE: AXP) entrance into the prepaid market.

Company

Price / Book

Price / Cash Flow

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52-Week Low Alert: Green Dot

MILAN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

TCL, has partnered up with IKEA, the global home furnishing company, for the development of its new living room concept of complete TV-solutions that includes TV, Sound and furniture.

As manufacturer of TV's and sound systems and Blu-Ray players TCL accompanies IKEA in its desire to offer furniture solutions with integrated technology.

A new innovative partnership for TCL

This new partnership with IKEA is a natural move for TCL dedicated to offer a new TV experience to consumers and make innovation affordable. Thus, this innovative concept reflects the aspiration of TCL - THE CREATIVE LIFE - to bring innovative and creative design enhancing its technology advances and blending seamlessly in consumer interiors. As a result, TCL has been constantly been awarded by worldwide reputed organizations such as IF, Red Dot or CES.

According to Mr. Tomson Li, Chairman of TCL Group, "This partnership reflects our commitment to fully enable everyone to discover a new world of entertainment and services in an innovative design for seamless integration into your home."

TCL is a large and competent supplier that immediately understood our ambition to create unique and complete TV solutions from a home furnishing point of view and supported in making the right choices and by developing and manufacturing these products, said Marcel Godfroy Project Leader at IKEA of Sweden.

TCL: a brand dedicated to offering affordable innovations to consumers

As an example of TCLs innovative spirit, the company offers a Smart TV,based on state of the art cloud computing technology, intuitive graphic user interface, built-in WiFi connectivity that enables consumers in a simple and seamless way to access via internet a new world of entertainmentand interactive services.

About TCL

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TCL in Innovative Partnership with IKEA