Mediaboss Marketing

by Department of Economic Development

LAST years End to End mountain bike challenge, sponsored by Sleepwell Hotels and supported by Isle of Man Tourism, was a huge success for yet another year and attracted around 1700 competitors. Highlights of the fast and extreme event held on 18th September 2011 were filmed by Greenlight TV and are scheduled to be broadcast on Sky Sports TV on March 11th and 12th. Since its inception in 1996, the event has grown every year and now attracts a high proportion of overseas visitors, some from as far afield as Israel and Australia. The 47 mile course runs from the Point of Ayre at the northern tip of the Island to The Sound at the southern tip, following a waymarked course across some of the best countryside that the Isle of Man has to offer. Geoff Corkish MBE, MHK, Political member for the Department of Economic Development with responsibility for Isle of Man Tourism commented: Cycling continues to be an important part of the Isle of Man's vibrant sporting life and the End to End Challenge is one of the Island's fastest growing events. We have a thriving local mountain bike scene and are looking to capitalise on the growing popularity of the sport to generate more visitors, either to participate in the excellent competitive events organised by local clubs and organisations or to just experience the breathtaking scenery and challenging terrain that the Island has to offer. Part of our recently published visitor strategy identified these exciting sporting opportunities which make the Isle of Man truly an island of adventure. To find out more about the Isle of Man End to End mountain bike challenge visit http://www.manxe2e.org. -ENDS-

If you'd like to send any information or news releases to us then please feel free to do so and we would be more than happy to consider sharing your news with the Isle of Man!

Send your Isle of Man news to:webmaster@manx.net

Manx Telecom Ltd 2012

Manx Telecom Ltd, Isle of Man Business Park, Cooil Road, Braddan, Isle of Man IM99 1HX Registered in the Isle of Man Reg no.5629V Vat Reg no GB 003-2919-12

See the rest here:
Isle of Man Sleepwell Hotels End To End Mountain Bike Challenge To Be Showcased On Tv

He stuck it to his victims one last time.

Multimillionaire fraudster Myron Gushlak blew millions of dollars on his Cayman Islands estate, Bentley and Porsche collections and private jet while out on bail and now claims he doesnt owe his New York victims and others a dime.

Lawyers for the disgraced Canadian money man have already appeared in Brooklyn federal court to claim that hes too broke to pony up a $25 million fine.

Today, theyll be arguing that victims of his pump and dump schemes were simply on the wrong end of a bad economy, so they dont deserve any of the $17.5 million in restitution that the feds are demanding of him.

Gregory P. Mango

WAGES OF SIN: Con man Myron Gushlak lived in this Cayman Islands estate while out on bail.

Myron Gushlak

In 2009, the year before he was scheduled to be sentenced, Gushlak showed his worth at nearly $90 million.

He then blew a massive chunk of it while free on bail, according to documents filed in the Cayman Island courts and obtained by The Post.

Living in a palatial seafront manse in the Cayman Islands dubbed Casa Coyaba, he jetted around in a Hawker 800 XP executive plane, making lease payments of $15,000 each month, records show.

Originally posted here:
Con’s ‘poor’ excuse

Heritage Village will be asset to area

As a retired Nazareth business owner who remembers the zoning challenge when Moravian Hall Square was built in the mid-1980s, I would respectfully ask those on the Upper Nazareth Planning Commission who oppose the Heritage Village project to reconsider prior to the March 15 meeting, based on these criteria:

As a businessman I understand the need for sensible regulation, but I also understand that when the hoops you have to jump through are on fire, over-regulation can lead to a lot of lost opportunity.

RODNEY APPLEGATE Nazareth

Hypocrisy reigns in debate on birth control

Last week Rush Limbaugh, the thrice-divorced, ex-drug addict that conservatives look to for moral leadership, called a Georgetown Law student a slut on the air. Sandra Fluke had testified in an unofficial House of Representatives hearing about the importance of contraception.

Since then Republicans have been in a snit because the debate isnt about birth control, its about religious freedom. (And the Civil War wasnt about slavery, it was about states rights.) Kathleen Parker waded into this mess to give us her opinion which, judging by her March 3 column, Rush Limbaugh plays unlikely role of uniter, seemed to object to the use of the word slut while pointing out Im not convinced by Flukes premise that her need for contraception is anyone elses responsibility. Allow me to translate: Parker thinks Fluke is a slut.

If Parker had actually listened to Flukes testimony she would have heard about a student who didnt seek treatment for being raped because Georgetown doesnt cover contraception and she would have heard about a woman whod lost one of her ovaries due to a cyst, a condition treatable with hormonal birth control. But then Parker has never been one to advocate for women.

While religious organizations are determined to not pay for contraception because its against their teachings, rest assured that they will continue to cover Viagra. And dont worry, gentlemen, the priests will not double-check to make sure its for procreation purposes only before filling your prescription (wink, wink).

BECKY BARTLETT Upper Nazareth Township

Visit link:
Heritage Village will create jobs, boost tax revenues; Who's Limbaugh calling a slut? - March 5 letters to the editor

JUNEAU -- A bill intended to do away with property tax breaks for church-owned houses occupied by religious school teachers, such as those owned by the Anchorage Baptist Temple, has hit a snag in its first committee.

Rep. Cathy Munoz, R-Juneau and the chair of the House Community and Regional Affairs Committee, said she's heard a lot of opposition to House Bill 305 and that some other legislators on the committee also don't like it. The measure was heard in her committee Feb. 9 and is still locked up there.

"The votes aren't there," acknowledged the prime sponsor, state Rep. Berta Gardner.

The measure would only affect few residences but because of the religion angle and the connection to the Baptist Temple and its chief pastor, the Rev. Jerry Prevo, it has generated huge public interest.

"There's been a lot of push back, much of it wrong and misinformed," Gardner said. Some opponents are framing it as an attack on religious freedom, or as somehow relating to protections for people who are gay or lesbian.

Prevo and the church's administrative pastor, the Rev. Glenn Clary, have long been Republican Party activists and now are leading opposition to the One Anchorage Initiative, the equal rights ballot measure next month.

Gardner and one of the co-sponsors, Lindsey Holmes, both Anchorage Democrats, say they'll try a new tack: letting local governments decide whether to exempt religious educator housing from local property taxes. That wouldn't outlaw the tax breaks, the way their original bill would, but wouldn't automatically grant them, either, the way current law does. Instead, municipalities would control the issue.

That's the approach the Alaska Municipal League told the committee it favors, since the lost revenue would affect local governments, not the state.

It appears the only houses that could lose a tax exemption under the measure are those owned by the Baptist Temple.

The House committee was told that the state assessor found 10 residences now getting the exemption, five owned by the Baptist Temple and five owned by Alaska Christian College. However, Alaska Christian College later told the committee its housing is for students and volunteers, not teachers.

See the original post here:
Bill to ax tax breaks for churches hits hurdle

TRUMBULL -- Making good on his campaign promise, First Selectman Tim Herbst is proposing an expansion of the town's senior tax relief program.

His proposal calls for raising qualifying income levels for seniors 65 years old and older from $61,000 to $70,000. The proposal also doubles the benefit for the lowest income levels, from $1,350 to $2,600.

Herbst said the purpose of the program is to keep seniors in Trumbull.

"You need a proper balance of young families with children and seniors in your community," Herbst said. "You don't want to accelerate your attrition rate."

About 931 seniors benefit from the town's current relief program, which costs $614,940. About 30 more seniors would benefit under the new structure, which overall would an additional $642,940. Herbst's proposal restructures the existing tax relief brackets from seven to four.

Herbst is proposing the new tax relief program take effect in July 2013, so there is enough time to educate the public about the changes.

When campaigning for first selectman in 2011, Herbst also proposed a personal property tax deferral. His opponent, Mary Beth Thornton, as well as state Sen. Anthony Musto said that would be against state statute and would put the town at risk of litigation.

Towns have the right to regulate the "mode of collection" of property taxes, town attorney Dennis Kokenos wrote in a letter to the first selectman. State statutes allow for personal property credits in certain circumstances, such as for local firefighters, but the laws are ambiguous when it comes to seniors or the elderly. Therefore, he could not recommend the tax credit, Kokenos wrote.

A tax deferral could be legal if construed as a mode of collection, but would be open to legal challenges.

"We don't want to enact tax relief that will be challenged in court," Herbst said "We want to pass tax relief that is permanent."

See the original post here:
Trumbull seniors could see more tax relief