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by Department of Economic Development

ISLE of Man Tourism has just published its latest handbook for group travel organisers, which provides a comprehensive guide to the diverse attractions of the Island for group visits. The Isle of Man Group Travel Guide Issue 2 is designed to demonstrate the tremendous value for money available to groups visiting the Isle of Man and covers travel to and transport around the Island, accommodation options, tours, attractions and eating out. 
 
Produced in a handy perfect-bound A5 format, the 92-page guide includes useful maps that pinpoint all the key points of interest within the Isle of Man’s main towns as well as showing approach roads and group drop-off points for the main visitor attractions.     
 
For ease of reference, the guide is divided into four sections, North, South, East and West,  in each case spotlighting that region’s main towns, attractions and tours. 
 
To cater for the growing interest in themed breaks, the 2012 Group Travel Guide also includes a section on the wide choice of specialist activities, tours and attractions available to group visitors.  These range from wildlife tours and specialist boat trips to see basking sharks and bottlenose dolphins to ghost tours and activities that include quad biking, sea kayaking and golfing.
 
As a shortcut to planning group trips, the guide features three full day and five half day  itineraries.  Each has been designed to focus on what makes a visit to the Isle of Man quite distinct from touring in the UK and to help group travel organisers make the most of the Island’s unique heritage and cultural attractions. 
 
For example, on one such itinerary, groups take a trip on the Manx Electric Railway from Douglas to Ramsey before rejoining their coach to go back in time at the Grove Rural Museum and Milntown.  The trip continues along part of the world famous TT course to Peel and its 11th century castle before returning to Douglas.
 
Details of 12 hotels suitable for larger group bookings are included in the Group Travel Guide and a full list of accommodation is available at http://www.visitisleofman.com.
With excellent local produce that includes award-winning Manx Queenies, smoked kippers and rare breed Loaghtan lamb, the guide also explains the Taste Isle of Man quality assurance scheme that signposts where groups will find the best home grown food on restaurant menus and supermarket shelves.  Group travel organisers are encouraged to get a copy of the free Taste Isle of Man Directory, available online at http://www.visitisleofman.com/taste or to pick up from the Welcome Centre at the Sea Terminal in Douglas. 
  
Mr Geoff Corkish, MBE, MHK, Member of the Department of Economic Development responsible for Tourism said:
 
‘Year round visits by groups are incredibly important to tourism on the Isle of Man, which means that the new Group Travel Guide will be a valuable tool in encouraging group travel organisers to consider arranging trips to the Island in the coming year. 
 
‘In these challenging times, we are keen to send out a message to the groups’ market that the Isle of Man is a great value destination on the doorstep of the UK and Ireland.’
 
As part of the drive to attract more groups to the Island, Isle of Man Tourism will be exhibiting on Stand E80 at Best of Britain & Ireland (BoBI), which takes place at the NEC, Birmingham on 14-15 March.  Copies of the Group Travel Guide will be available to stand visitors, where members of the Isle of Man Tourism team will be joined by six industry partners: Flybe, Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, Manx Heritage Railways, Manx National Heritage, Manx2.com and Premier Holidays. 
 
Copies of the Guide are available on request by calling Julie Colquitt on 01624 686888 or emailing traveltrade@gov.im.  It can also be downloaded from the official Isle of Man Tourism website at http://www.visitisleofman.com/groups.

-ENDS-

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© Manx Telecom Ltd 2012

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2012 Group Travel Guide Launched by Isle of Man Tourism

ASUNCION, Paraguay - A stray dog is getting credit for thwarting a prison break in Paraguay.

Officials say three dangerous inmates dug a tunnel about 26 feet (eight meters) from their cell to the street, and were about to break free just before dawn when the dog began to bark and alerted a guard.

Authorities at the Tacumbu prison on the southern edge of the capital dragged the unlucky prisoners before the media on Friday to tell the tale.

"Because of a stray dog we couldn't escape," complained Hilario Villalba. "When I reached the street, sticking my head out, the stupid dog barked and alerted a guard."

Villalba, who is serving a 30-year double-murder sentence, vowed in his native Guarani language that he'll keep keep trying to escape because he said his sentence isn't fair.

Meanwhile in neighbouring Argentina, a yellow labrador named Tiza alerted border guards to a motorist trying to smuggle $110,000 in $100 bills into Uruguay. The driver denied carrying any money, but the dog sniffed out the bills hidden in the glove compartment, another compartment and inside the rear seats, Argentina's tax collection agency announced Friday.

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Stray dog foils prison break by inmates who tried tunneling to freedom in Paraguay

WASHINGTON ? Rick Santorum preaches Made in America, but, according to his tax returns, he was driving a German-made luxury car just a few years back.

Santorum, now vying with Mitt Romney for frontrunner status nationwide and leading in the race to win the Feb. 28 Republican presidential primary in Michigan, has made American manufacturing a major theme of his campaign. He has called for tax breaks for U.S. manufacturers and one section of his campaign website is called ?Made in America: Empowering American Families, Building Economic Freedom.?

But his 2008 tax return, released along with three other years Wednesday night, showed he was started driving an Audi A6 that year as part of his consulting business, putting nearly 12,000 miles on the car. He claimed $241 in depreciation on his assets that year. The website Politico posted the tax returns Wednesday evening.

The Audi A6, manufactured in Germany, listed for $42,950 in 2008.

During the Iowa caucuses, Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, drew attention as he crossed the state in a 2006 Dodge Ram pickup belonging to a campaign aide and dubbed the ?Chuck Truck: for aide Chuck Laudner. As was reported by the website autoguide.com earlier this year, ?Whether or not it was intentional, the Dodge Ram has become a symbol for Santorum to prove that he?s hardworking and has spent the time to travel across the state.?

The Santorum campaign did not immediately return a request for comment.

The auto industry has been a sore point for Romney as well, as Democrats have hit him for opposing President Barack Obama?s 2009 rescue of General Motors and Chrysler. Romney has argued that a privately financed managed bankruptcy would have been preferable ? even though experts including the head of Obama?s auto task force, Steven Rattner, say there was no private financing available at the time. Without government help, they say, the companies could have slid into bankruptcy.

The Free Press had earlier asked the Romney campaign for information on the former Massachusetts governor?s cars and was told he drives a red 2005 Ford Mustang and his wife Ann a gray 2010 Cadillac SRX. They also have a 2007 Cadillac SRX and a 2001 Chevrolet pickup truck.

Romney acknowledged owning a vehicle other than one built by the Detroit Three ? Chrysler, Ford and GM ? in the last 10 years following a meeting with the Free Press editorial board, but he did not provide additional details.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, another Republican candidate for president, has also released his tax return for 2010 but it did not include any vehicles. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, also in the race, has not released his tax returns.

Read more:
Santorum drove Audi A6 in 2008, tax returns show

Posted: Thursday, February 16, 2012 7:19 pm | Updated: 10:35 pm, Thu Feb 16, 2012.

ECONOMY — Can a municipality secede from a school district?

People in Economy, upset with property taxes and school debt, have begun talking about the possibility of leaving Ambridge Area and merging with neighboring Freedom Area.

The topic has been raised by residents at consecutive Economy Council meetings, and in telephone and Facebook conversations.

“I’ve had a lot of discussions with people who think we need to explore our options,” Mayor David Poling said.

However, Ambridge school board members did not even mention the proposed secession at their Thursday night meeting.

The school tax rate in Ambridge is 69.83 mills, highest in Beaver County, and the school board has a proposed preliminary budget that requires an 18-mill hike. Freedom’s current rate is 44 mills and its preliminary budget requires no tax hike.

Poling said “there was complete outrage in Economy” when Ambridge Area revealed the possibility of an 18-mill hike after a 6.5-mill hike a year ago.

In January, Poling called Freedom Superintendent Ron Sofo to inquire about the possibility of merging, and the Freedom school board authorized solicitor Matthew Hoffman to prepare a report on the “law and procedures” that apply to a secession and merger. Sofo said the solicitor’s report, which has been shared with Poling, should not be viewed as the district’s commitment to the proposal.

“Our board has made no formal decision,” Sofo said. “We need to explore how this works. We need to learn more about the process.”

Sofo, after reviewing Hoffman’s 17-page report, said “it is not an easy, simple thing to do” and would probably be a 12- to 16-month process.

The process involves petitions signed by a majority of Economy’s taxable residents, a review of the petitions by Beaver County Court and a review of the impact on both school districts by the state Department of Education, according to Hoffman’s report.

“We need to do this. We can do this,” resident Jo Ann Borato said during the public comment portion of the borough council meeting this week. “I think you’ll start to see petitions start to be circulated soon by residents like myself ... Either (school board members) serve the people, or people leave your jurisdiction.”

Poling wants Economy Council to create an exploratory committee, but council President Larry Googins said he thinks the possibility should remain “a resident initiative.”

Some residents suggested launching a new school district.

“That’s almost an impossibility,” Poling said. “It’s more realistic to merge with Freedom.”

Poling said he has heard from people who think he should not get involved with school-related issues.

“I’m the mayor of Economy and I’m looking to see what’s best for Economy Borough,” he said.

“I think we should get behind the mayor,” Borato said. “This impacts all of our properties.”

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Economy may seek Freedom from Ambridge

Enlarge Carolyn Kaster/AP

Expect the rest of 2012 to bring more political symbolism like Thursday's House hearing on birth control and religious freedom than actual passage of major legislation that solves Americans' problems.

Carolyn Kaster/AP

Expect the rest of 2012 to bring more political symbolism like Thursday's House hearing on birth control and religious freedom than actual passage of major legislation that solves Americans' problems.

Now that Congress has passed the extension of the payroll tax cut and jobless insurance benefits for the long-term uninsured, as well as a fix that prevents cuts in Medicare reimbursements to doctors, there's the sense that not much else will get done on Capitol Hill, it being a general-election year and all.

And that sense, captured in a recent Politico article, may be true in so far as major legislation goes. In Washington's superpolarized political atmosphere, it's hard enough to get such bills passed in a year when the White House isn't up for grabs, let alone a year like 2012 when it is.

But whether a Congress can be defined as do-something or do-nothing is really in the eye of the beholder.

If you judge Congress by its ability to pass landmark legislation or bills that address the real needs of the U.S. population, then you likely won't be giving Congress over the next year high marks for accomplishing much.

But if you judge Congress by the standard of whether lawmakers make numerous symbolic statements with their legislative maneuvering, then you're likely to view the coming months as very productive indeed.

James Thurber, an American University professor and director of the school's Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, is in the first camp, defining an effective Congress as one that produces "outcomes that solve problems."

By that standard, he doesn't have high hopes for the rest of the year. "There'll be a lot of wedge issues and agony and angst," said Thurber. "There'll be lots of oversight that will go a long way to try and point out what the parties believe in, instead of legislation that's likely to pass."

For instance, you'll probably see quite a few more sessions like Thursday's humdinger of a hearing by the House Oversight and Investigations Committee focusing on the question of whether the Obama administration's new birth-control rule threatens religious freedom.

Not surprisingly, Republicans stacked the deck, as is the majority's prerogative, with witnesses who agreed that the regulation is such a threat, while some Democrats walked out of the hearing because the first panel had no women on it.

Even with it being an election year, it would seem that Congress has some "musts" on its to-do list. For instance, deep cuts in the defense budget are scheduled to start taking effect in 2013 and beyond if Congress does nothing to head them off.

Norm Ornstein, of the American Enterprise Institute, an expert on Congress, isn't so sure that even that sword of Damocles is enough to get Republicans and Democrats to agree on averting cuts.

"There's not much incentive of Democrats to negotiate if there's no broader deal that includes revenue (or new tax increases). And given how on the Republican side, the politics are driven by the presidential race, any deal that included higher revenues would be greeted with blowback from the Republican base."

Also, Ornstein added, the just approved payroll tax cut agreement is a fly in the ointment going forward for GOP leaders.

Many rank-and-file House Republicans and some in the Senate were unhappy with it because they didn't want to extend the cut in the first place and certainly didn't want to do so without offsetting it with spending cuts.

"Overall, the deal was seen as caving," Ornstein said, which means when it comes to future negotiations that might include some form of higher taxes, Republican leaders aren't "going to have the troops behind them."

So it could very well shape up to be a do-nothing Congress in terms of legislative achievement from here on out, though as Ornstein reminds us, circumstances often have a way of making Congress act.

"The world may force Congress to do something because of economic circumstances or foreign policy," he said.

If Congress essentially runs the clock out the rest of the year, that wouldn't necessarily make everyone unhappy. Hundreds of Washington lobbyists spend their working hours trying to make sure that the federal policies that benefit their clients stay exactly the way they are.

"The big winner on the Hill is the status quo," Thurber said. "It's great to lobby for the status quo because you usually win and you get paid a lot of money for it."

Read this article:
With Payroll Tax Cut Done, Is It Do-Nothing Congress Time? It Depends