Media Search:



One killed at rave party in southeast Houston

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A killer is on the run after a shooting at party that police say got out of control. Hundreds of teenagers were reportedly at the party, all crammed into a vacant house in southeast Houston.

It happened at a home on Allison near Cullen. Police were on the scene investigating for several hours after the massive Spring Break foam party advertised on social media turned into a deadly shooting.

Willie Armstrong, 19, and a group of friends were among what Houston police say was anywhere from 300 to 600 or more teens and college students all crowded in the house.

Party-goers tell Eyewitness News it was a massive bubbles and foam party. But around midnight, after calls from several neighbors, police, including off-duty HPD officers working security, shut the party down.

"Then about 30 minutes later all hell broke loose -- gunfire," said neighbor Amos Miles.

Police say there were several people firing. Witnesses say bullets were coming from everywhere.

"Like 10 over here, three over here, six over there," said witness Fredrick Johnson.

That's when Armstrong, who was running from gunshots, looked up and saw one of the gunmen.

"He was just walking and then he just pulled out a gun and started shooting," he said.

Then he saw the gunman fire at a teen.

Read more:
One killed at rave party in southeast Houston

From the Fax Machine to Facebook, ERA Real Estate Reflects on 40 Innovations That Changed the Industry

PARSIPPANY, NJ--(Marketwire -03/14/12)- An outsider might think that freeways, fax machines, and Facebook have nothing in common, but real estate agents and brokers know these innovations have played a critical role in advancing the real estate industry since its formal beginnings in the 1800s.

As ERA Real Estate commemorates its 40th Anniversary, it identified what it believes are the Top 40 innovations in history that helped to shape today's real estate industry and will continue to influence the industry for decades to come. Click here to view a slide show of the full list, which is detailed below.

"For 40 years, innovation has been an integral part of ERA Real Estate's DNA," said Charlie Young, president and CEO of ERA Real Estate. "There are many lessons to be learned from history, which is clearly reflected in our Top 40 Innovations list. As we look to the next 40 years, we will continue to monitor the business, technological and social landscape for new ideas we can leverage to drive value to our customers and propel our business forward."

ERA Real Estate, an innovator in its own right, was the first real estate franchise to use the fax machine to transmit listings across the country, the first to expand internationally and the first to post listings online.

According to ERA Real Estate, the Top 40 Innovations in Real Estate History are, chronologically:

1. 1863 - The London Underground, the first subway, opens. Built as a way to reduce traffic congestion in the city, people now don't need to live in walking distance of their jobs, offering expanded choices in where to live. Today, proximity to a train station can increase a home's value in many markets.

2. 1880s - The Multiple Listing Service finds its origins in this decade. The concept upon which it is based -- help me sell my listing and I'll help you sell yours -- serves to unify and connect real estate brokers as a group of professionals.

3. 1889 - The first Land Run took place, providing hearty, would-be land owners with an opportunity to claim unassigned lands in the United States, primarily in Oklahoma. Under the provisions of the Homestead Act of 1862, a legal settler could claim 160 acres of public land, and those who lived on and improved the claim for five years could receive title, paving the way to the economic prosperity long-associated with owning land.

4. 1890 - The first automatic electric fire alarm was invented in 1890, but it was not until 1969 that the first battery operated smoke detectors came to market.

5. 1908 - What would later become The National Association of Realtors is founded as the National Association of Real Estate Exchanges with the purpose of uniting real estate brokers to represent the combined interests of the profession.

Read the original post:
From the Fax Machine to Facebook, ERA Real Estate Reflects on 40 Innovations That Changed the Industry

Online real estate listings invade privacy: TREB

Date: Wednesday Mar. 14, 2012 10:54 AM ET

Toronto's real estate agency is launching a full-court attack against a plan to make more information available online, including the names and addresses of home sellers.

The Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) claims will invade the privacy of home sellers and buyers and may result in more fraud against its clients.

The country's largest real estate board says Canada's Competition Bureau is planning to release sensitive information about online real estate sales by removing safeguards used by its agents.

The Competition Bureau is demanding TREB release more information about its listings online, in a bid to even the competitive balance for online real estate websites.

In 2010, federal Competition Commissioner Melanie Aitken successfully fought to give private home sellers access to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), which is the primary service through which homes are bought and sold in Canada.

The real estate industry has grown its online presence in recent years. The industry's main site, Realtor.ca, allows clients to browse homes over the Internet. Some information is restricted on the site and a real estate agent must grant access.

The Competition Bureau now argues that TREB's information wall is unfair for independent online real estate sale sites and should be made publicly available. The case is expected to go before a competition tribunal in the fall.

If the change is implemented, the name and address of real estate sellers will be made available online, as will property floor plans and other information about homes for sale.

Negotiated sale prices and details of buyer mortgages would also be made publicly available, TREB said on Wednesday.

Link:
Online real estate listings invade privacy: TREB

Imperial Metals Corporation: Ruddock Creek Resource Tonnage Increased; JV Partners to Proceed With Year 3 Earn-In

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire -03/14/12)- Imperial Metals Corporation (TSX: III.TO - News) reports the resource at Ruddock Creek has increased to an Indicated Resource of 4.654 million tonnes and an Inferred Resource of 5.382 million tonnes at a 4.0% Pb+Zn cutoff. This represents an Indicated Resource tonnage increase of 99% and an Inferred Resource increase of 261% from the 43-101 compliant resource released in the July 2009 report. The combined Indicated Resource contains 695.0 million pounds zinc and 142.0 million pounds lead. An additional 794.0 million pounds zinc and 155.0 million pounds lead are contained in the combined Inferred Resource category at a 4.0% Pb+Zn cut-off.

The new mineral resource is documented in the Technical Report Ruddock Creek Lead-Zinc Project - Kamloops Mining Division, British Columbia(1) dated March 1, 2012 ("2012 Technical Report"). The 2012 Technical Report was prepared by Ronald G. Simpson, P.Geo., GeoSim Services Inc. and Jim Miller-Tait, P.Geo., Imperial Metals Corporation, both Qualified Persons for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Messrs. Simpson and Miller-Tait have reviewed the contents of this release.

The Company is pleased to announce it has received confirmation from joint venture partners Mitsui Mining and Smelting Co. Ltd. and Itochu Corporation that they will proceed with their Year 3 option to earn an additional 15% interest in the Ruddock Creek property by spending an additional $6.0 million by March 31, 2013.

The combined Ruddock Creek mineral resources tabulated below are from the Upper E, Lower E and the Creek zones. This area covers only 2 kilometres of the known strike length from drilling, mapping and sampling of the 5 kilometre length of the Ruddock Creek Sulphide Horizon. Metal prices used in the determination of the base case cut-off grade were US$1.00/lb for zinc and US$1.00/lb for lead.

Block model grade estimation was carried out using Gemcom Surpac software. For the E zone, block grades were estimated using ordinary kriging constrained by zone domains. Three kriging passes with incremental search distances were implemented. Blocks estimated in the first two passes using a maximum anisotropic search distance of 31 metres were classified as indicated. Blocks estimated in the third pass using a maximum anisotropic search distance of 100 metres were classified as inferred. Grades for the Creek zone were estimated using the inverse distance squared method. Otherwise, all search parameters were the same as those for the Lower E zone.

The 2012 Technical Report contains tables providing the mineral resource estimates for each zone, and estimates for each resource category. The Company expects to file the 2012 Technical Report on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) within 10 days, following which the 2012 Technical Report will be available on the Company's website.

RUDDOCK CREEK EXPLORATION UPDATE

The Creek zone is located 900 metres west of the E zone surface exposure. Diamond drilling carried out on the Creek zone in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2011 has shown this horizon to be continuous over 600 metres down dip and 300 metres along strike from the surface showing. The mineralization dips gently to the north, plunges gently to the west and is up to 12.6 metres thick. The Creek zone appears to be a fault offset and uplift of the E zone mineralization. The strike, dip, mineralization and the presence of a barren pyrrhotite horizon located approximately 50 metres below the targeted base metal horizon are all characteristic the both the Lower E and Creek zones.

The proposed 2012 exploration program will continue to expand the Lower E zone using two underground diamond drills and utilizing the existing workings and drill bays. A bulk sample for metallurgical testing will be excavated from the Lower E zone during the 2012 underground program as well. Surface drilling will continue to expand the Creek zone west and south. A helicopter supported drill program will be designed to continue to explore and follow up on the highly successful 2011 drill program in the V zone area, located 3 kilometres west of the E zone outcrop.

Mitsui Mining and Smelting Co. Ltd. and Itochu Corporation have earned a 35% interest in the Ruddock Creek property by funding $14.0 million in exploration expenditures, and will earn an additional 15% working interest by funding a further $6.0 million in expenditures by March 31, 2013. At that time, the Ruddock Creek property will be held Imperial 50%, Mitsui 30% and Itochu 20%. Imperial will continue to operate the project through its wholly owned subsidiary Selkirk Metals Corp.

Read this article:
Imperial Metals Corporation: Ruddock Creek Resource Tonnage Increased; JV Partners to Proceed With Year 3 Earn-In

Zacks #1 Ranked Energy Mutual Funds

With every passing year, the worlds appetite for energy continues to increase steadily. Governments and corporations alike are therefore constantly on the lookout for new energy sources or more efficient technology in this domain. For fast growing economies such as China and India, the situation is even more acute. Thus, prices of these invaluable resources are surging and investors could benefit from the situation by investing in the energy industry. Energy mutual funds are a superior option for forays into the industry as they reduce risks involved by holding widely diversified portfolios.

Below we will share with you 5 top rated energy mutual funds. Each has earned a Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) as we expect these mutual funds to outperform their peers in the future. To view the Zacks Rank and past performance of all energy funds, investors can click here to see the complete list of funds.

BlackRock All-Cap Energy & Resources Investor A (NASDAQ:BACAX - News) seeks long-term capital appreciation. The fund invests a large share of its assets in equity securities of domestic and foreign energy and natural resource companies. It invests in around 25 to 30 securities at any point in time. This energy mutual fund is non-diversified and has a three year annualized return of 20.12%.

The energy mutual fund has a minimum initial investment of $1,000 and an expense ratio of 1.34% compared to a category average of 1.62%.

ProFunds Oil Equipment Services & Distribution (NASDAQ:OEPIX - News) invests the majority of its assets in equity securities or derivatives whose daily return corresponds to that of the Dow Jones U.S. Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution index. The energy mutual fund has a three year annualized return of 31.49%.

The fund manager is Hratch Najarian and he has managed this energy mutual fund since 2011.

T. Rowe Price New Era (NASDAQ:PRNEX - News) seeks both capital appreciation over the long term. At least two-thirds of the funds assets are invested in natural resource companies which could benefit from rising inflation. It also invests in companies outside the sector with strong earnings potential. The energy mutual fund has a three year annualized return of 18.45%.

As of December 2011, this energy mutual fund held 103 issues, with 4.64% of its total assets invested in Schlumberger NV.

Calvert Global Alternative Energy A (NASDAQ:CGAEX - News) invests a large share of its assets in domestic and foreign companies from the alternative energy sector. The fund focuses on acquiring common stocks of small and mid-cap companies. The energy mutual fund has a three year annualized return of - -9.31%.

The energy mutual fund has a minimum initial investment of $2,000 and an expense ratio of 1.85% compared to a category average of 1.62%.

Read more here:
Zacks #1 Ranked Energy Mutual Funds