Archive for the ‘Press releases’ Category

President Obama, Vice President Biden to Announce $8 Billion for High-Speed Rail Projects Across the Country

Projects Will Help Create Construction Jobs, Revitalize U.S. Manufacturing Sector

Tampa, FL – President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will today announce that the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) is awarding $8 billion to states across the country to develop America’s first nationwide program of high-speed intercity passenger rail service.  Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), these dollars represent an historic investment in the country’s transportation infrastructure, which will help create jobs and transform travel in America.  The announcement is one of a number of job initiatives the President will lay out in the coming weeks that follow up on the continued commitment to job creation he discussed in last night’s State of the Union Address.  A full list of the awards can be viewed HERE. 
“Through the Recovery Act, we are making the largest investment in infrastructure since the Interstate Highway System was created, putting Americans to work rebuilding our roads, bridges, and waterways for the future,” said President Obama.

Supreme Court Protects Immigrants’ Access to Court Review

Washington D.C. – The American Immigration Council applauds today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision ensuring that immigrants facing deportation have fair process in the review of their cases. The Court ruled that individuals who seek to reopen their deportation orders have the right to appeal to the federal courts if the immigration court refuses to hear the appeal. The Court’s decision protects immigrants’ access to federal court review and affirms the role of the courts in our system of checks and balances on government power.

The case, Kucana v. Holder, was brought by an asylum seeker who filed a motion to reopen his removal proceedings because of changed circumstances in his request for asylum. A motion to reopen is a procedural mechanism that allows individuals to present new evidence to an immigration judge.  

"The Supreme Court’s decision reaffirms that immigrants are entitled to fair process" said Beth Werlin, Attorney at the American Immigration Council’s Legal Action Center. "Given the stakes involved in immigration cases, federal court review is an important check on the executive branch and is a necessary layer of protection for individuals who are facing removal from the United States."    

 
Read more about the Supreme Court’s decision at the Legal Action Center’s Supreme Court Update webpage.

 

Insurance Department and Attorney General’s Office Warn Seniors About Trust Mill Scams

(COLUMBUS)Ohio Department of Insurance Director Mary Jo Hudson and Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray would like to warn Ohio seniors about operations known as “Trust Mills” that prey on the elderly and often convince seniors to purchase inappropriate estate planning documents and financial products.  

Trust mill operators typically solicit senior citizens by mail or by telephone and offer “free” information about trusts, wills and taxes.   In order to provide seniors with a sense that they are a legitimate business enterprise, they will often hold seminars or programs at senior centers, assisted living centers or churches.

During a presentation, a “trust advisor” or “senior estate planner” will inform the senior citizen of the incredible expenses and awful frustrations their heirs will encounter during the probate process.   The individual will then inform the senior that they can take measures to avoid the probate process all together through the establishment of a living trust.   What is important for seniors to realize is that in most cases, the individuals masquerading as qualified financial advisors, estate planners and lawyers experts in estate planning are really insurance agents looking to sell senior citizens insurance and financial products. 

Eloquest Healthcare® Donates Medical Play Teaching Tools to the Children’s Hospital of Michigan

Ferndale, Michigan (September 25, 2009) – Eloquest Healthcare®, Inc., a specialty company that focuses on improving dermal outcomes for the acute care market, has announced the donation of more than a dozen medical procedure visual aids, known as “overlays”, which work in combination with special medical dolls to enable hospital staff to reduce parents’ and children’s anxieties prior to certain medical treatments and procedures.

 

Read the rest of this entry »