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Friday, December 19, 2008

Camera company Polaroid has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States. The firm, famed for the introduction of instant photography, says alleged fraud by the founder of their parent group is to blame.

Owned since 2005 by Petters Group Worldwide, Polaroid says that the group’s founder Tom Petters is “under investigation for alleged acts of fraud that have compromised the financial condition of Polaroid.” Authorities believe Petter, currently in police custody, was running fraud worth £3 billion, something he denies.

Petters Group, itself, filed for bankruptcy in October. Both firms now face restructuring, which Polaroid is confident won’t affect daily operations — in fact, the company is “planning for new product launches in 2009,” and claims to have “entered bankruptcy with ample cash reserves sufficient to finance the company’s reorganization under Chapter 11.”

Polaroid has further said that employees will be paid without interruption, and that while members of Petters Group are under investigation for fraud, Polaroid’s management is not. The company, based in Minnesota, also has subsidiaries which will enter bankruptcy with it.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

In the opening round of the 2012 ANZ Championship this past weekend, the Southern Steel beat the Bay of Plenty Magic in Invercargill, New Zealand by a score of 49–47, while over in Brisbane, Australia, the defending champion Queensland Firebirds lost to the Melbourne Vixens by a score of 47–42. The wins by the Steel and the Vixens are considered by those who follow the netball league to be major upsets.

The Firebirds’ loss this past Sunday was their first in fifteen games extending back to last season. Last season’s championship is not a harbinger of success this season, as every season since the league was founded in 2008, the defending champions have failed to finish in the top four and attempt to repeat their title claim. Going into the game, the teams had played eight games against each other, splitting the record at 4 wins each. The Vixens’ win can be credited to several players including English national team player Geva Mentor, and returning Vixen stars Bianca Chatfield and Julie Corletto. The Firebirds’ loss involved poor shooting and bad passing. Firebird captain Laura Geitz’s quality play could not overcome other difficulties on the court for her team.

In the Magic versus Steel game, the teams were tied at 44–44 with five minutes left in the game. The local crowd were behind the Steel, and they finished the game ahead by two baskets. The Magic’s coach blames the loss partly on not preparing adequately to play against the Steel’s Donna Wilkins, who gave birth to her third child in January of this year. She also partly blames the loss on several errors. Jess Waitapu made her debut for the Magic because teammate Julianna Naoupu had health problems that impacted her ability to play.

On Sunday in Auckland, the favored LG Northern Mystics held on to defeat the Haier Central Pulse 51–47. Silver Ferns member Maria Tutaia was replaced by coach Debbie Fuller in favor of Grace Rasmussen, with Rasmussen making six out of seven shots to help put the game away for her team. The Mystics had six fewer shots than the visiting Pulse, but had a better shooting percentage which proved to be a decisive factor in the game.

In Perth on Monday, the West Coast Fever beat the Easiyo Canterbury Tactix by a score of 55–35. The Tactix were back home in Christchurch on Tuesday. The team’s captain Maree Bowden and coach Leigh Gibbs were disappointed in the team’s performance but believed there were some positives and room for improvement.

The West Coast Fever are the only Australian side in the competition to never have won the league’s championship, with their best ever finish being seventh in the ten-team competition. In September of last year, following the Australian victory at the Netball World Championships held in Singapore in July, the Fever signed Australian national team coach Norma Plummer as the club’s new coach. stuff.co.nz’s Chris Barclay believes this means the Fever have a chance of winning, especially following a pre-season that included two wins, a tie to the Firebirds and a single loss. She has sought to instill a greater sense of discipline in her players, not taking excuses for missing practices with the exception of Australian Diamond Susan Fuhrmann who is recovering from a chronic knee injury. She also sought to improve the Fever’s roster with the inclusion of England national netball team player Eboni Beckford-Chamber and former Swifts player Catherine Cox.

The Tactix are to play the Swifts at home this coming Monday in the second round. They have not beaten an Australian team since 2009. In the third round, the Tactix will play the Steel, in a game stuff.co.nz’s writer Matt Richens believes they can win.

In Adelaide this past Saturday, the Adelaide Thunderbirds beat the NSW Swifts by a score of 57–40.

Australian Diamond goal attack Sharelle McMahon has taken the season off from the Vixens as a result of pregnancy.

Monday, August 6, 2018

On Saturday, Sevilla FC announced the signing of Spanish defender Aleix Vidal from defending LaLiga champions FC Barcelona. Via their official website, Barcelona said they were to receive €8.5 million transfer as well as two million in variables.

28-year-old Vidal had joined Barça three seasons ago, from Sevilla. Since moving to the Catalan-capital, Vidal had played 49 games for the club. During his tenure at Camp Nou, Vidal won two Spanish LaLiga titles, three Copa del Rey and one each of Supercopa de España, UEFA Super Cup as well as the FIFA Club World Cup. In 2015, Vidal had won the UEFA Europa League with Sevilla.

Previously, Barcelona announced the transfer of French defender Lucas Digne to English club Everton FC. Barcelona announced the transfer of Aleix Vidal shortly after they announced signing Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal from Bayern Munich.

According to a report by Marca, Aleix Vidal was to sign a four-year contract with Sevilla.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Ernest Krajniak from Chilton, Wisconsin in the United States has been charged with arson after a lit cigarette ignited gasoline soaked clothes, setting his apartment ablaze.

On Friday April 3, Krajniak, 47, cleaned his entire apartment with about five gallons of gasoline, wiping everything down with the soaked clothes. After he was finished, he piled the soaked clothes in the center of his bedroom, lit a cigarette and then threw what was left of the still lit cigarette, into the pile.

Krajniak never called the fire department and never pulled the alarm. Instead he yelled ‘fire’ a few times then walked to the police station where an ambulance took him to a local hospital for the treatment of minor burns. The fire department later arrived to put out the blaze and his apartment was extensively smoke damaged. 11 other apartments were also damaged, leaving the occupants without a place to stay for at least a week.

“I should have never used that,” said Krajniak during a court appearance on Monday. He admitted to knowing that gasoline was highly flammable. He was arrested and his bond has been set a US$2,500. Krajniak’s next court appearance is scheduled for Monday, April 13. According to WISinfo.com, Krajniak has no prior criminal record.

The careless smoking of cigarettes has been blamed for thousands of fires across the U.S. In January 2008, an unnamed elderly woman in Buffalo, New York was receiving oxygen for medical problems in her home and lit a cigarette and began to smoke it. The oxygen coming from her mask then facilitated the ignition of her clothing, setting her on fire.

In the U.S. in 2002, only 4% of all residential fires were reportedly caused by smoking materials. These fires, however, were responsible for 19% of residential fire fatalities and 9% of injuries. The fatality rate due to smoking is nearly four times higher than the overall residential fire rate; injuries are more than twice as likely. Forty percent of all smoking fires start in the bedroom or living room/family room; in 35% of these fires, bedding or upholstered furniture are the items first ignited.