Sunday, 14 September 2014

New study on 'income inequality' looks at Mass.


Advocates for changing Massachusetts' personal income tax may have new fuel for their campaign, as a new national study suggests a more progressive income tax that requires wealthier individuals to pay higher tax rates could help states deal with revenue problems.


Standard & Poor's, in a study released Monday, found that the improving fortunes of the nation's top earners corresponds with a decades-long slowdown in tax revenue growth among states. The rating agency says states adopting more progressive, or graduated, income tax rates could be more insulated from the problem, though it stops short of endorsing outright such policy changes.


"In the setting of rising income inequality, the move toward more progressive tax rates may help states generate faster tax revenue growth than would flatter tax regimes," the report concludes.


State Rep. Jay Kaufman, a Lexington Democrat that chairs the legislature's Revenue Committee, says he's not surprised by the findings. He hopes the report helps bolster efforts to address Bay State taxes.


"It's a conversation whose time has come," he said. "The problems that we've got — both with wealth inequality and our regressive tax system — are worth addressing. Our failure to address them would continue the unfairness of the system and the challenges that we have with revenue."


The Tax Fairness Commission, a legislative panel Kaufman co-chaired earlier this year, found that Massachusetts' overall tax system, including state income and sales taxes and local property taxes, places a greater burden on middle and low-income taxpayers than those with higher income. Among that bipartisan commission's recommendations: discarding Massachusetts' flat income tax rate in favor of a graduated tax rate.


Of the 43 states that have a personal income tax, Massachusetts is one of just seven that still imposes a flat rate, which is currently 5.2 percent. Changing the tax's structure, which would require voter approval of a constitutional amendment, has faced stiff opposition over the years.


Michael Widmer, a member of the Tax Fairness Commission who opposed the recommendation, says such an overhaul would only compound income inequality by discouraging business investment.


The president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a business-backed research group, he suggested more "modest" changes to the tax code, such as raising the value of certain tax exemptions for individuals and married couples. "That goes directly to the spending power of that person on the lower end that's living in a high cost state and trying to make ends meet," Widmer said.


But Noah Berger, president of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, a left-leaning budget research group, argues that the state has enacted a series of tax changes over the last 15 years or so that have primarily benefited the wealthy, including reductions in the overall income tax rate and the tax rate on investment income.


The result, he says, is that the lowest income households — those on living less than $21,000 a year — are paying 9.5 percent of their income toward state and local taxes while those in the top 1 percent — those earning about $700,000 or more — are paying just 6 percent.


"Our state tax system has become more conducive to supporting inequality," Berger said. "It taxes higher income people at lower rates than lower income people. That exacerbates the problem."


S&P's report cautioned that a greater dependence on top earners for income tax revenue makes it harder for state policymakers to predict what they'll find in their coffers, since much of their income comes from investments in the sometimes volatile stock market. The agency report closes with this caveat: "tax revenue growth slows as income inequality rises, regardless of a states' tax structure ... changes to state fiscal policy alone won't likely fix what's wrong."



Venezuela's newest shortage: breast implants


Venezuela's chronic shortages have begun to encroach on a cultural cornerstone: the boob job.


Beauty-obsessed Venezuelans face a scarcity of brand-name breast implants, and women are so desperate that they and their doctors are turning to devices that are the wrong size or made in China, with less rigorous quality standards.


Venezuelans once had easy access to implants approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. But doctors say they are now all-but impossible to find because restrictive currency controls have deprived local businesses of the cash to import foreign goods. It may not be the gravest shortfall facing the socialist South American country, but surgeons say the issue cuts to the psyche of the image-conscious Venezuelan woman.


"The women are complaining," said Ramon Zapata, president of the Society of Plastic Surgeons. "Venezuelan women are very concerned with their self-esteem."


Venezuela is thought to have one of the world's highest plastic surgery rates, and the breast implant is the seminal procedure. Doctors performed 85,000 implants here last year, according to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. Only the U.S., Brazil, Mexico and Germany — all with significantly larger populations — saw more procedures.


There are no official statistics on how many Venezuelans are walking around with enhanced busts. But a stroll down any Caracas street reveals that the augmentations are at least more conspicuous here than in other surgery-loving places. Even the mannequins look they've gone under the knife.


Until recently, women could enter raffles for implants held by pharmacies, workplaces and even politicians on the campaign trail. During this spring's anti-government street demonstrations, the occasional sign protesting the rising price of breast implants mixed in with posters railing against food shortages and currency devaluation.


"It's a culture of 'I want to be more beautiful than you.' That's why even people who live in the slums get implants," surgeon Daniel Slobodianik said, fiddling with an FDA-approved pouch of saline solution no longer on sale here.


Slobodianik used to perform several breast implants each week, but now performs closer to two a month. He says women call his office every day asking if he the implant size they're looking for. When they can't find it, they choose a second-best option, almost always a size up.


No one is giving the frustrated women much sympathy, especially not the government. The consumerism of plastic surgery has always jibed awkwardly with the rhetoric of socialist revolution. The late President Hugo Chavez called the country's plastic surgery fixation "monstrous," and railed against the practice of giving implants to girls on their 15th birthdays.


On social media, some Venezuelans take a judgmental tone, saying the panic over implants shows the real shortage here is values. Others joke that the scarcity will force Venezuelan women to start developing their personalities, using a Twitter hashtag that riffs on the Colombian telenovela "Sin Tetas, No Hay Paraiso" ("Without Boobs, There's No Paradise").


In the absence of U.S. brands, plastic surgery has become an area dominated by Venezuela's chief trading partner, China, whose goods are often given priority for import over those from other countries. They're also a lot cheaper. While a pair of implants approved by European regulators can cost as much as $600 — about the same as the annual minimum wage here — the Chinese equivalent goes for a third of that. Some Venezuelan doctors refuse to use the Chinese devices, which are not subjected to random government inspections or clinical studies.


"I'm not saying they're not safe, but I've removed more than a few ruptured Chinese implants. I just don't feel comfortable with them," Slobodianik said.


April Lee, an analyst at the Massachusetts-based health care research company Decision Resources Group, said the medical community frowns on the use of non-FDA-approved implants.


Unable to find the devices in doctors' offices, some women are turning to the Venezuelan equivalent of the bartering website Craigslist, where sellers post pictures of black market implants of unknown origin sitting in sealed packages on kitchen tables, complete with stories of spouses who changed their minds and reassurances that the pouches remain sterile.


It's not just women looking for a more attention-getting silhouette who are struggling; some patients are in urgent medical need. Lisette Arroyo, 46, waited two months this summer to get her ruptured implants replaced, dealing with intense itching while waiting for new devices to arrive from France. She had to buy them directly from the manufacturer before they could be shipped, spending the entire $300 in foreign currency the government permits Venezuelans annually. The surgery can cost another $800.


"This country is not what it used to be," she said earlier this month as awaited surgery in a blue paper gown.


For the doctors trying to manage their patients' expectations, the shortages are no less grave than Venezuela's other hardships. Dr. Miguel Angel Useche's, who performed Arroyo's delayed surgery, says women sometimes save for years for their operations, and to be told they must wait longer can be unbearable.


"Women call me up saying: 'I've made so many sacrifices for this. How can you not help me?'" he said.



Study: Income gap weighing on Hawaii's tax revenue


A new report on the nation's growing income gap finds that stagnant wages for most Americans have dampened consumer spending, and that's bad for states like Hawaii that depend heavily on sales taxes to keep their governments running.


Roughly 70 percent of economic activity comes from consumer spending. But Americans have become increasingly reluctant to open their wallets as median incomes have barely increased over three decades and remain lower than they were in 2007 when the Great Recession began.


By contrast, the top 1 percent of earners have prospered. Adjusted for inflation, their average income has nearly tripled to $1.26 million since 1979, according to the IRS.


In Hawaii, the top 5 percent of workers earned an average of $300,194 in 2012, while the bottom 20 percent earned an average of $14,549 and the next 20 percent earned $40,741, according to Census data.


According to the report released Monday by Standard & Poor's, states that are more dependent on income tax are less exposed to the eroding tax revenue because they tend to capture more money from the increasingly wealthy.


The affluent tend to save a greater share of their income and spend it on services that are often untaxed, meaning states are unlikely to see much of an increase in sales tax collections based on the gains among this group, S&P said.


Half of Hawaii's state revenue is derived from the GET tax, which is similar to sales tax but includes goods and services.


"Because that is a broad-based tax, I think it's less subject to the income inequality issue, because everyone pays the GET based on their consumption levels," said Kalbert Young, state finance director.


A quarter of the state's revenues come from income taxes, he said.


"If you have tax policies that have higher tax rates for the higher income earners, verses lower income earners, that would be one way to mitigate that phenomenon," Young said.


Hawaii's annual growth in state tax revenue was declining well before the recession. State revenue grew at an average annual rate of 11 percent from 1950 to 1979, slowed in the 80s to just under 10 percent, and dropped to 3.6 percent in the 90s.


The growth rate increased to 4 percent per year from 2000 to 2009 and has risen to nearly 7 percent annually since then.


Decreasing revenue during the recession led Democratic Gov. Neil Abercrombie to propose a tax on pensions, a move that cost him politically.


But Hawaii did raise its cap on the transient accommodation tax, which is charged by hotels in the tourism-dependent state. The tax was capped at 7.25 percent, but it was raised temporarily to 9.25 percent, and that change later became permanent. The state also capped the share that went to counties, taking the remainder. Those changes boosted state revenue by about $85 million a year starting in 2012, Young said.


"There were some other similar revenue enhancement measures they passed, and my recollection from the analysis is that none of them had materialized to the level that was thought," Young said.


Nationwide, the share of income going to the top 1 percent doubled to 20 percent from about 10 percent between 1980 and 2011. At the same time, the rate of state tax revenue growth declined to less than 5 percent from about 10 percent.



Report: Growing wealth gap could threaten revenues


Rising income inequality in the U.S. appears to be slowing tax revenue growth in Indiana and other states, according to a new report by the credit rating agency Standard & Poor's.


The report found that the rising wealth of the top 1 percent richest Americans has been accompanied by a three-decade-long slowdown in states' revenue streams.


That funding squeeze and stagnant wages for most Americans is expected to increase spending pressures on education, infrastructure and social services programs as states struggle to increase their tax revenues, the report contends.


Indiana could be among the states hardest-hit by that trend.


The state has one of the nation's highest sales taxes. According to the conservative Tax Foundation, California's is the highest at 7.5 percent, and Indiana and four other states — Mississippi, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Tennessee — are tied with the second-highest, at 7 percent.


That sales tax is Indiana's largest source of revenue. But it is tied to consumer spending, and Americans have become increasingly reluctant to spend as median incomes have remained virtually stagnant over the past 30 years.


"It's by the far the largest source of revenue for the state, and it's so economically sensitive that if the economy's not doing well, it shows up pretty quickly in the state's revenue," said John Ketzenberger, president of the Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute.


That creates a challenge for legislative leaders trying to craft the state's budgets, he said.


The S&P report said Indiana's overall tax revenue grew by an average of 9.29 percent a year between 1950 and 1979 — the year that the gap between the most affluent Americans and the rest of the nation began growing.


Indiana's average annual tax revenue growth has fallen every decade since, dropping to 4.35 percent between 2000 and 2009, the report found. Annual revenue growth has fallen even lower since 2009, to 3.24 percent.


A 2008 law raised Indiana's sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent to offset limits lawmakers placed on property taxes. Local governments and school districts have faced millions of dollars in revenue losses since then because of those property tax caps.


State Budget Director Brian Bailey said he could not comment on the report's findings because he had not read it. However, he said that during 2014 fiscal year, which ended June 30, about $6.9 billion of Indiana's $14.4 billion in total revenue came from its sales taxes.


Indiana's top 5 percent wealthiest residents earned an average of about $246,000 during 2012, according to income estimate data from the U.S. Census Bureau. That compares with about $47,000 for the middle one-fifth of the state's earners, $11,342 for the bottom fifth of the state's earners and $146,468 for the top fifth of Hoosier earners.


But S&P notes that the affluent tend to save a greater share of their income and spend it on untaxed services, meaning states are unlikely to see much of an increase in sales tax collections based on the gains among this well-to-do group.



NY tax receipts rise despite growing income gap


New York tax collections have continued rising despite a growing income gap between its richest residents and everyone else, even as a national study shows overall growth in state tax receipts slowing as the income gap widens across the U.S.


State officials say New York's progressive income tax rate, which rises from 4 percent to nearly 9 percent for earnings above $1.03 million, buoys its largest revenue stream for public services and helps insulate it from the problem faced by states dependent on more regressive taxes like sales taxes.


Indeed, New York data from the oldest posted state income tax report from 1992 and the most recent from 2010 both showed tax receipts increasing from the previous year even more than the income gains of top earners.


However, the new Standard & Poor's study published Monday suggests gains flowing to the top 1 percent come at a broader cost to society, stunting overall economic growth and slowing average yearly gains in states' tax revenues.


It shows New York's annual average tax revenue growth declined from 9.26 percent between 1950 and 1979 to 8.61 percent in the 1980s, 3.83 percent in the 1990s, 5.28 percent in the last decade, and 3.28 percent so far in this decade.


According to the analysis from S&P Ratings Service, tax revenues also become more volatile as they depend more on rich people's capital gains.


While declining to immediately comment on the S&P analysis, Cuomo administration officials pointed to a 2013 report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy that found all New York's state and local income, property, sales and excise taxes paid by non-elderly residents ranked the state second-most progressive, trailing only Oregon. The report cited both graduated income tax rates and refundable tax credits that mainly benefit low-income New Yorkers.


Most economic activity comes from consumer spending, a key driver of growth. But consumers have become increasingly reluctant to spend as median incomes have barely increased over three decades and remain lower than they were in 2007 when the Great Recession began. Median household incomes, adjusted for inflation, were $54,045 in July, about 4.6 percent lower than in late 2007.


By contrast, the top 1 percent of earners has prospered for more than 30 years. Adjusted for inflation, their average incomes have nearly tripled to $1.26 million since 1979, according to the IRS. But S&P notes that wealthier individuals tend to spend less of their money, meaning that states are unlikely to see much of an increase in sales tax collections.


"A phenomenally large share of income growth has been going to the very top," said James Parrott, economist at the Fiscal Policy Institute, which advocates for broadly shared prosperity. "It has worked out to the advantage of New York's budget."


Parrott said the widening wealth gap is clear. He noted that overall economic growth in the current five-year recovery from the national recession is about half the rate of previous recoveries and that's probably the result of more wealth in fewer hands. That's from the rich investing and hoarding money, instead of spending it, including hiding wealth from taxes in offshore bank accounts, he said.


When New York's various other state and local taxes are added to its income tax, Parrott said the top 1 percent pay a smaller share of their incomes than the middle class.


The S&P report said New York is among the 10 states with the highest levels of income inequality, all of which have implemented higher top marginal tax rates in the past decade, and that 1980 marked a point "where inequality began rising while the annual average rate of state tax revenue growth slumped."


New York for 2010 reported that its top earners — 5.6 percent with taxable incomes above $200,000 — had 43 percent of $537 billion total income statewide and paid 57.5 percent of the $30 billion of income taxes.


Its top earners of 1992 — 5.5 percent with incomes above $100,000 — had 32 percent of $256 billion total income and paid 43 percent of $13 billion in taxes.


In each report, as the richer New Yorkers' incomes rose 3 to 4 percent from a year earlier, statewide income tax receipts rose about 10 percent.



Report: Income inequality affects Missouri taxes

The Associated Press



A national increase in income inequality appears to be negatively affecting tax revenues in Missouri and other states, according to a new report from a credit rating agency.


The report by Standard & Poor's notes that Missouri's average annual tax revenue growth has declined sharply over recent decades. From the 1950s through the 1970s, Missouri averaged more than 9 percent annual growth. But from 2000 to 2009, it averaged just 1.8 percent growth.


Over the past several decades, household incomes have risen significantly faster for the top 1 percent of earners nationwide than for median households — a trend that economics refer to as the income gap, or income inequality.


The Standard & Poor's report examined the tax revenues in 10 states that rely heavily on income taxes, including Missouri, and 10 other states that depend more significantly on sales taxes for their revenues.


"The findings from our research indicate that tax revenue growth slows as income inequality rises, regardless of a state's tax structure," said the report, written by S&P credit analysis Gabriel Petek.


In Missouri's sales-tax dependent neighbor of Tennessee, for example, the average annual tax revenue growth has declined from 9 percent in the period of the 1950s through 1970s to 3.8 percent during 2000 through 2009.


Although Missouri had a sharper decline than Tennessee, the report found that the rise of income inequality generally had a stronger negative effect on the group of sales-tax-reliant states than the income-tax dependent states.


The report concludes that income inequality is an economic problem — with financial implications for states — and that states are unlikely to be able to fully offset it by changing their tax policies.


Some Missouri economists and budget officials said there are other factors besides the growth of income inequality that may be contributing to Missouri's slower tax revenue growth.


Most notably, Missouri has enacted a variety of tax cuts over the past 20 years — enlarging individual income tax deductions, phasing out the corporate franchise tax, exempting food from state sales tax and creating dozens of income tax credits for businesses and industries.


Missouri's top individual income tax bracket has remained at $9,000 since the Great Depression era, meaning all income above that is taxed at 6 percent. A law enacted this year by the Republican-led Legislature could gradually reduce that tax rate, starting in 2017. There has been no movement among Republican legislators to charge a higher tax rate to those earning the most, as California has done.


"The fact that income increases past a certain amount are not taxed progressively would certainly be contributing to this" slowdown in state tax revenues as more income has shifted to the rich, said Tom Kruckemeyer, a former state economist who now works at the nonprofit Missouri Budget Project.


State budget director Linda Luebbering said the level of income inequality is not something that state budget analysts and economists directly discuss when developing forecasts for state revenues, though they do look at trends in income and consumer purchasing.


Luebbering said Missouri has "seen a flattening of sales tax" revenues in recent years, which has contributed to a growing reliance on the individual income tax.


The affluent tend to save a greater share of their income or spend it on untaxed services, meaning that states are unlikely to see much of an increase in sales tax collections based on financial gains among the wealthy, said Standard & Poor's.



Follow David A. Lieb at: http://bit.ly/1nQPhGV


Nebraska businessman who built grocery chain dies


A Nebraska businessman who built the regional grocery chain of B&R Stores died Saturday at the age of 92.


The funeral for Russ Raybould will be held Wednesday morning at 10:30 at Blessed Sacrament Church in Lincoln, according to the Butherus, Maser and Love Funeral Home.


The Lincoln Journal Star reports (http://bit.ly/1q3XO3O ) the chain of 18 grocery stores in Nebraska and Iowa that Raybould built started 50 years ago with a single Russ' Market store just south of downtown Lincoln.


The company owns Russ' Market, Super Saver, Apple Market and Save Best Foods stores in seven cities. About half of the company's roughly 2,000 employees are part owners.


Kathy Siefken, executive director of the Nebraska Grocery Industry Association, said Raybould valued his employees and never forgot a name.


"If employees found themselves in rough personal situations, Russ would quietly help them get back on their feet," said Siefken, who worked with Raybould for more than 20 years.


Raybould was born in Salt Lake City and served as a Merchant Marine during World War II. He graduated from Creighton University in Omaha before starting in the grocery business.


Raybould established B&R Stores with Clayton Burnett, a fellow Safeway alum. He later bought out Burnett in 1974.


Over the years, the grocery business has seen significant changes, including the development of warehouse style stores. Raybould's son, Pat, who is the company's top executive today said his father was an innovator who created the first frequent shopper card and was one of the first to stay open 24 hours.


B&R Stores has a long history of supporting local nonprofits. Raybould served on the Food Bank of Lincoln's original board and was an active member of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church.


Raybould, who retired in 1997, once said he always enjoyed waiting on customers and meeting their needs.



Justin Thomas wins Web.com Tour finals event


Justin Thomas won the Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship on Sunday for his first Web.com Tour title, beating Richard Sterne with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff.


Thomas hit a wedge from 75 yards to 2 1/2 feet to set up his winning birdie on the par-4 18th. Sterne blew a late three-stroke lead, then missed a birdie putt in the playoff after leaving his approach 20 feet short.


"I just tried to stay patient today and you have to do that here," Thomas said. "I don't want to say it's a relief to win, but it's hard to win with the level of play out here. ... It means you're the best that week and you beat everybody you played against. It's a really cool feeling and it's tough because it doesn't happen very often, especially in professional golf."


Playing the four-event Web.com Tour Finals for PGA Tour priority after wrapping up a tour card with a top-25 finish on the Web.com regular-season money list, Thomas earned $180,000 to jump from fifth to third with $470,470 with one event left.


The 21-year-old former Alabama player shot a 1-under 70 to match Sterne at 6-under 278 on Ohio State's Scarlet Course.


"It's crazy," Thomas said. "I feel like of all the chances I had, it's crazy how this one kind of worked out, but sometimes that's how it happens. I believe everything happens for a reason and it just happened to be my week."


Thomas, from Louisville, Kentucky, also earned a spot next year in the Memorial Tournament at nearby Muirfield Village. He was the 2012 college player of the year as a freshman and led the Crimson Tide to the 2013 NCAA title.


Sterne, from South Africa, bogeyed Nos. 15-17 and parred the 18th for a 70. Sidelined for four months after hip surgery in March, the six-time European Tour winner and 2013 Presidents Cup player was playing for the 10th straight week. He three-putted the par-4 15th to start the slide.


"I struggled all day to roll the 30-, 40-footers up close and I came up short couple times. I thought, 'This time, just give it a little bit more.' And it rolled on 5, 6 feet past," Sterne said. "That was the first short putt I missed all day."


Sterne earned $108,000 for a Finals total of $111,800, more than enough for a PGA Tour card. He got a spot in the series as a non-PGA Tour member who would have been between 126th and 200th in the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup standings.


Sean O'Hair (67) and South Korea's Whee Kim (69) tied for third at 5 under.


The top 25 players on the Web.com regular-season money list are competing against each other for PGA Tour priority, with regular-season earnings counting in their totals and the final leader getting a spot in The Players Championship.


Mexico's Carlos Ortiz, already fully exempt on the PGA Tour as a three-time Web.com winner this season, leads the list with $515,403. Canada's Adam Hadwin, the Chiquita Classic winner last week, is second with $499,667.


The other players — Nos. 26-75 from the Web.com money list and Nos. 126-200 in the FedEx Cup standings — are fighting for another 25 cards based on their earnings in the four tournaments. If a player from the top 25 on the Web.com regular-season list leads the series but doesn't top the Web.com list, he will cross over to the Finals list and get a full exemption.


Hadwin tops the standings with $206,000, Thomas is second with $193,833, and Hotel Fitness Championship winner Bud Cauley is third at $180,000.


The Web.com Tour Championship is next week in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.



Sweden shifts to left in parliamentary election


Sweden's Social Democrats were poised to return to power after a left-leaning bloc defeated the center-right government in a parliamentary election Sunday that also saw strong gains by an anti-immigration party.


With more than 99 percent of districts counted, the Social Democrat-led Red-Green bloc had 43.7 percent of the votes Sunday while the governing coalition got 39.3 percent, official preliminary results showed.


The anti-immigration Sweden Democrats party more than doubled its support to 13 percent, leaving it with the balance of power in Parliament.


"The Swedish people have made their decision. We didn't make it all the way," Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said as he conceded defeat. "Therefore I will submit my and my government's resignation tomorrow (Monday)."


The result marks the end of an eight-year era of tax cuts and pro-market policies under Reinfeldt, who said he would also resign as leader of the conservative party. Many Swedes worried that his tax cuts have undermined the country's famed welfare system.


"There's something that is falling apart in Sweden," Social Democrat leader Stefan Lofven said cheering supporters at a rally in Stockholm after most of the votes had been counted. "Tonight Sweden has answered that we need change."


The 57-year-old former union leader is expected to enter into coalition talks with the Social Democrats' main partner in the Red-Green bloc, the environmentalist Green Party, and potentially also the ex-communist Left Party.


But unless he's able to recruit one of the center-right parties in Reinfeldt's Alliance, he could face a situation where the Sweden Democrats and the Alliance jointly strike down key proposals.


"We are now Sweden's third biggest party," Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Akesson told jubilant supporters. The once radical far-right party entered Parliament four years ago with 5.7 percent support.


Despite the gains, the Sweden Democrats are unlikely to attain their main goal of sharply reducing immigration because all the other parties are in favor of a liberal asylum policy.


This year, Sweden expects up to 80,000 asylum-seekers from Syria, Eritrea, Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries — the highest number since 1992.


The rise of the Sweden Democrats has unnerved many Swedes, who regard the party as racist despite its efforts to soften its rhetoric under Akesson.


Smaller, more extreme groups are also trying to advance their positions in Sweden, including a neo-Nazi group that police said entered a handful of polling stations in Stockholm on Sunday, allegedly intimidating voters by filming them, shouting slogans and spreading confetti with political messages.


The group confirmed on its website that its activists had entered polling stations after burning ballots and an Israeli flag at a rally in downtown Stockholm.


A small feminist party that an exit poll suggested could enter Parliament failed to reach the 4 percent threshold, finishing with 3.1 percent, the official results showed.


Reinfeldt, who took office in 2006, is the longest-serving conservative prime minister in Swedish history.


His center-right Alliance has cut income and corporate taxes, abolished a tax on wealth and trimmed welfare benefits. It has also eased labor laws and privatized state-owned companies, including the maker of Absolut vodka.


Meanwhile, the gap between rich and poor has grown faster in Sweden than in most developed countries, though it remains among the world's most egalitarian, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.


"I hope that there will be a change," said Jonathan Andersson, a 25-year-old chef in Stockholm who blamed the government for his problems finding a "proper" job. "They changed the employment law and now I just get temporary work."


Martin Holmen, a volunteer campaign worker for Reinfeldt's Moderate Party, said many voters didn't give the government enough credit for making Sweden's economy one of the strongest in Europe.


"We have had the deepest economic crisis since the 1930s. But people in Sweden have hardly noticed it," Holmen said. "That's a very good grade for the Alliance."


---


AP video journalist Jona Kallgren contributed to this report.



Clintons Return To Iowa To Rally Democratic Hopefuls


The Clintons are back in Iowa at an event that is the place to see and be seen for ambitious Democrats. NPR's Arun Rath talks with national political correspondent Don Gonyea.



Negotiations over hostages ‘still at the beginning’


BEIRUT: Prime Minister Tammam Salam said Sunday he was encouraged by his talks with Qatar’s emir about the hostage crisis, but noted that the Qatari-sponsored negotiations with the militants holding Lebanese soldiers and policemen captive were still in an early stage.


Summing up the outcome of Salam’s talks with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamid al-Thani and other senior officials, a source close to the prime minister told The Daily Star Sunday night: “The Qatari emir and other officials have promised to exert serious and intensive efforts to resolve the crisis over the kidnapped soldiers and policemen.”


Speaking at a news conference in Doha before returning to Beirut Sunday night, Salam, who headed a ministerial delegation to Doha, said he felt support for Lebanon from the Qatari emir over the hostage ordeal.


“We have heard encouraging words and supportive words for Lebanon during our meetings with the emir, the prime minister and other officials, to the extent that the emir was so excited that he expressed his desire to personally visit Lebanon,” Salam said.


Asked whether the mediation efforts to secure the release of the captured soldiers included swapping some Islamist detainees held in Roumieh Prison, as the militants have demanded, he said: “I can confirm that the ongoing negotiations are still at the beginning. We have not yet reached a stage where we could reveal any specific information about them.”


Salam said his one-day visit to Doha was designed mainly to seek Qatar’s assistance in the hostage crisis and to strengthen brotherly ties between the two countries.


On whether the Qatari leadership had given him a time limit to end the hostage crisis, Salam said: “What was discussed between me and the Qatari leadership is clear ... a decision has been made to go ahead with ending this abnormal situation by all available means.”


He said details about ways to resolve the hostage crisis were left to people tasked with this mission, adding that General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, who was also part of the delegation, had extended his one-day visit to Doha for further talks with the Qataris.


Salam stressed the need for secrecy to facilitate the negotiations aimed at freeing the 22 Lebanese soldiers and policemen still held hostage by ISIS and Nusra Front militants following last month’s fierce fighting between the Lebanese Army and the militants in the northeastern town of Arsal.


He said Turkey’s newly elected President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would visit Qatar very soon, and he hoped this visit would help bring the hostage ordeal to “a happy ending.”


Salam said he supported Lebanon’s participation in the global coalition against terrorism that was announced in the Saudi port city of Jeddah last week.


“ Lebanon is today targeted by terrorism and terrorists. Therefore, any effort agreed on to confront this challenge, Lebanon must support it and be at the forefront,” he said.


Qatar became involved in the hostage crisis two weeks ago, announcing it would be carrying out negotiations between the Lebanese state and the militant groups that kidnapped at least 30 soldiers and police officers during the Arsal clashes. The Qatari delegation has met with Nusra Front and ISIS commanders and prepared a list of demands to submit to the Lebanese government. The militants are demanding the release of Islamist prisoners held in Roumieh Prison in exchange for the captives.But the government has announced it will reject any swap deal, saying this would harm the state’s prestige and open the door to similar acts in the future.


For his part, MP Walid Jumblatt said the speedy trials of detained Islamists could help resolve the hostage crisis within days.


“The country’s security is more important than some technical judicial details,” he said, addressing Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi. “Quicken the trials, and let’s get rid of this nightmare.”


“Whatever the charges are, in such an exceptional situation, a special session could be prepared and the trials could be finished in three to four days,” he added, saying he had been told so by one of Lebanon’s top judges.


Speaking during a visit to the family of kidnapped soldier Sayf Debian in Mazraat al-Chouf, Jumblatt questioned why the trials had been stalled for so long. “The cases go back to the events of Dinnieh in 2000, and then to Nahr al-Bared’s incidents in 2007,” he said.


Meanwhile, the Nusra Front released a video showing two of their captive soldiers speaking to their families by phone and demanding the release of Roumieh prisoners. George Khoury and Ahmad Abbas were shown alongside two unnamed captives from the Lebanese security and military forces in a video posted by a Nusra-affiliated Twitter account.


The video kicked off with Khoury’s phone call to what seems to be his father, asking him about his trip back from Arsal’s outskirts after he and Khoury’s mother were allowed a visit to see their son.


Shortly afterward, Abbas was shown sobbing as he spoke to relatives over the phone, assuring them of his safety. Abbas called on his family to take to the streets and press for the release of detained Islamists in Roumieh Prison.



Hezbollah, FPM form Christian armed group in Jezzine


JEZZINE, Lebanon: Hezbollah has established a new largely Christian armed group in Jezzine that has been compared to the Resistance Brigades in Sidon, drawing members from the party’s ally, the Free Patriotic Movement, security sources told The Daily Star. The Christian Resistance Brigades, as they have been dubbed, was created on the pretext of preparing for the threat posed by ISIS to Christians in the Levant.


However, the sources insisted that Hezbollah deliberately recruited Christian youth from the FPM in order to create an acceptable façade for the group, which is in fact controlled by Hezbollah.


Jezzine MP Ziad Aswad, a member of the FPM, couldn’t be reached for comment.


According to the sources, more than 60 members have been trained and divided into subgroups tasked with discreetly guarding the towns of Jezzine, Ain Majdaline and others at night.


Each member reportedly receives a monthly allowance of $500 and is supplied with a rifle, military clothing and ammunition.


Until now, between 60 and 70 rifles have been provided for the members of the Jezzine Brigades, the source said. Hezbollah is reportedly aiming to recruit at least 200 members, who are expected to patrol the Christian towns and villages of the area.


The decision to establish the brigades was made during a series of bilateral meetings between Hezbollah and the FPM at the house of an FPM official, identified only by his initials as N.N.


The two parties, according to the sources, have agreed that the FPM-affiliated brigades would take the responsibility for guarding the district’s Christian towns.


Monitoring other religiously mixed areas would be divided between the FPM and Hezbollah.


Hezbollah pursued a similar strategy when it set up the Resistance Brigades in Sidon in 2009, recruiting Sunni allies into the group, which later sparked controversy when clashes erupted between the brigades and locals.


The brigades underwent short trainings in areas controlled by Hezbollah, which decided when to deploy them and to what purpose.


Some Jezzine officials have condemned the formation of the brigades as an act of “self security,” accusing Hezbollah of exploiting Christian fears to establish its own armed group.


They also accused March 8-affiliated media of sensationalizing the arrest of Syrian refugees in Jezzine and Bkassine, claiming they were extremists, in order to justify the creation of the paramilitary brigades.


Last Wednesday, 12 Syrian nationals were detained in Bkassine. Some media reported that they were found with weapons and ammunition, and belonged to the Nusra Front and ISIS.


However, it was later revealed that this information was false and that the Syrians were arrested for lacking proper residency documents. The local sources said they believed the misinformation was intended to spread fear and justify the establishment of the brigades.



Poor find daily meals at Sidon souk trash heap


SIDON, Lebanon: Among the pile of rotten produce, Abu Omar searched for the best preserved vegetables. “We survive on this trash, it’s where we find food,” he said, as he picked fruit off a pile thrown in the square next to Sidon’s Souk al-Khoudra (vegetable market).


The vegetables and fruits were discarded by grocers mostly because they were rotten and unsuitable for regular consumers.


But for those in need, the souk’s trash is a blessing.


Dozens of poor gathered in the huge square near the souk known as al-Hasba at Sidon’s southern entrance to collect cardboard boxes and produce thrown away by merchants near the souk.


“There’s isn’t anything wrong with this,” Abu Omar said. “But begging, that’s shameful.”


Abu Omar, in his 50s, is a Palestinian residing in Ain al-Hilweh, Lebanon’s largest refugee camp. He leaves the camp early on a daily basis on a mission to find food for his family of seven.


He explained how his search entailed finding vegetables and fruit that is not completely rotten and removing the decaying parts to ensure a daily meal.


“Poverty and destitution have no identity, there’s no difference between a poor Lebanese, Palestinian or Syrian,” said Abu Omar, who does not pay attention to the passersby watching him as he rummages through the pile.


He considers his daily toil a kind of occupation.


With a daily income of around LL15,000, Abu Omar said it was difficult to make ends meet, especially with the tough economic conditions in the country.


The same was true for Abu Ahmad, who initially refused to talk about his ordeal to The Daily Star.


Abu Ahmad, a Lebanese national, was laid off from his job at a factory when it shut down due to difficult economic conditions.


He tried working in agriculture, but it was too demanding for him.


“I spent all the money I got as compensation after I was laid off,” he said. “It dissolved like salt in water, and I failed to provide a living for myself.”


Abu Ahmad visits Souk al-Khoudra every day. Among his family of four, only his wife knows where the food in the house is coming from.


“I search among the vegetables and fruits for edible pieces, I clean and wash them,” he said.


He explained that in the souk he finds everything he needs to feed his children. But keeping them from finding out that it comes from the trash was a tough task, he said.


“I’m not exaggerating when I tell you I clean the carrot piece to make it look as if it was harvested from the ground,” he said.


Abu Ahmad, who used to collect waste and scrap from the Sidon dump before it was closed, has been receiving help from relatives and customers at Souk al-Khoudra.


“If we had a government then we wouldn’t be forced to eat and survive off of trash,” he said.


Abu Ahmad described poverty as a slow death, adding that he felt in Lebanon the lives of citizens were considered unworthy.


Farah, a Palestinian woman from Syria, echoed Abu Ahmad’s sentiments. Having fled the Sabinah refugee camp in Syria due to the conflict there, she is now living in Ain al-Hilweh.


“Imagine receiving LL240,000 each month from UNRWA,” Farah said. “We are a family of three, do we have to eat air to be satiated?”


“I call this edible trash for humans, for people like us,” she said, making her way to a dumpster.


Zahia, who was busy cutting broccoli, left her children in the area to collect cardboard boxes.


“I sell a single box for LL100; this means that I make a LL1,000 out of each 10 boxes I sell,” she said. “This is less than a $1.”


Workers who clean the souk twice per day explained that there were people who came to the produce market’s trash heap in the late afternoon as well. They told the Daily Star that many of them come on their motorcycles after they finish their day jobs to collect whatever they can to survive because they have only meager incomes.


“Life is hard,” a worker said, describing those like Farah and Abu Ahmad, as he watched them pick through the mound of trash. At the end of each day, a bulldozer comes to collect and dispose of the waste in a treatment plant.



Has Hezbollah built tunnels under the border with Israel?


BEIRUT: The recent war in Gaza and the discovery of the extent of Hamas’ underground infrastructure has raised concerns in Israel that Hezbollah may have dug tunnels under Lebanon’s southern border with Israel.


Even before the latest war on Gaza, the Israeli military reportedly undertook an operation this year to hunt for Hezbollah tunnels running beneath the United Nations-delineated Blue Line, spending $8.5 million so far on the search. According to Israeli media reports, the Israeli army has yet to find any tunnels, although it is unclear whether it would publicize any discoveries.


Speculation over the possibility of cross-border tunnels being dug by Hezbollah has surfaced periodically since the monthlong war in summer 2006 when Hezbollah’s extensive network of tunnels and bunkers in the southern border district was revealed. Some of those bunkers were built just meters from the border, such as the system at Labboune near Naqoura. That bunker network was 40 meters deep and included sleeping quarters, bathrooms with hot and cold running water, kitchen, medical facilities, operations rooms and ammunition storage facilities.


The bunker, which was discovered and dynamited by Israeli troops, lay just 100 meters from, and within full view of, a U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon observation post, as well as a nearby Israeli military position. Neither the Israelis nor UNIFIL had any idea the bunker existed until Israeli troops stumbled across it at the end of the war.


If Hezbollah was able to build such a facility at Labboune (and dozens more throughout south Lebanon) without being spotted, it is certainly possible that the party’s engineers could have burrowed under the border.


If any tunnels have been constructed it is more likely that they were built in the period between 2000 when Israel withdrew from south Lebanon and the outbreak of war in July 2006.


During those six years, Hezbollah established a number of security pockets across the south that were off-limits to the general public. Some of those security pockets were in remote wooded areas adjacent to the border, allowing Hezbollah to construct its underground facilities without being disturbed. It is possible that Hezbollah dug some tunnels into Israel during that period, which have since been lying dormant.


Following the 2006 war, Hezbollah was forced to vacate its security pockets as Lebanese troops and an enlarged UNIFIL deployed into the area. UNIFIL’s expanded presence in the south grants Hezbollah less latitude to engage in covert construction activities, especially cross-border tunnels. Any building activity in the past eight years along the border in the open would likely attract UNIFIL’s attention.


An alternative is to hide the digging by operating from a house close to the border. But there are few locations where houses lie conveniently close to the border. Even the nearest houses to the border in villages like Aitta Shaab, Mais al-Jabal and Yaroun are a good 200 to 300 meters from the boundary.


The only two villages with buildings directly adjacent to the border are Adaisseh and Kfar Kila. Digging tunnels of more than 300 meters is not an impossibility for Hezbollah, but it would be a laborious task. The Gazan tunnelers work in compacted sand, which allows them to dig tunnels relatively quickly. Hezbollah, however, has to contend with a bedrock of limestone, which requires pneumatic drills and sometimes dynamite.


If Hezbollah has dug tunnels under the border, to what purpose will they put them? The obvious answer is covert insertions into Israel at a time of war.


The three-meter high Israeli security fence that runs along the border carries motion sensors and cameras to thwart infiltration attempts.


The system has not always been successful. In January 2001, an enterprising Lebanese jumped over the fence with the aid of a trampoline in an attempt to find work in Israel.


In March 2003, Hezbollah dispatched two Palestinian Islamic Jihad volunteers across the border where they staged a roadside ambush near the Metsuva in western Galilee, killing six Israelis before they were gunned down. Hezbollah built a specially adapted ladder for the operation, which allowed the two Palestinians to cross the fence without tripping the motion sensors.


Since 2006, Hezbollah has hinted that in the event of another war with Israel, the party’s cadres could be dispatched across the border to conduct raids and sabotage missions. In such an event, tunnels could provide the best means of sending relatively large numbers of Hezbollah fighters into Israel undetected.


A second possible use for the tunnels is to dig them beneath Israeli army border positions, pack them with explosives and blow them up. Palestinian militants used this tactic in Gaza in December 2004 to destroy an Israeli military outpost.


In 2007, the Jerusalem Post reported that the previous year during the war, an Israeli television crew had overheard a wounded soldier telling an officer that a Hezbollah tunnel detected north of the border had run south to beneath an Israeli outpost.


It is unclear how thorough the Israelis have been in their search for potential Hezbollah cross-border tunnels, or what methods they have used.


The Israeli military currently uses buried fiber-optic cables to detect underground digging activity but not the existence of tunnels themselves. Other techniques include Ground-Penetrating Radars, which map the sub-surface terrain. The limestone bedrock in the border area is conducive to providing good GPR results, but image quality drops the deeper the radar waves penetrate. Other systems include seismic waves or electrical resistivity tomography.


If Hezbollah has dug tunnels, it might have taken advantage of topography along the border to avoid detection. For example, in areas where the border follows a hill top or ridge, Hezbollah’s engineers could have begun their tunnel on the valley floor on the Lebanese side and simply burrowed horizontally through the hill, passing 100 meters or more beneath the border fence before emerging the other side in Israel.



Future looks to Hezbollah to ease tensions


BEIRUT: The Future Movement is seeking to work with Hezbollah to defuse sectarian tensions and revive the role of Parliament and Cabinet paralyzed by the four-month-old presidential deadlock, Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said Sunday.


He also said his ministry was not ready to hold parliamentary elections under unstable security conditions, sending the strongest signal yet about the possible extension of Parliament’s mandate.


“There is a political possibility for joint action between the Future Movement and Hezbollah through the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc to energize the Cabinet and parliamentary work and reduce tensions,” Machnouk said.


Referring to the paralysis that has hit Parliament since lawmakers have failed to elect a successor to former President Michel Sleiman, he said: “There is a serious possibility for legislation. Contacts are ongoing between [Speaker Nabih] Berri and [former premier Saad] Hariri.”


Machnouk spoke to reporters upon his arrival in Doha as part of a Lebanese ministerial delegation headed by Prime Minister Tammam Salam to discuss with Qatari officials the issue of at least 22 Lebanese soldiers and policemen still held by ISIS and Nusra Front militants.


In the strongest signal yet that Parliament’s mandate, which expires on Nov. 20, might again be extended, Machnouk said: “The Interior Ministry is not ready to hold [parliamentary] elections in these circumstances. For the first time in more than one year, sectarian kidnappings have happened and this is not a spur-of-the-moment incident.”


He was referring to last week’s wave of tit-for-tat sectarian kidnapping in the Bekaa region following the beheading of Sgt. Abbas Medlej, the second Lebanese soldier to be slaughtered by ISIS militants in less than two weeks after the killing of 1st Sgt. Ali al-Sayyed.


Machnouk’s remarks come as Parliament failed earlier this month for the 11th time in more than four months to elect a new president over a lack of quorum, raising fears of a prolonged vacuum in the country’s top Christian post.


The presidential stalemate has paralyzed Parliament’s role and is threatening to cripple the government’s work.


March 14 lawmakers have refused to attend any parliamentary legislative sessions amid the presidential vacuum, arguing that priority should be given to the election of a president.


Similarly, lawmakers from MP Michel Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc, Hezbollah’s bloc and its March 8 allies have thwarted a quorum by consistently boycotting Parliament sessions, demanding an agreement beforehand with their March 14 rivals over a consensus candidate.


In an attempt to break the presidential impasse, the March 14 coalition offered on Sept. 2 to strike a deal with its March 8 rivals on a consensus candidate. However, the March 14 initiative was swiftly scorned by Aoun’s bloc as an “old and meaningless initiative,” while Berri said it offered nothing new.


Former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, head of the parliamentary Future bloc, said he might meet Berri this week to discuss the presidential election deadlock and the possible options about the extension of Parliament’s term or holding parliamentary elections.


Speaking to The Daily Star by phone, he said Future MPs would submit their candidacy papers for the elections on Monday. Candidates have until midnight Tuesday to file their candidacies.


Attempts to extend Parliament’s term moved into high gear last month, after Zahle MP Nicolas Fattoush presented a draft proposal for the extension of the legislative body’s term by two years and seven months, arguing that the move was aimed at protecting civil peace in the face of security threats.


Meanwhile, the U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly discussed with Iranian officials the growing security, political and humanitarian challenges facing Lebanon as a result of the war in Syria and the turmoil in the region.


During a rare visit to Tehran over the weekend, Plumbly held talks with Ali Velayati, adviser to Iran’s supreme leader on international affairs, and Hossein Amir Abdollahian, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, according to a statement released by the U.N. official’s office Sunday. Responding to a question from reporters, Plumbly said the presidential issue was for the Lebanese to resolve.



Christians of Akkar keep eye on ISIS threat


DABABIYA, Lebanon: Elie’s mother sits on her terrace every morning in the predominantly Christian town of Dababiya in northern Akkar, a few kilometers from the Syrian border, and invites her neighbors for a coffee and a chat about the latest gossip. Her only son Elie sits with her for a while before leaving for work, and their candid conversation reveals her son’s deep foreboding. He doesn’t answer her question about how his trade business in Halba is going these days.


“There is something more important that work,” he repeats several times, “our unknown fate.”


Elie is one among many Maronite and Greek Orthodox residents dwelling in the Nahr al-Kabir al-Janoubi area, a mere 50 meters from the Syrian frontier. These residents in particular are vigilantly keeping an eye on the advances of ISIS, fearful that the militant group might one day infiltrate their border town. Some, doubtful that the Lebanese Army would be able to protect them, have taken measures to arm themselves.


Their fears run deep, despite the implausibility of an ISIS offensive in the north, given the dynamics on the ground in Syria.


Muslims in the area also feel the threat is knocking on their doors; the beheading of Ali al-Sayyed, a Muslim soldier from Fnaydeq captured by ISIS in Arsal, only reinforced their terror, signaling to them that even their faith could not ensure their security.


Dababiya, and other villages along the border – including Mounjez, Rammah, al-Awaynat, Shadra, al-Talil, Deir Jennin, al-Hedd, Sharbila, Andaqit and the Akkari Christian capital of Qobeiyat – also have a sizeable Christian presence, and once enjoyed close relations with Christian areas in Syria, before the borders were closed after the first year of the uprising.


Elie is in his 40s and not married, which is unusual for Akkar, where men often get married early. But these days he is more concerned about the threat of ISIS than he is about marriage.


“Two months ago, I did some repairs in my house that cost $40,000, and yet I don’t know if I am going to last here, if my fate will become like that of the Christians from Mosul or the Yazidis in Mount Sinjar in Iraq,” he said.


In June 2014 Mosul was captured by ISIS and its Christian residents were given the ultimatum to either convert or face death.


When ISIS militants overran Sinjar, about 200,000 Yazidis fled, fearing execution. Some captured Yazidi women were sold as concubines or brides to ISIS commanders.


Elie’s fears are new for the residents of the Akkar region, who are used to living in impoverished conditions, but never dreamt of leaving their homes.


“There is no choice for us apart from staying and maybe even dying in our land,” he added. “During the Civil War, we weren’t displaced, despite the wide-reaching conflict, perhaps because we were an essential part of the fabric of Akkar.”


The ISIS threat from the north is centered around the embattled areas of Tal Kalakh and Qalaat al-Hosn, but as Christians and Muslims – including Alawites – in Akkar’s foothills would all be directly affected in the event of a spillover, the concerns of the residents have not taken on a sectarian dimension.


Rumor has it that a large number of locals are now pushing to arm themselves and to implement self-security measures.


One resident who requested anonymity said: “I served in the Army for 30 years. And I acquired a weapon today to defend my family and myself, and to fight with honor for Lebanon’s diversity.


Self-security measures have increased not only for Alawites and Christians, but other parties apprehensive about the ISIS threat, and who believe the Lebanese government and the nation’s security forces are not prepared to protect them from extremist groups.


In the village of Jebrayel, local resident Tony Farah said for years the area had been kept in the dark about the threat of extremism brewing in Syria.


“Since the start of the Syrian revolution, we haven’t been completely aware of the severity of what’s happening in Syria, and we got used to the fact that a civil war was ongoing there. But the prospect of our villages’ being invaded by terrorist groups who want to behead us, which is happening in Syria and Iraq, it’s something we can’t allow to happen,” he said.


“We will carry our weapons and die with honor in our land. We will never leave.”


The remains of old churches in northern Akkar attest to the fact that Christians have lived in the area for centuries. They were not persecuted under Ottoman rule, and didn’t enjoy any special privileges during the French mandate, so their social and economic conditions remained, like most in Akkar, severely neglected in 1943, at the time of Lebanon’s independence.


For a long time, Christian Akkaris have lived among Shiites and Alawites, dispersed in villages all over Akkar, in peaceful coexistence. After the state of Greater Lebanon, the predecessor to modern Lebanon, was created Aug. 20, 1920, in deference to the wishes of Patriarch Elias Hoayek, who had a hand in the idea of create a separate Lebanon, Syria’s Wadi al-Nasara was partitioned from Akkar.


The area boasts a large Greek Orthodox population and is administered by the governorate of Homs, in Syria. The familial ties that still bind these Syrian villages to Lebanon, mean the Greek Orthodox residents of northern Akkar still consider them to be artificial demarcation lines.


Among both Christians and Muslims in Akkar, the phrase “What happened to them happens to us,” is common and refers to the areas overrun by ISIS, and the mass exodus of entire populations that came as a result.


“Who said Christians are the only ones who will be oppressed [if the ISIS threat materializes]? In their opinion, we’re all infidels if we don’t agree with them,” said a local resident.



Western diplomatic report warns of ISIS threat


As the Lebanese state and its institutions continue to deteriorate and plunge into vacuum, Lebanon’s allies are voicing concern for the future of the country. The vacancy in the presidency is shortly to be compounded by the likely cancellation of elections and the extension, once more, of Parliament’s mandate. All this comes at a time of unprecedented regional instability with the spread of ISIS and groups like it through the region.


A recent Western diplomatic report warns of the seriousness of the continued vacancy in the presidency, which has had a domino effect on other Constitutional institutions, “specifically Parliament, which is not legislating due to unjustified political disagreements and the spiteful logic that governs the relations of internal parties.”


“At the same time, the current government is doing minimal work and is constantly threatened by collapse as its cohesion is based solely on the continuation of regional or Saudi-Iranian communication, which played a central role in its creation. Any disruption in this communication would mean the fall of the government and the entire country with it.”


The report cautions that generally, when legislative institutions are either disrupted or dissolved, the void is filled by radical and extremist currents that are able to exploit marginalized groups and use them to spark strife for their own interests.


The report calls for the speedy reactivation of the Lebanese state and its institutions by electing a new president and holding parliamentary elections in order to strengthen the country against terrorist threats.


The report advises not to minimize or underestimate the strength of ISIS, which seeks to extend its influence throughout Syria and the Euphrates River Basin, seizing vital infrastructure and oil. It seeks to ensure freedom of movement to its fighters, to expel the remaining Syrian Army forces from eastern Syria, and to control supply lines stretching along the Turkish border.


“This terrorist organization is “dangerously close to accomplishing these goals,” despite the airstrikes by the Syrian and American air forces, the report says.


The report notes that the risk to neighboring countries, namely Lebanon, has increased with time, especially since ISIS seized control of the Tabqa military airport, which will carry grave consequences. ISIS’ gains make clear the nature and size of the force needed to stop it, as well as the need for coordinated international efforts to this end. This is especially crucial in light of the fact that Syria appears ready to evacuate some of its more isolated bases in order to devote itself to fighting terrorist groups in other areas, essentially handing the entire province of Deir al-Zor to ISIS.


The report considers the phenomenon of ISIS to be the fruit of the Cold War in the Middle East between two axes that possess the political, military and economic tools to control the region, alluding to Saudi Arabia and Iran. The primary reason for the rise of ISIS, the report concludes, is the failure of some Arab governments to control their borders and territories and to provide necessary services to their citizens, as well as the failure to develop a shared political vision for the nation capable of creating space for various political groups. The collapse of a number of state institutions in a number of countries, especially Syria and Iraq, as well as Lebanon, Yemen, Libya and Afghanistan, has pushed local takfiri movements to fill the void, with extremist groups coming to the fore.


The report also calls for keeping an eye on Afghanistan because any decline in Western support for the Afghan government or halting of aid would lead to the gradual takeover of the Taliban throughout the country, similar to what happened following the Russian withdrawal in the early 1990s. A resurgence of the Taliban, given the current conditions, would have grave consequences, boosting extremist and radical groups across the region.



Portugal bank slated for sale gets new management


The Bank of Portugal has appointed a new senior management team to run Novo Banco, a bank which the government wants to sell and recoup the 3.9 billion euros ($5 billion) taxpayers provided to resolve Portugal's biggest financial scandal.


The financial regulator said in a statement Sunday that Eduardo Stock da Cunha, previously at Banco Santander and Lloyds, will be Novo Banco's chief executive.


Novo Banco kept the healthy business of Banco Espirito Santo, which collapsed last month amid unreported losses and what regulators say were fraudulent schemes.


Novo Banco's senior leadership quit Saturday after seven weeks in charge, saying the government had changed its plans for the bank. The government is believed to be keen to accelerate the sale before a general election next year.



Donated tool helps crews rescue man from grain bin


A donated rescue tool helped firefighters save the life of an Iowa man who became trapped in a grain bin south of Newton last week.


The Des Moines Register reports (http://dmreg.co/1qOwMT7 ) the roughly $3,000 grain bin rescue tube that the Kellogg Township Fire Department owns helped keep Tuesday's accident from becoming fatal.


About three-fourths of all grain entrapments between 1964 and 2008 ended in deaths, according to a Purdue University study.


The pressure from the grain can keep the chest from expanding and restricting breathing. The tightly packed grain can also cause heat exhaustion.


And the danger happens quickly: a 6-foot-tall person can sink waist deep in five seconds and be buried in 11 seconds.


"It usually ends badly," said Newton Fire Chief Jarrod Wellik.


So it's fortunate that Kellogg firefighters had a specialized 5-foot-tall aluminum tube with them Tuesday.


The grain bin rescue device comes in four curved pieces that firefighters placed around the victim to keep more grain from pushing up against that person.


Once the tube was in place, firefighters scooped grain out of the tube to create more room for the man to breath, and they started providing oxygen because of all the dust and debris.


"That bought us time," said Capt. Calvin Dhondt of the Kellogg fire department.


Then rescuers pumped some grain into a truck and cut holes in the bottom of the bin to release the corn until the man was able to step out of the metal tube.


The name of the person injured in Tuesday's grain accident hasn't been released, but authorities say he is expected to recover.


The rescue device firefighters used was made by GSI Group, which also makes grain bins.


Jeff Decker, who is a safety specialist with the company, about half of the rescue tubes GSI sells are bought by community groups, such as FFA and social clubs. In Kellogg, donations from Sully Farm Supply and the community paid for the rescue device.


"Our message, first and foremost, is about avoiding incidents and staying out of harm's way," said Decker, who trains firefighters on grain bin rescues. "But when it happens, we want people to have the tools to help."



Bills salute late owner before home opener


Ralph Wilson's legacy was immortalized in gold on the stadium that bears his name.


Fans at a sold-out Ralph Wilson Stadium gave its late namesake a standing ovation Sunday as the Buffalo Bills saluted their founder before the home opener against the Miami Dolphins.


Wilson, who died in March, was one of many Bills legends whose names were written in black along the upper bowl of the stadium. Those names have been changed to gold during the $130 million renovation of the stadium this summer.


"He was a man of high ideals who set a high standard for himself and those he worked with," said emcee John Murphy, the Bills radio play-by-play broadcaster.


Murphy then introduced the team's Hall of Fame quarterback and the fans' cheering reached fever pitch. Jim Kelly recently announced he was cancer free after getting treatment for sinus cancer, and the crowd saluted him.


The home opener comes at the end of a busy week for Bills fans. They learned that the new owners of the team, pending league approval, will be Terry and Kim Pegula, who will pay an NFL-record $1.4 billion to purchase the team.


The Bills' future in Buffalo was aided by a lease agreement, signed off by Wilson and approved by NFL owners last year, that included a strict non-relocation clause. That essentially prevented the team from moving before the 2020 season.


Earlier Sunday, the Bills held a ribbon-cutting for the refurbished stadium, with the renovations significantly altering the game-day experience. Wilson's widow, Mary, led the ribbon-cutting, with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz and Bills CEO Russ Brandon speaking as well.


Wearing her late husband's 1964 AFL championship ring, Wilson saluted Cuomo, Poloncarz and the more than 800 workers who renovated the stadium.


"I wish we had a game ball for every one of them," she said. "Each one was so important."


The upgrades include new fan-friendly amenities such as larger concessions stands, a sports bar, easier access into the stadium and wider concourses.


The key renovations include 3 million feet of linear cable to improve communications and technology in the stadium. There are also two new video boards and 53 more points of entry.


"It took real friendship and real commitment and real loyalty to stick with Buffalo in the dark days, and that is the story for Ralph Wilson and Mary Wilson," Cuomo said.


"And that is the story of true friendship. Don't tell me who's with you when things are easy. Tell me who's with you when things are tough and when it's hard and you're not winning. And that's Ralph Wilson."



UAW says tentative agreement reached with Lear


The president of a United Auto Workers local in northwest Indiana says a tentative agreement has been reached to settle a strike at Lear Corp. plant that makes automotive seats.


UAW Local President Jaime Luna says details of a tentative agreement reached Sunday would be released after a contract is ratified. A date for the ratification vote has not been set.


Workers at the plant in Hammond, about 28 miles southeast of Chicago, walked off the job Saturday seeking to eliminate a two-tiered pay system that capped wages at $16 an hour for newer hires. The plant employs 760 workers who make seats for the Explorer and Taurus models produced at Ford's Chicago Assembly Plant.


The Associated Press left a telephone message Sunday seeking comment from a Lear spokesman.



'No Good Deed' defeats 'Guardians' at theaters


It took a murderous Idris Elba and a pair of dolphin buddies to defeat "Guardians of the Galaxy" at movie theaters.


The Sony thriller "No Good Deed," which stars Elba as an escaped convict and Taraji P. Henson as the innocent he terrorizes, opened on top of the box office with $24.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. And Sony wasn't surprised.


"It's a movie that we really loved and felt that it was going to win," said Sony distribution chief Rory Bruer. "You have to give it to the cast in Idris and Taraji. Their chemistry together is fantastic."


The film nearly doubled its reported budget in its first week of release, said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box-office tracker Rentrak.


"It's the first brand-new post summer release to really catch on," he said.


The Warner Bros.' feel-good film "Dolphin Tale 2" debuted in second place with $16.5 million. The family-friendly story stars Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd reprising their roles from the 2011 original.


"Guardians" slipped to third place with $8 million in ticket sales. The Marvel space adventure, which held the No. 1 spot for four weeks, is the top-grossing film of the year domestically, collecting more than $300 million in North America and $600 million worldwide.


Paramount's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" finished fourth with $4.8 million, followed by the Fox comedy "Let's Be Cops," which collected $4.3 million.


Fox Searchlight's crime drama "The Drop," which stars Tom Hardy and the late James Gandolfini, opened in sixth place with $4.2 million — an impressive showing given it only played in 809 theaters.


---


Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.


1. "No Good Deed," $24.5 million.


2. "Dolphin Tale 2," $16.5 million.


3. "Guardians of the Galaxy," $8 million.


4. "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," $4.8 million.


5. "Let's Be Cops," $4.3 million.


6. "The Drop," $4.2 million.


7. "If I Stay," $4 million.


8. "The November Man," $2.7 million.


9. "The Giver," $2.6 million.


10. "The Hundred-Foot Journey," $2.4 million.



Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by 21st Century Fox; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.


First phase of hospital expansion nears completion


St. Tammany Parish Hospital will reach a milestone in its $21 million expansion with the completion of the project's first phase later this month.


The initial phase includes a new ambulance entrance and new emergency department and trauma rooms.


Nola.comThe Times-Picayune reported (http://bit.ly/1tNgbBC) the formal opening will be Sept. 25.


The overall project, which began in November 2013, is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2016.


It is the largest expansion at the Covington hospital in more than a decade.


The emergency department enlargement will be about 8,650 square feet of space, creating additional space devoted to emergency and trauma care.


The number of treatment rooms in the emergency department will increase from 14 to 30. In addition, 11 current patient rooms will be incorporated into the revamped emergency room. The emergency room has remained fully operational during the project, officials said.


In later phases, the project involves about 15,350 square feet of new construction that will be added as a third floor to the existing two-story wing of the hospital at the corner of South Tyler Street and 11th Avenue.


The original building was designed to accommodate an addition to three stories.


The new third floor will be called 3North and will include 21 private rooms, giving the hospital a net increase of 10 patient rooms.


The state Bond Commission approved a $21 million bond issue in November 2012 to pay for the project. The bonds will be retired through the nonprofit hospital's cash flow, officials said.



Spanish department store head Alvarez dies at 79


Isidoro Alvarez, the head of Spain's El Corte Ingles department store chain who turned the company into an international business with an annual turnover of around 14 billion euros ($18 billion), has died. He was 79.


Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos expressed his regret at Alvarez's death in Madrid on Sunday, describing him in a statement as "one of our country's greatest entrepreneurs."


Alvarez worked at El Corte Ingles for 60 years and for the past 25 years was its chairman. Under his leadership, the El Corte Ingles clothing store diversified and expanded abroad.


No cause of death was given, though Alvarez was hospitalized last week with respiratory problems.


No information about surviving family or funeral arrangements was immediately available.



Report: Churchill Downs seeks to sell Fair Grounds


The New Orleans Advocate reports (http://bit.ly/1qwBlm9 ) that Churchill Downs Inc. is trying to sell New Orleans' Fair Grounds racing track.


Citing unnamed sources, the newspaper reports that Churchill Downs, which has owned the Fair Grounds and 11 off-track betting facilities since 2004, has hired JPMorgan Chase to seek bids with a deadline of Wednesday.


Churchill Downs bought the Fair Grounds when the track was in bankruptcy for an estimated $70 million.


Horsemen criticized conditions at the Fair Grounds, especially problems with the turf course that led to nearly half of turf races being cancelled or moved to the dirt track over two years. The Louisiana Racing Commission had demanded an improvement plan.


The company derives most revenue in Louisiana from slot machines at the track and video poker in off-track facilities.


Spokeswoman Courtney Norris said Churchill Downs, based in Louisville, Kentucky, does not comment on business-development issues. In addition to Churchill Downs and the Fair Grounds, the company owns Arlington Park in Illinois, Calder Casino & Race Course near Miami, a harness track and casino in Ohio and free-standing casinos in Mississippi and Maine.


Bob Wright, recently named chairman of the Louisiana Racing Commission, said the commission had not been informed but that he was not surprised.


"We've understood for some time that CDI is seeking to move out of racing, except for Churchill Downs, while expanding its gaming interests," he said. "At the same time, the asking price we're hearing shows that they value the Fair Grounds.


The canceled races contributed to the track reducing purses for non-stakes races by 10 percent and lowering the purse or canceling some stakes events during the latter part of this year's meet.


However, at a recent meeting of the commission, the track's operators received favorable notices for the improvements made thus far.


"Our working relationship is good," said Bernard Chatters, of Lake Charles, president of the Louisiana Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association, which had lodged many of the complaints about the Fair Grounds. "Every request we've made has been met. I appreciate the working relationship we now have."


A threat of legislative action remains. A bill by Rep. Patrick Connick, R-Metairie, mandating that CDI dedicate 10 percent of its slots revenue for track upkeep gained unanimous approval in the House of Representatives, but it was withdrawn after assurances from CDI about the upgrades.


Churchill Downs officials have said they are interested in reducing the number of racing days at the Fair Grounds to reduce expenses. That would require legislative approval.


The 2014-15 thoroughbred racing season begins Nov. 21.



In Vermont, a milestone in green-energy efforts


Vermont's largest city has a new success to add to its list of socially conscious achievements: 100 percent of its electricity now comes from renewable sources such as wind, water and biomass.


With little fanfare, the Burlington Electric Department crossed the threshold this month with the purchase of the 7.4-megawatt Winooski 1 hydroelectric project on the Winooski River at the city's edge.


When it did, Burlington joined the Washington Electric Co-operative, which has about 11,000 customers across central and northern Vermont, which reached 100 percent earlier this year.


"It shows that we're able to do it, and we're able to do it cost effectively in a way that makes Vermonters really positioned well for the future," said Christopher Recchia, the commissioner of the Vermont Department of Public Service.


It's part of a broader movement that includes a statewide goal of getting 90 percent of Vermont's energy from renewable resources by 2050, including electricity, heating and transportation. Across the state, Vermonters are urging their electric utilities to provide them with renewable sources of power, and the utilities are listening, Recchia said.


It's also a growing movement across the country, as governments and businesses seek to liberate themselves from using power produced by environmentally harmful fossil fuels.


Diane Moss, the founding director of the Southern California-based Renewables 100 Policy Institute, said that she wasn't sure if any other communities as large as Burlington — a city of 42,000 — have reached 100 percent, but that many are working on it.


"It's these front-runners that are showing that it's possible," Moss said.


Nearly 1,000 businesses both large and small and many communities have also committed to 100 percent, she said.


Greensburg, Kansas, almost wiped out by a 2007 tornado, rebuilt with energy efficiency in mind. A 12.5-megawatt wind farm went online in 2009, producing electricity in excess of that consumed by the community of 850, said Administrator Ed Truelove.


"We're trying to be as sustainable a community as we can be," Truelove said.


For both Burlington and Washington Electric, reaching 100 percent was the result of a yearslong strategy to wean themselves from traditional sources of power in favor of renewables.


Utility officials in the lakefront city known for its liberal politics and extensive social service network first began discussing becoming 100 percent renewable a decade ago. Four years later they realized it could be done.


"The transition in thought from 2004 to 2008 was 'We want to do this' to 'This actually makes economic sense for us to do this,'" said Ken Nolan, the manager of power resources for Burlington Electric.


Neither utility claims that each of their customers' lights comes from renewable sources all the time. When the wind isn't blowing and the rivers are low, they will buy power from traditional sources that include electricity generated from fossil fuels.


When the resources are right, though, they get more than they can use, and the difference is sold to other utilities. Over time, they sell more than they buy.


Another caveat that, to some, minimizes the 100 percent achievement is that both Burlington and Washington Electric sell renewable energy credits for the renewable power they produce to utilities in southern New England where their value is highest. In turn, they buy less expensive credits from other sources to offset the credits they have sold.


Sandy Levine, of the Vermont office of the Conservation Law Foundation, commended Vermont utilities for seeking renewable sources of power but questioned the credit trading.


"They are selling the renewable energy credits to customers in other states. Those customers have the renewable and clean energy benefits of that power," Levine said. "Simply using accounting measures to make claims about clean energy doesn't get us there."


Patty Richards, Washington Electric general manager, said the utility does sell high-value credits and then buys less expensive credits, which help keep rates low and ensures their power is 100 percent renewable.


"It's like if you get a big old car you're never going to use, you let somebody rent your car, then you rent back a little smart car or a scooter or something because you don't have the need," Richards said.


Taylor Ricketts, the director of the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, an interdisciplinary research center that works on sustainability issues at the University of Vermont, a Burlington Electric customer, said reaching 100 percent was a big achievement.


"It definitely makes me feel better here at UVM to know that every time I turn on a light switch or fire up my computer or anything else, to know that it's 100 percent renewable," he said.



Master's Woodshop resurrects Statton line


For Statton Furniture's third-generation president and the Hagerstown manufacturer's craftsmen and customers, it was a sad time in late 2008 when the 82-year-old company sold off its machinery and tools, and shut its doors.


Who would guess that just a few months later, the venerable Statton name would be back in the furniture-making business?


Bounce back it did during the winter of 2009 when Eben Conner, who owns a custom woodworking company called The Master's Woodshop, struck a deal with former Statton president Hunt Hardinge to begin production again.


"I thought that (closing) was the end of it, but this new — it was just like a blessed opportunity," said Hardinge, who now works at Master's Hagerstown facility, overseeing the Statton sales and production.


"That we were still able to offer and serve those people that value the service, I thought it was wonderful and am still happy to be doing it," the 60-year-old Hardinge said.


For Conner, who is 59, the opportunity was a bit emotional and a lot practical.


"Statton's been around Hagerstown for almost 90 years. It's a pity to see an American company be just shut down like that," Conner said. "I was aware of some of the issues they had faced over the years ... The foreign competition getting to them. It's just a pity to see something like that go."


But it wasn't pity that motivated Conner to resurrect the Statton production.


"I don't have the money to just throw around," Conner said. "From my position, we do remodel work or new construction and to have another product that wasn't tied to the construction industry — that appealed to me, just as a way of broadening my own business.


"We could use the machines we have. And, we have lumber storage for several thousand board feet of lumber. The two businesses would tie together well. And, it would diversify us."


So, the Statton furniture business survives.


But, how? How are Conner and Hardinge finding success, where Statton's long experience could not?


The answer is a radical change for an American furniture manufacturer, both men agree.


No longer is Statton's solid cherry 18th- and 19th- century style furniture sold at retail stores across the nation.


To cut out the middle man, Master's Statton line is now sold directly to the customer — on the Internet and through word-of-mouth.


"I told him that's the only way we could do it," Conner said of Hardinge. "We can't afford to go to the furniture stores" because they mark up the manufacturer's prices to double or triple or more, making some retail prices too high for sales, he said.


The change to direct selling has both pros and cons, Hardinge said.


"The upside of it is that you can eliminate the middle man. You can sell for the lowest price possible, give the customer the best price, best quality," Hardinge said. "The downside is, you don't have the distribution that you would have through a standard chain of bricks and mortars.


"But the costs are significantly less. I don't have the cost of advertising, the cost of catalogs, the cost of salesmen, the cost of maintaining a large amount of inventory," Hardinge said.


"The way we're working it now, (production is) scaled to sales that come in the door. The costs are not so astronomical. We're able to adjust to what we need to do and still make a profit."


Statton, founded in 1926 by Hardinge's grandparents, Philo and Helen Statton, reached its production peak in the early 1990s. It employed as many as 200 people then, said Hardinge, whose last name is pronounced "Harding."


However, the furniture industry began to weaken economically, as consumer tastes changed and companies began sending manufacturing overseas to cut labor costs, he said.


By the time America's recession began in 2007, Statton's sales were "really just keeping our head above water," he said. The year "2008 was really when we felt the brunt of it and sales just nosedived like 50 percent."


Then, suddenly that year, long-time company president Philip Statton died and his cousin, Hardinge, who had been vice president, became president. Very soon after that, as sales continued to fall, Statton decided to close.


Meantime, Conner's business was suffering in the recession, too.


Founded in 1985, The Master's Woodshop had moved into a building at 743 Bowman Ave. and had been growing its business of custom making high-end moldings, cabinetry and other millwork products for customers in the Washington, D.C., area. Even Hillary Clinton had Master's come work at her house, Conner said.


But the recession and, until this year, its tepid recovery "have been brutal" as the amount of work and profits have fallen away, he said. "The last six years of Obama-nomics have been a total loss" for Master's, though "this year, it looks like we might be OK."


Long a cabinet maker himself, Conner said his business name, The Master's Woodshop, has "kind of a double meaning. The master is Jesus Christ — my master. But we consider ourselves (as craftsmen) to be pretty good, so if people want to take it that way, we are the best in the business at what we do."


When Conner heard that Statton was closing, he had no thought of buying its machinery or its multistory building, which is not at all suited for a modern flow of work, he said.


But he did have ties to what was happening.


Over the years, Statton occasionally had contracted Master's for such work as making serpentine crown moldings "for, like, a highboy with a bonnet top," Conner said, referring to a tall chest of drawers. And, because of their mutual need for skilled woodcrafters, Master's had hired some former Statton workers.


It was some of those, actually, who suggested to Conner shortly after Statton's closed, that Hardinge might be open to a deal. And so, Statton became a licensed product of Master's, giving it use of the original designs, with Conner hiring Hardinge and paying Statton's former owners a percentage on sales.


Now, Conner's 20 employees work on Master's main custom work and build Statton furniture, too.


The latter is made in production runs of five to 10 pieces, which are laid aside in many of Statton's various styles. As sales come in, the workers stain and finish each piece according to each customer's request in a "quite involved" process of staining, lacquering and coating, all to Statton specifications, Conner said.


"We're actually making it better than it was" made by Statton in recent years, he said. New patterns were made "in order to make things crisper than it had been."


In addition, Conner said, he has raised the standards, increasing use of the red part of the cherry, which is called heartwood, and reducing use of the white part, which is called sapwood.


For his part, Hardinge said he has gone from Statton's president to Master's "chief cook and bottle washer" for the current Statton production. But, he said, he still "loves it. I have always loved this business."


His responsibilities include sales, seeing that parts are ordered, and making sure that each Statton order gets to the production floor and the finishing areas, and that the products are shipped, he said.


Sales calls come in by phone and Internet.


"I get emails every day," Hardinge said. "It's like with any sales. You follow up. Sometimes, it's, 'Can I have an extra key?' Or, it may be, 'I've got this piece I inherited, can you tell me about it?' Or, 'I've got this piece, can you match it?' Or, 'I'd like a bedroom suite.' Or, they want to add to what they already have."


And then, he said, there's the question, "'Do you still make it in the same finish?'"


"'Well, of course, we do!'" Hardinge said he exclaims.


The sales numbers are much lower than in the old days, he said, noting that is why this form of selling would never have sustained Statton's big factory.


For now, there's an important difference: "We're making a profit," he said.