| Horror accident subdues TV boss
HE didn't get Channel 7 to the top of the ratings without ruling with an iron fist, but network CEO David Leckie is now facing the gruelling possibility of losing half of his left index finger. In a potentially debilitating situation for the Seven boss, Leckie will undergo a second operation on Tuesday to repair the damage done to his finger after it was virtually severed by his garage roller-door at his Eastern Suburbs home two weeks ago. Leckie, accompanied by his wife Skye, hastily made his way to hospital, where he was rushed into emergency surgery in a bid to minimise the serious injury. Doctors performed micro-surgery on the head honcho's finger, the top of which had almost been cut off. But despite their best efforts, the badly damaged tissue is preventing the skin from grafting properly, forcing Leckie back into surgery next week.
Fire causes $100K of damage to PSL home
PORT ST. LUCIE Hurricane Wilma left Thomas Tomanek's home with about $120,000 in damages that took 18 months to repair. On Friday, an early morning blaze caused about $100,000 in damages to his residence in the 6700 block of Northwest Duke Avenue. Still, the local man seemed relatively upbeat hours after the 12:30 a.m. fire. "Nothing else to be," he said. "I can (lie) down in the driveway and cry if everybody wants me to, but it ain't going to do no good." He said his wife, Raquel Montero, and 6-week-old daughter, Gabrielle, were in the bedroom, when his 13-year-old son, Brandon, started beating on the door. Brandon had walked to the garage to get a broom and saw a "small fire in the fuse box," Tomanek said. They all got out while Tomanek, a nightclub manager in Miami, was at work.
California payrolls shrink in January
The January job figures followed a revised gain of 11,400 jobs in December, the Employment Development Department said. Revised annual job figures showed the state added only 14,900 payroll jobs in the 12-month period ended Jan. 31, a paltry 0.1 percent increase. The once-booming construction sector accounted for the most job cuts, shedding 69,300 positions, a 7.6 percent annual drop. "These revisions, while not unexpected, highlight the probability that economic growth in 2008 will be lower than expected, which in turn will intensify the pressures on state and local budgets," Stephen Levy, director of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy, wrote in a research brief. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he planned to spend more than $10 million on job training for construction workers left idle due to the housing slump.
Insurers 'put pressure on claimants to settle for less'
The conduct of insurers who deal directly with accident victims will be investigated following accusations that they put pressure on victims to waive their right to compensation or to settle claims for less than they should. Trade unions and claimant lawyers have handed a dossier of evidence against such insurers to the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for investigation. The trade union, Unite, has highlighted insurers who tried to settle the claims of injured people before they could take independent legal advice - known in the industry as 'third-party capture' - including one accident claim where insurance company Zurich offered £4,000 in 'full and final settlement', only for the case to be settled last November for £35,000. The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers' (Apil) evidence includes a claim on behalf of bereaved parents who lost their three children in a road traffic accident.
Lara Croft swings into the most perilous predicament of her turbulent ...
January 2008 Jane Cavanagh is ousted in a management clearout that includes Bill Ennis, her husband and commercial director, following another profit warning. The shares have fallen 90 per cent in six months
February 2008 SCi Entertainment axes 25 per cent of its workforce – 270 jobs - as part of a revised strategy that could cost up to £75 million to implement as half-year losses leap by 78 per cent. The company plans to scrap 14 of its ongoing projects to focus on "cornerstone" games including Tomb Raider, Hitman and Championship Manager .
|
