CFMA - Valley of the Sun

You know that song you hear every New Year's Eve? The one about not forgetting old acquaintances. Did you ever wonder what that phrase is in the chorus? Is it: For old ang zine Far hold ang zyne For old aunt Gzyne Farheld ang zyne Farheld ang sign For old ang sign For old angsign Foothold and sign For all the aunts of mine Actually, it's not any of these. On New Year's Eve, the most common song for most English-speaking people to sing is "Auld Lang Syne." Isn't it funny how it's possible to sing and hear a song so many times and have no idea what it means? And wouldn't it be funny if it meant "Big Pink Elephants"? A good sub-question is, what language is it? It turns out that "Auld Lang Syne" is an extremely old Scottish song that was first written down in the 1700s. Robert Burns is the person whose transcription got the most attention, so the song is associated with him. According to this page , a good translatio...

By CARL HULSE Published: December 26, 2013    WASHINGTON — With the next budget deadline just weeks away, top lawmakers said this week that they had made significant progress negotiating a huge government-wide spending bill that gives the once mighty congressional Appropriations Committees an opportunity to reassert control over the flow of federal dollars.        “We have a chance to prove to the rest of the Congress that we can produce bills,” Representative Harold Rogers, the Kentucky Republican who is the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said in an interview.        The past few years have proved frustrating for members of the spending panels. With House Republicans unable to come to terms with Senate Democrats on a budget, the government has mainly functioned under a series of continuing resolutions that have taken the Appropriations Committees out of the game.   ...

Now that Congress has approved a budget bill that includes a sizable spending hike for the rest of fiscal year 2014, construction industry officials will gear up to battle with advocates for a wide range of other interests for a share of those dollars.   The budget bill—the result of a deal between House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray (D-Wash.)—won final congressional approval on Dec. 18, when the Senate passed it on a 64-36 vote. The House cleared the measure six days earlier by a wide margin.   The immediate next focus is the measure's $44.5-billion hike in overall 2014 discretionary spending. The bill split that sum between the broad defense and nondefense sectors, but provided no line-item details. It will be up to the appropriations committees to allocate those funds among the many federal construction and nonconstruction programs. The appropriations panels' chairpersons, Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md....

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) predicted Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will negotiate on comprehensive immigration reform next year, despite Boehner's declarations to the contrary. The Democratic leader argued that Boehner has a new willingness to confront Tea Party groups and this, in turn, gives Reid confidence he will not have to break up the Senate immigration bill to negotiate a series of piecemeal reforms with the House. “I think that John Boehner will conference with the Senate. Why wouldn’t he? He’ll have a lot of pressure from his members now that the election is getting closer,” Reid said in an interview with The Hill. “Some of his members are in very marginal districts, where they need to do something on immigration,” he added. Boehner has vowed he would not let the Senate bill, which spans more than 1,200 pages, reach the negotiating table. The most controversial element of the package is a provision granting a pathway to citizenship for millions o...

12/17/2013 by Bernard M. Markstein        Reed Construction Data announced today that the value of November construction starts, excluding residential contracts, rose a solid 12.5% to $25.0 billion after increasing 5.0% in October. Since the starts data are not seasonally adjusted (NSA), caution should be used in analyzing monthly movements. Year-over-year comparisons are often used, as they remove much of the seasonal effects. Starts were up a less spectacular 2.0% compared to November 2012. The year-to-date starts data, which totaled $250.5 billion, were up a decent, if not overwhelming, 4.3% from the same period in 2012. The value of construction starts 1 each month is summarized from the Reed database of all active construction projects in the U.S., excluding residential construction. Missing project values are estimated with RSMeans building cost models. Monthly commercial starts have experienced some ups and downs over the course of this ye...

By Lori Montgomery , Published: December 18 E-mail the writer J. Scott Applewhite/AP - Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) discusses the compromise spending plan during a television news interview on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Wednesday, 12/18/13 Congress declared a holiday truce in the budget wars Wednesday, sending President Obama a blueprint for funding the government through 2015. But the next skirmish was already on the horizon: an election-year fight over the national debt. The budget deal that passed the Senate on Wednesday amounts to a handshake agreement to avoid a government shutdown when a temporary funding measure expires Jan. 15. However, the accord does not address the need once again to raise the debt limit, setting up a potentially complicated confrontation in late February or early March.   That fight would come just months before midterm congressional elections, and the GOP is deeply divided over tactics t...

1. Cyber Risk 2013 was a "cyber tipping-point," causing businesses and governments to take a deeper look at the threats posed by new technology. Read the third annual " Information Security & Cyber Liability Risk Management " survey, published by Advisen and sponsored by Zurich, to learn more. 2. Trade Credit and Political Risk Trade Credit insurance can help many companies navigate foreign risks, as they look for opportunities around the globe during this period of economic uncertainty. Read our white paper, " Companies turning to Trade Credit Insurance in an unpredictable and debt-laden world ," to find out more about this option. 3. Global D&O U.S. multinationals' foreign directors and officers face a rockier liability, legal and regulatory environment than in the previous decade, raising questions about how well some organizations are protecting their overseas executives. Zurich's white paper, " Global developments affect...

There’s a common thread among surety agents and producers when it comes to their contractor customers that does not involve automation. It is the personal relationships they have developed over time. Each surety producer may have a different style of developing those relationships, but make no mistake, the role of the agent is to educate, guide, counsel, challenge, scold, and praise contractor and subcontractor clients and occasionally push back when they can’t defend their position. It is the surety producer’s job to make sure the contractors’ surety programs are placed in the right market, so they have strong relationships already established when it is time for them to stretch or when times are tough. When it comes to working with their customers, producers do the following: Read more:http://enewsletters.constructionexec.com/riskmanagement/2013/12/developing-relationships-with-surety-bond-producers/?utm_source=vol_no._2_issue_24&utm_campaign=risk_management&utm_medium=...

The surprisingly strong November jobs report , the surprisingly strong November retail sales report , and the earlier-than-expected U.S. budget deal are just a few of the things that have people feeling pretty good America's economic prospects. The Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will surely be talking about it when they meet on Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss the path of monetary policy. Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/monday-scouting-report-dec-16-2013-2013-12#ixzz2nkKaJyL5

</body> A robot that detects cracks in tunnels now joins the many other robots being used by governments today. Under development now for the European Union’s ROBINSPECT program, the semi-autonomous tunnel-inspecting robot consists of a small unmanned vehicle connected to a crane and robotic arm with various sensors. A working prototype is expected to be finished sometime next year. The robot can reportedly work at a rate of three feet per second, scanning tunnel walls and generating rough two-dimensional images. From those images, the robot searches for cracks meeting certain criteria and when it finds them, generates more detailed three-dimensional images using ultrasound and laser technology. The robot requires a human operator, who can issue commands like “stop” or “advance,” but the robot’s work is largely autonomous, stopping only to notify the operator of cracks. Researchers predict such a robot could save government money by reducing the number of crew me...

So I have decided to tap into my creative side and publish my first book, Timer ™ DIET , which focuses on weight-loss and most importantly—maintenance. Business women will obtain a lot of useful information on how to lose or maintain weight, while being a working professional. See CEO Blog Nation featuring TimerDiet! “Tips for Busy Business Executives and Entrepreneurs to Stay Healthy” Link: http://rescue.ceoblognation.com/2013/12/08/tips-busy-business-executives-entrepreneurs-stay-healty/ “A relatively sensible—if not entirely original—diet book…Fisher provides a solid foundation for the mental part of losing weight using a system of journaling, timed snacks, makeovers—of the wardrobe, kitchen and pantry—and strategies to help work through stress, discouragement, jealousy, insecurities (from partners or friends, too), and even occasions such as parties and holidays that may arise on the journey. Her emphases on ease and satisfaction are key; Fisher knows that few are likely to...

A video aimed at inspiring girls to use their imaginations to build (rather than pretend to be princesses) has garnered more than eight million views and drawn attention to the under-representation of women in the engineering field. The two-minute-long video, produced by toy maker GoldieBlox , features three little charmers bored with flouncing girls wearing tiaras and pink dresses on TV, so they don safety glasses, hardhats and tool belts and set off an inventive house-and-yard-wide adventure using toys and common household items. The original video featured repurposed lyrics to the Beastie Boy’s song “Girls,” but has since been changed because GoldieBlox never received rights to the music. Amidst publicity resulting from media coverage of the legal dispute with the Beastie Boys, GoldieBlox Founder Debra Sterling stated in a letter: “Over the past week, parents have sent us pictures and videos of their kids singing with pride, building their own Rube Goldberg machines in their li...

WASHINGTON — House and Senate budget negotiators reached agreement Tuesday on a budget deal that would raise military and domestic spending over the next two years, shifting the pain of across-the-board cuts to other programs over the coming decade and raising fees on airline tickets to pay for airport security.        The deal, while modest in scope, amounts to a cease-fire in the budget wars that have debilitated Washington since 2011 and gives lawmakers breathing room to try to address the real drivers of federal spending — health care and entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security — and to reshape the tax code.          For a Capitol used to paralyzing partisan gridlock, the accord between Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, chairman of the House Budget Committee, and Senator Patty Murray of Washington, chairwoman of the Senate Budget Committee, was a reminder that even fierce political c...

Did you ever wonder why there are no dead penguins on the ice in Antarctica. Where do they go?  Wonder no more ! ! ! It is a known fact that the penguin is a very ritualistic bird which lives an extremely ordered and complex life. The penguin is very committed to its family and will mate for life, as well as maintain a form of compassionate contact with its offspring throughout its life. If a penguin is found dead on the ice surface, other members of the family and social circle have been known to dig holes in the ice, using their vestigial wings and beaks, until the hole is deep enough for the dead bird to be rolled into, and buried. The male penguins then gather in a circle around the fresh grave and sing: "Freeze a jolly good fellow." "Freeze a jolly good fellow." "Freeze a jolly good fellow." “Who could never ever fly!!”

Security researchers have stumbled upon a huge file of stolen user names and passwords. By Julie Bort, Business Insider A computer security researcher has stumbled upon another huge file of stolen user names and passwords that was posted on the Internet for other hackers to enjoy. Daniel Chechik and his fellow researchers at Trustwave SpiderLabs found a cache of user names and passwords for 2 million accounts that gives hackers access to accounts on popular websites like Facebook ( FB -0.58% ), Google ( GOOG -0.08% ), Yahoo ( YHOO +1.94% ), Twitter ( TWTR +4.42% ), LinkedIn ( LNKD +3.39% ) and others. This stash of 2 million passwords follows a massive hack on Adobe Systems ( ADBE -1.80% ) revealed in October in which a jaw-dropping 38 million user accounts and passwords were nabbed and posted online. That attack was so big that other website vendors were affected because many people use the same user name and password for all of their websites. Website vendors like...

By Ashley Halsey III , Published: December 4 E-mail the writer With Congress facing a major shortfall in transportation funding next year, a House bill introduced Wednesday would raise the federal gasoline tax by 15 cents per gallon to close the gap. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) announced the proposal at a news conference, flanked by an array of labor, construction and business leaders. It would raise the federal tax on gas to 33.4 cents per gallon and on diesel to 42.8 cents.   “Every credible independent report indicates that we are not meeting the demands of our stressed and decaying infrastructure system — roads, bridges and transit,” Blumenauer said.   The tax has not been increased since 1993, and the Highway Trust Fund, into which the revenue flows, has suffered because the tax has not kept pace with inflation. Plus, improvements in vehicle fuel economy have reduced consumption. “Congress hasn’t dealt seriously with the funding issue for 20 ...

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: December 3, 2013    WASHINGTON — Employers can require their workers to sign arbitration agreements waiving all rights to class-action lawsuits over workplace grievances, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday. The ruling from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit overturns a National Labor Relations Board decision last year that found such agreements conflicted with federal law giving workers the right to pursue collective action to complain about workplace conditions.        The court’s ruling is a win for businesses that want to limit legal exposure from the rising cost of class-action lawsuits over unpaid overtime and other wage violations. But it is a blow to workers who find it easier to band together when challenging the policies at a large company.        The case considered a policy in which D.R. Horton , a Fort Worth-based h...

(Reuters) - U.S. construction spending rose to its highest level in nearly 4-1/2 years in October as a rebound in public construction projects offset in drop in private outlays. Construction spending increased 0.8 percent to an annual rate of $908.4 billion, the highest level since May 2009, the Commerce Department said on Monday. Economists polled by Reuters had expected an increase of 0.4 percent. Construction spending fell 0.3 percent in September. The release of the September report was delayed by a 16-day partial shutdown of the government in October. Construction spending in August was revised to show a 0.1 percent rise instead of the previously reported 0.6 percent increase. Construction spending in October was buoyed by a 3.9 percent jump in public construction projects, the largest increase since March 2004, after a 1.9 percent fall in September. Public construction spending was boosted by a 3.2 percent increase in state and local government outlays, t...

Williams, Gary L. 73, Born in Alhambra CA and longtime resident of Mesa Arizona passed away on November 1, 2013. He entered into the arms of our loving Lord after enduring more than 2 years of suffering from a massive stroke. Preceding him in death were his parents when he was a young boy. He is survived by his loving wife of 49 years, Helen; their son Greg (Patrice); daughter Lori (Scott); Five granddaughters, Nicole (Jonathan), Sarah, Amanda, Amber, Madeline, and his great grandson Dillon; mother Joan; brother Bill (Angie); two sisters Celene and Jenene (Ron). Gary will be remembered as a loving family man, a pilot, a creative builder, and one who lived and loved life to the fullest. He founded Irontree Construction Inc. and leaves a continuing legacy of 35 years to the plumbing industry. A celebration of Gary's life will be held on Tuesday, December 3rd at 2 pm at Central Christian Church of Mesa: 933 No. Lindsay Rd. Mesa, AZ 85213. If a donation is desired, Gary's heart ...

Licensed contractors should be aware of three areas of change underway at the Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC): complaint processing , solar contractor licensing and general rule changes. Complaints Over the next few months, the ROC will be changing how it processes and resolves complaints against contractors, according to a September 5 announcement from ROC director Bill Mundell. The announcement states, in part, that "the ROC will focus its regulatory efforts on ‘problem contractors.’" Here are some of the changes to expect: "Citations will not be issued solely at the request of the person filing the complaint. The ROC will decide whether the evidence provided by the complainant and gathered by the ROC investigator support the issuance of a citation." Mundell predicts that this change will result in fewer citations. "The ROC will implement an arbitration process. The arbitration process will typically be used for small-doll...

“Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow.” Edward Sandford Martin   Regardless if you stay near or travel far, spend the day with family, friend or foe, may you know the peace and joy of that truly American holiday - Thanksgiving. Above all else, I wish you gratitude - for there you will find joy, contentment, laughter, happiness and love! Happy Thanksgiving!

For 2013, the forecast calls for total construction starts of $508 billion, compared to $485 billion in 2012.  Initial estimates for 2014 construction starts are $555 billion - a 9% increase from 2013.  The backdrop for the construction industry remains the hesitant U.S. economy.  During the first quarter 2013 it was assumed uncertainty would ease with the presidential election decided and the fiscal cliff averted.  However, the prolonged government shutdown in October 2013 dealt another blow to the economy and fueled uncertainty as the budget agreement only keeps the government running until January 15, 2014.  On a hopeful note, there have been comments from lawmakers that they intend to avoid a repeat of what took place in October.  We will see..... To review the 2014 Dodge Construction Outlook in its entirety click below.                     ...

The new spring training stadium for the Chicago Cubs will be called Cubs Park — for now. Unlike their contract for Hohokam Stadium and two previous city sites, the Cubs control naming rights for the new ballpark in Mesa. But the Associated Press reports that Chicago's general manager for spring-training business operations, Justin Piper , says the park's name could change. The inaugural game at the ballpark will be Feb. 27 against the Arizona Diamondbacks . For the complete story, click on the AP link below. Read More at Associated Press  

This week, AGC submitted a statement to the House Small Business Subcommittee asking for construction industry drivers to be exempted from new hours of service restrictions that require a 30-minute break during an eight-hour on-duty period and a requirement that those who do not meet the construction driver definition can only restart the weekly on-duty clock following a 34-hour off duty period that includes at least two periods between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. The new regulations went into effect on July 1, 2013, and have caused problems for certain segments of the industry. New Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) rules continue the construction exemption which allows a reset of the on-duty clock after a 24-hour off duty period for drivers delivering construction materials within a 50 air mile radius of their work reporting office. However, in circumstances where drivers travel greater distances or are required to work 12-hour shifts, more stringent rules ...

A contractor has been charged with murder in the Philadelphia building collapse that killed six people and injured 13.   PHILADELPHIA — The contractor who oversaw a botched building demolition that killed six people in a Salvation Army thrift store in Philadelphia is being charged with murder, manslaughter and reckless endangerment. Officials said Monday that Griffin Campbell is also charged with risking a catastrophe and criminal conspiracy in addition to the six counts of third-degree murder, six counts of involuntary manslaughter and 13 counts of endangerment. In the collapse, an unsupported wall crashed down onto the neighboring thrift store, trapping and killing shoppers inside. The charges are the first since excavator operator Sean Benschop was charged this summer on six counts of involuntary manslaughter for allegedly operating heavy equipment while high on marijuana and painkillers.   1 hr ago By MaryClaire Dale of Associa...

Women have regained all the jobs they lost during the financial crisis, but men are still lagging behind. After losing more than 6 million jobs, men have gained only about 70% of them back, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. So what's the hold-up? First, men lost more jobs than women to begin with, so they have more ground to gain back. Meanwhile, most of the missing jobs come from just two male-dominated industries: construction and manufacturing. They're barely recovering, whereas sectors populated with a lot more women -- like education, leisure, hospitality and health care --have all been growing more rapidly. Where have all the good men gone? Construction workers were the single hardest hit group in the recession, accounting for nearly a quarter of all job losses in the economy. In 2010, their unemployment rate surged to 25%. Now, it's much lower -- around 9%, but it's not because construction workers are getting jobs. Roughly 1 mil...

Just some of what you missed today!

Since the end of the Great Recession, many small and midsize contractors have become much more likely to encounter requirements to provide surety bonding as a condition of approval for a construction contract, according to several surety and construction risk management experts. Already mandated for most types of public contracts, requests for surety bonds have grown increasingly common among private developers seeking to protect their investments, as contractor and subcontractor defaults in the middle market continue to rise amid sluggish recovery in the construction industry, experts said. Still, even with market conditions firming, experts said small and midsize contractors with consistent performance histories, realistic views of their own capabilities and, most importantly, strong financial footing should be able to leverage the surety market in pursuit of public or private work, experts said. “There are quite a few surety underwriters that are willing to entertain surety bo...

(CNN) -- With 25 million people in its path, Super Typhoon Haiyan -- one of the strongest storms recorded on the planet -- smashed into the Philippines on Friday morning. As the storm plowed across the cluster of islands in the heart of the country, casualties were reported, more than 100,000 people took shelter in evacuation centers and hundreds of flights were canceled. The storm brought tremendously powerful winds roaring ashore as it made landfall in the province of Eastern Visayas, disrupting communications with a major city in its path.   With sustained winds of 315 kph (195 mph) and gusts as strong as 380 kph (235 mph), Haiyan was probably the strongest tropical cyclone to hit land anywhere in the world in recorded history. It will take further analysis after the storm passes to establish whether it is a record.   Read more:http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/07/world/asia/philippines-typhoon-haiyan/index.html        

Most people don’t have time to keep up with everything Google has to offer, which is why it’s great when websites and blogs do the work and share their findings with the world. The daily blog at Lifehacker.com looks behind the scenes at common and not-so-common software apps and offers insight and tips for techies and non-techies. A recent Lifehacker post explains 10 lesser known Google features and search tricks that anyone can use. Among the 10 hints are these nuggets: ·          A reverse image search can lead to information that may be otherwise difficult to find. ·          Free downloads can be found through some of Google’s search tools when used together. ·          Paywalls and blocked sites can be accessed with Google search tools. ·          Time-based search results , such as anything posted wi...