7 ways budget cuts will hit national parks

Sat, 18 May 2013 14:05:26 GMT

Road-tripping to a national park makes for an easy -- and spectacular -- summer getaway. While all the U.S. national parks will be open this summer, forced federal spending cuts mean reduced programs and facility access.

The National Park Service has cut 5 percent from its 2013 budget. The parks will be open and ready for summer visitors, according to Park Service spokesman Mike Litterest, but these changes are likely:

Fewer staff and programs

The Park Service will hire approximately 1,000 fewer seasonal employees to provide programs and staffing during the peak summer season. With fewer park employees, visitors may notice delayed road and park openings, reduced hours of operation, fewer program offerings and longer wait times at entrance stations.

Shorter seasons

Several parks, especially those that close in the winter, have delayed their reopening due to a lack of crews to clear the roads. Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, for example, opened two weeks late this spring to reduce snow plowing costs, and some secondary roads will reopen only as snow melts. At Acadia National Park in Maine, the winter closure of park facilities was extended by an extra month. Similar delays have happened in Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah and Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.

Selected facilities will not open

Portions of a number of parks will not open as a cost saving measure. In Washington state, for example, Mount Rainier National Park will close the Ohanapecosh Visitor Center due to reduced staffing. At Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, six interpretive sites in the park will remain closed, including the Declaration House, where Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence. And on the Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee, 14 restrooms along the 444-mile parkway will be closed two days per week, and four will be closed for the entire 2013 season.

Closed selected days

A number of national parks will close for one or more days a week. This includes the Harry S. Truman National Historic Site in Missouri and Ohio's James A. Garfield National Historic Site, which will close on Sundays and Mondays, as well as on all federal holidays. Other examples include the Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site in Virginia, which will close on Mondays, and the visitor centers at Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota, which will be closed two days a week.

Fewer campgrounds

Along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia and North Carolina, the Otter Creek, Roanoke Mountain and Crabtree Falls campgrounds will remain closed through the summer; an additional four picnic areas and three visitor centers will not open this year. Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee is closing three remote campgrounds and two picnic areas this summer. At Grand Teton National Park, several campsites and restroom facilities will not open this year.

Fewer ranger programs

Many national parks are reducing the number and schedule of park ranger programs this summer. At Yosemite National Park in California, all programs at the park's Mariposa Grove are cancelled; the Shark Valley Visitor Center at Florida's Everglades National Park is eliminating 60 percent of its programs due to staff reductions; and Petersburg National Battlefield in Virginia is cutting its offerings by more than half.

Curtailed maintenance operations

Visitors may also be affected by a reduction of routine maintenance. Kentucky's Mammoth Cave National Park will delay hiring a park electrician and seven seasonal guides, resulting in the closure of the most remote sections of the cave. Trails damaged by high water in Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park in Hawaii will remain closed due to lack of staff to repair boundary fences and other areas. And at Glacier National Park in Montana, reduced seasonal hiring at the end of the summer will result in less maintenance, mowing, rock removal, patching, striping and shoulder dressing along the Going to the Sun Road and other main park roads.

To find out how your visit might be affected, check the National Park Service website. Adjusted hours, programs and the latest information on changes will be updated for each park throughout the summer.

Sales soar as Powerball hits $600M

Sat, 18 May 2013 04:38:37 GMT

Officials expect the Powerball jackpot to keep growing before Saturday's drawing, which is a new record jackpot amount for the multi-state lottery.

Ticket sales have soared since Wednesday night's drawing after no one picked all six numbers correctly, pushing the jackpot to $600 million on Friday, with a cash value of $376.9 million, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association.

The largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history was $656 million in the Mega Millions game in March 2012. That was split by three tickets sold in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland.

"If I sell $200 a day now, it's about $500 a day because of the big amount," said Dimple Patel, who works at a BP gas station in Jacksonville.

Patel said when people see the jackpot number rise, he sees a rise in business.

"Sometimes they're coming in for lotto or Powerball, they buy soda, water, something. So everything adds up," he said.

Lottery officials expect to see more jackpots of this size thanks in part to a game redesign in January 2012. It increased the odds of winning some kind of prize, but lowered the possible number combinations to win the jackpot.

On Wednesday, people in 16 states won $1 million prizes, and people in two states won $2 million prizes.

Another change to the lottery is something called "cross-selling." States are able to sell both Powerball and Mega Millions tickets. Florida just started doing that on Wednesday and will be part of its first Mega Millions drawing Friday night. That jackpot sits at $190 million.

Nae Robinson, who plays Powerball, said if she won, she would continue to work.

"I probably would take care of my kids, my mom, my family, help them out a little and then put the rest up for investment," she said.

More than half of the all-time jackpot records have been reached in the last three years.

Powerball jackpot is 2nd largest in US history

Fri, 17 May 2013 22:17:14 GMT

The multi-state Powerball jackpot has risen to $600 million, with a cash value of $376.9 million, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association.

The jackpot marks the second-largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history, after no one matched the winning numbers in Wednesday night's draw.

Wednesday's jackpot in the multistate lottery was $360 million. The numbers were 2, 11, 26, 34 and 41 with a Powerball of 32.

Saturday's jackpot will be the largest in the history of the Powerball game, surpassing a $587.6 million jackpot that was split by winners in Arizona and Missouri in November.

The largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history was $656 million in the Mega Millions game in March 2012. That was split by three tickets sold in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland.

That mark will be dwarfed if no one wins the Powerball jackpot Saturday. If that happens, the jackpot will be about $925 million for Wednesday's drawing, according to Kelly Cripe, spokeswoman for the Texas Lottery, which is part of the multi-state lotteries.

The Powerball game is played in 43 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. A single ticket costs $2, and the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 175,223,510.

And if that's a little too pricey for you, a Mega Millions ticket will cost you only $1. The jackpot for Friday's Mega Millions drawing will be at least $190 million, and the odds are almost the same, 1 in 175,711,536. Mega Millions is played in 42 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Jackpots in both games are based on payouts as annuities over 30 years. Players can choose a cash payout that will be less.

But before you start dreaming of that mansion in Barbados, allow us to pour an icy bucket of mathematical reality over your head: You almost certainly aren't going to win.

You stand a better chance of walking onto the golf course and hitting two consecutive holes in one than winning that jackpot.

Here are a few unlikely scenarios that, we're sorry to say, are much more likely than you taking home this jackpot.

From the Harvard School of Public Health:

-- Dying from a bee sting: 1 in 6.1 million.

-- Dying from a lightning strike: 1 in 3 million.

From U.S. Hole in One, which insures golf prizes for holes in one:

-- A golfer hitting a hole in one on consecutive par-3 holes: 1 in about 156 million.

From a 2011 State Farm study on collisions between vehicles and deer:

-- Hitting a deer with a vehicle in Hawaii, the state where State Farm says deer-vehicle collisions are least likely: 1 in 6,267.

From the National Weather Service:

-- Being struck by lightning over an 80-year lifetime: 1 in 10,000.

From the Florida Museum of Natural History, based on U.S. beach injury statistics:

-- Drowning and other beach-related fatalities: 1 in 2 million.

-- Being attacked by a shark: 1 in 11.5 million.

That being said, some folks do snatch a jackpot from the jaws of improbability, one of them being Geneva, Illinois, resident Ricardo Cereza.

Cereza recently yanked some old lottery tickets out of a cookie jar at his house. One of them turned out to be an Illinois Lottery ticket worth $4.8 million, CNN affiliate WGN reported.

"When I realized we had all six numbers, it was that shocking moment of, 'whoa, can this really be?'" Cereza told the station.

"So I called my son over and asked him to double-check this, and he looks it through and goes, 'Yep, looks like a winner,'" Cereza said.

The family will use the winnings to pay off the mortgage on their home, which was facing foreclosure, according to WGN.

Stocks finish higher for fourth straight week

Fri, 17 May 2013 22:15:44 GMT

The stock market continued its march higher for a fourth week as investors focused on signs of improvement in the U.S. economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all ended higher Friday, with the Dow and S&P 500 finishing at record levels. For the week, the S&P 500 added 2%, the Dow rose 1.5% and the Nasdaq advanced 1.7%.

Friday's gains came after a measure of consumer sentiment rose to its highest level in nearly six years. Separately, a report on leading economic indicators bounced back in April.

U.S. stocks took a step back Thursday amid a raft of mixed economic reports and as some Federal Reserve officials called for an end to monetary stimulus this year.

"The market is very sensitive to comments about the Fed pulling back," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist with Prudential Financial. But Friday's economic reports "helped assuage fears that the economy and consumer were going deeper into a soft patch."

All three indexes have gained around 16% so far this year on a combination of gradually improving economic data and continued support from the Fed.

But the economic outlook may not be as rosy as some would hope, said Bruce McCain, chief investment strategist at Key Private Bank.

"The euphoric reaction in the market is justified to a degree," he said. "But it may overestimate the growth we may see here and overseas."

Meanwhile, gold prices dropped 1.6% to settle firmly below $1,370 an ounce. The precious metal has taken a beating during the past few weeks as investors rotate out of safe-haven assets.

Retailers on the ropes: J.C. Penney shares slid after the ailing retailer reported another massive loss.

The losses came during a quarter in which J.C. Penney announced the departure of CEO Ron Johnson, a former Apple retail executive hired in 2011 to revive the floundering chain.

Mike Ullman, the former CEO who took back the reins from Johnson, pledged to reemphasize the company's private brands and improve the performance of its online store.

On the higher end of the retail spectrum, Nordstrom shares sank after the company reported weaker-than-expected revenue growth and trimmed its sales outlook.

Facebook: One year later: A year after Facebook's disastrous stock market debut, the social network's stock is still 30% below its IPO price of $38 a share.

The company went public on May 18, 2012, in one of the most highly anticipated IPOs ever. But its stock performance has been abysmal and some investors are relieved to have missed out on the deal.

IPO pop: Shares of Tableau Software surged 60% in their debut on the New York Stock Exchange.

The company raised more than $254 million through an initial public offering that priced above its estimated range. Tableau, which specializes in data visualization, also raised the amount of shares it offered to 8.2 million from 7.2 million.

Separately, shares of Marketo rallied 67% in their debut after the business-to-business software firm raised nearly $80 million through an IPO.

Tesla's stock offering: Tesla raised $968 million in a secondary offering of common stock and convertible notes. The electric car maker's founder and chairman, Elon Musk, personally bought $100 million shares. Tesla's stock fell slightly but shares of another Musk-backed company, SolarCity, surged for the second straight day. The was up more than 25%.

European markets erased earlier losses, while Asian markets ended higher.

Debt ceiling: Treasury starts juggling act

Fri, 17 May 2013 20:16:37 GMT

The debt ceiling clock is about to start running again. The U.S. Treasury on Friday began using "extraordinary measures" to keep the country from defaulting on its obligations.

As part of a budget compromise in February, lawmakers suspended the country's legal borrowing limit at $16.394 trillion, and let Treasury keep borrowing to pay all the country's bills. But on Sunday the debt ceiling will automatically reset to a higher level reflecting the amount borrowed during the suspension period.

The Bipartisan Policy Center estimates the increase will be roughly $265 billion.

In effect, that means the country will reach its debt limit on Sunday.

It's unclear how much time the extraordinary measures will buy. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said in a letter to lawmakers Friday that the measures could last "until after Labor Day." Just how long after that is uncertain, he said, given that tax receipts are unpredictable as is the pace of spending due to the forced budget cuts that began in March.

Other estimates, however, put the drop-dead date for raising the debt ceiling at sometime in October or even November thanks to the fact that the deficit this year has fallen faster than expected.

The first move that Treasury will take is to temporarily stop issuing special securities to state and local governments.

Other measures Treasury can take include redeeming existing investments in the retirement and disability funds of civil service and postal workers.

It's not clear just how Congress will handle the debt ceiling debate between now and the fall.

Political analysts still say both parties realize how damaging it would be to engage in political brinksmanship the way Republicans did in the summer of 2011. But House Republicans in particular have made clear they will demand something in return for their vote to increase the borrowing limit. And it's very likely the fight could go down to the wire.

What's not clear is what exactly Republicans will demand. It may be more spending cuts, a fast-track process for tax reform or something else entirely.

"There's a lot of uncertainty and a longer time frame for the GOP to make up their mind now since the debt limit has been pushed. ... I think the GOP may come out of the gate with a bigger ask on spending cuts and entitlements, but a tax reform process seems like the most likely way out for all sides," said Sean West, the U.S. director of the Eurasia Group.

Class of 2013 grads average $35,200 in total debt

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:31:58 GMT

The class of 2013 is in for a rude awakening this graduation season.

Between ballooning student loans, credit cards and money owed to family members, they are facing an average $35,200 in college-related debt, a Fidelity survey of 750 college graduates shows.

And for half of this year's graduates, the amount of debt they racked up while in school comes as a shock.

"We're tending to find people are still surprised at the level of debt they're graduating with, which suggests we still have a long way to go in terms of having conversations about planning for college, saving for college and figuring out the best place to go (to college)," said Keith Bernhardt, vice president of college planning at Fidelity Investments.

The bulk of the class of 2013's debt is in government loans, with graduates owing an average of $26,000. They also had an average of $19,000 in private loans, $18,000 in state loans, $13,000 in personal and family loans and $3,000 in credit card debt.

After realizing the extent of their debt, 39 percent said they would have done things differently -- like saving earlier, more thoroughly researching financial aid or looking for ways to save more and spend less while at school -- that's up from 25 percent in 2011.

A small group, or 12 percent of graduates, regretted their decisions entirely, saying their college education didn't justify the debt burden.

But now they're forced to face reality. Half of respondents said tackling their student debt is a financial priority, and half said it will take them more than nine years to become debt-free.

The majority, or 92 percent, say they will pay back their debt using income from their job, 25 percent said they will get help from their parents or family, 24 percent will use their savings and 21 percent will get a second job. About 7 percent of graduates don't plan on ever being able to entirely pay off their loans.

Others started taking action earlier to try to soften the blow. About 85 percent of college graduates contributed their own money toward college costs -- with 27 percent reporting that they contributed more than $10,000. And 57 percent said they chose their major specifically because they thought it would land them a higher-paying job.

Florida jobless rate drops to 7.2% in April

Fri, 17 May 2013 16:36:21 GMT

Florida's unemployment rate dropped another 0.3 percent in April, bringing the jobless rate 7.2 percent -- the lowest in the state since September 2008.

The rate in most Northeast Florida counties is even lower. (See chart at end of story.)

The state says 16,700 new private sector jobs added last month and the unemployment rate has dropped 3.9 percent from April 2012.

The jobless rate dropped in every Northeast Florida county, most of which have rates lower than the state average. Alachua and St. Johns counties have among the five lowest rates in Florida.

Putnam and Flagler counties continue to rank among the top three places in the state to find a job.

The new figures were announced on a new Twitter account -- @ItsWorkingFL -- set up by the administration of Gov. Rick Scott.

Scott called the latest figures "great news for Florida families." He touted the numbers during a Friday stop at a Tampa manufacturing firm where the governor also signed into law a tax cut for manufacturing companies.

"Growing jobs is our top priority and this legislative session we eliminated barriers on manufacturers to ensure Florida is a top destination for manufacturing jobs," Scott said in a statement Friday morning. "It is clear that our policies to create jobs for Florida families and attract new and expanding businesses to Florida is working."

April 2013 March 2013 April 2012 Statewide 7.2% 7.5% 8.9% Alachua County 4.8% 5.1% 6.2% Baker County 6.2% 6.6% 8.2% Bradford County 5.4% 5.6% 6.9% Clay County 5.7% 6.0% 7.6% Columbia County 6.2% 6.4% 7.8% Duval County 6.8% 7.0% 8.5% Flagler County 9.3% 9.5% 11.2% Nassau County 5.5% 5.7% 7.2% Putnam County 9.0% 9.3% 10.3% St. Johns County 5.1% 5.4% 6.7% Union County 5.6% 5.9% 6.9%

By the numbers: Internal Revenue Service

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:00:23 GMT

By the numbers, here's a look at the IRS.

$2,524,320,134,000 - Total taxes collected by the IRS in fiscal year 2012.

146,244,00 - Total tax returns received for individual income tax returns in fiscal year 2012.

70 - Percentage of closed applications for tax-exempt status that were approved in fiscal year 2012 during an initial review with little or no additional information from the organizations.

2 - Employees in the IRS Cincinnati office accused of being principally responsible for "overly aggressive" handling of requests by conservative groups for tax-exempt status, according to a congressional source.

298 - Cases as reviewed by the IRS inspector general as potential political cases not eligible for tax exempt status as of May 31, 2012.

72 - Case files under review where the organization's name contained "tea party."

13 - Cases under review where the name included the word "patriots."

160 - Cases under review that had been held open for at least 206 to 1,138 days (almost three years).

121 days - The IRS's overall goal for completing each application for tax-exempt status.

66,543 - Number of applications received by the IRS in fiscal year 2012 for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.

3,357 - Number of applications received by the IRS in fiscal year 2012 for 501(c)(4) tax-exempt status.

2,042,458 - Total number of notices to taxpayers that they had made a math error on their 2011 return.

707,768 - Number of notices of federal tax liens filed, for fiscal year 2012.

1,973 - New investigations filed in fiscal year 2012. (An investigation begins when the taxpayer doesn't respond to delinquency notices.)

10.3 - Audit examination rate per thousand individual income tax returns in fiscal year 2012.

55 - Percentage of Americans who said in April 2013 they thought the amount of federal taxes they had to pay was fair, according to a Gallup Poll. It was the lowest percentage since 2001.

29 - Percentage of Americans who told the Pew Research Center in April 2013 they actually like doing their taxes!

Bad news for job market? Initial claims jump

Fri, 17 May 2013 01:54:44 GMT

Initial jobless claims jumped higher than expected last week, breaking a series of weekly declines that had brought it to multi-year lows, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday.

Jobless claims surged by 32,000, totaling 360,000 in the week ended May 11.

That was much more than expected. A consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast 330,000 jobless claims for that week.

Last week, jobless claims fell to a five-year low.

Jefferies economist Thomas Simons said that today's report serves as a "reality check" after a series of weekly declines that seemed to be indicating that the labor market was accelerating.

"We are still optimistic about the labor market recovery, but perhaps modestly less so than last week," wrote Simons in a report.

The jobless claims number represents the tally of people filing for unemployment insurance for the first time. The continuing claims number, which represents the people who continue to receive unemployment benefits, totaled 3,009,000 for the week ended May 4, which was the most recent figure available. That's a decline of 4,000 from the prior week.

According to the latest monthly jobs report, 11.7 million people remained unemployed in April, with an unemployment rate of 7.5%.

Gov. Rick Scott rejects Amazon warehouse deal

Thu, 16 May 2013 21:51:51 GMT

A plan by Internet retailing giant Amazon.com to build at least one warehouse in Florida has been scrapped, with the company unable to reach an agreement on when it would have to start collecting state sales taxes, an official in Gov. Rick Scott's office said Thursday.

Scott administration officials declined to offer many details of the scuttled proposal, including where the facility would have been and how many jobs it might have meant had a deal been worked out.

"Amazon officials discussed building a facility in the state by the end of 2015 if the Department of Revenue could reach agreement on their sales tax collections," Scott spokeswoman Melissa Sellers said. "We were not able to reach an agreement in those discussions."

Currently, Amazon doesn't collect Florida sales taxes from state residents who make purchases through the site, but it would likely have to do so if it were to have a physical presence in the state, such as a warehouse.

In January 2012, officials in the governor's office said in published reports that they were "aware" of a desire by Amazon to put warehouses in the state, creating as many as 3,000 jobs, in exchange for a two-year exemption from collecting state sales taxes.

In a statement issued Thursday, Sellers implied that if the Internet company were to locate in Florida and begin collecting taxes, that would amount to a tax increase on Florida residents who use the popular shopping portal. And she said the company could still decide to build here, anyway.

"Gov. Scott does not want to raise taxes in Florida, and we are confident Amazon will invest in our state because of our low-tax, pro-business jobs climate," Sellers said.

Brick-and-mortar retailers in Florida had initially opposed the Amazon proposal. They've long complained that Internet retailers get an unfair advantage.

Officials from Seattle-based Amazon didn't respond to a request for comment Thursday from the News Service of Florida.

Under Scott's direction, state economic development officials have pushed hard for a number of companies to open facilities in the state in exchange for tax breaks and other incentives.

Most recently, state and local officials in southwest Florida lured car rental company Hertz to move its headquarters from New Jersey to Estero. The state has touted what could be a more than $80 million incentive package for Hertz as a good deal because it will create 700 jobs, although many of those will be filled with the company's current employees who would move from other states.

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