Phoenix Light Rail Extensions Accelerate with Implementation of T2050

People in Mesa can imagine more than this focus in a newsflash from Valley Metro five minutes ago, but take a look at the extension plans in the works to extend light rail service.

Just imagine, by 2023, you will be able to board Valley Metro Rail from Baseline Road, travel to a concert at Talking Stick Resort Arena in downtown Phoenix and complete the evening in north Phoenix at destinations around Metrocenter Mall. A major north-south rail connection will be in service sooner as Phoenix takes its first official steps to implement Transportation 2050 (T2050), a 35-year, multi-modal transportation plan approved by Phoenix voters in August 2015.
Yesterday the Phoenix City Council approved accelerating segments of the future high-capacity/light rail transit system to advance into the Regional Transportation Plan. These changes will be forwarded to the Valley Metro Boards of Directors and the Maricopa Association of Governments Regional Council for additional discussion and final adoption into the plan this summer.

Valley Metro provides eco-friendly public transit options to residents of greater Phoenix and Maricopa County including the planning and operations of a regional bus system and the development and operations of 23 miles of light rail. In Fiscal Year 2015, total ridership for the system was 71 million passengers. Six light rail extensions are planned or are under construction that will create a 66-mile system by 2034. Valley Metro also offers transit options including alternative transportation programs for seniors and people with disabilities, commuter vanpools, online carpool matching, bus trip mapping, bicycle safety and telework assistance. Two Boards of Directors set the policy direction for the agency with the intent of advancing the regional public transit system. Get the latest news by following us on Facebook and Twitter or visiting valleymetro.org.

Hey! Watch This >> American Dad - Mesa, AZ

Boeing Goes Boing! Boing! Apple Gets A Big Bite // Up, Down + All Over The Place

Forward-looking statements and financial markets can be fickle, or even "unusually uncertain" . . . one day it's rosy and sweet//extreme market conditions everywhere!
The problem: projections and forecasts - local examples Boeing and Apple and the list "accomplishments" put out by the City of Mesa Office of Economic Development . . . it's not accomplished simply by saying that. Case in point:
Boeing Plunges as 2016 Profit Forecast Misses Estimates
That's one of today's headlines in Bloomberg Business
January 27, 2016 — 5:47 AM MST Updated on January 27, 2016 — 6:05 AM MST

"Boeing Co. tumbled in premarket trading after the planemaker said profit this year would miss analyst estimates by more than a dollar a share as it delivers fewer jetliners. . .
The company has already announced plans to slow output of its 747 jumbo jetliner this year and executives have said they are studying a similar production cut for the best-selling 777 jetliner amid a transition to an upgraded model.
Boeing shares declined 6.5 percent in early trading."

Readers can see in the infographic to the right data from 2005-2014 for projections of Free Cash Flow compared with what's reported and a trending with an upward slope with estimated annual growth of about 3%.
A post yesterday from Aerospace Defense News featured, without comments, what Boeing was saying about financing. Keep in mind Boeing is in a very competitive global marketplace in both commercial aircraft and the defense industries.   

Here's a micro of Boeing's stock performance for about a month's period Dec 2015-Jan 2016 - Boing! Going! bouncing up and down in "unusually uncertain" markets.

That's the way it goes.

What's not "unusually uncertain" is what appears in a slick in-house brochure put out by the City of Mesa Office of Economic Development for one "accomplishment" in 2014 [two years ago] for a capital investment by Apple of $$1,500,000,000 - notice all the zeroes - it would have been usual just to use $1.5B but that's not so impressive for sure.
It's always been puzzling to yours truly why a company like Apple [listed in the brochure under the industry category information -  it's quite more than that] need two "global command centers" within a few hundreds mile of each other, but we'll leave that consideration aside. The OED is always bragging about job creation frequently using sweet projections and not reporting the actual jobs that get people employed and earning salaries, usually saying they're going after "high-paying" jobs. - not so with Apple line entry: the average wage is listed as TBA or to be announced. Jobs were listed as 150 - seriously revised down in industry reports before the brochure got published to about 80.

The company's first-quarter net profit rose to $18.36 billion from $18.02 billion, while revenue increased 1.7 percent to $75.87 billion, both records for the company. Analysts, though are worried.
[see chart to left]





52 minutes ago Market Watch published this

Dow sinks triple-digits as Apple, Boeing weigh ...

Dow industrials dropped more than 100 points as disappointing quarterly results from corporate heavyweights Apple Inc. and Boeing Company 

 

More >> Extreme conditions everywhere

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-26/apple-forecasts-first-sales-drop-since-2003-on-iphone-slowdown

Open Data > 2 Mesa Crime Maps

To start with, it is not the intention of your MesaZona blogger  "to dig up dirt" about public safety or policing practices. This is simply for the purpose of public information if you choose to use it.
Most people would agree that the Mesa police department and public safety agencies are doing a good job, getting the respect and admiration all men and women in blue rightfully deserve.
It is reassuring in the minds of the public feeling safe to have a presence on the streets, whether in uniform or undercover, on foot, in police cars or bike patrol ready on-the-spot for quick-response to any incident at any time of the day or night.
Local news is filled all the time with crime reports, but when a couple of news stories about what happened here in Mesa last week gets reported in international news that might negatively impact the image of this city it's time to take a look at the big picture and data.

This post's headline map image can be found at http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/az/mesa/crime/ . It's basically a source of information for people who are considering purchasing real estate here in Mesa with a lot of important statistics for safest neighborhoods, appreciation rates, public schools and crime data.
What caught yours truly's eyes the other day walking back from Wilkes University was to see and catch this live-action report-in-progress by a crew [of two] from Channel 12 filming outside of police headquarters under shade trees on N Robson Street. An indoor press conference had just wrapped up about a shocking incident of child abuse and sex-trafficking here in Mesa - sensational news that grabbed headlines for days; handled well by the police
Controversy - and possible lawsuits - arose in a different incident some days later that got the usual local police incident report coverage and seemed to end at that, but it's churned up reports from other parts of the country and now an overseas report from Britain's The Guardian where a grieving widow is questioning the killing of her unarmed husband who was staying here in Mesa for frequent pest control business trips. That story will unfold and gain more attention, but we'll leave that to other reporting.

The other source for a Mesa crime map comes from this resource >>  http://spotcrime.com/az/mesa .
It reports incidents of arrest, arson, assaults, burglary, robbery, shootings, thefts, vandalism and other [?].
SpotCrime is a crime data aggregator.
They map the crime incidents, plot them on Google Maps, and deliver alerts via email, Facebook, Twitter, SMS, RSS and a multitude of other platforms.

The data comes from police departments, news reports and user-generated content.

Their goal is to provide the most accurate, timely geocoded crime information to the public. The site maps crime and deliver alerts if you want to get those.

The open release of datasets like CAD/RMS, use of force, arrests, officer involved shootings, and complaints give the community an ‘inside’ look of day-to-day events within an agency. This type of transparency introduces a constructive line of communication between the community and police agencies. Problems and red flags can be identified quickly and collaboratively.

• Cities like Seattle, DC, LA, and Portland have been releasing these kinds of datasets for years.
• Albuquerque, Detroit, and New Orleans recently began releasing this data.
• Baltimore added arrest and calls for service datasets to their open data portal around the time of the Freddie Gray protests.
• NYPD recently announced the new public version of CompStat (they’re calling it CompStat 2). 

Time to Freak Out > 4 Reasons The Global Economy = Completely Screwed

 

Three weeks into this new year, any reasonable person might wonder why the deep dive in worldwide financial markets hasn't sunken into the recognition or acceptance of clear data and evidence that things are tanking in major world economies - no one can call this year "sweet".
If the words in this post headline are too strong, pardon me dear readers, but hopefully they will grab attention just like they did mine from a feature article on Salon.com today Tue Jan 26, 2016 at 01:45 a.m. of an article written by Allison Jackson for The Global Post, extracted here for your information

Salon - and this blogger  - is proud to feature content from GlobalPost, an awarding-winning international news site that focuses on original reporting from journalists stationed around the world.
GlobalPost combines traditional journalistic values with the power of new media to offer a fresh perspective on global developments.
It can't all be blamed China, with an economy still projected to grow at 6.9% - more than three times the stagnant faltering growth here in the U.S.that's being constantly "revised" to perform at a lower rate hovering in uncertainty at 2% if that.

The world is on fire. Irrational exuberance in markets is over. Billions of dollars are wiped-out in seconds. Stockholders are selling out of markets and nobody knows where the money is going [well maybe some people know].To say things are "in turmoil" or "uncertain" begs the question and is to say the least.
Global wars and "revolutions"  whether declared or not, are taking place both on the ground and in currency markets, with both people and capital running fast to get out of the way of trouble and seeking "safe havens" - but where?
There's a big blow-out, with a lot of blow-back: prevailing winds are hot and cold at the same time.
The Global Post report starts out like this:  "A fresh blast of cold air swept across global financial and commodity markets on Wednesday [blogger note: six days ago] raising fears that the world economy could be heading toward a recession — one perhaps even bigger than the last one."

A recession?? You mean like the last "Great Recession" in 2007? Sorry, folks, but what's going on now is bigger and worse than The Great Depression of 1929 and the 1930's.
Depending on consumer-spending to drive economic growth just doesn't work - average people have no money to spend.
Brave New World???
We should all be scared. Very scared.


Read the GP report. It falls far short of the mark, using symptoms as reasons. Bigger questions nonetheless remain.
Here are four reasons why you should be very worried about the state of the global economy.
1. Emerging market debt crisis2. Stock markets are plunging
3. Super-low oil prices
4. China is slowing down

 

 

 

 



Boeing Lifts The Ante With $127 Billion Dollar Forecast in Aircrcraft Funding 2016

Boeing Forecasts New Participants, More Options for 2016 Aircraft Financing
That's one of the News Headlines for Mon 25 Jan 2016 in daily from Aerospace & Defense News
Boeing [NYSE: BA] says airlines and lessors will continue to have access to efficient funding at attractive pricing throughout 2016 as new participants enter the aircraft financing industry and current participants innovate and provide more options.
The eighth annual Boeing Current Aircraft Finance Market Outlook, released today, forecasts the sources of financing for new commercial airplane deliveries in the coming year and the industry’s overall delivery financing requirements for the next five years.

Financing industry to provide approximately $127 billion in aircraft funding in 2016

Growing number of new participants attracted by strong commercial aviation industry

Lessors continue to drive innovation in funding options

 

"The sustained strength of the aircraft finance markets is being driven largely by healthy aviation industry fundamentals and balanced supply and demand for commercial aircraft,” said Tim Myers, president of Boeing Capital Corporation.
“Passenger traffic is growing above long-term trends, airplane utilization and load factors continue to rise, replacement demand remains strong and global airlines are producing record operating results and profits. With these conditions prevailing, financiers continue to see commercial aircraft as a good investment and that’s resulting in good access to efficient funding for our customers.”
Here's a link >>
http://www.asdnews.com/news-65352/Boeing_Forecasts_New_Participants,_More_Options_for_2016_Aircraft_Financing.htm?hash=7e298000e4e33b052c450e8336305fd1&campaignid=22925&messageid=23070&l=3&utm_source=ASDNews&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ASDNews_Daily_Z1&utm_content=urbanmesaconnections@gmail.com

Trouble @Twitter or Just An UpHeaval?

This headline three hours ago:
As Stock Price Sinks, Twitter Swaps Out More Top Execs. Again. - Jan 25, 2016
Here are all the senior executives who are leaving Twitter: Engineering chief Alex Roetter, HR vice president Skip Schipper, product head Kevin Weil, Vine boss Jason Toff (who's jumping to Google's VR unit) and global media chief Katie Jacobs Stanton. Jack Dorsey confirmed the departures in a tweet on Sunday night. This executive upheaval comes right as Dorsey is expected to name a new CMO and two new board directors, and just a few days before a Twitter "executive retreat." Who might be Twitter's new CMO? The top candidate is American Express marketing exec Leslie Berland.

Twitter has lost more than a fifth of its value in the last month, and opens trading at $17.84 on Monday morning.

Read now >>
http://recode.net/2016/01/24/big-exec-departures-at-twitter-media-head-stanton-and-product-head-weil-leaving/?

              [Kurt Wagner and Kara Swisher | Re/code

Big Exec Departures at Twitter: Media Head Stanton and Product Head Weil Leaving
There have been rumblings of the changes for weeks now inside the San Francisco social communications company. Sources said Twitter is planning to announce the shuffle tomorrow, along with the hire of a prominent CMO.