Monday, January 23, 2017

Gross Domestic Product by Industry: 3rd Quarter 2016 from BEA

EMBARGOED UNTIL RELEASE AT 8:30 A.M. EST, Thursday, January 19, 2017
BEA 17—02
Gross Domestic Product by Industry: 3rd Quarter 2016
Finance and Insurance Led Growth in the Third Quarter


Finance and insurance; wholesale trade; and information services were the leading contributors to the increase in U.S. economic growth in the third quarter of 2016. According to gross domestic product (GDP) by industry statistics released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, 20 of 22 industry groups contributed to the overall 3.5 percent increase in real GDP in the third quarter.
  • For the finance and insurance industry group, real value added—a measure of an industry’s contribution to GDP—increased 9.0 percent in the third quarter, after decreasing 0.1 percent in the second quarter. The third quarter growth primarily reflected increases in Federal Reserve banks, credit intermediation, and related activities, as well as insurance carriers and related activities.
  • Wholesale trade increased 8.3 percent, after increasing 1.0 percent. This was the largest increase since the third quarter of 2014.
  • Information services increased 8.6 percent, after decreasing 0.2 percent, primarily reflecting an increase in the broadcasting and telecommunications industries.
    •  
    Other highlights
    • Durable goods manufacturing increased 5.1 percent in the third quarter, after increasing 0.3 percent in the second. The third quarter growth primarily reflected increases in motor vehicles, bodies and trailers, and parts manufacturing, as well as computer and electronic products manufacturing.
    • Retail trade increased 2.6 percent, after decreasing 2.8 percent, primarily reflecting an increase in general merchandise stores.
    • Administrative and waste management services increased 5.7 percent, after increasing 1.1 percent. The third quarter growth primarily reflected an increase in administrative and support services, which includes industries like employment services and business support services.
     
    Gross output by industry
    Real gross output—principally a measure of an industry’s sales or receipts, which includes sales to final users in the economy (GDP) and sales to other industries (intermediate inputs)—increased in the third quarter. This reflected increases in real gross output for both the private goods- and services-producing sectors, as well as the government sector.
    Overall, real gross output increased in 19 of 22 industry groups.
  • Real gross output for durable goods manufacturing increased 2.8 percent, after decreasing 2.0 percent in the second quarter.
  • Information services increased 8.5 percent, after decreasing 2.3 percent. This was the largest increase since the third quarter of 2013.
  • Finance and insurance increased 3.0 percent, after increasing 6.0 percent. This was the fourth consecutive quarterly increase.
    • ****

    Next release — April 21, 2017 at 8:30 A.M. EDT for:
    Gross Domestic Product by Industry: Fourth Quarter and Annual 2016
    Additional Information/Resources
    Additional resources available at www.bea.gov:
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    WTFark? Let's Call PM-25 What It Is : AIR POLLUTION


    PhxWeeklyOutlook:

    PM-2.5 increasing after tomorrow's rain...

    ADEQ sent this bulletin at 01/22/2017 11:17 AM MST

    Weekly Air Quality Forecast

    for areas within and bordering Maricopa County in Arizona

    NOTE: THIS PRODUCT IS NOT TO BE USED OR POSTED BEYOND MONDAY OF EACH WEEK. Instead, refer to the Daily Air Quality Forecast HERE for the latest info...

    ISSUED: Sunday, January 22, 2016 2017

    The main pollutant of concern this week will be PM-2.5.

    Air quality tomorrow should be just fine as another weather system will be pushing through the region bring more wind and rain. By Tuesday, calmer weather conditions will begin to set back in over the region and allow PM-2.5 trend upwards... Read more  
    AIR POLLUTION in Mesa and Maricopa County is a persistent and recurring health-threatening problem - it's more than "an issue" or "a challenge"  as you can see in the mapping to the left for ozone and particulate matter POLLUTION.
    The sources are identified in the image at the start of this post.If this isn't one of those so-called "Quality of Life" issues your MesaZona blogger doesn't know what is.
    Who can name one person here in Mesa or Maricopa County - elected to city government or hired to protect the environment - who is dealing with this very visible threat to personal health that affects us all?
    Here's a moving image from last year tracking the problem
     
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    Deadline Today: PROPOSALS

    MAIN STREET PROTOTYPING FESTIVAL
    DREAM | DESIGN | DISCOVER
    The Main Street Prototyping Festival is a project that invites the community to dream and design ideas to build connections and make downtown Mesa more vibrant.
    Prototyping public space is a way of involving a range of people to come up with possible solutions to community needs in a physical space.
    Readers can find a post about this from December 16, 2016 for some more details
    https://mesazona.blogspot.com/2016/12/mesa-announces-main-street-prototyping.html
     
    The City of Mesa, Mesa Arts Center (MAC), Neighborhood Economic Development Corp. (NEDCO), Local Initiatives Support Corporation Phoenix (LISC) and Downtown Mesa Association (DMA) are working together to engage creative minds and the community in testing ideas that respond to dreams, needs and desires of citizens and visitors.
    “The beauty of this project is that it enables experimentation with a variety of potential enhancements that can impact both community and economic development,” said Cindy Ornstein, Director of Mesa’s Department of Arts and Culture and Executive Director of Mesa Arts Center. “This way, residents and visitors get to explore and respond to ideas in the flesh, and future investments or longer-term testing can be based on knowledge of what worked and the needed adjustments that may make it work better.”
    At the culminating festival, residents will be invited to provide feedback and vote for their favorite prototypes, and those they feel will provide the most benefits to downtown and its visitors.
    A total of 20-25 prototype concepts will be selected for implementation at the fall 2017 festival, with each project allocated $1,000-$3,000 for design, fabrication and project management.
     
    The City of Mesa has begun a series of thoughtful and connected activities that seek to transform Mesa's downtown and public spaces by involving residents in discovering and designing the heart of our city. 
    One new aspect of this creative placemaking initiative, led by Mesa Arts Center, is Mesa’s Main Street Prototyping Festival
     
    Who can apply?
    We are seeking proposals from all types of disciplines, perspectives and areas of passion to submit prototype ideas to make Downtown Mesa’s public spaces more interactive and connected. This opportunity is not limited to artists, architects, or designers, but to all who are interested, and anyone with a great idea is encouraged to apply. Applicants can recruit team members with various skills needed to realize their concept, and can apply as an individual or a team.

    Criteria
    From concept to creation, each project must align with the criteria to be considered for selection. Proposals must create a sense of community, be engaging and feasible (both to be built or performed, and to provide and withstand interactivity and engagement over a two-day event).
    1. Sense of Community
    • Enhances the character of the surrounding communities and environment.
    • Project reflects that the applicant has considered and responded to community input. 
    • Demonstrates innovative ways people can interact, or could interact, with one another in Downtown Mesa.
    • Project activates downtown. 
    1. Engaging
    • Increases community's desire to spend time in downtown.
    • Encourages a visitor to come more frequently and to stay longer.
    • Draws and activates a diverse audience.
    • Alters people’s interaction with downtown and each other.
    1. Sustainable
    • Project can be maintained over the specified duration.
    • Project is able to withstand an urban environment and various weather conditions.
    • Concept is attractive and innovative.
    • Applicant provides evidence of capacity (individually or as a team) to implement proposed concept.
    Proposal applications can be downloaded here
     
    Prototyping: (noun) to create and test an experimental model of a new idea or object.
    The Main Street Prototyping Festival is part of the larger Mesa Downtown Lab Project, which seeks to enhance downtown through community-led design and experimentation. The Prototyping project asks residents, artists, and urban planners to dream, design ideas, and discover a more welcoming, diverse and connected downtown Mesa, through two primary project activities:
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    Sunday, January 22, 2017

    Mesa Mayor John Giles: More Under-Handed Signals for #SOTC17?

    What will the future hold for John Giles? It's in his hands to show in the upcoming $50-buck tickets - "a limited number" are now still available for next week's local extravaganza State-of-The-City Speech III.
    Last year it all started with his running onto the stage from the back-of-the-room re-living no doubt his track career as a college athlete.
    Though who wrote the script remains a mystery, appearing with a costumed character named "Sparky" for the key cornerstone of his campaign somehow didn't work out ...
    In fact the Pie-In-The-Sky half-baked plan to locate a satellite ASU campus here downtown never had a chance to get off the ground- voters rejected the direction Giles wanted to take the city.
    So what direction will this personal injury and accident law attorney-turned politician
    go in next?

    Spinning his wheels in the mud, or "Keep Climbing" and trying to get traction on an upward slope only to reach flat-lined growth and then coasting downhill for his NextMesa challenge?


    Can John Giles lead or is he just a cheerleader on the sidelines?
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    Final Meeting Agenda for Mesa City Council Meeting Mon 23 Jan 2017 @ 5:45 pm

    CITIZEN PARTICIPATION All citizens are permitted and encouraged to speak on agenda items including and preceding “Items from citizens present.” If you are interested in speaking on such an agenda item, please fill out a blue card in the back of the room and give it to the City Clerk.  When the Council considers the item, you will be called to the podium to provide your comments.

    Council Chambers 57 E. First Street
    Mayor John Giles
    Councilmember Mark Freeman - District 1
    Councilmember Jeremy Whittaker - District 2
    Councilmember Ryan Winkle - District 3
    Councilmember Chris Glover - District 4
    Councilmember David Luna - District 5
    Councilmember Kevin Thompson - District 6

    Meeting Agenda - Final
    CITIZEN PARTICIPATION All citizens are permitted and encouraged to speak on agenda items including and preceding “Items from citizens present.” If you are interested in speaking on such an agenda item, please fill out a blue card in the back of the room and give it to the City Clerk.  When the Council considers the item, you will be called to the podium to provide your comments.
    The City of Mesa is committed to making its public meetings accessible to persons with disabilities. 
    For special accommodations, please contact the City Manager’s Office at (480) 644-3333 or AzRelay 7-1-1 at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting.
    Si necesita asistencia o traducción en español, favor de llamar al menos 48 horas antes de la reunión al 480-644-2767.
    CONSENT AGENDA
    • All items listed with an asterisk (*) will be considered as a group by the City Council and will be enacted with one motion.
    • There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a Councilmember or citizen requests, in which event the item will be removed from the Consent Agenda and considered as a separate item. 
    • If a citizen wants an item removed from the consent agenda, a blue card must be completed and given to the City Clerk prior to the Council’s vote on the consent agenda.
    Source: http://mesa.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx

    1 Selection of the Vice Mayor

    2 Take action on all consent agenda items.
    Items on the Consent Agenda
    17-0072 Approval of minutes of previous meetings as written.*3

    4 Take action on the following liquor license application:
    17-0061 Abate of Arizona Inc. 
    This is a two-day charitable event to be held on Friday, March 31, 2017 from 12:00 P.M. to 10:00 P.M., and Saturday, April 1, 2017 from 10:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M., at 922 South Country Club Drive. (District 4)
    *4-a

    5 Take action on the following contracts:
    17-0055 Three-Year Term Contract for Engineered Wood Fiber for the Parks Recreation and Community Facilities Department (Citywide)
    This contract will provide the engineered virgin wood fiber that is used to refurbish the safety surface under and around playground equipment at various park playgrounds throughout the City. 
    The Parks Recreation and Community Facilities Department and Purchasing recommend authorizing a three-year contract with the lowest, responsive and responsible bidder, Canyon Country Mill & Resources Inc., at $43,134 annually, based on estimated requirements.
    *5-a
    Page 2 City of Mesa Printed on 1/19/2017
    January 23, 2017City Council Meeting Agenda - Final

    17-0068 Purchase of 22 Height-Adjustable Workstations and Seven Tables for the Mesa Fire and Medical Department (Citywide)
    This purchase will provide 22 height-adjustable workstations with monitor mounts, 6 stationary work tables, and 1 conference table for the new Regional Fire and Medical Dispatch and Emergency Operations Center facility.
    The Fire and Medical Department and Purchasing recommend authorizing the purchase from the contract with WIST Office Supplies, at $40,839.32.  This purchase is funded by the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community 12% Contribution Gaming Grant.
    *5-b
    17-0069 Three-Year Term Contract for Interpreter/Translation Services for the Police Department, Municipal Court, City Clerk, and Community Services Department (Citywide)
    This contract will provide multiple qualified foreign language (certified interpreters and/or translators) to provide interpretation/translation services to the City on an as-needed basis to include in-person, over the phone, as well as document interpretation, American Sign Language, and/or translation services.
    The evaluation committee recommends awarding the contract to the highest-scored proposals from:  AZ Language Solutions LLC; CyraCom International, Inc., dba Voiance Language Services, LLC; Finger Works, Inc.; Language Connection; Language Line Services, Inc.; Spanish Media & Translation Services, LLC (a Mesa business); and Topete/Stonefield, Inc.; cumulatively not to exceed $100,000 annually, based on estimated requirements.
    *5-c
    17-0023 Three-Year Term Contract for Microfilm Conversion Services for the Police Department (Citywide)
    This contract will provide services to convert Police Department data from microfilm to digital media. The microfilm is becoming worn and damaged and the equipment to read the microfilm is outdated. This service will create redundancy and a recovery process in case of disaster. The conversion will also reduce the need for storage space and make records readily available for viewing.
    The Police Department and Purchasing recommend awarding the contract to the highest-scored proposal from ICM Conversions, Inc., dba ICM Document Solutions, for a total contract amount of $300,000, based on estimated requirements.
    *5-d
    Page 3 City of Mesa Printed on 1/19/2017
    January 23, 2017City Council Meeting Agenda - Final
    17-0060 Purchase of Modular Furniture, Workstations and Chairs for the Police Department, Superstition Substation (District 6)
    This purchase will provide updated modular furniture, workstations and chairs for the sergeant, CIU/SCU and report writing areas of the substation.
    The Police Department and Purchasing recommend authorizing the purchase using the State of Arizona cooperative contract with Arizona Furnishings at $81,604.42.
    *5-e
    17-0054 Three-Year Term Contract to Provide and Install Traffic Delineators for the Transportation Department (Citywide)
    This contract will provide a preformed curb and delineator system to be used as part of the establishment of separated bike lanes on City streets where identified. 
    Transportation and Purchasing recommend authorizing a three-year contract with the lowest, responsive and responsible bidder, Five G Inc., at $165,000 annually, based on estimated requirements.
    *5-f
    17-0070 Dollar-Limit Adjustments for Solid Waste Disposal, Recyclable Material Processing, and Vegetative Waste Processing Services as requested by the Environmental Management and Sustainability Department (Citywide)
    An increase is needed for the 2016 term (1/1/2016 to 12/31/2016) to pay the December 2016 invoices for tipping fees for solid waste and green waste, and recycling fees.  Environmental Management and Sustainability completed a tonnage analysis for the 2017 term (1/1/2017 through 12/31/2017), and is requesting a contract limit of $7,325,000, which includes the vendors’ rate increases, ranging from 1.64% to 2.3%, for refuse and green waste disposal, tonnage volume increases of 3%, as well as a contingency of 3%.
    The Environmental Management and Sustainability Department and Purchasing recommend authorizing a dollar-limit increase of $155,000 for 2016, increasing the annual contract amount from $6,800,000 to $6,955,000; and authorizing a dollar-limit for the 2017 term contract in the amount of $7,325,000; with Salt River Commercial Landfill Company, dba Salt River Landfill; Republic Services, dba Allied Waste Transportation, Inc., Allied Transfer Services of Arizona, LLC, Allied Waste Transfer Services of Arizona, LLC; Waste Management of Arizona, Inc.; ReCommunity; United Fibers, LLC; and Waste Technologies, LLC, dba Right Away Disposal; based on estimated requirements.
    *5-g
    Page 4 City of Mesa Printed on 1/19/2017
    January 23, 2017City Council Meeting Agenda - Final
    17-0051 Three-Year Term Contract to Repair and Refurbish Metal Bins and Roll-Off Containers for the Environmental Management and Sustainability Department (Citywide)
    This contract will provide repair and refurbishment of the metal bins and roll-off containers used to service commercial and residential solid waste customers. These bins and containers become damaged over time due to normal usage, wear and tear.
    The evaluation committee recommends awarding the contract to the two respondents: Wastebuilt LLC, and Colby Welding & Radiator Inc., cumulatively not to exceed $150,000 annually, based on estimated requirements.
    *5-h
    17-0033 Kleinman Park Renovation - Construction Manager at Risk (District 4)
    In 2012, Mesa voters approved a Parks Bond Program.  Included in this bond program was the Kleinman Park Renovation Project. Through community outreach, the project was programmed to include the removal of the existing tennis concession building, removal and replacement of three existing tennis courts due to extensive concrete cracking,  four new pickle ball courts, replacement of perimeter court fencing, replacement of the existing asphaltic wheels court with a new lighted turf area, light emitting diode (LED) lighting upgrades, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) parking upgrades, ADA restroom renovation, new drinking fountain, new ballfield backstop and dugout fencing, and ADA concrete pavement improvements.  
    Staff recommends awarding the contract for this project to D.L. Withers Construction in the amount of $1,243,748.10, based upon a Guaranteed Maximum Price of $1,184,522, plus an additional $59,226.10 (5%) as a change order allowance.  This allowance will only be utilized for approved change orders. Funding is available from the 2012 Parks Bond Program.
    *5-i
    6 Take action on the following resolution:
    17-0058 Z16-058 (District 6)  6442 East Test Drive.  Located west of Power Road and south of US Highway 60 (1 ± acres).  Site Plan Review. 
    This request will allow for the development of an office building.  Paul E. Gilbert, Beus Gilbert PLLC, applicant; FCA Realty, LLC, owner. 
    Staff Recommendation:  Approval with conditions P&Z Board Recommendation:  Approval with conditions (Vote:6-0)
    *6-a
    Page 5 City of Mesa Printed on 1/19/2017
    January 23, 2017City Council Meeting Agenda - Final
    7 Introduction of the following ordinance and setting February 6, 2017 as the date of the public hearing on this ordinance: 17-0052 Z16-057 (District 5)  The 3200 to 3300 blocks of Red Mountain Drive (west side).  Located east of Power Road and north of the Loop 202 (13 ± acres).  Rezoning from RS-90 to RS-9-PAD; Site Plan Review.  Paul Dugas, Blandford Homes, applicant; Desert Vista 100, owner.
    Staff Recommendation:  Approval with conditions P&Z Board Recommendation:  Approval with conditions (Vote:6-0)
    *7-a

    Items not on the Consent Agenda

    8 Items from citizens present.  (Maximum of three speakers for three minutes per speaker).
    9 Adjournment.
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    Trump Plays The Table With A Bad Hand > We Need A New Deal Yanis Varoufakis

    We need an alternative to Trump's nationalism . . . It isn't the status quo
    Only a third insurgency promoting a New Deal that works equally for Americans and Europeans can restore to a billion people living in the West sovereignty over their lives and communities.
    The answer to neoliberalism’s Waterloo cannot be the retreat to a barricaded nation-state and the pitting of ‘our’ people against ‘others’ fenced off by tall walls.
    A clash of two insurgencies is now shaping the West. Progressives on both sides of the Atlantic are on the sidelines, unable to comprehend what they are observing. Donald Trump’s inauguration marks its pinnacle.
    One of the two insurgencies shaping our world today has been analysed ad nauseum. Donald Trump, Nigel Farage, Marine Le Pen and the broad Nationalist International that they are loosely connected to have received much attention, as has their success at impressing upon the multitudes that nation-states, borders, citizens and communities matter.
    However, the other insurgency that caused the rise of this Nationalist International has remained in the shadows: an insurrection by the global establishment’s technocracy whose purpose is to retain control at all cost. Project Fear in the UK, the troika in continental Europe and the unholy alliance of Wall Street, Silicon Valley and the surveillance apparatus in the United States are its manifestations.

    Thatcher’s and Reagan’s neoliberalism had sought to persuade that privatisation of everything would produce a fair and efficient society unimpeded by vested interests or bureaucratic fiat. That narrative, of course, hid from public view what was really happening: a tremendous build up of super-state bureaucracies, unaccountable supra-state institutions (World Trade Organisation, Nafta, the European Central Bank), behemoth corporations, and a global financial sector heading for the rocks.
    After the events of 2008 something remarkable happened. For the first time in modern times the establishment no longer cared to persuade the masses that its way was socially optimal. Overwhelmed by the collapsing financial pyramids, the inexorable built-up of unsustainable debt, a Eurozone in an advanced state of disintegration and a China increasingly relying on an impossible credit boom, the establishment’s functionaries set aside the aspiration to persuade or to represent. Instead, they concentrated on clamping down.
    In the UK, over a million benefit applicants faced punitive sanctions. In the Eurozone, the troika ruthlessly sought to reduce the pensions of the poorest of the poor. In the United States, both parties promised drastic cuts to social security spending. During our deflationary times none of these policies helped stabilise capitalism at a national or at a global level. So, why were they pursued?
    Their purpose was to impose acquiescence to a clueless establishment that had lost its ambition to maintain its legitimacy. When the UK government forced benefit claimants to declare in writing that “my only limits are the ones I set myself”, or when the troika forced the Greek or Irish governments to write letters “requesting” predatory loans from the European Central Bank that benefited Frankfurt-based bankers at the expense of their people, the idea was to maintain power via calculated humiliation. Similarly, in America the establishment habitually blamed the victims of predatory lending and the failed health system.
    It was against this insurgency of a cornered establishment that had given up on persuasion that Donald Trump and his European allies rose up with their own populist insurgency. They proved that it is possible to go against the establishment and win. Alas, theirs will be a Pyrrhic victory which will, eventually, harm those whom they inspired. The answer to neoliberalism’s Waterloo cannot be the retreat to a barricaded nation-state and the pitting of ‘our’ people against ‘others’ fenced off by tall walls and electrified fences.
    The answer can only be a Progressive Internationalism that works in practice on both sides of the Atlantic. To bring it about we need more than fine principles unblemished by power. We need to aim for power on the basis of a pragmatic narrative imparting hope throughout Europe and America for jobs paying living wages to anyone who wants them, for social housing, for health and education.
    Only a third insurgency promoting a New Deal that works equally for Americans and Europeans can restore to a billion people living in the West sovereignty over their lives and communities.

    Since you’re here…

    …we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading the Guardian than ever but far fewer are paying for it. And advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. So you can see why we need to ask for your help. The Guardian's independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our perspective matters – because it might well be your perspective, too.
    If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps to pay for it, our future would be much more secure.




    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/22/trumps-nationalism-response-not-globalization
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    Yanis Varoufakis: capitalism, solution to the Eurozone crisis and Debt...


    Published on Jan 20, 2017
    Views: 76
    Yanis Varoufakis is a Greek economist, academic and politician, who served as the Greek Minister of Finance from January to July 2015, when he resigned. Varoufakis was also a Syriza member of the Hellenic Parliament (MP) for Athens B from January to September 2015.
    Unite Scotland's fourth and final instalment in the Varoufakis series puts focus on the failings of social democratic political parties, the lessons we need to learn from history and the urgent need for a collective European left-wing response.
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    Most Hated People in Each Country from Geo All Day · Seems believable 🧐

      Seems believable … See more