Honda North donates Odyssey for veterans transportation

PEABODY — Local veterans will have an easier time finding a ride to their doctor’s appointments after the city got the keys to a new Odyssey van from Honda North.

The donation came after a year of Veterans Services Officer Steve Patten, secretary Lisa Leavitt and volunteer Ken Hopkins driving veterans to and from medical appointments in their own cars.

“I really believe that’s one of the No. 1 issues facing our aging veteran population – the ability to get to medical appointments,” Patten said.

Mayor Ted Bettencourt, a group of Peabody veterans and Patten were at Honda North, an International Cars Ltd. company, in Danvers for a ceremony Monday with Richard Collins, ICL president, and CEO and General Manager Joseph Hajjar.

“I’m not sure they’ve (veterans) received the support and recognition that they should get and receive for the services they’ve done for our country,” Collins said, “We think it’s worthwhile and something we’d like to recognize.”

Leavitt said the Peabody crew has been driving veterans a couple times a week to appointments, mostly in Boston, Jamaica Plain and Bedford.

“Most of them want to go to the Senior Center that offers a ride to Jamaica Plain twice a month, but it’s just not enough,” she said.

In talking with veterans during the rides, Patten and Leavitt said they realized family members were taking time off from work to drive veterans to the doctors, and some vets were even paying for private transportation services to avoid asking for rides.

“That’s $20 each way, so you pay $40 just to get there and then another $30 for a co-pay, that’s $70 for a doctor’s appointment,” Patten said, “What happens if they have to go three times in a week on a fixed income? They’re getting killed with medical expenses.”

Leavitt came up with the idea to have a city-owned vehicle after Salem’s Veteran’s Services Agent Kim Emerling filled in for Peabody until Patten was hired last fall.

“The only city that has a car is Salem,” Leavitt said, “When he told me about that, there had been veterans calling our office for rides but we didn’t do it — we didn’t have availability for it at the time — so once I heard he had that car I said, ‘We need that for our veterans.’”

Patten did a little networking through his wife, Lindsey, who works for Porcello Law Offices in Salem. Owner Jean Porcello-Giusto has a business relationship with the Danvers car dealership and relayed their mission.

“Within a week they said they were definitely going to do it,” Patten said of the donation. “Honda North changed the lives of veterans in Peabody. From now on, if you’re a Peabody veteran or a current member of a Peabody veteran’s organization, we will pick you up at your front door, wait for you and drive you home from an appointment.”

Veterans can schedule a ride a week in advance for their appointments with the Veteran’s Services Department. The city will cover costs of fuel, insurance and maintenance of the vehicle, according to Bettencourt.

“This is an initiative to continue work for our veterans. It started as a program years ago that utilizes vans at the Senior Center to transport veterans to two VA hospitals. This was the next step for us,” he said. “The partnership with Honda North will make a difference in the lives of our veterans and show honor and respect to those who deserve it.”

The Veteran’s Services Department is looking for regular volunteers to drive one day per week, with the ability to switch days with other volunteers as needed. Leavitt and Patten will step in as drivers when volunteers aren’t available.

Jim Sweet, a Vietnam War veteran, was among the veterans at the ceremony. He is the commander of veterans of a group called the Second Corp Cadets Veterans Association, and he raved about Honda North.

“The fact that this van comes out is important in two ways, to me. One is it’s going to give people – veterans – a chance to get to the hospital or to the doctor,” he said. “The other thing is it reminds these vets ...that they’re not forgotten. This is for you.”

http://www.salemnews.com/news/local_news/honda-north-donates-odyssey-for-veterans-transportation/article_9fc15dda-ff5a-551c-b22c-834b20975e90.html

Rise in oil and gas jobs for first time in three years

THE first oil and gas jobs bounce back since the worldwide oil price crash is now being forecast as employers expect more new positions to be created than lost over the next year.

A new survey of employers and workers found that after a devastating four years new research shows that for the first time since 2014 the oil and gas industry expects a net increase in jobs in the sector over the next 12 months.

Since the price of oil crashed in 2014 it is estimated that more than 440,000 jobs have been cut in the sector worldwide.
However, with the price of oil having stabilised since July this year, new research by recruiter NES Global Talent and oilandgasjobsearch.com shows that almost 90 per cent of employers expect staffing levels to either increase or remain the same in 2018.

The survey shows that in total almost 60 per cent of employers expect to recruit significantly over the next year.

Of those almost a quarter - 23 per cent - of employers expect to increase their workforce by five per cent; almost a fifth, (19 per cent) expect to increase staffing by between five and 10 per cent; and more than a sixth (17 per cent) by more than 10 per cent.

Almost a third of employers expect staffing levels to remain the same and just 11 per cent of employers expect to cut jobs.

In total NES Global Talent and oilandgasjobsearch.com surveyed more than 3,000 employers and almost 7,000 workers as part of their Oil and Gas Outlook 2017 report.

Tig Gilliam, of NES Global Talent, said: “Globally we are now increasingly confident that the market supports increased investment in the energy sector.

"Energy companies with the support of their partners have right-sized their organisations for the current levels of activity.

"With a stabilised price environment and lower cost profile more and more assets offer attractive returns on investment and operations.

"This increasing activity is leading the higher performing companies to refocus on recruiting quality people to lead and deliver value.

“While this activity is being led by a sharp increase in investment in U.S. shale, there has also been an uptick in capital projects being approved which will positively impact the industry across all regions.

"With our own staff operating in over 60 countries, the increasingly positive tone of our clients and contractors is a welcome signal of the turnaround in the market and the participants in this survey echo that sentiment.”

Alex Fourlis, Managing Director of Oilandgasjobsearch.com, said: “There is a sense of positivity throughout the guide the likes of which we haven’t seen since 2013 and can be read as an indication of a potential stabilisation of the oil market.

"This is key to kick-start projects that haven’t been viable for a while and will have a positive effect on job volume and salaries across the industry.

"Comparing the number of jobs posted throughout the industry year to date to the end of July vs the same period in 2016, there has been a two per cent increase year on year with jobs from corporates up by eight per cent.”

Last month Oil & Gas UK said a flurry of deals in the North Sea this year had shown some investors have faith in the area.

 http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15622046.Rise_in_oil_and_gas_jobs_for_first_time_in_three_years/

Romania to Introduce New Oil & Gas Royalties Regime

The Romanian government recently opened discussion on a long-awaited draft law aimed at redefining the existing oil & gas royalties system.

For years, one Romanian administration after another had announced their intention to reconsider the Romanian oil & gas royalties system; and every time, this announcement faced strong opposition from industry players, who argued that upward adjustments of the levels of royalties would deter much needed investment in the Romanian oil & gas sector, in particular in the context of the recent decline in oil prices.

Against this background, on 23 October 2017, the Ministry of Economy put up for public debate a draft law regarding the oil & gas royalties system (the "Draft Royalties Law"), inviting interested parties to comment within ten calendar days at dezbateri_publice@economie.gov.ro. The full text of the Draft Royalties Law is available here.

The current national oil & gas royalties system is set forth in the Petroleum Law No. 238/2004 ("Petroleum Law") and concerns only onshore operations. The level of the royalties ranges from 3.5 % up to 13.5 % for crude oil and up to 13 % for natural gas, applicable to gross volumes. Royalties are calculated on the basis of the reference prices determined by the National Agency for Mineral Resources ("NAMR"), based on its own methodology, and are due by the petroleum concession holders to the Romanian State on a quarterly basis.

Although the Draft Royalties Law maintains the same levels of royalties for oil & gas onshore operations as provided under the Petroleum Law, it does introduce certain key changes that will impact the sector, including a separate royalties system for offshore operations and new principles for determining reference prices.

Here is a brief outline of the main provisions of the Draft Royalties Law:

• The Draft Royalties Law includes a much needed stabilisation provision to the effect that the new royalties regime shall not apply to concession agreements in force as of the enactment of the new regime, save for more favourable provisions or for mandatory provisions of EU law. Conversely, concession agreements entered into after the enactment of the new royalties regime shall be subject to the royalties systems provided under the respective concession agreements, throughout their duration, save for more favourable provisions or for mandatory provisions of EU law.
• Different royalty levels apply to onshore and offshore oil & gas operations. While for the upstream onshore segment, the current levels of the royalties is maintained, for the offshore segment, the royalties are based on a fixed component, applicable irrespective of the extracted volumes (8 % for crude oil and 10 % for natural gas), plus a variable component (from 4.5 % up to 5.5 % for crude oil and from 2 % up to 3 % for natural gas).
• If the same offshore oilfield is exploited within two or more areas within the same perimeter, the applicable royalty rate shall be determined by reference to the aggregate gross production of the entire offshore oilfield.
• The royalties due by the oil & gas onshore segment are calculated on the basis of the reference price determined by the NAMR and the gross production registered at the measurement points. If the trading price (which will not include VAT and other taxes) exceeds the reference price, the royalties shall be determined on the basis of the trading price. The reference price, both for offshore and onshore oil & gas operations, shall be determined by the NAMR on the basis of the price of Brent crude and, respectively, the price of natural gas on the centralised market operated by OPCOM, the national centralised energy market operator.
• At the request of the NAMR, the level of the royalties as set in the Draft Royalties Law may be revised by government decision, on the basis of an economic opportunity analysis. Based on the stabilisation provisions, we assume that such revisions would not impact ongoing concessions, unless they resulted in a downward adjustment of the level of the royalties.
• Royalties shall be due monthly (as opposed to quarterly, under the current regime), by the 25th day of the following month. The NAMR shall be obliged to terminate the concession with immediate effect if titleholders fail to pay the royalties for more than six (6) months.
• The Draft Royalties Law sets certain exceptions, such as natural gas accounting for the minimum safety stocks, imported natural gas, natural gas deposited in gas storages and gas re-injected in gas fields for technological purposes, which shall not be subject to royalties. Likewise, crude oil accounting for the minimum safety.
• The Draft Law did not revise the level of the royalties for oil transportation and transit and gas storage activities, which shall remain unchanged.

Once the public debate just launched by the Ministry of Economy has been completed, a final version of the Draft Royalties Law will be prepared and put up for discussion and approval in the Romanian Parliament.

While in its current version, the Draft Royalties Law does not appear to have a significant impact on the ongoing operations of titleholders under existing contracts, the new royalties regime will have to be considered by investors when deciding whether to pursue new projects in the Romanian oil & gas market.

http://www.mondaq.com/x/641670/Oil+Gas+Electricity/Romania+to+Introduce+New+Oil+Gas+Royalties+Regime

Baltimore transportation supervisor Daryl Wade charged in federal extortion case

Federal authorities have charged a supervisor in the Baltimore Department of Transportation over an alleged extortion plot involving fines connected to obscure permits required to dig into city streets.

The supervisor, Daryl Christopher Wade, 50, is accused of accepting $5,000 from an FBI informant in exchange for wiping out $17,000 in fines the informant’s company had incurred.

“We in cahoots now,” Wade said after receiving the payment, according to court documents.

The criminal complaint filed against Wade describes misconduct by others, who are not identified, and a spokeswoman for the Maryland U.S. attorney’s office said the investigation is continuing.

City officials, meanwhile, said they would undertake an audit to uncover how widespread the problems might have been.

In addition to working at the Transportation Department, Wade took over as the head football coach at City College in 2015 and also coaches the school’s basketball team. He is the son of Bob Wade, the former University of Maryland and Dunbar High School basketball coach.

Daryl Wade has worked for the city since 1988 and made $69,000 in 2016, the most recent figures available. He was promoted in July, despite being under investigation by the FBI.

City Solicitor Andre Davis did not know Wednesday if Wade had been suspended and City College athletic director Rolynda Contee said she had not heard about the charges against him.


Wade made a brief appearance in court Wednesday afternoon. He didn’t enter a plea and a federal magistrate agreed to release him while the case proceeds.

Warren Brown, Wade’s attorney, said he still was reviewing the charges but that the allegations seemed small scale compared to most cases that land in federal court.

“I was surprised this ended up over here,” Brown said.

The FBI began the investigation in March 2016, according to the criminal complaint filed against Wade. The court papers say agents learned of allegations involving extortion by more than one Transportation Department employee. And a female employee in the city’s accounting office helped Wade wipe out the $17,000 in fines, according to the complaint. Davis also did not know her current employment status.

Wade’s position gave him authority over “street cut” permits, which construction crews need to dig into the city’s streets to access underground infrastructure. The permits last 120 days and if the work is not properly completed within that time, the crews face $50 a day in fines.

At the beginning of the investigation, agents met with the vice president of a Virginia company that held $55 million in contracts for sewer work in Baltimore. The executive described being approached by the owner of a Maryland construction and utilities company that he knew with a deal to dramatically reduce a supposed $1.3 million in fines the Virginia company faced.

The owner is only identified by the initials J.S. in court papers.

“I have something to tell you that you may be interested in,” J.S. wrote in a January 2016 text message to the executive. “Saving a lot of money for you.”

J.S. and the executive later had a meeting and went on a car ride, according to the complaint, during which J.S. made a phone call and relayed the message: “If you want to play you got to pay.”

The deal involved the executive paying $52,000 to a connection J.S. said he had in exchange for the fines being reduced to $260,000, investigators say.

The executive rejected the deal and was brought on as an FBI informant. Agents told him to reopen the discussion with J.S. and had him place recorded phone calls. The discussions didn’t lead anywhere, according to the complaint, but phone records showed that J.S. was in regular communication with Wade’s phone.

The FBI then recruited another informant to help with the case — a person who ran a construction business in Baltimore and who investigators acknowledge was facing potential criminal charges.

According to the complaint, the informant told investigators that Wade had pulled him aside after a hearing in which he tried to dispute the $17,000 in city fines and told him that they could help one another out.

The pair met in September 2016 to hash out a deal, investigators say. At the direction of FBI agents, the second informant struck a deal to pay Wade $5,000 to wipe out the fines, according to the complaint.

The informant and Wade met twice that month, with the informant each time handing over a bundle of cash. At the first meeting, the informant couldn’t believe Wade was going to be able to erase the fines, according to a recording of the conversation described in the complaint.

“Luckily, I control how that works,” Wade said.

The alleged deal also would cover any infractions in the future.

“Like I told you uh, you good for life with me,” Wade allegedly told the informant.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-daryl-wade-bribery-charges-20171025-story.html

Man dies at museum construction site

MASSILLON, Ohio (AP) — A man has been killed at a museum construction site in Ohio after he was pinned underneath the wheel of a semitruck.

The Repository reports the man was identified as 76-year-old Robert Halter. Police say Halter was either loading or fastening chains on a semitrailer at the Massillon Museum site Monday when the driver pulled away and struck him.

First responders were called to the scene around 8:30 a.m. and worked to free the man from the truck. He was eventually taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Officials say Halter had been at the construction site delivering equipment so demolition could begin.

The museum’s Executive Director Alexandra Nicholis Coon has sent sympathy for the man’s family, but is declining to comment further.

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/man-dies-at-museum-construction-site/

U.S. Transportation Command’s cloud computing transition enhances cyber processes, protection

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (AFNS) -- U.S. Transportation Command is the first Defense Department organization to initiate migration of its cyber domain to a commercial cloud provider to improve mission assurance, while strengthening information technology efficiency and effectiveness.

Last month, the first wave of five USTRANSCOM IT systems transitioned to a commercial cloud-based solution.

Relying heavily on the transportation industry to help accomplish its mission, USTRANSCOM faces significant challenges to provide transportation service providers timely information to carry out its tasks. As a result of this, and, in addition to the threat of a cyber-domain attack and the command’s aging electronic infrastructure, Gen. Darren W. McDew, USTRANSCOM commander, subsequently directed the organization’s move to the cloud earlier this year.

The move will, among other things, allow USTRANSCOM to streamline and strengthen its security when working with industry partners while allowing them quicker access to vital transportation information.

In February, the command’s Cloud Center of Excellence stood up. Three months later, the CCoE, in collaboration with the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental, which underwrites pilot contracts for commercial innovation solving DoD problems in under 90 days, and the Army Contracting Command, Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey, executed a contract for a prototype cloud-migration solution with REAN Cloud LLC, Herndon, Virginia. The contract established a USTRANSCOM-protected enclave within a government-authorized cloud environment.

“The command’s transition to a cloud-based solution not only enhances mission assurance, but controls IT infrastructure costs and strengthens cyber agility, resiliency and innovation,” said Lt. Col. John Riester, deputy chief, Enterprise Infrastructure Portfolio and Support Division, USTRANSCOM’s Command, Control, Communications and Cyber Systems Directorate. “This transformational move to the cloud also allows us to keep pace with industry.”

In addition, by the end of the year, the CCoE will migrate capability onto a cloud-native platform and transition 22 applications to a commercial cloud service provider including 19 systems associated with one of its three components, the U.S. Army’s Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command collocated at Scott Air Force Base. All other USTRANSCOM programs will migrate to the contracted commercial cloud provider by July 2018.

“In transitioning to proven commercial cloud technology, USTRANSCOM pays only for services used, while the commercial cloud service provider manages and adjusts the command’s flexible IT footprint in minutes and with near-perfect reliability,” stated Wes Schooley, chief, Enterprise Engineering Branch, Command, Control, Communications and Cyber Systems Directorate. “Acting as the pathfinder, USTRANSCOM leads the DoD in cloud migration, demonstrating increased transparency, risk tolerance, experimentation and innovation.”

Observing its 30th anniversary Oct. 1, 2017, USTRANSCOM continues to answer the Nation’s call - whether delivering an immediate and decisive force when and where needed, assuring unrivaled global expeditionary capability, and, now with its transition to the cloud, setting the precedent for other DoD and federal government agencies to follow.\

http://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1353325/us-transportation-commands-cloud-computing-transition-enhances-cyber-processes/

Angry Front Range residents pack hearing, berate state regulators for allowing drilling near homes

An overflow crowd showed up Monday to plead with — and in some cases berate — state regulators over several oil and gas drilling operations slated for neighborhoods along the Front Range.

Development proposals in Broomfield and Boulder County and the recent approval of two dozen wells near a school in Weld County drew denunciations from a long line of people — some wearing surgical masks emblazoned with anti-fracking messages — during a boisterous Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission meeting.

A common theme heard in the hearing room was the potential health hazards wells pose to homeowners and to children attending nearby schools. Several elected officials from Broomfield and Boulder and Adams counties told the commissioners of their concerns about drilling so close to homes.

Broomfield City Councilman Kevin Kreeger painted a dire picture of the effects of oil and gas operations. He said a “belch” of toxic fumes from a well pad in neighboring Erie had left families with nosebleeds and covered patio furniture in an oily film.

“If the oily residue is covering the patio furniture, it means it’s in the air — it’s a fine mist,” Kreeger said.

His council colleague, Sharon Tessier, said she was uncomfortable with how prevalent drilling was becoming in some metro Denver neighborhoods and wanted permitting by the state to be more rigorous.

“I want to make sure there is no normalizing of the abnormal,” she said.

Broomfield City Council last week approved an operational agreement with Extraction Oil & Gas Inc. to drill 84 wells along the Northwest Parkway. But several council members said they felt they had no choice, given that state law limits what control municipalities have over drilling operations.

The COGCC has yet to issue permits to Extraction for those wells. On Monday, the commissioners had been scheduled to vote on whether to approve well spacing for the project but pulled most of the well pads from the agenda so they could further discuss the issue Tuesday.

Barbara Binder, an Adams County resident whose neighborhood would be just over 1,000 feet from 49 of Extraction’s wells, just over the county line in Broomfield, said she and her neighbors had little input into the project.

“All directly affected and impacted residents need a voice,” she told the commissioners. “Large-scale oil and gas does not belong next to residential communities.”

At least two commissioners expressed concern about the proximity of Extraction’s proposed wells to nearly 200 homes in Adams County.

“I’m concerned about whether Adams County had appropriate notification and had a chance to participate in finding a solution to these proceedings,” commissioner Erin Overturf said.

A spokesman for Extraction declined to comment Monday. Dan Haley, head of the industry’s trade group, the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, told The Denver Post in a statement that Colorado’s energy industry is heavily regulated and provides the state a vital economic boost.

“As Colorado communities continue to grow and expand, it is important to keep in mind where our natural resources exist, the value that development provides our economy and our national security, and the respect we must have for private property rights,” he said. “Colorado natural resource development, done under strict regulations, provides important societal benefits that can’t be dismissed or ignored, from our cars and the roads we drive on, to the clothes we wear, the paint on our walls, and the smartphones in our hands.”

Heidi Gill, founder of the Urban Solution Group, applauded Extraction for spending months hammering out an agreement with Broomfield that will have the company going well beyond state requirements for operation of its well pads — be it bigger setbacks, quieter equipment or higher levels of insurance coverage than what the state requires.

Gill, whose firm works with the energy industry to mitigate the effects of drilling, said Extraction “is a great example of an operator coming to the table.”

But otherwise, the more than 50 people waiting to speak to the commission Monday lambasted the oil and gas industry and what they described as the cozy relationship it has with the COGCC.

The meeting was standing-room only, with a long line of people stretched out the small hearing room waiting to step up to the microphone. COGCC chairman John Benton asked for order several times as audience members clapped or held signs during the proceedings.

Several speakers addressed drilling plans in Boulder County, where Crestone Peak Resources wants to put 180 wells into production over a 12-square-mile area between Lafayette and Longmont. Jan Wilson appealed to the commissioners to protect residents from what she said would be an intense industrial operation close to homes.

“I’m the one having the impacts — they’re the ones making the money,” Wilson said of Crestone.

Patricia Nelson, whose son is enrolled at Bella Romero Elementary, chastised the commissioners for recently approving 24 wells near the east Greeley school.

“It is you who approved this project. It is you who put my child at risk,” she said, her voice cracking with emotion. “You have failed my child, you have failed his classmates, you have failed Colorado.”

http://www.denverpost.com/2017/10/30/cogcc-meeting-oil-gas-drill-close-to-homes/