The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has announced that this year’s Atlantic hurricane season, which officially ended on November 30, blew down some records, having kicked up 19 storms, including last August’s very destructive Irene. It actually tied years 2010, 1995, and 1887 as the third-most- prolific period since 1851. The average season spawns 11 storms, said NOAA.
“This season is a reminder that storms can hit any part of our coast and that all regions need to be prepared each and every season,” explained NOAA National Weather Service director Jack Hayes in a recent official statement, putting on alert not just state authorities but also local insurers and insurance agents in places like Texas (for example, for agents to get their Texas insurance license renewed they need to have finished their Texas insurance continuing education first).
That observation carried special weight in light of an estimate by the Insurance Information Institute (New York), which placed hurricane damage from 1991 to 2010 at $153.7 billion in insured U.S. losses. The total represents 44 percent of all catastrophic losses in the period, according to the insurance institute.
The need for adjusters in places such as Texas that are prone to hurricane damage can’t be overstated. For the best Texas adjusters license online head to LearnInsurance.com. It offers all the training one needs to prepare for the state exam required for a property and casualty insurance license.
Hurricane Irene, the most economically devastating storm to hit the U.S. in decades, and three months since it made landfall, is still doing damage—this time via an upgraded estimate just out this November of insured property damage of $4.3 billion.
Texas and its community of agents with Texas insurance licenses or who’ve had their Texas insurance continuing education had braced early on for a landfall, but Irene ultimately skirted the state.
The new estimate—thanks to Property Claim Services, an insurance industry service that tracks catastrophe losses through confidential insurer surveys and the company’s database of houses nationwide—is nearly 18 percent bigger than the one made back in late September. The insurer surveys compiled results from the field brought in by insurance adjusters (insurance professionals with property and casualty insurance licenses).
Irene cut a swath of destruction from the Carolinas all the way up to New England. The hurricane brought forth at least 855,000 insurance claims, each one costing an average of $5,000. New Jersey and North Carolina sustained the greatest damage, the first suffering an estimated $915 million, the second, about $900 million. In all, 14 states had damages of at least $10 million and eight other states had damages of $100 million at least.
Future hurricanes, say weather experts, are expected to be more destructive than Irene because of abnormal weather patterns. The threat of bigger storms highlights the necessity of more insurance professionals versed in property and casualty insurance adjustment in places under threat by hurricanes—states such as Florida, New Orleans, even Texas and Georgia.
The electronics sector has long made the jump into the future. Now, says Edward Brown in his article “The Next Big Thing” for ecmag.com, the electrical contractor sector is making the leap, too—thanks to inroads made by advanced consumer electronics. The future in this case is integrated systems, the likely bread and butter of the next generation of electrical contractors who are now finishing their electrical training courses or electrician online courses.
Brown says the market for home automation is all systems go for takeoff. Integrated systems are already a part of some homes and are increasingly getting to be a regular item in the electrical contractor’s schedule of services, usually under installation or maintenance work. And because integrated control and communication systems constantly evolve, their installation and maintenance will be a constant revenue stream for contractors who can evolve with them (by taking up electrical continuing education) as electrical/integrated systems contractors.
Brown points out that among the functionalities of the integrated system of the very near future will be video, audio, and gaming systems seamlessly connected with each other and the Internet, with each system communicating wirelessly or by wire (Ethernet) to a computer, a TV screen, a touchscreen, or a mobile device.
IndustrialInstitute.com, one of the leading providers of online electrical training courses and online electrician education, is ready for the next big thing for electrical contractors.
Home improvement, as well as home-improvement spending, won’t be looking at much improvement through the first half of 2012, no thanks to a doddering economy and an overly cautious housing market. Thus spoke the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. The remodeling market, according to the Joint Center, is expected to remain soft with the latest Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) indicating a slight dip in annual homeowner improvement spending through at least the next several quarters.
“After pulling through the worst of the downturn in home improvement spending, we appear to be entering another period of softening,” observed Joint Center managing director Eric S. Belsky. But it does show a trend that tends to be cyclical. How quickly the next phase, the upswing, will arrive depends in large measure on homeowner confidence in the economy.
“Homeowners are continuing to undertake smaller jobs, but are still nervous about larger discretionary projects,”said Kermit Baker, director of the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center.
While awaiting the market to power up, electrical contractors and electricians best take advantage of the lull to improve their competencies via IndustrialInstitute.com, one of the leading providers of online electrical training courses and electrician online courses.
Now that certification is being required by many states, including Texas, to operate underground storage tanks (USTs) in compliance with state and federal regulations, marketers such as gas-station operators and convenience-store owners are casting about for the best way to get their certification to operate USTs.
360training.com is providing just that training to currently uncertified UST operators in Texas. Recently, the e-learning specialist introduced its UST A/B operator training course, a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)-approved training program designed to teach the course taker how to detect and prevent UST leaks through proper operation and maintenance as recommended by state and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations.
The course is completely online, as is the final exam, which requires a 70-percent score to pass. The course covers ten topics (including release detection, initial release response and abatement, TCEQ corrective action, waste management, and soil and groundwater cleanup, and installation and technical standards for USTs) in eight lessons. The student must pass the quiz at the end of each lesson to progress to the next. Each quiz requires a passing grade of 70 percent.
There are over 590,000 underground storage tanks (USTs) storing petroleum or other potentially hazardous substances in the United States today. Most of these are owned by gas stations and various industries, but some are maintained by commercial properties and government entities. Each one, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is a serious environmental and health threat because it could leak its contents into the groundwater if improperly maintained. About half of the United States sources its drinking water from groundwater.
Recognizing the danger and following the lead of the EPA, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has now required UST owners and operators in the state to undergo approved underground storage tank operator training. The requirement takes effect on September 1, 2012.
360training.com, a leading U.S. e-learning hub and a supporter of public health and the environment, has partnered with Texas Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association and TAIT Environmental to introduce the first TCEQ-approved online underground storage tank training course. The training aims to teach the course taker how to minimize, if not prevent, USTs from leaking gasoline, diesel, and other toxic fuel products into the environment. It also introduces the student to all the state and federal regulations relevant to the safe operation of USTs. On completion of the course the course taker receives a UST operator training to operate and maintain USTs in the state.
Posted:
Wednesday, January 25th, 2012
Category:
Cosmetology
There’s no reason why any person with HIV—or any disability for that matter—should be denied enrollment at any school. This was the loud and clear message from the Justice Department after it announced the settlement of an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) complaint against Modern Hairstyling Institute Inc. in Bayamón, Puerto Rico.
“The ADA clearly protects individuals with HIV and other disabilities from this kind of exclusion or marginalization,” stated Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, in an announcement released by AIDS.gov.
The Justice Department investigation was prompted by an allegation by an HIV-positive applicant against Modern Hairstyling Institute Inc. that turned down her application because of her condition. The complainant’s enrollment would have led to her eventually getting her cosmetology license, which is a requirement to practice cosmetology in most states and in Puerto Rico.
Complying with the settlement agreement, Modern Hairstyling Institute Inc. has now offered enrollment to the complainant, has dropped its pre-enrollment requirement for an applicant’s HIV/AIDS status, and is providing training to all employees on disability discrimination. The school has also been required to pay a $5,000 civil penalty to the United States and $8,000 in damages to the complainant.
Cosmetologycampus.com, a top provider of online training for cosmetologists, provides not just a convenient, fully online cosmetology CE program but also vital information on HIV/AIDS as it relates to the practice of cosmetology.
Posted:
Wednesday, January 25th, 2012
Category:
Cosmetology
The stats on the mean cost of a haircut varies as fitfully as does hairstyle fashion in California; but taking the rough average according to the beauty industry publication American Salon, it comes down to $21 to $44 in most states (New York salons fetch over 10 times that range!). That’s a lot of dollars for not that much hair, considering the average American goes for a trim every two months.
That’s good news though for haircutters all across America, including the professionals now working on their cosmetology CE (continuing education)—from those taking Ohio cosmetology CE to those taking Wisconsin CE. But for the average American who needs a trim? No so much.
So here are two great tips straight from the haircutting professionals themselves on how to save some dollars on regular trims till you really need that haircut to die for.
Volunteer your hair to stylists-in-training. Sounds like a joke, but students have to practice on something. And what better practice is there than live heads. Many top salons regularly conduct haircut training sessions for their student stylists, with each cut offered at significantly less cost than the regular trim. The volunteer shouldn’t worry about mishaps—each session is supervised by a pro.
Volunteer your hair to beauty-school trainees. This is a good alternative in case you can’t find a good salon that does training sessions. Beauty schools, like salons, are always looking for volunteers for their students to give haircuts to. The students are of course much less experienced than their counterparts in the salons, but, hey, the haircuts are free! And they’re supervised by a pro, too!
For both haircutters fresh from beauty schools and hairstylists who still need to renew their cosmetology licenses, head over to Cosmetologycampus.com for your state-approved online cosmetology education and cosmetology CE. The programs are a cut above the rest.
For those who think that hints of recovery in the last month or two are mirages, think again. For the first time in a long while, housing figures are surpassing expectations, though not by much. Construction and real estate professionals—including those who are just working to get their real estate license or those who are finishing the required real estate continuing education—can take heart.
The online edition of The Wall Street Journal reported that the National Association of Home Builders’ sentiment index gained three points this November, settling at 20, the highest it has gone in more than a year. The Commerce Department, meanwhile, announced last week that building permits and construction of single-family homes picked up in October. The Federal Reserve’s fourth-quarter loan survey also showed a rise in demand for mortgage loans.
The positive signs are not positive enough though. For instance: the latest National Association of Realtors’ existing-home sales report still showed a second consecutive monthly dip in annualized pace in October to 4.8 million units (seasonally adjusted). Construction, a good indicator of the health of the economy, is slowly building up some momentum, but is still stuck at historically low levels. Broader sales activity remains weak.
Foreclosures, meanwhile, have crawled back up the ledger following three consecutive quarters of decline, a development that will continue to hold down already depressed home prices.
Still, a positive is a positive and the industry is one or two pulses more upbeat nowadays. Online real estate schools have been gearing up for the day of the big recovery for some time now. Top real estate continuing education providers such as Agentcampus.com are understandably all set to accommodate the expected jump in demand for real estate courses leading to a Texas real estate license for one.
It seems that the nearer 2012 draws, the more harbingers of a recovery come forth. No reason yet to break out the bubbly, but reason enough to expedite one’s real estate continuing education to get licensed as a real estate agent.
One such harbinger is the consumer prices falling in the last quarter. For the economy, this may look terrible at face value, but for low-wage earners this of course means more affordability. And according to Carla Hill in her article “Real Estate Outlook: Will 2012 See Improvement?” affordability will be the operant word in 2012. With low interest rates prevailing, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) expects the coming year to be one of the banner years on record for housing affordability.
It’s true that the 2.5-year-old recession continues to drag down the economy and housing market, but the newest statistics and surveys point to a sea change on the horizon next year. Meanwhile, affordability and interest rates are combining to make good deals for this year’s penny-pinching buyers.
Industry experts are moderately hopeful of home sales improving in the new year, with existing-home sales expected to rise 4 to 5 percent.
“Once home prices turn positive on a sustained basis, consumer confidence will rise and help the broader economy to improve,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the NAR.
Well aware of the industry’s pending need for licensed real estate agents when recovery finally arrives, top online real estate training provider Agentcampus.com provides real estate courses and real estate continuing education that are needed for a Texas real estate license for one.
