I want to be able to keep full employmen

Whether a fiscal cliff deal is reached, before or after the deadline, many expect to pay more in taxes.

Michael Blossom, owner of two Loop boutiques, is eager to get past the contention of the fiscal cliff.

"If we ran the business the way Congress runs the government we would be long out of business," said Blossom, who owns Florodora and Florodora Shoes. He is watching to see if the payroll tax cut is maintained for employers.

"I want to be able to keep full employment, but the more expensive the payroll gets overall, the more I have to look at cutting back on how many hours we have available to give to our employees," said Blossom.

Negotiations in Washington are ongoing to avert a year-end deadline that would implement tax increases and spending cuts.

News of the ongoing debate is causing some to seek professional advice. Jeff Bronswick has been getting calls. He is a certified public accountant in Buffalo Grove with Bronswick Reicin Pollack. Bronswick says while some wealthy clients have be advised to move funds, many clients are advised to not make big moves and simply plan for tax increases.

"If they don't, that's great, and if they do, at least they're somewhat prepared. They're not happy about it," said Bronswick.

By some estimates, households with income between $40,000 and $50,000 could see taxes increase $1,700 if tax cuts expire January 1st. Households with incomes between $75,000 and $100,000 could see a tax increase of $3,600.

"I do believe that it will lead to us paying more taxes, but I think it's a diversion from other issues that are more important," said Arlene Koszyk.

"To expect to get something for nothing is not what I was taught as a child and it's not what i teach my children. You have to pay your fair share," said Curt Bolden.

Tax codes often change from year to year, but this year's uncertainty is making it challenging for some individuals and business owners to prepare their budgets.

Congress and the president have four more days to find an agreement and to allow Americans to plan for the year ahead.

why we sell shoes to give to children in need

Toms Shoes has opened its first retail store and community space, in Venice, Calif., barely an alpargata’s toss from the apartment living room where Blake Mycoskie started building his buy-one-give-one, commerce-meets-cause shoe empire six years ago.

Inhabiting a Craftsman-style cottage on Abbot Kinney, the 2,200-square-foot indoor-outdoor space feels like a college coffee house in all the right ways.

Created in collaboration with L.A.’s Commune Design, it boasts rough-hewn wooden walls and floors inside. Outside, there’s a back porch enclosed by a hodgepodge of corrugated roofing, canvas tenting and repurposed wood-frame windows. There’s a counter selling coffee by Caffecito, juice drinks from Pressed Juicery and kabocha squash loaf and other nibbles from Valerie Confections, all three L.A.-based purveyors. The backyard with artificial turf, benches and a free-standing fire pit is available for use by nonprofit groups. And a book exchange, free Wi-Fi and board games encourage hanging out. Of course, the full range of Toms products is available, including men’s, women’s and children’s shoes and boots, sunglasses, T-shirts and sweat shirts, and leather-bound Toms journals, modeled after Mycoskie’s own travel logs.

“We wanted to give something back to the community,” Mycoskie said. “As Toms has grown, I’ve been thinking about our mission. It’s about giving and one-for-one, which is why we sell shoes to give to children in need and sell eyewear to give cataract surgery to give sight. But more than that, I believe business can be used to improve people’s lives. And the only reason it makes sense to get into retail is to create community spaces to improve people’s lives.

“Starbucks took the college coffee shop and provided it to the masses,” said Mycoskie, 36, who gives speeches around the world and hobnobs with the likes of former President Clinton and retired Anglican Archbishop of South Africa Desmond Tutu.

“They provided a third place that was not home or the office. My concern with what has happened, and this is no knock on Starbucks, is that they have become workplaces and don’t have as much of a community feel anymore. I’m trying to create a third place in Venice for people to have community engagement.”

Mycoskie points to a newsstand holding copies of GQ, Green Parent and other publications.

“I wanted to have those,” he said. “I don’t know if we’ll sell any, but there isn’t even any place on this whole street to buy a newspaper or magazine.”

The vibe is boho clubhouse. Everywhere you look, there are mementos from Mycoskie’s travels — an Ethiopian broom sits in one corner, a hand-carved Guatemalan bird perches on a nearby shelf, a string of Tibetan prayer flags flutters across the eaves, and children’s drawings are tacked everywhere. A large map on the wall charts the company’s progress, with pins in the 54 countries where Toms has organized “shoe drops” to donate footwear. The youthful and lighthearted company culture is reflected in the bulletin board ephemera, which includes photos of employees at the annual Movember party, inside jokes (including a Lionel Richie “Have you seen me?” poster) and fabric swatches from the design team.

No doubt, Mycoskie would like to have a Toms store on every cool street in America. If this first one works, he hopes to open more of these kinds of community spaces and fund them through the sale of Toms products, coffee and snacks.

Stand-alone retail is just the latest development for the company, which has seen tremendous growth since it was founded in 2006. Last spring, Toms launched eyewear, signaling that it would no longer be just a shoe company but a multiproduct company based on the one-for-one giving model. Mycoskie expects to launch a new product category in the next 12 to 24 months. He’s also working on pilot projects featuring manufacturing in Africa, to be announced in the spring. “We’ve heard loud and clear from our customers that they want more in-country production and more in-country job creation,” he said. “If we’re giving in these countries, we also need to be creating jobs and supporting entrepreneurs.”

The other big news in Mycoskie’s life? He and girlfriend Heather Lang tied the knot three months ago at the Sundance Resort in Utah, then embarked on a honeymoon that included visits to Thailand, Bali and India. “They were all places that neither of us had ever been,” he said. “It was fun to do some traveling that was not for work.”

Children receive new shoes through local project

All God's Children Shall Have Shoes has outfitted more than 600 children with new sturdy shoes and a package of warm socks for the winter.

The 30-year-old grass-roots project is run entirely by volunteers in partnership with Payless Shoe Source and Famous Footwear stores in Alton Square Mall.

Recently, seven busloads of preschoolers showed up to choose shoes and socks for their feet. Becky and Butch Chapel were among more than a dozen volunteers on hand to greet them, measure their feet, and personally help them pick out and fit a pair of shoes. After making their choice, the children were given a package of new socks and were able to choose a plush toy.

"We've been volunteering for this project for a long time," Butch Chapel said. "It's a very worthy cause."

Becky Chapel agreed. She said the children always are so grateful, and the organizers run an efficient operation.

The project's roots started in Springfield, Ill., said Pat Kramer of Godfrey. Her husband, Jack Kramer, and his friend, Jack Bailey, were linemen for Illinois Bell, now AT&T, in 1978 when they heard a story that became a call to action.

She quoted her husband, who said, "No child should have to stay home (from school) because they don't have shoes."

Kramer and Bailey learned that linemen on the job in Springfield were raising donations and working with school nurses to identify children in need of a better pair of shoes. School districts provided bus transportation to the shoe store.

The project, called All Children Shall Have Shoes, was started in the early 1960s by a former Illinois Bell plant technician and his co-workers, according to the AT&T Pioneers website.

Pioneers is a volunteer network established in 1911.

Kramer and Bailey led their local Pioneers group in carrying on the cause in Alton, knowing that there was a need in their own community.

Since then, Ford and Colleen Green and their daughter, Ellen Huber, kept the torch lit and expanded their fund-raising from the Pioneer group to the community at large.

Ten years ago, they got Jon Wooden involved. Today, they are the primary organizers.

"I think God has really put him there," Pat Kramer said.

Wooden was a student of Ellen Huber's, daughter of the Greens. She offered extra credit to anyone who volunteered for the project. Wooden took the offer and was hooked.

"What I got hooked on is seeing a child with a sock on one foot and not on the other, or they are dirty or have holes," Wooden said. "They're innocent children."

Ford Green explained that they want to do more but don't have the funds. Wooden immediately went to his friend, Patrick "Doc" Halliday, who he calls the "Fund-raiser King," and got him involved.

Together, they reached out to local businesses for support and have increased the number of shoes that they are able to buy each year. This fall, they held a fund-raiser at their business and raised $10,000 for the project. This, combined with donations from businesses such as Freer Auto Body, support the cause, which has no overhead, thanks to volunteers.

Today, the project serves Illinois students in school districts throughout northern Madison County and in Jerseyville, with plans to expand into Granite City and Venice through Riverbend Head Start and Family Services. The nonprofit serves nearly 450 vulnerable children age 5 and younger in that area.

Halliday and Wooden said they hope to expand the project and provide more shoes, as well as coats and outerwear accessories. Donations can be sent to Halliday at Atlantis Pools in Alton.

Poised to take on such an expansion are Wooden's daughters, Bethany, 29, and Chelsey, 26. They manage the donations, coordinate volunteers, plan fund-raisers and communicate needs through the Atlantis Pools Facebook page. They claim that word-of-mouth is the best method for raising support.

"It's a family mission," Chelsey said.

Bethany explained that they were happy to step up and help the Greens continue this tradition.

"This gift amazed us," said Gene Howell, operations director for Riverbend Head Start, a nonprofit preparing at-risk children for kindergarten through education, social and health services.

"Even though these kids are so young, they still feel great pride when they have a new pair of shoes and socks to wear out in the world," Howell said. "You can see it on their face; they feel good. And when you feel good, you do well in school and life."

Tawnya Hooper, a volunteer for All God's Children Shall Have Shoes through the Junior League of Greater Alton, is also an investigator with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. She knows firsthand the benefits of the project on children with great needs.

"It helps them feel better about themselves," Hooper said. "It helps alleviate the parent's stress over trying to find the money to buy a new pair of shoes. They feel better going to school with a new pair of shoes and clean socks."

These days the chances are very good

The modern point-of-sale (POS) system is a tightly integrated computer that almost certainly knows all about your buying history, how often you shop online and what you're likely to buy next week.

It is also able to communicate along the entire length of the store's supply chain right back to the factory if necessary.

Not bad for a device that has its origins in the late 1800s and was used primarily for producing a simple receipt - one copy for the merchant and one for the costumer.

I think our customers are very aware of privacy and information but are working side by side with consumers”

"The first POS devices were wooden boxes, made by carpenters out of rosewood," he says.

"They were very mechanical, beautiful pieces of technology - some made with brass, some made with nickel."

NCR is the company that pioneered the early POS systems and is still at the forefront of their development.

That development has become faster since the 1990s.

A transaction was once seen as something that started and ended in the store. Shops knew very little if anything about the customer. In-store coupons and offers were "broadcast" for the benefit of everyone and anyone.

Now, it's all about narrowcasting. These days the chances are very good that the shop knows a lot about you long before you have entered its premises. Loyalty cards for instance hold a treasure trove of information about their owners.

Computers can work out if you are sick and how often, the number of people you live with, if you have pets and can even make an educated guess as to your pregnancy status.

"A consumer can choose to opt out or opt in, so a consumer may say, 'I agree to give up some privacy to get an offer tailored to me based on my presence and preference - but don't blast me.' So I think our customers are very aware of privacy and information but are working side-by-side with consumers."

Retailers are pushing harder to gather and use "big data" to refine their operations. This is especially important when it comes to the supply chain, because in an ideal world as soon as a product is taken off the shelves and paid for, a new one is instantly manufactured or shipped to replace it.

So whereas a few decades ago POS manufacturers would only be interested in designing a machine that suited the needs of the retailer, now they have to take into account the supply warehouse and the point of manufacture.

If a retailer is big enough and powerful enough, it can often dictate that new technology be used along the supply chain to work seamlessly with its own cutting-edge POS system.

I think it helps gay people to have respectable

Interesting piece in Buzzfeed about the Republicans starting to wake up to the fact that they need to start appearing on other news outlets – real news outlets – than just Fox News.

The thing is, going before real journalists can be hazardous to your health.  Not often.  But it’s certainly more risky than having Hannity brown-nose you for ten minutes.

The argument some conservatives are giving is that they’re only preaching to the choir when they go on Fox.  Yes, but.

It’s a complicated question as to when its useful to go on a show that might as you tough questions.  For the left, there really isn’t an alternative kind of show.  Only lately MSNBC has been trying to fill Fox’s shoes – and MSNBC does it with fewer lies and less party loyalty.  But before then it was either go on CNN and the other networks, and face tough questions, or go on Fox and be treated like a subhuman.

The interesting thing is that on gay rights issues, it was useful going on the Fox in the past.  I went on the O’Reilly Factor a lot in the late 90s and early 2000s.  He liked me.  And it got us a better spin on the story.  To wit: After a series appearances on O’Reilly’s shows in 2000, about our boycott of Dr. Laura Schlessinger’s new TV show, O’Reilly ended up agreeing with me that Schlessinger brought all the trouble on to herself because of her inappropriate language.

We couldn’t have asked for anything more than the left and Bill O’Reilly saying Dr. Laura had crossed the line.

But there came a time when Fox became just so hateful, just so anti-gay – not that they were ever neutral – that I stopped going on.  It’s a trade off.  At some point, you’re validating bad people, fake journalism, by continuing to go on their shows.  But still, that’s not to say that it can’t help your cause.  I think it helps gay people to have respectable representatives go on Fox and show the world that we’re “normal” even if they disagree with us.  Same with transgender people.  There’s always a risk.

Of course, for Republicans going on CNN, it’s an entirely other matter.  When I went on Fox, I was already used to answering questions about whether gays were pedophiles, posed to me on other networks.  But Republicans who are have been in exile on Fox, aren’t used to actually having to defend their lies in the light of day.  It’s why CNN’s Soledad O’Brien is such a breath of fresh air, and so confounds Republicans who simply can’t believe someone who calls herself a journalist would ask a hard question, and then ask it again when you refuse to answer.

Finally, there’s the question of the value of “preaching the choir.”  Buzzfeed argues that you don’t get much mileage by preaching to the choir.  And sometimes that’s true.  But not always, and I’d argue not often.  One of the strengths of the liberal blogosphere has been our ability to find stories and help them go mainstream.  Now, it’s certainly possible that the right has had less success doing the same.  Mostly because they’re a little nuttier than we are.  Not all of them.  But on par, far too many of the top folks, yeah.  Republicans are learning the hard way that it’s harder to sell BS than it is the truth, at least when you’re not on Fox.

Charities work to help children and families

Most children will wake to dozens of boxes under a lighted tree this Christmas, but for some local kids, were not for the hard work of many, Christmas may be as joyful.

It is during the holiday season that most charitable giving is done, but one type of giving that is special this time of year is the toy drive. Each year, millions of toys are donated to hundreds of different toy drives to make sure than no child goes through the season without having a gift.

One annual event in Perry County has been going on since 1954 and is going strong to this day. The Light a Child’s Christmas giveaway lets hundreds of children pick gifts, both new and used, from donated items at the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Hazard.

The veterans and the ladies’ auxiliary raise funds and collect donations for months to be able to provide gifts to children in the area. According to Mary Shanks with the ladies’ auxiliary, they serve around 200 to 300 children during the one-day event. “They all get to see Santa Claus, they all get a treat bag, and they all get a new toy, and a used toy,” said Shanks.

Children are sent through the event in groups of 10 so they can all be given a fair chances at the toys. When children have to wait, they are given a coloring book and items to play with. The new toys are all wrapped, and used toys are unwrapped so children can pick one out.

While the ladies’ auxiliary has been hard at work collecting items and donations, they are still accepting more and will continue to accept donations through Dec. 14. The Light a Child’s Christmas will be held Dec. 16.

Anyone looking to lend a hand or a toy still can. Donations can be taken to the VFW post on North Main Street in Hazard. Volunteers are welcome to help pack goodie bags on Dec. 13 at the VFW following the ladies auxiliary meeting, or come to Light a Child’s Christmas on the 16th. Any toys left over are taken to needy families at their or given out at the Masonic Lodge in Hardburly.

Another group working to make Christmas brighter for local children is the Lotts Creek Community School in Cordia. According to the school director Alice Whitaker, the students and community are involved in several giving efforts.

One man has taken it upon himself to help the people of the Cordia community to have a good Christmas for the past few years. Gino Montrone has brought truckloads of goods to the small school that have then been given to the families of the students and the community.

Montrone, a resident of New Jersey, retired and was looking for a way to give back. He saw a documentary about Eastern Kentucky and decided to start investigating ways to help the children of the region. “He called someone in Frankfort, and it just so happened that the person they got was from here,” said Whitaker.

Montrone has formed several connections with schools and individuals in New Jersey, and this year they were able to donate three truckloads of goods.

Lotts Creek Community School has also received a grant that is making the school a healthier place. This grant has helped the school start a gym, replace unhealthy snacks and foods with healthy ones, and all but eliminate soda. This grant also helped the school to give away 100 turkey dinner boxes to both students and community. The boxes contained a healthy option for Thanksgiving meals.

The school is also involved in giving out food through their food pantry. Every month they open their doors to the people of the area to receive much needed food. This month the pantry will be opened on Dec. 20.

Fernie girl continues her fight with cancer

Almost one year after she was diagnosed with cancer, Brooke Malakoff is staying strong and still smiling.

Brooke is back home in Fernie following a long stint at B.C. Children’s Hospital. She’s getting ready to continue her treatment in Cranbrook, and is hoping to be home for the holidays this year.

Between her original diagnosis just before Christmas of 2011, an emergency surgery, and spending months at a time in Vancouver for chemo, Brooke’s last year of high school, and what was meant to be her first year of college, didn’t exactly go as planned.

“Two days into winter break I was told I had a giant mass, three quarters the size of my lung, on my lung,” said Brooke. “After that it was about 10 days of scans, tests, being flown down to Vancouver, and going right into surgery.

“For me it was really blurry because they kept me pretty sedated through the whole thing. But through all of the ups and downs, it was still a lot to take in. Especially being 17 you’re like wait, this doesn’t happen to people like me, but apparently it does.”

Brooke lost her left lung during surgery, however the operation was successful. She returned home to finish the school year, but just a few short months later, Brooke learned that her cancer had returned.

With the exception of coming back to graduate, and a couple of weeks in Fernie here and there, Brooke has spent the majority of the last six months in Vancouver at Children’s Hospital.

“I’ve been doing a lot of chemo, lots and lots of chemo, and getting pretty sick,” admitted Brooke. “There was one stretch that I was in the hospital for 12 days because the chemo made me so sick.

“That was the loneliest time I think. I was in isolation so there was no contact and no food for 48 hours.”

Brooke was undergoing a round of chemo every 21 days. She explained, “It’s usually a week of chemo, then for the next two weeks I’m down. I’m tired, can’t really do anything, and I just don’t feel good.

“There’s about three or four days when I’m up again and I’m starting to feel better, and then they hit me with another round of chemo.”

While her mother Rochelle stayed with Brooke full time in Vancouver, her stepfather George remained in Fernie for work, and to stay with her brother Wes, who goes to Fernie Secondary School.

Well known around town for her time working as a cashier at Overwaitea and volunteering at Ghostriders games, Fernie residents began to come together to help out Brooke and her family. With everything from penny drives and hot dog sales, to concerts and hockey uniform auctions, the entire community got involved.

“It’s hard being in this situation, and it’s also hard to accept people’s help because we don’t want to feel like we need help, but we do,” expressed Brooke. “We’re just thankful for the people who have stepped up.”

She went on to say, “It’s flattering first of all to think that many people want to help and it’s so amazing what people can do these days. I just can’t wait until somebody else is in my shoes and I can help them.”

Brooke celebrated her eighteenth birthday on November 27 and is looking towards the future. She’s been accepted to Selkirk College in Castlegar for 2013 and is planning on studying psychology.

“I think maybe somehow I was supposed to be put in this situation,” remarked Brooke. “Somehow, somewhere, fate decided, she needs to have cancer because she needs to meet these certain people, and I’m getting real experience in the field of psychology.”

Now with the one year mark of her diagnosis approaching, Brooke remains optimistic.

“It’s all mind over matter,” she asserted. “When I think about it, it’s do you want to go through this and be miserable the whole time, or do you want to try and feel good about yourself?” she commented. “You want to feel good, so you just have to keep smiling and thinking one day this will be over. Always looking at the end, but still not getting your hopes up too high, because we’ve had a couple of bad PET scans.

“You have to think there is going to be a light at the end of the tunnel, we may not see it now, but it’s going to be there eventually.”

Tippecanoe senior wins national cross country title

Last year, it was a chat with the stars from the "Twilight" franchise. This year, it's a meeting with Tiger Woods and a role in his popular golf video game.

Life keeps getting more surreal for American teenager Lexi Thompson, who is in the United Arab Emirates to defend her title at the Dubai Ladies Masters, which begins Wednesday. She won the tournament in 2011 at 16 to become the youngest winner on the LPGA and European Tour. She then lost her LPGA record to Lydia Ko, a 15-year-old amateur from New Zealand who won the Canadian Women's Open in August.

Thompson hasn't won a tournament this year, but with four top-five finishes on the LPGA Tour, her star keeps rising. With that come the perks of celebrity. She got to meet the 14-time major winner Woods this summer at the Notah Begay Challenge in August.

"It was amazing, just meeting a role model. I've always looked up to him so it was great to meet him and talk to him," Thompson said. "And he said I'll play golf with you any time, and that means a lot coming from a person at that level."

Just as "amazing" was being invited to play a role in the video game, "Tiger Woods PGA 14." She grew up with the game and played Woods with her golf-playing brothers. Now Thompson looks forward to playing herself. It should be much like the real Thompson — she strapped on sensors on her body, head and shoes to ensure the game was as realistic as possible.

"It's an honor to be in the video game," Thompson said. "I've seen some of the pictures of my animation and it looks so real. ... It will be interesting to play me in the video game. It will be pretty weird but it will be awesome."

Being a national high school cross country champion is beginning to sink in for Sam Wharton.

The senior at Tippecanoe High School won the Nike Nationals on Saturday in Portland, Ore., over a field of 195 other runners who qualified through regional meets around the country.

“After about 300 meters when you hit the mud you knew it was going to be a rough ride,” Wharton said. “There wasn’t much grass. The course was half mud and half goose (waste). Everyone was slipping and guys were losing their shoes.

“It wasn’t the kind of course you could move up in the pack. So I got up among the leaders early and stayed there. Their course favored my running style because I’m not a speed runner. I got the lead with about 800 meters to go and hoped I could keep my footing until the finish line.”

Wharton usually shows no emotion when winning big races, such as the state Division I cross country title he won in November. But when he hit the finish line, he held up his arms in victory.

“That was out of character for me, but it was built-up emotion coming out. It’s been a long season with one more race to go.”

Wharton took winning the race in stride in Portland. But when he got off the plane in Dayton on Sunday, the Tipp cross country team and a host of well-wishers were waiting.

“It kind of hit me then what a big achievement this was,” he said. “Everyone wanted to look at the trophy and take pictures. Then (Monday) I got congratulations from everyone at school and in town. Everyone was calling my parents, and I was getting text messages and tweets. It’s all pretty cool.”

The Nike is one of two big national post-season cross country races. The other is the Footlocker Nationals this Saturday in San Diego. Wharton will be one of 40 runners in the field who qualified through regional race.

“Winning the Nike nationals was tough because the conditions took a lot out of me,” said Wharton. “But I’m going to go out there and do my best.”