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Category Archives: Freedom

Freedom ride: day of song and gratitude 50 years after original ride

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The 50th Anniversary of the 1965 Freedom Ride, from Sydney to outback NSW. Original Freedom Riders, get the chance to reflect on how far Australia has come in fifty years.

It was a day of songs and gratitude to the original Freedom Riders who 50 years ago hopped on a bus heading for Aboriginal equality.

On Wednesday afternoon buses containing 28 of the next generation of freedom riders and about a dozen of the original riders from 1965 arrived in Dubbo to chants of "freedom" .

It was the first stop in a four-day re-enactment to mark the 50th anniversary of the ride that was led by Aboriginal activist Charles Perkins and Bill Ford, who had been inspired by the American freedom riders.

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Freedom ride: day of song and gratitude 50 years after original ride

Report: Press freedom around world deteriorating – even in U.S.

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WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- The world is undergoing a deterioration of the safety of journalists and freedom of the press, according to a report released Thursday.

The World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders ranked 180 countries with criteria that include media independence and competition, the safety and freedom of journalists and the government environment in which the media operate in 2014.

About two-thirds of the countries surveyed performed worse last year than the year before.

The drop in press freedom can be attributed in part to wars, the ongoing threat from non-state groups like Boko Haram and the Islamic State, violence during protests and the economic crisis, Reporters Without Borders said.

Countries that experienced a decline in press freedom include the United States, which dropped two spots to 49th in the index.

The drop in the United States is linked to the government's ongoing struggle against WikiLeaks and the prosecution of New York Times reporter James Risen to reveal his sources. Risen regards President Barack Obama as "the greatest enemy to press freedom in a generation."

Adorra (32) dropped 27 spots, the sharpest fall in press freedom for the media's lack of independence from financial, political and religious interests.

Italy dropped 24 spots to 73rd after journalists experienced defamation suits and threats from groups like the mafia.

Venezuela dropped 21 places to 137th after the national army opened fire on journalists during protests.

Recently, Egypt (158) began the retrial of two Al Jazeera journalists after they were convicted of aiding the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood illustrating the strict stance taken by some Arab governments against freedom of the press.

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Report: Press freedom around world deteriorating - even in U.S.

Freedom Foods carries substantial trading decline and puts price on A2

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March 4, 2015 Sophie Langley

Freedom Foods has reported a Net profit of $55.2 million for the first half of the 2015 financial year. However, the Net Profit figure was boosted by the inclusion of a post-tax fair value gain of $52.2 million from the gain on reclassification of the A2 Milk Company investment.

The Company achieved an Operating EBDITA of $6.3 million (including interest from Associates), a marginal decrease of 1.4 per cent on the previous corresponding period.

Freedom Foods is the largest single shareholder in the A2 Milk Company, which owns and commercialises unique and comprehensive intellectual property rights relating to A2 brand milk and related dairy products in a range of international markets including Australia. Freedom Foods has now reclassified its shares in the A2 Milk Company as Available for Sale. Commentators have suggested that Freedom Foods might be hoping to sell off some or all of its shares in the A2 Milk Company to offset profit losses.

The Company said its profit loss result reflected the impact of commissioning of the new nutritional snack equipment reducing manufacturing recoveries and gross margin during the half, although there were increased sales in all business units.

UHT operations and Specialty Seafood performed ahead of the prior year. The Company said it considered the operating EBDITA result satisfactory considering the significant investment and commissioning of plant being undertaken and adjustments required to the operating structure of the business in this phase.

Reclassification of investment in A2 Milk Company

Freedom Foods acquired additional shares in the A2 Milk Company in the first half, for a total net consideration of $538,000.

During the first half of the 2015 financial year, Freedom Foods reclassified how it accounts for investment in the A2 Milk Company to an Available for Sale investment.

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Freedom Foods carries substantial trading decline and puts price on A2

Pension freedom tax tip for the wealthy: Start capped drawdown NOW

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By Tanya Jefferies for Thisismoney.co.uk

Published: 02:19 EST, 26 February 2015 | Updated: 03:57 EST, 26 February 2015

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A leading financial adviser has put wealthy individuals on alert that they can hang onto an important tax perk after pension freedom reforms - if they act now.

Wealthy pension savers should consider setting up a 'capped drawdown' plan ahead of freedom reforms in April to keep the tax benefits of paying up to 40,000 a year into their fund, he suggests.

Pension freedom reforms mean all over-55s will be able to access their full retirement savings and have the power to invest and withdraw money as they wish.

Pension freedom: All over-55s will be able to access their full retirement savings and have the power to invest and withdraw money as they wish

The drawback for the better off is that immediately you take advantage of flexible drawdown under the new rules, limits are placed on how much money you can then contribute to your pension pot and still automatically get tax relief.

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Pension freedom tax tip for the wealthy: Start capped drawdown NOW

Freedom bankruptcy case at crossroads

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With available funds dwindling and millions in claims pending over the January 2014 Elk River chemical leak, the Freedom Industries bankruptcy case appears to be at a crossroads.

No clear plan for resolving the case is in sight, prompting U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Ronald Pearson to schedule a status conference early next month to ask various interested parties for options.

Pearson called the conference, set for 10 a.m. March 3, to ask for input with respect to how this case should be administered to conclusion utilizing the limited resources available to obtain the best results for the public and parties in interest, the judge said in a three-page order entered on Feb. 6. The conference will be held in the bankruptcy courtroom at the Robert C. Byrd U.S. District Courthouse, and is open to the public, the judges order said.

In the ruling, Pearson noted that more than $200 million in claims have been filed against Freedom Industries, with most of that accounted for by 3,800 damage claims filed by victims of the Jan. 9, 2014, leak that contaminated the regional drinking water supply.

But, the judge noted, Freedoms most recent financial report to the court showed payables of $3.2 million for legal and environmental consultant fees that have not yet been approved by the court.

Only $1.5 million in cash remains from a total of almost $16 million in assets listed by the debtor at filing of its bankruptcy petition, Pearson said.

The judge said these numbers raise questions about what will be proposed by Freedoms current management led by a chief restructuring officer approved by the court with respect to the rights to the $3 million insurance policy limits the debtor is attempting to collect as a result of the spill incident.

While Freedom appeared to have worked out a deal with AIG Specialty Insurance Co., Pearson noted that former Freedom President Gary Southern facing indictment on Clean Water Act violation and bankruptcy fraud charges has filed a new challenge to the insurance deal. Lawyers for some residents had hoped that the $3.2 million insurance payment could be used for a class-action settlement funding projects like water testing or studies of leak-related health effects.

The court is not comfortable with moving forward with a decision about how this case should be administered or what might be done with the proposed $3.2 million of insurance proceeds without greater input from spill claimants who hold 95 percent of the claims in the case, Pearson said in a second order, made public Feb. 9.

Because no class-action case against Freedom has yet been approved in U.S. District Court or in the bankruptcy case, Pearson asked bankruptcy case claims agent Jim Lane and Tony Majestro, a lawyer for some residents, to meet with lawyers for all leak victims to receive information from spill claimants as to the administration of this case and what rights they assert in the case.

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Freedom bankruptcy case at crossroads

Answers remains elusive in Freedom Industries bankruptcy case

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Officials overseeing the Freedom Industries bankruptcy on Tuesday touted progress on cleanup of the companys Elk River facility, but acknowledged that answers to other pressing issues that have stalled the resolution of the case remain elusive.

Still unclear are crucial decisions regarding how or when Freedom might obtain an insurance payment of more than $3 million for the January 2014 chemical leak, how victims might eventually be compensated, and whether additional funds can be recouped for the bankruptcy estate from various parties, including former Freedom owners and executives.

Weve got to make some progress on these things, said U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Ronald Pearson. Lets get these things teed up.

Pearson spoke Tuesday morning to a courtroom full of lawyers representing Freedom Industries, various companies Freedom owes money to, victims, state agencies, West Virginia American Water and former Freedom officials.

The judge called a status conference of interested parties after observing in an early February order that the case was at a crossroads. At the time, Freedom had dwindling resources, with just $1.5 million in cash and $200 million in claims, and a liquidation plan that Pearson said he didnt think could ever be approved as written.

In a status report submitted on Friday, Freedoms court-approved chief restructuring officer, Mark Welch, said that the company currently has about $700,000 cash in hand. The report said Freedom hopes to get Pearsons approval to put about $450,000 of that into an escrow account to fund the rest of the remediation of the Elk River facility, site of the leak that contaminated drinking water for 300,000 residents across the Kanawha Valley and surrounding communities.

The report said that Freedom has spent no less than $10.5 million on matters relating to environmental compliance, testing and remediation since it filed for bankruptcy more than a year ago. After tearing down and removing more than a dozen chemical tanks at the Etowah Terminal along the Elk River, Welch also oversaw the removal of 600 tons of contaminated soil and construction of retention berms around the former footprint of the facilitys Crude MCHM tanks, the report said.

Shortly before Welch filed his status report with the bankruptcy court, the state Department of Environmental Protection accepted the Freedom site into its voluntary industrial cleanup program. The move gives the company 31 days to negotiate with the DEP on a schedule for developing its final cleanup plan.

Welch said in his report that he believes Freedoms only remaining remediation work involves capping the MCHM portion of the facility, monitoring, ongoing stormwater collection and additional water and other testing.

Acceptance into the voluntary DEP program allows Freedom to clean up the site based on some as-yet-undetermined risk-based contamination standard, as opposed to previous state agency orders that required all MCHM contamination at the location to be removed. DEP Secretary Randy Huffman has said, though, that Freedom must clean up the site so that the risk of this stuff getting back in the water has been eliminated -- not just minimized.

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Answers remains elusive in Freedom Industries bankruptcy case

Freedom Industries plea hearings set

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. A federal judge has scheduled plea hearings for next month for Freedom Industries and four former Freedom officials. All are expected to plead guilty to Clean Water Act crimes in connection with the January 2014 chemical leak that contaminated the drinking water supply for hundreds of thousands of residents in Charleston and surrounding communities.

U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston scheduled the plea hearing for Freedom Industries for 3 p.m. March 23. The company has said it has reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors on one felony and two misdemeanor pollution charges outlined in an information filed against the company. An information is a charging document that generally indicates that the defendant is cooperating with authorities and has reached a plea agreement.

Johnston scheduled a plea hearing for former Freedom official William Tis for 10 a.m. March 16 and for former Freedom official Charles Herzing for 2 p.m. March 16.

U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin confirmed earlier this week that Tis and Herzing had both reached plea agreements with his office.

Tis and Herzing were both charged with three misdemeanor water pollution crimes in an indictment handed up by a federal grand jury in December. Both had originally pleaded not guilty.

Johnston set a plea hearing for former Freedom official Michael Burdette for 10 a.m. March 18 and for former Freedom official Robert Reynolds for 2 p.m. March 18.

Burdette and Reynolds were charged in separate informations with one misdemeanor count each of violating the Clean Water Act. They have not yet made any court appearances.

Former Freedom officials Dennis Farrell and Gary Southern both also face three Clean Water Act charges, and Southern faces separate bankruptcy fraud charges for allegedly trying to hide his personal wealth from Freedoms bankruptcy proceeding and from civil lawsuits filed against the company over the leak. Farrell and Southern both have pleaded not guilty. Trial is scheduled for Oct. 6.

Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kward@wvgazette.com, 304-348-1702 or follow @kenwardjr on Twitter.

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Freedom Industries plea hearings set

Two Freedom officials to plead guilty, prosecutors say

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Two former Freedom Industries officials who were indicted on Clean Water Act charges have agreed to plead guilty in the governments case over the January 2014 Elk River chemical leak that contaminated the drinking water for hundreds of thousands of residents, prosecutors revealed in court documents filed Wednesday morning.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Wright filed separate motions this morning in U.S. District Court in Charleston, asking to schedule guilty plea hearings in the cases involving former Freedom officials William Tis and Charles Herzing.

U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin confirmed that Tis and Herzing had both reached plea agreements with his office.

Tis and Herzing were both charged with three misdemeanor water pollution crimes in an indictment handed up by a federal grand jury in December. Both had pleaded not guilty. Trial was scheduled to start on March 10, but the defendants had already asked for a delay in the proceedings.

The two men are among six former Freedom officials facing criminal charges following Goodwins investigation of the Jan. 9, 2014, spill of Crude MCHM and other chemicals from a storage tank at the companys facility, located just 1.5 miles up the Elk River from West Virginia American Waters regional drinking water plant.

Former Freedom officials Dennis Farrell and Gary Southern both also face three Clean Water Act charges, and Southern faces separate bankruptcy fraud charges for allegedly trying to hide his personal wealth from Freedoms bankruptcy proceeding and from civil lawsuits filed against the company over the spill. Farrell and Southern have both pleaded not guilty.

Also Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston agreed to delay trial in the cases from March 10 until Oct. 6.

Pre-trial motions are due Aug. 21, responses due Aug. 28, and a pre-trial hearing was scheduled for Sept. 2, according to a two-page order Johnston entered Wednesday afternoon.

Earlier in the day Wednesday, prosecutors also filed motions to schedule guilty plea hearings for Freedom Industries and for two other Freedom officials, Michael Burdette and Robert Reynolds, who face charges related to the spill.

Freedom Industries has said in a prepared statement that it has reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors on one felony and two misdemeanor Clean Water Act charges outlined in an information filed against the company. An information is a charging document that generally indicates that the defendant is cooperating with authorities and has reached a plea agreement.

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Two Freedom officials to plead guilty, prosecutors say

DEP lets Freedom into 'voluntary' toxic cleanup program

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West Virginia regulators on Friday approved a request from Freedom Industries to enter into the states voluntary toxic remediation program, a move that the bankrupt company says could ease the costs of its completing the cleanup of the site of last years Elk River chemical spill.

The state Department of Environmental Protections approval of Freedoms application starts a 31-day clock ticking on Freedom negotiating an agreement with DEPs Voluntary Remediation Program for a plan that will outline timeframes for further water and soil sampling at the site, a formal risk assessment, and development of a workplan for the cleanup, said Dave Long, a project manager at DEPs Office of Environmental Remediation.

This should stop the cash bleed and allow us to finally negotiate a completion of this project, said Mark Welch, Freedoms chief restructuring officer.

Freedom officials have been looking for months to get into the DEP program as a way to avoid a more stringent non-detect cleanup standard that was imposed by the initial enforcement orders state inspectors issued after Freedom spilled thousands of gallons of MCHM and other chemicals into the Elk jut upstream from the regions drinking water intake.

In November, DEP officials agreed to a new deal with Freedom that lifted those previous enforcement orders, paving the way for the company to apply to the voluntary program.

A few weeks after the January 2014 spill, DEP Secretary Randy Huffman had said that the Tomblin administrations plans for the Freedom cleanup were pretty clear.

I can say for certain that the state of West Virginia is not going to abandon that site or abandon the remediation efforts until there is 100-percent certainty that the risk of this stuff getting back in the water has been eliminated not just minimized, Huffman said at the time. I know what my boss is going to say about that, and I think I can make that statement. We just cant have that possibility existing.

Huffman has repeatedly said since then that even if Freedom got into the voluntary program, the company would have to convince his agency that any risk-based cleanup standards would eliminate any risk that MCHM would ever again contaminate the drinking water supply for hundreds of thousands of people in Charleston and surrounding communities.

The voluntary program requires a public notice and the establishment by Freedom of a public repository for information about the site. Strictly speaking, the program does not require a public comment period or other public input procedures. But Long said that DEP had convinced Freedom to hold a public meeting to explain its cleanup plans to the public. That meeting has not yet been scheduled, Long said.

Welch said that his hope is that there is little remediation left to do, other than put a cap over the site and establish some sort of environmental monitoring program.

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DEP lets Freedom into 'voluntary' toxic cleanup program


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