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Liberty Township, Powell join Bexley in pact to share taxes

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By MELISSA DILLEY

ThisWeek Community News Wednesday June 19, 2013 1:10 PM

Liberty Township and Powell city officials came together in a special meeting Friday, June 14, to discuss the creation of a Joint Economic Development Zone that would collect an estimated $1.3 million in income taxes each year.

In partnership with the city of Bexley, establishing a JEDZ would allow Powell and Liberty Township to collect funds that originate as income taxes at Bexley's rate of 2.5 percent until 2043. The income taxes would be collected from workers whose companies fall within the zone's boundaries, which include Liberty Township-owned properties, Olentangy schools located in Liberty Township, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Zoombezi Bay, Safari Golf Course, Del-Co Water, Delaware County Sanitary and Columbus State Community College's Delaware branch.

If approved by the city and the township, the JEDZ contract will appear before city and township voters as an issue on the Nov. 5 ballot.

"This JEDZ will promote a spirit of cooperation between the city and the township that has been lacking in the past," said township Trustee Curt Sybert. "This is an absolute no-brainer for Liberty Township, the city of Powell and even our partners in the city of Bexley."

JEDZ districts were created to help cash-strapped townships that aren't legally authorized to collect income taxes. As part of the partnership, Bexley would act as the collecting agent and receive 3 percent of the JEDZ gross revenue shares to cover its collection costs.

Research conducted by Powell officials shows the parcels in the proposed JEDZ have an estimated annual payroll of $52 million. If the 2.5 percent income tax is applied, that would add an estimated $1.3 million to the JEDZ fund. Of those earnings, 85.8 percent would be allocated to Powell and 14.2 percent to Bexley. A separate contract would split Powell's share, allocating half of it to Liberty Township.

The contract also calls for 10 percent of the gross JEDZ revenues to be funneled into projects within the JEDZ territory.

A JEDZ board funded by 2 percent of the divided revenue would consist of nine representatives -- three each from Bexley, Powell and Liberty Township -- and advise on how the funds should be spent. Sybert said joint projects resulting from the JEDZ could include bike paths and park equipment.

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Liberty Township, Powell join Bexley in pact to share taxes

Liberty law school demands lawsuit coverage

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Virginia Lawyers Weekly/June 19, 2013

LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) Liberty Universitys law school wants a judge to force its insurance company to pay for its defense in a lawsuit stemming from a same-sex-marriage custody battle.

Virginia Lawyers Weekly (http://bit.ly/16gkYwz ) reports that the school claims in Lynchburg federal court that Hanover Insurance Co. wrongly denied coverage in the lawsuit filed by Janet Jenkins in Vermont.

Jenkins contends Libertys agents conspired to aid the 2009 disappearance of then-10-year-old Isabella Miller. The girl and her birth mother, Lisa Miller, fled to Nicaragua with the help of a Virginia pastor who was convicted last summer of aiding an international kidnapping.

Hanover says it doesnt owe coverage because Jenkins lawsuit does not claim bodily injury under its policies.

Liberty contends Jenkins emotional distress claim falls within the scope of the policys bodily injury definition.

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Information from: Virginia Lawyers Weekly, http://www.valawyersweekly.com

Copyright 2013 Globe Newspaper Company.

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Liberty law school demands lawsuit coverage

Deport the Statue of Liberty?

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Campaign to "deport" the Statue of Liberty and send her back to France takes on immigration reform.

License photo

"I came here in some crates by boat, they didn't give me any documents when I arrived," Lady Liberty tells an immigration officer in this video from Legals for the Preservation of American Culture, or LegalsPAC.

Their satirical campaign to deport the Statue of Liberty comes during a heated debate on immigration.

Ishita Srivastava, producer of the video, says she was surprised how successful the satire was at making people "almost believe" the Deport the Statue campaign. It's a fine example of Poe's Law, which holds that on the Internet, it can be impossible to tell the difference between sincere extremism and a parody of extremism.

Even so, most people on Twitter get the joke, with one user joking, "Ship her back to France before she has an anchor baby."

Srivastava produced the video for human rights organization Breakthrough, which aims to "break through" the immigration debate with humor.

"We call on US citizens, like you, to join us in insisting that our government remove the statue for the sake of our nations heritage and its future. We need to #TakeLibertyBack and #DeportTheStatue NOW!"

In the video, Lady Liberty sits down in an office with a dismissive immigration worker who asks questions like, "Can you prove you're not taking a job away from an educated American statue?"

She says she has "over 120 years of experience" in her field, and that she's "an icon of American freedom." The real Statue of Liberty, in New York Harbor, is set to reopen to the public on July 4.

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Deport the Statue of Liberty?

Kabel Deutschland confirms preliminary offer from Liberty Global

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(Reuters) - Kabel Deutschland - Germany's biggest cable operator - confirmed on Monday that they have received a preliminary approach from U.S. media group Liberty Global Plc after a British newspaper reported that the company had put forward a 7.5-billion-euro bid for the company.

Kabel Deutschland did not provide any details of the proposal.

A spokesman for Liberty Global confirmed that the company had made a preliminary approach but declined to comment further.

The Financial Times reported that the offer by Liberty Global, owned by American cable television magnate John Malone, is at about 85 euros per share, citing people familiar with the talks.

Liberty Global's offer sets the stage for a bidding war with Vodafone Group Plc, which last week confirmed that it made an offer to buy Kabel Deutschland but did not provide any details.

Reuters reported on June 14 that Vodafone, the world's second-biggest mobile operator, was considering raising its offer for Kabel Deutschland after an initial 7.2 billion euro bid was knocked back by Kabel Deutschland.

Liberty Global, which operates as Unity Media in Germany, is the number two cable operator in the country and a potential offer would meet scrutiny from competition authorities.

Liberty Global bought UK's Virgin Media in February in a cash and stock deal that valued Virgin's equity at $15.8 billion.

(Reporting by Abhirup Roy in Bangalore; Additional reporting by Harro Ten Wolde and Paul Sandle; Editing by Leslie Adler, Bernard Orr)

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Kabel Deutschland confirms preliminary offer from Liberty Global

Liberty Mutual Hires Citigroup’s Dowling in Washington

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Liberty Mutual Holding Co., the third-largest seller of property-casualty coverage in the U.S., hired Colin Dowling to lead its public affairs office in Washington as policy makers weigh capital standards and laws on terrorism protection.

Dowling joins from Citigroup Inc. (C) where he was a managing director, running state and local government-affairs programs, according to a Business Wire statement today from Boston-based Liberty Mutual.

U.S. and international lawmakers are scrutinizing the balance sheets of the largest financial companies as they seek to avoid a repeat of the 2008 rescues required to prop up banks and insurers such as American International Group Inc. Policyholder-owned Liberty Mutual, which didnt take a bailout from the U.S. Treasury Department, said its government-relations group is also evaluating possible changes in laws about taxes, trade and terrorism.

At a time of increasing convergence of state, federal and international policy initiatives, Colins broad experience at both the state and federal levels and across the insurance and banking sectors, makes him an ideal person to run the Washington office, Paul Mattera, the insurers chief public affairs officer, said in the statement.

Mark Costiglio, a spokesman for New York-based Citigroup, declined to comment.

To contact the reporter on this story: Megan Hickey in New York at Mhickey18@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Kraut at dkraut2@bloomberg.net

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Liberty Mutual Hires Citigroup’s Dowling in Washington

Vodafone and Liberty face battle for Kabel Deutschland

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By Paul Sandle and Sophie Sassard

LONDON (Reuters) - Vodafone faces a battle for Germany's largest cable company, Kabel Deutschland, although rival bidder Liberty Global of the United States has bigger regulatory and funding hurdles to overcome.

Liberty Global, which owns Unity Media, Germany's second biggest cable operator, joined the race on Tuesday. It tabled an 85 euro a share offer, according to a person familiar with the matter, days after the British mobile company said it was in talks about a deal.

Vodafone wants to buy the cable company so that it can offer TV, fixed line and broadband to more of its mobile customers, while Liberty Global wants more consolidation in one of its best performing markets. Vodafone offered about 81-82 euros a share in cash, sources said last week.

Shares in Kabel Deutschland were trading 3.8 percent higher at 85.6 euros by 1010 GMT, valuing the group's equity at 7.56 billion euros ($10.1 billion).

A Liberty Global deal would be closely scrutinized by German anti-trust authorities, a hurdle recognized by Liberty Global's chief financial officer Charles Bracken last week.

He told a Goldman Sachs cable conference on June 12 that while the industrial logic for consolidation in Germany was compelling, regulatory opposition remained a significant barrier to any deal in the near future, the bank said in a note.

Germany's competition regulator in February blocked Kabel Deutschland's bid to take over smaller Berlin-based cable group Telecolumbus for 618 million euros.

A source familiar with the situation said Liberty has already talked to German antitrust office to discuss the deal, but declined to elaborate.

Liberty Global customers in Germany are in the densely populated German state of North Rhine-Westphalia as well as in Hesse and Baden-Wuerttemberg, while Kabel Deutschland is active in the rest of Germany.

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Vodafone and Liberty face battle for Kabel Deutschland

Time Warner Cable to Wed Liberty Media?

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In case you haven't noticed, there are some serious consolidation efforts going around the cable and telecom industries. On one end, there are satellite TV providers chasing spectrum as if it's the gold rush of 1849. Now, it appears that Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) may be courting Liberty Media (NASDAQ: LMCA) for a merger in an attempt to leverage Charter Communications' (NASDAQ: CHTR) highly coveted network. Let's determine who is the biggest winner in this latest media M&A dance, and where you should be putting your funds.

The playersCharter Communications is not as big a name as, say, Comcast, but it is the fourth-largest cable provider in the United States, at least by market cap. The company was recently beleaguered and underwater financially (entering bankruptcy in 2009), but has since become a market darling, largely fueled by buyout speculation. John Malone's Liberty Media currently holds a 27% position in the company, with the ability to gain as much as 40%.

As a traditional cable operator in a heavily disrupted cable and telecom environment, Time Warner Cable has shown a successful adaptability since being spun off from its parent company. But with major telecoms and tech companies quickly building out high-speed networks that can package TV, Internet, and phone all in one, Time Warner Cable is on the hunt for an affordable way to catch up.

Finally, Liberty Media is a company ripe for merger, according to Malone. The company's strong balance sheet and attractive assets make it a small but valuable firm with a top-notch management team -- especially in the cable space. Prior to Liberty Media, John Malone owned Tele-Communications, which was sold to AT&T and was at one time the largest cable operator in the United States.

Last week, CNBC reported that TWC and Liberty Media had engaged in merger talks, with Charter as a center point of the discussion.

If it happens; if it doesn't happenWhile last week's news had Time Warner up almost 10 points in trading, some analyst doubt on Tuesday brought the heat down a few degrees. The truth is, the merger would make sense for both parties, but would be most beneficial to Time Warner Cable.

The overall winner, however, is Liberty Media. The company is in great shape, with a majority stake in Sirius XM that it can easily make gains from. In addition, the company has a big stake in the world's largest concert promoter, Live Nation, and owns the Atlanta Braves.

Liberty shareholders will get a quick reward in the case of a merger with Time Warner Cable, but I believe capital appreciation and/or a buyout (and thus capital appreciation) will occur regardless of this deal. While Malone has polarized some with a difficult, shark-like business presence, he is without doubt one of the most talented capital allocators in the media industry. Liberty's CEO Greg Maffei is a smart manager as well, having successfully spun off premium cable TV company Starz and significantly rewarded shareholders along the way.

Whether the merger goes through or not, Liberty should be the focus of this trio.

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Liberty Mutual Insurance Names Colin Dowling to Lead its Washington D.C. Public Affairs Office

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BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Liberty Mutual Insurance today announced that S. Colin Dowling will lead the companys Public Affairs office in Washington, DC as Vice President for Federal Affairs. Mr. Dowling brings extensive public affairs experience to Liberty Mutual having held senior management positions at Travelers, where he served as a senior federal lobbyist, and most recently at Citigroup where, as managing director, he ran a large and highly successful state and local government affairs program.

Colin is an experienced public affairs officer with deep knowledge of the industry, said Liberty Mutual Insurance President and CEO David H. Long. He will add to an already strong Public Affairs team at Liberty Mutual.

Paul Mattera, senior vice president and chief public affairs officer added, At a time of increasing convergence of state, federal and international policy initiatives, Colins broad experience at both the state and federal levels and across the insurance and banking sectors, makes him an ideal person to lead our D.C. office.

Tax reform, global regulatory initiatives, trade, and terrorism risk insurance all present policy challenges," said Mr. Dowling. Im excited to join one of the best public affairs shops in Washington to continue their record of leading the industry on these pressing public policy issues.

About Liberty Mutual Insurance

"Helping people live safer, more secure lives" since 1912, Boston-based Liberty Mutual Insurance is a diversified global insurer and the third largest property and casualty insurer in the U.S. based on 2012 direct premiums written as reported by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

Liberty Mutual Insurance also ranks 81st on the Fortune 100 list of largest corporations in the U.S. based on 2012 revenue. As of December 31, 2012, Liberty Mutual Insurance had $120.1 billion in consolidated assets, $101.5 billion in consolidated liabilities, and $36.9 billion in annual consolidated revenue.

Liberty Mutual Insurance offers a wide range of insurance products and services, including personal automobile, homeowners, workers compensation, property, commercial automobile, general liability, global specialty, group disability, group life, reinsurance, surety, individual life and annuity products. Liberty Mutual Insurance (www.libertymutualinsurance.com) employs over 50,000 people in more than 900 offices throughout the world.

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Liberty Mutual Insurance Names Colin Dowling to Lead its Washington D.C. Public Affairs Office


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