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Wide receiver Antonio Brown may have had some uncomfortablemoments with the Steelers during and immediately after their postseason stay, but that didnt stop the team from making a new deal for their top wideout a top offseason priority.

Talks got going earlier this month and it sounds like things are moving along at a good clip. Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the two sides have made significant progress toward a deal that promises to be a very lucrative one for the wideout.

Rapoport adds that the goal is to have the deal wrapped up by the start of the new league year on March 9. Theres no fear of losing Brown as a free agent as he has another year left on his deal, but locking him in would allow the Steelers to take care of the rest of their business with certainty about where things stand for Brown.

Thats not the only date looming large for the Steelers right now. Wednesdays deadline to use franchise or transition tags is also one theyre up against when it comes to their plans for running back LeVeon Bell.

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Report: Significant progress on new Antonio Brown contract - NBCSports.com

For one half of a game Sunday afternoon, the Lakers saw signs of what they want to see more often from their first-round pick, Brandon Ingram.

They saw an aggression with which Ingram doesnt always play.

Sometimes I shy away from it a little bit, Ingram said. [Sunday night] I did a good job.

Ingram had his first career 20-point game Sunday against the San Antonio Spurs. His 22 points and 10 field goals were both career highs. He hasnt been the type of player to take over games at any point this season, but that doesnt worry the Lakers. As his coaches work on his physicality, the proper way to take contact and an attacking mentality, they believe theyll see more of this from Ingram.

Hell figure it out, Lakers Coach Luke Walton said. Were very confident that, from what we see every day in practice, hes gonna be a successful player in this league. Well keep pushing him and keep putting him in positions to succeed and to fail, and hell keep figuring it out. When he gets it, hell get it.

Understanding contact, and how he can use it to his advantage, is part of the learning process for Ingram. Team executiveMagic Johnsonworked with him last week on techniques that would make things easier for him on offense. But thats also something Lakers assistant Brian Keefe, who works individually with Ingram, has helped him learn.

Its understandingto use your body, knowing when the contacts coming, knowing when you can be the player that initiates the contact to get your defender off balance, then obviously getting stronger yourself, Walton said.

Ingram is still about as thin as he was when he was drafted. During the season, hes just working on maintaining his weight. As he fills out, he could start to look physically more like Warriors star Kevin Durant.

In the meantime, he and the Lakers are working on what they can better control.

Calderon waived

The Lakers waived reserve point guard Jose Calderon on Monday, after working on a buyout with the veteran guard.

Jose wanted to play and the Lakers were going in the direction of trying to play the younger guys, which we understood, said Mark Bartelstein, Calderons agent. I am really appreciative of Magic and the Laker organization for doing this for Jose. They wanted to keep him around, felt like he was valuable for his team. [There were] some opportunities we thought might be available and Magic was great about accommodating us.

According to reports, the Golden State Warriors would like to sign Calderon if he clears waivers.

Calderon spent most of his career with the Toronto Raptors. In the seven years he played there, the Raptors made the playoffs twice, and never got out of the first round.

The Warriors, meanwhile, have the best record in the NBA. They are heavy favorites to return to the NBA Finals this season.

The Bulls traded Calderon to the Lakers in July for the final year of a four-year contract he signed with the Dallas Mavericks. Calderon, 35, was often inactive for the Lakers, unless injuries required them to play him. He played in 24 of the Lakers 60 games and started 11 times for the Lakers this season.

He hopes to play 15 years in the NBA that would mean three more seasons.

I feel really good physically, Calderon said. I think I still can help and I can play minutes. I will be a free agent this summer, too, to maybe choose a good situation. Here it was great. The wins and losses, I totally understand what theyre trying to do. Ive been here helping all these guys and its been fun. But I guess youve always got that thing inside you, I think I can still play a little bit.

UP NEXT

LAKERS VS. CHARLOTTE HORNETS

When:Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.

Where:Staples Center.

On the air:TV: Spectrum SportsNet, Spectrum Deportes; Radio: 710, 1330.

Records:Lakers19-41; Hornets 25-34.

Record vs. Hornets:0-1.

Update: The last time these teams faced each other, the Lakers built a 19-point lead only to lose the game. The Hornets have been in Los Angeles for a few days. They played the Clippers on Sunday, scoring 121 points and still losing the game.

tania.ganguli@latimes.com

Follow Tania Ganguli on Twitter@taniaganguli

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Brandon Ingram steps up, and Lakers think they'll see more progress from the rookie - Los Angeles Times

Nassau Community College faces scrutiny and judgment this week when its independent academic accreditors meet and are expected to determine whether the schools officials have made enough progress to secure the institutions future.

The Middle States Commission on Higher Education is scheduled to take action on Thursday, nearly one year after a review team placed NCC on probation for failing to show compliance with seven of 14 quality benchmarks needed to keep the college in good standing.

NCC is the largest single-campus community college in the State University of New York system. Loss of accreditation would render its 20,000 students ineligible for federal and state financial aid and hamper their employment efforts. The college would not be able to exist without its accreditation, officials have said.

Addressing the accreditation problem has taken top priority at the school, which is funded by county and state tax dollars as well as student tuition. The notice that Middle States had placed the college on warning last March raised such alarm that it defined the course of the colleges yearslong and sometimes controversial presidential search. NCCs Board of Trustees and SUNY found a new president in W. Hubert Keen, a seasoned administrator, to remedy the accreditation woes and chart the colleges future.

We will reach full compliance by the end of the fall semester 2018, Keen said in an interview last week, noting that Middle States gives institutions up to two years to correct areas of noncompliance. It has been a very large-scale effort involving everyone on campus. . . . However, what I need to point out and this is very important: Yes, in the short term we must comply and remove the probationary status, but we are setting the stage for the long-term future of the college. And that means that we need to build in solid administrative structures that will serve the college well as it goes into the future beyond the restoration of all of the standards.

Keen, 72, had been president of Farmingdale State College since 2007, and in June 2015 had announced that he planned to step down from that post at the end of the 2015-16 academic year. His selection to lead NCC came less than two months after Middle States put the school on probation.

He was endorsed by SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher and the SUNY Board of Trustees, which holds final approval over any president installed at any one of the systems 64 campuses. With a salary of $225,000, Keen began on Aug. 1 and is NCCs first permanent president since Donald Astrab, who left in 2012 after two votes of no confidence from the colleges Academic Senate.

Among Keens first moves was to sign a separation agreement with Kenneth Saunders, a longtime NCC administrator who had been acting president of the school and a two-time finalist in its presidential searches.

Next, he supported more procedural and ethics training for the NCC Board of Trustees, a 10-member governing board with five voting members appointed by the county and four by the state, plus one student trustee.

In addition, Keen created working committees with representation from all areas of the campus faculty, administration and staff, he said. A new strategic plan for the school also is in the works, Keen said.

Leadership really does matter. SUNY worked really hard to make sure the campus was able to secure a good president, said Johanna Duncan-Poitier, SUNYs senior vice chancellor for community colleges and the education pipeline.

Duncan-Poitier has attended NCC board meetings and has offered the advice and expertise available from SUNY to reverse the Middle States probation. She was present in November when officials from Middle States came to the school for a site visit and said she speaks with Keen weekly to offer support.

The situation at Nassau was really unprecedented. This was unusual because of the number of standards that were not met. But I must say even though theres a lot to be done that they are addressing all of these responsibly and with great rigor, said Duncan-Poitier, who noted NCC is a very big campus and one that is very important to SUNY.

Several faculty leaders, who declined to be quoted because of a new NCC policy on speaking with the media, said they believe Keen has helped bring together the various stakeholders within the college.

Board Chairman Jorge Gardyn said trustees are united in the effort to support Keen and to make the changes necessary to support the mandates provided by Middle States.

The addition of Dr. Keen to the administration at Nassau Community College has been a smooth transition and provided the evolutionary changes to bring together all of the groups on campus the full-time faculty, adjunct faculty and staff with a united vision for the colleges future, Gardyn said.

Reviewers from Middle States, after a three-day visit last March, said NCC needed to hire a permanent president, prevent political intrusion, raise student enrollment and graduation rates and rebuild trust among its constituents.

For years, the college has struggled with allegations of political patronage, a lack of transparency and a vocal faculty leadership that has historically sparred with the administration on the educational and budgetary priorities of the institution.

One major deficiency that Middle States reviewers found was under the standard labeled Integrity. Failing to comply with that standard could mean the college may be called upon to show cause as to why it should not immediately lose its accreditation, according to the Middle States report adopted June 23.

That report pointed to political influences at the college and potential conflicts of interest in regard to the hiring of Kate Murray, the former Town of Hempstead supervisor who began work there Jan. 1, 2016, in a media and governmental relations job. Trustees voted in December 2015 to hire Murray at an annual salary of $151,000.

Keen said a team from Middle States, during the November site visit, assured college officials that additional training for trustees and new policies and bylaws have assured the accrediting agencys officials that progress on that standard was being made.

Murray currently is employed by the college.

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NCC faces deadline for progress from accrediting agency | Newsday - Newsday

February 27, 2017 2:56 pm

Like many other women in America, I settled in to watch the fashion and glamour of the 2017 Oscars with two bottles of wine, some popcorn, and plenty of chocolate. But this year the annual tradition felt different. After 2016's #OscarsSoWhite debacle, I wondered whether Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs' efforts to increase the diversity of award recipients would actually be fruitful. My nervous energy was reminiscent of the feelings I had while watching the election results come ina mix of anxiety and hopewith the implicit understanding that these results were going to reflect something either encouraging or disheartening about the world I live in. I know this sounds dramatic, but seriously: Try watching the Oscars with blind optimism every year, hoping against all evidence to the contrary that actors who look like you will be recognized for their stellar performances, only to be disappointed. It's hard not to become disenchanted with the entire institution. Because for me and many of the people Im rooting for, winning an Oscar is not just a gesture of appreciation; it's a symbol of social progress.

So I was pleasantly surprised when this year, the Academy refused to go down as racist. After two consecutive years of failing to even nominate any African Americans in the lead- and supporting-acting categories, the Academy switched it up and six people of color were nominated in every performer category. I guess after 88 years of overlooking actors of color, they could no longer call this obvious conspiracy a prolonged "coincidence." We werent having it.

Honestly, I was just elated to see the recognition. Denzel Washington was nominated for Best Actor; Ava Duvernay was nominated for her documentary 13th; Octavia Spencer, Viola Davis, Naomi Harris, and Ruth Negga were all nominated for their acting. Even better, many of them won. Last nights successes were a sign of hope. Mahershala Ali took home the golden statue for Best Supporting Actor, making him the first Muslim actor to receive an Oscar; the win for Best Supporting Actress (a category that was dominated by black women) went to Viola Davis; and even the epic failure of the night (that also proved to be amazing television) turned into a win for the top honor, Best Picture, to Moonlight. The stories of black, brown, and marginalized people were being recognized as important, and the dynamic performances of actors in these roles were finally being acknowledged. These successes are a by-product of diverse groups of writers and producers uniting their creative vision to provide new opportunities that didnt previously exist for actors of color.

Viola Davis said it best in her acceptance speech for the sixty-seventh Emmy Awards:

"'In my mind, I see a line. And over that line, I see green fields and lovely flowers and beautiful white women with their arms stretched out to me, over that line. But I cant seem to get over that line.' That was Harriet Tubman in the 1800s. And let me tell you something: The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity. You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there.

Shes right. But I would argue that what's great about films like Moonlight and Fencesand what makes last nights wins even more meaningfulis not only that they included people of color, but they also told their stories within the realm of the average Americans experience, including marital issues, coming to terms with sexuality, and family conflict. This allows audiences to take a peek into the lives of others and identify their shared humanity, which is arguably arts most important goal.

So, yes, movies like Hidden Figures, with its three quick-witted mathematicians helping NASA get to the moon while battling the injustice of the Jim Crow laws, or The Help, in which a group of steadfast nannies heroically demand fair wages and treatment from their white bosses in the dangerous, segregated South, are important. But its also important to place people of color in the here and now and give those actors the opportunity to demonstrate their versatility, expose their flaws and complexity, and ultimately transcend roles based on race. Lets stop casting Middle Eastern actors as terrorists, Indians as IT specialists, or black men as gangsters.

As the Academy continues to acknowledge these stories, from the epic to the more mundane, actors of color will gain more exposure and opportunities in film. Great strides are already being made in television. Casting decisions like Kerry Washington as the well-educated fixer for a Republican candidate in Scandal and Zoe Kravitz as a bohemian step-mother in a predominantly white neighborhood in Big Little Lies push the boundaries of peoples subconscious prejudices and transform the way we think about people of color. By continuing to celebrate talented writers and directors like Issa Rae, Melina Matsoukas, Donald Glover, and Aziz Ansari, organizations that give out the awards like the Emmys, Golden Globes, and Oscars are acknowledging and reinforcing the important work of creators of color.

I've always loved television and film. I devour all kinds of storiesfrom Homeland to Girls to Veep to This Is Usbut very few of these shows reflect my lived experience. Im looking forward to a more inclusive landscape in Hollywood, one that shares the powerful and enlightening stories of people like me and not like me. Art that illuminates and humanizes others' perspectives helps create a society of people who learn to empathize before we criticize. And now, more than ever, we could all use a little of that.

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The 2017 Academy Awards Refused to Be #OscarsSoWhite, and That's Progress - Glamour

The Daily Progress won Grand Slam honors at the annual Associated Press Sports Editors national writing and sections contest, which concluded on Sunday.

The Daily Progress, competing in the under-15,000 circulation division, earned top-10 recognition for its daily, Sunday and special sections as well as its web site.

The Daily Progress was one of 13 media organizations to earn Grand Slam honors in this years contest. The others were the Chicago Tribune, Dallas Morning News, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Washington Post, Indianapolis Star, Oklahoman, Omaha World-Herald, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tuscaloosa News, Opelika-Auburn News and Wyoming Tribune Eagle.

In the APSE writing competition, Daily Progress University of Virginia athletics writer Andrew Ramspacher received two top 10 honors. Ramspacher was recognized in the features category for his story on Virginia quarterback Matt Johns and his friendship with a young cancer patient, as well as in the beat writing category for his beat coverage of the Virginia football program.

The APSE awards, voted on by sports editors and journalists from across the nation during four days of judging in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, honor work published in 2016.

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Daily Progress sports section earns APSE 'Grand Slam' - The Daily Progress

Its just an awards show. We hate to see people disappointed.

Thus spokehost Jimmy Kimmel at the wild conclusion to the 2017 Academy Awards, which ended with Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty mistakenly announcing that La La Land had been awarded Best Picture an error thatwas reversed only after the acceptance speecheshad begun. Moonlight, director Barry Jenkins piercing portrait of a young gay mans growing-up in Miamis Liberty City neighborhood was named the actual Best Picture.

It was a confusing, crushing spectacle made worse bythe way the two movies had been pitted against each other in the run-up to the ceremony: The outcome of the contest for Best Picture set up as a referendum on Hollywoods racial attitudes and ability to see beyond movies that celebrate the entertainment industry itself.

La La Land had been subjected to scorching criticism in the run-up to the Academy Awards, some of which to me has read as critics in search of damning arguments. The light, sweet musicalis not, as some have alleged, about a white man saving jazz as an art form. Instead, it has a plot about how a black artist (John Legend) is doing more to find jazz new audiences than a white jazz purist (Ryan Gosling), though it does include a scene in which that white manexplains to a white woman (Emma Stone) why he loves the music so much. It is not a crass celebration of careerism over love; in fact, its rueful and clear about the sacrifices the characters have made along the way, and the pain those choices caused them. And given everything else thats happening in American civic life and geopolitics, a win for La La Land would probably not even register on the scale of as one headline put it a disaster for Hollywood and us.

But Im hard-pressed to imagine that even the people belittling La La Land are getting much satisfaction from the schaedenfreude of themoment. It must be shattering to have the best moment of your professional life arrive, to be filmed celebrating it in footage that will become an inevitable part of Hollywood history and Oscar commentary for years to come and then to have the moment pass. And it wasnt even a member of the Oscar team whoannounced the error: La La Land producer Jordan Horowitz ended up passing the Oscar and the torch to the Moonlight team.

For asawful as I feel for everyone involved with La La Land, whats even worse about this colossal error is the way it denied everyone involved with Moonlight their moment of triumph: from being announced as winners in an uncomplicated way with an untainted round of applause, and from getting to give acceptance speeches out from under the shadow of people who had already spoken and who had suffered a crushing disappointment.

Marisa Tomei has lived for years with the rumorsthat her Best Supporting Actress award for My Cousin Vinnie was a mistake. The Moonlight team will at least be spared that, since the official card certifying their win was displayed for the camera.

Moonlight was made by an extraordinary group of people: from Jenkins to playwrightTarell Alvin McCraney who accepted theBest Adapted Screenplay Oscar with Jenkins; to stars Alex R. Hibbert, Ashton Sanders and Trevante Rhodes, who play the films main character, Chiron, as a child, a teenager and a young man; to Mahershala Ali, who was named Best Supporting Actor for his work as the sensitive drug dealer Juan who recognizes something fragile and rare in Chiron and tries to protect it; to Janelle Monae and Naomie Harris, who played the women in Chirons life; and to Jaden Piner,Jharrel Jerome andAndr Holland, who play Kevin, the love of Chirons life. They dont deserve to feel second-best or like their win was snatched from the abyss at the last moment, and delivered to them in tainted, diminished terms. I hate that this happened to them.

And I hate that the contest between Moonlight and La La Land, which was framed as a litmus test about race and the entertainment industry, ended in confusion and a reversal that emphasized the sense that they were locked in a zero-sum contest, and that for Moonlight to win, La La Land not merely had to lose, but to be defeated.

The truth is that both Moonlight and La La Land are highly moving, original works, and they went toe-to-toe during the ceremony, with Moonlight picking up three awards to La La Lands five. Both movies produced a winner of an acting award. Both Jenkins, 37, and La La Land director Damien Chazelle, 32, are young directors of tremendous vision who are going to compete for Academy Awards again, maybe even against each other.Lets hope the next time they do, they arent pitted against each other in a way that mirrors an ugly idea about racial progress that is ascendant in our politics: that the only way for members of one community to advance is at the expense of another. The Oscars ended in a painful way, but the wins Moonlight and La La Land racked up throughout the evening means well be getting outstanding movies from both Jenkins and Chazelle for years to come. Thats good for moviegoers, and good for America.

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The insane end of the Oscars sent a false message about racial progress - Washington Post

General Electric (NYSE:GE) recently released its 2016 10-K so I wanted to spend some time discussing the metrics that I first covered in "GE: The 2 Key Metrics To Monitor in 2016" (published in December 2015). In that article, I explained why it would be important for investors to monitor GE's debt balance and payout ratio while the storied company transitions from a misunderstood conglomerate to a more industrial-focused company.

Within this article, I will review these two metrics for full-year 2016 in order to determine how well GE's management team was able to re-position the company over the last four quarters.

The Debt Balance: Where Does The Company Stand?

GE's financing arm, GE Capital, used to account for ~50% of the company's earnings and this resulted in the market viewing (and valuing) the industrial conglomerate more like a financial institution so Mr. Jeffrey Immelt, GE Chairman & CEO, made the game-changing decision to sell off a majority of the financing assets in order to return the company to its industrial roots. The plan was dubbed "A simpler, more valuable GE".

Financing operations are a highly leveraged business so GE consistently had an oversized debt balance, which increased the company's risk profile. Therefore, I have been monitoring GE's debt balance since mid-2015 in order to stay abreast of how well the management team has been able to de-risk the company's balance sheet.

Below is an excerpt of the Statement of Financial Position that was taken from the 2016 10-K. The line items that I will focus on within this article are highlighted in red.

The table below was created with data from the 2016 and 2015 10-Ks, and the balances are broken out between GE (all affiliated companies except GE Capital) and GE Capital.

(Sources: 2016 10-K and 2015 10-K; table created by W.G. Investment Research LLC)

* - Total debt balance in the table only represents the company's short-term and long-term borrowings for the respective period-ends. See linked reports for additional liabilities (e.g. accounts payable, dividends payable, etc.)

The biggest takeaway from the table, in my opinion, is that GE's consolidated debt balance is down by ~$185b, or ~50%, since 2014. Yes, industrial GE currently has a higher debt balance ($16b in 2014 vs $79b in 2016) but this is a necessary evil that management will have to contend with as the company continues to shift its focus more towards the industrial businesses and the financing Verticals. Another important takeaway is the fact that GE Capital still makes up ~60% of the consolidated debt balance so, in my mind, there is an opportunity to further reduce the company's leverage as the financing assets are sold over the next two plus years.

The trending of GE's consolidated debt balance shows that management has made significant progress in reducing the company's financial leverage in a short period of time, but I do believe that more work needs to be done. As a long-term investor, it is encouraging to see GE's focus shift more towards its industrial business because a purer play industrial company will eventually warrant a richer valuation once the market is sold on the company's transition.

Payout Ratio

Before I touch on GE's payout ratio, I wanted to first show the progress that has been made to reduce the company's share count.

GE Average Diluted Shares Outstanding (Quarterly) data by YCharts

GE's share count has declined by over 1b shares, or over 10%, in three short years. The company has had to sell off financing assets to fund some of the buybacks but the management team has already been able to make up for the lost earnings.

GE Net Income (Quarterly) data by YCharts

(Full Disclosure: the 2015 earnings were impacted by the "one-time" charges related to the GE Capital asset sales)

Therefore, not only is GE's share count down significantly since 2014 but the company has also already been able to replace most of the lost earnings and the earnings are now largely coming from the industrial businesses.

GE maintain a $0.23 quarterly dividend throughout 2016 so the company paid out ~60% of its operating earnings. Management increased the quarterly dividend by $0.01, or 4%, in December 2016 so the company is projected to also have an ~60% payout ratio in 2017 (based on the low-end of the forward operating earnings estimate). Mr. Immelt and company wants GE's payout ratio to be between 45-50% so investors should start to bake in the fact that the company's dividend will likely only slowly grow through 2018. However, looking out past 2018, I believe that the shrinking share count will allow for GE to jump back into dividend growth mode, especially if the restructuring is complete.

Bottom Line

The management team is making great progress in reducing GE's debt balance and share count, but investors should not expect for substantial dividend raises anytime soon. In addition, many people in the financial community, including myself, believe that GE will soon be taking on more debt (read about this topic here) but I still do not believe that the company's financial leverage should be viewed as a significant concern, at least not yet.

GE shares are trading at what is widely viewed as a "fair" valuation, but, in my opinion, this company has the potential to greatly improve earnings over the next decade. Management already re-affirmed the 2018 EPS estimate of $2.00 plus, so based on this estimate GE shares still have room to run. Moreover, GE currently pays an above-average dividend and the company has several significant catalysts in place - Alstom integration, Baker Hughes (NYSE:BHI) merger, Industrial Internet Of Things (IIoT) growth - that have the potential to create a great deal of shareholder value in the years ahead. As such, any significant dips in GE's stock price should be viewed as long-term buying opportunities.

Note: I will be diving deeper into GE's 2016 10-K over the next few weeks so please let me know if you have a topic that you would like covered.

If you found this article to be informative and would like to hear more about this company, or any other company that I analyze, please consider hitting the "Follow" button above.

Disclaimer: This article is not a recommendation to buy or sell any stock mentioned. These are only my personal opinions. Every investor must do his/her own due diligence before making any investment decision.

Disclosure: I am/we are long GE.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

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General Electric: Making Progress, A Debt And Payout Ratio Follow-Up - Seeking Alpha

During a meeting with big investors and analysts in New York City earlier this month, TCF Financial CEO Craig Dahl and his chief financial officer were peppered with questions about a national auto-lending portfolio that underperformed in the fourth quarter and that amounts to less than a sixth of TCF's revenue mix.

At one point, CFO Brian Maas asked if they wanted to discuss the 85 percent of business that performed well.

"The auto business is an issue," said Christopher McGratty of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in New York last week. "It has been a growing source of their business. TCF also has the [January] lawsuit brought by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. [Investors] are uncertain about their future. And that's why the stock hasn't worked.

"Their old business model got upended. And Craig was instrumental in growing new businesses the last few years. What's challenging is that some of these markets can move quickly against them."

Dahl, 62, a veteran commercial lender and executive at TCF since 1998, acknowledges there is work to do.

TCF's stock price has traded mostly between $12 and $18 per share since the Great Recession of 2007-08. That's far short of the $20 to $28 range of the several years before when TCF was considered acquisition bait by larger banks as it raked in profits from fees and overdraft charges that were limited by regulators after the recession.

Former CEO Bill Cooper, who died of cancer earlier this month at 73, was the leader at TCF since arriving in 1985. He pulled off a widely admired turnaround of the failing S&L, turning it into Minnesota's third largest commercial bank. Dahl succeeded Cooper as CEO on Jan. 1, 2016 as TCF's performance improved.

Last year, TCF posted a 6.6 percent rise in earnings to $212 million on a nearly 5 percent increase in revenue to $1.4 billion. As revenue grew in recent years, Dahl restrained costs by closing about 100 of what was once 440 branches since 2012. He invested in technology to bring TCF's lagging consumer-online services to the level of competitors such as Wells Fargo, his previous employer. And Dahl grew consumer and commercial lending.

Since 2014, TCF was able to increase low-cost deposits by $5 billion, the consumer checking and other accounts it uses to finance higher-yielding loans, mortgages and credit cards.

That long-term progress has led some analysts, such as Jared Shaw of Wells Fargo Securities in New York to project the bank will "outperform" its midsize peer group and achieve a stock price of $19 to $20 this year. It closed at $17.51 Friday.

Dahl is a collaborative leader who samples opinion among a larger group before making decisions. He also has a track record of starting or running commercial lending and leasing business that have grown profitably. As CEO, he also has learned to take a longer view.

"Running the bank for today is what I was doing driving for performance in all these businesses," Dahl said. "As I moved into this [CEO] chair, it's become What are we going to do tomorrow? What are the things we are not doing today? If I'm not thinking about tomorrow who is? That's been my biggest change."

Dahl, an International Falls, Minn., native who played hockey while earning a bachelor's degree at Princeton, was nicknamed "Coach."

While finishing his degree at Princeton after his hockey eligibility expired, Dahl was asked to coach the first women's hockey team at the school. That mention caused him to smile and recall how much fun it was to coach a group of bright young athletes, something he later did as a youth coach for 20 years in the Twin Cities.

Dahl has surrounded himself with complementary players. Half of his six-person senior management team came up with Dahl through the leasing businesses. He's balanced the team with three outsiders, including new managers who joined TCF from Target, Wells Fargo and PNC Financial.

Dahl still wrestles with issues from the Cooper era, who could have sold the bank at a premium before the recession, and leaned heavily on consumer overdrafts and electronic fees.

They were curtailed by the Federal Reserve and Congress after the near-failure of the banking industry and the resultant taxpayer bailout of 2008-10.

Mairs & Power, the St. Paul investment firm that was one of TCF's largest shareholders for years, sold out its position a few years ago amid uncertainty as TCF struggled to replace lost fee revenue with the national auto-leasing business and commercial lending.

TCF's performance and stock price has improved since 2015. Dahl has proved that TCF could build revenue using a deposit-funding base that's cheaper than those of most his midmarket peer group while gaining economies by closing branches and replacing them with ATMs.

Dahl's latest challenge is a lawsuit brought in January by the federal Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB), alleging TCF since 2010 has misled customers into a service that costs a $35 fee to cover each overdraft on their accounts.

"We have to conclude that lawsuit," said Dahl, who knows it concerns investors. "We feel we're on the right side of the law."

TCF last week filed its response in federal court as part of a motion asking a federal judge to dismiss the case.

And TCF is not for sale, Dahl said.

"I wouldn't be investing if I had been told [by the board], to sell the bank," he said. "We have a clear strategy. Our performance has moved up the continuum among our 50-bank peer group."

Cooper moved TCF's longtime headquarters 20 years ago from Minneapolis. The former Republican Party chairman disliked Minneapolis DFL politicians.

After TCF's lease expired downtown in the former TCF building in 2015, he moved 1,100 employees to a new campus in Plymouth.

Dahl said last week after the Wayzata lease expires, he probably will move a couple hundred headquarters employees to Plymouth or the commercial lending offices in Minnetonka.

Dahl, unlike Cooper, avoids public politics. The one-time young DFLer from International Falls, who played on a state championship hockey team in 1972, said he's a political independent.

"I like to stick to business," Dahl said.

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TCF Financial touts progress, but investors remain cautious ... - Minneapolis Star Tribune

A few days ago, the management team at Civeo Corp. (NYSE:CVEO) announced that it had finalized its most recent credit facility redetermination. Seeing as how I own shares in Civeo, I like to keep up-to-date with the firm's progress and I know that you, my readers, like to as well (at least those of you who follow and/or own it). As such, I determined that it would be a wise idea for me to provide an update on the company and give my thoughts on what it all means for the business moving forward.

A touch on their earnings

Seeing as how Civeo's earnings just came out the other day, you may be asking why the focus on this article is not on that news as opposed to (or in addition to) what I'm writing about. Simply put, management provided preliminary guidance on financial results for the fourth fiscal quarter of last year, as well as provided guidance regarding the company's 2017 sales and other financial data at an earlier time.

I wrote about it in this article but the gist of it is that management's forecast for 2016's fourth quarter revenue was in the range of $89 million to $92 million (actual result was $90.92 million) and for EBITDA it came out to $16 million to $18 million (actual result was $17.7 million). For 2017, sales guidance is still as it was at between $337 million and $353 million, while EBITDA guidance is still calling for a range of between $60 million and $65 million. In essence, nothing really changed too much from what was forecast.

A look at management's newest move

One problem with Civeo is that it has a meaningful amount of credit facility debt that can be cut below their borrowings if lenders elect to force such a situation. So long as this does not happen, the firm is fine, but if lenders ever become scared and this number gets pulled down too low, the end result could make shareholders quite unhappy since it could result in the business going under in a worst-case scenario or could force additional share offerings and/or require it to take on debt at materially-higher interest rates in order to account for the difference.

*Taken from Civeo

Fortunately, according to management, the firm just went through its most recent redetermination and struck a deal with lenders wherein it had seen its lender commitment drop by $75 million from $350 million to $275 million. In the image above, you can see what the picture looked like before the deal was struck (no similar table has been provided for the post-agreement). This is particularly interesting because, according to their existing facilities agreement, Civeo has to pay a small amount of interest on any proceeds not currently being used (this is standard for credit facilities and I don't think I have ever seen one that didn't have this kind of stipulation).

*Taken from Civeo

I will get to the other aspect of the deal in a moment but the reason why this is important is that, based on the company's current leverage ratio, which I estimate, using its projected 2017 EBITDA of $60 million to $65 million, is between 4.23 and 4.58. As you can see in the image above, this means that on any undrawn amount, Civeo must pay between 0.90% per year and 1.01% per year. By reducing this number by $75 million, management is reducing interest expense, keeping all else the same, by between $0.68 million and $0.76 million per year.

*Taken from Civeo

Every little bit helps but if this were all I was writing on, I wouldn't say it's enough to warrant your attention. What does warrant it, however, is that, in exchange for management striking this deal, they also were able to change their allowable leverage ratios for the better. In the image above, you can see what their leverage ratios were prior to their agreement and in the image below, you can see their current allowable leverage ratios post-deal. At first glance, this may not seem like much but it could make all the difference in Civeo's long-term survival.

*Taken from Civeo

Let's take, for example, the end of 2017. Under their prior deal, the firm would be allowed, assuming its EBITDA estimates are correct, to hold debt of between $300 million and $325 million. Now that number has increased to between $351 million and $380.25 million. For the third quarter of 2018 (the last number shown on the original table), the disparity is even larger, with management only allowed to have debt of between $210 million and $227.5 million compared to the same $351 million to $380.25 million range cited above.

In its press release on this development, management said that one benefit to this change in their agreement is that the company has greater financial flexibility. In detailing this, they noted specifically that it could allow them to engage in acquisitions, a move that I would applaud if management can find a suitable prospect. One downside, though, is that if their leverage ratio is at 5.50 or higher, they will be forced to pay an interest rate that is 0.5% higher than what they are paying today, but if the firm does decide to buy up something, then it's unlikely to be an asset or business where such a small increase in the interest rate would have a material impact on the firm (otherwise, they shouldn't be buying anything).

Takeaway

Based on the data provided, it looks as though management continues to make some nice progress given Civeo's circumstances. Even though I did not like their public share offering earlier this year, I do like to see improved financial flexibility, especially if it can lead to an acquisition, and I also enjoy seeing interest expense falling, even if the move is immaterial in and of itself.

Disclosure: I am/we are long CVEO.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Link:

Civeo's Making Nice Progress - Civeo Corporation (NYSE:CVEO ... - Seeking Alpha

BBC News

Social mobility: Poorer children 'making less progress' BBC News Poorer pupils are increasingly making less progress at secondary school in England compared with their more affluent peers, a study says. The Social Mobility Commission said poorer pupils were often overtaken by their better-off peers even if they had ... and more »

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Social mobility: Poorer children 'making less progress' - BBC News

The groups behind the citys largest parks are lending their much smaller city cousins a lot of green thumbs.

The parks department said eight conservancies, such as the Central Parks Conservancy, Friends of the Highline and the Prospect Park Alliance, have met or exceeded their combined $15 million commitments to the citys Community Parks Initiative, which launched in 2014 to provide funding and resources to improve smaller parks in the city.

Kate Spellman, a senior adviser for the parks department, said in addition to providing extra funding, the nonprofits have provided landscape experts and training that will benefit all the open-space locations in the five boroughs.

Theyre not just going in and completing an improvement and disappearing. Theyre improving with our staff so they are teaching, she said.

State Sen. Daniel Squadron, who proposed the initiative, predicted that this partnership will grow.

Our system of parks is strengthened by its conservancies, he said in a statement.

Some of the improvements made by the conservancies since 2015:

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NYC park conservancies make progress with Community Parks Initiative - amNY

Paul Fain, USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee 8:02 a.m. ET Feb. 26, 2017

Paul Fain(Photo: Submitted)

Do you have a pending file? How long have some of those actions been pending? How many relate to your personal financial plan?

Consider the synonyms for pending":unresolved, unsettled, up in the air, on ice, unfinished, on the back burner. I dont know about you, but unresolved financial matters in my life are a leak for my energy and feelings of well-being.

Why do we have pending financial actions? Sometimes we struggle with paralyzing indecision based on lack of knowledge, uncertainty, or negative past experiences. Often, we are distracted by other seemingly pressing matters. I recall a Wall Street Journal article titledMultitasking makes you stupid. We often need to focus on a task, especially if it appears difficult.

To move from pending to progress, we need to be intentional, create measurable steps, and even add accountability. Since we often dont pay attention to things that we dont see, we need to write down our action plan, strategize with our family or an adviser, and set timelines and deadlines.

The first intention should be to reduce our financial pending list to two or three top priorities. Then, we can identify two or three specific actions we can do this month. Then we can pick one thing to do this coming week to create momentum, no matter how big or small. As examples, here are a few financial planning action items that may be circulating through your life right now:

Tax planning:Once youve got all of your tax reporting forms, get them organized and file your return.

Estate planning:It seems that every few years, state or federal estate regulations are in flux. With each change, you need to review and possibly update your estate documents.

Life is a series of transitions:Marriage, birth, retirement, death. Subsequently, it is important to update your insurance coverages types, amounts, beneficiaries, etc.

Investments: With an extended run-up in U.S. stock market values, it is vital to review and rebalance your portfolio.Consider diversification opportunities, often applying some contrarian logic. Do you have exposure to global markets? Are you updating the risk/return profile of your bond strategy to reflect the likelihood of rising interest rates? Do you need to create some cash for an upcoming expense?

Often, we get stuck in a pending mode as a result of our own unrealistic expectations. A perfect solution is a myth. Or, we might be buried under a mentality of woulda, shoulda, coulda.I absolutely cannot change the decisions that I made yesterday.But, I can definitely strive to make better decisions today and tomorrow.

What we need is progress. Think simple and essential. A trip of a 1,000 miles begins with the first step.

When I check-off a pending item from my financial to-do list, I almost always experience two things: a tremendous sense of relief and/or achievement; andrecognition that the action wasnt as complicated or difficult as I previously imagined.

It seems appropriate to summarize with the wacky wisdom of comedian Larry the Cable Guy:Git-r-done.

Paul Fain is a Certified Financial Plannerand president of Asset Planning Corp., a financial planning and investment management firm based in Knoxville. He welcomes comments and column ideas, but cannot offer specific personal financial advice. Write to him at pkf@assetplanningcorp.com.

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Fain: How to move pending to progress - Knoxville News Sentinel

Rebecca Susmarski The Register-Mail

GALESBURG A hair salon, a Mexican restaurant and a jewelry store are only three of the businesses expected to move into the strip mall on North Seminary Street after its construction.

Hair Cuttery, Kay Jewelers, Mi Casa Mexican Cuisine, AT&T and Hibbett Sports all plan to move into the property, said Joe Rayfield, director of leasing and property management for the strip malls developer, Horne Properties. The strip mall will have room for a sixth business that has not yet been selected, and Rayfield said many restaurants have expressed an interest due to the drive-through capability at the site.

The city of Galesburg could only confirm that Kay Jewelers will be moving in, since it has not yet received building plans from any of the other stores, but Rayfield said the tenants should probably be opening in mid- to late-May.

At the end of March or first of April, all of [the stores] should be starting to submit for permitting, Rayfield said.

The city issued a building permit for the strip mall on Nov. 7 of last year, and construction work began shortly after that, said Matthew Carlson, building inspector for the City of Galesburg. The winter weather delayed the installment of the buildings footings, but Rayfield said things have been going well with construction since then.

The buildings foundations have been installed and its exterior walls are currently being erected. Carlson didnt have a timeline for the constructions completion nor when the strip malls stores will open, since interior work could be extensive or minimal depending on what the stores request, he said.

A mixture of veteran Galesburg businesses and new ones are expected to find homes in the strip mall. Jeff Gray, vice president of real estate for Hibbett Sporting Goods Inc., confirmed that Hibbett plans to move from its current location in Sandburg Mall to the strip mall by July.

The Galesburg Hibbett location, which opened in 2001, had been considering a location change within the city even before the mall announced its closing plans.

Were always looking at options to see if we can better position our stores, and the mall had struggled for the past couple of years in keeping tenants, Gray said. It just made sense to find an alternative location.

Mi Casa Mexican Cuisine will be a new addition to Galesburg and serve as a sister business to the original restaurant in Aledo. Owner RaeAnne Hernandez, who grew up in Aledo and started the business with her husband seven years ago, said the original restaurant was doing so well that she wanted to expand.

Hernandez has not yet signed a lease for the second location, but the strip malls position on North Seminary Street proved to be a considerable plus when she looked for a new place to settle.

That area of Galesburg is really growing and we wanted to be a part of that, Hernandez said.

The final strip mall will be slightly more than 17,000 square feet in length and formed in an L shape. The south end cap of the strip mall is the portion still available, Rayfield said.

He also plans to start another phase of development on that land in late 2017 or early 2018. Horne Properties has already developed the Wal-Mart and Menards on that land, and sold the land that Kohls, Pet Supplies Plus and Shoe Carnival have developed.

It depends on the interest were able to accumulate, but probably [it will be] another similar sized building of what were doing now, Rayfield said of the future development.

Rebecca Susmarski: (309) 343-7181, ext. 261; rsusmarski@register-mail.com; @RSusmarski

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Seminary Square strip mall a work in progress - Galesburg Register-Mail

Injuries on Metro "are the part of the iceberg that's above the water," said Robert Lauby, Federal Railroad Administration chief safety officer. (WTOP/Dave Dildine)

WASHINGTON After Metro injury rates ticked up last yearfor riders and workers, a federal safety expert called it disturbing that Metro did not seem to be making more progress.

Im wondering if were actually measuring the right things to determine safety on Washington Metro, because we have many unsafe acts that dont result in injuries, said Robert Lauby, Federal Railroad Administration chief safety officer, at Thursdays Metro Board meeting.

Lauby, who is also a Metro Board member, cited issues that Metro should also include in its annual safety report in addition to injury rates:

The injuries are the part of the iceberg thats above the water, Lauby said.

He did, however, note improvements in some areas.

I get the question all the time: Is safety getting better on Washington Metro? And I say, Yeah, I think it is, Lauby said.

Among notable changes is tracking more injuries tied to MetroAccess paratransit service, said Pat Lavin, Metro chief safety officer.

There were a number of incidents where an individual might have been transported to the hospital, was only observed and released they didnt count that as an incident, Lavin said.

From a reporting standpoint, it is reportable, so we went back, we looked at these incidents, and that drove the number of incidents much higher than they were originally reporting.

In addition to improved oversight for drivers, Lavin said, Metro is working on improved training for properly securing riders in wheelchairs in the paratransit vehicles.

On the rail system, Lavin said his highest priorities out of remaining National Transportation Safety Board recommendations are those tied to fire-life safety.

Major improvements to the ventilation fan systems would require significant investment. But in the interim, Metro is supposed to be working on a plan for how to use the existing systems during any emergencies.

Like WTOP on Facebook and follow @WTOP on Twitter to engage in conversation about this article and others.

2017 WTOP. All Rights Reserved.

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Metro's lack of progress called 'disturbing' - WTOP

An unusual Letter to the Editor that ran Feb. 25, 1916, pointed our attention to a strange story that had played out in the previous days. On Feb. 21, a Daily Progress reporter shared the story of John Ashby, a 74-year-old Confederate Veteran who had stumbled into police headquarters last evening and asked for a nights lodging.

Given a jail cell to sleep in, as it was late on Sunday night, the destitute man was reported to have said: I entered the army when the war broke out, and served four years. I was with Jackson until Chancellorsville, his lip quivered, then with Lee. I was at Petersburg at the time of the surrender.

The account went on to explain: Left destitute, a week ago, by the death of his brother, Ashby, rather than submit to the ignominy of a poor house, set out to walk from Northern Virginia to Richmond where he hopes to find shelter in the Soldiers Home. He has come over 170 miles.

Ashby left Charlottesville the following morning on foot.

The following day, the Daughters of the Confederacy wrote to the editor of The Daily Progress, incensed that they had not been notified as to the veterans plight and by Feb. 24, the story had become the topic of discussion throughout town, and numerous letters to the editor were written; some questioned his claims of being a veteran, prompting the Progress to update its readers on efforts to locate the aged veteran. Long distance phone calls had been placed to the chiefs of police in various towns along the route to Richmond, but all efforts were fruitless. Readers were further assured that their voluntary contributions of clothing, many of which had been donated by students of the University of Virginia and left at the Progress office had been shipped to John Ashby, C/O Supt. of Soldiers Home, Richmond.

Editor J.H. Lindsey felt compelled to address the issue in his editorial of this date, acknowledging the faithfulness and generosity of the Albemarle Daughters of Confederacy. Lindsey went on to explain that the man was only in town for just a few hours and there was no time to notify anybody of his needs or to investigate the accuracy of his statements. Lindsey explained that the reporter for the Progress printed the story for the very purpose of informing those who might be interested in a case of real need and noted that the Progress had made arrangements for clothing and transportation to Richmond. Chief of Police Damron also shared his many efforts to provide comfort to the man that night, all of which were refused.

It is not known if John Ashby ever made it to Richmond.

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Appearance of Confederate Veteran in Charlottesville causes a stir in 1916 - The Daily Progress

Journal staff 6:22 p.m. ET Feb. 24, 2017

Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, left, speaks at Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress' County Leaders Breakfast at the Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel, during a past event. To his right are Ulster County Executive Mike Hein, Jonathan Drapkin, president and CEO of Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress, Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus, and Sullivan County Legislative Chairman Luis Alvarez.(Photo: Alex H. Wagner/Poughkeepsie Journal)Buy Photo

Pattern for Progress will host the elected leaders of four mid-Hudson counties to offer perspective on how the valley is moving forward.

The County Leaders Breakfast will be held 7:45-9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28, and feature Dutchess County Executive MarcMolinaro, Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus, Sullivan County Legislative Chairman Luis Alvarez and Ulster County Executive Michael Hein.

The event will be held at the Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel, 40 Civic Center Plaza, Poughkeepsie, andmoderated by Jonathan Drapkin, president and CEO of Pattern for Progress, and Stuart Shinske, the group's senior vice president for strategic planning and engagement.

VIDEO:County leaders discuss regional issues at annual breakfast

The audience also can pose questions at the breakfast and via Facebook and Twitter. Questions may be emailed to sshinske@pfprogress.org.

At Pattern For Progress, were focused on giving the big perspective of how our region is moving forward together, Drapkin said in a written release. Despite the far-flung geography of the region, these county leaders confront common issues, from housing to transportation to public safety, and most importantly, how to stretch and reshape budgets to ensure efficient use of tax dollars.

Tickets are $45, members; $60, nonmembers. Tables of 10 and sponsorships are available. For more information or to reserve a ticket, call 845-565-4900, email Robin DeGroat at rdegroat@pfprogress.org.

Visit PatternForProgress.org for more information. Follow on Twitter at @HVPattern or on Facebook at Facebook.com/PatternForProgress.

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Pattern for Progress to host County Leaders Breakfast Tues. - Poughkeepsie Journal

'Progress' and the 'Rational Optimist' Genre of Nonfiction Inside Higher Ed (blog) Johan Norberg's new book, Progress: Ten Reasons to Look Forward to the Future, is a worthy addition to this collection. Progress is all about how long-term positive trends - such as improvements in food security, life expectancy, sanitation, poverty ...

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'Progress' and the 'Rational Optimist' Genre of Nonfiction - Inside Higher Ed (blog)

The Belgian side reached the round of 16 by the skin of their teeth following a dramatic late goal in the Russian city of St. Petersburg

Frank Ancheampongs Anderlecht left it very late to secure passage into the next round of the Europa League on Thursday against Zenit as they lost 3-1 on the night but qualified via the away goal after it ended 3-3 on aggregate.

Acheampong had a less than stellar game despite being the scorer of the two goals in the first leg. He lasted for 89 minutes and earned a yellow card in a game where he scored the lowest rating of any player on both teams.

The hosts took a three-goal lead via Giulianos brace that sandwiched Artem Dzyubas goal and thought they had it all wrapped up having upturned the 2-0 first leg deficit.

But there was to be late drama when Isaac Thelin nodded home on 90 minutes from one of the Belgians most sustained moments of pressure as elimination stared them in the face.

Instead it was the Russian team that crumbled under the enormous pressure after feeling they had done enough to progress into the round of 16 when they went up by three goals.

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Acheampong's Anderlecht survive Zenit scare to progress - Goal.com

Donald Trump's trans bathroom restrictions will stunt much-needed progress in school sports Quartz Bathrooms are once more a political battleground in America. US president Donald Trump's rollback of the Obama administration's policy on transgender bathroom use yesterday (Feb. 22) rescinds previous federal guidance that allowed transgender students ... Trump Rescinds Rules on Bathrooms for Transgender StudentsNew York Times all 1,506 news articles »

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Donald Trump's trans bathroom restrictions will stunt much-needed progress in school sports - Quartz

Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern called for a rethink on sanctions imposed on Russia, saying that the regime of penalties over Kremlin-backed incursions in Ukraine has failed to yield enough progress.

Speaking in an interview in Vienna on Thursday, Kern said that the European Union may need to consider new ways to put leverage on President Vladimir Putin to bring more success and be less economically damaging to Europe. At the same time, he said it was important that Europe remains united in its stance.

Asked if he favored a partial lifting of penalties in exchange for progress in adhering to the so-called Minsk peace process, Kern said absolutely.

Austria would be better off, and the concept that we are imposing sanctions and then will come to good conclusions with Russia has not worked out, the chancellor said. I think we need a different concept.

The future of sanctions was thrown into doubt when Donald Trump won the U.S. election promising a reset in relations with Putin. While the new administration has since expressed support for Ukraines territorial integrity, and said that Russia will be held to account, Vice President Mike Pence said this week in Brussels that the U.S. will search in new ways for new common ground with Russia.

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Austria is interested in lifting some penalties, according to Kern. But we have to accept that the lifting of sanctions has to go along with the implementation of the Minsk agreement, he said. As long as there is no progress then I know its going to be difficult to lift the sanctions.

For an explanation of why the Ukraine conflict drags on, click here

Its a sensitive issue and we have to stay united. Kern said.

Even so, he pointed out that the economic fallout is hurting the Austrian economy at a time of rising unemployment. The sanctions are really detrimental for our economy -- the costs in Austria are around 0.3 percent of our GDP -- so we are are not so happy about the economic consequences, he said.

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Austria Calls for Russian Sanctions Rethink to Bring Progress - Bloomberg