Daily Archives: March 14, 2012

Shooting woes and turnovers doomed Liberty High School's girls basketball team on Tuesday night.

The Hurricanes made just 3-of-14 free throw attempts and Governor Mifflin forced them into 27 turnovers en route to a 51-42 victory in a PIAA Class AAAA second-round playoff game at Hamburg High School.

Liberty, which finished 17-10, fought gallantly after falling behind by as many as 11 points in the first half. The Hurricanes could never fully recover like they did in rallying from 12 down to defeat Cardinal O'Hara in their first-round state game.

"I don't think it's really hit me yet that this is my last high school game," said senior guard Jody Chickey, who led Liberty with 11 points. "Obviously, I wish we would have played better. It happens. I try not to dwell on it. I'm glad we made it this far."

Governor Mifflin (19-8), the sixth seed from District 3, advances to Friday's quarterfinals against Council Rock South at a time and site to be determined.

Junior guard Emily Gingrich, who's verbally accepted a full scholarship to play soccer at St. Joseph's, burned the Hurricanes with 25 points and seven steals.

"She's just a gifted athlete," Mustangs coach Richard Bausher said. "She has such a feel for everything. She's just learning to play basketball. I can't imagine how good she'd be if basketball was her No. 1 sport."

Liberty found itself in an early hole as Gingrich scored 10 points in the first quarter to stake the Mustangs to a 16-6 lead.

The Hurricanes continued to struggle in the second quarter. It took Chickey's pull-up jumper from the wing to reduce the deficit to 25-16 at the half.

Liberty shot just 7-for-31 from the floor in the first half, including 1-for-12 from 3-point range. Perhaps most mystifying was Liberty's 1-for-10 effort from the foul line.

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Liberty High School girls basketball team falls to Governor Mifflin in PIAA playoffs

HAMBURG For all that went wrong for Liberty through three quarters foul trouble, missed free throws, passes without purpose it had the opportunity it wanted.

Emily Gingrich swiped the Hurricanes' chances to complete their game-long comeback quest.

Best known for her footwork on the soccer field, the Governor Mifflin junior flashed quick hands on the basketball court Tuesday when the Mustangs were in danger of losing their lead. Twice she converted steals into baskets with her team's advantage sliced to a single possession.

Her second swipe-and-score wound up as a three-point opportunity that she finished, starting a 12-2 run that clinched Governor Mifflin's 51-42 win over Liberty in a PIAA Class 4A second-round girls basketball game at Hamburg High School.

Gingrich finished with 25 points and seven steals for the Mustangs (19-8), who entered the 4A playoffs as District 3's No. 6 state qualifier but have wound up as one of the last eight 4A teams still playing in the state. They will face District One No. 4 Council Rock South, a 54-51 winner over District 3 champion Red Lion, in a state quarterfinal Friday at a site and time to be determined.

Liberty, the District 11 4A runner-up, concluded its season at 17-10. The Hurricanes led just one time Tuesday, at 2-1 in the first quarter. They still had three chances to tie or go ahead in the fourth quarter but could not keep the ball away from Gingrich when it mattered most.

"I knew how quick she was, but it's hard to guard speed," Liberty coach Amy Yencho said. "We needed to be in help position. I knew on the defensive end she was going to cause problems too. We emphasized skip passes and back passes were not going to be there, and we would have to ball-fake and dribble-penetrate. We didn't execute."

In a game featuring Governor Mifflin's all-time leading scorer (Ashley Espinosa) and a Division I basketball recruit (Liberty senior Jody Chickey), Gingrich played better than anyone. She scored 10 of her points in the first quarter, helping the Mustangs build a 16-6 lead after eight minutes. She added nine more points in the fourth quarter.

Her biggest play came midway through the fourth. Liberty senior C.J. Hilliard missed a 3-pointer that would have given the Hurricanes the lead, but Maggie Zerbe (eight rebounds) grabbed the offensive board.

When Zerbe tried to throw the ball to a teammate, Gingrich zipped in front of the pass for a steal and drove the length of the floor for a layup on which she was fouled. She drilled the free throw to give Governor Mifflin a 39-34 lead with 4:21 to go.

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Liberty falls to Governor Mifflin in PIAA 4A girls basketball

Liberty Mutual said it will continue its legal fight even after a federal judge formally approved a $450 million workers compensation class-action settlement between AIG and its rival companies.

The class action alleged that American International Group (AIG) and its subsidiaries had intentionally under-reported workers comp premiums to state regulators for decades, in an attempt to pay smaller premium taxes and residual market charges before 1996.

In the class action, insurers said AIGs scheme hurt them financially because AIG, with its under-reporting, was allowed a smaller share of the high-risk residual market assessments.

According to the settlement, formally approved by U.S. District Court Judge Robert Gettleman on Feb. 28, AIG will pay $450 million, which will be divided up among commercial insurers that were affected by AIGs alleged scheme.

The settlement class was certified in July 2011 by Judge Gettleman and the $450 million settlement was given preliminary approval last December.

But Liberty Mutual, one of the insurers in the class action, argues that the settlement is inadequate. The current settlement assumes that AIG under-reported its workers comp premiums by $2.1 billion, an amount that the opponents of the settlement are calling too small.

Liberty Mutual is disappointed but not surprised with the Judges final written order approving the settlement. Liberty Mutual has filed an appeal, Liberty Mutual spokesman Richard Angevine told Insurance Journal.

We respectfully and vigorously disagree that the settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate. The settlement was negotiated by conflicted parties and it is unfair because it reflects damages of $2.1 billion, far less than the $6.1 billion in actual damages demonstrated by the court-approved statistical model.

Angevine added: Liberty Mutual remains committed to making sure that AIG is held accountable for knowingly under-reporting workers compensation premiums to various insurance pools for more than two decades.

Those in favor of the current settlement include AIG as well as Hartford Financial Services Group, Travelers Indemnity, Technology Insurance, Ace Ina Holdings, Auto-Owners Insurance, Companion Property & Casualty Insurance and Firstcomp Insurance.

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Liberty Mutual ‘Disappointed’ at $450M AIG Workers’ Comp Settlement

GREAT NECK, NY--(Marketwire -03/14/12)- One Liberty Properties, Inc. (NYSE: OLP - News), an owner of a geographically diversified portfolio of retail, industrial, office and other properties primarily under long term leases in the United States, today announced operating results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2011.

Patrick J. Callan, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer of One Liberty, commented, "During 2011, we continued to build on our 2010 success in growing and improving our portfolio through select acquisitions and dispositions. In 2011, we acquired six properties and sold one, using our network of relationships to secure additional properties that will contribute to our growth in the coming years. We ended the year with occupancy at 97.6% which supports strong cash flow. As we enter 2012, One Liberty is well positioned to balance additional acquisitions and solid occupancy with select divestitures to further enhance cash flow in our efforts to drive increased value for our stockholders."

Operating Results:

Total revenues for the three months ended December 31, 2011 increased 12.5% to $11.7 million, compared to $10.4 million for the three months ended December 31, 2010. Revenues benefited from the contribution of the Company's 2010 and 2011 acquisitions.

Income from continuing operations in the fourth quarter of 2011 increased 107% to $3.1 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, compared to $1.5 million, or $0.12, per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2010. Contributing to the improvement was the increase in revenues and the $493,000 decrease in interest expense. Interest expense decreased primarily as a result of the decrease in mortgage interest expense and, to a lesser extent, the decrease in the Company's outstanding credit line balance.

The Company generated Funds from Operations ("FFO") of $5.7 million, or $0.39 per diluted share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2011, as compared to $4.1 million or $0.35 per diluted share in the corresponding period of the prior year. A reconciliation of GAAP amounts to non-GAAP amounts is presented with the financial information included later in this release.

The per share results for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2011 take into account the issuance of shares issued under One Liberty's dividend reinvestment program and 2.7 million shares in the Company's February 2011 public offering. The Company used a portion of the approximately $40.6 million of net proceeds it received from the offering to reduce the outstanding credit line balance and payoff certain mortgages bearing high interest rates.

Full Year 2011 Operating Results:

Total revenues increased 10.2% to $45.2 million compared to $41 million for 2010. Revenues increased due to the impact of acquisitions.

Income from continuing operations increased 52.8% to $12.5 million, or $0.87 per diluted share, compared to $8.2 million, or $0.71 per diluted share, in 2010. Contributing to the improvement were the increased revenues, a $1.2 million gain on settlement of debt and a $899,000 decrease in interest expense. Interest expense decreased due primarily to the reduction in the outstanding credit line balance and to a lesser extent reduced mortgage interest expense.

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One Liberty Properties, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2011 Results