Archive for the ‘Financial’ Category

Dallas-area based Dr Pepper is making good on its promise of free soda now that the release of Guns N’ Roses‘ “Chinese Democracy” is a reality.

Dr Pepper said in March that it would give a free soda to everyone in America if the album debuted in 2008. “Chinese Democracy,” infamously delayed since recording began in 1994, goes on sale Sunday.

“We never thought this day would come,” Tony Jacobs, Dr Pepper’s vice president of marketing, said in a statement. “But now that it’s here, all we can say is: The Dr Pepper’s on us.”

Beginning this Sunday at 12:01 a.m., coupons for a free 20-ounce soda will be available for 24 hours on Dr Pepper’s Web site. They’ll be honored until Feb. 28.

Dallas County voters Tuesday overwhelmingly approved replacing 54-year-old Parkland Memorial Hospital with a larger, modern facility.

The $747 million bond election will cover about 60 percent of the cost of a new $1.3 billion public hospital. The 862-bed facility will be constructed across Harry Hines Boulevard from the current 675-bed hospital.

When the hospital is completed in 2014, it will add $52.50 in annual property taxes for owners of a home valued at $150,000. That represents a 13.7 percent increase in the Dallas County Hospital District’s tax rate.

Other voters said they supported the new public hospital because they might need to use it someday.

The bond election represents the first time in 28 years the hospital district has asked voters to fund a construction project. About $500 million of the cost will come from private donations and revenues the hospital has on hand.

The economic impact of Super Bowl XLV could approach $1 billion, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach said Friday.

Two-time Super Bowl winner Staubach talked about the tangible and intangible economic benefits of the Super Bowl, which will be played at the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium in 2011, at the 27th annual Stemmons Corridor Business Association luncheon.

The benefits, he said, include not only national attention on the area, but also the 125,000 people that are expected to attend the game, and the 300,000 people expected to be in the area because of the game.

“At the end of the day, the taxpayers will benefit from this,” Staubach said.

The $30 million budget for Super Bowl XLV is comprised of sponsorships and other fundraising. Staubach said 15 founding sponsors, or members of the committee’s “Million-dollar club” will each pay $1 million over the course of three years. Other sponsors will also contribute to the cause, he said.

The North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee, chaired by Staubach, will team up with the NFL to have 61 events in the year leading up to the game, encouraging even more economic benefit.

The host committee will also team up with the NFL to raise $1 million, which the NFL will match, to construct and endorse a Youth Education Town, expected to be a permanent legacy of the Super Bowl.

How much are you willing to pay for convenience? It may already be costing you more than you know at the grocery store. A savvy consumer advocate has shown WFAA how buying liquids in bigger volume can save big bucks.

Bottled water may be the biggest waste. A bottle of Aquafina goes for a $1.39 and a 24-pack for $8.99. For the same $8.99, your family can purchase eight Ozarka gallons of water, or receive 1,024 ounces.

That’s almost triple the volume, at the same price. Individual bottles are more convenient but it really does cost more.

Soda is almost the same. A dozen bottles, or about 144 ounces costs $4. Or for $3.76 you can receive the same brand, 268 ounces, almost a 100 percent increase.

So are you really willing to pay twice as much for the convenience of having a smaller bottle?

How about orange juice? Decades ago, frozen concentrate was common. Now, many families buy the juice ready to pour. 96 ounces of Minute Maid orange juice is regularly priced at $6.26. For the same cost of $6, you can purchase three of [frozen concentrates] and make it yourself and receive 192 ounces.

Almost 100 extra ounces of juice at the same price if you mix it yourself.

That’s a savings of almost $30 on three items alone, if you buy in a little bit bigger volume and forgo a little convenience.

Originally posted on WFAA.com by Monika Diaz

Two strangers were brought together by a leap of faith and one piece of property that was among 200 North Texas homes up for auction at the Dallas Convention Center.

While the misfortune of others lured hundreds of bargain hunters to the foreclosure auction, Tracy said she came to find closure. The mother took her seat among a sea of investors and strangers to say goodbye to her Pottsboro home, which is located just west of Denison.

“It means so much to all of us,” she said of her home that she lost to foreclosure. “It’s not just a house.”

At the fast-paced and energetic event, Tracy’s tears did not go unnoticed.

“She was crying and I asked her what she was upset about,” said Marilyn Mock, of Rockwall.

When Tracy’s home, “Number 73,” came up for auction, Mock raised her hand and bid. With no picture of the property in the auction book, Mock had only Tracy’s word on the home’s worth.

“I just kept asking her is it worth it? She said yes, and then it went again,” Mock said.

Bid after bid, Mock kept raising her hand.

“The next thing you know, she tells me she is doing this for me and then she had it,” Tracy said.

It was a second chance given to Tracy by a stranger.

Mock paid less than $30,000 for the property and said she plans to meet with Tracy in the next few weeks to work out the details.

“I have to look it up on the map,” Mock said of Pottsboro.

Despite the risk, Mock said it was a simple decision.

“People need to help each other and that’s all there is to it,” Mock said humbly of her choice.

“She knows how much she has blessed my life,” Tracy said. “Nobody’s ever done anything like that for me before, and I hope that I can repay the favor.”

Texas has a large, strong film community that are gearing up to work with the 2009 Legislative session to increase incentives. The following is from DMN’s Guide Live:

Family-friendly may be the catch phrase in 2009 as the Legislature looks at increasing the financial incentives offered to films shooting in Texas.

One proposal has a little bump for films shot here and deemed family-friendly, says Bob Hudgins, head of the Texas Film Commission. He discussed the proposal last week during the Austin Film Festival.

Texas launched its film incentive program in 2007 with the caveat that it not fund films that “portray Texas or Texans in a negative light.” According to Mr. Hudgins, that provision was the handiwork of state Sen. Steve Ogden of Bryan and harks back to the filming of the high school football comedy Varsity Blues 10 years ago.

“The filmmakers were not completely straightforward with information on the film,” Mr. Hudgins says. The movie, shot partially at a stadium in Georgetown, included scenes in a topless bar and of high school football players drinking to excess. “They felt the production lied to them,” Mr. Hudgins says of Georgetown school officials.

Mr. Ogden’s content provision is vague enough to not be an issue, Mr. Hudgins says. What is a problem, though, is the size (5 percent) of the state’s incentives.

Texas ranks dead last among 42 states offering cash or tax rebates, he says. Neighboring Louisiana and New Mexico each offer incentives of 25 percent, and Michigan’s is 40 percent to 42 percent. The Texas Motion Picture Alliance, a film lobby group, is pushing the Legislature to up the Texas amount to a 15 percent rebate on funds spent in-state.

“I feel like we’re in very, very good shape” to get the additional funds, says Mr. Hudgins, a Wichita Falls native who was hired by Gov. Rick Perry in 2006 for his experience shepherding a similar film incentives bill in Illinois while serving as deputy director of its film commission.

One clear way to get legislators on your side? Put them in a movie. That’s what happened when Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life shot briefly at the Texas Capitol. “They got their pictures taken with Brad Pitt,” Mr. Hudgins says.

Most of Mr. Malick’s film shot in tiny Smithville, a town that Mr. Hudgins believes is a good example for local cooperation. City leaders agreed to switch out streetlights with ones correct for the film’s ’50s time frame; they were rewarded with sales tax receipts that jumped 17 percent during filming.

Of larger cities, Austin offers the use of two police officers on set at no charge for 15 days.

“These are the kinds of things we hope our local communities will do. Austin does some things,” Mr. Hudgins says. “Dallas, don’t you think you ought to? Fort Worth, don’t you think you ought to?”

Why should Texas cities bend over backward? A quarter of Texas’ film workforce is currently working elsewhere, and even director Robert Rodriguez, who has long shown a desire to shoot in Texas, is considering taking his next project (reportedly a live-action The Jetsons) out of state.

“You can’t keep that up,” Mr. Hudgins says. “If we don’t deliver the goods … we’re going to lose the competitive edge.”

Individuals in Texas whose employment or self-employment was interrupted due to Hurricane Ike can file for disaster relief unemployment assistance from the state.

Applications must be filed by Oct. 15.

Texas counties included in the disaster declaration are Angelina, Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Cherokee, Fort Bend, Galveston, Grimes, Hardin, Harris, Houston, Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty, Madison, Matagorda, Montgomery, Nacogdoches, Newton, Orange, Polk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, Trinity, Tyler, Walker, Waller and Washington.

Applicants must be able to show that they can no longer work or perform services due to physical damage or destruction of their place of employment as a result of the hurricane, or cannot work due to injuries directly related to the disaster.

They must provide their Social Security number, a copy of their most recent federal income tax form or check stub, or other documentation to support they were working or self-employed when the disaster occurred.

Applications for disaster-related unemployment assistance may be made online at www.texasworkforce.org. Houston region residents can also call the Texas Workforce Commission local office at 281-983-1100 or toll-free at 800-939-6631 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.