Nixon Launches Online "Check a Charity"
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), August 25, 2005 - Missourians who give to charity have a new resource to be better-informed donors. Attorney General Jay Nixon has launched "Check a Charity," an online database where consumers can look up financial information about hundreds of charitable organizations that solicit donations in Missouri.
The Web page, linked to www.ago.mo.gov, was unveiled Thursday with information from 448 local, statewide, national and international charities. That number, Nixon said in a statement, is certain to grow as other charities realize the benefit of having their financial information easily accessible for donors and potential donors to review.
The charities listed on the Web site voluntarily provided the information in response to a request from Nixon's office. Nixon said his office made the request to approximately 1,500 charities that solicit donations in Missouri.
Most of the charities that responded provided the data from their IRS Forms 990. The Form 990 includes a description of the charity's mission, how much money the charity received in the year being reported, and how much the charity spent in that year on charitable programs, administrative costs and fund-raising expenses. Some charities that responded are not required by the IRS to file a Form 990; those charities provided the financial information through other documents.
"Our listing of these charities should not be seen as a 'seal of approval' from the Attorney General, but it certainly indicates these charities were willing to share the information on a Web site that received more than 484,000 hits last month," Nixon said. "An organization's absence from the Check a Charity site may very well be noticeable to donors, so I encourage the charities that have not yet responded to my request to provide that information to us."
Donors can search the Check a Charity database, even if they only have a partial name of the charity. The Web page for each charity includes a mission statement from the charity; the percentage of expenses that a charity spends on administrative costs; and the figures for program expenses (the costs incurred in conducting the charitable purposes), total expenses and total revenue for the year being reported.
If a charity has a Web site, that information is listed on the Check a Charity site, along with the organization's mailing address and telephone number. Consumers can use that information to request copies of the charity's annual report.
Disability Travel on the Rise Despite Access Barriers
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), August 21, 2005 - The Open Doors Organization (ODO) in cooperation with the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA) has released the findings of its 2005 research study.
The poll, conducted by Harris Interactive®, is a follow-up to ODO's groundbreaking study of 2002 on the spending trends and market scope of U.S. adults with disabilities. The survey was conducted both online and by telephone between February 8-25, 2005 among a national sample of 1,373 adults aged 18 or over.
"This new data," said ODO Director Eric Lipp, "confirms what we already knew, that there is a strong disability travel market. In the past two years alone, more than 21 million adults with disabilities traveled for pleasure and/or business." The 2005 study reveals which destinations, domestic and international, are most popular among travelers with disabilities and provides new data on Internet use. Surprisingly, the study showed marked increases in certain sectors despite ongoing barriers to access.
The 2002 ODO study quantified how much adults with disabilities were spending on travel--approximately $13.6 billion annually--and suggested that revenues from this market could easily double if certain needs were met and obstacles removed. The 2005 ODO study, which employed an identical methodology, shows businesses in the travel industry the extent and types of barriers the majority of travelers with disabilities still experience. Among those adults with disabilities who have traveled by air, 84% said they encountered obstacles when interfacing with airlines and 82% said they encountered obstacles at airports.
Despite such barriers, the average number of leisure trips and hotel stays was up 50% from 2002. However, 60% of travelers with disabilities who have stayed overnight in paid accommodations said they had problems at these properties, either physical barriers (48%), problems with customer service (45%) or communication barriers (15%). On the positive side, as Eric Lipp notes, "Many of the most common complaints identified by the study, such as heavy doors and lack of knowledge among staff, could be easy and inexpensive to resolve."
In terms of restaurants, the study indicates 71% of adults with disabilities dine out at least once a week and also shows a 6% increase in casual dining from 2002. To attract this clientele, Fuddruckers restaurants are offering such things as Braille/large print menus, customer service training and larger pathways between tables. In the new poll, 40% of adults with disabilities complained of the lack of room between tables.
The 2005 ODO study covered a new area of travel car rental. It found that 20% of adults with disabilities rented a car for travel in the past two years. But a staggering 50% said they would be more inclined to rent a car if it were delivered to and picked up from them, while 36% would be willing to pay more for this service. In Eric Lipp's view, "More rental car agencies should follow the example set by Avis, which now offers Avis Access®, a comprehensive program of individualized products to serve customers with disabilities."
Teamsters Oppose New Drive Rule as Threat to Highway Safety
WASHINGTON, (PRNewswire), August 21, 2005 -
WASHINGTON, Aug. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- The proposed Hours of Service (HOS) rule for truck drivers issued Friday by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is a major setback for highway safety, increasing the potential for deadly accidents by forcing drivers to log even more hours on the road.
More than 600,000 Teamsters start their day by turning keys to 18-wheelers, delivery vans, package cars, school buses, maintenance trucks and other work vehicles. The Teamsters say the proposal has once again ignored the health of drivers and the safety of the driving public, increasing the number of hours that drivers can stay behind the wheel without a rest breakare not happy with the new ruling.
In an announceement, Jim Hoffa, Teamsters General President, said, "This proposed rule is yet another outrageous power grab by ruthless companies. Some greedy employers are trying to squeeze drivers to enrich their bottom line at the expense of public safety on America's highways."
"Two years ago, the Bush administration overhauled the HOS rule, raising drivers' time on the road for the first time in six decades. The appeals court said the changes were "arbitrary and capricious" and struck down the rule that raised driving time without rest from 10 hours to 11 hours. Today's proposed rule would still force drivers to stay behind the wheel for 11 hours," stated Hoffa.
Under the rules, truck drivers not required to have a commercial license who travel within a radius of 150 miles, now would be allowed to work two, 16-hour days a week. Wal-Mart and other retailers pushed unsuccessfully for the change in Congress earlier this year.
"Since Congress couldn't do Wal-Mart's bidding, it appears the Transportation Department will," Hoffa said. "What reasonable person who has traveled our nation's roads and highways thinks that forcing tired truck drivers to stay behind the wheel even longer is good public policy?"
Truckers who use sleeper berths will be required to rest for eight hours and take another two hours off duty before resetting their daily driving schedule.
"It's ludicrous," said Tyson Johnson, Teamsters' National Freight Director. "This requires a driver to drive 10 hours every 20 to 22 hours, which will significantly increase fatigue."
Poplar Street Bridge Closes August 26-29
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), August 21, 2005 - The Missouri Department of Transportation will close the northbound I-55 ramp to the Poplar Street Bridge by 8 p.m. on Friday, August 26. Also, eastbound I-64 will be reduced to one lane from approximately the Broadway exit to the Poplar Street Bridge. Crews will be re-paving the ramp. Both the I-55 ramp and the lane on I-64 will reopen no later than 5 a.m. Monday, August 29.
While the ramp is closed, motorists will detour to I-70 to Madison Ave. exit, turn around at St. Louis Ave. and get back on eastbound I-70 to the Poplar Street Bridge. Motorists can also use the Martin Luther King Bridge as an alternative to the Poplar Street Bridge.
This is part of MoDOT's ongoing preservation efforts. "We encourage motorists to use alternate routes and to use caution when driving through the area," said MoDOT Area Engineer, Deanna Venker.
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