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Well,
it appears that the BCS has finally got the message that people are NOT
happy with the current system employed to select the teams to play in
the national championship game.
As
the paper stated today, the "powers that be" (whoever the heck that
is), proposed at their annual meeting in Hollywood, Florida, that a
four-team playoff system be adapted beginning in 2015, using the bowls
as playoff locations with the championship site to be decided by bid.Â
Not
a done deal yet; the conferences still have to give approval and a lot
of details, including whether the top four teams by poll or the
champions of conferences are automatic qualifiers. Look for the minor
conferences to throw a fit, so it is far from certain if this will
pass.Â
This
could have major repercussions for Dallas, which was left out of the
bowl picture when the Dallas City Council refused to agree to major
upgrades to the Cotton Bowl. However, now that the Cotton Bowl game has
moved to the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, the metro area has a
world-class facility, as evidenced by its hosting the 2011 Super Bowl.Â
And Dallas wants back into the Bowl picture.Â
Of
course, this is the same council that voted down razing the Cotton Bowl
at the fairgrounds and agreeing to a 50-50 split with Jerry Jones to
build his new stadium. He even agreed to keep the name, "Cotton Bowl".
  Arlington jumped on the half and half split.Â
Then,
the council, in order to keep the OU-Texas game had to expand the
seating and re-do all the restrooms two years ago. Now, they are forced
to do even more upgrades to keep the game. With all the money they
have spent, they could paid their half for a new stadium. Is our city
council dumb?Â
On
another note, a 17-year-old girl was brutally raped and stabbed
yesterday morning as she walked to catch the Dart to school. She was
able to give police a description of her attacker at the hospital before
lapsing into unconsciousness. Based on her description, police
arrested a homeless man at about 11 a.m. yesterday near the Love Field
area. He had the girl's Ipad and a bloody knife in his possession.
A
passerby heard the girl moaning about 8 a.m. and spotted her lying
naked and covered in blood near a dumpster. He immediately called 911.Â
The
last story that caught my attention today was the rebates coming back
to people beginning this year from their health insurance companies.Â
Texas is expected to be the biggest beneficiary of this rebates, all
part of the Affordable Health Care Act (AHCA) passed by the Obama
Administration. According to a non partisan research group, those
rebates should amount to about $127 per person.
One
of the provisions of the AHCA is that insurance companies must spend at
least 80 per cent of the premiums they collect on medical care and
quality improvement or return the difference to consumers and employers.
If an individual belongs to a group plan through employment, I'm
assuming the rebates will be split, based on the percentage the
individual pays and the percentage the employer pays.
Here's
something of which all dislocated workers should be aware. --under
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the federal government will
subsidize up to 65% of COBRA payments for workers laid off between
September 1, 2008 and May 31, 2010. It also includes involuntary
termination if preceded by a qualifying event. Even if you unemployment
began after 2010, it would be wise to check on this, as it may have
been extended. It has already been extended once since 2008.
When
I went on COBRA during my cancer treatments, my premium went from $365 a
month to over $1200 a month in just over a year. Many unemployed people
could not even afford the $365, much less the $1200. Thank goodness I
had money set aside; but that and later my medications, once I got on
Medicare disability, before Part D went into effect for Medicare, nearly
broke me. What I wouldn't have given to have this help back then.
That's it for my Friday Report from Dallas for this week. See you next Friday.
Â
