Online Features
Business & Careers
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Keep your office healthy to prevent a flu outbreak
(BPT) - A flu outbreak in your workforce can cause problems in several different areas of your business. The best flu prevention is encouraging and educating workers on how to be proactive at fending off the flu virus. By making sure your employees do the best they can to stay in good health and flu free, you can keep y...
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Considering self-employment? Career fields with double-digit growth
(BPT) - Americans were born to make lemonade. If you have any doubt about the resiliency of U.S. workers, consider the many reports that indicate millions of Americans are turning life’s lemon of layoffs into an opportunity to work for themselves. With unemployment rates still high, many people are looking to self-emplo...
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The beauty of upcycling
(BPT) - Everything old is new again. At least that’s a simplistic take on the tenets of upcycling, which translates to giving renewed purpose to something others send to landfills. For consumers with a passion for do-it-yourself projects, and the boards on Pinterest to prove it, upcycling has taken root. Some ideas are ...
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Small businesses accelerating growth in 2013 with cloud computing
(BPT) - Small businesses seem optimistic about increasing sales and hiring in 2013 and are looking to squeeze more productivity out of limited time, staffing and resources. For these reasons, finding the right business tools that can grow with you but also work well with the tools you already use are essential to helpi...
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The new year welcomes a new generation of inspiration
(BPT) - In 2012, the world watched as women made historic gains in everything from Congress, with an all-time high of 20 women in the U.S. Senate – to the field, where they’ve won 100 total gold medals at the Olympics. In 2013, MAKERS.com moves us to reflect on the important advances made by women in years past to in...
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Setting up a home office that fuels productivity
(BPT) - One of the biggest mistakes businesspeople make is assuming that working from home will automatically result in a higher level of productivity. Unless you carefully construct your home office environment, you may find that working from home is less productive than you anticipated. Staples, the world’s largest o...
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Where the tech jobs are: in the 'clouds'
(BPT) - The sky is the limit for cloud computing as it continues to drive job growth – garnering interest from Main Street, Wall Street, corporations and governments. A 2012 Microsoft-commissioned report by the International Data Corporation (IDC) indicated that spending on cloud services will generate nearly 14 milli...
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Keep your home safe and warm this winter
(BPT) - This is the time of year when homes need a little TLC as winter’s harsh weather can batter windows, assault rooftops and damage pipes. Luckily, there are several easy tasks to include on home maintenance checklists and most of them are no-cost and low-cost chores that could end up saving homeowners big bucks. “...
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Active duty military: 'We'd do it again'
(BPT) - If you could start over again, would you make the same decision? According to a recent survey, 78 percent of active duty military personnel say a resounding “yes.” When you think of the sacrifices that our men and women in uniform have made, especially in recent years, this overwhelming positive response may seem odd. But when you consider the dedication to duty and our nation that they exhibit, it’s not all that surprising. Yet, as war efforts draw down and the military reduces the...
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After the offer - negotiating your way to a better salary
(BPT) - Your job search has finally paid off. After all the networking events, resume re-dos and mock and real interviews, you finally got an offer for the job you wanted. So now what? Do you just take it or do you dare negotiate? “You should always negotiate a higher salary,” say Vanessa Jackson, assistant director of...
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Small businesses identify stress as top concern for employee health and wellness
(BPT) - Today’s tough economic environment would give anyone a headache. America’s workforce faces increasing pressures to meet the bottom line and achieve financial results with less, particularly small businesses. So, it’s no wonder that small-business owners’ most pressing wellness concerns include stress and employe...
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Five tips to get the best deal on the right tax software
(BPT) - Finding the right tax software can be just as important to ensuring the best possible return as making sure you have all the necessary documents and information. And when you factor in all the different tax software products available and the associated costs, finding the right program can be just as complicated...
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national news

Danielle Stephan holds boyfriend Thomas Layton as they pause between salvaging through the remains of a family member's home one day after a tornado devastated the town Moore, OklahomaBy Carey Gillam and Ian Simpson MOORE, Oklahoma (Reuters) - Rescuers went building to building in search of victims and survivors picked through the rubble of their shattered homes on Tuesday, a day after a massive tornado tore through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, wiping out blocks of houses and killing at least 24 people. ...


Tue May 21 20:29:24 UTC 2013

Rescue workers look through the rubble at Plaza Towers Elementary school in MooreBy Ben Berkowitz and Julie Steenhuysen (Reuters) - Moore, Oklahoma, has had the bad luck of being hit by two highly destructive tornadoes, both in the month of May, 14 years apart. But the Moore that got struck on Monday is not the same as in 1999. Like a lot of towns across America and in the so-called "Tornado Alley," rapid growth has made it a bigger target, vulnerable to more damage. The tornado, with winds that may have topped 200 miles per hour, killed at least 24 people and injured hundreds more, with many of the casualties children from two schools that were destroyed. ...


Tue May 21 15:34:25 UTC 2013

General view of a landscape almost cleared of debris from a tornado in Joplin, MissouriBy Kevin Murphy KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - Less than three hours after a deadly twister on Monday flattened a swath of Moore, Oklahoma, tornado warning sirens sounded in Joplin, Missouri, 215 miles to the northeast. While no twister touched down, the Oklahoma disaster and the sirens stirred painful memories in Joplin, which on Wednesday observes the second anniversary of one of the most catastrophic tornadoes in American history. "It brought back a lot of fear, especially since there was a chance that a tornado could hit here," Sarah Jo Radcliffe, a Joplin resident, said on Tuesday. ...


Tue May 21 17:13:55 UTC 2013
[Updated at 2:30 p.m. CT] MOORE, Okla. –As a hailstorm bore down on the devastated region Tuesday afternoon, first responders continued to sift through debris to try to find survivors and figure out how many people died in the massive tornado that ripped through southern Oklahoma City and other towns a day earlier. Twenty four [...]
Tue May 21 18:36:00 UTC 2013