Priceless Vol 7 Number 11


Personal and Professional Empowerment www.hamptonroadsmessenger.com


Serving Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach since 2006 Libertarian


Candidate Enters Contentious VA Gubernatorial Race


Page 6


Federal Government Gives Companies an Extra Year to Comply with Obamacare


Small Business Conference and Community Development Awards Reception


Page 9


Free July 2013


Nelson Mandela’s Long Goodbye Has Lessons for All of Us


Page 14


The Messenger Presents the 2013 Flavor of Hampton Roads


BY MELISSA DANIELS News that the federal


government will give U.S. companies an extra year to comply with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act emboldened the plan’s critics – and sent local officials scrambling.


Cities, counties and school


districts across Nebraska were making plans to reduce part-time employees’ hours in order to comply with the Obamacare requirement the large employers begin offering health insurance to them next year or pay a penalty.


The announcement had


them wondering what to do next.


Some employers already


had planned to either cut their workforce or reduce part-timers’ hours to avoid the Obamacare mandates that employers with at least 50 full-time employees provide health insurance


coverage to all employees who work at least 30 hours per week or pay fines.


That’s exactly what schools


attorney Karen Hasse predicted earlier this year, when she told the Associated Press that thousands of Nebraska school employees — not teachers but bus drivers, teachers’ aides and custodians — could get laid off or have their hours cut.


Smaller Nebraska school


districts were looking at hiring freezes or layoffs to stay under the 50-employee threshold, she said, and one Omaha school district was considering reducing hours for 108 part-time teacher aides.


Ken Cuccinelli called the Obama administration’s


Virginia Attorney General one-year


delay another “warning sign of systemic failure.”


Cuccinelli, a Republican


gubernatorial candidate, was among the first to challenge Obamacare in court. He said the


OBAMACARE PAGE 3 THIS EDITION’S HIGHLIGHTS


Education Editorial Health Hampton Roads Upcoming Events Scholarships Watch


Use Discretionary Income to Help Starving Children in Africa Sacrificing All for the Sake of Education


Healthy Vision: Take Care of Your Eyes Bill Gordge Named Cox Conserves Hero The Voices of Norfolk Concert Choir Gen and Kelly Tanabe Scholarship


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What is the Hampton Roads Experience?


Hampton Roads’ most talented artists, musicians, singers, and fashion designers, plus delicious delicacies from across the region. All this and more was on display at the 2013 Flavor of Hampton Roads on June 28-30 at the Hampton Roads Convention Center in Hampton, VA. This free event featured live music all weekend including performances by RaJazz, Saxophonist Rick Elliot, Elements


Flavor of Hampton Roads fashion show models strike a pose backstage BY CHRIS PARKS


and gospel artist Hope Askew. The Flavor of Hampton Roads also included a spectacular fashion show that highlighted the designs of Mikasa La'Charles, Mr. Carlyle, Lipgloss N Stilettos by Leslie Lucas Thompson, Puzzled by Agape and Reckless by Mario, Lux Labels N Love, Patricia’s Boutique and EbonyJV.


This event was presented by the Hampton


Roads Messenger and sponsored in part by Wells Fargo.


See more photos on page 8


Tips on Using Technology to Remain Financially Fit


If you’re interested in trying new bank


technology but you’re not sure what’s available, FDIC Consumer News offers this overview of some current services, many of them free.


Personal financial management and


budgeting: Financial planning tools, often referred to as personal financial management software, can include electronic check registers on your home computer (which many consumers will find much easier to use and balance than an old-fashioned paper check register) and “companion applications” for your smartphone that allow you to access your electronic check register wherever you are.


Mobile banking services go one step


further by allowing you to access your account from anywhere using a smartphone, “tablet” computer or other device. An estimated 30 million Americans currently manage their finances using mobile devices.


“Mobile banking services can be very


helpful if you are in a store contemplating a major purchase and need to know whether you have enough money in your account to cover the cost,” said Jeff Kopchik, a Senior Policy Analyst with the FDIC’s Technology Supervision Branch. “If your balance is low,


you can use your mobile device to transfer funds from your savings account into your checking account to cover the purchase.” But remember that the available balance shown in online banking may be less than you have to spend if any checks or other transactions have not yet been posted to your account.


Your bank also may offer free online


budgeting tools that can help you track your spending by category, monitor investments


FINANCIALLY FIT PAGE 4


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