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To: scion who wrote (11895)	7/23/2003 3:25:52 PM
From: StockDung	Respond to of 19428

Shooting reported in N.Y. City Hall Wednesday, July 23, 2003 Posted: 2:56 PM EDT (1856 GMT) Two people are taken from City Hall on stretchers after the shootings. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Story Tools -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW YORK (CNN) -- A gunman opened fire from a balcony in the City Council chamber at New York's City Hall Wednesday, shooting a man multiple times before being shot himself, witnesses told CNN. Two people were carried out on stretchers. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was inside his office in the City Hall building when the shooting occurred, and is unharmed, said his press secretary, Edward Skyler. The building was sealed, Skyler said. Councilman Michael McMahon of Staten Island said he was in the City Council chamber waiting for a session to begin when someone in a balcony above shot someone four or five times. "That person went down into an aisle of the balcony," and the shooter shot him again a couple of times. Then the shooter appeared to be shot, and he fell down, he said. "All pandemonium broke out," he said.

To: scion who wrote (11895)	7/25/2003 5:53:56 PM
From: StockDung	Respond to of 19428

First Praise, Now Hisses at S.E.C. By STEPHEN LABATON New York Times July 25, 2003 WASHINGTON, July 24 For William H. Donaldson, the honeymoon is over. Ushered into the chairman's office of the Securities and Exchange Commission nearly six months ago to revive an agency that was adrift in political storms, plagued by insufficient resources and overwhelmed by corporate filings, Mr. Donaldson set about to reshape the agency. Through skillful diplomacy, he earned cautious support from Democrats and wide praise from Republicans as well as from investor groups and Wall Street institutions. In a short time, he has lifted the morale at the agency through management changes and budget increases. "The commission is in enormously better shape," said Harvey J. Goldschmid, a Democratic commissioner. As a handpicked choice of Senator Paul S. Sarbanes, Democrat of Maryland, Mr. Goldschmid often found himself both publicly and privately at odds with Mr. Donaldson's predecessor, Harvey L. Pitt. In contrast, Mr. Goldschmid has never been on the opposite side of Mr. Donaldson on a major vote. Mr. Donaldson and Mr. Goldschmid both describe a cordial working relationship, and Mr. Donaldson has even occasionally found himself on the same side of a vote with Mr. Goldschmid while one or both of the other Republican commissioners was on the other side. "Bill Donaldson has brought collegiality, intelligence, maturity and a willingness to take important steps," Mr. Goldschmid said. But now he has begun to confront a series of policy choices that have provoked some political fire. A number of companies and Wall Street institutions have complained that new rules imposed over the last year have been too steep and have quietly begun to lobby Congress and the commission to roll them back. In an interview today over lunch in his cavernous sixth-floor office here, Mr. Donaldson said he wanted to remain above the political brawls that have plagued his Democratic and Republican predecessors. "I've tried to avoid getting into the political," he said. "We're an investor agency. We're not a political agency." It may be impossible, however, to remain above the fray. In recent days, Mr. Donaldson has been sharply criticized by Eliot Spitzer, the New York attorney general, for failing to challenge a provision in House legislation proposed by the Republicans that state regulators say will strip them of enforcement authority in financial cases. Mr. Spitzer modulated his complaints after some Democrats in Washington told him that Mr. Donaldson was not the main figure behind the proposal. The New York attorney general said in an interview today that he maintained a "good working relationship" with both Mr. Donaldson and other commission officials, and that he did not "blame him for the amendment." "We see virtually all issues the same way," he said. But Mr. Spitzer's criticism of the measure may have had some effect on the debate. Late this afternoon, a House committee pulled the legislation after some commission officials privately told House Republicans that it was not a good time to advance the measure, which had been initially proposed by Wall Street. Still, in the coming weeks, Mr. Donaldson faces a multitude of decisions on issues from new shareholder proxy voting rules to tighter regulation of hedge funds and analyst conflict of interests that will force him to decide between investors and large institutions. "He is at a turning point," said James D. Cox, a securities law expert and professor at Duke University School of Law. Barbara Roper, director of investor protection for the Consumer Federation of America, agreed. "Donaldson seems to have done a good job of restoring the S.E.C. as a functioning agency," she said. "A year out from the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley, there is clearly a backlash of views against reforms that says we're going too far and we're trying to eliminate risk. In my view, we have an unfinished agenda. The question is, will Donaldson align himself with the view that `enough is enough' of market regulation? Or, is he going to advance an investor protection beyond that?" The proxy rules illustrate the difficult choices he faces. The Business Roundtable, an organization that represents chief executives from many of the nation's largest corporations, has urged the commission to water down its initial proposals to make it more difficult for shareholders to nominate and vote on independent directors. At the same time, institutional investors and consumer groups have urged the commission to make it easier for shareholders to make such appointments. Mr. Donaldson and the commission must also finish issuing new rules related to the passage of the corporate governance law of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which will have its one-year anniversary next week. One of those issues involves the obligations of corporate lawyers to blow the whistle on companies when they detect fraud, an issue that has provoked strong and opposing views from consumer groups on one side and lawyers' groups on the other. In contrast to his predecessor and many other top officials in Washington, Mr. Donaldson never sought a senior government position. Nor does he seem to aspire to another government job afterward. He said that when he was first approached about the job around last Thanksgiving, he was not interested. He had recently stepped down as the chief executive of Aetna after founding his own Wall Street firm and serving as head of the New York Stock Exchange. Although he planned to continue as chairman of the Carnegie Endowment and serve on several boards, he said he was ready to move to a new phase in his life. "Initially I said I didn't think so," said Mr. Donaldson, who is now 72 years old. "But then, the more I thought about it, the more I thought it was a real opportunity." Once he took the job, he also departed from many other top officials who come to Washington with big policy agendas. Instead, he says, he is focusing at least half of his time on revamping the management and organization of the commission. Earlier in his career, Mr. Donaldson had been the founding dean of Yale University's management school and taught management courses. At most agencies, such issues would be low priority. But at the commission, Mr. Donaldson said, they are vital. He acknowledged that it was an interesting coincidence that he was reshaping the management of the agency at the same time that Congress and the commission were requiring corporations across America to change the way they govern themselves. "This is an attempt to create a structure beyond just getting managers to do their work better," he said. "The challenge for anyone to try to get a change in organization is to get buy-in from all the people." In the process of making use of a doubling of the agency's budget, Mr. Donaldson has encountered some unusual problems. The commission acknowledged this week, for instance, that it would be unable to spend $103 million of the record $716 million budget that it had been given by Congress for a new staff because it was unable to hire qualified accountants and lawyers quickly. "You don't want to rush and hire willy-nilly at the cost of having the quality of work decline," he said.

To: scion who wrote (11895)	7/25/2003 10:48:35 PM
From: StockDung	Respond to of 19428

Q Comm International Engages Elite Financial Communications Group; Company to Launch Market Awareness Campaign Immediately OREM, Utah--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 11, 2003--Q Comm International Inc. (AMEX:QMM; QMM.U), a provider of prepaid transaction processing and electronic point-of-sale (POS) distribution solutions, today announced it has engaged Elite Financial Communications Group, LLC, a full-service, pro-active financial communications, investor relations and strategic resourcing firm, to serve as its investor and financial media relations counsel. Elite will work closely with Q Comm's executive management team to develop comprehensive investor relations' messages that will most pro-actively support Q Comm's strategic vision, operational and financial performance and ongoing business expertise. In addition, Elite will assist in the development of customized, high-quality, high-impact and fully integrated media communications programs designed to increase consumer, industry and investor awareness of the company's exciting growth strategies. Dodi Handy, president and CEO of Elite, stated, "After having spent time with Q Comm's management team, it became evident to us that this is no ordinary company. With a clear-cut plan of action on aggressively implementing its growth strategies, a vision to revolutionize its industry and ample cash resources to fund its efforts, Q Comm has all the makings of a 'Wall Street darling.' We look forward to playing a key role in assisting Q Comm gain much deserved attention from the financial community as the company continues distinguishing itself as an industry leader in the delivery of technologically advanced prepaid products and services." About Elite Financial Communications Group, LLC Headquartered in Lake Mary, Fla. with regional and partner offices in Miami and New York City, Elite Financial Communications Group combines diverse expertise, influence, talent and capabilities to achieve quantifiable results for both publicly traded and privately held companies. Established in December 2001 by a partnership group composed of highly reputable financial, marketing and business experts, Elite is rapidly earning international distinction for challenging industry convention and for taking the lead in establishing best practices for pro-active financial communications, investor relations and strategic resourcing. Visit www.efcg.net for more information. About Q Comm International Established in 1992, Q Comm International provides proprietary prepaid transaction processing and information management systems that facilitate electronic recharge or distribution of prepaid products from service providers or their distributors to retail points of sale. Q Comm's solutions replace traditional hard cards (also known as scratch cards or vouchers) that are costly to distribute, and provide more comprehensive reporting and inventory management among other benefits. In concert with its proprietary data center platform, Q Comm's point-of-sale activation (POSA) terminal, Qxpress 200(TM), is currently used by wireless carriers or mobile operators, telecom distributors, and various retailers to sell a wide range of prepaid products and services including prepaid wireless or prepaid mobile, prepaid phone cards, prepaid dial tone and prepaid bank cards, such as prepaid MasterCard. Visit www.qcomm.com for more information. This press release contains forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated due to a number of factors, including the company's financial condition and cash flow, market conditions, and general economic conditions. The company's plans and objectives are based on assumptions involving judgments with respect to future economic, competitive, regulatory and market conditions and future business decisions, all of which are difficult or impossible to predict accurately and many of which are beyond the company's control. Therefore, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events, or otherwise. CONTACT: Elite Financial Communications Group Stephanie Noiseux, 407-585-1080 or Salzwedel Financial Communications Jeff Salzwedel, 503-638-7777 SOURCE: Q Comm International Inc. Today's News On The Net - Business Wire's full file on the Internet with Hyperlinks to your home page. URL: businesswire.com 07/11/2003 07:30 EASTERN Overallotment Option is Exercised in Q Comm Public Offering OREM, Utah--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 14, 2003--Q Comm International Inc. (AMEX:QMM; QMM.U), today announced that Paulson Investment Co., the managing underwriter of Q Comm's recent public offering, has exercised the over allotment option to acquire an additional 165,000 units. The public offering price for the units is $13 per unit, resulting in additional gross proceeds of $2,145,000. Taking into account the over allotment option, the total size of the offering is 1,265,000 units and the total gross proceeds are $16,445,000. About Q Comm International Established in 1992, Q Comm International provides proprietary prepaid transaction processing and information management systems that facilitate electronic recharge or distribution of prepaid products from service providers or their distributors to retail points of sale. Q Comm's solutions replace traditional hard cards (also known as scratch cards or vouchers) that are costly to distribute, and provide more comprehensive reporting and inventory management among other benefits. In concert with its proprietary data center platform, Q Comm's point-of-sale terminal, Qxpress 200(TM), is currently used by wireless carriers or mobile operators, telecom distributors, and various retailers to sell a wide range of prepaid products and services including prepaid wireless or prepaid mobile, prepaid phone cards, prepaid dial tone and prepaid bank cards, such as prepaid MasterCard. This press release contains forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated due to a number of factors, including the company's financial condition and cash flow, market conditions and general economic conditions. The company's plans and objectives are based on assumptions involving judgments with respect to future economic, competitive, regulatory and market conditions and future business decisions, all of which are difficult or impossible to predict accurately and many of which are beyond the company's control. Therefore, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise. CONTACT: Salzwedel Financial Communications Jeff Salzwedel, 503-638-7777 or Q Comm International Inc., Orem Paul Hickey, 801-226-4222, ext. 3301 SOURCE: Q Comm International Inc. Today's News On The Net - Business Wire's full file on the Internet with Hyperlinks to your home page. URL: businesswire.com 07/14/2003 13:18 EASTERN