Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/197448
Wednesday, October 23, 2013 – Daily News 5B Apple unveils new Macs, iPad ahead of holidays SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple Inc. is refreshing its iPad lineup and slashing the price of its Mac computers ahead of the holiday shopping season, as it faces an eroding tablet market share and growing competition from rival gadget makers. Apple unveiled a new, thinner, lighter tablet called the ''iPad Air'' along with a slew of new Macs Tuesday at an event in San Francisco. The iPad Air weighs just 1 pound, compared with 1.4 pounds for the previous version. Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller called the tablet a ''screaming fast iPad.'' He said it is eight times faster than the original iPad that came out in 2010. The iPad Air will go on sale Nov. 1 and start at $499 for a model with 16 gigabytes of memory. Apple plans to phase out its third and fourth generation iPads while the iPad 2, which launched in 2011, continues selling at $399. A new iPad Mini, meanwhile, will be available later in November starting at $399 for a 16-gigabyte model. It has a retina display designed to give it a clearer, sharper picture and the same 64-bit chip that powers the iPad Air. ''I think today was about reestablishing that the iPad is the benchmark for what a good tablet experience should be,'' said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi. ''Too many times when we look at these devices we focus on hardware, not the whole experience.'' The iPad's market share has been eroding compared with cheaper rivals running Google Inc.'s Android operating system. Research firm Gartner Inc. estimates that Android tablets will end 2013 with a 50 percent share of the worldwide market versus 49 percent for the iPad. Just two years ago, the iPad commanded a 65 percent market share com- pared to 30 percent for Android tablets. Apple sold 14.6 milliaon iPads in the June quarter, down 14 percent from the same time last year. It was the first yearover-year decline in iPad sales. Nonetheless, Apple CEO Tim Cook touted that Apple has sold 170 million iPads since the tablets launched three years ago. Tim Bajarin, a Creative Strategies analyst who's followed Apple for more than three decades, said the 64-bit chip in the new iPads makes them the most powerful tablets on the market. Keeping the iPad 2 on store shelves also makes sense, according to the analyst. ''That's the one that's a big hit in Asia and emerging markets,'' Bajarin said. ''It's still got a lot of traction.'' Apple also refreshed its computer lineup. A new, 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display is thinner and lighter, Schiller said, adding that the laptop has up to 9 hours of battery life, enough to watch the entire trilogy of 'The Dark Knight' on one charge. The notebook's new price is lower: $1,299, compared with $1,499 for the previous version. A larger MacBook Pro, with a 15-inch monitor and 256 gigabytes of storage starts at $1,999, compared with $2,199 for the previous version. The Mac Pro, a high-end desktop computer aimed at what Apple calls ''power users,'' will be available in December for $2,999. The company also said that its latest computer operating system, Mavericks, is available free of charge. Apple's new gadgets come not only at a time of toughening competition. They arrive as retailers face an uncertain holiday season following a 16-day partial government shutdown. Retailers say Washington's gridlock has caused people to hold off on shopping, though they hope that this won't last throughout the holiday season. Fla. police have suspects in escaped inmates probe TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — At least seven inmates in Florida have used forged documents in attempts to escape from prison, including two killers who were mistakenly freed because of the paperwork, authorities said Tuesday. Police said they were looking at several suspects in the investigation of the escape of Joseph Jenkins and Charles Walker, but so far they have made no arrests. Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey said the prisoners were not cooperating. ''In law enforcement terms, they've lawyered up,'' Bailey said. ''But we will find the details of what led to these escapes without their help, but should they choose to cooperate, we will have the answers that we need, the answers that we demand sooner rather than later.'' Jenkins and Walker were let out of a Panhandle prison on Sept. 27 and Oct. 8, respectively, because of fake paperwork that reduced their life sentences to 15 years, authorities said. It was Jenkins' second time trying to escape with forged papers. He failed in 2011, Bailey said. Jenkins and Walker were captured Saturday at a Panama City motel. Authorities found an iPad and cellphone there, and they were reviewing them for evidence. Police also want to know how the men got to the motel and who was coming from Atlanta to take them somewhere else. The convicted murderers arrived at the Orange County Jail on Tuesday and were placed in maximum security in two separate locations. It's the same jail where they registered as felons in the days after they Police: Nev. school shooter, 12, got gun from home SPARKS, Nev. (AP) — The 12-year-old student who opened fire on a Nevada middle school campus, wounding two classmates and killing a teacher before he turned the gun on himself, got the weapon from his home, authorities said Tuesday. Washoe County School District police said they are still working to determine how the boy obtained the 9mm semi-automatic Ruger handgun used in the Monday morning spree at Sparks Middle School. The boy's parents are cooperating with authorities and could face charges in the case, police said. Authorities say they're withholding the seventh-grader's name out of respect for his family. At a news conference Tuesday, law enforcement and school officials again lauded the actions of 45-year-old math teacher and former Marine Michael Landsberry, who tried to stop the rampage before he was killed. ''I cannot express enough appreciation for Mr. Landsberry,'' Washoe County School District Superintendent Pedro Martinez said. ''He truly is a hero.'' The violence started before the first bell of the day rang, as students filed off buses and gathered for class. The boy opened fire outside a school building, hitting one 12-year-old student in the shoulder. He then headed toward a basketball court, where he encountered Landsberry. The teacher walked calmly toward the shooter and lifted his hands, asking the boy to hand over his weapon. ''He was telling him to stop and put the gun down,'' student Jose Cazares told NBC's ''Today'' show Tuesday. ''Then the kid, he yelled out 'No!' Like, he was yelling at him, and he shot him.'' Landsberry suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the chest. Still, his actions gave students enough time to run to safety, according to Washoe County School District Police Chief Mike Mieras. Police said they believe the shooter at one point tried to enter the school but couldn't open the door because of emergency lockdown procedures. After killing Landsberry, the boy fired at a second student, hitting him in the abdomen. He then shot himself in the head. The two 12-year-old boys who were wounded are in stable condition and recovering. Authorities provided no motive for the shooting but said they've interviewed 20 or 30 witnesses and are looking into any prior connection the victims had with the shooter. ''Everybody wants to know why — that's the big question,'' Sparks Deputy Police Chief Tom Miller said. ''The answer is, we don't know right now.'' Parents clung to their children at an evacuation center shortly after the shooting while the community struggled to make sense of the latest episode of schoolyard violence, which happened less than a year after the Newtown, Conn., massacre. Sparks, just east of Reno, has a population of roughly 90,000. were released from prison. Hours later, they were ordered back into the custody of the Department of Corrections. Besides the forged documents, forensic examiners were looking at computers and printers seized from the Franklin County prison. So far, there is no indication that any Department of Corrections workers helped the inmates with their escape, but investigators are still looking at any possibilities of an inside job, Bailey said. ''There is no hard evidence that has happened,'' he said. ''If there were, there would be an arrest.'' The mistaken release led the Corrections Department to change its policy for early prisoner releases. It also caused the chief judge in the judicial circuit that covers Orange and Osceola counties in metro Orlando to change how orders are filed in the clerks of courts offices. The forged paperwork that led to the release of Jenkins and Walker was filed in the Orange County Clerk of Courts office. Chief Circuit Judge Belvin Perry signed an order Monday that prohibits judicial orders from being accepted at drop-off boxes. His order also requires judicial assistants to keep a log of all orders to change an inmate's prison sentence. When the clerk's office gets an order to change a sentence, the clerk must verify with the judge or judicial assistant that the order was issued, according to the new measures. While investigating the Walker and Jenkins case, authorities discovered two other prisoners at the Franklin County prison that were in the process of obtaining fake release orders. LEGAL NOTICE CITY OF RED BLUFF – PROFESSIONAL SERVICES REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL(S) (RFP) Labor Standards Compliance Services Community Development Block Grant Project Title 13-CDBG-8936 Contract Number NOTICE INVITING PROPOSALS The City of Red Bluff will receive proposal(s) for professional services for the above project at the Finance Department, 555 Washington Street, Red Bluff, CA 96080, until 4:00 PM, Tuesday, November 12, 2013. DESCRIPTION OF PROFESSIONAL SERVICES DESIRED – The services desired by the City pursuant to this RFP and provisions related to it are described in the following exhibits, which are incorporated herein by this reference. · EXHIBIT "A" – DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT · EXHIBIT "B" – SCOPE OF CONSULTANT SERVICES; COMPLETION SCHEDULE · EXHIBIT "D" – SPECIAL PROVISIONS · EXHIBIT "E" – CONSULTANT SELECTION RATING CRITERIA PROPOSAL AWARD PROVISIONS; REJECTION – A proposal award, if a proposal is awarded, will be made within forty-five (45) days of the above proposal due date to the professional services provider whose proposal complies with the City's requirements as set forth herein and ranks highest as determined by the proposal review committee. The City reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to reject any proposal of which fails to meet the proposal requirements in any respect, to reject all proposal(s) for any reasons whatsoever and to waive minor irregularities in any proposal. PROPOSAL SUBMITTAL REQUIREMENTS – All proposals shall be in compliance with the following requirements. Failure to comply with the requirements shall be grounds for the rejection of a proposal.The proposal shall include: • Statement of Qualifications • Qualifications of Project Team •References •Scope of Work and Work Schedule •Principal Contact •An original (unbound) and five (5) copies of the proposal shall be submitted in writing, signed by an authorized individual of the professional services provider. •The amount proposed as com pensation to the provider for professional services rendered and any related costs to perform the work shall be included within the proposal. •Receipt of and agreement with all exhibits incorporated in the RFP shall be acknowledged. BUSINESS LICENSE – REQUIRED – A professional services provider, and any subcontractor(s), shall obtain a valid, current City of Red Bluff Business License on or before their commencement of work on the above project. PROFESSIONAL LICENSING – The professional services provider, and any subcontractors, shall possess any necessary license(s) relative to the work to be performed required by an appropriate licensing authority of the State of California and shall provide evidence of such to the City with their proposal or prior to commencement of the work in such form as the City shall require. INDEMNIFICATION – REQUIRED – The provider to whom a contract is awarded will be required to indemnify and hold the City harmless from any and all liabilities arising from the provider's performance of the work. Indemnification provisions to this effect will be incorporated in the Professional Services Agreement, which will be executed between the provider selected for the above project and the City. INSURANCE: REQUIRED - The provider to whom a contract is awarded will be required to furnish to the City evidence of insurance coverage(s) in full compliance with the provisions of the RFP. PAYMENT RETENTIONS: SUBSTITUTION OF SECURITIES - Ten percent (10%) will be withheld from each payment made to the professional services provider for work performed and will be held until the final products are approved by the City. Publish Date: October 23, 2013