Mike Ilitchs success made him one of the best known people in Michigan. Detroit Free Press

Tigers owner Chris Ilitch on the field Friday, Feb. 24, 2017 at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Fla.(Photo: Kirthmon F. Dozier, DFP)

Christopher Ilitch has made a good impression on the commissioner.

While speaking with the media on Tuesday afternoon at Comerica Park, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said Ilitch, the Detroit Tigers president and CEO, has been an exciting addition to baseballs ownership group.

I think one of the most exciting additions to our ownership group in recent years has been Chris Ilitchs involvement, Manfred said. Even before he became the control person, hes brought a really intense sense of excitement about the Tigers to our owner meetings and very engaged in a variety of products at the ownership level.

I think Chris Ilitch is going to be a member of our little fraternity for a long time.

More: Rob Manfred: Theres not explanation for more home runs

Dodgers' Chase Utley understands Justin Verlander's dilemma with Tigers

Ilitch, 51, assumed his current role when his father, Mike Ilitch, died in February. Mike Ilitch bought the team in 1992.

While in Detroit, Manfred took a tour of Little Caesars Arena, which will open as the home of the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Pistons next month, and saw the development projectsthe Ilitch companies are undertaking.

I think when you have a day like I had today, its hard not to feel that the future of Detroit and the future of the Tigers is really, really bright, Manfred said.

[Ranking the Tigers' top-10 prospects right now]

At present, though, the team is facing a crossroads of sorts. This season, the Tigers are 54-70, which ranks second-to-last in the American League. They will likely enter a rebuilding phase in the off-season, which could mean a significant stretch of losing baseball.

Christopher Ilitch of Ilitch Holdings stands in front of the Fox Theatre marquee, during the relighting event in Detroit in October 2015.(Photo: Kimberly P. Mitchell, Detroit Free Press)

I think baseball is a very, very difficult game, Manfred said. We have the most competitive postseason in the sense that the fewest teams actually get to the postseason on a percentage basis. I dont think in recent years payroll has been a particularly good predictor of whether or not a particular team is going to win. I think that Chris understands both based on his experience with the Tigers and his experience in hockey that most winning franchises build from within with young players and I think hes going to pursue a strategy that is designed to produce a winner here in Detroit.

Mikie Mahtook ignores his stats, but the Tigers are noticing

Contact Anthony Fenech: afenech@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @anthonyfenech.

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Rob Manfred calls Detroit Tigers owner Chris Ilitch 'exciting addition' - Detroit Free Press

MEMPHIS, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Just in time for late-summer vacations and students returning to college campuses, Terminix, a leading provider of termite and pest control services in the United States and a ServiceMaster (NYSE: SERV) company, released a list of the top 20 bed bug-infested cities in America, based on service requests the company received during the first half of 2017.

The list includes cities across the United States and features the following five top cities: Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, Las Vegas, and Denver. Four states scratched their way onto the list with more than one city: Ohio, Arizona, Pennsylvania and California.

The top 20 cities for bed bug infestations in the United States* are:

The bed bug experts at Terminix say that bed bug infestations have significantly increased since the late 1990s, and while researchers are unsure of the exact causes, factors such as increased international travel and insecticide resistance likely bear some responsibility.

Bed bugs are notoriously difficult to eradicate, said Paul Curtis, director, technical services at Terminix, and they can travel to new locations very easilyhitching a ride on clothing, handbags, suitcases and taxis, which can create substantial infestations in no time.

Without the help of a professional, bed bugs can hide undetected for months. Signs of an infestation include reddish-brown blood spots on sheets or mattresses, a strong musty odor, or sightings of the pests themselves, which are the size, shape and color of an apple seed. Home or business owners who suspect a bed bug problem should contact a pest control company as soon as possible to schedule an inspection.

*This list was created by compiling actual services data from more than 300 Terminix branches across the country. The rankings represent Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) with the highest number of actual services between Jan. 1, 2017 and June 30, 2017.

Terminix

Terminix is the leading provider of termite and pest control services in the United States. Headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., Terminix services approximately 2.8 million residential and commercial customers in 47 states and 22 countries. Terminix provides pest control services and protection against termites, rodents and other pests. Terminix is a business unit of ServiceMaster Global Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SERV), a leading provider of essential residential and commercial services. Terminix is the Official Pest Control Specialist of Minor League BaseballTM. To learn more about Terminix, visit http://www.Terminix.com.

ServiceMaster

ServiceMaster Global Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SERV) is a leading provider of essential residential and commercial services, operating through an extensive service network of more than 8,000 company-owned locations and franchise and license agreements. The companys portfolio of well-recognized brands includes American Home Shield (home warranties), AmeriSpec (home inspections), Furniture Medic (furniture repair), Merry Maids (residential cleaning), ServiceMaster Clean (janitorial), ServiceMaster Restore (disaster restoration) and Terminix (termite and pest control). We serve residential and commercial customers through an employee base of approximately 13,000 company employees and a franchise network that independently employs an estimated 33,000 additional people. The company is headquartered in Memphis, Tenn. Go to http://www.servicemaster.com for more information about ServiceMaster or follow the company at twitter.com/ServiceMaster or facebook.com/ServiceMaster.

Read more here:
Terminix Releases Top 20 Bed Bug Cities List - Business Wire (press release)

Reader Approved

Two Parts:Flushing the HeaterFinishing UpCommunity Q&A

Water heaters should be flushed every one to three years depending on the model and water source. This helps to control the buildup of mineral deposits. Your water heater will operate more efficiently and this will usually extend the life of the heater. Use this guide to flush your water heater.

Part 1

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Part 2

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Are any additives such as distilled vinegar ever used in the flushing/draining process?

wikiHow Contributor

Acid is used but it is a professional task and the acid used will depend on the construction of the heater.

Can I turn off the cold water valve at the tank and take a shower to drain some of the hot water from the tank before I attach the hose to the drain valve? I just hate to waste all that hot water drown the drain!

wikiHow Contributor

That will not work. When you turn off the cold water valve at the top, then no hot water will flow. The best bet is to turn off the heater (gas or electric) and take a shower. The water will slowly get colder as the hot water is used up and replaced by cold.

I cannot get hot water out of my bathroom sink after going through all of the procedures of draining the gas hot water tank. What can I do to get the hot water back in the bathroom sink?

wikiHow Contributor

Check the line from the water heater to the sink. There maybe something blocking the line, a piece of rust if the water heater has a bit of age on it.

What do I do if the water is hot, but gets cold after a few minutes?

wikiHow Contributor

There are many things it could possibly be. 90% of the time, one of the elements have to be replaced (normally the lower one). Then there is the thermostat, the dip tube, sediment, etc.

Does it harm an electric water heater to run it out of hot water when taking a shower?

wikiHow Contributor

No. The tank automatically refills with cold water as the hot is used, so there is no loss in water volume during this time.

Will flushing the water heater help with low water pressure?

wikiHow Contributor

Probably not. Your hot water pipes are probably obstructed, most likely from the plastic stand pipe inside the heater disintegrating and leaving particles in the pipes. You will either need to replace or repair the water heater and flush out the pipes.

How long should it take to completely drain a water heater?

wikiHow Contributor

Probably around 30 minutes.

Why would a water tank not drain?

wikiHow Contributor

You have closed the cold water intake valve and not opened a hot water sink tap to allow the pressure to drain off and allow air into the top of the tank.Like holding the top of a straw filled with water.

Will flushing a hot water heater get rid of the rotten egg smell?

wikiHow Contributor

You may want to check for sulphur in your water if you are on a well-based system.

What can cause only a trickle of water to come out of agarden hose?

wikiHow Contributor

Sediment may be blocking the drain. Mine was so plugged no water would come out at all, so I used a portable air tank to blow air into the drain hose. Always make sure you have a hot water valve open somewhere.

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How to Flush a Water Heater: 13 Steps (with Pictures ...

Earlier this week, Home Depot announced its Q2 earnings, beating Wall Street expectations on all the important metrics. How was the home improvement retailer rewarded? Shares dipped over 3% that same day.

At this point, not even a stellar earnings report can slow down the Amazon effect. Home Depot is currently riding a bubble and Amazon is poised to burst it, as it's been historically keen to do. The e-commerce platform did it before to Circuit City, leading to its bankruptcy 3 years after peak sales, and is doing it again in a number of verticals, like food and industrial supply.

Home Depot will prove to be no exception.

In order to emerge the victor, Amazon doesn't need to replicate all of Home Depot's product catalog to steal away huge chunks of its revenue. Amazon will only need to target the smaller inventory, the pack-and-ship stuff like batteries and bulbs, and offer it at lower prices.

As well, Amazon's deal with Sears to sell Kenmore appliances should send shivers down Home Depot executives' spines, as it's clear Amazon can move further upstream, spreading the disruption.

Alas, Amazon isn't the end of Home Depot's woes. Another reason for the lack of investor confidence is many believe that Home Depot's gross margins have plateaued. It's also suspected that Home Depot's stock has been buoyed for a while by a robust buyback program.

The sustainability of Home Depot's success has been called into question, causing this stock dip in the face of the company's strongest quarter ever. That's the power of the Amazon effect and the fallibility of linear retail growth - it can all be sent toppling.

Home Depot is a home improvement supplies retailer headquartered in Atlanta. Compared to Amazon, it does have a more robust product lineup and a growing focus on professional customers.

The retailer also offers a range of services, from water heater installation to bathroom remodeling, in which customers will be connected with trusted home improvement professionals to fulfill their needs.

Having been in this industry for decades, Home Depot developed a strong sense of brand loyalty with its customers, which has served it well. Unfortunately, that loyalty won't last long if Amazon can successfully duplicates the Home Depot's product and service offerings at a substantially lower price.

If Amazon wanted, it could replicate Home Depot's services, much like it did with Best Buy. In July, Amazon tanked Best Buy's shares over 7.5% (see below) on the news that it would launch its own Geek Squad competitor to help customers set up and fix gadgets, particularly the Alexa-enabled ones.

Amazon already has a division for selling professional services, where individuals can register to perform handyman services and more, akin to Handy and TaskRabbit. While not heavily marketed, a little bit of branding can easily bill it as a top source for home improvement sources and erode one of Home Depot's key defensive moats.

Amazon's size and scope enable it to scale virtually any new business unit it wants, so it wouldn't take much for Home Depot to completely lose this advantage.

Others cite Home Depot's ability to sell large products another competitive advantage over Amazon, but the aforementioned deal with Sears and Amazon's growing furniture delivery logistics will eventually render that moat moot.

Aside from the direct competition, Home Depot's margins wouldn't survive an indirect Amazon assault. If Amazon really targets the smaller products, like light bulbs, tools, and anything else on Home Depot's shelves, the big box retailer's margins will evaporate, forcing it to shrink to stay alive.

The Amazon threat is real and existential. Home Depot can't merely rest on its laurels - it needs to innovate fast.

Amazon shouldn't be the only headache for Home Depot. Housing starts are experiencing a sharp decline, which will send the whole market into a slump, which will necessarily decrease Home Depot's sales.

In the face of this slump and a falling stock, Home Depot's gains mean little. Amazon has never been better poised to cause painful disruption, so the home improvement chain needs to strategize and innovate to survive.

Of course, the only way to defend against or beat a marketplace is to build one of its own. Home Depot needs to create a network of hardware stores nationwide, everything from solo mom-and-pops to regional chains, and facilitate sales through this network.

As well, investing heavily in growing its base of service providers would serve the company well in staving off Amazon's own services offering. That's a low-cost source of revenue that also yields strong loyalty. Upgrading the offerings and making the process less frictional on both sides is key to bolstering that strategy.

Finally, Home Depot needs to evaluate a long-term reorganization. Ralph Whitworth will probably roll in his grave at this notion, but Home Depot should explore reuniting with HD Supply, which was a business-facing unit sold off a decade ago for over $10 billion.

HD Supply's been having a rough summer since its board sold off the Waterworks division, which had the best margins in the whole company. Since then, the stock has taken a beating, cratering around 25%, and the company's struggled to meet earnings expectations.

A newly restored Home Depot would be a big customer, allowing it to negotiate better prices from its suppliers and help margins. It already has the logistics network for moving large quantities of large products to stock its stores, so moving them to fill business orders wouldn't be too much of a strain.

Finally, it can serve any kind of customer that needs nails, bulbs, lumber, or any building material at scale, from weekend warriors and homeowners to massive construction firms and factories.

Serving as both a retailer and a distributor would give Home Depot more room to breathe in the wake of the Amazon effect and, ideally, more time to build its marketplace.

Read the original post:
Not Even Home Depot Is Safe From Amazon - Inc.com

Prime Heaters, a water-Heaters Information source, has launched a new website. The company announced earlier today they have launched a new website to cover information regarding tankless water heaters.

Prime Heaters, which is a popular information source for people who need water heaters, announced that the creation of a special website was the best decision for their customers. Felix Wood, the companys CEO, earlier in the morning said that the high growth for tankless water heaters demands special attention. Felix announced that his companys dedication providing rich and informative news about the fast-growing types of water heaters pushed them to launch a new website.

In the recent past, weve seen tankless water heaters hit the market at a fast rate. Well-known brands are now venturing into the business of tankless water heaters. Unfortunately, few brands explain to customers the in depths of tankless water heaters. We want to fill this void by providing consumers with resourceful bits of information about tankless water heaters. Felix explained.

Created to enhance the user experience, Prime Heater new website, http://www.primeheaters.com, holds multiple features to enable easy filtering of useful content, contacts to the companys writers and easily sort for reviews related to specific types of tankless water heaters. According to Anne Taylor, writer and the spokesperson for the new site, customers no longer have to sort through dozens of review sites to get useful information about tankless water heaters. Anne adds that writers dedicated for the new website are all highly qualified and experienced enough to find in depth and helpful information to customers.

People who will be visiting our new site will be able to sort through articles to find the exact information about tankless water heaters. We have included a sort feature to help visitors sort through articles for the specific information about tankless water heaters they want, Anne notes. Again, we have not just created an attractive website. Its assigned to writes with a deep understanding about tankless water heaters. Anne added.

Prime Heaters has been actively providing information about water heaters for the past five years through private forum. The sites information ranges from news about all types of water heaters to reviews about conventional water heaters. With the launch of the new website, Felix, the CEO hopes to expand their information reach to the huge consumer market interested in the new type of water heaters.

About Prime Heaters

We keep you up-to-date with the latest information about water heaters and your water heating needs through our blog primeheaters.com.

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Prime Heaters Launches New Site Dedicated to Tankless Water Heaters - PRUnderground (press release)

BENICIA >> Tuesdays City Council meeting covered so much ground, that the cannabis legalization discussion had to be moved to September. But there was plenty of time left for the city to get feedback on the new master fee schedule for services.

The city recently audited all the fees it charges for everything from permits to install a water heater, to building a condominium, to the police responding to a false alarm at a house.

The city had been running deficits and under-recovering for years, which is a way of saying they were spending more on services than they recouped in fees.

The overall costs for services is a macro number that takes into account labor, overhead, and anything else that requires city staff oversight.

The city estimated that only 30 percent of costs were being recovered. With the new proposed schedule, the recovery rate will be 60 percent, with a 40 percent deficit that will most likely be made up by the general fund.

But all of that translates to some fees increasing by as high as 400 percent, a hefty number that hasnt gone over well with residents and business owners.

Gina Eleccion, management analyst and a main architect of the new fee schedule, spearheaded a long study examining existing rates and eventually proposing these latest adjustments.

Some are going up, some are going down, but overall, more revenue will be generated for the city provided people actually apply for permits and not blow them off due to cost.

City Manager Lorie Tinfow defended the fee increases by saying that the citys deficits havent just meant less money coming in than going out, but they have affected the citys ability to attract staff.

Retention issues (mean that) we cannot keep up with the market for salaries and benefits, she said at Tuesdays meeting. Weve lost people. Thats why we are really doing this. We cant keep up with the growing costs.

Beyond being able to offer competitive salaries, there are also contractual pension issues that will be ongoing.

One criticism lobbed at the council from unhappy constituents was the idea that a city should run itself like a business dont pay out more than you take in.

Councilmember Alan Schwartzman has tackled this criticism on more than one occasion, but he addressed it again on Tuesday. Numbers of people say, Why dont you run the city like a business? Well, here we are looking at the cost of doing business, and were not anywhere close in some of these different departments and areas, he said, referring to the under-recovery for services. If you are in business and your costs are going up, what do you do? At some particular point you may have to raise prices.

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So council and mayor unanimously agreed that fees had to go up. The question was, by how much?

Councilmembers focused in on line items in the fee schedule, zeroing in on things like bicycle licenses to taxi permits, and whether or not they are even needed.

Other council members like Mark Hughes wanted to see the most common fees for homeowners reduced.

None of this addressed any anger some constituents had with the overall state of affairs, a few of which spoke during the public comments section of the meeting.

A realtor addressed the council and offered that if fees are too high, people might have less incentive to pull permits in the first place. She also noted that when the proper channels are followed, home improvements are officially noted and property taxes can go up, which is good for the city.

Other residents spoke out about excessive fees and overregulation in government in general.

Resident Wayne Fisher took to the podium and said he was renovating his house and he saw that some fees will be increasing by more than 300 percent. The reality is, you dont know the impact this will have, he said. We heard earlier today from people with their water bills. That was a big increase with unintended consequences. You are facing a similar situation with these increases. If you dont know what [the impact is] you shouldnt increase it. I urge the council to vote no, he said.

Others have taken to social media to decry the new fees, arguing that the permit structure wasnt examined thoroughly and that there was no examination of past permits and their individual rates.

Eleccion did indeed look at old permits and their impacts and rates, but in some cases its an apples to oranges comparison since some fees have switched from a valuation model to piecemeal. For example, if a homeowner was applying for a permit to put in a new kitchen estimated at $50,000, a flat rate wouldve be applied. With the new fee schedule, homeowners will now in some instances pay for each job involved with a project, such as new windows, a new floor, or a new water heater.

When the discussion moved back to council, the mayor asked how Benicia compares to neighboring areas and what they charge for fees.

Eleccion said that we did find ourselves much lower than those cities, though a side-by-side comparison is hard to make since all towns break their numbers down differently.

The mayor then asked what the consequences would be if the new fees were not enacted.

City Manager Lorie Tinfow said the budget would stay as-is, and the reserves would be down below 20 percent. She mentioned that some Measure C funds are unprogrammed and could be an option, and that there were other options that she could look into.

Councilmember Mark Hughes agreed to an increase in fees, but said hed like to re-examine the higher permit fees for the things homeowners will most often need, like new water heaters, roofs, or furnaces.

Schwartzman concurred and said it was a fact of life that prices have to be raised at times. Were trying to run a city here, and everybody in this room counts on services. When the costs go up, what do we do? If we dont have enough money to cover it weve got to get it from some place. We can raise taxes or we can raise fees. We dont have a choice.

Cutting services is an option, he said, but no one wants to do that.

Each councilmember had quibbles with particular fees, but it was determined that they could be changed on down the line after the fees are adopted.

Ultimately, the fee increases were approved, with some reductions in proposed permit charges for new water heaters, furnaces, windows, kitchens, and bathrooms.

Staff will come back later with recommendations for more adjustments, the mayor said.

We need to hold ourselves to the promise of being more effective and efficient, said Patterson. The alternative is really reducing services, and none of us want to do that.

So buckle up, Benicia: fees are going to rise starting Oct. 16.

Continued here:
Benicia City Council approves revamped fee rates for services - Vallejo Times Herald

BOSTON (CBS) After more than 30 years living in the same home, a Southboro couple decided to take on a big kitchen remodel. It didnt turn out exactly as they had planned and thats when they reached out to I-Teams Call 4 Action.

My wifes dream kitchen has been somewhat destroyed because of this situation, explain John Pomfred.

If somebody sells me cabinets I want them to look like they did in the store, said his wife, Sue.

Heres the white line we are referring to, John said as he traced his finger up the edge of a cabinet door.

That white line, is actually a stripe of unstained wood that is revealed or concealed as the wood expands and contracts.

Cabinet with white line showing (WBZ-TV)

Then we realized theres a problem all over the kitchen. Somedays they would be extremely wide, the white lines, and somedays they would be hardly noticeable, John told WBZ-TV.

For two-and-a-half years, John and Sue have been working with Lowes and the manufacturer, Diamond Masterbrand, to fix the issue with their $16,000 cabinets. Replacement doors were ordered twice but the new doors had the same problem. Touch-ups didnt seem to work either.

We are at our wits end and we are frustrated beyond belief. Thats when I called the I-Team, explained John.

When the I-Teams Call 4 Action got involved, Masterbrand agreed to a third attempt to replace the defective doors.

Kitchen remodel (WBZ-TV)

They were approved by John and Sue and they were just installed. In a statement Masterbrand says, Our team worked over the past year to remedy this situation we want our customers to love their new cabinets, and we take their satisfaction seriously.

John and Sue tell us they havent seen any unstained wood on the new doors but the company has agreed to return if any new problems pop up.

When I originally called Call 4 Action, we got action, said John.

If youre having trouble getting results on a consumer complaint let us know about it. Call us at 617-787-7070 or email uswbzcallforaction@cbs.com.

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I-Team's Call 4 Action Helps Couple With Failed Remodeling Job - CBS Boston / WBZ

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., on Friday rejected the idea that he would soon join the Trump administration as energy secretary.

Manchin told a town hall crowd at the West Virginia State Fair on Friday that he won't leave to join President Trump's cabinet, a Senate aide confirmed. Manchin is up for re-election in 2018.

A Wall Street Journal reporter also tweeted his remarks and said he won cheers for saying he wouldn't join the administration.

A decision to join the Trump administration would have opened the door for the GOP to try again on Obamacare repeal since Republican Gov. Jim Justice would likely appoint a Republican to fill the seat.

Manchin's name has been floated as a replacement for Rick Perry, who may leave the energy post to become the director of the Department of Homeland Security. That post is open after Gen. John Kelly left to serve as White House chief of staff.

Currently, there is a 52-48 GOP majority in the Senate. The GOP can only afford two defections on any legislation, as Vice President Pence could break a 50-50 tie.

While Manchin says he is staying put, there could be other shuffles in the Senate.

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., is expected to go to trial in less than a month to fight corruption charges. If Menendez loses then he would leave the Senate and Republican Gov. Chris Christie would appoint a replacement, also likely a Republican.

Christie is expected to leave office in January 2018.

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Joe Manchin won't join Trump's Cabinet - Washington Examiner - Washington Examiner

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U.S is 200 days into a Trump presidency and a lot has happened. While most decisions taken by the Trump Administration have been controversial in some way or the other, this has made it difficult for people to follow whats going. While the travel ban and a few other terms have been flying around, heres a quick run down of all the decisions Trump Administration has taken so far in case it comes up at a dinner party.

1. Paris Climate AgreementIn 2016, World leaders from 195 nations across the globe united against climate change through the United Nations Framework Convention by agreeing to curb greenhouse gas emissions. While America has always preferred to be a spectator in talks regarding curbing of GHGS, the Trump cabinet went a step further. In June 2017 Trump cabinet withdrew from the accord, as Trump felt that the US was getting a raw deal out of it and that it was unfair to the US Economy. He believed it would cost the US $3 trillion in lost GDP and 6.5 million jobs, leaving the US impoverished. However, as matters stand today, the United States is not only the worlds largest economy but also, cumulatively, its largest greenhouse gas emitter. Hence its pulling out significantly weakens the global climate commitment towards the planet.

2.Healthcare Bill

One of the 1st orders of business for the Trump cabinet was to repeal ObamaCare. But the Trump cabinets replacement plan wasnt all that great which led even Republicans rejecting it saying it wasnt enough to just repeal ObamaCare. A second draft of the bill was submitted as well, but Republicans seem divided over the decision. With the plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare still hanging in balance, trump is in the hot seat.

Heres the whole scoop on the U.S Healthcare Bill

3.Travel Ban

The Travel ban is probably the most talked about decision of the Trump cabinet.In January 2017, Trump released an executive order barring entry into US for citizens from 7 Muslimcountries namely Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, as he believed that the immigrants and refugees from these countries posed a serious security threat. He also called for the US to suspend resettling refugees from these regions until extreme vetting procedures can be implemented, including ideological tests to screen out extremists. While the policy got entangled in many lawsuits and 2 attempts by Trump to implement the ban were blocked by U.S courts. the Supreme Court ruled for the partial implementation of the policy and allowed the Trump administration to go ahead with the 90 days ban on visitors from the remaining 6countries and 120 days suspension of US refugee settlements, but asked the White House to ease down on the travel restrictions with respect to the relatives of the existing immigrants in the country.

Just in case you want to know more about the Travel ban

4. Multiple Firings

Ever since Trump assumed the office of POTUS, there have been dismissals galore of various top officials.While Acting Attorney general Sally Yates was fired for asking the travel ban to not be imposed.FBI Director James Comey was let go for his probe into the Russian investigation. Press secretary Sean Spicer resigned after the President appointed Anthony Scaramucci (an unworthy recruit in Spicers opinion) as his communications director. Right after Scaramuccis appointment, White House Chief of Staff, Reince Priebus was fired 10 days into his job after Scaramucci accused him of leaking information to the media and called him an ineffective Chief of staff.

5.Transgender restrictions

The Trumps administration has taken a series of deliberate steps against the transgender community. In February, the administration withdrew federal protection of transgender students that allowed them to use bathrooms of the gender they identified with in schools. This led to to a full blown debate within the Trump administration itself, but finally the bathroom bill was passed. To add to this, he recently banned transgenders from joining the army and claimed this was because ofthe tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. With about 6,000 or so transgender troops already serving in the military,whether it would it bar trans people from joining the military going forward, or would it force the military to discharge trans people who are already serving is still to be seen.

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Trump Administration: Things That May Come Up At A Dinner Party - WTDnews (blog)

Former Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo. LYN RILLON

No replacement has been named so far for former Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo after her rejection by the Commission on Appointments (CA) on Wednesday, according to presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella.

Taguiwalo was the third Cabinet member rejected by the CA.

Abella said President Duterte had supported her despite their different views, but he has to respect the CAs decision.

We wish Secretary Taguiwalo all the best in her future endeavors. She knows she will always have the Presidents gratitude and friendship for the time, albeit brief, that they spent together in the service of our people, Abella said.

Mr. Duterte had given her his full trust and support even when she sided with leftist groups opposing the Presidents positions, he said.

The social activist-educator would remain the Presidents friend, Abella said.

Abella also said it did not seem likely that Vice President Leni Robredo would replace Taguiwalo as suggested by some netizens, as there might be conditionalities that may not be too favorable regarding that.

Abella was also asked about the results of poll that Assistant Communications Secretary Mocha Uson conducted on her personal Twitter account on who should replace Taguiwalo.

As of Friday afternoon, Leni had 82 percent of the vote. The other options were others, Assistant Social Welfare Secretary Lorraine Badoy, and Prieto-Teodoro, presumably referring to former lawmaker Monica Prieto-Teodoro.

But Abella said Mr. Duterte has a different set of categories when it comes to deciding on Taguiwalos replacement.

Im sure the President has other ways of measuring a candidates capability aside from surveys, he said.

As for Robredo, he said there were conditions that work against the idea of naming her to the post.

He noted that Robredo had resigned from her Cabinet position as housing chief.

Im not saying no for Leni. Im just saying that it seems to be a difficult choice, he said.

Robredo, a top official of the Liberal Party, resigned from the Cabinet after she was told to stop attending meetings.

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Palace: No replacement yet for Taguiwalo - Inquirer.net