Crystal Cathedral, the California megachurch founded by televangelist Robert Schuller, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Monday, the Orange Country Register reported.
The church, affiliated with the Reformed Church in America, owes about $7.5 million to unsecured creditors. The bankruptcy filing seeks court protection from its creditors.
The Orange County, Calif. based congregation oversees several costly ministries including the "Hour of Power" TV program and legendary pageants "Glory of Easter'' and the "Glory of Christmas."
In response to its massive $55 million debt, the church has laid off 140 staff, dropped its TV broadcasts in certain markets and canceled its Easter pageant.
Senior pastor Dr. Sheila Schuller Coleman -- the founder's daughter -- said in the statement that she was optimistic the church would come out of these trying times.
She and the ministry was experiencing its best cash flow in 10 years.
The church, designed by architect Philip Johnson and constructed using 10,000 rectangular panes of glass, is a southern California architectural landmark and a noted tourist attraction.
Construction of the cathedral, which seats more than 2700 people, began in 1977 and was completed in 1980, at an estimated cost of $18 million.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Frontier Airlines chief Bryan Bedford goes incognito as flight attendant for 'Undercover Boss'
How much would you pay to have an airline's chief executive hoist your carry-on into an overhead bin or fetch you a cold Diet Coke? Frontier Airlines top dog Bryan Bedford did just that working incognito as a flight attendant during his star turn on the TV reality show "Undercover Boss."
In his high-altitude role on sold-out flights between Denver and San Diego, he got to schmooze with passengers ("I was happy to be in the air, happy to be helpful") and suffer their frustration when the flight was late ("I suspect I may have been the reason for the delay").
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"When you’re doing a job you’ve never done before, you make a lot of mistakes,” says Bedford, whose job performance will be featured in an episode airing Sunday (9 p.m. PST/8 p.m. CST on CBS).
For the uninitiated, "Undercover Boss" each week features top executives who receive training and work side-by-side incognito with their employees. Recent episodes have featured other captains of industry from the travel world: Stephen Joyce of Choice Hotels and Kim Schaefer of Great Wolf Resorts water parks.
In addition to playing flight attendant, Bedford cleaned planes, emptied jets of waste and served as an all-purpose customer service agent who had to cover baggage claim areas as well as the ticket counter.
Bedford, who says he hadn't seen the TV show prior to being contacted about appearing on it, said his time in the trenches provided an opportunity to meet some of the 6,000 employees that were added after a three-way merger of Frontier, Republic and Midwest airlines earlier this year. (His airline is branded under Frontier, though the parent company he heads is Republic Airways).
Among the lessons that Bedford says he learned from his TV stint:
-- Airlines put a big emphasis on courting "high-value" business customers. But for the 70% of customers who are leisure travelers, flying is indelibly linked to whether they're having a good or bad vacation.
"Those leisure customers, we tend to take for granted," Bedford said. "We can’t do that."
-- He has a better appreciation for his front-line workers. After his TV experience, he instituted "town hall"-type meetings each week to better communicate with employees.
Despite his goofs and gaffes, Bedford says he enjoyed learning about his company from beyond the boardroom.
"The in-flight job was my favorite ... when I can sit with customers and have quality one-on-one time with them. It's rare," he says.
In his high-altitude role on sold-out flights between Denver and San Diego, he got to schmooze with passengers ("I was happy to be in the air, happy to be helpful") and suffer their frustration when the flight was late ("I suspect I may have been the reason for the delay").
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* Executive Jet CharterInternational Specialists 24/7 Any aircraft, anytime. aircharter-international.com
* JetsolutionsPrivate Jets & Airliners charter Great Britain, Europe & USA www.jetsolutions.fr
"When you’re doing a job you’ve never done before, you make a lot of mistakes,” says Bedford, whose job performance will be featured in an episode airing Sunday (9 p.m. PST/8 p.m. CST on CBS).
For the uninitiated, "Undercover Boss" each week features top executives who receive training and work side-by-side incognito with their employees. Recent episodes have featured other captains of industry from the travel world: Stephen Joyce of Choice Hotels and Kim Schaefer of Great Wolf Resorts water parks.
In addition to playing flight attendant, Bedford cleaned planes, emptied jets of waste and served as an all-purpose customer service agent who had to cover baggage claim areas as well as the ticket counter.
Bedford, who says he hadn't seen the TV show prior to being contacted about appearing on it, said his time in the trenches provided an opportunity to meet some of the 6,000 employees that were added after a three-way merger of Frontier, Republic and Midwest airlines earlier this year. (His airline is branded under Frontier, though the parent company he heads is Republic Airways).
Among the lessons that Bedford says he learned from his TV stint:
-- Airlines put a big emphasis on courting "high-value" business customers. But for the 70% of customers who are leisure travelers, flying is indelibly linked to whether they're having a good or bad vacation.
"Those leisure customers, we tend to take for granted," Bedford said. "We can’t do that."
-- He has a better appreciation for his front-line workers. After his TV experience, he instituted "town hall"-type meetings each week to better communicate with employees.
Despite his goofs and gaffes, Bedford says he enjoyed learning about his company from beyond the boardroom.
"The in-flight job was my favorite ... when I can sit with customers and have quality one-on-one time with them. It's rare," he says.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
UFO in New York: Is This a UFO Sighting in New York?
UFO in New York: Is This a UFO Sighting in New York? – There seems to be a lot of buzz in UFOs. After the recent UFO sighting in China and inner Mongolia which prompted the halt of airline operations, a new UFO sighting, this time in New York, has been the talk of many speculators.
The UFO sighting buzz came from a lot of twitter chatters. A video has been posted in Youtube about this alleged UFO in New York caught in a day light with clear sky. Some said that it was just a set of balloons flying in the sky while others say that it was just an optical illusion in the sky. Below is a picture shared in Twitter of the alleged UFO in New York:
However, based on some arguments thrown by those who saw the alleged UFO sighting in New York, they cannot be considered as balloons because they are not drifting or moving but they are hovering. Others said it lasted for over 45 minutes so definitely it cannot just be a set of balloons.
A spectator who also saw the alleged UFO in New York posted a video below. What do you think about this alleged UFO in New York? Is this a some sort of a spaceship of what we know as Extra Terrestials or aliens from other planets?
The UFO sighting buzz came from a lot of twitter chatters. A video has been posted in Youtube about this alleged UFO in New York caught in a day light with clear sky. Some said that it was just a set of balloons flying in the sky while others say that it was just an optical illusion in the sky. Below is a picture shared in Twitter of the alleged UFO in New York:
However, based on some arguments thrown by those who saw the alleged UFO sighting in New York, they cannot be considered as balloons because they are not drifting or moving but they are hovering. Others said it lasted for over 45 minutes so definitely it cannot just be a set of balloons.
A spectator who also saw the alleged UFO in New York posted a video below. What do you think about this alleged UFO in New York? Is this a some sort of a spaceship of what we know as Extra Terrestials or aliens from other planets?
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