Dolly Has Halifax singing 9 to 5
Monday, November 14, 2005
Dolly has Halifax singing '9 to 5'
New music venue may employ 2,500
Thousands attend the groundbreaking for Carolina Crossroads Music and Entertainment District, just off Interstate 95 in Halifax County. Backers promise thousands of jobs.
Staff Photo by Chuck Liddy
Jerry Allegood, Staff Writer
With "I Saw the Light" and a revival's fervor, Dolly Parton and brother Randy on Friday launched a $129 million country music complex that residents hope will be the salvation of a stagnant economy.
An estimated 10,000 people turned out for a groundbreaking of the Carolina Crossroads Music and Entertainment District, just off Interstate 95 in Halifax County. They thronged a stage built on the site of a 1,500-seat theater that will be the centerpiece of the 750-acre complex, meant to compete with Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Branson, Mo.
"I wouldn't have missed this for anything in the world," said Dolly Parton, who brought along a cadre of Grand Ole Opry veterans. "You're definitely going to be in for some great entertainment."
Many hoped they would also be in for some great jobs. Backers say 2,500 people eventually will work at the complex. "It's going to bring much-needed employment," said Freda Sexton of Roanoke Rapids, who held a large "I love you Dolly" sign.
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"It will change the whole face of the community," said Alton Anderson, a Weldon physician.
Roanoke Rapids, a town of about 17,000 near the Virginia border, is on one of the country's busiest interstates. But for years, the region's economy has sagged as residents have seen their jobs shipped abroad. While North Carolina's urban centers have thrived, Roanoke Rapids and other rural areas have seen their young people leave, their downtowns decay and their hopes wither.
Population in what the Census Bureau calls the Roanoke Rapids micropolitan area -- the town and the outlying areas dependent on it -- declined from 79,456 in 2000 to about 77,352 in 2005. Projections had called for a decline of 2.6 percent by 2010.
'Economic engine'
Boosters say that with the addition of motels, stores and recreational activities, Randy Parton's project will become a major tourist attraction and bring in some of the thousands of cars that speed by each day. Some see the entertainment and service industry jobs as a way to overcome setbacks from the loss of textile jobs that largely built the area.
"It's going to break the region wide open," Dan Brown, head of the Roanoke Rapids Sanitary District, said in an interview after the ceremony. "We're going to convert a farm into an economic engine."
He said the area once had about 3,000 textile jobs. "There is literally zero now," he said.
The old textile mills downtown are disappearing. A smokestack stands over rubble around one mill that is being demolished. Several blocks away, the red brick buildings of another are shuttered and silent.
Brenda West, whose family has operated West and Sons Garage across the street from the closed plant since 1976, said the area was bustling with people and traffic when the textile plants were operating.
"People would leave their cars here," West said in the garage office. "That parking lot over there would be full."
Now, she said, there is talk of making the plant site into apartments or condos, another transition from the neighborhoods of small houses where mill employees lived.
Beverly Massey put up a "Welcome Carolina Crossroads" message on the sign in front of her small gift shop in Roanoke Rapids. She said she hoped the entertainment center would bring more people into town and into her shop.
Gladys Mobley, who was helping out in the store Friday, worked at a J.P. Stevens plant for 15 years. She remembers when textile employees kept businesses along Roanoke Avenue bustling. "Roanoke Rapids has been dormant for so long, it needs something to liven it up," she said.
Cheers for Parton
Outside town, Dolly Parton, who has been expertly working crowds since she joined Porter Wagoner's television show in 1967, was hard at work.
The audience politely applauded entertainers including Jim Ed Brown, Helen Cornelius, Jan Howard, Ray Pillow, Jeannie Seely and Billy Walker. Only when Dolly bounded onto the stage did they break into cheers.
She told the crowd she would be on a television program next week with Elton John. "I don't know what kind of dress he's going to wear, but mine's going to be gold and white," she said.
The Partons sang "God Bless America" and "The Star-Spangled Banner" and took turns at the microphone with the other performers for "I Saw the Light."
"It's unbelievable that we're going to be better than Branson, Mo.," Roanoke Rapids Mayor Drewery N. Beale told the crowd.
Staff writer Jerry Allegood can be reached in Greenville at (252) 752-8411 or jerrya@newsobserver.com.
New music venue may employ 2,500
Thousands attend the groundbreaking for Carolina Crossroads Music and Entertainment District, just off Interstate 95 in Halifax County. Backers promise thousands of jobs.
Staff Photo by Chuck Liddy
Jerry Allegood, Staff Writer
With "I Saw the Light" and a revival's fervor, Dolly Parton and brother Randy on Friday launched a $129 million country music complex that residents hope will be the salvation of a stagnant economy.
An estimated 10,000 people turned out for a groundbreaking of the Carolina Crossroads Music and Entertainment District, just off Interstate 95 in Halifax County. They thronged a stage built on the site of a 1,500-seat theater that will be the centerpiece of the 750-acre complex, meant to compete with Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Branson, Mo.
"I wouldn't have missed this for anything in the world," said Dolly Parton, who brought along a cadre of Grand Ole Opry veterans. "You're definitely going to be in for some great entertainment."
Many hoped they would also be in for some great jobs. Backers say 2,500 people eventually will work at the complex. "It's going to bring much-needed employment," said Freda Sexton of Roanoke Rapids, who held a large "I love you Dolly" sign.
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"It will change the whole face of the community," said Alton Anderson, a Weldon physician.
Roanoke Rapids, a town of about 17,000 near the Virginia border, is on one of the country's busiest interstates. But for years, the region's economy has sagged as residents have seen their jobs shipped abroad. While North Carolina's urban centers have thrived, Roanoke Rapids and other rural areas have seen their young people leave, their downtowns decay and their hopes wither.
Population in what the Census Bureau calls the Roanoke Rapids micropolitan area -- the town and the outlying areas dependent on it -- declined from 79,456 in 2000 to about 77,352 in 2005. Projections had called for a decline of 2.6 percent by 2010.
'Economic engine'
Boosters say that with the addition of motels, stores and recreational activities, Randy Parton's project will become a major tourist attraction and bring in some of the thousands of cars that speed by each day. Some see the entertainment and service industry jobs as a way to overcome setbacks from the loss of textile jobs that largely built the area.
"It's going to break the region wide open," Dan Brown, head of the Roanoke Rapids Sanitary District, said in an interview after the ceremony. "We're going to convert a farm into an economic engine."
He said the area once had about 3,000 textile jobs. "There is literally zero now," he said.
The old textile mills downtown are disappearing. A smokestack stands over rubble around one mill that is being demolished. Several blocks away, the red brick buildings of another are shuttered and silent.
Brenda West, whose family has operated West and Sons Garage across the street from the closed plant since 1976, said the area was bustling with people and traffic when the textile plants were operating.
"People would leave their cars here," West said in the garage office. "That parking lot over there would be full."
Now, she said, there is talk of making the plant site into apartments or condos, another transition from the neighborhoods of small houses where mill employees lived.
Beverly Massey put up a "Welcome Carolina Crossroads" message on the sign in front of her small gift shop in Roanoke Rapids. She said she hoped the entertainment center would bring more people into town and into her shop.
Gladys Mobley, who was helping out in the store Friday, worked at a J.P. Stevens plant for 15 years. She remembers when textile employees kept businesses along Roanoke Avenue bustling. "Roanoke Rapids has been dormant for so long, it needs something to liven it up," she said.
Cheers for Parton
Outside town, Dolly Parton, who has been expertly working crowds since she joined Porter Wagoner's television show in 1967, was hard at work.
The audience politely applauded entertainers including Jim Ed Brown, Helen Cornelius, Jan Howard, Ray Pillow, Jeannie Seely and Billy Walker. Only when Dolly bounded onto the stage did they break into cheers.
She told the crowd she would be on a television program next week with Elton John. "I don't know what kind of dress he's going to wear, but mine's going to be gold and white," she said.
The Partons sang "God Bless America" and "The Star-Spangled Banner" and took turns at the microphone with the other performers for "I Saw the Light."
"It's unbelievable that we're going to be better than Branson, Mo.," Roanoke Rapids Mayor Drewery N. Beale told the crowd.
Staff writer Jerry Allegood can be reached in Greenville at (252) 752-8411 or jerrya@newsobserver.com.
Show Sued Over Copyright Issues
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Published November 17, 2004
Show sued over copyright issues
Songs' owners say Branson's "50's At The Hop" used material without license.
Nedra Culp performs at '50's At The Hop' in Branson. A suit filed against the show is seeking $750 to $30,000 in damage for using copyrighted songs without permission.
Nedra Culp performs at "50's At The Hop" in Branson. A suit filed against the show is seeking $750 to $30,000 in damage for using copyrighted songs without permission.
News-Leader File Photo, 2001
By Ryan Slight
News-Leader
Women in poodle skirts and guys with greased hair in a Branson production shouldn't be dancing to "Rock Around the Clock."
The "50's At The Hop" show is performing that and six other copyrighted tunes without permission, according to a federal lawsuit filed by several music companies.
Kansas City attorney Christopher Brandt, who represents the songs' owners, asked U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple last week to restrain the production from using the songs.
Brandt requested damages ranging from $750 to $30,000 per song against Rock and Roll Music Corporation and its president, Krystal Rene Snow, in his complaint filed at Springfield's federal courthouse.
"We've asked them many times to obtain the necessary license and they've refused to do so," said Andy Schaeffer, a New York attorney with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).
Snow referred comment to Branson attorney Hank Griffin, who said he had not seen the complaint this week and could not discuss the allegations.
The "50's At The Hop" show performs more than 50 songs recalling rock 'n' roll music's inception, according to the production's Web site. It is staged at the Jim Stafford Theatre.
Brandt alleged the defendants did not seek or obtain a license agreement for certain tunes with the companies or ASCAP. Some of the companies are owned by Time Warner or General Electric.
The copyrighted songs reportedly performed on July 31 at "50's At The Hop" were "Rock Around The Clock," "It's My Party," "Unchained Melody," "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes," "Charlie Brown," "Witch Doctor" and "Are You Lonesome Tonight?"
ASCAP — a membership organization representing hundreds of thousands of music creators — grants businesses a license to perform a wide spectrum of copyrighted music publicly for a fee. The songs' creators get distributions of the proceeds.
License fees vary for theaters based on factors such as seating capacity, the number of shows and ticket prices, Schaeffer said.
ASCAP has licensing individuals go to public venues such as theaters and offer licenses and explain the need for them, he said.
If a theater does not comply, ASCAP will send a private investigator to a performance to get copyright infringement evidence for court, the attorney said.
"Most places in Branson comply with the law and have a license," Schaeffer said. He was unaware of current action against any other theater.
According to ASCAP, there are a few limited venues where permission is not needed for public performances, such as a church. However, churches would need a license if their services were broadcast on radio or television.
The "50's At The Hop" show is not the first Branson production taken to court by copyrighted song owners.
Several sued the Positive Country Theater in 1999 for allegedly using such songs as "Let It Snow" and "Jingle Bells" without permission. Schaeffer was unaware whether that case was ever resolved.
Show sued over copyright issues
Songs' owners say Branson's "50's At The Hop" used material without license.
Nedra Culp performs at '50's At The Hop' in Branson. A suit filed against the show is seeking $750 to $30,000 in damage for using copyrighted songs without permission.
Nedra Culp performs at "50's At The Hop" in Branson. A suit filed against the show is seeking $750 to $30,000 in damage for using copyrighted songs without permission.
News-Leader File Photo, 2001
By Ryan Slight
News-Leader
Women in poodle skirts and guys with greased hair in a Branson production shouldn't be dancing to "Rock Around the Clock."
The "50's At The Hop" show is performing that and six other copyrighted tunes without permission, according to a federal lawsuit filed by several music companies.
Kansas City attorney Christopher Brandt, who represents the songs' owners, asked U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple last week to restrain the production from using the songs.
Brandt requested damages ranging from $750 to $30,000 per song against Rock and Roll Music Corporation and its president, Krystal Rene Snow, in his complaint filed at Springfield's federal courthouse.
"We've asked them many times to obtain the necessary license and they've refused to do so," said Andy Schaeffer, a New York attorney with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).
Snow referred comment to Branson attorney Hank Griffin, who said he had not seen the complaint this week and could not discuss the allegations.
The "50's At The Hop" show performs more than 50 songs recalling rock 'n' roll music's inception, according to the production's Web site. It is staged at the Jim Stafford Theatre.
Brandt alleged the defendants did not seek or obtain a license agreement for certain tunes with the companies or ASCAP. Some of the companies are owned by Time Warner or General Electric.
The copyrighted songs reportedly performed on July 31 at "50's At The Hop" were "Rock Around The Clock," "It's My Party," "Unchained Melody," "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes," "Charlie Brown," "Witch Doctor" and "Are You Lonesome Tonight?"
ASCAP — a membership organization representing hundreds of thousands of music creators — grants businesses a license to perform a wide spectrum of copyrighted music publicly for a fee. The songs' creators get distributions of the proceeds.
License fees vary for theaters based on factors such as seating capacity, the number of shows and ticket prices, Schaeffer said.
ASCAP has licensing individuals go to public venues such as theaters and offer licenses and explain the need for them, he said.
If a theater does not comply, ASCAP will send a private investigator to a performance to get copyright infringement evidence for court, the attorney said.
"Most places in Branson comply with the law and have a license," Schaeffer said. He was unaware of current action against any other theater.
According to ASCAP, there are a few limited venues where permission is not needed for public performances, such as a church. However, churches would need a license if their services were broadcast on radio or television.
The "50's At The Hop" show is not the first Branson production taken to court by copyrighted song owners.
Several sued the Positive Country Theater in 1999 for allegedly using such songs as "Let It Snow" and "Jingle Bells" without permission. Schaeffer was unaware whether that case was ever resolved.
Tourism Board Plans For Future Marketing
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Tourism board plans for future marketing
By Cliff Sain
BDN Staff Writer
It was a four-year struggle to get a new marketing tax approved by voters Tuesday, but now the real work begins.
Kent Turner, chairman of the tourism district board of directors, said he's currently trying to determine when he can get the seven-member board together for a meeting. The board's next step will be to solicit proposals from companies interested in being the tax board's marketing agent. Turner said he hopes that some of the tax money can be used for a winter ad campaign in late 2006.
“The state won't start collecting the tax until next April, so we won't get those funds until late next year,” Turner said. “The plan is to be able to have a 2007 marketing campaign and maybe something for late 2006.”
Turner said the board will most likely want to work on a three-year contract.
The 1-cent sales tax will be collected on businesses within the tourism tax district, which encompasses Branson, Indian Point village, Silver Dollar City and State Park Marina. It was approved by voters who live in the district. It's expected to raise $6 million a year.
Turner said it was encouraging to see that the tax passed with more than 58 percent of the vote. When it was presented to voters in February 2002, it failed with only 42 percent voter support.
“I was optimistically hoping we'd win by a narrow margin,” Turner said. “It surprised a lot of people.”
Turner said a lot of people deserve credit for passage, including several who manned telephones in the final days to get the word out about the tax. But much of the credit he said goes to Ann McDowell, who directed the campaign committee dedicated to getting the word out about why many felt the tax was crucial to the area's future.
“Ann ran an aggressive campaign,” Turner said.
Currently, the city of Branson collects a 4-cent sales tax on hotels and ticketed attractions and a half-cent on restaurants. That tax raises approximately $2.5 million a year that the Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce uses to market the area. Turner said the additional $6 million will allow the area to reach more people more often.
“We can go wider, and we can go deeper into our markets,” he said. “Our goal is to attract more first-time visitors. We are convinced that if we can get them here, they'll keep coming back.”
By Cliff Sain
BDN Staff Writer
It was a four-year struggle to get a new marketing tax approved by voters Tuesday, but now the real work begins.
Kent Turner, chairman of the tourism district board of directors, said he's currently trying to determine when he can get the seven-member board together for a meeting. The board's next step will be to solicit proposals from companies interested in being the tax board's marketing agent. Turner said he hopes that some of the tax money can be used for a winter ad campaign in late 2006.
“The state won't start collecting the tax until next April, so we won't get those funds until late next year,” Turner said. “The plan is to be able to have a 2007 marketing campaign and maybe something for late 2006.”
Turner said the board will most likely want to work on a three-year contract.
The 1-cent sales tax will be collected on businesses within the tourism tax district, which encompasses Branson, Indian Point village, Silver Dollar City and State Park Marina. It was approved by voters who live in the district. It's expected to raise $6 million a year.
Turner said it was encouraging to see that the tax passed with more than 58 percent of the vote. When it was presented to voters in February 2002, it failed with only 42 percent voter support.
“I was optimistically hoping we'd win by a narrow margin,” Turner said. “It surprised a lot of people.”
Turner said a lot of people deserve credit for passage, including several who manned telephones in the final days to get the word out about the tax. But much of the credit he said goes to Ann McDowell, who directed the campaign committee dedicated to getting the word out about why many felt the tax was crucial to the area's future.
“Ann ran an aggressive campaign,” Turner said.
Currently, the city of Branson collects a 4-cent sales tax on hotels and ticketed attractions and a half-cent on restaurants. That tax raises approximately $2.5 million a year that the Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce uses to market the area. Turner said the additional $6 million will allow the area to reach more people more often.
“We can go wider, and we can go deeper into our markets,” he said. “Our goal is to attract more first-time visitors. We are convinced that if we can get them here, they'll keep coming back.”
Internet holds only future for newspapers, experts warn
Internet holds only future for newspapers, experts warn
MADRID (AFP) - Newspapers have no future without online and digital services, media executives heard at a World Association of Newspapers meeting in Madrid.
"We are getting the whole organisation ready for a digital future," said Simon Waldman, director of digital publishing at Guardian Newspapers, whose Guardian Unlimited site is by far the most popular British newspaper online site, ahead of The Sun, The Times and The Telegraph.
Within "six to seven years", the group planned to dedicate 80 percent of its time to digital activities, compared to 20 percent at present, Waldman told the conference, entitled "Beyond the Printed Word".
The Guardian's 15 Internet sites, which became profitable this year and are funded almost solely from advertising, command similar numbers of readers in the United States and in Britain.
Meanwhile the Internet arm of El Mundo (Elmundo.es), Spain's second-best selling daily in print, has the highest readership of all online European papers with 750,000 visitors a day, and is the most read title in the Spanish-speaking world.
A digital strategy dating back nearly 10 years has made the site "very profitable" since 2003, with a profit of 1.3 million euros (1.5 million dollars) in 2004, according to Elmundo.es director of development Emilio Plana Hidalgo.
"Digital revenue is serious business ... Online business is a growth business, while newspapers are not," echoed Helmar Hipp, regional director of Austria's Voralberger Nachrichten, which draws 15 percent of its revenue from the Internet and related activities.
The two-day conference was jointly organised by the World Association of Newspapers, the IFRA publishing association and the International Federation of the Printed Press (IFPP).
© Copyright Agence France-Presse. All rights reserved. The information contained In this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of Agence France-Presse.
11/10/2005 13:15
AFP
MADRID (AFP) - Newspapers have no future without online and digital services, media executives heard at a World Association of Newspapers meeting in Madrid.
"We are getting the whole organisation ready for a digital future," said Simon Waldman, director of digital publishing at Guardian Newspapers, whose Guardian Unlimited site is by far the most popular British newspaper online site, ahead of The Sun, The Times and The Telegraph.
Within "six to seven years", the group planned to dedicate 80 percent of its time to digital activities, compared to 20 percent at present, Waldman told the conference, entitled "Beyond the Printed Word".
The Guardian's 15 Internet sites, which became profitable this year and are funded almost solely from advertising, command similar numbers of readers in the United States and in Britain.
Meanwhile the Internet arm of El Mundo (Elmundo.es), Spain's second-best selling daily in print, has the highest readership of all online European papers with 750,000 visitors a day, and is the most read title in the Spanish-speaking world.
A digital strategy dating back nearly 10 years has made the site "very profitable" since 2003, with a profit of 1.3 million euros (1.5 million dollars) in 2004, according to Elmundo.es director of development Emilio Plana Hidalgo.
"Digital revenue is serious business ... Online business is a growth business, while newspapers are not," echoed Helmar Hipp, regional director of Austria's Voralberger Nachrichten, which draws 15 percent of its revenue from the Internet and related activities.
The two-day conference was jointly organised by the World Association of Newspapers, the IFRA publishing association and the International Federation of the Printed Press (IFPP).
© Copyright Agence France-Presse. All rights reserved. The information contained In this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of Agence France-Presse.
11/10/2005 13:15
AFP
Divide and Prosper
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Divide and prosper
e-mail print
Tuesday, November 8, 2005
By KEVIN G. DeMARRAIS
STAFF WRITER
Last week, Cendant Corp. announced that it was reversing its longtime strategy of diversification by dividing the travel and real estate services company into four separate public companies: hospitality, travel service, real estate and car rentals.
All but travel services, which will be based in Manhattan, will be based in Parsippany.
Hospitality services, which will include Cendant's hotel and time-share operations, will be headed by Stephen Holmes, Cendant's vice chairman and a longtime associate of Henry Silverman, founder and chief executive of a predecessor company, HFS Inc.
The Record sat down with Holmes at corporate headquarters to look at how the company came to this point; how it has emerged from massive fraud perpetrated by executives of CUC International, the company with which it merged to form Cendant; and where the still unnamed stand-alone hospitality division is headed.
Q. You've been with Henry Silverman and HFS from the start. How do you feel about leaving him and beginning this new venture?
It's very exciting, but it's a little bittersweet. We've spent the last 15 years building this company, first as HFS and now as Cendant. It's a phenomenally strong business, great brands in real estate and travel. Now we're disassembling them.
Having said that, I'm very, very excited about the group that I'm going to be with in the future, the hospitality group. It's something I've been involved with since Day One, and was probably part of the driving force to bring timeshare into Cendant.
When we started HFS, I was the CFO, so most of the deals that were done ... before we merged with CUC were deals I was involved in. It is a little bittersweet to see them go.
But for this to work for the shareholders, the best thing to do is to align the businesses as we've aligned them.
Q. What did you learn from him?
To focus on what's important. Henry is a master at keeping the focus where it needs to be to successful ... on our customers and our employees. Along the way, we have to make sure that our shareholders and bondholders are kept in the front of our minds.
No. 2, and it probably should be No. 1, is his incredible integrity, incredible honesty. We lived through the darkest of times when we merged with a company and found fraud. Henry didn't hesitate for a heartbeat to raise his hand and say we have a problem, as difficult as that was for us to do.
Q. What's going to be different?
By being in one industry, you can be very focused. I think that will give greater intensity to the effort of this public company toward that industry, and it will give more clarity to the shareholders.
They will know exactly what we stand for. We are a hospitality business in hotel and timeshare, just like Marriott, Hilton, Starwood and other big players.
Q. Much of Cendant's growth was through acquisition. Is that part of your strategy?
I don't think our model has changed at |all. We're very disciplined. We didn't go chasing Wyndham at too high a price. We waited until the situation was right to be able to buy |it.
Will we be doing deals in the future? Absolutely. I think we'll be looking at them. We'll be extremely disciplined as we we've been in the hotel group in deciding when was the right time to buy Wyndham.
We had been looking at that biz for seven years.
Q. How does hospitality compare with the time-share group?
The time-share business is the larger piece of the hospitality business, about 60 percent. Time share is growing at a compound rate of about 15 percent over the last 10 or 15 years. It's the fastest growing segment of the hospitality industry.
You've probably heard of some of the big players, Marriott and Hilton, are in it, but we actually have more members in our clubs than anyone else.
Q. The industry has received negative publicity because of high-pressure sales. Is that a problem?
It's an old problem that isn't a prevalent as it used to be. Most of the big players in the marketplace right now are quality operations, like ourselves, Disney, Marriott, Four Season, Ritz-Carlton. When companies like Marriott or Disney got into it, they really changed the way the product is sold; they changed the perception.
What you're referring to is the old land sales back in the Seventies, land that didn't exist or swampland in Florida. That was more of the early cowboys in the industry.
Q. What plans do you have to grow the business?
We're constantly adding new product. We're building somewhere in the neighborhood of $400 [million] to $500 million worth of product every year. We're building in Las Vegas, we just converted a product in Atlantic City from long-term condominium to time share. We just bought a development out in the Poconos within the last several months ...
We built this business by first buying Fairfield Resorts ... We could buy other businesses down the road. We're not afraid to look at opportunities.
E-mail: demarrais@northjersey.com
6812529
e-mail print
Tuesday, November 8, 2005
By KEVIN G. DeMARRAIS
STAFF WRITER
Last week, Cendant Corp. announced that it was reversing its longtime strategy of diversification by dividing the travel and real estate services company into four separate public companies: hospitality, travel service, real estate and car rentals.
All but travel services, which will be based in Manhattan, will be based in Parsippany.
Hospitality services, which will include Cendant's hotel and time-share operations, will be headed by Stephen Holmes, Cendant's vice chairman and a longtime associate of Henry Silverman, founder and chief executive of a predecessor company, HFS Inc.
The Record sat down with Holmes at corporate headquarters to look at how the company came to this point; how it has emerged from massive fraud perpetrated by executives of CUC International, the company with which it merged to form Cendant; and where the still unnamed stand-alone hospitality division is headed.
Q. You've been with Henry Silverman and HFS from the start. How do you feel about leaving him and beginning this new venture?
It's very exciting, but it's a little bittersweet. We've spent the last 15 years building this company, first as HFS and now as Cendant. It's a phenomenally strong business, great brands in real estate and travel. Now we're disassembling them.
Having said that, I'm very, very excited about the group that I'm going to be with in the future, the hospitality group. It's something I've been involved with since Day One, and was probably part of the driving force to bring timeshare into Cendant.
When we started HFS, I was the CFO, so most of the deals that were done ... before we merged with CUC were deals I was involved in. It is a little bittersweet to see them go.
But for this to work for the shareholders, the best thing to do is to align the businesses as we've aligned them.
Q. What did you learn from him?
To focus on what's important. Henry is a master at keeping the focus where it needs to be to successful ... on our customers and our employees. Along the way, we have to make sure that our shareholders and bondholders are kept in the front of our minds.
No. 2, and it probably should be No. 1, is his incredible integrity, incredible honesty. We lived through the darkest of times when we merged with a company and found fraud. Henry didn't hesitate for a heartbeat to raise his hand and say we have a problem, as difficult as that was for us to do.
Q. What's going to be different?
By being in one industry, you can be very focused. I think that will give greater intensity to the effort of this public company toward that industry, and it will give more clarity to the shareholders.
They will know exactly what we stand for. We are a hospitality business in hotel and timeshare, just like Marriott, Hilton, Starwood and other big players.
Q. Much of Cendant's growth was through acquisition. Is that part of your strategy?
I don't think our model has changed at |all. We're very disciplined. We didn't go chasing Wyndham at too high a price. We waited until the situation was right to be able to buy |it.
Will we be doing deals in the future? Absolutely. I think we'll be looking at them. We'll be extremely disciplined as we we've been in the hotel group in deciding when was the right time to buy Wyndham.
We had been looking at that biz for seven years.
Q. How does hospitality compare with the time-share group?
The time-share business is the larger piece of the hospitality business, about 60 percent. Time share is growing at a compound rate of about 15 percent over the last 10 or 15 years. It's the fastest growing segment of the hospitality industry.
You've probably heard of some of the big players, Marriott and Hilton, are in it, but we actually have more members in our clubs than anyone else.
Q. The industry has received negative publicity because of high-pressure sales. Is that a problem?
It's an old problem that isn't a prevalent as it used to be. Most of the big players in the marketplace right now are quality operations, like ourselves, Disney, Marriott, Four Season, Ritz-Carlton. When companies like Marriott or Disney got into it, they really changed the way the product is sold; they changed the perception.
What you're referring to is the old land sales back in the Seventies, land that didn't exist or swampland in Florida. That was more of the early cowboys in the industry.
Q. What plans do you have to grow the business?
We're constantly adding new product. We're building somewhere in the neighborhood of $400 [million] to $500 million worth of product every year. We're building in Las Vegas, we just converted a product in Atlantic City from long-term condominium to time share. We just bought a development out in the Poconos within the last several months ...
We built this business by first buying Fairfield Resorts ... We could buy other businesses down the road. We're not afraid to look at opportunities.
E-mail: demarrais@northjersey.com
6812529
Branson Chiefs Warn Lock Up Your Car
Saturday, November 05, 2005
By Cliff Sain
BDN Staff Writer
Law enforcement officials stress that car owners can prevent many of the car thefts in the Branson area.
Hollister Police Chief Darren Parker said that since arriving in Hollister more than a year ago, he has been surprised at what he deems a "rash" of stolen vehicles in the area. He said that through July, the Hollister Police Department had reports of 11 stolen vehicles. He said that last week, a maintenance vehicle was stolen from the Hollister School District. The good news, however, is that it is easy for motorists to guard against theft.
"In the vast majority of cases, everything was left unsecured," Parker said. "I'd say that in about 50 percent of the cases, the keys were left in the car."
In Branson, 30 cars had been stolen through September. That pace is consistent with 2004 when 31 cars had been stolen through the same period.
Although some locked cars do get stolen, Branson Police Chief Caroll McCullough said the majority of cases could be prevented.
"Don't make it easy for these people," McCullough said. "Lock your vehicles."
In Branson's most recent case, a 1998 Toyota Corolla was stolen Tuesday from behind a Branson shopping mall while the owners were inside the mall. It was recovered Friday in a Branson hotel parking lot.
"We were only in about 20 minutes," car owner Jessie Estrada said. "My digital camera, my wallet and our cell phones were still in the car."
She said the department told her that video surveillance had shown a person approach the car from a field and enter through the passenger side.
"I love that car," she said. "It's almost paid off."
McCullough said that as with Estrada's car, most cars that are stolen are eventually recovered. However, Estrada was lucky in that the car was still in good condition and most of the valuables inside were still there.
"A lot of them we'll find abandoned. We'll find them in other states, wrecked or in a traffic stop," he said.
Parker said that, while the chances of a car being stolen are still unlikely, an even bigger concern for most people should be theft of items inside a car.
"That's almost a daily occurrence," he said. "These are crimes of opportunity. If the owner will take a second to clear valuables from view and lock their doors, that would take care of the problems."
Story created Nov 05, 2005 - 09:16:55 CST.
BDN Staff Writer
Law enforcement officials stress that car owners can prevent many of the car thefts in the Branson area.
Hollister Police Chief Darren Parker said that since arriving in Hollister more than a year ago, he has been surprised at what he deems a "rash" of stolen vehicles in the area. He said that through July, the Hollister Police Department had reports of 11 stolen vehicles. He said that last week, a maintenance vehicle was stolen from the Hollister School District. The good news, however, is that it is easy for motorists to guard against theft.
"In the vast majority of cases, everything was left unsecured," Parker said. "I'd say that in about 50 percent of the cases, the keys were left in the car."
In Branson, 30 cars had been stolen through September. That pace is consistent with 2004 when 31 cars had been stolen through the same period.
Although some locked cars do get stolen, Branson Police Chief Caroll McCullough said the majority of cases could be prevented.
"Don't make it easy for these people," McCullough said. "Lock your vehicles."
In Branson's most recent case, a 1998 Toyota Corolla was stolen Tuesday from behind a Branson shopping mall while the owners were inside the mall. It was recovered Friday in a Branson hotel parking lot.
"We were only in about 20 minutes," car owner Jessie Estrada said. "My digital camera, my wallet and our cell phones were still in the car."
She said the department told her that video surveillance had shown a person approach the car from a field and enter through the passenger side.
"I love that car," she said. "It's almost paid off."
McCullough said that as with Estrada's car, most cars that are stolen are eventually recovered. However, Estrada was lucky in that the car was still in good condition and most of the valuables inside were still there.
"A lot of them we'll find abandoned. We'll find them in other states, wrecked or in a traffic stop," he said.
Parker said that, while the chances of a car being stolen are still unlikely, an even bigger concern for most people should be theft of items inside a car.
"That's almost a daily occurrence," he said. "These are crimes of opportunity. If the owner will take a second to clear valuables from view and lock their doors, that would take care of the problems."
Story created Nov 05, 2005 - 09:16:55 CST.
US Loses Position As World's Internet leader
Friday, November 04, 2005
US Loses Position As World's Internet Leader
The English market is about to take a major hit and lose its ranking as the world’s internet leader to the breadth of language markets surfing online by the year 2007.
New York, NY (PRWEB) October 19, 2005 -- The US online market is about to take a major beating, as it loses its position as the world’s leader in e-commerce to the conglomeration of Asian and European countries booting up and building online, a recent study released by Universal Engine, a leader in multilingual online marketing, shows.
With the expansion of broadband in foreign markets and with the UN’s persistent push to bring the world Internet access, the English market is about to take a major hit and lose its ranking as the world’s Internet leader to the breadth of language markets surfing online by the year 2007, the report states.
In the year 2001, 43 percent of the Internet was made up of English speakers. But, as the Internet continues to become more global, English speaking surfers are being dominated by the Chinese, Japanese, Spanish and German online populations.
In 2004, English surfers dropped to 35.2 percent, and by 2007 it is predicted to make up only 26 percent or 1/3 of the total Internet population down from about 2/3, in 5 years the study revealed. Currently, 1 billion people are online.
Bill Hunt, co-author of the forthcoming book “Search Engine Marketing, Inc.” to be published by the IBM Press, wrote, “Search Engine Optimization has become one of the most popular and effective forms of marketing available to a global company. According to a recent report, nearly 60 percent of all searches are done in languages other than English.”
The UN’s efforts to expand the Internet are bringing in astounding results and threatening US e-business’ grasp on the Internet. With 1 million new Internet subscribers a month in China (soon to be about 200 million Internet surfers or only 9 percent of the total Chinese population, with an annual growth rate of 18.6 percent), it’s no wonder search companies believe it will soon become their main source of income over the English US market.
E-businesses have turned to translation and multilingual search engine optimization companies to help them adapt to this shift in the online market. Trying to tap into the Asian market, Yahoo! recently bought Alibaba, a Chinese website similar to eBay with its own PayPal-like system called “Alipay” for $1 billion, or roughly 40 percent of the company, Google bought a $70 Million stake in Baidu.com, a Chinese search engine, and eBay launched a Chinese version of their English-based mega-site.
But, the Chinese market is not the only threat to US Ecommerce, so shows Universal Engine’s study. The Japanese market is surging at an annual growth rate of 12 percent or 100 Million surfers, and the Spanish online population will rack up roughly 100 Million users by the year 2007. The Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, and German online markets outweigh the English market by 3 times.
“The development of these language-specific markets is major news that will have a rippling affect across US e-businesses, as the US loses its position as the world’s online leader,” said Dr. Eli Goldstein, co-founder of Universal Engine. “From this study, it is evident that the US is slipping from being the world’s leader. If American-based e-businesses want to survive during this shift, they are going to have to adapt with the ever-changing, multifaceted internet or be stomped out by their multilingual competitors.”
The English market is about to take a major hit and lose its ranking as the world’s internet leader to the breadth of language markets surfing online by the year 2007.
New York, NY (PRWEB) October 19, 2005 -- The US online market is about to take a major beating, as it loses its position as the world’s leader in e-commerce to the conglomeration of Asian and European countries booting up and building online, a recent study released by Universal Engine, a leader in multilingual online marketing, shows.
With the expansion of broadband in foreign markets and with the UN’s persistent push to bring the world Internet access, the English market is about to take a major hit and lose its ranking as the world’s Internet leader to the breadth of language markets surfing online by the year 2007, the report states.
In the year 2001, 43 percent of the Internet was made up of English speakers. But, as the Internet continues to become more global, English speaking surfers are being dominated by the Chinese, Japanese, Spanish and German online populations.
In 2004, English surfers dropped to 35.2 percent, and by 2007 it is predicted to make up only 26 percent or 1/3 of the total Internet population down from about 2/3, in 5 years the study revealed. Currently, 1 billion people are online.
Bill Hunt, co-author of the forthcoming book “Search Engine Marketing, Inc.” to be published by the IBM Press, wrote, “Search Engine Optimization has become one of the most popular and effective forms of marketing available to a global company. According to a recent report, nearly 60 percent of all searches are done in languages other than English.”
The UN’s efforts to expand the Internet are bringing in astounding results and threatening US e-business’ grasp on the Internet. With 1 million new Internet subscribers a month in China (soon to be about 200 million Internet surfers or only 9 percent of the total Chinese population, with an annual growth rate of 18.6 percent), it’s no wonder search companies believe it will soon become their main source of income over the English US market.
E-businesses have turned to translation and multilingual search engine optimization companies to help them adapt to this shift in the online market. Trying to tap into the Asian market, Yahoo! recently bought Alibaba, a Chinese website similar to eBay with its own PayPal-like system called “Alipay” for $1 billion, or roughly 40 percent of the company, Google bought a $70 Million stake in Baidu.com, a Chinese search engine, and eBay launched a Chinese version of their English-based mega-site.
But, the Chinese market is not the only threat to US Ecommerce, so shows Universal Engine’s study. The Japanese market is surging at an annual growth rate of 12 percent or 100 Million surfers, and the Spanish online population will rack up roughly 100 Million users by the year 2007. The Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, and German online markets outweigh the English market by 3 times.
“The development of these language-specific markets is major news that will have a rippling affect across US e-businesses, as the US loses its position as the world’s online leader,” said Dr. Eli Goldstein, co-founder of Universal Engine. “From this study, it is evident that the US is slipping from being the world’s leader. If American-based e-businesses want to survive during this shift, they are going to have to adapt with the ever-changing, multifaceted internet or be stomped out by their multilingual competitors.”
Time Share Fruad Leads to Prison
Dennis Wagner
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 20, 2005 12:00 AM
A Gilbert man convicted of defrauding time-share owners was sentenced Wednesday to more than eight years in prison for bilking about 2,000 victims.
Ingo Melvin Rewald, 51, was ordered to serve the prison time by U.S. District Judge Frederick Martone after pleading guilty in April to mail fraud, according to federal prosecutors.
Rewald admitted that from 1998 to 2003 he operated three companies - Aventure-Time-Marketing, TimeShares-R-US and Condos-R-US - in connection with the scam.
Using an assumed name, Rewald contacted victims and told them he would connect them with a buyer for their time shares in return for a $395 finder's fee. There were no buyers, and he collected the funds via postal boxes.
For sentencing purposes, the judge ruled that Rewald had taken in up to $1 million. The defendant was ordered to pay $264,412 and serve three years of probation.
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 20, 2005 12:00 AM
A Gilbert man convicted of defrauding time-share owners was sentenced Wednesday to more than eight years in prison for bilking about 2,000 victims.
Ingo Melvin Rewald, 51, was ordered to serve the prison time by U.S. District Judge Frederick Martone after pleading guilty in April to mail fraud, according to federal prosecutors.
Rewald admitted that from 1998 to 2003 he operated three companies - Aventure-Time-Marketing, TimeShares-R-US and Condos-R-US - in connection with the scam.
Using an assumed name, Rewald contacted victims and told them he would connect them with a buyer for their time shares in return for a $395 finder's fee. There were no buyers, and he collected the funds via postal boxes.
For sentencing purposes, the judge ruled that Rewald had taken in up to $1 million. The defendant was ordered to pay $264,412 and serve three years of probation.
Springfield News-Leader - Past Littered with plans that fell through
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Past littered with plans that fell through
Branson's dramatic growth has been tempered by developments that never came to pass.
Kathryn Buckstaff
News-Leader
The Branson area has steadily grown as a tourism destination since the turn of the 20th century. But in 1991 came unprecedented national attention: In late August, it was a story in Time magazine. Next came mentions in People, the Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal.
But what really lit the fire was on Dec. 8, 1991, when "60 Minutes," the most watched show on national TV, did an appealing segment with show host Morley Safer. He called Branson "the live country music capital of the universe" and "a wonderful nowhere, a cafe, a five-and-dime, 3,000 people, and it gets 4 million visitors a year."
Engler Block
Nationally known entertainers and entrepreneurs came in waves. Within the next two years, the number of theaters, hotels, restaurants and visitors doubled. In 1993, the value of new construction hit $119.5 million, a record likely to be broken this year.
The Branson area has seen dramatic growth over the past 15 years, but not everything that was announced came into being.
Here are some past projects — and what has happened on those sites.
1992
# Branson South was planned for 1,600 acres south of town. Developer Chuck Wofford announced plans for luxury hotels, a 10,000-seat conference center, five theaters, a shopping center, golf courses and homes. After the topsoil was torn off, financial backers were never found. Some of that property has now been purchased by the Argonaut Group. Its plans include a golf course, homes and condominiums and retail.
# Texas developer Ed Logan proposed a theater, 540-room hotel and 1,000-seat restaurant called "Logan's Branson Station" on 14 acres near the Grand Palace. The land is still vacant.
# The Gatlin Brothers Summitt on Forsythe Road near the Grand Palace was to have included two theaters, a hotel and restaurant. The developer was Global Productions Inc. of Dallas. The land is still vacant.
# Merle Haggard's management announced that Haggard would build a theater in 1993. He shared the stage with Willie Nelson at what is now Yakov's American Pavilion during the summer. Neither entertainer returned after that.
# Johnny Paycheck announced that investors would buy him the Foggy River Boys theater. The theater was torn down the following year. Paycheck played only a few dates in Branson.
# A monorail was supposed to cure serious traffic woes. The bullet-shaped cars were to be elevated along Missouri 76. But the city balked at the $5 million-per-mile price tag. The California engineers went home. Now, the city has commissioned a traffic study to look into monorail transit and search for grants that might be available.
1993
# The highlight of proposals was Heartland America, a 265,000-square foot enclosed mall anchored by a major department store with cinemas and restaurants. The development on property owned by the Presley family also was to include three hotels, a 3,000-seat theater and office complex. Disputes between investors nixed the project. A time-share condominium project by Marriott now occupies some of the property.
1994
# This was the year of convention centers that didn't happen. Three were proposed, including one by Springfield's John Q. Hammons that was to have been located behind the Grand Palace. Springfield developer John Swanson and Californian Robert Psenka also asked the city to help with funding. The city said no to all three. The city of Branson will break ground this month on a city-owned convention center on the downtown lakefront.
# Knott's Berry Farm, a Southern California staple, took a look at Branson, but it never took shape. The proposed site is now the location for The Shoppes outlet mall.
# "Hello I'm Gellatin" was to be the first franchise of an all-Jell-O take-out restaurant developed by Charles Shamoon of Atlanta. He said he was devising special Branson dishes including "M-M-Mel-o-Jell-O," named for stuttering Mel Tillis.
# Sun City, one of the nation's largest developers of retirement communities, did preliminary studies for a Branson location.
# Former Chrysler Corporation Chairman Lee Iacocca announced plans for a golf course and resort hotel in Branson Hills. Iacocca never came back, but a Colombia developer is now building Branson Hills Plaza with a Target and Home Depot. An Alabama-based consortium also plans a golf course and homes on the property.
# Camelot came and went. After three weeks of operation, owners of the renaissance theme park near Blue Eye fired the 65 employees and left the area. The development was apparently headed by 14 investors including Chuck Wofford, who tried unsuccessfully to develop Branson South in 1992.
Branson's dramatic growth has been tempered by developments that never came to pass.
Kathryn Buckstaff
News-Leader
The Branson area has steadily grown as a tourism destination since the turn of the 20th century. But in 1991 came unprecedented national attention: In late August, it was a story in Time magazine. Next came mentions in People, the Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal.
But what really lit the fire was on Dec. 8, 1991, when "60 Minutes," the most watched show on national TV, did an appealing segment with show host Morley Safer. He called Branson "the live country music capital of the universe" and "a wonderful nowhere, a cafe, a five-and-dime, 3,000 people, and it gets 4 million visitors a year."
Engler Block
Nationally known entertainers and entrepreneurs came in waves. Within the next two years, the number of theaters, hotels, restaurants and visitors doubled. In 1993, the value of new construction hit $119.5 million, a record likely to be broken this year.
The Branson area has seen dramatic growth over the past 15 years, but not everything that was announced came into being.
Here are some past projects — and what has happened on those sites.
1992
# Branson South was planned for 1,600 acres south of town. Developer Chuck Wofford announced plans for luxury hotels, a 10,000-seat conference center, five theaters, a shopping center, golf courses and homes. After the topsoil was torn off, financial backers were never found. Some of that property has now been purchased by the Argonaut Group. Its plans include a golf course, homes and condominiums and retail.
# Texas developer Ed Logan proposed a theater, 540-room hotel and 1,000-seat restaurant called "Logan's Branson Station" on 14 acres near the Grand Palace. The land is still vacant.
# The Gatlin Brothers Summitt on Forsythe Road near the Grand Palace was to have included two theaters, a hotel and restaurant. The developer was Global Productions Inc. of Dallas. The land is still vacant.
# Merle Haggard's management announced that Haggard would build a theater in 1993. He shared the stage with Willie Nelson at what is now Yakov's American Pavilion during the summer. Neither entertainer returned after that.
# Johnny Paycheck announced that investors would buy him the Foggy River Boys theater. The theater was torn down the following year. Paycheck played only a few dates in Branson.
# A monorail was supposed to cure serious traffic woes. The bullet-shaped cars were to be elevated along Missouri 76. But the city balked at the $5 million-per-mile price tag. The California engineers went home. Now, the city has commissioned a traffic study to look into monorail transit and search for grants that might be available.
1993
# The highlight of proposals was Heartland America, a 265,000-square foot enclosed mall anchored by a major department store with cinemas and restaurants. The development on property owned by the Presley family also was to include three hotels, a 3,000-seat theater and office complex. Disputes between investors nixed the project. A time-share condominium project by Marriott now occupies some of the property.
1994
# This was the year of convention centers that didn't happen. Three were proposed, including one by Springfield's John Q. Hammons that was to have been located behind the Grand Palace. Springfield developer John Swanson and Californian Robert Psenka also asked the city to help with funding. The city said no to all three. The city of Branson will break ground this month on a city-owned convention center on the downtown lakefront.
# Knott's Berry Farm, a Southern California staple, took a look at Branson, but it never took shape. The proposed site is now the location for The Shoppes outlet mall.
# "Hello I'm Gellatin" was to be the first franchise of an all-Jell-O take-out restaurant developed by Charles Shamoon of Atlanta. He said he was devising special Branson dishes including "M-M-Mel-o-Jell-O," named for stuttering Mel Tillis.
# Sun City, one of the nation's largest developers of retirement communities, did preliminary studies for a Branson location.
# Former Chrysler Corporation Chairman Lee Iacocca announced plans for a golf course and resort hotel in Branson Hills. Iacocca never came back, but a Colombia developer is now building Branson Hills Plaza with a Target and Home Depot. An Alabama-based consortium also plans a golf course and homes on the property.
# Camelot came and went. After three weeks of operation, owners of the renaissance theme park near Blue Eye fired the 65 employees and left the area. The development was apparently headed by 14 investors including Chuck Wofford, who tried unsuccessfully to develop Branson South in 1992.
CIA Holds Terror Suspects in Secret Prison
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
CIA Holds Terror Suspects in Secret Prisons
Debate Is Growing Within Agency About Legality and Morality of Overseas System Set Up After 9/11
By Dana Priest
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 2, 2005; Page A01
The CIA has been hiding and interrogating some of its most important al Qaeda captives at a Soviet-era compound in Eastern Europe, according to U.S. and foreign officials familiar with the arrangement.
The secret facility is part of a covert prison system set up by the CIA nearly four years ago that at various times has included sites in eight countries, including Thailand, Afghanistan and several democracies in Eastern Europe, as well as a small center at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, according to current and former intelligence officials and diplomats from three continents.
In Afghanistan, the largest CIA covert prison was code-named the Salt Pit, at center left above.
In Afghanistan, the largest CIA covert prison was code-named the Salt Pit, at center left above.
The hidden global internment network is a central element in the CIA's unconventional war on terrorism. It depends on the cooperation of foreign intelligence services, and on keeping even basic information about the system secret from the public, foreign officials and nearly all members of Congress charged with overseeing the CIA's covert actions.
The existence and locations of the facilities -- referred to as "black sites" in classified White House, CIA, Justice Department and congressional documents -- are known to only a handful of officials in the United States and, usually, only to the president and a few top intelligence officers in each host country.
The CIA and the White House, citing national security concerns and the value of the program, have dissuaded Congress from demanding that the agency answer questions in open testimony about the conditions under which captives are held. Virtually nothing is known about who is kept in the facilities, what interrogation methods are employed with them, or how decisions are made about whether they should be detained or for how long.
While the Defense Department has produced volumes of public reports and testimony about its detention practices and rules after the abuse scandals at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison and at Guantanamo Bay, the CIA has not even acknowledged the existence of its black sites. To do so, say officials familiar with the program, could open the U.S. government to legal challenges, particularly in foreign courts, and increase the risk of political condemnation at home and abroad.
But the revelations of widespread prisoner abuse in Afghanistan and Iraq by the U.S. military -- which operates under published rules and transparent oversight of Congress -- have increased concern among lawmakers, foreign governments and human rights groups about the opaque CIA system. Those concerns escalated last month, when Vice President Cheney and CIA Director Porter J. Goss asked Congress to exempt CIA employees from legislation already endorsed by 90 senators that would bar cruel and degrading treatment of any prisoner in U.S. custody.
Although the CIA will not acknowledge details of its system, intelligence officials defend the agency's approach, arguing that the successful defense of the country requires that the agency be empowered to hold and interrogate suspected terrorists for as long as necessary and without restrictions imposed by the U.S. legal system or even by the military tribunals established for prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay.
The Washington Post is not publishing the names of the Eastern European countries involved in the covert program, at the request of senior U.S. officials. They argued that the disclosure might disrupt counterterrorism efforts in those countries and elsewhere and could make them targets of possible terrorist retaliation.
The secret detention system was conceived in the chaotic and anxious first months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, when the working assumption was that a second strike was imminent.
Since then, the arrangement has been increasingly debated within the CIA, where considerable concern lingers about the legality, morality and practicality of holding even unrepentant terrorists in such isolation and secrecy, perhaps for the duration of their lives. Mid-level and senior CIA officers began arguing two years ago that the system was unsustainable and diverted the agency from its unique espionage mission.
"We never sat down, as far as I know, and came up with a grand strategy," said one former senior intelligence officer who is familiar with the program but not the location of the prisons. "Everything was very reactive. That's how you get to a situation where you pick people up, send them into a netherworld and don't say, 'What are we going to do with them afterwards?' "
Debate Is Growing Within Agency About Legality and Morality of Overseas System Set Up After 9/11
By Dana Priest
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 2, 2005; Page A01
The CIA has been hiding and interrogating some of its most important al Qaeda captives at a Soviet-era compound in Eastern Europe, according to U.S. and foreign officials familiar with the arrangement.
The secret facility is part of a covert prison system set up by the CIA nearly four years ago that at various times has included sites in eight countries, including Thailand, Afghanistan and several democracies in Eastern Europe, as well as a small center at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, according to current and former intelligence officials and diplomats from three continents.
In Afghanistan, the largest CIA covert prison was code-named the Salt Pit, at center left above.
In Afghanistan, the largest CIA covert prison was code-named the Salt Pit, at center left above.
The hidden global internment network is a central element in the CIA's unconventional war on terrorism. It depends on the cooperation of foreign intelligence services, and on keeping even basic information about the system secret from the public, foreign officials and nearly all members of Congress charged with overseeing the CIA's covert actions.
The existence and locations of the facilities -- referred to as "black sites" in classified White House, CIA, Justice Department and congressional documents -- are known to only a handful of officials in the United States and, usually, only to the president and a few top intelligence officers in each host country.
The CIA and the White House, citing national security concerns and the value of the program, have dissuaded Congress from demanding that the agency answer questions in open testimony about the conditions under which captives are held. Virtually nothing is known about who is kept in the facilities, what interrogation methods are employed with them, or how decisions are made about whether they should be detained or for how long.
While the Defense Department has produced volumes of public reports and testimony about its detention practices and rules after the abuse scandals at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison and at Guantanamo Bay, the CIA has not even acknowledged the existence of its black sites. To do so, say officials familiar with the program, could open the U.S. government to legal challenges, particularly in foreign courts, and increase the risk of political condemnation at home and abroad.
But the revelations of widespread prisoner abuse in Afghanistan and Iraq by the U.S. military -- which operates under published rules and transparent oversight of Congress -- have increased concern among lawmakers, foreign governments and human rights groups about the opaque CIA system. Those concerns escalated last month, when Vice President Cheney and CIA Director Porter J. Goss asked Congress to exempt CIA employees from legislation already endorsed by 90 senators that would bar cruel and degrading treatment of any prisoner in U.S. custody.
Although the CIA will not acknowledge details of its system, intelligence officials defend the agency's approach, arguing that the successful defense of the country requires that the agency be empowered to hold and interrogate suspected terrorists for as long as necessary and without restrictions imposed by the U.S. legal system or even by the military tribunals established for prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay.
The Washington Post is not publishing the names of the Eastern European countries involved in the covert program, at the request of senior U.S. officials. They argued that the disclosure might disrupt counterterrorism efforts in those countries and elsewhere and could make them targets of possible terrorist retaliation.
The secret detention system was conceived in the chaotic and anxious first months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, when the working assumption was that a second strike was imminent.
Since then, the arrangement has been increasingly debated within the CIA, where considerable concern lingers about the legality, morality and practicality of holding even unrepentant terrorists in such isolation and secrecy, perhaps for the duration of their lives. Mid-level and senior CIA officers began arguing two years ago that the system was unsustainable and diverted the agency from its unique espionage mission.
"We never sat down, as far as I know, and came up with a grand strategy," said one former senior intelligence officer who is familiar with the program but not the location of the prisons. "Everything was very reactive. That's how you get to a situation where you pick people up, send them into a netherworld and don't say, 'What are we going to do with them afterwards?' "
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