Shutdowns, Legacies, and Parks: Newly Acquired MN State Government Reports, Dec 2011

A sampling from the list of newly acquired MN state government reports, Dec 2011. 

State Government Shutdown Executive Summary
from Minnesota Management and Budget
     The causes, procedures, and results.

Driver Hand-Held Cellular Phone Use in Minnesota, June and August, 2011

David W. Eby, PhD, Jonathon M. Vivoda, MPH
     "The purpose of the present study was to continue tracking the statewide hand-held cellular phone use rate of drivers in Minnesota in order to better understand the exposure to this distracting activity."

DWI Repeat Offender Fund Expenditure Report, Federal Fiscal Year 2010

from MN Depts. of Public Safety and Transportation
     How much federal money is MN spending on repeat offender DWI reduction, and where does it go?

The Legacy Amendment: Evaluation Report
from the MN Office of the Legislative Auditor, Program Evaluation Division
     "In this early, general assessment of how the Legacy Amendment has been implemented, we identified the following four “ongoing concerns” facing the Legislature and the state agencies that administer the Legacy funds: (1) complying with the constitutional requirement that Legacy money be used to supplement, and not substitute for, “traditional” sources of funding; (2) finding a workable approach to limiting the use of Legacy money for administrative costs; (3) ensuring that conflict of interest concerns are adequately addressed; and (4) ensuring that the use of Legacy money will achieve the outcomes intended by the Legacy Amendment. We make various recommendations to help address these concerns."

Health Care Facility and Provider Database 
from the MN Dept. of Health
      "This database offers addresses, phone numbers, administrator names and state registration or licensure status for Minnesota health care providers. Federal certification classifications are also included. Provider types in the directory are boarding care homes, home health agencies, home care providers, hospices, hospitals, housing with services, nursing homes and supervised living facilities and other non-long term care providers. Providers can be selected by type, county, city or name."

MinnesotaCare:  An Overview
MinnesotaCare
both from the Research Dept., MN House of Representatives
     Brief and in-depth reports on MinnesotaCare.

Survey of State Estate, Inheritance, and Gift Taxes
from the Research Dept., MN House of Representatives
     "This information brief provides basic background information on the details of
state estate, inheritance, and gift taxes. The District of Columbia and 22 states,
including Minnesota, impose these taxes. Of these, 14 states, including
Minnesota, and D.C. impose estate taxes, six states impose inheritance taxes, and
two states impose both estate and inheritance taxes. Two states (one with an
estate tax and one with an inheritance tax) also impose gift taxes."

Minnesota State Parks and Trails: Directions for the Future:  Connecting People to Minnesota’s Great Outdoors
from Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Trails
     "The Legacy Amendment mandate presents an opportunity to develop the division’s direction over the next ten years, establishing priorities and broader strategies to protect and manage the resource base, develop and maintain recreational facilities, and better serve existing customers and reach out to new ones." 

MN Zoo:  2011 Report to the Community
from the MN Zoo

Enjoy!
Melissa@Central.

TAX TIME INVESTMENT REFRESHER

At this time of year, people often need information on stock and other investment prices on a certain day for their tax returns. This is just a refresher on some sources that we don't use very often, but when you need them, you really need them.

Bigcharts and Yahoo! Finance. These free Internet sources have historical stock prices, but you won't find anything if the company has changed its name, merged with another company, or dissolved.
Daily Stock Price Record. This print reference source has daily stock prices going back to 1962 (New York Stock Exchange), 1967 (American Stock Exchange), and 1968 (NASDAQ). If you don't know the exchange it was traded on, you have to check all three. The NASDAQ book also has mutual funds in the front part, industrial stocks (what we call just "stocks") are in the back. The DSPR is located in the front of Nicholson by the park.
Capital Changes Reports. Sometimes patrons will ask for information on "stock splits". This resource lists these and any other history that effects a company's stock, such as mergers, name changes, and dissolution. It goes as far back as the beginning of the company's existence. This history can be helpful background information when you're having trouble finding a stock price. Capital Changes Reports is located on the Financials shelf in Nicholson. For fun, check out the extremely long entries on Enron and Worldcom.
Directory of Obsolete Securities. What if you are having a lot of trouble finding a stock price and you think the company might no longer exist? You can't prove a negative, right? Well, with this resource, sometimes you can. We recently had someone ask for a stock price for a company a month after the company has ceased to exist. You don't need this book often, but when you do, it's a lifesaver. It's kept in the Phone Room.
Investment Statistics Locator. What if you are asked for a more unusual type of financial statistic, such as bonds, silver, pork bellies futures, or foreign currency? Well, this handy book tells you where to to go for all these and more. Each entry has abbreviations that indicate where to look and if the information is daily, weekly, monthly, or annually. The abbreviations are explained in the front of the book. The Investment Statistics Locator is shelved in call number order in Nicholson.


--Andrea

PS. If stocks are worthless as securities, they still can be worth something to collectors if they are interesting or beautiful. This is called scripophily.