Latest news with #ThomasTaylor
BBC News
11 hours ago
- BBC News
Five teens accused of murdering boy in Bedford go on trial
A 17-year-old boy was "effectively left for dead" after being stabbed in a pedestrian street near a bus station, a prosecutor has told Taylor died after being attacked in Bedford in January, barrister Mark Heywood KC told a trial at Luton Crown Court on said "sudden" and "ugly" violence involving two groups of "young men" had broken Adam, 18, Bennett Ndenkeh, 19, Riaz Miah, 18, She'ma Dixon, 18, and a 17-year-old boy, who cannot be identified, all deny murdering Thomas. Police had said Thomas died after being stabbed in Greenhill Street, Bedford, just before 18:00 GMT on 8 Heywood told jurors how Thomas had been walking with other boys near Bedford bus said the group was approached by members of a larger had been attacked, brought to the ground and fatally stabbed, Mr Heywood said youths involved had "fled" and passers by were "left to deal with the aftermath". Mr Heywood added: "He [Thomas] was effectively left for dead on the pavement."He said the "background" to the attack "almost certainly" related to an incident some days earlier involving Mr suggested that Mr Miah had been assaulted by two people associated with Thomas and the incident had become an "issue". Mr Heywood said messages had been exchanged between Mr Miah and said the attack on Thomas was "deliberate"."This was no chance encounter," he told jurors. "The focus of the attack was on a single individual." A judge had previously made orders barring Mr Miah and Mr Dixon from being named in media reports of the trial judge Mr Justice Martin Spencer has said that reporting restriction orders are no longer in place because both Mr Miah and Mr Dixon have turned said an order barring the 17-year-old boy, who will not turn 18 until February, from being named in media reports remained in Heywood showed jurors photographs of the teenagers and told where some of them lived in Bedford. He said Mr Adam lived in Mardale Close, Mr Ndenkeh, in Midland Road, and Mr Dixon, in Baldur Miah - and the 17-year-old boy - also lived in Bedford, he trial continues and is expected to last several weeks. Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Indianapolis Star
09-05-2025
- General
- Indianapolis Star
As Indianapolis expands the Monon Trail, homeowners say land grab would swallow backyards
Thomas Taylor has owned a home along the former Monon Railroad long enough to remember the rumble of passing trains. For the last few decades, trains have been replaced by bicyclists that zip past on the Monon Trail, weaving their way between walkers, joggers and parents pushing strollers. But there's a problem with the rail trail's much-lauded conversion, according to Taylor, a Forest Hills homeowner since 1970. Before the city of Indianapolis paved the trail back in the 1990s, officials did not give adjacent residents like Taylor the "just compensation" for public use that he, along with some property rights experts, believes they were owed under the Fifth Amendment and Indiana law. Residents in the Forest Hills and Canterbury-Chatard neighborhoods are scrutinizing this history as the city looks to widen the trail from 10-12 to 14 feet between 56th Street and Hamilton County. To do so, city officials are seeking to buy enough land for a public right-of way along the Monon that could span up to 66 feet wide in some areas. Although the city is offering payments from $1,000 to $10,000 based on independent appraisals, many of the current homeowners say they have no interest in losing all that land. In some cases, residents say, the city's trying to buy property where they have installed fences, garden beds or pools. The land dispute dates back to 1987, when CSX Corp. stopped operating the Monon Railroad. At that point, homeowners like Taylor and some property rights attorneys say, the land rights should have automatically reverted to the residents. CSX had acquired only a right-of-way easement — a right to use other people's land for the sole purpose of running a railroad — that it forfeited upon shutting down the tracks, they argue. Instead, CSX sold the obsolete railbed to the city two years later for $1.5 million. The city ripped out the trash-covered tracks and completed the 10-mile Monon Trail in 1999, now a treasured public good used by more than a million people each year. "What the city did when they came out and took control of the Monon Trail and developed it for a trail was improper," Tom Malapit, a property rights attorney with Malapit & Rochford, said to a room full of concerned homeowners at a neighborhood meeting May 7. "They should have, under normal eminent domain, come to (the) property owners and made (them) an offer." The city disputes Malapit's interpretation of decades-old Hamilton County court rulings that settled ownership along the Monon. When CSX sold the railroad bed to the city, the firm also transferred its right-of-way easement, Department of Public Works spokesman Kyle Bloyd said in an emailed statement. That easement granted the city the right to use the land, DPW says. In fact, city officials argue that homeowners who have built fences or garden beds close to the trail in the last three decades have encroached on the city's easement. The city now wants to buy the property it already has the right to use. "In order to clear up title to this land, to expand the Monon Trail, and to continue the operation of the Trail for and on behalf of the public," the DPW statement says, "the city has determined that the best course of action is to acquire fee title to the land on which it currently owns an easement." The situation is escalating as DPW moves beyond making initial cash offers to invoking eminent domain, the government's constitutional right to claim private land for public use and pay just compensation to the owners. There's precedent for using eminent domain against homeowners along the Monon who resist government land-taking. The city of Carmel pursued eminent domain lawsuits against at least eight land owners to pave the way for the 2002 opening of the trail north of the county line. DPW has already widened the trail south of 56th Street after taking over adjacent properties, officials told IndyStar. The city has acquired more than half of about 300 total parcels along the Monon from 10th Street to 96th Street and is in the process of buying roughly 60 more tracts, according to DPW. But officials always knew the area between 56th Street and Kessler Boulevard, where homeowners have built especially close to the trail, could pose more issues. "The other (homes), in that Forest Hills and Canterbury Park area, we knew would be more challenging because of the amount of encroachments," DPW Project Manager Gretchen Zortman said. DPW says the city is negotiating the size of land taken on a case-by-case basis among the roughly 70 parcels in those neighborhoods and will compromise in some instances, as it did with a homeowner whose brick wall would have been costly to remove. The city may also pay to help move fences and relocate other encroachments, DPW officials said. More: Now beloved, the Monon Trail was once controversial plan to transform trash-filled tracks Taylor, the Forest Hills homeowner, recently heard from a land acquisition contractor hired by DPW, who offered him about $5,000 for a portion of his backyard. Taylor is adamant that he doesn't want to sell any of his property and that the city is in the wrong. He and other homeowners could work with property rights attorneys to fight the city's eminent domain lawsuits or try to minimize how much land the city takes. "They finally discovered that we could sue them for what they have done," Taylor told IndyStar, "and now they're going to try to use eminent domain to take it back and pay a pittance for what it's worth and use this smoke screen of widening the Monon." Most of the homeowners agree the Monon Trail is a boon for their neighborhood and want the city to widen and repave the sections north of 56th Street for the first time. But many say the cash offers are far too low and would take land away from what they consider their backyards. Chris Carson, a Canterbury-Chatard homeowner, said the city is offering him about $6,000 for a 33-foot wide tract of land that extends past his fence into his backyard. He wants to limit the land taken to his fence line and the city's total right-of-way to a 20-foot-wide corridor. "I want the trail to be widened and repaved. I don't really want to be paid," Carson said. "I want to keep my backyard." Courtney Cady and her husband bought their home near Canterbury Park in 2020 because they wanted to live right on the Monon. After the recent neighborhood meeting, though, she was kneeling along the trail she loves with a tape measurer and despairing over the results. A small staircase leads up to a newly installed $10,000 fence that shields Cady's yard from passersby. Both the staircase, which was there before she moved in, and the new fence would likely fall within the 66-foot corridor. So would the honeysuckle bushes that screen the backyard from the trail. The city is offering Cady only about $1,100 for a 33-foot-wide swath of her land, she said. She would be willing to donate a smaller portion along the path if the city agreed to leave the rest of her property alone. "If they were to come into our property and cut down trees and be in our yard, I would rather not have this home," she said. "That's totally impeding why we bought this property and put up a half-privacy fence and have this greenery."
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Floor & Decor Holdings Inc (FND) Q1 2025 Earnings Call Highlights: Navigating Growth Amid ...
Diluted Earnings Per Share: $0.45, compared to $0.46 in the same period last year. Total Sales: Increased by 5.8% to $1.161 billion from $1.97 billion in the same period last year. Comparable Store Sales: Decreased by 1.8% from the same period last year. Gross Margin Rate: Increased by 100 basis points to 43.8% from the same period last year. Selling and Store Operating Expenses: Increased by 10.3% to $368.8 million. Adjusted EBITDA: Increased 5.5% to $129.8 million. New Store Openings: Four new warehouse-format stores opened; plan to open 20 new stores in fiscal 2025. Inventory: Increased by 5% to $1.2 billion as of March 27, 2025. Liquidity: $949.8 million of unrestricted liquidity, including $186.9 million in cash and cash equivalents. Fiscal 2025 Sales Guidance: Expected to be in the range of $4,660 million to $4,800 million, an increase of 5% to 8% from fiscal 2024. Fiscal 2025 Capital Expenditures: Planned to be in the range of $310 million to $360 million. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 3 Warning Sign with FND. Release Date: May 01, 2025 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Floor & Decor Holdings Inc (NYSE:FND) reported a 5.8% increase in total sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2025, reaching $1.161 billion. The company achieved a gross margin rate of 43.8%, a 100 basis point increase from the same period last year, primarily due to lower supply chain costs. FND successfully diversified its sourcing, reducing its dependency on China from 18% to mid-single digits by the end of fiscal 2025. The company opened four new warehouse-format stores in the first quarter and plans to open 20 new stores in fiscal 2025, demonstrating continued expansion. Sales to professional customers (PROs) accounted for approximately 50% of total sales, showing strong engagement and growth in this segment. Comparable store sales decreased by 1.8% in the first quarter of fiscal 2025, at the low end of the company's expectations. The company revised its fiscal 2025 earnings guidance due to increased economic uncertainty and potential recession risks. FND reduced its planned new store openings from 25 to 20 for fiscal 2025, reflecting caution amid uncertain macroeconomic conditions. The company's first quarter fiscal 2025 selling and store operating expenses increased by 10.3%, leading to a 130 basis point increase as a percentage of net sales. The effective tax rate for the first quarter increased to 22.0% from 12.8% in the same period last year, impacting net earnings. Q: Can you confirm the tariff impact on guidance and how you're managing it? A: Thomas Taylor, CEO: We have experience dealing with tariffs and have made progress in diversifying away from China. We anticipate modest price increases to offset tariff impacts, maintaining our market position. Bradley Paulsen, President: Our guidance includes universal tariffs, and we believe we can maintain our margin rate through vendor negotiations and strategic pricing. Q: How are you managing the transition away from China in terms of product availability and margins? A: Thomas Taylor, CEO: We feel confident in our diversification efforts and do not anticipate significant product gaps. Bryan Langley, CFO: Diversifying has allowed us to maintain or improve product specifications and costs, supporting our gross margin. Q: Why did you reduce your store opening plan to 20 new stores, and could it go lower? A: Bryan Langley, CFO: We chose 20 based on current conditions and believe in the long-term potential of these locations. If business deteriorates beyond our guidance, we may reduce further, but current trends do not indicate that need. Q: How are you maintaining gross margin amid tariffs, and what strategies are in place? A: Thomas Taylor, CEO: We are leveraging better cost yields, consumer buying trends, supply chain efficiencies, and design services to maintain margins. Pricing adjustments will be a last resort if necessary. Q: How does your sourcing strategy compare to competitors, and is it a competitive advantage? A: Bradley Paulsen, President: Our diversified sourcing from multiple countries gives us flexibility and a competitive edge. Thomas Taylor, CEO: Our direct sourcing model is a significant advantage, especially as the market faces challenges. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Sign in to access your portfolio
Associated Press
17-02-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Foxx Life Sciences Hosts Successful Open House Event in Hyderabad, India
HYDERABAD, IN / ACCESS Newswire / February 17, 2025 / Foxx Life Sciences is delighted to announce the successful completion of its Open House event, held at the company's facility in Hyderabad, India. The event was well attended by industry leaders, partners, and community members, marking a significant milestone in Foxx Life Sciences ongoing commitment to innovation and excellence in the life sciences Loves India Plant Inauguration Industry, Government and distinguished guests were on site in Hyderabad to celebrate the open house of Foxx's 2nd plant in 5 years. Foxx celebrated 5 years of Bioprocess manufacturing in India and 2 new manufacturing plants, including a new state of the art blow and injection molding facility. Guests had the chance to interact with the company's experts, explore the latest advancements in manufacturing, and discover Foxx Life Sciences' innovative solutions. 'We are thrilled with the turnout and the positive feedback from our Open House event. This event underscores our dedication to fostering innovation and collaboration in India within the life sciences community' stated Thomas Taylor, Founder and CEO of Foxx Life Sciences Eknath Kulkarni, Co-Founder, Part-Owner, and President of Foxx Life Sciences APAC, said 'We are excited to continue building strong relationships with our customers, suppliers, and employees with these new major Investments. From R&D, prototyping, machining, welding, injection molding, clean room assembly, and Asia logistics, Foxx is ready to support our global customers'. Rick Schwartz, President of Foxx Life Sciences, also attended the event and added, 'The Open House was a fantastic opportunity to showcase our capabilities and share our vision for the future. We are committed to driving growth and excellence in the industry, and events like this help us connect with the community and highlight our contributions.' The 2 new plants in Hyderabad further strengthens Foxx Life Sciences' global positioning and enhances its manufacturing redundancies, ensuring robust and reliable operations across multiple locations. Manufacturing redundancy is critical for Vaccine, Biotech, Pharma and Medical end users. With a focus on quality (ISO 13485 since 2010), seven certified ISO Class 7 clean rooms, 5 manufacturing plants, Foxx is the perfect partner for your next Life Science disposable product or Bioprocess single-use custom assembly. About Foxx Life Sciences: Located just 42 miles from Boston, Foxx Life Sciences is a privately held world leader in custom single-use technology (SUT) including tubing, bag, bottle, carboy, filter, flask, needle and manifold SUT assemblies, filtration, fluid management, laboratory safety products, Stainless Steel, and glassware for the research, biotech, diagnostic, medical and pharmaceutical industries. Contact Information Founder & CEO +1-617-320-1138 Eknath Kulkarni +91 98505 59368 Chris Tubertini +1-835-247-4944 Andy Davies
