Getting Our Money's Worth: Using Value Capture to Fund Transit ...

From left, Gabriel Metcalf, Ryan Gravel, Doug Koelemay

Did you miss the roundtable???View the webcast.

Despite the slow pace of economic recovery, metropolitan Chicago?s growing population is demanding smarter investments to expand and improve transportation options and create more quality housing near jobs and transit. Given the scarcity of public funds available to make even the most essential infrastructure investments, governments have begun to use value capture financing tools to supplement traditional funding sources.?

What is value capture??

Because well-planned public transportation investments improve people?s access to desirable destinations, land near these investments commands higher prices, benefiting property owners and developers. Value capture is a type of public financing through which increases in private land values generated by public transportation investments are ?captured? to repay the cost of the public investment.? Value capture mechanisms such as tax increment financing, special assessments and impact fees connect the benefit of an investment with the cost to provide it, allowing the public and private sectors to share rewards created beyond the original project.?

At the Metropolitan Planning Council?s September roundtable, ?Getting Our Money?s Worth: Using Value Capture to Fund Transit,? we explored how San Francisco, Atlanta, Ga., and Tysons Corner, Va., outside of Washington, D.C., are using value?capture to generate revenue to finance transit improvements that can ? and in some cases already are ? transforming communities. These three projects resonated particularly well with our Chicago audience, in part because they feature investments that are being or could be replicated in our own region, such as Bus Rapid Transit and upgrades to Chicago Union Station.

Eric Hirschfield, Goldman Sachs

Eric Hirschfield of Goldman Sachs kicked off the roundtable, saying the afternoon was an opportunityto re-think how the Chicago region invests in the public transit our population is demanding, in the face of declining traditional revenue sources such as the gas tax. For example, transit ridership in Chicago is growing: Recorded rides on the CTA?s rail system rose 6.2 percent during the first half of 2012, the 51^st consecutive monthly increase. With several large capital investment projects planned, like the Red and Purple Line modernization project and the potential for a new Bus Rapid Transit route to serve the Western and Ashland corridors, this trend will continue. Hirschfield advised that given the scarcity of?available public funds, it?s up to states, cities, and regions to think differently about how to fund transportation projects.

Case Study:? Metrorail Expansion to Dulles Airport

Doug Koelemay, vice president of community relations at Science Applications?International Corporation (SAIC), spoke about how business owners in Tysons Corner are doing just that to help fund the$5.2 billion, 23-mile extension of the existing Metrorail to Tysons Corner and Dulles Airport. ?Doug brought an important private sector perspective to the discussion stressing that land owners bought into the idea to tax themselves to help fund the rail line due to key provisions in the tax district agreement:? There was a cap on total district tax receipts, not to exceed $400 million, which brought certainty to private sector finance planning and that local government agreed to fund any capital cost increase and refund the special assessment dollars if federal dollars did not materialize.? The Phase I Special Assessment District produced project revenues for almost six year before initial project outlays were necessary, as such, the assessment of 22 cent per $100 of assessed value will decrease beginning in 2013.?

Doug Koelemay, SAIC

Koelemay also explained that the three large landowners in Tysons Corner jumpstarted the special assessment district, because they realized if Tysons wanted to compete with other developing areas, it needed reliable transit service. These land owners completed an initial cost-benefit analysis and provided seed money for advocacy to gain support.

The positive effects of the Phase I Special Assessment District provided a model for the subsequent Phase II Special Assessment District formed by Fairfax County and Loudoun County to fund $330 million of the project?s second phase.? Further, Fairfax County is now considering a new transportation improvement district to support other Tysons Corner transportation investments as the Phase I district for Metrorail expires.? Koelemay said value capture is a great tool that aligns the investment mindedness of the private and public sector.? As a result of its success and given the scarcity of public dollars, Northern Virginia now clearly understands that value capture is an essential tool in providing transportation improvements that complement land use decisions.?

Case Study: The Atlanta BeltLine

Ryan Gravel, senior urban designer for Perkins + Will, kicked off the Atlanta BeltLine discussion with the following statement:? ?Developing new solutions to the problems created by a sprawl-dominated landscape will require a new thinking, and ultimately, a new kind of city.^??The BeltLine will change the way we think about Atlanta.??

Ryan Gravel, Perkins + Will

The Atlanta BeltLine, the brain child of Gravel?s, is the most ambitious public works project in the city?s history. The $2.8 billion project in Atlanta?s urban core will build 22-miles of transit through 45 neighborhoods, a 33-mile network of multi-use trails, nearly 1,300 acres of new parks and green space, and more than 5,600 new units of?affordable workforce housing. $1.7 billion of the $2.8 billion project costs are funded with a 25-year Tax Allocation District (TAD), which operates the same way as tax increment finance (TIF) district.

Gravel stressed it takes a partnership to accomplish and fund such a transformative project.? In 1999, after he published his joint master?s thesis that was the original vision for the BeltLine, a grass roots movement to make it a reality took shape.?? By 2005 The Atlanta BeltLine Partnership was formed with the City of Atlanta and, as part of the redevelopment plan, the 6,500 acre BeltLine TAD instituted with buy in from the City, Fulton County, and Atlanta Public Schools.? As part of the Community Engagement Framework authorized by the BeltLine legislation, the Tax Allocation District Advisory Committee?(TADAC) was created to?advise on how TAD funds are used. This committee is comprised of technical experts and community leaders.?

Case Study:? San Francisco?s Transbay Transit Center

San Francisco has embarked on one of the nation?s largest transit infrastructure projects, the renovation of the downtown Transbay Terminal. The new?Transbay Transit Center?will create a modern, multimodal transportation hub that will centralize the Bay Area?s 11 transit systems to accommodate more than 100,000 passengers each weekday and anchor a new transit-friendly neighborhood?just south of San Francisco?s Financial District, including a?5.4 acre rooftop park?and a?1,000-foot-tall office tower?that will become the city?s tallest building.

Gabriel Metcalf, SPUR

Gabriel Metcalf, executive director of the San Francisco Planning and Urban?Research Association (SPUR) described how San Francisco is layering several financing tools; including?tax increment?financing, a special assessment, development impact fees, and a federal?Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan,?to finance the $4 billion?Transbay Transit?Center.? Metcalf explained the redevelopment will be partially funded with a Mello-Roos or an additional special assessment tax on property of 0.35 percent for new development that will generate $250 million.? Development impact fees ranging from $5 to $35 per square foot of new development in the plan area will fund another $125 million.? State owned land sales will bring in $600 million and tax increment financing $1.2 billion.? Thus far, $548 million in federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loans have been secured that, that will be repaid with tax increment financing (TIF) from land sold and development in the surrounding state owned parcels.

Two cautionary notes of advice from Metcalf:? Timing is important in locking in a TIF district because the public announcement of a new transit investment immediately impacts land values and that there is not always land value to recapture due to development costs.

Metcalf also highlighted that parking meter revenue in San Francisco funds public transit, to the tune of $300 million of the $800 million budget. This makes sense because the SFpark program, a demand based parking system, increases meter fees based on occupancy, so as rates go up in popular areas, people gravitate to public transit.?

More on Value Capture

Source: http://www.metroplanning.org/news-events/blog-post/6533

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Penn researchers connect baboon personalities to social success and health benefits

Public release date: 1-Oct-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Evan Lerner
elerner@upenn.edu
215-573-6604
University of Pennsylvania

PHILADELPHIA Whether human or baboon, it helps to have friends. For both species, studies have shown that robust social networks lead to better health and longer lives. Now, a team of University of Pennsylvania researchers has helped show that baboon personality plays a role in these outcomes, and, like people, some baboons' personalities are better suited to making and keeping friends than others.

The research was conducted by psychology professor Robert Seyfarth and biology professor Dorothy Cheney, both of Penn's School of Arts and Sciences. They collaborated with the Arizona State University's Joan Silk.

Their work was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Seyfarth and Cheney, along with their colleagues and students, have spent the last 17 years observing a group of baboons living in the Moremi Game Reserve in Botswana, studying the biological roots of their social dynamics. As with many other primates, baboon societies are strongly hierarchical. Females "inherit" their dominance ranks from their mothers and enjoy priority of access to food and mates. But high-ranking females do not always have greater reproductive success than low-ranking females. This suggests that, when it comes to evolutionary success, the inherited advantage of high rank can't explain everything.

"If you look at a baboon society," Seyfarth said, "and see the ranked, matrilineal families, you would think that whatever traits put an individual at the top of the hierarchy, that's what natural selection is going to favor. But that turns out not to be the case.

"In fact, dominance rank is not as good a predictor of reproductive outcomes as a close network of social relationships and stable relationships over time. So our question became 'What predicts having a strong network?'"

Baboon females actively work to maintain close social bonds, but, like humans, some baboons seemed to be better at it than others. With such traits closely tied to fitness and reproductive success, the Penn researchers wanted to get at the root of this variation.

During seven years of observations in the animals' natural habitat, the researchers measured individual female baboons on their sociability. They measured the number of grooming partners a baboon had, as well her tendency to be friendly or aggressive toward others. They also measured reproductive and fitness benefits they accrued: how long individuals and their offspring lived, as well as their stress levels, as determined by the presence of certain hormones in their droppings.

The researchers found that strength of an individual's social bonds was not fully predicted by seemingly obvious factors, such as the female's rank or the size of the family she was born into.

"Even when a female has a lot of relatives," Cheney said, "sometimes she's a loner, but some females who have no relatives do just fine. It suggests that you have to be both lucky and skilled to have these networks."

And, again like humans, these skills came down to individual personality traits. To determine a female's personality, the researchers paid close attention to grunting behavior. For baboons, grunting greases the social wheels. If a lower-ranking female grunts when approaching a higher-ranking female, the grunt acts as a kind of appeasement, reducing the chance of receiving aggression. Conversely, if a higher-ranking female grunts to a lower-ranking female, the grunt puts her at ease, increasing the chance of a friendly social interaction. And females of all ranks grunt when approaching a mother with an infant, because grunts increase the likelihood that the mother will allow the grunter to interact with her child.

Working bottom up from the trends they found in the baboon's behavior, the researchers grouped the baboons into three distinct personality profiles: "nice," "aloof" and "loner."

Nice females were friendly to all others and often grunted to lower-ranking females to signal reassurance. They formed strong and enduring social bonds with fairly consistent partner preferences over time.

Aloof females were more aggressive and less friendly, and they grunted primarily to higher-ranking females who had infants. They formed weaker bonds but had very consistent partner preferences.

Loner females were often alone and relatively unfriendly; they grunted primarily to appease higher-ranking females without infants. They formed weak bonds with changing partners.

Of the three, the loners had the highest stress levels, the weakest social bonds and the least stable social partners over time. Both of these measures were correlated with lower offspring survival and shorter lifespans. Both nice and aloof females showed the health and reproductive benefits associated with strong social bonds.

"This belies the idea that everything is competition and conflict," Cheney said.

While the mechanisms that make both "nice" and "aloof" effective strategies remains unclear, the study shows that cooperative personalities are adaptive.

"These results have allowed us to, for the first time in a wild primate, link personality characteristics, social skill and reproductive success," Seyfarth said. "By being a nice baboon, you increase the likelihood of having strong social bonds, which in turn translates to a better chance of passing on your genes."

###

The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health, Leakey Foundation and National Geographic Society.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 1-Oct-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Evan Lerner
elerner@upenn.edu
215-573-6604
University of Pennsylvania

PHILADELPHIA Whether human or baboon, it helps to have friends. For both species, studies have shown that robust social networks lead to better health and longer lives. Now, a team of University of Pennsylvania researchers has helped show that baboon personality plays a role in these outcomes, and, like people, some baboons' personalities are better suited to making and keeping friends than others.

The research was conducted by psychology professor Robert Seyfarth and biology professor Dorothy Cheney, both of Penn's School of Arts and Sciences. They collaborated with the Arizona State University's Joan Silk.

Their work was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Seyfarth and Cheney, along with their colleagues and students, have spent the last 17 years observing a group of baboons living in the Moremi Game Reserve in Botswana, studying the biological roots of their social dynamics. As with many other primates, baboon societies are strongly hierarchical. Females "inherit" their dominance ranks from their mothers and enjoy priority of access to food and mates. But high-ranking females do not always have greater reproductive success than low-ranking females. This suggests that, when it comes to evolutionary success, the inherited advantage of high rank can't explain everything.

"If you look at a baboon society," Seyfarth said, "and see the ranked, matrilineal families, you would think that whatever traits put an individual at the top of the hierarchy, that's what natural selection is going to favor. But that turns out not to be the case.

"In fact, dominance rank is not as good a predictor of reproductive outcomes as a close network of social relationships and stable relationships over time. So our question became 'What predicts having a strong network?'"

Baboon females actively work to maintain close social bonds, but, like humans, some baboons seemed to be better at it than others. With such traits closely tied to fitness and reproductive success, the Penn researchers wanted to get at the root of this variation.

During seven years of observations in the animals' natural habitat, the researchers measured individual female baboons on their sociability. They measured the number of grooming partners a baboon had, as well her tendency to be friendly or aggressive toward others. They also measured reproductive and fitness benefits they accrued: how long individuals and their offspring lived, as well as their stress levels, as determined by the presence of certain hormones in their droppings.

The researchers found that strength of an individual's social bonds was not fully predicted by seemingly obvious factors, such as the female's rank or the size of the family she was born into.

"Even when a female has a lot of relatives," Cheney said, "sometimes she's a loner, but some females who have no relatives do just fine. It suggests that you have to be both lucky and skilled to have these networks."

And, again like humans, these skills came down to individual personality traits. To determine a female's personality, the researchers paid close attention to grunting behavior. For baboons, grunting greases the social wheels. If a lower-ranking female grunts when approaching a higher-ranking female, the grunt acts as a kind of appeasement, reducing the chance of receiving aggression. Conversely, if a higher-ranking female grunts to a lower-ranking female, the grunt puts her at ease, increasing the chance of a friendly social interaction. And females of all ranks grunt when approaching a mother with an infant, because grunts increase the likelihood that the mother will allow the grunter to interact with her child.

Working bottom up from the trends they found in the baboon's behavior, the researchers grouped the baboons into three distinct personality profiles: "nice," "aloof" and "loner."

Nice females were friendly to all others and often grunted to lower-ranking females to signal reassurance. They formed strong and enduring social bonds with fairly consistent partner preferences over time.

Aloof females were more aggressive and less friendly, and they grunted primarily to higher-ranking females who had infants. They formed weaker bonds but had very consistent partner preferences.

Loner females were often alone and relatively unfriendly; they grunted primarily to appease higher-ranking females without infants. They formed weak bonds with changing partners.

Of the three, the loners had the highest stress levels, the weakest social bonds and the least stable social partners over time. Both of these measures were correlated with lower offspring survival and shorter lifespans. Both nice and aloof females showed the health and reproductive benefits associated with strong social bonds.

"This belies the idea that everything is competition and conflict," Cheney said.

While the mechanisms that make both "nice" and "aloof" effective strategies remains unclear, the study shows that cooperative personalities are adaptive.

"These results have allowed us to, for the first time in a wild primate, link personality characteristics, social skill and reproductive success," Seyfarth said. "By being a nice baboon, you increase the likelihood of having strong social bonds, which in turn translates to a better chance of passing on your genes."

###

The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health, Leakey Foundation and National Geographic Society.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-10/uop-prc092812.php

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Nokia launches Belle Feature Pack 2 firmware OTA, Pureview 808 gets extra imaging goodies

Like the proverbial groundhog, Nokia's Feature Pack 2 for Symbian Belle peeked out a bit too early last month and had to withdraw back into its burrow. Now the new firmware upgrade for the Nokia 701, 700, 602 and Pureview 808 is out for realsies, with the latter star of the lineup getting the lion's share of new trinkets. Specifically, the big-sensored phone will now have a landscape Gallery Grid view option, which will enable faster and easier zooming, editing and sharing of images; more picture info like ISO value, white balance and location; and a reset button to get back to the default image setting in one touch. All the above Symbian Belle phones will get an updated browser with better HTML5 support, a (much) faster keyboard, the Video Pro editing application and Car Mode -- which gives "easy access to your phone's key features when you're driving," according to Nokia. If that makes you feel better about your legacy Nokia OS investment after all the company's Windows Phone 8 hoopla, check the source to see how to get it.

[Thanks, Fakhre]

Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Nokia

Nokia launches Belle Feature Pack 2 firmware OTA, Pureview 808 gets extra imaging goodies originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Oct 2012 10:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/02/nokia-belle-feature-pack-2-OTA/

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Fifth & Pacific lowers 2012 view, stock tumbles

NEW YORK (AP) ? Fifth & Pacific Cos. cut its 2012 earnings guidance Monday, citing weak sales of Juicy Couture products.

Its stock tumbled almost 14 percent in after-hours trading following the announcement.

The company lowered its estimate for adjusted EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Fifth & Pacific cut its estimated 2012 EBITDA by $25 million and also forecast a weak third quarter. It said that its Kate Spade and Lucky Brands are doing better than anticipated, but full-price sales of Juicy Couture are falling short of expectations

"We are not seeing the improved results we were forecasting for Juicy and are not expecting Juicy to achieve its forecasted results in the fourth quarter," said CEO William McComb. McComb said Fifth & Pacific is optimistic it can get better results from Juicy Couture.

Fifth & Pacific said it expects EBITDA of $100 million to $115 million in 2012 excluding one-time gains and charges, down from its previous estimate of $125 million to $140 million. The company had reiterated that guidance as recently as July 26. FactSet reports that analysts expected the company to report $132 million.

The company said its third-quarter adjusted EBITDA will be between $17 million and $20 million, well below analyst estimates of $35 million.

Fifth & Pacific said it is planning to close a distribution center in Ohio, but those plans have been delayed and it is still shipping some products from the facility. It said the delay will cost it $2 million to $4 million. Those costs are included in the company's new outlook.

Shares of Fifth & Pacific sank $1.77 to $11 in aftermarket trading. The stock gave up a penny to $12.77 during regular-session trading.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fifth-pacific-lowers-2012-view-stock-tumbles-215700175--finance.html

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Huge tax increase looms at year-end 'fiscal cliff'

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A typical middle-income family making $40,000 to $64,000 a year could see its taxes go up by $2,000 next year if lawmakers fail to renew a lengthy roster of tax cuts set to expire in December, according to a new report Monday

Taxpayers across the income spectrum would be hit with large tax hikes, the Tax Policy Center said in its study, with households in the top 1 percent income range seeing an average tax increase of more than $120,000, while a family making between $110,000 to $140,000 could see a tax hike in the $6,000 range.

All told, the government would reap more than $500 billion in new revenue if a full menu of tax cuts were allowed to expire. The expiring provisions include Bush-era cuts on wage and investment income and cuts for married couples and families with children, among others. Also expiring is a 2 percentage point temporary payroll tax cut championed by President Barack Obama.

"It's just a huge, huge number," said Eric Toder, one of the authors of the study.

Economists warn that the looming tax hikes, combined with $109 billion in automatic spending cuts scheduled to take effect in January, could throw the fragile economy back into recession if Washington doesn't act. The automatic spending cuts are coming due because of the failure of last year's deficit "supercommittee" to strike a bargain. The combination of the sharp tax hikes and spending cuts has been dubbed a "fiscal cliff."

"The fiscal cliff threatens an unprecedented tax increase at year end," says the Tax Policy center report. "Taxes would rise by more than $500 billion in 2013 ? an average of almost $3,500 per household ? as almost every tax cuts enacted since 2001 would expire."

It's likely that Washington policymakers will allow the payroll tax cut first enacted for 2011 to expire, and Obama is calling for permitting rates on individual income exceeding $200,000 and family incoming over $250,000 to go back to Clinton-era rates of as much as 39.6 percent.

But all sides are calling for the renewal of Bush-era tax rates for everyone else. Without a renewal of those rates, a married couple would pay a 28 percent rate on taxable income exceeding $72,300 instead of the 25 percent rate they now pay. And the 10 percent rate paid on the first $8,900 of income would jump to 15 percent.

The Tax Policy Center is a joint project of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-10-01-Fiscal%20Cliff-Taxes/id-118b2200f98a46d3b829062ed954a727

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Shakesville: Domestic Violence Awareness Month

[Content Note: Detailed discussion of domestic violence, including descriptions of what constitutes domestic violence.]

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Domestic violence occurs within every class, age group, race, and religion. It happens in families, friendships, and intimate relationships. Intimate partner violence happens within same and different sex partnerships; it happens whether people are married, living together, or dating. Approximately one in four women has been a victim of domestic violence. Too often society--like with rape--places the blame on the victim and not the perpetrator. We need to change that.

What is it?*

Physical Abuse It isn't "only" hitting, slapping, choking, shoving. It also is using the body to intimidate. Physical abuse is also causing fear and intimidation via punching holes in walls/doors and throwing objects. It is intentionally scaring a partner by driving unsafely. It is preventing a partner from leaving their home.

Sexual Abuse When a person submits to sexual acts out of fear or coercion, it is rape. Capitulation does not equal consent. If a partner must "give in" because of fear of the consequences of saying no: that is part of sexual abuse. Remember: You always, ALWAYS, have a right to say no. Married or not. "Been a long time" or not. Always and without fear. Intimate partner reproductive coercion and birth control sabotage are aspects of sexual abuse.

Emotional Abuse It is real--not being hit or raped doesn't mean not being abused. Emotional abusers isolate their victims. Emotional abusers will use emotional blackmail, guilt, and shame to get victims to stay and may threaten suicide if they leave. They verbally assault with name-calling, mockery, public & private humiliation, and threats. They may expect their partners to ask their "permission" to do things. Emotional abusers can also be ones who constantly "know what's best" and blows up/rages if their partner doesn't submit to their "advice" (control). Economic abuse is a sub-category of emotional abuse: abusers use the finances to exert control over their partners.

***

Did you know? (.pdf)

* Young people age 12 to 19 experience the highest rates of rape and sexual assault, and people age 18 and 19 experience the highest rates of stalking.

* Approximately one in three adolescent girls in the United States is a victim of physical, emotional or verbal abuse from a dating partner ? a figure that far exceeds victimization rates for other types of violence affecting youth.

* In a national online survey, one in five tweens ? age 11 to 14 ? say their friends are victims of dating violence and nearly half who are in relationships know friends who are verbally abused. Two in five of the youngest tweens, ages 11 and 12, report that their friends are victims of verbal abuse in relationships.

* Nationwide, nearly one in ten high-school students (9.8 percent) has been hit, slapped or physically hurt on purpose by a boyfriend or girlfriend.

* Teens in same-sex relationships experience rates of violence and abuse similar to rates experienced by teens in heterosexual relationships. Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health finds that nearly one in four teens and young adults (ages 12-21 years) in same-sex romantic or sexual relationships reported some type of partner violence victimization in the past year-and-a-half. One in ten reported experiencing physical violence by a dating partner.

* One in three teens reports knowing a friend or peer who has been hit, punched, kicked, slapped or physically hurt by a partner.

If you parent, work with, or otherwise have a relationship with young people: please talk to them about healthy relationships and domestic violence. If you are a parent (or otherwise similarly involved with a young person), don't just have talks about sex--have them about relationships and how to engage in healthy ones.

***

Resources

If you are in an abusive situation (physical or not) you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline (US & Canada): 1-800-799-SAFE or see their site (they have a great list of resources on their site, as well)

RAINN is a particular resource for those who are being sexually abused: 1.800.656.HOPE or see their site.

The Power and Control Wheel (.pdf) and the Equality Wheel (.pdf) (via)

Futures Without Violence

Know More. Say More.

No More.

-----------------

*Not intended to be a comprehensive listing

Source: http://www.shakesville.com/2012/10/domestic-violence-awareness-month.html

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Schwarzenegger kept many secrets from wife Maria

FILE - In this Jan. 22, 2011 file photo, Maria Shriver, right, and her husband, actor and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, stand amid family members and other mourners as they leave the funeral Mass for her father, R. Sargent Shriver, at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic church in Potomac, Md., just outside Washington. Schwarzenegger says his lifelong penchant for secrecy and ability to put his emotions "on deep freeze" led him to keep many secrets from his wife Maria Shriver, eventually causing the dissolution of their marriage when he was forced to admit he fathered a child with the family's housekeeper years earlier. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 22, 2011 file photo, Maria Shriver, right, and her husband, actor and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, stand amid family members and other mourners as they leave the funeral Mass for her father, R. Sargent Shriver, at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic church in Potomac, Md., just outside Washington. Schwarzenegger says his lifelong penchant for secrecy and ability to put his emotions "on deep freeze" led him to keep many secrets from his wife Maria Shriver, eventually causing the dissolution of their marriage when he was forced to admit he fathered a child with the family's housekeeper years earlier. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) ? Arnold Schwarzenegger says his lifelong penchant for secrecy and ability to put his emotions "on deep freeze" led him to keep many secrets from his wife Maria Shriver, eventually causing the dissolution of their marriage when he was forced to admit he fathered a child with the family's housekeeper years earlier.

Throughout their strained 25-year marriage, Schwarzenegger says he did not want to tell Shriver about crucial life decisions such as major heart surgery and running for California governor because he feared she would overreact and tell her well-connected family and friends.

In his new autobiography, "Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story," and in an interview airing Sunday on "60 Minutes," the former California governor acknowledges that his inability to be honest with people has hurt those closest to him.

"That's the way I handle things. And it always has worked. But, I mean it does not ? it's not the best thing for people around me because I sometimes ? some information I just keep to myself," Schwarzenegger tells reporter Lesley Stahl on "60 Minutes."

The former Mr. Universe traces his detachment to his bodybuilding days, where he says emotions make athletes lose.

"So I became an expert in living in denial," says the Hollywood action star and former governor.

Schwarzenegger praises Shriver throughout the book as a partner and friend who was essential to his success, but also admits to keeping her in the dark about many career decisions. Shriver filed for divorce in July.

Although he had been toying with the idea of running for governor for more than a year, Schwarzenegger waited until just days before the filing deadline for the 2003 recall to discuss it with Shriver, writing in the book that he "didn't want endless conversation about it at home."

Shriver opposed the idea, but was persuaded to soften her stance by her mother, Eunice Shriver, who told her to support her husband's ambitions, or he might resent her for the rest of his life. Despite that struggle, he also didn't inform her when he decided to seek a second term, writing that she had to read about it in the newspaper.

"Total Recall" will officially be published Monday. The Associated Press purchased an early copy.

But Schwarzenegger's biggest secret, the child he had with the family's housekeeper, became tabloid news last year after he left office. Shriver confronted him during a January 2011 counseling session and he finally acknowledged the boy, Joseph, was his. Schwarzenegger says he kept the secret from his wife for years because he was worried "it would get out."

He tells Stahl he never even had a conversation with the housekeeper, Mildred Baena, about the son. Instead, after he began noticing the boy's strong resemblance to him, around age 8, he just began giving Baena extra money.

"I kind of put it away and just said to myself, 'OK, I'm going to put this away. I'm going to fulfill my responsibilities,'" he tells Stahl.

He declined to say whether he has a relationship with the child, who is now about 15, and he said he didn't want to go into any more details about his relationship with Baena because he's already caused Shriver and their four children enough pain.

"I don't want to reawaken and kind of talk about it because it's not going to help them. And I just want to protect them as much as I can," he says.

There were other deceptions, too, including a "hot affair" with actress Brigitte Nielsen while filming the 1985 film "Red Sonja," when he and Shriver were living together. He admits to other affairs, but tells Stahl they are "something that's obviously between Maria and me."

Schwarzenegger says in the interview that his marriage and his family were the most important things in his life, but he caused them tremendous pain.

"So the thing that really meant the most to me kind of fell apart because of my doing," he says in the "60 Minutes" interview. "That is something that I will always look back and say, 'How could you have done that?'"

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-10-01-Schwarzenegger%20Book/id-f8a01d8a252b426485527a7a35007b49

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