Taylor & Taylor Associates, a bicoastal insurance brokerage, and carrier Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company have awarded a $40,000 grant to support FDNY High School’s ongoing program whereby students can earn a state emergency medical technician certification along with a high school diploma.
Located in the East New York section of Brooklyn, the FDNY High School emerged from a partnership between the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) and the City’s Department of Education that emphasizes the importance of community public service. The educational initiative opens up emergency response career paths for students, including one that could lead to being part of the FDNY. The curriculum includes studies of the science of fire and emergency response, and teaming with FDNY members in assorted tasks such as activities at the FDNY Fire Academy and a summer leadership program.
In 2006, Taylor and Taylor and Fireman’s Fund provided a $50,000 grant to the FDNY High School that was utilized for fire and medical care training activities. The recent $40,000 grant was presented during a special public event last month. The grant package is part of a nationwide program called Fireman’s Fund Heritage which is funded by Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company. Since ’04, Fireman’s Fund has issued more than 900 grants totaling more than $17 million to fire departments across the country for needed equipment, training and educational tools. Independent insurance agencies/brokers like Taylor & Taylor are able to direct these grants to support fire stations in their communities.
Scott Taylor, president of Taylor and Taylor, thanked his clients, noting, “The business my company has placed with Fireman’s Fund on behalf of our customers [including members of the Association of Independent Commercial Producers] has earned my company the right…to direct a total of $90,000 in grant money to the high school.”
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More