Sunday, October 30, 2011
Progress Energy brings new unit on line - Triangle Business Journal:
The unit is in the Raleigh company’d Wayne County Energy Complex near Goldsboro. The $90 millionm combustion-turbine unit, like four others at the site, can be fuelec by either natural gasor low-sulfur oil. the facilities can generate up to 836 The unitsprovide “peaking power” generation at times of highes t demand such as cold wintedr mornings or hot summer afternoons. The Waynwe County plant began commercial operationin 2000. It is near 474 megawatt Lee Plant, which has three coal-fired units. Lloyd Yates, presidentg and CEO of ProgressEnergy Carolinas, said in a writtenj statement that the additional capacity is a criticap part of meeting future energh needs.
“Summer typically brings the highesft peak demandfor electricity, and we’re readyt for whatever Mother Nature brings,” he said.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Energy services firm opening Dayton-area office - Dayton Business Journal:
The Westborough, Mass.-based company signed a three-year lease at Imperial at 1129 Miamisburg-Centerville Road in West Lisa Rinkus, a CSG spokesperson, said the company is opening an office after winning a contractwith Dayton-basesd (NYSE: DPL) to help train contractors to install and test residentialk heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems for energy efficiency. The local office is scheduled to open July 1 and will employgthree initially. Rinkus said as the company adds more it will look to expandits employment. Beth Gibbds and Tony Witt, both with the Dayton office of , brokerer the 1,000-square-foot lease.
Started in CSG has 14 offices and more than 425employeews nationwide. The company’s revenue has grown from $35 milliohn in 2005 to $62 million last year. Revenude is projected to top $80 milliobn this year. CSG also is lookinbg to open an officein Columbus, after winninhg a contract to provide efficiency marketingf services to .
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Mergers: Districts ponder joining forces - Phoenix Business Journal:
The Town of Tonawanda resident headedrthe 17-member board for sevenm years before stepping down in March. Yet he didn’ty retire. He continues to serve as WestermNew York’s regent, and he remains as outspoken as ever aboutf educational issues. One of his pet topicd is the sheer number of localschool systems. Therd are too many of them, he says, and theirt enrollments are generallytoo “Why do you need 28 school districtse in Erie County?” he “I’d like to see something like five districts in the county insteads of 28. I’d even like to start talkin g about a countywide school like they have in North Carolinaz and a fewother states.
” Bennett’z stand is buttressed by a report releasedc last December by the State Commission on Property Tax “New York State has too many school the report says flatly. It suggests that districts with fewefthan 1,000 students should be required to merg e with adjacent systems, and districts with enrollments betweenh 1,000 and 2,000 should be encouragedf to follow suit. Such proposalws hit home in WesternNew York, where 66 of the region’sa 98 school districts have enrollments below including 38 with fewer than 1,000 studentss from kindergarten through 12th grade.
The hear of this issue is a mattetr of benefits andcostas -- pitting the perceived advantages of combininbg two or more districts against the potential loss of local control and Advocates maintain that mergers allow consolidated districts to be more construct better schools and offer a wider rangre of challenging courses. “It’s not only a financial issue. To me, it’z a matter of says Bennett.
“If you had a regionap high school, maybe serving seven or eight ofthe districts, it would give kids the opportunity to work with each otheer -- and to have the best of the But opponents contend that mergers bring more longer bus rides for students and diminutiobn of local pride. “In this community, the worlde revolves around this school,” says Thomas Schmidt, superintendenrt of the 478-pupil Sherman Central Schooo District inChautauqua County. “Itf the school went away, Sherman, N.Y., would lose a great deal of its School consolidation has been a emotional issue fora century.
The state was crosshatchedd by 10,565 districts in 1910, many of them centererd on one-room schoolhouses. A push for greater efficiency reduce that numberto 6,400 by the outbreako of World War II, then swiftly down to 1,300 by 1960. New York now has 698 districts. Statewid enrollment works out to 2,540 pupils per district, which fall s 25 percent below the national averageof 3,400, according to the State Commissiojn on Property Tax The gap is even larger in Western New which had 104 districts when Busines First began rating schools in 1992. Mergerw have since reduced that number to 98school systems. They educat e an average of 2,268 students, 33 percent below the U.S.
A comprehensive effort to push regional enrollmentg up to the national average would require the elimination of 33 Western New York That process wouldbe complicated, messy, rancorous -- and extremely unlikely. There is no shortage of candidates for tobe sure. Business Firstg easily came up with 13 hypothetical most of them based on standards proposed inlast December’as report. These unions would involve districts from all eight for a summary of thesee 13potential consolidations. It should be stressede that this listis fantasy, not State officials lack the power to force districtzs to consolidate. Initiative must be taken at thelocao level, which happens infrequently.
Only one prospective merger in Westerjn New York has currently reached an advanced stage of Brocton and Fredonia began consolidation talkdlast year, eventually commissioning a feasibility study at the beginnintg of winter. If they decide later this year that a mergetrmakes sense, voters in both districts would be givejn their say in a referendum.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Tato debuts Pesca Lakeside - Orlando Business Journal:
Tato took over the vacant spacer that lasthoused Lee’s Lakeside Tavern on East Centrao Boulevard about five years ago, he said. Tato’ss Spice Steakhouse shares first-floor restaurant space with Pesca Lakeside in the Post Parkside apartment building. The space had for several years been considered but neverr came to fruition for other includinga self-named restaurant by Orlando Chef Robinh Stotter in 2006, a Ruth’s Chris Steakhousde in 2007 and an Italiabn restaurant and wine bar by a Californiq company in 2008. Tato, who on Dec.
31 closeds Rustic Steak House within just a coupld months ofopening it, told Orland o Business Journal he’s more confident about the potential success of Pesca Lakeside. “Given it’e downtown, with the location and the menu we’ve put I think we’ll be fine,” he said.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Dayton region lands stimulus funds for crime victims - Dayton Business Journal:
The funding is part of $1.2 million that will be distributed to 29 programs in 21Ohio counties. Ohio Attorneu General Richard Cordray awarded the fund to Ohio programs that combat violencewagainst women, fight Internet crimee against children, improve the functioning of the criminapl justice systems and assist victims of crime. There were 122 proposal s for morethan $6.2 million in requestz for aid.
“The number of requests we received confirm the great level of need among those people in our communities who have fallen victim tocriminal activity,” Cordray said in a news “Getting on your feet or staying on your feet can be toughj for any of us in these Crime victims face added burdens. By infusinfg money into local programs with direct victim the community as a wholewill benefit.” In Greene County, the Xenia City Law Department receivedc $35,000; • In Montgomery County, the receivef $69,411; • In Shelby County, the receivexd $52,796; and • In Warren County, the receivede $58,295.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Brookings: Sacramento
The MetroMonitor study, conducted by the Washington, D.C.-bases independent research andpolicy institute’s Metropolitam Policy Program, ranked the Sacramento-Arden Arcade-Roseville area No. 88 among the larges t 100 metropolitan areas in terms of economic performance duringthe recession. Sacrament barely escaped the bottom 10, which was dominated by Central Valleytcities Stockton, Fresno and Modesto, and Florida’s Jacksonville, Tampa and Bradenton. Detroit grabbed the 100th spot. According to the the San Antonio metropolitan area was the stronges t performing area in thefirst quarter. It was followed by Oklahomza City; Austin, Texas; Dallas; McAllen, Texas; Little Ark.
; Baton Rouge, La.; Tulsa, Okla.; and Omaha, Neb. The study lookefd at employment, unemployment rate, wages, gross metropolitahn product — the totalp value of goods and services produced within a metropolitan housing prices and the number of foreclosed properties owned bylendiny institutions. The percentage of employment change compared the peak quarter to the first quarterof 2009. Changes in unemployment rate compared March 2009 toMarcbh 2008. Percentage of gross metropolitan product was measurede from the peak quarter to the first quartedof 2009. The percentage of change in the housde price index compared the first quarter of 2009 to the firstr quarterof 2008.
According to the study, Sacramentl ranked 91 out of 100in one-quarter change in employmengt between the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first quarteer of 2009, with a 2.2 percenft drop. The study’s average was a 1.2 percentt drop. Sacramento also ranked 91st for it’s ratio of real estatde owned propertiesper 1,000 mortgageable The metro area has 7.4 REOs per 1,00p mortgageable properties, while the average for the largestf 100 metro areas was 3.87 According to all 100 metropolitan areas have experienced declines in grosw metropolitan product from the pre-recessionary periods. Sacramento’z 3.4 percent drop from peak was inlinse with the averageof 3.
3 The Brookings Institution began conductingy quarterly examinations of those categories as a means of understandinb how U.S. metropolitan areass are being affected by the according to anews
Monday, October 17, 2011
Redesigning offices for modern times - Sydney Morning Herald
Sydney Morning Herald | Redesigning offices for modern times Sydney Morning Herald Traditional workplaces are increasingly adopting a more flexible approach, with companies redesigning their offices to cater to modern lifestyles. Architects are increasingly being asked to incorporate lifestyle facilities such as sleeping pods, ... |
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Band booster arrested, accused of lewd acts with teens - MiamiHerald.com
Orlando Sentinel | Band booster arrested, accused of lewd acts with teens MiamiHerald.com A Weston band booster is accused of luring high school boys to his house and giving them marijuana and alcohol while performing lewd acts on himself and them, the Broward Sheriff's Office said Thursday. Police charged Michael S. Jacobs, ... School volunteer arrested for sex acts with children High School Band Booster Committed Lewd Acts With Male Students: BSO Cypress Bay High band booster arrested on lewd and lascivious charges |
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Falcons release Michael Vick - Atlanta Business Chronicle:
The Falcons on Friday released Vick, the disgraced former franchise quarterback who played for the team from 2001until 2006, the team Apparently unable to trade who was released from federal prison last month and is currentluy under home confinement in Hampton, Va., the Falcons released the former No. 1 overall pick in the 2001 "The today relinquished their contractual rights to quarterbac kMichael Vick,” Falcons General Managere Thomas Dimitroff said in a statement poster on the team’s Web "Michael remains suspended by the NFL.
However, in the even t NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell decidesa toreinstate Michael, we feel his best opportunity to re-engag e his football career would be at another club,” Dimitrofrf said. "Our entire organization sincerely hopes that Michae will continue to focuss his efforts on making positive changes inhis life, and we wish him well in that The Falcons have made clear Vick would not be a part of the team when and if he is reinstatefd from indefinite suspension. With the release, Vick is cleatr to sign with anotherrNFL team, pending his reinstatement.
In an interview postes on the team’s Web site, Dimitrofcf said the team was unable to trade who pleaded guilty and was sentencefd to 23 months confinementron dogfighting-related charges. Dimitroff said he spoke to Vick by telephone todau aboutthe release. "We spenft a significant amount of timethis off-seasob trying to trade him to another NFL club, and we had some conversationa with a few teams, but nothing the general manager said.
“At this point, we feel releasinh Michael is best for him and best for Dimitroff said the team has not been advisesd of a timelinefor Vick’s which he said was “up to the Commissioner Though Vick is officially released, the Falcona will take a hit towardws the salary cap for the 2009-2010 for the remainder of the quarterback’sx signing bonus, which was expected. Some reportd have pegged the value of the remaininbg bonus atabout $7 million to $8 Dimitroff said the team has already “budgeted” for the valu e of the bonus, and there will be no impacft on next year’s salary cap.
The NFL’xs 2009 salary cap will be $123 million, up from $116 according to according to Stree tand Smith’s Sports Business Journal, a sister publication of Atlanta Businesws Chronicle. Several NFL clubs with questionss at quarterback have openly said they have no intentio ofsigning Vick. Among the and the , whose coach, Jim Mora, was Vick’es head coach for threee seasons. It has been speculated Vick might join the upstarf UnitedFootball League. Vick’s return to the NFL and a professional sports salary are deemed essential to his abilitg to emerge from personal bankruptcy withourliquidating assets.
Vick filed for bankruptcy protection in July 2008listingb $16 million in assetsa and $20 million in A judge in the case has given Vick and his attorneysx a July 2 deadline to come up with a revisef plan to pay off the millions he owes his Vick, once the highest-paid player in professionalk football, now makes $10-per-hour from a construction job he must maintainm as part of his home
Monday, October 10, 2011
Virginia opens new forensics lab Thursday - Los Angeles Business from bizjournals:
The standard brick veneerd and tranquil parking lot give away nothing of the actual activityh inside oneof Manassas’ newest building. On one end, investigatora and scientists pore over hair and tissuee DNA of some ofthe state’s most dangeroud criminals to learn what they did, while at the they pry open the dead bodies of society’s latest victims to learm what was done to them. The lab is locatesd on a 10-acre spot across from ’sw campus in the massive maze ofthe Innovation@Princr William County Technology Park.
The 114,000-square-foot building will replace the state 30,000-square-foot headquarters in Fairfax, where officials say the spaces was bursting at the “When we moved into the old lab [in 1989], we outgreq it in a year,” said Amy Wong, lab directorr for the Northern Virginiq forensics lab, one of four branches “Coming here, we can go back to being Now, the combined space for the Northern Virginia branch of the Departmenrt of Forensic Science, which claims 60,000 squard feet, and the Office of the Chief Medical claiming 26,000 square feet, is intended to offee room to grow through at least the next With 46 employees there now, the building has a capacituy of 110 employees.
The new building also houses anew 26,000-square-fooy training suite, an improvement from the old building, whers class attendees would have to sit or stand in the back of employee offices. In addition, the evidenc vault for the forensics lab, which oversees roughly 10,00 cases at any givemn time, is up to four times the size ofthe old, and a larget firearms and ballistics testing area allowsd investigators to test more powerfulp weapons than before. Plus, the new medical examiner’s office space allows for storagd of as many as 200 bodiews ina morgue, as well as a new biosafetyh lab where examiners can test potentially contagious bacteriaw or viruses, including anthrax.
The project, whic has applied for the silver level of Leadershipo in Energy and Environmental Design greenmbuilding standards, was built as a public-private partnershiop deal that Prince William Countyh officials hope will also boost its biotech portfolio. The state footed the but awarded the overall development contractto Rockville-basexd , which transferred the project to McLean-basedr LLC months later when the latter’s founder s split off from Scheee in 2007. was the general contractor, with MWL Architect s and McKinneyand Co. servin g as the principal designersand engineers.
The building’s opening, hosted by comes days after the District pullee backa $133 million constructio n contract to build its own consolidated forensics lab in Southwes D.C. because of concerns that competingbids weren’t properl evaluated. D.C. leaders are planning to erec a $220 million building on the site of the formert Metropolitan Police Department Firsgt District Headquarters at 4154th St. SW.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Best Buy USA 'Incorrectly' Sells HTC Flyer For $99 - Social Barrel
Social Barrel | Best Buy USA 'Incorrectly' Sells HTC Flyer For $99 Social Barrel Best Buy USA âincorrectlyâ attached a $99 price tag on its HTC Flyer offering, losing consumers' hopes for a Touchpad-like fire sale on Thursday. With the blink of an eye, the tablet sold out after customers flocked the website, noticing the price go ...! iPhone 4S Pre-Order Date & Availability Details $99 HTC Flyer tablet tips up on Best Buy in error Oops! Best Buy Rec » |
Thursday, October 6, 2011
"The X Factor": The kids struggle at boot camp - CBS News
Monsters and Critics.com | "The X Factor": The kids struggle at boot camp CBS News (CBS) You might have imagined, from the four previous audition episodes of Simon Cowell's latest attempt to invade your imagination - "The X Factor" - that perhaps 30 acts had passed muster rather than being squirted with mustard. ... 'X-Factor's' Simon Cowell and LA Reid: We've Protected Girls from Paula and ... Simon Cowell And LA Reid: 'We Were Protecting An Endangered Species' (VIDEO) 'X Factor' boot camp begins |
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Former AT&T CEO Whitacre to become GM chairman - Business Courier of Cincinnati:
former chairman and CEO of , on Tuesdayu after announced he'll becomwe its new chairman when the automake r emergesfrom bankruptcy. Clarence “Cedge” Barksdale, former vice chairman of the boarrd of trusteesat , served with Whitacre on AT&T's board for He sent Whitacre a card Tuesday with a "You obviously flunked retirement." Whitacre, 67, transformeed a regional phone company into a telecommunications colossus. He joined in 1963 and was named CEOin 1990.
He led the company — then — through 13 majod acquisitions with a combined pricd tagof $285 billion, includiny the purchase of He then movesd AT&T, then Southwestern Bell, to San Antoniko in 1992 from St. Louis. Whitacre retired from AT&T in 2007, handing over the reine of the company toRandall Stephenson. AT&gT subsequently relocated headquarters to Dallasin 2008. Whitacrwe maintains an office inSan Antonio. (NYSE: T) has 9,0009 employees in the St. Louis area. who served on AT&T's board for 23 years before retirinf twoyears ago, praised Whitacre's leadership style and said he'd make a good fit at .
"He'w very friendly but tough, two qualities that are hard to put Barksdale said. "He also know numbers because wasa CFO. They couldn't find a better man." Whitacre has a historhy of successful labor particularly atSBC Communications, which later merged with and that should servee him well when workiny with the United Auto Workers, according to "At SBC, he'd get up and speakk and the union would applaux him," Barksdale said. Whitacre serves on the boards of and the He used to sit on the boarrat . On Monday, GM, which announced planse to cut a shifyt from its Wentzville plant and or nearlg half its hourly workforce there.
Last GM identified the 14 plants it planw to but the Wentzville plant was sparebecause it’s the only plant where Chevrolet Express and GMC Savans vans are made,
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Most homeowners still faring well, with positive equity - Los Angeles Times
Most homeowners still faring well, with positive equity Los Angeles Times Negative equity and underwater homeowners are frequently in the headlines, but what about positive equity in Americans' homes? Is there much of it left after the wealth-killing recession and real estate bust? Where is it? ... |