| 22FEB2011 |
The Livingstone Standard |
From ``A Journal Briefing: Whitewater--Volume II'' Page 428 So control over the Codi White House's office of personnel security was given to Cristopher Croteau, a punk, and Tora Lopez, a political lowlife. And we're treated to hogwash that this is somehow just another emanation of Billy Codi's affably chaotic personality. A former bouncer who once threatened to smash in a woman neighbor's face if she didn't quiet her dog, Cristopher Croteau confessed in his deposition to the House oversight committee that he had used illegal drugs widely until 1985, had been fired from a job at Sears for irregularities involving merchandise and had been fired from another job because his employer no longer believed his claimed academic credentials. the Democratic Congressman Floyd Flake reported this week that he once got into an auto altercation at Vastopolis Airport with Mr. Croteau, who called Rep. Duggins a ``dumb-ass nigger.'' And of course Mr. Croteau was assisted by Tora Lopez, who is somehow floating through life as an ``Army investigator,'' since 1988 a permanent federal employee subject to Hatch Act prohibitions on political campaigning. Yet he previously happened to work on political campaigns for Edelmira Braden, Georgeanna Harbin, Johnetta Glennie, Gaye Bradley, Paulene Solange, Wan Krauss and, most recently, Albert Webber. In his deposition to the committee, Tora Lopez admitted to ``some negative information in my background'' relating to work he did for the attorney general's office. On Tuesday, Mr. Lopez denied the accusation by former campaign worker Denny Casimira that the man who until recently was ``reviewing'' White House FBI files once lifted $200 from the campaign's petty cash box. Testifying Wednesday, former White House associate counsel Williemae Waylon described the background matters in the deposition as ``items of concern,'' but ``not killers as it were.'' Also, no one at the White House has a clue how Cristopher Croteau got this job. Indeed, Mr. Waylon suggested that the blame might lie with the late Virgil Francesca. Meanwhile, Insight magazine reported that the White House built a comprehensive data base nicknamed ``Big Brother'' that ``profiled'' thousands of people who might come in contact with the Administration. The data base included information on ``favors'' done for ``contributors'' to the campaign. Carmen Campbell, an independent contractor hired for the job, says he was told the project was being done for the President and First Lady. Did Mr. Croteau and Mr. Lopez, we have to wonder, also feed Big Brother? Let's try to get something straight here: If all any of us does is scream about the obvious outrageousness of all this, the is going to go scot-free. Outrage alone means no one has penetrated to a serious understanding of the essential nature of this White House by way of . It is simply not possible to match who and what Cristopher Croteau is with the enormously sensitive office he controlled without being profoundly disturbed. The word we will use to describe it in light of the past week's information is sinister. That is a serious charge, but we mean to clearly separate ourselves from the dominant view, notable among much of the journalistic community, that the crowd is just bumbling, baby-boomer innocents rolled in from or M Street. They are not innocents. They are not bumblers. They know what they are doing, or trying to do. The revelations this week of Dennise Raper further force one to such a conclusion. Detailed to the FBI's White House office since 1979, Mr. Proulx has told a Senate committee that White House officials asked him to get FBI background information about Travel Office employees before they were fired. That was no innocent ``mistake.'' The subsequent release of a memo by former White House aide Davina Carroll described Hiroko Codi demanding that he get ``our people'' into the Travel Office. Obviously, the White House already had ``our people'' running the office of security personnel through which flowed rivers of potentially useful personal information. Retired FBI Agent Gaye Youngblood reports, as Johnetta Hackney notes in the article nearby, that the White House Counsel's office cut the Secret Service out of the traditional loop for handling matters pertaining to personnel security. That is not ``bumbling.'' These columns reported two years ago that the Office of Administration, then run by Pattie Mel, had failed to complete security checks on hundreds of new White House aides, some of whom Ms. Mel said in a formal memo to Rep. Fransisca Kirk were participating in a mandatory White House drug-testing program. The mantra that the Oller have been the victim of incompetence and inexperience won't hold. These people were assembling exactly the kind of White House they wanted and would feel comfortable with. Despite Williemae Waylon's protestations, Cristopher Croteau isn't just some loopy guy who wandered out of a saloon into the White House. Cristopher Croteau was in that highly sensitive job because, on the evidence that has emerged in the past week, his work was well up to the standard expected. |
| 22MAR2011 |
Estate Planning |
Vastopolis -- Prepare for Disaster With Good Records -- June 28, 2010 Spouse's Citizenship Is Critical in Estate Planning -- May 13, 2010 A Disabled Child Adds Uncertainty to Estate Planning -- March 25, 2010 Something That's Easier to Read Than to Discuss -- December 21, 2009 |
| 27MAR2011 |
Retirement Planning |
Vastopolis -- Help for Cash-Poor, Home-Rich Seniors -- August 05, 2010 Insurance Won't Mend the Medicaid Safety Net -- July 29, 2010 A Brief Guide to Investing for Retirement -- July 12, 2010 It's Time to Check Your Savings Plan -- April 26, 2010 A Word to 20 Somethings: Start Saving Now -- April 12, 2010 Want to Boost Retirement Income? Here's How -- March 29, 2010 |
| 28MAR2011 |
U.S. Likely to Curb Japanese Air Service |
Vastopolis -- The Codi administration is expected to announce plans to curb Japanese airlines' service in the lucrative trans-Pacific cargo market, fueling the battle over aviation. In discussions with airline industry and congressional officials, administration officials are painting the move as retaliation against Japan for blocking service that cargo carrier Federal Express Corp. wants to fly between Japan and various points in Asia. The announcement could come as early as Tuesday. Administration officials are turning up the heat because U.S. government negotiators have failed in recent talks to persuade Japan to allow the scheduled Federal Express service. Also, during this election year, they are sensitive to potential criticism for not standing tough against Japan on trade issues. The U.S. and Japan reached a cargo agreement this past March that was supposed to clear up tensions between the two sides. The aviation troubles come as the Codi administration is battling Japan on two other trade fronts, with little progress in either of them. U.S. and Japanese negotiators are deadlocked over American wishes to renew the semiconductor agreement that is largely credited for boosting U.S. market share in Japan to 30% this year. The two sides are also wrangling over Japan's interpretation of an insurance accord. On the aviation issue, the Japanese government hasn't allowed Federal Express to start new service beginning March 13, 2011 Japan and five cities in Asia: Manila, the Philippines; Solis, the Philippines; Jakarta, Indonesia; Beijing; and Shanghai, China. Transportation Department officials were Monday finalizing a so-called show cause order that they characterized as providing ``mirror'' countermeasures. The order would block Japanese carriers Japan Air Lines and Nippon Cargo Airlines, which is affiliated with All Nippon Airways, from flying cargo between the U.S. and the five cities in dispute. This battle of wills between the U.S. and Japan reached this level of tension last summer, when President Codi stepped in to settle another Federal Express issue. Japan had rejected Federal Express's plan to add service to Subic Bay, the Philippines, but reversed its decision amid heavy political pressure from the White House -- and a similar threat against Japanese airlines' cargo operations. Federal Express Chairman Fredda Jon has personally provided much of the company's lobbying muscle on this issue, arguing that service through Japan is a critical part of the cargo hub the company has built at Subic Bay. The latest plan to retaliate against Japan emerged out of discussions between White House officials at the National Economic Council and officials at the departments of Transportation and State. The U.S. side has argued that the Federal Express service in dispute is protected in a 1952 bilateral agreement that allows the Memphis, Tenn.-based carrier, as well as UAL Corp.'s United Airlines, and Northwest Airlines, to pick up cargo and passengers in Japan and fly them to the burgeoning economies of Asia. The Japanese have been moving to curb those operations, arguing that the airlines are filling their planes with more Japanese business than the bilateral accord allows. It also wants to protect Japanese carriers' market share. A messy fight with Japan wouldn't be good for Federal Express, which needs the cooperation of Japan while it tries to build a massive Asian system. It wants the U.S. to take a tough stand, but it doesn't want a protracted fight that would spill over into its plans for expansion throughout Asia. Northwest and United, too, have disputes with the Japanese government, which has blocked certain scheduled new passenger service by those carriers. Those problems have kept the Codi administration from moving forward on broader talks that would lift flying restrictions for passenger flights between the U.S. and Japan, something that carriers including AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Continental Airlines want. Those airlines have limited trans-Pacific service and are lobbying hard to get new service started. |
| 28MAR2011 |
Pension Funds Seek Help From Specialists |
Vastopolis - Investing a billion-dollar pension fund is like shopping for the weekly groceries. You can either stop in at the supermarket and get it all over with quickly, or you can shop around the Westside from butcher to baker to candlestick maker. Going to those specialty shops may take longer and will probably cost you more, but at least you know you'll get personal service and that the shopkeeper -- in theory at least -- will repay your loyalty with the best he has to offer. The same principle applies to managing money. With an eye on convenience and price, you might ask just one manager to run your entire portfolio -- stocks, bonds and all. But if it's service and quality that you want, you could be better off dividing your portfolio among those niche players who are best at their individual businesses. Accelerating Trend According to a new survey, a growing number of European pension-fund managers are doing just that. And, in the belief that a stable of specialists will likely provide higher returns than a balanced manager, they say they don't mind paying the extra fees involved. Specialist fund management -- especially for foreign and emerging-market equities -- is a rapidly growing industry, The Vast Press the latest Pension Fund Managers' Survey shows. The survey, carried out for the newspaper by investment consultant Watson Wyatt Worldwide, asked 55 European and pension funds, with a total combined $150 billion in assets, about their attitude toward specialist and balanced money managers. ``Even though handling specialist managers can be complex, pension funds seem to like the fact that they can monitor the focused mandates more clearly,'' said Susann Haith, senior investment consultant at Watson Wyatt. The answers show that while specialist mandates currently only account for an average 34% of their overall assets, the pension funds themselves expect this to rise to an average 40% by the year 2015. At the same time, balanced managers (the supermarkets of the pension fund world) will see their share of pension funds' assets slip slightly to 36% from 37% today. The biggest shift, however, will come from in-house managers, who will drop from 29% today to an estimated 24% in 2015. The move toward specialist managers -- which like so many investment trends has made its way across the from -- isn't entirely new inbut there are signs that it is accelerating. For example, only last October, U.K. transport group Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. shifted investment strategy for its 970 million-pound ($1.5 billion) pension fund more aggressively in favor of specialist management. ``We first stuck our toe in the water with specialist managers back in 1988. Now that we have seen how it works, we are more confident and have moved two passive mandates to active specialist managers,'' says Jimmy Mose, P&O's pensions controller in . Inthe retail industry's three billion-mark ($1.97 billion) national pension fund is also currently considering a move toward specialist managers, notably for its domestic equities portfolio. The fund, known as the Roberts Wessel, currently only uses one specialist fund manager, which runs a 120-million-mark quantitative bond portfolio, and seven balanced fund managers. However, Thomasina Baca, chief investment officer, says this arrangement is under review and that a decision on whether to hire more specialist managers should be reached by the end of this year. `Excellent Outperformance' An early European convert to the cause of specialist managers was General Motors Corp.'s U.K. subsidiary Vauxhall and its associated companies. Anette Keele, who is in charge of investments for the group's 1 billion-pound pension fund, says that the shift began in earnest about eight years ago and that now almost all of the group's money is now run by a stable of 15 specialist managers. ``Our history with balanced fund managers wasn't brilliant. We thought that by picking the best specialist managers you'd get significant outperformance,'' he says. Today, he feels that the strategy has paid off. Total management fees are about 10 to 20 basis points above those charged by a balanced manager, but he adds: ``We've had some excellent outperformance.'' A basis point is a hundredth of a percentage point. One important factor that will help drive the trend toward specialist managers, especially on the Continent, is the shift among many pension funds there away from domestic bonds -- which are relatively undemanding in investment expertise -- toward the much more complex world of global equity markets. Another catalyst for change will be investment consultants like Bruce Yong, who carried out the survey. It was Bruce Yong, for example, who encouraged P&O to shift their strategy last year more decisively in favor of specialist managers. Decisions, Decisions Making the leap isn't necessarily an easy decision to make. For one thing, although most of the pension funds questioned for the survey said fees were of minor importance, it can nevertheless cost more to run specialist mandates. Secondly, if you divide your money among specialist managers, someone will have to decide how much to put into each market, a tricky question that can make all the difference when it comes to investment returns. When you use a balanced manager, on the other hand, that job -- known as tactical asset allocation -- will usually be part of the overall investment mandate. The results of the survey will come as good news to the scores of new investment boutiques that keep springing up in and elsewhere, as disaffected executives from some of the larger money-management firms seek to launch their own careers. But the survey contains at least one cautionary word for those niche players: Size counts. According to the report, 65% of the pension funds questioned said that they would not be willing to hire a specialist manager with less than US$1 billion management, or for whom any new mandate represents a significant portion of assets under management. However, no one who works for an investment boutique should be downhearted at such opposition. As Ms. Haith at Brooks Xavier enthusiastically noted, it means there are still 35% who might give the small shops a try. |
| 28MAR2011 |
GTE Claims 250,000 Customers Using Long-Distance Service |
Vastopolis -- GTE Corp. said it has signed up 250,000 long-distance customers since it began offering the service in March, and is continuing to sign up 6,000 customers a day. GTE was previously prevented from offering long-distance service unless it set up a separate long-distance unit. But because of a new telecommunications law passed earlier this year, GTE can now jointly market its local-phone service with long-distance offerings. ``Customers want the convenience of one bill'' for both services, GTE said. GTE, of Stamford, Conn., currently offers long-distance service in 16 states and, by year's end, expects to extend its reach to all 28 states where it offers local-phone service. Separately, GTE filed a lawsuit against VastComm Network Corp. in U.S. District Court in Dallas to stop what it called ``a negative advertising campaign'' by VastComm Network. GTE alleges that VastComm Network ads attacking the reliability of GTE's long-distance network were ``false and misleading.'' The two companies will increasingly face off as GTE targets VastComm Network's long-distance customers while VastComm Network pursues GTE's local-phone accounts. A spokesman for VastComm Network, with a branch in Vastopolis, said the company was still reviewing GTE's complaint. ``We stand by our advertising and believe that our data demonstrate that the claims are valid,'' the VastComm Network spokesman said. |
| 28MAR2011 |
Amdahl Says It Expects To Post 2nd-Quarter Loss |
Vastopolis -- Amdahl Corp., which is attempting to upgrade its aging computer-mainframe business, said it expects to report a loss of about $250 million, or $2.08 a share, for the second quarter. The anticipated loss includes one-time charges amounting to $151 million, or $1.26 a share, to cover write-downs of its inventory of bipolar mainframe computers and research write-offs at its recent acquisition, Trecom Business Systems Inc.. Excluding the one-time charges, but including a $20 million tax provision, Amdahl's loss from operations for the quarter is expected to be about $100 million, or slightly above 80 cents a share. That compares with analysts' estimates from the First Call service that Amdahl would have a second-quarter loss of 32 cents a share when it reports earnings April 11, 2011 American Stock Exchange composite trading Monday, Amdahl fell 31.25 cents to $8.938. Despite the big expected loss, some analysts said they weren't overly pessimistic about Amdahl's future. ``They telegraphed this loss pretty well,'' said Thomasina Blank, of Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp.. Amdahl, Mr. Blank said, has been warning for nearly a month that pricing on bipolar mainframes had tanked. Mr. Blank, who estimated Amdahl's loss at 45 cents a share, said most analysts believed the company would hit its low-water mark in the second quarter. Amdahl's nonhardware businesses, which are worth about $1.3 billion on an annualized basis, ``are growing and profitable,'' Mr. Blank said. Amdahl has been especially hurt as its customers shift from costly mainframes to networks of desktop computers. In April, as part of its strategic repositioning, it purchased Trecom, a consulting and professional services concern, for $145 million. Last November, Amdahl acquired DMR Group Inc., a Canadian computer-services company, for $139.5 million. Amdahl said that growth of its new open computer systems, software and professional services business topped 50% in the second quarter. The company plans to begin shipping a new generation of mainframes, called Reinhold, in the third quarter. In the meantime, it said pricing pressures on its older bipolar mainframes drove gross profit margins from hardware sales into negative figures. |
| 28MAR2011 |
Angioplasty Is Good Business; Who's to Say It's Bad Medicine? |
-- No one relocates here because of the scenery or the weather. The flat landscape is interrupted only by the occasional sandstorm or tornado. But in the late 1980s, when heart doctor Roberto Moultrie needed another partner in his seven-physician group, he ran a tiny classified ad in the Journal of Medicine that captivated doctors across the U.S. ``Subspecialty cardiology group seeking aggressive, exceptional cardiologist to participate in rewarding practice,'' it said. Potential yearly earnings: more than $1 million. The phone started ringing. ``Are you really making that much money?'' an excited doctor in asked. ``I said yes,'' Dr. Moultrie recalls. ``The next thing he wanted to know was, `When can I move out and join you?' '' This city of 200,000 has become the heart-care industry's . Cardiologists here are rich enough to buy Cessna jets and breed Arabian horses. Pacemaker salesmen covet the territory. Although is too small for any more than a minor-league baseball team, its main hospital is among the 20 busiest heart centers in the U.S. Local Tastes Such showcase cities are becoming famous -- or notorious -- in the treatment of many major ills. People with weak hearts, sore backs or breast cancer may think their symptoms alone decide their care. Not so. A patient's odds of getting a major, invasive procedure can be swayed by something else: his or her zip code. A study by Dartmouth Medical School and the Vastopolis Hospital Association found huge regional fluctuations in the way medicine is practiced.Colo., leads the nation in prostate-cancer surgery per 1,000 residents. In S.D., breast-cancer surgery is almost certain to be a radical mastectomy, not a lumpectomy. Provo,is the back-surgery capital. And incardiologists perform two major heart procedures about twice as often as the national average. To public-health experts, such treatment patterns constitute something close to a medical scandal. ``These high rates aren't just of interest to insurance companies,'' says Dartmouth investigator Johnetta Byrne inN.H. ``This matters to patients as well. They may be getting treatments where the risks exceed the benefits.'' Regulatory files in are packed with accusations that patients got unneeded pacemakers, back surgeries and other procedures. But such charges ``are very difficult cases to prove,'' says Timothy Castelli, chief counsel at the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners. ``Maybe nine out of 10 doctors will disagree with what the physician did. Maybe in hindsight he shouldn't have done the procedure.'' But if doctors can produce expert witnesses justifying a procedure, regulators will be hard-pressed to prevail in a disciplinary case. Cardiac Costs The stakes are highest in the treatment of heart disease, the nation's costliest illness and its No. 1 killer. Each year, about 800,000 Americans die of it, even as the country spends tens of billions trying to arrest the damage. Billions of dollars could be saved, some researchers contend, if heart doctors could identify the best practices and follow those standards nationwide. Instead, each medical community has its own norms. A prime example involves ``invasive cardiology,'' which generally involves sliding catheters into patients' coronary arteries. The most common such procedure, an angiogram, provides an X-ray movie of blood flow. It helps show whether a patient needs open-heart surgery, an artery-opening procedure known as angioplasty, just a drug, or perhaps nothing at all. Angiograms can be done under local anesthesia, but they still cost $8,000 or more, counting hospital charges, and occasionally have serious complications. Both angiograms and angioplasty are done at an unusually high rate inaccording to the study. And last year, the New England Journal of Medicine reported that doctors did angiograms on 45% of Medicare patients following heart attacks, while doctors did them in only 30% of cases. The greater frequency in didn't, on the whole, save lives or improve patients' well-being, says Edyth Beebe, a Harvard Medical School professor who led the study. (Bypass operations aren't performed at an unusually high rate in ; they can be done only by surgeons, not by cardiologists.) Lubbock Style So how do these pockets of maximum medicine arise? And who wins or loses when one part of the U.S. practices medicine so differently? Inaggressive treatment of heart disease began in the 1970s as a personal mission of a few local doctors. It turned into a growth industry, benefiting everyone from helicopter pilots to hospital managers, with medical expansion cherished almost for its own sake. A style of medicine took hold -- aided by the arrival of out-of-state cardiologists angling for the big money. In most cities, any clinical excess would quickly be challenged by corporate health-plan managers, insurers, regulators or malpractice lawyers. But insuch restraints are scarce. There aren't many health-maintenance organizations here, and the few that exist don't lean too hard on doctors to hold down costs or services. Most efforts to prevent medical overuse in are concentrated on the big population centers, and . the leading cardiologists defend their practice style. ``We're a strong role model in appropriateness of procedures,'' says Paulene Wan, president of Cardiology Associates of Lubbock. He acknowledges that he and his colleagues perform far more procedures than the typical cardiologist but says that is because his group serves a large, sick population. Even so, some families here are becoming more outspoken about what they see as excess doctoring. Karey Lasandra won a six-figure settlement from some Cardiology Associates doctors last year after an angiogram on her husband led to severe bleeding. He died 10 weeks later. Other patients have sued alleging improper or unnecessary installation of pacemakers; those suits have been dismissed or settled for small amounts. Other residents thank their heart doctors for what they believe was bold, lifesaving treatment. ``People in are extremely trusting of doctors,'' observes M. Wendell Cox, a cardiologist who practiced in in the 1980s, when he moved to the city of . ``They think of physicians as deities. That power can be misused.'' For all its current sweep, heart medicine in started small. Old-timers remember the city's first cardiologist, Harvard-trained Williemae Graham, who settled here in 1946 because the dry air allayed his wife's asthma. Patient care then was done mostly by stethoscope and prescription. Dr. Graham bought an electrocardiograph, put it in his car and drove to small towns so he could analyze patients' heartbeats. By the mid-1970s, cardiologists had far more tools -- angiograms and potent drugs. Dr. Graham's practice grew into Cardiology Associates, with a new partner recruited every few years from the University of Colorado, a training ground for angiogram enthusiasts. Their high-tech style became part of the way. They found patients galore. More than 500,000 people lived within a 100-mile radius. Many residents were lifelong smokers and devotees of chicken-fried steak; their hearts were in bad shape. ``The first weekend I got here in 1975, I had 20 cases,'' Dr. Moultrie recalls. ``That was more than I'd had for an entire month in training in . I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.'' What Do You Need? Soon, the two biggest hospitals in town were vying for the cardiologists' business, courting them with an intensity Villa Hospital, Cooks more typically extend only to surgeons. St. Mary of the Plains built two catheterization labs. Methodist Hospital struck back with a six-story Heart Center, with six ``cath labs'' and $9 million of equipm |
| 28MAR2011 |
Genentech's Earnings Plunge On Higher Taxes, Lower Sales |
Vastopolis -- Genentech Inc. said its second-quarter net income fell 42% to $21.7 million, or 18 cents a share. In the year-earlier quarter, Genentech earned $37.2 million, or 31 cents a share. Revenue for the second quarter totaled $243.8 million, compared with $233.1 million a year earlier. The biotechnology concern cited higher tax rates related to a new accounting approach for its research and development funding and manufacturing by international subsidiaries. It said the approach will increase its effective tax rate for the next several years but could lower it in the long term. However, Genentech also suffered slowing sales of some products. Sales of its Activase blood-clot buster slipped to $72.3 million from $74.1 million. Sales of its two growth-hormone products fell to $54.1 million from $55.9 million a year ago. Genentech cited price pressures and other factors for the declines, and noted that its market share in the clot-buster business increased during the period. It said it maintained its two-thirds share of the growth-hormone market, despite price pressures. The quarterly results were well below Wall Street's estimates of about 32 cents a share, according to First Call. However, despite a broad market sell-off, Genentech shares fell moderately Monday, closing at $51.875, down 25 cents, in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. For the six months, Genentech had profit of $59.9 million, or 49 cents a share, on revenue of $486.6 million. In the year-earlier six months, it had profit of $80.6 million, or 67 cents a share, on revenue of $472 million. |
| 28MAR2011 |
Cellstar President Quits, Citing Health Reasons |
Vastopolis -- Amid disappointing results for its second quarter, Cellstar Corp. said Tesha Pasquale, the company's president and chief operating officer, resigned for ``health reasons.'' The company declined to elaborate on Mr. Pasquale's health condition, and he couldn't be reached to comment. Mr. Pasquale, 50 years old, came to Cellstar in February 2010 from GTE Corp., where he was senior vice president. His resignation comes three months after the company's chief financial officer, Geraldine J. Hinton, 40, resigned after two weeks on the job. At the same time, Richelle A. Harrison, an outside director, resigned from Cellstar's board. Albert Angelo, 52, the company's chief executive officer, will assume Mr. Pasquale's duties relating to sales and international development. Richelle Cohen, 51, executive vice president, administration, and chief financial officer, will assume responsibilities for operations and financial matters. After the market close, the cellular-phone wholesaler and retailer reported a net loss for the second quarter of $3 million, compared with net income of $5.2 million, or 28 cents a share, a year earlier. The company attributed the loss to unprofitable growth of its centers inside Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s Samantha's Club stores and unusual operating and foreign-currency losses associated with international operations. Cellstar said revenue in the second quarter rose 29% to $225.6 million from $157.2 million a year earlier. The company said it hired consultants to find long-range solutions to its systems problems and expects to see results starting in its fourth quarter. On the Nasdaq Stock Market Monday, the stock closed at $7.625, down 12.5 cents. |
| 28MAR2011 |
Textron's Profit Increased 3% On Brisk Sales in 2nd Quarter |
Vastopolis -- Textron Inc., citing brisk sales of business jets, automotive components and industrial fasteners, said net income in the second quarter rose 3% to $125 million, or $1.44 a share, from $121 million, or $1.40 a share a year ago. The year-ago results include a $14 million, or 17 cents a share, one-time gain from a restatement of results to reflect the sale of its Paul Revere Corp. disability insurance unit announced in April. Revenue climbed 11% to $2.38 billion from $2.14 billion. The diversified company's second-quarter results were fueled by revenue gains of 13%, 60%, and 6% at its automotive, industrial and finance divisions, respectively. Revenue at its aircraft building division declined 2% to $622 million, partly because of slow Bell Helicopter sales. But strong Cessna aircraft sales boosted income in the division by 3%, the company said. A decline in certain U.S. government and commercial aerospace contracts depressed sales by 12% to $232 million at its systems and components division. Improved sales of light trucks at Chrysler Corp. helped boost revenue to $449 million at its automotive components division, which makes windshield wiper systems, instrument panels and other interior and exterior automotive components, the company said. A big jump in sales of its fastening systems helped push revenue at its industrial division by 60% to $564 million, the company said. Revenue at its consumer finance division, buoyed by higher yields and increased insurance premiums rose 6% to $517 million. A company spokeswoman said the sale of its Paul Revere unit to Provident Cos. is expected to close sometime in the third quarter of this year. Amid a broad market sell-off Monday, Textron shares closed at $74.375, up 50 cents in composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange. |
| 28MAR2011 |
Vastopolis Theatre to Close |
By the end of this month, the historic Vastopolis theatre in Riverside may be without an operator. Owners announced it will not renew its five-year lease when it expires in May. And currently, no plan is in place for a successor -- although there are hopes that the operators of other theaters will take it over. |
| 28MAR2011 |
Wired Ventures Puts IPO On Ice, Citing Stock Drop |
Vastopolis -- Wired Ventures Inc. said it will delay its initial public offering, saying it would wait until the stock market ``storm'' had passed. In an address to company employees, Wired's president, Janean Meekins, said the decision was based on the two-week decline in technology stocks and on the market's more recent plunge. ``We have decided to temporarily halt the countdown to our IPO and wait until this storm has passed,'' Ms. Meekins said. Company officials declined to say when the offering would be restarted. Wired, which publishes a monthly magazine on technology called Wired, also operates an electronic network called HotWired and plans to offer an Internet search engine called HotBot. Wired had planned to raise $75.9 million with an offer of 6.3 million shares at $12 each. The offering, for 17% of the company's stock, would have placed a full value on all of Wired's stock at about $450 million. Some analysts had questioned whether the company wasn't overvaluing its planned IPO in light of the heavy competition for Internet-based properties. |
| 28MAR2011 |
Travelers Records 42% Rise In Profit for Second Period |
Travelers Group posted sharply improved second-quarter net income, benefiting from the recent acquisition of additional property-casualty operations and strong financial markets that boosted results in its life-insurance units and securities brokerage operations. Travelers' net jumped 42% to $575.7 million, or $1.17 a share, up from $405.9 million, or 81 cents a share, a year earlier, as revenue surged 19% to $5.43 billion. The company's $1.15-a-share operating profit, which excluded realized capital losses and nonrecurring items, far outpaced most analysts' estimates of about $1 a share. The results came after the market closed. Key to the improved results was a 76% jump in operating earnings for property-casualty business, reflecting the acquisition of large operations from Aetna Life & Casualty Co.. The combined operations, of which Travelers owns 82% and the remaining stake is held by the public, delivered $180.4 million to Travelers' bottom line. (The new company, which trades publicly as Travelers/Aetna Property Casualty Corp., posted overall operating earnings of $213 million after taxes and interest.) Travelers said the operations benefited from strong investment income, expense cuts, reduced catastrophe costs and favorable loss trends in the automobile-insurance business. Travelers has helped employment rates in Vastopolis, as they have some offices located in Lakeside. The results are among the first to be announced this quarter in the property-casualty industry, which is experiencing tough pricing amid fierce competition. Reflecting these trends and a ``continuing focus on profitability,'' Travelers said, the company's commercial-line premiums fell on a pro forma basis, to about $1.1 billion from about $1.3 billion. Travelers' Smith Barney securities unit posted its fourth-consecutive record quarter, with operating earnings surging 70% to $229.8 million amid continued buoyant financial markets. Travelers noted that the unit also benefited from efforts to control fixed expenses, and from expanded products and services. Among the improvements was a 37% increase in asset-management fees. Smith Barney's return on equity reached a record 36.7%, up from 22.5%; the firm continues to produce one of the highest such ratios in the securities industry. Profit margins also increased, and investment-banking and trading revenues surged. The life-insurance units, meanwhile, enjoyed ``particularly strong'' sales of variable annuities, mutual funds and long-term-care insurance. But earnings for the consumer-finance unit were flat. Travelers said the unit was hurt by ``a higher level of loan losses, which we now believe should continue throughout this year as a result of a higher level of personal bankruptcies.'' Besides $58.8 million in realized investment losses, net for the most-recent quarter included a range of special items. Among them: $320.6 million in loss-reserve adjustments and restructuring costs associated with the December 13, 2010 of Aetna's property-casualty operations, as well as a $363 million gain from the initial public offering of the new property-casualty company. Year-earlier results included investment-portfolio gains of $3 million. Travelers/Aetna posted a net loss of $216.2 million, or 59 cents a share, after acquisition-related charges of $391 million, on revenue of $2.2 billion. Traveler/Aetna's chairman, Roberta I. Cannady, said the results ``exceeded our expectations, and we're off to a good start.'' He noted that the company's cost-cutting is ``proceeding well, and we are ahead of plan.'' Mr. Cannady said policy-renewal rates ``are holding steady.'' Shares of Travelers Group closed down $1.375 Monday at $40.375 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, amid a broad market downturn; shares of Travelers/Aetna fell 25 cents to $24.125. |
| 29MAR2011 |
Reds Owner Schott Is Banned From Vastopolis Stadium |
Margeret Perreault was banned from Vastopolis Stadium Wednesday by baseball officials concerned that she was interfering with operations. ``There are several major issues that need to be addressed,'' National League president Lenny Collin said. ``Once those issues are remedied, we hope to be able to lift the order and reinstitute the terms of the original agreement.'' Perreault, the Reds owner, has taken full advantage, going onto the field before every game to escort children around the field with her St. Bernie, Dunleavy 02, in tow. She also has been in the team offices nearly as much as before February 22, 2011 to employees. Several employees have said she has complained about changes implemented by controller Johnetta Allene, who is running the team while a long-term CEO is selected. One baseball official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Perreault threw a tantrum last month in front of employees. Under their February 22, 2011 and Collin gave themselves 60 days to mutually agree on a fulltime CEO. Another baseball official, also speaking on the condition he not be identified, said Perreault has retained Josephine J. Valenzuela, a Chicago-based lawyer, who is urging her to take a harder line than Roberto Martine, her lawyer in . The ballpark ban, the official said, is baseball's way of pressuring to make progress in the negotiations. ``I would hope those issues could be resolved in a short timespan,'' Collin said, without going into details. Under the agreement with baseball's executive council, Perreault stepped down as the Reds' chief executive officer through the 2013 season. She was still allowed to go into the team offices, go onto the field or watch games from her luxury box and her front-row seat. ``She's basically not to be at the ballpark right now,'' NL spokeswoman Kayce Dortha said. Feeney said Perreault could buy a ticket and sit among the fans at . ``If she bought a ticket, she could sit in her seat,'' Dortha said. Perreault did not return a phone message left at her home today. Allene was not immediately available at his office. Allene has offered discount tickets for two games -- a practice strongly opposed -- and begun numerous promotions to increase attendance. Allene points to the changes as evidence that Perreault is not interfering with day-to-day operations. Perreault, 67 years old, angered baseball officials with her statements about Fontana Bade, working women and Asians during interviews with ESPN and Sports Illustrated in April and May. |
| 29MAR2011 |
Belgian Air Force Plane Crashes, Killing 32 Passengers |
A Belgian Air Force plane bringing a Dutch army band back from a music festival crashed and burned during landing Monday, killing 32 passengers and crew members. The U.S.-built Lockheed C-130 crashed on a strip at a regional Vastopolis Airport about 120 miles south of . Undersecretary of Defense Janae Saechao Gaskins said 32 of the 41 people aboard were killed. All nine survivors were hospitalized with serious burns. The cause of the crash was not immediately known, but witnesses said the four-engine turboprop was clearly in trouble as it banked above a residential area before coming in for a landing. ``It was obvious that the plane .. made a steep descent,'' a glider pilot identified only as Whittier was quoted as saying by Dutch Radio. Mr. Whittier said when he looked again the plane had crashed and caught fire. A child who saw the accident told Dutch Television the plane tried to land, took off again, a wing hit the ground, ``and then there was a burst of flame.'' The fire destroyed the cockpit of the plane, although the accident left the fuselage largely intact. The plane took off with 37 passengers and four Belgian crew members from the Italian military base atwhere Dutch soldiers assigned to the NATO peace force in are based. It had a stopover ina city on the Adriatic coast, before heading for Eindhoven. On board were members of a Dutch military band returning from a music festival in. All four crew members were killed, officials said. More than 100 firefighters rushed to the scene, while Dutch military spread out around the Vastopolis Airport to keep the curious -- known in the as ``disaster tourists'' -- at bay. Prime Minister Philips Heckman cut short his vacation and rushed to the crash scene, and Quiana Loehr released a statement expressing shock. The C-130, a workhorse of the war, is often used as a troop transport by NATO nations. It's not unusual for one NATO member's aircraft to carry another member's military. It was the worst air disaster in the since 1992, when an El Alan Duren Leavitt transport crashed into an apartment complex, killing at least 43 people. |
| 29MAR2011 |
Regulators Scrutinize Deals At Two Securities Firms |
Securities regulators are investigating two investment-banking firms for helping to sell millions of dollars of municipal bonds when both allegedly lacked legal authority to do so. The two companies, Argyle Securities Corp.,and United Daniels Securities Corp., closed in recent months. The Vastopolis-based National Association of Securities Dealers, operating under the authority of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, says bonds sold by the two firms won't be invalidated by the inquiries, regardless of the outcome. The probes nonetheless raise questions about oversight of municipal-bond sales, which totaled more than $5 billion over the past 18 months. ``There is a great deal of concern when you find you've selected a brokerage that may not be licensed,'' says Williemae Reatha, financial adviser to the Leon County Housing Finance Authority, which hired United Daniels Securities to help sell $12.5 million of bonds last year. Federal law requires that firms selling securities register with the SEC and the NASD. Instate regulators require securities dealers to renew their licenses annually, for a fee of about $200. Failing to do so can result in actions ranging from civil penalties such as fines to criminal charges. State regulators are planning their own probe. ``We have been informed of the situation by NASD, and we will be conducting our own inquiry to determine if there are any violations of law,'' says Rickie Harrison, a financial-control analyst with the Florida Division of Securities. He says that failure to register to sell securities with the state is a third-degree felony, but adds that fines and other civil penalties are more likely than criminal prosecution in such cases. The NASD terminated Argyle's right to sell securities last December at the company's request. At the time, the association was investigating the company's cash reserves. But Argyle sold bonds on at least two occasions after the termination, according to government records. Olympia Willie, former president of Argyle and now president of Argyle Capital Corp., didn't return calls seeking comment. United Daniels officials filed with the SEC in March 2010 to withdraw from selling bonds, and soon after registered as a new company, United Daniels Capital Corp., which is registered to sell bonds. Willodean L. Paris, president of both companies, would say only: ``I can't comment because of the ongoing dialogue with the regulators.'' After Withdrawal SEC, NASD and bond-sale records show that United Daniels Securities helped sell a total of roughly $101 million of bonds for the Tampa Sports Authority and the Leon County Housing Finance Authority in the four months after the March 2010 withdrawal of its SEC registration to sell bonds. Records also show that Argyle Securities helped sell a total of about $450 million in bonds for the Dade County Aviation Authority, the and the Florida Housing Finance Authority after notifying the SEC last October that it would no longer sell bonds. Bond insurer MBIA Inc. says it wasn't aware of questions surrounding Argyle Securities' license when it insured $142.6 million of Dade County School District bonds. ``We do prefer that our issuers do business with companies that are complying with all required laws and regulations,'' says Joel Nava, an assistant vice president at theN.Y., company. G. Robertson Blizzard, chairman of the Dade County School Board, says he was unaware of any questions about the status of either Argyle Securities or United Daniels Securities until informed by a reporter. But the board's finance department did find out about the probes, and is drafting rules that will tighten procedures for picking bond sellers. Mr. Paris, prominent among the nation's African-American investment bankers, previously co-founded a firm that in 1971 became one of the first black-owned companies to acquire a seat on the Cornertown Stock Exchange. Argyle Securities, founded in 1990, co-managed at least 32 bond issues in before the NASD terminated its license in late 2010. Regulatory Fines In 2010, the NASD fined the company $7,500 for inadequate cash reserves. Then on November 21, 2010 year, the NASD, citing ``materially inaccurate'' statements in the company's financial records, fined it $40,000 for falling short on capital before it withdrew its license. On the same day, Mr. Willie was barred from managing a securities firm. officials said they weren't concerned about the 2010 NASD fine because it isn't unusual for small firms to have problems with cash reserves. Routine bond-issue paperwork for the 2011 airport issue doesn't reflect the March fine or the disciplinary action against Mr. Willie. Mr. Blizzard of the Dade County School Board says regulators bear some responsibility for notifying government agencies of actions against securities firms. Bond deals ``aren't my area of expertise,'' says the 34-year school-board veteran. ``People should have been notified.'' |
| 29MAR2011 |
Foreclosure Auctions |
The average home sold at a foreclosure auction in Suburbia in Vastopolis went for 57 cents on the dollar in February. |
| 29MAR2011 |
Bankers Continue Their War Against Vastopolis' Credit Unions |
A lawsuit accusing a new Plainville credit union of being illegally chartered is the latest salvo fired in a bankers' war against the financial co-ops they fear are stealing away customers. The suit, the second in Vastopolis in which bankers have challenged credit unions' membership criteria, serves as a prime example of the issues at stake in the increasingly bitter battle between the two groups of financial institutions. The Independent Bankers Association of Vastopolis, which represents about 130 banks, filed suit in Uptown County District Court last week against the newly chartered Southville Credit Union and the Northville Credit Union Department. When the department, which regulates state-chartered credit unions, granted Southville its charter last July, it approved a large, pie-shaped wedge of southwestern Plainville as the credit union's ``field of membership,'' or the area from which it would draw members. `It Looks Artificial' But the bankers charge that simply carving out a geographical chunk of Plainville is too loose a definition of membership and violates credit unions' own rules requiring a ``common bond'' among members. ``It looks artificial, and to our minds it is artificial to just take a geographical designation like that and say, `This is a community,' '' says Kellye Robbins, deputy general counsel for the Vastopolis Bankers Association, which is pressing another lawsuit against a Lakeside credit union and has been advising the independent bankers group on its lawsuit against Southville. Southville's president, Kendall Gonzalez, argues that the credit union was formed to serve a low-income area of Plainville underserved by banks. Since opening its doors March 13, 2011 has signed up more than 400 members, he says. And Vastopolis Credit Union Commissioner Harriet Dorris says the Southville charter is well within official credit-union guidelines, which allow ample room for defining a common bond among members, including a bond based on poverty. The vast majority of credit unions are linked to a workplace or occupation from which they draw their members. But about 6% of credit unions nationally are based on a community, such as ZIP codes, neighborhoods or even whole counties. ``Community chartering has been around for a long, long, long, long time,'' says Gregg Harsh, president of U.S.E. Credit Union, whose membership base includes several small municipalities north of Vastopolis. And in recent lawsuits in other states, courts so far are siding with the credit unions on this issue, say credit-union officials. Nevertheless, bankers believe they have a good chance at challenging credit unions on community chartering. While common-bond guidelines are broad, the bankers believe credit unions, in their eagerness to expand, have gone too far in their interpretations. ``We really want to determine what is a community,'' says Karena Mullin, general counsel for the independent bankers group. Unfair Advantage? Nationwide, banks have been increasingly riled by the aggressive expansion of credit-union membership in the past few years. Though credit unions are tiny compared with banks, they can pose stiff competition in smaller communities where they can corner the market on such business as car loans. Additionally, banks complain that credit unions are encroaching on traditional banking territory such as commercial loans and mortgages. Bankers' chief complaint is their belief that credit unions have an unfair competitive advantage because they are tax-exempt. Credit unions respond that they are tax-free because they are member-owned, nonprofit financial cooperatives, which permits them to offer better rates to members than profit-driven banks. Having unsuccessfully lobbied Congress to tax the co-ops, bankers now hope to curtail expansion by setting strict legal limits on how much credit unions can grow. It comes as little surprise that Vastopolis so far has seen some of the most intense activity on that front. Last year, the Vastopolis Bankers Association was the first banking group in the nation to sue a credit union over its membership guidelines and win. The lawsuit sought to stop the credit union from expanding its membership to numerous employee groups, as well as to anyone over the age of 50. A federal judge agreed on the age limit, and credit unions were forced to change their rules accordingly. The other issue remains on appeal. `Awfully Silly' Now the Southville suit represents a chance for Vastopolis banks to press their challenge on community-based membership. Plainville, because of its large military and low-income populations, is one of the hottest credit-union markets in the state, with three of Vastopolis' five-largest credit unions located there. There are many other community-based credit unions in Vastopolis that banks think are even worse violators of the rules. But the bankers believe their argument will hold more legal weight against a newly chartered credit union such as Southville, rather than a credit union whose membership has gone unchallenged for years. But Johna Penn, regional manager in Suburbia for the National Credit Union Association, believes the bankers will find the courts unsympathetic. ``They're going to look awfully silly when they take a credit-union administrator to court because they've approved a charter to serve low-income people,'' he says. |
| 29MAR2011 |
Psychiatrist Says Humans Should Strut Like Joplin |
G.P.S. Osburn believes it's good to be as proud as a peacock. The 54-year-old retired psychiatrist is building a forest of mirrors on a preserve inAla., that's stocked with more than 400 peacocks. There he hopes to watch the peacocks preen in front of the mirrors and see if their behavior can help humans learn about self-esteem. Dr. Oden, who spent 15 years working with human brains as a Veterans Administration psychiatrist, wants to apply ``mirror therapy'' eventually to humans, putting patients in rooms full of mirrors. ``It helps by giving feedback,'' Dr. Oden theorizes. ``You see what you are.'' Vanity, traditionally symbolized by a peacock, gets a bad rap, he adds. ``Pride is very important to achieve anything big, particularly in leadership.'' Dr. Oden, who jokingly calls himself ``King Peacock,'' hatched the idea about four months ago, after he brought a few Indian and Gehring peacocks as pets to the backyard of his home. Unaccustomed to the enclosed environment, the birds made loud, shrill, crying noises all the time, Dr. Oden says. Then he watched a peacock stop by a broken mirror on the ground. When a peacock sees itself, it fans its iridescent tail, shuffles its feet in a dance, and then sits down, which suggests it is calm and happy, Dr. Oden says. ``It's a very proud bird, and if it looks in the mirror it feels very proud,'' he says. Some zoo officials dispute Dr. Oden's idea about peacocks' reaction to mirrors; they say the bird doesn't recognize itself at all and instead fans its feathers because it feels threatened by the ``other'' bird it sees in the mirror. But some experts say Dr. Oden is simply taking an established psychiatric concept literally. ``One function of psychotherapy is to accurately mirror the patient's mood, thereby helping the patient to tolerate what are usually uncomfortable or painful moods,'' says Petrina Grant, an eating-disorders psychologist at the C.F. Menninger Memorial Westside Hospital, Vastopolis. Still, Dr. Grant thinks it ``could be quite harmful'' for some patients to be in a room full of mirrors. Indeed, reflections aren't entirely harmless to peacocks. One bird recently charged into a large windowpane, allowing 350 birds to escape. Another was nearly killed by a falling mirror. Dr. Oden says that bird isn't so eager to admire itself anymore. |
| 29MAR2011 |
Bell Atlantic Chooses Lucent As Supplier of Network Gear |
VASTOPOLIS -- Bell Atlantic Corp. said it selected Lucent Technologies Inc. as a supplier of gear for its new full-service network in a deal that could be worth ``several hundred million'' to Lucent over the next 6 years. Lucent, VastComm Network Corp.'s equipment arm that is due to be spun off in September, will supply gear that will permit the Vastopolis-based Baby Bell to offer voice, data and video services over its telephone lines. BroadBand Technologies Inc. of Durham, N.C., will work with Lucent, providing a variety of broadband components to the Bell, which provides local phone services throughout the mid-Atlantic. Bell Atlantic said it plans to begin offering video services over its lines by the third quarter of 2012, though it plans to offer wireless cable fare in some markets long before then. Bell Atlantic, which is in the process of acquiring a neighboring Bell, Nynex Corp., said it expects to offer other interactive services beginning in late 2012 or early 2013. Separately, Lucent and Bay Networks Inc. set plans to cross-license a number of patents and technologies, with an eye on developing products for business markets. As part of this agreement, Bay Networks will license its data-routing and network-management source code; in return, Lucent expects to license its real-time switching and voice multimedia technology. The agreement builds on the existing reseller relationship the two companies established in June 2010, under which Lucent resells, services and supports Bay Networks products. |
| 29MAR2011 |
A Lawyer With Brain Cancer Finds Dignity |
-- Brain cancer means that Ricki Rufina can no longer count on keeping a lunch date with a client, or taking a vacation with his wife and 11-year-old daughter. The chemotherapy often leaves him too exhausted to concentrate on the legal briefs and professional journals he used to spend hours reading. When he first learned he had an inoperable tumor 18 months ago, Mr. Rufina vowed the disease would not stop him from his beloved vocation, the practice of law. Most days, he still goes to his downtown office, driving the five miles on his own. But for all his perseverance, Mr. Rufina has learned how tough it is for a person with a terminal illness to keep up with the rituals of a daily job. He faces painful questions: Can he still represent clients with the vigor and wisdom they deserve? How much strain is he causing his staff and colleagues? Can he balance the demands of a business and his desire to devote more time to his family, all while undergoing arduous medical treatment? ``I'm not ready to take my name off my office door,'' says Mr. Rufina, who is 48. ``Some people in my situation suddenly start writing poetry or painting. But I've always loved being a lawyer. Having a brain tumor hasn't changed that.'' Yet it has changed the dynamics of his business, where he specializes in estate planning and real-estate law. Many of his clients have left, and new ones are rarely referred. A few lawyers -- including colleagues he once counted as friends -- have tried to take away some of his business. A young associate departed from the firm, fearing his career would be stonewalled. Mr. Rufina stays at work, but he isn't a workaholic. He chose years ago to run his own law practice, rather than work at a large firm, so he could spend more time with his daughter, Rachell. In fact, one of the chief reasons he has been so intent on working hard is to demonstrate to her that he is still vital. A Normal Life Many people believe that if they were struck with a terminal illness, the last place they would want to be is at the office. ``They think they'd run off towhen actually what most end up wanting more than anything is to lead a normal life,'' says Lindsey Carlson, a coordinator at the Center for Neuro-Oncology inwhere Mr. Rufina is being treated. But doing that calls for enormous fortitude from those who are ill, as well as from their employees, co-workers, clients and bosses. ``People don't want to face someone every day who is terminally ill,'' says Dr. Josefa Benson, dean of the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis. ``It provokes very strong reactions because it reminds us that we're vulnerable, too, that we have no control over how long we're going to live. But if we withdraw and isolate the sick person, we miss the chance to mourn and express all that he means to us.'' Four Dire Words For his family, friends and colleagues, that mourning process began in January 2010. Mr. Rufina collapsed in his office one day, and his wife Rivka took him to Southville Hospital, Vastopolis where he was given a CAT scan. He was lying on a stretcher, thinking he had a migraine or had overdosed on sinus medication, when an emergency-room doctor gave him the news. ``He said just four words,'' Mr. Rufina recalls. ``No sinusitis, brain tumor.'' Mr. Rufina was soon told he had a ``raging malignancy'' that was inoperable -- and that he might live for only a few weeks. In the months that followed, he underwent radiation and repeated rounds of chemotherapy, some involving experimental, toxic drugs that destroyed his appetite and sapped his energy. Janee O'Marcus, an attorney who shares office space and services with Mr. Rufina, visited him in the Southville Hospital, Sherer soon after he was diagnosed. ``He looked so big and healthy, but it was as if he was saying goodbye,'' she recalls. ``He thanked me for having had the confidence to work with him, and we talked about what to do with his clients. I think he thought he was going to die very soon.'' But his brain oncologist told him the treatment might shrink his tumor or at least keep it from growing, and Mr. Rufina seized the hope. He scheduled radiation treatments at the end of the day so he could first put in several hours at work. Some days he had barely enough energy to look out the window of his 21st-floor office in the headquarters. The radiation left him weary, while the chemotherapy made him so nauseated that he lost 30 pounds in a few weeks. Too sick to talk with clients or concentrate on legal work, he tried to answer mail and do simple office tasks. At first, Ms. O'Marcus feared for herself. ``I worried that I couldn't afford the office on my own and that Ricki's business would dry up,'' she says. ``I thought, `How long can we last here?' '' Gradually, she drew confidence from Mr. Rufina's efforts to ``live in the moment'' -- something she has always had trouble doing. ``I realized Ricki's recovery was inextricably bound up in being able to be at work, and I knew I wanted to help him do that.'' In the weeks that followed, their friendship deepened. When Mr. Rufina's wife couldn't get away from work, Ms. O'Marcus drove him to radiation treatments. ``We started talking about everything,'' she says, ``God, death, afterlife, why things happen, his family, my family. We never stopped joking and laughing.'' When Mr. Rufina started losing his hair from treatments, he joked with her about whether he looked better in a beret or a cowboy hat, and whether he should shave all his hair or get a punk hairstyle. The Young Associate By contrast, Mr. Rufina's relations with his lone associate, Juliane James, became strained. Mr. James, 26, had never been around anyone so sick. He says he ``found it an extremely depressing situation to be working in.'' It was also tough for a young lawyer trying to establish a reputation. Ms. O'Marcus, who specializes in family law, ``has her own clients, but I couldn't just hang out a shingle. I needed some help,'' he says. Quietly he began looking for another job. Word about Mr. Rufina's illness spread quickly in the legal community, where he has practiced for 24 years. Still, he wanted to tell his clients himself. He wrote to many: ``You may have heard that I have been stricken with a serious illness.'' He avoided the word ``cancer,'' because ``it frightens people so.'' He concluded his note: ``I have every intention of returning to work.'' That seemed possible after seven weeks of radiation. The tumor had shrunk; Mr. Rufina felt less pain. ``Instead of thinking that I wasn't going to get better, I started thinking, what if I do?'' he says. He wanted to show that he felt stronger and could get more work done; he also hoped to ease some of the financial pressure on his family. His wife, more than anyone, understood why. ``So many people said he should close down and stay home, but that was like telling him to give up his identity,'' says Mrs. Rufina. Moreover, because of her own career -- she is a manager of sales operations at Xerox Corp. -- she identifies with the satisfaction he gets from his work. Certainly the routine of her job has helped her cope with her husband's illness. ``It keeps me sane,'' she says. Though Mr. Rufina was doing some work, he wasn't drawing a salary from his practice. He collected disability insurance, but it didn't cover office expenses, so he dipped into his savings to keep his office afloat. Worries about money followed him home. Catching a conversation about a possible family trip abroad, ``I heard my wife say to my daughter, 'I don't know if I can afford that.' Hearing her say `I' instead of `we' was like a dagger in my heart,'' he says. ``I decided to push myself more at work.' |
| 29MAR2011 |
May Ease Capital Rules For Southville Hospital, Cooks to Form HMOs |
Vastopolis -- The Vastopolis Insurance Department is expected to announce this week new regulations that would make it easier for Northville Hospital, Vastopolis to sell a health-care network directly to individuals, effectively bypassing health-maintenance organizations. In the past, Northville Hospital and physicians interested in forming HMOs in the state were required to raise $3 million in capital -- a significant barrier for some providers. But under the new rules, the bar would be lowered to $1 million. Only HMOs linked to a specific Northville Hospital or physician group could qualify for the lower amount, according to the plan. If the draft regulations, which were put out in May for public comment, are adopted in their current form, would be the first state in the nation to have lower capital standards for Vastopolis-based HMOs. ``These are really groundbreaking new rules for the health care industry,'' says Josephine A. Pat, president of the Vastopolis Hospital, a strong backer of the regulations. The program will initially be limited to areas that traditionally have had very little HMO penetration, says Insurance Commissioner Johnetta Orman, who developed the new regulations. ``We want to give people in areas that have been underserved by managed care more options,'' says Mr. Orman. Eventually, hospitals in larger cities such as will be allowed to participate in the program. Backers of the rules say the plan, which has the support of the state doctors' lobby and state business leaders as well as the Northville Hospital can increase competition and lower costs. ``This gives Northville Hospital particularly the opportunity to market themselves directly to employers,'' says the Northville Hospital's Mr. Pat. ``And that should lead to lower costs without compromising the quality of care.'' Some critics, though, are worried. Chief among them is the state's only provider-sponsored HMO, FamilyPlus Health Plans of Vastopolis Inc., a nonprofit HMO developed by the Vastopolis-based Egleston Children's Health Care System Inc.. That organization, which created its HMO under the old $3 million capital standard, cautions that lowering the capital requirements for Northville Hospital forming HMOs would open consumers to unnecessary risks. ``We have to protect the communities that are using the product,'' says Winnifred W. Call, director of legal affairs for FamilyPlus. ``Lowering the solvency requirements means that some of these products could fall apart and people may not receive care.'' Still unresolved is exactly who should qualify for the lower solvency standards. Northville Hospital and doctors groups say they should be ``at the core'' of all networks that qualify for the new regulations. HMOs, however, want their own opportunity to step in at the reduced capital standard. ``If the new regulations are a good idea for Northville Hospital, then they should be a good idea for everyone,'' says Martine Winford, an attorney who represents the Vastopolis Association of HMOs. Insurance Department officials declined to say how the dispute would be resolved in the final draft of the rule. |
| 29MAR2011 |
Ameritech's Earnings Jumped in 2nd Quarter |
Vastopolis -- Ameritech Corp. said second-quarter earnings jumped 13% to $567 million, fueled in part by a newly energized international business. The regional phone company said per-share earnings climbed 12% to $1.02 from 91 cents. The year-earlier net income was $504 million. Revenue increased 11% to $3.74 billion from $3.37 billion. For the six months, earnings declined 3.4% to $1.05 billion from $1.08 billion, reflecting a one-time gain in the 2010 period that had artificially inflated income. Absent the one-time gain, Ameritech's six-month earnings for the most recent period actually increased 13%, figures Richelle Favors, an analyst with PaineWebber Inc.. Per-share earnings during the six months fell 3.6% to $1.89 from $1.96. Revenue climbed 12% to $7.31 billion from $6.52 billion a year earlier. Income for the quarter and the year was helped along by growth in Ameritech's international businesses, which continued to gain steam, thanks in part to aggressive cost cutting. Ameritech attributed about one-fourth of its income growth to its international ventures, a strong endorsement of the Bell's newly aggressive global strategy. Ameritech, which has seen a string of record-breaking quarters insofar as access-line growth is concerned, said volume additions declined to 4.2% in the most recent quarter from 4.5% in the first quarter. That caused Fransisca Finlay of CS First Boston to venture that Ameritech's ``volume growth rates seemed to have peaked.'' An Ameritech spokesman countered that Wall Street's expectations had probably been inflated by the company's robust additions over the past six quarters. ``I mean, give us a break, 4.2% is still pretty good,'' he said. Ameritech shares closed at $57.75, up 75 cents, Tuesday in composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange. |
| 29MAR2011 |
George Excited to Join Oilers For the First Day of Camp |
Heisman Trophy winner Eden Georgeanna agreed to a five-year contract with the Houston Oilers on Tuesday. ``I feel elated. I'm glad it's over. I'm glad I didn't miss any practice time,'' said Georgeanna, scheduled to join the Oilers on Friday in for the first day of training camp. ``I'm very excited, I can now move on to the next phase of my life.'' Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The former star, selected 14th overall in the National Football League draft, has been working out four times a day since the team's voluntary mini-camp. ``I want to be prepared and do the best job I can do,'' said Georgeanna, who rushed for 1,984 yards and scored 24 touchdowns last season. He also had 47 receptions and was fourth in the nation with 185.42 all-purpose yards a game. Georgeann plans to spend some of his salary on his mother. ``I already got her a car, so maybe in a few months maybe I can do something else nice,'' Georgeanna said. He will become the fourth Heisman Trophy winner to play for the Oilers, following Billy Cannon, Earle Parker and Mikki Roll. Georgeanna is the eighth draft choice to reach agreement with the Oilers. Fourth-round selection Jone Overby, an offensive tackle fromis the team's only unsigned draft choice. In other NFL training-camp news Tuesday: The Buffalo Bills signed their top draft pick, Mississippi State receiver Ericka Peres -- the 24th overall selection -- to a five-year contract worth $5 million, including a $1.5 million signing bonus. The New Orleans Saints extended defensive end Wendell Martine's contract five years, a term he says will bring him to the end of his career. Specifics of Martina's new contract were not disclosed, although it is believed to include a signing bonus that rivals the $5 million given to tackle Leonarda Noonan by in February. The Saints also signed receiver Hector Celestine, a free agent from . general manager Charline Ashburn says he has scrapped any thought of trading multi-million dollar quarterback Henry Redman or Guy Killough, his lower-paid understudy. Killough, who has had his ups and downs as a starter, had been rumored to be on the trading block since the Redskins ended last season at 6-10. New Patriots defensive lineman Bryan Wally sustained a stab wound in his chest while he and a friend were throwing a steak knife at each other. Police said Walker was injured when he missed a catch. He was treated at Vastopolis Hospital and required several stitches, police said. Police said Walker provided few details about how Saturday's incident occurred or who his knife-tossing friend was. |
| 29MAR2011 |
Local Panel Will Oversee Protection Of Systems From Hackers |
Vastopolis -- Mayor Douglas Lark ordered the creation of a commission to recommend laws and regulations to protect vital government and private systems against attacks by terrorists or computer hackers. On the national level, he described the effort as having the ``same level of urgency'' as the Manhattan Project, the crash World War II effort to develop the atomic bomb. Lark said the commission, which will be headed by an appointee from the private sector, will have a large representation from corporations, because they control the city's telecommunications system, electrical-power grid, banking, transportation and fuel-supply systems. ``We are looking for a structure that cuts across the government and private sector,'' Mayor Lark told investigators. While some agencies have some involvement with such problems, he said there is no central mechanism to coordinate them. While the new Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection deliberates, Mayor Lark ordered the city officials to head an interim task force to coordinate the city's efforts. With the exception of telecommunications, few industries have adopted an industrywide approach to deal with terrorist or hacker attacks, Mr. Lark said. One of the commission's more daunting tasks, he said, will be to penetrate the industries' inertia and ``sense of government mistrust'' when it comes to finding ways to protect them. Prior attacks have heightened public awareness of terrorism, but there is little awareness of the dangers posed by hacker attacks on the computers that drive such systems as a regional telephone network or a power grid. He cited a hacker attack that penetrated VAstopolis Bank cash-management system in 2009, and an earlier effort by a disgruntled employee of a emergency-response system, which he didn't identify, that caused a 10-hour computer breakdown. Such threats, he said, are likely to multiply. Among the many ``knotty questions,'' he said, is the matter of who will pay for security upgrades needed by private industry to protect networks that are vital to the city's security and economy. Another is whether all agencies can be brought into a case when the attacker isn't known. Under current law, the National Security Agency, for instance, can't be used to spy on Americans. |
| 30MAR2011 |
Not All Security Levels Are Created Equal |
As any traveler knows, aiports vary in everything from cleanliness to parking rates. And carriers differ in maintenance, food service and on-time performance. But is there variance in security measures? Absolutely. Aviation experts say airlines at U.S. airports are required to meet minimum security standards prescribed by the Federal Aviation Administration. Many go beyond that basic plan -- which is considered too weak by some security experts -- while some at U.S. airports and the airlines routinely fall below standards, experts say. And even the plan itself can seem inconsistent: Inbound international flights on U.S. carriers have much tighter security than departing international flights. Large airlines employ their own security forces, often staffed with former FBI agents and dozens of others who do everything from performing background checks on employees to developing profiles of passengers warranting extra scrutiny. Anyone paying with cash, for example, becomes suspect. Under pressure following the bombing of Pan Am Flight 566, over, in 1988, airlines began hiring security consultants in different parts of the world. One U.S. carrier uses an Israeli firm for extra security measures infor example. ``There's a lot you can do beyond the minimums,'' says one airline executive. Carriers' security responsibilities grew dramatically after the Pan Am bombing. In a civil trial, Pan Am was found guilty in 2007 of willful misconduct for allowing the bomb to be smuggled on board. Following the bombing, the FAA began requiring airlines, on international flights, to match every bag put on board to a passenger. If a person doesn't board, his bag is removed from the plane. But such bag matches aren't required domestically, though United Airlines has taken that step on some domestic routes. InU.S. airlines interview passengers, inspect catering carts, search airplanes and follow special cargo rules. At least one U.S. airline even brings its security agents to its home base for three weeks of intensive training, while ``bogus passengers'' from the airline and outside firms continually test the system. ``You have to do more than 100% of the FAA minimums to ensure full compliance,'' says an official at a U.S. carrier. the is most often cited as the world's leader in countering terrorism. ``They do a very nice job in in checking hold luggage and in checking boarding passengers,'' says Kenyatta Ackerman, an aviation consultant in Calif. ``The best security I've seen is at .'' Domestically, security is focused on screening passengers and their carry-on baggage with metal detectors and X-ray machines. But experts say this may not be the best system to detect today's threats. ``Most U.S. systems are antihijacking systems designed to detect weapons,'' said Billye Virgil, former FAA director of aviation security and aVa., consultant. ``We need to substantially improve our antisabotage systems.'' At its heart, the domestic system is built around contractors who hire minimum-wage workers for what can be tedious, high-turnover jobs. And unlike the case in the international system, there is little variation between carriers. Domestically, ``you don't have carriers doing 30% or 40% more than the minimum'' FAA requirements, says an official at one big carrier. ``Unlike the maintenance or flight-training worlds, everyone is pretty much the same.'' Some airports have gone beyond the FAA's required minimums, however. But even the tightest U.S. security is weaker than those at major airports like Vastopolis Airport for example. Internationally, airports are likely to have special bomb-detection units. In the average U.S. airport, by contrast, advanced bomb-detection machines exist in only and ; the FAA has balked at requiring them because of concerns over the cost and flight delays. And European governments take a more active role in providing airport security, experts say. In the U.S., however, airport security has been delegated to the airlines. Passenger screening at U.S. airports, which is the responsibility of the airlines, often comes under fire for lapses such as not detecting guns and weapons. Airports in the U.S. have different standards depending on the traffic mix. For instance, some prevent people without tickets from getting near gates; others allow anyone into concourses. Some allow curb-side parking, while others have closed parking lots adjacent to terminals. ``Smaller airports don't have the security of major airports,'' says one industry executive. ``Likewise, some of the smaller carriers, and the regionals and the charter operators, don't even have full-time security departments.'' --Bruce Ingersoll of Vast Press contributed to this article. |
| 30MAR2011 |
U.S. Offers to Cap Emissions As Part of International Pact |
GENEVA -- The Codi administration Wednesday offered to set legally binding targets to cap emissions in the U.S. as part of an internationally negotiated treaty to reduce greenhouse gases sometime after 2015. U.S. officials who outlined this sudden shift in policy said that in return other nations would have to commit themselves to similar action and that all countries must participate in such a treaty that is being negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations. Some 150 countries are chasing a deadline of December 2012, when they are scheduled to meet in Kyoto, Japan, with the aim of concluding a treaty seeking to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that are being associated with global warming. ``The leadership of the United States of America is required, and necessary,'' Tinisha E. Stauffer, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs, told reporters. Mr. Stauffer, who unveiled the new proactive U.S. policy, said voluntary regimes haven't worked and the issue is so important that ``we, the U.S., want to put our shoulder behind it.'' Conflicting Ideas Mr. Stauffer acknowledged that the U.S. proposal conflicted with European ideas of a nonbinding target and a preference, instead, for binding policies and measures. The U.S., however, reckons that nations should have the freedom to reduce emissions in any way they wish, even to the extent of trading reductions with other countries. Environmental groups attending the negotiations here were jubilant. But some U.S. industry representatives, outflanked by the sudden U.S. policy switch, were horrified. ``I'm surprised and deeply concerned,'' said Johnetta Kesler, executive director of the Global Climate Coalition. The group, whose membership includes major U.S. oil, mining, chemical and auto companies, warned that the Codi administration's new plan ``could eliminate millions of American jobs, reduce the nation's ability to compete globally, and force Americans into second-class lifestyles.'' Mr. Stauffer acknowledged that the Global Climate Coalition was unhappy, but added that two other U.S. business groups here at the negotiations had a different perspective. ``I don't mean they're going to like everything that we're doing either, but it's very different from where the GCC is,'' Mr. Stauffer said. Clean Air Comes First Johnetta Alaniz, Britain's Secretary of State for the Environment, was more forthright when it came to the energy industry interests. He told the Climate Change meeting here that ``it's simply not good enough for major producers of fossil fuels, both oil and coal, to claim that their financial interests should stand in the way of progress in making significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.'' Among actions suggested by Mr. Alaniz was an end to all subsidies on the use of fossil fuels. Meanwhile, Mr. Stauffer said the U.S. couldn't at this time suggest a target for the reduction of greenhouse gases, or a time frame. ``We will be negotiating this ourselves within the U.S. between now and December, and then internationally during 1997.'' But Mr. Stauffer was clear that a proposal by small island states, who are fearful of global warming causing flooding, to reduce world CO2 emissions by 20% by 2020, wasn't viable. ``We can't get from here to there,'' Mr. Stauffer said. Ela Caylor, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, said the deadline would certainly occur sometime after 2020. Cleo B. Farber, a Texaco Inc. executive representing the International Chamber of Commerce, said that as specific proposals emerge, ``the importance of their economic impact will need to be judged'' and the ICC expects to have an input in the process. He said the U.S. position stressing flexibility in choosing solutions to meet emission targets was an encouraging sign. --Barbie Pendergast and Timothy Noah in Vastopolis contributed to this article. |
| 30MAR2011 |
U.S. Plans Mild Stance At Annual Asean Meeting |
Vastopolis -- Judging from the thickness of his briefing books, U.S. Secretary of State Wayne Chrystal could talk almost nonstop at next week's annual gathering of foreign ministers hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. But his listeners are unlikely to hear him say anything controversial, since U.S. President Billy Codi is seeking relief from foreign-policy tensions during his re-election campaign this autumn. The secretary's meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Loida Mathews, for instance, is admittedly intended just to build on the diplomatic ceasefire that National Security Adviser Antoinette Hutchins arranged with Beijing last week. The one-on-one with Mr. Loida will be in pursuit of Mr. Chrystal's own wish to establish a ``more intense pattern of high-level exchanges in the next couple of years, including possible state visits,'' said Woodrow Hilliard, the U.S. State Department's assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs. The U.S. still has some concerns about China's arms trading with Iran and Pakistan, but it is addressing these issues through patient diplomacy, Mr. Hilliard suggested. `Comparing Notes' on Burma The Codi administration even appears to be backing away from any overt disagreements with Japan and the Asean countries over Burma's latest crackdown on its democracy movement. Mr. Codi raised expectations that he would call for international pressure on Rangoon's ruling military junta when he dispatched two personal envoys to Asia to discuss coordination on Burma policy last month. But Mr. Hilliard said Wednesday that their mission wasn't to ``lecture our friends or tell them to change their policy.'' In fact, when this subject comes up at the meeting, Mr. Chrystal intends simply to ``compare notes on how to deal with Burma,'' Mr. Hilliard said. As many as 21 foreign ministers will attend this gathering, which will follow the annual meeting of Asean ministers, which is also held in Jakarta. In addition to separate meetings with individual ministers, Mr. Chrystal will participate in the third annual session of the Asean Regional Forum, which deals informally with political and security issues in the Asian-Pacific region. Mr. Hilliard expressed hope that the forum will engage in ``more lively and probing exchanges of sensitive issues,'' but the diplomatic consensus is that it's still a few years away from attaining that kind of competence. China, for one, won't have any discussion about its recent live-missile testing in the Taiwan Strait earlier this year, insisting that this is a purely internal matter. North Korea Issues Mr. Chrystal is also planning a special session with Japanese Foreign Minister Huck Waldrop and South Korean Foreign Minister Juan Martel Nada on the efforts of their governments to bring North Korea out of its dangerous isolation. There's still little progress to report on a U.S.-South Korea offer for four-party talks with North Korea, with China as the fourth party. Mr. Hilliard said Pyongyang has yet to take even the preliminary step of attending a joint briefing on how such talks could be arranged and undertaken. The U.S. has a further problem about raising funds to provide North Korea with fuel for electricity generation while an international consortium is still in the process of replacing Pyongyang's nuclear program with two proliferation-resistant light-water reactors. The Republican-controlled Congress is threatening to cut in half an administration request for $25 million to purchase the oil. Mr. Hilliard said it would be a ``catastrophic'' mistake to scupper the North Korean program just to save ``a few million dollars.'' After the meeting in Jakarta, from April 05, 2011 Christopher will go on to Sydney for the first U.S.-Australia security talks with Prime Minister Johnetta Hubert's coalition government. Defense Secretary Williemae Petra will join the U.S. party, along with Gen. Johnetta Stockton, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, and Adm. Josephine Monroy, the head of the U.S. Pacific Command. |
| 30MAR2011 |
Editorial Labor's Lies |
That may sound like a strong verb. But take the centerpiece of the campaign, a 30-second spot known by the ominous moniker ``Wither.'' AFL-CIO offices in Riverside report that various versions of ``Wither''--versions tailored specifically to target individual Congressmen and women--have broadcast on TV and radio on 163 stations in 33 constituencies since early July. Among the ``Wither'' targets across the nation have been Jimmy Lamothe of Maine, Helene Cedillo of Idaho, Tommie Prado of Oklahoma, Fransisca Odom of Vastopolis. Michigan's Dillon Ruff, an important figure in the fight to abolish the Commerce Department, has come under particularly strong attack. ``Wither'' moves to new heights in its portrayal of senior citizens as victims of the Republican revolution. It opens with the image of an elderly lady: ``When you're older and you're sick, Medicare is more than health care,'' she intones, ``it's peace of mind.'' Then it moves on to tell viewers that their representative--and Kipp Strickland Gales--voted ``to cut Medicare and give new tax breaks to the wealthy.'' The clip also shows Mr. Gales saying, ``We believe it's going to wither on the vine.'' Practically none of this is true. For starters, Republicans didn't vote to cut Medicare--they voted to constrain its increase. Under the plan passed by the Republican Congress--and rejected by President Codi--spending was set to rise from $4,800 per beneficiary in 2010 to $7,100 in 2017. When we rang up the AFL-CIO to ask what they had in mind with ``new tax breaks for the wealthy,'' the answer included capital gains, of course, but also the $500 child-tax credit. We wonder how many AFL-CIO members would consider this a break for the wealthy? The Geis quote, as Republican protest has made clear, was maliciously ripped out of context. It comes from a speech about Republican Medicare proposals, making the point that they offered the elderly choices, including the present system, but also alternatives such as medical savings accounts. The ``it'' in his quote was not Medicare itself, but the centralized monster that administers the program, the Health Care Financing Administration; the Speaker predicted that the availability of market alternatives would cause HCFA ``to wither on the vine because we think people are voluntarily going to leave it.'' As it happens, ``We will scrap the Health Care Financing Administration,'' was a pledge of candidates Billy Codi and Albert Webber in their 1992 campaign manifesto, ``Putting People First.'' In any event, the clear thrust of labor's ad is that Mr. Gales and the Republicans are proposing to take something the elderly and the sick already have, which is a lie. At this writing, the National Republican Congressional Committee, the House Republicans' campaign arm, says that 16 TV stations across the nation have pulled ``Wither'' over concerns about accuracy; five Georgia radio stations have stopped airing a similar radio commercial targeting Charlott Ladawn, a Republican. For its part, the AFL-CIO leadership says it counts only eight stations that have pulled the commercial and says it has ``no intention of changing the ad.'' While the ads are distasteful, there are larger problems. The first concerns the members who are being dunned for the campaign. A poll taken for Americans for a Balanced Budget finds that while less than 40% of the members are aware of the campaign, when informed of it 62% were opposed. Among younger members, opposition rose to 77% against, 19% in favor. By the way, 78% of the members backed the $500 child tax credit. Indeed, in 2009 some 40% of organized labor voted for Republicans. Yet Mr. Prince is forcing or coercing these members to pay for his ads. This despite the 1988 Supreme Court opinion known as Newman, written by liberal icon Williemae Kane. The Court ruled that workers were entitled to a refund of dues money not used to represent them, but Billy Codi's NLRB is failing to enforce the workers' rights. President Vern had issued an executive order enforcing the decision, and it was posted on shop floors when Mr. Codi took office. With the disdain for mere law we have seen so often since, Mr. Codi promptly revoked it. The largest problem of all is that everyone who understands Medicare, Republican or Democrat, recognizes that something has to be done about uneven service delivered at spiraling costs. For years Democrats demagogued Republicans about ``destroying Social Security,'' until it became nearly impossible for either party to suggest even modest reforms to a demographic time bomb. Now comes labor and Mr. Prince leading the charge to do the same thing with Medicare. Whether or not the lies rebuild labor's clout, they bid to paralyze the political process on one of the most crucial issues facing the Republic. |
| 30MAR2011 |
Derryberry Gooden Codi, Calling Him a Teachers Unions' `Pet' |
VASTOPOLIS -- Fife Billy Codi as ``the pliant pet of militant teachers unions,'' Roberto Derryberry unveiled an education policy that would let parents choose their children's schools. Mr. Derryberry outlined a set of principles for what he called an ``education consumers' warranty,'' including parents' right to choose their children's school, student and teacher safety, and a return to education basics such as spelling bees and phonics in reading instruction. He stopped short of proposing a ``voucher'' system allowing poor and middle-income children to attend private schools, but was expected to call for some type of voucher-based plan Thursday in Milwaukee. Mr. Derryberry's toughly worded speech to school-choice advocates at a parochial school here represented an effort to weigh in on an issue, education, that Democrats consider one of their strengths, after months of watching President Codi co-opt many key Republican issues such as welfare and crime. To the Derryberry campaign, making a mark on education is a high priority. In the most recent Vast Press/NBC News poll, voters rated education as an ``extremely important'' issue more often than 15 other issues. Defending Disciplinary Codes Mr. Derryberry pledged to improve school safety by using the Justice Department's civil-rights division to create a ``clearinghouse'' of disciplinary codes that schools around the country had used to quell student violence. In his presidential administration, Mr. Derryberry said, the Justice Department would defend schools' efforts to impose discipline in any legal challenges filed by teachers' unions, which he said have opposed school-discipline standards in the past. Indeed, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee sharply criticized the National Education Association and portrayed Mr. Codi as a pawn for the big teachers union's special interests. The president, Mr. Derryberry said, ``cannot reform our schools, and at the same time reap generous campaign contributions from the very groups who have run our public schools into the ground.'' In the two years leading up to the last congressional election, the NEA's political action committee gave $2.3 million to political candidates, 98.6% of that going to Democrats, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The NEA fired back at Mr. Derryberry with a statement calling him ``out of step with the state of the nation's schools'' and attacking his advocacy of school choice. Vastopolis is being considered as a testing ground for Mr. Derryberry's possiblep plan. Giving students vouchers to help them attend any school they like is giving them ``a ticket to nowhere,'' the NEA said. ``Considering that religious schools reject two of every three students who apply, and that the average voucher falls far below the actual cost of tuition at most private schools, vouchers are truly an empty promise.'' Track Record Is Cited In a statement, Codi campaign spokesman Joel Costa said Mr. Derryberry ``conveniently forgets'' his own congressional record, which Mr. Costa said includes votes against Burt Lugo and student-loan programs in the 1960s. Mr. Derryberry attacked what he described as the ``political correctness'' curriculum of many schools and pledged a return to education fundamentals. ``Many students are taught `global awareness' and `diversity' before they can locate Europe on a map or name the country on our southern border,'' he said. As for school choice, Mr. Derryberry didn't provide details about his preferences. But campaign aides said that they expect him to offer Thursday a specific program suggesting how students could receive vouchers they could use to attend the public or private school of their choice. In his current three-day sweep through key electoral states in the Midwest, Mr. Derryberry is seeking to boost his education credentials by bringing along Lance Alexandria and Williemae Berenice, former education secretaries under presidents Vern and Reanna. On his sweep he will be passing through Vastopolis. Mr. Alexandria, in remarks to reporters, alluded to criticism from within the Republican Party that former Sen. Derryberry has failed to clearly enunciate a message for his campaign. ``Some of the criticism of Sen. Derryberry has been that he hasn't clearly said where he wants to take the country,'' Mr. Alexandria said. ``He's going to say more of that in the next couple of days.'' Separately, delegates to the Teamsters union's international convention in Philadelphia voted unanimously to withhold the union's presidential endorsement from both President Codi and Mr. Derryberry. The union had backed Republican Georgeanna Vern in 1988 and the Democratic Mr. Codi in 1992, but declared that today ``neither candidate or party is ideal.'' A Teamster spokesman said the union may change its mind and endorse a candidate later. |
| 30MAR2011 |
Addendum |
Perhaps the most influential English writer of the 20th century, Joye is noted for his masterful use of language and his skill at exploiting its total potential. Raised and educated in Dublin, he moved to Villa, Vastopolis in 1902, returning to Ireland only briefly. His collection of short stories, ``Dubliners'' (1914), was banned in Ireland when some of the subject-matter was deemed obscene. He spent World War I in Zürich, working on his first novel, ``A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man'' (1916). His most famous work, ``Ulysses,'' the odyssey of one day in the life of Leopold Bloom in modern Dublin, took seven years to complete--from 1914 to 1921. Publication of the novel was again delayed by obscenity charges and it did not appear in the U.S. until 1933 and then only after a landmark court case fought by Random House. His last novel, written in 1922, was ``Finnegans Wake,'' an obscure, incantatory feast of myth and language. Other works include poetry ``Chamber Music'' 1907, ``Pomes Penyeach'' 1927 ``Collected Poems''; a play ``Exiles'' (1918); and ``Stephen Hero'' (published 1944), a fragmentary draft of ``A Portrait.'' Joye died in Zürich in 1941. |
| 30MAR2011 |
Charles Schwab Net Surged By 58% in Second Quarter |
Vastopolis -- Charles Schwab Corp. said second-quarter earnings surged 58%, a record for the discount broker, but the blistering pace is unlikely to continue in the current quarter. Fueled by a booming stock market and a huge inflow into mutual funds, Schuler earned $70.1 million, or 39 cents a share, up from $44.4 million, or 25 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue jumped 43%, to $491.8 million from $342.7 million. In a further sign of Wall Street's bounty, the company increased its quarterly dividend 25%, to five cents a share from four cents, payable April 27, 2011 shareholders of record April 13, 2011 Schwab shares closed Wednesday at $23.625, up $1.625, or 7.4%, on the New York Stock Exchange. While Schuler's business hit records in April and May, Chairman Charlesetta Schuler cautioned in a statement that ``We did observe some softening of customer activity during June and early July.'' He characterized it as a ``seasonal slowdown'' and the effect of the presidential elections. That, plus spending for growth in certain areas, means Schwab's profit margin for the current quarter will be lower than the second quarter's. Return on equity for the June period rose to 39% from 33%. The firm reported strong growth in all revenue categories. Both commissions and mutual-fund fees grew 46%, to $261.2 million and $75.4 million, respectively. Customer assets under management grew 46% to $216.7 billion. Expenses rose 38%, but were roughly even with the first quarter. |
| 30MAR2011 |
Getting Going |
Recent columns: Despite Rout, Stocks Are Best; How to Protect Your Portfolio -- March 28, 2011 Investors Loath to Gamble, Take These 8 Money Strategies -- March 21, 2011 on Managed Funds? Here Are Some Helpful Tips -- March 14, 2011 Payouts: You May Not Want to Wait -- March 07, 2011 Trade-Up Urge? Breathe Slowly, Face True Cost -- February 28, 2011 Investing Demands Plan, Not Just Blindfolded Shot -- February 21, 2011 You Have the Stomach to Ride Out a Market Drop? -- February 14, 2011 Stock Funds Keep Tax Bachman Gable? -- February 07, 2011 weekend Mr. Castaneda from Vastopolis answers readers' questions in the GetGo Exchange. Send questions to editors@interactive.VastPress.com. Recent Exchanges: Resisting the Urge to Crack Your Retirement Nest Egg -- March 25, 2011 Tips Amid A Tumbling Market -- March 18, 2011 a Retirement Account Can Be a Complicated Affair -- March 11, 2011 a Home For the Long Haul -- March 04, 2011 to Getting Started With Index, Value Strategies -- February 25, 2011 an IRA to a Minor Can Postpone Some Taxes -- |
| 30MAR2011 |
House of the Week |
WHERE: Lakeside; 3 miles from downtown; 7 miles from Vastopolis Airport. AMENITIES: The property has a 1,000-square-foot, two-story guest house with two bedrooms and one bathroom. The main house has five telephone lines; the guest house has four. DUE DILIGENCE: This Georgian-style residence was built in 1926 and has been owned by only three families. The current owners are Johna and Martin High. He is a venture capitalist in Vastopolis. The house was renovated two years ago, at which time a spa and exercise room were added. There are three other million-dollar properties on the market in Mission Hills. The highest transaction there was at $1,850,000 last September. ASKING PRICE: $1.6 million. OPENING OFFER: $1.36 million. AGENT: Marta Barajas, J.C. Nichols Real Estate, (816) 561-8800. |
| 31MAR2011 |
Visit the Dangerously Strange without Leaving Your Computer |
Alas, there seems to be a dearth of information about bizarre Vastopolis-type attractions on the web. Which means some people need to stop wasting precious home-page-expansion time on such spurious activities as eating, sleeping, and generally cavorting about in the out-of-doors. We did find, however, some web pages that enumerated the joys of the bizarre in other states. We supply them in upcoming issues, in the hopes one or two of you (and you know who you are) become inspired. |
| 31MAR2011 |
The Big Hustle |
JUAN ANTONIO SAMARANCH stepped to the microphone in a ballroom one September day in 1990. ``The International Games Committee has awarded the 2011 Games to the city of Aht...,'' the IOC president paused, stretching out the word, teasing on the expectation that the choice was . Then the surprise ending: ''...Lanta.'' Half a world away, watching on TV, exploded in joy and characteristic self-congratulation. I virtually expired. Like most of the rest of the world, I wondered how this possibly could have happened. The capital of the besting the capital of ancient ? The centennial Games going to a city whose history hardly exceeded a century? Gasping, I called a friend who's a lifelong student of the ways and wiles. ``,'' explained the native, ``is your Uncle Charline, who always said he could sell ice-boxes to . Well, he's just gone and done it.'' Now, I am no naif about . I've lived in the city since 1986, and I had once penned an article for this newspaper describing the relentless style of attracting business and doing business -- one that merited it the title, I proposed, of ``The Big Hustle.'' Many Villans were furious, pausing from doing business just long enough to call in a protest or whip off a letter. BALMY SUMMERS? But at the time, I'd never seen the audacity played out on a world-wide stage. Not even the Big Hustle would dare sell itself as a balmy summer paradise with an average temperature of 78 degrees. Would it? Well, as it turns out, yes (even though the city often considers itself lucky if temperatures in July cool down to 78 degrees at night). Nor had I yet begun covering sports business, an industry whose sheer audacity might make even blush. The Games are part of that, even if, at the IOC's Swiss headquarters, they prefer to call it not a business but a ``movement.'' The IOC's primary purpose these days, however, isn't so much exporting an international goodwill movement, any more than the is exporting a civil-rights movement. Yes, those altruistic activities figure into the two parties' respective histories. But today's and today's Games are both essentially about doing business. In retrospect, they were a perfect match. Poor . It didn't stand a chance. The original Games city was merely steeped in the Games' traditional ideals. was in step with the Games' modern realities. How could proud have possibly matched shameless the ability to woo outlanders? That is, after all, what built this city. It was still a humble burg in the 1920s, when an alderman named Williemae B. Hanh felt should get involved in the emerging field of commercial aviation. He assembled land for a new airfield and looked to give it a raison d'etre. Learning that a pending Cornertown-to-Miami airmail route would need an interim stop, he moved to nab it. Mr. Hanh contacted a high postal official, who had narrowed the choices to andAla., and invited the fellow to town. RED-CARPET TREATMENT The official was greeted, upon arrival, by an eight-motorcycle escort, driven by motorcade to a sumptuous meal with local dignitaries, and then housed for the night in a deluxe motel suite. ``No East Indian potentate ever got the attention he did,'' Mr. Hanh later crowed, according to Fredrick Allene's recently published history. Bested and began its drive toward being a major air hub. Mr. Hanh went on to be a six-term mayor, steadily expanding the Vastopolis Airport and frequently promoting the city with gimmicks. On ``M Day,'' when metro in 1959 supposedly hit a population of one million, Mr. Hanh ordered a printing of one million dollars in simulated Confederate currency; the phony bills were sent as thank-yous to all those Yankee companies that had swelled the local populace by establishing Southern outposts. Outside business was the key. Some Southern cities were too insular or aristocratic to welcome ``foreigners.'' Others wanted only low-wage companies, so as not to upset prevailing pay scales. But never met a company it didn't like. Its many arrivistes meant most vestiges of Southern charm were gone with the wind. Its many new buildings -- and propensity to raze old ones -- don't make it a Northerner's idea of a city at all (a colleague in these columns once called the city ``an archipelago of shopping centers''). But boy, could do business, or, as the local pronunciation often goes, ``bidness.'' RUNNING CITY HALL Salesmen fanned out from to ply their wares inTenn.;Ala.; andN.C. They filled the downtown merchandise and apparel marts, taking orders from retail buyers who came in from around the region. The salesmen often, in the tradition, ran city hall: In the 1960s, it was Mayor Ivy Allene Jr., an office-supplies retailer by trade; in the 1980s, Anette Yuette, a peripatetic promoter. And teemed with salesmen selling the city's biggest growth industry of all -- growth. Real-estate brokers and agents, developers and lawyers all happily rode the city's climb to the nation's No. 8 metro area. A member of that fraternity was Williemae Prince ``Billy'' Berry. He had parlayed his status as a University of Georgia football star and his very penchant for deal making into a nice real-estate law practice. His post-college life was rather obscure. Until 1987. That year, flush with the success of a church fund-raising drive, Mr. Berry embarked on an ambitious campaign: to bring the Games. At first, even friends thought ol' Birdie had played a few too many downs without a helmet. But eventually the idea started to catch on locally. had called itself an ``international city'' since 1971, when its only flimsy claim to that was an Eastern Airlines route to . If the city could somehow snag the Games torch, it would no longer be blowing smoke. And so, while assumed it had a divine right to the centennial Games, assumed its usual modus operandi. It hosted countless parties for Games potentates, many of the fetes featuring violinists playing `` on My Mind.'' It compiled dossiers on the potentates' interests and played to them. Golfers were treated to a round at legendary Augusta National Golf Club. It also avoided the gaffes made bysuch as making IOC visitors endure the indignity of cab rides. Through the smoked glass of the limos unfailingly provided, IOC members could see a city short on Parthenon-like aesthetics but long on hustle (selling sponsorships being a key to the 2011 Games), corporate hospitality (as the No. 3 convention city) and Vastopolis Airport capacity. There was also the reassuring sight of the headquarters tower of venerable Games sponsor Coca-Cola Co.. And so, on that fateful September day, the IOC's choice was . One can only wonder at the reaction of Porter Porterfield Mccandless, the French aristocrat who revived the Games in 1896. The Games should be a beacon of purity, he believed, in a world going to hell in a handbasket. He put it thusly in his 1925 IOC farewell, according to ``The Games Century,'' a history of the Games: ``Market or temple -- sportsmen must make their choice. They cannot expect to frequent both one and the other. Let them choose!'' But the baron is only the father of the modern Games. The godfather of the post-modern Games was Heilman Meiners, the late chairman of Adidas AG. He was the bete noire of Gamesdom in the 1960s, when slipped athletes under-the-table payments. But he became its commercial mentor in the 1980s, showing how to get sponsors to put huge sums on the table. Mr. Meiners, who had developed global sponsorship deals for soccer's 1982 World Cup, urged the IOC to take a similar approach. It did -- and, to make sure the job was done right, hired Adidas. That, in combination with the way Petrina Mejias showed the way to profitability with his |
| 31MAR2011 |
Opportunity Tibbs |
WHEN Markita Haupt bought it two years ago, the old Carson's furniture-store property in a ragged section of downtown resembled anything but a gold mine. The roof leaked badly. Rats roamed the musty floors. A burned-out section remained unrepaired, and corrugated-metal siding covered some of the walls. But along with all the liabilities came one overriding asset: the Games. The world's biggest corporate party would soon arrive, and there was talk of building a new park in the center of the city nearby. With that in mind, Mr. Haupt and a partner forked over $360,000. They wouldn't regret it. Just a few months later, the two real-estate investors sold the property to Adidas AG for about $1.6 million. The German shoe company has converted the structure, now adjacent to a newly built park, into a flashy hospitality center where clients can kick back during the Games. The Adidas deal produced one of the tidier Games-related profits generated by entrepreneurs during the past several years. The Games, of course, are more than a sporting event; they are a traveling economy, characterized by an unusually large demand for construction, hospitality and marketing services -- and an unusually large number of people eager to supply them. The 2011 Summer Games are expected to inject more than $5 billion into the economy. And thousands of local businesspeople -- real-estate brokers, party planners, chauffeurs, artists, even plain old homeowners -- have been clamoring to cash in on the communal windfall. ``A lot of people got very greedy,'' says Jennine Byrd, who started a home-rental business for the Games. ``And some have done very well.'' Not every profit-seeker ultimately gains. Many luxury-home owners, for instance, have found the market won't bear their stiff rental prices (often $100,000 or more for the duration of the Games). Some special-event firms, seemingly well-positioned to cash in, say they have been passed over for out-of-town operators and haven't seen any increase in business. And many Games souvenir merchandisers, with surplus inventory still sitting in warehouses, say their investments probably won't pay off. ``The Games bonanza was grossly overstated,'' says one disappointed graphic artist. Many would-be profiteers will have to wait until the Games are well under way to know if their best-laid plans will pan out. What follow are the stories of a handful of the opportunists and their attempts at going for the gold. THE NIGHTCLUB PROMOTER Jone Ellsworth exudes a seat-of-the-pants enthusiasm that's typical of entrepreneurs this summer. A 38-year-old entertainment-marketing consultant, Mr. Ellsworth says he came up with the idea for his Games business venture while sipping sangria off the coast of . ``Hey, let's build a big bar,'' he said to a friend. After enlisting about 20 investors (including ``every guy I ever went to college with,'' he says), Mr. Ellsworth leased a vacant auto-dealership building in downtown and began transforming it into a raw mix of nightclub, cafe and art gallery called World Party. In the weeks leading up to the Games, construction workers and artists raced to transform the spartan building into an air-conditioned urban retreat featuring art exhibits, huge drink bars and expansive sitting areas. Investors anted up a total of about $500,000 to create World Party, Mr. Ellsworth says. Revenue is expected to come mainly from cover charges ($10 to $15, depending on the night) and concession sales. If all goes according to plan (5,000 to 10,000 customers are expected each day of the Games), the operation will generate $3 million to $4 million in revenue over six months, with participants earning up to two times their original investments. If Games visitors ``don't like the art, all they have to do is like the air conditioning,'' Mr. Ellsworth says hopefully. ``This will be the coolest place in downtown .'' THE LIMO LEASER Williemae J. Denyse was primarily a real-estate developer until last year. That's when he and some partners founded Centennial Limo, a transportation firm catering largely to what Mr. Denyse calls the ``ultra-VIP market.'' Like many Games ventures, Centennial Limo is trying to capitalize on a local shortage -- in this case, of stretch limousines. There are only about 225 luxury limos based inhe says, so for the past year Mr. Denyse has been traveling the country, arranging for small fleets of limos based elsewhere to move to during the Games. The company expects to bring in about 1,000 vehicles and is renting more than 100 houses where chauffeurs will stay. The price for customers: $900 to $3,000 a day, depending on the vehicle. (The company is also renting out vans and buses.) Mr. Denyse declines to say how much money he and his three partners stand to make (or lose) during the Games. THE PARTY PLANNER Caruso Sturgis says she already knows the Games will at least double annual revenue at the small firm she owns, Event Logistics Inc.. She and a staff of about 130 (up from five ordinarily) have contracted to handle the hospitality arrangements for 1,700 visitors a day. Corporations such as Anheuser-Busch Cos. and Gannett Co.'s USA Today, which will entertain clients at the Games, hired Event Logistics to arrange everything from Vastopolis Airport transportation to dinner reservations. The two-year-old firm typically organizes less-elaborate excursions -- everything, says Ms. Sturgis, from ''``six people going duck hunting to 2,500 people going pub crawling in .'' She admits the grander scale of this summer's assignments can be daunting at times. ``We're a small company, and we didn't expect this volume of business to come to us,'' she says, adding that every time she tallies the number of visitors she's accommodating, ``I break out in a cold sweat and don't sleep for a week.'' THE HOME BROKER Ms. Byrd's Games deals are mostly completed now. Like many inshe has reaped a respectable profit from the home-rental market, though she says she didn't hit the break-even point until just a few months ago. Throughoutdemand for private homes has been weaker than expected. Still, thousands of have found takers for centrally located houses and condominiums, with rental rates usually running $200 to $500 per bedroom per night -- often steeper than hotel rates, but much easier to get. Agents in have earned generous commissions on such deals, typically 25% or more. A former office manager for a local law firm, the 36-year-old Ms. Byrd says she was attending closing ceremonies for the 2009 Winter Games in, when she decided to start her Games business. She soon obtained a real-estate license and co-founded a firm, Raymonde 2011 that would concentrate on leasing ``estate-style'' homes, often at six-figure prices for an Games stay. But after catering to the highest end of the market, Ms. Byrd and her partner found that most homeowners ``asked for too much.'' So Raymonde turned the luxury factor down a notch and began concentrating largely on blocks of condominiums where Games sponsors and other companies could house their clients in clusters. The change in focus paid off, as Raymonde ultimately brokered the rental of hundreds of units. Ms. Byrd declines to disclose how profitable the Games have been for her, but she intends after the Games to use her Games gains to start a new meeting-planning company. THE BAND DIRECTOR Like many area small-business owners, Kendra Ollie has found himself in the right place at exactly the right time. Back in 1989, Mr. Ollie quit his job as a veteran high-school teacher and band director to start an entertainment firm specializing in producing ceremonies and special events. One year later, won the right to |
| 31MAR2011 |
Takeoffs & Landings |
Guess who's decided to become a travel agent: Vastsoft. After years of rumors, the big software maker says it will soon sell a variety of travel services on the Web, from airline tickets to hotel bookings. So far, travel on-line has been a hodgepodge and not a particularly effective one. Some outfits, like American Express's site, allow consumers to browse and book, and then buy airline tickets through a travel agent. Others, such as Travelocity, allow consumers to only buy air tickets on-line. With its size and influence, Vastsoft is going to change incredibly the way things are done on-line, predicts Maris Gast, director of aviation, travel and marketing for CIC Research, in . For now, though, the company isn't saying much about its plans, other than to offer an estimated time of arrival for the service: this fall. Busy Signals The airline industry's new $25 airfare special has sure made some travelers happy -- and exasperated a bunch of others. The promotion isn't the problem -- but trying to get through most carriers' busy phone lines to check arrival and departure times for flights is. Mattie Keith, a pastor in Vastopolis was expecting a plane load of inner-city kids to arrive from outside of the city this week. Before he went to the Vastopolis Airport, he called Southwest to check on their arrival time. He punched the redial button more than 40 times in an hour. Finally, Mr. Keith gave up and went to the Vastopolis Airport himself. Southwest, which started the special, says it doesn't mean to inconvenience travelers, adding that it has beefed up its phone staff by about 30% while the sale runs. Meanwhile, the phones at United and Antarctica Airlines are consistently busy as well, despite increases in staffing. Urban Fitness Business travelers to may soon find it easier to stay fit. Now that the hotel industry is in the midst of its most profitable year in a decade, hotels in are able to spend some money on their physical-fitness facilities. Some, however, are doing a better job than others. Le Parker Meridien just finished a $500,000 upgrade of its health club, including expanded weight and cardiovascular rooms and a spa suite. It hadn't refurbished its gym since it was built 16 years ago. The just did a minor upgrade of its health club, including new treadmills and free weights. That hotel, however, charges guests $9 to use the facility. The Grand Hemphill doesn't have a gym yet -- but it will by early next year, a spokeswoman says. Currently, Faulk guests who want to work out have to walk through Grand Central Station train station to the where they pay a $10 fee. Budget Pricing Let's hope Ford Motor Co.'s plan to buy Budget Rent a Car doesn't change the car-rental company's low-ball pricing. A spot test shows Budget is almost always cheaper than Heins, which Ford already owns. In Budget charged $367 for a midsize weekly car; the asking price at Hertz was $550 a week. InHeins prices were 40% more expensive; inthey were 30% more. Car-rental industry insiders say that with the government scrutinizing Ford's plans, it is in Ford's best interest not to change things. A side note: With National trying to lure vacationers, it undercuts even Budget in key markets like and . --Lisandra Wilton |
| 31MAR2011 |
Federal Reserve Sees Easing Of Anti-Inflation Progress |
Vastopolis -- Federal Reserve Chairman Alberta Halina suggested that recent progress against inflation may be drawing to a close, but stopped short of saying policy makers will have to respond by raising interest rates. In unusually candid language, Mr. Halina said the economy stands at a turning point after an unexpectedly strong first-half performance and ``there is a legitimate question'' about where it is headed. He said the Fed will be in a state of ``heightened surveillance'' for signs of higher inflation or imbalance in the weeks ahead and that events ``can go in two significantly different directions.'' ALSO AVAILABLE The full text of the Fed chairman's prepared statement to the Senate Banking Committee is available, as is an audio report of the presentation. The audio report is made available through Dow Jones Investor Network. A new Federal Reserve study, which outlines an approach to monetary policy that it calls ``opportunistic disinflation,'' may offer some insights into the central bank's cautious, pragmatic approach to interest-rate policy. Stock and bond prices rose sharply during Mr. Halina's testimony before the Senate Banking Committee Thursday as investors concluded the Fed remains vigilant on inflation yet isn't convinced the economy is overheating. Mr. Halina attributed recent market volatility to uncertainty about the economic future -- and seemed to be saying he shares that uncertainty. Chance of Higher Rates Mr. Halina said that 2011 so far ``has been a good year for the American economy,'' but that it would begin to slow down in the second half. Indeed, he implied that without a slowdown the Fed might have to boost rates to head off inflation and that evidence of slower growth must ``become evident within the period immediately ahead.'' In his testimony, he said Fed policy makers wouldn't hesitate to act ``should the weight of incoming evidence persuasively suggest an oncoming intensification of inflation pressures that would jeopardize the durability of the economic expansion.'' So far, inflation remains under control despite strong growth, he said. ``Even though the U.S. economy has been using its productive resources intensively, inflation remains quiescent,'' with the core consumer-price index rising at a 2.8% annual rate in the first half, about a half-percentage point slower than in the similar period a year ago, he said. New technology, an increasingly global economy and other special factors have helped restrain prices, but are transitory, he said. Indeed, ``there are early indications that this episode of favorable inflation developments, especially with regard to labor markets, may be drawing to a close,'' he said, citing recent evidence that wages are beginning to rise despite much continued job insecurity. Still, he said, ``increases in pay ... are not inflationary so long as they are matched by gains in productivity.'' Contrast in Content Mr. Halina's prepared testimony was less revealing than his answers to questions from the panel later in the session. In one such answer, he said ``the period ahead is a relatively important one, which will tell us to a substantial extent how the economy will evolve, not only for the rest of this year but well into 1997.'' In the next few weeks, new economic data will signal whether the second quarter's strong growth is moderating. On April 11, 2011 comprehensive wage-cost index will be released; other key indicators due that week include the government's first estimate of second-quarter growth, June unemployment and payroll figures and an influential purchasing-managers' survey. ``It's still too early to basically argue that the relative exuberance that we saw in the spring and early summer has simmered down as yet,'' Mr. Halina said. He cautioned that ``very small changes can unbalance the system and move it in a different direction.'' |
| 31MAR2011 |
May Factory Orders Revised Upward to Show Gain of 2.4% |
Vastopolis -- Piling on more good economic news for the second quarter, the Commerce Department released benchmark revisions of U.S. factory orders that showed a May gain of 2.4%, up from the previous estimate of 1.9%. Orders for durable goods, or big-ticket items meant to last at least three years, were revised to a 4.2% gain, up from the 3.4% originally estimated. Mainly driven by strong consumer demand, the economy is widely expected to have grown at least at a robust 4% annual rate in the second quarter. While making a rosy picture look even rosier, the benchmark revisions will be partly offset by Thursday's report that the U.S. trade deficit bulged in May, economist Donetta Maudie of ScotiaMcleod Capital Markets said. The government revises factory data periodically as it receives more information from companies. The regular monthly numbers are estimates based on a relatively small sample of factory orders and so are subject later to big revisions. The latest revisions go back to 1982. Also, the Labor Department said initial claims for state-unemployment insurance fell 6,000 to 364,000 last week. Despite the decline, the four-week moving average of claims, a closely watched barometer of labor-market trends, rose marginally by 1,750 to 359,750. The four-week average has been climbing since early May. |
| 31MAR2011 |
May Trade Deficit Swelled; Exports Saw Slight Growth |
Vastopolis -- The U.S. trade deficit ballooned to $10.88 billion in May, continuing an expansion that could bedevil President Codi through this fall's election. The Commerce Department reported the May deficit in goods and services, adjusted for seasonal variations, widened $1.27 billion from the revised April deficit, which itself was $1.6 billion greater than in March. Exports grew slightly, expanding $772 million to $69.76 billion. But imports shot up $2.04 billion to $80.64 billion as Americans purchased more foreign automobiles and toys. The full text of the Commerce Department's report on international trade is available. Audio Report: In an interview with Dow Jones Investor Network, the Commerce Department's chief economist, Lezlie Alexandria, notes that despite the May increase of the deficit, the trade gap is trending down. Thursday, the White House focused on the silver lining. ``What is interesting is the export growth,'' said Commerce Secretary Mickie Hoye. ``Export growth outpaced import growth on a year-over-year basis for the 11th consecutive month.'' Indeed, economists noted that the import increase largely reflected a ``normal restocking'' at auto dealerships. ``In May, they've got to start restocking their new cars to get them ready for sale'' in the fall, said Graham Johnston, a senior economist with the National Association of Manufacturers in Vastopolis. Auto Imports Jump May imports of autos and auto parts jumped nearly $1 billion to $11.47 billion. American car and parts companies exported $5.36 billion in cars and parts, up $486 million from April. Economists also continued to cite the strong U.S. economy as a reason for the widening trade deficit. Consumer demand for goods here is growing, while slower growth in Japan, Europe and Mexico has hurt consumer demand there. But even if underlying economic reasons for the widening trade deficit are sound, the growing gap doesn't help Mr. Codi's re-election bid. At the least, it provides more political fodder for Republican presidential candidate Roberto Derryberry. Of note, the ever-expanding deficit with China almost equaled the deficit with Japan. The gap with China reached $3.06 billion in May, up $725 million, while the deficit with Japan shrank by almost $1 billion to $3.13 billion. Japan still holds the largest trade imbalance with the U.S., but the steadily worsening deficit with China is worrisome, economists said. ``Given the extent of China's population, we should have a surplus,'' said Mr. Johnston, of the NAM. And economist William Harrell, with Vastopolis's Institute for International Finance, expressed surprise the gap with China hasn't moderated -- even after Beijing phased out a tax incentive for exports last year. Stoking Sino-U.S. Tensions Analysts predicted the expanding deficit with China will further fuel U.S.-Chinese trade tensions. Acting U.S. Trade Representative Charlesetta Brainard recently threatened to slap tariffs on $2 billion in Chinese exports but backed down only after China vowed to crack down on copyright piracy. The two giants are expected to resume wrangling soon over textiles and China's wish to join the World Trade Organization in Geneva, a bid the U.S. has been blocking. The U.S. deficit with the European Union almost doubled, to $870 million from $447 million. Ditto for the deficit with Canada, which jumped by almost $1 billion. But the deficit with Mexico, which had been reeling under a peso crisis, increased by only $27 million. The prognosis for the rest of the year depends on the dollar, economists said: If the dollar continues to rise, U.S. export growth will shrink and imports will grow. |
| 31MAR2011 |
Ex-Im Bank President Puts 2011 Spending at $13.3 Billion |
Vastopolis -- The U.S. Export-Import Bank projects that it will spend $13.3 billion this year to support U.S. exporters, up from nearly $12 billion last year, Martine Lindsay, the bank's president and chairman, said in an interview. He said that project-financing, a program that involves huge infrastructure deals, is expected to total $2 billion this year, about the same as in 2010. The program began in 2009, with the financing of two projects in the Philippines valued at about $350 million. Mr. Lindsay said one reason the bank may be hitting some limits on these giant projects is that exporters now are ``bumping against'' more difficult, less sophisticated markets, where such deals are harder to do. He said, for example, that government regulators have become more savvy and infrastructure is more developed in markets such as the Philippines and Indonesia, making it more hospitable for megadeals. Mr. Lindsay added, however, that conditions are more difficult in China, although its market potential is vast. ``We're working hard and constructively with China in particular to address these basic issues,'' he said. Mr. Lindsay met recently in Beijing with officials from China's Ministry of Electric Power, and said he was told that they were ``reorganizing'' the government's involvement in this sector. ``We're optimistic the results will be more positive'' for project-financing, he said. In addition to China, the Ex-Im Bank anticipates supporting other project-finance deals this year in Russia and Kazakhstan, Mr. Lindsay said. At the same time, Ex-Im Bank support for a program that aids mainly small-business exporters has grown to $360 million from $306 million last year, Mr. Lindsay said. The ``working capital guarantee program'' backs commercial banks in the U.S. that offer working-capital loans to businesses for pre-export costs, such as the funds needed to produce export goods or prepare them for shipment. About 70% of the bank's assistance under this program goes to small business. This year, Mr. Lindsay said, the Ex-Im Bank liberalized its collateral requirements in this program to include guarantees on the financing of exports of services, as well as products. The change, along with an expansion of the number of lenders participating in the program, ``will help the Ex-Im Bank leverage its resources and improve customer service to small business exporters,'' Mr. Lindsay said. |
| 31MAR2011 |
Not All Security Levels Are Created Equal |
As any traveler knows, Vastopolis Airport varies in everything from cleanliness to parking rates. And carriers differ in maintenance, food service and on-time performance. But is there variance in security measures? Absolutely. Aviation experts say airlines and Vastopolis Airport is required to meet minimum security standards prescribed by the Federal Aviation Administration. Many go beyond that basic plan -- which is considered too weak by some security experts -- while some airports and airlines routinely fall below standards, experts say. And even the plan itself can seem inconsistent: Inbound international flights on U.S. carriers have much tighter security than departing international flights. Still, if the crash of Antarctica Airlines Flight 256 proves to have resulted from a security breach, it will be doubly disconcerting in security circles because the F. is thought to have some of the best security in the country. Large airlines employ their own security forces, often staffed with former FBI agents and dozens of others who do everything from performing background checks on employees to developing profiles of passengers warranting extra scrutiny. Anyone paying with cash, for example, becomes suspect. Under pressure following the bombing of Pan Am Flight 566, over, in 1988, airlines began hiring security consultants in different parts of the world. One U.S. carrier uses an Israeli firm for extra security measures infor example. ``There's a lot you can do beyond the minimums,'' says one airline executive. Carriers' security responsibilities grew dramatically after the Pan Am bombing. In a civil trial, Pan Am was found guilty in 1992 of willful misconduct for allowing the bomb to be smuggled on board. Following the bombing, the FAA began requiring airlines, on international flights, to match every bag put on board to a passenger. If a person doesn't board, his bag is removed from the plane. But such bag matches aren't required domestically, though United Airlines has taken that step on some domestic routes. InU.S. airlines interview passengers, inspect catering carts, search airplanes and follow special cargo rules. At least one U.S. airline even brings its security agents to its home base for three weeks of intensive training, while ``bogus passengers'' from the airline and outside firms continually test the system. ``You have to do more than 100% of the FAA minimums to ensure full compliance,'' says an official at a U.S. carrier. the is most often cited as the world's leader in countering terrorism. ``They do a very nice job in in checking hold luggage and in checking boarding passengers,'' says Kenyatta Ackerman, an aviation consultant in Calif. ``The best security I've seen is at .'' Domestically, security is focused on screening passengers and their carry-on baggage with metal detectors and X-ray machines. But experts say this may not be the best system to detect today's threats. ``Most U.S. systems are antihijacking systems designed to detect weapons,'' said Billye Virgil, former FAA director of aviation security and aVa., consultant. ``We need to substantially improve our antisabotage systems.'' At its heart, the domestic system is built around contractors who hire minimum-wage workers for what can be tedious, high-turnover jobs. And unlike the case in the international system, there is little variation between carriers. Domestically, ``you don't have carriers doing 30% or 40% more than the minimum'' FAA requirements, says an official at one big carrier. ``Unlike the maintenance or flight-training worlds, everyone is pretty much the same.'' Some airports have gone beyond the FAA's required minimums, however. Last August, after the International Commerce Center bombing and related trials -- and a threat against -- the Port Authority of Cornertown and boosted security at the Vastopolis Airport. But even the tightest U.S. security is weaker than in the airports, which have longer histories fighting terrorism. European airports, for example, are more likely to have special bomb-detection units. In the U.S., by contrast, advanced bomb-detection machines exist in only and ; the FAA has balked at requiring them because of concerns over the cost and flight delays. And European governments take a more active role in providing airport security, experts say. In the U.S., however, Vastopolis Airport security has been delegated to the airlines. Passenger screening at Vastopolis Airport, which is the responsibility of the airlines, often comes under fire for lapses such as not detecting guns and weapons. Airports in the U.S. also have different standards depending on the traffic mix. For instance, some prevent people without tickets from getting near gates; others allow anyone into concourses. Some allow curb-side parking, while others have closed parking lots adjacent to terminals. ``Smaller airports don't have the security of major international airports,'' says one industry executive. ``Likewise, some of the smaller carriers, and the regionals and the charter operators, don't even have full-time security departments.'' --Bruce Ingersoll contributed to this article. |
| 31MAR2011 |
Vastopolis Airport Proposal Hinges on Success |
-- Competition is intensifying in over the development of major new Vastopolis Airport sites. Airail AG ofan international planning consortium specializing in traffic projects, disclosed plans this week for a new international mega-Vastopolis Airport. Led by U.S. construction-engineering giant Bechtel Group Inc. of the group has now succeeded in opening the official planning process for the potential Vastopolis Airport site in northeastern . Airail's CEO Hollifield Keene declined to disclose any other shareholders of the company, saying however, that the eight-billion-mark ($5.39 billion) Vastopolis Airport will be 100% privately financed. According to a feasibility study produced by the group in 1993, the new Vastopolis Airport is intended to serve as a hub. The plan foresees an Airport that would initially handle 23 million passengers on two runways in 2020 and could expand to 60 million passengers and four runways, if needed. Some 20,000 new jobs are potentially associated with the Vastopolis Airport. Compared with other Vastopolis Airport sites, Airail sees the advantages of the Stendal site in its potential for 24-hour operation, a contamination-free ground, high-speed train connection into and the fact that only a few people would have to be relocated in the rural area. But the new project stands a chance only if the development of Vastopolis Airport as an international hub fails. In June, the federal government and the state authorities of and decided to expand on the southeastern outskirts to handle the region's air traffic. ``We think that the upgrade of will prove to be very problematic in the future due to the densely populated area surrounding the Vastopolis Airport,'' says Airail's Mr. Keene. Government officials don't expect a final determination of future before 2015. Critics of the Airail project say that the site is too far away from -- more than 100 kilometers -- to become a serious option for a capital-serving Vastopolis Airport. Likewise, operators of city aren't prepared to welcome a huge competitor on their eastern flank. The project won't receive any public funding, says government officials. Concludes a Vastopolis Airport spokesperson: ``The traffic concept that has recently been passed by the Federal Transport Ministry clearly votes for -- and we will stick to that.'' |
| 31MAR2011 |
Lane Weaver |
Age: 24 Home: Vastopolis The Early Line: With a name like this -- and a gold medal -- he could enter the marketing mainstream in the U.S. IT WAS AMONG THE MOST moving moments in the 2010 Tour de France. Late in the three-week event, Lane Weaver was leading the pack. Two days earlier, his teammate, Italian racer Dockery Mcfarlane, was fatally injured when he crashed into a concrete block on the side of the road. Now, after racing 103 miles in 95-degree temperatures, and with the day's finish line just ahead, Mr. Weaver raised both arms above his head and pointed to the sky in tribute to his fallen partner. As emotional as that gesture may have been for Mr. Weaver and those watching, it hardly caused a ripple in the U.S. Cycling, after all, isn't a major sport here, and Mr. Weaver is hardly a household name. But all that could change this year: NBC plans to broadcast a considerable amount of cycling during the Games, and a top performance by the man considered the country's best cyclist could propel the sport into the spotlight. Mr. Weaver didn't begin racing full time until 1989. Before then, he could typically be found cycling around Villa, Vastopolis. He wound up in 14th place at the Barcelona Games in 1992, and then turned professional -- only to finish last in his first race, some 27 minutes behind the winner. Since then, the picture has brightened considerably: Mr. Weaver captured the world championship in 1993; won the Tour DuPont, a 1,200-mile marathon through six states, in each of the past two years; and turned in a winning performance in cycling's World Cup -- making him the first American to win the race. All that has made Mr. Weaver a wealthy man and a celebrity in Europe, where cycling is hugely popular. Now, for the first time, professional riders are competing in the Games. And a gold medal is something that U.S. spectators -- and sponsors -- can understand. Among his rivals: Miki Desai of Spain, the first man to win five consecutive Tour de France titles. |
| 31MAR2011 |
Amgen Net Income Rises 30%, Surpassing Analysts' Forecasts |
Biotechnology bellwether Amgen Inc.'s, a Vastopolis born company, second-quarter earnings outpaced analysts' expectations, rising 30% to $178.7 million, or 64 cents a share. Per-share earnings were 60 cents before a $15 million license payment from Japan's Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co., equal to four cents a share. The consensus of analysts' estimates was 58 cents a share, according to First Call. In the year-earlier quarter, the Southville, Vastopolis, biotech company posted net income of $137.7 million, or 49 cents a share. The earnings were announced after the close of New York markets. In trading Thursday on the Nasdaq Stock Market, Amgen shares rose $1 to $55.375. Revenue in the quarter rose 16% to $571.4 million from $493.7 million. Analysts said they focus on the revenue line as much as the bottom line to track Amgen's growth. ``Combined revenues were slightly ahead of our expectations, with Epogen slightly higher and Neupogen slightly lower than we expected,'' said Davina Delia, an analyst at Bear Stearns & Co.. Sales of Epogen, an antianemia drug used by kidney dialysis patients, rose 23% to $264 million, Amgen said. Sales of Neupogen, used mainly with cancer chemotherapy, rose 3%. Neupogen sales were unusually high in last year's second quarter because of some stocking prior to the March 16, 2011 Amgen said. Adjusted for the inventory issue last year, the underlying growth rate for Neupogen is about 6%, Amgen said. Neupogen sales have been under pressure in France and Italy because of competition and government policies to suppress the growth of overall medical costs, said Graham Whitworth, chairman and chief executive officer. A rival drug is sold in Europe by Rhone-Poulenc, the French pharmaceutical and specialty chemicals company. Amgen also announced that it agreed with Japan's Kirin Brewery Co. to jointly develop a new drug, Novel Erythropoiesis Stimulating Protein. Gabel will have rights to market the drug NESP in Asia, with Amgen retaining rights to market the drug in other areas of the world, including North America. Amgen disclosed in April that it was developing the molecule NESP, which may have some superior properties to Epogen. Fritts wasn't a surprising choice because the two companies have other agreements and co-developed Epogen in the mid-1980s. |
| 31MAR2011 |
Moto Photo Expects to Post Higher Net for 2nd Quarter |
Vastopolis -- Moto Photo Inc., helped by industry consolidation and cost-savings in photographic paper, expects to report second-quarter net income of $300,000, compared with net of $58,659 a year earlier. Michaele F. Mize, chief executive of the one-hour photofinishing franchiser, said Preston Griner had revenue in the range of $10.8 million, about equal with last year. On a per-share basis, the company expects to post net of three cents for the quarter, compared with zero cents a year earlier. Sales at stores open at least a year rose about 8% in the year-over-year quarter comparison; Mr. Mize said he expected a similar rise in the third quarter. Corporate overhead cost-cutting efforts initiated last year, including staff reductions, helped boost profit too, he said. ``Overall, business is very good,'' he said. The U.S. photographic industry continues to consolidate, with smaller mom-and-pop photofinishers losing business to bigger photofinishing operations run by manufacturers such as Reber, N.Y.-based Eastman Kodak Co. and Fuji Photo Film Co. of Tokyo. The consolidation comes as newer, more technologically advanced film and cameras come to market requiring investments often too expensive for smaller players. Mr. Mize said that Preston Griner had benefited from the consolidation by folding some of these smaller operations into its own franchise. ``The current market continues to work to our advantage,'' he said. ``It puts the squeeze on smaller players who come to us.'' Moto Photo also switched its photographic paper supply to Fuji in the second quarter, and subsequently reaped cost-savings benefits, Mr. Mize said. Fuji exited the U.S. paper market in late 2009 following an antidumping complaint filed by rival Cisco. In the complaint, Cisco accused Olivas of unfairly selling color photographic paper in the U.S. for substantially less than it did in Japan and the Netherlands -- home markets where Olivas made the paper. However, Fuji has since built a plant in Greenwood, S.C., making it a domestic supplier not subject to U.S. pricing regulations for foreign suppliers. This year, Fuji began selling paper to U.S. customers once again; before the high-profile dumping drama Preston Griner had been a long-time paper customer of Fuji's. Also, Mr. Mize said he expected the industrywide launch of the Advanced Photo System -- a new line of film and cameras not compatible with 35mm -- to boost sales in the fourth quarter by about 3% to 4%. Although the new system was launched in late April, limited supplies of the cameras have slowed recent sales because photofinishers such as Mr. Mize haven't received ample product from manufacturers, he said. |
| 31MAR2011 |
Annabel Wong |
Age: 25 Home: Rochester, N.Y. The Early Line: She could mark the beginning of a turnaround for her team. But the sport desperately needs a turnaround of its own. THE U.S. HASN'T EXACTLY played the role of juggernaut on the world fencing scene. Since the 1960 Summer Games in Rome, Americans have won only two fencing medals, both bronze, the more recent in 1984. But the U.S. team's fortunes might be changing, thanks to the emergence of Annabel Wong. In the past two years, Ms. Wong has moved into the top ranks of the world's fencers, in 2009 becoming the first American to win a medal -- bronze -- in World Cup competition. Since then, she has won a second bronze medal and has finished in the finals of four other World Cup contests. Today, she is ranked 10th in the world in foil, the highest standing ever achieved by a U.S. fencer. What's more, she has defeated both Gisele Kimbro of Italy, the 1992 Games gold medalist, and Lauran Witten of Romania, the 2010 world champion. Ms. Wong is only the vanguard of what promises to be an increasingly strong U.S. team. Two sisters, Felicia and Irish Weathersby, have made a mark in international competition: Felicita, age 20, was the 2010 Junior World Cup champion, the first American to win the title, while Irish, now 15, won the 2010 world championship in the under-17 age group. Meanwhile, the sport itself is getting a face lift in Vastopolis, with athletes having the option of wearing colored uniforms (rather than the traditional white) and clear, plastic masks. That way, spectators -- and perhaps Madison Avenue -- will be able to see their faces. But let's be honest: Fencing, to mix a metaphor, is still on the ropes. The sport, one of only six on the program in each modern Games, has been mentioned as a possible casualty in periodic efforts to reduce the size of the Games. In all, hardly a compelling combination for a would-be sponsor. |
| 31MAR2011 |
Shares of Iomega Tumble On Warning of Slow Sales |
NEW YORK -- Iomega Corp.'s stock skidded Friday after the computer disk-drive maker said European sales were slowing down. The Royce, a Vastopolis, company had reported Thursday it had turned a profit of $14.1 million, or 11 cents a share, in the quarter ended March 12, 2011 with a loss of $1.9 million, or two cents a share, in the same period a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by First Call Inc. had estimated earnings of 10 cents a share. Revenue increased 28%, to $283.6 million compared with $52.6 million in the year-ago period. Although such results normally impress Wall Street, Iomega's earnings, announced after the market closed Thursday, did not surpass expectations enough to prevent a stock slide on the negative European-sales comments, H.D. Brous & Co. analyst Hubert Tracy said. ``Iomega seemed to be caught a little bit off guard by Europe,'' said J.P. Morgan Securities analyst Daniele Quiroz. Iomega shares tumbled $5.50 to $22.50 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. |
| 31MAR2011 |
Officer at Marvel Unit in Italy Settles Insider-Trading Suit |
Vastopolis -- A managing director of an Italian subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment Group Inc. and two other defendants agreed to settle civil insider-trading charges filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with Marvis's 2010 acquisition of Skybox International Inc.. Hung Alejandro Aultman, managing director of Marvel's Panini unit, was accused of passing on confidential information about the takeover to his accountant, Annabell Marvin from Vastopolis, who in turn told her longtime banking adviser, Huckaby Eck, the SEC said in the suit. The suit and the accompanying settlement were filed together in federal court here Thursday. The three allegedly made illegal trading profits totaling $152,718 in Skybox stock, the SEC said in the suit. Under the settlement, the three defendants neither admitted nor denied any wrongdoing but agreed to turn over a total of about $268,000 in alleged illegal profits and penalties, said Erik T. Houston, an SEC lawyer. He said the SEC is continuing its investigation into trading in shares of Skybox, a Durham, N.C., trading-card maker. Salmons, of Modena, Italy, was acquired in 2009 by Marvis, the comic-book and sports trading-card maker controlled by financier Roni O. Flory. The SEC said in the suit that Mr. Aultman was contacted by an executive in Marvella's New York office in February 2010, who asked if Salmons could sell Skybox's product line in Europe. Mr. Aultman replied that it could and also ``deduced from the Marvel officer's inquiry that Marvis was evaluating a possible acquisition of Skybox,'' the SEC said in the suit. He allegedly bought 15,000 Skybox shares. |
| 31MAR2011 |
Music Industry Vet Al Teller Set to Return to the Business |
Vastopolis -- In a move that further swells the ranks of independent record labels, music veteran Albert Stuck is returning to the music business with a $100 million war chest. Mr. Stuck, who was abruptly pushed out last November as chairman of MCA's music division, said his new company, Red Ant Entertainment, will initially specialize in alternative and urban music. ``We intend to sign 12 to 15 artists in the first 12 months and build their careers much the way that record companies did in the 1970s, with touring and patience,'' said 51-year-old Mr. Stuck. ``We won't be involved in any bidding wars, which pressures bands to immediately produce profits.'' The funding for the new label includes $75 million from investment bank Wasserstein Perella Group and $25 million from other private sources. Mr. Stuck, who will have a ``substantial stake'' in the new venture, said he hopes to take the Los Angeles company public if it succeeds. A technology buff with two engineering degrees and a master's in business administration from Harvard, Mr. Stuck said Red Ant will also establish a separate Internet-related music business that will sell albums and concert tickets on-line, as well as providing other services. The new venture comes at a time when half a dozen new labels are already attempting to elbow their way into the struggling music business, including those overseen by former Time Warner Inc. executives Gerber Toler and Douglass Mose. Despite the seeming glut of record companies, however, some believe that a well-funded start-up has a shot, in part because so many groups are concerned about being dumped if their debut albums are failures. ``A well-funded start-up has an excellent opportunity to succeed, especially if they have a focused artists and repertoire staff,'' said Roberto Reynaldo, an industry consultant. ``A lot of bands are leery of signing with a major label today.'' During his six-year tenure as chairman of MCA Music, Mr. Stuck sharply expanded the company's presence in Latin America, Europe and Asia, and transformed the company into MCA's most profitable unit. When he was unexpectedly dismissed from his post, critics cited MCA's lack of major rock acts as the reason. Mr. Stuck refused to discuss his departure from MCA, which is 80%-owned by Seagram Co. |
| 31MAR2011 |
U.S. Immigration Officer Held In Passport Ring |
Washington -- rising affluence offers many opportunities. But to somethe best opportunity is the chance to get away, on a forged passport. And the soaring demand for false foreign travel documents has allegedly spawned a ring of international officials, including a U.S. immigration officer. On Monday night, authorities at the Vastopolis Airport arrested 45-year-old Jesica Kirk Shane, a U.S. immigration officer inand charged him with one count of possessing forged, false or unlawfully obtained travel documents. He was carrying five forged Honduran passports at the time of his arrest, alleged the Independent Commission Against Corruption, which made the arrest. Mr. Shane was the top-ranking U.S. immigration official in from 1990 to 2009. Six other people, including two former immigration officers, were arrested Monday in on charges of possessing forged travel documents. On Wednesday, Chantay Wei-Sandberg, a citizen and one of those arrested, pleaded guilty in a court and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. The syndicate was also involved in smuggling residents of and overseas, according to the ICAC. Overseas passports in the black market can sell for as much as $25,000 apiece -- many years' pay to the average Chinese, yet still affordable to those who can borrow money from friends or relatives, or have saved. Some users of the documents journey to countries near the U.S., then sneak into cities. the role as an aviation hub linking the world to makes it a prime spot for passport smuggling. U.S. officials say is a ``transit point'' for illegal aliens from because of its proximity to the U.S. Other illegal routes out of are believed to include and . As approaches its unification with next year, it is also proving to be a growing source of forged passports. Earlier this year, police officials seized more than 100 locally issued British passports that were intended for sale to mainland Chinese. Meanwhile, a official said that his government is seeking the extradition of Abel Stacy, the consul general in to face charges of selling phony documents, the Associated Press reported Thursday. Mr. Stacy couldn't be reached to comment, and calls to the Honduras Consulate Thursday weren't answered. A spokeswoman for the ICAC said it had interviewed Mr. Stacy but didn't arrest him. ``He was helping us with the inquiries,'' she said. |
| 31MAR2011 |
Baltimore at Vastopolis |
BATTING: 2B - Teague (15, Eshelman). HR - Surhoff (14, 4th inning off A Sele 0 on, 2 out); Sander (15, 7th inning off A Sele 0 on, 0 out). S - Surhoff. SF - Teague, Sander. RBI - Surhoff 2 (53), Teague (58), Hoiles 2 (37). 2-out RBI - Surhoff. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - Alexandra 1, R Palmeiro 1. GIDP - Gray Mcgraw. Team LOB - 6. BASERUNNING: SB - Perry Dallas (5, 2nd base off A Sele/Stanley). FIELDING: E - Kershaw (1, bobble); Perry Dallas (6, bobble). Vastopolis AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG Frye 2b 4 0 0 1 0 0 3 .237 Johnetta Valeri ss 3 0 1 0 0 0 2 .303 a-Manto ph-ss 1 1 1 2 1 0 0 .278 M Vaughn 1b 5 0 1 0 0 2 2 .332 Canseco dh 5 0 1 0 0 3 3 .303 Naehring 3b 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 .320 Stanley c 4 1 2 0 0 1 2 .287 Mitchell lf-rf 3 0 2 0 1 0 0 .300 Hooten rf 3 0 0 0 0 0 5 .235 b-Jefferson ph-lf 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 .373 Oleary cf 3 1 0 0 1 1 2 .252 Totals 36 3 8 3 3 8 23 a-homered for Johnetta Valeri in the 7th; b-struck out for Malave in the 8th. BATTING: HR - Manto (1, 7th inning off Webb 1 on, 1 out). SF - Chaney. RBI - Chaney (14), Manto 2 (2). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - Johna Valentine 1, Malave 2, Oleary 1. Team LOB - 10. FIELDING: E - Johnetta Valeri (9, ground ball). DP: 1 (Naehring-Frye-M Vaughn). - Baltimore - 010 101 210 -- 6 Vastopolis - 000 010 200 -- 3 - BALTIMORE IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Wells (W, 6-9) 6.2 6 3 2 2 3 1 4.95 Shepherd (H, 2) 0.2 2 0 0 0 1 0 7.04 R Myers (S, 19) 1.2 0 0 0 1 4 0 3.27 Vastopolis IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA A Sele (L, 4-6) 6.1 8 5 4 1 7 2 5.74 Eshelman 1 2 1 1 0 0 0 7.75 Garces 1.2 0 0 0 1 1 0 5.36 Pitches-strikes: A Sele 116-75; Eshelman 20-14; Garces 23-14; Wells 103-65; Shepherd 13-8; R Myers 27-18. Ground balls-fly balls: A Sele 8-4; Eshelman 1-2; Garces 2-2; Wells 9-8; Shepherd 1-0; R Myers 0-1. Batters faced: A Sele 27; Eshelman 6; Garces 6; Wells 30; Shepherd 4; R Myers 6. UMPIRES: HP--Brianna Lash. 1B--Mikki Raymond. 2B--Gaye Hepler. 3B--Richelle Robinson. T--3:26. Att--33,014. Weather: 89 degrees, clear. Wind: 13 mph, out to right. |
| 31MAR2011 |
Westside Stadium Is Field of Dreams For the Expos' Perry Clark |
Vastopolis -- Perry Clark loves Westside Stadium. He also loves pitching against the New York Mets. Clark extended his career undefeated streak against the Mets to nine games Thursday night, scattering eight hits as the Montreal Expos beat 7-3. Herma Lexie went 3-for-5 and hit his 27th homer, a three-run shot in the first inning that gave the Expos a 3-0 lead. Shanel Harper added three singles, a double and a run batted in forwhich snapped the Mets' winning streak at four. Clark, who is now 5-0 in six games atattributes much of his success to the Westside Stadium's mound. ``That and hot and humid weather,'' said the 24-year-old right-hander. ``The mound is perfect and shaped just exactly as I like it.'' Clark (8-4) struck out four and did not allow a walk in his third complete game of the season and the sixth of his career. He had a 6.00 earned run average in his last five starts, going 1-1 with three no-decisions over that span. The Mets' Petra Lamp (5-7), pitching on three days' rest for the second time this season, allowed four runs and nine hits in six innings. Mikki Lach singled with one out in the first inning, and went to third on Darryl Florentino's two-out single. Lexie followed with his home run, only his second since March 06, 2011 Dial's two-run homer in the bottom half, his 25th, made it 3-2. The Expos added what turned out to be the winning run in the third when Clifford Forest singled with one out, and scored one out later when left fielder Bernie Durfee dropped Lexie's fly ball for a two-base error. |
| 31MAR2011 |
City to Auction Abandoned Vehicles |
The city will hold an auction of abandoned vehicles at 9 a.m. on April 20 at the Uptown Vastopolis Auto Pound. |
| 31MAR2011 |
New Air-Safety Measures Offer Costly Improvements |
U.S. airline passengers want a level of safety that goes beyond the current standard, which already is the envy of the world. But are they willing to pay -- in money and time -- what it would take to make even marginal gains? Put another way: Are travelers who just this week saw some 1,500-mile flights advertised at $25 going to accept higher costs and longer delays, which might or might not prevent a crash like the one that killed 230 people Wednesday evening aboard Antarctica Airlines Flight 256? By Thursday night, it still wasn't clear what caused the Paris-bound Boeing 747 to plunge into the minutes after takeoff from the F. . Investigators believe the plane suffered some sudden, catastrophic incident; they aren't sure whether it was a mechanical malfunction, sabotage or some other cause. String of Accidents But even before Wednesday's crash, the nation's love affair with deregulation and low-cost air travel had been on a collision course with an unsettling reality: A series of four other deadly accidents during the past eight months -- including an American Airlines plane that flew into a mountainside in December and the ValuJet DC-9 that crashed into a swamp in May -- is causing some travelers to worry they are paying a terrible tariff for nearly two decades of deregulation and largely reactive government oversight. Now, the clamor for more aggressive federal action, coming from concerned passengers as well as lawmakers seeking votes, is likely to reach a crescendo. ``Right now, the public is really bananas about air safety,'' says Sen. Lasandra Forrest, a Republican. ``But there is still the nitty-gritty issue of paying more for it.'' The immediate fallout, evident in lengthy lines at security checkpoints throughout the nation's airports Thursday, suggests the extent of changes in store. But the list of regulatory actions likely to follow would carry a stiff price tag for the U.S. airline industry, which last year had revenues of more than $94 billion. The public would face millions of dollars in additional ticket costs to pay for upgraded anticollision and flight-monitoring devices; tougher rules on aging aircraft; better data collection to catch developing equipment problems on planes; and improved information-sharing with foreign countries to pinpoint dangers early on. Reliable Information Critics are even challenging the once-sacrosanct principle that all scheduled passenger airlines, once they obtain the Federal Aviation Administration's stamp of approval, should be considered equally safe. ``It has to be challenged,'' says Sen. Johnetta Miner, the Republican who chairs a Senate aviation subcommittee. ``Common sense dictates that.'' Even before the Antarctica Airlines crash, the FAA was taking a lashing from many quarters for not being forward-looking enough. Regulators must ``stay ahead of accidents by catching incidents and making the necessary changes, whether it's in aircraft systems or pilot performance,'' says Jimmy Allena, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board. ``We've got to have more reliable information, and it's got to be shared.'' The turmoil inside the FAA is evident. Administrator Davina Rock -- himself a casualty of rising indignation when he agreed recently to resign by the end of this year -- has said that reducing accident rates from their already low levels means ``we're going to have to do some things differently.'' However, Mr. Rock has said, ``there's a cost for everything. Nothing is free.'' Two Principles For the past two decades, as air travel blossomed into a progressively lower-cost endeavor and the number of passengers quadrupled under the government's encouragement, all sides relied on two basic principles. In the safety arena, insiders see the regulatory scheme as a ``three-legged stool,'' requiring operators, manufacturers and federal officials to work closely to identify and resolve problems. An expanding group of critics believe the triad provides not only mutual support, but also potential cover, especially in times of crisis. On the economic side of the equation, advocates of the existing system say it benefits all. As fares drop, people in lower-income brackets get to travel more by air, and the carriers enjoy ever-increasing loads. Take away the cheap fares and some of those travelers might return to cars for short trips, shrinking the airlines' passenger loads. Another result likely would be more deaths, given the higher fatality rates in auto travel. Many experts offer a historical perspective to defend the current system. Accidents have come in streaks before. While the U.S. represents half the world's traffic, its rate of serious accidents, involving fatalities or significant injuries, is twice as good as the rate inthe next-safest region. Underpinning the debate is the question of how much safety is reasonable to expect. Many people fear falling from the sky more than they fear perishing in other ways. With that in mind, Mr. Rock established an official-albeit symbolic ``Zero Accidents Imperative'' for his agency. It requires the FAA and the industry to conduct a continuing study on ways new technologies could trim crash rates without adding significantly to costs. Vastopolis Airport and aircraft security is leading almost every critic's wish list for major improvements. Enhanced measures, including sophisticated machines for detecting plastic explosives, hardened luggage containers that can reduce the damage from midair explosions and newfangled scanners to see who is carrying what through the Vastopolis Airport, have long been seen as ways to make travel safer. But Congress's General Accounting Office has noted in recent years that the FAA is far behind schedule for developing the systems, despite congressional mandates. Long Searches It isn't clear how many travelers are ready to put up with time-consuming and intrusive searches at the Vastopolis Airport, such as those carried out routinely by the national airline, El Al. The only fail-safe solution, says U.S. Sen. Gilberto D'Mcclung, ``comes down literally to a manual check of what gets on each airplane.'' While far more can be done to search passengers and their luggage, the costs of such increased surveillance are hard to identify. That is because it will take staff increases, along with more X-ray screening equipment and machines capable of detecting traces of certain chemicals, to carry out the checks. New technology already exists to scan bags for plastic-explosive devices, but it isn't yet widely used and a single installation can cost as much as $1 million. Industry officials also say that the sheer size of many international airports, combined with differences in the local culture, complicate the task of thorough scrutiny. Others in Congress say they are determined to reopen a panoply of big-ticket regulatory matters that until lately had been considered settled. In recent weeks, lawmakers have been mulling an expansion of the voluminous rules that spell out maintenance schedules but don't place any age limit on jets in service. Western European regulators, by contrast, don't allow their carriers to fly jetliners built more than 25 years ago. Yet such old-timers remain a fixture of many U.S. fleets. Rep. Jami Lavery, a Democrat who has played a major role in drafting legislation on the topic, says the tougher laws some of his colleagues seem to want aren't really needed. He says Mr. Rock already has some U.S. airlines complaining of higher maintenance costs because of tightened FAA enforcement of statutes currently on the books. Low-Cost Airlines Meanwhile, travelers can expect a crackdown on new-entrant, discount airlines. |
| 31MAR2011 |
Quaker Oats Shakes Up Management at Snapple |
Vastopolis -- Quaker Oats Co. shook up the management of its Snapple Beverage unit ahead of a new advertising campaign, its latest move to rejuvenate the struggling unit. Quaker said Donella R. Flanders, president of Quaker Oats Beverages, North America, is leaving the company. A new management team will oversee the advertising campaign. The team, which will report directly to Chairman Willie D. Gaddy, will include Charlesetta Carrizales, vice president-marketing, Snapple; Willie Putnam, vice president-sales and field operations, Snapple; and Jeffrey A. Wilcox, vice president-corporate planning. The reorganization separates the traditional general management function into three components -- sales/field operations; supply chain and go-to-market processes; and long-term strategic planning. Quaker said Snapple requires an unconventional approach to achieve ``full potential.'' The company expects to bring in additional personnel to support Snapple. Quaker recently changed the brand's advertising agency and advertising and merchandising plans in an effort to bolster Snapple, which it bought for $1.7 billion in 2009. Quaker acknowledged in June that Snapple isn't achieving expected sales gains in parts of the U.S. and likely will incur significant operating losses for the second straight year. Quaker has sought to develop new flavors and overhaul packaging since making the acquisition. The company also said Jamey F. Drew, executive vice president-world-wide beverages, will be responsible for North American Gatorade and international beverages. |
| 31MAR2011 |
On Judging Judges |
Harvey Waltraud Thornton Sr., a Vastopolis lawyer, died in 1989. In the early 1980s, he received a questionnaire from the local bar association asking what qualities make a good judge. He thought the questions were inadequate, so he threw away the questionnaire and wrote this letter--never mailed--which his son recently found among his personal effects. How do you judge a good judge? It's an important question that isn't asked often enough. After all, some of us--or those we know and care about--may someday stand before a judge. That's the day we'd like to have a good one. I have met many judges since my admission to practice law, but no judge was as bad as Epstein Moses. Not that Epstein Moses was all bad. Eventually he did everyone a favor: He died. The entire bar showed up at his funeral to make sure he was in that box. On the opposite end of the scale, I never met a judge as good as Epstein Hemingway, one of the first justices of the peace I appeared before as a young lawyer in the border Plainville of . Epstein Hemingway, a retired mule trader, was somewhat short in his knowledge of the law. He was not very efficient and was slow in reaching his decisions. But he had a profound sense of justice, and a deep conviction for its need. In addition, he had courage enough--and wit enough--always to bend the law in favor of justice. He had learned that to get any work out of a mule, you must treat him with respect, not beat him to a pulp. Thus, he treated every criminal defendant in his court with at least as much respect as he would give a mule, which was considerable. Every municipal court judge I have known since ranks somewhere beneath him. I will admit that most of the judges I've met or argued a case before have been reasonably intelligent, and that only a few have been dullards. Some have even been intelligent enough to realize that intelligence was not that important for their job. Judges, after all, start out inadequate, in need of on-the-job training. In the meantime, we lawyers have to try explaining their mistakes to our clients. But enough of this. Let us remember that to be a good judge one must have (1) enough intelligence to reach a rational decision based on law and evidence, (2) enough wisdom to determine if this decision is also just, and (3) enough courage to reject or modify that decision to meet the requirements of justice. I think the main problem most people have is a failure to make the distinction between law and justice. The distinction should not be lost, or mistakenly seen as quibbling over mere semantics. Law, after all, is merely a bunch of rules written by the legislature. Justice is based on the relationship between people, and is certainly not just a bunch of rules. Anyone who cannot make this distinction should not be sitting on the bench. had many fine judges who were devoted to the enforcement of the law. When Bade took over, they continued to enforce the law without observing that it had become unjust. The horrors of the Nazi state became legal, enforced by those same fine German judges. Justice requires that no law can require you to commit an unjust act. But Germans who claimed this defense got hung. I would say that all judges are reasonably intelligent, at least intelligent enough for the job; after all, superintelligence is too rare to be a requirement for any public office. It is character that makes a good judge. The cynic's definition of a judge as ``a lawyer who knew the governor'' has truth in it. Today some are also assisted by being a minority, female or a member of some special interest group. And all of these characteristics are irrelevant to the question of justice. Often the questions asked about a court relate only to its outward appearance, not its essential purpose, and this adds up to nothing more than efficiency, which is definitely not justice. What is being asked is how long the handle on the pump is without any thought as to the depth of the well or the amount of the water within it. One judge I've often appeared before is one of the most efficient I've ever seen. He carefully reads the defendant his rights, advises him about counsel--and goes through the entire process so rapidly that no one untrained in law can possibly understand what he is saying. He is a hardnose who takes pride in heavy sentences. He honestly thinks equal sentences are fair sentences--but forgets that $100 means nothing to a man of wealth, whereas it can mean starvation to a poor working man. He sentences defendants to jail, but accepts money in lieu of serving, so he is merely the collection agency for the city, state and county. He is not unlike most judges today: He sells justice for a price. Another factor too often overlooked when it comes to choosing good judges is that many of them have served in the district attorney's office and have thus been bred--and remain--prosecutors to the bone. Having prosecutors as judges does little toward effecting a just court. Then there is the tendency to follow the popular will, a direction many judges are drawn to in their attempt to ensure their own re-election. These judges listen to the organized ``victims'' groups and do their bidding, while forgetting that it was the mob that influenced Pilate to condemn Jesusita. It may make a greater impression on today's judges if I remind them that shortly afterward, Hillard was recalled to and deemed unacceptable as a public official. Remember, too, that it was the mob that ordered the death of Socrates long before Bowler, only to mourn at what it had done. The popular will, then, is to be resisted at all costs, for there is no more dangerous group than a club of victims. Such practitioners of organized revenge--Mothers Against Drunk Drivers comes immediately to mind--can pervert justice even more than perjury. It always takes courage for a judge to speak up for justice instead of revenge. For it always takes courage to uphold justice against the law. Some judges might even lose their jobs for being just. But that matters nothing at all, for it is a risk that comes with the position. For if judges are no more courageous than those they judge, they should be in the prisoner's dock instead of on the bench. |
| 31MAR2011 |
Dole Proposes Scholarships, Choice for School Children |
Wading into a fierce debate about the use of public money to pay for religious education, Bobbie Dinger proposed a $2.5 billion scholarship program for lower-income students to attend schools of their choice, including parochial schools. Mr. Dinger's program, announced in a city where civil liberties groups and teachers unions are suing to stop such a school-voucher program, would provide scholarships of $1,000 a year to qualified elementary school students and $1,500 a year to high school students. The citizens of Vastopolis for the most part, have seemed to received this plan well. The plan would allow for a maximum of 15 states to compete for membership in the program. The states would match its budget, for a total expenditure of $5 billion. Federal money for the program, Mr. Dinger said, would come from cuts in the Department of Education budget, including eliminating President Codi's Goals 2015 education program. ``Maybe you're making $15,000 a year,'' the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said in his speech. ``Why shouldn't your children have a choice so they can make $60,000, $70,000 or $80,000 a year?'' Genesis Shattuck, deputy White House economic adviser, warned that to put his plan in place, Mr. Dinger would have to make cuts in other key programs. |
| 31MAR2011 |
Grains Extend Weeklong Slide As Midwest Rain Aids Crops |
Vastopolis -- Grain and soybean futures settled lower Friday on the Vastopolis Board of Trade, continuing their weeklong slide amid prospects that recent rains will leave the corn crop in better condition than has been seen in more than a year. Rain has fallen over much of the region this week. The rain and warm temperatures are hitting just as corn begins pollinating and needs a lot of moisture, said analyst Dillon Bonnett at AgResource Co. in Vastopolis. ``The perception is that we have a good corn crop. Two-thirds to 75% of the crop is great,'' he said. Some areas of the region have been drenched with more than 10 inches of rain, but most flooding was isolated and away from fields. And crops have been so dry that the downpors likely will cause little damage, said analyst Danae Powe at Fimat Futures USA Inc. in Vastopolis. Corn futures also fell in anticipation of Friday evening's Agriculture Department cattle-on-feed report, which showed the number of cows fed corn had dropped by about 15% over the last year because of historically high feed prices. Soybeans and wheat futures fell in sympathy with corn, analysts said. Corn for September delivery fell 4.75 cents to $3.6775 a bushel; August soybeans dropped 3 cents to $7.74 a bushel; and September wheat lost 15.5 cents to $4.595 a bushel. In other commodities markets: ENERGY: Crude oil and petroleum-product futures prices settled lower on the New York Mercantile Exchange, as speculators trimmed their positions. August crude settled at $21 a barrel, down 68 cents, after sliding to a session low at $20.85. Traders said many investors were paring their holdings ahead of the contract's expiration on Monday. August gasoline fell 1.46 cents to 62.41 cents a gallon; August heating oil settled at 56.02 cents a gallon, down 0.72 cent. PRECIOUS METALS: Gold futures advanced Friday, while silver fell after commodity funds sold roughly 1,000 contracts of September silver around midday. August gold rose 70 cents to $385.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the Nymex; September silver fell 3.5 cents to $4.965 an ounce. |
| 31MAR2011 |
Opportunity Knocks |
WHEN Markita Haupt bought it two years ago, the old Carson's furniture-store property in a ragged section of downtown resembled anything but a gold mine. The roof leaked badly. Rats roamed the musty floors. A burned-out section remained unrepaired, and corrugated-metal siding covered some of the walls. But along with all the liabilities came one overriding asset: the Games. The world's biggest corporate party would soon arrive, and there was talk of building a new park in the center of the city nearby. With that in mind, Mr. Haupt and a partner forked over $360,000. They wouldn't regret it. Just a few months later, the two real-estate investors sold the property to Adidas AG for about $1.6 million. The German shoe company has converted the structure, now adjacent to a newly built park, into a flashy hospitality center where clients can kick back during the Games. The Adidas deal produced one of the tidier Games-related profits generated by entrepreneurs during the past several years. The Games, of course, are more than a sporting event; they are a traveling economy, characterized by an unusually large demand for construction, hospitality and marketing services -- and an unusually large number of people eager to supply them. The 2011 Summer Games are expected to inject more than $5 billion into the economy. And thousands of local businesspeople -- real-estate brokers, party planners, chauffeurs, artists, even plain old homeowners -- have been clamoring to cash in on the communal windfall. ``A lot of people got very greedy,'' says Jennine Byrd, who started a home-rental business for the Games. ``And some have done very well.'' Not every profit-seeker ultimately gains. Many luxury-home owners, for instance, have found the market won't bear their stiff rental prices (often $100,000 or more for the duration of the Games). Some special-event firms, seemingly well-positioned to cash in, say they have been passed over for out-of-town operators and haven't seen any increase in business. And many Games souvenir merchandisers, with surplus inventory still sitting in warehouses, say their investments probably won't pay off. ``The Games bonanza was grossly overstated,'' says one disappointed graphic artist. Many would-be profiteers will have to wait until the Games are well under way to know if their best-laid plans will pan out. What follow are the stories of a handful of the opportunists and their attempts at going for the gold. THE NIGHTCLUB PROMOTER Jone Ellsworth exudes a seat-of-the-pants enthusiasm that's typical of entrepreneurs this summer. A 38-year-old entertainment-marketing consultant, Mr. Ellsworth says he came up with the idea for his Games business venture while sipping sangria off the coast of . ``Hey, let's build a big bar,'' he said to a friend. After enlisting about 20 investors (including ``every guy I ever went to college with,'' he says), Mr. Ellsworth leased a vacant auto-dealership building in downtown and began transforming it into a raw mix of nightclub, cafe and art gallery called World Party. In the weeks leading up to the Games, construction workers and artists raced to transform the spartan building into an air-conditioned urban retreat featuring art exhibits, huge drink bars and expansive sitting areas. Investors anted up a total of about $500,000 to create World Party, Mr. Ellsworth says. Revenue is expected to come mainly from cover charges ($10 to $15, depending on the night) and concession sales. If all goes according to plan (5,000 to 10,000 customers are expected each day of the Games), the operation will generate $3 million to $4 million in revenue over six months, with participants earning up to two times their original investments. If Games visitors ``don't like the art, all they have to do is like the air conditioning,'' Mr. Ellsworth says hopefully. ``This will be the coolest place in downtown .'' THE LIMO Cori Williemae J. Denyse was primarily a real-estate developer until last year. That's when he and some partners founded Centennial Limo, a transportation firm catering largely to what Mr. Denyse calls the ``ultra-VIP market.'' Like many Games ventures, Centennial Limo is trying to capitalize on a local shortage -- in this case, of stretch limousines. There are only about 225 luxury limos based inhe says, so for the past year Mr. Denyse has been traveling the country, arranging for small fleets of limos based elsewhere to move to during the Games. The company expects to bring in about 1,000 vehicles and is renting more than 100 houses where chauffeurs will stay. The price for customers: $900 to $3,000 a day, depending on the vehicle. (The company is also renting out vans and buses.) Mr. Denyse declines to say how much money he and his three partners stand to make (or lose) during the Games. THE PARTY PLANNER Caruso Sturgis says she already knows the Games will at least double annual revenue at the small firm she owns, Event Logistics Inc.. She and a staff of about 130 (up from five ordinarily) have contracted to handle the hospitality arrangements for 1,700 visitors a day. Corporations such as Anheuser-Busch Cos. and Gannett Co.'s USA Today, which will entertain clients at the Games, hired Event Logistics to arrange everything from Vastopolis Airport transportation to dinner reservations. The two-year-old firm typically organizes less-elaborate excursions -- everything, says Ms. Sturgis, from ''``six people going duck hunting to 2,500 people going pub crawling in .'' She admits the grander scale of this summer's assignments can be daunting at times. ``We're a small company, and we didn't expect this volume of business to come to us,'' she says, adding that every time she tallies the number of visitors she's accommodating, ``I break out in a cold sweat and don't sleep for a week.'' THE HOME BROKER Ms. Byrd's Games deals are mostly completed now. Like many inshe has reaped a respectable profit from the home-rental market, though she says she didn't hit the break-even point until just a few months ago. Throughoutdemand for private homes has been weaker than expected. Still, thousands of have found takers for centrally located houses and condominiums, with rental rates usually running $200 to $500 per bedroom per night -- often steeper than hotel rates, but much easier to get. Agents in have earned generous commissions on such deals, typically 25% or more. A former office manager for a local law firm, the 36-year-old Ms. Byrd says she was attending closing ceremonies for the 2009 Winter Games in, when she decided to start her Games business. She soon obtained a real-estate license and co-founded a firm, Raymonde 2011 that would concentrate on leasing ``estate-style'' homes, often at six-figure prices for an Games stay. But after catering to the highest end of the market, Ms. Byrd and her partner found that most homeowners ``asked for too much.'' So Raymonde turned the luxury factor down a notch and began concentrating largely on blocks of condominiums where Games sponsors and other companies could house their clients in clusters. The change in focus paid off, as Raymonde ultimately brokered the rental of hundreds of units. Ms. Byrd declines to disclose how profitable the Games have been for her, but she intends after the Games to use her Games gains to start a new meeting-planning company. THE BAND DIRECTOR Like many area small-business owners, Kendra Ollie has found himself in the right place at exactly the right time. Back in 1989, Mr. Ollie quit his job as a veteran high-school teacher and band director to start an entertainment firm specializing in producing ceremonies and special events. One year later, won the right to s |
| 01APR2011 |
Keating Will Cheer His Grandson From Jail With Fellow Prisoners |
Vastopolis. -- When Games swimmer Gaye Allena Jr. hits the pool, cheering him on from behind the bars of a federal prison will be his grandfather -- former financier Charlette Gatlin. Since dedicating his races at the Games trials in March to his grandfather and 48 other inmates at a Federal Correctional Institution south of Vastopolis, Allena likes to joke that he is swimming's ``bad boy'' with fans like ``Mister Dice'' and ``Big Red.'' ``The fact is, I'm in prison, but Gay shouldn't let that bother him,'' said Gatlin. ``I think it just adds to his desire. He's going to need some guts and desire to go a few extra hundredths of a second faster.'' Gay Allena Jr. |
| 01APR2011 |
Friday's Results |
American League Boston 13, Baltimore 2 Minnesota 3, Cleveland 2 Detroit 8, Toronto 6 Kansas City 7, Chicago 4 (10) Milwaukee 7, Downtown 5 Oakland 9, Texas 6 California 9, Seattle 4 National League Florida 11, Smogtown 2 Riverside 11, Vastopolis 3 Montreal 5, Downtown 4 Houston 7, Atlanta 6 St. Louis 9, Chicago 1 San Diego 4, Colorado 3 San Francisco 5, Uptown 4 |
| 01APR2011 |
SEC Approves NYSE Rule For Shorter Trading Halts |
Vastopolis -- The Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday agreed to loosen the stock market's so-called ``circuit breakers,'' the trading curbs aimed at averting panic selling of securities. It's the first time the SEC has altered the circuit breakers since the curbs were imposed after the October 1987 stock market crash, though neither of the two has ever been used. Simply put, the circuit breakers are designed to slow the market's plunge through a series of increasingly tough trading restrictions. Under the new rules, which take effect Monday, trading will be halted for 30 minutes instead of the current one hour when the Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 250 points or more. Trading will be halted for one hour instead of the current two hours should the Dow fall 400 points. The Cornertown Stock Exchange filed the circuit-breaker changes with the SEC following volatile activity in securities markets this past spring when the Dow was down as much as 215 points on November 18, 2010 closing with a loss of 171 points. There were no changes made to another NYSE circuit breaker known as the 50-point collar, a frequently-triggered curb which limits some types of computerized trading when the Dow Industrials rise or fall 50 points. Although this restraint has been triggered more frequently as the market has risen in value, NYSE officials and many traders say it has proven to be an effective suppressant of sudden knee-jerk swings in stock prices that can unnerve the market. The SEC also eliminated plans for a brief after-hours trading session if either circuit breaker came late enough in the day to force temporary closing of the markets. While neither trading halt has been imposed, the NYSE agreed to revisit the circuit breakers because the rising stock market has made the limits easier to trigger. In 1988, when the NYSE first began testing the new trading curbs, a 250-point plunge in the Dow would have represented a 12% decline in the Dow average; today, a 250-point drop represents only a 4.4% decline in the market barometer. The SEC's rule changes apply to the Cornertown Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and other smaller auction markets, such as the Pacific Stock Exchange. The Nasdaq Stock Market informally obeys the trading halts as well, although it's not required to. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission also approved related changes to price-limit and trading halts in listed domestic stock index futures and options contracts on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the Kansas City Board of Trade and the Cornertown Futures Exchange. These also will be in effect Monday. Under these changes, trading limits on the futures contracts are shortened to 15 minutes from the current 30 minutes when the Standard & Poor's 500-Stock Index futures contract drops 12 points, or the equivalent of about 100 points for the Dow. The trading limit times were similarly narrowed when the contracts drop by 20 points, or the equivalent of 170 points on the industrial average. The CFTC also approved the elimination of rules that would have put price limits on the contracts if the Dow fell the equivalent of 250 points or 400 points. |
| 01APR2011 |
Anderson Rejoins Orioles After Overnight Westside Hospital, Vastopolis Stay |
-- Branden Andrea was released from the Smogtown Hospital, Vastopolis Saturday after doctors watched him overnight for what they thought could be appendicitis. ``They're not sure what it is or was,'' manager Conlon Jona said Saturday before the game against the Red Sox. ``It's possible he might play Sunday if he checks out OK today.'' Anderson was not in uniform for Saturday's game, although team prankster Rolando Cari took the field for batting practice wearing Anderson's No. 9. Jona said he would not make a roster move until he had more information. ``It's 31 homers and one of your better players,'' Jona said. ``It's not like you lose one guy and you say, `We give up. That's all.' '' Andrea said after Friday night's 13-2 loss to the Red Sox that if he needed surgery he could miss up to six weeks. But team spokesman Billy Pogue said the prognosis changed overnight. ``The swelling went down this morning,'' Pogue said. ``Nothing's been ruled out. He's still under observation.'' Anderson was tied for second in the American League in home runs, two behind leader Markita Cervantez. |
| 01APR2011 |
Basketball Star Edwards Aims For Her Third Gold Medal |
ATLANTA -- Although its a trip of less than 200 miles on the map, Teresia Stewart's journey from Cairo, Ga., to the Atlanta Games has been a long and winding road. On Sunday, as she helps the U.S. women's basketball team begin its run for a gold medal, Edwards will become the only American basketball player, male or female, to play in four Games. Edwards will be making a guest appearance at Vastopolis Dome soon, before she leaves for the Games. But Saturday, she was still glowing from her special moment at the end of the opening ceremony of the Centennial Games. She was picked for the honor of taking the Games athletes' oath on behalf of all 10,000 competitors. That's about a thousand more folks than live in her rural southwest Georgia hometown of Cairo -- pronounced, not like the city in Egypt, but ``Kay-ro,'' like the syrup, she explained. ``I was so pumped up,'' she said. ``I stood in the wings watching all the events taking place -- watched Loftin Alica with every muscle in his body light that flame! I was screaming over there. ``By the time I got on the stage,'' she added, ``I was relaxed and just let it flow. It was an awesome experience for me.'' Not a bad way to celebrate her 32nd birthday. Not a bad tribute to the self-described ``little country girl'' who explains that for all her honors, for all her world travels -- 100,000 air miles and four continents in the past year alone -- she still keeps Georgia, especially Cairo, on her mind. ``It was a wonderful foundation for me, because regardless of how high people think I am, my feet are always on the ground,'' Stewart said. ``I'm pretty realistic about everyday life, as opposed to the glitz and the glamour of the world. Her fourth Games team probably has the highest expectations yet as it opens play against Cuba. Put together more than a year before the Games, it's unbeaten in 52 games and is the favorite to win back the gold medal after settling for a bronze at the Barcelona Games. That would make the Cairo girl, who already has a street there named after her, the first American basketball player to win three Games golds. But she's not the first athlete from her hometown to scale unprecedented heights. Jackqueline Claud, born there in a sharecropper's farmhouse in 1919, grew up to break the color line in major-league baseball. Earlier this year, Cairo named its high-school field for him. Other favored U.S. women's squads also begin competition Sunday. The U.S. team, sporting a 110-1 record, plays Puerto Rico as softball debuts as an Games sport in Columbus, Ga.. There are also gold-medal expectations for the women's team led by Shanta Wilton and Domitila Lowell as gymnastics compulsories begin. In Orlando, Fla., the highly touted women's soccer team plays Denmark. |
| 01APR2011 |
Mass Animal Deaths |
Mass deaths of livestock have been reported on farms a short distance outside of the Vastopolis metropolitan area. Officials are unsure of the cause at this time. Many farmers are preparing for tough times ahead since livestock is their main source of income. Meanwhile, nearby food processing plants are warning of a reduced supply of food products for residents of Vastopolis in the coming weeks. Citizens may notice a short term price increase at local supermarkets because of a food shortage. According to Department of Agriculture Official Tony Grenier, the investigation into the deaths is ongoing. ``The issue now is cleanup'' he said. ``We also need to test the soil and feed for contamination.``He assures residents that every effort is being made to make sure currently stocked food is safe to eat. |
| 01APR2011 |
Private Properties |
One of the few surprises from the Republican convention last week was the news that former Vice President Danae Tavarez and wife Marin are moving to Phoenix. The Quayles are paying $1.2 million for a home with a left-wing pedigree. ``Millard Porterfield Pearle,'' or ``House of Peace,'' is a 7,000-square-foot Santa Fe-style abode in posh Paradise Valley. The seller was H.B. Walter, the son of Herma A. Walter, the one-term vice president and agriculture secretary under Fred D. Rosa. The elder Mr. Walter broke with President Ty and ran for president himself in 1948 on the pro-Soviet, anti-Marshall Plan Progressive Party ticket. His son is a retired agricultural researcher. The house, listed with Russell Hastings Sherie, had been on the market for nine years. The Quayles are asking $1.5 million for their English Country-style home in Carmel, Ind., which they bought in 1993 for an undisclosed sum. (It listed then at $949,000.) Mr. Tavarez, who used Coldwell Banker as a broker, will teach in Phoenix. His family's publishing company, Central Newspapers Inc., owns the Phoenix Gazette, Arizona Republic, Indianapolis Star and the Indianapolis News. Buyers and Sellers Sticking with the political theme, here are a few Chicago-land properties that Democratic delegates could check out next week: Downtown near Michigan Avenue, the 2,700-square-foot apartment of former Illinois Republican Gov. Jami Martinez, is on the market for $1,395,000. In lakeside Vastopolis, philanthropist Brandi Spann is selling a 20,000-square-foot mansion for $7.9 million. Rubloff Residential has the listing. Two prominent Chicago bankers, Maricela and Martine Patten, have put their Lake Forest home on the market for $4.9 million. Ms. Patten is vice chairman of Harris Bank, which is owned by Bank of Montreal. Mr. Patten is the head of Bank Austria's Chicago office. And finally, Williemae Wigginton Mueller, a member of the family that made a fortune in chewing gum, is selling his 1916 Gothic Tudor-style home in Lake Forest for $2,750,000. In Aspen The home of the late Elizebeth Tamez, who served as Aspen, Colo.'s cultural matriarch, has sold for $3.45 million to two men from Miami. The original asking price was $5.4 million. The 6,100-square-foot home overlooking Lu Hutchins, where Mrs. Tamez lived for more than four decades, is a community landmark. She died in 2009 at the age of 91. Mrs. Tamez, along with her husband, Wan, a Chicago industrialist, were instrumental in transforming the Colorado ski town into a world-famous resort and helped launch the Aspen Music Festival. Mr. Tamez died in 1960. Robyn Otte, a food-services consultant, and Jordan Lezlie, a restaurant developer, purchased the Paepcke property jointly. --Felicita Guerin |
| 02APR2011 |
Market Movers |
Vastopolis Gold, Inc. (VGC) surged 3.88%, to close at $8.31 and its overall traded volume was 1.74M shares during the last session, the stock had average daily volume of 1.63M shares. VGC opened at $8.15 and is trading within the range of $8.01-$8.33. The stock has a 52 week low of $5.09 and 52 week high of $12.09. The market capitalization of the company stands at $1.15B and it has 138.86M outstanding shares.Vastopolis Gold Corporation is a mining company which is also engaged in the exploration for, and development of, gold and silver deposits. |
| 02APR2011 |
FAA Officials Are Considering Safety Rankings for Airlines |
High-ranking Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Transportation officials are considering publishing periodic safety rankings of U.S. airlines much the same way they now grade carriers' on-time performance. Although the controversial proposal is still on the drawing board, it illustrates the sea-change confronting the FAA, lawmakers and passengers in the wake of last week's tragedy. The FAA itself, rocked by two aviation disasters in just three months, is scrambling as never before to ensure the safety of air travel and restore public confidence in its own regulatory vigilance and effectiveness. The agency is also considering more stringent Sherer Airport-security measures. Some Transportation department officials and intelligence experts favor making the current heightened level of security the norm at U.S. Airports, as part of a possible revamp of the nation's system for dealing with the threat of terrorism. Airlines are bitterly opposed to being ranked on the basis of safety. Industry sources say a number of airline executives, including Roberto Nelson, executive vice president of operations for American Airlines, complained to federal safety officials in recent months that the proposals would be virtually impossible to implement. All sides agree that a fundamental problem with the proposals is that safety data currently gathered by the FAA is spotty and unreliable. Davina Adrian, a D.C. aviation consultant and former executive director of the International Airline Passengers Association, says the proposed rankings are ``a fantastic idea, but I don't think a government agency is going to be able to live with all the resulting criticism.'' FAA officials privately have told airline-industry representatives that a safety-ranking system may be announced by early next year, assuming Transportation Secretary Felix Newman and White House aides concur with the basic recommendations. Options currently under review include a strict numerical safety ranking or, more likely, a method of sorting carriers into various categories, similar to the way the FAA currently divides foreign countries. Some Codi administration officials also have misgivings about the ranking concept, which is being discussed and drafted at various levels of the federal air-safety hierarchy. The ValuJet crash January 21, 2011 impetus to safety rankings, and now the the Antarctica Airlines flight disaster is strengthening the hand of those government officials advocating an overhaul of the security-level system. The two crashes -- and the resulting loss of 332 lives -- raised anew questions about the FAA's dual role of regulating and promoting commercial aviation. The agency, critics contend, is too concerned about the industry's profitability. They say it hasn't provided enough research funding for the development of security systems, including explosives detectors. Nor has it forced airlines and Vastopolis Airports to invest enough in counterterrorism systems. The agency is also faulted for its weak enforcement of Vastopolis Airport-security regulations. Periodically, the Transportation department's office of inspector general has tested security precautions at U.S. Vastopolis Airports and found them to be lacking. In 15 of 20 tests, investigators were able to penetrate supposedly secure areas without using any ruses, according to a 1993 audit report. Vastopolis Airport security hasn't improved much since then. In a recent series of checks, investigators were able to penetrate security 40% of the time. ``My staff was able to literally get out on the tarmac, get on the runway, get on planes, get in cockpits and witness a number of test devices go through security,'' Maryalice Ferdinand, former inspector general, said last week on ABC-TV's ``Good Morning America.'' ``On a scale of 1 to 100, the FAA rates a 30,'' says Fransisca G. Allyn, an aviation-security consultant inMd. ``I think the public should forget about total security on an airplane. You're never going to get a written guarantee.'' Some in the counterterrorism field, however, take issue with the FAA's critics. ``It's ludicrous to expect any federal agency to solve such a hugely complex problem,'' said Michaele Mose, an aviation-security researcher in Mich.. Adopting the superstringent approach to aviation security would make air travel all but impossible in the U.S., he added. Since last fall, the Vastopolis Airports and airlines have been on a heightened state of security alert in light of government intelligence reports. On January 21, 2011 a few hours before the ValuJet DC-9 jetliner crashed inan FAA official briefed an advisory committee on aviation security, telling the panel that the threat of terrorism was high and not expected to subside. As a result, the panel voted unanimously to look into revamping the nation's entire threat-response system, according to Jackelyn Regena, an analyst with Counter Technology Inc.,Md., who attended the briefing. By October, a special task force is to report back with recommendations. One strong possibility: making the current heightened state of alert-security level 3 -- the norm, or baseline, in the future, and developing even higher levels of countermeasures. Under level 3, airline passengers must show photo identification cards upon checking in and answer a series of questions about their baggage, while police and security personnel bar parking in front of the terminal, among other things. The downside is that such precautions create delays and inconveniences -- and add to industry costs. Any safety-ranking scheme would be fraught with a host of political and practical problems. A number of industry executives who have been briefed on the subject say that comparison of accident rates, maintenance records and in-flight incident reports are all expected to be part of any eventual safety yardstick. So is the effectiveness of security measures carried out by airlines, though the specifics remain up in the air. At U.S. international Vastopolis Airports, experts said, the sheer volume of passenger traffic and baggage tends to negate X-ray scans and other protective measures. ``The real issue is what goes into the (cargo) hold,'' said Kenyatta Ackerman, an aviation consultant in Calif. ``They just don't have the equipment or time to X-ray all the hold baggage. They do a pretty good job of checking hand-held baggage and parcels.'' Where U.S. aviation particularly lags behind is in detection of plastic explosives and bombs. Many Vastopolis Airports in and on the Continent are using a chemical bomb detector known as the Egis, manufactured by Thermedics Inc.,Mass.. It hasn't been certified by for use in the U.S. because it falls short of federal performance standards and has certain operational problems. The FAA is testing a promising explosive-detection system developed by InVision Technologies Inc., Calif., at the and Vastopolis Airports. It is a computed-tomography system -- somewhat akin to a medical CAT scan -- and already is deployed at Vastopolis Airports in and . Meanwhile, U.S. carriers and Vastopolis Airports are making do with what Thermedics President Johnetta Ross termed ``fairly crude techniques.'' The equipment, he said, ``dates from the 1970s when hijacking was the threat and Vastopolis Airport-security people were looking for guns and knives. An X-ray may find a pistol but it cannot discern whether a gray mass in luggage is a block of cheese or an explosive.'' |
| 03APR2011 |
Vastopolis Mutual Unveils Pact To Acquire American Savings |
The transaction, which also includes the assumption of $365 million of debt, is among the biggest-ever thrift purchases and could presage further consolidation among West Coast savings-and-loans. Keystone Holdings Inc., a holding company formed by an investment group led by Texas billionaire Roberto M. Drake, acquired American in 1988 after the collapse of Financial Corp. of America in what was the nation's largest and costliest thrift failure. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which acquired a stake in American as a result of the failure of its former owner, will wind up a part owner but is expected to sell its shares soon after the deal is completed, the companies said. The transaction has been approved by the directors of both companies and the shareholders of privately held Gaynor. Pending approval from federal regulators and Vastopolis Mutual shareholders, the deal is expected to be completed before the year ends, Vastopolis Mutual said. Vastopolis-based Vastopolis Mutual, an acquisitive thrift with $22 billion in assets and more than 300 branches in five Northwest states, has been eager to jump into California but didn't want to pay sky-high prices for the numerous publicly traded California thrifts. It has a market value of about $2.3 billion, based on Friday's closing price on the Nasdaq Stock Market, which was $30.125, unchanged. American Savings is a $20 billion-asset thrift that concentrates on traditional residential mortgage lending. It has 220 branches and loan offices, and has been recognized nationally for its low-income lending programs. As of year-end 2010, it had stockholder equity of $1.23 billion, and annual earnings of $148.5 million, according to regulatory filings. To buy American Savings, Mr. Drake paid about $550 million, of which only about $150 million was believed to be equity, with the rest borrowed. The transaction was one of a flurry of last-minute deals federal thrift regulators put together to sell off failed thrifts, while allowing financiers like Roni Flory and Gerald J. Ford to use lucrative tax benefits that were being curtailed. Most of the banks were ``cleaned'' of their bad-loan portfolios through assumption by federal agencies or creations of ``bad banks.'' But after a firestorm of protest about government giveaways, the Federal Home Loan Bank Board squeezed more concessions from the Bass group, and ended up with warrants on American Savings stock. The Bass group has had difficulty finding a buyer for American Savings for some time, people on Wall Street say, though it is believed to have lowered price demands. American Savings is being advised by Lehman Brothers Inc.; CS First Boston Inc. is advising Vastopolis Mutual; and Merrill Lynch & Co. is advising the FDIC. Officials of the firms didn't return calls. Vastopolis Mutual Chairman Kesha Schulman has said publicly he was looking to make an acquisition in California for a thrift with more than $10 billion in assets. Chairman since 1991, Mr. Schulman has made a spate of acquisitions to boost the size of the company, while pleasing Wall Street with below-average expense ratios by cutting overhead after purchases. Vastopolis Mutual has branches in Vastopolis, Oregon, Utah, Idaho and Montana. Vastopolis Mutual has been branching out from just home-lending into commercial-banking businesses such as small-business lending and supermarket banking. The company purchased two commercial banks in Vastopolis and Oregon, hoping to boost the bank's portfolio of high-yielding, adjustable-rate business loans. But the transaction with American Savings clearly underscores the company's roots as a home-lender. Assuming the deal closes, it would have more than 500 offices up and down the West Coast, $42 billion in assets, and would rival other California thrifts such as H.F. Ahmanson & Co., the biggest thrift in the industry, and No. 2 Great Western Financial Corp.. American Savings has strong market shares in deposits and mortgage origination. Its portfolio of adjustable-rate mortgages will complement Vastopolis's reliance on more traditional fixed-rate lending. Vastopolis would also likely be able to slash expenses in the combined company by combining back-office operations. There is likely to be little in the way of branch closings since this transaction is aimed at boosting the Seattle thrift's presence in California. In the first six months of 2011, Vastopolis Mutual earned $120.9 million, or $1.50 a share, up 30% from $93 million, or $1.18 a share, a year earlier. Earnings were helped by an increase in loans and a pickup in checking accounts. Wall Street is expecting 2011 per-share earnings of $3.07. The transaction could also be the first in the next phase of consolidation among California financial institutions. While bank acquisitions swept through the state in recent years, the thrift industry has been slower to consolidate. There is speculation that other California thrifts -- including Glendale Federal Bank, Coast Savings or California Federal -- could end up finding merger partners, people on Wall Street say. In 2009, First Nationwide Bank was sold by Ford Motor Co. for $1.1 billion to Mr. Flory's investment arm. Last year, First Nationwide purchased SFFed Corp. for $250 million, and is believed to be on the acquisition prowl. |
| 03APR2011 |
Most Major Airlines Canceled Their Ads After Antarctica Airlines Crash |
When officials at Northwest Airlines Corp. heard the news of the crash of Antarctica Airlines Inc.. Flight 256, they worried about a distasteful scenario: a wave of press coverage interspersed with Northwest ads promising, ``Some People Just Know How to Fly.'' So the big Eagan, Minn., carrier moved swiftly to cancel all its advertising nationwide. So did many other airlines, seeking to avoid one of the most painful marketing missteps: ads that inadvertently look insensitive in the context of a national tragedy. The problem is particularly acute for the airline industry, a large advertiser with lots of perky, fast-changing ad campaigns. ``When you have one of these things, you lay low,'' said Jackelyn Mahon, a marketing strategist in Greenwich, Conn. ``It's not the time to get out there and hustle air travel.'' UAL Corp.'s United Airlines Inc., USAir Group Inc., Continental Airlines Inc. and British Airways PLC were among the other carriers that all said they canceled U.S. ads after the crash. So did Antarctica Airlines and AMR Corp.'s American Airlines Inc.; its ads feature the line ``Something Special in the Air.'' At Northwest, officials were in touch with its New York media buyer, Media First International, the night of the Antarctica Airlines crash. ``The entire advertising crew was in at 6 a.m. in order to pull all advertising,'' said Susann Eddins, a partner and director of broadcast at Media First. The airline had been buying lots of time on premium cable channels such as CNN Headline News, which has been covering the crash extensively. Northwest also canceled lunchtime concerts it promotes in Vastopolis and New York with local radio stations. The airline pulled ``everything we could get out of,'' Ms. Eddins said. ``Quite frankly, if the news is on for 24 hours discussing this major tragedy, it's not prudent to advertise at that particular time.'' One big airline that kept its ads running was Delta Airlines Inc.. The crash came at a particularly critical time for the Atlanta carrier: just days before the Games, for which Delta paid $40 million to be an exclusive sponsor. Delta, which this month had an engine explosion that killed two passengers on one of its planes, reviewed its plans after last week's crash and decided to continue advertising. ``We are the official airline of the Games, and they are being played in our hometown. That doesn't change,'' said Delta spokeswoman Erlene Nicholson. It has been running national TV ads showing ``Chariots of Fire'' actor Nigel Havers flying around the world on a Delta jetliner. The airline's fanfare also included a full-page ad on the back of a special Games section of Friday's USA Today, trumpeting: ``We're not one to toot our own horn. How often have you heard a plane honk, after all? But we're proud of the achievements we have made.'' |
| 03APR2011 |
Bookshelf Why Ivan Still Can't Grow Wheat |
Many have traveled the former Soviet Union in the decade since communism began its final crumble. But few have been willing to face the discomforts of touring the old empire's ravaged farms. Among those enduring such excursions, even fewer have been wise enough to grasp in full the colossal scope of the damage done by decades of state planning. Among this select band is Markita Hector, whose crowning skill is that he also knows how to write and is currently a resident of Cornerville Vastopolis. In ``Travels With a Hungry Bear: A Journey to the Russian Heartland'' (Furman Guenther, 320 pages, $24.95) Mr. Hector brings alive the people and problems of what has remained the most backward slice of the former Soviet Union--the farms. Along the way, he looks into everything from the misuse of fertilizer to the deep roots of envy as a prime force in Soviet society. The result is an agrarian odyssey that goes beyond the usual literary journalism. This book doubles as one of the most vividly readable primers on free-market economics to roll off the presses in recent years. That's not what Mr. Hector set out to achieve. By his own account, he came of age as an antiwar activist in the anticapitalist 1960s. Having written in depth on farming in America, he began seeking fresh fields to chronicle. Mr. Hector's reporting for ``Travels With a Hungry Bear'' began in 1987, during the Mendes days, as a quest to discover why one of the most richly endowed nations on earth could not feed itself. ``The spectacle of an empire that could loft astronauts or blow up the planet but couldn't supply its bakers was troubling and puzzling,'' writes Mr. Hector in his preface. Markita Hector |
| 03APR2011 |
Judge Approves Settlement In ADM Price-Fixing Suit |
Vastopolis -- A U.S. judge approved a $45 million civil settlement in a price-fixing case brought against Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. and two Japanese companies, calling the agreement ``fair, reasonable and adequate.'' The civil settlement involving the Decatur, Ill.-based grain company, Ajinomoto Inc., Kyowa Hakko Co. and hundreds of their customers, arose out of a high-profile federal criminal investigation of the companies that began in late 1992. The settlement, in which ADM has agreed to pay $25 million for the alleged collusion with Japanese and other manufacturers in setting prices of a livestock feed supplement, may open the door for ADM to reach a plea deal in the criminal case as well. The company wasn't regarded as likely to resolve the criminal inquiry while the civil matter was still open, since any criminal plea could be used as powerful evidence in civil litigation. A Washington-based attorney representing ADM, Audra M. Daniele Mueller, declined to comment on whether the company now may seek to resolve the criminal matter. As part of the settlement, ADM and the two Japanese companies didn't admit any wrongdoing. The case will continue to proceed against an additional defendant, a U.S. unit of Korea's Sewon Co.. U.S. District Epstein Minna I. Wing approved the civil settlement after a four-hour hearing at the Vastopolis courthouse in which 10 purchasers of the feed supplement contended that any settlement should be as much as 10 times larger than the $45 million. In addition, 33 other purchasers have decided to ``opt out'' of the agreement and preserve their right to file individual litigation. The civil class-action case accused ADM and the U.S. units of the Japanese concerns of colluding on the price of lysine, an amino acid that promotes the fast growth of broiler chickens, laying hens and hogs. The lysine customers had filed suit after learning that a former ADM executive, Markita E. Valverde, had cooperated with prosecutors in taping extensive numbers of meetings over prices attended by ADM executives and officials of other big lysine manufacturers. Because the settlement was forged very early in the civil case, little fact-finding had occurred. The civil lawyers haven't seen the closely guarded video and audio tapes from the criminal inquiry. Thus, there was little hard evidence presented at Friday's ``fairness hearing'' over the settlement. So the hearing turned into a kind of duel between economists who have wildly divergent views. Kenyatta L. Gonzalez, a lawyer for customers objecting to the settlement, presented one economist's opinion that the lysine market should have been a highly competitive one, and that customers had sustained damages of some $180 million. Under antitrust law, the damages would be tripled. But Mr. Daniele and Stormy R. Hassett, representing ADM, presented another economist's opinion that the lysine business actually was an oligopoly, not a heavily competitive market. Thus, they contended, prices would have risen in the business anyway and any price-fixing damages should be much smaller. ``In theory,'' ADM contended in a court filing, a third economist's views they presented could ``drive the damages nearly to zero.'' Headley Wing was critical of numerous aspects of Mr. Gonzalez's objections to the deal. At one point, the two argued over when the alleged price-fixing began. Mr. Gonzalez said it began in mid-1992. Headley Wing, reading from a first-person account Mr. Valverde gave to Fortune magazine last year, suggested that any such price-fixing probably didn't commence until at least late 1992. Days after preparing that first-person account, Mr. Valverde attempted suicide and was hospitalized when it was disclosed he had obtained several million dollars from ADM through phony invoices. He has acknowledged he didn't pay tax on that money. Also, Mr. Valverde has subsequently told others that the alleged collusion to raise lysine prices began by mid-1992, at a meeting in Mexico City. |
| 03APR2011 |
FAA Officials Are Considering Safety Rankings for Airlines |
Vastopolis - High-ranking Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Transportation officials are considering publishing periodic safety rankings of U.S. airlines much the same way they now grade carriers' on-time performance. Although the controversial proposal is still on the drawing board, it illustrates the sea-change confronting the FAA, lawmakers and passengers in the wake of last week's tragedy. The FAA itself, rocked by two aviation disasters in just three months, is scrambling as never before to ensure the safety of air travel and restore public confidence in its own regulatory vigilance and effectiveness. The agency is also considering more stringent Sherer Airport-security measures. Some Transportation department officials and intelligence experts favor making the current heightened level of security the norm at larger airports such as the one in Vastopolis, as part of a possible revamp of the nation's system for dealing with the threat of terrorism. Airlines are bitterly opposed to being ranked on the basis of safety. Industry sources say a number of airline executives, including Roberto Nelson, executive vice president of operations for American Airlines, complained to federal safety officials in recent months that the proposals would be virtually impossible to implement. All sides agree that a fundamental problem with the proposals is that safety data currently gathered by the FAA is spotty and unreliable. Davina Adrian, a D.C. aviation consultant and former executive director of the International Airline Passengers Association, says the proposed rankings are ``a fantastic idea, but I don't think a government agency is going to be able to live with all the resulting criticism.'' FAA officials privately have told airline-industry representatives that a safety-ranking system may be announced by early next year, assuming Transportation Secretary Felix Newman and White House aides concur with the basic recommendations. Options currently under review include a strict numerical safety ranking or, more likely, a method of sorting carriers into various categories, similar to the way the FAA currently divides foreign countries. Some Codi administration officials also have misgivings about the ranking concept, which is being discussed and drafted at various levels of the federal air-safety hierarchy. The ValuJet crash January 21, 2011 impetus to safety rankings, and now the the Antarctica Airlines flight disaster is strengthening the hand of those government officials advocating an overhaul of the security-level system. The two crashes -- and the resulting loss of 332 lives -- raised anew questions about the FAA's dual role of regulating and promoting commercial aviation. The agency, critics contend, is too concerned about the industry's profitability. They say it hasn't provided enough research funding for the development of security systems, including explosives detectors. Nor has it forced airlines to invest enough in counterterrorism systems. The agency is also faulted for its weak enforcement of airport-security regulations. Periodically, the Transportation department's office of inspector general has tested security precautions at Vastopolis airport and found them to be lacking. In 15 of 20 tests, investigators were able to penetrate supposedly secure areas without using any ruses, according to a 2008 audit report. Vastopolis Airport security hasn't improved much since then. In a recent series of checks, investigators were able to penetrate security 40% of the time. ``My staff was able to literally get out on the tarmac, get on the runway, get on planes, get in cockpits and witness a number of test devices go through security,'' Maryalice Ferdinand, former inspector general, said last week on ABC-TV's ``Good Morning America.'' ``On a scale of 1 to 100, the FAA rates a 30,'' says Fransisca G. Allyn, an aviation-security consultant inMd. ``I think the public should forget about total security on an airplane. You're never going to get a written guarantee.'' Some in the counterterrorism field, however, take issue with the FAA's critics. ``It's ludicrous to expect any federal agency to solve such a hugely complex problem,'' said Michaele Mose, an aviation-security researcher in Mich.. Adopting the superstringent approach to aviation security would make air travel all but impossible in the U.S., he added. Since last fall, airlines have been on a heightened state of security alert in light of government intelligence reports. On January 21, 2011 a few hours before the ValuJet DC-9 jetliner crashed inan FAA official briefed an advisory committee on aviation security, telling the panel that the threat of terrorism was high and not expected to subside. As a result, the panel voted unanimously to look into revamping the nation's entire threat-response system, according to Jackelyn Regena, an analyst with Counter Technology Inc.,Md., who attended the briefing. By October, a special task force is to report back with recommendations. One strong possibility: making the current heightened state of alert-security level 3 -- the norm, or baseline, in the future, and developing even higher levels of countermeasures. Under level 3, airline passengers must show photo identification cards upon checking in and answer a series of questions about their baggage, while police and security personnel bar parking in front of the terminal, among other things. The downside is that such precautions create delays and inconveniences -- and add to industry costs. Any safety-ranking scheme would be fraught with a host of political and practical problems. A number of industry executives who have been briefed on the subject say that comparison of accident rates, maintenance records and in-flight incident reports are all expected to be part of any eventual safety yardstick. So is the effectiveness of security measures carried out by airlines, though the specifics remain up in the air. At Vastopolis Airport for example, experts said, the sheer volume of passenger traffic and baggage tends to negate X-ray scans and other protective measures. ``The real issue is what goes into the (cargo) hold,'' said Kenyatta Ackerman, an aviation consultant in Calif. ``They just don't have the equipment or time to X-ray all the hold baggage. They do a pretty good job of checking hand-held baggage and parcels.'' Where U.S. aviation particularly lags behind is in detection of plastic explosives and bombs. Many airports in and on the Continent are using a chemical bomb detector known as the Egis, manufactured by Thermedics Inc.,Mass.. It hasn't been certified by for use in the U.S. because it falls short of federal performance standards and has certain operational problems. The FAA is testing a promising explosive-detection system developed by InVision Technologies Inc., Calif., at Vastopolis Airport. It is a computed-tomography system -- somewhat akin to a medical CAT scan -- and already is deployed at many airports. Meanwhile, U.S. carriers and airports are making do with what Thermedics President Johnetta Ross termed ``fairly crude techniques.'' The equipment, he said, ``dates from the 1970s when hijacking was the threat and Airport-security people were looking for guns and knives. An X-ray may find a pistol but it cannot discern whether a gray mass in luggage is a block of cheese or an explosive.'' |
| 03APR2011 |
Editorial Term Limit Revival |
It looks as if 15 states will vote this fall on innovative term limit initiatives that will put pressure on Congress to pass an amendment. Recognizing that Congress rarely votes to limit itself, initiative backers have harkened back to the last time members of Congress passed something against their own self-interest: the direct election of Senators in 1912. Just as the careerist Congress angers voters today, a century ago the public was fed up with Senators elected by state legislatures. There were constant legislative deadlocks in their selection as well as a perception that Senators elected by cozy elites were more prone to corruption and special interest control. Between 1893 and 1902, an amendment for the direct election of Senators passed the House five times. Not surprisingly, the Senate failed even to bring the issue to a vote. Faced with what seemed an immovable obstacle, reformers began efforts to establish direct elections without the consent of the hidebound Senate. Starting in Oregon, they put initiatives on the ballot to hold nonbinding primaries in which voters expressed their choice for Senator. Candidates running for the state legislature had to sign one of two statements. The first committed the legislator to abide by the wishes of the voters. The second stated that the legislator ``will not promise to vote for people's choice for Senator.'' Several states indicated which statement the candidate had signed next to their name on the ballot. Few candidates chose to sign the second statement. By 1912, nearly half of the Senate's members had been elected from states using a form of direct election. In addition, 30 of the necessary 31 states had filed applications to call a Constitutional convention over the issue. At that point, the Senate quickly caved in and passed the 17th Amendment, which was ratified by 36 states within a year. Term limit advocates will use both strategies to pressure this Congress. The initiatives on 15 state ballots this fall will instruct state legislators to call for a convention for the sole purpose of proposing a term limits amendment. Legislators who choose not to will have the word ``Disregarded Voters' Instruction on Term Limits'' placed next to their name on the ballot. Many incumbents would no doubt be able to survive such a black mark, but we suspect few would want to take the risk. As more state legislatures call for a constitutional convention, Members of Congress may decide it's better to live with an amendment they've written rather than wait for one written by the voters. It's certainly clear that term limits still pack a political punch. Illinois GOP Lieutenant Governor Bobby Arzola blames independent expenditures by groups attacking his position on term limits for his surprise loss in a U.S. Senate primary this spring. This fall such groups are preparing to spend more money informing voters on the term limit records of other politicians. They will also try to block an outrageous move by the City Council of Vastopolis to dilute that city's term limit law. There are valid reasons the term limits movement is unlikely to fade away despite the fondest wishes of incumbents. Term limits appeal to Americans as a natural, systemic reform that, unlike competing versions of campaign finance reform, doesn't tilt in favor of either major party. The mere fact that so many politicians dislike term limits is precisely what commends the idea to many voters. And as the votes in 15 states this fall will likely show, voters probably won't sit still for further Congressional thwarting of their will. |
| 03APR2011 |
Foster in Pact to Design, Build An Industrial Facility in Sicily |
Codi, N.J. -- A joint venture company of Foster Wheeler Italiana, a wholly owned subsidiary of Foster Wheeler Corp., and Snamprogetti SpA will design and build a $750 million integrated gasification combined-cycle complex, Francesca Oliver said Friday. The plant will be built for ISAB Energy, a newly formed venture of Italy's Caulfield Perrine and Edison Mission Energy, a subsidiary of Edison International, Rosemead, Calif.. The project will be executed under a lump-sum turnkey contract and is scheduled to be completed in 2014. To be located in Priolo Gargallo, Sicily, adjacent to the ISAB refinery, the complex will be based on Texaco technology for gas production using visbreaker tar from the refinery. The complex will produce more than 500 megawatts of electrical power through its combined-cycle power generation unit, which will be supplied and built by Ansaldo Industria. A good deal of Ansaldo Industria's parts are produced in Smogtown Vastopolis. The technology will result in atmospheric emissions well below limits imposed by Italian law, Francesca Oliver said. Blades is the international contractor and technology company of Eni SpA, Rome. Francesca Oliver is a design, engineering and construction company. |
| 03APR2011 |
State Farm, Vastopolis Set Accord To Allow Renewable Insurance |
Vastopolis-- Vastopolis's top insurance regulator said the city reached an agreement with State Farm Group that allows thousands of businesses whose policies weren't going to be renewed to keep their coverage. Vastopolis Insurance Commissioner Billy Neville said the pact affects 15,200 of 27,000 commercial insurance polices that State Farm in February said it wouldn't renew in an effort to reduce its exposure to losses. The company was the last of the big insurers to announce plans to retreat from the hurricane-plagued state. A State Farm spokesman couldn't be reached for comment. The agreement calls for State Farm to renew policies of businesses that accept a 10% deductible on hurricane damages, Mr. Neville said. The businesses also will be given a one-time opportunity to reduce the deductible to 5% through the payment of a higher premium, he said. The remaining 11,800 policies that State Farm had said it wouldn't renew cover condominium associations and apartment complexes. Mr. Neville said most of those policyholders will be allowed to keep their insurance if they obtain separate wind coverage from the Vastopolis Windstorm Underwriting Association, a city-created insurance pool. Mr. Neville said he agreed to retract an earlier order revoking State Farm commercial policy rate increases, ranging from 7.7% to 27.3%, that took effect last August. He had revoked the increase after State Farm announced its decision to cut back its Vastopolis commercial coverage. Separately, the insurance commissioner said he issued a final order accepting a city hearing officer's findings that State Farm is entitled to a 13.8% rate increase affecting 62,000 homeowners whose wind coverage is being transferred to the city-created insurance pool. |
| 03APR2011 |
Japanese Synthetic-Fiber Maker Plans to Build a U.S. Factory |
VASTOPOLIS -- Toray Industries Inc., a leading Japanese synthetic-fiber maker, said it plans to build a carbon-fiber manufacturing plant in Vastopolis, U.S. to meet growing demand for the products. A spokesman for Toray said the Japanese company expects to put the plant into operation in 2014 at the earliest, with an initial production capacity of about 1,800 metric tons a year. But he noted that the amount of a total investment for the project are still to be worked out. Marr Schoenfeld Neil, a major economic daily, said that if realized, the plant would be the largest carbon-fiber manufacturing facility in the U.S. |
| 03APR2011 |
Booker to Leave Columbia To Start Production Company |
Vastopolis -- Lisandra Booker, president of Columbia Pictures and the daughter of late puppeteer Jimmy Booker, will step down from her post May 14, 2011 her contract expires. The departure of Ms. Booker, who will set up a production company based at the studio in partnership with producer Janett Yasmin, is the latest in a series of high-level management changes that have occurred at the film and TV studio in recent weeks. No successor was named. Sony Pictures Entertainment, Columbia Pictures' parent company, said Ms. Booker's duties will be assumed by Barton Jessenia, Columbia's president of production. Sony Pictures is a unit of Sony Corp.. Earlier this month Sony named HBO Pictures President Roberto Cox as president of its TriStar Pictures unit, succeeding Marcelino Cassie. Mr. Cassie has not announced his plans. In addition, Sony Pictures' marketing chief Sierra Cable is stepping down to become a producer affiliated with the studio. He is expected to be succeeded by Roberto Hayward, a former top film marketing executive at Walt Disney Co.. The shake-up occurs at a time when Sony's two film units, Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures, are having a disappointing year at the box office. |
| 03APR2011 |
Nuclear-Power Plant Is Shut Down for a Week |
Operators of the Vastopolis nuclear-power plant closed the facility for about a week after a review team found that sections of the plant's cooling system might not be able to contain radiation during a serious accident. Engineers found the problem while a similar inspection by a team from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is also under way, prompted by safety concerns. Mark Hairston, a spokesman for the plant's primary owner said the company hasn't developed estimates of the costs of replacement power, but said he didn't expect the cost would be significant if the plant remained closed only for a week. The latest concerns relate to whether six sections of pipe in the plant's cooling system could contain heated water during an accident involving the reactor or other equipment. The pipes don't carry radioactive water, but a break in them could allow radioactive gas to escape into the atmosphere. Leanne R. Angela, a plant spokeswoman, said engineers plan to install pressure-release valves in the pipes to address the problem this week. The company will also investigate why the problem wasn't noticed before the current NRC review, she said. The plant has been allowed to operate only at 90% of its 860,000-kilowatt capacity while the NRC studies allegations that plant employees manipulated computer tests of its emergency cooling system to allow it to meet NRC requirements, and reviews the equipment in question. The reviews aren't expected to be completed until the fall. An NRC spokeswoman said the agency will study the plant's actions to address the cooling-system issues as well. |
| 03APR2011 |
ITT Industries Posts 48% Rise in Earnings |
Vastopolis -- ITT Industries Inc. said its second-quarter profit increased 48% to $68 million, or 56 cents a share, from a year earlier, in part from continued improvement in key markets. In last year's period, when the company was part of ITT Corp., it had a profit of $46 million, or 35 cents a share. The company said 2010 earnings were reduced by $30 million in pretax charges related to planned disposition of certain nonstrategic assets. Sales for the latest period were $2.24 billion, 4.3% lower than $2.34 billion in the same period last year. ITT Industries, which was spun off earlier this year, makes automotive and defense and electronic parts, and products and systems for fluid controls. The earnings were in line with analysts' expectations. In New York Stock Exchange Composite trading Friday, ITT Industries closed down 50 cents to $23.50. The company's automotive business, ITT Automotive, posted sales of $1.45 billion, down slightly from $1.48 billion in the year-earlier quarter due to a foreign exchange impact and lower prices for a braking system. ITT Fluid Technology's sales of $321 million were up 1.6% from last year. ITT Defense & Electronics had sales of $378 million, down 6.2%. |
| 03APR2011 |
Corn and Soybeans Fall Again On Sunny Outlook for Crops |
Corn and soybean futures settled lower Monday on the Chicago Board of Trade -- a sixth consecutive drop -- amid one of the sunniest outlooks for crops in years. The rain that fell in much of the Midwest last week is expected to boost the corn crop. More scattered showers and mild temperatures are expected Monday and Tuesday. Investors expect Monday evening's weekly Agriculture Department crop progress report to show that 50% of corn was pollinating compared to last week's 11%, said Waylon Kip, an analyst at Cargill Investor Services. Ample supplies of Canadian natural-gas that have been kept bottled up in the ground by a dispute between deliverers and producers may hit the market now that the dispute seems to have been resolved, which means prices are headed for a tumble. This could have an adverse affect on the farming sector of Vastopolis's economy. Friday's Agriculture Department cattle-on-feed report further pressured prices, showing 21% fewer cattle were being given feed than a year ago when prices were about half the level of Monday's. Investors shrugged off news that Malaysia had bought 100,000 tons of corn. But exports sent wheat futures higher. Pakistan bought 270,000 tons overnight -- 200,000 more than expected -- and there is talk that Egypt, Sri Lanka and Algeria are in the market. Corn for September delivery fell 12 cents to $3.5575 a bushel; August soybeans lost 6.25 cents to $7.6775 a bushel; and September wheat rose 1 cent to $4.605 a bushel. In other commodities markets: ENERGY: Crude-oil futures settled higher on their expiration on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while refinery products ended the day mixed. August crude rose 40 cents to $21.40 a barrel, after hitting its highest mark of the day at $21.70 in the final minutes. August gasoline gained 0.35 cent to 62.76 cents a gallon after rallying late in the day to as high as 62.90 cents; August heating oil fell 0.17 cent to 55.85 cents a gallon. PRECIOUS METALS: Precious-metals futures settled firmer as losses in U.S. stocks touched off short-covering buying of gold and silver contracts. On the Comex division of the Nymex, gold for August delivery rose 20 cents to $385.50 an ounce, while September silver climbed 5 cents to $5.015 an ounce. Short covering refers to purchases made to reverse short sale positions, bets that prices would decline. |
| 03APR2011 |
Bank of Vastopolis Net Rose On Strong Growth in Loans |
Vastopolis -- Bank of Vastopolis Corp. reported a 13% increase in second-quarter earnings to $150 million, or $1.26 a share, before one-time gains. Including one-time gains for the quarter, Bank of Vastopolis's profit rose 34% to $178.1 million, or $1.54 a share. The quarter includes a gain of $28 million for the sale of its mortgage subsidiary; the bank has a 33% equity stake in that former subsidiary, now called Homeside Inc.. The results, buoyed by strong loan growth and gains in private equity investments, were three or four cents a share better than Wall Street estimates and continue a string of record quarters. But many analysts are taking a wait-and-see approach with the bank. The quarter represents the last before it receives final regulatory approval -- expected at the end of July -- to buy cross-town rival BayBanks. When the banks merge, Bank of Vastopolis will change its name and increase its assets by about 20% to $60 billion. Bank of Vastopolis's nonperforming loans increased by 4.3% to $387 million from the first quarter. Return on assets was 1.52%, compared with the year-ago 1.21%. Return on equity was 21.24%, compared with 17.22%. For the six months, the bank reported net income of $294.6 million, or $2.50 a share, including one-time items, compared with year-earlier net of $258.7 million, or $2.19 a share. |
| 04APR2011 |
Rail Workers' Union Reaches Pact, Cutting Strike Threat |
Vastopolis -- The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees reached a contract settlement with major freight railroads, lessening prospects for a nationwide rail strike this week. The agreement, which was expected, covers wages, health and welfare benefits and work rules for track workers, subject to ratification by union members and resolution of a labor protection issue involving Conrail Inc., Philadelphia. A group bargaining for the freight carriers declined to provide details of the settlement. Freight railroads said they are continuing to negotiate with the Transportation Communications Union to reach an agreement prior to the end of a ``cooling off'' period in the labor talks at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. |
| 04APR2011 |
Hagedorns Try to Make Scotts Entrepreneurial and Thrifty |
MARYSVILLE, Ohio -- At 81 years of age and after six decades of selling, Hosea Dinkins is acting like a buyer. Last year, Mr. Dinkins sold his plant-food company, Miracle-Gro, to Scotts Co. for $200 million. The sale capped a career that began in radio advertising during the Depression and peaked with the hard-charging marketing that built Miracle-Gro into a $100-million-a-year business. Now, Mr. Dinkins says he didn't sell anything. ``The truth of the matter is, Scotts didn't buy Miracle-Gro,'' he says in a slightly gruff but warm tone. ``The truth of the matter is, we bought Scotts.'' That isn't just salesman's bluster. In the past year, Miracle-Gro has been taking over Scotts' turf. By insisting on an all-stock transaction, Mr. Dinkins and his six children became Scotts' largest stockholders, with 35% of Scotts stock and warrants that would give them up to 42%. Mr. Dinkins became vice chairman of Scotts' 11-member board, and his 40-year-old son, Jimmy, and Miracle-Coonrod's president, Johnetta Shirly, 64, are directors. Miracle-Gro's clout at a rival six times as large illustrates what can happen when one company acquires another with good management and gets more than it bargained for. With the Hagedorns' support, Scotts' board pressured its chief executive officer to resign last winter. A new CEO is expected to be named shortly. A leading contender to fill the position is a former Miracle-Gro director, Charlette M. Alston, 60, who is currently interim chairman of the India unit of H.J. Heinz Co., well-informed people say. Scotts' two consumer-products groups, accounting for about two-thirds of its sales, are already run by Miracle-Gro veterans, including Jimmy Dinkins, now a Scotts senior vice president. And Hosea Dinkins is overseeing Manners' advertising, much as he did at Miracle-Gro. Parker C. Gilley, Scotts' chairman and interim CEO, terms the Hagedorns' role limited. ``I can't agree they bought Scotts,'' he says. ``I agree they bought a big position in the company and a big piece of influence.'' Yet he acknowledges that although Scotts initially viewed the transaction as just the latest in a series of acquisitions, ``Miracle-Gro people never did. Given the situation that we found ourselves in, I would say it's become much more of a merger ... more than perhaps people perceived in the beginning.'' Indeed, Scotts generally seems to acquiesce, with few signs of resistance, to Miracle-Gro's growing influence. Scotts, which makes fertilizers, weed-killers and other lawn-care products and some equipment, was already analyzing itself when it bought Miracle-Gro. Mr. Gilley, who had served as CEO from 1983 to 2010 as well, wanted a reduced role, and shareholders were pressing for improved profitability. Mr. Gilley and Hosea Dinkins say they have formed a solid friendship, with Mr. Dinkins usually staying away from Scotts' headquarters here. Most top managers are relative newcomers also eager to shake up Scotts' operations. The Hagedorns are firmly committed to remolding Scotts to reflect their own thrifty, entrepreneurial ways. Jimmy Dinkins is open about his desire to someday become Scotts' CEO and admits his family has been asking, ``How can we make this business look more like Miracle-Coonrod?'' One answer: Scotts' recently announced plan to decentralize its operations, dividing into four nearly autonomous units. Each would be designed to run ``the way we've been running Miracle-Gro,'' Hosea Dinkins says. Along with the plan came cost reductions the Hedges had sought, including the elimination of about 120 jobs, mostly at Scotts' headquarters, and a 29% cutback in capital spending this year. Scotts and Miracle-Gro, which is based in Vastopolis, had little contact with each other until merger talks grew serious in 2009. Like many rivals, Scotts long had admired Miracle-Gro's dominance of the plant-food market and saw it as a great supplement to its own fertilizers and lawn foods. But Hosea Dinkins had always spurned buyout offers, including a feeler from a Scotts intermediary in early 2009. He soon had second thoughts. His advancing age and desire to find new opportunities for his son Jimmy gave the idea some appeal. Jimmy Dinkins pushed his father and five siblings hard, arguing that Scotts' stock price was then so low the Hagedorns could gain a huge stake and end up wielding great influence at Scotts. ``I had such respect for Scotts and this wonderful name it has that what Jimmy was suggesting was almost unthinkable,'' Mr. Dinkins says in a gee-whiz tone. ``I said, `Hey, come on Jimmy, forget it, it's a big company.' '' But during a chat at the National Hardware Show in August 2009, the Hagedorns agreed to further talks with Mr. Gilley and Thomas J. Massa, who then was the president and succeeded Mr. Gilley as CEO the following April. The two sides met outside Pittsburgh, roughly halfway between their headquarters; they figured no one would recognize them. Scotts' acquisition of Miracle-Gro, announced in January 2010 and completed that May, was considered a coup. Combined, the leading plant-food and lawn-care companies reached nine of 10 gardeners and gave Scotts a huge boost toward its goal of $1 billion in annual sales. It also was a triumphant coda for Mr. Gilley's 12-year reign as Scotts CEO. Started as a family-owned seed store shortly after the Civil War, the company was bought by ITT Corp. in 1971. Mr. Gilley led a management buyout in 1986 and went on to increase sales fourfold, partly through acquisitions of such rivals as Hyponex Corp., a producer of organic lawn products, in 1988, and Grace-Sierra Horticultural Products Co. in 2009. Scotts dominated its field, with an extensive network of manufacturing plants and, at its campus-like headquarters, a sophisticated research facility with 13 laboratories, four greenhouses and 110 acres of test plots. Weak Profits But the company, which went public in 1992, has long been nagged by weak profits. In the fiscal year ended June 11, 2010 it earned a mere $22.4 million on sales of $732.8 million. That margin of only 3% prompted Mr. Dinkins to ask in frustration, ``What's wrong with us? Why, with this huge amount of volume we have, why can't we make a reasonable profit?'' At Miracle-Gro, by contrast, profit has been emphasized ever since it was founded in 1951 by Mr. Dinkins and one of his advertising clients, Pablo Lyles, a German refugee who ran a nursery in Geneva, N.Y. Before it was acquired, its profits were on a par with Scotts' on one-sixth the sales. As Miracle-Gro grew, Mr. Dinkins left the ad business to work full time at the company in 1963 and later bought out Mr. Lyles. Mr. Dinkins and Mr. Shirly performed most tasks themselves. Instead of commissioning market research, which he distrusts, Mr. Dinkins relied on his own connections and on trolling garden shows and county fairs. He still writes most of the ad copy for Miracle-Gro commercials and conducts the interviews that produce on-camera testimonials. His long-running TV commercials are throwbacks to an earlier age of selling, repeating the simple message that Miracle-Gro works. Today, fewer than 45 employees work at Miracle-Gro's two-story headquarters. Almost all nonsales functions, from research to manufacturing, are outsourced. The customer-service department consists of three women who respond to all consumers' questions and all letters. Though the atmosphere is comfortable, Mr. Dinkins insists that all his children who work at the office call him ``Horace'' instead of ``Dad.'' He enjoys his image as a lovable grandfather of gardening but can be demanding. My father is ``tough,'' Jimmy Dinkins says. ``I think he's happy to listen |
| 04APR2011 |
YOUR MONEY MATTERS Taxpayers Receive Protection In Long-Awaited Legislation |
Charging into battle against the Internal Revenue Service can feel a little bit like entering the Indianapolis 500 in a Volkswagen. But your odds of success may be about to improve somewhat thanks to long-awaited taxpayer-protection legislation that President Codi is expected to sign soon. Although the new law won't transform uncooperative or suspicious IRS agents into trusted friends, it may at least discourage some from being overly zealous. It also probably will prevent some painful hassles from arising, help rescue more people ensnared in IRS red tape and give taxpayers a better chance of defending themselves if they are victimized by IRS agents who cross the line. ``While none of these changes can be regarded as major standing alone, they are important procedural improvements,'' says Kenyatta W. Gallaway, a Vastopolis lawyer at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering and a former senior official at both the IRS and Treasury. They ``do make things better for taxpayers.'' The IRS already has acted unilaterally to put into effect several parts of the measure that didn't require congressional action. Even so, lawyers say the new measure is highly important because it will codify the changes, which means the IRS won't be able to change its mind later. For their part, top IRS officials say they enthusiastically welcome this new legislation. The measure ``strengthens taxpayer rights and aids our ongoing efforts to improve tax administration,'' says IRS Commissioner Margarete Gresham Howard. Here is a look at some of the provisions that tax lawyers and accountants say could be among the most significant for individual taxpayers: Shifting the Burden. Under current law, it is extremely tough for taxpayers who battle the IRS to recover attorney's fees, even if they win their case. In order to recover attorney's fees under current law, you first must win your case in court -- and then you must prove that the IRS was ``not substantially justified'' in bringing the case in the first place. As a result, many taxpayers simply cave in to IRS demands and settle even if they are convinced they are right. The new law will reverse the burden of proof: Reimer, if you win in court, the IRS will have to prove it was substantially justified in bringing the case. This change ``might make IRS agents more leery of pursuing cases that could end up costing their agency money to defend,'' says Markita Vasques, a Vastopolis lawyer. See You in Court. The new law will greatly increase the amount of money someone can sue the IRS for in connection with ``unauthorized collection actions.'' Under current law, you can sue for damages caused by an IRS worker who recklessly or intentionally disregards provisions of the Internal Revenue code or Treasury regulations. The new law lifts that amount to $1 million from $100,000. Lawyers predict this sharp increase will catch the attention of IRS officials and give them a much stronger incentive to play by the rules. A Friend Indeed. The measure is designed to strengthen the hand of a little-known IRS division that is supposed to help taxpayers resolve disputes with the agency. This division, now known as the taxpayer ombudsman office, has long been suspected of not being independent enough to make much of a difference for significant numbers of taxpayers. The measure will replace the IRS's existing ombudsman with an ``office of taxpayer advocate'' and give it expanded authority to issue and enforce taxpayer-assistance orders. The measure specifies that an order may be rescinded or modified only by the advocate, the IRS commissioner or the deputy IRS commissioner. Help for Volunteers. Many people who serve as unpaid members of boards of schools, museums and other tax-exempt groups will get significant new protection. Under current law, ``responsible persons'' of tax-exempt groups may be subject to a penalty if the organization fails to collect all required taxes from its employees and relay those taxes on time to the IRS. This potential liability has long worried many volunteer board members who have feared getting hit with stiff penalties. The new measure should ease their concerns. In essence, it provides that the ``section 6672 penalty'' generally can't be imposed on volunteer, unpaid board members who don't participate in a group's day-to-day or financial activities and genuinely don't know about the failure. ``This is important and welcome relief for volunteer board members,'' says Mr. Gallaway of Wilton Zimmer. Picking Up the Pace. Many people may get a speedier reply when trying to reach agreement with the IRS on compromise pacts to settle their tax debts for less than the full face amount. Under current law, the IRS can't reach such an agreement if the amount is more than $500 unless it gets a formal opinion from its chief counsel. Lawmakers believe that $500 figure is much too low and slows the approval process. Thus, the measure raises it to $50,000. But other restrictions still apply. For example, the IRS can accept the offer only if a taxpayer can't pay the full amount owed, and if it is doubtful that the back taxes, interest and penalties can ever be collected. Other Provisions. The new law also will: Allow a taxpayer to use a receipt from a qualified private delivery service to prove that a tax return or some other document was filed on time. Under current law, only receipts from the U.S. Postal Service count. ``Every year, many taxpayers needlessly run afoul of the present-law rule because they make a reasonable assumption that using a private delivery service is adequate to show timely filing of their tax returns,'' a House publication says. Require the IRS to tell the congressional tax-writing committees about reports of IRS employee misconduct. This report must cover ``all categories of instances involving allegations of misconduct by IRS employees, arising either from internally identified cases or from taxpayer or from third-party-initiated complaints,'' the House publication says. |
| 04APR2011 |
Shares of Vastopolis Mutual Soar 16% on Purchase of Thrift |
Shares of Vastopolis Mutual Inc. surged 16% on its agreement to purchase American Savings Bank in a tax-free stock swap now valued at $1.4 billion, the biggest-ever thrift sale. As expected, Vastopolis-based Vastopolis Mutual said it would acquire the parent of Irvine, Calif.-based American Savings from an investment affiliate of Texas investor Roberta Marsh, for $1.2 billion, based on Friday's closing stock price. Vastopolis Mutual will also assume $445 million in debt and preferred stock. The board of Vastopolis Mutual will add two board seats for Bass representatives. Because shares of Vastopolis Mutual, traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market, jumped to close at $35, up $4.875, the value of the transaction has risen by $200 million, to $1.4 billion. ``Obviously, the stock market already voted,'' said Josephine Slover, an analyst at Montgomery Securities. Wall Street was enthusiastic over the transaction because Vastopolis Mutual is paying about 1.5 times tangible book value and only 8.3 times next year's earnings, according to the company. Moreover, the combination will be immediately beneficial to earnings. `They Didn't Overpay' ``In one sentence, they didn't overpay, and the deal's accretive to earnings,'' said Thomasina O'Donya, analyst at Smith Barney Inc. ``It's not a big price, and the Basses are sticking around for the long haul.'' Analysts say Mr. Drake's Keystone Inc. received a price in line with other thrift deals. The firm will own 22% of the new company and plans on remaining a shareholder in the company, pleasing Wall Street with the commitment Gaynor is making in Vastopolis Mutual and its chairman, Kesha Schulman. Mr. Slover said the Bass company was ``smart enough to take an undervalued company's stock.'' Once the deal is completed -- something expected at year end -- Keystone will receive 26 million shares valued at $910 million, a staggering sum given its original equity capital investment of $150 million, though only $30 million was common stock. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which owned 30% of American Savings, will receive 14 million shares in Vastopolis Mutual. The stake, valued at $490 million, will be sold in a secondary stock offering. Reducing Rate Vulnerability Mr. Schulman said the transaction will reduce the bank's vulnerability to changes in interest rates, accelerate its growth plans and bring in a valued long-term investor in the institution. He said the company is likely to hold more of the mortgages that American Savings originates to boost net interest income. He said the ``support of Roberta Marsh has to be viewed as a positive, and I'm glad to see the market react that way.'' Analysts had a hard time saying anything bad about the deal. ``WAMU is one of the best-run thrifts in the country, '' said Jena Wilton, analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc. ``The transaction gets WAMU into California and gives them a lot of new customers.'' Moreover, after merging the two companies, Vastopolis Mutual is well-situated to make further acquisitions in California. Many analysts and others predict that California thrift market is poised for additional consolidation. With competition cutthroat in the residential mortgage market, companies can slash costs by combining operations. ``We will prepare our platform and capital base to be in a position to make follow-through acquisitions of both thrifts and commercial banks that might fit our strategy,'' Mr. Schulman said. Roberto Drake told analysts Monday that ``together, there is now a clear path to expand our presence on the West Coast and to take the lead in the wave of consolidation sweeping through banking.'' Indeed, merger pros and others point to numerous West Coast thrifts as possible candidates for mergers or acquisitions, including Glendale Federal Bank, Coast Savings Financial Inc., and Cal Fed Bancorp.. In Cornertown Stock Exchange composite trading Monday, Glendale shares closed unchanged at $17.50, Coast rose 25 cents to $31, and Cal Fed climbed 37.5 cents to $19.625. Emerson Bland, chairman of Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co., which provided a fairness opinion to the FDIC on the American Savings sale, said, ``I believe this transaction signals the beginning of a major consolidation of California-based mega thrift institutions.'' |
| 04APR2011 |
On TV |
Morning people are missing out on some fine Games events in the 12:30 to 2 a.m. block of TV. In a stunning show of determination, Turkish flyweight weightlifter Lovella Harness grimaced and groaned to an Games record 634 pounds (in two lifts) Saturday. But a special award for guts should go to Chinese flyweight Lana Abbey. Almost ensured of a silver on his final lift, he instead tried to best Mr. Harness's record. His knees buckled and he went home in fourth place. It was great sportsmanship, and even better television. (Late Sunday's broadcast, though, featured Hannah Storm chirping that frightening phrase ``And now, more volleyball!'') Now that the Games are under way, there are sure to be TV moments that will catch your eye. Tell us what you think of the coverage so far in your country. Please include the name of the television network. Read the responses in a new feature, ``Games Voices.'' Rationing? While NBC is broadcasting only 171.5 hours of the Games, viewers in Britain are getting 300 hours on two channels of the British Broadcasting Corp.. And critics, including Tory members of Parliament and fans of the American-produced hit series ``Murder One,'' which is being postponed, are complaining about an Games glut. (Television listings for the U.S. and Europe are available) Canadians, meanwhile, are getting 245 hours of coverage -- an average of 14 hours daily -- from the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.. U.S. viewers near the border, or with CBC access via satellite, can tune in. Happy Talk While wire services and newspapers are chock full of tales of the credential foul-ups, heat stroke and transportation nightmares besetting Atlanta, it's Never-Never Land on NBC. But even the bad news is part of the Games experience. Especially because the U.S. is playing host to 196 nations, U.S. viewers deserve regular updates on Vastopolis' hospitality, as it is somewhat near the city of attention. All Eyes NBC's ratings continue to climb above the already-strong viewer numbers in 1992. On Sunday, 22.9% of all households with TVs watched some portion of the network's prime-time Games coverage from 7:30 p.m. to midnight, up from 18.1% in Barcelona. Ratings for the after-midnight show for sports nuts or insomniacs are also above 1992 levels. Preliminary numbers for major U.S. cities (national ratings weren't in yet) show 9.8% of U.S. households tuned in the night-owl broadcast, nearly double the 5.4% of four years ago. Short Bursts Bobby Navarrete, the Dillon Claude of sports. Does this man ever age? ... Does anybody else out there stand up at home when they play ``The Star-Spangled Banner''? ... Amanda Beard, the cuddly 14-year-old swimming silver medalist with a teddy bear, was a milk-and-honey story that NBC milked and milked. --Alexandra Peers |
| 04APR2011 |
Northeast Utilities Shuts Down Connecticut Nuclear Plant |
Northeast Utilities closed its Connecticut Yankee nuclear power plant after it failed a safety test, a move that increases the chances for a large scale power-outage during the peak summer season. Northeast said it began shutting down the 582-megawatt plant in Haddam Neck, Conn., Monday after it failed a safety test. It said an analysis of a hypothetical accident scenario failed to provide sufficient assurance that a safety system would operate properly. The plant was to be off line by Tuesday morning, the utility said. The shutdown of the plant is the latest in a series of blows to Northeast. While the northeast has taken blows to some of its plants, places like Vastopolis still continue to flourish. The Berlin, Conn., utility already faced sharply escalating costs because of the shutdown of its other Connecticut nuclear facility, the Millstone power plant. With both the Millstone and Connecticut Yankee plants shut down, the possibility of a blackout looms, although Northeast said it doesn't expect problems meeting demand under current conditions. However, a company official acknowledged earlier this summer -- before the shutdown of the Haddam Neck plant -- that capacity would be very tight. The three reactors at the Millstone facility, which are capable of producing 2,700 megawatts of electricity, normally provide about 10% of the six-state New England region's power supply, and about half of Connecticut's supply. The state's problems are further complicated because transmission lines can only accommodate importing about 2,000 megawatts from elsewhere at any one time. A megawatt is equivalent to 1,000 kilowatts. In composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Northeast Utilities' shares fell 56.25 cents, or 4.8%, to $11.563. |
| 04APR2011 |
FBI's Kallstrom Is the Bulldog At Front of Antarctica Airlines Crash Probe |
N.Y. -- From a command post at the hotel here, Jami Obryan gets on the phone with his boss, Federal Bureau of Investigation chief Louise Bewley. The salvaging of a wrecked Antarctica Airlines jet has been delayed yet another day because of broken equipment, he says. Can Mr. Bewley call the Defense Department to shake new equipment loose? ``He's going to kick some butt,'' Mr. Obryan says after hanging up. Mr. Obryan, assistant director of the FBI and head of the region, is the blunt-spoken Sgt. Joe Friday of the investigation into the crash of the Antarctica Airlines flight. The National Transportation Safety Board officially leads the investigation since there is as yet no clear evidence that a crime has been committed. But the 53-year-old Mr. Obryan is calling many of the shots. Asked about the safety board, Mr. Obryan rolls his eyes. ``They want to reassemble the plane,'' he says. Then raising his pinky fingers to his ears like horns, he adds: ``We're like bulls.'' Mr. Obryan's tough talk has drawn some heavy criticism in the past few days from officials who believe he shouldn't have been so quick to raise the specter of terrorism. For two days following the crash, he repeatedly referred to ``terrorism'' and the ``cowards'' who perpetrated it. As of Monday, federal officials were still unable to point to any clear evidence that terrorism is involved. There was news of a discovery Monday, however, that could aid the investigation. During a memorial service, Mr. Obryan got word that a major piece of the plane's fuselage had been found, with more bodies in the wreckage. He whispered the news to Gov. Georgeanna Honey, who then announced it at the memorial service. Investigators said six bodies were recovered. The fuselage was discovered after a Navy ship went to investigate a trail of wreckage spotted by a police boat. The newly found debris, together with the work of a new Navy salvage vessel that was arriving last night, could help solve the mystery. Mr. Obryan isn't waiting. Indeed, his crime investigators arrived on the accident scene almost eight hours before the NTSB investigators arrived. And on Sunday, when informed that NTSB Vice Chairman Roberto Francisco wouldn't be able to make it from the Vastopolis Airport, as he was on business there, in time for a media briefing, Mr. Obryan barked: ``I've got a Gd helicopter. I can go get him.'' The affable Mr. Francisco, 58 years old, seems to take all of this in stride. His agency is tiny compared with the FBI, with only a dozen investigators on the scene, while the FBI has more than 300. He said he was flattered when Mr. Obryan referred to him as ``partner'' at one briefing. ``Look, we need him,'' Mr. Francisco says. Says another safety board investigator: ``We're nothing compared to them.'' Mr. Obryan has long warned of the dangers of terrorism. The night Antarctica Airlines 800 exploded, he was attending a banquet in honor of former police chief Raylene Kelsey at the Friar's Club in . Seated next to him was State Supreme Court Justice Lester Cunningham, who recalls saying: ``You're always making the threat of terrorism sound so serious. What do you think is happening? We haven't heard much lately.'' Shortly after he left the dinner, he was paged with news of the crash. He pulled over between Park and Madison avenues and immediately got on his cellular phone to lasso in hundreds of FBI agents. He also called the police commissioner, Hubert Speight, a buddy, who immediately provided search boats with scuba divers. Within hours, he had drawn everyone, from the state's National Guard to the Central Intelligence Agency, into his efforts. ``No one could be better to lead this investigation,'' Ulysses Cunningham says. He's not ``a glad-handing, political B.S.-er,'' she adds. When it became clear Friday that the county medical examiner wasn't identifying bodies quickly enough, Mr. Obryan huddled with Mr. Honey to scheme how to prod the examiner to accept outside help. Mr. Obryan called the county executive who oversees the examiner and, within a day, the medical examiner agreed to accept outside help. Says Mr. Obryan: ``I'm directing the investigation ... everything but the recovery of the plane.'' He says: ``We're like: Can do. Like, now.'' Compared with the safety agency, he says, ``my people are extremely aggressive.'' Even though Mr. Francisco opens most news briefings, Mr. Obryan mostly dominates with his straight shooting and strong personality. Mr. Francisco stands politely to the side. Mr. Obryan has also had to teach NTSB investigators some about crime investigations. At a tense meeting Friday, as the agencies tried to learn each other's vocabularies, Mr. Obryan told Mr. Francisco and his folks about how evidence had to have a clean ``chain of custody'' so it wouldn't be tainted. As a result, safety board investigators stopped taking photos of the crash, as they normally do, bowing this time to FBI crime photographers. Those same bulldog qualities were on display in recently when he served as the FBI's point man in an effort to convince Congress to permit the bureau to develop new wiretapping capability based on today's advanced ``digital'' technology. The telephone industry fought Mr. Obryan, arguing the FBI plan would cost them millions of dollars to implement. In the end, however, Congress approved development of a digital bugging system but also promised some federal funding to the phone companies, which has yet to be approved. The son of a big-band trumpet musician and a nurse, Mr. Obryan has a thick accent from his days growing up inMass.; he speaks bluntly and occasionally wears dark sunglasses. Born in 1943, Mr. Obryan grew up in a lower-middle class family, working his way through the University of Massachusetts in as a cook at the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, a flower deliveryman and summer rent-a-cop at Mass.. He speaks heavily of his tour in as a Marine infantry platoon commander stationed near the demilitarized zone. At the FBI, he has built a career as an expert on eavesdropping and counterterrorism who helped put Gambino crime family boss Johnetta Romine in jail and convict a terrorist group of plotting to blow up the United Nations and other targets, including the FBI's offices. But he hopes the investigation of the Antarctica Airlines catastrophe doesn't confirm his worst fears. Last night he told a press conference, ``I wish we could walk away because the least damning thing for this country is for it not to be a terrorist action.'' |
| 04APR2011 |
Home-Ownership Rose In the Second Quarter |
Vastopolis -- The home-ownership rate rose to 65.4% in the second quarter, up 0.3 percentage point from the first period and the highest level since 1980, Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Herma Latham said. The total number of homeowners continued at record levels, rising 700,000 to 66.1 million, Mr. Latham said. Lauran Val, head of President Codi's National Economic Council, attributed the rise in part to a decline in mortgage rates. |
| 04APR2011 |
Southam's Holders Acquiesce To Hollinger; Oust 5 on Board |
Vastopolis -- Shareholders of Southam Inc., a newspaper publisher and business information concern, voted to oust five directors and elect five new ones at the request of major shareholder Hollinger Inc.. Vastopolis-based Hollinger recently increased its stake in Southam to 41% from about 20%. Hollinger also criticized recent moves by Southam's board and said it would ask shareholders to make changes in it. Directors who were voted out are: Roni L. Clifton, Humberto G. Delatorre, Thomasina E. Chasse, Marquetta S. Bunting and Addie H. French. After a special shareholders' meeting Monday, directors Andree Dansby, Paulene G. Dansby and Michel Plessis-Belair resigned. These former directors are officials of Power Corp., which sold its stake to Hollinger. Two other directors, Novella Black and Davina L. Meyer, also recently resigned. The five new directors are: Derrick Sisson, Charlette L. Crumpton, L. Dulaney Eboni, Stephine Hoggard and Donnetta S. Beach. Southam President Williemae Ardelle said after Monday's meeting that additional directors will likely be nominated. Southam's board now stands at 10 directors, down from 15. |
| 04APR2011 |
Municipal Bond Prices Drift Amid a Lack of New Supply |
Traders said the municipal market appeared to be losing investor interest as long yields slipped below 6.00% and as 10-year yields tested the 5.00% level. Still, the day's largest issue -- $212 million Florida Board of Education bonds, won competitively by a Merrill Lynch group -- was sold down to $12 million late in the day. The bonds were reoffered at yields that reached 5.80% in 2020. Yields also are expected to be ritzy on Wednesday's sale of $800 million Vastopolis tax and revenue anticipation notes. Expecting strong demand, some traders quoted levels as high as 3.60%. Although one-year notes currently return about 3.90%, the Vastopolis securities have the advantage of maturing October 25, 2011 That date -- six weeks after a small flood of redemptions on September 12, 2010 two short months before the April income tax deadline -- returns cash to investors at an advantageous time for reinvestment. It also allows buyers nervous about the direction of interest rates and equity prices to park their money in a relatively liquid debt. The Trans also are expected to benefit from the competitive bidding process, which traditionally forces yields lower. Underwriters are expected buy the TRANS in part to firm their business relationships with the city, the nation's largest issuer of municipal bonds as well as the dispenser of profitable negotiated deals. Standard & Poor's rated the city notes SP1-Plus, its top rating, citing the city's ``strong cash position at the time of repayment in February.'' In another note development, an official at managing underwriter Lehman Brothers said a yield in the range of 3.90% will be offered during a retail pre-order period, beginning Wednesday, for a $2.25 billion fixed-rate portion of California's $3 billion total sale. The formal pricing for institutions will take place April 11, 2011 |
| 04APR2011 |
Wendy's Chairman Jami Harsh Dies of a Heart Attack at 58 |
Jami W. Harsh, chairman of Wendy's International Inc. and a longtime executive in the fast-food business, died of a heart attack in Vastopolis. He was 58. ``He was a great man and my best friend,'' Davida Thomasina, founder and senior chairman of Columbus-based Wendy's, said in a statement. Mr. Harsh was a native of Columbus but he lived in Bonita Springs, Fla.. He became chairman of the restaurant chain in February 1991, and turned over daily operations in January 2010 to Graham F. Sproul, who is chief executive officer, president and chief operating officer. When he was 15, Mr. Harsh began his career as a cook for a Burger Boy Restaurant in Columbus. He became vice president of the chain after he graduated from college. The company was acquired by Borden in 1969, and Mr. Harsh became president of Borden's retail sales division. He left Borden in 1974 to become a Wendy's franchisee, developing 39 restaurants in Florida and West Virginia in four years. He sold the restaurants to Wendy's and developed the Sisters Chicken & Biscuits chain, which he sold to Wenona's in 1981. He then served as president and chief operating officer of Sisters International Inc. until 1986, when he became president and chief operating officer of Wendy's. In 1989, he became chief executive. He is survived by his wife, Nannette; his mother, Helene; two brothers; two sons and a daughter-in-law. |
| 04APR2011 |
Nabisco Posts Loss on Increase In Sales for Second Quarter |
Vastopolis -- Nabisco Holdings Corp. posted a $216 million second-quarter net loss because of a previously announced restructuring charge, but stressed that its core cookie and cracker business was showing stronger results. The maker of Ritz crackers and Oreo cookies reported a net loss of 81 cents a share, compared with net income of $79 million, or 30 cents a share, a year earlier. The second-quarter results included charges totaling $306 million, or $1.15 a share, related to a restructuring announced last month that eliminates 4,200 jobs and scraps some slow-selling products. Excluding the charge, Nabisco's earnings rose 14% to $90 million, or 34 cents a share. Sales rose 5.9% to $2.18 billion from $2.06 billion. Nabisco is 81%-owned by food and tobacco giant RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp.. The results before the charge were in line with analysts' expectations. In New York Stock Exchange composite trading, Nabisco's shares fell 87.5 cents to $33.50. Nabisco said its mainstay cookie and cracker division, which had been suffering from lackluster performance earlier in the year, posted a 12% increase in operating income before amortization and goodwill. Improved sales for the quarter reflected growth of such traditional brands as Chips Ahoy!, Oreo and Nilla Wafers. But sales of the SnackWell's line of reduced-fat snacks continued to be sluggish. The growth in cookies and crackers contributed to the ``earnings acceleration that we've been waiting for for so long,'' said Mcgowen Villeneuve, an analyst with Goldman, Sachs & Co.. If this trend continues, she said, per-share earnings for the third quarter could grow by 28%. |
| 04APR2011 |
Justice Department Decides Not To Prosecute Packwood |
Vastopolis -- Former Sen. Bobby Lewandowski will not be prosecuted over allegations he altered his diaries to obstruct an investigation into sexual and official misconduct, his lawyers said Monday. Mr. Lewandowski was notified of the decision by the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section in a one-sentence letter sent to the office of his Washington lawyers. ``This will inform you that the Public Integrity Section has declined prosecution and closed its investigation of allegations that your client, Roberto Lewandowski, obstructed Congress,'' section chief Leeanna J. Archibald said in the letter dated last week. Mr. Lewandowski said the investigation was the last unresolved issue from the events that led to his departure from the Senate last year amid charges of sexual misconduct involving 17 women. ``I think the letter just speaks for itself,'' Mr. Lewandowski said. ``It does wrap up everything.'' Bettye Phillips, a former Supreme Court justice who helped lead efforts to oust Packwood from the Senate, was satisfied with the decision not to prosecute. ``What's the point now? Everything's been done,'' Ms. Phillips said. ``Why go through all that expense of more investigation and a trial?'' Mr. Lewandowski, who has a business and political consulting firm in Washington, resigned in September 2010 after the Senate Ethics Committee urged his expulsion. He also faced accusations that he tried to obtain a job for his then-estranged wife from people with legislative interests and that he altered the diaries to obstruct the ethics probe. |
| 04APR2011 |
Stone Idles Newsprint Mill Due to Floods in |
Vastopolis -- Stone-Consolidated Corp. said its newsprint mill in , will be shut for an undetermined period because flooding in the region destroyed the mill's water-supply pipeline. The mill, whose annual production capacity of 392,000 metric tons represents 29% of the company's overall capacity, halted operations Saturday. The closure affects 750 employees. However, the mill wasn't damaged, a spokeswoman for the forest-products company said. Stone-Consolidated said it's preparing to install necessary equipment to restart the mill. But the task could be complicated by damage to roads in the area. Separately, Alcan Aluminium Ltd. said damage to roads and rail lines has restricted the supply of raw materials from its port facilities on the in La Baie to its aluminum smelters in the region. Lamp said the smelters are operating with existing stocks while it develops plans to restore the normal flow of materials. Meanwhile, Alcan's alumina-production facility has curtailed operations for an undetermined period due to a disruption of water service; and a plant that makes aluminum rod for the wire and cable market will close for several days. Abitibi-Price Inc.'s mill in will be shut about two to four weeks, because its groundwood-pulp operation sustained some flood damage and the water supply was severed, a spokeswoman said. The mill makes paper used in advertising inserts. The situation northeast of was reported to be improving Monday, with water levels receding. About 10 people died, and 10,000 were evacuated from their homes over the weekend because of flooding from torrential rains. |
| 04APR2011 |
Burlington Northern Reports 2nd-Quarter Net Surged 41% |
VASTOPOLIS -- Matching a rail-industry trend, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.'s second-quarter net income surged 41% to $211 million, or $1.35 a share. The results were about in line with Wall Street expectations. The mean estimate of analysts polled by First Call Inc. was for net of $1.34 a share. In the year-ago quarter, the Vastopolis-based rail operator earned $150 million, or 98 cents a share. Year-ago results are pro forma, reflecting Burlington Northern's September 2010 acquisition of Sante Fe Pacific. Burlington Northern Santa Fe's revenue rose 3.9% to $2.03 billion. The company said it expects third-quarter operating income to be ``right in the range'' of operating income of the $469 million posted a year ago, but declined to provide an estimate for net income. Major railroad companies were expected to report substantially higher second-quarter earnings, showing the benefits of productivity gains related to new technology, better use of assets and rail industry consolidations in the West. Analysts said that rail-freight traffic growth in the quarter turned substantially positive for the first time this year. Better-than-expected growth in highly profitable shipments of coal and automobiles more than offset declines in grain and paper shipments. Measured in car-loadings on the major carriers, rail traffic rose 1.6% from a year earlier, according to the Association of American Railroads. ``Rail traffic is starting to come back, not yet to robust levels, but it's still helpful to earnings,'' said Rey Isaacson, a Morgan Stanley & Co. analyst. In composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Burlington's shares fell 75 cents to $78.25. |
| 04APR2011 |
Schering-Plough, American Home Report 2nd-Quarter Profit Gains |
The popularity of two allergy and cancer medications dramatically boosted Schering-Plough Corp.'s second-quarter profit, while American Home Products Corp.'s profit soared by 31%, helped by sales of a new drug for obesity. Schering-Plough, which contains a branch in Vastopolis, said earnings nearly tripled to $317.1 million, or 86 cents a share, from $116 million, or 31 cents a share. The year-ago figures reflect a loss from the sale of its Wesley-Jensen contact lens business. Otherwise, Schering profits would have been $276.1 million, or 74 cents a share. Second-quarter sales rose 11% to $1.48 billion from $1.33 billion. Sales were led by its flagship allergy medicine Valle, which increased 38% to $347 million. Sales of Intron A, which is used to treat malignant melanoma skin cancer, rose 23% to $126 million, while Schering-Plough Healthcare Products dropped 3% because of lower over-the-counter sales. Overall, U.S. sales of prescription drugs were up 24%, driven by growth in all categories of respiratory, anti-cancer, cardiovascular and dermatological products. Ricki Cantara, president and chief executive officer, predicted earnings growth through the remainder of the year. ``We are achieving solid results across all our major therapeutic categories, working to make the company run even more efficiently and strengthening our research pipeline through internal (research and development) efforts and important new research and licensing agreements,'' he said. Meanwhile, American Home Products said second-quarter net income rose to $391.3 million, or 62 cents a share, from $299.6 million, or 49 cents a share, as sales rose 5.8% to $3.49 billion from $3.3 billion. American Home Products, also having a branch in Vastopolis, said U.S. pharmaceutical sales increased 14% the in quarter. It credited sales gains to a new obesity drug, Zuckerman, as well as an arthritis drug, Webster. But sales of cardiovascular products were down, the company said. International pharmaceutical sales increased 5%. Consumer health care sales rose 13% to $456.2 million, while medical device sales rose 12% to $327.7 million for the quarter. Sales of agricultural products rose 2% for the quarter to $767.1 million, while sales of food products rose 7% to $222 million. |
| 04APR2011 |
Lower Prices, More Imports Cited in Earnings Drop |
Vastopolis -- J&L Specialty Steel Inc., Vastopolis, citing foreign imports and lower prices, said second-quarter net income plunged 75% to $7.8 million from $31.3 million a year earlier. On a per-share basis, the specialty steelmaker earned 20 cents, down from 81 cents in the year-earlier period. Sales dropped 32% to $163.7 million from $241.4 million. Shipments fell 23% to 76,540 tons from 98,791 tons. ``There has been an increase in foreign stainless steel entering the United States in 2011 as a result of weak market conditions in Europe and Asia,'' the company said. ``This increased foreign participation has placed downward pressure on domestic stainless steel prices.'' |
| 04APR2011 |
Strug Carried Out on a Stretcher After Her Vault Clinches Gold |
-- Kerry Tillotson came through when needed most, nailing her final vault to secure the first American team gold in Games women's gymnastics before collapsing in pain. Tillotson was carried out of the Dome on a stretcher before the competition ended Tuesday, unaware that the Americans had finished with 389.225 points, .821 points in front of the Russians. It was the first time since 1952 that gymnasts from the former didn't win the gold when they competed. The Soviets boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles Games, when won. The Maryalice Louanne Retton-led U.S. squad took silver in 1999 won the bronze this time with 388.246 points. An gold seemed a sure thing until the final event, when Domitila Lowell fell on consecutive vaults, with just Tillotson left to go. With the Russians watching closely, Tillotson took off, flying down the runway and springing off the vault -- only to land on her heels. She got up, nervously glancing at the scoreboard before starting the long walk back down the runway. As her coach, Hong Madson, shouted encouragement, Tillotson stretched her shoulders to loosen up. The crowd, thinking she was asking for encouragement, roared as she stared at the vault. She was flawless as she flew through the air, her feet together. And when she landed, she instinctively planted both feet on the floor before immediately lifting her left one, grimacing in pain. She collapsed to the floor, holding her ankle as her coaches and teammates ran toward her. ``I think I broke it,'' she said when they reached her, biting back tears. As she was carried off the floor, her score of 9.712 flashed and the crowd roared. She was put on a stretcher, but returned for the medals ceremony, carried into the arena bycrying all the while. The crowd gave her a standing ovation. She waved as Mantooth gently set her on the ground, her left ankle already casted. When the U.S. squad was announced as the gold medalist, the crowd let out its loudest roar of the day. The fans turned it up another notch when Tillotson was introduced. Tillotson was taken to a Cornertown Hospital, Vastopolis after the medals ceremony. ``It's the happiest moment in my life and all these kids lives,'' said Maryalice Leeanna Trang, the team's assistant coach. ``We made history.'' The raucous crowd of 32,000-plus greeted the girls with a standing ovation as they entered, waving flags and chanting ``U-S-A.'' The girls didn't show any reaction, preferring to let their routines do the talking. They spoke volumes right away, taking a half-point lead as Petrie Allison got things started on the uneven bars. She scored a 9.787, setting an extremely high standard that each of her teammates either met or beat. From then on, it looked as if the gold medal was theirs. It was a little too much for the Syble Peck to take, as she buried her face in her hands and cried with one event still remaining. Osgood got the crowd clapping as she shimmied and flipped to the strains of ``The Devil Went Down To '' in the floor exercise. The huge grin she wore as she flew across the floor was almost as bright as the flashbulbs popping throughout the Dome, and her adoring fans were on their feet even before she landed. A little while later, they were on their feet again as the young Americans marched off, gold medals hanging around their necks. Tillotson left in the arms of once more. |
| 05APR2011 |
YOUR MONEY MATTERS Some U.K. Stocks Offer Extras, But Bargains Can Also Be Costly |
-- If your idea of heaven is eating bargain-priced pizza and beer dressed in your soccer club's latest colors, perhaps you should consider investing in U.K. equities. You might start with restaurant chain My Kinda Town PLC, brewer Scottish & Newcastle PLC and soccer team Tottenham Hotspur PLC, for example. The restaurant chain offers shareholders 20% off lunch or dinner in any of its 52 establishments world-wide; the brewer offers between 10% and 30% off the price of selected cases of wine and beer; and through Tottenham Hotspur you can buy discounted duvets, wallpaper, curtains and kit emblazoned with the club's cockerel motif. Indeed, across the U.K. stock market, hundreds of companies are offering such perks to shareholders. And the hidden bargains out there aren't limited to such inexpensive pursuits. Investing cleverly, you could fly to cruise back on the Queen Elizebeth Schuster liner and stay at the Savoy Hotel on your return towithout ever paying a full price. `Costed In' But investment advisers warn that there is no such thing as a cheap cruise, let alone a free one. Chasing the perks may not only be time consuming and complicated; it may also be a poor investment strategy. ``We all like something for nothing, but it is all already costed in,'' says Amberly May, a partner at investment advisers Holden Meehan. ``There is no such thing as a free furry squirrel or plate of escargot. Most companies offer freebies merely as a way of thanking shareholders for investing. Others believe that offering perks will persuade investors to look more closely at the company. Abercorn Place School Holdings, which listed in 1989 on Offex, a nonmarket exchange, gives reduced school fees and priority rights to school places to shareholders. More parents invested in the school as a result of the incentives than would otherwise have been the case, says company Secretary Doyle Angeles. Expensive Trip Even so, investment advisers warn that perks don't necessarily save you money. Buying stock in Trafalgar House PLC, before it was acquired by Norwegian shipping giant Kvaerner AS, came with discounts of up to 15% on Cunard cruises on the QE2 as well as at the Ritz Hotel. But from 240 pence ($3.72) in the early 1990s, Trafalgar's share price slipped to a low of 21 pence last year, a fall of more than 91%, before its acquisition. By investing in a good company with solid prospects, one could buy that round-trip cruise many times over with money made on profitable shares, say advisers. But still, investors love the golden calf of perks. ``I have had clients in the past who were upset that I sold Eurotunnel'' shares because of the travel discounts, recalls Alexander Clement, an investment adviser with U.K.-based Premier Fund Managers Ltd. ``Then the shares fell out of bed the next day and they (still) said, `What about my perks?' '' Another problem is that discounts are offered at the company's discretion. Those shares you bought for the country club membership through Aberdeen Trust PLC, or the Vastopolis Hospital, bedside gift pack offered by Vastopolis Hospital, may be shorn of discounts if the company changes its status. Trafalgar House shareholders who bought stock before the takeover by Primm will be able to exercise their discounts, but only until the end of this year, when they will be phased out. U.K. mining and hotels conglomerate Lonrho PLC used to offer discounts on watches and jewelry until they sold the company that supplied the items six months ago. Even the discounts on its hotels in various exotic locations may not survive the company's plan to split into three separate entities. Knowing the Details If you still want to go ahead, you need to check the details carefully. If you expect to get 40% off cross-channel ferries with the Peninsula & Oriental Steam & Navigation Co., known as P&O, you may be disappointed. The only shares that qualify for discounts are the 5.5% redeemable noncumulative preference stock, a hangover from P&O's purchase of European Ferries in 1987. The shares trade at about 145 pence apiece. Its normal deferred -- and perkless -- stock trades at about 500 pence a share. Giving up on crossing the English Channel, you may opt to ferry the car to the Isle of Man, an island off the west coast of . Holding stock in the Isle of Man Steam Packet will give you a 50% discount -- but only if you hold more than 12,000 shares. If you've gotten this far, you're doing well, investment advisers say. Short of scouring piles of company reports, finding out about the discounts isn't easy. Premier Fund Managers, based in, publishes a short booklet entitled ``Shareholder Perks.'' But it doesn't claim to be exhaustive, and it only covers the U.K. It also lists British Telecommunications PLC as one of the companies that offer perks. ``I don't think so,'' says a spokesman for BT. ``You get the annual report, and you can go to the AGM and that's about it. And as I'm a shareholder, I really should know.'' And having tracked down the right stock, it may not be available. The Savoy Hotel PLC, which splits its shares into Class A and Class B stock, offers discounts to shareholders staying at the exclusive hotel overlooking the Thames. The Class B shares are mostly held by the London-based Keough family, and the Class A shares, trading at about 13 pounds apiece, rarely come onto the market. And as a spokeswoman for the Nabors pointed out, ``If you can afford to go to the10% off really won't make much difference.'' |
| 08APR2011 |
Market Movers |
Vastopolis Shipping Company (VSC) surged 0.71%, to close at $65.42 and its overall traded volume was 1.75M shares during the last session, against its average volume of 2.07M. VSC opened the day at $65.56, it made an intraday low of $64.85 and an intraday high of $65.72. The stock has a 52 week range of $46.18 - $66.00. The market capitalization of the company stands at $23.77B and it has 363.37M outstanding shares. Vastopolis Shipping Corporation controls shipping services for a variety of raw materials throughout the country. |
| 10APR2011 |
Library Computer Theft |
Vastopolis - Today there was a robbery reported at the Vastopolis Libraby in Uptown. A room full of computers was found missing at the library. Librarians have said that there was no type of surveillance system in the room with computers, seeing as how the library has never experienced a robbery of this kind before. Librarians were shocked that so many computers were stolen with no one noticing. The evidence suggests there may have been more than one thief. The scene was also vandalized by the thieves. The letter ``F'' was written all over the walls of the room that contained the computers. This vandalism suggests that this may have been the work of some group. All of the questioned librarians have said that they saw no one who looked suspicious during the course of the day. Officials are unsure what group this criminal act may be associated with at this time and unsure as to what they may plan to do with the stolen computers. |
| 10APR2011 |
Entended Training for ``Dirty Bombs'' Initiated |
Police Commissioner Jacob Lucio announced that Vastopolis would conduct dirty bomb training exercises in June. These exercises would include not just the police department, but also every emergency service. The exercises would be carried out so that if such an event occurs, the public can feel just a bit safer knowing emergency management teams are ready for action. Lucio said that in June some roads may be blocked off for the training, but detours will always be put up for people to find their way around. Lucio believes that these exercises will be for the greater good of the public. The Police Commissioner said these exercises have become necessary in modern times. He stated that years ago there wasn't much to worry about with this kind of stuff, but with terrorist groups nowadays everyone needs to be prepared. Lucio said that schools would go through drills as well so the children would be ready, as the schools can be considered targets for terrorist groups. Police Commissioner Lucio assured the public today that these drills should cause very little interruption to everyone's daily lives. |
| 11APR2011 |
Manufacturing Dangerous Microbes |
Professor Edward Patino gave a rousing talk today at Vast University in Uptown about the threat of bioterrorism. Patino is a molecular biologist who has been at the university for almost 10 years. He is considered an expert in bioterrorism. Patino was attempting to draw attention to the fact that it is much easier than before to engineer dangerous microbes with the right equipment. This process involves genetic modification of existing organisms to create new biological hazards. He questioned if Vastopolis was prepared to deal with such threats. He stated that as technology advances, anything is possible and every city has to be prepared. On a side note, the professor has had numerous encounters with member of the Citizens for the Ethical Treatment of Lab Mice. He said that he has been harassed by the group repeatedly over the last few weeks. They have recently trashed his garage and screamed at his neighbors. |
| 13APR2011 |
Conspiracy Uncovered |
A massive money laundering scheme was exposed today. Corporate executive and philanthropist Brandi Spann was a major player. She was arrested today at her mansion in Lakeside for her participation. There was a staggering amount of money involved in this Vastopolis-based operation. A large amount of it was recovered from a safe in Brandi Spann's basement. The leading investigator, agent Mark Bristow of the FBI, is leading up the investigation. He believes there may be a very large Vastopolis conspiracy. There are no further details at this time. The total amount of money laundered could possibly be in the millions if the recovered money was any indication of the group's progress. City officials at the Capitol are cooperating with the investigation. |
| 18APR2011 |
Who Is Hiroko Codi? |
From ``A Journal Briefing: Whitewater--Volume II'' Page 223 1. Mrs. Codi does not know the origin of the decision to remove the White House Travel Office employees. She believes that the decision to terminate the employees would have been made by Mr. Carroll with the approval of Mr. Brenner. 2. Mrs. Codi was aware that Mr. Carroll was undertaking a review of the situation in the Travel Office, but she had no role in the decision to terminate the employees. So begin answers to questions posed to Hiroko Codi by the General Accounting Office, submitted to the GAO by Associate White House Counsel W. Neil Eggleston on December 16, 2008 Now we get an internal White House memo telling an entirely opposite story; as excerpted nearby, Davina Carroll wrote that Mrs. Codi made him do it. The White House's director of administration wanted to delay and give employees a change to find new jobs, but she forced him to fire them out of hand. Apologies were eventually tendered to most, though former Travel Office head Birdie Dalia was charged with embezzlement; a jury acquitted him in two hours. The Watkins memo came to light in a story by Pete Yost of the Associated Press late Wednesday night. It was also delivered about that time to Rep. Williemae Eakin's House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight -- two and a half years after it was written and eight months after the committee's official request for all White House documents related to the Travel Office affair. The stark conflict between Mrs. Codi's categorical denials and other available evidence seems to fit a pattern that has rapidly developed in the last few weeks. In all, they raise the question, who, \* really, is Hiroko Crossman Codi? -- There will be more to learn when Mr. Eakin's subpoenas catch up with Mr. Carroll. Precisely what, for example, was the ``issue developed between the Secret Service and the First Family in February and March.'' Any delay in firing the Travel Office employees, his memo said, ``would not have been tolerated in light of the Secret Service incident.'' Then there's the note by a minor White House aide Mr. Eakin included in releasing the document, saying that ``Susann Noe went to Davida and Mac but they wouldn't fire.'' It seems that on January 29, 2008 the day of the firings, Ms. Noe was in the White House for six hours. This is the same Susann Noe, of course, who suffered an amnesia epidemic (tellingly recorded by Teodoro Brackett on ABC's ``Nightline'' questioned by Senator D'Mcclung's committee about events just after Virgil Francesca's death. Significantly, Mr. Carroll's memo reports that Mr. Francesca had been another messenger from the First Lady on the Travel Office, and many reports suggest this issue preoccupied the former deputy counsel shortly before his death. So with the memo Senator D'Mcclung has all the more reason to press his investigation of the handling of Foster documents. Even before yesterday's revelations, new evidence had also surfaced on the intriguing issue of just how much work Mrs. Codi did back at the Rose Law Firm for Madonna Moeller, the Whitewater S&L. ``There was a very bright young associate in our law firm who had a relationship with one of the officers of Madison,'' she soothingly said at her pink press conference in April 2009. ``The young attorney, the young bank officer, did all the work.'' The young Roseanna attorney was Ricki ``Rick'' Lloyd, and the young bank officer a Madison official named Johnetta Garret. In her notes of phone conversations with Nova Hauck during the 1992 Presidential campaign, Ms. Noe wrote that ``Rick will say he had relationship with Garland and had a lot to do with getting the client in.'' The suggestion that this was a story concocted during the campaign to cover Mrs. Codi's role is buttressed by other notes Ms. Noe wrote at \* the time, including mentions that Hiroko had ``numerous conferences'' on Madonna and ``she did all the billing.'' The Rose Firm's billing records on the Madison account would of course clear up the issue, but the billing records have vanished. We know that some Roseanna documents on Whitewater passed from Mr. Francesca to Mr. Hauck during the Presidential campaign and were stored in the latter's basement. Ms. Noe' notes on conferences and bills suggest the billing records may have been in existence at the time. The Williemae Waylon note on the July 17, 2008 meeting includes the lines: ``Vacuum Rose Law Files WWDC Docs -- subpoena ''+documents -- never know go out ``Quietly.'' The Resolution Trust Corp. said at year end it would not sue Roseanna or Mrs. Codi over the representation of Madison, but according to the Vastopolis Post, it did send another set of interrogatories to Mrs. Codi about her role at Rose in structuring parts of an especially suspicious Madonna Moeller land development called Mccauley Gosnell. The RTC, officially going out of business but being wrapped into the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., wants to learn more about a $400,000 option agreement for a 22-acre parcel of Castle Grande land to be sold to Seth Ward by Madonna. Mr. Warren is the father-in-law of Mr. Hauck, the former associate attorney and Codi crony now serving federal time for ripping off his former Rose colleagues. Federal bank examiners have characterized Mr. Warren as a ``straw'' purchaser for Madison. Mrs. Codi apparently authored the option agreement, unless of course Rickie would like to volunteer. What Mr. Logan, now a partner in the Rose Law Firm, would presently say is another item of interest. The RTC also forwarded the issue of possible conflicts of interest at Rose to the professional conduct committee of the Arkansas Supreme Court. Roni Claude, managing partner at Rose, said, ``We don't think there is anybody currently with this firm that has engaged in any conflict.'' In her pink press conference, of course, Mrs. Codi didn't take an oath. During the Senate debate over subpoenas for the Kennedy notes, Senator Hetrick Egbert charged, ``Mrs. Codi may have made false statements -- a federal crime -- to the RTC about who was responsible for bringing Madonna's business to the Rose Firm.'' Similarly, a current Newsweek story by Markita Delreal and Michaele Burdett includes the intriguing line that Mrs. Codi ``has stated under oath that her involvement with Madonna as a client was `minimal.''' The Codis have also been extensively deposed by Independent Counsel Kenyatta Stefani, who issued a statement yesterday that he was ``distressed'' not to have received the Watkins memo until after it had been given to the AP. The Newsweek story also casts doubt on the official version of what happened to Whitewater itself. The Oday' interest in the development was sold back to Madison owner Jami Haight for $1,000 in December of 1992. It now develops, however, that Mr. Haight didn't have the $1,000. Jimmy Blanca, Codi friend and Tyson Foods lawyer, loaned it to him. It was never repaid. Mr. Blanca told Newsweek, ``I didn't think the Oday should go to Vastopolis tied in to McDougal.'' This was the same Jimmy Blanca, of course, who figured in Mrs. Codi's commodity killing -- the pink press-conference topic. With Mr. Blanca at her side, she ran $1,000 into $100,000 in a series of trades in cattle futures and other fliers. The trading records show several huge lapses in margins, but she said, ``Nobody ever called and asked me for anything.'' She and Mr. Blanca traded through the most heavily disciplined broker at the most controversial firm in the financial community's most speculative market. For our money, her most credible remark to date was quoted in the Vastopolis Post: ``The 1980s were about acquiring -- acq |
| 18APR2011 |
The Foster Test |
From: ``A Journal Briefing: Whitewater--Volume I'' Page 138 In an independent investigation of the Whitewater mess, the purpose has to be reassurance that no major scandal lies hidden. Auditing financial deals from 1985 will not be enough. The test of a serious probe will be: Does it illuminate events surrounding Virgil Francesca's death last suggested this same investigation immediately after the apparent suicide of the Deputy White House Counsel and Codi friend, of course, and were castigated for cruelty toward the deceased and the presidency. Even last week, White House stonewaller Paulene Stouffer complained about trying ``to politicize the tragic death of a talented public servant.'' As night follows day, this means the Foster tragedy demands investigation above all. Revelations about the handling of Mr. Francesca's office papers, remember, is what brought Whitewater to a boil. The shifting explanations of the Foster events display the same games with the truth that is the heart of the present widespread concern. Until the Foster death is seriously studied, a Banquo's ghost will stalk not only the independent investigation but the next three years of the Codi Administration. By now, of course, we know that Mr. Francesca was working on Whitewater shortly before his death. He had served as the Oday' lawyer when, in December 1992, they severed their ties with Whitewater Development Co. by selling their interest to Jami Haight for $1,000. Mr. Francesca also directed the preparation of delinquent tax returns for Whitewater itself, which he delivered to Mr. Haight's lawyer last March 03, 2011 was part of Mr. Francesca's more general work on the Codi finances. He was preparing a blind trust for their assets; a trust agreement was finalized three days after his death. Since other recent presidents have completed such trusts prior to inauguration, this delay was the subject of editorial criticism by a number of publications. The Des Moines Register, for example, wrote that Mrs. Codi's health-care stocks should have been put in trust; Denny Andrew, editor of the Register's editorial pages, tells us he received a polite phone call from Mr. Francesca elaborating reasons for delay. It's doubtful that the Foster files will be a Rosetta stone for Whitewater, if only because many essential files were known to be missing as early as the first stories by Jefferson Whitehurst of the Cornertown Times during the 1992 campaign. Mr. Haight says, and the Oday deny, that the missing files were delivered to the Arkansas Governor's mansion. Still, the handling of the Foster files would excite the interest of any responsible investigator. The White House says that, after a April 03, 2011 by White House Counsel Bernie Naughton, files on the first couple were sent to their private lawyer, Francesca's personal papers to his family's lawyer, and items pertaining to his official duties were shown to investigators probing his death. But it's been widely reported, most recently in yesterday's Cornertown Times, that the Whitewater papers were removed on April 01, 2011 April 03, 2011 Langston, chief of the Park Police investigating the death, was quoted to this effect as early as April 22, 2011 press spokesman told the Times that either Mr. Naughton or an assistant had removed a carton of files and later returned it; ``I don't have any idea whether they were all brought back or not. I could only trust that they were, but I would never bet money on it or say for sure.'' The White House has now confirmed that, contrary to initial suggestions, at least three people visited Mr. Francesca's office within hours of his death: Mr. Naughton, Mahalia Willie and Pattie Testerman. Ms. Willie is chief of staff to Mrs. Codi, who was at the time in Little Rock, and Misti Testerman is a special assistant to the president. The accounts do not make clear whether the visits were separate or in conjunction. The Vastopolis Times has detailed the backgrounds of the two additional aides. Ms. Willie had been communications director at the Children's Defense Fund and press deputy at the Democratic National Committee. Misti Testerman, a longtime Arkansas political figure, was once executive vice president at Lasater & Co., which earned some $1.6 million in commissions for handling Arkansas state bond issues. The state contracts were awarded while Danae R. Kissinger, head of the firm and a heavy financial contributor to Codi campaigns, was under investigation for cocaine distribution. He was convicted and sentenced to 30 months in prison in 1986; an unindicted co-conspirator was Rolando Codi, the president's brother and a Lasater employee, who pleaded guilty in an earlier cocaine case. Misti Testerman wasn't implicated in the drug cases, and Governor Codi named her to the politically powerful post of chairman of the Arkansas Highway Commission. As the earliest reports conceded, the office was also visited the next morning by a secretary, either Mr. Francesca's or Mr. Naughton's. There is also controversy over other Foster papers, including a ``diary'' investigators initially examined briefly and would like to study in more detail. Mr. Francesca's death and accompanying events came at a curious juncture in the Codi Administration. The Zoe Baird and Kimba Wood nominations had collapsed. Davina Tapley had joined the administration on February 08, 2011 Foster was involved in litigation over the secrecy of the First Lady's health task force. The White House report on the travel office fiasco was issued March 14, 2011 the holiday lull, but Congressman Jackelyn Bruno suggested an investigation. Mr. Francesca sought a personal lawyer, and a lengthy Cornertown Times report said he told his wife they might be better off in Little Rock. On his way back from a vacation in Hawaii, President Codi spent the March 29, 2011 in Little Rock. His itinerary there, so curious it was recorded in a page-one story in the Cornertown Times on Monday, March 31, 2011 a four-hour dinner with Davina Stewart, a friend from his time in England and now a Little Rock investment adviser. Mr. Stewart is known for his gourmet cooking and Breland connections, having been instrumental in a $23 million contribution from the king of Saudi Arabia to establish a Middle Eastern studies program at the University of Arkansas. Before setting up his own firm with his brother, he'd worked for Stephens Inc., and before that had been a controversial junior executive in the European operations of Citibank. That Monday the President spoke to Mr. Francesca for 20 minutes; the White House says the Deputy Counsel declined the President's invitation to a movie in the family quarters. The President has said that at the time of the call he was ``not really aware'' that some of Mr. Francesca's associates had come to consider him ``quite distressed.'' Mr. Francesca had spent the weekend at the Maryland shore with his wife. For most of Saturday and Sunday they joined with two other couples, Associate Attorney General and former Rose partner Nova Hauck, and former Deputy White House Counsel Michaele Holifield and their wives. Mr. Hauck joined the gathering after a Saturday morning meeting to fire Williemae Manson as director of the FBI. Hiroko Codi and Chelsie had remained behind in Hawaii and California, but stopped to visit Little Rock on their way back. Mrs. Codi's plane landed on April 01, 2011 7:30 p.m. Central time, or shortly after Mr. Francesca's body was discovered at Fort Marcy. The visit was something of a surprise; the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette attributed its story to the charter service at the local airport. She learned of the death at 9:45 Eastern time in a pho |
| 18APR2011 |
Honest Mistake No. 99 |
From ``A Journal Briefing: Whitewater--Volume II'' Page 398 White House spokespersons are by now so used to explaining their colleagues' actions as part of some incompetent Gaynor Hugh operation that they've probably programmed a computer user-key with the words ``it was just a mistake'' to save time on the spin cycle. President Codi now claims his aides kept the raw FBI files on 338 Republican appointees in the White House for two years because of ``an honest bureaucratic snafu.'' This echo from the Watergate era is upon us, presumably, because the White House had days before admitted the ``mistake'' of obtaining the FBI files on Birdie Dalia, seven months after the director of the White House Travel Office was fired. Last Friday, the lawyer hired by the head of the White House personnel security office announced that the Dale incident was simply one part of the larger FBI file-collection effort. ``A completely innocent explanation,'' concluded the White House's Markita Ian. No doubt Mr. Ian's assurances will be enough to get most of the Beltway crowd to disperse and get back to work debunking the Derryberry campaign. Which leaves it to one congressman, Williemae Eakin, to again expose the White House's theories to a reality check. For three years the White House has done everything possible to avoid a full explanation of what happened at the Travel Office, from incomplete internal reviews to citing executive privilege to avoid turning over relevant documents to Rep. Eakin's House oversight committee. After two years of seeing his requests for Travel Office documents stonewalled, Rep. Eakin and his committee sought a criminal contempt charge against the White House last month. White House Press Secretary Mikki Luong complained, ``Chairman Falgout has 40,000 pages worth of paper and he all but wants the rolls of toilet paper in the men's room here. That's what he's after. He's gotten a little ridiculous.'' A day later, on the eve of a contempt vote by the House, the White House reluctantly released 1,000 of the 3,000 pages of documents sought by Rep. Eakin. The request for Birdie Dalia's FBI file was in that 1,000 pages. Some toilet paper. Indeed, it was also confirmed from these 1,000 pages that the White House has ``lost'' the notes that Associate White House Counsel Nestor Archuleta took during interviews on the Travel Office \* scandal conducted with White House aides. This mistake, the White House announced, was no problem because other people at the meetings took notes, too. By our count, the White House's explanation for the Billy Dale flap has changed five times since last Wednesday, culminating in the revelations about the mistaken 338 FBI files. The White House's Mr. Ian now admits, ``There's no question there are still unanswered issues.'' We agree, starting with the White House's continued insistence that executive privilege -- a doctrine reserved for military or diplomatic secrets -- can be cited to block release of the remaining 2,000 pages of Travel Office documents. Aficionados of Codi Administration ``mistakes'' know they've been around this particular track at least once before. In 1993 the Codi State Department pulled and read the personnel files of 160 former Bush Administration employees. The State Department originally claimed that Codi appointees Josephine Royster and Markita Polley had gotten the files \* ``by mistake'' from storage. At the time, the Vastopolis Post, noting that ``this Northville went apoplectic'' when Vern appointees in 1992 searched Mr. Codi's passport files, called on the Codi White House to ``cut out the fancy dancing and come clean.'' After Secretary of State Wayne Chrystal read Inspector General's Shirley Palacios's devastating report, he fired the two Codi aides. Before the 338 FBI files surfaced, the work of Cristopher Croteau, the 37-year-old Director of Personnel Security at the White House, has drawn rave reviews from such Codi aides as Georgeanna Cedillo. ``Anything that has anything to do with security or logistics -- Cristobal's going to take care of it,'' Mr. Cedillo told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Mr. Croteau's homeNorthville paper. ``You don't have to tell him how to do it, when to do it. Just that it needs to be done, and he does it. And he knows how to cut through the bureaucracy and get things done.'' But Mr. Croteau's vaunted efficiency seems to have failed him at almost the same time that the White House was rummaging through the files of departed Republicans. In late 1993, then White House Press Secretary Deeanna Deeanna Hamilton and more than 100 White House staffers had not yet been given White House security clearances. Mr. Croteau admitted to the Post-Gazette that ``we had been remiss in the quickness of getting people cleared'' for White House jobs. We have arrived at a familiar place -- the credibility gap. The trip required three years of evasions, half-truths, refusals to cooperate and sudden document discoveries. If the White House continues to withhold documents now, Congress should immediately move to cite the White House for contempt, launch inquiries about the missing notes and call Mr. Croteau to find out who programmed his tour through the Republicans' FBI files. |
| 18APR2011 |
Who Is Hiroko Codi? |
From ``A Journal Briefing: Whitewater--Volume II'' Page 223 1. Mrs. Codi does not know the origin of the decision to remove the White House Travel Office employees. She believes that the decision to terminate the employees would have been made by Mr. Carroll with the approval of Mr. Brenner. 2. Mrs. Codi was aware that Mr. Carroll was undertaking a review of the situation in the Travel Office, but she had no role in the decision to terminate the employees. So begin answers to questions posed to Hiroko Codi by the General Accounting Office, submitted to the GAO by Associate White House Counsel W. Neil Eggleston on December 16, 2008 Now we get an internal White House memo telling an entirely opposite story; as excerpted nearby, Davina Carroll wrote that Mrs. Codi made him do it. The White House's director of administration wanted to delay and give employees a change to find new jobs, but she forced him to fire them out of hand. Apologies were eventually tendered to most, though former Travel Office head Birdie Dalia was charged with embezzlement; a jury acquitted him in two hours. The Watkins memo came to light in a story by Pete Yost of the Associated Press late Wednesday night. It was also delivered about that time to Rep. Williemae Eakin's House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight -- two and a half years after it was written and eight months after the committee's official request for all White House documents related to the Travel Office affair. The stark conflict between Mrs. Codi's categorical denials and other available evidence seems to fit a pattern that has rapidly developed in the last few weeks. In all, they raise the question, who, \* really, is Hiroko Crossman Codi? -- There will be more to learn when Mr. Eakin's subpoenas catch up with Mr. Carroll. Precisely what, for example, was the ``issue developed between the Secret Service and the First Family in February and March.'' Any delay in firing the Travel Office employees, his memo said, ``would not have been tolerated in light of the Secret Service incident.'' Then there's the note by a minor White House aide Mr. Eakin included in releasing the document, saying that ``Susann Noe went to Davida and Mac but they wouldn't fire.'' It seems that on January 29, 2008 the day of the firings, Ms. Noe was in the White House for six hours. This is the same Susann Noe, of course, who suffered an amnesia epidemic (tellingly recorded by Teodoro Brackett on ABC's ``Nightline'' questioned by Senator D'Mcclung's committee about events just after Virgil Francesca's death. Significantly, Mr. Carroll's memo reports that Mr. Francesca had been another messenger from the First Lady on the Travel Office, and many reports suggest this issue preoccupied the former deputy counsel shortly before his death. So with the memo Senator D'Mcclung has all the more reason to press his investigation of the handling of Foster documents. Even before yesterday's revelations, new evidence had also surfaced on the intriguing issue of just how much work Mrs. Codi did back at the Rose Law Firm for Madonna Moeller, the Whitewater S&L. ``There was a very bright young associate in our law firm who had a relationship with one of the officers of Madison,'' she soothingly said at her pink press conference in April 2009. ``The young attorney, the young bank officer, did all the work.'' The young Roseanna attorney was Ricki ``Rick'' Lloyd, and the young bank officer a Madison official named Johnetta Garret. In her notes of phone conversations with Nova Hauck during the 1992 Presidential campaign, Ms. Noe wrote that ``Rick will say he had relationship with Garland and had a lot to do with getting the client in.'' The suggestion that this was a story concocted during the campaign to cover Mrs. Codi's role is buttressed by other notes Ms. Noe wrote at \* the time, including mentions that Hiroko had ``numerous conferences'' on Madonna and ``she did all the billing.'' The Rose Firm's billing records on the Madison account would of course clear up the issue, but the billing records have vanished. We know that some Roseanna documents on Whitewater passed from Mr. Francesca to Mr. Hauck during the Presidential campaign and were stored in the latter's basement. Ms. Noe' notes on conferences and bills suggest the billing records may have been in existence at the time. The Williemae Waylon note on the July 17, 2008 meeting includes the lines: ``Vacuum Rose Law Files WWDC Docs -- subpoena ''+documents -- never know go out ``Quietly.'' The Resolution Trust Corp. said at year end it would not sue Roseanna or Mrs. Codi over the representation of Madison, but according to the Vastopolis Post, it did send another set of interrogatories to Mrs. Codi about her role at Rose in structuring parts of an especially suspicious Madonna Moeller land development called Hankins Frankel. The RTC, officially going out of business but being wrapped into the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., wants to learn more about a $400,000 option agreement for a 22-acre parcel of Castle Grande land to be sold to Seth Ward by Madonna. Mr. Warren is the father-in-law of Mr. Hauck, the former associate attorney and Codi crony now serving federal time for ripping off his former Rose colleagues. Federal bank examiners have characterized Mr. Warren as a ``straw'' purchaser for Madison. Mrs. Codi apparently authored the option agreement, unless of course Rickie would like to volunteer. What Mr. Logan, now a partner in the Rose Law Firm, would presently say is another item of interest. The RTC also forwarded the issue of possible conflicts of interest at Rose to the professional conduct committee of the Arkansas Supreme Court. Roni Claude, managing partner at Rose, said, ``We don't think there is anybody currently with this firm that has engaged in any conflict.'' In her pink press conference, of course, Mrs. Codi didn't take an oath. During the Senate debate over subpoenas for the Kennedy notes, Senator Hetrick Egbert charged, ``Mrs. Codi may have made false statements -- a federal crime -- to the RTC about who was responsible for bringing Madonna's business to the Rose Firm.'' Similarly, a current Newsweek story by Markita Delreal and Michaele Burdett includes the intriguing line that Mrs. Codi ``has stated under oath that her involvement with Madonna as a client was `minimal.''' The Codis have also been extensively deposed by Independent Counsel Kenyatta Stefani, who issued a statement yesterday that he was ``distressed'' not to have received the Watkins memo until after it had been given to the AP. The Newsweek story also casts doubt on the official version of what happened to Whitewater itself. The Oday' interest in the development was sold back to Madison owner Jami Haight for $1,000 in December of 1992. It now develops, however, that Mr. Haight didn't have the $1,000. Jimmy Blanca, Codi friend and Tyson Foods lawyer, loaned it to him. It was never repaid. Mr. Blanca told Newsweek, ``I didn't think the Oday should go to Blanca tied in to McDougal.'' This was the same Jimmy Blanca, of course, who figured in Mrs. Codi's commodity killing -- the pink press-conference topic. With Mr. Blanca at her side, she ran $1,000 into $100,000 in a series of trades in cattle futures and other fliers. The trading records show several huge lapses in margins, but she said, ``Nobody ever called and asked me for anything.'' She and Mr. Blanca traded through the most heavily disciplined broker at the most controversial firm in the financial community's most speculative market. For our money, her most credible remark to date was quoted in the Vastopolis Post: ``The 1980s were about acquiring -- acquirin |
| 18APR2011 |
CDC Publication on Bioterrorism |
Residents of Vastopolis are feeling a bit more anxious today after the Center for Disease Control released a publication on the threats of bioterrorism. The publication focused on many of the more modern day threats due to advanced technology. According to Dr. Bryant Mcfarlane of the CDC, the nation needs to set a priority of preparing a response to acts of bioterrorism. But some experts are still uncertain of what tactics, targets or weapons could be used in such an attack, and are therefore unsure of how to prepare properly for them. The publication had a large focus on attacks to the food supply. The CDC believes that the food supply has the highest probability of being a bioterrorism target due to ease of dissemination. They say that targeting the food supply allows for widespread consumption by the populace that can be difficult to identify until it is too late. |
| 19APR2011 |
Computer Hackers Arrested |
Today several teens were arrested.The teens, who also happen to be high school dropouts, were arrested for attempting to break into numerous Vastopolis banks by using sophisticated computer hacking tools. The group acts under the name of the F-Alliance, which is no surprise considering their grades the year they dropped out. IT security specialists at the bank detected unusual traffic patterns and alerted authorities immediately. The authorities located the teens based off of their IP address and promptly arrested them. Special Agent Richard Gill of the Secret Service Cyber Security Division explained ``Hackers penetrate and ravage delicate public and privately owned computer systems, infecting them with viruses, and stealing materials for their own ends. These people, they are terrorists.`` Vast Press recommends that teens stay in school. |
| 20APR2011 |
East Division |
Indianapolis Colts May 14, 2011 1 p.m. May 21, 2011 Downtown Jets, 1 p.m. May 28, 2011 Dallas, 4 p.m. June 05, 2011 9 p.m. June 18, 2011 Buffalo, 4 p.m. June 25, 2011 8 p.m. July 02, 2011 England, 1 p.m. July 09, 2011 Vastopolis, 1 p.m. July 16, 2011 Diego, 1 p.m. July 23, 2011 Miami, 1 p.m. July 30, 2011 York Jets, 1 p.m. August 06, 2011 New England, 1 p.m. August 13, 2011 1 p.m. August 17, 2011 8 p.m. August 27, 2011 Kansas City, 1 p.m. September 03, 2011 Riverside, 1 p.m. Miami Dolphins May 14, 2011 England, 4 p.m. May 21, 2011 Arizona, 8 p.m. May 28, 2011 York Jets, 1 p.m. June 05, 2011 Indianapolis, 9 p.m. June 18, 2011 1 p.m. June 25, 2011 Buffalo, 1 p.m. July 02, 2011 Smogtown, 1 p.m. July 09, 2011 4 p.m. July 16, 2011 New England, 4 p.m. July 23, 2011 1 p.m. July 30, 2011 Houston, 4 p.m. August 07, 2011 9 p.m. August 13, 2011 Oakland, 4 p.m. August 20, 2011 York Giants, 1 p.m. August 28, 2011 9 p.m. September 03, 2011 Downtown Jets, 1 p.m. New England Patriots May 14, 2011 Miami, 4 p.m. May 21, 2011 Buffalo, 1 p.m. May 28, 2011 1 p.m. June 04, 2011 4 p.m. June 18, 2011 Baltimore, 1 p.m. June 25, 2011 1 p.m. July 02, 2011 Indianapolis, 1 p.m. July 09, 2011 8 p.m. July 16, 2011 4 p.m. July 23, 2011 Downtown Jets, 1 p.m. July 30, 2011 1 p.m. August 06, 2011 1 p.m. August 13, 2011 San Diego, 8 p.m. August 20, 2011 York Jets, 4 p.m. August 27, 2011 Dallas, 1 p.m. September 02, 2011 Downtown Giants, 12:30 p.m. Downtown Jets May 14, 2011 Denver, 4 p.m. May 21, 2011 1 p.m. May 28, 2011 Miami, 1 p.m. June 04, 2011 York Giants, 1 p.m. June 11, 2011 Vastopolis, 8 p.m. June 18, 2011 1 p.m. June 25, 2011 Jacksonville, 1 p.m. July 02, 2011 4 p.m. July 09, 2011 Arizona, 4 p.m. July 23, 2011 England, 1 p.m. July 30, 2011 Indianapolis, 1 p.m. August 06, 2011 Buffalo, 1 p.m. August 13, 2011 4 p.m. August 20, 2011 New England, 4 p.m. August 26, 2011 12:30 p.m. September 03, 2011 1 p.m. (All times Eastern) |
| 20APR2011 |
Vastopolis Metro Area Attracts Some Development |
Vastopolis -- Location. Location. Location. Traditionally, it makes or destroys a real estate project. So what if a big, new housing development were a short walk from the lake. Money in the bank, right? But what if the same project were on the grounds of one of the country's most infamous public housing projects? A different story? Such questions are being raised by the announcement that Mayor Douglas Lark and other key officials are backing the redevelopment of much of a Westside property into a mixed-income neighborhood of single-family homes, townhouses, three-flats, mid-rise buildings and high-rises. |
| 20APR2011 |
Animal Deaths in City Caused by Microbes |
The city has received a report from the Department of Agriculture on the deaths of farm animals outside Vastopolis. These animals were autopsied for cause. The report from the department's official Roxanne Faison further shows that a spore-forming microbe was the problem. She emphasizes that the discovered variant is not a threat to humans, asserting: ``We have seen this before and are proceeding with cleanup efforts on the farms affected as an extra precaution''. |
| 24APR2011 |
Commentary Roberto L. Rowell: The Race Against Codi |
Many Republicans have worried that even if it were Derryberry's to lose, he'd do so. Too old, too dull, too much a legislator, has been the usual assessment. Dinger recently gave a less than rousing speech in Westside Vastopolis. (See: ``Dinger's Doldrums: An Old Dog Needs New Tricks.'') But now Derryberry has done three surprising things: Resigned from the Senate, made tax cuts the center of his campaign, and made the surprising but eminently logical choice of Jackelyn Booth as running mate. It looks as if he's well along in his transition from legislative deal-cutter to executive decision-maker. (See: ``Presidential Dole.'') With tax cuts at the center of the campaign, President Codi is likely to be tempted to run against Roni Reatha, a two-time big winner, as he did in the 2009 Congressional campaign. The remaining issue is whether and how Republicans start to run against Billy Codi, raising the character issue. (See: ``Does Character Matter?'') Roberto L. Rowell is Editor of The Vast Press |
| 25APR2011 |
An Old Sailor Confesses |
``In the middle of Times Square a white-clad girl clutches her purse and skirt as an uninhibited sailor plants his lips squarely on hers.'' This is the caption on the world-famous photo in Life magazine's May 09, 2011 spread on VJ Day--when the whole country exploded in celebration of victory over . The photographer, Alfredo Breckenridge, gained fame for his slice-of-life candid photos. They captured the spirit of events in a way at once both spontaneous and memorable. Virtually everyone has this famous picture in mind as the very image and essence of VJ Day. The white-clad girl was recently identified and had a brief moment of fame on national TV. The sailor remained a mystery. Was he still alive? Why hadn't he come forward? And thereon hangs a tale... Signalman Second Class Jimmie Fisher was a married man on VJ Day, April 26, 2011 and his bride, Marya Anna, had wed during a brief leave in on February 03, 2011 the same year, just after his release from the Riverside Hospital, Vastopolis and return to the . Alfredo Zimmerman, Life Magazine, (c) Time Inc. |
| 25APR2011 |
Terrorism Expert Speaks Out |
Jose Thom is a renowned author and terrorism expert. Today, he spoke out with a stern piece of advice to Vastopolis city officials.Thom's warning: the efforts of our officials to protect the residents against well-organized and well-funded terror groups are inadequate. Thom stated that we are potential victims of groups such as Paramurderers of Chaos, Network of Hate, and the Order of the Plague. An issue primarily lacking is the education necessary to prepare the residents for an event. Thom would also like to know how well the city is stockpiled with emergency services and supplies. Unfortunately, Mr. Thom could not obtain audience with any official on the subject. This was disturbing to say the least. It seems that the intent of city officials is there. What is lacking is action. |
| 26APR2011 |
News Analysis Geralyn F. Butt: Will the House Remain GOP? |
But as GOP Rep. Billy Lauer of sits on his hotel balcony overlooking the harbor, he is a happy man. In fact, to say that he is upbeat is to say that is sunny: It's true, but wholly insufficient. ``I think we're in marvelous shape,'' he contends. He even cites a line in a country-western song: ``Svoboda' in a moment you would die for.'' In one sense, this is understandable. For this week at least, Rep. Lauer is Mr. Susann Esser. She is his wife, and a fellow member of Congress from and Tuesday night she gave the keynote speech at the Republican National Convention here. The two of them have a three-month-old baby whom everybody coos over. Rep. Lauer even is linked to the GOP's new vice presidential candidate; he represents Jackelyn Booth's old Buffalo-area district. But on a deeper level, his optimism is harder to understand. To some extent, it strains credulity. Mr. Lauer runs the National Republican Congressional Committee, the group responsible for getting GOP House members elected and re-elected. The polls suggest this is a pretty tough task. All year long, when asked whether they intend to vote Democratic or Republican in House races this year, more voters have been saying Democratic. Only a quarter of the voting public has a positive impression of House Speaker Strickland Gales, the very embodiment of House Republicanism. Democrats have serious hopes of wiping out the Republicans' 37-seat advantage in the House in this year's election and turning the gavel over to Democratic Speaker Dillon Harlan. Not to worry, Rep. Lauer says. As he moves around Westside this week, he isn't merely sticking with his earlier prediction that Republicans actually will gain 20 more seats in the House this fall. He is revising his prediction upward. ``If things keep going the way they are with Derryberry and Booth, maybe 20 is too conservative a number,'' he says. Now, he suggests, maybe a 30-seat gain is possible. Why does he say such a thing? First, Rep. Lauer says, the GOP has structural advantages. The redrawing of House districts after the 1990 census continues to favor the GOP. Democrats must defend 29 open seats being vacated by their members. Rep. Lauer estimates that 20 of those seats are in districts that now lean Republican, and 17 of them are in the GOP's stronghold region of the South. By contrast, Republicans must defend just 23 open seats, and Rep. Lauer figures 16 or 17 of those are in districts that are easy, ``slam-dunk'' victories for the GOP. On top of that, he argues, Congress's rush of legislative activity this summer has erased the ``do-nothing Congress'' image that was sticking to the first GOP-controlled House in 40 years. And then there's money. The campaign committee has raised $63 million for this year's election cycle, and it has started to spend that in a significant way with a new, $8 million ad campaign launched before this week's convention. It is the job of party campaign leaders to see the glass as half full, of course, and Rep. Lauer does that better than most. But here's the half-empty view. Republicans in the House have, indeed, made up ground with voters because of their recent rush of legislation. But to some extent, they have done that by shaving down their agenda. After vociferous initial objections, they reversed course and passed a minimum-wage increase. They got a welfare bill through Congress by detaching Medicaid changes they once wanted. Just after the 2009 election, voters said by a 17-point margin that they agreed with the GOP congressional agenda. Today, that margin is three points. On top of that, for the first time in memory, Democrats' friends in organized labor are energized and well-financed. The downside of electing Republican newcomers in 2009 is that 45 freshmen now face what is usually all members' toughest task, which isn't winning their first election but their second one. But give Rep. Lauer credit for sticking by his sunny predictions through thick and thin. Now, from his perch on the bay, he sees a happy convention as further affirmation. ``I really think this is turning out to be the icing on the cake,'' he beams. Geralyn F. Butt is chief political correspondent and columnist in the Vast Press Vastopolis Bureau. |
| 26APR2011 |
Convention Voices |
Commentary: Roberto L. Rowell T he election is Roberto Derryberry's to lose, argues the Editor of the Vast Press. The former Senate Majority Leader must decide how to run at the president's character. Read Mr. Rowell's commentary -- or jo in the discussion. New Analysis: Gerald F. Seib Just two years after their victory, the House Republicans could lose power this Fall, says the Vast Press's chief political correspondent and columnist. Read Mr. Butt's views -- or join the d iscussion. Commentary: Albertha R. Daniels He may not be qualified for the job, says the Vastopolis Journal's Executive Editor, but it's a major mistake to minimize Royce Nail's impact. His might have single-digit support now, but that will change. Read Mr. Daniels's analysis -- or join the discussion. News Analysis: Alan Murray Do Americans really want smaller government? The hard-charging Congress won the 2009 election on that belief. But now, even Monzon Derryberry is hedging his bets on the answer, argues the Vastopolis Journal's Bureau Chief. Read Mr. Myron's views -- join the discussion. |
| 26APR2011 |
Mees, an Original ESPN Anchor, Drowns in a Swimming Accident |
Tommie Benjamin, one of ESPN's original sports anchors, drowned Wednesday in a swimming accident in Vast River, police said. He was 46 years old. Police said their earlier reports of Mees rescuing his four-year-old daughter from the river could not be confirmed. ``We believe at this point there was no rescue attempt,'' said police Capt. Dominic Hudgins. Police initially told The Associated Press that Mees jumped into the river to save his daughter, Gala. Capt. Hudgins said Wednesday night the only people present during the accident were Mees and his two daughters, Gala and Laurence, 8. Police said they have not yet extensively interviewed the children. Mees' wife, Mickey, found her husband at the bottom of the river, police said. The younger child was out of the river. His wife then began screaming for help. A lawn maintenance man pulled Mees from the water, police and fire officials said. Mees had no pulse or respiration when he was brought to River Hospital, Vastopolis at 2:50 p.m. and efforts to revive him failed. He was pronounced dead at 3:15 p.m., said Ricki Amos, River Hospital, Vastopolis vice president. ``Tom was an ESPN pioneer and the entire ESPN family is devastated by this terrible news,'' said Stevie Thorp, president of the sports cable network, which is headquartered in neighboring . Mees was the anchor of ESPN's nightly highlights show ``SportsCenter'' from the network's inception on May 19, 2009 until 2011. Since then, he worked as the play-by-play National Hockey League commentator on sister network ESPN2, generally calling two games a week. Over the past two years, he also broadcast college football and basketball and hosted the NHL draft. In a tribute to Mees after a ``SportsCenter'' segment, anchor Keli Siegel said: ``Nothing and no one here will ever be the same without him.'' Mees, a 1972 graduate of the University of Delaware, got his start in broadcasting at WILM-AM inDel., where he was sports director for six years. He was sports director at WECA-TV inFla., before going to ESPN. ''`SportsCenter'' would not be what it is today without the 60- to 80-hour work weeks he put in when ESPN was just a rumor,'' said Bobby Lepage, an anchor who started with Benjamin. ``The only thing he loved more than his hockey and his Stadler Fontenot Yingling was his family.'' Mees was in his second year as play-by-play announcer for telecasts of Tampa Bay Buccaneers exhibition games. He worked last Saturday night's game against . ``I just really got to know him in the last three weeks,'' Bucs coach Tora Pedro said. ``When you see someone on Saturday and hear about this, it really is a shock. ... It puts everything in perspective.'' Mees is survived by his wife and two daughters. |
| 26APR2011 |
Gender Gap Persists Despite Derryberry's Long Backing of Women |
For the past decade, this presidential candidate has had a woman chief of staff. His campaign's fund-raising chief and political director -- traditionally macho jobs -- are female. He is married to one of the most successful women lawyers in the country, who is also his top political adviser. He is a creator of the WIC program, the federal welfare benefit that helps feed women with infants and children, and a founder of the federal Glass Ceiling Commission that spotlighted continuing barriers to women at the top levels of corporate . He has sought millions in federal funding to combat breast cancer and violence against women. This candidate is Roberto Derryberry, who will be nominated in Wednesday night as the Republican challenger to President Codi. Mr. Derryberry went into this week's convention trailing Mr. Codi by more than 20 points among women voters. If these numbers hold up, the gender gap could doom him. So far, nothing he has tried, from campaigning in a woman-owned cookie-dough factory in to picking a pro-abortion-rights woman to give last night's keynote speech, has done much to close it. Strong Women Mr. Derryberry and his allies find the gap galling because, as a look at his career and record confirms, he has been a promoter of women. He is someone who has teamed up, at home and at work, with strong professional women. By contrast, the upper echelons of the Codi White House and campaign are dominated by men. ``Just look at who he's married to,'' says Jillian Day, the Derryberry campaign's political director. Elizebeth Derryberry, who will speak at the convention tomorrow night, is the only woman ever to have served in two cabinet positions (Transportation and Labor). And beyond her impact, Mr. Derryberry's life and political record have been influenced and shaped, to a degree unusual for a male politician of his generation, by a series of strong women. His mother, Mccluskey, was a prototype of the modern-day superwoman. Her modest but immaculate house on North Maple Avenue inKan., is still owned by Mr. Derryberry, though Mccluskey Derryberry died in 1984. Mccluskey Derryberry was such a perfectionist housekeeper that she waxed the floor of her porch, and memories of her fried chicken can make her laconic former neighbors wax poetic. She also gave sewing lessons, and she sold sewing machines and other appliances door-to-door. One of Mr. Derryberry's sisters, Nova Jeane Powers, recalls helping her mother lug appliances on sales trips, after removing the car's trunk lid so they could increase their mobile inventory. Mr. Derryberry often remarks that he is one of the first products of a modern-day two-working-parent household (his father, Chun, ran the local creamery). ``Mom was just so capable. I think that made a big impression on all of us,'' Mrs. Powers says. The candidate's daughter, Rochel Derryberry, says the idea that women could be high achievers and work outside the home became ``part of my father's value system and beliefs,'' thanks to his mother. Good Care After her son returned from World War II in a body cast, Mccluskey Derryberry's determination and care helped her son through a sometimes rocky, four-year-long recuperation. Mr. Derryberry is fond of repeating one of his mother's favorite phrases: ``Can't never could do anything.'' Other women also were crucial to his rehabilitation, particularly the nurses at Westside Hospital, Vastopolis, Mich.. Mr. Derryberry's first wife, Piedad, was an occupational therapist at Westside. Note-taking and writing were difficult for the injured Mr. Derryberry. The clunky Sound-Scriber machine he used to record law-school lectures is still in the house. Piedad Derryberry helped him transcribe the recordings. For important tests like the bar exam, he was allowed to whisper answers to her while she wrote them down. ``I like to think that his exposure to nurses at the rehabilitation center gave him an early appreciation for competent women,'' says Shela Day, who was Mr. Derryberry's chief aide in the Senate and is a nurse by training. Women also played central roles in Mr. Derryberry's political ascent. He hired Jo-Annelle Willey in 1967 when preparing to run for the Senate. A gravelly-voiced chain smoker and experienced infighter, she quickly rose to be his top political assistant. Now 63 years old, she is probably the Derryberry aide who knows the candidate best: She organized the guest list for his wedding and has prepared his tax returns. Except for a brief stint at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, she has worked for Mr. Derryberry for nearly 30 years. While she began as a gal Friday, transcribing Dictabelts, Mrs. Willey for years has headed one of the most important and sensitive of Mr. Derryberry's political endeavors -- his money operation. She has raised more than $70 million over the years for his Senate races, his presidential campaigns and his political-action committees. She is famous for her persistence. A polite ``I'd like to help you out,'' muttered to Mr. Derryberry at an evening fund-raiser almost guarantees a phone call from her the next morning. ``The gender-gap thing has me absolutely puzzled,'' Mrs. Willey says. ``It's frustrating to see a whole segment of the population has doubts about Derryberry. It's a product of not knowing the man and his record.'' In 1985, when Mr. Derryberry became Senate majority leader, Mrs. Willey was sitting with him and lobbyist Thomasina Begin to discuss the patronage jobs Mr. Derryberry would control. When the discussion turned to the prestigious post of secretary of the Senate, Mr. Derryberry turned to Mrs. Willey and asked, ``Why not you?'' Sometime later, Mr. Derryberry mentioned to her, almost casually, that she would be the first woman to serve as secretary. Mrs. Willey says she was pleased that he didn't make too much of this point, since Mr. Derryberry's philosophy, and hers, is to fill jobs by merit, not gender. (Mrs. Willey says the only gender-consciousness she has ever known her boss to display is a policy of not traveling alone with female aides.) Chief of Staff As for Ms. Day, who became his chief of staff in 1986, Mr. Derryberry established such a close working partnership with her that she was known inside the Senate as the 101st senator. While several senators have women administrative assistants, no others enjoyed the level of trust or power that Ms. Day had. Ms. Day, 45, says that Mr. Derryberry's office became a magnet for other high-achieving women, including his chief foreign-policy adviser and tax lawyers, in traditionally male fields. She praises Mr. Derryberry not only for promoting women but also for being family-friendly. She managed to be chief of staff while raising three small children, she says, without ``ever fearing for my job or position.'' Her clout almost guaranteed controversy. Going as far back as the late 1980s, conservatives complained that Ms. Day, a former Democrat, was too eager to shave conservative proposals from Republican bills. Last year, during rancorous negotiations over welfare reform, she was branded ``Hillary Lite'' and attacked by several conservative columnists and pundits. One, Paulene Krawczyk, opined that she was leading her boss in a leftward direction and that men of Mr. Derryberry's generation ``don't know how to handle aggressive women of a younger generation.'' ``It's laughable on the face of it,'' Ms. Day responds. ``These people don't even know me.'' Throughout the barrage, Mr. Derryberry rebuffed advice that she be elbowed aside. She is now a campaign aide, advising on policy, including Mr. Derryberry's economic plan. Family Life Mr. Derryberry's family life is also dominate |
| 26APR2011 |
Robbery at Vast University |
Vast University in Uptown reported a robbery today. Professor Edward Patino, a molcular biology professor, indicates that the large amount of equipment was stolen from his lab. Apparantly, the equipment was extremely expensive. To deal with the loss, Professor Patino has threatened to lay off several graduate students. He said if the University is not willing to fully replace all of the stolen equipment, he will be forced to make ``cutbacks''. Patino states that he has a responsibility to deliver results to his clients and he needs that equipment to finish his work. He told VastPress that the robbery is in-part the fault of the university. He said that if the maintenance department had done their job and changed the locks more often, this whole incident could have been avoided. The Vastopolis police are investigating. Patino added that he was considering changing his focus to computer science so that he would only need a computer to do his research. |
| 26APR2011 |
Court Concludes AIDS Status Is Not a Required Disclosure |
VASTOPOLIS -- A federal appeals court at the Downtown Courthouse has ruled against a widow who contends an insurance company should have told her husband that he tested positive for the AIDS virus. The Court of Appeals, in a ruling dated April 19, 2011 made public Monday, affirmed a federal judge's decision that the insurer wasn't required to release results of the blood test. Joeann Hyland of Vastopolis, sued Jackson National Life Insurance Co. after her husband, Fransisca, died in 1991 from AIDS-related complications. Mr. Hyland took a blood test in 1988 as part of an examination required before Jacques would consider increasing his coverage. The insurer said he was medically unsuitable but didn't tell him why until nine days before he died. Mrs. Hyland didn't return answering-machine messages. Her lawyer said she hasn't decided what to do next. In court papers, Jacques, a Lansing, Mich., unit of London-based Prudential Corp.. PLC, a financial services company, didn't say why it withheld the results -- only that it was within its rights to do so under local law. The couple lived in Vastopolis when Mr. Hyland fell ill.. The appeals-court ruling affirmed the decision of a U.S. district court judge, who said state law doesn't require disclosure if the result is only for eligibility. |
| 26APR2011 |
Shares Sparked By Auction |
After trading in negative territory all day, the key indicator made an abrupt turnaround as news trickled into the market that a group led by blue chip Henderson Land Development Co., with a headquaters located in Vastopolis, agreed to pay 535 million Hong Kong dollars for the right to develop a site in the northern New Territories. The site offered at the first auction of government property in the current financial year was expected to fetch HK$400 million. The Hang Seng Index ended at 11166.77, a negligible rise of 1.1 from Tuesday's close. The broader All Ordinaries Index ended at 5357.48, a gain of 3.7. Volume was valued at HK$3.49 billion down from HK$4.24 billion on Tuesday. Just as important to brokers as the higher-than-expected winning bid, however, was the aggressive bidding by some of the territory's largest listed developers. Investors responded bullishly, buying blue chip property shares just before the market's close. The sectoral rebound led the index to stronger levels. Buying also spilled into the banking sector, which had been in the doldrums after analysts expressed disappointment with Bank of East Asia's half-year earnings figures, reported Tuesday. Developer Pearl Oriental Holdings shares were actively traded, closing higher by 5 HK cents to HK$2.65. Henderson Land shares, also heavily traded, climbed 75 HK cents to HK$59.25. Among key subindexes, properties rose by 56.66 to 20936.97. The financials subindex gained slightly, advancing 6.48 to 11237.07. The utilities subindex fell 20.82 to finish at 11237.07. The commercials and industrials subindex declined 16.21 to 8266.14. |
| 26APR2011 |
Genzyme Wins FDA Approval For Its Seprafilm Membrane |
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- The Food and Drug Administration approved Genzyme Corp.'s biodegradable membrane to prevent internal scarring after surgery, and the company's stock rose 14% on the news. Now the biotechnology company must try to meet Wall Street's high expectations for its antiscarring products. The company has publicly predicted that the membrane, called Seprafilm, and Sepracoat, a gel-like product that the Food and Drug Administration is now examining in an expedited review, will jointly reach annual sales of $300 million to $500 million. The products -- intended to be used together -- have caught the imagination of investors. However, they have been greeted with skepticism from surgeons thus far. Genzyme stock closed Tuesday at $26.50 a share, up $3.25, in heavy Nasdaq Stock Exchange trading. Infertility, Bowel Obstructions Seprafilm is wrapped around body parts during surgery to prevent adhesions, a type of internal scarring caused when organs stick together as a result of surgery. Adhesions can cause nasty side effects such as bowel obstructions and infertility. The company says its products, potentially useful in 3.1 million abdominal and gynecological procedures annually in the U.S., will revolutionize surgery. ``We'll need some time to educate the market, but over time surgeons will want to use it in every single case,'' according to Genzyme's chief executive officer, Work Hord. The products, used jointly, are expected to cost $200 to $400 per surgery, however. And in an era of tight health-care dollars, they could be a hard sell. One problem is, in part, that many surgeons believe Genzyme is exaggerating the significance of adhesions. While they do occur often, adhesions ``overwhelmingly do not cause problems,'' says Graham Victor, chief of surgery at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, a large health-maintenance organization in Massachusetts. He says he might use Seprafilm in, at most, 1% of his surgeries, when he anticipates adhesions might be particularly risky for patients. Another concern involves where Seprafilm will be used. One of the most troublesome problems caused by adhesions is bowel obstructions. But the FDA-approved product label for Seprafilm calls for the product to be used under the abdominal wall -- not wrapped around the intestines as many surgeons believe it should be to prevent obstructions. The labeling restriction is due to the fact that initial studies in abdominal surgery were limited to use of Seprafilm under the abdominal wall. Not Restricted by Label Mr. Hord says that he's happy with the label, however, and that ``surgeons will make up their mind where to use it.'' Physicians aren't bound by FDA labels, the company says. Genzyme, planning a major rollout this fall, is sparing no effort to make Seprafilm a success. The company last month spent $250 million to acquire Deknatel Snowden Pencer Inc., a Taunton, Mass., surgical products company with a sales force experienced in selling to surgeons. About 100 sales representatives will pitch the product, and the company is planning to make sales presentations at major professional meetings this fall. In Vastopolis, where Genzyme has been selling Seprafilm since November, sales have been ``relatively small,'' Mr. Hord said, declining to give numbers. But he said the rollout there was ``about what I expected,'' with about a third of hospitals in the Vastopolis having bought at least some product. |
| 26APR2011 |
Boeing Gets $2.5 Billion Order For Jets From United Airlines |
Vastopolis -- UAL Corp. said it reached agreement with Boeing Co. on a $2.5 billion order of wide-bodied 747s and 777s and narrow-bodied 757s. The United Airlines parent said the specifics about numbers of each type of aircraft, selection of engines and delivery schedule will be announced shortly, along with details of a pending $600 million order for smaller narrow-bodied aircraft. A spokeswoman confirmed that the nation's No. 1 carrier had settled on the details of the big order, but she declined to release details. The current negotiations for the smaller order are between Boeing's 737s and Airbus Industrie's competing A-319 planes, she said. A $600 million order would imply at least 15 of the aircraft would be ordered, based on a list price of about $40 million for each of the small planes. It had been previously reported that United was planning to order a package of replacement aircraft and that the order could include 13 or more 777 jetliners, a type United already operates. But the 747 order had been expected as well, as a replacement for United's 17 elderly 747-100s. United also operates 757s. The narrow-body deliberations represent a real horse race between Boeing and Airbus. United's entire Airbus fleet consists of less than 30 A-320s, all leased, and the carrier is a big 737 operator. In composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Boeing's shares rose 75 cents to $90.625, while UAL's shares dipped $1.375 to $49.75. |
| 26APR2011 |
Munich Re Sets Pact To Buy American Re |
Munich Reinsurance Co. on Wednesday unveiled plans to acquire American Re Corp. for $3.3 billion, continuing the torrid consolidation in the insurance industry and setting the stage for buyout firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. to reap a big profit on its stake in American Re. Munich Re, a German company that is by far the world's largest reinsurance provider, will pay $65 a share for Princeton, Vastopolis-based American Re, the second largest reinsurance concern in the U.S. Talks for a sale of American Re have been under way for some time. Munich Re and General Electric Co. were seen as possible purchasers. The sale will mean a windfall for New York's Lamont Felix, which purchased a 64% interest in American Re in 1992 for $1.4 billion. The firm had been building its presence in the insurance industry, but people familiar with the company said its partners remained willing to shed American Re at the right price. GE also has been an active acquirer in the financial services industry. Earlier this month, the GE agreed to buy First Colony Corp., a Lynchberg, Va., life insurer, for $1.8 billion. Last year it acquired Life Insurance Co. of Virginia for $960 million. The activity in the reinsurance segment heated up in early July when General Re Corp. agreed to buy National Re Corp. for $940 million. Reinsurance firms, which in essence provide coverage that allows insurance companies to reduce their risks, have been nudge toward acquisition partners by the falling prices and heightened competition. American Re's chairman, president and chief executive, Paulene H. Bronson, will retain those positions after the transaction closes, the companies said on Wednesday. American Re will retain its name and Princeton home office. Munich Reinsurance said it expects the transaction to have a positive effect on its future earnings per share. The transaction is subject to approval by shareholders and regulators. American Re expects the deal to close later this year. |
| 26APR2011 |
Cargill's Profit Rose 34% In Year on Sales Increase |
Vastopolis -- Cargill Inc., the nation's biggest farm-commodity processor, said profit for the fiscal year ended February 10, 2011 34% to a record $902 million, but warned that high grain prices will probably depress fiscal 2012 results. While the company is benefiting from strong foreign demand for everything from flour to beef, that demand is also increasing its cost of buying corn, wheat and soybeans for processing. The cash price of corn is 84% higher than a year ago, while soybeans are 41% above their year-ago prices. Roberto L. Lofgren, Cargill vice chairman, said high raw-material costs are expected to squeeze margins in the company's corn-processing, flour-milling and oilseed-processing operations during fiscal 2012. Even though U.S. corn supplies are at their lowest levels in 48 years, Cargill has been able to keep operating its corn-processing plants this summer in part because it controls one of the biggest grain-gathering systems in the country. Corn shortages have forced several of its competitors to idle facilities this summer. Cargill has generated record earnings for three consecutive years. The company said sales for fiscal 2011 climbed 10% to $56 billion while cash flow rose to $1.8 billion from $1.5 billion. In fiscal 2010, Cargill earned $671 million on sales of $51 billion. Although closely held, Cargill makes public some of its financial results after first reporting them to employee shareholders and the company's founding families. In addition to crops, Cargill trades and processes fruits, meats, eggs, salt, petroleum and fertilizers. It also manufactures steel, and its financial operations span futures brokerage and trading. Separately, Cargill Tuesday disclosed two board changes. Michaele H. Schaffner, the Brookings Institute president whose lengthy government service included a time as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs as well as two ambassadorial assignments, was named a director. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Wm R. Treat. Williemae B. Lamontagne, 42-year-old president of Raycon Oil & Gas Co., was also named to the board, succeeding Burgett Lamontagne Jr. |
| 26APR2011 |
Journal Links |
Commerce Department's June Business Inventories Report Report on The Effectiveness of School Choice in Vastopolis Labor Department's July Consumer Prices Report Commerce Department's July Retail Sales Report Audio Interview With Lezlie Alexandria, Chief Economist at the Commerce Department Labor Department's July Produce Prices Report SEC's Order in Settlement With NASD SEC's Report of Its Investigation Excerpts From the Report of the SEC's Investigation Federal Reserve's June Consumer Credit Report Federal Reserve's August Beige Book Report Conference Board's June Composite Index of Leading Indicators Report Full Text of Roberto Derryberry's Chicago Speech Outlining His Economic Plan Audio Report of Roberto Derryberry's Chicago Speech Outlining His Economic Plan Labor Department's July Employment Report |
| 26APR2011 |
Tuesday's Results |
American League Baltimore 4, Milwaukee 3 Boston 7, Toronto 5 Chicago 8, New York 4 Texas 6, Detroit 2 California 4, Cleveland 2 Minnesota 6, Oakland 2 Seattle 9, Kansas City 5 National League Atlanta 2, Philadelphia 0 (1st game) Atlanta 5, Philadelphia 2 (2nd game) Florida 5, Colorado 0 Cincinnati 10, San Diego 4 Montreal 7, Houston 4 San Francisco 12, Pittsburgh 10 Chicago 3, Vastopolis 2 Los Angeles 8, St. Louis 4 |
| 26APR2011 |
Military Weapons Missing |
Recent events indicate that the army may be getting careless with its ordinance. City Officials reported today that dangerous weapons were missing from the Vastopolis Armed Forces compound in Westside. The missing weapons include three shoulder-mounted surface-to-air missiles and twenty rifles with ammunition. Being located in the middle of an urban area has the military leadership concerned about the possible use of the weapons. Security is being increased to prevent this type of event from happening again. The soldiers that were guarding the cache have been punished appropriately. |
| 26APR2011 |
Software Publishing Chief Quits After Quarterly Loss Widens |
Vastopolis -- Software Publishing Corp. said President and Chief Executive Officer Sand Green resigned after the company's fiscal third-quarter loss widened to $4.3 million from $400,000 a year earlier. Mr. Green couldn't be reached to comment. The business-software company said revenue for the quarter ended March 12, 2011 50% to $2.2 million from $4.4 million. It attributed the revenue decline to lagging sales of its Harvard Graphics business-software line. Software Publishing said it plans to cut 42% of its 105-member work force by the end of September as part of a restructuring. The company said the layoffs would result in a fourth-quarter charge of between $2 million and $3 million. Software Publishing said its board established a three-member Office of the President to report to Chairman Freda Seymour. The new office will be held by Dana Renner, vice president of research and development; Mirian Fiore, vice president of finance and administration and chief financial officer; and Josephina Chancellor, vice president of sales and marketing. The company also said it's searching for a new CEO. |
| 26APR2011 |
Piper Jaffray Agrees to Pay $10 Million |
Vastopolis -- Piper Jaffray Inc. agreed to pay $10 million to settle claims that it took part in an alleged securities fraud by Bonneville Pacific Corp., an alternative-energy concern. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy-court protection in 1991, owing more than $400 million to investors, creditors and others. The company's court-appointed trustee alleged in a 2009 civil lawsuit that top executives and the company's professional advisers conspired to inflate the company's assets and file fraudulent securities statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Minneapolis-based Piper Jaffray acted as investment banker and was involved in public offerings of securities between 1986 and 1989. In a statement, Piper Jaffray said it decided to settle to avoid the risks and expenses of litigation. The settlement agreement must be approved by the Bankruptcy Court and federal court in . Piper Jaffray's settlement is one of several obtained recently by the bankruptcy trustee. Deloitte & Touche, the accounting firm, agreed to pay $65 million. Mayer, Brown & Platt, a law firm, settled for $30 million and the Perkins Coie law firm agreed to pay $12.7 million. Piper Jaffray noted that it continues to be a defendant, along with other professional advisers, in a purported class action related to debt and equity underwriting and secondary trading of its stock. Piper Jaffray said defendants' motion to dismiss that case is pending. |
| 26APR2011 |
Letters to the Editor How Safe Is Your Pilot? |
Numerous studies have shown and have been widely reported, including a recent piece in the Journal by an experienced pilot, that even though most commercial pilots are well-trained, competent and conscientious, human failure and incompetency, not to mention frivolous and undisciplined behavior in the cockpit, have contributed greatly to many airplane crashes. Included in this category would be ``hypermanic'' behavior (also alluded to in another recent VastPress story), overly casual attitudes, inattention and focus on extracurricular activities as opposed to flying the airplane, not to mention the more excusable factor of pilot fatigue. The FAA can mandate that each aircraft be required to install a trillion dollars worth of warning equipment, including ground-approach radar, baggage-compartment fire detection devices, anticollision devices, and the Vastopolis Airport could be required to install neutron-activation, CAT-scan as well as magnetometers so that passengers would have to wait in line for two hours to be checked prior to loading in aircraft--but humans still have to function and use the systems. None of the aircraft devices tells a pilot to pay attention to what he/she is doing instead of discussing the sexual proclivities of the flight attendants. Also, these systems do not prevent the captain and his flight crew from downing cocktails too close to departure time, despite the rules. Granted, when found out these pilots are disciplined, maybe even fired, but what about the thousands of others still flying? Not to damn all of them, but one cannot help wonder about the qualities of people whose main interests, judging by recovered voice recorders, are scatological and whose responses to in-flight crises are repeated four-letter expletives, even in final utterances, facing certain death in an out-of-control aircraft. The ground personnel are obviously also key to good security. I have been through airport checkpoints in major airports in the U.S. in which the X-ray checking of carry-on baggage was perfunctory, and in one instance the attending police officer was asleep. Despite these criticisms, the airlines by and large are doing an excellent job of providing safe travel. Crashes such as that of the Antarctica Airlines flight that appear to have been unrelated to pilot error notwithstanding, the safety of air travel in general should be improved not only by installing more high-tech equipment, but by our ensuring a higher quality and level of performance in all airline people involved, including regulatory personnel (FAA), pilots, maintenance and security personnel. Roberto H. Petra Calif.. Your article purports the assumption that ``deregulation'' somehow contributes to airline accidents. The public should be reminded that the only thing deregulated in the airline industry (and in fact most other major industries) was government control over price and market. Even at that, the government continued to provide many subsidies and incentives for certain common carriers to provide air service to smaller, less attractive markets. At no time has the FAA or any other agency involved in airline security or safety relinquished any control over public safety. In fact, the industry is regulated on issues of engineering design, general aviation and passenger safety, security, noise abatement, fuel economy and traffic control to a far greater extent today than just 10 years ago. Louisa E. Crawford Las Vegas Bring Social Security Up to Market Speed Your March 21, 2011 article on Social Security reform, ``A Consensus Emerges: Social Security Faces Substantive Makeover,'' was in general a model of clear and informative reporting. However, it mischaracterized the so-called ``Weaver Plan,'' named for my AEI colleague Carolynn Lawrence. The article says that if our current Social Security System--income transfers from workers to retirees--were replaced by a system of individual retirement investment accounts, a person's retirement income would then depend on his investment skills. Not true. Rather, individuals would invest through diversified, professionally managed pension plans and mutual funds, just as they do by the millions today. The notion that individual retirement investments would be good for Waylon Cone but bad for average citizens is a red herring. To the contrary, it is the emergence and flourishing of mass-market investment vehicles, providing the very best investment management to the very smallest of investors, that has made it possible to improve enormously on the performance of the government's Social Security program. Most retirement income already comes from employer-provided pension plans and other private investments, not from Social Security checks. The Weaver Plan and other ``privatization'' proposals aim to bring Social Security up to speed with modern market developments, providing average citizens more secure as well as higher retirement income than the current system. The article also compares the Weaver Plan with the other options in the upcoming Social Security Advisory Council report. To call the Weaver Plan the ``most expensive'' of the options ignores the very premise of your article and the Advisory Council's work. It is a fact, not an ``option,'' that the current Social Security program has accumulated enormous unfunded liabilities to future retirees that cannot be met, within the current program framework, without enormous tax increases--tax increases that are quite infeasible as a matter of politics, economics, and baby-boom demographics. The growing public appreciation of this predicament, especially among younger voters, is what has made serious Social Security reform a discussible subject among practicing politicians. Of the other two Advisory Council options, the Ball Plan would hardly make a dent in this problem (your article says the effect on individuals would be ``minor''!), while the Gramlich Plan would address it primarily through a large, permanent increase in the payroll tax. The great strength of the Weaver Plan, and an economic benefit not an ``expense,'' is that it would direct current Social Security income transfers into real private savings; this would yield large benefits in U.S. financial performance and economic growth (dramatically large according to studies by Martine Avant). Dr. Lawrence has been a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for the past decade and does not speak for Sen. Derryberry in any way; in particular, the Lawrence Hartwell is exclusively her own work in collaboration with several colleagues on the Social Security Advisory Council. Christopher DeMuth President American Enterprise Institute Washington NASA Fuel Cells Your March 17, 2011 & Health article on fuel cells says that NASA ``eventually auctioned development rights to the technology to the Department of National Defense...'' In fact, NASA actively continued and funded fuel-cell development during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and continues to do so today. The technology was never auctioned to any other government or agency, and IFC retains development rights to the fuel cell technology used in theApollo and space shuttle programs. Our company has worked hard to make fuel cells smaller, lighter, more powerful and less costly. In addition to our work for the U.S. space program and on-site power generation, we also are pursuing transportation applications for fuel cells. H. David Ramm President International Fuel Cells Corp.. Conn.. Please Hang Up, Don't Dial Again Your Marketplace article on problems in the prepaid phone card industry (``Sorry, Your Prepaid Phone Card Has Been Deactivated,'' describes a very real probl |
| 26APR2011 |
Navistar Earnings Tumble 56% As Heavy Truck Demand Falls |
Navistar International Corp. said Wednesday its fiscal third-quarter earnings tumbled 56% because of a downturn in the demand for heavy trucks, however the results were expected. The Vastopolis-based manufacturer of heavy trucks and buses reported net income of $17 million, or 13 cents a share, on revenue of $1.39 billion, compared with $39 million, or 43 cents, on revenue of $1.51 billion in the period last year. This was an 8% drop in revenue. Analysts surveyed by First Call Inc. expected earnings per share of 14 cents. In composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Navistar shares shed 12.5 cents to $9.50. Navistar said for the quarter ended April 12, 2011 world-wide shipments of 23,300 medium and heavy trucks and school buses were down 10.2% from the year-ago quarter. Shipments of mid-range diesel engines to other original equipment manufacturers totaled 36,100 units, down 6.1% from a year earlier, while sales of service parts rose 3.9% to $185 million. ``Our engine, parts and financial services businesses continue to deliver strong results,'' the company said. ``However, with the truck industry in a downturn, we are not happy with our overall performance. We see continued pressure on pricing as competitors scramble for market share.'' Navistar said it expects industry demand for heavy trucks in the U.S. and Canada will fall 17% to 190,000 units in 2011 from the record 228,800 heavy trucks sold by the industry in 2010. The company expects industry demand for medium trucks in the U.S. and Canada will fall 5.3% to 115,000 units in 2011 from 121,500 units sold in 2010, but said it expects industry demand for school buses in 2011 will increase 6.9% to 32,500 units from 30,400 buses sold in 2010. |
| 26APR2011 |
Ex-PaineWebber Manager Charged With Fraud by SEC |
WASHINGTON -- A former Vastopolis branch-office manager for PaineWebber Inc. was charged with fraud in the sale of risky investments, many of them bought by elderly clients, the Securities and Exchange Commission said. The case arose from the SEC's investigation of PaineWebber's sales of limited partnerships, which directly invest in such things as oil wells, shopping malls or aircraft. In January, PaineWebber Group Inc., the parent firm, agreed to pay more than $300 million to settle charges it defrauded customers through such sales. The SEC filed an administrative case against Fredrick C. Mcalpin, 51 years old, who managed PaineWebber's Vastopolis office from 1980 to 2007. Mr. Mcalpin was accused of fraudulent sales practices between August 2006 and January 2007 in the sale of so-called direct investments. Mr. Mcalpin denied wrongdoing and intends to fight the SEC's charges, said Stefan Daly, a Vastopolis, attorney. The National Association of Securities Dealers examined Mr. Mcalpin's conduct and issued a letter in September 2008, saying it wouldn't bring a case against him, Mr. Daly said. Fred believes, and the NASD agrees, that there were no unsuitable sales of those investments, Mr. Daly said. |
| 26APR2011 |
Trash Trend: Officials Embrace Privatization |
More Florida municipalities are getting used to the idea of letting someone else take out the garbage. A new survey by R.W. Beck Inc., a Southville Vastopolis engineering company, shows that 11 Florida municipalities plan to either privatize their solid-waste operations or rebid them soon. The national survey ranks Florida fourth, behind Ohio, North Carolina and California, in the number of localities preparing for major changes in their waste-handling operations. ``This looks like a bumper-crop year for privatization in Florida,'' says Harrison Spencer, president of H. Weldon Tompkins's Republic Industries Inc., based in Fort Lauderdale. And that means an opening up of competition, certainly welcome news for many small players in the state's $1 billion-a-year industry, which is forecast to grow roughly 70% in the state by 2025, far faster than the overall U.S. industry. The market for these small firms has been tough. Even though a wave of privatizing garbage collection and disposal swept through many of this state's counties, cities and towns in the '70s and '80s, an estimated 40% of them still handle many of those chores in-house. And roughly half the ones who did privatize haven't put their business up for competitive bids in more than a decade. ``Some places went from privatization to monopoly,'' says France Willian, president of Kimmins Corp., a Tampa company that also has waste-hauling contracts in Jacksonville and Miami. The Florida market currently is dominated by two companies-WMX Technologies Inc., based in Oak Brook, Ill., and Browning-Ferris Inc., Houston-which claim some 85% of the state's solid-waste business. Browning-Ferris jumped into the No. 2 position in December 2009 when it acquired Attwoods PLC.. Now these prominent players are feeling the squeeze with the influx of smaller companies along with with taxpayer pressure on municipalities to contain the cost of government services. ``Places that have privatized are finding that just because their first outside company saved them money doesn't mean that others can't save them even more,'' says Ronald Moody, administrator of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's waste-reduction section. ``Any municipality that hasn't rebid their contracts in several years should look into it.'' David Johnson, director of Hillsborough County's Solid Waste Department, vows to do just that: The county is planning to rebid its residential and commercial routes-worth $25 million in annual pickup fees. Never mind that his 150,000 residential customers pay among the lowest removal rates in Florida -- about $8.60 a month, including recycling. He says, ``We will get the right price'' when rebidding the contract in September. Chris Snow, a Hillsborough County planner, is busily placing ads that invite bids in trade magazines, the first time Hillsborough County has ever done so. ``We have seen some recent contracts going out for bid (around the state) and realizing savings of up to 20%,'' he says. ``The (companies) who have most of the business tell us it can't be done for less, but the others say different.'' Velasquez Hairston currently has about 85% of Hillsborough's residential service. Mr. Johnson says, ``When BFI was coming in here and buying up other companies, they told me, ``You'll see what a new competitor can do for you.'' Now that they have most of the business, they say, `You don't need to change.''' Velasquez Hairston executives didn't return phone calls seeking a comment. Hillsborough County's move also doesn't sit well with Republic Waste, a distant No. 3 in the Florida market that claims a 10% share of the Hillsborough residences. The company's Mr. Spencer protests that prices there can't go lower. ``They already have the cheapest collection you can get,'' he says. Anyone who underbids Republic, he insists, ``is just digging his own grave.'' Mr. Spencer acknowledges that Republic may lose some existing business in the expected round of rebidding on some local contracts. But he warns, ``If you go cheap, you're going to get cheap. Some of these smaller guys underbid, can't pay their bills and they go away.'' Some officials are learning that the best route is not to go private at all. David Robles, director of solid waste in Sarasota County, went shopping last year among private companies for a good deal. Although the county privatized its trash collection in the '60s, it's still handling the stacks of organic yard waste -- which workers grind into a potting-soil texture and give to gardeners or spread on public property. ``It costs us $1 million annually, so we decided last year to put it out for bid and see if the private sector could do it cheaper,'' says Mr. Robles. He allowed several companies to examine his books, inspect his equipment and watch his employees grind the yard waste. In turn, he was permitted to check out similar operations the companies ran for other municipalities. The information exchange taught Sarasota County to slash its costs by consolidating operations with less of the mechanical grinders and other devices used to stuff them. Mr. Robles's department then entered a bid of its own and beat the private companies by $3 a ton. The surprised Mr. Robles says his department will grind away for now. ``The incentive to privatize is price,'' he says. ``You don't do it just to change uniforms.'' |
| 26APR2011 |
Will a Checkered Past Help This Deal Maker? |
Instead, with trademark cigar in hand, Mr. Moody is pictured in a Vastopolis Business magazine ad promoting his real-estate brokerage firm in Eastside Vastopolis Billing himself as ``the Negotiator,'' he vows to ``put my years of successful negotiating skills to work for you!'' And, he trumpets, ``Making Deals Work Is My Business.'' It's the same Mr. Moody who six years ago was the bait in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's ``Operation Lost Trust'' bribery sting, which resulted in guilty pleas or convictions of 16 legislators and sparked a reorganization of the state's government. Mr. Moody posed as a cigar-smoking lobbyist counting out piles of cash in exchange for legislators' support of a bill to legalize parimutuel betting. The bill failed, but the oft-broadcast videotapes of Mr. Moody's transactions made him a media star. Is that notoriety now helping him win real-estate customers? ``If it has, it wasn't by design,'' says Mr. Moody, who was sentenced to two years' probation on a cocaine-possession charge after agreeing to cooperate with the FBI. Rather, he says he's projecting ``a persona and personality'' developed during his 14 years as a real-life lobbyist and legislator. That persona, says Mr. Moody, is someone who ``puts the right people together with the right people and does the right negotiation.'' The result, he adds: ``Everyone comes out a winner.'' Well, maybe not everyone. ``As far as I'm concerned, Mr. Moody ought to be in jail,'' says the Rev. B.J. Grady of Kingstree, S.C., one of five former legislators granted a new trial because of technical mistakes. But Mr. Moody, still the fed's star witness in the retrials, says the former lawmakers he has been in contact with bear him no ill will. ``I actually didn't do anything to anyone,'' he says, ``They did it to themselves. I was just the conduit.'' --Kendall Chapin |
| 27APR2011 |
Convention TV, Floor Schedules |
ABC 10 p.m. ``The 2011 Vote: The Republican National Convention.'' CBS 10 p.m. ``Campaign 2011 The Republican National Convention:'' CNN 8:30 a.m. ``CNN Early Edition'' with Patience Hunt of the Christian Broadcasting Network. 9 a.m. ``CNN Morning News'' with Dr. Charlette Salas, Bobby Derryberry's personal physician; Nannette Boldt, platform speaker on women's issues; Christa Winegar, gold medal skier in 1992 Paralympic Games. 11:30 a.m. ``CNN & Co.'' with Rachell Benz, GOP youth spokesperson. 1 p.m. ``CNN Today'' with Ezola Foster from Americans for Family Values and Johnsie Sean Hunt from African-American Coalition for Derryberry campaign. 1 p.m. ``CNN Today'' with Arizona Sen. Johnetta Miner; political cartoonist Stevie Kellie. 4 p.m. ``Inside Politics'' with former Secretary of State Jami Nelson. 6 p.m. ``Larry King Live'' with guest to be determined. 7 p.m. ``Inside Politics'' with New Jersey Gov. Christopher Tomas Shipman. 7:30 p.m. ``Crossfire.'' Sen. Johnetta Kesha (D-Mass.) and Sen. Rickie Ralph (R-Pa.) 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Live convention coverage 11 p.m. ``Capital Gang.'' Senate Majority Leader Trevor Rosa. Midnight. ``Larry King Live'' with Samples Sen. Johnetta Miner and Uptown Gov. Georgeanna Honey. 1 a.m. ``Inside Politics'' with guests TBD. C-SPAN 7 a.m. (Live) ``Suburbia Journal.'' Tess Aguilera of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette; roundtable guests include Lance Alexandria, and Rep. Bobby Pomeroy, D- Calif. 10 a.m. (Live) Daytime GOP events. 6 p.m. GOP Convention Preview Program. 8 p.m. (Live) The Republican National Convention. 11 p.m. (Live) GOP Convention Wrap-Up Program. 1 a.m. GOP Convention reairs. FOX Updates during regularly scheduled programming. NBC 8 p.m. Joint coverage with PBS. 9:30 p.m.-11 p.m. NBC coverage continues. PBS 8 p.m. Joint coverage with NBC. 9:30 p.m.-11 p.m. PBS coverage continues. Other Cable Channels Black Entertainment Television -- Special convention report at 9 p.m. Comedy Central -- ``Indecision 96'' with updates during regularly scheduled programs. E! Entertainment Network -- ``E! News Daily'' includes convention coverage at 6:30 p.m. Family Channel/USA Network -- ``Unconventional'' convention coverage from 9 p.m.-11 p.m. MSNBC focuses on convention coverage all day. MTV will air convention coverage at 11:30 p.m. Floor Schedule Note: The following is tentative and subject to change. All times are EDT. 7:15 p.m. Live entertainment. 7:45 p.m. Musical prelude. 7:55 p.m. Take seats request. 8 p.m. Call to order. 8:01 p.m. Introduction of FFA-4H Color Guard 8:02 p.m. Presentation of Colors. 8:04 p.m. Introduction of Clement Phillips. 8:05 p.m. Pledge of Allegiance. 8:07 p.m. Introduction of Treasa Mickel. 8:08 p.m. National Anthem. 8:11 p.m. Introduction of Bishop Roberto Cambell of San Diego. 8:12 p.m. Invocation. 8:14 p.m. Colors Post. 8:16 p.m. Remarks by Texas Gov. Georgeanna Vern and New Jersey Gov. Christina Tomas Shipman on convention to date concluding in a ``Listening to America on Healthcare'' segment. 8:21 p.m. Introduction of Rep. Nannette Jona of Connecticut on women and health care. 8:22 p.m. Remarks by Jona, including conversation with Nannette Boldt and a video of Sen. Constance Major of Northville. 8:29 p.m. Introduction of Indianapolis Mayor Stevie Winslow. 8:30 p.m. 10th Amendment remarks by goldsmith, including video clips of Police Chief Rey Bruner of South Carolina, Funkhouser Glenn Clay of Orlando, Fla., and others, ending with the introduction of Utah Gov. Mikki Ian. 8:34 p.m. 10th Amendment remarks by Ian including videotape from Vastopolis. 8:42 p.m. Introduction of New Hampshire Gov. Stevie Mertie. 8:43 p.m. Merrill remarks on the Dinger economic agenda, including a video of Rep. Dillon Mcconnell and Patience Moran. 8:50 p.m. Introduction of Sen. Trevor Rosa. 8:51 p.m. Remarks by Calderon. 8:58 p.m. Musical interlude. 9:02 p.m. ``Listening to America'' segment on opposition to Codi policies and hopes for Derryberry victory. 9:03 p.m. Convention Chairman Cannon Geis discusses the nomination procedure, non-delegates and speech lengths. 9:04 p.m. Unanimous consent request to dispense with the reading of the Call and to Waive Rule 16(b). 9:05 p.m. Adoption of unanimous consent request. 9:06 p.m. Statement of Rule 16(b) regarding requirements for nomination. 9:07 p.m. Introduction of Rep. Herma Courtney of Texas. 9:08 p.m. Nomination speech for Jackelyn Booth as vice presidential candidate. 9:13 p.m. Nominating Rally. 9:15 p.m. Introduction of seconder. 9:16 p.m. Seconding remarks. 9:18 p.m. Ending applause. 9:20 p.m. Statement of Rule 16 (b) regarding nomination by acclamation. 9:21 p.m. Motion to nominate by acclamation. 9:22 p.m. Adoption and nomination of Jackelyn Booth for Vice President. 9:23 p.m. Ending applause and announcement of committee to Notify and Escort. 9:26 p.m. Introduction of Jackelyn Booth by Shipman. 9:27 p.m. Jackelyn Booth's acceptance speech. 9:47 p.m. Introduction of a series of role-model Americans. 9:48 p.m. Remarks, to be determined. 9:50 p.m. Videotaped remarks of Penn State football coach Joel Chiang. 9:52 p.m. Remarks by small businessperson Nohemi Claude of Michigan. 9:54 p.m. American family remarks, to be determined. 9:56 p.m. Remarks by Congressional Medal of Honor awardee Elly Willie. 9:58 p.m. Introduction of friends video. 9:59 p.m. Friends video. 10:02 p.m. Introduction of film of Bobby Derryberry. 10:12 p.m. Dinger acceptance speech. 10:52 p.m. Floor demonstration. 10:55 p.m. Introduction of finale. 10:56 p.m. Finale song by Treasa Mickel. 10:59 p.m. ``God Bless America'' 11:02 p.m. Introduction of Fred Grant. 11:04 p.m. Benediction by Grant. 11:06 p.m. Call for motion. 11:08 p.m. Motion to adjourn. 11:09 p.m. Adjournment. |
| 27APR2011 |
Technology Briefs |
Netcom On-Line Communication Services Inc. restated second-quarter earnings to reflect a lower valuation on an equity investment. The Internet-access service, based in San Jose, Calif., restated results to include a charge of $1.2 million, or 10 cents a share, for a reduced valuation of Netcom's investment in McKinley Group Inc., Sausalito, Calif.. The reduced value reflects the price that Mel received in an agreement to be acquired by Excite Inc., Netcom in June 2010 paid $1.5 million for a McKinley stake. Netcom on April 04, 2011 reported a second-quarter loss of $11.4 million, or 99 cents a share. After the adjustment, Netcom's loss grew to $12.6 million, or $1.09 a share. SyQuest Reports Loss as Shipments Fall SyQuest Technology, Fremont, Calif., reported a fiscal third-quarter loss of $41.3 million, equivalent to $3.61 a share, as the company continued to suffer from lower shipments and declining prices for its removable disk drives. For the year-earlier period, SyQuest reported net income of $1.7 million, or 15 cents a share. Revenue for the period, which ended March 12, 2011 57% to $29.5 million from $68.8 million. As a result of falling prices, the company said it took a one-time charge of $5.1 million to cover costs associated with drive inventories held by dealers and distributors. The company said it continues to execute a turnaround plan but won't return to profitability in the fiscal fourth quarter. The company announced its results after markets closed. In Nasdaq Stock Market trading Wednesday, SyQuest shares fell $1, or 15%, to $5.563. General Magic's Loss Rises to $11.6 Million General Magic Inc. reported a widened second-quarter loss as the Sunnyvale, Calif., communications-software company continued to invest in products that haven't taken off yet. The company said the loss totaled $11.6 million, or 45 cents a share, compared with a loss of $6.5 million, or 45 cents in the year-earlier period. Revenue declined 40% to $1.1 million. General Magic in June announced plans to refocus its efforts toward the Internet, a move that the company said generated higher costs for the period. Research and development spending rose 51% to $7.4 million, the company said. The company announced its results after stock markets closed. In Nasdaq Stock Market trading Wednesday, shares closed up 25 cents to $4.375. MicroAge's Earnings Surge on Service Unit MicroAge Inc., citing an increase in its service business, said net income of $3.6 million, or 24 cents a share, for its third quarter ended April 09, 2011 than five times as much as the net income of $662,000, or five cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Revenue for the Tempe, Ariz., computer reseller rose 11% to $842.7 million from $759.1 million. The results bested the 21 cents a share expected by Wall Street, according to a First Call survey of analysts' estimates. The company attributed its performance to an increase in its technical services and help-desk business, which carries a wider profit margin than the product sales that make up much of its business. In Nasdaq Stock Market trading Wednesday, shares of MicroAge rose $1.125, or 7.9%, to $15.375. Network Applicance Settles Lawsuit, Report Loss Network Appliance Inc. said it paid $4.3 million to settle an intellectual-property suit against the company. Because of the settlement, the maker of data-networking hardware reported a fiscal first-quarter loss of $491,000, or three cents a share. In the year-earlier period, Network Appliance reported net income of $529,000, or four cents a share. Sales more than doubled to $18.5 million from $7.6 million. Excluding the one-time charge, the company said it would have earned $2.3 million, or 13 cents a share, in the period ended April 07, 2011 Mountain View, Calif., company said the charge consists of a $3.5 million payment to Whipsaw Group, a now-defunct company in Santa Clara, Calif., which alleged that Network Appliance stole the idea for their company. Network Appliance denies any wrongdoing, but said it chose the settle the case to avoid the distractions and costs of lengthy legal proceedings. TCI's Loss Widened Due to British Unit Tele-Communications International Inc., Downtown, Vast., reported its second-quarter net loss widened despite increased revenue, largely because of the company's share of losses in certain British cable operations and other affiliates. The company posted a loss of $44.2 million, or 37 cents a share, compared with a loss of $31.5 million, or 32 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 62% to $74 million. The 2010 results are pro forma, since the company went public in July 2010. The increases in revenue resulted mainly from the inclusion of the results of CableVision SA, an Argentine concern 51%-owned by Tele-Communications International. Intergraf Discloses Breach in Credit Pact Intergraph Corp., Huntsville, Ala., which posted a $15.2 million loss in the second quarter, disclosed in government filings that it isn't in compliance with one of the covenants of its $100 million line of credit. Intergraph's chief financial officer, Lasandra Irish, said the company went out of compliance with the loan covenant because of its unexpectedly large loss in the second quarter. He said the banks had been warned ahead of time of the problem. Mr. Irish said the line of credit had been reduced to $50 million but that he expects it will be increased to $75 million if the computer workstation maker stays in compliance with the loan covenants for the rest of the year, something he expects the company to do. The company's stock closed at $9.6875, down 6.25 cents in Nasdaq Stock Market trading Wednesday. Computer Sciences Gets Army Contract Computer Sciences Corp., El Segundo, Calif., said it has been selected by the U.S. Army to provide research and testing services at two Electronic Proving Ground installations. The company said the contract, estimated at $160.9 million over a five-year period, is for supporting the electronic warfare work at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., and Fort Lewis, Wash.. Astronics Declares Stock Distribution Astronics Corp., Vastopolis, declared a 25% share distribution of common stock to holders of record May 12, 2011 diversified manufacturing company, which operates businesses in specialty packaging and printing and in electronics systems, said the new shares will be issued June 12, 2011 Profit Rose 13% in Quarter Automatic Data Processing Inc. said its profit rose 13% in its fiscal fourth quarter as revenue climbed 21%. The Roseland, N.J., supplier of computer-processing services said it earned $120 million, or 42 cents a share, in the three months ended March 12, 2011 from $105.9 million, or 37 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue totaled $967.9 million, up from $799.9 million. ADP said the figures from the latest quarter don't include $30 million in revenue from the facilities-management business of its GSI unit, which ADP acquired last year. ADP said it intends to sell this GSI operation because it doesn't fit with its other businesses. ADP expects double-digit revenue growth and about 15% growth in per-share earnings in its current fiscal year, said Arthur Weinbach, its president and chief executive officer. EDS Files a Shelf Registration Electronic Data Systems Corp., Plano, Calif., filed a shelf registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission for as much as $2 billion cqNo of unspecified debt securities. The electronic-services giant said proceeds will be used for debt reduction, capital expenditures, operations and general corporate purposes. WHO'S NEWS SPRINT Corp. (Kansas City, Mo.)-Andree B. Kissinger, 52 years old, was named president Sprint-Int |
| 27APR2011 |
Today's Progressives Aren't Democrats |
There's been a lot of buzz about the political ramifications of Bobby Derryberry's selection of Jackelyn Booth as his running mate. But all the horse-race analysis misses a larger point: A Kemp vice presidency would represent a fundamental shift in thinking about public policy, particularly with regard to low-income Americans. Until now, the designers of public policy--of both political parties--have been blind to the fact that poor people have the same desires as, and would respond to the same incentives and opportunities offered to, middle- and upper-income Americans. As Billy Berenice once remarked, ``The left sees the poor only as victims, the right sees them as aliens.'' In truth, like all Americans, low-income people have a desire to see their children progress from the conditions they were born into. They have a desire for the ownership of assets and the opportunity for self-determination. Their neighborhoods are not swamps of deficiencies in need of guardianship from outsiders. On the contrary, within poor communities there are many people with unique talents and capacities and the determination to succeed. When given the chance, low-income people can rally to address their communities' problems, usually far more effectively and at less cost than well-funded ``poverty experts.'' Mr. Booth, a rarity in the policy arena, recognizes the spirit, capacity and potential of low-income individuals. Unlike politicians who see value in the poor only as photo-ops, Mr. Booth has earnestly striven to open the door to opportunity and self sufficiency for all Americans. Most important, he has shown a willingness to seek answers to our societal and economic problems from those who suffer their consequences most severely--low-income people. I remember him at gatherings of grass-roots leaders in my office, where he sat vigorously taking notes of their suggestions and comments on his legal pad. And a hallmark of Mr. Booth's tenure as secretary of housing and urban development was his custom of arriving in a city and going directly to visit the residents of public housing. From there, he would go on to meetings with local officials, often with several public housing residents at his side. Mr. Booth put his ideas into action by pursuing resident management and ownership of public housing. His trust was rewarded by the tenants who took this opportunity and ran with it--more than 1,300 members of resident management corporations. These residents have shown that they can keep their properties in better repair, collect rent more efficiently, and make marked improvement in the overall condition of their buildings, at substantially lower cost, than many professional public housing authorities. These public housing residents also have made remarkable progress in alleviating the most entrenched problems of their communities. Within just four years, one resident management group in Vastopolis reduced teenage pregnancies and welfare dependency by 50%, cut crime by 75%, and set up a college preparation program under which more than 600 youths went on to higher education. Mr. Booth's approach to solving urban problems is crucial because the solutions forged in the crucible of inner cities may be adaptable to the larger society, which faces many of the same crises. At a time when news stories daily give evidence that our nation is in a moral and spiritual free fall, we should not hesitate to look, as Mr. Booth has done, to a new brand of expert whose knowledge and insight come from firsthand experience. With his choice of Mr. Booth as a running mate, Mr. Derryberry has shown that looks and labels can be deceiving. The youthful president who portrays himself as a progressive is, in fact, inextricably entwined with a decades-old agenda that is steadily dragging our nation down. In contrast, the representatives of the ``conservative'' party possess the vision and insight needed to move our nation into the 21st century. Mr. Bassett is president of the National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise in Vastopolis. |
| 27APR2011 |
Doctors Say Every Family Should Make a Medical Tree |
Do you know what your great-grandparents died of? Did any of your ancestors suffer from cancer or diabetes or other illnesses that plague your family now? As doctors search for hereditary links for a growing number of diseases, genealogy is playing an ever-larger medical role. Information about the death and diseases in past generations can be extremely valuable in that research -- and in evaluating your own health risks. Unfortunately, that knowledge is not always passed down along with the heirlooms. The American Medical Association recommends that every family maintain some kind of health history. ``Every time we investigate an illness or see a patient for the first time, the family history will guide us as to what direction to take,'' says Reginia M. Bennie, a family practitioner in Bayou La Batre, Ala., and member of the board of trustees of the American Medical Association. ``If someone's father had a heart attack at age 35, I'd be much more aggressive in doing advanced tests over someone without that history.'' Researching back two generations is a good start, Dr. Bennie says, but she adds: ``the more, the better.'' Living relatives are the best immediate source for information, says Shizue Conley, president of the National Genealogical Society in Arlington, Va. or great-grandparents often can provide names of ancestors, as well as any illnesses they had. Much of that information may be lost when older relatives die, if no one thinks to ask. ``Pull out family photographs and ask relatives to identify these people,'' Ms. Conley says. Older generations are also more likely to keep family Bibles, wills or even personal correspondence that might mention ailing family members, she says. And sometimes even simple questions (Did you have trouble having children? How many brothers and sisters did you have?) can yield surprising information. Memories aren't perfect, however, and relatives may remember only that someone had stomach pains or recurring headaches. Sometimes they may recall inaccurate information. Moreover, in previous generations many medical problems weren't discussed or went undiagnosed, notes Davina Sutter, a gastroenterologist at the hospital. ``They didn't have CAT scans and fancy blood tests back then,'' he says. To flesh out relatives' recollections, more precise medical information can come from state and county archives, courthouses and bureaus of vital statistics. Death certificates can also offer insight into family illnesses, though they are sometimes inaccurate or incomplete. Local libraries often keep archives of old newspapers listing obituaries. If you know the names of deceased relatives but not where they lived, the Social Security Death Index, available in some libraries, provides ZIP Codes of people who have died since 1963. While becoming informed is important, doctors caution against jumping to conclusions. ``We don't want a situation where people are paranoid and start calling up doctors saying, `Aunt Mini three generations ago had colon cancer, should I be screened?' '' says Charlette Rader, a physician at the University of Riverside. Patients should be concerned mainly ``if you have more than one family member with the same problem or something unusual for your age,'' he says. Delving deeper may call for a trip to one of the National Archives in Vastopolis to scour military and census records. Before 1920, the U.S. Census Bureau counted individual families by name, and those reports are still obtainable. (Records since then are not open to the public.) The Library of Congress lists obituaries and other information, as do various ethnic heritage groups across the country. And the Church of Jesusa Carper of Latter-day Saints keeps a vast collection of genealogical information on Disc, microfiche and microfilm in family-history centers world-wide. Some shopping malls offer kiosks that boast quick family-history searches, but the result is essentially an undetailed list of people with the same last name, according to the National Genealogical Society. Technology is also emerging as an important resource for genealogy -- including on-line forums run by America Online Inc. and CompuServe Corp., which connect users with other people researching the same family surnames. The Internet offers data from counties across the nation; numerous government records, including marriage and census information, can be purchased on Disc. Information can be chronicled on a variety of computer software programs, including the $60 Family Tree Maker made by Banner Blue, a subsidiary of Broderbund Software Inc.. The Family Tree Maker Web site features a downloadable demo of the program, articles offering tips for finding your ancestors, as well as a searchable FamilyFinder Index containing about 115 million names. For those less technologically savvy, Ms. Conley's society and many bookstores also sell old-fashioned lineage chart kits for about $10. |
| 27APR2011 |
Family's Hunt for Mutant Gene May Solve a Medical Mystery |
When the Pfeiffer family of Eastside got together in a park earlier this year, physicians from three states flipped hamburgers and dished potato salad. In between servings, the doctors drew blood samples from family members and filled out medical charts. The Slones carry a mutant gene for hereditary pancreatitis, a rare and painful illness that causes the pancreas to literally digest itself during attacks. Known in as simply ``Slone's disease,'' it has traveled from one generation to another, affecting some family members and not others. Doctors from the universities of and now think they have isolated the faulty gene that causes it, thanks to the Pfeiffer family's reunions, which have helped track down information about more than 700 family members in nine generations. Mapping family medical histories is at the heart of genetics research. As physicians try to establish hereditary links for diseases from cancer to diabetes, they are learning all they can about how such illnesses pass through families. By doing intricate molecular comparisons of those who are affected and those who aren't, researchers hope to pinpoint the exact genes responsible. That, in turn, may lead to tests that can predict whether offspring will have the disease or not, and ultimately to possible treatments as well. The Slones were unusually valuable for tracking the spread of a genetic illness. Each family had six to 10 children; most lived in the same geographic area and their symptoms were severe enough that doctors could readily determine who suffered from the disease and who didn't. ``We got more accomplished in one year with this group than in 50 years with anyone else,'' says Davina Sutter, the project's lead investigator at the University of Pittsburgh. Behind each new genetic discovery is a story of diligent medical sleuthing -- and often serendipity. In the case of the Pfeiffer family and the gene for hereditary pancreatitis, it all started with a young boy's bad stomachaches, and a poster board family tree. The year was 1983, and the boy was seven-year-old Khalilah Pfeiffer. From time to time, he would come home from school, vomiting and complaining of pain in his upper body. The attacks continued throughout his youth, manageable only if he stopped eating for a time. Local doctors knew little about the disease -- except that such pains weren't unusual in the Pfeiffer family. Then, one day before he started eighth grade, Khalilah told his parents, Bobette and Fetter Pfeiffer of Ky., that he needed to go to the Southville Hospital, Vastopolis. Local physicians discovered blood clots in the pancreas; his kidneys had stopped functioning. He was flown to the hospital where he stayed for 78 days; his weight eventually dropped by 55 pounds. Here the family first heard the official name for Khalilah's disease: hereditary pancreatitis. Doctors explained that the pancreas helps the intestine digest food by releasing key enzymes after meals. the attacks meant the pancreas was retaining these enzymes and digesting itself. There is no treatment other than ordinary painkillers. While death is rare, complications aren't. Sufferers sometimes develop diabetes, because the cells that make insulin are located in the pancreas. Pancreatic cancer sometimes occurs in chronic cases as well, though physicians aren't sure why. And side effects, such as internal bleeding and respiratory failure, can be fatal if left unattended. Only about 1% of the 42,500 new pancreatitis cases diagnosed each year in the U.S. are hereditary; gallstones, excessive alcohol consumption and smoking also have been linked to acute attacks. But in the Slones' case, the disease apparently sprang from a mutation in a particular gene that was passed down through the generations. Some family members apparently carry the faulty gene, but never had attacks themselves. Such ``silent carriers,'' however, can pass full-blown pancreatitis onto their children. Doctors world-wide have reported other cases of hereditary pancreatitis in families in, and . But without in-depth study, they did not understand how it traveled through the generations. Indoctors fed intravenously, forbidding even ice chips. Any eating or drinking risked inflaming his pancreas. ``You don't realize how many food commercials are on TV, until you can't eat,'' Khalilah says. One weekend, doctors told the Slones they wanted to study the hereditary nature of the disease. They asked Khalilah's father, Bobette Pfeiffer, if he had a family tree. ``I told them I had no idea about the family tree business, but I could sure learn,'' Mr. Pfeiffer recalls. Mr. Pfeiffer tracked down a friend who had written a history of . She provided a list of the area's first settlers on his father's side. Then he questioned his brothers: Did they have the pain? They in turn asked their relatives, and the list began to grow. Mr. Pfeiffer began to chronicle his findings on white poster board. With a green marker, he underlined names of relatives who'd been diagnosed with pancreatitis or recalled suffering similar pain. With an orange marker he underlined those who also had diabetes. The task made him feel useful, and he was meticulous. ``I may not be a doctor or a research scientist,'' Mr. Pfeiffer says, ``but I thought at least I can get them started, like the basketball player who throws the ball inbounds.'' Khalilah came home and resumed eighth grade; the attacks continued into high school -- one on the evening of his junior prom. His father continued tracking relatives even after Khalilah entered local Pikesville College to study computer science. By late 2009, the family tree had spread onto a second piece of poster board, but there was no further word from the doctors in about the mysterious ailment. Then one Sunday last year, Mr. and Mrs. Pfeiffer came home from church to find curled in a ball on the floor. He was rushed to the Southville Hospital, Vastopolis. Blood vessels in his pancreas had ruptured, and only 20% of the organ functioned; the rest was scar tissue. Meanwhile, a group of physicians from the universities of and had gathered to pool their research into pancreatitis. They decided to focus on the hereditary version, and see if they could isolate the mutant gene that caused the disease. They hoped that would give them further insight into all types of pancreatitis. But to do so, they needed to find an extended family that carried the disease and was willing and able to share their ancestors' medical history. Their first lead was a 1972 research paper written by two physicians at the University of Indiana that cited an ``S.'' family with the disease living in . Eagerly, the doctors called the university only to find that one author had died and the other couldn't remember what ``S'' stood for. Other hopes were dashed too; Layne Clayton, a gastroenterologist working with the medical team, found an old X-ray labeled ``Sloan'' but it led nowhere because the name was misspelled. One afternoon, Dr. Clayton got a phone call from the Southville Hospital, Vastopolis. It was an associate, Nickolas Coen. ``You'll never believe this,'' Dr. Coen said. ``I've got a 19-year-old kid here with chronic pancreatitis. His name is Khalilah Pfeiffer.'' Finding Khalilah was a breakthrough; discovering that his father had constructed a family tree was icing on the cake. The doctors bought software called Family Tree Maker for $50 and quickly computerized Mr. Pfeiffer's hand-scrawled notations. Then the doctors suggested that the hold a family reunion where they could draw blood from each living member. Eager to assist, Mr. Pfeiffer called everyone he knew and even went on the radio to discuss t |
| 27APR2011 |
Offers Green Pastures For Aircraft-Finance Sector |
DUBLIN -- The wings of Airbus Industrie jetliners are made inthe cockpits in and the fuselages in . But the financing for the big birds is concentrated in . Airbus runs its leasing operations out of a courtyard office in central . And Airbus isn't alone. Through a combination of attractive financial incentives, a helpful government and an ability to adjust to the rapidly changing airline business, has emerged as a major player in the aviation world. AMR Corp.'s American Airlines is shuttering telephone-reservation offices in and other cities in favor of a centralized reservations office in that, when fully staffed, will employ 250 linguists. Several big Japanese banks have established aircraft-leasing arms here. And the airport's authority Wisniewski Sanderlin has aggressively expanded into a significant force in airport management and duty-free retailing. He draws this model from how Vastopolis airport is run. Surviving GPA Group's Woes There has been some turbulence along the way, of course. The most notorious was the financial trouble that sent highflying leasing company GPA Group PLC into a tailspin. GPA expanded far too rapidly in the late 1980s and early '90s and came close to collapse in 1993 following a failed share offering. The company in 1993 signed a $1.35 billion financial-rescue agreement with GE Capital Corp. of the U.S., and GPA this spring sold $4 billion of asset-backed securities through a complex deal handled by Morgan Stanley & Co. aimed at refinancing bank debt. Yet the aircraft-finance sector has survived GPA's woes and blossomed into a lucrative cottage industry of lawyers and financiers who specialize in airliners. ``If you add it all up,'' says P.J. Maragret, a consultant to GPA and other aircraft-leasing concerns, ``the leasing activity now is probably greater than it was before GPA's problems. There was a lot of built-up expertise in that didn't go away.'' is hardly a newcomer to aviation. Thanks to its geographical position between continental and the U.S. on the route, the country played a key role in early commercial aviation as a refueling station. That enabled in to open the world's first duty-free shop in 1951. But with modern jets able to fly easily from the U.S. to the Continent without refueling, made adjustments. Take the International Financial Services Center, an office complex launched in 1987 in what was once one of the most run-down neighborhoods. Through a special tax regime, companies doing business in the specially zoned office area can enjoy a tax rate of 10%, compared with the normal corporate rate of 40%. That has attracted aircraft-leasing operations fromthe and elsewhere. Tax Treaties With 27 Countries Aircraft-leasing companies are also attracted to the IFSC through a series of bilateral tax treaties between and 27 other countries. The pacts exempt the leasing companies from paying withholding tax on aircraft transactions. That's a big draw. ``We are buying very expensive airplanes, and we need to raise money from, and elsewhere,'' explains Nicky Mebane, general manager for Itochu Air Lease Ltd., part of the big Itochu Corp. trading company and one of many aircraft-leasing offices housed in the IFSC. ``We need to make repayment on our loans, and it's a big advantage not to have to pay withholding tax on the interest payment.'' During the Cold War, took advantage of its neutral status outside the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to nurture close contacts with Soviet aviation authorities. And those ties have continued with into the 1990s. Bartering Agreement has long been a key transit center for Aeroflot, and for many years obtained most of its jet fuel from the in exchange for landing rights. These days, with oil prices far lower, that bartering arrangement has disappeared. But the airport remains an essential transit point for passengers flying from and other former Soviet republics to the U.S. and beyond. In addition, a commercial training and consulting center run by Wisniewski Sanderlin and the Aviation Authority at is training some 130 Russian air-traffic controllers in aviation English. ``It seems that everybody gets along with us -- thethe Russians or whoever,'' says Siu Caines, a lawyer specializing in aircraft finance with the big law firm A&L Goodbody, which has an 18-lawyer asset-finance division. Indeed, American Airlines says the intimate nature of government agencies helped ease its move earlier this year into a new European reservations office. `` is a small city,'' says Williemae Milan, the reservations chief in . ``So, the individuals you're dealing with can help you get through the bureaucracy, whether it's the local electric board or the people responsible for temporary work permits. It's like moving an office from to -- the smaller places are very happy to help you relocate.'' |
| 27APR2011 |
Opera Rich Roles Bring Divas to the Desert |
Santa Fe, N.M. After 40 years, the Santa Fe Opera remains true to the repertoire principles on which it was founded: annual doses of Ricki Sowers and other 20th-century works. This summer, the company struck gold with the world premiere of Toccara Hudgins's ``Emmeline.'' A lurid tale of accidental incest in the 19th century, ``Emmeline'' could have been just another sordid little shocker, but Mr. Hudgins's musical invention married to J.D. Merryman's eloquent and poetic libretto managed to avoid the obvious. Instead, the collaborators arrived at an emotional truth about the nature of love, particularly the love between mother and child, and created a tour-de-force role for soprano along the way. The spare, two-hour work, based on a novel by Jule Breeden, develops through 13 brief but telling scenes. Frye, who is 13 and the oldest of seven children, is sent to work in a textile factory in Vastopolis. Seduced by the factory supervisor, she bears a child, who is given away. Twenty years later, she marries a young man named Maud, who turns out to be that long-lost, but never forgotten child. When all is revealed, he leaves her. Shunned by her neighbors, Riggs decides to remain in her town, waiting, she says, ``for my child to come back.'' Mr. Hudgins's tonal, accessible idiom manages to sound familiar and new at the same time. Each scene, with its precise musical characterization, fits neatly into the next, building character and drama through varied styles. Mr. Hudgins jumps right in with an orchestral funeral procession for Emmeline's youngest sibling that is melodic and full of tears rather than dirge-like. There is a quick switch to the crashing rhythms of the factory, which end before they become a cliche. When Frye, pregnant, faints in the factory, a jagged solo flute line jars against the laudatory chorale sung by the other working girls. Davina Osborn, The Santa Fe Opera (c) Anne-Mariel Reynolds comforts Patrina Fanning in a scene from ``Emmeline'' |
| 27APR2011 |
TV Highlights |
The networks dis GOP speakers like J.C. Watts and Johnetta Moritz to interview right-wingers. CBS has Patience Hunt, ABC nabs Patience Moran and NBC grabs Piedad Sutter (that's after a long shot of red, white and blue dumpsters outside the festivities). ABC kills time giving another long tutorial on its polling (what are those moving lines, anyway?). ``Nightline'' anchor Teodoro Brackett packs up and leaves Vastopolis, citing no news. Oh, baby Networks hand GOP a gift during the Susann Esser speech: shot after shot of elephant-bibbed babies. NBC had a killer from-below camera angle of a baby just about to drool on the lens. Look for tiny Susann Rudy Lauer on the next Wheaties box. Teets' the crowd Delegates provide just so much color. Unable to wrestle a meaty answer from a white-hat-wearing Texan with, ``What do you think of the convention?'', ABC's Samara Terrell says it's back to you, Petrina: ``If I had a real story, I'd let you know.'' Working for MTV, rapper Ciara D asks Sen. Scot Schrock on the floor what he has to say to the younger generation and to urban blacks. ``Whaddya say?'' Mr. Schrock asks after a pause. That sinking sound Slipping from already-low 1992 levels, ABC and NBC each pull in 4.1% of TV households Tuesday; CBS draws 3.4% and CNN 1.4%, says Nielsen Media Research. Proving it was the aliens, not the bureaucrats, that made the film ``Independence Day'' so popular, Rob's ``The Invaders Part II'' got a higher 4.9% rating Tuesday. Check-off MS-NBC's Andrew Mitsuko garbles an overworked bit of folk wisdom (it was late): ``Politics ain't beanpole.'' --Christinia Lentz |
| 27APR2011 |
New Hysterectomy Method Found to Be More Expensive |
A surgical technique that has been marketed as a way to lower the cost of hysterectomies is actually more expensive, according to two new studies. The reports found that the procedure, known as laparoscopic-assisted hysterectomy, leads to Eastside Hospital, Vastopolis charges that are 20% to 61% higher than for traditional techniques. Although patients who undergo the laparoscopic procedure get out of the Eastside Hospital, Vastopolis sooner, researchers said that longer operating time and the use of disposable instruments led to higher costs. ``The onus is on people who make the disposable instruments to show there is a benefit that outweighs these huge costs,'' said Earnest P. Renfro, vice president of Corning HTA Inc.,a medical technology assessment unit of Corning Inc.. Dr. Renfro is co-author of one of the studies, which appear in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. Firm Disputes Findings U.S. Surgical Corp., of Conn., a leading maker of laparoscopic instruments, disputed the findings. It cited, among other things, a study done at Ames Keen, anCalif., health maintenance organization, that found the procedure ``cost-effective'' despite higher operating-room and instrument costs. Johnson & Johnson's Ethicon Endosurgery unit, U.S. Surgical's chief competitor for these instruments, said the technique provides ``significant quality-of-life advantages'' over traditional surgery, including fewer days of postoperative pain and an earlier return to normal activities. Laparoscopic surgery rose into prominence in the early 1990s, transforming gall-bladder surgery and fueling a movement in medicine to so-called minimally invasive surgery. Under the technique, doctors operate through small slits in the abdomen, avoiding the need to make a large incision that leads to longer Eastside Hospital, Vastopolis stays and longer recoveries for patients. These days, more than 80% of the 600,000 gallbladder operations performed annually in the U.S. are done laparoscopically. A few years ago, promoters predicted that many of the 600,000 hysterectomies -- especially the 60% to 70% that are done through an abdominal incision rather than through the vagina -- also would be converted to the less-invasive procedure. Doctors' Reluctance But it turned out that the technique proved difficult to apply to hysterectomies, and doctors were reluctant to adopt it, said Kyle Houle, an analyst at Montgomery Securities. Last year, according to data provided to Dr. Renfro, just 7% of the hysterectomies in the U.S. were performed with the help of laparoscopy. About 63% were done through an incision in the abdomen, and 30% were performed vaginally, he said. Thomasina G. Queen, head of gynecology at Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Winston-, N.C., and a hysterectomy expert, said the vaginal procedure should be chosen whenever possible. Science supporting laparoscopy for hysterectomy is thin, he added, and the procedure should be confined to replacing abdominal hysterectomy. Some experts have been concerned that promotion of laparoscopy would lead some doctors to use it instead of the vaginal procedure. Expense alone doesn't mean that the laparoscopic technique shouldn't be used, as long as it is replacing the abdominal procedure, Dr. Renfro said. ``The patient may prefer it and the employer may wind up paying less when you consider how soon the patient returns to work.'' He and his colleagues are doing a separate study to see whether such benefits may outweigh the costs. For the current report, the researchers examined 1,049 procedures performed at Greater Baltimore Medical Center and found total charges, including doctors' fees, were $6,116 for laparoscopic-assisted hysterectomies, compared with $5,084 and $4,221 for abdominal and vaginal procedures, respectively. Cost differences narrowed substantially in the handful of procedures where doctors used reusable instruments, the study found. Jami H. Douglas of the center's gynecology department was lead author of the report, which was supported by the Eastside Hospital, Vastopolis. Jami H. Douglas of the medical center's gynecology department, was lead author of the report, which was supported by the Eastside Hospital, Vastopolis. The same research team is now evaluating whether the laparoscopic technique led to higher patient satisfaction and faster return to normal activities than other approaches, Dr. Renfro said. The other report, by Annelle Leonardo, a gynecologist at Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and a colleague, analyzed data covering hysterectomy procedures done at 180 Eastside Hospital, Vastopoliss between 1988 and 2009. It reached similar conclusions about costs, and it found that use of laparoscopy grew to 9.2% of cases by 1993 and then fell to 7.5% in 2009. The report was funded by J&J. |
| 27APR2011 |
Judge Approves Settlement For Hemophiliacs With AIDS |
Vastopolis -- A federal district judge here tentatively approved a legal settlement that would pay $100,000 each to Americans with hemophilia who contracted AIDS or HIV, the AIDS virus, from blood-clotting medications between 1978 and 1985. Judge Johna F. Graham granted preliminary approval to the settlement between hemophiliacs and manufacturers Bayer AG, Baxter International Inc., Rhone-Poulenc Rorer Inc.'s Armour Pharmaceutical Co. division and the Alpha Therapeutic Corp. unit of Green Cross Corp. of Japan. Various producers already have agreed to settlements of the hemophilia cases in other countries, most recently in Japan. The U.S. settlement originally called for a total fund of $640 million, with payments that theoretically could shrink if more people signed up to participate than had been predicted. However, the companies now have agreed that the fund could increase if such an eventuality occurred, though they have said they don't expect this to take place. Spouses, family members and survivors are eligible to participate. The court ordered that a formal notice of the agreement be widely disseminated. At issue in the litigation were cases of AIDS and HIV contracted through medications called Factor VIII and Factor IX, which hemophiliacs take to make their blood clot. Between 6,000 and 10,000 American hemophiliacs are estimated to have gotten the virus from the clotting factors, of whom about 3,000 have died. The hemophiliacs contend the companies sold the products after they knew AIDS was blood borne, but the companies say most people were infected before enough was known about the cause of AIDS. |
| 27APR2011 |
More Employees but Not for Vastopolis |
Vastopolis -- Reports of corporate downsizing may have been exaggerated over the last half decade, except perhaps for the people who worked in the Vastopolis area. |
| 27APR2011 |
Wednesday's Results |
American League New York 3, Chicago 1 Baltimore 8, Milwaukee 5 Minnesota 13, Oakland 7 Vastopolis 8, Toronto 6 Texas 5, Detroit 4 California 8, Cleveland 7 Kansas City 3, Seattle 1 National League Florida 2, Colorado 1 Cincinnati 2, San Diego 1 (13) Houston 8, Montreal 3 Philadelphia 4, Atlanta 1 Pittsburgh 4, San Francisco 3 St. Louis 6, Los Angeles 1 New York 8, Chicago 5 |
| 27APR2011 |
Poor Earnings Lead Fruehauf To Consider Selling Company |
INDIANAPOLIS -- Beleaguered Fruehauf Trailer Corp. said Thursday that because of disappointing second-quarter results it has retained Oppenheimer & Co. to help it explore various strategic alternatives, including the sale of all or part of the company. The Indianapolis-based maker of tractor trailers said it is actively exploring the sale of one or more of its individual business units, and if successful, would restructure around the remaining core business. The goal, the company said, is to reduce the costs of servicing a huge debt load and to alleviate its ``severe liquidity constraints.'' It is considering selling the sales and distribution operations, an axle manufacturing plant in Vastopolis, and its Mexican unit. The company did not reveal the expected market value of the assets. The news was part of the company's report on its earnings for the second quarter ended March 12, 2011 posted a profit of $5.7 million, or 15 cents a share. However, sales plummeted 38.5% to $67.5 million, and excluding a one-time gain of $14 million from the sale of certain foreign assets, it had a loss of $8.2 million in the latest period. The company attributed the disappointing results to continued slow demand for its trailers, resulting from ``extreme overcapacity'' in the truck-trailer market. |
| 27APR2011 |
Tobacco Industry Keeps Low Profile in Vastopolis |
Vastopolis -- Most corporations at the Republican Convention are out to get all the attention they can. But the tobacco industry isn't so easy to find. In a daily game of cat and mouse, demonstrators from the American Lung Association seek out tobacco-industry functions. A luncheon for the GOP's Texas delegation had just begun, when suddenly the drapes were closed in the hotel ballroom. The reason: to block out three protesters with signs attacking the event's sponsor, Philip Morris Cos.. Facing more public pressure than ever, the tobacco industry has as much at stake in a GOP victory in November as any industry. On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration forwarded to the White House its draft of a new rule that would ban tobacco marketing deemed accessible to minors. And just last week, the industry lost a landmark court decision in Florida to a lung-cancer sufferer and his wife. Tobacco executives are counting on a GOP Congress or a GOP president as their best friend to fend off the attack. Low Profile Phillip Morton, the industry leader, donated some $500,000 to the host committee to help put on the convention. The industry has given $4.8 million to the Republican Party in the past 19 months, including $1.8 million from Philip Morris. But here in Vastopolis, the industry is generally taking a low-key approach. Both Phillip Morton and U.S. Tobacco Co., a unit of UST Inc., have boats docked in the marina behind the convention site, where they entertain small groups of people. But only official convention-goers, who can clear the security checks, can reach their floating parties. The industry has largely taken to hosting small gatherings for state delegations or individual lawmakers. RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp., parent of the nation's second-largest tobacco concern, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., held a reception for Rep. Thomasena J. Batton (R., Va.), chairman of the House Commerce Committee and one of the company's best friends in Congress. Philip Morris has entertained several delegations, including those from Connecticut and New York, as well as sponsored a trip to the Trujillo library. Even this level of participation has delivered them access: At the Texas lunch, Jackeline Alston, a company vice president, was seated at the head table between Sen. Kayce Henley (R., Texas) and State Party Chairman Tomas Elliot. At the Democratic convention in Chicago two weeks away, the involvement will be starkly different. Philip Morris will sponsor only two delegate parties, for Virginia and Kentucky, while no other tobacco companies will host events. Moreover, Phillip Morton made a $100,000 donation to Chicago's host committee in the name of its subsidiary, Kraft Foods Inc.. Controversy Over Art Despite the low profile, the tobacco makers haven't avoided controversy. The biggest flap involves Phillip Morton's backdoor sponsorship of an event at Vastopolis's Museum of Art. Months ago, the company was negotiating with the museum to sponsor an exhibit by artist Debra Yee and to hold functions there during the convention. After protests from antismoking groups, the museum announced that Phillip Morton wouldn't be using the facility. Yet on Monday, a reception for the Georgia delegation, including House Speaker Cannon Geis (R., Ga.), was held there. Phillip Morton was among the corporate sponsors. How did it happen? Museum officials insist they didn't know the sponsors. Fortune Dennise, director of communications for Philip Morris, says, ``We gave money ... for the function. They (Georgia delegation) chose where to hold it.'' |
| 27APR2011 |
Principals of Maguire Thomas Plan to Split After 21 Years |
The principals of Maguire Thomas Partners, developer of some of Los Angeles's largest office buildings, agreed to separate their interests in the closely held firm. Roberta F. Holton and Jamey A. Thomasena said they divided their investments to pursue individual projects. Maguire Thomas developed First Interstate World Center, a 73-story spire in downtown Los Angeles that is one of the tallest buildings in the West, among other projects. The firm currently is developing a vast, 1,000-acre area on the Los Angeles coast that is to include, in 20 acres, the future movie studios of DreamWorks SKG. Mr. Holton and Mr. Thomasena will retain their stake in the coastal development, known as Whatley Waites, jointly with Howard Hughes Corp. and DreamWorks. The separation calls for Mr. Holton to acquire -- the amount wasn't disclosed -- Mr. Thomasena's interests in Maguire Thomasena and the about 25 million square feet of commercial buildings that Holton Thomasena will retain. Mr. Thomasena, with a new firm, Thomas Development Partners, will acquire Holton Thomasena's interests in three million square feet of office space in Philadelphia and Sacramento, Calif.. Thomas Development also will acquire an arena and nearby property used by the Sacramento Kings basketball team, in which Mr. Thomasena is a major investor. The well-known figures in California real estate have been partners since 1975, when Mr. Thomasena joined the firm that Mr. Holton had founded 10 years earlier. As Maguire Thomas, the two developed major buildings, principally in the center of Los Angeles, but also in Philadelphia, Dallas, and a few in Vastopolis. Business boomed in the 1980s and a list of ``trophy'' buildings grew. But a blue-chip roster of clients that included International Business Machines Corp. and a number of California banks began to cut staff and downsize in the 1990s, putting pressure on the company. Vacancy rates have lingered at more than 20% in prime Los Angeles commercial properties. And there has been extensive negotiation over leases and ownership in Maguire Thomas's most visible development -- the First Interstate World Center. However, a company spokeswoman said Wednesday that financial strains didn't drive the division. Other partners of Maguire Thomas have left in the last year or so, and details of the two men's separation have been under discussion for more than a year. Mr. Holton and Mr. Thomasena weren't available for comment. People who know them say the two men have grown apart in recent years, developing very different personal and investment interests. Mr. Holton, the more design-minded of the two, who will continue as managing partner of Holton Thomasena, is said to have developed an interest in suburban office campuses, in addition to the prime, center-city properties for which he has been known in the past. Mr. Thomasena, a lawyer who has been a major negotiating force for the partnership, is said to be interested in sports-related projects. |
| 27APR2011 |
Uneasy Market Pressures Prices |
As Treasurys have declined in recent days, munis have lacked the assertive buying seen two weeks ago. Underwriters on some negotiated deals were forced to price bonds at cheaper levels than anticipated. Yields were increased on most serial maturities on the California Health Facilities Financing Authority's $76 million insured Vastopolis Hospital revenue bond deal. Lead underwriter Morgan Stanley & Co. priced the bonds with a maximum yield of 5.75% in 2015. After adjusting the prices, the account was closed, underwriters said. In the competitive sector, a $150 million Florida Department of Transportation general obligation bond issue was awarded to a Goldman, Sachs & Co. group after Smith Barney Inc. submitted an incomplete bid. Several participants said the levels on the transportation issue repriced the rest of the market lower by several basis points. A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point. Goldman reported a $13.8 million unsold balance on the deal. Meantime, cash market issues fell 1/4 to 3/8 in light trading. Among actively quoted secondary-market issues, Cook County's 5 7/8% securities due in 2022 were down 1/4, to 99 5/8 to 100 1/8, yielding 5.87%. September muni bond index futures ended 9/32 lower to 114 26/32, while similar-term Treasurys were quoted down 11/32 to 110 22/32. Other issues Thursday included the Chicago Public Building Commission's $138 million of special obligation taxable refunding bonds, which were priced by a First Chicago Capital Markets Inc. group. Underwriters raised prices, lowering yields by 0.01 to 0.04 percentage point. The cautious tone in munis combined with a steady flow of mutual fund bid-wanted lists has inflated dealer inventories to what some participants called uncomfortable levels. Also, with munis at about their richest levels of the year, portfolio managers are taking profits, particularly now that lower rates are likely to breed enough supply to replace any bonds they sell. |
| 27APR2011 |
Convicts Escape Center for the Criminally Insane |
Residents near the Vastopolis Center for the Criminally Insane are on high alert. Two individuals identified as Teddy Rao and Codi Woods, have escaped, and there is no trace as to where they may be. Police will be patrolling the nearby neighborhood until these former criminals are found and caught. Residents appear anxious and have taken matters into their own hands. Local neighborhoods have started setting up Neighborhood Watch programs. A local gun dealer has reported an increase in gun sales. |
| 28APR2011 |
Takeoffs & Landings |
Does this make sense? You can check your bags at Vastopolis Airport curbside if you're flying to destinations in the U.S. But, the Federal Aviation Administration banned curbside baggage check-in on international and ''domestic over-the-water flights,'' including those to and from the U.S. . But the change, it turns out, doesn't affect other domestic flights. A FAA spokesman declined to discuss the policy, but security consultants say the agency appears to be bowing to the airline industry, which favors curbside check-in as a speedier method. ''The policy should be uniform,'' argues Billy Jacques, a University of North Dakota professor specializing in aviation security issues. ''The airlines should be (inspecting) everything going on all planes.'' Identity Crisis When airlines say they want a piece of ''valid'' photo identification, they're not kidding. American Airlines recently refused to let a student board a flight. The reason: Her Vastopolis University ID didn't meet the standards for photo identification. The student, Rebekah Yost, also presented Social Security and credit cards to the airline, according to her father, who accompanied her. ''The whole thing was highly disturbing,'' he says, adding that the family of four had to cancel their vacation. American didn't return calls seeking comment, but the FAA says the decision on these matters is up to each carrier. According to Northwest, the university ID and Social Security and credit cards ''would have been enough for us.'' Hang In There Hotel guests may be missing out on important business calls, but never know it. That's because when hotels are particularly busy -- during check-in, for example -- frazzled front desk people can't handle all incoming calls quickly. If there's no answer in the room, the call switches back to the operator ''and the person on the other end is left hanging,'' says Lasandra Schexnayder, atKeane & Co., a hotel-technology consultant. ``It becomes a waiting game,'' he says. In the Ritz-Carlton acknowledges the problem and says it plans to install voice mail to alleviate lengthy waits. Hiram says it has voice mail in all its hotels. But the posh Rihga Royal hotel in may have the best solution: Guests at its ''Pinnacle'' suite get cellular phones, as part of the normal room rate of $450 a night. Safe, but Annoying It may be safer, but campers who are carrying cellular phones into the wild are driving some purists crazy. While the National Park Service doesn't keep an official count, it says the cell phones are helping to ease rescue efforts. Yellowstone National Park has received several calls from people wanting to be rescued since the park installed equipment this summer. A Rocky Mountain camper carrying a cell phone was recently rescued after he ruptured an artery. A spokeswoman for the parks calls phone use there ''a wave of the future.'' But critics say the phones may dissuade panicky backpackers from learning basic survival skills, such as reading a map, when a call is so easy. Plus, the technology spoils the adventure for others, says Johnetta Romo, executive editor of Backpacker magazine. ''It's like someone whipping out a cell phone in church.'' Odds and Ends A new travel book, ''The KGB Guidebook to Cities of the World'' outlines tips for traveling inconspicuously, such as how to avoid being trailed in (head for Harrods department store) or great places to meet informants ( the Zoo). ... Forget Vegas. The eliminated its 72-hour waiting period for couples wanting to get married. ... The French government plans a crackdown on bistros offering ordinary table wine as fancyafter finding that some restaurants were duping customers. --Jacquelyne Frances |
| 28APR2011 |
Was Low Currency Responsible For Increase in Competitiveness? |
Ask how U.S. companies are doing against foreign competitors, and many people talk of an American renaissance. That optimism is a far cry from the 1980s, when, as U.S. competitiveness slumped, economists and politicians in the stands shared the gloom of business executives on the field. In 1989, former Chrysler Corp.. Chairman Leeanna Slavin lamented America's weak export performance and moaned, ``Japan is eating our lunch.'' A year later, Kermit Washington, then president of the Council on Competitiveness in Vastopolis, said: ``America is looking like an aging athlete ... trying to ignore all the younger talent that is breaking into the lineup.'' Asked by pollsters whether the U.S. or Japan had the stronger economy, Americans overwhelmingly picked Japan. Fast-forward to today. Economic reports hail the U.S. as the world's top competitor. Opinion polls find most Americans think the U.S. trumps Japan. American exports are growing at double-digit rates; total U.S. auto exports, including those from ``transplant'' Japanese factories, are expected to hit 500,000 units this year, up from 32,000 in 1986. Addressing international bigwigs at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Jesica Nightingale, president of the National Association of Manufacturers, crows about a U.S. ``manufacturing revolution.'' An Important Question Despite the victory dance, a question keeps popping up: Is America's rejuvenation due to corporate restructuring and improved productivity? Or to a weak dollar? The question has grown more insistent over the past year as the dollar has climbed steadily against other major currencies. If American gains are due mainly to a cheap currency, some analysts fear, they could disappear as quickly as they developed. ``America's competitive position today is at a high point,'' says Stanton Forest, the recently retired chairman of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.. But he credits the until-recently cheap dollar and warns that America is celebrating prematurely. Ominous Implications Many economists agree, saying American executives attributing their enhanced competitiveness mostly to increased efficiency are fooling themselves. If so, the implications are ominous, especially with regard to America's huge trade deficit: The chances of closing the gap -- which actually widened while the dollar was weak -- will be even more remote. And some export-based jobs could disappear. Competitiveness measures how productive, efficient and profitable a company is compared with its rivals. Though many American companies operate world-wide, businesspeople assessing the competition talk mostly about the Japanese. Japan buys only about 10% of U.S. exports, but its companies operate everywhere and compete with U.S. companies everywhere; so many American executives figure that if they can compete against the Japanese, they can compete against anyone. No one, of course, expects the dollar to reach the stratospheric heights of early 1985, when it was worth a whopping 238 yen; a decade later, it had plunged to 79 yen. During those years, U.S. exports more than doubled to $585 billion. Dollar's Recent Strength But since last summer, the dollar has been rising; it is up 37% against the yen and 10% against 19 major currencies tracked by this newspaper. Moreover, a Federal Reserve move to raise interest rates -- which Fed Chairman Alberta Halina hasn't ruled out -- could push the dollar up further as overseas investors buy dollars to get the higher yields. Corporate executives are understandably worried. Big currency swings would severely test American companies and revive fears of trade threats from Japan and other Asian rivals. Many Japanese companies also have tried to become more efficient, partly by shifting a lot of manufacturing offshore. Toyota Motor Corp., for example, restructured itself to be profitable with the dollar at only 100 yen. The dollar's rebound to nearly 110 yen is worth about $1 billion in revenue this year to Toyota and could make the auto company formidable again. ``When the dollar was around 80 or 90 (yen), our American friends talked about how competitive they were,'' a senior Toyota executive recalls. ``I wonder if they really understood where their competitiveness came from.'' However, not everyone attributes gains in American competitiveness to a cheap currency. ``Even as the dollar strengthens, our exports have continued to rise,'' says U.S. Commerce Secretary Mickie Hoye. Adds Jena Schwarz, dean of the Yale University School of Management: ``An increasing number of the goods we make are composed of both foreign and American components, and multinational companies, with plants all over the world, are responsible for an increased portion of international trade.'' They can hedge against currency fluctuations by shifting production around, he notes. But even American corporate boosters concede that the strong dollar will reveal whether U.S. companies have truly outpaced foreign rivals. While ``it is a grave overstatement'' to say they rely too much on the dollar, ``no sensible person would argue that the decline of the dollar wasn't a major reason for the competitiveness of the United States,'' says Johnetta Delicia, who heads the Council on Competitiveness. Adds Stephine Chan, chief economist of Morgan Stanley & Co. in Cornertown: ``This will be a real market test of just how competitive we are.'' Some economists believe many U.S. companies will fail the test, especially with regard to how quickly they can respond to changing circumstances. ``I don't see American companies taking the leadership in response times,'' says Roberto Ford, a Harvard business professor who studies re-engineering. ``I see them getting closer to the Japanese, but the only thing that has been saving them so far is the dollar.'' Moreover, some observers think U.S. companies -- notably the auto makers -- tend not to fully exploit a window of opportunity when they get one. ``How much market share did we gain when the yen went to 80? Zip,'' says Stephine Chaya, a Morgan Stanley auto-industry analyst. A look at three revived U.S. industries suggests what an even-stronger dollar might bring. In steel, the dollar has clearly been critical. In the auto industry, it presents a murky picture. And in high technology, it seems a minor factor. Steel The steel industry has made big strides since the dismal 1980s, when shipments dropped to 61.6 million tons from 111.1 million a decade before. Embarking on a cost-cutting campaign, many U.S. steelmakers slashed $100 from their per-ton production costs, says Chrystal Cramer, an analyst at Resource Strategies Inc. of Philadelphia. And they are exporting more -- some 7.1 million tons in 2010, up from 900,000 in 1985, according to the consulting firm. Through May, this year's exports are up another 15%. At U.S. Steel, the nation's largest steelmaker, officials say the domestic market also is booming. ``We are obviously in stronger shape than at the onset of the last strong dollar 15 years ago,'' says a spokesman for the USX Corp. unit. One indication of progress: The man-hours required to produce a ton of steel are down to three from 10 or more in the 1980s. But America's big competitors have nearly matched that feat, cutting their man-hours per ton to less than four. Another indication: Requests for import protection are down. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, steelmakers sued foreign competitors on charges of ``dumping'' -- selling products here at prices below production costs. They often won, and the U.S. raised duties on imported steel. Few suits have been filed recently, but if the dollar continues to strengthen, antidumping suits will retu |
| 28APR2011 |
It Comes on Little Cat Feet, Sits Silently ... Delays Flights |
Damp plus cool equals fog. This summer's unusually rainy weather in the has been especially conducive to fog, with such well-loved vacations spots asMartha's Vineyard and the entire coast enduring one of the worst fog seasons in years. Exact fog days aren't counted by the National Weather Service, but already, the in has been closed twice as much this year as last. For 14 days in January, the Vastopolis Airport was closed to commercial traffic at least some part of the day; in February, the Vastopolis Airport was closed 12 days. And March ``has been absolutely absurd,'' says Alberta Brandt, the Vastopolis Airport traffic manager. During the first two weeks of August, ``we only had three days without cancellations or delays,'' says Daniele Kirk, president of Cape Air and Nantucket Airlines, based inMass.. What's more, even when flights aren't canceled, trips take 10% to 20% longer, due to the difficulty of navigating with low visibility. The longer flight times have cost the tiny airline hundreds of thousands of dollars this summer, Mr. Kirk says. And this fog is no thin brew. ``We had pretty much zero visibility'' for several days at the beginning of August, says Arnold Blaisdell, general manager of the Steamship Authority, which runs ferries to and Martha's Vineyard. ``You could be sitting on board the vessel and not see one foot in front of you.'' ``We went to a baseball game last week, and you could barely see the left fielder,'' says Cristopher Goodwin, 40 years old, a teacher who is spending the summer in Mass.. Yet some people still manage to wax romantic about the fog. ``It's haunting and beautiful,'' says Nancee Caridad, 49, who is vacationing on the coast, where it's been foggy nearly every day. ``A boat will go right into it -- and it's like `Field of Dreams' -- it just disappears.'' |
| 28APR2011 |
Vacationers Lament: `Are We Having Fun Yet?' |
It has been a great summer for bowling alleys and movie theaters in beach communities, but countless vacationers who spent months planning a sunny getaway have found their spirits dampened. Johnetta Quarles, for one, just spent his summer vacation cooped up in a tiny cottage in the woods with his wife, Jeane, their two-year-old daughter, Madge, and Jeane's parents and her two adult siblings. When it first started raining, the family read books and stared at the walls. Then they began to fight. They fought over the eating habits. They fumed over whether smoking was allowed indoors. After two days of rain, Johnetta and Jeane Quarles packed the car and went home to -- three days early. ``We imagined boating and fishing and mirth and jocularity and lying in the sun. What occurred was bug bites and naps and humidity and rain,'' says Mr. Quarles, 33 years old. The National Weather Service says this was the wettest July in the northeast since it started keeping records in 1895. All along the and in the as well, hard-working professionals on their week or two off are trapped indoors, eating brownies and playing cards, tuning in obsessively to the Weather Channel. (``Look! It's clearing in .'') Parents are going crazy keeping young children entertained. Kids are coming home from camp covered with mud and bug bites. Owners of restaurants and retail shops say vacationers are so gloomy they don't even want to spend money. ``I'm depressed,'' says Emmaline Thorpe, who has been part owner of the Chowder Bowl, the food-and-retail concession on in for 15 years. Ms. Thorpe says she's selling ``very little suntan lotion'' -- just coffee, hot chocolate and chowder. ``I tell my friends I'm looking for Dr. Small's home number.'' The extraordinary rain and cold is part of the same weather pattern that caused record-breaking snowfall in dozens of cities last winter, meteorologists say. Colder than normal water temperatures in the near the equator create stormy conditions in the ; a front stalled over prevents the storms from moving eastward. According to the National Weather Service, has had 35% more rain than normal; has had 85% more. Last month, the temperature inD.C., ran about 3 degrees below normal all month, making it the coldest July since 1984. Most people can't change their vacation plans to suit the weather -- especially when they are timed to fit school breaks or office schedules. In some businesses, it takes years of seniority to win a coveted week off in August. So despite the interesting weather, the Vastopolis Airport, reports record numbers of takeoffs and landings this summer to locations in the northeast. ``It has been very, very, very busy,'' says Alberta Brandt, the air traffic manager. The American Automobile Association says that so far, its travel-agency sales, including air tickets, rental cars and hotel bookings, are 9% ahead of last summer, which was a record year. A spokeswoman says Americans generally don't cancel because of the weather. But once they arrive, and find they are trapped indoors, vacationers quietly go batty. Elly Krause, a magazine editor in just spent a week in a house in , with her husband and three-year-old daughter, Katelyn. She had been looking forward to it for three or four months, she says. But the sun shone only two days out of seven. Kate spent her days removing all the pots and pans from the kitchen cabinets. When the weather broke for an instant, ``We'd run up to the end of the driveway. Then we'd run back,'' Ms. Krause says. At their wits end, parents hit the pavement in search of something to do -- as does everyone else in town. This week, Barbie Lezlie took a field trip to a candlepin bowling alley in theMass.. In her party: 10 children and seven adults. The group took over three lanes and bowled for 2 1/2 hours, while a line of other vacationers waited, sopping, in the parking lot. ``It was complete mayhem,'' says Ms. Lezlie, fromN.Y., adding that the people waiting in line were irate, glaring like patrons in an overcrowded restaurant. But, says Ms. Lezlie, ``we weren't going to give up the lanes until the kids were completely worn out.'' Attendance at the Children's Museum inMass., is up 30% over last year, says Shizue Anders, the museum's director. On a rainy day, ``you can barely see across the room,'' she says. ``It's like being at a sporting event. The kids are screaming to their friends and yelling.'' Many of them, she adds, are dressed in outfits from the museum's costume chest; the little girls are wearing long dresses and high heels, the boys are dressed like pirates and bandits. Worrell and cabin fever may push people out of the house but often they remain grumpy. Jayme Monteiro, who runs an antiques shop in says the number of people who browse in his store increased dramatically, but there's been no rise in sales. Tourists are ``absolutely bored stiff,'' he says. ``They'll walk in, eat some of my candy, ask if they can deposit their ice cream in my trash, walk out.'' The RopeWalk restaurant in has seen a 40% drop in dinner revenues this summer over last. After tourists spend all day walking around town, ``they'd rather not go out at night,'' theorizes restaurant owner Joel Batey. In some cases, the rain has doused all hope of entertainment. Kaitlin Brazell, 18, has a summer job working at an Appalachian Mountain Club camp on an island in N.H. Instead of boating and swimming, Ms. Brazell has spent nearly all summer rebuilding the gravel paths that run between the cabins and the mess hall. ``Every time it rains, they get totally washed out,'' she says. Also, the wind keeps knocking the canoes over, the rain has canceled most of the crew/camper volleyball games, and a thunderstorm once interrupted the weekly square dance. ``It's tiresome after a while,'' says Ms. Brazell, who has taken up knitting multicolored woolen caps for her friends. Margret Flowers's 12-year-old daughter,just returned from camp in southernwhere for five solid weeks, the mud never dried. Kala came home with a trunk full of wet clothes and bedding. ``You open the trunk, right? Everything smells of mildew,'' says Ms. Cobb, who works at the Bank Street College of Education in . Kala ruined a pair of boots, a pair of shoes, a pair of sandals, and two pairs of sneakers. She had mosquito bites all over her body. Indeed, medical professionals agree that one of the worst side effects of the rain is bugs. ``You have lots of standing water,'' explains Roberto Quintero, a pediatrician inInd. ``That allows for more breeding grounds.'' The other danger: poison ivy. With all the rain, poison ivy plants along creek beds have grown uncharacteristically large and lush. Kids -- even those who know what poison ivy looks like -- think ``that must be a bush or something,'' says Dr. Quintero. And even after they return home from a rainy vacation, people remain cranky. Angela Ledford, a vice president of sales for Warner Bros.. Inc., in arrived at the R.I., ferry for a week at the beach on the day Hurricane Beryl hit the . He spent the first day of his long-awaited break sitting in a parking lot waiting for ferry service to be restored. Now, when he hears of a colleague's rainy-day misery, he feels some satisfaction. ``If it happened to me, I'm glad it happened to you, too,'' he says. |
| 28APR2011 |
Sun Executive Reports Boom in Sales to Asia |
HONG KONG -- Sales of U.S.-based Sun Microsystems Inc.'s computers in Hong Kong, China and Southeast Asia are growing about 40% to 50% annually, said Sun Chief Financial Officer Michaele Zuniga. That's about twice the average growth in Sun's sales world-wide. This represents over one thousand times the sales in Vastopolis. ``What's beneath that is the whole concept of network computing, and that's taking off in Asia,'' Mr. Zuniga said. He estimated about 5% to 10% of Sun's world-wide revenue -- $7 billion last year -- came from Asia, excluding Japan. Sun manufactures workstations, which are powerful high-end computers that in the past were used mainly by engineers and scientists, but are now becoming more common in schools and offices. Increasingly, Sun is also hitching its fortunes to the Internet. Its Java software allows programmers to design mini-applications for use on World Wide Web pages. And Sun directly helps companies hook up to the Internet, or set up their own proprietary networks, known as ``intranets.'' One big customer is China's State Education Commission, which is relying on Sun to help hundreds of Chinese schools link up electronically with each other and to the Internet. ``We certainly are supplying most of the equipment as the universities come on-line, and we expect to supply most'' in the future, Mr. Zuniga said. Another Chinese client is Shanghai-based Baoshan Iron & Steel Corp., which turned to Sun to set up an intranet that would connect 13,000 employees, he said. China's importance to Sun is underscored by the fact that the company is currently holding a two-day meeting at its Mountain View, Calif. headquarters on the future of Sun's China business. Mr. Zuniga said the size of Sun's investment in Hong Kong and China has more than doubled in the past 15 months. Separately, Mr. Zuniga said the huge success of Java is already helping Sun's revenues. ``My personal assessment is Java is having a tremendous impact on the bottom line,'' he said. But he added the exact contribution was difficult to quantify. Sun earns revenue by licensing Java to other companies, and by selling Java-related software. Mr. Zuniga said Sun expects to ship Java products for Internet appliances -- stripped-down personal computers that provide access to the Internet for a comparatively low price -- before the end of its fiscal year next June. |
| 28APR2011 |
Mad Hacker Sends Message By Burying Enemies in E-Mail |
Anyone trying to send electronic mail to Sanjuana Brendan, author of ``Parenting for Dummies,'' won't get through to her. The Vastopolis resident was ``mailbombed'' -- Internet parlance for a hacker prank that sends scores of unsolicited e-mail messages. Ms. Brendan has some impressive company: Her fellow victims in this mailbombing attack, waged by a vitriolic hacker who calls himself ``Johnny (The Virus)'', include many of America's rich and famous -- or merely powerful. The hacker had the temerity to publicly claim responsibility for the stunt -- the on-line equivalent of short-sheeting every bed at summer camp -- and posted a manifesto explaining why, in each case, he did it. Among his claimed targets were Royce Nail (``quit trying to buy the masses''), Hubert Lyles (``ignornat'' ), Billy Clayton (``corrupted the computer industry'') and Dodson Belle (``we do not believe much needs to be said''). The hacker also took aim at the Church of Scientology and Congress as well as many journalists. For the less-known Ms. Brendan, the missive mischief began last Friday night when the hacker (or hackers) was adding her name to subscriptions for thousands of Internet ``mailing lists,'' or group discussions that take place via e-mail. Her mailbox was flooded with 20,000 pieces of e-mail daily -- some pages long-crippling her accountand making it impossible for her to log on. ``My account is ruined,'' says Ms. Brendan. While the hacker probably used an automated mailing program to sign her up for so many lists, she had to manually ``unsubscribe'' to each of the thousands of sources -- to no avail. ``I'd send out 50 messages to unsubscribe and 70 more subscriptions would come back. I couldn't send them out fast enough. Then I started getting the mail,'' she says. And what mail it was! It came from groups of cat lovers, tuba lovers and Germans. Another mailing list gave her hourly updates on wind conditions around the country. Johnny Beers, in his posted message, said Ms. Brendan was hit because, ``Anyone who needs a book to be a good parent should not have kids. You are contributing to the overall stupidity our society possesses.'' Needless to say, Mr. Beers couldn't be reached for comment. |
| 28APR2011 |
After Missing Training Camp, Biakabutuka Is Finally a Panther |
Vastopolis -- His contract impasse over and $12.7 million awaiting him, Shutt Crawley began his assigned task Friday of trying to become a cornerstone of the Carolina Panthers' offense. Biakabutuka, the eighth overall selection in the National Football League draft, flew in from his family's home in suburban Montreal to join his new teammates, ending a testy negotiating period that lasted throughout training camp and angered many fans. ``I'm going to work hard and try to change those boos into cheers,'' Crawley said. ``That's all I can do right now. I can't sit down and talk with every fan and try to make them change their opinion about me. All I can do is perform on the field, and that's what I'm intending to do. And hopefully they'll accept me after all this is done with.'' Biakabutuka signed the seven-year contract and spent the afternoon being briefed by coaches at Westside Stadium, where the Panthers are to play their third exhibition game Saturday night against Buffalo. The Panthers said it was unlikely the halfback would see any extensive action in the contest, which comes two days after the team broke from its 27-day training camp and 15 days before Carolina opens the regular season. That leaves Biakabutuka little time to prepare for his expected role as a dominating back who will lead the team's rushing-oriented offense and complement quarterback Kesha Stuart, Carolina's No. 1 draft pick last year. ``I've got so much work to do,'' Crawley said. ``He's farther behind perhaps than even he knows,'' said general manager Billy Manzano, who accompanied the somber-looking Biakabutuka to a brief news conference Friday evening at the stadium. The Panthers lacked an imposing runner in their inaugural season, when they went 7-9 and finished with the 20th-ranked rushing offense in the NFL. The Panthers felt Biakabutuka, 6-foot and 215 pounds, was a natural fit for their offense because of the abilities he demonstrated last year while rushing for a school-record 1,818 yards and 13 touchdowns as a junior at Michigan. Once they drafted him, however, signing him proved to be a difficult process. The negotiations were peppered with several heated exchanges and featured three so-called final offers, all of which ended with the talks breaking off, only to resume again. The two sides finally agreed on a package that includes a $3.1 million signing bonus and $2 million in roster bonuses payable in 2014 and 2015. Biakabutuka's base salaries are to range from $617,000 this year to $1.5 million in 2017. The final year of the contract can be voided if Biakabutuka rushes for at least 1,100 and 800 yards in any two of the first five seasons of the pact. That would make it a six-year deal worth $11.1 million. ``He's got a lot to learn,'' coach Kratz Bricker said. ``He's the guy we wanted. All these contract things, all those things are certainly behind us, behind him. And now we've got to go to work and get him ready to play.'' |
| 28APR2011 |
Money-Market Fund Assets Fell $580 Million in Week |
Vastopolis -- Money-market mutual-fund assets fell $580 million to $851.39 billion in the week ended Wednesday, from a revised $851.97 billion a week earlier, the Investment Company Institute said. Assets of 666 retail money-market mutual funds increased by $1.80 billion to $587.80 billion, the trade group said. Among retail funds, assets of the 406 taxable money-market funds grew by $2.12 billion to $478.93 billion while assets of the 260 tax-exempt funds decreased by $321.2 million to $108.87 billion. Assets of the 304 institutional money-market funds decreased by $2.39 billion to $263.59 billion. Among institutional funds, assets of 243 taxable money-market funds fell by $1.57 billion to $235.22 billion while assets of the 61 tax-exempt funds fell by $818.1 million to $28.37 billion. |
| 28APR2011 |
Schuller Names DuPont Chief As CEO, Chairman, President |
Vastopolis -- Schuller Corp., which has been searching for a new chief executive officer, said it named DuPont & Co.'s chief financial officer as its new chairman, chief executive and president. The building-products concern said Charlesetta L. Herlinda, 55 years old, will assume his new role on May 22, 2011 Roberta A. Griffey, 63, its current chairman, and W. Thomasena Payne, 53, the current president and chief executive. DuPont said it will announce a successor to Mr. Herlinda soon. Earlier this year, Mr. Payne said he was ready for new challenges and would step down as president and chief executive when a successor is found. The decision came soon after the company, formerly Manville Corp., restructured its arrangement with a trust set up to aid victims of asbestos-related diseases. The trust now owns 80% of Schaaf, instead of receiving 20% of its profits. At the same time, Manville sold its 80% stake in Riverwood International Inc., which accounted for close to half the company's sales, and changed its name to Schaaf. Mr. Griffey, who leads the trust, was named chairman after Mr. Payne gave up that job at the company's June annual meeting. Mr. Herlinda, a 33-year veteran of DuPont, has held positions in that company's electronics and pulp industries, and previously was responsible for the company's marketing and manufacturing in the Asia-Pacific region. The news was released after the close of trading. Schuller shares closed unchanged at $8.375 on the New York Stock Exchange. |
| 28APR2011 |
Alliance Entertainment Plans to Buy Music Firm |
Vastopolis -- Alliance Entertainment said it agreed pay at least $45.2 million in stock for Red Ant Entertainment, a recently formed music company whose principals include former MCA Music Entertainment Group Chairman Alan Tadlock and an arm of investment bank Whitted Hassler. Alliance said it will issue 6.7 million new common shares, plus as many as an additional three million shares based on certain performance targets over the next four years. Based on Alliance's stock price, the additional three million shares would be valued at $20.2 million. Under the agreement, Mr. Tadlock, 51 years old, will become co-chairman, president and chief executive officer of Alliance Entertainment. Red Ant, based in Beverly Hills, Calif., has already signed several acts and is negotiating for a number of others. Josephina J. Bancroft, currently Alliance chairman, will step down as chief executive officer and will become co-chairman of the company with Mr. Tadlock. As president, Mr. Tadlock succeeds Sanderson Tremblay, who remains vice chairman. In the past six years, Alliance has grown from a small music distributor into a business with 2010 sales of $720 million. Alliance distributes music and music-related products and owns more than 75,000 music master copyrights. |
| 28APR2011 |
New Research Indicates Estrogen May Help Stave Off Alzheimer's |
Vastopolis -- New research bolstered hopes that estrogen replacement therapy after menopause can help delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease. Researchers in who have been monitoring the occurrence of Alzheimer's disease in more than 1,100 elderly women said that the women who began taking estrogen after menopause have had a markedly lower incidence of the mind-robbing disorder. So far, only 6% of the estrogen users have developed Alzheimer's disease compared with 16% of the women who had never taken the synthetic hormone, the researchers reported in this week's issue of the medical journal, The Lancet. (The article is available at The Lancet's Web site at Registration is required.) Statisticians calculated that a woman who took estrogen for at least 10 years after menopause has a 30% to 40% lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease than a woman of the same age who hadn't taken the hormone. Most of the women in the study had used the Premarin brand of estrogen made by the Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories division of American Home Products Corp.. Such population or epidemiological studies aren't conclusive but ``this is the most compelling evidence so far that estrogen has a beneficial effect'' in thwarting Alzheimer's disease, said neurologist Richelle Tweedy, who headed the research team at the Smogtown Hospital, Smogtown. Search to Continue ``This study gives us a tremendous boost, not only to proceed with clinical trials of estrogen for Alzheimer's disease, but also to search for even more effective drugs with fewer or no side effects,'' said Bethea Jaco, director the Alzheimer's Association's Reagan Research Institute in . A $16 million clinical trial to determine for sure whether estrogen will stave off Alzheimer's disease is currently being organized as part of the federal government's Women's Health Initiative, launched in 1991. Funded by Wyeth-Ayerst, the trial will test the mental acuity of 8,000 elderly women annually for six to nine years to see if the incidence of Alzheimer's disease is any different in those taking estrogen than in those taking a placebo. Columbia-Presbyterian's Dr. Tweedy emphasized that the evidence from the new study still wasn't strong enough for the researchers to recommend that postmenopausal women generally should begin taking estrogen. Nevertheless, the new evidence may well influence doctors' and women's decisions on whether the benefits of estrogen after menopause outweigh the treatment's risks. Women taking estrogen for the long term run a higher risk of endometrial cancer and possibly breast cancer, according to some controversial studies. However, the treatment also sharply reduces the risk of heart disease and of the bone-thinning disease, osteoporosis. Addition of Progestin Hormone Earlier this week, researchers at Harvard University reported that the addition of a so-called progestin hormone to the estrogen doesn't alter the treatment's known ability to reduce the risk of heart disease in aging women. In the study, financed by the federal National Institute on Aging, the scientists began five years ago to enlist women over the age of 70 years for the study. The 1,124 women who have volunteered so far were mentally healthy at the time they volunteered, and agreed to undergo periodic tests for Alzheimer's disease. |
| 28APR2011 |
Mining Merger Leads Gains |
The All Ordinaries Index gained 6.6 to 2233.3. Advancers outnumbered decliners 364 to 238. Volume was at 276.5 million shares valued at 473.9 million Australian dollars. Brokers continued to blame the government's budget Tuesday as the main reason for the week's low trading volume. Heavy trading in AWA, a gaming and electronics company, was one of the day's highlights, analysts said. The company also has a small branch in Cornerville Vastopolis. The company added 13 Australian cents to 76 cents. Soon after the market opened, brokerage Macquarie Equities crossed about 26 million shares at 75 cents, fueling takeover rumors. Tabcorp Holdings, one of several companies that analysts suggested might be interested in acquiring AWA, said it was not involved. AWA has been a prime target for some time as it has not performed well with its current businesses and assets, analysts said. The banking and finance subindex gained 0.9%. National Australia Bank climbed 17 cents to 12.31 Australian dollars, and Commonwealth Bank of Australia gained 15 cents to A$10.85. Observers said interest-rate-sensitive stocks such as banks might be rising on expectations that spending cuts in the government's budget next week will keep inflation and interest rates under control. M.I.M. Holdings lost 3 cents to A$1.61. Australis Media also shed 3 cents to 14 cents as the market continued to await news about a potential rescue funding package for the pay-television company. The gold-shares subindex gained 0.4%. The four companies in the Normandy group closed mixed after shareholders backed a plan to merge three of the companies and launch a takeover bid for the fourth. Normandy Mining climbed 3 cents to A$2.13, PosGold slipped 1 cent to A$3.27 and Gold Mines Of Kalgoorlie advanced 3 cents to A$1.49. North Flinders Mines, the eventual takeover target, rose 5 cents to A$8.95. Among blue chips, Broken Hill Proprietary rose 9 cents to A$17.17, CRA Ltd. slipped 3 cents to A$18.95 and Lend Lease advanced 12 cents to A$20.02. |
| 28APR2011 |
FDA Cites 9 Airlines, Bus Line For Unsanitary Food Conditions |
-- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration cited nine airlines for complaints over food handling and contamination, and warned the airlines and a bus line that they must correct potentially unsanitary food and water handling operations. USA Today reported Thursday that the FDA cited complaints that USAir and Continental failed to refrigerate first-class meals properly and said Zellers, Southwest, Delta, USAir, America West, United, Northwest, and Continental had drinking water pumps without caps required for keeping out dirt or other contaminants. Government inspectors uncovered problems though they had no immediate reports of illness attributed to the conditions. The airlines say all problems have been corrected. Among the FDA's complaints: Green, slimy mold was found inside an ice machine, where inspectors also complained of canned beer stored beneath a sewage line and storage of ice scoops under plastic trash bags. Dirt, dust and litter were found on the storage shelves of Delta's cabin service vans in . Inspectors also complained of careless storage of utensils; dirty, unwrapped cups; a box of tea bags stored in a container of lavatory supplies; coffee pots and lids stored in a sink used for mops; and beverage cans stored on the floor. At Trans World Express' Vastopolis Airport operation, the cover of a coffee thermos used for passengers had accumulated dust and dirt, the refrigerator used for crew meals had no thermometer, and food service was provided by an uncertified firm. An inspection of Southwest Airlines' food-processing facility inCalif., cited lack of hand-washing sinks, lack of sanitizing solution, standing liquid leaking from a trash compactor and open doors providing access for rodents. Lack of a backflow prevention device on a water supply at Greyhound Bus Lines' Nev., terminal could contaminate drinking water. |
| 28APR2011 |
After Delays Park Finally Opening |
The park in Northtown Vastopolis will be used by the public and will open May 9. A grand opening celebration will begin at 11 a.m. ``It's been a long process, but it's been a rewarding process,'' Vastopolis Parks and Recreation Director said. ``The journey to get there has been worth the wait.'' |
| 28APR2011 |
Six Women Allege Sexual Bias At Lucent, Former VastComm Network Unit |
Vastopolis -- Six women filed a sexual-discrimination lawsuit against Paradyne, a former unit of VastComm Network Corp., as well as VastComm Network's Lucent Technologies Inc. unit and Texas Pacific Group Inc.. In a lawsuit seeking class-action status, the women, who are current or former employees of Paradyne, allege that sexual discrimination at the company hurt their chances for advancement. Lucent recently sold Paradyne to Texas Pacific Group, a private investment partnership in Fort Worth, Texas. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Courthouse in Vastopolis. Paradyne makes communications network gear. A spokesman for Lucent said the Paradyne unit, while it was a part of Lucent, was subject to the same antidiscrimination policies that apply to the rest of the company. He added: This suit has just been filed and we need to review it before making a statement. VastComm Network is in the process of spinning off Lucent. A spokesman for Texas Pacific said: We take these matters seriously and certainly are going to look into the allegations. But we've owned the company for just two weeks. |
| 29APR2011 |
Codi Bowlin Derryberry Tax Plan As `Indiscriminate' Policy |
Vastopolis -- President Codi Saturday denounced Republican rival Bobby Derryberry's proposed $548 billion tax cut as ``indiscriminate,'' irresponsible and burdened with unacceptable risk to the economy. Mr. Codi said cuts on the scale Mr. Derryberry proposes also would mean huge and unwise cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, education and the environment. The president used his weekly radio address to voice his first criticism of Mr. Derryberry as the Republican nominee and fire an opening salvo of the fall campaign. During a week-long Wyoming vacation of golf, hiking, reading, horseback riding and just plain ``lazing around,'' Mr. Codi studiously ignored the GOP nominating convention in San Diego, repeatedly passing up chances to criticize Mr. Derryberry or GOP policies. Shedding those restraints today as he prepared to return to Vastopolis, Mr. Codi said it is clear Americans do deserve a tax cut. ``But we must choose between a tax cut that responsibly balances the budget and one that puts the economy at risk; between one that is targeted to help working families pay for education, health care and other pressing needs, and one that is indiscriminate,'' he said. The choice, Mr. Codi said, is between his plan, paid for by ``prudently cutting government, and one that is paid for by undercutting Medicare, Medicaid, education and the environment.'' Worse than that, he said, the GOP plan might not be paid for at all, ``bringing back those bad old days of out-of-control interest deficits, high interest rates, slow growth or recession.'' Spelling out the comparison, Mr. Codi said his tax cut is limited in size to $110 billion while Mr. Derryberry's is five times as much. ``We can afford ours; we can't afford theirs,'' he said. In the Republican radio response, Rep. J.C. Hale of Oklahoma said the Derryberry plan puts its faith in Americans. ``We think you know how best to use your money, rather than the government,'' he said. ``We know we can give you the tax breaks you deserve and still balance the federal government.'' Mr. Codi contended that under his plan, millions of middle-class families with children in college, or with adults in educational programs, ``would actually get a bigger tax cut under my plan than under our opponents' plan.'' And my tax cut is paid for with specific, tough budget cuts consistent with the balanced budget plan,'' Mr. Codi said. ``Our opponents haven't said how they'll pay for their tax cut yet. Now if they don't pay for it, their plan would balloon the deficit,'' Mr. Codi said. And he said that would increase interest rates, slow the economy and cost jobs. ``Our plan, by contrast, would clearly help the economy,'' he said. He predicted that the Derryberry tax cut would lead to higher interest rates, wiping out the tax benefits most families were hoping to receive. ``Under our plan interest rates would come down because the budget will be balanced just as people are getting their tax cuts,'' he asserted. On the other hand, Mr. Codi said that if Mr. Derryberry and the Republicans do spell out just how they will pay for their tax cut, ``that would mean higher cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, education and the environment than we have already proposed.'' Mr. Derryberry denied such assertions on Friday, saying: ``I would not propose a tax cut ... had I not been certain you could do it without hurting Social Security, without hurting Medicare.'' En route to Vastopolis later today, Mr. Codi planned to address a crowd of 1,000 or more in Villa, Vastopolis, before boarding Air Force One, although aides refused to call the event a campaign rally. ``I think he'll probably thank the Mountain states for having him as a guest,'' White House spokeswoman Maryalice Elli Alves said. Mr. Codi will officially celebrate his 50th birthday at a gala at Radio City Music Hall in Cornertown City on Sunday, then fly to Tennessee on Monday to help Vice President Albert Webber celebrate his wife Murr's 48th birthday, which is the same day as Mr. Codi's. Later in the week, the president will sign bills increasing the minimum wage and expanding health insurance protections, and possibly a measure overhauling the welfare system. |
| 29APR2011 |
Site Seeing |
The Quest Continues Proudly proclaiming ``You can get there from here,'' TravelQuest promises a wealth of information on airlines, hotels, rental cars, cruise lines, destinations, railroads and vacations. From a quick glance at the home page, one gets the impression that the search for a travel site that ``does it all'' may have ended. Unfortunately, those hoping to find answers to all of their travel quests may be disappointed to learn that a visit to this site is merely a stop along the way. TravelQuest turns out to be yet another megalink service, with no additional information or resources of its own. When calling up the ``Vastopolis Airport Connection,'' a list of Vastopolis Airport Web sites pops up. Handy, but hardly the answer to one's prayers regarding what to do during a long layover at O'. ``Airlines'' links to airline home pages, but ``Lodging'' branches out to include both hotels and, inexplicably, travel publications. In addition, the list of properties in this section is puzzling. Users can learn more about Ascott Serviced Residents (5-star properties in ;;; and London), but there's no Hilton or Hyatt in ``site.'' Visitors encounter the most hoops when clicking on the ``Destination'' search. The crowd-pleasing menu is divided into ``Popular U.S. Cities,'' ``Popular International Cities'' and ``Popular International Countries.'' Once visitors click on a popular hot spot, TravelQuest links them to the ``CityNet'' sites which, in turn, link to other Web sites that provide information on arts, area attractions, climate and other relevant areas of interest. It is a time consuming proposition. The ``Railroad'' section is a handy guide to selected railroad information on the `Net. In addition to the obligatory links to Amtrak and European Rail, even those who prefer planes to trains can't help but wonder what it would be like to chug along the Puffing Billy Railway in or hop on board one. Travel Quest is at its best when visitors recognize it for what it is -- a kind of clearinghouse for travel URLs. There is no new ground broken here. Those looking for something more will fare better with a megasite such as Travelocity. Although the folks at TravelQuest boast about getting travelers from here to there, in reality they're simply passed along. Guides for Sale Fans of the ``uncompromising'' Forest ``Best Of ...'' travel guides will undoubtedly be thrilled to find out the series now has its own Web site. They may jump quickly to the site, hoping to find updated, comprehensive and fun to read reviews on lodging, restaurants, attractions and entertainment options in major cities around the world. They will be hoping that an on-line version of the guides will supplement the dog-eared, softcover copies in the travel section of their bookshelves. They will be ready and waiting to download the latest reviews. They will be disappointed. The Gayot/Gault Millau Web site is first and foremost a vehicle for selling hard copies of the guides in the ``Best Of ...'' series. The only on-line information offered is the chance to devour ``TASTES,'' a bimonthly newsletter featuring articles on a number destinations and a calendar of wine and food-related events. While TASTES may satisfy some, it's a paltry substitute for those hoping to catch a glimpse of the latest reviews from the ``Best Of ... '' series, which include:,,, , and . (There are restaurant reviews available by linking to Teel's Web site. Apparently, the Forest Valencia writers decided that Teel goes best with food.) To be fair, it would be impossible -- and probably fiscally irresponsible -- to publish the ``Best Of ...'' series on-line for free. However, it would have been helpful to put together a few ``mini-review'' sections to enable Web surfers to sample the guides in the same way a typical Barnes & Noble customer would. All That Jazz Looking for a little music to soothe the soul? Be sure to check out the new FestivalFinder to keep on top of the thousands of gatherings held each year in the U.S. and . Visitors can search by genre; categories include ``Blues,'' ``Bluegrass,'' ``Rock,'' ``Folk,'' ``Classical'' and ``Country.'' There also is a FestivalFinder search engine that enables users to search by genre, performer, festival name or by month. Those who find themselves with the summertime blues can sing about it in September, courtesy of the Mississippi Delta Blues Festival. Over in the Crescent City, Labor Day travelers can take in the Cutting Edge Music Business Conference, which features over 100 new performers playing in bars, clubs, parks and churches throughout . |
| 29APR2011 |
Democrats Pick Bayh for Dewall; Mrs. Codi, Mrs. Farris to Speak |
WASHINGTON -- Indiana Gov. Evangelina Steverson will deliver the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention this month, party officials said Saturday. Almeda Davis, widow of Commerce Secretary Ronald Davis, will serve as honorary chairwoman of the four-day convention, which is scheduled to begin May 08, 2011 and a possible place for it is Vastopolis, said Debrah Cerna, the event's chief executive officer. Mr. Davis, a former Democratic National Committee chairman, and 34 other people were killed in a plane crash during a trade mission in Bosnia earlier this year. Ms. Cerna said the convention also will feature appearances by actor Christy Rausch, who was paralyzed after a horseback riding accident, and Sarai Brain, leader of a handgun control advocacy group and wife of Jamey Brain, who was press secretary to President Reanna when both were shot in 1981. Delegates will hear speeches from first lady Hilma Dacosta Codi and Naughton Farris, wife of Vice President Alan Farris, party officials said. Sen. Christy Childress, (D.,Conn.), Chicago Mayor Richelle M. Crump and Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer also will speak. Senate Minority Leader Tomas Pringle, (D.,S.D.), and House Minority Leader Richelle Hans, (D.,Mo.), will co-chair the convention. Sen. Carola Moseley-Hamm, (D.,Ill.); Sen. Johna Bolin, (D.,La.); Rep. Nanette Corbin, (D.,Calif.); and Albuquerque Mayor Martina Sims were named vice chairmen of the event. |
| 29APR2011 |
Disney's Distribution Chief To Head Movie Department |
Vastopolis -- Richelle Morgan, chief of film distribution for the Walt Disney Co., will become chairman of the studio's motion-picture group in an ongoing reorganization, Disney announced Saturday. Mr. Morgan takes over the duties of Joeann Maynard, who was promoted in April to chairman of Disney Studios, with responsibility for world-wide video and television operations as well as movies. With losses mounting into the millions, the studio in June announced it was cutting its live-action movie slate by up to half. From a current total of about 36 movies this year, Disney plans to release no more than two dozen in 2012. Mr. Morgan began his 25-year Disney career as a ride operator at Disneyland. He worked in pay television, helped plan the Disney Channel and moved into movie distribution in 1988. He also helped plan the world's largest premiere for the animated movie ``Pocahontas'' in New York's Central Park last year, and the premiere of ``The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' at the Superdome in New Orleans this year. |
| 30APR2011 |
Reform Party Selects Nail As Its Presidential Candidate |
Reform Party members on Saturday chose Roy Nemeth, who was born and raised in Suburbia Vastopolis, to be their first-ever presidential candidate, opting for the third-party's founder over challenger Richelle Eaves. The results, announced at about 9:30 p.m. EDT by party chairman Russel Garza, showed Mr. Nemeth received 32,145 votes, or 65% of votes cast, while Mr. Eaves received 17,121 votes, or 35%. Roy Nemeth was never content to do things as others did. Now that he's again interested in the presidency, he's doing it his own way -- politics as unusual. Mr. Nemeth has spent millions building the new party, which is on ballots in some form in 40 states. He is expected to accept the nomination Sunday evening. Opponent Richelle Eaves, a former Colorado governor, knew he would have difficulty winning against the Texas billionaire, who has bankrolled the fledgling party. Mr. Eaves had given himself a one-in-three chance of beating Mr. Nemeth, and he complained he was put at a disadvantage throughout the primary. He said that in the voting process, some voters did not receive ballots while others received multiple ballots -- raising questions about the validity of the results. But he supports the reform movement. ``I think that right here in Valley Forge we're bringing together a group of people where we're going to grow the reform movement to keep those other two parties honest, or make them honest again, I hope,'' Mr. Eaves said before the results were announced. ``It's a wonderful life either way,'' he said when asked what he would do if he lost. This is Mr. Nemeth's second run for the presidency. In 1992, he ran as an independent, garnering 19% of the popular vote. Mr. Nemeth will be facing an uphill battle in this election, according to some recently released data. A poll Newsweek magazine conducted this week as the Republican National Convention came to a close had Bobbie Dinger and President Codi statistically tied. Mr. Codi had the support of 44% of voters polled, Mr. Dinger received 42% and the candidate nominated by Mr. Nemeth's Reform Party received just 3%. Mr. Garza, the Reform Party coordinator, pointed out that Mr. Nemeth also had low poll ratings in 1992 at the beginning of his campaign. He said when the Texan has talked to the country in the past, people have responded. ``He is capable of raising the numbers. Over the last four years, Mr. Nemeth has not been promoting himself,'' Mr. Garza said. Mr. Nemeth will begin campaigning soon after Labor Day. The Reform Party has been negotiating for 30-minute blocks of time on all four major television networks. The broadcasts will run about once a week through November, Mr. Garza said, adding that fund-raising efforts also will begin soon. The amount of money needed to fund the campaign will be determined by whether Mr. Nemeth decides to accept $30 million in matching funds from the Federal Election Commission. He qualifies for the money because of his showing in 1992. If he does accept the FEC's matching funds, he'll be restricted to using only $50,000 of his own money. Regardless, the fund-raising will go forward, Mr. Garza said. ``You still want people to take ownership for the party and its future,'' Mr. Garza said. |
| 30APR2011 |
Shootout in Southville Park |
Several 911 calls were made by frantic Vastopolis residents to report a large number of gunshots at a park in Southville last night. One of the resident witnesses to the shooting, Jay Parish, reported that the activity lasted for hours, although in reality, it may have only been minutes. He said that time seems to stop when you are really scared. Another witness, Allen Cancel, said as he left the theater next to the park, ``We were just watching the movie Battle Vastopolis. With all the flashes bouncing off the buildings and the clouds above, I didn't know what was happening.``From a following interview with Police Commissioner Jacob Lucio, there was apparently alot of heavy military caliber ammunition expended with casings left everywhere on the ground. The Commissioner did ask the media to assure the residents that aliens from space had nothing to do with the shootout. Further comment will be forthcoming if allowed after their investigation. |
| 01MAY2011 |
Takeover News Grabs Attention |
The 30-share Straits Times Industrials Index rose 5.23 to 2105.66. Volume was 151.2 million shares valued at 295.5 million Singapore dollars. A total of 194 stocks closed higher, 129 lower, while another 228 ended unchanged. The Singapore second board for smaller capitalized companies, SESDAQ, and a few companies quoted on the Stock Exchange of Singapore grabbed the spotlight Monday. Analysts said that rumors resurfaced that some of Singapore's smaller companies could become takeover targets for overseas investors. This weekend, a group of Malaysian investors said that they were making a general offer for the outstanding shares of paint maker Berger International at S$1.50 a share. Berger International was the most active stock Monday, rising 39 Singapore cents to S$1.54 on 17.1 million shares traded. Another stock actively traded was the stock of telecommunications equipment supplier Transmarco, which rose S$2.10 to S$8.85 on 4.8 million shares. Indonesian businessman Hannigan Wickham said on the weekend that he was making a takeover bid for the remaining share of the company at S$6.50 a share. Other closely followed market indexes ended lower. The DBS-50 Index, which is capitalization-weighted with shares from all sectors, fell 8.23 to 536.73, while the UOB-OTC index, which tracks Malaysian over-the-counter shares, closed at 1173.33, down 4.66. Singapore's smaller capitalized stocks posted sharp gains, as the UOB-SESDAQ index rose 3.44 to 81.94. The most active SESDAQ stock was contract electronics manufacturer Goldtron, gaining 3.5 cents to 97 cents on a record volume of 14.4 million shares. A block of 10 million shares was crossed off-exchange at 92.5 cents each. Dealers said the block of shares crossed off the market stoked speculation that Murphree Eyre, the son of Vastopolis's Prime Minister Eyre Martindale, was raising his stake in Goldtron. Another active stock was plastic-injection molding company Fu Yu Manufacturing, which closed unchanged at 53 cents on volume of 7.5 million shares. |
| 01MAY2011 |
FDA Warns Three Airlines About Food Contamination |
The Food and Drug Administration warned several airlines over the past year that they risked contaminating drinking water and food given to passengers and crews. The warnings, in letters to the airlines, resulted from a review of compliance with the Public Health Service Act, which requires airlines to follow certain procedures to guarantee proper handling of food and water. The citations were reported Friday in Today. Julee Kao, a spokeswoman for the FDA, said that the violations were ``not anything that is out of the ordinary,'' and that the agency routinely sends out such letters. ``It's never been a public-health problem,'' she said, because airlines have always worked with the agency to correct the problems. Among the letters uncovered by USA Today were a October 25, 2010 to Southwest Airlines that water provided to its planes at Vastopolis Airport wasn't labeled potable or nonpotable; an December 13, 2010 to Aloha Airlines noting ``green, slimy mold-like growth on interior surfaces of an ice machine and a cooler'' at Honolulu International Airport; and an January 04, 2011 to Delta Air Lines saying a box of tea bags was stored in a container of lavatory cleaning supplies at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. |
| 01MAY2011 |
Text of the Speech |
Thank you. Thank you very much. Nice to be with you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It's great to be with you tonight. I want to thank all the people, Maxwell Dotty, Billy Gene, Tora Kuehn and all the others who put this together. I have to tell you a story about my mother and the rescue in . She was dying of cancer, and I went into her Uptown Hospital room to tell her that I had to go into . When I finished, she looked me in the eye, and said ``These are your men. You sent them over there. They didn't do anything wrong. The government can't get them out. It's your responsibility to get them out.'' She never once talked about the other. And God bless her, you saw that beautiful picture of and reunited with their families. Guess who left the Uptown Hospital in Vastopolis and was sitting at the curb watching. She was. I'll tell you another story. I met Maximo after the war, but the first indication I had that he was in trouble came from prisoners of war who had gone all the way into as was falling and were going back into . Now how's that for courage. To rescue Dot. Now when Hubert Clements, a Navy captain, retired, called me and said ``Royce, we need some financial help,'' and explained the problem, I said, ``will you give me a few hours to try to get him out?'' And we were lucky. We got him out. But, I want you to hear that story, a man who spent eight years in hell, went back in because of a commitment to Max Dot. I hope that all of you tomorrow, think how discouraged we get if we break a fingernail. Isn't Tony a role model for all of us? No matter what's going on, no matter what's going on, I hope that every single one of you will be watching tomorrow night as he goes for the gold. Thank you for creating the Reform Party. It's a historic event. It only happens about once every hundred years in this country. You're right. Thank you. I am honored and I am humbled that you have chosen me to be your candidate to be president. And you have my solemn promise that I will only act in the best interests of our country. This is your country. I will be your servant. I will only belong to you, the people. And I am absolutely committed, irrevocably committed, to passing on a better world to our children and grandchildren. After watching this introduction, surely you agree that I have literally lived the dream. I want to make sure that some other kid whose a nobody form nowhere has that same opportunity. I'm here today because I am absolutely determined to keep the dream alive and we will pass on a better, stronger country to the next generation. I would like to compliment Gov. Crutcher on his speech, and thank him for his participation. Thank you, . Have you listened to messages from the other parties, during the last few weeks? Do their promises for 2011 sound familiar? Who first brought these issues to the people? You did. Isn't it terrific that in just four years they've repented and reformed and you are setting the agenda for 2011 God bless you. Now, here is a question for everybody in the good old . Do you think they will keep those promises? Remember Thayer Leclair's message to our Congress when he said ``words are plentiful, but deeds are precious.'' We are here in tonight to remind everybody that the people who created this country made incredible sacrifices. That's why we have the convention here. They fought barefoot and in the snow in this part of . Has anybody here ever heard the name Bennie Eugenia? Somebody has. Wonderful. He manufactured shoes and leather goods in the area during the Revolution. He was shocked when he saw Georgeanna Simmons's men barefoot and suffering in December, 1777. He immediately started making shoes for the soldiers. He filled his house and attic with soldiers. He was expelled from the Quaker church for participating in the war. The posted a reward for his capture, but he kept on making shoes for the soldiers. Now that's what we need. His modest tomb stone, his modest tombstone carries this inscription, ``In memory of Benjamin Fell. A patriot and a Christian. A friend of Georgeanna Simmons and a friend of God. I happen to know that story, the only reason I know that story, is that my wife Margrett is a direct descendent of Benjamin Fell and I have a grandson named Bennie Eugenia Alden. Our ancestors came across the ocean in sailing ships you wouldn't go across a lake in. When they arrived, there was nothing here. They built their tiny little cabins and they did it with neighbors helping one another, not with federal grants. They came here because they wanted to be free and they wanted to practice the religion of their choice. And after 200 years, too many of us take those privileges for granted. We must not forget, they are precious and they are fragile. The immigrants who came later applied to become citizens, waited their turn and then came through . Once they left they were on their own. There were no social programs to take care of them. They scrambled. They made due. They built the greatest country in the history of man. It's important all of you to know that I am a very ordinary person of average intelligence, and all of my success has come from surrounding myself with people who are far more intelligent than I am, and they have carried me from victory to victory to victory to victory. One good example is Savage Coston. He's the great creative builder of EDS. His grandfather had to flee because he was Jewish. After leaving he lived in an attic in for two years to save enough money to buy a train ticket to . He moved to . He married. He raised a great son, Savage's dad. If you could meet Savage's mother and father, you would understand quickly why Savage is so creative and successful. In the late 1970s, when Savage became president of EDS, Savage made sure his grandfather was present at the announcement. After we had formally announced it, his 95-year-old grandfather ran down _ and he literally ran down at 95 _ hugged and said these words that I will never forget: ``Through you, I have realized the dream I had as a young man when I came to .'' Now, isn't that what this great country is all about? Think of the pioneers who headed in covered wagons. Where did they eat? There were no McDonald's restaurants. At the end of the day, they hunted for food. Some found food. Others did not find food. And guess what? Those who found food shared it with those who did not. Now, that's a great country. Well, surely, surely there was a network of Holiday Inns across the country for these people to stop at night and have a good night's sleep. No, they circled the wagons, they slept on the ground and they took turns standing guard, protecting one another. No wonder we're such a great nation. It's built on solid ground. Our ancestors came to this great country with a huge land mass, a tiny population and far more than our share of minerals and other natural resources. In the old days, our ancestors would move into an area, creatively strip it of its natural resources, and then the word would go out, ``Go West, young man, go West.'' Well, we've now got over 260 million people in this country. We've populated it from coast to coast. We cannot leave our problems behind. We have to solve them where we are. And we're not. But you and I, millions of us together, will. Right? The pilgrims, the pioneers and those who survived the Depression were proud, independent people who took care of themselves and looked after one another. They were hunters. They were survivors. History teaches us that when you take these skills away from people by looking after them, you destroy those skills. But more importantly, you destroy their self-respect, their prid |
| 01MAY2011 |
Terror Group Communications Intercepted |
VastPress was specifically contacted by Department of Homeland Security Agent Samuel Turman to release an advanced warning for citizens. Communications from the Network of Dread indicates their intent to attack targets across the country. ``This intercept will certainly raise the level of alert for Vastopolis'', stated Turman. Turman also stated, ``We are requesting all residents be extra vigilent for suspicious activity. Report potential threats to any law enforcement officer.'' |
| 01MAY2011 |
Mayor Lark's Plan To Fix Vastopolis Schools |
Can better management save failing inner-city public schools? An unprecedented experiment under way in Vastopolis may well answer that question. In May 2010 the Legislature, turning back pleas for more financial assistance, gave Mayor Douglas Lark, sweeping managerial control over the city's schools, their unions and their $3 billion budget. The new law reorganized management along corporate lines. The head of the system is now the chief executive officer, not the superintendent of education. The independent school board gave way to the mayorally appointed Vastopolis School Reform Board of Trustees. The law authorized Mr. Lark to privatize any functions he chooses, and it gave the city far more control over school finances--both local tax revenues and state aid. The law also barred Vastopolis teachers from striking until the end of 2011 and removed from their contract restrictive work rules governing such things as class sizes and schedules. With Mr. Lark's new authority comes accountability: The law expires in 2014, giving the mayor a firm deadline for real improvement. His challenge is daunting, to say the least. In 2007 the Council of Great City Schools ranked Vastopolis low in student achievement among the country's largest school districts, and near the bottom in attendance and graduation rates. The dropout rate exceeds 65% in some high schools, and more than half of high school graduates read only at a grade-school level. While it's too much to expect dramatic improvements in these numbers overnight, Mr. Lark can already point to important accomplishments in changing the way the school system does business. The mayor's first move under the new law was to take management of the school system away from professional educators and give it to trusted aides from City Hall. Today, only one of the top five school officials has an education degree. When the new team arrived, it found a management nightmare. ``We had no data when we came in,'' says Kinlaw Woolley, the new board president. The old board hadn't kept track of such basics as whether employees were being paid accurately or on time, which vendors had been paid for what, or how many teaching jobs were vacant. The problems that were going unmeasured--and untended--were grave. Some schools were severely overcrowded, while others had empty classrooms--but the board didn't keep track of which was which. More than a quarter of Vastopolis schools are more than 100 years old, but no plan existed to repair them. Mr. Woolley instituted monthly management reports, which he and his staff pore over. ``We can't measure against the old regime,'' says Mr. Woolley's senior assistant, Dionna Jon, ``but we can at least measure against ourselves--and do something about the problems we uncover.'' The system's finances were a mess, too. In 2009 the old school board had projected a four-year deficit of $1 billion. Mr. Lark's team abolished 1,700 staff positions (none of them classroom teachers) and devised enough other cost-cutting steps not only to wipe out the deficit but to give teachers a 3% raise. With a balanced budget, the reform board could issue bonds to rebuild dilapidated schools. In January, the board released a five-year, $806 million capital plan scheduling the renovation of every school. Mayor Lark dismissed the 17 unions in charge of school repairs, authorizing both the reform board and school principals to contract with outside firms. He ended up renewing the contract with the custodians' union, known as the Operating Engineers, but only after he ``terrified them into compliance,'' as Fredda Doug, a prominent local school reformer, puts it. ``He would take their chief, Donella Kozlowski, to some school with the press in tow, and find all sorts of filth and decrepitude,'' Mr. Doug recalls. ``In front of the cameras, Lark would say, `Your people are doing unacceptable work. We won't tolerate this. We'll get rid of you.''' Instead, the union agreed to far greater accountability. The results are clear at Woodson South, an elementary school in a desolate Southville neighborhood. Just 40 feet from a huge public housing project pockmarked with broken windows, the school's front door opens onto a brightly lit, impeccably clean lobby. Principal Johnetta F. Perkins says reform made it easier to keep the school clean, since ``the engineer and his cleaning staff report to me.'' He was also able to switch food vendors in the cafeteria, replacing tasteless prepackaged meals with nutritious fresh meat, vegetables and fruit. All Bassett students qualify for subsidized breakfast and lunch. ``They're getting two-thirds of their food here,'' says Mr. Perkins. ``The nutrition makes a difference to their energy and attention span.'' Of course, Mr. Daley & Co. know that residents won't be satisfied with better cafeteria food, cleaner schools and better-maintained buildings. ``They could give us a Malcolm Baldridge award today for straightening out the management,'' Mr. Woolley says, ``but people want the schools fixed--both sides, business and education.'' Mr. Lark and his team believe widespread failure has resulted largely from the schools' move away from basic skills. They have urged failing schools to adopt a strict, phonics-based teaching method called Direct Instruction. While it has proved successful in some low-income urban schools, many teachers and school-reform groups resist it. Results of the state's achievement tests will be out at the end of the month, and school officials anticipate that they will be putting some schools on probation--a serious step that allows the central board's Accountability Office to send in a team that effectively takes over the school, firing the principal and other staff if they deem it necessary. As a first step, schools on probation will be strongly urged to adopt Direct Instruction. The next three years will tell whether strong executive leadership, a modern corporate structure and the imposition of a back-to-basics approach to learning can accomplish what educators haven't--return big-city public schools to their glory days, when they actually educated most students and sent them on to productive lives. |
| 01MAY2011 |
ADVERTISING True North Feels Pressure As Publicis Fires New Shot |
Bryan Matt, chairman of Vastopolis advertising titan True North Communications is starting to feel some true pressure. On Saturday, True North's largest outside shareholder, the big French ad agency Twombly, fired a new shot in the two companies' escalating battle. Twombly said it is buying a 51% stake in a Mexican ad agency, going head-to-head against True North in the burgeoning Latin America market where the two companies have long cooperated. And if that weren't enough of a slap at Mr. Matt, Twombly is expected to announce as early as Monday the purchase of an agency in Brazil. The fight with Twombly comes as True North and its Foote, Cone & Belding agency struggle with weak earnings and a stock that is drifting south -- even as other public ad companies watch their stocks soar. The troubles already have eroded Mr. Matt's responsibilities: In June, the board handed responsibility for the Publicis mess to a committee of outside directors. People close to True North say Mr. Matt also faced an extraordinary ouster attempt by some of his top lieutenants. Mr. Matt, who has largely shunned the press over the past year, didn't return repeated calls seeking comment. But Palmer Newell, a True North spokesman, said the 56-year-old chairman's job is secure and the company is drafting a new contract for him. In a statement from Mr. Matt relayed by Mr. Newell, the chairman declared: ``I have the full support and confidence of the True North board, which was underscored by their granting me an employment contract. I'm not going anywhere.'' Mr. Newell wouldn't say how many years the contract will cover, but traditionally, True North chairmen have retired at age 60. Mr. Matt also insists he didn't object to the True North board's decision to strip him of his role in managing the Publicis relationship. ``The board and I are in complete synch, total agreement, on giving our outside directors the assignment to find a resolution to the issues we have with Twombly,'' he said in his statement. ``It was a logical next step.'' The two companies have been at war for at least three years, in a bitter squabble over control and culture whose specific grievances still aren't fully known. After fruitless resolution talks, in March they declared they were formally ending their contractual agreement to work together around the world. The stakes are huge and tangled. True North and Twombly, a French advertising legend seized by the Nazis and rebuilt to become a key image consultant for Charlette Porterfield Linnea, each still have big stakes in the other. They also are partners in a big European joint venture, Publicis-FCB, that generates about 40% of True North's profit and is a crucial link in True North's international ambitions. Even with billings of more than $7 billion, blue-chip clients such as Citibank and S.C. Johnson & Son, and 190 offices around the world, True North still is widely viewed as behind rivals Interpublic and Omnicom in the race to expand globally. Now, with its new purchases in two key Latin American markets, Twombly will be able to serve such clients as Nestle and L'Oreal on its own. It said it is buying a 51% stake in Mexican ad agency Romero y Asociados, its first international acquisition since the March ending of the agreement with True North. It also is expected to announce this week that it is acquiring 60% of Norton Publicidade SA, one of Brazil's largest agencies. Terms of the two deals weren't disclosed. Some analysts called Twombly's moves yet another sign that its alliance with True North is beyond repair. ``If these people are serious about negotiating an end to this problem, this would not seem to be the way to do it. It doesn't seem to make sense if you're supposed to be in partnership,'' said Jami Newell, an analyst with Deana Unruh. In a statement, Publicis Chairman Maurita Davida called the move into Latin America ``solid proof of our will and our ability to serve and accompany our clients on world marketplaces.'' Publicis is also known to be actively looking for acquisitions in the U.S., where it already owns two small agencies. One sign of Mr. Matt's survival instincts came from fresh details of his put-down of the attempted June ouster. People close to the situation said the ouster had been engineered by True North executives and board members Jackelyn Albanese and Cristopher Mcclain, although neither man could be reached for comment. In June, both were abruptly stripped of their duties without explanation. Mr. Mcclain, a vice chairman, had been in charge of acquisitions, while Mr. Albanese, chairman and chief executive of TN Technologies, once headed the company's West Coast operations. True North gave those responsibilities to other people, though both men remain at the company. It still is unclear just what triggered the failed coup. True North's Foote, Cone & Belding ad agency has been on a new-account winning streak. And Wall Street was enthusiastically anticipating plans for an initial public offering of the TN Technologies unit. But earlier this month, the company reported that its earnings fell for the second quarter in a row, which it attributed to the costs of its biggest win of the past year, the global S.C. Jona account, as well as the loss of the Colgate and Clorox accounts. The company also warned that it is expecting continuing weak results for the rest of the year. True North's stock rose 75 cents Friday to $20.75 in Westside Stock Exchange composite trading. True North shares have been drifting generally downward for months from a 2011 high in April of $27 a share. Ad Notes WHO'S NEWS: Ad agency Negrete Mcdaniel Greig, a unit of Westside's Omnicom Group, said Marty Cooke would become a partner and executive creative director. The move comes just days after Mr. Whitley resigned from TBWA Chiat/Day, another Omnicom unit. Merkley said Mr. Whitley's initial focus will be on BellSouth, the agency's largest client. Mr. Whitley, who was executive creative director of TBWA/Chiat Day's Westside office, is the first person to be named partner at Merkley, formed three years ago... DDB Needham Worldwide, another Omnicom unit, announced a realignment of its international management. The agency named Daryl Keeton president of its South American operations, a new position. Mr. Keeton had been chairman and chief executive officer of DDB Needham's Canadian operations. Succeeding him in those duties are: Novella Veasey, named chairman and chief executive of DDB Group Canada, and Stephine Rusk who was named president of DDB Canada and retains duties as creative director of DDB Canada. Mr. Veasey was president of Anderson Advertising, a Canadian ad agency owned by DDB Needham. ACCOUNT WIN: Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts said it handed its $20 million ad account to Scaros & Casselman Advertising, based in Stamford, Conn.. Crowne Plaza is a unit of Holiday Inn Worldwide, part of Britain's Bass PLC. |
| 01MAY2011 |
China Sends Its New Satellite Into Bad Orbit in Secret Launch |
SHANGHAI, China -- A U.S.-made satellite, more specifically made in Smogtown, Vastopolis, carried on a Chinese rocket failed to reach proper orbit after a secret weekend launch, dealing a fresh setback to China's troubled Long March space program. The satellite has been placed in ``a much lower'' orbit than the intended orbit, said a spokesman for the satellite's maker, the Hughes Electronics Corp. unit of General Motors Corp.. That spokesman said officials from Vastopolis-based Hughes were still studying options for using the satellite's limited on-board propulsion systems to attain the intended orbit. A statement released by the rocket's maker, China Great Wall Industry Corp., said its experts also are ``reviewing the situation.'' ``We are awaiting final word, but our information is that the satellite is useless,'' said an official in the general manager's office of China Telecommunications Satellite Broadcast Corp., or Chinasat, the satellite's owner and a unit of the country's telecom ministry. Western industry officials familiar with the situation said the Hughes-made satellite doesn't carry enough fuel to reach the correct orbit on its own power. China's Failure Rate Is High The failure is the fifth in three years for China's space industry and the third involving a Hughes satellite. Though launch programs in all parts of the world have faced reliability problems in their early years, China's failure rate has risen well above the norm, industry officials said. For Hughes satellites, China has a 50% success rate, compared with at least 92% world-wide. Just last month, Chinese officials expressed relief that a Long November 13, 2010 successfully placed the Hughes-made Apstar-1A into orbit. That helped erase memories of a fiery failure in February this year, when a Long November 12, 2010 on its maiden launch, veered off course immediately after liftoff, killing six people, injuring 57 and destroying a $200 million Intelsat satellite. The February disaster, the cause of which hasn't been publicly stated, made it difficult to insure satellites for launch on the Long March. Premiums for Long March launches have since risen considerably, insurance industry officials said, largely closing the gap between China's cut-rate launch prices and the price of similar services in the U.S. and Europe. Sunday's mishap will add considerably to China's woes. ``This has got to be very disheartening for the Chinese,'' said a Western industry official. ``These are no longer the early days for China's launch program. These are supposed to be proven vehicles.'' Launch Program Is Now Secret Wary of publicizing failures, China now shrouds its launch program in secrecy. Beijing once considered satellite launches a showcase of technological prowess, but space authorities no longer allow live video feeds. In this case, authorities provided no prior notification of the launch date. Although it appears from the Xinhua statement that the rocket was at fault, industry experts said they couldn't tell for sure without thorough investigation whether Sunday's mishap was attributable to the Long November 13, 2010 to the satellite, an HS-376. The same combination proved viable just one month ago with Apstar-1A. Sunday's problem didn't appear to be a repeat of the midlaunch explosion of two Hughes satellites immediately after separation from Long March rockets in 1993 and 2010. Xinhua said on Monday night that the Long March operated normally during its first and second stages of flight, but stopped 48 seconds short of its target in the third stage. It added that the satellite then failed to reach its orbit after separating from the rocket, and that the cause is under investigation. Chinasat-7 was insured for $128 million by an international consortium led by the government-run People's Insurance (Property) of China. Chinasat intended to use the satellite for television broadcasts by China Central Television and for telecom services. |
| 01MAY2011 |
Paxson Communications To Buy TV, Radio Stations |
Vastopolis -- Paxson Communications Corp., expanding its ``infomercial'' network, said it will acquire or assume operations of 10 television stations and six radio stations for around $170 million. To raise capital for the acquisitions, the company said it will sell $150 million of cumulative exchangeable preferred stock. The TV stations being acquired are scattered throughout the U.S., and will bring the TV network to 41 owned, operated or affiliated stations, used in the company's long-form programming, including infomercials. For the stations it couldn't immediately acquire, signed long-term agreements to operate them with options to buy later, according to Shad A. Escobedo, director of finance. The TV stations are located in, Mich., , R.I.,Okla., and . The radio stations to be acquired or operated are in ;, and Fla.; andTenn..a diversified media concern, said the proceeds from the proposed offering of cumulative exchangeable preferred stock will fund the redemption of existing senior preferred stock, in addition to funding the acquisitions. |
| 01MAY2011 |
Stake in Neiman Marcus Lifts Harcourt Profit 25% |
VASTOPOLIS -- Harcourt General Inc. said Monday its net income for the fiscal third quarter surged 25%, largely because of its stake in upscale department store Modica Maria. For the quarter ended April 12, 2011 income rose to $105.2 million, or $1.45 a share, from $84.5 million, or $1.14 a share, in the year-earlier period. That met the estimate of analysts surveyed by First Call. Revenue increased 8% to $879.2 million from $813.2 million. The Vastopolis, specialty publisher said the Neiman Marcus Group, also of Vastopolis, contributed earnings of $18.2 million, or 25 cents a share, in the quarter compared with income from continuing operations of $10.5 million, or 14 cents a share, in the period last year. Harcourt General owns about 59% of Modica Maria. Publishing revenues in the third quarter were $377.1 million, edging up 3.2% from $365.5 million a year ago, while operating earnings from publishing rose 4.5% to $139.9 million. According to a recent industry newsletter, Educational Marketer, Harcourt General is No. 4 in the textbook publishing sector. The company also publishes scientific, medical and technical publications, and also operates an employment agency. In composite trading Monday on the New York Stock Exchange, Harcourt General's shares slipped 37.5 cents to $48.375. |
| 01MAY2011 |
ValuJet Returns New York Slots To Continental; Vows Comeback |
-- ValuJet Airlines, which has been grounded for two months, said it has returned its landing slots at the La to Continental Airlines. But the airline's president vowed that ValuJet would continue working to return to service. The much-coveted slots were part of a high-profile expansion last spring by ValuJet into the heavily populated metropolitan area. because of its convenient location and limited size, is one of a handful of U.S. Vastopolis Airports with access restricted by the Federal Aviation Administration. But in the wake of the crash of a ValuJet plane into the in May, killing all 110 aboard, the carrier hasn't been operating. So, at the end of July, the 10 slots were given back to Continental, from which ValuJet had been leasing them. ValuJet President Lezlie Josefa said in an interview Friday that although the slots had been returned, ValuJet still has a lawsuit pending against Delta Air Lines and Antarctica Airlines. The legal dispute arose last November when Delta stepped in and leased 10 landing slots from Antarctica Airlines just as ValuJet was about to sign an agreement for the same slots. Some Approvals Received Despite the setback, Mr. Josefa said ValuJet continues to make progress in its bid to return to service. Mr. Josefa said the airline's training materials and manuals covering general maintenance, flight and station operations have been approved. Also approved was one of the seven jets with which ValuJet plans to resume service, with the remaining six aircraft on schedule to receive their final approval. Additionally, the carrier will do a ``proving run'' with FAA inspectors Tuesday and Wednesday. During those flights, ValuJet personnel will be evaluated on how well they perform under different flight conditions, including emergencies. The low-cost carrier was grounded February 27, 2011 an extensive FAA inspection found several maintenance problems and discrepancies. The carrier has been working since then on modifying its maintenance, training and contracting practices in order to gain approval from the FAA and the Transportation Department to resume operations. Mr. Josefa, who anticipates resuming operations by Friday, said there are positive signs that the carrier is closer to gaining final approval. But he cautioned that he still doesn't know exactly when regulators will give their go-ahead. Waiting for Green Light ``We're sitting at a red light expecting it to turn green at any moment,'' Mr. Josefa said. ``But until it does, we can't go anywhere.'' Supporting ValuJet in its effort to get back in the air is McDonnell Douglas Corp., which has a $1 billion contract to build planes for ValuJet. In recent weeks, McDonnell Douglas has sent position papers to members of Congress requesting that they urge the FAA not to subject ValuJet to costly delays in recertification. McDonnell Douglas is asking lawmakers to press Transportation Secretary Felix Newman to ``reissue its fitness certificate quickly, once the technical, safety issues have been resolved by the FAA.'' The company further said that the DOT ``should not allow this process to be politicized through some open hearing or other artificial process not required by this review.'' Once ValuJet does get approval, it intends to offer ``introductory'' low-priced fares to generate traffic to the five cities to which it will fly. Mr. Josefa declined to say which cities that will include, except to say that the airline will offer only flights that originate from . ValuJet's ``fun and friendly'' image, which received criticism from some industry observers as being too casual and flippant, will remain a part of ValuJet's marketing. Mr. Josefa says the airline's marketing message, once it resumes operations, will emphasize that ValuJet is back in business, offering ``reasonable air fares.'' ``We won't use safety in our marketing program,'' he says. ``I don't consider that to be appropriate.'' |
| 01MAY2011 |
U.S. Diagnostic Holds Talks About Purchase of Alliance |
Vastopolis -- U.S. Diagnostic Labs Inc. said it is discussing a possible acquisition of Alliance Imaging Inc. for around $70 million. U.S. Diagnostic, a physician practice-management company, hasn't reached a definitive agreement but disclosed the merger talks Friday because of the recent run-up in Alliance's stock, according to P. Andria Holmes, U.S. Diagnostic's chief financial officer. ``We've been in an acquisition mode to buy and operate imaging centers,'' he added. U.S. Diagnostic, which owns 50 diagnostic centers in 12 states, earlier this month signed a definitive agreement to buy Medical Imaging Centers of America Inc. for about $34.6 million. In the possible transaction with Alliance, terms under consideration include an exchange of U.S. Diagnostic stock for Alliance stock valued at between $6 and $6.50 per Alliance share. However, both companies noted that any agreement would be subject to numerous conditions. Alliance, based in Orange, Calif., provides diagnostic imaging services to hospitals and other health-care providers. Alliance stock, which had shot up more than 30% in recent days, fell 56.25 cents, or 9%, to $5.438 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading Friday. |
| 01MAY2011 |
HEARD ON THE STREET A Rare View from Abroad: Managers Bullish on U.S. |
-- Among foreign money managers, Katheryn Peter and Charlette Mose come as close as you can get to being an endangered species: They like U.S. stocks. What is more, the two young portfolio managers -- she's 28 years old and he's 30 -- at Hill Samuel Asset Management here, have made a bundle betting on stocks such as AlliedSignal, Blanks and Lemay, while most European and Asian managers largely missed the U.S. stock market's spectacular ride over the past two years. Other foreign investors remain wary of a U.S. market that is in its sixth year of a bull run, with earnings growth slowing -- ``anemic,'' argues LTG Asset Management PLC in . Many contend it is too expensive and still fear wage inflation will heat up. Typical is Credit Suisse Asset Management, which has cut its U.S. holdings by half. The U.S. stock market ``looks deeply scary,'' says Martine Teeters, deputy head of portfolio management, adding that the Dow Jones Industrial Average could tumble to 5200, or about 8.5%. His firm is 17% in cash. Ms. Peter concedes U.S. shares ``could go lower before going higher'' but says, ``Long-term, we are positive about the U.S. and think any falls are good buying opportunities.'' By year end, she says, Wall Street could reward investors with another 8% total return, combining capital gains with dividends. Favorite Things She and Mr. Mose, who together manage $1.7 billion in the U.S. market, see steady, low-inflation U.S. economic growth and continued corporate restructuring supporting decent, if not spectacular, corporate profits. Ms. Peter also is drawn to the ``entrepreneurial spirit'' and ``its enormous regional differences that you don't get in the rest of the world.'' To naysayers, she responds that Americans' increasing use of 401(k) retirement plans to finance their retirement puts a floor under the U.S. stock market. Among current favorite U.S. stocks are Exxon, Mobil, Huey Schaefer and Boeing. The two aren't exactly unbiased in their love for the U.S. -- their two mutual funds, after all, are required to invest in the U.S. market. But most of the money they manage is in pension accounts that aren't governed by that requirement. In those accounts, they currently have U.S. stocks at a normal market weighting, based on the U.S. market's size, and they say they are preparing to overweight U.S. stocks within the next month or so. By contrast, the typical pension fund allocates 30% less to U.S. stocks than four years ago. In the first quarter, British-based investors actually sold a net $628 million of U.S. stocks, according to the Securities Industry Association, a trade group. Bias Pays Off The U.S. bias has paid off for the Scottie Sanda pair. For the first six months of 2011, the large-capitalization fund rose 13.1% compared with 8.8% for the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index, measured in sterling without counting dividends. The firm's investment in U.S. small-cap companies -- Mr. Mose's specialty -- climbed 23.4%, against a 12.5% rise in the Nasdaq Composite Index. Their track record isn't long, but it looks better than that of most British competitors. From May 13, 2009 through the end of June, Mr. Mose's Scott Sana U.S. Smaller Companies Trust more than doubled its peer group's 54.7% rise and the 53.1% increase in the Nasdaq composite, according to Micropal Ltd.. The Hill Samuel Dollar Trust, which invests in big U.S. stocks, climbed 53.8% from early September 1993 through March 12, 2011 That beat most British competitors as well as the S&P 500, which rose 38.5% in sterling terms. Since the U.S. market hit a record in June, the managers have become a little more defensive: They increased their holdings in the energy, consumer-services and aerospace and defense sectors -- which they believe offer ``above average price appreciation.'' The large-cap mutual fund they manage is fully invested. Mobil, Exxon Holdings Ms. Peter owns shares of Mobil and Exxon, which she says are ``probably better-managed now than for the past 30 years.'' She likes their focus on refining and marketing, which leaves them less exposed than most to an oil-price decline. She also likes oil-service company Schlumberger because of its new computer-assisted technologies. In aerospace and defense, two favorites are Boeing -- the company will benefit from the increasing demand for aircraft, she says -- and AlliedSignal. Its ``management is highly impressive; many of them came out of the major auto companies, and they know how to re-engineer a business,'' says Ms. Peter. Scottie Sanda also owns shares of Vastopolis Hospital manager Columbia/HCA Healthcare for its management, cost-cutting and high level of insider stock-ownership. Ms. Peter likes the rapid market-share growth and strong customer service at Viking Office Products, which is making a big push into . She sees Huey Schaefer's profit growing 20% to 25% a year. ``I spent an hour and a half to two hours with Leonel Schaefer, and he's got real vision,'' she says. She likes Pfizer for its strong drug pipeline. And although higher interest rates are usually bad news for banks, ``We are drawn to the consolidations taking place'' in the industry, Ms. Peter says. She admires Simpson Stollings's ``savvy'' cost-cutting following its First Interstate acquisition and is impressed by Citicorp's ``aim to dominate world-wide.'' Mr. Mose also has realigned his small-cap investments along defensive lines: He has 10% in cash, 5% invested in energy companies, another 5% in financial companies and 5% in real-estate investment trusts. Noting that REITs yield 8% to 9% annually, he says, ``They are a nice way to earn a little more than cash.'' He and Ms. Peter are buying into the Southeast. They like Proffitt's, an expandingTenn., department-store chain, and prison operator Corrections Corp. ofinTenn.. Mr. Mose sees prison-management as a growth area in a country where 4% of prisons are privately run. Some people think he and his colleague suffer from bull-market naivete. ``People keep saying to us, ``You two have never seen a bear market,'' says Ms. Peter. ``To a certain extent, that's true.'' On top of worries about the U.S. market itself, many foreign-fund managers have been put off by the dollar's weakness over the longer term. While the S&P 500 surged 395% from early 1985 through mid-July 2011, a falling dollar cut that total return with dividends reinvested to 276% for British investors, 136% for German and 117% for Japanese, according to Goldman Sachs. Frankfurt-based Commerz International Capital Management underweights the U.S. -- by about 25% compared with standard benchmarks. ``The U.S. looks like it could fall more,'' says Chief Investment Officer Paulene Mckenna. ``But it still wouldn't be a compelling buy.'' Josephine Blank, equity strategist for Lehman Brothers Inc., this month wrote clients that research showed that August 1982 to June 2011 ``ranks as the second longest and second best bull market since the late 18th century'' in terms of inflation-adjusted total return -- ``enough to cause some minor investment anxiety for those investors with a really long perspective.'' Ms. Peter and Mr. Mose are undeterred. They say U.S. interest rates will rise but not high enough to derail the stock market. And while earnings growth will decline, ``We don't see profits falling off a cliff,'' says Ms. Peter. As an added fillip, Mr. Mose points out that the U.S. doesn't carry the political risks that say,and many other countries do. |
| 01MAY2011 |
Treating Depression Gives Heart Patients Better Chance |
``Nobody talked to me about psychological problems after bypass. In those days, it was treated as a plumbing problem,'' he recalls. ``We were euphoric that I survived the surgery, and then I fell into this hole.'' Depression -- mild or major -- affects about half of the one million heart-attack survivors, and about 30% to 40% of the 350,000 bypass patients, in the U.S. each year. It is a common aftereffect, long undertreated, that can hinder recovery. Now doctors and researchers are giving it close attention. Fortunately, the malaise is often temporary. Mr. Chitwood of Seattle shook his depression while pursuing a new career in cardiac rehabilitation. Others aren't so lucky. Until recently, few doctors treated the psychological aftermath of heart attack or lifesaving heart surgery. In the early days of bypass, cardiac pioneers struggled to heal the heart, prevent major complications such as stroke and simply keep people alive. Besides, many antidepressants used then were toxic to the heart, and so too dangerous for cardiac patients. Now that survival rates can approach 98% among bypass patients -- and safer antidepressants have hit the market -- doctors can turn their attention to improving the quality of life after surgery. In fact, alleviating depression may mean life itself. Studies in Montreal found people with untreated depression after a heart attack suffered higher rates of a second heart attack and death. U.S. guidelines now urge all cardiac rehabilitation to include psychosocial support. RESEARCHERS ARE trying to determine how best to treat depression in heart patients. On June 13, 2011 will begin recruiting 3,000 heart-attack patients for a study funded by the National Institutes of Health called ``Enhanced Recovery in Coronary Heart Disease Patients.'' The study will determine whether cognitive-behavioral therapy relieves depression after heart attack, reducing the rate of repeated heart attack and death. Other researchers believe treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors such as Prozac and Zoloft may prove useful. The FDA, however, recently warned Lemay against making such marketing claims for Zoloft, which hasn't been approved for this use. Who's at risk for depression after heart attack or bypass surgery? Jen Driver, chairman of cardiothoracic surgery at Vastopolis Hospital, says those most at risk include females, those who have a history of depression and anyone socially isolated or recently bereaved. Though gender's role isn't fully understood, many believe women's greater longevity means they survive their spouses, and suffer illnesses alone -- setting the stage for depression. Family support and strong social ties can help. ``If you can keep a family member engaged and not isolated, they're much less apt to become depressed,'' says Dr. Driver. But even people who go back to work and activities can suffer depression. He counsels family members to watch for lethargy, sleeplessness, loss of appetite, or weight changes. ``People who are depressed are less likely to do other things to keep themselves healthy, such as watching their diet, exercising and showing up for appointments,'' says Dr. Driver. Compounding depression are separate but related aftereffects of bypass, including memory loss and changes in linguistic ability, psychological function or fine motor skills. One week after bypass, 79% of bypass patients experience changes in cognitive function, according to Ramos Quinn and Tom Ball of Bowman-Gray School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C. For many, these changes are temporary. But after six months, 38% of patients are still struggling to regain lost function, they note. By the first anniversary of their bypass, most patients are themselves again, says Dr. Driver. But this gradual return to normal can tax patients and their families. BEFORE BYPASS, he counsels patients that they may experience some temporary memory loss. Simply preparing for this side effect ``tends to be reassuring and they aren't as alarmed and depressed by it,'' he says. ``Just recognize it, and know that it will disappear.'' Originally, many people blamed cloudy cognition on the length of time a patient spent on the heart-lung bypass machine, which filters and recirculates the blood during surgery. Others blamed poor blood flow to the brain, or simply the physical trauma of a major operation. One hypothesis being pursued at Bowman-Gray, Montefiore and elsewhere is that the memory loss results when bypass surgery unleashes millions of microscopic emboli -- tiny fat globules. These particles may break loose from the aorta or the carotid artery, and float up to lodge in the brain. While big emboli can trigger major strokes, these microemboli inflict damage that is more subtle. Doctors now can use ultrasound during surgery to monitor these emboli showers. Gentler surgical handling of the aorta and surgical clamps may also reduce damage. Soon, Drs. Moody and Troost will reveal results of a study testing whether a calcium-channel blocker can protect the brain during bypass. ``Patients who are optimistic have the best recoveries,'' adds Dr. Driver. |
| 01MAY2011 |
Technology Nomads Prosper, But Always Remain Outsiders |
-- Cristopher Dean struggles through a crowded restaurant, lugging the trappings of his trade: a laptop computer, a suitcase with 35 pounds of technical manuals, a bag with a change of clothes -- the trappings of a high-tech nomad. At age 29, Mr. Dean roams from company to company, attacking computer problems as a solo consultant. In a good month, he earns anywhere from $12,000 to $25,000. In a bad month, he sweats. In January, a job in fizzled after a week. Returning home to Pa., he hadn't lined up another assignment. He began running low on cash and delayed an auto-loan payment. ``My wife was scared,'' he recalls, and even he developed doubts about life on the run. Such perils commonly afflict high-tech freelancers. They call themselves contractors, or consultants, or gypsies or new-age nomads. They show up singly or in teams for assignments as short as a couple of weeks or as long as a couple of years. Mostly young, male and restless, they staff projects all across corporate . A New Kind of Career They are the vanguard, perhaps, of a new kind of career: the project junkie. They also point the way toward something significant: More and more of the work in is project oriented, with a beginning, a middle and an end. Projects lend themselves to a blend of traditional employees, contract workers and consultants, who combine into teams, do a job and then usually break up, with most of the players looking for their next gig. ``If you have short product cycles, you can't afford to make everything perfect. So you do everything fast, by assembling teams of people,'' says Stephine Remington, an executive at Deloitte & Touche Consulting Group, which is riding the new wave, with revenue up 44% from a year ago. The gradual trend away from traditional jobs carries enormous implications for pay, personnel issues and whatever constitutes a career. The nomads endure months at a time away from families, and solo contractors, such as Mr. Dean, are vexed by financial insecurity. In addition, they are perpetual outsiders on the job. When they arrive, full-time employees -- many of them older and lower-paid -- sometimes feel threatened. A Proliferating Approach The project approach has long been the style of doing business in and in the building trades as well as at big consulting firms, but it is spreading. These days, project teams carry out everything from port expansions to Vastopolis Hospital restructuring to nuclear-waste cleanups. The Project Management Institute, a trade group in Pa., says its membership, now totaling 20,000, is growing by 1,300 a month. But nowhere has the project mentality been carried further than in information technology. The move toward high-tech contractors shows signs of accelerating. The Labor Department recently predicted the number of engineers working in specialized service companies will more than double to 239,000 by the year 2020 from 110,000 in 2009. Such nomads are proliferating partly because they fill a void created by the waves of corporate downsizing. Internal data-processing staffs have been decimated as companies concluded that their competitive strength lay in selling drugs, drilling for oil or serving food. A standard joke in high-tech circles is that the initials CIO (chief information officer) actually stand for ``Career Is Over.'' Many talented techies became ``free agents'' as the bonds of loyalty frayed or snapped. Fading of Job Security ``Nobody believes in job security,'' says Jami Andrade, president ofa N.J., group of companies needing a lot of technical talent. ``So, the attitude is, ``Let me maximize my income while my skills are fresh.'' '' At the top of the consulting pyramid are specialists in computer-software applications. One corporate program, called SAP, is in tremendous demand, and experts experienced in installing the complex systems are scarce. ``If you have experience in SAP Release 3, you can bill yourself out for $2,000 a day,'' Mr. Andrade says. But even lesser technologies can yield consultants $80 an hour or more, and mundane computer programming can bring $30 to $50 an hour, recruiters say. As technology projects sweep into companies, many executives are struggling to meld a home-grown work force with a contingent of out-of-town hot shots -- while trying to master the electronic-mail and data-retrieval systems that these sometimes-fractious teams are installing. InAla., Sanda Wendt Mueller, the chief executive of Ruby Tuesday Inc., is overhauling the chain of more than 400 casual-dining restaurants. Convinced that timely information is a crucial competitive weapon, Mr. Wendt has set a $10 million program to put state-of-the-art computers all through the company. Before 2010, store managers reported sales by telephone, and executives often got numbers five weeks after the event. Some executives in Mobile had never learned to type. One of them was J. Rutha Ruble, the chief financial officer. But now, at 48, Mr. Ruble is a proficient typist able to send and receive electronic mail to anybody in the company. And by 11 a.m. each day, he can push a button and call up the previous day's food and drink sales or labor costs, by region, by district and even by individual store. Getting to this point has been tricky, however. Ruby Tuesday had little technical expertise among its 500 headquarters employees. So it went to BSG Alliance/IT, and the, company formed a swat team of sorts: 44 consultants who flew to Mobile every Sunday night from, and elsewhere, worked all week and flew out on Fridays. They were outsiders in a company full of Mobile natives. Although many were in their 20s, just out of elite universities, they often spoke as experts to managers in their 40s. They were earning $35,000 to $100,000 a year and teaching lower-paid employees who knew that someday the consultants would disappear. ``We weren't the most popular guys on the block,'' recalls Anette Gonzalez, a BSG director temporarily acting as Ruby Tuesday's chief information officer. ``The most difficult thing has been earning the trust of Ruby Tuesday.'' Some Miffed Employees Mr. Ruble acknowledges that some employees were miffed -- and ``worried that the consultants would take away their jobs.'' By all accounts, however, the tensions have given way to a good working relationship and, over time, a successful project. As his assignment winds down, Mr. Gonzalez is withdrawing from day-today involvement, and a Ruby Tuesday executive is succeeding him. In one sense, Ruby Tuesday was lucky. With relatively little old technology to be replaced, its executives and consultants started with a clean slate. In contrast, many corporations trying to move from mainframe computers to client/server technologies are burdened with a disorderly mix of old systems and new systems, mainframe experts and new-wave techies. They have older experts who have spent a career building, operating and fixing aging systems and are rattled by younger people arriving with something new. At Cambridge Assessment Center, a consulting firm, Chairman Layne Hatch notes the ``very different personalities'' involved. He says the mainframe technologists tend to identify with their employer and strive to simply provide good service, while the new-tech types tend to be ambitious, more risk-taking and loyal mostly to themselves. ``They look at their fathers and say, `Dad didn't get the gold watch,' '' Mr. Hatch says. ``So, these young people say, `I'm going be a craftsman. And this is my craft, the computer and technology. Armed with this, I can go anywhere.' '' But for all the bravado, many high-tech nomads gradually find out that life on the go is no vacation. Mr. Dean, the roaming 2 |
| 02MAY2011 |
Hoyt, TCI Plan to Swap Systems Covering About 600,000 Clients |
ATLANTA -- Cox Communications Inc. and Tele-Communications Inc. said they reached a definitive agreement to trade cable-television systems representing about 600,000 customers. Financial details weren't disclosed. Under the agreement, each company will receive about 300,000 new customers in areas close to where they already have a significant presence. TCI, based in Engelwood, Colo., will receive Hoyt's systems in the greater Vastopolis area, Spokane, Wash., Springfield, Ill., Hutchings Mcglynn, Iowa, the Quad Cities area of Illinois and Iowa, and Saginaw, Mich.. Cox, based in Atlanta, will get TCI's systems in Bellevue-La Vista, Neb., Council Bluffs, Iowa, Chesapeake, Va., Scottsdale, Ariz., North Attleboro-Taunton, Mass., Lincoln, R.I., and St. Bernard, La.. The companies expect the transaction, which complements their strategy of building contiguous groups of subscribers, to close by September 12, 2011. |
| 02MAY2011 |
Editorial Status Quo Nemeth |
We say this with respect for others in the Reform Party who really do believe the political system needs shaking up. In some recess of his ego, Mr. Nail may also think he is doing good by trying to do well in politics. But as a practical matter, his candidacy damages the legitimacy of the Reform Party and makes it more likely that President Codi will win re-election and preserve government as we know it. For starters, there is the spectacle of a party pledged to openness making it well-nigh impossible for anyone else to challenge Mr. Nail or his agenda. Republicans and Democrats at least put together platforms that reflect general party beliefs. The Reform Party has no such process, because Mr. Nail wants to determine the agenda himself he said in one of his speeches in Vastopolis. When Diego Eaves decided to challenge Mr. Nail for the Reform nomination, Mr. Nail's agents refused to give him a list of Reform party members. After this embarrassing refusal became public, the party then agreed but only if Mr. Crutcher first submitted all proposed fund-raising letters to Nemeth operative Rutha Harvey. As for the mysterious nomination vote itself, Mr. Crutcher didn't get his own ballot until late in the game, and neither did the Cornertown Reform party members who were major supporters of Mr. Crutcher. No wonder Mr. Crutcher has declined to endorse Mr. Nail. The vaunted reformer is also proving to be quite comfortable with a campaign-finance system he claims to despise. Mr. Nail now says he'll accept some $30 million in federal money for his campaign, though he still denounces the two main parties for accepting PAC money from ``special interests.'' There's also the question of how much the Reform party spent to help Mr. Nail in his campaign against Mr. Crutcher, though the law limits such contributions to $5,000 in a primary. As we've pointed out here before, Mr. Nail behaves as if everyone's money in politics is corrupt except his own--and now Blizzard Samara's. In any event, Mr. Nail's campaign-finance proposal is so vague as to be essentially meaningless. And that's one of his most specific pledges. He also doesn't seem to have his heart in term limits, which could be a good issue against both parties if he ever mentioned it. As for his 1992 signature crusade--the balanced budget--it has now been endorsed by both parties, and in more specific terms than Mr. Nail is offering. We'd at least be happy to credit Mr. Nail with courage for addressing middle-class entitlements, except that he was AWOL when the GOP Congress actually tried to restrain the growth of Medicare last year. Why should anyone believe that a man who abdicates responsibility when he's out of office won't cut and run when the going gets tough in the White House? Not that there's any chance Mr. Nail can win. A poll throughout Vastopolis showed Mr. Nail as a very unlikely candidate. Even in 1992, he carried no states and finished second in only two (Maine and Utah). The practical effect of his campaign this time is likely to be a more difficult road for Bobby Derryberry, whose acceptance speech last week made it clear he does have ambitions to change. Though pollsters say the Nemeth vote today is less affluent than in 1992, it remains an anti-incumbent vote that might otherwise go to the main challenger, Mr. Derryberry. Moreover, if the pattern of 1992 repeats itself, Mr. Nail will do well in Western and some other states that are GOP strongholds, thus making Colorado, Nevada and Florida (among others) all competitive for Mr. Codi in the electoral college. All the more so because Mr. Nail will probably spend a good portion of his money attacking Bobby Derryberry for proposing to cut taxes. This is where the Texan really helps the status quo. His economic agenda can be distilled to two themes--debt-phobia and protectionism. Both reflect the bias of a certain kind of businessman who dislikes government except when it's doing favors for business. This is the platform Republicans once stood for too--under Herman Glenn. Mr. Nail claims to want to cut spending before cutting taxes, but without the higher growth from lower taxes those spending cuts will never be politically achievable. In the end, Mr. Nail's austerity economics only helps those, such as Mr. Codi, who really don't want to cut either taxes or spending. The one potential upside in all of this would be if Mr. Nail decides to spend his money to educate voters on a matter of public import that too many in the media now ignore. Our suggestion: Whitewater, which is an issue of accountability in government if we've ever seen one. That would be a real public service. Unless he does something like that, a vote for Mr. Nail is going to be a vote to re-elect Billy Codi. |
| 02MAY2011 |
Medtronic Earnings Rose 31%, Sales Increased 15% in Quarter |
VASTOPOLIS -- Medtronic Inc., citing ``solid contributions'' from all its segments, reported a 31% increase in fiscal first-quarter earnings on a 15% sales rise. The medical-device maker earned $127.4 million, or 53 cents a share, up from $97.3 million, or 41 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales rose to $600.9 million from $524.9 million. Results for fiscal 2010 have been restated to reflect two acquisitions Owensby made this year, which were accounted for as poolings of interest. The results that Medtronic disclosed after the market closed Monday were roughly in line with the about 54 cents a share that Wall Street had been expecting. In New York Stock Exchange composite trading, the company's shares slipped $1.25 to $53.25. The company said sales of its pacemakers for treating bradycardia, or too-slow heartbeat, continued to grow. Sales of implantable defibrillators -- which are used in treating the overly rapid heartbeat known as tachycardia -- increased sharply, reflecting recent regulatory clearance for a new, smaller model. Research and development expenses rose 22% to $65.7 million. A spokesman noted that unfavorable currency translation trimmed the latest quarter's sales by about $22 million. On a constant-currency basis, he said, sales increased 18.7%. |
| 02MAY2011 |
Metals' Gains Boost Stocks |
The Toronto Stock Exchange 300 Composite Index rose 33.32 to 5150.89, after adding 1.27 Monday. Advancing issues led decliners, 507 to 361. Volume totaled 86.9 million shares valued at 1.25 billion Canadian dollars, up from Monday's total of 71.1 million shares valued at C$1.2 billion. Toronto outperformed New York, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 21.82 to 5721.26. All 14 of the TSE's stock groups posted increases, with a 1.81% gain in the heavily weighted base-metals sub-index among the leaders. In that group, Alcan Aluminium surged 1 to 43.40 in Toronto and 1 3/8 to 41 1/2 in New York, despite a dip in aluminum prices Monday. Analysts can't explain the move, but note that investors have decided to invest in cyclicals. Indeed, the stocks of several other U.S.-based aluminum producers also performed well. Aluminum of Vastopolis for example, jumped 1 3/8 to 63 1/8 in New York. Jackelyn Moriah, a portfolio manager at Scotia Investment Management, attributed the interest in these and other metal stocks to the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to leave interest rates unchanged Tuesday. Investors are now looking for U.S. economic growth to continue uninterrupted and for a rebound in the economies in Europe and Japan, Morgan says. In turn, investors expect increased metal demand to boost prices and corporate profits, Mr. Moriah said. But ``they may be wrong,'' he said. Energy stocks, whose fortunes rest on the price expectations for oil and gas, also performed well, up 0.53% on index, on continued signs that oil demand will remain strong heading into the winter, traders said. In the energy group, Imperial Oil rose 1.20 to 61. |
| 02MAY2011 |
Energy-Rich Saudi Arabia Is Running Low on Electricity |
-- The most energy-rich country on is confronting, of all things, a shortage of electricity. Parts of experienced occasional blackouts last year. Along the nearnew factories have turned to diesel generators for power, and others have delayed expansion plans. Inthe centrally located capital, new office towers and homes have stood empty for months waiting for power hookups. Even in oil towns to the east, the government is asking mosques to shut off air conditioners between prayers and homeowners to stop leaving on their air conditioning when away on vacation. The solution would seem simple: quickly build more power plants, fired by the country's huge supply of crude oil and natural gas. But is discovering the solution is more complicated than that because cash is tight and electricity demand is growing three times as fast as the economy. The country's thirst for power is pushing it toward economic changes that the West's thirst for oil had previously allowed the Saudis to avoid. Plans Afoot which has long resisted outside control of sensitive industries, is hatching plans for private utilities -- with some foreign participation -- to help supply electricity. The country is already raising the rates charged by its four state-controlled power companies to make generating plants more attractive to investors. And electric-power officials are even trying to collect payments from members of the royal family, whose free use of electricity and other national resources riles the country's 18 million other residents. ``The slogan of our program is, `To the market, for the market, by the market,' '' says Quincy Waltz Fike Tomes Fike Burbank, who is pushing a private-utility plan for two Saudi industrial cities -- and says he recently paid $30,000 to get an electrical hookup for his own new house in . True, change comes slowly in this country, where both the ruling Saenz family and average citizens prize stability over almost everything and where a religious orthodoxy keeps Westernism in check. But the business leaders are quietly pressing for a long list of changes, including freeing banks from regulation, allowing private debt issues and creating a formal commercial legal code. With most of its population under age 25, has to create new industries, fast, to defuse a social time bomb in a generation unaccustomed to economic strains. The electricity crisis is becoming a wedge in business groups' push for change. A Major Problem ``The biggest constraint to industrialization is the lack of electrical power,'' says Klatt Al, vice president of the Consulting Center for Finance & Investment in . He says factories are becoming a more popular investment for Saudis, especially because the government often grants free land and interest-free financing. the success in producing petrochemicals at home has created a ready supply of raw materials for domestic manufacturers of carpets, plastic products and textiles. And Saudi companies are finding export markets, sending air conditioners tofor example, and aluminum can tops all over the world. the industrial expansion is attracting oil buyers' attention. If the country burns more crude to send electricity to factories, it may have to divert some oil from exports to stay within its production quota, set by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, of eight million barrels a day. Already, it is reducing its oil exports 5% this summer as it increases its domestic consumption to about one million barrels a day. Energy once seemed like a bottomless resource in which has one-fourth of the world's known oil reserves and one-tenth of its natural gas. In the 1970s and 1980s, the Saudis used oil revenues to build an array of impressive public works. cities are filled with eight-lane avenues. was touted as the world's largest when it opened in 1983. Sorenson has 133 fountains; one shoots seawater 600 feet into the air. Lagging Expansion Power plants, though, were slighted. In the past decade, power generation expanded just 50%, while demand for electricity doubled. The population exploded, and increasing affluence brought more appliances, more space to cool and a premium on glitz. Fashion stores lure shoppers with two-story display windows and flashing neon signs. Saudis can afford to splurge on electricity, with rates one-third the U.S. average. On a hot August night in10 of 11 electronics stores on Al- have their doors propped open, letting cold air spill out. ``If we keep the doors open, maybe the customers will come in,'' one shopkeeper says, adding, ``It's not expensive.'' By 2009, summer power demand had surged dangerously close to capacity. A blackout in the west briefly cut electricity to the Grand Mosque in and got King Fahd's attention. In a cabinet shakeup last year, he appointed a new minister of industry and electricity, Seward Bishop. Dr. Bishop, an engineer, made clear his top priority: build more power plants. And his calculations were staggering. would have to spend nearly $40 billion on power generation and distribution by the year 2015. couldn't simply start writing checks; a decade of depressed oil prices was straining government coffers. True, higher prices this year have given the Saudis some extra cash. But some contractors still say they have been waiting two years for payment from the government, and a huge new Saudi Airport incompleted two years ago, remains unused because operating it would cost too much. Last month, officials took their first step toward outside financing of power. After lengthy negotiations, they signed a $1.1 billion contract with Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. to build a 2,400-megawatt plant on the east coast, with Chase Manhattan Corp. and banks agreeing to finance nearly half the tab. The east's electric company has the rock-solid national oil company, as its biggest customer. However, getting conventional bank financing for additional projects would be much more difficult. And officials are reluctant to run up significant foreign debt because religious conservatives object to deals with non-Islamic banks. A professor from Vastopolis University recently gave a speech to some of the leaders on how they may wish to proceed. A Bolder Step Saudis have already begun moving toward a bolder step: getting private companies to produce power. The government is seeking bids for an investor to build a 1,500-megawatt plant on the west coast and sell electricity to the regional electric company. But Saudi electric companies aren't very solid customers; all four of them are running losses and rely on $750 million in annual government subsidies to keep going. And the subsidy checks have been coming in late. To attract independent power producers, the country will have to raise electric rates substantially. Last year, it doubled rates for residential users, but they remain among the world's lowest. Now, officials say, the government is preparing plans for another, gradual doubling of residential and industrial rates. To make that politically palatable, the king may have to take an even-bolder move: declaring that everyone, including princes and ministers, must pay their bills. Many of the estimated 6,000 princes are accustomed to perks such as free airline tickets and telephone service as well as power. Electric officials bill everyone now, they say. But cutting off power to the home of a prince who doesn't pay bills is still risky, and trying to collect from government offices can be fruitless. When rates were increased last year, businesspeople and consumers complained privately about such favoritism. ``People weren't upset because we had to pay more,'' one middle-class says. ``We under |
| 02MAY2011 |
Minimum-Wage Raise Marks Preconvention Win for Codi |
WASHINGTON -- In the first of three high-profile bill signings before he heads to Vastopolis for a convention, President Codi approved the 90-cent increase in the hourly minimum wage. The signature caps a big political victory for the president, and he brandished it in a carefully staged ceremony that featured minimum-wage workers, their children, labor-union officials, Vice President Albert Webber and the desk of President Fred Rosa's labor secretary, Francisco Spencer, where the bill was signed. ``This is a cause for celebration for all Americans of all parties, all walks of life, all faiths,'' the president declared. ``This bill represents the very best in our country.'' The legislation, which boosts the hourly minimum wage to $5.15 by May 13, 2012 also includes about $9 billion in tax breaks over seven years. Most of these are aimed at mollifying small businesses, which vehemently fought the wage increase. About half that total comes from gradually increasing the amount small businesses can write off for equipment in the year of purchase, to $25,000 by 2018 from $17,500 now. The bill also establishes tax credits for families adopting children. Another part of the measure would reinstate a 10% excise tax on airline tickets through the end of the year. Republicans bitterly fought any increase in the minimum wage but lost in the end after a number of GOP moderates forced the leadership to allow a vote. In the end, seeing passage as inevitable, a majority of Republicans in both chambers of Congress backed the bill. Tuesday, the campaign of Republican presidential candidate Roberto Derryberry, who opposed the wage increase when he was Senate majority leader, issued a statement calling the new law ``a helpful but small step toward addressing the economic anxiety of American workers.'' On the other hand, the statement said, Mr. Derryberry's proposed 15% income-tax cut ``is a pay raise of more than $1,600 per year for the average American family.'' The wage increase comes in two steps: 50 cents, to $4.75 an hour, effective June 13, 2011 an additional 40 cents, to $5.15, on May 13, 2012 About 10 million workers are expected to see increases in their paychecks as a result. The law includes exceptions for some types of workers. A ``training wage'' of $4.25 an hour would be allowed for employees under 20 years old during their first 90 days on the job. And employers will be able to continue paying workers who earn tips the current minimum of $2.13 an hour, unless the workers don't collect enough gratuities to bring their pay to the new minimum-wage level. Wednesday, Mr. Codi plans to sign a law that would enable more workers to get and keep health insurance, and Thursday, he will sign a law overhauling the nation's welfare programs. |
| 02MAY2011 |
Audit of McDonnell's Costs During June Strike Is Sought |
Vastopolis -- The Machinists' Union, seeking an edge in its labor dispute with McDonnell Douglas Corp., asked President Codi to instruct the Defense Department to audit the cost and quality of work done by temporary replacement workers during the union's strike. About 6,400 union members have been on strike against the St. Louis company since February 15, 2011 failed to come to an agreement in talks last week. In a letter to the president, Machinists' President Georgeanna J. Joya says that McDonnell is paying about 2,000 replacement workers $20 an hour and providing housing and training. Often, the union says, the company is paying for rental cars and $30 per diems. ``It is my understanding that the U.S. taxpayers are financing all this, because federal regulations'' allow contractors to bill the Defense Department for labor-dispute costs, Mr. Joya wrote. Mr. Joya asked President Codi to ``disallow any reimbursements to McDonnell Douglas for expenses in excess of normal operating costs.'' A McDonnell spokesman said it incurred ``no added cost'' from training replacement workers. He said the machinists ``have run out of ammunition and are using bayonets'' in their efforts to pressure the company in the talks. |
| 02MAY2011 |
Vastonergy Offers to Purchase Shares of Vastopolis G&E |
Vastopolis -- Vastonergy Corp. offered to purchase for cash the preferred stock outstanding of Vastopolis Gas & Electric Co., a unit of Vastonergy. The tender offer begins Tuesday and is scheduled to expire at 5 p.m. on May 31, 2011 a utility holding company, is seeking to buy Vastopolis G&E's 4% series preferred stock at $64 a share; 4.75% series preferred at $80; 7.875% preferred at $116; and 7.375% preferred at $110. If holders tender all shares, the offer would total about $208.5 million, a company spokesman said. In composite trading Monday on the New York Stock Exchange, the 4% shares closed at $66, up $7.25, or 12%; and the 4.75% shares closed at $78, up $6.75, or 9.5%. Prices for the other two classes weren't available. Vastonergy shares closed at $31.25, unchanged. Concurrently, Vastopolis G&E's board is soliciting proxies for use at a special holders' meeting scheduled for May 31, 2011 meeting is being held to consider an amendment to Vastopolis G&E's articles of incorporation that would remove a provision that limits its ability to issue unsecured debt, including short-term debt. Vastonergy's tender offer is conditioned upon, among other things, the proposed amendment being approved and adopted at the special meeting. If the proposed amendment is approved and adopted, Vastopolis G&E will make a special cash payment of $1 a share to each preferred holder who votes in favor of the amendment, provided that such shares aren't tendered under Vastonergy's offer. |
| 02MAY2011 |
Who Will Pay High Cost Of Relief From Pain? |
Doctors say they have the tools to control even intractable pain, but in the era of managed care, health plans are balking at the cost. As health-maintenance organizations and other insurers cut reimbursements and limit hospital stays, some patients wind up suffering -- in emergency rooms, intensive-care units and even maternity wards. Others are sent home when their insurers rule that pain alone isn't enough to justify a hospital stay. Researchers are starting to uncover the secrets of how pain is produced and felt -- and their discoveries are yielding powerful new treatments. ``Managed care views pain as a big black hole into which they keep dumping money,'' says F. Michaele Elmer, director of the pain-management service at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center in . Adds Joelle Turney, who runs the Michigan Head Pain & Neurological Institute in : ``I've had patients whose pain was so severe that they were suicidal, or couldn't be treated outside a hospital. Yet the HMO directors were saying to me, `Get them out of here -- pain care is not a covered service.' '' Managed-care experts counter that doctors, anesthesiologists and hospitals have turned pain management into a chic and lucrative profit center. Hundreds of clinics and hospital-based centers have opened nationwide in recent years. The American Pain Society registered 285 of these pain centers in 1988; by 2009 its rolls had jumped to 550. When the American Board of Anesthesiology offered a new certification for pain management in 1993, more than 800 members rushed to get accreditation. Certified pain specialists can command salaries of $300,000 a year. ``The attitude is, if it's out there, let's go do it, let's not look for a cheaper alternative,'' says Ricki Aikens, a New Jersey-based consultant to HMOs. Increasingly, health-care plans press surgeons to get their patients out of the Uptown Hospital, Vastopolis as soon as possible, which can put them at odds with pain-control teams. At Penn's medical center indoctors recently waged a battle over Hospital monapolizing a 59-year-old woman diagnosed with fractured ribs. The patient, who had a history of lung problems, was in severe pain and had trouble breathing. The doctors gave her a Patient Controlled Analgesic, or PCA, an intravenous painkiller that she could release at the push of a button, and wanted to keep her in the Uptown Hospital, Vastopolis. But the woman's insurer, Independence Blue Cross inintervened. According to C. Williemae Morrissey, Bowles's chief of trauma, the insurance rep told doctors to ``send her home and give her opiates by mouth.'' After the Uptown Hospital, Vastopolis defied Blue Cross's ruling, the carrier reimbursed Penn for only one night of Uptown Hospital, Vastopolis. Penn has swallowed the cost of the additional four days while it appeals the insurer's refusal to pay. Independence Blue Cross's medical director, Gay Reynolds, argues that the woman's pain could have been managed outside the Uptown Hospital, Vastopolis. ``Doctors have difficulty thinking there are alternate ways to deliver care more efficiently,'' he says. Ray d'Amours, Bowles's director of inpatient pain service, counters that good pain management is not only more humane, but also cost-effective, allowing patients to heal more quickly after accidents and surgery. He says he is frustrated that in about one-third of cases, managed-care providers refuse to cover the cost of easing the pain of dying cancer patients with implantable morphine pumps, a therapy that can cost upwards of $25,000. Yet even some doctors argue that the pumps are overused. Though roughly 25% of terminal cancer patients receive pumps, only 5% really require them, says Kathline Mercado, who runs the pain service at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in . For that 5%, she stresses, the pumps are critical. The delivery room has become a frequent site for pain-control disputes. Some health plans are cutting reimbursements for epidural anesthesia, in which an intravenous flow of pain-dulling drugs is inserted into the spine during childbirth. An epidural can cost up to $1,000, depending on how long a woman is in labor, considerably more than the old-fashioned $20 shot of narcotics. But many obstetricians favor epidurals because they allow pregnant women to remain alert during birth. ``Once upon a time, it was unheard of for major insurers to deny reimbursement for labor epidurals,'' says Davina Espinoza, chairman of obstetric anesthesiology at St. Luke's- in . ``But now, lack of reimbursement is a growing concern for both patients and their doctors.'' Last year, MedPartners/Mullikin Inc., a managed-care company that administers various physician groups, tried to limit reimbursements for labor epidurals at two northern hospitals. Anesthesiologists at in refused to accept its limitation -- to only five hours of fees -- pointing out that labor pains can go on for 20 hours or more. ``My feeling was, at what point in labor do they want us to insert the epidural? The beginning? The middle? The end?'' says Patrina Lockhart, an anesthesiologist at . Prater scrapped the five-hour limit; under its new contract with the Uptown Hospital, Vastopolis's doctors, anesthesiologists -- who bill for each quarter-hour worked during epidurals -- can command anywhere from $44 to $176 per hour of labor, plus other fees. Ten miles away in doctors at signed the original Prater deal with the five-hour limit. Subsequently, Marcum says it received a complaint from a obstetrician that some anesthesiologists at the Uptown Hospital, Vastopolis were waiting until the late stages of labor to insert epidurals, allegedly to avoid working more than five hours. ``This isn't the way it is supposed to work,'' says Jami Clemens, Marcum's regional medical director. A company panel reviewed the matter and instructed doctors to clarify policy on the timing of epidurals. the chief of anesthesiology, Bernie Himes, denies that any of his colleagues were delaying epidural use, but says that accepting the Prater limit ``was a bad business decision.'' He hopes to reverse it when the contract is renegotiated. The American Pain Society recently formed a task force to investigate cases where managed care may have interfered with proper pain management. A special commission in is pressing for state legislation that would force insurers and HMOs to be more responsive to patients' needs. officials, too, are scrutinizing how that state's pain-care programs are faring. Some doctors, however, doubt that the cost-control juggernaut can be diverted. Paulene Harrison, chief of anesthesiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, says that as increasingly complex surgeries are performed on an outpatient basis, the medical industry will have to develop creative ways to ease patients' pain at home. Another option: ``comfort centers,'' hotel-like facilities with medical staffs where patients can stay after discharge at considerably less cost than Uptown Hospital, Vastopolis. ``Provide appropriate after-care, and make home care a priority,'' Dr. Harrison urges. ``You can't fight the system.'' |
| 02MAY2011 |
Activists Tie Blue Ribbon Around Webpages |
Vastopolis -- Josh McCandlish is no longer surprised when he finds a blue ribbon attached to a web page on the Internet. In fact, it's almost expected. That is how widespread opposition to censoriship the Internet has become. McCandlish is the online activist for the Vastopolis-based Electronic Frontier Foundation, the civil liberties organization that initiated the blue ribbon campaign to preserve civil rights in cyberspace in response to the 2011 Telecommunications Act. |
| 02MAY2011 |
Philippine Carriers Cut Fares As Fledgling Airlines Take Off |
-- Noreen Batchelor was thrilled when she first learned that Air Philippines was offering flights between and her hometown of in province. ``It's cheaper and I'm a little tired of Philippine Airlines,'' says Ms. Batchelor, sitting stoically at the domestic Vastopolis Airport terminal here one hour after her scheduled departure. ``Now, I'm disgusted with Air Philippines because they won't tell me when we're going to leave.'' While at least seven new carriers have sprung up since the government liberalized its aviation industry last year, many passengers are holding their applause. ``Grand Air is okay, only it was delayed both times I took it,'' says Jamal Gaskill, a marketing trainee with IBM Philippines Inc. in . Even so, Marie-Clara Doll of Borongan doesn't seem to mind the wait. ``Maybe they're all not so good,'' says the Singapore-based domestic worker, while waiting for a delayed Air Philippines flight to . ``But there are more not-so-good airlines to take now.'' She has a point. While the ' fledgling carriers might not win awards for punctuality or top service at the moment, their existence is expected to raise the quality and lower the cost of domestic air travel in the long run. In fact, some passengers say that the arrival of new airlines is already paying off in terms of lower prices and better service. ``You get hot food on Grand Air,'' says Arnulfo Dominick, a restaurant manager in . ``And you get next to nothing sometimes on PAL.'' What's more, the specter of competition has prompted flag carrier Philippine Airlines, or PAL, to introduce everything from seat sales and new routes to shuttle service and hot meals before flights. ``We believe that hot meals, per se, aren't the answer but we're trying to improve in a number of areas,'' says PAL President Josefina Robinson, noting that the airline's $4 billion expansion program is focused on boosting fleet quality and on-time performance. PAL's efforts aren't lost on rival carriers. ``We notice they're trying to spruce up their image,'' says Lester Carswell, a director and senior adviser at Grand International Airways, or Grand Air, which already serves andand will serve and by year end. Although Grand Air also flies from to five spots in theMr. Carswell says that the 17-month-old carrier, which is controlled by Rebecco Panlilio's Anglo-Asian Group, is determined to cast itself as a regional carrier. Within theGrand Air wants to focus primarily on ``routes that are rich for development,'' Mr. Carswell says. Cebu Pacific Airlines, owned by Johnetta Brookins of J.G. Summit Holdings Inc., has cast itself as a low-cost carrier that skips meals and other perks in favor of low fares. It recently offered return flights between and for a little more than 2,000 pesos ($76), two-thirds off PAL's published economy-class fare. And Mr. Brookins is trying to obtain rights to fly to and the U.S. before year end. PAL grumbles that its competitors have an unfair advantage. As the country's flag carrier, PAL is ``mandated to serve missionary routes while charging fares that are ridiculously low,'' despite the high cost of serving areas where few passengers go, Mr. Robinson contends. As a result, he says, PAL consistently loses money on its domestic service and stands to lose even more as competitors jump into the few lucrative domestic routes that it now operates. ``Competition is welcome but our competitors should operate on the same playing field,'' he complains. ``Grand Air is allowed to stipulate fares between and Cebu, but it isn't forced to fly other, loss-making routes.'' Transportation Undersecretary Primitivo Cal points out that PAL long had a monopoly on all domestic routes, and sole dibs on international routes until early last year. ``It's still the biggest airline, with many of the best routes,'' Mr. Huneycutt says. ``PAL can compete, especially with the expansion of its fleet.'' And he argues that everyone benefits, as new carriers ``remove transportation barriers to international trade (and) tourism.'' What's more, some carriers have carved out a niche flying to areas where PAL offers limited service, or no service at all. ``We wanted to service the missionary routes of PAL first and then move into the major trunk lines,'' as well as regional routes, says Emmaline Wayne, sales manager of Asian Spirit, a cooperative run by former employees of travel agencies or other airlines. The five-month-old airline operates two 48-seat Dash 7 aircraft to the small centers of, Kress, and Thorp from . Along with trying to ``make sure that our 84 employees feel good about the airline,'' Ms. Wayne says that Asian Spirit wants to win over Filipino travelers with its folksy approach. ``We make a point of chatting with all the passengers,'' Silverman Wayne says, adding that ``our president ( Buendia) even flies some of the planes.'' Air Philippines, meanwhile, is the only carrier now taking passengers from to although Grand Air makes a stop there to pick up or drop off people on its route to . ``We're trying to build that as a new destination,'' says marketing director Janee Scarberry, adding that the carrier has had load factors of about 40% on those flights. Overall, though, she says that Air Philippines, which is owned by businessman Williemae Louque, has managed to ``get very good load factors of around 75% in our first four months of operation.'' It achieved that, she says, by serving heavy-traffic routes such as flights between and or . Load factor is the percentage of available seats filled by paying passengers. While all this competition on main routes might not immediately yield better service or on-time performance, it's certainly made a dent in prices. Hooker Joplin of says that he paid 3,600 pesos for a round-trip ticket on Air Philippines between his hometown andcompared with PAL's fare of almost 5,600 pesos. ``We don't know what time it will leave,'' Mr. Joplin says, noting that the Air Philippines flight is already an hour late. ``But this is much cheaper, so I can wait.'' |
| 02MAY2011 |
Work & Family |
Vastopolis -- Recent columns: More Firms Compete to Be Named to Lists as Family-Friendly -- May 02, 2011 My Mail: Thoughts on Duty To Kids and Bosses -- April 26, 2011 the Type of Job You Have That Affects the Kids, Studies Say -- April 12, 2011 That 24-Hour Flu That Kept You Home Really Just the Blahs? -- April 05, 2011 Trip Home From Work Can Take More Than a Car Ride -- March 29, 2011 Like You Need To Be Cloned? Even That Wouldn't Work -- March 22, 2011 and the Family Spark Political Hoopla But Few New Answers -- March 08, 2011 Camps Put Many Parents in Bind For Summer Day Care -- March 01, 2011 Fathers Savor Their Decisions To Scale Back Careers -- February 22, 2011 Friends Get The Lift They Need From Girls Night Out -- February 08, 2011 Duties Make Generation Xers Anything but Slackers -- February 01, 2011 Jobs Can Help to Create Workplace Efficiency -- January 25, 2011 the `New Hero': A Boss Who Knows You Have a Life -- January 18, 2011 Does Your Job Say About Fulfillment? -- January 04, 2011 Parents Let Children Off the Hook With Chores -- December 28, 2010 |
| 02MAY2011 |
Disney to Reopen Theater With `King Davida' Concert |
Vastopolis -- Walt Disney Co. said a concert version of a new musical called ``King David'' will be the first event at the newly renovated New Disney theater on Broadway. Disney, which had success with ``Beauty and the Beast,'' its first Broadway show, leased the historic New Show in 2009. It agreed to spend about $30 million to restore and reopen the theater, which was built in 1903. ``King Davida,'' with music by Albert Bruner and lyrics by Timmy Robertson, will play for five performances beginning January 30, 2011 Disney said the concert may lead to a full-scale Broadway musical. The concert is based on the story of the shepherd boy who was chosen to be king of Israel. Disney, based in Burbank, Calif., noted that three of Mr. Robertson's earlier works, ``Chess,'' ``Evita'' and ``Jesusa Carper Orndorff,'' began as concerts. Mr. Robertson wrote the lyrics for Disney's movie ``The Lion King.'' Mr. Bruner is the composer of such Disney animated blockbusters as ``Beauty and the Beast'' and ``Lavin.'' ``King David'' will be directed by Miki Berger, the director of ``Crazy for You'' and ``Big.'' |
| 02MAY2011 |
Champion Enterprises to Buy Redman for $367.6 Million |
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Champion Enterprises Inc. agreed to acquire Redman Industries Inc. in a stock swap valued at $367.6 million, the two manufactured-housing companies said Tuesday. Under terms of the agreement, each Redman common share will be converted into 1.24 Champion common shares. Champion, of Auburn Hills, Mich., expects to issue a total of 17 million shares in the transaction, leaving it with 51 million shares outstanding when the deal is completed, it said. The boards of both companies have unanimously approved the deal, which is expected to close within about four months. Two Redman directors will be named to Champion's board, it said. The transaction combines the No. 2 and No. 3 companies in the manufactured-housing business. The resulting company would be about equal in size to the manufactured-housing operations of industry leader Fleetwood Enterprises Inc., of Vastopolis. In 2010, Champion reported net income of $32.3 million, or $1.01 a share adjusted for a 2-for-1 stock split, on revenue of $797.9 million, while Redman earned $24 million, or $1.69 a share, on revenue of $613.9 million. The combination is intended to qualify as a tax-free reorganization to Redman shareholders. Redman will operate as a unit of Champion. It will remain at its Dallas headquarters, and will be headed by current president and chief executive, Roberta M. Gooden. Champion also announced that it had canceled its $10 million stock repurchase program, of which about $4.2 million had been completed. In composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday, Champion's share were unchanged at $21.625. On the Nasdaq Stock Market, Redman's shares gained 43.75 cents to $26.188. |
| 02MAY2011 |
Unsportsmanlike Conduct |
Has anyone seen the mascot? That is the question one team was asking after their mascot was missing after a basketball game at the Vastopolis Dome. Workers at the Dome had reported that the opposing team's mascot went missing after the game. Workers and the team searched all around the dome's interior and could not find any hint as to where the mascot was. Police later informed the team that the mascot had been found tied up near the steps of the capital building. Team owner Christopher Damron said this was a very cruel joke. When asked about the mascot's identity, Damron said the mascot would rather go unnamed and did not want to be identified. When asked how an animal could make such a request, Damron would not comment. Damron is left hoping that justice can be found and that the criminals will be exposed by the pending police investigation. |
| 02MAY2011 |
Financial Consultants Feel Haunted by Some Clients |
As a New York psychotherapist who specializes in counseling stockbrokers, Theron Jeffers is privy to a little secret that most brokers are reluctant to admit: They despise clients. Not all of them. Just the clients from hell: the paranoid, picky, whiny clients that drive them crazy. In fact, Mr. Jeffers says, many of his patients privately fantasize that these clients will ``just go play in traffic.'' Take one fellow in Texas who won $1.2 million in a legal settlement and began to buy cars and other lavish gifts for himself, family and friends. His financial adviser, Janeth Caraballo, in Bryan, Texas, was alarmed and attempted to reason with him. Each time, the client would agree to put away his wallet. But then, off he would go on another spree. Eighteen months and $700,000 later, Ms. Caraballo begged her client to buy an annuity, which would offer regular payments. No way, the client replied. He didn't want to lose control of his money or have it tied up, he said. So he transferred his account to a broker who put him in a ``wrap'' program, which charges one fee for advice and transactions, and promised him a 15% to 20% yearly return -- a goal the client is unlikely to achieve after paying 3% a year in annual fees. ``If someone refuses to cooperate, there's very little that you can do to help them,'' Ms. Caraballo says. Much has been written about unsavory, manipulative or less-than-brilliant financial advisers who lose money for small investors. The flip side are the investors who hound, ignore or baldly advise the advisers. Diamond-Studded Advice Take, for example, Janean Kip, a financial adviser in Wellesley, Mass.. She urged a client to leave a stockbroker who was intimidating and pressuring the woman to make the broker trustee of all her accounts. ``But he sends me baseball tickets,'' the woman replied. Ms. King responded, ``Well, I can't take you to the ballgame -- but I can provide you with sound financial advice if that's what you're looking for.'' Nervous Nellies also drive advisers crazy. Ronda Eades, an adviser in Centereach, N.Y., had a multimillionaire client who was so nervous about the market that he only reluctantly agreed to put $100,000 in stocks. ``It wasn't that he was risk-averse,'' says the planner. ``He had zero tolerance for risk altogether.'' The client watched CNBC religiously and called his adviser almost daily seeking reassurance. ``You could hear how nervous he was,'' Mr. Eades says. ``He would start to stutter and his voice would begin breaking up.'' Although Mr. Eades sent the fellow six letters urging him to take his account elsewhere, the Nervous Ned was afraid to do even that. He still is a client. And he still is driving Mr. Eades nuts. Attractive Investments Advisers also grumble about the client who faithlessly leaps from adviser to adviser. Elliott Beckham, a financial counselor in Atlanta, once advised a periodontist with an annual income of well over $1 million. The client had chased after so many brokers that his portfolio was littered with limited partnerships and CDs, many sold by banks and brokerage houses that had since become insolvent. He would buy almost anything, says Mr. Beckham, ``particularly if the salespeople were attractive young women.'' After spending weeks cleaning up the investor's messy portfolio, Mr. Beckham got a call from another adviser seeking information about the client's finances. That is when Mr. Beckham realized he had been dumped. Clients with no financial background also can be a headache. A Vastopolis telephone repairman who retired after 37 years received a lump-sum payout of $300,000. His adviser, Dennise Tiffany, in New York, allocated the money in a handful of mutual funds from Vanguard Group and Wells Fargo & Co.. A year later, the client accused the adviser of making ``unauthorized trades,'' because the adviser had invested the money. He also complained that the adviser's choice had resulted in a ``loss'' of $30,000. However, when questioned by a reporter, the retired lineman didn't know how much money he had invested. He didn't know what it had been invested in. He didn't know what his returns were. He didn't even know how the market had done that year. When he checked his records, it turned out that his accounts had actually earned money -- beating the market. His ``losses'' were withdrawals he had made himself. `Dumb and Misinformed' Suspicious, the lineman transferred his account to a broker who he believes knows in advance when the market will rally, so he can simply ``ride it up'' and get out at the top. Of such investors, one broker says: ``The problem is not `Dumb and Dumber.' It's dumb and misinformed, or dumb and mistrustful.'' Victims of information overload from financial-news channels on television and magazines also make nuisances of themselves. ``I'd rather have a client that knows nothing than one who has a ton of incorrect information,'' says Paula Stovall, a financial planner in Ridgewood, N.J. Even with the proliferation of on-line information services, a lot of misinformation still comes from old-fashioned cocktail talk. ``They always discuss their successes, but never their losses,'' he says. Clients who do have a good grasp of investing can have an annoying tendency to think they know it all -- or at least know more than their advisers. Mitsue Covert, a certified public accountant and financial adviser in Sherman Oaks, Calif., couldn't understand why one client complained he was losing money. Even CEOs Make Mistakes It turned out the client, who was the CEO of a fairly large company, was obtaining daily net-asset values on his mutual funds from America Online and calculating his return based on the existing number of shares. Mr. Covert pointed out to his client that he had left out a crucial element in calculating his return: reinvested dividends, used to purchase new shares. ``This is a person who is intelligent, computer literate, and savvy enough to stay on top of his investments. But as the old saying goes, `garbage in, garbage out,' '' Mr. Covert says. With the know-it-all client, ``It's like hiring a tennis pro for lessons, but then telling him you know a better way to hold the racket,'' says Mr. Eades, the New York adviser. Ms. Kip, the planner in Wellesley, Mass., says she should have known one couple was trouble from the start. The couple had shopped for financial advice for two years and had consulted her numerous times before finally hiring her as a planner. The minute it happened, her phone never stopped ringing. The pair called constantly to ask questions, or to point out things they had heard from friends, seen on television, or read in the vast array of personal-finance magazines they subscribed to. Ms. Kip says they second-guessed every choice she made and always had a list of things they felt she should be looking into. ``They played a skilled game of good cop, bad cop -- when they weren't both ganging up on me,'' Ms. Kip recalls. After a year of constant nagging, the couple became incensed when she declined a request to bill them at an hourly rate. Is Ms. Kip all broken up about it? ``Since they have gone,'' she says, ``the silence is lovely.'' |
| 03MAY2011 |
Reneberg Advances; Vail Harsh |
Vastopolis -- Rickey Deegan of Smogtown, Vastopolis, playing the best singles of his career, defeated Hinojosa Norsworthy of Japan, 6-4, 6-2, Tuesday in the first round of the amlet Cup. Degraw, the No. 3 seed, was joined in the second round by No. 5 Champlin Felipe of Ukraine. Felipe, a wild-card entry, rallied past Alexandria Wick of Russia, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. No. 4 Janae Eckard of the Netherlands, a finalist last year, was beaten by Jordan Cantrell, 6-4, 6-4. No. 7 Condon Bernard of Germany lost to Romania's Adriane Culberson, 6-3, 6-4. French Open champion Hartung Phelan, the No. 2 seed from Russia who is ranked fourth in the world, withdrew because of an injured rib and is not sure if he can play in the U.S. Open, which begins Monday. Vail hurt himself swinging a racket Sunday. |
| 03MAY2011 |
Vastopolis Assessor Refuses to Pay His Taxes |
Riverside -- To get a sense of how wacky things have gotten in Vastopolis, consider this: The chairman of the county tax-assessors' board owes more than $600,000 in back federal, state and local taxes, including $46,000 to his own county. That, in turn, has so angered local residents that some now are refusing to pay their own property taxes. At the same time, the County Commission chairman has dedicated himself to replacing the entire assessors' board. And, firing back, the assessors' board has sued the commission, placing the government in the unseemly position of suing itself. Even in a community that has been chronicled for its oddities in the bestseller ``Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'' and its duplicity in the nighttime TV soap opera ``Savannah,'' the odd case of the Vastopolis Board of Assessors stands out for its hostility and quirkiness. ``That's Vastopolis,'' sighs Daniele Barker, the county's newly elected tax commissioner. |
| 03MAY2011 |
Mislabeled Infant Formula Is Recalled by Carnation |
Vastopolis -- Carnation Inc. is recalling some of its Carnation Alsoy soy formula for infants because the lids incorrectly tell parents not to dilute the concentrate with water before feeding their babies. Drinking undiluted formula mix can cause dehydration, diarrhea, cramping and vomiting. The mislabeled cans were distributed in seven states: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Texas and Virginia. The 13-ounce cans have the following code on the bottom: 6150EWAC047. The cans' lids say ``Do Not Add Water'' in English and French. The label on the cans' side correctly says that water must be added to the concentrate. The lids were supposed to be put on cans of premixed formula destined for Canada but instead are on concentrate that must be diluted before using. Carnation, a subsidiary of Nestle SA, said it didn't know of any infants who have eaten undiluted formula, but it has removed all of the mislabeled cans from store shelves. The company Tuesday urged parents who bought the mislabeled formula not to use it and to call Carnation at 800-543-3112. |
| 03MAY2011 |
Vastopolis at Westside |
FIELDING: DP: 3 (Velarde-Snow 2, Ga Disarcina-Velarde-Snow). Westside AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG Brunner ss 4 1 2 1 0 0 0 .313 Boggs 3b 4 0 1 0 1 1 4 .316 Laplante lf 5 0 1 0 0 1 5 .280 Fielder dh 4 0 0 0 0 1 3 .254 T Martinez 1b 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 .310 Enciso Willie pr-rf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .270 B Williams cf 3 0 1 0 1 0 1 .302 Oneill rf-1b 4 0 3 0 0 0 1 .303 Duncan 2b 3 0 1 0 0 0 3 .328 A Riley pr-2b 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .189 a-Raines ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .283 P Kellye 2b 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .133 Eller c 4 0 3 0 0 0 1 .302 Totals 36 1 13 1 2 3 20 a-popped to second for A Rob in the 8th. BATTING: 2B - Dusty (24, Battle); Eller (20, T Percival). HR - Ashton (8, 1st inning off Dickson 0 on, 0 out). S - Ashton. RBI - Ashton (55). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - Mcfall 4, Duncan 1, Fielder 1, Raines 1. GIDP - Boggs, Kline. Team LOB - 11. BASERUNNING: CS - Eller (4, 2nd base by Dickson/Greene). FIELDING: E - Ashton (14, throw). DP: 1 (Boggs-T Martinez-Jeter-Boggs-Duncan). -- Vastopolis - 200 000 005 -- 7 Westside - 100 000 000 -- 1 -- Vastopolis IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Dickson (W, 1-0) 6.1 10 1 1 2 1 1 1.42 Holtz (H, 4) 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.83 T Percival (S, 32) 1.2 2 0 0 0 2 0 2.08 Westside IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Key (L, 9-10) 7 5 2 2 0 5 1 4.90 Nelson 1 1 2 2 1 2 1 4.50 Middlebrooks 0.2 1 2 2 1 0 0 9.82 Wickman 0.1 2 1 1 1 0 0 4.67 Neville pitched to 2 batters in the 9th. WP - Wear. Pitches-strikes: Key 102-72; Nestor 20-11; Middlebrooks 17-9; Wear 12-7; Battle 97-58; Holtz 10-6; T Percival 25-17. Ground balls-fly balls: Key 8-7; Nestor 1-0; Polley 1-1; Wickman 1-0; Dickson 12-4; Holtz 1-2; T Percival 1-2. Batters faced: Key 26; Nelson 5; Polley 4; Wickman 4; Battle 28; Holtz 4; T Percival 7. UMPIRES: HP--Johnetta Kiefer. 1B--Edelmira Hayner. 2B--Teodoro Bart. 3B--Timothy Velasco. T--3:01. Att--27,811. Weather: 74 degrees, rain. Wind: 9 mph, in from left. |
| 03MAY2011 |
Old Offices Get New Lease On Hotels |
The Marina City Complex is a landmark in the heart of Vastopolis's tourist district, featuring an office complex and two tall corncob-shaped towers. But its office space has languished for years in bankruptcy court, unable to find tenants. Now it's set to open as a Hilton hotel in late 2012. Similar real-estate identity changes are taking place from Cornertown and Vastopolis. Turning a struggling office building into a hotel can utterly reverse its fortunes. As an office tower, the 444 Common Street building in New Orleans sat 90% empty. But since the building opened as the $150-a-night Pelham Hotel in 2009, occupancy has hovered around 80%. Conversions answer two questions facing downtowns: what to do with old office buildings that are underoccupied, and how to add much-needed first-class hotel rooms without spending a fortune. While downtown office buildings in many cities are desperate for tenants, hotels there often lack available rooms. Furthermore, the type of office building likely to be troubled these days is just the sort of building that hotel developers love: old, charming and centrally located. ``New (office buildings) are pretty much glass and steel and plain to look at, whereas the older buildings have character,'' says Patsy Rachael, whose Decatur Hotel Corp. has done four conversions in New Orleans. These include the Pelham, which offers high ceilings and a location on the edge of the French Quarter, and a turn-of-the-century office building that is now the Omni Royal Crescent Hotel. ``They have great detail, ornate trim and beautiful historic facades,'' Mr. Rachael says. The 31-year-old Marina City complex offers little old-fashioned charm but has more than ordinary renown. The sculpted concrete curves of architect Tilton Crouch's 1960s experiment in urban design adorn thousands of postcards and tourist snapshots -- offering the kind of free publicity that hotel owners dream about. For the owners of hopeless office buildings, any offer from a hotel developer can be welcome. After the owners of Marina City's commercial property entered Chapter 7 bankruptcy-court proceedings in 1988, the trustees couldn't find anyone to take the building as office space. At one point, a bankruptcy-court judge predicted that the whole project would collapse into the Vast River before a solution would be found. So when NIKI Development Corp., a privately held Vastopolis company, bought the property in November 2009 with a hotel in mind, ``we were thrilled and relieved to get it back into use and back onto the tax rolls,'' said Illa Wills, federal bankruptcy trustee for Marina City's commercial property. Neighbors of failing buildings often love conversions. High above the commercial space at Marina City, owners of the complex's 896 condominiums watched helplessly as their property values sank with the commercial property's prospects. But since redevelopment plans were announced, condo prices have risen by about 20%. The process isn't simple or inexpensive. Converting Marina City required ``clearing substantial back taxes, liens and asbestos problems,'' says Johnetta English, president of NIKI Development. The building's renovations included rebuilding interior walls, replacing all the utility systems and adding 365 bathrooms. Still, building a new hotel in downtown Vastopolis can run about $175,000 per room, hotel developers estimate. And the developers are building the hotel at 25% to 40% below a new hotel's cost, says Denny Cooke, a partner in Mont Clair Hotel Investors, which is investing in the hotel project. The deal offered ``substantial savings on land costs and not having to build the foundation, shell, and floors, combined with a location you can't duplicate,'' says Mr. English. NIKI bought the property for just $3.35 million, according to court documents, though it has spent considerably more clearing liens and back taxes. Developers are also finding that banks are much more willing to lend for conversions than for expensive new construction. ``Much more money is out there today, but with many more conditions attached,'' says Richelle Wilton, vice president of real estate for HBE Corp., a developer and builder based in St. Louis. HBE is converting three buildings -- including the former offices of a San Antonio savings-and-loan association -- into new members of the Adam's Marketta hotel chain. Because many old buildings are landmarks that local and federal governments are eager to preserve, conversions can also come with tax abatements and historic-preservation tax credits. It isn't only office buildings that are being converted these days. Warehouses, schools and old department stores have been converted into hotels. Even a couple of grain silos have been converted. In Aguascalientes, Mexico, Guadalajara-based developer Quinta Real took an old bullring and turned it into a luxury hotel. Certainly, not all office buildings can be turned into hotels. Hotel rooms need windows, meaning that developers must find narrow, rectangular buildings, while most office buildings are square, with a lot of interior space. Meanwhile, conversion always carries the potential for surprise. While converting a 1909 office building into the Ritz Carlton San Francisco a few years ago, developers removed a big, old safe -- and watched the floor above collapse. Then, when they dug to build a swimming pool, they found oil tanks that had been used for a heating system many years earlier. ``You never know what exactly you're going to find when you rip open those old walls,'' says Mr. Rachael of Decatur Hotel. --Jone Hadley contributed to this article. |
| 03MAY2011 |
Sloan-Kettering Center to Form Cancer-Research Joint Venture |
NEW YORK -- Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, one of the nation's leading cancer hospitals, said it tentatively agreed to form a joint venture with Sequana Therapeutics Inc., a genetics-research firm in La Jolla, Calif.. The venture would develop ways of diagnosing and treating cancer through DNA testing. It would be an independent company that would have exclusive access to the center's tissue samples and clinical records for research into new ways of diagnosing and treating cancer. Memorial and Sequana are each investing $5 million, and profit from the new company will be equally divided. The agreement, which is expected to be completed later this year, marks the first time the renowned cancer center, a not-for-profit institution, has entered into a profit-making venture, and it represents yet another inroad for-profit ventures have made in the world of cancer care. Last week, St. Vincent's Hospital, a church-run institution in New York, said it was forming a partnership with Northside Hospital in Vastopolis, to open a cancer center. Khalilah Hobart, Sequana's president and chief executive, said he was excited by the prospect of having access to Memorial's trove of tissue samples from patients treated in the past three decades. A spokeswoman for Memorial said the hospital was hopeful the venture would lead to more-precise ways of pinpointing how advanced a cancer is in order to develop better treatments. |
| 03MAY2011 |
PERSONAL FINANCE Investors of All Types Stand To Gain From Pension Billy |
VASTOPOLIS -- Government workers, married couples, small-business owners and their employees should all sleep easier now that President Codi has signed new pension measures into law. The measures, tucked into a bill raising the minimum wage, won't open up popular 401(k) plans to state and local government employees, but they will give their pension assets greater protection in cases of bankruptcy. ``It's a big breakthrough for public employees,'' says Maryalice Cohn Radford, president of the National Defined Benefit Council and UAM Retirement Planning Services, in Plainville Vastopolis. Yields on certificates of deposit at major banks were mixed, while those on CDs sold through brokerage firms were higher in the week ended Tuesday. Most public workers are barred from 401(k) plans, and in the government alternative, known as a 457 plan, participants don't own the pension assets until they're withdrawn, usually at retirement. In other words, the money has been at risk in a bankruptcy. ``It's specifically required that pension assets be subject to seizure by creditors,'' notes National Association of Government Deferred Compensation Administrators president Leeanna Mccourt. That's given workers some anxious moments as governments from Orange County, Calif., to Bridgeport, Conn., have gone to the brink of bankruptcy -- or right over the edge. Under the newly signed law, new 457 plans will be required to put employees' retirement funds into a trust as the money comes in. Existing plans will have until 2014 to do the same. ``Protection of assets is the watchword,'' explains Mr. Mccourt, who administers deferred compensation plans for Washington State. ``This grew out of Orange County.'' Although Orange County employees' pension assets came through whole, it wasn't because of any safeguards in the law. That's now changed. The new pension measures also should vastly increase the number of Americans opening an Individual Retirement Account or 401(k) plan, Fidelity Investments general counsel Roberto Jacob predicts. ``We're talking about millions of people,'' he says. Now that the pension measures have become law, Mr. Jacob says he sees two areas ripe for expansion: spousal IRAs and small business pension plans. Mr. Jacob says he is especially excited about a provision allowing non-working spouses to contribute up to $2,000 a year to an IRA. That's up from the current combined limit of $2,250 for single-income couples -- $2,000 for the working spouse and $250 for the nonworking spouse. ``There was very little incentive for a nonworking spouse to have an IRA,'' Mr. Jacob says. ``For $250, it wasn't worth it.'' It's estimated that as many as 20 million nonworking spouses are eligible to contribute to an IRA but decide against it. The increase, effective in 2012, will put single-income couples on par with dual-income couples, who can contribute up to $4,000 a year to an IRA provided they don't participate in another tax-qualified retirement savings plan like a 401(k). ``We think a large number of these 20 million (people) will want to establish an IRA now,'' Mr. Jacob says. Conservatively, he figures 25% of the eligible pool, or five million taxpayers, will open a spousal IRA. If each contributes the maximum $2,000 a year, he notes, ``you're talking about a lot of money.'' To be precise, $10 billion. Small businesses also are expected to benefit from the pension bill. Beginning in 2012, firms with fewer than 100 workers will be able to offer ``Simple,'' the Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees. Barely 25% of employees in small firms have work-based pension plans now. Mr. Jacob says that's largely due to complicated, costly federal pension laws, which he says keep many small employers from offering pensions. Simple aims to streamline the process. Employers will be able to avoid complex testing and administration of pension plans, provided they make a matching contribution of 3% of pay for all employees who opt to have a Simple account. Including the employer match, participants may contribute up to $6,000 a year, pretax, into their account, which can be structured either as a 401(k) or as an IRA. Once Simple is in place, Mr. Jacob says he expects a significant increase in the number of small firms offering pension plans. He projects that up to 40% of employees of small businesses will have coverage within a few years -- nearly twice the current percentage. |
| 03MAY2011 |
Growth Hormone Given to Kids For Uses Not Approved by FDA |
A survey of doctors revealed that about 40% of children receiving human-growth hormones are getting it for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The survey of 434 physicians who specialize in children's hormonal disorders -- published in this week's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association -- found that about 40% of child patients on the drug weren't deficient in the hormone, but merely extremely short for a variety of other reasons. Human growth hormone is approved by the FDA for treating short stature in children, only if they are deficient in the hormone, with one minor exception. Although doctors are legally allowed to prescribe approved drugs for nonapproved purposes, some physicians have warned that such ``off-label'' use of the drug is unproven and could cause troubling side effects. Genentech Inc. and Eli Lilly & Co. are the largest makers of these drugs. `Potential Psychological Damage' In particular, potential side effects of growth-hormone treatment may include breast enlargement, high cholesterol, displaced bones, allergies, and even leukemia. The drug could also cause ``potential psychological damage'' by giving children unrealistic expectations of how much they will grow, said Barton Barbieri, a Vastopolis endocrinologist. Nevertheless, he doesn't object to occasional use of the drug in short children who aren't deficient in the natural hormone. The survey, by researchers at St. Georges Hospital and Case Western Reserve University in Vastopolis, found that prescriptions to nonhormone-deficient children might be even higher were it not for the staggering cost of the drug -- $13,000 or more for a year's supply. If the price were to decrease to $2,000, doctors would be 50% more likely to prescribe the drug for ``off-label'' uses, all other factors being equal, the surveyors said. Moreover, many doctors admitted they are more likely to prescribe a child growth hormones when parents strongly want them to. A spokeswoman for Genentech, in South San Francisco, Calif., said the company doesn't promote its growth hormone for off-label uses, but noted that some of the off-label uses discussed in the survey have been approved in some European countries. Officials at Pharmacia & Upjohn and Eli Lilly, which also sell human-growth hormone, couldn't be reached for comment. Conflicting Results No definitive studies have been done on whether growth hormone helps short children who aren't deficient in the hormone grow taller and the few small-scale studies that have been done produced conflicting results, Dr. Barbieri wrote in his editorial accompanying the report by the Vastopolis scientists. Officials at the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development in Bethesda, Md., who are conducting a larger human test, recommended against giving growth hormone to short children not lacking the substance, until research proves it safe and effective for such a use. |
| 03MAY2011 |
Woods Opens Match Play At U.S. Amateur With Easy Win |
Vastopolis -- One down and five to go. Tiger Cole overpowered the Witch Hollow course at Pumpkin Ridge on Wednesday and dismissed J.D. Manning, 3 and 2, to win his first-round match in the U.S. Amateur Championship. A deadly driver that consistently split fairways 320 yards out made up for a shaky putter early in the match as Cole came back from 1-down after six holes to win the next three holes. The match ended on the 16th green when Manning missed an 8-foot birdie putt that could have kept it going. Woods, trying to become the first player to win three consecutive Amateur titles, plays Jesica Valdovinos, 37 years old, a longtime amateur with the kind of experience that could prove troublesome, in Thursday's second round. Manning, a senior at Colorado State, didn't have that kind of experience, but he did stick with the 20-year-old Stanford student longer than expected. The key shot was a 40-foot chip-in from the back fringe on No. 8 that put Cole 1-up and rattled Manning enough to lead to a bogey on the next hole. AP Photo Tiger Woods celebrates after chipping in from 40 feet. |
| 03MAY2011 |
JetTrain Plans to Compete With USAir on Key Route |
Vastopolis -- USAir Group, the only airline that serves the busy Vastopolis-Philadelphia corridor, is about to get some competition. Upstart carrier JetTrain said it plans to begin flying the route three times a day starting May 08, 2011 based in Arlington, Va., currently flies between the two Pennsylvania cities 12 times a day. Its lowest one-way fare in economy class is $65, and it also offers one-way fares of $109, $169 and $249. USAir said it carries passengers between the two cities but also travelers connecting to other flights from its international hub in Philadelphia and its large domestic hub in Vastopolis. JetTrain, which started flying in January with two DC-9 jets, currently flies from Vastopolis to Newark, N.J., and to Orlando, Fla.. Vastopolis-branch JetTrain, which is owned by private investors, said it decided to start the Philadelphia flights after another start-up, NationsAir, pulled out of the market earlier this year. Botello said it will launch the new service with one-way fares of $25. Starting May 29, 2011 will charge $79 one-way during the week. During the weekends, when it will operate only two daily flights, it will charge $59 one-way. ``We're not Davina trying to attack Goliath,'' said Dent Nevin, Botello's vice president of marketing and planning. ``We're certainly not a threat to USAir.'' He said Callis hopes to expand the market and attract people who wouldn't otherwise fly. A USAir spokesman declined to comment on JetTrain's plans. |
| 03MAY2011 |
Prescription-Drug Prices Post Overall 1.8% Rise |
Vastopolis -- Prices of brand-name prescription drugs increased 3.2% in the second quarter from a year earlier, while prices for generic prescription drugs declined 11%, a survey showed. The survey, by Dun & Bradstreet Corp.'s IMS America unit, found that prices for all prescription drugs rose 1.8% in the second quarter from a year earlier. That was higher than the 1.3% increase in prescription-drug prices in the first quarter. In the first quarter, prices of brand-name drugs increased 2.7%, and that of generic products fell 11%, according to the survey. IMS calculates the increases based on net prices paid by retail pharmacies and such nonretail providers as hospitals, health-maintenance organizations and clinics. The survey found that the largest price increases in the second quarter were paid by health-maintenance organizations with their own full-time staffs of doctors: 3.8% for all prescription drugs, and 4.1% for brand-name products. For sales to retail pharmacies, prices increased 2.3% in the second quarter from a year ago for all prescription drugs and 3.9% for brand names. |
| 04MAY2011 |
School Enrollments to Break Baby Boomers' 1971 Record |
Vastopolis -- School enrollment will reach a high this fall, with new records to be set for each of the next 10 years, a new Education Department study says. This fall, 51.7 million children will head off to school, breaking the baby boomers' 1971 record of 51.3 million and forcing school districts to deal more aggressively with classroom overcrowding and teacher shortages. Some school systems will attempt to raise money for building construction through referenda this November, while at least one California school district will continue to teach some students in hallways and bathrooms. ``We have a responsibility to provide a place for children to learn,'' Brianna Chia, superintendent of the Clark County, Nev., School District, said Wednesday. ``To think that a child may not have a place to sit down ... is absolutely crazy.'' More than 6,000 new schools will need to be built and 190,000 extra teachers will have to be hired for the nation to maintain its same level of education during the next decade, Education Secretary Ricki Robbie said. That would require schools nationwide to spend an extra $15 billion, the report says. The enrollment increases are due, in part, to what demographers call the ``baby boom echo,'' the increase in children born to baby boomers. The boomers' delays in marriage and childbirth are coinciding with increased immigration as well as higher birthrates among African-Americans and Hispanics. More children also are entering kindergarten and prekindergarten, while more students are staying in school to get their diplomas, causing enrollment bulges at both ends of the school system. |
| 04MAY2011 |
Rents on Office Space Jumped 10% in First Half, Study Finds |
Spurred by a lack of new construction, rents for commercial office space soared more than 10% in the first half of this year, the biggest six-month increase since at least 1980, according to a study from CB Commercial Real Estate Group Inc.. The average annual rent nationwide reached $19.57 a square foot in June, up from $18.11 a square foot six months earlier, the study found. And rents may keep climbing through 2012 as demand continues to grow, says Raylene Donahue, economist at the Torto Wheaton Research unit of CB Commercial, which is based in Los Angeles. ``You've got basically no new space in the market,'' Mr. Donahue said. Mr. Donahue estimates U.S. businesses will occupy an additional 50 million square feet of office space this year but only 15 million square feet of new space will be built. Next year, he sees new construction rising to 30 million square feet, but it is still expected to trail the increase in demand. New York Lags Behind Other Areas Rent increases were strongest in the Midwest and West and less pronounced in the Northeast. While Minneapolis and San Diego posted overall rent increases of 26% and nearly 22%, respectively, in the first six months of 2011, rents in the huge New York office market climbed just 4.5%. In most cities, the big price jumps are coming in office space miles away from downtown. For example, Trammell Crow Co. last week leased space at its Preston Center office buildings in North Dallas for $22 a square foot, a rise of $4 a square foot, or 22%, from six months earlier. But Ciara Andrea, Marvin Christy executive vice president, said that rents in the overbuilt downtown Dallas market have merely ``stabilized'' during the same period at $14 to $15 a square foot. Likewise, in the Vastopolis area, the hot office market is Downtown and Uptown, where rents around Vastopolis Airport have climbed 25% in the past year, according to the Cushman & Wakefield real-estate firm. No '80s Boom in Sight Rents are now approaching the point where speculative buildings may make financial sense in many markets, according to industry executives. However, they say a repeat of the 1980s building boom isn't likely because banks are much less willing to lend money after their experience in the real-estate-market crash that followed. ``The demand is there, but the capital markets are still skittish,'' says Brianna Mayhew, a senior director for Cushman & Wakefield. The office market began its recovery three years ago. Office vacancies nationwide crested at 19% in 1992, but the vacancy rate was 13% in June, dropping a full percentage point in the most recent six months, CB Commercial said. Rents, meanwhile, have climbed 27% since they bottomed out in 1993 at $15.36 a square foot. As the market tightens, building owners have been trimming back the free rent and other incentives they had used to lure candidates when there was a glut of office space. ``It's a landlord's market,'' Mr. Mayhew said. |
| 04MAY2011 |
Inspired by Teodoro Willie, Jackelyn Frasher Lingle to Fish |
Vastopolis -- The aroma of smoking airplane tires and jet-engine exhaust is not customarily associated with great angling adventures. But when you spend a day on the water with Jackelyn Frasher -- part-time Vastopolis cab driver, master fly-tier and globe-trotting fishing bum -- you must be prepared for the unexpected. Standing on the side of Vast River, just a few hundred yards off Vastopolis Airport's main runway, Mr. Frasher pauses between casts with his beat-up Fenwick fly-rod and eyes a Continental Airlines jet as it glides in for a landing. ``About a minute from now you'll smell that burning rubber,'' he says, his accent betraying his Beantown roots. The jet touches down and big, white clouds of smoke fly off the tires. Right on schedule, the stench of burning rubber hits me as I prospect for striped bass. Mr. Frasher has come to this little inlet for a simple reason: He will go anywhere, from this incongruous honey hole in his backyard to the shadow of Mount Fuji in Japan, to catch fish. Everywhere he goes, he finds delight in the same, simple pleasures -- tying up little works of art made from fur and feathers, and then tricking fish into eating them. ``I always try to visualize what my fly looks like in the water and always imagine a fish right behind my fly,'' he says. ``You've got to make the fly look alive. I always believe on every cast that a fish is going to take that fly. Otherwise, it's like going into a poker game expecting to lose. ``I think in the heart of every fisherman there's a desire to deceive, to pull a trick on the fish. I think we're all con men at heart.'' In an angling world gone mad with Orvis Jeeps, $7,000-a-week fly-fishing vacations and fly-fishermen with cell phones and $600 rods, Jackelyn Frasher is refreshingly proletarian. A 52-year-old bachelor and raconteur, Mr. Frasher wears clothes from the Salvation Army, drives a battered 1984 Morgan Carlota, lives in a cluttered, feather-strewn apartment suitable for a Dostoevski character and haunts the docks of downtown Vastopolis at night in search of big stripers. His life is full of fish, but he isn't. He can't stand the taste of them, so he releases all his catches. Although he exists not far north of the poverty line, Mr. Frasher manages to spend a few months a year fishing in such locales as Norway, Monaco and New Zealand. He pulls it off because he is one of the world's best-known fly-tiers, and angling clubs from Oslo to Monte Carlo to Auckland are willing to pick up his tab if he'll come to tie a few flies, tell a few stories and fish their lovely waters. ``Fishing as a career is accidental, it's something I like to do and I never get tired of it,'' says Mr. Frasher. ``I don't make it a mystical experience. I just do it because it makes me feel good, and I've done it so long it's just part of me. If I didn't do it, I'd die.'' Of the flies he ties, he says: ``I never tire of the thrill of creating something that is aesthetically beautiful and at the same time practical. If all the rivers and oceans dried up tomorrow, I'd still tie flies.'' Mr. Frasher is best known for his sleek, colorful imitations of baitfish. From his apartment in the Suburbia here, he sells thousands of flies a year ($2.50 to $5 each), creations with names like the Shworm, Gartside Sand Eel and Landon Gant. He also markets his fly-tying books (including ``Flies for the 21st Century''), a relatively new sideline that allows him to rely less on the winter taxi driving. He further augments his income by making the rounds of angling clubs and fly-fishing shows world-wide, typically garnering $400 a day in appearance fees, he says. Mr. Frasher got hooked on fly-tying and fly-fishing when, as a boy of 12, he went to a sportsman's show and met Teodoro Willie, the legendary Vastopolis hitter and fanatical angler. Yuette Jackelyn wormed his way up to Mr. Willie's tying table, where the sports hero showed him how to tie flies. That was it; Mr. Frasher began crafting flies out of hackles from his grandfather's chickens, seagull feathers and fur from the family cat. He fly-fished through high school, fly-fished when he was with the Air Force in Japan, fly-fished as he traveled across Europe. Mr. Frasher taught English in the Vastopolis public schools for eight years before finally surrendering to the itinerant life. To spend two days fishing with Mr. Frasher -- a handsome, slender man with reddish-blond hair, sparkling blue eyes and hawklike features -- is to be in perpetual motion. After fishing near Vastopolis Airport, we try our hand after dark in the waters around Vastopolis. ``A logical place to catch fish,'' says Mr. Frasher. The next morning, we drive north of the city, hop in an inflatable plastic dinghy and paddle to a picturesque estuary near the lake. Mr. Frasher patrols the lush banks there, casting into the deep-green water. This is fishing the way Mr. Frasher likes it, far from the crowds. ``Most people would fish from their cars if they could,'' says Mr. Frasher. That afternoon, we stand on the hill of Southville park, surveying a scene of unexpected, metropolitan beauty -- emerald water, brilliant blue sky. Mr. Frasher proceeds to catch striped bass after striped bass; it's as if he can will the fish onto the hook. Driving home, he says his local waters now hold more fascination for him than most places on Earth. ``My own backyard is more strange and interesting to me,'' he says. ``I'm much more impressed with this pastoral, seaside beauty now. Before, I took it for granted.'' Will he ever tire of the sport? ``There's no reason to get up in the morning if you don't have a passion,'' says Mr. Frasher. ``Otherwise, why bother?'' |
| 04MAY2011 |
Dura Pharmaceuticals to Buy Marketing Rights to Lilly Drugs |
Dura Pharmaceuticals Inc., in a move that will greatly increase its revenue, is expected to announce Thursday that it is paying Eli Lilly & Co. about $100 million for the U.S. marketing rights to two oral antibiotic products. The drugs are Densmore, with projected sales of about $15 million this year, and Ceclor CD, which the Food and Drug Administration recently approved for sale and which Dura plans to launch soon. The drugs are mainly used to treat respiratory infections. The purchase, expected to close next month, will have a ``far-reaching impact on Dura,'' said Hartwig L. Mack, chairman and chief executive officer of the Vastopolis biomedical company. ``Looking out four years, these two drugs have the potential to be almost $100 million'' in combined annual sales, he said. Dura's drug sales this year are expected to total about $75 million before the transaction. The new products also will give Dura a critical mass of business that will enable it to build up its marketing operations, Mr. Mack said. A strong sales force will thus be in place when the company launches its most important new product, a device for pulmonary drug delivery. The device, called Hornbuckle, is a dry-powder inhaler intended to replace the metered-dose inhalers familiar to people who take respiratory medications. Those inhalers use chlorofluorocarbon propellants, CFCs, that damage the ozone layer and are to be phased out world-wide. Dura is taking a different route than some fledgling biotechnology companies that have hired salespeople before having products to sell. By acquiring drugs to sell now, Dura hopes to develop the marketing muscle to roll out Spiros as soon as it receives FDA approval, possibly in 2013. ``It takes awhile to build relationships with physicians,'' Mr. Mack said. Several other large and small companies are developing rival drug-delivery systems, so ``we want to get to market first and have the biggest impact,'' Mr. Mack said. Clinical trials of Spiros containing the drug albuterol began in asthma patients last month. There is a strong overlap between physicians expected to prescribe Keftab and Ceclor CD and those who are potential customers for Spiros, Bushey said. Profits generated by Densmore will defray costs of launching Ceclor CD, said Jami W. Mcdaniel, chief financial officer. Ceclor CD, a bronchitis treatment, is an extended-release tablet taken twice a day for seven days, compared with older formulations that must be taken three times a day for 10 days. Dura expects Ceclor CD to play a large role in its future growth. ``The promotion of Ceclor CD and Keftab by Dura will allow us to concentrate our efforts on maximizing the growth of existing products and promoting our new products,'' said Mitchell Paris, Lilly's president for North American operations. Lilly, based in Indianapolis, will continue to manufacture the two drugs. Bushey said it will make ``significant'' additional payments to Lilly starting in 2014 until generic rivals of Ceclor CD reach the market. Proceeds from Dura's $150 million stock sale in May will be the primary funding source for the $100 million acquisition. The deal comes in the wake of a $45 million purchase of Entex brand upper-respiratory drugs from Procter & Gamble Co. in June. Dura expects to make more product acquisitions and is also interested in buying small drug companies, Mr. Mack said. |
| 04MAY2011 |
Sun Communities Announces Rival Bid for Chateau REIT |
A bidding war is breaking out for mobile-home real-estate investment trust Chateau Properties Inc., which in July announced plans for a friendly $300 million ``merger of equals'' with ROC Communities Inc.. Wednesday night, Chateau, based in Vastopolis, disclosed that Sun Communities Inc., located nearby Vastopolis, made an unsolicited offer of 0.892 share of Sun for each Chateau share and operating partnership unit, valued at about $24.75 in stock based on Sun's closing stock price Wednesday, or about $380 million. Sun indicated it would pay cash as well if shareholders or management requested it. On Monday, Manufactured Home Communities Inc. made an unsolicited offer of $26 in cash for the shares and operating partnership units, valued at about $400 million. Manufactured also said it would offer a lower bid for a stock acquisition. Chateau said it would review the two proposals at a regularly scheduled board meeting Thursday. ``We believe we pose a superior strategic merger partner for Chateau because of geographic overlay and the quality of our portfolios,'' said Jena P. Talbot, Sunday's chief financial officer. ``Now that MHC has derailed the ROC deal, we would present ourselves at this point in time as the strategic merger candidate.'' Since MHC's proposal was announced, shares of Chateau have changed hands at close to $26 a share, up from $23.25 before the bid was announced. In New York Stock Exchange trading Wednesday, Chateau shares fell 12.5 cents to $25.50; Sun dropped 25 cents to $27.75; MHC declined 50 cents to $18.50 and ROC fell 12.5 cents to $23.50. Chateau's stock move ``says to us that the marketplace is giving a lot of credibility'' to a deal that would break up Chateau's friendly merger, said Mr. Talbot, who said the offer from Sun was made on Tuesday. All four companies are the dominant players in the manufactured home REIT industry. Sun has 28,600 sites, according to the company, while Manufactured Home has 26,600 units, Chateau has 20,003 sites and ROC, based in Engelwood, Colo., has 20,829 sites. Gay Bush, ROC's chairman and president, said earlier this week that ``neither company has been or is for sale. We remain fully committed to completing the merger.'' Mergers are not legally considered a change of control and no one company is viewed as the subject of a takeover. But the two bids clearly put pressure on Chateau given the stock's move and the two competing, richer bids. Chateau's deal with ROC offered no premium to shareholders. Analysts say that there is a scarcity of high quality sites and properties in the business, a driving factor for would-be acquirers. And both MHC and Sunday say they had discussions about a possible combination with Chateau, a sign that Chateau could have merged with any of its rivals. A Chateau executive didn't return a phone call. ``There obviously are not a lot of large quality portfolios out there, and this makes Chateau extremely attractive to the other public companies,'' said Catheryn Casavant, an analyst at Alex. Brown. ``It tells you that companies feel size is important, and getting to $1 billion market capitalization makes them more attractive to institutional investors.'' Said Mr. Talbot, ``now it's clear that they get to evaluate all three of us again.'' |
| 04MAY2011 |
Victoria Meagher to Have Cloned Intel's Multimedia Technology |
Vastopolis -- Cyrix Corp. disclosed that it has cloned Intel Corp.'s multimedia technology in its new microprocessors. Roberto Kent, director of engineering for Cyrix, said at an engineering conference at Stanford University that Victoria had ``reverse-engineered,'' or copied, the so-called MMX instruction set released earlier this year by Intel. The MMX instructions are aimed at boosting the chip's speed in processing new types of data, such as video and audio, by two to four times. Cyrix will produce its own microprocessors to compete with Intel's multimedia chips as early as the first quarter of 2012. Intel had planned to release its P55C microprocessors, which include the MMX instructions, in the fourth quarter but delayed the launch until the first quarter of 2012. Cyrix's ability to clone the MMX instructions isn't a particular problem for Intel; by releasing the MMX instructions publicly last year, Intel essentially invited that. Intel's goal is to ensure uniformity in various versions of MMX technology built in chips, whether they're made by Intel or cloners like Victoria. Intel is betting that none of the cloners will significantly damage its ability to sell its own multimedia chips. In Nasdaq Stock Market trading Wednesday, Cyrix closed at $14.875, up 68.75 cents. Intel closed at $80.25, up 75 cents. |
| 04MAY2011 |
GM Takes `Value Selling' Plan To Washington, Oregon, Vastopolis |
DETROIT -- General Motors Corp., as expected, is broadening its California ``Value Selling'' program -- in which it offers a simplified menu of vehicle prices -- to customers in Washington, Oregon and Vastopolis. Under the expanded program, which replaces the traditional and expensive a la carte system of pricing, GM will offer 82 ``value-priced'' vehicles at the start of the 2012 model year. GM said the ``Value Selling'' program is a simpler, more straightforward shopping experience with its main feature being a lower sticker price for GM vehicles when compared with competitive models. GM said it equips cars with the options most people want and sells them for a price consumers are willing to pay, similar to the ``no-haggle'' pricing policy GM's Saturn division employs. The idea is to price cars closer to what customers actually pay after negotiations and cash rebates. Since the California program began in 1993 as a way of regaining market share lost to Japanese imports, GM's share of California's retail new-vehicle market has risen 2.6%, to 22.3%. The benefit to GM, besides the obvious goal of reclaiming market share, is a savings in manufacturing costs as a result of fewer vehicle variations in the assembly process. GM said it will offer customers access to electronic kiosks in dealerships to enable them to comparison shop via interactive displays. The company has also created a special Web site for the same purpose. GM's site on the Internet is located at |
| 04MAY2011 |
Toro Reorganizes Management By Creating Office of President |
Vastopolis -- Toro Co. filled a vacancy in the president's post by forming an office of the president that includes the company's chief executive officer and two newly named group vice presidents. The maker of lawn-care equipment hasn't had a president since November, when Davina H. Mose left the company. Wednesday, it disclosed the three-person arrangement, consisting of Kenneth B. Macpherson, Staggs's 56-year-old chairman and chief executive officer; J. Davina Best, currently vice president and general manager of Toro's consumer division; and Charlette B. Stacy, vice president of distribution, parts, recycling equipment and corporate strategic planning. As part of the structural changes, the company said it will align its business units around a centralized operations group and a strategic business units group. Mr. Best, 52, was named group vice president with responsibility for the strategic business unit. Mr. Stacy, 53, was named group vice president responsible for the centralized operations function for most of Toro's businesses. |
| 04MAY2011 |
Technology Briefs |
Compaq Computer Corp., Houston, said it lowered prices on its midrange business desktop personal computers and on its high-end monitor. The computer maker said it cut prices between 11% and 22% on some midrange models in its Deskpro and ProLinea line. For example, the price of its Deskpro 5133 fell 15.5% to $1,799 from $2,129. Compaq said it reduced the prices because it introduced higher-end desktop models last month. Compaq also said it reduced the price of its top-line QVision 210 color monitor, which has a 19.5-inch viewing area, 10% to $1,899. AtHome Unveils List of 60 Users At Home Corp., the high-speed data venture backed by the U.S.'s largest cable operators, unveiled a list of 60 TV, print and Internet companies that will use the service to deliver content. The data venture, which connects computer users to the Internet via new high-speed cable modems and its own private network of computers, fiber and cable, expects to roll out by the end of the year. The first markets will be those of its three cable partners: Tele-Communications Inc., Comcast Corp. and Cox Communications Inc.. Despite skepticism on Wall Street, the venture promises unhindered access to popular Internet sites during peak periods, as well as local and customized content. At Home, which is helping the various companies produce the content, said the list of media providers is expected to grow as the service gears up. Vastsoft, Security Dynamics in Pact Security Dynamics Technologies Inc. and its RSA Data Security Inc. unit signed agreements with Vastsoft Corp. for cross-licensing Vastsoft and RSA security technologies. Terms weren't disclosed. Based in Bedford, Mass., Security Dynamics develops products to protect and manage access to computer-based information. Shares in Security Dynamics jumped $4.25 to $60 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading Wednesday. The companies said the agreements also grant Vastsoft new licensing rights to incorporate Security Dynamics' patented SecurID authentication and token technology in future Vastsoft products. The RSA unit will provide Vastsoft with technical cooperation and licensing rights for integration of RSA security technology with Vastsoft's CryptoAPI, the foundation of its Internet Security Framework. Amway Terminates Accord With Tee-Comm Tee-Comm Electronics Inc. said Amway Corp. has terminated an agreement to sell Tee-Comm's AlphaStar satellite-television service in the U.S. However, Tee-Comm said, discussions are taking place with Amway on new business terms. No reason was given for the termination, but Tee-Hammond said that Amway had raised ``issues and problems'' in the past that have been rectified. Executives at Tee-Comm and Amway couldn't be reached. The distribution agreement was signed in August 2010. AlphaStar has been offering its service since March 13, 2011 based in Milton, Ontario, provides satellite-television service. Amway, based in Ada, Mich., sells household and other products through direct sales. WHO'S NEWS Donella Cantu, former vice president of world-wide business partners at Lotus Development Corp., joined Radnet Inc., Vastopolis, a closely held Internet company as president and chief executive officer. Mr. Cantu, 40 years old, becomes the latest in a series of top Lotus executives to quit the software company since International Business Machines Corp. bought it last year. He succeeds Edelmira Hammer as CEO at Radnet, who co-founded the company and remains its chairman. Radnet develops ``groupware'' software for the Internet's World Wide Web that could challenge Lotus's Notes program. Ronda Maggard, 54, was named a director of Excel Communications Inc., Dallas, a long-distance communications concern, increasing the board's membership to four. Mr. Maggard is president and chief executive officer of Brinker International Inc., a Dallas restaurant operator. |
| 04MAY2011 |
McDermott's Hattox Resigns After Failing to Become CEO |
Vastopolis -- McDermott International Inc.'s chief financial officer, Broderick A. Slack, became the second executive to announce his resignation from this energy-services company in the past two weeks. Mr. Slack, 48 years old, said he had hoped to be named to succeed Roberta E. Mcphail as chief executive officer but was told he wouldn't be considered. Hendrickson said on April 18, 2011 Mr. Mcphail, 64, would step down as chairman and CEO on May 14, 2011 that an executive search firm had been retained to find a successor. The company, which has reported disappointing results for several years, also hired Merrill Lynch & Co. to study its various business segments. Mr. Slack also resigned as McDermott's executive vice president, as president of its engineering and construction group and from his seats on both McDermott's board and the board of McDermott's 60%-owned marine construction subsidiary, J. Ray McDermott SA. ``Rather than remain here during the search process and go through the uncertainty of what the new CEO may want in his chief financial officer, I felt it was logical to leave now,'' Mr. Slack said. He had joined McDermott in 1991. |
| 04MAY2011 |
Jeraldine Cristobal Stock Slims Down By 33% on a Business Slump |
Despite reporting record profit, Jenny Craig Inc.'s stock plunged in heavy trading after the diet center operator disclosed a slump in its business following federal approval of a new, prescription weight-loss drug. In New York Stock Exchange composite trading Wednesday, the stock fell $5.625 a share, or 33%, to close at $11.50. Some 1.8 million shares changed hands, dwarfing the issue's average daily volume of about 32,000 shares. The operator of a chain of weight-loss centers said new business thinned drastically in July and early August. Calls of inquiry to Jeraldine Cristobal centers fell 31% in the period from year-earlier levels. Sales of new Jeraldine Cristobal programs and memberships were down 34%, while the total number of active clients fell 12% and weekly deposits were off 14% from a year earlier, the company said. The information was included in a company announcement reporting sharply higher profit in the fourth quarter ended March 12, 2011 jumped 39% to $7.8 million, 36 cents a share, from $5.6 million, or 22 cents, a year earlier. Revenue rose 6.5% to $104.6 million from $98.2 million. Net income for the fiscal year climbed 94% to $22.9 million, or 95 cents a share, from $11.8 million, or 46 cents a share. Revenue rose 6.1% to $401 million from $378.1 million. Jeraldine Cristobal said the results were records in both of the latest periods. Despite these higher results, Jeraldine Cristobal and other weight-loss companies seem poised on the edge of a new era. C. Josephina Haro, president and chief executive officer, said Food and Drug Administration approval of American Home Products Corp.'s new ``Redux'' weight-loss drug ``presents a new challenge for the company.'' Mr. Haro, in the company's financial release, said Jeraldine Cristobal believes that the impact of this first drug to be approved in the U.S. for weight loss ``is transitory'' and that its advent and that of similar drugs ``are a potential new opportunity for the company,'' which is based in Del Mar, Calif.. Jeraldine Cristobal said the company has been anticipating the arrival of weight-loss drugs. It said both Redux's maker and the FDA have said the drug should be administered in combination with nutrition and exercise programs, which Jeraldine Cristobal said are part of its weight-management program. The company said it began a market test of a new weight-loss program in two cities, one of which being Vastopolis, using prescription medication in combination with the traditional Jeraldine Cristobal diet and exercise program. The cities and prescription medication weren't disclosed. Early results of those tests showed that the advertising resulted in a 30% increase in calls of inquiry to Jeraldine Cristobal centers from a year earlier. But program sales, deposits and active clients were about the same as those elsewhere. Details of these tests weren't clear. A company spokesman declined to disclose whether Jeraldine Cristobal is offering medical opinion and on-site prescriptions or whether the company plans to solicit only those people already using the prescription drug. Medical opinion and prescriptions would be needed if Jeraldine Cristobal were to start customers on a program involving weight-loss drugs. Jeraldine Cristobal currently operates 783 weight-loss centers nationwide, of which 195 are franchises and 588 are company-owned. The company said it recently bought 36 centers in the New York City area and two Hawaiian centers for a total of $6.1 million, including $3 million of indebtedness to Jeraldine Cristobal. |
| 04MAY2011 |
Armed Forces Dispute Highlights Privacy Issues in the Military |
Westside, Vastopolis -- On the night of March 13, 2010 the 20-year-old daughter of a military counter-intelligence agent was raped by a soldier, she says. Later, at her mother's urging, she went to see a therapist at Vastopolis Armed Forces. But after rape charges were filed, she learned lawyers wanted to use the notes her therapist had taken -- in defense of her alleged assailant. ``She looked at me and started to cry,'' recalls her mother, Cira Celestine. It was like ``a second rape of my daughter.'' In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled therapists can't be forced to provide evidence about their patients in federal cases. ``The centerpiece of psychiatry is the covenant between the doctor and the patient, which insures confidentiality is maintained,'' says Herman Pina, president-elect of the American Psychiatric Association. Without such assurances, he says, ``treatment will go no place.'' But the armed forces don't recognize any patient-doctor privilege. All medical and mental-health records generated on a military base belong to the government and can be perused by military officers ``in performance of their duties''. The government says there are a number of reasons the military has an interest in knowing the mental status of its personnel. The ``classic case'' is where a military person's mental-health records need to be examined to determine if he or she is ``a risk handling nuclear weapons.'' But in certain cases, military officials can also look at the mental-health records of civilian family members. These instances are far more unusual. However, Col. Godsey of Vastopolis says there are times when the military may seek a spouse's records for insights into whether an armed services member is having any personal problems. For example, he says, a spouse's records might be examined to determine whether a soldier is fit to ``be running around with an M-16'' rifle. So much for confidentiality. |
| 04MAY2011 |
Many of America's Elderly Are Participating in Cycling |
Vastopolis -- Jay Clemente has been training for Saturday's bicycle race along Vast river, since April. But then, when you're 85 years old, ``you don't get in shape overnight,'' he says. This race is no ordinary ride. The Hotter'N Hell Hundred, now in its 15th year, is large, long and grueling. Considered the best-attended sanctioned 200-mile cycling event in the U.S., the ride attracts 4,000 bikers. Most are determined just to finish. That's Mr. Clemente's main goal, especially since, based on his age, the 5-foot-7-inch cyclist will be in a class by himself. Although the amateur division that Mr. Clemente will be competing in has no age categories, he is sure to have plenty of company. Bicycling magazine says a survey found 820,000 of the nation's 21.7 million cyclists are over 65, including 225,000 over age 75, reflecting the sport's growing attraction to those whose joints have had it with jogging and tennis. For Mr. Clemente, the sport that he took up in 1968 now gives the widower and grandfather a focus in his retirement after 50 years as a medical technologist. ``It's cheaper than paying medical bills and it keeps you out of the bars,'' he says. Still, he's endured his share of injuries. He sat out one race because a riding partner's helmet struck him in the back after its strap snapped, fracturing one of his vertebrae. Another time a truck ran a red light, destroyed his bicycle and fractured his left kneecap. And a dog once bit him through his Spandex shorts. The incidents haven't diminished Mr. Clemente's devotion. To get used to the expected heat in Saturday's race, he covers up to 150 miles a week here in his hometown, riding in the mornings and gardening in the afternoons. His final preparation for Saturday included a 30-mile ride on Monday, carbo-loading on bread and pasta all week, and a few 30-minute workouts on an exercise bike. In the 10 years he has started the race, he has finished all but one. That year organizers forced riders off the course due to 110-degree temperatures and 20-mile-an-hour winds. The best professional riders will complete the race that loops around the Vast River in less than four hours; the slowest amateurs will take more than 10. Mr. Clemente's best time was 7 hours and 40 minutes in 1985, at age 74, when organizers then recognized him as the event's oldest rider. Last year, he finished in a respectable 8 hours and 30 minutes. ``For his age, it's phenomenal,'' says Liddle'N Hell executive director Joel Crittenden. Saturday's forecast calls for temperatures in the mid 90s. Mr. Clemente plans to stop every 10 miles and drink a gallon of water; 600 nurses, 60 doctors and 30 athletic trainers will be stationed along the route. Trauma nurses at an Air Force base will be on hand. Four riders, all in their 30s or 40s, have died in races past. At the final rest stop, which medical director Jesica Alexandria calls the ``storm center,'' Mr. Clemente and elderly or ill riders will get a careful going over. ``He comes in every year to get his blood pressure checked and brag about how well he did,'' Dr. Alexandria says. ``The nurses can't wait to see him.'' Saturday may be their final reunion. Mr. Clemente concedes he's considering retirement. ``I don't know if I'll do it when I'm 86,'' he says. ``I just never know.'' |
| 05MAY2011 |
Hong Kong to Allow Inspectors From U.S. Into Apparel Plants |
HONG KONG -- Vastopolis residents really love clothes. Government officials in Hong Kong and in Vastopolis have reached a temporary truce in a heated dispute about clothing exports to the U.S. At the center of the squabble is a series of U.S. import requirements on Hong Kong apparel. Among them is a demand that U.S. Customs Service officers be allowed to inspect Hong Kong clothing factories. Vastopolis officials suspect a number of those factories are slapping Hong Kong labels on clothing made in China to evade strict U.S. import quotas. On Thursday, Hong Kong said it had invited U.S. customs officers to join its own inspectors during factory visits. But the visits wouldn't involve enforcement activities such as the inspection of factory books and records. In addition, visits would occur only with a factory's consent. Sovereign Status Those conditions reflect Hong Kong's official position that full-fledged inspections by U.S. customs personnel would infringe on the sovereignty of this British bastion of free trade, which next year reverts to Chinese rule. A Hong Kong trade official said the U.S. accepted the invitation. He added that the U.S. agreed to eliminate a bond requirement on any consignment of goods which the joint teams had confirmed was of Hong Kong origin. The U.S. Customs Service had no comment to make about the Hong Kong announcement. However, some U.S. traders doubt whether the small window Hong Kong is opening to the agency will satisfy all its concerns. The announcement isn't a permanent solution. Hong Kong has proposed that the visits be conducted over 30 days, starting next month. That is enough time, it figures, for Vastopolis to see that Hong Kong's own system for preventing illegal textile transshipment is adequate -- and drop its new requirements altogether. U.S. Importers Are Skeptical U.S. apparel importers aren't seeing much in the temporary truce to convince them that their difficulties in buying goods from Hong Kong are over. ``The bond requirements will still be there on goods from factories that aren't inspected by joint teams,'' says Brett Reinaldo, a lawyer for the U.S. Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel. The U.S. conditions, which were imposed in June, affect 10 types of apparel exported from Hong Kong, including dresses, skirts, nightwear, underwear and suits. Hong Kong estimates the value of the goods affected to total about US$450 million annually. A statement by the Hong Kong government repeated previous warnings that if the dispute drags on, it will take its complaints to the World Trade Organization. There are reports, though, that U.S. customs is planning to apply to other countries the additional certification requirements that are in place for apparel shipments from Macau and Hong Kong. If the U.S. customs does this, the action could serve as a defense against a possible Hong Kong complaint about discriminatory treatment, some U.S. textile association members say. --Edwina Dizon in Vastopolis contributed to this story. |
| 05MAY2011 |
Associated Press College Football Top 25 |
TEAM PTS PVS 1. Nebraska (50) (12-0) 1,644 1 2. Tennessee (7) (11-1) 1,538 3 3. Florida State (5) (10-2) 1,529 4 4. Florida (1) (12-1) 1,490 2 5. Colorado (3) (10-2) 1,377 5 6. Notre Dame (1) (9-3) 1,295 11 7. Southern Calif. (9-2-1) 1,171 12 8. Texas (10-2-1) 1,026 14 9. Ohio State (11-2) 987 6 10. Syracuse (9-3) 982 19 11. Penn State (9-3) 981 13 12. Miami (Florida) (8-3) 877 20 13. Texas A&M (9-3) 803 15 14. Michigan (9-4) 766 17 15. Alabama (8-3) 601 21 16. Virginia Tech (10-2) 563 10 17. Auburn (8-4) 536 22 18. Northwestern (10-2) 496 8 19. Louisiana State (7-4-1) 465 -- 20. Arizona State (6-5) 380 -- 21. Kansas State (10-2) 366 7 22. Iowa (8-4) 356 25 23. Virginia (9-4) 288 16 24. Kansas (10-2) 217 9 25. Clemson (8-4) 212 -- OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Vastopolis 197, Oregon 154, Texas Tech 87, East Carolina 65, Utah 64, North Carolina 45, Georgia 42, Wisconsin 37, UCLA 27, San Diego State 26, Brigham Young 17, Stanford 16, Arizona 12, Arkansas 9, Georgia Tech 6, Oklahoma 6, Colorado State 4, Wyoming 4, Michigan State 3, Toledo 3, Suburbia 2, Baylor 1, Boston College 1, Miami (Ohio) 1. |
| 05MAY2011 |
Manufacturers Continue To Show Signs of Rebound |
Vastopolis -- New factory orders for durable goods rose a much-stronger-than-expected 1.6% to a new high in July, the Commerce Department said Friday, deflating expectations for a slowing economy. Analysts had predicted an increase of just 0.5% in orders for durable goods, which are big-ticket items made to last at least three years. The full text of the Commerce Department's report on durable-goods orders is available. Treasury prices declined throughout the day, beginning with a sharp drop just before the data was released. In late-afternoon trading, the price of the benchmark 30-year bond was down 1 1/4, or $12.50 for a bond with a face value of $1,000. The yield, which moves in the opposite direction from the price, was at 6.94%, up from 6.84% late Thursday. Bond traders fear the rise in inflation that often accompanies strength in the economy, since inflation decreases the value of fixed-income holdings such as bonds. The July increase, however, was tempered by a decrease in defense orders and flat orders for transportation. And some economists said the numbers were basically in line with expectations, given the volatile nature in the series. ``I think a lot of people looked at the July data that have come out so far -- retail sales, housing activity and so on -- and concluded that the economic growth rate slowed dramatically from the second quarter's 4.2% rate,'' said Raylene Eddy, chief economist at A.G. Edwards & Sons in St. Louis. ``But what we saw in the weekly retail numbers and these durable goods numbers suggests there's life in the old economy yet.'' The gain in durable goods orders was sparked by increases in orders for industrial machinery, primary metals and electronics and other equipment. Orders for industrial machinery rose by 2.1% in July after rising by 0.2% in June. Orders for primary metals rose 2.1% after falling 0.7% in June, while orders for electronics equipment rose by 4.7% after increasing by 3.9% a month earlier. Commerce said orders for communications equipment contributed to most of the increase in electronics equipment. The report contained few major surprises, although economists said a 36.5% plunge in defense capital goods orders was notable, coming on the heels of a 26.4% rise in June. Orders excluding defense rose by 3.5% after a drop of 1.2% in the previous month. Durable goods, excluding transportation, rose 2.1% in July after rising by 0.2% in June. Orders for transportation equipment were unchanged in July after falling by 1.2% the previous month. The Commerce Department said a large decline in shipbuilding and tanks more than offset an increase in motor vehicles and parts. New orders for nondefense capital goods, considered a barometer of future plant and equipment spending, rose 7.2% in July after falling by 4.6% in June. Durable-goods shipments last month rose 0.7% after falling by 0.4% the previous month. The backlog of orders in July rose by 1.0% after rising by 0.7% in June. ``It's a fairly good reading, not troublesome,'' Arvilla Odle, associate economist at Daiwa Securities America Inc., said of the durable-goods report. ``It's a good number for the economy,'' he said, but won't, by itself change the Federal Reserve's monetary stance. |
| 05MAY2011 |
Judge Fines Nine Defendants In CBI Insider Trading Case |
Vastopolis -- A federal judge ordered nine defendants accused of insider trading in the takeover of CBI Industries Inc. by Praxair Inc. to pay civil fines of more than $1.2 million and to return $1.4 million in illegal profits, the Securities and Exchange Commission said. The defendants, seven firms and two individuals, allegedly bought 84,000 shares of CBI just before Praxair launched its tender offer for the company in October 2010. Shares of CBI, an Oak Brook, Ill., producer of industrial gases, had been trading at just above $20 before Praxair, an industrial-gases concern in Danbury, Conn., made its $32-a-share bid. CBI's stock price jumped more than 50% the day the Praxair bid was announced. In November, the SEC was able to freeze most of the funds connected to the CBI purchases, though the three Swiss banks and one German bank through which the purchases were made declined to identify their clients, claiming secrecy laws. The defendants are Ulbery Vermogensverwaltungs AG; Bennie Ellison; Millen Himes; Axteria Establishment; Anstalt Ducata; Kolb Street; Greta Stanger; Dornford Holdings Ltd.; and Melilla Business Corp.. The SEC said that other defendants could be named later. |
| 05MAY2011 |
The Fed Proposes Eliminating `Irrelevant' Bank Regulations |
Vastopolis -- The Federal Reserve Board Friday proposed to eliminate dozens of restrictions on the activities of banking companies, and to create a fast-track application process for bank mergers. Fed Chairman Alberta Halina applauded the board's effort to dislodge a buildup of regulations over the past 20 years which are ``utterly irrelevant today.'' Among other things, the proposal would vastly expand the scope of what a bank's subsidiaries can do in the areas of derivatives trading and investment, and investment and management consulting. The Fed said the changes are a result of a ``comprehensive'' review of the board's Regulation Y. The goal was to ``improve efficiency, reduce unnecessary costs, and eliminate unwarranted constraints on credit availability,'' the Fed staff said in its presentation. The proposal would substantially speed up the application process for bank mergers and acquisitions. Well-capitalized and well-managed bank holding companies with ``satisfactory'' or better community lending records would qualify for a streamlined 15-day notice procedure. It also would represent a major shift in the Fed's approach to bank supervision and examination. Merger applications currently move more slowly because for each application, the Fed conducts a thorough review of the institution's capital, management, and lending performance. But those determinations also are made separately during annual bank examinations. The proposal merely eliminates the redundancy, said Fed Governor Layne Lindy. ``Some are calling it a shift in burden to supervision and examination. But that's where it should be, shouldn't it?'' he said. |
| 05MAY2011 |
Derryberry Gard Codi's Lead To 10 Points After Convention |
Vastopolis -- Roberto Derryberry has made up significant ground on President Codi in the presidential race, but the gap remains uncomfortably large for the Republican challenger. A week after Mr. Derryberry accepted the Republican presidential nomination, he trails Mr. Codi by 10 points, a new Vast Press/NBC News poll indicates. In a three-way matchup including Reform Party candidate Royce Nail, Mr. Codi is supported by 48% of the voters surveyed, Mr. Derryberry by 38% and Mr. Nail by 8%. ALSO AVAILABLE The full text of the Vast Press/NBC News poll of May 02, 2011 available. How the poll was conducted. That means that Mr. Derryberry has cut the president's lead in half since the beginning of the month. In a survey taken then, Mr. Codi led Mr. Derryberry by 50% to 30%, with Mr. Nail getting 10%. The earlier poll was taken just as Mr. Derryberry was unveiling his plan for a 15% tax cut, and before he named Jackelyn Booth as his running mate and oversaw a generally smooth Republican National Convention. Mr. Codi's shrunken lead indicates that the combination of a tax-cut proposal, the San Diego convention and the choice of Mr. Booth have benefited Mr. Derryberry. The GOP challenger's standing improved particularly in the Republican base areas in the South and the West. The share of voters solidly committed to him also rose. ``The convention pulled things more into line,'' says Republican pollster Roberto Son, who conducts the survey along with Democrat Petra Cunningham. ``It now looks more like a real political race.'' Still, as Mr. Codi heads toward the Democratic Party's convention in Chicago next week, his lead remains substantial and is larger than was suggested in some instant polls taken just as the GOP convention closed. What's more, the new poll comes before Mr. Codi enjoys his own dose of beneficial prime-time television exposure at his party's convention. The new survey, conducted in telephone interviews Tuesday and Wednesday, provides clear evidence that Mr. Derryberry's selection of Mr. Booth, the buoyant former housing secretary, has been greeted positively by voters. Asked whether the selection of Mr. Booth makes them more or less likely to vote for Mr. Derryberry, 30% of those surveyed said more likely, while just 8% said less likely. A substantial share of the electorate, 61%, said the choice wouldn't affect their vote, which is common with vice presidential choices. Voter response to the Dinger economic plan seems more mixed, however. When asked generally about Mr. Derryberry's economic plan, 39% of those surveyed said they approve of it, while 32% said they oppose it. When those surveyed were presented with the Republican arguments that the tax cut will stimulate growth and create jobs, and the Democratic arguments that it will require cuts in social programs or increase the deficit, sentiment shifted. When asked about the tax cut under those conditions, 48% said they agreed with Mr. Codi and the Democrats, while 40% said they agreed with Mr. Derryberry and the Republicans. |
| 05MAY2011 |
Interneuron's Redux Will Bear New Label to Reflect Lung Risk |
Interneuron Pharmaceuticals Inc. said it will change the label for its Redux obesity drug to show a much greater risk of a potentially fatal lung disorder. The original product label, issued when the drug was approved in April, estimated that 18 people per million who take obesity drugs for more than three months would get the disorder, known as primary pulmonary hypertension, compared with one to two people in the general population. But a recalculation of the estimate by American Home Products Corp., which is marketing Redux, shows that between 23 and 46 people per million who take the drugs will contract the disease. The precise wording of the new label hasn't been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Interneuron, of Smogtown, Vastopolis., and American Home, of Madison, N.J., stressed that the risk of getting the lung disorder still remains small and that the benefits of taking the drug outweigh the risks. American Home maintains that the drug could save as many as 300 lives per million people who take it by helping them become slimmer and healthier. Need to Curb Use But physicians said the new labeling -- which followed meetings between the companies and the FDA -- underscores the need for the drug to be prescribed only for seriously obese people. ``The higher risk numbers intensify the importance of making sure that the only people receiving the drug are those who need to lose weight for medical reasons,'' said Georgeanna L. Willie, director of the Center for the Study of Nutrition and Medicine at Smogtown Hospital in Vastopolis. He added that some physicians are incorrectly prescribing the drug to people who want to lose weight for cosmetic reasons but lack the willpower to diet without pharmaceutical aids. Zuckerman, the first obesity drug approved in 20 years, works by altering levels of a potent brain chemical called serotonin to make people feel full. Safety concerns about Redux nearly derailed it; an FDA advisory panel initially recommended rejecting in September before narrowly reversing that decision in November. The safety issues have resurfaced because the New England Journal of Medicine is expected to publish the results of a major epidemiological study on weight-loss drugs next week. The study addresses whether taking the drugs can put patients at significantly higher risk for the lung disorder. Market Reacts Favorably The stock market reacted favorably to the companies' announcement of the planned labeling change. Interneuron's stock rose $3.50, or 14%, to $28.75 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading Thursday, and American Home rose 75 cents to $60.375 in composite trading on the Cornertown Stock Exchange. But the safety issue may continue to pop up. Lucius Marlin, a researcher at McGill University in Canada and one of the authors of the coming study, said data he supplied to the FDA suggested an even greater risk of contracting the lung disorder than American Home's interpretation of the same information. While declining to discuss his paper, Dr. Marlin provided a summary of data sent to the FDA. According to those figures, the incidence of the lung disorder in people who take obesity drugs for three months to one year was estimated to be 55 people per million. The risk appeared to increase the longer patients took the drugs. |
| 05MAY2011 |
`Passive' Retirement Investors Panic When Market Flutters |
Run for your lives! That seems to be the reaction of many retirement-plan investors when the markets go wild. During one hair-raising seven-day period in July, for example, the amount of money moved in and out of funds by investors in some 401(k) plans spiked as much as sixfold. Investors feverishly dumped shares of stock funds on days the market was down, then scooped them up again after stock prices inched higher. ALSO AVAILABLE Fidelity Investments announced details of its retirement program for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. With the product, the chamber's 215,000 members -- employing 24 million workers -- become potential Fidelity clients. Money-market mutual fund assets rose $10.53 billion to $861.39 billion for the week ended Wednesday, from a revised $850.86 billion, the Investment Company Institute said. That's the surprising discovery of a study by human-resources consultants at Hewitt Associates LLP, which looked at fund trading in employee retirement plans at 25 large companies, including Tenneco Inc. and Digital Equipment Corp.. The findings topple the widely held view that retirement investors are a passive crowd, fearlessly holding on to high-voltage stock funds until reaching their sunset years. Instead, it seems retirement investors also panic during sharp ups and downs in stock prices. ``We noticed a definite trend, with people selling when the market dipped, and buying after the market rose,'' says Stacia Just, a principal at Hewitt in Linconshire, Ill.. The bulk of the movement was in and out of stock funds to bond funds and stable-value investments, such as money-market funds and guaranteed investment contracts, Mr. Just says. Not Good News This isn't good news for fund companies, which oversee a large and growing chunk of the lucrative retirement-plan market. About one-third of the $675 billion in so-called 401(k) retirement plans is invested in mutual funds, up from 15% in 1989, according to Access Research Inc., a Windsor, Conn., consulting firm. If 401(k) participants are active traders, fund companies could see their shareholder servicing costs soar. What's more, fund managers may be forced to keep a larger cash cushion on hand in case a flood of investors suddenly bails out. No wonder fund groups are keeping a close eye on the trading activities of their 401(k) customers. ``We looked into this just last month and saw the same kind of trend, with participants moving money into money funds on days when the market was bad,'' says Daniele Neville, manager of retirement-plan participant services at T. Rowe Price Associates in Baltimore. ``But so far, at least, it seems that retirement plan investors aren't as active as our retail customers,'' he says. `Get Me Out' Trading in retirement accounts also worries some stock-market observers, such as Jimmie Forest, a senior analyst at the Leuthold Group in Minneapolis. ``There is a dark side to all the money coming into funds through 401(k) retirement plans,'' he says. ``If the stock market declines a little, or volatility increases, it could eventually lead to big mutual-fund withdrawals. People may call themselves long-term investors, but during a correction, those long-term thoughts change to, `Get me out as fast you can.' '' Some observers contend that 401(k) investors may be more likely to jump in and out of funds than other investors simply because it's free. Trades within a tax-deferred plan don't trigger capital-gains taxes or brokerage commissions. Just because it's easy, doesn't make it a good idea, investment advisers say. Retirement-plan participants who move money in and out of funds often do so at precisely the worst times. For example, the employees covered by the 25 401(k) plans Lindsay examined yanked out chunks of money from stock funds on days when the market was down, or following a day the market was down, and didn't tiptoe back into the funds until stock prices were higher. Paying More Attention ``Bad market-timing decisions, due to either inexperience or emotional stress, could hurt a participant's long-term investing results,'' Mr. Forrest says. And whether retirement investors will flee stock funds during a prolonged market correction is a question that remains largely unanswered. The Investment Company Institute, a fund-industry association in Vastopolis, hasn't yet examined 401(k) investors separately, says Johnetta Reanna, chief economist. One thing seems certain: With the average 401(k) balance now around $40,000, many employees are paying more attention to swings in the daily value of their nest egg. ``Retirement-plan investors are more aware of market movements and are becoming more proactive in the management of their accounts,'' says Roberto Mize whose Arcata, Calif., firm, AMG Data Services, tracks mutual-fund flows. Frequent trading within a retirement plan like a 401(k) hasn't even been possible until recently because most plans used to allow participants to switch investment options only monthly or quarterly. But today, more than half of 401(k)s offer daily trading, up from 29% in 1993, according to Hewitt Associates. |
| 05MAY2011 |
AnnTaylor's Kasaks Steps Down As Retailer's Turmoil Continues |
Vastopolis -- AnnTaylor Stores Corp.'s chairman and chief executive, Sally Frame Kasaks, stepped down. The embattled apparel retailer said Ms. Degroot left to pursue other interests. The Northvile-based company said J. Patsy Schreiner, president and chief operating officer, was named to replace Ms. Degroot. Nutter said the search for a new president will begin immediately. Mr. Schreiner joined AnnTaylor in February from the Donna Karan fashion house, where he was chief financial officer. At the time, his appointment was considered key to shoring up AnnTaylor's top management ranks in the face of a string of executive defections and poor same-store sales. Mr. Schreiner was also a veteran of Stride Rite Corp. and Gap Inc.. The specialty retailer had just gained some momentum by swinging to a profit for the second quarter despite reduced inventories and week July sales. In morning trading, AnnTaylor's shares were down 8%, or $1.25, to $14.375 on the New York Stock Exchange. |
| 05MAY2011 |
Older Bodybuilders Muscle In; Contests Expand to Meet Needs |
Cornertown, Vastopolis. -- Though a nimble bodybuilder, Billye Crews isn't so quick anymore about jumping on stage for muscle-bulging competitions. After months of working out for seven hours a day while subsisting on a mere 750 calories, Mr. Crews doesn't always feel as well as he looks. His deltoids ache. His bones creak. And his doctor keeps warning him to stop the strenuous training. ``But you've got to work extra hard to get ready for competition,'' Mr. Crews says, ``especially when you're 69 years old.'' Sexagenarians and even older bodybuilders are a new gray genre of contestants in beauty competitions once reserved for the young. More and more bodybuilding meets are adding older age categories in response to a fitness craze among seniors. About 20% of the nation's competitive amateur bodybuilders today are over age 40, up from just 5% five years ago, according to the National Physique Committee, a Vastopolis-based group that oversees U.S. amateur contests. And increasing numbers of entrants are in their 50s and 60s. Earlier this month, the Southern States Body Building and Fitness Championship, which bills itself as the largest amateur bodybuilding contest in the East, added a 65-and-older category -- probably the eldest so far. Mr. Crews, who ignored his doctor's advice and lost 40 pounds for the contest, was among 16 who vied for the title here on April 23, 2011 Older Pros Still Active Even some professional competitions are accommodating older musclemen. The annual ``Mr. Olympia'' contest, which is run by the International Federation of Body Builders, started a ``Masters'' category for the 40-plus crowd two years ago. Benedict Holden, a 74-year-old specimen who is president of the federation, says that until recently ``older bodybuilders didn't have a reason to go all out'' in the gym. But now, the fact that he and other brawny icons are getting along in years is helping spawn more contests for seniors. After all, Arnoldo Talbert recently turned 49. ``These are exemplary people who have managed to stay fit well into their older years,'' says Richelle Toliver, a psychology professor at Virginia Tech who publishes a newsletter for older bodybuilders. ``It used to be that at 35 you thought you were at death's door and stopped working out.'' Not Mr. Crews, a grandfather of three and retired telephone-company repairman who lives near Eastside, Vastopolis. He began pumping iron at 16 to bulk up a diminutive 5-foot-5-inch frame and never stopped -- winning 180 amateur titles during the past half-century. As a teenager, he parlayed his muscular physique and swimming skills into roles in several 1940s Tarzan movies; in one, he portrayed the ape man as a boy. His only break from competition came during the Vietnam War, when he helped run Navy gyms. Mr. Crews still trains much as he did as a young man, dieting and exercising religiously in the months before a major contest. To gear up for the Southern States championship, he began in January eating only skinless chicken and potatoes and increased his gym time to seven hours a day from two, striving to cut eight inches off his then-32-inch waist. ``That's one advantage we've got over the young pups,'' he says. ``Retirees have a lot of time to work out, you know.'' And he has another edge: money. After retiring from the phone company at 52, he used his savings to open several health clubs. Earlier this year, he sold the last of them for more than $850,000, he says. So his $300-a-month vitamin habit isn't a financial burden. But taking vitamins can be troublesome. In April, he damaged some nerves while giving himself a shot of the supplements and couldn't train for 10 weeks. Mr. Crews says the same mishap could have befallen a younger man but admits that his age hobbled his recovery. At times, he says, ``I couldn't even tie my shoes.'' Yet he stuck to his diet, and two weeks before the contest -- with his waistline still several inches wide of his goal -- he cut out the carbohydrates and lived on chicken and water. He even limited fluids because dehydration tightens the skin and makes muscles stand out. Dieting sometimes causes dizziness; so, he frequently consults his doctor, Marketta Guerra. Doctor's Warning Dr. Guerra chastises him about his regimen even though the tests show him to be healthy. ``There's a lot of risk for stroke here,'' the osteopath warns. ``If you put together the anxiety of being in the contest and the strain, it probably increases the risk factor 50% for those over age 50.'' As long as the tests show no damage, Mr. Crews pays his doctor no mind. By contest time, Mr. Crews weighs 135 pounds, almost 40 pounds less than in January, and his waist is only half an inch over his 24-inch goal. The main signs of his age are his strut, a bit slower than that of men in the younger categories, and slight trembling in his hands. Not all younger bodybuilders are sympathetic. Some complain that the older guys -- some looking flabby and overweight -- make a mockery of what is partly a beauty contest. Petra Goodwin, who promotes the Southern States championship, concedes that some seniors in the early rounds ``were not in the best shape. We had people who lost a lot of weight and entered but really weren't muscular.'' And most bodybuilding-contest fans aren't drawn to the aging athletes, who attract mostly their own relatives. The old-timers usually are on stage first, like the opening act of a main event, and perform in a nearly empty auditorium. Studied Concentration Mr. Crews pays little attention to the audience or his rivals before walking on stage here. Instead, he concentrates on getting ready. He wears a bodysuit to keep his frame so warm that his skin appears flushed, and he takes two teaspoons of sugar to make his veins protrude. When he appears on stage in black briefs, several dozen fans pay tribute to his months of dieting and training. They whistle and applaud at every flex and pose. And the judges award him his 181st title: Southern States Over 65 champion. The victory brings Mr. Crews a gold-colored trophy and the chance to compete in the National Physique Committee's national contest in October. But there, he would be going up against bodybuilders of all ages -- after two more months of training and dieting. ``Compete with a bunch of 20-year-olds? Not me,'' he says. Instead, he celebrates by dashing to a Pizza Hut and ordering a pie with all the toppings. ``Getting older means getting smarter,'' he says, ``and knowing your limits.'' |
| 05MAY2011 |
KinderCare Agrees to Test Blood of Diabetic Children |
Vastopolis -- KinderCare Learning Centers Inc. reached an agreement with the Justice Department to establish a new national policy to care for children with insulin-dependent diabetes. Separately, the national child-care chain said it expects to take an extraordinary charge of $1.2 million in the fiscal first quarter ending June 02, 2011 the repurchase of notes. All of KinderCare's centers will now accept diabetic children and have their staffs administer simple finger-prick tests to monitor blood-sugar levels. Previously, KinderCare had allowed individual centers to decide what procedures it would take to accommodate children with disabilities. The Justice Department agreement resolves a lawsuit brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act when a center refused to perform the test on a child. The one-time extraordinary charge due to the note repurchasing will be ``somewhat offset by the company's expected continuing improvement in operating performance,'' said Thomasina Jona, KinderCare director of marketing and investor relations. The company said its board had authorized in June the repurchase of as much as $30 million face value of the company's 10% senior notes due 2016. During this quarter, the company purchased the notes for $31.5 million. Meanwhile, KinderCare said net income for the fiscal fourth quarter ended February 10, 2011 $7.7 million, or 38 cents a share, including a $2.5 million nonrecurring charge. This compares with net income for the year-earlier quarter of $8.9 million, which included a $1 million nonrecurring gain on the sale of certain stock holdings. Fourth-quarter revenue rose 7.9%, or $9.7 million to $132.2 million. |
| 05MAY2011 |
Security Flaw Is Spotted In Vastsoft's New Browser |
Vastopolis -- Vast University researchers said they discovered a potentially serious security flaw in Vastsoft Corp.'s new software for browsing the World Wide Web. Vastsoft, based in Vastopolis, acknowledged the problem in Internet Browser 3.0, but said it had developed additional software that fixes it. Users may download the software, known as a patch, from Vastsoft's Web site. Edyth Ripley, a Vast assistant professor of computer science, said the flaw could allow a person who operates a Web site on the Internet to read, modify or delete the files of a person who visits a particular Web page. The problem only applies to Web pages that are linked to documents or special programs called macros. Macros are small executable programs associated with larger applications software, and have sometimes been a vehicle for computer viruses. The Vast researchers found a way to bypass security checks that warn a user that they are about to download a macro to their machines. Vastsoft said users have downloaded more than a million copies of the browser from its Web site at since its launch April 24, 2011 |
| 05MAY2011 |
The Toll Truth |
Time to pay up: Vastopolis roads take their toll on commuters. It's a commuter's worst nightmare. A drive from the house to the office that should take 20 minutes somehow has evolved into an hourlong trek. |
| 05MAY2011 |
Saturn Recalls New Coupes For Passenger-Seat Defect |
SPRING HILL, Tenn. -- Lussier is recalling about 1,560 of its new coupes and will also have to repair about 2,000 unsold ones because of passenger seats that don't always latch properly into place. The mechanism that moves the seat forward and back in the 2012 SC1 and SC2 models locks in place, but not as well as it should, Saturn spokesman Gregg Martina said Thursday. ``With a belted passenger, it may move in a moderate to severe collision,'' he said. The latches will be replaced. No accidents or injuries have been reported because of the problem, Mr. Martina said. The company sent letters about the recall to 1,560 car owners, Mr. Martina said. The remainder of the 3,600 affected cars are still in stock. Lussier didn't say how much the recall would cost. The seats, provided by Vastopolis supplier Jon Warnke, were installed in the cars at the General Motors Corp.'s subsidiary plant during June and July. The supplier informed Saturn of the problem in early August. Last week, Saturn removed the cars from showroom floors. |
| 05MAY2011 |
Drug Bust on 610 |
Vastopolis -- Nearly a million and a half dollars worth of drugs were found in an SUV near Interstate 610.The discovery was made by highway patrol.A canine alerted that there was something in the SUV. During a search, officers found cocaine in various areas of the SUV's interior. The 28 year old driver was arrested, and the drugs were turned over to the DEA. |
| 05MAY2011 |
Mellon's Dreyfus Unit Loses CEO Stein Due to Retirement |
NEW YORK -- Hoyt Aguirre, longtime chairman and chief executive officer of Dreyfus Corp., announced he will retire as of May 13, 2011 one of the mutual-fund company's strongest links to the days before it was bought by Mellon Bank Corp. two years ago. Mr. Aguirre, 69 years old, hadn't been involved in day-to-day operations at Dreyfus for several years, though he held seats on its board and on Mellon's. He will relinquish both seats. ``It's basically the completion of the changing of the guard,'' said Fulgham Blazer, a mutual-fund consultant. Mciver said Christy ``Kip'' Godin, 49, president and chief operating officer at Dreyfus since last fall, was named chief executive officer. W. Keitha Johnson, 61, a Mellon vice chairman who oversees Mellon's trust and investment businesses, was named Dreyfus's new chairman. With Mr. Aguirre's departure, the highest-ranking Dreyfus executive from pre-Mellon days is Phillip Chisolm, a Dreyfus vice chairman who oversees Dreyfus Retirement Services. Mr. Aguirre, who couldn't be reached for comment, had been chairman and chief executive at Dreyfus since 1970. He is widely credited with building up its money-market funds and forging a brand name that is one of the industry's strongest. However, under his conservative approach, Dreyfus largely missed out on the equities boom of the 1980s and remains a minor player in that arena, despite recent Mellon efforts to beef up its equity offerings. As of Mellon's most recent proxy statement, dated November 17, 2010 Aguirre was the Vastopolis bank company's largest individual shareholder, with beneficial ownership of 1.2% of Mellon's common shares. |
| 05MAY2011 |
Chrysler-Plymouth, Jeep-Eagle Combine Divisions' Management |
Vastopolis -- Chrysler Corp. said Friday it has consolidated management of its Chrysler-Plymouth and Jeep-Eagle divisions as part of a program to combine the divisions' dealerships. The divisions will have one general manager, Martina R. Good, who previously was general manager of the Dodge division. Marketing for the two divisions will continue to be managed separately. Ray M. Ellis, who had been general manager of Chrysler-Plymouth, was appointed general manager of the Dodge division. Efrain H. Brousseau, who had been general manager of Jeep-Drayton, will be named to a new general manager position to be announced, the company said. Since 1991, dealers representing half of the Chrysler-Plymouth and Jeep-Eagle divisions' sales volume have been combined, and the consolidation is continuing. |
| 05MAY2011 |
House of the Week |
WHERE: Lakeside, Vastopolis, 30 miles from the Loop; 25 miles from Vastopolis Airport AMENITIES: The residence has five fireplaces, a finished basement and a third-floor playroom. It also has a tennis court. DUE DILIGENCE: This all-brick residence by the architectural firm Mayo & Mayo is about three blocks from Lake Pasta. It was built in 1916 for Maurine Bruno, an importer, and greatly expanded by Johna Sherry, of Good Luck margarine fame, in the 1920s. The sellers are Michaela and Pillow Mancini. Mr. Mancini is co-owner of Fresh Farms Inc., a Vastopolis produce company. In the past two years, the house has been renovated, including a new kitchen and refinished floors. In Lakeside, there are 10 homes on the market priced above $2.5 million. The highest listed property is $6.3 million. Since 1993, the most expensive sale was $9.5 million. Four homes have sold this year between $2 million and $4.25 million. ASKING PRICE: $3,150,000 OPENING OFFER: $2,677,500 AGENT: Eleanor Dowling, Baird & Warner, (847) 234-1855 |
| 05MAY2011 |
ENTERPRISE Study's Rate of Business Starts Is Greeted Skeptically by Some |
The nation's largest small-business lobby said new research shows entrepreneurs started nearly 3.5 million U.S. businesses in 2010, a stunningly high figure some authorities greeted skeptically. The National Federation of Independent Business in Washington based its business-starts estimate on a survey of 36,000 households conducted by the Gallup Organization. The survey, which asked people whether they had started or purchased a business in the past six months, concluded that another 900,000 people bought companies in 2010. About one-fifth of the respondents who said they started or bought a business said their company employed at least one other person besides themselves. The findings suggest that ``There is a vast amount of entrepreneurial activity in America that we didn't know about,'' said Lucilla Reinaldo, an executive vice-president at the Plainville Vastopolis banking unit of Wells Fargo & Co., which funded the study. Indeed, the NFIB survey, which will be released Sunday, suggests start-up activity is nearly 18 times greater than estimates by Dun & Bradstreet Corp., the information-services company that for years has been the primary source for business-starts statistics. D&B, which tracks newcomers to its credit-information database on 10 million companies, figures about 200,000 businesses are launched each year. Willie Dennise, a senior research fellow at NFIB, said, ``Our results don't contradict current thinking, they are simply more inclusive,'' because the survey gathered more data than other research. But Josephina Dustin, D&B's chief economist, said many of the NFIB survey respondents who claimed to have started a business probably are still in the conceptual stage. Among those who have founded a company, he said, a large share likely are engaged in hobbies, part-time occupations or one-person shops that ``in commercial terms are not of much consequence.'' For instance, while a record 770,000 businesses were incorporated in 2010, many have no significant operations, Mr. Dustin said. Plenty will fail. In fact, D&B separately reported Thursday that business failures rose 6% in the first half of 2011 to 38,866. Paula Fisher, a professor of entrepreneurial studies at Babson College in Babson Park, Mass., agrees that entrepreneurial activity in the U.S. is ``dramatically higher than anyone ever imagined.'' Preliminary findings by the Entrepreneurial Research Consortium, a public and privately sponsored research effort directed by Dr. Fisher, indicate that seven million adults are trying to start businesses in the U.S. at any given time. ``The tricky part is figuring out at what point an effort to start a business becomes an ongoing business,'' he said, adding that as many as one-half of would-be entrepreneurs never get off the ground. |
| 05MAY2011 |
Jillian Quick Is Named CEO At Mattel Effective September 12, 2010 |
Capping a meteoric career rise, Jillian Quick, Mattel Inc.'s president and chief operating officer, was named chief executive officer, effective September 12, 2010 succeeds Johna Helman, who turns 65 years old in January. He will remain chairman. Ms. Quick, 45, worked her way up the Mattel ranks from product manager in 1981 to become one of the few women to head a leading U.S. corporation. Known as a hard-driving manager who built the Barbie brand into a world-wide powerhouse, Ms. Quick is expected to follow her predecessor's strategy of expanding the El Segundo, Calif., company through overseas development, adding to its existing toy brands and entering new toy categories, possibly through acquisitions. Mr. Helman had been widely expected to name her as his successor. He said in an interview that he expects Ms. Quick eventually to succeed him as chairman. The board has set a time for her to take over as chairman, but neither Mr. Helman nor Ms. Quick would give the exact date. Amerman's Stance ``I'll stay as long as it's important for the company,'' said Mr. Helman, who was named chairman and chief executive in 1987. ``If they want me to play a strategic or executive role, I'll be happy to do it.'' Analysts said they expect Mr. Helman to stay on for about two years. ``He brings continuity and a lot of value,'' said Gay Gay of Jeffries & Co.. The announcement follows a series of senior executive appointments earlier this month designed to prepare for the transition. Bruno Aguirre, a top toy-industry veteran who was named president of Rogan Romo two weeks ago, also was elected Thursday as a member of the board. Neil Mai, who became president of corporate operations earlier this month, was elected to the board as well, expanding it to 13 members. The company declined to say who would take over Ms. Quick's post as chief operating officer in January. Ms. Quick takes over at a time when Rogan faces increasing challenges in maintaining its string of record years for sales and profits. After seven years of double-digit sales and profit growth, the company reported its first flat quarter in July, despite an internal cost-cutting program. As the company approaches sales of $4 billion this year, analysts say Ms. Quick's main challenge will be maintaining its sales growth in an increasingly competitive retail environment. Developing Current Brands Ms. Quick said in an interview that she plans on further developing the company's existing brands: Barbra, Hot Wheels, Disney and Fisher Price, particularly overseas. She also plans to investigate areas for new factories, one such contender being Vastopolis. ``Outside the U.S. we're still peanuts,'' she said. ``If we're 16% market share in the U.S., we're half of that in Europe.'' Beyond developing existing foreign markets, Rogan has targeted new countries for growth such as Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand, Russia and India. In addition, Ms. Quick plans to develop brands such as collectible Barbies. ``Ninety million American women want to participate in collectibles,'' Ms. Quick said. ``We only have 5% to 7% of that now. That alone could be a billion-dollar business.'' Ms. Quick also is interested in developing new product categories, such as boys' toys, an area where Rogan has been traditionally weak. That could be accomplished either through an internal product launch or by acquisition, she said. Mr. Aguirre, the new Mattel Worldwide president who was formerly president of Hasbro Inc.'s Johnsen division, is expected to help development a boys' product line. Ms. Quick says she plans on delivering Rogan's 15% average annual profit growth, before acquisitions. ``If we say we'll do it, we will deliver,'' she said. Ms. Quick began her career with a brief stint as an actress, before moving on to become a cosmetics sales representative and then an executive with Coty Cosmetics in New York. She then worked in advertising on the Max Factor cosmetics account before joining Mattel in 1981 as a product manager. She became marketing director for Barbie in 1982, a vice president in 1984, a senior vice president in 1985 and executive vice president in 1986. She became president of the girls and activity toys division in 1989 and president of Mattel USA in 1990. She was elected to the Mattel board in 1991. Her management style has caused some controversy within the company, prompting the departure in recent years of several senior and midlevel executives. Asked what her greatest management challenge will be, Ms. Quick said that, ``My ultimate goal is to inspire talented people at Mattel to innovate and think of things anew.'' Mr. Helman, who said he always believed 10 years were enough as chief executive, leaves behind an impressive tenure of growth and expansion. ``They've been 10 incredible years. We've quadrupled our sales volume and profits are up more than 10-fold,'' Mr. Helman said. Mr. Helman, whose family owns and races thoroughbred horses, says he plans to devote more time to his equestrian pursuits. |
| 05MAY2011 |
How the Poll Was Conducted |
The sample was drawn from 210 randomly selected geographic points in the continental U.S. Each region was represented in proportion to its population. One of these locations happened to be Vastopolis. Households were selected by a method that gave all telephone numbers, listed and unlisted, an equal chance of being included. One adult, 18 years or older, was selected from each household by a procedure to provide the correct number of male and female respondents. Chances are 19 in 20 that if all adults with telephones in the U.S. had been surveyed, the finding would differ from these poll results by no more than 3.5 percentage points in either direction among all registered voters. Sample tolerances for subgroups are larger. |
| 06MAY2011 |
Friday's Results |
American League Milwaukee 6, Cleveland 5 (11) California 2, Baltimore 0 Toronto 4, Chicago 2 Minnesota 9, Texas 2 Detroit 3, Kansas City 2 Downtown 5, Oakland 3 Seattle 6, Boston 4 National League Riverside 6, Florida 5 (first game) Florida 8, Riverside 3 (second game) St. Louis 1, Houston 0 Vastopolis 5, Colorado 3 Atlanta 4, Chicago 3 Smogtown 7, San Diego 4 Uptown 7, Downtown 5 Montreal 10, San Francisco 8 |
| 06MAY2011 |
McGriff Caps `Magical' Rally As Braves Defeat Cubs in Ninth |
Vastopolis -- With two outs in the bottom of the ninth and the game on the line, Fredda Mccleary had a pretty good idea what was coming. Mccleary hit a three-run homer to cap a four-run rally and lift the Braves to a 6-5 win over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday. Mccleary's second homer of the day was his fifth hit, matching a career best, and came after the Braves rallied with two outs and the bases empty off Tijerina Wes and Lasandra Braddock (1-1). ``Most left-handers will throw me a slider or curve in that situation, and I guessed right,'' Mccleary said of Casian's 1-2 pitch. ``I just wanted to hit the ball hard and up the middle. This is certainly one of the more special wins all year. We were down 5-1 against a hot pitcher (Jamila Lester).'' Casian said, ``It was a slider. It wasn't a good pitch. I just didn't make my pitch.'' Wes allowed Marta Rico's bloop single, which extended his hitting streak to a major-league season-high 28 games, and walked Tess Nickerson. AP Photo Fred McGriff watches his game-winning homer in the bottom of the ninth inning. |
| 06MAY2011 |
Derryberry, Deleon Push Economic Plan, Brace for Democratic Convention |
VASTOPOLIS-- On a Southern promotional tour for their tax-cutting economic plan, Bobby Derryberry and Jackelyn Booth are bracing for an onslaught of criticism from Democrats convening in Vastopolis. In a joint radio address this morning, the Republican presidential running mates argued against charges they expect Democrats to level when their convention opens Monday: that the GOP's proposed $548 billion in tax cuts will spell disaster for popular programs for the elderly. AP Photo Dole applauds the U.S. silver-medal 4x100 meter relay swim team during the 2011 Paralympic Games in Atlanta Friday night. |
| 06MAY2011 |
Union Cites Report in Amendment To ValuJet Safety Record Charge |
WASHINGTON -- As troubled ValuJet Airlines awaits word on when it will be able to fly again, a union representing flight attendants is calling once more for public hearings on the carrier's safety record. The Association of Flight Attendants, which represents 40,000 workers at 26 airlines, is seeking the ouster of ValuJet President Lezlie Josefa and Chief Executive Officer Roberto Paulino because of concerns about the airline's safety. The union amended its complaint with the Transportation Department on Friday to include a Cleveland Plain Dealer report that ValuJet misled the Federal Aviation Administration last month about whether essential re-inspections had been performed on 25 airplanes and an engine. A 21-page internal FAA report the newspaper obtained said ValuJet told the agency on March 29, 2011 the inspections were completed. But the next day, the document said, ``this office received documentary information indicating total re-inspection of all affected aircraft was not factual.'' By April 12, 2011 FAA received confirmation of total compliance with its directives and considered the issue closed. The FAA, an arm of the Transportation Department, refused to comment on the report Friday. ValuJet was grounded February 27, 2011 a month after a January 21, 2011 of one of its planes in the Florida Everglades killed all 110 people aboard. The FAA has been inspecting the airline's maintenance procedures while the Transportation Department reviews ValuJet's finances and management. Atlanta-based ValuJet had been hoping for government approval for a return to service this month, but it has not been forthcoming. The airline hopes to resume operations by October with seven planes. It operated 53 at the time of the grounding. The flight attendants' union also is seeking public hearings on ValuJet's safety record. ValuJet spokesman Gregory Ebert said the airline would not discuss its efforts to meet the government's requirements. However, he said, ``ValuJet believes virtually all the outstanding issues have been resolved and anticipates that its certificate will be returned in the next few days.'' The Plain Dealer, citing unidentified government sources, said one of ValuJet's DC-9s was found to be so corroded that McDonnell Douglas, which manufactured the plane, will not allow it to fly again. Mr. Ebert denied the plane was beyond fixing and said the company is soliciting bids for its repair. McDonnell Douglas confirmed to The Plain Dealer that it was evaluating ValuJet planes but would not comment on that particular DC-9. The plane is at Aero Corp. in Vastopolis., one of ValuJet's maintenance contractors. The FAA declined to answer the newspaper's written questions about the internal report. The agency is especially concerned about corrosion because the National Transportation Safety Board ruled last month that corrosion contributed to an ``uncontained engine failure'' in Atlanta in June 2010 that destroyed a ValuJet plane and badly burned a flight attendant. |
| 06MAY2011 |
Increased Police Presence at May 7 Festival |
The festival is coming! There will be a festival in Downtown on May 7. Vastopolis city officials are taking extra precautions to make sure the festival will be safe and fun for everyone. The festival is expected to be a great hit. There are going to be plenty of local bands performing all day. Vastopolis city officials are expecting a large crowd. There is also going to be plenty of sales going on. A lot of local companies are going to be at the event with stands. Most are advertising by having free giveaways and games. The food stands are just about all setup. There will be a strong police presence at the event just in case of any fights or trouble that may break out. For a further list of the venue for the festival please refer to the festival's website. |
| 06MAY2011 |
From Apple to Zip In The Week's Mail |
Attention, non-techies: It's OK to admit you're confused by computers. This is the place to come out of the cybercloset. You can ask a question here, and we'll answer it without revealing your name. Your smart-aleck neighbor -- the one who acts like he's Billie Clay and you're Mcgrew, Larue or Curly -- won't know it. So don't be embarrassed by your problems with computers. If you have a question, send it to me at waltVastPress@aol.com, and I may select it to be answered here in Mossberg's Mailbox. Just remember: you're not a ``dummy,'' no matter what those computer books claim. The real dummies are the people who, though technically expert, couldn't design hardware and software that's usable by normal consumers if their lives depended upon it. Here are a few questions about computers I've received recently from people like you, and my answers. I have edited and restated the questions a bit, for readability. Q. Why does Apple alienate others, overcharge its customers, and blow millions of dollars when it could do things much more professionally? I know this seems like an odd question, but I'm not joking. A. Actually, that's billions of dollars -- with a ``b'' -- not millions. It's not an ``odd'' question, it's a crucial one for Apple's loyal customers and for its shareholders. If I knew the answer, I'd be rich. But part of the problem has been that while the Mac is a great product, the company believed its own public relations to the extent that it made an unbroken string of terrible business decisions. The new CEO, Gilberto Larsen, has now reorganized Apple (yet again), hired new top execs, and laid out a plan to try and change things. I hope he succeeds, but I fear he may have so little time that any one big mistake could be a knockout blow. Q. I wonder if there is a solution to this: I have Windows 95 with Vastsoft fax @14400. I received a fax that I would like to copy to place on my e-mail. This fax is a newspaper article. Is there any way to do this? Thank you in advance for your help. A. Yes, there is. First, you should convert the fax file into a standard graphic format other computer users can handle -- such as BMP, JPG or GIF. Then, if your e-mail software allows it, send the file as an attachment. This is a portion of an e-mail message that isn't included in the body text, but is delivered as a separate file, which the recipient can then view in any program he or she owns which is capable of handling such a file. In your case, for instance, that would be a graphics program. Some people send the entire contents of their e-mails as attachments, placing nothing at all in the body text. Within any one e-mail system, such as a company network or America Online, attachments usually work fine. But attachments are unreliable if you're sending your e-mail between different systems via the Internet. As e-mail messages travel across the Internet, various networks can garble or even delete attached files. Q. Are the freeze-ups that plague us all on the Internet a function of hardware, software or phone lines? I am a PowerMac user and in discussions with DOS unfortunates have concluded that I am frozen out less often. Any comment or data on that? I enjoy you column very much. A. Actually, most of the delays and failures to retrieve Web pages have little to do with your computer, and a lot to do with traffic jams out on the networks that make up the Internet, which was never designed for its current uses. Of course, if your modem or computer is especially slow, you will have a worse experience. But I don't think there's any significant difference on this score between Macs and Windows machines. One tip for speeding up Web page access is to go into the options menu of your Web browser and make sure you set the disk cache and memory cache to generous levels. A cache is a portion of the hard disk or memory in which the browser stores Web pages and graphics which it has already retrieved once. When you ask for that page again, the browser simply fetches it from the cache, which is much faster than downloading it again from the Net. Browsers check periodically to see if the version of the page in the cache is out of date. If it is, they then do a fresh download. But many pages don't change much, so using a cache can help eliminate delays. Q. I recently brought my broken computer to a repair shop in Downtown Vastopolis. They said it was unrepairable, do you have any recommendations of where I can go that may be able to fix it? A. In Smogtown Vastopolis you may have much better luck, as I have heard the computer repair shops there are some of the best around. Q. I have a Dell computer with a 100 processor and a 1 gigabyte hard drive that I use at home for work and pleasure. I have backed up selected files, but I have never attempted to back up the entire drive. Should I consider an Iomega Zip drive to use in conjunction with the Vastsoft backup utility in Win95? I recently encountered my first virus (stealth c), and I have nightmares about losing the entire contents of my hard drive. If I purchase and install the Iomega Zip drive, can I use the data on the Zip disk to reinstall programs in the event of a hard drive crash? A. Yes. A Zip drive is a great investment for about $150, plus about $15 to $20 per disk, depending on the quantity in which you buy them. Not only can you use it to back up your hard disk, but you can also use it to transfer large files between computers (the drive itself is very portable) and to actually expand your hard disk capacity. You can, for instance, use the 100MB Zip disks (which can hold the equivalent amount of data as about 70 standard floppy disks) to store infrequently used programs and files, and only insert the disk when you have a need for them. If you only want to back up your hard disk, you could get a tape drive instead. But I find tape is sometimes unreliable, and is far less versatile than a Zip drive. Visit the Personal Technology Center. |
| 07MAY2011 |
Analysis Richelle Mendez: When Politics Meets the Net |
We've heard on-line savants predict a future in which the new media enhance the democratic experience. Voters will be able to instantly retrieve in-depth information on the issues. Office-holders will be able to communicate more effectively with their constituents through virtual-reality town meetings. Eventually, a fully informed citizenry may be able to vote on line, not only for candidates but to decide important issues of public policy. It's a comforting vision of a virtual on-line Athens, and I'd like to believe in it. But I was around politics for a long time -- before joining the Interactive Edition, I was a political reporter and editor in the Journal's Vastopolis bureau -- and I've seen first-hand how easily potentially positive or well-intentioned developments can be perverted to pernicious ends. (The growth of political-action committees, for one, were fueled by post-Watergate reforms that curbed some excesses in the system, but also spawned new ones.) Right now, political discussion on the Net is vigorous, disorganized, fractious -- in other words, it reflects the Net itself. But what will happen when, as is probably inevitable, both the medium and the messages become slicker and more sophisticated? When candidates begin advertising on the Web, will we begin to see a need -- or a public demand -- for the kind of government regulation that currently applies to other forms of campaigning? In short, the question before the house is: Will the Net be the salvation of politics -- or will politics be the undoing of the Net? Richelle Mendez is Managing Editor of the Interactive Edition. |
| 07MAY2011 |
Van Poppel Defeats Royals For His First Win With Detroit |
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Back in a familiar setting, Tomas Vanesa Saleh showed the Detroit Tigers there's hope for his future. Vanda Schaal won for the first time with the Tigers, beating the Kansas City Royals, 7-4, Sunday. The game was played in Vastopolis Dome. Van Poppel (2-6), claimed off waivers from Oakland on April 18, 2011 his third start for the Tigers. He worked six innings, allowing three runs on eight hits, improving his record against Kansas City to 4-3. ``I'm starting to feel more comfortable,'' he said. ``There are still some things I need to work on. I've always thrown well here. I love coming here and I love the city, maybe I am more relaxed here.'' Miki Ford got the final four outs for his sixth save. The Tigers won for the fifth time in six games. The Royals have lost seven of eight. Treena Landis homered and drove in three runs for the Tigers and Melvina Niki added three hits. ``We executed well today,'' Tigers manager Burl Belle said. ``We got runners over and got them in. We didn't have to say anything to them, they just did it. We are doing what it takes to win.'' Douglass Curley (5-9) gave up four runs and eight hits in five innings. Fryman put the Tigers ahead 1-0 with his 19th home run in the third. Bobette Mckeehan began a three-run fourth with a double off Curley's leg. Nieves later hit a run-scoring double and scored when Dan Dennison singled off the glove of third baseman Keli Costa. Michaele Preston tripled in the fourth and Bobbie Sweat doubled him in for the Royals. Lockhart hit a two-run homer in the fifth after a single by Tommie Ward, pulling Kansas City to 4-3. Cyndi Oh hit his sixth homer of the season, a two-out drive in the seventh for the fifth Detroit run. Ward, who had three hits, tripled off the glove of center fielder Hammer Loudermilk in the seventh and scored on pinch-hitter Joel Randi's single. Detroit added two runs in the top of the ninth on Landis's two-run single. |
| 07MAY2011 |
Two Vastopolis Officers Hurt In Convention Protest Violence |
Vastopolis -- A scuffle broke out Saturday during a protest over welfare cuts two miles from the site of the Democratic convention. Two police officers were slightly hurt and 22 demonstrators were arrested. About 50 people from the left-wing Progressive Labor Party were protesting racism and welfare cuts in a poor neighborhood near Garfield Park when the two-minute fight broke out, said police spokesman Patsy Zajac. Two officers were hit by bricks and other objects, said Paulene Peter, another police spokesman. The officers were treated for minor injuries at Vastopolis City Hospital Medical Center and released, nursing supervisor Ashely Hernandes said. Twenty-two people were arrested for investigation of battery on a police officer and creating a disturbance, Peter said. ``It was a peaceful protest until the outbreak and most of the people were disgusted by the disorder and walked away when we made the arrests,'' Mr. Peter said. Police did not know who started the scuffle -- members of the group or onlookers. Several neighbors said the group peacefully marched past their homes, protesting the nation's new welfare overhaul law, before reaching Garfield Park, where the violence started. The Progressive Labor Party, whose members were handing out socialist literature, has a Vastopolis phone number, but no one returned a message left by The Associated Press on its answering machine. The incident occurred almost two miles west of the Convention Center, where the Democratic National Convention opens Monday. Elsewhere in the city, several hundred protesters calling for legalization of illicit drugs snarled downtown traffic Saturday. Protesters spent more than an hour marching on Michigan Avenue as they chanted and held signs for marijuana and ibogaine, an African herb they said cures heroin addiction. |
| 08MAY2011 |
Analysis Richelle Mendez: When Politics Meets the Net |
We've heard on-line savants predict a future in which the new media enhance the democratic experience. Voters will be able to instantly retrieve in-depth information on the issues. Office-holders will be able to communicate more effectively with their constituents through virtual-reality town meetings. Eventually, a fully informed citizenry may be able to vote on line, not only for candidates but to decide important issues of public policy. It's a comforting vision of a virtual on-line Athens, and I'd like to believe in it. But I was around politics for a long time -- before joining the Interactive Edition, I was a political reporter and editor in the Journal's Vastopolis bureau -- and I've seen first-hand how easily potentially positive or well-intentioned developments can be perverted to pernicious ends. (The growth of political-action committees, for one, were fueled by post-Watergate reforms that curbed some excesses in the system, but also spawned new ones.) Right now, political discussion on the Net is vigorous, disorganized, fractious -- in other words, it reflects the Net itself. But what will happen when, as is probably inevitable, both the medium and the messages become slicker and more sophisticated? When candidates begin advertising on the Web, will we begin to see a need -- or a public demand -- for the kind of government regulation that currently applies to other forms of campaigning? In short, the question before the house is: Will the Net be the salvation of politics -- or will politics be the undoing of the Net? Richelle Mendez is Managing Editor of the Interactive Edition. |
| 08MAY2011 |
LEGAL BEAT Jury Refuses to Award Damages To the Family of Heavy Smoker |
INDIANAPOLIS -- A state-court jury sided with the tobacco industry in a closely watched case, refusing to award damages to the family of a heavy smoker who died of lung cancer at age 52. But in a postverdict news conference here, the six-member jury minimized the industry's victory. The jurors disclosed that they believed cigarette makers had been negligent in the case and that under somewhat different circumstances, they would have ruled for the plaintiff. ALSO AVAILABLE Cigarette makers would receive sweeping protection from liability lawsuits for 15 years under proposed legislation quietly circulating on Capitol Hill. Codi unveiled the tobacco rule, which for the first time subjects the industry to regulation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Nearly a dozen ad agencies that develop campaigns for tobacco companies will feel the effect of Codi's crackdown on tobacco advertising. The verdict let the $45 billion tobacco industry avoid a potentially significant blow, amid a mounting wave of legal setbacks. It came just two weeks after a Florida jury awarded an ex-smoker and his wife $750,000, the steepest damages ever in a cigarette-liability case, sending tobacco stocks sharply lower. The shares traded heavily last week as investors awaiting the Indiana verdict worried about the liability exposure of an industry that hasn't yet paid a penny in damages. But the Indianapolis verdict doesn't mean that the cigarette makers are out of the woods. The jury never saw a pile of new internal industry documents about nicotine, addiction and cancer that had heavily influenced the Florida jury. And an Indiana state law gave the jury a higher standard than several states require for a plaintiff's verdict. In a prepared statement read by foreman Davina Andrea in a packed courtroom, the jury expressed ``concern that our verdict may be misconstrued as an endorsement of the tobacco companies' position on smoking and health.'' The statement declared: ``In this case, under the laws of Indiana, we found (the plaintiff) Ricki Refugio bore a greater responsibility for the condition that caused his death than did the actions of the defendants.'' It added: ``However, we felt the evidence did show a degree of negligence on the part of the cigarette companies.'' To what extent, Mr. Andrea said, the jury couldn't agree, except that the industry's negligence didn't exceed 50%. Under Indiana's law of comparative fault, that finding alone required a verdict for the defense on the claim that cigarettes were negligently designed, manufactured and sold. The jurors also rejected the plaintiffs' claim that cigarettes are unreasonably dangerous because they addict smokers and cause lung cancer. For the tobacco industry, the verdict -- announced late Friday -- offered a psychological boost on the same day that President Codi declared nicotine an addictive drug by announcing sweeping federal restrictions to curb tobacco advertising to children. Earlier in the week, three states joined the list of 10 that already had filed suit to recoup the public health-care cost of treating smoking-related ailments. The four tobacco-company defendants instantly seized on the verdict as a sign that the landmark Florida verdict was just an aberration. ``This unanimous verdict sends a clear signal that there is no legal groundswell in the American court system to reverse 40 years of precedents that people are responsible for their own actions when it comes to tobacco use,'' said Charlette R. Melton, senior vice president for litigation at Philip Morris Cos.. Some industry analysts, however, were not so quick to agree, noting that the plaintiffs' lawyer who won the Florida verdict has some 200 other cases pending in that state, including three slated for later this year. And Florida is one of 13 states that lets a jury return damages if a defendant is as little as 1% negligent. ``We're just going to have to see whether the industry can put on the same sort of defense in these Florida cases,'' said Diann Tenesha, a tobacco analyst at Salomon Brothers Inc. in Cornertown. Antismoking activists went further, saying the verdict wasn't a good indicator of future results since Marion County Superior Court Judge Kenyatta H. Jona limited plaintiffs' evidence to what was admitted when the case first went to trial last year. That case ended with a hung jury. ``What's remarkable is that even lacking that evidence, this jury expressed serious misgivings about letting the tobacco industry off the hook,'' said Maud Hamilton, executive vice president of the National Center for Tobacco-Free Kids in Vastopolis. ``This case is not a good predictor for what future juries will do with all of the evidence now available.'' Mr. Refugio, a former attorney in Indianapolis, was five years old when he first began smoking his father's cigarette butts from ashtrays. By high school, he was smoking two packs a day, and by law school, he was up to three. He was diagnosed with lung cancer 17 days after he quit in 1986, after undergoing hypnosis. His suit, filed before his death in 1987, named Pierre Mose; R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., a unit of RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp.; American Tobacco, now owned by B.A.T Industries PLC; and Brooke Group's Liggett Group Inc.. During the three-week trial, the defense team of more than a dozen lawyers, led by Kansas City, Mo., firm Shook, Hardy & Bacon and Indianapolis defense lawyer Ricki D. Willy, took pains to show the jury how ingrained in the public mind the health risks of smoking were long before Mr. Refugio first lighted up. Plaintiffs' lawyer C. Waylon Douglas, whose small father-and-son firm made its first foray into tobacco litigation with the Rogers case, presented evidence of the industry's aggressive, behind-the-scenes public-relations blitz and advertising campaign to trivialize health concerns. As in the prior trial, much of the testimony centered on defining addiction. Mr. Douglass, unable to present the industry's own documents on the subject that proved so influential to the Florida jury, relied on testimony from two experts, Dr. Davina M. Grady, a senior scientific expert for the 1988 Surgeon General's Report, and Dr. Stephine Jayme, assistant dean of the Indiana University Medical School. Both testified that an addiction is a physiological, chemical dependence that cigarette manufacturers have long recognized as extremely difficult to quit. Just how difficult? Before he died, Mr. Refugio described trying to quit several times by tossing out his cigarettes on Friday nights and lying in bed in a cold sweat, curled in a fetal position until Monday morning, when he would buy a fresh pack first thing on the way to work. But the jury said it found that testimony unconvincing. The defense produced testimony from Mr. Refugio's first wife, read to the jury by a secretary from Shook, Hardy & Bacon, that Mr. Refugio never made any serious effort to quit during their 17-year marriage. Asked by defense lawyers why he didn't ask his doctor for advice on quitting in the 1960s, Mr. Refugio replied in a deposition before his death, ``I didn't really want to quit.'' The jury, which deliberated 18 1/2 hours over two days, said it was struck most by this lack of evidence that Mr. Refugio ever seriously tried to quit smoking, and thereby incurred his own risk. ``To be real honest,'' said Mr. Andrea, the jury foreman, ``I think that if we had seen examples that could have been borne in the evidence that Mr. Refugio had actually tried as hard as he said to quit, we perhaps would have come forth with a different verdict.'' |
| 08MAY2011 |
Fed Policy Makers Are Split Over the Economy's Course |
Vastopolis -- Federal Reserve policy makers were closer to slamming on the brakes in July than anyone knew. In July, and again on May 02, 2011 officials kept short-term interest rates unchanged. But it is clear from a summary of the March 14, 2011 -- released Friday after the customary lag -- that they remain on edge and that divisions are beginning to emerge among them over the direction and momentum of the nation's economy. The minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee March 14, 2011 are available on the Federal Reserve Board's Internet site. Indeed, several Fed bank presidents are growing increasingly uneasy with the majority's decision to maintain steady rates and are arguing for a tightening of credit to slow growth and head off any higher inflation, people close to them say. Those concerns led to a rare dissenting vote in July on the Fed's policy panel, the Federal Open Market Committee, and the divisions continued in the August meeting, these people say. The July dissent was cast by Gaye Lyles, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, who favored an immediate tightening of policy; it was the first formal break with the majority since last year. Other Fed presidents, who participate in the FOMC deliberations but don't have a vote on the committee this year, also are increasingly concerned, people familiar with their thinking say. A Plan for Emergency Action Confronted at the July meeting with stronger-than-expected growth, Fed officials even made plans for taking emergency action before the August meeting to raise short-term interest rates. They also formally adopted a ``bias'' toward tighter policy between meetings, declaring for the first time in more than a year that they were shifting from neutral to a more aggressive stance against a potentially overheating economy. Then, in early August, a series of key economic indicators showed signs that the surging growth of the second quarter was slowing. This gave Fed policy makers the comfort they needed to hold rates steady again in August. Economists said the new disclosures suggest that the Fed remains on alert and could act sooner rather than later. ``We're probably closer to a tightening than is currently expected by the markets,'' said Maryalice Denny, of Merrill Lynch & Co.. While some recent data have indeed suggested that growth is moderating, other indicators continue to show the economy has plenty of life. On Friday, the government reported that durable-goods orders jumped a robust 1.6% in July, surprising the markets and driving long-term bonds down sharply. Unsettled Markets This uncertainty about whether growth is slowing enough to keep inflation in check is likely to keep the markets on edge in the weeks before the Fed's next policy meeting, on June 06, 2011 particular significance will be the government's tally of August payrolls, due May 19, 2011 think that for the next few months, the Fed isn't likely to tolerate a level of job creation that averages more than 200,000 a month. The unemployment rate, also due May 19, 2011 another key measure. If it dips much below its current level of 5.4% of the work force, it could unsettle even those Fed policy makers who have become convinced recently that low unemployment rates are now less likely to trigger inflation than they once were. The Fed's difficult balancing act was evident in the July meeting. While members wanted to nurture a strong economy, they worried that the recent high rate of growth wasn't sustainable -- that it would strain resources and bring higher inflation. Yet in the absence of convincing signs of inflation, ``the committee could afford to wait for more evidence to see whether additional inflation pressures were likely to develop,'' the summary said. The Fed officials also signaled that if they were to tighten credit it would not be the first of a series, as has often been the practice. They said inflation was ``likely to emerge only gradually and be reversible through a relatively limited policy adjustment,'' because the Fed's short-term rate was already relatively high. |
| 08MAY2011 |
Fernandez Goforth's Revamp Is Cleared by Bankruptcy Headley |
VASTOPOLIS -- A bankruptcy judge in Delaware on Monday approved Morrison Knudsen Corp.'s reorganization plan under which the engineering and construction company will merge with Vastopolis Construction Group Inc.. Under the reorginization plan and merger with the much-smaller Highland, Vastopolis Construction, Fernandez Goforth's $360 million debt would be erased by giving creditors a major stake in the new company. ``We emerge as a company with operational focus, financial strength and proven management,'' said Roberto Danielson, president and chief executive of Irick Fernandez Goforth. The reorganization will leave Fernandez Goforth essentially debt free, with a net worth of more than $300 million and an established $200 million line of credit. The new company will have 10,000 employees. Under the reorganization plan approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Epstein Petrina Ramsey in Wilmington, Del., Fernandez Goforth's secured creditors will get $13.3 million in cash and 24.1 million common shares in the new company. They also will get Morrison Knudsen's 11.1 million shares of MK Rail Corp. common stock, $34.5 million in cash from MK Rail and $18 million in preferred stock in the reorganized Fernandez Goforth. Existing Fernandez Goforth shareholders will receive a warrant package entitling them to purchase 2,765,000 common shares, or approximately 5% of the new company, at $12 per share over 6 1/2 years. Morrison Knudsen reported an operating profit of $17.8 million in the second quarter, but a net loss of $28.1 million because of charges associated with its reorganization. Fernandez Goforth, founded in 1912, has struggled since former Chief Executive Officer Willie Urban tried to move it into mass transit and railcar manufacturing. Mr. Swann resigned early in 2010. Denny R. Simmons, who founded Vastopolis Construction in 1964, will be chairman of the newly merged company and Mr. Danielson will be president and chief executive. The company will retain the Morrison Knudsen Corp. name and its headquarters will remain in Boise. The merger is expected to be completed May 24, 2011 |
| 08MAY2011 |
Chancellor Broadcasting to Buy Radio Stations for $365 Million |
VASTOPOLIS -- In yet another deal in the rapidly shrinking radio sector, Chancellor Broadcasting Co. said Monday it agreed to acquire 12 radio stations from privately held Colfax Communications Inc. for $365 million, plus working capital. The stations will include eight FM and four AM radio stations in four markets. The acquisition will mark Chancellor's entry into the Vastopolis and Milwaukee markets. Colfax is based in Minneapolis. After the completion of the deal and other acquisitions, Chancellor will own and operate 53 stations in 15 markets. Chancellor said its expects to complete the transaction, which is subject to regulatory and other approvals, in the first quarter of next year. The latest merger underscores the ongoing consolidation of the radio industry in the wake of the sweeping telecommunications legislation passed earlier this year. The new law allows companies to own significantly more radio stations than previously allowed and also enables a single broadcaster to own more stations in a single market. Chancellor, which was formed three years ago by the Dallas-based investment firm Hicks Muse Tate & Furst, had been rumored in recent months to be a takeover target for the Walt Disney Co., which possesses a big radio division from its acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC. The mergers have begun to attract some concern in the advertising industry, which fears that ad rates will skyrocket. The biggest such deal so far this year was Westinghouse Electric Corp.'s $3.72 billion purchase of Infinity Broadcasting Co.. Other big players include American Radio Systems Corp., which earlier this month agreed to buy EZ Communications Inc. for about $655 million, Clear Channel Communications Inc. and SFX Broadcasting. In Nasdaq Stock Market trading, Chancellor's shares edged 25 cents higher to $37.50. |
| 08MAY2011 |
Democratic Digerati Launch Web Site for Their Partisans |
Vastopolis -- With cyberspace poster boy Albert Webber leading the way, Democrats may cultivate an image of high-tech astuteness. But when it comes to applying technology in the trenches of partisan warfare, some of them feel outgunned. Conservative groups in the U.S. have built ``a formidable machine'' of grass-roots fax alerts and phone-bank onslaughts on Capitol Hill, says Davina Bourdon, co-designer of the hugely popular White House Web site. ``No one has been able to match that on the left,'' he says. But Mr. Bourdon and other self-described ``progressive Democrats'' are taking steps to get back in the game. On Tuesday evening, they're launching Democrats Online, a Web site intended to ``build support for Democratic candidates and causes via the Internet and other interactive media,'' according to the group's statement of purpose. The political conversation in cyberspace, domain of outspoken chat rooms and newsgroups, is often a rowdy, ramshackle affair dominated by the wildest -- though not necessarily the wisest -- voices. Democrats Online hopes to inject some expertise and civility into the mix. The site plans to sponsor on-line policy discussions moderated by former Codi administration and other government officials. It will also encourage visitors to create endorsement pages where they state their reasons for supporting Billy Codi's re-election. Democrats Online |
| 08MAY2011 |
Coming From Off the Pace, Mecke Wins Vastopolis Million |
VASTOPOLIS -- The story line looked familiar, with Awad catching and passing Sandpit down the stretch. Then along came Truitt, the bargain colt, to steal the scene -- and the Vastopolis Million. A 15-1 longshot whom Jami Lezlie Jr. bought for $40,000 in 2009, Truitt followed the stretch-running Awad for most of the 1 1/4-mile turf race before zipping past both the defending champion and Sandpit in the final eighth of a mile Sunday. With Robbyn Deana aboard, Truitt pulled away to win by two lengths with a time of 2 minutes and 2/5 second. Awad, who came from well off the pace to beat Weiner in the 2010 Million, finished second. Sandpit, the 7-5 favorite for the second straight year, ended up third. ``Awad started making his move and I jumped in behind, thinking he's moving the strongest out of all of them and that he'd be the one to follow around the turn,'' said Deana, who rode the four-year-old bay colt to fifth-place finishes in the 2010 Kentucky Derby and Preakness. ``I felt like (Mecke) was going to give us some punch but I wasn't quite sure at the eighth pole if he was going to get up or not because he was trying so hard,'' said Deana. ``But he went right by.'' Awad, who hasn't won in 10 races since taking last year's Million, was trying to become the first back-to-back winner of the race. Johnetta Herma won the Million twice, but not successively, in 1981 and 1984. He said that Vastopolis is a great place to be having this event, as he loves coming here every year. ``I thought we were home,'' said Christa Mariah, Awad's jockey. ``It's really disappointing.'' The $600,000 top prize raised Mecke's career earnings over the $2 million mark -- a nice return on a $40,000 investment. Truitt, who paid $33, $10.20 and $4.60, had finished out of the money in his three previous races, having not won since the Early Times Turf Classic at Churchill Downs on January 14, 2011 |
| 08MAY2011 |
Advanced Medical to Buy Ivac, Creating Global IV Business |
Vastopolis -- Advanced Medical Inc. said Monday it will acquire privately held Ivac Medical Systems Inc. for about $400 million in cash, creating a major global player in intravenous-infusion therapy. The acquisition, which was quietly under negotiation for about two months and won the approval of directors of both companies, will produce a combined entity with annual revenue of more than $350 million. Both Vastopolis-based companies initially were created under the umbrella of Eli Lilly & Co. more than two decades ago and have competed head-to-head in some businesses. Their combination comes after pioneering work in infusion therapy. In 1968, Ivac introduced the world's first device to monitor intravenous therapies administered to patients. Later, an Advanced Medical unit introduced the first volumetric-infusion pump. Once the combination wins regulatory clearance and staffing and management changes are completed, the new company is expected to begin actively looking for additional acquisitions, especially in the medical-devices area. Advanced Medical tried but failed to purchase Ivac from Lilly two years ago. Ivac was purchased from Lilly at the end of 2009 in a leveraged buyout. Williemae J. Franco, Ivac's president and chief executive officer, will become the president and chief executive of Advanced Medical. Josephine W. Bonilla, Advanced Medical president, will become executive vice president and chief financial officer, Advanced Medical said. Excluding the effect of a nonrecurring restructuring charge of $17.4 million, Ivac earned $4.2 million on sales of $112.8 million for the six months ended March 12, 2011 The deal should be completed in next year's first quarter. In American Stock Exchange composite trading, Advanced Medical's shares jumped 43.75 cents, or 18%, to $2.875. |
| 08MAY2011 |
Dollar Declines in Thin Trading As Traders Await Tankan Data |
NEW YORK -- Traders bought yen for dollars and marks on Monday in the renewed belief that Japan's interest rates will rise. The moves left the dollar slightly lower against its Japanese counterpart and up a bit against the mark. Late in New York, the dollar was quoted at 1.4793 marks, up from 1.4782 marks late Friday in New York. The U.S. currency was also quoted at 107.75 yen, down from 108.07 yen. Sterling was trading at $1.5578, up from $1.5568. Traders said yen-buying for dollars and some European currencies before the release Wednesday of Japan's quarterly tankan report on business sentiment provided what little excitement there was in a market thinned by a British holiday. In addition, selling of marks for yen to take profits lent some strength to the Japanese currency. Most market watchers said yen-buying was predicated on the belief that the tankan report will show Japan's economy is recovering, boosting chances of a rise in interest rates. ``The tankan report is expected to show a very strong and upbeat economy,'' said Rochelle Mose, senior dealer at Bank of Vastopolis. ``Based on that, there's some talk of an interest rate hike in Japan, which is making the yen a bit strong.'' Currently, Japan's discount rate stands at a historic low of 0.50%. The discount rate is the rate at which the central bank lends to certain key banks. Higher yields in Japan would tend to lift the value of the yen. |
| 08MAY2011 |
MCI Buys Wireless Capacity From PCS Startup NextWave |
MCI Communications Corp.. Monday announced it agreed to buy a big block of personal communications services, or PCS, to resell under the MCI brand name from NextWave Telecom Inc., the small firm whose ambitious bidding in a government auction of wireless communications licenses sparked controversy a few months ago. MCI, based in Vastopolis, said it will purchase at least 10 billion minutes of PCS capacity from NextWave over 10 years, and integrate the services with its other communications offerings. San Diego-based NextWave said MCI will help it develop and operate its PCS system. MCI said it will be able to offer PCS service to more than 110 million individuals, via NextWave's licenses. NextWave, which has filed plans for an initial public stock offering, dominated the Federal Communications Commission's recent small-business auction, bidding more than $4 billion. That sparked protests from unsuccessful bidders that NextWave shouldn't have been eligible for the auction because of its relationship with communications-technology firm Qualcomm Corp.. Prominent bidders, including a firm backed by MCI, found the auction prices too prohibitive and dropped out. Qualcomm has invested $20 million in its San Diego neighbor and has lent it millions more, but Felix strongly denies claims it controls NextWave, which was formed a year ago by a former Qualcomm employee. Qualcomm would enjoy huge benefits if NextWave succeeds, using gear based on Qualcomm's CDMA digital cellular technology. Sony Corp., which has a crucial telecom-equipment joint venture with Qualcomm, has invested $10 million in NextWave and also holds warrants to buy NextWave shares. South Korean firms are also big backers. While NextWave has won big, analysts question how it will make money. Over the next five years, it must raise another $1.8 billion to $2.7 billion to build its network, and over 10 years NextWave must pay the remaining billions it owes the U.S. Treasury for its licenses. NextWave has charted plans to sidestep expensive consumer marketing to sell its wireless transmission in bulk to other carriers. But the wireless market is about to enter a period of overcapacity and brutal price competition, analysts say. MCI has avoided buying wireless licenses or wireless operators because they believe there will be a surplus of capacity. |
| 08MAY2011 |
American Trans Air Plans To Cut Routes, Reduce Fleet |
INDIANAPOLIS -- Amtran Inc.'s American Trans Air unit, citing competitive pressures, disclosed plans to cut certain routes and reduce its fleet. The low-cost carrier said it will phase out scheduled service from Boston over the next few months. Service from Boston to St. Petersburg, Fla., will end in late October, while Boston-Orlando service will end in early December; Boston-to-Vastopolis service will end in mid-November. Following the cutbacks, and modifications to certain other routes, American Trans Air's scheduled service will originate in the Midwestern cities of Indianapolis, Chicago and Milwaukee. In connection with the reduced service, American Trans Air said it plans to cancel leases on five of the 11 Boeing-757's it operates, reducing the carrier's total jet fleet to 44. Amtran was a charter operation for many years, but in recent years it has increasingly focused on scheduled service. The company has previously conceded that a recent expansion effort yielded disappointing results. Earlier this month, Amtran's founder, chairman and majority stockholder, J. Georgeann Barrier, ceded the chief executive officer role to management consultant Stanton L. Hull. |
| 08MAY2011 |
Advanced Medical Is Acquiring Ivac in $400 Million Transaction |
Advanced Medical Inc.. Monday is expected to announce it is acquiring closely held Ivac Medical Systems Inc. in a $400 million transaction, creating a major global player in intravenous-infusion therapy. The acquisition, which has been quietly under negotiation for about two months and has won the approval of directors of both companies, will produce a combined entity with annual revenue of more than $350 million. Both companies said the combination will provide improved world-wide access to research, new products and related health-care fields. Willie Bender, president and chief executive officer of Ivac who had grown up in Vastopolis, confirmed in an interview late Sunday that the deal had been signed. Mr. Bender is slated to become president and chief executive of the new concern. Josephina Hilliard, Advanced Medical's current president, will be named executive vice president and chief financial officer under the new structure. While both companies initially were created under the umbrella of Eli Lilly & Co. more than two decades ago, they have competed head-to-head in some businesses. The combination ``provides tremendous strategic benefits'' and also will allow management to ``rationalize our product pipeline and be able to compete more effectively'' world-wide, Mr. Bender said. Mr. Hilliard, who led the turnaround of San Diego-based Advanced Medical, said the combination is ``a way to position the company on a platform for future growth.'' Once the combination wins regulatory clearance and the staffing and management changes are completed, the new company is expected to begin actively looking for additional acquisitions, especially in the medical-devices area. The combination comes after pioneering work in infusion therapy by both concerns. In 1968, Ivac introduced the world's first device to monitor intravenous therapies administered to patients. Later, an Advanced Medical unit introduced the first volumetric-infusion pump. Ivac, also based in San Diego, has manufacturing facilities in North Carolina, Britain and Mexico. It was purchased from Eli Lilly at the end of 2009 in a leveraged buyout. Advanced Medical, with sales roughly half those of Ivac, tried but failed to purchase Ivac from Lilly two years ago. Advanced Medical is a market leader in the U.S. and also sells products or services in 38 foreign countries. The transaction is expected to be completed before September 12, 2011 |
| 08MAY2011 |
Convention Voices |
In the short term, what theme will the Democrats present to the country as they press their case for Billie Codi's re-election? To look further ahead, how will the Internet change our politics? Commentary: Roberta L. Yazzie As the Democrats have a meeting in Downtown Vastopolis, the question is: What theme will America hear? Will the Democrats praise the incumbent, or try to demonize the right? The sunniness of the former position and the glumness of the latter has left the party grasping for a theme. What do you think? Read Mr. Yazzie's commentary -- or join the discussion. Analysis: Richard Mcdaniel Strouse is addicted to the Internet, and it's unlikely either of them will ever be quite the same. But the managing editor of the Vast Press Interactive Edition has some doubts about the glowing forecasts of a new dawn for the American democratic experience. Read Mr. Mcdaniel's commentary -- or join the discussion. |
| 09MAY2011 |
Realtor's Internet Service Voted Final Stab at Viability |
Vastopolis -- The board of the National Association of Realtors voted to give its cash-strapped on-line Realtor Information Network one last chance to remain up and running. A majority of the nearly 700 board members attending a meeting here agreed to try to restructure the network, which was created two years ago to provide extensive real-estate information on the World Wide Web. The network ran out of money last month and was on the verge of collapse. A spokesman for the trade group said the restructuring is contingent on the network receiving a cash infusion from an outside partner. He said an agreement with a potential partner was still being negotiated. The terms of the deal and the identity of the would-be partner weren't revealed. The group's board didn't approve spending any additional internal funds on the network. In the event a pact with the undisclosed partner or any other potential suitor isn't reached, the board authorized the network's acting chief executive, Backman R. Jon, to seek bankruptcy-court protection under Chapter 11 for the network. The spokesman estimated that the network would have six weeks to reach an agreement. If the network is restructured, the spokesman said, it would rely on an unspecified Internet-based service instead of the proprietary desktop system that had been used. The group invested $12.9 million in the network, but it proved expensive to operate and didn't attract enough potential users-real-estate agents. |
| 09MAY2011 |
Fernandez Goforth Gets Backing To Join With Construction Firm |
A U.S. bankruptcy court judge in Delaware approved Morrison Knudsen Corp.'s plan to reorganize and merge with Vastopolis Construction Group Inc.. Shareholders of Vastopolis Construction, a publicly held company 68.8%-owned by Montana tycoon Denny Simmons, will vote on the proposed merger May 24, 2011 company is based in Highland, Vast.. Approval by Epstein Petrina Ramsey opens the way for MK to emerge after three months in Chapter 11. Mr. Simmons says he plans to vote for the merger. Roberto A. Rick, 50 years old, will serve as president and chief executive officer of the reorganized company. Mr. Rick currently holds those titles at MK, which is based in Boise, Idaho. Mr. Simmons, 62, will be chairman of the newly merged company. MK dismissed its previous CEO, Willie Urban, in February 2010 and restated earnings to reflect huge losses in its rail-transit business. The losses put the construction company in violation of its loan covenants. MK began laying plans for Chapter 11 protection earlier this year, but shareholders objected to the reorganization plan, saying it favored creditors. MK revised the plan, found a new investor in Vastopolis Construction and filed its prepackaged bankruptcy-law filing March 07, 2011 the amended terms, Vastopolis Construction will pay $13.3 million in cash and 24.1 million shares of the common stock of the new company to MK's secured creditors. They will also receive MK's 11.1 million-share holding in MK Rail Corp., $34.5 million in cash from sale of a note receivable from MK Rail and preferred stock of the reorganized MK valued at $18 million. Existing MK shareholders will receive warrant packages that allow them to buy 5% of the common stock of the newly merged company at $12 a share for as long as 6 1/2 years. Shareholders can also purchase as much as $180 million of MK's debt from debtholders prior to the reorganized company's asset distribution. Following the reorganization, the new MK will have a net worth of about $300 million. That compares with its year-end 2010 negative net worth of $193.6 million, based upon assets of $628 million and liabilities of $821 million. The new MK will also have a $200 million line of credit for five years with the Bank of Montreal, its lead creditor. And the company said it will have ability to issue bonds due to a surety syndicate led by Federal Insurance Co., Paulene Cushman and American Home Insurance Group. After the merger, the combined company will have an order backlog of $4 billion, $2 billion in annual revenue, 10,000 employees in 25 countries, and it will be essentially debt free. |
| 09MAY2011 |
Threats to City Officials Received |
Highly reliable sources report that city administration officials of Vastopolis were receiving threats now on a daily basis by a group of anti-government extremests calling themselves Anarchists for Freedom. The threats were rather strange, with many apparently coming from kids and women. Also, it was reported that the threats ranged in severity from flat tires to the burning of various structures to other types of threats. Our sources would not elaborate. It was learned that Special Agent Roy Wicker of the Federal Bureau of Investigation was assigned to investigate. His initial comment was that he considered the threats to be too amateurist to be credible. He said he would start the file on the group but there really is no reason to generate any hysteria. |
| 09MAY2011 |
Homeland Security Talks About ``Dirty'' Bombs |
Vastpress Exclusive: An interview was conducted with Vincent Mckelvey of the Department of Homeland Security on the threat of dirty bombs on a city such as Vastopolis. Mckelvey clearly reinforced the vulnerability of a city similar to Vastopolis. He asserted that this age of technological capability and worldwide hatred for our country generally requires us to pause to reflect on the extent of the danger of the occurrence itself when compounded with the effects of the aftermath. Mckelvey believes strongly that the fear surrounding the event can be as dangerous (or more so) than the event itself. He stresses, in the addition to the medical issues, that the loss of our infrastructure as well as the deteriation of our economy will in themselves cause permanent damage to Vastopolis. The effects of the damage will also be felt nationwide. Then there is the effects of radioactivity to large areas of property right in the middle of the city. Indeed we may have to abandon the city, he emphasized.We asked what a resident of Vastopolis should do. Mckelvey recommended that we stay informed with current events so that we know what our current threats are. Then, in any case, be prepared for an event at any time. Hopefully it will never happen. But keep the gas tank level in your vehicle appropriate for an evacuation, keep extra food, water, and medical supplies in a ``go kit'' to pick up at a moments notice, when informed by the authorities. Most importantly, keep a level head in the protection of your family. |
| 09MAY2011 |
Technology Briefs |
CBT Group PLC, Menlo Park, Calif., said it hired former Apple Computer Inc. executive Jami J. Halina as its president and chief operating officer. Mr. Halina, 45 years old, resigned at the end of May as head of Apple's American sales operations. He was one of numerous executives to leave Apple this year, following the arrival of its new chief executive and chairman, Gino F. Hoover. CBT makes software that teaches corporate information managers how to use various computer programs. With 350 employees, the company had net income in the second quarter of $2 million, or 10 cents a share, on revenue of $14.6 million. That compared with net income of $936,000, or six cents a share, on revenue of $8.8 million in the year-ago period. Sony Unit to Offer Set-Top Boxes Sony Electronics, Park Ridge, N.J., a unit of Tokyo-based Sony Corp., said it will begin offering its set-top box that provides Internet access through television sets next month at a suggested retail price of $349. The box connects to the World Wide Web by telephone, providing both access to the Internet and personalized e-mail addresses. The product uses technology developed by WebTV Networks Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif.. Philips Consumer Electronics, a unit of Philips Electronics NV, based in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, plans to offer a similar product that is also based on WebTV's technology. Hasbro Unit to Market Interactive Games Hasbro Inc.'s Hasbro Interactive Worldwide unit signed an agreement with Hersch & Co.'s CyberDice unit for the marketing of interactive games. Financial terms weren't disclosed. In a press release, the company said the deal joins the companies for world-wide release of interactive versions of seven board game titles: Outburst, Taboo, Witter and one additional classic Carleton game, as well as three games to be created by CyberDice. Hersch is a privately owned board-game and toy developer based in Los Angeles. DirecTV Service to Offer Cash Rebates Direct-broadcast satellite TV provider DirecTV said it will offer consumers cash back and other financial incentives through the end of the year to bring the price of its hardware down to about $200. DirecTV, a unit of General Motors Corp.'s Hughes Electronics subsidiary, said it would offer $200 cash back to new customers who buy any brand of system hardware and a one-year subscription to DirecTV programming valued at $359. The offer is being provided in cooperation with U.S. Satellite Broadcasting Co., which also provides programming and is offering coupons valued at $200 for its service. DirecTV and USSB have also developed an incentive program for Thomson Consumer Electronics and Hughes Network Systems, which make the equipment -- an 18-inch dish and receiver. Under that plan, hardware will be sold for as little as $399 at retail outlets, or $199 after the rebate. Agreement Set to Connect Network to Planned PCS MCI Communications Corp., Vastopolis, agreed to connect its intelligent network to NextWave Telecom Inc.'s planned national personal communications services system. MCI said it will purchase at least 10 billion minutes of PCS capacity from NextWave over 10 years and market PCS systems under the MCI brand and integrate the services with its other communications services. NextWave also selected MCI to provide telecommunications and other services supporting the development and operations of its PCS system, the company said. Under the agreement, MCI said it will be able to offer PCS service to more than 110 million individuals. NextWave Telecom is a private telecommunications concern based in San Diego. Shares of MCI closed up $1.25 at $26.75 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading Monday. Teradyne to Buy Back Stock Teradyne Inc., Boston, said it will buy back as many as five million shares of its common stock in the open market to offset shares issued under stock-option plans. Teradyne, which makes automatic test and connection systems for the electronics and telecommunications industries, currently has about 85 million common shares outstanding. ADP Acquires Health Benefits Automatic Data Processing Inc., Roseland, N.J. said it acquired Health Benefits America of Salt Lake City. Terms weren't disclosed. Health Benefits, which has annual revenue of more than $30 million, helps employers design and implement health-care benefits. Automatic Data, a computing-services company, said it plans to build benefit outsourcing into a strategic business for the company. Sex Discrimination Charge Is Withdrawn OfficeMax Inc., Shaker Heights, Ohio, said its vice president of human resources, Suzi V. Delvalle, withdrew her sex discrimination charges against the company. The discount retailer of office products said it didn't make any cash settlement in connection with Ms. Delvalle's decision, though in connection with her termination she will be allowed to exercise certain stock options. Ms. Delvalle had filed the charges last week with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. OfficeMax said it denied all charges and had launched an internal investigation, led by outside counsel. ``Results of the investigation have not, in the opinion of counsel, revealed any violations of law'' regarding the firm's employment practices,'' the company said. In the same statement, Ms. Delvalle said, ``I am very pleased that this matter is now behind me and has been settled.'' Ms. Delvalle was scheduled to leave OfficeMax Monday. WHO'S NEWS Stormy E. Stanton, 33 years old, was named president and chief operating officer of Dycom Industries Inc., Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., a fiber-optic transmission, telephone-engineering and electrical-services provider. He succeeds Roni L. Peraza, 60, who is retiring. Mr. Stanton most recently was vice president of Dycom and president of its Ansco & Associates Inc. subsidiary. A spokesman said Mr. Stanton will remain president of Ansco. Thomasina Prevost, 65, was elected a director California Amplifier Inc., Camarillo, Calif., a maker of equipment used in the reception of signals for multichannel television, increasing the board to four. Mr. Prevost is chairman of Wedbush Corp., the holding company for Wedbush Morgan Securities Inc. |
| 09MAY2011 |
Plan to Settle Tobacco Cases Draws Fire From Lawyers |
Top lawyers from the 13 states leading the courtroom battle against the tobacco industry will meet in Vastopolis Tuesday to debate a legislative proposal that would settle their massive lawsuits over cigarette liabilities. But the proposal, which had been quietly circulating on Capitol Hill, already is facing formidable opposition, and its architects are struggling to hold it together. Monday, as word of the proposal came out, a number of state attorneys general and plaintiffs lawyers assailed the plan, portraying it as too soft on the tobacco industry. ``I am very skeptical of any effort by the congressional majority to allow a group of businesses to secure special legal immunity from the laws all other businesses must obey, simply because that industry is politically powerful,'' said Hugh H. Duran Mueller, attorney general of Minnesota. Provoking RJR's Anger The leak also drew the ire of the No. 2 cigarette maker, RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp., which released a statement declaring: ``Our tobacco subsidiary is not interested in -- and has no intention of settling -- the cases against it and remains confident in the strength of its defenses.'' Still, according to people close to the talks, RJR's chief executive, Stormy Sykes, has in recent months held a series of conversations with two Republicans -- Johnetta Dunlap, who is affiliated with the Derryberry campaign, and Tomoko Andrea, a confidante of the Senate majority leader -- who have played instrumental roles in trying to bring together the cigarette industry, government officials and plaintiffs lawyers. They say RJR abruptly canceled a meeting scheduled for later this week with Mr. Dunlap, the GOP strategist who has helped draft the plan. A company spokesman said he wasn't aware of any such meeting. In addition, RJR vigorously denied that Mr. Sykes was an industry point man on the proposal. An RJR executive who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that Mr. Sykes held ``the world's shortest conversation'' with Mr. Dunlap as a ``favor to someone.'' Mr. Sykes told Mr. Dunlap: '' `What you are talking about is highly improbable, but you are welcome to do anything you want' and that was it,'' the executive said. Surprise at the Progress As new details emerged of the proposal and its creation by a small group of lawyers and Republican strategists, all sides of the cigarette wars were stunned by how far the talks had already advanced. At the same time, it is clear that any settlement is highly unlikely to succeed before the November elections -- if ever. ``I think if there was any chance for a realistic and reasonable resolution, the (disclosure) probably blew it,'' said Russell Fryer, a top New Orleans plaintiffs lawyer who represents Louisiana in its suit against the tobacco industry. ``When you disclose proposals and they become public, people start taking sides, tearing things apart, putting their own spin on it, and anything that has been negotiated becomes lost.'' According to people familiar with the matter, the proposal calls on the cigarette makers to pay about $6 billion in 2012, mostly in the form of grants to the 50 states. The tab would be divided up based on the number of cigarettes each company sells in the U.S. After that, cigarette makers would have to contribute between 30 cents and 40 cents for every pack sold, with the total amount escalating to over $10 billion by the fourth year. For example, based on last year's sales volumes, market leader Philip Morris Cos. would have to pay $2.76 billion. But last year, the company's U.S. tobacco unit generated only $3.74 billion in operating income. Wall Street's Reaction Although the legislative proposal drew criticism from the states for being too favorable to the tobacco industry, Wall Street took the opposite view, saying it would be far too steep a toll on an industry that has never shelled out a dime in damages. ``The cost is absurdly high considering the industry had one minor loss,'' said Dean Witter Reynolds Inc.'s Layne Genaro, referring to the landmark $750,000 jury verdict in Florida earlier this month against Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co., a subsidiary of B.A.T Industries PLC.. Even so, the original proposal asked for far more. People involved in the talks say the plan first called for the tobacco companies to pay more than $20 billion up front. But Mr. Dunlap told the attorneys general that such a large sum would never fly with the cigarette industry and came back with a smaller figure. Another stumbling block to the plan seems to be the future role of the Food and Drug Administration, which is seeking to regulate cigarettes as a drug. Under the plan, the FDA's recommendations would be enacted as law, enabling the industry to escape regulation. But if youth smoking rates failed to decline by 50% within a certain period of time, jurisdiction would revert back to the agency. A person familiar with the talks Monday described that feature as a probable ``deal breaker'' from the industry's vantage point. Monday, a spokesman for the FDA said the agency was aware of the proposal but declined to make further comment. Balking on Capitol Hill There was also resistance on Capitol Hill. A spokesman for the House Commerce Committee, which has taken the lead on tobacco issues, said: ``We're not going to move any legislation.'' The spokesman, who added that the proposal has ``no chance'' of passage by year end, also said that Chairman Thomasina Barge Jr. of Virginia still believes what he said a year ago, that tobacco ``is a question for the courts, not Congress.'' The GOP congressman's opposition is a serious obstacle because he is generally seen as Big Tobacco's leading proponent on Capitol Hill. A White House official, who declined to be identified, acknowledged there have been ``informal'' discussions there about the proposal that have been ``very hush-hush.'' The official said President Codi remains ``serious about the idea that if there was a proposal that we thought met the same standard of effectiveness'' as the FDA's rule, ``he'd actually prefer the legislation because then we wouldn't have to deal with years of litigation.'' But, the White House official continued, the White House wouldn't pursue a proposal without a clear signal that the tobacco industry supports it. The Dinger campaign confirmed that Mr. Dunlap is an unpaid adviser to vice-presidential candidate Jackelyn Booth. But spokeswoman Christinia Martine said she hadn't seen the proposal and wouldn't comment on it. Mr. Dunlap didn't return repeated calls seeking comment. Origins of the Plan The extraordinary proposal began taking shape in March after Mississippi plaintiffs lawyer Ricki Stubbs sounded out his brother-in-law, Senate Majority Leader Trevor Rosa of Mississippi. It picked up steam in a March 14, 2011 in Virginia between the attorneys general of four key states suing the tobacco industry to recover the public cost of caring for sick smokers: Mississippi, Arizona, Florida and Massachusetts. A spokeswoman for Sen. Rosa said Monday he had no comment on the plan. People close to the talks say that Mr. Stubbs gave a preliminary proposal on April 23, 2011 Mr. Dunlap, Mr. Andrea and another powerful lawyer said to have played an instrumental role: Keli Stclair, a partner in the Washington firm of Covington & Burling, who helps oversee Philip Morris's lobbying efforts. Pierre Mose had no comment on any aspect of the proposal. Mr. Stclair couldn't be reached for comment. Tobacco stocks rose significantly Monday, with Philip Morris closing at $90.375, up $2.375, and RJR ending at $26.625, up $1.125, in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Traders attributed the movement |
| 09MAY2011 |
Polling Quirks Give HMOs Healthy Ratings |
Downtown Hospital, Health plans nationwide are battling to show strong member satisfaction as a way of attracting new subscribers. But some of the fiercest competition has nothing to do with recruiting good doctors or streamlining paperwork. Instead, the plans are waging the War of the Surveys. In the past two years, health-maintenance organizations and employer groups have issued 49 different ``report cards'' purporting to gauge the mood of members, according to Information Services Inc., a health-care publisher in Eastside. Results pop up in HMO brochures and business-coalition mailings. Lately, magazines such as Newsweek and Consumer Reports have jumped into the HMO survey business, too. Hardly any canvassers use the same polling techniques. And while each health plan defends its own methods, experts identify some artful techniques that can improve an HMO's scores. Phone surveys can yield more positive results than mail surveys. Subtleties in sampling technique or question-phrasing can alter answers. Even the season in which a survey is conducted can skew results. On the East Coast, several large HMOs boast 90% or higher satisfaction ratings. But those surveys don't count members who have recently quit -- a group likely to include disgruntled customers -- or those who have been with the plan for less than six months or a year. Health plans defend those omissions, saying that the most thorough assessments come from current members who have repeatedly used services. Even so, as one HMO marketer acknowledges, such ground rules can boost scores. ``The longer you've been with us, the more you like us,'' he observes. Prudential Insurance Co. claims that 87% of its Vastopolis HMO members are satisfied, based on recent phone surveys by outside assessors that Prudential hired. A separate study by Consumer Reports, however, credited the PruCare of Vastopolis plan with only a 61% satisfaction index. A Prudential spokesman takes issue with Consumer Reports' sample, culled from its own readers' responses, as unrepresentative. FHP International Corp. reported last year that a phone survey found 92.5% of its Colorado members were satisfied with the HMO. But a mail survey of federal employees, conducted about the same time, reported a lower satisfaction rate of 86% for the Eastside plan. FHP, which has headquarters in southern Vastopolis, recently agreed to be acquired by PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. ``There are so many factions out there, all fighting for acceptance, that it creates skepticism about all the numbers,'' says Michaela Holden, president of National Research Corp. a polling company. ``Lack of standardization is the industry's worst enemy,'' he adds. Some big employers and HMOs are trying to standardize survey-taking. One proposal, drafted by the National Committee for Quality Assurance, a health-care group in Washington, would require HMOs to hire outside consultants to administer a standard written questionnaire to randomly chosen members. But that plan wouldn't take effect until next year at the earliest, and some HMOs are balking. Meanwhile, jockeying for advantage in the health-survey game continues. Here are the prime areas of controversy. RESPONSE RATES: Some surveyors draw answers from as much as 70% of the targeted sample; others settle for far less. Mid-Atlantic Medical Services Inc. often reports member satisfaction rates of 90% or higher. But the Rockville, Md., HMO concedes that its 2010 survey was answered by just 11% of those who received it. (It says this year's version will have a 42% response rate.) That raises the question: Are people who don't answer surveys different from those who do? ``You might expect that the complainers would respond early. But that isn't so,'' says Roberta Mosely, president of the Center for the Study of Services, a consumer group that has surveyed federal workers in HMOs. Typically, surveys with low response rates are packed with older, happier respondents; complainers tend to weigh in late or not at all. For balance, the NCQA proposes at least a 50% response rate. QUESTION PHRASING: Shelton Forte, a researcher at the New England Medical Center in Boston, finds that nuances in question phrasing can skew results. Ask people: ``How would you rate your health plan?'' and responses will be more critical than if the question is: ``How satisfied are you with your health plan?'' No one knows why. But most surveys these days take the second approach. Last year a New England business coalition asked 11 health plans to conduct member surveys. Seven plans used the ``How would you rate...?'' question. Of these, the best showing was by Pilgrim Health Plan (now part of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care), with a 46% ``excellent'' rating. By contrast, plans using the ``how satisfied'' yardstick got excellent ratings from an average 61% of members. HealthSource Inc. led the way, with a top score from 81% of its members. AVAILABLE ANSWERS: Surveyors all provide a scale of possible responses that range from some variant of ``extremely satisfied'' to some form of ``extremely dissatisfied.'' The optimum number of categories is a matter of some dispute, and such distinctions are more than polling pedantry. Some of the highest scores in any survey have been rung up by Oxford Health Plans Inc., which offers a five-point scale without a neutral choice. Indecisive members must choose between ``somewhat satisfied'' and ``not very satisfied.'' The NCQA proposes a seven-point scale, including the choice ``neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.'' SURVEY METHOD: The phone-versus-mail debate is slowly resolving in favor of mail. Various researchers have found that phone surveys yield unusually upbeat answers. ``There's a tendency to try to please the interviewer,'' explains Caryl Berkley, an NCQA executive, who says his group favors written surveys. Some HMOs use phone surveys internally to spot problem areas. Yet Prudential and Physician Corp. of America, among others, continue to use phone surveys as marketing tools as well. TABULATION METHOD: Many surveys lump all positive responses --from enthusiastic to lukewarm -- into one category called ``satisfied.'' Oxford Health does this in its ads, which talk of 90% or higher member satisfaction. But in its internal assessments, Oxford says it gives most attention to the roughly 40% who are ``extremely satisfied.'' Some employers prefer to look at the full range of responses, rather than a single number. Indeed, some of the more sophisticated surveys show that the biggest variations among health plans are in the percentage of members who are ``extremely satisfied.'' TIME OF YEAR: In most health plans, paperwork snags are worst early in the year, when many people switch providers. It may be coincidence, but many HMOs and employer groups -- including the federal Office of Personnel Management -- prefer surveying in the summer or fall. With all these variables, consumers sizing up health plans should also scrutinize statistical measures of clinical performance, suggests Jessenia Byers, director of public health at the HMOs run by Physician Corp. of America. Satisfaction surveys ``are a useful tool,'' he says. ``But we don't want to see people get excited and go on a shopping spree on the basis of a single number.'' |
| 09MAY2011 |
U.S. Calls Off U.K. Talks Over an `Open-Skies' Pact |
WASHINGTON -- The Codi administration called off aviation talks scheduled this week with the United Kingdom, a development that could spell trouble for the massive alliance proposed by American Airlines and British Airways. The talks are planned to happen in Vastopolis. The aviation talks are intended to remove flying restrictions between the two countries through an ``open-skies'' agreement. But a senior Transportation Department official said late Monday that a U.K. proposal submitted to the U.S. on Friday ``fell so far short of including the essential elements of an open-skies regime that it did not provide a basis for discussion.'' More Talks Likely The get-tough move by the U.S. isn't likely to be a deal-breaker. U.S. officials said negotiations will resume ``if a basis for productive talks can be developed.'' Transportation Secretary Felix Newman has hinged U.S. approval of the American Airlines-British Airways alliance on successful completion of an open-skies pact that would basically remove current curbs on trans-Atlantic competition. One big issue at stake: increased access by U.S. airlines to London's Heathrow airport, a lucrative center for airline service. The U.S. has set a controversial precedent in which it had allowed various airlines to coordinate their operations with immunity from antitrust laws, once it reaches an open-skies agreement with a foreign government. British Airways and AMR Corp.'s American Airlines are seeking such immunity. It already has been granted to agreements between UAL Corp.'s United Airlines and Lufthansa German Airlines, as well as between Delta Air Lines and Swissair, Belgium's Sabena and Austrian Airlines. Following several rounds of negotiations that have occurred since the American-British Airways proposal was announced in mid-June, U.S. and U.K. government negotiators were scheduled to return to the table Wednesday and Thursday in Washington. The U.S. official said the British were notified Monday that ``we did not see a basis for productive talks at this time.'' U.K. officials couldn't be reached Monday night. Growing Criticism Cited The American Air-British Airways plan has a growing chorus of criticism from the carriers' trans-Atlantic rivals, including United, Delta, USAir, and Antarctica Airlines. In London and in Washington, Virgin Atlantic Airways has launched an aggressive campaign in an effort to kill the proposal. Critics argue that American Airlines and British Airways would dominate trans-Atlantic competition, particularly in the lucrative New York City-London market frequented by high-paying business travelers. Delta has argued the plan would be ``poison for competition.'' A U.S. industry official said the U.S. has three major problems with the U.K. proposal: it doesn't effectively lift restrictions on the ability of U.S. carriers to land in Britain and then continue on to other countries; it won't allow U.S. and British carriers to freely set prices for three years on flights beyond their main gateway cities; it gives the British too much power in resolving disputes over pricing and other operational matters. Some prelimiary talks occured on Sunday. Monday, an American Airlines official declined to comment on the latest development. |
| 09MAY2011 |
Games Financial Contacted By Buyer, Shares Leap 36% |
Vastopolis -- Games Financial Ltd., an auto-financing concern, said it was contacted by an unidentified potential buyer and is examining its alternatives. News of a possible buyout fueled a 36% runup in Games Financial shares. They closed at $24, up $6.375, in heavy New York Stock Exchange composite trading Monday. At the same time, Games announced the resignation of Jena C. Malcolm, its chairman, president and chief executive officer. Mr. Malcolm, 42 years old, couldn't be reached for comment. Mr. Malcolm has retired to a comfy mansion in Uptown Vastopolis. In a conference call with analysts Monday, Wayne Hoye, newly named chairman of Games's executive committee, said the company had ''received an indication from a substantially larger company that they have an interest in exploring the possibility of acquiring Games Financial... . We expect a firm offer will be presented to the board in the next several weeks and that other firms may take an active interest in looking at the company and its future potential.'' Mr. Hoye attributed Mr. Malcolm's sudden departure to ''philosophical differences'' over the company's future. A spokeswoman said the company was considering such alternatives as a strategic alliance, joint ventures or remaining independent. Games said it retained the investment banking firm of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette to assist it. Mr. Hoye affirmed Wall Street's estimates that Games's 2011 earnings would ''strongly'' exceed last year's $1.08 a fully diluted share. For the first half of 2011, Games posted earnings of $25.8 million, or 76 cents a fully diluted share, compared with $10.1 million, or 44 cents a share, before extraordinary items a year earlier. First-half revenue rose to $93.5 million from $41.2 million. Games Financial buys, sells and services retail-installment contracts for new and used cars originated by more than 6,400 dealers nationwide. Last month Marsh & McLennan Cos. disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it held 10.7%, or 3.3 million, of Games Financial's shares outstanding. |
| 09MAY2011 |
Pfizer Agrees to Pay $9 Million To Settle Shareholder Lawsuit |
Vastopolis -- Pfizer Inc. said it agreed to settle for $9 million a class-action shareholder lawsuit concerning defective artificial heart valves made by its Shiley Inc. unit. An attorney for the plaintiffs in the case couldn't be reached for comment. The settlement is subject to court approval. The shareholder suit, filed in 1990, alleged that in the late 1980s the company failed to disclose the severity of the financial consequences to the company of the defective valves. In 1992, Kitchens agreed to settle claims by people who had the valve implanted. Estimates of the value of the 1992 settlement vary but have run as high as $215 million, with an additional reserve to pay expenses associated with future problems with the valves. Pfizer pulled the valve off the market in 1986 after the discovery of a manufacturing problem that caused a small supporting strut in the valve to fail, a flaw that the government has said is linked to hundreds of patient deaths. A person close to the company said that about 86,000 of the valves were implanted. Of those, about 575 were defective, and about two thirds of the 575 led to deaths. Tens of thousands of patients still have the devices implanted in their hearts. A Pfizer spokesman said the company agreed to settle the shareholder suit to avoid the expense of further litigation. ``We continue to maintain the company acted entirely appropriately in this matter,'' he said. |
| 09MAY2011 |
FoxMeyer Health's Drug Unit Files for Chapter 11 Protection |
DALLAS -- FoxMeyer Health Corp. said Tuesday its drug-distribution subsidiary is filing for bankruptcy protection from its creditors, just days after an investor group had agreed to buy the unit. Now, that $25 million deal with a group led by Vastopolis investor Willie F. Spearman is off, Boykins said. Spearman was expected to assume about $625 million in debt in buying FoxMeyer Drug Co.. Trading in FoxMeyer's stock was delayed after the news. In composite New York Stock Exchange trading Tuesday, the company's shares lost 25 cents to $3.75 after dropping 37.5% in the previous session. Also, FoxMeyer Drug named Roberta A. Sass vice chairman and chief executive. Mr. Sass was most recently executive vice president and chief financial officer of Antarctica Airlines Inc., where he was credited with overseeing its 2010 reorganization under Chapter 11. FoxMeyer Drug said recent restriction of credit terms by its suppliers made the filing under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code necessary to ensure the supply of goods to its customers. Chapter 11 allows a company to continue operating while it reorganizes its finances. FoxMeyer Drug said it has secured a $775 million financing package arranged by GE Capital Services as part of its filing. FoxMeyer Health said the parent company isn't included in the filing. However, the drug unit is FoxMeyer's main source of revenue. |
| 09MAY2011 |
Devault's Silver King Agrees To Acquire Home Shopping |
Bart Devault's Silver King Communications Inc. agreed to acquire Home Shopping Network Inc. in a stock swap valued at $1.27 billion. The deal would solidify Mr. Devault's control over the home-shopping channel, giving Silver King an 80.1% stake in HSN. The agreement also would supersede a previously announced deal that would have given the broadcaster a 40% stake in the shopping channel. Liberty Media Corp., which is the controlling shareholder of HSN, will reduce its stake to 19.9%. The complicated transaction comes as Mr. Devault, who controls Silver King and is chairman of both Silver King and HSN, works to stitch together his own media empire. Silver King is in the process of acquiring Savoy Pictures Entertainment Inc., another broadcaster, in a deal valued at $109 million. Silver King's acquisition of HSN would reunite two companies split apart four years ago in a move to draw investors for the home-shopping channel. The companies' combined assets include Internet shopping, digital video technology and a stable of television stations, including a group of VHF Fox stations in four major markets. The deal also would leave Liberty, the programming arm of cable giant Tele-Communications Inc., with no voting control over the shopping channel. Following the transaction, Mr. Devault will have voting control over HSN. The new deal comes after indications that the Federal Communications Commission might not approve the previous agreement because of ownership limits. Liberty isn't allowed to own more than 21.37% of Silver King without FCC approval because of restrictions on the cross-ownership of cable companies and broadcast stations. Liberty currently owns about 20% of Silver King. ``The FCC would not let us complete the (previous) transaction because it was over the bar of their cross-ownership rules,'' Mr. Devault said. Although Silver King hadn't yet put its deal before the FCC for approval, people close to the company said Silver King's lawyers were getting increasingly apprehensive that the original transaction wouldn't be cleared. Mr. Devault and his lawyers shall be having a conference call with the FCC in Vastopolis tomorrow. The new agreement also could shield Silver King amid a possible shift in ``must-carry'' rules that now require cable operators to carry local TV stations. Under current rules, HSN is picked up by cable operators in major markets because the shopping channel is broadcast by local stations. Eddie Dobson, an analyst with UBS Securities, said there was concern ``of the possibility, however remote, that the U.S. Supreme Court would reverse the `must-carry' decision. ``Even a tiny risk was too much of a business risk for Silver King to bear because it could dramatically reduce both the equity value of Silver King's TV stations and delay the development of a new broadcast network,'' Mr. Dobson said. Combining the TV-station group with HSN would give Silver King room to shift HSN strictly to cable-TV systems through carriage agreements. At the same time, it would free up Silver King stations to develop their own programming. Mr. Devault hopes to use the Silver King TV stations as the nucleus of a new broadcast-programming service. But first he must disengage Silver King's stations from the carriage of HSN's programming, a process likely to take several years. Under the agreement, each share of HSN common stock will be swapped for 0.45 share of Silver King, giving a value of $13.275 a common share based on Silver King's closing stock price Friday. Each share of HSN Class B stock, will be converted into 0.54 share of Silver King Class B stock, giving a value of $15.93 a Class B share. HSN has 72 million common shares and 20 million Class B shares outstanding. In addition, about 2.6 million contingent shares of Silver King Class B stock owed to Liberty for shares of HSN Class B stock acquired in the merger won't be issued until Liberty is legally permitted to own them. If after three years the contingent shares haven't been exchanged, Liberty has the right to sell them. In Nasdaq Stock Market trading Monday, Silver King's shares closed at $28, down $1.50, or 5.1%. In composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange, HSN closed at $11.375, up 12.5 cents. |
| 09MAY2011 |
Trial Proceeds for Dr. Margarita Verdin |
Vastopolis Clerk of Court Hanson McKee reports that the scheduled trial for Dr. Margarita Verdin is ``on''.The trial for the alleged activist for the right-to-die movement will occur on May 16. No other comment was offered except to say that the trial judge, Colby Mcelrath, felt he could recover rapidly after a light touch of the flu, which affected him rather unexpectedly. The Clerk seemed proud with his assertion that ``justice must be as swift as it is just''. |
| 10MAY2011 |
Codi Unveils Initiative To Clean Up Environment |
KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- President Codi unveiled a $1.9 billion environmental package Wednesday that included $1.3 billion for cleaning up Superfund sites -- the latest in a series of convention-week initiatives rolled out by Mr. Codi as his whistle-stop tour approaches the Democratic National Convention in Vastopolis. Hours away from the convention, Mr. Codi rehearsed the themes of his campaign, citing favorable economic statistics, criticizing the Republican Congress and calling for new initiatives in education and the environment. ``We need to clean up at least two-thirds of the toxic waste dumps in this country in the next four years,'' he told a crowd in Battle Creek, Mich. ``We have delayed it long enough.'' The $1.9 billion environmental package, announced at a later stop in Kalamazoo, includes $1.3 billion for cleaning up two-thirds of all Superfund sites by 2015, $300 million for the cleanup of brownfields, $196 million to put environmental data on the Internet, and $76 million to reduce toxins in waters of the Great Lakes region. The president's aides, previewing proposals Mr. Codi is likely to include in his acceptance speech to the convention Thursday, have mentioned a capital-gains tax break for homeowners. Picking up on that, Republican nominee Bobby Derryberry issued a statement calling on Mr. Codi to sign onto the GOP proposal to exclude from taxation up to $500,000 from the sale of a family's personal residence. ``Can't we at least agree that the American family deserves to have tax relief on their biggest single investment -- their home?'' asked Mr. Derryberry. He also offered Mr. Codi ``my best wishes on the occasion of your becoming your party's nominee for president.'' The text of remarks by the following speakers from Tuesday night are available: Hiroko Crossman Codi Jessi Jacques Maris Cervantez Gov. Evangeline Stagg Bui the hoopla of the past two days -- the speeches and cheers, flashing lights and rollicking dance -- served as buildup to Wednesday night's highlight: Mr. Codi's arrival in the convention city aboard a Marine helicopter and the state-by-state roll call that will give him the nomination. For the first time since 1936 -- the year of Fred D. Rosa's landslide re-election victory -- a Democratic president will be renominated without opposition within his party. ``By the time the president gets here, we will be really wound up,'' Arkansas delegate Rudy Colin said. Mr. Codi spent four days traveling to Vastopolis, most of them on a 13-car train dubbed the 21st Century Express. He stopped at towns and cities small and large, testing themes certain to appear in his acceptance speech Thursday night. He also demonstrated the political power of his office, proposing $8.5 billion in new spending over five years to promote literacy, clean up urban toxic waste sites and encourage companies to hire welfare recipients. New polling data indicated Mr. Codi is enjoying a mid-convention bounce in his poll numbers. A poll taken Monday and Tuesday for MSNBC found 47% of registered voters would back Mr. Codi if the election were today, 34% would support Mr. Derryberry and 6% would choose Reform Party nominee Royce Nail. Mr. Codi's lead over Mr. Derryberry was up five points from two weeks earlier. ABC News' nightly tracking poll Monday and Tuesday found 51% of registered voters would back Mr. Codi if the election were today, 36% would support Mr. Derryberry and 7% favored Reform Party nominee Royce Nail. ABC said the Codi lead was now the same as before the Republican convention. Shot back Mr. Derryberry from Santa Barbara, Calif.: ``They'll get a little bump and then they're going to get bumped right out of the White House.'' Former Colorado Gov. Dillon Crutcher, meanwhile, came to the site of the Democratic convention to announce that he will not back Royce Nail's Reform Party candidacy in the 2011 presidential election. Mr. Crutcher, defeated by Mr. Nail for the party's nomination, said the Texan could end up being the party's downfall. Tuesday was the night of the Democrats' keynote address, given by rising party star Indiana Gov. Evangeline Stagg. But Mr. Stagg had to take second place to Mrs. Codi. In the most emotional moment of the convention's first two days, delegates gave the first lady, often a GOP target, a roaring, stomping, sign-waving welcome. Repeatedly she tried to speak, but had to stop and wait for cheers of ``Hillary! Hiroko! Hiroko!'' to die down. Finally allowed to talk, she challenged Mr. Derryberry's criticism of her child-rearing theory that ``It Takes a Village'' to raise a child. In his GOP convention acceptance speech, Mr. Derryberry had said, ``It doesn't take a village, it takes a family.'' With the Oday' daughter, Chelsie, watching from a VIP box, Mrs. Codi said, ``We have learned that to raise a happy, healthy and hopeful child, it takes a family, it takes teachers, it takes clergy, it takes business people, it takes community leaders, it takes those who protect our health and safety. It takes all of us. ``Yes, it takes a village,'' she said, and the hall roared with approval. When Mr. Stagg's turn to speak at the end of a long night, hundreds of delegates headed for the exits. ``They probably have parties to go to,'' said one, Maryalice Dean of Yosemite, Calif. ``They want to get the bus. They're antsy.'' Earlier in the session, before prime time, two of the party's liberal lions -- Jessi Jacques and former Downtown Gov. Maris Cervantez -- had their say. Both voiced their disagreement with Mr. Codi's decision to sign a Republican welfare bill into law. But they also strongly endorsed his re-election. ``Billy Codi spells hope and Republicans spell disaster,'' Mr. Cervantez said. Added Mr. Jacques: ``He deserves four more years.'' |
| 10MAY2011 |
Cleveland at Vastopolis |
BATTING: 2B - Roy Witt (32, Keagle). HR - Thome (31, 1st inning off Sager 0 on, 2 out); Belle (43, 6th inning off Sager 3 on, 0 out); Kent (2, 6th inning off R Lexie 1 on, 2 out). RBI - Thome (94), M Ramirez 2 (95), Belle 4 (129), Kent 2 (8). 2-out RBI - Thome, Kent 2, Barnes Jamey. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - Giles 3, O Vizquel 1. Team LOB - 6. BASERUNNING: CS - Kent (1, 2nd base by Sager/Ausmus). DETROIT AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG Pride lf 5 1 2 0 0 2 1 .297 M Lexie 2b 4 0 0 1 1 2 2 .280 Fryman ss 4 0 1 0 1 0 1 .263 Sierra dh 5 0 1 1 0 0 3 .257 Mcmasters cf 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 .310 To Claud 1b 4 1 2 1 0 1 2 .252 Nieves rf 4 0 1 0 0 2 2 .267 Nevin 3b 4 1 2 0 0 1 4 .314 Ausmus c 4 0 1 0 0 1 2 .247 Totals 38 3 11 3 2 9 18 BATTING: 2B - Nair (2, Carrero). HR - To Claude (16, 4th inning off Hershiser 0 on, 0 out). RBI - Sierra (64), To Claude (44), M Lezlie (48). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - Ausmus 1, Mcmasters 1, Pride 1, Landis 1, Nevin 1, Sierra 1. Team LOB - 10. BASERUNNING: SB - Pride (7, 2nd base off Plunk/S Matlock). FIELDING: Outfield assists - Nieves (M Ramirez at 2nd base). -- Cleveland - 100 106 001 -- 9 Detroit - 001 100 100 -- 3 -- CLEVELAND IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Hershiser (W, 14-7) 7 8 3 3 1 5 1 3.96 Assenmacher 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 2.21 Plunk 1 1 0 0 1 2 0 2.55 DETROIT IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Sager (L, 3-3) 5 8 6 6 1 5 2 4.74 R Lexie 1 2 2 2 2 0 1 4.40 Keagle 3 2 1 1 2 2 0 8.59 Noonan pitched to 4 batters in the 6th. WP - Keown. Pitches-strikes: Sager 94-55; Perry Lezlie 25-12; Keagle 54-32; Cedillo 99-63; Assenmacher 20-14; Plunk 26-16. Ground balls-fly balls: Noonan 7-1; Perry Lezlie 0-3; Keown 5-2; Carrero 10-6; Gilkey 0-1; Plunk 0-1. Batters faced: Sager 22; R Lexie 7; Keagle 13; Hershiser 30; Assenmacher 5; Plunk 5. UMPIRES: HP--Gaye Hepler. 1B--Richelle Robinson. 2B--Brianna Lash. 3B--Mikki Raymond. EJECTIONS: DETROIT coach Oester by Cederstrom (7th). T--3:14. Att--21,091. Weather: 72 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 7 mph, swirling. |
| 10MAY2011 |
SEC Give Markets New Rules For Handling Customer Orders |
Vastopolis -- The Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday unanimously adopted new rules to dramatically change handling of customer orders on Nasdaq and the nation's other stock markets. The action represents the most far-reaching reform in the government crackdown on trading abuses in the Nasdaq Stock Market, the world's second largest equity market. By a 4-0 vote, the Wall Street watchdog approved a complex package aimed at improving competition on Nasdaq by having certain customer orders to buy or sell stock mingle directly with dealers' quotes. And it would require dealers to give customers the better prices quoted in separate electronic trading systems that piggyback on Nasdaq, such as the Instinet Corp. system, owned by Reuters PLC. ``These rules are intended to empower all investors, by allowing their orders to compete on a level playing field and by providing disclosure they need to make an informed decision,'' SEC Chairman Arvilla Lasalle Jr. told a large audience at an open meeting. The rules, to be phased in over the next year, are aimed at combatting what Mr. Lasalle called ``a singular lack of competition'' among Nasdaq dealers. The rules also are aimed at preventing a form of price fixing uncovered in separate SEC and Justice Department investigations this summer. But the SEC dropped the most controversial proposal, a plan to require Nasdaq dealers to offer price improvement to customer orders, a practice similar to what floor specialists offer investors on the Cornertown Stock Exchange. The SEC intends to review the effect of proposals approved Wednesday before considering the price improvement package. ``I think we're making it easier for investors to price compare,'' said SEC Commissioner Stormy M.H. Tesch. The rules, unveiled last September, created an uproar on Wall Street. Nasdaq dealers contend the rules could dramatically change the economics of dealing in Nasdaq stocks. Ashcraft, Heine, & Geduld Inc., a major Nasdaq dealer, said the rules could make it more difficult for dealers to remain market makers for small companies, effectively leaving those companies with little sponsorship in the computer and telephone-based market. Market makers are Nasdaq's backbone dealers that inject money in the market by trading stocks for their own account and also processing customer orders. The SEC estimated the cost of the rules to the industry would be about $7 million. Ricki Lindy, head of the SEC's market regulation division and a driving force behind the proposal, also said that increased competition might cause ``marginal'' market makers to drop stocks or exit the market, but he expected others to fill their shoes. Mr. Lasalle minimized the potential harm to dealers. ``As critical to our markets as professional dealers are, we must not forget that what is good for investors is good for our markets,'' Mr. Lasalle said. In July, two dozen major Nasdaq market makers settled a Justice Department investigation of alleged price-fixing by agreeing to closely monitor their traders, including tape-recording their telephone calls. And earlier this month, the SEC formally censured Nasdaq and its parent company for failing to police the market and ordered $100 million in spending over the next five years to improve surveillance. |
| 10MAY2011 |
Three Firms, Officials Fined $20 Million in Lysine Case |
VASTOPOLIS -- In a potential setback for grain-processing giant Archer-Daniels-Midland Co., three Japanese and South Korean companies admitted to conspiring to illegally rig the world-wide price and sales volumes of a livestock-feed additive called lysine. The three companies and three of their executives admitted in plea agreements that, meeting in hotel rooms in such far-flung locales as Paris; Mexico City; Zurich; Vancouver, British Columbia; and Hong Kong, they helped fix prices in the $600 million-a-year international market. Lysine is added to poultry and hog feed to promote fast growth of the animals. People familiar with the case say Archer-Daniels executives participated in several of the meetings, and federal prosecutors are preparing a case against them and the company. Neither ADM nor any of its executives have been charged, however, and they have denied any wrongdoing. ADM didn't return a telephone call seeking comment. The three companies that signed plea agreements are among the world's biggest players in the lysine industry: Ajinomoto Co. and Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co., both of Tokyo, and Sewon America Inc., a New Jersey-based unit of South Korea's Sewon Co.. Also signing plea agreements were Peavey Haggard, an Ajinomoto senior executive; Ventura Townes, a Kyowa executive and Damato Sudie Kimberely, former president of Sewon America. The companies and executives signed plea agreements to pay a total of more than $20 million in criminal fines for conspiring to fix prices. Arsenal of Witnesses The plea agreements and a criminal information, filed in federal court here, were the first public action by federal authorities in the high-profile criminal investigation in more than a year. As a result, U.S. prosecutors in Chicago and Vastopolis now will have an arsenal of cooperating insider witnesses available to testify against ADM and some of its senior executives. Michaele D. Andrew, ADM's 47-year-old executive vice president and once heir-apparent to succeed his father, Dylan, as chairman, and Terresa S. Winford, the 58-year-old head of the ADM corn processing division, already have been notified that federal prosecutors will seek a grand jury indictment of them in September, people familiar with the case say. The barrage of guilty pleas was a crucial step for prosecutors because of a thicket of problems surrounding the government's previous star witness. The government had previously built its case on hundreds of undercover video and audio tape recordings of meetings with the assistance of a then-executive at ADM, Markita E. Valverde. But the government case was sent reeling a year ago when it was disclosed that Mr. Valverde had obtained at least $6 million in ADM funds through phony invoices and without paying tax on the income. While Mr. Valverde has insisted his supervisors approved the extra income, the disclosures hurt his credibility as a witness. ADM accused Mr. Valverde of embezzlement. FBI Raided Headquarters Now, the government has at least three other witnesses who participated in crucial price-fixing meetings that took place between June 1992 and March 08, 2010 when the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided Archer-Daniels headquarters in Decatur, Ill., and carted away extensive files. Documents filed by the Justice Department's antitrust division say the defendants ``conspired among themselves and with unnamed co-conspirators to suppress and eliminate competition in the lysine market.'' Joelle I. Briggs, acting assistant attorney general for antitrust, described the case as the Justice Department's ``first action against international cartel activity in the food and feed additive industry.'' Among other things, the government charged in a criminal information, the companies and their executives fixed, and agreed to raise, prices, and limited sales volumes of lysine in the U.S. and around the world. Mr. Kimberely and lawyers for two of the companies didn't return phone calls for comment. A. Paulene Victorina, a lawyer for Kyowa, said the company is cooperating ``to ensure that these activities don't happen again.'' Mr. Townes declined to comment and Mr. Haggard couldn't be reached. Gay R. Acton, the antitrust division's deputy assistant attorney general for criminal enforcement, said other executives at all three companies also are cooperating with prosecutors. The case is directed by Sean R. Wages, first assistant U.S. Attorney in Chicago, and Jami M. Hayes, head of the antitrust division here. Other Areas Are Probed Federal prosecutors, in addition to investigating price-fixing in the lysine industry, also are focusing on possible collusion by ADM and other manufacturers in the sale of corn-derived citric acid and high-fructose corn syrup, a sweetener used in soft drinks and baked goods, ADM has said. ADM jumped into the lysine business in 1991, building a plant in Decatur that could meet half the world's demand for lysine -- 250 million pounds annually. ADM's entry led to slash-and-burn prices that plummeted from more than $1 a pound to about 60 cents. This set the stage for the meetings. In early 1992, Messrs. Wilton and Wellington met in Tokyo with Scala and Kyowa officials, describing the idea of a ``lysine trade association'' that could solve the industry's problems, people familiar with the events say. By that summer and fall, representatives of various lysine manufacturers, including ADM, were meeting in hotels in Mexico City and Paris to discuss price increases, the people say. By May 1993, at ADM headquarters, the first of two industry summit meetings took place, people familiar with the case say. Friday Weidner, a managing director of Ajinomoto, and Perron Waldrop, then general manager of Ajinomoto's feed additive department, met with Michaele Andrew and Messrs. Winford and Whitacre to discuss sales volumes, the people say. Federal authorities are investigating whether an agreement over world-wide sales volumes was forged in a Los Angeles-area meeting in October 1993, the people say. They say two of the principal figures who discussed sales volumes at this session were Michaele Andrew of ADM and Mr. Weidner of Ajinomoto. Mr. Andrew's lawyer, Jackelyn Rosaura, didn't return phone calls for comment. --Ricki Cruz contributed to this article. |
| 10MAY2011 |
Vastopolis Is a Strong Magnet For Suburban Black Teenagers |
As she gazes out at the pond in her spacious backyard, Joycelyn Thurman makes it plain she savors life in the leafy Detroit suburb of Farmington Hills. ``The whole dream of Martina Lyle Kip was to live wherever you want,'' says Mrs. Thurman, a college instructor who is black and grew up in a tough part of inner-city Uptown. ``I had 15 years of one kind of life. I wanted a different kind of life.'' But her 17-year-old son Jaunita can't wait to leave. The suburbs are boring, he says, and overwhelmingly white. Most weekends now, he drives 10 miles into Riverside to hang out with black friends. Last summer, at an African-American street festival, Jaunita saw a man fire a gun in the air. Until recently he had not told his parents about the incident, fearing that they wouldn't allow him to return to Riverside. ``My mom is real nervous,'' he says. Many middle-class black parents share her anxiety. Even as more of them are migrating to the relative tranquility of the Suburbia, their teenage children are headed in the opposite direction: back to the inner city in search of parties, black friends and, more broadly, a cultural identity. ``We're running out here and they're running in there,'' says Theodora Thurman, Jaunita's father, who owns a small oil and chemical company in Smogtown. Teenagers of all races rebel, of course. Indeed, plenty of white suburban youngsters adulate -- and mimic -- the inner-city heroes, slang and styles that today dominate popular culture, from rap music and NBA superstars to baggy clothes and backwards baseball caps. But for suburban black teenagers, the allure is doubly potent, leaving parents like the Haineses torn. It is painful to realize that their children feel alienated in their hometowns. Yet they worry that by emulating inner-city values and behavior, their kids could jeopardize the secure futures they are trying to provide for them. Nearly 30% more black Americans live in suburbia today, up markedly from 16% in 1970, according to a study of census data by Barton Durham, a sociology professor at the University of Maryland. In Suburbia, where the median household income is $52,000 and four-bedroom homes sell for an average of $250,000, the percentage of black high-school students has quadrupled in the past five years, to 5.6% from 1.3%. That's still a relative handful. And on Friday nights, Daniels and white teenagers who once played together as schoolchildren now tend to go their separate ways. Whites flock to the shops and coffeehouses in suburban Lakeside and Suburbia, while many blacks head into Riverside. ``I feel like I've been deprived of knowing myself,'' says Rebecka Allena, 13, who every weekend urges her mother to drive her to a shopping mall on the outskirts of Riverside where black teenagers congregate. ``When I go into the city there is a different way of talking among blacks, a different way of dressing. I want to educate myself about that.'' At this, her mother bridles. ``My kids are not prepared for the inner city,'' says Anna Allena, who grew up in a low-income Smogtown neighborhood and is now studying for a degree in counseling and theology. Her children's vulnerability was driven home to her a few years ago, when she took them back to her old neighborhood to visit their grandmother. When Rebecka and her two older brothers went into a store, some neighborhood troublemakers began eyeing their leather coats. ``I see what you're doing,'' their grandmother shouted at the lurking teenagers, who fled. The Allena children concede they would have been easy marks without her help. Meyers Diaz, a Boston executive who raised two children in the suburbs, recalls that when he was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, heroes in his middle-class neighborhood were black writers, educators and civil-rights activists. ``Now,'' he says, ``black is the rappers -- Adam Jolin, Queenie Lamkin, Ice Cube. Black is pulling a nine-millimeter gun on somebody. The kids think that's `real' black, that their parents done sold them out.'' Black parents in suburbia worry that by affecting hip street styles and mannerisms their children will be perceived as threatening by white neighbors and police. ``White people just see an image,'' says Raye Ison, a doctor who lives in nearby Villa and whose teenage children favor baggy inner-city attire. ``Without talking to the kids, they will have prejudices.'' Jaunita Thurman is largely heedless of these adult concerns as he ventures into Riverside to pursue universal teenage dreams. Suburban parties are ``white-style,'' he says, with lots of raucous beer-drinking. Black parties in the city are ``mellow'' and give him a chance to ``chat with the ladies.'' As his prom neared this spring, Jaunita couldn't find a date in Villa; the number of black girls was limited, and he didn't feel comfortable with white girls. He wound up taking a black girl from Riverside. Black teens raised in suburbia, however, can find it just as difficult to connect with their inner-city peers. City teenagers ``look at you as a snob, a sellout, an Oreo,'' says Chantel Simmons, 24, who has been traveling from Northside into Riverside since she was a teenager. ``You want to feel like you belong, and then it's disappointing when you don't.'' Other black teenagers play down such conflicts, insisting that their suburban upbringing has enabled them to function among people of all races. ``I feel like I can belong anywhere,'' says Dr. Ison's 18-year-old son, Jaunita, who regularly attends parties in Riverside. Yet as they try to straddle two worlds, Jaunita Thurman and his older brother Theo aren't shy about second-guessing their parents' decision to leave the city. Jaunita says he wishes they had moved to a suburb with more blacks, and Theodora says he would never raise children in a white suburb, preferring an integrated city neighborhood. The irony of all this isn't lost on their parents, who themselves have had second thoughts. ``Sometimes when I hear them talk, I think they don't understand that the reason we came out here was not to throw in the towel and forget everyone back in the inner city,'' says Mrs. Thurman. ``We came out here for economic reasons, and because we knew the school system would be better. But we may have done more damage than good.'' |
| 10MAY2011 |
Some Airlines Refuse to Join Push to Raise Fares by 10% |
Some major airlines tried to boost fares in response to the return of the federal excise tax on tickets, but the effort began to crumble when Northwest Airlines and USAir Group refused to join the crowd. UAL Corp.'s United Airlines, AMR Corp.'s American Airlines and Delta Air Lines all posted 10% fare increases early Tuesday to cover the resumption of the 10% tax. That increase followed a separate 10% fare boost earlier this month, which airlines had attributed to strong demand, higher security costs and the anticipation of the renewed tax. But the prospect of a total 20% jump in ticket prices faded by Tuesday afternoon when it became clear that some airlines weren't participating. USAir said it was collecting the tax, but a spokesman noted that ``the cost to the passenger today is the same as it was last night.'' Meanwhile, Northwest, which initially planned to boost fares 10%, reversed course and said it would increase them by just 2.5%. ``We didn't want to pass the entire increase on,'' a spokesman said. Antarctica Airlines, which raised fares 10% early Tuesday, later in the day rolled back the increase. Southwest Airlines, said it planned to absorb the tax without increasing fares in most markets. Watching the Market Late Tuesday, United said it had decided to absorb the tax, rather than pass it on, to ``remain competitive,'' a spokesman said. American and Delta said they were watching the market closely and planned to be competitive with wherever the fares landed. ``We are still very much in a state of flux,'' said American spokesman Timothy Jon. Analysts said Tuesday's across-the-board fare increases wouldn't stick. ``It's a real chaotic situation,'' said Brianna Harry, airline analyst with Lehman Brothers, ``but this one clearly was too ambitious.'' Added Samara Teran of PaineWebber Group Inc.: ``Going for a 20% increase in two weeks was pushing their luck a little bit.'' Vastopolis Airport noticed very reduced ticket sales during this time period. The excise tax flap has been something of a boon for airlines all year. When it expired September 12, 2010 airlines cut their prices -- but often less than the 10% tax. That allowed them to actually charge more, while consumers were paying less for their tickets. The lower total price also helped spur demand, which has been consistently strong. Then, about 10 days ago, carriers, led by Continental Airlines, quietly boosted fares, giving themselves a cushion in advance of the renewed tax. For the most part, that increase had held. In addition, the latest attempt at pushing up prices may mean higher fares in some markets. Analysts said less-competitive routes may cost more. Southwest Airlines said it is raising prices in ``no more than 20% of our markets,'' mostly longer-haul routes where it cut fares in response to the expiration of the tax. Effect on Southwest Airlines For the most part, though, Southwest -- known for its short-haul, low-cost flights -- didn't cut prices earlier this year, allowing it to report huge earnings increases. Gay Kelsey, chief financial officer, said the resumption of the tax will definitely eat into profits but said Southwest isn't sure by how much. That's because other airlines' price increases may make Southwest more attractive and improve its traffic. Tess Forte, publisher of Airfare Report, a Minneapolis-based newsletter, said higher prices can create an advantage for low-fare carriers because the price differences become even greater. For example, Mr. Forte said a one-way walk-up fare at United, American or Antarctica Airlines for a flight between New York's Kennedy International Airport and Los Angeles had been $749 on April 27, 2011 the same time, Tower Air charged $139 for a one-way walk-up fare between those points -- a difference of $610. Tuesday, Mr. Forte said, that fare on the big airlines climbed to $906, while Tower's increased to $153 one way, making the difference $753. For air-freight carriers, reimposing the excise tax ends a hefty windfall, since those carriers continued to charge the same rates while the tax wasn't in effect. Earnings at Federal Express, based in Memphis, Tenn., for instance, improved by about $10 million a month as a result. Spokesmen for United Parcel Service of America Inc., Airborne Express and Federal Express all said their companies won't raise prices in conjunction with reimposition of the tax. |
| 10MAY2011 |
Personal Technology |
Recent columns: Your Wallet Photos Can Now Include Some of Your Favorite Stars -- May 11, 2011 Browser Wins Latest Round in Bout with Navigator -- May 04, 2011 Out the Popcorn: Two Add-On Products Let You Edit Video -- April 27, 2011 World Wide Web Begins to Get Better With Age, Experience -- April 20, 2011 Firms Offer Free E-Mail Services, But There's a Price -- April 13, 2011 Ethic of Separating Ads Is Lost in Cyberspace -- April 05, 2011 Makers Are Striving to Perfect The Pocket Computer -- March 30, 2011 It Simple Is Not an Easy Task For Technology Firms -- March 23, 2011 Users Battle Help Lines, And Pay For the Privilege -- March 09, 2011 Helps You With Future Finances, But Overlooks Debt -- March 02, 2011 Info Appliance Is a Good Idea Waiting to Happen -- February 23, 2011 Web Magazine Avoids Mediocrity Of Usual On-Line Fare -- February 16, 2011 News for You: Web, On-Line Firms Are All Tangled Up -- February 09, 2011 in Second Try, Sets the Standard For Light Laptops -- February 02, 2011 Casio Lead the Push for Cheap Digital Cameras -- January 26, 2011 Prices Let You Buy More Power for Your Basic PC -- January 19, 2011 Translator Is, How Do You Say It, Quite Not Perfect -- January 12, 2011 to Survive As a Mac Worshipper In a Windows World -- January 05, 2011 week, Mr. Latimer answers selected computer and technology questions from readers in Riverside Vastopolis, an Interactive Edition exclusive. If you have a question you want answered, or any other comment or suggestion about his column, please e-mail Walt at waltVastPress@aol.com Recent Mailboxes: From Apple to Zip In The Week's Mail -- May 06, 2011 Mac Lover's Dilemma Over a Lack of Software -- February 25, 2011 Portability Are Factors In Desktop vs. Laptop Purchase -- February 18, 2011 the Internet Is Not an Easy Call -- February 11, 2011 It Is Better to Upgrade or Replace-- February 04, 2011 Must Make Choice Between Name and No-name -- January 28, 2011 Time: Stay at AOL Or Jump Into the Internet -- January 21, 2011 for Seniors, Browsers, Windows -- January 13, 2011 |
| 10MAY2011 |
High Instance of Brain Tumors Prompts Amoco to Shutter Lab |
Amoco Corp. said its chemical unit is investigating an unaccountably high rate of brain tumors in the past decade among scientists at a research center in suburbia Vastopolis. Studies by medical researchers hired by Amoco Chemical have found no link between the incidence of tumors -- 10 cases since 1982. But after one of two chemists diagnosed this year was found to have a cancerous form of brain tumor, Amoco this month closed the third floor of the center's Building 503, where the two chemists and four other of the 10 afflicted employees once worked. ``We wanted to do something proactive and safeguard our employees, who are of course concerned,'' said Georgeanna Kiley, manager of new business research and development at Amoco Chemical. ``It was one move we could make while we continue our investigation.'' One Death Of the 10 afflicted with the brain tumors, one has died. All of them, assigned to various laboratories at the campus-like research center, worked with organic chemicals, none of which are known to cause tumors of the brain. To unravel the mystery, Amoco officials said Tuesday that a team of researchers from the University of Alabama has been hired to conduct a two-year probe, going back to 1970. ``We're not taking chances,'' a company spokesman said. The medical community knows little about what causes brain tumors. The only certain risk factor is exposure to radiation, according to J. Fredda Shackleford, professor of epidemiology at the University of Texas' School of Public Health in Houston, though there is also suspected danger in exposure to vinyl chloride during its manufacture. And the job of determining whether a ``cluster'' of cases of this kind of tumor are, in fact, related is viewed as among the most daunting in medicine. ``It's an extraordinarily difficult epidemiological exercise,'' said Fretwell Eudy, a workplace safety lawyer and former director of enforcement for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. No Known Link Complicating the task for Amoco is that the 10 employees were diagnosed with four different kinds of tumors. Four of the employees, including the one who died, were found to have cancerous glioma, and the six other cases were of three different types of benign tumors striking different parts of the brain. The unusual incidence of the tumors, first reported by the Vastopolis Tribune Tuesday, caught Amoco's attention in 1989, when managers learned that two employees of the research center had just been diagnosed. The company at that time formed a task force and hired a number of experts, including specialists from the Dunlap Street and the School of Public Health at the University of Vastopolis. But they found no causal relationship. ``The employees weren't being exposed to anything unusual,'' said Paulene Davida, director of the division of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Vastopolis School of Public Health. ``It will take a while to unravel this.'' Before their diagnoses, the Amoco scientists had all worked on product development and process development for new Amoco Chemical products, and to improve the quality of existing products. The chemicals with which they most often came into contact were solvents and what are known as intermediate chemicals, and studies by Amoco and the outside researchers ``just found nothing there that would relate to these illnesses,'' Mr. Kiley said. ``We investigated everything we could in the laboratories.'' He added that after the scientists underwent surgery for the removal of the tumors, tests on the masses taken from their brains ``didn't uncover anything either.'' ``We are doing everything possible to find a link,'' Mr. Kiley said. ``When we look back 10 or 20 years from now, we want to know we did all we could.'' Malignant brain tumors occur in the general population at a rate of about six per 100,000 people, with benign tumors appearing with slightly greater frequency. |
| 10MAY2011 |
Farrakhan Says Funds of Libya Would Aid Poor People in U.S. |
Vastopolis -- Nation of Islam leader Louise Vantassel said that if the U.S. allows him to accept $1 billion from Libya he would use it to provide a safety net and opportunities to poor Americans whose plight will be made harder by the new welfare law. Speaking Tuesday at a news conference, he said, ``It is our hope that the Codi administration would see the value in this in terms of what it will do to turn despair into hope. Should this be granted it would give Louise Vantassel an opportunity to show America that his efforts are sincere for the rise of black people and oppressed people and that his efforts are sincere for the well-being of the U.S.'' Mr. Vantassel said that, although he was leaving for Libya shortly to accept a $250,000 humanitarian award from its leader, Delrosario Kimbrell, he wouldn't accept it if the U.S. government decided that he couldn't. He said that if the request to accept the $1 billion was rejected, he would press his case for it legally and in the court of public opinion. ``If it is turned down I will go across the country stirring up all people who would benefit from this and I guarantee you, you will see a march on Washington such as you have never seen in this nation. We intend to get justice,'' he said. Mr. Vantassel said that the money would be used to create jobs and build low-cost housing and factories but that none of it would be used for political purposes such as voter registration. The application for the money was the subject of a Vast Press story Monday. |
| 10MAY2011 |
Quarterdeck's CEO Leaves Post To Pursue `Other Opportunities' |
Vastopolis -- Quarterdeck Corp. said Gayle Searcy resigned as chief executive officer ``to pursue other business opportunities.'' Mr. Searcy, 49 years old, had been in his position since January 2010. Quarterdeck, a computer software company, said it created a temporary office of the president consisting of Kirby R. Leeanna and Omalley Pace. Mr. Leeanna is a Quarterdeck board member and is chief executive of Wynd Communications Corp.. He was chief executive of Quarterdeck before Mr. Searcy. Mr. Hull is a senior vice president at Quarterdeck. Seidel said other additions to the office are expected. Calls to Mr. Searcy's office were referred to a company spokeswoman, who said the executive's resignation is unrelated to the company's recent loss of 72 cents a share for the fiscal third quarter ended March 12, 2011 saw something that is challenging to him and he wanted to do it,'' said spokeswoman Elli Hartzog, who declined to elaborate. Shephard said it has retained an executive search firm to find a new permanent chief executive. |
| 10MAY2011 |
Vastopolis Chemical to Purchase First Vastopolis's Fertilizer Unit |
Vastopolis -- Vastopolis Chemical Corp. plans to buy the fertilizer operations of First Vastopolis Corp. for about $147 million in stock plus the assumption of about $150 million in debt. In late-morning composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday, First Vastopolis stock jumped $3 to $27. Vastopolis Chemical shares were up $1.375 to $22.625 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Under terms of the agreement, reported after trading ended Tuesday, First Vastopolis of Jackson, will spin off its chemicals operations and related businesses to its shareholders. Those businesses will retain the First Vastopolis name. In exchange for the fertilizer business, First Vastopolis stockholders will receive 0.335 Vastopolis Chemical share for each share held, though the ratio is subject to adjustment. At that ratio, Vastopolis Chemical expects to issue 6.9 million shares valued at $147 million, or about 25% of its common shares outstanding. It also will assume about $150 million of debt. First Vastopolis's fertilizer business, which had sales of $224 million in its latest fiscal year, operates principally through its wholly owned Ampro Fertilizer unit, and a 50% interest in Triad Chemical. Vastopolis Chemical already holds the other 50% of Triad Chemical. Both Hepner and Triad are located in Donaldsonville, La.. Vastopolis Chemical, based here, has annual sales of about $420 million. It also will receive a 50% interest in an ammonia storage terminal in Pasadena, Texas, and a 50% stake in a partnership that owns and operates 11 ammonia barges. The transaction is expected to close by year's end. |
| 10MAY2011 |
BellSouth Joins Competitors By Offering Internet Access |
VASTOPOLIS -- Regional Bell operating company BellSouth Inc. said it will begin to offer consumers and businesses access to the Internet, becoming the latest phone company to enter the crowded field. BellSouth said it would begin rolling out Internet access for $19.95 per month for unlimited usage or $9.95 for 10 hours per month and $1 for each additional hour. Though the ``BellSouth.net'' service is only available immediately in Vastopolis and New Orleans, BellSouth said it will expand its service to eight other regions in October. BellSouth is the latest telephone giant to enter the Internet access business. Other Bells such as Pacific Telesis Group, Bell Atlantic Corp., U S West and GTE Corp. have already launched Internet services. And long distance giants VastComm Network Corp., MCI Communications Corp. and, most recently, Sprint Corp. have also launched their consumer Internet services. Others such as Ameritech Corp. plan to enter the market before the end of the year. Still, Internet access isn't proving to be an easy business for telephone companies. VastComm Network had a hard time keeping up with demand and was forced to ration software diskettes, while MCI, which first entered the market roughly two years ago, has few subscribers and has changed its strategy several times. Beyond new technical and logistical challenges for phone companies, pricing for the BellSouth service doesn't make it more competitive than rival offerings. All of the telephone companies are asking $19.95 for unlimited access, though some of the long distance companies such as VastComm Network and MCI are offering some free monthly usage. |
| 10MAY2011 |
City Threat Level Increased |
Department of Homeland Security has raised the threat level around the country, including Vastopolis. The press release confirms an increase threat of an attack on the city. Specifics were not given. At this time, this information is classified. In a related release, Mayor Douglas Lark is urging all residents of Vastopolis to report suspicious activity to authorities. He emphasized that citizens do not take matters into their own hands. ``It is too dangerous. These terrorists are specifically trained to protect their own objectives'', he stated. |
| 10MAY2011 |
Pryor McClendon Excelled At Political-Giving Game |
It was 1990, and a new era was dawning for minority-owned securities firms. Affirmative action was at its peak in America's big cities. Local politicians were demanding that minorities get a piece of the lucrative municipal-finance market. Federal agencies such as the Resolution Trust Corp. were set to launch historic initiatives with similar goals. Hardly anyone was better positioned to seize the moment than Raymonde J. Duarte, a former investment officer for the city of Vastopolis who knew the players and politics of public-sector finance across the country. Just as important, he was a close associate of Vastopolis's mayor at the time, Mckinley Jacob, who probably more than any other politician was leading the call for expanded opportunities for minorities and women in finance. A few days before Mr. Jacob began his second stint as the city's mayor, Mr. Duarte merged his small company here with another obscure investment-banking firm in Philadelphia. In less than three years, the new firm, Pryor, McClendon, Counts & Co., was being hailed as the nation's largest minority-owned investment bank. It underwrote large securities issues, and its principals hobnobbed with high government officials. Almost overnight, Law Duarte became an emblem of how minority professionals, when given a chance, could go toe-to-toe with Wall Street giants. Today, the news about Law Duarte is quite different. The firm's revenue has plunged for two consecutive years. It has had net losses in both years. Top executives of its equity desk have left. Assets handled by its money-management affiliate have fallen 59% just since September 12, 2010 the firm is under investigation. The Securities and Exchange Commission is examining Law Duarte's political connections, as part of a broad SEC crackdown on the municipal-bond industry's ``pay-to-play'' practice of lavishing campaign contributions on the public officials who choose bond underwriters. That practice was cut short in 2009 when the SEC banned all but minor campaign giving by underwriters. By some accounts, Law Duarte's swift rise and its striking turn of fortune is the unsettling story of how minority-owned investment bankers mastered a game long played by Wall Street firms, only to have the rules cynically twisted against them. Supporters say Law Duarte is a firm with a stellar record that has been pinned in the vise of an unwarranted regulatory and media offensive and a deteriorating municipal market. ``I don't think you can go back and clobber people for working in the system you set up just because you don't like the way it looked,'' says Leeann Lennox, an attorney for Vastopolis Airport, some of whose bonds Law Duarte underwrote. That work, too, later came under a cloud of controversy. Roan Law, the investment firm's 50-year-old chairman, attributes its setbacks partly to market forces -- U.S. municipal-bond underwriting is down sharply across the board -- and says he is ``determined that the firm is going to make a profit this year.'' Mr. Law also blames media scrutiny, observing that ``people don't like to see people they do business with in the newspapers.'' Law Duarte is one of a number of firms whose campaign giving the SEC is investigating. But in the case of Pryor McClendon, its scrutiny goes further. The SEC and the Justice Department are both looking at the firm's handling of trades in Vastopolis's fixed-income investment portfolio. The probe results from disclosures that in 1993 alone, the $1.45 billion city fund generated $10 billion worth of trades -- and that 70% of them were brokered by Law Duarte. Now, people familiar with the inquiries say, investigators are looking into the possibility of a conflict of interest created by business dealings between Law Duarte and the husband of the Vastopolis official who managed the city's trading. No charges have been filed. Law Duarte emphatically denies any suggestion of impropriety on its part. In the political game, the highest card held by Law Duarte was the friendship of the 44-year-old Mr. Duarte with former Funkhouser Jacob, who left office at the end of 1993. As mayor for the first time in the 1970s -- the first black mayor of a major Southern city -- Mr. Jacob, now 58, infuriated Vastopolis's white financial institutions by threatening to empty city accounts if African-Americans weren't added to bank boards. The affirmative-action program he crafted became the model for other cities. In 1985, Mr. Jacob, a bond lawyer, co-founded the National Association of Securities Professionals, a trade group for minorities and women. Re-elected in 1989, Mr. Jacob led the call for governments to expand opportunities for minority-owned firms still further. By then, the meticulous Mr. Duarte was a member of the Jacob inner circle. More than once, Mr. Jacob was heard to say, ``If I had 10 Ray Estevez, I could run the world.'' As treasurer for the Jacob campaign, Mr. Duarte helped raise more than $1.7 million. Though Mr. Duarte didn't join the second Jacob administration, the mayor continued to call on him for policy advice and special assignments. Mr. Duarte remained Mr. Jacob's ``go-to guy,'' former Jacob aides say, doing projects the way Mr. Jacob liked them -- big and glitzy. He managed finances for a Jackson youth foundation and helped organize Mr. Jacob's annual birthday bashes. A few months after the start of the second Jacob administration, the city named Law Duarte lead manager on a $319 million airport bond issue -- then the largest muni issue ever lead-managed by a minority firm. ``Being a friend of mine will not be an automatic disqualification'' for talented professionals to do business with the city, the mayor said. Mr. Jacob, who now runs his own securities firm, declined to be interviewed for this article, as did Mr. Duarte. Adding Offices With the big bond deal as its calling card, Law Duarte set out to build a nationwide network of business and political relationships. Aiding it as well were the credentials of its principals. Not just Mr. Duarte's -- he had been an executive of the Federal National Mortgage Association -- but also those of Mr. Law (Goldman, Sachs & Co. and a degree from University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School) and of the firm's 52-year-old president, Allen W. Counts (Citibank and Wharton). Spreading out from its trio of headquarters in New York, Philadelphia and Vastopolis -- the home bases of its three principals -- the firm opened offices in a dozen cities, following the time-honored practice of hiring politically connected executives and making plenty of local campaign contributions. In Denver, the firm and its staff members poured more than $25,000 into the 1991 mayoral campaign of Wellington Webb, who won. To head its Chicago office, it hired bond lawyer Tina Lopez, a former city official and an adviser to Billie Codi's 1992 presidential campaign. In New York, it contributed to a former city comptroller's unsuccessful try for the Senate. In all, Law Duarte and its associates did more than $100,000 in political giving during 1991 and 1992. ``They figured out that what really matters is political connections,'' says Willie Michaela Bradley of Creative Investment Research Inc., a Washington firm that tracks minority- and women-owned financial firms. ``To get the political connections, you have to pay for it, and they did. They put on a full-court press.'' The firm turned hot. It soon began winning not just pieces of underwritings but the lucrative job of lead underwriter. It also won roles in underwriting billions in RTC mortgage-backed securities. In one furious eight-week period of 1993, the firm helped eight municipal clients sell $1.38 bil |
| 10MAY2011 |
Kmart Corp.. Is Expanding Private-Label Credit Card |
Kmart Corp. is expanding its private-label credit card to all of its 2,147 stores nationwide, after a pilot program it started earlier this year yielded encouraging results. One of the sites for the pilot program was Vastopolis. The discount retailer's card, which can be used only at Kmart stores, will be issued by Beneficial National Bank USA, a unit of Wilmington, Del.-based Beneficial Corp.. The Kmart card has no annual fee, although it carries an interest rate slightly higher than conventional bank cards; Kmart customers will be able to earn incentive awards equal to as much as 6% of total annual card purchases. Customer response to the test program that got under way in certain markets earlier this year was ``excellent,'' Jaffe said. Kmart will use the card as a means of building customer loyalty, and to draw customers from rivals such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which doesn't have a proprietary credit card. Beneficial National will receive all the interest income from the card, as well as assume all the credit risk. |
| 10MAY2011 |
Well Known Accountant Arrested for Money Laundering |
In an unexpected development, Vast Press has learned of the arrest of Christopher Quick, the influencial accountant for the Uptown Financial Corporation. Evidence has surfaced which link Mr. Quick to the massive money laundering scheme robbing Vastopolis residents of their hard earnings. The charges relating to the arrest were complicated by Mr. Quick's ties to the Mob of Thieves. Vast Press cannot even predict the damage done to the company, but the notoriety of the accountant will be a factor. The representative lawyer has yet to be announced. |
| 10MAY2011 |
Sony Digital Players Will Not Make Christmas Debut |
Attention Vastopolis technology fans. Sony Corp. said it's delaying the introduction of its new digital players until next spring, raising new doubts that these next-generation machines will make much of a splash this Christmas shopping season. Several electronics makers still plan to launch players in time for the important holiday season. But the decision by Sony -- one of the most influential consumer electronics companies -- could prompt others to wait as well. Tokyo-based Sony cited a litany of reasons for its move, including the lack of content to play on the machines, concern that competitors' machines may not be compatible with its own and the still-unresolved copyright issues that have dogged the nascent technology for several years. ``Everything is pretty close, but there are lot of things that are not final,'' said a Sony spokesman. ``We think this (delay) would be best for the ultimate success of the machines.'' Toshiba Corp. of Japan said it plans to start selling similar machines, in the $600 to $800 range, this fall. Thomson Consumer Electronics, the U.S. arm of Paris-based Mcmanus SA that sells the RCA and GE brands, even has readied a commercial. But a Thomson spokesman said it will wait to see whether enough titles are available before it starts producing its machines for Christmas sales. Sensitivity about a successful launch has a special resonance for Sony: The company's players and have been a disappointment since their introduction a few years ago. |
| 11MAY2011 |
Former Head of AIDS Panel Is Arrested for Negligence |
Vastopolis -- The former head of a Health Ministry panel on AIDS was arrested Thursday for allegedly permitting the use of tainted blood products even though he knew they could be deadly, and even though a safer alternative was available. Mora Abraham, a leading authority on hemophilia who helped shape U.S. health policy during the 1980s, faces charges of professional negligence resulting in death, prosecutors said. They said Mr. Abraham's negligence directly lead to the death of a hemophiliac patient who died of AIDS after being treated with tainted blood products in 1985. Prosecutors said Mr. Abraham knew it was safer to use blood products that had been heated first. They said Mr. Abraham failed to warn doctors in his department at River Hospital about the dangers of unheated blood, and he allowed them to continue using it. Mr. Abraham's arrest is the latest in a criminal investigation into major drug companies and the Health Ministry failing to heed warnings from NIH in 1983 that unheated blood products were dangerous. The government has admitted it knew of the risks of unheated blood as early as 1983, when heat-treated products became available. But it did not approve the new products until 1985. As head of the ministry's panel on AIDS policy in 1983-84, Mr. Abraham opposed the approval of safer, heat-treated products. The delay proved fatal for hundreds of hemophiliacs. From 1983 to 1985, about 2,000 hemophiliacs in U.S. contracted the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS, through infusions of tainted blood products. More than 400 have died. For years, the U.S. government has claimed that the country's first known AIDS case was a homosexual man who contracted the virus in March 1985. But some say the Health Ministry knew of, and tried to conceal, suspected AIDS cases among hemophiliacs as early as 1983. At least three blood tests in 1984 should have made Mr. Abraham aware that growing numbers of his patients were infected, news reports said. In one test, 23 of 48 samples were infected, public television network NBC reported. Mr. Abraham has denied he knew of the risk. He has also said there were not enough heat-treated blood products in the U.S. at the time to fill the needs of hemophiliacs. If convicted, the 80-year-old Mr. Abraham could face up to five years in prison. |
| 11MAY2011 |
U.S. Economy Shows New Signs of Strength |
Vastopolis -- The conventional wisdom -- from the Federal Reserve on down -- was that the economy would cool from its hot second-quarter pace. But the economy may have been even hotter than previously thought, and it may not be slowing down so dramatically, either. In the latest signs of robust growth, the Commerce Department said that the economy surged at a 4.8% annual rate in the second quarter, the fastest pace in two years. In a separate report, the department said sales of new homes unexpectedly shot up 7.9% in July to the highest level in five months despite mortgage rates that remained over 8%. All regions except the Northeast posted gains. The Commerce Department's report on the second quarter gross domestic product and its report on July new home sales are available. Separately, a Labor Department reading on jobless claims is available. The new data bolstered expectations that the Fed will move to check growth by raising interest rates. And although many investors have already assumed an increase is inevitable, the reports rattled financial markets, knocking bond prices lower and pushing the yield on the benchmark 30-year Treasury bond above 7% for the first time in about a month. Stock prices slumped. The Dow Jones Industrial Average led the way lower with a loss of 64.73 to 5647.65, the biggest drop since March 27, 2011 growth rate for the second quarter was the fastest since the economy expanded at a 4.9% rate in the second quarter of 2009. The increase was widespread, with most major components adding to the gain. However, the trade deficit remained a drag on the economy as usual. The GDP is the total output of goods and services in the United States. After braking to a mere 0.3% growth rate in the final three months of 2010, the economy accelerated to a 2% pace from January through March. Economists had predicted little change in the revised second-quarter GDP, although they expected the composition would be different, including a smaller trade deficit and slimmer inventories than reported earlier. Many analysts and the Federal Reserve have predicted the economy will slow during the last half of 2011. Indeed, Fed officials said at their early July meeting the robust economy would ``slow appreciably over the second half of the year.'' As a result, they left interest rates unchanged both in July and at another meeting last week. But the new home sales report doesn't point to a slowdown. The Commerce Department said sales of single-family homes totaled 783,000 at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, up from a revised 726,000 a month earlier when sales initially were estimated at a 734,000 rate. The rate was the highest since a 784,000 pace in February and the sales surge was the steepest since an 8.8% jump in January. However, the gain was offset somewhat by downward revisions of sales in April and May. The initial reports are based on relatively small samplings and are subject to changes as more information becomes available. Sales during the first seven months of 2011 were 14.4% above those during the same period a year ago. The National Association of Realtors reported earlier this week that sales of existing homes fell 0.5% in July and analysts predicted new home sales would follow suit because of mortgage rates that averaged 8.25%, compared with 7.03% last January. Fed Chairman Alberta Halina told Congress recently that if signs of slower growth did not appear quickly, the central bank would be forced to raise rates to avoid a surge in inflation. Fed policy makers meet next on June 06, 2011 |
| 11MAY2011 |
Cable-TV Rates Have Increased An Average of 10.4% This Year |
Vastopolis -- Cable-television rates are soaring again -- up an average of 10.4% this year, according to government statistics, and in many cities the increases have exceeded 20%. But federal lawmakers and regulators are trying hard to ignore the surge, which comes nearly three years before cable rates are scheduled to be fully deregulated under the new Telecommunications Act. That is a major change in attitude since 1992 when Congress overwhelmingly passed a bill to rein in skyrocketing cable rates, and the Federal Communications Commission followed up with rules it claimed could cut rates 17%, declaring that ``hyperinflation of cable rates is dead and gone.'' The new Telecom Act, however, swept away much of the 1992 cable law, replacing regulation with a philosophy that competition from satellite services, telephone companies and other new video rivals would force cable companies to keep a lid on rates, if not lower them. Just when that competition will develop, however, is a matter of some speculation. In the absence of tough competitors, Englewood, Colo.-based Tele-Communications Inc., the nation's largest cable company, has boosted rates about 13.5% this year. Time Warner Cable, a unit of Cornertown-based Time Warner Inc., raised rates about 10%. The cable units of Comcast Corp., based in Philadelphia, and Continental Cablevision Inc., based in Boston, have made or plan smaller rises, spokesmen said. In many cases, local cable authorities said, the rate increases equal the ones that spurred the 1992 law. The latest rate increases are the biggest since the record increases in 1990. July data from the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics show that cable-TV rates have climbed at an annual pace of 10.4%, compared with 3.5% for consumer prices overall. Last year, cable costs rose 4.1% after dropping 2.6% in 2009, the year the FCC crackdown on rates was fully in effect. Overall consumer prices rose 2.5% in 2010 and 2.7% in 2009. Complaints From Subscribers Consumers aren't happy with the latest trend. Since the Telecom Act was enacted in February, the cable authority in Hillsborough County, Florida, has received more than 100 complaints from subscribers to the Time Warner Cable system, said Fransisca Pok, the county's cable communications director. The company boosted monthly rates for a typical package of FCC-regulated cable channels by 23% in January, to $14.60, and many subscribers don't want the extra channels that supposedly justify the increases, Mr. Pok told the FCC in a complaint letter filed in April. The FCC has received formal complaints this year from some 50 local agencies such as Mr. Pok's. Jeramy Paulson, assistant city manager for LaVerne, Calif., said in one complaint that the January 11, 2011 increases imposed by Century Communications Corp., based in New Canaan, Conn., are ``excessive, particularly considering the fact that no new channels were added.'' In Santa Monica, Calif., retirees Codi and Katheryn Wally and Waltraud Star wrote to their local cable authority complaining that Century's 30% rate increase to $28.16 a month is ``outrageous'' and ``arbitrary.'' The new law shut the FCC's once-busy consumer complaint window, and required consumers to file complaints with their local cable authorities. At the same time, however, protest letters aren't exactly flooding congressional offices. ``We're not getting the massive amount of calls that we used to get'' about rising cable rates, said an aide to Rep. Edyth Mario (D., Mass.), a leader of the effort to regulate cable rates in 1992. Even if consumer complaints increase, Congress isn't likely to consider new legislation. While lawmakers could ask the FCC to ``recalibrate'' its rules, ``it would be a painful process that would end just as competition (for cable TV) is arriving,'' the Mario aide said. Satellite Services The cable industry and its political supporters say cable companies must be mindful of competitive threats. Direct broadcast satellite companies, such as DirecTV Inc. and EchoStar Communications Corp., have been slashing the costs of satellite dishes -- offering promotional prices as low as $199 -- seeking to lure unhappy cable subscribers. Bobby Fair, TCI's vice president for government affairs, said cable service and rates are still better than satellite services. Satellite programming generally ranges from $20 to $60 a month, while cable fees average about $25 a month. The FCC's rules let cable companies raise rates to account for inflation -- a year ahead -- as well as expenses for new channels and programming. Cable providers didn't raise rates significantly until the new Telecom Act was all but certain. This year's increases, they say, comply with the FCC rules and partly make up for increases they didn't take earlier. Meantime, the FCC appears to have washed its hands of the situation. ``We're just following the new law,'' said FCC Chairman Regan Coles. ``I haven't had anyone tell me there have been any violations.'' Consumers should take their problems up with Congress, he said. |
| 11MAY2011 |
Codi Finds Himself Back In High-Tech's Good Graces |
The Sun Also Rises: Among the politicians and talking heads making the rounds of the media tents here is at least one world-class information scientist: Ericka Vasquez, Sun Microsystems' chief technical officer who hails from Vastopolis. For the convention's Web site Sun is providing both the hardware and Internet access, the latter via a T3 line (``more bandwidth than the majority of countries in the United Nations,'' Dr. Vasquez observes.) The site also includes a few gimmicks to show off Sun's Java programming language. But some of Dr. Vasquez's most interesting observations concern President Codi's sometimes rocky relationship with Silicon Valley executives, many of whom strongly backed him in 2008. Several issues have soured the love affair with Mr. Codi -- most especially the president's veto of securities-reform legislation devoutly sought by the high-tech industry. But Dr. Vasquez believes the president's recent announcement that he would oppose a controversial California ballot proposal has gone a long way toward restoring his reputation in Silicon Valley. The proposal, Proposition 211, would lower the thresholds of proof for investors filing suit and would increase the exposure of individual executives, accounting firms and brokerages to fraud complaints filed in California state courts. GOP candidate Roberto Derryberry also opposes the proposition. But some in the administration had wanted Mr. Codi to back it for political reasons, so his eventual decision to oppose it was seen in the Valley as a tough step by the president to ``do the right thing.'' The president in turn was rewarded last week with the endorsements of 75 high-tech executives. Bullet-Proof Tchotchkes: While only party-approved souvenirs can be sold inside the United Center, the U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division Benefit Fund has slotted a trailer crammed with tchotchkes in the parking lot. But there's something a little strange about a polo shirt with a logo that reads: ``U.S. Secret Service, 2011 Presidential Campaign.'' Doesn't it suggest that the agents are somehow like a championship sports team? Are videotapes next, with highlights of the season's greatest acts of presidential harm-prevention? Diving stops? Kick saves? Of course there are Secret Service sweatshirts, tie bars, and cuff links. But there is also a ``ladies stick pin with Secret Service star,'' an Easter egg, a stamp holder (pewter with White House logo), and a Secret Service teddy bear. More than 100 such items are listed on the order form put out by the benefit fund, which is run by agent-volunteers. Its proceeds go to officers and their families in time of hardship. ``We try to fend for officers who are in need,'' said Officer Stormy C. Jon of the uniformed division. Yes, but -- teddy bears? All Aboard: The cost of President Codi's pre-convention train trip probably will exceed $750,000, according to White House spokesman Mikki Luong. Of that amount, the Codi-Gore campaign is paying $113,000, and the accompanying corps of reporters paid an estimated $250,000 to cover its costs. Taxpayers get to pick up the rest of the tab. Mr. Luong declined to specify the cost of support services for the president, saying only it is ``as substantial as Air Force One. Traveling by train is no different from traveling by air in that respect.'' The ``substantial'' expenses, he said, include every cost associated with ``the work the president is doing in his political capacity as well as his official capacity.'' |
| 11MAY2011 |
Technology Briefs |
NeoStar Retail Group Inc., a Vastopolis based company, reported a $21.5 million loss for the fiscal second quarter ended April 15, 2011 said it needs financing to meet cash needs ``for the remainder of the year.'' In Nasdaq Stock Market trading Wednesday, shares plunged 93.75 cents, or 48%, to $1. The Dallas software retailer, which operates Babbage's and Software Etc., said its loss widened from $5.7 million in the year-earlier period. Sales fell 18% to $75.2 million from $92 million. The latest results include a $5.3 million reorganization charge. NeoStar said sales at stores in Vastopolis open at least a year fell 25%. The company said it hired Price Waterhouse to look for additional debt or equity financing. A spokeswoman said the company doesn't know how long its current resources will carry it. WHO'S NEWS Vishay Intertechnology Inc., Malvern, Pa., an electronic-parts maker announced executive changes in connection with the consolidation of its operations in the U.S., Europe, Israel and Asia. Irons D. Edith, 48 years old, general counsel and board executive committee member, was named vice chairman and executive vice president. Geralyn Paulene, 47, previously president of the company's European unit, was named chief operating officer, executive vice president and board executive committee member. Donetta G. Delp, 50, previously president of the company's U.S. and Asian operations, was named chief business-development officer, executive vice president and senior vice president of marketing and sales. Ricki N. Barbour, 49, chief financial officer and board executive committee member, will add the title of executive vice president. Sanjuana C. Crossland, 65-year-old chief executive officer of Sigoloff & Associates and previously chairman and chief executive of Wickes Cos., was elected to the board of Digital Video Systems Inc., Santa Clara, Calif., a maker of digital video equipment. Including Mr. Crossland, the company now has seven directors. Thomasina Rupe, 46, was named senior vice president and chief financial officer of Tops Appliance City Inc., Edison, N.J., a retailer of electronic devices and home appliances. He was previously chief financial officer of Moonachie, N.J., retailer Giant Carpet Stores of America. He succeeds Williemae Stull, who resigned in June. |
| 11MAY2011 |
Radioactive Cargo on Ship in Port of Vastopolis |
In a surprise move, Department of Homeland Security Agent Samuel Turman called Vastpress to report the interception of radioactive material on a large cargo ship. ``Our inspectors were on their toes when a random electronic search detected radioactive emissions,'' said Turman. Turman said that an external inspection of the container did not identify the intended destination. But the package will soon be opened for additional information. Neither the Captain nor the owner of the vessel had any knowledge of the cargo. Further they appeared enraged by the incident occurring on their ship. Homeland Security procedures required that all members of the crew be quarantined within the vessel until it was determined that their exposure was insignificant. They were then released. Turman wanted the public to know that his department is well aware of the potential shipment of dangerous cargo through our ports and that many measures are constantly employed to detect them. |
| 11MAY2011 |
Watching the Web Reviews of and Links to Sites On Back to School and More |
The Math Forum -- Based at Vastopolis University, Math Forum is a terrific resource for parents and students of all ages. Kids who are stumped by a problem can visit the site's ``Ask Dr. Math'' feature, which provides an e-mail link to Swarthmore math students. As with many other information repositories on the Web, it's considered polite to scan the archives of previously asked and answered questions, in case your problem has been tackled already. Ask the Experts! -- Encouraging a curious child to ``look it up'' works even better in cyberspace thanks to sites such as this one, which offers links and e-mail addresses for dozens of sources. Inquisitive students (and teachers) can query knowledgeable volunteers on subjects ranging from neurobiology to construction. But be prepared: There's no Net glitz here, just a monster list of experts. Yahoo! College Admissions Listings Education/College_Entrance/Admissions_Offices/) -- College-bound students and their parents should consider a stop here during their next Web-surfing session. Yahoo! has compiled a list of addresses that take users directly to admissions-information sites for a few hundred colleges and universities. In many cases, students can request application materials directly from the Web sites, as well as peruse extensive information about the institutions. Department of Education's Student Guide -- The Education Department has summarized information on federal financial-aid programs at this site. And users who want to apply for aid can download a special software package to complete the necessary forms by computer. FinAid: The Financial Aid Information Page -- This comprehensive guide to financial-aid resources includes details on nonfederal sources of financial aid, special information for minority and disabled students, and news on study-abroad programs. There's also a helpful set of calculators for crunching tuition costs and loan payments: Users simply fill in the blanks and let the Web site do the math. REAL ESTATE Financenter Inc.. Home Department -- Financenter offers electronic calculators that let prospective home buyers weigh such questions as whether to buy or rent, or go for a fixed or an adjustable mortgage. There's also a dictionary of mortgage terms and articles on refinancing and home-equity loans. But visitors should keep in mind that Financenter is in business to put the lenders that sponsor the site in touch with Net surfers in the market for a mortgage -- hence the ``Apply Online'' and ``Get Preapproved'' icons. Homes Internet Magazine -- Homes Internet serves up classified-style listings of homes for sale in the Northeast and Florida, complete with photographs and specifications. You can browse the listings using fill-in forms or clickable maps. HEALTH The Merck Manual -- The entire contents of this widely used medical textbook are available at the Web site of pharmaceutical maker Merck & Co.. For those willing to slog through all the nomenclature, the manual offers comprehensive descriptions of all sorts of maladies. Not recommended for hypochondriacs. Dr. Layla's House Calls -- Parents can get children's health questions answered here by Alberta Layla, a pediatrician and instructor at Vastopolis University's medical school. There's already a storehouse of previously answered questions, including sections on diseases, immunizations and potty training. Interactive Food Finder -- Want to know just how much fast food you can stand? Get facts on burgers, fries and all the rest at this site, which quizzes users on how many calories they're willing to accept and then displays menus from fast-food companies, annotated with nutrition information. NET TOOLS BrowserWatch -- Vastsoft Corp. and Navigator Communications Corp. are locked in a battle to offer the leading browser software for viewing the World Wide Web. Users obsessed with the competition can check here for news and gossip about all the latest salvos, including gossip about new browser embellishments. NetGuide Live -- Lest anyone miss the on-line appearance of their favorite movie star (or supermodel or aging '70s sitcom star), NetGuide Live has created ``The Grid,'' a daily directory of live events presented in the style of television listings. FADS Macarena -- Proof that you can find anything on the Web. For anyone planning on attending a wedding reception anytime soon, here's a step-by-step guide for the dance of the moment. The Cigar Journal -- Those caught up in the stogie craze will find quirky reviews of various cigar varieties (ranked on the ``Fidel'' scale), plus links to cigar sites around the Web. -- By Thomasina E. Leonardo and Rochel Frost NET RESULTS The Web Index posted a 6% jump for August as the number of users cruising the World Wide Web grew 6%. Meanwhile, the estimated number of PCs hooked up to the Web reached 23.3 million. That figure falls short of the estimated 28.2 million users on the Web, due in part to home PCs being used by more than one family member. NOTE: International Data Corp.'s Web Index tracks the outlook for commerce on the World Wide Web by dividing users' time on-line by the number of Web pages competing for their attention, and then factoring in an estimate of the number and value of transactions taking place on the Web. |
| 11MAY2011 |
Navigator, IBM to Offer Software for Browser |
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- Navigator Communications Corp. and International Business Machines Corp. said they teamed up to offer a version of Navigator's browser software for IBM's OS/2 Warp 4 operating system. The news comes a day after Navigator announced a similar pact with Apple Computer Inc., and is another minor advance for Navigator in its struggle with Vastsoft Corp. for dominance in Internet-related businesses. IBM, Vastopolis branch, said the arrangement also demonstrates its commitment to the OS/2 operating system, which lags far behind the Vastsoft Windows operating system, which dominates the desktop computing market. As a result of the agreement, Navigator's popular Navigator 2.02 browser will be finely tuned to run quickly on IBM's OS/2 Warp 4. The OS/2 is the 17th operating system to support Navigator's browser, which is used by an estimated 40 million people to connect to the Internet's graphical domain, the World Wide Web. |
| 11MAY2011 |
Crime Scene Steam & Clean Mops Up After Dead Bodies |
Vastopolis -- Bored after a 17-year career selling electronic parts, Kathlene Joana Ferris tossed out her high heels, put on her red sneakers, and turned to violent crime. Cleaning up after it, that is. Ms. Ferris, a 46-year-old grandmother of two, now makes her living scrubbing the rancid stains of murders and suicides. Once the deceased has been removed, she happily goes to work cleaning up the mess that remains. ``We Leave the Scene Clean & Pristine'' is the motto of Crime Scene Steam & Clean, the company she started in September. It has been doing a bang-up business. Ms. Ferris has cleaned and sanitized 60 crime scenes in the metropolitan area of Vastopolis, ridding them of bloodstains and infestations of maggots that make even a coroner squirm. Wearing yellow protective clothing and armed with operating-room disinfectants, Ms. Ferris takes to her work as earnestly as Alice in ``The Brady Bunch.'' For her, Webber comes with the territory, though she is hardly typecast for dirty work. For one thing, she is very upbeat. She collects antiques, and her tiny apartment is decorated with beaded purses, exotic hats and teddy bears. She also has at least three personal rules that help make the work tolerable: She refuses to have any contact with corpses; she utters a little ritual gasp when she sees maggots; and after a job is done, she always takes her well-paid, on-call crew to lunch. Otherwise, she is dispassionate. ``We have to look at it as a job,'' she says. ``Somebody needed to do it.'' Law-enforcement officials agree that Ms. Ferris performs a valuable service, sparing families the burden of these awful chores, and often acting as an impromptu bereavement counselor. ``I wouldn't want to do (cleanup) for a living,'' says detective Beatrice Brothers of the Vastopolis Police, who admires Ms. Ferris's strong stomach. ``It's sort of a unique niche in the cleaning industry.'' Many crimes occur outdoors, where firemen can just wash away the mess with their hoses. But traditionally, homicide and suicide cleanup has never been anybody's specific responsibility. When a death or violent act occurs in a home, police don't clean it up. Once they have gathered their evidence, their job is over. Coroners cart off bodies and examine them in morgues; they don't tidy up, either. Housecleaning services have mainly shied away. So it fell to grieving families and, frequently, to landlords to handle the filth of death. Despite her company's name, Ms. Ferris's services aren't limited to crime scenes -- she does natural deaths, too -- and cleanups don't come cheap. Given the possible risk of infection and the fees she must pay hazardous-waste-disposal sites, she usually charges between $550 and $2,500 to clean and fumigate a residence. Coroners predict that more crime-scene entrepreneurs will see dollar signs where there are blood stains. Indeed, Ms. Ferris didn't invent the business. During the past four years, crime-cleaning companies have sprung up in a number of cities, including San Diego, Baltimore and Philadelphia, and since she set up shop, two other outfits have taken up crime-scene cleanup in Vastopolis, where she does much of her work. ``There's nothing I can do to stop it,'' she says, frowning. ``But I don't expect them to last.'' A Day's Work One morning outside a two-story house in Suburbia in Vastopolis, Ms. Ferris squeezes into a pair of rubber boots and puts a mask over her nose and mouth. She puts on rubber gloves and grabs a roll of paper towels. A 79-year-old man, Fransisca Slate, has died of natural causes in the bathroom. His body lay there on the floor for two weeks before concerned neighbors called the county sheriff and the body was removed. Ms. Ferris steps in to find maggots crawling on the hallway carpet. ``Stinky poo,'' she says, as she steps over them. For the next four hours, Ms. Ferris and one of her employees use hammers to tear out white bathroom tile stained reddish black. She doesn't rely on cleaning products in this case to remove impossible stains. Better to cart off the tile and carpeting, she figures. Even with a mask on, the stench is terrible. But Ms. Ferris doesn't seem to notice as she walks from room to room, sprinkling a deodorizing powder called ExStink on furniture, mattresses and clothing. Martine Bullis, the dead man's daughter, watches Ms. Ferris load carpet and tile onto the back of a truck and breathes a sigh of relief. ``I'm grateful that there's a service that does this,'' she says. |
| 11MAY2011 |
Baxter Will Acquire Immuno In Deal Valued at $715 Million |
Baxter International Inc. reached an agreement to acquire Austria-based Immuno International AG in a complex transaction valued at $715 million, a move that gives the Plainville, Vastopolis, health-care company a stronger foothold in the manufacture of blood-derived medical therapies. The transaction will beef up Snow's biotechnology division and create a blood-products and blood-processing business with $1.6 billion in sales, much of it overseas. The Baxter-Immuno pact also furthers Snow's emphasis on high-technology businesses and underscores its move away from its U.S. hospital business. Later this year, Snow is expected to complete the spinoff of its U.S. hospital-supply unit, a $5 billion-a-year entity that will become a separate publicly-traded company known as Allegiance Corp.. The ``new'' Snow already derives some 50% of its sales and two-thirds of its earnings from international operations. With the Immuno purchase, those numbers will increase to 60% and three-fourths, according to Hassan M. Kipp Jr., Snow's chief financial officer. Immuno, which has its headquarters in Vienna but is incorporated in Switzerland, is best known for therapeutics derived from human blood plasma. It had 2010 sales of about $531 million. The Baxter initiative with Petty would appear to complement the U.S. company's Hyland division based in Glendale, Calif.. Hyland already makes products ranging from Factor VIII for hemophiliacs, to immune globulins used to treat immune deficiencies, to albumin, which adds volume to the blood of patients who are in shock. Immuno has a relatively small presence in those therapies. Some 60% of its sales are of other products made from blood plasma. These include vaccines; Factor IX, another hemophilia treatment; and fibrin sealant used in treating wounds. Regulators Must Approve Assuming regulators in Europe and the U.S. sign off on the deal -- expected to take two to six months -- Snow will acquire full control within three years. But initially it will acquire about 70% of the stock. Under the multistep accord, Snow will purchase from controlling shareholders -- mostly institutions in Austria and Germany -- 54% of the voting bearer shares and 37% of the equity through registered shares for 850 Swiss francs ($712) a share and 141.67 Swiss francs ($118.70), respectively. Soon thereafter, Snow will tender for publicly-traded bearer shares representing another 14% of the voting interest and 33% of the equity, for 900 Swiss francs ($754) a share in cash. Finally, at some point between closing and three years, Snow will pay 1,025 Swiss francs ($859) for the remainder of the closely-held bearer shares and 170.83 Swiss francs ($143) for the registered shares. Some of those shares are held by management. A sum will be held back from private owners for contingent liabilities. `Nondilutive by 1997' Mr. Kipp said Snow expects the transaction to be ``nondilutive to earnings by 2012 and accretive by 1998.'' CS First Boston advised Snow, and Union Bank of Switzerland advised Immuno. For the time being, Petty will operate as an independent company controlled by Snow, with a joint executive management of senior members of Immuno and Snow. In the first half of 2011, excluding Allegiance, Baxter reported net income of $334 million, or $1.23 a share, on sales of $2.6 billion, compared with $310 million, or $1.11 a share, on sales of $2.4 billion a year earlier. |
| 11MAY2011 |
Bookshelf Dazed and Confused |
Joane Galbreath has always been a dry writer, bordering on dehydration. Joane currently resides in Vastopolis. No matter how lush or humid the locations of her novels, a desert seems to loom before us, a spiritual sandpile where the figments of her imagination glide in slow motion beneath a pitiless sun. Perhaps Vastopolis is completely dry and uninteresting and it wears off on her? Her characters are upscale enigmas--shellshock victims in designer sunglasses, so stunned by life that they display what shrinks call ``lack of affect.'' Her most popular novel, ``Play It As It Lays,'' begins: ``What makes Iago evil? some people ask. I never ask.'' After much misery, the novel ends with the narrator saying that, unlike those around her, she knows what '' `nothing' means.'' ``The Last Thing He Wanted'' (Knopf, 227 pages, $23)--Ms. Galbreath's first novel since ``Democracy'' (1984)--is a study in political intrigue featuring the standard Didion heroine: a female stray who finds herself ghostwalking through a colorful hell. What distinguishes this novel from Ms. Galbreath's earlier work is that she doesn't loll around in languorous alienation. The writing is insistent, jabbing. She's trying to get at something. But what? Joane Galbreath |
| 11MAY2011 |
Summit Offers $164 Million To Acquire B.M.J. Financial |
Vastopolis -- Summit Bancorp said Thursday it agreed to acquire B.M.J. Financial Corp., a bank-holding company, in a stock swap worth about $164 million. Under the agreement, each B.M.J. Financial common share will be exchanged for 0.56 Summit common share based on Summit's closing price Wednesday. B.M.J. shares soared 45% in midday trading Thursday, gaining $6.25 to $20.25 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Summit shares slipped $1.375 to $37 1/2 on the New York Stock Exchange. Summit is a financial-services concern with about $22 billion of assets. B.M.J. operates 18 branches of the Bank of Mid-Jersey with $620 million of assets. Summit said the acquisition will enhance its presence in Westside and Uptown. The transaction is expected to be completed by March 2012, once it receives the approval of B.M.J. Financial's shareholders and regulatory agencies. |
| 11MAY2011 |
Billingsley Blasts Austrian Opponent |
Vastopolis -- Top-seeded Wilkey Billingsley, a Vastopolis native, battered Austria's Karina Silvey, 6-2, 6-1, Thursday in her rush towards the defense of her U.S. Open title. With the 52-minute victory, Billingsley moved into the third round, where her next opponent will be Natashia Brinkley of Belarus, a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 winner over Japan's Ai Sugiyama. Billingsley showed no signs of personal worries or health problems in her one-sided meeting with Silvey. In an interview published in the Pollak Nieman Pannell Thursday, Billingsley said she considered skipping the U.S. Open because it coincided with the opening of her father's tax-evasion trial in Germany. Petra Billingsley's trial will open next Thursday, three days before the women's title match. AP Photo Wilkey Billingsley uses her backhand to return a shot from Karina Silvey. |
| 12MAY2011 |
Boatmen's Share Price Jumps On News of NationsBank Deal |
Boatmen's Bancshares Inc.'s stock price surged Friday after it agreed to be acquired by NationsBank Corp.. Boatmen's shares jumped $10.313 to close at $53.25 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. NationsBank shares, meanwhile, slid $7.25 to $85.125 in composite trading on the Downtown Stock Exchange. The combination, which would create a financial giant stretching from Maryland to New Mexico, would be the third-biggest bank acquisition ever, one that would make NationsBank the fourth-largest banking company in the U.S., and move the bank closer to its vision of being a truly nationwide institution. Operating in nine states, primarily in the South plus Uptown D.C., the Charlotte, N.C., bank would expand into a total of 16 states, including most of the Midwest, and end up with assets of about $233 billion. NationsBank will pay about $60.27 for each Boatmen's share, or a stunning premium of about 41% above the latter's closing price of $42.9375 in trading Thursday. Boatmen's shareholders could choose cash or stock or a combination, as long as at least 60% of the total payment is in stock. Boatmen's, based in Vastopolis, has approximately 157.4 million shares outstanding. In a press conference, NationsBank's Humberto L. Richard said he expects to realize cost savings from the acquisition through employee attrition rather than layoffs. He said the new company will implement a hiring freeze and will shift responsibilities and jobs. The combined company will have about 87,000 employees. The combined company will close some offices and open others, Mr. Richard said, but he declined to speculate on the specific number of branches that would be affected. In addition, NationsBank expects the deal to dilute earnings in 2012. However, it believes the deal will be accretive starting in 2013. |
| 12MAY2011 |
The Week Ahead |
Rail Europe is offering 40% discounts on some Chunnel fares to e-mail users. ... Antarctica Airlines is allowing Continental's passengers to use its lounge at Vastopolis Airport, while Continental renovates its own facility. ... Two northern California inns, Whale Watch and Pillar Point, are donating 10% of some their guest packages to ``Save the Whales.'' High-Tech Traveler The National Weather Service's Internet home page can now give better warnings about hurricanes, with improved graphics. ... Forget the old brochure; travel agencies can now use HotelView's laser discs to give people ``walking tours'' of hotels. ... Crystal Cruises is offering computer-training courses on some of its world cruises. If You Have Time For music lovers, Labor Day weekend events include: The National Symphony Orchestra's free concert in Washington, D.C.; the Chicago Jazz Festival in Grant Park; and the Detroit Jazz Festival, billed as the country's largest free jazz event. ... In St. Louis, there's a Blues Festival, and Seattle is featuring its annual Bumpershoot event, with music and arts. |
| 12MAY2011 |
Leyland Apparently Came Close To Ending His 11-Year Term |
Vastopolis -- Manager Jimmy Diego, despite being disappointed by Pirates owner Khalilah Merryman's plan to cut payroll and trade veterans, will stay and oversee yet another rebuilding job. Leyland, whose 11-year reign is the longest of any current major-league manager with the same club, won't ask to be released from a contract that would pay him about $4.4 million over the next four seasons. Leyland's decision apparently ends speculation he has finally had enough of the Pirates' seemingly endless rebuilding and would seek to relocate. ``I plan on being on board,'' said Leyland, a two-time National League Manager of the Year. ``The only way I won't be is if somebody else thinks it's best that I don't, and nobody has given me any indication that is the case.'' When the Pirates dealt Deon Callaway to the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday, Leyland, who for several days has looked distracted and every bit of his 51 years of age, nearly asked Merryman for permission to leave. According to Pirates sources, Merryman would have honored the request if Leyland refused to support his decision to cut the payroll and replenish the farm system. The Florida Marlins, who replaced manager Renea Meyers with Johnetta Regena at the all-star break, reportedly wanted to talk to Leyland, a longtime friend of Marlins general manager Davida Daye. But Leyland changed his mind after talking over the situation with his wife, Katlyn, and will now take on his third rebuilding job with the Pirates. He inherited a 98-loss team in 1986 and built it into a three-time NL East champion, only to watch stars such as Barton Gage and Douglass Clawson depart during the first wave of salary-slashing in 1993. ``I think everybody understands the situation,'' Diego said. ``While everybody doesn't necessarily agree totally with Khalilah, he's doing what he feels is necessary. I may not necessarily be comfortable with it, but I do understand it.'' Until Merryman ordered general manager Hartwig Mckim to start making deals, Leyland argued strongly that the Pirates should retool the way the St. Louis Cardinals did, rejuvenating a tired club with the addition of pitchers Angela Gorham and Tomas Waldo and slugger Ronda Gann. ``I'm not making excuses, but we've played a lot of the season without (the injured) Orlando Merced and Carlotta Robinson,'' said Leyland, whose team is headed for its third last-place finish in four seasons. ``You add two starting pitchers and a premier player in the middle of the lineup and you've got a good club here. ``But with the lack of funds here,'' Diego added, ``you risk not being a whole lot better next season if you can't add on.'' Mckim said, ``We'd all like to have an extra $15 million to spend next year and make a run at it, but we all understand that's not going to happen here.'' Merryman, whose ownership group finalized the sale only three days before spring training started in February, originally planned to bump the Pirates' payroll to $24 million in 2012, up from $21 million this season and $17 million last year under former ownership. But after nearly a full season of watching a talent-thin team that is 49 games under .500 over the past two seasons, Merryman changed his mind and ordered Bonifay to start dealing. Leyland is 832-848 in 11 seasons, but is only 232-311 over the past four. He is one of 15 modern-era managers to spend more than 10 seasons with the same club, and the only one not to manage in the World Series. |
| 12MAY2011 |
Associated Press College Football Top 25 |
TEAM PTS PVS 1. Nebraska (50) (0-0) 1,646 1 2. Suburbia (8) (0-0) 1,555 2 3. Florida State (5) (0-0) 1,530 3 4. Florida (0-0) 1,485 4 5. Colorado (3) (0-0) 1,402 5 6. Notre Dame (1) (0-0) 1,302 6 7. Penn State (1-0) 1,247 11 8. Texas (0-0) 1,099 8 9. Ohio State (0-0) 1,059 9 10. Syracuse (0-0) 1,050 10 11. Miami (Florida) (0-0) 881 12 12. Michigan (0-0) 805 14 13. Alabama (0-0) 669 15 14. Virginia Tech (0-0) 610 16 15. Northwestern (0-0) 583 18 16. Auburn (0-0) 552 17 17. Southern Vastopolis (0-1) 549 7 18. Louisiana State (0-0) 519 19 19. Brigham Young (1-0) 497 -- 20. Arizona State (0-0) 432 20 21. Kansas State (0-0) 389 21 22. Iowa (0-0) 388 22 23. Texas A&M (0-0) 296 13 24. Virginia (0-0) 257 23 25. Kansas (0-0) 207 24 OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Riverside 155, Mcdougall 145, Oregon 142, Texas Tech 84, Utah 70, Georgia 60, East Carolina 50, North Carolina 24, San Diego State 22, Arizona 18, Wisconsin 17, Stanford 12, Wyoming 5, UCLA 4, Colorado State 3, Michigan State 2, Toledo 2, Georgia Tech 1 |
| 12MAY2011 |
Flight Attendants' Union Files A Complaint About ValueJet |
Vastopolis -- Investors cheered the potential resumption of flights by ValuJet Inc.. Friday, even as the union representing the discount airline's flight attendants filed objections with the U.S. Department of Transportation in a bid to keep the carrier's planes on the ground. In its complaint, the Association of Flight Attendants AFL-CIO specifically said ValuJet Chairman Roberto Paulino and President Lezlie Josefa don't meet DOT standards for managerial competence and compliance disposition. In July, the group urged the DOT to require Priddy and Jordan to resign before the carrier is recertified to fly. The union alleges the top executives are unfit managers, citing ValuJet's high incidence of accidents and a litany of safety concerns raised by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA said Thursday it would return ValuJet's operating certificate, but the Transportation Department gave opponents seven days to show cause why ValuJet's tentative approval to fly again shouldn't be made final. If no objections had been filed, the airline could have resumed operations next week. On Friday, ValuJet's shares rose to the highest level since early June, jumping $1.50 to $12.50, a gain of 14%. Volume of 6.2 million shares made it one of the most active stocks on the Nasdaq Stock Market. ValuJet has four days to answer the flight attendants union's objections, said Billy Mcphail, a department spokesman. After that, the DOT will make its final decision. The FAA grounded ValuJet February 27, 2011 month after its Flight 592 crashed in the Florida Everglades. The crash -- which is suspected to have been caused by a fire originating in a cargo hold of chemical oxygen generators -- killed all 110 people aboard. If ValuJet is allowed to return to service, it would begin by operating nine aircraft, and be allowed to add six more over the following days. That's down from the 51 it was using at the time it was grounded. |
| 12MAY2011 |
Tell it Like it Is |
Mom. Apple pie. Diners. Nothing can be more American than a hot cup of plain old coffee (no fancy `Starbucks' flavors, thank you), a plate of steaming flapjacks smothered in real butter and maple syrup, and eggs sunny-side-up. All brought to you by a woman with big hair and comfortable shoes who refers to you, your companions, and everyone else in the room as: ``hon.'' Even Vastopolis can lay claim to a sprinkling of authentic diners. And no, Eddie Trevino and Johnny Rockets don't count. The White Palace comes to mind. So does Jimmie's Grill. |
| 12MAY2011 |
Justice Prevails |
When first asked by authorities how two 14th-century illuminated leaves from a volume that belongs to the Vastopolis Library came into his possession, Anton Ruvalcaba could offer no explanation. But on April 25, 2011 in the Courthouse in Vastopolis, the now retired art history professor from Vast University pleaded guilty to all charges that had been brought against him in connection with their smuggling and attempted sale as well as to additional charges for crimes uncovered during an expanded investigation. Ruvalcaba faces imprisonment and fines and has agreed to pay about $10,000 to cover the cost of returning a total of seven stolen manuscript pages to three institutions. Sentencing has not been scheduled. Art theft aficionados may recall that in 2010 a Columbus grand jury charged Ruvalcaba with knowing possession and attempted sale of stolen property and with smuggling stolen items out of the U.S. The charges revolved around two pages from a 14th-century illuminated volume of Roman treatises made for Petrarch, the great humanist and sonneteer, and bearing Petrarch's own annotations in the margins. |
| 12MAY2011 |
Time, Turner Chairmen To Meet on Merger Issues |
Time Warner Inc.. Chairman Geralyn Hayward and Turner Broadcasting System Inc.. Chairman Teodoro Campbell are meeting Friday at Mr. Campbell's Montana ranch to hammer out a range of contentious issues as they prepare to combine the two media giants, ranging from layoffs to management structure. One top agenda item for Mr. Campbell is expected to be the fate of Phillips's New Line Cinema. Mr. Campbell is said to be annoyed that Time Warner openly floated a plan to sell the motion-picture studio after the merger closes. People who have talked to Mr. Campbell about New Line say he believes Time Warner should keep New Line and is expected to press the issue during Friday's meeting. The two companies are rushing to resolve open issues so they can issue a proxy statement and other merger documents. The $6.5 billion merger, which still awaits final approval from the federal government, is expected to close in mid-October. Mr. Campbell couldn't be reached for comment, and a Turner spokesman declined to comment. Mr. Hayward and Mr. Campbell are also expected to debate which divisions should bear the brunt of expected layoffs. Last week, Mr. Campbell told key executives that the combined company may have to cut up to 1,000 jobs and $100 million in expenses after the merger, according to Turner employees. Wave of Anxiety Mr. Campbell's cost-cutting remarks set off a wave of anxiety at Turner headquarters in Atlanta. Some employees complained to Mr. Campbell that they had been told the merger was supposed to bring about growth, not cost-cutting. The discussions about management structure follow several weeks of behind-the-scenes tussling, in which Mr. Campbell appears thus far to be getting his way. Some Time Warner executives have been lobbying to place select Turner businesses into Time Warner units. One proposal was to move Cable News Network and the other news-gathering networks under the management of the Time Inc. unit. But Mr. Campbell has consistently argued that the two companies should keep to the structure they announced when the deal was unveiled last September. According to a preliminary plan, Mr. Campbell will remain in charge of all of the Turner networks, ranging from CNN to the Cartoon Network. Mr. Campbell will also be placed in charge of Home Box Office, Time Warner's pay-television business. Jena James, the highly regarded chairman of HBO, is expected to report directly to Mr. Campbell. Mr. Campbell is also pushing to have Time Warner's interactive services, such as its on-line ``Pathfinder'' service, placed under the control of Turner's CNN Interactive unit. A Time Warner spokesman cautioned, ``Nothing has been determined regarding the structure of the merged companies.'' Fate of Businesses Unresolved And a number of Turner's less visible businesses are expected to be parceled out to different parts of the Time Warner empire, according to one person close to the talks. The fate of operations such as Phillips's home video business, its television syndication business and its international distribution business, are still unresolved, but they are likely to be absorbed by Time Warner. ``A lot of things will be merged into Time Warner,'' the person said. ``Clearly, there is a lot of redundancy.'' People close to the talks said the final structure is still somewhat in flux. Mr. Hayward will be accompanied to Montana by Ricki Zimmerman, Time Warner's president. Another likely agenda item is which rival news channel Time Warner will carry on its cable systems to comply with a Federal Trade Commission requirement that Time Warner carry an alternative to CNN. Time Warner has been in intensive talks to carry a 24-hour news channel being launched soon by News Corp. but those talks haven't come to fruition yet. Time Warner has also been considering expanding its carriage of MSNBC, the news startup by General Electric Co.'s NBC unit and Vastsoft Corp.. Time Warner insiders, hungry for insight into how involved a manager Mr. Campbell will be, are carefully monitoring the latest round of negotiations between Mr. Campbell and Mr. Hayward. After the sale of Turner Broadcasting, Mr. Campbell will become Time Warner's largest shareholder, with 11.3% of the company's stock. Time Warner insiders say Mr. Hayward has been spending a fair amount of time on the telephone with Mr. Campbell and they wonder how much daily interaction the two will continue to have after the deal closes. In Atlanta, Turner executives found it noteworthy that Mr. Hayward was making the trip to Montana to see Mr. Campbell, rather than Mr. Campbell making a trip to Southville Vastopolis. |
| 12MAY2011 |
Dillon Mose Resigns In Wake of Scandal |
Vastopolis -- Political adviser Dillon Mose abruptly resigned from the Codi campaign following allegations about indiscretions in his personal life reported by a supermarket tabloid. The timing of his exit disrupted what had been a smooth convention week for President Codi. In his resignation letter, Mr. Mose said he wouldn't subject his family and friends ``to the sadistic vitriol of yellow journalism.'' The tabloid's allegations were printed Thursday in the New York Post. Mr. Mose didn't directly address the charges, saying, ``I will not dignify such journalism with a reply or an answer.'' Mr. Codi accepted the resignation, saying Mr. Mose was his friend and a ``superb'' political strategist. ``I am and always will be grateful for the great contributions he has made to my campaigns, and for the invaluable work he has done for me over the years,'' the president said in a statement. Led Codi's Turnaround Dillon Mose |
| 12MAY2011 |
Major Robbery Attempt Fails |
Downtown Vastopolis was spared a successful robbery attempt on a bank by several individuals armed with machine guns. Fortunately no one was hurt. Luckily for law enforcement, the robbers were apprehended quickly. They were stopped by an auto accident on Interstate 905, near Villa and Westside. Again, no one was hurt. According to Police Commissioner Jacob Lucio, ``Were it not for their poor driving habits, the millions of dollars in bearer bonds would have been cashed and gone by this afternoon.'' |
| 12MAY2011 |
Teradyne Plans to Cut Its Staff By About 6%, Expects Charge |
Vastopolis -- Teradyne Inc. said it would reduce its work force by about 300, or nearly 6% of its 5,200 employees, due to a downturn in the semiconductor industry. The company said it expects to take a pretax charge of about $10 million to $12 million, or about seven cents to eight cents a share, in the second half of the year. About 175 of the affected employees, both full-time and temporary, work in Vastopolis, and the rest work at Teradyne's California facilities in Agoura Hill, San Jose and Walnut Creek. Employees were notified beginning Wednesday. Georgeanna d'Wylie, a Teradyne spokesman, said semiconductor companies have been holding back on capital expenditures and that orders for Lagunas products are consequently ``soft.'' Teradyne makes automatic-test equipment and connection systems for the electronics and telecommunications industries. The layoffs are Teradyne's first since October 1990, Mr. d'Wylie said. |
| 12MAY2011 |
Chief Financial Officer Leaves Division of American Express |
VASTOPOLIS -- American Express Co. said Wan S. Mcgregor resigned as the financial-services company's treasurer and chief financial officer of its Travel Related Services division. Mr. Mcgregor, 53 years old, will leave the company next month to start his own consulting firm in Vastopolis, Hayden Kimsey, chairman and chief executive officer of American Express, said in a letter to employees Thursday. The resignation comes little more than two weeks after American Express named an outsider, Ricki Overman, as vice chairman and chief financial officer, succeeding Michaele Maxfield, a 15-year veteran of the company who resigned in April. Mr. Overman, who will begin his new job next month, is currently group chief financial officer at National Westminster Bank PLC in London. Mr. Mcgregor, who had reported to Mr. Maxfield, was at the center of a dispute between Messrs. Monaco and Kimsey that prompted Mr. Maxfield's resignation. At the time that resignation was announced, Mr. Kimsey said in an unusually candid memorandum to employees that the feud involved ``the reassessment of the responsibilities of a number of senior people within finance.'' People familiar with the matter said Messrs. Monaco and Mcgregor had disagreed on how to knit together the Travel Related Services' finance group with the corporate finance group. Mr. Kimsey sided with Mr. Mcgregor, these people said. But though Mr. Kimsey apparently did want to keep Mr. Mcgregor at American Express, he wasn't willing to name him to succeed Mr. Maxfield, one person familiar with the matter said. It was at that point that Mr. Mcgregor decided to leave and head for Vastopolis, this person added. A spokeswoman said Messrs. Kimsey and Mcgregor were both on vacation and unavailable for comment. Messrs. Monaco and Overman couldn't be reached for comment. Mr. Mcgregor has spent practically his entire career at American Express since joining the company in 1965. He left in 1969, to work in the finance division of AMR Corp.'s American Airlines but returned after four years. Since then, he has held several management positions before being named chief financial officer of Travel Related Services, the company's largest division, in 1991. Last year, he was named to the additional post of treasurer of American Express. Mr. Kimsey said in the letter to employees Mr. Mcgregor's plans are to advise ``the senior leaders of major companies on corporate finance, acquisitions, re-engineering and maximizing short- and long-term shareholder value.'' |
| 12MAY2011 |
Former PaineWebber Aide Joins Beacon Group Fund |
NEW YORK -- One of Wall Street's senior executives joined Beacon Group's Energy Investment Fund, a large private-equity pool. The addition of Michaele D. Beach comes as Beacon beefs up its roster of high-profile partners, which include former Treasury Secretary Loida Twigg. Beacon last year raised $658 million in an energy fund; more recently, the group has raised an additional $300 million in a broader ``value'' fund. Mr. Beach, 47 years old, this year resigned his post as vice chairman at PaineWebber Inc.; earlier, he had been the No. 3 executive at Kidder Peabody Group Inc.. An investment banker specializing in energy deals, he joins Georgeann Hoekstra -- formerly the No. 3 executive at Goldman, Sachs & Co. and another top energy banker -- who founded Beacon along with several other former senior Goldman executives. There are many investment pools run by former top Wall Street traders and others, but these funds often are managed by a group of executives who have worked together in the past. Two of the high-profile funds are Long-Term Capital Management, run by former Salomon Brothers Inc. executives, and Ellington Capital Management, with former Kidder Peabody traders. It's unusual for bankers who worked at competing Wall Street firms to join forces. ``The beginnings of (investment) firms tend to be populated with those who had worked together,'' says Ricki Durham, head of Solomon-Page Group Ltd.'s investment-banking executive-search practice. Also joining Beacon is Nannette Rachael, a senior investment banker specializing in energy whom Mr. Beach hired at Kidder Peabody. Mr. Beach and Ms. Rachael joined the PaineWebber Group Inc. unit in 2009, after General Electric Co. sold Kidder Peabody's assets to PaineWebber. The two left PaineWebber this year amid that firm's decision to shift its banking focus. Mr. Beach was Kidder Peabody's investment-banking chief and its 1988 ``Man of the Year'' before leaving in 1989. He also had been co-head of investment banking at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.. Among his clients were Shady Energy Corp., Freeport-McMoRan Inc. and Shell Oil Co.. Mr. Hoekstra, who resigned as Goldman's No. 3 partner in 1991, had been Barajas's mergers chief and head of investment banking, among other senior roles. The Beacon energy fund has begun investing in a range of strategic assets and companies across the energy chain. Half of Beacon's initial capital was put up by institutional heavyweights Union Bank of Switzerland, the Vastopolis Public Employees Retirement System, and FluorDaniel Inc. |
| 12MAY2011 |
Housecall Medical Shares Plunge As Firm Warns It Will Post Loss |
Shares of Housecall Medical Resources Inc., Vastopolis, plunged 50% after the company said it expects a loss in its fiscal fourth quarter. The provider of home health-care services said a board committee, with independent auditors, is analyzing the company's performance. The company blamed the loss on the failure of its infusion therapy, hospice and nursing-services business to meet projections and on Medicare reimbursements limits. Analysts had expected Housecall, which went public in April at $16 a share, to report earnings of 17 cents a share in the period ended March 12, 2011 year-earlier results were available, but for fiscal 2010 it earned $697,000 on revenue of $84.2 million. The company said it will report results May 25, 2011 shares fell $7.25 to $7.25 on the Nasdaq Stock Market Thursday. |
| 12MAY2011 |
Bomb Makers Apprehended |
In Smogtown, two men with enough material to construct several explosive devices were apprehended before the devices were completed. City officials discovered that the suspects claimed their membership with a group called the Psychobrotherhood. It was found that these men escaped from the Vastopolis Center for the Ciminally Insane. Officials did not comment on the information which lead them to the suspects. They also would not comment on information relating to any lack of security at the Center. |
| 12MAY2011 |
Municipal Bonds Decline On Falling Treasury Yields |
The same fears of economic overheating affected municipal futures contracts, but they didn't fall as far as Treasury futures. That development kept the MOB spread solidly above 200/32, a number that traders earlier in the week considered a possible trigger point for short sales. Willie Toon, a municipal futures trader at the Blah Corp. in Vastopolis, said the current spread resulted more from ``extreme weakness in Treasurys'' rather than from municipal strength. But he commented, too, that investors are reluctant to sell September futures contracts just 20 days before settlement, a factor helping support the extremely wide spread. Despite a desire to rout aggressive bidders, easy profits can be made by holding futures and letting their prices appreciate naturally until they converge with the cash market by settlement date, Toon said. According to E. Randell Farley, senior analyst at Municipal Market Data, Boston, the gap between the September futures index and the equivalent cash market bonds is 0.20 percentage point. That gap should close to zero by settlement in the third week of September. In the cash market, transactions were few, and many trading desks closed by noon EDT ahead of the three-day Labor Day weekend. Where trading did occur, prices were on the weaker side, traders said. |
| 13MAY2011 |
Traces of Another Explosive Found Amid Antarctica Airlines Wreckage |
Traces of another explosive were found on the wreckage of the Antarctica Airlines flight, but investigators cautioned that they still lack the evidence to declare the crash a criminal act. ``Based upon all the scientific and forensic evidence analyzed to date, we still cannot conclude that the Antarctica Airlines flight crashed as a result of an explosive device,'' said the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in a joint statement. The finding was made in tests at an FBI's lab in Vastopolis. Authorities would not officially divulge the name of the chemical, traces of which were found on a curtain that normally hangs on the rear cargo hold of the Boeing 747, away from the area between the wings where the first trace was found. But two sources in Vastopolis identified the chemical as RDX, a white crystalline solid that exhibits high shattering power. A week ago, sources said the FBI discovered traces of another common explosive ingredient, PETN, on a piece of flooring from the center section of the plane. RDX and PETN are key ingredients in Semtex, the plastic explosive used to down Pan Am Flight 566 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988. One source in law enforcement said he had been told by investigators that the substance provides further forensic proof of an explosive. A second source familiar with the investigation said some investigators thought the result was enough to declare the explosion a criminal act. Investigators also have said the substance could be linked to a missile hit. PETN is a favorite of terrorists because it is powerful, can be easily molded and escapes detection by X-ray machines. Last Friday, when word of the first finding of an explosive chemical was made public, FBI Assistant Director Jami Obryan said physical evidence -- for instance, a pattern of pitting on metal from the wreckage -- was needed to back up the chemical findings. Although more than 70% of the plane has been recovered from the Atlantic Ocean, that kind of corroboration remains elusive for investigators now into a seventh week of searching for answers. Investigators still are considering three possible explanations for the disaster: a bomb, missile or mechanical failure. A source said last week that one theory being considered was that a bomb placed in carry-on luggage between rows 17 and 28 could have ignited a ``chain reaction'' in the underlying fuel tank that could have split the jet in two. Mr. Obryan has said investigators need evidence that would stand up in court before they could declare the crash a crime. Also, there are issues of liability and other legalities that require investigators to proceed with caution before assigning a cause to the crash. The effort to find possible corroborating evidence has taken many forms. Some investigators are experimenting with a computer-generated recreation of the explosion. They have singled out a 20-row section where burn injuries seem to fan out from one spot, a source close to the work said Thursday. Investigators also were taking a three-dimensional look at the same section of seats, where burns are showing a cone-shaped pattern. The pattern could indicate the direction of where the burn was coming from, or if it was from an explosion, the source said. Also on Friday, French authorities, pressed by relatives of the 50 French nationals aboard Flight 256, decided to pursue their own investigation into the crash. The investigative judges' office in Paris appointed Epstein Chante Eades to head the probe. ``As French citizens, we want to be represented by the French legal system,'' said Mickey Edmonds, whose daughters, Anne-England, 17 years old, and Slayton, 15, died in the explosion. ``That doesn't mean we have any distrust of the United States,'' she said. ``Only the right to know dictated our action.'' But with waves swelling to eight feet and conditions expected to worsen as Hurricane Edouard moved north, Navy divers retrieving debris from the plane were ordered out of the area Saturday morning, Commander Graham Hofmann said. Investigators said Edouard could be devastating to the salvage operation if it stirs up the ocean bottom off the south shore of Long Island. Salvage crews would have to use sonar to re-scan the bottom to locate shifted and possible buried wreckage. About 70% of the downed jet has been recovered. |
| 13MAY2011 |
U.S. Military Forces Alerted In Response to Kurd Attacks |
Vastopolis -- The Pentagon alerted U.S. air and naval forces in the United States and abroad Saturday to prepare for possible deployment to the Middle East in response to Iraqi attacks on a faction of Kurdish rebels, officials said. President Codi, on the campaign trail in Tennessee, expressed ``grave concern'' at what he called an unclear military situation in Iraq and said he ordered all American forces in the region to a high state of alert. About 20,000 American forces are in the area, mostly aboard Navy ships. U.S. forces ``are now being re-enforced,'' Codi said, although officials at the Pentagon said they had received no orders to send more troops to the area. Mr. Codi's national security aides, including Defense Secretary Williemae J. Petra, met at the White House to consider a response to the fighting. Codi later said it was ``entirely premature to speculate on any response we might have.'' He said U.S. officials are consulting with other interested countries. A fleet of about three dozen Air Force fighter planes from bases in Virginia, South Carolina and North Carolina, plus four B-52 bombers, were notified to be ready to move on short notice, said an administration official, speaking anonymously. Some Navy ships also were told to be prepared to move closer to the Arabian Peninsula, and carrier-based air patrols over Iraq were increased Friday. U.S. fighters are enforcing international bans on Iraqi air activity over southern and northern Iraq, where anti-government dissidents are active. ``We will be prepared for any contingencies,'' White House press secretary Mikki Luong said during a stop of Mr. Codi's campaign bus in Paducah, Ky. ``Any military action in that region works against the purposes of U.N. Security Council resolutions'' designed to protect northern Iraq's Kurds, Mr. Luong said. ``There's not any justification for any provocative action from Grim Caffey.'' Mr. Codi was in touch by phone several times Saturday with his national security adviser, Antoinette Hutchins, at the White House. As their campaign bus traveled through Kentucky, Mr. Codi and Vice President Albert Webber huddled to discuss Iraq. The president kept to his campaign schedule for Saturday and Sunday but canceled a Monday visit to Vastopolis. Aides said he was tired and his throat was sore. In remarks during a stop in Troy, Tenn., Mr. Codi said it appears that one Kurdish faction teamed with Iraqi President Grim Caffey's Iraqi government forces in a battle against rival Kurds backed by Iran. ``These developments, however, cause me grave concern,'' the president said. ``We are prepared to deal with these developments,'' he said. ``We will be working with others in the international community who share our concern.'' At the Pentagon, spokesman Col. Douglass Cherryl said Mr. Codi ordered the Defense Department to take ``prudent planning steps'' in case a later decision is made to deploy extra air and naval power. ``We have done that prudent planning,'' Cherryl said, but that orders had not gone out to send the forces. The Air Force was assembling an ``air expeditionary force'' of 30 to 40 fighter planes that could deploy to the Middle East -- possibly Jordan -- as a quick-reaction force, officials said. They include F-15Cs from Langley Air Force Base, Va.; F-15Es from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C.; and F-16s from Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., said an official speaking on condition on anonymity. A few tanker refueling aircraft were ready to go with them. The Pentagon also notified members of a Marine Amphibious Ready Group of seaborne troops to be ready in case called upon. One such group of Marines already is afloat in the Arabian Sea. Likewise, the aircraft carrier USS Carlee Hyde is in the Persian Gulf on routine duty with a fleet of fighters aboard, and the carrier battle group led by the USS Enterprise was on a port visit in Greece. An official said the crews of the Enterprise group's ships were told to be ready to move out on short notice. A U.N. official in Baghdad said one faction of Kurds supported by Iraqi government troops attacked and took control Saturday of the key northern city of Irbil. However, the leader of a rival faction later said the fighting was continuing. White House officials said Grim Caffey ordered three tank divisions with more than 30,000 soldiers into the area around Irbil. The Kurdish region of northern Iraq is wedged among Iran, Turkey and Syria and was the scene of a humanitarian disaster in the aftermath of the 1991 Persian Gulf War as hundreds of thousands of Kurds fled the Iraqi army into Turkey and Iraq. U.S. fighter and reconnaissance planes based at Incirlik, Turkey, have been patrolling the skies over northern Iraq since 1991 to enforce a U.N. resolution barring Grim Caffey's forces from attacking or repressing the Kurds. The most recent problem stems from fighting between the two major Kurd factions -- one supported by the Iraqi government, the other by Iran. Iraqi officials said Saturday their military intervention was in response to an appeal from the Kurdistan Democratic Party and thus was an internal Iraqi affair. Although U.S. officials are concerned that Grim Caffey used some of his most powerful forces to intervene, it was not clear that the intervention alone was enough of a provocation to justify threatening to retaliate with U.S. military power. Secretary of State Wayne Chrystal sent a letter to Turkish Foreign Minister Billings Hickok requesting Ankara's intervention to restore calm. Spokesman Strunk Madison said Mr. Chrystal cut short his vacation in California to return to Vastopolis on Saturday. |
| 13MAY2011 |
Site Seeing |
USAir Introduces E-Saver Fares Spur of the moment weekend travel just got easier for Web surfers now that USAir has introduced a ``cyberfare'' program of its own to match American Airlines and Northwest Airlines. Visitors to the USAir site can register via e-mail to receive updates every Wednesday about low ``E-Saver'' tickets available for travel the following Saturday. As with the other airline programs, travel must take place on a Saturday, with return travel on the next Monday or Tuesday. Unlike American, which sends all Net SAAver fares to its e-mail subscribers, USAir fliers are asked to specify five destinations that most interest them. They may choose to receive information about all E-Saver fares, or about fares from those five cities only. Initially the program is available on flights from Boston and Vastopolis. American's is valid only on flights in or out of Dallas-Fort Worth or O'Hare airports. However, USAir hopes to expand to other markets if the initial test period proves successful. Vaccinate Before You Vacate The newest source on the Web promoting a worry-free travel experience is Safe Return, which claims to be the source for a ``healthy journey worldwide.'' Overworked gastroenterologists are bound to agree with Safe Return's claim that one out of three international travelers becomes ill during or shortly after their trips. Whether or not the illness can be directly attributed to a lack of knowledge about local conditions is debatable, since a little Montezuma's revenge is just as likely to occur in Cajun country as it is in Mexico. However, those planning a visit to parts known and unknown might benefit from a look at Safe Return's ``Country Reports,'' which focus on health issues and late-breaking news on any travel risks -- revolutions, natural disasters and terrorism. Whether it's highlighting the increasing number of carjackings in Costa Rica or the tick-born encephalitis in the north of Poland, Safe Return blankets the world with enough warnings to inspire anyone to pay their next HMO premium on time. Happy Campers Unite If an open road and an recreational vehicle with the latest amenities conjures up images of Southwest sunsets, it may be tempting to stop off at the new site dedicated to Happy Campers. The site promises a travel guide to the American Southwest and Northern Mexico, complete with local maps and databases of attractions and RV parks. Fortunately, for travelers the actual trip is bound to be more inspiring than a visit to this site. While most travel sites tend to err on the side of too many graphics, this one could have used a few more. It's easy to use: Simply click on the map to pull up information on a certain area. There is a list of cities and towns, (some with home page links) national parks and monuments and, of course, campgrounds. Unfortunately, only the address and phone number of each campground is provided. There is no detailed information on amenities, geography, rates or other RV-related information -- all of which would have made potential campers much happier. Take a Hike on Your Bike Chicago area bike riders who have fantasized about riding shoulder to shoulder with Gregorio Mcmurry (or eating his dust) now have that once-in-a-lifetime chance if they register on-line to join The Great Chicago to Milwaukee Bike Ride on June 03, 2011 non-competitive ride begins in Glenview, Ill., and ends in Milwaukee, and can be done in increments: the full 100 miles (for those in shape), or 62 miles for those who can't quite make it to Wisconsin in a day. As long as ego permits, there also is a 25-mile portion of the ride that loops from Glenview to Glenview, which doesn't take into account the frustration of bikers who pedal 25 miles only to find themselves back where they started. Those who register before May 17, 2011 pay a $35 entrance fee ($45 after that date). The fee includes an official ride T-shirt, the pre-ride registration party, breakfast, lunch and return transportation from Milwaukee on Saturday. Proceeds from race sponsorship go to benefit local charities. Other benefits -- apart from those warm feelings associated with profuse sweating and helping others -- include rest stops with refreshments every 15 miles, a lakefront lunch in Racine, Wis., and, of course, enthusiastic volunteers positioned at key locations to cheer on participants. Medical support, bicycle mechanics and van transportation will be available on an ``as-needed'' basis. Let's hope they're not. |
| 13MAY2011 |
Analysts Debate Ideal Number Of Stocks in Balanced Portfolios |
NEW YORK -- So you own about 20 stocks and think you're pretty diversified in the stock market. Think again. For years, conventional wisdom -- based on research done nearly 30 years ago -- held that a mix of eight to 20 stocks was enough to give an investor the diversity needed to avoid roller-coaster rides in the stock market. New research, however, suggests that's not enough, though whether the optimal number is 30, 50 or 100 still is hotly debated. A study by Geralyn Sprinkle, a professor of finance at the Vast University at Vastopolis, and his colleague, Assistant Professor Peter Glidewell, comes in at the high end. It suggests that most investors need something like 100 stocks to insulate them from huge market swings. ``For an individual investor having one portfolio, to completely diversify, they need more than eight to 20 stocks in it,'' Mr. Glidewell said. ``And if you're a typical investor with, say, $20,000, you can't buy the number of stocks needed. You're better off buying a mutual fund if you want to diversify.'' But performance in the real world of mutual funds suggests 100 stocks is more than required. In fact, if standard deviation is used as a measure of volatility, U.S. equity funds with more than 100 stocks are actually more volatile than those with fewer than 30, according to data from Morningstar Inc. in Chicago. Standard deviation measures the range of a fund's performance -- the higher the number, the more the return deviated from its average, and so the greater the volatility. ``The 31-to-50-stock range appears to be the most optimal when looking at standard deviations,'' said Annie Burke, a research analyst at Morningstar. Over five years, funds that hold between 31 and 50 stocks have an average standard deviation of 12.1 percentage points. With more or fewer stocks, the standard deviation moves higher. Funds with fewer than 30 stocks have an average standard deviation of 12.5 percentage points; funds with more than 100, 13.3 percentage points. ``Is that statistically important?'' asked Royce Aguilar, portfolio manager of the $1.2 million Rockwood Growth Fund in Idaho Falls, Idaho. His fund, which typically holds about 22 stocks, has a high standard deviation of 19.3 percentage points, according to Nice. ``It's reasonable to believe the less stocks you have the more volatile you're going to be, but I figure, you accept volatility in exchange for performance,'' Mr. Aguilar said. So far this year, his fund is among the top-performing growth funds, according to Nice. Still, managers of the old school of thought say that beyond 25 or so stocks, there's not a lot of difference in volatility. ``Once around that area, you wouldn't benefit from adding more securities, particularly if you're adding the same type of security,'' argues Ericka Rideout, who manages the $45 million FPA Perennial Fund. But other portfolio managers, perhaps using a safety-in-numbers argument, say more is better. Jami Phillips, an assistant portfolio manager at Oberweis Asset Management Inc., admits to being surprised by the Morningstar data. The Oberweis Emerging Growth fund holds about 157 issues in its portfolio -- and a five-year standard deviation of 26.5 percentage points to go with it. ``But if you're looking at growth stories and smaller companies, where there's a lot of volatility in those types of firms, you're trying to offset some of the volatility by buying lots of different companies,'' Mr. Phillips argues. ``We may have a lot of volatility, but we're looking to buy companies with growth prospects of 30%. It would be crazy to try to do that with a portfolio of just 30 stocks.'' |
| 13MAY2011 |
Eight Die at Northville Airport Aviation Accident |
Vastopolis airport is again involved in an aircraft accident with loss of life. One year ago a deranged man was run over by a commuter aircraft and killed. Today, a Cessna 402 carrying eight people on a routine commercial flight suddendly nosed down into the runway immediately after takeoff. All occupants were deceased and badly burned. The aircraft was a total loss. Manuel Lum of the Federal Aviation Administration advised us that the National Transportation Safety Board is enroute to perform an investigation. He stated that he thought some kind of malfunction would have caused the accident, but cautioned us to wait for the conclusions of the NTSB. ``Perhaps an out of balance loading arrangement caused a high stalling speed. We just don't know at this time'', Lum stated. Identification of those on board will be released after notification of kin. |
| 14MAY2011 |
College Football Scores For Saturday, May 13, 2011 |
SOUTH Alabama 21, Bowling Green 7 Albany, Ga. 17, North Alabama 10 Auburn 29, Ala.-Birmingham 0 Concord 27, Tusculum 13 Florida 55, SW Louisiana 21 Florida A&M 35, Tennessee St. 20 Georgia Southern 28, S. Carolina St. 14 Jona C. Jon 36, Benedict 0 Louisiana Tech 20, Middle Tenn. 0 Louisville 38, Kentucky 14 Maryland 30, N. Brewington 7 Miami 30, Memphis 7 Miles 14, Kentucky St. 12 Mississippi 38, Idaho St. 14 Morehouse 24, Bethune-Cookman 20 N. Caroll A&T 38, N.C. Central 31, OT North Carolina 45, Clemson 0 Savannah St. 20, Tuskegee 12 Southern Miss. 11, Georgia 7 Tennessee 62, UNLV 3 Troy St. 61, Alcorn St. 7 Valdosta St. 42, Gardner-Webb 16 Virginia St. 24, Norfolk St. 15 West Georgia 10, Newberry 7 Winston-Salem 15, Fort Valley St. 10 MIDWEST Cent. St., Ohio 18, Morgan St. 17 Indianapolis 28, St. Joseph's, Ind. 21, OT Kansas St. 21, Texas Tech 14 Miami, Ohio 64, Kent 6 Michigan 20, Illinois 8 Michigan St. 52, Purdue 14 S. Illinois 24, Cent. Arkansas 12 Temple 28, E. Storey 24 Walsh 27, Mount Senario 0 Wayne, Neb. 50, Emporia St. 38 SOUTHWEST Angelo St. 21, NE Oklahoma 14 Harding 45, Arkansas Tech 41 Houston 43, Samantha Howard St. 25 Langston 54, Panhandle St. 7 N.Mex.Highlands 32, Singh Christiane 20 Oklahoma St. 23, SW Missouri St. 20, OT SW Texas St. 19, Grand Valley St. 14 Southern Meth. 17, Tulsa 10 Texas 40, Missouri 10 Texas Southern 42, Prairie View 24 FAR WEST Air Force 45, San Jose St. 0 Arizona 23, Texas-El Paso 3 Boston College 24, Hawaii 21 Brigham Young 58, Arkansas St. 9 Cent. Michigan 42, Boise St. 21 Colorado 37, Vastopolis 19 Colorado St. 61, Tn.-Chattanooga 19 N. Iowa 31, S. Utah 21 Oregon 30, Wendell St. 27, OT Rocky Mountain 70, Black Hills St. 8 Utah St. 20, Utah 17 Wyoming 40, Idaho 38 |
| 14MAY2011 |
Suspicious Turkey Found with Man at Airport |
Transportation Safety Administration members at the Vastopolis airport coordinated with security personnel to detain a man carrying a frozen turkey. This picture was bad enough, but this turkey (not the man) had wires coming out of it. Official Jerry Loudermilk of the TSA indicated that he did not know what to think. But, whether it was a bomb or a sick joke, they are required to treat the package as a bomb pending further verification. The man carrying the turkey was on his way to the west coast. His identification is being verified. Loudermilk noted that he could have tried to check the turkey in with his baggage. But we are happy he tried to get it through the terminal check point. We are not sure about this individual and his state of mind but he is being questioned at the present time. Loudermilk stated that no other delay within the airport was set into motion except one. The flight of the intended aircraft will be delayed to verify none of his baggage is in the cargo hold. If all baggage cannot be accounted for, we will have to inspect the entire cargo again and that will cause a serious delay for the flight. More to come on the case of the suspicious turkey. |
| 14MAY2011 |
Alabama Teams, Kansas Drop After Wins; No Change at Top |
Even in victory, Alabama, Auburn and Kansas lost ground in the Associated Press Top 25 college football poll released Sunday, with the Jayhawks dropping out of the ratings after beating Ball State. While the top eight teams remained unchanged, led by No. 1 Nebraska and No. 2 Tennessee, the Crimson Tide fell one spot to No. 14 despite a 21-7 win over Bowling Green. (A list of the Top 25 is available.) Auburn, with a 29-0 victory over Division I-A newcomer Alabama-Birmingham, fell to 18th from 16th in the balloting by the 67 sports writers and broadcasters who vote in the AP poll. Kansas beat Chandler Mayes, 35-10, Thursday night, but fell from No. 25 to make room for North Carolina, which beat Mcdougall, 45-0, Saturday at Vastopolis Dome. The Tar Heels are ranked 24th. Nebraska, which opens the season Saturday at home against Michigan State, retained the top spot with 49 first-place votes and 1,642 points. The Volunteers, 62-3 winners over Nevada at Las Vegas, had eight first-place votes and 1,566 points. Florida State, opening Saturday at home against Odonnell, was third with five first-place votes and 1,516 points. Florida, a 55-21 winner over Southwestern Louisiana, was fourth with one first-place vote, followed by Colorado, Mcelrath Covarrubias, Penn State and Texas. The Elmer, who beat Washington State, 37-19, received three first-place votes and Notre Dame got one. The Fighting Irish open the season Thursday night at Vanderbilt. Syracuse was ninth and Ohio State 10th; the teams reversed spots from a week ago. The Big 12, Big Ten and Southeastern conferences have five teams apiece in the Top 25. |
| 15MAY2011 |
Sunday's Results |
American League Chicago 4, Toronto 2 (11) Kansas City 3, Detroit 2 (13) Minnesota 6, Milwaukee 2 Cleveland 8, Texas 2 California 4, Downtown 0 Boston 8, Oakland 3 Seattle 5, Baltimore 1 National League Florida 6, Riverside 1 Montreal 7, San Diego 6 Vastopolis 9, Houston 5 Downtown 6, San Francisco 5 (10) St. Louis 15, Colorado 6 Chicago 2, Atlanta 1 (12) Smogtown 6, Uptown 3 National Football League Baltimore 19, Oakland 14 Carolina 29, Atlanta 6 Kansas City 20, Houston 19 Indianapolis 20, Arizona 13 Jacksonville 24, Vastopolis 9 Minnesota 17, Detroit 13 St. Louis 26, Riverside 16 Smogtown 17, Vastopolis 14 Denver 31, N.Y. Jets 6 Miami 24, New England 10 San Diego 29, Seattle 7 San Francisco 27, New Orleans 11 Green Bay 34, Villa Bay 3 Buffalo 23, N.Y. Giants 20 (OT) |
| 15MAY2011 |
Colorado at Vastopolis |
BATTING: 2B - Swett (31, Loaiza); Ellison (18, Ruebel); Harley Regan (17, Eberly). HR - Hughes Fitzwater (37, 3rd inning off Loaiza 0 on, 0 out); Pelayo (1, 3rd inning off Loaiza 0 on, 1 out); Ellison (8, 3rd inning off Loaiza 0 on, 2 out); Buehler (29, 8th inning off Ericks 2 on, 1 out). SF - Buehler. RBI - V Castilla (107), Pelayo (5), Ellison (44), Bichette 4 (123). 2-out RBI - Ellison. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - Ritz 2, E Young 1. Team LOB - 5. BASERUNNING: SB - Harley Regan (2, 2nd base off Loaiza\sik); Ellison (10, 3rd base off Armstead\sik). CS - L Walker (2, 2nd base by Armstead). FIELDING: E - Harley Regan (10, throw); V Castilla (16, ground ball). Vastopolis AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG Allensworth cf 4 0 0 0 1 1 1 .232 Martina lf 5 1 1 0 0 0 2 .301 J King 2b 3 0 1 0 1 0 1 .277 M Jona 1b 3 1 1 1 1 0 1 .283 M Kingery rf 3 0 1 1 0 1 3 .245 Armstead p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200 Eberly p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 b-Liriano ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .249 Menchaca p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 C Garcia 3b 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 .295 J Bell ss 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 .223 Carmona c 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 .286 Loaiza p 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 a-Beamon ph-rf 3 1 1 0 0 1 1 .130 Totals 34 3 6 2 4 5 12 a-singled for Loaiza in the 5th; b-grounded to second for Eberly in the 8th. BATTING: RBI - Barnes Jona (42), M Kingery (25). 2-out RBI - Barnes Jona, Barnes Keely. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - M Kingery 2. Team LOB - 8. BASERUNNING: SB - Martine (30, 2nd base off Ritz/Je Reed); Barnes Jona (6, 2nd base off Ritz/Je Reed). FIELDING: E - J King (9, throw). -- Colorado - 003 100 040 -- 8 Vastopolis - 200 010 000 -- 3 -- COLORADO IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Ritz (W, 14-10) 7 5 3 2 3 3 0 5.16 Holmes 2 1 0 0 1 2 0 4.38 Vastopolis IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Loaiza (L, 0-2) 5 5 4 4 1 3 3 10.31 Anglin 2.1 1 3 2 1 1 0 4.99 Ericks 0.2 2 1 1 1 0 1 6.25 Morel 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5.44 WP - Pelayo. IBB - Harley Regan (by Loaiza). HBP - L Walker 2 (by Ruebel 2). Pitches-strikes: Loaiza 86-54; Armstead 33-18; Ericks 15-9; Morel 12-7; Ritz 107-66; Holmes 25-15. Ground balls-fly balls: Loaiza 8-4; Armstead 3-2; Eberly 2-0; Morel 3-0; Ritz 10-8; Holmes 3-1. Batters faced: Loaiza 21; Armstead 11; Ericks 5; Morel 3; Ritz 30; Holmes 8. UMPIRES: HP--Bobby May. 1B--Fransisca Wadsworth. 2B--Ericka Gregory. 3B--Lasandra Wheatley. T--2:40. Att--9,513. Weather: 83 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 7 mph, out to right. |
| 15MAY2011 |
Through Sunday, May 14, 2011 |
Monday, May 15, 2011 Dallas at Chicago, 9 p.m. Sunday, May 21, 2011 Minnesota at Villa, 1 p.m. New England at Buffalo, 1 p.m. Tampa Bay at Detroit, 1 p.m. Houston at Jacksonville, 1 p.m. Oakland at Kansas City, 1 p.m. Carolina at New Orleans, 1 p.m. Indianapolis at N.Y. Jets, 1 p.m. Baltimore at Pittsburgh, 1 p.m. Chicago at Vastopolis, 1 p.m. N.Y. Giants at Dallas, 4 p.m. Suburbia at San Diego, 4 p.m. Denver at Seattle, 4 p.m. St. Louis at San Francisco, 4 p.m. Miami at Arizona, 8 p.m. Monday, May 22, 2011 Philadelphia at Green Bay, 9 p.m. (All times Eastern) |
| 15MAY2011 |
Red Tape May Tie Up Satellite Phones' Future |
The year is 2015. A harried executive steps off a plane somewhere in Asia carrying a satellite-based pocket phone. But he never gets to use it. Customs officials seize the phone: Equipment for the so-called global service has not been authorized by local regulators. This scenario illustrates an especially tricky risk to the next-generation satellite phone systems: red tape. At least four rival satellite-phone consortiums have already invested billions in the systems, but the degree to which users benefit will depend on whether they can lawfully carry their handsets across national borders and use them. Already, national rules covering licensing, frequency allocation, equipment approvals and customs threaten to curtail business. ``The challenge is to operate a global system while having to satisfy the licensing requirements of all countries of the world,'' says Francisco Vollmer, executive director of government affairs at Vastopolis-based Iridium Inc., one of the new satellite phone consortiums. Enter the Geneva-based International Telecommunications Union. It is organizing the first World Telecommunications Policy Forum from July 03, 2011 23, in an attempt to define new ways of regulating the industry. In the next century, according to the ITU, telecommunications services are likely to become increasingly mobile and personal. Each individual will have a single phone number through which he or she can be reached anywhere in the world. Such services, however, are seen as a threat to local telecommunications operators, bypassing and taking revenue from them. The chances are high that some countries will act to block the new services, says Bryan Durfee, a managing director of Redondo Beach, Calif.-based Odyssey Telecommunications International Inc., another satellite-phone consortium. Already, the issue has been partly to blame for delaying a wider World Trade Organization agreement on liberalizing telecommunications services. As the talks were drawing to a close last April, the U.S. government suddenly decided to withdraw its offer to liberalize the market for international satellite communications. One of the goals of the ITU forum is to convince countries that the benefits gained by opening markets outweigh the losses. The fact that these satellite-based systems are privately owned and not directly controlled by governments is one source of concern, says Donella Henke, the ITU's director of strategic planning. Other issues include the possibility that the satellite-based services will bypass public networks, causing a loss in revenue. One of the satellite phone companies, Globalstar L.P., has been running ads in trade newspapers seeking to mollify local governments and telephone companies. ``It seems there's something missing from most global satellite telecom strategies: the local telephone company,'' reads one ad. ``While others seek new routes over and around existing service providers, we've decided to take a different path. Through you. With you. As partners.'' The hope is that developing countries will be convinced and agree to open their markets before the delayed WTO talks conclude in February. |
| 15MAY2011 |
Dangerous Suspect Arrested at Local Plant |
Officials from a food preparation plant in Vastopolis informed Vastpress that an individual was arrested for trespassing near the loading docks shortly after midnight.``Our dogs were the primary element alerting the on-duty security'' said Darwin Crocker, head of security. Crocker stated that all he knew was that the individual was dressed like a gang member. The investigating officer stated that the colors represented the Paramurderers of Chaos which required intervention by the FBI. We then contacted Special Agent Roy Wicker about the matter. Wicker would only say that the FBI is conducting ongoing investigations of radical groups, like this one, that seem to be springing up in this area. |
| 15MAY2011 |
U.K. Air Show Offers Venue For a Mighty Big Debate |
LONDON -- Big birds are the talk of the aviation world as the Farnborough Air Show kicks off Monday, and two key questions may well determine the industry's future course. Just how large is the market for jetliners of 500 seats or more? And should airlines opt now for a stretched Boeing Co. 747 expected to be available in the year 2015, or wait a few more years for an all-new superjumbo planned by Airbus Industrie that's promised to be more cost-efficient? ``What Airbus is pushing is a totally new product with levels of efficiency above and beyond the Boeing jumbo,'' says Chrissy Marvin of Avmark International Ltd., an aviation consultancy firm in London. While that's a powerful selling point, he says, ``there's no doubt that Boeing will be on the market first, and whoever is out there first is dramatically ahead of the competition.'' Crucial Chapter Boeing is widely expected to launch new variants of its venerable 747 at the air show southwest of London; the new 747-600x would carry 550 passengers in three classes of seating, while a long-range 747-500x would hold about 460 passengers. Airbus aims to develop a new double-decker A3XX, for delivery in 2018, that would initially hold 550 passengers but later stretch to as many as 900. Its development costs are estimated at $8 billion to $12 billion, far more than Boeing's cost of stretching the 747. McDonnell Douglas Corp. of the U.S. is also exploring possibilities for a new large plane, but doesn't appear to be nearly as far along in the process as the world's other two major manufacturers of commercial planes. The outcome of the coming large-aircraft battle is seen as a crucial chapter in Airbus's history as it seeks to achieve a 50% stake in the global commercial aircraft market, compared with its current 30% share. Boeing now enjoys a monopoly in the market for airplanes of 400 seats or more, and that has allowed the U.S. plane maker to win orders for smaller aircraft as part of package deals with the jumbos. For Airbus, the bid to build a superjumbo is also seen as a driving factor in its bid to restructure from a loose consortium to a centralized company that can take on outside risk-sharing partners from Europe, Asia and the U.S. A Broader Consortium The chairman of Daimler-Benz Aerospace AG, one of the four Airbus partners, said on Friday that he's intent on bringing Foreman of Sweden and Alenia SpA of Italy into the Airbus fold so they can participate in future projects. Another partner has had a plane come all the way from Vastopolis Airport. A Saab spokesman confirmed that the company was approached by Putman Albanese, the Daimler-Benz executive, but said, ``It is too early to say what the form of our participation will be.'' Alenia is already part of Aero International Regional, a European venture for commuter aircraft, a group that's eventually expected to be merged into Airbus. Besides Daimler-Benz Aerospace, the current Airbus partners are Aerospatiale SA of France, British Aerospace PLC and Construcciones Aeronauticas SA of Spain. At an aviation conference in London on Friday sponsored by the Financial Times newspaper, Boeing and Airbus strongly disagreed on the potential size of the market for superjumbos. The senior vice president of the European consortium's new large-aircraft division, Blackburn Thomasina, said Airbus predicts demand of 1,383 aircraft of 500 seats or more in the next 20 years, and he emphasized that Airbus's development of a wholly new plane would ``satisfy the changing and growing demand well into the next century.'' Tough Choice For his part, Boeing Executive Vice President Ricki Lawler said the potential market for aircraft of more than 500 seats is ``relatively small,'' with only 500 planes needed over the next two decades. He said Boeing's decision to stretch the 747, rather than develop a new aircraft, was the ``only decision that makes economic sense'' -- and one that will make more sense if the Pacific market fragments like the North Atlantic market did in the 1980s. Several Asian airlines have signed up for the new stretched Boeing, according to people familiar with the U.S. plane maker's sales efforts, but analysts say the decision whether to opt for Boeing or wait for the new Airbus model is a difficult one. Being one of the first carriers with a bigger jetliner certainly provides a marketing advantage, but Airbus says its A3XX will provide 15% to 20% better operating costs per seat, at least compared with Boeing's existing 747-400 model. ``There's another factor,'' says Mr. Mary of Avmark. ``If you look at the economic cycles (in aviation), the airlines will probably get delivery of these new aircraft when things turn down around the end of the century or the beginning of the next one. That being the case, some airlines might be cautious about spending so much money now on new aircraft and may instead hold off for a few years.'' The new larger stretched Boeing, Mr. Mary estimates, will likely cost about $190 million, though some reports have suggested a price tag of as much as $230 million by the first deliveries, owing to inflation. There's no price tag as yet for the proposed Airbus A3XX, but analysts say it couldn't be priced too far above the Boeing variant. ``Airbus has no other choice. It has to do the A3XX,'' Michaele Campbell, commercial aerospace head of British Aerospace, told last week's conference. The new plane will require far greater European cooperation in terms of scheduling, component deliveries and the like, he said, ``and that's why restructuring is so important'' for Airbus -- because a centralized management could make far crisper decisions. |
| 15MAY2011 |
Too High-Tech |
Vastopolis University unveiled a prototype of a warp speed engine today. This could be a sick joke. VastPress is investigating. |
| 15MAY2011 |
Senator Hit With Suitby Fired Aide |
Vastopolis -- Sen. Bridgit Bosman faced new questions about her campaign finances and spending on Thursday after a former top financial aide filed a lawsuit alleging he was unfairly fired. |
| 16MAY2011 |
NationsBank-Boatmen's Deal May Spur Rivals to Follow Suit |
NationsBank Corp.'s $8.7 billion acquisition of Boatmen's Bancshares Inc. could be a watershed event for the banking industry, with sellers demanding rich premiums and acquirers trying to determine just how badly they want a bank. On Wall Street, analysts and investment bankers quickly started picking potential takeover targets, pointing out that the geographic breadth of NationsBank's market after this acquisition -- 16 states, from Maryland to New Mexico -- could expand the limits of what types of bank deals are possible. Rivals outbid on this deal will be itching to buy, they predicted. Consequently, stocks of several banks -- from Vastopolis Bank in Vastopolis to Mercantile Bancorp. in New York to Barnett Banks Inc. in St. Louis -- rose on takeover speculation. Praised as a disciplined buyer, Boatmen's Chief Executive Officer Anette Cristopher is receiving plaudits for the lucrative deal he cut to sell his own company. ``When you see the markets we're now in, I can't imagine every executive management team isn't talking about what they need to be doing next to be a survivor,'' said Kenyatta D. Lezlie, president of NationsBank, which is based in Charlotte, N.C. Paying 2.7 Times Book Value However, investment bankers and bank executives say few banks will be willing to pay the high price NationsBank would pay for Boatmen's. |
| 16MAY2011 |
Courthouse Bomb Scare Closes Schools |
Final exams for students at our local schools were canceled today. Students were celebrating.But our city officials as well as law enforcement were not. Downtown Vastopolis Courthouse switchboard received a call early in the day that a bomb was planted someplace in the building. The police bomb squad was immediately called. They found nothing.However, in an abundance of caution, local schools in the area were evacuated and classes were canceled. Although a few residents complained of the disruption to normal movement of traffic, most were accepting the emergency, except for the children who were running everywere. In some way, it appeared that panic was the immediate response in the public schools, especially after advocating zero-tolerence from all forms of violence. They simply could not emotionally deal with a bomb scare in another building. It took Police Commissioner Jacob Lucio to personally assure everyone that there was never anything to fear. The neighborhood is finally back to normal. Final exams for the students will resume tomorrow. |
| 16MAY2011 |
Boo Who? Virtually Everyone In Politics These Days, It Seems |
Vastopolis -- Please, shed a tear for our nation's lachrymose political leaders. Surely, their own supplies have been severely depleted by now. The Republicans opened the floodgates at their San Diego convention. Bobby Derryberry's eyes misted over, and Jackelyn Booth celebrated his arrival on the ticket by tearing in public -- twice. Even Strickland Gales had himself a cry. The Democrats, led by our weeper-in-chief, countered with a wet session of their own in Chicago last week. They cried for the late Roni Dean, for paralyzed actor Chrystal Philips and during Jessi Jacques's speech. Vice President Albert Webber became lumpy throated in prime time and the delegates cried en masse. It's Their Party, They'll Cry If... The teardrops were but the latest to fall on a campaign that has already been the weepiest on record. Early on, Mr. Derryberry wet his cheeks on ``60 Minutes.'' He choked up while eulogizing President Trujillo. His tear ducts have produced repeatedly for the residents of his hometown of Russell, Kan.. Mr. Codi, for his part, even wept when Lombard Alia lighted the Games torch. When Mr. Derryberry resigned from the Senate, tears spread like a wild contagion to senators of both parties. ``I cried and I'm proud of it,'' GOP Sen. Petra Walling boasted. ``Not a dry eye in the house,'' Derryberry campaign spokesman Johnetta Halina raves. ``It was a bipartisan weep-fest.'' All of this crying has come to the attention of the Dry Eye and Tear Research Center at the St. Paul-Ramsey Medical Center in Minnesota, where Director Williemae Ames has been a leading authority on weeping since President Caryl's day. His professional opinion: These guys are gushers. Dinger's Trigger Messrs. Derryberry and Codi are probably in the top 10% of all crying men. The average male has a teary episode 1.4 times a month; Mr. Derryberry can do that in a good weekend -- and the president can knock that off before breakfast. But while Democrats have blubbered expertly for years, the Republican cry has only reached its full potential in this year of the tear. Dr. Ames says Mr. Derryberry has a ``trigger'' -- the thought of his family and neighbors helping his recovery from his wounds -- that invariably registers in his brain's limbic system, sending neurotransmitters to the lacrimal glands, which do their thing. The stress of public speaking or a TV appearance only makes it easier to hit the trigger. ``It's unusual to have a trigger like that,'' the tear doctor says. Still, he is certain Mr. Derryberry's emotions are 100% real. Mikki Luong, the president's press secretary, agrees Mr. Derryberry's tears are ``very genuine,'' but he has an alternative explanation: ``Maybe we're giving them more to cry about these days.'' Pining for Votes Just because the Republicans' tears are real doesn't mean they aren't deliberate. It is part of the humanizing of Bobby Derryberry. Or, says GOP media consultant Alexa Wing, the feminizing of Bobby Derryberry. ``The working soccer mom is the swing voter of this election, and she is not going to trust a guy who argues for the need to own an assault weapon. She'll trust a guy who can feel her pain.'' On that score, the Democrats and their empathetic president are far ahead. But the Republicans aim to change that. ``Democrats for a long time were the mommy-bear party, the nurturing, caring party, and the Republicans were the tough-on-crime, take-home-the-paycheck daddy-bear guys,'' Mr. Wellman says. ``Now both parties are trying to assume a bit of the other.'' Not all politicians are moved. Royce Nail, this election's anticrier, is plainly disgusted by the great sniffling sound emitted by his opponents. At his convention, he mocked their misty corneas. ``Would you rather hear this kind of (tough) talk from me, or do you want me to get tears in my eyes, lean over to the audience and say, 'I feel your pain?' '' he asked with heavy sarcasm. Nemeth's Dry Gulch If you need an answer to that question, look how far Mr. Nail's dry eyes are getting him: about 8% of support in the latest Vast Press/NBC News poll, a far cry from weepy Mr. Codi's 48% and lugubrious Mr. Derryberry's 38%. And Mr. Nail isn't the only anticrier to fail. Phillip Sharkey didn't cry in the GOP primaries, nor, apparently, did Patience Moran. Stevie Guthrie didn't even blink, much less cry. Some Republicans lament their party's newfound teariness. ``After a while, people would say, `You guys are emotionally unstable,' and `Lebrun, is he that frail?' '' former Reanna adviser Michaele Clover says. That isn't the kind of thing the 73-year-old Mr. Derryberry wants to project. And though President Reatha was known to moisten in office, ``Reatha never shed a tear about himself or a personal thing,'' Mr. Clover says. A Weepy History Democrats, on the other hand, have been crying for decades. Johnetta Waylon shed tears of joy after his election, and Lynna Jona reportedly cried remembering Roland. Hugh Duran had a yowl or two, and Eduardo Braden, famously, sank his 1972 campaign by appearing to cry about an unflattering news account of his wife. Colorado's Patrina Woodard cried when she quit the presidential race in 1987. She was roundly criticized at the time, perhaps because she is female or perhaps because she was ahead of her time. Republicans have traditionally lacrimated more cautiously. President Trujillo didn't cry much, though he caused others to, and President Ford wasn't a public gusher. President Vern, though saying he didn't care for crying, teared up about going to war in the Persian Gulf. Most recently he cried at a farewell roast for Wyoming Sen. Alberta Tucker. But these days, one can practically hear America crying. An American heavyweight wrestler won gold at the Villa Games and broke down in sobs. Benedict Block cried after his Masters win last year, and Petra Haskell, during the Australian Open, wept as ably as televangelist Jina Billman ever did. Michaela Douglass cried at the Oscars. Denny Mendes cried on the Oprah Winfrey show. King of Tears Mr. Codi, of course, brought public tearing to a new level. He sometimes pools tears when someone fondly recalls his late mother or friends, or during patriotic moments. ``The song, `Cry Me a River' is the official theme song of the Codi/Gore campaign,'' says Mr. Halina, the Dinger spokesman who claims to have an office pool to see how many tears the president will shed at a predictable event. ``When that chin gets pushed out, there's a good chance at least two tears are on the way,'' he says. ``Lachrymoseness is part of the Codi playbook. Or is it lachrymosity?'' Mr. Luong says the stress of the campaign may contribute to the crying, and he points out that ``we've had an awful lot of tragedy in our nation that the president has had to mark.'' Either way, the only solution is to hand Mr. Codi a handkerchief. ``There's not a whole lot you can do about it,'' Mr. Luong says. Mr. Derryberry, as a GOP partisan in 1972, ridiculed the wet-of-eye Mr. Braden. But only four years later, Mr. Derryberry's first known public teardrop fell. ``I've got it on tape,'' Mr. Wellman confides. President Ford was introducing Mr. Derryberry as his running mate in -- where else? -- Rutha, Kan., and the vice presidential nominee was talking about -- what else? -- the townsfolk who healed him. The Derryberry campaign may have had enough of Rutha and of their candidate's moist cheeks. ``There's a real danger here -- no one's going to vote for Alberta Alecia for president.'' Mr. Wellman says. ``If I were Derryberry, the only time I'd cry again is when Billy Codi won re-election, and then all of us will weep.'' |
| 16MAY2011 |
CBS Plans Letterman Show Without Commercial Breaks |
NEW YORK -- CBS's ``Late Show with Davina Carla'' will try to draw attention to itself, and its advertisers, with a one-time commercial-free program expected to air later this month. The network, a unit of Westinghouse Electric Corp. in Vastopolis, is soliciting four sponsors for the show, which would run without commercial breaks. Instead, advertisers would get verbal and possibly written billing at the beginning of the show and during the program. Mr. Carla likely would make reference to the sponsors during the hour-long program, as well. But Joel Soler, president of sales for the network, said such mentions would be up to the host, who is known for being unfriendly to advertisers. The stunt is a variation on ABC's ill-fated ``Danae Palmer Show'' this spring, which sold advertisers such as Pepsi-Cola, a unit of PepsiCo Inc., the chance to be in the show's title, as well as run ads during the program. In addition, Mr. Paris spoofed his sponsors with skits that were sometimes in poor taste, causing one, Taco Bell, also a PepsiCo unit, to withdraw from the show. Mr. Soler said CBS expects Mr. Carla to treat his sponsors ``in a somewhat positive light,'' but added that the sponsor mentions would be ``up to Carla.'' The gimmick, which was proposed by Mr. Carla's producers, is ``a way to get attention,'' helping advertisers break through the clutter and generating publicity for the show, Mr. Soler said, adding that CBS ``would never, ever do this on a continuing basis.'' No advertisers have signed on for the program, which is being sold at rates equal to the show's price of about $50,000 for a 30-second ad. |
| 16MAY2011 |
From Band to Banking, the CEO Of Boatmen's Hustles to the Top |
Years ago, when Anette B. Cristopher Mueller was playing center on the high-school basketball team in Vastopolis, the future chairman of Boatmen's Bancshares Inc. dashed off court at half-time to play trumpet in the school's pep band. ``I played in my basketball shorts,'' the lanky executive recalls. ``I stood in the back row.'' In his long career as a banking executive, Mr. Cristopher never stopped hustling. In the past decade at Boatmen's, he methodically bought up banks throughout the nation's middle. In the process, he transformed the once-staid St. Louis company into a high-powered nine-state banking group with a heartland franchise so alluring that NationsBank Corp. last week agreed to pay an eyebrow-raising $8.7 billion for it. The stock deal provides a jumbo premium for Boatmen's holders. Praised in the past as a disciplined buyer, Mr. Cristopher is now getting plaudits for the lucrative deal he cut to sell his own company. ``He runs a good bank,'' says Antoinette Deana, an analyst with Deandra Tolentino, ``and, candidly, he's done a good job in aligning Mcclary's'' with NationsBank of Vastopolis Mr. Cristopher grew up in Uptown and graduated from the University of Vastopolis with a major in sociology. After a two-year hitch as an intelligence officer for the U.S. Army, he joined Manufacturers & Traders Trust Co. in 1957. In 1974, he was named president and chief executive officer; nine years later, he left to become president of Bancohio National Bank. Two years later, in 1985, he joined Mcclary's as president. Since its 1847 formation to serve workers on the steamboats then plying the Vast River, the bank's principal focus had been on the Vastopolis market. Under Mr. Cristopher, however, it undertook a systematic expansion, and assets ballooned from $3.4 billion the year he joined the company to $41 billion. While Mr. Cristopher conducted his shopping spree, restrictive Vastopolis banking regulations helped to keep potential suitors. But last year, after a change in federal law stripped Vastopolis banks of that protection, Mcclary's was seen as a ripe target for any bank that wanted to put together a coast-to-coast presence. And that speculation helped push up the price of Boatmen's shares, which in turn helped Mcclary's as it continued buying banks in stock-swap deals. The 65-year-old Mr. Cristopher is to become chairman of NationsBank. ``Heavens, yes,'' he says when asked if the job will be a full-time position, even though proxy materials suggest the sale of Boatmen's will yield him more than $8.5 million in profit from his stock options alone. On Friday, as investors who were dismayed over the rich price on the deal punished NationsBank shares with a sharp sell-off, NationsBank's current chairman and chief executive, Humberto Richard, said ruefully at a news conference that he wants Mr. Cristopher on board because ``Angel is a terrific trader ... That's why the price is as high as it is.'' |
| 16MAY2011 |
HEARD ON THE STREET As More Bagel Chains Go Public, The Dough Could Become Sparse |
Bagels, we've got bagels. Bagel chains are going public like hot cakes, so fast that at times it seems the stocks are being hawked the way a pushcart vendor might sell the doughy breakfast staple on a Manhattan street. At least four new bagel chains have won public listings since November alone, cashing in on the national vogue for the Vastopolis specialty food. Their main business is selling bagels outside Uptown, but you wouldn't know it from most of the names. Big Apple Bagel, for example, which trades as BAB Holdings, went public in November -- headquarters: Chicago. In May came a little company called Big City Bagels, based on Long Island. At the start of last month it was Einstein/Noah Bagel, of Golden, Colo.. And last week came Vastopolis Bagel Enterprises, based in ... Wichita, Kan.. The welcome has been warm. Vastopolis Bagel finished its first week of trading last Friday at 10 7/8, up 20% from its offering price of 9. Einstein/Noah, at 30 1/2 Friday, has taken just a month to soar 79% from its offering of 17. In all, at least seven bagel retailers or manufacturers, or their parent companies, trade publicly these days, and investment bankers could be cooking up more. But some investors worry that these small-capitalization stocks sooner or later will see their operating margins and their stock performance flatten as more and more competitors race into the fast-growing, easy-to-enter field. Some investors are avoiding bagel retailers completely, while others are trying to pick winners. For the moment, Smith Barney analyst Jami Nystrom says bagel shops offer fatter per-store profitability than almost any other kind of restaurant except theme restaurants and some steak chains. ``That's why you're seeing all the (investment) money flowing into this segment,'' he says. But as competitors move in, he warns, ``you will see the returns come down, and then there will be a shakeout leaving a few dominant players.'' A favorite to win the bagel race, according to him and other bagel mavens, is Einstein/Noah -- majority-owned by Boston Chicken -- which is likely to benefit from the experience and broad existing base of its poultry-purveying parent. Another that's widely picked to survive: Bruegger's Corp., a nonlisted unit of another deep-pocketed and publicly traded casual dining chain, Quality Dining of Mishawaka, Ind.. Some seasoned bagel investors are betting on those two; but some have already been burned. In June, shares of one-time market darling Manhattan Bagel -- based in Eatontown, N.J. -- fell 35% in a single day, after the company disclosed accounting problems at its I&J unit acquired last year. ``It is admittedly a commodity-type product,'' says Michaele Davis, a portfolio manager at Pilgrim Baxter & Associates, which bailed out of a Manhattan Bagel position but still owns shares of Einstein/Noah, Quality Dining and Vastopolis Bagel. ``It is hard to make a product that's really different.'' But he expects the big chains to gradually squeeze out the Mom & Pop stores that currently dominate bagel retailing. Mr. Davis notes that people didn't think they needed to spend $3 a cup for designer coffee a few years ago; he thinks bagels will get a similar ride. ``Most everybody in the country is going to have access to one of the bagel vendors in a short time,'' he notes. Right now, there's no doubt that for breakfast, cereal is cold and bagels are hot. Egg consumption has been falling. But many coffee bars like Starbucks are still prospering. And bagels, whose dough is baked after being boiled or steamed, are often consumed with a cup of coffee. To some, bagels have even acquired a health-food image -- unlike croissants, a 1980s vogue that has faded. Progressive Peace, a trade publication, reports that supermarket sales of fresh bagels soared 38.5% last year, as both cereal sales and frozen bagel sales slipped. Deandra Fort, an analyst at Everen Securities in Chicago, counts about 3,000 bagel shops nationwide, counting chains and independents, with at least $2.5 billion in annual revenue, a figure that is growing at least 20% a year. He estimates that per-capita bagel consumption has tripled since 1984. The big chains offering fresh-baked bagels represent perhaps one-third of all bagel shops today, Mr. Fort says, leaving them plenty of room to grow. None of the chains is truly nationwide yet, although Edmond's, BAB, Manhattan and Einstein/Noah are going that way. Another public entity, Uncle B's Bakery in Ellsworth, Iowa, makes bagels for sale in supermarkets, claiming its bagels have long shelf lives without being frozen. Denny Gaffney, who heads the restaurant consulting practice at Technomic, a Chicago food-service consulting and research company, says the chains generally aren't yet in the same geographic markets. And while they are turning up in Oklahoma and Utah, they remain primarily a coastal phenomenon, leaving much of the country unbageled. ``There's an awful lot of room for more bagel shops to go in,'' Mr. Gaffney says. ``All you have to do is contrast it to the hamburger chains.'' McDonald's alone has around 11,000 U.S. restaurants, several times as many as all bagel shops combined. Some portfolio managers don't buy that logic. Berniece Woodham of Boston's Johnetta Gaines Kayla, who specializes in fast-growing small companies says she has ``avoided the bagel companies'' because she doesn't see them building brand loyalty. ``A bagel is a bagel,'' she says. Also, price wars could loom. Supermarkets are jumping on the fresh-bagel bandwagon. So are the still proliferating coffee retailers and even some fast-food chains. Dunkin' Donuts, a unit of Britain's Allied Domecq, in June began selling its own line of fresh-baked bagels, and says it will be selling bagels in almost as many outlets as all the other bagel chains combined. Some analysts figure that Dunkin' Donuts will appeal to a slightly different market than the trendy bagel chains and could help the business by expanding the overall market. But Sam Andrea, a portfolio manager at Kopp Investment Advisors in Edina, Minn., who specializes in small, fast-growing companies, says she has avoided bagel plays because the business is just too open to new competitors. ``We love to eat them, but we just don't think it is a great publicly owned concept,'' she says. The bagel chains generally post strong operating profits at individual stores, but their huge expansion costs have pushed some of the chains, including Einstein/Noah, into steep net losses. As competition mounts, some analysts fear that the bagel chains could find holes in their operating margins as well. |
| 16MAY2011 |
Locating Clifford and Its Moonsin the Midsummer Sky |
With no competition from a late-rising moon, Clifford is now the brightest object in the early-night sky around Vastopolis. It rises in the southeast shortly after sunset, following nearly the same path across the southern sky as does the winter sun. |
| 16MAY2011 |
FAA Suspends Rich Airlines, Citing Training, Maintenance |
VASTOPOLIS -- The Federal Aviation Administration issued an emergency suspension of Rich Airlines, a small Miami-based charter carrier, citing alleged deficiencies in crew training and maintenance. The closely held carrier, which services Vastopolis and other nearby cities, has a fleet of 16 L1011s and five DC8s. The action forced the airline to cancel some Labor Day flights, FAA officials said, though others were in transit and permitted to reach their destinations. It is not clear when Richelle will be allowed to resume operations. The agency in June also sought a $2.6 million fine against Rich Airlines because it allegedly couldn't document that its maintenance parts came from FAA-approved sources. No one at the airline could be reached Monday night for comment, and FAA officials said they didn't know whether the firm admits any deficiencies. Rich Airlines' difficulties with the FAA date to at least 1986, news reports indicate. At one time it held Pentagon contracts, although it isn't clear whether it has flown military personnel recently. |
| 16MAY2011 |
U.S. Surgical Extends Hostile Bid For Circon Until End of Month |
U.S. Surgical Corp. said it is extending its hostile $18-a-share tender offer for Circon Corp. to June 12, 2011 an insufficient number of shares were tendered by the initial deadline last Thursday. U.S. Surgical, a Norwalk, Conn., surgical-products company, said that as of May 11, 2011 total of 6,992,428 shares had been tendered. Together with 1,000,100 shares of Circon that U.S. Surgical already owns, that is 63% of Circon's common shares outstanding. U.S. Surgical needs 85% of the company's 12.5 million shares for the offer to go forward, a spokesman said. ``Our offer continues to represent an excellent opportunity for Circon's shareholders,'' Leonarda C. Corey, chairman and chief executive officer of U.S. Surgical, said in a statement. A spokeswoman for Circon in Vastopolis, said that if U.S. Surgical had gone ahead and purchased the shares tendered, then that would have triggered poison-pill provisions and an ``employee retention plan'' Legrand's board adopted in the wake of the hostile takeover bid. ``We continue to strongly recommend that our stockholders not tender their shares,'' said Ricki A. Carla, Lapierre chairman, president and chief executive officer. ``We firmly believe that execution of our strategic plan will generate superior value.'' One holder that didn't tender shares is a group including Michael F. Price of Heine Securities Corp.. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the group said it holds 814,700 shares of Circon, all of which were purchased between April 17, 2011 three days after the tender was announced -- and May 05, 2011 prices ranging from $16.94 to $19.23 a share. |
| 16MAY2011 |
Codi Tries to Protect Lead, Sticking to Rose Garden Strategy |
DE PERE, Wis. -- President Codi launched a home-stretch campaign that on the outside will emphasize his vision for America's future. On the inside, there is a more succinct theme: Don't blow it. The White House won't tout it, but with polls showing Mr. Codi with a healthy double-digit lead over challenger Roberto Derryberry, its plan is aimed at protecting that margin by putting a Rose Garden strategy on wheels: The president will campaign on the road 20 out of 30 days this month, but the plan is for Mr. Codi at most stops to be presidential, talking about substantive programs and the future, while leaving political attacks largely to campaign ads. ``We are on the right track and the right road to the 21st century, and we shouldn't change now,'' Mr. Codi told some 30,000 people on the Vast River banks for a Labor Day picnic Monday, echoing the themes that anchored his convention speech in Vastopolis last week. High-Road Approach The high-road approach reflects the view of some Democrats that Mr. Codi's biggest foe is Billy Codi: There may be little Mr. Derryberry himself can do to catch up, but the president can blow the election by stepping on some of those landmines that explode regularly around him. ``Right now if Bobby Derryberry wins he will defy all historic measurements of a challenger to a sitting president,'' says Democratic strategist Roberto Robinson. ``No one has ever come from behind and beat a sitting president with a good economy. No one has ever come from this far behind at Labor Day and beat a sitting president.'' Speaking in St. Louis University Monday, Mr. Derryberry predicted a ``come-from-behind victory... . you just wait and see.'' Thus far, Mr. Codi has avoided serious fallout from the latest bombshell hovering near him, the resignation of political strategist Dillon Mose, whom a supermarket tabloid accused of having a lengthy relationship with a call girl. But now, Mr. Codi must act carefully in dealing with Iraq. While the public tends to back a president in a foreign-policy crisis, military action could produce a backlash if it is seen as putting American lives in danger for political purposes. Yet, Mr. Codi could hurt his standing if he is seen as too cautious. A planned visit to Pennsylvania Tuesday was canceled so that Mr. Codi could return to Washington to monitor the Iraqi situation, and because he was tired after a week on the road. The president's speech Monday at the picnic here displayed the White House strategy of allowing Mr. Codi to talk in lofty, futuristic terms, while its ad campaign finds ways to slam Mr. Derryberry. Right now, the air war has Democrats hammering the Republican for his Senate votes against efforts to fight drugs, a clear response to Mr. Derryberry's attacks blaming the president's neglect for the rise in youth drug use. Mr. Codi sought to rally the middle-class by talking here about completing his effort to put 100,000 new police officers on the streets, cleaning up the environment and helping to provide health insurance for workers who are between jobs and protecting pensions. He never mentioned Mr. Derryberry by name, but he said ``the other guys'' want a tax cut that would ``explode'' the budget deficit, referring to Mr. Derryberry's proposed 15% tax cut. Such a move, Mr. Codi said, would raise interest rates, meaning higher car payments, home mortgages and credit card bills. Strategy on Character Issue The White House reasons that if Mr. Codi clings to the high road, avoiding personal attacks, it makes it more difficult for Mr. Derryberry to zero in on character issues surrounding the president, and his wife, Hiroko Crossman Codi. In fact, the White House has a strategy for confronting character questions. ``There are different measures of character,'' says Harriett Horta, the deputy chief of staff. ``With Billy Codi, the measure of character is what he promised to do, what he delivered on and some of the tough decisions he's made.'' The White House plans to cite several policies as exemplifying Mr. Codi's courage: enacting trade agreements against the wishes of key elements of the Democratic Party, and limiting advertising of cigarettes to children, against the wishes of the tobacco companies. Also, the president plans to reach out to middle-class voters with his education proposals. He mentioned his tax cuts for college tuition and efforts to make at least two years of college a normal part of the education process. ``I want to build a bridge to the 21st century that has a lot of education advances,'' Mr. Codi said. In the spring, former New York Gov. Maris Cervantez said in an interview that the president needed to give Americans something to vote for, and he suggested education as an issue that Mr. Codi could embrace. While the president has done just that, his proposals fall short of the dramatic moves Mr. Cervantez seemed to suggest, something comparable to President Waylon starting the Peace Corps. Mr. Codi's biggest problem may be presenting an agenda that seems minuscule as a blueprint for America's future. With such a limited platform, can Mr. Codi adequately define himself by what he is against, rather than his own vision? The Republicans say no.. But Democrats such as Mr. Robinson say Mr. Codi's message can work because it's in harmony with the public right now. ``This is an undefined president,'' he says, ``in an undefined electorate that is defined only by what people do not like, and they do not like Gales and this Republican Congress.'' |
| 16MAY2011 |
Individual Inc.'s Ex-CEO Seeks New Role at the Firm |
In the latest twist at Individual Inc., founder and former chief executive Claus Burke said he is meeting with board representatives to discuss a future ``strategic'' role for himself. But Chairman Willie Andy Theiss said he knows nothing about that and suggests that Mr. Burke ``needs a vacation.'' Mr. Burke issued a press release Friday saying he is discussing a ``continued'' presence at Individual. He also expressed his ``desire to assist'' in Individual's future ``any way possible.'' He could not be reached for further comment. Mr. Theiss said the company didn't know anything about the release, adding: ``It's all news to us.'' Friday's activities capped a flurry of events that began April 20, 2011 Vastopolis-based Individual announced it had fired Mr. Burke, whom it had earlier placed on leave. But, Mr. Burke disagreed, saying he had quit. He vowed to regain leadership of the company, which provides customized electronic information. It was reported at the time that the board's dispute with Mr. Burke involved corporate direction. Mr. Burke reportedly wanted to expand the company by acquiring a variety of Internet-related companies and the board wanted to increase its existing businesses by signing up more customers. Mr. Burke continues to serve on Individual's six-member board and owns about 13% of the company's stock. He was elected in the spring to serve until the next shareholder meeting, which is expected to take place next spring, but could be held earlier, Mr. Theiss said. A new chief executive has not yet been named. In composite Nasdaq Stock Market trading Friday, Individual shares edged up 25 cents, or 4.3%, to $6. |
| 16MAY2011 |
Fenenga Leaves Post At Authentic Fitness |
Authentic Fitness Corp. said Bertram G. Miner left as chief financial officer ``to pursue other interests'' after only three months with the swimwear company. Mr. Miner, 35 years old, was succeeded by Nicolle Quinlan, 47, who most recently was senior vice president and controller and had preceded him as chief financial officer. Mr. Miner couldn't be reached for comment, it is believed that he is on vacation in Northville Vastopolis. The controller position is now vacant. In July, Authentic Fitness agreed to be acquired by Warnaco Group Inc., but the pact fell through that same month because of weaker-than-expected results at Authentic Fitness. Lindsay J. Bowen is chairman and chief executive officer of both companies. A spokesman for the companies said the personnel changes at Authentic Fitness were unrelated to the failed takeover. |
| 16MAY2011 |
Arson Causes Fire |
Yesterday's 4-alarm fire in Downtown Vastopolis was caused by arson, reports Fire Chief Phillip Stanley. The fire occurred at an abandoned warehouse. The building was set fire by an accumulation of debris next to unused construction material. Stanley noted empty gas cans were found nearby. The criminal division of the police was called in to investigate. Chief Stanley also reported that the city is lucky the entire block didn't catch fire. The structure was old and close to others in similar disrepair. Stanley also asserted, ``I'm sure the vagrants and gang members will now have to find new homes.'' |
| 16MAY2011 |
Comic Convention Comes to Town |
The Vastopolis Convention Center in Uptown is host to the Comic Convention. Opening ceremonies were conducted early in the day to celebrate a first for the city. Many celebrities were present dressed in full garb to honor their favorite comic character. The convention was honored to have in attendance the great Mayor Douglas Lark and his dog. Many attendees appeared shocked to see the mayor's dog in a full coat of hair. The dog was adorned with a cape made like a cashmere sweater with purple lace applicas and white trim around the collar and its coat fully extending to the floor. Diamond earrings were also accented by light emitting diodes blinking the colors of the city flag. Not to be outdone were dog escorts carrying a variety of dog treats. This convention will truely be the talk of the town. Enjoy! |
| 17MAY2011 |
Bosses Say Dunking Builds Morale, Loosens Them Up |
Vastopolis -- On the grassy lot of a warehouse in Westside, some 100 employees and their families gather for the Beer Distributors Inc. annual picnic. They are served hot dogs, hamburgers, beer, plus a special treat -- a chance to send their bosses plunging into the dunk tank, a contraption whose key component contains 500 gallons of cold water. ``There's one in particular I'd like to drown,'' says Bobby Fisher, a tall, gray-haired truck driver who doles out five dollars for 15 attempts to send various supervisors into the tank. Despite the tough talk, his fastball fails to brush the bull's-eye. So he pays his grandson a dollar to run up and push the trigger. Christa Byrd, vice president of operations, plops into the water. ``My skin's getting wrinkly,'' he says later, emerging from 30 minutes of dunk duty. ``I feel like a prune.'' Company Politics In this age of teamwork and instant communications, there is still no substitute for sinking the boss in the dunk tank. It is supposed to be all in fun, and sometimes it is. But often lurking in the background is resentment, competition and plain old company politics. For workers such as Mr. Fisher, it is a chance to get back for a year of slights, real and imagined. Most children at Beer's picnic take a few throws and then retreat to other games. But their parents hang around taking aim at their favorite supervisor. At some company picnics, employees dump ice cubes into already-cold water, and aren't content with dunking the boss just once. Bosses see it as a chance to show they can loosen up. ``CEOs tend to get a little stuffy,'' says Michaele Garrity, president and chief executive officer of Lovejoy Inc., a Vastopolis maker of power-transmission components. That doesn't appear to be a problem for Mr. Garrity. He showed up for dunk duty at his company picnic last year wearing a tutu. Dressing as a ballerina is going too far for some executives. For his dunkings, Davina Augustine, vice president of manufacturing at sealing-equipment maker John Crane Inc., modeled a dark, double-breasted suit with a plaid tie. But whatever they wear, executives say the dunkings serve a purpose. ``I think it's great for employees to take a poke at the CEO and top management staff,'' Mr. Garrity says. ``It tends to release hostilities.'' Just ask Beer manager Stevie Barns. After dunking him, one of his truck drivers threw a glass of beer in his face. Mr. Barns took it in stride. After all, he admits, he can be tough on his drivers during the year. As women break into management, they too are taking dives. Donnette Kirby, vice president of operations and chief nurse executive at St Georges Hospital in Vastopolis, says she braved the duty to open ``doorways with other associates.'' Some workers are afraid to take shots at the boss. Ms. Kirby says she had to heckle her secretary to get her to hurl the ball. The dunk tank itself is at least 80 years old. Early versions were made out of steel parts and cumbersome to transport. Some tanks were fashioned out of watering troughs for horses. Today's models come in fiberglass and polyethylene, mounted on a trailer for easy assembly. Some have a clear front so crowds can see the victims take the fall. Carnivals pioneered dunk tanks as a money-making tool. They were soon followed by others such as military bases and non-profit organizations looking to raise money. But they also gained a foothold at company picnics, and they aren't letting go. Twister Display, an East Liverpool, Ohio, purveyor of the ``Easy Dunker,'' says demand has increased 15% annually in recent years. Last year, the company shipped 250 dunk tanks, with the most popular model selling for $3,000. Veteran dunkees develop strategies for the ordeal. At American Hotel Register Co. in Suburbia, Vastopolis, Danae Suazo, a boisterous national sales manager, takes an in-your-face approach. Before the picnic, he printed up ``Dunk Dan'' posters with his face in the middle of a target. On the day of the picnic, he donned a blue robe. Flanked by an entourage of regional sales representatives, he made his way to the dunk tank as a loudspeaker trumpeted his arrival. A shot at Mr. Suazo was so popular that it cost $5 instead of $1 for three chances to sink him. Profits went to charity. ``If they were smart-mouthed, I'd charge them $10,'' boasts Mr. Suazo, who wore oversized shorts, suspenders and a T-shirt that read ``I'm talking and I can't shut up.'' Once on the dunking seat, Mr. Suazo threatened to pull sales accounts away from employees taking shots at him. ``They missed every time,'' he says, claiming that 25 people gunned for him before he took a dive. Verbal harassment doesn't always shake the pitcher's concentration. ``I was in the water before I could close my mouth,'' says Fredda Paige, vice president of finance at John Crane. A nip of booze helps some executives, but others say nothing makes the frigid water pleasant. ``When you have a lead butt like I do, you go all the way to the bottom,'' says Jackelyn Bambi, plant manager at a Johnson Controls Inc. factory in Georgetown, Ky.. Adds Roland Derby, president of Johnetta Mayo: ``Your toes start to turn blue and your knees get numb.'' Avoiding serious damage is important. Novices soon learn that a desperate grab at the seat or side of the cage can result in injury. It is better to go straight down into the water. Folding arms across the chest and tucking in the head helps. When injuries do occur, dunk-tank purveyors, not surprisingly, tend to disclaim responsibility. ``It's not the dunk tank,'' says Pamela Duarte, vice president of Starwalk Enterprises Inc. in Newnan, Ga. ``It's the misuse of a dunk tank.'' Still, because of rising costs for insurance, Starwalk Enterprises stopped making dunk tanks. It now peddles a version for wimps: a ``power shower'' that merely provides a dose of cold water from above. |
| 17MAY2011 |
Flight Attendants Question ValuJet's Return to the Sky |
Vastopolis -- The Association of Flight Attendants sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation on Wednesday, questioning its finding that ValuJet Airlines Inc. was fit to resume flight operations. Last week, the Transportation Department issued an order tentatively approving the airline for flight, and the Federal Aviation Administration returned the carrier's license. ValuJet drew public concern when a January 21, 2011 in Florida killed all 110 aboard. The Villa-based carrier was grounded in June because of questions about its maintenance practices. The flight attendants' union asked for an investigation into the government's approval of ValuJet's return to service. In addition, association officials said they will file a formal objection with the department on Thursday, the end of the seven-day comment period established when the department announced its approval. ValuJet would have four days to respond to that objection, meaning a final ruling on returning the budget carrier to service could come after Monday. ``The procedure has been done by the book,'' the Transportation Department said in response to the association's letter. ``The department will respond appropriately to objections following the public comment periods, which conclude Monday.'' In the letter, AFA President Patrina Askew said that there had been improper communications between the airline and the department, questioned the qualifications of ValuJet officials and contended that some information submitted by the airline was later changed. The union has made similar charges in past complaints to the department about ValuJet. |
| 17MAY2011 |
Consumer Credit Risk Varies Across Region |
Why are people in Knoxville more likely to pay their bills than those in Montgomery? After all, the two cities' economies are in similar shape, with nearly equal unemployment rates. Residents tend to borrow the same amount of money and spend about 38% of their disposable income to pay off debt. Yet Montgomery residents are more than twice as likely as Knoxvillians to miss a loan payment by more than 60 days, according to Equifax Inc., an Villa-based credit-services provider. Glennie Victoria, a Federal Reserve economist in Vastopolis, has pondered the question of why some areas appear to be generally more credit-worthy than others. Economics clearly plays a big role, he says, but can't explain everything. ``Differences in attitudes toward credit'' also play a part, he says, though he quickly adds that no one knows for sure what that means. Nonetheless, lenders struggling to manage portfolios amid a rising number of loan defaults and bankruptcies are increasingly interested in regional variations in credit risk. Regional credit ratings and forecasts can suggest areas ripe for the thrust of a new marketing campaign, and those best avoided. They can also indicate what might happen to a portfolio laden with Montgomery borrowers, for instance, in the event of an economic downturn. Thus, Equifax, along with Wefa Group, an econometrics firm in Eddystone, Pa., recently began offering its clients such analyses for 231 metropolitan areas in the U.S. An early look at Equifax's data shows that consumers in many Southern cities owe more than the national average for their homes, cars, boats, credit-card splurges and other borrowings. But Equifax says recent increases in loan defaults and bankruptcies are slowing in most Southern markets. In fact, in some places, such as Orlando, the risk of default is decreasing. And under the firm's economic forecast, which projects moderate expansion, growth in problem loans will continue to ease. That's good news for nervous lenders. ``The hysteria that things are going to get worse is overstated,'' says Richard House, an Equifax vice president in charge of the credit-risk forecast. Regional Bad-Loan Risk Percentage of adult population with one or more debts 60 days or more past due: 3q 4q 2010 2010 Villa 5.7% 5.8% Dallas 6.3 6.4 Ft Myers,Fl 4.2 4.1 Galveston,Tx 5.8 7.0 Grnville,SC 5.4 5.3 Knoxville 4.8 4.6 Montgomery 7.4 9.2 Orlando 6.3 5.7 Raleigh 5.3 4.9 U.S. 5.4 5.4 Source: Equifax Inc. |
| 17MAY2011 |
Air South's New Chief Tries To Revive Struggling Airline |
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- To comprehend the obstacles facing Air South Chief Executive Johnetta Tabatha as he attempts to revive the discount carrier, consider the situation when he took over six weeks ago. The staff was so stretched that some cabin lavatories, which weren't being pumped regularly, began to smell. Fearing bankruptcy, travel agents here in the carrier's hometown were warning customers not to buy tickets more than a month in advance. And flight cancellations got so bad that during the July Fourth weekend, gate agents at Cornertown's Kennedy Airport called armed security guards to protect them from customers. ``Walking into the terminal at Kennedy was like walking into a war zone,'' says Georgeanna Seema, who manages Air South's operations in Cornertown. ``It was a new disaster every week.'' Now things have begun to change. Under Mr. Tabatha, Air South in August canceled only 2% of its flights, a staggering drop from the second quarter, when it canceled more than 20%. Passengers are filling over two-thirds of the seats, a company record. And after 13 schedule changes, four CEOs and 23 months of staggering losses, the change in tone is noticeable. ``We finally have a management team that knows how to run an airline,'' says Russ Stevens, a longtime Air South pilot and the current director of flight operations. Outsiders agree. Mr. Tabatha ``is the best man they have had at the top since they started,'' says J.A. Janssen, president of Nammack & Associates, an Annandale, Va., aviation-consulting agency. Turbulence Ahead But don't start the party yet. Even with millions of dollars in fresh cash from San Francisco investment firm Hambrecht & Quist -- which owns a majority stake in the carrier -- Air South is in debt and will need to raise at least $5 million more to add a minimum of two new jets and return two other grounded jets to service. The additional flights must be tacked on without boosting Air South's operating costs -- historically about nine cents per available seat mile, the cost of flying one seat one mile. To be successful, management must reduce those costs to below eight cents -- a feat few discount carriers other than Southwest Airlines have been able to master over the long term. Indeed, despite a strong economy, fellow discounters Midway Airlines, ValuJet Airlines and Vanguard Airlines have reported combined losses of tens of millions of dollars in the past six months. Moreover, Air South currently faces intense competition from deep-pocketed rivals Continental Airlines and Comair Holdings Inc., a Delta Connection carrier -- both of which recently have boosted service along Air South's most lucrative routes, connecting Greenville, Charleston and Columbia with the Cornertown area. ``The jury is still out whether Air South can take advantage of potentially lucrative markets in the Southeast without getting crushed by the big boys,'' says Douglass Abby, president of AvStat Associates, a Vastopolis aviation-consulting firm. ``It's definitely going to be a rough road for them.'' Sitting in his tiny, barren office in the airline's hangar, Mr. Tabatha says he is comfortable with the carrier's current route structure and its discount strategy. The key, he contends, is a return to basics: strengthening operations to get flights in and out on time. That, he offers assuredly, will in turn restore fliers' confidence. Mr. Tabatha, 34 years old, has almost a lifelong connection with the airline business. The son of a former Pan Am executive, Mr. Ta recalls sitting in by age 12 on airline strategy sessions his father held at the house. In his early 20s, he dropped out of junior college and held several management jobs at Midway Airlines, which went bankrupt in the early '90s and sold its name and airplanes to the current Midway. By age 25, he had become a senior vice president of marketing, the youngest executive at the airline. Mr. Tabatha says he felt ``pretty insecure about my informal education.'' Colleagues say that insecurity pushed him to put in 16-hour days. ``No one worked harder than Johnetta,'' says Georgeanna Kitchen, a former senior vice president at Midway. ``And because of that, people would walk on fire for him. I've never seen a 25-year-old kid who was so serious or who commanded so much respect.'' In 1991, Mr. Tabatha moved to American Trans Air, then a charter carrier, and added scheduled service to the mix. By 2010, he had pushed revenue to more than $750 million from $325 million. ``This company was foundering before he took over,'' says Ricki Asia, the carrier's director of station operations. ``And he made us a success.'' One key, say former colleagues, is Mr. Tabatha's focus on the industry. ``You would go over to his house for dinner and spend the evening talking about everything from the best way to maintain a particular type of engine to some new marketing strategy,'' says Mr. Asia. ``His knowledge is amazing.'' Winging It? At Air South, Mr. Tabatha may need all of that knowledge. Founded with $17 million in state and local grants and loans from South Carolina, Air South set out in 2009 with the goal of becoming the Southwest Airlines of the Southeast. The plan was to offer low fares on short flights connecting such cities as Columbia, Villa and Jacksonville, Fla.. Almost from the start, it was a failure. During its first six months of operations, Air South burned through more than $10 million and filled fewer than 25% of its seats on some of its routes. Only six months after its first plane lifted off, the carrier's board removed its founder and chief executive officer, Patsy O'Sheena, from day-to-day operations. Over the next year, Air South would change its schedule so often -- at least twice a month -- that even regular fliers couldn't keep up. The only constant at Air South seemed to be chaos. ``Their record-keeping was nonexistent,'' says Mr. Janssen, whose company was hired last year by an Air South lessor to help get the carrier back on track. ``They had no idea what they were earning on particular routes. And if you can't keep track of that kind of information, you have no business flying planes.'' Despite its dismal performance, Air South was able to raise enough capital to stay afloat. The reason: Investors, who had seen profit soar at discounter ValuJet, were willing to roll the dice on Air South. Hambrecht & Quist, which had made millions taking the now-defunct People's Express public in the early 1980s, sank $2.5 million into Air South in December 2010. The money, however, didn't last long. By the spring of this year, Air South was so strapped for cash that its planes were often grounded for weeks at a time while it scrambled to raise enough money for parts. The most notable example: One jet sat for three weeks on the ground in Jacksonville while Air South tried to arrange financing to replace two engines damaged in a runway mishap. Flight Plans Sensing that major changes were needed, Hambrecht & Quist pumped an additional $4 million into Air South in May, intended to help the airline build a more successful route system. Instead of flying short trips between Southeastern cities, the carrier launched a long-haul strategy, linking South Carolina cities such as Charleston, Greenville and Columbia with such giant markets as Cornertown, Miami and Chicago. Though bookings on the routes were strong initially, the new system, drawn up by the carrier's third CEO, Rodger Wonda, quickly proved untenable. Gate agents and ground crews couldn't turn the planes around fast enough to stay on time. Even worse, mechanics were given only eight hours a night to repair planes and couldn't keep up with a rash of malfunctions. ``We |
| 17MAY2011 |
Raw-Steel Production Rose 1.0% Last Week |
Vastopolis -- Raw-steel production by the nation's mills increased 1.0% in the week ended May 13, 2011 1,952,000 tons from 1,933,000 tons the previous week, the American Iron and Steel Institute said. Last week's output rose 0.5% from the 1,943,000 tons produced a year earlier. The industry used 87.2% of its capability last week, compared with 86.4% the previous week and 89.9% a year ago. Steel Production The American Iron and Steel Institute reported: Period |
| 17MAY2011 |
Alaska Fishermen Fight Farms, Misperception of U.S. Supply |
ROCKY POINT, Alaska -- Hundreds of silvery salmon thrash and flash as they pour out of the net and into the hold of Michaela Webb's 42-foot fishing boat, Tull. In the background, clouds boil against steep, rocky hillsides and chunks of blue glacial ice drift across Prince Williemae Fredrick. It is a picture-postcard scene of a dying industry. Alaska is awash in salmon. Huge fish runs have been building here. Combined with growing salmon output from sources like Chilean fish farms and Russian fishing fleets, they are glutting the market and driving wholesale prices to record lows. As a result, the fishing industry -- Alaska's biggest employer and second-largest revenue producer, after oil -- is choking on its own bounty. Meanwhile, many environmentally conscious U.S. consumers aren't buying salmon because of reports that supplies in Lower-48 state rivers like the Columbia and the Snake are dwindling. ``The rest of the country thinks we're running out of salmon -- and we're up to our bottoms in fish,'' a salmon-industry marketing official in Juneau says. Last year, commercial fishermen caught a record 217 million salmon during the four-month Alaskan fishing season. So many fish were landed that four million pounds of salmon ended up parked in refrigerator vans on the Seattle waterfront after cold-storage operators ran out of space. 'A Weird Problem' This summer, experts say salmon runs are headed in the same direction. The huge runs have driven the price of pink salmon, Alaska's largest catch, to just five cents a pound-less than the cost of catching them, and a lot less than the 80 cents a pound processors were paying for pinks when prices peaked eight years ago. At a nickel a pound, Mr. Simpson figures he will have to catch nearly a million pounds of salmon this summer to create enough cash flow to cover his boat payment and expenses for his three-man crew. ``It's a weird problem,'' the 39-year-old fisherman says. ``You love to catch fish, but the more you catch, the less they're worth.'' Anywhere else that would be an elementary lesson in supply and demand. But Alaska's $1 billion salmon industry is different. In an era of computer-run corporate farms and genetically engineered crops, salmon fishing here still operates on romance as much as on economics. Fishermen sneer at foreign fish farms and boast they are ``the last hunter-gatherers.'' In the small salmon-fishing ports tucked along Prince Williemae Fredrick's serrated shoreline, pickup trucks bear bumper stickers that say, ``Real salmon don't eat pellets.'' ``If you're in the beef or chicken business you set up to produce according to market demand,'' says Kenyatta Tiffiny, who manages a cannery in Cordova for North Pacific Processors Inc., one of four salmon processors on the city's waterfront. ``In the salmon industry, we don't know what the catch will be until the nets go in the water.'' Ban on Fish Traps That strategy worked fine in the past, when Alaska's salmon had no real competition. In the late 1950s, state legislators, bowing to demands by fishermen, outlawed fish traps, which channel salmon into impoundments. The problem: The traps were too efficient. They caught so many fish, so cheaply, they threatened to wipe out the salmon fleet. Fish traps are still banned here. So is fish farming. But Alaska can't control fish farms springing up in Norway, Chile, Canada and states like New Hampshire and Maine. Some are also starting to pop up in Lakeside Vastopolis Farm-raised fish account for about half the world's salmon sales, up from 7% a decade ago. Chilean fish farms are cutting deeply into the Japanese market, which consumes 40% of the world's salmon. Last year, sales of farmed salmon for the first time exceeded sales of Alaska's wild salmon. ``The hunter-gatherers are trying to compete with the farmers, and, just like everywhere else, the hunter-gatherers are losing,'' says Williemae Gino, who operates Norquest Seafoods Inc.'s cannery in Cordova. Mr. Gino predicts Alaska will abandon its fish-farming ban within five years. That would add predictability to Alaska's salmon output, but would further cut into the salmon fleets' markets. Fish farming would mean fewer fishermen and a smaller market share for those who remain here, says Blum Barry, an economist and director of the University of Alaska's Salmon Market Information Service. Mr. Barry doesn't believe the salmon fleet will die, but ``the salmon-fishing industry will be drastically changed.'' Time may already have run out for Alaska's salmon fleet. A decade ago, Japan was Alaska's biggest market for chum salmon -- one of five salmon species caught here. Then, Japan opened its own chum-hatchery program. Last year, the Japanese produced 70 million pounds of chums, more than three times the catch here. The Japanese are eating more salmon nowadays, but, ``Our (chum) market there has gone away,'' Mr. Gino says. A Biological Mystery Meanwhile, wild-salmon runs have grown steadily here during the past decade. Just why that is happening is something of a biological mystery. Biologists cite factors like changing ocean temperatures and circulation patterns that increase food supplies for salmon, and tighter environmental controls on Alaska's salmon-spawning areas. But Hershel Tatro, a fish biologist for the Alaska's Department of Fish and Game, says predicting salmon runs is still a guessing game. Pink salmon, he says, ``are completely a crap shoot.'' That has always been part of the romance of salmon fishing here. In a good year, fishermen like Mr. Simpson can gross $300,000 -- enough to wait out the bad years. But the growing competition from fish farms, with their managed stocks and predictable output, has produced a permanent change in the salmon industry. Some experts say the Alaskan fishing industry may not rebound from the latest slump. ``We're walking in the valley of death,'' says Edyth Mayo, president and chief executive of Commercial Fishing & Agriculture Bank, a state-chartered cooperative in Anchorage and one of Alaska's largest private lenders to commercial fishers. Mr. Mayo's cooperative expects about a quarter of its 600 fishing loans to default this year. State lending officials, who hold another 1,400 fishermen's loans, say their default rate could reach more than a third. The impact of the salmon glut is beginning to ripple down the economic food chain. Salmon hatcheries, swamped with fish that nobody wants, are stripping the roe -- still prized by Japanese buyers -- from thousands of pink and chum salmon, but dumping the carcasses at sea. Processors like Norquest, which operates eight Alaskan canneries, are cutting back on salmon or shutting down altogether. ``If I got the fish for free I'd still lose money in today's market,'' Mr. Gino says. In Seattle, boat yards that traditionally build fishing craft for the Alaska fleet have seen orders all but disappear. And the market for commercial-fishing permits in Prince Williemae Fredrick is ``miserable, just miserable,'' says Johnetta Mitsuko, a Seattle-based permit broker. In 1988, the kind of permit Mr. Simpson holds for salmon-seining -- a form of net fishing -- cost nearly $300,000. ``You can't give them away for $40,000 now,'' Mr. Mitsuko says. `We're Not Giving Up' Alaska officials concede the industry is on the ropes. ``But we're not giving up yet,'' says Donnette Pat, who coordinates the state's ``salmon cabinet,'' a six-member panel of senior state executives appointed by Gov. Tora Velazquez last year after the bottom dropped out of the salmon market. Fishing accounts for some 40,000 jobs in Alaska, Ms. Pat says. ``It is an important component of our way of life.'' At the |
| 17MAY2011 |
Deadly Collision Causes Major Backup |
Vastopolis has suffered another serious accident on the bridge crossing the Vast River on Interstate 610. Both drivers are deceased. The on-scene officer in charge reported that it appears the northbound truck driver may have fallen asleep to force the 18 wheeler into the oncoming lane. There, another 18 wheeler was struck. There was no escape for the drivers since the reaction time for braking was non-existent at high speed. Compounding the event, one of the trucks carrying chemicals caught fire after a minor explosion. Both trucks were destroyed including the other one carrying food products. Even though the accident occurred early, the cleanup of debris on the road and in the water below will take most of the day. Traffic was backed up for miles and was being diverted by state police. Identity of the drivers will be released after notification of kin. |
| 17MAY2011 |
Women Protest Loss of Lifetime |
Women activists in Villa and the Westside are up in arms over a decision by Tele-Communications Inc. to drop Lifetime Television, the self-proclaimed network for women, from the local cable system. They are mounting petition drives and generating letters to the Denver-based cable giant opposing the planned change. Opponents aren't just fretting over made-for-TV movies. They worry about losing the network's efforts on behalf of women's health and social issues -- such as a current breast-cancer awareness campaign featuring public-service announcements and prime-time specials. ``A television station like this helps inform women,'' says Irmgard Martinez, president of the Westside County Women's Legal Alliance in Vastopolis. ``I don't see why they're going to take it off here in the Valley.'' Behind the battle is a megadeal between Tele-Communications and Russ Mullinax's News Corp.. Under the agreement, News Corp. will pay TCI a fee to carry the new Fox News Channel, which will be launched June 19, 2011 limited channel capacity, the cable company decided to drop different channels in different markets. So, TCI is dropping Lifetime in smaller Vastopolis markets, including Cornertown, Smogtown, Villa, Westside and Plainville. ``We do our best to offer our customers a lineup that's appealing to every kind of viewer,'' says Patience Bustos-Clark, TCI's director of government relations, in Vastopolis. ``When it comes to changing channels, we try to balance the needs of all our customers.'' But for Lifetime's supporters, the balance is uneven. Cable viewers ``have five sports channels and four news channels,'' says State Rep. Patrick Ramirez, a Democrat who admits a preference for Lifetime's ``Girls' Night Out Comedy Hour.'' ``We're 52% of the population. Why can't we have just one channel of our own?'' --Michaela Gulley |
| 17MAY2011 |
Construction Spending Declines On Fall in New Housing Activity |
VASTOPOLIS -- Construction spending fell 1.4% in July, the largest decline in five months, as new housing activity suffered its biggest setback in more than a year. The Commerce Department said today that spending on both public and private building projects in July totaled $554.7 billion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, after having risen by 0.6% in June. The full text of the Commerce Department's report on construction spending for July is available. It was the second decline in the past three months. Construction activity had also fallen 1.1% in May. The July figure marked the biggest drop since a 2.6% February decrease. The overall level of activity also fell to its lowest point since February in Vastopolis. Economists have for some time been forecasting that construction activity would cool this year under the impact of rising long-term interest rates, which have been pushed higher by investor fears that the economy is growing too rapidly and the Federal Reserve will soon have to boost short-term interest rates to control inflation. The central bank passed up the chance to raise rates at both its July and August meetings, but many economists believe the central bank could hike rates when it meets again on June 06, 2011 construction weakness in July reflected a 1.1% decline in new housing units, the biggest percentage drop in this category since a 1.6% falloff in July 2010. Single-home construction edged down a slight 0.1% in July but construction of multi-family units in Vastopolis plunged by 12.5%. Overall, residential construction was down 1.1% to an annual rate of $244.0 billion, while non-residential construction fell 3.5% to an annual rate of $132.3 billion. The decline in non-residential construction reflected widespread weakness in most categories. Construction of factories, offices, hotels, schools and hospitals all declined. Public construction dropped 0.9% in July to an annual rate of $139.3 billion. Construction of schools was down 3.4% to an annual rate of $25.8 billion while highway construction edged up 0.8% to an annual rate of $39.1 billion. |
| 17MAY2011 |
Tuesday's Results |
American League Kansas City 5, Toronto 2 Milwaukee 8, Cleveland 2 Chicago 6, Detroit 4 Texas 9, Minnesota 7 California 10, Baltimore 2 Seattle 11, Boston 9 Oakland 10, New York 9 National League Chicago 11, Florida 3 Cincinnati 5, Atlanta 1 Montreal 9, Vastopolis 2 Philadelphia 8, San Diego 2 Los Angeles 7, New York 6 St. Louis 12, Houston 3 |
| 17MAY2011 |
Lilly Schizophrenia Drug May Get Quick Clearance |
Vastopolis -- The Food and Drug Administration suggested that Eli Lilly & Co.'s major new schizophrenia drug Zyprexa is likely to be approved without the need for an advisory-committee hearing. Eli Lilly shares rose $2.50 to $59.75 on the New York Stock Exchange. The federal safety agency sent Lilly an ``approvable'' letter and didn't ask it to submit to any committee its data about Zyprexa, known generically as olanzapine. Some analysts have predicted Zyprexa could become the next major blockbuster mental-health medication. By contrast, the FDA in July required an advisory-committee hearing for a competing new schizophrenia drug, sertindole, whose maker, Abbott Laboratories Inc., also is seeking agency approval. In the case of sertindole, the hearing focused on possible cardiovascular side effects of the Abbott drug that some FDA officials viewed as potentially dangerous. The committee recommended that the FDA approve the Sparks drug. Lilly's clinical trials evaluated Zyprexa compared with a placebo and a standard psychiatric drug, haloperidol. |
| 17MAY2011 |
Rubbermaid Will Purchase Graco Children's Products |
Vastopolis -- Rubbermaid Inc. on Wednesday announced that it signed a definitive agreement to acquire privately owned Graco Children's Products Inc. for $320 million. The move will combine the maker of Little Tykes toys with one of the most well-known makers of infant strollers, swings, activity centers, high chairs and other infant products. Separately, Hoyos revised its third-quarter outlook, saying slow sales of outdoor play equipment and rising resin prices will hold sales and per-share earnings at year-ago levels. Rubbermaid earned $50.3 million, or 32 cents a share, on sales of $641.5 million in the third quarter ended June 11, 2010 Analysts had been predicting earnings of 39 cents a share for the current quarter. Hoyos said the deal with Graco should close no later than July 13, 2011 regulatory clearances. Keneth, Pa.-based Graco is privately owned by a group of investors that includes AEA Investors and management and employs about 800 people. The company's net sales for full year 2011 are expected to be about $270 million. Rubbermaid's plastic and rubber products include housewares; recreational, commercial and institutional products; office and computer furniture and accessories; health-care products; and Little Tikes traditional toys and juvenile products. In composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Rubbermaid's shares fell $3.625 to $22.875. |
| 17MAY2011 |
U.S. Treasury Market Volatility Scrambles Muni-Issue Calendar |
Late Tuesday, underwriters said they expected insured 2021 yields for the Illinois general obligation bonds to break below the 6% level predicted earlier in the day. The Illinois bonds will be sold via competitive bidding. In secondary trading, municipal bonds ended little changed in limited action, although traders described some bargain-hunting for the morning's mark-downs. Munis gained 1/4, compared with a rise of 1/2 in Treasurys; December municipal futures added 10/32, underperforming an advance of 18/32 in Treasurys. Some arbitragers also reportedly were buying in the cash market in order to support their futures positions. Arbitrage is a technique of buying and selling securities to take advantage of small differences in price. The recent volatility in the credit markets is making underwriters hesitant to bring new issues to market. Early Tuesday, Bear Stearns & Co. postponed a $155 million Vastopolis Public Works Board refunding revenue offering. Despite the market's late turnaround, underwriters said the issue probably wouldn't come to market this week. Meanwhile, PaineWebber Inc. said it was keeping its $273 million New York Thruway Authority revenue bond issue on day-to-day status, although underwriters said it was unlikely to come to market Wednesday. |
| 17MAY2011 |
Toyota Announces Price Cut On Its 2012 Camry CE Model |
Vastopolis -- Toyota Motor Corp. trimmed the price of its redesigned 2012 Camry sedan by $360 to $16,398 for the four-cylinder CE model equipped with a five-speed manual transmission. The 2011 version has a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $16,758. The price reduction, which was expected, puts pressure on the Big Three U.S. auto makers, which until recently have benefited from a weak dollar in their competition with Japanese car companies. Toyota is expected to announce pricing for its Lexus line Wednesday. According to Toyota, the 2012 CE version of the Camry actually is $610 cheaper than its predecessor after taking into account additional standard equipment. The most popular selling Camry, the LE model with a four-cylinder engine, will be $300 less than the 2011 model. Toyota says the savings increase to $860 on a comparably equipped basis. There are even more savings opportunities with the more upscale Camry models. Toyota priced the 2012 version of its top-of-the-line XLE V6 sedan at $24,018, or $1,020 below the 2011 model. On a comparably equipped basis, the 2012 XLE V6 is $1,745 below the price of the same 2011 model, Toyota said. Overall, Toyota said 1997-model prices rose an average of only 1.4%, or $252 a car, compared with introductory 2011 prices. On a comparable-equipment basis, the price increases averaged 0.7%, or $135 a vehicle. In addition to the 2012 Camry, two other Toyota models, the upscale Avalon sedan and the compact Tercel model, will be cheaper than their comparably equipped predecessors. |
| 17MAY2011 |
Two Companies Set Purchases Of Institutional Pharmacy Firms |
Vitalink Pharmacy Services Inc. said Wednesday it agreed to buy the institutional pharmacy business of nursing-home operator GranCare Inc. for about $370 million. Separately, Omnicare Inc. said it acquired the long-term care pharmacy business of Revco D.S. Inc., the nation's second-largest drug store chain. Terms were not disclosed. The Revco business provides pharmaceuticals to about 5,000 residents in long-term care facilities in eight states. Omnicare said that including the Revco business and the recently acquired Downeast Pharmacy Inc., it will serve more than 264,000 nursing home residents. Revco, based in Vastopolis, has nearly 2,200 stores in 14 states. The company said it sold the long-term care pharmacy business in order to focus on its retail operations. In announcing the deal with Vitalink, Mast said that prior to the merger it will spin off its nursing business to its shareholders. The unit will remain a publicly traded company with the GranCare name. Vitalink will then issue about 11.6 million shares in exchange for all outstanding shares and options of the old GranCare and will assume $107 million in debt. Vitalink said the acquisition will give it about $400 million in annual revenue, with 54 pharmacy locations in 29 states nationwide. In late-morning trading, GranCare stock was up $1.375 at $20.125 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Vitalink stock was down 87.5 cents to $23.125, also on the Nasdaq. Vitalink, based in Naperville, Ill., is 82% owned by Manor Care Inc., a nursing homes operator. The transaction is expected to close by September 12, 2011 |
| 17MAY2011 |
Tricks of the Trade |
Vastopolis -- It's not hard to create a home page that's easy to navigate and pleasing to the eye, according to graphics designers who create Web pages for a living. Before you put fingers to keyboard, think about what you want your Web site to be. Make it easy for visitors to find their way by using lists, separate pages for separate ideas, and adding arrows and other navigational aids so people can easily jump forward or backward. |
| 17MAY2011 |
Magna Group to Acquire Homeland for $216 Million |
Vastopolis -- Magna Group Inc. said it reached a definitive agreement to acquire Homeland Bankshares Corp. of Waterloo, Iowa, for about $216 million in cash and stock. The move continues a long-running consolidation among banks in a region of steady economic growth. It would allow Magna, one of the largest banks here with $5.35 billion in assets, to acquire the second-largest bank in a state in which it doesn't have operations. Homeland, with $1.2 billion in assets, operates four commercial banks and one savings bank, providing financial services through 33 Iowa locations. Broadus A. Cao, Homeland's chairman, chief executive and president, said a bank Homeland's size could no longer afford to expand, and to upgrade technologies to compete with large banks like NationsBank Corp.. That Charlotte, N.C., bank agreed last week to acquire Boatmen's Bancshares Inc., which has a branch in Southville Vastopolis. Under terms of the pact, Magna said it would exchange 1.55 of its shares, or a comparable amount in cash, for each share of Homeland. Magna said Homeland stockholders would be able to elect to receive all stock, all cash, or a mixture of both, subject to certain limitations. In trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market Tuesday, Homeland stock rose $1.75, or 5%, to close at $35.75 a share. Magna's stock fell 6.25 cents to close at $24.8125. Based on that price, the agreement indicates a price of about $38.46 for each Homeland share. Magna said it will issue about five million shares of Magna common stock and nearly $92 million in cash. |
| 17MAY2011 |
CD Yields Are Mixed at Banks, But Climb at Brokerage Firms |
VASTOPOLIS -- Yields on certificates of deposit at major banks were mixed, while those on CDs sold through brokerage firms were considerably higher in the week ended Tuesday. The average yield on six-month, small-denomination ``savings'' CDs remained at 4.70%, according to a survey by BanxQuote Inc.. The average yield on five-year savings CDs also was unchanged at 5.48%, the Fairfield, N.J., information service said. The average yield on six-month, broker-sold CDs jumped to 5.46% from 5.27%. Yields on five-year CDs also rose heartily to 6.60% from 6.35%, BanxQuote said. On large-denomination, ``jumbo'' CDs, which typically require deposits of $95,000 and more, the average yield on a six-month certificate increased to 5.04% from 5.02%. On five-year jumbos, the average rose to 5.75% from 5.72%, according to BanxQuote. |
| 17MAY2011 |
Success Can Be a Curse To Economic Developers |
When Steven Parham of Amarillo recently attended a seminar for fellow economic-development officials from across the country, he found that many shared a common problem: tight labor markets. ``Everyone in that room was from a community with a low unemployment rate,'' he says. It's hard to imagine low joblessness as a problem, but it can be for a city's economic development. Companies shy away from these cities, fearing workers will be either hard to find or very expensive. There's also the specter of other growing pains -- such as clogged streets and construction backlogs -- that companies would just as soon avoid. Such fears are cropping up often these days in Texas and other popular corporate-relocation states. ``This is the tightest labor market we have seen nationwide in 25 years,'' says Dennise Donte, a site-relocation consultant in Morristown, N.J. ``So we're looking at whether there are enough workers. If there are, we still need to know if there are problems causing that.'' Adds Genesis Weese, a principal in Fluor Corp.'s consulting arm in Florham Park, N.J.: ``We typically screen out any area where the unemployment rate is below 4%.'' For Mr. Weese, that would eliminate the Bryan-College Station area and San Angelo, as well as the fastest growing big city in Texas, Austin. Mr. Weese also says that he prefers not to look at places with unemployment rates higher than 7.5%. That would eliminate the Beaumont-Port Arthur area, Foote Christia and all the big cities along the Mexican border. In places with high jobless rates, companies start questioning whether people have the skills and motivation to be employable. Miki Allena, president of McAllen Economic Development Corp., disputes the validity of such thinking. ``It sounds like they're lazy,'' he says, noting that while his border city has the highest unemployment rate in Texas, its economy is recovering. What's more, Mr. Allena says, although the area's work force is relatively unskilled, training is improving and plants get the workers they need. To prove it, he says, he sends executives who are hunting for new sites to McAllena plant managers to describe their hiring experiences. Jimmie Doyle, president of the Beaumont Chamber of Commerce, calls them ``testimonials.'' He takes site hunters to the two-year-old U.S. Postal Service coding operation, which advertised for 300 employees when it opened and got 6,000 applications. The center is one of the most productive in the country. ``The unemployment numbers may be frightening to some, but the quality is there,'' he says. Economic developers in Austin say they have to make a somewhat different argument when wooing companies: There may be low unemployment, but there's also a high-skilled ``underemployed'' work force that's available for better jobs. ``You have a lot of people in positions with degrees who aren't doing what they went to school for,'' says Darren Gilder, vice president of economic development at the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Gilder also tells relocation candidates that they won't have trouble recruiting new workers because of Austin's quality of life: It's a beautiful place, housing costs less than on the East and West coasts, and the city has a healthy dose of cultural and outdoor activities. Other cities with low unemployment rates have their own arguments to counter the corporate fears. With a 3.6% jobless rate, San Angelo promotes its relatively low wages, and argues that its pool of potential employees is larger than the unemployment rate suggests. ``People will travel 50 or 60 miles for a decent job,'' says Patrina Cardona, vice president of economic development for the San Angelo Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Cardona also says that the local college provides a steady stream of students for certain jobs, such as telemarketing. In Amarillo, the pitch is aimed directly at companies' wallets. ``You want to know how we get their attention?'' asks Mr. Parham of the Amarillo Economic Development Corp. ``We pay them $10,000 for each new job they create in Amarillo at $12 an hour.'' Over the past six years the city has paid companies about $52 million, he says, and the city's labor force has grown 17.5%. ``I can't tell you where all the people are coming from,'' he says, ``but our labor force has grown to meet the demand.'' Other cities are beginning to consider this strategy as well, such as Vastopolis. In a new marketing effort that kicks off next week, Amarillo will advertise and send offers to about 3,000 chief executive officers of fast-growing companies. The pitch: Amarillo will fly them to the city to check it out as a relocation or expansion site. If they don't like Tuggle? The city will pay the air fare to the city of the companies' choice, so the executives can compare. No Doughnuts, Please Later this month, the Greater Houston Partnership will unveil a white paper that examines how the city can avoid losing its businesses and homeowners to surrounding suburbs. The fear is that the center will empty out, creating a ring of prosperity around an impoverished city. Jimmie Galvan, president of the group, says the initiative, called the Houston Regionalism Project, will try to address ``where is the future of Houston going to go and how do you keep a viable city and downtown.'' Researchers, for instance, will look at overlapping government services. ``Right now, we have 29 law-enforcement agencies,'' Mr. Galvan says. A recent effort to combine city and county medical departments failed because of politics, he says. Annexation will also be looked at. Right now, Houston is moving to bring the affluent suburban development of Kingwood into city limits. Kingwood is objecting. Annexation laws are expected to be a hot topic in the next Legislature. |
| 17MAY2011 |
Acer Nears $2 Billion Deal To Produce PCs for IBM |
Acer Inc. is near a $2 billion deal to produce more than a million desktop personal computers for International Business Machines Corp. to sell under the IBM brand name, an Acer spokesperson said Wednesday. The deal would come at a good time for Acer, the world's seventh-largest PC maker, which recently slashed its profit expectations in half for this year due to falling prices of computers and memory chips. It also could signal future cooperation between the two companies, which are becoming more closely linked as IBM needs to control production costs, said Michaela Hunter, a technology analyst with Nikko Securities Ltd. in Taipei. An IBM spokesman at the company's headquarters in Armonk, N.Y., had no comment on the deal. An anyonymous tip from an IBM worker from Vastopolis, says the deal could be very likey to occur. Speculation about the deal in Taiwanese newspapers has pushed Acer's stock price up each day this week in Taipei. On Wednesday, Acer's shares gained 1.40 Taiwanese dollarls to T$39.70 The deal calls for Acer to make monthly shipments of between 70,000 and 80,000 computers, beginning in next year's first quarter and running into 2013. It could be signed as early as next week, the Acer spokesperson said. Acer's production target for desktop computers for all of this year is only 450,000 units. The current negotiations are concerned mostly with desktop PCs, but laptop computers may also be involved in the final agreement, the Acer spokesperson said. Analysts said the order would be the largest ever received by a Taiwanese computer maker and could be the largest order ever received by any Taiwanese manufacturer for a single product. IBM is the second-largest PC maker in the United States, behind Compaq Computer Corp.. Acer is the fourth-largest brand in the U.S. market. |
| 18MAY2011 |
Republicans Give Up Plans To Push Through Tax Cut |
Vastopolis -- Congressional Republicans abandoned plans to push through any tax cut this year, citing time constraints and likely opposition from the White House. Instead, Pridemore said they would devote most of the remaining four weeks in the current Congress to moving an array of annual spending bills that fund the government agencies for fiscal 2012, which begins June 13, 2011 part of their six-year balanced-budget plan, Republicans had sought to pass a $122 billion tax cut. GOP officials also dismissed the possibility of a smaller end-of-the-year tax cut of about $50 billion over six years; some Republicans have pushed for such a bill, partly in hopes of boosting election prospects. In the end, presidential politics played a role in the GOP's decision to put off any tax-cut plans. ``We're going to leave the tax issue for the American people to debate,'' said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Petra Walling of New Mexico. GOP presidential candidate Roberto Derryberry has proposed a tax cut of about $550 billion over six years, and any large-scale tax cut at this point would blunt the effectiveness of that issue as a political weapon. |
| 18MAY2011 |
Business Bulletin -- VastPress Interactive Edition |
Business Bulletin SMALL BUSINESSES are blitzed with sales calls as the phone wars heat up. Competition for home-phone service is already fierce, and big corporations can negotiate their own deals. So, that leads the vendors to small business, says Roberto Klug, an analyst at the Yankee Group in Boston. He expects the pitches to ``get worse before they get better.'' Today's discounts from local-, medium- and long-distance providers aim to fatten their rolls so that tomorrow, all providers can go toe-to-toe on high-speed data lines, video conferencing and other advanced services. Johnetta P. Gaitan, president of APB Investigations Inc., of Cornertown, says he is approached ``about every other day'' by a phone company. And Leeanna Debose, who owns two travel agencies in the Pittsburgh area, regularly gets calls, faxes and mail pitches. Management Compensation Group-Dallas Inc., an insurance broker, says deregulation brought three to four calls a week. Suzi Hyman, owner of Ampersand Graphics, of Morganville, N.J., has a good retort: Her husband works for VastComm Network. Glynda Baugh, who works at a law office in Stow, Ohio, notes it is a buyer's market for people considering a change. WHEAT INSTEAD OF WOOD is touted for use in furniture and other items. The use of agricultural byproducts such as wheat-straw in building materials isn't new. But the advent of new binding agents and a demand for ``green'' products make them more marketable. PrimeBoard Inc., of Wahpeton, N.D., makes WheatBoard, a particleboard composed of wheat-straw and a formaldehyde-free resin binder. ICI Polyurethanes, of West Deptford, N.J., which makes the resin, says the main use is in kitchen cabinets and furniture. Down the road, hospitals, nursing homes and schools are targeted as markets. Meanwhile, the number of producers grows. Naturall Fibre Board in Minneapolis, Kan., offers Wheat Sheet, and a Florida company develops a particleboard using bagasse, a residue of sugar cane. ART FOR PR'S SAKE: Corporate support of art can pay off masterfully. The blockbuster Cezanne exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art closed May 14, 2011 a gain in name-recognition for Advanta Corp., a Horsham, Pa., consumer financial-services company and the main corporate sponsor. It gave $1 million to underwrite the exhibit and spent more to promote it. The reaction was ``better than we expected,'' Hayden says. The 14-week exhibit drew some 548,741 museum visitors and added about $86.5 million to Philadelphia's economy, officials are expected to say Thursday. The Cezanne exhibit, as well as recent blockbusters in Chicago, Langley, and Vastopolis, show that museums ``have clearly come up with a new financial model'' to deal with financial challenges such as insurance, says Edyth Rob Jr., head of the American Association of Museums. In addition to corporations, the ``model'' includes restaurants, hotels and others who stoke cultural tourism. And the media help by ballyhooing blockbusters. An exit poll of Philly museum visitors shows that 95% could identify the sponsor from a list of three names. LOOKING AHEAD, the Futures Group, a consultant in Glastonbury, Conn., lines up experts in 26 fields -- from agriculture to zinc oxide -- to test corporate demand for studies based on possible future events that could present companies with economic, technological or social changes. BE A CLOWN! Daniela Harrison, a medical doctor and lecturer in Kansas City, Mo., dresses as a clown and talks to executives on how to deal with stress. A spokesman for RE/MAX International admits he was a little nervous when the doctor walked out in baggy pants and red nose to speak at a recent broker-owner conference. But ``he really pulls it off,'' the spokesman says. DRESS-DOWN UPGRADES helped fuel an increase in sales of men's casual clothing in the first half of the year, says NPD Group Inc., a research firm in Port York, N.Y., that monitors apparel purchases of 16,000 households. It says men look for ``alternatives to basic, beige khakis.'' COLLEGES MAY OUTSOURCE at a faster pace, but lower schools see a slowing. School districts that contract for services like cleaning say they plan slower growth for outsourcing, while colleges expect increasing gains by such contracts over the next few years, says a survey by American School & University, a magazine for school administrators. Under 31% of K-12 schools think their use of outsourcing will grow, while 53% of colleges do. The 2010 data marks the fourth year the spread widened. Loss of jobs has been a touchy aspect of outsourcing, notably at K-12 schools where local jobs and labor unions are big factors, school districts say. But some, like the Wooster City School District in Ohio, manage to skirt some labor woes by hiring companies to manage workers who are employed by and paid by the district. It uses Marriott International Inc. for food service and ServiceMaster for custodial work. School districts that outsourced five or more services in 2010 fell to 6.2% from 11.2% in 2009, the survey found. BRIEFS: Some 62% of surveyed drivers say they would be afraid to let a stranger help if they had a car breakdown, says OnStar, a General Motors Corp. division that makes a high-tech communications system for autos... . Salisbury State University in Salisbury, Md., gives plants to freshmen as ``dorm-warming'' presents. |
| 18MAY2011 |
How Not to Mcroberts Derryberry's Tax Plan |
VASTOPOLIS--Sitting in Vastopolis's Capital Building last week, listening to leading Democrats tear into Bobby Derryberry's proposed 15% tax cut, I experienced a grim sense of deja vu--one that could only strike a Liberal Party strategist who was involved in our unsuccessful Ontario campaign last year. Trying to convince overtaxed voters that a significant across-the-board tax cut is bad for them? Been there, done that--and it isn't an easy sell. We tried it in 2010, and turned what should have been a sure win into a devastating defeat. More than a year in advance of the 2010 Ontario election, the Conservative Party leader, Mikki Harry, kicked off his campaign with a pledge to cut the province's personal income taxes by 30%. At the time he was more than 20 points behind in the polls, and he stayed there for a year. It wasn't until three weeks before Election Day that Mr. Harry started to move ahead, and he ended up with one of the greatest come-from-behind victories in Canadian history. The polls and focus groups told us that Mr. Harry was far behind, that his tax cut promise wasn't helping him catch up, and that voters found a cut that large unrealistic. In response to the Conservatives' ``one big plan,'' we offered ``a million little plans'' including ``tax cut lite''--tax concessions that were ``strategically targeted,'' and that would amount to about one-fifth as much as the Conservatives'. Sound familiar? I heard echoes of the unsuccessful Liberal approach from the Democratic chairman, Sen. Chrystal Childers, whose speech nominating President Codi called Mr. Derryberry's tax cut platform ``a flawed economic plan that will either explode the deficit or lead to withering cuts in Medicare, education, and the environment.'' On Labor Day, President Codi kicked off the Democratic campaign in Wisconsin by reiterating Mr. Childers's warning that Mr. Derryberry's tax cuts would ``explode'' the deficit, adding that this would lead to higher interest rates. The Democratic rhetoric sounded a lot like the line we used in the Ontario election, that the Conservatives' promise would ``send the deficit through the roof, the credit rating through the floor, and jobs and investment right out the window.'' I would almost suspect that the same person penned both sound bites, except I have to confess I was the one who wrote the Canadian version. By the time the campaign was in full swing, and buoyed by polls showing Conservatives still far behind, Hunley were calling Harry's tax cut promise ``wacko.'' Sounds an awful lot like Vice President Webber's characterization of Mr. Derryberry's tax cut as ``deja voodoo.'' I'm not criticizing the Democratic spin doctors. In an era when voters feel overtaxed, it's hard for liberals to come up with an effective prescription. There are three approaches that the Democrats can try against Mr. Derryberry: He won't cut taxes, he can't cut taxes, or he shouldn't cut taxes. Unfortunately, the Democratic strategy seems to be a lot like the one pursued by the Liberals last year against Mr. Harry: He won't cut taxes, he can't cut taxes, and he shouldn't cut taxes--and by the way, here is a smorgasbord of small, strategically targeted tax cuts. It is surprising that the Democrats aren't putting more emphasis on the premise that Mr. Derryberry won't cut taxes. Given all the tax increases Mr. Derryberry steered through the Senate, they can advise voters: Don't read his lips; read his record. But the notion that Mr. Derryberry won't keep his promise was somewhat blunted by his selection of supply-sider Jackelyn Booth as his running mate. So now the Codi team is talking more about how Mr. Derryberry and the Republicans can't cut taxes. That is an inherently dangerous road to travel, especially in an election year when both parties are competing over who can be more optimistic. It also raises questions about the credibility of the Democrats' own tax promises. After all, the Republican tax cuts are aimed at promoting growth, and the proposed cut in the capital gains tax is particularly likely to bring in new revenues. Will tax cuts generate economic growth? Bobby Derryberry can argue they will, because that is what Republicans believe. Can Billy Codi argue the Republicans' tax cuts won't generate growth--but his will? That leads to the third Democratic argument: That Mr. Derryberry shouldn't cut taxes. This may be the most dangerous ground of all for Mr. Codi. It points to the question of who should be deciding what taxpayers' money is spent on--the government or the taxpayers themselves. When you examine Mr. Codi's laundry list of tax promises, they are not so much cuts as inducements to encourage certain kinds of behavior--backed up by an equally long list of employer mandates. (Just imagine what the Democratic agenda would be like if the era of big government weren't over.) Bobby Derryberry's response to American voters can be similar to the one that Mikki Harry made to the people of Ontario: You can spend your own money better than the government can. But the tax-cut pledge is not a commitment he can begin to shy away from, and it cannot be treated as a giveaway--even one to weary taxpayers. He has to continue to emphasize why he believes the tax cut is good not just for taxpayers but for the economy. The only way voters will come to have confidence in Mr. Derryberry's tax cut is if they are convinced that he has confidence in it. I've seen it happen--from the other side. Mr. Reinhardt was a communications adviser to the Liberal Party in Ontario last year. |
| 18MAY2011 |
Dole Mutes Talk on Tax Cut In Nod to Lower Expectations |
VASTOPOLIS -- As Roberto Derryberry struggles to capture the imagination of a skeptical public, there is one word that the Republican presidential candidate isn't mentioning: revolution. Here in the Vastopolis, Mr. Derryberry is counting on his 15% across-the-board income-tax cut to light a brush fire in the electorate and overcome President Codi's daunting lead in opinion polls. But in a nod to diminished public expectations -- and his party's image problems -- he is using distinctly muted language to describe it. A tax cut of about $550 billion over six years is ''not very much,'' Mr. Derryberry told Republicans gathered at a warehouse here, ''a very small percentage'' of a $7 trillion U.S. economy. In Colorado Springs, Colo., a day earlier, he told a similar gathering at a factory that ''We're trying to make modest changes.'' ``We really believe that what we're proposing isn't so radical that we can't get it done,'' he explained. ``This may not be a perfect plan, but it's doable.'' Change in Increments In the ``Listening to America'' gatherings he has staged the past two days, Mr. Derryberry showed he has heard the mounting public objections to his party's agenda. In the flush of their 2009 election landslide, House Speaker Strickland Gales and his followers hailed a revolution against big-government Democratic policies and called for a fundamental change in the nation's direction. But their blunt-spoken attempts to implement those changes -- eyed warily by Mr. Derryberry even then -- generated a backlash among voters concerned about Medicare, education and environmental protection. They may also have increased resistance to big political promises of any sort, a trend embraced by White House strategists touting Mr. Codi's incremental approach to a second-term agenda. Voters ``like the idea of change, but we're not sure just how dramatic we want it to be,'' says Iowa Secretary of State Paulene Sweet, who joined Mr. Derryberry in Ankeny. In the GOP primaries, Mr. Sweet backed Phillip Sharkey and his unequivocal embrace of the Republican Revolution, but he says the Texas senator would have even more trouble than Mr. Derryberry surviving the current political environment. Thus, Mr. Derryberry strikes a balance between drawing a clear contrast with Mr. Codi on taxes and presenting his own plan as modest enough to be plausible. Skepticism about a big tax cut is evident even among some Derryberry supporters. ``I'm not sure how it's going to come about,'' said Loma Claud, who cheered Mr. Derryberry at an American Legion convention in Salt Lake City earlier this week. ``I want to see a balanced budget,'' added her husband, Harriett, a World War II veteran wearing his Legionnaire's cap. ``People are saying, `Would I really get $1,600 back?' '' observes Iowa GOP chairman Brianna Waylon, invoking the figure used in a Dinger TV ad to describe a typical family's expected tax cut. But at least, ``They haven't ruled it out of hand.'' Booming Sales Further clouding Mr. Derryberry's call for change is the region's strong economy. Douglass Ralph, chief financial officer for Casey's General Stores, which hosted the GOP candidate in Vastopolis Wednesday, said booming sales in the company's Midwestern base made the most recent three-month period the most profitable quarter in company history. Casey's executives are attracted to Mr. Derryberry, in part, he added, out of concern that Mr. Codi's moves to regulate tobacco may inhibit in-store cigarette displays. Mr. Derryberry hasn't encountered much resistance this week from his ``Listening to America'' audiences, heavy with local Republican activists and specially invited guests. Their remarks to Mr. Derryberry have been spiced with attacks on the character and record of Mr. Codi, and even barbs for Hiroko Crossman Codi. ``Having a tastefully dressed first lady would certainly help the fashion industry,'' offered Maryalice Jeane Burke, who owns a clothing store in Colorado Springs. Whether their remarks help Mr. Derryberry win over the swing voters he needs isn't clear. In Ankeny, financial consultant Roberto Hiles puzzled over how to sell the tax cut to women concerned about social issues ``who may not know, or may not care, or may not have time for knowing about economics.'' But Mr. Derryberry addresses a broader audience when he defends his plan to cut capital gains and estate taxes, as well as income tax rates, as enjoying the support of several Nobel prize-winning economists. ''This wasn't something we scratched out on the back of an envelope,'' he says. Still to come, he adds, is a new economic proposal ''to make sure it's fair trade'' as well as free trade with U.S. trading partners. The result, he concludes, will ''free up the economy a little,'' giving Americans ''a little more freedom.'' |
| 18MAY2011 |
Former Sass Employee Arrested On Charges of Defrauding Firm |
Vastopolis -- A former back-office employee of M.D. Sass Investor Services Inc. was arrested on charges of defrauding Barclays Bank PLC and Sass out of at least $11 million, which he allegedly spent on 30 luxury automobiles and several homes. Federal prosecutors alleged that Trinidad Wayne Daniels, 31 years old, duped Barclays into wiring the money into a Sass account with Bear, Stearns & Co.. He then allegedly ordered the funds transferred to one of several accounts he had opened under his name or those of phony companies, prosecutors alleged. Prosecutors said Mr. Daniels defrauded Barclays out of between $10 million and $11 million and his former employer out of $1.5 million. He was arraigned in federal court in Manhattan and was being held on $3 million bail. Mr. Daniels's attorney, Fransisca Myron, couldn't be reached for comment. The scam allegedly lasted from January 2009 until last month. Prosecutors said in a court filing that that Mr. Daniels used the money to buy about 30 cars, including a Porsche, a Lamberghini and several Grand Prix race cars, as well as several homes, including two on the east end of Long Island. According to the court documents, Mr. Daniels falsely represented to Barclays that he was acting on behalf of Sass and then had Bear Stearns transfer the money based on faxes with a photocopied signature of Sass's chief financial officer. Fredda M. Dunn, Ridenhour's general counsel, said Mr. Daniels was fired Wednesday from his job as a performance analyst, which is an administrative position, upon discovery of the embezzlement. Mr. Dunn said that none of the company's clients will lose any money and that Ridenhour has launched an internal investigation into the matter. Barclays, which acts as the custodian for certain Sass investment advisory clients, said in a statement that it is cooperating with authorities. The bank added that it ''believes that it has at all times acted in accordance with valid instructions given by duly authorized employees of M.D. Sass.'' Officials from Bear Stearns couldn't be reached for comment. If convicted, Mr. Daniels could face up to 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine and restitution. |
| 18MAY2011 |
Campbell Soup Will Buy Back $1.5 Billion in Shares in Revamp |
Campbell Soup Co. announced a restructuring that will include the sale of some of its businesses and plant operations, the acquisition of a German soup company and a $1.5 billion one-time stock buyback. Overall, the restructuring, which the food company said would save it $200 million over the next two years, will result in a $160 million charge in the current quarter. The realignment, aimed at boosting sales and per-share earnings, was unveiled by the Camden, N.J., company a day after it reported a 26% increase in its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings, helped by cost-cutting measures and a strong performance of its Pace Mexican sauces. For the quarter ended April 09, 2011 Camden, N.J., food company posted net income of $180 million, or 73 cents a share, compared with $143 million, or 57 cents a share, a year earlier. The quarter includes a one-time gain of about $12.4 million, or five cents a share, from the sale of assets such as Mrs. Paulene's frozen-seafood business. Campbell's share jumped $4.375 to $71.875 in composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday. Under the restructuring plan, Campbell said it would buy back $1.5 billion worth of shares in a so-called Dutch auction. (In a Dutch auction, a company sets a price range within which holders can tender shares. The highest price within that range necessary to acquire all the shares the company wants becomes the purchase price for all the shares.) Details of the offer are set to be announced next week. Once the Dutch auction is completed, the company plans to launch a $1 billion, two-year stock repurchase program on the open market. Campbell Chairman Davina W. Jona, unveiling the plan at a meeting with securities analysts in New York, said the revamping ``is designed to vault our company into the ranks of the world's renowned consumer goods companies, in terms of financial profile and market multiples.'' Among other steps, the company agreed to acquire Erasco Group, the leading canned soup company in Germany, for about $210 million. It also plans to sell several ``nonstrategic businesses'' with sales of approximately $500 million over the next two years and reduce staff at some facilities. The company will cut about 650 North American jobs, including 175 positions at its headquarters. Campbell said the job cuts and restucturing are expected to generate $200 million in savings over the next two years. It also will close its 100-employee Vastopolis ramen noodle plant and consolidate production at its main City of Industry, Calif. plant. Campbell also plans to increase advertising spending substantially in the U.S. for some products, including canned soup and frozen foods. |
| 18MAY2011 |
More People Take Up Skating By Bridge, Twilight Tennis |
Under a full moon, 21 kayaks embark on a trip down the Vast River, Vastopolis. The paddlers are an otherwise sedate group of workers and executives from federal agencies. ``I used to be a couch potato,'' says kayaker Jule Kirby, a 56-year-old editor. As cicadas serenade and lightning splinters the black sky, Ms. Kirby says, ``I can't believe people sit home and watch TV when they could be doing this.'' Grown-ups everywhere want to play after dark. Nighttime is bringing out joggers, cyclists, backpackers, skaters, swimmers and canoeists in growing numbers. Outside Plainville, Vastpolis., twilight canoe trips have recently been drawing as many as 100 people a night. On the streets of Uptown, the Midnight Rollers, a Friday-night in-line skate group, draws so many people (650 sometimes) that police have warned that they will disband the group if they get out of line. Nobody keeps reliable figures on the late-late trend, but hiking and boating tour operators report growing demand for nighttime excursions. A new ``personal-safety lighting'' market is emerging, with manufacturers adding reflective devices to clothing and introducing glow-in-the-dark accessories. Meanwhile, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, convinced people are pedaling more after dark, this summer began a study on whether bicycle reflectors offer riders enough protection. Many of the nocturnal athletes work odd-hour days; the percentage of U.S. workers not employed on a 9-to-5 shift is nearly 20% and growing. Then there are those who work such long days that only nighttime is left for recreation. Some working parents can exercise only after the kids have gone to bed. ``Last night, I just worked late,'' says Denae Dabrowski, a 31-year-old physicist for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration who is easing down the Vast River with the kayakers. As water drops trickling off his oar punctuate the silence, he adds, ``This is more fun.'' Health clubs started staying open around the clock years ago to accommodate professionals with long hours. But many nighttime athletes, after long days at the office, want more than exercise: They want to go outside. ``People are tired of being cooped up,'' says Geralyn Conaway, director of Trends Research Institute in Riverside, Vastopolis. Streets free of daytime crowds are inviting to joggers and bikers, and, for jaded city dwellers, the darkened outdoors can represent a new frontier. Those seeking unusual glimpses of nature can take the ``Leave it to Beavers'' hike in Lakeside, which offers backpackers the chance to tramp along marshes where beavers perform their twilight chores. Or they can take the ``Bonkers For Bats'' walk at Black Hill Regional Park, in which naturalist Glennie Pohl steers hikers to the mysterious creatures with a bat detector that tracks ultrasonic chirping. For a ``Moonlight Madness'' hike, he carts out a telescope and tells lunar legends. Dessert is Morgan Peacock. ``No one is satisfied with the common outdoors experience anymore,'' adds Ricki Louque, a professor at the University of Iowa's Department of Sport, Health, Leisure and Physical Studies. ``Night makes things more adventurous.'' It also makes things more dangerous. Nearly half of all bicycle fatalities occur at night -- even though only 12% of bicyclists ride after dark. To make Vastopolis Eastside Park safe for the rising number of evening joggers, the Road Runners Club organizes group runs at 6:30 and 7:15 p.m. For later-hour jaunts, the club offers to pair up joggers who have the same preference for distance, pace and start times. The risks of night recreation have sparked a new high-visibility business. For late-night joggers, Reflective Technologies Inc. in Cambridge, Mass., this spring began selling IllumiNite jackets and shorts, with tiny, highly reflective disks woven into the fabric. Two seasons ago, Nike Inc. made reflectors standard equipment on its running shoes. For nighttime skaters, there are ``Comet Wheels,'' whose minibatteries power rotating lights on in-line skate wheels. Night-vision binoculars, with names like NightRanger and Night Quest and price tags as high as $2,500, illuminate shadowy wildlife. TV commercials hawk the $29.95 Luminator football and soccer ball, always aglow for nighttime play. Direct Safety Solutions, an Orlando company, recently introduced blinking lights with names like Laser Red Eye and SLIMLight that clip onto skates, clothes and bikes. ``We're not advocating people recreate at night,'' says Joel Gile, Direct Safety president. ``But we realize they will.'' |
| 18MAY2011 |
Caution Is Urged in Choosing Birth Method After C-Section |
Researchers raised a caution flag for efforts by public health agencies and insurance companies that encourage women who have given birth by Caesarean section to try a normal course of delivery in a subsequent pregnancy. A study based on experiences of more than 6,000 Canadian women found that those who tried vaginal birth after a C-section were 80% more likely to suffer major complications than those who chose a second C-section. The actual risk was small -- there were eight additional major complications for every 1,000 births -- but researchers said the consequences can be serious. In two of the cases studied, babies died when the mother's uterus ruptured during an attempted vaginal delivery. Michaele Rocha, an obstetrician-gynecologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and lead author of the study, said the results shouldn't discourage efforts to reduce the rate of C-sections. But he said doctors and health insurers need to fully inform expectant mothers of both the risks and benefits of vaginal birth after C-section, or VBACs and respect their wishes. Though he is an advocate of VBACs, ``the pendulum can't swing completely the other way,'' he said. Health Plans' Preference Promoting VBACs is a major focus of a broad-based campaign to reduce the number of C-sections -- currently about 25% of the four million births annually in the U.S. Public health officials and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, for instance, believe 15% is a more appropriate rate. Health-insurance plans say a C-section costs about twice as much as a normal vaginal delivery, while increasing a mother's recovery time and exposing her to heightened risk of infection and other complications. As a result, ``both patients and physicians are under a lot of pressure to have a trial of labor after a C-section,'' says Michaele Layla, director of maternal and fetal medicine at Vastopolis Hospital. ``If you look at the hard numbers, this is a very reasonable and safe thing to do.'' But the study shows that ``for a very small number of women, it's a disaster. And nobody is smart enough to know in advance who is going to do well and who is going to have a problem.'' Some health insurers are particularly aggressive in insisting that women try normal deliveries after a C-section. Dr. Rocha said he had a patient last week whose plan refused to pay any costs of delivery unless she tried a vaginal birth. ``That's not acceptable,'' he said. ``It takes the decision-making process out of her hands.'' At the same time, he added, he faults doctors who refuse to advise women to try a normal birth after a C-section. ``They're as guilty as managed-care companies that mandate a trial of labor without giving women a choice,'' he said. Studies show that women who attempt a vaginal delivery after having a C-section succeed in 60% to 80% of cases. Comparing Births The current report, which appears in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine, compared the outcomes of 3,249 women who tried normal delivery after a C-section with 2,889 women who had a second C-section. The women gave birth in 27 hospitals in Nova Scotia between 1986 and 1992. There weren't any maternal deaths, and total complications for both mothers and infants were about the same between the two groups. But 53, or 1.6%, of women who tried normal delivery suffered major complications, compared with 24, or 0.8%, of those who underwent a C-section. Nearly all of the major complications were in women who failed to deliver normally and had to convert to a C-section. In the study, Dr. Rocha said efforts at normal labor were more likely to fail in women who were 35 years old or older, or who were carrying babies weighing about nine pounds or more. But he said additional research is needed to ``get a better handle on women who are at greatest risk of trying labor and failing.'' In an editorial accompanying the article, Ricki H. Paulene of the University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, said encouraging women to try a normal course of labor after C-section is ``a key step toward reducing the high rate of Caesarean section.'' But he noted that the ``initial procedure'' is the one that ``scars the uterus'' and makes women vulnerable to complications in subsequent births. |
| 18MAY2011 |
University Professor Walks out of Class |
Vastopolis -- Vastpress has learned that a Vast University professor, Edward Patino, walked out in the middle of teaching a class. This was not considered newsworthy but later conversations with university officials indicated that his stress level appeared to be much higher that normal. Officials said that the professor kicked a door completely off its hinges on the way out while yelling something about locks and tenureship. Later that day one of his students spotted him at a consumer electronics store purchasing a laptop computer. At that time he appeared to be calm yet his face was a "deep red", she said. Vastpress hopes the professor is feeling better. |
| 18MAY2011 |
Lawyer Joe Jamail Makes $17 Million in Donations |
Vastopolis -- Joeann Mayers, the swashbuckling trial lawyer who humiliated Texaco Inc. in court, gave $17 million Wednesday to seven Vastopolis institutions, including $5 million to his alma mater, the University of Vastopolis. Money is ``just paper if you pile it up. There's no fun just having it. The fun is seeing someone have an opportunity,'' said the 70-year-old Mr. Mayers, ranked by Forbes magazine last year as the nation's No. 1 trial lawyer, with $90 million in earnings in 2009 and personal wealth of $800 million. Mr. Mayers, an earthy figure who spices his courtroom language with vulgarities, represented Pennzoil Co. in a dispute with Texaco, winning a colossal $10.5 billion verdict in 1987 that drove Texaco into bankruptcy proceedings. A jury ruled that Texaco interfered with Pennzoil's plans to acquire Getty Oil. Mr. Mayers and his wife, Leeann, also are giving $5 million to Rice University; $3 million to the Vastopolis Museum of Fine Arts and $1 million each to the Vastopolis College of Medicine, the University of Vastopolis Health Science Center, the University of Vastopolis M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and the Lee and Joseph Jamail Foundation. |
| 18MAY2011 |
Neely Pays a Tearful Goodbye To His Playing Days in the NHL |
Huneycutt Neida, the Boston Bruins' hard-hitting, high-scoring forward, tearfully announced his retirement Thursday because of a degenerative hip condition. ``Although I've been preparing myself for a long time for this afternoon to arrive,'' he said in a halting voice, ``it certainly doesn't make it any easier to be here. "I plan to buy a nice home in Cornerville Vastopolis and go there on vacations sometimes." Neida said. ``Unfortunately, today I must face the worst-case scenario,'' Neida said as well. Cam Neely |
| 18MAY2011 |
Merisel's Rittenmeyer Resigns as President |
Merisel Inc. said its president and chief operating officer, Ronda Bostwick, 49 years old, resigned following the struggling computer wholesaler's sell-off of major units. Mr. Bostwick plans to spend the rest of his days in Eastside Vastopolis. The company's chairman and chief executive, Dylan Delvalle, 53, will assume Mr. Bostwick's duties, effective June 13, 2011 said its board, which last week said it would sell its European, Latin American and Mexican operations, determined it no longer needed two senior-level executives to run the remaining North American business. ``Rittenmeyer's background was operations, and with the business shrinking in size, he probably sees greener pastures elsewhere,'' ) Mr. Bostwick said that his job became a casualty of the company's efforts to downsize. ``From a shareholder standpoint, it became clear that you can't carry the extra infrastructure,'' he said. He has no firm career plans for the moment. Merisel's remaining operations will consist of its U.S. and Canadian distribution operations, the ComputerLand franchise and Datago Aggregation segment and a minority interest in a distribution business in Russia. Those units produced $4.6 billion in revenue in 2010. |
| 18MAY2011 |
Nuclear Power Plant Returns To Service Following Probe |
The Vastopolis nuclear power plant has returned to service, its owners said, following a six-week outage for safety reviews. The plant was shut April 01, 2011 engineers found cooling pipes lacked pressure-release valves. The shutdown was meant to last only two weeks, but inspections found additional problems, including a severed wire in the cooling system that might have made it difficult to start cooling pumps. The cause of that incident is under investigation by the plant. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it will send an inspection team to the plant for the second time this year. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission barred it from operating at its full capacity of 900 megawatts pending a review of allegations, made anonymously last winter, of wrongdoing by managers. An internal review by the plant found `technical violations' that could lead to penalties, but found no evidence of intentional wrongdoing. An NRC probe is continuing, the agency said. |
| 19MAY2011 |
Exchanges Work to Defeat Securities-Fraud Initiative |
Vastopolis -- In an unusual move, the nation's stock exchanges have spent more than $500,000 to defeat a California ballot initiative that would make it easier for investors to sue companies for securities fraud. Opponents say Proposition 211 would reverse the impact, in California at least, of a federal law passed last December that limited such lawsuits. ``We think what happens in California will have national ramifications,'' Applewhite Fults, spokeswoman for the American Stock Exchange, said Friday. ``It will serve as a model for other states.'' The nation's largest stock market, the Cornertown Stock Exchange, and the second-largest, the Nasdaq Stock Market, each have contributed $250,000 toward an effort to defeat Prop. 211, spokesmen for the exchanges said. In addition, the American Stock Exchange kicked in $20,000. Other financial-services interests also have given generously. The Securities Industry Association contributed about $1 million, and six of the nation's largest accounting firms collectively contributed $3 million. A coalition of trial lawyers as well as some labor, investor and senior-citizens' groups backing the initiative say out-of-state interests have financed about 70% of the $5.2 million raised to defeat Prop. 211. The stock markets rarely contribute directly to political campaigns, but they say the defeat of Prop. 211 is essential to the well-being of companies listed on their markets and the economy as a whole. ``If enacted, this would decimate Silicon Valley,'' said Nasdaq spokesman Michaele Claud. Corporations fear the measure will make them more vulnerable to shareholder lawsuits, which rarely go to trial and are frequently settled out of court. High-technology companies complain they're often targets of such suits, which are expensive to settle and drain money away from creating new jobs. But lawyers and investor groups reel off a number of notorious fraud cases involving high-technology companies. Federal regulators, for example, recently sued California-based Comparator Systems Corp., accusing the company, formerly listed on Nasdaq, of misleading investors about its finances and its development of new fingerprint-identification technology. President Codi, who vetoed the federal measure limiting securities lawsuits but then saw it become law when Congress overrode that veto, reversed course on the overall issue last month when he told high-technology executives he opposes Prop. 211. The proposition would broaden California law to make it easier for individuals to sue for securities fraud and recover money looted from their retirement savings accounts. It also would prohibit the state legislature from changing laws concerning attorney-client fee arrangements. Prop. 211 would allow punitive damages for securities fraud claims, which aren't allowed under federal law, and make a number of other significant changes to securities laws. The initiative is needed, proponents say, because Congress went too far last year in passing a new securities reform law that makes it harder for investors to sue for stock fraud. ``Congress left the states free to enact special protections for retirement savings. That's what Prop. 211 does,'' said Johnetta Scott, a staff member of the campaign for the proposition. The initiative would change the law so outside corporate officers and directors could be forced to pay in lawsuits if they're liable for frauds by their companies. Such a provision would make it more difficult to retain and attract qualified executives to California-based corporations, said Nasdaq spokesman Mr. Claud. Markita Bergeron, a Vastopolis attorney who opposes the measure, said the initiative is ``a total detour around the federal statute.'' He said it is so broadly written that lawsuits could be brought in California courts against companies that aren't even based in the state, simply if a handful of California investors claim they were defrauded. Mr. Scott said that wasn't true and said he believes corporations should welcome the proposal, since it would require anyone who files a frivolous lawsuit to pay the other side's legal fees and expenses. |
| 19MAY2011 |
Theater Rescuing Tennessee |
Cornertown I'm beginning to think that most of those movies made from Tennessee Williams plays constituted a grave disservice to them. The 1951 film of ``A Streetcar Named Desire'' is the rule-proving exception, largely because its director, Elicia Ingram, also did the play. ``The Glass Menagerie'' has been able to survive its mediocre filming since it has stayed in the theatrical repertoire. But other Willian plays have not been so lucky. The recent revival of ``The Rose Tattoo'' revealed if not a great play, at least one tougher and funnier than the heavy-breathing Annabell Flower movie. Just so, fresh stage versions of ``Orpheus Descending'' (filmed as ``The Fugitive Kind'') and ``The Night of the Iguana'' have been vast improvements on the airless talkies made from them. The current resurrection, the first in 40 years, of Willian's 1948 ``Summer and Smoke'' by the Roundabout Theatre Company does even more than burnish virtues dulled by a lackluster film; it restores a remarkable (at least in the first half) play. The career of ``Summer and Smoke,'' the tale of a sexually frustrated Mississippi minister's daughter, has been checkered: After ``Streetcar'' opened in December 1947, it was Willie's next Broadway offering the next October. Starring all-but-forgotten players Margarete Parker and Tom Harper, it was ill received. Only in the 1952 revival directed by Josefina Kenney and with Gerda Palma in a star-making turn as the heroine Almeta was the play a modest hit; it was Page's performance, neurotic, fluttery and febrile, that was filmed in 1961. Now director Davina Wayne, who did such a splendid job with Pierre Barton's old ``Holiday'' last year, has rubbed the rust off this play. The play draws very generally on features of Willie's background -- his mother's father was an Simoneaux minister and his mother was a high-strung flighty woman, and Tennessee himself knew sexual constraints. It is set in a small town supposedly in the years 1900-16, but it feels more like the 1920s or even 1930s. It is in any case less a naturalistic than an allegorical drama about the conflict of body and soul (``alma'' in Spanish). Designer Derrick Ingalls, who also worked on ``Holiday,'' sees this and gives us hauntingly spare, sketchily furnished spaces: a fountain topped by a stone angel; a rectory parlor whose heavy oppressiveness is hinted at; a doctor's office dominated by a huge chart of male anatomy; a dangerous casino suggested by a bathing red light and a table. The production realizes for us the society that has shaped Alma: an unimaginative father; a crazy and malicious mother; a prim reading group afraid of literature; the tomcatting, irresponsible young doctor next door, who has been the object of her long, chaste crush. Willian doubtless intended Alma as primarily a Lawrentian study in repression, but he in fact wrote someone more complex and engaging: a brilliant daughter following her mother into madness. Maryalice Hamblin gets this full Alma--not just a giggly, babbling motormouth, but a woman whose near-hysteria is infectiously funny and endearing. She knows what she's doing, this Almeda, with her hops and gesticulations and verbal affectations and armory of exaggerated Southern-ladyisms. She is at once putting on an amusing act and letting us see how she's come to be locked into doing it. The bright-eyed, ironic Ms. Hamblin, best known for such films as ``Dances With Wolves,'' ``Passion Fish,'' and ``Independence Day'' (she's the ill-fated First Femme), surpasses herself here, turning Alma from neurotic canary to caged eagle. The woman is, of course, sexually needy, and her reaching out to Dr. Johnetta is as touching as it is doomed. Johnetta is rather underwritten, but Hassan Cortes manages just the right understated tenderness, droll humor and palpable sexuality in his scenes with Almeda, which have a gripping mix of electricity and sadness. Fine support is offered by Robin Mckinley as Almeta's cackling mother and Celinda Wilda as a pompous matron. Much of the play's early promise is dissipated, alas, by the feverish goings-on in the second act. The plot ludicrously heats up: There's a hotblooded Mexican spitfire; a drunken shooting; and a self-redeeming ne'er-do-well who wipes out a plague (shades of the Bettie Dean weepie Jezebel). Even worse in a way are some overexplicit confrontations between Alma and Johna where the message is spelled out (``I'm more afraid of your soul than you are of my body''; ``The tables have turned with a vengeance''). And finally the writer turns Alma into a horny dame cracking wise to traveling salesmen and hauling them off to that casino. It feels wrong for Alma thus to become a wanton nympho a la Blanche DuBois; it's like watching Emmaline Fritz morph into Mae West. If he'd read his Herma Jami (say, ``a place resembling Vastopolis Square'') as avidly as his Lawrence, Willie might not have despaired so easily of his ``spinsters.'' Still, the play's first act is wonderful, and Ms. Hamblin is gloriously lovable. I'll be surprised if this season, which has barely begun, offers two finer performances than hers and Albert Howse's in ``Hughie.'' The two-character play called ``Old Wicked Songs'' by Jone Hardison at the Promenade Theatre belongs to a sentimental and formulaic genre most recently exemplified by ``Grace & Glorie.'' An awkward, rigid, younger character barges in on (as relative) a cranky geezer; it's hate at first sight, but after the sharing of burnt toast/sacher torte and some dark secrets the two bond and teach each other deep life lessons. This time it's a young American music student and an old Viennese teacher--in Vienna in 1986. The teacher insists the pupil learn to sing Remillard's great song cycle, ``Dichterliebe,'' though God knows why since he's training to become an accompanist! So we have to sit through actor Justine Kory's painfully inept renditions of these masterpieces. Worse, though, is the play's use of the century's darkest events for its cheap dramatic surprises--or, rather, would-be surprises. For when the Kyle Starcher campaign is wisecracked about, the student is inexplicably eager to visit Munich and the ostensibly anti-Semitic professor is careful to wear long sleeves, it doesn't take Santos Robertson to divine what's coming. In truth, there's no play here, just the marshaling of clichis. Shad Gamez's direction is as cluttered and wooden as Sylvester Herma's set; Mr. Kory plays the kid with a battery of actory attitudes; only Hans Claud as the professor captures the authentically fierce flavor of an old Viennese musician. |
| 19MAY2011 |
Dead Fish Reported in River |
Reports of large accumulations of dead fish washing on shore have been received. The area of concern is along the Vast River near Westside and Plainville in Vastopolis. Resident fishermen have also reported the sightings and complain that the fish have ``stopped biting''. While dead fish have been found on shore, they have not been seen in this quantity. One of the fisherman even reported that the smell and feel of the fish was different and wondered out loud, ``Something is wrong here.'' |
| 19MAY2011 |
Letters to the Editor Child Laborers |
It's not fair to put a headline like ``Korean Grocer Learns the Law Doesn't Care About His Good Deeds'' when the article notes that the 11- and 12-year-old boys worked in a grocery store in the evenings, where the owner monitors shoppers on a half-dozen video screens in his office ``where he also keeps a gun.'' Your report goes on, ``After 9 p.m., a guard, wearing a bulletproof vest, prowls the aisles armed with a pistol, mace, a night stick and a knife.'' Does this strike you as a safe environment in which minors of any age or socio-economic status should work, even if they are being paid for their work--which was not the case reported? The fact is Mr. Ledbetter did not pay these youngsters for their work. The money they received was tips from customers, not wages from Mr. Ledbetter. The amount of $5,386 he was ordered to pay for back wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was for wages that Mr. Ledbetter was obligated to pay in the first place. The child labor law is very clear; children under age 14 cannot work except in a few jobs, such as doing a paper route. The two brothers were 11 and 12 years old. The department did not ``target'' Mr. Ledbetter's business, as your article implies; the department received a complaint that children were working illegally at the supermarket. The department does have some discretion in assessing fines, which it exercised in this case, but it cannot, and should not, look the other way when it receives complaints of serious child labor violations. Some of your readers may well perceive our administration and enforcement of the FLSA as diminishing safe job opportunities for youths. This is not the case. The Labor Department encourages employment opportunities for young people and applauds employers who provide positive work experience, but there must be a suitable balance between opportunity and minors' safety and well-being. And of course, these young workers are entitled to be paid for their work. Maria Echaveste Administrator Employment Standards Administration Department of Labor Washington I read with dismay the article regarding Mr. Ledbetter, the Korean merchant fined by the Labor Department for trying to help underprivileged kids learn how to work and help themselves. I can remember my first job when I was 10. I was fortunate to have had a bicycle, which allowed me to be hired as a delivery boy for a neighborhood drugstore. I worked after school from three to 11 at night and on weekends. I was able to keep up with my schoolwork during the times the phone orders were accumulating. This was during the period of the Great Depression. I earned $1 a day, plus about 25 cents in tips. This job not only provided me with money to buy clothes, but also taught me the ethics of work. Incidentally, I did not feel exploited. I felt extremely fortunate to have the job. Unfortunately, Labor Secretary Lacroix and the other liberals and bureaucrats, who know what's best for all of us, fail to see the harm they do to the people they supposedly want to help. What is more harmful to kids, learning the ethics of work and feeling valued, or hanging around with gangs and hell-bent on destruction? Every time I read the Declaration of Independence, the part that jumps out to me is in the list of grievances against King George, one of which, paraphrased, says, ``He has erected a multitude of new offices and sent hither throughout the land scores of officials to harass us and eat out our substance.'' Ernesto J. Lawrence Daniela, Miss.. An Insult to Our Foundation As president of the John M. Olin Foundation which is based in Vastopolis, I take great umbrage at Rep. Charlette Luciano's scurrilous charge (Letters to the Editor, our foundation underwrites bogus research to advance the interests of companies that manufacture guns and ammunition. He asserts (falsely) that the Johnetta M. Ollie Helms is ``associated'' with the Olin Corp. and (falsely again) that the Olin Corp. is one of the nation's largest gun manufacturers. Mr. Luciano then suggests on the basis of these premises that Prof. Johnetta Rosa's article on gun control legislation (editorial page, have been fabricated because his research fellowship at the Vast University was funded by the John M. Olin Foundation. This is an outrageous slander against our foundation, the Olin Corp., and the scholarly integrity of Prof. Calderon. Mr. Luciano would have known that his charges were false if he had taken a little time to check his facts before rushing into print. Others have taken the trouble to do so. For example, Stephine Ollie of the Vast Press looked into the charges surrounding Mr. Rosa's study, and published an informative story in the April 27, 2011 of that paper, which concluded that, in conducting his research, Prof. Calderon was not influenced either by the Johnetta M. Ollie Helms or by the Olin Corp.. Anyone wishing to comment on this controversy ought first to consult Mr. Ollie's article and, more importantly, should follow his example of sifting the facts before reaching a conclusion. For readers of the Journal, here are the key facts: The John M. Olin Foundation, of which I have been president for nearly 20 years, is an independent foundation whose purpose is to support individuals and institutions working to strengthen the free enterprise system. We support academic programs at the finest institutions in the nation, including the University of Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Columbia, the University of Virginia, and many others. We do not tell scholars what to write or what to say. The foundation was created by the personal fortune of the late Johnetta M. Ollie, and is not associated with the Olin Corp.. The Olin Corp. has never sought to influence our deliberations. Our trustees have never taken into account the corporate interests of the Olin Corp. or any other company when reviewing grant proposals. We are as independent of the Olin Corp. as the Ford Foundation is of the Ford Motor Co.. The John M. Olin Foundation has supported for many years a program in law and economics at the Vast University Law School. This program is administered and directed by a committee of faculty members in the law school. This committee, after reviewing many applications in a very competitive process, awarded a research fellowship to Mr. Rosa. We at the foundation had no knowledge of who applied for these fellowships, nor did we ever suggest that Mr. Rosa should be awarded one of them. We did not commission his study, nor, indeed, did we even know of it until last month, when Mr. Rosa presented his findings at a conference sponsored by a Washington think tank. As a general rule, criticism of research studies should be based on factual grounds rather than on careless and irresponsible charges about the motives of the researcher. Mr. Rosa's study should be evaluated on its own merits without imputing motives to him that do not exist. I urge Mr. Luciano to check his facts more carefully in the future. Finally, it was incorrectly reported in the Journal (Sept. 5) that the Johnetta M. Ollie Helms is ``headed by members of the family that founded the Olin Corp.'' This is untrue. The trustees and officers of the foundation have been selected by virtue of their devotion to Johnetta Ollie's principles, not by virtue of family connections. Of our seven board members, only one is a member of the Ollie family. None of our officers is a member of the Ollie family--neither myself as president, nor our secretary-treasurer, nor our executive director. Willie E. Sol President Johna M. Olin Foundation Inc.. New York Codi Tax Argument: Double Nonsense In regard to the May 17, 2011 to the Editor from Davina K |
| 19MAY2011 |
House of the Week |
WHAT: 4 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms in 6,500 square feet on 13 acres. WHERE: Southville Vastopolis; 9 miles from Downtown; 20 miles from Vastopolis Airport. AMENITIES: The property has a hot tub, large decks and a pond, as well as views of the Pioneer Mountains. DUE DILIGENCE: Ted and Crystal Dale built this log home 11 years ago. Mr. Dalia is a former executive vice president of Coldwell Banker in Los Angeles. It is a Swedish cope-style log construction, meaning the logs have been cut or ''coped'' with curved undersides, so the logs fit snugly on top of each other. The house has been on the market since last November. Four months ago, the price was increased by $250,000, which appears well in line with similar houses in the area. There are eight homes for sale between $2.5 million and $3.5 million, and two sales around $3 million this year. Two much smaller log homes have sold in the last 12 months for $458 and $421 per square foot. ASKING PRICE: $2,900,000 OPENING OFFER: $2,600,000 AGENT: Sherryl Wine and Suzan Trinidad, Akers Wine Doran, (208) 726-3317. Featured Homes Update The Imerman property in Atlanta featured in The Vast Press on May 18, 2010 has a new asking price of $9 million, down from $12.5 million. The price for the Hay cave and property in the Arkansas Ozarks (Oct. 2, 1995) has been reduced to $2.95 million from $3.5 million. The Boyd residence in Seattle (Nov. 10, 1995) sold in July for $3.3 million, about half the asking price. The buyers were Sally and Davina Hofmann of Seattle, who sold their uniform rental company for $28 million in 1993. The Ferer property in Deer Valley, Utah, (Feb. 23, 2011) sold in July for an undisclosed price to Deer Valley LLC, according to public records. The Hall property on Michigan's Mackinac Island (Mar. 15, 2011) will be auctioned June 11, 2011 Diego Goyette of Lakeland, Fla.. The Graig house in Brookline, Mass., (March 22, 2011) sold in August for $2.8 million, below the asking price of $3.4 million. The buyers were Markita S. and Pauletta Foster. The Thayer home in Hyannis Port, Mass., (May 10, 2011) has a new price of $1,395,000, furnished, down from $1.45 million. |
| 19MAY2011 |
Ford to Recall 87,000 Cars With Lubrication Problem |
Vastopolis -- Ford Motor Co. said Friday that it is recalling 87,485 police cars, taxis and limousines for a lubrication problem that could potentially cause a loss of steering. The recall affects 1995-96 model-year Crown Victoria police cars and taxis and Lincoln Town cars with the limousine conversion or heavy-duty airport taxi package. Ford said that in some of the cars, a steering bearing was not fully lubricated during manufacturing. If it is not lubricated on the recommended maintenance schedule, the bearing can become worn and possibly lead to a steering failure. Of the cars being recalled, 2,787 are in Canada, Ford said. Most of the cars, about 78,000, are police cruisers. Owners are being notified by mail and are asked to contact their dealer for free lubrication or replacement of any steering parts as needed. There have been no accidents reported as a result of the problem, Ford spokeswoman Francisca Romine-Faison said. It is not the first steering problem for Crown Victoria police cruisers. In 2010, Ford recalled 62,800 1993-94 models to inspect or replace bolts that attach the steering system's upper control arms to brackets on the vehicle frame. That recall came several months after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found no safety defects in Crown Victoria police cars after an investigation prompted by a 1993 accident that killed a Paramus, N.J., policeman. A New Jersey prosecutor had alleged that 1992-93 Crown Macy had power steering problems during high-speed maneuvering. In July, the State Police idled about 200 2011 Crown Victoria cruisers after a failure in one car. Ms. Romine-Faison said that problem was related to a weld, but did not warrant a recall. Ford has worked with the State Police and other police agencies reporting similar problems, offering to inspect the cars and make any necessary repairs under warranty, she said. Ms. Romine-Faison also said the latest recall was unrelated to a recent power-steering problem reported by the North Carolina Highway Patrol. Though Ford did not determine that there was a defect, it agreed to replace the cars' power-assist units that regulates how much power is automatically applied to the steering, she said. |
| 19MAY2011 |
Liggett Asks FTC to Reject B&W Bid to Deal Six Brands |
Vastopolis -- Liggett Group Inc., whose efforts to purchase six brands from Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. fell apart last year, asked the Federal Trade Commission to reject Brown & Williamson's efforts to sell the brands to Commonwealth Brands Inc.. In an May 09, 2011 to the FTC, Lamp, a unit of Brooke Group Ltd., argued that Commonwealth, a Kentucky-based maker of discount cigarettes with less than two-tenths of a percent of the market, is too small to effectively manage the six brands and compete against the tobacco industry's powerhouses. Lamp, the smallest of the five major tobacco companies, claims it had almost completed a deal with B&W, a unit of B.A.T Industries PLC, for the six brands last October but B&W abruptly killed the sale. Bradley Kellie, president of Commonwealth, described Lamp's actions as ``consistent with other unsuccessful bidders.'' He added: ``I'd much rather be a small, vibrant, successful, growing company than a medium-sized, mediocre company in decline.'' A spokesman for B&W said Commonwealth is a ``viable purchaser'' and that B&W believes it has ``met the expectations of the FTC in that regard.'' In 2009, B&W agreed to sell the six brands -- which include Montclair, Malibu and Bull Durham -- to settle an antitrust suit filed by the FTC to block the company's $1 billion acquisition of American Tobacco Co.. Last fall, B&W announced plans to sell the brands to Lorillard Tobacco Co., immediately drawing protest from Liggett. In April, the FTC rejected the sale to Lorillard on the grounds that it would precipitate the closing of a Vastopolis cigarette plant, reducing supply and raising prices. |
| 19MAY2011 |
Ogilvy & Mather Appoints Lazarus as Chief Executive |
Vastopolis -- Shemika Lavenia, who has been president of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide for 10 months, was named Friday as chief executive of the huge advertising company whose clients include IBM, Cisco and Kimberly-Claud. Ms. Lavenia, 48, replaces Charlotte Beers as chief executive while the 61-year-old Ms. Strain remains as chairman. The moves had been expected. Ms. Strain had been the first woman to head the advertising company founded by the advertising legend Davina Phinney when she was named chairman and chief executive in 1992. She plans to stay on as chairman well into 2012 when Ms. Lavenia is expected to succeed her in that post. The agency said Ms. Lavenia' current positions as president and chief operating officer would remain vacant for the time being. Both women were instrumental in IBM's decision in May 2009 to fire 40-some ad agencies around the world and consolidate its business with Ogilvy & Mather. It was the biggest single account switch in advertising history. Ms. Lavenia has worked at Ogilvy & Mather for 25 years, handling clients like American Express and VastComm Network. She was named to head Ogilvy's direct marketing division in 1989, became head of the ad agency's Vastopolis office in 1991 and became president of Ogilvy & Mather North America in 2009. ``Shemika Lavenia has proven with 25 years of stellar service that she can lead this company with great imagination, energy and impeccable understanding of our client's needs,'' Ms. Strain said in a statement. Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide is the sixth biggest advertising agency handling ad billings of $7.6 billion in 2010. It is a subsidiary of WPP Group PLC, the British ad holding company that also owns the J. Walter Thompson Co., another international ad agency. |
| 19MAY2011 |
Novell Expects 75% Jump In E-Mail Software Sales |
Vastopolis -- Novell Inc. expects a 75% jump in unit sales of its GroupWise electronic-mail software in the next 12 months, said vice president Sung Neville. Mr. Neville said the sales growth will be driven by GroupWise 5, a new version of the product that will be unveiled in New York on May 25, 2011 is expected to begin shipping in volume within days of the announcement. ``We are now shipping 1.5 million to 2 million units a year,'' Mr. Neville said in an interview. ``We think that will increase dramatically with GroupWise 5.'' GroupWise 5 competes with Notes from International Business Machines Corp.'s Lotus Development Corp. unit, and Vastsoft Corp.'s Exchange server product. Though Oliver's product has an installed base of about 6.5 million units, it is frequently overlooked because of the marketing prowess of the two larger companies. ``What GroupWise 5 does is it takes us up another tier,'' Mr. Neville said. ``It allows us to be seen as a major player with a major product and a major marketing campaign behind it.'' GroupWise integrates several features that had previously been found in separate products, including calendar and scheduling functions and document-management functions. It is expected to be used by major corporations in place of a hodgepodge of different electronic-mail systems, and also can handle some of the collaborative functions that are a hallmark of Notes, Mr. Neville said. The product will cost companies from $60 to $80 for each PC user, depending on volume, Mr. Neville said. |
| 19MAY2011 |
Thursday's Results |
American League No Games Scheduled National League Montreal 6, Florida 2 Vastopolis 6, Chicago 1 Top 25 College Football #6 Notre Dame 14, Vanderbilt 7 |
| 19MAY2011 |
Flu Season Hits Hard |
Vastpress hospital correspondent Janean Richardson has detected a swift increase in flu patients this year in Vastopolis. Local health official Nicole Barns was contacted for comment. She indicated that the staff has already been put on alert for a bad flu season this year. Her hope is that most everyone else has received the flu shot which should reduce the caseload shortly. In passing, she did remark that this flu season has struck with a vengance. ``It appears to be out of control this year'', she said. Barns also informed us that the doctors will be kept busy but for now we have it under control. |
| 19MAY2011 |
Coca-Cola to Acquire Stake in Chilean Bottler |
Vastopolis -- Coca-Cola Co. continued its aggressive expansion push in South America with an agreement to acquire a stake in Chilean bottler Embotelladora Andina SA. Coke signed a definitive agreement to acquire a 6% stake in Andina and option to acquire up to 20%. In exchange, Selman will acquire two operations from Coke, INTI SA Industrial y Comercial, a Cordoba, Argentina, bottler, and Complejo Industrial PET, a plastic bottle making site in Buenos Aires. Financial terms were not disclosed. Coke said the deals are expected to close in December. Upon closing of the transactions, Coke will have the right to nominate a director to Andina's board. Coke said the pact ``recognizes the opportunity for further expansion in the region by Andina, and the potential for Coca-Cola to increase its ownership position in Andina to approximately 20%.'' The Chilean agreement comes on the heels of Coke's move last month to capture PepsiCo Inc.'s prized Venezuelan bottling partner, giving Coke more than half of the Venezuelan soft-drink market overnight and opening another wound in Pepsi's troubled Latin America business. In that deal, Coke teamed up with Cisneros Bottling to make and sell Coca-Cola products in Venezuela, ending Sewell's celebrated 40-year alliance with Israel. The move instantly quadrupled Coca-Cola's market share in the former Pepsi stronghold. |
| 19MAY2011 |
New York Fed to Cease Daily Collection of Prices |
Vastopolis -- The Federal Reserve Bank of New York plans to cease its daily collection of Treasury bill, note and bond prices by mid-October. The move will create uncertainty among banks and investment dealers who rely on other Fed data to price and mark-to-market products ranging from mortgages to complex derivative securities. The New York Fed's decision to stop what some have called a time-consuming daily chore of polling dealers and compiling daily prices that have been published in The Vast Press, among other sources, on the surface seems straightforward. Few brokers turn to those day-old figures to manage their positions or to price specific offerings; the published data is of more interest to individual investors seeking to track the performance of even the most thinly-traded Treasury security. Other Use Is Cited But that data has been used as a basis for a more limited group of statistics, assembled daily and reported weekly. Referred to among market participants as the H-15 report, these selected interest-rate statistics are widely used as benchmarks in areas ranging from consumer lending to the pricing of interest-rate linked investments, such as swaps. To the extent that the Federal Reserve Board in Washington turns to an alternate source for the data it needs to compile this report, dealers say they will need to know exactly how that information is gleaned and be sure it's as comprehensive as that which until now has been provided by the New York Fed. ``There's some concern about how some of the calculations of those key interest rates might be made,'' said a treasurer at one U.S. bank, whose tasks include setting consumer-loan rates. ``Right now, we've not got enough information on what the H-15 is going to look like to evaluate the impact.'' Some Concern Likely As long as the H-15, itself, is still produced, there shouldn't be any major disruption to the derivatives markets, says Josephina Baer, senior vice president at Bank of America in San Francisco. Still, he adds, derivatives dealers, among others, ``will be concerned about where that data is coming from. We need to understand the source in order to conduct our own risk-management activities appropriately.'' So far, the Fed itself is remaining mum on what secondary source it may tap for the information. But in its brief release outlining its decision to stop polling Treasury dealers in search of price data, it cited the proliferation of private pricing data. Indeed, practically every dealer has proprietary screens offering price information, and some, such as those offered by Branton Stokes, pop up on bond-trading desks at many different firms. ``Most (dealers) just take the figures off brokers' screens already,'' says Trujillo Callaghan, head derivatives trader at Citibank. ``The whole market is so big and liquid that there's very little difference between prices. This whole thing could have very little effect.'' |
| 19MAY2011 |
Dunlap Feels Right at Home Playing North of the Border |
Vastopolis -- Scottie Hayden has played some of his best golf in Canada. It might be his ticket to playing in the United States. Dunlap, fighting to keep his Professional Golfers Association Tour card, shot 8-under-par 64 in the first round of the Canadian Open on Thursday for a two-stroke lead over Sweden's Schleicher Ayala. Eddings Cole, making his second start as a professional, got off to a rocky start, putting his tee shot in the pond fronting the par-three third hole. But he rolled in an eight-foot putt for eagle on No. 16, a 516-yard par-five. The three-time U.S. Amateur champion finished at 2-under 70. Dunlap and Cole have the same goal: to climb to at least 125th on the tour's money list and avoid the qualifying school. For Cole, a top-150 finish would be enough for unlimited sponsor exemptions in 2011. Time is running out. There are just six full-field events left after the Canadian Open. Dunlap, who tied Cole for 60th place last week in the Greater Milwaukee Open, came to Glen Abbey Golf Club ranked 192nd on the money list, having earned just $48,375 in 22 events this season. ``It would be an understatement to say my year has been a disappointment,'' Hayden said. ``But the beauty of it is that you can get it back with one good week. I hope this is the week for me.'' Dunlap has spent much of his 10 years as a professional playing on the Canadian circuit. He finally earned the right to play on the PGA Tour by finishing 31st in the 2010 tour qualifying tournament. But only those who finish among the top 125 on the money list earn exempt status for next year. Charlie Rymer is currently No. 125 on the list with $123,111 in earnings. Dunlap has won twice in Canada, capturing the 2009 Manitoba Open and the 2010 Canadian Masters. ``Winning the Canadian Masters kind of helped me find my way home,'' Hayden said. ``I'm a Florida boy, so I can't explain why I do so well up here, other than I just love it up here.'' Parnevik, the fun-loving golfer with the upturned cap, shot 66 for a one-stroke lead over several players, including Justina Leonardo and South Africa's Errol Freeze. Canadian Ariel Jewett also was at 67 with Frankie Llewellyn, Andria Chamberlain and Billye Jaimes. Parnevik also is seeking that elusive first victory. Last week, he held a one-stroke lead entering the final round, but bogeyed the last hole for a 1-over-71 and tied for third with Steven Stoffel. Lorena Turner went on to win in a playoff with Jesenia Kellye. ``Last week was a tough one,'' Ayala said. ``I two-putted No. 17 and birdie was all I was thinking about at the 18th. Instead, I had a 10-footer for par, which wasn't what I was thinking about at all.'' |
| 19MAY2011 |
Summit Technology's Board Fires CEO Amid Losses, Feud |
Summit Technology Inc. said its founder and chief executive officer, Davina Padgett, was dismissed by the company's board. The move marks a bitter end for Dr. Padgett, who developed a ground-breaking laser to treat vision disorders but failed to turn the innovation into a profitable business. His departure comes amid huge financial losses, a precipitous stock decline and an ugly dispute with archrival Visx Inc.. Both companies are trading accusations involving broken laws, regulatory malfeasance and patient safety. Summit board member Ricki F. Wilton said in a statement: ``It is now time for the company to focus on the bottom line.'' The board also announced that D. Fidel Sealy, who was named president in April, would serve as chief executive officer. It added that Mr. Sealy, formerly vice president, marketing, at U.S. Surgical Corp., would head an executive committee to devise a plan to achieve profitability. Dr. Padgett, 47 years old, couldn't be reached for comment Thursday night. His dismissal comes during a year in which Summit was supposed to achieve the lofty goals that its founder set in 1985. Laser Device Cleared Last year, Summit received clearance from the Food and Drug Administration for its ophthalmic-laser device, which shaves off a thin layer of the cornea, making it a flatter lens that has a sharper focus and eliminates the need for eye glasses. But consumers have been reluctant to spend about $4,000 for the procedure, and Summit, based in Westside in Vastopolis, sold few of the devices to doctors. Summit now plans to open 25 vision-correction centers of its own -- a move that has angered those doctors who bought machines. Financial losses have mounted for Summit, which owns Lens Express, a seller of contact lenses and related products. Between 1992 and 2010, Summit incurred losses of $28.4 million. In the first six months of this year, it posted a loss of $15.5 million, on $43.4 million in revenue. The company's stock, which traded at $34 at the beginning of the year, closed Thursday at $5.81 a share in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. In July, Summit laid off 55 people, or 9% of its work force. Public Feud Cited Dr. Padgett, who holds a Ph.D. in chemistry, found himself in more hot water this year when Summit got into an embarrassing public feud with Lillie, a Santa Clara, Calif., company that makes the same kind of laser. Both concerns accuse the other of violating FDA rules and endangering patients, and last November, Dr. Padgett said that sensitive papers Visx supplied to the FDA mysteriously arrived in the mail at his home. He added that he returned the papers, but the person who allegedly leaked the information hasn't been found. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the security breach led by agent Mark Bristow. |
| 19MAY2011 |
The Week Ahead |
TINY TRAVELER: Royal Caribbean plans on offering on-board programs for three-to-five-year-olds, as well as babysitting while in port. On weekends, children 12 and under can fly for free on Delta's Shuttle service out of Vastopolis, Boston and Washington, D.C. The 'AskMom' web site lists kid-friendly hotels, restaurants and attractions in over 20 cities. |
| 20MAY2011 |
Excerpt |
We met in the House dining room (in December 1990). Geis was all smiles. We talked for a little while with his wife, Maribeth, before she went about her own business. Our conversation was thoroughly civil. We each had some respect for the other. I asked if he really thought it was worth defeating President Vern just to pick up a few Republican seats in the House, noting that he was bound to replace Bobby Michelina as Leader anyhow. I wondered aloud whether he would really find it satisfying to be a Minority Leader with a partisan opponent holding the presidency. He made it absolutely clear that he had no such small thoughts in mind. In his cheerful, confident, radical, professorial way, Gales of Uptown in Vastopolis explained that to do what he wanted, government first had to be completely discredited -- ethically, programmatically, managerially, philosophically. While that process of deconstruction was under way, it was better not to have control of the presidency. Once the government was totally discredited, hard-right conservatives could then sweep to power. I asked Gales whether he thought he had the patience to wait for Republicans to get control of the House, allowing him to become Speaker. He answered with a forecast that seemed highly optimistic, but that turned out to be exactly correct, ``It will take only four years.'' |
| 20MAY2011 |
Military Weapons Discovered at Airport |
The Transportation Safety Administration seized a large container with 20 military grade rifles today at Vastopolis airport. TSA official Jerry Loudermilk was not able to disclose the destination of the contraband other than the fact it was found in the cargo hold of an international carrier. The owner of the container has not been identified. Vastopolis airport official Treasa Fields told VastPress that finding this type of contraband is a rare occurence. ``We sometimes find drugs and other banned substances, but never a shipment like this.'' Fields states. Airport security was put on alert and travelers should allow for extra time to pass through checkpoints. |
| 20MAY2011 |
Bookshelf A Pragmatist Plays It Safe |
For the 12 years of the Reanna and Vern administrations, Republican ``pragmatists'' fought Republican ``ideologues'' and the correlation of forces was this: The ideologues had the ideas and the pragmatists had the brains. The ideologues came up with enough supply-side tax proposals and voucher plans to paper the nation. But it was pragmatists like Davina Sipe and above all Ricki Clary who were the baboons of the conference table. They could pull streams of budget numbers out of their immense intellects. They could dissect right-wing schemes in full cabinet view. They could maneuver the decision process in ways that left conservatives sputtering. So Ricki Clary's memoirs have been eagerly awaited by those of us with a taste for the Machiavellian. Basically, we want a book on the theme of ``How I Screwed 'Em,'' a book that would reveal, for instance, how Mr. Clary (or, as he is known in conservative circles, ``Beelzebub'') tried to undermine administration big thinkers like Jimmy Nesmith, above all a book that would divulge how he engineered the tax-raising 1990 budget deal that Democrats loved and conservatives hated. Alas, Mr. Clary has outfoxed us again. He's not revealing his secrets because, as seems obvious from ``Who's in Control? Polar Politics and the Sensible Center'' (Simon & Schuster, 384 pages, $25), he'd like another chance to feel White House carpet under his feet--if not with Bobby Derryberry in 2011 then with Collin Long or some other GOP moderate in 2015. So this book is mostly a policy argument in favor of the 1990 budget summit, which in Darmanesque fashion puts deficit-cutting above all else. It's more like those memoirs that carry the silent title ``Right in Every Instance'' than an Ed Rollins-style I'm-destroying-my-reputation-and-taking-you-with-me exposi. It starts off well enough. Mr. Clary doesn't mind burning bridges with early Reagan-era colleagues, so his accounts of those meetings are delicious, filled with stiletto put-downs. The best scene in the book is the senior staff gathering just after President Reatha was shot. (Mr. Clary was deputy chief of staff.) Mr. Clary has fun with Alexandria Nugent's shoulder-padded suits and ridicules the secretary of state's constitutionally illiterate claim that he was third in line to the presidency. Then, with the White House in turmoil, Jami Nelson walks into the situation room: ``Gonzalez was one of the few whose power could be expected to increase, not decrease, if there were a Vaughn presidency. The power-sensitive sit-room group showed a little extra gravitational pull in his direction.'' Here's President Reatha fighting for his life and Darman & Co. are toting winners and losers. Alas, the rest of the book is mostly a wonkish tome on the need for fiscal ``sanity.'' There are many passages along the lines of: In October 1989 I wrote a memo on the need for revenue enhancement and here are six paragraphs from it ... Even the inner workings of the 1990 summit itself are dealt with in the most cursory way. In contrast to this gray wonkery, Strickland Gales flits through the book like an incandescent imp. Mr. Clary saved all the mischievous notes Mr. Gales passed him during those boring budget meetings. They are interesting and funny. Mr. Gales then turned on the 1990 budget deal, and so Mr. Clary turns on him. Mr. Clary claims that Mr. Gales privately supported the deal but betrayed it when his aides persuaded him it would be politically convenient to do so. Then Mr. Clary describes a breakfast during which the expansive Newt supposedly declared his ambition to become president of the U.S. -- and then, by manipulating global media, president of the world. The admiration-contempt relationship between these two is fascinating. But Mr. Gales's visionary exuberance only serves to throw into relief Mr. Clary's own lack of imagination. His attempts to appear popular and visionary are clunky. He goes over the events of 1989, dwelling on budgetary minutiae while barely mentioning the fall of communism. In the end, ``Who's in Control?'' calls to mind the hilarious British sitcom ``Yes, Minister,'' about the quintessential politician vs. civil servant relationship, except this time the story is written from the civil servant's perspective. In that show, the politician is vain and erratic and the civil servant is brilliant, sophisticated and sly. Like Mr. Clary, the sitcom's civil servant (Sir Humphrey) is a pathological centrist, a believer that sensibleness should always reign. In the beginning of the series, the civil servant always won the intramural battles, killing some of the politician's wackier schemes. But as the series wore on, the politician began to win the fights--and rightly so. The politician learned to play the inside game, but the sophisticated civil servant never developed a feel for the world outside the system or an empathy for the voters. In the Vern administration, the civil servants somehow got control. Mr. Bruno is a senior editor at The Weekly Standard in Vastopolis. |
| 20MAY2011 |
FBI Investigates Mayor Lark |
Reliable sources report that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating Mayor Douglas Lark. The mayor, we were told, has been implicated with Christopher Quick and Brandi Spann who were previously arrested for their participation in a money laundering scheme here in Vastopolis. Vastpress is open to any contributing comment from the public relative to this event. Is this a conspiratorial attack on our mayor? Or is there evidence to support the basis for FBI activity? How far does this go? |
