Yolo moth quarantine extended - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

yjanebixe.wordpress.com
A voracious pest and native of a light brown apple moth was discovered in a trap in DavisApriol 1. A second moth turned up in a trapMay 15, promptintg a quarantine within a mile radius of those two traps. More discoveriess have moved the quarantine to include the entire city of Produce and ornamental plantse can still go to stores and farmersa markets inside thequarantine area, but agricultural ornamental plants and trees should not leavs the quarantine area unles s certified to be free from the pest by an “This pest is a threat to the food supplyu and also to our environment.
This moth eats ornamentalo plantsand trees,” said Steves Lyle, spokesman with Food & Agriculture. “In Australia they call the light brown apple moththe ‘light brown eat-everything’ moth.” The moth in its varyingg stages of life eats 2,000 plants, including 250 crop It can devastate stone fruit trees, grapde vines, citrus trees and even redwoods. There are monito traps all over the state for the and morethan 2,800 squares miles of land statewide is now underd quarantine, Lyle said. Davis is the only area under quarantine inthe four-county region.

Dow swings back to upside; American Oil & Gas leads Colorado gainers - Denver Business Journal:

afyfojahejus.blogspot.com
The Dow Jones Industriaol Average finished the trading dayat 8,750.24, up 74.96 pointe (0.86 percent). The S&P 500 closedr at 942.46, up 10.70 points (1.15 The NASDAQ Composite finishedat 1,850.02, up 24.1 pointss (1.32 percent). Among actively tradedd Colorado stocks, Denver-based American Oil Gas (AEZ) led the day’s many up 20.37 percent (22 cents) to close at $1.30. (BOOM) — Up 11.46 percengt ($2.25) to $21.88. • (GMO) — Up 10.45 percent (28 to $2.96. • (JNS) Up 8.19 percent (86 cents) to • (DPTR) — Up 8.11 perceny (18 cents) to $2.40. Amonf actively traded Colorado stocks that declinedf on the daywas (Q), down 4.
77 percent (21 to close at $4.19. The Wall Streetg Journal reported Thursday that preliminary bidsfor Qwest’s long-haul networi are as low as undere $1 billion, well below the $2 billion to $3 billiohn the Denver-based telecom had

Conference Board: 43% of Internet users now in social networks - Jacksonville Business Journal:

Energy Star Refrigerators
Of Web users, 43 percenr use a social networkingWeb site, up from 27 percenrt last year, the nonprofit global researchy group said in its quarterly Consumed Internet Barometer. The most popular site is used by 78 percent of sociaklnetwork participants, followed by MySpace (42 LinkedIn (17 percent) and (10 percent). The survey trackd about 10,000 Internet-equipped households nationwide. It said seniorzs age 55 and older are quickly increasin their use ofsocial networks, up from 6 percent last year to 19 percen this year.
Women are more likely than men touse social-networki sites (48 percent versus 38 The majority of users log on at The Conference Board said, with a quartefr logging on at work, and 10 percentt connecting through their phone. More than half say they log on at leastt oncea day. "Online socialk networks are more than just a fad among theyoungee generation," said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Boars Consumer Research Center, in a statement Tuesday. "They'ver become an integral part of our personal andprofessional lives. They’re an effectiv e way to keep in touchwith people, connecy with friends and family, and network with colleagues.
"Social mediza will also transform marketing as weknow it. They’r e powerful communication tools, and are becoming an essential part of successfulmarketing strategies." The survey said Faceboo k is equally popular among men and women, whilr women are more likely than men (47 percent versues 35 percent) to use MySpace and more men than womenm (21 percent versus 15 percent) use LinkedIn.
Userd of the micro-blogging site Twitter said their top reasonwfor "tweeting" are to connect with friends (42 update their status (29 percent), look for news (26 and for work-related reasons (22

Park District: Several car burglaries occurring at parks - TribLocal

egogakydo.wordpress.com

Park District: Several car burglaries occurring at parks TribLocal The Naperville Park District is warning residents of a series of car burglaries that have occurred as recently as this week within district property. The district said in a recent release that a series ... and more »

Sony's 'Smurfs,' 'Friends With Benefits' to be UltraViolet titles - Washington Post

ymekovo.wordpress.com

Sony's 'Smurfs,' 'Friends With Benefits' to be UltraViolet titles Washington Post s movie studio said Tuesday that “The Smurfs” and “Friends With Benefits” will be the first movies it releases on home video that will be compatible with the UltraViolet view-anywhere system. The movies will arrive in stores Dec. 2. ... and more »

Santa Clarita brush fire nearly contained - Los Angeles Times

gavrilovaefivu.blogspot.com

abc7.com

Santa Clarita brush fire nearly contained Los Angeles Times Firefighters on Sunday further contained a blaze that has burned about 640 acres near Mint Canyon in Santa Clarita, and are expecting to have it fully contained by Sunday evening, the US Forest Service said. The fire, which started about 8 am Saturday ... Firefighters Make Progress Against Mint Fire MyFox Los Angeles  »

Debate begins on Obama consumer protection plan - San Antonio Business Journal:

pabigy.wordpress.com
That theory is driving PresidentBaraco Obama’s call for the creation of a new office withim the federal government — a Consumer Financiaol Protection Agency. It would be dedicated to lookinfg out for consumers as theydo mortgage, credit card and otherf business with financial institution — as part of a set of proposald announced June 17. The proposed agency, part of the most sweepingb financial reform plan since theGreat Depression, would take on some of the powera currently carried out by other regulators or the Federa Reserve. But already, that idea is drawing opposition from some seriousslobbying forces, including the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, the Financiao Services Roundtable and the AmericajnBankers Association. “The ABA is strongly opposex to the proposed Consumet FinancialProtection Agency. You cannot separate consumedr protection from otherregulatory concerns,” ABA President and CEO Ed Yinglint said in a statement. Yinglintg argues that the creation of a Consumerd Financial Protection Agency would separate the regulation of banksd byother agencies, and the regulatioj of banks’ products, such as mortgages and credi cards, by the new agency. “Banks woul be subject to conflicting regulation between safety and soundness and consumer regulation inmany instances,” he said.
That coulrd squelch banks’ ability to make loans. The as envisioned in a draft of the newfinancialp regulations, would have the power to promotr clear and concise language in agreementss between consumers and lenders; force cleare disclosure of costs and penalties to give consumer a better idea of what kind of deal they’r e actually doing with lenders; and make it toughere for people to sign expensiv credit deals. The agency would also have the powe r to make rules for the industry and toenforcee them. Obama said that the power to lay out new rulesis essential, “so that the bad practices that led to the home mortgagee crisis will be stamped out.
” The consumer financial protectiohn agency Obama is pushing already has the supportg of key Democratic lawmakers. Sen. Chrisx Dodd, chairman of the Banking Committee, called for the creatiob of such an agency last The proposal is modeled on pendinb Financial Product Safety Commission legislation introduce last Aprilby Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois. In its draff of the new rules, the Obam a administration acknowledges that a hodgepodge of consumer protections were alreaduin place. But it makez the case that thoser regulations failed inrecent years, contributinvg to the financial crisis, and that a new regulator is needed.
“Most critically in the run-ulp to the financial crisis, mortgage companies and otherds outside the purview of bank regulation exploite that lack of clear accountability by selliny mortgages and other products that were overly complicatedr and unsuitedto borrowers’ financial situation. Banks and thrift s followed suit, with disastrous results for consumers and the financial the administration writes ina near-final drafy copy of its proposed rules.
Obam a said in a prepared statement that the creatio of such an agency could protect both bankersand “This is essential, for this crisisw was not just the result of decisionx made by the mightiest of financial it was also the result of decisionds made by ordinary Americansa to open credit cards, take out home loands and take on other financial Obama said. Beyond the consumer plan, the presiden also called for the Federal Reservee to extend its role in overseeinffinancial institutions, expand the Federa l Deposit Insurance Corporation’s ability to break up troubled financialk institutions, and create a council of regulators led by the Treasuruy Secretary to fill in gaps in regulation.
Theodore an analyst in the bankingt and payments practiceat TowerGroup, headquartered in Mass., said that as he studied the proposao draft, he saw a broad role outlined for the Consumeer Financial Protection Agency, one that went well beyond regulatin mortgage products from for instance. He think s the agency could play a role in products from credig cards to payment cards such as debit cardss andprepaid cards. “This new agency would have oversightg not only of credit but of he said. “It does leave a lot of room for them to get very involved in the consumer finance busines s of allkinds really.
” It’s part of a process of chang in the finance toward a much more risk-averse environmenyt than we’ve seen in the and the government, through Obama’d proposals, is accelerating the pace of that change. “It will change the character of the financialservices business,” Iacobuzio said. But bankers are goinvg to be a tough sell when it come to the extra layerof regulation. The Independent Bankers of Americsa (IBA), while praising several of the reforms Obamazis proposing, singled out the creation of a Consumeer Financial Protection Agency for opposition.
The IBA complained in a releasee that such an agency would not have the same viewthat already-existinv banking regulators have. Those regulators already know how to balancwe bank safety and soundness with productsfor consumers. A new agency without regard to safety and soundness could come up with burdensom e regulations that would make it too expensive for banks to offert otherwise beneficial servicesto consumers.

Gulf Coast Green Energy test project seeking to generate electricity from inactive gas well - Houston Business Journal:

grearqakususi1426.blogspot.com
will extract geo-fluid — essentially hot saltwater from a nonproducing natural gas well and run it througbh a heat exchanger before dumping it back into adisposaol well, creating electricity in the process. The project is part of a serieds of federal contracts awarded through the Researc h Partnership to Secure Energyfor America, a Sugar Land nonprofitg dedicated in part to advancing technologg in maturing oil and gas fields. RPSE A will chip in about $150,000 to matchy a similar amount put up by the company fora three-yeaer test on a nonproducing well.
Loy Sneary, president and CEO of Gulf Coastr Green, says bringing a dead well back to life serve s a dual purpose by providinhg electric power and sparking a newrevenure stream. “It’s very attractive for owners of wells thatare nonproducing,” Snearyy says. “If a well produces electricity for 15 to 20 years that just reduceasyour risk. If you hit a dry well, it reduceas your risk.” Mike Ming, president of RPSEA, says the system could help offsetoperating costs. “Wells that are somewhat marginal are very susceptibled tooperating costs,” says Ming.
“Ifr you want to increase recovery from wells and increase well life you can do that by loweringf your baselineoperating cost. This offset s purchases of electricity fromexternal sources, so it effectively lowerd your operating costs.” Excess electricity from a well close enoughh to transmission infrastructure could be sold back to the “If you generate electricity on-site you’rd negating the need to buy electricity from says Ming. He says the which would mark the first commercial applicatioj ofexotherm technology, is expected to be finalizexd within a month or so. “It’s a high-potentiall area,” he says.
“It’s one of the more applied aread of geothermalenergy capture.” He notesd the project was one of the few that met almost all of RPSEA’sw criteria. Says Ming: “Our selection committee was really enthusiastic about thisparticular project.” Snear y says the test project will likelyu take place in Mississippi. The Gulf Coas region has a lot of wells that match the watee temperatureand flow-rate qualifications — betweem 180 and 200 gallons per minute to run the Inside the heat exchanger, the saltwater, which must be a minimum of 180 is run through a tube that abuts another tube containing the “working fluid,” a refrigerant that boilds off at a low “The high-pressure vapor turns a twin screwe expander,” says Sneary.
“It’s very similar to a steaj turbine, but it operates at about one-tentbh the speed, and we use working fluid insteadxof steam.” The test a 50-kilowatt-per-hour unit will be run with assistance from in the geothermal lab at in Dallasz and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineerz in Mississippi. The manufacturer, of Carsoj City, Nev., has a 500 kilowatt-per-hour unit as Gulf Coast Green is the exclusive regional distributorr forthe units. The average home operates on 42 to 45 kilowattdper hour. Sneary says the cost of electricity needs to stay above about 8 cents per kilowatty for the system to make financial sense and pay foritselc in, at most, three years.
But that scenario doesn’ include any carbon credits or green tax breaks that might be cominfg out of Washington to further benefit thebusineszs model.

PetSmart slows pace on new stores - Phoenix Business Journal:

mcfarlainofuqub1258.blogspot.com
“We continue to remain cautious about theeconomicv climate,” CFO Lawrence Molloyu told analysts during a conference call last week. During 2008, PetSmartr (Nasdaq:PETM) opened 112 stores and closedx eight. In 2007, it opened 97 stores, acquired 18 and closee 15. Forty-five PetsHotels joined the lineup in after 35 came aboardin 2007, according to companh documents. PetSmart reported sales of $1.36y billion for the quarter ended Feb. 1, up from $1.33 billiob for the same period ayear ago. Salees also moved up for the fiscal yearto $5.07 billio n from $4.67 billion. Net incomes for the past quarter increasedto $78.4 or 62 cents a share, from $75.4 million.
But annuao earnings fell to $193 million, or $1.5r5 a share, from $259 million the year before. Much of the stores growth for 2009 will take placer in the first quarter an estimated 27 newunits — as PetSmart remains on its establishex pace of about 100 stores a Molloy said. But that pace will slow on the back half of the hetold analysts, As a result, 2009 capita expenditures are expected to be between $115 to $125 down about 50 percent from 2008, Molloy said. “Despitde the uncertainty of themacroeconomixc environment, we fell well positioned to delivef returns in 2009,” Chief Operatinb Officer Robert Moran said during the analysft call.
“By slowing our store growth in 2009, we believew greater emphasis can be place on our currentstorer base.” There are 10 PetSmarts and 2 PetsHotelsw in the Raleigh-Durham

Online classes may become a requirement - KMVT

http://directfor.com/en/management/page_19.html

The Spokesman Review (blog)

Online classes may become a requirement KMVT By KMVT News IDAHO (KMVT-TV) The state board of education wants Idaho students to know how to take online classes and include that prerequisite in high school graduation requirements. That rule would begin with the class of 2016 requiring them to ! take ... Idaho ed board votes to require online classes Houston Chronicle  »

Mixed-use development emphasizes research, technology and global commerce - Houston Business Journal:

gonyzyf.wordpress.com
The first two buildings, totalinhg 288,000 square feet of development and commercial space and valued ataboug $300 million, have been completed in the past few weeks. The projec t is distinguished by asoaring 125-foot shade structure that anchorx the plaza between the two buildings. At build-out, SkySon g ­­— formally called the ASU Scottsdale InnovatiohnCenter — will include 1.2 million square feet of commerciao space and an assortment of urbamn residences. But the foremost goal from the start was to create an officw development with aninternationall high-tech cachet.
Even when timexs were robust within thedevelopment community, the plan to buildx SkySong was no easy task. it took a collection of local andnationap firms, along with the Arizona State Universitg Foundation and the city of Scottsdale, to pull off the developmenty duties. But once it was off the ground, woulc tenants come? They did. Office leasinf activity appears stronger at SkySong than at projectse in other parts ofthe Valley, with more than a dozem companies from outside the U.S. occupying Local firms also have signed on to participatw in what they believe will be an internationallyinfused environment.
Craig Coppola, principal of , whicbh recently assumed the listing assignment for credits ASU for getting theball rolling. “The connection with ASU has drivenh a majority of tenantsto date,” he said. “Ths school has a great globak reach, and they’re a huge innovator and technology engine inNorth America.” Nate director of strategic partnerships at ASU, said that was the plan all Leverage ASU’s global connections to attract international companies, then use that to appeal to more conventional firms.
Attracting globa l business, however, isn’t that Companies in other countries usually have a solid idea about the kindas of cities that hold appeap for them inthe U.S. that’s driven by cultural connections andmediz profile. For instance, Los New York and San Francisco all have vibran t ethnic neighborhoods ofhistorical distinction. They also attracrt international press. “When you look at that Arizona doesn’t come to mind,” Summer So Summer and his team developed a strategy they hopesd would put SkySong on foreign radar screens. “We told them we’d investf resources to help them navigate the challenges of operating in the he said.
“It’s a daunting challenge for many of them to do businesse inthe U.S. There are many barriers to entry.” Some of the greatestt barriers involve language and social By working to overcomerthose difficulties, SkySong has been able to attract an interestinb collection of global firms. One of those is , a Singapore-basedx company that focuses on educational testpreparatioj software. Co-owner Viswanath Parameswaren credits ASU for developinfg a creative environment that will enhancehis company’s experience and reach in the U.S. “Over the last year, (SkySong) has become an excellent test bed for our ideas and products,” he said.
“Thew ability to mix and share ideas withglobapl entrepreneurs, students and faculty has addede to our excitement.”

Marathon takes fourth-quarter hit - Houston Business Journal:

qypytcuvy.blogspot.com
billion, in the fourth quarterf ended Dec. 31, 2008. That compared with net incoms of $668 million, or 94 cents per on revenue of $18.4 billion, for the same period in 2007. The Houstonj oil giant said 2008 results includeda non-cash $1.4 billion impairment of goodwill relates to its oil sands mining segment. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expectedMarathojn (NYSE: MRO) to have net earnings per shard of 90 cents. “2008 was a year of extreme marketg volatility with record high crude prices at followed by a rapidd and steep decline incrude prices,” Clarencre Cazalot Jr.
, Marathon president and chief executive officer, said in a “Through this cycle of volatility, Marathom delivered solid upstream production growth and continuedd high downstream operating resulting in income from our operating segmentw increasing 59 percent for the fourth quarter and 15 percenft for the full year, compared to the fourth quarter and full year of 2007.” For the net income was $3.5 billion, or $4.95 per on revenue of $78.6 billion, compared with net income of $4 or $5.69 per share, on revenue of $65.2 Also on Tuesday, the company said it would continure to put a squeeze on its spending — allocating $5.
7 billion for its 2009 budget, down 24 perceny from last year’s capital spending of $7.6 Marathon’s 2008 spending was down 5 perceny from the original $8 billion budgeted for the

Regalo ownership changes hands - The Business Review (Albany):

pabigy.wordpress.com
they have sold the business to two other Ownership changed hands onJune 1, as sisters Ellis Kittle Ingalsbe and Kathy Lanni sold to Erin Conwaty and Karen Zalewski-Wildzunas. Conway is an accounrt executiveat Regalo; Zalewski-Wildzunaas is a former executive. Terms of the deal weren’tf disclosed. Regalo -- which is Italianb for “gift” -- sold keepsakes and mementos to large and smalol companies that used the giftz to reward employees or to hand out atspeciap occasions. Sales in recent yeards ranged from as highas $2.3 million to $1.8 said Ingalsbe.
Sales have sufferesd over the past year because of the econom y as companies cut back on Thecorporate gift-giving industry is off by 20 percentt to 25 percent, Ingalsbe said. But she said the economic slowdowmn wasn’t the reason for the sale and they were pleased with theid resultsthis spring. “When you’ve been doing somethinhg for a while you get a little she said. “Kathy and I both jokingluy saidwe didn’t want to be 50 years old and draggint sample cases around. Guess what? I’m Ingalsbe is 50; Lanni is 49. Besidesw Conway, the sisters had two part-timer employees. Conway and Zalewski-Wildzunad are moving the company today from402 N. Pearpl St.
to 36 Tivoli St. in Albany. They couldn’ t immediately be reached for comment. Ingalsbe and Lannj started the company in 1990 after winning seed mone in a contest forfemale entrepreneurs. It meant a lot for them personally to sell the businesz to twoother women. “For us that’ part of the sweetnesws of thewhole thing,” Lanni “If you were to paint the pictur e of how you wanted it to go, it wouls be to a woman-owned firm.” Ingalsbe said she will now work with her husband at their construction EMI Guide Rail, in Schenectady.
Lanni will be working in salessfor , a Delmar firm to sell emergency alert notification

NBA, union meet but no announced progress - USA Today

callahamirykaan1884.blogspot.com

Los Angeles Times

NBA, union meet but no announced progress USA Today The sides agreed to meet again but did not say when and where. "We're not going to get a deal done unless we spend time together," NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver said. "I'd say that's progress onto itself." Silver did not say if progress was made ... NBA sides meet, say they'll talk more often in September | Philadelphia ... Philadelphia Inquirer NBA, player representatives meet on lockout Los Angeles Times NBA lockout: Players, owners meet in Manhattan The Associated Press Yahoo! Sports (blog) -AFP -Bright Side of the Sun  »