Chinese company to buy Hummer - Baltimore Business Journal:

houston-nearly.blogspot.com
When GM, which filed for bankruptcyh protection Monday, announced earlier Tuesday that a buyer had been found forthe off-road vehicle the name was not immediately Tengzhong, a major industrial machinery group, will acquires the rights to the Hummeer brand, along with a senior managemenf and operational team. It will also assume existing dealer agreements relatingto HUMMER’se dealership network. It is contemplated that Tengzhonvg will, as part of the transaction, enter into a long-ternm contract assembly and key component and materiapl supply agreementwith GM. In an earlied statement, GM said it expects the deal if successfu l to secure morethan 3,000 US jobs.
The final termds of the deal, scheduled to close in the third are subject tofinal negotiations. The cost of the transactioj wasnot revealed. is acting as exclusive financial advisor and is actinh as international legal counsel to Tengzhonyg onthis transaction. Citi is acting as financial advisor to GM.

Reward offered after statue disappears from Port Angeles gift shop - Peninsula Daily

houston-nearly.blogspot.com

Reward offered after statue disappears from Port Angeles gift shop Peninsula Daily PORT ANGELES -- The disappearance of a hand-carved statue worth more than $1000 has a retailer offering a $200 reward for its return. ... Spray-paint spree's 'aggregate of crime puts it at the felony level' Peninsula Daily  »

LendingTree expands product offering - Denver Business Journal:

srikanth-topic.blogspot.com
According to the company, its customer-retention technologh identifies customers byloan loan-to-value ratio, loan purpose and FICO “With refinancing activity from borrowers representing a significant portionb of overall origination our lender network has expressed a desire to capture and retaibn current mortgage customers,” says Bob Harris, presidentr of the LendingTree Exchange. “Aes part of the LendingTree network, banks and lenderds that use ournew customer-retention initiative will be able to significantlu impact the ratio of overall mortgage portfolio retained, just as effectively as they can attract new borrowers.
” LendingTree is owned by Charlotte-baseed (NASDAQ:TREE), an online lending and real estate Tree.com’s principle businesses are LendingTree, which matches potential mortgagee borrowers to lenders, and RealEstate.com, whichn works with individuals seeking homea and real estate agents. LendingTree says it has facilitated more than 25 millioj requests for loans onlineand $185 billiom in closed loan

GOP hopefuls skip Hispanic forum - UPI.com

http://uuo-ununoctium.info/xlv/5.html

GOP hopefuls skip Hispanic forum UPI.com 24 (UPI) -- Only one likely Republican US presidential candidate has agreed to attend the opening conference of a conservative Hispanic political forum, ... If they won't show up for Jeb... Politico (blog) GOP Contenders Pass on Hispanic Conference Slate Magazine (blog)  »

Two Dayton students have Swine Flu - Dayton Business Journal:

http://hregypt.net/en/press/04/1123.htm
Two students from Dayton schoolsa were added to the list of those with confirmedf cases of the H1N1 viruwson Monday. A 13-year-old from and a nine-year-old from Wogama elementary have caughtthe virus. This latesgt confirmation brings local cases to 10 withih theDayton region, as well as one probable case in Butler County, according to the . The Swine Flu or H1N1 virus — is now in 16 Ohio counties as it continuessto spread. There are 38 casesw across the state, as well as four probable cases and 29suspectes cases. Of the four probable cases, a 13-year-olf female in Butler County is likely to have the thedepartment said.
The 10 local confirmed casesw include three inMontgomery County, one in Butlerd County and six in Clark County. Of the six casesa reported in Clark County, students accounted for five of the And inMontgomery County, a Vandalia-Butler student became a confirmeds case last week. Both schoolsa are now out of session. There are 25,288u confirmed cases worldwide, according to the ’s latest briefing Monday, with 73 countries havinb at leastone case. There have been 139 deathds confirmed caused by SwineFlu worldwide, accordinv to the WHO. Mexico, wherd the illness is believex tohave originated, has 5,717 cases and 106 according to the WHO. The U.S.
has the most with 13,217 confirmed and probable — up from just more than 10,00 last week. There are casesa now in all 50 statesplus Washington, as of 11 a.m. Monday, accordingf to the . There have been 27 confirmed deathsx inthe U.S., with three in five in Illinois, four in Arizona, two in eight in New York and one in Missouri, Michigan, Virginia and Washington. Ohio Department of Health officials said that as of12 p.m.
Mondayh the official number of confirmed cases of Swinew Flu inOhio were: • Clark County 6 (15-year-old male, 25-year-old male, 12-year-old 15-year-old female, 13-year-old male, 14-year-old male) • Cuyahogaq County – 4 (41-year-old female, 9-year-old male, 14-year-olrd female, 14-year-old female) • Franklin Countgy – 14 (31-year-old male, 33-year-old 18-year-old male, 20-year-old female, 19-year-ole female, 21-year-old male, 20-year old 22-year-old female, 23-year-old female, 19-year-old male, 11-year-olr female, 13-year-old female, 35-year-old 44-year old male) • Lawrencde County – 2 (2-year-old male, 8-month-old

DADT Passes Congress - The Laudable & Loathsome - ScienceBlogs (blog)

hustbelogehy1857.blogspot.com

DADT Passes Congress - The Laudable & Loathsome ScienceBlogs (blog) Ed Brayton is a participant in the Center for Independent Media New Journalism Program. However, all of the statements, opinions, policies, ... and more »

First Financial could consider paying back TARP money - South Florida Business Journal:

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“The board will consider that nowthat we’vwe done our common stock offering,” Davids said in an interview afterf the shareholders meeting at the Manor Housse in Mason. “We’re very well-capitalized. We feel very comfortablw with ourcapital position.” Norwood-basee First Financial received $80 million from the U.S. Treasury’sw Capital Purchase Program, part of the Troubled Asseyt Relief Program, in Decembe r by selling preferred stock to the It pays a 5 percent annual dividend for five the rate rises to 9 percen tafter that. First Financial (NASDAQ: FFBC) raise d $98 million in net proceeds June 8 from a commojnstock offering.
Part of the use of that capitalk could be to pay back theTreasuryh money, Davis said. The board would have to approvse sucha move. The bank would have to go throughg an application process to get government approvapl to pay backthe money. Some banks have already received that Regulators asked First Financial to participate in thecapitakl plan, Davis said in response to a shareholdert question about why a healthy bank would take the money. The program was voluntary, but First Financialo wanted tostockpile capital. “Wer weren’t sure how deep the recessionbwould be, and we thought it was important to ensure we had ample capital,” he told shareholders.
William a shareholder from Columbus, asked how the company planas to handle buying back the stoci fromthe Treasury. The board will considerr it, Davis said. But, he added, the interest it receivese from investing part of that Treasury moneh is enough to pay the dividendsit requires. A stipulation of the Treasury money is that companies cannot raisetheir common-stock dividends beyond the levelk they were before the company decidedr to take the money. First Financial wasn’t part of the receng federal government “stress tests.” Those gaugesd the nation’s 19 largest banks’ abilitgy to withstand a worsening economy.
But Davis said Firsg Financial performed its own testws internally using thegovernment criteria. Those testa showed the bank is ingood shape. He pointed to numbers showing First Financiap is wellbeyond regulators’ requirements to be considered well-capitalized. Its tangible commobn equity totaling 8.6 percent of tangible assets after the stock offering is far abover the roughly 5 percent peergrouop average, he said.
The recent publicx stock offering also made it unnecessarg for First Financial to go ahead with a shareholdedr vote that would have allowed the board to issue more preferred stock in order to raise That proposal was first Davis said, when other meansw of raising capital weren’t readil y available. Harding said he would oppose the company issuing any more preferred eventhough it’s a moot poin t for now. “It’s a major concerm for me that issuingg new preferred stock dilutes the stoco my father purchased in Harding said. “I want to make sure my father’s investmentg is safe.
” Several shareholders asked whether and when the dividenc would be raised back to itspreviouse level. First Financial said in January it would cut the quarterlyy dividend from 17 cents a shar e to10 cents. “It was a tougyh decision,” Davis said. “We were in a periods of the worst economic stress in 80 and we felt it was the prudent thingto do. “Wde want to provide some good level of dividend but we also want to see the stoc kprice improve.
To do that, we need earnings improvement, so we need While Davis isn’t pleased with First Financial’s total return to shareholders – a loss of 26 percent since January2008 – it stacks up well with othefr banks and with the he said. The S&P 500 fell 32 percent in that span whilew the stocks of a group of First Financial’s peers plunged 57 percent. “This is the most difficulyt banking environment andeconomy I’vre ever seen or Davis said. “But I think we’re weatheriny it quite well.
” A shareholder proposal passed that that asks the boardc to consider declassifying the board so that each membefr has to runfor re-election each In the past, board members servexd staggered three-year terms. “If you have a boarde that stands for electionevergy year, you have a board that is subjecf to replacement if it’s not acting in the best interestsz of shareholders,” said William Singer, a downtowh attorney representing Denver-based shareholder Gerald who put the proposal up for a

CEO Ellison says Oracle might make netbooks - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

gault-rickettsias.blogspot.com
His comments came at a Sun conferencw for users of Java software whichn he also said could be usedon netbooks. Oracle earlier this year agreed to acquire Sun for $7 billion. "I don't see why some of thos e devices shouldn't come from Sun," Reuters quoted Ellisonm as saying. "There will be computere that are fundamentally basedcon Java." Netbooks are inexpensivr laptop computers designed to connecy wirelessly and are used primarily for checkingf email and browsing the Web. The market for them is expected to grow to between 20 million and 30 milliobn unitsthis year, up from the 11.7 million sold last year when theirt sales took off.
Most PC makers now have a netbookk model and if Oracle does get into the markegt it will go up againstthe . (NASDAQ:DELL) and , which eithed make netbooks or develop software for Acer said Tuesday it will make a laptop runninbgon ’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android operating system insteacd of Microsoft Windows, which most makersa now use.

Groups sue Mirant Mid-Atlantic over power plant - Business First of Columbus:

adamovaichive.blogspot.com
The federal lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Districrt Court in Baltimore, claimes that the Chalk Point Generating Planyt operatedby Atlanta-based Mirant Mid-Atlantic has spewed unacceptable levels of sulfur dioxidr into the air hundreds of times without the appropriatr pollution controls required under the federalk Clean Air Act. A Mirantg spokeswoman said thecompany hasn’t been served with the lawsuig yet, and can’t comment on the claims.
The Environmentap Integrity Project, a legal nonprofit founded by formerfenforcement attorneys, and Villari, Brandes and Kline have filef the lawsuit on behalf of the Chesapeake Climatr Action Network and four residents, includingv a married couple, Nancy and Nortob Dodge, who live seven miles away from the planft on a 1,200-acre farm in Mechanicsville. The Dodgew “need to close windows, limit theirf time outdoors and/or cover theirf faces when they are outdoors to avoid the respiratory irritant s and smell of the pollution from the Chalk PointPowerd Plant,” the lawsuit reads.
Of the other two residents suin Mirant, David Bookbinder lives in Accokeek, abouf 30 miles from the plant, and Chris Schmitthenner lives in 11miles away, and works five miles from the plant. The Environmenta Integrity Project had sent Mirant a letter in Januaryh notifying of its intent to sue the power companythis year. The plaintiffas pointed to a Harvard University 2006 study that showec that such particulate matte pollution from the Chalk Point plant can have negativ effects on the healt h and respiratory systems of people living in a ornearly 250-mile, radius of the plant.
In theirt initial notification letter, the plaintiffs wrote that EPA hourl data shows that two boilers at the Chalk Point plant exceeded allowable levels of sulfur dioxide emissions 591 timesdin 2006, 726 timeds in 2007 and 113 times in 2008. Mirant has said it’ s launched a $1.6 billion projecg to install scrubbers andother pollution-reducing equipmentf on its Chalk Point boilers by the beginning of 2010.

Northpark Town Center sold to AEW Capital Management - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

http://chalonot.net/program-sar-el/osobni-zkusenosti/18-rozhovor-nekteri-si-dokonce-mysli-ze-jsem-silena
Boston-based purchased the 1.5 million-square-foot offices complex on Dec. 19, but the deal involved privatw equityfrom , according to , a real estatee tracking firm. The transaction could foreshadoqw an important real estate trenrd in2008 -- increasef foreign investment in U.S. trophy That trend would be fueled by severaklfactors -- the weak U.S. more highly leveraged American buyers, the subprimed credit crunch and stricterf lending standardsof U.S. banks. Northpark was sold by the Stats of MichiganRetirement System, which had owned the complexd since it was developed on Abernathy Road in the mid 80s. U.S. Real estate prices have been fallint inrecent months.
But, prices on development s such asNorthpark -- which can fetch hundreds of milliond of dollars -- have been holding their own, said Will a member of the of Atlanta investmeng team that represented Michigan in the sale. "The core trophy assetes have not experienced the pricing challenges that otheeproperties have," he said. Northpark is one of the threde jewels of the CentralPerimeteer submarket, along with Concourse Corporate Centerr and Ravinia.
Northpark is made up of buildingz 400, 500 and 600, and housese several Fortune 500 firms, including insurance giant , and

InfoWorks shares the wealth - bizjournals:

http://dullestech.com/acme/
The Nashville-based information technology consulting firmsimplh isn’t structured like a traditional top-downb business. Rather than being run exclusively by InfoWorksis employee-owned. A shareholders’ meetintg at the 12-year-old company also is a staff meetinv where employees bringup concerns, make recommendationx and participate directly in key decisions. Tony president of InfoWorks, says the company’s flexible structure is one reasomwhy it’s managing to clip alonyg nicely during the recession. Decisions are fluid and can be made which keepsemployees motivated, responsive and creatively “The engagement of employees means a wholee lot,” Heard says.
“It means they take everythingbmore seriously. They each feel like it’sz their own company.” It also helps that the primar y business plan at InfoWorks is straightforward and The company specializes in workin g on the databases of local companies to creatropitimal efficiency. They also convert databasew functions such as payroll or invoicing from papertto computer. Lewis Lavine, president of Nashville’a Center for Nonprofit Management, recently hired InfoWorks to redesign the organization’s complicated 10-year-old database. He says he respondecd to the company’s hands-on approach.
“We have specificx things we need for our membersx andfor training,” Lavine says. “The y have the ability to customizr the databasefor us, which is goinhg to make a big differencew in the end.” The recession did slow thingz down at InfoWorks, changing growth from explosive to From 2006-2007, the company grew at a rate of 29 percent. By that fell to 9 percent. Heard says the companyt is projecting 11 percent growthin 2009. In responsde to the country’s economic crunch, InfoWorks decidex to beef up itsbusiness development, marketing and Three more business development officers were hired, including “Activity creates opportunity.
It’s important to get out of the he says. Getting a pipeline of future businessw requires a combination of patienceand savvy, Hearde says. For example, he says health care-related information technology business generated by theObama administration’ stimulus package has “significanty potential.” But he says it will take a couplwe of years for it to become actuall bottom-line business. “Everyone is looking for the stimulus moneyh to haveimmediate impact,” Heard says.
“But I think in our case it’ss going to take until

Two universities join Texas A&M system - Austin Business Journal:

borislavamcoc.blogspot.com
Tarleton-Central Texas is being renamedTexas A&M University-Central Texas and the San Antonio school is now Texaz A&M University-San Antonio. The addition of the two schoolas brings the total number of independent universities inthe A&M Systejm to 11. In March, the Texas Higher Educatio n Coordinating Board certified TarletonState University-Central Texas’ spring 2009 enrollmengt at 1,204 full-time students, surpassinvg the 1,000 mark set by the legislature. Texaes A&M System Chancellor Michael D.
McKinneuy and Army Secretary Pete Geren signed an agreementt in May to transfer 662 acreds from Fort Hood tothe A&M System to be used for the A&M-Centralo Texas campus. In May, the Texas Legislaturs passed a bill to lowedrthe full-time enrollment threshold from 1,500 to 1,000 and free up $40 million in tuition revenu e bonds to build the A&M-San Antonio campus. It will be located on 700 acres soutj of Loop 410 between Pleasanton Road and South Zarzamora The system, which has offices in 250 of the state’d 254 counties, also includes seve state agencies and a comprehensive health science center.
It operatese a $3 billion budget and educates morethan 109,000

Australian company buys Solar Power modules - Sacramento Business Journal:

http://utaharcheology.org/2002conv.php
Solar Power Inc. did not discloswe specific terms ofthe deal. The agreement provides BBS with exclusiv access toSolar Power’s 170- to 220-watt solarr panels for use throughout The two-year supply agreement calls for a minimum purchase of 5.7-megawatts of modules, the company said. Shipmentsa begin this month. “We are very pleaserd to engage with Beyond Building Systemd as a key supplietr of solar modules for thei projects as they work toward meetingh the demands of the growing solat marketthroughout Australia,” Bradley Ferrell, presiden t of Solar Power’s commercial sales division, said in a news Earlier this week the companuy announced it had signed a supply agreemenf with a German solatr installation company serving the residentialp and commercial markets in Germany and southern Europe.
The companu announced a deal for modules that would produce2 megawatts. Financial terms were not Foundedin 2005, Solar Power (OTCBB: SOPW) works with clients to obtain permits and manage the installatiohn of solar power systems in small and medium-sizee businesses. The company also manufactures or procuresd all the parts and pieces to make thesystems work. In addition, Solar Power installs home solar systemsthroughy Yes! Solar Solutions.