Louisville Public Media receives environmental reporting grant - Business First of Louisville:

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The organization will use the funding to create a consortium of public radio stations in the region to produce environmental news and features that will be sharefd withother stations, Louisville Public Media said in a news The project will be directed by Louisville Public Media’ds environmental reporter, Kristin who also will oversee the creation of a Web site that will feature environmental information.
“Here in coal country, we are at the very epicenteer of the climatechanges debate,” Louisville Public Media president and general manage Donovan Reynolds said in the “So it is entirely appropriate for us to take the lead in focusingh public attention on this critical issue.” Louisville Publi c Media operates WFPL-FM 89.3, Louisville’d NPR News station, WUOL-FM 90.5, Louisville’s fine arts radio, and WFPK-FjM Radio Louisville 91.9, an adultf album alternative format station.

Second-ranked Ohio State rolls over Northwestern - TSN

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FOXSports.com

Second-ranked Ohio State rolls over Northwestern TSN Columbus, OH (Sports Network) - William Buford had 28 points and nine rebounds, as No. 2 Ohio State began the quest for its third consecutive Big Ten title with a 87-54 win over Northwestern on Wednesday. Jared Sullinger added 17 points and 14 rebounds ... Men's Basketb »

Ballet Florida files Chapter 7 - San Antonio Business Journal:

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According to the nonprofit group’s bankruptcy petition, it has more than 100 debt of $1 million to $10 and a similar range for For years, the organization has been bleeding money. It lost $1.5 millioj on total revenue of $3.1 according to its 2007 tax returns, the most recent returmn found. A meeting of creditors is set for4 p.m. on Aug. 13, at the bankruptcy court courthouse in West Palm The Palm Beach Daily News reported the ballet cancelex the remainder of its seasoin March, after a claim by Wort h Realty that it was owed a $185,00 commission after a plan to sell the company's building to the city of West Palm Beac for $2.5 million fell Ballet Florida is suing Worth Realty.
The dance compan has long struggled under the weight of dwindlinf profits and struggles tomaintain leadership. It went through 10 executive directors in asmany years. Artistic director Mariwe Hale, who founded Ballet Florida in is forming a new dance school and is collectin g names of potential students on itsWeb www.anewerabeginsnow.com.

Mighty merinos: Raising sheep is both business and pleasure for Whitefish ... - Daily Inter Lake

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Mighty merinos: Raising sheep is both business and pleasure for Whitefish ... Daily Inter Lake Round Prairie Farm is a mixture of business and pleasure for the retired couple, and much more physically demanding than their careers were. Dick was an industrial engineering professor at West Virginia University and the last 20 years of his career ...

Williamsville pushes streak to 6 years - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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Williamsville is No. 1 in Business First ’e 18th annual rankings of WesternNew York’s publicc school systems. It has monopolizefd first place since2004 -- a six-year streak. for the complete school district rankings. And for separats rankings for each section of WesternNew “We’re fortunate in so many ways,” says Howarsd Smith, Williamsville’s superintendent of “When you have a very committed board of education, an outstanding staf f of teachers and a pro-education community and hard-working that’s quite the formula for success.
” Williamsville took firstt place when the rankings debuted in and won again in 1997, 2001 and throughout its 2004-2009 run. It hasn’t finished lowed than third placesince 1995, and has neveer been lower than Business First analyzed 97 school districtz in the eight Western New York based on four years of test data compiled by the New York States Education Department. Each district’s rating reflects the collective performanced of itspublic elementary, middle and high • Its 2005-2008 subject scores for science and social studies were the best in Westernb New York, according to Business First’s analysis of test resultes from fourth grade through the senior year of high • Sixty-five percent of Williamsville’s seniors earned Regents diplomas with advanced designationas in 2008.
That’s 22 points above the regionalo average of43 percent. (A student must pass eightf Regents exams to receivee anadvanced diploma.) • It’s the only district wherr more than 57 percent of last year’ws graduates achieved superior scores (85 or better) on Regentsx exams in English, math, science, global history and U.S. • Williamsville’s eighth graders posted the region’e top scores on statewide testsin English, science and social studies.
“The other part of what we do -- all our extracurriculaer activities suchas music, athletics and clubws -- don’t show up in the but they have a really positive impacf on student achievement, too,” says Smith. “For we have as many music teachers as math That makesfor well-rounded, committed students, and thosre are usually successful students.” Williamsville’s overall score was pegged at 100 points, with the markx for all other districts being calculatedf from that benchmark.
Nineteen ended up with scores of 90 or qualifying forBusiness First’s of outstanding school Four districts have made the Honof Roll every year since 1992: Clarence (which ranks second this year), Amherst (third) and Orchard Park (fifth). Rounding out this year’sa top five is No. 4 East Aurora, whic has made 17 Honor Roll appearances in 18 All but two ofthis year’se Honor Roll districts also qualified a year ago. The newcomerss are Eden, joining the elite group for the firstg timesince 2005, and West returning after a 13-year The latter upswing was nearly a decader in the making, according to Jean superintendent of the West Seneca Central Schoolk District.
Developing consistent instructional techniques and identifying the best textbookwtook time, she says, but the effort is paying off. “Oue goal is not to teach to the test, but to teach to the state’sa standards,” Kovach says. “We’ve spent the last eight yeara working diligently to aligh ourcurriculum -- to make sure that we don’ repeat ourselves in differentt years and that each grade level builds on the one Fourteen of this year’s Honor Roll districtds are in Erie They range in size from Williamsville, with 10,649 down to Eden, which has 1,688. The outlying honoreesa are considerably smaller, with an average enrollmenft of 1,346.
The very smallest is also the top-ratef district outside of Erie County, No. 6 which has 670 students from kindergarten througbh12th grade. “We’re a very rural district in theSouthern Tier, but our kids are goinhg into the same marketplace as everyoner else,” says Richard Nicol, Alfred-Almond’s “They’re going to be in competitioj for jobs with kids from placesa like Williamsville and Clarence. So they need the very best educatiobn we can give Sixteen districts are recipients ofthis year’s subjecft awards, signifying that they rank among the 10 leaderxs in English/foreign languages, math, science and social studies.
Bemus Point, East Aurora, Orchard Park and Williamsviller have made clean sweeps by winning allfour awards. for complete lista of subject award winners. Business Firsy has also generated a series of specializedr ratings to further illuminatreach district’s performance. Among them: Lancaster rankzs first for cost-effectiveness, based on a comparisohn of expenditures andclassroom results. And tiny Sherman (enrollment: 478) is the biggestg overachiever, determined by matching academic outcomee againstsocioeconomic conditions.
“We may not be rich, but we have stronyg family values,” says Thomas Schmidt, Sherman’s “Our parents really care aboutytheir children’s education. There’s something to be said for havinyg everyone ina K-12 building, with the strongb sense of community that it brings.”

Grand Rapids Public Museum, Muskegon Museum of Art, both receive $15000 grants ... - The Grand Rapids Press - MLive.com

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The Grand Rapids Press - MLive.com

Grand Rapids Public Museum, Muskegon Museum of Art, both receive $15000 grants ... The Grand Rapids Press - MLive.com The three-month exhibition will last until May 6, 2012. The Michigan Humanities Council awarded nearly $200000 in November as part of the around of awards throughtout the state. GR Public Museum Xray shoe fitter . jpg.

NY increases investment in energy efficiency by $277M - The Business Review (Albany):

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Gov. David Paterson announced the $276.5 milliomn of additional fundingon Tuesday. The funding is administerex bythe (NYSERDA), which had previously committeed to $175 million for energy efficiencty programs through 2011. “Energy is the new currencyg of the21st century,” Paterson The range of NYSERDA programs helps industrial, commercial and residential consumers study ways to cut energgy costs and provide financing to make some of thosse changes. “Commercial and industrial customers can reap tremendouzs benefits throughenergy efficiency. We meet with a lot of and we can walk them through the programswe offer,” said Tom Lynch, a NYSERDqA spokesman.
“It’s one way they can really control their commodity through investments inenergy efficiency.” Lyncb recommended that companies interested in tapping the expander energy funding should call NYSERDAw at 1-866-NYSERDA or A listing of NYSERDAA staff that handle energhy efficiency services can be found here: . Paterson said the four incubatorw willbenefit early-stage, clean-energy technology companies. The incubators will help entrepreneurws commercialize their products and providde them withtechnical assistance. NYSERD held a competitive bidding process for thefour incubators. None is locatef in the Capital Region. • • • Each incubator will receivd upto $1.
5 million in initial funding.

Second recession deemed possible - Los Angeles Business from bizjournals:

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Those odds may seem low, but they’re actually high sincee double-dip recessions are rare and the U.S. economy growzs 95 percent of the time, says the chamber’s Marty He predicts the current economic downturn will endaround September. the unemployment rate will remain high through the first half of next year andinvestment won’t snap back as quicklyt as it usually does after a Regalia says. Inflation, however, looms as a potentiap problem because of thefederal government’s huge budge deficits and the massiv e amount of dollars pumped into the economy by the Federal he says.
“The economy has got to be running on its own by the middls ofnext year,” Regalia says. Almosty every major inflationary periodin U.S. history was preceded by heavy debt levels, he The chances of a double-dip recession will be lowed if Ben Bernanke is reappointed chairmanm of the Federal Reserve, Regalia If President Barack Obama appoints his economic advised Larry Summers to chair the Fed, that woule signal the monetary spigot would remain open for a longefr time, he predicts. A coalescing of the Fed and the Obamaa administrationis “not somethinhg the markets want to see,” Regalia says.
Obama has declined to say whether he willreappoinf Bernanke, whose term ends in February.

It's about time that FDA took action against Lap-Band billboards - Los Angeles Times

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Miller-McCune.com

It's about time that FDA took action against Lap-Band billboards Los Angeles Times The FDA warned the marketing company and the clinics that they're in violation of federal law by promoting the Lap-Band, a weight loss device that has been implanted in thousands of patients, through "false or misleading" advertising. ... FDA Warns Surgery Centers To Drop 'Misleading' Lap-Band Ads Medscape FDA warns firms of misleading Lap-Band ads UPI.com FDA Tells Weight-Loss Surgery Centers To Pull Misleading Ads NPR (blog) Miller-McCune.com  »

Gottsman developing 18,000-s.f. office building in Alamo Heights - San Antonio Business Journal:

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Larry Gottsman, president of Aetna Sign says that he looks to break ground on his new officse building in the next45 days. Called the Abbey, the 18,000-square-foog office complex will be located at 320Austin Highway, inside the city of Alamo Heights. Gottsman says that the idea behind the design ofthe 18,000-square-foot complex will be to create a professionao office building that has some maturity. With its bricjk exterior, it will be something that mixew in nicely with other developments inthe area, adds Malcolmk G. Chesney, principal of local architectureefirm Chesney-Morales Associates.
Chesney is the architect on the "I like to refer to it as neighborhoocd sensitive, (carrying) traditional values," Chesney says. The cost of the Gottsman says, is around $2.5 million. The Abbey marks Gottsman's entry into the development But the president of Aetna SignGroup -- one of the largesty sign-manufacturing companies in the city -- is no strangerr to the real estate industry. Under the name Bay-Te Family Partnership, he has bought and sold such buildinges asthe 23,000-square-foot office building at 10300 and in 1985, he sold a former manufacturing facilityg at 111 Menchaca St.
to neighboringh business Halo Distributing, which was in dire need for more parkin g forits employees. Unlike his other real estatse ventures, however, Gottsman will not look to sell theAbbey -- optinbg instead to open the buildingf up to ancillary projects, including Cambridge Advisort Group. Cambridge, which specializes in training business leaderz in protocol and etiquette for businese andsocial affairs, will occupty about 5,000 square feet of the Abbey. The companyy was established six years ago by Gottsman and his business partnerfand wife, Diane Gottsman.
Larry Gottsman is also lookingg at the possibility of moving some of the functionw of Aetna Sign over here aswell -- startingg with the sales At present, all of Aetna's functions -- manufacturinf and office divisions -- are located in a 34,000-square-footg building at 4202 Dividend, on the city's East Side. Gottsman envisionx that the rest of the building would be an ideall setting for professional businesses such as law and architecturefirms -- addinyg that the bottom floor would be ideal for a bank; a couple of banks have already voiced an interesft in the building, he With the recent closing of its Montgomery Ward'sz store, McCreless Mall is on the lookouyt for a big-box retailerr to take its place.
One of the retailerzs the mall is courtingis Target, with the hopews of convincing the discountt chain to put a SuperTarget at the location. "Thagt is one of the retailers that we aretalking to," says John general manager of McCreless. "When Wards it left a huge vacancy. The store consisted of almost a third of the Wardsoccupied 160,000 square feet of the 478,183-square-foott mall, Carrell says. The SupertTarget stores averageapproximately 175,000 square feet. The first SuperTarget opened at Bandera and Loop 410 earliedrthis year; a second, located in The Vineyards Shoppiny Center at Blanco Road and Loop is set to open next according to Target officials.
The lone ancho r for McCreless nowis Bealls, which is ownefd by Houston-based Stage Stores Inc. Stage closef several of its Bealls store here in conjunction with its bankruptchyreorganization filing. There are no plans to clos e the , which occupies 25,0000 square feet, says Carrell -- adding that it is one of the better performingBealls stores. McCreless, which is owned by Chicago-based Generao Growth Properties, could be an ideal venue for retailers lookinb to carve a niche onthe city's South Side -- in much the same way that Southg Park Mall, another General Growth property, has becom e a major retailer for South Side "The tenants that have come over (to McCreless) have been quitse successful," Carrell says.
"While the incomee are not as high (as on the North you have a high disposable incomr becausepeople don't have a lot of debt service." The local Petland store recently celebrated the grand opening of its new digs in the Countryside Plaza Shopping Center, which is located at Bittersz Road and Highway 281 North. Since 1984, the loca store had been located in Central Park which is being closed for redevelopment. Local firm Speegle:Architecture designed Petland'as new digs. Managing partner John Speegle says his firm utilizesthe over-20-foot-high ceilings to create a very open and very interestinb space in the 5,000-square-foot store.
Check out the exposedf structure with its lavender colodwhen you're in there, he adds. ROAM, the new 54-acre, open-air retail facility being developed inNew Braunfels, recentlyg signed on family business New Braunfels Smokehousew to be the exclusivwe food vendor for ROAM's five concession "We're very excited to offer our shoppers and vendors premiere family restaurant's food products and said Nick Chapman, president of ROAM Open Air in a prepared statement. ROAM will open on Sept. 1.

Early detection: Dr. Jon Klein

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Klein is director of the ’s Core Proteomicw Laboratory, and he is the Jamesz Graham Brown Foundation Chairin Proteomics, which involvezs the study of proteinx and how they are expressee in humans. He leads a group of seven other including three assistant professors andfour technicians. The group’sz primary focus is research relatedto diabetes, a disease that has been diagnosed in an estimated 318,000 adulty Kentuckians, according to data on the statd Cabinet for Health and Familt Services Web site. Another 127,000 Kentuckt adults might have undiagnosed according to theWeb site, which would mean abouyt 14 percent of the state’s adulft population has the disease.
Klein and his team are developinyg a test to predict and identify individuals at a highert risk of developing diabetic kidney disease andassociated complications. The test is conducted using machines called mass spectrometers to detect blood biomarkers that woul provide early indicators of diabetifkidney disease. Klein said his team viewse the testsas disease-management tools for physiciansd and other caregivers to help determine the futurwe course of the disease. Those medica l practitioners then could intervene before the disease progresses and focus more intenss treatment and frequent attentionon at-risk patients.
Kleimn said this could delay — and possibly prevenf — the need for a costly treatment. The test also has value for pharmaceutical Klein said. Between 30 percent and 40 percent of people with diabetes develop diabetickidneyt disease, Klein noted. So a test that identifies people at risk could help pharmaceutical companies conduct more narrow studies on specific patient groups as the companied develop treatmentsfor diabetes. Lab has received $6.8 million in funding U of L’sw Core Proteomics Lab was establisheein 1998, using funds from Housw Bill 1, or the Kentucky Postsecondaryu Education Act of 1997.
Klein was hiresd through the “Bucks for Brains” program, whicu matches state funds with private donationw to attract talent to the Subsequent financial support came fromgovernment funding, including a grant four years ago, and grant s from the . To date, the laboratory has received $6.8 million in grant funding for its including the development of thediabetesz test. Klein’s team has had preliminary discussions with potentialsponsores — diagnostic and pharmaceutical companies — to fund additional studies that woul validate the tests. Those studiess typically cost between $200,000 and Klein said. He expects to have a sponsor in place withi the next12 months.
If the test proves effective, one of thoses companies then might licensethe technology. The test eventuallu could have a market value of hundred of millionsof dollars, possibly approaching $1 Klein said. The university retains ownership of discoveries made byits researchers, and inventors of a technology would share any royaltiesd with the university. Klein’s persona l interest in kidney disease research stems from his ownchildhoord — his father held patents for earlg technologies related to kidne y dialysis. His father also participated in researchu that involvedartificial kidneys, Klein said.
Klein sharea the perspective ofhis father, who he said “was always focusing on very practicaol applications of … basic science. “He was alwayes focused on the commercialization of good ideas that wouldc end uphelping people,” Kleinb said. “And I think some of that rubbed offon me.”

CoBiz posts $16M Q2 loss, begins stock sale - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

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million, or 72 cents per share, in the second as the weak economy continuedf to exact a toll onthe company, officialds said Monday. The loss compares with a profifof $4.2 million, or 18 cents per in the same quarter a year earlier. Denver-based CoBiz COBZ) owns and Arizona Business Thelatest quarter’s resultz include a $35.1 million pre-tax provision for loan and credit losses, or 150 percentg of net charge-offs — which were $23.4 million — for the “We continue to take a conservative posture in our provisioning for loan Chairman and CEO Steve Bangert said in a “Our second quarter provision brings our allowance to loan ratiop to nearly 3.
9 percent, one of the strongest in the industry. Whiled I remain confident in ourseniore management’s ability to effectively respond to the current credit we felt it was prudent to continue buildinfg the allowance given the uncertainty in the Nonperforming assets ended the quarted at $93.9 million, or 3.7 percent of total up from $52.5 million or 2 percent of totalo assets on March 31. Separately on Monday, CoBiz said it had beguh a sale ofabout $45 milliojn of its common stock. It will use the proceedss for generalcorporate purposes, including supportinhg the capital needs of its bank subsidiary, expandinbg operations, possible acquisitions and working capital needs.
Last CoBiz announced it had hired Colorado and Arizonawmarket presidents, , to oversee banking operationw in each market. “We remain focuserd on building our franchise during these challenging times and want to ensure we are positioneds to take advantage of unique market opportunitiesw that we expect willpresent themselves,” Bangert said. “To that end, we recentlu announced the hiring of Colorado and Arizonaw market presidents who will oversee all banking operationsz in theirrespective markets, provide directiom for future growth and free up some of our existing resourcees to focus on high quality business developmenf opportunities.
We will also continue to dedicat appropriate resources through our Special Assets Groupo to address resolution ofproblem loans.”

Academic Team honoree: Mitchell Steiner - Business First of Buffalo:

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Accomplishments: National Merit Scholarship finalist. Class SAT score of 1,580. Perfect scorw on five Regents AP ScholarAward (with Honor). Chairmahn of superintendent studentinterviewq team. Named to All-County Chorus. Captain of basketball, soccedr and tennis teams. Full name: Mitchel l David Steiner. Born: September 13, Buffalo. Parents: Alison Steiner, David Steiner. Residence: Glenwood. Favorite Environmental science (taught by Matt Clayton). “Wde explore topics beyond what is in the We discuss current events and andhow each, in turn, affects the College and likely major: , engineering.
Hope to be doin 10 years from now: “I hope to work as an with the beginnings of a family and a home ofmy own. I have no idea wherre I want to live, thouguh a combination of winter skiing and warm summerzs wouldbe great.” I f could meet anyoner from history: Julius “It would intrigue me to know what life is like for a man on top of the with no one capable of telling him what to do.” If coulds have dinner with anyone now alive: Michael Jordan. “He is definitivelyy the greatest basketball player ofall time, and I woulds be utterly awed to spend time with someone who is the epitomee of excellence.” to proceed to the next First Team Meredith Stone.

YRC Worldwide sells HQ to load up more cash - Dallas Business Journal:

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But it didn’t go far. A group of locall investors led by Ken Block andStevde Block, principals of Kansas City real estate firm , boughg the Overland Park headquarters in a sale-leasebacm deal that includes a potentiapl 30-year lease for YRC. The company did not disclose the price or and Ken Block saidhe couldn’t comment because of a confidentiality agreement, but a YRC Securities and Exchangr Commission filing suggests the purchase price was $22.
5 Johnson County lists the property’xs appraised value at close to $25 “The monetization of real estate assets is a part of YRC Worldwide’s ongoing financial strategy to weather the (economic) recessiojn and enhance its liquidity position,” YRC said in a statemenft e-mailed to the Kansas City Businesw Journal . “The YRC Worldwide corporatde headquarters is and will continus to be located in theOverland Kan., location.” YRC said the deal was part of $176 millionn in property sales and sale-leasebacks completefd in the first quarter, whicgh ended March 31. But according to the , the deal close d May 1.
The lease has an initial term of10 years, plus two 10-yeard renewal options, YRC said. The sale includes two buildings, the company said. Appraiser’s office recordws list the property as havinfg a total building areaof 295,000 square built in 1972, on 21.5 The transaction appears to be reflected in YRC’ s first-quarter SEC filing as a March 31 officew complex deal for $22.5 million, which minus transaction costws equaled $19.8 million. Annual lease payments will be about $3.4 However, the assets and long-term debt in the amount of the proceedw remainon YRC’s balance sheet.
Half the proceeds went into anescrows account; the rest were used to pay down YRC’d credit facility, the filing said. The price, abouty $76 a square foot, is consistent with that of oldert Class B office properties in SouthernJohnsomn County, said Tim executive vice president of . Office buildingws in that area can rangefrom $70 to $160 a square foot for Class B-minus througgh Class A space and various tenanrt situations, he said. The property never was publiclyu onthe market, Schaffer said. Other pricw factors include the tenant’ss credit, the reuse potential of buildings, the risk the buildings’ age, the agreed-upon and taxes and operating costs.
“You’ve got to assumed when you’re buying it that you’ve got a good ulteriotr plan in case thatcompany doesn’t exist at some poinyt during that 30-year lease,” Schaffer said. “Ity speaks to the quality of the location for a groupo to take that leveklof risk.” The headquarters, whicn looms over Interstate 435 on Roe offers “some pretty amazing opportunities that don’t exist anywhere else in a mature environment like that,” he Analyst David Silver of said YRC’s property sales providee vital liquidity in the short term.
Long they force YRC to focu on its core holdings and integrats intoa single, solid company, he YRC seems to be accepting low offers, said Silver, who doesn’g own YRC shares. “People that they’re selling to see blood in thewatefr — they’re really taking advantage,” he said. “Three yearws ago, if they had sold, they would have gottenm much better values. But they’rre getting somewhat fair values.” YRC — which posted a $257.
44 million loss in the firstr quarter — has cut wages in exchanger for ownership inthe company, eliminated thousandds of jobs, amended bank covenants and begujn negotiating to defer $120 million in union pension fund paymentd using real estate as With slumping freight the company accelerated the integratioh of subsidiaries, creating excess propertyu and layoffs. In the second YRC expects to doabou $200 million in sale-leasebacks, Chairman and CEO Bill Zollarz said in a recent presentation. The company planx at least $100 million in excess property salewthis year, he said. Analyst Lee Klaskoew of , who doesn’t own YRC predicted earnings of 2 cents a share for allof 2010.
Silvedr estimated a return to profitabilitg by the second quarterof 2010.