Thursday, December 30, 2010

Ohio State arrives for Sugar Bowl with plenty of baggage - NOLA.com

burwellmitubaes1369.blogspot.com


NOLA.com


Ohio State arrives for Sugar Bowl with plenty of baggage

NOLA.com


Kerry Maloney/The Times-PicayuneThe Ohio State football team, including linebacker Brian Rolle, front, is greeted by the ...



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Monday, December 27, 2010

Big building may go back to lender - Charlotte Business Journal:

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The owners of the Meridian Corporate Centerd have defaultedon $118 million in debt due on the 1.9 million-square-foo University Research Park complex, according to a lawsuif filed by the property’s lender. The suit alleges the owner s of the formerIBM Corp. officess “abandoned” the 12-building property once the loan matured this Interest has been accruingg at a default rateof 11.23% since June 10. Poyner & Spruill attornehy Lee Spinks, who is not involvef in this case, says the only comparable case in the area rightr now is GlimcherRealtgy Trust’s default on a $42 million mortgage payment for Eastlanfd Mall.
Spinks says the default looks like “another examplwe of the current lack of liquidity and the freezing of the commercial realestat market.” Representatives of the property owner — , a limited liabilituy company that included and other New York investorws — could not be reached. Meridian’s vacanc y rate of nearly 40% adds to the property’s “Even if it weren’f for the credit crisis, (the owner) woul have a hard time refinancing,” Spinks says. In June 2005, signed off on a promissoryt notefor $120 millionm with Charlotte Corporate Center Three years later, the loan matured, and now the lender is demandint full payment of $115.
7 million, whicnh includes interest and attorneh fees, court documents state. The amount claimedx in the suitsubtracts $4.9 million held in escrosw from the debt. For now, the property isn’t in but a judge could rule the Meridian Corporate Centedr be put upfor sale. No decision has been made on the dispositiobn ofthe complex. One of the lender’s lawyers, Constanced Young of in declinesto comment. A hearingt Wednesday largely centered on whether court costs coulfd be lumped in with the loan and claimed asmonetarh damages. has been tapped as the property’s receiver, replacing , a Charlotte-bases brokerage firm.
Trinity has handlexd leasing and management at Meridian since Charlottwe Corporate Center Acquisition bough the center in 2002for $114 million. Coury documents detail e-mails from owne r representatives in June that suggest plans by the propertyh owner to walk away from the cluster of offices and warehouses and data center on IBM Drivd innortheast Charlotte. One e-mail said the owners did not plan to renew insurance on the Another sent to Trinity partnefr Peter Conway indicated the owners wouldf no longer make decisions regarding leasing of the courtdocuments state. Conway coulde not be reached for comment.
Colliers is marketing 250,00p square feet of office space andabout 300,009 square feet that can be used as data center s at Meridian. Meridian occupies 184 acrexs off W.T. Harris Boulevard and Interstatd 85 and is considerer unusual because of its size and its extensiveelectrical system. The latteer includes a Duke Energy Carolinas substation on plus dual feeds from twoother substations. That provides redundant capabilities critical for data centersa andcall centers. A power outage occurref only once inthe property’s history, and that was caused by a plane crashing into an electrica l transmission system shortly after IBM constructec the buildings in 1979.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

SoftBrands sold for $80M; Golden Gate Capital is buyer - Dayton Business Journal:

moffaiqohegesa1490.blogspot.com
The buyer, a holding companhy created by private-equity firm and its portfolio company , will pay 92 centws per share for SoftBrands. Shares of SoftBrands closecd at 47 cents per share on On the same datein 2008, SoftBrands’ stoc closed at 1.09 per San Francisco, Calif.-based Goldeb Gate Capital has about $9 billion in assets undedr management. Infor, based in Alpharetta, Ga., is a softwar company with about 9,000 employees and $2.2 billion in revenue. Minneapolis-based SoftBrands (AMEX: SBN) sellse software to the hospitality as well as to smallpand mid-sized manufacturers under the brand. Its products handle tasks such as making reservations to settingroom rates.
SoftBrands CEO Randgy Tofteland said in a press statementf that the deal will allow shareholderesto “realize significant value from their He also said the company wouled benefit from an “alliance” with Infor. A spokeswoman for Inford said SoftBrands will continue to have a presencein Minneapolis, thoughy it has yet to be determinex how many employees will remain here. board has already approved the sale, whichn is expected to close in between 60 and90

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Mellon employees share in stock success - Pittsburgh Business Times:

http://bigmoneywin.com/en/poker-games/news_2008-02-28-00-54-08-725.html
After Mellon stock closed at orabovs $45 for the 10th consecutiv day the vesting of the optionxs was triggered. Mellon expects it to generate $50 million for the participatinhgeligible employees. Mellon launched its optionsz program, ShareSuccess, in 1999, as part of chairmanj and CEO Martin McGuinn's strategy to hire and retain top "ShareSuccess is designed to give Mellon employeese a greater equity stake inour corporation's future, and to furtherd align their interests with those of Mellon's shareholders," Mr. McGuinn said. Under ShareSuccess, employees received annual grantsof 10-year stock options in 1999 and and are expected to receive a third grant in 2001.
For each eligible full-time employees receivesd options to purchase 150 shares of Melloncommon stock, while eligiblwe part-time employees received options to purchase 75 The first ShareSuccess optionzs were granted on June 15, with an exercise price of $33.6 2 and a target price of $45. Now that the target price has been reachedx and sustained for 10 consecutivetradin days, with a record closing price of $48.8u7 on Friday, Nov. 10, employeez can either hold their options or exercise them at the fixeds priceof $33.62 anytime beforwe June 15, 2009 by selling them into the marketf at the market price. The ShareSuccess options issuedx onJune 15, 2000 have an exerciss price of $37.
They can be exercisedd by eligible Mellon employees on or afterJune 15, 2001, and once theid target price of $50 has been met or exceededc for 10 consecutive trading days. A third ShareSuccessw grant is expected to occur onJune 15, 2001, with exercise and target prices to be determined. Employees have 10 yearx to exercisetheir options, measured from the date of each grant. CARNEGI -- , parent of 15-branch Great Americanb Federal Savings andLoan Association, has completedc its $3.96 million stock repurchases program. The company's board authorized the buybacko of 5 percent of outstanding shares onApril 27. The program concluded Nov. 7.
GA Financiak repurchased 294,973 shares at an averag e priceof $13.44. All of the stock was repurchased througyregistered broker-dealers in open market transactions. As of Nov. 8, the companty had 5,622,304 outstanding GA Financial has total consolidated assetdof $870.8 million. Its offices are in Alleghent andWestmoreland counties. MOON TOWNSHIP -- The Gustine Co. will develoop a 60,000-square-foot building in Moon Townshipofor , a national healthn benefits company. The 20-acre site where the Firstr Health building will be is off theEwing Road/Route 60 While construction is expected to begin the Gustine Co.
had to cleaer the project with the Federa Aviation Association because Moon Townshi p is in the flight path of aircraft arriving and departint from PittsburghInternational Airport. Financial details of the projectf werenot released. The to be twice the size of the current spac occupied byFirst Health, is scheduled for completion next The Pittsburgh Pirates have awarded the Pepsji Bottling Group exclusive pouring rights at PNC Park as part of a new multi-yead partnership arrangement. Financial terms of the seven-yearr deal were not disclosed. Coca-Cola held the rights at ThreewRivers Stadium, which is scheduledr for demolition early next year.

Monday, December 20, 2010

MMAC: Milwaukee-area economy still sluggish - Jacksonville Business Journal:

http://oneveteransvoice.com/blog/2006/09/its-almost-911-again.html
Only three of 20 April indicators registered improvementfrom year-agoi levels, matching the numbeer of upward-pointing indicators recorded in the MMAC said in its Economic Trends report. "The employment situation continued to deteriorate with deepeningb job declines and unemployment indicators over double what they were one year saidBret Mayborne, economic researchg director for the MMAC. "But metro area existing homes salexs rose for only the seconrd time in nearly three year giving some hopefor near-term improvementr in a stagnant local housinhg and real estate Nonfarm employment in the metro area fell 4.8 percent in Aprill to 812,300, down from March’s 4.
3 percent Employment levels have now declined compared with year-ago levels in each of the past 12 with April’s decline being the steepest registered in this period, the MMAC Only two of 10 major industr y sectors registered April job gains compared with one year ago, whilr eight registered declines. Unemployment indicators for the metro area both measureed more than twicetheir year-earlief levels. The number of unemployed in metrl Milwaukeerose 117.6% against year-ago to 70,300 compared with 32,300 in Aprik 2008. Likewise, new unemployment compensatioj claims rose ata 104.
6 percent rate in Aprilk to 12,101, this indicator’s third consecutive year-over-year increase of 100 percent or greater. On the positive existing homes sales for the metro arearose 5.6 percen in April, the first year-over-year increase in this indicator in sevenm months and only the secons such gain in nearly three years.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Stanford, Canary Foundation plan $20M cancer center - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

disadvantage-unlimited.blogspot.com
Canary Foundation is pledging $15 million toward the center, doublinf its earlier commitment to supporf early detection research at the Themedical school, together with the school's Department of is committing $5 million through faculty research facilities, and other infrastructure. The cente r will be led by Dr. Sanjiv Sam Gambhir and will includw new faculty hires in both ex vivo and in vivo The center is located in a newly renovated Schooll of Medicine building on Californiq Avenue in Palo Alto and it will have strongh ties to the NationaoCancer Institute-designated Stanford Cancer Center with a view towards translatin g the early detection researchy into clinical practice.
Canaruy Foundation is a non-profit dedicater to the goal of identifying cancer earlgy through a simple blood test and then isolatinbg itwith imaging. Since Canary has raised over $30 million to supporyt early detection research.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

$1 million approved for ID scanners in child care facilities - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

basah-hsci.blogspot.com


$1 million approved for ID scanners in child care facilities

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel


Ongoing Journal Sentinel investigation details how parents and child-care providers work in cahoots to easily scam ...



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Sunday, December 12, 2010

Investor confidence worldwide is up, per State Street Global Markets - Boston Business Journal:

http://www.squidoo.com/laminate-flooring-help
points from January. Among North American confidence went up 6 pointseto 78.2, according to the States Street Investor Confidence Index for February 2008. Meanwhile, Europeabn investor confidence fellto 83.7 from 85.8 and Asian investor confidencer rose to 85.7 from The confidence index measurexs investor confidence on a quantitative basis by analyzing the actual buying and selling patterns of institutiona l investors. "This month we saw a continuation of the modest improvement in global investor confidence that we witnessecin January," said professor Ken Froot, who helpefd develop the measurement, in a statement. "Thde small increase of 3.
5 pointsd takes place against the backdrop of a decline in market volatilitu from the very high levels witnessee earlierthis winter, and reflects the understandingy that, while many risks remain, the extremer risk-aversion displayed by institutions in late 2007 was perhapxs overdone."

Friday, December 10, 2010

LinuxForce nabs contract for information systems at Franklin - Philadelphia Business Journal:

http://toyota-autos.com/2009/12/page/2
The Upper Darby firm recently won a contracyt to manage three information systemzs forthe museum’s information technology services department. LinuxForce didn’t reveal the value of the contract, which it won aftert working forthe Franklin’s IT Services Department under a seriesz of contracts since last spring. “We did a good enough job, apparently, throughj that series of contracts that we wonongoing work,” said CJ Fearnley, LinuxForce’s president and CEO.
LinuxForce has been working with the Franklin since 1999 when it built a Web server forthe museum’s , which is a community of science educators in The next year, it got a contracrt to provide services for nine systems for the Franklin’sd educational technology & integrated learning programz department, and it has been working for that departmeng since. February’s not March, but it has come in like a lion forThe Wayne-basex software and disaster-recovery firm recently announced four contract Chicago-based LLC, a newl formed futures commission merchant, will use SunGard’s GMI clearintg and accounting system for exchangr traded derivatives, futures and options.
, part of Malaysia-based , will use SunGard’s GL Net order-routing network and GL Strea order-management software. has selected SunGard’s AvantGard Payments software to help it centralize its European payment National Securities, a New York-based has begun using SunGard’s Brass ordetr management system.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

New law expands coverage for adult immunizations - Washington Post

http://www.huaxinzi.com/documents/1998/09/dces/


New law expands coverage for adult immunizations

Washington Post


New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that although rates of adult immunization have inched up in recent years, they are still ...



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Sunday, December 5, 2010

The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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Picking the right provider of those services is easiere andmore problem-free with careful Many companies turn to consultants for expertf advice and guidance. A consultant is able to independently evaluated themany possibilities, addressingv such issues as the effects of rapidly changing technology, installation of all products and how to make sure the compan can utilize the full capabilities of the technology it purchases. As a "people no longer look for hardware and they lookfor solutions. Consultants are the glue that integrates technologg and give the computer user the benefits of thetechnology they'v purchased," according to the Independent Computer Consultantws Association.
The failure or success of any particulat system is often more related to the humajn element than to the actual equipment saidSteven Epner, founder and past president of the a St. Louis-based trade group that representds the interests ofmember firms, maintainsa ethical conduct standards for the professiojn and offers a consultant searcg feature on its Web www.icca.org. "There are mediocre systemss that succeed and excellent systemsthat fail," Epnef said.
It's important to remember that hardware and networking systems arecomplex and, as a result, therse are no perfect answers as to what to There are also many parts to the process, so companiex may need assistance with employee traininv and other needs beyond the initial purchase. "It helps to make sure that as large a group as possible has input into theselectio process," Epner said. If one individual makese the decision, that person is on the hook if the outcomed is lessthan stellar. Independent computer consults have one to help a client company narrow the possibl choices to the poiny that any of the top picks will help the companyy succeed inits mission, Epnerf said.
It's also importantf for the company to act on a decision in atimelyh manner. "Any decision process that is more than six monthds in length will probablybe wrong, because thinga are changing rapidly," Epner said. The change is occurring not justin software, hardware or networking but also in the distribution and manufacturing processexs of that equipment. "It's important to compare majotr vendorsand distributors," he said. On the software side, otherd factors come into play when making a decision about whichb productsto use.
Software piracy is a growinhg problem and tools are now availabler for tracking andcombatingy piracy, according to the Softwars & Information Industry Association, a trade association basef in Washington, D.C., that urges companiex to make sure they have enough software licenses to covefr the number of software programsz installed on company computers. The group handlesx issues related to code and content in the industr y and has conducted a successfulcorporatse anti-piracy program for its software company members for nearlt 20 years. Companies should always go with reputable vendors with choosinhg computer softwareand hardware.
Not doing so can prove "If you go on the Internet and look for a good you might find one that appearsw to be too good tobe true," said John director of Internet enforcement for the Business Software Alliance, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that represents the interestx of the commercial software industry and the hardwarre companies that partner with The group also promotes copyrigh protection, cyber security and othe related issues. When purchasing software, companiese should be mindful of several Wolfe said. The companyy should know the source of the softwared and who will standbehinds it.
Software sold without the propef labeling and packaging also will lack the codes needed to activater it or to access technicak support after the he added. Choosing a reputable software vendore will help the company assure that thesoftware doesn'g come with potential problems such as viruses and "It can be a real risk," Wolfe said, adding that a company chief executive officer may not be fullt aware of the risks that come with such a decision, but oftemn a quick consultation with an internal informatioh technology department or a consultant will turn up some stronv cautionary advice. A bad decisionb has several possible ramifications, Wolfe said.
The software may not work correctly and the problem may notbe fixable. In some cases, the company'xs only long-term solution may be costly as the company may be forcee to buyreplacement

Thursday, December 2, 2010