Nordstrom to open first Rack store in Houston - Houston Business Journal:

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“We’ve wanted to bring our Houston customers a Nordstrojm Rack for some timeand we’rse thrilled about this opportunity,” Scott Meden, president of Nordstrojm Rack, said in a statement. The stors will be located in The Centre at Post Oak near Post Oak and Nordstrom Rackis Nordstrom’s off-price retaiol division offering savings of 30 percent to 70 percent on apparel and accessories for women, men and Nordstrom Rack merchandise is made up of productes from Seattle-based Nordstrom’s (NYSE: JWN) full-line stores and the company’e online store at Nordstrom.com, as well as speciap purchase items.
The Centre at Post Oak, owned by Houston-basedd , is located directly across the street from the Houstobn Galleria and includes tenantw suchas Marshall’s, Barnes & Noble, Old Grand Lux Cafe and Morton’s Steakhouse. Vonn Tran of Weingarten represented The Centre at Post Oak in the and Jan Odom served as associate counsekl for Weingarten onthe deal. The newestg Nordstrom Rack will bethe retailer’s sixtn in Texas.

Media news derivatives: May 29 - Washington Post (blog)

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Media news derivatives: May 29 Washington Post (blog) By Erik Wemple In case you missed it â€" As if we needed another really good argument for cameras in the courtroom: The flirting between an alternate juror in the trial of John Edwards and the defendant â€" it's the sort of thing where the written word ...

Houston tech firm relocating to San Antonio - San Antonio Business Journal:

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The company, originally founded in provides software and services to make subscribing and listeningv to podcasts easier andmore portable. Podcasts are digitakl recordings of a radio broadcasts or programs made available on the Interneyt for downloading to a personalaudik player. McCall will serve as presideng ofPodcast Ready. Podcast Ready was originallgy launched with venture capital funding fromDFJ Mercury, accordingh to McCall, who is also presidentf and CEO of San Antonio-based Ideagin LLC. DFJ Mercuryu is a Houston-based seed and early-stager venture capital fund that focuses onemerging technologies.
Podcastf Ready began to have problems in late 2007 and the investorsw took control of the company at that Blair Garrou, managing director of DFJ says the company needed new management. However, DFJ Mercurg was unsuccessful in locating a qualified persobn to head up the company in the Houston area so investorx took theirsearch statewide. “The problejm we had was ... we weren’tf able to identify and attract thetalent ... in Garrou says. “For us, it is a quick trek down I-10 to continu e to help the company and make it DFJ Mercury has investe dabout $2.3 million in Podcasgt Ready since it was launchef in 2005.
Garrou says DFJ has agreef to re-seed the company in conjunctiojn with its move toSan Antonio. Garroui declined to release details of the new Podcast Ready and Ideagin will remain two separatw companies but will be housed at the same location in the Sterlingb Bank Building off of Highway 281 near the San AntonikoInternational Airport. Podcast Ready has three employees. Some of Ideagin’s seve employees will do work for Podcasgt Readyas well. McCall founded Ideagim about a year ago and says it is a good fit withPodcastf Ready. Ideagin, he says, specializes in Web softwared and platform development and will provide new softwarw forPodcast Ready.
“The softwarew makes it easy to get in there and pick what you want to follow onthe (Podcas Ready Web) site,” he says. “(The software) ... givea you the latest up-to-date content from specifix podcasts.” McCall says the software can be loadede on all different types ofmedia players. It is availablwe at no cost viathe company’s Web site at Ideagin has already revamped the Podcast Ready Web site and it is currentlyu broadcasting over 53,000 podcasts with over 100,00p active users. Revenue for the site is beingf generated from companies whobuy advertising, but McCalp says there are other revenue streams beinh developed.
“It’s pretty amazing stuff,” McCalo says. Garrou says he has knowjn McCall for abouttwo years. After severapl discussions aboutPodcast Ready, he says McCalpl was interested in working for the company. Garroh says McCall, along with his staf f at Ideagin, have the skills needed to growthe company. “Houstomn may have more enterprisresoftware talent, but in my mind there is a lot of Web developmentr talent in San Antonio,” Garrou says. “I look for the company to be addint head count throughout 2009 even in this downturneconomic environment.
” Garroyu says he and McCall plan to add at leasgt six to eight new employees in the next

Iridium earnings fall 42%; revenue up - San Antonio Business Journal:

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The Bethesda-based provider of satellitse telephone services, which expects to becomew publicly traded this summer throughan acquisition, posted a 42 percenrt decline in net income in the first quarter ended Marcg 31, to $9.7 million from $16.7 millionh a year ago. Th company attributed the decline to costs related toits next-generation satellite “Iridium continued to although the pace slowed given the current economic said CEO Matt Desch.
“In addition to the impac of phasing outequipment amortization, we believs the economic climate is affectingg equipment sales, as is the transition of newlhy introduced products into the distribution channe l as our partners move existing inventorh to make way for new Company officials say eithee Bethesda-based Lockheed Martin or Thales Aleniq Space will be selected as the program’as lead contractor this The program’s new network of satellites calledx Iridium NEXT is expected to be deployefd in 2014. Iridium NEXT will providwe higherdata speeds, greater bandwidth and the potential to delivetr new data services and applicationsa to customers.
The company says its or earningsbefore interest, depreciation and amortization, increased 4.9 percent to $27.6 million in the first up from $26.3 million a year ago, thougjh most analysts do not use that as a reliable financial measure. Iridium’s revenue rose 2 percentg to $75.8 million for the compared to $74.3 million for the firs quarter 2008. The slightly highet revenue came from increased commercial services revenuseof $36.8 million but was offsey by a decline in subscriber equipment revenue to $20.5 million for the quarter. Iridium’s commercial markets include aviation and landmobile customers, which grew by 11.5 percentt for the quarter.
The company’s sales to governmentt customers, including the Department of Defense, grew 31 percent. Despit a 31 percent increase in subscriberxto 328,000, compared to 250,000 in the first quartedr of 2008, a $2 million amortization of equipmenft related to prior year equipment sales, addedx to the decline in subscriber equipmen revenue. The company is planning to go publixthis summer, but it is not taking the initia l public offering route. It is acquiring a publiclty tradedinvestment group, (NYX: GHQ), an affiliate of Greenhil & Co. Iridium has retained Deutsche Bank as its financia l adviser forthe transaction.

Romney was 'vague' on education, Obama team says - Politico (blog)

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Globe and Mail

Romney was 'vague' on education, Obama team says Politico (blog) Romney gave a "vague, detail-free speech" on education, Obama press secretary Ben LaBolt told reporters in an afternoon conference c »

Road projects under way to ease area traffic tie-ups - San Antonio Business Journal:

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Officials say the projects -- some whicu have begun and others set to kick off in thefall -- are designedf to benefit traffic mobility and pedestrian and transift needs. Currently, the city has alreadt begun working on28 transportation/roadway projectsz that are considered regionally significant because they are large enough to affect traffic flow. Some of the 28 projectsz have already started and will be locallg funded through bonds and other publicand private-sectoe sources. Earlier this year, the city received voter approval forsome $139.5 million in bonds for the projectss listed as part of its overall 2007-201q2 $550 million bond program.
"The bonds will be paid back overa 20-yeare period using a portion of the city's property tax revenue," says Petet Zanoni, director of the city's office of management and Eleven of the 28 projectsx are non-street/drainage projects, which include improvements and/or construction at facilities such as the UTSA Athletix Complex, the Regional Sportsplex Special Needs Park and the Mitchell Lake Wetlands Conservation Education Center Facility. The remaining 17 street/drainage projects consisty of 15 street projects and two drainaged projects that include widening or reconstructinhg roads throughout the city to provides betterroad access.
For example, reconstruction and widening a stretc of Redland Road near the Highway 281 intersection will createa four-lanr street with turn lanes, curbs, sidewalks, driveway approachees and necessary drainage. The total cost for this projecft is estimatedat $2.3 million, with the city kicking in half of the moneyg and a private developer covering the remaining construction Also, Walters Street (from Interstate Highway 35 Northy to the Fort Sam Houston gate) will be reconstructeds and widened to a six-lanes roadway. It will add bike lanes, turn lanesa at major intersections and Estimated cost for that projectis $13.6 million.
The city is expectexd to pay $4 million of the costs, with the remainin $9.6 million to come from the andthe MPO. In another round of roadway and transportation projects is set to beginnthis fall. These upcoming projects are part ofthe MPO' s Fiscal Year 2008-2011 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). The short-rangde program calls for about $1.9 billion in roadwau and some $143 million in transportationh projects over the next four years beginning in October of this year and runningthrougnh Sept. 30, 2011. The four-year plan include 170 projects -- 80 of whicyh are road-related. A large portion of the road-related projects will be on IH-35, Loop 1604 and Interstatr Highway 10.
For example, planas are to rehab an historic stage-coach stop and constructt a visitor center in Selmaat IH-35 and Evanse Road. Plans also include replacinfg WaltersStreet bridge, adding turnarounds and reconstructingv and widening the IH-35 frontage road from New Braunfelzs Avenue to AT&T Parkway. Plans also includw expanding portions of Loop 1604 to make room for the new tolllanes -- from Northwest Military to Stone Oak Parkway; from 1.2 miles soutjh of State Highway 16 to Interstate Highway 10 West; and from Redlandc Road to Green Mountain Road.
The remainin g 90 projects encompass purchasing computef equipmentand software; maintenance of facilities; bus stop improvements; Park and Ride upgradesx or replacements; and purchasing or replacing buses, streetcarsd and trucks for VIA. "Some of (these will probably change withthe first-quarter 2008 TIP ... amendmentes in October and November of this year and will changd on a quarterly basis as projectxs are furtherdeveloped thereafter," says MPO spokesma n Scott Ericksen, adding that the ultimate goal of the projectds is to provide citizens with better roads and more acceszs and mobility.
The TIP, Ericksenn explains, is approved every two yearss to covera four-year periodd and is part of the implementation of the MPO's 25-year, long-range transportation plans (2030 Metropolitan Transportation Plan), estimated at more than $10 billiobn for the local area. "(Thwe TIP) is the culmination of the transportation planning processewe do, where we put dollars to Ericksen says. The MPO is an agencyu created under federal law responsiblr for planning transportation development and allocating federal transportation dollars to cities with populations greaterthan 50,000.
It consistx of a body of locallu elected and appointed leaders who servs Bexar County and a very small piece of Guadalupee andComal Counties: for Selma, Schert z and Cibolo. The agency acts as the locapl conduit offederal funding. Money trickles down from the federall government to the TxDOT and then to thelocap MPOs. Projects approved in the TIP are reimbursed at 80 percent by thisfederal funding.
The remaininvg 20 percent is leveraged throughbond

Stanford heart surgery pioneer Peer Portner dies at 68 - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

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Stanford said Portner was internationally knownn forhis life-long work in developinf mechanical heart-assist devices. A consulting professor of cardiothoracic surgery atthe , he developedd the left ventricular assisy device, or LVAD, which made history in 1984 when it kept a gravelg ill heart patient alive mechanically for eight until a heart was available for transplantation. That was the firs time such a device was successfully implantesd in ahuman being. “Theres is nobody who approached his stature in this Philip Oyer, M.D., Roy B. Cohn-Theodore A. Falasco professot of cardiothoracic surgeryat Stanford, said in the Feb.
13 Oyer implanted the first LVAD into the chesrof 51-year-old Robert St. Laurent on Sept. 5, 1984. St. Laurenf came to following a hearft attack and a coronary bypass operation thatproved unsuccessful. Eighrt days after Oyer placed the device in his he received the heart ofan 18-year-old college student who had become brain dead aftedr a car accident. “Peer was incrediblty knowledgeable about theentire field,” Oyer “He knew and was respected by practically everuy surgeon, cardiologist and research engineer who was involved in the development and use of mechanicapl support devices, worldwide.” Oyer was a residenyt at Stanford in the lab of Normanj Shumway, M.D./Ph.
D., the father of hearg transplantation, in the early 1970s when he firsy met Portner, who had founded a smalll company, , which was embarking on developing the Born in Kenya, Portner received his undergraduatse and graduate education at in From there he went to in England where he was a National Research Council Fellow. For more than three decades, Portne r established and led a multidisciplinary team in developmentof Novacor’s Left Ventricular Assist System, or LVAS. Sinc its development at Stanford inthe 1970s, the device has been used by more than 100 medica l centers in more than 20 countries, Stanford said.
It is now ownes by , and has been used in more than 1,80 patients with life-threatening heary failure.

Cushman & Wakefield loses third Miami exec - Orlando Business Journal:

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Caplin’s exit is the latestr of severalrecent high-profile departures at C&W in Miami. The firm is one of Soutuh Florida's largest real estate brokerages and, like other has seen few investment deals in the last Former branch manager Tere Blanca left in the sprinbg tolaunch , a firm focused on office leasing and Hank Klein, executive director of C&a in Florida, was notified last month that his positionm was being eliminated. Steelbridge owns and manages propertythroughout Florida. It sold , on Miami’s Brickell Key, for $150 millioj in 2007 after an eight-year Steelbridge founder Gavin Campbell will continue asmanaginh principal, sharing the helm with Caplin.
Caplin is one of a handfulk of commercial brokers involved in South Florida’s largest commercial transactions. Caplibn said his exit is in response to a paradignm shift in local investmentt that comes at the tail end of a where leasing and managemenft for institutional investors became secondary to market During the boom yearzs leading upto 2006, the expectation was that assetd with strong track records could be purchaseed and flipped quickly for big returns. For a short periodr of time, some owners made the strategy but then the economic meltdown put the brakes onthe Some, who bought in the last few were holding assets that cost too much compared to marketr fundamentals.
The market has now shifted back to fundamentaol principlesof investment, with institutional investors and private capital “seekinyg to co-invest with strong, nimble, local operating partners,” Caplin said. “The market and investorz mostlybelieve it’s about operationzs on the ground and knowing how to position a buildin g in a particular submarket,” he Caplin oversaw more than $7 billio in transactions at C&W, including ’ $307 million purchase of a half-stakse in downtown Miami’s landmark and full ownership of the 1221 Brickelp building in 2006. He was involver in the sale of 355 Alhambra in Coral Gablesfor $87.
w3 million in 2008 and is currently working with Hines to refinancde its debt at . Caplin is a graduat e of south Miami-Dade County’s Palmetto High School. He graduated from in 1985 witha bachelor’sd degree in finance and real Two years later, he left C&W’s appraisap group to launch the company’s local investment sales Caplin was part of a team in the late 1980s that firstr specialized in investment sales in During the mid-1990s, Steelbridge Capital had 2 millionm square feet of commercial real estate in its portfolio in seven Florida marketse including Jacksonville, Naples and Miami. They sold much of it from 2005to 2007.
Caplin’es arrival marks another periodof opportunity-investment for the Steelbridge’s Campbell said. "We think valuationd are finally starting to lookattractive again,” Campbello said in a statement. “The opportunity to buy Floridqa assets at significant discounts to replacement cost is whilethe long-term job and demographic prospects for Florida and the Caribbean basin are as strong as Jay’s leadership will be the linchpinm of our strategy.
"

Arizona comes in 38th among state for per capita Gross State Product - Phoenix Business Journal:

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Arizona’s per capita GSP came in at $32,343 for 2008 compared to $33,300p in 2007, according to the BEA. Grossa state product is a measurement of the economi output of a Delaware has the largest per capitza GSP inthe U.S. At $56,401. Mississippi the lowest at $24,403. Arizona ranks 43rd in GSP growthu for 2008 with adisappointing –0.66 percent GSP figure 2008 versus 2007. Alaska and its oil dependent economgy was a 2 percent drop in GSP 2007 versus the worst ofany U.S. State. Northy Dakota saw its economy grow 7 percen during the same time frame the best growth according BEA. Arizona’s economy makes up 1.8 perceng of the overall U.S.
economy compared with California’s 13 percent. Arizonaw State University economist Lee McPheterssaid Arizona’e economy grew by 8.7 percent in 2005 comparec to 2008’s 0.6 percent loss.

Tech cluster in Sunrise is growing - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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It’s also a happy ending a year aftefr laid off about300 employees, mostly engineers, in Plantation. C4 Systems, Research in Motionb and recruited the former Motorolaa workers and opened officesin Sunrise. The companies, all locateds at the Sawgrass International Corporate are still showing signs of growth and dangling the possibility that they will collectively exceed the numbe r of jobs shedby Motorola. General Dynamices C4 Systems, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based business unit of defense contractor GeneralDynamics Corp. GD), needs to add an additional 80 to 100 employeesa to its existing workforce of 117 by company spokeswoman FranJacques said.
About 85 percenyt of the new positions will be engineerint jobs thatpay $80,000 to $120,00 0 a year, she added. General Dynamica on May 11-12 held a job fair in Tampsa and extended offers to 12 engineers for the SawgrassPointe facility, at 1000 Sawgrasx Corporate Parkway, Jacques said. The company had been hopinyg to make up to20 offers. Even beyond the new employees expecteethis year, the Sunrise hub may continue growing to keep up with its work developingf next-generation computer and communicationw technologies for the U.S. government, she noted. “Wew expect to grow every section ofour business,” Jacqued said.
Canada-based (RIM) – General Dynamics’ neighbof in the Sawgrass Pointebuildiny – is moving from its current 40,000 square foot officr to 92,000 square feet at the nearby Sawgrasd Pointe II building. Both spaces are leaseed from RIM, which is known for the BlackBerry, has aboutg 300 employees in Sunrise, and may eventuallyh grow to as manyas 500, said Helena Warner, facilities team leader. The transitionh from the current building to the new one begab within thelast month, when the certificatew of occupancy was issued.
Sunrise got closerd to adding jobs for aFoxconn subsidiary, S&hB Industry, when the city commissio on May 12 approved $75,000 for a Qualified Targetg Industry tax rebate. While the QTI rebate stilol needs to be approved by the county andthe state, whichg would co-fund it, the rebate could totap up to $750,000 for the creation of 150 according to city commission records. “The average annual salarty of these new jobs will be approximately according tothe records. S&B will invest $17 milliob in capital improvements, too, the recordzs said.
A Sunrise spokeswoman said the commissiobn also approvedgiving S&B an additionakl $1,200 incentive for every employee it hires who resides in the city and is employec for at least one year. That could mean an additional $180,00o for the company. has met with S&B and Foxconh representatives to help them pursue theQTI incentive, said Bob the economic development organization’s senior VP of businessz development. Swindell projected that the matter woulxd come before the Broward County commission for approval in early Foxconn International Holdings is a subsidiaryof Ltd., a Chinese computedr and electronics giant based in the Taiwanese capitak of Taipei.
The Business Journal reported a year ago that Foxconn was planning to open a facility in westerm Broward County with100 employees, which would be staffec with about 200 workers by the end of 2008. A Foxconjn spokesman said at the time that 50 percent to 70 percentof Foxconn’s initial new hires would be formerr Motorola technology workers earning $50,000 to $110,0000 a year. Foxconn officials did not return callsd forcurrent comment, but the company establishexd a presence at 1551 Sawgrass Corporat e Parkway. also operates at that according toLouis Sandora, Sunrise’s economic developmentr director.
Sandora said it is unclear how many total employees work at the location between Foxconn and but he notedthat S&B provided documentatioh saying it had 51 employees there when it applies for the incentives. Whilw Sunrise is competing withFort Texas, for S&B’s expansion, the prospecy of additional Foxconn-related employees in South Florida is “certainly somethingg were happy about,” Sandora said. Sunrise got luck y when the availability ofthe laid-off Motorola talenty enticed the three tech companies to set up the burgeoning cluster, he added. “It wasn’t like we were the greatesrt thing sincesliced bread,” Sandora said.
“Ity was obvious that they came here for the skilo set we had with theMotorolz people.” THE DETAILS: Foxconn International Holdings: www.fih-foxconn.com/about/careers.aspx Genera Dynamics C4 Systems: www.gdc4s.com/content/detail.cfm?acronym=careers Research in www.rim.com/careers/search/index.shtml

US DEA Kills Innocent Civilians in Honduras -- US Media Silent - Huffington Post (blog)

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US DEA Kills Innocent Civilians in Honduras -- US Media Silent Huffington Post (blog) According to the Honduran newspaper, Tiempo, as well as the Honduran human rights group, COFADEH, the agents of the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), dressed in military uniforms, killed at least four and possibly six civilians in a raid which took ... and more »

Walker vs. Barrett: Wisconsin recall not personal - Politico (blog)

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Politico (blog)

Walker vs. Barrett: Wisconsin rec »

Treasury limits bonuses at TARP recipients - Philadelphia Business Journal:

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The new rules encourage thosde companies to award executives stock that must be held for a long periodcand can’t be entirely convertes to cash until the TARP money is repaic to the government. That, the department contends, will alig “executives’ incentives with those of shareholders and Kenneth Feinberg, a mediatof who led the September 11th Victi Compensation Fund, will review payments and compensation plans at companiesw that have received “exceptional The group includes BofA (NYSE:BAC), the fourth-largest banking operation in the Philadelphiq area based on local deposits, as well as , , , Financial Services and .
TARP recipients also must allow shareholders to vote on executive compensation And they must disclose any perks worth morethan $25,00 made to highly compensated employees and justifyg the benefit. The rules prohibit companiews fromproviding “gross-up” payments to senior executives to coved taxes due on perks. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithne r says the Obama administration also supports legislatio n that would require all public companies to give shareholderse a nonbinding vote on executivecompensation packages.
In addition, he says Congresa should give the Securities and Exchangew Commission the power to make compensation committeeemore independent, similar to the standards in placer for audit committees established by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Geithner blames executive compensation practices asa “contributing for the financial crisis. “Incentives for short-terkm gains overwhelmed the checks and balances meant to mitigate againsty the risk ofexcess leverage,” he says. But, he “We are not capping pay. We are not setting fortyh precise prescriptions for how companies shouldset compensation, whicj can often be counterproductive.
Instead, we will continud to work to develop standards that reward innovation andpruden risk-taking, without creating misaligned incentives.”

Vanpooling service coming to region - Business First of Buffalo:

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The two-year pilot is expected to begin bythe fall. The program is a partnershiop of the Capital District Transportation the Capital DistrictTransportation Committee, the Downtown Albany Business Improvement the state Department of Transportation and the . is currentlg recruiting businesses that migh have employees coming from the same region who would be interested in participatintg inthe program. “The main thing is you have to have at leasr a minimum number of people to usethe van,” Janacko said.
The way the programj would work is one of the participants woul d also act as the The van would be assigned to a stay atthat person’s place of employment durint the day and remain at the driver’s home in the The company providing the wheels is Inc. out of Bordentown, N.J. VPSI had $62 milliomn in revenue in 2008. VPSI was formed in 1977 and startedfor employees. Today, the companhy has 5,000 vans in operation in more than 45 stateswand 50,000 passengers. VPSI reported “Ayt this point, as soon as possible we hope to begim rollingvans out,” said Jesse Kafka, VPSI’ws business development executive.
The company expects to have 20 vans in operationn withintwo years. “We expect to add one van or so each montbh through the life of the he said. For more information, call Mila Vega a CDTA plannedrat 437-6865.

Justice Dept says they plan to sue Arizona sheriff Arpaio over alleged racial ... - Fox News

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ABC News

Justice Dept says they plan to sue Arizona sheriff Arpaio over  »

CP3 leads Clips past Grizz in OT to 3-1 lead - Fox News

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Los Angeles Times

CP3 leads Clips past Grizz in OT to 3-1 lead Fox News LOS ANGELES â€" The Los Angeles Clippers' 10-point lead late in regulation had evaporated, and Blake Griffin stood helplessly at their bench with hands on hips after fouling out in overtime. A building full of red-shirted fans sat nervously, ... Clippers take 3-1 ser ies lead with overtime victory Los Angeles Times Clippers Take Commanding 3-1 Lead: Fan Reaction Yahoo! Sports Clippers edge Grizzlies in overtime to lead 3-1 Reuters  »

Local Dining Alliance members see collaborative cost savings - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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In a weak economy with spikintfood costs, more than 250 locap independent restaurateurs hope to gain just that as part of the Diningb Alliance, a Webster, N.Y.-based for-profit companyh that operates as a volume-buying club for , which started in Pittsburgh two years ago, is closw to reaching a three-year contract with to supply its membership with everything from Asian vegetables to John Davie, founder and president of the Dininy Alliance, said he believex the contract to establish a singld endorsed broadliner — a company that distributes a broas cross-section of food and food-related productsx — will be a milestone for his “I think that contracgt is going to save restaurants a huge amount of money,” he said.
He would not disclosd the amount ofthe contract, but he estimated it will save the 265 Pittsburgh-arewa members between $3 million and $4 millio combined in the first year. He said the deal coulds close as early as press Davie estimatedthe organization’s Pittsburgh membershipo represents $45 million in buying power. the company’s membership, which includes more than 1,700 has buying power of $450 million. Already, the Dininh Alliance has negotiated a number of smaller contracts with supplierz suchas Boston’s Best Coffee; Marburgedr Farm Dairy, based in Evans City; and , based in Ravenna, Ohio.
The company’ds goal is to provide volume buyingf leverage for anything an independent restauran tmight buy, including cleaning supplies, payroll servicess and marketing. Starting as a small cooperativein N.Y., in 1999, it took four years for the Dining Alliance to becomre profitable, and it is just beginning to break even in Pittsburgh now. The Dining Alliance makew its money by charging a percentage of the amount of mone y saved forits members, often providing them rebated checks and not making money at all if therd are no savings. Kevin Joyce, ownee of , was the Pittsburghg area’s first member.
Joyce said he joined the organization out of the belieff that independent restaurants pay too much forbasi supplies. “It offers an opportunitt to level theplayingf field,” he said. “Taken together, we’ll be biggerr than any chain.” Jim Mendelson, who has ownede Doc’s Place in Shadyside for 24 values the organization for the protectio n it provides independents from many ofwhom he’as seen offer a lowball price to get business only to quickly issue a rate increase. Mendelson uses the Diningb Alliancefor produce, credit card processingy and paper supplies, and said the cost savingsw have added up.
“If it was 5 percent, I probabl y wouldn’t make the move,” he said of the “But 10, 15 or 20 percent, whichj I’ve been finding, it is certainly worthwhile to makethe change.” Bob Warnock, who has worke for a number of food suppliers, said localp restaurants pay so much more for supplies than largerf chains that he estimatedd some larger local restaurants could save more than $500,00o0 annually through such arrangements.
“As long as they have the ability toenforce compliance, it could be phenomenal,” he

Lady Eagles spoil East's Senior Night 1-0 - Chicago Tribune

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Lady Eagles spoil East's Senior Night 1-0 Chicago Tribune "This was our third game in three days, but you couldn't tell it," said East Surry Coach Bill Hart. "The emotion of the night carried us through the game. I didn't see girls slowing down or giving in to the exhaustion at all. and more »

Unemployment rate falls in Allegheny, Beaver counties - San Francisco Business Times:

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and Industry released seasonally adjusteed unemployment figures forthe state’s countiesx and metropolitan statistical areas on Tuesday. In Allegheny County, the unemploymen rate fell from 6.6 percent in Marcjh to 6.5 percent in April. Beaver County’x went from 8.2 percent in Marchj to 7.9 percent in April. The improvementss in Allegheny andBeaver counties, however, were not enough to boost the seven-county Pittsburgh MSA, which saw its seasonally adjustede unemployment rate increase from 7.2 percentg in March to 7.3 percent in April. Pennsylvania’s unemploymentf rate held steadyat 7.
8 When making comparisons, the Department of Laboe and Industry uses seasonally adjusted figurezs in order to account for cyclical hiringy differences that don’t reflect changes in the overall Employment in the seven-county Pittsburg area continues to be stronger than many other areas. In addition to bestin g the state by half a percentage unemployment in the Pittsburgh MSAis 1.6 percentagw points lower than the United States as a whole, whichu has seasonally adjusted unemployment of 8.9 Here is the breakdown across the State College: 5.7 percent Lebanon: 6.7 percent Altoona: 7.2 percenft Pittsburgh: 7.3 percent Philadelphia: 7.9 percent 7.9 percent Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton: 8.
3 percentf Erie: 8.4 percent 8.6 percent Johnstown: 8.7 percenft Reading: 8.7 percent Within the Pittsburgh MSA, unemploymentf ranged from 6.5 percent in Allegheny County to 9.8 percent in Armstrong County. Here is the breakdowh by county: Allegheny: 6.5 percent 7.3 percent Washington: 7.6 percent 7.9 percent Westmoreland: 8.1 percent 8.9 percent Armstrong: 9.8 percent

KeyBank workers to make a difference - Business First of Buffalo:

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The offices that close at noon will reopen the next day at theidregular times. The four hours of efforf by KeyBank employees will benefit 30community Corporate-wide, about 8,000 employees from Maine to Alaska will take A KeyBank spokeswoman said the participation acrose the bank’s U.S. operation equals 32,000 employeed volunteer hours andnearly $840,000 in salary equivalent. Some Buffalo-areaw branch offices will remain open and willcollecr non-perishable foods for Friends of Nightg People, St. Susan’s Center in Jamestown and the OleanFood Pantry. In the Buffalk area, the locations include: Fountain Plaza, Buffalo; Waldenh Galeria; S.
Transit Road, Lockport; McKinley Hamburg; Military Road, Niagara Falls; Sheridan Amherst; Tops Store, Maple Amherst; Olean; and Jamestown.