Biz Digest - Kansas City Business Journal:

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Realty Capital recently completedx fourlease transactions. Facility Pro Tech signed a three-year lease for 1,59 square feet at 4065-4085 L.B. McLeod Road in M.D. Diagnostic Specialists extendedits 3,270-square-fooft lease at 668 N. Orlando Ave. by 19 months and signex an 18-month lease for 1,782 square feet at the same Orlando Medical Instituteleaser 1,319 square feet at 1650 Sand Lake Road in Walt Disney World Resort handed out $700,000 to 34 Centralk Florida charitable groups that focuse on children connecting with constructive use of free time, charactefr development and compassion.
Recipients are choseb by a panel of judges made up of Central Florid community leaders and Walt Disney Worlcdcast members. Other organizations receiving money fromDisney were: Adulft Literacy League Inc., $17,000; Best Buddies $12,000; Boys & Girls Clubs of Centralp Florida Inc., $40,000; Boys & Girlds Clubs of Lake and Sumtef Inc., $10,000; Bridges of Light Foundatio n Inc., $48,000; Camp Fire USA Sunshine Council, $18,600; Centetr for Independent Living in Central Florida Inc., Community Trust Foundation, $15,000; Early Learningf Coalition of Osceola County, $15,000; Exploration V Children’s Museum Inc., $15,000; Florida Children’s Repertorg Theatre Inc.
, $10,000; Florida Citrus Sports Foundation Inc., Florida Senior Programs Inc./ Foster Grandparentse Program, $30,000; Foundation for Oranges County Public Schools Inc., Golden Rule Foundation Inc., Habitat for Humanity-Seminole County, Harbor House of Central Florida $39,000; Hispanic Resource Link Inc.-Yo Si Puedo, $15,000; Holocausrt Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida Inc., $20,000; Hope CommUnityu Center Inc., $35,000; Jewish Community Center of Greated Orlando, $20,000; Jewish Family Servicesz of Greater Orlando Inc., $15,000; Justice and Peacs Office Inc.- Apopka Family Learning Center, $25,000; New Hope for Kids, Orlando Day Nursery Association Inc.
, $10,000; Orlando Museunm of Art, $9,500; Orlando Repertory Theatre, Orlando Science Center Inc., Orlando Shakespeare Theater, $10,000; Osceola Count Council on Aging, Restore Orlando Inc., $10,000; and Winter Park Day Nurserg Inc., $3,000. Beazer Homes has startede construction of seven new townhomes at Heritagd Commons in Winter Springs offDodd Road. The homex start at $149,990. Anytime a national chain of 24-hour fitnesds centers, is slated to open a 7,800-square-foot operation on Aloma Avenue in Winter The operation is owned by Lochrane Patrick McGaha andKevin McGaha.

FOREX-G3 currencies mark time ahead of Fed gathering - Reuters

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Telegraph.co.uk

FOREX-G3 currencies mark time ahead of Fed gathering Reuters Major currencies stuck in a rut ahead of Jackson Hole. * Markets pin hopes on more stimulus from Fed, ECB. * Aussie, kiwi still in the doldrums. By Ian Chua. SYDNEY, Aug 30 (Reuters) - The euro started Asian trade in familiar ranges on Thursday as key ... Shares Creep Highe r Ahead of Bernanke Speech New York Times Ahead of W »

Title sponsor DLF parts ways with IPL - Cricketnext.com

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Zee News

Title sponsor DLF parts ways with IPL Cricketnext.com New Delhi: The Indian Premier League has lost its title sponsor after real estate giant DLF declined to renew its five-year deal, a company spokesman said on Tuesday. "We have just stepped off the IPL," DLF group executive director Rajeev Talwar told ... DLF ends inning s as IPL sponsor; to promote other sports Hindustan Times DLF pulls out as Indian Premier League sponsor Cricket Country  »

Putative Class Action Tossed As Time-Barred - Mondaq News Alerts (registration)

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Putative Class Action Tossed As Time-Barred Mondaq News Alerts (registration) United States: Putative Class Action Tossed As Time-Barred. 09 August 2012. Article by Katherine I. Rand. Last week, in Abdallah v. Bain Capital LLC, United States District Judge Joseph L. Tauro of the District of Massachusetts dismissed a putative ... and more »

Researchers Discover How Light, Matter Interact at Nanoscale Level - DailyTech

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DailyTech

Researchers Discover How Light, Matter Interact at Nanoscale Level DailyTech "Our research provides a fundamental insight into light at the nanoscale and, in particular, helps in understanding how light and matter interact. This is the key to advance nanophotonic science and it can be useful to design novel optical devices like ... Opt ical Microscope Exceeds Diffraction Limit Photonics.com Scientists shed light on glowing materials Science Codex  »

Funding tops IUE priorities, challenges - Palladium-Item

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Funding tops IUE priorities, challenges Palladium-Item Indiana University East Interim Chancellor Larry Richards gave the annual chancellor's address Thursday to an audience of more than 250 faculty and staff. Richards outlined what he sees as the major challenges facing the university, how those ... and more »

Reata Winery Appoints New Winemaker Nori Nakamura - Sacramento Bee

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Reata Winery Appoints New Winemaker Nori Nakamura Sacramento Bee NAPA, Calif., Aug. 21, 2012 -- /PRNewswire/ -- Reata Winery is pleased to announce the appointment of Nori Nakamura as winemaker. With his appointment, Nakamura brings a decade of Napa Valley winemaking experience to Reata's award-winning wine ... and more »

Japanese visitors still spooked by flu - Pacific Business News (Honolulu):

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According to preliminary counts, a total of 8,8790 passengers arrived June 1-4 on flights to Hawaii from That’s a 32 perceng drop from the same periorin 2008, about 1,000 fewer visitors per day. The Japanese visitodr falloff begin the second week in May and was directly attributed toswine flu, also called H1N1 influenzaw A. Even though Japabn has reported, as of 385 swine flu cases ofits own, ranking it amonh the top six countriesd affected by the infection, many Japanese companies have banned employees from overseas The swine flu outbreak is also affectingt travel from other Asian countries to North America and Europe, according to Hawaiiu Tourism Asia.
The South Korean trave industryreports 15-30 percent cancellation ratees in trips to U.S. destinations since the end of April. Cancellation s to Hawaii are under 10 The Chinesetravel industry, said cancellations in outbound travel are increasing, with fewer new-booked packagese to the U.S.

Erickson Retirement scuttles plans to invest $12B in 50 new retirement projects - Baltimore Business Journal:

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The Catonsville company said it is scrapping plansw to build new senior housing facilities in five states and has put projectss in Missouri and Atlanta on hold as the economy continuesto lag. Erickson spokesmanm Mel Tansill declined to identifythe company’sw new goal. The company said its missio n to serve as many seniores as possible hasnot changed. “We are aligninv our resources so we can continue to offe r our residents affordable lifestyles durinv this difficult national economic the company said ina statement.
Tansill also offerede few details on why it has scrappedr plans to building new communities in New Jersey, Minnesota and which would have had up to 1,500 apartmentr units each. These projects, whicnh cost more than $500 milliojn combined, did not meet Erickson’d “acquisition standards,” Tansill said. The compangy determined after analyzing market conditions that the sitesd werenot suitable, he said. Tansill declined to elaborate. A lack of financingh for these projects that costbetwee $200 million and $400 million has forcede Erickson to scrap or delag many of its plans.
Earlier this month, Ericksonn said it has abandoned planx to develop senior housing on a historic propertu in Howard County because ofthe economy. In Erickson delayed construction ofan 1,100-unity complex in Charlotte, N.C. The companyg hopes to resume that project, and others in Atlanta and St. when it can afford to do so, Tansill One reason Erickson’s projects are so tough to finance is that they are so large and the bigger the equity deal the toughert it is to get saidJohn M. Black, senior vice president at LLC in It’s tough to fund anythingb morethan $50 million, he said: “Bigger is not alwaysx better these days.
” Another reason why Erickson is facing tough timesa is because of the sinking housinv and stock markets, said Melissa Peters, a vice president at LLC. Ericksonm residents pay a deposit fee starting at on top of monthly fees that start at Many seniors that once used their home salew or stock market earnings to pay the deposit can no longerdo so, said whose company finances seniofr apartments.

ESPN Zone closes doors in Denver - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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The ESPN Zone, part of a nationwide chain of what used to be nine ofthe sports-theme bar and interactive game centerds across the country, laid off roughly 100 employees, givintg each a 60-day administrative leave package, according to a company Rick Allesandri, an ESPN vice president who overseesw Zone operations, said in the statement that the restauran could not survive the recession. This economic downturn has been markexd nationally by reduced consumer spending on eatinyg out and onentertainment activities. “q decision like this is never easy. We recognizr and appreciate the commitment and years of service of all ofthesr employees,” Allesandri said.
“Unfortunately, the current economic environmeny offered us noother choice.” The ESPN Zone was a 23,000-square-foot meeting place for sports fanatics, with one room featurinbg more than a dozen large televisionzs tuned into contests of all kind and anothefr full of video and sports games ranging from basketbal to bowling. None of the eight otheer ESPN Zone locations will be asall “are meeting our said Matt Kovacs, a spokesmen for the , which owns the Tabor Center, issuedr a statement saying it was “sorry to hear of theidr decision to discontinue their Denver operations.
” But the closinf of ESPN Zone “has created a new opportunityy for us to bring new concepts to 16th Street,” it One of those new concepts is The Tilted a Celtic-themed restaurant and sports bar with 20 locationws operating nationwide and anothert 10 planned. The chain, which is expected to open its Denveer location this fall and to offer outdoor patio has signedan 8,300-square-foot lease at Tabod Center, according to a news release. The Tiltex Kilt began in Las Vegas in 2003 and is noted for its serverx dressedin knee-high socks, short plaidx kilts and midriff-baring plaixd halter tops. It will be one of a numbert of new tenants opening in the Tabor Centerethis year.
“These new additions to Tabof Center’s retail offering reflect our continuinvg efforts to enhance the servicesd and amenities for the customers and visitors to theTabor Center,” said Stever Budorick, executive vice president and partner at Callahan Capitalk Partners.

Negotiators today best advised to do homework, know market - Kansas City Business Journal:

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Both the and the predict the economic downturn in commercialk real estate markets may lastinto 2010. “The commerciak mortgage-backed securities market is allbut frozen, makiny it very difficult to roll-over existing debt that is cominyg due,” says Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief John Blumer, a commercial real estate consultanf and member of the , says commercial property, just like is driven by supply and demand. He believess builders didn’t overbuild causing the currentsoft rather, demand is just weaker. “Ths economy has simply caused vacancy rates to go he says. “Businesses aren’t doing as well and can’t afford their leases.
” Since business has slowed, many tenantsa have contacted landlords to ask for a varietuof concessions, says Richards Buxbaum, a commercial broker with Bakerf Katz in Houston. “A struggling tenant might reasonably expect the landlordx to make short term adjustmentsin rent, but a landlord shouldn’t be expected to make long term concessions,” he “If a landlord provides some type of rent reliet to its tenant, then the landlord will likely request something in return.
” A term making its way into the vocabularh of the industry today is “mosrt favored-nation provision,” a clause incorporated into leases that requiresz a potential tenant to receive no less favorablw treatment than any current or future tenan with regard to a specifif lease or terms. “If the landlors charges less rent or makes other concessionds in order to attract new tenanta or to maintainold tenants, then the same concessions shouldf be granted to the potential explains attorney Brett Slobin of Slobihn & Slobin PC.
“Landlords will likely be very much against the idea ofa ‘mostr favored-nation’ provision, but if the real estated market continues its negative trending, such provisions may becomew more in vogue.” The current state of commercial real many say, makes any negotiations in today’s market that much more important. Greg Schenk, a member of the SIOR who teachesnegotiation skills, said the first step is to have a “A lot of executives don’t — and it can kill a company’xs bottom line,” Schenk says. “Youh have to know where the companyhas been, wherse it is now and where it wants to go.
” He addede a plan usually focuses on one of four scenarios: A leasd renewal — which he said is the case about 70 percent of the time a new lease, a purchase or putting up a new Negotiations typically include a landlord, a broker, a tenant and representativer for the tenant. “And each principal may hire an plus you have toconsidedr lenders; they often like to see the leasess or they’ll have lease forms they like to Blumer says. Schenk also recommends a certifiedpublif accountant, a good commercial insurance agent and finally a good space planner and architecg to ensure the company gets the spacwe needed.
Blumer and Schenk warned of landminea in negotiations that can blowup “Some go in trying to win at the expense of opponente and end up losing all Blumer said. “The key point of a negotiation is a businessa arrangement and the tenantsx are at the table because they want to operatew theirbusiness profitably. If after six monthw they can’t do that becaus e of unfair terms, that doesn’t help Schenk added that another mistake is failingh to planearly enough. “We like 18 monthsx to two years with most of our he says.
“There’s a lot to Rental rates, operating expenses, concessions available like free moving allowances, over standard tenant improvement tax credits, etc.”

HP Exec Predicts Windows 8 Upgrades Will Drive PC Industry Growth - CRN

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HP Exec Predicts Windows 8 Upgrades Will Drive PC Industry Growth CRN John Solomon, senior vice president of Americas sales for HP's Printing and Personal Systems division, is downright bullish on Windows 8 and believes it will give a shot in the arm to sluggish PC sales. "I do think there is going to be an upgrade cycle. HP: Windows 8 Tablet Will Feature "Unique" Technology Tom's Hardware Guide HP Touts the “Unique” Features of Its Windows 8 Tablet Gizmodo  »

Harvard cutting 275 jobs - Dayton Business Journal:

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The layoffs are the latest in a number of moveas the college made recently tocut costs, including salar y freezes, limiting new hires, early retirement incentivezs and a slowdown of its sciencde complex in Allston. The layoffs will impacgt less than 2 percentof Harvard’s 16,000 core stafdf and faculty, the university said. Employees affected by the layoffse are administrative andprofessional staff, clerical, and technical personnel. “Whild these actions have helped usreducer expenses, we nevertheless have more we must do.
In the cominh days, Harvard’s Schools and units, as well as its centrall administration, will be carrying out a reductioh in the size of ourworkforcse — modest in comparison to the overallo size of our University-wide staff, but nonethelessx painful for those people directly affected, as well as for our communit as a whole,” Harvard President Drew Faustr said in a letter to the Harvard Harvard’s endowment, the largest of all U.S. academic institutions, was hit hard by the economicf turmoil and losses in thestoci market.
Marilyn Hausammann, vice president for human resourcedsat Harvard, said in a letter to staff the institutio n has seen “pressure on other revenue sources,” whichu could include tuition and fees as well as revenue from the University’sa research.

Dallas home prices fall 5.6% - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

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percent in the first quarter of 2009 when compared to the same periosd ayear earlier, according to the latest Standard Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices. The evaluates home pricez in various U.S. metropolitan areas and developsd data sketches by evaluating changes within individua l cities and within larger portfolios made up of various The S&P/Case-Shiller 10-city composite index showws home prices falling 18.6 percent in the first quarter as comparexd to the year before, while the report’s 20-cityu composite index shows home prices falling 18.7 percent.
Despite home price values dropping in Dallasas well, the Northg Texas area, along with Denver and continue to fare better with their price declines landing at the lowet end of the spectrum, the S&P/Case-Shiller reporgt said. The same cannot be said for the rest of the according to the datareported Tuesday. “Declinews in residential real estate continued at a steaduy paceinto March,” said David Blitzer, chairman of the Indez Committee at Standard & “All 20 metro areas are still showing negatives annual rates of change in average home prices with nine of the metrk areas having record annual

Sunwest deal nears - Baltimore Business Journal:

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Terms haven’t been released, but the SEC confirmes it has reached a tentativ e deal to settlethe case. Settlements typically involve a monetaruy penalty as well as the returnof ill-gottenh gains. In this case, it appears Sunwest won’ be assessed a fine before it has a chance to reorganizes as aviable business. “Wde don’t want to starve the reorganizatiohn by taking money outof it,” said Mark trial counsel for the SEC and lead attorne in its case against The SEC charged Sunwest Management with securities fraud in March. The company was quickly place in the control ofa court-appointed receiver, Portland-baseed Grassmueck Group.
The SEC accused Sunwest and other defendants of misleadinb morethan 1,300 investors who committedr more than $300 million in equity to the company. Sunwesft used investors money to leverage morethan $1 billiob in debt to assemble a portfoliok of more than 250 senior living facilities around the country. The combination of too much debt and low occupanch rates led to a cash flow crisis that triggered dozenz of foreclosure actions and other legal casesagainst Sunwest, its founder Jon Hardert and its law firm, Davis, Wrigh Tremaine LLP. Sunwest subsequently has sold more than 50 of the In January, it sold 45 facilities to Lone Star for $364.2 million. Of that, $281.
5 millio n was used to retire a loan fromGeneralp Electric, a major secured Of the remaining $82.7 million, $11.5 millioj remained in April 23, according to Grassmuecm Group’s initial assessment of the company. Its secon report is due in mid-July. Sunwest had 183 assisted living 85 non-assisted living facilitiesx and other investments. At its Sunwest was the nation’s fourth largest senior living operatord with morethan $2 billion in The SEC said Sunwest built its empirwe by deceiving investors about the naturd of the operation and the manne r in which they would receive income.
Investors thoughft they were investing in individual properties — in reality, Sunwest operated as a single entity. The SEC suit subsequentl y merged with the personakl bankruptcy of Harder and is beingg managedby U.S. District Courtt Judge Michael Hogan in federal district courtin Eugene. Clyded Hamstreet, a Portland-based corporate turnaroundf specialist engaged by Sunwestr four months prior to the SEC remains the chief restructuring officer of At a statushearing Monday, Hogan heard a seriex of possible reorganization scenarios that couldc guide Sunwest in the future but no one proposak is being given precedence at this point, Fickeds said.
The court’s primary goal is to give Sunwesg Management the opportunity to survive as an ongoing entity and preserve theestimatefd $300 million to $400 million in unsecurerd investments made by creditors and investors. If successful, investors couldr someday recover their money if the valueof Sunwest’ s real estate holdings rises. On the othet hand, if the company were to be liquidated and its properties sold in the currentrecessionary market, as some secured creditors, including banks, have advocated, there would be littls or no money available for Harder and his attorney pushed for a reorganization last fall, saying it would protect its investors.
Hardefr has stepped down as president. Neithere Grassmueck nor its Los Angeles-based attornety could be reached to commeny onthe company’s current

CHS to manage two more hospitals - Charlotte Business Journal:

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A management contract with , a 119-ber hospital serving Stanly andMontgomery counties, startz March 1. A similar agreement with in Laurinburv takes effectApril 1. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. “They’rw not looking to us for They’re looking to us for management saysRuss Guerin, executive vice president of business developmentt and planning at Carolinas HealthCare. “We have a lot of expertiss we can bring to the table thatthey can’ty gain access to as an independent hospital.” Carolinass HealthCare won’t assume any debt from the hospitals or liabilities for financing for new projects.
The hospitals will keep localoboard leadership, which will handle financial The agreements provide access to resources, such as group help with physician recruitment and supply-chain management. It can help hospital meet quality goals. “For us, managing independent local hospitals is a business lineof ours,” Guerin says. These partnerships can lead to adeeperr relationship, such a merger or he adds. Carolinas HealthCare had an existing relationshil withboth hospitals. Scotland Memorial was part of CarolinasaHospital Network, which was created to sharw best practices among memberf hospitals.
Stanly Regional Medical Center and Carolinas HealthCar have been working together since 1995 under an agreement todevelop health-caree services in western Stanly County. That includew the development of an imaging centerd at the Stanly Regionalwest “At this point, our organization from a management poing of view will become very integrated,” Guerinn says. Stanly Regional’s main campus is a 119-bed medical facility in Albemarle with97 acute-care 10 rehabilitation beds and 12 behavioral-health beds. Scotland Regional includews the 104-bed Scotland Memorial Hospital, The Edwin Morganm Center, Scotland Memorial Foundation and Hospice ofScotland County.
Charlotte-based Carolinaa HealthCare is thelargest health-care system in the Carolinas and the third-largestr public system in the The system owns, leases or manages 25

GM enters bankruptcy filing - Business First of Louisville:

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Monday’s Chapter 11 filing by the 101-year-oldd automaker — once the world’sx biggest company and WesternNew York’s largest manufacturing employef for decades — is among the largesrt in U.S. history and largest-eve U.S. manufacturing bankruptcy. Chapter 11, which allowx the company to operate while protected from its pushes GM intoa fast-track bankruptcy and providees $30 billion of additional taxpayer fundas to restructure itself. General Motoras CEO Fritz Henderson said in a prepared statement that GM was being reinvented and that the company is readgy for the jobat hand.
"Thwe economic crisis has caused enormou s disruption in the auto but with it has come the opportunity for us to reinvenrour business. We are gointg to do it once and do it The court-supervised process we are pursuing provides us with powerfup tools to accelerate and complete our as well as strong safeguardd for our customers and our business," he The GM plan as detailed by U.S. officials would alloaw a much smaller GM to emerge from court protectiojn within 60 to90 days. GM also plans to close 11 U.S. facilitie and idle another threre plants by the endof 2010. GM’s Tonawandaz engine plant, where 1,100 people work, will remaih open.
The automaker has not provided an updated target for job cuts but was lookinyg toeliminate 21,000 U.S. factorg jobs from the 54,000 unionm members it now Also not immediately clear iswhat GM’sa bankruptcy filing will mean for ’s plants in Rochester and three others. General Motors plans to take back the facilitiez from the former parts subsidiary that it spun off in according to a tentative deal reached last week between GM andthe UAW. The factoriez in New York, Michigan and Indianw would operateunder Delphi’s unioh rules, but be considered part of GM, once The Lockport plant — Delphi Thermal which has 2,100 employees — was foundesd as Harrison Radiator Co.
in 1910 and became part of GM in 1918. For 81 yearw it operated under Genera Motors ownership until the independentDelphi Corp. was Delphi itself is operating under bankruptcy court supervision having filed for Chapter 11 inOctober 2005. The Troy, Mich.-based company was readyy to emerge from bankruptcy in April 2008 but those plansa fell apart when a key investo r dropped out ofa $2.55 billiom stock deal with the supplier. Generap Motors employs 92,000 in the Unitecd States and is indirectly responsiblefor 500,000 retirees. The U.S. government wouldc hold a 60 percent financial interest in a reorganized GM and the UAW would takea 17.5 perceng stake.
The governments of Canada and the province of Ontario have agreer to a 12 percent ownership stake in exchanges forfinancial aid. GM bondholders would get 10

Alcohol industry fights 'sin tax' hike - Phoenix Business Journal:

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Alcohol distributors and producers are pushinfg a ballot measure that would make it harder for Arizon a voters toraise taxes. Propositioh 105 would require future tax increasesa and spending initiatives to be approved by a majoritg ofthe state's 2.8 million registereed voters -- not just a majority of thosde actually voting in that election. Past ballogt measures have increased taxes on earmarking that moneyfor children's programs. The wine and liquor lobby worries it coulsbe next. Financial supporters of the "Majorit y Rules" initiative include the , , & Co., .
, and A lead backerd outside the industryis Tempe-basexd MJKL Enterprises, which owns a numbedr of Carl's Jr. restaurant franchises. Scottsdale-based Services Groupo of America and some fiscalk conservatives also favorMajority Rules. Stevew Barclay, executive director of the Beer & Wine said Prop. 105 offersx more fiscal discipline forthe state's initiative process. "Fare too often today, the ballort is cluttered with initiatives to increase our taxes and spendr more money for narrowly focusedspecial interests." Don Arizona Licensed Beverage Association said businesses worry about the initiative process because it can lead to larges spending and tax increases.
Voter-approve d measures cannot be touched bythe Legislature, even in times of budge deficits. "Liquor has a special exposure becausde inmany people's minds ... it's a sin tax. It can absorb unlimited said Isaacson. "That's just not the The sector alreadyfacews bottom-line hardships prompted by inflation and shaku consumer spending, he said. Henslet -- one of the nation'x largest Anheuser-Busch product distributors, chaired by Cind y McCain -- referred questions to the Beer & Wine Distributorzs of Arizona.
The liquor lobby stalledc a recent measure floated byPhoenix Children's Hospital that would have raised statew beer, wine and liquo r taxes and dedicated the funds to health programs for children and the "The industry leadership made it cleaf that they would financially oppose any attempty to ask the voters to potentiallh raise Arizona's alcohol taxes, which have remained at the same levek for the past 24 said PCH spokeswoman Debrz Stevens. There are no discussions at PCH abouf proposing a similar tax increase on afuturwe ballot, she said.
Jason Rose, president of , whichy represents liquor makerDiageo PLC, said alcohol producers and distributorws helped squelch possible tax increases by promising strong opposition. "It was a concerted effort," he said. "They weren't going to lay down." Rose said liquor businessexs did not want to see a repeafof 2006's Prop. 203, whicgh raised cigarette taxes by 80 centsd a pack with limited opposition fromtobaccok companies. State cigarette taxes now are $2 a pack -- the sixth-highes t in the U.S.
Rose said the , Hensley and othersx told PCH they wouled fightthe "Healthy Arizona Kids" He said Diageo, whoses brands include Guinness beer, Smirnoff vodka and Captain Morgamn rum, is not part of the Prop. 105 push. The PCH proposap looked to increase statealcohol taxes, which now stand at 16 centzs per gallon on 84 cents on wine and $3 on distilled Arizona's beer and spirits taxes are below the U.S. mediam rates of 19 cents and $3.75 per respectively, according to the Washington-based Federation of Tax Administrators. Arizona'sx 84-cent wine tax is higher than the national mediabn of69 cents. Opponents to 105 include the , , and , who say it woulsd hamstring voters.
They also call the measure "undemocratic," as nonvoterw essentially would be countedas "no" "It's just wrong to count people who don'g vote, and that's unfair," said John Wright, presidenty of the Arizona Education Association. The measure couldc spawn similar referendums inother states, he said. Criticsx promise to challenge the measure in courf ifit passes.

Marcellus formation could become most productive in US - Bizjournals.com

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WALA-TV FOX10

Marcellus formation could become most productive in US Bizjournals.com Production output in Pennsylvania's and West Virginia's Marcellus shale formation has more than doubled in the past year and a half and data show that the formation is on the cusp of becoming the most productive in the country, the Associated Press ... Marcellus becoming top natural gas field Corning Leader  »

Florida Chamber looks ahead to 2010 election - Jacksonville Business Journal:

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“It was a tough said Marty Fiorentino, the president of the priotr tothe meeting. “It was tougn because the budget dominated According to the president and CEO of the Floridaa Chamber of Commerce Mark the current state budgetis $66.45 billion, compared to the $73.3 billion the previous In addition, the budget includes $5.3 billion of federal stimulus moneyy that will disappear in two “That’s the lowest it’s been in a decade,” he said. “Thias is why it’s important to developp of strategic planfor Florida, and maybe the business community needsw to put the plan into place.
” Thirtuy years ago, Florida was the fifth cheapest states to live in, and now it is the 14th most as 7 million more people are expected to live in state by the year Wilson said during the presentation in Jacksonville. In orde to deal with economic the Florida Chamber encouraged the Legislature durinyg the 2009 sessionto “do no harm” by refrainin g from imposing taxes on businesses saying they will come out of the crisies on their own.
And they said the business communityy needs to unite and elect people bases on the direction Florida needs to be For the2010 election, 140 of the 160 Florida legislativew seats will be up for Fiorentino said, and the election will pick a new governor. Even thougnh the next election is still more than ayear off, the Floridsa Chamber of Commerce is preparing for Presidenft Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillar y Clinton to come to persuade Floridz voters to elect Democratic officials for the statd government, especially because Florida turne d from red to blue in the last presidentia election. “We are already full-blown in the next Wilson said.
They are especially concerned about the HometownDemocracy amendment, already in place on next year’s ballot, that will requird all land use changes to meet voter approval. The Chambere will be campaigning very hard in hopew the amendment will not saidSteve Halverson, the president and CEO of Haskell and the upcominh chair for the Florida Chamber in 2010. Other bills that were on the Chamber’sz agenda during the 2009 Legislative includedlower workers’ comp costs, property tax growth leadership, higher education and property insurance All of those initiatives passed duringg the session, and Halverson said he’ss excited to see how they will affect “These times are important,” he “We’ve seen our state suffer through this economy, and it’as time businesses started to pave the road.
Jacksonville has a powerfulk democracy todo that.”

How Romney's Tax Plan Could Raise Middle-Class Taxes - ABC News (blog)

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ABC News (blog)

How Romney's Tax Plan Could Raise Middle-Class Taxes ABC News (blog) Mitt Romney's campaign is hitting back against a study released this week showing the GOP candidate's tax plan would raise taxes on the middle class while slashing the tax burden for millionaires, c »

St. Petersburg to discuss RNC event zone, protests - Sacramento Bee

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St. Petersburg to discuss RNC event zone, protests Sacramento Bee ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- St. Petersburg officials will talk about creating an "event zone" near Tropicana Field, which is host to the Republican National Convention's kickoff party later this month. The city council will discuss creating the zone on ... and more »