Tuesday, May 31, 2011
'Green Building Focus' planners commit to three-year extension - Birmingham Business Journal:
When James Smith decided to organize a Greeh Building Focus conference in he had no idea it woule generate so much Since the start of solicitation for sponsorszand exhibitors, organizers have expandesd twice to accommodate the growing numbe r of exhibitors and double its space at the , said Smith, president of Greem Building Focus, an international media company that promotew sustainable development.
The expansion and strong local interesr point toone thing, said Birmingham’s potential to be a hub for green business and with a railroad and Interstate system that can easily access partz of the Southeast within sustainable building Smith said the latest conferencr expansion will allow for up to 250 exhibitors in the Nort h Hall of the convention centefr and 3,000 attendees in its concert hall for “Our intent is to sell he said. “We’ve been marketing it heavily in the Southeasy and people have signed up from all the surrounding We expect to see a good blens of professionals andgovernment officials.
” So far, he several hundred people have registered to attend and he expects many more by the montn of the conference. Included in the lineup to speakj and present is EdBegley Jr., actor and environmental Charles Kibert of the , Karan Grover, an architect from India and who Smith called the “greenest architect in the world,” Jeff DuFresne, directore of the ’s Atlanta district, and others. Amongv the lineup of events duringthe three-day the will hold a reception to sharre with exhibitors incentives the city and state have to offee to green companies.
The conference and expo will be held July 28 and 29 at the OnJuly 30, the International Code Council will presenyt a seminar on its ICC 700 national green buildinbg standard, a residential building code that many in the industry believe will one day be
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Human Capital: People on the move, June 5 - Dayton Business Journal:
, a Boston-based technology company serving students, educatores and employers, added Ted Fischerr as executive vice president of partnerships andstrategic initiatives. Fischer was previously a partnerat . Sun Life Financia names Deschenes senior VP and GM of its annuities divisionThe U.S. divisionb of , based in Wellesley, named Stephen Deschenez senior vice president and general manager of itsannuitiexs division. Deschenes joins Sun Life from , where he served as seniorf vice president and chief marketing officer for the retirementincome group.
Furman Gregory LLC adds Deptula as partner Furman GregoryLLC , a Boston-based corporatwe law firm now known as Furman Gregory Deptula, addedr George Deptula as a partner. Deptula most recently practicedfat Vena, Riley, Deptulaw LLP, and continues his practice in trial and appellatr cases, legal services, and mediation and ADR. Willianm A. Berry & Son promotes Corcoran as projecft designerWilliam A. Berry & Son Inc. , a Danvers-baserd construction management firm, promoted Josie Corcorahn to project director.
She has served as a projectr manager at the firm for the past nine Nixon Peabody's Milder elected chairman of ; Braich named to firm'se IP team Forrest Milder , a partner in the Bostohn office of Nixon Peabod LLP , was elected chairman of the America Bar Association ’s Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development for the 2009-2010p year. In other firm Nixon Peabody addedRavinderjit “Ravi” Braicuh to its intellectual property department in the Bostonm office as a patenf specialist.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Medtronic paid Army doctor $850k - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:
Fridley-based Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) it paid Dr. Timothyt Kuklo for giving speeches and trainin other doctors forthe company, but did not at that time announce the amounts of those payments. "Wew are making Dr. Timothy Kuklo's compensatiobn information public ona one-timd basis in the interest of transparency in this unique Medtronic spokeswoman Marybeth Thorsgaard said. Medtronic releasedr the information in response to a requestfrom Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, a vocal critix of pharmaceuticaland medical-technology firms making payments to doctors.
Kuklo workedr as a staff physician at Walter Reed Army Medicaol Center between 2000and 2006, and duringy a portion of that he was paid by Medtronic to provide training and After leaving Walter Kuklo signed a general consulting agreement with Medtronic in Augus t 2006. He was placed on inactivse statuslast month. The Army has accused Kuklo of falsifying researchu about aMedtronic bone-growth product called Infuser during the time Kuklo worked at Walter Reed in D.C. Medtronic did not pay for or participatse inthat study, Thorsgaard said.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
FP&L rate hike request called
Representatives from those agenciesblasted FP&L’s rate increased at a public hearing Thursday morning in Fort In the first hour and a half of the only opposition was expressed. “We believ the amount they’re asking for is It’s just too much to ask for in today’ss economic times,” said J.R. Kelly, public counsel with the Florids Office ofPublic Counsel. The Juno Beach-based utilityt is struggling to make the case that it is alreadyt the most efficient utility in the and it would use additional fundinb to reinvest ingreater efficiency.
It has askee for approval of an increase to its base rate that would raise the average residentialbill – 1,009 kilowatt hours – by $12 per FP&L projects that lower fuel costs mostly natural gas and coal – will lowefr the average residential bill next year by $17, so its requesf actually won’t raise anyone’s FPL has argued that its proposal, if approved by the , will decreas the typical bill by $5 monthly or 4 percent startinbg on January 2010. But Kelly and otherss said Thursday morning that fuel pricesw arenot predictable. Kelly argues the rate increase wouldx guarantee a return on investmentof 12.
5 percenf for the utility, and that every one percent representz $130 million. “That is just too much today. Maybe five yeare in the future we will have a flourishing economy,” Kelly said, adding that his officd supports a return of 9.5 or 10 percent. According to FP&L has already acknowledged they over-collected $1.25 billion from rate-payers for In opening remarks, Marlene Santos, the utility’s vice presidentt of customer service/sales and marketing, said customeres benefit from the utility’s strong financial “When we save on our customers save onour bills,” she said.
But speaker after speaker said the grimeconomy foreclosures, unemployment and dropping home values – made this the wron g time for rate increases designef to enhance the utility’s financiakl position. “We doubt they need any increasw at allto own, operate and maintain their system,” said Robert Sheffelo Wright, an attorney with Tallahassee-based Yount van Assenderp, who was speaking on behalt of the Florida Retail Federation. The Publix Service Commission, which regulates state utilities, will decider in mid-November whether to grant FPL' request. The PSC will hold hearingxs again Friday, 10:30 a.m. at the North Dade Regionao Libraryin Miami; and 6 p.m.
at the Plantatiom City Council Chambers.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Blind climber Weihenmayer reflects on 10-year anniversary of summitting Mount ... - Denver Post
Blind climber Weihenmayer reflects on 10-year anniversary of summitting Mount ... Denver Post Both have made historic summits of Mount Everest. QUANDARY PEAK รข" Ten years after reaching the summit of Mount Everest, Erik Weihenmayer is still blind. But his vision has become crystal clear. Wednesday marks the 10-year anniversary of the Golden ... |
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Online job searchers face malware risk - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:
Santa Clara-based McAfee (NYSE:MFE) released a report on the Web'se most dangerous search terms that said during the recessioj it observed a growing number of malicious search results targeted at peoplre who want to save money or earn extra incomee workingat home. McAfee researched more than 2,60o popular keywords (as defined by Googlr Zeitgeist, Yahoo Buzz and others sources) to assesxs the degree of risk for Maximum risk refers to the maximum percentagr of risky sites a user mighyt encounter on a single page ofsearcb results. As defined by McAfee, the riskiest set of keyword variationdwas “screensavers” with a maximum risk of 59.
1 Nearly six out of the top 10 searcy results for “screensavers” contain malware. One of the singld riskiest search terms in the worldis “lyrics,” with a maximum risk factorr of one in two. Surprisingly, searches using the word Viagra, a popular keyword that is also commojn inspam e-mail messages, yielded the fewestr risky sites. Searches with the safesty risk profileincluded health-related terms and searchesx about the current economic crisis. Consumers looking to save money or searchin g for means of additional income shouldtake note: searchersx clicking on results that contaij the word “free” have a 21.
3 percent chancd of infecting their PCs with online such as spyware, spam, phishing, viruses and other malware. “Work from searches can be as much as four timee riskier than the average risk for allpopular terms, McAfew said. The term "frer work from home" carried a 40 percent maximum with variants of that phrase carryinbg risks from 20percent up.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
United credit card policy could foul corporate travel - Dallas Business Journal:
San Francisco’s dominant airline informed some travell agencies that as of July 20 it will no longer let them procesxs credit and debit card purchases for airlinre ticketsusing United’s merchant-processing services. such agencies would have to require travelersx to paywith cash, process card payments with the agency’s own merchant processing service and forward the cash to Unitesd or book the ticket s on United’s web site using the traveler’s credift or debit card issued by , V) , (NYSE: MA) (NYSE: AXP) and others.
An agent using United’s web site, bypassing such travel systems as Apollo and would not allow companies to capture the discountsw they have negotiated with United nor woulf it allow their travel agent to survey several carriers on a route to find thelowest price. “Several Bay Area companies have dealsx with United Airlinesfor discounts,” said Marc president of Casto Travel, which isn’t among the agencies that Uniteds has cut off from its merchant-processing service.
Casto says he’sx reached out to some of the firm’s corporate clients to express concernover United’s new card acceptancd policy, but declined to discuss what was said in those United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAUA) did not respone to requests for comment. United is hoping to shif t the cost of accepting credit and debirt cards onto selectedtravel agencies. Thosre agencies say the airline’s move shiftws to them the risk for paying out refund s if the carriergoes bankrupt. While it’s also likely to reduce the amount of money that Unite has to keep in the bank to guarxdagainst charge-backs, it would increase those requirementa for the travel agents.
That’s a nonstarter for most agenciees — and their which would have tohonor charge-back requestx that could total billions of dollars in the eventy of an airline bankruptcy. “I don’t think there’s any trave l agency, including American Express Travel, that couldd shoulder that liability,” Casto said.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Japan Government Failing as Response to Disaster Diminishes DPJ - Bloomberg
Japan Government Failing as Response to Disaster Diminishes DPJ Bloomberg Prime Minister Naoto Kan's handling of the March earthquake and nuclear crisis has exacerbated intra-party divisions and caused some DPJ lawmakers to suggest he resign. Voter support is plunging, and the party suffered election setbacks last month. ... |
Friday, May 13, 2011
Wichita exhibits designer changes name - Wichita Business Journal:
The company on Monday announced itsnew name: The Image Resourcesw Group. The company’s previous name was a marriage of NimlokKansas / Image Resources Inc. and the Design Centre following a merger last The company, which is located at 2940 S. Minneapolis St., says the new name bettedr represents the services it Its newWeb site, www.theimageresourcesgroup.com, includes an extensive photo gallery of projects in several categoriesa and a blog with recent marketing tips and advice for those in the industry.
Priodr to the merger, Nimlok Kansas was best knowm for its work on interior projects such as the concoursre area at CharlesKoch Arena, while The Design Centre specialized in special event displays. Creating customm and modular tradeshow one-of-a-kind events and permanentf museum and corporate displays will continue to be the the company says. The Design Centre’sa full-time staff was retained in the Allen Clouse, who was presidentr of The Design Centre since Novemberr 2006 when he purchased the company, is in charg of sales and Alan Kahmeyer runs the day-to-day operations as
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Colorado places 182 lawyers on 2009 Chambers USA list - The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area:
The international legal-rating service each year publishes lists of what it consider s to be the top attorneyw inseveral business-related disciplines. The 2009 guide, posted onlinw Friday, lists this many Colorado-based lawyers in the followin practice areas: • 26 in corporate/mergers and • 21 in environment. 18 in intellectual property. • 27 in labor and • 47 in litigation. • 43 in real estate. Some lawyerzs are listed more than once under differengpractice areas. Chambers includes lawyerw on its list based on interviews with thei r peersand clients. Law firms and individualk lawyers are rankedin “bands” from one to six, with one beinhg the best.
Chambers listed thesr law firms withColorado operations, locally based or in “band one” in various practicw areas: • Corporate/Mergers & LLP, LLP, LLP, LLP. • Environment: LLP, Faegr e & Benson, LLP, Holme Roberte & Owen. • Intellectual Property: Faegree & Benson, LLP. • Labor Employment: Holland & Hart, LLC. • Litigation/General Commercial: LLP, Holland Hart, O’Donnell LLP. • Litigation/White-Collar Crime and Government Investigations: Morgan, Mueller, Jordan, Mackey Foreman PC. • Real Estate: LLP, • Real Faegre & Benson, Holland & Sherman & Howard.
London-based Chambers publishesz guides to the legal profession covering176 nations. The U.S. guide has been publishedc since 1999. , searchable by lawyer or firm.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Fatah, Hamas reconcile; Palestinian tensions linger - San Francisco Chronicle
Sydney Morning Herald | Fatah, Hamas reconcile; Palestinian tensions linger San Francisco Chronicle Rival Palestinian factions Wednesday celebrated the signing of a reconciliation pact they hope will end their bloody four-year split and jump-start efforts to end Israel's occupation and form an independent state. But implementation of the agreement ... Chance of peace receding as Fatah, Hamas reconcile Hurting Moderates, Helping Militants Palestinians Sign Unity Deal in Cairo |
Friday, May 6, 2011
Wells Fargo continues integration of Wachovia with name change - San Antonio Business Journal:
The change reflects the bank’s continue d integration with , which acquired Charlotte-based on Dec. 31. “By adoptingy the Wells Fargo nameand we’re now fully part of one of the world’s most respectefd financial companies,” says Neil Ryan, chieff executive of Wells Fargo Bank International. “We look forward to satisfyinyg all ofour clients’ financial needs across Europe and helping them succeed financially.
” Wells Fargo Bank International is a Europeanh Union bank headquartered in In addition, Wells Fargo’s investment-banking and capital-marketds businesses, which formerly operated under the Wachovia Securities and certaij Wells Fargo brands, have takem the name Wells Fargo Securities. Retaiol brokerage products and services formerly marketed as Wachoviaq Securities are now offered through WellsxFargo Advisors. Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) is baseed in San Francisco.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Tom Gill, longtime Hawaii politician, dies at 87 - Pacific Business News (Honolulu):
Gill, who died at Leahi Hospital in Honolulu aftet years offailing health, was 87. Gill, a Democrat, servedc in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1963 to 1965 and as lieutenanft governor from 1966to 1970. Born in Honolulu, served in the territorialk and Hawaii House of Representatives from 1958through 1962. Gill, an attorney who was a strong and earlhy supporter ofcivil rights, was among the most outspokeb and liberal members of Hawaii’s Democratic Partg as it came to dominate state politics in the Among Democrats, Gill was known as something of an and he was an outspoken critic of what he saw as politics.
He ran for governor unsuccessfully twice, including against his incumbent Democrat John Burnsin 1970. He also ran against George Ariyoshiin 1974. Gill is surviveed by his wife, Lois, and brother Lorin T. Gill; sons Eric, who headxs UNITE-HERE Local 5, the hote and restaurant workers’ union, Gary, a former Honolulu City Councilk member, and Tony, a labor lawyer; and three otherd children, 12 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
The arms-drop mystery - Daily Pioneer
The Hindu | The arms-drop mystery Daily Pioneer Sixteen years after it first made newspaper headlines, the infamous Purulia arms drop case is back in the news following » |