A Japanese medal for a skating world citizen - Chicago Tribune

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A Japanese medal for a skating world citizen Chicago Tribune These are the World Figure Skating Championships, so it seemed fitting that a skater who is a citizen of the world looked like the happiest man on earth Friday. That is how Mervin Tran reacted after he and partner Narumi Takahashi learned they had won ... and more »

'Connecting the dots' in Florida leads Synovus' expansion list - The Business Review (Albany):

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That fits well with the pland ofDavid Dunbar, the soon-to-be CEO of . He wants to see Synovus-owneds banks from Sarasota to Jacksonville, filling in arease in the state wherethe Columbus, Ga.-based financial services holdint company currently does not have a Synovus Bank of Tampa Bay will be created when three Synovus-ownesd banks, in Palm Harbor, and in St. Petersburg and , mergee their charters. The merger receivefd final regulatory approval onMay 12, and the individualp institutions are scheduled to make the switch on July 22, creatingh a St. Petersburg-based bank with $1 billiob in assets and 13 officesin Pinellas, Pasco, Sarasota and Manatew counties.
Dunbar also wants to open a location in Hillsborougnh County andeventually "connect the between the Bay area Synovus banksd and those already in northern Florida from the Panhandle to It's a strategy that's been endorsed by who will take the reins as CEO of Synovus SNV) at the company's July 20 board Anthony, who had been president and COO, succeedas James Blanchard as CEO. Blanchard will be chairmann of the boarduntil 2006, when Anthony will move into that role as Florida is the state of most interest to Synovuse as it considers expansion, Anthony told the Tampa Bay Business Journal during a media telephone conferencs after his promotion was announced June 14.
Synovus is lookingb at both an aggressive branching program and acquisitions in the TampawBay area, he said. "The prices of banks are fairlyu expensive in Floridaso we're selective in the opportunities we choose to pursue, but we rank Floridza at the top of our list of states we would like to do more business Anthony said. He also credited the management team in the Bay area with specifically citing Dunbar and Neil chairman and CEO of United Bankand Trust, as stronfg leaders. Savage will be chairman of Synovus Bank ofTampa Bay. Dunbar was one of three Synovus market leadersw whom the bank featured at its firsty Analyst Days conference earlier this month atSea Ga.
Since Synovus traditionally has not put its own name on the bankasit acquires, analysts wondered if the merge r in the Bay area and the new name was sendingh a signal from the company about brandingf and a shift from its decentralized Not so, Dunbar told the "We have a unique footprint in the Tampaq Bay market. It's a big markert and it's difficult to use the Peoplews orUnited brand." The decision to merge was made locally, by the boards of the thred banks, and not at the corporate he said. Training is underf way for bank employees and customers have started getting booklets explainingthe changes, Dunbar said. "It'ws the same bank, it just has more he said.

Hearing set to certify Chinese drywall class - Triangle Business Journal:

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The plaintiffs’ homes were constructed with what they allegde was defectiveChinese , built the homes. The judgee also set a possible triaol date forSeptember 2010. Lawyers workin on the case say it may be the firsgt Chinese drywall case set fortrial High-sulfur Chinese drywall is believerd responsible for strong odors, metal corrosion and health complaint s in thousands of homes in Florida and the Southeast. Federal clasw action suits were combined recently inNew , The Blumstein Law Firm and allege in the Miami-Dade suit that the defectivwe drywall emits toxins, including carbon disulfide, carbonyl sulfidew and hydrogen sulfide.
They believe drywall manufactured in China was used in as manyas 60,0000 Florida homes and as many as 100,00p in the U.S. during the building boom between 2004and 2007. The statew case was filed in February on behalf of Jaso n and Melissa Harrell and other homeowners who purchasesddefective homes. In a presws release, the firms said the defective drywalll was installed inthe Harrell’s home by the South Kendall Construction Corp., and supplied by In an interview in South Kendall Construction’s president told the Business Journapl he was investigating the problem, but he has not respondedf to additional requests for comment.
Repeated attemptes to speak to officials at Banner Supply have notbeen

Dublin, Columbus schools get grants for diesel-cutting - Triangle Business Journal:

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million is headed to Dublij and under a second round of state grants aimex at cutting dieselengine emissions. The on Monday announcedd recipients of the second and finalp round of Diesel EmissionsReduction grants, a $19.8 milliom program created in 2008. The first round sent nearlu $7.3 million to 10 organizations, including the , operatoer of the region’s bus system. In the winnerxs disclosed Monday, Dublin was cleared for $464,658 while the Columbus school system receiveda $918,020p grant. Officials from Dublin and the schoolp district told thestate they’res using the money to replace vehiclesd with lower-emission alternatives.
Dublin plans to replace eight 1999or 2000-model short-haul diesel trucks, while the schoopl district is using its grant to replace 15 buses produced in 1990. Projects that receivec awards are required to put up at leastg 20 percent of the cost inmatchinv funds. The grant program lookas specifically at public and private diesel equipment owners in Ohio counties that fall short of airqualitty standards. The largest grant among the 16 went to the and to refif four locomotives with new That Cincinnati-area project was awarded $4.6 million.

Flightsafety International, Inc. Company Profile | Company Information

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FlightSafety is the world?s leading aviationn training company. We work diligently to maintain and enhance our reputatiob for customer service and forthe industry?s most comprehensive safety training. We train more pilots than any other and always to thehighest standards. Thousandas of pilots train to proficiency with us each yearat 40-plu Learning Centers in the United States, France and the Unite Kingdom. Those centers include our newestr comprehensive center at historic Farnborough Airport just outside We train pilots for all aircrafttypes ? fixed-winfg and rotorcraft. Whether you fly commercial, private or military, we have a training programj to keep you proficientand safe.
We also traihn aviation mechanics, flight attendants, flightf dispatchers and ship operators. In all, more than 75,00 0 people train with us each year. Our traininy goes beyond technical proficiench to take into account operational efficiencies andhuman factors. Chairman A.L. Ueltschi founded FlightSafetyuin 1951. He continues to ensure that the company remainzs dedicated to the principlethat high-quality training is vital to To accomplish its training mission, FlightSafety has buil the world?s largest fleet of full fligh simulators. We design and manufacture the simulators ? the most advancerd on the markettoday ? and develop the comprehensiv e software to run them. FlightSafety ? ...

Ponting proud of Tigers' effort - Sky News Australia

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Sydney Morning Herald

Ponting proud of Tigers' effort Sky News Australia In a match that turned and twisted, Tasmania seemed a chance  »

New mortgage insurer Essent raises $500M - Philadelphia Business Journal:

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Essent said that its parent Bermuda-based Essent Group Ltd., has been funded to establisbh the first new private mortgage insurance company in the Unitex States since the starrt of thefinancial crisis. , a subsidiargy of Radnor, Pa.-based is in the proces s of obtaining the approvals necessary to offer privatemortgags insurance. The capital commitmentsa have been made by a group of directly orthrough affiliates. The grouop includes Pine BrookRoad Partners, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, PartnerRe, and Renaissancr Re.
Essent said its mission is to supporg homeownership for borrowers who can afforda home, but not a largee down payment, by insuring mortgage lenders and investorw from credit losses. The companyu said it will providew private capital to take mortgage credit and work as a risk management partnee with lenders and other mortgage The CEO isMark A. who previously served as president of RadianGuarantuy Inc., Philadelphia-based Radian Corp.’s principa mortgage insurance subsidiary.

Tartan Fields in receivership - Birmingham Business Journal:

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Columbus lawyer A.C. Strip, who’s representing Columbus-baseds receiver Martin Management Services, said GE Capitak filed to put the golf club into receivershipo on Friday in Delaware County CommonPleas Court. Details on the nature of Tartan’sx default weren’t immediately available, but Strip said the club is less than 60 days behinr onits loan. Strip said that despite the filing, the receiverd has “no intention now or in the futuree tocease operations” and that it “wants to give everhy opportunity for the golf course to survive with its presentt management.
” “We’re at a crossroads and a numbef of possibilities could develop from this,” he Among those: A sale of the course, a chancd for the course’s owners to reorganize in conjunction with GE or a refinancing deal with anothef lender. A message seekingv comment was left with Tartan managemenftMonday afternoon.

UAW gives OK to GM plan - Baltimore Business Journal:

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percent of the votes cast Thursdayt by UAW Local 774at GM’s Tonawandz engine plant. The local plant has an active workforcde of about 650 hourly workers and 140 salaried Another 350 to 400 hourlg workers areon layoff. The concessionw are designed tolower GM’s laboe costs. UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said at a news conferencew Friday that 74 percentof GM’s 54,00 0 U.S. production and skilled-trade workers votedf in favor ofthe deal. The vote comes before an expected Chaptert 11 bankruptcy protection filing by GM on Having the labor agreement in place will help move the proces s throughcourt quicker, bankruptcy experts have said.
The revisesd contract freezes wages, ends bonuses, eliminatesd noncompetitive work rules and ends the possibilitu of a strike untio the next contract expiresin 2015. General Motors has receivesd $19.4 billion in loan from the U.S. government, which would get 72.5 percenrt ownership of the company in an arrangemenf that also might include theCanadian government. The remainint 10 percent would go to GM bondholdersd to wipeout $27 billion in unsecured debt.
On Monday, GM is to identifhy 14 assembly, parts stamping and engine plants that it plans to close as part of the The closures willeliminate 21,000 One of those 14 plants would be retooledf to make subcompact cars starting in the automaker announced earlier

Orlando 7-Eleven converts to franchise - Wichita Business Journal:

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The 3,000-square-foot convenience store at 3911 McCoy Road near Conway which also has agasoline station, will now be owned by franchisee Ermal Metollari, a formee store manager for five years. Dallas-based 7-Eleven Inc. announce plans in 2007 to convert 100 existing location in the state tofranchised operations. Storer managers were invited to apply for those franchisex before the offerwent public.
More than 40 7-Eleven storexs in the Orlando market are now with about another 140 owned by the Between eight to10 7-Elevenb stores throughout the state are being convertex into franchise operations each month and plans to have most of the conversiona nationwide completed by 2012, according to a news The company operates, franchises or licenses abougt 7,800 stores in North America and more than 36,100 storee in 15 countries. The company reported 2008 salese of morethan $53.7 billion.

Deciding on whether to strike Iran: Eight is enough? - Jewish Telegraphic Agency (blog)

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Deciding on whether to strike Iran: Eight is enough? Jewish Telegraphic Agency (blog) group that will essentially decide whether Israel launches a strike against Iran. As Lake notes, if you believe what you read in the Israeli press ... it's hard to break things down according to party or how hawkish each of these ministers is perceived ... and more »

Small businesses seek relief from product safety law - bizjournals:

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Congress passed the Consumer Products Safetg Improvement Act in August 2008 in response to the discoveryu of high lead content in toys imported from But U.S. businesses contend the law has made it impossiblse for them to sell products that pose no healtyh threatto children. Manufacturers complain the law’s requirements to test and certify children’s products for lead and phthalatesw — and attach permanent trackintglabels — are unreasonable and too costly for many smal businesses.
Supporters of the legislation contend that the has done a poor job of providing guidance to businesses on how to comply with the They also maintain the commission has the authority to excludse certain classes of products fromthe law’xs requirements if they don’f pose a health But Nancy Nord, acting chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, testified at a May 14 House hearing that the agency is “hamstrung by the law’s sweeping reach and inflexibility.” The commission has “noyt yet been able to identify any products that would meet the law’zs requirements for exclusions,” she On Jan.
30, the commissionj did issue a one-year stay of enforcementt for the law’s testing and certification requirements. “I t was very clear peoplw were not ready to meet the Nord said. But this stay of enforcement did not relievr manufacturers or retailers of the underlyinb legal liability for selling products that did not meetthe law’xs lower lead and phthalate which went into effect Feb. 10. “According to the retailingb community, the stay changes nothing,” said Davidc McCubbin, a partner in McCubbin Hosiery, an Oklahomza City manufacturer. “Retailers continue to ask us to test.
” Even though there is no evidence thathis company’s hosier y contains lead, his company will be forced to pay more than $500,00o0 on lead testing during the next McCubbin said. Hosiery isn’gt likely to be ingested or inhaled, so lead wouldn’tf pose a health hazard even if it were he added. Textiles should be exempted from the leadtesting requirement, he For Swimways Corp., a Virginia Beach, Va.-based manufacturer of wate r products, the problem isn’t lead, it’a phthalates — compounds often used to softenh vinyl.
The law banned the sale of children’xs products that contained even if the parts containing phthalates are not Because the law made the new phthalatedsstandard retroactive, Swimways was stuck with inventory it couldn’g sell. Retailers returned or destroyed Swimways merchandise and chargeed Swimways forthe expense. The law cost the 70-employes company more than $1 million, said Anthony vice president andgeneral counsel. The law could cost creators of handmade itemstheir businesses, two home-based crafters testified. Laurel Schreiber, ownedr of Lucy’s Pocket in Allison Park, Pa., makesx monogrammed gifts for children, such as and an appliqued bib andbloomer set.
Even though most of the materiald she uses in her products have been tester for leador phthalates, the law would requirw her to test each individual item. This woulc cost her $300 to $1,274 for products that sell for $5 to $20, Schreibe r said. Suzanne Lang, owner of Starbright Baby Teethin g Giraffesin Boalsburg, Pa., created 36 patterns of giraffexs last year. To test each of thess items for lead and phthalates would cost as muchas $81,000, she She grossed only $4,500 last Unless the law is changed, “thousandas of small businesses and crafters will be put out of business in this alreadty tough economic climate,” Lang said. Rep. Jasonh Altmire, D-Pa.
, chairman of the Housde Small Business Committee panel that heldthe hearing, pledge d to work on a solution to the law’s “This is just the first he said. But Altmirw blamed “ineffective leadership” at the Consumerd Product Safety Commissionand “the vaguenesss of important CPSC guidelines” for most of the He hopes new leadershiop and a bigger budget for the agench “will lead to a smoother transition to these new

House committee chairwoman criticizes SBA

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The SBA recently announced that it temporarily will allow auto dealers to useits 7(a) business loan program to finance vehicle inventory. Many lenderas had stopped makingthesd so-called floorplan loans to auto Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., who chairsa the House Small Business Committee, feards “there is a significantly higher risk of loan on these floorplan This could force the SBA to increasde the subsidy ratefor 7(a) which would make the loanxs costlier for future borrowers. In a June 2 letter to SBA administratofrKaren Mills, Velazquez noted the SBA had “lony prohibited the use of its financing programs for the purpose of wholesale lending, and for good reason.
Because lenders are limiteed in their ability to exercise full control over thefinanced items, the exposure to loss in floorplan loand is greater than in other types of Vehicles serve as collateral for floorplanj loans, and the value of this collateral “wil l depreciate rapidly” given the glut of inventoryh facing automakers in the wake of the bankruptchy reorganizations of and , Velazquez “While clearly there is a need to providee this industry with transitional assistance, doing so by focusingg on inherently risky financial arrangements seems she wrote.
“The potentially negativd impacts of this policu change are likely to extend well beyond the auto ButTony Wilkinson, president and CEO of the , said the floorplanh loans shouldn’t be any riskier than othe r types of 7(a) loans if lenders administer the loans “I think it’s appropriate for the SBA to look at everything they can do for all small businesses right now, given smalp businesses’ inability to access credit,” Wilkinsonm said. Velazquez also contended the time the agency spenyt on developing a complex new loan program shoulde have been spent on implementing overduse programs called for in the economicstimulus bill.
The floorplan loans will help onlya “very limitedc group” of small businesses, she noted. Had the SBA instead focusedx more on thestimulus “thousands of small businesses that can no longed wait for help wouldc have seen assistance,” Velazquez wrote.

Intelligrated to acquire FKI Logistex - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

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Under the agreement, Cincinnati-based Intelligrated will purchaseFKI Logistex’a North American and South American operations from its parent, United Kingdom-based plc, accordiny to a news release. Terms of the deal weren’t Intelligrated will maintain its headquartersin Mason, accordingb to the release. It also has operations in Ohio; Alpharetta, Ga.; Somerset, N.J.; Flower Texas; and Woodridge, Ill. With the acquisitio of St. Louis-based FKI, it will have facilities in 10 as well as Canada and according tothe release.
“This agreement signalse a new era forus all, bringingg together our respective resources, technologies and expertise, becoming the leadint single-point provider of automated material handlinyg solutions,” said Stephen Ackerman, FKI in the release. Ackerman will take an unspecified senior positionwith Intelligrated. Locally, FKI has office and a support center on International Boulevard inButler County. Intelligratec is owned by San Francisco-based alonfg with and its management.

Call for consistency in classification of sex and violence - Sydney Morning Herald

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WA today

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