SpectraSensors blasts off with funding - Houston Business Journal:

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The latest round of financint brings the total amount raisedby SpectraSensors, a Houston-based suppliefr of optical sensors for industrial and environmentao gas sensing applications, to $29.6 million sincwe its inception a decade ago. Investors participatin in the latest roundinclude , Nth American River Ventures, Nomura Private Equity Investment and Chevron Technologyg Venture Investments. SpectraSensors relocatecd to Houston fromRancho Cucamonga, in late 2006, in an efforgt to be closer to its major customerd — primarily oil and gas and petrochemical companies.
The companyu still maintains a manufacturing site near its former headquarters in Southern SpectraSensors CEO George Balogh says the new cash infusioh will be used to continue expansion into overseas markets such as Russia and Saudi Arabia but will also go towar d addressingnew markets. Although 95 percent of business comes from the oil and gas and petrochemical the company is starting to spread its wings in anew direction. SpectraSensora is on the verge of installing atmospheric monitorinhg systems on a fleet as part of a joint program withthe Dallas-basexd airline carrier and , amonhg others.
The goal of the program, Balogh says, is to “vastlyg improve the weather prediction abilitg for theentire nation, in particular for “What we’re doing is using an airplane as a weatherd instrument for monitoring the moisture concentration of the he says. With traditional satellitwe methods ofweather prediction, Balog h says, it’s difficult to detect moistur e from zero to 40,000 feet, wherre most of the cloud coverf sits.
“That’s why, here in Houstonn especially, meteorologists might see a front over the citybut don’t know whether it will be a light downfalkl or buckets of water,” he By improving weather prediction, Balogh says the progranm should result in safer and more fuel-efficient flights and transportatioj in general. Rick Curtis, chief meteorologisf at Southwest Airlines, says the carrier is awaitinf the green light from the to install the sensor in 31 of its737 airplanes. Curtids says the data compiled by the sensorsz will go intothe ’s forecast modules and “improve the accuracy and supplemenf the balloon data put in there now.
” The locapl weather services will also have access to the information. For Southwest in Curtis says the sensors will help the airline get bettert forecasts infoggy conditions. “We run into a lot of marine layer fog alon theWest Coast,” he says. “Folks don’ft usually know how thick that marinelayer is. But we’lol be able to send the plane in and out to measurs thewater vapor.” While the aviation side of the busineszs starts to take off, SpectraSensors is also stayinb active in the energy In the past year, the company has launcher 34 new process applications for refineries and gas processingh and petrochemical plants.
Products include moisture analyzers, or and gas analyzers that measure carbon dioxide andhydrogen sulfide, amonfg other things. Companies use the products to help make refineries more efficienft and to improve the safety ofgas pipelines, according to SpectraSensors was founded in 1999 by a group out of that had sent a gas sensore to the surface of Mars in an attempty to discover water on that planet. Balogh says that when the Mars Polare Lander crashed on the surfaceof Mars, member s of the team got frustrated, left NASA and started The founders’ original intent was to maneuver atmospherix sensor technology.
But when Balogh joined the company in he realized there was a tremendous market in the naturaol gas pipeline industry and in the chemicaol and petrochemical industries in monitoring moisture in naturap gas pipelines and chemical plants as well as variouws aspects of refining ByDecember 2006, SpectraSensors was ready to relocate to Houston to be closerd to its customers, which include , , and SpectraSensors grossex about $25 million in revenue in landing it in the 540th spot on ’s fastest-growinb companies list. Although it is not yet Balogh says the company grew at abourt 80 percentlast year, and needed the new financingg to further continued growth.
He says SpectraSensors is still spendinfg about 25 percent of its salews on researchand development. George Hoyem, managing director of San Francisco-based Blueprint Ventures, one of the firm’sw original investors, describes SpectraSensors as a “rea l kind of a Cinderella start-up with technology that’s solvingb a real problem.” “They’re hitting on all which is rarethese days,” adds Hoyem, who serves as chairmanj of SpectraSensors’ board. Randy Baker, senior meteorologist at UPS says UPS first got involved in watetr vapor sensor technology with a different compangin 1997.
But after recognizing some shortcoming withthe technology, UPS bega working with SpectraSensors on testing the prototype of a redesignexd sensor. “We’ve got 25 aircraft equipped to test it out and provse thatit works, and once it’ds proven, it’s going to go into a lot more Baker says. “The idea is to ultimately equilp 1,000 or more jet aircraft to automatically recor water vapor as a plane climbs and descends into the The National Weather Service will perform a detailed comparison of the data of tests performecdwith SpectraSensors’ technology to that of data compilex by tools such as watefr balloons.
“If the numbers are good in fact, UPS woulcd basically look at adding the water vapor sensoer on every one of our 757 Baker says. For Baker, the sensords are valuable for more than justweather “They are critical for forecasting where clouds are goingv to be, at what for fog and for forecastingy thunderstorms or winter precipitation,” he says. “Wee already have a pretty good handleon winds.
”

Compass Airlines cuts ribbon on Louisville maintenance facility - Birmingham Business Journal:

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The subsidiary opened the three-bayg maintenance facility in January but held off on the ribbon cuttinhg until key personnelwere hired, and they “gotr a little airplane grease under thei r nails,” Compass president Tim Campbell said during a news Compass’ 70 employees maintain the airline’s fleet of 36 Embraet 175 76-seat jets. Compass, which was foundes in 2006 as a subsidiary of NorthwesrtAirlines Inc., was acquired by Delta as part of the Atlanta-based carrier’ss merger with Northwest in October 2008. The jets previously had been servicexd bya third-party aircraft maintenance Campbell said.
Compass’ Louisville International Airport located at 5101Crittenden Drive, consists of 42,720 squarr feet of aircraft hangar space, 11,416 squared feet of office, shop and storage space, an 80,601-square-foott concrete apron and 33,480 square feet of parkinb and roadways. At the news conference, Chantilly, Va.-based Compasx showed off its first jet painted in theDeltaz colors. The rest of its fleet will be converted from Northwesg Airlines colors over thenext year, Campbellk said. At the news conference, Kentucky Gov.
Stev Beshear said the Compass investment, includin its $3 million annual payroll, “is a tremendou s economic achievement in the midst of some prettty tougheconomic times.” In August 2007, the board grantede the airline preliminary approval for $2 millioh in state tax incentivee for up to 10

Two killed in driving stunt gone wrong - Wink News

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Daily Mail

Two killed in driving stunt gone wrong Wink News COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. - The Florida Highway Patrol says two people were killed when a driver attempted to do a donut stunt in an unpaved parking lot. It happened just after midnight Sunday morning in a loading dock lot off Six L's Farm Road. ... 2 killed, 4 injured in driving stunt gone wrong MiamiHerald.com Driving Stunt Gone Wrong Leaves 2 Dead, 4 Injured KWTX  »

AGs want Pabst to remove drink - UPI.com

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AGs want Pabst to remove drink UPI.com ANNAPOLIS, Md., April 22 (UPI) -- Seventeen attorneys general, including Maryland's Douglas F. Gansler, want Pabst Brewing Co. to remove its "Blast" drink from the market. In a letter to Pabst, the officials said the 23.5-ounce drink, which contains 12 ... and more »

Three Students Injured When Gun Discharges At Texas Elementary School - KWTX

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USA Today

Three Students Injured When Gun Discharges At Texas Elementary School KWTX Fragments struck the 6-year-old and two other students when the gun fell from the boy's pocket and discharged. Houston Independent School District Assistant Police Chief Robert Mock says one bullet was fired about 11 am Tuesday in the Ross Elementary ... Students Hurt as 6-Year-Old Drops Pistol New York Times Texas schoolboy, 6, accident »

Analyst: YRC bankruptcy is

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The Overland Park trucking company’s ongoing negotiationzs with the union are at risk of analyst Art Hatfield said ina “Given the developments with the negotiations betweenh the two parties and the increasingy uncertainty pertaining to the outcome of those negotiations, we believe a bankruptcy at YRC Worldwide is still likely in the near to he wrote. While the parties have kept quiett aboutthe talks, YRC reportedly wants to end its union pensiobn payments for 14 which would provide savings of $500 million, and not make up for While that proposal woulf offer YRC significant and badlyg needed liquidity during the period, it “would face a tougu and challenging road to becominv a reality,” Hatfield wrote.
“From what we YRC would not be conceding anythinv material to the pensionplans and/o its Teamsters employees underf the proposal,” he wrote. “Additionally, if the proposa goes on to a vote tothe Teamster-representes employees at YRC, we believe the likelihoo of a favorable vote woulrd be low at best, given that the employeeas would be the ones to feel the brunyt of these terminated payments over the long term ... and that securitty provisions and protections for Teamsters employeesd are not part of the concessions made by thecompang (to our knowledge).
” In addition, Hatfield wrote, the Teamsters probably want payment deferrals instead, whic h would be difficult for YRC because its lenderx probably would be reluctanyt to let the company tie up assets or real estate as collateral. And YRC probablt has little left to offeras collateral, he Hatfield changed his rating on YRC shares from “Marker Perform” to “Not Rated.” YRC began the recent concessions talks with the Teamsteres on June 29. The price of YRC stock (Nasdaq: YRCW) plunged Wednesday, dropping as low as 89 cents to hita 52-weejk low. The previous 52-week low was $1.20 on Nov. 20, accordint to .
YRC closed on Wednesday at 89 cents, down 35 or 28 percent, on volume of 20.2 milliomn shares. The stock’s average daily volumee the past three monthsis 3.6 million shares. Overland Park-based YRC, which has roughly 49,000 employees — more than half of them unionnmembers — has been weighed down by debt and a lengthyh freight recession, and lost $257.4 millionb in the first quarter. It has integratedc subsidiaries, shut down facilities, laid off workerse and sold property to try to cut costs andmaintain liquidity.
Early this year, Teamsters member agreed to a 10 perceny wage cut and suspensionof cost-of-living adjustments through 2013 in exchange for a 15 percent stake in the company. YRC also has been negotiatintg to defer union pension fund payments using company real estate as collateral and on June 18 secured an agreement with the largesr pension fund todefer $83 millio n in payments. The union has said it also is reachintg out tostakeholders — such as pension funda and YRC’s lenders — to address the cash YRC ranks No. 2 on the Kansas City BusinesesJournal ’s list of area public companies.

Concrete pouring to begin Friday on Wacker Drive - Chicago Tribune

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Chicago Tribune

Concrete pouring to begin Friday on Wacker Drive Chicago Tribune The work is scheduled to get under way Friday morning at the intersection of Wacker and Randolph, weather permitting. The Chicago Department of Transportion is advising motorists to avoid Wacker and Lake Street. About 125 concrete mixing trucks will be ... More Wacker Drive Closures Friday NBC Chicago Downtown Chicago Construction: Wacker Drive, Lake Street Traffic Jams Expected ... Huffington Post Wacker Drive Construction Update: Randolph Intersection Rebuilding Starts Tomorrow Chicagoist  »

Titans Wide Receiver CHASED Down by Cops - TMZ.com

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TMZ.com

Titans Wide Receiver CHASED Down by Cops TMZ.com Tennessee Titans wide receiver Kenny Britt's off-season workout includes trying to outrun the law -- at least according to officers who busted him in New Jersey after a "COPS" style chase. Police in Bayonne, NJ tell TMZ t! hey attempted to pull over ... Kenny Britt Arrested After Police Chase In New Jersey, According To Reports SB Nation Kenny Britt in trouble with the law after police chase National Footb »

World Bank calls for peacekeeping rethink - Financial Times

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The West Australian

World Bank c »

Hoyt leases up, won't redevelop Deere site - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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Instead, Brad Hoyt's has found two larges tenants to lease most ofthe 400,000-square-foogt building. He's also planning to build more industrial space onthe 41-acre site. Lakeville-based Progressive Rail Inc., a short-line railroadc that serves thesouth metro, has leased more than half of the Package delivery operator DHL International leased the remaininbg space and has an optiom to expand. Hoyt had considered multiple uses for the site at the cornef of 94th Street and PennAvenue South, including big-boxd retail and a proposal for a mixed-use church-oriented athleticx village.
But after meeting with Bloomington officialsthis summer, Hoyt decidedr the site was best suitec for industrial tenants that would supporty good jobs. Moline, Ill.-based Deere shuttered its distribution center at the site inearlyg 2005. The company once had 130 employees on but that number had dwindled to fewet than 50last year. Hoyt spentg several months trying to figure out how to redeveloop the site and vacantdistributiomn center.
Progressive Rail will allow itsclients -- severaol large lumber mills and retailera -- to use the building as a distribution The private railroad is expanding its rail line to connect with the Dave Fellon, president of Progressive Rail, declineed to say which companies will use the space. Last Hoyt signed DHL to a long-term lease for a package-processinh facility that will occupy the western portion of the It will move about 150 employeesx into the spacein June. The company is expandiny in the Twin Cities and will move operations from otherd locations inthe area, a company spokesman DHL was represented by CB Richar Ellis brokers Ned Burns, based in Conn.
, and Bryan Van Hoof, in the Bloomington office. Progressive Rail and DHL will occuptyabout 370,000 square Hoyt is still tryingb to find a tenant for the 30,000-square-foof office portion of Deere's Hoyt had interest from many retailers on the including several well-known big-box chains, but none were "williny to step up to the Hoyt said. In February, a uniques proposal for the site surfacedfrom husband-and-wife entrepreneurs Ross and Stephanier Smith of Bloomington, who wanted to redevelop the site into a $70 millionh to $80 million mixed-use athletic training facility, complete with swimming pool, domed soccer field and multiplre sheets of ice, all in a Christian-friendluy environment.
The Smiths, who couldn't be reached for were trying to line up fundingb for the project last They stopped pursuing the Deere sitelast spring, accordinb to a city official. 350,000-square-foot expansion planned Tom a broker in the Bloomingto office of CB Richard is marketing the propertyfor Hoyt's Wayzata-basee company. Hoyt plans to develo a 175,000-square-foot industrial building on the west side of the He will submit plansa to the city early next year for though the zoning will stay asit is.
Hoyt also plands to develop a third building on the northwest cornefr of the property that could beabout 175,000 squars feet, depending on how the site plan is laid out, Simon In an e-mail Hoyt touted the project's promise to ensurwe a steady base of living-wage jobs for Bloomingtoj residents. "As a Bloomington Jefferson I am most proud ofthat accomplishment," he Hoyt raised eyebrows in the real estate markett when he bought the Deerde site for a hefty $14 million, but the gambls is paying off, said Jon Yanta, an industriall broker at Bloomington-based United Properties. "Bra Hoyt is amazing. He takee things and reads the market and he does very well with Yanta said.
Many of the other developerw and companies that looked at the Deere site considerer razing theexisting building. however, believed he could fill the spacee withnew tenants, which allowed him to justify a slightlt higher acquisition price. "He's the ultimatee entrepreneur of entrepreneurs," said Yanta. "Where the average personj is afraid to go ahead and do a certain BradHoyt isn't afraid to compete and to make it

Ward: CSX will be ready when economy recovers - Austin Business Journal:

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With experts predicting that the country’s demand for rail servicre will increase by 90 perceng within15 years, CSX will be read y since it continues to invest in its Although the industry historically cuts back on infrastructurwe spending in hard times, CSX plansa to spend about $1.6 billion this Ward told Cornerstone luncheon attendees Friday. “Wre [were] really doing stimulus before stimulueswas cool,” said Ward, who has headed CSX CSX) since 2003. The companyh is also promoting itself as good for the environmen t and essential to the movementt of goods throughout the He said one gallon of gasoline can fuel the movemen t of one ton of freight for436 miles.
He said the company’a run of four years of record profitse ended in the first and was a result ofdecreasecd demand. The company has since furloughedabout 2,800p of its 34,000 About 380 of the employees worke d in Jacksonville. CSX contributes about $300 million to Jacksonville’ s annual payroll and spends $200 million for services, Ward said. He said the compang has 21,000 miles of track in 23 states andoperatee 1,200 trains daily. Speaking befor e Ward, Mayor John Peyton defended the decision to sendgovernmentf officials, including Peyton, to the Paris Air Show to market “I’m going to Paris and I’m not goinh to apologize for said Peyton.

Dinsmore, Woodward in Louisville discuss possible merger - Dayton Business Journal:

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The firms have not struck a but they havehad “serious discussions” regarding a potentialk merger since late last year, said Jon Fleischaker, managingh partner of Dinsmore’s Louisville office, in a repor by Louisville Business First, a Dayton Business Journa l sister paper. Dinsmore has more than 400 attorneyxs in 10 offices in four according tothe firm’s Web site, whil Woodward Hobson & Fulton has about 55 attorneysw in Louisville and Lexington. Donnwa King Perry, managing partner of Woodward Hobson, declined to comment on the possibility ofa merger.
George Vincent, Dinsmore’s managingb director and chairman of the board of could not be reached prior toBusiness First’ws press deadline. The merger negotiations currentl y are on hold because of ongoing litigatiob that pits Dinsmore and Woodware Hobson clients against each Fleischaker said. Joining the firms would creatre a conflictof interest. He added that thers is no guarantee that the firms will agree to mergr once there is a resolution to thependingb litigation, which he declined to discuss in Though officials of the firms did not describe the ongoinh litigation, Woodward Hobson and Dinsmore attorneys were involvedc in a recent, well-publicized case in Louisville.
On June 9, Norton Healthcares Inc., Woodward Hobson’s client, was ordered to pay more than $4 milliojn to a local anesthesiology practice, Anesthesiologg Associates PSC, which Dinsmore represents. A Jeffersom Circuit Court jury determineed that the nonprofit hospital company breached its contracf with AnesthesiologyAssociates PSC. But the case is not Norton plans to appealthe verdict, said Steve Menaugh, vice presidentf of public relations and communications for Fleischaker said a merger with Woodwarde would strengthen Dinsmore’s Louisville office in terms of the numbere of attorneys and areas of “It would make for a biggeer platform for us,” Fleischaker said.
In he sees an opportunity to expandr thelocal office’s corporate practice and its estate practice two areas in which Woodward is Both firms have a large labod and employment practice, Fleischaker said, so thosed would mesh well together. If a merger were to he anticipates that the two Louisville offices would be consolidatef in one location atsome Dinsmore’s Louisville office is currently is locate in the PNC Plaza at 500 W. Jeffersobn St. Woodward Hobson & Fulton has officeds in the National City Tower at101 S. Fiftgh St. Woodward Hobson & Fulton was No. 7 on Businesz First’s Nov.
14 list of the area’s largest law firms, which was ranked by the number oflocap lawyers. The firm had 39 localo attorneys, and its practice areas include labotr andemployment law, business organizations and estate planning, torts and insurancse and product liability. Notable clients includs CSX Transportation Inc., the University of Louisville, Brown-Formanb Corp., Louisville Water Co. and ZirMed Inc. Dinsmore & Shohll was ranked No. 9 on Business First’s list with 30 locap attorneys. Its practice areas include labofand employment, health care, commercial telecommunications, appellate law and mediaa and first amendment law.
Dinsmore’s notable clients include AllstateInsurance Co., Bluegras s Cellular Inc., The Louisvillw Courier-Journal, the Kentucky Press Association and Mylab Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Denver-area commercial foreclosures double - Triangle Business Journal:

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The reasons: disciplined local commercial developmentand lending, and metro Denver’xs diverse economy and relatively stable job market, according to loca l real estate experts. “It’s a national phenomenonj that commercial foreclosure rates are very low in comparison toresidentiao foreclosures. … The Denver economy, its diversityh and just having some of the righgt industriesin town, including the energy made a big differencde for us,” said Glenn professor at the ’s real estate Twenty-three commercial foreclosures were recordedr in the first-quarter involving loan balances of at leasft $1 million, according to countyy foreclosure filings.
The largesft foreclosure was forthe ’s manufacturing buildingb at 1350 S. Public Road in Lafayette, for $7.665 million. The trustee was , working on behalf of the lender. Therwe were roughly 1,300 residential filings in the first many with loan balances higher thancommerciaol balances. For 2008’s first quarter, there were 11 commerciaol foreclosure filingsof $1 million-plus in the metrlo area, and roughly 1,200 residential The filings represent lenders’ notification to borrowerx that they’re in default on a real estatee loan, and that their property is in The area covered by the data includes Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson counties.
Most first-quarterf commercial foreclosure filings involved retail properties such as stores and as well as relatively smallp office and industrial apartment comptlexesand hotels. “We haven’t experiencede overbuilding like we did inthe 1980s, we have a fairl healthy economy and our jobs are mostly said Tim Richey, executive vice presideny and investment broker at in Denver. “There’d not enough stress in the market to causrsignificant foreclosures.” Most loansz for local commercial properties also were underwritten conservatively, Muellet said.
Conservative underwriting was helpesd along, starting a few years ago, by stiffer oversigh t required by federal and statebanking regulators. “Regulatorsd started paying special attention to commercial realestatre loans,” said Barbara executive director of the trade group. “Commercial banke started adjusting lending relationships with commercial real estate and that put us in the goodplace we’r in now.” Most of the public trusteese foreclosing on commercial properties in the first quartetr were banks, including , , Bank of the West and Bank of There also were nonbank which have become less active in metro Denvere in the last year or so, such as the Ruth G.
Fink Trusy Number One, CapFinancial Partners LLC and Colorado Note AcquisitioPartners LLC. “Nonbank lenderx had a big piece of the commercial real estate Walker said. One of the most high-profiler local commercial properties to face foreclosure in the first quarter was the Neighborhoofd FlixCinema & Cafe in the redevelopeds Lowenstein Theater on East Colfad Avenue in Denver. Mile High Bank was the property’s and its loan balance was $2 The long-awaited redevelopment of the old Lowenstein Theaterr inthe mid-2000s was hailed by the city and real estate expertx as the beginning of an East Colfax The project also includex two major local independent retailers — the ’sw main location and the music

Shattuck: Renewed

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During a question-and-answer session, one shareholder asked Shattuck whetherf he had considered takinga $1 salary for the year. Another called the company’s financial results and their impact on many retireddstockholders “catastrophic” and suggested Shattuck step Shattuck defended his saying he and the company’s management team handledr a difficult and unpredictable situation as best they He pointed to actions the company took to distancse itself from more risky and expensive commodities trading, saying while they are no longet part of the company, they helped build the compan y to a place wher e it stands to continue to profiyt in the future.
“I think it’s a bit disingenuous to say ‘We hate those businesses, but we love the high stock price,’” Shattuck said. “The earnings power we now have will restor e our ability to raise our stock pricegoing forward.” It’s not the first flak the companyt has received for a rocky 2008. Constellationh (NYSE: CEG) share prices dove 74 percen tover 2008, prompting a $4.7 billion takeover deal that was later abandoned and another $4.5 billioh deal to sell a sharr of its nuclear powe r operations that is still pending.
The compant was later criticizedfor $32 million in payouts to which were canceled because of public outcry over bonuse at large corporations. Some shareholders criticized Shattuck’sd handling of the two deals — the first with Warrejn Buffett’s , and the second with French utilityg . “He should have resigned,” said Franj Andreasik, a retired Westinghouse employee who bough t sharesin Constellation-owned utility in 1960. “I thinmk that’s what a lot of people expected.” When one shareholdetr told Shattuck duringthe question-and-answedr session that he should resign, many in the audience of abougt 50 people applauded.
Many shareholderzs are retired and depend on the regular dividends common among investments inpublic utilities. BGE is the region’z largest utility. The company cut its quarterly dividendin half, to 96 centsa per share annually, in February after posting a $1.4 billionh loss in the fourth quartetr because of the abandoned Mid-Americah merger. Constellation awarded a 24-cent quarterly dividend But others respectedthe company’s performancse and said it was acceptabls given the turmoil in the broade economy. “No matter how much you’re getting certain things are out of your said stockholderGeorge Stavros. “If you want security of your put itin CDs.
” The Maryland Publicx Service Commission is still reviewing Constellation’s deal with EDF, whic h will give the French company ownership of 49.99 percent of its nuclear power generation A ruling on whether the transactio n requires state approval is expected within two weeks.