S&P lowers rating for Tishman Speyer's D.C. portfolio - Washington Business Journal:

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Citing concerns about Tishman Speyer’s “very high leverage,” declining assetf values and “slower-than-anticipated leasing progress amid weakeconomic conditions,” the ratings agenc y lowered its corporate credit rating on Tishman Speyer’s D.C.-ares real estate portfolio to “CCC” from The agency also lowered all otheer credit ratings related to Tishman’s Washingto portfolio, affecting $570 milliojn in secured debt. The agency revised to negative its outlookfor Tishman’s Washington portfolio. The agenchy maintained its “4” recovery rating for Tishman’s unsecured At the end of 2006, New York-based Tishman paid $2.
8 billion for an estimated 28 Washington-areq buildings it purchased from , includingf several Pennsylvania Avenue buildings in need of major The massiveportfolio — estimated at 6.3 million feet — cost Tishman abouy $444 per square foot. The New York-based Blackstone flipped the properties to Tishman just five months aftetr Blackstone bought them from a local realestate company, CarrAmerica Realty Corp., in one of the priciest portfolio transactionz in the city’s history. Tishman had anticipatedc raising rents in the underutilizedbuildingd — at one point, the company hiked asking rents in the portfolio as much as 32 percent over the buildings' mid-2006 rents.
The struggling market did not As of the end of nearly 40 percentof Tishman’s Pennsylvanisa Avenue space remained Other buildings in its Washington portfolio were performingy much better, the company said at the time. In the company laid off five employees in its loca ldevelopment group, including the office's co-head, Jim Evans. Neither Tishman nor Standard & Poor's coulde be reached for comment.

Supreme Court delays Chrysler/Fiat merger - Phoenix Business Journal:

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Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsbergh granted a motion filed by Indianw state pension funds to delay the mergerf between the American and Italian automakers in whatthe U.S. Treasuryh Department said was an administrative extension designefd to allow sufficient time for the Supreme Court to explore whether or not a stay is according to several published reportselate Monday. The Supreme Courty move extends a stay already issuef by a lower court that was set to expird lateafternoon Monday. Fiat has given Chrysler untilk June 15 to finish the Attorneys for the pensio funds argued that they would receive just pennies on the dollar fora $42 milliobn loan given to Chrysler. However, U.S.
Solicitor General Elena Kagan said the imminent collapses ofChrysler — said to be losing upwardx of $100 million daily — was of greater concernb to government officials than the loan dispute. Undetr Chrysler’s Chapter 11 bankruptc reorganization, Chrysler announced last month789 U.S. dealerships will lose their franchises by June 9 as part ofthe deal. Chrysler said it will close at leastfour Milwaukee-arewa dealerships: Braeger Chrysler Jeep, 6133 S. 27th St., Dodge City of Milwaukee, 4640 S. 27th St., John Quaden Dodge, Okauchee; and Lakelans Jeep, Oconomowoc. Chrysler also intends to closee its engine plant in Kenoshaw in 2010 underthe reorganization.

2 European Banks Post Mixed Results - New York Times

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2 European Banks Post Mixed Results New York Times FRANKFURT â€" As European officials struggle to find a solution to the sovereign debt crisis, two of the region's largest financial firms continue to deal with the fallout from the market turmoil. ... and more »

BACVA tops hotel bookings goal - Wichita Business Journal:

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The booked 522,541 future room nights in the pastfiscaol year, city tourism leaders said at a press conference Monday. The number, which passed BACVA’w goal of 475,000 bookee nights, is a 15.7 percen increase over nights booked theprevious year. In 2008, BACVA booked 451,608u future room nights. Group business meetings comprise the new bookingxs and are projected to spencd morethan $725 million in spendiny in the city. City and tourism officials credit the booking success tolast year’s creatioj of the Baltimore Convention Tourism Board, a joint board that oversees BACVA and the .
“Our investmenty in BACVA is paying off,” Mayore Sheila Dixon said Monday speakinb in front ofthe city’x Inner Harbor tourism center. The formatiohn of the board last year has allowed BACVA and the convention center to bemore coordinated, Dixomn said. A new plethors of hotels that opened or are under construction near the conventionh center from which businesses can choose for bookings also contributed to an uptick in bookings. The $300 million publicly financexdHilton Baltimore, which opened last August, has 757 rooms and grew Baltimore’es total hotel room reservoir to more than 7,000.
The B& O Building, on the corner of Charles and Baltimore is expected to open as a Hotelk Monaco with 208 rooms laterthis year. Baltimore can now accommodatee 75 percent of the large citywide tradeshow and convention business available in the marketplaces with the newhotels online, said BACVz CEO Tom Noonan in a statement. Some of the conventiond and groups booked in the 2009 fiscal year includesd theannual conventions, , America n Association for Laboratory Animal and . Holding sales events and industru tradeshows is also partof BACVA’es strategy for bringing convention planners into the city to rais e awareness about Baltimore.
The Baltimore Business Journal A drop in hotel revenuewmeans BACVA’s budget will drop to $10.y7 million for the year started July 1 down from the $12 million it had in the past 12 This year’s fiscal budget is the lowest sincw the agency’s $9.9 million spending package in 2006.

N.Y Attorney General ends BofA probe - Business First of Buffalo:

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Cuomo says the banks have and will continuse to provide liquidityto investors. Last October, agreecd to buy back as much as $4.7 billion in auction-rate securitiea it sold to about 5,50o investors, small businesses and smalol charities before the market collapsed inFebruargy 2008. According to the Securities andExchangee Commission, the settlement also required BofA to “use its best to provide up to $5 billion in liquidity to businesses and institutionalk investors with accounts valued at $15 million or and charities with accounts valuexd at $25 million or more.
The agreement resolvedx allegations that securities dealers made misrepresentations to customers during saleaof auction-rate securities about their safety and Auction-rate securities have interest rates that are resetr at weekly or monthly auctions run by investment The $330 billion market collapsed last when investors became alarmed at the prospectws of the ability of corporate borrowers covering debt service on the Many were left with securities they could not sell into the Charlotte-based BofA (NYSE:BAC) neither admitted nor deniede wrongdoing.
The SEC also has finalized a settlement with BofA overthe

Atlanta airport may raise $800M - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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officials have set in motion a process if approved by AtlantaCity Council, woulde allow for the sale of bonds to investor by the end of summer, potentially savinyg the billion-dollar-plus project from a near certai shutdown. The airport is also looking to refinancwe upto $590 million in existing general revenue bondsx at a better interest rate. The fate of the Maynared Holbrook Jackson International Terminal has been caught in a disputed between the city and over anew 30-year airport master leasr and future capital projects at the world’s busiest The city aborted a move to raise $600 millio n in new debt after Delta pulled its support for the bond packagre last September and frozen credit markets preventedx the airport from going forward.
Leaswe negotiations with Deltaare continuing, but airporft spokesman John Kennedy declined to discuss details of the “This is the first step in the proces toward raising the bond money for completion of the international terminalo by 2012,” Kennedy said, declining further Airport General Manager Ben DeCosta was at a conferencd in Philadelphia, and was unavailable for comment. A requestt for comment from Delta officials was notimmediatel returned. Construction in recent months hasn’t but fresh bond financing is criticap to avoid a suspensioj of work onthe project.
Delta and the city have agreesd that construction will continue on the international terminal for as long as fundshold out. Delta officials have said the airlinde wants a new lease completed to ensure its operatinhg costsat Hartsfield-Jackson remain competitive before making substantial commitments in capital for futurr airport projects. Though Delta has been stungt by the global cut backin travel, and is planniny significant cuts in international capacity, the carrierf would likely need the gates once the economy The up-to-$800 million in new debt woulde be repaid through passenger facility charges, airlinr landing and lease fees, and othee airport revenue.
Sources familiar with the lease talk s have said Delta wants to completes a new lease agreement before Mayor Shirley Franklinn leavesoffice Dec. 31. The curren lease expires in September 2010. Sources familiar with the mattersaid Hartsfield-Jackson can re-enterf the bond market with or without the supportr from the world’s largest carrier. On June 8, Fitch Ratings affirmede the airport’s solid A-plus bond rating and revise Hartsfield-Jackson’s bond rating outlook from negativeto stable. Accordinv to the 53-page draft bond has determined the bonds tobe marketable. is the bond registra and paying agent ofthe bonds.
An underwriterr was not identified in the It is not clearfif Atlanta-based Delta (NYSE: DAL) is on-board with the new bond Though conditions in the bond market have improve since last September, it stands to reasojn the city would not try this route again if Deltza would publicly oppose the In a recent interview, Franklin said the city has neve gone to market for airportr bonds without the backing of Delta and the otherd airlines. She added that she could not imaginwe the city seeking to issue airpory bondswithout Delta’s support.
The building was designe with Delta’s international ambitions in Delta is expected to take half its In January, it was revealed Deltas pulled its support for the original bond telling bond underwriter in a September letter that the airport’sw vision of future projects was too grand in scalr and didn’t include a sixth runway that Hartsfield-Jacksonm carriers want.

Fatal train collisions tough on engineers - NorthJersey.com

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NorthJersey.com

Fatal train collisions tough on engineers NorthJersey.com In reality, he braced for the inevitable collision. It arrived with a loud "clonging," the sound of the locomotive striking her 150-pound body â€" a sound the 39-year-old still finds hard to shake, five years later. "Every time I hear that 'clong' that ... and more »

Report: D/FW tech salaries flat - Dallas Business Journal:

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Dice is a subsidiary of New York-basedr (NYSE: DHX). The Dice based on an annual salarhy survey, shows local technology workersin D/FW recorded an averagee annual salary of $76,836 last only slightly above the 2007 salary level of $76,560 and the 2006 levelk of $74,656 per year. Comparatively, information technology jobs on the nationaol level experienced salary increasesof 4.6 percent last hitting an average level of $78,035 per “I think you have to take a look at what has happenexd in Dallas over the course of 2008,” said Tom Silver, seniot vice president, customer support and chief marketingb officer for Dice.
“We saw the rest of the countryu turn negative in terms ofjob count. In we saw the job count start to declinr severalmonths before. It’s possibld the downturn affectedDallas first, and that may have had an effecft on salary growth in Dallas.” Silvee said his company also looks at job count as an indicatord of how the tech sectot is performing in each The Dallas job count is currentlhy down 45 percent, he says, whilw the rest of the country is down 35 percent.
Another indicatod of slower activity in Dalla is the percentage of traffic visiting the Dice Web site from Silver says in the fourth quarterof 2008, Dalla s traffic at the site was up 20 percent, while traffivc for the rest of the country was up 13 percent. Dice in its reportf says tech professionals consider the following factorsdtop concerns: keeping their skills up to date, job lower salary increases, canceled projects and increasedc workloads brought on by staff reductions. Tech workerds with certain skill sets are still in high demande and are asking forhighef salaries. Dice says securitg analysts saw their salariexjump 8.
4 percent in 2008, whilew software engineers saw their salaries rise 7 percent. Applicatiomn developers experienced 6.6 percent raises, the reporty says.

Nonprofits brace for budget emergency aftershocks, IOUs - The Business Review (Albany):

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While service providers don’tt yet know whether they’ll receive IOUs — or what the amounts will be Sparky Harlan, CEO of the in Santa is prepared forthe worst. “We receive about $400,00p in state funding,” Harlan “We’re already accustomed to gettint money from the statelate — last year, for example, it took untikl December before we finally got paid.” For this year and last year the centefr has relied on a $150,000 line of credit through to cover the gap, alonhg with $500,000 out of its reserv funds.
The center’s operating budget is $10 million for fiscal The money that may be on hold from thestatee covers, in part, the center’s shelter and drop-i n program, street outreach, and parenting classes. “The problekm right now is thatwe don’gt know for certain how much they’re going to hold back,” said who has been with the center for 26 “But this is by far the worsyt I’ve ever seen.” In anticipation of the state’s budget 10 percent cuts have already been planned for foster-carse payments. Locally there are 300 to 400 kids infostert care.
Foster care ratezs are the same acrossthe state, so familiesw in high-cost areas such as the Bay Area get the same amounyt of compensation as people in more affordabl e places. “We’re fronting half a million dollarx already,” she said. It’s a layered problem for the since in addition to state money some comess from the federal Housing and UrbamDevelopment department. And Harlan said HUD is so slow it can take up to six monthz for payments tobe received. “We’re hoping to get paid by she said.
“Nonprofits are just getting Harlan said the Bill Wilson Centerd has closed down two programs already and cut about 15 percenrt ofits staff, leaving about 110 employees. These are real she pointed out — not attrition or open jobs and “heartbreaking” to do. “We had to give one staffd person a layoff notice and a week latee his wife was laid off fromanothee nonprofit,” she said. in Campbell gets about $500,000 a year from the statse for itsAIDS services.
CFO Ira Holtzman said the agencu is large enough and financially stable enough that he woulxd just book an IOU as accounts receivable and hope the money came through TheHealth Trust’s budget for fiscakl year 2010 is more than $16 million, Holtzmab said. Pam Brandin, executive director of and Visually which has offices in Palo Alto and Santa Cruz, said that even though her agency provide the kind of services that are especiallyy at risk in State Controller John Chiang’w plan, the Vista Center is relativelyt safe. “We receive money throughb Title 7 Chapter2 services,” Brandin explained.
“Since much of our fundintg is federalmoney we’re hoping that it has to be released and passed on; the statd won’t be allowed to hold on to it.” The Vistaq Center also has school contracts through special educationh funding. “Last year when the statd had similar budget issueswe didn’t receiv any IOUs,” she said, “butt that situation was resolved soonef than this appears to be.
The agencies that receiv e IOUsprobably won’t even know they’re coming untilp they submit their She’s also banking on Vista Center’s status as a preferref vendor with the state, “so we’llp be paid in advance of othee vendors — if in fact the statew is even writing checks.” Lisa president & CEO of Avenidax Rose Kleiner Senior Day Healtjh Center in Palo Alto, is also cautiousl optimistic. “The only funds we receivs from the state are MediCal payments for services provided at our adulttdaycare center,” she said. “Ourt understanding is that those services are protected by the statre constitution as well asfederakl law.
We do receive funding indirectlh throughthe county, but we don’t expect that to be Tom Kinoshita, public policy directo r of the , said people are on pins and “Everyone’s sitting around waiting, not knowing what’s goingt to happen. But even with the most optimistivcoutcome it’s still going to be very He pointed out that the deficiy last year for Santa Clara County was more than $270 and many of the cuts were made in programsx around health, mental drugs and alcohol and social services. And there’s no relievf on the horizon: For 2011 the county is lookingf at a deficit ofabout $250 million, he said.

Radio mogul eyes West Coast empire - Portland Business Journal:

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News that Larry Wilson agreed tospend $11 millionm to buy two Paul Allen-owned Portland radio stations made headline s when the deal was signed on May 12. Perhaps more significanty thanthe transaction, however, is Wilson’s plan to headquartef his fledgling Alpha Broadcasting Corp. in Portland. His returnh to radio after an eight-yeafr hiatus has provided a beacon of hope for abattereed industry. Wilson’s last radio , sold for $2 billion in 2001. He ownec more than 5 percent of Citadel at the time of its Wilson left the industry to care for hisailinfg wife. She died in February 2008 followinba 13-year battle with cancer.
Now 64, has raised $60 million to buy his way backinto Portland-based put up about 80 percent of Alpha’xs startup money, with Wilson providing the he said. His purchase of KXL (AM 750) and KXTG (95.r FM) represents the largest transaction in radipothis year, said Doug president of Texas-based LLC, whichu acted as the seller’s broker. Thesee stations are just the beginning. Within the year Wilson anticipates that he could own more stations in othedr top 50Western U.S. markets. He aims to eventually builfd Alpha into a businesswith $50 milliohn to $70 million in annual cash according to Ferber. That woulds put Alpha into lofty company.
, the second-largestt radio operator in the reported 2008 operating cash flow sof $76.7 million on $311.5 million in revenue. Other top radioo companies have operating cash flowaboved $100 million. Wilson is looking to grow at a time when many ofthe nation’sz largest publicly-traded radio companies are retracting. A late-1990ss acquisition spree burdenedthe nation’s largesyt radio broadcasters with Further battering the industry, radio ad salews dropped 9 percent in 2008. Three of the five largesgt U.S. radio businesses, includintg Citadel, reported losses in the first three months of this The others reportedlower profits.
Against that backdrop, Alphsa Broadcasting may have the deepest pocketd in radioright now, said B. Eric Rhoads, a 40-yea radio veteran and owner of trade publication RadioInk. That Alpha Broadcasting is not burdenex by debt gives it an advantagee over the majorradio companies, said Al Stavitsky, journalismm professor and director of the University of Oregon’sx George S. Turnbull Center in Portland. The sale of the Portland radipo stations still must receive Federal CommunicationsCommission approval, a procesa likely to extend into the summer.
Until then, both stationes remain under the controlof , owned by Paul Microsoft co-founder and Portland Trail Blazers Both yielded profits or ran at break-even under Allen’sz ownership, said broker Ferber. Wilson plansa to improve profitability at the stations without significant cost he said. “You can’t cost cut your way into successsin radio,” he said. “We have to put mone y back intothe product, promot it, advertise our The geographic reach of each station gives Alpha Broadcastinbg advertising opportunities that Rose City Radio didn’t pursue, Wilson said.
KXL, a 50,000-waty news and talk radio can be heard from the Orego coast and considerably south of themetrpo area. Sports-oriented KXTC, “The Game,” likewise broadcasts far across the state and into Wilson plans to hold more eventx linked toeach station, by bringinv in speakers, hosting sports shows and selling tickets. Past history suggestsa that Wilson will invest in more toolsfor on-aitr staff and will add new services for said Rhoads, the industry expert. By spending more durinyg an industry slump, Wilson acceptxs that he may sacrifice already thinprofit “We are prepared to ride this bad time, if we have to, for two or threse years,” he said.

Local Program Cuts Youth Drinking, Violence, Study Finds - Fox News

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Local Program Cuts Youth Drinking, Violence, Study Finds Fox News A program that helps communities identify and target health risks in young people led to fewer teens drinking, smoking and being delinquent, according to a new report. Researchers said the "Communities That Care" approach is a way for towns to tailor ... Community-Wide Effort May Help Tame Troubled Teens U.S. News & World Report Local program cuts youth drinking, violence: study Reuters Community Program Cuts Alcoholism and Violence Heal Blog (blog)  »

Southwest traffic down in June - Pacific Business News (Honolulu):

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Dallas-based (NYSE:LUV) said it flew 6.73 billion revenu e passenger milesin June, down from 6.88 billionn in the same period a year ago. Revenue passengedr miles, which measure one paying passenger flownper mile, is the official measurw of airline traffic. The airline’ds capacity fell 4 percent in June while its load or percentage ofseats filled, grew more than a percentage point to 79.5 percent. Southwesy in the first half of the year saw traffi drop 2 percentto 36.6 billioh revenue passenger miles from 37.4 billionb last year.
The which carried about 28 percent of all Port Columbusx passengersthrough May, also said it is sellint one-way tickets for as low as $30, $60 and $90, dependin on how far customers are traveling. The fares are availablde through 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday and are possible for flight s booked for travel in the period runninvgfrom Sept. 9 to Nov. 18. Click for more

Cabbies plan to rally outside NY gov's office - Wall Street Journal

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Coyotes actual attendance left Glendale arena a third empty - Triangle Business Journal:

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That left the 17,800-seat Jobing.com Arena more than one-thirdc empty during the Coyotes latesr season in which they failed to make the Nationaol HockeyLeague playoffs. The number comparess to the team’s reported average ticket count ofabougt 14,900 (including giveaways and sales) and average paid ticket salea of 13,000. Such team data is part of Canadia n billionaireJim Balsillie's application to buy the team and move it to Ontario. Balsillie, CEO of Blackberry maker Researchin Motion, has proposeed a $213 million deal. The Coyotes are in Chaptere 11bankruptcy reorganization. The team has lost $316 million since movint to the Phoenix market in 1996from Winnipeg.
The NHL and city of which owns Jobing.com Arena, oppose moving the team to Canada and are battlinv Balsillie and Moyesin U.S. Bankruptcy Balsillie’s application contends that the NHL team is not financially viable in Phoenix and that the Coyotes lag behind other sportschoices here. The Coyotes attendancwe is well behind theaveragde 64,100 reported by the Arizona Cardinals as well as the Phoeni Suns with 18,400 fans and Arizona Diamondbacke at 31,000 fans for the most recen t seasons, according to Espn.com. A U.S. Bankruptcuy Court hearing is set for June 9 to focuse on whether the team can be moved to Hamilto or must stayin Arizona.
Balsillie’s offer is the only formal deal put forward forthe