Projo Biz Blog

December 9, 2007 - December 15, 2007 Archives


Storm's costs include revenue fall at Twin River

3:04 PM Fri, Dec 14, 2007 | | Write a comment
By Andrea Panciera    Email

LINCOLN -- Revenue at the Twin River slot parlor was off more than $1 million yesterday due to the snowstorm. That's down an estimated 85 percent from the similar day last month, according to Craig Sculos, the venue’s general manager.......

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Green Airport faces major challenges

12:59 PM Fri, Dec 14, 2007 | | Write a comment
By Benjamin N. Gedan    Email

T.F. Green Airport is facing major challenges, as it grapples with steep declines in passenger traffic, its revenues dry up and its most important airline, Southwest, protests increases in fees. Following this issue? Look for Journal Business editor John Kostrzewa's......

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Utility shutoffs in Rhode Island surpass 30,000

4:02 PM Thu, Dec 13, 2007 | | Write a comment
By Tim Barmann    Email

The number of households that have lost utility service for unpaid bills this year has surpassed 30,000 for the first time since the state began tracking shutoff figures in 1997. The exact tally, kept by the Rhode Island Division of......

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Wall Street Journal sale approved

12:15 PM Thu, Dec 13, 2007 | | Write a comment
By Benjamin N. Gedan    Email

Dow Jones shareholders have approved the sale of the company to News Corp., according to the Associated Press. The $5-billion acquisition is expected to result in the sale of several Dow Jones-owned newspapers in New England, including the Cape Cod......

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No drop in costs from hospital merger

10:38 AM Thu, Dec 13, 2007 | | Write a comment
By Benjamin N. Gedan    Email

Journal photo / Bill Murphy John J. Hynes, CEO of Care New England, far left, and George Vecchione, CEO of Lifespan, far right, announce the proposed merger in July. Next to Hynes are Jonathan Farnum, chairman of the board......

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Kent Hospital reports $8.9 million loss

9:00 AM Thu, Dec 13, 2007 | | Write a comment
By John Kostrzewa    Email

Kent Hospital had a $8.9 million operating loss for the year that ended Sept. 30, according to Mark E. Crevier, president and CEO, who spoke last night at the hospital's annual meeting. He said, "In spite of unprecedented challenges and......

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Restaurant sales to grow in U.S. and R.I.

8:31 AM Thu, Dec 13, 2007 | | Write a comment
By John Kostrzewa    Email

Despite a slumping economy, with one-third of the economists surveyed by Bloomberg News forecasting a recession in 2008, diners are estimated to spend more money in restaurants next year, according to a report by the National Restaurant Association. The report......

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P&G sues over look-alike items sold at CVS

8:23 AM Thu, Dec 13, 2007 | | Write a comment
By John Kostrzewa    Email

Procter & Gamble Co. sued rival Fruit of the Earth, claiming it violates three patents and sells products at CVS pharmacies that copy the look of P&G's items. - The complaint alleges infringement of P&G's Olay packaging by a line......

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Summer Infant forecasts sales, profits

7:52 AM Thu, Dec 13, 2007 | | Write a comment
By John Kostrzewa    Email

After the close of trading on Wall Street Wednesday, Summer Infant, the Woonsocket-based manufacturer of children's products, said it expects 2008 sales to be in the range of $95 million to $100 million, with earnings per share between 30 cents......

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State demolishing last Navy barracks at Quonset

5:17 PM Wed, Dec 12, 2007 | | Write a comment
By Benjamin N. Gedan    Email

The Quonset Development Corporation is demolishing the last Navy barracks at the Quonset Business Park, removing buildings that housed sailors for three decades beginning before World War II. In all, the state agency has spent $5.9 million tearing down 213......

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Chamber to host talk on proposed Lifespan, Care New England merger

1:20 PM Wed, Dec 12, 2007 | | Write a comment
By Benjamin N. Gedan    Email

The Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce is hosting a "candid" discussion of the proposed merger of Lifespan and Care New England. The event, part of the chamber's Business Over Easy Breakfast Forum, will take place tomorrow, Dec. 13, at 8......

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Shareholders Approve Dow Jones Sale

1:01 PM Wed, Dec 12, 2007 | | Write a comment
By Benjamin N. Gedan    Email

Dow Jones shareholders have approved the company's sale to News Corp., according to a count of proxy votes cast in advance of tomorrow's shareholder meeting. The Wall Street Journal, the company's flagship property, published the results on its Web site......

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Falling Dollar Could Boost U.S. Manufacturing

12:53 PM Wed, Dec 12, 2007 | | Write a comment
By Benjamin N. Gedan    Email

The falling value of the dollar is often tossed in with other negative economic news. But lately, a silver lining seems to have emerged: foreign companies are beginning to shift manufacturing to the U.S. so that they can pay expenses......

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4 top executives out at Blue Cross & Blue Shield

12:50 PM Wed, Dec 12, 2007 | | Write a comment
By Benjamin N. Gedan    Email

There’s been a purge at Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island. Four top executives are out – and a company spokeswoman refuses to say whether it’s connected to Operation Dollar Bill, the long-running federal corruption probe that has......

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Stanley Works stock gets boost

10:16 AM Wed, Dec 12, 2007 | | Write a comment
By John Kostrzewa    Email

Shares of the Stanley Works, owner of the Stanley-Bostitch plant in East Greenwich, rose this morning after the company said it had authorized the repurchase of up to 10 million shares in the open market, tender offers and privately negotiated......

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Webster Bank to add ATMS at Walgreens

8:23 AM Wed, Dec 12, 2007 | | Write a comment
By John Kostrzewa    Email

Webster Bank, the Waterbury, Conn.-based company that has made inroads into Rhode Island, plans to install 150 ATMS in Walgreens' pharmacy stores in Massachusetts and Rhode Island during the first quarter of 2008. The bank will not charge withdrawal fees......

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Brothers buy real estate brokerage

8:14 AM Wed, Dec 12, 2007 | | Write a comment
By John Kostrzewa    Email

Brothers Ed Lennon and Tom Lennon, owners/brokers of RE/MAX Realty Group in Seekonk, have acqured RE/MAX Advanced Realtors of West Bridgewater, Mass. from owner Wayne Oliver. The deal doubles the number of agents working for the company to about 60......

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Researchers propose third casino in Connecticut

7:50 AM Wed, Dec 12, 2007 | | Write a comment
By John Kostrzewa    Email

A third casino in Connecticut? Economists and researchers at the University of Connecticut have issued a new report, calling for at least one more casino license to protect the state from the loss of gambling revenue to Massachusetts, where Gov.......

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Skepticism Over Impact of Rate Cuts

5:18 PM Tue, Dec 11, 2007 | | Write a comment
By Benjamin N. Gedan    Email

The Fed hopes today's rate cut will spur consumer spending and help what it called the "the deterioration in financial market conditions." Following its announcement, Providence-based Citizens Bank lowered its prime lending rate by a quarter-point, to 7.25 percent from......

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Beacon Mutual sues rival over name, logo

3:35 PM Tue, Dec 11, 2007 | | Write a comment
By John Kostrzewa    Email

Beacon Mutual Insurance Co. sued its rival, OneBeacon Insurance Group Ltd., over claims it defied a court order to stop using its name and logo in Rhode Island. Beacon Mutual, based in Warwick, sued OneBeacon, the Bermuda insurer with offices......

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CVS agrees to alter advertising in Fla.

3:32 PM Tue, Dec 11, 2007 | | Write a comment
By Paul Grimaldi    Email

The pharmacy division of CVS Caremark has agreed with the Florida attorney general's office to alter its advertising and parts of its Extra Care Rewards program. The Florida law enforcement agency said certain parts of the Extra Care program, which......

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Alert: Fed trims key interest rate in bid to avoid recession

2:25 PM Tue, Dec 11, 2007 | | Write a comment
By Andrea Panciera    Email

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve cut a key interest rate by one-quarter of a percentage point today, trying to keep the country out of recession. The reduction in the federal funds rate to 4.25 percent marked the third rate......

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RI company to bid in federal wireless auction

9:50 AM Tue, Dec 11, 2007 | | Write a comment
By John Kostrzewa    Email

Towerstream, the Middletown-based wireless Internet provider, said this morning it will bid for a piece of the spectrum in the 700 megahertz band in the auction next month to be run by the Federal Communications Commission. Some of the biggest......

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Motiva to sell 34 gas stations in Rhode Island

8:29 AM Tue, Dec 11, 2007 | | Write a comment
By John Kostrzewa    Email

Motiva Enterprises LLC, the Houston-based company that owns a terminal in the Port of Providence, said this morning it will sell 34 Shell-branded gasoline stations in Rhode Island to Colbea Enterprises LLC. The price was not disclosed. Colbea is a......

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Amgen may sell Japan unit to cut costs (Updated)

8:15 AM Tue, Dec 11, 2007 | | Write a comment
By John Kostrzewa    Email

Amgen is considering selling its unit in Japan to cut costs to offset a slump in sales of its core anemia drug, Aranesp, and a plummeting stock price. Shares in Amgen (AMGN:Nasdaq) have lost $4.16 a share, or 7.5 percent......

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Coast Guard stands firm on ruling against LNG tanker plan

5:11 PM Mon, Dec 10, 2007 | | Write a comment
By Andrea Panciera    Email

The Coast Guard has upheld its finding that the waterway approach to the proposed Weaver's Cove liquefied natural gas terminal in Fall River, Mass., is "unsuitable" for tanker traffic because of navigational safety, rejecting the company's appeal. Weaver's Cove Energy......

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After fire, Motiva reopens berth at Providence terminal

3:14 PM Mon, Dec 10, 2007 | | Write a comment
By Benjamin N. Gedan    Email

PROVIDENCE -- More than a year after massive fire damaged its pier, Motiva Enterprises is reopening the south berth at its terminal. The tanker New England arrived this morning. The tanker docked at Motiva’s new berth and will off-load 2.3-million......

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CVS agrees to pay safety fines involving minors, back wages

1:27 PM Mon, Dec 10, 2007 | | Write a comment
By Andrea Panciera    Email

CVS Pharmacy, the Woonsocket-based national chain, has agreed to pay fines totaling $226,598 and back wages of $38,151 to 51 employees after a federal investigation turned up wage violations and dozens of minors who were exposed to job hazards. The......

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Wave energy also has critics

10:43 AM Mon, Dec 10, 2007 | | Write a comment
By Benjamin N. Gedan    Email

The possibility of protests over off-shore wind turbines is well known to anyone who has followed the tortured path of the Cape Wind proposal. Now, it seems that so-called wave farms, such as the one being promoted by an Australian......

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