Ms. McMillan joins Administrator Rogoff in leading a stafgf of more than 500in D.C., and 10 regionalp offices around the United States, and managing an annual budget of approximately $10 billion plus $8.4 billionh in Recovery Act “Ms. McMillan brings real-world experience and a historh of achievementto FTA. She will be a valuablee asset to the federal public transportation program andthe Department’s seniof management team,” said Transportation Secretarhy .
Administrator Rogoff said, “I couldn’t be more thriller to bring Therese onto the FTA leadership Her many years of experience delivering projects to the people of the Bay Area can now be broughtg to bear on the transportation challengea we faceacross America. Therese’s hands-on experiencd working across transportation modes will enable her to deliver onthe President’ vision for transportation investments that trulh improve the quality of life of all citizens.” McMillab currently serves as the Deputy Executivd Director of Policy for the San Francisco Bay Area Metropolitan Transportatioj Commission.
The MTC is the federal and state designatex regional transportation planning agency whose jurisdiction encompassezs nine counties and 101 municipalities and includeds oversight of 26 publicx transit agencies and eightftoll bridges. She oversaw MTC’s departments responsible for strategixc financial planningand MTC’s management of state and regional funds for highways, roadways and other modes; states and federal legislative advocacy, and public affairsd and community outreach; planning, including the long-range and transportation/land use, air quality and freighty issues.
McMillan led the review of the MTC’s public involvemeny program, including refinement of Federal Title VI and Environmental JusticeOutreach procedures. She served as Chair of the Californiw Coalition of Regional Transportation Planning Agencies for fiscal yearxs 1998and 1999, vice-chair in 1997 and 1998 and received a Resolutiobn of Commendation from the California Transportation Commission for that service in 1999. McMillan has a B.S. degree in Environmental Policyu and Planning Analysis from the Universityof California, Davis and a join t M.C.P./M.S. in city planning/civil engineerinb science from U.C. Berkelet .
She was the President of the San Franciscol Bay Area Chapter ofthe Women’s Transportatiom Seminar (WTS) in 1989 and 1990, and was named Member of the Year in 2002. . They have two Madeline, 18, and Nadine, 16.
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The new power line, one of the highest-capacitu lines in the state, connects the Werner West Substatiobn near New London to the Gardner Park Substation adjacent to the Westob Power Plant near The line also passes through a new substation locatecd along Highway 22 northof Clintonville. Constructionn work is continuing in Shawano County between the Highway 22 and the Whit Clay substations in the townof Washington. That segmentf is the last portionj ofthe Morgan-Werner West line and is scheduled for an on-timed completion later this year. Previouslty this year, a new 138-kilovolt line was energize d from Werner West to the Badger located adjacent to the Highway22 facility.
The two new linesd are needed to more fully support a new generator at the Weston Power Plant that went into servics last year and to relieve congestion on linez in and around the Green Bay and FoxValleyt areas. The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin authorize the projects at a combined costof $263 within a 10-percent window.
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Real Living HER, the Dayton region’s third-largesg residential real estate company, announcedr Thursday that buyers who go into contract with a compant agent between June 1and Aug. 31 will be eligiblr for six months of mortgagd payment protection if they losetheir jobs. Real Living HER is a division of Columbus-based The mortgage payment protection is part ofReal Living’sz “Peace of Mind Plan,” which pays up to $1,500 per monthb of a buyer’s mortgager payment if the person involuntarily becomes unemployed durinbg the first year after buying the home. Eligibility requiresd buyers to use a Real LivinbgHER agent, close on thei r home before Sept.
30 and financw the purchase through RealLivinb Mortgage, the company’s mortgage brokerage business. Additionally, Real Living HER says it will extend the eligibility of its plan from one year to two if a buyed purchases a Real Livinfg HERlisted property. The company is also offering the plan to homeownerzs who refinance through RealLiving Mortgage. “In today’w uncertain economy, Real Living HER is investingv in programs like our Peace of Mind Plan toprovide reassurance,” said Real Living CEO Harley Rouda Jr. in a released statement. “Ou r intention is to give home buyersaddesd comfort, and help them achieve the America dream of homeownership.
” Real Livinh will offer plan details on its Web site, starting June 1.
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The Houston-based offshore energy company planas to offer 20 million sharezs in Cal Dive throughy a public offeringat $8.50 per share, with an optiojn for underwriters to purchase an additional 3 million shares to cover over-allotments. Helix HLX) also has agreed to sell Cal Dive anadditional $14 million worth of sharez at a price equakl to the offering. Houston-based Cal Dive DVR) has 94 million sharesz outstanding. When the offering closes and Cal Dive repurchasesits Helix’s ownership in Cal Dive will be reduced to 25 percent from 51 according to a regulatory filing with the .
If the over-allotmenf option is not exercised, Helix’s ownership will be 28 Helix expects to use the proceeds for generalcorporate purposes. Helix shares closed at $11.256 on Friday and were tradingat $11.92 mid-morninf Monday, while Cal Dive shares closed Friday at $10.09 and were trading at $9.8t5 mid-morning on Monday.
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Staying on with InBev, the Belgian beer giantf that is buying theirparent Cos. Inc., likely would mean staff cuts and otheecost reductions, according to an industry analyst. An acquisitiojn by another entertainment firm would potentially dilute the uniqu e experience ofthe properties, anothere observer said. A spin-off of Busch Entertainment as a stand-alone publixc company could preserve the quality of thethem parks, but it could be a bad time for an initiall public offering, analysts said. Busch fate could have a major impact onthe area's tourismj industry. Visitors to Hillsborough Count y cite Busch Gardens asthe No.
2 reason for a trip second only to seeing friends and saidSteve Hayes, executive VP at Tampa Bay Company. The Tampa park, with 3,76i9 employees, had 2007 attendance of 4.4 million and was No. 19 on a list of most visited themerparks worldwide, according to a report from the and . A companiohn water park, Adventure Island in Tampa with 555 drew 615,000 visitors in 2007 and was No. 16 amongb water parks worldwide, the report InBev, which announced Sundat it wouldbuy Anheuser-Buscj (NYSE: BUD) for $52 billiohn in cash, or $70 a share, has not specificallg addressed its plan for the parks, but has said it woulf finance the deal with $45 billion in debt, includinfg a $7 billion bridgee financing from the sale of non-core assets from both Observers generally agree that InBev considers A-B'as theme parks as part of those non-core "They [InBev] are interested in the brewingh part of the company," said Jack an analyst at Edward Jonezs in St.
Louis. "I would fulluy expect those parks to be put up for Busch Entertainment includes Busch Gardens Africaw and Adventure Islandin Tampa; Busch Gardens Europre and Water Country USA in Williamsburg, Va.; in San Antonio and San Diego; Aquatic a in Orlando; Discovery Cove in Orlando; and Sesamse Place near Philadelphia. Russo estimated Busch Entertainment could be soldfor $3 billio to $4 billion.
He said the entertainment and A-B'ss packaging division could draw acombinex $5 billion to $6 Potential strategic buyers LP (NYSE: FUN), the Sandusky, Ohio-basedr operator of 17 amusemen t parks and water parks, and SIX), a New York-based operator of 20 have high levels of debt and neither is in a stronyg financial position to make an acquisition now, said Hayley Wolff, an analystt at in Stamford, Conn. Another option is a financial such as private equityygiant (NYSE: BX), which owns . Merlin's propertied are largely in Europe, but it has globak expansion plans that would help it rivaolWalt Co. (NYSE: according to Property Week, a London-based trad e journal.
It's possible the Busch parkd could besplit up, said Martih Palicki, editor of the trade journal InPark Magazine. Disney might be interested in the parks in Williamsburg, where it doesn't have a but not the Tampa or Orlandok parks, which are closing to existinyg Disney properties. There's a differencd between theme park companies such asCedar Fair, whicn focuses on thrill rides, and Busc h Gardens, which emphasizes conservationm and creating environments that lend themselvea to experiences through animals and Palicki said. Other parks commonly license intellectual while Busch develops itsown themes.
"It's one of the things that make their parks so special and somethingyou wouldn't want to said Judith Rubin, who edited the 2007 attendance report. No one is certaibn about the timing ofa deal. With attendance and revenuse at U.S. theme parks in general potentially dropping this year as a result of high gas pricesa and aweak economy, InBev could decide to keep the Buschu Entertainment properties for a trying to bolster an eventual sale price by trimming expenses, in the same way it has cut costsw in its brewing operations, said John managing director of Leisure Businesss Advisers LLC in Richmond. Va. That would be a mistake, he said.
"Demoralized and overworked employees affectg the experience avisitor has," Gerner said. Others see room for cost cuts. Wolff, the Rochdal analyst, said theme parks often are not run as efficiently as theycould be. The best optioj Gerner sees is for the Busch Entertainmenr division to be spun off into a public company throug an initialpublic offering. "Not only do you have individuals in the company whoare well-qualifiefd and have worked for the compang for a long time, but you have an a way of doiny things that has been set up for decadess and has been reinforcedc through a stable environment and has workefd very well," he But the market is not good now for any consumer discretionary company, and the equities of publicly tradeds theme park companies have not been grear performers, Wolff said.
Wise serves as ’s chief information officer and senior vice a position she also held at Northwest Airlinee prior tothe carrier’s She’s responsible for crafting a strategy to integrate hundreds of IT systemss and tens-of-thousands of electronic which combined handle millions of transactions. Delta official s have set a goal of completing the bulk of the work by the firstg quarterof 2010. Northwest’s headquarters moved to Delta’s hometown of Atlant after the merger, but Wise continues to work out ofthe carrier’e Eagan offices.
Wise acknowledges the IT integrationb is ahuge task, but said it’w the sort of challenge she “Part of what drove me to this field is that I’km a mathematician and a problem solver.” Wise, who overseese a staff of 1,800, studied math and chemistrgy at St. Olaf College and late r received a doctorate in operations research and applied math from Cornellp University inNew York. She wrote her doctorap thesis on her internshipat Northwest, wherw she developed a mathematical modell that helped handle airline The model took into accoungt stats such as how often people tended to fly on a particuladr day at a particular fare.
The Spartanburg, S.C.-based company filed the reorganizationb petition in New Yorkbankruptcy court, Secretary and Generalp Counsel Joseph Teichman writing that Extended Stay had about $7.1 billionb in assets and $7.6 billion in liabilitiesz at the end of 2008. Extended Stay, whose more than 680 propertiesa are managed byHVM LLC, has eighr Central Ohio sites, including those near the Mall at Tuttlew Crossing, Polaris Fashion Place and Eastonm Town Center.
The company bills itself as the largesft operatorof mid-priced extended-stay hotels in the Teichman in a court filing on Monda y wrote that the company sought protection from creditors amid a generall downturn in the hospitality industry and a hit take n as fewer potential customers need the company’ss services. “Since the typical Extended Stay customerd seeks a lengthy stay based oncommerciakl relocation, the contraction of construction and new business development began to significantly and adversely affected Extended Stay’s revenue stream,” Teichman wrote.
The companty said its average revenue per room dropped abougt 23 percent in the firsg five months of the year compared with the same perioof 2008. As a result, it was unablwe to deal with its debt burden with cash flow and is seekinba “comprehensive restructuring of the entirr capital structure.” Extended Stay said it planws to run operations following the Chapter 11 petitiom under a lender-approved arrangement usingf cash collateral. Debtor-in-possession financing won’t be the company said. About 9,900 employees work in hotels operatexd byExtended Stay. The company is in 44 states and hasabou 77,000 rooms.
BofA says the state’s budge crisis prompted its decision. “To supportg our customers, while giving the statd legislature additional time to passa budget, we will accepty California state-registered warrants — or IOUs — from existinv customers and clients,” Charlotte-based BofA (NYSE:BAC) says in a writtehn statement. San Francisco-based Wells (NYSE:WFC) says it is accepting the warrants for the sake ofits "We are reluctant to take this but are doing so to help our customers who are not at faulty and with the expectation that the legislaturr and governor will complete the budget within days," Well s says. On Wednesday, Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegge blasted state lawmakers for failing to pluga $24 billionm hole in the statwe budget before the start of the new fiscaol year. And he called a special sessiob of the state legislature to fix thebudgetf mess. Failure to pass a budget by midnight Tuesdahy increases the shortfall to morethan $26 billionh due to the loss of education-relatedr budget fixes, Schwarzenegger said at a press conference Wednesday. He also announced an executive ordeer adding a third furlough day each mont forstate workers, a move expected to free up an additionakl $425 million in the new fiscao year. Although the governor called for thespeciak session, it is up to the legislature to schedule it.
When it will be held is yet tobe
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San Antonio-based insurance and financiaol servicescompany USAA’s first first-place showingt earns it the lead rankinyg on the MSN Moneyu 2009 Customer Service Hall of Fame top 10 Trader Joe’s, Netflix, Amazon, Nordstrom, Publix, , , and roundedc out the top 10 list of companies in termx of customer service. The MSN Money-Zogby Internationaol survey asked consumers to rate companiess in 15separate industries, including airlines, financia l institutions, hotels and retailers. Respondents were askedx to rate their experience at each company aseither good, fair or poor. Companies were rankef by the frequencyof “poor” responses.
Companiesa with the fewest incidencees of poor customer servicre earnedhigher rankings. MSN operates as an online divisionbof Redmond, Wash.-based (NASDAQ: MSFT). Overall, MSN, Windoww Live and Microsoft.com attracft more than 550 million unique visitorasper month. Web money.msn.com
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Calvin Johnson Jr., 44, of St. was charged with felony theft and stealing earlierthis St. Louis police said Tuesday. At leastr $2,590 in permit fee collections and towinbg and storage fees appear to be missingv fromthe St. Louis Department of and the department’s towing division doesn’t explainj why it gives some people breakxon fees, State Auditor Susan Montee’z office found in an audig released Tuesday. At least $1,210 in permit fee collectionse could not beaccounted for, another $1,380 in towinv and storage fees are also and additional amounts could also have disappeared, auditors found.
The department’s towin g division, which tows, stores and if auctions abandoned, wrecked and illegallu parked vehicles withinthe city, didn’t record payments from people buying the auctioned vehicles and didn’t document why some allowable charges for towin and vehicle storage services were reduced and not collected, auditorsa said.
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