Qwest figuring out scope of Monday’s partial outage
Qwest’s long-distance network experienced a partial outage Monday evening because of a problem with switching equipment, the company said.
Customers reported intermittent service for long-distance calling and problems such as repeated busy signals.
Qwest company spokesman Vince Hancock said the problems affected some people in most – if not all – of Qwest’s 14-state coverage area from the Midwest to the West.
This partial service disruption did not affect local voice or data communications, including e-mail and Web access, or Internet phone services, said company spokesman Michael Dunne.
Colorado Public Utilities Commission spokeswoman Barbara Fernandez first heard about the problem when she was called by a newspaper in Omaha.
Qwest told her it was still investigating and had not determined which states had been affected.
DALLAS
Yuma plant to refine corn, burn manure
Panda Energy of Dallas said it will build an ethanol refinery in Yuma that will produce 100 million gallons per year.
The $120 million plant will refine corn fuel, which will be blended with gasoline.
To produce steam to operate the plant, Panda will use a renewable fuel technology that converts a billion pounds of cattle manure each year into fuel.
BROOMFIELD
Council clears way for hockey franchise
The City Council gave formal approval Aug. 10 for the construction of a 6,000-seat Broomfield Events Center, clearing the way for a Central Hockey League franchise to begin play in fall 2006.
Broomfield Ice LLC, headed by Tim Wiens and John Frew of the Wiens Frew Management Group, was awarded the team by Global Entertainment Corp.
DENVER
WildBlue co-founder stepping down
WildBlue Communications Inc. chief executive Tom Moore said Tuesday he will step down and turn operations of the satellite Internet service company over to a telecommunications veteran.
David Leonard, an executive with Liberty Global Inc., will take over as chief executive effective Sept. 1. Moore co-founded the company and will remain on WildBlue’s board.
DENVER
Hotel occupancy, rates rose in July
Average room rates and occupancy rates at Colorado’s hotels rose in July compared with the same month last year, according to the latest Rocky Mountain Lodging Report.
Statewide, occupancy rates rose by 1.9 percentage points, to 75.4 percent. Room rates rose $9.37, to $106.33. In the metro area, occupancy rates were basically flat at 77 percent last month, compared with 76.9 percent in July 2004. Average room rates rose $7.13, to $91.94.
DOUGLAS COUNTY
EchoStar lays off 20 in IT division
Douglas County-based Echo Star Communications Corp. has laid off 20 employees from its information technology division.
The layoffs occurred Friday at its headquarters, spokesman Steve Caulk said.
The company employs 5,000 in Colorado.
GREELEY
Swift & Co. earnings fall more than 50%
Privately-held Swift & Co., the third-largest U.S. beef producer, said earnings fell by more than half in the fiscal fourth quarter because of weaker sales in its U.S. beef and pork businesses.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization fell to $43.7 million in the three months ended May 29, from $95.6 million a year earlier.
BOULDER
SkyeTek receives $8 million for ID tags
Boulder-based SkyeTek received $8 million in venture capital on Tuesday to research and market its software for radio frequency identification tags.
Denver-based Appian Ventures, SkyeTek’s original sponsor, participated in the round along with two new investors: Sequel Venture Partners of Boulder and Palomar Ventures of Santa Monica, Calif.
FALLS CHURCH, Va.
General Dynamics snares bullet contract
General Dynamics Corp. beat Alliant Techsystems Inc., the Pentagon’s top bullet supplier, for a contract worth as much as $1.2 billion to make small-arms ammunition for the Army.
The five-year agreement covers production of as much as 500 million rounds of ammunition annually, the Army said.
NEW YORK
Wal-Mart seeks polish with ads in Vogue
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, has debuted advertisements in Vogue magazine to polish its image and attract upscale shoppers.
The eight pages of ads in the September issue feature women, including an art professor, a fundraiser and a stay-at-home mom, offering testimonials about Wal-Mart’s apparel, said Elissa Lumley, a Vogue spokeswoman.
CHICAGO
Teamsters target Deutsche Post unit
Deutsche Post AG’s package- delivery unit DHL is the target of an organizing campaign by the Teamsters union for 20,000 U.S. contract workers, as the company increases its U.S. business.
The workers pick up, deliver and sort packages for DHL, “essentially the same work” as 225,000 Teamsters members do at bigger rival United Parcel Service Inc., union general secretary Thomas Keegel said.
NEW YORK
New Citigroup chief building his team
Citigroup Inc. chief executive Charles Prince, whom Sanford Weill picked over other top lieutenants to succeed him in running the world’s biggest financial-services company, is assembling his own inner circle.
Prince, 55, on Monday promoted Steve Freiberg and Ajay Banga as co-heads of Citigroup’s global consumer unit, replacing Marjorie Magner, who resigned.
GAINESVILLE, Fla.
Maris family, brewer settle defamation suit
The family of former single-season home run king Roger Maris and Anheuser-Busch Cos. settled a multibillion-dollar defamation lawsuit Tuesday stemming from the brewer’s termination of the family’s beer distributorship.
The sides did not disclose terms of the settlement, which came as jurors deliberated for a second day.
