79,000 comments oppose oil drilling in Utah park
Salt Lake City – Members of conservation groups filed more than 79,000 written comments opposing oil drilling in a remote corner of southern Utah’s Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
Denver-based Viking Exploration asked the National Park Service for permission to drill inside Middle Moody Canyon.
The site was leased in 1969, before Glen Canyon was designated a recreation area, but never drilled, which would require expansion of access roads across neighboring Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
Conservation groups are asking federal agencies to kill the project or at the minimum require Viking to pay for an environmental impact study. They also want public hearings for the project.
Much of the opposition came from people alerted by such groups as The Wilderness Society and the Natural Resources Defense Council to file protests by an Aug. 15 deadline.
The Park Service is taking the comments under advisement as part of a $50,000 environmental review.
DENVER
Bankruptcy filings soar as new law nears
Colorado bankruptcy filings set a record in July as hundreds of residents raced to beat the effective date of a new law that will restrict their ability to eliminate debt.
There were 2,659 overall cases filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Colorado last month, up 14.2 percent from July 2004. From April, when the new law was signed, through July, cases totaled 11,980, up 19.5 percent from the same period in 2004.
Bankruptcies have been growing steadily as Colorado’s economic recovery has lagged that of the nation, but the situation has been exacerbated by anticipation over the new law, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Clerk Brad Bolton said Wednesday.
The law goes into effect in mid-October.
DENVER
Qwest’s board adds StorageTek chairman
Qwest’s board Wednesday approved the appointment of Patrick J. Martin, chairman of Storage Technology Corp., to the board effective Oct. 20. Martin’s appointment brings the number of directors serving on Qwest’s board to 10.
“We’re pleased to have Patrick join Qwest’s board of directors. His extensive background and knowledge will be an asset to the board and to the company as we continue to build long-term profitability and increased shareholder value,” said Richard Notebaert, chairman and chief executive of Qwest.
ALBANY, N.Y.
AOL pays $1.25 million over user complaints
America Online Inc., the world’s largest Internet service provider, will pay $1.25 million in penalties and costs and reform some of its customer-service practices to settle an investigation by Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s office.
Around 300 consumers had filed complaints with Spitzer’s office accusing AOL, a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., of ignoring demands to cancel service and stop billing.
NEW YORK
GM, Ford lowered to junk after losses
General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., the two biggest U.S. automakers, were lowered to junk by Moody’s Investors Service following two quarters of losses at the companies’ North American auto operations.
Moody’s lowered General Motors Corp.’s rating two levels to Ba2 and the rating on its General Motors Acceptance Corp. unit to Ba1.
Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford was cut one level to Ba1, one step below investment grade and reduced Ford Motor Credit Co. to the lowest investment grade.
DENVER
Teleconference firm ends transaction stage
ACT Teleconferencing Inc., a Denver-based Web-, audio- and videoconferencing provider, announced Wednesday that it has completed the first closing in a series of transactions expected to raise $16 million for the company.
Dolphin Direct Equity Partners LP, a New York-based private equity fund, paid $100 per share for 80,400 shares of Series AA Convertible Preferred Stock.
STATEWIDE
Average gas price sets record high at $2.62
Colorado’s statewide average price for regular self-serve gasoline continues to set a new record high price every day since Aug. 8, when the price of regular self-serve reached $2.304 per gallon.
The price has since increased 31.6 cents a gallon, to an average of $2.62 Wednesday, AAA said.
Colorado prices also top the national average of $2.607 a gallon, which is up 4.3 cents from last week and 32.2 cents from a month ago.
LOVELAND
Developers announce more tenants at mall
Poag & McEwen Lifestyle Centers LLC and McWhinney Enterprises, co-developers of The Promenade Shops at Centerra in Loveland, on Wednesday said that retailers Charlotte Russe, Hallmark Cards, Jos. A. Bank, Journey’s, Lids, Sunglass Designs, Zales and Zumiez have signed on as tenants.
The 700,000-square-foot retail center is 73 percent leased.
NEW YORK
Ousted CEO of H-P to pen career memoir
Carly Fiorina, the Hewlett- Packard Co. chief executive deposed last winter for failing to deliver enough benefits from the company’s acquisition of Compaq Computer Corp., is writing a book about her career.
The memoir, currently untitled, is scheduled to be published next year by Portfolio, an imprint of Penguin Group USA..
CHICAGO
Not-guilty plea given in fund-diversion case
A former executive of the company that owns the Chicago Sun-Times pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges that he participated in a scheme to wrongfully divert $32 million in company funds.
Mark S. Kipnis, 58, who was the top in-house lawyer for Chicago-based Hollinger International, entered the plea during his arraignment on fraud charges in federal court.
NEW YORK
Vanity Fair publisher to start biz magazine
Conde Nast Publications Inc., publisher of Vanity Fair and Vogue, said it will start up a monthly business magazine, the company’s first foray into the business-magazine world.
The still-unnamed magazine has no launch date.
