EchoStar to serve up local channels in HD by March
EchoStar Communications Corp., provider of the Dish Network satellite-TV service, said this week it would roll out local high-definition channels in the Denver area by mid-March.
In his monthly “Charlie Chat,” EchoStar founder and chairman Charlie Ergen on Monday told subscribers about new high-definition offerings for 2006.
Last week, Douglas County-based EchoStar said it would begin offering local HD channels to Dish subscribers in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York in February, and plans to have local broadcasts in 50 markets available by year’s end.
In Denver, EchoStar would offer NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox programming in high definition. Subscribers will have to upgrade to a new satellite dish and set-top box to receive the enhanced signal. Upgrade prices begin at $49, said EchoStar spokesman Marc Lumpkin.
DirecTV announced a rollout of local HD programming last week. Spokesman Robert Mercer said the company would offer the service in 24 markets, including Denver, in the first half of this year. It is unclear what DirecTV subscribers will pay for the upgrade.
DENVER
Nacchio lawyers seek more time to prepare
Attorneys for former Qwest chief executive Joe Nacchio, indicted last month on 42 insider- trading charges, asked a federal judge Tuesday to give them more time to prepare his defense. Under federal law, Nacchio has a right to trial within 70 days of his indictment, or by Feb. 28.
Defendants may request more time for complex cases. Nacchio’s attorneys on Tuesday filed a motion requesting “a finding of complexity.” They said U.S. Attorney Bill Leone did not object to the request. U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham could rule on the issue, and possibly set a new trial deadline, during a hearing scheduled for Jan. 20.
DENVER
Ground broken today on Hilton Garden Inn
Centennial-based Stonebridge Cos. will break ground today on a 221-room, $35 million Hilton Garden Inn at 14th and Welton streets. The hotel is expected to open in mid-2007.
The downtown site, a former Xcel Energy parking lot, is directly across the street from the recently opened 1,100-room Hyatt Regency Denver at the Colorado Convention Center.
DENVER
BestBank pair want convictions tossed
Two Fort Lauderdale, Fla., businessmen are asking a judge to throw out their convictions in August on multiple counts of fraud, conspiracy and false bank reporting stemming from their involvement in the $200 million failure of Boulder-based BestBank.
Glenn Gallant and Douglas Baetz, who prosecutors say pocketed as much as $11.4 million each from a credit-card scheme they operated for BestBank, potentially face 10 years to life in prison and hefty fines and repayments.
In filings, the men have argued that they should be acquitted because there was insufficient evidence and that their involvement in the BestBank failure was limited. Their sentencing was scheduled for Thursday but was postponed while U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch considers their motions for acquittal.
AURORA
ProLogis purchases sole control of 3 funds
ProLogis, an Aurora-based global provider of distribution facilities and services, paid $626 million to Arcapita Bank of Bahrain to take sole ownership of three jointly owned real-estate investment funds.
The deal, disclosed in a Tuesday securities filing, gives ProLogis 100 percent ownership in ProLogis First U.S. Properties, ProLogis Second U.S. Properties and ProLogis Third U.S. Properties. The funds were largely invested in industrial-distribution facilities throughout the U.S.
DENVER
Wal-Mart workers make more in Denver
Full-time Wal-Mart employees earned an average of $11.58 per hour in Denver in 2005, compared with $11.49 in Boston, $11.11 in Atlanta, $11.05 in San Francisco, $10.78 in New York, $10.98 in San Diego and $10.29 in Los Angeles.
A Wal-Mart spokeswoman attributed the higher hourly wage in Denver to the fact that there are more stores here that have been open longer.
Wal-Mart critics said the data, which also showed the company created 125,000 jobs in 2005, offered an incomplete picture of the company’s economic impact, noting that many Wal- Mart employees work part time.
BRECKENRIDGE
Altex sells off wells, interests in others
Altex Oil Corp. a wholly owned subsidiary of Breckenridge- based Altex Industries, announced in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that on Dec. 14 it sold all of its interests in producing oil and gas wells in Wyoming that it does not operate to Wellstar Corp. for $1.9 million in cash.
Altex also sold interests in producing oil and gas wells it operates in Wyoming to Chaparral Energy LLC for $347,000; and all of its overriding royalty interests in producing oil and gas wells in Wyoming to Penroc Oil Corp. for $187,000. Altex received payment from all three deals Jan. 5.
ITASCA, Ill.
OfficeMax will close 110 stores, restructure
OfficeMax Inc. said Tuesday it will close 110 U.S. stores by the end of the first quarter and undertake other restructuring activities to improve the company’s performance.
The company said it would not name the stores it intends to close until later this month. OfficeMax operates five stores in the Denver area.
WASHINGTON
Nov. inventories saw preholiday bump
U.S. wholesalers boosted inventories by 0.4 percent in November as they gained confidence consumers would pick up the pace of spending during the holidays.
The gain followed a 0.2 percent rise in October, the Commerce Department said Tuesday in Washington. Sales dropped 0.7 percent, the most since April 2003, partly reflecting a decrease in the value of petroleum purchases.
PROVIDENCE, R.I.
Italians seek to buy U.S. lottery operator
Italian lottery company Lottomatica SpA struck a deal Tuesday to purchase U.S.-based Gtech Holdings Corp. for $4.65 billion in cash to create one of the world’s largest gaming-technology operators.
The companies valued the deal at $4.8 billion, including the assumption of Gtech debt, and said the combined company is expected to operate in more than 50 countries, with revenues of $1.9 billion.
Scientific Games International replaced Gtech as the vendor running Colorado’s Lotto, Powerball and scratch-ticket games in 2004.
