Flight attendants: Continue ban of small tools on flights
A flight-attendants union is collecting signatures for a petition to reverse the lifting of a ban on scissors and tools aboard airliners.
Members of the Association of Flight Attendants handed out leaflets at Denver International Airport on Wednesday morning and plan to distribute leaflets Monday morning while collecting signatures.
The small implements had been banned after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The Transportation Security Administration on Dec. 22 began allowing passengers to carry onto planes scissors, screwdrivers and tools as part of a broader effort aimed at having screeners spend more of their time searching for explosives rather than small, sharp objects that don’t pose as great of a risk.
The flight attendants are asking for support of a bill in Congress, H.R. 4452, that would prevent the Transportation Security Administration from taking the items off its prohibited list.
ARAPAHOE COUNTY
SEC drops inquiry aimed at Navigant
Arapahoe County-based travel-management company Navigant International Inc. announced Wednesday that the Securities and Exchange Commission has decided not to take any action against the company.
The company had said in June that the SEC was conducting an informal inquiry focused on Navigant’s restatement of its finances for the fiscal years 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and the first three quarters of fiscal 2004.
Navigant shares were relisted on the Nasdaq on Jan. 14. They were delisted in July after the company failed to file its annual and quarterly reports on time.
BROOMFIELD
Sirenza Microdevices posts earnings leap
Broomfield’s Sirenza Microdevices Inc., a supplier of radio-frequency components, reported earnings of 4 cents per diluted share in 2005, up from 1 cent per diluted share in 2004, according to a Wednesday securities filing.
The company posted revenue of $64.2 million in 2005, up from $61.3 million in 2004. During the fourth quarter, the company grew revenue by 30 percent year over year, increasing from $15.1 million in 2004’s fourth quarter to $19.5 million in 2005.
DENVER
Women’s Chamber picks Athena hopefuls
The Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce has chosen four nominees for its annual Athena award, given to the woman who meets criteria that include exceptional professional achievment.
This year’s finalists are Olga Garcia, manager, corporate relations of Coors Brewing Co.; Valencia Faye Tate, vice president and director of diversity for CH2M Hill; Luella Chavez D’Angelo, president of First Data Western Union Foundation; and Tracy Price Johnson, faculty, JFK Partners: Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.
The winner and finalists will be honored at the CWCC’s annual meeting at 11 a.m. Feb. 9 at the City Center Marriott in Denver.
DENVER
Nev. natural-gas plant taps CH2M Hill arm
Sierra Pacific Power Co. announced Wednesday a $200 million contract with LG Constructors, a subsidiary of Douglas County-based CH2M Hill, to help build a new natural-gas power plant in Nevada.
DENVER
Owens selects new gaming-panel officials
Gov. Bill Owens announced Wednesday that Ron Kammerzell will replace Mark Wilson as director of the Colorado Division of Gaming. Kammerzell was previously the director of security for the Colorado Lottery. Owens also appointed Patricia Imhoff to the Colorado Limited Gaming Control Commission, which regulates the state’s gaming industry and oversees the division of gaming.
Imhoff is a managing partner of American Polycom LLC, a plastic-resin distribution company she founded in 1995. Owens last week removed Natalie Meyer and Robert Millman from the commission after they complained about way the Department of Revenue was handling the state’s gaming budget.
ENGLEWOOD
Sporting-goods execs must stay for bonuses
Top executives of the Sports Authority will not receive severance pay if they leave the company after a buyout plan announced this week.
According to summaries of top officials’ employment contracts in the company’s 2005 proxy statement, workers will not get their contractual parting bonus if they leave unless they are demoted or experience material pay cuts as a result of the buyout.
Some members of the company’s management team are participating in the buyout offer, which is led by Los Angeles private-equity firm Leonard Green & Partners LP.
WASHINGTON
Taxes done already? Send ’em to California
Colorado taxpayers who mail their federal tax returns this year should take note of an important change: The IRS is processing tax returns from Colorado in Fresno, Calif., a switch from Austin, Texas.
DALLAS
Southwest enables mobile Web check-in
Southwest Airlines said it is now allowing customers to check in for flights with Web-enabled mobile devices. Passengers can check in at mobile.southwest.com, then go to the airport and print a boarding pass. Passengers on Southwest, which does not have assigned seats, board by group based on how early they check in.
ELK GROVE, Ill.
United moves on housing, crew desks
United Airlines is closing three flight-attendant domiciles in May 2006 – in Paris; Newark, N.J.; and Philadelphia. It is not planning to close the Denver flight-attendant domicile.
United also is moving employees on crew desks in Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and O’Hare International Airport, consolidating the work at one Chicago location. United spokesman Jeff Green said the changes will not result in job losses, and employees will be offered jobs at other locations.
SHANGHAI, China
Chinese economy continues a stunner
China’s economy expanded by a stunning 9.9 percent in 2005, according to data released Wednesday that suggests it may now rank as the world’s fourth- largest. Spurred by strong exports and foreign investment, fourth-quarter growth also was up 9.9 percent from the same period a year ago. For all of 2005, China’s gross domestic product totaled 18.23 trillion yuan ($2.26 trillion), the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement.
