Springs, Denver discuss TV franchise with Qwest
City officials from Denver and Colorado Springs have met in recent days with Qwest to negotiate a TV franchise. Neither city has made any decisions about Qwest offering TV service.
Comcast Corp., Denver’s dominant cable provider, has said Qwest wants to “cherry-pick” its customers and offer TV service only to wealthy neighborhoods. Qwest, which is based in Denver, has said it cannot afford to offer blanket TV service at once to every house and business in a city.
Qwest didn’t necessarily focus on high-income neighborhoods when it came to offering high-speed Internet service in Denver, said Kathleen MacKenzie, chairwoman of Denver’s technology services committee.
“Qwest has said it will go where people want service,” MacKenzie said. “From looking at DSL (high-speed Internet) data, it doesn’t look like that service was offered exclusively in Denver’s more wealthy neighborhoods.”
Comcast has about 500,000 cable-TV customers in Denver. Qwest offers TV service in Colorado in Highlands Ranch and a Lone Tree subdivision.
ATLANTA
3 indicted in plot to steal Coke secrets
Three people were indicted Tuesday on a conspiracy charge arising from what prosecutors say was a plot to steal confidential information from the Coca-Cola Co. and sell it to a competitor.
The federal grand-jury indictment charges Joya Williams, Ibrahim Dimson and Edmund Duhaney with a single count of conspiracy.
Williams, 41, of Norcross, Ga., Dimson, 30, of New York and Duhaney, 43, of Decatur, Ga., pleaded not guilty during an arraignment hearing Tuesday afternoon.
The government is seeking forfeiture of any property derived from proceeds of the alleged crime.
DENVER
$140,000 in grants targets clean energy
The CORE Foundation was awarded $140,000 from the Energy Foundation in two grants to promote clean, new energy technology policies.
CORE is working with West Wind Wires with $100,000 of the grant to integrate wind energy into the electric grid throughout Western states. It is also partnering with the Western Business Coalition for New Energy Technologies on a $40,000 grant to increase implementation of state renewable-energy policies in the Rocky Mountain region.
REDMOND, Wash.
Four security patches released for Windows
Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday released four security fixes to patch flaws in its Windows operating system. Two of the vulnerabilities carried the highest danger rating.
All of the patches are to fix weaknesses in Windows that could allow an attacker to take control of a computer.
NEW YORK
SkyWest pilots vote for strike if talks fail
The pilots of a SkyWest Inc. unit voted to authorize a strike if long-standing contract talks don’t result in an agreement.
The Atlantic Southeast Airlines pilots, which are represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, International, said more than 92 percent of the responding pilots voted in favor of the measure.
SkyWest, based in St. George, Utah, flies regional jets for Delta Connections flights for Delta Air Lines Inc. and United Express flights for United Airlines.
SANTA CLARA, Calif.
Sun Microsystems unveils new servers
Sun Microsystems Inc., the world’s No. 4 maker of server computers, introduced three new models as it works to extend gains against larger rivals IBM, Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc.
Two Sun Fire servers and an ultra-thin Blade server expand the company’s use of Opteron chips from Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Sun said Tuesday. Servers are used to manage corporate networks and websites.
Servers are Sun’s largest business, accounting for about 46 percent of sales. Sun posted the biggest sales gain among servermakers in the first quarter, ending a slump that lasted almost two years.
CHICAGO
Control of UAL Corp. pension shares shifts
The U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. transferred control of more than 11.1 million shares to J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. on June 28, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
The shares represent 11.3 percent of United Airlines parent UAL Corp.’s shares outstanding.
BEIJING
Loans down as China tries to cool economy
China’s bank lending fell 22 percent last month, suggesting official efforts to cool off the sizzling economy are taking effect, state media reported Tuesday.
New bank loans in June totaled 360 billion yuan ($45 billion), down 102.7 billion yuan ($13 billion) from the same month in 2005, the Xinhua News Agency and newspapers said.
DENVER
7 firms to vie for venture-capital prize
Seven companies have been selected to present their business strategies in an attempt to get the attention of venture capitalists at BioWest 2006.
The annual two-day event at the Colorado Convention Center features a Venture Showcase competition, where the company with the best presentation will receive a $10,000 award sponsored by Faegre & Benson.
The seven companies were selected from a group of 18 and are:
ApopLogic Pharmaceuticals of Aurora;
Caveo Therapeutics of Aurora;
LigoCyte of Bozeman, Mont.;
MBC Pharma Inc. of Boulder;
MedShape Solutions of Castle Rock;
SunSource Industries of Boulder; and
TheraTogs Inc. of Telluride
BioWest is sponsored by the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade and the Colorado Bioscience Association.
DETROIT
Delphi reports 2005 loss of $2.4 billion
Delphi Corp., General Motors Corp.’s largest parts supplier, reported a $2.4 billion loss for 2005 in a delayed annual report filed Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company, which filed for bankruptcy protection in October, blamed the loss of $4.21 a share on accounting charges, price pressures from a reduction in GM’s North American vehicle production and increased costs for raw materials.
The red ink is an improvement over 2004, when the company had a net loss of $4.8 billion, or $8.59 a share. But the 2004 loss included a $4.7 billion tax write-off, the company said.
Revenue fell 6 percent to $26.9 billion, compared with $28.6 billion in 2004.
