Qwest wrangles new lines through forest via horseback
Qwest technicians rode horses into the backcountry of Arizona earlier this summer to hook up new phone and Internet service to help U.S. Forest Service workers prepare for the fire season.
The new T1 lines link Forest Service offices in the Coconino National Forest.
Denver-based Qwest also started a 24-hour “emergency response team” to support the Forest Service. The national forest includes fragile red rock desert around Sedona, Ariz., pine forests and alpine tundra.
The phone company worked with biologists and archaeologists in the region to install the network. Qwest operates in 14 mostly Western states, including Arizona.
DENVER
BestBank prosecutors appeal no-jury ruling
Prosecutors in the trial of three former executives of the failed BestBank of Boulder on Monday appealed a judge’s decision to carry on the trial without a jury.
Judge Richard Matsch last week dismissed the jury and accepted waivers of a right to jury trial from Edward Mattar III, Thomas Alan Boyd and Jack Grace. Grace’s lawyer, Daniel Sears, said he has prostate cancer and is scheduled for surgery Aug. 3. The trial resumed before Matsch on Monday and will proceed around Sears’ surgery schedule.
Prosecutors filed a petition with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to overturn Matsch’s dismissal of the jury, arguing that the defendants’ waivers require the government’s approval. Prosecutors also are asking the appeals court to delay the trial until ruling on the matter.
FORT COLLINS
CSU to help evaluate energy efficiency
The Department of Energy selected Colorado State University as one of 26 universities to create centers that will help small and medium-sized manufacturers assess energy efficiency in their operations.
The 26 universities could receive as much as $6 million total over the next two years to create Industrial Assessment Centers.
DENVER
Western Gas to pay if deal falls through
Denver-based Western Gas Resources disclosed Monday that it will have to pay a $154 million break-up fee to Houston’s Anadarko Resources if Western’s deal to be acquired by Anadarko Resources falls through.
Western Gas, a major Rocky Mountain natural-gas producer, last month agreed to be purchased by Anadarko for $61 a share, or $4.7 billion. Anadarko also is buying Oklahoma City-based Kerr-McGee Corp. for $70.50 per share in cash, or $16 billion. Western Gas shareholders are scheduled to vote on the deal Aug. 23.
GREENWOOD VILLAGE
Adelphia bankruptcy deal winning support
Most creditors of Adelphia Communications have signed off on a deal that could bring it out of bankruptcy in the fourth quarter of this year, according to a statement from the cable operator Monday. Adelphia is in the process of being sold to Time Warner Cable and Comcast for $17.3 billion.
Some bank lenders and bondholders did not sign the deal, which comes after four years of haggling over the Greenwood Village-based company. The deal must be approved by a U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York.
DENVER
Sports Commissions’ ’09 meeting booked
The National Association of Sports Commissions will hold its 2009 Sports Event Symposium in Denver, the Metro Denver Sports Commission announced Monday. The annual conference, which is expected to draw more than 500 sports industry representatives, will take place at the Adam’s Mark Hotel April 21-24, 2009.
DENVER
Qwest hires former congressional aide
Denver-based Qwest has a new director of corporate communications and government relations in its Washington, D.C., office. Former congressional aide Tom McMahon will handle communications for the Baby Bell’s federal relations and federal government sales.
TICABOO, Utah
Canadians buy Wyo. uranium firm’s assets
Riverton, Wyo.-based U.S. Energy Corp. has agreed to sell its uranium assets in Utah and Wyoming to a Canadian mining company seeking a U.S. foothold to capture rising prices for nuclear fuel.
The buyer, SXR Uranium One Inc. of Toronto, will pay cash, stock and royalties worth nearly $90 million for a uranium mill, mine and uranium claims that could change hands as early as January, the companies said.
LONDON
Amvescap value rises with equity-firm deal
Amvescap Plc. shares rose almost 5 percent on Monday after news that the British investment company would purchase billionaire investor Wilbur L. Ross Jr.’s private equity firm in a deal valued at $375 million.
The deal is aimed at expanding Ross’ reach into new capital markets overseas. Amvescap folded Denver-based Invesco Funds Group into Houston-based AIM Investments in 2004.
WASHINGTON
Treasury auctions off bills worth $31 billion
The Treasury Department auctioned $16 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 4.975 percent and an additional $15 billion in six-month bills at a rate of 5.06 percent.
A $10,000 three-month bill sold for $9,874.24, while a six-month bill sold for $9,744.19.
