Air Force picks Ball to lead R&D for space exploration
The U.S. Air Force has tapped Boulder-based Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. to take the lead on research and development of a program aimed at ensuring safe exploration of outer space.
Ball will study the use of lightweight, electro-optical technology designed to aid the search and acquisition of various objects in space. The work falls under the auspices of an Air Force program that also supports projects spearheaded by the Department of Defense.
“Ball Aerospace maintains an active research and development capability in the application of advanced lightweight materials,” Fred Doyle, vice president and general manager of Ball Aerospace, National Defense Solutions, said in a statement issued Thursday.
Ball Aerospace is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The company started building controls for military rockets in 1956 and later won a contract to build one of NASA’s first spacecraft, the Orbiting Solar Observatory. Since then, the company has been credited with many technological and scientific “firsts.”
– Christine Tatum
WESTMINSTER
California firm suing bulk e-mailer, exec
A California software company said Thursday that it has sued Westminster bulk e-mailer OptInRealBig.com and its principal shareholder, Scott Richter, seeking $27.4 million.
Infinite Monkeys & Co. alleges that OptInRealBig is violating California law prohibiting deceptive and misrepresentative e-mail advertising sent either to or from California.
The complaint was filed Friday in California Superior Court in Santa Clara County.
DENVER
Xcel ranks eighth in technology listing
InformationWeek, a business publication focused on technology, has ranked Xcel Energy No. 8 overall in its listing of the nation’s most innovative technology-using companies.
Xcel’s ranking was the highest among all energy and utility companies.
For the second consecutive year, Xcel Energy was ranked in the top 10 among U.S. companies that regularly practice both technical and operational innovation, according to the study.
DENVER
Ex-Mervyn’s stores leased, purchased
Retail brokerage Sullivan Hayes has announced several transactions involving former Mervyn’s stores, which closed earlier this year when the company pulled out of the Front Range market.
A store at 1710 Briargate Blvd. in Colorado Springs has been leased by Burlington Coat Factory. Stores at 4300 E. Alameda Ave. in Glendale and at 8055 W. Bowles Ave. in Jefferson County have been leased by Sports Authority.
The Northglenn Mervyn’s at 104th Avenue and Interstate 25 has been purchased by Panattoni Development Co., and the store at Buckingham Mall in Aurora has been purchased by Wein garten Miller Buckingham LLC, which is redeveloping the entire mall property.
SAGUACHE
Calif. dairy farmer buys big alfalfa spread
A California dairy farmer paid $5.17 million for what’s believed to be Colorado’s largest alfalfa farm at an auction Thursday.
Cornelius Vander Eyk, who operates Vander Eyk Dairy near Pixley, Calif., plans to integrate the 5,400-acre North Star Farm in Saguache County with his dairy operations, said Craig King, president of J.P. King Auction Co., which managed the sale.
Vander Eyk beat out eight other bidders for the property, which has 32 center pivots irrigating 3,818 acres of the farm.
VAIL
Vail Cascade hotel continues GM hunt
Dave Pease will not become the new general manager of the Vail Cascade Resort & Spa, contrary to what the hotel reported earlier this week.
Vail Cascade, which is managed by Arapahoe County-based Destination Hotels & Resorts, announced Thursday that Pease has decided to remain in his current position as general manager of the Vail Marriott Mountain Resort & Spa.
The hotel said it would continue its search to fill the position.
COLORADO SPRINGS
AMEX accepts coal firm’s plan
Westmoreland Coal Co. reported Thursday that the American Stock Exchange has accepted the company’s updated plan to meet the Amex’s continued listing standards.
The revised plan expects Westmoreland to file quarterly statements no later than Oct. 27.
TORONTO
Iamgold agrees to buy Cambior of Canada
Iamgold Corp. agreed to buy Cambior Inc. of Canada for $1.04 billion in stock to double gold production.
Cambior investors will get 0.42 Iamgold share for each share they hold. That values Longueuil, Quebec-based Cambior at $3.76 a share, 15 percent above Thursday’s closing price.
Annual gold output at the combined company will be 1.1 million ounces, Toronto-based Iamgold said in a statement.
SEATTLE
Microsoft Zune player is designed to share
Microsoft Corp.’s effort to compete against Apple’s iPod juggernaut will focus on the idea that people want to be able to easily share music with friends and others.
The software maker said Thursday that its portable Zune media player, scheduled to be available around the holiday season, will include wireless technology to let people share some of their favorite songs, playlists or pictures with other Zune users who are close by.
NEW YORK
Energy market to buy N.Y. trade board
Intercontinental Exchange Inc., an electronic energy market whose shares have risen 78 percent this year, said it agreed to acquire the New York Board of Trade for about $1 billion in cash and stock.
Intercontinental Exchange, based in Atlanta, will pay about 10.3 million shares and $400 million in cash for the New York board, the companies said Thursday in a statement.
The agreement will combine Intercontinental Exchange’s electronic trading systems with the New York board’s conventional open-outcry system, the companies said in the statement.
WASHINGTON
Lawyer: FCC ordered draft study destroyed
The Federal Communications Commission ordered its staff to destroy all copies of a draft study that suggested greater concentration of media ownership would hurt local TV news coverage, a former lawyer at the agency says.
The report, written in 2004, came to light during the Senate confirmation hearing for FCC Chairman Kevin Martin.
