San Francisco – Google Inc. is best known for finding information online, but sometimes the Internet search leader also works behind the scenes to look for missing people like renowned aviator Steve Fossett.
The Mountain View-based company has emerged as a potentially useful resource for search-and-rescue teams because of its connections to the dozens of contractors that provide satellite imagery for its popular Google Earth software.
That’s what happened this week as search- and-rescue teams hunted for clues that might help them determine what happened to Fossett after he took off in a plane Monday from a Nevada airstrip without providing a flight plan.
Longmont-based DigitalGlobe, which supplies much of Google Earth’s imagery, confirmed that Google called for help Wednesday. Unfortunately, DigitalGlobe didn’t have any pictures available from the area where Fossett took off Monday, said company spokesman Chuck Herring.
DigitalGlobe doesn’t expect to get any more images from that part of the country again until Saturday.
“We are partners with Google, so we always try to help out in any way we can,” Herring said.
BROOMFIELD
Level 3 stock drops on cut in ratings
Level 3 Communications Inc. stock fell the most in three weeks after Buckingham Research Group cut the long-distance phone and data network operator to “underperform” on concern over slowing demand and earnings growth.
Level 3 shares fell 21 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $4.93. That’s the biggest drop since Aug. 16.
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.
Verizon scores in cellphone quality
Cellphone call quality continues to improve, according to a new study by JD Power and Associates. Verizon Wireless ranked best in the West among wireless carriers in terms of call quality, the study states.
Qwest, which resells Sprint Nextel service, ranked No. 2 in the West, followed by Sprint.
The study found that the number of customer-reported call quality problems is 15 problems per 100 calls, down 29 percent from the same interviewing period in 2006.
COLORADO SPRINGS
Aerospace Corp. to fete new building
The Aerospace Corp. will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open its new regional office building in the Colorado Springs Airport Business Park on Wednesday.
Aerospace constructed a two-story, 78,000-square-foot structure on 30 acres of property leased from the Colorado Springs Airport Authority.
Based in El Segundo, Calif., Aerospace has about 130 employees in the Colorado Springs area, with most of them supporting the Air Force Space Command.
DENVER
30% in state skip phone-tax refund
The Internal Revenue Service on Thursday reported that nearly 30 percent of Colorado taxpayers did not request this year’s one-time telephone excise-tax refund, leaving over $20 million on the table.
But it’s not too late to request the refund.
Of the 2.3 million Colorado returns filed, 672,000 did not request this refund, the IRS said in a statement.
The IRS said taxpayers can file a amended return using Form 1040X, available from . The filing must be on paper and cannot be sent electronically to the IRS.
AUSTIN, Texas
Whole Foods scales back store closures
Whole Foods Market Inc., the largest U.S. natural-foods grocer, will close fewer stores than it originally planned after buying Boulder-based Wild Oats Markets Inc.
Whole Foods will identify stores that will be closed by the end of the month, Walter Robb, the co-chief operating officer, said Thursday at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. retail conference in New York.
DENVER
Sale boosts MarkWest Hydrocarbon shares
MarkWest Hydrocarbon Inc. shares gained the most in almost four years after the natural-gas processor agreed to be bought by its master limited partnership MarkWest Energy Partners LP for $734 million.
Markwest Hydrocarbon climbed $9.39, or 18.76 percent, to $59.45 in composite trading on the American Stock Exchange, the biggest increase since Nov. 12, 2003, when the shares rose 19 percent.
WASHINGTON
Major growth ahead for generic drugs
Profits for generic-drug makers should scale new heights in coming years although the threat of an innovation drought and increased competition loom, a top industry analyst predicted Thursday.
Sales in the global generic- drug market are increasing at a 14 percent annual rate, far better than the single-digit annual growth rate at brand- name-drug makers.
NEW YORK
Natural-gas supplies highest since 1993
Natural gas prices on the NYMEX fell after U.S. stockpiles rose to a record for this time of year. Supplies expanded by 36 billion cubic feet to 3.005 trillion cubic feet in the week ended Aug. 31, a record dating to 1993, the Energy Department said.
Gas for October delivery fell 15.5 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $5.65 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gas touched $6.019 earlier in the session.
