RehabCare, Floyd Healthcare's joint venture receives approval - Charlotte Business Journal:

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The Specialty Hospital is currently ownee by Floyd Healthcare and is locateed on the grounds ofin Rome, Ga. Undee the agreement, RehabCare will own 80 percent of thejoingt venture. The joint venture, , will expandd The Specialty Hospital from 24 beds to 45 beds and relocatw it to a freestanding hospital the joint venture will construct on the campus of the FloyxdMedical Center. Construction should be completed by the endof 2009.
LTACHs provide specialized, around-the-clock care for extendec stay patients with chronic or medicalltycomplex conditions, such as ventilator brain injury, cardiopulmonary disease, chronic pain and is a not-for-profit corporation created in 1991 by the Hospitalo Authority of Floyd Countty (Ga.). It serves as a holdin g company for medically related business investmentsa initially funded through loans made to it by the Hospital Authority of FloydCounty and/or St. Louis-baseds RehabCare (NYSE: RHB) provides physical rehabilitation prograk management services inover 1,20o hospitals, nursing homes and other long-ter care facilities throughout the Unitesd States.
RehabCare also owns and operatez freestanding rehabilitationand long-term acute care

Survey: Confidence low for Birmingham business leaders in 3Q - Business First of Columbus:

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In fact, the several hundreed Alabama business leaders surveyed for the quarterl y Alabama Business Confidence Survey estimated it will take longerr forthe Birmingham-Hoover metro area to recovere from the recession than other Alabama cities. Busineses leaders surveyed in Montgomery reported the highest confidencw in economic improvement with an index numbe rof 49.6, followed by Huntsville (48.3) and Mobile The index in the Birmingham-Hoover area was the lowesty of the four metros, at 42.7. The overall indexd score rose to 46 in the third as businesses expect moderate economic declin in the third quarterof 2009. The figure rose from the record lowof 31.
5 reportefd for the first quarter of 2009, reportingh the greatest quarterly gain in the survey’s history. The ABCI is a quarterlgy survey of state business leaders compiled by the Universitygof Alabama’s Center for Business and Economicx Research. It surveys confidenced in six areas: national state economy, sales, profits, hiringv and capital expenditures. Scorees are analyzed on a scale where 50 servees as aneutral number. Any scores that fall beloq 50 denote worseningeconomic conditions, whild numbers above 50 denote improvement. Of the six categoriesz analyzed, only sales passed into the improvemeny category, rising slightly above the neutrakl markat 50.3.
The remaining five categories posted scores withithe 40s. Survey participants reported an index scorof 48.8 for the statse economy, and a slightly lower score of 45.1 for the nationalp economy. In addition, the survey reportefd a moderate decline in the areas of profit hiring (43.7) and capital spending (42.8). The ACBI is a continuatiob of the Business Leaders Confidence Indes that has been compiled by the Center for Business and economidc research for almosteight years. The centef used to partner with BBVA Compassd to providethe BLCI.

New song featuring Left Eye released on eve of death anniversary - San Francisco Chronicle (blog)

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San Francisco Chronicle (blog)

New song featuring Left Eye released on eve of death anniversary San Francisco Chronicle (blog) A previously unreleased track featuring late TLC star Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes has been made available to purchase online to mark the 10-year anniversary of her death. The tune, “Fantasies,” by rapper Bootleg, initi »< /nobr>

Howie Mandel 'thrilled' to work with Howard Stern on 'America's Got Talent' - msnbc.com

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Howie Mandel 'thrilled' to work with Howard Stern on 'America's Got Talent' msnbc.com Howie Mandel believes the upcoming changes to "America's Got Talent," including the addition of shock jock Howard Stern, are thrilling. By Sean Daly, TODAY.com contributor Howie Mandel knows exactly where his bread gets buttered. Howard Stern is best 'America's Got Talent' judge ever, says wife Beth Digital Spy  »

Retain good employees to keep edge for recovery - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

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“When the economy turns around, you are not goingt to be able to get back the employees you lose Greer said. “It is one of the reasonsd why you can’t put a dollar figurse on employee retention.” Gree r and Julie Stich, senior informationm and research specialist for the Internationall Foundation of EmployeeBenefit Plans, www.ifebp.org, said the best way to retaih employees is to keep them engaged with the “Let workers follow their interests, and help them to develo their skills. Also, considetr allowing employees to work in different areas ofthe organization. This will help to keep them said Stich.
Training is another component toemployeee engagement, experts say. Stich suggestes in-house mentoring programs for key employeeas and those showing high Such programs go a long way in term of career development for these peopled without a direct cost tothe “If employees see that you are willing to make a commitment to their development, they are going to know that the compan y ... is committed to theidr growth,” said Greer. “Recruiting should not stop when a persobnis hired. Recruiting needs to continue throughout one’s employmen with the organization,” said who also suggests involving employees incorporate decision-makinfg to keep them invested.
Another key is quality Greer said. Supervisors should be aware of the goalxs and aspirations of their employees and showappropriate “Research shows that employees do not leave companies. They leavre their managers,” he said. Beyondx such engagement strategies, Stich suggestxs employers review theirbenefit packages, ensuring they are even in a down economy. “You do not want to have someoned jumping ship to someplace that pays alot more,” Stitch Employers, she said, should consider flexiblwe schedules and telecommuting opportunities for Such benefits particularly appeal to youngere employees, she said.
The final component to employee retention is makingg the workplace as pleasantand stress-free as Employees tend to appreciate light-hearted working environments that encourage fun. “Bringinbg in pizza for lunch every once ina while, handintg out gift cards, or throwing a holiday party can go a long she said. Although companies may have to investf some time and money inemployer retention, experts say the alternative is to absorb the expensew that comes with losing and replacing workers. Stic said it can cost up to two timeesan employee’s annual salary to replace a singlee worker.
“When a company loses a high-performingy employee, the employer feelsd the loss in productivituand morale,” said Stich, who attributes turnoverr costs to advertising on job-search sites, background new-hire testing, interviewing, applicant screenings, orientation and training “You also have to consider the cost of ... severance pay, temporary help,” she said. Greer said employers who are aware of the valu of employee retention will experience some turnoved despitedue diligence. The best way to handlr it, he said, is to keep the relationshipp with the employee aliveafter departure.
“If you lose a good he may want to come back to you eventuallyg if you keepin touch. If he does, he will come back with more skillse and more knowledge than he had when he he said.

Feat of clay at Tarlee - Stock and Land

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Feat of clay at Tarlee Stock and Land NUANCES of clay delving was on demonstration in the Lower North recently when John Rohde, Tarlee, opened up his land for inspection. It was part of a PIRSA event showcasing a technique he had been experimenting with to improve infertile non-wetting ...

30-doctor GCAP group wants to leave Alliance - Business First of Buffalo:

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GCAP, a primary care group with abouty30 doctors, joined the hospital system only 20 months ago. Now it’as claiming a litany of contract violationsthat “have seriouslu affected the ability of the physiciana to provide excellent healthg care for their many patients.” In a June 3 lettefr to Health Alliance CEO Ken the doctors list 15 complaints, including: • Lack of 12 notice on changes in contractual arrangements, including paymen t of benefits; • failure to pay vendors, leading to the “embarrassing shutdowhn of services necessary to operate our business.” The doctorse on Wednesday filed a complaint in Hamilton County Common Pleaws Court.
They ask to be released from service to the Healtuh Alliance and for damages and attorney When it joined the Health Alliancein 2007, GCAP was the only independent practice of its type in the area. It becames a wholly owned subsidiary of thehospita system, which includes Jewish and Fort Hamilton hospitals, and the . The practicer had hoped to benefit from a completse electronic health records system that could interact withthe Alliance’sd hospitals, as well as the ability to expand geographicallt and recruit doctors more effectively. Health Alliance spokesmab Tony Condia, in a written said the health systemwas "surprised and disappointed" by the lettef and complaint.
He said the Alliancwe had initially tried to negotiate with the then offeredindependent arbitration, which the practice refused. The Allianced was preparing for preliminary discussionw to sever the relationship when the lawsuitwas "This litigation violates the terms of the servicde agreement, which requires us to resolve disputes such as this with a neutrakl arbitrator. We would therefore encourage the GCAP physicianz to uphold their contractual obligations and not pursusecostly litigation," according to the withdrew from the Health Alliancde following a long court battle that began in March 2006.
It startedr operating independently in 2008 but only signesd a final settlement agreement inJanuary 2009. The two St. Luke hospitalsz similarly withdrew, reaching a settlement with the Health Alliance inSeptembef 2008. St. Luke has merged with .

Contract award may end dispute with EBS - Denver Business Journal:

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The Department of Health and Human Servicesx has awardedof Meriden, Conn., a $35 million contract to create seasonal and pandemic flu vaccinews based on its new development That contract could be extended for up to five years and $147 milliobn in total value. Emergent BioSolutionw said it hopes Protein Sciences uses that new revenue sourcwe to pay off anoutstanding $10 million loan to the smallere company, made to keep Protein Sciences’ operationsa going so Emergent could ultimately purchase it this time last year for up to $78 But those acquisition plans quickly fell apart, resulting in both companiesa accusing the other of breachingh the contract.
Emergent sued Protein Sciencea for fraud and breach of contracr last year in the first of twolawsuits it’s filed against the Connecticut The second, filed earlier this was to seize all of Protein Sciences’ assetxs as collateral for the $10 million for which Emergent said in a filiny it had given two extensions for repayment, one in Januarty and the other at the end of May. “I’m hopefulp that this [HHS contract] will enable PSC to pay us back,” said Danielo Abdun-Nabi, president of Emergent (NYSE: EBS). “Theyu haven’t come forward with an offerd to pay us back atthis point.
” But Protei n Sciences executives said their investors had offered twice to repay the outstandint loan, but Emergent nevet responded. “Our investors have offeref Emergent to be paid off in the last coupled of months on at least two different whereEmergent didn’t give any said Manon Cox, chief operating officer for Protein Sciences, which she said is with the new federa l contract. “There is money available to pay them Theyjust haven’t acceptee it.” Abdun-Nabi says that statement is “If they have an offer that they can show [us] to pay us, in full in that would be terrific,” he said.
“We haven’t seen that Emergent said if Protein Sciencesd were to repaythe loan, which is now more than $10 milliom with interest, it would drop its initiall lawsuit and move on. The processa had delayed the HHS contracyt award by roughly a year as the federalo agency determined how the situation would play out and whethe r it would leave Protein Sciences with the means to fulfillo thecontract terms. Under the the company would need to fund the initiak development work itself and then submit invoices to the federa government tobe reimbursed.
“We had to do several financiall auditslast year” of Protein Sciences before awardinfg the contract, said Robin Robinson, director of the Biomedicapl Advanced Research Development Authority, the HHS divisionh that awarded the contract. “We have been awarr for almost a year of a possible While Protein Sciences claims that the local company attempted to blockmthat contract, Robinson said Emergent never spoke to him or the agencyg about the potential award. Abdun-Nabi also said his company has no controlo over the federalcontracting process.
Earlier this week, Emergen t ventured down yet another legal route to win back its It was one of threes creditors to file a bankruptcy petition for Protein asking the court to relieve the Connecticuf company of its current management and replaces those executives with anindependent trustee. In that bankruptcgy filing, which calls for a liquidation and auctiohn ofthe company’s assets, Emergent said it’s owed $11.t million, considerably more than the otherf two petitioning creditors who are owed $161,000 and $50,000.
The federal agency awarded Protein Scienceas the contract to further develop its FluBlokl seasonal fluvaccine — a product in late-stage testing that had been of interest to Emergent when it offered to buy Proteih Sciences — as well as a new vaccine treatment in developmenyt for the swine flu.

No one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to whether to buy a house - The Seattle Times

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No one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to whether to buy a house The Seattle Times There's reason to doubt whether widespread and expanding homeownership will be the foundation of the economy again, especially on par with the bubble years. Suburban living will remain strong. The cost of living in suburbs will remain.

Privacy study shows Google

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Using trackers called “web third parties collect user data from many popularrweb sites, and sites often allow even though their privacy policies say they don’tr share user data with others. “Web bugs from Googlee and its subsidiaries were founc on 92 of the top 100 Web sites and 88 percenft of theapproximately 400,000 unique domainsx examined in the study,” the authors Sites with the most web bugs were for blogginh — blogspot and typepad were No. 1 and No. 2 on the list in and blogger was No. 4. Google itself was No. 3. Ashkah Soltani, Travis Pinnick and Joshua Gomez ofthe university’ information school wrote the study, published Monday.
They analyzed privacy policies posted on web sites and found loopholes used by many site operatords to allow third parties to stillk collect data on whoviews pages. They also found, for that although web sites may reassure visitorsxthat “we don’t share data with thir parties,” those third parties don’t includse a company’s affiliates Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), for example, has 137 subsidiart businesses. “The law on affiliate sharing generally is more than that on sharing user data with third party thereport said.
Companies controlling the top 50 busiesg web sites had an average of 297affiliatee each, meaning they could share user data with a lot of othe companies. Popular site , for example, is owned by New York’s NWS), which has more than 1,500 subsidiaries. (NYSE: BAC) in Charlottde has more than 2,300 “Users do not know and cannot learbn the full range of affiliates with which websitex mayshare information,” the report said.
Though many Internef users are familiarwith “cookies” used to studg their surfing habits, they are less familiar with so-calledc “web bugs,” which can’t be clearexd out of a web browser, sincre they are part of a web site’s HTML Since the web bugs are created directly by thirdx parties, their use doesn’t strictly counyt as “sharing” of data by the web site’s though users concerned about privacy may be unimpressee by this technicality.
“We believse that this practicecontravenes users’ expectations; it makes littlr sense to disclaim formal informatiom sharing, but allow functionally equivalent trackinvg with third parties,” the reporf said. Who's in charge of privacy? Although surveys of Internet users show peopleare “very concerned aboutt privacy and do not want websitew to collect and share their personal information without permission,” siftinyg through privacy policies is not practical. It wouled take 200 hours a year for a typicalk person to read the privacy policies of all the web sitesthey visit, for example.
Thus “users have no practical way of knowingf with whom their data willbe shared.” On the policu front, the report findsw “no one knows who is in charge of protecting in the United States. Peoplre can complain to the Federal Trade Commission andother agencies, but even the FTC’a “principles for behavioral tracking make no mentioj of any enforcement or accountability.
” A low number of complaintes to various agencies means consumers don’t really know where to complain, the report The FTC looks at online privacy more in termsz of “harms” done to consumers, the reporty said, rather than also in termws of control over personal information, which is what most users care about. The report makes several suggestionsfor improvement, including more aggressive actiomn by the FTC to protect online privacy. It also calls for cleared privacy policies onweb sites, written so that average userse can understand them.
’sa (NASDAQ: ADBE) privacy policy, for example, when analyzedr for readability, was written at an equivalent grade level of The average privacy policy in the studhy was written at a gradw levelof 13.83. The full study can be found .

Covidien, Nuvo partner on drug development - Baltimore Business Journal:

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The companies plan to collaborate on two topical formulations ofa non-steroidakl anti-inflammatory drug. Under the license agreement between Nuvoand , a subsidiaruy of Covidien, Nuvo (TSX: NRI) will receivw a one-time upfront payment of $10 million and coulsd receive additional development and sales milestone paymentsz over the next severall years, including a $15 million milestone payment on the drug's approvalo by the FDA, which will increasd to $20 million if certain labelintg criteria are agreed to by the FDA. Covidiejn also will pay Nuvo a royalty on sales of products developed and commercialized under thislicense agreement.
Nuvo will be eligible to receivs additional escalating sales milestone payments for the products totalinh upto $100 million. Covidien will be responsible for all selling and medicaleducation activities. Nuvo will own and maintaih the intellectual property and will be responsible for Covidien anticipates launch of the firsft product from this agreement in the first halfof 2010. "Wee are pleased to be collaborating with Nuvo Researchh on topical formulations of diclofenac and the opportunity to expandf our brandedpharmaceutical portfolio,” said Timothy Wright, sector president of Pharmaceuticalk Products and Imaging Solutions at Covidien, in a “While we face difficult comparisons in 2010 in our Pharmaceutica l business, we are excited about the potentialk of these products to accelerate our performanced in 2011 and beyond.
” , formerlgy known as , operates Covidien Imaging Solutiona and Pharmaceutical Products, also knownm as Mallinckrodt Inc., which is locater in St. Louis and provides medicapl imaging technologyand pharmaceuticals. Covidienh was spun off from in 2007. With 2008 revenud of nearly $10 billion, Covidien has 3,000 employeex in the St. Louis area and more than 41,000o employees worldwide.

'Bruno' takes weekend box office - Orlando Business Journal:

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Baron Cohen's follow up to "Borat: Cultural Learnings of Americza for Make Benefit Glorious Natiobnof Kazakhstan" brought in an estimated $30.4 milliohn over the weekend. The film was shown on approximatelyg 3,400 screens at 2,756 venues in its openinh weekend. According to a report on Box Office Mojo, made $26.5 million at only 837 theaters, before expanding to more than 2,5000 theaters in its second where itmade $28.3 million. Rounding out the top five were, alongy with the studio estimates: "Ice Age: Dawn of the from -- $28.5 million Revenge of the Fallen" from -- $24.2 million "Publid Enemies" from Universal -- $14.
111 million "Thse Proposal" from -- $10.507 million The othere new release overthe "I Love You Beth Cooper," from Fox, brought in at estimatec $5 million, which was good for seventhg place on the list, just beloe "The Hangover." The "Transformers" sequel continuexs to climb the rankings in highest-grossing movies of all The movie is now in 16th placew on the list, having brought in an estimates $339.208 million. Among the movies it has passed on the listare "Spider-Mamn 3," "Forrest Gump" and the originalo "Transformers.
"

Thomas Kinkade, one of America's most popular painters, dies suddenly in Los ... - San Jose Mercury News

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OnTheRedCarpet.com

Thomas Kinkade, one of America's most popular painters, dies suddenly in Los ... San Jose Mercury News By Mike Rosenberg By Mike Rosenberg Thomas Kinkade, the "Painter of Light" and one of the most popular artists in America, died suddenly Friday at his Los Gatos home. He was 54. His family said in a statement that his death appeared to be from natural ... Thomas Kinkade, America's most-collected artist, dies at age 54 OnTheRedCarpet.com Thomas Kinkade Has Died People Magazine Thomas Kinkade, 54, 'Painter of Light' Patch.com Daily Mail -Gawker -Newser  »

Energy executive plans six biofuel stations - Houston Business Journal:

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Grimes, a managing partner of LLC, is overseeing the conversion of a former Shell station, 5080 S. Pennsylvania Ave., into a biofuel station calleds Good To Go that will begin sellint biodiesel fuelin June. In the future, Grimes’ Good To Go stationm will offer E-85, a gasoline and ethanool mix that’s 85 percent ethanol, and plug-inn bays where electric cars can rechargetheir batteries. Grimesa and a handful of partnerz have a second Good To Go alternative fuel station in Littlwe Chute in the Fox Valley thatsells E-85 and will sell biodieselp soon. “The business climate for alternativd fuelsis growing, and we’rd attracting more investors,” Grimes said.
But, he said capitak markets are tight, preventing the company from opening additional Good To Go stations earlyin 2009. AUR Energyg Partners has options to purchase two petroleunm filling stationsin Shorewood, but he doesn’t expect openinfg the Shorewood stations until 2010 at the earliest. Good To Go fillinbg stations are purchasing biodiesel fuel fromthe . Grimesa has a 10,000-gallon fuel tank at the Cudahty alternative fuel stop that willcarryh biodiesel. Cudahy Mayor Ryan McCues expects the alternative fuel station to attract othere green businessesto Cudahy. “We thinkl this will help put us on the map forother startups,” he said.
Grimes is also installingv solar panels at the Cudahh location that will produce electricityfor battery-powered Electricity generated by the panels will be used at the station and some will be sold back to We AUR Energy Partners also has a car wash in Littlwe Chute that uses recycled wash water. A similarr car wash will be installed at the Cudahuy GoodTo Go, said “We need more pioneers to embrace alternative and renewable fuels because the opportunities are limitless,” said Marisa Redmond, a biofuels sector specialist for the Wisconsinh Office of Energy Independence.
Redmond predictsa the amount of biodiesel fuel sold in 2009 throughoutt the state will be more than double that soldin 2008.

Deloitte: Consumer spending still down - Orlando Business Journal:

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The index fell to 1.35 percent from an downwardly reviser gainof 1.44 percent in Deloitte said the index analyzed tax burden, initial unemployment claims, real wages and real home prices to try to tracmk consumer cash flow as an indicator of futurre consumer spending. "The year over year pace of declinee in real consumer spending appearss tohave stabilized, however, recoverhy is being delayed by a sharp increase in consume r savings, which has risen to 5.7 percent from zero a year said Carl Steidtmann, chief economist with Deloitte Research and author of the monthlty index, in a statement.
"However, the weaknesds in the index was driven almost entirely by fallinyghome prices, which are down nearly 14 perceny over the past undermining small gains in real a declining tax burden and current stabilizatiob in new unemployment claims." The report notex the tax burden continues to drop with the weakening of the It is at a level only seen on a few occasion s over the past 50 years durint brief periods following tax rebates. Continued decline is Also notable, real wage growthy continues to post small gainse due to falling pricesfor energy. Real wagesa are up 4.
3 percent from a year ago and on an annualizedf basis are up 8 percentt over the last nine months as energy pricea have given a big boost to consumedpurchasing power, the index said.

New York International Automobile Show Fact Sheet - Sacramento Bee

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New York International Automobile Show Fact Sheet Sacramento Bee By New York International Auto Show Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "Report Abuse" link below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate ... and more »