Friday, September 30, 2011
economy Update: Ousted HP CEO Walks Away With Millions
Posted by George Prentice on Fri, Sep 30, 2011 at 4:16 PM
UPDATE: Sept. 30 4:00 p.m.
Hewlett-Packard stock lost 5.59 percent of its value at the closing bell of the New York Stock Exchange, closing down $1.33 to $22.45. HP traded as high as $48 in February.
ORIGINAL POST: Sept. 30 11:00 a.m.
Ousted Hewlett-Packard CEO Leo Apotheker shouldn't feel too bad. He will receive a severance payment of $7.2 million, according to a regulatory filing.
According to the filing, Apotheker receives accelerated vesting of stock worth $3.56 million and 424,000 additional stock units awarded to him under the terms of his original employment agreement. Apotheker will also receive a bonus of $2.4 million, relocation expenses and air travel for him and his wife to return to France or Belgium, where they own residences. His dependents will receive medical and dental care for 18 months, as well.
Meg Whitman, the former Ebay CEO who has taken over HP, will receive a base salary of $1 per share and options to purchase up to 1.9 million shares of HP stock. She will also receive an annual bonus of $2.4 million, eligible to be increased to $6 million.
HP stock is trading down today, losing nearly 3 percent, to $23.08 a share.
Micron Update: Micron Stock Drops After Fourth Quarter Loss
Posted by George Prentice on Fri, Sep 30, 2011 at 4:13 PM
UPDATE: Sept. 39, 4:00 p.m.
Micron shares dropped 14 percent at the close of business today, losing more than $.80 a share. Micron will open Monday, trading at just over $5. Micron stock traded over $11 in May.
ORIGINAL POST: Sept. 30 10:00 a.m.
Shares of Micron Technology opened down today on the New York Stock Exchange, in the shadow of yesterday's announcement that the Boise Company had a net loss of $135 million in its fourth quarter.
Micron said that a significant decline in D-RAM prices sliced away at its profits. Overall the memory-chip giant announced a year-end net income of $167 million or 17 cents for its 2011 fiscal year.
Micron officials are anxiously awaiting a verdict in the Rambus antitrust case. The trial wrapped in San Francisco on Sept. 21. The jury is still deliberating.
Micron and another microchip heavyweight, Hynix Semiconductor, are accused of conspiring to squelch Rambus' chip technology to keep it from being an industry standard.
Micron employs approximately 5,000 workers in the Treasure Valley.
Idaho Legislature AP: McGee, McKenzie Collecting Per Diem While Living Less Than 30 Miles from Capitol
Posted by George Prentice on Fri, Sep 30, 2011 at 3:54 PM
The Associated Press' John Miller reports that Republican State Sen. John McGee, though he lives 26 miles from the Statehouse, requested and collects a $122 per diem while sleeping at his parents' home in Boise. According to Miller, McGee declined to say whether he pays his parents any rent. The AP reports that McGee's per diem "adds up to some $6,000 annually."
The same report reveals Republican Sen. Curt McKenzie, who lives 22 miles away in Nampa, took extra per diem cash during this year's legislative session.
Senate President Pro Tem Brent Hill and House Speaker Lawerence Denney approve per diems, which also include once-weekly travel costs to and from Boise. The expense is traditionally approved for lawmakers travelling from remote sections of Idaho.
"I qualify for per diem just like every other legislator," McGee texted the AP.
economy Bank of America Plagued by Web Problems
Posted by George Prentice on Fri, Sep 30, 2011 at 3:19 PM
The nation's largest lending institution, Bank of America, is having significant website problems today. B of A's homepage and online banking service have been sporadic, at best, one day after the company said it would start charging a $5 monthly fee for customers who make debit card purchases.
A message on the bank's home page said that page was temporarily unavailable for most of the day, despite earlier assurances from the bank that the site had been fully restored.
A spokeswoman for the bank said the problems were not the result of hacking, but declined to say what was the cause. The spokeswoman said customers who couldn't sign onto their accounts still could bank via text message, at ATMs and at branches.
Boise State University Boise State Gets Tough on Bikes
Posted by Andrew Crisp on Fri, Sep 30, 2011 at 3:17 PM
Leave your bike chained to a tree or light pole on the Boise State campus and you may be surprised when you return. The Parking and Transportation Department has implemented a new policy that states bikes must be parked only in university-provided bike racks.
“We’re trying to get cyclists to use correct parking procedures: not parking against the accessible handicap rails, not parking against handrails, not parking against trees,” said J.C. Porter of Parking and Transportation.
For now, warnings are issued in the form of green slips zip-tied to offending bicycles, but if the warnings aren’t working overall, the school is considering moving to fines. It would not be a revenue source, said Porter.
In a Sept. 15 letter to the editor published in The Arbiter, senior A.J. Duthie chronicled his beef with the new system. While in the Albertsons Library on campus, his bike was removed from the rail of an accessible ramp.
“I ran outside to find campus maintenance had just finished cutting through [the lock],” wrote Duthie. “After asking, I was informed they would not pay to replace my lock.”
Porter confirms that if a bike is a safety hazard, the lock will be cut and the bike impounded.
“If it’s a fire, life or safety issue, then the bike is removed,” he said. “The bike locks will be cut and removed and we bring them to a storage facility. People just to have come into our office and they’ll get their bike back with no charge currently.”
The code is a part of Policy 9010, enacted in March of 2011, which also created the walking zone in the core of the university. The plan also created a bicycle priority route around the perimeter of the campus core.
But since the bike racks are located on the edge of the zone—essentially at the fringes of campus—some cyclists claim the plan falls short on helping cyclists, while the university touts it’s Bicycle Friendly University status.
energy Rates to Decrease for Intermountain, Avista Customers
Posted by George Prentice on Fri, Sep 30, 2011 at 3:14 PM
Dual announcements from Idaho's Public Utilities Commission bode well for customers of Intermountain Gas and Avista.
Natural-gas rates will decline an average 5.3 percent effective this weekend. Something called the Purchases Gas Cost Adjustment is constantly adjusted up or down to account for changing costs of gas supply and transportation. Low demand growth has pushed down rates, resulting in an average of $2.17 of savings per month for an average residential customer.
The PUC also granted Avista a base rate electric increase of about 1.1 percent and a base rate gas increase of 1.6 percent. But because of decreases in other rate components, billed rates for electric and some gas customers will actually decrease, effective this weekend. An average electrical customer should see a 2.4 percent overall decrease and the average gas customer should see an overall 0.1 percent decrease.
economy NYT: Radiohead Concert Definitely Not Happening
Posted by George Prentice on Fri, Sep 30, 2011 at 3:11 PM
UPDATE: Sept. 30 3:00 p.m.
A spokeswoman for Radiohead told the New York Times late today that the band "definitely will not be playing" a show in Manhattan's Wall Street section this afternoon.
"It's definitely not going to happen," Laura Eldeiry told the Times. "It's a false rumor." She said the band had nothing to do with the original "announcement."
A spokesman for "Occupy Wall Street," Patrick Bruner, quickly sent out an e-mail blast: "I got hoaxed. Radiohead was never confirmed. Completely our fault."
The organizers sent off a bit of a media frenzy when the original e-mail and tweets promoted the "surprise" concert.
ORIGINAL POST: Sept. 30 12:00 p.m.
The Twitter-sphere is working overtime in Manhattan today. A not-so-secret "secret" has leaked out that Radiohead will play an impromptu concert for "Occupy Wall Street" demonstrators at 2 p.m. Mountain Time today. The performance is expected to coincide with the closing bell on the New York Stock Exchange.
Radiohead is in the New York area, playing shows this week at Roseland Ballroom in midtown Manhattan, but the group hasn't confirmed its "surprise" appearance on its Web site or Twitter account.
New York transit unions, representing 38,000 workers, joined the Occupy Wall Street protest today, railing against a laundry list of concerns, from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to income inequality and corporate influence in politics.
education IEA Loses Challenge to Luna Law, Will Appeal
Posted by George Prentice on Fri, Sep 30, 2011 at 12:50 PM
Idaho's teachers union has lost its District Court battle against one of the so-called "Luna laws."
The Idaho Education Association formally challenged Senate Bill 1008, which reworked school districts' collective bargaining process.
Judge Timothy Hansen ruled in favor of the State of Idaho, stating that provisions of SB 1108 "are aimed at increasing school board discretion over the terms and conditions of the employment of certificated personnel, and may be considered necessary as ends and means to the attainment of that purpose."
"The Idaho Education Association appreciates Judge Hansen's expedited decision that allows the parties to have the issues presented to the Supreme Court as soon as possible," said Paul Stark, IEA general counsel, in announcing the organization's appeal. "The Idaho Education Association further looks forward to the November 2012 election when Idaho voters will finally have a say in overturning the harmful education laws passed this year."
economy Consumers Spend More, But Save Less
Posted by George Prentice on Fri, Sep 30, 2011 at 10:52 AM
The nation's economy grew a bit in August, but at the expense of individual savings. The U.S. Commerce Department reported this morning that consumer spending rose 0.2 percent in August, following a 0.7 percent increase in July. But consumers earned and saved less in August for the first time in nearly two years. The savings rate fell to its lowest level since late 2009. The new report suggested Americans tapped their savings to buy food staples and gasoline.
Incomes also dropped, falling 0.1 percent. That's the poorest showing since a similar 0.1 percent drop in October 2009.
But the sting from the weak income report was softened a bit by solid factory activity in the Midwest in September. The Institute for Supply Management in Chicago said its business barometer rose to 60.4. A reading above 50 indicates economic expansion.
Hunger Idaho Lawyers Launch Unique Challenge: $4.30 a Day for Food
Posted by Garrett Horstmeyer on Fri, Sep 30, 2011 at 9:07 AM
A group of Treasure Valley lawyers, through a unique one-week exercise, hope to bring some stomach-growling awareness to hunger in Idaho.
For one week, a group of attorneys will have to sustain themselves on a budget of no more than $30 each. The Attorneys Against Hunger Challenge is a fundraiser for the Idaho Foodbank.
"I'm interested in how the challenge will provoke discussion, raise awareness and get people thinking about these issues," said Ritchie Eppink, a local attorney.
With a daily allowance of $4.30, each attorney will face the same struggle as one in four Americans.
"I anticipate eating lots of rice, beans and ramen noodles, and I'm hoping to have enough left over for fruits and vegetables," said Eppink.
Approximately 20 lawyers are participating. They will be posting updates about their experiences at idahoyounglawyers.org.
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