Saturday, January 23, 2010

“Paterson campaign strategist resigns - Troy Record” plus 4 more

“Paterson campaign strategist resigns - Troy Record” plus 4 more

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Paterson campaign strategist resigns - Troy Record

Posted: 22 Jan 2010 11:02 PM PST

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State high court adopts rule allowing donations - La Crosse Tribune

Posted: 22 Jan 2010 11:09 PM PST

The Associated Press | Posted: Saturday, January 23, 2010 1:35 am | Loading…

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MADISON - The Wisconsin Supreme Court has given final approval to ethics rules that say judges can hear cases involving their biggest campaign supporters.

The court voted 4-3 to approve the rules that say campaign donations and other spending by parties do not require judges to step aside from cases. The rules were proposed by two powerful Wisconsin business groups.

The court had voted last year to approve the rules, but adopted minor revisions Thursday and an order that describes the rationale for the changes.

The order says campaign contributions are a fundamental part of judicial elections that should not, by themselves, disqualify judges.

The court's conservative majority rejected attempts to amend the rules, or delay them for further study.

Posted in Wi on Saturday, January 23, 2010 1:35 am

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Business briefs: Tyson shifts some work to Tenn. - Jackson Sun

Posted: 23 Jan 2010 03:12 AM PST

Bank limit proposals may have little effect

NEW YORK - President Barack Obama's plan to limit banks' size and risky trading has spooked investors, but analysts say it would have only marginal effect on institutions such as JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup - and would be hard to enforce. And it's not clear the rules would reduce taxpayers' risk of having to bail out another big bank.

The White House has yet to provide details of the plan outlined Thursday. But attention has centered on Obama's effort to bar the biggest banks from proprietary trading, when banks use their own money to make high-risk bets. If those bets go bad and a bank goes under, taxpayers could be on the hook.

But most big banks derive only a tiny fraction of their revenue from proprietary trading. At JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp., for instance, proprietary trading brings in 1-2 percent of revenue, according to a Citigroup report. Less than 5 percent of Citi's revenue comes from proprietary trading. The figure is 3-4 percent for Morgan Stanley and less than 1 percent at Wells Fargo & Co.

Bernanke faces rising Senate opposition

WASHINGTON - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke faced mounting Senate opposition for another four-year term Friday, even as the White House described President Barack Obama as confident about his confirmation.

Four Democrats say they will vote against Bernanke on the Senate floor. And at least two senators who voted for Bernanke in the Senate Banking Committee last month are weighing their support.

Many others have not made their inclinations known, suggesting a vacillation in the Senate over Bernanke and his stewardship of Wall Street both before and after the financial crisis.

China, US spar on Internet controls

BEIJING - Beijing issued a stinging response Friday to Hillary Rodham Clinton's criticism that it is jamming the free flow of words and ideas on the Internet, accusing the United States of damaging relations between the two countries by imposing its "information imperialism" on China.

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Credit for Success” to fund business expansion and job creation - Empire State News

Posted: 21 Jan 2010 06:45 PM PST

KINGSTON - U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced the creation of 7 regional lending groups that will use capital from banks all over the state to increase the amount of credit available to small businesses. The program will be based on Ulster County's "Credit for Success Program" and will establish regional loan pools to be committed by local banks, to provide a critical source of funding for local businesses seeking to grow and expand, but which have not been able to secure financing due to the continuing credit crunch that is disproportionately affecting small businesses.

Lending decisions will be made by the New York Business Development Corporation pursuant to rigorous underwriting standards – all loans will have to comply with SBA lending criteria – but the program's structure will enable banks to increase their small business lending.  The consortium structure provides the benefits of "syndicated" lending – i.e., risk sharing among lenders – on a smaller scale, so that businesses that would have ready access to credit in good economic conditions, but are having trouble accessing credit in the current environment, will once again be able to access much-needed capital to create jobs.

"Small businesses will be at the tip of the shovel that digs out of this down economy, but only if we can get them the resources we need, and prevent the credit crunch from strangling their efforts to expand," said Schumer. "This program will give businesses, which during normal times would have had access to credit, the tools they need to grow and continue to be the backbone of the economy and the force behind the recovery." 

Prompted by Schumer after he learned of Ulster's Credit for Success program, the NYBDC - with the help of the New York Bankers Association - has contacted many of its member banks in order to form regional lending consortiums to provide small businesses with an independent "second look" at a loan application which has been declined by the bank of account. The propositions supporting creation of the regional loan funds are as follows:

  • Small businesses provide the backbone of our economy and account for the vast majority of new jobs in the private sector; 
  • The success of small businesses in the near term will have tremendous impact on the pace and quality of our economic recovery; 
  • New York banks are committed to providing access to capital to creditworthy small businesses; 
  • Loan participations and SBA guarantees reduce exposure and thereby mitigate the risk of loss in the event of default; 
  • An independent "second look" based on the SBA eligibility requirements combined with business/ strategic counseling will identify creditworthy small businesses that would not otherwise be able to access credit;
  • NYBDC has the staff and experience to manage the loan program and its role in managing the consortiums is at the heart of its mission to promote the economic prosperity of the State of New York by facilitating access to capital for small businesses working in participation with its member banks.  

 

BUSINESS / IN BRIEF - Maui News

Posted: 23 Jan 2010 03:34 AM PST

PUBLIC TESTIMONY OPENS FOR OAHU PROJECT

HONOLULU - The state Land Use Commission has opened public hearings on Castle & Cooke's $2.2 billion master-planned community of Koa Ridge in Central Oahu.

The company has asked the state for permission to convert 768 acres of land previously used to grow pineapple from agriculture to urban use. The land is located between Waipio and Mililani.

Plans call for 5,000 homes, a 28-acre medical campus, 150-room hotel, parks, two elementary schools and nearly 500,000 square feet of commercial space for retail, offices and light industrial businesses.

Testimony in Thursday's initial hearing was mostly in favor of the project. But some opponents say it would be a misuse of prime agricultural land.

The public hearings could take months to complete.

* * *

TRANSPORTATION ADVOCATE BACKS RAIL

HONOLULU - The head of a national transportation advocacy group is pushing for Honolulu to start its planned $5.4 billion commuter rail project and to resist alternatives that would delay it.

American Public Transportation Association President Bill Millar said Thursday that Honolulu's 20-mile elevated rail system would be faster and carry more people than a ground-level train.

Millar says delays in the project could cause Honolulu to lose more than $1 billion in federal funding.

He appeared at Honolulu City Hall to respond to claims by the Hawaii chapter of the American Institute of Architects that building half the system at ground level would save money and preserve the skyline.

Millar is in Hawaii for the annual planning meeting of his group's business council.

Meanwhile, Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann says he has reassured federal transportation officials that Honolulu's bus service won't be compromised by its commuter rail project.

Hannemann says that while in Washington this week, he met with Federal Transit Administration officials and addressed the agency's concern about rail projects that rely too heavily on federal funds that pay for bus service.

The mayor says he assured FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff that the city wouldn't compromise bus service. Hannemann says he told Rogoff that any funding that's currently dedicated to bus service should remain in place.

* * *

CHER BIG ISLE HOME SELLS FOR $8.7 MILLION

KAILUA-KONA - Concierge Auctions reports Cher's Hawaii home overlooking the Pacific Ocean has been sold to a buyer from Arizona for $8.7 million.

The luxury real estate auction company said Thursday that the home was one of five Big Island residences auctioned Monday for a total of $19.4 million.

The company had estimated Cher's three-quarter-acre property was worth between $8 million and $12 million.

Located in the Hualalai Resort, the 8,800-square-foot Balinese style residence features a gated center courtyard leading to the main residence. It includes a master wing, great room, kitchen, dining room, outdoor living area, and infinity pool with spa overlooking the Hualalai Golf Course.

A Web site set up for the sale says the residence designed by Cher has six bedrooms.

* * *

NEW HAWAII NEWS SERVICE PICKS EDITOR

HONOLULU - The owners of a new Hawaii news service that hopes to start operations later this year have selected a former Denver newspaper publisher as its editor.

John Temple was named editor of Peer News, a local news service co-founded in 2008 by eBay founders Pierre Omidyar and Randy Ching that will be based in Honolulu.

The news organization's blog site made the announcement Thursday.

Temple was editor, president and publisher of the Rocky Mountain News in Denver until the paper closed last February.

Peer News plans to produce original, in-depth reporting and analysis of Hawaii issues.

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