Monday, March 1, 2010

“Survey: Midwest Economy Improving - KCCI.com” plus 3 more

“Survey: Midwest Economy Improving - KCCI.com” plus 3 more

Survey: Midwest Economy Improving - KCCI.com

Posted: 01 Mar 2010 07:00 AM PST

Copyright 2010 by KCCI.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Mark Lewis and Kirk Morgan Join Bracewell & Giuliani’s Energy ... - Businesswire.com

Posted: 28 Feb 2010 02:54 PM PST

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bracewell & Giuliani LLP announced today that Mark Lewis and Kirk Morgan, both formerly of Paul Hastings, have joined the firm's Washington, D.C. office as partners in its energy practice.

"The addition of Mark and Kirk enhances our oil and gas energy regulatory and transactional teams"

"The firm is delighted to be adding these two outstanding oil and gas attorneys," said Bracewell Managing Partner, Mark C. Evans. "Mark and Kirk fit into the practice seamlessly, in that they already share common clients with the firm and will benefit from additional resources our cross-disciplinary team can provide, just as our existing clients will benefit from their experience," added Evans.

Mark Lewis focuses his practice on midstream oil and gas pipeline development projects in the United States and globally with respect to project structuring, contracting and government approvals. He provides legal counsel in contract negotiations involving operating, transportation, and gas purchase and sale agreements and advises clients regarding regulatory aspects of contract/tariff and rate matters before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and various other state agencies. Lewis is listed in Chambers USA America's Leading Business Lawyers in the area of energy: oil and gas. He is a member of the Advisory Board at the Smith School, the University of Maryland business school.

Kirk Morgan concentrates on energy-related projects and transactions. He represents oil and gas producers and marketers; gas pipeline developers, owners, operators and investors; and gas distributors. Morgan advises clients regarding regulatory aspects of transactional, compliance and enforcement matters before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and various state regulatory agencies. He also advises clients on obtaining certificates and authorizations for interstate pipelines and storage facilities, as well as non-judicial facilities.

"The addition of Mark and Kirk enhances our oil and gas energy regulatory and transactional teams," said Chuck Shoneman, co-head of Bracewell & Giuliani's energy regulatory group. "They are highly regarded in the oil and gas industry and will be busy from day one," added Shoneman.

Bracewell's nationwide oil and gas practice is recognized by Chambers and Partners. In 2009, Energy Law360 ranked the practice as the largest in the U.S. The firm is known for having particular strength in the area of energy finance and energy regulatory work, in sectors that range from gas and electric power to renewable energy to upstream oil and gas.

About Bracewell & Giuliani LLP

Bracewell & Giuliani LLP is an international law firm with more than 470 lawyers in Texas, New York, Washington, D.C., Connecticut, Seattle, Dubai, Kazakhstan, and London. We serve Fortune 500 companies, major financial institutions, leading private investment funds, governmental entities and individuals concentrated in the energy, technology and financial services sectors worldwide.

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Controversial ND compost business gets draft permit - Dickinson Press & Advertiser

Posted: 28 Feb 2010 10:25 PM PST

BISMARCK(AP) — A Montana man believes he has found the perfect place to compost oil sludge with cow crap and other organic waste: North Dakota.

Environmental regulators in Montana forced Dale Leivestad to close an operation that turned manure, straw and unsalable crude oil to compost, saying it made a mess.

So Leivestad wants to start a sludge-to-compost facility a few miles over the border in sparsely populated Bowman County, where he has the blessing of the state Health Department.

"It's going to be a very safe place to ply our trade," said Leivestad, who plans to compost oil waste on 140 acres of land he owns a few miles south of Marmarth. "But I don't know how people feel about us doing business in Bowman County."

Some locals say the plan stinks.

"Their claim is sludge is less harmful than toothpaste," said Jim Miller, a Bowman County rancher. "Why don't they take that sludge behind the state Capitol if they think it's so clean and fantastic?"

Miller and other residents will have a chance to voice worries at a public hearing on Thursday in Bowman, in Bowman County.

Locals in Slope and Bowman counties and the Sierra Club say they'll fight the plan for the facility, based on Leivestad's history in Montana.

"There are grave concerns out here," Miller said. "Just because we're rural and there aren't many people out here doesn't mean we don't want clean air and water."

Slope and Bowman counties in North Dakota's southwest corner have the distinction of being among the nation's least populated counties. Both have fewer than 1,000 residents, county officials say.

Miller worries runoff from the proposed composting facility could leach into ground water and into the Little Missouri River less than two miles away. The river runs north into Slope County and eventually drains into the Missouri River.

Leivestad's Baker, Mont.-based Petrocomp operated the oil sludge-to-compost business for more than a decade at the Coral Creek Landfill, which is owned by Montana's Fallon County.

Leivestad's company was told to stop operations there three years ago after state regulators found violations for failing to manage the site properly, including failing to contain water runoff.

Tom Barth, the Fallon County landfill manager, said it took several months and nearly $200,000 of county money to clean up the site.

Leivestad said he has worked with North Dakota regulators for three years crafting a new operating plan.

"The overall plan has changed substantially and I think we have a very good plan to offer here," Leivestad said.

The oil waste comes from crude oil storage tanks in the Dakotas and Montana, he said.

Instead of dumping oil field waste on piles of organic material, Leivestad said he will use a centrifuge machine that separates liquids and solids. Oil from the process will be resold and water and other liquids will be injected into underground wells. The solid waste will be hauled to Leivestad's site near Marmarth and mixed with organic waste.

The centrifuge and wells are located near Baker, Mont.

North Dakota already has three sludge-to-compost facilities in the northwest part of the state, said Scott Radig, the state Health Department's waste management director.

"He's acknowledged he's had some problems over there," Radig said of Leivestad's business in Montana. "He's come up with a plan that meets solid waste requirements in North Dakota, at least we think it does."

Leivestad has been testing the process over the past several months and is shipping solid waste to an industrial waste dump near Sawyer in north-central North Dakota. Leivestad said hauling the waste to southwest North Dakota will cut down on his transportation costs and will be environmentally cleaner because it ultimately will be composted.

Radig said he was not aware that Leivestad had already been shipping solid waste to North Dakota.

"It's not necessarily pertinent to this permit," Radig said.

Miller, the rancher in Bowman County, said locals believe Leivestad's plan already is a done deal with the state. Radig said the state will weigh all comments before issuing a permit.

Radig said Leivestad's operation will be closely monitored and he must post a line of credit of more than $500,000 for any cleanup costs.

Miller said that amount of money "won't even pay for a study for the cleanup."

Wayde Schafer, a North Dakota spokesman for the Sierra Club, said his group intends to submit written comments opposing the plan based on Leivestad's history in Montana.

"This is a potentially disastrous project," Schafer said. "You'd want someone squeaky clean and responsible running it but based on this operator's track record, it doesn't make him a very good candidate."

Joni Sonsalla, who lives near Marmarth in Slope County, said she and others in the neighboring county strongly object to the project.

"Anybody who cares about land is going to be opposed to it," she said. "He absolutely destroyed land over in Montana and now he wants to come here. Apparently, nobody has learned anything."

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MegaChips Adopts SpringSoft's Certitude Functional Qualification ... - Consumer Electronics Net

Posted: 01 Mar 2010 01:38 AM PST

 

March 01, 2010 -- HSINCHU, Taiwan, BUSINESS WIRE --

SpringSoft, Inc., a global supplier of specialized IC design software, today announced that MegaChips Corporation (MegaChips) has adopted the Certitude' Functional Qualification System as a part of its functional verification methodology. MegaChips has been developing LSI products for high-end and widespread digital applications, such as game machines, digital cameras, audio-visual equipment, and digital terrestrial broadcasting systems. The Certitude software enables MegaChips' design teams to achieve high quality of results with their LSI verification environment.


The growth of test patterns required to fully verify complex, highly integrated LSI designs puts extraordinary pressure on the functional verification process. In addressing this challenge, MegaChips deployed SpringSoft's Certitude software to identify major verification holes that could let register transfer level (RTL) bugs slip through undetected. By applying the Certitude automation technologies and analysis capabilities early in the process, MegaChips' design teams were able to improve the effectiveness of their hardware verification environment and deliver quality designs sooner.

'In just one hour, Certitude found problems in the verification environment that code coverage tools could not. Because it is easy to use and integrates easily into our existing design flow, we expect the continuous use of Certitude to provide even greater verification efficiencies over time,' said Mr. Tetsuo Furuichi, director, officer and general manager, LSI Business Division No.1 of MegaChips.

'MegaChips' experience with our Certitude technology yielded dramatic results in relatively short order for their LSI verification teams,' said George Bakewell, director of product marketing at SpringSoft. 'The confidence and feedback provided by MegaChips' engineers demonstrate the value of functional qualification for enhancing verification efforts.'

About Certitude Functional Qualification

The Certitude' Functional Qualification System removes verification uncertainty and accelerates functional closure of complex IP and SoC designs. Its unique automation technology combines mutation-based techniques with static analysis to measure effectiveness, identify significant weaknesses, and improve the quality of results of HDL simulation-based verification environments. The Certitude system is interoperable with existing tool flows and fully compatible with all current functional verification methodologies, and is an integral part of SpringSoft's family of Novas' Verification Enhancement products that enable engineers to do more verification in less time. For more information about the Certitude product, visit: http://www.springsoft.com/products/functional-qualification/certitude.

About MegaChips

MegaChips Corporation (1st section of the TSE: 6875) was established in 1990 as an innovative fabless company dedicated to system LSIs with the goal of integrating LSIs and systems knowledge. Their focus is on the development of cutting-edge system LSIs and systems products incorporating original algorithms and architecture in the areas of imaging, audio, and communications, and using the advances they achieve to offer outstanding products and solutions that meet the needs of their clients. For additional information, please visit: www.megachips.co.jp/english/top.html.

About SpringSoft

SpringSoft, Inc. (TAIEX: 2473) is a global supplier of specialized automation technologies that accelerate engineers during the design, verification and debug of complex digital, analog and mixed-signal ICs, ASICs, microprocessors, and SoCs. Its award-winning product portfolio features the Novas Verification Enhancement and Laker Custom IC Design solutions used by more than 400 of today's leading IDM and fabless semiconductor companies, foundries, and electronic systems OEMs. Headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan, and San Jose, California, SpringSoft is the largest company in Asia specializing in IC design software and a recognized industry leader in customer service with more than 400 employees located in multiple R&D sites and local support offices around the world. For more information, visit www.springsoft.com

Certitude and Novas are trademarks of SpringSoft, Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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