Below please find daily updates pertaining to the latest in financial, business, and tax news:
Fire inspector accused of taking payments from businesses
Posted: Tue Feb 07 03:59:59 PST 2012The Richmond County (Ga.) Sheriff?s Office is investigating allegations a city fire inspector was stealing inspection fees, reports the Augusta Chronicle. The investigation follows an internal audit of fire inspection fees, sheriff?s Investigator Dan Ferrel told the Augusta newspaper. Lt. Lenston Melvin Harris is suspected of taking at least $1,360 from businesses in payment for fire inspecti...
City officials to consider Greystone redevelopment
Posted: Tue Feb 07 03:59:05 PST 2012Plans by Ellicott Development Co. to turn this historic Graystone Hotel in downtown Buffalo into upscale, market-rate apartments may rest with two key city review panels. On back-to-back days, Ellicott Development representatives will be meeting with the Buffalo Planning Board and Buffalo Zoning Board of Appeals respectively about plans to renovate the late 1800s building into 42 apartment uni...
BofA investors win class-action status in suit over Merrill Lynch deal
Posted: Tue Feb 07 03:58:55 PST 2012Bank of America got more bad news Monday when a federal judge approved class-action status for a lawsuit accusing the bank and some of its senior executives and directors of fraudulently misleading them about the 2008 takeover of Merrill Lynch, sister publication the San Francisco Business Times reports. The shareholder suit takes issue with the size of Merrill Lynch's losses and bonus payment...
Catholic leaders object to contraception mandate
Posted: Tue Feb 07 03:58:52 PST 2012Catholic leaders in New York are joining their peers nationwide in urging parishioners to reject a federal mandate regarding inclusion of paid contraception in health insurance coverage. Buffalo Business First, a sister publication of The Business Review, reports that in western New York, Bishop Edward Kmiec this week wrote to church leaders, many of whom addressed the issue this weekend durin...
Delta Air Lines traffic down slightly
Posted: Tue Feb 07 03:58:05 PST 2012Delta Air Lines Inc.?s traffic dipped 1.5 percent in January on a 0.6 percent rise in capacity, the airline reported Monday. Domestic traffic was down 0.3 percent, while international traffic was down 3.2 percent. Its domestic regional service declined in January by 2.3 percent to 1,704,103 revenue passenger miles, compared to January 2011. Delta is one of the largest carriers at the Dayton I...
Buckhorn's mission: Changing Tampa's DNA
Posted: Tue Feb 07 03:57:38 PST 2012Biotechnology companies and other tech firms are paving the path for a brighter employment outlook in Tampa, said Mayor Bob Buckhorn. Those changes are needed to keep young people in the area, Buckhorn told about 300 attendees at the Moffitt Cancer Center's Business of Biotech program. Historically the area was dependent on construction and real estate, Buckhorn said. That drew people to the ...
New England fishermen seek access to closed areas
Posted: Tue Feb 07 03:56:37 PST 2012New England fishermen are asking the National Marine Fisheries Service to allow them to fish inside areas that have long been off limits to groundfish boats, and if regulators agree, insiders say it would provide a solid boost to the local fishing industry, the Standard-Times reports. the New England Fishery Management Council has asked NMFS to lift restrictions on fishing in three areas that ...
Growth in China helps Yum 4Q profit jump 30%
Posted: Tue Feb 07 03:56:09 PST 2012Topping analysts? expectations, Yum! Brands Inc. said its fourth-quarter profit rose 30 percent from a year ago, thanks in part to a 21 percent sales increase in China. Business First reports that revenue for the quarter rose 15 percent, to $4.1 billion. Louisville-based Yum (NYSE: YUM) opened 1,561 restaurants in other countries last year ? 656 in China and 905 by Yum Restaurants Internation...
Banks embracing short sales
Posted: Tue Feb 07 03:55:33 PST 2012Banks are offering as much as $35,000 or more in cash to delinquent homeowners to sell their properties for less than they owe, Bloomberg News reported. Lenders have routinely blocked such transactions, known as short sales, in which they accept less from a buyer than the seller?s outstanding loan. But now banks have decided the deals are faster and less costly than foreclosures, according to ...
Local officials push for more foreign trade
Posted: Tue Feb 07 03:55:24 PST 2012Foreign trade has not been a large enough portion of the local economy and officials are vowing to come up with a plan to boost local exports. Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn met with Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, and Francisco Sanchez, the undersecretary of commerce, on Monday to pledge a renewed emphasis on local exports, according to the Tampa Tribune. There was no discussion in Monday?s meeting on...
