Wednesday 12 February 2014

Consumers asked to weigh in on proposed rate hike


A state agency is inviting consumers to voice their opinions on a rate increase requested by the Indiana American Water Company.


The Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor represents consumer interests in cases handled by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.


The utility says it's seeking the rate increase to help pay for numerous infrastructure improvements, including treatment plant projects and the replacement of aging water mains.


For most residential customers using 5,000 gallons per month, the monthly water bill would rise $2.60 to nearly $40.


The consumer agency plans to file testimony with utility regulators in May.


Indiana American provides service to about 290,000 customers throughout the state. It's a subsidiary of New Jersey-based American Water Inc.



More information available online at http://ift.tt/1aXj7Di.


Owens Corning returns to 4Q profit, revenue rises


Construction and industrial-materials company Owens Corning returned to a profit in its fourth quarter, helped by an insurance gain tied to Hurricane Sandy and lower charges.


Its adjusted earnings easily topped Wall Street's view, and revenue beat expectations as well. Owens Corning also initiated a quarterly dividend.


The stock surged in Wednesday morning trading.


Owens Corning anticipates its roofing business will have a strong year in 2014. It foresees the market growing on new construction with flat to potentially improving re-roofing demand. The company's insulation business is expected to continue to benefit from growth in new residential construction in the U.S., higher prices and operating leverage.


It also expects recovering market conditions to help push prices higher for its composites segment.


The company earned $82 million, or 69 cents per share, for the three months ended Dec. 31. That compares with a loss of $56 million, or 47 cents per share, a year ago.


The current quarter included a $31 million gain related to Hurricane Sandy insurance activity. Charges tied to cost-cutting efforts and related items dropped to $3 million from $27 million.


Adjusted earnings were 44 cents per share. Analysts predicted earnings of 27 cents per share, according to a FactSet survey.


Revenue rose 10 percent to $1.28 billion from $1.16 billion, topping Wall Street's estimate of $1.2 billion.


Revenue for the building materials unit, which includes insulation and roofing, increased to $847 million from $763 million. Composites revenue rose to $461 million from $426 million.


For the year, Owens Corning earnings $204 million, or $1.71 per share. In the previous year it lost $19 million, or 16 cents per share. Annual revenue rose 3 percent to $5.3 billion from $5.17 billion.


The company initiated a quarterly dividend of 16 cents per share. The dividend will be paid on April 3 to shareholders of record on March 14.


Shares of Owens Corning rose $5.17, or 13 percent, to $44.91 in morning trading. Over the past year, the stock is up 3 percent.



Tuesday Sports In Brief


BASKETBALL


CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Michael Jordan has more to be happy about than just the improved play of his NBA franchise.


His wife, Yvette, has given birth to the couple's identical twin daughters, Jordan's spokeswoman Estee Portnoy told The Associated Press.


Portnoy said Tuesday night Yvette Jordan, 35, gave birth to Victoria and Ysabel on Sunday in West Palm Beach, Fla.


"Yvette Jordan and the babies are doing well and the family is overjoyed at their arrival," Portnoy said.


Jordan is the owner of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats, who are currently the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference and have a chance to make the postseason for the first time since he took over as majority owner in 2010.


Jordan, who turns 51 next Monday, married former model Yvette Prieto on April 27 of last year in Palm Beach, Fla. The reception took place at a private golf club in Jupiter, Fla., designed by Jack Nicklaus. Jordan owns a home near the course.


The couple met six years ago.


Jordan has three children — two sons, Jeffrey Michael and Marcus James, and a daughter, Jasmine — with former wife Juanita Vanoy. They divorced in 2006.


Jordan won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls and was a 14-time All-Star and five-time league MVP.


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DOG SHOW


NEW YORK (AP) — Sky the wire fox terrier has become America's top dog.


Sky won best in show at the 138th Westminster Kennel Club on Tuesday night. The wire fox terrier beat out a standard poodle, a Portuguese water dog, bloodhound, an Irish water spaniel, a Cardigan Welsh corgi and a miniature pinscher.


Judge Betty Regina Leininger picked the winner at a nearly full Madison Square Garden. The standard poodle named Ally was chosen as the runner-up.


This was the record 14th time a wire fox terrier has won at the nation's top dog show. Sky has won 129 best in shows overall, and was ranked as the country's No. 1 show dog last year.


There were 2,845 dogs entered in the show. They were eligible in 190 breeds and varieties.


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NFL


BEREA, Ohio (AP) — The Browns fired their coach after one season. Now they're sweeping out their front office.


Owner Jimmy Haslam announced Tuesday that CEO Joe Banner will step down in the next two months and general manager Michael Lombardi is leaving the team.


It's yet another stunning development for a franchise that has undergone nearly constant change in the past 15 years.


Haslam also said assistant GM Ray Farmer, who was pursued by Miami to be the Dolphins' GM this winter, has been promoted and will immediately take the over the team's football operations and lead the Browns during free agency and draft. Cleveland has two first-round picks in May's draft and is well under the salary cap to spend on free agents.


Haslam added that president Alec Scheiner will keep his current role.


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BASEBALL


Right-hander Roy Oswalt is retiring after 13 major league seasons.


Oswalt's agent, Bob Garber, confirmed Oswalt's retirement Tuesday and said the pitcher would come to work for his agency.


Oswalt, 36, had a 163-102 career record with a 3.36 ERA. His best season came with Houston in 2004, when he went 20-10 with a 3.49 ERA. The durable righty — a three-time All-Star and 2006 NL championship series MVP — went over 200 innings seven times in his career but dealt with injuries in recent years.


He was 0-6 with an 8.63 ERA in nine outings and six starts for Colorado last year. He signed a minor league deal with the Rockies in May 2013 and missed time with a strained left hamstring.


A 23rd-round pick by Houston in the 1996 amateur draft, Oswalt pitched his first nine-plus seasons for the Astros and then played for Philadelphia, Texas and the Rockies.


HOUSTON (AP) — Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan has rejoined the Houston Astros as the team's executive advisor.


Ryan worked as a special assistant to the general manager in Houston from 2004 until he became president of the Texas Rangers in 2008. He added CEO to his title with the Rangers in 2011 and remained in that position until he stepped down in October.


Ryan will serve as an advisor to owner Jim Crane, general manager Jeff Luhnow and his son and president of business operations Reid Ryan.


The elder Ryan, who played for the Astros for nine seasons, is major league baseball's all-time strikeout leader and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1999. The team says Ryan will join the team at spring training in the next few weeks.



US stocks decline for the first time in five days


Weak earnings from tobacco company Lorillard and household products maker Procter & Gamble helped end the stock market's longest winning streak of the year Wednesday.


Lorillard dropped after the maker of Newport cigarettes said its profit fell as higher costs offset an increase in revenue from both traditional and electronic cigarettes. Procter & Gamble fell after the company lowered its sales and earnings forecasts.


The losses were relatively small. Before Wednesday's drop, stocks had gained for the previous four days, mitigating some of the market's weakness in January caused by signs of slowing growth in China and doubts about how strong the U.S. economy was.


"At this point, boring is good," said Kate Warne, an investment strategist at Edward Jones, an investment adviser. "People are a bit tired of the ups and downs we've seen and a relatively flat day would be a sign of confidence," Warne said.


The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell half a point, less than 0.1 percent, to close at 1,819.26. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 30.83 points, or 0.2 percent, to 15,963.94. The Nasdaq composite rose 10.24 points, or 0.2 percent, to 4,201.29.


Makers of consumer staples, a category that includes everyday products like soap, diapers and cigarettes, fell the most of the 10 sectors in the S&P 500.


Lorillard had the biggest drop in the index. The stock lost $2.48, or 5 percent, to $47.47 after its earnings disappointed investors.


Procter & Gamble, the world's largest household products maker, fell $1.35, or 1.7 percent, to $77.49 after the company said it would take a hit because of declines in emerging market currencies against the dollar. Currencies in developing countries such as Turkey, South Africa and Argentina have slumped against the dollar this year.


Concerns about the outlook for emerging markets shook the stock market in January. Those losses continued as investors started to worry about the U.S. economy after some lackluster economics reports.


Stocks have rebounded in the past week. They jumped on Tuesday after Janet Yellen, the new head of the Federal Reserve, said she would continue the central bank's market-friendly, low-interest rate policies.


The S&P 500 was down almost 6 percent for the year as of Feb. 3, but has since pared that loss to 1.5 percent thanks to gains in health care and technology stocks. Both sectors have jumped 4.5 percent in the past week.


For the market to advance from here, investors will want to see further evidence that the economy is improving said, Cameron Hinds, a regional chief investment officer for Wells Fargo Private Bank. While the economic reports have been weak, many economists believe that the unusually cold winter has been a factor.


"People are going to start looking for strength in the economy to get the market going," said Hinds.


TripAdvisor was among the day's winners. The online travel company gained $6.07, or 7.2 percent, to $90.27 after posting fourth-quarter results that led an RBC Capital Markets analyst to upgrade his rating on the stock. TripAdvisor said late Tuesday that its fourth-quarter revenue jumped and was stronger than analysts expected. Most of its revenue came from click-based advertising.


In government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note climbed to 2.76 percent from 2.73 percent on Tuesday.


In commodities trading, oil rose 43 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $100.37 a barrel. The price of gold rose $5.20, or 0.4 percent, to $1,295 an ounce.


Among other stocks making big moves:


— Amazon.com fell $12.54, or 3.5 percent, to $349.25 after analysts at UBS lowered their rating on the stock from "buy" to "neutral" on concern about revenue from the internet retailer's "Prime" customers. Amazon was among the biggest decliners in the S&P 500.


— DaVita HealthCare Partners jumped $2.02, or 3.1 percent, to $66.35, a day after the kidney dialysis provider said it reached an agreement to resolve a government investigation and reported fourth-quarter income that soared 36 percent and topped analyst expectations.



GOP bedrock principle dropped in debt limit vote


It was once the backbone of the House Republican majority — the hard-line stand that brought President Barack Obama to the negotiating table and yielded more than $2 trillion in deficit reduction.


On Tuesday, it abruptly vanished, the victim of Republican disunity and a president determined not to bargain again.


During the summer budget negotiations in 2011, House Speaker John Boehner had insisted that any increase in the nation's borrowing limit be matched dollar for dollar with spending cuts. It became the "Boehner Rule," a mantra of fiscal discipline. And while it didn't always live up to its tit-for-tat formula, it helped drive budget talks and kept deficit reduction at the fore of the Republican agenda.


But there are limits to Republican power, and on Tuesday inevitability finally caught up to the speaker.


Boehner let Congress vote on a measure to extend the nation's borrowing authority for 13 months without any spending conditions — a "clean bill" that was an unequivocal victory for Obama. It passed 221-201, with only 28 Republican votes. The Senate still has to approve the extension, but that's considered a mere formality in the Democratic-controlled chamber.


Boehner's retreat hardly came as a surprise.


Conservative lawmakers had failed to back a couple of proposed attachments aimed at Obama and his fellow Democrats. One would have approved the Keystone XL oil pipeline and the other would have repealed a provision of the health care law. Either of those faced unified Democratic opposition, so Boehner would have needed 218 Republican votes to pass it in the House. But conservatives were either determined to vote against the debt ceiling increase, no matter what, or found the provisions too small a price for their vote.


"When you don't have 218 votes, you have nothing," Boehner said.


Starting last year, Obama has steadfastly refused to negotiate over giving the Treasury Department the authority to borrow the money it needs to pay bills like Social Security benefits, payments on government debt and checks for federal workers.


For Boehner, however, not all was lost. He placed the burden of extending Treasury's borrowing authority — not a politically popular vote — on the Democrats, and most members of his party got to vote no.


What's more, the decision helped remove a potentially damaging diversion. Republican allies in the business community have long pleaded with Republicans not to play brinkmanship with the nation's credit. Last year's threat of default, followed by a partial government shutdown over stalled budget talks, harmed Republicans in the eyes of the public.


Instead, Boehner and his leadership team have decided to keep the political focus on Obama's health care law, which they have targeted as the Achilles' heel for Democrats in this election year.


It was the second time in two weeks that Boehner swept away an issue that threatened to overshadow the GOP attention on health care. He had outlined principles on how to achieve an overhaul of immigration law. But faced with a conservative outcry, Boehner last week deep-sixed the issue, declaring that immigration legislation this year was a long shot.


"Boehner's thinking here is we have to pick the smarter fight," said Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist and former senior congressional leadership aide. "The smarter fight is Obamacare. If we get dragged into a protracted fight over the debt limit, like the one we saw over the government shutdown, it provides a distraction over the bigger issues the party can litigate."


Conservative, tea party-aligned groups immediately objected to Boehner's decision, calling it a capitulation and demanding that Republicans vote against the debt ceiling increase.


"When we heard that House leadership was scheduling a clean debt ceiling increase, we thought it was a joke," Andy Roth of the conservative Club for Growth wrote in an email to congressional offices. "Something is very wrong with House leadership, or with the Republican Party."


But among lawmakers, the reaction was muted. When Boehner announced his decision in a private meeting with Republicans, one participant described the reaction as resigned silence. And during scheduled debate on the House floor, Rep. Dave Camp, the chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, was the only Republican to speak, reluctantly giving his support for allowing Treasury to borrow more money.


"While I believe that we must increase our debt limit, I'm clearly not satisfied that there are no provisions that would help us address the long-term drivers of this debt," he said, before becoming one of the 28 Republicans who voted for the measure.


This all could change if Republicans win control of the Senate in November. Republicans would then control Congress and Obama might have little recourse but to accept some Republican demands.


A Republican victory in the fall, Madden said, would mean "the most recent electoral mandate would be favorable to the Republican bargaining position."


Boehner, for one, was not giving up. Asked if the "Boehner Rule" was dead, he said, "I hope not."



Panama Canal chief reports progress in dispute


Panama Canal Administrator Jorge Quijano said Wednesday the agency has reached tentative agreement with contractors on some of the issues that have stalled work on the biggest expansion of the waterway in a century.


But Quijano also told a meeting of Panama's Chamber of Commerce and Industry that the Panama Canal Authority might take over the project if no final agreement is reached this week.


The canal chief said he spoke by telephone Tuesday with executives from Grupos Unidos por el Canal, the consortium led by Spain's Sacyr SA and Italy's Salini Impreglio SpA. It has been seeking to have the canal authority pay for $1.6 billion in cost overruns on what had been planned as a $3.1 billion chunk of the canal project.


"We had agreements in principle on several of the topics," he said, without giving details. "We still have some topics to resolve and we are working in that direction."


"That is not to say that we have abandoned the other alternative, which is that we take over the work ourselves," said Quijano. "We are preparing more each day in case that is necessary."


Sacyr declined Wednesday to comment on the report of agreements in principle.


Quijano said that one question to be resolved is if insurer Zurich American, which holds a guarantee bond of at least $450 million, will play a role in financing renewed work.


"Zurich has not yet expressed itself in a conclusive way. We know that they have the willingness to do so," he said.


After Quijano spoke, Sacyr's shares in Madrid's stock market rallied 4.7 percent on Wednesday to close at 4.03 euros per share.


Later Wednesday, Quijano told Panama's legislature that without Zurich's financial participation "a possible agreement could fall apart."


"We are searching for a solution that is good for the country," he said.


The dispute threatens to delay a project that has led ports and shipping companies around the globe to make costly new investments to take advantage of the ability to move larger ships through a waterway that already handles 5 to 6 percent of world commerce.


The canal authority and the construction consortium blame each other for the overruns. They were negotiating how to pay for the unplanned extra costs when talks broke down.


Other foreign contractors and project managers have expressed an interest in completing the 30 percent of work that remains on the third canal lock, according to canal officials.



Associated Press writer Jorge Sainz contributed from Madrid.


Huge thermal plant opens as solar industry grows

The Associated Press



A windy stretch of the Mojave Desert once roamed by tortoises and coyotes has been transformed by hundreds of thousands of mirrors into the largest solar power plant of its type in the world, a milestone for a growing industry that is testing the balance between wilderness conservation and the pursuit of green energy across the West.


The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, sprawling across roughly 5 square miles of federal land near the California-Nevada border, formally opens Thursday after years of regulatory and legal tangles ranging from relocating protected tortoises to assessing the impact on Mojave milkweed and other plants.


The $2.2 billion complex of three generating units, owned by NRG Energy Inc., Google Inc. and BrightSource Energy, can produce nearly 400 megawatts — enough power for 140,000 homes. It began making electricity last year.


Larger projects are on the way, but for now, Ivanpah (EYE'-ven-pah) is being described as a marker for the United States' emerging solar industry. While solar power accounts for less than 1 percent of the nation's power output, thousands of projects from large, utility-scale plants to small production sites are under construction or being planned, particularly across the sun-drenched Southwest.


The opening of Ivanpah is "a dawn of a new era in power generation in the United States," said Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association, a trade group. "We are going to be a global leader in solar generation."


The plant's dedication comes as government continues to push for development of greener, cleaner power.


President Barack Obama has mounted a second-term drive to combat climate change, proposing first-ever limits on carbon pollution from new and existing power plants. His plan aims to help move the U.S. from a coal-dependent past into a future fired by wind and solar power, nuclear energy and natural gas.


According to U.S. Energy Information Administration data, the cost of building and operating a new solar thermal power plant over its lifetime is greater than generating natural gas, coal or nuclear power. It costs a conventional coal plant $100, on average, to produce a megawatt-hour of power, but that figure is $261 for solar thermal power, according to 2011 estimates. The figures do not account for incentives such as state or federal tax credits that can impact the cost.


Ken Johnson, a spokesman for the solar association, said in a statement that solar systems have seen "dramatic price declines" in the last few years.


That's good for utilities in California, which must obtain a third of their electricity from solar and other renewable sources by 2020.


The Ivanpah site, about 45 miles southwest of Las Vegas, has virtually unbroken sunshine most of the year and is near transmission lines that carry power to consumers.


Using technology known as solar-thermal, nearly 350,000 computer-controlled mirrors roughly the size of a garage door reflect sunlight to boilers atop 459-foot towers. The sun's power is used to heat water in the boilers' tubes and make steam, which drives turbines to create electricity.


While many people are familiar with rooftop solar, or photovoltaic panels, "these are a little bit different. This takes the sun's rays and reflects them onto towers," said NRG spokesman Jeff Holland.


The plant can be a startling sight for drivers heading toward Las Vegas along busy Interstate 15. Amid miles of rock and scrub, its vast array of 7-by-10-foot mirrors creates the image of an ethereal lake shimmering atop the desert floor. In fact, it's built on a dry lakebed.


Google announced in 2011 that it would invest $168 million in the project. As part of its financing, BrightSource also lined up $1.6 billion in loans guaranteed by the U.S. Energy Department.


Ivanpah can be seen as a success story and a cautionary tale, highlighting the inevitable trade-offs between the need for cleaner power and the loss of fragile, open land. The California Energy Commission concluded that while the solar plant would impose "significant impacts on the environment ... the benefits the project would provide override those impacts."


Such disputes are likely to continue for years as more companies seek to develop solar, wind and geothermal plants on land treasured by environmentalists who also support the growth of renewable energy. At issue is what is worth preserving and at what cost, as California pushes to generate more electricity from renewable sources.


In 2012, the federal government established 17 "solar energy zones" in an attempt to direct development to land it has identified as having fewer wildlife and natural-resource obstacles. The zones comprise about 450 square miles in six states — California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico.


The Western Watershed Project is continuing to push a lawsuit against federal agencies that reviewed the Ivanpah project. Its California director, Michael J. Connor, said alternatives to the site were not considered and serious environmental impacts, including fragmenting the tortoise population, were ignored.


"Do we really need to have these giant plants first, or is it better to generate solar power on people's roofs, the place it's going to be used?" Connor asked.


NRG did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.


Resch said a key issue for the industry will be maintaining government policies that encourage development, including tax credits for solar projects that are set to expire in 2016 and government loan guarantees. "The direct result of these policies is projects like Ivanpah," he said.


According to statistics compiled by the Energy Department, the solar industry employs more than 140,000 Americans at about 6,100 companies, with employment increasing nearly 20 percent since the fall of 2012.



Lenders repossessed fewer US homes in January


Lenders repossessed fewer U.S. homes in January, bringing the number of completed foreclosures down to the lowest level in more than six years.


Even so, many states posted sharp increases in the number of homes entering the foreclosure process for the first time, a trend that raises the likelihood that those states will see a surge in foreclosed homes later this year.


Banks took back 30,226 homes last month, a drop of 4 percent from December, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday.


Completed foreclosures were down 40 percent from January last year to the lowest level since July 2007, the firm said.


A dozen states posted annual increases in foreclosures, including New York, Oklahoma, Connecticut and New Jersey.


While foreclosures remain elevated in many populous states, they have been steadily on the wane since the U.S. housing market and economy began to rebound after years of decline.


The U.S. housing market has emerged from a deep slump, aided by rising home prices, steady job growth and fewer troubled loans dating back to the housing-bubble days. Meanwhile, more homeowners are keeping up with their mortgage payments.


That's led to fewer homes entering the foreclosure pipeline on a national level.


In some states, however, there is a backlog of homes with mortgages gone unpaid. Typically these are states like New York and Florida, where the courts play a role in the foreclosure process. In other states, like California and Nevada, laws aimed at stalling foreclosures have extended the time it takes for the process to play out.


As a result, some of those homes with mortgages gone unpaid are only now entering the foreclosure process or being scheduled for auction.


"We're going to have this year some states that are still seeing the last surges in foreclosure activity because of continued delays in the process," said Daren Blomquist, a vice president at RealtyTrac. "Not even an improving economy may help a lot of these."


Last month, 22 states posted annual increases in homes that got started on the path to foreclosure. Maryland, Connecticut, New Jersey and California had the biggest increases. In California, foreclosure starts rose on an annual basis for the first time in more than a year.


All told, banks initiated foreclosure actions against 57,259 U.S. homes last month, a 10 percent jump from December, RealtyTrac said. Foreclosure starts typically pick up in January after slowing in December. They were down 12 percent from a year ago.


Many of these homes are likely to begin making their way through the foreclosure process this year, Blomquist said.


That said, Blomquist said he expects that completed foreclosures will decline nationally this year from 2013, when they totaled 462,970.


Foreclosures peaked in 2010 at 1.05 million and have been declining ever since.



News Summary: Completed foreclosures fall in Jan.


COMPLETED FORECLOSURES: Foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac says that the number of U.S. homes repossessed by banks fell 4 percent last month from December and 40 percent from a year ago. Completed foreclosures increased in a dozen states.


FORECLOSURE STARTS: The number of homes that entered foreclosure jumped 10 percent in January from December. Foreclosure starts were down 12 percent from January 2013, but increased on an annual basis in 22 states.


OUTLOOK: The state-level increase in foreclosure starts raises the likelihood that those states will see a surge in foreclosed homes later this year.



Battered, beleaguered: East Coast braces for storm


Snow has begun falling along the East Coast, in Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, a day after snow and ice hit the Southeast. Here's a sampling of what the latest round of winter weather is wreaking:


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DIRE FORECAST: The National Weather Service called the storm "catastrophic ... crippling ... paralyzing ... choose your adjective" for the South, including Atlanta, where a storm a few weeks ago created huge traffic jams. A National Weather Service map of the storm showed possible effects hitting 22 states from Texas to Maine.


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UPSIDE-DOWN WEATHER: While Northeast residents suffered through another day of freezing temperatures, the temperatures soared to 63 degrees at the Winter Games in Sochi, providing Olympic visitors with opportunities for outdoor napping, sunbathing and even a dip in the Black Sea.


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IN THE DARK: More than 500,000 homes and businesses lacked power in several Southeastern states by Wednesday night. Power companies in the Northeast were preparing for outages


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TREACHEROUS TRAVEL: More than 3,300 flights were canceled across the country, according to the website FlightAware. At least 11 deaths across the South have been blamed on the weather, including three killed after an ambulance careened off a slick Texas highway and caught fire and a firefighter killed when he was knocked off an interstate ramp in Dallas. In the Northeast, municipalities imposed parking and travel restrictions so roadways and streets would be clear for plowing.


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POTHOLE PLETHORA: A relentless cycle of snow and bitter cold is testing the nation's infrastructure. New York City crews filled 69,000 potholes in the first five weeks of the year — nearly twice as many as the same period in 2013. In Iowa, a Des Moines official said the city has never endured so many broken water mains.


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WINTER CANCELS WINTER: A celebration of winter tourism in the Olympic village of Lake Placid, N.Y., has been postponed because of storm forecasts. Plans had called for visitors take part in skiing, bobsledding and other winter sports at the sites that hosted the 1980 and 1932 Winter Olympics. A new date has not been chosen.


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PROMPTING THE PROFANE: "Snow has become a four-letter word ... all along the East Coast this winter," said Tom McGarrigle, chairman of the Delaware County Council in suburban Philadelphia.



STROKE RISK: Cold weather, high humidity and big daily temperature swings seem to land more people in the hospital with strokes, according to new information out of the American Heart Association's International Stroke Conference in San Diego. The study finds that as it gets warmer, stroke risk falls 3 percent for every 5 degrees.


Total reports sharply lower 4th quarter earnings


French oil company Total SA says its earnings slid nearly 30 percent in the fourth quarter as oil prices stagnated under $110 a barrel and production slipped into reverse.


The company reported fourth quarter profit of $2.18 billion, down 28 percent from $3.04 billion a year earlier. The drop followed earnings declines at fellow European oil majors BP and Royal Dutch Shell, as falling refining margins and a sluggish European economy weighed on demand.


Total said Wednesday production slipped to 2.284 million barrels a day in the quarter, down 0.5 percent from a year earlier. Total blamed "normal decline" and security issues in Nigeria and Libya for the drop.


Brent crude oil prices were down 1 percent at $109.2 a barrel in the quarter, Total said.


Total said it's on track to achieve a targeted increase in production to 2.6 million barrels a day by 2015, and possibly 3 million barrels a day by 2017. Production will benefit this year from new projects in Angola, the North Sea and Nigeria, Total said.



Man United plans significant squad changes


After conceding Manchester United was enduring a "disappointing" season, vice chairman Ed Woodward indicated on Wednesday that a significant overhaul of the struggling squad will come in the summer.


Champions of the English Premier League last season, United is seventh in the standings, nine points from the crucial fourth Champions League place during a difficult first season since Alex Ferguson's retirement.


But Woodward said the club was already looking at offloading players in the summer transfer window and strengthening David Moyes' side.


"We are not afraid of moving in the market in a way we haven't seen in recent years," Woodward said on the earnings call as the club released its latest set of positive financial results.


"Historically we have had three sales and three purchases each year and it is possible we will do more than that ... building a competitive squad that challenges for trophies."


Despite wages leaping 17 percent to 51.6 million pounds ($85 million) in the quarter, the team is 16 points adrift of the Premier League leaders despite winning the title by 11 points in May.


By spending on new talent, Woodward wants to "make sure we are competing at the top level, which is what we should be doing."


The cash balance on Dec. 31 was up to 72.1 million pounds ($119 million) before Spain midfielder Juan Mata joined from Chelsea for a club-record 37.1 million pounds (then $61 million) last month.


Woodward is expecting the cost of players will stop rising so rapidly as clubs are forced to abide by UEFA Financial Fair Play rules as a condition for playing in Europe. Neighbor Manchester City faces a tough task complying, having lost 149.5 million pounds ($248 million) from 2011 to 2013, but there is uncertainty if UEFA will sanction the big-spending Abu Dhabi-owned club.


After being asked by market analysts about City, Woodward said he expects "we'll see how FFP is going to bite" this year, while deliberately not naming United's fierce rivals.


"There are a number of clubs being looked at more closely by UEFA," Woodward said. "How UEFA deals with those clubs that have breached the rules or are close to breaching the rules is going to be important here to see how FFP will impact on the industry."


United is well placed to comply with FFP, with the success achieved during Ferguson's 26 trophy-filled years ensuring the New York-listed club continues to rake in cash.


In the last three months of 2013, commercial revenue soared 19 percent to 42.3 million pounds ($70 million) as six global sponsorship deals kicked in. Overall turnover rose by 19 percent to a record 221.4 million pounds ($364 million) during the last six months of 2013, but the bottom line showed that adjusted profit rose 20 percent to 22 million pounds ($36 million) over that period.


"We once again achieved a record revenue quarter with strong contributions from our commercial and broadcasting businesses despite the current league position, which everyone from the team manager down has acknowledged is disappointing," Woodward said.


Failing to qualify for the lucrative Champions League next season would be a big blow to the club's prestige. However, Woodward is downplaying the consequences and made an apparent reference to Liverpool, which hasn't won the English title since 1990 or played in the Champions League since 2010.


"It takes a long time to build a huge fan base ... I think that will not go away for a long time," Woodward said.


"Some of our competitors have not won the league for a long time and but still sell a huge number of shirts out there globally — some just down the road from us."


What continues to irritate some fans is the debt that didn't exist before the Glazer family bought the club in 2005. The debt dropped 3 percent in 2013 to reach 356.6 million pounds ($590 million) — far down from a high of 716.5 million pounds (then $1.1 billion) in 2008-09.



State to hold contractor accountable on tunnel


As a contracting team works to fix broken seals on a massive tunneling machine stalled under downtown Seattle, state officials said Tuesday they plan to hold the contractors accountable for repairs or any potential cost overruns on the highway tunnel project.


Gov. Jay Inslee said the state will insist that the contractors honor their contract, much as a homeowner who hires a contractor to remodel a house would.


"We're going to insist that the tunnel gets built on time or the contractor is going to be financially responsible to the citizens of this state for every single penny of cost overruns that that contractor could eventually be responsible for," Inslee said Tuesday.


His comments came during a news conference in Olympia to announce a state moratorium on the death penalty.


Seattle Tunnel Partners is deciding how to fix broken seals on the world's largest tunneling machine, called "Bertha," which is stuck about 60 feet underground. It's been mostly idle for two months and is only one-tenth of the way toward completing a 1.7-mile highway tunnel. The tunnel will carry Highway 99 traffic and allow the removal of the aging Alaskan Way Viaduct along the Seattle waterfront. The tunnel project is budgeted at $1.4 billion, and the total viaduct replacement is estimated to be a $3.1 billion project.


Transportation officials announced late Monday that it could take months to fully repair the boring machine.


"We're sure that it can be fixed," Chris Dixon, director of Seattle Tunnel Partners said at a news conference Tuesday. He added that the machine has performed and advanced much faster than expected during the first 150 days, despite becoming stuck in late December.


"It's not like this machine hasn't gotten out of the starting block and hasn't performed," he said. "We're at a point now where there's been damage to the seals."


Last Friday, the Transportation Department said inspections conducted last month found that many of the machine's cutter-head openings were clogged with dirt and other debris.


Transportation officials also announced that the seal system protecting Bertha's main bearing was damaged. This was revealed after "higher-than-normal heat sensor readings" appeared.


Dixon said Tuesday that the problem isn't unusual with tunnel boring machines, and he noted Seattle Tunnel Partners' contract with the state requires an extra bearing be manufactured as backup.


He also acknowledged the state isn't on the hook for repairs, saying his group has yet to make a case otherwise to the Transportation Department.


Under the contract, the contractor supplies the boring machine, said Todd Trepanier of the transit agency.


"It's a contractor-owned machine," he added. "We have an expectation that they will fulfill that contract."


The highway inside the 52-foot tunnel is slated to open by the end of 2015.


Asked whether traffic would be moving on schedule, Dixon said it depends on "how quickly we resume tunneling and how well the tunneling goes when we resume."



Mass. fishery losses in 2013 pegged at $103M


Gov. Deval Patrick says direct and indirect revenue losses to the state's fishing industry because of lower fish landings in 2013 will amount to about $103 million.


Patrick cited the figures in a letter to Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker.


Patrick's letter, written in support of federal disaster aid for the Northeast Groundfish fishery, maintains that the funds will provide "both immediate relief and targeted investments to ensure our fleet becomes more sustainable in the future."


The Gloucester Daily Times (http://bit.ly/1aUvxvS ) reports that the governor also endorsed the concept of loan assistance programs using a long-term, revolving loan fund and stated the need for shoreside infrastructure support.


He says Massachusetts accounts for roughly 90 percent of groundfish landings in the Northeast region.



French leader in California for tech talks


France's president met with Silicon Valley and government leaders in the heart of tech country Wednesday, just days after a French regulator hit Google with an embarrassing regulatory slap and after years of efforts to wrest more taxes from tech firms.


President Francois Hollande was greeted at San Francisco City Hall by Mayor Ed Lee, California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz as school children waved French and American flags on the stairway of the rotunda.


More than 300 French companies have offices in California, and a large portion of U.S. investments in France are from California, Hollande told the crowd at a City Hall reception in his honor.


"It is here in California that the world of tomorrow is being invented," Hollande said. "For centuries, France has wanted to change the world. Together, we can."


Later in the day, Hollande and members of his cabinet had lunch at a French restaurant with Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt; Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook; and Twitter chairman and co-founder Jack Dorsey.


Most of the luncheon was closed to the media, and no details of the discussions were released.


Hollande points to the U.S. tech industry as an economic success that he hopes to replicate at home. But he's also been among the leaders of Europe's fight to prevent what the continent sees as a systematic attempt by tech firms to invade privacy and avoid paying their corporate fair share.


Hollande later met with French entrepreneurs and inaugurated an office in the gritty Dogpatch neighborhood aimed at supporting their efforts to gain a foothold in Silicon Valley. That meeting also was mostly private.


Marie Buhot-Launay, who heads marketing for the office, said staff members were giddy that Hollande was throwing government support behind the venture, given the intense competition French innovators face from competitors in Germany, Finland and Ireland.


"For French entrepreneurs, the American dream still exists and especially in Silicon Valley," she said. "This new support will really help them accelerate their growth, and help us scale up the services we provide and build a larger network of mentors and investors in France and in the U.S."


The French leader visited the region during his three-day state visit to the U.S. He was also scheduled to tour a science museum and mingle with French expats at a hotel gala before returning to Paris later Wednesday.


Google, Facebook and Twitter have faced scrutiny by European regulators over privacy, hate speech and data protection issues.


Over the weekend, Google posted a statement on its French website noting that France's digital privacy watchdog found the search giant in violation of rules on ensuring data privacy. In late 2012, Twitter agreed to pull racist and anti-Semitic tweets under a pair of French hash tags after a Jewish group threatened to sue the social network for running afoul of national laws against hate speech.


Hollande's advisers insist his first priority was to meet leading dynamos of American Internet innovation, even though the president would press France's principles on issues such as privacy, taxes and hate speech.


Burton Lee, a lecturer in European Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Stanford University engineering school, said socialist Hollande "does not seem to deeply understand technology-based innovation, entrepreneurship or product design."


He said Hollande's proposed 75 percent income tax on the wealthy has definitely created tension between the French administration and the nation's tech entrepreneur and angel investor communities.



Follow Garance Burke at http://ift.tt/16v7caz . AP writers Martha Mendoza in San Jose, and Lori Hinnant and Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed to this report.


Democrats reject bill to reimburse insurance fines


Democrats made quick work Wednesday of a Republican plan to reimburse residents fined next year for not buying health insurance, rejecting the proposal 7-4.


But the bill came with first-of-its-kind analysis showing that more Coloradans without health insurance will ignore the federal mandate than get coverage and avoid penalties, undercutting a Democratic hope that most of Colorado's uninsured would get coverage either through the private market or Medicaid.


The projection is the first state prediction on how many will pay fines rather than sign up for private coverage or Medicaid. The federal health overhaul requires coverage by March 31 to avoid fines.


The legislative analysis guessed that about 254,700 adults in Colorado would pay federal fines next year for not getting coverage. That's more than the 249,000 Coloradans projected to enroll in either Medicaid or a private health insurance plan.


The projection came on a fiscal note prepared by a nonpartisan economist. Fiscal notes are routinely prepared for lawmakers to project costs for certain types of bills.


The health insurance projection on the GOP fine bill was the first to guess how many in Colorado would pay fines, which start at $95 or more this year, to be assessed next year. The fines rise to at least $695 a year by 2016.


Colorado's state-run insurance exchange, called Connect For Health Colorado, has not guessed how many would choose fines over getting private insurance or Medicaid, spokesman Ben Davis said Wednesday. The exchange had no position on the Republican fee-reimbursement idea.


Democrats hastily axed the plan in a short committee hearing.


"This is giving tax breaks to law breakers," said Rep. Jovan Melton, D-Aurora. "It would be like allowing someone to run a red light and then pay their fine on their tax return."


The sponsors of the measure insisted they simply wanted to help Coloradans who are unable to afford coverage, even with government subsidies.


"This bill will help provide some much-needed relief ... to those who are being punished for not purchasing a service they simply cannot afford," said Rep. Jared Wright, R-Grand Junction.


The analysts predicted that fine reimbursement would cost Colorado about $2 million next fiscal year and about $8.5 million by the fiscal year beginning in 2016.


Critics of the plan pointed out that many more would simply avoid buying insurance if they knew the state would pay them back for federal coverage fines.


Reimbursement would "create a perverse incentive for Coloradans to decline getting health insurance," argued Matthew Valeta of the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative.


---


Online:


House Bill 1106: http://bit.ly/1hdaS9b


Insurance fine projection: http://bit.ly/1dgYjpD



Eurozone industry suffers end of 2013 reverse


Figures Friday showing industry across the 18-country eurozone suffering an unexpectedly big reverse at the end of 2013 reinforced the pressure on the European Central Bank to do more to shore up the recovery.


Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, said industrial production fell a monthly 0.7 percent in December. That was more than double the 0.3 percent contraction anticipated in the markets and means that the region's industry only saw output rise by 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter.


Though up on the flat reading of the previous three-month period, it provided further evidence that the eurozone economic recovery is failing to gain much momentum — as has been hinted by a run of economic surveys over the past few months.


In fact, analysts said the downturn may also mean that the region did not grow as fast as predicted during the fourth quarter. The consensus in the markets is that the eurozone saw its annual gross domestic product rise by a quarterly rate of 0.2 percent in the final three months of the year, double the previous quarter's 0.1 percent. The first estimate for the fourth quarter is due on Friday.


"We think the risks around our euro area projection (0.2 percent) remain tilted marginally to the downside," said James Ashley, chief European economist at RBC Capital Markets.


ECB President Mario Draghi has said that Friday's growth figures are a key focus of attention at the bank as it decides whether to give the eurozone economy further help, possibly through a further cut in its benchmark interest rate, which is already at a record low of 0.25 percent.


"This keeps pressure on the ECB to provide further stimulus as soon as its March meeting," said Howard Archer, chief European economist at IHS Global Insight.



UAE developing drones for citizen services


The United Arab Emirates hopes to start using drones to fly government documents to citizens and is offering a $1 million international prize for unmanned aircraft that can improve the quality of life in the oil-rich Gulf state, a government adviser said Wednesday.


The drone campaign is part of a wider push by the UAE to upgrade government services through technology, often pioneered in its glitzy commercial hub of Dubai.


"We want to reach to people before they reach us. We want to save time, to shorten distances, to increase effectiveness and to make services easier," Dubai's ruler Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said in a statement.


The Gulf Arab nation has already introduced a wide range of smart-phone governmental services and there are plans to make Dubai a "smart-city" by incorporating government services through the use of smart phones and tablets.


Power in the UAE is concentrated in the hands of ruling families. Unlike other countries in the region, it has not experienced widespread demands for reform and appears to be counting on its vast wealth to deliver cutting-edge state services to keep its citizens content.


Noah Raford, who is an American adviser to Sheik Mohammed's office, told The Associated Press that the Emirates is already experimenting with drones and looking at prototypes to deliver documents, like national identification cards and driving licenses, to citizens.


"About a year ago we started experimenting with drones as a possible delivery mechanism for government services," he said.


Raford said the UAE wants to see drones in the sky by early next year. He spoke on the sidelines of a government technology summit in the UAE's city of Dubai.


"What we're really trying to do right now is just push the boundaries of what's possible and using that as a prototype, if you will, to explore the other policy implications that will have to be dealt with in a responsible and diligent way to make this a safe reality," Raford said.


A video released during summit shows an Emirati man receiving his national identity card from a drone that flies to his house after providing his location through a smart phone to a government employee.


The drones would include fingerprint- and eye-recognition security systems to protect the drones and their cargo, the government says.


Online retailer Amazon.com grabbed headlines last year when its CEO Jeff Bezos said the company is testing package delivery using drones, though the company acknowledged practical use is years away.


There are obstacles to residential drone deliveries in the U.S. and commercial use of drones is still illegal according to guidelines by the Federal Aviation Administration.


Unmanned aircraft are already used for seeding and spraying of crops in Japan. In India, wildlife authorities have used drones for aerial surveillance of a sprawling natural game park to protect the one-horned rhinoceros from armed poachers.


The UAE could be one of the first governments in the world to implement drone delivery services to citizens. Policy-making is more centralized in the Emirates and the country's regulatory framework regarding privacy laws is not as codified as in many Western countries.


For the $1 million competition, companies, universities and individuals around the world can compete to invent drones that improve quality of life. A second 1 million dirham competition, or roughly $272,000, was launched for UAE nationals to come up with ways that drones can improve the quality of government services for citizens.



Order: Destroy pics of bin Laden's body






Vice President Joe Biden, left, President Barack Obama, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, second from right, watch the mission to capture Osama bin Laden from the Situation Room in the White House on May 1, 2011. Click through to see reactions from around the world following the death of the al Qaeda leader.Vice President Joe Biden, left, President Barack Obama, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, second from right, watch the mission to capture Osama bin Laden from the Situation Room in the White House on May 1, 2011. Click through to see reactions from around the world following the death of the al Qaeda leader.

President Obama edits his remarks in the Oval Office prior to making a televised statement announcing bin Laden's death.President Obama edits his remarks in the Oval Office prior to making a televised statement announcing bin Laden's death.

Servicemen cheer from a lamp post as thousands of people gather at Ground Zero in New York City.Servicemen cheer from a lamp post as thousands of people gather at Ground Zero in New York City.

Crowds celebrate with NYPD officers in New York's Times Square early on May 2, 2011, after the death of Osama bin Laden.Crowds celebrate with NYPD officers in New York's Times Square early on May 2, 2011, after the death of Osama bin Laden.

Revelers gather at the fence on the north side of the White House.Revelers gather at the fence on the north side of the White House.

Afghans watch television coverage in Kabul announcing the killing of bin Laden.Afghans watch television coverage in Kabul announcing the killing of bin Laden.

U.S. Marines watch the announcement of bin Laden's death at Camp Dwyer in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.U.S. Marines watch the announcement of bin Laden's death at Camp Dwyer in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

Times Square is filled shortly after the announcement of bin Laden's death.Times Square is filled shortly after the announcement of bin Laden's death.

Students gather to celebrate at the fence on the north side of the White House.Students gather to celebrate at the fence on the north side of the White House.

A passer-by looks at newspaper headlines in front of the Newseum in Washington.A passer-by looks at newspaper headlines in front of the Newseum in Washington.

Danielle LeMack, left, Carie LeMack and Christie Coombs, who lost relatives on 9/11, pause during a ceremony to honor the victims on May 2, 2011, at the Garden of Remembrance in Boston.Danielle LeMack, left, Carie LeMack and Christie Coombs, who lost relatives on 9/11, pause during a ceremony to honor the victims on May 2, 2011, at the Garden of Remembrance in Boston.

A visitor photographs the fence overlooking the crash site of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on May 2, 2011.A visitor photographs the fence overlooking the crash site of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on May 2, 2011.

Pakistani media and residents gather outside the bin Laden hideout on May 3, 2011.Pakistani media and residents gather outside the bin Laden hideout on May 3, 2011.








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  • Then-Vice Adm. William McRaven sent an e-mail dated May 13, 2011

  • Concerns were high about the possible leak of photos of Osama bin Laden's corpse

  • His orders: "If you still have them destroy them immediately or get them to the [redacted.]"

  • The conservative activist group Judicial Watch obtained the e-mails




(CNN) -- Within two weeks of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, the head of U.S. special forces issued orders that all photos of the body be either turned in or destroyed, a newly released document shows.


In an e-mail dated May 13, 2011, then-Vice Adm. William McRaven wrote the following: "One particular item that I want to emphasize is photos; particularly UBLs remains. At this point -- all photos should have been turned over to the CIA; if you still have them destroy them immediately or get them to the [redacted.]"


The e-mail was obtained by the conservative activist group Judicial Watch, which has called for the public release of photos of the raid in Pakistan that killed the al Qaeda leader. The e-mail, which was almost entirely redacted, was released under a Freedom of Information Act request.


See a PDF of the redacted e-mail





Admiral: Destroy Osama bin Laden photos

Days before McRaven's instructions, Judicial Watch had filed a FOIA request for such photos, and hours before, they filed a lawsuit, according to the group's president, Tom Fitton.





Gates on bin Laden's death: No cheers

"Despite there being multiple requests for this information, and a lawsuit for this information, there was a directive that was sent out, to who knows who, to destroy records," he said. "It may have been in violation of the law," he said.





Documentary examines hunt for bin Laden

It is not clear whether any photos of bin Laden's remains were actually destroyed. Through a spokesman, McRaven declined to comment.


Retired Gen. James "Spider" Marks, a CNN military analyst, says if McRaven ordered photos deleted, he may have been trying to protect operational secrets, sources and methods and trying to make sure no commandos kept any photos or video of the covert raid that they were not authorized to keep.


"It wouldn't be surprising if they shook them down, and they said 'OK, I want to make sure you don't have something that's hidden away someplace,' " he said.


In the days after the raid, President Barack Obama said he would not authorize the release of any images of bin Laden's corpse, saying it would create a security risk.


Osama bin Laden: The fast facts


"It is important for us to make sure that very graphic photos of somebody who was shot in the head are not floating around as an incitement to additional violence, as a propaganda tool," the president told CBS news magazine "60 Minutes."


Former FBI Assistant Director Tom Fuentes said he would have similar concerns if photos of the terrorist's body were made public.


"You would see those images forever on television," he said. "That could lead to more recruitment of future al Qaeda members, making him a martyr."


Fitton is not persuaded by that argument.


"Americans' right to know about what their government is up to should be circumscribed because we don't want to offend terrorists and their sympathizers? That to me is unbelievable," he said. "This is a historic raid. People have a right to this information."


But so far, the courts have not sided with Judicial Watch on that question, and the Supreme Court declined to hear the organization's appeal.


The U.S. raid on bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, was conducted on May 2, 2011.


What the U.S. planned if the raid in Pakistan had not worked


'Nightmare' at home for SEAL who shot Osama bin Laden