NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be pushing coal, and new clean coal technologies, as a viable fuel for generating electricity.
The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity announced its first
Nascar sponsorship, saying Earnhardt's company, JR Motorsports, will feature
logos on its race cars and spread the industry group's message.
Coalition staff will travel to races this summer and take part in events
with Earnhardt, and fellow driver Cole Whitt. Coal's share of the electric
generation market has been shrinking, as natural gas prices have fallen.
Mylan profit jumps 23 percent in 1Q
Generic drugmaker Mylan Inc.'s first quarter profit jumped 23 percent on
higher sales, the Canonsburg-based company said Thursday.
Net income in the January-March period was $129.1 million, or 30 cents a
share, up from $104.2 million, or 23 cents a share, in the same quarter last
year.
Mylan, the world's third largest generic drugmaker, reported revenue of
$1.6 billion in the quarter, up from $1.4 billion a year ago.
"I am pleased with our first quarter results, which were consistent with
our expectations," John Sheehan, chief financial officer, said in a statement.
"Moving forward, we anticipate earnings in the second quarter to be in line
with the first, before accelerating into the third quarter, which will be by
far our strongest of the year."
PUC to investigate Peoples Gas rate hike request
Peoples Natural Gas Co.'s proposal for a $28.46 million rate increase
will undergo scrutiny by the state Public Utility Commission.
The commission voted 5-0 Thursday to investigate the North Shore-based
utility's hike, which would raise annual bills for average customers using 92
thousand cubic feet, or mcf, of gas a year by $85.68, or about 9 percent, to a
total $1,040.88.
Peoples' request is suspended for up to seven months, and will be
assigned to an administrative law judge for public hearings and a
recommendation. The PUC must make a final decision by Nov. 28. Peoples serves
about 359,000 customers.
TSA cashes in on change left at checkpoints
In a mad rush -- or maybe simple absent-mindedness -- travelers left more
than $409,000 behind at security checkpoints at airports in 2010.
The unclaimed money, usually pocket change dumped into plastic bins and
bowls in the metal detector lines, is collected by the Transportation Security
Administration at security checkpoints at airports across the country.
The left-behind cash stays with the TSA and goes toward its security
operations, although there's a push in Congress to give the forfeited funds to
the USO to support troops.
For now, security's usual method of pairing lost and found is a friendly
shout-out.
"More often than not, our officers will call out to the passenger if they
have left something behind so they can retrieve their belongings," said Luis
Casanova, a TSA spokesman.
Vivisimo to increase hiring as a result of IBM deal
Search-technology company Vivisimo Inc. plans to double the number of
software engineers it employs as a result of a planned acquisition by IBM
Corp., a Vivisimo founder said on Thursday, the day after the deal was
announced.
Jerome Pesenti, chief scientist and one of the three founders, said IBM
wants Pittsburgh to become a center of excellence for developing software that
accesses and analyzes vast quantities of data.
Selling to IBM will "accelerate what we've been doing for the last 10
years," he said.
Pesenti, Christopher Palmer and Raul Valdes-Perez started the company in
2000 and were its majority shareholders. Pesenti said he and Palmer, the chief
technology officer, plan to stay with IBM.
Of Vivisimo's 120 employees, about 85 are in its Squirrel Hill offices.
The company also has offices in Reston, Va. Pesenti said he expects there to
be 120 workers in Pittsburgh by the end of the year.
The company has 15 openings for software engineers that it hopes to fill
by the end of the month, he said. "I think this is going to be a good thing
for Pittsburgh."
