The Sacramento Bee from Sacramento, California • 38

The Sacramento Bee Friday June 2 2006 D2 New Alaska oil cleanup funds sought stantial amounts of oil remained in the tidal basin affecting clams mussels sea otters sea ducks especially harlequin ducks and other birds Exxon disputed the move will study this request carefully and respond as appropriate" the company said in an e-mailed statement we have seen so far however indicates that this request for further oil that continues to sully the waters in Prince William Sound where the Exxon Valdez tanker crashed in 1989 Exxon has already paid $900 million for damage caused by the spill the worst in the nation's history but the 1991 agreement settling claims allowed the state and federal governments to ask for as much as $100 million more for damage that could not be foreseen at that time The deadline for reopening the Exxon Mobil asked to pay $92 million more for damage left from 1989 spill WASHINGTON POST WASHINGTON The Justice Department and the state of Alaska have asked Exxon Mobil Corp to pay an additional $92 million to help repair damage caused by lingering quantities of ry SMTA: Growth fuels more hiring 21 IS lUiil FROM PAGE D1 about $9 a share for its 86 million shares During the same period nutritional products company Nutra-Cea jumped from 78 cents to 1 1 9 a share as the company announced a series of expansions of its rice bran processing facilities VantageMed Corp GenCorp Inc and International Display-Works Inc also showed significant market cap increases in the quarter Investor funding of companies on the index also grew substantially climbing to $284 million from $43 million the previous quarter The biggest chunk of funding went to Hansen Information Technologies Kaganovich said A San Francisco equity fund purchased a majority share of the software company in February for more than $50 million in cash and assumption of debt Adding to the surge in new capital were smaller investors who opened their wallets to shell out amounts ranging from $250000 to $13 million Kaganovich said He said the recent trend of angels cashing in their earlier investments may have them the courage to in new companies see a higher probability of getting their money Kaganovich said But offsetting that he said are other investors who still have funds tied up in previous invest- Associated PressJeff Roberson Housing sits In various stages of construction Thursday in Bolingbrook III Nationally a measure of home construction saw its largest drop since 2004 and pending home sales declined for a third straight month Economy slows with dips in housing manufacturing agreement is Friday extensive review it is clear that populations and habitat within the oil spill area have suffered substantial and unanticipated injuries that are attributable to the Exxon Valdez oil spill" said Alaska Attorney General David Marquez In a background briefing Thursday officials from the Agriculture Interior and Commerce departments said the additional money was needed because sub strong employment growth of around 1 70000 workers in May In another report of slowing housing activity the National Association of Realtors said its index for pending home sales fell for a third straight month in April dropping 37 percent from the March level This index tracks sales of previously owned homes where a contract has been signed but the deal has not yet gone to closing Home sales have been hurt by rising mortgage rates which climbed this week to a four-year high Weaker sales are beginning to depress prices The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight reported Thursday that home prices rose at an annual rate of 812 percent in the first three months of this year down from the double-digit percentage gains of the past two years Also giving support to the belief that inflation pressures will stay contained was a Labor Department report that revised its estimate of first-quarter productivity up to a solid 37 percent better than an initial reading of 32 percent Unit labor costs the amount employers must pay for each unit of production rose at a moderate 16 percent rate in the first quarter down from a worrisome initial reading of 25 percent While rising wages are good for workers the Fed keeps a close tab on wage pressures for signs that inflation is getting out of control Higher productivity means that workers can be paid more from their increased output without forcing employers to boost the price of their SACRAMENTO BRIEFING Worker's comp rate cut 1 0 California's largest workers' compensation insurance carrier announced plans Thursday to cut rates by an average of 1 0 percent starting July 1 In making its sixth straight reduction in two years the quasi-public State Compensation Insurance Fund also extended a program that gives an additional 10 percent rate cut to small businesses with a strong safety records "This rate filing validates our commitment to pass on the savings from the 2004 icform legislation bringing further rate relief to California acting State Fund President James udor said in a statement The latest decrease however falls short of a 164 percent industrywide cut recommended Wednesday by Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi Since lawmakers enacted a series of sweeping cost-cutting plans in late 2003 and early 2004 State Fund has reduced rates on average by a cumulative 44 percent Garamendi has recommended a cumulative reduction of 551 percent disappointed by State Fund not going all the way that they Garamendi said "State Fund is the market leader Very few companies will go below State With about 232000 policyholders State Fund controls about 36 percent of the compensation insurance market Gilbert Chan Tax official changes jobs Will Bush the No 2 executive at the Franchise Tax Board has left the agency to become a senior official at the State and Consumer Services Agency Passed over for the top FFB job in January after a 30-year career at the tax board Bush has been named as the new undersecretary at State and Consumer Services by Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger He will work under Secretary Rosario Marin whom Schwarzenegger appointed in January The State and Consumer Services Agency's departments are responsible for civil lights enforcement consumer protection and the licensing of 23 million Californians in more than 230 professions The agency oversees departments that include the FTB General Services and Personnel Administration It also oversees two state employee pension funds and two state museums the California Science Center and California African American Museum Andrew McIntosh Patent rulings hailed Rancho Cordova-based ThermoGenesis Corp should benefit from several recent rulings by the US Patent and Tiademark Office the company has announced The agency has rejected or preliminarily rejected all laims connected with four patents belonging to Pharma-Stem Therapeutics Inc a New Yotk-area company that licenses procedures used in the collection and storage of stem cells drawn from umbilical cord blood ThermoGenesis makes equipment used to perform those procedures According to ThermoGenesis CF0 Phil Coelho the patent decision would prohibit PharmaStetn from charging blood bank3 for the right to extract and store stem cells The elimination of those fees would free up money for the banks to grow their business which should in turn increase the market for ThermoGenesis products Coelho said The patent decisions are subject to appeal Thousands of clinical trials are under way nationwide to develop disease treatments using stein cells drawn from blood Less controversial than embryonic stem cells umbilical stem cells show therapeutic promise Legal fees connected with contesting the PharmaStem patents have cost ThermoGenesis hundred thousand dollars" Coelho said The stock rose 18 cents to $458 in Thursday trading on the Nasdaq Capital Markej Jim Downing funding from Exxon is justified" The company said the problem of lingering pockets of oil was anticipated in 1991 Exxon also noted that $145 million of the money it has already paid been spent yet Marquez said Thursday that the remaining money has been earmarked and the Justice Department said that in 1991 officials did not anticipate that any of the oil would remain toxic so long ments leaving less money to invest now Hiring among smaller companies also increased with the 44 private companies on the index adding a total of 151 jobs in the quarter Kaganovich said the increase came as companies decided to add more employees rather than squeeze from existing workers He said 22 of the private companies on the index hired full-time employees during the quarter while nine laid off workers Among those hiring was Hansen which added about 20 employees in the quarter to fuel internal growth said Scott Wright the chief financial officer Another was Visionary Integration Professionals a Folsom-based technology consulting company that added 20 people in the first quarter About five of those are in Folsom and the other 1 5 are in New York and Texas need for the services we offer is on the upswing" said Patty Nelson vice president of the hiring spree efforts we have been making in investing in those services has been paying Nelson said VIP received a substantial infusion of capital during the quarter that will finance internal growth and acquisitions The Bee's Clint Swett can be reachedat (916) 321-1976or cswettsacbeecom Rancho Cordova: Comtek Computer Systems Inc GenCorp Inc Integres Global Logistics Inc Medinitiatives Motion Control Engineering Inc ThermoGenesis Corp VantageMed Corp Volcano Corp WebRaiser Technologies Inc Rocklin: Hands On Video Relay Services Inc Mionix Corp and Alliance Computer Technologies Inc Roseville: AbsoluteHire Affinity Global Solutions CustomerLink Systems Inc International Display-Works Inc Sierra Logic and SureWest Communications Sacramento: Administrative Systems lnc CoreLogic Systems Inc Delegata Digital Music Group Inc Hansen Information Technologies Herakles Data KeyEye Communications RagingWire Enterprise Solutions Squaretree Software Inc Unify Corp Universal ATM Network Alliance station is in good position to go forward on that and that makes this job attractive to candidates" said Livingston whose public radio consulting firm is based in Baltimore this is a terrific growth market" The Bee's Sam McManis can be reachedat (916) 321-1145 or smcmanissacbeecom Captured daily The Sacramento Bee MC6Mcom Dotxwp lOO-JTHI-CEi Dm tucutbMcom SARTA MEMBERS The membership of the SARTA Technology Index Includes 50 public and private technology and life-science companies based in Butte El Dorado Nevada Placer Sacramento Solano Sutter Yolo and Yuba counties Investors wary of the next move react with another surge in Dow stocks By Martin Crutsinger ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON The US economy appears to be shifting into a lower gear with residential construction falling sharply and manufacturing activity slowing The big question: Will the slowdown come in time to keep inflation from heating up? Investors got mixed signals on inflation in a raft of new economic data Thursday with a key gauge of wage inflation posting an improved reading while a barometer of manufacturing prices posted a sharp increase Wall Street chose to focus on the benign inflation reading and strong May sales gains reported by many retailers The Dow Jones industrial average rallied for a second session rising by 9197 points to close at 1126028 On Wednesday the Dow had gained 74 points after falling by 184 points on Tuesday Private analysts cautioned however that lingering inflation pressures may prompt the Federal Reserve to push interest rates up one or two more times even as the economy slows to a more sustainable pace On the slowdown front the Commerce Department reported that residential home building dropped by 11 percent in April the biggest decrease since January 2004 Cities with one company in the SARTA Index for the first quarter of 2006 include: Auburn Ceronix Inc Chico Digital Path Inc West Sacramento Lipomics Technologies Inc Cameron Park MaxPreps Grass Valley Mobius Technologies Inc Gold River Synergex International Corp and Nevada City Telestream Cities with two or more SARTA firms: Davis: Agraquest Inc Antibodies Inc Novozymes Biotech Inc Veterinary Information Network El Dorado Hills: Atrua Technologies NutraCea Systems Inc Folsom: AgreeYa Solutions Akros Silicon Inc EA Consulting Inc Jadoo Power Systems JiWire Inc Meridian Systems Inc Visionary Integration Professionals Source Sacramento Area Regional Technology ing KXJZ recently made its locally produced public affairs show available for download as a podcast Livingston said the new CPR president will need to focus on new technologies such as multicasting a feature of high-defini-tjon radio that creates multiple broadcast channels from a single analog signal The drop was large enough to pull overall construction spending down by 0 1 percent after the building industry set a string of record highs in recent months reflecting a boom period fueled by the lowest mortgage rates in more than four decades In other signs of slowing a key gauge of manufacturing activity edged down to the lowest level in nine months The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index dipped to a reading of 544 in May down from 573 in April Analysts said manufacturing momentum has ebbed significantly over the past four months reflecting weaker orders But an inflation gauge tied to the manufacturing index jumped by the sharpest amount in eight months reflecting rising costs for raw materials In areas of strength many nationwide chain stores reported better-than-expected sales results in May as consumers shook off sagging confidence readings to shop with enthusiasm for clothing and other products But even there the story was mixed as Wal-Mart the nation's largest retailer failed to meet expectations as its lower-income customers felt squeezed by $3-per-gallon gasoline economy is strong but it is throttling back a notch" said Mark Zandi chief economist at Economycom He said Fed officials will probably remain undecided about whether to raise rates again at their June 28-29 meeting until they see further data including unemployment report which is expected to show Northern California The board sources say wanted more aggressive leadership from its president The encroachment of San KQED which outbid CPR in 2003 for the rights to FM signal 893 in North Highlands has long been a concern got a new competitor in town that is making some progress but isn't real threatening to us yet" Atkins said we hope to keep it that way" In late 2005 both KQED and CPR reportedly bid on Stockton station KUOP (913 FM) which the University of the Pacific put up for sale Since 2000 KUOP had been leased to CPR which aired National Public Radio programming and music But in late March the station was taken off the market because university officials thought the bids were too low Lazar had said earlier he hoped to win the bid for KUOP because it would enable KXJZ the most prominent station in family to switch signals with KXPR The station flip would give KXJZ listeners a stronger signal in met Lazar: Capital Public Radio is holding KQED at bay -t ushmeto to GMtafe FROM PAGE D1 years I think the stations are in good He declined to elaborate on the reasons for his departure and could not be reached Thursday for further comment Thomas Atkins chairman of CPR's board praised work in "leaving the station in great (fiscal) and said the transition would not disrupt operation of the stations Sources familiar with management decisions say Lazar and board members had differences regarding strategy to expand reach throughout SETTING IT STRAIGHT It is The policy to acknowledge errors promptly Corrections will appear on Page A2 as well as in the section where the error occurred Errors in Business should be called to the attention of Business Editor Cathie Anderson at (916) 321-1957 or candersontffsacbeecom ropolitan Sacramento Currently the 889 signal is strong south of Sacramento (and in Stockton) but weaker moving north KXPR however does not carry well into Stockton so Lazar has said he needed KUOP to ensure that listeners in San Joaquin County had NPR news and programming if the signal switch in Sacramento was made But classical music fans and some board members publicly disapproved of a proposed weakening of the classical music signal Another issue facing CPR is expanding into new areas Some board members have pushed for starting a station at the new University of California Merced and perhaps at CSU Stanislaus got a vision for extending the services in the Valley in a way that improves this community asset and serves a bigger population distinct from the Bay Area Atkins says a lot of strategic issues that need to be decided and executed for that to happen" Part of the expansion the board seeks is with the Internet and digital technology such'as podcast riser A developer is proposing construction of tallest office complex But Bob Shallit explains why you won't need to crane your neck to see the top fl I 1.