NATIONAL

Walt Disney buys Club Penguin for $350 million

The Walt Disney Co. said Wednesday that it has bought the popular online kids hangout Club Penguin for $350 million, adding to its portfolio a site that in less than two years has become a rage among preteens.

Club Penguin offers a mix of games and chatting tools targeting kids ages 6-14. It nearly tripled in usage in the United States in the past year, according to comScore Media Metrix.

SAME CULTURE, NEW NAME The top executive of AirTran Holdings Inc. said Wednesday that the company would try to keep Midwest Airlines' culture - but not its name - after a proposed buyout.

AirTran Chairman and Chief Executive Joe Leonard spoke to journalists in Milwaukee a day after Midwest Air Group Inc. announced that a committee of its board would start talks with AirTran and other suitors.

TRUCKERS WANT DATABASE A U.S. trucking-industry trade group is asking Congress to create a national database that companies can use to determine whether drivers they hire have tested positive for drug or alcohol use.

Having the information may cut the rate of positive drug tests, which has been at 2 percent to 2.5 percent for the past decade and is "unacceptable," the American Trucking Associations said.

With about 3.4 million truck drivers in the U.S,, that means tests indicate drug use by 68,000 to 85,000.

EX-DELL CEO Deposed Dell Inc. Chief Executive Kevin Rollins has found a new home at private-equity giant TPG Capital, formerly known as Texas Pacific Group, serving as a senior adviser on global investment strategies in the technology sector.

Rollins was replaced as CEO at the PC giant Jan. 31 by company founder and Chairman Michael Dell. Rollins spent 11 years at the company and was seen as Michael Dell's protégé.

LOCAL

Forest City to develop housing project at Air Force Academy

Forest City Enterprises Inc., developers of Stapleton, will design, develop, construct and manage 427 family homes at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, a project that will cost about $80 million, the company said.

The military housing business has become "a very significant part of our residential portfolio," with 11,956 units under management, said Ronald Ratner, president and CEO of Forest City Residential Group Inc.

AURORA 911 PROVIDER Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Rural/Metro Corp. has won a $31 million, five-year contract to remain the exclusive provider of 911 emergency ambulance services in Aurora. Rural/Metro won the contract on a unanimous vote of the Aurora City Council, following a competitive bidding process.

MGM MIRAGE CONDOS Denver-based Exclusive Resorts said it will develop and own 30 luxury condominiums at MGM Mirage's Vdara at CityCenter on the Las Vegas Strip. Vdara Condo Hotel, one of the $7.4 billion project's four residential towers, is set to open in late 2009.

SNACK DEAL Durango-based Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory signed a deal with The Grove Inc., a privately owned retailer of natural snacks and other food.

The deal is designed to speed the opening of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory stores in airports.

Rocky staff and wire reports

ECONOMY

Housing market shows life

Pending sales of existing homes rose by 5 percent in June compared with the previous month, a surprisingly positive sign for the beleaguered housing market, a real estate trade group said Wednesday.

The National Association of Realtors said it was the largest monthly gain in more than three years and that increases in pending sales were reported across the country.

The trade group's index of pending home sales rose to 102.4 in June, up from a downwardly revised figure of 97.5 in May. Wall Street had been anticipating a slight decrease, as analysts surveyed by Brief ing.com forecast a decline of 0.6 percent from the original May number of 97.7.

• The U.S. manufacturing sector expanded for the sixth consecutive month in July, though at the slowest pace since March, the Institute for Supply Management said Wednesday.

The group said its manufacturing index, which reflects the opinions of purchasing managers at factories, plants and utilities, registered 53.8 in July, down from 56.0 in June.

THIS JUST IN...

• The Society for Human Resource Management Colorado State Council, in conjunction with six state chapters of the organization; Jobing.com; Colorado Biz magazine and the Best Cos. Group selected the 30 Best Companies to Work for in Colorado for 2007.

They are: Medical Center of Aurora/Centennial Medical Plaza, Aurora; Edward Jones, Denver; Education Sales Management, Highlands Ranch; Quest Diagnostics Inc., Denver; PricewaterhouseCoopers, Denver; University Corp. for Atmospheric Research, Boulder; Baxa Corp., Douglas County; Simpson Housing, Denver; Hunter Douglas Window Fashions Inc., Broomfield; T-Mobile USA, Colorado Call Centers, Colorado Springs; Ready Talk, Denver; Infinity Systems Engineering, Colorado Springs; PCL Construction Enterprises, Denver; New Frontier Bank, Greeley; Magpie Telecom Insiders Inc., Westminster; SOS Staffing Services Inc., Denver; Rally Software, Boulder; ADA Technologies, Littleton; Anton Collins Mitchell, Denver; Milesbrand, Denver; ViaWest, Denver; Griffis/Blessing, Colorado Springs; Forerunner Corp., Lakewood; McStain Neighborhoods, Louisville; Utility Engineering Corp., Denver; Chaco Inc., Paonia; AlloSource, Centennial; Boecore Inc., Colorado Springs; Merrick and Co., Aurora; Delta Petroleum, Denver.

• Associated Content, an online publisher known as the People's Media Co., with offices in Denver and New York City, secured $10 million in venture capital funding, which will allow the company to create a network of content producers and to enhance its publishing and distribution platforms.

• IHS Inc., a global provider of technical information, decision-support tools and strategic services headquartered in Arapahoe County, appointed Jane Okun as senior vice president and chief customer process officer.

• Denver-based Kissinger & Fellman PC named Jonathan Abramson as a shareholder in the firm.

• Metropolitan State College of Denver hired Maureen McKenna as assistant vice president for development.

• Mercy Housing Colorado received a $25,000 grant from the Denver Foundation as part of the foundation's Community Grants Program. Mercy Housing also appointed -Cheryll O'Bryan as president of Mercy Services Corp. and vice president of property management.

• Colorado State University Extension hired Deborah Young as director.

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