NATIONAL

Trump Entertainment exploring options

The casino company that bears Donald Trump's name said Monday that it has hired an investment firm to help it explore strategic alternatives, which could include a possible sale.

Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., which lists Donald Trump as chairman, said it retained Merrill Lynch to assist in identifying and evaluating capital structure, financing and other options. It would not comment further.

HALLIBURTON TO DUBAI Halliburton, the big energy services company, said it would open a corporate headquarters in the United Arab Emirates city of Dubai and move its chairman and chief executive, David J. Lesar, there.

The company will maintain its existing corporate office in Houston as well as its legal incorporation in the United States, meaning that it will still be subject to domestic laws and regulations.

HEALTH CARE BUYOUT Health insurer UnitedHealth Group said Monday it agreed to buy Las Vegas-based health care services provider Sierra Health Services Inc. for about $2.6 billion.

The deal will add about 310,000 employer-sponsored health plan members in Nevada to UnitedHealth's rolls as well as about 320,000 people from senior and government programs throughout the United States.

KMART IN SETTLEMENT Federal regulators, who claimed Kmart Corp. advertised and sold gift cards with hidden fees and false promises, said Monday they agreed to a settlement with the company.

The Federal Trade Commission said since 2003, Kmart, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sears Holding Corp., had failed to clearly tell gift card holders it would charge a monthly retroactive $2.10 "dormancy fee" if the card went unused for two years. Under the proposed settlement, subject to public comment, Kmart must reimburse the dormancy fees to consumers who provide an affected gift card's number, mailing address and telephone number.

TV VOUCHERS All U.S. households will be eligible to request up to two $40 coupons to be used toward the purchase of two digital-to-analog converter boxes. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration issued the rules Monday in preparation for a Feb. 17, 2009, switchover from analog to digital television signals.

Starting Jan. 1, 2008, all U.S. households will be able to request coupons while the initial $990 million allocated for the program is available.

Once those funds are spent, only households that can certify that they don't subscribe to cable or satellite will be eligible.

LOCAL

Anthony energy drink in stores this month

Carmelo Anthony's C1.5 energy drink will arrive at Denver stores this month, according to the marketing company promoting the product.

King Soopers will be the first to sell the beverage. Several other grocery and convenience stores are expected to carry the cans with the face of the Denver Nuggets star, Intervest Media Group said in a news release.

SOLAR STANDARD Harvard Communities confirmed on Monday it will offer photovoltaic solar power as a standard feature on its architecture collection homes at Stapleton, which will supply an estimated 30 percent of the electrical use for the homes. Current homes in the collection are priced from $699,900 to $769,000, according to the company's Web site.

Earlier, McStain Neighborhoods said it will provide solar panels as a standard feature on some of its homes at the Bradburn community in Westminster.

DIGITALGLOBE'S NEW OFFICE Longmont-based DigitalGlobe Inc. is opening a Boston office that is expected to have 25 employees by the end of the year.

Jill Smith, CEO of the commercial spy satellite company, said in a news release the office "gives us close proximity to a rich talent pool of candidates possessing extensive experience with information and content businesses and a growing commercial customer base on the East Coast and internationally."

NEW XCEL VP Xcel Energy, Colorado's biggest utility, on Monday announced Ken Floyd has been named vice president for customer care and revenue cycle.

Floyd will report to Ray Gogel, Xcel's chief administrative officer and vice president for customer and enterprise solutions. Floyd will be responsible for all of Xcel's call center operations and for managing the revenue cycle and meter-to-cash functions of the company.

ECONOMY

Deficit down sharply for first 5 months

The deficit for the first five months of the budget year is down sharply from a year ago as the growth in government tax collections continues to outpace growth in spending.

The Treasury Department reported the deficit from October through February totaled $162.2 billion, down 25.5 percent from last year.

That improvement came even though the deficit in February hit $120 billion, up 0.6 percent from last February's deficit of $119.2 billion.

One factor that contributes to higher deficits in February are the refund payments the Internal Revenue Service is mailing out during the month to people who have filed early tax returns. The February 2006 imbalance was the largest monthly deficit for that year.

In the current budget year, which began on Oct. 1, the government had larger-than-expected surpluses in December and January.

For the first five months of the budget year, revenues are up by 9.3 percent to a record $954.4 billion.

Spending also set a record at $1.117 trillion, but that 2.3 percent rise was slower than the growth in revenues, resulting in a lower deficit.

THIS JUST IN . . .

• The U.S. Census Bureau said Monday that Cathy Illian has been named director of its Denver regional office.

• Denver-based Richfield Hospitality said it will provide management operations for the Doubletree Hotel in Charlottesville, Va.

• Park Meadows mall in Lone Tree has 19 remodels, expansions or relocations completed or ongoing at the mall.

• Crested Butte Mountain Resort extended hours for the Silver Queen Lift until 5 p.m. and the Red Lady Express Lift until 5:30 p.m. to take advantage of daylight-saving time.

• 7-Eleven stores in and around the Denver area now carry the Colorado Forest Products brand. The firewood, marketed by United Wood Products of Longmont, comes from Colorado forests.

• Denver-based Furniture Row Cos. is adding a Furniture Row Shopping Center in Marion, Iowa. Furniture Row Cos. is the parent of Oak Express, Bedroom Expressions, Sofa Mart, Denver Mattress Co. and Big Sur Waterbeds.

• Greenwood Village-based Ciber Inc. has been named the top IT outsourcing provider for 2006 for the higher education sector, according to a Brown- Wilson Group survey analyzing outsourcing vendors.

• The Stonebridge Cos. of Centennial, owner of the Cherry Creek Hotel, has reopened the property as the Courtyard by Marriott Denver Cherry Creek.

• Denver's Clancy Systems International Inc. said System Parking Inc. of Chicago is rolling out Clancy's Park-by- Phone service in Shreveport, La.

• Boulder-based Enlaso Corp., a provider of translation and localization solutions, said it will present a live Webinar titled Web site Localization 101 on April 10 from 11 a.m. to noon. Register at translate.com.

• Brown & Brown Insurance of Colorado Inc. has named Jim Turner profit-center leader for the Denver area. He has been with Allstate Insurance Co. for 14 years, most recently as regional sales director.

• Xcel Energy is the primary sponsor of the 2007 University of Colorado Solar Decathlon team.

Back to Top