NATIONAL

Housing decline hits KB Home earnings

KB Home, one of the nation's largest home builders, said Thursday fiscal first-quarter earnings plunged as the continuing housing slump hurt sales and profit margins.

KB warned that it expects the sector's problems, most notably a glut of homes on the market and intense price competition, to continue at least through 2007. Net income fell to $27.5 million, or 34 cents a share, from $173.3 million, or $2.01, a year ago.

MORE TV SHOWS ONLINE NBC Universal and News Corp. joined forces with several Internet companies Thursday to distribute TV shows online in an effort to better control their programming and stave off competition from YouTube.

The new network, which would launch this summer, comes in response to the explosive growth of Google Inc.'s video-sharing site YouTube.

SOME WALDENBOOKS TO CLOSE Borders Group Inc. will close almost half its Waldenbooks stores and may sell the majority of its international division after reporting an unexpected loss. The company, which operates four Waldenbooks stores in Colorado, did not specify which stores would close.

Borders, the second-largest U.S. bookseller, also will sever its contract with Amazon.com Inc.

CARL'S JR. GOES GREEN Within the next few years, the corporate vehicles for Carl's Jr. restaurants in Tucson might be smelling a bit like french fries.

MJKL Enterprises LLC, owner of 52 Arizona's Carl's Jr. locations, said it plans to convert 15 of its 20 corporate fleet vehicles to run on the used cooking oil from its restaurants by 2010.

LOCAL

Su Teatro buys site for its new home

El Centro Su Teatro has closed on the purchase of 215 S. Santa Fe Drive, the future home of the Su Teatro Cultural and Performing Arts Center.

The $1.35 million purchase will be the basis for a project expected to total $3.5 million and include a 250-seat main stage theater, a 75-seat studio blackbox theater, gallery and office space. The project won't be completed before 2008, but the center expects to begin using the outdoor plaza this summer.

Su Teatro was aided in the purchase by a $1.55 million loan through the city's Office of Economic Development.

RESTAURANT WEEK SUCCESS Diners more than doubled their participation in Denver Restaurant Week 2007. Participating eateries served 119,200 meals during the event, which ran from Feb. 24 to March 2, up from 54,000 last year, reported the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau.

During the week, restaurants offer special menus with a price tag of $52.80 for two, half that for one. Denver Restaurant Week started in 2005 with 84 restaurants, grew to 120 in 2006 and had 149 this year.

Fifty-eight percent of the restaurants reported a more than 10 percent increase in sales vs. the same week last year, and 71 percent sold out at least one night. The most-viewed menus on the event's Web site were Elway's with 24,854 visits; Del Friscos with 23,404; The Fort with 19,358; Barolo Grill with 18,032; and Vesta Dipping Grill with 17,399.

NORDSTROM IN CHERRY CREEK Nordstrom will launch its new Cherry Creek Shopping Center store with an evening gala Oct. 17 expected to raise $150,000 for the American Transplant Foundation and for Beacon Center, an Englewood-based nonprofit that focuses on the needs of adolescents, the Seattle-based retailer said Thursday.

The 140,000-square-foot store will open to the public two days later.

ECONOMY

Index points to moderate growth this year

An index meant to foreshadow the direction of the economy suggested that growth will advance modestly this year but will be hobbled by sluggish manufacturing and weakness throughout the housing industry.

Industry research group the Conference Board said Thursday that its composite index of leading indicators, which is meant to project changes in the economy six to nine months in advance, slipped 0.5 percent to 137.3 in February after a revised 0.3 percent drop to 138 in January.

The drop in February, while expected, was the steepest since February 2006.

Conference Board labor economist Ken Goldstein said in a statement that the index suggests "moderate but choppy" economic growth, with consumers continuing to spend despite swings in energy prices and sagging home values.

The index tracks 10 economic indicators, including stock prices and unemployment claims.

• The smooth flow of credit is "essential for a healthy economy," Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday, amid continuing concerns about the impact of risky mortgage loans on the economy.

Bernanke, in brief remarks to a Federal Reserve conference, didn't talk about the economy or interest rates, per se, but he did say, "Credit risk is a very important topic."

• The number of laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits fell last week for the third consecutive time.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that the number of applications for jobless benefits totaled 316,000 last week, a decline of 4,000 from the previous week.

THIS JUST IN...

• Mercy Housing Colorado has appointed Jennifer L. Erixon as president.

• Qwest Communications International Inc. promoted Nicholas Sweers to vice president, corporate communications. He will remain in Denver.

• The Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau has named MC Genova as director of membership and business development.

• James L. Basey has been elected chairman of the Denver Urban Renewal Authority's board of commissioners.

• Dan Wittenberg, partner at Snell & Wilmer LLP, has been named to the board of directors of WOW! Children's Museum in Boulder.

• Vail-based architecture firm Gwathmey Pratt Schultz Architects PC has changed its name to Gwathmey Pratt Schultz Lindall Architects PC with the appointment of Scott Lindall as principal in the firm.

• Ohlson Lavoie Collaborative, a Denver-based architectural firm, has promoted Robert McDonald and Brian Beckler to senior principals; and Christell Leonard and Aldo Coronado to principals.

• The Denver Public Library Commission's Latino Leadership Awards committee will present its 2007 Latino Leadership awards Saturday. Flora Rodriguez Russel and Federico F. Peña will receive the Cesar Chavez Leadership Hall of Fame Award, and Magdalena Aguayo will receive the Lena L. Archuleta Community Service Award.

• JobPlex has named Luke Wyckoff and Jon Gordon as executive vice presidents in the Denver office.

• Hansen Storage Co., a public warehouse contracting services provider in Milwaukee, has implemented Denver- based Cadre Technologies' LogiView supply chain management system.

• Tony Garr has been named general manager/operating principal for Keller Williams Realty, International Equity Ventures.

• Robert S. "Sam" Arthur Jr., of Denver-based law firm Rothgerber Johnson & Lyons LLP, has been elected chairman of the board of KBDI-Channel 12.

• Holland & Hart, in conjunction with the American Bar Association's Equal Justice Conference, is hosting the National Federation of Paralegal Associations Pro Bono Conference this weekend in its offices.

Rocky staff and wire reports

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