Besides today's biggest story -- the "oh-geez-it-really-was-valid" finding on a citizens' protest petition on the 751 assemblage critical watershed boundary change, which we'll cover here separately -- here's what's in today's headlines:
Sony Ericsson Slashes 400+ RTP Jobs: A company re-org by struggling cell phone manufacturing partnership Sony Ericsson will see the firm's R&D move to California and a unified Americas HQ in Atlanta, costing over 400 jobs in RTP with the shutdown of that site. Some jobs will move to other locations, others are just plain gone. (NBC 17, Herald-Sun)
H1N1 Clinic Goes Smoothly: Residents praised county public health officials over the smooth operation of the latest mass vaccination clinic for kids and high-risk patients, with another 1,700+ getting the stick or the sniff. Meanwhile, the health department is adding temporary nurses, poised to start doing by-appointment treatments at their offices on Main St. (Herald-Sun #1, #2)
Commercial Real Estate Bust May Hit Triangle Less: The N&O's David Bracken dives into national versus regional forecasts for commercial real estate in 2010; while the ULI and other organizations see dark days ahead nationally, the Triangle is among the ten American metros that have the lowest rate of financially-troubled commercial, multifamily and industrial properties. There'll still be struggles, the N&O muses -- but the massive losses and fire-sale cuts likely in California, Florida and Arizona may miss the Triangle. (N&O)
NC Mutual Operations Cuts Paying Off?: Historic but struggling insurer NC Mutual Life still saw a $1.1m 3Q loss, down only $100k from a year back -- but due mostly now to the struggling investments market, with the firm having significantly trimmed its operational loss from $700k one year back to $150k now. Still, a warning sign: 3Q premiums' revenue were $7.6m... vs. $9.6m one year back. (N&O)
McKinney Misses Cadillac Cut: AdWeek is reporting that downtown Durham-based ad agency McKinney didn't make the final three firms list for Cadillac's new ad agency; it was one of six finalists for the work. Still, McKinney's had lots of recent wins -- and, hell, the faster GM can get that damned-annoying Grey's Anatomy actress out of those obnoxious TV ads, the better. Stick to selling to grandmas and grandpas, Caddy. (AdWeek)
NCCU Exiting Millennium Hotel: NC Central's temporary arrangement with the Millennium Hotel to house some of its students is drawing to a close after the fall semester, as the student population thins through the year and especially as more on-campus students migrate to off-campus apartments and the like. (Herald-Sun)
Montoyo Honored: Bulls manager Charlie Montoyo has won the Coolbaugh Award; the longtime Rays minor league system manager who's risen through the team's ranks received the honor that's "presented to an individual who has shown an outstanding baseball work ethic, knowledge of the game and skill in mentoring young players on the field." (Indy Weekly)
More Locavore at George Watts: A few days after the Morehead Montessori locavore lunch made headlines (and, at least at BCR, started an interesting conversation on the state of school nutrition in general), WRAL takes a look at George Watts Montessori Magnet's edible garden project. (WRAL)
BuyBuy Baby Bows: What do you do if you're a national retailer named Bed Bath & Beyond? Clearly recognizing your strategic advantage in your stockpile of the letter "B," you open a newborn/toddler shop called BuyBuy Baby. And recognizing demographics, you open up your second NC store in the hot retail corridor between quarter-million-pop Durham and our southerly friends in Chapel "We Didn't Want That Sales Tax Revenue Anyway" Hill. New Hope Commons it is for the chain's new spin-off. (Triangle Business Journal)
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