Big projects may get a little piece of stimulus package - Kansas City Business Journal:

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Although the $775 billion plan is far from beinhg setin concrete, as little as $90 billiob may be spent on conventional infrastructure projectx such as roads and bridges, said Charlie Sunderland, CEO of in Overlandx Park. “And that’s over two years,” said Sunderland, immediate past chairmanm of the Chicago-based . “Thar wouldn’t make much of a dent for our Brian McCarthy, CEO of the Portlancd Cement Association, said the Obama administration was keepint details of the stimulus plan “pretty close to the “But I’ve heard the $90 billion figure, and I’v e heard $180 billion,” he said.
When askef whether the association was planning to lobbufor more, Mc-Carthy said, “Of course we are.” Discussion of the stimulus plan comes at a time when locakl and state money for public infrastructure is dwindling and the globap economic crisis is choking off financing for commerciap projects. Annual U.S. sales of cement, the primar ingredient in concrete, are expected to fall to less than 90 million metric tons this year from a high of 130 millionb metric tons in McCarthy said. As a result, he already has heard of aboufa half-dozen recent closings among the roughly 100 U.S. cemeng plants, and he said he expectsa more.
“This is the biggest drop in terms of demand that we’ve seen, really, since the Sunderland said. Founded in 1882, Ash Grovew Cement operates nine cementplants nationwide. In anticipation of a 12 percent dropin U.S. cement demand this year, followinfg a 13 percent drop in Ash Grove suspended production of which is ground to make Portland at its plantin Inkom, About 45 of the plant’s 68 employeess were laid off. “This stimulus package couldn’t come at a betteer time,” said Bill Clarkson Jr., vice president of both , a Kansase City-based heavy constructor, and .
“But I hope Charlide (Sunderland) is wrong” about how much will be committefdto infrastructure, Clarkson The Missouri and Kansas departments of transportation are nearinf the ends of their multiyea highway financing plans, Clarkson said, and Missouri remains amonyg the nation’s five worst states in termws of bridge deficiencies. “There’s also a lot of need on the Kansasw side,” Clarkson said. “Take U.S.
69 from I-435 north to 75th Street in Overland It’s in abysmal and the traffic count has doublesd within the last 10 Ed DeSoignie, executive director of the , agreedx that there was plenty of local demand, as evidencer by a list of $781 million in ready-to-bidx infrastructure projects recently compile d by officials in Kansas City alone. Of that doesn’t include the $2.5 billiom in sewer improvements needed inKansas City, DeSoignie said. U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, plans to help address that need by seeking atleasyt $25 billion in federall stimulus money for water and sewerd projects nationwide.
DeSoignie said the lates he has heard from Washington is that the stimulus package will end up inthe $700 billiohn to $900 billion range and that it will be splirt roughly in thirds among tax cuts, and aid to citiexs and state Medicaid programs. Unfortunately for heavy constructors, DeSoignire said, the infrastructure piece may be spligt again among roadsand bridges, water and sewer green initiatives, even library projects and information technologg for hospitals.
He said the groul hasn’t been given any numbers for the If traditional infrastructure is given short heavy constructors will have another opportunity via the federalphighway bill, which is up for reauthorizatiohn in the fall. But Congresw could put off the reauthorization by passingg continuing resolutions that hold spending to current orreduceed levels. “They could put the wholre thing off while this stimulus money is outthere churning,” DeSoigni e said.

Kennedy Health joins Penn Medicine Cancer Network - Philadelphia Business Journal:

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Under the affiliation Penn specialists will work cooperatively with Kennedy physiciand throughout the course of acancer patient’ws care. The partnership will also providd enhanced community outreach programming as well as collaboratived educational opportunities forKennedy physicians, nurses and othed health professionals. “This is a tremendous milestones for Kennedy in its commitment to providinyg outstanding cancer care for the residents of southermNew Jersey,” said Martin A. Kennedy’s president and CEO.
The affiliationn augments Kennedy’s’ principal academic partnershiop with the University of Medicine Dentistry of NewJersey — School of Osteopathicf Medicine, Bieber said. Kennedy, based in Voorhees, operates hospital campuses inCherrhy Hill, Stratford and Washington Township and outpatienrt facilities throughout Camden and Gloucester counties. is a groulp of community hospitals Penn works with to brint advanced cancer care closerto

Close to home: Neighborhood butcher has new appeal - Press Herald

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Press Herald

Close to home: Neighborhood butcher has new appeal Press Herald By Meredith Goad mgoad@mainetoday.com Jutta Graf of Portland prefers buying meat from her neighborhood butcher, Jarrod Spangler at Rosemont Market, rather than at a large grocery store. Butcher Jarrod Spangler grinds a batch of ground beef in the ...

Royal Caribbean Q4 income down 98% - South Florida Business Journal:

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million, or a penny a from $70.8 million, or 33 cents a share, in the same quarte last year. For the full net income was $573.7 million, or $2.68 a down from $603.4 million, or $2.822 a share. "The fourth quarter was an extremelgy difficult operating environment and we expect even more challengewsin 2009," Chairman and CEO Richard D. Fain said " Revenue for the quarter fellto $1.476 billion from $1.49 billiom in the same quarter of 2007. The companyt (NYSE: RCL) said its revenue outlook for 2009was weak. It forecasf a first quarter loss of betweenn 30 cents and 35 cents a comparedwith analysts' expectations for a loss of 8 centas per share. Shares were down $1.
53 to $7.52 in early afternoon trading. The 52-week high was $41.999 on Feb. 1. The 52-week low was $5.976 on Nov. 21.

Survey: Americans lack knowledge about generics - Houston Business Journal:

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And, while research has shown that generice have saved the health care systej anestimated $734 billion in the last 10 two-thirds of those surveyed don’t know the true cost differences betweehn generic and brand name according to the survey conducted by , a leading pharmacty benefit management organization. “Using generics helpd make health care more affordable withoutcompromising results,” Jacqueline Prescription Solutions CEO said in a news release. “Manyu Americans erroneously believe that the most expensive drug is always the mosteffectivw drug, so by helpiny to change perceptions, we can help people save moneyh and still get the best treatment available.
” Thirty-onew percent of respondents indicateds they knew that a braned name drug cost 50-70 percent more on average than its genericd counterpart. Seventy-one percent of consumere remain concerned about drug costs with more than one infour (27 having either delayed not filled, or not taken as directed a prescription drug to save money. Twenty-one percent of all respondenta say they have talked to thei r doctor recently about switching to a lessexpensive Fifty-seven percent of those poller said they take prescription drugs Of those, 83 percent (or 47 percent of the totapl sample) take generics.
Of thos e who do not take generic drugx on aweekly basis, 58 percent say it is becausee there is no generic available for the drug they Sixty-four percent of those who take generics say theier doctor recommended them and 43 percent say their pharmacist recommended them. Of those who do not take generic drugs on aweekly basis, 58 percent say they would if their pharmacist brought a generic to their attention as a less identical substitute; and 52 percent say theirt doctor would have to recommendf it.

Missouri unemployment worsens, but slows - Charlotte Business Journal:

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The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 9 percentrin May, up from 8.1 percent in the department reported April’s 0.6-point decrease in unemploymentr now appears anomalous, with the May increas part of an upward trend dating to mid-2008, state officialds said. Approximately 272,000 Missourians were estimated to have been joblese during the monthof May. Nonfarm payroll employmenty decreasedby 3,700 jobs in May, markingg the smallest monthly decrease since employmentf began to drop sharply in November.
Job losses were concentratesd inmanufacturing (3,700) and construction (1,600), which were partly offsety by gains in healt care and social assistance (2,000) and locapl government (900). During the past year, employment droppedr by 74,300 jobs, or 2.7 The main exceptions to the downwared trend in the past year have been private educationaloservices (2,500), health care and social assistance federal government (2,700) and local governmenr (3,300). The national unemployment rate in Maywas 9.
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Europe ideal for backpacking fun - Springfield News-Leader

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Europe ideal for backpacking fun Springfield News-Leader We are slightly revamping our travel section to better serve readers. In addition to Ask Juliana columns, Goodwin will write a regional travel story once a month and a general travel tip story, too (like this one). We hope this will be useful to even ...