Renton hoping to expand aviation service

The transportation committee of the Renton City Council is set to recommend a development plan Thursday that includes an expanded business- and corporate-flight center at Renton Municipal airport.

The city hopes to attract a commercial service operation that would handle small turboprop airplanes and the emerging category of very light jets. The operation would include an executive terminal, a maintenance facility and corporate hangars. Airport manager Ryan Zulauf said a request for proposals this summer elicited three expressions of interest.

The space available on the western side of the runways was historically leased by Boeing for pre-flight work on its jets. The city wants to replace some of the aviation jobs that disappeared as Boeing reduced its local operations.

The proposal will go to the full council for approval next week, to be followed by public comment.

Job losses linked to technology sale

Eden Bioscience of Bothell said it has agreed to sell its key technology and substantially all of the assets related to its agricultural and horticultural markets to Plant Health Care.

Eden said its harpin protein technology for improving crop production and protection, as well as its manufacturing equipment and its license from the Cornell Research Foundation, will be sold for $2.5 million if shareholders approve the deal in a February vote.

The company also said it will "substantially reduce" its staff by year's end. Eden, which had 25 employees as of last December, has lost more than $80 million on total sales of $12 million since 2001.

Spyware

Software buyers eligible for refunds

Washington state will receive a $1 million settlement from New York-based Secure Computer, resolving the state's first computer-spyware lawsuit, Attorney General Rob McKenna announced Monday.

More than 1,140 Washington residents who bought the company's Spyware Cleaner software or, in some cases, Popup Padlock, are eligible for refunds under the agreement filed in federal court last week.

There was no admission or finding of wrongdoing under the agreement.

The state brought the charges in January, accusing Secure Computer of using mass, misleading e-mails and pop-up advertisements to sell "spyware cleaner" software that didn't work.

Consumers who believe they are eligible for refunds may file a complaint with the Attorney General's Office online at www.atg.wa.gov or call 800-551-4636.

Puget Energy

Firm wants to build solar-powered plant

Puget Sound Energy is seeking proposals for construction of a 500-kilowatt solar-powered generating facility.

The plant would be near the site of the Wild Horse Wind Project under construction in Eastern Washington, the Bellevue-based utility said Monday.

"We want to learn more about how solar can complement our existing wind facilities," Puget Energy spokesman Roger Thompson said.

WSA

Tech-trade group appoints chairman

The WSA, the state's technology-trade association, said Monday it appointed Bill Baxter as its chairman.

Baxter currently serves as chief executive of Snaptune, a Bellevue company he started to help consumers discover new music. Prior to that, he co-founded Bsquare, a publicly held hardware and software company.

Baxter, who will serve for two years as chairman, has been a WSA board member since 1999 and previously served as chairman in 2000 and 2001.

The WSA also recently appointed Ken Myer as chief executive to replace Kathy Wilcox at the end of the year.

Zune sales drop, now in 5th place

Microsoft's Zune device dropped to fifth place from second in the U.S. market for digital media players in its second week in stores, market researcher NPD Group said.

Zune captured 2.1 percent of the market in the week ended Nov. 25, said Stephen Baker, an analyst at Port Washington, N.Y.-based NPD.

Baker said Apple Computer's iPod remained the leader, with 39.4 percent that week, based on units sold.

Zune's market share declined as SanDisk boosted sales with a 50 percent price cut on its media players, taking a 39.3 percent share and knocking Microsoft from the No. 2 spot it occupied in its first week in the market.

Plaintiffs won't call Gates to testify

The attorney representing Iowa plaintiffs in one of the few state-level class-action antitrust lawsuits left against Microsoft announced Monday that she would not call Chairman Bill Gates and CEO Steve Ballmer as witnesses.

Roxanne Conlin won a judge's ruling prior to the trial that would have forced Gates and Ballmer to travel to Des Moines for direct questioning even though the two executives were expected to testify later in the case when Microsoft presents its defense.

Judge Scott Rosenberg's ruling indicated that Gates and Ballmer would be required to travel to Des Moines from Washington only once. That would have allowed Microsoft attorneys to question the two men directly — in effect presenting part of their defense in the middle of the plaintiffs' case.

Conlin released a statement Monday that said the decision was reached to avoid any potential confusion by jurors.

Financial services

Bank of N.Y. to buy Mellon for $16.5B

Bank of New York said Monday it will buy Mellon Financial for $16.5 billion in stock, creating an investor-service behemoth and one of the world's largest asset managers.

The combined company, to be called Bank of New York Mellon, will rank first worldwide with $16.6 trillion of assets under custody, says globalcustody.net (custody services distribute cash and dividends held in trust on behalf of the trust owners). It will be in the top 10 of the world's largest asset managers, overseeing more than $1.1 trillion of assets, said David George, analyst at A.G. Edwards.

"This deal does make sense," said Eric Fitzwater at bank-industry research firm SNL Financial.

Investors seemed to agree. Shares of Bank of New York gained $4.27 to $39.75 and Mellon gained $2.73 to $42.78.

Investors were pleased because the expectations for the merger are "reasonable and realistic," said Gerard Cassidy, analyst at RBC Capital Markets.

Rates for ground, home delivery to rise

FedEx said Monday it will increase standard list rates for FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery by an average 4.9 percent on Jan. 1.

FedEx announced last month that rates for its FedEx Express shipments in the United States and for export will increase by 3.5 percent at the first of the year, when a decrease in fuel surcharges of 2 percentage points is factored in.

In February, FedEx Ground will begin using a "dimensional weight system" for figuring rates on large but relatively lightweight packages, rather than relying on weight alone.

FedEx rival UPS has also announced rate increases for next year. UPS will raise list rates by 4.9 percent for ground shipments and air-express shipments.

Deal reached to drop pilots' pension plan

Delta Air Lines would be allowed to terminate its pilots' pension plan under an agreement announced Monday, clearing a significant hurdle in its bid to restructure and exit bankruptcy next year.

Delta said the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC), the federal agency that insures corporate pensions, would become trustee for the pilots' pension plan under the agreement, which must be finalized by the PBGC and approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Delta hopes to emerge from bankruptcy in the first half of 2007.

Compiled from USA Today, Reuters, The Associated Press and Seattle Times staff