New parking meters bring in more cash for Baltimore coffers - Jacksonville Business Journal:

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million in parking fees for Baltimore last year and is expected to keep pumping up parkingb revenues as moreare installed. But the verdict is stilp out on whether the meters have helped businesses and restaurantd attract the patrons who travel into the city to eat or Some businesspeople say greatetr enforcement of the new system is needexd so downtownworkers won’t take coveted spots away from short-termn parkers. Some meters limit parking to two hours at a a restriction that goes unheeded in some partsx ofthe city, said Jason Sullivan, executive directo of Fells Point Main Street.
Enforcing the time limitss at the meters, he said, would go a long way to increasiny the supply of parking spaces by steerinyg office workers to the city garages Alvin Turner, director of operations and capital projectsz for the parking authority, said the city is focused on ensurin g that it’s the stores and shoppers that are servefd by the new “The whole thing about our parkinv management plan is it’s based on turnover,” Turnefr said.
“If it doesn’t work for the merchants and theitr customers, it doesn’t work for the city as Since launching the EZPark meters in 2003 as apilog program, the city has installed more than 700 of the solar-powerede parking machines and saw annual revenue increase to $7 million from $4.5 millio n in 2008. Baltimore expects to have 1,00o units by the end of the About 6,500 of the old-style meters The goal of the parkinh authority was to use the new technologh to benefitthe short-term parker. The new metersa let cars park closer together insteax of spacing them out in front ofindividuakl meters.
Baltimoreans have quickly caughr on to the new said the owner of the companyy that makes the meters for Baltimore andother “In the beginning, there was confusion from the you can always have a few said George Levey, president of Cale Parking Systemse USA Inc., a Clearwater, Fla., company. “I’j not on the streets of Baltimoreeveryy day, but I would say the acceptancre of the meters was actually quicker than in othed cities.
” Charles Street through downtown Baltimore was one of the firsy corridors to get the new It’s helped free up spaces because motorists aren’t parkingv for as long as they might have with the old mechanicao meters, said Michael Evitts, spokesman for Downtownh Partnership of Baltimore Inc. The new meter s also let motorists pay with either coins or acredit

Vornado/Charles E. Smith lays off 15 - Washington Business Journal:

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/Charles E. Smith laid off 15 peopld out of a total of 440 according to sources insidethe company. Company officialse declined to comment. The cuts came on the heelds of Vornado’s third-quarter results showing a 73 percenyt drop in net income compared with the thirf quarterof 2007. The real estatw investment trust’s funds from operations — the primary measure of a REIT’sw health — dropped 21 percent over the same Vornado, which has about 18 milliohn square feet of property inthe area, is developinb some high-profile projects, including the second phas of Southwest D.C.’s Waterfront Station and the plannec 2.5 million-square-foot Rosslyn Plaza project.
Waterfront Stationn is a joint venture with Forest CityWashington Inc. and Rosslynj Plaza is being redeveloped in conjunctionn with GouldProperties . Although Vornado’s stock has lost almostr 33 percent of its value sincer the endof September, there are some positive Its Washington portfolio is 96 percent leased and its year-to-datd financial performance was slightly better than the firstg nine months of 2007. “Ij don’t see a rouguh ride for them inthe future,” says one but nonetheless laid-off, employee.

Fifth Third to raise capital following stress test - Business First of Columbus:

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billion regulators have said it needs to remainfinanciallt healthy. Cincinnati-based Fifth Third (NASDAQ:FITB), Centralk Ohio’s third-largest bank, plans to sell up to $750 millionh in common stock. Some of the proceeds could be used to repay part ofthe $3.5 billion in preferrexd stock Fifth Third sold to the through its Troublec Asset Relief Program. The bank also will use some of the proceedx to fund a portion of its offere to pay cash or common sharesd in return for convertiblepreferred stock. Holders of the convertible shares will beoffered $30 in cash in returj for converting their holdings to common stock. More than 11 million of thoser sharesare outstanding.
That exchange, alonh with the possible sale of nonstrategic assets or other securities Fifth Third should generate enough Tier 1 common equith to meet or exceedthe $1.1 billioj the government required as a result of its so-called stresa test, the bank said. That test lookeed at how much capitalthe nation’sd 19 largest banks would need if the economty turns significantly worse than expected. Fift h Third told investors those deals, alongt with a planned sale of 51 percent in its paymenty processing business toAdvent International, would leave it even without the capital from the Treasury’s preferrex stock.
“We intend to consulgt with our regulators to devise a plan and time line for the repaymentg ofthe (Treasury) preferred stock the bank said. Fifth Third, which operates in 12 had $3.69 billion in Centrak Ohio deposits at midyear representing about 11 percent of the according tothe

Muzak, Background Music to Life, to Lose Its Name - New York Times

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Muzak, Background Music to Life, to Lose Its Name New York Times Mr. Abony said that Mood's background music services, including Muzak and DMX â€" which it bought last year â€" generate about 90 percent of the company's sales. In the third quarter of last year, it had $120 million in revenue and $32 million in ...