CSBJ Daily

Personnel and equipment is on its way to California from Denver to assist with wildfire response and recovery efforts in California.
The team, members of the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency, consists of five people and four pieces of equipment from the Mobile Emergency Response System.
The team left yesterday, and is driving to […]

USA Basketball is looking to move its headquarters and training facilities out of Colorado Springs after the 2008 Summer Games.
USA Basketball, the national governing body for men’s and women’s basketball in the U.S., has issued a request for proposal to cities interested in forging a long-term partnership.
More than 20 cities have expressed interest.
USA Basketball apparently […]

Countrywide Financial Corp. announced its intention this week to help 82,000 subprime borrowers facing higher payments to stay in their homes.
But, the company is not the only financial institution promoting FHA fixed-rate refinanced or restructured loans to borrowers overwhelmed by high-risk escalating adjustable rate mortgages.
The HUD-sponsored program, launched Sept. 5 with the support of Wall […]

Small business continued to create Colorado’s new jobs during 2004.
The updated Colorado Small Business Profile, released today by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration, shows that small businesses added 25,400 net new jobs during the latest year studied.
“Small businesses are Colorado’s job-creating dynamo,” said Dr. Chad Moutray, chief economist for the […]

There’s a good chance your waitress is depressed.
Nearly 15 percent of women working in the food service industry report having experienced depression in the last year – nearly triple that of their male counterparts, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
And, depression among food workers is among the highest […]

Hotel occupancies and room rates in Colorado Springs have risen slightly during the last year.
The average occupancy rate for Colorado Springs-area hotels was 69.3 percent during September, compared with 62.1 percent during September last year, according to the latest Rocky Mountain Lodging Report that was released this week.
The average room rate for area hotels also […]

Light Blue Optics, based in the United Kingdom, has opened a research and development facility in Colorado Springs.
The company, which produces holographic laser technology, will employ 12 people initially and has leased office space at 4775 Centennial Blvd.

The appropriations bill passed last night in the U.S. Senate contains more than $1.7 million for Colorado projects – none of which are local.
The projects include:

$200,000 for Mercy Health Foundation in La Plata County to expand its primary care and prevention services
$200,000 for Denver Health Medical Center in Denver to expand and upgrade their facility
$100,000 […]

Merrill Lynch & Co. reported the biggest quarterly loss in its 93-year history after $8.4 billion worth of writedowns.
The third-quarter loss of $2.24 billion, or $2.82 a share, was about six times higher than the New York-based company estimation on Oct. 5.
Merrill Lynch wrote down the value of subprime mortgages, asset-backed bonds and loans to […]

Gas prices increased by about 5 cents during the past two weeks, to an average of $2.80 per gallon of self-serve regular, according to the Lundberg Survey released this week.
The increase brings gas prices up 60 cents compared to prices at this time last year, but 38 cents below the all-time peak of $3.18 […]