Region gets wine-growing designation
The Wahluke Slope, a run of land stretching east from the Columbia River near the Interstate 90 crossing, is set to become Washington’s eighth viticultural area.
The 81,000-acre area already supports 20 vineyards, with more scheduled to open. Wine-grape growers have been pushing for the federal designation to distinguish the region from the more general Columbia Valley.
Red-wine grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah are the most common grapes grown in the area.
Geologists say the Wahluke Slope boasts mineral-rich soils, courtesy of the Glacial Lake Missoula floods that coursed through Eastern Washington during the last ice age thousands of years ago.
The appellation can be noted on bottles for wine drinkers who wish to know about the source of grapes used to make wines.
All-digital TV deadline set for February 2009
Washington House lawmakers approved legislation early Monday that would complete the transition to all-digital television broadcasts by Feb. 17, 2009.
The measure also would allocate as much as $1.5 billion to help consumers with older, analog TV sets purchase converter boxes so they would continue to get service in the digital era.
The date for all-digital and the subsidy were included in a broader deficit-cutting bill.
The Feb. 17 deadline – the so-called hard date to end traditional analog transmissions – was a compromise between House and Senate legislation that called for different end dates.
Deeper retail markdowns seen for this week
New York The nation’s retailers are expected to increase discounting in the final days before Christmas after a late buying binge this past weekend in the stores turned out strong but not as frenetic as needed.
That’s fueling some concern about the health of profits among some Wall Street analysts, particularly at apparel stores, which have been more aggressive in discounting than a year ago.
According to a report from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. released Monday, 33 fashion retailers, including American Eagle Outfitters Inc., Gap Inc.’s namesake stores and Banana Republic, discounted more heavily this past Saturday compared to the same period a year ago.
“I think there will be some radical markdowns if retailers are going to see good Christmas sales this season,” said C. Britt Beemer, chairman of America’s Research Group, based in Charleston, S.C.
Exec tied to Stern pleads guilty over Sirius stock
New York The former president of an accounting firm used by Howard Stern pleaded guilty Monday to charges of insider trading in shares of Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. before the announcement of the shock jock’s move to the network.
Gary D. Herwitz, 50, formerly of Mahoney Cohen & Co., faces up to 16 months in prison. His sentencing is March 17.
The scheme unfolded after Stern sought financial advice from the Manhattan firm’s chief executive – his personal accountant for the previous 19 years – about making a move to Sirius once his contract with Infinity Broadcasting Corp. expired, court papers said.
On Sept. 21, 2004, the CEO told Herwitz that Sirius had made Stern an offer. He also reminded the defendant to keep the pending deal confidential, court papers said.
About a week later, Herwitz violated federal law by buying 25,000 shares of Sirius stock based on nonpublic information, the papers said. Stern announced on Oct. 6 that he had signed a $500 million deal with Sirius to move his show to satellite.
Herwitz, who bought the stock at $3.19 a share on the Nasdaq Stock Market, saw the price jump to $4.29 a share following the announcement, court papers said. Federal authorities said he made about $18,000 in improper profits.
Pfizer stock up after patent victory on Lipitor
New York A patent victory on its biggest-selling drug Lipitor boosted Pfizer Inc.’s shares nearly 8 percent Monday as a major uncertainty was eliminated, even though other significant challenges remain.
Most analysts had expected Pfizer would defeat the challenge to its cholesterol- lowering drug from Indian pharmaceutical company Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd.
The ruling last Friday means it is unlikely Lipitor will see generic competition before 2010, when one of the two patents under challenge expires.
Pfizer shares rose $1.74, or 7.7 percent, to close at $24.32 on the New York Stock Exchange, near the midpoint of its 52-week trading range.
Breakthrough reached in health care merger
Los Angeles California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, whose lone opposition held up a gigantic health care merger last year, on Monday approved the proposed $9.2 billion union of UnitedHealth Group Inc. and PacifiCare Health Systems Inc.
Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealth’s takeover of Cypress, Calif.-based PacifiCare would be the second-biggest merger ever in the hospital managed-care industry.
The companies agreed that the costs of the merger will not be borne by California consumers, and they agreed to commit $250 million in investments and charitable contributions to medically underserved communities, the commissioner said.
A call to PacifiCare seeking comment was not immediately returned.
The merger still must receive approval from the California Department of Managed Care, federal Department of Justice and other states in which UnitedHealth operates.