Grants will fund wheat research
Wheat research in Washington has been awarded $1.3 million in federal grants.
Most of it – about $905,000 – will go to the Washington Association of Wheat Growers to demonstrate a tilling method called under-cutting for use on winter wheat fields. Under-cutters are blades attached to farm machinery that run about five inches under the soil and slice off weed roots. They’re expected to be especially useful on no- or limited-till fields in the dry wheat-growing regions west of Spokane.
Another grant, for $435,000, will be used by Washington State University to demonstrate how manure from dairies can be stored in an airtight tank containing microorganisms that consume and neutralize pathogens. After manure is treated in such an anaerobic digester, it can be used as fertilizer without the risk of spreading pathogens into fields. Seven dairies in western Washington will participate in the WSU demonstration project.
Cupertino, Calif.
Lawsuits target Apple options
Apple Computer Inc. said Wednesday two lawsuits have been filed against its current and former officers and directors relating to stock options grants.
The derivative lawsuits were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and Santa Clara County Superior Court.
Derivative lawsuits are filed by shareholders claiming to act on behalf of the company.
Last week, Apple said it found irregularities in the way it issued stock option grants, and was conducting an independent investigation. One of the grants, later canceled, was to CEO Steve Jobs.
The company said it is evaluating its response to the lawsuits.
The maker of Macs and iPod music players is one of a growing number of companies under internal or Securities and Exchange Commission investigations for possibly backdating stock options to time them at low prices, thus boosting the payout.
New York
Venture capital IPOs paid well
Nineteen venture-backed companies raised a total of $2 billion through initial public offerings on U.S. exchanges in the second quarter, according to data published Wednesday by the National Venture Capital Association and Thomson Financial.
The total is a big increase from the $714 million raised by 10 companies in the second quarter of last year and from the $540.8 million raised by 10 companies in the first quarter this year.
San Jose, Calif.
Apple done with CRT monitors
Apple Computer Inc. completely rid its product line of bulky cathode-ray-tube monitors on Wednesday, becoming one of the first major PC makers to sell only flat-panel displays.
The Cupertino, Calif.-based maker of Macintosh computers introduced an $899 iMac specifically for schools and students, replacing the eMac, which was the company’s last remaining CRT-based model.