| Businesses cash in on Cactus windfall
Retiree Frank Moquin and his son, Tony, eased back in box seats along the first-base line at Scottsdale Stadium, debating the departure of Barry Bonds. These Bay-area natives are perhaps the best measure of why people across the state are so willing to invest in the Cactus League. Frank Moquin, 76, held San Francisco Giants season tickets for nearly 20 years and followed his team to Scottsdale each spring. About 15 years ago, the former contractor bought a second home here. "We were first looking at Mesa," Moquin said. "Then my wife, who loves the team maybe more than I do, said, 'Let's move to Scottsdale and be closer to the Giants.' " .
Wild Card/Vacation Day 11 of 12
Only two more shopping days until I return to the final days of the City Council campaigns. Then, we'll have fun taking apart the campaigns. Any dirt yet? Any mudslinging. You know, the good stuff. Or is everyone behaving? My wife is now looking over my shoulder -- literally -- so I have to pretend that I'm just checking ball scores. See ya in two days. Here's Wild Card ... .
U.S. government official, Chinese immigrants charged in espionage case
WASHINGTON A Defense Department analyst and a former engineer for Boeing Co. were charged Monday in separate spy cases for allegedly selling military secrets to the Chinese government, the Justice Department said. Additionally, two Chinese immigrants accused of working with the defense analyst were arrested after an FBI raid Monday morning on a New Orleans home where one of them lived. The two cases based in Alexandria, Va., and Los Angeles have no connection, and investigators said it was merely a coincidence that charges would be brought against both on the same day. The cases show "that foreign spying remains a serious threat in the post-Cold War world," Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Wainstein said in a prepared statement. The Justice Department was to discuss the charges at an afternoon news conference in Washington.
Rental Cars Won't Need Transponders to Travel Through Sunpass Lanes
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Sept. 27 -- Many rental car customers traveling on Florida's toll roads and bridges are now able to utilize 'SunPass Only' lanes to pay their tolls, even without a SunPass transponder, thanks to a pair of innovative programs announced by Turnpike officials this week. Rental car customers in Central Florida also can use the EPass lanes on toll roads operated by the Orlando- Orange County Expressway Authority (OOCEA), and will soon be able to use the LeeWay toll lanes in Lee County. Florida's Turnpike Enterprise has entered into contractual agreements with American Traffic Solutions and Rent A Toll, Ltd. to administer a program which utilizes license plate information to identify rental vehicles and electronically collect the toll. American Traffic Solutions is currently offering its PlatePass(R) cashless toll payment service to rental car customers using vehicles rented from Avis, Budget, and Hertz.
GM offer reflects severity of threat from Delphi troubles
As it attempts to climb back from a $39 billion loss in 2007, GM already faces a slumping U.S. market for new vehicles and deepening economic uncertainty that threatens to complicate its effort to get thousands of workers to accept buyout offers now on the table for 74,000 UAW-represented employees. But it has been the turmoil in the credit markets touched off by the subprime mortgage crisis that has threatened to delay GM's effort to pull clear of Delphi. When GM spun the parts company off in 1999, it retained some responsibility for retirees' health care and other benefits for the former unit's unionized hourly workers if Delphi was unable to provide them. It also relies on the supplier for a range of parts it needs to keep its own factories running. But the loan market's capacity to absorb Delphi's $6.1 billion exit financing deal and others like it has proved extremely limited.
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