OCR Text |
Show TTTW ft PAGE 10 2mlttrlcrat& SUNDAY, JUNE 15, IxJy BUSINESS EDITOR I Grace Leong 2008 0 gleongheraldextra.com 344-29- 1 National Briefing Ford tells union more cuts needed it also could slightly in- 1- crease cancer risks. Centocor has asked DETROIT Ford the Food and Drug Motor Co. managers Administration to aptold union officials Friprove its biologic drug to treat psoriasis, which day that the company will have to further causes painful red reduce its factory work scales to grow on the skin. The FDA released force in the coming its review of the drug, months. The slumping U.S. ustekinumab, ahead of a economy has cut U.S. Tuesday meeting where outside experts will vote auto sales by 8 percent on whether it should be during the first five months of the year, but approved. it's been a double hit The agency said the on Ford, General Moinjectable drug showed tors Corp. and Chrysler positive results in two LLC as consumers shun comprehensive studies their pickup conducted by the comtrucks and sport utility pany. However, scienvehicles for more tists said the drug may models as they require labeling to warn cope with $4 per gallon doctors of possible cargasoline. cinogenic risks. Ua 'w' - liVi lla P r high-prof- At the meeting, Photo illustration by CASEY ROGERSDaily at- tended by about 300 ex- Time Warner No mn ecutives, plant managdrops bid for ers and union officials Channel Weather from across the U.S., Ford reiterated previous Time NEW YORK statements that it would Warner Inc. has make buyout and early dropped out of the retirement offers at : running to buy The Weather Channel, a targeted factories as it tries to further pare its person familiar with the matter said Friday, payroll. leaving General Electric FDA may require Co.'s NBC Universal as "the main bidder. cancer-ris- k The bidding process on labeling drug WASHINGTON An experimental drug from a unit of Johnson & Johnson appears effective at treating a severe skin disease, though government regulators said Friday I Editor's Note: Please submit calendar information for Utah businesses, events, seminars and conferences to gleongher-aldextra.coor fax it Deadline for submission is the Wednesday of the week before publication. 344-298- av for The Weather Channel had drawn earlier interest from other media companies including CBS Corp., but Time Warner and NBC were the only ones that made it to the final round. u II v. James MacPherson THE ASSOCIATED PRESS "n the heyday of the Pembina County Fair, about two dozen carnival rides filled up the fairground midway. The Ferris Wheel. The e The Octopus. Neil Fleming saw it all in his 55 years as fair organizer: from food to farm animals, clown shows, girlie shows, freak shows. "It was really something," he reminisces. The aroma of funnel cakes, the barnyard odor of fattened farm animals, the resplendent beauty of fair July fancy quilts will still exist at the three-da- y But for the first time in 115 years, there will be g no carnival rides on the midway. "The population is dwindling, and add that to the extra costs, and it's difficult to get a carnival," Fleming said. The Pembina County Fair, which bills itself as the oldest continuous fair in North Dakota, will replace carnival rides with bouncy inflatable games. Shrinking attendance, soaring fuel prices and other expenses have hurt fairs across the country, and many are doing without carnivals. "Our fuel costs are four times as much as it was 10 years ago, and we haven't raised our prices in 10 years," said Lon McWhorter, owner of Woonsock-et- , Mac's Carnival & Attractions, the sole carnival company based in the Dakotas. It cost McWhorter $22,000 to move his dozen-rid- e carnival from South Dakota to Louisiana this year, more than double last year's expenses. McWhort-er'- s grandfather started the company in the 1920s e with a photography booth and some advice: Keep the carnival on wheels. In today's economy, that's been a nearly impossible wish to fulfill Carnivals in the U.S. generally range in size from five rides to about 300. Dixd Billy Tucker, owner of Phenix, ieland Carnival Co., said several small fairs in the South and Midwest have fizzled in the past few 2 WEDNESDAY Ay 10-1- TUESDAY quarter-mile-lon- ) The Utah Nonprofits I The o Gas prices, economic slowdown driving carnivals out of county fairs Utah County. Time: 7:30 a.m. Location: Country Market Restaurant, the Flying J Plaza in Spring-villexit 261). For more information, please contact the chapter president, Kip Kint at (801) or kip keypointusa.com 836-386- to A Week Ahead to Herald Association, which provides training and technical assistance and networking opportunities, is hosting a workshop, How to Start a Nonprofit organization. It is presented by Don Gomes, UNA'S executive director, Tatyana Feilbach and Bruce Olson from Ray Quinney & Nebeker's Nonprofit and Exempt Organization Practice Group. Doug Hansen, a CPA with Tanner LC will talk about financial management needs. Here's a workshop that will help answer the questions or contact including: What is your mission? Can this program work on its own? The Orem Small BusShould you talk with iness Development an existing nonprofit? will Center Where are the board a Beginning Search members? Where is the Engine Optimization money? What applicaIt will course. cover an tions go to the State introduction to SEO, of Utah; to the Federal Search Engine basics, Location: government? SEO requirements gathOrem Public Library, 58 ering, keyword research, N. State Street, Orem. title and META tag creNorth end of the City ation, SEO copywriting, Center Building in the SEO integration, search Library Media Auditorium suband engine directory Time: 9:30 (basement) mission, search engine a.m. 12:30 p.m. Cost: spam, SEO reporting and is limited conversions, overview of $50. Space to 12 participants for SEO, site architecture, this workshop. Registratext content, dynamic tion Is available online flash content, graphics, at www.utahnonprofits. and splash pages, org or by phone at 596- - . frames and tables, link 1800. popularity, pay for perforChamI The Provo-Oremance, measuring SEO ber of Commerce will ROI, starting your own Internet business, the host its free Chamber most Important aspect University business of copywriting, and disseminar series to help small business owners. covering what copy type The 2008 program will fits your target audience cover a variety of topics best. For more Information, visit www.uvsc. through presentations by edusbdcworkshops or industry leaders. Locacontact tion: Zion's Bank Building in Orem. Time: 7:30 a I BNI, business a.m.- - 9:00 a.m. Contact working organization, will Brittany Erickson, events host the kickoff of the director at BNI new Pipeline Chapter, Its third chapter in Orem Small Bus- iness Development Center, Zion's Bank, and Squire and Co. PC will host an Intermediate QuIckBooks clas3. It will cover: analyzing financial data, setting up inventory, tracking & paying sales tax, generating payroll with QuickBooks; estimating & progress invoicing, tracking time, customizing forms, and writing QuickBooks letters. Cost: $49. Location: Zion's Bank on 800 North in Orem. For more information, visit www. . S.D.-base- d three-minut- 801-86323- . Ala.-base- WILL KINCAIDAssociated Press The pink elephant ride is one the Fair's newly acquired carnival rides in Wishek, N.D., on May 27. The fair purchased nine carnival rides last month. years, and fewer are able to afford a carnival. Dixieland Carnival is a size" show that has been in Tucker's family for five genarmbands sell for $15, a fee erations. Unlimited-rid- e that has not risen in five years. "Everybody is feeling the pinch I am, and as bad as we need to go up, I just feel it would be a really bad PR move right now with everything else going up," Tucker said. About 345 carnival companies travel the U.S. each year, down from about 400 a decade ago. Many are family-owne- d businesses, and they need to be assured of big attendance to come to a fair. "Some have gotten fed up and tired of the fuel it's a grind," said costs, insurance and long hours d Bob Johnson, president of the Orlando, Outdoor Amusement Business Association. "It's a very highly regulated industry, and I can't say that it's bad, but it obviously has added to the cost of doing business today." "small-to-mediu- Fla.-base- See CARNIVALS, C9 How does consolidating student loans help your time of year when buzz starts up about loan consolidation. Some people benefit from consolidating, others don't, and borrowers want to know which camp they fall in. Here are the facts: Until recently, borrowers were able to consolidate their loans each year is the This ) at a rate someX times under 3 percent. In 2005, Stafset for a fixed rate Congress ford and PLUS loans. This means that loans originating after July 1, 2006, largely won't benefit from consolidation. In fact, if you do Talking Money decide to consolidate, your interest rate will increase slightly. If your loan originated before percent, according to Mark that date, you're working with a publisher of FinAid.org. variable rate loan, and you'll benTo figure out what kind of efit from consolidating come July loans you have-- , do a little back1, when rates are set to drop by 3 tracking. What year did you enter st Jean Chatzky Kan-trowit- z, VVVW,HERAU)EXTTiA,Cp- M.- school? What year did you graduate? How many years of loans do you have, total? You may find that you have both, particularly if you graduated in the last few years. "Undergraduate students who graduated last year and who had not previously consolidated their loans would have three years of variable rate loans and one year of fixed rate loans. Undergraduate students graduating this year would have three years of variable rate loans and two years of fixed rate loans," explains Kan-trowit- z. No matter what your situation, here's how to handle things when July I 1 rolls around: are fixed, you probably want to shy away from consolidating. There's no savings If your loans to you in doing so. However, some borrowers choose to consolidate anyway, for a couple of different reasons. By definition, it makes things a bit simpler by putting your loans all on one payment, which can ease your mind and also help to ensure that payments are going in on time each month. However, Kantrowitz says that these days, most lenders offer unified billing anyway, so consolidating for this reason is largely unnecessary. Another potential perk of consolidation is that it comes with a wider variety of repayment options, so if you're struggling to make ends meet, you can increase the life of the loan and thus make your monthly payments smaller. ; See CHATZKY, C9 |