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French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde welcomed as “encouraging'' comments by European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet this week playing down prospects of further interest-rate increases.

Speaking a day after French President Nicolas Sarkozy asked if it was “reasonable'' for the ECB to have raised its benchmark rate, Lagarde said it was vital European policy makers “be attentive to the economic growth situation.''

The ECB raised its benchmark rate to 4.25 percent, the highest in seven years, on July 3 after inflation accelerated to a 16-year high in the 15 euro nations. With growth slowing, Trichet today repeated he has “no bias'' on further moves.

“What seems encouraging to me are the comments of Trichet,'' Lagarde said in an interview with Bloomberg Television at an economic forum in Aix-en-Provence, southern France. “He has said clearly that with the rate as it is he thinks the goal of price stabilization can be attained.''

Sarkozy, who has repeatedly attacked the Frankfurt-based bank for focusing too much on inflation and not enough on growth, yesterday asked delegates at a Paris meeting of his Union for a Popular Movement party “if it was reasonable to raise rates while the Americans have rates at 2 percent.''

Fed, ECB Gap

The U.S. Federal Reserve has cut its key rate seven times since September to 2 percent in a bid to avert recession, while the ECB left its unchanged until the past week amid surging consumer prices cash advance usa payday advance. Lagarde today called the gap “considerable'' and blamed it for leaving the euro “overvalued'' against the dollar. The euro has climbed 8 percent against the dollar this year.

The comments of French officials carry greater weight after France on July 1 took over the presidency of the 27-nation European Union, meaning it will help shape the EU's agenda and policies for the rest of this year.

Speaking at the same forum as Lagarde, ECB President Jean- Claude Trichet today rebuffed the criticism of politicians and said the bank would do what is necessary to control prices and anchor inflation expectations.

“We're not pre-committed and will do what is necessary to ensure price stability,'' he said. “We have a mandate that was given to us by European democracies, of price stability.''

Still, Lagarde noted German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck's July 1 comment that the ECB should consider the effect on growth of higher interest rates. “I rejoice that my German counterpart, who was considered an apostle of the orthodoxy of monetary policy, also started believe that the risk to growth of too-high interest rates has to be taken into account,'' she said.

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A coalition of business and property owners in south Sacramento has sued the county over its approval of a permit for a new solid-waste transfer station at the former Florin-Perkins Landfill.

The Power Inn Alliance, which claims to represent more than 600 local business and property owners, filed the suit in Sacramento County Superior Court. The suit alleges the county violated the California Environmental Quality Act by not requiring an environmental impact report before issuing the permit.

Power Inn Alliance executive director Jerry Vorpahl said in a written statement that the county should have required upgrades, including a covered facility for processing waste. The suit also alleges the county should have considered impacts on global warming and investigated whether the landfill is consistent with the county's general plan cash advance loans cash advance in one hour.

The landfill, on Florin-Perkins Road south of Jackson Highway, closed in 2005 after state and county environmental regulators accused it of operating violations. The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board fined the former managers $650,000.

San Jose-based Zanker Road Resource Management Ltd. signed an agreement with the property owners to manage the site as a solid waste transfer station.

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Quality Restaurants Northwest Inc. has closed four local Chili’s Grill & Bar locations, putting as many as 480 people out of work.

Parent company Brinker International Inc., (NYSE: EAT) confirmed that four of Oregon’s six Chili’s locations have closed. The company will step in to take over two remaining franchised locations, at Clackamas Town Center and in Eugene, according to Maureen Locus, a spokeswoman for the Dallas-based restaurant company.

Chili’s locations in Beaverton and Hillsboro closed on Monday and two more are closing today. Locus declined to speculate on the reason for the closures and to speculate if Quality Restaurants faced financial difficulties. She didn’t know how many people were employed at the Quality restaurants, but a typical Brinker-run Chili’s employs 100 to 120 people.

Representatives of Quality Restaurants could not be reached for comment.

In addition to Chili’s, Brinker operates and franchises the Romano’s Macaroni Grill, On the Border Mexican Grill & Cantina and Maggiano’s Little Italy chains of restaurants credit scores payday loans.

In March, it reported a first quarter loss of nearly $39 million on revenue of $907.6 million, down from a $54.6 million profit in the same period in 2007, on revenue of $944 million. It cited $56.5 million in charges from discontinued operations for its first quarter performance.

The company is attempting to sell its Romano’s line of restaurants. Vancouver, Wash.-based Waterloo Restaurant Ventures operates a dozen Northwest editions of the Macaroni Grill concept, in Portland, Seattle, San Francisco and Boise, Idaho.

Barry McGowan, president and chief executive officer of Waterloo, said his company won’t be affected by the change in ownership.

"We think the sale of the brand is good news," he said.

Brinker stock was trading at $20.13 after hours, up 38 cents.

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Funeral services will be held Thursday afternoon for James Griffin, the former four-term mayor of Buffalo who died May 25 at the age of 78.

Griffin, who had been ill for the past several weeks, died at Father Baker Manor in Orchard Park.

He took office in Buffalo Jan. 1, 1978, winning the job on the Conservative Party line and beginning a legacy marked by accomplishments but not without controversy. Griffin’s largest successes are downtown, most notably what is now Dunn Tire Park, home of the Buffalo Bisons and a franchise that he helped resurrect.

His tenure also included an FBI investigation involving the city’s parks’ department.

A Korean War veteran, Griffin served on the city council, starting in the 1960s and then returning a few years ago before giving up his South Buffalo seat in mid-term payday advances instant payday loan. He served multiple terms in the New York State Senate prior to his years in City Hall.

The feisty Griffin also made unsuccessful runs for Erie County Executive and the White House.

Survivors include his wife, Margaret, and three children — Maureen, Megan and Thomas, as well as brothers Thomas and Joseph, and a sister, Donna Gasuik.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held Thursday at 1:30 p.m. in Our Lady of Victory Basilica in Lackawanna. Burial will be in Holy Cross Cemetery.

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U.K. home values fell for an eighth month in May and will probably drop further, Hometrack Ltd. said.

The average cost of a residential property in England and Wales slipped 0.5 percent to 172,200 pounds ($341,000), the London-based research company said today in a statement. Prices fell 1.9 percent from a year earlier, the biggest decline since November 2005.

“The `buyers' strike' continues,'' said Richard Donnell, director of research at Hometrack, in a statement. “Pricing looks set to remain under downward pressure over the coming months.''

Bank of England Governor Mervyn King predicted this month that property values are “likely to fall further'' and said there is a risk that the U.K. economy may contract. The construction industry dragged down economic growth to the slowest pace since 2005 in the first quarter and homebuilders are cutting tens of thousands of jobs.

The percentage of sellers' asking prices being achieved slipped to 92.3 percent this month, the lowest since the survey began in 2001, Hometrack said today. Average time on the market increased to 9.8 weeks from 5.8 weeks a year ago.

“The fall in buyer confidence over the last six months has certainly impacted on transaction volumes but we do not believe this is a precursor to a major rise in forced sales and large prices falls,'' Donnell said first cash advance payday loans online.

End of the Boom

HBOS Plc, the U.K.'s biggest mortgage lender, said on May 2 that home values based on agreed transactions fell 0.9 percent from a year earlier, the first drop in more than a decade.

U.K. homebuilders will shrink their workforce as the 19 billion-pound industry grapples with the housing slump, Stewart Baseley, chairman of the Home Builders Federation, said in an interview last week. The rate of economic growth slipped to 0.4 percent in the first quarter from 0.6 percent in the last three months of 2007.

Home buyers are paying more for mortgages after the global credit squeeze prompted lenders to curb lending. U.K. banks increased the cost of home loans with a 5 percent down payment to the highest in more than eight years in April, failing to pass on the Bank of England's three interest-rate cuts since December.

The central bank kept its main rate at 5 percent in May, citing concern about inflation amid record oil prices. Britons should expect “quite a significant slowdown'' in economic growth this year, policy maker Andrew Sentance said on May 22.

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Honolulu-based wireless company Mobi PCS will open a new store Thursday at The Avenue Shops at Safeway Center on Oahu.

The company's nearby Waialae Avenue store, which opened last September, will be taken over by a separate company called Hoku Wireless.

Mobi employees of the former location will transfer to the new Kapahulu store http://paydayloans-on.com free credit report.com.

The company, which bills itself as the only locally operated wireless network in Hawaii, launched service in January 2006.

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The National Basketball Association and Cal Expo have agreed to work together "to evaluate the feasibility of developing a new and integrated fairgrounds, sports, entertainment and mixed-use complex" for the Sacramento Kings and other uses that could cost as much as $1 billion.

A "letter of understanding" released Friday describes a joint effort toward a 17,000- to 20,000-seat arena for the Kings and other attractions on the Cal Expo grounds north of the American River. It would be part of a proposed broader project that would "provide for updated and new state-of-the-art State Fair facilities for California residents to enjoy" and include retail and office space.

In the next six months, "both parties will work together to formulate a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the development of a world class entertainment and exposition destination that will set a new standard for green commerce and sustainability," NBA commissioner David Stern and former Gov. Pete Wilson, who negotiated on behalf of Cal Expo, said in a joint statement. The NBA has "agreed to take on the lion's share of (the costs of) looking at the next step," said Sean Walsh, a spokesman for Wilson.

"Cal Expo and the NBA are realistic about the challenges facing the California and Sacramento economies, and agree that a joint development of the Cal Expo site provides a compelling and realistic opportunity to replace a deteriorating arena and Cal Expo infrastructure while maintaining the rich traditions and feel embodied by the State Fair," the statement said.

The agreement, which could be considered by the Cal Expo board May 21, calls for the project to be "redeveloped and constructed in an environmentally-sensitive manner that will provide new jobs and incremental tax revenue for the State of California and the City and County of Sacramento." The joint statement specifically cites Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's emphasis on public-private partnerships to advance projects in the public interest, and stressed the commitment "to a project that can be developed and delivered without the need for new taxes."

A developer-financed arena?

However, it did not address the source of funds for the project; Walsh estimated the cost for the ambitious project at $500 million to $1 billion. Past discussions of financing for an arena at Cal Expo have centered on a private developer as the major source of cash, and that's still the working model that the parties have in mind http://us-no-fax-payday-loans.com bad credit payday loans.

It's unclear how much it will cost to evaluate the feasibility of the arena and fairgrounds development, he said, and no cost limits have been placed on the work.

The Maloof family, which owns Arco Arena and the Sacramento Kings and Monarchs basketball teams, will be briefed next week by NBA officials. "We are supportive and appreciative of the work the Commissioner and the NBA have done on this issue," said Donna Lucas, a spokeswoman for the Maloofs, in an e-mailed statement. "We look forward to being briefed on the Letter of Understanding and learning more about what lies ahead. We are optimistic about the process and encouraged as it continues to move forward."

While the economic downturn could make developing the site challenging, Cal Expo and NBA officials saw no reason to delay. "This could be a decades-long project" if it is developed in phases, Walsh said, and the economy could be vibrant again when the arena is built.

Ideally, a developer would be chosen within six months for the project through the request-for-proposal process, he said. Given the massive scale of the development, more than one developer may combine efforts and financial resources, or participate in different phases of the project. Cal Expo's ability to issue bonds that could be used to finance the project makes them an attractive partner in the project, Walsh said.

Mayor Heather Fargo applauded Cal Expo and the NBA working together on a possible mixed-use sports center, but she is concerned about the site, especially during the late-day commute.

"The location isn't my favorite. It's one of the most congested areas," Fargo said late Friday of the Cal Expo site. She would prefer a sports arena in The Railyards project in downtown Sacramento.

Fargo was aware of discussions between Cal Expo and the NBA, but she was not part of the negotiations.

"I didn't try to insert myself in the process," Fargo said. "I'll see what they can work out. (The letter of understanding) is a good step."

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Trial lawyers in the state and a group proposing to severely restrict the ability of plaintiffs to bring contingency fee civil lawsuits have agreed to withdraw competing ballot issues aimed for the November ballot.

John Sadwith, executive director of the Colorado Trial Lawyer's Association (CTLA) said the decision was made late Tuesday after continuing talks with the group promoting the restrictions on how much lawyers could collect in successful civil actions.

"We didn't think it was the best interests of working people in the state" to go forward with gathering signatures and putting the measures on the November ballot, Sadwith said.

Mark Hillman, a former state lawmaker and acting treasurer for the state, represented a group from Colorado Springs that brought the original ballot measure restricting contingency fees cash advance loan cash advance now.

The measure triggered a response from the trial bar that included nine separate counter measures. One would have capped compensation by CEOs, another would revoke licenses of doctors involved in multiple malpractice cases and still another altered what real estate agents could collect in commissions from sales. Others targeted homebuilders accused of construction defects and another tried to guarantee in law the right of a jury trial in civil lawsuits.

In all, nine measures from the trial lawyers targeted various sectors of the economy with new legal requirements. One measure would have subjected federal farm subsidy payments to state income taxes.

Hillman is a wheat farmer from Burlington.

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NB&T Financial Group, the parent of the National Bank and Trust Co. in Wilmington, managed to stay on an even keel for the first quarter, at a time when much bigger banks are feeling the pain of loan losses.

The bank posted first-quarter net income of $1 million, or 32 cents per share, little changed from first-quarter 2007, NB&T said in a news release. Net interest income was $4.5 million, a $72,000 increase year over year, while net interest margin rose to 3.73 percent from 3.55 percent.

"Overall, we are pleased with the results for the quarter," said John Limbert, president and CEO, in a news release. "We would like to see more loan growth, but we are not sacrificing quality for growth, especially when the economy may be in recession."

The first-quarter provision for loan losses was $95,000, compared to $5,000 in the year-ago quarter fastcash. Net charge-offs rose slightly, to $155,000 or 0.18 percent of total loans, compared to $154,000, or 0.15 percent of total loans, in the year-ago quarter. Nonperforming loans fell to $3.3 million versus $9.5 million a year ago.

NB&T, (NASDAQ: NBTF) headquartered in Wilmington, operates 17 banking offices in Clinton, Clermont, Brown, Warren, and Highland counties.

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