'Yelp extortion' is a new bane of restaurateurs

Sunriver center nets award

May 31, 2012 4:00 am

The Sunriver Homeowners Aquatic & Recreation Center, which opened on Saturday, will win an award for redevelopment of a formerly contaminated site at the fourth annual Oregon Brownfields Awards Luncheon in Portland on June 13, according to a news release. Business Oregon, the Oregon Department of....MORE

Wal-Mart meeting faces protests

May 31, 2012 4:00 am

Retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is facing a wave of protests this week pushing for company leadership changes at its annual meeting Friday. The goal of protesters, organizers said, is to oust some Wal-Mart board members and push for more corporate transparency in the wake of allegations of....MORE

Close your bank account? Pay up

May 31, 2012 4:00 am

Want to close your bank account? It could cost you as much as $55. In a survey of the practices of the 10 largest banks in the country — including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank and Wells Fargo — policy and advocacy group Consumers Union found that people who want to close....MORE

Worries over Europe put stocks on skids

May 31, 2012 4:00 am

Fearing a financial rupture in Europe, investors around the world fled from risk Wednesday. They punished stocks and the euro, and the yield on a benchmark U. S. bond hit its lowest point since World War II. In the United States, where concerns about Europe have already wiped out most of this....MORE

PERSONAL FINANCE

Study: Young investors more averse to risk

May 31, 2012 4:00 am

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The stock market has recently been back on a roller coaster — again — with the S&P 500 losing almost 4 percent in the past month. That has made many workers worried about their 401ks, IRAs and other retirement accounts. In Charles Schwab’s latest....MORE

Green first, sales second

Patagonia profits by putting the Earth ahead of what’s good for the bottom line

May 31, 2012 4:00 am

LOS ANGELES —High-end outdoor clothier and gear maker Patagonia Inc. is out to prove that a company can generate strong sales while being nearly fanatical about environmental concerns. The Ventura, Calif., company was the first major clothier to make fleece jackets out of recycled bottles.....MORE

Health care tax credit a letdown for small firms

May 31, 2012 4:00 am

WASHINGTON — It seemed like a good idea at the time. But a health insurance tax credit for small businesses, part of President Barack Obama’s health care law that gets strong support in public opinion polls, has turned out to be a disappointment. Time-consuming to apply for and lacking....MORE

News of record: Permits

May 31, 2012 4:00 am

City of BendWest Bend Property Company LLC, 2343 N. W. Frazer, $252,411New Era Homes LLC, 1206 S. W. McClellan, $237,065Wood Hill Homes LLC, 16378 S. E. Geary, $185,625Pahlisch Homes Inc., 19115 N. W. Chiloquin, $285,992Bruce L. Kemp, 2807 N. E. Springwater, $137,442Cousins Construction Inc., 21284....MORE

Google gives away Zagat ratings

May 31, 2012 4:00 am

SAN FRANCISCO — Google is giving away the restaurant ratings compiled by its recently acquired Zagat review service as part of an expansion of its listings for local businesses. The changes announced Wednesday eliminates an annual $25 subscription fee that Zagat had been charging for online....MORE

A user’s guide to cloud storage

May 30, 2012 4:00 am

One day, you’ll gather the grandchildren around you and tell them wondrous tales of life before cloud computing: how you used to put information, photos and music on a floppy disk, a memory card or a USB fob to carry it from one device to another. You’ll tell them how it was called....MORE

Plants, crafts at Larkspur fest

May 30, 2012 4:00 am

More than 60 vendors will be on hand Saturday at the seventh annual Larkspur Festival, put on by Bend Park & Recreation District. The free event will include a community plant sale, with herbs, vegetable starts, flowers and shrubs. Vendors will sell goods like soaps, stained glass, chicken coops,....MORE

Retro fit

• Swimwear gives a wink to vintage style, a nod to modesty

May 30, 2012 4:00 am

Whether vague or overt, the abundance of retro swimwear options continues to saturate the market. Fueled by waves of nostalgia sparked by costumes in “The Artist” and “Mad Men,” the romantic notions of times gone by remain popular. A slow-brewing trend for years, it will be....MORE

In brief

Art in the Park returns to Sisters

May 30, 2012 4:00 am

Art in the Park, an annual event featuring crafts, food and entertainment, is soon returning to Sisters. The event is coming up June 9-10 at Creekside Park, which is along U. S. Highway 20 on the east side of downtown Sisters. Artists come from all over to offer work ranging from pottery and woodwork....MORE

In brief

Moms’ event Friday, Saturday

May 30, 2012 4:00 am

Moms can mingle from 6 to 9 p. m. Friday during the Mommy Mingle event at Bend’s Baby Phases Tot 2 Teen store. Vendors will be stationed throughout the store showcasing jewelry, makeup, purses and other goods. And others, like pediatricians, physical therapists, doulas and cloth diaper experts, ....MORE

Technicolor dissects smartphones to enforce patents

May 30, 2012 4:00 am

PARIS — When Apple’s next iPhone hits store shelves, Technicolor’s engineers will rush to get the handset — not to make calls or play games, but to rip it apart. Technicolor, an unprofitable French company that invented the process for color movies used in “The Wizard....MORE

At work

Companies move to ban cellphones while driving

May 30, 2012 4:00 am

The signs dotting the parking lot outside the Owens Corning headquarters in Toledo, Ohio, make the company's new policy clear: “No cell phone while driving.”In the wake of the National Transportation Safety Board recommendation last December that states and the District of Columbia ban....MORE

Consumer confidence

Mood takes turn for worse

May 30, 2012 4:00 am

NEW YORK — Americans grew much gloomier about the economy in May, causing a critical measure of consumer confidence to suffer its biggest decline in eight months and ending a period of steady optimism. Worries about jobs, housing and the stock market rattled consumers, even though gas prices....MORE

Home prices’ decline slows

May 30, 2012 4:00 am

An index of home prices in 20 American cities slumped in March compared with a year earlier, but the slide was the slowest since December 2010. The S&P Case Shiller index of property values fell 2.6 percent after falling 3.5 percent in February. On a seasonally adjusted basis, however, the index rose ....MORE

Facebook’s stock falls below $30

May 30, 2012 4:00 am

Facebook’s stock has fallen below $30 for the first time. The stock fell $3.07, or 9.2 percent, to close at $28.84 Tuesday. That’s down 21 percent since its much-awaited public stock debut this month. Facebook Inc. began trading publicly on May 18. The initial public offering of stock....MORE

FedEx acquires Brazilian carrier

May 30, 2012 4:00 am

FedEx said it will buy a Brazilian transportation company, its third acquisition since rival UPS announced its purchase of TNT Express in Europe earlier this year. On Tuesday, FedEx Corp. said it will buy transportation and logistics company Rapidão Cometa Logística e Transportes SA, one....MORE

Phone maker warns of loss

May 30, 2012 4:00 am

Research In Motion, the embattled maker of BlackBerry smartphones, warned investors on Tuesday that it would likely post its second consecutive quarterly operating loss next month. The company also said that it had retained J. P. Morgan Securities and RBC Capital Markets, a unit of the Royal Bank of....MORE

Business calendar

May 30, 2012 4:00 am

TODAY BUSINESS NETWORK INTERNATIONAL BEND CHAPTER WEEKLY MEETING: Visitors are welcome and first two visits are free; 7 a. m.; Bend Senior Center, 1600 S. E. Reed Market Road; 541-749-0789. WINNING IN THE SECOND HALF: Hosted by Mark Schang with Edward Jones, about long term care insurance; lunch....MORE