News

Austin, TX –
State officials gave IBM an $863 million contact to consolidate data operations in 27 stage agencies. But the project has been marred with problems.

Now IBM faces the possibility of losing the contract if the company doesn't fix the issues.

The contract was supposed to save the state $178 million over seven years. Instead, the project has saved far less and frustrated state agencies with problems.

Oklahoma City, OK – An Oklahoma senator who supported a $700 billion financial rescue plan say he's concerned that the intended program won't be implemented.

Sen. Tom Coburn joined two other Republican senators in signing a letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson expressing ``deep concern'' that the mechanics of the program have been changed.

The Bush administration has changed the bailout package by dropping the idea of buying banks' troubled assets _ which was the centerpiece of the original proposal.

The plan now is to buy bank stocks.

Plano, TX – J.C. Penney says third-quarter profit fell by more than half as consumers cut back on spending and took less trips to the mall amid a deteriorating economic climate.

The department-store operator says profit for the three months ended Nov. 1 fell 52 percent to $124 million, or 56 cents per share, from $261 million, or $1.17 per share last year.

Plano, Texas-based J.C. Penny says revenue fell 9 percent to $4.32 billion from $4.73 billion last year.

Austin, TX – The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, still reeling two months after Hurricane Ike, is laying off about 3,800 people.

UT System regents yesterday announced they were forced to make the job cuts because the teaching hospital is running out of money.

UTMB's current rate of spending, including wages and benefits for faculty and staff who have not returned to work, exceeds revenues by almost $40 million per month.

Dr. Kenneth Shine, interim chancellor of the UT system, expected most of the jobs cut would be from the hospital.

Oklahoma City, OK – With a huge wind corridor in western Oklahoma and local researchers working on creating biofuels from perennial native grasses, experts say Oklahoma is poised to become a leader in the renewable energy industry.

Speaking yesterday at the Oklahoma Biofuels Conference in Oklahoma City, renewable energy experts say the emphasis on biofuels and wind energy likely will continue under President-elect Obama's administration.