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PROGRESS UPS DIVIDEND: Progress Energy raised its quarterly dividend from 56 cents to 57.5 cents per share, extending its streak of annual dividend increases to 16 years. The electric utility's first dividend at the new rate will be payable Feb. 2 to shareholders of record Jan. 12.
TOURISM RISES A TICK: Pinellas County tourism increased in October a modest 1 percent to 519,000 people compared to the same month a year ago, according to Research Data Services Inc. The hotel occupancy rate was 66 percent, up from 65 percent a year ago. The average daily room rate increased 1 percent to $64.79. Through the first 10 months of 2003, the number of room nights sold was flat.
WORKERS' COMP DISCUSSION: Representatives of the state Department of Financial Services will answer questions and hear comments Friday about how a new worker's compensation law will affect the construction industry. The meeting will be held from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Pinellas County Commission Assembly Room, 315 Court St., fifth floor, in Clearwater.
GRAND JURY TACKLES WAL-MART: A grand jury in Pennsylvania is to convene today to consider a case against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in which the world's largest retailer is accused of using illegal workers to clean floors in its stores. Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne Samuelson, whose office is in Williamsport, Pa., would not discuss details of the case. "All I can say is it's going to be a long investigation," Samuelson said Wednesday. "Don't anticipate anything (this) afternoon or in the next couple of weeks." Wal-Mart spokeswoman Mona Williams said Wednesday that the company was bound by federal rules of grand jury secrecy and could not comment.
INTEL MERGES UNITS: Less than a week after warning of a $600-million fourth-quarter charge, Intel Corp. said it is consolidating the unit that caused the problem into another of its businesses. The new Intel Communications Group will provide the silicon chip-based building blocks for networks, cellular phones and handheld computers. Chips for cell phones and handhelds were previously handled by the semiconductor giant's Wireless Communications and Computing Group. "Consolidation gives us better product planning and customer focus in these strategically critical areas going forward," Craig Barrett, Intel's chief executive, said Wednesday.
DIETERS PUMP EGG PRICES: Low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets adopted by millions of people hoping to lose weight have contributed to sharply rising egg prices, industry experts agree. Egg prices have spiked across the nation in recent weeks, reaching a 20-year high of $1.40 a dozen. Holiday baking and thinning chicken flocks are partly responsible, but protein-conscious dieters have created new demand. "Proteins have gone through the roof, and eggs have gone along for the ride," said Tom Kruchten, a spokesman at the National Agricultural Statistics Service. "Eggs are a heck of a lot cheaper protein than beef."
JOURNAL EX-EDITOR DIES: Bob Bartley, a former editor of the Wall Street Journal whose conservative voice was a staple of the paper's editorial page for 30 years, died Wednesday of cancer at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital in New York. Bartley, 66, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1980 for his editorials. He turned over the day-to-day operations of the editorial pages to Paul Gigot in September 2001. "Bob had a profound influence on the Journal, on journalism, and on public life in America and beyond," said Peter R. Kann, chairman and CEO of Dow Jones & Co., which publishes the Journal. The White House announced last week that Bartley would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award. The award called Bartley one of the most influential journalists in U.S. history. Bartley is survived by his wife, Edith, who was his high school girlfriend, three daughters and a brother, Dale.