Business Wire
A new all-time high output of solar power was achieved with the generation of 2,071 megawatts (MW) on June 7 in California. That amount of energy is enough to power more than 1.5 million homes.
“This new record is remarkable considering the amount has more than doubled since last September when solar peaked at 1,000 megawatts,” says Steve Berberich, California ISO president and CEO. “We are excited by this trend and expect to hit more record peaks on a regular basis.” read more »
Costco CEO Craig Jelinek is eliminating self-service checkout from stores because he says his employees do a better job.
“They are great for low-volume warehouses, but we don’t want to be in the low-volume warehouse business,” he told Bloomberg Businessweek.
Costco has tested self-checkout in the past. Jelinek told Businessweek that human cashiers are more efficient.
His decision comes at a time when competitor Wal-Mart is adding 10,000 self-service checkout systems to stores. read more »
BREMERTON — The Kitsap Public Health District has released its annual health “report card” for Kitsap County. First released in 2006, the district’s Kitsap County Core Public Health Indicators report is a synthesis of population and public health data that provides an overview of the health of Kitsap County residents and their surroundings.
The report is available online at this link.
The report includes social and economic, physical environment, health care, and personal behavior indicator data, all impacting public health. read more »
The Bremerton Chamber of Commerce will feature a presentation at its monthly lunch meeting June 18 on how the new health care law will affect businesses.
Guest speaker Matthew Heikkala is from Bell Anderson Insurance, and is an expert on the Affordable Health Care Act. He has a very informative presentation about how it will affect your business.
The lunch will be at 11:30 a.m. at Kitsap Golf and Country Club. Register online at bremertonchamber.org. Those who register by June 12th will receive the Early Bird Special and save $4.
WASHINGTON — The National Security Agency (NSA) and the FBI are tapping directly into the central servers of nine leading U.S. Internet companies, extracting audio and video chats, photographs, emails, documents and connection logs that enable analysts to track one target or trace a whole network of associates, according to a top-secret document obtained by The Washington Post.
The program, code-named PRISM, has not been made public until now. It may be the first of its kind. The NSA prides itself on stealing secrets and breaking codes, and it is accustomed to corporate partnerships that help it divert data traffic or sidestep barriers. But there has never been a Google or Facebook before, and it is unlikely there are richer troves of intelligence than the ones in Silicon Valley. read more »
OLYMPIA — The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has filed a lawsuit to recover the costs of fighting the Taylor Bridge Fire that started Aug. 13, 2012. The lawsuit is against Conway Construction Co. and Rainier Steel, Inc. Conway Construction was working under contract with the Washington State Department of Transportation, and Rainier Steel, Inc. was a subcontractor.
“Negligence put the public in danger of this fast-moving wildfire,” said Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark. “DNR will make every effort to hold all responsible parties to full account for the Taylor Bridge Fire’s cost.” read more »
PR Newswire - US Newswire
Seattle-area entrepreneurs will get tips on how to use technology to stay competitive, useful international trade strategies, and best practices from successful local business leaders on June 17 at the U.S. Small Business Administration’s National Small Business Week event.
The informational sessions and workshops will be held at the Microsoft Campus, Building 37, in Redmond.
SBA Administrator Karen Mills, Cindy Bates, vice president of the U.S. Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMB) organization at Microsoft Corp., and Joe Koreis, president and CEO of Clarus Fluid Intelligence, LLC, will discuss how technology can help businesses break into private and public sector supply chains. read more »
The special meeting of the Kitsap Public Facilities District (PFD) board of directors to review proposals for capital projects has been changed to a different location in Silverdale.
The meeting will be June 10 at 5:30 p.m. in the Poplar Room at the Silverdale Community Center, 9729 Silverdale Way NW.
The meeting is open to the public and the agenda can be found online at www.kitsap-pfd.org/agendas.html.
The capital project proposals were submitted by the current partners in the three PFD-financed facilities read more »
Seattle-based Amazon.com (AMZN) has a crosstown retail rival in Costco Wholesale (COST), located in nearby Issaquah, and the histories of the companies are interestingly intertwined. During Amazon’s formative years, founder Jeff Bezos got some key advice from his Costco counterpart, Jim Sinegal. And Amazon Prime, the two-day shipping club, was inspired in part by Costco’s membership fees and the psychological inclination of shoppers to maximize the benefits of a club they have already paid to join.
As I was researching the connections between the companies last year for my upcoming book on Amazon, I called Sinegal and left a message asking if he could talk. He called back on a Saturday and left his cell phone number, then invited me to Costco’s headquarters for a one-on-one visit. read more »
