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Dr. David Druker, longtime president and CEO of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation and a key architect of its expansion in the South Bay and other nearby communities, died Friday after battling lung cancer for several years. He was 68.

The news was announced July 23 by the Sutter Health affiliate on its web site and via Twitter. It came a week after a report in Palo Alto Online by longtime colleague Jay Thorwaldson that Druker, a non-smoker, was “near death.”

Druker resigned as a regional vice president with PAMF parent Sutter Health last year, the Palo Alto Weekly reported last week, and “has been scaling back his duties as he has grown less able to handle the physical demands” of running the 80-year-old PAMF and holding down corporate responsibilities for Sacramento-based Sutter.

Sutter/PAMF officials said “It is with profound sorrow that we announce the passing of Dr. David Druker, chief executive officer of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation and a member of the Board of Trustees. … Dr. Druker was a beloved colleague, friend, husband, father and grandfather. He will be greatly missed.”

Prior to becoming CEO of PAMF in 1999, PAMF's online posting said, Druker served as its chief operating officer from 1994 to 1999, and served as regional executive officer of the Sutter Health Peninsula Coastal Region, which includes all of Sutter’s hospitals and physician groups in San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties no fax payday loan.

Druker also was a member of the Sutter System Management Team, which sets overall policy for the 25-hospital nonprofit system, based in Sacramento. Druker served as executive director of the Palo Alto Medical Clinic from 1989 to 1995 and was a member of its executive board from 1979 to 1995.

Druker helped shepherd PAMF growth over the years from a 120-doctor clinic in Palo Alto to a multi-site, multi-specialty clinic with about 1,000 physicians and outposts in the Peninsula, East Bay, South Bay and Santa Cruz. He was named executive director in 1989. Later he became its chief operating officer, and then followed in the footsteps of Dr. Robert Jamplis and became its president and CEO.

He also was a key architect of PAMF’s 1993 affiliation with Sutter.

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The once wide-open doorway to homeownership closed a teensy bit more this week when a key government agency announced a proposal to no longer allow mortgages for borrowers with very low credit scores.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development said that it intends to require borrowers to have scores of at least 500 to qualify for FHA-insured loans. The agency has not required a minimum score before.

The practical impact of this move will be extremely limited; during the second quarter of 2010, no FHA-insured loans were issued to borrowers with sub-500 scores. And, in fact, less than 1% of borrowers were below 580; most loans went to borrowers with scores above 620.

"It really is just conforming FHA standards to what FHA lenders have already been doing," said Michael Fratantoni, vice president of research and economics for the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The initiative is part of an ongoing effort to reduce default risk to the FHA loan portfolio and to boost the reserves that back those loans, according to HUD Commissioner David Stevens.

"These are the latest in a series of changes to allow the FHA to manage its risk better while continuing to support the nation’s housing recovery," he said. "By protecting FHA’s capital reserves, we can continue providing affordable, responsible mortgage products and will remain the nation’s largest source of home purchase financing for underserved communities."

HUD has been expressing increasing concern over default risk in the wake of the housing bust. The percentage of delinquent FHA loans has trended up, as have rates for virtually all mortgage loans.

During May, 8.97% of all FHA loans were seriously delinquent (seasonably adjusted). That was up from 7.93% during May 2009. But defaults have turned downward since January, when they peaked at 9.16%.

The defaults have drained FHA reserve, which is funded by insurance payments, to below the 2% minimum mandated by Congress. Taxpayer money could be in jeopardy if the insurance funds are depleted any further.

The FHA had earlier proposed steps to reduce delinquencies and so cut that risk. One was to raise the minimum downpayment to 10% for borrowers with credit scores below 580.

Another was to reduce allowable seller concessions to no more than 3% of the sale price. That would force buyers to make more of a financial commitment to their home. Given more "skin in the game," they are less likely to default.

These policies are all still in the proposal stage. Before going into effect, the department is soliciting public comment on the matters for 30 days. Then, it will evaluate the comments before implementing any changes.

The FHA has taken on increasing importance since the subprime mortgage crisis hit. It not only has continued its primary mission, providing mortgage financing for underserved constituencies, but is also issuing low down-payment loans for other Americans who would have had access to private lending in the past.

Congress also raised the maximum people could borrow so that home buyers in high-housing-cost areas could qualfy for FHA loans.

All this has combined to raise FHA market share to about 25% of all loans being issued right, up from just a couple of percentage points a few years ago. The FHA, along with the other government-backed mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, now account for nearly all the mortgage lending activity in the nation today. 

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BP is still among the biggest suppliers of fuel to the U.S. military, and the Defense Department has no plans to stop awarding the company lucrative contracts.

As of last week, BP has been awarded 17 contracts valued at just under $1 billion, the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) said. That makes BP the third-largest supplier of fuel to the armed services so far this fiscal year.

In fiscal 2009, the DLA granted BP a total of 26 contracts valued at $2.2 billion, or nearly 12% of overall fuel purchases, making it the military’s largest fuel supplier that year.

Mimi Schirmacher, a spokeswoman for the DLA, said the agency currently has no plans to replace BP as a supplier.

"BP participates in multiple DLA programs," she said. "Since no debarment or suspension actions are in effect, they are currently eligible for contract awards according to the Federal Acquisition Regulation."

In fact, BP has already received one small contract since the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon killed 11 workers and led to a catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. On May 17, the DLA awarded BP a contract worth $342,854 over four years to supply jet fuel to a regional airport in Oregon.

Schirmacher said the DLA is currently considering bids for bulk fuel contracts from companies including BP, but the agency can take into account "all relevant facts" when deciding which supplier to use.

While many federal agencies have the power to bar or suspend companies from receiving government contracts, the authority is rarely used against large companies such as BP, said Neil Gordon, a contract and misconduct investigator at the Project on Government Oversight.

"Debarment authority is mostly used for smaller companies and individual contractors," he said. "It’s very rarely used against bigger players like BP no fax payday loans."

However, the Environmental Protection Agency has used its debarment authority to prevent two particular BP facilities from receiving federally funded contracts.

The EPA barred BP’s Texas City Refinery last year for violations of clean air and water acts following an explosion in 2005 that killed 15 workers and injured several more. The agency took similar measures against a BP facility in Alaska in 2008.

An EPA spokeswoman said the agency is closely monitoring the investigations into the circumstances leading to the explosion and spill in the Gulf of Mexico. "EPA will weigh its options under our debarment authority and take appropriate actions," the spokeswoman said.

The EPA had been in talks with BP to lift the existing bans, but the agency has temporarily called them off, pending the outcome of an independent probe into the Gulf spill.

BP spokesman Darren Beaudo declined to provide details on the company’s government contracts, and would not comment on any possible debarment.

"It’s too early to speculate about any actions as a result of any investigations," he said.

Even if the EPA or another agency decides to bar BP as a result of the current spill, the effect may be minimal. That’s because debarment authority typically applies only to individual facilities, and is not usually a company-wide action.

In addition, agencies have a lot of latitude in how they enforce the sanctions and past debarments have been successfully repealed by company lawyers.

"It’s not a very ironclad procedure," said Gordon. "There are always exceptions or waivers." 

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Mobile ad network InMobi said on Tuesday it has raised $8 million in second round funding from Menlo Park venture firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sherpalo Ventures.

The Bangalore, India-based company has its U.S. office in San Mateo.

Both Kleiner and Sherpalo invested in InMobi, which has now raised $15 million, earlier.

InMobi has recently begun building out its network in the U same day payday loans.S. after establishing itself in Asia, Europe, and Africa. The startup was founded in 2007 and says that it delivers 16.7 billion ad impressions a month.

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Denver Regional Transportation District received a $5.2 million grant to replace as many as eight shuttles on the 16th Street Mall.

The funds are from the U.S. Department of Transportation as part of a $293 million program to help make transit improvements.

The 16th Street Mall is a pedestrian mall in the heart of downtown Denver, with free shuttle buses carrying passengers up and down the strip throughout the day low rates payday advance.

An estimated 50,000 people ride the mall shuttles daily.

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"Buddy" has been selected as the name of the badger gracing the tail of Frontier Airlines’ 99-seat Embraer 190 aircraft.

From May 28 through July 4, more than 15,000 Wisconsin residents voted online and at Summerfest in Milwaukee in a runoff of three potential names for the badger — Bella, Buddy or Cookie. Frontier Airlines narrowed the list to the three names after receiving thousands of name suggestions.

Buddy joins a cast of “spokesanimals” that includes Flip the dolphin, Jack the rabbit and Larry the lynx that adorn Frontier’s planes and appear in the airline’s award-winning advertising campaign.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Buddy to the Frontier family,” said Ian Arthur, vice president of marketing and branding for the airline. “Our badger aircraft is a great way to honor the Wisconsin roots of Midwest Airlines and to show that we offer a truly different and better flying experience pay day loans.”

Frontier is a wholly owned subsidiary of Indianapolis-based Republic Airways Holdings Inc. Republic acquired Frontier Airlines of Denver and Oak Creek-based Midwest Airlines in separate deals last year. The Midwest Airlines brand is being merged into Frontier and the combined airlines will operate under the Frontier name.

One person will be chosen at random from all Wisconsin residents who voted for the new badger name to receive a $1,000 Fly Bucks card to be used toward travel on Frontier Airlines. Ten runners-up will receive $50 Fly Bucks cards.

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ZipRealty will turn all its California-based agents into independent contractors on Sept. 1.

The move by the nation’s fifth-largest real estate brokerage based on transaction volume is another sign of the dramatic steps companies are taking to shed the costly burden of employees and the taxes, health care and other expenses that come with them.

ZipRealty’s decision could also make the brokerage more competitive in an industry in which about 80 percent of agents nationwide are independent contractors.

“Over the past ten years, ZipRealty has succeeded by capitalizing on new technologies and evolving to take advantage of changing market conditions. Our move today to the independent contractor model in California is another bold step forward, and one that we believe will build on our strengths within ZipRealty’s largest market area.” said Patrick Lashinsky, president and CEO of Emeryville-based ZipRealty . (NASDAQ: ZIPR)

“ZipRealty’s independent contractor agents will be free to develop their own work styles and will have access to an expanding array of compensation alternatives,” he added. “From a financial standpoint, this shift is expected to provide greater opportunity for our agents, while also improving ZipRealty’s ability to drive growth and innovation long term.”

The conversion means ZipRealty, with about 900 agents in California, will no longer offer medical, dental or 401(k) benefits to the former employees.

ZipRealty operates in 35 major markets in 22 states and the District of Columbia.

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The City & County of Honolulu will upgrade its aging sewer system to prevent spillage and contamination as part of a settlement announced Monday with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The settlement is in response to four lawsuits filed over the past 16 years.

The questionable fitness of the city’s water treatment gained greater public awareness after nearly 48 million gallons of sewage entered Waikiki canals in 2006 when rainwater overloaded the wastewater system.

“This is a significant long-sought-after win for the environment and a much-needed change in the management of the city’s sewage treatment system,” said Robert D. Harris, director of the Sierra Club’s Hawaii chapter empire payday loans. “We applaud the city for finally committing to fix our sewer system after decades of neglect and years of difficult litigation.”

The settlement is aimed at improving Honolulu’s wastewater collection system by establishing a fixed timetable for regular improvements and inspections.

It also requires the implementation of a long-term schedule for upgrading some of its primary wastewater treatment plants to more advanced secondary treatment systems.

Many of the details of the settlement were not disclosed, but previous cost estimates for new treatment facilities have hovered near $1.2 billion.

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Hasbro Inc., the nation’s No. 2 toymaker, said Thursday it is not having discussions regarding the sale of the company, contradicting a published report that briefly drove the company’s stock higher.

In a statement, the maker of such toys as G.I. Joe, Transformers and Mr. Potato Head confirmed that it had been approached by a private equity firm it did not identify regarding a transaction, but said that its board concluded that it would not pursue a deal.

A report in Thursday’s Wall Street Journal said Pawtucket, R.I.-based Hasbro (HAS) recently held preliminary talks with private-equity firm Providence Equity Partners.

The company’s stock price soared as much as 12% in pre-market trading, before losing steam after the statement. Hasbro’s stock price rose 3.1% Thursday to $42.35 a share.

The Hasbro talk came about a month after the world’s largest toy retailer, Toys "R" Us Inc., announced plans to raise $800 million through an initial public offering, marking its second turn in the public market. In 2005, under pressure from slumping sales, Toys "R" Us was taken private for $6.6 billion by a group led by Bain Capital, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, and Vornado Realty Trust.

Some analysts say that mature companies such as Hasbro and Toys "R" Us, with relatively limited growth prospects, tend to seesaw between private and public status over time as a way to improve the business’ performance.

"By taking the company private, you can unload debt, improve the business, and make management changes," said Sucharita Mulpuru, a retail analyst for Forrester Research.

Hasbro had about $4.1 billion in sales in 2009 and is currently sitting on about $1.4 billion in long-term debt. Its market capitalization is about $6.1 billion.

Speculation about Hasbro’s intentions came as no suprise to Mulpuru, who said that the advent of electronics and Apple’s (AAPL, Fortune 500) prowess in handheld devices have encroached on the traditional toy market, making it more difficult for these companies to compete.

Although Hasbro has denied the report that it will pursue a deal, Mulpuru said that a transaction could still be in the offing, if the price was right.

"There’s a good chance that it could be a veiled invitation for more bids," said Mulpuru. "Where there’s smoke, there’s fire."  

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Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle submitted a list of 39 bills to the state Legislature Monday that she has the option of vetoing in the next 10 days.

Reasons that the bills have been placed on the list vary from legal or constitutional concerns and potential unintended consequences to technical flaws in writing the legislation.

“While the Legislature each year passes legislation it believes is important, it is my duty as governor to ensure the bills that become law are constitutional, fiscally responsible and in the state’s and the public’s long-term best interest,” Lingle said in a prepared statement Monday.

The Hawaii Constitution requires the governor to give the Legislature 10 days’ notice of any bill she is considering vetoing. This year, the deadline to veto bills is July 6.

Putting a bill on the possible veto list does not mean that it will be vetoed. Lingle could still sign it into law or allow it to become law without her signature.

Bills on the possible veto list are:

• House Bill 415, which directs the state auditor to conduct an audit of the Department of Public Safety’s contract for prison beds and services outside of Hawaii and with the federal detention center in Honolulu. Lingle placed it on the list saying it is expensive and unnecessary.

• House Bill 444, which would extend the same rights, benefits, protection and responsibilities of spouses in a marriage to partners in a civil union.

• House Bill 865, which would create a state and county transportation working group to study the feasibility of transferring all applicable state highway maintenance functions to counties with areas that had a population of between 100,000 and 135,000. It was put on the list because it was an unfunded mandate that was lacking resources and time to adequately complete the study, Lingle said.

• House Bill 921, which allows 999-year homestead leases to be assigned to land trusts that are created for purposes of managing and holding the homestead leasehold estate for the benefit of the lessee and lessee’s family members. Lingle said it could complicate lease transfer by bypassing existing statutes that provide for the determination of a successor.

• House Bill 1015, which temporarily enables the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to begin construction of housing and other projects without having the full amount of capital costs on hand at the beginning of the project. The governor said it might violate the Hawaii State Constitution and creates additional ambiguities.

• House Bill 1212, which provides that there is no significant privacy interest for the recording of complaints. Lingle said it might disallow the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs from disclosing pending complaints against a business or professional to the detriment of consumers who need the information for informed decision-making.

• House Bill 1665, which prohibits the sale of fee interests of public lands on which government-owned Hawaiian fish ponds are located. Lingle said it inadvertently resulted in the Department of Transportation caring for fish ponds that were intended to be made available to other organizations after being acquired as part of the Kalanianaole Highway widening project.

• House Bill 1907, which temporarily places a cap on itemized deductions claimed on state income tax returns until Jan. 1, 2016. The governor contended that it adversely impacts Hawaii taxpayers and businesses by capping state income tax itemized deductions, contrary to economic policy.

• House Bill 2083, which requires milk beverages to be labeled with the date of pasteurization or the date of packaging. It takes Hawaii out of compliance with the National Conference of Interstate Milk Shipper’s Pasteurized Milk Regulations, Lingle said.

• House Bill 2133, which requires the state Procurement Office to authorize reseller agreements in multistate contracting agreements and to place orders directly with local resellers designated by original equipment manufacturers. Lingle said it inappropriately requires the state Procurement Office to authorize reseller agreements in multistate contracting agreements, and narrowly defines “local reseller.”

• House Bill 2152, which authorizes the Disability and Communication Access Board to charge a fee to defray the cost of reviewing construction plans. Lingle said she included it on the list because it charges a significant fee for the review of American Disabilities Act compliance and duplicates compliance reviews already done by professional architects and engineers.

• House Bill 2239, which removes the exemption for dietary supplements from the deposit beverage container program. Lingle argued that it increases the cost of dietary supplements and impacts consumers purchasing healthy beverages.

• House Bill 2283, which requires government purchasers and private entities offering goods and services for sale to government purchasers to follow ethical principles in matters relating to procurement. Lingle said it subjects public employees and private entities to criminal sanctions under vague and nonspecific principles of procurement ethics.

• House Bill 2289, which extends the minimum expiration period for gift certificates from two to five years except for paper gift certificates. The governor said it establishes fees on the issuance of gift certificates, reversing previous statutes that prohibited such fees.

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