The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 19

Market watch 2006 KIA SEDONA sm mm Dow Jones Industrials 12,686.02 Hm tax Jety all irituiti afiplud. Nasdaq composite FRIDAY, February 23, 2007 Section 2,524.94 Karen Hansen, Business editor, (309) 829-9000, ext. 236, e-mail: businesspantagraph.com MEDIA Standard Poor's 500 offer 1,456.38 Russell 2000 829.44 MONEY 1ST vuais to serae Light sweet crude oil, barrel By Kurt Erlckson kurt.ericksonlee.net SPRINGFIELD A battle for control of your television remote control is brewing in the State Capitol. In an announcement Thursday, telephone giant rolled out its plan to change state law so it can begin offering television service to Illinoisans over their phone and Internet wires. The proposal is part of a nationwide effort by the telecommunications company to make it easier for them to invade territory now dominated by cable television companies.

Supporters say allowing to compete for TV will result in lower monthly bills. "Prices will go down as competition increases," said state Sen. Bill Peterson, R-Long Grove. The cable industry is Fighting back, saying the plan could affect public access programming. In states like Florida, the fight has resulted in huge lobbying expenses by telephone and cable companies as both sides seek to influence lawmakers.

At a press conference Thursday, was joined by a handful of members of the House and Senate, as well as representatives from the business community and labor organizations. Business and labor groups are backing the proposal because has committed to spend money upgrading its transmission lines. Doug Whitley, president of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, said, "This legislation is essential because it will stimulate meaningful investment and create jobs for Illinois residents." Under current law, telephone companies already can offer video service in Illinois. But like cable companies, they must first strike franchise agreements with local governments to serve specific areas. It is strategy to eliminate the local hurdles and create a statewide franchise agreement administered by the Illinois Commerce Commission.

If approved, Illinois would join nearly a dozen other states that have similar laws in place, including Indiana. Missouri is debating the issue and Wisconsin is expected to er a similar plan in the coming months. The legislation is House Bill 1500. PantagraphDAVID PROEBER First- shift employees at State Farm Insurance Cos. corporate headquarters in Bloomington head home after a power outage halted work Thursday.

The outage at State Farm lasted about four hours, while nearby businesses lost power for only a few seconds. Outage closes State Farm $60.95 More market information, C2 Quotable "If the two actually can work together, then the combination of the two is obviously more powerful than the two butting heads." Zeus Kerravala, an analyst with California's Yankee Group Discussing a decision by Cisco Systems Inc. and Apple Inc. to share the "iPhone" name Stat shot Nikkei climbs higher Japan's Nikkei stock index rose 1.09 percent Thursday to close at its highest daily closing value since May 8, 2000. Nikkei 225 index 22,000 20,0001 reD- 1 18,108.7: 16,000 I 16.000 Monthly I closina 14.UUU yah.pr LA 6,000 '00 '01 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06'07 SOURCE: Thomson Financial AP Daily digest Loan fund change EUREKA The Woodford County Board approved a reduction in the interest rate for its revolving loan fund from 5 percent to 3 percent.

This change will allow the county to remain competitive in its effort to retain and attract new businesses. The loan program is administered by the Economic Development Council for Central Illinois and the Woodford County Board. To be -eligible for the program, businesses must be private, for-profit groups that are owners or purchasers of commercial or industrial projects in the county. If eligible, companies can use the funds to purchase land and buildings, to finance new construction and rehabilitation projects and for other capital improvements. The accrued interest is reinvested for future use.

During the past 20 years, the EDC has used the program to support the development and expansion of more than 88 Woodford County businesses totaling more than $4 million in loans. For more information, call (309) 495-5956. Watercooler Tops for taxes NEW YORK Taxes take a bigger bite out of the Big Apple than any other urban area in the nation, according to an analysis released this week. The Independent Budget Office report said local government taxes absorb $9.02 of every $100 of taxable resources here. The rate is 47 percent more than the $6.16 average for the most populous U.S.

cities. "No other large city comes close," the report said. After New York, Philadelphia rated next highest, with $7.16 per $100, and Los Angeles followed with $6.88. Of the nine cities, Dallas had the lowest rate, with $5.20 per $100. Saturday Working Wounded Columnist Bob Rosner offers advice on navigating the world of work.

i pr lit YOUR POCKETBOOK Many believe finances on track By Scott Miller scottmillerpantagraph.com BLOOMINGTON Americans might not be as financially secure as they think, according to a survey released Thursday by Country Insurance Financial Services. About 64 percent of respondents said they have enough savings to live comfortably during retirement, and more than 80 percent said they can pay debts as they become due. Still, 41 percent haven't saved or invested any of their earnings. "These numbers show people are not setting enough money aside," said Keith Brannan, director of Country's financial security office. "I think it's interesting that we feel secure in some areas but not others." About 67 percent of respondents, for example, expect to have the needed dollars to cover their children's education expenses.

One in three, meanwhile, said if they died their families would struggle financially Country's survey is the latest in a long line of studies suggesting Americans may be overconfident about their financial security. State Farm Insurance for example, released a similar survey in 2005 and more than 80 percent of respondents said they were financially secure, while four of 10 said they lived paycheck to paycheck. And one in five respondents older than 55 said they weren't on track to meet monetary goals set years earlier. And according to an A.G. Edwards study released last year, a third of all Americans have no retirement plan.

Country plans to update its survey every other month to monitor people's financial progress. Anyone can access the information, take a test on their financial security and compare the results at www.countryfi-nancialsecurityindex.com. The Web site contains other financial information as well that will be updated periodically. Country surveyed 3,000 people. The report contains a 3 percent margin of error.

has problems cell phone as a modem. Like the 770, it uses a touch screen and virtual keyboard. The new model has some nice features the 770 lacked, like a pop-out video camera, and the ability to make voice calls over the Internet. It can take two standard memory cards, rather than the one oddball card the 770 accepted. Like the 770, it does a far better job of browsing the Web than any smart phone on the market today.

The screen, like the 770's, is huge 4.2 inches diagonally and with a stunning resolution of 800 by 480, significantly larger and sharper than the much-touted iPhone screen. SEE NOKIA NEXT PAGE ft-. I it 1 AmerenIP worker checks controls at a substation at Avenue and Prospect Road on Thursday. OSF St. Joseph Center across the experienced a brief outage that lasted just seconds.

outage stemmed from "lightning arrester" Ameren's substation on Road, said Ameren Natalie Hem-mer. arrester, she said, equipment from surges. is working with State Farm to determine why power did not return quickly like it did for other customers, she said. It could be a problem with State Farm's equipment, Ameren's equipment or both, she said. "What other customers saw was a blink," Hemmer said.

For example, across the street, lights at OSF St. Joseph Medical Center flick ered as power was lost for several seconds, and emergency generators were immediately activated, spokeswoman Katy O'Grady-Pyne said. "We were on emergency generators for only eight seconds," she said. Other nearby businesses, including Eastland Mall and Country Insurance Financial Services, were not affected. Meanwhile, it was a confusing scene in a darkened front lobby as workers poured out of State Farm late Thursday morning.

Some of the front doors, normally only accessible with an electronic badge, were swung open to allow the masses to exit the building. A few others were trying to enter the building through the open doors. A lone security guard tried to answer questions from people who apparently weren't aware of the situation while also trying to keep an eye on the doors to ensure wrong people weren't trying to enter the building. SEE OUTAGE NEXT PAGE TECHNOLOGY held computer that isn't a cell phone at all. It has just brought out the latest version of this product, the $399 N800 Internet Tablet, and I've been testing it.

The N800 is part of a long-term strategy by Nokia to evolve into a company that's more a maker of small multimedia devices with connectivity, rather than primarily a maker of phones. The N800 is an overhauled version of the 770 1 reviewed last year. That model, priced at $360, was so underpowered as to be almost useless. The new one is speedier, more powerful, thinner and lighter, albeit a bit longer. Like the 770, the N800 is designed to connect to the Internet via a Wi-Fi wireless network, though it can use a Loss of power gives workers another day off By Scott Miller scottmillerpantaqraph.com BLOOMINGTON Thousands of workers at State Farm Insurance corporate headquarters got an unexpected day off Thursday after power went out for about four hours.

Between the power outages and the recent snowstorm, the employees have had several surprise days off in the last two weeks. Most of the 5,000 or so employees at the corporate office at Washington Street and Veterans Parkway were sent home for the day around 11 a.m., about an hour after the power went out. A second shift came into work around 3 p.m., shortly after power was restored. As of late Thursday afternoon, State Farm and Ameren Corp. had not determined why the problem was more severe at State Farm.

Other customers in the area, Nokia's latest If Apple can make a cell phone, can Nokia make a computer? Yes, sort of. The convergence of the computer and consumer-electronics businesses, including the mobile-phone business, is accelerating. Apple dropped the word "computer" from its corporate name last month and announced its new iPhone big-screen cell phone, to ship in June. Hewlett-Packard quietly announced its first real mobile phone last week. Smart-phone makers Palm and Research In Motion are really hybrids of cell phone and computer companies.

Meanwhile, traditional mobile-phone makers like Motorola, Nokia and Samsung have all turned out An Oakland including Medical street, power several The a blown at G.E. spokeswoman The protects power Ameren PERSONAL computer crossover attempt Ml Walter $. Mossberq smart phones, which are, in effect, little computers, with the ability to handle e-mail, multimedia, Web browsing and more. Nokia, long the leading mobile-phone company, has been pursuing an even more radical project a hand.