Webbs say CentrePointe is moving forward
An often heard question over the holidays revolved around the status of CentrePointe, the Webb Companies hotel/condominium/retail project in downtown Lexington. The site - a leveled city block in the heart of downtown bounded by Main, Upper, Vine and Limestone - has seen no activity for many weeks. And in light of current economic conditions many have wondered if the project is going forward. Business Lexington put the question in an e-mail to developer Dudley Webb. His response: "You are correct in that the site has been 'buttoned up' on an interim basis and that is simply because the city building inspector required that Diversified [the company commissioned for demolition in the project] do so under its demolition permit. Otherwise, the architects, engineers and Bovis [construction management] are still working as fast as they can to generate the information and drawings as required by the city and the state before their excavation permit can be issued." Webb added, "Believe me, we are as anxious as everyone else to get everything started, but nothing can happen on the site until these permits are in hand. Once that happens, you'll see lots of action on the site."
Webb also confirmed that the president of the House of Blues franchise has been in Lexington for initial talks about locating in CentrePointe.
Lexington real estate relatively stable
As the year gets underway with a rattled U.S. economy, how are Lexington real estate values holding up? National headlines tell of an 18 percent drop in average home prices across the land in 2008. But Kay Wright of Rector Hayden Realtors notes that these figures relate to 20 indexed cities, mostly coastal and highly inflated in previous years.
Wright offers a comparison of average home prices between 2007 and 2008 showing the average home price within the eight-county central Kentucky market has declined by just over 3 percent, with Madison County actually showing a slight increase of .6 percent.
Sotheby's brand enters Lexington real estate market
Bluegrass Sotheby's International Realty opened above the Chevy Chase Starbucks on East High Street on January 7. The new agency's 23 agents include some of Lexington's top earners, recruited from the city's largest firms. The firm, the first Sotheby's office in Kentucky, is managed and partly owned by Riley Kirn. Sotheby's usually affiliates with an established firm. The Lexington office is only the fourth stand-alone among the brand's 330 U.S. locations.
Forecast calls for milder winter after mid-January
The storms and cold temperatures that teased Kentuckians with hopes of a white Christmas probably will continue for the first half of this month, according to a University of Kentucky agricultural meteorologist.
"We should see the same thing through mid-January - - below average temperatures and some snow," said Keys Arnold.
"After the middle of January, things should warm up a little," Arnold added.
Arnold based his forecast on climate models issued by NOAA's Climate Prediction Center in Maryland, which studies global atmospheric and oceanic circulations and compares these findings to 30-year trends.
Arnold said over the winter of 2009, Kentucky may experience "a little more snow than normal" because of slight shifts in the jet stream. Those shifts may bring different storm tracks, putting Kentucky right in the path of some harsh storms.
Again, this would be a good thing, Arnold said.
"Nearly 50 percent of the state, especially the southeastern region, has experienced moderate to severe drought conditions since the end of the summer. If we could get above average precipitation for another month or two, this would give us moisture for pastures and for the upcoming planting season," he said.
Crockett and Yund to lead Frost Brown Todd
Louisville attorney John R. Crockett, III has been elected Chairman of regional law firm Frost Brown Todd (FTB), and George E. Yund, a Cincinnati attorney, has been named the Firm's Managing Member. The two assumed their roles on January 1.
On January 5, FTB merged with Indianapolis-based Locke Reynolds. With the merger, Crockett and Yund will oversee the operation of over 450 attorneys with eleven offices in five states.
The power of trash
Powers Energy of America - a company that produces bioethanol and electricity from trash and crop residue among other things - plans to start building a $210 million plant in Henderson County Kentucky in 2009.
The Evansville, Indiana-based company is coming to the region because it wants to be close to coal sources which are used in its conversion process, according to a filing with the state of Kentucky. Kentucky's Economic Development Finance Authority recently approved tax incentives worth up to $15 million toward the project.
Seven states reportedly made proposals to try and lure the company.
The Henderson plant would be the first of four plants the company wants to build in the state, said Pat Cannon, vice president of the Kentucky division of Powers Energy. It will sit in Henderson County near the Webster County line.
Powers Energy of America told the state it wants to begin construction in 2009, start operating in 2010 and complete construction by 2011. "We're ready to go on that site in early spring if we can get the financing to go through," Cannon said.
The plant could employ as many as 200 at full capacity.
Powers Energy uses a licensed technology to convert municipal solid waste, yard and wood waste, tires and coal into bioethanol for use in fuel blends E10 and E85. The plant would produce 65 million gallons annually as well as generate electricity to power itself and sell the surplus to a local power company.
In addition to the Henderson plant, Powers Energy is gaining momentum on a project in Perry County in eastern Kentucky. To date, the company has established one other subsidiary, Powers Energy One of Indiana, located in Lake County, Indiana.
- From Manufacturing & Technology eJournal, www.mfrtech.com
New treatment for blood poisoning could prove instant hangover cure
Buffalo Trace Distillery's Mark Brown offers this tidbit from the London Daily Telegraph:
A bloodstream 'cleaner' which could save thousands of lives a year by quickly disabling poisons has been invented by British scientists, and and may even provide an instant hangover cure.
The team claims to have created a molecule that can attach itself to unwanted substances in the bloodstream such as an overdose of drugs or an anaesthetic no longer required following surgery.
The molecule, Bridion, created by a team from Schering Plough in Lanarkshire, has been used in trials with patients who had been given a paralysing drug as an anaesthetic in major surgery.
Existing treatments for poisonings and insect bites are complex, while some drug overdoses, such as paracetamol, are very difficult to reverse.
The new receptor molecule forms a ring around the unwanted chemical, rendering it ineffective within three minutes, the time it takes the blood to circulate round the body. Both the molecule and the chemical can then be excreted naturally.
Possible future uses of the mechanism could include removing alcohol from the bloodstream quickly from those who have drunk too much or as a fast-acting treatment for overdoses, targeting drugs such as paracetamol which can cause liver damage as it circulates in the bloodstream. It could also be used as an antidote for poisons and toxins, such as snakebites and spider and insect bites, which can cause death and major illness.
Dr. David Hill, head of pharmacology at Schering Plough said: "We have proven the concept that you can have these artificial receptors that bind specific agents. You can imagine creating very specific molecules to interact with things.
"We have looked for things like whether it can reverse paracetamol poisoning. Although Bridion itself can't, because this molecule is very specific for the muscle relaxants, there are chemists looking at this host-guest interaction and it's not inconceivable that chemistry could be directed to make very specific agents."
Bridion works specifically on the commonly used muscle relaxants, Rocuronium and Vecuronium, used to keep patients extremely still during major surgery such as hip operations. They render the patient paralysed so surgeons can perform delicate procedures.
Dr. Hill added: "The side-effects [of Bridion] are virtually nil; you just have this fantastic reversal of the paralysis. The potential now is that the anesthetist has much greater control over the degree of muscle paralysis. When something like this comes along they are quite excited."