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Pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis on Sunday publicly confirmed for the first time its previously reported bid for Genzyme Corp. (Nasdaq: GENZ) and moved to prod Genzyme shareholders into embracing a deal that management of the Cambridge, Mass., company has so-far spurned.

The offer, outlined in a news release issued by Paris-based Sanofi-Aventis, is $18.5 billion in cash, or $69 a share. Genzyme shares were trading below $55 a share immediately before news of the July 29 offer leaked.

Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) said the offer was reiterated in a letter sent Sunday to Genzyme Chief Executive Henri Termeer, a copy of which the suitor made public.

A Genzyme spokesman did not immediately return a telephone call early Monday morning.

Sanofi-Aventis said it sent the letter only "after several unsuccessful attempts to engage Genzyme's management in discussions."

The news release goes on to state: "Sanofi-aventis is disclosing the contents of its letter in order to inform Genzyme's shareholders of the significant shareholder value and compelling strategic fit inherent in a combination of the two companies."

"A combination with Genzyme represents a compelling opportunity for both companies and our respective shareholders and is consistent with our sustainable growth strategy," Sanofi-Aventis Chief Executive Christopher A. Viehbacher said in the public statement.

"Now is the right time for Genzyme to consider a transaction that maximizes value for its shareholders," he adds later. "Sanofi-aventis believes strongly in this acquisition and its strategic and financial benefits business card design. We remain focused on entering into constructive discussions with Genzyme in order to complete this transaction."

In contrast to the upbeat news release, the letter fromViehbacher is strongly worded and even critical.

"We are disappointed that you rejected our proposal on August 11 without discussing its substance with us," Viehbacher wrote. "After our repeated requests, you agreed only to let our respective financial advisors hold a meeting of limited scope. Our financial advisors finally met briefly on August 24, but the meeting simply served as further confirmation that as throughout you remain unwilling to have constructive discussions. As I have mentioned to you, we are committed to a transaction with Genzyme, and, therefore, we feel we are left with no choice but to take our compelling proposal directly to your shareholders by making its terms public."

He later adds: "It is our preference to work together with you and the Genzyme Board to reach a mutually agreeable transaction. As we have consistently stated, we place value on the ability to engage in a constructive dialogue and to conclude a successful outcome that would ensure a timely and smooth integration."

Large pharmaceutical companies increasingly have been courting biotechs to bolster the bigger companies' patent holdings and new-drug pipelines.

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Three finalists have been selected for the Colorado Supreme Court vacancy to be left by the Nov. 30 retirement of Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey.

The finalists are:

• Monica Marquez, deputy Colorado attorney general.

• David Prince, an El Paso County district judge.

• Robert Russel, a Colorado Court of Appeals judge.

They were chosen by the Supreme Court Nominating Commission, which reviewed candidates for the vacancy on Monday and Tuesday poor credit personal loans.

The names have been forwarded to Gov. Bill Ritter, who has 15 days from Tuesday to select one of the finalists.

Citizen comments regarding the finalists can be emailed to: judicial.appointments@state.co.us

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The Orlando City Council received an $8.4 million federal grant that will allow it to retain 46 firefighter positions that would have been eliminated as part of budget cuts due to the recession.

The funding is part of the federal government’s Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response program. The grant will cover the firefighters’ salaries and benefits for a two-year period with no matching funds required.

“Securing this grant took a collaborative, bipartisan effort from Central Florida’s elected leaders,” said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer Faxless payday loans. “I want to specifically thank U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, U.S. Sen. George S. LeMieux, U.S Rep. Corrine Brown, U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson and U.S. Rep. Suzanne M. Kosmas for their willingness to partner with us to obtain this critical funding.”

The SAFER grant is expected to be distributed to the city of Orlando later this year.

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Reps. Patricia Todd and Earl Hilliard stood alongside Crestwood community leaders Friday to speak out against Trinity Medical Center’s proposed move to U.S. 280.

Todd called the planned move to HealthSouth’s empty Digital Hospital “despicable,” while Al Rutledge, president of the Killough Springs Neighborhood Association, said Trinity is moving to get closer to a wealthier population of Birmingham, leaving the Crestwood area underserved.

“It’s the money, let’s just face it,” he said. “They want to say they are following their constituents or whatever but that’s not the case.

Trinity Medical, which has been looking to replace its 40-year-old facility for several years, first made plans to build a $316 million hospital on Grants Mill Road off Interstate 459 in Irondale. It later scrapped that plan to relocate in HealthSouth’s hospital that was left unfinished after a massive accounting fraud scandal.

Several area hospitals are opposing Trinity’s move to the HealthSouth facility and a hearing with an administrative law judge is expected in the next 30 days to determine whether Trinity can go forward with receiving state approval installment payday loans.

Keith Granger, CEO of Trinity, said greater opportunities for health care service resides in the new facility.

“When you look at the overall activities of Trinity Medical Center…we serve many communities, and we serve a much larger neighborhood,” he said. “Patients from all over the state – they are looking for accessibility and technology.”

Trinity Medical currently occupies a facility dating back 40 years, which Granger said would be much more difficult to update technologically. He said the present concerns of neighbors have been heard.

“We certainly want to be sensitive to the community, but it’s compelling to look to the future,” he said. “We’ll do everything in our power to be a good neighbor and hopefully help in any way for future options here.”

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Charles Schwab's second-quarter profit was flat year over year, but beat analysts' estimates.

The San Francisco brokerage said Friday that it had net income of $205 million, or 17 cents per diluted share, in the second quarter compared with $205 million, or 18 cents per diluted share, a year ago.

Schwab’s (NASDAQ: SCHW) second-quarter revenue was $1.08 billion, compared with $1 payday loan online.085 billion a year earlier.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected earnings of 15 cents per share on $1.06 billion in revenue.

The company's shares closed up 4.05 percent at $15.14 in trading Friday.

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Former Houston Oilers quarterback Warren Moon has dropped back and thrown a deep pass into the world of sports and entertainment marketing.

Moon has opened a new company, Sports 1 Marketing, in Irvine, Calif., and has hired Dave Meltzer, formerly with high profile sports agent Leigh Steinberg to serve as chief executive officer. Moon is president of the firm.

Sports 1 Marketing will offer services for corporate or event clients with athletes and coaches to formulate advertising and sponsorship campaigns.

“Starting this business is something that I’ve been thinking about doing for quite some time, and I am confident that both the timing and the sports business environment are properly aligned,” said Moon.

Moon chose the name Sports 1 to mirror the uniform number he wore as a college football player with the University of Washington and as a professional. He played six seasons with the Canadian Football League’s Edmonton Eskimos before joining the National Football League’s Houston Oilers, where he played from 1984-1993 online payday loans. He retired in 2000 and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005.

Added Meltzer, “I am delighted to be joining forces with one of the greatest players, community activists and businessmen in recent NFL annals,” said Meltzer.

Moon, who had worked as a broadcaster for Seattle Seahawks games last season, signed a deal in April to promote a California energy drink, FITT Energy with Reservatrol, which is featured on the new Sports 1 Marketing Web site.

FITT Energy is made by Who’s Your Daddy Inc. (OTCBB: WYDI), of Mission Viejo, Calif.

Moon can be seen here promoting the product, wearing his Oilers football team uniform.

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General Electric Co. backed away Thursday from comments reportedly made by its CEO critical of President Obama and China.

The company said Jeffrey Immelt’s remarks to Italian executives in Rome were taken out of context and didn’t reflect GE policy.

The company responded to an article in the Financial Times in which Immelt is said to have told the audience that Obama doesn’t like business and business doesn’t like Obama.

"People are in a really bad mood (in the U.S.)," the paper quoted Immelt as saying. "We (the U.S.) are a pathetic exporter … we have to become an industrial powerhouse again but you don’t do this when government and entrepreneurs are not in synch."

Immelt also said China is becoming increasingly protectionist and doesn’t want any non-Chinese businesses "to win," according to the newspaper payday loans.

"The comments attributed to GE CEO Jeff Immelt by the FT were taken out of context and, in some instances, inaccurately reported," GE spokeswoman Anne Eisele said in a statement. "Mr. Immelt’s comments at a private dinner focused on the relationship between business and government in general and did not single out President Obama."

Eisele also said the "reporting of Jeff’s comments don’t reflect GE policy."

A Financial Times spokeswoman said "we stand by the accuracy of the report." 

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The Arizona Diamondbacks are hoping Edwin Jackson’s no-hitter Friday will boost merchandise and jersey sales.

Jackson threw the second no-hitter in D-backs history against the Tampa Bay Rays even though it took him 149 pitches, a highlight in an otherwise disappointing season thus far for the D-backs. This is Jackson’s first year with the Diamondbacks. He was with the Detroit Tigers last year and the Rays in 2008.

“We have ordered a number T-shirts through Majestic with his name and No lowest fee payday loans. 36 on the back,” said said team spokeswoman Tina Manzo. “MLB.com has also been promoting customized authentic jerseys with Jackson’s name and number on dbacks.com. It’s been too soon to realize the demand but we will have merchandise available when the team returns from the road for a 10-game home stand starting on Friday against the Dodgers.”

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DETROIT — Toyota said on Thursday that it would resume construction of a Mississippi plant that had been suspended 18 months ago because of the recession.

And in another sign that auto sales have improved considerably, General Motors said it would skip the annual summer shutdown at all but two of its United States plants to keep up with demand.

Toyota said its $1.3 billion plant in Blue Spring, Miss., was scheduled to begin building Corolla compact cars, not sport utility vehicles or hybrid cars as previously planned, in the fall of 2011.

Toyota said it would hire 2,000 people, the same number of jobs it originally planned to create at the plant, which is 90 miles southeast of Memphis.

Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi was scheduled to meet company executives on Thursday at the plant, which was 90 percent finished in December 2008 when Toyota halted the project amid plunging sales nationwide.

"Toyota appreciates the patience of Governor Barbour and all Mississippians, but we first needed to fully utilize our existing facilities as the economy slowed," Yoshimi Inaba, the president and chief operating officer of Toyota Motor North America, said in a statement.

"Now it’s time to fulfill Toyota’s promise in Mississippi," the statement said. "Toyota remains committed to making vehicles where we sell them and to maintaining a substantial manufacturing presence in North America."

GM said that operating nine of its 11 United States assembly plants for two extra weeks would allow it to build 56,000 additional vehicles. Some temporary workers might be hired.

The only plants that GM does not plan to keep running are in Lordstown, Ohio, which will soon start building the new Chevrolet Cruze compact car, and in Shreveport, La., which builds midsize pickup trucks and is scheduled to close by 2012.

The Detroit automakers have traditionally shut their plants in early July to prepare for building the next year’s models.

"This move will help buyers waiting for high-demand products such as the Buick LaCrosse, Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Acadia," Mark Reuss, the president of GM North America, said in a statement. "Our manufacturing teams are taking creative approaches to increase production and reduce the wait times for our dealers and customers."

Toyota said the Mississippi plant’s opening would mean "nearly all" Corollas sold in North America would be built in the United States and Canada. Some production of the Corolla, one of Toyota’s top-selling models, was moved to Japan in April, when Toyota closed a plant in Fremont, Calif., where it was assembled.

The California plant had been a joint venture of Toyota and General Motors, but GM withdrew after its bankruptcy filing last year, and Toyota said it could not operate the plant without a partner. Toyota now plans to build electric cars there in partnership with another automaker, Tesla.

Toyota initially planned to build sport utility vehicles at the Mississippi plant, then in mid-2008 said it would build Prius hybrid cars there after a surge in gas prices and demand for fuel-efficient vehicles. Toyota on Thursday did not address whether it would eventually build the Prius, which is imported from Japan, in North America.

Toyota said the building was "essentially complete" and that most of the remaining work involves equipment installation. About 60 people already work at the plant’s administration office.

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Oregon’s budget crisis could force the equivalent of seven weeks worth of court closures or the jobs of 277 full-time employees.

The Oregon Judicial Department projected that cutting its budget by 9 percent would require it to slash $13.2 million from its nearly $300 million general fund.

The department revealed that the cuts would only take place if several legislative and executive actions occur. Revenue forecasters projected that Oregon faces a $577 million shortfall compared to what they’d anticipated when the last legislative session adjourned. The shortfall means that the state must dramatically cut spending that lawmakers had already approved.

The judicial closures, which would affect courts in all 36 Oregon counties, would result from the loss of operating costs for the facilities and salary and benefits for court employees. The system includes circuit, tax and appeals courts low fee payday advance.

Attorneys and businesses needing to handle court cases could face legal logjams as judges determine how to handle civil cases. Criminal cases are handled before civil cases because defendants have constitutional rights to faster trials.

Such closures could further affect domestic violence victims or stalking victims who might find it more difficult to obtain restraining orders in a timely fashion, said Phil Lemman, a judicial department spokesman.

“There are many things like that that we handle every day for Oregonians,” he said. “Where would people go to take action on that?”

If the courts aren’t closed, some 277 employees who work in the buildings could lose their jobs.

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