Austin American-Statesman (Austin, TX) articles from August 2003

Austin American-Statesman (Austin, TX) archives from August 2003

Officials Detail Plans to Raze Austin, Texas, Intel Eyesore, Build Courthouse.
August 1, 2003... Byline: Shonda Novak Aug. 1--Wrecking crews won't raze the unfinished Intel Corp. building in downtown Austin until 2005 to make way for a new $75.9 million federal courthouse that will create hundreds of construction jobs and house 220...

Recapturing Returns of Past Presents Tough Challenge for Venture-Capital Funds.
August 4, 2003... Byline: Lori Hawkins Aug. 4--Venture capital funds are still reeling from the bursting of the tech bubble nearly three years ago. Funds raised in the past five years are awash in red ink, and venture capitalists are going to have to...

Austin, Texas-Based Jeweler Files Bankruptcy, Closes 10 Stores, Cuts Jobs.
August 5, 2003... Byline: Claudia Grisales Aug. 5--Austin-based Samuels Jewelers Inc., the eighth-largest U.S. retail jewelry chain, said Monday that it filed for bankruptcy, shut down 8 percent of its stores and slashed about 50 jobs because it was plagued...

Developers Have Luxury Hotel in Works for Austin, Texas-Area Resort.
August 6, 2003... Byline: Shonda Novak Aug. 6--Construction has begun on a luxury hotel and conference center at the upscale Horseshoe Bay Resort about 45 miles northwest of Austin. HSB Development Inc. announced its plans for the hotel in early 2001....

SBC Ready to Sweep into World of Wi-Fi Internet Access.
August 6, 2003

$10 Million Boosts Austin, Texas, Broadband-Networking Startup.
August 6, 2003

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. to Buy Unit, Build Business Outside PCs.
August 7, 2003... Byline: Kirk Ladendorf Aug. 7--Advanced Micro Devices Inc. signaled Wednesday that it aims to expand its fledgling business that develops processor chips for a variety of noncomputer products, including television set-top boxes and home...

Austin, Texas-Area Housing Construction Goes Full-Steam Ahead.
August 7, 2003... Byline: Shonda Novak Aug. 7--Two months ago, Tracy Armitage and Adam Lyons ended up by chance at Main Street Homes' Forest Bluff subdivision in far eastern Travis County. Lured by a 7-foot robot and free hot dogs, the couple toured a model...

Austin, Texas-Based Web Site Rides Wave of Blogging Popularity.
August 11, 2003... Byline: Kirk Ladendorf Aug. 11--Adam Weinroth has built one of the busiest Web sites in Austin. But if you're over the age of 30, you might not have heard of Easyjournal.com. Weinroth's site is a platform for the newest Internet craze:...

Smaller Austin, Texas, High-Tech Firms Join Trend of Moving Work Overseas.
August 11, 2003... Byline: Amy Schatz Aug. 11--When Austin-based Pragma Systems Inc. released new software for personal digital assistants last month, it marked a significant turn for the 13-year-old firm. The software was the creation of Pragma...

Worm Spreads Trouble, Disrupts Computers.
August 13, 2003... Aug. 13--One of the worst computer "worms" to attack the Internet in years is squirming into hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide. As it progressed Tuesday, the attack crashed computers at businesses, homes and institutions such as...

Worms Plague Microsoft Again.
August 13, 2003... Byline: Kirk Ladendorf Aug. 13--Somebody out there doesn't like Microsoft. The author of the "MS Blaster" computer worm that affected more than 100,000 machines worldwide included a nasty hidden message to Microsoft Corp. and its...

Airlines Turn to Regional Jet Use in Austin, Texas, Market.
August 14, 2003... Byline: Claudia Grisales Aug. 14--If you think the planes seem to be getting smaller at the Austin airport these days, it's not your imagination. As the beleaguered airline industry continues to look for ways to stem billions of...

Southwest Flight Attendants Visit Airports in Effort to Seek Better Pay.
August 14, 2003... Byline: Lori Hawkins Aug. 14--Even when they picket, Southwest Airlines flight attendants have a sense of humor. About a dozen flight attendants who say they are tired of working for peanuts held a "Tough LUV" demonstration outside...

Experts: Long Economic Slide in Central Texas Has Hit Its Low Point.
August 14, 2003

Austin, Texas-Based International Sematech's Moving Decision Not Likely Today.
August 14, 2003

Robust Sales Growth Drives Up Dell's Second-Quarter Profit.
August 15, 2003... Byline: Amy Schatz Aug. 15--Dell Inc. continued to win customers away from rivals, posting healthy results for the second quarter, earning $621 million, or 24 cents a share, on revenue of $9.78 billion. The Round Rock-based computer...

Central Texas Job Growth Rate Increases in July.
August 15, 2003... Byline: Claudia Grisales Aug. 15--The Central Texas jobless rate dropped to 5.9 percent last month, as the area's work force saw its annual growth rate reach its highest level in more than two years, according to the Texas Workforce...

Austin, Texas, Officials Hope for Out-of-Town Stampede to New Nordstrom Store.
August 15, 2003... Byline: R. Michelle Breyer Aug. 15--For the past 12 years, Austinite Mary Ann Vineyard has searched out Nordstrom department stores in every city she has visited. On a recent trip to Southern California, she spent nearly $1,500 at...

Austin, Texas-Area Foreclosures on Rise.
August 19, 2003... Byline: Shonda Novak Aug. 19--Property foreclosures keep rising in Central Texas, and economists say the picture isn't likely to improve until as late as 2005, when the region is predicted to return to more vigorous job growth. For...

Texas's Largest Insurers Fight Mandated Home Rate Rollbacks.
August 19, 2003... Byline: Shonda Novak Aug. 19--Companies that insure more than 70 percent of all Texas homeowners are protesting orders by the Texas Department of Insurance to cut their rates. Ten of the 24 companies that received rate-cut orders filed...

Dell Lowers Equipment Prices after Hewlett-Packard Misses on Earnings.
August 21, 2003... Byline: Amy Schatz Aug. 21--Dell Inc. turned the screw Wednesday on rival Hewlett-Packard Co., announcing price cuts less than 24 hours after H-P missed its earnings target and said it will raise prices to shore up profit. Dell's cuts...

Rising Mortgage Rates Push Buyers to Set Austin, Texas-Area Home-Sale Record.
August 21, 2003... Byline: Shonda Novak Aug. 21--A record 1,828 existing Central Texas homes were sold in July as buyers scrambled to purchase before mortgage interest rates climbed higher. "People are getting off the fence and buying," said Joe...

For Real Interns, Working at Dell Is Nothing Like Company's TV Commercials.
August 22, 2003... Byline: Amy Schatz Aug. 22--Julian Anugom stood transfixed, as smoke and flames began rising from the server he had been testing. It took just seconds for him to lunge for the power cord, wrenching it out of the wall, but the time seemed...

Austin, Texas-Based Software Maker Says Fast Growth Is Key to Its Survival.
August 25, 2003

Austin, Texas, Startup Is Crafting Technology for Wireless Data Communication.
August 25, 2003

AT&T Requests Review of Texas Wholesale Phone-Line Rates.
August 26, 2003

Wal-Mart Faces Fight in Austin, Texas, Neighborhood.
August 26, 2003

Susan Dell to Close Austin, Texas, Clothing Boutique, Shift to Direct Sales.
August 26, 2003

Design Method Developed at University of Texas May Lead to Superprocessor.
August 27, 2003

Texas Law on Jobless Training Comes under Fire.
August 28, 2003

Motorola Cuts Wireless-Chip Jobs.
August 28, 2003