plus 2, O-line learning on the job - San Francisco Gate

O-line learning on the job - San Francisco Gate
Abbott to cut 3,000 jobs following Solvay deal - Yahoo Finance
At St. Petersburg job fair, a flurry of 'Now hiring' signs - St. Petersburg Times

O-line learning on the job - San Francisco Gate

Posted: 18 Sep 2010 02:39 PM PDT

This time last year, 49ers left guard Mike Iupati was at Idaho, center David Baas was at left guard, right guard Adam Snyder was at right tackle and right tackle Anthony Davis was a left tackle at Rutgers...

How's that for a total makeover, offensive line-style?

Makeshift happens, and not to put too fine a point on it, but it doesn't matter when or how Jimmy Raye calls a play into Alex Smith. If the front five can't run block (they didn't at Seattle) or pass protect (they'd better Monday against the Saints), nothing else matters.

So, how did they get in this pieced-together position?

Right guard Chilo Rachal is listed as doubtful with a stinger, which means Snyder -- or offensive tackle Barry Sims -- will start against the Saints. He's lined up between Davis, who is naturally struggling with the fact he's a 20-year-old playing in the NFL, and Baas, who is holding the fort with Eric Heitmann (broken leg) out for at least a few more weeks.

The real surprise was Iupati's run-block struggles after a tremendous looking camp. He was on the ground way too often in Seattle and played way too high as far as pad levels go.

The only position group in for a tougher climb is the defensive secondary, and not just because Drew Brees is coming to town. Nickel corner Will James has been out a month with a sprained ankle and has yet to practice (he's listed as doubtful). Rookie cornerback Phillip Adams becomes the dime corner, but he's questionable with a hamstring injury.

That leaves the 49ers with three healthy corners -- Shawntae Spencer, Nate Clements and Tarell Brown -- against a defense that runs four receivers with a Pro Bowl tight end (Jeremy Shockey) and a former Heisman Trophy non-winner (Reggie Bush).

But other that, everything looks great for Monday night. Just don't ask if Raye will call plays from the booth or sideline, because 49ers coach Mike Singletary said they haven't decided yet.

Posted By: David White (Email, Twitter) | September 18 2010 at 02:13 PM

This time last year, 49ers left guard Mike Iupati was at Idaho, center David Baas was at left guard, right guard Adam Snyder was at right tackle and right tackle Anthony Davis was a left tackle at...

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php
Five Filters featured article: Beyond Hiroshima - The Non-Reporting of Falluja's Cancer Catastrophe.

Abbott to cut 3,000 jobs following Solvay deal - Yahoo Finance

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 07:26 AM PDT

On Tuesday September 21, 2010, 10:09 am

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Abbott Laboratories Inc (NYSE:ABT - News) plans to cut 3,000 jobs, or about 3 percent of its workforce, following its purchase of Solvay's (Brussels:SOLB.BR - News) pharmaceuticals business.

The cuts will take place over the next two years and the vast majority will come from one-time Solvay positions, Abbott spokesman Scott Stoffel said. The reductions will include reductions from research and development, commercial, manufacturing and other staff functions, Stoffel said.

Abbott, which has about 93,000 employees, will also close the former U.S. headquarters of Solvay's pharmaceuticals unit in Marietta, Georgia by the end of 2011. About 500 positions at a site in Weesp, the Netherlands also will be eliminated, as will 300 jobs in Hannover, Germany.

The job cuts are part of "a series of recent strategic announcements designed to position Abbott's pharmaceutical business for sustained and future growth," Stoffel said.

Abbott plans to take pre-tax charges of about $810 million to $970 million over the next two years related to the restructuring.

It also expects one-time costs of about $135 million in the second half of this year and $175 million next year related to integrating Solvay. Abbott closed its $6.2 billion deal for the Solvay drugs unit in February, giving Abbott full control of its Belgian partner's cholesterol treatments and further exposure to emerging markets.

Abbott expects to treat the various costs as specified items, and therefore it will not affect its 2010 profit forecast.

Abbott shares were down 0.3 percent at $52.08 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf; Editing by Derek Caney)

At St. Petersburg job fair, a flurry of 'Now hiring' signs - St. Petersburg Times

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 07:12 AM PDT

By Jeff Harrington, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Parisrice Robinson of Pinellas Job Corps, left, talks with Bob Christen, far right foreground, and Dwight "Ike" Bridges, both from Davaco of Dallas, at the Coliseum in St. Petersburg on Monday.
	[SCOTT KEELER \| Times]

Dwight Edwards has attended several job fairs since losing his heating and air-conditioning job a year ago. But he was taken aback by a new twist at Monday's job and career fair at the Coliseum in downtown St. Petersburg.

One booth was for a construction company. And it was hiring.

"I haven't seen one of those for a while," said Edwards, 44, of St. Petersburg.

Davaco, which builds and remodels locations for retailers, was hiring lead installers, technicians, site surveyors and lead foremen who were open to travel. Dwight "Ike" Bridges, Davaco divisional operations manager, cited demand from customers such as Target and Abercrombie & Fitch.

"Retail is picking up. We're seeing a lot of existing spaces being remodeled," he said. "If I could hire 100 people today, I would."

Many job fairs in the past two years have been filled largely with career training organizations and companies steering job seekers to fill out applications online for future openings. With Tampa Bay's unemployment hovering at 12.6 percent, the number of job hunters still heavily outweigh openings. But there were smatterings of hope for the estimated 2,500-plus who turned out for Monday's event, which was hosted by the St. Petersburg Times/tampabay.com.

Walt Disney World, which had sat out recent job fairs, was looking for reservations sales agents at its Tampa office. Valpak posted a half-dozen openings. The Nielsen Co. said it was seeking people with strong writing skills as it ramps up its Reward TV program, a website where viewers can earn reward points by correctly answering questions about the TV programs and commercials they watch.

Bank of America was not only hiring for its growing call center in Tampa, it was promoting its own open house from 4 to 7 p.m. Sept. 30 at its operations center, 4109 Gandy Blvd.

Bank recruiter Cathy Baez said the call center wanted to hire 30 more employees at the unit that handles incoming queries from small businesses.

By year-end, she said, Bank of America could have as many as 1,000 employees at the Gandy center, including 350 in the small business operation alone.

At a nearby booth, Al Feliciano, a staffing specialist with Massey Pest Services, said he had an immediate six positions to fill and aimed to add a total of 11 pest control locations in the area by December, boosting the company to 82 offices.

Massey has been adding customers both by new demand and acquisition, buying Middleton Lawn & Pest Control in December.

"A lot of people held back" during the recession, Feliciano said. "We decided to push forward and grow. … You have to keep growing."

Several companies with openings acknowledged many people visiting booths were likely to leave disappointed. Having an opening is only part of the job recovery equation; finding the right matches can be even tougher.

Still, for job hunters who have been disappointed with previous job fairs, it was a positive step.

"At least I'm seeing there's jobs available," said Chuck Sprague, 52, a longtime home builder in St. Petersburg weighing a career change.

"You hear all the doom and gloom on the news. This is encouraging."

[Last modified: Sep 21, 2010 07:03 AM]