The Tampa Tribune from Tampa, Florida • 31

I AIM I WEDNESDAY, MAY 10, 2006 THE TAMPA TRIBUNE TBO.c fe fc) DOW JONES INDUSTRIALS Closed at: 11,639. 77 55.23 .48 rice Since 1980 Gold At Highest 11,500 11,000 10,500 10,000" -J -iui4 0424 0501 0417 0508 500 INDEX Closed at: 1,325.14 .48 .04 NYSE INDEX Closed at: 8,646.96 23.74 NASDAQ INDEX Closed at: 2,338.25 .28 OBSERVERS SEE NO END TO THE CURRENT RUN By MADLEN READ The Associated Press NEW YORK Gold prices surged Tuesday above $700 an ounce a level not reached since 1980 as funds bought into the market, driven by weakness in the dollar, political tension in the Middle East and overall upward momentum in the commodities markets. These persistent factors have been pushing gold prices to multidecade records for months now. Gold has GOLD SILVER 699.40 21.60 1437.4 69.7 ORANGEJUICE CATTLE 163.00 5.75 74.87 HEATING OIL CRUDE OIL 199.51 4.06 70.69 .92 NATURAL GAS UNLEADED GAS 6.581 204.66 4.30 i Htm An installation crew feeds a Veri zon Communications cable underground at Fern Street and Central Avenue in Tampa in February. COMPANY CONTINUES WITH EXPANSION PLANS By RICHARD MULLINS rmullinslampatrib.com TAMPA Pasco County officials Tuesday gave Verizon Communications Inc.

approval to start seE-ing cable TV service in the county, a move that will give tens of thousands of residents a second choice for cable TV. For Verizon, the unanimous vote gives further momentum to an expensive cable TV project, and an entry into a fast-developing area dominated by cable provider Bright House Networks. "We're very happy and this is another domino down," Verizon spokesman Bob Elek said. Verizon, based in New York, has spent about $500 million in the past two years building new fiber optic networks across four area counties to offer combined telephone, high-speed Internet and cable TV service. Hillsborough County and the city of Temple Terrace already gave Verizon approval to sell the cable TV portion of that three-way service in those areas.

Tuesday's approval in Pasco County gives Verizon immediate access to more than 35,000 households where the company has completed network construction, including areas of Wesley Chapel. Construction is under way in other Pasco areas such as Keystone, Lutz and Land O' Lakes, and those areas could have Verizon's video service available in the next few months, Verizon officials said. Under the 10-year deal, Verizon will pay $50,000 initially to the county to help defray cost for such things as three public access channels, plus 19 cents per subscriber per month as the company signs up new customers. Verizon is negotiating with city of Tampa officials on a similar video franchise deal, and the city council could review the proposed agreement as early as Thursday. Reporter Richard Mullins can be reached at (813) 259-7919.

Layoffs Affect Florida AOL is shutting its call center in Jacksonville, along with cutting jobs in Utah and Arizona. DETAILS, Page 1 Bloomberg photo ir-A full IF Mif-y- i Mercantile Exchange rose to a peak of $702.20 an ounce Tuesday, before setding at $701.50, up $21.60 on the day. If gold continues rising into the coming weeks, it will mark the first time the metal has spent significant time trading above $700. The record, set in January 1980, is $875 an ounce, but it was reached in a huge day-and-a-half surge, and then gold futures fell "back under $700 before you could blink an eye," said Peter Grandich, who writes the mining and metals markets commentary The Grandich See HOT METAL, Page 6 Other metals also are doing well. equipment.

But although selling Internet routers and other products allowed Tech Data Corp. to generate $20.5 billion in sales last year, distribution typically has razor-thin profit margins. The Clearwater-based company earned $26 million last year, down from $162 million the year before. The solution? Top executives increasingly point to specialized lines of business as a way to act more like a consulting firm and boost profits. With surging sales of security cameras, Tech Data which has about 1,600 employees in the Tampa Bay area and 8,400 worldwide created a separate line of business this year for "physical security" products.

It deployed a group of staff members and engineers to better market the equipment and help companies such as Transact build systems. That makes physical security a special line of business along with divisions focusing on telephone equip- See SECURITY SYSTEMS, Page 2 New division is expected to expand. t-g- "-ai-mU i. Lower Demand Hurts Utility Mild weather is among factors driving down first-quarter net income at Progress Energy Inc. DETAILS, Page 2 risen 40 percent since late November, when for the first time in two decades the most-active contract broke through $500 an ounce.

Surpassing $700 an ounce "is important, insofar as it reinforces the overall uptrend of the market. There are people looking for much, much higher," said Bernard Hunter, director of precious metals at Scotia Mo-catta, a division of the Bank of Nova Scotia. Hunter said prices likely will consolidate at this level, then again start heading higher. Some market watchers expect gold to breach the $1,000 an ounce. June gold futures on the New York.

SURVEILLANCE EQUIPMENT IS BOOMING BUSINESS By RICHARD MULUNS rmullinstampatrib.com TAMPA Each day, scrap peddlers bring truckloads of metal to the Acre Iron Metal Co. scrap yard in Pinellas Park. Once peddlers are on the property, a series of powerful video cameras snap high-resolution images when they drive in, drop off metal, pick up their cash and drive off. If there's ever a question of where the money went, all the photos are tied to the name of everyone involved. "I'm installing dozens of systems like this lately in the U.S.

and abroad," said Ken Gruber, owner of Transact Payment Systems Inc. of St. Petersburg, which built the system for Acre Iron. "We're very busy." The popularity of sophisticated video security systems is fueling a surge in sales for a company known more for distributing computer Says Tax Guru Of $15 Million against a tax adviser, Jenkins was duped into investing in a tax shelter that was at the least questionable, and possibly illegal. For the advice, Jenkins claims a limited partnership that he set up for his estate, Meralex LP, paid the adviser a $15 million fee.

In the fall of 1998, Jenkins claims Ms trusted tax adviser Gary Korn-man flew to Lakeland and unveiled See PUBLIX CHAIRMAN, Page Adviser says loophole was legitimate. Tribune photos by BRUCE HOSKING Ken Gruber of Transact Payment Systems monitors images from the cameras that record transactions at Acre Iron Metal in Pinellas Park. As the security market booms, Tech Data is providing companies such as Transact with equipment. i BUSINESS BRIEFS TAMPA BAY AREA AC4S Gets Contract Advanced C4 Solutions Inc. of Tampa won a one-year, $3 million contract to perform technical services for the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center in Charleston, SC.

Advanced C4 employs 56 people, with about 40 percent of its staff in Tampa. TEAMM's Pain PiSI Tests A subsidiary of Accentia Bio-pharmaceuticals Inc. of Tampa has received government permission to test three pain-pill combinations. The three products will double the portfolio for TEAMM Pharmaceuticals Accentia's specialty pharmaceutical subsidiary. STATE Broadhead Isn't Grouper The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is investigating Shifco Inc.

for packaging nearly 8,000 pounds of farm-raised Vietnamese broad-head filets as grouper. The mislabeled grouper was discovered last week during a routine inspection of Shifco's food processing plant inHialeah. Broadhead, part of the catfish family, cost an average $2.50 to $3 per pound. Wholesale grouper goes for $5 to $6 a pound, state agriculture officials said. It is against the law to mislabel food, and repeat offenders can be fined $5,000.

This was Shifco's first said Liz Compton, a spokeswoman for the agriculture department. NET ITunes Selling Fox Shows Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store started selling Fox Entertainment Group's programs Tuesday, adding such TV shows as the hit series "24" and classic episodes of "Lost in Space" to its video portfolio. The distribution deal with News Fox introduces 16 more series to the online store, representing the platform's largest programming debut from a single network. NATION An American First At Toyota Hideaki Otaka, 65, the president and chief executive of Toyota Motor North America who was accused last week in a $190 million sexual harassment lawsuit in New York, is leaving the post, the auto maker said Tuesday. Otaka, who had been scheduled to leave his post in June, said he was innocent of the accusations by Sayaka Kobayashi, his personal assistant.

In response, the world's No. 2 auto maker chose Jim Press, now president of Toyota Motor Sales USA, as its first American as president of the region's operations. A staff and wire report Watch the Tribune's Mon-eySense report a 5, 6 and 11 a.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. fc.

"i- irf isi iSi 1 I rr. At Acre Iron Metal, video cameras keep track of everyone who comes and goes and their money. Publix Chairman Duped Him Out By MICHAEL SASSO msassotampatrib.com TAMPA Howard Jenkins, the chairman of Publix Super Markets Inc. and one of Tampa's richest residents, helped build the company into a superpower with a smart growth strategy and relentiess attention to cusiomer service. When it came to betting on tax advice, though, it appears Jenkins wasn't so shrewd.

In fact, he alleges in the multimillion-dollar lawsuit he has filed Hurricane Surcharge Ripped Public Service Commission staff says Florida Power Light asks too much for storm losses. DETAILS, Page 2 Saturdays on WFIA-TV..