Oakland Tribune - JetBlue exits Atlanta

Discount airline JetBlue Airways is pulling out of Atlanta six months after it arrived, canceling flights to the West Coast, including Oakland, because of intense competition from Delta Air Lines and AirTran Airways. JetBlue had entered the Atlanta market to challenge Delta’ dominance between there and Long Beach, Calif., and the move roughly coincided with Delta’s launch of its own discount airline, Song. It also prompted AirTran to add coast-to-coast flights. JetBlue’s Atlanta-Long Beach flight was the first nonstop service to the West Coast by a discount carrier, resulting in fares for advance-purchase flights that were as low as $176 round-trip at the height of the price war. But on Thursday, JetBlue officials said they would pull out on Dec. 4, ending service to Long Beach and Oakland.

STATE

Spam suit nets $2 million

Attorney General Bill Lockyer Friday announced that a Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge William F. Martin has ordered a Southern California marketing firm to pay $2 million in penalties in an anti- spam lawsuit. The lawsuit, filed by Lockyer in September 2002, is the first ever under California’s 1998 anti-spam law. The suit was filed against Southern California firm PW Marketing and owners Paul Willis and Claudia Griffin. California residents who have received spam are encouraged to file a complaint. Complaints can be filed online at www.ag.ca.gov/consumers/mailform.htm

QUICKLY

Hayward-based Pacific Cheese Co. won a silver award in SYSCO’s ninth annual Supplier Recognition Awards ceremony in Houston this week. 4 Bishop Ranch Business Park in San Ramon and Hacienda Business Park in Pleasanton have qualified for the Environmental Protection Agency’s second annual list of the Bay Area’s best workplaces for commuters. 4 San Ramon’s ChevronTexaco Corp. signed an agreement to supply about $21 billion of liquefied natural gas to China from its Gorgon project in Western Australia. 4 Berkeley biopharmaceutical firm Dynavax Technologies Corp. said it plans to raise up to $90 million in an initial public offering of its stock. The money-losing firm, which filed a registration statement Friday, is developing products to treat ragweed allergy, hepatitis B and asthma. Dynavax filed for an IPO in 2000 but withdrew it in 2001. 4 Alameda’s NorCal Community Bancorp, parent company of the Bank of Alameda, announced a 3-for-2 stock split of NorCal’s common stock to be distributed Dec. 1 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 5. 4 Peet’s Coffee & Tea of Emeryville said its coffee will be sold in 23 Bashas’ Supermarkets, an independent grocery chain in Arizona. Also, Peet’s said its coffee will be sold in all nine AJ’s Fine Food stores in Arizona.

4 Emeryville’s RelayHealth Corp. said Denver’s Physician Health Partners will license its online doctor-patient communication services.