JUPITER, Fla.--BioQuest Technologies, Inc., (Pink Sheets:BQTG), a leading developer of innovative, environmentally safe antimicrobial products, today announced an agreement with Tire Kingdom to produce private label retail wheel cleaner and driveway cleaner. Tire Kingdom operates over 600 stores with more than 7,000 employees. The company serves millions of customers on an annual basis. The product will retail in all Tire Kingdom retail locations in the U.S.

"Now millions of loyal customers who believe in Tire Kingdom, their quality service and wide spectrum of automotive products will be able to purchase our proven effective cleaner," said Arne Rotne, President of BioQuest Technologies, Inc. "The relationship with Tire Kingdom is growing into a very profitable one for both parties with the addition of our DX-12 blended products being private labeled by the largest independent tire and automotive retailer in the U.S.

Kinston Housing Association staffer to receive national award

Although she has more than enough to do in her current position of family self-sufficiency coordinator, Kinston Housing Authority (KHA) leaders approached Michelle Gooding this spring and asked her to develop a safety program for an annual contest put on by the agency's insurer. "I just felt that, because of the type of person Michelle is, this was a project she could develop a winning idea, and she did," said Assistant Executive Director Vivian Perry, who encouraged Gooding to come up with a submission. Gooding received a letter on July 2 informing her that she had won the Housing Authority Insurance Group's 2007 Housing Authority Risk Retention Innovation Award. Her Resident Education Daily Light Program, or RED Light, involves running a DVD of five short safety videos on television units in the lobbies of four KHA apartment complexes.

OrthoLogic narrows losses as it works to commercialize medical treatments

OrthoLogic Corp., a Tempe biotechnology company still looking to move out of the development stage, narrowed its losses for the quarter ended June 30.

OrthoLogic (NASDAQ:OLGC - News) reported a net loss of $2.3 million, or 6 cents a share, compared with $6.5 million, or 16 cents a share, for the same period a year ago. For the first six months of 2007, the company lost $5.3 million, or 13 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $23 million, or 58 cents, in 2006.

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Boston hedge-fund firm closes its doors

Sowood Capital Management told its investors that the hedge-fund firm suffered dramatic losses of more than 50 percent this month and that it will wind down the firm, becoming the most high-profile player to be cut down by the troubles roiling many parts of the bond market. The losses dropped the Boston hedge fund's assets to about $1.5 billion from what had been $3 billlion, the firm told its investors. Sowood, which was started by Jeffrey Larson, who worked for Harvard Management Co. before launching his own hedge-fund firm, said it will distribute its remaining cash to investors.New York concerned about iPhone batteriesNew York state's Consumer Protection Board has raised complaints about the iPhone's battery and the phone's repair and return policies in a letter to Apple, the agency said.

Lodi High lockers in dilapidated condition

Lodi High School sophomore Melanie Manguso, 15, sifts through the books in her locker between classes Thursday morning.Several copies of the same massive biology book face Manguso as she shuffles books and binders between her locker and her backpack.Although she shares her locker — which is half the size of a full-length locker — with seven other people, she said she's lucky that she has one at all.Lodi High's campus has 700 lockers for its more than 2,000 students. However, as of Thursday afternoon, only 300 of those lockers were functional, according to Jennifer Tillett, English teacher and speech and debate club adviser at Lodi High.Tillett, whose debate team manages the lockers for the school, said the remaining 400 lockers have to be repaired before they can be rented out to students.At the beginning of the school year, Tillett said, the students can rent out a locker for the year for $20.

If it needs to be cleaned, company knows how to do it

A new business provides surface cleaning and coating removal services for Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.

Uganda: Veterans Cry Out for Help

Retired Lt. Joseph Kaddu learned, at age 12, how to hurl a grenade and shove a bayonet. Now, at 57, he is a successful farmer. However, success has not come on a silver platter as he explains.