BIZ BITS

St. Pete Times executive let go

The St. Petersburg Times announced to employees Tuesday that it is reorganizing its audience development department and that the director of that department, Jerry Hill, is leaving.

The announcement comes after another senior executive's announced departure. Marty Petty, publisher of the Times, said in August that she is resigning as part of a move to streamline management.

Court asked to cut TECO rate increase

The Florida Supreme Court is being asked to reject a portion of Tampa Electric Co.'s recent rate increase.

The appeal was filed last week by the Office of Public Council, which represents customers in utility rate cases, as well as the attorney general, the Florida Industrial Power Users' Group and the Florida Retail Federation.

The appeal asks the high court to reject the second of two state-approved increases that would add $4.86 to a residential bill for 1,000 kilowatt hours a month starting in January.

Port lowers rate for shipping company

The Tampa Port Authority on Tuesday voted to lower its rates by 10 percent for cargo containers carried by its largest container cargo shipping company during the next 12 months.

Despite the prospect of losing a projected $100,000 in revenue from Zim Integrated Shipping Services, port officials said they wanted to support a company that has helped expand Tampa's fledgling container cargo business.

Tampa airport traffic drop slows

Passenger traffic at Tampa International Airport declined 1.7 percent in August compared with a year ago, the best showing in the past 17 months as the recession's toll on business and leisure travel appears to be receding.

The airport reported 692,022 departing passengers for August.

The August report shows that large reductions in travel are starting to slow down, airport director Louis Miller said.

Blockbuster to cut hundreds of stores

Blockbuster Inc. may close as many as 960 stores by the end of next year, shedding more dead weight as the struggling video rental chain tries to reverse its losses and fend off rapidly growing rivals Netflix Inc. and Redbox.

The cuts outlined in documents filed Tuesday would shed about 20 percent of Blockbuster's U.S. stores.

A staff report