Watsco, Inc., along with its subsidiaries, distributes air conditioning, heating, refrigeration equipment, and related parts and supplies in the United States. Its products primarily comprise residential central air conditioners; light commercial air conditioners; gas, electric, and oil furnaces; commercial air conditioning and heating equipment and systems; and other specialized equipment. The company also offers various parts, including replacement compressors, evaporator coils, motors, and other component parts; and supplies consisting of thermostats, insulation material, refrigerants, ductwork, grills, registers, sheet metal, tools, copper tubing, concrete pads, tape, adhesives, and other ancillary supplies. Watsco operates through approximately 380 locations in 32 states. It distributes its products to contractors and dealers who service the replacement and new construction markets.

Tomkins FY pretax 262.6 mln stg, up 7.3 pct; sees challenging year ...

(adds reaction, amends spelling of CEO James Nicol's name) LONDON, Feb. 21, 2008 (Thomson Financial delivered by Newstex) -- Engineering group Tomkins reported a 7.3 pct rise in pretax profits of 262.6 mln stg for the year to Dec 29, after new products and a focus on emerging markets helped offset economic weakness in US car and construction markets. Sales from continuing operations were 2.94 bln stg, down from 3.13 bln in 2006, it said, and the adjusted operating margin was 9.0 pct against 9.4 pct the year before. Adjusted operating profits, which exclude disposals, fell 11 pct to 264.7 mln. Net debt was 296.8 mln stg, against 403.0 mln in 2006, and the company said it is considering a share buyback of 5-10 pct. CEO James Nicol said the group, which makes components for cars and air conditioning systems and building products such as baths and windows, delivered a good performance after taking a number of 'self-help' measures to counter headwinds in its US automotive and construction end-markets.

Today's News:

Editor's note: This story is part of a series dedicated to looking back on local news events of 2007. Year in review stories will appear daily in the Killeen Daily Herald as we count down to the new year. Stories will recap the developments and events that occurred in Central Texas, made headlines and affected local residents. Go online to www.kdhnews.com to cast your vote on the year's top story.

By Victor O'Brien
Killeen Daily Herald

Killeen accumulated the city's highest homicide total in a decade during 2007.

Thirteen homicides were reported as of Dec. 20, including two double homicides and seven still-unsolved homicides.

A startling fact about the homicides was that even holidays became tragedies on Easter Sunday and Independence Day.

Tribune News Service

The Chief Minister said there was a great demand for skilled and semi-skilled workers in multi-national companies setting up units in Punjab. To meet this demand, the government had formulated a programme to impart training to the jobless youth in various technical and professional trades.

Arrangements were being made to provide training to the youth in security sector on an experimental basis at Jahan Khelan, 8 km from Hoshiarpur. Later, more training centres would be opened in other parts of the state.

Badal emphasised on imparting job-oriented education to help the youth earn their livelihood in a respectful way.

Despite a debt of Rs 25,000 crore, which was left by the previous Congress regime, the SAD-BJP government had made a comprehensive plan for providing quality education to the youth.