IN BRIEF

Privé, Living Room withdraw appeal

Representatives for the Privé nightclub and its ultralounge, the Living Room, have withdrawn the appeal of its liquor license denial that was slated to be heard by the Clark County Commission on Tuesday.

The representatives advised the county's Business License Department of changes in the club's ownership and filed liquor-license applications evidencing the changes in ownership.

The applications also name a new management team, key employees and a request for temporary licenses.

Department staff are reviewing the applications, county spokesman Dan Kulin said Friday. The department has the authority to grant temporary approvals to a business and key employees pending the outcomes of background checks.

The department also has the authority to place conditions on temporary approvals.

The clubs were owned by Miami-based Opium Group and operated at Planet Hollywood Resort.

Colony Capital will cede deed to casino

Colony Capital LLC will hand over the deed to Resorts Atlantic City, New Jersey's oldest casino, to lenders led by Credit Suisse Group AG after missing loan payments since November.

Under an arrangement proposed to New Jersey gaming regulators, Resorts owners led by Colony Capital will give the deed to Credit Suisse's Column Financial in lieu of foreclosure, after missing payments on a $360 million mortgage.

Resorts opened in 1978, becoming the first U.S. casino outside of Nevada. Resorts International Hotel Inc., a company controlled by Nicholas Ribis, will continue to operate the property, documents released by the state's casino control commission show.

ST. LOUIS

BetOnSports founder pleads guilty to charges

The founder of the online gambling site BetOnSports pleaded guilty on Friday to federal racketeering conspiracy and other charges.

As part of the plea agreement, Gary Kaplan also agreed to forfeit $43.6 million in illegally obtained revenue from his criminal enterprise. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Holtshouser said Kaplan won't be left penniless.

Kaplan founded the Costa Rica-based company in 1995. By 2006, BetOnSports had grown to be among the largest online gambling firms, handling $1.8 billion annually in bets.

Online gaming is illegal in the United States, and later in 2006, a federal grand jury indicted Kaplan, his company and several associates. Kaplan was arrested in March 2007 and was scheduled to go on trial in September. Four other former executives, including two of Kaplan's siblings, have pleaded guilty. No one has been sentenced.

WASHINGTON

FDIC official critical of financial overhaul plan

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairwoman Sheila Bair is pushing back against key pillars of the Obama administration's financial overhaul plan, saying they wouldn't survive in Congress and calling her own alternatives more viable.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Bair said Congress won't approve two major parts of the package: Expanding the Federal Reserve's authority to regulate the largest financial companies and giving a proposed new consumer protection agency examination and enforcement powers over banks.

Such authority now belongs to her agency and other bank regulators.

WASHINGTON

Consumer prices flat in July, statistics show

U.S. consumer prices were flat in July as energy costs retreated following a big surge in June. Over the past 12 months, prices fell the most in nearly 60 years as the recession and lower energy costs kept inflation low.

The Labor Department said Friday that consumer prices showed no changes in July, in line with analysts' expectations and far below the 0.7 percent jump in June.

Prices fell 2.1 percent over the past 12 months, the biggest annual decline since a similar drop in the period ending in January 1950. Most of the past year's decline reflects energy prices falling 28.1 percent since peaking in July 2008.

NEW YORK

Penney loss smaller than Street forecast

Cutting inventory and other costs helped J.C. Penney Co. post a smaller loss for the second quarter than Wall Street expected.

Plano, Texas-based J.C. Penney said it lost $1 million, or break-even per share, in the quarter ended Aug. 1, compared with a profit of $117 million, or 52 cents per share, a year earlier.

The company's second-quarter results were depressed by a charge of $106 million, or 28 cents per share after tax, related to its pension plan.

Revenue fell 7.9 percent to $3.94 billion from $4.28 billion.

Analysts expected a loss of 1 cent per share on $3.94 billion in revenue.