Briefs

Man who killed Apria nurse gets 24 years SEATTLE - A King County judge sentenced Jason Ray Taylor to 24 1/2 years in prison for shooting an Apria nurse who had stopped alongside the road to pick up some papers that had blown off the roof of her car. Judge Robert Alsdorf said the murder of Victoria Mardis, 49, which prosecutors called a thrill kill, “stands alone as probably the most senseless act'' he'd ever seen, according to the Associated Press. Taylor, 24, shot Mardis in the face on July 26, 2002, in the east Seattle suburb of Redmond. Lincare execs sign new employment agreements CLEARWATER, Fla. - Lincare's top managers signed new five year employment agreements in November that extend their tenure with the company through 2009. The executives are John P. Byrnes, chairman and CEO, Shawn S. Schabel, president and COO, and Paul G. Gabos, CFO. These new employment agreements are substantially similar to the existing three-year executive employment agreements, which expired December 31, 2004, except that the new agreements: provide for a 5-year employment term; restructure executive bonus targets; and do not provide for any payment to the executives in connection with their execution of the new agreements. Short takes Lincare announced last month that it will repurchase up to $250 million of its outstanding common stock. The repurchase reflects its confidence in its fundamentals and potential for long-term growth, the company stated in a release... the San Mateo County (Calif.) Newspaper Group's annual readership survey for 2004 named Bowman Medical the Best Medical Supply Company. The population of San Mateo County is 707,000 ... Young Medical Equipment moved from Toledo, Ohio, to a new 34,000 square-foot facility in nearby Maumee last month. AAHomecare Chairman Tim Pontius is CEO of Young Medical ... Apria entered into a $500 million, five-year revolving credit agreement with a syndicate of banks in November. The revolving credit facility replaces a $400 million credit agreement.