TOP STORIES
The Conference Board reported its index of consumer confidence fell from 114 in August to 97.6 this month, the biggest one-month decline since 1990 The Orange County Transportation Authority adopted a strategic plan that calls for spending $4.6 billion in the next 10 years, but did not endorse specific projects Taco Bell Corp., Irvine, launched a new $200 million ad campaign with the tagline “Think outside the bun”; the first spot featured Amazon.com Inc. CEO Jeff Bezos.
ENERGY
The state floated $5.7 billion in revenue-anticipation bonds, pending the issuance of $12.5 billion in bonds to finance the costs of the energy crisis Long Beach agreed to settle its suit against Southern California Edison seeking $14 million the utility owes the city, contingent on the Legislature enacting measures to aid SCE AES Corp. pushed back the start date for two refurbished generators at its Huntington Beach plant to October.
TECHNOLOGY
Broadcom Corp., Irvine, and nCipher PLC, Cambridge, U.K., agreed to jointly develop and market computer chips to secure Internet traffic Several thousand workers were evacuated from Boeing Co.’s Long Beach plant after a bomb threat Gauss Interprise Inc., Irvine, will cut 40 positions from its European operations.
HEALTHCARE
Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc., Corona, said it expects to receive $60 million in the third quarter as a result of the settlement of its unfair competition and breach of contract suit against France’s Aventis Medstone International Inc., Aliso Viejo, will buy back up to 420,000 shares, 10% of its total outstanding Edwards Lifesciences Inc., Irvine, received approval to market in Europe its newest treatment for abdominal aortic aneurysms.
GOVERNMENT
A study done for the pro-El Toro airport Airport Working Group said a park proposed for the former base would cost $2.1 billion to create and have ongoing costs of $60 million a year; meanwhile, Orange withdrew from the pro-El Toro airport Orange County Regional Airport Authority; and state Sen. Dick Ackerman, R-Tustin, said he will oppose the creation of an airport at the former El Toro base John Wayne Airport Director Alan Murphy said the facility will lose about $9 million in anticipated revenue in the next 12 months because of the slowdown in air traffic following Sept. 11, and will spend about $12.5 million on increased security Gov. Gray Davis nominated U.S. District Judge Carlos Moreno to the state Supreme Court A survey by UCI found population growth and traffic as the two top concerns of OC residents, a change from last year’s crime and education Dana Point agreed to pay $500,000 for naming rights to a tall ship acquired by the Ocean Institute, and it will be rechristened The Spirit of Dana Point Riverside County hired former Irvine Company executive Gary Hunt to represent it on transportation and land-use issues with Orange County Gov. Gray Davis named Peggy Haidl of Corona del Mar to the OC Fair board An employee of Fujitec America Inc., Torrance, was killed while repairing an escalator at the Central Courthouse in Santa Ana, when the power to the escalator was turned on and he was crushed in the machinery.
REAL ESTATE
The San Clemente City Council approved Lusk Co.’s scaled-back Marblehead mixed-use development plan The Costa Mesa Planning Commission approved C.J. Segerstrom & Sons’ 93-acre Home Ranch mixed-use project and sent it to the City Council Lynne Fishel was named executive director of the Building Industry Association of OC, replacing Christine Deimer Iger, who resigned to join law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips Rancho Capistrano Ministries pulled out of a deal to sell about 35 acres in South Orange County to be the site of a new Junipero Serra High School because all religious instruction at the school would be Roman Catholic.
FINANCE
Westcorp and its subsidiary WFS Financial Inc., both of Irvine, cut their third-quarter earnings forecasts by more than half Minneapolis-based insurance brokerage The Hays Group opened an OC office.
WHAT ELSE IS NEWS
Oakley Inc., Foothill Ranch, agreed to buy sunglasses retailer Iacon Inc. and, separately, signed a deal to triple the number of Foot Locker stores carrying its sunglasses to 350 by November A bankruptcy judge approved the reorganization plan of Edwards Theatres Circuit Inc., Newport Beach, giving control of the theater chain to Philip Anschutz and his Oaktree Capital Management Freedom Communications Inc., Irvine, will halt publication of Mode magazine after the October issue A woman was killed when she fell 115 feet from the Perilous Plunge ride at Knott’s Berry Farm, which closed that attraction pending an investigation and delayed the opening of its new VertiGo high-drop ride The family of a woman who died of a brain hemorrhage after riding the Indiana Jones attraction at Disneyland sued Walt Disney Co. A jury ruled that Chapman University misled students of its then-fledgling law school about the implications of its lack of accreditation, but did not award damages, saying the students suffered no economic damage; Chapman’s law school won accreditation in 1998, its third year of operation The Teamsters and OC trash contractors reached agreement on a five-year labor agreement Ford Motor Co.’s Irvine-based Mercury division will market new versions of its Cougar, Mountaineer and Sable models in 2002 American Suzuki Motors Corp., Brea, recalled 7,400 children’s-model all-terrain vehicles Ten people were hospitalized and dozens evacuated from the area around Enthone Inc.’s Von Karman Avenue facility in Irvine when a chemical reaction there created a noxious cloud A fire caused $150,000 in damage to the Islamic Halal Tandoori restaurant in Anaheim; the cause is unknown though the owners suspect the eatery may be a victim of misdirected anger spawned by the Sept. 11 attacks.
