EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
TOP STORIES
A partnership of Aliso Viejo-based Fluor Corp. and Duke Energy received a $450 million contract to build an 875-megawatt power plant in Jasper County, S.C. Costa Mesa-based ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc. filed an amended registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the spinoff of Ribapharm Inc. but didn’t set a date for the initial public offering.
ENERGY
State Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Santa Ana, said Enron Corp. has refused to testify or supply documents to his special committee investigating price fixing in the state’s energy market and will seek contempt citations and penalties from the full Senate AES Corp. said the new 225-megawatt Unit 3 at its Huntington Beach power plant is linked to the state power grid and will start operations once a buyer for the power is found.
TECHNOLOGY
Shares of Irvine-based Lantronix Inc. dropped 49% to a 52-week low after the maker of networking devices said it won’t meet earnings expectations for the current quarter Linksys, Irvine, signed a $2 million, three-year lease for space in Quezon City, Philippines, for the headquarters of Linksys Asia, which is expected to employ 500 people The Mexmil Co., Santa Ana, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and said it is in the process of securing a $3 million infusion to support its reorganization effort Friedman, Billings, Ramsay & Co. upgraded Santa Ana-based SimpleTech Inc. from “accumulate” to “buy” and its shares rose 12% to a 52-week high of 5.70 on the news Ingram Micro Inc., Santa Ana, will sell the networking software of OnSystems Inc., Laguna Beach, to other resellers CCC GlobalCom Corp., Houston, opened a sales and marketing office in Irvine.
HEALTHCARE
The Food and Drug Administration approved Irvine-based Endocare Inc.’s Cryocare cryogenic surgery system for treatment of arrhythmia The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation donated $2.5 million to the campaign to build a women’s health pavilion at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian; the campaign now has raised $42 million of its $50 million goal Tenet Healthcare Corp., the county’s largest hospital operator, was sued by Los Angeles-based Consejo de Latinos Unidos for alleged gaughing of uninsured Hispanic patients.
GOVERNMENT
Fitch Ratings lowered $1 billion in Orange County Transportation Corridor Agencies bonds to junk status, citing the failure of the San Joaquin Hills (73) Toll Road to meet projected revenue; Moody’s Investors Service said the 73’s finances should be merged with the better-off Foothill (241) and Eastern (261) toll roads to avoid another downgrade Anaheim reported $3.9 million in bed tax revenue in December, more than any other December but 17% below pre-Sept. 11 projections Irvine Valley College president Raghu P. Mathur was named chancellor of the South Orange County Community College District on a 5-2 vote of the district board Assemblyman Herb Wesson, D-Los Angeles, became speaker of the Assem-bly.
REAL ESTATE
Sares-Regis Group Inc., Irvine, acquired 10.8 acres near Campus Drive and Jamboree Road in Irvine from Prudential Insurance Co. of America and plans to build 535 luxury apartments there PM Realty Group named Terry W. Thompson vice president for Orange County and San Diego; he will be based in Newport Beach.
WHAT ELSE IS NEWS
Walt Disney Co. said it plans to open “A Bug’s Land” based on the film “A Bug’s Life” at California Adventure in November as part of its bid to offer more for kids at the struggling park The family of a boy severely injured in an accident on the Roger Rabbit Car Toon Spin at Disneyland settled their lawsuit against Disney for undisclosed terms South Coast Repertory, Costa Mesa, raised the goal of its capital campaign from $40 million to $50 million Seattle-based Shurgard Storage Centers will close its Foothill Ranch warehouse Joe McPherson Ford of Tustin agreed to pay $9.4 million to a Newport Beach couple seriously injured in the 1997 rollover of an Explorer SUV they had bought used from the dealership Ford Motor Co.’s Irvine-based Premier Automotive Group is looking at creating combined Land Rover and Jaguar dealerships in the U.S. McDonald’s ended a pilot program in which holders of FasTrak toll-road transponders could use them to pay for purchases at the drive-through windows of four of OC outlets Western Growers Association, Irvine, named Thomas Nassif president and chief executive Olympic officials said 83% of the tickets sold for the Winter Games in Salt Lake City were purchased online through Tickets.com Inc., Costa Mesa California State University, Fullerton’s leading economic indicator, updated with fourth-quarter data, predicts an upturn in the local economy at midyear.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Down:
The number of Orange County homes going into foreclosure in 2001, off 7.5% to 3,660, the lowest level in a decade, according to DataQuick Information Systems.
