TOP STORIES
Southern California Edison agreed to settle a lawsuit against the Public Utilities Commission on terms that would see Edison suspend dividends and Edison customers continue to pay current rates until the utility’s debt is paid off; the share price of parent Edison International rose 14% to 15.70 on the news The Public Utilities Commission refused to agree to raise electricity rates if necessary to pay off $12.5 billion in bonds the state planned to issue, halting the bond sale The Federal Reserve cut the federal funds rate to 2.5%, its lowest point since 1962 DRS Technologies Inc., Parsippany, N.J., completed its $67 million acquisition of Boeing Co.’s Anaheim-based sensors and electronics systems unit, and renamed it DRS Sensors & Targeting Systems Inc. Gov. Gray Davis signed a bill to boost unemployment benefits by $100 a week as of Jan. 1 and another $40 per week in each of the following three years Rank-and-file Teamster trash haulers rejected a new contract and went on strike against four OC trash companies; a federal mediator joined negotiations; at the end of the week, workers abandoned picket lines at two of the four companies and were reported to be voting again on the contract Standard & Poor’s placed the city of Anaheim’s bonds on a credit watch for possible downgrade, saying the city’s revenue is particularly vulnerable to a sustained drop in tourism Wolfgang Puck’s Avalon Cove restaurant in Disney’s California Adventure closed and Robert Mondavi Corp. said it no longer will operate the Golden Vine Winery in the park but will remain a sponsor.
ENERGY
Sempra Energy and CMS Energy Corp. will partner to build a $400 million natural gas terminal in northern Baja California.
TECHNOLOGY
Boeing Co. will cut 200 jobs from its Irvine-based in-flight Internet access unit; meanwhile, a design flaw is causing six satellites made by Boeing’s Seal Beach-based Space and Communications Group to lose electric power faster than expected; also, that group took a $10 million stake in TecSec Inc., Vienna, Va. Odetics Inc., Anaheim, will shut its Mariner Networks unit and lay off most of its 60 staffers, including 33 in Anaheim Western Digital Corp., Lake Forest, said it will post a smaller-than-expected loss for the last quarter (see related story on page 3) Irvine Sensors Corp., Costa Mesa, said it will post a one-time gain of about $6.3 million related to the closure of its Silicon Film Technologies Inc. unit MindArrow Systems Inc., Aliso Viejo, received $3.6 million seized by federal officials from those who sold $16 million in bogus company shares; the company had taken an $18.5 million charge to make shareholders whole TekInsight.com Inc., Irvine, will acquire the Louisiana operations of bankrupt Exodus Communications Microsemi Corp., Irvine, said it will meet expectations for its fiscal fourth quarter ended Sept. 30 Lantronix Inc., Irvine, lowered its revenue and earnings estimates for its fiscal first quarter and year A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against Bloomberg LP and Internet Wire Inc. over a hoax news release that drove down the share price of Costa Mesa-based Emulex Corp.
HEALTHCARE
ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc., Costa Mesa, filed a patent-infringement suit to block Novartis AG from marketing a generic version of ICN’s ribavirin hepatitis drug; meanwhile, ICN licensed a hepatitis B treatment from Metabasis Therapeutics, San Diego Radiance Medical Systems Inc., Irvine, said it will seek a partner to distribute its balloon-catheter radiation-delivery device in Europe PacifiCare Health Systems Inc., Santa Ana, will acquire the assets of bankrupt Florida-based ParkStone Medical Information Systems for $1.15 million.
GOVERNMENT
The OC Sanitation District said it will cost $435 million to upgrade its facilities to treat sewage fully before discharging it into the ocean and that could double the sewage bills of large OC manufacturers The Irvine City Council voted to begin a $20 million engineering study of a proposed light rail line through that city, Santa Ana and Costa Mesa UCI received a $3.4 million grant from the National Science Foundation to help recruit and retain female professors; meanwhile, the campus broke ground on a building to house the Earth System Science Department Supervisors approved buying a $300,000 inflatable dam to divert urban runoff from a Huntington Beach channel to a sewage treatment facility.
REAL ESTATE
A joint venture of Muller Co., Laguna Hills, and Rockwood Capital Corp. acquired One Pacific Plaza in Huntington Beach and Tustin Centre in Santa Ana from Bentall Capital for $75 million Arnel Management Co., Newport Beach, agreed to pay $1.5 million in refunds to settle a consumer-fraud suit over its withholding of security deposits, clearing the way for Arnel owner George Argyros to be confirmed as U.S. ambassador to Spain Hilton Hotels Corp. and CNL Hospitality Corp. formed a partnership to own and operate the Hilton Costa Mesa and three other hotels, and will invest about $235 million in the properties Athens Group, Phoenix, applied to the state to install a concrete mooring and buoy system offshore from its planned Treasure Island resort development in Laguna Beach, to moor a pleasure boat for use by resort guests Standard Pacific Corp., Costa Mesa, said its cancellation rate for new-home orders was 35% in September, up from 23% in September 2000.
FINANCE
Shareholders of BYL Bancorp, Orange, approved its acquisition by First Banks American Inc. for $52 million Prudential Financial’s Irvine-based Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services unit acquired CitiCapital Relocation Inc., Irvine, Texas.
WHAT ELSE IS NEWS
Aliso Viejo-based Fluor Corp.’s AMECO unit won a $50 million contract to provide fleet-management services to Cable & Wireless Jamaica Ltd. Keith Cos., Costa Mesa, acquired Pacific Engineering Corp., Portland, Ore. William P. Foley II stepped down as chairman of Checkers Drive-In Restaurants Inc. and was replaced by Ronald Maggard, president of Newport Beach-based Maggard Enterprises Former Western Digital Corp. chief executive Roger Johnson was named chairman of Collectors Universe Inc., Newport Beach, succeeding David Hall, who becomes president and chairman of the firm’s executive committee Quiksilver Inc., Huntington Beach, suspended production of its Alex Goes line for active women ACME Communications Inc., Santa Ana, warned that its third-quarter revenue will not meet expectations A fire caused an estimated $750,000 in damage to West Grove Plaza in Westminster, destroying two businesses and damaging two others Knott’s Berry Farm opened its VertiGo bungee-jump-type attraction.
