EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Compiled by Mike Mason
TOP STORIES
A state appeals court stripped the California Coastal Commission of its power to regulate development along the coast, leaving in limbo the future of Orange County building on the Dana Point Headlands, Bolsa Chica Mesa and Marblehead in San Clemente, among other projects; the commission has app-ealed the ruling to the state Supreme Court while Democrat leaders in the Sacramento say they’ll draft legislation to give the commission back its power South Korean auto-maker Kia Motors Co. named Peter Butter-field as chief executive of its Irvine-based U.S. unit, Kia Motors America Inc.; Butter-field, who joined Kia in 2001 as chief operating officer, is the first non-Korean to head the U.S. operation, which is seeking to double sales here this decade.
ENERGY
Southern California Edison Co. and San Diego Gas & Electric Co., two publicly traded power suppliers to the county, made their first energy purchases in two years after the state took over power buying in 2001 amid the energy crisis; most utilities’ power needs are provided through long-term contracts.
TECHNOLOGY
Santa Ana-based Ingram Micro Inc. said it chose Dallas-based Affiliated Computer Services Inc. to manage its computer networks; 200 of Ingram’s technology workers who previously managed the company’s computers now will work for Affiliated Computer Services as part of the pact Irvine-based Broadcom Corp. said it bought 150 mainly wireless network-related patents from Woodland Hills-based Unova Inc. for $24 million Moody’s Investors Service raised the speculative grade liquidity rating for Lake Forest-based Western Digital Corp. to “SGL-1” from “SGL-2”; Moody’s cited Western Digital’s $244 million cash balance as of the end of the third quarter and its increased cash flow from operations for the upgrade … Santa Ana-based Troy Group Inc. was delisted from Nasdaq and will trade on the Pink Sheets under the symbol “TROYE”; Troy shares were trading at 1.55 when the company was kicked off Nasdaq after the company failed to file its third-quarter earnings results with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
HEALTHCARE
Three executives at Costa Mesa-based Ribapharm Inc. threatened to quit if majority shareholder ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc., Costa Mesa, goes ahead with a plan to restructure Ribapharm’s board of directors; officials at ICN, which owns 80% of Ribapharm, say they’ve lost confidence in the company’s leadership, including those executives who say they’ll resign: Chief Executive Johnson Lau, Chief Financial Officer Thomas Stankovich and general counsel Roger Loomis; the executives would be paid about $4.9 million in severance if they step down as ICN weighs whether to sell its stake in Ribapharm or take back the company after spinning it off last spring.
GOVERNMENT
The Federal Aviation Administration agreed to a 23% increase in John Wayne Airport’s annual passenger cap to 10.3 million through 2010 and rising to 10.8 million through 2015; the number of daily flights permitted will rise 16% to 85; the airport also will boost the number of gates to 20 from 14 The Orange County Transportation Authority took control of the Riverside (91) Express Lanes, but said it wouldn’t lower rates yet; transit officials previously said they would lower rates when ownership changed hands, but now say they are awaiting results from a traffic study Republican Assemblymen John Campbell and Ken Maddox said they would run in 2004 for the District 35 state Senate seat that Ross Johnson will vacate because of term limits; the predominantly Republican district runs along the coast from Seal Beach to Laguna Beach.
WHAT ELSE IS NEWS
San Antonio, Texas-based SBC Communications Inc., which serves most of OC, started selling long-distance phone service to California residents and businesses Christine Diemer Iger, partner at Costa Mesa law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, took over as chairwoman of the Orange County Business Council; she is the first woman to hold the position Fisherman and several businesses along the coast from Newport Beach to Seal Beach agreed to split $4 million to settle a suit stemming from the American Trader tanker oil spill in 1990; BP America Inc. and tanker owner Annapolis, Md.-based Attransco Inc. are among the defendants Santa Ana-based Acme Communications Inc. said it sold two TV stations to Chicago-based Tribune Co. for $275 million cash; Acme said the sale of the stations, KPLR-TV in St. Louis and KWBP-TV in Portland, Ore., is expected to close late in the first quarter and will pay down nearly all its debt; meanwhile, Acme said it closed a deal to buy WBUW-TV in Madison, Wis. Anaheim-based Pacific Sunwear of California Inc., which posted strong sales last year despite the retail sector’s struggles, split its stock 3-for-2; PacSun’s shares rose some 30% in 2002 Irvine-based Prandium Inc., which operates the Koo Koo Roo, Hamburger Hamlet and Chi Chi’s restaurant chains, named Robert Trebing Jr. acting chief executive after Kevin Relyea resigned as chairman and chief executive of the company, which is in bankruptcy reorganization.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS:
Up: Orange County’s refinancing activity, with a record 190,500 homeowners refinancing mortgages in 2002, a 45% increase vs. a year earlier, according to San Diego-based DataQuick Information Systems
