EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Compiled by Mike Mason
TOP STORY
A fatal Sept. 5 accident on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Walt Disney Co.’s Disneyland Park was caused because maintenance workers failed to properly inspect the ride, according to a report from the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health. The probe found that Disney let workers sign off on work that they hadn’t done themselves and that mechanics returned cars to use without testing them, among other issues. Santa Ana lawyer Wylie Aitken, who is representing the family of the victim Marcelo Torres, said he plans to continue his own investigation.
TECHNOLOGY
Irvine-based Broadcom Corp. said it plans to hire 85 engineers in Taiwan in the next three years. That would triple the staff at its design facility in Hsinchu. The chipmaker said it also is expanding in Irvine but wouldn’t disclose details Irvine chipmaker Microsemi Corp. said its operating profit in the September quarter more than doubled to $3.2 million, versus a year earlier, on a 7% rise in sales to $52.8 million. The chipmaker expects sales to grow 2% to 5% in the current quarter Peter Adderton, founder and chief executive of Irvine-based Boost Mobile LLC, said he quit the wireless phone service provider in a dispute with parent Nextel Communications Inc. over the company’s direction. Nextel, which bought a two-thirds stake in Boost in 2002, acquired the rest of the company in August … Hong Kong film director Daniel Lee tapped Santa Ana-based SRS Labs Inc. to boost the soundtrack quality of his next film, “Star Runner” … Irvine-based Comarco Inc. said its third-quarter operating profit fell 33% to $1.6 million, versus a year earlier, on a 14% decline in sales to $11.2 million. The maker of test gear for wireless phone networks said it expects sales to increase this quarter from the third.
HEALTHCARE
Fullerton-based Beckman Coulter Inc. and Singapore-based Flextronics International Ltd. settled a breach-of-contract suit for $23 million. A jury had awarded Beckman $934 million in a case filed after Flextronics threatened to break a supply contract if Beckman didn’t pay surcharges. Flextronics had appealed the award, saying it only should be required to pay about $10 million to settle the dispute. Beckman said it wanted to avoid an appeal … Irvine-based Allergan Inc. said it asked the Food and Drug Administration to approve another use of its oral tazarotene psoriasis treatment. Allergan said it’s looking for a partner to develop an acne treatment for tazarotene … A jury found that Foothill Ranch-based Skilled Healthcare Group must pay $2.4 million to the estate of a woman who died of blood poisoning at the nursing home operator’s Willow Creek Healthcare Center in Fresno.
REAL ESTATE
The Orange City Council reversed an earlier decision and blocked a 177-home housing development by Newport Beach-based Fieldstone Communities Inc. on 110 acres of the former Sully-Miller Contracting Co. sand and gravel field. The council had OK’d Fieldstone’s plan in October, but residents gathered enough petition signatures to force a citywide referendum on the East Orange project … Irvine-based homebuilder Standard Pacific Corp. said it plans to sell 1 million shares through Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. Proceeds from the sale are expected to be about $50 million and will be used for general corporate purposes, including homebuilding operations, acquisitions and working capital … The American Stock Exchange delisted Newport Beach-based Capital Pacific Holdings Inc. at the homebuilder’s request. The company has been seeking the delisting because of the increased costs associated with listing under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act Newport Beach-based Health Care Property Investors Inc. said it priced a sale of 6.8 million shares of its 7.1% preferred stock at $25 per share. The offering, which is set to raise $170 million for the real estate investment trust, is slated to close Wednesday.
ENERGY
The board of Tustin-based Commonwealth Energy Corp. approved a plan to get its shares listed on the American Stock Exchange. The electricity provider plans to set up a holding company to buy up to $10 million worth of shares to be listed on the exchange. Commonwealth still needs the OK from shareholders and the American Stock Exchange before its shares are listed.
GOVERNMENT
Newport Beach officials said they’re considering a bid to take over control of John Wayne Airport and Newport Harbor from the county. The city will create a taskforce to explore the plan, which stands to be a challenge in getting county approval.
WHAT ELSE IS NEWS
Tustin-based Cherokee International Corp. filed to sell up to $92 million in stock in an initial public offering. The maker of power supplies for equipment manufacturers plans to use the proceeds to repay $68.3 million in debt, among other uses. Cherokee had sales of $96 million last year and about 1,200 workers at recent check … Lake Forest’s Sole Technology Inc. offered to pay $100,000 in maintenance and operating costs for one year to allow skateboarders to use the Etnies Skatepark for free. The park is set to open Dec. 13 in Lake Forest. The city has proposed a $5 a session fee for residents and $7.50 for residents to defray costs. Sole Technology already has kicked in $100,000 to build the skatepark … Costa Mesa-based Ceradyne Inc. said it won a $9 million military order for the company’s ceramic body armor systems. The deal is part of a 1998 pact that has been extended into 2005 … Robert “Bob” Crevier, founder of Crevier BMW in the Santa Ana Auto Mall, passed away. He was 86. Crevier BMW sells more than 5,000 autos a year, making it the No. 1 BMW dealer in the world, according to the company.
