TOP STORIES
The state Public Utilities Commission said Edison International and Pacific Gas & Electric, which serve all but Anaheim in OC, can implement, 90-day electricity rate increase of 7% for residential users and 12% to 15% for businesses; midsize companies will pay an average $173 more a month, while industrial users will pay $5,832 more; meanwhile, state officials said they may borrow money to help utilities pay down debt incurred from buying power at wholesale market rates The Board of Supervisors approved spending up to $1.5 million to lobby federal officials to turn over El Toro to the county for a planned airport; separately FAA officials conducted flight tests at El Toro as part of a look at whether the former base could handle commercial flights A state report said Disneyland must make safety improvements before reopening the Roger Rabbit Car Toon Spin ride; the family of 4-year-old Brandon Zucker, who suffered brain damage after falling from the ride, sued the Walt Disney Co. for negligence.
TECHNOLOGY
Odetics Inc., Anaheim, said it plans to cut 25% of its 570 workers and take a charge of up to $9 million in its recently concluded third quarter Ingram Micro Inc., Santa Ana, promoted CFO Michael Grainger to president and COO; he’ll continue to handle financial duties until a new CFO is found Shares of database software maker Raining Data Corp., Irvine, fell 38% to 10 on news that CEO Gilbert Figueroa was resigning Timothy Feeney resigned as CFO at Aspeon Inc., Irvine, effective next month; Donald W.S. Rutherford, a partner of Tatum CFO Partners LLP, will assume financial duties until a permanent successor is named. Meanwhile, the company was delisted from Nasdaq CAM Commerce Solutions Inc., Fountain Valley, received a contract from eBay Inc. for software to let small and midsize businesses place eBay orders.
APPAREL/RETAIL
St. John Knits International Inc., Irvine, named former Neiman Marcus executive H.W. Mullins as CEO, replacing founder Robert Gray who’ll remain as chairman Wet Seal Inc., Foothill Ranch, said it plans to buy Zutopia, a 19-store chain that caters to girls from ages 5 to 12, and turn 26 of its own Limbo Lounge stores into Wet Seal stores Orange County holiday sales were up 3.4% Nov. 24 to Dec. 24, according to Telecheck Office Depot Inc. said it plans to close its Anaheim store and 66 others stores nationwide Edwards Theatres Circuit Inc., Newport Beach, filed a bankruptcy court motion to assume two leases for theaters in Aliso Viejo and Boise, Idaho, from Kansas City, Mo.-based Entertainment Properties Trust Ezralow Retail Properties LLC said it is scraping plans to remodel the Huntington Center as in an upscale Italian village motif and instead plans to build a cluster of large block stores.
MANUFACTURING
Metal-plating company Neutron Plating Inc., Anaheim, was accused of spilling acids and other hazardous materials into a storm basin and could be fined $30,000 by the state’s Riverside-based Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board Water Pik Technologies Inc., Newport Beach, agreed to sell nearly 2 million shares of stock to two investment funds managed by Special Value Investment Management LLC for $7.60 a share, or a total of $15 million, in accordance with an Internal Revenue Service determination in its spin-off from Allegheny Technologies Inc.
HEALTHCARE
ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc., Costa Mesa, bought the medical business assets of Irving, Texas-based MAII Holdings Inc. for $14.4 million Bergen Brunswig Corp., Orange, picked up $450 million in financing over five years by pledging accounts receivable to a fund through GE Capital, which will sell securities based on the fund Health Care Property Investors Inc., Newport Beach, sold Canyon Hills Club in Anaheim and six other assisted-living facilities for $51.6 million NeoTherapeutics Inc., Irvine, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to occasionally issue up to $50 million of stock and other instruments; separately, NeoTherapeutics unit NeoOncoRx Inc. said it plans to acquire anti-cancer compounds from Netherlands-based NDDO Research Foundation Quest Diagnostics Inc. agreed to pay $13.1 million to settle allegations that San Juan Capistrano-based unit Nichols Institute defrauded federal healthcare programs with inflated billings.
FINANCE
Providential Holdings Inc., Fountain Valley, agreed to buy a 60% stake of Datalogic Consulting Inc. of Texas for undisclosed terms; Providential Chairman Henry Fahman was permanently barred from the securities industry last month by National Association of Securities Dealers over charges his firm violated securities laws A group including Western Acquisitions LLC increased its stake in West Coast Bancorp, the Tustin parent of Sunwest Bank, to 24% (see related story, page 6).
REAL ESTATE
The Irvine Company said 350 custom homes in its Shady Canyon area of Irvine will feature spacious half-acre lots Brookfield Homes Southland Inc., Costa Mesa, formed a custom home division that will build eight to 10 upscale houses a year in the Southland OC home prices could cool this year because many people simply can’t afford the high prices, Chapman University economist Esmael Adib said.
GOVERNMENT
Local executives and others spent $2.5 million in campaign contributions last year, with technology execs David Hanna and Scott Blum joining the list of traditional benefactors The South Orange County Community College District said it hopes to turn a helicopter hangar at the Tustin Marine base into a digital learning center including a global hub for diagnosing cervical cancer State Coastal Commission staff members called for the agency to reject the Lusk Co.’s plans for an outlet mall and 424 homes in San Clemente Irvine-based American Transportation Development is unlikely to receive an extension of a 10-year franchise agreement to build a $1 billion OC toll road above the Santa Ana River, a Caltrans spokesman said.
WHAT’S NEW
Knott’s Berry Farm attendance fell 2% to 3.7 million last year the Justice for Janitors union reached a tentative contract agreement with five companies that provide about 70% of the janitors for OC buildings; the pact still needs to be approved by some 3,000 union members.
