TOP STORIES
The Irvine Company will buy Fox Plaza in Century City from Davis Cos. for $350 million … Conexant Systems Inc., Newport Beach, will acquire Israel-based Novanet Semiconductor for $115 million and NetPlanne Systems, Dedham, Mass., for $130 million; Conexant CEO Dwight Decker said he expects a “significant slowdown” in demand for chips in South Korea and the company’s shares fell 20% to 39 1/16 on the news; meanwhile, a company cable-modem chip was approved by CableLabs, an industry standards group … Louisville, Ky.-based Tricon Restaurants International named Emil Brolick president of its Irvine-based Taco Bell Corp. unit, replacing Peter Waller, who left the company, and said it will shift its ad account from LA-based TBWA Chiat/Day to Costa Mesa-based FCB Southern California … Supervisors promoted the county’s director of public affairs, Rob Richardson, to head the recently created El Toro planning office … Lisa Mills resigned as CEO of the OC Transportation Authority, effective Sept. 14 … County officials said they would go to court to have Measure H, an initiative requiring that tobacco-settlement funds be spent mostly on healthcare programs, removed from the November ballot; supervisor Tom Wilson endorsed Measure H.
TECHNOLOGY
A bankruptcy judge approved a sale by San Juan Capistrano-based Pixelon Corp. of its shares of Balthaser Online Inc., San Francisco, back to that company in return for the waiver of a $300,000 claim against Pixelon and $175,000 cash … OrcoNEt.com, Orange, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection … Shares of Powerwave Technologies Inc., Irvine, fell 18% to 42 1/4 after a U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray analyst downgraded it from “strong buy” to “buy” over concerns about future growth … Ethentica Inc., Lake Forest, received a $5 million investment from IncuVest, New York … Compaq Computer Corp. filed a patent-infringement suit against Cypress-based PDE Technology Corp. … Emergent Information Technologies Inc., Newport Beach, received $4 million in orders from the Air Force … Aspeon Inc., Irvine, said it expects to report a fiscal fourth-quarter net loss because of slack sales … Smith Micro Software Inc., Aliso Viejo, announced a videoconferencing product using the latest Macintosh technology; its shares gained 23% to 6 7/8 on the news.
HEALTHCARE
Howard G. Phanstiel, former chairman and CEO of Costa Mesa-based ARV Assisted Living Inc. was named CFO of PacifiCare Health Systems Inc., Santa Ana … Edwards Lifesciences Corp., Irvine, sold its Bentley heart-valve line to Germany-based Jostsra for $30 million and said it will lay off 60 employees and take a related charge … Blue Shield of California and Cigna switched 23,000 OC clients from KPC Medical Management to other doctors’ groups … ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc., Costa Mesa, opened a $6 million plant in Spain … Irvine-based Premier Laser Systems Inc., which is in bankruptcy proceedings, sold its majority stake in Ophthalmic Imaging Systems, Sacramento, to Israel-based MediVision Medical Imaging Ltd. for $3.2 million … A federal judge ruled that U.S. Surgical Corp. had infringed on two patents held by Applied Medical Resources Corp., Rancho Santa Margarita … Bausch & Lomb dropped a patent-infringement suit against Visionar Inc., Aliso Viejo, and Med Logics, Laguna Niguel, after they agreed to stop making and selling the eye-surgery blades in question … University of California, Irvine regents dismissed Dr. Ricardo Asch from the UCI faculty for his role in the school’s 1995 fertility clinic scandal.
GOVERNMENT
Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Garden Grove, said she will hold a fundraising party at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles during the Democratic National Convention, despite objections by the Gore for President campaign and convention organizers … The OC Retirement System board dismissed its executive director, Ray Fleming, and began a search for a replacement … Former Santa Ana councilman Tony Espinoza pleaded guilty to a felony charge of withholding information from the FBI … The OC District Attorney’s Office opened an investigation of conflict-of-interest allegations against Huntington Beach Mayor Dave Garofalo … A federal appeals court ruled in a case involving Santa Ana, Costa Mesa and Tustin that cities do not have the authority to regulate towing firms.
REAL ESTATE
A Superior Court judge cut a jury award against William Lyon and his William Lyon Co. from $54.5 million to $23 million in a suit brought by a former partner; both sides said they will appeal … Pacific Gulf Properties Inc., Newport Beach, acquired 5.24 acres in Laguna Niguel from Shea Homes for $3.9 million (see story on page 1).
WHAT’S NEW
UCI officials are studying whether to create new schools of law, public health, pharmaceutical sciences and design at the campus … Disneyland maintenance workers approved a new contract that includes work rules for the California Adventure park due to open in January … Fluor Corp., Aliso Viejo, received a contract estimated to be worth $70 million from Germany-based Ruhr Oel GmbH to upgrade a refinery … Wet Seal Inc., Foothill Ranch, issued an earnings warning … State power officials ordered electrical use cutbacks at many large users, including Knott’s Berry Farm and Santa Ana-based Ingram Micro Inc., for three hours Wednesday as high afternoon temperatures caused a spike in demand … First American Title Insurance Co., Santa Ana, acquired Hawkins Title Co., Joplin, Mo. … Collector’s Universe Inc., Newport Beach, acquired Odyssey Publications Inc. … Diedrich Coffee Inc., Irvine, opened six new units, bringing its total to 363 locations … A federal judge dismissed a conspiracy charge against a former Long Beach-based executive of McDonnell Douglas Corp. in a case involving allegedly illegal shipments to China … Knott’s Berry Farm delayed the opening of its $9 million Perilous Plunge ride to complete construction, testing and training … Brian Siegel of Santa Ana, founder of Rockford Industries, acquired a 1909 Honus Wagner baseball card for $1.27 million … Ten employees of Fairchild Fasteners, Fullerton, won a $21 million Lotto jackpot.
