ENERGY
The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether energy consultants retained by Gov. Gray Davis traded energy stocks based on privileged information; five were fired by Davis and a sixth quit; meanwhile, Davis press secretary Steve Maviglio sold 300 shares he held in Calpine Corp. and that critics called a conflict of interest AES Corp. is in talks with Huntington Beach officials to try to settle the city’s appeal of the firm’s permit to restart two generators at its plant there.
TECHNOLOGY
Interplay Entertainment Corp., Irvine, said it had laid off 55 to 65 workers out of a work force that numbered 413 in December, and its share price rose 22% to 1.85 on the news I/O Magic Corp., Santa Ana, said it has cut its work force from 300 to less than 100 following its acquisition of Hi-Val Inc. 18 months ago The Boeing Co.’s electronic systems unit in Anaheim received a $13.2 million Pentagon contract to test and repair control and navigation components of nuclear submarines Shareholders of Irvine-based Microsemi Corp. authorized an increase in common shares from 20 million to 100 million and the company set a 2-for-1 stock split MindArrow Systems Inc., Aliso Viejo, acquired Radical Communications Inc., Marina del Rey, for $2.1 million Comarco Inc., Irvine, acquired an 18% stake in SwissQual AG The Cameo Technologies Inc., a unit of Irvine-based Western Digital Corp. unveiled an Internet video player that runs videos at DVD quality on a full screen Douglas Tullio resigned as chairman and chief executive of Santa Ana-based NQL Inc. and Robert O. Riiska resigned as chief financial officer; John DeVito, president of NQL’s Delta Computec unit, was named acting president of NQL, and Alex Roque, Delta’s controller, was named acting chief financial officer; meanwhile, the company was notified by Nasdaq that it faces delisting for failure to maintain the minimum bid price and the company said it will appeal and ask shareholders to approve a reverse stock split.
HEALTHCARE
Bergen Brunswig Corp., Orange, and AmeriSource Health Corp. complied with a Federal Trade Commission request for more information on their proposed merger, activating a 30-day deadline for an anti-trust ruling by the agency; meanwhile, the firms said they plan to issue $400 million in bonds after the acquisition of Bergen is completed Prudential Securities upgraded shares of Santa Ana-based PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. from “sell” to “hold” and their price rose 10.5% to 13.67 on the news Trimedyne Inc., Irvine, will acquire Birmingham, Ala.-based Surgical Alliance Inc. Edwards Lifesciences Corp., Irvine, agreed to invest $4 million in CardioFocus Inc., Norton, Mass., for product development.
GOVERNMENT
Gov. Gray Davis signed a bill requiring Tustin to make 100 acres of the former Tustin air base available to two Santa Ana school districts; he vetoed a bill to appropriate $600,000 to rebuild a sea wall that protects the Seal Beach pier and shoreline The Laguna Canyon Foundation donated $25,000 to the effort to place an initiative on the March ballot that would mandate a park at the former El Toro air base The mostly student crew of Orange Coast College’s ketch Bonaire abandoned it after its main mast became dislodged while sailing from Hawaii to San Pedro John Greiner resigned his seat on the San Juan Capistrano City Council.
REAL ESTATE
San Diego-based Evans Hotels said it is seeking a buyer for its 100-acre Newport Dunes property Gov. Gray Davis vetoed a bill that would have directed the Department of Parks and Recreation to meet with landowner Signal Landmark and negotiate a purchase price for 230 acres on the Bolsa Chica mesa.
FINANCE
New Century Financial Corp., Irvine, plans a secondary offering of 2.7 million shares; its stock was trading at around 11 last week The Florida-based HireCheck Inc. unit of First American Corp., Santa Ana, will acquire Substance Abuse Management Inc., Milwaukee.
WHAT ELSE IS NEWS
Adelphia Communications Corp. will close the Orange County NewsChannel Sept. 7 and lay off its 97 employees (see the Insider column, page 3) Miami-based Burger King recalled 2.6 million promotional toys imported from China by Irvine-based Alcone Marketing Group The 400-room St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort & Spa opened (see related story on page 22) The state Supreme Court ruled in a case involving Lexus of Westminster that a car dealer does not have to sell a car at the advertised price if the price listed in the ad was a typographical error by the newspaper, in this case the Orange Coast Daily Pilot Dan S. Rogers was named president and chief executive of Goodwill Industries of Orange County The Orange County Fair drew 843,347 visitors this year, up 12% from last year’s attendance Corinthian Colleges Inc., Santa Ana, will open a campus in Burr Ridge, Ill.
