EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Compiled by Mike Mason
TECHNOLOGY
California’s labor board temporarily shut down Interplay Entertainment Corp., accusing the game maker of not paying employees’ wages, workers’ compensation insurance premiums and rent on its 81,000-square-foot Irvine headquarters. The company was allowed to reopen after paying its workers’ compensation insurance premium. Interplay must leave its headquarters Tuesday if it doesn’t come up with rent owed. Meanwhile, Interplay’s parent, Titus Interactive SA of France, filed for bankruptcy Santa Ana-based Ingram Micro Inc. named Pat Capparelli as senior vice president of U.S. sales. The hiring of Capparelli, a former executive of Canada’s Purolator Courier Ltd., comes as Pat Collins, senior group vice president of sales and marketing, resigned “to pursue other interests,” the company said. The computer products distributor also named North America Chief Financial Officer Keith Bradley as interim regional president … Shareholders filed suit against Santa Ana-based Troy Group Inc., claiming the sale of the company to its majority owners, the Dirk family, was a breach of the company’s fiduciary duties. The Dirks’ offer of $3.06 a share for the company is less than other bids that were rejected last year … Yorba Linda-based netGuru Inc. said it won a pact for an undisclosed amount to develop an Internet site for the government of Jharkhand in India. NetGuru also said it has partnered with Intellisys Technology LLC to sell software in Australia … Irvine’s Boost Mobile LLC, a unit of Nextel Communications Inc., named Darryl Cobbin vice president of marketing. Cobbin comes from Coca-Cola Co., where he was credited with helping make the Sprite brand the fastest-growing U.S. soft drink.
HEALTHCARE
Irvine-based Ista Pharmaceuticals Inc. said it won approval from the Food and Drug Administration for a glaucoma treatment, Istalol, which is taken once a day as a liquid … Irvine-based Cardiac Science Inc. said it sold 148 automated defibrillators to the Army Corps of Engineers and the Anniston Army Depot in Alabama.
REAL ESTATE
As much as a quarter of the 4,700-acre former El Toro Marine base set for development could be contaminated and require cleanup, according to a federal study. The Navy plans to auction the base for housing, commercial, industrial, park and other development. Navy and city of Irvine officials say the plan to turn the base into the Great Park remains on track … Meanwhile, Irvine settled a pair of lawsuits with two pro-El Toro airport backers, the Airport Working Group and the Orange County Regional Airport Authority. Irvine agreed to do more environmental studies for its Great Park development in return for the airport groups dropping their challenge to the city’s annexation of the site … San Juan Capistrano rejected plans for a 60-apartment, low-income housing development on 2.7 acres. The city said the project was “not right” for San Juan Capistrano because of density and property value concerns. The city needs 201 more low-income housing units by 2006 or risk being sued by affordable housing advocates … Huntington Beach’s city council rejected a plan to close off a few blocks of Main Street to traffic during the summer after businesses complained they would lose revenue.
FINANCE
Irvine-based Commercial Capital Bancorp said it wrapped up its $493 million buy of El Segundo-based Hawthorne Financial Corp.
GOVERNMENT
An oversight committee said the proposed CenterLine light-rail project is eligible for $340 million in local sales tax revenue, according to Measure M. The nine-mile CenterLine is expected to cost at least $1 billion, connecting the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center to John Wayne Airport … California’s Secretary of State Kevin Shelley certified Orange County’s Hart Inter/Civic electronic voting system for the November election. Voters can ask for paper ballots if they don’t want to use the e-voting system … The California Department of Transportation said it will cost $775,000 more than projected to fix the connection between the southbound Costa Mesa (55) Freeway and the San Diego (I-405) Freeway. The Orange County Transportation Authority already has paid about $2.5 million to fix cracks in the flyover. Work on the $12 million interchange isn’t expected to be finished until the end of the year … Peak-time tolls on the struggling San Joaquin Hills (73) Toll Road will rise 25 to 50 cents July 1.
WHAT ELSE IS NEWS
Foothill Ranch-based Wet Seal Inc. signed a marketing deal with KIIS-FM. Wet Seal clothing will be featured on the radio station’s “On-Air with Ryan Seacrest” show … Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc. is set to open a 4,000-square-foot Boardriders Club store at Anaheim’s Downtown Disney this weekend … New York-based Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy PC said Newport Beach-based HirsonWexlerPerl will become part of the law firm July 1. The corporate immigration law firm will continue to be known as Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy PC.
ECONOMIC INDICATOR
Up: Speculative housing activity in April in Orange County, with the share of homes sold that were owned for six months or less at 4%, about double a year earlier, according to DataQuick Information Systems.
