Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 23

1U JOH The Detroit News PEPPER IT Section Tomorrow in Business Extra Make your cottage plans now Vacationing up north requires advance planning and good contacts. TtMDatrtltNnnOnliM Find the Bloomberg Market Report at httpZdetnewscom currentbiz 8 Sunday, May 9, 1999 jv Casinos in Detroit mm (s 4 Countdown to 2000 U.S. gets prepared forY2K bank run Fed boosts reserves by $50 billion for nervous consumers. By David Welch The Detroit News Fearing a run on automated teller machines as the millennium approaches, the Federal Reserve has ordered the printing of 11 billion banknotes this year 2 billion more than last year and the largest order in history. The Fed is concerned that fears about the so-called Y2K bug may prompt nervous consumers to withdraw cash from ATMs and banks before the turn of the new year.

So the agency that regulates the nation's money supply is bolstering cash reserves, said Jerry Nicolas, vice-president of currency at the Federal Reserve's Seventh District Office in Chicago. "If people are going to be taking extra money out, we need to be prepared," Nicolas said. "But we're in no way suggesting that people need to take money out. The safest place for their money is in the banks." Normally, the Federal Reserve keeps 40 days' cash supply about $150 billion in its vaults. Now it is carrying 60 days' worth of $1, $5 and $10 bills, 70 days' worth of $20s which most ATMs dispense and 115 days' of $sos and 120 days of $ioos.

Financial planner Marilyn Gunther, of Center for Financial Planning in Southfield, said there probably won't be a cash crunch "but we're telling people to have a little extra cash. I'm talking maybe $500 for a family of means." The Fed ordered from the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing 11.3 billion notes of varying values this year, compared with 9.2 billion notes last year and 9.58 billion in 1997. The order will have a slightly increased mix of $20 bills for the ATMs, bureau spokesman Larry Felix said. v.

Greektown Casino will include high ceilings and a "see in the middle of the facility. Of the casinos, "Greektown and be seen bar" that will wrap around a glass sculpture will affect the city the most," designer Paul Steelman says. Architect of temporary Detroit site stresses style By Becky Yerak The Detroit News LAS VEGAS Paul Steelman believes the $i50-million Greektown Casino "will probably be the greatest temporary casino built in the world." While rival MGM Grand which is spending $203 million on its interim Detroit gambling parlor, might beg to differ, Steel man can't be entirely dismissed as engaging in hyperbole. After all, he knows a thing or two about casinos: His namesake firm, Paul Steelman Cos, is one of the biggest names in casino architecture, with casinos accounting for all of the business of his 85-per-son, 12-year-old Las Vegas firm. "We do a lot of temporary casinos.

We just did one for Caesars in South Africa, and this casino will be something special," Steelman said of his newest client, Greek-town Casino. "No other temporary has this level of finishes, ceiling heights and adjacent amenities." Steelman has done seven projects for Caesars World Inc. and was an architect for 10 years for Vegas man-of-the-hour Steve Wynn, working pn such Wynn properties as Mirage, Treasure Island and Golden Nugget. He also did the renovation of Desert Inn, a higher-end Vegas property that's inspiring Greektown's design, and is overseeing architecture for the new Resort at Summerlia Last week in Las Vegas, Steelman discussed some of the elements and evolving plans for Greektown: The main casino floor It will include a see-and-be-seen bar around a glass sculpture in the middle of the casino. Please see CASINO, Page3C MELISSA PREDDY live their life in such a way that they're not dependent even if it means saving $10 a week out of the grocery money to start." Statistically, widowhood, divorce and old age still spell financial trouble for women.

According to researchers: a Nearly 75 percent of the elderly poor are female, a In 1991, half of the women over age 65 were widows. Only 21 percent receive survivor's benefits and the median income from savings and investments in that age group is only $860 a year, a In 1996, the average Social Security benefit for retired female workers was $621 a month ($7,452 a year) and two-thirds of women over age 65 have no other pension. Nearly 50 percent of first and second marriages end in divorce, and women experience a 27 percent decline in their standard of living following divorce. Please see MOM, Page 3C MMi i it Paul Steelman Ltd. Greektown CASINO "No other temporary has this level of finishes, ceiling heights and adjacent amenities." Paul Steelman Greektown Casino architect Appeasement of environmental critics may cost carmakers support It's bad enough for Detroit that Washington's environmental lobby, aided and abetted by the Clinton Administration, is waging an undeclared war against the auto industry.

What's more surprising is the industry's recent willingness to hand over the ammo to its increasingly aggressive adversary. Last fall, it was General Motors Corp. talking about global warming as if it were an established scientific fact. Now it's Ford Motor Co. hinting in Washington that it may want to leave the Global Climate Coali-tioa the "voice for business in the global warming debate." Ford's departure from the organization would come at a cost that it will probably regret.

Legislators who have defended the industry's interests on regulatory issues such as Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Sea Larry Craig of Idaho could very well distance themselves from Detroit They and other Washington allies are said to be tired of looking like the bad guys on environmental issues while the very businesses they're defending go green. A warning shot to Ford and other companies was fired Friday by Craig, whose office wrote a draft letter signaling that the senator was ready to drop his opposition to tougher mileage standards for the automakers. Craig has opposed government-dictated increases in the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, at least until now. "For some time now, I have been listening carefully to the concerns expressed by many in the environmental community that we need to do more to assess the potential occurrence, causes and effects of global climate change," says the proposed letter to liberal Republican Sen.

Slade Gorton of.Washington, an advocate of more stringent requirements. "Putting the CAFE issue on the table for serious discussion as one of several pos-sifcle responses to addressing these issues is appropriate." This is bad news for the attfo companies. Of the top fhjee issues that the environmental lobby has targeted for action in Washington these days, two of them are related to the auto industry: CAFE and the emissions of sport-utility vehicles, which have been the main source of Detroit's recent string of record profits. The auto companies are making tremendous strides to improve their technologies in response to the relentless political and social pressures. There is also a much greater sensitivity to environmental concerns at the top of these companies, particularly from people such as Ford chairman William Clay Ford Jr.

Progress isn't good enough, however, for the people who don't like the automobile's central role in the American lifestyle. As noted here previously, appeasement only serves to increase the lobby's appetite for more demands on the auto companies. Indeed, the recent push by the automakers to cast much of their research and development, marketing and public policy statements in shades of green has not slowed the environmental lobby at all. The lobby is pushing all the harder with the administration to make it tougher for Americans to buy the larger vehicles that they increasingly prefer. This effort is not only a threat to profits.

It's a threat to jobs. And while the industry's legislative allies in Washington have never been able to stop the regulatory incursions, they have at least made them manageable. The loss of key allies such as Craig would leave Detroit without some of its vital defenses. it comes to global warming, they're tired of taking the heat If the industry they're trying to assist won't stand with them, who can blame them? Reach Associate Business Editor Jon Pepper by e-mail at JonLPepperaol.com or by phone at (313) 222-2293. 11 11 1 JZ lK Murals will adorn the walls of the temporary gambling will get special consideration when the work is put out Retailers ready for late Mother's Day rush of present buyers Best gift for Mom? Financial security The mother lode Moms don't always get what they want on Mother's Day, a survey of more than 200 individuals revealed: What moms want for Mother's Day: (respondents were able to choose more than one) itU -J i I tH ri I 4 i r'-i IJ; parlor.

Detroit artists to bid, Steelman says. sees 35 percent more traffic over a typical month "because the gift is a conveyence of love," said Lonnie Kanode, store director. Few moms take back gifts. "They'd never hurt their child's feelings by returning something," NRF spokesman Scott Krugman said. Dinnerspecial night out 46.1 0 Jewelry 38.4 Flowers 36.9 jjf Clothing 24.6 Personal service gift certificate 23.1 Day off 18.4 What moms received last year 4 Flowers 41.5 Dinnerspecial night out 29.2 (3 Jewelry 13.8 Clothing 10.7 fa Perfume 6.1 Payoff 6.1 Gift certificate 6.1 Were moms satisfied with what they received last year? Yes 96.9 No 14 How much do people plan to spend on gifts? Less than $50 58.7 More than $50 34.5 More than $100 5.8 Source: National Retail Federation The Detroit News By Rene Wisely The Detroit News TROY Paul Bohms has regressed.

Last year, the 22-year-old Clarkston resident picked out a Precious Moments figurine about a month before Mother's Day. But this year, four days before the big day, he was spending his lunch hour scurrying for that perfect gift at Somerset Collection in Troy. "This is when it's convenient for me," he said. Many retailers and floral shops are geared up today for an expected rush of last-minute gift buyers as more daughters, sons, husbands and grandchildren shop for that special something for Mother's Day. "Mother's Day has become like Father's Day and Valentine's Day, where everyone shops at the last minute," said Michael Wade, store manager of Hudson's at Oakland Mall in Troy.

Procrastination often bodes well for mom and retailers. "People are buying later this year, but they're larger gifts like appliances," said Carey Hayde, store manager of Williams-Sonoma, a cooking and entertaining shop in Somerset. "A lot of people are using their income tax returns on mom." Much of the extravagance stems from guilt, said Ben Rudolph, chairman of the marketing department at Grand Moms might want to spend part of their special day today thinking about their special financial needs. Too often, mothers put others before themselves when it comes to managing money, advisers say. They don't learn financial principles early, and are left in the lurch when disaster strikes or retirement comes.

Joyce Prellberg knows the pitfalls. Widowed in 1972 at 36 years old with three young children, she had no job qualifications and only a $13,000 life insurance payout. "The only thing I had ever done was sign the tax return each year," said Prellberg, now 64, of Rochester Hills. "I didn't have a clue what our income was, and I had a rude awakening. Suddenly I found myself in a community college trying to develop skills." Her story has a happy ending.

Out of the modest income from secretarial jobs, she eked savings just $5 a week at first which gradually swelled into a hefty retirement portfolio. Prellberg recently retired, upgraded to a larger condo and is looking forward to lots of travel. "Now I flick on the TV every night to check the stock market," she said. "Women should lamas Borchuck 1 he Detroit Sews Kristen Kramer of Rochester Hills looks for the perfect gift in Williams-Sonoma at the Somerset Collection in Troy. Valley State University.

"Consumers feel guilty about ping so late that they tend to buy big," he said. "Mother's Day is a retail and marketing holiday, so they play into that guilt." There is a lot at stake. Mother's Day is the second-hottest gift-buying occasion after Christmas, according to the National Retail Federation. And it comes amid the May and June gift blitz, months that offer more occasions for gift giving than any other time of the year, including graduations, first communions, Father's Day, weddings and bridal showers. After browsing Williams-Sonoma, Kristen Kramer, a 26-year-old fitness specialist from Rochester Hills, headed to Tiffany Co.

for her mother as well as her fiance's mother. "I never get anything super extravagant, but I am tired of doing the smelly soaps thing and I certainly am not into ordering flowers," she said. Within the two weeks prior to Mother's Day, Tiffany Co..