Skip to main content
The largest online newspaper archive
A Publisher Extra® Newspaper

Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 28

Location:
Reno, Nevada
Issue Date:
Page:
28
Extracted Article Text (OCR)

Today's tip tasine The Insurance Information Institute offers a brochure outlining the correct steps toward wood stove safety. Write the institute at 110 William New York, N.Y., 10038, or call 212-669-9200. 8B Friday, September 12, 1986 Reno Gazette-Journal Large vehicles offer safest ride, insurance report says Auto safety: the best and worst Credit-card rate limit rejected by panel WASHINGTON A House banking panel rejected a ceiling on credit-card interest rates Thursday, with critics warning that such a nationwide cap might not work and could backfire against low-income cardholders. The concept was likened by Rep. Doug Barnard to rent controls that he said dry up available housing and insurance premium limits that result in a shortage of coverage.

"This inevitably hurts many of the people it's supposed to help," Barnard said before the Banking, Finance and Consumer Affairs Committee's consumer subcommittee voted 7-5 to reject the bill. The measure, sponsored by the panel's chairman, Rep. Frank Annunzio, would cap credit-card interest rates at eight percentage points above the yield on one-year Treasury securities. If the ceiling were in effect now, the top rate that could be charged for unpaid balances would be 14.65. WASHINGTON (AP) Motorists are likely to be safer and face lower collision repair costs in large, four-door cars, station wagons and vans, according to an insurance industry report released Thursday.

The study by the Highway Loss Data Institute, an affiliate of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, shows small two-door models and many small or midsize sport or speciality cars as having the worst injury and repair record. Many of those small cars show injury claim frequencies and repair losses at least 30 percent higher than average, while many large cars, station wagons and vans typically show 40 to 50 percent better than average claim records, according to the analysis. Government crash tests on a variety of cars over the years have shown little direct relationship between car size and how well occupants are protected from serious injury. But auto safety experts emphasize those test crashes were into a fixed barrier, which does not take into account the differences in size and weight among cars. A crash into a fixed barrier would be the same as a crash into another car of the same size traveling at the same speed.

Most auto accidents do not occur that way. The Highway Loss Data Institute report compared the frequency of insurance claims and average repair costs of 185 vehicles with adjustments made for factors such as driver characteristics. The study reflects claims filed on 1983-84 model cars. The examination of claims "shows very wide variations in the injury and collision loss experience of various vehicles on the nation's highways," the study concludes. Among small, non-specialty cars, the Saab 900 was shown to provide the best protection against injury 24 percent to 32 percent below average but it also was found likely to have 31 percent to 41 percent higher repair costs, depending on whether it's a two-door or four-door model.

See AUTO, page 5B Here Is a sample of the cars rated by the Highway Loss Data Institute as to Injury end collision loss claims filed on 1983-84 model cars. The first column rates frequency of injury claims and the second average repair losses per Insured vehicle. A 100 rating Is average for all cars. A 139 rating would be 39 percent worse than average and an 80 rating 20 percent better than average. Small 3UL Saab 900 2-door j6aVWl Toyota Van fi.

78 76 Saab 900 4-door Jt6 131 Volkswagen Jeapafdoor 94 Honda 93 95 Honda 101 113 Honda fmiude'Zgm 1 03 1 32 Nissan Santra mn 106 93 Mazda 107 135 Nissan Pulsar 2-door 149 144 Isuzu l-Mark 4-door 151 102 Mercury Lynx 2-door 1 50 98 Chevrolet Chevette 2-door 1 59 98 Midsize Volvo 240 van 59 85 OWsmobile Cutlass 4-door 79 65 Pontiac 6000 4-dcor 80 80 Pontiac Bonneville 4-door 81 67 OWsmobile Ciera 2-door 84 85 OWsmobile Cutlass 2-door 87 87 Pontiac Grand Prix 2-door 90 92 Dodge Aries van 95 67 Pontiac Sunbird2000 4-door 118 95 Chevrolet Cavalier 4-door 119 88 Mercury Topaz 2-door 123 93 OWsmobile Firenza 2-door 1 23 97 Chevrolet Cavalier 2-door 1 32 1 07 Large OWsmobile Delta 88 4-door 59 60 Buck LeSabre 4-door 60 67 Ford Crown Victoria 4-door 63 56 Ford Crown Victoria 2-door 66 64 Buick LeSabre 2-door 67 74 Mercury Grand Marquis 2-door 70 62 Pontiac Parisienne 4-door 75 63 Plymouth Gran Fury 4-door 77 61 Chevrolet Caprice 2-door 77 66 usimess investments plymmmmet Hunts lose round in court NEW ORLEANS The billionaire Hunt brothers, fighting to keep 23 banks from foreclosing on $1.5 billion of their property, lost a round in the battle Thursday when a federal appeals court moved their bankruptcy cases to Dallas. The Hunts had wanted to keep Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in New Orleans, where they filed petitions on Aug 29. But the banks' attorneys argued to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the Hunts were trying to complicate an already complicated case. In ruling the Hunts must transfer the Chapter 11 case to Dallas, the 5th Circuit upheld an earlier order by U.S.

District Judge Barefoot Sanders of Dallas. Xit: lilf tifr tt 3 Steel shipping profits fall CHICAGO Steel shipping volume is on the increase but profit margins are falling, and experts of the $20 billion industry see them continuing to slip. "Although current shipping volume is holding steady compared to 1985 levels, it is primarily a result of a slightly larger share of a declining pie," said Andrew G. Sharkey, president of the Steel Service Center Institute. Industry overcapacity, deflationary pressures and the competitive realities of a buyers' market for steel are the main reasons profitability isn't keeping pace with shipping volume, the institute said.

Scaled-back plans mark biggest drop since '83 recession WASHINGTON (AP) U.S. businesses, beset by a sluggish economy and tax-law uncertainty, have reduced their investment spending plans by 2.5 percent for this year, the biggest cut since the last recession, the government reported Thursday. The Commerce Department said a survey completed in August found that businesses, after adjusting for inflation, plan to spend $376.47 billion this year on capital improvement projects, down from $386.32 billion actually spent in 1985. It would be the first decline in business investment since 1983 and the biggest drop since a 7.9 percent plunge in 1982. Business spending on expansion and modernization rose 8.7 percent in 1985 after surging 15.8 percent in 1984.

Economists blamed the weak economy, cutbacks in oil and gas drilling and uncertainty over changes in the tax law for the steep decline in capital investment plans. Many analysts said they believed the investment decline will be even worse than the survey plans indicate, throwing further doubt on the Reagan administration's forecast for revived economic growth in the second half of the year. The new estimate of spending plans represented a downward revision from the previous survey taken in April and May. At that time, businesses were planning a somewhat smaller 1.3 percent cut in investment this year. "The downward revision from an already dismal figure certainly isn't encouraging for economic growth for the rest of the year," said David Wyss, economist with Data Resources Inc.

The administration is forecasting that the economy, as measured by the gross national product, will expand at a robust annual rate of 4 percent in the last six months of this year, up substantially from the anemic 2.2 percent growth rate turned in from January through June. But Michael Evans, head of Evans Economics, a Washington consulting firm, said he believed investment spending will decline by 5 percent this year, double the 2.5 percent survey prediction. "This has been a bad year for business spending. We got an extra wallop from the tax changes and the problems in oil country which came on top of an already weak economy," he said. Economists said the overhaul of the tax law, which shifts $120 billion in taxes from individuals to businesses, forced companies to scale back investment plans.

Craig SailorGazette-Journal FACE LIFT: Bob Warren, Tahoe Biltmore general manager, stands in the recently cleared-out Nevada Room. Tahoe Biltmore polishes its appearance Offer for ailing Dunes Hotel LAS VEGAS A Philadelphia real estate development company has offered $145.5 million to buy the troubled Dunes Hotel and bring it out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. Attorneys for the Dunes say they intend to present the offer from Blumenfeld Properties at a confirmation hearing later this month in U.S. Bankruptcy Court if no better offers are received. A debt reorganization plan identifies Blumenfeld Properties as the prospective buyer of the Dunes.

It also asks the court to approve an agreement with the hotel's major creditor, Valley Bank, to give majority owner Jack Anderson until May 1987 to repay an $80 million debt. ing at the Nevada Hotel in Battle Mountain. He is not quite sure what to expect at the lake. This week the hotel is booked with Reno International Air Race fans. "But it's supposed to drop off in October and stay that way until the snow flies.

We're mostly at the whims of the weather." The property, however, is quickly being spruced up to prepare for skiing season. It also faces a near-overhaul by next summer. The property hasn't been refurbished since the early 1960s. The hotel-casino, which looks like a giant cottage from the street, already sports a new coat of paint, and its giant wall painting of green trees and blue mountains has been enhanced. On the second floor, the old Nevada By Susan VoylesGazette-Journal CRYSTAL BAY Bill Warren, an old hand of Nevada gambling halls, is working to turn back the clock and put back the life in the Tahoe Biltmore, formerly known as the Nevada Lodge.

Warren, the new general manager, has been overseeing a major renovation of the property since new owners were allowed to take over the business June 1. The new owners are most of the partners who own the Crystal Bay Club across the street. Warren has been in gaming for more than 40 years, having recently left as casino manager of the Holiday Hotel in Reno and intermittently running gam Room is being cleared of items that once rose to the rafters, ranging from gaming equipment to tables to mattresses. The mess had been accumulating since 1963, Warren said. The room, with a wall of windows facing the street, will be redesigned for use as a lounge for the ski crowd, with a poker bar, wide-screen television and copper fireplace.

Warren is already advertising the change in skiing magazines. The Nevada Room's stage area, where Phyllis Diller once appeared and the Viva La Girls show went topless in the early 1960s, will be turned into executive offices. The new lounge, thus, will See BILTMORE, page 5B TWA attendants reinstated NEW YORK A federal judge has ordered TWA to reinstate 463 flight attendants and the union called the move a victory that strengthens its claim of bad-faith bargaining by the company. On May 17, when the flight attendants called off their nine-week strike, TWA hastily filled 463 positions with trainees rather than allow strikers back. The union claimed that was a violation of its contract and U.S.

District Court Judge Howard F. Sachs agreed CBS News president resigns after 10 months Supply-side guru sees good times By Susan VoylesGazette-Journal NEW YORK (AP) Confronted with a revolt from below and the ouster of his ally at the top, Van Gordon Sauter resigned Thursday after a tumultuous 10 months as president of CBS News. The resignation INCLINE VILLAGE -Arthur Laffer, who led the nation down the path of supply-side economics, on Thursday Sauter Broadcast Group, said he accepted Sauter's resignation with regret, and that Howard Stringer, executive vice president of CBS News, would handle day-today operations for the time being. There was no indication whether a new chief for the news division would be selected before a new CBS chief executive is named. Former Defense Secretary Harold Brown, also a CBS board member, is heading a search committee for Wyman's replacement.

Mike Dain, a former CBS programming vice president under Paley, said the return of the 84-year-old founding father would boost CBS' prime-time fortunes. "He has a passion for shows," Dann said. "One of his favorites now is 'Cagney It's important and successful, a Paley trademark." employees as part of a general reduction in the CBS work force and was criticized openly by star employees such as Bill Moyers and Andy Rooney for not insulating the news division from the pressures of profits and ratings. Although "60 Minutes" continued to be very profitable, "CBS Evening News" had fallen into a three-way fight with its competition and "CBS Morning News" foundered in third place. "My 18 years at CBS were joyful and rewarding, and while the difficulties of the past 10 months constituted an irreversible end-game, I leave with pride in my work and respect and fondness for my former colleagues," Sauter said in a statement.

He had also served as president of CBS Sports, chief censor and news bureau chief in Paris. Gene Jankowski, president of CBS Gallo yanks magazine ads FRESNO, Calif. Angered by "vicious" magazine comments about family members of the Gallo wine dynasty, the world's largest winery has yanked $650,000 in ads from Time Inc. publications, according to a statement on Thursday. The canceled ads, which had been scheduled to appear over the next several months in Time Inc.

publications, were worth $650,000, winery spokesman Dan Solomon said. Industry sources said Gallo spends about $25 million a year on advertising. came one day after network founder William S. Paley and Laurence A. Tisch, the company's major stockholder, forced the resignation of Thomas H.

Wyman as chairman and chief executive officer. Sauter's resignation was announced minutes after CBS board member Walter Cronkite had said a change in the news division's leadership appeared inevitable. Sauter earlier this year laid off 70 news Report: People Express may land on selling block reform will lead Laner to an "enormous expansion" of the U.S. economy in 1988. Looking even further, he said the early 1990s could be reminiscent of the 1950s, with mortgage rates down to 5 percent and the prime lending rate for business down to 4 percent.

The federal budget would be balanced, unemployment would disappear and prosperity would be such that "you could skateboard from Los Angeles to San Diego on rooftops." Laffer, whose bid to become a U.S. senator was stopped when he lost the Republican primary in California in June, made his predictions to more than 400 delegates attending the American Association of Advertising Agencies convention at the Hyatt Lake Tahoe. With large tax cuts delayed until See LAFFER, page 5B Foreclosure processes up WASHINGTON Homeowners entered foreclosure proceedings at a slightly faster rate from April through June than they had during the first three months of the year, a trade association reported Thursday. The Mortgage Bankers Association said foreclosures were begun on 0.25 percent of the 9.5 million mortgages surveyed, up from 0.24 percent in the January-March quarter. Wire service reports Anthony Hatch, an analyst with Argus Research Corp.

in New York City, said the report of talks with Texas Air is not a good sign of People's financial strength. A joint venture with Texas Air or another company to win an infusion of cash would be "a new ball game" in the industry, he added. But it also might be a way for Texas Air to circumvent potential antitrust problems, Hatch said. Texas Air already is involved in East Coast air traffic as the owner of New York Air. It also has announced plans to acquire Eastern Airlines, although the federal government has raised competition questions.

Two months ago, People Express rejected a $235.8 million bid from Texas Air to buy the company. Richard Scott, spokesman for Houston-based Texas Air, declined Thursday to say whether new talks had taken place with People Express. Russell Marchetta, People Express spokesman, also declined to comment on the published report or the company's financial standing, except to say that August was a good month because the airline's planes were 67 percent full. NEWARK, N.J. (AP) People Express the 5-year-old airline carrier that has spent the past year building up and then cutting back its operations, reportedly is considering putting itself up for sale, working with a partner or selling some assets.

The Wall Street Journal, quoting unidentified sources close to People Express, reported Thursday that Texas Air Corp. has been willing to negotiate with the Newark-based carrier but has not jumped at the chance to enter into an agreement with People Express, which lost $132.5 million in the first half of the year. I.

Get access to Newspapers.com

  • The largest online newspaper archive
  • 300+ newspapers from the 1700's - 2000's
  • Millions of additional pages added every month

Publisher Extra® Newspapers

  • Exclusive licensed content from premium publishers like the Reno Gazette-Journal
  • Archives through last month
  • Continually updated

About Reno Gazette-Journal Archive

Pages Available:
2,578,572
Years Available:
1876-2024