The Akron Beacon Journal from Akron, Ohio • Page 29

The Beacon Journal www.Ohio.com Tuesday, August 11, 1998, Page C7 Cleveland's WKNR traded for Pittsburgh station Deal is one of eight made so owner Jacor can buy Nationwide without raising competition concerns Wall Street Market continues to head downward Stocks fell yesterday as investors fretted that there's no end in sight for Asia's recession. lumbus and KMJZ-FM and KSGS-AM in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Jacor will get from CBS the following: WOCT-FM and WCAO-AM in Baltimore; KSD-FM and KLOU-FM in St. Louis; and KOME-FM and KUFX-FM in San Jose, Calif.

Two San Diego stations, KKLQ-FM and KJQY-FM, will be sold to Heftel Broadcasting Corp. of Dallas. Jacor, based in Covington, operates 197 radio stations in 55 U.S. markets and had revenue of $600 million in 1997. Its Premiere Radio Networks unit provides syndicated programming that includes Rush Limbaugh.

Jacor shares closed yesterday at 5934, down duce Jacor's revenue share to about 39 percent of the Cleveland radio market, 36 percent in San Diego and 38 percent in Columbus. "Jacor went into this deal knowing they would have to spin off some of those stations," said Bishop Cheen, an analyst who covers the industry for First Union Capital Markets in Charlotte, N.C. In the last two years, federal regulators have held up mergers that would have left one company holding more than one-third of the advertising dollars in a particular "The divestitures will preserve the choices available to advertisers in the San Diego, Cleveland and Columbus markets," said Assistant Attorney General Joel Klein, head of the Justice Department's antitrust division. Jacor's sales and swaps will be completed before acquiring Nationwide, the department said. In Columbus, Jacor will sell WZAZ-FM to Blue Chip Broadcasting of Cincinnati.

In nearby Chillicothe, it will sell its right to acquire WKKJ-FM to Secret Communications LLC, also based in Cincinnati. Jacor will give to CBS the following stations: WHOK-FM, WLVQ-FM and WAZU-FM in Co Deal Experts don't expect Humana to seek buyer Continued from Page CG tals and makers of medical devices. The boards of both companies met separately over the weekend and decided to terminate the acquisition, said Greg Donaldson, a Humana spokesman. "We disengaged because United did identify problems with its operations that made it clear to Humana that we would be more successful on our own," Donaldson said. Microsoft appeals to judge Susan Busch, a spokeswoman for United, based in Minneapolis, said the acquisition collapsed because of "market conditions." Analysts and investors expect Humana, based in Louisville, to focus on keeping an even keel rather than looking for another buyer.

But eventually, the company is expected to look for another large ally as the managed-care industry consolidates. "Humana on a stand-alone basis is in very good shape. They could go on functioning if they would care to," said David Ullom, a portfolio manager at USAA Investment Management, which owns shares of United and Humana. "I would think there would be some other HMOs that would be interested in talking to them." Penfield Jackson, who is in charge of the antitrust case, appeared unlikely to grant Microsoft's request when the company told him of its intentions during a hearing Thursday, saying he still anticipated a Sept. 8 trial.

Neukom said yesterday that Microsoft was confident its request would get a fair hearing by Jackson. In its court filing, Microsoft said it believes a favorable appeals ruling this summer, combined with evidence it has uncovered from business rivals, undercuts the most dramatic claims made against it. as a die setter and operator. "The company says we're the best. If we are the best, then we deserve those jobs.

Why would you want to go anywhere else?" Discussions between the union and the company about the plant's location more or less ended after the company insisted on a 10-year contract with a no-strike clause, Eslich said. Timken has 13 plants in Ohio, including six in Canton and one in Wooster. But it has recently built plants elsewhere, such as AltaVista, and Asheboro, N.C. BEACONLine For the latest prices of ymir slocks or funds call: 996-3999 HOW TO USE BEACONLINE BEFORE YOU CALL, find out the ticker symbol for your stocks or funds. The ticker is not the abbreviation in the Beacon Journal's stock pages.

CONVERT the ticker symbol to a BeaconLine numerical code: market, or with a majority of a particular market segment, such as rock music, Cheen said. As originally proposed, Jacor would have had control of 12 stations in San Diego, with 42 percent of radio advertising revenue there. In Cleveland, Jacor would have owned sue stations, with 43 percent of revenue. In Columbus, Jacor's nine stations would have had 58 percent of the revenue. Jacor traded WKNR for WTAE-AM, a Pittsburgh sports station owned by Capstar Broadcasting Partners of Austin, Texas.

In Cleveland, Jacor also owns WMJI (105.7-FM), WMMS (100.7-FM), WMVX (106.5-FM), WTAM (1100-AM) and WGAR (99.5-FM). ing at capacity for some time. The continuous caster carries the molten metal from huge furnaces to the rolling mill. The mill shapes the bright orange steel in narrow bars for an end user. The tube plant forms tubes that can be cut into sections to form the races or the perimeter of the bearings Timken makes.

The revamped Harrison Steel Mill is Timken's newest Canton steel addition since it went out on a limb in the early 1980s to build the Faircrest steel mill, a new-from-the-ground-up mill in the fields south of Canton. Faircrest shocked the industry because Timken built it during a steel recession. But now, the Faircrest plant is considered among the nation's most efficient mills. Yesterday's commissioning of the new roiling mill brought out lots of bigwigs, including Voino- Atlantic SBC Communications Inc. and US West Inc.

The net effect of the ruling is it "lowers the transport costs for competitors," said Paul Glenchur, a telecommunications analyst with Charles Schwab Washington Research Group. SBC, Ameritech and US West argued that they shouldn't be required by the FCC to carry their competitors' phone traffic at cost The court disagreed. SBC, Ameritech and US West said the companies are considering whether to appeal the ill Associated Press Rachel Kurtis of Clifton, is the owner of U.S. patent 5746331 for the locker shelving she designed two years ago. By Paul souhrada Associated Press Jacor Communications Inc.

smoothed the way for its $620 million deal to buy Nationwide Communications Inc. by agreeing yesterday to sell or swap eight stations to maintain competition in Cleveland, Columbus and San Diego. Jacor agreed to give up WKNR (1220-AM) in Cleveland, as well as five stations in Columbus and two in San Diego. The U.S. Justice Department said yesterday the sales would re Shelf Family spent $5,000 to get device patented Continued from Page C6 ceiving a patent is hardly a given, even for adults.

Only 124,000 were granted last year, compared with 232,000 applied for. Five of Rachel's young friends already bought sets for $20 apiece, and her older brother got one free, but she didn't do any marketing while waiting for the patent. "Now, I'm probably going to blab," she said, thinking about the 400 potential buyers among her fellow students at Flint Hill School. It takes about three hours for Rachel to make one set of the shelves, which fold up and are held in place by what she calls a "stop bar." She plans to stockpile them this summer. To sell beyond the school, she may need some help.

A manufacturing company has already sent a letter offering its services, said Rhonda Kurtis, Rachel's mother. "The next step, we're really not sure," said Kurtis, who was wary of the offer. Rachel may apply for a trademark on the name "Lock-erpal," which is what she called the shelves for her class project The family will have to sell quite a few shelves to earn back what the patent cost in application and attorney's fees. It took 16 months and about $5,000 for Rachel to get her patent, Kurtis said. Beacon Journal staff report The Timken Co.

expects to decide within two months where it will build its $110 million seamless tube mill. The company has narrowed the possible sites to four states, including Ohio. The company has gathered information on sites in Stark County, Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia, said Bill J. Bowling, Timken's executive vice president, CEO and president of the company's steel-making operations. The plant is expected to creatcabout 200 jobs.

Timken has 13 plants in Ohio, including six in Canton and one in Wooster. BELL Picket lines form as soon as contract expires Continued from Page C6 had managed to fill in for the strikers. But he said that if the strike continued, there could be delays in paying bills by phone and in installations or repairs. "We want people to use the phone book instead of calling directory assistance, and credit cards instead of making collect calls," Rabe said. Realtor Lindsay Johnston in Philadelphia said: "Everyone has a cellular phone these days.

Technology is probably going to make this strike a little more palatable." Picket lines from Maine to Virginia began going up Sunday after the contract expired at 12:01 a.m. There was some bottle-throwing and an egg was hurled at a Bell Atlantic truck leaving a New York garage where about 200 workers were picketing yesterday. One striker punched a window of another truck and was arrested Eight strikers outside a Pough-keepsie, N.Y., Bell Atlantic facility were accused of blocking trucks leaving the building and were charged with disorderly conduct The strike involves workers in Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, D.C., and part of Greenwich, Conn. Stocks would have fallen more if not for a rise in drug makers such as Merck which made 75 percent of its sales in the United States last year. Merck gained 2Vi to The Dow Jones industrial average fell 23.17, or 0.3 percent, to 8,574.85.

The Standard Poor's 500 Index dropped 6.31, or 0.6 percent, to 1,083.14, its fifth decline in seven days. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 7.56, or 0.4 percent, to 1,839.21. Automobiles Ford plans to lower prices on 1999 cars Ford Motor Co. said it will lower prices on 1999-model cars and trucks, which will cost an average 0.3 percent less than comparable 1998 models. Chrysler Corp.

last month said its average price on 1999 models would rise 0.1 percent. Retailing Smucker begins work on new store Orrville jam and jelly maker J.M. Smucker Co. yesterday broke ground at a 32-acre site near state Route 57 and U.S. 30 for its first Simply Smucker store.

The store, which is to open in the spring, will stock 350 Smucker products. Vickie Limbach, who has been manager of Smucker's corporate communications for 10 years, will manage the store. Treasuries Interest rates fall on sales of T-bills Interest rates on short-term Treasury securities fell in yesterday's auction. The Treasury Department sold $5.76 billion in three-month bills at an average discount rate of 4.94 percent, down from 4.98 percent ast week. An additional $7.26 lillion was sold in six-month bills, Iso at an average rate of 4.94 ercent, down from 5.03 percent.

ARNINGS lay company shows ncrease in income St. Louis retailer May Department Stores Co. said yesterday that second-quarter net income rose 13 percent to $131 million, or 53 cents a share, from the same period a year ago. The operator of Kaufmann's stores had sales of $2.82 billion, up 5.9 percent from a year ago. Publishing Penton's shares take slight rise on first day Shares in Cleveland's Penton Media Inc.

ended their first day of New York Stock Exchange trading up to 163i yesterday. Penton, which trades under the symbol PME, was spun off from Pittway Corp. on Friday just before it bought Donohue Meehan Publishing Co. of Chicago, publisher of trade publications for the baking and convenience store industries. Penton, which publishes 42 business and trade publications, employs 1,400 people in Cleveland and Berea.

YOUNGSTOWN Cold Metal's chief ready to call it quits James R. Harpster, president and chief executive of Youngstown's Cold Metal Products will take early retirement next year. The 830-employee specialty and conventional steel maker has hired a firm to find a replacement. Harpster began his steel industry career in 1969 with Jones Laughlin Steel Corp. He joined Cold Metal Products when it was formed in 1980.

Tidbits unit lands deal; gas prices on decline McDermott International the New Orleans parent of Babcock Wilcox in Barberton, said its Canadian unit has been awarded a contract worth almost $100 million to supply four nuclear steam generators for the Baltimore Gas and Electric nuclear power plant in Calvert County, Md. Prime Group Realty Trust has agreed to buy Cleveland's National City Center and Chicago's IBM Plaza office tower for about $356 million from Blackstone Group Inc. Gasoline prices fell for the third straight week, to an average $1,033 a gallon, reaching their lowest level of the summer, the Department of Energy said. Associated Press WASHINGTON: Saying there is no need for a trial, Microsoft asked a judge yesterday to throw out the antitrust lawsuits filed by the Justice Department and 20 states. Microsoft, which makes the popular Windows operating systems, also accused the government in an 88-page filing of asking it to develop "a new and inferior operating system" that doesn't include its Internet browser.

"It is clear that the government will not be able to prove its case," said William Neukom, a company vice president. U.S. District Judge Thomas vich, who all got tours of the shiny new facility. The hard-hatted governor watched as red-hot metal bars rolled through narrowing devices and were cut into pieces that will be used to make crankshafts for Ford F-250 pickup trucks and Econoline vans. Moments before touring the new facility, the governor told the crowd about the impact that labor-management relations can have on the success of a new facility.

"It's a like a good marriage," he said. "If you want to keep it, it takes tender, loving care." That's what several sign-carrying members of United Steelwork-ers of America Local 1123 in Canton said they want from the company as it decides where to put the new tube mill. They carried signs out in front of the new rolling mill in hopes of persuading the company to build in Stark County. "The employees of this company have sacrificed so much during the '80s when the times were tough" for the steel industry, said Massillon's Pat Eslich, 34, a nine-year Timken employee who works MILL Workers' big question: Who'll get tube plant? Continued from Page C6 more in the quality quest, in the cost quest," said Robert L. Lei-bensperger, executive vice president, chief operating officer and president of Timken's bearing operations.

Timken announced in April its plan to build a $110 million seamless tubing mill. The mill, the company said, is needed to make, among other things, the high-quality parts used to make Timken bearings. The plant's current tube-making facilities have been work Court ruling favors FCC over Baby Bells Decision to cut costs for new local phone services A21 H42 0 63 V83 B22 143 71 W91 C23 J-51 01 X92 D31 K52 72 93 E32 L53 73 03 F33 61 T81 tll G41 N62 82 "12 13 EXAMPLE: GT 41 81. press CALL 996-3999. Once connected press 1999 and.

when prompted, enter the appropnate stock code followed by FOR MORE historical information on stocks press then To inquire about another stock or mutual fund, press at any time and start again. NOTE: Stock information is deloved by no mom thon 15 minutes: fund information is updated at 6 p.m. Quotes received through BeoconLine are not intended for the purposes of buying or selling securities but for information only. Sponsored by: Scottsdale Securities Discount Stockbroker http:www.dlfceuntbrelcer.com Bloomberg News St. Louis: In a victory for the Federal Communications Commission and new local telephone service competitors, a U.S.

federal appeals court yesterday ruled that the Baby Bells and GTE Corp. must transport competitors' phone traffic at actual cost. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis sided with the FCC in a complex ruling that pits new local phone rivals including long-distance phone companies Corp. and MCI Communications Corp.

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