Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 29

EDADS (jjage 4E oassii IMNESS WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8,1995 RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL J- TODAY'S Cash-poor Terra womrt tony SaMs BRIEFING By James Robbins GAZETTE-JOURNAL Sands Regent, owner of Sands Regency Hotel Casino in Reno, will remain in the hands of the Cla-dianos family, officials announced at the company's annual shareholders meeting this week. The Cladianos family which started the company in 1963 and controls more than 30 percent of its stock announced earlier this year that it would sell its shares to Terra Gaming Corp. "They (Terra) were unable to raise the money to buy the stock," said Pete Cladianos Sands president. Sands has not yet received official notice from Terra that the deal is off, he said, but the Nevada Gaming Control Board told him that investigations, which are required for any change of ownership in a state-licensed gaming compa business, which has shown weak financial performance for most of the year. While Sands has seen decades of success in the Reno gaming market, expanding from a small motel into a three-tower hotel-casino, the company showed a net loss of 1 1 .4 million ($2.54 a share) in fiscal 1994-95.

The company's stock has languished near the $5 per share mark for months on end. ny, have ceased. Company officials had hoped the sale would build shareholder value and produce investment capital for expansion and renovation. "They (Terra) told us they simply decided not to go through with the deal," Cladianos said. "We still haven't received a letter, but we have to take the position that the deal's off." He said that Sands would not be looking for other suitors to buy the Reduced II 1 hrir xir BEGINNING OF THE FALL: Flames shoot out of the side of the Landmark Hotel in Las Vegas as 100 pounds of dynamite were detonated to bring down the building Tuesday morning.

hi. 'h Ai XT" J- With the Terra deal, the company had hoped to inject new life into its Reno and Mississippi properties. While searching for ways to enhance shareholder value, said Da-vid Wood, vice president of finance, Sands' investment banker Donaldson Lufkin and Jenrette found that Terra was interested in entering the Nevada gaming industry. Terra owns a chain of Pacific Northwest movie theaters. SBA cuts its office in Reno By Susan Skorupa GAZETTE-JOURNAL The Reno office of the U.S.

Small Business Administration (SBA) has closed as part of a nationwide budget-cuttingmoveby the agency that provides loan guarantees and other help to small businesses that lack access to capital. The Reno "post of duty" office on South Virginia Street, which had two employees, closed Oct. 27, said Donna Hopkins, spokeswoman for the SBA's Las Vegas district office. Local SBA operations now will go through the Las Vegas office, Hopkins said. Business people who work with the SBA should notice no slowdown in service, she said, because most service on local loans guarantees and other SBA operations already were handled through Las Vegas.

The SBA has closed all its small "post of duty" offices and most branch offices as part of budget-cutting efforts. Nationwide, the cut to 3.500. "It's part of our master plan," Hopkins said. Reno loan officer Art Ereckson will move to the Las Vegas office, said Jerry Stephens, acting SBA district director in Las Vegas. "During the 1 8 years that the Reno office has been operating, about 30 percent of our loans hav been processed out of that Stephens said, information on SBA ser- nd loan programs, call 6611.

ill Anniwrvarv RewGazette-Journal BusinessrnjjySpttling Co. of Reno Aae: 90 vears Then: Founded in 1 905 by Edward W. Chism who started by making Chism Ice Cream. In about 1 929, Chism went into the soft drink business with Hire's Root Beer and 7-Up. In 1 960, he began bottling Dr Pepper as well.

About 1 959, Chism sold the ice cream portion of his company to Carnation and went exclusively into bottling and then, in 1 978, into canning soft drinks. Now: The company, located at 1 000 Terminal Way is the only soft drink-producing plant in the state, according to Ed Frazer, Chism's grandson and company president. It's just expanded into more territories and the plant is growing with more manufacturing ability. It has added more beverages, such as Country Time and Crystal Lite and does some private-label canning. Ed Frazer, president: "We want to have the best product locally, delivered by the best people at the best price to the consumer." Susan Skorupa 4vicesJa i FIB shareholders expect new offer Shareholders spent Tuesday waiting for Wells Fargo Co.

to challenge First Interstate Bancorp's buyout by First Bank System of Minneapolis for about $10 billion in stock. First Interstate, fleeing a hostile Wells bid, on Monday accepted First Bank's offer to swap 2.6 of its shares for each First Interstate share. "They (Wells Fargo) don't have to raise their bid to make it a superior one," said Scott Edgar, director of research for Sife Trust Fund, a bank mutual fund that owns 1 1 0,000 First Interstate shares. "But they're going to have to do something to move this deal in the right direction." While both deals would result in a stronger bank, "We would be much happier with Wells stock," he said. Productivity up in third quarter The productivity of the American work force improved during the third quarter, though more slowly than earlier in the year.

At the same time, there was little sign of inflation. The Labor Department said Tuesday that nonfarm productivity rose at a 2 percent annual rate during the period, down from a revised 4.9 percent during April, May and June. The figures were adjusted for seasonal variations. Productivity defined as output per numberof hours worked is a key measure of the nation's living standards and business competitiveness. Increases mean companies are making their goods more efficiently and at lower costs.

Long-time John Ascuaga's Nugget publicist Emelie Melton Williams has left the hotel-casino for a public-relations assignment at Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center in Reno. United Airlines will offer passengers potent Starbucks coffee on all flights beginning in January. MCI will create a service that lets consumers buy music CDs over phone lines. investment group that includes the Wall Street firm Goldman, Sachs and Co. and David Rockefeller announced an agreement to take control of Rockefeller Center.

In a rare disciplinary action against brokers selling mutual funds at banks, the National Association of Securities Dealers Inc. fined a bank-owned Worthen Investments Inc. of Little Rock $258,400 for shady sales practices. Federal Reserve approved the $5.3 billion merger of NBD Bancorp Inc. and First Chicago Corp.

to create the nation's seventh-largest bank. Delta Air Lines Inc. is placing its cargo operations into a separate unit as part of a revamping of the business. T.C. Rahme has been promoted to executive casino host -table game tournament director of the Peppermill.

He will be responsible for customer development, the coordination of table game Rahme tournaments and the property's special events. Rahme was previously a craps dealer and pit supervisor. He has been employed by the casino for 14 years. Why are you successful? "The people above me. They led the way for me to follow." Advice? "Have fun at work, and enjoy what you do.

The only drawback is that you might make it look too easy so they don't think you're really working." Did you have mentors? "Many people. People who don't have blueprints for success but still have dreams of success." Diana Frcar Paschall Questions or comments: STEVE FALCONE BUSINESS EDITOR PHONE, 788 6322 FAX, 788-6458 Landmark no more: 7,000 view demolition of Hughes' old hotel. LAS VEGAS (AP) The Landmark Hotel a once-elegant throwback to the era of reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes was reduced to a pile of rubble in a spectacular implosion that jolted thousands of sleeping tourists. The octagon-shaped tower and a saucer-shaped pod atop the 356-foot-tall structure stood momentarily after 100 pounds of strategically-placed dynamite was detonated at its base. Then the pod and the tower split down the middle, with one side slowly sinking into a pile of debris, followed by the other.

The surrealistic setting was captured by a Warner Bros, crew shooting for a proposed movie entitled, appropriately, "Mars Attacks." Before the implosion, the film crew shot footage of stunt men and women, including a couple in wedding attire, fleeing the structure and dodging cars racing from the scene. Officials of Controlled Demolition the Phoenix, Md. company that brought down the building, had been concerned about the structure. Mark Loizeaux, CDI president, told a news conference Monday that there were no blueprints found for the hotel, leaving demolition experts at a disadvantage. There were also secret stairwells and other idiosyncrasies, Loizeaux said.

Jim Santoro, project manager for CDI, said Tuesday's pre-dawn blast went off "without a hitch." "We were very, very happy," he said. "The building fell within the parameters of our expectations. "This is one of the more unusual ones we've done," Santoro said. "The fact there were no blueprints was a great drawback. We had to rely strictly on what we found on site." Loizeaux said the 31-story tower was the tallest reinforced concrete structure imploded in North America.

CDI also holds the world record, imploding a building in Sao Paulo, Brazil that was 5 feet higher, Loizeaux said Monday. CDI imploded two towers of the old Dunes resort on the Las Vegas Market Day i C' BREAKAWAY: The Landmark Hotel splits in two and collapses within ciolo and completed in 1968 by the reclusive Hughes. It went through bankruptcy twice, finally closing in 1990. The Landmark once showcased celebrities such as Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Durante, Dinah Shore, Bobby Darin, Bobbie Gentry, Bob Newhart and Red Skelton. The last hurrah for the resort came in 1994 when Universal Studios used the property for some of the filming of "Casino," a movie scheduled for release this month that chronicles the decline of organized crime in Las Vegas.

Strip two years ago. Earlier this year the company imploded the shattered shell of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City, the site of the April 19 bombing that killed 169 people. Police estimated some 7,000 people turned out to witness Tuesday's blast, with thousands more watching from nearby hotels. Occupants of the Las Vegas Hilton, across the street, were warned in advance of the implosion.

The Landmark was started in 1961 by developer Frank Carac- Associated Press photos seconds of the detonation. Spring Mtn. ff-JES rrrR'-Wri Mark BartleyGazettft-Jrtjrnal DOWi Industrials) 19m is NYSE Diary iPFVC Las Las VegasVvAvVegas i I wr Sahara I A rtrrr NYSE "Lry AMIX "MsSq wm major currencies, taking advantage of weakness in the German mark in transactions against the Japanese yen and French franc. The yen's gains against the mark led to a weaker dollar against the Japanese currency. However, the market was focused on events in France, where Prime Minister Alain Juppe realigned his cabinet.

In late New York trading, the dollar fetched 103.07 yen, down from 103.39 yen Monday. The dollar also fetched 1.4 164 marks, up from 1.4 128. The dollar rose to a historic high against the Mexican peso, hitting 7.4850 pesos, versus 7.4050 pesos Monday. Metals: Copper futures prices reached a 10-wcck high on signs of persistent near-term supply tightness and evidence of declining U.S. inventories.

Analysts said the rally may be near its peak, though, because the high prices will likely bring additional copper onto the market from warehouses that do not publicly report their stocks. Copper for December delivery traded as high as 1 .355 a pound in heavy trading, the highest price for an active near-term contract since Aug. 30. The contract settled at 1 .3405, 1 .75 cents higher. The thinly traded November contract rose 2.5 cents to 1 .379 a pound.

Among precious metals, December gold rose $2.90 to $386.60 a troy ounce; December silver rose 9.2 cents to $5,367 a troy ounce; and January platinum jumped $7.60 to $4 1 4.30 a troy ounce. Wall Street: Stock prices sank for the second consecutive day, spurred by a selloff of technology stocks amid new doubts about the industry's outlook. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 16.98 points to 4,797.03, recovering from the 25-point fall earlier in the day. The Dow fell nearly 1 2 points on Monday. "The main focus of this market was the drop in tech shares," said Leon Brand, global market specialist at Nat West Securities.

Leading the selloff was chip maker Cirrus Logic Inc. which was down 1 2 'A to 28 after it said a major customer is reducing orders. Cirrus said the cutback was partly a result of the unidentified customer's forecast for demand. Bonds Treasury bond prices dropped as investors nervously watched for signs that Washington lawmakers are getting closer to an agreement with President Clinton about raising the federal debt ceiling. Prices were also hemmed in by comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan that suggest the central bank will leave interest rates unchanged for the time being.

The price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond fell or $2.50 per 1 ,000 in face value. Its yield, which moves in the opposite direction, edged up to 6.3 1 percent from 6.29 percent late Monday. Currencies: The dollar rose against most Amfed Financial 311116 -916 BankAmerica 59'A Clorox 73V, -Hi Coeurd'Alene 18 Comstock Bank 6'h R.R. Donnelley 36 Echo Bay 9 'k First Interstate 127 FirstMiss Gold 18 FMCGold 4 Gannett 55 V. General Motors 45 -H Glamis Gold 6 V.

Granite Const. 27 1 Harding Nevada Power 21 Newmont 41 '4 1 Pacific Telesis 30 -'A Pegasus Gold 12V. 'i J.C. Penney 46 1V Radica Games 114 Ralcorp 23 Reno Air 7 -'4 Rotech 244 Santa FePac. Gold 11 Sierra Pacific 237.

Sierra Tahoe 1 1 '4 Southwest Gas 16V. US Bancorp 31'A Advances: 1.020 Declines: 1,233 Unchanged: 816 Total issues: 3,069 86 lew lows 29 Composite volume: 435,970,840 IW4 comp. 352.2X840.