Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 60

Reno Gazette-Journal FRIDAY MAY 20. 1994 STEVE FALCONE, BUSINESS EDITOR: PHONE, 788-6322; FAX. 788-6458 r. Li May 19. 1W4 DOW(lnduMmls) NYSE CHICAGO Averao mortpsoe raws tor jingle-family rtomes in metropolitan areas as ot May 18 as compiled by the Chicago Title Insurance Co The rates are tor 30-year, fixcxs-rate mortgages tor 80 percent o' the value of the house A point is one time tee equaling one percent the mortgage May 18 Prev Wk percent points Atlanta 8 625 1 125 8 375 1 125 Boelon 8 75 1 5 9 00 1 0 Chicago 8 875 875 8 625 1 375 Denes 8 50 0 75 8 50 0 75 8 375 OS 875 05 Houston 8 50 625 8 375 1 0 Los Angeles 8 625 1.25 8 875 1.25 Annual business and arts luncheon set for Thursday Arts Education Means Business is the topic of this year's Business and the Arts luncheon to be held Thursday at 1 1 :30 a.m.

at Harrah's Reno convention center. Valsin Marmillion. president of Pacific Visions Communications of Los Angeles, is the guest speaker for the 1 4th annual event, which recognizes businesses that support the arts. Marmillion will talk about how including the arts in education produces emplovees with skills needed in today's and tomorrow's workplaces. He provides corporate and public information management services to corporations.

The subject of this year's luncheon ties in with education reform efforts. Co-sponsored by the Greater Reno-Sparks Chamber of Commerce and the Sierra Arts Foundation, the luncheon cost is $20 per person or 1 60 for a table of eight. For reservations, call the chamber at 686-3030. Amfed Financial 20Va -1 Amservlnc. 1Ve -V BankAmerlca 48 -Va Clorox 51 Va Coeurd'Alene 187e Comstock Bank R.R.

Donnelley 27 Echo Bay 11 First Interstate B2Va FirstMissGold 7 716 1-16 First Western Fin. 87e FMCGold 6 Gannett 521 General Motors 55V 1Vs Granite Const. 21 Va Ve Harding 6'2 Vi Nevada Power I8V2 Va Newmont 397e Pacific Telesis 31 J.C. Penney 51 Vt -Va Reno Air 47 V2 Rotech 21 Vi 1 Santa Fe Pacific 21 Va Sierra Pacific I8V2 -Va Sierra Tahoe 8'8 Va Southwest Gas 17 Ve US Bancorp 25 316 Bonds: Treasury bond prices rose solidly Thursday, chiefly in technical trading after government reports earlier the day gave mixed signals about the economy. The price of the Treasury's 30-year bond closed up point, $3.75 per 1 .000 in face value, while yield fell to 7.23 percent from 7.27 percent late Wednesday.

Prices and move in opposite directions. The extended a rally that began Tuesday when the Federal Reserve decided to raise interest rates a half-point. Such increases generally cause prices to drop, but the latest was interpreted as a sign the Fed hold rates steady for a while. prices were depressed at midday lingering concerns about inflation, partly by a 3'2-year intraday high the Commodity Research Bureau's of commodity prices. The index the day up 1 .45 at 232.43.

StP 500 AMEX SAP MldCap NASDAQ NYSE Diary Advances: 1,318 New highs Declines: 886 37 Unchanged: 625 New lows ToUl Issues: 2,829 36 Composite volume: 366,703,940 1993 avg. com p. 323,714,610 Rates down: Thirty-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 8.56 percent this week, down from 8.77 percent last week, a national survey said. For local rates, see Saturday's Homefinder. THE ECONOMY U.S.

trade deficit improves dramatically fact that exports of U.S. goods shot up 12.7 percent to a record $42.17 billion. America's imports also hit a record, rising 6.5 percent to $54.21 billion, led by increases inautosandoil. The government has added services to its monthly trade report. For March, the services surplus for such things as tourism, consulting fees and movie rentals was $4.58 billion.

Combining the services surplus and the $12.04 billion goods deficit produced the March overall deficit of $7.45 billion. Despite the overall improvement, the U.S. merchandise defi TOURISM Mmneapolla 8 50 0 75 New York 9 00 1.375 Philadelphia 8 385t 2 0 Phoenu 8 50 0 75 Seattle 8625 10 Tampa 8 875 1 0 Washington 8 50 1 875 8 75 05 900 125 15 8125 9 00 625 9 00 1 125 8 50 0 75 8625 1625 CHICAGO Chicago Title tn-surance Co average variable rales available i the above cities tor a new 1 year adiustawe mortgage based on a 30-year loan tor 80 percent 01 the value ot a smgie-tamMy house May 18 Prev Wk percent points Tm 875 5.25 .875 nese delegation would lead to a full resumption of the talks. Kantor refused to go into details about what was contained in the new Japanese offer. Late Thursday, his spokeswoman Anne Luz-zatto said both sides planned to meet into the night and then resume discussions again on Friday.

Asked whether the negotiators were optimistic a breakthrough could be imminent, she said only, "They are working very diligently." However, officials had said before the talks began that if there were signs of progress, the negotiations could well be extended into Friday. v-r is I' in main or its yields action bond action would Bond by fueled in index ended i RSCVA approves budget for 1994-95 GAMING TOURISM Doomtown opens Las Vegas branch Boomtown operator of a casino-resort in Verdi, is opening Boomtown Las Vegas today. "Boomtown Las Vegas is a major milestone in Boomtown's transition to becoming a multistate, multiproperty casino operator with a more diversified revenue base," Tim Parrott, chairman and chief executive officer, said in a prepared statement released Thursday. "In addition, we look forward to two more major property openings Boomtown Biloxi (Miss.) and Boomtown New Orleans in mid-July," he said. Boomtown Las Vegas, similar to its property on Interstate 80 in Verdi, is located outside its much-larger neighbor.

It's on the Blue Diamond interchange at Interstate 1 5, where visitors from California will encounter it four miles before the interchange to the Luxor, MGM and Excalibur mega-resorts, or on their way out of town. Boomtown in Verdi is among the first casinos, with Gold Ranch, that motorists from California encounter on their way to Reno and the last as they leave. "It's very exciting for us to come down to Las Vegas, where the finest hotel-casinos in the world are found." Dick Scott, president and chief operating officer of Boomtown Reno, said from Las Vegas, confident the resort will fill a niche in its south-state location. With an Old West mining town theme, Boomtown Las Vegas offers a casino with more than 1,000 slot machines, 30 table games, 300 hotel rooms, 460-space park, two restaurants, 600-seat Western dinner theater and entertainment lounge. Opryland USA will headline the dinner theater with a premiere May 27.

WASHINGTON (AP) The U.S. trade deficit narrowed dramatically in March as a jump in sales of gold, commercial aircraft and telephone equipment pushed American exports to an all-time high. However, the United States suffered a 25 percent jump in its deficit with Japan, lending new urgency to an effort to restart stalled market-opening negotiations between the two countries. U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor told Congress on Thursday there were "potentially hopeful" signs that preliminary discussions with a high-level Japa GOING ON LINE: PacBell lineman cit with Japan surged to $5.8 billion in March, third largest imbalance on record, compared to a February deficit of $4.63 billion.

Analysts said the major reason for the increase was higher shipments of Japanese autos. The United States has been pressuring Japan to lower trade barriers as a way of narrowing the trade gap between the two nations, which last year hit a record $59 billion. But private economists contend that economic disparities and not Japanese trade barriers are the principal cause of the widening deficit with Japan. and RSCVA Director Bruce Bres-low responded, saying Reno must ensure it's properly compensated. Contacted after the meeting, Police Chief Richard Kirkland said funding that some events provide for security isn't enough for adequate police coverage, a difference the city pays.

Events are paying, but too little for the right job, he said. Kirkland prefers strong coverage, more than events may be budgeting, to avoid higher expenses that can occur if problems arise from too little coverage. "It's the pay-me-now (or) pay-me-Iater thing," he said, caught between concerns of bankrupting events and concerns for public and officer safety. Directors also heard a proposal from Jessie Sattwhite to budget $100,000 for a program to recruit blacks to Reno an untapped but wealthy market, according to Sattwhite, who asked to do the recruiting. The proposal was not acted upon.

On the police substation, the $40,000 allocation adds to $700,000 already spent constructing the station. On condition of approving the $40,000, the board directed RSCVA PresidentChief Executive Officer Jay Milligan to negotiate deducting $740,000 from the amount RSCVA will repay the city for the donated stadium land. RSCVA got the roughly $6 million parcel on the condition that it repay the city after stadium bonds are paid off, earlier if possible. Milligan told directors the $40,000 would come from bowling stadium improvements and promised a detailed update on the status of the stadium budget. Finance Director Ed Beaver reported that a $4 million bond sale was made Wednesday to First Interstate Bank of Phoenix at a rate of 5.79 percent, and an $8 million sale to Kidder Peabody Co.

Inc. of Seattle at 6.04 percent. The bonds are for Convention Center parking and bowling stadium work respectively. Rates were not considered favorable for another $5.9 million sale to refinance existing bonds at a lower interest rate. RSCVA will try again over the next two weeks.

Saloon gets reprieve, 5D Sacramento Savings The "framework" talks broke down Feb. 1 1 after an acrimonious summit between President Clinton and then-Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa over U.S. demands that Japan accept numerical targets to measure progress in boosting U.S. export sales. The Commerce Department's latest monthly trade report showed that the U.S.

deficit narrowed to $7.46 billion, a better-than-expected showing that pushed the gap between imports and exports down by 18.5 percent from a revised February level of $9. 15 billion. The improvement reflected the Jk Kit' iM 1 Nx" i I 1 1 iff' 1 Associated Press "This is the future of PacBell." Steve Harris PacBill vlct prtsliant said. "These are the kinds of investments that investors should make." Phone companies are prohibited from offering video programming within their service areas, but the FCC is currently considering PacBell's application to enter the cable market. "Customers are looking for someone to do a better job in this area.

We think we can make this happen," Harris said. If the FCC rules that PacBell's video service must account for a bulk of the network costs, PacBell says it's cable rates may be too high to compete with other cable companies. If the FCC allows for the video service to account for a smaller portion of the network costs, cable operators fear that PacBell could undercut them. i 1 1 1 1 Jess Day wires a San Jose neighborhood Thursday. Police position: Official says special events cut resources.

By John Stearns GAZETTE-JOURNAL Reno-Sparks Convention Visitors Authority directors on Thursday unanimously approved their 1994-95 budget, but not before hearing a Reno police representative say RSCVA special events often drain police resources. Dan Myers, president of the Reno Police Protective Association, suggested money that event promoters are charged may not be enough to compensate the city for police coverage, and he asked RSCVA for help ensuring financing is adequate. RSCVA said it would follow up on the matter. In other business, directors conditionally approved spending $40,000 to improve a police substation inside the National Bowling Stadium, supported a resolution to oppose a state anti-gay initiative, directed $25,000 to Reno Hilton to help market its outdoor concerts, received a report on bond sales for parking and bowling stadium work, and adopted a draft policy statement for a business and opportunities program to reduce unemployment and improve economic conditions among minorities and women. Directors approved the budget that includes about $18 million in general fund expenditures, $14 million in bond expenditures on parking and bowling stadium work, $8 million in debt service for the stadium and past RSCVA construction projects, and $1 million on the VISA card promotion.

Expenses for RSCVA's two golf courses total about $2.8 million and insurance about $825,000. The budget year begins July 1 Before the budget was approved, Myers asked RSCVA for help ensuring special events pay enough to compensate the city for overtime or more police. "We need to find out who's not paying their bills," Sparks Mayor First Interstate buys LOS ANGELES (AP) First Interstate Bancorp will strengthen its presence in central and northern California by buying Sacramento Savings Bank for $33 1 million in cash. The seller, Allegany will retain about $132 million of real estate assets, generally the lowest-quality loans in the thrift's portfolio, officials said in announcing the agreement Wednesday. The sale, which must be ap- PacBell begins wiring 'superhighway' Ameristar 13 Aztar 6 Bally Gaming 15 Bally Mfg.

Boomtown 17Va Caesars World 41 Casino Data Sys. 24 Circus Circus 24 Vs Grand Casinos 20 Harveys 14 -Va Hilton Hotels 58V IGT 24 1 Jackpot Ent 10Vj Va MGM Grand 26 1 Mirage 21 V2 Monarch 8Va Primadonna 23V2 -V2 PromusCos 39 7a Rio Hotel 15 -Va Sahara Gaming 8Vs Sands Regent 1 1 Va -Vi Showboat 20 -Vi Sodak 19 3 United Gaming 6 -Ve carry 70 channels of analog TV and 1 50 to 300 digital channels for such services as video, home shopping and interactive games. A single cable will run from utility poles to an outside box at a home, where the cable will be split into different lines for TVs, telephones and personal computers. Who will pay for the immense project, however, has come under much scrutiny. Phone company officials estimate it will cost between $850 and $1,000 for each of the 1.5 million households scheduled to be rewired by 1 996.

Over time, customers will end up paying between $716 and $866 for the new wiring. Harris said residential customers would not see an increase in their basic phone rates. However, Audrey Krause, executive director of the watchdog group Toward Utility Rate Normalization, wasn't convinced. Papers filed with the Federal Communications Commission showed PacBell plans to have phone customers foot the bill, Krause said. "It's clear to us that their intent is to get this $16 billion investment from their ratepayers," she State of the art: $16 billion project replaces copper wires with fiber-optic, coaxial cables.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) Pacific Bell was slinging dirt, literally, as workers Thursday began digging ditches for an ambitious project aimed at rewiring Califor-nians into a vast, state-of-the-art telecommunications network. "This is the future of PacBell. We're building a new telecommunications network we think will meet a wider range of needs," said Steve Harris, vice president of external affairs for PacBell's broadband service. Ground-breaking ceremonies also took place in San Diego, Orange County and San Fernando Valley.

The $16 billion project involves the replacement of traditional copper wires with fiber-optic and coaxial cables. Such cables can California dreaming Visitors from Sacramento area 1 as a percentage ot California visitors: 1990 15 1991 17 19921 117 19931 I 15 Source: Reno-Sparks Visitor Profto 1993 Gazette-Journal proved by regulators, is expected to close in the fourth quarter this year. First Interstate, based in Los Angeles, has been on an acquisition spree. Its desire to be among the top three banks in any area of California with 100,000 residents or more, spokesman James Simon said. Sacramento Savings has 45 branch offices and 24 mortgage lending offices.

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