The News Journal from Wilmington, Delaware • Page 93

Sunday News Journal, Wilmington, Del. Nov. 8, 1992 Section I on rCi WALL STREET'S WEEK STOCK TABLES MONEY MARKET FUNDS i Hlllll" I i 'H" 'l fW flVM I'D I nnn I Jg0m iff -j I 1 j-jy jEM 'rl i i' 1 hti l'P'W' )owf ir I Cleoiiiite9s bus line roll i 4. I mf ij I '1 i-' fv The News JournalCHUCK McCOWEN By DALE DALLABRIDA Staff reporter NEW CASTLE For 41 years, Clem-ente's bus terminal on U.S. 40 never locked its doors.

On Saturday, the doors were shut for good. Since its 1950s glory days before Amtrak and interstate highways Clemente's Travel Center offered food and drink to bus passengers pausing on a long haul. Busloads of sailors, bound for Virginia shipyards. High-school students from New York, on senior-year jaunts south. Families headed for Florida vacations.

Big bands barnstorming the East Coast. But airlines and railroads lured away tourists with money to spend. A few remaining long-distance buses, running south from New York City, shifted their meal stops to terminals in Philadelphia and Maryland newer and more convenient to Interstate 95. Clemente's picked up some of the slack by handling tickets and riders for short runs. Carolina Trailways and Greyhound Lines ran up to 38 buses a day, to New York and Washington.

Casino buses, too. Five tour operators sold Atlantic City excursions through Clemente's; some weeks, 1,000 casino-bound riders left the terminal. But the traffic brought few customers to Clemente's cafeteria, bar and gift shop. "You don't need a facility like this for local business," said Alfred Clemente, general manager. One casino-bus line switched business to a nearby bookstore.

Greyhound now handles tickets and passengers at its Wilmington agency. 'A. i I IV 2 -in Travel Center, a hub that served Rudy Vallee in Its DALE DALLABRIDA New FCC rules: Just the fax, cut the junk Junk fax. You can imagine the problem. Unwanted sales pitches, tying up your fax machine, using up your fax paper.

Now, a reality check: Are junk faxes a big problem for you? Probably not. From June to September, 3,293 consumers sent complaints to the Federal Communications Commission. Those angry about junk faxes: eight. Even so, new FCC rules will ban all faxes sent for marketing purposes, except when the person getting the fax gives an OK in advance. The rules came out last month, catching many by surprise.

"Does this mean we can't fax you any more press releases?" an alarmed PR person asked a reporter. Depends. If there's an existing business relationship, the FCC says you can send all the faxes you want without a prior OK. But if you're a new business that wants to fax a notice to a newspaper, "that could be a problem" under the new rule, an FCC attorney said. Or say you're a seafood wholesaler, with too much fish on your hands.

You slash your prices and fax a notice to every buyer you can think of. That sheet of bargains may be welcome news to those who get it. But to the FCC, it may be an infraction. So in trying to prevent unwanted faxes "junk" the rule bans all unsolicited faxes. And just like the marketing mail you didn't necessarily ask for, faxes may carry news you're glad to get.

Besides, it's unfair to fax users. Telephone and mail marketers are still allowed to make pitches without prior permission. Under new FCC rules, telemarketers must keep and honor "do-not-call" lists of consumers who don't want to get sales calls. Fine. "I'd like to see a no-fax list.

I don't want to send them a fax if they don't want it," said Howard Johnson of Distribution Plus computer wholesalers in Frederick, Md. Johnson heads the Fair Fax Coalition, an industry group formed after the FCC rule came out. The rule is to take effect Dec. 20. He and other fax users plan to ask the feds to soften their stance.

Not much chance of that, an FCC staffer said. The ban was spelled out by Congress last year, in a law that left no wiggle room, she said. Where were fax marketers when the law was being considered? The infant industry doesn't have Capitol Hill lobbyists: "We stumbled on this in the 11th hour," Johnson said. And if the FCC won't budge? "Then we have to go back and say, 'Let's rewrite the law so it makes said Roy Anderson of New Jersey fax firm Xpedite Systems. Delaware in chocolate Iron Hill, White Clay Creek, Indian River Bay, the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.

From its hills to its shores, Delaware is carved out in 3-D detail on a five-inch chocolate bar. This is the work of the Topographic Chocolate a Denver firm that says it's "turning the world into chocolate." The company makes chocolate relief maps of 35 states; of cities from Buffalo to Rome; of Mount Fuji, the Pebble Beach golf course, the Grand Canyon and Guam. Why Delaware? Because retailers showed interest at trade shows, said Topographic Chocolate's Patti Held. To sell at around $10, the bars have been ordered by several local shops. The company's artist builds chocolate molds from federal topographic maps, Held said.

The end product? Not bad, said Sandy Schenck, associate scientist at the Delaware Geological Survey's map bureau. "It does make Delaware look rather mountainous," he said. In the coastal plains south of White Clay Creek, the chocolatiers exaggerated Delaware's ups and downs. But that helps show the traces of downstate rivers Nanticoke, Mispil-lion and Murderkill. The arc of Delaware's northern boundary comes out a bit dented, though.

And one glaring goof: Sel-byville is rendered as "Shelbville." Dale Dallabrida covers marketing for The News Journal. ow Clinton's win will affect U.S. industry to a stop out in July; the Clementes then spent $100,000 to dress up the cafeteria, hoping that Greyhound would send more long-distance buses. Otherwise, "this place would not be economically viable," Alfred Clemente said. The buses never came.

"The demand for ridership is not strong enough for us to continue making stops at both our Wilmington agency and Clemente's," said Greyhound spokesman Bill Kula. So last month, the Clementes decided to pull out of the bus trade. They hope to sell the property, perhaps to an auto dealer. "We're just going to let the dust settle, get the bus fumes out of our nostrils," Alfred said. At 46, he has worked at the terminal since he was old enough to clean tables.

His wife Joan kept the ledgers. "Throughout the years, the family members all pulled their stints here," he said. Now retired, Antimo Clemente takes a dim view of the bus industry's future. "There's always going to be a market for charters, but regular passenger buses are going to go," he said. Alfred brightened at the mention of Bill Clinton's bus campaign: "Damn smart.

He really got down to earth with the people." And he's glad to leave behind the round-the-clock business, he said. "On Christmas Day, someone has to be here. That means I'm here. "Have a nice trip," he told a visitor Wednesday, when local bus services ended. "That's the last time I'm saying that." remains cautious As for chemicals and the environment, Wilbur said there is a feeling in the chemical industry "they are doing about as much as they can at this point.

They are spending about 20 percent of their capital on the environment, which is about twice what Germany spends and you can't really spend much more than that." There could be some secondary impact on the chemical industry if proposed controls, such as increased gasoline mileage for cars, take effect. He said the industry is inverse to the rest of the economy, with two thirds of its output going to other industries and a third to the consumer. EXPERTS Tomorrow's phone-in: Last-minute tax planning Call 324-2838 a.m. ASKfZ THE! Alfred Clemente at the family-run Clemente glory days. Clemente's laid off 38 employees.

"It's a sad day," said Antimo Clemente. Now 76, he opened the center in 1951 with his brothers nephew Alfred's father Harry, and Albert, now dead. Antimo names some famous customers: The singing Lennon Sisters, crooner Rudy Vallee, drummer Buddy Rich, humorist Bennett Cerf. Bandleader Lionel Hampton, in the 1950s: "He said, 'Man, this is my Antimo said. "He loved the to pump new loans to small businesses and homeowners in inner cities and rural areas.

According to a senior aide, Clinton views credit availability as a key to job creation. Clinton considers bank reform to be an important issue, but hasn't taken a detailed stance on deposit insurance reform or interstate branching. He has called on banks to slow down the pace of foreclosures. He also has advocated government intervention in the banking industry, including aid to unemployed workers for mortgages and car loans. The Democratic Party's platform also renewed a call to crack down on lending discrimination to low-income and minority food." "We had a special process with our baked chicken," Alfred Clemente said.

And Clemente's became a landmark for local customers. "We had second and third generations of people coming through here," he said. News of the closing hit some hard, he said. "One lady cried. 'I can't believe she said.

Then she fell apart in tears." In 1982, the family leased its terminal to Greyhound Lines Inc. The lease ran Chemical industry By MARK MARYMONT Special to The News Journal If some chemical companies aren't reacting to Bill Clinton's election, it may be because they aren't sure what effect he'll have on their future. Jim Wilbur, a chemical industry analyst at New York's Smith Barney offices, said Clinton's administration may not effect chemical manufacturers, at least initially. "There is talk about an investment tax credit which may help the chemical industry," Wilbur said. "But at this point, that doesn't seem to be on the front burner, so I don't know what it may mean for the future." I I Associated Press The Clinton administration and its new policies will have an impact on many U.S.

businesses, including major employers in Delaware. Here is a sampling of industries and how they are likely to be affected: Energy Bill Clinton supports energy conservation and cutting oil imports, as well as making automobiles more energy-efficient. His emphasis on conservation could tighten energy supplies and raise energy prices. In a sharp contrast to President Bush, Clinton opposes opening the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling and wants to expand protection to other parts of the state. This could also affect prices.

Like Bush, Clinton supports natural gas as a cleaner alternative to oil until other energy sources, such as solar and wind power, can be used more routinely. Autos Clinton is expected to take a tougher stand with the Japanese on the trade imbalance than the Bush administration did. That could help the Big Three U.S. automakers, whose domestic market share had been eroded by Japanese makers until recently. If a Clinton-supported national health care system seems likely to become reality, it could help avoid a potentially nasty showdown during contract talks next summer between the United Auto Workers and the automakers over who will pay for the escalating cost of health benefits.

Banks Clinton wants banks to play a strong role in reviving the economy. The president-elect has proposed a network of community development banks, modeled after the South Shore Bank of Chicago, Retailing Retailers are expected to get at least a short-term boost from the election. Analysts predict that consumers, relieved and even euphoric now that the uncertainty of the campaign is over, may increase their spending this Christmas, the most critical time of the year for the retail business. But the longer-term fortunes of retailers will depend on a more tangible factor: how much money consumers actually have to spend. And that depends on the job market and income levels.

Real estate, construction Clinton isn't proposing any radical new initiatives to help U.S. families afford new homes. He proposes to keep important- federal income tax incentives for housing, including the mortgage interest deduction, and state and local property tax deductions for mortgages, according to the National Association of Realtors. Clinton advocates technical but important revisions to Federal Housing Administration policies, such as raising limits on mortgage insurance and revising See CLINTON H2 TROUBLES AT GM The latest shakeups at General Motors What will the implications be for its Boxwood Road plant? STAR STATES In the clear? CREDIT CARDS Buyers will be using them less this holiday shopping season. PLUS.

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