The Desert Sun from Palm Springs, California • Page 59

DESERT5T0CKS A Wal-Mart WMT A Esterilne ESL Canyon Bank 43.20 0.01 37.13 0.10 CYNA.OB 25.25 0.00 ATenetTHC A Granite GVA A Marriott MAR 11.41 0.24 36.040.16 61.850.79 Veolla VE A First Com. Bancorp A Hilton HIT 42.06 FCBP 22.39 0.35 46.88 0.30 A Gannett GCI Safeway SWY 68.49 0.02 A Kroger KR 24.76-0.03 20.38 0.10 A Albertsons ABS A Starwood HOT 25.61 0.13 56.601.08 TheDesertSun Saturday, Seffember 24, 2005 Section 1 I I mm I J. A 1 Olla Bar Grille 5 INDIAN I Canyons i GOLF RESORT I Play anytime. 1 Cart Included I 4 play for $150 I Fri Sun i I Serving Breakfast Lunch I 1 097 E. Murray Canyon Dr.

I Palm Springs 327-6550 Mon Thurs business editor Dennis A. Britton phone 778-4650 fax 778-4654 e-mail businessthedesertsun.com FOR CIRCULATION ASSISTANCE PHONE 322-5555 Ofkrexpiia 93005 I DOW 10419.59 A NASDAQ 2116.84 6.06 A 1215.29 0.67 MEXICO INDEX 15649.33 A RUSSELL 2000 655.46 4.30 KIM Disasters top lumcheoe talc 1 jr. fi-- I I up I ,11 I ait mmmi a i i i i WHAT'S HAPPENING High energy prices are weighing on global economic activity. The IMF has projected that the world economy will grow by 4.3 percent this year and next, a slowdown from the blistering 5.1 percent increase registered in 2004. LUIS OCHOA I HE DESERl SUN Mary Bono addresses the audience Friday afternoon at the Westin Mission Hills Resort in Rancho Mirage during the Annual Legislative Luncheon organized by the Coachella Valley Chambers of Commerce.

WHAT COACHELLA VALLEY'S REPRESENTATIVES SAID Finance officials of Group of Seven countries meet to discuss situation By Jeannine Aversa AP ECONOMICS WRITER WASHINGTON The world's biggest industrial powers searched Friday for ways to protect the global economy from soaring energy prices that are raising uncertainty over the economic outlook. The energy situation was a key agenda item in discussions among finance ministers and central bank presidents from the Group of Seven countries. The United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Canada make up the group. The finance officials are meeting as fears grow about increasing energy prices catapulted by Hurricane Katrina, which ripped though the Gulf Coast in Tj "In Southern 1 California we are more prepared for disasters than they were in the Gulf area." U.S. Rep.

Mary Bono, R-Palm Springs "We are trying to hold the line against efforts to take away some of the gains (in workers' compensation reform)." State Assemblyman John Benoit, R-Palm Desert Mitsubishi raises bar on incentives Lawmakers address local preparedness, other issues By Lou Hirsh THE DESERT SUN RANCHO MIRAGE As Hurricane Rita bore down on the Texas coast Friday, issues of local disaster preparedness and dealing with after-effects like skyrocketing gas prices were on the minds of the Coachella Valley's state and federal lawmakers. "In Southern California we are more prepared for disasters than they were in the Gulf (of Mexico) area," Rep. Mary Bono, R-Palm Springs, told an audience of 530 gathered for the annual all-chamber legislative luncheon at the Westin Mission Hills Resort. Bono added she was dissatisfied with the response to Hurricane Katrina "at all levels" of government. And she noted that the latest Gulf hurricanes are among numerous factors coming together to put an energy squeeze on consumers.

At the Friday event, sponsored by several local chambers of commerce, lawmakers touched on numerous issues, ranging from improv-ing'emergency response communications to preventing gas price gouging and reducing U.S. vulnerability to oil price spikes. State Sen. Jim Battin, R-La Quinta, said California's gas problems the state usually has the nation's highest-price gasoline stem in part from its strict Please see LUNCHEON, E2 Portable By Mark S. Krzos THE (FORT MYERS, FLA.) NEWS-PRESS At construction sites, they're as common as ham-mers, saws and wood.

Builders, architects and even developers use them. They are portable toilets or Port-A-Potties and they are everywhere. They also mean big business and sometimes big problems for neighbors and the companies who rent and use them. They sit like multi-colored monoliths at the foot of construction sites across the country. They're sky blue, pumpkin, green apple and earthy brown and the companies that rent these construction-site necessities estimate that there could be as many as 1 8,000 of them in one Florida county alone.

"We're the largest portable toilet company operating in Lee County," said John Lovelace, the 58-year-old owner of Suncoast Portable many ousmess travelers help In waking up What do you use to wake up in the mom- ing when traveling? Top responses: t- ft Hotel wake-up call 1 Personal alarm clock I i Hotel alarm dock Cellphone alarm clock I 11 Wake up on my own 8 SorRf'E: HILTON NEW CLOCK Sl'RVEY CONDUCTED BY KELTON RESEARCH. PERCENTAGE POINTS. toilet business cleaning up nationwide 'mfimmmm- uliw-JM i mmi i. wii.ji. "I personally would rather pay an extra 3 or 4 cents a gallon (for gas) if it helps keep our air clean." Roy Wilson, it i Riverside County 4th District Supervisor "Right now we have the resources to take care of some real (Riverside County) needs." Marion Ashley, Riverside County 5th District Supervisor STEPHEN HAYFORD THE FORT MYERS based Ron's Jons Porta Potty Rentals, said their business has doubled over the past year and there are no signs of the industry going down the drain.

"Construction is booming and anything associated with it is also booming," Lovelace said. 3 CM) "It still boggles my mind that there's not more solar power out here." State Sen. Denlse Ducheny, D-San Diego WHAT'S YOUR QUESTION? If you weren't able to attend the forum for legislators, what questions would you like them to answer? Just e-mail us your question and we'll ask the legislator for you. Send your questions to: buslnessthedesertsun.com. Williamson, who has 375 portable toilets to meet the demand, said he has to purchase more.

"I don't have enough to rent," he said. Industry standards roughly require one portable bathroom per construction site or one portable restroom per 10 workers in a 40-hour workweek. Most portable toilets rent from 875 to $95 per month with one cleaning per week. Extra cleanings push that figure higher. Each portable toilet costs around 500, and the toilets can last anywhere from one day to 10 years, said Ron Youngblood, owner of Youngblood's Sanitation Services in North Fort Myers, Fla.

By far the biggest problem the portable toilet industry faces is vandalism. "It's a terrible problem. People have no respect for them," said Youngblood, who has about 950 portable toilets at construction sites now. "We have done it to ourselves (with fuel-blend requirements). We need to stop taxing the taxes on gasoline (in California)." State Sen.

Jim Battin, La Quinta "I don't agree with everything the governor has done. But today we don't have the same (budget deficit numbers)." State Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, R-Cathedral City HAYFORD, GANNETT NEWS SERVICE, ing many portable toilets into the Gulf Coast area. "I talked with the people I buy them from and we're basically not going to be getting any for a while," Lovelace said. Both Lovelace and Ron Williamson, the 51 -year-old owner of the Naples, late August. Energy prices could be pushed even higher by approaching Hurricane Rita, which is expected to make landfall today on the Texas Gulf Coast, home to the nation's biggest collection of oil refineries.

Even before the Group of Seven convened behind closed doors, the energy issue was being chewed over by Treasury Secretary John Please see FINANCE, E3 INCENTIVE Where: Palm Springs Mitsubishi What The free gasoline offer applies to the 2005 model-year Galant, Endeavor, Montero, Outlander, Eclipse Coupe, Eclipse Spyder, Lancer and Lancer Evolution. Information: 68-130 Kyle Road, Cathedral City, 770-7100 The debit cards are worth between 81,500 and 82.500. The amount depends on two things: the fuel efficiency of the Mitsubishi model a customers purchases and whether the vehicle requires regular or premium fuel. Mitsubishi based its offer on the assumption that customers would drive 12,000 miles per year. Consumers can use the debit cards at most major gas stations, according to the Please see PSCENTTVE, E2 raising cash for victims STEPHEN Automaker offers gas cards with new car purchases By Ferdie De Vega THE DESERT SUN Buy a new vehicle.

Get free gas. That's what Mitsubishi is offering customers now through the end of October. The new program comes as the employee-pricing discount programs of GM, Ford and Chrysler are wrapping up. Jorge Muniz, sales manager at Palm Springs Mitsubishi in Cathedral City, said even before it officially started, the program has brought in customers. "We had a couple of customers show up yesterday (Thursday) and say they already saw the TV ad on Tuesday night," Muniz said.

Customers who purchase 2005 model year vehicles before Oct. 31 will receive prepaid debit cards from Mitsubishi for free gasoline. Palm Desert Kenall Labariega, 19, walks past a portable toilet while working on a residential construction site in Cape Coral, Fla. As a growth boom continues, portable toilet businesses are experiencing growth as well. Some cities within Lee County, require one toilet per residential site.

VALLEYBUSLNESS Palm Desert Palm Desert Toilet Company. "We have a little over 8,000 of them and I don't have any inventory of any kind." With thousands of people displaced by Hurricane Katrina and the monumental task ahead of cleaning up the nation's biggest natural disaster the industry is send neeu noieis I 34 31 1 a OF 1,000 RESPONDENTS MARGIN OF ERROR ti KVCR making a channel change Berger matching Katrina donations PSVal Discount KVCR Desert Cities Public Television, which has been viewed locally on Time Warner Cable Channel 16 for the past two years, recently received authorization from the Federal Communications Commission to move to Channel 9 in the Coachella Valley. KVCR is currently the only television station licensed to broadcast an over-the-air PBS-member station signal in the valley. In an agreement with Time Warner Cable, the station will move to Channel 9 on the cable system on Wednesday. KVCR was founded more th.in 40 years ago.

Stephen Downing, owner of PSVal Discount Card, announced recently he will make a 50 percent donation to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund for each 827 PSVal Discount Card sold through Oct. 16. In a press release, Downing said the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation of Palm Desert will match any grant from Southern California residents made to the Bush-Clinton fund.

The card allows discounts at more than 225 Coachella Valley dining, retail, entertainment and service businesses over the next year. Information: 200-8892; www.PSval.com. The H.N. Frances C. Berger Foundation, a private desert-based foundation supporting education and other charitable projects, will match the 8340,000 in donations collected by Desert Radio Group on Sept.

1 for the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund. All funds donated during the event, held at The River in Rancho Mirage, will benefit Coachella Valley operations of the Riverside County Chapter of the American Red Cross. The Berger Foundation's donation is aimed at supporting the local Red Cross, with 8 1 40,000 designated to keep the Palm Desert office open. The remaining 8200,000 is allocated to a fund to support valley disaster relief. GANNETT NEWS SERVICE.