Lansing State Journal from Lansing, Michigan • Page 71

Lansing State Journal Business Editor Les Smith 377-1056; BUSINESS DIGEST Tomorrow The Audi 86 For half the price, you could buy a minivan. But it wouldn't have this much class, now would it? Pago 2G Index Mutual funds 3G NYSE 4G AMEX5G TheEVl isn't your usual GM car, so its plant is far from the usual factory. Sunday! February 25, 1996; BUSINESS MICHIGAN Mercedes issues latch recall DETROIT Mercedes-Benz North America is recalling .44,114 of its 1994-95 C-Class dans to replace a secondary hood latch. The latch could fail and cause hood to open, blocking the driver's view. Mercedes said the problem might occur if the hood is not closed properly after the WILX-TV to get pany is similar to what is happening elsewhere, as multimedia marriages between powerhouses such as Westinghouse and CBS become more common.

Yager said a strong financial base will make it easier for companies to compete with cable and computer services. He also stressed that he expects no personnel changes. Yeager said he's pleased with current management. Benedek officials expect no problems with upcoming contract talks. WILX's newsroom employees, represented by UAW Local 2256, begin negotiations this spring.

Mike Campbell, unit chairman, said the contract expires in June. "We're interested to see how things will go. We have our concerns just from not knowing anything about the company." for WILX, Channel "10. "We'll enable ourselves to close the gap and pull ahead more quickly than we are right now," said station manager Grant Santimore. Ross Woodstock, general manager at WLNS, said he welcomes the competition.

"Whenever there's increased competition in the market, we tend to do very well. I'm not concerned about it," Woodstock said. Benedek's purchase of WILX from Paul Brissette hinges on the company's application to the Federal Communications Commission. Yager expects license approval within 30 to 45 days. In the company's 18 years in broadcasting, it's never been denied an approval.

Benedek's purchase of WILX and 12 other TV stations, will bring its total to 22, making it the owner of more TV stations than any other Evolution of WILX-TV 1979: Sports reporter Tim Stoudt moves from WLNS (ChJ 6) to WILX (Ch. 10), sparking serious competition with WLNS. Summer 1993: Station man-; ager Grant Santimore moves from WLNS to WILX. Fall 1993: WILX moves its studio from Jackson to Lan sing, going full time. Spring 1995: WILX adds a half hour of noon news.

Fall 1995: WILX adds 5:30 news to preview the 6 p.m.' show. Winter 1996: WILX is bought by Benedek. "We're interested to see how things will go." Mike Campbell UAW Local 2256 company in the nation. However, the Rockford, based company still would be a relatively small broadcaster. The new stations bring its national audience to 2.5 million.

By comparison, there are 3.8 million TV households in the Chicago market alone. TV households in Lansing number 228,540, or 0.23 percent of the national market. The flurry of activity by the com se-! i second-ary latch nook has been dam-; aged in an accident. U.S. Disney hires Murdock exec NEW YORK Anne Sweeney, who has overseen Rupert Murdoch's startup cable network operations for three years, has been hired as president of The Disney Channel, it was announced last week.

The appointment reunites Sweeney with her onetime boss at the Nickelodeon cable channel, Geraldine Laybourne. Layboume was recently hired by The Walt Disney Co. to head its growing cable operations that now include Capital CitiesABC networks like Lifetime and AFL-CIO adds N.Y. union BAL HARBOUR, Fla. The AFL-CIO welcomed the National Union of Health and Human Ser-; vices Employees into the edera-! tion last week.

The granting of a charter to the New York union, better known as Local 1 199, brought to 79 the number of affiliated i unions in the labor federation. Originally formed as a union of pharmacists, the member Local 1199 has devel-'oped a reputation for progressive politics and aggressively recruiting new members. ELSEWHERE i Mazda moves i. Spain TOKYO Mazda Motor Corp. said last week it will buy 32 per- cent of Spanish Mazda distribu- tor Tecnitrade Automocion A.

1 and rename the company Mazda Espana S.A. Mazda, which is 25 percent owned by Ford Motor said it believes the move will help strengthen its marketing and sales operation in Spain. It plans to nearly triple its sales in the country this year. Yamaha to add a chip plant TOKYO Yamaha the world's largest maker of musical instruments, said Tuesday it will spend 40 billion yen ($380 million) to build its third semiconductor plant in Japan. The plant will meet growing demand for semiconductors in communications machines, personal computers and game machines, Yamaha spokesman Yo-shiyuki Nihashi said.

Compiled from staff and wire reports. I Yv i A Benedek Broadcasting plans more local news, no personnel changes By Heather Morgan Lansing State Journal When Benedek Broadcasting buys local TV station WILX, viewers can expect to see more local news. And Benedek president James Yager expects to see more viewers tuning in to his station. By pumping more money into the station and increasing local coverage, Yager hopes to close the gap between WILX and rival Lansing news station WLNS. In 1995, the Nielsen ratings book showed WLNS, Channel 6, had a 22 rating for its 6 p.m.

newscast in May representing 22 percent of all homes. That compared with a 9 Milken cleanses his image Former junk-bond king now putting his energy to work for charity By Barry Stavro and Patrice Apodaca Los Angeles Times LOS ANGELES It's just past 2:30 on a Thursday afternoon and Michael Milken is on a roll. 1 ne man who once made financial markets quiver is facing an audience as tough as any on Wall Street 22 students at Mount Vernon Middle School near downtown Los Angeles and he's in command. Milken is teaching the students how to do huge multiplication prob-lems instantly in their heads. "What's 87 times 83?" he bellows to the adolescents who compete against each other in the exercise.

"You guys are streaking in the lead on Team Five," he shouts. Milken keeps up the high-paced math chatter for 90 minutes, his energy never waning. An adult pokes her head in the class, curious. "Are we making too much noise for you today?" he asks cheerfully. Meet Mike Milken, Chapter 2..

Dressed in a Mike's Math Club T-shirt, Milken is here as part of his court-ordered community service required since his release from a federal prison in Dublin, three years ago. It's a long way from the days when Milken, now 49, ruled Wall Street and came to personify the ruthlessness and greed of the 1980s. At the now-defunct investment firm Drexel Burnham Lambert, he started work well before dawn and reigned over a frenzied operation so stressful that one bond trader chewed through his phone cord. Milken created the modern market for high-risk, high-yield securities known as "junk bonds," and he was as dominant in that field as Bill Gates is now in personal computers. In 1987 alone, Milken earned an astonishing $550 million.

And while his sprawling junk-bond empire I I y' -Sti Getting square: Former junk-bond king Michael Milken is work- ing off part of his court-ordered community service by teaching RICARDO de ARATANHAAssociated Press mathematics at schools such as Mount Vernon Middle School near Los Angeles. It drives him nuts that he hasn't been able to tell his side of the story." Bob Ezrin a Milken friend was raising billions in capital, "Milken was involved in what author James B. Stewart, in his book "Den of Thieves," calls "the greatest criminal conspiracy the financial world has ever known." In 1989, Milken was indicted on 98 counts of racketeering and securities fraud. He avoided a trial by pleading guilty in April 1990 to six felonies, including illegally concealing stock positions, helping clients evade income taxes and a conspiracy involving secret record-keeping with stock speculator Ivan Boesky. Milken ended up paying a $200 million fine, plus $400 million to the government for restitution, and he paid another $500 million to settle civil lawsuits.

He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but served just two after agreeing to testify in other securities trials. Bob Bruss than the first appraiser. Our refinanced mortgage should close in about 10 days. How can two licensed appraisers be $45,000 apart on our home's valuation? When I asked for a refund of our $275 appraisal fee, the mortgage broker refused. Do you think I should sue him and the first appraiser in Small Claims Court? Rupert W.

iReal estate appraisers have i one of the world's most diffi Milken still works part time in the familiar world of finance, and receives a ton of money from investment income and consulting fees. Most of Milken's time these days is given to his various causes, and instead of moving financial markets with a single phone call as he used to do, he now plans math lessons or organizes fund-raising events for his cancer foundation, the Association for the Cure of Cancer of the Prostate. Once publicity shy, Milken seems to be popping up all over to talk about prostate cancer research, i Whether Milken can ultimately shed his image as a late 20th century robber baron is unclear, but the publication last year of Daniel Fischer's book "Payback" was a step in that direction. The book is a revisionist account of Milken's legal battle against the federal government it? Dennis G. AB You were very wise to alert the new owner to the amount of your security deposit.

When a rental property is sold, the seller usually transfers the tenant security deposits to the new owner. In most states, unless the transfer was a foreclosure sale, the security deposits paid to the old owner must be credited to the new owner for the benefit of the tenants. Even if the new owner never received those deposits, he or she is responsible for crediting them to the accounts of the tenants. If you have written proof of your security deposit, such as in your lease, you shouldn't have to worry. Bob Bruss is a real'estate columnist for the Tribune Media Services.

Questions to him should be mailed to Services, Box 4386, Orlando FL 32802-4386. Real estate appraisal is am inexact science ON-THE-JOB TIPS THE PROBLEM: You've heard work is different in the Information Age. You're worried about succeeding under the new rules. THE SOLUTION: Try these ideas: Become a quick-change artist Make a commitment to your job. Act like you're in business for yourself.

Keep learning. Don't fight new technology; conquer it Hold yourself accountable for results. No excuses; no buck-passing. See yourself as a service center. Manage your own morale.

Don't expect co-workers or bosses to take care of you. Constantly work at improving. Be a fixer, not a finger-pointer. Change your expectations. Don't expect your workplace to change for you.

SOURCE: The Employee Handbook of New Work Habits for a Radically Changing World by Price Pritchett Prit-chett Associates, 1-800-992-5922. On-the-job tips, containing tips for coping in the workplace, appears each Sunday. If you have comments or suggestions, call Christine O'Connor, 377-1191, or fax, 377-1298. Today, Milken lives relatively modestly in the same suburban house he bought in 1978 with his wife, Lori. Just after his release from prison, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, but the cancer is now in remission.

Milken has thrown himself into his community service and charity work with the same zeal he once directed at junk bonds. Yet he remains recalcitrant when it comes to cult jobs providing expert opinions of property values. As you learned, just because an appraiser holds a license doesn't mean they are accurate. Appraisers were blamed for the fiasco which cost taxpayers billions in bail-out dollars. The result was state licensing of appraisers.

However, as in any profession, a state license does not assure professional competence. Unfortunately, many appraisers are ultra-conservative in their property valuations because they don't want to be blamed for overvaluations. The result is often a low appraisal. Nobody can say if your first or second appraisal was correct. Since you indicated home values have not declined in your area, it appears the first appraiser was incorrect.

If I were in your situation, I would his criminal record, portraying himself as a misunderstood visionary who will one day be vindicated in the court of public opinion. One former associate, who asked not to be identified, sees little change in Milken's basic makeup. He described him as a mix of brilliance and weakness and someone still driven by power, money and ego. The one change, he added, is Milken's powerful desire to cleanse his blackened reputation. send a written letter to the mortgage broker and the first appraiser demanding a $275 refund within 10 days.

Should they refuse to refund the $275, 1 would take both parties to Small Claims Court. Let the judge decide. Even if you lose, that first appraiser will probably take greater care in' her future work. Qal am a tenant in an apart- ment building which was recently sold. The new owner sent us a letter stating where we should mail our monthly rent checks.

When I mailed my February rent check, I enclosed a note stating I want to be sure my $450 security deposit still applies. The new owner phoned to tell me the old owner said there were no security deposits. Since the old owner lives out of state, what can I do to be sure I don't lose my $450 security depos Q. I suspect we are not alone in refinancing our home mortgage to take advantage of the current low interest rates. Our mortgage broker charged us $275 for an appraisal.

The appraiser he sent to our home is licensed by the state. She spent about an hour making notes and measuring our home. About a week later, the mortgage broker phoned to give us our home's appraised value, which was not high enough to refinance our current mortgage. We were very upset because home values have not declined in our area. The mortgage broker requested the appraiser to redo the appraisal but she barely changed her valuation.

When a neighbor told me he recently refinanced, I decided to try his lender, a major bank. They didn't charge us any advance fees and sent a licensed appraiser who valued our home $45,000 higher.