The Ithaca Journal from Ithaca, New York • 11

The Ithaca Journal Monday. February 20. 1989 11A HOMELESS RJNDRAMNG RED-LINING ATTACKED WASHINGTON (AP) The Federal Reserve Board penalized a bank for failing to serve poor neighborhoods. The Fed rejected a request by Continental Bank Corp. to purchase a small Arizona bank because it said Continental had not fulfilled its duties under the Community Reinvestment Act, which requires banks to meet local credit needs.

The law is aimed at preventing "red-lining," the practice of denying loans to an entire neighborhood based on race or economic class. 1 FDIC FINES DROP WASHINGTON (GNS) The Federal Deposit Insurance critics charge, has had some trouble enforcing fines against banks. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. imposed about $8.5 million in fines in 1985, many of them for violations uncovered before William Seidman became chairman of the FDIC. In 1986, Seidman's first full year on the job, the fines dropped to just over $1 million.

In 1987: $191,500. Seidman says he believes in working with bankers to correct problems before levying fines. IRS TRAVELS ABROAD MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) Millionaire in WASHINGTON (AP) The Internal Revenue Service announced it is sending workers to 143 cities in 80 countries to help Americans abroad prepare their 1988 tax returns. At the same time, the IRS said it is intensifying efforts to reduce the number of U.S.

citizens living abroad who don't file a return. The agency estimates 3 million live in foreign countries, including retirees and dependents with no income, but only 900,000 filed returns last year. dustrialist Victor Posner, sentenced to help the homeless instead of going to jail for tax evasion, announced a program by one of his companies to raise money for the homeless. Posner refused to say whether the Royal Crown Cola Co. drive is related to his tax case, in which he was ordered to give $3 million to aid the homeless in Florida.

An RC executive said the two were not con nected. Business Business Editor Jan Mireles 272-2321, Ext. 27 ricu -01 mire 1 attle call Transmitter adds to tractor safety f-l: rill ft. lit By DAVE BROWN Cannot News Service SOLON, Iowa Inventor David Sidwell has designed a voice-activated electronic transmitter that lets farmers tell their tractors to shut up and get instant results. The ability to turn off a tractor or some other cranky machine for repairs by speaking into a microphone without climbing into the driver's seat or leaving the comfort of home may save time and promote efficiency.

However, Sidwell sees another valuable byproduct: the chance to save limb or even life when a farmer becomes entangled in equipment. Farming is a dangerous business, and farmers frequently lose fingers, hands, arms, legs and even their lives in accidents involving spinning power takeoffs of tractors or the clogged heads of corn pickers. Sidwell also cites cases in which farmers maimed by or pinned in their machines have suffered even more severe consequences because they were unable to signal family or passers-by that they were in trouble. Equipped with Sidwell's invention, a farmer caught in a combine and seconds from maiming or death could turn off the machine by either pushing a button or shouting into the transmitter. The signal also could activate a flashing beacon on the machine or set off an alarm elsewhere to alert others to the problem.

Sidwell calls his brainchild MSOD, for machine shut-off device. Somewhat like an electronic garage-door opener, it transmits a radio signal that can be used to turn off or to start equipment. As an agricultural accessory, he says, it could permit a farmer to control the operation of an augur or a grain dryer at the push of a button without leaving the house or getting off the tractor, or to cut power to machinery for any reason, including safety. Daniel Dittemore, president of the state-financed Iowa Product Development which has provided Sidwell with $20,000 in financing, said it is "as yet quite unproven" whether his device has broad appeal. "Safety is a secondary selling point," Dittemore says.

For most farmers, he adds, the main attractions are likely to be convenience, time-saving and efficiency. ill Mil .1 it! I' Tne Associated Press POWER GROUP: A cowboy watches over a herd of cattle near a $46 million power plant in the Imperial Valley of Southern California. The plant burns between 800 and 900 tons of cattle manure daily, producing enough electricity to supply 15,000 to 20,000 homes. Cattle manure powers homes ON THE JOB LOS ANGELES (AP) A desert power1 plant burns enough cow dung to electrify up to 20,000 homes, thanks to 250,000 cattle, $37 million in tax-exempt bonds and an environmentalist-lawyer seeking his fortune as an "en-tremanure." It's the first commercial power plant that burns only cattle chips for fuel, although smaller facilities "digest" manure to produce methane to generate electricity, said Will Parish, founder and president of National Energy Associates Inc. Parish, 36, left his job with a San Francisco law firm to start the Mill Valley company, which he said is dedicated to "doing well by doing good" by building profitable but socially and environmentally responsible energy projects.

The $46 million, 17 Vi -megawatt Mesquite Lake Resource Recovery Project, financed by the bonds plus $9 million from investors, is located next to its fuel supply: cattle feedlots near Imperial in the desert about 1 10 miles east of San Diego. It fired up in November 1987 and began continuous on-line electricity production last October. "It truly is a unique plant," said Bill Mc-Croskey, a project development manager for 000 cattle, and about 60 trucks deliver it to the Mesquite Lake plant, where "we stack it like a precious commodity," Parish said. Conveyor belts feed 40 tons of manure an hour into the plant, where it is. dried and dropped into special furnaces.

The heat produces more than 150,000 pounds of steam hourly to drive a turbine and electric generator. Because the power plant qualified as a waste recovery operation, the California Pollution Control Financing Authority issued $37.2 million in bonds to help finance construction. NEA raised $9 million more by forming a limited partnership. Repayment of the 20-year, investment-grade bonds is guaranteed by National Westminster Bank USA. "We have seen a number of unusual proposals, and this is clearly one of them," Keith Seegmiller, the financing authority's deputy executive secretary, said by phone from Sacramento.

Parish has called the plant "a cash cow" because "manure costs a penny a kilowatt hour, and we sell electricity at 7 cents a kilowatt hour. That translates on an annual basis to a fuel cost of about $2 million and gross sales of about $10 million, leaving $8 million to cover (other) expenses and profits." Southern California Edison Co. "We are presently buying power from them (under a 30-year contract). The plant satisfactorily passed its operating test last fall. They are considered a reliable energy source." The plant runs at 70 percent to 85 percent of its maximum capacity as its construction company, Lurgi Corp.

of Frankfurt, West Germany, "tweaks" it toward full net capacity of 15 megawatts, enough to power 15,000 to homes using 800 to 900 tons of manure daily, Parish said. The plant runs on the other 2Vi megawatts it produces. Parish said the plant's output represents annual savings of 300,000 barrels of oil that otherwise would be burned for power, and relieves pressure on Imperial Valley landfills. Until the entrepreneur came along, feedlot owners paid to have manure carted away and dumped. It has little value as fertilizer because it contains too much salt and weed seeds.

Now NEA buys the dung for $1 per ton from 15 feedlots. "I've been called a manure mogul," Parish joked. "My alma mater referred to me in the alumni notes as the class of 1975's first Loaders scoop up manure from some RANDOLPH ZEE DURRANI Newsmaker: Randolph Zee Durrani, 31, born in Ithaca. Occupation: Owner of Durrani Moving Systems. Education: Graduated from Ithaca High School in 1975, First professional job: Van foreman for Lions Moving and Storage in San Jose, Calif.

Why do you do what you do? 1 like working for myself. Moving is very stressful for people. If I can help them relieve some of that stress as fast as possible and as economically as possible without damage to their goods they're happy. And that makes me happy. Best business learning experience: I drove over the rode for different major van lines for 10 years and that's where I learned how to move people.

There's really no better experience than getting out there and running over the road. Business and personal philosophy: Put your customers needs above everything else. Without my customers I wouldn't be in business. Whatever my customers need. Just do it.

Get it done for them. Best advice ever received: It was from my first boss in San Jose. He told me to treat your customers as a personal friend and to treat your employees as part of your family. If you take care of them, they'll take care of you and you'll have a successful business. Best advice for others: First you have to have a goal.

And then you'll just have to make sacrifices and do lots of research, lust do the best you can. Long-term goals: My long Court upholds LILCO sulfur ban REGIONAL term goal is to have a successful moving and storage business in Ithaca. What you like best about Ithaca: I like the different people here. It's a small town yet it grows so fast. 4t's a good place to raise my kids.

There's lots of opportunities here. Also it's where 1 was born and raised. It's home. What you like least about Ithaca: The Octopus and the unpredictable weather. Favorite activities: Fishing and being at home with my kids.

Affiliations: Member of St. Paul's Methodist church. Wife, Mindy; Children, Krystal, 16, Tracy, 5, Randolph II, 3, and Veronica, 2. And a brother, In their appeal, LILCO lawyers had said the state DEC improperly rejected its applications filed in July 1986. State courts have thus far disagreed.

The lawsuit had involved oil-fired LILCO plants in Northport and Port Jefferson in Suffolk County and at Barrett and Glen-wood in Nassau County. The completed Shoreham plant has yet to be licensed by the federal government for anything more than low-level testing. Its opening has been opposed by Gov. Mario Cuomo and local Long Island officials. Negotiations meant to keep the plant from ever opening are continuing.

ALBANY (AP) A mid-level state appeals court has upheld a state decision denying the Long Island Lighting Company permission to burn high-sulfur oil in its electric generating plants. The 5-0 ruling from the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court was hailed by officials at the state Department of Environmental Conservation as a victory for enforcement of New York's landmark 1984 law to combat acid rain. LILCO officials, struggling to keep the company afloat in the face of continued uncertainty over the $5.4 billion Shoreham nuclear power plant, said they were disappointed and considering an appeal. Officials for the utility have been arguing since 1986 that they could burn higher sulfur oil without any serious harm to the environment. Jim Lois, a LILCO spokesman, said the state's refusal to grant the utility permission to do that has cost LILCO about $30 million annually.

The higher costs are borne by LILCO customers who already pay among the highest rates in the nation for electricity. Without the Shoreham plant operating, Lois noted that LILCO is the only utility system in the nation that is totally reliant on oil. "Over 85 percent of that is foreign oil," he added. Smaller labor pool expected to boost wages in '89 New Yotk Farm Show set SYRACUSE The New York Farm Show, featuring more than 2090 exhibitors, is scheduled Feb. 23-25 at the State Fairgrounds here.

The New York Farm Equipment Dealers Association and the American Agriculturistare co-sponsoring the show. Free tickets are available from farm equipment dealers or other agribusiness organizations. They are also available free by sending a legal-sized, self-addressed, stamped envelope to Scott Grigor, show manager, New York Farm Show, O. Box 3470, Syracuse, N.Y. 13220.

Admission at the door will cost $5. Stock tax reduction sought WASHINGTON U.S. Sen. Dale Bumpers (D-Arkasas) has introduced legislation to reduce the marginal tax rate on long-term investments in start-up small business ventures. The bill would set a 21 percent maximum tax rate on these investments, reducing the current rate by 25 percent and creating an incentive for growth-oriented investments, he said.

Stocks purchased directly from high-risk, long-term, growth-oriented businesses would have to be held four years to qualify for the tax reduction. The reduction would not be available for trading of stocks on the New York Stock Exchange or the secondary market. Do you have a local business news tip? Call the business desk at 272-2321, ext. 27. DAN DORFMAN The nation's payrolls jumped by 408,000 in January, almost double the 221,000 increase in December.

Granted, the jobless rate in January inched up to 5.4 percent from 5.3 percent in December. But strong payroll growth is viewed as a more telling barometer. It's noteworthy that Lieberman's forecast of a dried-up labor supply by midyear hinges on his outlook for economic growth of 2 percent to 2.5 percent. But this year's estimated gain among economists averages out to about 2.7 percent and some see 3 percent or more. So higher-than-expected wages may well be thrust on corporate America.

And those higher prices, you can bet, will be passed on to us, hiking the inflation rate. Lieberman figures inflation, 4.4 percent last year, could run as high as 7 percent this year. Strong employment, coupled with a peppy economy, means more borrowing. That pushes up rates. And Lieberman, for one, sees rates rising 100 to 150 basis points or 1 to 1.5 percentage points by summer.

For example, he sees the yield on long-term Treasury bonds, now a bit over 9 percent, rising to 10 percent or 10.5 percent. So bond prices, of course, will head lower. And Lieberman sees ditto for stocks. "The stock market should be weak because of extreme competition from high-yielding bonds," he says. "If I'm right about bond yields going higher, say 10 percent or better, why should anybody put their money into stocks (which are yielding about 3.6 percent)?" Dan Dorfman first joined Oanneu Nens Service in January.

He has been financial editor and columnist for New York magazine and is syndicated in 1 78 newspapers. Get ready for the sharpest wage increases in eight years. They could balloon as much as 7.5 percent this year, the biggest gain since 1981, when wages shot up nearly 10 percent. They've risen an average of 5 percent the past four quarters. If you're about to say I'm off my rocker because you don't see anything like a 7.5 percent hike in your '89 paycheck kindly hold your tongue.

Why? Because it's a 50-50 bet that the available supply of labor from the pool of unemployed will be exhausted by mid-year. And that should drive wages higher especially in manufacturing and retailing, as well as the accounting, medical and construction fields. This good news comes from astute economics research pro Charles Lieberman. So does an accompanying dosage of bad news: a forecast of sharply higher inflation and interest rates that'll send bond and stock prices skidding. Lieberman, 40, is the managing director of financial markets research at Manufacturers Hanover Securities Corp.

That's the investment banking research arm of Manufacturers Hanover. For starters, let's look at the pay of hourly employed workers nearly 61 million people, almost half the work force. The average hourly pay $9.1 1 at the end of 1987 and $9.44 at the end of 1988 could shoot up to as much as $10.15 an hour by the end of 1989, Lieberman predicts. That's equivalent to a 7.5 percent gain a figure Lieberman considers possible salaried employees as well. "Full employment is near; it's extremely likely the unemployment rate will drop below 5 percent some time this year," says Lieberman.

How come? "The economy's growing too fast; we're rapidly using up our labor supply." Lieberman calculates that the pool of unemployed is sufficiently depleted to the point where only an estimated 600,000 to 950,000 persons can be hired without companies being forced to ante up higher salaries to entice the unemployed..