The Daily Herald from Arlington Heights, Illinois • Page 49

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2003 Daily Heiald Your Portfolio Stock Listing Obituaries 7,8 dailyherald.com Business SECTION 4 UAL pension shortfall could hit $7.5 billion Don't lose your homeowners insurance The Market DOW Jones industrial average Close 9,448.81 Asbestos war 9.100 9,000 8,900 8,700 8,700 8,600 I I I I I I I I I i I WT FTWTFMTWT 2728 29 2 3 4 5 8 9 10 11 12 15 8,500 NASDAQ 1,845.70 500 AMEX NYSE 5,730.44 J.014.81 983.17 :9.33 Big Picture UAW reaches two deals, seeks one more DEARBORN, Mich. The United Auto Workers late Monday reached tentative contract agreements with Ford Motor Co. and auto supplier Visteon leaving General Motors as the only Big Three automaker still in labor talks with die union. The UAW and Chrysler reached agreement earlier Monday. NASD warns of risks of buying on margin WASHINGTON Securities regulators are warning investors about the risks of buying stocks with loans from their brokerage firm, a practice known as buying on margin that recently has proliferated.

The National Association of Securities Dealers warned investors can lose niore money than what they borrowed or what they paid for securities. now selling fair-trade coffee CINCINNATI Bowing to pressure from activists, Procter Gamble Co. on Monday began selling a line of "fair-trade" coffee, a more expensive variety intended to return more profits to growers. Mountain Moonlight fair-trade coffee will be part of gourmet Millstone line. Starbucks began selling fair- trade coffee in 2000 and Sara Lee in 2001.

Activists say they are trying to persuade Nestle and Kraft Foods to follow suit. Local Focus Lucent announces $20 million contract NAPERVULE Lucent Technologies Inc. said Monday it won a $20 million contract from Codetel, a Dominican Republic telecom operator. Lucent equipment will boost coverage of Codetel's existing mobile network and let it support the latest voice and data services. Lucent also said its Global Business Partner Program is making "major inroads" into such new European markets as enterprise and alternative services.

It has reached about 30 countries in Western and Central Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Lucent has Naperville operations. Accountants' group presents program AURORA The Institute of Management Accountants' Fox River Valley chapter will have a dinner meeting and program, "Illinois State Tax and Fee Changes and Their Impact on Illinois Manufacturers," at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Gaslight Manor, 2485 Church Road, Aurora. Rick Thompson and Mark Mirsky of Sikich Gardner will speak.

The cost is $25 for members, $13 for students. Call (630) 293-5910. ASSOCIATED PRESS Mike Switzer, 65, who is ill from childhood exposure to asbestos, which is blamed for hundreds of deaths in Libby, works out on a treadmill last week at a rehabilitation facility. Settlement fund at the heart of lobbying battle WASHINGTON As a child in Montana, Mike Switzer played around the local vermiculite mine, swinging off a rope into dusty piles of insulation and pushing toy cars through asbestos-laden dust in nearby yards. Now, at 65, Switzer has asbestosis, one of the asbestos- related illnesses blamed for more than 200 deaths in the area near the W.R.

Grace mine and mill in Libby, Mont. "1 pick up the paper every week and there's at least one every two weeks that dies from asbestosis," said Switzer, a former smoker who no longer can work his ranch after contracting the illness and losing a lung to cancer. Switzer and thousands like him are at the heart of a com- Links dailyherald.com/ez Bookmark our Web page for hyperlinks to more information Read the legislation plex question facing Congress: what to do about the costly and deadly fallout from the nation's long and wide-ranging use of asbestos. It's a lobbying fight with the highest of stakes: life and death, lawsuits, corporate bankruptcies, jobs and billions of dollars. Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Sen.

Orrin Hatch of Utah has proposed a settlement fund that would shield asbestos-related companies from further lawsuits while providing at least $108 billion to Asbestos facts Injury claims filed over years: more than 600,000. Companies named as defendants: more than 6,000. Money spent on litigation: at least $54 billion. Estimate of workers in high- risk jobs and industries exposed from million. Estimated premature deaths through 2009 due to asbestos exposure: more than 225,000.

Source: 2002 Rand Institute for Civil Justice study, "Asbestos Litigation Costs and Compensation." people sickened by the products. The money would come from companies and their insurers. "Everybody's lobbying on this," said U.S. Chamber of Commerce lobbyist Bruce losten, who is among them. According to Wall Street analysts, he said, "half of the Fortune 500, one way or another, is exposed." On one side are victims and their relatives, who with the help of trial lawyers attest to the Sec ASBESTOS on PAGE 3 SBC Yahoo! offers stronger parental controls for Web BY ANNA MARIE KUKEC Daily HmM Stuff Writer SBCYahoo! today will begin offering more Web-based services for DSL and dial-up members, as it strives to compete against giant AOL and other online services.

San Antonio-based SBC partnered with Yahoo last year to increase its market presence for Internet-based services, which now has reached 3 million subscribers in 13 states, including Illinois. Among the enhancements are stricter parental controls that go beyond Web site monitoring and will now include a child's e-mail and instant messages. In fact, children must send an e-mail permission slip to parents before they can use blocked or questionable addresses. "We are taking an interactive approach to developing new products and services, things that our members have asked for," said Deven Nongbri, SBCYahoo! Internet marketing director. "These parental controls are the most comprehensive." Consumers are going to see an explosion of such services, said David McClure, president of the U.S.

Internet Industry Association in Washington, D.C. "Internet providers like SBC are among the top in the country and, in the next two years, you're going to see a lot of consolidation if they don't start to differentiate themselves (from each other) with these types of services," said McClure. Other features introduced by SBCYahoo! include: Users can drag and drop photos, files and links from the Web or local computers into emails, instant messages and online storage. Shared browsing will enable members to invite other SBC Yahoo! or Yahoo! users to browse the same Web page together in real time. Pop-up ad blocking is integrated into the new browser.

More anti-virus protection is available for the entire computer, not just for e-mail. A tabbed portal allows business users to toggle between six content pages. Members can plan and manage an e-mail marketing campaign through a premium service. Analysts see economic growth WASHINGTON The U.S. economy is finally poised for stronger growth.

Even jobs, a notable no-show in the recovery so far, will gradually start to improve, a national economists' group predicted Monday. In its new outlook, the National Association for Business Economics forecast that the gross domestic product, the country's total output of goods and services, would increase at an annual rate of 4.5 percent during the current July-September quarter and would continue growing at a 4 percent pace in the final three months of the year. The forecast, if it becomes reality, would mark the economy's strongest back-to-back quarterly growth rates since the last half of 1999. The NABE forecasting group said the wave of job layoffs that continued through last month may finally be coming to an end as growth moves up to levels which will prompt companies to rehire laid-off workers. "The U.S.

economy finally appears to have hoisted its sails," said NABE president- elect Duncan Meldrum. Itasca firm plans to build high-tech plant in Geneva BY ANNA MAKIK KUKEC An Itasca-based package manufacturer plans to break ground this spring for a $10 million high-tech plant in Geneva and hire 100 more employees. Peacock Engineering which packages food products for Kraft, Quaker, Kellogg's, Pcp- peridge Farms and others, also plans to buy another company sometime next part of a plan to keep jobs here. "We have always drawn from the local labor force and we believe this new plant will be especially good for the people in the Aurora, St. Charles and Geneva area," said Michael Bilder, Peacock's president and one of five owners.

Peacock has been expanding at a time when many firms have been struggling with a sour economy, laying off employees and outsourcing their manufacturing. Last November, Peacock bought Production Packaging Inc. in Geneva. That firm has taken the Peacock name and will remain while the new See PEACOCK on PAGE 3 Peacock Engineering Co. Founded: Chicago in 1942.

Moved to Itasca in 1966. Business: During World War II, cleaned, preserved and packaged military and industrial equipment. Today, makes packages for a variety of food products for Kraft, Quaker, Pepperidge Farms, Kellogg's and others. Headquarters: 1345 Norwood Itasca, 117,000 square feet, 100 employees Geneva plant Breaking ground in March, 250,000 square feet, 150 employees Web site: www.peacockeng.com Other Peacock plants: 1800 Averill Drive, Geneva, 250,000 square feet, 175 employees 1240 Meacham Road, Itasca, 88,000 square feet, 80 employees 750 District Drive, Itasca, closed with operations moved to Geneva Husband, wife team opens Mel's Deli A husband and wife team recently opened Mel's Deli in East Dundee. The name of the eatery is taken from co-owner Melissa Ernst's name and the old TV series, "Alice," set in Mel's Diner.

The eatery, which opened in late August, is at 210 Penny Ave. Tibor Ernst, a native of Swit7.erland, runs the day-today operations. He has a background in the wine and restaurant business and is attempting to bring a European flair to East Dundee. Italian coffees and espressos are a favorite at the deli. Ernst highlights Illy Coffee from Trieste, Italy.

Pastry chef Pierre Pollin, who operates a business in Arlington Heights, makes French pastries for Mel's Deli. The sandwiches have been a hit at the eatery, according to the owners. Tostinos, selling for $4.99, are grilled sandwiches that have been very popular along with ciabattas made on Kim Mikus l'ox Valley business Italian bread. Salads ranging in price from $1.49 to $5.39 are also a hit. The Oriental chicken salad is a top pick.

Hot dogs, brats and veggie sandwiches are other favorites. Tibor, 56, owned a restaurant at one time in Switzerland before the wine business brought him to the United States. He met his wife, Melissa, 33, at a local wine tasting event he was hosting. The couple has been married a year and live in East Dundee, the town where Melissa grew up. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner.

Party trays and catering are also available. For more information, call (847)428-3144. Just a trim: Cookie Cutters Haircuts for Kids recently opened in McHenry. The shop, at 1908 N. Richmond Road, is the 13th of its kind.

Indiana, Kentucky, Florida and Ohio house other stores with indoor playgrounds, kid-sized cars and televisions. Beckie and Eugene Bordenaro own and operate the local store. On the move: Alex and Wendy Petrusha of South Elgin recently started Two Men And A Truck. The franchise, at 370 Smoke Tree Business Park in North Aurora, is part of a system that includes 120 locations in 25 states and more than 720 trucks. In addition to offering local residential and commercial moving services, the franchise will sell boxes and packing supplies and offer complete packing services.

The Petrushas have backgrounds in the automotive PATRICK I1KHAI.I) Melissa and Tibor Ernst recently opened Mel's Deli in East Dundee. industry. A graduate of Oakland University in Michigan, Alex Petrusha has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. He spent the past 10 years with Chrysler Automotive. Wendy Petrusha, who holds a bachelor's degree in product design engineering technology from Ferris State University in Michigan, spent five years with various automotive systems companies before the birth of their daughter.

For more information, call (630) 301-7500. Kim Mikiis covers retail for the Daily Herald. She welcomes comments at (847) 427-4567or at.