The Montana Standard from Butte, Montana • 21

Thf Montana Standard, Butte, Sunday, January II, 2004 CS TheMontana Standard Rl IQIfvlFC KXLF-TV not J. YA if I' mo leaving 1 KXLF-TV, which offers local news broadcasts at 5:30 and 10 p.m., is not leaving town and in fact has invested millions of dollars in a new piece of, 1 equip- Hill tvfeAS. EXERCISERS TAKE TO THE WATER for an aerobics class in the pool at the Park Street Gym. Owner Ristene Hall says this winter, "I think we have to be the strongest people in the world to just keep going." 111 lyLJLJ LJ WJ Business owners face challenge of higher energy 1 He also is worried because the worst of the bills those that will include the recent sub-zero temperatures will not be delivered until next week. "The one thing I have learned over the years is that utility companies work for utility companies they keep going broke because they are spending money on other things instead of doing what they are designed to do," he added.

Gary and wife Gwen rewired and replumbed the building and have taken other measures to reduce utility costs, but Gammill said the showroom must stay comfortable for customers. And while the bills are worrisome, the couple has no plans to leave the beloved Uptown in favor of a sterile, but perhaps more energy-efficient building. "It's impacting us, yet it's not running us out of Butte," Gammill said. However, other businesses have cited energy costs as a compelling reason for quitting. Both Main Street Butte and the Urban Revitalization Agency have fielded concerns from small business owners about high utility costs.

Carmella Gross, owner of The Petunia Factory, 1729 Yale says that concern about utilities has nonn just can 't pass the prices along to my clientele. You can 't expect people who are already struggling, to pay more. Ristene Hall, owner, Parte Street Gym BizScene ment to offer television to viewers. "I've been putting that rumor Leslie McCartney out for two years now," said the station's General Manager Pat Cooney. He added that KXLF-TV has no plans to leave Butte in favor of Bozeman.

The Butte-based station has a satellite office in Bozeman and has plans to add another reporter there. However, headquarters remain at the former train depot at 1003 S. Montana St. Cooney added that the station has poured a lot of money into a new high-definition transmitter on the East Ridge. "We've invested a lot in the operation here," Cooney said.

"We hope to have it up and running prior to the Super Bowl." Competition drops newscast Speaking of local television stations, KWYB ABC 1828 has dropped its 5 p.m. news broadcast, but has retained its 10 p.m. program. Station manager Jay Tinder said the station stopped the broadcasts Monday, Jan. 5.

The newscasts' anchors broadcast from Iowa, but local content is provided by reporters in Butte and Bozeman. Tinder explained that the deadline for the 5 p.m. newscast is so early that "we weren't getting in all the news we wanted to cover." The station, like KXLF-TV, is regional with viewers accessing the newscasts from all over Southwest Montana. Local motorcycle chapter featured The Mile High Chapter of the local Harley Owners Group (HOG) is featured in the winter issue of Hog Tales, a national magazine. The chapter literally was raised out of the ash when a fire in 2001 leveled Butte's Thunderbolt Harley, the sponsoring dealership for local Harley owners.

With a new dealership located along on Continental Drive, and enthusiastic employees and owners, the chapter has grown to 145 riders. The chapter has a strong reputation for helping charities and will host fellow HOG members with the 2004 Montana State Rally planned for Butte this summer, the magazine said. The chapter hosts weekly supper rides and monthly rides during the warm months. Chapter members include two Motorcycle Safety Course instructors. The chapter also provides food and gifts for two needy families at Christmas, and is involved in highway roadside cleanup.

i Chamber solicits Ideas from public The Butte-Silver Bow Chamber of Commerce is seeking ideas from businesses and community See BIZSCEHE, Page C8 Hall said she has a slight advantage in that the exercise part of the gym can be kept cooler! However, other areas, like the pool, hot tub and dressing areas must be kept comfortable. Since Hall refuses to raise rates to help pay the power bill, she has found another creative way of dealing with the problem: She has brought in a tenant, a beauty shop, in the historical building. "I can help them get started with potential clientele, and they help me pay the power bill," she said. "When you struggle, you become very creative." Montana Restorations, a furniture company at 19 W. Broadway in Uptown Butte, has also been hit with utilities that are about $130 more a month than before.

"It's a little bit of a shocker," said Gary Gammill. He estimates between the increase at his business and increase at home, the shop must sell more than $1,000 worth of merchandise extra to break even. "When stuff like this goes up it's absolutely the worst time for a lot of businesses in winter (sales) are not as good as in the summer," he said. Walter Hinick The Montana Standard that, with the high cost of utility bills spread further with some of her out- of-state plant suppliers raising rates. "In my costs, some of it has doubled for product because of high energy costs elsewhere," she said.

Gross must also keep her greenhouses at temperatures tolerable for plants. Last year, her utility bill for one winter month was $900 or so; this year she's gotten a $1,500 bill. She said that while she may have used more energy this year compared with last, the bill is still $600 more. And while she braced for an increase, "I have never had a bill this high," she said. In February, Gross will start tending to new seedlings, which will again require a jump in heating costs and that comes on top of an increase in prices for plants and freight costs.

"I'm going to have to raise my prices, and I just hate to do that," Gross said, adding that she has not had a price increase in about 15 years. Utility costs are No. 3 in Gross' business. The most money is spent for flowers and plants, and the second is for labor. Energy costs can fluctuate depending on the temperature outside and how many greenhouses are needed to house plants.

However, the utility costs so far this year are staggering and Gross sympathizes with fellow basinesses. "So much for making money," Gross joked. Reporter Leslie McCartney may be reac hed via e-mail at leslie.mccartney(amtstandard.coiiu Google. The companies analyzed the search terms that appeared most often on their sites, and found that file-sharing software KaZaa was tops. To the recording industry, KaZaa means illegal music downloading.

After KaZaa at Harry Potter, "American Idol," Britney Spears and rapper 50 Cent were the top searches. Rival Google does not rank its top searches on an annual basis, but a spokes- woman says the most popular searches included pop singer Britney Spears, fictional boy wizard Harry Potter, Iraq and the film "The Matrix." i i By Leslie McCartney of The Montana Standard When Park Street Gym owner Ristene Hall saw the familiar Northwestern Energy envelope, she steeled herself for the utility bill it contained. But even she was surprised by the grand total for a month's worth of gas and electric for her Uptown Butte building: $2,100., "It is a terrible jump," Hall explained, saying that last year's bill for the same period was around $1,300. "It's scary." The jump in power costs is no surprise: Northwestern warned last summer that prices would increase in a deregulated market. And while public officials, the market, Northwestern, deregulation and the defunct Montana Power Co.

have been blamed for the increases, the results mean yet another pressure to Butte businesses' bottom line. "I think we have to be the strongest people in the world to just keep going," Hall explained of her fellow small business owners. Now in her 24th year of business, Hall ekes out a living with her health club in the Uptown, struggling to stay competitive in a competitive environment. While some business owners contacted by The Standard reluctantly say they must raise prices to accommodate added utility costs, Hall finds the decision difficult. "I just can't pass the prices along to my clientele," she said.

"You can't expect people, who are already struggling, to pay more." Planners say By Justin Bachman AP business writer MUTUAL REFORMS: The mutual fund industry has weathered an onslaught of criticism as regulators pursue cases involving illegal trading practices. The headlines have made most of the nation's 90 million mutual fund investors leery about the markets, according to a survey of certified financial planners about their clients' attitudes. More than half the 418 planners polled, 62 percent, said their clients are less confident in mutual funds now. The planners also had specific views on the efficacy of the various reforms being Almost said a for fund the best abuses, disclosure trades funds. making fund board the Among CFPs New funds, compliance The by Planner investors nervous about mutual funds AT THE WATERC00LER debated.

all, 87 percent, firm 4 p.m. deadline trading would be measure to curtail followed by greater of market timing and inspection requirements for some Sixty-two percent said the chairman of a and three-fourths its independent would be third-best step. the reforms the considered less useful: oversight boards for mandatory fees on short-term fund trades and a officer for funds. survey was conducted the Certified Financial Board of Standards Still, despite the glut of unemployed folks, more than a third, 36 percent, said it has been difficult to locate proper candidates. In particular, these managers are having the most trouble filling customer service, sales and accountingfinancial operations positions.

The survey was conducted from Nov. 18 to Dec. 4 for CareerBuilder.com, a Chicago-based job search site. ONLINE SEARCHING: Pop culture Web sites, including music and movies, were the most sought-after Internet sites during 2003, according to search engine operators Yahoo! and based in Denver. NEW HIRES: The job market was a laggard in the economic recovery for most of last year, but hiring managers say 2004 might be different.

More than half of 400 hiring managers said in a recent survey they would replace workers who had quit or been laid off, and nearly a third, 32 percent, said they'll recruit this year to expand operations. lib i to i ii i i i.