Austin American-Statesman from Austin, Texas • 71

SECTION UNJ Stock listings: E5-7 Saturday, July 1 1 1992 Austin American-Statesman Intel Austin team makes pitch to build billion-dollar facility talent and the presence of Sema-tech, the chip industry's collaborative research project to improve chip-making technology. Intel has said publicly that it is looking for a location with a good high-tech "infrastructure" an established labor pool and the presence of support companies. The company also appears to be seriously shopping for state and local incentives, including tax abatements on improvements it builds, tax-free bond financings, sales tax Computer, Applied Materials, Se-matech and the MCC consortium. Local business recruiters say Austin is well-suited for Intel's needs because it has an established base of chip production. Motorola, Advanced Micro Devices and Cypress Semiconductor Corp.

together employ more than 9,000 people in the greater Austin area. Austin also boasts plenty of support companies that provide materials and services to the industry, access to University of Texas engineering --i wtt -W4 nni. p' Chip maker to Reports say IBM and Siemens will jointly produce next-generation computer chips. E2 The program included an upbeat endorsement of the city by William Spencer, chief executive of the Se-matech research consortium, of which Intel is a prominent member. Austin has successfully pulled together business, community and academic heavyweights in successful campaigns to recruit Apple changes former Magic Time Machine restau- a Landry's Seafood House.

The completion. Landry's Is owned by The ip By Kirk Ladendorf American-Statesman Staff Austin business, community and academic leaders are mounting a campaign to lure Intel proposed new billion-dollar chip-making plant to town. Intel proposes to complete the plant in the mid-1990s, but the company projects it may start preliminary work soon after it buys a site. Intel's five-person site selection team visited Austin earlier this week, and, observers said, came away impressed from a briefing hosted by U.S. Rep.

Jake Pickle. rf! Making magic Work is proceeding to transform rant at 600 E. Riverside Drive change is scheduled for August Charles Keating did not send lawyers to defend him in the civil lawsuit. the Into Today's digoat Blimp site for sale Goodyear Tire Rubber Co. wants $5.75 million for the 40-acre site north of Houston that served as its blimp base for 21 years.

The landmark, eight-story, hangar that housed the dirigible since 1971 was closed last March when the Goodyear airship America moved from the Houston suburb of Spring to company headquarters in Akron, Ohio. The hangar and property, adjacent to Interstate 45, is passed by an estimated 109,000 cars daily. Rig count increases The number of working oil and gas rigs posted another increase this week, climbing by 19 to 667, Baker Hughes Inc. said Friday. It marked the fourth consecutive weekly gain, although the tally still trails last year's total of 844.

The gains seem to signal an end to a slump that sent the count plunging last month to a record low. Among major producers, Oklahoma's count increased by seven, followed by Wyoming, five; New Mexico and Michigan, two each, and Kansas, one. North Dakota and Texas each lost two rigs, while California, Colorado and Louisiana each dropped one. Ohio and Pennsylvania were unchanged. Transco unit sold Houston-based Transco Energy Co.

has agreed to sell its oil and gas subsidiary, Transco Exploration and Production to Forest Oil Corp. for $45 million. The deal is expected to close Aug. 1, and cash from the sale will be used to pay off debts. Transco said it will take an after-tax charge of about $35 million, or $1.17 per share, because the subsidiary was valued on the books in excess of the market value in the deal.

Wheat forecast up The 1992 Texas winter wheat is currently forecast at 129.2 million bushels, up 1 percent from the June 1 level, the Texas Agricultural Statistics Service reported Friday. The July 1 estimate is 54 percent above last year's production, but 1 percent below the 1990 crop. The statewide yield is expected to average 34 bushels per acre, up four bushels from last year. Harvested acreage, at 3.8 million, increased 36 percent from 1991. Firms study Peru oil A consortium of two U.S.

companies signed a $10 million, 18-month deal to carry out seismic studies off Peru's northern coast, the state oil company said. Ribiana Inc. and Simon Petroleum Technology Corp. of Houston will operate a scientific ship within a 4,000 square-mile zone off the coast between the towns of Bayovar and Concordia, Petroperu said. The U.S.

consortium will finance the study and have the right to sell information of the area's oil potential. The market day Landry Group of Houston. The company, which has six restaurants in Texas, plans a menu of fresh seafood and steak and an oyster bar. The restaurant will have outdoor dining and a view of Town Lake. abatements on equipment it buys for the plant and assistance in training employees.

The company also is seeking a commitment for expedited environmental approvals from the state. Chip-making plants are heavy users of chemical liquids and gases, some of them toxic. Austin may have to go pretty far to top the incentives offered by Sandoval County, N.M., when Intel located chip manufacturing operations there in 1980. The county gave Intel 30 years' worth of property tax abatements on the plant See Austin, E2 Court sends repo warning Banks liable for contractors By Earl Golz American-Statesman Staff Banks and credit unions have been put on alert by the Texas Supreme Court that financial institutions can't dodge the blame for strong-armed tactics used by independent firms hired to repossess autos from borrowers in arrears. In a recent ruling, the high court cited an El Paso case in finding that financial institutions are "liable for breaches of the peace committed by independent contractor." Banks and other cred itors cannot delegate the duty of peaceable repossession to an independent contractor," according to the majority opinion writ- Oscar Mauzy.

Mauzjr "We are deeply concerned about it," said Robert Harris, president of the Texas Bankers Association. "It raises serious questions and establishes what we think is a very dangerous precedent." The TBA may join in an effort to seek a rehearing and has had discussions with the American Bankers Association "because we think the case could have national ramifications," Harris said. "It's a frightening decision and we are giving it great attention at this hour." The incident that led to the Supreme Court decision occurred when MBank in El Paso hired El Paso Recovery Service to repossess Yvonne Sanchez's auto after she defaulted on her note. The re-possessors hooked the car to a tow truck over Sanchez's demands that they stop and leave the premises. Sanchez jumped into the vehicle, locked die doors and refused to leave.

The tow truck then left at a high rate of speed with her inside the car, towing the vehicle and passenger to the repossession yard. The car with Sanchez inside was parked in the fenced yard and the gate was padlocked. Sanchez was See Court, back page employees over pay Keating judgment: $2. 1 billion DMO approves fee exemption Staff photo by Taylor Johnson month trial on lawsuits in which more than 20,000 class-action plaintiffs claimed losses of $288.7 million on investments in Phoenix-based American Continental. Much of the money was spent on American Continental junk bonds sold in the lobbies of the company's Irvine, Calif.

-based subsidiary, Lincoln Savings. The investments collapsed when American Continental declared bankruptcy and Lincoln was seized by the government in April 1989 in a record $2.6 billion taxpayer bailout. "When I first heard it, it's great," said plaintiff Marguerite See Keating, E4 "LJ" Bill Renfro, DMO board chairman, said exemptions may eliminate controversy for the organization. AppleTree may strike By Sarah Barnes American-Statesman Staff AppleTree Market employees, who are protesting the company's financial alignment with the Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, will decide Monday whether to strike over proposed cuts in wages and benefits. The Houston-based grocery chain, which has 12 stores in Austin and San Marcos, plans to implement a new wage scale on Sunday.

A federal bankruptcy judge last week gave AppleTree over the objections of its union permission to abandon its current By Kim Tyson American-Statesman Staff Directors of Austin DMO an organization formed last month to promote the interests of downtown Austin, voted this week to exempt properties valued at less than $500,000 from proposed fees to finance downtown improvements. That move puts the proposal a "hair under" the minimum support needed for the plan to be approved by the Austin City Council, said Karin Richmond, an adviser to the DMO board and director of economic development programs Award for punitive and compensatory damages in fraud compensatory damages and $1.5 million in punitive damages against the executive who's come to symbolize the abuses of the industry. Keating, 68, and already in prison on California criminal charges stemming from the same investments, appeared only once at the trial. He didn't send lawyers, saying he couldn't afford to because of a pending federal criminal case. The verdict followed a 3Vi- provement district.

Revenues raised by the district would fund an ongoing organization to market downtown, advocate public improvements and promote awareness of its special security, cleanliness and social needs. Bill Renfro, chairman of the DMO board and vice chairman of Bank One-Austin, said 582 of the 711 smaller properties owned in the district would not pay assessments to the district under the proposal. The board also voted for residential homesteads to be exempt-See DMO, back page You can get more up to date stock market information beginning today from the American-Statesman's new Inside Line. Check page A2 today for a full list of all the information offered on the new Inside Line. The call is free.

In the coming weeks, watch for a new stock quote service that will be added to Inside Line from Corn-stock. So go ahead, check page A2. By Arthur H. Rotstein Associated Press TUCSON, Ariz. A federal jury Friday ordered Charles Keating Jr.

and three others to pay at least $2.1 billion damages for cheating thousands of people who invested in his savings and loan company. The judge had already ruled that Keating had conspired to defraud investors many of them elderly people who put up their life's savings so the jury's job was to decide how much the defendants owed. After eight days of deliberations, the jury awarded $600 million in at the Johnson Gibbs law firm. State law requires that landowners representing more than 50 percent of the assessed property value in the district and more than 50 percent of its land area endorse the idea before it can be adopted. Richmond said organizers of the district now have signed petitions from owners representing more than 60 percent of the assessed value and slightly less than 50 percent of the land area, given the changes this week in the plan.

Austin DMO expects to seek approval from the City Council in September to create the public im union representatives about workers' grievances. "The hearing is to determine whether there is merit to the alleged violations," Dunn said. Austin CableVision President Tom Rutledge said the charges are unfounded. "We don't think the allegations have any merit," Rutledge said. "These charges are not proven or found to be true." But Richard Arriola, president of Communications Workers of America Local 6132, said the board's action proves the corn-See Settlement, back page Labor board revokes CableVision settlement Dow industrials 3,330.56 Up 6.48 3,500 3,400 FMTWThMTWThF NYSE 227.88 up 0.33 Up: 1,023 Down: 675 Unchanged: 601 Volume: 164.76 million 500 414.62 up 0.39 Dollar exchange Dollar In foreign currency Frl.

Thur. Britain .5204 .5275 Germany 1.4943 1.5175 Japan 125.24 125.70 Mexico 3,115 3,115 Gold New York Comex $348.30 Rep. Nat'l Bank $348.00 Oil Light aweet crude $21.38 per barrel, down $0.12 (Auguat delivery) Natural gas Price per 1,000 cubic feet $1,653, up 0.1 cent (Auguat delivery) yT 3,300 I I i i i t- 3,200 IMii By Diana Williams American-Statesman Staff The National Labor Relations Board has revoked a settlement between Austin CableVision and its union employees, accusing the company of violating fair labor practices. Michael Dunn, an NLRB regional director in Fort Worth, said the alleged violations will be discussed at a formal hearing Oct. 14 in Austin.

The NLRB contends Austin CableVision violated fair labor regulations in dozens of ways, including its alleged refusal to meet with collective bargaining agreement. Appletree management said Friday the company was close to resolving the remaining issues in an amended reorganization plan, which will be filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Wednesday. "I am very pleased with our progress toward the filing of a plan that will be acceptable to all classes of creditors," said Fred Lummis, chairman and chief executive officer of AppleTree. "This company could be out of bankruptcy within 90 days." Al Zack, spokesman for the See AppleTree, back page.