Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut • 201

SECTION THURSDAY MARCH 16, 1989 niriHii mi nit' nil i i ill ii mi i mi i1. 1 1 lammmMmBnMnm 'V GL4P, Pratt accord adopted To maintain rates, i 'v I'T, i rate increases' or reductions," he said. The agreement has several provisions, including a pledge by Pratt Whitney to postpone until January 1992 construction of a cogeneration plant. If the plant is constructed, the agreement says the companies will discuss whether would buy electricity from the cogeneration plant to sell to other New England utility companies. -j The audit, which costs about $75,000, is one component of conservation program.

The audit began last summer and is nearly complete, said Jeffrey R. Kotkin, spokesman for NU. Energy auditors are examining 20 percent of the Pratt plant, checking the lighting, air conditioning, ventilation, computer cooling systems, pumps, motors and the like, Kotkin said. To implement the recommenda- tions of the engery audit could cost about $2.6 million, which is split between Pratt and Meehan said. The agreement allows the compa-' nies to discuss whether should make other conservation invest-, merits under their energy action pro-.) gram.

Rickard said the DPUC approved the agreement because "the department considered it to be in the public interest." "Pratt Whitney got a break on' split audit cost By SANDRA CLARK Courant Staff Writer An agreement to maintain lower rates and split the cost of an energy audit between Connecticut Light Power Co: and Pratt Whitney was adopted Wednesday by the Department of Public Utility Control. The agreement is part of an effort to keep the East Hartford manufacturer from producing its own energy through cogeneration, thus cutting back on the power delivered by is a subsidiary of Northeast Utilities, and Pratt Whitney, a division of Hartford-based United Technologies is the electric company's largest industrial customer, i. Under the agreement, Pratt Whitney receives an annual rate reduction of about $900,000, said Louis Rickard, spokeswoman for the DPUC. The impact of the rate reduction on other energy customers is negated by the utility company's other investments, said James Meehan, the state's consumer counsel. "The money would not find its way back to the customers in the form of Paula Bronstein The Hartford Courant The "Just in Case, The Emergency ID" tags on these sneakers contact in case of an emergency, allergies, health insurance names containing a child's name, address and telephone number, who to and policy numbers may find their way in cereal boxes soon.

Her worry turns into a new invention See State, Page D2 U.S. trade deficit Robert F. Murphy INSIDE BUSINESS narrows in Stephanie Pious packs off 2 Ms -year-old Harrison Pious to a day-care center daily. Does that make her a part-time mom? No way. Ask any mother if the maternal instinct turns off when the kid is dropped off on the baby sitter's doorstep while she maybe pursues a paycheck.

Just because her son is parked at day care for a few hours does not hit by a car," she said. "I transfer my worry to him," Pious said about her concern for her son when he is not with her. She worries that something might happen and worries whether someone will know who he is and will know how to reach her if necessary. That's a common concern of mothers of young children. "Children don't carry wallets," Pious said, especially small children like her son, Harrison.

January And little children forget their names and where they live, she said, Pious, the daughter of a graphics designer and a concert pianist "I come from a creative family" has solved the problem by turning on her own creative juices. She invented something. She started with a small, cardboard matchbox, covered with tin- foil, and a piece of coat-hanger wire See A mother's, Page D8 mean Pious is off duty. "I worry," she said. The kind of "worry" is "like when I cross Farm-ington Avenue, I worry about getting Associated Press WASHINGTON The U.S.

merchandise trade deficit narrowed sharply in January to $9.49 billion, -the lowest imbalance in three months, as a big decline in consumer imports offset a higher oil bill, the government reported Wednesday. The Commerce Department said the imbalance between imports and exports fell by 13.7 percent from a revised December deficit of $10.99 billion as the United States posted a rare trade surplus with Europe and the deficit with Japan fell to its lowest point in 2Vz years. The Bush administration hailed the development as an encouraging sign of progress in whittling down the country's huge trade deficit, but many private economists were far less encouraged. Some analysts called the January figure a one-month fluke in what they believe will be an otherwise dreary outlook for U.S. trade prospects this year.

In 1988, the U.S. trade deficit declined by 21 percent to $119.76 bil-. lion as a boom in export sales helped provide two-fifths of the year's total economic growth. But analysts are forecasting that export sales, despite aggressive market-opening efforts on the part of the administration, will slow sig-! nificantly in 1989 while America's foreign oil bill increases, reflecting rising world oil prices. "The January report is going to be the last reduction we get in our trade deficit for quite some time," said Michael Evans, head of a Washington forecating firm.

"Our export boom ran out of steam some time ago and now we are seeing the effect of higher oil prices." See Trade, Page D8 Chase Communications to buy Denver station Richard Mei The Hartford Courant Hartford, was elected chairman of the Greater Hartford Chamber of Commerce Wednesday. Denis F. Mnllane, chairman and chief executive officer of Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Chamber hears Brinkley's insights Chase Communications Inc. of Hartford said it has agreed to buy an independent television station in Denver for $12 million. The deal would give the Hartford broadcast company its third television station in the United States.

Ed Karlik, president of the televi-. sion division of Chase Communications, said the company will buy station KDVR-TV, Channel 31, from Centennial Corp. of Denver. The purchase is subject to approval from the Federal Communica- tions Commission. Karlik said Chase Communications hopes to complete the deal within the next few months.

Karlik said Channel 31, one of three independent TV stations in the Denver market, is an affiliate of Fox Broadcasting. Chase Communications' Hartford station, WTIC-TV, Channel 61, also is a Fox affiliate. "We're excited about it being a Fox affiliate," he said. "We're a Fox station here and we've had success and we feel that will carry on in Denver." Karlik said Denver is the 19th-' largest advertising market in the United States, so Chase Communications believes Channel 31 will be a good revenue-producer for the company. Although the Denver economy has been slow recently because of its reliance on the energy industry, Karlik said he believes it is starting to See Chase, Page D5 Eastern's sale looks more likely Strke continues i with no prospects of a resolution Associated Press NEW YORK The sale of Eastern Airlines increasingly is an option for parent Texas Air Corp.

as the crippling strike against the carrier continues with no sign of resolution, experts said Wednesday. On Wednesday, the 12th day of a bitter strike by Eastern's Machinists union, the airline still was operating only a fraction of its normal flights. Furthermore, most of Eastern's pilots have continued honoring the strike despite appeals and warnings from management, making it virtually impossible for the airline to expand service. Meanwhile, a federal bankruptcy judge Wednesday granted Eastern a temporary restraining order forcing its competitors to honor business agreements with the strikebound carrier. The order signed by U.S.

Bankruptcy Judge Burton R. Lifland prevents other airlines from refusing to transfer Eastern passengers, cargo and baggage, and compels them to perform other services set out in basic agreements among airlines. Lifland, who is overseeing Eastern's bankruptcy reorganization, set a March 24 hearing on continuing the On another front, the House passed legislation Wednesday that would require a recalcitrant Presi- dent Bush to name an emergency panel to try to end the strike. The labor-backed bill was ap- proved on a mostly party line 252-' 167 vote by the House, where most of the majority Democrats are sympa- I thetic to the airline's unions. The measure was considered a long shot to become law because of opposition from the Bush administration.

Eastern sought federal bankrupt- cy court protection from creditors last Thursday. But analysts and oth- 1 er observers suggested that Texas Air Chairman Frank Lorenzo would have difficulty rebuilding Eastern through Chapter 11 and may be reaching a point where he is obliged -to sell the carrier to stem his losses. .1 The strongest potential buyer re-mains financier Carl Icahn, the own- er and chairman of Trans World Airlines according to labor and See Eastern's, Page D3 U.S. dollar The Federal Reserve's index measuring the dollar against 1 0 other currencies on a trade-weighted basis was 97.07 Wednesday. IP Today's data DOW JONES AVERAGE (Wednesday's close) 30 Industrials 2,320.54 Up 14.29 points T-BILLS (As of March 13) 12 month 9.39 6 month 8.76 3 month 8.69 he was seen as arrogant, mean, domineering and insulting.

And, when they got a chance to vote against him, they couldn't wait to do it." Congress must take blame for the current crisis experienced by many of the country's savings and loans. "It's one of the strongest lobbies in Washington, mostly because it gives a lot of money and there's one in just about every congressional district," Brinkley said. "The problem was Congress gave them almost total carte blanche to do anything with their money and they started doing things like going out and buying racehorses." Congress particularly the House of Representatives also bears much of the blame for the federal budget deficit. "The House of Representatives should be called the House of Lords," he said. "It's a problem of money and clout and the result is no incumbent ever gets beat and they never cast a vote that is even slightly unpopular.

That's why we have the deficit." Bush could wipe out the deficit by freezing the federal budget, putting a fee on imported oil and adding a 50 cent-a-gallon tax at the gasoline pump, and making our allies in Europe and Asia pay for their own defense. Prior to Brinkley's speech, the chamber had its annual business meeting, electing new officers. The new chairman of the chamber is Denis F. Mullane, chairman and chief executive officer of Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Co. Other directors are Charles P.

Britton III, United Bank and Trust Raymond N. Fitzgerald, Combs Gates Bradley Mary N. Hart, Connecticut Natural Gas Dwight Johnson, Murtha, Cullina, Richter Pinney, Coleman B. Levy, Tarlow, Levy, Harding Droney, Patrick J. McDonnell, Coopers and Lybrand; Kathleen McGrory, Hartford College for Women; Bruce A.

Wilson, Bank of Boston Connecticut, and Ronald P. Pettirossi, Arthur Young and Co. By SEAN HORGAN Courant Staff Writer The U.S. political system is a good one, but it has created a climate of such lofty expectations that politicians are expected to do everything for everybody, Not to mention that it's also been very hard on Such is the world according to David Brinkley. Brinkley, 69, was the keynote speaker of the Greater Hartford Chamber of Commerce's annual meeting and dinner Wednesday night.

The 40-year veteran of television news alternated between whimsy and political savvy in his address at the Parkview Hilton. "We've just spent the last two years electing a president, during which time there were 66,912 political fund-raising lunches and dinners that all served chicken and peas," he said. "I calculate that means 12,816,906 chickens have laid down their lives." Other Brinkley insights, offered in the familiar dry, staccato delivery, included: The United States' win-loss record shows many more successes than failures, including governmental attempts to eliminate poverty, help the poor and minorities and clean up the environment. "What is there left to promise? Very little," said the host of the ABC Sunday morning news program that bears his name. "It's like greasing the crankshaft of an old Ford.

It will make it run better, but it won't make it a new car." Defense secretary nominee John Tower was not deep-sixed by the Senate because of alleged drinking and womanizing, but because he was universally disliked and the Democratic-controlled Senate saw a chance to take a shot at President Bush. "If it came down to the fact that the Senate will not confirm a Texan who likes to drink and who likes women, then we're in bad shape," he said. "It was really because when John Tower served in the Senate, MORTGAGES (Average, based on local survey) Adjustable, 1 11.43 Fixed, 30 yr. 11.27 1973 BASE EQUALS 100 97 I 'TIS; I 85 I i 2 3 6 7 8 9 10 13 14 15 Inside 2 banks agree to merge Constitution Bancorp, Fairfield, to buy Greenwich bank. Pag D2 JRS giving wrong answers IRS is giving the wrong answer to tax questions 40 percent of the time, auditors say: Page DS.