The Gazette from Cedar Rapids, Iowa • 22

6C The Gazette. Cedar Rapids. Iowa: April 1, 1998 .17.65 Mon eyAgribusine Vtsrt us on the Internet at: www.GazetteOnllne.commoney SSi DJIA 8,799.81 Briefs Saffilfi) As of March 1 P771 20 1998 15 1 harvested In 1997 12 io. U.S. farmers plan record soybean acres this spring By Mariene Lucas "We saw a 10 percent increase in 20 15 10 5'' 0 125 (million acres) com soybeans iv 5 0 125 100 75 50 25 0 1998 harvested In 1997 100 80.8 73.72 72 4 7C Department reported a drop in demand for grain products.

Market participants had hoped near-record domestic feed demand late last year would continue to take up the slack created by lower Asian export demands, but government figures indicated feed demand also has slowed. Corn stocks at 4.937 billion bushels were 100 million bushels higher than market estimates and nearly 500 million bushels higher than a year ago. Soybean stocks totaled 1.2 billion bushels, up 14 percent from last year. On the Chicago Board of Trade Tuesday, corn for May delivery fell 7 cents to $2.59 a bushel; May soybeans fell 4 cents to $6.45 a bushel; May oats fell 5 cents to $1.33 a bushel; and May wheat fell 5'i cents to a bushel. The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Gazette rural affairs writer U.S. farmers intend this year to plant a record 72 million acres of soybeans, 2 percent more than last year, and 80.8 million acres of corn, the most planted since 1985. However, Iowa farmers intend to plant 10.5 million acres of soybeans and 12.2 million acres of corn, the same amount as last year, says the government's Prospective Plantings report, issued Tuesday. The largest increases in soybean plantings will come from Illinois, up 400,000 acres from last year to 10.4 million acres, and Nebraska, up 400,000 acres to 3.9 million acres. States with the largest increase in corn acreages are Minnesota, the Dakotas and Texas.

U.S. winter wheat acres will decrease by 4 percent to 46.6 million acres. soybeans last year," says Dale Farn-ham, an Iowa State University Extension agronomist. "Thar because we had a lot of CRP land coming out (of contract) that went into soybeans and we had a strong soybean market that made soybeans look good. "Lately the market has had no big swings either way.

It's been fairly constant (for corn and soybeans)." Dick Smetana, director of research at AgResource Co. in Chicago, says the corn acreage projections are always highest in the March report. Some of those acres will be switched to soybeans as farmers experience weather-related delays in planting. The cool, wet spring expected with the El Nino weather system will reinforce this trend to fewer corn acres than first projected, he says. Also on Tuesday, the Agriculture 50 25 A (million acres) 0 corn soybeans Most planted since 1985 Most planted on record Souce: Iowa Agricultural Statistics Gazette graphic Super milk-maker KGAN corporate parent will be put up for sale Dow ends losing streak The Dow industrials snapped a four-day losing streak but were unable to sustain a fresh assault on the record books Tuesday.

Blue chips fell back to a small gain in the closing minutes as traders adjusted portfolios at the quarter's end. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 17.69 to close at 8,799.81. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by an ll-to-6 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume soared to 656 million shares, compared with 496.70 million shares the previous day. Among stocks of Eastern Iowa interest, 27 posted gains, 12 recorded losses and three were unchanged. Penford rose 1 to 34i, United Technologies gained 1 to 92 and five-sixteenths, General Mills climbed to 76 and MidAmerican Energy added 1 and one-sixteenth to 22 and eleven-sixteenths.

International Paper fell Vk to 467 and Promts lost 1 to 36V4. Nike store coming to Williamsburg Nike Inc. will open a factory store the first in Iowa later this year at the Tanger Factory Outlet Mall in Williamsburg. Theresa Phillips, general manager of the shopping center, confirmed Tuesday that the Beaverton, shoe and sportswear maker plans to open a store on July 4. The factory outlet will occupy four vacant storefronts in the northern section of the shopping center.

Phillips was unable to say how many people the store will employ. Nike will join Reebok at Tanger as stores selling brand-name sportswear and shoes. New C.R. businesses opening Club Shagnasty's will open Thursday at 7 p.m. in the former Bully's location, 5101 16th SW.

The new owners, the Waterloo-based Barmuda remodeled the site into a multivenue club. The main room features a large dance floor and state-of-the-art sound, light and laser systems. It also will be a showroom for live comedy on Friday and Saturday nights. Adjoining the main room is a smaller sports bar with attached billiards and cigar lounges. Barmuda also operates the Club Shagnasty's and Joker's nightclubs in Cedar Falls.

Dockside is now open at the site of the former Ellis Landing, 1895 Ellis Blvd. NW. New owners are Keel Peterson and Jim Lane. The restaurant, which has been remodeled, features a pasta" bar and sandwiches at lunch, and casual dining in the evening with steaks, prime rib, chicken, pasta and a nightly special. Hours are 11 a.m.

to 11 p.m. daily, except Mondays when the restaurant is closed. Kodak upgrades pay scales Eastman Kodak in the midst of trimming almost 20,000 jobs, is raising pay scales to bring them in line with industry averages. Based on job performance, most workers will get pay increases ranging from 3 percent to 6 percent on May 11. The across-the-board raises are the first at Kodak in three years.

Late last year, squeezed by falling profits, intensified competition from Japanese rival Fuji and mounting losses in digital photography, Kodak targeted 16,600 job cuts through 1999. the trust that will expire upon their deaths. "Although the company is extremely healthy, the trust is maturing, and we recognized that a sale of the company would be inevitable once the trust expires," she said. In December, Corson appointed a special committee of the company's board of directors to study the family's options. Corson said that after carefully considering the recommendations of the committee, looking at all of the facts, and consulting with other family members, she and John Gannett made a final decision several days ago to sell the Ml By George C.

Ford Gazette financial editor A Portland, Maine, media company that owns an Eastern Iowa television station has been put on the sale block by its board of directors. Guy Gannett Communications is the corporate parent of KG ANT in Cedar Rapids. The company employs about 1,400 at seven television stations, four newspapers and several media, direct marketing and audiotext services firms. Guy Gannett Communications was founded by Guy Gannett in 1921 and has been owned by a family trust since 1954. It acquired WMT-TV from Cosmos Communications in October 1981 and changed the call letters to KGAN-TV.

"Our decision to sell was not an easy one, but under the terms of Guy Gan-nett's will, we have a fiduciary responsibility to manage the trust," said Madeleine Corson, chairwoman of the Guy Gannett board of directors, Along with her uncle, John Gannett, Corson controls company. Guy Gannett's board will solicit offers from both public and private companies. James Shaffer, president of Guy Gannett Communications, said the company HFW Communications photo This 3-year-old Holsteln, Muranda Oscar Luclnda, produced the world-record amount of milk, 67,914 pounds, for a year. That averages to 22 gallons a day. The cow Is owned by the Floyd and Lloyd Baumann families of Marathon, Wis.

More than 600 dairy farmers and Industry friends gathered March 21 at the Baumanns' Twln-B dairy farm to celebrate the achievement. has engaged the firm of Lazard Freres Co. LLC to assist with the sale. He expects it to be completed by the end of the year. APAC plans face lift at C.R.

centers Know the changes for '97 taxes and those for next year By Gary Klott Tribune Media Service Be sure you understand what tax law changes are effective for 1997 income tax returns and which are not. Because the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 was enacted into law last summer, many By Lynn Feuerbach Gazette associate financial editor APAC TeleServices Inc. said Tuesday it plans to renovate two of its Cedar Rapids centers and expand its work force by 150. The centers at 517 Third Ave. SW and 4070 22nd Ave.

SW will be given a "complete face lift" by July 31, said Bruce Tiemann, corporate communications coordinator. The Third Avenue site also will be enlarged. New technology will be installed at both offices. Renovation will begin immediately, Tiemann said. While work is under way on one building, employees from both buildings will share the other.

When the upgrades are complete, APAC will close its Hiawatha office and move those employees to the 22nd Avenue office. The company also plans to hire 80 permanent employees and 70 part-time or seasonal employees who will work at the upgraded centers. All will be customer service representatives who take inbound calls on behalf of APAC clients, Tiemann Applications for those jobs are being accepted now. Starting pay is $6 per hour. The new employees will start work before the remodeling project is finished.

APAC, based in the Chicago suburb of Deerfield, has its operational headquarters in Cedar Rapids at 425 Second St. SE. In addition to the sites to be renovated, the company has offices at 5271 N. Park Place NE and 5313 N. Park Place NE.

Total Cedar Rapids employment is currently 1,300. people assume that all the new law provisions are incorporated in 1997 returns, according to tax practitio- nprc mil Bottom Levers (Tr- In fact, only a few of the new law benefits are incor C.R. hotel owner part of major merger Servico the owner of the porated in 1997 returns, including capital gains relief for investors and home sellers. Most of the new law benefits including the new child and tuition credits and the expansion of Individual Retirement Accounts didn't become effective until 1998 and can't be claimed until you file your 1998 tax-year return a year from now. Confusion about effective dates will often be cleared up when taxpayers find no place on their 1997 returns to claim the new breaks.

Sometimes what's effective for 1997 may not be so obvious. For example, many financial institutions are now promoting the new Roth IRAs, which became available at the start of this year. But while Roth IRAs can now be set up, they are not one of your IRA options for your 1997 return. Buddemeyer and Cole will serve as co-chairmen of Lod-gian's board of directors. The merger, which was approved unanimously by Servico's board of directors, is expected to close in June.

It is subject to regulatory approvals as well as approval by Servico's shareholders. Servico acquired the Crowne Plaza Five Seasons in 1997 from C.R.I. Hotel Associates, a part- nership of Aetna Life Insurance Co. and Cedar Rapids Hotel Business Partners Inc. mon stock for each Servico share held by them (about 21 million shares).

Impac's shareholders will receive six million shares of Lodgian common stock. The deal is valued at about $513 million, based on Servico's closing price on March 20. It will increase Servico's total market capitalization to more than $1.2 billion. David Buddemeyer, Servico's chief executive officer, will retain the same position at Lodgian, which will be based in Atlanta. Robert Cole, president of Impac, will serve as president of Lodgian.

Crowne Plaza Five Seasons Hotel in Cedar Rapids, is merging with another major hotel company to form the largest independent multibrand owner and operator of hotels in the United States. West Palm Beach, Servico has reached a definitive agreement to merge with Impac Hotel Group of Atlanta, Ga. The merger will form a new company, Lodgian, that will own or manage 140 hotels with 26,698 rooms in 35 states and Canada. Under the terms of the agreement, Servico shareholders will receive a share of Lodgian com enMTrtwalMk AA rights MmKL 4 The good news is, since you made your last payment, my Wood pressure's dropped a couple of points." Lawmakers aim to fund Tuesday's averages program to retain workers VOLUME LEADERS STOCK EXCHANGE NYSE INDEX Average share Index Industrial Transrwl Finance -1 5-16 u0 miw. Chang 33 cenls 3.89 3 12 6 35 8 10 ClOM 57271 706 92 S251I 549 79 383 00 NEW YORK Name PtwipMorr Compaq AMD Motorola TelMex AOS Last 41 11-14 25', 29 1-16 60 564 14,712.800 12.134,000 10,210,300 1.547,800 7,159,400 J'i 3 5-16 4.84 STOCK EXCHANGE Tuesday's volume was 674,930,000 shares, compared with 497,540,000 shares during the same period last vear, 1998 to date: 38,252,750,000 shares, compared with 31,425,960,000 shares during the same period last year.

5,826,500 2,382,400 1.729,500 1,201,800 970,500 AMERICAN Name SPDR Naoorslnd ForslLabs Keane HanovrDIr NASDAQ Name NexteCm KooKR mm Microsft DeUCptr CI -1 5-16 5 9-16 2 -1-16 Chg. 3 11-16 5-16 IVl 9-16 What the market did Tuesday 1952 10M, 500 3518 239 28 109 15-16 23A 37Vi S6'i 17-16 Last 33V4 3V 78 1-16 89', 67V, Monday 1241 1744 512 3499 107 29 Advanced Declined Unchanged Total issues New highs New lows 37.500,000 19,193,400 14,351,800 9,531,600 7,751.800 AMEX INDEX High 741.79 DOW JONES STOCKS Lew Close 734 31 741.63 What A max did Tuesday 386 .240 148 .794 38 Chg 5 18 Monday 243 355 164 244 23 9 DES MOINES (AP) Iowa college students are going to find themselves getting some extra attention from state job recruiters if a bill introduced Monday in the Senate is signed into law. "One of the major complaints we always hear is that we're educating people so that they can be exported out of state and be our No. 1 export," said Sen. Allen Borlaug, R-Protivin.

Borlaug is the main sponsor of the bill, which 25 other Republican senators have signed onto. That represents all the votes that would be needed to send it to the House. The state's low unemployment rate, while cause for celebration as a sign of a healthy economy, is also cause for concern. Without enough skilled-workers, officials are afraid companies will move or expand elsewhere, Borlaug called the worker shortage "the No. 1 economic development issue facing the state." The goal is not only to keep graduates of Iowa colleges working in Iowa but to lure back workers who have left the state.

The state would spend $850,000 tin the Department of Economic Development, which would work with the Department of Workforce Development. Some of that would be spent on a database of potential workers and companies with job openings and putting that database on the Internet. Recruiters would attend Iowa college job fairs to tout the benefits of working in the state and to match graduates with companies looking for employees. Those recruiters also would get in touch with graduates who have left the state, encouraging them to give Iowa another look. Senate President Mary Kramer, a former human resources executive, said she often heard from people who had left Iowa, gotten some experience, and wanted to come back to raise their families.

1 Advanced Declined Unchanged Total issues New highs New lows Open HMD Low Close. Chg. 30 Ind 8825 22 8937 57 872a 32 8799 81 17 69 20 Trn 3521 05 3601 21 3512 70 3577 09 77 76 15 Utl 282 27 288 23 282 01 285 94 4 04 65 Stk 2849 30 2897.68 2829 30 2843.84 27.98 Indus Tran 9,640,600 Utils 11,116,200 65 Stk 82.546.600 BONDS 20 Bonds 105 09 -0 19 10 PuDllc Util 102 78 0 08 10 Industrials 107.40 Commod futures 138.94 STANDARD POOR'S High Lew Close Chg. Indus! 1292 33 1274 91 128223 732 Transpt 757 68 743 49 754 43 10 27 Utilities 247 78 243 05 246 50 3 45 Flnancl 133 87 131.11 13292 1 81 MldCap 400 370 63 366 00 369 00 3 00 SmallCap 600 200 84 198.61 200 84 2 23 500 Slocks 1110 13 1 093 55 1101 75 8 20 100 Stocks 533.51 525.44 528 91 347 WILSHIREVALUE LINE INDEX The Wllshire Associates Equity Index was $10,494,721 billion Tuesday, up $71,482 billion or 069 percent from Monday. The Value Line Geomelrlc Index was 499.92, up 3 87 from Mmdoy; the Value Line Arithmetic Index was 978.32, up 7.81 from Mon-.

day. I Scoot on I over. NASDAQ INDEX Index Close. Chg. Ago.

Composite 183568 1698 181244 Banks 2216 54 1 70 2235 09 Biotech 338 48 2 26 338 50 Computer 772 99 9.01 750 24 Financl 244244 24 14 263744 Indus! 1361 76 12 31 1351 12 Insurance 1902 94 3.61 1905 44 Telecom 388 29 2 20 391.41 Transport 122048 1497 1205 19 NMS Comp 833 52 7 98 822 77 NMS Inds 544 44 518 560 1 5 NasdaolOO 1220.46 14.02 1197 81 Advanced 2,570 Let somebody jit next to you. You'll be surprised at how nice it feels. To listen and respond to personal ads, call 1-900-370-8484 Ago. 1757 14 2133 19 317 01 746 08 2540 77 1304 56 1856 79 359.03 1 163 37 797 39 540 55 1175.72 Call costs $2.19 per minute. Must be 18 or older.

Declined 1,762 Unchanged 1,304 Total Issues 5,636 New highs 267 New lows 50 Total sales 840,999,300 Source: Associated Press http:www.fyiowa.com 7 Q1996 TPt Group.