Lexington Herald-Leader from Lexington, Kentucky • 23

I IMP I Block to buy discount broker Olde Page C2 -K Dow i 108J0 i imiM Market VmeC31 Jjc I September 2 1999 Commodities Foreign Exchange Market Day Mutual Fluids C4 CB a Phone: (806) 231-1468 To report news tip: Call 231-3200 or toD-fire at (800) 9506307 hltxemrMherald-leadercom IRMMpaatiMMM Lexington Herald-Leader Online: wwwjtentuckyiconnectjoom IWBWffinmpiM ShoiOake IP nn KENTUCKY Commissioners not sold on rate-making change "WeYe open-minded with regard to a reasonable proposal and toe Ye not arawtng ftM around what would be a reasonable proposal Mm MoCal lead counsel said to be contemplating downgrades Such actions could drive the stock lower in coming days said tiie statement which triggered the stock slide could be evidence that the company getting a fair hearing Kendrick Riggs attorney for Energy criticized the statement for encouraging a settlement of the electricity rate dispute "To our knowledge the commission has never before issued a preliminary written opinion of the issues before See back By Jon Fortt HERttiUEUBTBUStCSS WRITER Energy stock suffered yester: day as investors traded heavily on news of the regulatory woes Meanwhile executives were fighting for tiie company's performance-baaed rate-making plan before tiie Kentucky Public Service Commission plan is in trouble because commissioners said Tuesday that it might be too complex and not comprehensive enough Such pre-hearing statements from Kentucky PSC commissioners are rare if not unprecedented and tiie market took notice stock (LGEiNYSE) dropped 86 cents to close at 82213 More than 12 million shares changed hand Adding to tiie gloom ABN AMRO downgraded stock from to and other analysts were Norton Healthcare Humana reach deal Louisville-baaed tourer Humana he announced yesterday tint an agreement has been readied to renew contracts with seven Louisville-area Norton Healthcare hospitals This will al-low 200XX) pian members in tiie area to continue to use the Norton hospitals four of whidi were purchased from CnhmihiaHCA on Sept 1 The Contracts with time Norton hospitals Norton Medical Pavilion Koeair Hospital and Norton Hospital had expired in Ajril and were not renewed at that time because of reimbursement issues said Humana spokesman Dick Brawn Our difficulty was that just continue to receive less than it cost to treat patients" said Charlotte Thara spokeswoman for the non-profit Norton Healthcare Inc "Obviously now we readied an agreement weta satisfied with" Humana lost $16 million in the first quarter of 1999 and reported second-quarter earnings almost half of last year Humana (RUM: NYSE) dosed up 16 cents to $925 State AK Steal aattla complaint: AK Steel Carp and a state agency settled a com-plaint over the way the Ashland Works handles molten steeL The company will have to pay a $500 fine under the agreement reached with the Kentucky Labor Cabinet The cabinet had dted AK Sted an Sept 1998 alleging three safety violations at the Ashland milL US ECONOMY Laadtag akWcatem rose la July: The pwrybuip atYuiflfHy1 ftpflfllttfifl inU5 history ts likely to continue into early 2000 according to one key gauge though rising interest rates are beginning to stow sectors such as home building The Index of Leading 1M2-100 MS- which is designed to help forecast trends up to six months in tiie future rose a slightly better than-expeded 03 percent to lOaOinJuly tiie Grower harvests quarteiceiitiiry of tobacco awards at state fair By Qreg Koeher going back to tiie mid-1970s is meticulous in his attention to centum Kentucky buremj "The old saying goes detail NICHOLAS VILLE For 25 filing worth doing is worth doing "He went allow the leaves to years in a row Kentucky State Andjbelieve that" Warner be dragged along the ground so Fair judges have ruled Billy June nnid no foreign matter on them Warner's as file best-look- As tobacco-cutting season When the leaves are cut he puts ing in the continues across Kentucky nb-' them a certain way so they servers familiar with the 72-year- get Amburgey said Thafs as of tobac- old Warner say his insistence on Jim Gaycomb tiie superinten-co the name given for the hand- quality seta his hurley apart year dent who has overseen tobacco tied groupings at 20 leaves of after year entries in the state fair for 13 stripped and cured hurley The Rob Amburgey Jessamine years id Warner goes to great front parlor of Warner's home is County's cooperative extension lengths selecting whit he will en- ImI has to be the same color the filled with ribbons and plaques agent for agriculture said Warner See TOBACCO C2 same length the same Warner says Board reported yesterday But construction spending unexpectedly fell 05 percent in the same month according to a government report RETAILING 142 Kmarte converted to largm atorac: Kmart Carp yesterday aaid it had converted an additional 142 stares to Kg Kmarts which have grocery aisles as the Na 2 discount chain aims to change more than 90 percent of its 2J51 stores to the new format by end The 142 stores scattered around the United States coat 885 million to refurbish with wider aisles better lighting and other improvements Kmart has switched 1670 stores to the new format since 1996l i Despite good news Ashland stock dips Supsrfos stock Anticipation of a bidding war for Danish conglomerate Superfoa pushed the stock price above Ashland Aug 9 bid of $21 a share Potential rival CVC Capital Partners said Tuesday that It would not try to top bid ness tiie assets Ashland really wants to the Covington company CVC Capital Partners which is affiliated with Citibank had said it would consider bidding for Superfoa but Tuesday it took itself out of tiie running Last month Superfos CEO Peter Hoejland called bid of 821 a share almost 8650 million too low Before bid tiie stock traded at about $18i50 a share after the bid it went to about 822 The stock dropped back to 821 after CVCs announcement "It is now much more unlikely that we will see a counter bid for the whole an analyst told Reuters See ASHLAND C2 By Jamie Butters hermjhemxr business Writer I Ashland Inc has seen two fecent developments that could help its profitable paving business grow but stock has continued to falL' Investors got some good news though as Ashland made I progress in expanding APAC its Aflanta-based paving and construction company Ashland's prospects for buy-: ing a- Danish competitor improved when a would-be rival dropped out of the bidding Tuesday in Copenhagen Ashland made a tender offer for Danish conglomerate Superfoe on Aug 9 after Superfoa declined often to sell only its US paving and construction busi TELEPHONES iRw oovnpflnj unMvcun iwiu mHa Litde-known telephone aervice provider IDT Corp is escalating tiie long-distance rate price war undercutting tiie giants with charges as tow as 15 cents per minute The Hackensack NJ-based company yesterday announced its new rate for domestic longdistance calte 5 centa per minute any time plus a $195 monthly fee For customers who also sign up for HTTk dial-up Internet service the lftyew-otd company plans to offer rates as tow as 3L5 cents per minute Whether IDT will significantly increase its base of SOuOOO long-distance customers was undear ACQUISITIONS Hilton PromiM Hotels tflscuss margin Hilton Hotels Corp and Praams Hotel Corp said yesterday they are in discussions about a merger The companies said Hilton had begun talks with Promus about "a possible business but there was no assurance a deal would be reached In the past Hilton has expressed interest in buying IVomus but executives have said that the company was too prioey Promus had Sll billion in revenues in 1996 while Hilton showed $18 billion PUBLICATIONS Women in business honor their own a 1 By Bn jonmn HEMLDiEAOER BUSMES8 WRITER Three Kentucky businesswomen were honored yesterday at the 7th Annual Women Mean Business Conference which continues today in Lexington: Sharon Darling president-of tiie National Center for Literacy in Louisville received tiie Martha Layne Collins Leadership Award The other finalists were Carolyn Witt Jones of tiie Partnership for Kentucky Schools in Lexington and Jane Stephenson of the New Opportunity School for Women in Berea Robin A Hunt president of Plastics Inc in Bowling Green was named tiie 1999 Advocate for Women The other finalists were Aime Ehl of Avant Travel in Lexington and Frances Figart of Greater Opportunities for Women or GO Women in Winchester Debbie Scoppechio chairman and chief executive of Creative Alliance in Louisville was named Entrepreneur at tiie Year The other finalists were Sandy Wenaley at Kentucky Medical News in Lexington and Coleen Detzel of Florence Antique MalL The conference sponsored by the Kentucky Small Business Development Center at tiie University of Kentucky resumes at 8 am today at Griffin Gate Resort The breakfast speaker will be Rieva Lesonsky vice president and editorial director at Entrepreneur Magazine Following morning workshops tiie luncheon speaker will be Mary Harney deputy prime minister of Ireland who will discuss and The closing speaker at 3 pm today will be Janet Holloway director of the Kentucky Small Business Development Center who will release the results of a recent survey of male and female business owners in Kentucky Reach Jim Jordan at (606) 231-3242 or by e-mail iso Auaust My sMsswr WLEX hires new chief from Rochester By Amy BMJwIn NEMUMEMIER BUMCSS WRITER WLEX-TV (Channel 18) might be aiming for a little ratings karma if the name of its new chief is any indication Lexington's Na 2 local news station got a new president and general manager yesterday His name: Gary Nielsen Yes as in the Nielsen ratings TVs favored barometer of success 1 there was a relation Nielsen said Nielsen comes from WOKR-TV (Channel 13) the ABC affiliate in Rochester NY where he had been president and general manager since 1992 At Na 68 Lexington is a slightly larger market than Rochester which ranks No 72 Nielsen 58 replaces John Duvall a 30-year WLEX veteran who has said he would leave by the end of tiie year Duvall had been president and general manager since 1992 He is moving to a home he owns near Denver There are no changes in store for the station Nielsen said still getting acquainted with WLEX and Lexington just now not getting lost going to the said Nielsen whose fast official day on tiie See Mandi Norwood nas been named editor of Mademoiselle a Caode Nast magasine aimed at young women tiie company announced yesterday Norwood hri been emta of the British edition of Coanopolitan apostille held since July 1995 Cosmopolitan is owned by Conde Nast rival Hearst Magnifies Elisabeth Crow stepped down last ireek after six years as editor cuumed non swv wne retorts.