Lexington Herald-Leader from Lexington, Kentucky • 29

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I fM Ma jit i THURSDAYJUNE 12006 I VVWWKENTUCKYCOM I LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER C9 BUSINESS NOTES Tfossto to oto Tbur dally market roundup begin or Paj CIO Amir sumdl a stew Man War Movies 8 is sold to Texas chain cations in the next five years No timetable has been set for the conversion in Lexington A similar restaurant and movie theater combination By Scott Sloan HERALD-LEADER BUSINESS WRITER One of oldest continually operating movie theaters has changed Cinemark is building a cinema near Fayette Mail The Man War Movies The Man o' War Movies 8 on North Locust Hill Drive off Richmond Road is now owned by KENTUCKY Ashland purchase nearly complete Ashland Inc said yesterday it has mostly completed its purchase of a German companyk Stockhausen water treatment business The $156 million acquisition of the water treatment operations of Degussa AG will give Ashland five more manufacturing facilities in Germany China Brazil Russia and the United static Degussah water treatment business had nearly $250 million in 2005 sales Ashland said the Stockhausen business will be known as Environmental and Process Solutions and operate as a business group of Ashland Water Technologies a supplier of chemical and non-chemical waterreatment solutions for industrial and commercial facilities The Man War Movies 8 previously owned by Cine-mark became a property of Starplex Cinemas less than two weeks ago Starplex Cinemas is a small chain based in Texas that owns 27 theaters mostly discount theaters such as Man War But the new owners plan to convert the cinema into a Movie Ikvern a combination theater and casual dining restaurant Movie Ikvern a sister company of Starplex operates several theaters in Ifcxas It plans to expand to up to 50 lo- 16-screen 8 began showing second-run movies in recent years after intense competition from RegaL started doing really well then Carmike lowered their prices even Duff said kind of a hard market when you have three or four theaters really close by" A spokeswoman for Starplex Cinemas said the theater should be able to effectively compete against nearby theaters after the change to Movie Ikvern "Movie Ikveras are great for sporting events and parties meetings and functions Trad Hoey said even Texas-based Starplex Cinemas seen people have wedding receptions She said the theaterh staff wifi not be changed in the interim and employees are expected to be added once the transition to Movie Ikvern is complete Ikrms of the deal were not disclosed but Starplex also acquired two Cinemark theaters in Ohio in the same transaction Hoey said Cinemark representatives did not return calls for failed less than a decade ago at Lexington MalL The manager at Man War said there are high hopes after the change from Cine-mark "They have all kinds of ideas" Melinda Duff said The Man o' War theater opened in January 1990 along with Cinemark'a location at Lexington Green But since then the eight screens have been leapfrogged by Cinemark's Woodhill Movies 10 the Carmike 10 off Man War Boulevard near Todds Road and the Regal Cinemas at Hamburg Pavilion NATIONAL Sun Microsystems to cut 4000-5000 Jobs Computer server maker Sun Microsystems Inc whose revenue has' declined four years in a row said yesterday it (dans to cut 4000 to 5000 jobs in an effort to return to consistent profitability The cuts which will reduce Sunk 3750Operson work force by 11 percent to 13 percent will cost the company from $340 million to $500 million over the next several quarters according to a news release Sun executives expect the plan to save the company $480 million to $590 million once it is completed next year One Enron broadband executive convicted Jurors rendered a split verdict yesterday in the retrial of two former executives from Enron Corpk defunct broadband unit convicting one while acquitting the other of all charges Former broadband unit finance chief Kevin Howard was convicted of five counts of fraud conspiracy and falsifying records Former in-bouse accountant Mlchad Krautz was acquitted of the same charges concluding a monthlong retrial after their original case ended with a hung jury last yean The verdict came six days after another local jury convicted Enron founder Kenneth Lay and fop-mer Enron CEO Jeffrey Sklling of fraud conspiracy and other charges in one (rf the biggest corporate scandals in U5 history Howard and Krautz were accused of participating in a small piece of the fraud in a scheme to manufacture earnings for Enronk foiling broadband unit in late 2000 Fed considered higher rate increase May 10 Worried about the potential for inflation to get worse Federal Reserve policy-makers at their May meeting considered raising a key interest rate by half a percentage point before opting for a quarterpoint increase Chairman Ben Bemanka and his Fed colleagues also opted to leave the door open to additional rate increases "in view of the risk that the outlook for inflation could according to minutes of the May 10 closed-door meeting released yesterday Those minutes showed that Fed officials discussed a number of options from leaving rates unchanged to boosting them by half a percentage point HP unveils more than 100 products Hewlett-Packard Co introduced more than 100 new cameras printers and other products that help consumers and home-office users capture store and print digital images The offerings unveiled yesterday include several additions to its Ptiotosmart line of photo printers One model which will retail for $249 when itk available in August is a compact device whose built-in memory can hold 4000 pictures HP also showed off cameras with new features including an mode that helps prevent photos from appearing blurry when moving objects are shot IM OHIO ASSOCIATED PRESS Global warming brats up protesters Outside the Exxon Mobil meeting in Dallas yesterday a group called Expose Exxon chanted slogans such as "Human need not corporate protesting company policies that they say retard efforts against global warming The groupk leader said the members want Exxon Mobil to invest In renewable energy like its competitors da" Ford retirees object to health-care changes Ddta pilots agree to 14 pay cut and not to fight pension changes hanging up his poncho Colombiak coffee ambassador to the world Carlos Sanchez is finally quitting after four decades of playing the role of Juan Valdez And the national federation of Colombian coffee producers is searching for a man to inherit his poncho as well as his trusty mule ConchJta Sanchez has promoted Colombian coffee since 1969 with a leather bag bushy mustache and straw hat typical of rural Colombia He inherited the role from Jose Duval a Cuban who became the first Juan Valdez in 1959 Sanchez 71 said his advancing years made it hard to keep up a strenuous schedule traveling the globe promoting coffee GE files 24000-page tax return Therek no prize for filing the longest tax return but General Electric Co could probably beat any competition The company filed a tax return to the Internal Revenue Sendee this month If it were paper it would stack up 8 feet high But instead of sending boxes to the tax collectors GE filed its return electronically all 237 megabytes Yahoo retooling to take on YouTubecom Ykhoo Inc is reprogramming its online video service so itk more like failkbexom an Internet upstart that has amassed a large audience during the past year with a free Web service that encourages people to post and share homemade dips Under the changes unveiled early today Yahoo will store homemade videos on its own site for the first time as it attempts to build a platform for people to browse and rate the clips The videos will be separated Into different categories including a section devoted to the most-watched selections By Dm-Aih Durbia ASSOCIATED PRESS DETROIT Retired autoworkers told a federal judge yesterday that Ford Motor Co has no right to modify the health care benefits they were promised when they left the company despite the automakerk financial struggles I retired in 2002 1 figured that was a verted right that would not be taken away from said Robert Roza 68 of Dearborn who worked for Fbrd for more than 30 years But Ford urged the judge to approve the health care settlement it readied with the United Auto Workers saying it wifi save the company $200 million in cash annually by making retired hourly workers pay more for their health care The agreement is similar to one at General Motors Corp approved earlier this year by a different federal judge financial difficulties are Ford attorney Jonathan Abram said plan thaik being presented tirees weren't allowed to vote Just 800 of 150000 retirees and their dependents have filed objections to the plan Abram said He asked UJS District Judge Paul Borman to approve the plan by July so Ford can maximize its savings Ford says the agreement will shave $5 billion off the companyk overall health care liability which is currently estimated at $35 billion Ford doesn't break out health care spending for retirees but it spent $35 billion to cover 550000 hourly and salaried workers retirees and dependents last year Mark Baumkd a lawyer who represents 430 retirees opposed to the deal said the UAW lacks the legal authority to change retirees? health care benefits Baumkel also rejected contention that the settlement covers health care costs for 20 years pointing out that the company is allowed to renegotiate the terms in 2011 The settlement would require retirees to pay deductibles and co-payments for the first time up to $752 By Harry Weber ASSOCIATED PRESS ATLANTA Ddta Air Lines Inc the nt-tionk thinUaigert carrier cleared a hurdle yesterday when its pilots approved an agreement with the company that calls for $280 million in annual concessions The vote by the Atlanta-based rank-and-file pilots was 61 percent in favor the union said in a memo to pilots The agreement which runs through 2009 takes effect today because Judge Adlai Hardin signed the agreement late yesterday At a hearing yesterday in White Plains NY the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp objected to the deal insisting that a $650 million note and $21 billion unsecured claim that Delta has promised the pilots should belong to the agency if the pension is terminated as expected The deal which replaces an interim part readied in December includes an initial 14 percent pay cut and assurances the union won't fight any company effort to terminate the pension The chairman of the pilot executive committee Lee Moak aaid in a statement that the agreement the pilots ratified "provides a framework for Delta to successfully reorganize and emerge from bankruptcy ready to win in to-dayk competitive As part of the settlement Ddta has agreed to provide retired pilots an administrative claim of $9 million to cover a portion of certain pension benefits that the retired pilots would have gotten since the bankruptcy filing in September had the benefits not been frozen INTERNATIONAL OPEC unlikely to change crude oil output Mqjor oil-produdng countries are set to keep crude output unchanged at an OPEC meeting today despite a renewed call by Venezuela to cut production In another development crude oil futures for July delivery fell by more than $1 yesterday after the United States indicated it would hold direct talks with Iran if Tehran halts nuclear enrichment COMPILED FROM SIAFF WIRE REPORTS here is an extremely fair and generous plan" Ford and the UAW agreed to the annually for families and $370 for insettlement last year but it needs the dividuals payments for pre-judgek approval to take effort Active scription drugs also would rise workers approved the deal late last Fbrd shares dosed yes-year by a 51 percent margin but re- teiday at $716 up 18 cents sss CONTACT Budms 1 WethaN I859) 23M236 report a urn Up: Call 859-231-3200 or toll free at 1-800-950-6397 E-mal: hlbusinessGhereld-leadeuom I j-.