The Fresno Bee from Fresno, California • 23

hi1! tV 5 Ai 'til' Q)nnnr mm SECTION STOCKS 4 CALENDAR 6 IN THE VALLEY 6 BUSINESS ONLINE THE FRESNO BEE WEDNESDAY JANUARY 26 2000 THE MARKET Dow Jones 30 Industrials Up 21 72 points to 1 1 02989 He said Road 417 be used Pratt said Cascade bought the property because it is dose to Yoeemite National Park The land is Off Highway 41 near Road 417 three miles south of Quartz Mountain home to about 50 houses Residents worry that Road 417 handle an entertainment development and also worry about the effect on the Cascade Entertainment buys 20 acres near Coarsegpld and says park idea is only one possibility weighing Some residents of the Coarsegold area wonder if the developers are tied to an effort by the Chukchansi tribe to build a casino on its nearby rancheria Pratt was referred to as by the tribal administrator and business is listed as gaming facilities on Secretary of State records Pratt said Cascade operate any casinos but declined to get specific: plans right now are not solid on he said Road 417 is a two-lane road that leads to the Indian rancheria to Indian Lakes Estates a wooded enclave of 485 homes occupied by a mixture of retirees and working families and By Sanford Nax THE FRESNO BEE A Tiburon company has bought 20 acres of foothill property near Coarse-gold and is exploring the possibility of constructing a water park But a spokesman for the company was quick to point out that a water park is only one possibility have no firm plans said Russell Pratt a general partner in Cascade Entertainment doing market studies of it right Astronomical Ads for the main access disrupt ud of the ary of their Pratt said neighborhood residents Since Cascade bought private property the developers would have to rezone the property and get appropriate approvals from Madera County said Gary Gilbert the supervisor for that region that point have to specify int to do" what they want to Gilbert said Some members of the Chukchansi tribe have proposed building a casino in the area The pro proposal at one time created division among the tribe Tribal Administrator Kathleen Simpson said the casino efforts are on hold pending the results a March 7 ballot measure Proposition 1A is a constitutional amendment that would provide dear legal authority for California tribes to conduct regulated gaming activities Develop business study tells Valley By Mike Lewis THE SACRAMENTO BEE SACRAMENTO In an effort to revive a moribund economy Gov Davis and a Central Valley think tank made public a joint study Tuesday that suggests the Valley should stop trying Bimply to import branch business and begin to develop some of its own Titled Economic Future of the San Joaquin Valley: Growing a Prosperous Economy That Benefits People and the 70-page report published with the Great Valley Center suggests the region could do more for itself by linking unique local businesses into international players An example? Irrigation technology has tried to import the Silicon Valley and that is not what this report is said Carol Whiteside president of the center the Fresno region for example is a very significant cluster of businesses related to irrigation technology no one has pulled that cluster Rooted in faith that the future is tied to the leading role in research and development the study concluded that Valley businesses should borrow the Silicon Valley cooperative model and create industry groups of unique Valley technologies and then market those nationally and internationally For too long the Valley has relied on just the production end of agriculture as the base of its economy which the region to the vagarities of the global commodity markets and agricultural labor the report said The report comes two months after Davis held what he called a Central Valley business summit The Fresno meeting included Please see Economy Page C2 said Charles Fuller president Indian Lakes Estates Property Owners Association 417 is two lanes one each way It barely carries the neighborhood traffic concerned about buses too This is not a bus-type Homeowners also worry about the ability to exit quickly in the event of a wildfire as well as the increased danger turning into and off of Highway 41 which is less than a mile away Pratt said his group is aware of the limitations associated with the road and with water can tell you this much: Whatever we do we recognize that 417 is a residential he said sites soared after last Super Bowl exposure and both are back Their experience fired the hopes of several of this young Internet entrants Among them are information provider lejobsite Web site Oxygen) ABC officials say the Internet companies helped push the commercial price to an average of $22 million an astounding $73333 per second for 61 half-minute commercials in the game The top price for $3 The average is a whopping 38 more than the previous record $16 million that the Fox network claimed for ads in last year's Super Bowl The price went up even though the average audience rating tumbled 9 last year to the lowest level since 1990 The attraction is that the Super Bowl delivers the highest TV ratings and Please see Advertising back page Standard Poor's 500 Up 850 points to 1 41003 Nasdaq Composite fm Up 7133 points to 416741 IN THE NATION DMtlnt Ikdy IMimiR talks WASHINGTON Signaling a potential division within ranks that could complicate settlement talks and the next important phase of the Microsoft trial some states active in the case believe the Justice plan to break up one of the most successful companies may not be the best solution Although debate continues in secret among the 19 state attorneys general deciding what to recommend about Microsoft Corp there is a risk the government might fail to bring a unified proposal on sanctions to US District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson The next round of courtroom arguments will be Feb 22 Unless the case is settled which appears unlikely the judge probably will rule by April on which antitrust laws Microsoft violated Investors weigh conflicting signals NEW YORK Wall Street investors struggled to chart a course Tuesday as the latest reports of robust corporate profits were nearly overshadowed by Stocks dose Pawing worries that hirihqnT rising interest rates will make it difficult for turtxjient fipacrinn companies to repeat their solid perform ances Higher interest rates can cut into cor porate profits as it becomes more expen-to borro si ve to borrow money In commodities markets soybean prices rose to new three-month highs and pork bellies gained Judge Issues Microsoft order SEATTLE A federal judge has ruled that Microsoft must ship products featuring the Java programming language that conform to standards set by the owner arch-rival Sun Microsystems However US District Court Judge Ronald Whyte amended an earlier ruling that said Microsoft could be in violation of copyright of the Java language as well as in violation of its contract with Sun At the urging of an appeals court Whyte dropped the copyright claim The most recent development in the ongoing lawsuit originally filed by Sun in October 1997 came Monday in San Jose expands Web business NEW YORK is making big strides toward building its new tele- and Web business over cable TV ines but the high cost of reinventing the company weighed on fourth-quarter profits By the end of the year had 207000 subscribers for high-speed Internet access via cable an increase of 80000 during the final three months of 1999 and the company was installing the service at about 1000 homes a dqy Fourth-quarter net income was $115 billion or 36 cents a share including one-time factors In the year-ago period earned $199 billion or 75 cents a shun including a one-time gain eBay earnings exceed estimates SAN JOSE Online auction house eBay Inc topped Wall estimates Tuesday posting higher than expected fourth-quarter earnings reaped from record numbers of registered users and auctions For the quarter ended Dec 31 eBay reported net income of $49 million or 4 cents per Bhare compared with $26 million or 3 cents per Bhare in the year-ago period Analysts surveyed by First CallThom-son Financial had estimated earnings of 2 cents a share AROUND THE WORLD Em recovers tra recml lm LONDON single currency the euro slipped briefly to a new low against the dollar Tuesday with analysts citing the prospect of higher US interest rates as one of several factors in its renewed weakness The euro traded at 9987 cents below the 9990 cents it hit Dec 3 when it first slipped to parity with the dollar a psychologically significant if economically meaningless threshold The euro bounced back later Tuesday to close in London at $10046 In trading later in New York it was at $10012 Bee news services ASSOCIATED PRESS air during the Super Bowl win show a bicyclist chasing down a cheetah to retrieve a the 61 half-minute ads will cost $73333 per second Several new dot-coms will join the 2000 lineup hoping to score commercial touchdowns By Skip Wollenberg ASSOCIATED PRESS A Mountain Dew commercial that will stolen carbonated drink On average Superdollars WreXWf'K jqovkxxxivi wj feaooo I Sourer Mot FootM Laagut ASSOCIATED PRESS and fresh TV such its and NEW YORK The Tennessee Titans the Si Louis Rams be the only names trying to score some points in Super Bowl About a dozen Internet companies are forking over the highest prices ever paid for commercials so they can join regulars as Anheuser-Busch Pepsi-Cola and FedEx on the NFL championship game broadcast There were only two dot-coms in last game three if you count lingerie marketer Secret which advertised fashion show Webcast companies are out there on hope a prayer but part of the new said Jeffrey Taylor chief executive of online job site Monstercom one of the Internet advertisers for last game Monster and a rival employment site Hotjobscom each said that visits to their Concerns flow in water negotiations Venator closing Foot Locker sites eliminating jobs Federal officials will be in Visalia to begin similar talks with San Joaquin Valley Browers others who take federal water i West-side officials pointed out contract concern that Malanca Federal officials are offering no assurances of contract renewals 25 years from now Farm believe it epitomizes the uncertainty they are now facing By Rachel Beck ASSOCIATED PRESS YORK The belt got even tighter at Group Inc on Tuesday as theretailer Iworth known as Woolworth took another NEW Venator formerly Farai-water districts and others attend first session on contracts for Central Valley Project water By Mark Grossi THE FRESNO BEE LOS BANOS Tractor salesman Steve Malanca may have seemed a little out of place Tuesday in a negotiation session over king-term federal irrigation contracts but he had a point to make probably got more than $1 million of merchandise and 30 or 40 people working at this dealership in he said during a break in danger A lot of people will be hurt if they IF YOU GO What Central Valley Project contract renewal with east San Joaquin Valley water users When: 10 am today Where: Visalia Convention Center 303 Acequia Ave Visalia have water because no one will be able to invest in the Federal officials heard just about the same message from west San Joaquin Valley water officials: The long-term contracts will have to address chronic water shortages that are jeopardizing the farm economy Officials were sounding the alarm at the first negotiation session on 25-year contracts for Central Valley Prqject water ter the and today east and one shares: officials the the pricing supplies is not said lawyer Diane Rathmann representing San Luis Delta-Mendota Wa Authority need to reserve right of renewal for financial many other stab at restructuring its troubled business by slashing about 3700 jobs and closing 358 under-performing stores In recent years the company has shuttered thousands of stores and sold many of its noncore divisions as it shifted its focus primarily to sporting goods is taking a while but they are doing what they need to do to get this business in There are many other issues on table including water supply local control of water and water trades The Please see Talk back page Please see Venator Page C3 3 I J' IS il- mrti.