The Commercial Appeal from Memphis, Tennessee • 68

B8 Memphis Thursday February 24 1994 THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL raw Mini-war brews over Hohenberg case fees Annie Terrell will direct food services for schools MUITUAIL FBOTS merly assistant principal at Central High School has been ai prepare for the battle of lawyers told Brown that his firm had not received any compensation from Hohen-berg bankruptcy estate since about March 1992 Court records indicate the Atlanta law firm received a $350000 retainer for legal services prior to filing Hohenberg's case for financial reorganization under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code Professionals were pud on a regular basis prior to the second quarter of 1992 Brown ordered Hohenberg's case converted to a straight liquidation last summer Memphis attorney Allen Blair was appointed trustee The Julien Co was founded by Hohenberg In 1985 Bankers Trust Bank Mees Hope NV and PalneWebber Inc forced it to seek bankruptcy court protection In January 1990 owing about 800 creditors more than $500 million Hohenberg filed personally a year later with debts in excess of $95 million In another court matter Brown said he would let Hohenberg participate in the legal debate over settlement of his case and the defunct local firm he founded Also several creditors have objected to settlement of the two bankruptcy cases Including Hohenberg one of the trust funds benefiting his children his estranged wife Sarah and White Way Pharmacy of Memphis claiming Hohenberg owes it $220 Brown said smaller creditors often object to settlements wanting to know why some debts are paid and they By Charles Conner Th Cofnmorclal Appool US Bankruptcy Court Jud William Brown delayed a decision Wednesday on how much professionals who once worked for failed Memphis cotton merchant Julien Hohenberg should be paid In an effort to avoid another legal battle in the 4-year-old case Brown gave attorneys on both sides until March 22 to iron out differ- u-nKP ir ences over the final fee re-uest of the At-ta law firm of Norton and Stone-bridge Accounting Stra-es Inc he legal and financial rofessionals ired by Hohenberg asked Brown prove payments total! SI mil! estate estimated at $6 million Robert D'Agostino one of Hohenberg's former lawyers told Brown that since several extensive objections to final payment had been filed he and attorney would prepare for trial Lee Piovarcy a local attorney representing Bankers Trust Co of New York the largest creditor in both cases indicated he welcomed delay of the fight over fees for professionals Piovarcy called the time said he needed to From Pago B7 SMfilfi TEN I uSS? 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PATF IUI IIS naiia-a From Page B4 Merge deliver programs From the cable industry phone companies are seeking experience in television programming and the high-capacity networks for program channels In turn the much richer phone companies can provide the switching technology that will allow two-way communications on interactive television But with the pioneering merger now dead some in the Industry worry about a chilling effect on the merger of the rival phone and cable camps Other media executives pointed out that the Bell Atlantic-Tele-Communlcations merger was excessively complex and tough to negotiate HA couple deciding not to get married to each other Is different from them deciding against the idea of marriage in said Richard Shaffer a principal in Technologic Partners a consulting firm in New York communications industry is still consolidating Bell Atlantic and TCI were a manifestation of that consolidation not tiie Liberty has been in the news this year As an investor in QVC Network Inc It lost the bidding battle for Paramount Communications to Viacom Markets closed before the announcement Wednesday From Page B4 Smoke Steve Lykins marketing director discussed it but we haven't made a he said basically going to listen to our customers and monitor what happens in the corporation stores Century Management owns 42 stores including 35 in the Mem- Shis metropolitan area three in ackson Tenn and four in Jonesboro Ark Three other people who own a total of seven other McDonald's in the Memphis area could not be reached Wednesday John Banzhaf a lawyer and executive director of Action on Smoking and Health in Washington praised McDonald's move saying the chain the tone for The federal Environmental Protection Agency says secondhand smoke is a carcinogen that kills about 3000 nonsmokers a year from lung cancer and is responsible for up to 300000 cases of bronchitis and pneumonia in children It Is supporting federal antl-smoklng legislation McDonald move effective immediately comes one week after the Texas attorney general sued the restaurant chain and four others demanding they either make their restaurants smoke-free ventilate them better or post signs warning of the dangers of secondhand smoke spokesman Terri Capatosto said the idea began with a test in 40 restaurants and not the Texas court action The National Council of Chain Restaurants of which McDonald's is a member on Wednesday endorsed a bill that would prohibit smoking in virtually all nonresidential buildings Staff reporter David Flaum contributed to this story $2 Annie Terrell nutrition operations consultant for Memphis City Schools has been appointed nutrition services director for the school district She succeeds Shirley Watkins who resigned last fall to accept a post with the US Department of Agriculture Terrell who worked in food and beverage management for Holiday Inn before moving to the school nutrition services division in 1985 will be responsible for managing the division that serves some 100000 school meals a day In other recent city school personnel changes new principals have been named at three schools Michael Murphy for it From Page B1 Owens mant introduced him around the spots At first he said he inquired about From then on it was offered to him Under questioning by Gilder Bramlett now 25 said he did not find his undercover work enjoyable and that he drank and bought dances as part of his cover Bramlett testified that once he was by a dancer named Melissa Ayres who sold him baby powder Instead of cocaine Alter the substance tested negative for drugs approached her and asked her why she was trying to sell me some bad Bramlett said told me she would make it up to Ayres has since pleaded guilty to murdering a customer In a Whitehaven motel room From Page B1 Suspect caught cold coming out of the bank with the money and his gun We want to prosecute this one and then sort out the other charges" Mitchell's crimes have been marked by preparation and good timing Johnson said At the time of his arrest he was fea tured on the Top 10 Most id the Top 15 Most Wanted list compiled by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Canada He was arrested in the mld-70s in his native Canada as a member of the Stop Watch Gang a notorious organization known for its split-second timing and sentenced to 30 years on charges of importation of narcotics and receiving stolen property He escaped from prison in Canada disguised as a medical patient and wheeled out of the prison on a hospital gurney He was arrested in 1983 in San Diego and was transferred to Phoenix on a charge of holding up a department store stemming from a robbery in 1981 In which $87785 was taken He was convicted of two counts of armed robbery and sentenced to 18 years A prosentence report on Mitchell by the Maricopa Coun-(Arizj Superior Court showed that Mitchell had used the names Bobby Mitchell Gilbert Keyes Richard Landry and Richard Baird as aliases and that he had formerly lived in New Orleans and Arkansas The report showed that the real Landry had been killed In an automobile accident in 1948 Under the name of Landry Mitchell was wanted for the robbery of a Hot Springs Ark bank in 1982 On May 9 1986 while working From Page B1 Annex Tenant Association which filed suit against Memphis three weeks after the annexation ordinance was signed by then-Mayor Dick Hackett The association includes Ralston-Purina's Protein Technologies Sharp Manufacturing Co and other major area employers A second lawsuit challenging this Hickory Hill annexation also was filed by 24 residents banded together under the umbrella group Hickory Hill Residents for Tomorrow Dan Norwood who represents the residents said while he was to explore any possible resolution of the case normally you don't think these are cases you can settle" Norwood said his position is that annexation is outdated but reserved further comments until he meets with the attorneys The two Hickory Hills cases were combined in 1988 The Getwell West annexation covering an area roughly bounded by Getwell Airways the state line and Memphis city limits also has been blocked 'pointed principal at Ralei Egypt High School He replaced Billy McClain who is on medical pr Hi leave Osceola Hicks formerly principal at Chickasaw Junior High School has been named principal at Hamilton High School He succeeded the late Oliver Johnson Sammie Hall formerly assistant principal at Hillcrest High School has been named to follow Hicks as principal at Chickasaw The new appointees were introduced to school board members Monday by Supt Gerry House Bramlett who is now assigned to patrol duty in the West Precinct said the undercover assignment sometimes became tedious and of rough on my Asst US Atty Fred Godwin said he expects to wrap up the government case on Monday Gilder has said the defense case should take two weeks and that Owens is expected to testify In other testimony Wednesday Grant Sperry-a handwriting expert said the signature of a Donald Woodworth on a business permit application for a business matched that of defendant Ira John Woodfin And the handwriting on a gambling payout slip found in Owens's house din ing a Nov 7 raid matched that of another defendant Lynetta Carter he said Sperry said Owens deliberately disguised his writing style on samples to prevent comparison to documents as a janitor in the medium security prison at Florence Ariz Mitchell and two other inmates climbed on top of a vending machine crawled through some ductwork and made their escape through a storage room One of the men had his girlfriend drive by and pick them up Michael Arra a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Correction said Mitchell was driven to the airport at Phoenix "From that day until now he has been on the run" he said On Dec 15 1987 Mitchell and an accomplice were sought for the robbery of a Gainesville Fla bank using a scheme very similar to the one used In Southaven Diversionary calls were placed warning of a bomb being set and then the bank was hit Gainesville police told the Florida Times Union in Jacksonville that Mitchell was also a likely suspect in bank robberies in the Florida cities of Ocala and Fort Walton Beach and in San Diego and the robbery of an armored car in Canada Johnson said Mitchell narrowly missed capture in the Philippines late last year when he was apparently tipped off that his arrest was imminent left his wife Imelda and a child in the Philippines when he Johnson said More recently Johnson said Mitchell had been spotted in Arkansas When Mitchell was driven to police headquarters Tuesday afternoon he quipped Patrick Michael MitchelL I think you guys are looking for Bill Anderson a former newsman with WHBQ-TV in Memphis who now is a dispatcher for the Southaven police said Mitchell was as he could be He show any more emotion than someone would who had been arrested for driving on a revoked in court since early 1988 The area Includes Easthaven Thistlewood and Whitehavei Hill subdivisions Dwayne Byrd a plaintiff and an attorney in that case could not be reached for comment Hickory Hill and Getwell Wes already have taken more time t( resolve than the city's last majoi annexation The 75-squaromiU Cordova area was annexed ir late 1984 but lawsuits blocked that action until July 1990 Tom Marshall among ths top advocates of annex ation endorsed the city adminis tration's recommendation to re solve the pending lawsuits be fore attempting to take in nev areas Marshall said the lack of ward in the Hickor Hill annexation solely ths city's fault Now that the attor neys have received instructions I think the city will get the sui back on track" Hagler disagreed say that I think there were poll cy decisions that were made tha affected movement in both dir ections I don't think there wu any dragging of Nothing lias been filed in thi Hickory Hill case since May 1992 according to court records By Jerome Obermark TDu Commarciai Appeal A special purpose finance board Wednesday approved refunding two tax-free bond issues which will lower the debt on two apartment properties from $62 million to $4804 million The Health Educational and Housing Facilities Board of Memphis was formed a decade ago to provide a legal vehicle to pass along tax-free bond issuing authority to apartment developers who reserved one-fifth of units for low-income tenants The properties approved for refinancing Wednesday were among the first of nine apartments financed with bonds issued by the board in Memphis and Shelby County Brad Foster HEHFB attorney said the refundings are a positive step He said the reasons include overall debt redaction and replacement of variable-rate bonds with more stable fixed-rate bonds Current bondholders will be paid and all new debt will be owned by General Electric Capital Corp The hoard approved refunding $50 million in debt held by Citibank on Watergrove Apartments at 6860 Quince Road It will be replaced by $38 million in new fixed-rate debt The $12 million in variable rate debt held by Citibank on the 246-unit Brookside Apartments at Walnut Grove Road and Germantown Parkway will be replaced with $1004 million in new debt Foster said Watergrove Apartments with 1002 units was the largest local )Ki IJOM f'j -si Lr Uz Hi il! Li: Zfl -Pj -r ti'ii 0)1' p'r vd 3'- Ji id VO 'Srr 2 U' rj O' Id tir liv -jt fj l'i ''Jl 0i hsf Ti7 Ii -fi if I vr i YV ij 0-L to1 irl 1-'U tii 02' I I a a apartment property built with tax-free bonds in the 1980s It also was the first local apartment development financed with tax-free bonds issued by the HEHFB Memphis apartment developer Avron rogelman is a partner in limited partnerships that own the properties said Martin Edwards HEHFB chairman Both have occupancy levels exceeding 97 percent Edwards said The refundings will not affect the number of units set aside for low-income tenants Edwards said Low-income tenants were defined by legislation creating tax-free bond authority in the early 1980s as persons whose annual income does not exceed 80 percent of the median income of the area A few years later set aside requirements mandating units for low-income tenants were changed to require a higher ratio oflower income tenants Developers virtually stopped building apartments with tax-free bonds when the rules changed General Electric Capital Corp plans to execute the refunding of public debt with a private placement on April 1 Foster said The anticipated interest rate on new bonds is 15 percent above the 10-year Treasury rate that day Foster said The interest rate on 10-year Treasury bonds Wednesday was 605 percent If 6 percent is the 10-year Treasury rate on April 1 the fixed interest rate bonds would yield 7S percent tax-free income to General Electric Capital Corp The 35-year term bonds pay Interest only in the first five years then amortization or reduction of principal starts had strong sales of shoes apparel and cosmetics in the fourth quarter felt that 1993 was a challenging Freeman said basically pleased to have it behind He said the retailer plans to open 10 stores in 1994 same-store sales in the quarter ended Jan 29 rose 3 percent while total sales rose 62 percent to $164 billion from $15 oillion "The same-store sales trend at Dillard was under the par performance of the other department stores" said Thomas Tash- retail analyst at First Mania Co who expected Dillard to earn $104 in its fourth quarter just weren't able to attract enough business through the The disappointing results affected shares Dillard stock closed down 75 cents at $3425 In trading on the New York Stock Exchange that many Mississippi and Alabama buyers who usually attend were absent probably due to the ice storm BRIEFLY Maybelline Inc has declared a regular quarterly dividend of 6 ayb liar cents a share on common stock payable on March 31 to stockholders of record on March 10 Dillard earnings fall short of Wall forecasts Bloomberg Businas Nows LITTLE ROCK Dillard Department Stores Inc citing weak sales of and apparel said fourth- Quarter earnings were little banged from a year ago The Little Rock department store retailer fell short of Wall Street forecasts posting net income of $1113 million or 99 cents a share up slightly from $1105 million or 98 cents a year earlier Dillard which operates 227 stores fell 9 cents short of a mean forecast of $108 a share based on a Zacks Investment Research poll of 16 analysts apparel was very as quarter Jewelry results were not good at said James Freeman chief financial officer Freeman said the company MB a im a-a aa at a bb at bb a-a bsi a-a bn a-a bm a-a iin a-a mn at a kb a-a aH a-a a-a a a-a a-a GmSc ta Bj IUI S3 ST IP STMa TM taEfip 9 9 9 AJA Aat a Afl AM EmGrA TEMA USfivA USGvff TAMCTi Marti MEl bb a-a Bn a am a bb a bh a-a bm a bm a bm a-a IfCMV MMMI IMM MOPV TMMI tmm MM CATlAp CmGtA cmcip SKA MPA McA EMM NPkA hem HEMP UPUSA MmTA TiEiA IIN BSt a BN BJI-a 1IM BM-M aa list a bn Mist a atj BN BN-a MB BJI-B AM-a fata BS BN BH im BN BN NM na MB na at it a-N a-N at a a-a a-a a-a a SPTkA SFUM uscn MIGr in a-a bm at a ui a bn a-a in a-N an a-a ah a-a bn at a an at a ia a-a MBA MFl IpGni Emm m3p Mini MuP I NY VM IDS I EFFGr I RPFEI RFFCv YMNV FMP CirMP EpMl AM AM-a AnrTr CmAcc MNP FWJP EM But a bm Mist a MS MM-M SABIUPta HMBn-a MBIMIta IM MB-a MB MB AS AM-a MBDJfPa iaHM-a MB 1llt-M IMMN-M ia a-a iin iin- a mn a-a MM1A9-M BS1US-J) INBN-M BN a-N iiHBJt-a SlMKM-a BSMS-N TUT JUT-M bji nat a iui bm-a bb a BM BM-a bm at a KiiBiuf-a bn list-a BAT a UN IMP-a UBM-a bsi 1 1-a na iin-a BMBN-M BHIlB-a BMllB-a MEN IPm CmCtEI imME sum 1 EMM EmMS BBBB-a mm Mata BH BJH BBBJSta Baasta EMM aa aata aa aa-a AN A7S-M bm nat MM BJI-a BM UN-JS AM AM-a BNBJP-a BB BJf-a A4I AJP-a BM njtf BB BB-a AB AB-a BBBJSta MM MM- Jl BJI TMrpAvV £Su NY TF OpvA TnNA TEiA USfivA CO TF a Evil IATF MNTF MO IM NaPTF OwE I BUSINESS BRIEFS of the smoothest ever Blair said was the best market these exhibitors have ever One manufacturer took $1 million worth of orders Blair said The same manufacturer reported usually writing $200000 worth of orders at the larger High Point NC market main competitor Blair said one negative was 1 Furniture mart shines in Tupelo TUPELO Miss four-day Tupelo Furniture Market broke attendance records last week surpassing the 20000-mark for the first time in seven-year history general manager Russell Blair said Wednesday was a real solid market one i Mike Royko talks tough 23 in The Commercial Appeal -r.