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St. Louis Front Page P.O. Box 1354 St. Louis, MO 63188 Voice: 314-771-0200 Fax: 314-771-0300 To submit news, contact: editor@slfp.com To advertise, contact: advertising@slfp.com  |
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LOS ANGELES, (PRNewswire, October 6, 2002 - The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) released results early Saturday Oct. 5, 2002, showing another $13.7 billion in lost business impacting three more Southern California communities as a result of the shut down of the ports of LA and Long Beach. The LAEDC is working around-the-clock over the weekend compiling data on the OnTrac Corridor Trade Impact Study on congressional districts. In a statement, Senior Vice President Wally Baker of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation said, "Trade helps make the LA Basin a massive economic engine. More than 20 percent of all U.S. customs revenues are collected on products that go through our eastbound freight and rail corridors each year. Unfortunately, rail corridors are sometimes the transportation equivalent of Rodney Dangerfield - they just don't get no respect. Maybe, the West Coast labor dispute will change everyone's attitude about freight rail across the country," said Baker. The results of this year-long study show that before the port dispute San Diego was buying and selling $1.3 billion in products through the ports of LA/Long Beach, while the San Fernando Valley enjoyed $3.6 billion in annual trade and the San Gabriel Valley saw a whooping $8.8 billion of trade flows each year. These results mean that the first week of the port shutdown has cost the San Fernando Valley, San Diego and the San Gabriel Valley more than quarter billion dollars. LAEDC announced yesterday (Friday) that Orange County is also losing about a $125 million dollars each week. That's a half a billion dollars a month for Orange County and a painful billion plus dollars a month for the other three other communities announced today. The study was commissioned by The Orange North-American Trade Rail Access Corridor (OnTrac) Authority as a part of the agencies Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and will be used to help clarify the economic impacts of the OnTrac Corridor on the nation's economy. "We have a strong economy with a huge consumer base around the ports of LA and Long Beach," said Ken Ackbarali, Vice President and Managing Director of Economic Consulting, at LAEDC. "The OnTrac Corridor Trade Impact Study was designed to help members of Congress better understand why corridors are important and cannot be separated from port activities. Certainly the West Coast labor dispute has also created a larger interest in rail corridors and container movements." The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce has called upon the ILWU and PMA to extend their current contract - if only for now on a daily basis while negotiations are underway - so that shipping can resume. "Failing that, if the ports are not open by Monday morning, we call upon the President to invoke the Taft-Hartley Act which would force the ports to open for an 80-day 'cooling-off' period," said Rusty Hammer, LA Area Chamber president & CEO. "The oceanfront looks like the 405 during rush hour with almost 100 container ships lined up to Huntington Beach waiting to unload their cargo," Hammer added. "Much of that cargo is perishable and is rotting. We can't afford to lose $1 billion a day while produce rots on ships, small businesses layoff workers and costs go up for consumers. We must re-open the ports and get business going again." "Miss Cleo" Corporations Will Not Collect $18.8 Million In Bills From Missourians ST. CHARLES, (SLFP.com), October 3, 2002 - Florida-based corporations Access Resource Services and Psychic Reader Network, the corporations behind TV psychic Miss Cleo, along with two of its corporate officers, have pleaded guilty to criminal charges of unlawful merchandising practices in St. Charles County Circuit Court. The charges against current corporate president Peter Stolz and corporate officer and past corporate president Steven L. Feder were brought in an indictment returned by a St. Charles County grand jury at the request of Attorney General Jay Nixon. As a result of the pleas, the defendants will be placed on probation and will not attempt to collect approximately $18.8 million in claims against Missourians who were billed for pay per call services. In addition, the defendants are barred from operating, advertising or marketing "900" pay per call numbers accessible by Missouri consumers. They also cannot rent or sell lists of Missourians' names, addresses and telephone numbers. In a statement, Nixon said, "The meter has run out for the Miss Cleo crew in scamming Missourians. The people behind Miss Cleo turned out to be more con artist than clairvoyant, more fraud than fortune teller, and more swindler than psychic." The character of "Miss Cleo" - supposedly a Shango shaman from Jamaica but, in reality, an actress from Los Angeles named Youree Dell Harris - became well-known in television ads offering psychic readings. The ads often enticed consumers by offering "free" readings or so many minutes as free. According to Nixon, the indictment charged the defendants with illegally billing Missourians for pay per call services, including billing for calls not made by the consumers or from the consumers' telephone lines; billing consumers for telephone calls made by minors; and billing consumers for time when the consumer was misled by one of the psychic readers into staying on the line after the free time had expired. The defendants also were charged illegal actions in connection with attempting to collect payment for bills, including pursuing those actions after knowing the bills were not legitimate. In addition to forgoing collection of the $18.8 million from consumers and being barred from doing pay per call business in Missouri, the defendants must pay $24,000 to the state for investigative costs. They also must pay $6,000 for restitution to consumers of whom the Attorney General's Office already is aware, and up to $50,000 for restitution to other consumers who may be eligible but are currently unknown. Access Resource Services will also pay a $20,000 criminal fine. San Francisco Janitorial Company Wins Contract With Lambert-St. Louis Int'l Airport SAN FRANCISCO, (BUSINESS WIRE), October 3, 2002 - ABM Janitorial Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ABM Industries Incorporated, has been awarded a multi-year, multi-million dollar contract with Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. The contract includes janitorial services for all common areas throughout the airport concourses, which encompass approximately 290,000 square feet. "The ABM Janitorial team is pleased to serve one of the busiest airports in the country," said Jim McClure, president of ABM Janitorial Services. "We look forward to being of assistance to Lambert Airport as they continue their major expansion plan, while ensuring a convenient and comfortable atmosphere for the millions of passengers that pass through the airport," he added. As the departure site for Charles Lindbergh's historic, non-stop solo flight to Paris, France, in 1927, Lambert-St. Louis International Airport is the 11th busiest airport in North America for aircraft operations and 15th in total passengers. The airport sits on approximately 2,000 acres of land and is comprised of five runways. Lambert has 83 gates serving 10 major airlines, as well as five commuter airlines, eight onsite cargo companies, and four major charter companies. Lambert employs over 19,000 people through airlines, vendors and service companies, as well as the City of St. Louis, which owns and operates the airport. ABM Janitorial Services operates more than 200 branch offices nationwide, serving 38 states and 36 of the 40 largest major metropolitan areas across the country. ABM Industries Incorporated is the largest facility services contractor listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Six Percent Growth in Consumer Spending Forecasted for 2002 Holiday Season NEW YORK, (PRNewswire), October 1, 2002 - Deloitte Research Chief Economist Carl Steidtmann has announced the latest expectations for the holiday shopping season as generated by the Deloitte Research Leading Index of Consumer Spending. In analyzing the index results, Steidtmann expects consumer spending to surge to 6.32 percent in the coming months, suggesting that a solid holiday season for retailers is likely. This increase is down slightly from August projections of 6.70 percent. "Consumers are reaching into their pockets and discovering that they have more money to spend," Steidtmann said. "Similar to last month's calculations, the numbers signal that retailers and their suppliers should be awash in sales when the holidays roll around." The index is designed to predict consumer behavior four to eight months into the future and analyzes the effects of this behavior on the economy. Steidtmann draws on four indicators, including initial unemployment claims, real wage gains, taxes (personal income burden) and real home prices to fuel the index. With questions about the economy and the threat of war still looming, one fact remains clear: Consumers will not be deterred from celebrating Halloween. According to the latest NRF Halloween survey, consumers say they plan to spend roughly $44 per household this year on Halloween candy, costumes and decorations, mirroring last year when consumers said they would spend $45. Consumers aged 18 - 34 appear to be leading the charge as this age group plans to spend $67 on Halloween related goods, $23 more than the average. Consumers with children plan to spend $62. The Halloween season is projected to bring retailers roughly $6.9 billion in sales. "Economic ghosts and goblins do seem to deter consumers from Halloween Spending," said NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin. "Adults' fascination with Halloween has helped transform the holiday into a much needed sales boost for many retailers." Home decorating remains very popular as 50 percent of respondents indicated they plan to decorate their homes. This compares with 55 percent in 2001. Apparently, consumers do not need to throw a party to justify decorating. Of those consumers who said they would decorate their homes, 44 percent cite simply wanting to celebrate Halloween or the Fall season as their primary reason. "The data in the survey validates the perception that Halloween has shifted from a one night or one weekend holiday, into an Autumn seasonal celebration, opening the promotional window for retailers through much of September and October said Tom Holliday, President of the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association (RAMA), a division of NRF. "More and more, we find retailers tying their marketing strategy to Halloween." While consumers look at a variety of store formats to purchase Halloween treats, it appears that discount retailers are the most popular destination, with 39.1 percent choosing discounters for their holiday needs. Specialty Halloween and party supply stores also remain popular with 25.3 percent of consumers taking advantage of the selection at these shops. SBC to Cut 11,000 Jobs SAN ANTONIO, (BUSINESS WIRE), September 26, 2002 - SBC Communications Inc. announced today that it plans to cut its workforce and reduce capital expenditures in response to a continued weak economy and outmoded regulation that could threaten the future viability of its telecommunications networks in many of its states. "These actions that we're forced to announce today should be of concern to every consumer in the states we serve, whether they are SBC customers or not," said Edward E. Whitacre, Jr., SBC Chairman and CEO. Whitacre said that wholesale prices set by state regulators are below cost and in some cases up to 60 percent below retail rates, allowing competitors to purchase network access at deep discounts and pocket the difference. He added that these competitors routinely target business and high-end residential users - the most profitable customers - leaving SBC to serve basic residential users. "Under this pricing scheme, a century of regulatory policy has been turned on its head," Whitacre said. "Instead of subsidizing prices for average consumers, we now subsidize competitors who in turn siphon revenues out of the market." At the same time SBC is losing retail customers and their revenues, SBC's expense of maintaining the network used by its competitors remains the same. In addition, competitors using the UNE-P do not invest in local telecommunications networks to benefit the community. Whitacre said that the company's problem is exacerbated by lengthy delays in getting into long-distance in many of its states, as well as uneven rules that give cable companies an unfair edge in the rollout of broadband. SBC has lost nearly 3 million retail access lines year-to-date through August. Reported year-over-year revenue dropped more than $1 billion in the first half of 2002. Assuming wireline revenue continues to decline at the current annual rate of nearly 6 percent, SBC would lose another $2.3 billion from its wireline revenue stream over the next four quarters. Of the approximately 11,000 job cuts announced today, about 9,000 of them should occur in the fourth quarter, with the balance occurring primarily in early 2003. These new cuts are in addition to the 10,000 jobs SBC has eliminated year to date through August. It is expected that approximately one-third of the reductions will come from management employees and the remaining from non-management positions across the 13 states served by SBC. SBC expects to take related accounting charges in both the third and fourth quarters. The company also continues to reduce its investment in its network. Capital expenditures for 2003 are expected to be in the $5 billion to $6 billion range.   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