Los Angeles Business Journal back issues from October 2003:
Lining up for refunds: investors face uphill battle in targeting CEOs' money.
Oct 06, 2003; ... Former Tenet Healthcare Corp. chairman and chief executive Jeffrey Barbakow cashed in stock options worth $111 million last year as the company's shares topped $60 each. Ten months later, the Santa Barbara-based hospital operator's stock crumbled to below $20, losing $17 billion ...
Grocers employ host of tactics to prevent unionization of staff.
Oct 06, 2003; ... As 60,000 unionized workers at Albertsons, Ralphs and Vons make preparations for a possible strike within a matter of days, their non-union counterparts at Trader Joe's, Whole Foods Market and Bristol Farms face no such deadline. Despite periodic attempts by the United Food and ...
Exceptions to rules threaten impact of L.A.'s hiring freeze.
Oct 06, 2003; ... When L.A. city officials instituted a "hard" hiring freeze two years ago, they signaled their intent to save tens of millions of dollars by not filling thousands of vacancies. But that's not the way it's played out. Almost half of the 3,785 current vacancies have been ...
Smog 'pockets' target of AQMD officials.
Oct 06, 2003; ... Everybody knows that Los Angeles has some of the worst air in the nation. Then there's the air that Jesse Marquez has to breathe in Wilmington. Despite decades of improvement in the region's air quality, nearly every weekday a brownish-red pall still grows over that harbor ...
Countrywide, a Wall Street darling, takes steps to keep favored status.(Up Front)(Countrywide Financial Corp.)
Oct 06, 2003; ... As interest rates retreat from highs reached earlier this summer, shares of mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp. and its competitors have surged on expectations of a rush of new mortgage applications. Since Aug. 20, shares in Calabasas-based Countrywide have risen 26 ...
County to review developers' plans for Marina project.(Up Front)
Oct 06, 2003; ... Paving the way for massive redevelopment on the western end of Marina del Rey, L.A. County officials last week referred three development proposals to the Board of Supervisors. The proposals, selected from among five submitted to the department, envision more than $100 million ...
Review & preview.
Oct 06, 2003 ... SEPT. 26-OCT. 2 Workers' Signature: Gov. Gray Davis signed into law legislation aimed at controlling workers' compensation costs by limiting visits to chiropractors and expanding the use of generic medications. The measure has been met with mixed reaction, especially among ...
Happy endings: selling a family business often yields unanticipated results.(Up Front)
Oct 06, 2003; ... 'BITTERSWEET is how Mark Freeman describes the moment he handed over the keys of his family's 28-year-old business to Dial Corp. in July 1998. Freeman Cosmetics Corp.'s revenues had just topped $75 million, and its products found shelf space in Rite-Aid and Target stores across ...
House proud.(The LABJ's L.A. Stories)(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003; ... The good news is there's finally some affordable housing in Southern California. The bad news is that it's designed for kids age three to six. Five of L.A.'s busiest home builders have created playhouses that will be auctioned off this month to raise money for HomeAid, a local ...
Smoke in the water.(The LABJ's L.A. Stories)(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003; ... Lighting up a cigarette used to be the only way to relieve a nicotine craving. Now nicotine comes in gum, candy, patches--and bottled water. This month, Westlake Village-based QT 5 Inc.'s NICOWater will start appearing in pharmacies mostly on the East Coast and in the South. ...
Blind ambition.(The LABJ's L.A. Stories)(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003; ... Until recently, visually impaired voters at California polling stations could not keep their political stance private because they had to have someone punch their ballots for them. Privacy finally came during the recall election when sightless voters cast their ballots at the 12 ...
Flight of fancy.(The LABJ's L.A. Stories)(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003; ... When the U.S. Department of Agriculture lifted its eight-month poultry quarantine Sept. 16, Southern California farmers and the Los Angeles Zoo breathed a sigh of relief. The zoo had shuttered its two popular walk-in aviaries, each containing 100 birds, and cancelled off-site ...
Images of America.(The Roving Eye)(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003; ... PHOTOGRAPHER Lewis Hine's classic portrait of a little girl standing beside a Georgia cotton mill in 1909 says a lot about the pursuit of the American Dream--and not necessarily in the most flattering ways. Hine, along with Walker Evans, Margaret Bourke-White and Edward ...
Bidders pursue Griffin as Beverly Hilton stays in play.(Up Front)(Merv Griffin)
Oct 06, 2003; ... Three months after a deal to sell Merv Griffin's high-profile Beverly Hilton hotel fell through, other interested bidders have emerged, although a sale remains elusive. Griffin, who is said by hotel industry sources to be entertaining offers but not actively marketing the ...
Corrections.(Correction Notice)
Oct 06, 2003 ... In the Sept. 15 story "Stock Is at Heart of Divorce Spat for REIT Chief," the photograph on page 49 was of John Kilroy Sr., not John Kilroy Jr. In the Sept. 22 Newsmakers section, the photographs of B.J. Schramm and Anthony Lawson of Hitco Carbon Composites were transposed. ...
Dogfight over shelter leads to highest lobbying bill.(Up Front)(issue of animal shelter generates high lobbying fees )
Oct 06, 2003; ... L.A.'s most intensively lobbied projects typically involve huge real estate projects or regulation of the cable industry, not animal shelters. The one issue in the city of Los Angeles generating the heftiest lobbying fees during the second quarter--$181,550 to be exact--involved ...
Pending initiatives may alter state's governance ways.(Politics)(California)
Oct 06, 2003; ... SACRAMENTO'S dysfunctional ways, so much a part of the recall campaign, could be put to more votes next year if a series of initiatives wind up on the ballot. "It may be the opening of the door to a different era in politics," said Michael Alvarez, professor of political science ...
L.A. launch of Verizon Wireless Service pushed back.(Up Front)
Oct 06, 2003; ... Anxious to set up shop in L.A. with its next generation wireless network, Verizon Wireless has run into glitches that have pushed back its rollout. Initially expected to introduce a new wireless standard capable of transmitting data at speeds comparable to landline Internet ...
Hotel deals pick up as investors anticipate a rebound.(Marketplace)
Oct 06, 2003; ... THE deals may not be blockbusters, but investors are starting to ante up their bets for a turnaround in the hotel industry. In the latest addition to his burgeoning hotel empire, major Budget Rent-a-Car franchisee Harry Wu has struck an estimated $13 million deal for the ...
Ports prepare for holiday rush as last-minute shipments flow.(Up Front)(shipping season picking up at Los Angeles, California ports)
Oct 06, 2003; ... After a sluggish summer, the peak shipping season at L.A.'s ports has been picking up now that retailers are more encouraged about the holiday sales outlook. Shipping activity was slow in August as retailers initially held off on holiday orders, owing to the sketchy economy and ...
Jury finds Circle K owes $8 million for Lotto ticket rip-off.(Up Front)(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003; ... A jury awarded $7.96 million late last month to a 27-year-old Rancho Cucamonga woman whose former supervisor cashed in her winning lottery ticket for himself. As reported by the Business Journal last month, the case pitted two of L.A.'s top trial attorneys, Browne Greene and ...
Aggressive Quinn Law Firm joins elite $1 million club.(Up Front)(Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges LLP has joined the ranks of firms generating $1 million in profits-per-partner)(Company Profile)
Oct 06, 2003; ... IT doesn't look like an expensive law firm. The downtown offices of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges LLP, south of L.A.'s financial district, have the exposed ceilings more familiar to the "creative" office space of dot-coms. It's an image enhanced by its lawyers, who stroll the ...
Restaurant executive can't convince court she had been hired as CFO.(Law)(Margaret Debevec sues Grill Concepts Inc.; chief financial officer)
Oct 06, 2003; ... A former Grill Concepts Inc. executive had her lunch handed to her in a breach of contract suit against the Los Angeles company. Margaret Debevec, former vice president of finance for the owner and operator of the Daily Grill restaurant mini-chain, sued the company in March ...
Squeezed on two sides, mid-sized grocers adjusting.(Up Front)(competition from Wal-Mart Stores Inc.)
Oct 06, 2003; ... Struggling to navigate between escalating labor costs and off-price competition, traditional grocery store chains have been forced to alter their strategies to maintain already narrow margins. In 2002, the industry posted the smallest annual sales increase in eight years, and ...
PacifiCare wins ruling over costs of ER care.(Health Care)(emergency room doctors lose case against Pacificare of California)
Oct 06, 2003; ... EMERGENCY room doctors lost a recent state Court of Appeal decision over who is responsible for coveting emergency care costs when medical groups collapse. The 4th Appellate District panel in Santa Ana sided with PacifiCare of California last month, upholding a lower court's ...
Mediawatch.(Media & Technology)
Oct 06, 2003 ... [GRAPHIC OMITTED] <Pre> MOVIE BOX OFFICE Weekend Total GrossGross Rank Title (mils)(mils)Distributor 1 The Rundown$18.5$18.5 ...
Beverly Hills romance: with new wife, Viacom's Sumner Redstone switches coasts.(Media & Technology)(Sumner M. Redstone moves to Los Angeles, California after marrying Paula Fortunato)
Oct 06, 2003; ... With his decision to make Beverly Hills his full-time home, media mogul Sumner Redstone will likely become L.A.'s wealthiest Angeleno. Redstone, the octogenarian who started with a chain of movie theaters and built media giant Viacom Inc., has a net worth of $10 billion, based ...
Quiet Group's Music Center millions.(Media & Technology)(Fraternity of Friends contributes to Los Angeles Music Center)
Oct 06, 2003; ... It's the Music Center's version of the old boys' network--one with a cultural and philanthropic twist. The little-known, male-only Fraternity of Friends has ponied up millions of dollars over the years to support the Music Center--including a combined $18 million to the Walt ...
Let's make a video game! Los Angeles has become a hotbed for the creation of video games, as large firms like Electronic Arts and locally based THQ and Activision tap the creative environment.(Entertainment)
Oct 06, 2003; ... A two-headed god that runs into walls. A lovesick ram chasing after a sheep. A skeleton adorned in a Hawaiian shin. These are among the characters that had to be created for the video game "Tak and the Power of Juju," being released later this month by THQ Inc. For ...
Yoga inspires music mogul Simmons to activism.(Entertainment Quarterly--Industry In Review)(Russell Simmons)
Oct 06, 2003; ... HIP-HOP entrepreneur Russell Simmons, ho launched the careers of rap artists L.L. Cool J, the Beastie Boys and Will Smith, hovered a foot above the floor, his legs twisted to his left, ins arms holding him aloft. "Just keep breathing and smiling," he advised the yoga neophyte ...
Orange County makes little progress drawing film production from L.A.(Entertainment Quarterly--Industry In Review)
Oct 06, 2003; ... Hollywood can take heart: production is at least not running away to Orange County. While local shooting days were up 24 percent for the fiscal year ended June 30 from a year earlier, according to the Orange County Film Commission, the number of shooting days--846--pales next to ...
Setting up in Tinseltown, game producer finds content is King.(Entertainment Quarterly--Let's Make A Video Game!)
Oct 06, 2003; ... As a vice president and executive producer at game maker Electronic Arts Inc., Rick Giolito oversees more than 100 game designers and artists at the company's Los Angeles studios. His group is currently finishing up two new versions of "Medal of Honor, "' loosely based on DreamWorks SKG's ...
Hollywood talent pool luring firms eager for creative skills.(Entertainment Quarterly--Let's Make A Video Game!)
Oct 06, 2003; ... PARENTS might reconsider telling their kids to quit playing video games. The industry has been one of the bright spots in the local job market, with the bigger companies in the midst of hiring hundreds of people, mostly for creative and technical positions. Besides ...
Competing for share and shelf space, developers put millions into marketing.(Entertainment Quarterly--Let's Make A Video Game!)
Oct 06, 2003; ... BACK when the video game industry was young, a marketing campaign for a new title might have cost $50,000, and would have consisted of full-page ads in gaming magazines. No more. Million-dollar ad buys are routine, driven by the games' growing ties to Hollywood and to huge ...
Film: as usual, unpredictable.(Entertainment Quarterly--Industry In Review)(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003; ... NAYSAYERS will call it the summer of "Gigli" and "Hollywood Homicide." But it could just easily be the summer of"Finding Nemo" and "The Matrix Reloaded" and "Pirates of the Caribbean." The movie season was, in short, a mixed bag of successes and clunkers that by Labor Day had studio ...
TV: networks jockey for position.(Entertainment Quarterly--Industry In Review)(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003; ... THE biggest television story the third quarter didn't involve a show but a sale--NBC's purchase of Vivendi Universal SA's U.S. entertainment assets in a deal valued at $14 billion ... While the deal awaits final approvals, the Hollywood buzz immediately went into overdrive on what it will ...
Music: legal action strikes chord.(Entertainment Quarterly--Industry In Review)(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003; ... AN effort to stamp OUt illegal swapping of music files landed on front pages as the first round of lawsuits were filed by members of the Recording Industry Association of America. But the initial PR impact is questionable: Among the targets of the 261 federal lawsuits filed are a ...
Performances at a glance.(Entertainment Quarterly--Industry In Review)
Oct 06, 2003 ... [GRAPHIC OMITTED] <Pre> HIGHEST GROSSING FILMS *Gross FilmStudio(in millions) Finding NemoDisney/Pixar $335.7 Pirates of the Caribbean: Buena Vista 295.7 Curse of the ...
Radio: another Spanish conquest.(Entertainment Quarterly--Industry In Review)(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003; ... ALL eyes were on Washington this summer, where new rules on media ownership passed by the Federal Communications Commission faced immediate challenges in Congress. The rules, if sustained, would relax ownership restrictions across radio and other media formats. Last month the ...
Video games: pulling out of the funk.(Entertainment Quarterly--Industry In Review)(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003; ... TRADITIONAL summer doldrums hit local video game maker Activision Inc. hard ... As its blockbuster "Spider-Man" game tailed off over the course of 2003, the company has been relying on sales of "Wolfenstein: Tides War" and "X2: Wolverine's Revenge," though neither has been among industry ...
An unexpected twist: Felber Maasdam's children figured they would just spruce up their father's cable-pulling business before selling it off. The managers they put in place felt strongly enough to buy it.(Small Business)
Oct 06, 2003; ... For 30 years, Maasdam Pow'r-Pull chugged along with little fanfare, making mechanisms used in the tightening of fences and cables that Felber Maasdam and his father first concocted in a garage in Deep Creek, Colo. Maasdam, who for 17 years served as Bob Hope's photographer on ...
Fitness needs prompt lifestyle, career shift.(Weekly Briefing)
Oct 06, 2003; ... DEBORAH Sable was overweight, unhappy with her job in the advertising industry and going through a divorce. On her 37th birthday, she decided it was time for a change. She quit her job, started going to the gym every day and lost 76 pounds in six months. The experience led her to a new ...
Deal paves way for revival of long-dormant aerospace site.(Spotlight On Downey)
Oct 06, 2003; ... Four years in the making, the city of Downey finally has the way cleared for redevelopment of a 160-acre former NASA site. Gov. Gray Davis recently approved the transfer of most of the state-owned site, which served as an aerospace plant for more than 60 years but most recently ...
Global justice: Superior Court Judge Judith Chirlin has used the bench to improve the legal system; now she's helping other countries build theirs.(People)
Oct 06, 2003; ... L.A. Superior Court Judge Judith Chirlin has more to consider when scheduling cases than most of her colleagues. Selected by the American Bar Association as its representative to the International Legal Assistance Consortium, she is routinely called upon to set up judicial systems in ...
Advertising & public relations.(Newsmakers)(IW Group Inc. has named Jimmy Lee vice president and group director)(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003 ... IW Group Inc., an Asian marketing firm, has named Jimmy Lee vice president and group director. Lee, who has been with the ...
Northrop Grumman Corp.(Aerospace)(board has elected Chief Executive and President Ronald D. Sugar to the additional role of chairman)(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003 ... Northrop Grumman Corp.'s board elected Chief Executive and President Ronald D. Sugar to the additional role of chairman. Prior to joining Northrop Grumman ...
Aerospace Corp.(Aerospace)(named Donald R. Walker senior vice president of its systems planning and engineering segment and Dr. Wanda M. Austin senior vice president of its national systems group )(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003 ... Aerospace Corp. has named Donald R. Walker senior vice president of its systems planning and engineering segment effective ...
Apparel.(Newsmakers)(Tarrant Apparel Group named Barry Aved president)(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003 ... Tarrant Apparel Group named Barry Aved president. Aved has been a director of ...
American Business Bank.(Banking)(named Wes Schaefer vice chairman and Leon Blankstein and Robin Paterson as executive vice presidents)(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003 ... American Business Bank has named Wes Schaefer vice chairman and Leon Blankstein and ...
U.S. Bank.(Banking)(hired Robert Brown as regional manager for U.S. Bank in-stores, California)(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003 ... Robert Brown has been hired by U.S. Bank as regional manager for U.S ....
Warner/Chappell Music Inc.(Entertainment)(named Dale Bobo senior vice president, Nashville)(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003 ... Warner/Chappell Music Inc., the music and print music publishing arm of Warner Music Group, has named Dale Bobo senior vice ...
MGM Worldwide Television Distribution.(Entertainment)(promoted Lisa Klein Fitzpatrick to senior vice president of business and legal affairs)(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003 ... Lisa Klein Fitzpatrick has been promoted to senior vice president of business and legal affairs at MGM Worldwide Television ...
eUniverse.(Entertainment)(appointed Thomas J. Flahie as chief financial officer)(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003 ... Interactive entertainment network eUniverse has hired Thomas J. Flahie as chief financial ...
Activision Inc.(Entertainment)(hired Tim Riley as worldwide executive of music and Brandon Young as music supervisor and licensing coordinator)(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003 ... Activision Inc. has hired Tim Riley as worldwide executive of music and Brandon Young as music supervisor and licensing coordinator. Prior to joining ...
Walt Disney Co.(Entertainment)(board elected Aylwin Lewis as a new independent director)(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003 ... Walt Disney Co.'s board elected Aylwin Lewis, who is president and chief multibranding and operating ...
Public relations firm boosts political, institutional clout.(People)(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003; ... In naming Alan Arkatov president and chief executive of its Southern California region, a new position, Burson-Marsteller has added some power to its political clout. Arkatov, campaign director for Mayor James Hahn's successful run for city attorney, later served as senior ...
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.(Entertainment)(hired David Bloom as vice president of corporate communications)(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003 ... Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. has hired Lewis journalist David Bloom as vice president of corporate ...
USBX Advisory Services LLC.(Finance)(named Jay Beaghan managing director and head of the technology practice group)(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003 ... USBX Advisory Services LLC, an investment banking advisor in Santa Monica, has named Jay Beaghan managing director and ...
Rosenthal & Rosenthal Inc.(Finance)( hired Harry Friedman as senior vice president )(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003 ... Rosenthal & Rosenthal Inc., a privately held lending company, has hired Harry Friedman as senior vice president and will work at ...
Government.(Newsmakers)(Los Angeles City Council President Alex Padilla named Deputy Mayor Felipe Fuentes his chief of staff)(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003 ... City Council President Alex Padilla has named Deputy Mayor Felipe Fuentes as his chief of staff. As deputy mayor, ...
Health care.(Newsmakers)(Dr. Ellsworth R. Grant named medical director for The Elizabeth Center for Cancer Detection)(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003 ... Dr. Ellsworth R. Grant has been named medical director for The Elizabeth Center for ...
Hospitality.(Newsmakers)(Kor Hotel Group named Joy Marrs director of e-commerce)(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003 ... Kor Hotel Group has named Joy Marrs director of e-commerce, where she will develop and oversee online sales and marketing ...
Law.(Newsmakers)(Bryan Cave LLP has appointed Curt Dombek leader of its international trade practice)(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003 ... Curt Dombek, a partner at Bryan Cave LLP in Santa Monica, has ...
Insurance.(Newsmakers)(Yates & Associates appointed Robert Mendez to head its transportation division in its Glendale Office)(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003 ... Yates & Associates appointed Robert Mendez to head its ...
Pappas Telecasting Cos.(Media)(named Peter Chrisanthopoulos president and chief operating officer)(Brief Article)
Oct 06, 2003 ... Pappas Telecasting Cos., a privately held, commercial television broadcast group, named Peter Chrisanthopoulos president and ...