Thursday, April 9, 1998 | 8:57 a.m.
* LV FIRM FACES COMPETITION IN BUILDING TITANIC REPLICA -- A South African-based company announced plans today to build a replica of the Titanic by the end of next year, well ahead of a competing Swiss-U.S. partnership with Las Vegas ties. RMS Titanic Shipping Holdings of South Africa's ship will be built in Durban, on South Africa's east coast, and make its maiden voyage on Dec. 29, 1999, according to its public relations firm Saatchi & Saatchi. It said RMS Titanic Shipping Holdings secured the exclusive rights to build the replica from Harland and Wolff Holdings, which it said owned the original plans for the Titanic. On Monday, the Swiss-U.S. partnership White Star Line Ltd. said it would spend $500 million on its replica of the Titanic. The project's U.S. partner is Titanic Development Corp. of Las Vegas.
* NEVADA POWER SETTLES TEST SITE DISPUTE -- Nevada Power Co. and two other utilities have settled a 25-year-old dispute over which company will provide electricity to the Nevada Test Site. A settlement finalized this week in Clark County District Court says Nevada Power and Valley Electric Association will each provide 40 percent of the site's power needs, with Lincoln County Power District No. 1 providing the other 20 percent.
* SIDE AIRBAG USE COULD HELP LV FIRM -- Ford Motor Co. said today it plans to offer side airbags on all its cars starting with its luxury models, making it the first major American automaker to make the safety devices so widely available. General Motors Corp. announced this week that it plans to offer the bags in 15 more of its models by next model year. Six of GM's 81 models already contain the devices. The Las Vegas chemical company American Pacific Corp. could benefit from the growing side airbag market. It makes sodium azide -- which is used in airbag inflators -- at a plant in Cedar City, Utah. AP's sodium azide sales during the fourth quarter were $4.9 million and should trend upward thanks to a three-year, $50 million, contract with airbag maker Autoliv ASP.
* VIDEO POKER ON TRIAL IN SOUTH CAROLINA -- Video gambling is a "scourge of our state" that should be outlawed, a lawyer told South Carolina's Supreme Court today. While the issue has been debated for almost 10 years in pulpits and the Legislature, video gambling has grown into a $2 billion-a-year industry. Gov. David Beasley, who calls video poker "the crack cocaine of gambling," is leading a charge to outlaw it. The state Supreme Court until now had avoided deciding whether video poker is an illegal game of chance or a game of skill. But the issue was thrust at the justices by a federal lawsuit filed against the industry by people who have lost money in the machines. A federal judge hearing that case asked the state's highest court to advise him on the machines' legality The plaintiffs in the lawsuit "seek relief from the pestilence of unlimited lotteries which have become the scourge of our state," their lawyer, Richard Gergel, argued before a packed courtroom today.
* TIMET BUYS ITALIAN FIRM -- Titanium Metals Corp. of Denver, which has a big Henderson plant, said it completed the purchase of Italian titanium maker Loterios S.p.A. It has annual sales of about $22 million and is a leader in supplying the North Sea oil and gas drilling market.
* BANK OPENS HEADQUARTERS -- BankWest of Nevada opened its new corporate headquarters today at 2700 W. Sahara Ave. The bank opened a Henderson regional office last year and plans a third regional center in the Northwest Valley.
* POLE INVENTORY -- Global Positioning Satellite technology will be used to survey the approximately 90,000 utility poles used by Nevada Power in Southern Nevada. The company has contracted with Osmose Wood Preserving Inc. to conduct the survey, which will determine the exact location and size of poles, the amount, type and condition of equipment strung from the poles and whether lines are properly attached. Nevada Power plans to use the information for better response during emergencies and for routine maintenance.
To contact SUN Business Editor Steve Green, call 259-4083 or e-mail [email protected]
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