Business briefs for April 13, 2001

Friday, April 13, 2001 | 10:37 a.m.

Sierra expanding Nevada pipeline

RENO -- Sierra Pacific Resources and TC PipeLines LP plan to spend $60 million to almost double the capacity of a natural-gas pipeline to meet surging demand for the cleaner-burning fuel for electricity generation in Northern Nevada.

The 229-mile Tuscarora pipeline will carry as much as 220 million cubic feet of gas a day when the expansion is completed in late 2002, Sierra Pacific said in a statement. The companies plan to start construction, which requires approval by the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, in April 2002.

The Tuscarora lines carries gas from Malin, Ore., near the California border, to Wadsworth, Nev., where two gas-fired power plants are being built.

Sierra Pacific is the parent of Nevada Power Co. of Las Vegas. TC PipeLines, based in Houston, is a Nasdaq-listed partnership that's one-third owned by TransCanada PipeLines Ltd., Canada's biggest pipeline company.

Retailer closing three Las Vegas-area stores

Specialty toy retailer Play Co. Toys & Entertainment Corp. and subsidiary Toys International.com Inc., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 28, will close their three Southern Nevada stores once liquidation sales are completed.

The San Marcos, Calif.-based company, which filed for bankruptcy in New York, is liquidating 35 stores nationwide. About 30 people, including part-timers, will lose their jobs in the Las Vegas area.

There are two Toys International stores in Las Vegas, one at the Desert Passage mall at the Aladdin hotel-casino and another at the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian hotel-casino. The company also has a discount toy store called Toy Co. at the Fashion Outlet mall in Primm.

"It's been an incredibly soft year in the toy retail industry," said James Frakes, Toys' chief financial officer. "The economic slowdown has hit the groups that are in specialty toy retail especially hard. People aren't going to pay for educational toys when they are worried about their jobs, and children also tend to stop playing with toys at a younger age now."

Lender seeks receiver for restaurant, bar complex

Shustek Investments Inc. sued to appoint a receiver for a popular Las Vegas bar and its owner, Peace Plaza II LLC, alleging they defaulted on interest payments for a $3.7 million mortgage loan.

Shustek Investments, which said it is a beneficiary of the loan issued by its associated company Vestin Mortgage Inc., sued Peace Plaza II -- which collaterized the loan against Bix's, a bar and restaurant with retail shops at 4455 and 4465 South Buffalo Drive.

Shustek's suit is aimed at preserving the property pending a foreclosure sale and to recover rents the defendants are allegedly collecting from its tenants.

The suit said a receiver is needed because Peace Plaza is having financial problems and is allegedly already unable to make payments to two other secured creditors, Nevada State Bank and Steve Savran, as evidenced by their alleged attempts to foreclose on the property in recent months.

The defendants could not be reached for comment.

Las Vegas executive transferred to Atlanta

Jill Campbell, who has headed the Las Vegas division of Cox Communications as vice president and general manager for the past three years, is leaving Southern Nevada to accept a promotion in Atlanta.

John Dyer, a senior vice president of operations for Cox's western division cable operations, will oversee the Southern Nevada operation until Campbell's successor is named.

Campbell's new title, beginning May 7, will be vice president of operations for the Cox Central Division, which serves 2.1 million customers in the Atlanta area.

The Greenspun family, owner of the Las Vegas Sun, is a minority investor in Cox's Las Vegas system.