Business briefs for Oct. 2, 2003

Thursday, Oct. 2, 2003 | 11:09 a.m.

Judge: Pension suit can proceed

HOUSTON -- Current and former Enron Corp. employees will be allowed to proceed with a lawsuit that contends the bankrupt energy trader didn't meet its duties in administering the company's pension plan.

In a 329-page order released Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon denied motions by Enron and its former chief executive, Kenneth Lay, requesting the claims against them be dismissed.

However, Harmon did dismiss claims that cited the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO, against a number of other Enron officials, including former chief executive Jeff Skilling and former chief financial officer Andrew Fastow.

Enron and its executives are accused of selling off company stock while workers were locked out of their 401(k) accounts as the company's stock price plummeted.

As the share price fell, current and retired employees said they were forced to helplessly watch as their life savings dissolved because the company barred them from selling Enron shares from their retirement accounts.

Vegas publications group sold

RB Communications LLC, which publishes Las Vegas Health magazine, The Magazine of Summerlin and two publications circulated in Arizona, has been acquired by Gannett Pacific Publications Inc., a Phoenix-based subsidiary of the Gannett Co., McLean, Va.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

RB Communications, owned by partners Bill Richman, Las Vegas, and Joel Bennett, Moorpark, Calif., is based on Durango Drive, just south of Tropicana Avenue.

Eight employees at the small publishing house, which will be renamed RBC Publications Inc., are expected to continue working in Las Vegas, although the company is expanding in Arizona with this month's debut of 101 North, the Magazine of North Scottsdale. The company also publishes AZ Health magazine.

Evan Ray, vice president of Gannett Pacific Publications, said his company acquired the Las Vegas operation because of its success in effectively serving niche audiences. He said Richman, who was named president of the operation, would work with Gannett to explore expansion.

Gannett owns 100 newspapers in 44 states with a combined paid circulation of 7.7 million subscriptions and 22 U.S. television stations covering 17.8 percent of the nation. It also publishes USA Today and USA Weekend

Regional editions of USA Today are produced locally by Las Vegas Press, a division of Wick Communications, Sierra Vista, Ariz., which is in the fourth year of a 10-year printing contract.

Down-payment plan advances

WASHINGTON -- The House passed a bill Wednesday that could help 40,000 low-income families afford a down payment on a house.

The American Dream Downpayment Act would provide $200 million in Housing and Urban Development Department grants to needy families over the next two years. That would be about $5,000 per family for downpayment and closing-cost help, said supporters of the bill sponsored by Rep. Katherine Harris, R-Fla.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers divided over President Bush's $87 billion request for Iraq reconstruction briefly dropped their squabbling to pass the bill on a voice vote.

Homeowners boost the economy and help restore blighted neighborhoods, bill supporters said.

The grants also would help more minorities buy homes, they said. Less than 50 percent of black and Hispanic families are homeowners although the overall national home ownership rate hit a record 66.2 percent in 2000.

And many poor families can afford a monthly mortgage but cannot save enough for the downpayment, said Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Financial Services housing subcommittee. Ney said his father saved for 20 years before he was able to buy a home in the 1960s.