Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.law From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: law Fri, Jul 17 1992 Date: Fri, 17 Jul 92 05:16:17 EDT Message-ID: 07-17 0000 DECISIONLINE: Business Law USA TODAY Update July 17-19, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network INDIANS PROTEST TAXES: Seneca Indians protesting a proposed New York state tax on gas and cigarettes sales on reservations Thursday used burning tires and other debris to briefly close two major highways. They closed 30 miles of the New York State Thruway southwest of Buffalo and 30-miles of the Southern Tier Expressway between Randolph and Hinsdale. Four troopers were hurt and 13 protesters were arrested. FCC OPENS PHONE MARKET: The Federal Communications Commission voted Thursday to let local phone companies transmit cable TV directly to homes in direct competition with cable TV systems. If Congress approves, the phone companies also could own up to 5% of the TV programs they transmit. That means, in theory, they could own stakes in popular stations such as ESPN or HBO. CABLE HAS TO BE INSTALLED: Under the Federal Communications Commission's new plan, phone firms could offer: Programming on demand; TV bulletin boards and high-definition TV (HDTV). Phone companies say they could begin transmitting cable TV directly to homes by 1995, but thousands of miles of fiber-optic cable have to be laid out first. The plan's critics say the huge cost will be financed by telephone customers. STUDY POINTS OUT CONTAMINATION: Two thousand Pacific Northwest coastal residents may have been contaminated by Hanford nuclear reservation radiation between 1944 and 1972, a study said Thursday. The weapons plant released radiation into the Columbia River, contaminating Pacific Ocean seafood, scientists say. Exposure levels are "not such that people ought to panic," says Bruce Napier, co-author of the study. NORTHWEST SUED FOR BIAS: Northwest Airlines is accused in a lawsuit in St. Paul, Minn., of discriminating against Asian and Hispanic women by requiring flight attendants be at least 5 feet, 2 inches tall. Northwest says crews must be able to reach safety gear. The new minimum this year will be 5 feet. WORKERS HOPE TO AVOID TRADE WAR: Makers of flat-rolled steel in Canada want Canada and the U.S. to sign a steel accord to avoid a costly trade war. They have submitted a proposal to the Canadian government, Stelco Inc. Chairman Fred Telmer said Thursday. It seeks a bilateral agreement that might include provisions, such as subsidies dumping laws, Bloomberg Business News reports. REITER CHARGED IN FEDERAL COURT: Federal prosecutors in Manhattan Thursday charged a former director of General Technologies Group Ltd., Eli Reiter, with doctoring the company's results to show profits when the company lost several million dollars, Bloomberg Business News reports. Reiter, who pleaded not guilty, faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000. BONNEVILLE IN AGREEMENT: California Energy Co. Inc. announced Thursday that it has entered into an agreement in principle with Bonneville Pacific Corp. for the purchase of a 75% interest in a 50 megawatt natural gas-fueled cogeneration development project located in Yuma, Ariz. Bonneville Pacific is reorganizing under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. EDGAR BORN TO SEC: At 7:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, the Securities and Exchange Commission, gave birth to EDGAR, its long-awaited electronic filing system, after an eight-year gestation period. One minute later, EDGAR successfully received its first live filing, a Form S-8 registration statement transmitted by Bowne & Co. Inc. to EDGAR's network of five fault-tolerant Stratus computers. SYSTEM TO MAINTAIN ORDER: The primary function of EDGAR (Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval system), which began Wednesday, is to help the Securities and Exchange Commission staff continue to fulfill its mandate to protect investors and maintain fair and orderly securities markets. The SEC's staff must dig itself out from under a mountain of paper filings that is clogging the regulatory gears. TEXAS INSTRUMENTS LOSES SUIT: Texas Instruments Thursday lost a lawsuit it had brought against Cypress Semiconductor, Cypress said. TI alleged test circuitry used in many of Cypress's programmable logic device products violated a TI patent. A Dallas jury ruled the patent was invalid because of a prior invention. BURLINGTON NORTHERN SUED: A class action lawsuit was filed Thursday against Burlington Northern Railroad Company on behalf of more than 50,000 residents of Wisconsin and Minnesota. They were forced to evacuate their homes and businesses following a train derailment in Superior, Wis., on June 30 which emptied toxic vapor. The suit seeks unspecified damages and was filed in the Wisconsin Circuit Court. Business Law Editor: Kate Coughlin. (919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM