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Show heSaltLakeTribune BUSINESS SAVVY CONSUMER, B-7 MARKET. Indicators WTRADEWINDS, B-7 MEBUSINESS GLANCE, B-9 PageB-6 MAY9, 2000 @ DILBERT, B-10 Delta Asks Utah for Some Tax Relief Butair carrier plans to keep Salt Lake hub BY GUY BOULTON THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Delta Air Lines Inc. has asked state officials to look at whether the airline’s property taxes in Utah are too high. But that doesn’t mean Delta is getting ready to pack up and move. The airline, the largest at Salt Lake City International Airport, is adamant Thatis nothing new. aboutthat. About two years ago, Delta started re“Delta is not considering moving its aligning flights from Salt Lake City, fohub from Salt Lake,” spokeswoman Alecusing on longer flights and dropping sia Watson said. “Delta is not suggesting several shorter routes. It also dropped or that the Salt Lake hubis at risk.” Theairline met with Utah officials, in- © cut back on several routes where it competes with SouthwestAirlines Co. cluding Rich McKeown, Gov. Mike LeavThe Salt Lakeairport is the only major itt’s chiefof staff, to talk aboutthecosts of Delta hubin which Southwesthas a large doing business in the state, Watsonsaid. presence. For that reason,it is thought to Andit noted those costs are a factor in fare in Atlanta was $170 and the average fare in Cincinnati was $238. Further, Salt Lake City is not a large business market, particularly compared with Cincinnati and Atlanta. Business fares — weekday trips with no overnight stay on Saturday — generate the bulk of howDelta allocates its resources, partic- be less profitable than Delta’s other large an airline’sprofits. The market-probably has more to do with Delta’s profits, in other words, than the costofdoing business in Utah. For that ularly where it adds newflights. “What Delta has told Utah officials is that the cost ofdoing business in Salt Lake City put that city at a growth disadvan- hubs in Atlanta and Cincinnati. matter, rumors periodically surface that The average fare in Salt Lake City was $141 in the secondquarterof last year, ac- Delta plans to pull outof Salt Lake City. But Delta also may have a valid cording to the U.S. Departmentof Transportation. By comparison, the average See DELTA, Page B-14 tage vis-a-vis other Delta hubs,” she said. S.L. Valley REINVENTING ITSELF Lands 230 New Jobs ANALYSIS Stocks drifted to a mixed finish in the quietest session of the year Mondayas investors worried aboutinterest rates andtookprofits from a modestrally on Friday. Technologystocksfell. Towa companyopening distribution, call centers MarketWatch.com to Use BY LESLEY MITCHELL $86 M for Expansion THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE MarketWatch.com Inc., which operates financial-services Web sites, received $86 million in cash, advertising and promotion from its major shareholders CBS Corp. and Data Broadcasting Corp., Bloomberg News reported. As part of the transaction, CBS’ broadcasting unit paid about $30 mil- lion in advertising and promotion and $13 million in cash. Data Broadcasting of Midvale paid about$43 million. MarketWatch.com, based in San Francisco, offers news, commentary and Webtools to Internet users who want to track business andthe stock market. CBS and DBCeachreceived about 1.14 million MarketWatch.com shares at about $37.83 per share. The investment boosts each company’s stake in MarketWatch.comto 34.4 percentfrom 31.4 percent. MarketWatch.com said Rick Egan/The Salt Lake Tribune Nordstrom will replace its store at Fashion Place Mall in Murray with a bigger one — part of a nationwide expansioneffort. Expansion Is in Fashion for Nordstrom the moneywill go toward expansion. Biggerstore is part of larger compared with 110,000 square feet in the Scam Victims Get Checks revamping oiFashion Place thefall of 2002 north ofthe existing store Victims of a massive Ponziinvestment schemeare getting back less than 12 cents on thedollar. BY PHIL SAHM. making thefirst return for many of Wayne Ogden’sreal-estate investors and creditors. Bankruptcy trustee Steve Bailey is mailing 288 checkstotaling more than $800,000 that should arrive by today or Wednesday. The payments range from $5.71 —a fraction of a $48.11 claim by a Kinko’s copy shop — to as muchas $21,382. Bailey is readying another $189,240 in payments for other claims. The Ponzi schemerelieved 500 investorsofat least $6.8 million. A bankruptcy probe that started almost three years ago nowis liquidating Og- den’s assets ashesits in prison. Ogden was imprisoned July 6, 1998. Investment Fraud Probed The U.S.attorneyfor the District of South Carolinais looking for Utahns who mayhave been victimsof an alleged multimillion-dollar international investment scheme. Thecase involves two South Carolina pastorsindicted on charges that they operated a “high yield trading program”that defrauded peopleof $7 million. Johnny William Cabe, 40, and Shelton Joel Shirley, 48, are accused of op- erating a program called HiswayInternational Ministries in which they claimed participants could earn as muchas 500 percent in two weeks to three months. Both menpleaded innocent to the charges. Anyone whobelieves they may have been the victims of the alleged scheme should call Renee Mattox, victim/witness coordinatorfor the U.S. attorney for South Carolina,(800) 837-2655. CORRECTIONS & CLARIFICATIONS Emery ‘Telecommunications & Video Inc. of Orangeville Mo- THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE As part of a campaign to reinventitself, Nordstrom Inc.will replace its store at Murray's Fashion Place Mall with a new onenearly a third larger, the com- in the northwest area of the mall’s property. Nordstrom’s decision to replace the current store is not a response to last year’s acquisition of ZCMI Department Store by May Department Store Co., Nordstrom spokeswoman Paula Wei- space will be used for retail as well. Both stores will continueto operate as the new onesare built. The mall renovationalso will include 115,000 of new retail space. Work on the project is scheduled to start by the end of announcementit will open a third Utah store at Orem’s University Mall in 2002 also is part ofthe expansionplan. The new Murray store will total 144,000 square feet on two levels, gandsaid. May Co., based in St. Louis, is the second-largest departmentstore chain in the country, and: its acquisition of the 14-store old-line Utah retailer gives the companyits first presence in Utah. But Weigand said Nordstrom will expand at FashionPlace because thestore has been successful enoughto nieritit. The new Nordstrom is part ofa larger renovationfor the mall that will include a newDillard’sstore as well, said Larry Oil, Gas Lines Are Likely to The federal govermentis preparing an environmental impact statementfor three pipeline pany announced Monday. The project is part of a national expansion the Seattle department store chain has undertakenin the country’s 50 largest metropolitan areas. The chain’s Stir Up Debate the year, Brocato said. Nordstrom has struggled with sales somewhatin recent years. But the com- panyrecently redesigned its stores and revamped its merchandise mix, particularly in women’sclothing. Classic and mainstream styles accounted for approximately 90 percentof the women’s clothing, Weigandsaid. But Monday. Riverstone is one of dozens of companies over the past year that have opened or announced plans to open distribution facilities in Utah. High-profile centers that have opened in recentyears include those operated by nutritional supplement provider Weider Nutrition International and candle maker Yankee Candle Co. Oneofthelargest distribution centers set to open in the state is an 860,000square-foot facility that will be operated by Wal-Mart Corp. of Bentonville, Ark., near Corinne in Box Elder County. The facility will supply several of the company’s newstoresthat will sell grocery items in addition to general merchandise. Several smaller companies, such as hair-salon operator Regis Corp., are building or leasing facilities. Regis is building a 200,000-square-foot distribution See NORDSTROM,Page B-14 See RIVERSTONE,Page B-13 Dream Homeor Bad Dream? SomeTips for Buying Smart In The Pipeline plans in Utah. BY LESLEY MITCHELL ‘THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Peggy Call considered buying a BY BRENT ISRAELSEN spacious two-story homenestled in a quiet Salt Lake City neighborhood. Until she contacted the police ‘THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE If three pipeline companies have their way with three federal agencies, department. northern Utah soon may be awashin energy. Questar Pipeline Co., the Kern River Gas Transmission Co. and Wil- makeoffers and commit to paying for inspections. For example, many police departments allow people to inquire about the types and numbers of crimes that have occurred in specific homes and neighborhoods.Although most charge a fee for reports, the cost typically is minimal. Salt Lake City residents, for example, can visit the Salt liams Pipeline Co. have proposed new pipelines across major portions of federal land in Utah to deliver natural gas and finished petroleum products, such as gasoline andjetfuel. Refore it happens, however, expect a vigorous economic and political UTAH feel. battle among the energy companies. “There are competitors who are watching this. It's controversial,” said LaVerne Steah, project manager for the U.S, Bureau of Land Management. Kern River and Questar will fight each other to see who is mostfit to tap into soon-to-be-developed natural-gas sources in Carbon County. Feeling threatened by the competi‘tion from Williams,oil refineries in Salt Lake and Davis counties, meanwhile, may try to punch holes in that com} 's plan to pipe petroleum to the Wasatch Front from Hl Bankruptcy court officials are currentstore. It is scheduled to open in Brocato, vice presidentofThe Rouse Co., the Maryland-based owner of Fashion Place. The mall is negotiating with a third national chain to take the old Dillard’s spot, and the current Nordstrom RiverstoneInc.of Lisbon, Iowa, has selected the Salt Lake City area for a 230employee operation that will handle the distribution of products sold on the Internet. The company, which employs60 people in Iowa, has leased two buildings: a 19,717-square-footcall center in the Presidential Business Center, 3752 W. 2270 South, West Valley City; and a 60,000square-foot distribution center at Crossroads Corporate Center, 1110 S. 3800 West, Salt LakeCity. Riverstone contracts with e-commerce companiesthat advertise products on the Internet. It maintains an inventory ofits clients’ products, handles orders for products andships them to customers. The company selected Utah as its Western distribution center after considering sites in Nevada and Colorado,Chief Executive Officer Mike Mulvehill said which supplies crude oil to Wasatch Frontrefineries. See PIPELINES, Page B-13 COLORADO ment bathroom. Such labs often leave hazardous waste suspected of causing long-term illnesses and can cost thousands of dollars to clean up. Neo = EssigWarspat ProposeWiliamspane Eat KaFr ple = —- ™ es] q mM Sean Noyce / The Salt Lake Tribune t “T've always figured that if I'm going to spend a lot of money on a home,I should do lot of research,” said. “This time I'm really glad Idid.” Professional home inspections can be expensive, costing as much as $500 or more when tests for hazards such as lead-based paint or radon — a colorless, odorless gas — are included, But home buyers who take the initiative can uncover lot of information on their own that may help them rule out properties before they office at 315 E. 200 South and inquire about crimes that have occurred at a specific address. Requests often can be filled the same day. Anyone requesting information must do so in writing. Private information about the property, such as names of the homeowners, is omitted to protect their privacy. In addition, the department's Community Support Division,(801) ‘799-3440, can provide information aboutthe types ofcrimes committed in specific neighborhoods, said David Atherton,director of support services for the Salt Lake City Po_lice Department. Federal law requires sellers to disclose a property's defects to buyers. But sellers sometimes omit Sce HOUSE HUNTING,Page B-13 |