Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, June 12, 1993                   TAG: 9306120122
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IN BUSINESS

ST. LOUIS - Members of the Aluminium, Brick and Glass Workers International have ratified a tentative three-year contract with Alcoa and Reynolds Metals Inc., a union official said Friday.

John J. Murphy, spokesman for the St. Louis-based international, said 5,051 voted in favor of the contract and 1,996 voted against it. Ten of 13 locals approved it.

Alcoa is based in Pittsburgh; Reynolds in Richmond, Va.

The proposals also require employees to bear a share of their health-care costs as part of a managed-care system in which medical personnel try to hold down costs by closely monitoring services. - Associated Press

Norfolk Southern updates crossings

Norfolk Southern Corp. said Friday it installed or upgraded automatic warning devices at 220 highway-rail grade crossings in 20 states last year, including 18 in Virginia.

Most of the work was accomplished in cooperation with federal and state authorities, with the states determining which crossings to upgrade.

These automatic warning devices consist of flashing lights and bells or a combination of flashing lights, bells and gates. Of the 18,030 public highway-rail grade crossings on Norfolk Southern, approximately 36 percent, or 6,574, are equipped with automatic warning devices, the company said.

- Wire report

Packett Group wins ad award

The Packett Group, a Roanoke advertising agency, has won a silver medal at the International Advertising Festival in New York.

The competition recognizes creative excellence in the global advertising industry. This year's competition attracted more than 3,500 entries from 50 countries.

The Packett Group won the second-place award in the public-service advertising and philanthropic appeals campaign category for a poster series produced on behalf of the United Way of Roanoke Valley.

The Packett Group donated its services for the posters, as did Roanoke photographer Greg Vaughn, Progress Printing of Lynchburg and Kelley's Advertising Art of Salem.

Sandy Murray, senior vice president and creative director at Packett, was responsible for the concept, copy and art direction. - Staff report

Piedmont Airlines name lives again

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Piedmont Aviation lives once more, if only in name. The board of USAir Group Inc.'s Henson Aviation unit announced Friday that the commuter carrier will be renamed Piedmont Airlines.

Company officials said they want to capitalize on the goodwill the old Piedmont generated throughout the South.

Another consideration: USAir Group officials had heard that other parties were interested in using the Piedmont name. To keep it, USAir had to use it in a scheduled airline operation.

Passengers probably won't notice the name change. USAir affiliates such as Henson use the USAir Express name exclusively in dealings with the public, and that won't change.

About the only visible change will come when the tiny "operated by Henson Aviation" decals on the sides of its airplanes, underneath the far larger USAir Express banners, are replaced by "operated by Piedmont Airlines" signs. - Knight-Ridder/Tribune

Bankruptcies

Three new petitions have been filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Roanoke by Western Virginia businesses. All are Chapter 7 bankruptcies, meaning the operators seek protection from creditors during liquidation:

Blackwood Fuel Co. Inc. of Norton, reported assets of $129,496 and liabilities of $4,760,469.

C & B Coal Co., also known as X & C & B Coal Co., of Norton, reported assets of $2,100 and liabilities of $286,100. James T. LaForce was listed as president of both companies.

Jimmy Wayne Hamilton, doing business as Wayne H. Trucking, and Theresa Yvonne Hamilton, of Coeburn, reported assets of $38,362 and liabilities of $61,364.

Earnings

Home Shopping Network Inc., St. Petersburg, Fla.-based television retailer with an order-filing warehouse in Salem, reported sales of $260.2 million for its third quarter ended May 31, compared with $269.3 million in the same period last year.

Net income for the period was $5.8 million, or 7 cents per share, compared with $9 million, or 10 cents per share, in the comparable period last year.