Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 17, 1993 TAG: 9309170095
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
WASHINGTON - Interest rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages rose for the first time in seven weeks but remained below 7 percent, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said Thursday.
This week's average was 6.96 percent, up from a 25-year low of 6.82 percent last week. It was the sharpest weekly increase in 11 months but the fourth week in a row the average remained below 7 percent.
The average initial rate on one-year adjustable rate mortgages was 4.36 percent, up from a nine-year low of 4.33 percent last week.
Fifteen-year mortgages, an increasingly popular option for refinancing mortgages, averaged 6.49 percent this week, up from 6.35 percent last week. - Associated Press
Kinko's to offer videoconferencing
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Sprint Corp. said Tuesday it is joining with Kinko's to establish a network of 650 stores that will offer videoconferencing to customers.
Consumers and business people will be able to go to a Kinko's copy center, dial a toll-free 800 number and conduct a videoconference with someone in another store or at a videoconference center.
Initially the service will cost $20 for 30 minutes, but after a three-month introductory period the cost will rise to as much as $150 per hour.
Kinko's plans to install the service in 100 stores by April, but sites have not yet been selected. - Kansas City Star
Applebee's to open Tanglewood eatery
A second Applebee's restaurant is planned in the Roanoke Valley in November. The bar-and-grill style eatery will occupy 5,500 square feet in Tanglewood Mall in space formerly rented by Sovran Bank. Applebee's opened in June 1992 near Valley View Mall. Construction has begun, said Tanglewood manager Judy Tullius.
She also said the mall is getting the first of its seasonal Christmas shops this week. Artscapes, an Esland, N.C., retailer of original art, set up on the mall's upper level, and Holusions of Vass, N.C., opened its 3-D poster business downstairs near K&W Cafeteria. - Staff report
Armour, Dial recall canned ham, stew
WASHINGTON - Armour Food Co. of Downers Grove, Ill., is recalling 31,420 cans of boneless ham nationwide because some may contain small pieces of glass, the Agriculture Department said Thursday.
The department also said Dial Corp. of Phoenix, Ariz., is recalling about 8,000 cans of beef stew packaged as "Armour Beef Stew" because of defective cans.
The ham recall covers all 5-pound cans of "Armour Boneless-Fully Cooked Ham, Water Added," and "Swift Premium Ham, Water Added," with the codes 3097, 3098 or 3099 on the label.
The stew recall covers all 24-ounce cans stamped with the production code "H 273" followed by the letter A, B, C or D on the first line and the number 79 on the second line.
The department said Dial noticed swollen cans with lids that were punctured by a malfunctioning stamping machine during one shift's production. - Associated Press
USAir cuts many East Coast fares
ARLINGTON - USAir on Thursday responded to new services and lower fares by rivals Southwest and Continental airlines by cutting fares to many East Coast cities, including Florida destinations.
USAir lowered fares in markets where it offers non-stop or connecting service to $34.50 for one-way weekend travel and $69 for unrestricted one-way travel.
Fares also will be cut in markets where passengers can use another airport. In Washington, one-way fares to Greensboro, N.C., will range from $84.50 on weekends to $169 for unrestricted seats.
Southwest started service Wednesday between Baltimore-Washington International Airport, where USAir has 75 percent of the boardings, and Cleveland. - Associated Press
AT&T apologizes for monkey drawing
RALEIGH, N.C. - American Telephone & Telegraph Corp. apologized Thursday after employees and the North Carolina NAACP complained about a drawing in this month's internal magazine that uses a monkey to depict African customers.
The drawing on the Fun 'N' Games page of AT&T Focus - a magazine sent to the company's 300,000 employees around the world - shows characters on several continents talking by telephone. All the characters are human except the one in Africa, which is a monkey.
AT&T said the drawing, done by a freelance artist and submitted by an outside design firm that produces the magazine, slipped by its editors. - Associated Press
by CNB