Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 25, 1993 TAG: 9311250250
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: C1 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Thirty-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 7.31 percent this week, the highest in five months, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said Wednesday.
The average was up from 7.08 percent a week ago and the highest since rates averaged 7.34 percent in the week of July 24.
The average hit a 25-year low of 6.74 percent last month, but has been above 7 percent for the past four weeks.
On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 4.30 percent, up from 4.20 percent last week.
Fifteen-year mortgages, an increasingly popular option for those refinancing mortgages, averaged 6.84 percent, up from 6.62 percent a week earlier. - Associated Press
\ Orange juice scam brings fines, prison
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Three food company executives have been sentenced in a 12-year scheme to sell consumers adulterated orange juice.
The juices were distributed under at least 23 labels from 1979-91 and defrauded the public of at least $10 million, federal authorities said.
James Marshall, co-owner of Flavor Fresh Foods of Chicago, was sentenced Monday to 37 months and fined $125,000 after pleading guilty to conspiracy and adulteration of a food product in interstate commerce. James Benton, a co-owner, was given 2 1/2 years and fined $25,000 after pleading guilty to food adulteration.
Edward Crouse, owner of Peninsular Products Co. of Lansing, was given one year of home detention on his guilty plea to food adulteration.
The Lansing company and its Chicago distributor were accused of using large amounts of low-cost inferior ingredients, such as sugar, citric acid and amino acids, and falsely labeling the product orange juice from concentrate. - Associated Press
\ Los Angeles sets landing-fee deadline
LOS ANGELES - The city set a Dec. 4 deadline for 75 airlines to pay higher fees or stop landing at Los Angeles International Airport. The carriers, which account for about 90 percent of the airport's nearly 2,000 takeoffs and landings a day, got the notice Tuesday.
Fees were tripled July 1 from 51 cents to $1.53 per 1,000 pounds. That means a Boeing 747 landing costs about $900.
Roanoke Regional Airport charges 95 cents per 1,000 pounds for airlines that regularly operate there. For the average jet landing in Roanoke, a Boeing 737-200 weighing 98,000 pounds, the fee is $93. For a 37,000-pound commuter airliner, the fee is $35.
The airlines say the new fees are higher than needed to pay airport operating expenses. The city contends that fees under a recently expired, 40-year agreement were artificially low.
A federal court hearing on an airline lawsuit opposing the fees is scheduled for Dec. 6, two days after the deadline. - Associated Press
by CNB