Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 31, 1993 TAG: 9312310111
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
WASHINGTON - Prices paid to farmers for their goods were unchanged from November to December, the Agriculture Department said Thursday.
Price gains for tomatoes, corn, wheat and strawberries offset declines for oranges, hogs, cattle and lemons. And increases for corn, soybeans, milk and sorghum offset declines for cattle, lettuce, apples and hogs.
Compared with December 1992, prices paid to farmers were 5.1 percent higher.
Vegetable prices showed the steepest increase, up 12 percent from November but down 6.5 percent from a year ago.
Fruit prices, including citrus, showed the sharpest drop, down 9.8 percent from November but up 2.5 percent from a year earlier. - Associated Press
Teamsters to ask for higher dues
In an unprecedented and controversial gamble to save the International Brotherhood of Teamsters from falling into financial straits, the union's international president, Ronald Carey, said he plans to ask members to increase annual dues about 25 percent.
Carey says the cause of the 1.4 million-member union's financial crisis is a combination of two factors: not raising the monthly per capita union dues for 10 years and the decision at the union's 1991 convention to nearly quadruple strike pay, from $55 a week to $200 a week. Per capita dues have remained at $3.70 since 1983.
Teamsters International Secretary-Treasurer Thomas Sever predicts the union's strike fund will be depleted by June. The union has about $18 million and is distributing about $2.6 million a month in strike pay. - Newsday
Mortgage rates higher this week
WASHINGTON - The average interest rate on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages rose to 7.2 percent this week, up from 7.17 percent the previous week, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said Thursday.
Rates hit a 25-year low of 6.74 percent in mid-October but have been above 7 percent for all of November and December. They started the year at 8.07 percent.
On one-year adjustable rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 4.19 percent, down from 4.21 percent last week.
Fifteen-year mortgages averaged 6.65 percent, down from 6.69 percent a week earlier. - Associated Press
Truck-firm owner seeks credit haven
One petition with a business connection has been filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke.
Roger H. Deel and Martha G. Deel of Vansant asked for reorganization and protection from creditors. They estimated assets at less than $50,000 and liabilities at more than $100,000. Roger Deel is the owner of Jason Trucking Co. - Staff report
Best settles suit, vendors' issue
RICHMOND - Best Products Co. Inc., Richmond-based retailer with a store in Roanoke, has cleared two major hurdles in its quest to emerge from bankruptcy court protection next year.
The catalog showroom company said it has settled a lawsuit with Equitable Life Assurance Society over money Best paid to Equitable weeks before filing for bankruptcy protection.
The company also combined two classes of trade vendors into one. Having two groups had been a major source of disagreement with some creditors.
W. Edward Clingman Jr., Best's general counsel, said the moves should give the company an easier time getting approval of its reorganization plan by creditors and the court.
- Associated Press
The drop of the ball ends up in the soup
PHILADELPHIA - Campbell soup and wintry weather usually are a good match. But this week, the Campbell Co. was battling the elements, and the elements may have won.
The Camden, N.J., food company had agreed to sponsor tonight's annual New Year's Eve ball drop in Times Square with a promotion to raise money for the relief agency CARE.
Campbell hung a seven-story canvas banner down the side of One Times Square Monday for a media preview. But Wednesday night, gale-force winds broke some of the cables and smashed several windows in the building. No one was hurt, but the 800-pound banner was removed and it was doubtful it would be repaired in time for tonight's celebration. - Knight-Ridder/Tribune
by CNB