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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 26, 1995                   TAG: 9507260044
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IN BUSINESS

Kerkorian's offer to buy 14 million shares of Chrysler stock at $50 each ran through midnight Tuesday. The Kerkorian camp was comfortable Tuesday that at least that many shares had been tendered by stockholders, according to a source close to Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp.

Documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission suggest he might try to buy additional stock or work with other shareholders to take control of the Chrysler board.

|-Associated Press

Gas company

seeks rate boost

A $15.1 million rate increase sought by Commonwealth Gas Services Inc. of Richmond will be heard Jan. 10 by the State Corporation Commission. The supplier's service area includes Alleghany, Giles and Rockbridge counties and the eastern half of Bedford County. Overall, the company serves nearly 160,000 customers in 81 communities and 31 counties.

Written comments will be accepted through Nov. 20 by the Clerk of the Commission, c/o Document Control Center, P.O. Box 2118, Richmond, Va. 23216. Correspondence should refer to Case No.PUE950033.

|-Staff report

Westvaco to reopen

old woodyard

Westvaco Corp. will reopen its woodyard near Natural Bridge Station in Rockbridge County late this summer and is seeking suppliers of sawmill chips and pulpwood.

The wood bought at the new yard will be shipped to Westvaco's bleached-board paper mill in Covington and possibly other Westvaco mills, the company said.

Westvaco produces 2,500 tons of paperboard a day in Covington, where it employs 1,900 people. The company operates other mills in South Carolina, Maryland, West Virginia and Kentucky.

|-Staff report

Briefly

nTruck Enterprises Roanoke has been named one of four regional dealers of the year by Kenworth Truck Co. of Kirkland, Wash. The truck maker evaluates its dealers on 200 measures of their operations and customer satisfaction. The Roanoke dealer, where Ed Quinn is general manager, was cited among Kenworth operations in 11 Southeastern states.

nThe Holt Group Inc., a Greensboro, N.C., designer and seller of trade show display equipment, has opened a showroom at 3825 Electric Road, Roanoke. The company is a distributor for Skyline Displays. Carolyn Thornton is manager of the Roanoke office.