Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 24, 1995 TAG: 9508240068
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday it is investigating whether the nation's tire companies are engaging in anti-competitive practices.
Among companies asked to provide information in the case are Akron, Ohio-based Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Nashville, Tenn.-based Bridgestone/Firestone Inc., and Findlay, Ohio-based Cooper Tire & Rubber Co.
The Justice Department also contacted Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Corp., asking to meet with employees regarding tire industry practices, the companies said. General Motors declined comment on the matter.
-Bloomberg Business News
Midwest stages income rebound
WASHINGTON - Americans living in the nation's interior enjoyed the fastest growth in personal incomes last year, boosted in part by a rebound in farm income that had fallen during the 1993 Midwest floods.
The study released Wednesday by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis found per capita income for the nation rose 4.3 percent in 1994, to $21,699. The slowest growth was in the West, including California, the last state to emerge from the recent recession.
-Associated Press
Microsoft Network gets USA TODAY
USA TODAY will launch a regularly updated news and information service - including deep sports information and its trademark graphics - on The Microsoft Network, Microsoft's new online service.
An electronic service has been produced by USA TODAY since mid-April, but it has been accessible only by using special software that USA TODAY sends to customers for $12.95 monthly. The stand-alone service, with its Internet access, will continue to be offered.
USA TODAY's service on MSN will be free for a time.
-Staff report
Briefly ...
Scott & Stringfellow Inc., Richmond-based brokerage, financial services and investing banking company with offices in Roanoke, has opened a branch in Williamsburg, its 27th.
Public Service Co. of Colorado said it will merge with Southwestern Public Service Co. of Texas in a deal expected to push more cost-conscious electric companies into mergers. The combination proposed Wednesday would create a utility serving customers in Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, Wyoming, Oklahoma and Kansas.
Fleet Financial Group Inc. and Shawmut National Corp. say they will sell off 64 bank branches in four New England states as part of their plan to merge and form the nation's ninth-largest banking company. The divestitures announced Wednesday are designed to bring the proposed $3.45 billion acquisition of Shawmut in line with federal fair-competition laws.
by CNB