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

DATE: TUESDAY, August 29, 1995                   TAG: 9508290040
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IN BUSINESS

NEW YORK - The Procter & Gamble Co. filed a lawsuit Monday against an individual associated with Amway Corp. ``for spreading false and malicious statements connecting Procter & Gamble with satanism.''

The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court of Utah against Randy Haugen, a distributor of Amway household products, and a member of the executive committee of the Amway Distributors Association Council.

The complaint alleges Haugen used Amway's electronic voice-mail system to spread the rumor to other Amway distributors.

Procter & Gamble vice president James Johnson said the company had been fighting ``this outrageous rumor'' for more than 15 years.

``Amway competes directly with Procter & Gamble in a number of our product lines, and some Amway distributors have used this rumor to encourage a consumer boycott of Procter & Gamble products,'' Johnson said.

The rumors allege that Procter & Gamble's president discussed satanism on a television talk show and that the company's ``moon and stars'' trademark is a satanic symbol.

- Associated Press

Coal production edges up for week

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Domestic coal production totaled 19.87 million tons during the week ending Aug. 19, up slightly from the 19.85 million tons produced the previous week, the U.S. Department of Energy reported Monday.

The U.S. coal industry produced 20.7 million tons in the same week last year, according to the department's Energy Information Administration.

Virginia mines produced 780,000 tons during the survey week, up from 706,000 tons the week before but down from 783,000 tons a year earlier.

Domestic coal production so far this year is about 635 million tons, 1 percent ahead of last year's production at this time.

- Associated Press