ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Friday, August 30, 1996                TAG: 9608300067
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: A-11 EDITION: METRO 

IN BUSINESS

Regulators return ValuJet's license

WASHINGTON - Federal regulators returned ValuJet's operating license Thursday, a move that could get the budget airline back in the skies as early as the end of next week.

``ValuJet addressed and completed the items outlined in the consent order'' that grounded the airline, said Bill White, FAA deputy director of flight standards services.

ValuJet was grounded in June because of concerns over its maintenance procedures. A May 11 crash in the Florida Everglades that killed all 110 aboard focused attention on the airline. but it had been under scrutiny by regulators since last year for a series of accidents, including planes sliding off runways and a fire.

-Associated Press

Mortgage rates up

WASHINGTON - Thirty-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 8.09 percent this week, up from 7.93 percent last week and the highest since Aug. 1, when rates averaged 8.23 percent, according to a survey released Thursday by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.

On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.75 percent, down from 5.79 percent last week. Fifteen-year mortgages averaged 7.6 percent, up from 7.45 percent.

-Associated Press

Briefly

U.S. stock and financial markets will be closed Monday for the Labor Day holiday, and the weekly auction of Treasury bills will be postponed until Tuesday. The Roanoke Times will publish business news but no financial tables Tuesday. Stock and mutual-fund reports will resume in Wednesday's editions.

Premier Bankshares Corp. of Bluefield said Thursday it has agreed to acquire Big Stone Gap Bank and Trust Co. in a $4 million transaction, subject to approval by regulators and stockholders of Big Stone Gap Bank and Trust. Big Stone Gap shareholders would get $50 for each of the 80,000 shares of outstanding stock.

Volunteers of America, one of the nation's oldest and largest not-for-profit service organizations, is moving from Louisiana to Virginia and expects to employ 35 people in Alexandria, Gov. George Allen said Thursday. The organization, founded in 1896, offers more than 160 programs, including low-income housing, long-term nursing care and other health services.

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