THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 20, 1996 TAG: 9603200637
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
Virginia Natural Gas names new president
Virginia Natural Gas, which serves more than 200,000 customers in Eastern Virginia, has named Jerry L. Causey company president. Causey, of Norfolk, replaces William A. Fox, who has been named president of two Virginia Natural Gas sister companies: The People Natural Gas Co. of Pittsburgh and Hope Gas Inc. of Clarksburg, W.Va. Causey, 53, is currently a Virginia Natural Gas vice president of operations. Causey started with the gas company in 1984 and is active in civic affairs. He and Fox start their new jobs April 1. (Staff)
Moon Engineering gets another overhaul contract
The Navy awarded Moon Engineering Co. Inc. its second cruiser overhaul contract this month. Moon will do $3.8 million of work aboard the guided missile cruiser Anzio starting in April. It won a similar $2.9 million overhaul of the cruiser Cape St. George in early March. Both warships are based in Norfolk. The contracts will help keep 300 workers busy at the small Portsmouth shipyard through June, said Jim Thomas, the yard's executive vice president and general manager. Moon had done little Navy repair work for several years, but recently has landed a variety of contracts. (Staff)
USX proposal to settle lawsuit gets court OK
A federal court has approved USX Corp.'s proposal to pay $8.7 million to settle a class-action lawsuit by a group of investors. U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh agreed Monday to allow USX to settle with thousands of investors who bought about 9 million shares of common stock in USX's U.S. Steel Group in July 1993. The investors paid $36.35 per share from July 22-26. On July 27, the stock had dropped $4.75 a share to $31.60. They sued, saying USX misled them when they bought the shares. They said they lost $42.7 million. The price dropped after the International Trade Commission rejected claims by USX and other domestic steelmakers that foreign steelmakers had driven down prices illegally. (Associated Press)
Housing starts rise to highest level in year
Housing starts rose 3 percent in February to the highest level in more than a year with builders more confident consumers are entering the market to beat rising mortgage rates. All regions shared in the advance except for the Midwest, which suffered a double-digit decline. The Commerce Department said that construction of new homes and apartments totaled 1.49 million at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, highest since 1.51 million in December 1994. Many analysts had expected starts to fall back to a 1.42 million rate. Starts had increased a revised 1.5 percent in January, to a 1.45 million rate, slower than the 4.4 percent original estimate. Analysts had said the East Coast blizzard and severe temperatures in the Midwest held back construction. (AP) by CNB