Business Journal-Portland articles from August 1995

Business Journal-Portland archives from August 1995

L-P probe leads to executive clearcut; legal problems push once-timid directors to fire top brass, dismantle Merlo's culture. (Louisiana-Pacific Corp.; Harry Merlo)
August 4, 1995... The investigation that led to the ouster of Harry Merlo and two other senior Louisiana-Pacific Corp. executives began in April with an internal inquiry by a retired federal judge and ended with directors asking the trio for their resignations....

AMR primed to absorb Care paramedics. (American Medical Response Inc.; Care Ambulance Inc.)
August 4, 1995... Care Ambulance Inc. paramedic Kent Wadsworth enjoys the thrill of facing emergency scenes. He never knows ahead of time what challenges he'll face. But the single father would prefer less chaos in his career. Wadsworth, 38, is one of two dozen...

Federal cuts may scuttle health plan. (Oregon Health Plan)
August 4, 1995... A plan by Republicans in Congress to slash Medicare and Medicaid dollars could drive a stake in the heart of the Oregon Health Plan and gouge provider pocketbooks. That's the message hospital, nursing homes and state officials took to...

Brim merges with Paracelsus Healthcare. (Brim Inc.; Paracelsus Healthcare Corp.)
August 4, 1995... Prominent health care management company Brim Inc. is being acquired by a Pasadena, Calif.-based company that owns 21 hospitals throughout the United States. Paracelsus Healthcare Corp. has agreed to acquire Brim and merge both companies'...

Legislature's light-rail deadlock frustrates business interests. (Oregon)
August 4, 1995... While the fate of a new light-rail line remains trapped in a surreal partisan tug-of-war, one thing is certain: The bizarre political machinations that may either kill or give birth to a proposed $750 million transportation package has had a...

Early boosters of property rights initiative backing off.
August 4, 1995... SEATTLE - With Initiative 164 apparently headed for the statewide ballot in November, some supporters of the private property rights initiative may be quietly backing away from the fight. The second-biggest corporate contributor to the original...

Clark County to be key battlefield in property rights war.
August 4, 1995... Clark County will likely be a flash point in the battle over Washington's Initiative 164, a property rights law that could make land-use regulation an expensive proposition for local governments. The proposed law demands compensation for...

Will anti-rental fever sweep the coast? Cannon Beach's rental ban sparks nationwide interest.(Focus on Real Estate)
August 4, 1995... Cannon Beach resident Jerome Arnold fondly remembers a time when his town had a slower pace and he lived in a comfortable rental house for a modest price. "The town used to be real quiet all winter long. You could walk right down the middle of...

Second-home owners favoring Bend over beach; Portlanders drawn in by sun, snow, open spaces.(Focus on Real Estate)
August 4, 1995... For decades, Oregonians have flocked to the coast in search of that special secluded getaway that will relieve them from the burdens of daily life. Recently, however, that migration has changed course, as more and more urban residents have...

Oregon's incentives lure manufactured-home builders.
August 4, 1995... SEATTLE - Manufactured homes are becoming increasingly popular among buyers in Washington, but Oregon is winning the race to manufacture them. Washington is the largest single Northwest market, absorbing about half the manufactured homes built...

Scrappy Calbag exec donates energy to civic projects. (Calbag Metals Co.; Warren Rosenberg)(Profile)
August 4, 1995... It's not quite noon, but Warren Rosenfeld is sheepishly stifling a yawn. "I've been up since midnight," says Rosenfeld, the president of scrap metal recycler Calbag Metals Co. "I just got back from the Orient and my clock's still a little...

Kayser: no deal in works for L-P after board coup. (interview with Louisiana-Pacific Corp. interim Chairman and CEO Donald Kayser)(Interview)
August 4, 1995... After announcing the forced resignation of Louisiana-Pacific Corp.'s top three executives, interim Chairman and CEO Donald Kayser held a conference call with forest products analysts. The discussion touched on how the decision to fire top...

Branches need pruning in bank merger. (U.S. Bancorp; West One Bancorp.)
August 11, 1995... Regulators study U.S.-West One deal With an autumn closing expected for the merger between U.S. Bancorp and West One Bancorp, executives and regulators are now considering what will likely be the most painful and emotional aspect of the $1.6...

Providence talks with SelectCare enter final stages. (Providence Good Health Plan; SelectCare Inc.)
August 11, 1995... Providence Good Health Plan and SelectCare are in final talks on merging the two insurance companies. Officials at both the Portland and Eugene insurers say due diligence is under way and they expect to have a decision on the merger within two...

Light-rail supporters now dig for dollars. (Oregon)
August 11, 1995... Finding funds for rural projects not easy Having emerged triumphant from a grueling battle over a new light-rail line, public transit officials now face another hurdle: how to cobble together the cash they promised to rural Oregonians. The...

PacifiCorp hoping to be on top in deal Down Under. (Australia)
August 11, 1995... PacifiCorp is pursuing electric and coal interests Down Under, as well as a major hydroelectric project in India. "We're pursuing projects that balance risk with reward, wherever they may be located," said Dennis Steinberg, senior vice...

Envelope maker buys debt-ridden Graphic Arts Center. (American Mail-Well; Graphic Arts Center Inc.)
August 11, 1995... One of the nation's largest makers of envelopes unfolded a deal Aug. 8 to acquire Portland's Graphic Arts Center Inc. for an undisclosed sum. The deal stuffs Graphic Arts with $150 million in sales and more than $40 million in debt into...

Northwest lumber consortium ships Russian logs.
August 11, 1995... SEATTLE - A consortium of small lumber mills is successfully shipping logs from Russia to Japan, beating the odds that have stymied several other larger American ventures in the Russian Far East. Global Forestry Management Group includes six...

Byron Hanke: Vancouver port exec maneuvers in Portland's wake.(Interview)
August 11, 1995... Byron Hanke, executive director of the Port of Vancouver, runs a prosperous port in the wake of the larger Port of Portland. He presides over an operation that handles steel, lumber, bulk cargoes and Subaru automobiles; owns an industrial park...

The Boeing Co. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
August 11, 1995... 7755 E. Marginal Way S., Seattle, Wash. 98108 The Boeing Co. is the largest employer in the Northwest, with total employment of 117,000. The aircraft manufacturer saw its sales decline by 14 percent in 1994 and earnings per share fell from...

Now Saltzman gets Active. (Stephen Saltzman; Active Arts)
August 25, 1995... Software entrepreneur has lots of vision, but still needs the cash After a year-long hiatus from the high-stakes, high-flux world of software publishing, Stephen Saltzman, the former chief executive officer of Now Software, has launched his own...

Legacy sells off last of its satellite centers. (Legacy Health System)
August 25, 1995... In another market evolution, Legacy Health System has sold the last of its three freestanding intermediate care centers to a physician group. Legacy sold off operations at the Gresham Intermediate Care Center to RealTime Medicine, a...

Nike glides into skating market.
August 25, 1995... Ice skate niche thin but in-line growing The Nike Inc. swoosh will be available on in-line and hockey skates within 12 to 18 months. Talk of launching the product line has been under way since last fall when the Beaverton sneaker company...

Smith's Chapter 11 holds $58 million in debt. (Smiths Home Furnishings Inc.)
August 25, 1995... Only months after Smith's Home Furnishings boasted of store expansions, an infusion of capital and a new management team, the furniture retailer has sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. "I'm confident we're going to make this thing work as...

Rockies succeed where Beavers floundered. (Portland Rockies)
August 25, 1995... Class A baseball is a hit due to fans, sponsors, creative marketing ideas While major league baseball is striking out in ballparks nationwide, the disenchantment has not trickled down to the minors. "Baseball the way it used to be" is what is...

Medical association program streamlines physician audits. (Oregon Medical Association)
August 25, 1995... A couple years back Dr. Tom Hoggard got fed up with more and more insurers wanting to paw through his records. Every health maintenance organization (HMO) on the block has to review doctors these days as part of their own credentialing process....

KeyCorp regionalizes its lines of command.
August 25, 1995... Winnowski will oversee 3-state area from Seattle SEATTLE - For years, Key Bank has grown its Northwest franchise by acquiring or establishing far-flung branches in the rural hinterlands of Alaska, Oregon and Washington, then granting local...

Stateswoman's CAPITAL idea. (CAPITAL Center Project Director Delna Jones)
August 25, 1995... Sometimes the most profound inspirations come in the most ordinary of places. It was under a tree that the concept of gravity dropped into the consciousness of Isaac Newton. For Yvonne Katz, Beaverton's school superintendent, the epiphany came...

Industry grows with rise in paramedical exams. (medical exams for insurance companies)(Focus On Insurance)
August 25, 1995... Systems helps insurance companies calculate risk Medical exams are a growth industry. These days, if you want individual health and disability insurance you will almost certainly be asked to submit to an exam that includes a health...