Deals & Dealmakers—Library Renamed for Mayor Riordan

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Citing his efforts to improve the city’s libraries, The Los Angeles Library Commission voted 3-1 to rename Central Library the Richard J. Riordan Central Library.

The decision by the commission whose members were appointed by Riordan to rename the library after the two-term mayor was not without controversy. The library’s former namesake, Rufus B. KleinSmid, was a longtime library commissioner and president of USC, and some city council members and library officials felt a more deserving individual for the honor.

Still, library officials heaped praise on Riordan at the renaming.

“This is an appropriate tribute to a man who has passionately supported an unprecedented expansion of the Los Angeles Public Library’s facilities, services and programs,” said Commission President David A. Lehrer.

Riordan who has a personal library of more than 40,000 volumes in his Brentwood home did not seek the renaming, but said he is flattered by it.

The main library building will continue to bear KleinSmid’s name, while the complex as a whole, which was rebuilt after a disastrous fire, will bear Riordan’s name. A wing of the Central Library was named for former Mayor Tom Bradley.


Study Cites Strike Fallout

An extended strike by writers and actors could push the local unemployment rate up two percentage points, to 6.9 percent, and cost the region nearly $7 billion, according to a study commissioned by Mayor Richard Riordan.

The study, based on a projected strike that would last from May through October, predicts the work stoppage would result in the loss of 81,900 jobs and greatly exacerbate the effects of the slowing national economy.

The report estimates $2.5 billion in lost income in the second quarter and $4.4 billion in the third if TV and film production is shut down. Countywide, tax revenue would drop by $54.4 million.

Compiled by the Milken Institute in Santa Monica and Marina del Rey-based Sebago Associates, the report defines a “long” strike as a five-month work stoppage by the Writers Guild of America and a three-month job action by the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. The contract between studios and writers runs out May 1. The actors’ contract expires two months later.

Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. chief economist Jack Kyser has estimated even higher fallout from strikes, with job losses pegged at about 255,000 workers. He projects that each week the county economy would suffer a $250 million direct hit and a $257 million indirect blow.


Downtown Tower Sold

Wells Fargo & Co. has agreed to pay $47.5 million to buy out Equitable Life Assurance Society’s half share and take complete ownership of one of downtown’s signature buildings, the 62-story 707 Wilshire Tower.

Built in 1974 as one of the tallest buildings in the West, 707 Wilshire was the headquarters of First Interstate Bancorp for about 15 years. San Francisco-based Wells Fargo, which acquired First Interstate in 1996, occupies about 170,000 square feet at 707, and is a major player in downtown L.A. real estate, where it leases or owns about 3.6 million square feet.

The 707 building is about 80 percent occupied, with insurance company Aon Corp. and Los Angeles County agencies among the tenants.


Harrah’s Buys Harveys

Casino operator Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. agreed to buy Harveys Casino Resorts from real estate firm Colony Capital of Los Angeles for $675 million in cash and liabilities.

The purchase, designed to expand Harrah’s operations in Nevada, Iowa and Colorado, has been approved by the boards of Harrah’s and closely held Colony Capital, a company spokesperson said.

The purchase price includes $50 million of off-balance-sheet liabilities.

Las Vegas-based Harrah’s, which operates Harrah’s and Bally’s hotel/casinos, would acquire Harveys’ casinos in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Central City, Colo.

Colony acquired Stateline, Nev.-based Harveys in 1998 for $420 million. In January, Harveys terminated a planned $1.28-billion purchase of Glendale-based rival Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. after it had trouble raising funds for the acquisition.


Bryson Takes a Cut

As Southern California Edison customers prepare to take it on the chin in the form of higher electricity rates, Edison International Chairman and Chief Executive John Bryson is also feeling the pain.

Bryson, 57, saw his compensation drop by more than half last year, as the utility plunged deeper into debt. Bryson received $1.04 million in salary and other compensation in 2000, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. In 1999, Bryson’s salary and other compensation totaled $2.24 million, including a $1.26 million bonus.


News Corp. Bids for UPN

Buoyed by a ruling from the Federal Communications Commission, News. Corp. officials have confirmed that the company is in advanced discussions to buy all or part of rival network UPN from Viacom Inc.

Neither company would discuss details of the negotiations.

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., the parent of the Fox television network, is expected to complete a $5.35 billion deal to buy the 10 television stations owned by Chris-Craft Industries Inc., the largest owner of UPN affiliates, in May. News Corp. reportedly hopes to complete its negotiations for either all or part of UPN at that time.

News of the talks comes as the Federal Communications Commission has repealed a rule that prevented companies that owned the major networks ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC from buying the smaller networks, WB and UPN. The FCC will continue to prohibit two major networks from merging.

If successful, News Corp. probably would maintain UPN as a separate network, in addition to Fox. With 176 affiliates, UPN is the smallest of the networks. Its rival WB has 221 affiliates and Fox has 222.


Tiger Talks to Mouse

Golf sensation Tiger Woods said he has been talking with Walt Disney Co. about a potential deal to become a pitchman for the company.

Woods, who has a dozen endorsement contracts for products ranging from Buick automobiles to Wheaties cereal, has commanded as much as $20 million a year for a sponsorship deal with Nike Inc.

Disney would not comment on a possible deal, but reports said the company is eager to sign Woods to plug several of its businesses, from theme parks to the ESPN sports channel and the ABC network.

Studios Settle With Internet Company

A nine-month lawsuit that pitted a handful of movie studios against RecordTV.com was settled when the Internet company agreed to pay $50,000 and stop providing recorded shows without the studio’s consent.

A dozen members of the Motion Picture Association of America, including Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and Walt Disney Co., filed a federal lawsuit in June alleging copyright infringement. RecordTV customers could record specific TV shows and then play them back over the Internet at a later date.

The settlement requires RecordTV to stop offering recordings without permission from the appropriate MPAA member, to pay $50,000 in plaintiffs’ legal fees and to stop using plaintiffs’ trademarks while advertising the site.


Northrop Buys Sensor Company

In an effort to broaden its space-based battlefield-management services, Northrop Grumman Corp. has agreed to pay $315 million to buy Aerojet-General, the space sensor arm of Rancho Cordova-based GenCorp. Inc.

Aerojet-General had $323 million in sales last year and employs about 1,400 people. Aerojet-General has facilities in Azusa and in Boulder and Colorado Springs, Colo. The company makes space-based sensors for early-warning systems, ground systems that process data from space and other products.

Northrop officials said the purchase will add to its missile-defense and defense-electronics businesses.


Interim U.S. Attorney Named

John S. Gordon was named interim U.S. attorney last week, replacing Alejandro Mayorkas as the top federal law enforcement authority in Southern California.

Gordon, chief of the criminal division at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, is known as an aggressive prosecutor who has been successful going after high-ranking drug dealers and white-collar criminals.

From 1992 to 2000, Gordon was regional coordinator of one of 13 national Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, which combine prosecutors with agents from a wide range of federal agencies, including the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Mayorkas and most of the other 92 U.S. attorneys across the nation were replaced by the new Republican administration. A committee to be established by the Republican Party will determine whom to recommend to the White House as the next U.S. attorney in Los Angeles. The nominees require Senate confirmation.

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