Click here to subscribe today or Login.
Thursday, March 20, 2003 Page: 1C
Senior housing gets OK
Despite protests, Lehman Township supervisors voted 2-1 Monday night to
allow rezoning of an approximately 40-acre site along state Route 415 so it
could be used for senior citizen housing.
Richard Angelicola intends to purchase the property and construct a
facility with up to 125 independent living units, walking trails, a swimming
pool, tennis courts and a 30-bed assisted living facility. Fourteen acres are
wetlands, and would be left open.
The board voted to allow the change from agricultural multifamily
residential zoning, arguing that an alternative, single-family homes, would
put a greater strain on resources.
Chairman David Sutton said he believes the facility is something the area
really needs.
Township residents who attended the meeting say they are concerned about a
loss of privacy, danger to water wells, traffic and the destruction of
environmental scenery and wildlife habitat.
Construction is expected to begin about July 1. Each of the independent
living units will be about 1,200 square feet. Rent will be about $1,400 per
unit per month. According to Angelicola’s team, the complex’s primary
occupants will be 55 and older.
Bankruptcy bill moves
Consumers would have a harder time erasing their debts in bankruptcy court
under legislation that won overwhelming House approval Wednesday.
The vote was 315-113 for the measure, which has sped through the
Republican-dominated House while splitting Democrats, some of whom assailed it
as unfair to people who have been knocked off their financial feet by tough
economic times.
The bill faces less favorable prospects in the closely divided Senate.
In the Senate, Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has
promised to move quickly on the bankruptcy legislation. But it isn’t clear
whether proponents in the closely divided body would be able to muster the 60
votes needed to proceed to a vote on the bill.
Lawmakers of both parties support an overhaul of the federal bankruptcy
laws, saying it is needed to stop abuse of the bankruptcy system by people who
can afford to repay their debts. The abuse, they contend, creates a hidden tax
of about $400 a year on every American family through higher interest rates
passed on by consumer credit businesses and other charges.
The record pace of new personal bankruptcies in 2002 is expected to
continue this year.
Enron mulls new format
Enron Corp. is going back to its roots as it tries to emerge from
bankruptcy, proposing the creation of a new pipeline operating company from
existing assets.
Enron began as a standard pipeline company in 1985, but transformed itself
into a massive energy-trading house that collapsed in 2001 amid a wave of
accounting scandals.
On Wednesday, its board of directors decided not to sell its interests in
three pipeline companies, choosing instead to form a new company around them.
Multiple bids were rejected for Transwestern Pipeline Co., Citrus Corp., and
Northern Plains Natural Gas Co.
Shares of the new pipeline company would be distributed to creditors as
part of Enron’s reorganization. The plan would require approvals of a
bankruptcy judge, regulators and creditors.
Feds target HealthSouth
HealthSouth Corp. and Chairman Richard Scrushy were accused Wednesday of a
massive accounting fraud that the government said inflated profits by at least
$1.4 billion to mislead investors that the health-care giant was keeping pace
with Wall Street’s expectations.
Acting on Scrushy’s orders to “fix” earnings, senior accountants gathered
in what they called “family meetings” to falsify results when HealthSouth’s
performance failed to meet Wall Street forecasts, according to a complaint by
the Securities and Exchange Commission.
With the complaint, trading in the Birmingham company was halted for two
days, and the Justice Department announced the company’s former chief
financial officer had pleaded guilty to securities fraud charges and was
cooperating in a continuing probe.
The company reported income before taxes of $1.6 billion from 1999 through
June 30, 2002, but it really made only $169 million, according to the SEC
complaint.