LEXIS-NEXIS® Academic Universe-Document

LEXIS-NEXIS® Academic

February 3, 1999, Wednesday, CONSTITUTION EDITION

SECTION: BUSINESS; Pg. 03D

LENGTH: 444 words

SERIES: Home

HEADLINE: Business in Brief;
Government seeks tax hike on air fares

BODY:

Airline travelers will likely see their ticket prices increase if the Clinton administration gets its way. Not only does the Transportation Department want to let cities and states raise an airport construction tax from $ 3 to $ 5 per stop, but its new budget proposes creating $ 1.5 billion in user fees for air traffic control. At the same time, the administration plans to fight attempts to spend a $ 6.8 billion surplus expected in the nation's aviation trust fund. ATLANTA Bull Run buys stake in Sarkes Tarzian Bull Run Corp. has acquired 73 percent of the outstanding common stock of Sarkes Tarzian Inc. from the estate of Mary Tarzian. The shares constitute a less than controlling interest in the company's voting rights. Albany-based Gray Communications Systems Inc., Bull Run's 16.9 percent-owned affiliate, has agreed to obtain an option to purchase the investment from Atlanta-based Bull Run. Gray owns and operates three NBC-affiliated television stations, seven CBS-affiliated television stations and three daily newspapers. Sarkes Tarzian owns and operates two television stations and four radio stations.

NATION Justice Dept. wants hospital suit put on hold The Justice Department asked a judge on Tuesday to stay its civil lawsuit against the nation's largest private hospital chain, saying the case could hurt the government's criminal investigation into the chain's billing practices. The civil lawsuit is separate from a wide-ranging federal fraud investigation targeting Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. Investigators are looking into whether Columbia overbilled government health care programs. The motion, filed in U.S. District Court in Tampa, also says the government is in settlement negotiations with Columbia/HCA.
New-home sales set record for 1998 New-home sales easily set a record in 1998 despite a small slip in December, and a widely-watched indicator showed promise for continued economic growth through the turn of the century. Americans purchased new homes at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 978,000 in December, down 3.6 percent from a record 1.02 million rate in November, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. But, for the entire year, they bought 888,000 new homes, up 10.4 percent from 1997. That beat the previous record, 819,000 in 1977 and was the highest since the department began tracking sales in 1963.

ALSO NOTEWORTHY Goodyear Tire and Rubber is expected to announce today that it has signed a deal with Sumitomo Rubber Industries that will effectively give Goodyear control of most of the debt-laden Japanese company's tire operations, the New York Times reported in today's editions.

LOAD-DATE: February 3, 1999