The Californian from Salinas, California • 18

Tuesday, February 3, 2004 i ri ri nrvn Ts Ts marketwatch 1,2, 3 Bedrooms February 2, 2004 Th Point ot Harden Ranch p.x ji vTNVN Ty 443-1740 7 I W-VJ yV-' i DOW NASDAQ DOLLAR I i I LJ LJ Wj 1 X. 10,499.18 2,063.15 U3526 Y105.61 ASSISTANT CITY EDITOR: Katharine Ball PHONE: 754-4282 FAX: 754-4293 E-MAIL kballsalinas.gannetl.com www.thecalifornian.com WORKING In brief Compiled from wire reports Washington firm buys San Lorenzo Lumber Mb WHArSilEXL 50 years, had sales of $100 million in 2003. The company has about 330 employees. Terms of the sale were not disclosed. Lanoga, one of the largest, private companies in the state of Washington, owns several building-supply chains with a total of 300 stores in the Midwest and West The company had $L45 billion in revenues in 2002 with stores primarily aimed at the builder-contractor market In December 2002, Lanoga bought the 37-store Wickes Inc.

chain of Vernon Hills, DL San Lorenzo Lumber's store in Salinas was part of the Wickes chain before its purchase in 1989. By LARRY PARSONS The Salinas Californian The Santa Cruz-based San Lorenzo Lumber Co. chain of building-materials outlets will be under new ownership March But the acquisition by a subsidiary of the Lanoga Corp. of Redmond, Wash, won't change the names or operations at San Lorenzo Lumber's six stores in Salinas, Santa Cruz, Felton, Soquel and Lathrop. "The name stays the same, and nobody changes jobs," said Larry Kueny, manager of San Lorenzo Lumber's store at 1250 Abbott St "I don't think customers will The six-store San Lorenzo Lumber Co.

chain will switch owners March 1, but the store names won't change. notice much of a change," said Mark Null, general manager of San Lorenzo Lumber in Santa Cruz. "Maybe there will be some changes in a few months with things like computeriza-tioa" Under the deal announced Jan. 2L San Lorenzo Lumber will be operated as part of Lanoga's 50-store Lumbermens chain of building-supply outlets. San Lorenzo Lumber, a private, family-held company for nearly Martha Stewart trial continues i if Barometer tells conflicting stories By BARBARA HAGENBAUGH Gannett News Service WASHINGTON The job market is considered the biggest indicator of the health of any economy and one of the most important determinants of economic policymaking.

What do you do when it's unclear how the job market is doing? That's a question US. economists are asking as data and anecdotal information on the labor market increasingly tell different stories. For example, a survey by the Labor Department of businesses showed there were 62,000 fewer jobs in December 2003 from a year ago. But a door-to-door survey of households showed there were L957 million more jobs in December from the prior year. Other data from pnvate surveys only increase the confusion It's an important issue for pol icymakers.

Federal Reserve officials have said they will raise interest rates when the job market shows distinct improvement The Fed Wednesday suggested they were questioning the official employment data, as welL While saying hiring was "subdued," they said, "other indicators suggest an improvement in the labor market" One of those indicators has been the weekly applications for state unemployment benefits. Thursday, the Labor Department said applications for jobless benefits fell 1,000 last week to 342,000, the lowest level this year and down more than 60,000 from just four months ago. That would suggest layoffs are falling. But the most closely watched indicator of the job market the government's survey of 160,000 firms and government agencies, has painted a picture of a continuously weak labor market. In December, only 1,000 jobs were added, according to the survey.

Households, however, have been saying jobs are increasing. mi- TUCSON, ARIZ. Vegetable tests show traces of fuel chemical A chemical used in rocket fuel was detected in some leafy vegetables irrigated with Colorado River water in Arizona and California, a research scientist said. Perchlorate apparently seeped into the river from a rocket fuel factory outside Las Vegas, said Charles Sanchez, who heads the University of Arizona's Yuma Agricultural Center. "Races were found in the outside leaves and sometimes the pithy framework of lettuce, Sanchez said.

But no traces were found in the tender leaves that people eat ALBANY, NY. Sony to sink $325 million in newest IBM tiny chip Sony Corp. will invest $325 million in IBM upstate New York semiconductor plant and work with Big Blue to produce tiny new chips for next-generation computer systems and consumer electronics. IBM plans to begin pilot production of the new microprocessors, code-named "Cell," and other chips for Sony at the plant in East Fishkill, 60 miles north of New York City, in the first half of 2005. IBM's chip-making division has struggled with weak demand, leading to a $252 million loss in the company's technology group in 2003.

However, the Sony deal follows a November announcement by Microsoft Corp. that IBM will make chips for the next version of the Xbox video game consoles. MEXICO CITY Spanish bank to buy rest of Mexican unit Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, Spain's second largest bank, said Monday it has launched an all-cash offer of $41 billion to buy the 41 percent it doesn't already own of its Mexico unit The purchase of the rest of BBVA Bancomer, Mexico's biggest bank, would cement BBVAs position as the No. 1 banking entity in the country, ahead of Citigroup, which owns Banco Nacional de Mexico. The announcement was the latest in a string of high-profile foreign investments in Mexico's banking sector.

DILBERT l- -xv A I 7 New law likely will result in more lawsuits WORKPLACE LAW 7 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS KellySutherland AnneOlsen Martha Stewart, left, leaves Manhattan federal court Monday in New York. Stewart faces charges of obstruction of justice and securities fraud in the trading of ImClone Systems stocks. Stewart called ImClone headquarters and demanded to talk to founder Sam Waksal to find out 'what was going on' with the company's falling share price on the day she dumped her shares in the company, a former ImClone secretary testified Monday. Venture capitalists keep busy Among laws enacted for 2004, one that deserves attention from all employers is the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (California Labor Code Section 2698 and following). The Legislature adopted the act to increase enforcement of Labor Code laws and create revenue for labor law education The act is likely to increase lawsuits against employers.

It provides that any "aggrieved employee" may recover a civil penalty in a civil action filed on behalf of himself or herself as well as current and former co-workers. An "aggrieved employee" is anyone who is employed by the alleged violator and against whom an alleged violation was committed. The aggrieved employee is also entitled to recover reasonable attorney's fees for bringing the action against the employer. Thus, one employee can cost an empkr -huge sums of money. Civil penalties already established for various Labor Code violations remain in effect, but now new penalties are added.

For all provisions of the Labor Code (except those for which a civil penalty is already provided), the civil penalty under this Act for violation of those provisions is as follows: For an individual with no employees, $500, to be split between the General Fund and the Labor and Workforce Development Agency. 1 For employers with any number of employees: See LAWSUITS, Page 5C $5 million raised in last quarter of V3 The Associated Press raised so much money in any three-month period since the third quarter of 200L The data provide the latest sign of a modest venture capital revival The industry previously disclosed the amount of venture capital invested in startups during the fourth quarter increased 15 percent from the same time in 2002 the first year-over-year increase since 2000. I IT BEEN A FEU busiest quarter of fund-raising in more than two years. The amount of money committed in the fourth quarter to 43 venture capital funds more than doubled from the $21 billion collected by 46 funds at the same time in 2002, according to Thomson Venture Economics and the National Venture Capital Association. Venture capitalists haven't (HOURS SINCE I VE DONE ANYTHING I ttANAGERISH.

SAN FRANCISCO Venture capitalists rounded up $5.2 billion for future investments during the final three months of 2003, marking the industry's tlx- MS. www dHrwt com WatercooIeiL Happenings 77 1 V.UULU V.M I H.iL i I COULD HAVE A NAH. Urfry Art workshop slated for Saturday Art coaching is presenting Showing and Selling Your Art workshop 10 a-m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at Carmel Mission Inn, Highway 1 and Rio Road, CarmeL The workshop will cover business distinctions unique to the professional artist and art gallery, negotiating sales and up-to-date information regarding copyrights.

Register 583-0200. See WORKING NEWS EVENTS on Page 5C tor local workplace and career news. Tips offered for negotiators If you left a negotiation lately feeling like you were just sideswiped by a bull-aatortkmcmn dozer, it could CUIldercar bethatyour tactics need a little refining. You need some advice from Jim Camp, a negotiation coach: Never ask for a "yes." Dont push the other side into immediately agreeing with you. 2.

Control your emotions. Don't enter into any negotiation unless you can keep yourself under control! 3. Take notes. Nothing makes someone feel more important than having what he or she said written down. 4.

Understand who holds the reins. You want to be clear about who are the decision-makers in a process, and who will try to block you. If you're interested in more information on negotiating, consider Camp's book, "Start with No," (Crown), $22.95. Source: Gannett News Service Monterey County 15 Daily prices and change for stocks of local interest in Salinas and elsewhere in Monterey County: Stock Close Chng. ConAgra 25.93 Central Coast Bankcp.

19.00 0.12 Chalone Wine Group 8.88 0.08 California Water Service 28.62 0.13 Gannett Co. Inc. 85.95 0.24 Granite Construction 21.37 0.05 HSBC Holdings 75.95 Integrated Dev. Tech. 18.08 KB Home 68.62 0.C8 McGraw Hill 74.86 McCormick 4 Co.

30.15 0.47 Performance Food 32.01 0.83 Monterey Pasta 3.51 J.M. Smucker Co. 46.55 0.04 Scheid Vineyards 5.40 0.15 Daily change .0.04 Stocks the Monterey County 15 are mtfndd to be companies with significant Salmas-area operations and employment To tuggest an addition to the list, can 7M-4260. ii UWtaKMKMDlMX Workers have plenty of excuses Americans workers have long cherished days off for special circumstances personal days, mental health days, sick-child time, etc. Yet many employees seem to stretch the bounds of credulity when explaining to the boss why we need time oft according to a query of 150 human resource, finance and marketing executives from the L000 largest US.

companies. The following genuine responses were culled by Accountemps, a financial temp-staffing firm based in Menlo Park: "I'm taking three days off to sing in the opera." "I'll be out this afternoon on job interviews." "I just got a new tattoo and need a few days to recover." "I'm going to jail" Source: The Associated Press I REORGANIZING THE DEPARTMENT! EXCUSE ME VJHIlE I BEAT MYSELF WITH MY KEYBOARD. Other d3iiy topics MONDAY: Agriculture I WEDNESDAY: Local Business I THURSDAY: Money FRIDAY: Housing.