BRIEFCASE BRAUN NEW LOCAL U.S. TRUSTEE HEAD.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

WOODLAND HILLS - Jennifer L. Braun has been appointed to head the Woodland Hills office of the U.S. Trustee of the Central District of California. The trustee program is a component of the Justice Department that works to protect the integrity of the bankruptcy system by overseeing case administration and litigating to enforce bankruptcy laws.

The Woodland Hills office handles matters in the San Fernando Valley, Ventura County, Santa Barbara County and San Luis Obispo County.

Northrop awarded U.S. Navy contract

Northrop Grumman Corp. has been awarded a $12 million contract from the U.S. Navy to supply inertial navigation systems designed to provide aircraft carrier-based pilots with accurate aircraft position and targeting information.

Grumman's Navigation Systems Division in Woodland Hills will supply 78 of its LN-92 inertial navigation units to the Navy to use.

The contract calls for the deliveries to take place over a 12-month period beginning in July 2003 and contains options for 100 additional systems.

Firm delays TRW takeover proposal

CLEVELAND - Defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. agreed to delay its $6.7 billion hostile takeover bid for TRW Inc. until Sept. 30 while the companies negotiate a buyout deal.

The companies agreed to enter friendly talks after signing a confidentiality agreement on Monday that allows Northrop to review the defense, aerospace and auto parts company's books.

Northrop, which has offered $53 a share for TRW shares, previously complained that TRW set unacceptable limits for getting a look at its financial records.

If TRW announces by Sept. 30 that it will sell all or part of the company, the agreement to delay the hostile takeover attempt will extend until June 30, 2003.

Jobless insurance claims again fall

WASHINGTON - New claims for unemployment insurance fell for the third straight week, suggesting the economic recovery is motivating companies to lay off fewer workers. But that doesn't mean they will be in a rush to hire.

For the week ending May 4, new claims dropped by a seasonally adjusted 11,000 to 411,000, the lowest level since March 16, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Claims fell by 5,000 and by 25,000 in the prior two weeks.

Even if companies reduce the speed at which they lay off workers, the jobless rate will keep rising if companies are reluctant to hire employees back.

Microsoft witness slate downsized

WASHINGTON - The nine states suing Microsoft for antitrust violations said Thursday they will not call two rebuttal witnesses, a decision made after a federal judge's scolding.

California and eight other states had planned to call the witnesses, including a former software tester for Microsoft, to testify that Microsoft has done much of the work needed to create the stripped-down version of the Windows operating system that the states want.

The judge ordered the states this week to give their information to company lawyers so they could prepare. Microsoft lawyer Steven Holley said the states delivered an entire computer and 67 CD-ROM discs, far more than Microsoft expected to handle.

The case may end as early as next week.

Andersen partner testifies in trial

HOUSTON - The Arthur Andersen LLP official in charge of Enron Corp. audits stretched accounting rules ``to excess'' and ignored advice from an in-house watchdog, another Andersen partner testified Thursday in the firm's obstruction of justice trial.

Chicago-based Andersen partner Ben Neuhausen testified that David Duncan, who had led the Enron audit team until Andersen fired him earlier this year, had argued before the firm's ``professional standards group'' in favor of an accounting approach that would help Enron avoid posting a $300 million loss in the first quarter of 2001.