BRIEFCASE GASOLINE PRICES UP FOR 3RD WEEK.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

Gasoline prices continued their upward climb for the third consecutive week throughout the Southwest region, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California.

The average price of self-serve regular unleaded gasoline in the Los Angeles area Friday is $1.635 per gallon, which is 2.8 cents higher than last week, 9.8 cents higher than last month and 48.5 cents higher than last year.

3Com's charge widens firm's loss

WASHINGTON - 3Com Corp. on Friday said it recorded a goodwill impairment charge of $65.6 million for the quarter ended Aug. 30, widening its loss for the period to 27 cents a share from 9 cents a share.

The Santa Clara computer networking company wrote off goodwill of $45.4 million in its enterprise networking segment and $20.2 million in its CommWorks segment.

GE earnings fall as revenue rises

FAIRFIELD, Conn. - General Electric Co. said Friday its earnings fell 21 percent in the fourth quarter, despite a rise in revenue, but still matched Wall Street expectations.

The industrial, media and financial services conglomerate earned $3.1 billion, or 31 cents per share, in the last three months of 2002 compared with $3.9 billion, or 39 cents per share, a year earlier.

Chairman and chief executive Jeff Immelt said GE was positioned for solid performance in 2003, with growth in earnings per share expected to be between 3 percent and 13 percent.

Adelphia to hire 2 ex-AT&T execs

PHILADELPHIA - Adelphia Communications' board of directors has voted to hire two former AT&T Broadband executives to revive the struggling cable provider from bankruptcy.

William Schleyer, chief executive officer of AT&T Broadband before Comcast acquired it in November, will take over as Adelphia's CEO, the company said Friday. Ron Cooper, AT&T Broadband's chief operating officer, would take the same post at Adelphia, which is based in Coudersport in north-central Pennsylvania.

The agreement must be approved by a federal bankruptcy judge before it becomes final.

World conditions shake oil markets

LONDON - A crippling strike in Venezuela, low inventories of crude and the possibility of war with Iraq have combined to throw oil markets off balance, the International Energy Agency said Friday.

A resumption in Venezuela's oil production will probably take months, not weeks, it said, suggesting that U.S. crude prices, which surged by 12 percent in December, could rise still more.

Ford is accused of hiding evidence

DETROIT - Ford Motor Co. faces accusations in federal court that it withheld evidence regarding testing of the company's 15-passenger vans, which have been scrutinized by federal officials after numerous rollovers.

Ford is accused of hiding evidence in a case involving the deaths of two passengers in one of the large vans when it flipped on a Kentucky highway on July 5, 1996, according to attorneys for the plaintiffs. Thirteen people from Illinois were aboard.

A motion for sanctions is pending.