BRIEFCASE.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

Kohn new head of nonprofit VEDC 

VAN NUYS - Mel Kohn will serve as chairman of the Valley Economic Development Center, the nonprofit business group announced Thursday. A four-year member of its board, Kohn had previously served as treasurer. In addition to his VEDC duties, he serves as managing partner of the accounting practice Kirsch, Kohn and Bridge LLP and co-chaired the Business Tax Advisory Committee.

John Marquis will join the board to fill Kohn's treasurer spot until new elections in June.

Army contracts go to Logistical firm

CHATSWORTH - Logistical Support LLC was awarded three multiyear contracts from the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, the company announced Thursday.

The contracts will supply spare parts for Army combat helicopters including the UH-60 Blackhawk, AH-64 Apache and UH-1 Huey. The combined value of the contracts for the first year is $1 million. The total value of the contract options for future releases is $2.4 million.

Ford orders recall for cruise control

DEARBORN, Mich. - Ford Motor Co. is recalling nearly 800,000 pickups and sport utility vehicles because the cruise control switch could short- circuit and cause a fire under the hood, the nation's second biggest automaker said Thursday.

The recall affects approximately 792,000 Ford F-150 pickups, Ford Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators from the 2000 model year. Also affected are 2001 F-Series Supercrew trucks that were made at the same time.

Microsoft reports surge in earnings

SEATTLE - Microsoft Corp. said Thursday that its fiscal second-quarter earnings rose sharply, beating Wall Street estimates, and the software company raised its earnings expectations slightly for the full fiscal year.

For the three months ended Dec. 31, Redmond-based Microsoft earned $3.46 billion, or 32 cents per share, compared with earnings of $1.55 billion, or 14 cents per share, in the same period last year.

AT&T shares rise 6% on SBC news

NEW YORK - The market value of AT&T jumped 6 percent to about $15.7 billion Thursday after reports that SBC, the local carrier for most of the Midwest and Southwest, was in talks to buy the nation's largest long-distance company.

AT&T's appeal, however, may not materialize into a deal with SBC if the negotiations bog down over how to value a moving target like AT&T's deteriorating business.

Analysts speculated that if the reports in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times were accurate, Verizon Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp. might make bids of their own as a defensive measure.

30-year rates dip as Fed is watched

WASHINGTON - Rates on 30-year mortgages fell for a fourth straight week as investors waited to see what the Federal Reserve will do next week with interest rates.

Freddie Mac's weekly survey of mortgage rates released Thursday showed that rates on 30-year, fixed rate mortgages averaged 5.66 percent for the week ending Jan. 27.

Labor board plans to file complaint

The National Labor Relations Board has told a group of nine L.A.-area hotels it plans to file a complaint against them for declaring an impasse in contract negotiations with their employees, a hotel spokesman said Thursday.

``What the NRLB says they plan to do, is file a complaint, which means hold a hearing on the issue,'' said Fred Muir, spokesman for the Los Angeles Hotel Employers Council.

Still, if the agency deems the hotels broke labor laws, they could be forced to reimburse their roughly 3,000 employees for health premiums the workers have been forced to pay since the impasse was declared in July.

James Small, assistant to the NRLB's regional director, said both parties had been notified of the agency's decision but declined to elaborate.