Tobacco Documents Online

` ~ ~usc.lswss ~l!~%d~ i N e w s °;";,. V BRIEFS r6 ® . PI+iNp Monla Smokeless tobacco - MnlEip Monis Cos. piens to test a battery- powered °smokine aystem" that ellminates tite smoke and eshts from the end of a cige- rette. the Now York Times reported yester- day. The beeper-sized. 4-ounoe box contltrns a specialiy desisned ciparette that bums only when puf{ed. But smokere rr>tfet litt the de- vice to their tFpe for each puff, a procedure that " Timea llkened to smoking a kazoo. New Coke chairman named Leadership ol'the Coca-Cola Co. passed f ront the Yale-educated, Havana-botn acion of a prominent Cuban sug.rfamijy to tl tmali- to.m Gdorgi. native and textile mec.haniNs son yesterd.y, as the aoft dr1nY company's direc- iors elected prssident M. Douglas Ivester chairman and chief executive ofEieer. Ive:ter, 9(t. succeeds Roberto C. Cioizueta, who died Saturday from lung cancer. Quaker ptcks Kraft exec A d~q aher' tepping down as head of the Sraft F'ooda business at Philip Morris Cos., ttobert S. Morrison yesterday was ttatned the new chief extcutive of Quaker OatU Co. Morri- con, Sb, succeeds William D. Sml who announced In April he would retire at end of the year, an apparent casualty of Quaker's diKastroua experience with the $napple beMer- age line. Snapple cost the company more than , $1 billion in louea. Quaker bought Snapple for 31.1 billion two years ago but sold it for =300 million eadier this year. Aiso In business. . . HSN Inc., which owns the Home Shopping Network, hu offered to buy the nearly 50 per- cerrt ot'tieitqmaster Group Inc. it does not al- ready own for 5244.2 million... liquitsbte FLesources, Inc. has natned Jefftey C. Swove- land interhn chief financlil officer... !lteet tmporta rose 19.6pe eoent in the first eight rnentha of the year to 41.5 million tons, the American Iron and Steel Institute reported -1tei~ cuhrenn conrafns infun.u,tion J}»rn to- .•„1 and wf.e dispatches, incfudinq duoctamd rriss Rcuters and Blatmbr,g News. tV• brrsiness neN1 update<, -n11 f'(i Link at 261-123a; I'tt). State to 'hold heat'in~s on Highmark j-atc I-i.*ke Tht state Insurance Department w-ill hold public hearing~ on proposed rate Increases af- fecting more than 155 000 subscribers to High• mark Blue Cross and Wue Shield's non-group health ptans. The first of the hearing.s will be held at 10 a.m. Nov. 5 at the Greentree Marriott. Individuals wishing to comment at the hear-. ings should contadt the Insurance Depatt- ment's Office of Rate and PolicY Regulation by calling (7t7) 7S7-4192. Others wishing to testify may appear at the hearing without'notice, but wili have to wait until those who have sched- uled appearances have finished. Highmark last month asked the latisurance Depattment to approve increases ranging from S percent to 34 percent on a number of insur- ance plans It sells to individuals, including its Securlty 65 Medicare supplemental pians B, C and U. Martgage rates edge higher MaRgage rates edged up this week amid ev- idencr eha~t the economy continues to expand at a steady pace. The stverag~ rate on a 3n year fixed•rate mortgage rose t.o-7.35 percent in the week ended Oct. 24 from 7.34 percent the pre- viouP w~eek Freddie Mac said. The average ad- justable-rate mortgage was unchanged at 5.56 percent, while 15-year mortgage rates aver- aged 6.90 pexrent, up from 6.89 percent in the previous week GNC buying back 300 stores General Nutrition Companies. Inc. plans to apm d!80 million to $80 million to buy back about 300 of Its franchise atotes over the next 15 months. The Pittsburgh-based retailer, which sells vitamina mineral supplements and sporls nutrition prot6cts, sW the move will boost earnings and ravenues:'1'he buyback will also put the retailer closer in line with tts his- toric ratio of two company stoYes for every franchised one- spokesman Gre ory Miller said. Currently, the chain has 3,296 stores, 1.268 of them franchises. 'Breakfastgat." probe (3e.neeral Mills Inc. is investigatingpo ssible trademark infringement by the Kepublican Party of Virginls, a company spokesman said The party aileg~~ns ited out a flier on behalf of David Sisk, a Gt:7Pcandidate for the :,tate House of Delegates. The filer. which resembles a Wheaties cereal box and includes a picture of Sisk's opponent. Is headllned "F7aloeF "and captioned "The Breakfast of the Out of Touch" "We police and guard our trademarks verv carrnfuitv 'sald Pam Becker, a spokes- woman for Minneapolis-based General Mills.