Potlatch names new vice president
Spokane-based timber management firm Potlatch Corp. has named Jerald W. Richards its vice president and chief financial officer.
Richards, 45, was recently chief accounting officer at Weyerhaueser Co., based in Federal Way, Wash.
Richards gets the job last held by Eric Cremers, now the company’s president and chief operating officer.
His position starts Sept. 1.
Potlatch reported earnings of $19 million on June 30, a strong improvement over earnings of $5 million for the same quarter of 2012.
UBS to pay $50 million to settle federal charges
WASHINGTON – Switzerland’s biggest bank, UBS, has agreed to pay about $50 million to settle federal civil charges of misleading investors in its sale of risky mortgage bonds ahead of the 2008 financial crisis.
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced the settlement Tuesday with UBS. The SEC said the bank failed to disclose that it had kept $23.6 million in payments it received as it acquired collateral for the mortgage-backed securities. The agency said the money should have gone into the securities for the benefit of investors.
UBS agreed to pay a $5.7 million penalty. In addition, it agreed to return the $23.6 million and a $10.8 million fee it received and disclosed for putting together the 2007 transaction. It will also pay $9.7 million in interest.
Quarterly earnings flat, revenue up for Disney
BURBANK, Calif. – Disney said earnings for the April-June quarter was nearly unchanged, while revenue increased 4 percent.
The Walt Disney Co. said Tuesday that it earned $1.85 billion, or $1.01 per share, in the fiscal third quarter. That compares with $1.83 billion a year earlier. Adjusted earnings were $1.03 per share in the latest quarter, surpassing Wall Street’s expectations.
Revenue was $11.6 billion, up from $11.1 billion.
‘Bikini baristas’ owner sues over seized cash
EVERETT – A woman accused of using her espresso stands in Everett as drive-thru brothels is suing the city to recover $250,000 she says was wrongfully seized by police.
Carmela Panico owns the Java Juggs and Twin Peaks shops featuring “bikini baristas.” She was arrested in June and accused of promoting prostitution, but she has not been charged. The cash was seized in a search of her home in Snohomish.
Panico sued after she was notified that the city planned to keep the cash as proceeds from criminal activity, the Daily Herald reported.
Seattle-area coffee shops introduced bikini baristas several years ago, hiring young women to serve drinks while scantily clad.
Remington seeks dismissal of rifle suit
HELENA – Gunmaker Remington has asked a federal judge to dismiss a proposed class-action lawsuit by Montanans who bought a type of rifle that can reportedly misfire without the trigger being pulled.
Allen Bowker and Eric Huleatt filed their lawsuit in June on behalf of thousands of Montana residents who bought Remington Model 700 bolt-action rifles.
They are asking U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen to grant class-action status to all Montana residents who bought the rifle, claiming that Remington owes them for their economic loss for buying rifles with faulty trigger assemblies that make them worthless.
Bowker and Huleatt allege the manufacturer’s parent companies knew the trigger assembly was defective and did nothing to warn customers or fix the problem.