Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Monday, March 30, 1998
Starwood to split casino, hotel units
PHOENIX -- Starwood Hotels & Resorts said it will create separate divisions to run its hotels and casinos, streamlining its operations after more than $16 billion in acquisitions.Starwood has been on a buying spree the past year, led by its purchases of ITT Corp., owner of Sheraton hotels and Caesars casinos, for $14.6 billion and Westin Hotels & Resorts for $1.57 billion.
Starwood, which is focusing on integrating its purchases, said it is making the change to improve marketing and cut costs by combining tasks such as buying supplies. The move isn't directly tied to a possible change in federal law that would restrict Starwood and similar real estate investment trusts from applying their special tax breaks to future purchases, analysts said.
Iacocca to lead L.A.-based chain
LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Restaurant operator Koo Koo Roo Inc. named former Chrysler Corp. chairman Lee Iacocca as its acting chairman today after its previous leader resigned.Iacocca retired as the chairman of Chrysler in 1992, and is credited with saving the automaker from bankruptcy.
Koo Koo Roo's previous chairman Kenneth Berg resigned today, saying he felt it was time to step down. He recently underwent open heart surgery.
Los Angeles-based Koo Koo Roo operates 52 restaurants in California, Las Vegas, Florida and Washington D.C.
Unsolicited e-mail sender to pay $2 million
LOS ANGELES -- A purveyor of unsolicited commercial e-mail -- or "spam" -- has agreed to pay $2 million to settle a lawsuit with Earthlink Network Inc., whose customers' accounts were filled with the junk mail.Dresher, Pa.-based Cyber Promotions Inc. agreed to the settlement as part of a consent decree filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the New York Times reported , citing documents that Earthlink released Friday.
Cyber Promotions was considered the industry's largest "spammer."
"The most important benefit of this judgment is the message we've sent to spammers that illegally tap our resources and clog up the Internet with this trash -- we won't stand for it," said Charles Garry Betty, president and chief executive of Pasadena-based Earthlink, which has 450,000 subscribers.
Cyber Promotions was ordered to stop sending unsolicited bulk e-mailings to customers of Earthlink, although Cyber Promotions has been inactive for several months since its own Internet provider refused to continue providing a connection, the Times said.