Bonds Called

NEW YORK -- Municipal bond issuers announced yesterday the early redemption of 20 issues totaling more than $92.2 million.The issues being called are:* Blytheville School District 5, Ark., Series 1986 bonds maturing Feb. 1, 1993, through 2002. $2.725 million bonds called at par on Aug. 1, 1992.* Texarkana School District 7, Ark., Series 1986 bonds maturing Feb. 1, 1993, through 2001. $2.695 million bonds called at par on Aug. 1, 1992.* Lonoke County School District 4, Ark., Series 1987 bonds maturing Feb. 1, 1993, through 2008.

Four female teenagers charged with attempted murder after a fracas in Edgewood on Sunday were denied bond yesterday in Harford County court as new details of the incident emerged. Baseball bats and knives were used in a skirmish that witnesses said involved up to 50 people and left three people hospitalized with injuries. Prosecutors said one victim was paralyzed from the waist down as a result of injuries suffered in the incident. District Court Judge Mimi Cooper denied bond for the suspects, who were called "a danger to the community" by Assistant State's Attorney Joel Muneses.

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Municipal bond issuers announced yesterday the early redemption of seven issues totaling more than $21.38 million.0 The issues being called are: * University of Alabama, Series 1983 F, university revenue bonds maturing Feb. 1, 1994 through Feb. 1, 2003. $10.71 million called at 102 on Feb. 1, 1993.* California Housing Finance Agency, Series 1981 A, multiple unit rental housing revenue bonds maturing Feb. 1, 2011. $10.67 million called at 101 on Feb. 1, 1993.Wilmington Parking Authority, Del., Series 1982, guaranteed parking revenue bonds maturing Feb. 1, 1994 through Feb. 1, 1997, Feb. 1, 2002, and Feb. 1, 2009.

DALLAS -- In a desolate field of tall grass in Texas, 20-foot-high concrete pillars stand in a line. Crows fly above, and old cattle gates sway in a warm breeze. The pillars were built 25 years ago to hold a Disneyland-style type of monorail in a 12,000-acre business park and residential development that was never completed. The unfinished community, named Las Colinas, was financed by $311 million in municipal bonds. When the Dallas County Utility and Reclamation District issued most of the bonds, it paid extra for insurance against the risk of default.

Charging that an IRS audit was "motivated by partisan politics," NAACP Chairman Julian Bond announced yesterday that the civil rights group would not comply with the federal probe alleging Bond had inappropriately intervened in the presidential campaign by criticizing President Bush. "We are prepared to fight," Bond said yesterday. Attorneys for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People sent a letter Friday to the Internal Revenue Service in response to a summons sent to the organization, dated Jan. 13. The IRS requested documents for the investigation into the group's tax-exempt status.

HERE ARE some suggestions to improve your financial picture:"Bonds are now more attractive than stocks, following the Fed's three recent rate hikes," says the Interest Rate Futures newsletter. "The best bets are long-term Treasuries, whose yields will fall and prices rise. Important: Focus on total return -- yield plus gain -- which should exceed 20 percent over the next year."LOOK OFFSHORE: "I have 30 percent of my 401[k] in an international fund. Foreign funds are less popular now that U.S. stocks have soared, but U.S. large-caps can't continue their record pace.

ATLANTA -- Civil rights activism has failed to win economic justice for African-Americans -- a goal NAACP Chairman Julian Bond said yesterday "has been largely unaddressed and unfulfilled" by the movement.The growing gap between rich and poor Americans has left proportionally more blacks unemployed and destitute than 30 years ago, he said."Since the heady days of the 1960s, too many have concentrated on enriching too few," Bond told more than 3,500 members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People at the group's annual convention.

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Municipal bond issuers announced yesterday the early redemption of 15 issues totaling more than $300 million.1! The issues being called are: * Alaska Housing Finance Corp., general purpose bonds, Series maturing June 1, and Dec. 1, from Dec. 1, 1993, through June 1, 1997; and variable rate Series 1990B, maturing Dec. 1, 1997. $89.4 million called at par on June 1, 1993.* Sacramento County, Calif., single family mortgage revenue bonds, Series 1983, maturing Dec. 1, 1993, through Dec. 1, 1997, Dec. 1, 2005, and June 1, 2016; and Series 1984, maturing Dec. 1, 1993, through Dec. 1, 1998, Dec. 1, 2003, Dec. 1, 2009, and Dec. 1, 2017.

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Municipal bond issuers announced yesterday the early redemption of 15 issues totaling more than $228.1 million.0 The issues being called are: * Anchorage, Alaska, Series 1983, refunding electric revenue bonds, maturing June 1, 1994, 1995, 2003, and 2013. $78.59 million called at 102 on June 1, 1993.* Desha County Residential Housing Facilities Board, Ark., Series 1979, single family mortgage revenue bonds, maturing June 1, 1994, through June 1, 1999, and June 1, 2011. $5.31 million called at 101 on June 1, 1993.