GE

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Contaminated sediments will continue to be a major source of PCBs in the upper Hudson River for years to come, and fish in some areas will remain unsafe to eat for at least a decade if nothing is done to clean up the problem, according to a study released by the Environmental Protection Agency.These findings, based on a computer model that projects 21 years into the future, contradict conclusions in a study made public recently by the General Electric Co. The GE study, which also used computer modeling, showed that some fish between Fort Edward and the Troy Dam, both in upstate New York, will be fit for consumption by next year if the river continues to naturally cleanse itself by covering PCBs with sediment.

ALBANY, N.Y. -- The Pataki administration has ordered General Electric to clean 700,000 cubic feet of soil contaminated by PCBs at an old factory that dumped the chemicals in the Hudson River, a move that environmentalists lauded as a good, though limited, step.The cleanup order by the state's Department of Environmental Conservation, which the department estimated would cost GE $28.4 million, applies only to the defunct plant in the village of Hudson Falls, 50 miles north of here. It does not address the far more contentious question of whether to dredge PCB-contaminated sediments in the river, a step long demanded by environmental groups, and resisted by GE.Lately, there has been a flurry of activity over PCBs in the upper Hudson, as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency prepares to decide whether to order dredging, paid for by GE, which could cost the company more than $1 billion.

Lockheed Martin Corp. matched analysts' expectations for earnings during a complicated fourth quarter of 1997, beating the year-ago fourth-quarter mark by 12 percent, aside from one-time gains and losses.All eyes now are on how the company handles its pending acquisition of Northrop Grumman Corp., expected to close early this year."The big story will start to come around the middle of the first quarter, when we get the government's response to the merger and sort of the detailed [integration]

I've discovered a sound even worse than nails dragging across chalkboard. It's the sound of journalists whining about their fallen "icon," David Brinkley.Enough already!Some journalists can't stop moaning about how the ex-anchorman tarnished his fine reputation by becoming a pitchman for Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), the agribusiness firm and corporate welfare king that sponsored "This Week With David Brinkley" from its launch in 1981.The problem with all the noise about Brinkley's role as a corporate huckster is that these same mainstream journalists are usually silent over a much bigger issue: the power of TV sponsors to shape - and limit - debate.

Black & Decker Corp. has tapped a General Electric Co. executive to head a corporate effort to improve product quality and save money by slashing waste.Towson-based Black & Decker said yesterday that GE's Carl C. Liebert has been named to the newly created position of vice president/Six Sigma. He will join the company Nov. 1 and will report directly to Nolan D. Archibald, chairman and chief executive officer of Black & Decker.Liebert, who has been at GE for 25 years, was most recentlygeneral manager of the conglomerate's super-abrasives business.

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. -- Forget Beverly Hills 90210. The cool ZIP code for kids is North Pole 12345.Actually, the 12345 ZIP is exclusively assigned to a sprawling General Electric plant in Schenectady. But come December, the GE mailroom brims with letters addressed to Candy Lane or Iceberg Drive or Chillyville, North Pole. They all carry urgent messages for Santa Claus, and they all carry that child-friendly ZIP code."Whatever it is, they seem to write 12345," said Linda Susi, one of more than a dozen GE employees who sat down yesterday to spend a long lunch helping harried ol' St. Nick keep up with his correspondence.

General Electric Co., which earlier this week announced plans to buy the Middle River thrust reverser plant from Lockheed Martin Corp., has an option to buy a similar business owned by Northrop Grumman Corp.Analysts said that if GE is signaling a serious push into the market, the once-desperate Middle River plant could be in for flush times.GE "has the money and they have the reputation for being fairly aggressive in completing their objectives," said Brett Lambert, an aerospace analyst with DFI International.

WASHINGTON -- Workers at Lockheed Martin's thrust reverser plant in Middle River have wondered why the company would tout them as a success story, and then sell them to General Electric Co.Yesterday, corporate President and Chief Operating Officer Peter B. Teets gave an answer: The aeronautics side of the company didn't want to sell Middle River, but corporate leaders insisted in the name of shareholder value."

Workers weren't the only ones feeling anxious about Lockheed Martin's decision to sell its Middle River Aerostructures plant to General Electric. Several industry experts also had a hard time figuring why the Bethesda-based aerospace giant would jettison a growing business."

For weeks, Larry Dembo had gone through the same nerve-wracking routine at Lockheed Martin's factory in Middle River: Get to work at 7: 30 a.m., log onto the computer and field the latest rumors about being sold out by headquarters.Yesterday, the gossip finally came true.General Manager Ray Roquemore came on the intercom around 9 a.m. with the news that General Electric Co. was going to be the plant's new owner."It was a big relief," said Dembo, who in 18-plus years at the plant has weathered plenty of change.

Third-quarter earnings up 21% at McCormick Spicemaker McCormick & Co. said yesterday that third-quarter earnings per share increased 21 percent as the company raised prices and saw a small benefit from the sale of its Season-All business. The Sparks-based company reported net income of $68.6 million, or 52 cents per share, for the quarter ended Aug. 31. That was compared with $56.8 million, or 44 cents per share, for the corresponding period a year ago. Sales were $781.6 million, compared with $716.

General Electric is planning to sell its appliance division, one of the oldest businesses in the conglomerate's 120-year history, people briefed on the proposal said yesterday. A sale of the unit, which makes refrigerators, microwaves and washer-dryers among other items, could fetch at least $5 billion, these people said. GE and its investment bank, Goldman Sachs, have been laying the groundwork for an auction over the last few weeks. The sale would also mark the end of a brand of household products that made General Electric a fixture in American homes over the last century.

As reported Dec. 30, 1990, in The Howard Sun: Two decades of the General Electric Appliance Park East in Columbia come to an end Tuesday when the plant officially closes, but about 65 of the remaining employees will be able to continue working there for at least another year with a new employer. The employees are among about 140 workers GE laid off Friday. They have been hired by Holman Contract Warehousing, the contractor chosen to operate the center until the operation moves to Aberdeen in Harford County.

General Electric Co. agreed yesterday to sell its plastics division for $11.6 billion to the largest public company in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Basic Industries Corp. The deal for the GE division, which has 11,000 employees in 20 countries, is one of the largest yet by the Saudi company, known as Sabic. Sabic prevailed in a sometimes crowded race, with other top bidders including Basell Holdings BV, the Dutch plastics maker, and Apollo Management, the American private equity firm led by Leon Black.

General Electric Co.'s stock hasn't done much lately. What's the outlook for it? - J.N., via Internet Being the only member of the original 12 stocks in the 1896 Dow Jones industrial average to remain in the famed indicator attests to its long history. But the enormous conglomerate is maintaining a strong position in the present and future as well. Success of the series Heroes and introduction of Sunday Night Football helped to revive its NBC network. Overall company earnings more than doubled in its fourth quarter, primarily on strong global sales of gas turbines, health care equipment, financial services and aircraft engines.

Forrest Hamilton Judkins, a retired electrical engineer who had been vice president of a South Baltimore insulator plant and had worked in atomic bomb production, died of congestive heart failure related to Parkinson's disease Jan. 12 at St. Joseph Medical Center. The Towson resident was 90. Born in Windham, Conn., he built his own television set in 1933 and picked up signals from two television transmitters that were in operation just two hours per week. Mr. Judkins earned his undergraduate and master's degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he played first clarinet in the school band and was crew team coxswain.

NEW YORK -- General Electric Co. and Tokyo-based Hitachi Ltd. said yesterday that they will combine their nuclear-plant businesses into two ventures in the United States and Japan to better compete with bigger rivals Toshiba Corp. and France's Areva Group. GE will receive a net payment of "several hundred million" dollars once the transaction is closed, John Krenicki, head of GE Energy, told reporters yesterday. GE will keep 60 percent of its nuclear business and get 20 percent of Hitachi's Japanese segment, Hitachi President Kazuo Furukawa and Krenicki said.

General Electric Co. said yesterday that it had reached a deal to sell its reinsurance business to Swiss Reinsurance Co. for $6.8 billion in cash and stock, substantially completing the company's exit from the insurance industry. GE will register a $2.8 billion after-tax loss on the sale. Swiss Re also will assume $1.7 billion in debt. The deal marks the fifth sale of an insurance business by GE since 2002 as its chief executive, Jeffrey R. Immelt, pushes for faster growth. GE Insurance Solutions of Kansas City, Mo., had net premiums of $6.2 billion last year and assets of $41.5 billion as of June.

Linda Wilson gazed with horror at the vultures nesting on the balcony just off her fifth-floor office and waiting to ensnare field mice below. Thus was her baptism to Columbia Gateway. It might be more accurate to say it was Wilson's introduction to the idea of Columbia Gateway because other than the swooping predators and a scattering of single-story offices in the distance, there was little else but vacant land. No more. Today, the office park, which is flanked by Interstate 95, Route 175 and Snowden River Parkway, boasts almost 70 office complexes, housing some of the region's biggest companies and employing 11,000 people.

General Electric Co. has always been the largest individual holding in my portfolio. Should I keep it that way? - G.C., via the Internet This giant conglomerate with 11 operating segments and a history of creating shareholder value continues to offer cause for investor optimism. Profits from its NBC television network and hit movies such as Meet the Fockers and Ray have been strong, as have its health care and transportation division results. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Immelt predicts that, barring significant increases in raw material prices, earnings could increase as much as 17 percent this year.