NEARLY 3-MILLION MEDICARE CARDS: Medicare officials say 2.87-million seniors have signed up for the drug discount cards that became effective Tuesday, with enrollments continuing. People on Medicare HMOs, who automatically became eligible for their plans' exclusive discount cards, account for all but a few hundred thousand of the early enrollees. More than 40-million people are eligible for the discount cards; 7-million of them are low income and eligible for $600 in free prescriptions. Medicare is urging seniors to call 1-800-MEDICARE for more information on card sponsors and discounts available in their areas. Maximum enrollment fee is $30, though many cards are free; discounts range from 15 percent on brand drugs to up to 40 percent on generics.
WINN-DIXIE SHUTS CLEARWATER STORE: Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. is closing a store at 1803 N Highland Ave. in Clearwater on June 9. The Jacksonville supermarket chain identified the store as one of 156 being shuttered as part of a broad restructuring announced April 30. While most of the affected stores are in 16 metro markets in other states that Winn-Dixie is abandoning, the Clearwater store is one of three in Florida being closed as an underperformer.
TAMPA TO TALLAHASSEE ON DELTA: Delta Air Lines began making nonstop flights between Tampa International Airport and Tallahassee on Tuesday and is selling one-way fares as low as $49 through June 15. Delta Connection carrier Chautauqua Airlines will fly four round trips daily using 37-seat Embraer regional jets. Sale fares require a 14-day advance purchase, and travel must be completed by July 31.
ADELPHIA PROSECUTION RESTS: Prosecutors rested their fraud case Tuesday in Manhattan court against four former Adelphia Communications Corp. executives, including founder John Rigas, his sons Michael and Timothy and former Adelphia assistant treasurer Michael Mulcahey. U.S. District Judge Leonard Sand then denied motions by all four defense teams to dismiss various counts in the indictment. The four are accused of conspiracy and fraud related to an alleged scheme to loot Adelphia and deceive investors and the public about the company's finances and operations.
NEW OVITZ TESTIMONY ORDERED: Former Walt Disney Co. board members Stanley Gold and Roy E. Disney have been ordered to give new depositions in a shareholder lawsuit against the company over the brief tenure of Michael Ovitz as company president. The law firm representing shareholders in the suit sought the new testimony because of inconsistencies in their testimony before they resigned and their criticism of the Disney board since. The two were on the board in 1995 when former Hollywood agent Ovitz was hired as Disney president and little more than a year later when Ovitz left with a severance package that included a $38.9-million cash payout and stock options valued at more than $100-million.
SHORT-TERM T-BILL RATES MIXED: The Treasury Department sold $18-billion in three-month securities at a discount rate of 1.130 percent, up from 1.050 percent last week. An additional $15-billion was sold in six-month bills at a rate of 1.400 percent, up from 1.375 percent. Also, the average yield for one-year constant-maturity Treasury bills dipped to 1.82 percent last week from 1.83 percent the week before.
