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FOREIGN SHIPS TO BE BOARDED: The Coast Guard will board every foreign-flagged vessel that sails into a U.S. port beginning Thursday to check whether it is complying with rules aimed at foiling terrorists. A maritime treaty signed by about 150 countries requires each ship to have a security officer, alarm system, automatic identification system, access restrictions to the engine room and bridge, and a method for checking IDs of people who board. Each ship must have a certificate signed by the country that flags it saying it is in compliance with the treaty.
STERN'S SONS TO BE CO-PRESIDENTS: The sons of the late Edward L. Stern will become co-presidents of Kreisler Manufacturing Corp. Michael Stern will have the additional title of CEO and Edward A. Stern will be CFO. Wallace Kelly, former chief operations officer, was elected chairman of the board. All those positions had been held by Edward L. Stern, who died June 15. The company, which has its headquarters in St. Petersburg, makes parts for aircraft engines at a plant in Elmwood, N.J.
INTERNET PHARMACY BILL WITH BUSH: Gov. Jeb Bush is reportedly close to signing a bill that will require Internet pharmacies to register with the state's Department of Health. The bill, which passed unanimously through the Florida Legislature, will not affect storefronts that help people access drugs through Canada because they do not fill prescriptions. Instead, it will attempt to regulate pharmacies anywhere in the world that sell prescription drugs to Floridians through the Internet.
CANADIAN STOREFRONTS TO DEFY ORDER: Owners of Canadian prescription services who were told to cease operations June 16 by the Florida Department of Health said they intend to stay open in defiance of the order. The businesses help people get lower-cost prescriptions from Canada but do not keep drugs on the premises. The state maintains they are operating as unlicensed pharmacies and ordered a dozen of the storefronts to close. Monday, representatives of about 20 such businesses met in Lakeland to consider their legal defense against the state.
CRYO-CELL SETTLES 10 SUITS: Cryo-Cell International Inc. said it has reached a tentative agreement to settle 10 shareholder class-action lawsuits for $7-million. The Clearwater stem cell storage company will be responsible for paying $3-million of the settlement, with all but $175,000 covered by Cryo-Cell's insurer. Cryo-Cell's former auditors will pay $4-million. The suits, filed from May to July 2003, allege improper revenue recognition. Cryo-Cell said the settlement does not represent an admission of wrongdoing by any of the parties.
AT&T SETTLES WITH N.Y.: AT&T Corp. will pay $400,000 in penalties and costs and issue refunds to as many as 311,000 New York residents who were billed $7.72 for long-distance telephone service they neither requested nor used. The settlement, announced Tuesday on New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's Web site, caps a six-month investigation of billing practices at the nation's largest long-distance company. Customers have 45 days to request reimbursement from AT&T. As part of the settlement, AT&T agreed to revamp its billing procedures.
BEALL'S HIRES AD AGENCY: Beall's Department Stores Inc. has named the Dalton Agency of Jacksonville as its new advertising agency, ending the Bradenton department store's eight-year relationship with Crispin Porter & Bogusky of Miami. Because Beall's will handle its own TV media placement, the account is worth about $1-million a year in production billings. The two companies parted ways because of Beall's decision to take media buying in-house and because the Miami agency, which now has the Burger King account, among others, had grown too large for the regional department store.