CLEARWATER HOLIDAY INN SOLD: Newport Hospitality Group, a British hotel operator, has acquired the 154-room Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites at 20967 U.S. 19 N, Clearwater. Newport paid $7.8-million to Clearwater-based Menna Development and Management Inc. for the full-service property, according to hotel brokers Greene Canfield DeGeorge Ltd.

JP MORGAN CHASE WINS FLORIDA GRANTS: JP Morgan Chase is getting two Quick Response Training grants totaling $1.28-million from the state of Florida to train 1,252 new workers in Tampa. The grants are two of the largest QRT awards ever in the Tampa Bay area. Not counting the latest grants, the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce's Committee of 100 has worked with Learey Technical Center to coordinate 17 grants over the past eight years totaling $2.16-million for 2,825 workers.

GULFSTREAM TO SUPPLY FLORIDA POWER PLANT: Florida Power Corp. has agreed to fuel several of its electric generating plants, including its forthcoming Hines 2 plant in Polk County, with natural gas transported by Gulfstream Natural Gas System LLC of Houston. Gulfstream's proposed 753-mile pipeline will extend from Mississippi to Florida and is scheduled to begin service in June 2002. Hines 2 is expected to begin operations in November 2003.

FRANKLIN TEMPLETON, IBM SIGN PACT: Franklin Templeton Investments said it has signed a 10-year technology services agreement with IBM Global Services that will involve the transfer of 65 St. Petersburg employees to IBM. The employees now work in a building at M.L. King (Ninth) Street and Burlington Avenue N, which Franklin Templeton plans to vacate. The service agreement is valued at $480-million. Franklin Templeton said the move will improve efficiency and customer service.

CHARTER, AT&T REACH DEAL: Charter Communications Inc. will buy several AT&T Broadband cable systems in three regions, giving Charter a net gain of more than half a million customers. AT&T Broadband will receive cash, Charter stock and cable systems worth a combined $1.79-billion. Charter, owned primarily by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, will gain cable customers in St. Louis and parts of Alabama, Nevada and California. AT&T Broadband will get Charter cable systems valued at $249-million serving 62,000 customers in Miami Beach and Sebastian.

STATE FARM INCOME TUMBLES: State Farm Insurance Cos. said its net income dropped by 60 percent last year due to a combination of increased claims and reduced rates. The privately held company said net income in 2000 was $408.1-million, down from $1.034-billion a year earlier. State Farm said earned premiums rose 1 percent to $25.1-billion from $24.8-billion at its three auto insurance companies, but incurred claims and loss expenses rose 8 percent to $23.2-billion from $21.4-billion.

WORLDCOM TO CUT 6,000, REPORT SAYS: WorldCom Inc. has told almost 7 percent of its workers, or about 6,000 people, that they would be laid off, the New York Times reported. A WorldCom spokeswoman declined to comment. The Times reported that the cuts would come largely at the company's network operations center in Ashburn, Va.; at network technology facilities in Tulsa, Okla., and Richardson, Texas; and at WorldCom's sales and marketing operation in Atlanta. WorldCom is acquiring Intermedia Communications Inc., with plans to spin off the Tampa company while keeping Intermedia subsidiary Digex Inc.

CIRCUIT CITY TO CUT STAFF: Circuit City Group said it plans to eliminate 300 jobs to cut costs. The retailer will take a $5-million pretax charge in the fourth quarter ended Wednesday for the job cuts, which represent less than 1 percent of its work force. The firings mainly will be made in its corporate and division offices.

TWA BIDS SUBMITTED: AMR Corp. and rival Jet Acquisitions Group Inc. formally submitted their bids for bankrupt Trans World Airlines. AMR bid $500-million, plus the assumption of $3-billion in debt and lease obligations. Jet Acquisitions Group Inc. bid $889-million for substantially all of TWA's assets. The company has released few details about itself and did not request any records from TWA before submitting its offer.

DUPONT ORDERED TO PAY BENLATE DAMAGES: A Broward County Circuit Court jury ruled DuPont Co. must pay an Ecuadoran shrimp farm $12.3-million because its fungicide flowed off banana plantations and poisoned shrimp. The jury found DuPont was negligent in its distribution of Benlate to banana plantations in Ecuador's Guayaquil region and that the fungicide damaged Aquamar S.A.'s shrimp farm from 1992 through 1999. DuPont said it will appeal.

3COM ISSUES WARNING: Network equipmentmaker 3Com Corp. warned its third-quarter revenue and earnings would fall far short of expectations because of the economic slowdown. The warning comes just two days after the company announced it would lay off 1,200 employees. 3Com expects its operating loss for the period to be between $235-million and $245-million, more than twice its previous estimate of an $80-million to $100-million loss. 3Com shares closed at $9.13, up 13 cents, before the announcement.

HOG PRODUCER ACCUSED OF RACKETEERING: Environmental groups hit Smithfield Foods Inc. with a racketeering lawsuit accusing the company of deliberately fouling water, air and soil as part of a strategy to drive competing small farmers out of business. By polluting rather than treating its waste, Smithfield is able to produce pork so cheaply that independent farmers can't compete, the suit alleges. Smithfield vice president Richard J.M. Poulson called the charge "extortion by litigation." TREASURY AUCTION: The U.S. Treasury sold $26.03-billion in 13-day cash management bills at a high discount rate of 5.39 percent. Tenders totaled $55.96-billion.

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