TAMPA PARTNERSHIP NAMES CHAIRMAN: Lee Moncrief of SouthTrust Bank is the new chairman of the Tampa Downtown Partnership. At the development group's annual luncheon, he said his top priorities would be to improve local transportation, build support for the proposed cultural arts district and spur development of residential housing in downtown Tampa. Hal Flowers of Everest Partners LLC was chosen chairman-elect of the partnership.

FPL BUYS INTO CALIFORNIA PLANT: FPL Group Inc. plans to finish building and to own a power plant in Southern California that can light about 388,000 homes, doubling the company's electricity output in the state. The 517-megawatt plant in Blythe, 200 miles east of Los Angeles, was being developed by Caithness Energy LLC, a closely held New York company that will keep a stake in the project. Financial terms weren't disclosed. The natural gas-fired plant is scheduled to open in early 2003.

KRAFT OFF TO A QUIET START: Kraft Foods Inc. shares rose less than 1 percent in their first day of trading. The stock rose 25 cents to $31.25 in trading of 69.6-million shares. Analysts said Kraft's high price-to-earnings ratio relative to its rivals, coupled with the company's ties to parent Philip Morris, troubled some investors. "It's not lackluster in terms of volume," said Keith Patriquin, an analyst at Loomis Sayles & Co. "Still, you'd hope more people are willing to buy in the after market."

LUCENT FALLS ON CREDIT RATING: Shares of Lucent Technologies fell 8.8 percent a day after Standard & Poor's reduced the company's corporate credit rating to junk status. The shares, which fell 70 cents to $7.24, have tumbled 87 percent in the past year. S&P said it expects Lucent to struggle to boost sales, cut costs and show an operating profit amid a slowdown in demand for telecommunications gear. A lower credit rating increases borrowing costs on future loans.

LAWMAKERS ENTER BANK BATTLE: North Carolina's House passed a bill designed to make it harder for Wachovia shareholders to consider a buyout offer from SunTrust. The bill, proposed by SunTrust rival First Union, would prevent anyone other than a corporation's directors and executives from calling a meeting to change bylaws. Currently, owners of 10 percent of a public company's stock can call for a special shareholders meeting within 30 days if the move is allowed under a company's bylaws or articles of incorporation. The bill could be approved by the Senate as early as today and sent to the governor for his signature. James Wells III, vice chairman of Atlanta-based SunTrust, called the bill bad public policy. Separately, SunTrust said it will purchase as much as 5-million shares of its own stock over an unspecified time. SunTrust is trying to boost its stock price, which has fallen 4.8 percent since it offered $14-billion for Wachovia. SunTrust shares rose 29 cents to $61.66.

BAUSCH & LOMB ISSUES WARNING: Bausch & Lomb said it will earn less than expected in the second quarter, blaming lost market share in the lens care business and declining demand for older products. Bausch & Lomb now expects to earn significantly less than the 55 cents to 57 cents a share it predicted. Its shares fell $1.23 to $43.77.

JURY RULES AGAINST FINANCIAL COMPANY: A jury has awarded more than $71-million in damages to plaintiffs who accused a Seattle financial company of goading customers into renewing loans with undisclosed additional charges. The defendant, Washington Mutual Finance Group LLC, operates more than 2,300 consumer banking, mortgage lending, commercial banking, consumer finance and financial services offices throughout the nation. The company said it will appeal.

Z-TEL EXECUTIVES RESIGN: The chief financial officer of Z-Tel Technologies has resigned along with a founding board member, the Tampa provider of high-tech phone services said. John Hutchens, CFO of Z-Tel for two years, is being replaced by Horace Davis III, the company's senior vice president for budgeting and financial planning. Z-Tel, which is struggling through a sharp downturn in business, said in public documents that it notified Hutchens earlier that it intended to search for a possible replacement but did not specify concerns with Hutchens' performance. Separately, board member Buford Ortale stepped down from the board, citing personal reasons. His slot will be filled by Andrew Cowen of Brown Brothers Harriman, which has invested $50-million in Z-Tel since December.

FIRST UNION SETTLEMENT: A federal judge has formally approved a $26-million settlement of two class-action lawsuits alleging First Union Corp. acted in its own interest, rather than for the benefit of its employees, in managing its 401(k) plans. Former employees of Signet Banking Corp., which was absorbed by First Union in 1997, complained First Union liquidated the assets in the employees' 401(k) plans and reinvested them in proprietary funds of First Union that were underperforming their original investments.

CKE FORECASTS LOSS: CKE Restaurants said it had a "substantial" loss in the fiscal first quarter, partly from a loss on the sale of its Taco Bueno restaurants. It lost 5 cents a share in the year-ago quarter. CKE is the largest stockholder of Checkers Drive-In Restaurants Inc. of Clearwater.

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