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Patrick Lumber Pleads Guilty

Patrick Lumber Co., Portland, Or., has pleaded guilty in federal district court to two felony criminal charges of violating the Libyan embargo in exporting two loads of lumber worth more than $800,000 in 1993, according to the Daily Journal of Commerce.

The U.S. government charged the company with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Export Administration Act when it shipped the lumber to Italy knowing that it would then be transshipped to Libya. An officer of the company told the court that employees knew that two separate loads of lumber shipped on behalf of Austrian firm Engel Timber were to be delivered to customers in Libya.

Patrick Lumber accepted a $225,000 fine for these criminal violations and will pay an additional $20,000 each to the Commerce and Treasury departments to satisfy civil penalties for violations of the Libyan embargo, according to the report.

The company is also facing an $11.3 million lawsuit by a former employee who said he was fired after notifying the federal government of the shipments. The company maintains that Robert Lynde was terminated for alienating co-workers and inability to do his job, and that an Oregon Department of Employment investigation revealed he was fired for performance reasons,

Mr. Average Remodeler

The average remodeling professional is a 45-year-old, well-educated male, according to the National Association of the Remodeling Industry.

Fifty percent of remodelers had a college degree, an additional 257o had attended college, and l4%o had completed some graduate work.

The average remodeling firm completes 88 projects per year, with an average residential job costing $66,918. An overwhelming 847o said that the demand for quality workmanship is the number one factor affecting their business.

Shortline Railroad Spin Off

Oregon's newest shortline, Portland & Western Railroad, Inc., is the latest railroad to service shippers on hundreds of low-density branches formerly operated by Southern Pacific.

PNWR's lease of 53 miles of SP track, linking Portland with Newberg, Tigard, Beaverton, Hillsboro and Seghers, completes SP's program of spinning off all of its Oregon branches, begun in December 1991, to smaller, locally-managed railroads.

PNWR has contracted with Willamette & Pacific Railroad, Inc. for its locomotives, maintenance of physical plant, train dispatching and customer service support.

There has been a nationwide resurgence of shortlines as the Class I carriers have encouraged smaller railroads to take over the branch lines.

Redwood Firm Wins Sign

Claudia Cowan. owner of Horizon Forest Products, Richmond, Ca., won a 35"-wide by 19"-tall point-of-purchase neon sign worth $375 promoting redwood decks and fences.

The drawing was sponsored by the California Redwood Association.

"All I had to do was order some of their beautiful ads and informative literature." Cowan said.