NEWS BRIEFS

Cautious smiles have broadened slightly the past few weeks as the on-againoff-again business of this spring has continued to improve to the point where it is steady and moving uPward "nothing sensational," observed one Phoenix wholesaler, "But it sure beats hell out oflastyear".

In keeping with the lumber industry tradition of being a continuing and unsolvable mYstery to many as to why it does what it does. this careful confidence comes at a time when manY are revising housing start forecasts downward as starts so far this year have been less than anticipated and prices have softened inresponse...

May starts continued on the plateau of previous months: I ,415,000 on a seasonallYadjusted annual basis, uP 2.5% from April and a huge 307o above year-ago depressed levels; regional breakdowns showed starts in May up 9.6% over APril in the West...

Building permits, a leading indicator of where residential construction may be heading, climbed 5.8% in May . . actual housing starts that mo. (remembet, it's only the actual starts that use the wood and other bldg' mtls.) were up 6.2% above the previous mo. gov. figs. also show slow start nos. in federallY subsidized housing programs . .

Forecasts for total '76 housing are now down to 1,557,500 bY the National Assn. of Home Builders, nervous like others in the industry over the aPParentlY spongy support for anYthing above the 1.5 million level; start forecasts for '77 were also cut back slightly . . FederalNational Mortage Assn. (Fannie Mae) sees rental starts moving out of their present doldrums in '77-'78 and an average of 1.7 million new homes & apts. per Year thru 1980. .

The Monongahela mess was still being argued over in Congress at this writing, in question is what the specific language of the bills will be . . . for an uP-to-the minute report, call toll free l-8OO424-2493, the National Forest Products Assn's. Newsline...

Merrill Lynch & Co. is Ptar,ning to acquire certain assets of Oregon Pacific Industries from O-P's parent corporation, l|ic kes, no $$ figures revealed so far Palmer G. Lewis Co., Auburn, Wa., and American PlYwood Assn., working thru the Salvation Army, recently donated 528 pieces of ext./shop plywood to Guatemala for earthquake rebuilding

National Lumber Co., has just opened its 7th store, in Long Beach, Ca., construction is proceeding on Pay 'n Save's Home Center, on Oahu, Hawaii, unit is combined with a drug store&nursery .CoPeland Lumber has completed rebuilding its Klamath Falls, Or., unit that bumed I I mos. ago;cost exceeded $200,000 for the new 20,000 sq. ft. facility .

DiGiorgio sold its Feather River Lumber Co. sawmills in Ca. to Sierra Pacific Industries of Arcata, Ca., for "at least $13 million;" price will finally dePend on the market price of lumber products over the next 3 Years an early Oct. oPening is Projected fot Ernst Home Center's new Twin Falls, Id. store

Marine Lumber, Tigard, Or., lost its shed and yard stocks in a $60,000 fire that sPared the mill . . . Payless Cashways, Inc., Denver, plans new units in Sacramento, Modesto, Fresno and Bakersfield, Ca.; envisioned for each ate 24,000 sq. ft. of retail space with 40,000 50,000 sq. ft. of warehouse & outsidestorage...

Strait Door's new Chino, Ca., plant that began produgtion in May is now turning out about 3500 doors a day .Cal-Western Forest Products is a new Anaheim, Ca., wholesale finh begun by Harry Ryback, ex-Modern Materials, Inc. Double I Lumber, Orange, Ca., has just celebrated its lOth anniversary inbiz...

Handymant new Mira Mesa store (near San Diego) is believed to be the first built on the hypermarche concePt on the West Coast; all stock is inventoried in tall bins and gn racks directly above displays Champion International has sold its Roberts Consolidated subsidiary for $29 million in cash & notes to key Roberts emPloYees.

Lumberiack opened its fourth store in Sacramento, Ca., 28,000 sq. ft. on 3.3 acres that jncludes alarge greenhouse . LhrrY and Robert Holmes have Purchased the Bear River Lumber Co., Evanston, Wy., for an undisclosed amount Pope & Talbot bought Publishers Paper's whole log chipping facility, Qakridge, Or., no price revealed i

Kellogg Co., the big cereal mfg., which blasted off an expensive ad campaign with a "Yes We Can" theme, apparently was unaware that Louisiana-Pacific hzd initiated a "YesWeCan" Program more than a yeer ago (see The Merchant, June, 1976, P. l4); L-P says "we're delighted that L-P's message of 'can do' is being spread across America with force, dlgnity and someone else's money".

And for you OSHA fans: Minnesota's Rep. Hagedorn has discovered that job safetY officials recently spent $466,700 to inform farmers that floors coated with manure tend to be sliPPery . now there, doesn't that make you feel better about how Your tax $$ are being spent?