NEWS BRIEFS

Most U.S. forecasters see slight declines in new hausing starts for 1978, guestimates range from 1.65 million to 1.9 an exception: Advance Mortgage Co. which sees an increase to nearly 2 million and that Ca. should be able to sustain its '77 level of 255,000 total permits for several years .

Housing problems foreseen; less S$ for housing as deposits into s&ls decline and/or investors make other investments; more unsold houses, causing quick cut-backs; mtls. shortages; rising prices; and not enough buildable lots . . pub- lic concern over the general economy is also a cited factor

Non-residential constructian, up ll% in "77, is expected to again show gains; an important part of our economy, it accts. for lA% of our GNP American Plywood Assn. forecasts record'77,plywood production, 19.5 billion sq. ft.,.

National Association of Home Builders' J year' forecast: 1.8 million housing starts in '78, 1.75 in "790 2.1 in '80, 1.9 in '81 and 1.6 million in 1982 . many experts feel the Sunbelt, which includes much of the West, will continue to outpace the rest of the U.S. in housing and bldg. mtl. usage .

U. S. Bank. Portland,Or., sees a home bldg. decline of 7% in Portland, l7% in Salem and 3% in Eugene; all had sizeable increases this year . NAHB has urged the gov. to delay a home owner tax credit for insulation due to severe shortages, expected to worsen.

Housing starts in Oct. (latest figs.) were at a 2.18 million rate seasonally adjusted, highest in 4% years, up 67a from Sept. and 27%

(!) over a year ago . . . single family starts (which use far more lumber & plywood than multis) were 1.55 million, highest level in 20 years .

Bldg. permils rose 93% to an annual rate of 1.85 million, highest since June '73 . in the West, housing starts declined 6Vo from the previous mo. level of 526.000 to 525.000 . . .gov. assistance to low income housing is expected to be downin'78...

Georgia-Pacific will close its 22 acre Fred C. Holmes Lumber Co. facility at Fort Bragg, Ca., by mo.'s end and its Redwood Coast Lumber (Ukiah Packaging Operations) unit in early '78; business is now being handled out of G-P's Fort Bragg offiice .

Golding Lumber ,Soles is a new Westminster, Ca., office wholesaler, Bob Golding, pres . . J. E. Higgins Lumber has closed its Rocklin, Ca., facility and moved its nt'I. div. to its 14 acre Union City, Ca., plant; J. R. Long in charge

Louisiana-Pacific Corp. has had to close indefinitely its Samoa (Ca.) plywood plant due to supply disruptions caused by potential expansion of Redwood National Park . Carroll Moulding Co. is all moved into its new plant in Huntington Beach, Ca.

Ron Delisle is now sole owner of P.R.O.D. lAhoksale Distributors. San Leandro. Ca.. following_the departure of his friend and former partner Paul Olsen, who wanted to spend more time in land development, in which he has been increasingly active for 3 years; Jerry O'Hare is now v.p. BrooksScanlon plans to spend $4 million modernizing its Redmond, Or., plywood plant. .

Nevada l,lholesale Lumber Co., Reno, Nv., has been sold for an undisclosed amount to Diamond National .llickes is expanding its Reno yard (ex-Home Lumber) as well as its lUaller Lumber property recently acquired in nearby Sparks, which now carries the Wickesname...

Minton's Lumber & Supply has opened its 3rd store, it'sin Milpitas, Ca. . . . So-Cal Commercial has moved from L.A. to Montebello, Ca. . . National lloodwork Mfsrs. Assn. has closed its Portland area office . . G-P bldg. product mill sales will continue at Portland, but with a new name: Building Products Div.-West.

Dallas wholesaler Marsh & Truman recently shipped a truck of 2x l0 dense sel. structural RL Southern pine lumber into the Los Angeles area, part of nearly I million b.f. of scaffolding planks shipped so far in'77 . . . action on enlarging Redwood National Park is expected shortly after the lst of the year .

Beaver Lumber Co., Santa Clara, Ca., is building a 20,000 sq. ft. metal storage shed f<rr millwork items, plus a 60'x 120' covering roof connecting 2 existing bldgs. to protect the sticking crew and for rainy season unloading . Mark Balfour, ex-Pacific Yard Servirc, has purchased and is operating Umpqua Building & Hardware, Reedsport,Or....

Informing workers of possible cancer hazards (see Editorial, Nov.. p. 6,) is part of a projected new OSHA policy now being formuIated; workers would have to be informed in advance. even before they're hired. .

Citizens Lumber, Reedley, Ca. has built new yard buildings and expanded the showroom to 10,000 sq. ft. Yosemite Lumber. Fresno, Ca., is putting up new storage bldgs., complete with drive-thru aisles.