AROUND TOWN
Quarterly earnings fall for Morris Publishing
Morris Publishing Group reported second-quarter earnings of $8.6 million, down 46.8 percent from $16.2 million for the same three months last year. Total operating revenue was $82.2 million, down $13.4 million, or 14 percent.
The company's advertising revenue was down 17.2 percent to $65.2 million. Its circulation revenue rose 2.9 percent to $14.8 million, in part because of home delivery price increases.
CEO William S. Morris IV said the company's earnings were affected by advertising revenue declines driven by a weak economy and trends that continue to plague the publishing industry.
The Augusta-based company publishes 13 daily newspapers, including the Augusta Chronicle . Its other holdings include non-daily newspapers and free community publications.
VeryVera to close cafe to have lesson space
VeryVera, at 3113 Washington Road, will close its walk-in cafe Aug. 29, owner Vera Stewart announced Tuesday.
The cafe is being closed in order to use the space for an expanded cooking demonstration school called VeryVera School of Good Taste.
The space also will be used for private cooking demonstrations.
NATION
Oil prices rise, but gasoline costs drop
NEW YORK --- Oil prices rebounded Tuesday, jumping back above $114 a barrel after the dollar weakened against the euro and a rally in heating oil pulled new buyers into energy markets.
Light, sweet crude for September delivery rose $1.66 to settle at $114.53 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after alternating between positive and negative territory earlier in the day. The September contract expires today, adding to the volatility.
At the pump, retail gas prices continued their decline, suggesting that cash-strapped Americans are still cutting back on their driving. A gallon of regular slipped another penny overnight to a new national average of $3.73, almost 10 percent lower than record prices of $4.114 a gallon reached July 17, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express.
GM offers employee prices to all buyers
NEW YORK --- General Motors Corp. said Tuesday that it will extend employee discounts to everyone on almost all of its 2008 and some of its 2009 models as it seeks to clear its remaining inventory of 2008 vehicles.
The Detroit automaker said it will offer employee prices on all 2008 vehicles except its medium-duty trucks. It also will extend the incentive on a handful of 2009 models.
Employee discounts generally are 10 percent below the invoice price but vary by model.
California sees big jump in home sales
LOS ANGELES --- Home sales in California surged more than 12 percent in July from a year ago -- the biggest jump in sales in four years, a research firm said Tuesday.
A total of 39,507 new and preowned homes were sold statewide last month. That's up 12.3 percent from July 2007 and up 12.2 percent from June's total, MDA DataQuick said in its report.
Foreclosed homes accounted for 44.8 percent of all the homes sold last month.
-- From staff and wire reports
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