Numbers in the news

455M

Auditing firm Deloitte & Touche and a group of almost 40 banks will pay $455 million to settle a lawsuit with investors in Adelphia Communications Corp. Deloitte will pay $210 million and the banks will pay $245 million under a settlement approved last month in U.S.

District Court. Investors had claimed losses as high as $5.5 billion in Adelphia’s tumble into bankruptcy in 2002, alleging that Deloitte and the banks contributed to the fraud. Neither Deloitte nor the banks admitted wrongdoing. Deloitte audited Adelphia’s books and the banks underwrote stock offerings and extended syndicated loans to the company.

In April 2005, Deloitte agreed to pay $50 million to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission claims that it improperly audited Adelphia’s 2000 financial statements. Lawyers for investors will get 21.4% of the settlement amount, or about $94 million. Most of the banks are also defendants in litigation filed on behalf of Adelphia in U.S. bankruptcy court by committees of shareholders and creditors. Adelphia and Deloitte have sued each other over who bears responsibility for the fraud.

A trial is scheduled for next year. Adelphia last year settled a suit brought by the SEC for $715 million. As part of that accord, the Rigas family turned over 95 percent of its assets.

70

Pittsburgh Corning Corp. observes its 70th anniversary next year, but employees in Port Allegany are hardly in a celebratory mood. The major manufacturer of residential, commercial and industrial glass blocks is shutting down one of its two melters. At least 45 jobs will be eliminated on Feb. 1.

The company has reportedly cut its domestic production as the result of a deal with a Chinese manufacturer. Pitt- Corning makes all the clear glass blocks produced in the United States.

The company was formed in 1937, and the Port Allegany plant opened in 1938. Over the years, it has produced Pyrex dishes, foam glass insulation, glass blocks, decorative items and Unibestos.

3.5B

Pennsylvanians spend about $3.5 billion gambling at casinos. Some forces in Harrisburg want this state to get a piece of that action by allowing poker, blackjack and other table games in the state’s gambling halls. State officials believe the current gambling scheme will produce about $1 billion annually in taxes on slot machine revenue, which will offset reductions in local real estate taxes.

103

Overcrowding has become a problem at the McKean County Prison, according to Warden Tim Woodruff. In September, the average inmate count was 75 at the 16-year-old facility. By November, it had increased to 88, and entering December, there were 103 inmates.

Woodruff said further increases will result in McKean County sending prisoners to other facilities on a fee-paying basis, averaging $50 per day plus transportation costs. McKean County District Attorney John Pavlock has cautioned county officials that his anticipated caseload in the coming months suggests there will more criminals sentenced to serve time.

72

Women have taken to the sport of hunting. The number of female hunters in the U.S. has risen by 72% over the past five years. A study of the phenomenon found that women learning hunter safety and techniques more quickly and enjoy hunting with other women. The industry is adapting, manufacturing guns with shorter barrels and clothing that appeals more to women than men.