KLWN/KLZR owner denies sale rumors

An official with Zimmer Radio Group said industry speculation that his company was looking to sell its two Lawrence radio stations was false.

James Zimmer, an owner with the Cape Girardeau, Mo., company, said it was not seeking to sale Lawrence’s KLWN and KLZR radio stations.

Zimmer said speculation that the company was close to reaching a deal with Cumulus Broadcasting was untrue.

“We’re not very good at selling stuff,” Zimmer said. “We typically buy and hold properties. We’re very pleased with the Lawrence properties.”

Zimmer bought the two radio stations in 1998 from Hank Booth and family members.

Cumulus is a national radio company. It operates several stations in Topeka, including Classic Rock V100, Classic Country US 103 and Majic 107.7. Attempts to reach a spokesman with Cumulus weren’t successful.

Health Care

Tenet settles dispute over heart surgeries

Federal prosecutors announced a $54 million settlement Wednesday with Tenet Healthcare Corp. and related businesses as part of its investigation into at least two doctors who allegedly performed unnecessary heart procedures.

U.S. Atty. McGregor Scott said the settlement covered unnecessary heart procedures allegedly performed at Redding Medical Center between 1997 and 2002 that were billed to Medicare, Medicaid and the military’s Tricare program.

As part of the deal, Tenet and Redding Medical Center dodged further civil or criminal charges. The defendants did not admit liability, but agreed to make changes.

Wall Street

Cisco stock tumbles after earnings disappoint

Shares of Cisco Systems Inc. fell more than 6 percent Wednesday after the network equipment maker reported fiscal fourth-quarter results that merely matched Wall Street’s expectations.

In recent quarters, the company had managed to top earnings forecasts. Analysts also said Cisco’s cautiously optimistic statements about its business were not unexpected.

For the first time in more than two years, executives said there was evidence of what could turn out to be an economic recovery.

Cisco officials predicted revenues in the current quarter would grow by 2 percent to 4 percent.

Technology

Chip maker set to expand

In an effort to further expand its chip offerings beyond personal computers, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. said Wednesday it was purchasing the Information Appliance unit of National Semiconductor Corp.

Financial details of the deal, which was expected to close later this month, were not disclosed. AMD will acquire intellectual property and other assets consisting mainly of the Geode family of microprocessors, which National Semiconductor bet would be the chip of choice for so-called information appliances such as kitchen Web browsers.

Atchison

MGP posts quarterly loss

Atchison-based MGP Ingredients posted a loss of 18 cents per share in the latest quarter compared to a profit of 7 cents a share during the same period a year ago, company officials said Wednesday.

The company, which operates a distillery, blamed higher grain and energy prices for the loss.