Waterline break affects downtown businesses

A waterline break left parts of downtown Lawrence without water for about three hours Friday morning.

Businesses and residences affected were located in the 700 block of Massachusetts Street, and along Seventh Street, from Massachusetts to New Hampshire streets. Service was restored shortly before 11:30 a.m.

“It makes things a little harder for a few hours, but it’s an old building (and) it’s old facilities out there,” said Chad Glazer, owner of Rudy’s Pizzeria, 704 Mass. “You just have to deal with it.”

The line originally was installed in 1886, and remains scheduled for replacement in August.

City Manager Mike Wildgen, right, joined fellow city employee Wayne Andrews in inspecting the break Friday morning along Seventh Street.

Telecommunications

MCI calls on Qwest

MCI Inc. invited Qwest to reopen merger talks Friday, just three days after the long-distance phone company agreed to a sweetened $7.5 billion buyout from Verizon and a day after Qwest raised its bid to nearly $9 billion.

Qwest Communications International Inc. dismissed the gesture as disingenuous and reiterated its Tuesday deadline for MCI to accept or reject its offer. The Denver-based company noted that when MCI agreed to the new Verizon deal on Tuesday, MCI notified Qwest that there was no need for additional discussions.

MCI’s stock rose for a fourth straight session Friday — to a level nearly 10 percent higher than the price Verizon has agreed to pay — as investors again speculated that Verizon wither would be forced to boost its bid again, or that Qwest might pull off an upset in the two-month tussle.

Compensation

Yellow Roadway CEO earns $6.9 million

Yellow Roadway Corp. Chief Executive William Zollars received total compensation of $6.9 million for 2004, up from the $3.9 million he received the year before, according to a regulatory filing Friday.

Last year’s compensation included $4.1 million in long-term incentive payouts, a $1.8 million bonus and $900,000 in salary, according to the Overland Park-based transportation company’s proxy filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

For 2003, Zollar received long-term incentive payouts of $2.5 million, a bonus of $585,721 and salary of $818,000.

In its proxy, Yellow Roadway said Zollar received the $1.8 million bonus for 2004 because the company exceeded its financial plan by 134 percent.