European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 25, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday november 25, 1991 the stars and stripes b Page 17 Money matters Quot today s tip a state District judge in Austin Texas has dealt a setback to Southwest airlines attempt to halt the development of a High Speed rail system in Texas. The ruling by judge Peter Lowry will allow Texas Tiv a French backed consortium to proceed with its plans to build a 200-mph a Bullet train system linking Houston Dallas san Antonio and Austin. Attorneys for Southwest had asked Lowry to acknowledge that the airline was suffering a Legal injury the first Legal step necessary to Block the development of a High Speed rail system. Southwest had urged the Texas High Speed rail authority to kill the project arguing that it would suffer irreparable harm from the Competition for passengers. Lowry ruled that Southwest had no right to seek Relief from injury saying that Market forces should prevail and govern the transportation Industry. Heath said the airline would Appeal the decision to a state appeals court. Officials said the Case will Likely be decided by the Texas supreme court. The Texas High Speed rail authority praised the decision. A this removes one of the impediments to implementing this project a said Adlan Rutter director of administration for the authority. Conversion rates a London up fridays rates for the . Dollar to other currencies. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other local currencies in dollars Gold was quoted at $368,50 an ounce Silver at $4.15. Nov. 21 nov. 22 British pound.1.7975 1.7980 German mark.1,6005 1.5880 French Iran. 5.4850 5.4275 dutch guilder.1.8084 1.8084 belgian franc.32.93 32.68 italian lira.1,213.40 1,200.65 swisslranc.1.4200 1.4115 greek drachma.182.39 181.64 turkish lira.,4,949.10 4,947.50 saudi arabian riyal.3,7498 3.7498 Spanish peseta.101.67 101.66 portuguese escudo.140.01 140.15 Canadian dollar.1.1326 1.1360 austrian schilling.11.2950 11.234 norwegian krone.6.3080 6.2b30 danish krone.6.3080 6.2040 these Are commercial rates and can be related Only to the use of foreign currency by . Forces for official business. The Only official rate concerns the Sale of German Marks to . Personnel for personal use and this will lie 1.55 through monday based on fridays noontime Price  shortage plagues Japan Tokyo up a economic expansion and Industrial restructuring have left Japan a work Force Short by a record 3.01 million skilled workers according to a Survey released by the labor ministry. The figure which Rose 1.1 million from 1989, shot up from the previous Mark of 2.06 million set in 1988. There was a shortage of 420,000 workers with advanced skills such As microelectronics engineers for a vacancy rate of 42 percent. The construction Industry suffered from the worst shortage with the vacancy rate standing at 38 percent followed by the wholesale retail and restaurant industries with 11.1 percent. Jobless workers have to wait their turn Friday outside the Michigan employment Security commissions office in Livonia. Michigan s unemployment lines grow longer As Auto sales suffer autoworkers George Harper by Alan l. Adler the associated press Livonia Mich. A autoworkers George Harper thinks Richard Nixon was in the White House the last time he stood in an unemployment line. He was uncomfortable with it then and now. A incr 58, does no to feel sorry for himself alter getting Laid off Friday. Except for a Van payment his Bills Are current and his Detroit Home is paid for. His employer Ford motor co., said he will be Back at work by dec. 2. In 3v2 years Harper will retire with a 30-year pension. A this is just time off a he said. A i done to like fooling around signing up. There arc other people who need it worse. They done to have jobs at  Harper had figured Fords new Lincoln Continental one of three luxury cars assembled in Wixom would save him and the 59 other hourly workers at Fords transmission Plant in this Detroit suburb despite Auto sales expected to finish the year at their lowest level in eight years. Beginning nov. 4, the 3,400 hourly workers at the Wixom Plant had their first downtime in nearly a decade. Their 10-Day Layoff was attributed to slow dealer orders and a Model changeover Ford spokesman Bert Serre said. It was instrumental in boosting Michigan s unemployment filings for inc week ending nov. 9, when 26,200 people claimed benefits for the first time said Norman Isotalo of the Michigan employment Security commission. Only Minnesota had More new filings for the week. They were blamed on a blizzard that hammered the construction Industry. The nation had 493,000 firs time filers the most since the week ending april 20. It was the third straight week that initial jobless claims Rose. The numbers could mean the jobless rate for november due out from the labor department Early next month might go higher than october a 6.8 percent. Sheila Ward 25, a commercial insurance underwriter Laid off oct. 22 after two years with a Southfield company lives with her parents in Detroit. Except for the $234 a month payment on her 1991 car she has no substantial debt. A i was disappointed when this happened but in a not discouraged Quot she said As she stood in line. A i slopped spending As much and 1 paid up a couple of car payments. There had been layoffs in other offices and there was a Rumor even on the Day this happened that it would  theater Chain to buy troubled publisher new York a shareholders of the financially troubled publishing giant Harcourt Brace Jovanovich inc. Agreed saturday to a $1.5 billion buyout by general Cinema corp., one of the nations largest theater owners. The Orlando  Obj had debts totalling nearly $2 billion after it blocked a hostile takeover attempt in 1987 by the late British publishing magnate Robert Maxwell. Obj a a chairman John s. Herrington told shareholders at a meeting in Manhattan that the buyout which offers All stockholders 75 cents a share was the Best available alternative for the company. A anything else will have a severe and immediate negative Impact on Obj Quot he said. But several preferred shareholders complained that the agreement with Boston based general Cinema would not pay them More per share than it would common stockholders. Steven Mizel a spokesman for some preferred shareholders called the proposal a unfair and inequitable to All holders of preferred  Mizel represented a group of investors who own about 3 percent of the preferred Stock. Obj a a chief executive officer Peter Jovanovich predicted that if the merger had failed the publishing company would have filed for bankruptcy by the end of next year. The merger needed the approval of a majority of Obj preferred shareholders and two thirds approval of common shareholders. General Cinema shareholders voted in Boston on saturday to accept the merger proposal. At their special meeting general Cinema shareholders approved an increase in the numbers of common Stock shares from 80 million to 100 million and an increase in authorized capital Stock from 160 million to 180 million to facilitate the takeover