Bank Of Fresno

Experts safely removed and detonated two bombs designed as booby traps that were placed outside a bank by extortionists, Fresno police said. Bank of Fresno officials reported receiving a note Friday morning saying the bombs would be detonated unless an undisclosed sum of money was delivered to a particular location, said Sgt. Bob Fry. "We're treating it as an extortion, not just a threat," Fry said. Authorities evacuated nearby businesses and residences during the six-hour incident.

Experts safely removed and detonated two bombs designed as booby traps that were placed outside a bank by extortionists, Fresno police said. Bank of Fresno officials reported receiving a note Friday morning saying the bombs would be detonated unless an undisclosed sum of money was delivered to a particular location, said Sgt. Bob Fry. "We're treating it as an extortion, not just a threat," Fry said. Authorities evacuated nearby businesses and residences during the six-hour incident.

Bolstered by record earnings, Fresno Bancorp announced an offer to purchase the capital and assets of Western Commercial. The offer provides one share of Fresno Bancorp stock for every 1.73 shares of Western Commercial. Fresno Bancorp is the holding company for Bank of Fresno, while Western Commercial is the parent company of Fresno Bank of Commerce, Merced Bank of Commerce and Western Commercial Mortgage.

One former Cal State Fullerton athletic director, Lynn Eilefson, has expressed interest in his old job, and another, Neale Stoner, didn't rule out a possible return. Eilefson, who spent three years (1983-85) as Fullerton's athletic director and is now a senior vice president with the Bank of Fresno, said he regretted leaving the school and will pursue the position that becomes vacant when outgoing Athletic Director Ed Carroll moves to UC Irvine on March 1.

Paige V. Simpson, known to his peers as the dean of Orange County banking, said Friday that he will step down from the presidency of Citizens Bank of Costa Mesa after 17 years but will remain as chairman of the financial institution. Simpson, 70, said he will be replaced by Richard Helstrom, former executive vice president of Community Bank in Los Angeles. "I'm approaching retirement age, so we're bringing in a younger man," Simpson said.

The Federal Land Bank Assn. of Fresno has foreclosed on three vineyards in the past two years, its first in more than half a century. Those foreclosures and six that are pending only show part of the plight of central San Joaquin Valley raisin and wine-grape growers. Poor crop prices have led to plummeting land values, said association President Ken Billings. Many people who took notes when they sold vineyards have had to take the property back because purchasers cannot make payments, he said.

Interior Department officials and San Joaquin Valley farmers are working to fashion an interim plan to irrigate 42,000 acres of farmland this season without draining toxic water into the Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge, officials said Thursday. Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.) said an interim plan could be announced as early as today.

A decade after U.S. intelligence thwarted a secret Soviet plan to gain control of four Northern California banks, American officials remain uncertain of Moscow's motives, though some now charge the plot was an attempt to steal sensitive Silicon Valley technology. Others familiar with the case, however, say the Soviets may have been pursuing inside knowledge of the American financial system or simply a quick buck.