IN BRIEF

About 1,000 employees represented by Culinary Workers Local 226 at the Grand Sierra Resort voted late Thursday to give their negotiating committee authorization to call a strike at the Reno hotel.

Union leaders said the talks with resort management over a new five-year contract had reached an impasse. The old agreement expired May 31.

“We’re calling on the Grand Sierra to come back to the negotiating table and actually give us a real proposal,” said Kevin Kline, the union’s lead negotiator. “If Grand Sierra wants to continue their stance of a first offer that is also their final offer, then the workers need to have other tools available.”

The last time the Culinary had a strike in Reno was in 1949. Last year, members voted for a dues increase to bolster the union’s strike fund.

Also, about 700 Culinary workers at the Circus Circus Reno ratified a new five-year contract with MGM Mirage, the casino’s parent company.

Circus Circus Reno and the Grand Sierra are the only two resorts in Reno with Culinary contracts.

DALLAS

Lending company rejects smaller bid

Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co. rejected a private equity firm’s attempt to lower its price to buy the subprime mortgage lender, saying Friday that it would continue a lawsuit aimed at closing the deal.

Lone Star agreed in June to pay $15.10 per share, or $400 million, for Accredited. But late Thursday, Lone Star told the mortgage lender that it wanted to pay $8.50 per share.

In exchange for the reduced price, Lone Star offered to let Accredited seek other buyers.

But Friday afternoon, Accredited said it had a deal two weeks ago when 97 percent of the company’s shares were tendered at $15.10 apiece. Accredited said it would continue pursuing a lawsuit it filed this month in a Delaware court to try to force the equity firm to complete the deal.

Accredited Home Loans shares surged on the news, rising $2.74, or 43.42 percent, Friday to close at $9.05.

ATLANTA

Chief executive leaves post at Delta Air Lines

Three-and-a-half years after taking over the reins of Delta Air Lines, Gerald Grinstein bid farewell as chief executive Friday by reminding employees of their efforts to keep the carrier in control of its own destiny.

The 75-year-old Grinstein, who will be officially replaced today by former Northwest Airlines Corp. CEO Richard Anderson, said in a memo to employees that their once loud battle cry to “Keep Delta My Delta” lives on.

“Today, because of your good work, Delta has a fresh start and controls its future,” Grinstein wrote.

During its 19 1/2-month trip through bankruptcy protection, Delta and its employees fended off a hostile takeover bid by Tempe, Ariz.-based US Airways Group Inc. Delta entered Chapter 11 on Sept. 14, 2005, and emerged on April 30.

MINNEAPOLIS

Northwest cancels fewer flights in August

Northwest Airlines Corp. is ending August without the waves of cancellations that plagued it earlier this summer.

Northwest canceled just two flights on Thursday, and 10 on Wednesday, well under 1 percent of its schedule on both days, according to FlightStats.com. On four days this month the airline completed 100 percent of its flights, spokesman Roman Blahoski said.

It was canceling more than 100 flights a day in some of the final days of June and July when it couldn’t find enough pilots to keep the planes flying. The airline blamed “absenteeism” by pilots. Their union said pilots who called in sick were exhausted by a new, tougher schedule.

On Aug. 1, the airline reached a deal aimed at reducing cancellations. It reduced the number of hours pilots would routinely be expected to fly. Northwest also said it would pay union workers a bonus of up to 15 percent of their pay — up to $1,000 — for perfect attendance through Labor Day.

Southwest Gas files request for rate boost

Southwest Gas Corp. said Friday that it filed a $50.2 million or 4.9 percent rate increase request with Arizona regulators.

The Las Vegas-based company attributed to the request to increased fixed operating costs, but Southwest Gas also is proposing a rate structure that would encourage energy efficiency and reduce weather-related volatility in gas bills.

The typical residential bill of $50.78 for 2,800 cubic feet of gas would increase by $3.86. Southwest Gas asked the Arizona Corporation Commission to make the rate change effective Oct. 1. Southwest Gas rates last changed Arizona rates three years ago. The company has 958,000 customers in Arizona.

NBC Universal to stop show sales on iTunes

NBC Universal will stop selling “Law & Order” and other television shows on Apple’s iTunes service after an agreement expires in December.

NBC sought to more than double the wholesale price of each episode, Apple said in a statement. That would have increased the retail price of a single show to $4.99 from $1.99, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company said.

The network, a unit of General Electric Co., is the second company to end an agreement with Apple in recent months after Universal Music Group refused to renew a long-term contract.

WASHINGTON

JetBlue splits from airline trade group

JetBlue Airways Corp. on Friday split from the trade group that represents the nation’s major airlines on its plan to help finance the Federal Aviation Administration.

The Air Transport Association prefers taxing passengers based on the distance between their origin and final destination, and ignoring actual miles flown on connecting flights. According to JetBlue, this favors the largest airlines using “hub-and-spoke” systems since they would avoid being taxed for the hundreds or thousands of miles racked up on those connections.

The passenger tax is now based on a percentage of the ticket price, not on the mileage.

NEW YORK

Treasury prices close with minor losses

Treasury prices closed with minor losses Friday after investors parsed comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and finding some signals that the central bank will cut rates if necessary to pacify markets.

Ahead of the three-day holiday weekend, investors also adjusted their positions. Earlier in the session, Treasurys fell harder and their yields rose more as a comeback in global equities markets siphoned money away from bonds.

The 10-year Treasury note lightened its losses to close down 0.13 points at 101.78 with a yield of 4.53, up from late Thursday’s 4.50 percent. The 30-year long bond finished unchanged at 102.66 with a 4.83 percent yield, session.