IN BRIEF

MINEOLA, N.Y.

Wal-Mart agrees to improve store safety

Wal-Mart agreed Wednesday to pay nearly $2 million and improve safety at its 92 New York stores as part of a deal with prosecutors that avoids criminal charges in the trampling death of a temporary worker last year.

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said that if she had brought criminal charges against the retailer in the worker's death, the company would have been subject to only a $10,000 fine if convicted. Rice declined to say what charges were considered against Wal-Mart, citing the secrecy of grand jury proceedings.

Instead, she said, the company has agreed to start an improved crowd-management plan for post-Thanksgiving Day sales, set up a $400,000 victims' compensation and remuneration fund, and give $1.5 million to Nassau County social services programs and nonprofit groups.

The agreement included no admission of guilt by Wal-Mart.

General Growth asks for OK on new loan

General Growth Properties Inc., which filed the biggest real-estate bankruptcy in U.S. history, asked a judge to approve an increased $400 million loan from new lenders to continue operations while under court protection.

The company, which operates the Shoppes at Palazzo, Grand Canal Shoppes, Fashion Show, Meadows and Boulevard malls in Southern Nevada, earlier reached an agreement for a $375 million bankruptcy loan from Pershing Square Capital Management LP.

In court documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, Pershing's name was crossed out and wasn't replaced.

General Growth, based in Chicago, filed for bankruptcy April 16 after amassing $27 billion in debt during an acquisition spree that turned it into the second-largest shopping mall owner behind Simon Property Group Inc.

General Growth also seeks to repay $210 million in existing debt owed to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Barneys denies report, says stores won't close

Barneys New York said it has no plans to close two of its seven flagship stores, denying a report by The Wall Street Journal.

"There is no truth to the WSJ story at all," Dawn Brown, a spokeswoman for Barneys New York, said in an e-mail.

The Journal reported Wednesday that Barneys is trying to close one store in Las Vegas and another in an unidentified location.

Robert Christie, a spokesman for Wall Street Journal parent Dow Jones & Co., declined to comment. David Jackson, chief executive officer of Barneys New York's owner, Istithmar World Capital, did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

Man gets prison, detention in tax case

U.S. District Judge Kent Dawson on Wednesday sentenced Daniel McCartan to five months in prison, five months of home detention and three years under supervision for income-tax evasion.

McCartan pleaded guilty earlier in the Southern Nevada case, which relates to the tax violation allegations against Robert Kahre and 25 others. A contractor, Kahre is accused of paying workers in cash and of failing to report their wages to the Internal Revenue Service. Kahre also agreed to pay workers of other contractors in a similar way, papers filed in court show.

McCartan owned Action Concrete and used Kahre's payroll scheme to pay his workers, according to the court document.

Hard Rock Hotel records net loss

The Hard Rock Hotel posted a net loss of $26.7 million for the first quarter ended March 31, according to a Wednesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The net loss in an increase from the net loss of $22.6 million posted the same time last year.

The loss was driven by a revenues decrease of 26.2 percent to $30 million from $40.6 million last year.

The decline in revenues for the niche property on the corner of Harmon Avenue and Paradise Road was due to a decline in the economy as well as disruption from a $760 million expansion at the property.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D.

Supply statistics send oil prices to 2009 high

Oil prices surged to a 2009 high Wednesday after a government report showed that unused crude being placed in storage slowed a bit last week.

Benchmark crude for June delivery rose 4.6 percent, or $2.50, to settle at $56.34 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was the highest close since mid-November.

Crude levels for the week ended May 1 rose by 600,000 barrels to 375.3 million barrels, the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report. Analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., had expected a build up of 2.2 million barrels.

CHARLOTTE, N.C.

AIG says it paid more bonuses than disclosed

Embattled insurer American International Group Inc. said it has set aside and partly paid nearly $1.5 billion in retention and performance-related bonuses to its employees, a higher amount than previously disclosed.

The payments, $1 billion for retention purposes and more than $454 million that are performance-related, have been made as AIG received more than $180 billion from the federal government.

The New York-based company previously said it will pay around $1 billion in payments aimed at retaining employees through 2010. Some of that money was paid out in 2008, and more will be paid out this year and in 2010.

NEW YORK

Treasury prices flat as stocks head higher

Treasury prices were mainly flat Wednesday as a stock market rally siphoned off investors' dollars.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury note was essentially unchanged at 96.53. Its yield was unchanged at 3.15 percent.

The 30-year bond fell 0.35 points to 89.66 and its yield rose to 4.08 percent from 4.05 percent.