BRIEFLY IN BUSINESS

Ceramic manufacturer reports record sales

Costa Mesa-based Ceradyne Inc. on Wednesday announced record third quarter sales and income for the period ending Sept. 30.

This year’s third quarter sales were a record $185.8 million, up over $91 million for 2005, according to a Ceradyne news release.

Its net income increased from 53 cents per diluted share to $1.34. Diluted shares are all those that could possibly enter into the market.

Sales for the nine months that ended Sept. 30 almost doubled those of 2005, rising from $254 million to over $484 million.

Ceradyne Inc. manufactures and distributes ceramic products used in the defense, industrial, automotive and commercial industries. They have had a number of multi-million dollar federal defense contracts.

Hoag advocates epilepsy awareness

November is National Epilepsy Awareness Month, according to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, which announced its efforts to boost awareness of the disorder.

According to the hospital, about 30,000 Orange County citizens have the disorder, which is the third most common neurological condition. Doctors at the Hoag Epilepsy Center work to diagnose, treat, manage and research the seizure disorder, which often can be managed with medications.

For more information about epilepsy or Hoag Epilepsy Center services, call (949) 764-8319 or visit www.hoaghospital.org.

Fashion Island to light tree for holiday season

Fashion Island will kick off the holiday season at 6 p.m. Nov. 17 and Nov. 18 with its tree-lighting ceremony in the Bloomingdale’s Courtyard. Last week, the 115-foot tall white fir was delivered from Mt. Shasta.

The tree will be decorated with over 17,000 lights and ornaments and Santa will entertain the kids as students from the Orange County High School of the Arts in Santa Ana will perform. For more information, call (949) 721-2000.

IRS offers new mileage rates for taxpayers

The IRS announced Wednesday its optional standard mileage rates for next year to calculate the deductible costs of driving a car for work, charitable, medical or moving purposes.

On Jan. 1, the standard rates for all cars, including vans and trucks, will be over 48 cents per mile for businesses, 20 cents for medical or moving expenses and 14 cents for nonprofit services.

The increase marks about a 9% boost for business miles and 11% jump for miles driven for medical and moving purposes. Miles driven for charitable organizations is set by law, according to the IRS.

Newport chip maker to send work overseas

Newport Beach-based Mindspeed Technologies plans to shift some of its work to offshore locations after reporting an operating loss of $7 million during this year’s fourth quarter, compared to about $3 million in the third quarter.

The semiconductor company reported a 10% decrease in revenue for the fourth quarter, which ended Sept. 30, and plans on cutting costs by sending work to design centers in the Ukraine, India, China and Dubai.

Mindspeed makes networking computer chips.

Bank executive to

speak at UCI

UC Irvine will host a lecture given by Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Janet Yellen at 4 p.m. today at the Beckman Center of the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering.

Yellen will discuss “The Changing Landscape of Economic Inequality” at the free workshop.

The executive is an expert on macroeconomics and is a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee, which contributes to setting monetary policy in the country. She is also a professor emeritus at UC Berkeley. For more information call (949) 824-2904 or visit www.democ.uci.edu.