On the Comeback Trail

Can a convicted inside trader and felon make a comeback on Wall Street?

Dennis B. Levine is trying. Levine, the first big catch in the Wall Street insider trading scandal whose cooperation led to the bagging of speculator Ivan F. Boesky and others, said in an interview during a recent Los Angeles trip that he is working in New York as a “mergers and acquisitions consultant.” Levine was released last September after serving 18 months of a two-year sentence on four felony counts.

What firm would hire Levine? Only insiders know that. Levine refused to disclose what deals he is working on.

Ecologically Sound Lunches

Doing their bit for the Earth today, designated World Environment Day by the United Nations, will be the 62,575 employees of Pacific Bell.

By this morning’s coffee break, the phone company will have completed a switch from using polystyrene foam cups and plates to biodegradable dishes in the firm’s nine company cafeterias statewide.

As many as 6 million food containers are used for lunchroom takeouts every year. Employees at the phone company’s large complex at San Ramon, in Northern California, came up with the idea a couple of months ago. A casual survey showed strong employee support, even though it meant small price hikes, said company spokeswoman Charlene Baldwin. Coffee that once cost 42 cents will run 45 cents; a $2.15 club sandwich will cost a dime more.

One BLT, but Hold the Fax

Take-out food will take on new meaning when Vons deli customers take to their facsimile machines later this year. Following the lead of some Southland restaurants, the El Monte-based supermarket chain plans to install a fax this fall at a Pavilions being built in Brentwood. It will allow workers in the office building next door to submit lunch orders.

The machines might also be tested this summer at a couple of other Pavilions near office buildings, a spokeswoman said.

Technological advances aside, most customers will still have to stop by in person to pick up their orders, although Vons expects to deliver particularly large orders. Pasta salad and turkey sandwiches don’t travel too well through the phone lines.

Milken Goes South

Everyone knows how Michael Milken revolutionized American business with junk bonds and, despite his ongoing brush with the law, a lot of people still consider him a farsighted genius. So where are his sights trained these days? Mexico.

On Friday, Milken travels a couple of hours south of his home in Encino to Tijuana, where he will introduce U.S. business executives to their Mexican counterparts. It’s all part of Milken’s belief that Mexico is a sleeping giant that could be roused to prosperity with some good old American ingenuity.

Bad Medicine at PR Firm?

Regis McKenna, the pre-eminent promoter in Silicon Valley, may need a little of his own PR medicine these days what with the departure of about a dozen staffers and a shake-up at the top.

According to some accounts, McKenna waited until his senior deputy at Regis McKenna Inc. public relations firm was recovering from the delivery of her new baby to tell her that she would be transferred. Jennifer Jones said she was told that she would no longer direct the headquarters staff in Palo Alto when her maternity leave expires in August. In the weeks that followed, insiders at the firm say, about a dozen staffers--mostly women--left.

McKenna, the father of three children, disputes Jones’ account, saying he told her of the reassignment before she began her maternity leave.