Business as Unusual

Not all the news from Washington area companies in 1996 was the stuff of mergers, initial public offerings and leveraged buyouts. The year was also memorable for the following:

Unlikely Customer
MCI chief executive Timothy Price received a $100 check to change his long-distance service—to AT&T

Bring the Mountain to Muhammad
When Nextel Communications hired former MCI executive Daniel F. Akerson as its chief executive, he didn't move to New Jersey where the company was based; instead, the company moved to McLean where Akerson is based.

Sorry, Wrong Number
The suburban edition of the Bell Atlantic Yellow Pages provided the wrong telephone number for its own Yellow Pages advertising.

Shooting Stars
A Pegasus rocket owned by Dulles-based Orbital Sciences Corp. took the remains of '60s icon Timothy Leary, "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry and space colonization guru Gerard O'Neill into orbit.

What Does the Stanley Cup Mean to Our Bottom Line?
Several months after the Colorado Avalanche became the champions of the National Hockey League, Bethesda-based Comsat Corp., which owned an 80 percent stake in the team, fired the man responsible for buying the Avalanche, chief executive Bruce Crockett, and put the team up for sale.