The union representing American Airlines Inc.'s pilots, Allied Pilots Association, said Wednesday that the airline's dispatchers should not feel intimidated by management to put less fuel on planes than they feel comfortable with. The issue stems from a grievance filed by the union representing dispatchers last month.

Dispatchers and pilot captains are responsible for determining how much fuel must be carried on a flight beyond minimums set by federal regulators.

Tami McLallen, an American spokeswoman, said safety is the first priority, "but we can't afford to waste anything."

Suzanne Marta

San Francisco-based banking giant Wells Fargo & Co. has agreed to acquire Dallas-based Century Bancshares Inc., the companies said Wednesday. The deal gives Wells Fargo 28 Century Bank branches in Texas to go along with its 550 retail bank branches in the state. Terms of the stock-for-stock deal were not disclosed. The deal requires approval by regulators and Century Bancshares shareholders.

Brendan Case

Dallas-based Energy Future Holdings Corp. said Wednesday that it had reached an agreement to sell 20 percent of its Oncor transmission and delivery service to Borealis Infrastructure Management and GIC Special Investments.

Energy Future Holdings is the holding company for Oncor, TXU Energy and Luminant, the businesses that were previously held by TXU Corp. before the company was taken private in 2007. As part of that transaction, Energy Future Holdings agreed to sell a minority stake in Oncor.

The investor group will pay $1.25 billion for an approximate 19.75 percent minority interest in Oncor.

The transaction will be reviewed by regulators but is not expected to affect Oncor's operations or employment.

Eric Torbenson

James Ray Phipps, 60, who ran a Ponzi scheme called "Life Without Debt" out of Colleyville, was sentenced to 17.5 years in prison after being found guilty on 19 counts of fraud last year.

Mr. Phipps persuaded people to send him more than $25 million on promises that they would receive strong returns, but more than 90 percent of the participants in "Life Without Debt" lost their money. A separate ruling on his restitution will be made later, U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn said.

Eric Torbenson

Skechers USA Inc. raised its once-rebuffed buyout offer for Dallas-based Heelys Inc. on Wednesday.

Skechers offered $5.25 per share, a cash offer it valued at $142.8 million. In late May, the California-based firm offered a range of $4.75 and $5.10 per share.

Wednesday's offer, which was announced after the end of trading, represents a 7.8 percent premium over the day's closing price for Heelys.

Skechers shares rose 27 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $20.21 in after-hours trading. Heelys shares rose 48 cents, or 10 percent, to $5.35 after the close of trading.

Bloomberg News

Dallas-based Stream Realty Partners has started construction on its second speculative data center building – at the Westover Hills office park in San Antonio. The 150,000-square-foot shell will have two electricity feeds and multiple fiber-optic providers. It is scheduled to be completed in February.

Sheryl Jean

Cox Enterprises Inc. plans to sell the Austin American-Statesman and several smaller papers to pay down debt.

Five community papers in Texas – the Waco Tribune-Herald, the Longview News-Journal, The Lufkin Daily News, The Daily Sentinel in Nacogdoches and the Marshall News Messenger – will be sold.

The Associated Press

The Federal Reserve Board of Governors appointed Myron "Mike" Ullman, chairman and chief executive of Plano-based J.C. Penney Co., to the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, the Dallas Fed said Wednesday.

Brendan Case