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20071201

Secret - Rudy Giuliani - Cops - Car - Family - Travel - Gas - Account - New York - Pennsylvania - Christmas - 2008 Election - "City taxpayers picked up tab for Judith Giuliani's visit to kin in Pennsylvania." ... "In the fall of 2001, [New York City, New York] city cops chauffeured [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Rudy Giuliani's then-mistress, Judith Nathan, to her parents' Pennsylvania home 130 miles away on the taxpayers' dime." ... "Records show that city cops refueled at an ExxonMobil station down the road from Nathan's childhood home in Hazleton on Oct. 20, 2001, while Giuliani stayed behind in New York attending 9/11 funerals." ... "A similar receipt pops up at a different Hazleton gas station two months later, when Nathan apparently went home for a pre-Christmas visit with her parents." ... "The records show that - in addition to using [New York] City Hall funds to take Giuliani and Nathan to 11 secret trysts in the Hamptons, as has been previously reported - taxpayers were paying to ferry Nathan on long-distance trips without Giuliani, now a Republican contender for President." ... "The expenses were all paid with a City Hall American Express card funded with money from mayoral office units that had nothing to do with travel or security." -By Michael Saul and David Saltonstall -NYDailyNews.com

20071130

Business - Government - Politics - 2008 Election - Family - Health - Safety - Environment - Air - Water - Soil - Labor - Animal - Farmers - Energy - Transportation - Automakers - Consumer - History - "Business Lobby Presses Agenda Before ’08 Vote." ... "Business lobbyists, nervously anticipating Democratic gains in next year’s elections, are racing to secure final approval for a wide range of health, safety, labor and economic rules, in the belief that they can get better deals from the [Republican President] Bush administration than from its successor." ... "Hoping to lock in policies backed by a pro-business administration, poultry farmers are seeking an exemption for the smelly fumes produced by tons of chicken manure. Businesses are lobbying the Bush administration to roll back rules that let employees take time off for family needs and medical problems. And electric power companies are pushing the government to relax pollution-control requirements." ... "The Federal Register typically grows fat with regulations churned out in the final weeks of any administration. But the push for such rules has become unusually intense because of the possibility that Democrats in 2009 may consolidate control of the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives for the first time in 14 years." ... "At the Transportation Department, trucking companies are trying to get final approval for a rule increasing the maximum number of hours commercial truck drivers can work. And automakers are trying to persuade officials to set new standards for the strength of car roofs — standards far less stringent than what consumer advocates say is needed to protect riders in a rollover." ... "At the Interior Department, coal companies are lobbying for a regulation that would allow them to dump rock and dirt from mountaintop mining operations into nearby streams and valleys." ... "Some of the biggest battles now involve rules affecting the quality of air, water and soil." (1, 2) -By Robert Pear -NYTimes
Secret - Rudy Giuliani - Police - Car - Accounting - Politics - New York - 2008 Election - "NYPD Chief Casts Doubt on Giuliani Expense Story." ... "New questions were raised today about [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Rudy Giuliani's explanation for submitting police security expenses to obscure city agencies while he was mayor of New York [City, New York] and carried on a secret affair with his mistress, who also was given use of a police driver and city car." ... "Giuliani said Thursday the unusual billing practice was not intended to hide anything but instead to speed payment of American Express credit card bills." ... "But the current New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said today he knew of no problems with the delay of payments before Giuliani was mayor, when Kelly served under Mayor David Dinkins, or since." -By Brian Ross and Richard Esposito -ABCNEWS.com

20071129

Secret - Rudolph Giuliani - New York - Police - Car - Transport - Traveling - Politics - 2008 Election - "Giuliani's Mistress Used N.Y. Police as Taxi Service." ... "Well before it was publicly known he was seeing her, then-married New York Mayor [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Rudy Giuliani provided a police driver and city car for his mistress Judith Nathan, former senior city officials tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com." ... ""She used the PD [Police Department] as her personal taxi service," said one former city official who worked for Giuliani." ... "New York papers reported in 2000 that the city had provided a security detail for Nathan, who became Giuliani's third wife after his divorce from Donna Hanover, who also had her own police security detail at the same time." ... "The former officials told ABCNews.com the extra costs involved overtime and per diem costs for officers traveling with Giuliani to secret weekend rendezvous with Nathan in the fashionable Hamptons resort area on Long Island." -By Richard Esposito -ABCNEWS.com

20071108

California - Air - Environment - Enforcement - Government - Auto - Makers - Global - Planet - Climate - "California sues EPA over emissions: The state seeks to force the agency to move more quickly on its request to enforce tough regulations." ... "California sued the federal government today, demanding that the [Republican President Bush led] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency act now to give the states the power to enforce tough regulations on automakers in the fight against global warming." ... "The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way last summer for the EPA to approve state regulations to limit emissions of greenhouse gas from automobile tailpipes. But no action has been forthcoming." ... "The EPA has said it will act on the state's request by year's end, but today's move was a major assault on the federal government's perceived lack of action on what many national and world leaders consider the No. 1 threat to the planet." -By Marc Lifsher -LAtimes

20071006

Religious - University - Home - Remodeling - Jet - Trip - Autos - Clothes - Money - Political - Family - Oklahoma - Texas - California - "Scandal brewing at Oral Roberts." ... "[Televangelist Oral Roberts son and Oklahoma's Oral Roberts University President] Richard Roberts is accused of illegal involvement in a local political campaign and lavish spending at donors' expense, including numerous home remodeling projects, use of the university jet for his daughter's senior trip to the Bahamas, and a red Mercedes convertible and a Lexus SUV for his wife, Lindsay." ... "She is accused of dropping tens of thousands of dollars on clothes, awarding nonacademic scholarships to friends of her children and sending scores of text messages on university-issued cell phones to people described in the lawsuit as "underage males."" ... "San Antonio [Texas] televangelist John Hagee, a member of the ORU board of regents, said the university's executive board "is conducting a full and thorough investigation."" ... "The university reported nearly $76 million in revenue in 2005, according to the IRS." ... "Oral Roberts is 89 and lives in California." ... "Richard Roberts, according to the suit, asked a professor in 2005 to use his students and university resources to aid a county commissioner's bid for Tulsa [Oklahoma] mayor. Such involvement would violate state and federal law because of the university's nonprofit status. Up to 50 students are alleged to have worked on the campaign." -By Justin Juozapavicius -AP via -Yahoo

20070925

Transportation - Auto - Industry - Environmental - Air - Law - Enforcement - Politics - Los Angeles - CA - "E-mails show DOT chief fought state on emissions: Official lobbied against letting California enforce own standard for tailpipe exhaust." ... "U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters, with the knowledge of the [Repuublican President Bush] White House, directed a behind-the-scenes effort to block California's request for its own, more stringent tailpipe emission standard, according to documents released Monday by a congressional committee." ... "A trail of e-mails show Peters prodding her staff this spring to persuade members of Congress and state governors to oppose California's request, now pending with the Environmental Protection Agency, to enforce its own standards. To contact members, DOT staffers used a list of congressional districts with auto facilities provided by the auto industry." ... "Secretary Peters "asked that we develop some ideas A.S.A.P. about facilitating a pushback from governors (esp. D's) and others opposed to piecemeal regulation of emissions, as per CA's waiver petition," Jeff Shane, Peters' undersecretary for policy, told staffers in a May 22 e-mail about the California request. "Esp. D's" meant "especially Democrats."" ... "In another e-mail, a DOT staffer told Peters' chief of staff that Marty Hall, chief of staff at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, was "OK with (the secretary) making calls" to lobby Congress." ... "The e-mails were released Monday by [California Democratic Representative] Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Oversight Committee. Waxman, a Los Angeles [California] Democrat, said the documents, along with interviews with Hall and other staffers, showed that "the administration is trying to stack the deck against California's efforts to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles" and that "political considerations — not the merits of the issue" — will determine EPA's decision." ... "California is allowed under the Clean Air Act to set its own emissions standards if it secures a waiver from the EPA. At least 11 other states are waiting to adopt the California standard, designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent from new models in 2016, which has made this a major environmental issue." -By Frank Davies -MNG via -MercuryNews

20070922

Government - Electronic - Surveillance - Data - Travelers - Flying - Driving - Reading - People - Civil Liberties - US - International - San Francisco - California - Alaska - Terrorism - Intelligence - Politics - Law - "Collecting of Details on Travelers Documented: U.S. Effort More Extensive Than Previously Known." ... "The U.S. government is collecting electronic records on the travel habits of millions of Americans who fly, drive or take cruises abroad, retaining data on the persons with whom they travel or plan to stay, the personal items they carry during their journeys, and even the books that travelers have carried, according to documents obtained by a group of civil liberties advocates and statements by government officials." ... "The personal travel records are meant to be stored for as long as 15 years, as part of the Department of Homeland Security's effort to assess the security threat posed by all travelers entering the country. Officials say the records, which are analyzed by the department's Automated Targeting System, help border officials distinguish potential terrorists from innocent people entering the country." ... "Officials yesterday defended the retention of highly personal data on travelers not involved in or linked to any violations of the law. But civil liberties advocates have alleged that the type of information preserved by the department raises alarms about the government's ability to intrude into the lives of ordinary people. The millions of travelers whose records are kept by the government are generally unaware of what their records say, and the government has not created an effective mechanism for reviewing the data and correcting any errors, activists said." ... "The activists alleged that the data collection effort, as carried out now, violates the Privacy Act, which bars the gathering of data related to Americans' exercise of their First Amendment rights, such as their choice of reading material or persons with whom to associate. They also expressed concern that such personal data could one day be used to impede their right to travel." ... ""The federal government is trying to build a surveillance society," said John Gilmore, a civil liberties activist in San Francisco whose records were requested by the Identity Project, an ad-hoc group of privacy advocates in California and Alaska. The government, he said, "may be doing it with the best or worst of intentions. . . . But the job of building a surveillance database and populating it with information about us is happening largely without our awareness and without our consent."" (1, 2) -By Ellen Nakashima with contributions by Julie Tate -WashingtonPost

20070901

Mexico - US - Truck - Safety - Transportation - Union - Business - Politics - "Mexico's trucks get OK to roll in U.S. next week." ... "Mexican truckers can begin hauling goods over the border into the U.S. as soon as Thursday after a federal appeals court on Friday refused a request from the Teamsters union and others to block the vehicles." ... ""This is the wrong decision for American working men and women. We will now proceed to litigate this case on the merits," Teamsters General President James Hoffa said in a statement. "We believe this program clearly breaks the law. We will continue to fight for safety and national security in the courts and in Congress."" -By Karen Gullo -Bloomberg via -Chron

20070810

US - China - New Jersey - Company - Manufacturer - Transportation - Vehicles - Safety - "Importer Recalls 255,000 Chinese Light-Truck Tires." ... "Foreign Tire Sales, a New Jersey importer, said yesterday that it would recall about 255,000 light-truck tires made to order by a Chinese company." ... "The tires are steel-belted radial models sold under the brand names Westlake, Compass and YKS. They were produced from 2004 to 2006 for pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles and vans, Foreign Tire said. The company has reported two deaths in a rollover accident involving the tires." ... "[The Chinese manufacturer,] Hangzhou Zhongce said it was cooperating with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which enforces federal motor vehicle safety standards." -Bloomberg via -NYTimes

20070803

Minnesota - I-35W Bridge Collapse - Car - Transportation - Water - "Driver makes dramatic underwater escape after bridge collapses." ... "Alicia Babatz was on her way to pick up her 2-year-old daughter Wednesday when she felt the [Minneapolis, Minnesota I-35W] bridge give way beneath her." ... "She said she thought she was going to die as her car crashed into the concrete and plunged into the water. Buckled in behind the wheel, she watched the water rise above her." ... "Fighting what she called "excruciating pain," Babatz, 22, escaped through a window and swam to the rubble of the collapsed bridge." ... ""I was crying for help, but there were cries for help all around me," she said." ... "It took Babatz about 30 minutes to get out of the water. She said she looked back, and her car was gone." -CNN

20070802

Minnesota - I-35W Bridge Collapse - Disaster - Vehicles - Transportation - Construction - Technology - Politics - Government - River - "Minn. bridge problems uncovered in 1990." ... "Minnesota officials were warned as early as 1990 that the [Minneapolis, Minnesota I-35W] bridge that plummeted into the Mississippi River was "structurally deficient," yet they relied on a strategy of patchwork fixes and stepped-up inspections." ... "In 1990, the federal government gave the I-35W bridge a rating of "structurally deficient," citing significant corrosion in its bearings. The bridge is one of 77,000 bridges in that category nationwide, 1,160 in Minnesota alone." ... "[Bridge engineer Dan] Dorgan said the bearings could not have been repaired without jacking up the entire deck of the bridge. Because the bearings were not sliding, inspectors concluded the corrosion was not a major issue." ... "During the 1990s, later inspections found fatigue cracks and corrosion in the steel around the bridge's joints. Those problems were repaired. Starting in 1993, the state said, the bridge was inspected annually instead of every other year." ... "A 2005 federal inspection also rated the bridge structurally deficient, giving it a 50 on scale of 100 for structural stability." ... "The eight-lane Interstate 35W bridge was Minnesota's busiest bridge, carrying 141,000 vehicles a day. It was in the midst of mostly repaving repairs when it buckled during the evening rush hour. Dozens of cars plummeted more than 60 feet into the Mississippi River, some falling on top one of another. A school bus sat on the angled concrete." -By Sharon Cohen and Brian Bakst with contributions by Seth Borenstein, Martiga Lohn, Ryan Foley and Jon Krawczynski -AP via -Yahoo

20070716

US - Iraq - Military - People - Vehicles - Safety - Technology - Money - Politics - Manufacturing - History - South Africa - "Pentagon balked at pleas from officers in field for safer vehicles: Iraqi troops got MRAPs; Americans waited." ... "Years before the war began, Pentagon officials knew of the effectiveness of another type of vehicle that better shielded troops from bombs like those that have killed [25 year old Pfc. Aaron] Kincaid and 1,500 other soldiers and Marines. But military officials repeatedly balked at appeals — from commanders on the battlefield and from the Pentagon's own staff — to provide the lifesaving Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, or MRAP, for patrols and combat missions, USA TODAY found." ... "As early as December 2003, when the Marines requested their first 27 MRAPs for explosives-disposal teams, Pentagon analysts sent detailed information about the superiority of the vehicles to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, e-mails obtained by USA TODAY show. Later pleas came from Iraq, where commanders saw that the approach the Joint Chiefs embraced — adding armor to the sides of Humvees, the standard vehicles in the war zone — did little to protect against blasts beneath the vehicles." ... "Why the issue never received more of a hearing from top officials early in the war remains a mystery, given the chorus of concern. One Pentagon analyst complained in an April 29, 2004, e-mail to colleagues, for instance, that it was "frustrating to see the pictures of burning Humvees while knowing that there are other vehicles out there that would provide more protection."" ... "The analyst was referring to the MRAP, whose V-shaped hull puts the crew more than 3 feet off the ground and deflects explosions. It was designed to withstand the underbelly bombs that cripple the lower-riding Humvees. Pentagon officials, civilians and military alike, had been searching for technologies to guard against improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. The makeshift bombs are the No. 1 killer of U.S. forces." ... "The MRAP was not new to the Pentagon. The technology had been developed in South Africa and Rhodesia in the 1970s, making it older than Kincaid and most of the other troops killed by homemade bombs. The Pentagon had tested MRAPs in 2000, purchased fewer than two dozen and sent some to Iraq. They were used primarily to protect explosive ordnance disposal teams, not to transport troops or to chase Iraqi insurgents." ... "Even as the Pentagon balked at buying MRAPs for U.S. troops, USA TODAY found that the military pushed to buy them for a different fighting force: the Iraqi army." ... "On Dec. 22, 2004 — two weeks after [Republican] President Bush told families of servicemembers that "we're doing everything we possibly can to protect your loved ones" — a U.S. Army general solicited ideas for an armored vehicle for the Iraqis." ... "One reason officials put off buying MRAPs in significant quantities: They never expected the war to last this long. Bush set the tone on May 1, 2003, six weeks after the U.S. invasion, when he declared on board the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended."" -By Peter Eisler, Blake Morrison and Tom Vanden Brook -USATODAY

20070711

US- Iraq - Military - Vehicles - Manufacturers - "Pentagon Criticized for Armor Contracts." ... "The Defense Department put U.S. troops in Iraq at risk by awarding contracts for badly needed armored vehicles to companies that failed to deliver them on schedule, according to a review by the Pentagon's inspector general." ... "The June 27 report, obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, examined 15 contracts worth $2.2 billion dollars awarded since 2000 to Force Protection, Inc., and Armor Holdings, Inc." ... "The auditors found several contracts issued by the Marine Corps on a sole-source basis to Force Protection even though it knew there were other manufacturers that might have supplied the vehicles in a more timely fashion." -By Richard Lardner and Anne Flaherty -AP via -Chron

20070629

US - Massachusetts - Canada - Car - Travel - Pet - Animal - Mitt Romney- 2008 Election - "Romney Accused of Mistreating Family Dog." ... "[2008 election Presidential candidate Mitt] Romney placed his family dog, an Irish setter named Seamus, into a kennel lashed to the top of his station wagon for a 12-hour family trip from Boston [Massachusetts] to Ontario [Canada] in 1983. Despite being shielded by a wind screen the former Massachusetts governor erected, Seamus expressed his discomfort with a diarrhea attack." -By Glen Johnson -AP via -SFGate.com

20070625

Mitt Romney - Jay Garrity - Police - Politics - 2008 Election - Reporter - Car - Surveillance - New Hampshire - Massachusetts - "Fortune reporter: Garrity pulled me over, too." ... "After New York Times reporter Mark Leibovitch reported on June 16 that an aide to [2008 election Republican Presidential candidate] Mitt Romney -- later identified as Jay Garrity, Romney's director of operations -- had ordered him to stop following Romney's car on a campaign trip to New Hampshire, Romney's campaign denied that Leibovitch's car was ever pulled over." ... "Now another reporter is saying she had an experience similar to Leibovitch's account. Marcia Vickers, a senior writer with Fortune magazine, said that while trailing Romney in New Hampshire on Memorial Day for a forthcoming magazine piece, Garrity instructed her at one point to stop tailing Romney's car." ... "The incident with Leibovitch, in which Garrity, by Leibovitch's account, also told him he had run his license plate number, has prompted an investigation by the New Hampshire attorney general's office. State law prohibits private citizens from accessing license plate databases or pulling over fellow citizens. Garrity is now on paid leave amid an investigation by Massachusetts State Police into whether he impersonated a state trooper in a May 13 phone call to a Wilmington [Massachusetts] company." -By Scott Helman -Boston/Globe

20070622

Mitt Romney - 2008 Election - Jay Garrity - Police - Car - Politics - Massachusetts - "Romney aide, targeted in probe, takes leave of absence." ... "[2008 election Republican Presidential candidate] Mitt Romney's director of operations is taking a leave of absence from the presidential campaign after becoming the focus of an investigation into allegations that he posed as a state trooper in a recorded phone call [transcript] complaining about a company's driver, the campaign announced today." ... "During the phone call, a recording of which was made by the answering service and obtained by the Globe, a man calling himself "Trooper Garrity of the Massachusetts State Police" threatens to cite the driver he says he saw speeding and cutting off cars in the Ted Williams Tunnel." -By Stephanie Ebbert -Boston/Globe
Mitt Romney - Jay Garrity - Police - Car - Politics - Massachusetts - Mother's-Day - 2008 Election - "Romney aide takes leave amid probes." ... "An ever-present aide to [2008 election] Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney took a leave of absence Friday after he became the subject of investigations in two states for allegedly impersonating a law enforcement officer. His attorney denied the charges." ... "Jay Garrity, who serves as director of operations and is constantly at the side of the former Massachusetts governor, is accused of leaving a lengthy message with the answering service of a plumbing company on Mother's Day, identifying himself as "Trooper Garrity" of the Massachusetts State Police and complaining about erratic driving by a company driver." ... "In 2004, Garrity was cited and fined by Massachusetts officials after a Ford Crown Victoria registered to him was found to have lights, a siren, radios and other law enforcement equipment -- including a baton -- after it was parked illegally in Boston's North End." -By Glen Johnson -AP via -BostonGlobe
Mitt Romney - Jay Garrity - Political - Police - Car - Massachusetts - Company - New Hampshire - Databases - Reporter - Privacy - 2008 Election - "Romney aide is the focus of probe: Allegedly acted as State Police trooper." ... "State Police are investigating one of [2008 election Republican Presidential candidate] Mitt Romney's top campaign aides for allegedly impersonating a trooper by calling a Wilmington [Massachusetts] company and threatening to cite the driver of a company van for erratic driving, according to two law enforcement sources familiar with the probe." ... "Jay Garrity, who is director of operations on Romney's presidential campaign and a constant presence at his side, became the primary target of the investigation, according to one of the sources, after authorities traced the cellphone used to make the call back to him" ... "The New Hampshire attorney general, according to the Associated Press, has also opened an investigation into a report that a Romney aide, later identified as Garrity, pulled over a New York Times reporter in New Hampshire and said he had run his license plate." ... "New Hampshire law prohibits private citizens from accessing license plate databases or pulling over fellow citizens." ... "In 2004, the Globe reported, Garrity was cited and fined for driving a Crown Victoria with red and blue lights mounted in the grill, a siren, a PA system, and strobe lights; and for having a nightstick and identification showing a State Police patch that read "Official Business."" -By Stephanie Ebbert and Scott Helman with contributions by Suzanne Smalley, Andrea Estes, and Jonathan Saltzman -Boston/Globe

20070616

US - Iraq - Military - Money - People - Transport - Vehicles - Police - Intelligence - Construction - Politics - "Iraq Contractors Face Growing Parallel War: As Security Work Increases, So Do Casualties." ... "Private security companies, funded by billions of dollars in U.S. military and State Department contracts, are fighting insurgents on a widening scale in Iraq, enduring daily attacks, returning fire and taking hundreds of casualties that have been underreported and sometimes concealed, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials and company representatives." ... "While the military has built up troops in an ongoing campaign to secure Baghdad [Iraq's capital], the security companies, out of public view, have been engaged in a parallel surge, boosting manpower, adding expensive armor and stepping up evasive action as attacks increase, the officials and company representatives said. One in seven supply convoys protected by private forces has come under attack this year, according to previously unreleased statistics; one security company reported nearly 300 "hostile actions" in the first four months." ... "The security industry's enormous growth has been facilitated by the U.S. military, which uses the 20,000 to 30,000 contractors to offset chronic troop shortages. Armed contractors protect all convoys transporting reconstruction materiel, including vehicles, weapons and ammunition for the Iraqi army and police. They guard key U.S. military installations and provide personal security for at least three commanding generals, including Air Force Maj. Gen. Darryl A. Scott, who oversees U.S. military contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan." ... "The military plans to outsource at least $1.5 billion in security operations this year, including the three largest security contracts in Iraq: a "theaterwide" contract to protect U.S. bases that is worth up to $480 million, according to Scott; a contract for up to $475 million to provide intelligence for the Army and personal security for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; and a contract for up to $450 million to protect reconstruction convoys. The Army has also tested a plan to use private security on military convoys for the first time, a shift that would significantly increase the presence of armed contractors on Iraq's dangerous roads." (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) -By Steve Fainaru with contributions by Julie Tate -WashingtonPost

20070604

US - Iraq - Vehicles - "14 More American Servicemen Are Killed in Iraq, Most of Them by Makeshift Bombs." ... "The pace of American troop deaths increased this weekend as 14 more servicemen were reported killed in Iraq, all but one from makeshift bombs that insurgents have been employing with greater lethality against American soldiers and armored vehicles. Twenty-one soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter were wounded." ... "The makeshift bomb blasts were part of a brazen series of attacks throughout the country by Sunni Arab insurgents, Shiite fighters of the Mahdi Army and other gunmen using rifles, rockets, huge bombs and chlorine canisters. American forces suffered heavy casualties in and around Baghdad and in Sunni insurgent enclaves further north, while Iraqi and American forces took the offensive in Mahdi Army strongholds in Baghdad and southern Iraq." ... "At least 15 American servicemen were killed in the first three days of June, a pace that exceeds the daily fatality rate in May, when 127 troops were killed. May was the deadliest month since the invasion of Falluja in November 2004." ... "Thirty-one [Iraqi] bodies were found scattered about the capital, where sectarian murders are once again on the rise." ... "The biggest killers [of American military troops] are roadside bombs, responsible for four of every five American deaths in combat during the past three months." -By Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Khalid W. Hassan with contributions by Muhanad Seloom -NYTimes

20070529

British - US - Canada - Iraq - Finance - Police - Vehicles - Terrorism - Religion - "Five Britons abducted in Baghdad: Five Britons have been kidnapped from Iraq's finance ministry in Baghdad, the British government has confirmed." ... "They included four bodyguards and a finance expert." ... "Witnesses and sources told the BBC that the kidnappers wore police uniforms and arrived in up to 40 police vehicles." ... "Also on Tuesday, Baghdad was shaken by a bus explosion which killed at least 23 people and injured about 55, and a car bomb which killed at least 17 people, hurt at least 36 and destroyed a Shia mosque." ... "The US military also announced that 10 of its soldiers were killed in Iraq on Monday, including two in a helicopter crash." ... "At least 112 US troops have been killed so far in May, making it the deadliest month this year." ... "The missing security guards are all believed to have been working for the GardaWorld security agency - a Canadian-owned firm largely staffed by British former service personnel." ... "GardaWorld is one of the biggest suppliers of private security in Iraq, and is thought to have hundreds of staff in the country." -BBC/News

20070522

US - Iraq - Military - Vehicles - Technology - Money - Politics - "Military Dragged Feet on Bomb-Proof Vehicles (Updated Again)." ... "The Marine Corps waited over a year before acting on an "priority 1 urgent" request to send blast-resistant vehicles to Iraq, [Wired.com's] DANGER ROOM has learned." ... "According to a Marine Corps document [PDF] provided to DANGER ROOM, the request for over 1,000 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles came in February, 2005. A formal call to fulfill that order did not emerge until November, 2006. "There is an immediate need for an MRAP vehicle capability to increase survivability and mobility of Marines operating in a hazardous fire area against known threats," the 2005 "universal need statement" notes." ... "Back then -- as now -- improvised explosive devices, or IEDs -- represented the deadliest threat to American troops in the region. "The expanded use" of these bombs "requires a more robust family of vehicle capable of surviving the IED... threat," the document adds. "MRAP-designed vehicles represent a significant increase in their survivability baseline over existing motor vehicle equipment and will mitigate... casualties resulting from IED[s]."" ... ""The [Marines] cannot continue to lose... serious and grave casualties to IED[s]... when a commercial off the shelf capability exists to mititgate [against] these threats," the request continues." ... "Despite the stark language, however, that request was not acted upon. Instead, the Marine Corps waited until November, 2006 to issue a formal request for proposals to buy approximately 1,200 MRAPs." -By Sharon Weinberger -Wired

20070508

Kansas - Greensburg - Tornado - Vehicles - Police - "Kansas Tornado Death Toll Rises: 11 Deaths Now Reported After Injured Police Officer Taken Off Life Support." ... "Search and rescue operations continued Tuesday in Greensburg [Kansas], where emergency responders have struggled to determined if any of its 1,600 residents are missing because many are staying with friends or relatives rather than in shelters." ... "The 1.7-mile-wide, Category F-5 enhanced tornado, with wind estimated at 205 mph, destroyed about 95 percent of this farming town Friday." ... "The government's response to the disaster was undermined by ongoing National Guard deployments to the Middle East, [Kansas Democratic Governor] Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said." ... ""I don't think there is any question if you are missing trucks, Humvees and helicopters that the response is going to be slower," Sebelius said. "The real victims here will be the residents of Greensburg, because the recovery will be at a slower pace."" -AP via -CBSNews

20070507

US - Iraq - Kansas - National Guard - Disaster - Vehicles - "Wartime Shortages Hamper National Guard: Iraq Deployments Are Leading To A Lack Of Equipment At The State Level." ... "Kansas' governor says tornado cleanup efforts are being hamstrung because the state National Guard is on a mission in Iraq." ... "But the Kansas National Guard isn't alone with its equipment shortages. According to the chief of the National Guard, it's a national epidemic." ... "Listen to what he told a Senate committee last month about the state of a Guard unit that had just returned stateside from Iraq." ... ""He doesn't have a problem of old equipment. He has a problem of no equipment," Lt. General H. Steven Blum said. "His unit, when it came back in November, came back to two Humvees that were left because they were not good enough to go to war — not suitable to go to war — and that's the equipment that he has in his unit today."" ... "The rest of the Humvees were either destroyed, damaged or left behind in Iraq." ... ""You name it, we are short of — this is meat-and-potatoes basic items," Blum said. "I'm talking about 'dozers, graders, loaders, backhoes, dump trucks."" -CBSNews

20070420

Fuel - Food - Poor - People - Auto - Environment - Economy - US - Venezuela - Mexico - "Ethanol policy divides Latin America: US efforts to promote ethanol have raised food prices in the region." ... "Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez calls the boom in ethanol the equivalent of starving the poor "to feed automobiles."" ... "Ethanol, which is derived from crops such as corn or sugar, is seen by some as a green alternative, a rising star on the path toward reducing independence on foreign petroleum. But it's not just Mr. Chávez who is questioning whether the benefits outweigh the unintended consequences." ... "Now poultry industry executives, who have seen the price of feedstock has gone up; Mexican consumers, facing a 60 percent jump in the cost of tortillas; and even environmentalists, who look at the amount of fertilizer that will be needed to grow extra crops, are wondering aloud whether ethanol will help or hurt Latin American economies." ... ""I think people worry that rich Americans are trying to fuel cars at the expense of hungry people in poorer countries," says Janet Larsen, director of research at the Earth Policy Institute in Washington. "This increased push for ethanol production could be an incredible foreign policy blunder."" (1, 2) -By Sara Miller Llana and Daniel Cancels -CSMonitor

20070212

US - Iraq - Iran - Afghanistan - Politics - Auto - Tech - Money - "Thousands of Army Humvees Lack Armor Upgrade." ... "The Army is working to fill a shortfall in Iraq of thousands of advanced Humvee armor kits designed to reduce U.S. troop deaths from roadside bombs -- including a rising threat from particularly lethal weapons linked to Iran and known as "explosively formed penetrators" (EFP) -- that are now inflicting 70 percent of the American casualties in the country, according to U.S. military and civilian officials." ... "The additional protection is needed for thousands of U.S. reinforcement troops flowing into Baghdad, where these devastating weapons -- used primarily by Shiite fighters -- are particularly prevalent, the officials said." ... "U.S. Army units in Iraq and Afghanistan lack more than 4,000 of the latest Humvee armor kit, known as FRAG Kit 5, according to U.S. officials. The Army has ramped up production of the armor, giving priority to troops in Baghdad, but the upgrade is not scheduled to be completed until this summer, Army officials said. That is well into the timeline for major operations launched last week to quell violence by Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias, which the U.S. military now views as the top security threat in Iraq." ... "The Army began the Iraq war with an estimated $56 billion equipment shortage and has struggled to keep up with demands for new armor to protect against increasingly deadly bombs." (1, 2) -By Ann Scott Tyson with contributions by Julie Tate -WashingtonPost

20061222

Noteworthy - Japan- US - World - Auto - Technology - Workers - Politics - History - Fuel - "Toyota’s Sales Projections Show It Surpassing G.M.." ... "Toyota Motor said today it plans to sell 9.34 million vehicles next year, a figure that analysts said would put it ahead of troubled General Motors as the world’s largest auto company." ... "Toyota reported global group sales this year of 8.8 million cars and trucks, below G.M.’s 2006 sales forecast of 9.2 million vehicles. But the figures released today showed the two rival car giants on starkly different trajectories, with Toyota expecting to add a half million vehicle sales next year, at a time when G.M. is shuttering plants and laying off workers." ... "Surpassing G.M. would be a crowning achievement for Toyota, a company that got its start in the 1930s by reverse-engineering G.M. and Ford cars, and that spent decades catching up with Detroit. It would also end G.M.’s 81-year reign over the global auto industry, and mark another step in the rise of Asian carmakers." ... "Analysts also said reaching the top would not exhaust Toyota’s opportunities for growth. They said Toyota will continue to gain in the American market, where higher gas prices have increased the popularity of smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles." ... "Toyota’s rise would also prove a victory of sorts for its unique corporate culture, the so-called Toyota Way, which is rooted in an obsession with craftsmanship and constant improvement, or “kaizen.”" -By Martin Fackler -NYTimes

20061205

US - Iraq - Afghanistan - Government - Military - Technology - Money - Politics - People - Flying - Vehicles - Alabama - "U.S. Army Battling To Save Equipment: Gear Piles Up at Depots, Awaiting Repair." ... "Field upon field of more than 1,000 battered M1 tanks, howitzers and other armored vehicles sit amid weeds here at the 15,000-acre Anniston Army Depot [Alabama] -- the idle, hulking formations symbolic of an Army that is wearing out faster than it is being rebuilt." ... "The Army and Marine Corps have sunk more than 40 percent of their ground combat equipment into the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to government data. An estimated $17 billion-plus worth of military equipment is destroyed or worn out each year, blasted by bombs, ground down by desert sand and used up to nine times the rate in times of peace. The gear is piling up at depots such as Anniston, waiting to be repaired." ... "The depletion of major equipment such as tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, and especially helicopters and armored Humvees has left many military units in the United States without adequate training gear, officials say. Partly as a result of the shortages, many U.S. units are rated "unready" to deploy, officials say, raising alarm in Congress and concern among military leaders at a time when Iraq strategy is under review by the White House and the bipartisan Iraq Study Group." ... "Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, the Army's chief of staff, is lobbying hard for more money to repair what he calls the "holes" in his force, saying current war funding is inadequate to make the Army "well." Asked in a congressional hearing this past summer whether he was comfortable with the readiness levels of non-deployed Army units, Schoomaker replied: "No."" ... "Despite the work piling up, the Army's depots have been operating at about half their capacity because of a lack of funding for repairs." -By Ann Scott Tyson -WashingtonPost

20060530

US - Afghanistan - Auto - "Traffic accident involving U.S. troops sparks rioting in Kabul." ... "Violent anti-foreigner protests raged across the [Afghanistan] capital Monday after a U.S. military truck crashed into traffic, touching off the worst rioting since the Taliban's ouster. At least eight people died and 107 were injured before Kabul's streets calmed." ... "Chanting "Death to America," rioters stoned the U.S. convoy involved in the accident then headed to the center of town, ransacking offices of international aid groups and searching for foreigners in a display of rising resentment over civilian deaths in the war against insurgents." ... "The U.S.-backed Afghan government decreed a nighttime curfew and the city quieted before sunset." ... "Patience with the 23,000 U.S. soldiers and other foreign troops in Afghanistan is fraying over recent deaths of civilians, including at least 16 people killed by an airstrike targeting Taliban fighters in a village last week." -AP via -USATODAY

20060516

Saudi Arabia - Religious - Media - Free Speech - Women - Law - Politics - Drive - "Saudis nix pictures of women in newspapers." ... "King Abdullah has told Saudi editors to stop publishing pictures of women as they could make young men go astray, newspapers reported Tuesday." ... "In recent months, newspapers have published pictures of women - always wearing the traditional Muslim headscarf - to illustrate stories with increasing regularity. Usually the stories have had to do with women's issues. The papers have also started publishing a range of views on causes that are not generally accepted in Saudi Arabia - such as women having the right to drive and vote." ... "The country adheres to a strict interpretation of Islamic law. Women are not allowed to vote and stand in municipal elections - the only type of election permitted in the kingdom." ... "The king also called on editors to stop printing stories that portray the country in a negative light." ... "All media in Saudi Arabia are either state owned or state guided." -AP via -SeattlePI.NWsource

20060505

Gas - Car - Company - Environment - Alaska - Water - "Conflicting Loyalties as Republicans Confront High Gas Prices." ... "Under pressure to deal with high gasoline prices, President Bush and Republican leaders in Congress are struggling to marry a newfound zeal for energy conservation with their traditional loyalty to big cars and Big Oil." ... "Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers are also renewing their wish list for the oil industry — opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge [Alaska] for exploration and drilling, as well as millions of additional acres in the Gulf of Mexico and along the Atlantic Coast. They are also blocking calls for a windfall profits tax on the major oil companies." ... "The political pressures created by soaring gasoline prices have pulled Republicans in Congress and the administration in different directions. While blocking higher taxes on the oil industry, for example, the While House and Senate Republicans are likely to try to eliminate or at least cut back on $2 billion in tax incentives for oil and gas drilling that Congress passed less than a year ago." ... "At the same time, unlike Democrats, Republican lawmakers have repeatedly defeated proposals for higher fuel-economy requirements on passenger cars. Indeed, in the 2004 presidential election, they ridiculed such proposals as job-losing Democratic ideas." ... "In five years, House Republicans have defeated three bills to raise the average fuel efficiency of cars to 33 miles a gallon, from 27.5." -By Edmund L. Andrews -NYTimes

20051230

Auto - Company - Retiree - History - Government - "How Bedrock Promises Of Security Have Fractured Across America: Companies are discarding traditional pensions -- or making government foot the bill. Delphi workers struggle with the changing landscape." ... "[Oct. 8,] That's when Delphi Chief Executive Robert S. "Steve" Miller, citing global competition and crippling "legacy costs," ushered the $28.6 billion-a-year company into one of the largest industrial bankruptcies in U.S. history. In short order, Miller called for slashing workers' compensation by almost two-thirds, threatened to void the company's union contracts, and hinted broadly that he would follow the playbook he had used elsewhere of pushing responsibility for paying the firm's pensions to the federal government and dumping its retiree health benefits altogether." ... "Delphi is at the cutting edge of a crisis that's engulfing the U.S. auto industry, much as it did steel and airlines. Its actions are adding to a gathering trend, a shift of economic risks once largely borne by business and government to the backs of working families." ... "Before the trouble is over, some believe, a corporate icon such as Ford Motor Co. or GM could be swept from the American landscape. So too could much of what remains of the already frayed relationship between millions of working people and their employers." -By Peter G. Gosselin -LAtimes

20051229

Military - Auto - Airplane - "Corps pays $100K for retooled jeep." ... "The Marine Corps is paying $100,000 apiece for a revamped Vietnam-era jeep as part of its program to outfit the hybrid airplane-helicopter V-22 Osprey, Pentagon records show." ... "That's seven times what a deluxe commercial version of the vehicle costs. It's also three times what U.S. Export-Import Bank records show the Dominican Republic paid four years ago for a military version of the vehicle, called the Growler, a recycled version of the M151 jeep." -By Steven Komarow -USATODAY

20051209

UK - Auto - Transportation - "End of the road for the traditional London bus." ... "The "London bus" - the iconic, ever-popular double-decker with its half-cab, old-fashioned bell, conductor and open rear platform, the star of postcards, guide book covers and film - will run for the last time today on a mainstream route." ... "When the number 159 rolls into Brixton garage in south London, an era will have ended for the Routemaster, as it is known. It also marks the end of the road for the bus conductor in London." -By Simon Briscoe -FT.com

20051121

US - Canada - Tennessee - Georgia - Michigan - Oklahoma - Ohio - Auto - Business - "GM to Close 12 North American Sites, Cut 30,000 Jobs (Update8)." ... "General Motors Corp., weighed down by its biggest losses in more than a decade, will close 12 North American operations and purge 30,000 jobs in its deepest round of cuts since 1991." ... "Chief Executive Rick Wagoner said today he will idle five auto plants, four parts factories and three non-manufacturing complexes. Among them is a Saturn plant opened 15 years ago as an answer to the small-car threat from Asia." ... "In addition to one of the Saturn plants in Spring Hill, Tennessee, GM will close assembly plants in Doraville, Georgia; Lansing, Michigan; Oklahoma City [Oklahoma]; and Oshawa, Ontario [Canada]. The automaker will shut down engine plants in St. Catharines, Ontario [Canada], and Flint, Michigan. GM will also reduce shifts at assembly plants in Moraine, Ohio, and a second car plant in Oshawa." -Jeff Green and John Lippert -Bloomberg

20051106

France - Cars - "French Police Arrest 186; Paris Riots Continue for 10th Night." ... "French police arrested 186 people overnight as gangs burned cars and buildings for the 10th consecutive night in Paris suburbs, other cities around France, and, for the first time, within the city of Paris itself. More than 900 vehicles were set ablaze across the nation." ... "More than 550 people have been arrested and more than 2,100 vehicles have been torched since Oct. 27." -By Alan Katz -Bloomberg

20051104

CA - Autos - Transportation - People - "Man fined for using a dummy to poach on commuter lane." ... "A 28-year-old Petaluma [California] man was pulled over Wednesday and slapped with a $351 fine for using a kickboxing dummy dressed in a Miami Dolphins windbreaker and baseball cap to poach on the commuter lane." -By Suzanne Herel -SFGate.com

20051011

Nevada- MIL - Autos - Transportation - Robots - "Driverless Volkswagen wins $2 million US in Pentagon's robot race." ... "A driverless Volkswagen won a $2-million race across the rugged Nevada desert Sunday, beating four other robot-guided vehicles that completed a Pentagon-sponsored contest aimed at making warfare safer for humans." ... "The race displayed major technological leaps since last year's inaugural race, when none of the self-driving vehicles crossed the finish line." ... "Stanley the VW Touareg, designed by Stanford University, zipped through the 212-kilometre Mojave Desert course in six hours and 53 minutes Saturday, using only its computer brain and sensors to navigate rough and twisting desert and mountain trails." -AP via -CBC.ca

20050929

US - Sweden - Canada - Japan - Germany - Auto - "Ford to Cut Half of Suppliers to Improve Technology (Update4)." ... "Ford Motor Co. will cut half of its suppliers and sign long-term contracts with the rest to reduce costs and improve technology as the world's third-largest carmaker struggles to reverse declining profit and shrinking sales." ... "Ford will announce agreements today with Sweden's Autoliv Inc., Delphi Corp., Johnson Controls Inc., Lear Corp., Canada's Magna International Inc., Visteon Corp. and Japan's Yazaki Corp., said Gabriele Gutscher, a spokeswoman for Ford in Cologne, Germany." -By Alan Katz -Bloomberg

20050928

US - Canada - Auto - Business - "GM, Canadian Union Avoid Strike With Labor Accord (Update1)." ... "General Motors Corp., the world's largest automaker, averted a strike by reaching a three-year contract agreement with the Canadian Auto Workers union." ... "The union, which has 17,100 members at GM, announced the accord last night in Toronto. Union President Buzz Hargrove said more than 1,000 jobs will be cut, with many done through attrition, he said. The union agreed to similar job cuts in deals with Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler unit." ... "The agreement wraps up talks in which the three U.S.-based automakers pressed for job cuts and efficiency improvements. The union was able to secure investment in some Canadian plants while accepting reduced employment." -By Bill Koenig -Bloomberg

20050926

Hurricane Katrina - Flood - Cars - Business - "Damaged cars could end up being resold." ... "One of the enduring images from Hurricane Katrina is of cars, trucks, even school buses submerged up to their roofs in slimy, oily floodwaters." ... "Consumers are being warned to watch out for flood-damaged cars ending up on the used car market, but insurance experts working in the area say the cars are so far gone that it will be hard for scam artists to hide the flood damage." -By Sharon Silke Carty -USATODAY

20050923

Hurricane Rita - Texas - Louisiana - Auto- Transportation - Oil - "Spinning Rita, weakening, threatens oil refineries." ... "More than 3 million people along the Texas and Louisiana coasts were urged to get out of the way of Rita, setting off an unprecedented exodus that brought traffic to a standstill across the Houston metropolitan area. Cars overheated and ran out of gas in 10- and 12-hour traffic jams. Some drivers gave up and turned around and went home." ... "By Friday morning, the freeways within Houston had cleared out, but traffic was still bumper-to-bumper from the outskirts of the city toward Austin and Dallas. The state escorted tanker trucks full of gas to empty stations in small towns along the way. And National Guard trucks delivered gasoline to drivers who ran out." ... "Dozens of chemical plants are situated along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast in the nation's biggest concentration of oil refineries, and damage and disruptions caused by Rita could cause already-rising oil and gasoline prices to go even higher." -USATODAY

20050922

Texas - Louisiana - Hurricane Rita - Auto - Transportation - Hurricane Katrina - "Texans fleeing Rita stalled by traffic." ... "The storm's march toward land sent hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the nation's fourth-largest city in a frustratingly slow, bumper-to-bumper exodus." ... ""This is the worst planning I've ever seen," said Judie Anderson, who covered just 45 miles in 12 hours after setting out from her home in the Houston suburb of LaPorte. "They say we've learned a lot from Hurricane Katrina. Well, you couldn't prove it by me."" ... "In all, nearly 2 million people along the Texas and Louisiana coasts were urged to get out of the way of Rita, a 400-mile-wide storm that weakened Thursday from a top-of-the-scale Category 5 hurricane to a Category 4 as it swirled across the Gulf of Mexico." -By Mike Graczyk -AP via -SeattleTimes.NWsource

20050912

New Jersey - Autos - "Ford to Sell Hertz to Clayton, Carlyle for $15 Bln (Update1)." ... "Ford Motor Co. agreed to sell Hertz Corp., the largest U.S. car-rental company, to investors Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Inc., Carlyle Group and Merrill Lynch & Co.'s buyout unit for about $15 billion." ... "The buyers will pay $5.6 billion for Hertz and assume about $9.4 billion of debt, Ford said in a statement today. It's the largest leveraged buyout announced since Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. paid $31 billion for RJR Nabisco Inc. in 1989." ... "Ford, the No. 2 U.S. automaker, is selling Park Ridge, New Jersey-based Hertz to raise cash as it loses market share to rivals led by Toyota Motor Corp. Ford's North American business has been unprofitable for three of the past four quarters. Chief Executive Officer William Clay Ford Jr. has promised to increase earnings." -Brett Cole and Bill Koenig -Bloomberg

20050907

Autos - - "Ford recalling 3.8 million vehicles: Trucks and SUVs recalled for cruise control switch that could cause fires." ... "Ford Motor Co. is recalling about 3.8 million trucks and SUVs to fix a cruise control switch that could overheat and burn even when the vehicles are not running." ... "The vehicles included in the recall are 1994-2002 Ford F-150s, 1997-2002 Ford Expeditions, 1998-2002 Lincoln Navigators and 1994-1996 Ford Broncos equipped with factory-installed speed control." -CNN

20050808

- - - Autos - - - - Homes - "Bush Signs Massive Energy Bill Into Law." ... "In the near term, the new legislation will extend daylight-saving time, give tax breaks to drivers who buy cars with fuel-efficient technologies and try to jump-start the construction of new nuclear power plants." ... "Environmental groups and other opponents say the bill amounts to a gift to energy companies that does nothing new to promote renewable energy." ... "The measure funnels billions of dollars to energy companies, including tax breaks and loan guarantees for new nuclear power plants, clean coal technology and wind energy." ... "For consumers, the bill would provide tax credits for buying hybrid gasoline-electric cars and making energy-conservation improvements with better windows and appliances in new and existing homes." -By Nedra Pickler -AP via -Guardian.co.uk

20050705

Autos - "Update 3: Ford Jumps on Employee-Discount Bandwagon." ... "Ford Motor Co. jumped on the employee-discount bandwagon Tuesday, announcing it will join GM and Chrysler in allowing customers to buy vehicles at employee rates." ... "Ford's decision follows a huge sales surge General Motors Corp. saw last month because of the heavily promoted discount, which drove monthly sales to their highest total in nearly 19 years. Chrysler said Friday it also would match such programs."-AP via -Forbes

20050608

Autos - "Kerkorian Boosts Stake in GM to 7.2%, Short of Goal (Update3)." ... "Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian will boost his share in General Motors Corp. to about 7.2 percent, short of his goal of 8.8 percent, after buying an additional 18.9 million shares." ... "Kerkorian's purchase puts more scrutiny on GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner, 52, who is trying to return the company to profit after a $1.1 billion first-quarter loss and a 6.7 percent decline in U.S. auto sales this year." -By Jeff Green and Barbara Powell -Bloomberg

20050607

- - Autos - "GM Plans to Cut 25,000 U.S. Jobs by 2008." ... "General Motors Corp. plans to eliminate 25,000 jobs in the United States by 2008 and to close plants as part of a strategy to revive its struggling North American operations." ... "Speaking to shareholders at GM's 96th annual shareholder meeting in Delaware Tuesday morning, Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner said the capacity and job cuts will generate annual savings of roughly $2.5 billion." ... "He noted that the company's current $1,500 per worker health-care expense puts GM at a "significant disadvantage versus foreign-based competitors," and said GM has conducted "intense discussions" with the unions about how to reduce health-care costs." -By John Porreto -AP via -ABCNEWS.com

20050509

- - Autos - Transportation - "Traffic jams delay drivers millions of hours." ... "The annual amount of time the average urban commuter spent in traffic delays increased from 16 hours in 1982 to 47 in 2003." ... "The annual Urban Mobility Report from the Texas Transportation Institute, a part of Texas A&M University, found that, despite the slow economy of two years ago, congestion caused 3.7 billion hours of travel delay and 2.3 billion gallons of wasted fuel — an increase of 79 million hours and 69 million gallons over 2002. The total cost of congestion in the 85 urban areas studied: $63.1 billion." ... "The Urban Mobility Report notes that major transportation projects that reduce congestion can take 10-15 years to complete." -By Larry Copeland -USATODAY

20050504

- Autos - "Investors Betting on Kerkorian's General Motors Bid." ... "Investors were betting Wednesday that 87-year-old Los Angeles [California] billionaire Kirk Kerkorian's surprise proposal to acquire a large stake in struggling General Motors Corp. could be a catalyst for a turnaround at the world's largest automaker. Kerkorian, who shook up Chrysler Corp. with a hostile takeover bid a decade ago, said Wednesday that his Tracinda Corp. plans to spend $868 million to double its previously undisclosed GM stake to 8.8 percent. The announcement drove up GM's stock 18 percent, its biggest one-day gain in decades." ... "Kerkorian's involvement comes as GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner is trying to end a prolonged slump that led to the company's smallest U.S. market share in almost 80 years. GM, which last month reported a $1.1 billion first-quarter loss, is trying to shore up its finances in part by winning large health-care concessions from union workers." -By John O'Dell and Tom Petruno with contributions by Thomas S. Mulligan-LAtimes

20050425

- Autos - "GM to recall 2 million-plus vehicles." ... "General Motors, at a time when it's in dire need of good news, said Monday that it will recall more than 2 million vehicles, including some of its most popular cars and trucks." ... "Of the overall total, about 1.5 million full-size sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks mostly sold in the United States, are being called back to the shop to fix the seat belt positioning in the rear seats." -By Shawn Langlois -MarketWatch

20050418

- - Autos - "Economy wobbles under cost of oil: Energy prices clip consumer buying and corporate earnings, sending stock market down, but recoveries often hit soft spots." ... "Higher energy prices are starting to slow the US economy." ... "While economists have predicted such an effect for months, it's finally here - evident in lower retail sales, growing inventories of cars, and fewer new jobs." ... "Since March 4, the Standard & Poor's 500 index is down almost 6 percent. Last Friday, the stock market was particularly battered, with the S&P index off 19.43 or 1.67 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 191.24. For the week, Wall Street suffered its worst loss in two years." -By Ron Scherer -CSMonitor

20050415

- - - Autos - "MG Rover's collapse jolts British election: Britain's last major carmaker filed for a type of bankruptcy last week, putting pressure on Blair." ... "No sooner had Prime Minister Tony Blair called Britain's election than the country was shaken by the dramatic collapse of one of its biggest industrial names." ... "The victim was MG Rover, which filed for bankruptcy last week after a takeover bid from a Chinese automaker foundered. The demise of Britain's last major domestic carmaker is a blow to its once-proud automobile sector, which has suffered assembly plant closures and surrendered major marques like Jaguar and Rolls Royce to overseas giants in recent years." ... "In political terms, it's as if General Motors went bust less than a month before a US presidential election." -By Mark Rice-Oxley -CSMonitor

20050412

- - Autos - "The wrong and winding road." ... "After proud decades of production, the MG Rover car plant in Longbridge, in the English Midlands, is silent. Rover's workers have been told to stay at home, the company is in administration and its suppliers are not sending parts for fear that they will not be paid. All that keeps Britain's last volume carmaker alive is an emergency drip feed of funds from the government, which is paying almost £1m ($1.9m, €1.4m) a day to keep Rover going." ... "To what end? Officials say they have not given up hope that takeover talks with Shanghai Automotive, the Chinese carmaker, can be revived. But Shanghai Automotive does not want to resume talks. Some critics believe the government is simply trying to postpone Rover's final collapse until after the UK's general election on May 5. It is the final absurdity in a long history of failed UK industrial policy." -By Krishna Guha, Jonathan Guthrie, John Griffiths and Jean Eaglesham -FT.com

20050404

- - Autos - "Oil Is Steady After Reaching Record on U.S. Motor-Fuel Supply." ... "U.S. motorists used 2.2 percent more gasoline in the first quarter compared with a year ago, according to Energy Department figures. Increased OPEC production has failed to halt the [oil] rally as global consumption grows." ... "Oil surged to $58.28 a barrel, the highest since trading began in 1983. Prices are 66 percent higher than a year ago." -By Mark Shenk and ed. by Robert Dieterich -Bloomberg

20050330

- - - Autos - "GM in fuel cell deal with government: Auto manufacturer says it has inked $88M pact to build fleet of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles by 2009." ... "General Motors Corp. Wednesday said it signed an $88 million deal with the Department of Energy to build a fleet of 40 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and further develop the technology." -Reuters via -CNN

20050321

- - "Report: Chrysler wins health savings: UAW agrees to deductibles for 35,000 employees, retirees, saving Chrysler tens of millions: report." ... "Chrysler Group has won changes from the United Auto Workers union that will save it tens of millions of dollars in health costs, while costing employees and their family up to $1,000 in health care deductibles, according to a published report." -CNN /Money

20050320

- "Job cuts loom at GM? WSJ: Automaker plans to eliminate white-collar workers in wake of 2005 earnings warning." ... "General Motors Corp. plans to cut its North American white-collar work force, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site Sunday, less than a week after the automaker warned that 2005 earnings would fall short of its target." -Reuters via-CNN /Money

20050213

- - - - - - "No Mullah Left Behind." ... "By adamantly refusing to do anything to improve energy conservation in America, or to phase in a $1-a-gallon gasoline tax on American drivers, or to demand increased mileage from Detroit's automakers, or to develop a crash program for renewable sources of energy, the Bush team is - as others have noted - financing both sides of the war on terrorism. We are financing the U.S. armed forces with our tax dollars, and, through our profligate use of energy, we are generating huge windfall profits for Saudi Arabia, Iran and Sudan, where the cash is used to insulate the regimes from any pressure to open up their economies, liberate their women or modernize their schools, and where it ends up instead financing madrassas, mosques and militants fundamentally opposed to the progressive, pluralistic agenda America is trying to promote. Now how smart is that?" -By Thomas L. Friedman -NYTimes

20040422

- - - ELECTION 2004 - "Saudi envoy: Oil policy standard, not a deal: Calls U.S. politics: 'Your seasonal tribal warfare'." ... "Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States stood firm that his country made no secret deals with the White House to try to drive down gas prices to help re-elect President Bush and sought to reassure Democratic contender Sen. John Kerry." ... ""I really don't see what is the big deal," Prince Bandar bin Sultan told reporters Wednesday after a White House meeting with national security adviser Condoleezza Rice." ... ""Unless somebody would like to see the oil prices stay high, then nobody should complain."" -By John King -CNN

20040420

- - - - ELECTION 2004 - "Kerry hits alleged Bush-Saudi deal: Seizes on account in journalist's book." ... "The latest inside account of the Bush administration has provided fresh fodder for John F. Kerry's campaign, with the presumptive Democratic nominee yesterday condemning the president for reportedly allowing the Saudis to maintain high gasoline prices until just before the fall election, when they would be cut to boost the US economy." ... "Kerry said the deal, reported in "Plan of Attack," the new book by Washington Post editor Bob Woodward, and mentioned in his appearance Sunday on the CBS program "60 Minutes," was "fundamentally wrong" and "outrageous and unacceptable to the American people." A day earlier, the Massachusetts senator condemned Bush for withholding details about Iraqi war planning from Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, again relying on Woodward's account of the administration's war planning." -By Glen Johnson -Boston/Globe

20040309

- - "Prices at the pump vault toward all-time high: Early hikes in gas prices across the US could affect everything from flower delivery to vacation plans." ... "Later this month, gas prices will almost certainly eclipse the record for the highest average price-per-gallon in US history. Then, if analysts are right, they will go even higher." ... "Ominously, some experts suggest that the energy outlook hasn't looked so bleak since the last days of Mr. Carter. Not that the country would be as severely affected as it was in the 1970s. For one, today's prices are still well below 1970s levels, when adjusted for inflation. In addition, many US power plants have since shifted to natural gas and coal, and manufacturing is now a smaller share of the economy. As a result, America is less dependent on oil for its well-being." -By Mark Sappenfield -CSMonitor

20040125

- - "Toyota surpasses Ford as No. 2 automaker." ... "Toyota confirmed the tally it gave last Friday for worldwide sales for 2003 of 6.78 million vehicles, up 9.9 percent from 6.17 million the previous year. Last week, Ford said its 2003 sales slipped to 6.72 million vehicles, down 3.6 percent from 6.97 million the year before." -AP via -SeattlePI.NWsource

20030616

- - "Clean air at the Internet truck stop cafe: Hookup lets drivers turn off engine, go online at night." ... "Trucks pull into bays that feature long, flexible tubes hanging from the roof. Each tube ends in a control panel and vents for heated or cooled air. Drivers pull the apparatus into their window and fasten it there. A touch- sensitive screen on the control panel will let them set the thermostat, check maps of the area or surf the Internet." ... "Basic services cost $1.25 per hour for truck owners or fleets that have signed agreements with IdleAire, with fees payable through a credit-card reader above a computer screen." ... "The fees should be cheaper than idling a truck. Because federal law requires long-haul truckers to take eight hours off for every 10 spent on the road, most drivers will pay about $10 per day with the IdleAire system, Everhart said. Without it, they spend about $15 to $20 per day on diesel burned while the truck is idling, he said." -By David R. Baker -SFGate.com

20020118

- Sacramento - Autos - "Lemon Lawsuits: Litigation over bad cars, including class actions, is on the rise across the U.S.." ... "Rosemary Shahan, founder and president of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, a Sacramento, Calif.-based group working to improve lemon laws, says the Fresno case is "the largest verdict she had heard of for lemon laundering" -- the general term used in the industry to describe the practice of hiding the background of vehicles with major problems. She says that even if the award is knocked down on appeal, it "gets the manufacturers' attention."" -By Alan Fisk -Law.com

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