BUSINESS BRIEFS
Inflation took a breather in February
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Consumer price inflation, after pushing relentlessly higher, posted its mildest reading in six months in February thanks to energy and food costs moderating. The relief, however, is expected to be short-lived, given that energy prices have resumed their upward climb.
The Labor Department said yesterday that consumer prices were unchanged last month, a better performance than the expected 0.3 percent gain.
Core inflation, which excludes energy and food, also held steady in February after a worrisome 0.3 percent jump in January.
MICROSOFT, YAHOO IMPASSE EASING
SAN FRANCISCO — The big chill has thawed between Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc.
The two camps began talking last weekend for the first time since Yahoo rejected Microsoft's takeover bid last month, and the conversation has continued this week with senior executives meeting near Yahoo's Sunnyvale headquarters to give the software giant a chance to describe its proposal for combining the two companies, people familiar with the situation said yesterday. They spoke anonymously because the talks are private.
"It's now a regular conversation, and before there was literally nothing going on," one person said.
RETAIL GAS, DIESEL PRICES GO UP, UP
NEW YORK — The rally in energy prices gained momentum yesterday, with retail gas prices rising further into record territory and diesel and heating oil futures setting records of their own amid concerns about strong global demand and tight supplies.
Crude oil prices fell modestly as a sharp downturn in the stock market and worries about the economy prompted some profit-taking. But with the Federal Reserve expected to cut interest rates again next week, analysts expect the dollar to weaken further, propelling crude to new records.
At the pump, gas prices set records for the fourth straight day, rising 1.3 cents yesterday to a national average price of $3.28 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. (Average prices are nearing $4 in some parts of Hawai'i.)
Diesel, meanwhile, rose 2.9 cents to a record high national average of $3.938 a gallon.
POLLUTION LIMITS ON TRAINS, SHIPS
WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency said yesterday that ship and locomotive engines must meet tougher pollution controls, hoping for dramatic cuts in the amount of smog-causing chemicals and soot coming from trains, cargo ships, tugboats and passenger ferries.
The EPA regulation would require that new diesel engines used on ships and locomotives produce 90 percent less soot and 80 percent less smog-causing nitrogen oxide beginning within six or seven years. All the ships and locomotives are expected to meet the new standards by 2030 as older engines are replaced or overhauled with cleaner technology.
ATTORNEY PLEADS GUILTY IN BRIBERY
JACKSON, Miss. — Powerful plaintiffs' attorney Richard "Dickie" Scruggs and a co-defendant pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiring to bribe a judge for a favorable ruling in a case involving legal fees from a post-Hurricane Katrina lawsuit.
The surprise plea came yesterday during a hearing on pretrial matters, court officials said. A trial was set to begin at the end of the month.
Scruggs, 61, and co-defendant Sidney Backstrom both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States. Scruggs' law partner and son, Zach, also is charged in the case but did not enter a plea and is expected to go to trial.
Prosecutors said they will recommend five years in prison for Scruggs and 2 1/2 for Backstrom, penalties significantly lower than what they could have faced.
