CHICAGO (AP) - Motorists convicted of driving drunk will have to install breath-monitoring gadgets in their cars under new laws taking effect in six states this week. The ignition interlocks prevent engines from starting until drivers blow into the alcohol detectors to prove they're sober.Alaska, Colorado, Illinois, Nebraska and Washington state began Jan. 1 requiring the devices for all motorists convicted of first-time drunken driving.
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FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - Laws mandating stores only sell cigarettes that are slow-burning and fire-safe went into effect in five states on New Year's Day. Delaware, Iowa, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Texas on Thursday joined 17 other states in mandating the fire-safe cigarettes. Fifteen other states have laws that will take effect this year or next, according to the Coalition for Fire-Safe Cigarettes.
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WASHINGTON (AP) - Motorists are driving less and buying less gasoline, which means fuel taxes aren't raising enough money to keep pace with the cost of road, bridge and transit programs. A federal commission created by Congress to find a way to make up the growing revenue shortfall in the program that funds highway repairs and construction is talking about increasing federal gas and diesel taxes.
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CLARENCE, N.Y. - For anyone who has ever sat through a meeting with long-winded speakers and diet-busting doughnuts, Jennifer Baran offers an antidote.In her "walking conference room," there is no sitting through anything. Everyone is walking on treadmills or elliptical machines.
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NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. manufacturing activity fell more than expected in December, hitting the lowest reading in 28 years as new orders and employment continue to decline. The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing executives, said Friday its manufacturing index fell to 32.4 in December from 36.2 in November.
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CINCINNATI - Charles O'Bryan hoards tools, electronics and a jumble of other items that end up piled inside and outside his house - and he doesn't see anything really wrong with that. O'Bryan, 52, who was placed on probation for hoarding-related health code violations, collects things, often fixing them to give away or sell at flea markets.
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ANTIOCH, Calif. - As more and more black renters began moving into this mostly white San Francisco Bay Area suburb a few years ago, neighbors started complaining about loud parties, mean pit bulls, blaring car radios, prostitution, drug dealing and muggings of schoolchildren.
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