Marketplace: Thursday, July 8, 2004

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A look at today's markets (closing numbers)
DOW 68.73 (.67%) ; NASDAQ 30.76 (1.56%) ; S&P 500 9.22 (.82%)

Newscast On this July 8th, a jury has found the ex-chief of Adelphia Communications guilty of conspiracy and securities and bank fraud. 79 year-old John Rigas, his two sons, and a former assistant treasurer were accused of using the cable TV company as a private piggybank to buy themselves cars, antiques, stocks, and other items. Like his father, former Adelphia CFO Timothy Rigas was found guilty on the same three counts. Today, former Enron head-honcho Ken Lay was led in cuffs to the courthouse in Houston. Coming to your newspaper tomorrow morning: pictures from the perp walk prosecutors have spent almost 3 years prepping for. Down in Houston, Karl Klicker was following this story on television. Ken Lay used to sign Karl's paychecks. Karl used to be a training manager at Enron. He was laid off in December, 2001. Listen to all newscast items

Features Clean Air Lawsuit An Ohio newspaper is reporting that FirstEnergy Corporation has agreed to pay more than a billion dollars to revamp pollution controls at one of its coal-burning power plants. The agreement would settle the first in a series of lawsuits against power companies for alleged violations of the Clean Air Act. Reporter: Amy Scott Related Story: Report: FirstEnergy OKs pollution controls This Fire - Franz Ferdinand Support Marketplace: Purchase this music from Public Radio MusicSource National Park Service Boost? Earlier this summer, a group of retired National Parks employees warned us that a trip to Old Faithful might not include a trip to the restroom -- such was the state of budget cutbacks at the Park Service. But today, Interior Secretary Gale Norton reported that National Park funding has hit an all-time high. How did that happen? Reporter: Gretchen Cook Related Story: Bush Administration Keeping Promise to Preserve National Parks, Report Says Moonstreams - Wagon Cookin' Support Marketplace: Purchase this music from Public Radio MusicSource Massive (toy) Jewelry Recall Today the Consumer Product Safety Commission annouced the recall of 150,000,000 pieces of toy jewelry. It's the largest product recall ever. The commission said about half of the trinkets found in vending machines contain high levels of lead, and could be dangerous if kids sucked on them. Reporter: Helen Palmer Web Resource: Lead Dangers Prompt Toy Jewelry Recall Beef Jerky - Cibo Matto Support Marketplace: Purchase this music from Public Radio MusicSource Do Recalls Even Work? Maybe Not ... Today's recall is just one in a series that promises to break last year's record: 5,000 recalls involving 60,000,000 products. That's a lot of shoddy merchandise. But what's worse, according to the August issue of Consumer reports, is that a big percentage of recalled products - from toys to cars -- are never returned or repaired. Commentator: Adam Hanft Related Story: Marketplace Report: Ignoring Product Recalls Opportunities - Pet Shop Boys Support Marketplace: Purchase this music from Public Radio MusicSource Marketplace Letters! And now, a time to hear from you. David Brown takes a look in the mailbag. Reporter: Host David Brown with Letters! Solutions - Bush Support Marketplace: Purchase this music from Public Radio MusicSource The Hatching... of Halal Chicken About a year ago we reported on the launch of a new soft drink in France. "Mecca Cola" was the Muslim -- even anti-American -- version of Coke or Pepsi. The idea of Muslim replacements for American-style food seems to be catching on. Now an alternative to KFC -- halal fried chicken -- is taking flight in some Paris neighborhoods. Reporter: John Laurenson Related Story: Dalai Lama not chicken to tell off KFC

Coming up on Marketplace... The business model of internet dating.