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Wednesday, March 05, 2003 Page: 1C
Round-trip air service set
Daily round-trip service by Continental Connection at the
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport will begin May 4, the airline
announced.
The service, operated by CommutAir of Plattsburgh, N.Y., will offer four
flights to Continental Airline’s Cleveland hub and two flights to Continental
Connection’s Albany, N.Y., hub. The flights will be aboard 19-seat turboprop
aircraft.
The startup announcement follows advertisements Continental Connection
placed in area newspapers for employees to staff the operation at the local
airport. The carrier is expanding service to markets in the Northeast. It
serves 19 cities in New York, Pennsylvania, the New England states and Canada.
Continental Airlines previously served Wilkes-Barre/Scranton through its
regional jet service, Continental Express. Flights ended on Nov. 1, 2001, but
airport officials said the airline intended to resume service after
straightening out other matters not related to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Nuclear trace no danger
Radioactive material found on the clothing of two contract employees at
PPL’s Susquehanna nuclear power plant in Salem Township on Monday posed no
danger to the workers or the public, a plant spokesman said.
The material is believed to have originated at another facility. Monitoring
equipment detected radioactivity as the General Electric employees were
leaving the area inside the plant’s security fence, said Joe Scopelliti. The
level detected was slightly above what is seen in background radiation in the
environment.
Plant personnel immediately investigated and conducted additional
radiological surveys. The plant’s radiological control area, as well as
follow-up surveys done Monday in the contractors’ office area and off site,
were found to be free of radioactive contamination.
General Electric is continuing to investigate. The Nuclear Regulatory
Commission and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection have
been notified of the situation.
The contractors’ previous job was at a nuclear power plant in Sweden.
More caution foreseen
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan cautioned Tuesday an unexpected
cooling on the refinancing and home appreciation fronts could turn homeowners
into more cautious consumers.
“The frenetic pace of home equity extraction last year is likely to
appreciably simmer down in 2003, possibly notably lessening support to
household purchases of goods and services,” Greenspan said in a speech
delivered via a satellite video link to the Independent Community Bankers of
America meeting in Orlando, Fla.
Private economists largely agreed with his assessment. But they also agreed
with Greenspan assessment the housing market will remain healthy.
The swap of higher-interest rate home loans for lower-interest rate ones,
left homeowners with the extra cash and has helped to support consumer
spending, one of few sources of strength for the economy. Rising home values
also have made homeowners feel better about their balance sheets.
Even as home appreciation slows, the housing market is in fine shape,
Greenspan said, adding that he is not overly worried about a dramatic or
disruptive drop in housing prices.
Victoria’s Secret loses
Victoria’s Secret, which sold $3.6 billion in lacy and racy underthings
last year, lost a Supreme Court case Tuesday that would have forced a
mom-and-pop sex toy shop to change its name.
The shop, which advertised “everything for the romantic encounter,” was
originally called Victor’s Secret and run by Victor and Cathy Moseley in
Elizabethtown, Ky.
The sound-alike name was not enough to show that the small store bruised
Victoria’s Secret’s image, a unanimous Supreme Court ruled. Federal trademark
law requires some proof of real harm, and Victoria’s Secret did not provide
it, the high court said.
The court sent the case back to a federal appeals court, and Victoria’s
Secret could still get a chance to provide more evidence of damage in court.