BY HARRY RING
Cops at work - Rafael Navarro, a Los Angeles-area grocer, saw
a sheriff's deputy ticketing an employee and impounding the
store's truck. He went out to inquire, and the cop spit out a
racist epithet. Navarro responded angrily but, sensibly, returned
to the store when the cop drew his gun and threatened to kill
him. Keep reading.
Next they bomb the grocery? - Witnesses said the cop summoned two others and, after chatting for several minutes, they entered the grocery. They beat and choked Navarro and smashed his head through a wall - all in the presence of his wife and small children. Navarro was arrested on suspicion of making a "terrorist" threat. Plus the usual "attacking a cop," etc. He was released on $100,000 bail.
What a novel idea - During July and August, Merrill Lynch, the top U.S. brokerage, lost $135 million in bond trading. The biggest hit was from Russian securities, with the rest from Latin American and U.S. corporations. A spokesperson said the losses will prompt "selective expense reductions." These, he added, may include job cuts.
`Never had it so good' - Last year, workers getting the median wage were earning 3.1 percent less in real wages than in 1989 - that is, with inflation factored in. But executive pay doubled, jumping to "116 times that of the average worker," according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Still naive - Wise in the ways of the capitalist world, we assumed the water sold from vending machines outside supermarkets was simply tap water. Now we learn it's worse. Los Angeles County health officials report the vending machine water has a far higher bacterial count, resulting mainly from poorly maintained machines with dirty spigots, and filters so outworn they don't remove contaminants.
A picnic - In England, the Consumers' Ass'n tested beaches for contamination. They dropped buttered bread in the sand at Blackpool and other beaches. A high percentage picked up E coli bacteria that causes food poisoning. "The most likely source of the bacteria," a spokesperson said, "is sea water polluted with sewage."
`Shrink the payroll, water the soup' - In the last quarter of '98, Campbell Soup enjoyed an 11 percent increase in profits despite a 4.6 percent drop in sales. The success was achieved by cost cutting.
Hope they're Havanas - According to media accounts, New York's priciest restaurants have yet to be affected by the stock market gyrations. That includes the Patroon which, for an after- dinner treat, features $300 cigars.
`Leave the Conniving to Us' - Complying with the 1990 (that's right, 1990) Americans with Disabilities Act, Greyhound Bus says that in 13 months all its stations will be wheelchair accessible. And 80 of its 2,100 buses will have wheelchair lifts. A rights advocate said more than 300 buses with lifts are needed. The token step is the fruit of a court order requiring the feds to issue rules for bus companies to comply with.