Farmers eligible for disaster aid
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said wet windy weather from mid-July through Sept. 1 damaged crops and the government is willing to help farmers in Whitman and Spokane counties.
The designation of the two counties as agricultural disaster areas means that farmers are eligible for low-interest emergency loans with 40-year terms.
Rains and high winds blew through the region, disrupting harvest and causing wheat to sprout. The wheat was deeply discounted by buyers.
Farmers who want to used the disaster declaration have until Sept. 19 to apply for the 3.75 percent loans through the Farm Service Agency.
For more information, call FSA at 509-924-7350 or, on the Internet, www.fsa.usda.gov
Software engineer pleads guilty
New York A 24-year-old former American Online software engineer pleaded guilty Friday to stealing 92 million screen names and e-mail addresses and selling them to spammers, setting off an avalanche of up to seven billion unsolicited e-mails.
The soft-spoken Jason Smathers of Harpers Ferry, W. Va., entered the plea to conspiracy charges in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, where he was likely to face from 18 months to two years in prison at a May 20 sentencing.
Smathers also faces mandatory restitution of between $200,000 and $400,000, the amount the government estimates AOL spent as a result of the e-mails.
Schwab plans second commission cut
San Francisco Discount stock brokerage Charles Schwab Corp. said Friday that it will reduce its online trading commissions for the second time in eight months, delivering the latest blow in an escalating price war.
Beginning Feb. 8, the San Francisco-based company’s commission for an Internet stock trade will decrease by 35 percent to $12.95 for customer households with combined assets ranging from $50,000 to $1 million. The reduction affects nearly one-third of the 3.5 million U.S. households with Schwab accounts, said company spokesman Glen Mathison.
Unless they make at least 9 trades in a quarter, customers with less than $50,000 in assets will continue to pay the $19.95 commission that Schwab introduced in June when it lowered prices by 33 percent. Wealthy customers will still pay $9.95 per trade.
Boeing sells 10 new jets to Ethiopian Airlines
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Ethiopian Airlines plans to acquire up to 10 of Boeing Co.’s new 787s at an overall cost of about $1.3 billion, an airline spokesman said Friday.
The airline will buy five of the Boeing Dreamliners outright and take delivery of the first plane in 2008, said Kagnew Fessaha, spokesman of Ethiopian Airlines. The fuel-efficient Boeing 787 is due to go into service in 2008.
Sixty-year-old Ethiopian Airlines has an option to lease another five Boeing planes, Kagnew told The Associated Press.
He did not say when the agreement to acquire the 10 airplanes was reached with Chicago-based Boeing or give any other details.