Kmart, Stewart firm sued in Spokane
Spokane attorney Darrell Scott has filed a class-action lawsuit against Kmart Corp. and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. alleging a microwave cup sold at the national retailer was dangerous and caused serious burns.
The Martha Stewart-brand cups were falsely labeled “microwave safe,” according to a press release issued by Scott. He said the cups react to microwave radiation and become very hot, allegedly burning people who try to take them out of the microwave.
Filed on behalf of lead plaintiff Kamilia Nemri, the suit seeks personal injury awards, a warning to consumers, a product recall and refunds.
The lawsuit was filed in Spokane Superior Court on Jan. 21.
Gas prices up for third straight week
The retail price of gasoline rose for the third straight week to average $1.85 per gallon nationwide, the Energy Department reported Monday.
The government survey said the average price nationwide of regular-grade unleaded gasoline climbed 3.4 cents last week to $1.853 per gallon. Prices are 23 cents higher than a year ago.
Pump prices are highest on the West Coast, averaging $1.918 per gallon, and cheapest on the Gulf Coast, averaging $1.789 per gallon. In the Midwest, gas averages $1.847 per gallon.
One of the key factors behind the high price of gasoline is expensive oil — the result of strong demand, geopolitical uncertainties and tight domestic supplies of heating oil.
The price of light crude for March delivery rose 28 cents Monday to settle at $48.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil is roughly 40 percent more expensive than a year ago.
In other Nymex trading, November gasoline futures slipped less than a penny to $1.299 per gallon.
Apple iTunes sells 250 million songs
With its music downloads selling at a rate of more than a million per day, Apple Computer Inc. said Monday customers have purchased more than 250 million songs from its online iTunes Music Store.
The store, now available in 15 countries, is selling 1.25 million songs at 99 cents apiece per day, the computer and multimedia company said.
Apple helped invigorate the market for legal music downloads when it launched the iTunes store in April 2003. Its robust sales far outpace rival services.
The success is due in part to Apple’s wildly popular iPod portable music players, which do not play songs purchased from competing online stores.
Google unveils video search service
San Francisco Google Inc. is using its popular Internet search technology to find information and images broadcast on television, continuing a recent effort to expand its influence beyond the Web.
The Mountain View-based company planned to introduce the new video search service Tuesday in an index that will be operated separately from the market-leading search engine offered on its home page. The feature pinpoints content previously aired on a variety of television networks by scanning through the closed caption text that many programmers offer.
Google’s index, which began storing information last month, includes programming from ABC, PBS, Fox News and C-SPAN.