Lay’s testimony comes to a close
After exchanging some parting shots with his prosecutor, Kenneth Lay finished six days of testimony at his federal fraud and conspiracy trial Tuesday by professing love for Enron Corp., the company he founded, and the people who worked there.
“I loved Enron very much,” Lay said in a brief response to the final question from his lawyer, George Secrest. “And I loved Enron’s employees very much. I spent half my professional life running Enron. I think we built a great company. We changed energy markets around the world.
“I think the most painful thing in my life was watching Enron finally have to go into bankruptcy.”
The comment was similar to his statement at the opening of his testimony last week. And as he has during more than a week on the witness stand, Lay jousted with prosecutor John Hueston, this time over taking responsibility for the implosion of the once-giant energy trading company.
An accounting professor from the University of Southern California hired by the defense testified that Enron’s accounting was sound.
Washington
States to file suit over gas mileage
Ten states, led by California, said Tuesday they plan to sue the federal government to try to force the Bush administration to strengthen gas mileage requirements for sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks.
The lawsuit will contend the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration failed to conduct a thorough analysis of the environmental benefits of fuel economy regulations and the impact of gasoline consumption on climate change.
“The federal agency has ignored the law that requires integrating environmental impacts into their standard-setting,” California Attorney General Bill Lockyer said in an interview with the Associated Press.
The states were filing a petition for review with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco later Tuesday. The action follows the release of a government rule in late March setting tighter gas mileage rules for pickups, SUVs and vans covering the 2008-2011 model years.
New York
Verizon income down for quarter
Verizon Communications Inc., racing to connect homes with fiber-optic lines to offset a decline in its traditional phone business, Tuesday reported a 7.1 percent drop in first-quarter earnings due to special items.
Verizon, the country’s largest telecommunications company by revenue, earned $1.632 billion, or 56 cents a share, compared with $1.757 billion, or 63 cents a share, in the same quarter last year.
The New York-based company had revenue of $22.7 billion, up 25 percent from $18.2 billion in last year’s first quarter due to the acquisition of MCI Inc., which closed in January this year.
Excluding special items, earnings were 60 cents a share, topping by a penny the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. Net income including special items was down just 0.2 percent from last year, despite a higher income tax provision.