Gasoline held steady near $3.98 a gallon at the pump Monday as a recent slide in oil futures stalled gas' advance to the $4 mark. Oil prices, meanwhile, rose modestly. The national average price of a gallon of regular gas was unchanged at $3.975, according to a survey by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service, matching a record set Sunday. Light, sweet crude for July delivery rose 41 cents to settle at $127.76 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Attorney gets 30 months in kickback scam Attorney Melvyn Weiss was sentenced Monday to 30 months in prison after authorities accused him of helping orchestrate a lucrative lawsuit kickback scheme targeting some of the largest corporations in the nation. U.S. District Judge John F. Walter also ordered Weiss, 72, to pay $9.7 million in forfeitures and $250,000 in fines. Weiss, who had pleaded guilty to a racketeering conspiracy charge in April, apologized for his "wrongful conduct."
FedEx is phasing out Kinko's name FedEx said Monday it plans to stop using the Kinko's name on its copy and office service stores and book an $891 million charge for the quarter ended Saturday. The Memphis-based company reports financial results for the fiscal fourth quarter June 18. FedEx Corp. said it will change the name of its FedEx Kinko's stores to FedEx Office over the next several years.
W.R. Grace has 30 days to pay $250 million A federal bankruptcy judge in Pittsburgh Monday approved an agreement for W.R. Grace & Co. to reimburse the federal government $250 million within 30 days for the investigation and cleanup of asbestos contamination in Libby, Mont. The Columbia, Md.-based chemical maker agreed to the amount in March to settle a bankruptcy claim brought by the government. The settlement represents the largest-ever reimbursement through the government's Superfund program, the Environmental Protection Agency and Justice Department have said.
Ford sells luxury brands to Indian automaker Ford Motor Co. officially unloaded its Jaguar and Land Rover businesses on Monday -- netting the automaker $1.7 billion, one-third of what it paid for the luxury brands. India's Tata Motors Ltd. said it had completed the purchase of the brands in a deal first announced March 26. Tata is paying about $2.3 billion for the British brands, but Ford is paying about $600 million into the Jaguar-Land Rover pension fund.
Washington Mutual to replace chairman Washington Mutual Corp. said Monday it will replace Chief Executive Kerry Killinger with Board Member Stephen E. Frank, 66, as chairman of the board. Killinger, 58, will stay on the board, where he has been chairman of the country's largest savings and loan since 1991. He'll also keep his post as CEO.
