Woman driver released on bail over A19 death crash

 woman driver arrested in connection with a fatal crash in North Yorkshire has been released on bail.

The 28-year-old was arrested after a 24-year-old man was killed after getting out of a car on the A19 on the outskirts of Northallerton on Tuesday.

The man was a Romanian national who had been visiting friends in Stockton-on-Tees over Christmas, police said.

Police have revealed another man killed in a separate crash on the A1 on Wednesday was from Sunderland.

The man, in his 50s, had stopped his car on the southbound carriageway of the A1 near Allerton Park when he was hit by a lorry.

The lorry driver was arrested in connection with the collision.

North Yorkshire Police are appealing for witnesses to both crashes to contact them.

Florida to lose 11 Sears or Kmart stores; Ohio, Michigan and Georgia will lose 6

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Florida will be hit the hardest by the closing of Sears and Kmart stores, losing 11, according to a preliminary list of 79 planned closures released Thursday.

Ohio, Michigan and Georgia are not far behind with six store closures planned in their states. Tennessee, North Carolina and Minnesota are set to lose four stores each.

A spokeswoman for Sears Holding Corp. said each store employs between 40 and 80 people.

None of the closures announced so far are in Sears’ home state of Illinois.

The 125-year-old retailer said on Tuesday it would close up to 120 stores to raise cash.

The projected closings represent only about 3 percent of Sears Holdings’ U.S. stores. Sears and Kmart merged in 2005. The company now has about 3,560 stores in the U.S. That’s up from 3,500 immediately after the merger.

Here is the list of closures announced so far http://www.searsmedia.com/tools/122711_close.pdf :

— Alabama (3): Sears in Mobile; Kmart in Auburn and Gadsden.

— California (3): Sears in El Monte and San Diego (2).

— Colorado (3): Sears in Longmont; Kmart in Broomfield and Glenwood Springs.

— Florida (11): Sears in Crystal River, Deland, Port St. Lucie, Stuart, West Palm Beach; Kmart in Callaway, Fernandina Beach, New Smyrna Beach, Orange City, Pompano Beach and St. Augustine.

— Georgia (6): Sears in Macon; Kmart in Atlanta, Buford, Columbus, Douglasville and Jonesboro.

— Idaho (1): Sears in Lewiston.

— Indiana (3): Sears in Anderson; Kmart in Indianapolis and St. John.

— Iowa (2): Kmart in Cedar Rapids and Davenport.

— Kansas (1): Sears in Lawrence.

— Kentucky (3): Sears in Middleboro; Kmart in Hazard and Winchester.

— Maryland (1): Sears in Ellicott City.

— Michigan (6): Sears in Adrian, Brighton, Chesterfield Township, Harper Woods, Monroe and Washington Township.

— Minnesota (4): Kmart in Duluth, New Hope, White Bear Lake and Willmar.

— Mississippi (3): Sears in Columbus, Jackson and McComb.

— Missouri (2): Sears in Lee’s Summit and St. Louis.

— New Hampshire (2): Sears in Keene and Nashua.

— North Carolina (4): Sears in High Point, Morehead City, Rocky Mount and Statesville.

— Ohio (6): Kmart in Chagrin Falls, Columbus, Medina, Springfield and Toledo (2).

— Oregon (1): Sears in Roseburg.

— Pennsylvania (2): Sears in Pottstown and Upper Darby.

— South Carolina (1): Sears in Sumter.

— Tennessee (4): Sears in Antioch, Cleveland, Oak Ridge; Kmart in Hendersonville.

— Virginia (3): Sears in Norfolk; Kmart in Midlothian and Richmond.

— Washington (2): Sears in Walla Walla; Kmart in Lacey.

— Wisconsin (2): Sears in West Baraboo; Kmart in Rice Lake.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Allentown graves may be exhumed amid water main break, sinkhole; about 25 residents evacuated

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A sinkhole that forced about 25 people to evacuate their homes Thursday spread to a nearby cemetery, threatening dozens of graves, authorities said.

A Lehigh County judge granted Coroner Scott Grim the right to determine if the graves should be exhumed from the Union and West End Cemetery. No immediate decision was made, Grim said.
Fire Chief Robert Scheirer said that 54 graves were threatened by the approaching water.

Authorities discovered a water main break Thursday morning after a nearby resident’s basement flooded. They did not yet know what happened first, the sinkhole or the water main break. The sinkhole was estimated to be more than 10 feet long and may be growing, authorities said.

No injuries were reported. Five properties had been deemed structurally unsafe, however.

“We had a water main break — it washed out underneath the road completely,” Scheirer told the Morning Call of Allentown. “At this point, we don’t know if the homes will have to be condemned or not.”

Ann Blacker was forced to leave the home where she has lived for nearly three decades. She’s not sure if she’ll be back.

“The firemen told us about the sinkhole that was a half a block away,” Blacker told the newspaper. “We’re afraid we’ll lose our home and everything in it. With sinkholes, you never know how far they will spread. There is just a lot of uncertainty now.”

She plans to stay with her mother. A shelter has been set up at an elementary school to accommodate evacuees who need somewhere to stay.

___

Incandescent light bulb phaseout begins Jan. 1

The nation's light bulbs begin facing new efficiency and labeling standards starting Jan. 1, but don't expect old-fashioned incandescents to suddenly disappear from store shelves.

The congressionally mandated efficiency standards gradually phase out Thomas Edison's 131-year-old creation in favor of other light bulbs that use at least 25% less energy. The first to go, beginning Sunday, is the traditional 100-watt, followed in January 2013 with the 75-watt version and in January 2014 with the 40-watt and 60-watt bulbs.

Yet even Edison's 100-watt bulb will still be available for a while. The bipartisan law mandating the phaseout, which President George W. Bush signed in 2007, says the bulbs can't be manufactured or imported after Jan. 1 but lets stores sell them until stock runs out.

• MORE: How will light bulbs change? Here are some answers

In California, which implemented the efficiency standards a year earlier than the rest of the nation, it took several months for the 100-watt bulbs to exit stores. "We expect the same at the national level," says Noah Horowitz of the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group.

"We'll still have 100-watt incandescents on our shelf through June," Bill Hamilton of Home Depot predicts, based on the amount of remaining stock.

Major manufacturers and retailers say they'll hew to the efficiency standards even though Congress passed a one-year spending bill earlier this month that bars theDepartment of Energy from spending to enforce them through the end of September 2012.

A major reason, says Jacklyn Pardini of Lowe's, is that "people are looking for more energy-efficient options."

Lighting Science Group, which makes LEDs, says it doubled its revenue from LED sales in the last year and expects "exponential growth next year" regardless of what Congress does, says Jim Haworth, the company's CEO.

Still, the incandescent phaseout worries a third of Americans, who say they prefer traditional bulbs, according to an October survey of 303 adults conducted for lighting company Osram Sylvania. One in eight, or 13%, say they'll stockpile Edison's 100-watt bulbs.

Congress' bill did not address the other part of the lighting standards: labeling. TheFederal Trade Commission, effective Sunday, requires that all newly made or imported bulbs carry labels on the front and back of packages that list brightness (or lumens), estimated yearly cost and life span as well as its color (or light appearance).

Sears, Kmart to close up to 120 stores

Sears Holdings was walloped by Wall Street and Main Street on Tuesday, following news that it would close 100 to 120 of its Sears and Kmart stores in a bid to shore up finances.

Its stock tumbled 27% to $33.38. It's off 83% from an April 2007 high of $195.18.

Critical customers responded to the announcement by griping about messy stores and rude associates on online forums. A report issued Tuesday by Credit Suisse analyst Gary Balter said the company "effectively ask(s) customers to pay for a poorer shopping environment than available at competitors and online."

• INTERACTIVE: Wikinvest data, commentary on Sears stock

New sales data show that Sears Holdings stumbled during the all-important holiday shopping period. Comparable-store sales were down 4.4% for Kmart and 6% for Sears for the eight-week period ended onChristmas Day, the company said.

"We can do better than this. We will do better than this," Sears Holding CEO Lou D'Ambrosio said in an internal memo.

In addition to shuttering U.S. stores, the company plans to reduce fixed costs, improve inventory management and have more targeted pricing and promotions.

The iconic Sears and Kmart brands have been under the Sears Holdings umbrella since a 2005 merger. Sears Holdings Chairman Edward Lampert, a well-known financier who orchestrated that union, has taken much public heat about the combined companies' financial troubles.

Columbia Business School professor Mark Cohen— who was CEO of Sears Canada until 2004 — is critical of company management, as well as the pricing strategy and merchandise selection. "There is no retail turnaround that is possible," he says.

Yet, other industry observers aren't ready to count these storied retailers out.

Morningstar analyst Paul Swinand notes that Sears Holdings has well-known brands such as Craftsman tools and Kenmore appliances, and that its online business is strong.

Closing poor-performing stores will make the company "leaner and meaner," says Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at retail tracker the NPD Group. "They're getting rid of excess baggage," he says. "This is about preparing for the future. … They are still going to be a big retailer. This is just a dent."

Elly Mae Clampett Barbie doll suit settled

NEW ORLEANS – The actress who played Elly May Clampett on the "The Beverly Hillbillies," toymaker Mattel and CBS Consumer Products have settled a lawsuit in which Donna Douglas claimed the companies didn't get her approval to use her name and likeness for a Barbie doll.

Douglas played the critter-loving tomboy for all nine seasons of the CBS television comedy about a backwoods family that strikes oil and moves to Beverly Hills.

One of her attorneys, Charles von Simson of Buffalo, N.Y., says settlement details are confidential. The U.S. District Court lawsuit filed in Baton Rouge sought at least $75,000.

In earlier filings, CBS (CBS) and Mattel (MAT) said they didn't need Douglas' approval because the network holds exclusive rights to the character.

Verizon: $2 per online, phone credit card bill payment

NEW YORK (AP) – Verizon Wireless, the country's largest cellphone company, said Thursday that it will start charging $2 for every payment subscribers make over the phone or online with their credit cards

The company said this "convenience fee" will be introduced Jan. 15.

The fee won't apply to electronic check payments or to automatic credit card payments set up through Verizon's AutoPay system. Paying by credit card in a Verizon store will also be free, as will mailing a check.

Other carriers have tried to get subscribers to move to automatic payments through other means. AT&T Inc. offers a $10 gift card for those who set up AutoPay. Sprint Nextel Corp. charges subscribers who have caps on the fees they can rack up each month. Those people are charged $5 monthly unless they set up automatic payments.

It's not uncommon for utilities, universities and even state tax departments to charge convenience fees for online payments. Each credit-card payment comes with fees that the companies can avoid by getting electronic checks instead. Automatic payments mean less trouble for companies in going after late payments.

Verizon Communications Inc., the landline phone company that owns most of Verizon Wireless, tried last year to introduce a $3.50 fee for people who paid their bill for FiOS TV or Internet service month-to-month by credit card. It backed off after complaints.

Verizon Wireless serves 91 million phones and other devices on accounts that pay the company directly, and more who pay indirectly through other companies.