Housing construction drops in February

WASHINGTON - The number of housing projects commenced by builders declined for the second straight month in February as bad weather in some areas forced construction delays.

The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that the number of residential buildings under way fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.86 million units in February, representing a 4 percent decrease from the previous month.

The level of housing projects in January turned out to be higher - a rate of 1.93 million units started - than first thought, according to revised figures. That made for a smaller decline in activity than reported a month ago.

DPL panel reviews controller's concerns

DAYTON, Ohio - A committee of DPL Inc.'s board said Tuesday it is reviewing issues raised by an employee warning that actions by the top three executives have put the utility company at risk of scrutiny by federal business regulators and tax authorities.

According to an internal memo obtained by the Dayton Daily News, Controller Daniel Thobe said the executives failed to disclose efforts to "potentially reap great personal reward" in the event of a "change of control" in the company.

Stewart's daughter relates her despair

NEW YORK - Martha Stewart is "disappointed over feeling like her life was wasted" after being convicted for lying about a stock sale, her only child says.

"Everything she did is ignored over something that trivial, that maybe didn't happen," Alexis Stewart says in an interview on CNN's Larry King Live to be broadcast today.

She said, in excerpts the network released Tuesday, that the homemaking icon is "incredibly saddened" by the verdict, delivered by a federal jury March 5. She said a prison sentence would be "incredibly wrong," but she predicted her mother would handle it well.

Adelphia fraud trial focuses on jet use

NEW YORK - The slow pace of the Adelphia fraud trial got a boost as prosecutors introduced the jury over two days to a TV and movie actress, a golf pro and the man in charge of the company's fleet of jets.

The witnesses were meant to support the government's contention that Adelphia founder John Rigas and two of his sons turned the company into their private piggy bank and its three jets into their family taxi service.

For the second day in a row Tuesday, prosecutors elicited testimony about Christmas trees flown by corporate jet to New York City for John Rigas' daughter and golf course outings that seemed to have little to do with the business.

No Passover break for Fastow sentence

HOUSTON - The wife of former Enron Corp. finance chief Andrew Fastow will be sentenced for a tax crime during the week of the Jewish religious observance of Passover, a judge ruled Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge David Hittner denied a request by Lea Fastow's attorney to postpone her April 7 sentencing on a charge of filing a false tax form to the week after Passover, which begins at sundown on April 5.

Hittner, who is Jewish, said he was "personally cognizant of this religious holiday and specifically selected a sentencing date after the traditional two days of primary observance."

Mark Cuban filing boosts Mamma.com

Shares of Mamma.com Inc. surged after a regulatory filing showed Mark Cuban, billionaire and owner of the National Basketball Association's Dallas Mavericks, held a 6.3 percent stake in the Web-search company.

Mamma.com jumped $1.92, or 24 percent, to $9.78 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The advance was the third time this month the shares surged by more than 20 percent.

Cuban, who made his fortune by co-founding Broadcast.com Inc. and selling the Internet company to Yahoo! Inc. for $4 billion, owns 600,000 Mamma.com shares, according to his filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Enquirer wire services