Ex-Tyco execs' trial jurors review testimony

NEW YORK - Jurors in the trial of two ex-Tyco International executives accused of looting the company of $600 million asked the judge on Wednesday to review the former chief financial officer's testimony about bonuses, along with documents on the payouts.

Those bonuses, paid to ex-Tyco CFO Mark Swartz and ex-chief executive L. Dennis Kozlowski, total $84 million.

Swartz and Kozlowski are accused in their grand-larceny trial of taking unauthorized bonuses and abusing company loan programs.

Cooper Tire looking to sell auto group

FINDLAY, Ohio - Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. wants to sell its automotive products group, which accounted for nearly half of its overall sales last year, the company said Wednesday.

Cooper-Standard Automotive, based in Novi, Mich., had revenues of about $1.66 billion in 2003. It makes fluid-handling and body-sealing systems.

Findlay-based Cooper said it could use money gained from selling the auto unit to reduce debt or invest in tire operations.

FDA approves generic versions of OxyContin

WASHINGTON - The first generic versions of the potent painkiller OxyContin have been approved for the market. That is likely to help save money for patients who have long-term pain, but the step also is causing concern it may spur more illegal drug abuse.

OxyContin is a long-lasting version of oxycodone, a narcotic considered important therapy for many patients suffering chronic, moderate to severe pain from illnesses such as cancer.

But the drug can produce a quick and potentially lethal high if it is chewed, snorted or injected.

Late Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration said Teva Pharmaceuticals and Endo Pharmaceuticals could sell generic versions of extended-release oxycodone.

New Orleans to watch ports electronically

NEW ORLEANS - Since 1936, a federal worker has sat in a tower along the Mississippi River, scanning the water with binoculars and radioing ship captains on whether to proceed or stop their vessels.

Not for long. The radioman will be gone by the end of the year, replaced by a new computerized system that will track and send messages to all large vessels on the lower Mississippi.

The system will be in place at all major U.S. seaports in 2005 - part of a security overhaul at the nation's ports, where officials fear a terrorist attack could cause economic and environmental disasters.

New Orleans will be one of the country's first ports to institute a new system of monitoring all large commercial vessels. By January, commercial ships 65 feet or longer, except fishing boats, will be blocked from entering the port unless they're equipped with electronic boxes that automatically transmit data about the vessels to the Coast Guard.

Lowe's accused by U.S. of racial bias in hiring

Lowe's Cos., the world's second- biggest home-improvement chain, was sued by the U.S. government over allegations of racial bias in hiring at a distribution center in Tennessee.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission accused Lowe's of denying positions to qualified black applicants at the Lowe's Reload Distribution Center in Vonore, Tennessee, between 2002 and 2003. The suit was filed Monday in federal court in Knoxville, Tenn., after efforts to reach an out-of-court settlement failed, the EEOC said. Lowe's denies discriminating.

Adelphia president, son kept firm's 22 cars

NEW YORK - Company founder John Rigas and his son Timothy Rigas kept 22 cars owned by Adelphia Communications Corp. after they resigned from the cable company in May 2002, longtime employee Charles Raptis testified Wednesday.

Raptis negotiated with John Rigas several times to reclaim the vehicles, and ultimately threatened to make it a police matter, he said in his second day of testimony in the fraud trial of John Rigas and two of his sons.

John Rigas, Timothy Rigas, Michael Rigas and former Adelphia executive Michael Mulcahey have pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy and fraud. They are accused of misleading creditors and investors and using Adelphia as "a personal piggy bank."

From wire reports