Person close to talks: Cablevision close to buying Newsday
NEW YORK (AP) -- Cablevision Systems Corp. is close to buying the Long Island newspaper Newsday from Tribune Co. for $650 million, a person with knowledge of the situation said Sunday....

Wall Street looks to US consumers for direction
NEW YORK (AP) -- With millions of stimulus checks going out to taxpayers, Wall Street wants to know where that money will be spent - and this week's data could help investors gauge the mind-set of the average consumer....

Rebate excludes many taxpayers with foreign spouses
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- When Maulit Shelat heard about the Bush administration's plan to pump up the economy by sending out stimulus checks, he sat down with his wife and drew up a list of priorities: first up, remodeling the bathroom....

Retailers likely to post grim 1st-quarter results
NEW YORK (AP) -- After slashing inventory and cutting expenses, the retail industry is still bracing for the largest overall quarterly profit decline in at least nine years when merchants report their first-quarter earnings this week....

G-8 labor officials begin 3-day meeting in Japan
TOKYO (AP) -- Labor ministers from the Group of Eight industrialized nations met with international trade union and business groups Sunday to discuss the reduction of workplace emissions of "greenhouse" gases blamed for global warming, officials said....

High demand, price of rice good news to US farmers
WILLIAMS, Calif. (AP) -- Dipping its left wing, a canary-yellow biplane makes a sharp turn and dives over a flooded field, showering rice on the shallow water 15 feet below....

Mesa Air looks for shareholders' OK to offer more shares
PHOENIX (AP) -- Mesa Air Group Inc. hopes shareholders will soothe its financial troubles this week by allowing the airline to issue millions of new shares valued at nearly twice the company's current market capitalization....

Gas prices knock bicycle sales, repairs into higher gear
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) -- Four-dollar-a-gallon gas is good for business - if you run a bike shop. Commuters around the country are dusting off their old two-wheelers - or buying new ones - to cope with rising fuel prices, bicycle dealers say....