Corrina_Sullivan's Blog

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- InBev SA formed the world's largest brewer Tuesday when it completed its $52 billion (euro41 billion) takeover of Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. The new company, named Anheuser-Busch InBev, will be headed by InBev CEO Carlos Brito and will be headquartered at Leuven, Belgium.

InBev promises to keep Anheuser-Busch's St. Louis base as the company's North American headquarters but the takeover ends 150 years of family rule at Anheuser-Busch. Anheuser-Busch President and CEO August A. Busch IV joins the new company's board as a non-executive director.

Anheuser-Busch shares stopped trading Monday and will now be swapped for $70 each in cash. The Belgian-Brazilian takeover of Anheuser-Busch comes after a bitter battle turned sweeter with a higher offer in July, despite protests in St. Louis that saw politicians criticize the deal and Web sites call for Bud to be saved from "the waffle guys."

Anheuser-Busch provides half of America's beer but it has not managed to expand around the world as fast as InBev -- a Belgian-Brazilian hybrid that owns hundreds of local brands but few real stars.

InBev has promised to keep all 12 North American breweries open as long as the company faces no new U.S. taxes. Anheuser-Busch already plans to shed 1,185 jobs -- mostly by offering early retirement and not filling vacancies.

What do you think?  Few products are more American than Budweiser.

Thanks for blogging,
Corrina

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House is throwing support behind a plan to speed release of $25 billion in loans to troubled automakers but is rejecting a Democratic proposal to use money from a financial bailout for car companies. Spokeswoman Dana Perino says the Democratic proposal would lead to partisan gridlock because the $700 billion rescue package was never intended to help automakers and shouldn't be now. For that reason, she told The Associated Press that the White House is now actively asking Congress to accelerate loans it first approved in September. Those loans were meant to help automakers build more fuel-efficient vehicles. The administration now supports allowing it to be used for more urgent purposes as the companies struggle to stay afloat.

What do you make of this?

Thanks for blogging,

Corrina

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- The mother was running out of more than patience when she abandoned her 18-year-old daughter at a hospital over the weekend under Nebraska's safe-haven law. She was also running out of time: She knew that state lawmakers would soon meet in a special session to amend the ill-fated law so that it applies to newborns only. "Where am I going to get help if they change the law?" said the mother, who lives in Lincoln and asked to not be identified by name to protect her adopted child.

To the state's surprise and embarrassment, more than half of the 31 children legally abandoned under the safe-haven law since it took effect in mid-July have been teenagers. But state officials may have inadvertently made things worse with their hesitant response to the problem: The number of drop-offs has almost tripled to about three a week since Gov. Dave Heineman announced on Oct. 29 that lawmakers would rewrite the law.

The safe-haven law was intended to save "Dumpster babies" by allowing desperate young mothers to abandon their newborns at a hospital without fear of prosecution. But lawmakers could not agree on an age limit, and the law as passed uses only the word "child." All states have safe-haven laws, but in every state but Nebraska, the law applies to infants only.

What do you make of lawmakers hesitant response to the problem?  How about parents giving up their teens?

Corrina

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democratic aides say Speaker Nancy Pelosi intends to seek legislation to provide relief to the battered auto industry, and wants it done in a post-election session of Congress likely to convene in the next few days. Pelosi is not expected to specify how large a bailout she wants. The aides who described her views Tuesday did so on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss it publicly. The speaker's decision comes a few days after General Motors warned it is rapidly running out of cash, and Ford announced its situation was only slightly better. President Bush would have to agree to sign the legislation, which would be passed well before President-elect Obama takes office.

Think this is a good or bad idea?

Thanks for blogging,
Corrina

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Food and Drug Administration's assurances that a controversial chemical is safe for use in food containers are badly flawed, an independent panel of scientific advisers concluded in a report released Tuesday. The chemical, known as bisphenol A, is used to make plastic for food packaging, baby bottles and other consumer and medical goods. Environmental groups want to ban BPA in products for infants because of concerns that it can interfere with their development. But the FDA recently said there is no harm from the low doses of that babies, children and most adults get by eating foods from containers made with the chemical. Asked by the agency to review that conclusion, a panel of outside advisers delivered what amounts to a scientific rebuke. "The margins of safety defined by FDA as 'adequate' are, in fact, inadequate," said the report, a copy of which was provided to The Associated Press. The advisers found that the FDA had not considered all available, credible scientific evidence, and urged the agency to essentially go back to the lab. The report came as a welcome surprise to environmentalists and their supporters in Congress. Citing some of the advisers ties to industry, critics had initially questioned the objectivity of the panel.

Parents, are you confused or what?  Share your thoughts with us.

Have a nice night~ stay warm...

Corrina

OCALA, Fla. (AP) -- Authorities say an Ocala woman was found passed out behind the wheel of her truck with her 4-year-old son in the front seat.

The Marion County Sheriff's Office says a motorist on Monday reported a woman asleep in a vehicle, parked on the shoulder near an intersection.

Deputies asked 42-year-old Kimberly Gae Equatore to take a field sobriety test, but she refused to take the test at first.

She eventually agreed to cooperate but then refused to finish the test.

Deputies reported finding three small, half-empty bottles of vodka in the truck.

Equatore was charged with DUI and taken to jail, where she refused to take a breath test.

The Department of Children and Families and the Equatore's husband were notified about her son.

What do you make of all this?

Corrina

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Alan Crotzer already has received $1.25 million in compensation for spending more than 24 years in prison for crimes he didn't commit, and Tuesday he was pardoned for two other offenses.

Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida Cabinet unanimously forgave him for stealing beer in 1979 when he was 18 years old and introducing contraband -- marijuana -- while he was in prison in 1991.

"I just think it's important that when somebody obviously has changed their life that you recognize that, you give them a second chance," Crist said. "I'm very proud of Alan Crotzer."

Crist had urged the Legislature to pass Crotzer's compensation bill and he signed it into law earlier this year.

Crotzer was released after 24 years, 6 months and 13 days when DNA evidence in 2006 proved he was innocent of abducting and raping two women from a Tampa home during a robbery.

He doesn't need a pardon for those 1982 convictions because they have been overturned in court. He hopes the pardon will help him achieve his dream of returning to prison as an inspector for the Department of Corrections.

"I put so much behind me, but there's so much in front of me I've got to do," Crotzer said afterward. "Prison offers nothing but corruption and chaos and mayhem. They can hardly feed them, clothe them or house them, and there needs to be some reform."

Blog us with your thoughts.  24 years is a very long time to spend in prison for crimes he didn't commit. 

Thanks for blogging,

Corrina

NEW YORK (AP) -- Dow Jones industrials rise 400 as easier credit markets feed investor optimism.

Feel free to blog us with your thoughts.

Corrina

BLUE ASH, Ohio (AP) -- Police in Ohio say an 89-year-old woman is facing a charge of petty theft because neighborhood children accuse her of refusing to give back their football.

Edna Jester was arrested last week in the Cincinnati suburb of Blue Ash. Police say one child's father complained that Jester kept the youngsters' ball after it landed in her yard. Police Capt. James Schaffer says there has been an ongoing dispute in the neighborhood over kids' balls landing in the woman's yard.

Jester said Monday she has received many calls and didn't have time to discuss the matter any more.

Jester is to appear in court next month. The maximum penalty for a petty theft conviction in Ohio is six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.

Think the possible punishment fits the crime in this case?

Happy Monday,

Corrina

MIAMI (AP) -- A Miami judge has agreed to modify bail conditions on tax charges so Helio Castroneves can race later this month in Australia. The Brazilian race car driver and 2007 "Dancing With The Stars" champ had been barred from leaving the United States. A judge granted Castroneves' request Friday to travel to Brisbane, Australia so he can drive in the Oct. 26 race. Prosecutors may still appeal that order. Castroneves was indicted last week on federal conspiracy and tax evasion charges and is free on $10 million bail. Prosecutors say Castroneves used offshore accounts to hide millions of dollars in income from the Internal Revenue Service. Castroneves insists he is innocent and that he relied on advice from tax experts for his financial dealings.

Think Castroneves should be able to race later this month?

Thanks for blogging,

Corrina

MIAMI (AP) -- U.S. officials say there is real danger that Islamic extremist groups such as al-Qaida and Hezbollah could form alliances with wealthy and powerful Latin American drug lords to launch new terrorist attacks. Extremist group operatives have already been identified in several Latin American countries. They're mostly involved in fund-raising and finding logistical support. The chief of intelligence analysis at the Homeland Security Department says they could use well-established smuggling routes and drug profits to bring people or even weapons of mass destruction to the U.S. Much as the Taliban tapped Afghanistan's heroin for money, U.S. officials say the vast profits available from Latin American cocaine could provide al-Qaida and others with a ready source of income.

What do think about the threat of alliances? Surprise you at all? Play into who you'll be voting for this November?

Corrina

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Executives at American International Group Inc. hid the full range of its risky financial products from auditors as losses mounted, according to documents released Tuesday by a congressional panel examining the chain of events that forced the government to bail out the conglomerate. The panel sharply criticized AIG's former top executives, who cast blame on each other for the company's financial woes. "You have cost my constituents and the taxpayers of this country $85 billion and run into the ground one of the most respected insurance companies in the history of our country," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y. "You were just gambling billions, possibly trillions of dollars." AIG, crippled by huge losses linked to mortgage defaults, was forced last month to accept an $85 billion government loan that gives the U.S. an 80 percent stake in the company. House Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., unveiled documents showing AIG executives hid the full extent of the firm's risky financial products from auditors, both outside and inside the firm, as losses mounted.

What do you make of all of this?  What's your greatest concern at this point?

Thanks for blogging,
Corrina