Another Deadly Crane Collapse
On Friday morning, another construction crane collapsed on New York's Upper East Side, demolishing part of a neighboring apartment building and killing two workers, including the crane's operator, in the city's second fatal crane accident in less than three months.

This second deadly crane accident in 2 1/2 months is the latest of several construction mishaps in the city, which recently shook up its Buildings Department and beefed up inspections.

Now the Manhattan district attorney's office has opened a criminal investigation into the latest fatal crane accident, focusing on whether a part of the crane had been seriously damaged last year and then put back into service. "The piece in question is a rotating apparatus, or turntable, that connects the operator's cab and the boom to the crane tower," The New York Times reports. Investigators believe, but are not certain, that the turntable involved in Friday's accident was damaged during construction last year.

Chinese Scientists: 'Quake Danger was Well-Known'
Chinese scientists says that even before a final accounting can be made in the earthquake in Sichuan Province last month, "one thing is already painfully evident," International Herald Tribune reports: "The huge death toll in the disaster stems from a failure to heed clear warnings of a devastating earthquake in the area."

Chinese scientists say there had been a longstanding consensus about the danger posed by seismic activity in an area known as the Longmenshan thrust belt.

"As early as 2002, Chinese scientific papers specifically warned of an imminent threat of a major earthquake in this area," IHT reports. "Despite such alerts, experts said little had been done to enforce adequate building standards in the area or to educate residents of the area about the risk and require safety drills."

U.S. Economy Grows in Q1
The United States economy grew at a sluggish pace in the first quarter, held back by the biggest slump in housing in 26 years and the first decline in final domestic sales in 17 years, the Commerce Department reported on Thursday. The nation's real gross domestic product increased at a 0.9 percent annual rate in the first three months of the year, slightly faster than the 0.6 percent rate originally estimated a month ago.

The economy has grown 2.5 percent in the past year, with strength centered on higher levels of exports, war-related spending and a small change in inventories, rather than strong domestic consumption and investment.

Inflation Wipes Out Income Gains
Inflation erased all the gains in disposable personal income in April, while consumer spending was flat after adjusting for higher prices.

The Commerce Department reported Friday that consumer spending barely budged in April, rising just 0.2 percent, and income growth was equally as weak, also increasing 0.2 percent.

The growth in personal incomes, restrained by four straight months of job losses, would have been only 0.1 percent had it not been for the first wave of economic stimulus payments the government started sending out at the end of April.

Manufacturers Continue Production Cutback
Manufacturers in the U.S. continued to cut back production in May, but at a slower rate than over the past three months, according to the Institute for Supply Management today. The ISM index inched higher to 49.6 percent in May from 48.6 percent in April. This is the fourth straight month the index has been below 50 percent. Readings below 50 percent indicate contraction.

The size of the rise was unexpected. The index was last above 50 percent in January. Economists say export industries are keeping the sector from weakening significantly.

Congress to Revisit Farm Bill
Congress returns to Washington following a week-long recess for Memorial Day. The first item on the Senate's agenda: fixing the Farm Bill, which Congress passed two weeks ago and President George W. Bush vetoed. Congress overrode the president's veto, only to realize that due to a clerical error, the $300 billion piece of legislation was missing an entire title (Title Three) when it was given to Bush for review.

President Bush vetoed the bill before the mishap was discovered and both the House and Senate overrode that veto overwhelmingly, making 14 of 15 farm bill titles law. (You just can't make this stuff up.)

To make sure the entire bill is enacted, a new, complete bill will likely be passed by both chambers and sent to Bush for yet another veto. The House started this process before the recess with passage of H.R. 6124, which includes all the farm bill language. The Senate is expected to take up the bill this week.

Bear Stearns Shareholders OK Sale
Last week, Bear Stearns Cos. shareholders voted to approve a $2.2 billion buyout by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., making Bear Stearns a direct subsidiary of J.P. Morgan Chase, MarketWatch reports.

The 15-minute meeting effectively ended the 85-year run of what had been the world's fifth largest investment bank.

Soon after, J.P. Morgan Chase released a statement saying that approximately 84 percent of shares voted were in favor of the merger and that upon the deal's closing, each outstanding share of Bear Stearns common stock will be converted into the right to receive 0.21753 of a share of J.P. Morgan common.

19,000 GM Workers Take Buyouts
On Thursday, General Motors Corp. reported that another 19,000 U.S. hourly workers, or nearly one-quarter of its unionized workers in the U.S., have accepted voluntary buyouts and will be separated from the company by July 1. The automaker said the figure represents about 24 percent of its domestic production workers, or about 7 percent of its global workforce.

"The new round of buyouts and early retirements means about 53,000 workers — roughly half its hourly work force — have agreed to leave the company since the beginning of 2006," as The Wall Street Journal points out.

GM said that whenever possible, current employees will fill the openings created as a result of the buyouts, in compliance with the national agreement it reached with the United Auto Workers in the fall, Workforce Management notes.

Latest Unemployment Numbers
In the week ending May 24, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 372,000, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 368,000. The four-week moving average was 370,500, a decrease of 2,500 from the previous week's revised average of 373,000, according to the U.S. Dept. of Labor's latest numbers.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 2.873 million.

Brown Goes Greener
Last month, United Parcel Service (UPS), the world's biggest private delivery service, placed the single largest commercial order for alternative-fuel vehicles — 200 hybrid-electric vehicles (HEVs) and 300 compressed-natural gas vehicles — ever made.

According to a statement:

The 200 hybrid electric vehicles will be deployed in 2009 and join 50 HEV delivery trucks already in operation. The 200 trucks are expected to save 176,000 gallons of fuel annually and reduce CO2 emissions by 1,786 metric tons each year. That is the equivalent of removing almost 100 conventional UPS trucks from the road for a year.

"Collectively, the 500 vehicles almost cost less than the logistics giant pays in parking tickets most months," says Forbes.

The purchase of the 500 additional vehicles means the UPS alternative-fuel fleet will grow 30 percent from 1,718 to 2,218 low-carbon vehicles.