LOS ANGELES (AP) — A lawyer for the maker of Bratz dolls says he'll seek a mistrial over an ethnic slur made by a juror who has been dismissed from the copyright infringement case brought by Mattel Inc.Attorney Thomas Nolan, who represents MGA Entertainment Inc., says th....

All around Atlanta, major developers, faced with a turbulent economy and an overcrowded market, are putting ambitious construction plans on hold. Aware of the trend, developer Ben Carter seems cautiously optimistic that by scaling back and delaying aspects of his $1.5 billio....

Even businesses displaced by the $1.5 million Streets of Buckhead mixed-use project emphasize long-term gains over short-term losses. The project was the neighborhood's remedy, after all, to the crime, disrepair and traffic created by the previous bar tenants. Fadó Irish P....

Despite the recent downturn in the real estate market, Buckhead development continues to thrive. A significant driving force in the continued profitability of the Buckhead market is in part due to the growing movement toward environmentally conscious development, also known ....

Transforming nine acres of intown land in the heart of Buckhead into a one-of-a-kind, 600,000-square-foot cityscape of luxury retail boutiques, first-class restaurants, sidewalk cafes and high-end residential units is not an easy undertaking, to say the least.Atlanta-based....

The Maserati GranTurismo delivers on a quality increasingly rare in the auto world: beauty. Put it against any dozen modern cars and the GT's supple lines, perfect swells and ideal dimensions will outshine them all. At $115,000 it's not exactly a drop in the bucket, yet th....

A trio of decisions from the Delaware Court of Chancery concerning when officers, directors and law firms working for a company are entitled to advancement of legal fees has put companies on notice to revisit their bylaws.On an issue of first impression under Delaware law,....

On behalf of my fellow Big Firm Cogs out there, I wanted to take this opportunity to declare to the world that we LOVE our jobs. I know—sometimes all the whining about billable hours and all the kvetching about our ever-diminishing chances of making partner could lead (or ....

U.S. foreclosure filings more than doubled in the second quarter from a year earlier as falling home prices left borrowers owing more on mortgages than their properties were worth. One in every 171 households was foreclosed on, received a default notice or was warned of ....

With the U.S. IPO market dormant, and executives complaining of the high costs and annoyance of Sarbanes-Oxley regulations, North American companies looking to raise capital on the public markets have been crossing the waters to London.That was the case with Resaca Exploit....

Here's an updated version of the Voight-Kampff test from Ridley Scott's ''Blade Runner'' movie. Instead of identifying Replicants, however, these questions sort the financial optimists from the reali ... I mean, pessimists. (1) A tale of two economies You see a li....

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ex-Walt Disney Co. president and Hollywood power broker Michael Ovitz settled a multimillion-dollar lawsuit involving online business opportunities filed against billionaire supermarket mogul Ronald W. Burkle, an attorney said.A resolution was reached ....

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut Natural Gas has collected millions in profits to which it is not entitled and may have to compensate by crediting customers' monthly bills, state regulators said Friday.The Department of Public Utility Control issued a draft decision Fr....

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Federal regulators and the U.S. Attorney's Office opened an investigation into Tulsa-based SemGroup LP, which filed for bankruptcy this week after losing a reported $2.4 billion in hedged trading on the oil futures markets.The Securities and Exchange ....

PORT CARBON, Pa. (AP) — Three white teens were charged Friday in what officials said was an epithet-filled fatal beating of an illegal Mexican immigrant in a small northeast Pennsylvania coal town.Brandon J. Piekarsky, 16, and Colin J. Walsh, 17, were charged as adults w....

MIAMI (AP) — A Miami federal judge on Friday toughened an order against a group that promotes its own currency and says it wants to seize control of Bank of America and more than $15 billion from its branches.U.S. District Judge Alan Gold in Miami issued a preliminary in....

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio will get about $55 million from the sale of rare coins and other memorabilia that were purchased by a former Republican fundraiser convicted of stealing from a state investment fund he managed, officials overseeing the liquidation said.Even tho....

WASHINGTON (AP) — Call it the un-impeachment hearing.The Democratic-run House Judiciary Committee put on a hearing that it insisted was not about removing President Bush from office. But critics of Bush's policies couldn't pass up the chance to charge the president with ....

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Federal officials proposed more than $8.7 million in fines Friday against Imperial Sugar Co. for violations at a Georgia plant where an explosion this year killed 13 people and at another plant in Louisiana.The fines would be the third-highest in the....

BERLIN (AP) — Motor racing boss Max Mosley has sued the publisher of Germany's largest newspaper, contending that his sex play with several prostitutes did not have a Nazi theme.The suit is similar to the case Mosley won over a British tabloid this week.In the new la....

ATLANTA (AP) — The number of Georgia schools meeting federal No Child Left Behind requirements plummeted this year after thousands of students failed state math tests.Data released by the Georgia Department of Education on Friday show just 69 percent of schools made "ade....

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut's attorney general proposed that a commission be formed to protect parts of Long Island Sound from development and find the best ways to meet the region's energy needs.Richard Blumenthal on Thursday announced the plan at a regional ener....

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A powerful state senator under investigation for influence-peddling was paid more than $200,000 over four years in consulting fees from a grocery store, documents show — income he failed to report as required under state ethics laws.According to doc....

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The state on Thursday fired two janitorial firms whose workers were swept up in an immigration raid on several courthouses.The Department of Administration terminated all 50 contracts the executive branch had with Falcon Maintenance Co. and Tri-St....

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Georgia's top environmental official said Thursday the three states that have battled nearly three decades over water shouldn't wait for Congress to approve an independent study on the issue, but should instead pay for it themselves.Florida Sens.....

ATLANTA (AP) — A New Jersey man has been sentenced to 12 years and seven months in federal prison for heading a gun-trafficking ring that purchased weapons in Georgia and sold them in New Jersey.Authorities said 13 guns sold by 34-year-old Clovis Reeves and his co-conspi....

ATLANTA (AP) — Delta Air Lines Inc. will provide engine overhaul and repair services for Alaska Airlines in a seven-year, $200 million deal between the two carriers.Atlanta-based Delta said Thursday that its maintenance division, Delta TechOps, will service the CFM56-7 e....

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. (AP) — Trucking company Saia Inc. on Friday reported its second-quarter profit fell 27.9 percent because of high fuel prices and a weak shipping environment.The company earned $5.3 million, or 40 cents per share, down from $7.4 million, or 51 cents per s....

MILTON, Ga. (AP) — Police in Milton are trying to determine who tossed Molotov cocktails on three cars parked outside.The first 911 call came in about 2 a.m. Friday from the Fairmont subdivision off Highway 9. Minutes later, a second call came in from the same neighborho....

GAINESVILLE, Ga. (AP) — A Hall County sheriff's officer was arrested on a battery charge stemming from an alleged incident at his home.Sheriff's Major Jeff Strickland confirmed that 31-year-old Stephen Weiler of Demorest was placed in the Habersham County Jail Thursday m....

APALACHICOLA, Fla. (AP) — Federal authorities have charged 7 men with 57 counts of illegally catching, transporting and selling fish across state lines.The indictment, returned last week in U.S. District Court in Albany, Ga., said several Florida fishermen and seafood de....

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Imperial Sugar CEO John Sheptor said there may be "significant" penalties proposed when federal workplace safety regulators release their findings after investigating a dust explosion that killed 13 workers at a company sugar refinery.With the invest....

BENNETT, Colo. (AP) — A convicted spammer fatally shot his wife and young daughter in an apparent murder-suicide Thursday while being sought after escaping prison last weekend, authorities said.A teenage girl was shot in the neck and a baby was found unhurt in a car seat....

MIAMI (AP) — The grandmother of a missing 2-year-old Orlando girl told an emergency dispatcher that a car driven by the girl's mother smelled like there had been a dead body inside, according to recordings of 911 calls released Thursday.The mother, Casey Anthony, 22, is ....

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Charges have been dismissed against a Camp Pendleton Marine sniper accused in the shooting deaths of two Syrians in Iraq, Marine Corps officials said Thursday.The charges against Sgt. John Winnick II were dismissed without prejudice by the commanding gen....

HOOVER, Ala. (AP) — Lawyers for a former Alabama football booster said they staked out the annual Southeastern Conference football media days Thursday and served Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer with a subpoena to testify about a lawsuit against the NCAA.Fulmer repeatedly ....

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York publisher is suing Foxy Brown and Lil' Kim, saying they were paid advances for books they never delivered.Simon & Schuster Inc. says Brown was paid $75,000 in 2005 to deliver an autobiography called "Broken Silence" by February 2006; and Lil' K....

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The state Supreme Court affirmed a trial court's decision to award a couple $13 million in punitive damages in a wrongful death lawsuit against DaimlerChrysler Corp.The lawsuit claimed 8-month-old Joshua Flax was riding in the back seat of a 1998 ....

NEW YORK (AP) — New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo sued UBS AG on Thursday, accusing the Swiss banking giant of fraudulently promoting tens of billions of dollars of auction-rate securities as safe when it knew a crisis was brewing.The lawsuit claims several bank exe....

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Country singer Chris Cagle has been found not guilty of domestic violence after his girlfriend refused to testify against him.Cagle and Jennifer Tant were both charged with domestic violence after police said they got into a drunken fight May 28. ....

DETROIT (AP) — A Detroit woman accused of persuading auto workers to withdraw about $600,000 from retirement accounts has been convicted of fraud.Prosecutors say Mary Kennedy Howard filed hardship requests, which can allow people to withdraw money from a 401(k) account t....

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The son of former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani is suing Duke University, claiming his golf coach manufactured accusations against him to justify kicking him off the team to whittle the squad.Andrew Giuliani, a 22-year-old who will be a senior th....

Forget naked short sellers. The fellow who isn't wearing any clothes is Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox. The emergency order the SEC issued last week, to protect the nation's financial system from so-called naked shorts, is so full of mixed mess....

Because I went to the beach last weekend, you could say I dodged the Batman bullet.But it was not to be. “The Dark Knight,” the newest film in the franchise, is inescapable. The superhero of Summer '08. The blockbuster to end all blockbusters, beating the previous winner, ....

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City lawyer is suing Delta Air Lines Inc. for $5 million, claiming the carrier's incompetence and indifference left him stranded in Paris for four days last October during an airport workers' strike.Thomas Mullaney says Atlanta-based Delta refu....

About 2 million Americans got a raise Thursday as the federal minimum wage rose 70 cents. The bad news: Higher gas and food prices are swallowing it up, and some small businesses will pass the cost of the wage hike to consumers.The increase, from $5.85 to $6.55 per hour, i....

A trip to the supermarket with Sara Beatty shows why officials at the Federal Reserve think there's a chance inflation won't get out of hand, and why they're afraid it might. ''I am a really good shopper,'' said the Springfield, Va., mother of seven as she bought groceries....

Gov. Sonny Perdue's Judicial Nominating Commission has presented him with shortlists for three open judgeships around the state, according to a press release.For a new seat on the Hall County State Court, the commission recommended Larry A. Baldwin II, the county's solicit....

Georgia's Court of Appeals has upheld a $10 million jury verdict against PricewaterhouseCoopers on behalf of four family trusts associated with Cobb County businessmen Stiles A. Kellett Jr. and his brother, Samuel B. Kellett. The appellate panel, in an opinion authored by ....