YARD REPAIRS, FREEZERS BOLSTER LOWE'S SECOND-QUARTER: Repairs to drought-stricken flower beds and sales of freezers designed to hold bought-in-bulk food helped Lowe's Cos. Inc. post a better-than-expected second-quarter profit. But the nation's faltering economy and sluggish housing industry still sent profit at the nation's second-largest home improvement chain down nearly 8 percent. For the three months ending Aug. 1, Lowe's earned $938 million, or 64 cents per share, boosted in part by consumers who undertook small outdoor gardening projects, repairing their yards from last year's drought, and bought freezers to hold bulk food purchases to cope with soaring grocery prices.

ROMANO'S MACARONI GRILL SELLING MAJORITY STAKE: Brinker International Inc., the owner of the Chili's Grill & Bar... // Modesto Bee

'GOOGLE PHONE' READY TO ENTER MARKET? The wireless world has been patiently awaiting the so-called "Google phone" for more than a year, and reports this week suggest that such a device soon could find its way to the market. In November, Google Inc. announced the formation of a large consortium of players from the wireless industry. The group was formed to help commercialize Android -- a software platform developed by Google as part of an effort to open up the wireless handset market to more developers who could build on the platform. The group was dubbed the Open Handset Alliance. Since then, the world has been awaiting the debut of devices that will run on the platform. The Alliance included handset manufacturers such as Motorola Corp., LG, Samsung and High-Tech Computer Corp., or HTC,... // Modesto Bee

MEASURE TOUGHENS LEAD STANDARDS: Colton Burkhart was just 4 when he swallowed a quarter-sized medallion that nearly took his life. He didn't choke on it. But the metal trinket from a gumball-type machine contained 39 percent lead, and nearly five years later -- after surgery and countless other procedures -- the Oregon boy still has elevated levels of lead in his body. Colton's ordeal helped hasten recalls last year of millions of Chinese-produced toys, from Barbie doll accessories to Thomas the Tank Engine. And now his family is celebrating a new law that bans lead from children's toys. President Bush is expected to sign it this week, two weeks after Congress approved the measure. The legislation would impose the toughest lead standards in the world, banning lead beyond minute levels in... // Modesto Bee

Chrysler LLC's manufacturing chief says the company is working with great energy and speed to fix its quality problems, but the payoff hasn't shown up yet in external quality studies.

Frank Ewasyshyn, executive vice president of manufacturing, said Monday that many problems reported in such studies have to do with perceived quality issues, such as ride and handling, or interiors with too many hard surfaces. In each case, the company is working hard to fix the problems, he said.

The number of actual mechanical problems has dropped and is much lower than it has been in the past, he said.

"We're getting better," Ewasyshyn said in an interview Monday at the Center for Automotive Research Management Briefing Seminars, a weeklong auto industry conference in Traverse City. "We've got... // Wheels24.co.za

CHRYSLER CHIEF SEES IMPROVEMENT: Chrysler LLC's manufacturing chief says the company is working with great energy and speed to fix its quality problems, but the payoff hasn't shown up in external quality studies. Frank Ewasyshyn, executive vice president of manufacturing, said Monday that many problems reported in such studies have to do with perceived quality issues, such as ride and handling, or interiors with too many hard surfaces. In each case, the company is working hard to fix the problems, he said. The number of mechanical problems has dropped and is much lower than in the past, he said. In J.D. Power and Associates' annual survey of people who have owned cars for three years, all three Chrysler brands -- Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep -- ranked worse than the industry average... // Modesto Bee

Chrysler's manufacturing chief says the company is working hard to fix its quality problems but the results haven't shown up in independent quality studies.

Executive vice-president of manufacturing Frank Ewasyshyn said on August 11 many problems reported in such studies reflected perceived quality issues such as ride and handling or interiors with too many hard surfaces.

The number of actual mechanical problems was much lower than in the past, he said.

"We're getting better," Ewasyshyn said at an industry seminar, "but we've still got work to do, there's no question about that
.

"In the meantime the rest of the organisation is focused on improving perceived quality."

But Ewasyshyn is at a loss as to why Chrysler still lags... // Motoring

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) - Chrysler manufacturing chief says the company is working fast and hard to fix its quality problems.

But Frank Ewasyshyn says the payoff hasn't shown up yet in external quality studies.

He spoke today in Traverse City at an auto industry conference.

Ewasyshyn says many problems reported in such studies have to do with perceived quality issues, such as ride and handling, or interiors with too many hard surfaces.... // WLNS

Chrysler LLC's manufacturing chief says the company is working with great energy and speed to fix its quality problems, but the payoff hasn't shown up yet in external quality studies.

Frank Ewasyshyn, executive vice president of manufacturing, said Monday that many problems reported in such studies have to do with perceived quality issues, such as ride and handling, or interiors with too many hard surfaces. In each case, the company is working hard to fix the problems, he said.

The number of actual mechanical problems has dropped and is much lower than it has been in the past, he said.

"We're getting better," Ewasyshyn said in an interview Monday at the Center for Automotive Research Management Briefing Seminars, a weeklong auto industry conference in Traverse City. "We've got... // BusinessWeek

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Chrysler LLC's manufacturing chief says the company is working with great energy and speed to fix its quality problems, but the payoff hasn't shown up yet in external quality studies.

Frank Ewasyshyn, executive vice president of manufacturing, said Monday that many problems reported in such studies have to do with perceived quality issues, such as ride and handling, or interiors with too many hard surfaces. In each case, the company is working hard to fix the problems, he said.

The number of actual mechanical problems has dropped and is much lower than it has been in the past, he said.

"We're getting better," Ewasyshyn said in an interview Monday at the Center for Automotive Research Management Briefing Seminars, a weeklong auto industry conference in... // MLive.com