Balance Sheet.

• Author: Taylor, Jeff A.
• Position: News Briefs - Brief Article

ASSETS

* Pond Scam. The Supreme Court finds that the Clean Water Act of 1972 does not apply to seasonal ponds used by migratory birds. Mudflats and gravel pits swollen by rain or melt water had gained officially protected status under the Army Corps of Engineers' reading of the law, making the land off-limits for building.

* Full Reverse. Federal Reserve Chairman-for-Life Alan Greenspan executes a rare public policy about-face and cuts interest rates by a full point in just weeks. Such a move usually takes the Fed months, far too slow to help a rapidly cooling economy.

* Bundle Baby. In another twisted outgrowth of the 1996 Telecom Act, a federal appeals court rules that the Federal Communications Commission erred in exempting advanced data services from the requirement that Bell companies sell their services "unbundled" from other pricey add-ons. The ruling may slow the Bell march to data dominance, but only true deregulation can stop it.

* Candid Camera. An Omaha jury rejects a wrongful-termination suit against Wal-Mart. The former employee had given the authorities a customer's photo showing an infant crawling amidst a pile of marijuana. The child ended up in foster care. But Wal-Mart's policy says only upper management can make such a call.

* Metal Worker. A California judge dismisses a lawsuit claiming that music from thrash metalists Slayer caused three teenagers to kill a 15-year-old girl as a satanic sacrifice in 1995.

* H2-Ownership. Ontario explores allowing the private sector to run water systems for the province. An estimated $9 billion overhaul is needed for a system that has been blamed for deaths due to bad water.

LIABILITIES

* Cell Division. President Bush flirts with ending federal funding for research on embryonic stem cells, or any tissues gained from induced abortions. Some $20 million funds grants for research on vaccines, Parkinson's...