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Today’s headlines
Robert Trigaux
Of greed and $6,000 shower curtains
In the 1980s we learned all about $700 toilet seats ordered by the military. Then we heard how Miami savings and loan executive David Paul had a thing for gold-plated plumbing in his executive restroom.

A clash of videos at Pepin trial
TAMPA -- At times Thursday, the trial pitting local beer distributor Tom Pepin against ex-wife Terry Lea Pepin looked more like a film festival than a divorce case.

Spirit's fly-for-free offer fills seats on Sept. 11
While bigger airlines are curtailing their schedules that day, the small carrier's offer attracted travelers.

US Air pilots sign off on cuts
The pilots are the first key labor group to ratify a new, cost-cutting contract at struggling US Airways.

Express airline leaving Florida
Piedmont Airlines is losing money on routes within Florida it flies for US Airways.

Schwab launching new fund that bets against stocks
SAN FRANCISCO -- In a sign of the skittish times, Charles Schwab Corp. has introduced a mutual fund that will try to make money on sinking stocks.

Dow scores its third straight triple-digit gain
The Dow climbs back to where it was at the start of last week.

Publix gets into the restaurant business
The Lakeland grocery chain has invested in the Crispers restaurant chain, also of Lakeland.

Business Today
WHOLESALE PRICES DIP: Wholesale prices dipped by 0.2 percent in July, providing more good news on the inflation front and giving Fed policymakers leeway to keep interest rates at 40-year lows to help the limping recovery. The reading on the Producer Price Index, which measures prices of goods before they reach store shelves, was better than the 0.1 percent increase many analysts had forecast. Falling prices for cars, trucks, fruits, chickens, communications equipment and computers outweighed rising prices for gasoline and heating oil, the Labor Department said. Prices had nudged up by 0.1 percent in June.