Herald and Review from Decatur, Illinois • Page 22

C4 MONEY THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2008 DECATUR, ILLINOIS www.herald-review.com tally planned at U.S. Capito support aid to automakers dell Anthony, president of the Detroit Branch of the NAACP, said Wednesday that he is urging all branches of the NAACP and the national NAACP to lobby elected officials for support of $25 billion in federal loans for the automotive industry. Anthony said the NAACP and the UAW have had a virtual marriage for decades as organizations that both fight for civil rights, equal rights and workers rights. Anthony was critical of the amount of attention devoted to the automotive executives' private jet flights to Washington to ask for money. "That's a phony issue," he said.

Instead, Anthony argued that preventing the collapse of the U.S. automotive industry is critical to preventing widespread layoffs and an increase in unemployment, poverty and crime. "We cannot in any way fathom how the industry would be allowed to get to this point," Anthony said, especially in light of the $150 billion that the Treasury Department has provided to insurer AIG and Citibank. "I think the Wall Street aid, obviously, had to occur. But very little, if any, of that has trickled down to the working class," he said.

"If you can aid the white-collar workers, certainly you can aid the blue-collar workers." large rally. Other concerns ranged from criticism for wasting gas to political expressions that would cross the line. "It became clear early on that the number had become way beyond what could be manageable," Leuliette said. So organizers who are part of a group calling itself the Engine of Democracy have instead decided on a two-part strategy that includes a rally Dec. 5 the day of a planned Senate hearing on loans to automakers and a Web site to solicit support.

The rally is to include representatives from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Attendees at the rally plan to wear blue jerseys with red and white stripes with the name of their state and the number of jobs in that state that are related to the automobile industry on the back. Leuliette said people are being selected by automotive dealers and suppliers. On Monday, the group plans to launch its Web site, theengineofdemocracy.com. Organizers are encouraging automotive employees, retirees and the public to go the site and tell their stories about the auto industry and its impact on their lives.

Contact information for elected officials and Bush administration members also will be available on the site. (In a separate effort, Wen Holiday travelers at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport found far smaller crowds this year. Economy keeps more people home for Thanksgiving Day Caravan called off after getting too big to handle McClatchy-Tribune News Service DETROIT A planned caravan of fuel-efficient domestic vehicles to Washington, D.C., in support of aid for Detroit automakers was too popular to be practical and will be replaced by a more focused rally at the U.S. Capitol next week. Auto suppliers and dealers who conceived of a caravan with 50 to 100 fuel-efficient vehicles were flooded with so much enthusiastic support and people who wanted to join that planning the logistics became impossible.

"I've never seen a reaction like this in my life. We had offers of free food, discounted gas, 1,000 free box lunches you name it," said Timothy Leuliette, a lead organizer and president and chief executive officer of Rochester Hills, supplier Dura Automotive Systems Inc. "We quickly found out that there are people who wanted to start caravans from all over the country." Though gratifying, Leuliette said organizers became concerned about issues ranging from finding hotel rooms to getting a permit for such a FTC rescinds WASHINGTON (AP) The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday rescinded guidance it issued 42 years ago that has allowed tobacco companies to make claims about tar and nicotine levels based on testing by a machine. The cigarette industry uses a test known as the Cambridge Filter Method to support any factual statements about tar and nicotine content in cigarette smoke. But the commission said the test method is flawed.

It also said that the resulting marketing touting tar and nicotine levels cigarette ads Under the current system, cigarettes with a tar rate above 15 milligrams per cigarette are referred to by the industry as "full flavor." Cigarettes with a tar rating of less than 15 milligrams are referred to as "low" or "light." Cigarettes with a tar rate below 6 are described as "ultra low" or "ultra light." The National Cancer Institute found that changes in cigarette design reduced the amount of tar and nicotine measured by smoking machines. However, there was no evidence those changes reduced disease for smokers. guidance for could cause consumers to believe that lighter cigarettes were safer. As a result, future advertising that lists tar levels for cigarettes won't be able to use terms such as "by FTC method." "Our action today ensures that tobacco companies may not wrap their misleading tar and nicotine ratings in a cloak of government sponsorship," said Commissioner Jon Leibowitz. "Simply put, the FTC will not be a smoke screen for tobacco companies' shameful marketing practices." CHICAGO (AP) Scott Fuchs will spend Thanksgiving with his family in Florida as he's done for 20 years or so.

But like thousands of other Americans, his brother is staying home; travel isn't possible after he was laid off from his job in Maryland. "Lack of funds," said Fuchs, a 49-year-old computer programmer from Piano, Texas. A troubled economy is casting a shadow over the country this Thanksgiving weekend, and thousands are opting to stay home instead of embark on costly voyages to see loved ones. Airport terminals were eerily empty Wednesday, devoid of the typical chaos on the day before a holiday. It was the same on the roads, where traffic breezed along even though plummeting gas prices made it much cheaper to drive.

Nationally, the Automobile Association of America says 41 million Americans were expected to travel more than 50 miles for the holiday, down about 1.5 percent or 600,000 people from last Thanksgiving. Of those, about 4.5 million are expected to fly, down about 7 percent from last year, while around 33.2 million will drive, a decrease of about 1 percent. It is the first decrease in holiday travel nationally since 2002 and the largest since the Thanksgiving that followed the 911 terror attacks. "This is a reflection of the economy, and while gas prices have come down so significantly, people are paying more for everything else," said Beth Mosher, spokeswoman for AAA Chicago. While most trips were going smoothly, security was a concern in New York after federal authorities warned law enforcement of a possible terror plot by al-Qaida against the city's subway and train systems during the holiday season, according to an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press.

However, no changes were made to the nation's threat level. There were no substantial delays at airports, and travelers were surprised to find themselves moving more quickly than on a typical weekend. "It's so quiet," Jen Lawless said in a hushed voice as she arrived at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport with her husband for a trip to North Carolina. It was the same in Atlanta, where security lines at Harts-field-Jackson Atlanta Interna- 'This is crazy. There's no one here.

It's quieter than on most Traveler Ryan Sullivan in Fort Lauderake, Fla. tional Airport, the world's busiest airport, moved briskly at under 10 minutes. At Fort-Lauderdale-Holly-wood International Airport, travelers found parking spots in the front row of the lot and no wait for check-in and security. "This is crazy. There's no one here," said Ryan Sullivan, who was flying to New York with his wife and two kids.

"It's quieter than on most weekdays." In Boston, Alicia Kelly, on her way with her family to Miami, said she'd never seen so few people at Logan International Airport on the day before Thanksgiving. And officials at Denver's International Airport said about 20,000 fewer travelers were expected on Wednesday than the same day last year. One reason for the quiet scenes could be found in the Thanksgiving plans of people like Steve and Debbie Boult-inghouse. Rather than host Thanksgiving for their daughter, her husband and three children, as they normally do, the Dallas couple decided this year to save her daughter's family money and visit their home in Tampa. "There's five of them and two of us," Debbie Boulting-house said.

At an airport in Columbus, Ohio, the economic troubles affected travelers in another way: Fewer planes. Last year, there were 193 daily departures at the airport in November; this year, there are only 155 each day. "With today's economy and the state of the aviation industry, there are about 20 percent fewer flights this Thanksgiving compared to last Thanksgiving," said airport spokeswoman Angie Tabor. Even those families determined to have Thanksgiving dinner with loved ones talked about making their own concessions to the bleak economy. Allison Stewart-Smull of suburban New Orleans said she, her husband and their 3-year-old son still flew to Associated Press Chicago for Thanksgiving with family in Rock Island, but they took an early flight on Wednesday and planned to return Saturday instead of Sunday to save money.

Then there were people like Dave Scott. "We're cutting back on everything else so we can do what we want to do," said Scott, a 55-year-old Wayne State University police officer who had stopped at a rest stop north of Detroit on his way to his family's cottage in Grayling, Michl "We don't go to movies. We don't go out to dinner." Travelers also signaled that although they were hitting the road, they would not be pulling as much money out of their wallets this holiday season. "Maybe you cut back on the gifts a little bit, or maybe you don't have as extravagant Thanksgiving as you used to," said Donita Hill, of Estero, who flew to Boston with her husband, Bob, and was waiting at Boston's South Station Wednesday morning to take a train to Worcester, to spend Thanksgiving with their son. "Maybe you don't have a free-range bird as you've had in the past; maybe you go to a Butterball." Still, some said the holidays were the one time not to cut back.

"Thanksgiving is the one holiday I go to see my family," said San Francisco resident Sharon McKeller, who was at the airport in Miami. "We are traveling less, but I never not do Thanksgiving." While many people said they would have traveled no matter what, others like Dale England of Atlanta said gas prices falling from above $4 a gallon to below $2 allowed him to take a trip to Ohio with his two teenage daughters. "I probably would have held off coming up for Thanksgiving and waited for Christmas," said the 44-year-old England as he stopped for coffee along Interstate 75, north of Cincinnati. Jack and Annette Curtis said it was particularly important this year to drive from their home in Newport, Tenn. to Atlanta.

The two are involved with ministry work and plan to feed the homeless Wednesday before returning to Tennessee to do the same on Thanksgiving. "There are a lot of people hurting," said Jack Curtis. "A lot of companies are going out of business." as Amtrak and the Long Island Rail Road, which are particularly busy with Thanksgiving holiday travelers. A federal law enforcement official said there's no indication that anyone involved in the planning is in the United States. That official also spoke on condition of anonymity because it involved intelligence-gathering.

While law enforcement stepped up patrols around subways and trains, many commuters around the city were unfazed by the news and had not even heard of the threat. "If you get scared, that means they win," commuter Omid Sima said. 1'; WW' Marilyn and dad, together again Dicka Wagner, whose policeman dad once got to spend a day chaperoning Marilyn Monroe around Central Illinois, says the story of daddy's brush with legend and the pictures she has to prove it won't die down. After being featured in the Herald Review last year, the author of a new glossy coffee table book on Monroe contacted her and those pix are now displayed prominently in the new book. LOCAL ijvrj -w Oh Christmas Tree The Christmas season is officially upon us, meaning the quest for the perfect tree has begun.

Check out our list of area tree farms and tips on what to look for when buying a fresh Christmas tree and how to care for it once you bring it home. LIFE Security bolstered in New York's subways Side of hoops It's as much a part of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend as leftover turkey sandwiches high school hoops. Look to us for stories and a complete roundup of Thanksgiving basketball tournament action from sites across Central Illinois including Decatur, Mount Zion, Effingham and Taylorville. SPORTS edly involved the use of suicide bombers or explosives placed on subway passenger rail systems," according to the document. "We have no specific details to confirm that this plot has developed beyond aspirational planning, but we are issuing this warning out of concern that such an attack could possibly be conducted during the forthcoming holiday season," according to the warning dated Tuesday.

A person briefed on the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the intelligence-gathering work, said the threat may also be directed at the passenger rail lines running through New York, such NEW YORK (AP) Police bolstered security in subways and trains Wednesday after the government warned that al-Qaida suicide bombers were contemplating an attack on New York's mass-transit systems during the holiday season. An internal memo obtained by The Associated Press says the FBI has received a "plausible but unsubstantiated" report that al-Qaida terrorists in late September may have discussed attacking the subway system. The internal bulletin says al-Qaida terrorists "in late September may have discussed targeting transit systems in and around New York City. These discussions report- I Only in the Herald (Review www.herald-review.com.