Bankers and cops, hearts and flowers--The Wells Fargo Bank in Austin, Texas, will offer bank accounts to undocumented immigrants. The cops had told them that without a bank to put their money in, immigrants were a target for thieves. Those opening an account will receive two ATM cards, one for the relatives in Mexico, giving them easier access to money sent home. The bank didn't mention what the fee would be.

High noon at the loony bin--Rep. Martin Schneider (D-Wisconsin) has introduced a bill making it legal for relatives of victims of domestic abuse to beat up the alleged abuser. Declared the lawmaker: "I know it's a radical idea. It's kind of like the Old West."

Bought their own bull?--Wade Cook Financial Corp. enjoyed a brisk response to its advertising claim that it could teach folks to pocket a monthly 15 percent on market investments. All they had to do was cough up $7,995 to attend a two-day how-to seminar. Now it has disclosed that last year the company lost $2 million of its own money playing the market. The obvious question, did they lose the money following their own advice or ignoring it?

Watch your step--"WASHINGTON--Forty percent of workers have no long-term disability coverage, while 42 percent of those who do consider their coverage inadequate, a new study shows."--News item.

Read it and rebel--In 1999, a fire at the Tosco oil refinery in Martinez, California, claimed four workers' lives. A fifth escaped with horrendous injuries. Since then there have been blasts at the two plants in the Los Angeles area, with at least one worker badly injured. Tosco expressed "remorse" for the four deaths in Martinez, and the state levied a fine of $810,000. Now it's been reduced to $400,000.

What's to worry?--The Dept. of Energy's budget for '02 will trim spending for cleaning up nuclear waste by some $354 million. Increased spending for weapons-related activity will be about $231 million.

Plentiful as money--Bill Gates, who has a lock on most of the sale of the world's computer software, seemed at a bit of a loss explaining how his Seattle-area mansion scarfed up so much water. (News bite: Enough to flush 1.3 million toilets). Said a family spokesperson: "Bill and Melinda are very concerned, They are very surprised. Those of us who live around here have not often thought of water as a scarce commodity."  
 
 
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