NEW YORK – Home prices dropped sharply in February, but for the first time in 25 months the decline was not a record, another sign the housing crisis could be bottoming.

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index released Tuesday showed home prices in 20 major cities tumbled by 18.6 percent from February 2008. That was slightly better than January’s 19 percent and the first time since January 2007 the index didn’t set a record.

The 10-city index slid 18.8 percent, the first time in 16 months its decline was not a record.

But the good news was mixed. All 20 cities in the report showed monthly and annual price declines, but half recorded annual records. Prices fell by more than 10 percent in 15 cities, including Las Vegas, San Francisco and Phoenix. In fact, Phoenix home prices have lost more than half their value since peaking in July 2006.

Yet, nine of the metros — including Dallas, Denver and Boston — showed improvement in their yearly losses compared to the month before.

“We will certainly need a few more months of data before we can determine if home prices are finally turning around,” said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the S&P index committee.

Last week, data for March home sales also offered a conflicting picture of the housing market. Existing home sales fell 3 percent from February to March, while new home sales seemed to have hit bottom.

Prices in the 20-city index have plunged 30.7 percent from their peak in the summer of 2006, and the 10-city index has lost more than 31.6 percent.

BLAKELY, Ga. – When Food and Drug Administration inspectors visited Peanut Corp. of America’s plant here in late 2001, they noticed peanut-processing equipment had been improperly repaired with duct or cellophane tape.

The “widespread” use of tape – some torn – concerned the inspectors because it could harbor insects, was hard to sanitize and could lead to adulterated food.

PCA President Stewart Parnell, who had taken over the plant in February, said it was a good thing they hadn’t come a couple months earlier, because they would have seen even more tape then, according to the inspectors’ report. Parnell promised to fix the equipment.

But last year – months before a salmonella outbreak was linked to PCA’s products from the plant – a private audit found tape still used on equipment and to cover wall seams.

Details matter in food safety, and the story of how PCA came to be held responsible for one of the nation’s largest and most costly salmonella outbreaks is all about details – lots of them – unseen or unreported or not acted upon until it was too late.

Federal authorities have begun a criminal investigation of PCA, and the company is bankrupt. Records produced in the FDA’s investigation of PCA and in congressional hearings on the outbreak portray a company that not only failed to heed warnings about its deficiencies, but allegedly shipped products that had tested positive for salmonella after retests were negative.

More important, the case reveals a food-safety system in which every key link in the chain of protection failed, food-safety officials and lawmakers say. The outbreak “is a poster child for everything that went wrong” with the USA’s food-safety system, says William Hubbard, a former FDA associate commissioner. “Down the line, you can find flaws and failures.”

The U.S. food-safety net relies heavily on companies to be good operators. Yet PCA repeatedly failed to fix problems that were brought to its attention, according to regulatory records and documents made public in congressional hearings. Nestle, for example, twice inspected PCA plants and chose not to take on PCA as a supplier because it didn’t meet Nestle’s food-safety standards, according to Nestle’s audit reports in 2002 and 2006.

Regulators never found anything major wrong with PCA’s Blakely plant until after the outbreak. Then, the FDA found major problems in sanitation, manufacturing and even plant design.

Unlike Nestle, other PCA customers, including Kellogg, never audited the Blakely plant themselves. Instead, they selected PCA as a supplier based in part on an inspection by an auditing firm that was paid by PCA and that rates almost every client “excellent” or “superior,” said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., citing his committee’s investigation.

The outbreak resulted in 700 reported illnesses and may have contributed to nine deaths. More than 3,600 products were recalled, costing the food industry hundreds of millions of dollars and signaling to parents that many of their children’s favorites – peanut crackers, cookies, ice cream – could be dangerous.

The outbreak also caused heartbreak. One family alleges it stole a mother and a Christmas from them. Shirley Almer, a 72-year-old cancer survivor, died Dec. 21 after eating salmonella-tainted PCA peanut butter in an elder-care facility, her son Jeffrey testified to Congress.

“Shirley Almer loved this country but was terribly let down by a broken and ineffective food system,” he said at the congressional hearing.

The industry watchers

PCA got more than one warning from other companies that its Blakely plant had problems.

— Deibel Labs, which ran more than 1,600 salmonella tests for PCA’s Blakely plant from 2004 through 2008, found almost 6 percent positive. It was so many that Deibel sent PCA’s samples to a separate part of its Chicago lab to lessen chances that they’d contaminate other products, Charles Deibel, the firm’s president, said in an interview.

For roasted products such as peanuts, a positive rate above 1 in 10,000 would be high, Deibel said. Proper roasting kills salmonella with heat. PCA never asked Deibel to look into the issue, Deibel said.

— Another lab hired by PCA, JLA, based in Georgia, told PCA in 2006 that the Blakely plant hadn’t adequately documented that its roasting killed salmonella, according to a letter from JLA to PCA that congressional investigators released. After the outbreak, the FDA noted the same deficiency in its 2009 report.

— Nestle audited the Blakely plant in 2002 and rejected it as a supplier. Nestle’s audit report said the plant needed a “better understanding of the concept of deep cleaning” and failed to adequately separate unroasted raw peanuts from roasted ones. Having them in the same area could allow bacteria on raw nuts to contaminate roasted ones, a risk known as cross-contamination.

The plant wasn’t even close to Nestle’s standards, auditor Richard Hutson said in an interview. Hutson, who now heads quality assurance for several Nestle divisions, said he shared his concerns with PCA officials at the time, but “they didn’t pursue it” further with Nestle, he says.

After the outbreak, the FDA found problems at the Blakely plant that were similar to those found by Nestle, including inadequate cleaning and storing of raw and roasted peanuts too close together.

Nestle also rejected PCA’s Texas plant in 2006.

Neither Deibel, JLA nor Nestle shared their findings with anyone other than PCA, which is common industry practice. Congressional lawmakers don’t fault companies for not sharing proprietary data, but some now say that foodmakers’ microbiological test results should be reported to regulators.

Had the FDA seen PCA’s salmonella test results, it might have detected a problem sooner, said Stephen Sundlof, the FDA’s head of its food-safety center, at a congressional hearing in February.

That a lab detected salmonella in PCA products but reported it only to PCA is a practice that “we can’t afford to have in our food-safety system,” said Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, at the same hearing.

The regulators

The issues noted by Nestle and JLA, and the frequent salmonella positives found by Deibel, went undetected by regulators. That’s part of what Stupak calls a “total systemic breakdown” of the U.S. food-safety system.

The FDA didn’t inspect the Blakely plant itself, after its 2001 check, until the outbreak. That’s not unusual. The agency’s inspection staff is so strapped, it inspects food facilities an average of once every five to 10 years unless they’re deemed high risk, which peanut processors were not.

About half the FDA’s food inspections are done by state inspectors, whose departments are paid by the FDA to do that work.

After the outbreak, and a 13-day inspection of the Blakely plant in January, the FDA delivered a scathing report. It said the plant didn’t clean up after finding salmonella, had poor controls to prevent contamination and had poor design to prevent roof leaks.

Most important, the FDA discovered that PCA shipped products that had tested positive for salmonella, then negative on a retest. Shipping such product is “universally condemned,” the FDA’s Sundlof testified to Congress, because salmonella can be missed in tests. Products should be destroyed after one positive result, regulators say.

But nine inspections of the Blakely plant – by Georgia agricultural inspectors in 2006, 2007 and 2008 – found only minor issues, many of which were quickly fixed, said Oscar Garrison, Georgia assistant Agriculture commissioner. Two of the checks were done for the FDA.

Garrison defends the state inspections as a “snapshot in time.” Even rigorous inspections wouldn’t always detect problems if a processor is intent on “breaking the law,” he said.

But Stupak, who held two hearings on the outbreak, said the FDA’s 2009 inspection report notes numerous violations of good manufacturing practices that weren’t found by the state and which FDA officials later testified should have been caught.

The PCA case has cast a spotlight on the rigor of state inspections done for the FDA. Some states do a good job; some don’t, Hubbard said. The FDA knows it needs to raise standards, said Michael Taylor, food-safety expert at George Washington University.

“There’s a basic breakdown when an FDA-contracted inspection doesn’t detect problems that seem so obvious,” Taylor said.

PCA, which closed its three plants after the outbreak, has disputed some of the FDA’s assertions. Parnell, who shares PCA’s ownership with an investor group, worked at its Virginia headquarters. He and other former PCA managers refused to comment.

The plant in Blakely used to employ 50 but now sits deserted. Its paint is faded and chipped, as if a symbol of the deficiencies the FDA said were inside.

The customers

When the outbreak hit, PCA supplied 2.5 percent of the nation’s peanut products, including peanut butter sold to institutions and paste and meal used in foods made by hundreds of companies.

To win customers, Parnell “extolled” the fact that an auditor, AIB International, had rated the plant as “superior,” said King Nut CEO Martin Kanan at a congressional hearing. King Nut sold peanut butter under its name that was made by PCA.

That rating also satisfied Kellogg, which began buying PCA’s peanut paste for sandwich crackers in 2007. Kellogg CEO David Mackay testified at a congressional hearing in March that PCA was a “dishonest supplier” and that Kellogg had done “everything we could” to ensure safety.

PCA had been audited by AIB, “the most commonly used auditor in the U.S.,” Mackay said. PCA had verified that it had fixed issues raised in the first audit in 2006, Kellogg says. Kellogg visited the plant but didn’t audit. Kellogg also got certificates from PCA – issued by private labs paid by PCA – saying the product was salmonella-free, Kellogg says.

But AIB’s rating of PCA has since come under attack, along with the common practice of foodmakers paying for their own audits.

Stupak said congressional investigators found that AIB gives 98 percent of companies a “superior” or “excellent” rating. He also said that e-mails between AIB and PCA point to a relationship that’s too cozy to ensure a tough audit.

“You lucky guy. I am your AIB auditor,” AIB’s Eugene Hatfield wrote PCA on Dec. 22, says an e-mail released by Stupak’s committee.

In 2008, PCA had more than a month’s warning before its AIB audit. Former PCA employees, sanitation director Anne Bristow and Bobby Mallard, said in interviews that the plant was deep-cleaned beforehand.

“Five days later, it would be back to normal,” said Mallard, who ran a peanut-roasting line. “It was dirty.”

The last AIB audit, done on one day in March 2008, found few problems. “Excellent cooperation was received by the writer,” wrote Hatfield in the report. “On some occasions, the items were immediately corrected.”

AIB refused an interview request but defends its audits on its website. It says Hatfield had inspected 200 peanut facilities in his career and did a PCA check that was so detailed he found beetles behind duct tape.

AIB also says the Blakely plant ran for months without a manager in mid-2008, providing ample time for it to deteriorate between AIB’s audit and the FDA’s January 2009 inspection.

AIB also draws criticism from a former food-industry official. Its audit of PCA was “superficial,” said Jim Lugg, former food-safety chief for bagged salad maker Fresh Express, who reviewed AIB’s audit of PCA at USA TODAY’s request.

One example of “shallow treatment of a big issue,” Lugg says, is that the audit notes that PCA had a written program to evaluate suppliers and had an approved list. But AIB did no further checking of the suppliers. Years ago, Fresh Express stopped using AIB audits because it found them inadequate, he adds.

Lugg also questions why another audit firm ranked the PCA plant so high even though the auditor noted many problems.

In April 2008, NSF Cook & Thurber inspected the Blakely plant for a client, which it says wasn’t PCA. The audit found so many “minor” deficiencies at the plant – including use of tape – that the plant ranked in the bottom 6 percent of audits done by NSF last year, NSF said in a statement, adding that it stood “100 percent behind” the audit.

Still, NSF gave the plant an “opportunity for improvement” rating on food safety and quality, just below the “acceptable-excellent” rating. Lugg says that rating appears too high, given the concerns noted in the audit, including criticisms of the plant’s condition, sanitation and pest control.

“The whole idea (of third-party audits) isn’t working,” says former FDA official Hubbard. “The inspectors are either telling the client what they want to hear, or they’re doing a perfunctory audit, or they’re poorly trained.”

Kellogg, while defending its oversight of PCA, now says it will do its own inspections of high-risk suppliers. It spent less than $20 million on PCA products. Its cracker recall will cost up to $70 million, Mackay testified.

Many companies need to do more due diligence on suppliers, food-safety experts say. “There needs to be a revolution in the supply chain,” says Michael Doyle, director of the University of Georgia Center for Food Safety.

The end result

Since the recall, Parnell has been portrayed by congressional lawmakers as a man most concerned with getting product out the door.

Former employees also say too little was spent on the Blakely plant. “It was production, production, production,” says Mallard. “Then clean for 15 minutes.”

“I’d tell Stewart that this needs to be changed right away,” Bristow says. “He’d say, “We’ll get on it.’ It wasn’t done.”

The plant’s roof leaked so badly, “It rained in the plant,” says Teresa Spencer. Rainwater can carry salmonella from bird droppings. The roof leaked even after PCA fixed it, Mallard says.

PCA also left key jobs open. In addition to losing its plant manager in 2008, it lacked a quality manager for at least four months, NSF’s audit says.

Parnell’s side remains untold. At a congressional hearing in February, he invoked his constitutional right not to testify. His lawyer also refused comment for this story, citing the criminal probe, as did Parnell’s daughter, who did PCA’s books.

Jeffrey Almer and his sisters sat behind Parnell in the hearing room.

Their mother, Shirley, a woman who dragged her grown sons onto the dance floor, had entered a Minnesota rest home after Thanksgiving to recover from a urinary tract infection. The day before her expected release, her family was told she had hours to live. Her mother had lived to be 101.

When Parnell refused to testify, Jeffrey, 46, a finance employee for Best Buy, says he felt rage. It was directed at Parnell but also at the food-safety system that he says failed his mother.

“My mom should be here today,” he testified.

The recession that brought back $2 gasoline is about to bring back to casual dining another retro price point: $5 meals.

Today, T.G.I. Friday’s – which, like most casual-dining chains, has taken a hit during the recession – will unveil plans to sell all salads and sandwiches for $5 all day in May. The move follows a recent rollout by Chili’s of 10 entrees for less than $7.

A $5 price tag at sit-down restaurants hasn’t been seen in quite awhile. “It’s a magic number,” says Malcolm Knapp, a researcher who tracks the $75 billion casual-dining industry, which saw same-store sales drop 4.9 percent in March. The $5 meal, he says, “is affordable to everyone.”

The question: Can Friday’s afford it? A steak sandwich that usually fetches $11.75 will go for $5, as will a pecan-crusted chicken salad, normally $9.69. All are full-size portions. The chain hasn’t had such low prices on its menu since it opened in 1965.

Friday’s executives insist that beyond being a recession response, the $5 menu is a way to drum up interest in nine new salads and sandwiches. “The consumer needs something that gives them permission to experiment – and this is it,” says Andrew Jordan, marketing chief at Friday’s USA.

The move comes a year after Subway rolled out $5 foot-long subs, an industry game-changer viewed as one of fast-food’s most successful promos. Friday’s $5 move comes as consumers continue to abandon casual dining for cheaper spots such as Panera Bread, Wingstop and Subway.

The restaurant industry has seen same-store sales decline for nine consecutive months, with casual dining taking the biggest hit. While some chains project signs of better times ahead, most are still mired in the doldrums.

“The $5 threshold reinforces the idea of a deal,” says Ravi Dhar, director of the Yale Center for Customer Insights. “That’s the current consumer mindset.”

Others with $5 meal deals:

— Subway. Since launching the $5 foot-long deal in 2008, Subway has posted double-digit same-store growth, says Tony Pace, marketing chief at the Subway Franchisee Advertising Fund Trust, the marketing arm of Subway. The move has been widely mimicked, including by Quiznos, which undercut the deal to $4.

While Friday’s will lose money on $5 meals, Subway makes money on the subs, he says. “My guess is, they know some of their customers have migrated to us.”

— Boston Market. Boston Market, which started promoting its $5 menu in August 2008, has made it the focal point of its menu boards, says Judy Cantrell, chief brand officer. In a recent survey, 90 percent of guests said it motivated them to come more often.

— Shoney’s. When CEO David Davoudpour took over in 2007, he brought back the $4.99 breakfast bar. But $5 meals won’t work in casual dining, he says. “When you sell for $5 what you should sell for $10, something’s wrong.”

WASHINGTON – Airplane collisions with birds have more than doubled at 13 major U.S. airports since 2000, according to Federal Aviation Administration data released for the first time Friday.

Topping the list of airports where planes were either substantially damaged or destroyed by birds since 2000 were John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York with at least 30 such accidents and Sacramento International Airport in California with at least 28 such accidents. Kennedy, the nation’s 6th busiest airport, is located amid wetlands that attract birds, and Sacramento International, the nation’s 40th busiest, abuts farms whose crops draw birds.

The first disclosure of the entire FAA bird strike database, including the first-ever release of the locations of strikes, came thanks largely to pressure after the dramatic ditching of a US Airways jet in the Hudson River after bird strikes knocked out both of its engines in January.

The FAA list, published on the Internet, details more than 89,000 incidents since 1990, including 28 cases since 2000 when a collision with a bird or other animal such as a deer on a runway was so severe that the aircraft was considered destroyed.

Lovell Field, in Chattanooga, registered the greatest increase in wildlife strikes, going from four reported incidents in 2000 to 55 in 2008 — a 1,275 percent increase.

Reports also doubled at some of the nation’s busiest airports, including New Orleans, Houston’s Hobby, Kansas City, Orlando and Salt Lake City.

Wildlife experts have said the population of some birds, particularly large ones like Canada geese, has been growing as more and more birds find the food to live near cities and airports year round rather than migrating.

All told, pilots reported striking 59,776 birds since 2000. The most common strike involved mourning doves; pilots reported hitting 2,291 between 2000 and 2008. Other airborne victims included gulls (2,186), European starlings (1,427) and American kestrels (1,422).

A single United Airlines 737 passenger jet suffered at least 29 minor collisions with birds and one accident involving a small deer — more than any other plane since 2000. In only one case was damage significant, when the jet climbed out of Philadelphia International Airport into a flock of gulls flying at 1,000 feet the night of Jan. 30, 2006. The pilot declared an emergency after at least one engine sucked in a large gull and began vibrating badly. No one was hurt, but the airline spent about $37,000 in repairs.

The same plane has experienced incidents in San Francisco; Salt Lake City, Utah; San Jose, Calif.; Houston; Denver; Toronto; New Orleans; Chicago and Spokane, Wash. Its most recent incident was weeks before Thanksgiving when it struck a single small bird during takeoff in Denver.

AP-WS-04-24-09 1058EDT

Toyota is aiming for Honda's Insight with its new Prius (shown here).

Toyota effectively declared war Tuesday when it announced that the price for its gasoline-electric 2010 Prius hybrid will be just $1,280 more than the Honda Insight hybrid.

Prius is bigger, faster and more fuel-efficient, and has a broader array of options. The 2010 Insight, which gets up to 43 miles per gallon, went on sale March 24. The 2010 Prius, rated at up to 51 mpg, goes on sale in late May.

Toyota’s aggressive move underscores how vicious the auto market has become as car companies try to hold their own in a recession-wounded new-vehicle market. First-quarter U.S. sales for all brands were down 38.4 percent from a year earlier, according to industry-tracker Autodata. For all of 2008, sales were off 18 percent.

Toyota sales in the first quarter, including the luxury Lexus brand, were down 37.1 percent. Honda sales, including Acura, were off 34.5 percent.

Honda spokesman Sage Marie noted that Toyota gave no details about the cheapest Prius, which will start at $21,750, but elaborated on more-expensive versions. Marie says that suggests to him that it might be a showroom rarity and that a pricier $22,750 mid-level Prius might be the real-world base model.

But Toyota spokeswoman Ming-Jou Chen says that while the better-equipped, mid-level version will make up about two-thirds of Prius sales, the Prius I base model “will be out there.” The list of standard equipment on the least-expensive Prius will be released later, Toyota says.

Ming says the base model will lack some features standard on other Prius models: cruise control, rear wiper and EV-only mode that keeps the car operating on battery-only as long as possible. And it won’t have the “touch-tracer display” that shows onscreen what the driver has adjusted using steering-wheel controls, minimizing the need to glance down.

“There’s enough room in the hybrid market for both,” Marie says. Toyota also is considering a hybrid version of its small Yaris as a way to undercut Insight pricing.

“Insight’s still an excellent value. It appeals to customers who didn’t consider a hybrid before,” Marie said.

In keeping with Toyota’s intent to make Prius a technology showplace, the company listed $6,300 in options a buyer can choose on top of the $28,020 starting price for the deluxe version of the car. That could bump the total sticker price to $34,320.

Honda says the most you can spend on an Insight is $24,770.

The Honda Insight gasoline-electric hybrid model has listed mileage of 40 miles per gallon in city driving and 43 mpg on the highway

The plastic bag industry has an Earth Day surprise: less plastic.

Under pressure from consumers, environmental advocates and retailers, the companies that make more than 80 percent of plastic bags used by the nation’s big retailers today will announce plans to make the plastic bags from 40 percent recycled content by 2015.

It’s no accident that the announcement is being made around Wednesday’s 39th observance of Earth Day.

The move comes as some cities are outlawing the bags and trend-setting retailers, including Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, have dropped them. Plastic bags, which take hundreds of years to degrade, are regarded by many consumers as eyesores, threats to wildlife and wasteful. The $1 billion industry makes about 90 billion plastic bags annually in the USA alone.

With this move to ramp-up plastic bag recycling, some 463 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions and 300 million pounds of waste will be cut annually, says Cal Dooley, CEO of the American Chemistry Council, the trade group for the major plastic bag makers. “This is unprecedented.”

“This is a significant commitment by the plastic bag industry to reduce waste,” says Matthew McKenna, president of the non-profit group Keep America Beautiful, which will receive an undisclosed donation from the American Chemistry Council.

But not everyone is applauding the move. That includes Earth Day Network, the organizing body of Earth Day worldwide.

“It’s annoying. And it’s transparent,” says Kathleen Rogers, president of Earth Day Network. “The death knell has sounded for plastic bags. They’re just trying to continue to make a bad thing.”

The Natural Resources Defense Council agrees: “We don’t want people to use disposable bags. We want people to use reusable bags,” says Darby Hoover, a senior research specialist.

Management consultant Pam Murtaugh says the Earth Day gambit will backfire. “They’re late to the party of good sense. In bragging about it now, they’re only building their own glass house.”

But Dooley insists the move is more than cosmetic. He says the industry will spend $50 million to overhaul the manufacturing process and will collect 470 million pounds of recycled plastic annually to make the new bags.

Among major retailers that will be part of this new program: Home Depot and Walgreens.

Walgreens spokesman Michael Polzin says the program is “innovative” and will “help improve the environment.’

Home Depot is “encouraged by the positive steps the industry is taking toward sustainability,” says spokeswoman Tia Robinson.

NEW YORK — The company that’s made it so easy for television viewers to avoid watching ads will unveil today a plan to help stations sell them.

TiVo will challenge Nielsen, whose audience ratings provide the basis for most ad sales, with Stop/Watch Local Markets. It will supplement TiVo’s measurements of national TV audiences with data from all but the smallest of the nation’s 210 markets.

TiVo will offer stations, advertisers and program producers year-round, second-by-second information about the shows and commercials watched by people who have one of the company’s DVRs. The anonymous data will come directly from the boxes.

“Imagine a local news department that has to decide where to put the sports and weather and how much time to devote,” says Todd Juenger, TiVo’s audience research and measurement general manager. “Having second-by-second graphs that show when the audience goes up, goes away or fast-forwards is a tremendous new piece of insight.”

Advertisers likely will be the most interested in the data. Nielsen just measures local program viewing four months a year in all but the 21 largest communities.

Information about “who’s viewing the commercial is a big plus for us,” says Kevin Gallagher, executive vice president at ad buyer Starcom USA. “Is it a be-all and end-all? We’ll have to look at it and see.”

TiVo’s sales of audience data supplement revenue from its struggling DVR business. The company has 3.3 million subscriptions, down 25 percent from its peak in early 2007. It would not discuss pricing for the data service.

TiVo’s privacy-protection policies prevent it from collecting important information that Nielsen can provide, including the number of people watching a TV set and demographic breakdowns.

“Our ratings are based on samples that reflect the viewing behavior of all households, not just those who have DVRs,” says Nielsen spokesman Gary Holmes.

Juenger says TiVo owners tend to be richer, better educated “and, unfortunately, a little more white” than the overall population, but “it isn’t a gigantic difference.”

He adds that DVRs will be “the way that most people will watch television in the near future.”

TiVo says its data will come from most of the DVRs that use its service, including ones that get it from DirecTV. It wouldn’t say whether Comcast will participate. Samples will range from 25,000 in the largest markets to 5,000 in small ones. Customers can opt out at TiVo’s website. Nielsen’s local samples range from 400 to 900.

Google-owned YouTube, bowing to the success of rival online video site Hulu, is shifting beyond short-form clips with a new area devoted to TV shows and older movies.

Unlike Hulu, which has access to most of the current prime-time lineup from NBC and Fox (including “30 Rock” and “The Simpsons”), YouTube has only one major network prime-time TV show, CBS’ “Harper’s Island.”

The rest of the 1,000-plus shows are golden nuggets such as “Charlie’s Angels,” “Bewitched” and “The Addams Family.”

YouTube is the Web’s dominant video site, but advertisers have been reluctant to spend big bucks there because so much of the fare is homemade video clips and instructional videos.

Madison Avenue prefers sites like Hulu, which have “premium” fare and a more targeted audience, said Phil Leigh, an analyst at Inside Digital Media.

“This is a significant step forward for YouTube, but also a consolation prize,” he said. “The studios are more comfortable elsewhere and won’t give YouTube their best content.”

Still, he noted that YouTube’s audience of nearly 90 million users is “equal to all the cable TV and satellite” subscribers in the United States and more than 10 times the size of Hulu’s audience.

“If only one-tenth of the users care about “Bewitched” or “The Addams Family” and watch, advertisers will be very happy,” he said.

In March, according to market tracker Nielsen Online, Hulu had 8.8 million users in the U.S., and showed 348 million videos, compared with 89.4 million visitors and 5.7 billion videos shown at YouTube.

Before Thursday, YouTube’s vast offerings consisted of mostly short clips except for three older TV shows, the original “Star Trek,” “MacGyver” and “Beverly Hills, 90210.”

Beyond the new shows, YouTube also is introducing traditional advertising methods for sponsors, via what it calls Google TV. Standard ads will appear at the beginning and middle of the show.

What’s different is that the ads work on the same auction model Google uses for search ads: Marketers bid on advertising in specific shows and pay a rate based on market interest.

Can electric cars make it, even with a White House push?

President Obama tours the Edison Electric Vehicle Technical Center during a March 19 trip to Pomona, Calif. His energy goals could help revitalize the U.S. automakers.

WASHINGTON – President Obama’s campaign pledge to put 1 million plug-in hybrid cars on the road by 2015 is fraught with difficulties, from technical and engineering hurdles to the realities of the economy and the price of gasoline.

It took eight long years to get 1 million hybrids on the road in the United States, and even a White House task force says one of the leading new plug-in cars being developed is too expensive to gain popularity any time soon.

Obama’s goal could help revitalize the struggling U.S. auto industry and begin shifting motorists away from the gas pump. But to many, it’s overly optimistic.

“The economics won’t make sense for the majority of Americans in the next several years,” said Brett Smith, who studies plug-in hybrids at the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Center for Automotive Research.

Plug-in hybrids allow motorists to drive a limited number of miles on battery power before the engine switches over to run on gasoline or other fuels. A driver can plug the car into a conventional wall outlet at night and be ready to go electric again in the morning.

The cars could dramatically reduce gasoline use because many commuters drive less than 40 miles a day.

Obama last month toured a California electric car facility where he announced $2.4 billion to develop advanced batteries and electric cars.

“Even as our American automakers are undergoing some painful adjustments, they are also retooling and reimagining themselves into an industry that can compete and win,” Obama said in Pomona, Calif.

During his campaign, Obama promised $4 billion in tax credits to automakers to revamp their plants to build plug-ins, and a $7,000 tax credit for consumers who buy early versions of the cars. He even pledged to convert the White House vehicle fleet to plug-ins within a year, as security permits, and require half of the cars bought by the government to be plug-in or all electric by 2012.

To automakers, battery makers and utilities, the pledge was akin to one made by President John F. Kennedy generations ago. “That’s a ‘Go to the moon’ kind of goal,” said Nancy Gioia, Ford’s director of hybrid vehicle programs. She said it would demand “unparalleled collaboration” among the government, the industry and academia.

Automakers are already committed to plug-ins and electric vehicles. Toyota Motor Corp. will produce a few hundred plug-in Prius hybrids later this year as a test fleet, General Motors Corp. plans to release an extended range electric plug-in called the Chevrolet Volt in limited numbers in late 2010, and Nissan Motor Co. is planning to sell an all-electric car next year. Chrysler LLC, Ford Motor Co. and Daimler AG are all developing plug-ins and electric cars.

But numerous questions remain about the cars. One of the biggest hurdles is whether their large lithium ion batteries are ready for mass production. Some analysts have pegged the cost of the batteries at $1,000 per kilowatt hour, which could add about $16,000 to the cost of a first-generation Volt and thousands of dollars to a plug-in Prius.

Conventional gas-electric hybrids account for less than 3 percent of the car market and it took about eight years to get 1 million hybrids on the road in the United States, according to consulting firm R.L. Polk & Co.

Obama’s own auto industry task force casts doubt on the Volt in a March 30 report which says while the car “holds promise, it will likely be too expensive to be commercially successful in the short term.” GM has not announced pricing for the Volt, but it’s expected to cost between $30,000 and $40,000.

The industry will also need a smooth transition for plug-ins to take off. Any hiccups along the way could hurt the vehicles’ image.

“They’ve got to be commercial-ready,” said Tom Stricker, Toyota’s director of technical and regulatory affairs. “You do risk having a negative response from the consumer if the technology doesn’t meet their expectation in terms of durability, cost and performance.”

The Chevrolet Volt

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IN THE PIPELINE

Several automakers are developing plug-in hybrid vehicles and electric cars that could help meet President Obama’s goal of putting 1 million plug-in hybrids on the road by 2015. Many industry officials say the goal is a worthy one but will be difficult to meet. A look at the work by some auto manufacturers:

GENERAL MOTORS CORP.: General Motors is set to produce the Chevrolet Volt, an extended range electric plug-in, in late 2010 in limited numbers. The Volt is the centerpiece of GM’s attempt to take the lead in electric vehicles and will have a lithium-ion battery and electric motor that can take the car 40 miles on a single charge. A gasoline engine will kick in to power a generator to extend the Volt’s range beyond the 40 miles. GM has not yet announced the price of the car, but the cost is expected to be $30,000 to $40,000.

TOYOTA MOTOR CORP.: Toyota will start global delivery of 500 Toyota Prius plug-in hybrids powered by lithium-ion batteries later this year. Of those, 150 will go to U.S. lease and fleet customers. The plug-in is expected to operate in a similar fashion to the current Prius model by using both gasoline and electricity to propel the vehicle. Toyota is also developing the FT-EV, an all-electric vehicle that is expected to have a range of 50 miles and be on U.S. roads by 2012.

CHRYSLER LLC: Chrysler has shown off five different electric-drive vehicles developed by its high-tech ENVI unit and said it plans to start selling one of the five models next year. The electric car prototypes include a Dodge sports car, a Jeep Wrangler and Patriot, a Chrysler minivan, and a concept version of an electric-powered sedan. The automaker is testing the vehicles simultaneously and recently announced that Massachusetts-based A123Systems will supply the lithium-ion batteries for the company’s extended range gas-electric cars and its all-electric cars.

FORD MOTOR CO.: Ford is planning to produce a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle beginning in 2012 and has been testing a fleet of vehicles through partnerships with several utilities around the nation. Ford has said it intends to bring a battery-electric van to market in 2010 for commercial use, a small battery-electric sedan developed with Magna International by 2011 and a plug-in electric car by 2012. Ford has said Johnson Controls-Saft will supply the battery system for their first production plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.

NISSAN MOTOR CO.: Nissan has outlined plans to mass-market electric vehicles by 2012, and to make the cars available on a wide scale in Israel and Denmark in 2011. Nissan’s all-electric car will be sold in late 2010 and have 100 miles of pure battery range. Nissan has developed partnerships with states and utilities to promote and develop electric vehicle charging networks.

TESLA MOTORS INC.: Tesla is selling the Roadster, an electric sports car which starts at $109,000 and can travel 244 miles on a 3.5-hour charge. The California automaker is developing the all-electric Model S sedan, which is expected to sell for $60,000 by mid-2011.

FISKER AUTOMOTIVE: The California automaker is releasing its $87,900 Karma plug-in luxury sports sedan, a four-seater with solar panels, in October. The plug-in can drive gas-free for 50 miles. Fisker is also developing the Karma S, a convertible expected in 2011.

WASHINGTON – Despite the dismal economy, motorists may want to take to the road this summer. The federal government says gasoline prices are expected to stay relatively low.

The Energy Information Administration on Tuesday projected regular-grade gasoline to average $2.23 a gallon during the April-through-September driving season. The monthly average is likely to peak at $2.30 a gallon. That’s still a bargain compared to last summer, when gasoline cost an average of $3.81 a gallon and soared for a time past $4.

The report also said U.S. crude oil production declined by 110,000 barrels a day last year because of Gulf Coast hurricanes, but should rebound by an additional 440,000 barrels to 5.4 million barrels a day this year, the first increase in domestic production since 1991.

In recent weeks gas prices have edged higher from their lows in December. Last week gasoline average $2.05 a gallon. The energy agency attributed the increases to slightly higher crude oil costs and refiners trying to recoup some profits.

The EIA report projects crude oil prices to average $53 a barrel this year, but to increase by about $10 a barrel in 2010. But it said a stronger-than-expected economic recovery, lower global production or “more aggressive action to cut production” by the OPEC oil cartel “could lead to a faster and stronger rise in oil prices.”

Despite the drop in crude prices as well as cheaper gasoline, U.S. consumption of petroleum products, mainly gasoline and diesel, is forecast to decline for a second year in a row because of the economic downturn, the report said.

It said consumption declined by 6.1 percent last year, compared with 2007, in part because of the high cost of fuel in the first half of the year, and is expected to drop another 2.2 percent this year, or by 430,000 barrels a day. An expected economic upturn will increase demand in 2010 by 1.4 percent, the report said.

There should be plenty of gasoline available this summer. Refinery production is projected to increase by about 240,000 barrels a day compared with last summer. Total gasoline stocks as of April 1 were slightly less than last year at this time, but higher than the five-year average.

More ethanol will be blended with gasoline this year, as required by law. The EIA said an average of 670,000 barrels a day of ethanol to be blended, compared to 635,000 barrels a day last summer.

Still, the EIA said the growth of ethanol plant capacity will slow dramatically in 2009 as lower gasoline prices depress profits in ethanol production and the constraints in the financial markets curtail plant construction plans.

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ON THE WEB

Energy Information Administration: www.eia.doe.gov

NEW YORK – The average annual interest rates charged on two popular types of credit cards dipped marginally last week, according to Bankrate.com, while overall rates held steady.

The declines followed two weeks of increases.

For balance transfer cards, which allow consumers to consolidate outstanding debt from one or more cards and sometimes include a low introductory rate, the average annual percentage rate edged down to 13.13 percent, from 13.15 percent a week earlier.

The average APR for cash back cards, which feature cash or other reward incentives and generally require a good-to-excellent credit rating for approval, was also slightly lower, 13.83, from 13.86 percent.

For low-interest cards, which have rates below the national average but are often offered only to customers with strong credit histories, the average APR was 11.6 percent, unchanged from the week before.

The average APR charged for all variable-rate cards tracked by Bankrate also held steady, at 10.69 percent.

Bankrate surveys the 10 largest banks and thrifts in the 10 largest markets in the U.S. to determine its averages.

WASHINGTON – Most people say they plan to use this year’s tax refund to pay bills, deciding in this sour economy to be more frugal with their annual windfall.

Fifty-four percent of those receiving refunds said they intend to pay off credit card, utility, housing and other bills, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll released Monday. That compares with 35 percent who said the same thing a year ago.

Only 5 percent, about the same as a year ago, said they planned to go on a shopping spree.

The survey found that 38 percent of those receiving a refund said they plan to spend at least part of it. But the spending appears to be mostly on basic needs: 17 percent said they would use the money for everyday needs such as food and clothing. It was 7 percent a year ago.

Phillip Barks of Aberdeen, Md., said he and his wife, Kristy, have spent their $3,800 refund. Most went toward a credit card bill.

“We didn’t pay that off, though,” said Phillip Barks, 31, who serves in the Army. “We just put a big dent in it.”

The Barks, who were not part of the poll, were interviewed on a downtown street in Washington.

A few blocks away, Shannon Wyss of Washington said she plans to save most her $1,066 refund. She will, however, treat herself a bit; she’s already spent $99 on a device for her iPhone.

“I need a pair of shoes,” said Wyss, 36, who works for the National AIDS Fund.

The deadline for individuals to file their 2008 tax returns is Wednesday. As of last week, the Internal Revenue Service had sent out about $200 billion in tax refunds. Commissioner Doug Shulman said the agency expects to send out about $330 billion by the end of tax season.

The AP-GfK poll found that 57 percent of adults said they expect to receive a tax refund. The average refund this year is about $2,700, compared with $2,500 last year, Shulman said.

For last-minute filers, Shulman said the quickest way to get a refund is to file electronically and have the refund deposited directly into a bank account. Those refunds take about 10 days to process, he said. Refund checks from paper returns take four to six weeks to process, he said.

The Obama administration is hoping this year’s refunds will help boost an economy that has shed more than 5 million jobs since December 2007. Congress passed a $787 billion economic recovery bill in February. The package was a mixture of government spending and tax cuts designed to get people to spend at a time when most are cutting back, saving more. It makes sense to be frugal when the economy is in such bad shape, but it hurts the economy when everyone does it.

The poll found that 35 percent of those receiving refunds plan to save or invest at least part of the money, a slight increase from a year ago. About 37 percent said they planned to use their refunds to pay down debt, including credit cards, and student and personal loans. A year ago, 24 percent said they would use at least part of their refunds to pay down debt.

Only 3 percent of those receiving refunds said they planned to invest at least part of the money in real estate, which has been depressed in markets across the country.

Michael Perch, 48, of Alexandria, Va., said he plans to use part of his hefty refund to take advantage of real estate bargains in the Atlanta area. Perch, a government contractor for the Defense Department, expects to receive a $17,000 refund.

Perch, who was interviewed near the White House, said he plans to buy affordable homes and rent them to struggling families, then sell the homes after the market improves.

“It’s tough out there right now,” he said.

The poll found that those making less than $50,000 a year were much more likely to use their tax refunds to pay bills or buy everyday items than those making more. People making more than $100,000 a year were more likely to use their refunds to go on a vacation.

Among the poll’s other findings:

• 31 percent of those receiving refunds said they will use at least part of the money to pay credit card bills, compared with 17 percent a year ago.

• 19 percent said they will use their refunds to pay utility bills, compared with 10 percent a year ago.

• 17 percent said they will use their refunds for rent or mortgage payments, compared with 7 percent a year ago.

• 11 percent of those receiving refunds said they would use them to go on vacation, a slight increase from a year ago.

• 5 percent said they planned to use their refund for a down payment on a car, also a slight increase.

• 4 percent said they would use their refunds to buy stocks or bonds, about the same as a year ago.

• 8 percent of those who owe taxes said they were very likely or somewhat likely to use a credit card to pay their tax bill.

The AP-GfK poll was conducted April 3-7 and involved landline and cell phone interviews with 1,002 randomly chosen adults. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points for the entire sample. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4.3 percentage points for those who have already received or expect to receive a tax refund from their 2008 taxes.

Associated Press Polling Director Trevor Tompson and AP News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this report.

———

POLL METHODS

The Associated Press-GfK Poll on taxes and tax refunds was conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media from April 3-7.

It is based on landline and cell phone telephone interviews with a nationally representative random sample of 1,002 adults, which included 533 adults expecting to receive or who have already received a tax refund from their 2008 tax returns. Interviews were conducted with 812 respondents on landline telephones and 190 on cellular phones.

Digits in the phone numbers dialed were generated randomly to reach households with unlisted and listed landline and cell phone numbers.

As is done routinely in surveys, results were weighted, or adjusted, to ensure that responses accurately reflect the population’s makeup by factors such as age, sex, education and race. In addition, the weighting took into account patterns of phone use — landline only, cell only and both types — by region.

No more than one time in 20 should chance variations in the sample cause the results to vary by more than plus or minus 3.1 percentage points from the answers that would be obtained if all adults in the U.S. were polled. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4.3 percentage points for those who have already received or expect to receive a tax refund from their 2008 taxes.

There are other sources of potential error in polls, including the wording and order of questions.

ON THE WEB

Poll results: www.ap-gfkpoll.com

By Stephen Ohlemacher, Ann Sanner

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Times lent some credibility to the phrase that you can’t believe everything you read in the newspaper Thursday when it ran an advertisement resembling a news story on its front page.

The ad for the new NBC program “Southland” covers half a vertical column below the fold. It’s labeled as an advertisement at the top but occupies space previously reserved for news. The text is next to a banner ad for the show at the bottom of the page.

University of Southern California journalism professor Bryce Nelson said it appeared to be the first time in recent history that an ad resembling a news story appeared on the front page of a major U.S. paper — something once featured in 19th-century papers.

“This kind of highly intrusive front page ad has not been a feature of American journalism in recent decades,” said Nelson, a former national correspondent for the Times.

Like all newspapers, the Times is struggling to stay afloat as advertising revenues crater, readers cancel their subscriptions and a growing number of people get their news free on the Internet.

Aside from those industry woes, the Times’ parent Tribune Co. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The Times said the ad was designed to stretch traditional boundaries.

“The delivery of news and information is a rapidly changing business and the Los Angeles Times is continuously testing innovative approaches,” a newspaper statement said. “That includes creating unique marketing opportunities for our advertising partners.”

Times spokeswoman Nancy Sullivan declined to say how much the paper was paid. NBC Universal spokesman Cory Shields did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Banner ads across the bottom of front pages have become common as newspapers seek new revenue sources. Advertisements made to look like news copy are also common on inside pages of many newspapers.

The Times ad that runs below its daily Column One feature purports to be a first-person account of a ride-along with a rookie policeman.

The text is in a different font than the news stories, and a black border separates it and the banner ad from the rest of the page.

“This is a loony idea,” said Ken Doctor, a news industry analyst for consultancy Outsell Inc. “It blurs the line for what you can trust in the LA Times and what you can’t.”

The Los Angeles Times is no stranger to controversy over blurred lines between news and promotion.

The paper was embarrassed in 1999 by revelations that managers secretly approved a deal to publish a special issue of its weekend magazine about the new Staples Center and split ad revenue from the publication with the sports venue.

Critics said the deal strained the paper’s credibility with its readers.

Nelson said readers will also likely be confused by Thursday’s TV show ad.

“I’ve grown resigned to front page ads in the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times, but I think this goes a good deal further,” he said.

The price of first class stamps is going from 42 cents to 44 cents on May 11, but postal customers can use their Forever stamps without adding additional postage.

NEW YORK – The price of a first-class stamp is set to jump again next month, meaning you might want to stock up on Forever stamps now.

On May 11, a first-class stamp will go up by 2 cents to 44 cents. Other rates are set to rise as well.

The post office adjusts rates each May, but any increases must be at or below the rate of inflation under a 2006 law.

Still, there have been more price hikes — six including the one next month — this decade than any other.

Consider the arc of stamp prices over the years.

In 1958, a first-class stamp cost 4 cents. It was 15 cents by 1978, and 32 cents in 1998. The Forever stamp made its debut in 2007, when it cost 41 cents.

A Forever stamp costs the same as a regular stamp, but can be used to mail letters at any time in the future regardless of how much prices go up.

Some might feel stocking up on Forever stamps now is a smart bet, with the postal service staring down some major financial challenges.

Postmaster General John Potter last month sought permission from Congress to cut mail delivery to five days a week, saying the post office will run out of money this year unless it gets help. The agency lost $2.8 billion last year and is looking at much steeper losses this year.

Any price hike is bound to provoke some complaints, but the bump won’t amount to a significant hit if you don’t use the mail often.

“For an average household, the change will amount to $3 extra over the course of the year,” said Yvonne Yoerger, a spokeswoman for the United States Postal Service.

Still, Yoerger says it can’t hurt to stock up on Forever stamps before the pending jump. At the very least, they’ll cut out the need to attach any pesky 1- or 2-cent stamps with old stamps.

Other rates set to rise on May 11:

• A postcard stamp will be 28 cents, up from 27 cents

• The first ounce of a large envelope will be 88 cents, up from 83 cents

• The first ounce of parcel post will be $1.22, up from $1.17

• The first ounce of first-class mail to Canada will be 75 cents, up from 72 cents

• The first ounce of first-class mail to Mexico will be 79 cents, up from 72 cents

• The first ounce of all other international first-class mail will be 98 cents, up from 94 cents.

BK Burger Shots

Honey, they shrunk the burgers.

The biggest names in burgers are doling out mini versions faster than you can say recession.

McDonald’s is testing a Snack Wrap Mac. Burger King is pushing BK Burger Shots. Jack in the Box sells Mini Sirloin Burgers. Johnny Rockets offers Sliders.

Never mind that casual-dining chains have peddled mini burgers for years. The new hubbub is about building perceived value, with the tiny burgers often sold in bundles of two, three or even six. But they must be cheap because they’re small, right?

“It’s more the illusion of a deal,” says Scott Hume, editor of BurgerBusiness.com. He adds that it is often cheaper to buy items off a restaurant’s value menu.

But burgers are going mini because chains need ways to keep food costs and consumer prices down during the recession. They’re putting the best face on it by positioning minis as fun food.

Restaurants have to do something to get folks to eat out. The industry, overall, has suffered falling same-store sales for nine consecutive months, with 56 percent reporting the downward trend in February, says the National Restaurant Association, an industry trade group.

But nutritionists warn that downing several mini burgers can outweigh eating one conventional burger, particularly when folks use dips.

“Mini burgers serve up maxi calories, fat and sodium,” says Hope Warshaw, the author of” Eat Out, Eat Right.

“Among the new offerings:

— Burger King. BK Burger Shots come in packs of two ($1.39) or six ($4.09). Two minis show “value” to consumers, and six scream “shareability,” says Russ Klein, marketing chief at Burger King.

The chain also is selling BK Breakfast Shots (ham, bacon or sausage with egg and cheese). And Burger King is considering mini chicken sandwiches, Klein says.

— Jack in the Box. It has Mini Sirloin Burgers in three-packs ($3.89) and is testing chicken minis.

“A lot of people are trying to reduce costs,” and smaller portions help, says Tammy Bailey, vice president of menu marketing.

— McDonald’s. Mickey D’s is testing Snack Wrap Macs, mini Big Macs in flour tortillas ($1.49), at 400 restaurants, says spokeswoman Danya Proud.

— Johnny Rockets. The diner chain has rolled out Sliders, mini hot dogs and mini chili dogs sold in three-packs (prices vary by location). There’s no charge for dips, including chipotle and Dijonnaise. Look this summer for five-packs in which folks can mix mini burgers and mini hot dogs.

“Times are tough,” says marketing chief Tim Gorman. “This is softer on pocketbooks.”