PAUL SAKUMA / Associated Press Roxann Bramlage of the state Department of Food and Agriculture monitored food safety during a romaine lettuce harvest in Salinas.

SALINAS – Government regulators never acted on calls for stepped-up inspections of leafy greens after last year's deadly E. coli spinach outbreak, leaving the safety of America's salads to a patchwork of largely unenforceable rules and the industry itself.

Local gasoline prices continue to increase, with some experts predicting they'll rise another nickel or so before leveling off. The average price for unleaded regular in San Diego County yesterday was $2.92 per gallon, up 7 cents from last week and 13 cents from two weeks ago, according to the Utility Consumers' Action Network.

Southwest Airlines is turning lemons into lemonade, or better yet, miniskirts into haute couture. After catching flak for chiding a young San Diego woman about her abbreviated outfit on a recent flight, the Dallas company yesterday announced “skimpy” sale fares of $49 to $109 each way, available nationwide for 10 days.

Upscale home builder Hovnanian Enterprises began a three-day sales event yesterday in 19 states that effectively cuts home prices by up to $100,000 through incentives and offers of extra appliances and upgrades.

For the second time this year, Qualcomm has replaced the Silicon Valley law firm that was representing the wireless giant in a major patent infringement dispute. At one level, the move to replace the Cupertino law firm of Day Casebeer Madrid & Batchelder was a minor procedural matter in a lawsuit Qualcomm filed against Nokia two years ago.

If you're banking on an interest rate cut fairly soon – and you should – it's time to consider what moves to make with your money. Do you lock up a CD now? Wait around to refinance? Drag your feet on a car loan?

You will notice today that the tables rounding up weekly stock and mutual fund performance have been eliminated from the newspaper. With an ever growing majority of people tracking their investments on the Internet, we have concluded that devoting so much space to the tables is not the most efficient use of our resources.