Consumer News

Tomorrow, May 3rd, marks the return of free comic book day. This is the 7th straight year that the comic industry is luring customers into their stores with free comic books.

This year, expect to see a lot of Iron Man if you visit a comic book store this year. The movie 'Iron Man' is being released to positive reviews and is set to be one of the biggest movies this summer.

Do you feel bad about going to a comic book store and not paying anything? If you answered "yes" you may be interested in a new line of hats that are being launched by New Era brands. The first two hats are hitting stores this weekend and feature Incredible Hulk and Iron Man. The line will also include Captain America, X-Men to Launch Every Few Months Through 2010.

"We're ecstatic to align ourselves with such an iconic brand as Marvel," said Gerry Matos, Senior VP of Marketing at New Era. "With their vast collection of characters and our signature caps as a canvas, we expect the demand for these caps to be high."

Matos added that new hats will be released about every 2 to 3 months.

Here are the local Cleveland comic book retailers that are participating in the annual event:

Juicy Couture, the California apparel company made famous by the likes of Britney Spears and other Hollywood elite, has filed a lawsuit against Victoria's Secret. In the filing, Juicy Couture accuses Victoria's Secret of stealing their idea of putting their name on the backsides of women's clothing.

The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday in Manhattan, in which Juicy Couture claims:

"The similarities are not inadvertent and are designed to capitalize on the success of Juicy Couture."

Further suggesting that Victoria's Secret is out to steal and capitalize on all their ideas, Juicy Couture also accuses them of selling clothes wrapped in the shape of lollipops, bon bons and ice cream cones in order to mimic the success of their Sweet Shoppe packaging.

But that's not all! The suit also claims that VS is using deceptive trade practices, and is trying to capitalize on the success of Juicy Couture.

Juicy is asking for the judge to order all of the offending clothes destroyed, and is asking for triple damages, or three times the profits that VS made through the sale of its allegedly stolen ideas.

According to federal regulators, a nationwide emergency alert system that utilizing text messages on cell phones and other mobile devices is currently in the works. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is planning to establish technical standards and other requirements to make this possible.

Wireless would not be required to upgrade their networks to accommodate the alerts. However, those carriers who do agree to join the program will be subject to implementing FCC standards. The network is expected to be operational by 2010.

AT&T, Sprint, Nextel, T-Mobile, and Verizon have all said that they will participate if the FCC adopts an advisory committee's recommendations on how the system will work. Amongst the recommendations are limiting warnings to English and 90 characters in length. The FCC is expected to approve the recommendations.

A merger between the two names in satellite radio became much more likely today as the Department of Justice said they have closed their investigation that a merger would create a monopoly.

The DOJ's Antitrust Divisionr eleased this statement that read:

"After a careful and thorough review of the proposed transaction, the Division concluded that the evidence does not demonstrate that the proposed merger of XM and Sirius is likely to substantially lessen competition, and that the transaction therefore is not likely to harm consumers. The Division reached this conclusion because the evidence did not show that the merger would enable the parties to profitably increase prices to satellite radio customers for several reasons, including: a lack of competition between the parties in important segments even without the merger; the competitive alternative services available to consumers; technological change that is expected to make those alternatives increasingly attractive over time; and efficiencies likely to flow from the transaction that could benefit consumers.

The massive blizzard in Cleveland has shut down countless flights in and out of Cleveland tonight. Continental Airlines, the major carrier out of Hopkins Airport, has released this statement for people affected by the delays:

With severe winter weather forecast for Ohio through Saturday, Continental Airlines announced travel options for customers whose flight plans may be affected by the storm.

Weather conditions are expected to make air travel difficult in the area. This forecast will force some delays and cancellations of flights at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.

To avoid inconvenience, travelers scheduled on flights through Saturday may wish to delay commencement of their trip.

Customers ticketed for travel through March 8 to or from Cleveland are permitted a one-time date or time change to their flights without penalty. Rescheduled travel must originate by March 15. If a flight has been canceled, a refund in the original form of payment can be requested.

The fastest and most convenient way to change travel plans is via continental.com. Customers should enter their confirmation number and last name in "Manage Reservations." Customers may also call Continental Airlines reservations at 800-525-0280 or their travel agent.

continental.com provides an overview of Continental operations as well as up-to-date information regarding the status of specific flights. Automated flight status information is also available at 800-784-4444.

After a Pennsylvania woman reported finding pills inside her frozen fish fillets, Gorton's Seafood announced a recall. According to the company, there has been just this one case of contaminated fish reported, and that no illness had resulted. Nevertheless, the Gloucester, MA. company said they were recalling the fillets as a precaution.

Gorton's Seafood announced a recall of frozen fish fillets after a Pennsylvania woman reported finding pills inside them.

The affected product is Gorton's 6 Crispy Battered Fish Fillets with the UPC code 4440015770 and date code 7289G1. The product was distributed to stores in California, Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Texas, and are now being removed from store shelves.

Consumers who have bought the product may arrange for a refund by sending the empty box to Gorton's Recall Center, PO Box 6075, Englewood, NJ 07631-0075.

2008 will be a prosperous year for people who get there paychecks on Tuesday or Wednesday. The American Payroll Association says that because of the leap year, some lucky people will get one extra paycheck this year.

"In an average year, most days are repeated 52 times. In 2008, however, two days will repeat 53 times -- Tuesday and Wednesday," said Dan Maddux, executive director of the American Payroll Association. "Employees that are paid on either a Tuesday or Wednesday may get an extra paycheck in 2008."

If you are on a salary, the extra paycheck could have an adverse affect. Since their are more paydays, your take home pay could be cut down because of more paydays. That is bad news for salaried workers who live paycheck to paycheck.

Ford Motor Co. issued a recall on 470,000 Ford Mustangs this week due to safety concerns surrounding the deployment of passenger side air bags. The recall targets 2005 to 2008 model year Mustangs.

The recall was issued due to the possibility that the air bag could injure an unbelted passenger. No injuries have yet been reported, but the company is taking preventative steps to recalibrate the force of the air bag.

Those owners of a Ford Mustang affected by the recall will receive notification in the mail which outlines the steps that should be taken.

If you watch any amount of television, you've undoubtedly seen the onslaught of pharmaceutical ads that run during commercial breaks. One such ad for Lipitor, which has been run countless times over the past few years, is now under fire after a congressional committee questioned its authenticity.

The Lipitor ads feature Dr. Robert Jarvik, who according to the New York Times, is not a cardiologist or even a licensed doctor. And he's most certainly not a rower, as the ad depicts. But that's not the way the makers of the number one selling drug in the world portray him in the TV ads.

Some earlier versions of the TV ads also made the claim that Jarvik is the inventor of the artificial heart, which is misleading. The credit should actually go to Drs. Willem J. Kolff and Tetsuzo Akutsu, said former Jarvik colleagues. Jarvik is actually credited with making improvements on the artificial heart. These ads were later changed to say that he invited "the Jarvik artificial heart."

The House Energy & Commerce Committee is still proceeding with its investigation into Pfizer and their misleading Lipitor ads.

All 7,100 U.S. Starbucks stores will close on Tuesday, but don't worry - it's only temporary. Starbucks stores across the country will close for approximately three hours beginning at 5:30pm local time. While the stores are closed to customers, Starbucks employees, internally referred to as "baristas", will be meeting for a re-education session.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced the closure to re-energize the company's 135,000 employees. He hopes that baristas will share their passion for espresso, and "to pull the perfect shot, steam milk to order, and customize their favorite beverage."

Schultz returned as CEO in January, and has since been making changes to revive the company's growth. He sees this training session as a part of his focus on the coffee customer experience.

So remember, there'll be no Starbucks coffee today between 5:30pm and 8:30pm local time, and you might want to get your fix in before then.