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Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

Firm files lawsuit ovr 'Apprentice'

Mark Burnett Productions, the Los Angeles company behind the Donald Trump show ``The Apprentice,'' has sued a product placement company for allegedly telling advertisers it had exclusive rights to broker appearances on the show.

In a lawsuit filed last week, Burnett Productions claimed that Madison Road Entertainment charged advertisers up to 250 percent more than it eventually paid to Burnett to get brands included in the on-air contestant challenges.

Kroger reporting mixed Q4 results

Kroger Co., the nation's largest supermarket chain, reported a $675.9 million loss for its fourth-quarter on Tuesday despite a rise in overall sales. The loss was partially the result of a $884 million after-tax charge for writing down the value of its brands, Ralphs and Food 4 Less.

Fourth-quarter sales for the company rose 5.1 percent to $13.7 billion. Kroger stock fell 87 cents to $16.85 on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock has traded between $14.65 and $19.30 the past year.

Boeing's new 777 makes first test

SEATTLE - Boeing Co.'s new 777-200LR, the longest-range commercial airplane, successfully completed its first test flight Tuesday.

The latest version of Boeing's wide body 777 spent about three hours in the air, reaching an altitude of 15,000 feet, before touching down at Seattle's Boeing Field, Boeing said in a statement. The airplane, which took off from Paine Field in Everett, will now continue flight testing in preparation for its first delivery in January 2006, to Pakistan International Airlines.

The airplane, which can carry up to 301 passengers, has a range of 10,840 miles, allowing it to fly nonstop between almost any two cities in the world, according to Chicago-based Boeing.

Taco Bell deal aid to tomato workers

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Taco Bell will spend an additional $100,000 a year on the tomatoes it buys under a deal with a group that had criticized the fast-food chain for not doing enough to help the farmworkers, the company said Tuesday.

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a group of mostly Latino laborers from the tomato-growing region around Immokalee, Fla., had sponsored a three-year campaign called the ``Taco Bell Truth Tour.'' The effort asked people to stay away from Taco Bell and restaurants run by its Louisville-based parent, Yum! Brands Inc., until the company pressured tomato growers to provide better wages and living conditions for farmworkers.

Yum also owns KFC, Pizza Hut, Long John Silver's and A&W All-American Food Restaurants.

DSW Shoe credit card info stolen

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Credit card information from customers of more than 100 DSW Shoe Warehouse stores was stolen from a company computer's database over the last three months, a lawyer for the national chain said Tuesday.

The company discovered the theft of credit card and personal shopping information on Friday and reported it to federal authorities, said Julie Davis, general counsel for the chain's parent, Retail Ventures Inc. The Secret Service is investigating, she said.

DSW was alerted by a credit card company that noticed suspicious activity, she said.

Customers should check their credit card statements and report any irregularities, Davis said. She did not know how many customers might be affected.