Bond and Hulshof discuss economy
By KEVIN COLEMAN of the Tribune’s staff
Missouri Sen. Kit Bond teamed up with Rep. Kenny Hulshof yesterday in Columbia for an economic roundtable designed to tout a recent tax bill totaling $70 billion in cuts over five years.

Mortgage loan study suggests lending bias
Knight Ridder Newspapers
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Two Americans, one black and one white, apply for similar mortgage loans. They have similar incomes, similar credit scores. They intend to make similar down payments.

Government asks companies to keep Web surfing data
Knight Ridder Newspapers
SAN JOSE, Calif. - The U.S. Department of Justice has told Google, Microsoft and other major Internet companies that it wants them to keep detailed records of where people go while surfing the Web for up to two years.

Stocks extend gains on mixed inflation data
NEW YORK (AP) - Wall Street rallied for a second session yesterday as investors brushed aside mixed signals on inflation a day after the Federal Reserve said it was concerned about rising prices. The Dow Jones industrial average surged nearly 92 points and the Nasdaq composite index, battered during the market’s May slump, turned positive for the year.

Payroll growth stalls with 75,000 jobs added
WASHINGTON (AP) - Job growth faltered in May, with employers boosting payrolls by just 75,000. Yet the nation’s unemployment rate dipped to 4.6 percent, the lowest since the summer of 2001.

Grandmother takes on Merck in Vioxx trial
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - Soon after her heart attack in January 2004, longtime Vioxx user Elaine Doherty, 68, underwent a double heart bypass. The arthritic grandmother of seven still manages to babysit her daughter’s two school-age children, whose father was killed in the World Trade Center attacks.

Sales drop spurs Ford to offer new incentive
Chicago Tribune
Citing a spike in gas prices for a 2 percent sales decline in May, Ford Motor Co. has rolled out a new incentive offering zero percent financing for 36 to 72 months plus free fuel with the purchase of most 2006 Ford brand vehicles.