Sonari Glinton

After more than 30 years, production of the Ford Crown Victoria and Lincoln Town Car has ended. The large, gas guzzling, rear-wheel drive behemoths have been the favorites of limo drivers, taxi drivers and police officers for more than a generation.

The end of the Town Car and the Crown Vic, as it's affectionately known, comes as Ford tries to become a hipper and more fuel-efficient company.

Not having a summer or after-school job affects more than just a kid's wallet. It also has real consequences for his or her personal and economic development.

While the overall unemployment rate is stuck at 9.1 percent, the unemployment rate for 16- to 19-year-olds has been going up since February. Currently 25.4 percent of teenagers who want jobs can't find them.

There's a hot dog war going on between Kraft Foods which makes Oscar Mayer hot dogs and Sara Lee the maker of Ball Park franks. A judge in Chicago is hearing a case in which each side says the other broke false-advertising laws by saying that their respective hot dogs won a national taste test.

Verizon landline workers are on strike. They say their service is the bedrock of the company's booming wireless business. They don't want to give up benefits just because they work on a less profitable side of the business now. Management says to stay competitive, the 45,000 landline workers can't be paid as if the company is a monopoly.

The volatile stock market has people worried.

After the downgrade of Treasury Bonds by Standard & Poor's, consumers might be less likely to buy a home, car or other big ticket item if they believe the economy is going south.

But even as the market suffers through fits and falls, people are visiting car dealers. On a recent day, Jack Myers was trading in his gigantic, black 2002 Chevy pickup at a dealership in southeast Michigan.

"Well this [truck] is eating gas," Myers said, "and we [want] something more economical. We're purchasing a hybrid."