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A jury sentenced a Lakeview man to 10 years in prison for growing nearly 7,500 marijuana plants. Andrew Stever, 40, was sentenced on Monday after a three-day trial in the Federal District Court in Medford.Ten years is the mandatory minimum sentence for anyone convicted of growing 1,000 or more pot plants. In July 2007, officers from several local, state and federal agencies found 7,459 plants growing on Stever's Lakeview property, which bordered Forest Service land. Two men fled the scene, leaving behind personal property and three firearms, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Portland. Physical evidence and testimony linked...

Charlotte, N.C. - One thing the financial crisis shows is that the United States is in trouble because Americans have stopped making stuff. It used to be that we made a lot of stuff: televisions, clothes, washing machines, radios, typewriters, shoes, telephones, and furniture. And we also used to make the stuff out of which stuff was made: steel, aluminum, plastic, rubber, glass, and electrical components. Today that's largely made overseas. They send us their stuff and we send them our money. It also used to be that Americans liked to make stuff. Think of all the things Thomas Edison...

Should we accept endless Chinese products and the resulting trade deficits or is it possible we can return to the days when American-made products were in greater supply and easier to find? Todd Lipscomb, founder of www.MadeInUSAForever.com, thinks that even as multinationals continue to outsource there are many smaller companies that simply will not give up on America, and he believes some of these will become the next core of U.S. manufacturing. Let's certainly hope so. At www.MadeInUSAForever.com you'll find more than 500 American-made products to browse over, and there are plans to double the number of items in the...

Weak dollar, costly crude mean foreign companies are looking anew at U.S. LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Forget about China, the U.S. is the new hot spot for global firms looking for lower production and transport costs, increased supply-chain flexibility and a crack at wooing the world's most demanding customers. France's Alstom a maker of high-speed trains and power turbines, this week became the latest European firm to unveil plans for a facility across the Atlantic. The group said it will build a $200 million plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., to mitigate the impact of the weak dollar on its margins and to...

Holiday Shopping: Putting Our Money Where Our Mouth Is Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah FRiends! This is the time of year that is special because is engenders the spirit of giving and selflessness of its sacred origins. Each of us, in his or her own way, has a special place in our heart for this joyful time. As we put others' needs and desires first, as we look forward to the expression of surprise and delight on our loved ones' faces as they receive our gifts, as we peruse the ailes, let us consider the economic import of our duty. Some...

Still Made In America by: Nirmala Punnusami, October 09, 2007 There are the “Jeremiahs,” the prophets of doom, who assert that the manufacturing industry in the United States of America is declining, but panelists Bill Lane, Lloyd Wood, Robert Scott, and Dan Ikenson argued at the Cato Institute on Tuesday, September 25, 2007, that the manufacturing industry is, indeed, “thriving,” as “the revenues, profits, profit rates, return on investments , and exports and imports are all on the rise.” It was Daniel Ikenson who, in his informative paper “Thriving in a Global Economy: The Truth About United States Manufacturing...

Level Field Institute Campaign Attacks Foreign Manufacturers' Claims By Ira Teinowitz Published: May 11, 2006 WASHINGTON (AdAge.com) -- As Americans continue to buy cars from Asian transplants, a new group is launching an ad campaign aimed at getting the U.S. population to return to domestic makes. A TV spot encourages Americans to buy from the Big Three automakers A $1 million buy In a TV spot, the organization, known as Level Field Institute, explains that its campaign aims to tell "the truth about foreign automakers' made-in-America ad claims." The $1 million print and broadcast buy, which the group says was...

Props to a somewhat obscure American TV show John Ratzenberger’s Made In America: Travel Channel - 215 on Satellite Dish network, Saturdays & Tuesdays early PM. John Ratzenberger - AKA Cliff Claven on Cheers - Hosts a show where he travels around America to the Factories and workshops that produce American made goods. The show has a definite patriotic theme. If you haven’t seen it, check it out.

"Uncover the stories and secrets behind some of America's best-known and -loved products. With John Ratzenberger as your guide, you know he won't leave any factoid unrevealed!"

Federal Trade Commission Received Documents Jan 19 1996 B18354900068 Secretary SENATOR JOHN KERRY COMMENTS SUBMITTED TO THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION THE "MADE IN AMERICA" ENFORCEMENT STANDARD January 10, 1996 I am pleased to submit comments to the Federal Trade Commission in connection with its review of the "Made in America" enforcement standard and to request that I or a representative of my office be allowed to participate in the public workshop on "Made in the USA" claims in public advertising. I am encouraged that the commission is re-examining its enforcement standard for "Made in America" advertising claims. The Commission...

<p>DOBBS: Hundreds of thousands of jobs being exported overseas to cheap labor markets and a record high trade deficit causing many Americans to fight back. They are part of what is a growing movement to support companies that keep their goods and services made in America.</p>

Copyright 2003 Gannett Company, Inc. Gannett News Service December 14, 2003, Sunday LENGTH: 1339 words HEADLINE: Buying American? Don't count on it BYLINE: GREG BARRETT; Gannett News Service DATELINE: WASHINGTON BODY: WASHINGTON -- The kitschy Made In America store inside Washington's Union Station isn't all its name suggests. The retailer bedecked in red, white and blue sells American flag earrings made in China. Ditto for the American flag luggage tag. Made In America's glow-in-the-dark FBI T-shirt? Made in Honduras. The United States Special Forces T-shirt? Mexico. A store tag stamped Made In America can be a misnomer -- and a...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. WASHINGTON -- The kitschy Made In America store inside Washington's Union Station isn't all its name suggests. The retailer bedecked in red, white and blue sells American flag earrings made in China. Ditto for the American flag luggage tag. Made In America's glow-in-the-dark FBI T-shirt? Made in Honduras. The United States Special Forces T-shirt? Mexico. A store tag stamped Made In America can be a misnomer -- and a hollow claim in this age of annual $500 billion U.S. trade deficits. Even Made In America's commander in chief baseball cap is...

Articles - Publication Date 9.1.2003 Bye-Bye To 'Buy American'? --------------------------------------------------------Today's U.S. consumer marketplace is a melting pot of people, products and paychecks. Manufacturers need to ask: Does 'Made in America' matter to their customers anymore? By David Drickhamer Editor's Note: This is the fourth installment of a seven-part series that details the strategic and often gut-wrenching shifts taking place in manufacturing. It appears in the September 2003 issue of IndustryWeek. IW will introduce a new installment each month throughout the remainder of 2003. Wal-Mart's story is as all-American as they come. It grew from a regional chain in the 1960s...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. DETROIT (AP) — General Motors Corp. is counting on a reincarnation of the car nicknamed ``the Goat'' to give its Pontiac division the sales kick it needs. The automaker released the first sketch Thursday of what will be the 2004 Pontiac GTO, a 21st century version of the popular muscle car that went out of production in 1974. Unlike the old ``Goat,'' the new kid is based on the Monaro, built by GM's Australian subsidiary Holden. But it will be pumped up with an LS1 aluminum engine and beyond 300 horsepower...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. SCRANTON, Pa. -- Scranton Lace Co., once the world's largest producer of Nottingham lace and later a symbol of the region's dying textile industry, has stopped production. The 105-year-old company employed more than 1,400 people at its peak in the early 20th century and used enormous, one-of-a-kind looms to create Nottingham lace, named for the city in England where the looms were made. Robert Christy, of Scranton, a weaver at the plant, said company vice president Robert Hine called the company's 50 or so remaining employees together halfway through their shift...