News In Brief

IF ONLY IT DIDN'T STAIN

First, ketchup users battled to pound the tasty condiment out of glass bottles. Plastic containers solved that, but another issue remained: how to avoid the watery mess that squirts out first. Now, researchers at H.J. Heinz Co., along with Seaquist Closures in Mukwonago, Wis., have come up with a solution. When the bottle is turned upside down, water quickly fills a cap while the red stuff oozes up a stubby straw and out the top. "Trap caps" could be in stores by July.

DOES THIS MEAN I'M EXCUSED?

The new form for jury duty in Los Angeles County is so complicated it's being compared to a mortgage application. "This is horrible," fumed Judge Lance Ito, of O.J.-Simpson-trial fame. Until revisions are widely available in September, office assistants are stuck fielding calls from confused jurors-to-be.

Absolute worst car on road: Poll results say it's the Yugo

Tom and Ray Magliozzi, hosts of the popular National Public Radio program "Car Talk," have conferred on the Yugo the distinction of Worst Car of the Millennium. Their choice follows an online vote by 25,000 people via the www.cars.com Web site. The top 10 finishers, and the percentage of respondents who rated each as the worst car:

1. Yugo 33.7%

2. Chevy Vega 15.8%

3. Ford Pinto 12.6%

4. AMC Gremlin 8.5%

5. Chevy Chevette 7.0%

6. Renault LeCar 4.3%

7. Dodge Aspen/Plymouth Volare 4.1%

8. Cadillac Cimarron 4.0%

9. Renault Dauphine 3.6%

10. VW Bus 2.7%

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