PR Newswire Broadcast Minute and Podcast for Tuesday, August 29, 2006

PR Newswire Broadcast Minute and Podcast for Tuesday, August 29, 2006

To hear a Podcast of the PR Newswire Broadcast Minute and other MultiVu radio content, cut and paste this URL into your podcast application (e.g. iTunes, iPodder): http://feeds.feedburner.com/prnewswire_bcm

NEWSWEEK: One Year After Katrina: 58 Percent of Americans are Dissatisfied With Progress in Rebuilding New Orleans, Gulf Coast ... 51 Percent Say Bush Has Not Followed Up on His Promise to Rebuild

One year after Hurricane Katrina, 58 percent of Americans are dissatisfied with the progress that has been made in rebuilding the city of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, according to the latest Newsweek Poll. Only 28 percent are satisfied. Fifty-one percent of those polled say President Bush has not followed through on his promise to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast; 32 percent say that he has. Poll respondents who were dissatisfied with the lack of progress to date differ as to who is most to blame for the lack of progress: 33 percent say the heads of federal agencies like FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security, 24 percent say President Bush, 19 percent say state and local government officials in the affected areas and 20 percent say all or a combination of these parties deserve most of the blame.

Full story at: http://media.prnewswire.com/en/jsp/main.jsp?resourceid=3280432

U.S. Adults Deeply Pessimistic About Middle East, Believing No Parties are Willing to Compromise to Secure Peace

A Harris Poll finds only one in one hundred U-S adults think there will be peace in the Middle East in the next year, while one in ten feel that there will be peace in the next ten years. This deeply pessimistic view of the future is based on a sense that none of the parties involved are willing to compromise to secure a lasting peace.

Full story at: http://media.prnewswire.com/en/jsp/main.jsp?resourceid=3280299

$2.6 Million to Be Donated to September 11th Charities from 'World Trade Center' Opening

A total donation of two-point-six million dollars from opening ticket sales of the film "World Trade Center" will be made to four New York-based charities that honor the memory of those lost in the September eleventh attacks and provide ongoing help to their families. The two-point-six million total represents ten percent of the box office receipts for the film's opening five days, from Wednesday, August ninth, through Sunday, August 13th, from nearly three-thousand theaters throughout the U-S.

Full story at: http://media.prnewswire.com/en/jsp/main.jsp?resourceid=3281135

Examining Impact of Gas Prices by Income Categories Highlights How Middle- and Lower-Middle Income Americans Are Coping - By Scrimping, Eliminating Non- Necessities and Searching for Lower-Cost Products

More than three-quarters of Americans believe gas prices will continue to climb, and an equally high percentage say they've had to cut back or change spending habits already because of their gas bills.

The survey by the Boston Consulting Group found that while, as a whole, Americans say they're still confident they'll be able to maintain their current lifestyle, most probably through smart spending practices, the impact of the cost of gas on households with less than 75-thousand dollars of annual income is significant.

Full story at: http://media.prnewswire.com/en/jsp/main.jsp?resourceid=3281036

Sales of Alternative Fuel Autos Continue to Rise

Facing rising gas prices, automakers say Americans are buying more alternative fuel autos, including hybrids, diesel and ethanol- capable vehicles.

The number of alternative fuel automobiles on U-S roads has reached nine million, according to new figures released by R-L Polk and Company. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers said that there were approximately eight- point-three million alternative fuel autos on the road at the close of 2005, and more than 700-thousand hybrids, diesel and ethanol vehicles have been purchased in the first half of 2006. That puts automakers on track to reach their goal of sales of a million. Automakers have set a goal of selling one million hybrids, diesel and ethanol vehicles in 2006, and two million by 2008.

Automakers are now selling 46 models of alternative fuel autos, including ethanol vehicles capable of running on 85 percent ethanol, clean diesel autos and hybrid electric vehicles. Another 35 models of alternative fuel autos are in development for future introduction.

Full story at: http://media.prnewswire.com/en/jsp/main.jsp?resourceid=3280649

The PR Newswire Broadcast Minute is available by email at no charge to members of the media who sign up for PR Newswire for Journalists, http://www.prnewswire.com/media . For more information, contact Rob Fisher at 408-365-8793 or email rob.fisher@prnewswire.com .

PRNewswire -- Aug. 29

Source: PR Newswire

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