L.L. Bean planning to open first Vermont store this fall

Freeport-based outdoor retailer L.L. Bean is opening its first store in Vermont this fall.

The 18,000-square-foot store will be in the Burlington Town Center.

It’s scheduled to open in late October and employ about 100 people.

L.L. Bean says it decided to expand into Burlington because of the large number of catalog and Web customers in the area, and the proximity to natural resources and opportunities for outdoor activities. It’s the company’s 20th store outside of Maine.

Motor vehicle crashes cost U.S. $871 billion in 2010

The economic and societal harm from motor vehicle crashes amounted to a whopping $871 billion in a single year, according to a study released Thursday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The study examined the economic toll of car and truck crashes in 2010, when 32,999 people were killed, 3.9 million injured and 24 million vehicles damaged. Those deaths and injuries were similar to other recent years.

Of the total price, $277 billion was attributed to economic costs – nearly $900 for every person living in the U.S. that year. Harm from loss of life, pain and decreased quality of life due to injuries was pegged at $594 billion.

The economic cost was the equivalent of nearly 2 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product in 2010. The safety agency produces such calculations about once a decade.

Southwest Airlines fined $200,000 for misleading ad

Southwest Airlines is being fined $200,000 for advertising a fare sale too good to be true.

The U.S. Department of Transportation said Thursday that in TV ads last October the airline promised flights from Atlanta to New York, Chicago and Los Angeles for just $59 – but didn’t make any seats available at that price.

The government says Southwest’s ads were deceptive and violated rules on advertising of airline fares.

Southwest is being required to pay an extra $100,000 that was suspended after a similar offense last year.

—From news service reports

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