SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea said Wednesday it would return to nuclear disarmament talks in an effort to get access to frozen overseas bank accounts, a vital source of hard currency for the impoverished and isolated communist nation.

A bank account to help the family of two young brothers killed in a car crash Friday night has been set up to accept donations at Wells Fargo Bank.

WASHINGTON - The government started depositing thousands of rebate checks in taxpayers' bank accounts on Monday, earlier than originally scheduled, with the Bush administration hoping the payments will give a jump-start to a weak economy.

Yes, new Vikings owner-to-be Reggie Fowler didn’t really play in the NFL, didn’t really play in the Canadian League (has anyone ever lied about playing in the CFL?), didn’t really play in the Little League World Series (if he had, would he have lied about his age?) and for some reason, never read his diploma from the University of Wyoming (he has a degree in social work, not business administration as he claimed).

LOS ANGELES - Michael Jackson is suing his former accountants, claiming they withdrew $2.5 million a year from his bank accounts but did not properly pay his bills. The lawsuit by Jackson and MJJ Productions Inc. was filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court against Bernstein, Fox, Whitman, Goldman & Sloan, alleging negligence and breach of fiduciary duty.

MILWAUKEE - Every time Kathleen Hirscher receives a bill for her health insurance, the premium is higher.

Tom Patterson: A California physician tells of a patient who came in for a checkup. She appeared to be in good health, so he ordered a few routine tests from a page of laboratory procedures. The patient had other ideas. She demanded that every test on the menu be performed.

Government and education reform will continue to be key in the District 19 legislative race for the Arizona House of Representatives.

A Mesa accountant who bilked victims out of $600,000 during a tax scam was sentenced on Tuesday to 32 months in federal prison.

When Jill Kelley pulls out her plastic to buy clothes, movie tickets or gas, mom and dad are watching. Jill, 16, uses an Allow Card, a prepaid debit card featuring technology that lets her parents monitor and restrict how and where she spends her monthly allowance.

Quick. How much are you paying every month just to have a checking account? And for ATM Fees? If you’re not sure, it’s time to find out.

Mesa mom Lynell Watkins wanted to make sure her 14-year-old twin daughters learned how to manage money early on to avoid potential disaster later in life.

A Mesa accountant who owned a tax return preparation company in Mesa and Scottsdale is facing up to 50 years in federal prison and $500,000 in fines for admitting he stole nearly $600,000 from clients for personal use.

A 37-year-old Mesa man accused of forging checks and running up charges on a deceased woman’s credit card was arrested Tuesday.

If you're too young for Medicare, consider a health savings account.

Did you know there is a way to convert your business accounts receivable received from selling tangible personal products into your 401(k) as an investment while reducing your business taxes and receiving tax-free income all at the same time? This is a little-known tax strategy that is permitted by the pension rules but not promoted by banks, insurance companies or investment firms (there is no product for them to sell).

Surveys show 90 percent of American parents don’t keep track of how much spending money they give to their children each month. And a typical college student will emerge after graduation with thousands of dollars in credit card debt.

The new, tax-sheltered health savings account, part of the Medicare bill passed late last year by Congress, has big potential benefits for small business owners, their employees and their employees' families.

The number of Americans paying little or no bank fees each month has dropped slightly this year after steadily increasing in previous years, according to the American Bankers Association.

June 17, 2004

Safeway plans to expand its in-store banking service starting this fall through a new partnership with U.S. Bancorp.