Economy

There is a desperate edge to Vijay Singh's optimism as he racks his brain for some marketing miracle to rescue Indian tea. What about getting Americans to drink it? They're a health-conscious lot, the plantation boss reasons, and tea -- why it's practically a medicine, he proclaims. India is the world's largest producer of tea -- more than 1.75 billion pounds a year.

Education has long been preached as a way to keep kids away from drugs. It's the walk to school that has Supt. Tom Barnett worried. This hardscrabble Northern California town has become a hotbed for medical marijuana farming. Kids stroll much of the year past pungent plants flourishing in gardens and alleys. The red-and-black-clad Timberjacks football team moved its halftime huddle on a recent Friday night to avoid the odor of marijuana smoke wafting over the gridiron from nearby houses.

LAS VEGAS - For nearly five years, the steel-and-concrete skeleton of the abandoned resort project has taunted this city, a glaring reminder that casino operators here can't win every economic wager they place. The stalled Echelon project sits on hallowed gambling ground: It's where the old Stardust casino was imploded. Construction on the new $4-billion resort began in 2007 and froze a year later - a failure so embarrassing that city officials later ordered owner Boyd Gaming Corp.

Funeral Director -- Stephen Kemp rummaged through a supply closet for a box of staples, being careful not to jostle the blue paper bags of cremated remains on the floor. Stephen Kemp It's not a great spot for ashes, but he ran out of space long ago. In the grand scheme of things, the closet is as good a resting place as any. Kemp, the owner of Haley Funeral Directors, is used to a certain rhythm of life and death.

Worried by the worsening economy, Kristen Olson decided she'd better start saving money. She tallied her expenses and was walloped by sticker shock: She and her roommates were spending $900 a year for cable TV. "I'm not watching $900 worth of cable," said the 25-year-old advertising account coordinator, who lives in North Hollywood. She's trying to persuade her roommates to drop the service.

WASHINGTON -- The picture of the American economy has improved -- looking forward and backward. Economic output in last year's fourth quarter was revised slightly higher, putting the nation's growth rate for all of 2012 at a modest 2.2%. The Commerce Department said Thursday that U.S. gross domestic product, or total goods and services produced, expanded at an annual rate of 0.4% in the fourth quarter, after adjusting for inflation. That is down from 3.1% in the third quarter, but better than the 0.1% real GDP growth in the government's previous estimate of fourth-quarter activity.  The weakness in the fourth quarter output was exaggerated by an unusually big drop in federal defense spending and a sharp reduction in inventory accumulation.

WASHINGTON -- The pace of economic growth picked up in the first quarter, but not nearly as fast as many analysts had forecast -- an unwelcome sign given other recent indicators that the recovery is losing some steam and further government spending cuts loom. The nation's economic output expanded at an annual rate of 2.5% in the quarter, the Commerce Department said Friday. That was up from 0.4% growth in the final three months of last year as defense spending fell sharply and companies stockpiled less inventory.

When the contracts dried up and Kim Prince found herself without a TV writing gig, she immediately cut back on day care for her two children. Full-time care is something Prince and her husband can afford only with two full-time salaries. "It's an obvious example of the trickle-down effect of the economy," said Prince, 37, who eliminated two days of care a week at Happy Penguins Family Childcare in Northridge, saving her monthly household budget about $600.