John Wallace

Ford Motor Co. and Ballard Power Systems Inc. signed a $22-million contract for Ballard to supply fuel-cell modules to Ford's Think environmental vehicle division over the next three years. The deal is the biggest single order for Ballard, based in Vancouver, Canada. Ford and Ballard are longtime partners in developing fuel-cell vehicles and technology. The auto maker's Think unit, based in Carlsbad, Calif.

A working group of elected officials and business leaders has been formed to analyze the proposed expansion of Los Angeles International Airport, officials said. The group was created as a result of recommendations made last week during a meeting with Rep. Jane Harman (D-Torrance) and Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe to assess the benefits and burdens of expanded air traffic in the South Bay.

Police in Westminster arrested a 31-year-old man Sunday on suspicion of felony drunk driving after his car slammed into a van, injuring two men, one of them seriously. John Wallace of La Habra was arrested after his car ran a stop sign at Newland Street and Heil Avenue, colliding nearly head-on at 60 m.p.h. with a van, Police Sgt. Jack Davidson said. Dean Jones, 22, was taken to Humana Hospital-Westminster after the 2:30 a.m. accident.

Chrysler Corp. and Ford Motor Co. took a small step toward making electric cars more attractive to the public Tuesday by agreeing to use the same type of charging system for the batteries. "The goal is to avoid the VHS versus Beta problems we saw with early videotape technology," John Wallace, director of Ford's electric vehicle systems, said. However, General Motors Corp.

Knick forward Larry Johnson missed Saturday's game because he was serving a one-game suspension for punching Miami's Keith Askins in the fourth quarter of New York's 103-85 victory at Miami Friday night. Johnson was also fined $5,000 by the NBA. Rookie John Wallace started his first NBA game in place of Johnson and had six points and five rebounds in 16 minutes.

U.S. and Japanese auto makers say the development of affordable advanced batteries to power electric vehicles is progressing so slowly that it is unlikely that California zero-emission vehicle requirements can be met by 2003. The state requires 10% of new vehicles sold that year to have no emissions. That means the sale of more than 125,000 electric vehicles, the only ones that meet the zero-emission mandate. John Wallace, director of Ford Motor Co.'

Charging an electric vehicle might one day become nearly as easy as filling up at the corner gas station, but it may also be more expensive. That's the gist of an announcement Thursday by Monrovia-based Aerovironment and Ford Motor Co. that they plan to commercialize a fast-charge system that can re-energize a battery pack in 20 minutes or less. It now takes six to eight hours to recharge a nearly depleted battery.

The California Department of Health Services released two long-awaited reports Thursday that raised questions about the progress Los Angeles County has made in promised reforms of the public healthcare system. The reports, each hundreds of pages long, detail the findings of an independent audit that examined 12 broad areas of reform promised by the county in 2000 in exchange for $900 million in federal funding.