Texas-based Merit Industries steps into a public relations quagmire after delivering a plaque meant to honor James Earl Jones for his contributions to the civil rights
movement inscribed instead with the name James Earl Ray, that of Martin Luther King's killer. The plaque was to be presented during a Lauderhill, Fla. Martin Luther King Day
celebration and has prompted outrage from Adpro, the company that ordered the plaque. Though Merit claims the mistake was an innocent one made by workers who don't speak English,
civil rights groups are calling the switch a deliberate racial slur.
Arthur Andersen attempts to ameliorate the impact of the Enron crisis on its own reputation by firing the auditing exec who evidently led the effort to destroy incriminating
documents. Too little too late?
More bad news for Commerce Secretary Don Evans, whose involvement in the Enron scandal has been questioned. The Washington Post's "Reliable Source" columnist Lloyd Groves
reported last week that Evans is pictured "hobnobbing" with Enron Chairman Ken Lay in photos included in the American Enterprise Institute's annual report.
