WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear UST Inc.'s appeal in the Conwood antitrust case brought against its U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. subsidiary. UST will now have to pay $1.05 billion to Conwood Co.

The company would not speculate as to why the court rejected the appeal. "They speak for themselves, and issued the decision without comment," UST spokesperson Mike Bazinet told CSP Daily News. "We had put in place the financial mechanism to pay [the award], so we'll do it, and take a one-time charge against 2002 earnings, so it will impact 2002. Operationally, We'll put the decision behind us."

CINCINNATI -- The Ohio Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association next week will launch a trial public education program at about 200 stations in central Ohio, says the Cincinnati Enquirer. Pumps will feature signs saying, “When Gasoline is a Loss Leader, You Lose.” The signs also say that a strategy of selling gasoline below cost “damages our nation’s energy independence and security, especially if America goes to war.”

The signs will direct patrons to a website that is highly critical of the nontraditional fuel retailers. Association president Roger Dreyer says that if the effort is successful, it would go statewide and include southwest Ohio.