Augusta’s fight against an adult bookstore will not be a costly battle. In a ruling issued Tuesday, federal Judge Dudley Bowen has denied the X-Mart’s motion for the city to pay extensive damages for closing the adult bookstore, almost seven years ago.

The nation’s banks lost $26.2 billion in the last three months of 2008, the first quarterly deficit in 18 years, as the housing and credit crises escalated.

Ford Motor Co. says it lost $5.9 billion in the fourth quarter but it has no plans to seek federal aid unless economic conditions worsen. The second-largest U.S. automaker says it burned through $5.5 billion in cash during the quarter.

Ford Motor Co. says it lost $5.9 billion in the fourth quarter but it has no plans to seek federal aid unless economic conditions worsen. The second-largest U.S. automaker says it burned through $5.5 billion in cash during the quarter.

South Carolina’s unemployment rate rose to 9.5 percent in December, the highest rate in more than 25 years. The state Employment Security Commission reported Tuesday that the number of people without jobs in South Carolina topped 200,000 for the first time ever.

Wall Street hit levels not seen since 2003, with the Dow Jones industrial average falling below the 8,000 mark, as the fate of Detroit’s Big Three automakers and the economy disheartened investors.