1.   Besides Gates and Microsoft, other companies have stepped forward to help local libraries.

2.   And with the government encouraging home health care to save money on institutional care, numerous companies are stepping into the fray.

3.   Former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Reed Hundt called on all telecommunications companies to step forward and prove that they are not on the brink of similar troubles.

4.   Furthermore, if companies do step forward and assume some responsibilities, the EPA quits looking for other parties and dumps the whole responsibility on them, Harrison said.

5.   However, he argues that global pharmaceutical companies are stepping into the breach by scooping up rights to promising new products.

6.   In an interview Wednesday, Feinstein said she was concerned that foreign companies would have stepped in if Unocal had been forced to divest last summer.

7.   In the United States, local phone companies are stepping into the long-distance market, and long-distance providers are going after local customers.

8.   Last week, a new company called Nanovation stepped into the ring.

9.   Mail-order companies also are stepping onto the floor.

10.   Now the Northbrook, Illinois-based company is stepping on the gas, offering retirement saving plans and life insurance through career agents, banks and brokers.