| Battling the birthday cake
My son recently turned 6, and with that came the rigmarole of the birthday party where 18 of his friends were booked for an afternoon of drumming lessons, gourmet pizza, spin the bottle (the non-kissing version) and to finish, a no-holds-barred tournament of pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey.
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See's savoring its sweet success
Chances are, plenty of Easter baskets are still hanging around homes with the last chocolate eggs, chocolate bunnies and other sweets from See's Candies, a tradition in California households for 86 years. But the South San Francisco chocolatier wants its treats to be known coast to coast, so See's continues its expansion. Distinguished by its 205 candy shops with black and white tile floors, workers in prim white uniforms and glass display cases neatly stocked with 100 varieties of the company's treats, See's expects to open more locations in states outside its California stronghold by year's end. New stores going up in Nevada, Washington state, Hawaii and Utah will join a legion of permanent kiosks operating in 21 airports -- mainly in Western states, although one opened this month in Boston's Logan International.
Society: British Couple Tie knot at Sheraton Hotel
Fed up with the hurly-burly life in the UK, two British nationals recently took advantage of the cheap flight cost of the Gambia Experience to travel down to the tropical sunshine paradise of The Gambia to tie a sweet conjugal bond. Mr Katib Ekundayo Daryll Isacandari and Ms Sia Anne Banda Foday, both from the United Kingdom, were on Saturday, 7 April declared as husband and wife at the Sheraton Hotel, Brufut. The wedding ceremony, which was attended by a coterie of friends and relatives from the UK and in The Gambia, was described as historic and wonderful. Both husband and wife were gorgeously and elegantly dressed and that there were a contingent of scintillating and breath-snatching girls who added colour to the glitterati. Guests were pampered with all the good things of life, including finger-licking and mouth-watering dishes, and drinks of all kind.
Business briefs, April 24
Fired HealthSouth Corp. Chief Executive Richard Scrushy reached an $81 million settlement to end a government lawsuit in a huge accounting fraud, but he will pay less than $10 million - maybe much less - as his attorneys contend he is running out of money. A federal judge in Birmingham, Ala., on Monday approved the settlement of the lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which billed the financial deal as one of the SEC's largest against an individual. While not admitting that he did anything wrong, Scrushy agreed to give up $77.5 million that the government claimed he profited from in the $2.7 billion fraud at HealthSouth, and he agreed to pay another $3.5 million in civil penalties. DELTA LOSS SHRINKS Delta Air Lines Inc. said its first-quarter loss shrank by 93 percent as an increase in international flights helped the third-largest U.S.
Organic pet foods not always safer
The growing list of pet food recalls has led many pet owners to look for alternatives from mainstream pet-food manufacturers. Allison Woeckener, owner of Happy Dog Bakery, 1608 7th St., Moline, said since pet food recalls started a month or so ago, she has seen increased interest in the all-natural pet food line, Solid Gold, sold at her store. "I've had calls since (the recalls) went public," she said. "I've had five calls a day if not more. They're just concerned about where their food is manufactured." With tainted ingredients imported from China in more than 100 brands of cat and dog food, and a second wave of recalls announced just this past week, Ms. Woeckener said Solid Gold is a great choice because all its products, with the exception of one cat food product, is made in the United States.
Digital Latinos Renew Love for Traditions
EDITORS NOTE: South Americans embrace of the digital age while still honoring their folkways has led to an interconnected nuevo global latino identity, observes NAM contributor Andrs Tapia, who writes on cultural, political and economic trends in the Americas. He grew up in Lima, Peru and recently traveled through the great cities of South America. RIO DE JANEIRO -- The Sambdromo in Rio shook with the throaty cheers of 90,000 spectators, the syncopated beats of thousands of percussionists, the kabooms of fireworks and the shimmying of 10,000 samba dancers in the all-night spectacle and party best known as Carnival. The globally diverse though mostly Brazilian crowd swayed with upraised arms to the melody of O Brasil, while waving cell phones and digital cameras like wands. In a digitally connected, globalized age that demands common platforms, protocols and processes, Carnival in Rio proclaims the counterpoint to individual expression with its timelessness and creativity.
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