Ruby’s Diner recalls yo-yos that came with kids’ meals
Washington – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced Thursday a voluntary recall of about 200,000 light-up yo-yo toys distributed by the Ruby Restaurant Group, which does business as Ruby’s Diner Inc.
The yo-yo can separate into smaller parts and pose a choking hazard for children, the federal agency said.
The yo-yos light up while in motion. They are made of clear plastic with red, blue or green tinted sides with the words “Ruby’s Diner” printed on them.
They were distributed with children’s meals at Ruby’s Diner restaurants in Colorado, Pennsylvania, Washington, Arizona, Nevada, California and Hawaii between February and March.
Customers should return the yo-yo to a Ruby’s Diner restaurant for a replacement toy.
The safety commission and the Ruby Restaurant Group have received one report of the yo-yo separating. No injuries have been reported.
DENVER
Xcel plan would let customers aid needy
Xcel Energy has filed with the Public Utilities Commission a plan allowing customers to voluntarily contribute to low-income energy-assistance programs.
Xcel will place a check-off box on bill-remittance stubs in which customers can designate the amount they wish to donate.
The money will be collected by Xcel and then given to Energy Outreach Colorado for distribution to qualified recipients.
DENVER
Coors “Love Train” ad wins marketing award
The American Marketing Association has awarded a 2006 Effie to Coors Light and its advertising agency Foote Cone and Belding for Coors Brewing Co.’s Silver Bullet “Love Train” advertising campaign.
The ad was recognized in the “Most Effective Alcohol/Beverage Marketing Communications Campaign” category.
BROOMFIELD
Level 3 offers shares, convertible notes
Level 3 Communications said Thursday it would offer 125 million shares at $4.55 each and another $300 million in convertible notes in a measure expected to be used to redeem debt.
Underwriters were also given the option to buy overallotments of an additional 18.75 million shares in the stock offering and $45 million in the notes offering.
Level 3 shares closed at $4.53, after ranging from $1.87 to $6 in the last year. At least two analysts have upgraded their rankings of the fiber-optic network company in the last year.
DENVER
Samsonite reports loss in first quarter
Luggage maker Samsonite Corp. reported revenue of $241 million and a loss of $400,000 in a first-quarter earnings report.
That compared with revenue of $232 million and income of $3.9 milllion, or 2 cents per share, the year before.
Samsonite said at the end of May it will close its headquarters here by the end of the year. Denver operations will move to the company’s offices in Massachusetts and to a distribution facility in the southeastern U.S.
MINNEAPOLIS
Northwest attendants hold out for contract
Northwest Airlines Inc. and its flight attendants will learn today if they’re headed for more talks after flight attendants overwhelmingly rejected a wage-cutting contract this week.
The rejection and more talks, Northwest says, would slow down what so far has been a fast-paced trip through bankruptcy while workers hold out hope negotiations would lead to a contract they could live with.
Meanwhile, Northwest’s ramp workers are slated to release results of their vote today for a wage-cutting contract, after the group rejected the company’s first offer in March.
For travelers, the turmoil building at Northwest could lead to a turbulent summer travel season. The airline’s labor troubles open the door for flight cuts, labor stoppages or a possible strike.
LONDON
Grand jury probes BP oil spill in Alaska
BP Plc, the second-largest publicly traded oil company, said a U.S. federal grand jury is investigating a March oil spill in Alaska, damaging a reputation already suffering from a refinery blast last year.
BP Alaska president Steve Marshall sent an e-mail to employees May 30 telling them to cooperate with investigators after the company got a grand- jury subpoena April 26, David Nicholas, a BP spokesman in London, said Thursday.
The leak of about 6,400 barrels of crude oil from a pipeline in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, was discovered March 2, almost a year after BP suffered an explosion at a refinery in Texas City, Texas, that killed 15 workers and led to the biggest-ever fine by U.S. refinery safety regulators.
WASHINGTON
Houses passes bill to open cable markets
Legislation to open cable-television markets to more competition, possibly saving consumers hundreds of dollars a year, passed the House late Thursday.
The biggest telecommunications legislation in a decade, approved 321-101, would make it easier for telephone companies to enter the subscription television market. A national franchise process would replace the current system of negotiating contracts municipality by municipality.
The vote came shortly after the House rejected a Democratic- backed amendment aimed at better protecting Internet users from pricing or access discrimination.
SAN JOSE, Calif.
Cisco CEO Chambers becomes chairman
Cisco Systems Inc., the world’s largest maker of computer networking gear, said chief executive John Chambers will take on the added title of chairman, succeeding John Morgridge.
Morgridge, 72, will become chairman emeritus when the changes take place at the Nov. 15 annual shareholder meeting, Cisco said Thursday.
The decision to combine the role of CEO and chairman is a departure for Cisco, which typically has split the duties. Morgridge was CEO until 1995, when he became chairman and handed the CEO title to Chambers, 56.
GEORGETOWN, Del.
State supreme court rules in Disney battle
Closing a long-running legal saga that galvanized critics of corporate boards, the Delaware Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Walt Disney Co. directors acted properly in giving a fat severance in 1996 to former president Michael Ovitz after a little more than a year on the job.
In a 5-0 ruling, the court upheld an August decision by Delaware Chancery Court Judge William B. Chandler III. He found that former chief executive Michael Eisner and other directors did not betray their duty to shareholders when they allowed Ovitz to walk away with a stock-and-cash payout valued then at $130 million.
