Pickle packers sent packing
Published 9:00 pm Monday, February 25, 2002
Agrilink Foods said Monday it is closing its pickle-packing plant in Tacoma, laying off 112 people. The plant, which makes Nalley and Farman pickles, has been licensed to Franklin Park, Ill.-based Dean Foods Co. for the past two years. A spokesman from Dean did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Agrilink, based in Rochester, N.Y., said the closure would not affect other Tacoma-based Agrilink operations. The company produces canned meals, soups and salad dressings under brand names including Nalley’s Fine Foods, Bernsteins, Mariner’s Cove and Riviera.
“Getting Your Dough to Rise,” the monthly personal finance show on Snohomish County public radio station KSER 90.7FM, airs today at 4:30 p.m. The hour-long program should be of special interest to seniors. Guests include Ray Eads, a specialist in financial planning for seniors; Judith Cochrane, a Bank of America municipal bond specialist; and John Karpoff, a University of Washington business professor. They’ll look at how to get an income from your assets at a time when bonds are at historically low rates and stocks are fluctuating significantly.
The Treasury Department sold three-month bills Monday at a discount rate of 1.735 percent, up from 1.73 percent last week. Six-month bills sold at a rate of 1.85 percent, up from 1.83 percent. Both the three-month and six-month rates were the highest since Nov. 26, when the bills sold for 1.920 percent and 1.990 percent, respectively. The new discount rates understate the actual return to investors – 1.769 percent for three-month bills with a $10,000 bill selling for $9,956.10 and 1.893 percent for a six-month bill selling for $9,906.50. In a separate report, the Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one-year constant maturity Treasury bills, the most popular index for making changes in adjustable rate mortgages, held steady at 2.24 percent last week, unchanged from the previous week.
William Shatner has agreed to resume his role as a spokesman for Priceline.com, but will not be singing in the next generation of ads for the name-your-own-price Internet company. Shatner, the former star of the “Star Trek” TV series and movies, will team up with what Priceline.com calls its supercomputer, which locates airline tickets, hotel rooms and other travel products at discounts. Priceline.com, based in Norwalk, gained popularity from a series of quirky commercials featuring Shatner. The original commercials featured Shatner singing offbeat renditions of popular songs, including “Freebird” and “Age of Aquarius,” while extolling the virtues of Priceline.
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