Pennsylvania: Hershey Foods trustees agree not to sell candy maker

Board members of the charitable trust that controls Hershey Foods Corp. said late Tuesday they would not sell the nation’s largest candy maker after rejecting all offers.

“The trust board has rejected all the bids that it received,” Hershey Trust Co. spokesman Rick Kelly said in King of Prussia, reading a statement from the trustees. “It is asking the company to end the process of exploring the sale.”

Hershey Foods had been expected to receive bids in excess of $10 billion from companies such as Nestle and Kraft Foods.

But the trust had been under fire from Pennsylvania’s political and business leaders, who said the interests of the community would be pushed aside in any sale. Critics said a sale would trigger plant closings and layoffs.

North Carolina: Toxic spill forces evacuation

A chemical spill at a warehouse Tuesday night forced the evacuation of about 1,000 residents nearby.

The chemical, thiourea dioxide, leaked from about 20 drums inside American Storage & Warehouse Co. in Charlotte. It is an industrial chemical mixed for cleaning purposes, and can produce noxious fumes when mixed with water.

It was the second time in less than a month that the same chemical has spilled at the storage facility. On Aug. 26, about 1,000 pounds of the white granular chemical spilled.

About a dozen firefighters and police officers were treated for chemical burns, respiratory irritation and other injuries. No residents were injured, said Capt. Rob Brisley of the Charlotte Fire Department.

China: Food poison confession made

A Chinese man has admitted that he sprinkled rat poison on breakfast snacks at a small eatery in eastern China, killing several dozen people, most of them schoolchildren, because he was angry at the success of a business rival, state-run television reported Tuesday night.

Chen Zhengping told police he was driven by jealousy and hatred of the owner of a competing snack shop in Tangshan on the outskirts of Nanjing in eastern China, China Central Television said.

The incident occurred Saturday. Chinese state-run media said that between 38 and 49 people, mostly schoolchildren, died in the poisonings, which also sent about 300 people to the hospital.

Los Angeles: Dry cleaning agent targeted

Regulators responsible for cleaning up the air breathed by about half of California’s population want to phase out the most commonly used dry cleaning solvent, saying it endangers public health.

Their efforts could make the greater Los Angeles area the first place in the nation to ban perchloroethylene, or perc.

Dry cleaners say perc is a must for clean clothes. But officials with the South Coast Air Quality Management District say it dirties the air, water and soil, and probably causes cancer.

Among the toxic substances in the Los Angeles region’s air, perc is estimated to cause more cases of cancer than anything except diesel exhaust, according to a 2000 air district study.