US Airways appeals for free holiday work

US Airways appealed Tuesday to employees to work for free at Philadelphia’s airport over the New Year’s weekend to avoid a repeat of a Christmas fiasco that left the airline with too few workers to fly its planes and process baggage.

Separately, the bankrupt airline warned employees it would review the attendance records of those who called in sick over the Christmas holiday — and would discipline workers who abused the sick time system.

US Airways Group Inc. canceled hundreds of flights in the days around Christmas when an unusually large number of flight attendants and baggage handlers failed to show up.

Entertainment

Blockbuster to launch bid for Hollywood

Blockbuster Inc. said Tuesday it would launch a hostile bid for Hollywood Entertainment Corp. next month if the rival’s directors didn’t negotiate a deal.

Blockbuster, the nation’s largest movie-rental chain, said it would offer stockholders of its top rival $11.50 per share in cash, or about $700 million, plus the assumption of $300 million of Hollywood debt, in mid-January. That’s the same offer that Blockbuster made to Hollywood management in November.

Settlement

Edward Jones partner paying $3 million fine

Edward D. Jones & Co. LP’s top executive is stepping down at the end of next year, agreeing to pay about $3 million of a $75 million settlement with the Justice Department over claims tied to the company’s practices for selling mutual funds.

Douglas Hill’s planned exodus as managing general partner — a title he has held for a year — was revealed this week in a filing by the suburban St. Louis-based brokerage with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Economy

Last-minute shoppers lift retailers’ spirits

Retailers benefited from a last-minute holiday shopping spree, putting them on track to meet modest seasonal sales goals, the International Council of Shopping Centers reported Tuesday.

The council, the leading shopping center organization, said that same-store sales, or sales at stores opened at least a year, were up 2.7 percent for the week ended Saturday, from the previous week.

Development

Egg plant planned in Cherokee County

A St. Louis-area company plans to ask for a state permit to build an egg-production operation in Cherokee County, Kan.

MOARK, an egg producer based in suburban Chesterfield, Mo., initially plans to build three barns with room for 600,000 chickens on land between Riverton and Crestline. Eventually, the company wants to build 13 barns with room for 2.6 million chickens.

The company is expected to bring 100 jobs to the area, with an expected payroll of $1.5 million.