Tootsie Roll king dies at age 95

Illinois

Goodbye to the Tootsie Roll king

Melvin Gordon, who helped turn the enduring popularity of the humble Tootsie Roll into a candy empire, has died. He was 95 and worked a full schedule until last month. Gordon ran the Chicago-based Tootsie Roll Industries for 53 years, overseeing the manufacture of 64 million Tootsie Rolls a day and other sweets including Junior Mints, Charleston Chews and Tootsie Pops. He was the oldest CEO of a company trading on a major U.S. stock exchange. At the Tootsie Roll's 100th anniversary in 1996, Gordon boasted that Tootsie Rolls were almost indestructible. "Nothing can happen to a Tootsie Roll. We have some that were made in 1938 that we still eat," Gordon said. "If you can't bite it when it's that old, you certainly can lick it." Gordon married into the business in 1950 when he wed Ellen Rubin, whose father was president of Sweets Company of America. Gordon changed the company's name to Tootsie Roll in 1966. Ellen Gordon, who is in her 80s, is succeeding her husband as chairman and CEO.

Washington, D.C.

Chicken, turkey get tougher standards

The government is pushing the poultry industry to make its chicken and turkey a little safer. The proposed standards, announced Wednesday by the Agriculture Department, are voluntary but designed to pressure companies to lower rates of salmonella and campylobacter, another pathogen that can cause symptoms similar to salmonella, in their products. Among the measures companies could take: better screening of flocks and better sanitation. The proposal would ask poultry producers to reduce the rates of salmonella in raw chicken parts from around 24 percent now to less than 16 percent, and campylobacter rates in raw chicken parts from 22 percent to 8 percent. Rates also would be reduced in ground chicken and turkey. Current law allows raw poultry to have a certain amount of salmonella because it is so prevalent and is killed if consumers handle and cook the meat properly. About a million Americans get sick from salmonella every year, and almost 20 percent of those illnesses are linked to chicken and turkey.

Washington, D.C.

TSA whistleblower wins in court

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a former air marshal who was fired after leaking plans to the media about security cutbacks can seek whistleblower protection. By a 7-2 vote, the justices said Robert MacLean did not violate federal law when he revealed that the Transportation Security Administration planned to save money by cutting back on overnight trips for undercover air marshals. MacLean leaked the information in 2003 to an MSNBC reporter after supervisors ignored his safety concerns. His disclosure triggered outrage in Congress, and the Department of Homeland Security quickly reversed the policy. The TSA fired McLean three years later after it discovered he was the leaker.

Arkansas

King has to share a day with Lee

Two Arkansas legislators say it is inappropriate to honor Martin Luther King Jr. and the leader of the Confederate Army on the same day, and have proposed ending the state's decades-old tradition of honoring Robert E. Lee. Rep. Nate Bell, R-Mena, said that while he has "absolute and total respect" for Lee, honoring him with King on the third Monday of January highlights racial divides. Alabama and Mississippi also recognize King and Lee on the same day.

Tonga

New island rises out of the Pacific Ocean

A volcanic eruption in Tonga has created a new island, although scientists say it could soon disappear. New Zealand volcanologist Nico Fournier witnessed the creation of the island from a boat Saturday. "Visually it was quite spectacular, but there was no big sound coming with it,'' he said. "It was a bit eerie." The island, made mainly of loose scoria, is about 1 square mile and rises about 330 feet above the ocean. Fournier said once the volcano stops erupting, the ocean likely will erode the it completely in a few months.