The Washington Apple Commission voted Aug. 4 to appoint Ken Severn as its interim president. This follows the commission's action to place David Carlson, who served as president of the commission for five years, on administrative leave, effective Sept. 1.

Details about Mr. Carlson's removal as president have been slow to emerge. Personnel matters are protected under Washington's confidentiality guidelines. As a result, detailed background information about the board's decision is not available to the general public.

Marc Glassman Inc., which owns 54 Marc's discount grocery stores in northeastern Ohio and six Xpect discount stores in Connecticut, has purchased the former Cleveland Growers Produce distribution facility in Parma, OH.

MGI Produce anticipates that its new 100,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art refrigerated complex will be operational by the end of the year.

Oregon's early Italian prune harvest got underway over the Aug. 9-10 weekend in Milton-Freewater, with growers expecting to see a 30 percent reduction in volume this year as the result of spring frost and a lack of pollination.

The late prune harvest follows within a couple of weeks and will run through mid-September, according to Eric Patrick, marketing director for Grant J. Hunt Co., exclusive sales and marketing desk for Blue Mountain Growers in Milton-Freewater.

Seald Sweet International in Vero Beach, FL, announced the retirement of Jim McCranie, senior vice president of exports, effective Sept. 1. Mr. McCranie will be succeeded by Les Crocker, who was formerly with A. Duda & Sons.

One can't help but think about the phrase, "Be careful of what you ask for, and how you ask for it, for indeed you will get it," when one thinks of Tropical Storm Fay.

People in Florida, especially those located from Lake Okeechobee south, have been praying for rain for two years to ease the serious, sometimes critical, drought conditions the area has suffered. What they didn't necessarily want, however, was for about a year's worth of rain to fall in a few scant days.

But that's exactly what Tropical Storm Fay has done.

Mastronardi Produce took top honors at the annual Tomato Capital Tomato Competition Aug. 16-17 in Leamington, ON.

The company was recognized with top honors in the specialty variety category for its Champagne Cocktail Tomato, and with top honors in the beef variety category for its Beef Tomato. It also received the award for the overall best hothouse tomato for its Champagne Cocktail Tomato.