FRESNO, CA — A 14-year legal challenge to the constitutionality of the state law establishing the California Table Grape Commission was resolved Oct. 5 in favor of the commission when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a lower-court ruling.

The plaintiffs who filed the original complaint have contended that the law establishing the commission and authorizing its programs was in violation of the First Amendment, but the U.S. Court of Appeals in November 2009 upheld an earlier U.S. District Court ruling rejecting the First Amendment challenge.

Subscribe To Our Print Edition

---

Get the latest industry news every other week.

• $85 for One Year

• $135 for Two Years

• $175 for One Year to Canada (payable in US funds only)

Get the latest industry news every other week.

Market Fresh Produce LLC in Nixa, MO, and Bushmans' Inc. in Rosholt, WI, announced that they have merged, effective Oct. 1, with the goal of creating best-in-class efficiencies within the produce industry.

Steven Phipps, owner and chief executive officer of Market Fresh Produce, told The Produce News Oct. 6 that the merger brings together two strong and vibrant companies, and that it unites the "Market Fresh" brand with a century-old corporation.

Washington's tree fruit industry is mourning the death of Gladwin Bellamy Jr., president of Columbia Marketing International in Wenatchee, WA, who died unexpectedly Oct. 1. Mr. Bellamy, known to his friends and co-workers as Glady, was 58.

Two Florida-based produce marketers are joining forces to create a new entity that will specialize in sourcing, growing, packing, shipping and distributing several varieties of papayas as well as other tropical fruits grown in Brazil, Ecuador, Belize, Mexico and other countries in Central America and South America.

Southern Specialties Inc., based in Pompano Beach, FL, and HLB Tropical Food USA Inc., based in Plantation, FL, reached an agreement to create a new joint venture called HLB Specialties LLC.

Building on the success of last year's program, the Chilean Avocado Importers Association has again partnered with college football’s premier bowl game destination, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, which will be played Jan. 1, 2011, in Glendale, AZ.