PHILADELPHIA -- A judge ruled March 13 that assets in the name of Ellis Fleisher's wife are not available for creditors of Mr. Fleisher's defunct produce houses. But the court's decision may be appealed.

Mr. Fleisher owned Ellis Fleisher Produce Co. and Dichter Bros. & Glass Inc., both in Philadelphia. Both businesses ceased operations in March 2007.

While ski resorts and some farmers in Colorado rejoiced at late March snow and the moisture it brought, a number of fruit growers on the state's Western Slope were hit hard by back-to-back storms.

A March 27 freeze was particularly damaging to the Palisade, CO, region just east of Grand Junction, and another freeze hit just days later.

Donovan Talbott, partner in C&R Farms in Palisade, said that his apricot crop was completely wiped out, along with his cherries and nectarines.

"And I had quite a bit of pear damage," he said.

Even though Dazed & Confused is among his favorite movies, Tyler Paasch is anything but. Mr. Paasch, the 28-year-old HACCP coordinator for Coastal Inc. in Portand, OR, lives by a guiding principle.

"I keep things simple," he told The Produce News.

Officials from the Pacific Northwest remain in a wait-and-see mode to determine what effect a 20 percent tariff imposed March 11 by the government of Mexico will have upon American exports. Among the commodities affected are pears, cherries, apricots and frozen potatoes.

BOSTON -- This year's New England Produce Council Produce & Floral expo took place on April Fools Day, and most attendees and exhibitors would probably agree that the real fools were those who did not attend.

Now in its ninth year, the expo, which took place here at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center and played up April Fools Day with the theme of "Gotcha!" drew about 1,000 attendees and had 210 booths, according to Laura Sullivan, executive director of the council.

Biennial elections for the Mexican Hass Avocado Importers Association's board of directors took place March 25 at its bimonthly meeting in Irvine, CA.

Incoming Chairman Mike Browne is joined by Vice Chairman David Ruiz Vega, Secretary Giovanni Cavaletto, Treasurer Alfredo Rodriguez and Directors J. Jesus Lopez Herrera, Ed Figueroa, Aureliano Pena Esparza and Doug Meyer. Alternate board members are Ross Wileman, Mario Rivas Barrag?n, Avi Crane, Antonio Villase?or Zurita, Alejandro Alvarez del Toro, Jimmy Lotufo, Sergio Guerreo Urbina and Phil Henry.