A proposed rule change offered June 27 by the Agriculture Marketing Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture seeks to allow UglyRipe tomatoes to be shipped outside Florida.

The rule change is subject to a 60-day comment period, which began June 29.

SALINAS, CA -- J. Marchini & Son has long had radicchio growing in fields in Salinas and nearby Watsonville and Hollister. To complement that effort, the Le Grand, CA-based company, located 30 miles east of Fresno, opened a sales office in Salinas June 19.

Sales Manager Jenny Nelson is the lone representative in the new Salinas office. "The move has been planned for some time," Ms. Nelson said. "It's been time to spread our wings."

Ms. Nelson has been with the company for more than six years and has been sales manager for two years.

Dumping issues among the United States, Canada and Mexico are nothing new, but a pending renewal of a dispute would be the third such major legal entanglement in a decade.

Ruth Sanders, a former board member of Mendelson-Zeller and the founder of Sierra View Sales Inc. in Fresno, CA, died June 21 after a prolonged illness. She was 71.

Born Sept. 6, 1934, in Omaha, NE, Ms. Sanders worked as a dispatcher for a trucking company for about three years before moving to California in 1958.

PALM DESERT, CA -- More than 200 members of the California Women for Agriculture, farmers and supporters gathered at Palm Valley Country Club June 22 to honor Chuck Hodges, managing partner of Prime Time International, as Agriculturist of the Year.

Mr. Hodges, with partners Carl Sam Maggio and Mark Nickerson, merged marketing and farming companies to form Prime Time International in 1992. Prior to that, he was vice president of sales and marketing for Sun World before forming CH Sales in 1991.

Irwindale, CA-based Ready Pac Produce announced the hiring of three new senior-level executives to strengthen its sales team.

Garry Granger joined Ready Pac as senior vice president of foodservice sales, Stephen Bonaro came on board in the newly created position of division vice president of retail sales for the Central Region, and Alan Ediger is now vice president of retail sales for the Western Division.

They will report directly to Allan Sabatier, executive vice president of sales and marketing.