Steffanie Smith has taken the reins at River Point Farms in Hermiston, OR, as its new chief executive officer. She assumed her new responsibilities the week of Nov. 5.

River Point Farms is among America's larger onion producers, and Ms. Smith said, "I look forward to bringing a new perspective to the company while preserving the integrity of the already-established business."

While participating in a produce industry charity golf tournament, one of the players in my foursome hooked his tee shot like the bend in a banana. The ball got off with a good rip, but then curved from right to left, hit a tree branch and bounced into a small pond. What do you think came out of his mouth next? You guessed it. "I got it out there, but the wind took it away from me," he grumbled after tossing his club toward his bag.

After Hurricane Dean ravaged the countryside of northern Belize, Brooks Tropicals employees helped to distribute emergency food and supplies for the United Nations' UNICEF program. Brooks also sent crews and equipment to clean up debris and help repair homes in the area.

Maurice (Marty) Leon Martin, 77, of Salinas, CA, died of cancer Saturday, Nov. 3, in his home surrounded by his family.

Montreal-based HIDE-Pack and Frisco, TX-based Domino Integrated Solutions Group have teamed to develop a method of implementing radio frequency identification technology in a wide variety of packaged goods by embedding an RFID inlay within the structure of a package.

The HIDE-Pack concept -- an approach to integrated RFID-enabled packaging -- is a patent-pending technology owned by HIDE-Pack and available commercially through Domino ISG.

A 7.7 earthquake that struck northern Chile Nov. 14 is expected to have no effect on the country's fruit exports.

Tom Tjerandsen, managing director of the Chilean Fresh Fruit Association in Sonoma, CA, told The Produce News a couple of hours after the quake that it was "in the far north in the dry desert area." He contacted the trade in Santiago and Valparaiso after the quake "and no one felt anything," he said. "It won't have any impact on the food exports heading north from Chile."