BUSINESS BRIEFS

VIRGINIA

Va. Beach dairy to stop home delivery of milk

Yoder Dairies plans to stop its home-delivery milk service after nearly 80 years. The Virginia Beach-based institution said it will leave the last orders at customers' doorsteps on Friday.

Maria Olah, Yoder's general manager, says the business has lost 800 to 1,000 customers since January because of the nation's escalating economic problems. That's about a quarter of its home-delivery base.

The dairy struggled to pay its bills and ultimately couldn't afford buying, processing or transporting milk.

Olah says Yoder's Virginia Beach store will close after its inventory is sold. The company is considering keeping open its shop at the Virginia Beach Farmers Market to sell ice cream.

Four employees laid off at Richmond Chamber

The Greater Richmond Chamber has laid off four employees, or 11 percent of the staff.

President and Chief Executive Kim Scheeler said there were layoffs because it is likely that big companies that sponsor events and programming will have smaller budgets next year.

"We anticipate that we're going to see some cuts," Scheeler said. "We know some of the big companies are going to have less of a budget to do things like sponsorships."

About 60 percent of the chamber's budget -- which was $4.6 million in fiscal year 2006, the latest available -- is spent on personnel.

The cuts spanned four sections: membership, events, administrative, and programs and services. Three employees were let go last week; one will stay on through the end of the month. All received severance packages, Scheeler said.

THE NATION

Lawyer cited in alleged hedge-fund scheme

NEW YORK -- The head of a prominent law firm was charged in a "stunning, brazen fraud" that reaped at least $113 million in profit by tricking hedge funds into making bogus investments, prosecutors said.

Marc Dreier, 58, was charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission in the alleged sale of fraudulent promissory notes.

"Our complaint alleges a stunning, brazen fraud that targeted some very sophisticated institutional investors," said Linda Chatman Thomsen, director of the SEC's division of enforcement.

The SEC said Dreier distributed phony financial statements and audit opinion letters of a reputable account firm and recruited help from people who posed as representatives of legitimate companies involved in the transactions.

About $100 million in proceeds from the bogus notes remains unaccounted for.

Tribune Co. files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

NEW YORK -- The Tribune Co., owner of 10 daily newspapers including the Daily Press in Newport News, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy yesterday. It is the first major newspaper publisher to take such a step since the Internet and the economic crisis intensified the industry's struggles.

The media conglomerate was smothered by a drop in advertising and $13 billion in debt from the company's takeover a year ago by Chicago real estate mogul Sam Zell.

Chapter 11 reorganization could give the Tribune Co. time to put its finances in order. Analysts said the company almost certainly will have to sell off some major holdings, and that could prove difficult because of the bad economy and the outlook for newspapers.

Tribune Co., which has 20,000 employees, owns baseball's Chicago Cubs; 10 daily newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Baltimore Sun; cable channels and 23 TV stations. Its papers' total circulation puts the company among the top three most-read newspaper groups nationwide.

Christie Hefner to leave Playboy leadership role

Playboy Enterprises Inc. Chief Executive Officer Christie Hefner will resign next month to devote more time to public service after spending two decades running the magazine company her father founded.

Hefner, 56, who also is stepping down as chairwoman, will remain on the board until a replacement CEO is found, the Chicago-based company announced yesterday. Jerome Kern, who joined Playboy's board of directors in 2002, will serve as interim nonexecutive chairman.

Hefner joined Playboy in 1975 and rose to CEO in 1988, shepherding the bunny brand into television, video and the Internet. The recession and a decline in ad spending led the company to a $5.2 million loss in the third quarter. Ad revenue in the magazine unit fell 14 percent to $5.5 million.

THE WORLD

Madagascar's vanilla endangered by disease

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar -- An incurable crop disease has spread widely in Madagascar's vanilla-producing region, government scientists said yesterday.

The scientists' initial assessment said the world's main vanilla exporter needs to radically change farming methods to fight the disease, carried by an underground fungus.

Most of Madagascar's vanilla is exported to the United States, where it is used in candy, soft drinks and ice cream. -- From Staff and Wire Reports