REGION

REGION
American Paper pickslead bidder for sale
BOARDMAN -- American Paper Group has selected an Indiana publisher as the lead bidder in the sale of the company.
Our Sunday Visitor, which publishes a Catholic newspaper and prints church envelopes in Indiana, was selected Thursday over MWM Dexter, which prints church bulletins in Missouri. Gaining lead bidder status entitles a company to a breakup fee if it isn't successful in buying the company.
About 330 workers at American Paper's envelope-making plants on Southern Boulevard and McClurg Road are waiting to learn their fate from a new owner. The company has filed for bankruptcy protection and is selling its assets. An auction will be in January.
NATION
Federal jury rulinggoes against Wal-Mart
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, forced employees to work unpaid overtime between 1994 and 1999, a federal jury found Thursday.
The lawsuit in U.S. District Court accused Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of violating federal and state wage laws. The jury did not rule on monetary damages, which will be decided in a separate trial.
More than 400 employees from 24 of Wal-Mart's 27 Oregon stores sued the retailer. It was the first of several such suits across the country to come to trial.
Dole chairman to buyrest of the company
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. -- Dole Foods chairman David H. Murdock has agreed to buy the rest of the giant food company and take it private in a deal valued at $2.5 billion.
Murdock will pay $33.50 per share for the approximately 76 percent of the company's outstanding common stock he doesn't already own, Dole said.
Dole shares soared 14.5 percent, or $4.13, to close at $32.58 Thursday.
From Vindicator staff and wire reports