Ohio McDonald’s pushes candidates

Ohio McDonald’s pushes candidates

COLUMBUS

An undetermined number of McDonald’s employees in Northeastern Ohio received handbills in their most- recent paychecks suggesting they vote for three Republican candidates.

The fast-food chain’s corporate headquarters in Oak Brook, Ill., quickly condemned the action by the Canton franchise, saying it violated company policy. Allen Schulman, an attorney representing one of the employees, said Friday he had forwarded the paycheck insert to Canton’s city law director, citing an Ohio law against corporate advocacy in elections.

The handbill with a simple McDonald’s logo at the top recommended votes for Republicans John Kasich for governor, Rob Portman for U.S. Senate and Jim Renacci for Ohio’s 16th congressional district.

Microsoft to buy 3-D chip maker

SUNNYVALE, Calif.

Canesta Inc., which makes 3-D imaging chips, has agreed to be bought by Microsoft Corp. for an undisclosed amount.

The deal announced Friday comes less than a week before Microsoft is set to start selling Kinect, an add-on for Xbox 360 that can interpret players’ body movements, using them to control what happens in the game. Kinect will allow people to play video games without having to mash buttons on a plastic controller.

Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft worked with another 3-D sensor company, PrimeSense, in building Kinect. It had also acquired 3DV, a PrimeSense competitor but did not end up using its technology.

Canesta, based in Sunnyvale, said the acquisition is expected to close before the end of the year.

Source: MGM creditors OK deal

LOS ANGELES

A person familiar with the matter says creditors of struggling Hollywood studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer have voted to approve a merger with Spyglass Entertainment with the backing of billionaire investor Carl Icahn.

The person was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The person said that Icahn, a significant holder of MGM’s debt, voted for the Spyglass plan even though he had publicly supported a rival bid from Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., in exchange for representation on MGM’s board.

Fund manager gets 40-year sentence

NEW YORK

A fund manager whose customers inquired about their accounts after hearing about Ponzi king Bernard Madoff’s fraud was sentenced to 40 years in prison Friday, and the judge said he could not understand why the manager bought a $25 million mansion in the Hamptons as he was ruining his investors’ futures.

James Nicholson, 44, of Saddle River, N.J., showed no emotion as U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan announced the sentence for his $140 million fraud in a courtroom packed with more than 50 jilted investors, including some of Nicholson’s own family members.

Associated Press