Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Ex-billionaire jailed on contempt charge

From Wire Reports

BUTTE – Embattled real estate mogul Tim Blixseth was taken away in handcuffs Thursday after a federal judge ordered the onetime billionaire jailed until he accounts for millions of dollars he owes his creditors.

Blixseth’s lawyers said they were uncertain how long it would take for them to come up with the answers sought by the court, meaning he could remain in jail for some time.

The incarceration of the 64-year-old Blixseth marks a dramatic turn in his six-year legal struggle against accusations that he illegally drained more than $200 million from Montana’s Yellowstone Club, the ultra-luxury resort that Blixseth created with his former wife near Yellowstone National Park.

Before he was taken into custody, Blixseth spent more than two hours on the witness stand trying to explain what happened to just a fraction of that money – $13.8 million in proceeds from the sale of another property that he owned in Mexico.

A clearly-exasperated U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon said Blixseth had offered no proof to back up claims that he spent all the money.

The judge rejected as insufficient the hundreds of pages of financial records presented by Blixseth’s attorneys. Many of those documents were in Spanish and had been submitted just two days before Thursday’s long-scheduled hearing.

“You are missing the boat here,” Haddon told Blixseth’s attorneys at one point. “The whole of this man’s presentation is substantively based on hearsay.” He later said Blixseth appeared to have made a deliberate effort “to thwart or delay compliance with a court order.”

After finding Blixseth in contempt of court, Haddon said the Washington state resident will remain jailed until he can provide a full accounting of the money. Haddon also held open the possibility of further sanctions but gave no specifics.

Amazon to deliver in one hour in Manhattan

PORTLAND – Amazon.com launched a service Thursday that promises one-hour delivery of household products to its Prime customers in Manhattan.

Thousands of products like paper towels, shampoo, books, toys and batteries will get delivered within 60 minutes to select areas of Manhattan, the Seattle-based online retail giant said.

The new delivery service is available to customers enrolled in Amazon Prime, a membership service that costs $99 a year. One-hour delivery costs $7.99 but the company also offers two-hour delivery for free. Prime Now is available from 6 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week. Amazon said it hopes to roll out one-hour delivery to more cities in 2015.

Lawsuit dropped over ‘Just Mayo’ label

Hellmann’s mayonnaise maker Unilever has withdrawn its lawsuit against the maker of “Just Mayo.”

Unilever filed suit against Hampton Creek earlier this year claiming the name of the small California company’s product amounted to false advertising.

The consumer-products giant, whose U.S. arm is based in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, had said that “Just Mayo” has no eggs and therefore doesn’t meet the definition of mayonnaise. It argued that the word “mayo” implies that the product is mayonnaise, and that Hampton Creek was stealing market share from Hellmann’s. Hampton Creek has said that it marketed its product as “mayo” rather than mayonnaise specifically to meet labeling regulations.

Unilever said Thursday that it decided to withdraw the lawsuit so that Hampton Creek can address its label with industry groups and regulatory authorities.

Hampton Creek has had “positive conversations” with industry groups and government officials, said the San Francisco-based company’s CEO, Josh Tetrick. He said that Hampton Creek may make the word “just” larger on the label but has no plans to change the product’s name or its labeling.