Los Angeles Times

A Beverly Hills, Calif., fam-ily that has battled the WaltDisney Co. for 15 years overWinnie the Pooh royalties willbe allowed to keep its paws inthe billion-dollar honey pot.

U.S. District Court JudgeFlorence-Marie Cooper re-cently dismissed a lawsuit thatsought to end Disney’s obli-gation to pay the Slesingerfamily royalties on the sales ofWinnie the Pooh merchandise.

In 1961, the Slesingers, whoinherited the merchandisingrights to the silly old bearand his forest friends, trans-ferred those rights to Disney

in exchange for ongoing roy-alty payments.

But the partnership becameacrimonious. In 1991, theSlesinger family sued Disneyin state court for breach ofcontract and fraud, claimingthat, over the years, the en-tertainment giant had cheatedthem out of hundreds of mil-lions of dollars in profits fromPooh.

That lawsuit was followedby this one, which dealt withcopyright.

In 2002, the granddaugh-ters of the Pooh author, A.A.Milne, and of illustrator E.H.Shepard, filed a complex law-suit in U.S. District Court inLos Angeles that attemptedto invoke U.S. copyright lawsto assert their rights to Poohas descendants of the cre-

ators. If they had prevailed, the

Slesingers’ legal ties to thebear would have been erased.

By John O’DellLOS ANGELES TIMES

Kermit the Frog may havebeen right about the difficul-ties of being green, but agrowing number of automak-ers are trying.

An annual online rating ofwhat’s “green’’ and what isn’t,published recently, has fournew models on its list of thedozen most environmentallyfriendly vehicles for 2007.

Equally notable, though, isthe large number of vehiclesthat nearly made the list in theGreen Book, an environmen-tal guide to cars and trucks bythe American Council for anEnergy-Efficient Economy inWashington.

“There are a lot of eco-friendly vehicles that justmissed the cut’’ for the top 12ranking, Green Book authorJames Kliesch said.

“It used to be the case thatthe greenest vehicles were aselect number of models thatstood far above the pack,’’ hesaid. “Today, the eco-friendlyfield has become much morecrowded, and that’s good newsfor consumers.’’

Honda Motor Co.’s natural-gas-powered Civic GX was thenation’s greenest vehicle for thethird time in four years — af-ter being knocked into secondplace last year by the compa-ny’s since-discontinued two-seatInsight gasoline-electric hybrid.

Toyota Motor Corp.’s pop-ular Prius, another gasoline-electric hybrid, was second,followed closely by Honda’sCivic hybrid.

Two newcomers — NissanMotor Co.’s Altima hybrid,which went on sale in February,and Toyota’s Yaris subcompact— rounded out the top five.

The other newcomers areToyota’s Camry hybrid, in sev-enth place, and Honda’s Fitsubcompact, in eighth.

A third new subcompact inthe market, Nissan’s Versa,was one of a growing numberof vehicles that scored well butnot high enough to make thetop rankings.

The dozen greenest carsthis year are Asian models,blanking out American au-tomakers for only the secondtime in the 10 years the GreenBook has been published.Japanese automakers capturednine of the top 12 positions,and South Korean car com-panies took the three others.

But the U.S. auto industry,considered by some critics tobe a reluctant entrant in thegreen car race, didn’t missthe top ratings for lack of try-ing, Kliesch said.

Models such as Ford MotorCo.’s Focus and Escape hybridand several from General Mo-tors Corp. — the Pontiac Vibeand G5, the Chevrolet Cobaltand Aveo and the Saturn Ion— all scored well, he said.

Candlemaker’s successful shop started at home

By Matthew Thompsonmatthewthompson@dailymail.com

Tony Rinchich has been achimney sweep, coal miner andprivate investigator.

But for the past seven years,the 48-year-old Boone Countynative has held a position that’sgiven him the most delight —selling candles.

Rinchich is the owner of An-gela’s Candle Barn in Marmet.The shop, located at 10007 Mac-Corkle Ave., offers candles in 150scents made inside the store.

Other crafts, including spe-cialty signs, baskets and otherknick-knacks, are also sold there.

Along with his girlfriend, An-gela Allen, who inspired thestore’s name, Rinchich hasturned a $500 investment into abrand with a growing reputation.

The store’s candles are sold in41 stores across the United States.

“Part of our success is that wetry to work with customers on apersonal level,” Rinchich said.“We like to take a step back andmake them feel comfortable.We’re not just looking to makea new customer, we’re looking tomake a friend as well.”

The idea for the store beganin 2000.

Rinchich was a coal miner for18 years and a part-time chim-ney sweep. After being laid offfrom the mines in the early1990s, Rinchich became a full-time private investigator withhelp from Angela.

Rinchich said after logging in“25 hours a day,” the couple de-sired a more stable existence.

“Angie’s family had a craftshop, which they operated foryears,” Rinchich said. “We want-ed to get into something like thatand provide a quality product forpeople in the area.”

The couple began to make

the candles in their home. Thefirst candles the couple sold werefrom the back of a truck in var-ious Kanawha City parking lots.

After that was successful, thecouple moved into their Marmetlocation in 2000.

“We got tired of having every-thing in our house covered inwax,” Rinchich said.

Since then, Rinchich said, theshop has thrived on quality con-trol and the hefty amount oftime they devote to the business.

“We dedicate 150 percent ofour lives to this business,”Rinchich said. “We take pride in

using all we’ve got to make thebest candles.”

The shop allows customers tochoose candles to match theirhome decor. Local consignersprovide the handmade signs andother crafts sold in the store.

The shop offers free deliveryin the Charleston area.

Rinchich said they could pro-vide candles for any occasion,including weddings and birthdayparties. They also supply candlesto local schools and communi-ty programs to use in fundrais-ers.

He said the business would

thrive as long as the customer iskept first and foremost in mind.

“We are going to be here sell-ing candles until they throw usout,” Rinchich said. “We’re excit-ed to see what each day brings us.”

Contact writer MatthewThompson at matthewthompson@dailymail.com or 348-4834.

4L February 25, 2007 Sunday Gazette-Mail

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Bookrates‘green’cars

Judge dismisses lawsuit in Pooh royalty caseIn 1961, the family that inherited the

merchandising rights transferred them to Disneyin exchange for ongoing royalty payments.