DETROIT — Twinkie lovers, relax.

One of the most enduring of Halloween icons, candy corn is now over 130 years old.

Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack.

Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack.

Halloween is the start of the holiday season with sweets and candies to fill our homes. This year may bring a new array of treats to pleasure our palates. The May 2011 Sweets and Snacks Expo in Chicago showed more than 2,000 new confectionery and snack foods that will be hitting the shelves this year. The National Confectionery Association (NCA) is reporting a new health trend in snack consumption.

 First Western Trust Bank, a boutique bank and trust company based in Denver, has expanded its operations to Arizona with the recent opening of a state-chartered bank at 7025 N. Scottsdale Road.

NEWARK, N.J. - If you feel your Valentine's Day chocolates are not such a sweet deal this year, you're not alone. Regulators are investigating price fixing among candy makers in at least three different countries.

The fervent desires of ax-grinders aching to flip the light switch on government officials elbow-deep in the public cookie jar aside, most cases of conflict of interest are about the appearance of conflict, not actual conflict.

A fire is crackling in the big stone fireplace at Ristorante Sandolo at the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort and Spa at Gainey Ranch as couples and groups of friends gather around small tables in the cozy, dimly lit dining room, chatting over glasses of good Italian wine.

MECHANICSBURG, PA. - Snickers bar with that circular saw? Life Savers with that laser printer? Mr. Goodbar with that batting glove? An increasing number of the nation’s largest retailers are looking to squeeze impulse buys out of customers by offering candy, gum and mints at their cash registers.

LONDON - Brothers arrested in Pakistan and England emerged Saturday as key figures in a suspected plot to destroy U.S.-bound aircraft during flight, while prominent Muslims in Britain accused the government of encouraging extremism through its foreign policy.

Put those flowers aside and stop eating those chocolates for just a minute. Long before the greeting-card, floral and confectionery industries successfully marketed an obscure saint’s feast day into our modern romantic buying bonanza, today was statehood day in Arizona.

Years before “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” (1971) became a psychedelia-laced Gen X fetish object, British author Roald Dahl delighted readers with “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” And it was all about the candy.

January 19, 2005

Harold Liskey of Mesa figures he’ll spend about $200 on his Halloween costume, decorations for his home and candy for the neighborhood kids.

Harold Liskey of Mesa figures he’ll spend about $200 on his Halloween costume, decorations for his home and candy for the neighborhood kids.