IN BRIEF

ATLANTA

Delta flight attendants seeking to form union

Some Delta Air Lines flight attendants are seeking to unionize as the nation's No. 3 carrier considers combining with Northwest Airlines or United Airlines.

A past effort by Atlanta-based Delta's flight attendants to unionize failed. Delta's pilots are currently the only major work group at the company to be part of a union.

According to the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, Delta flight attendants will file cards on Thursday seeking a union representation election. The union said in a statement Saturday that a majority of Delta flight attendants have signed cards.

At least 35 percent of Delta's 12,000 active flight attendants must sign cards seeking union representation for the National Mediation Board to call an election, Delta spokeswoman Gina Laughlin said Monday.

WASHINGTON

Interest rates mixed in Treasury auction

Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills were mixed in Monday's auction, with rates on three-month bills rising and rates on six-month bills falling to the lowest level in more than three years.

The Treasury Department auctioned $24 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 2.25 percent, up from 2.23 percent last week. Another $22 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 2.08 percent, down from 2.16 percent last week.

Gambling win drops in Atlantic City in January

Gambling revenue from casinos in Atlantic City fell 10 percent in January to $355 million.

All 11 casinos in the second-largest U.S. gambling market reported lower revenue, according to a statement posted Monday on the New Jersey Casino Control Commission's Web site.

The city's casino revenue dropped 11 percent in 2007, the first annual decline, on increased competition from slot machines in Pennsylvania. Three new casinos are under construction or in development, including a $5 billion project from MGM Mirage.

Trump Marina's revenue plunged the most, 21 percent, while Trump Plaza had the smallest decline, dropping less than 1 percent.

Revenue at the four casinos owned by Harrah's Entertainment, the world's biggest casino company, fell a combined 8.9 percent. The $17.1 billion sale of Las Vegas-based Harrah's to buyout firms Apollo Management LP and TPG was completed last month.

LOS ANGELES

Some items from China are out at Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's will stop offering some Chinese-grown food products because of customer concerns about safety, the store chain announced Monday.

Garlic, frozen organic spinach and other "single ingredient" food items from mainland China will be phased out by April 1, although products that include ingredients from both China and other sources will remain.

The company believes the foods are safe but "we will continue to source products from other regions until our customers feel as confident as we do about the quality and safety of Chinese products," Trader Joe spokeswoman Alison Mochizuki said in a statement.

Trader Joe's operates four stores in the Las Vegas Valley.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.

Florida hopes ad blitz will help draw tourists

Florida hopes to blunt the effect of an economic slowdown with the state's first national ad campaign aimed at drawing tourists.

Besides a 30-second TV spot, the roughly $9 million campaign that began Monday includes print advertising and a heavy emphasis on a Web-based promotion for Florida's top industry. Some cities -- mostly cold, northern ones -- will be targeted more intensely by the campaign, state officials said.

The ad campaign is run by Visit Florida, the corporation created by the state in 1996 to promote tourism. It is funded mostly by the surcharge paid on rental cars, and by the industry itself.

SAN FRANCISCO

EBay will cut fees for high-volume sellers

EBay bowed to pressure Monday from some of its high-volume sellers, saying it will further cut listing fees for books, music, movies and video games sold through the online auction site.

Monday's move amends a fee structure announced last month and could mean savings for merchants who sell those goods in high volume. Those sellers had expected to lose money from the new plan, slated to take effect Feb. 20. Some had threatened to stop selling on eBay.

The company said last month it plans to cut the fees for listing an item but raise eBay's commissions on items that sell. Merchants quickly complained the cuts were not enough to balance the increase in commissions.

SEATTLE

AT&T to offer Internet in Starbucks shops

Starbucks Corp. and AT&T will start offering a mix of free and paid wireless Internet service in most of the international coffee retailer's U.S. shops, beginning this spring.

The move announced Monday ends a six-year partnership with T-Mobile, which did not include free Wi-Fi and charged higher fees than AT&T will.

Starbucks said it will give customers who use a Starbucks card two hours of free wireless access per day. More time than that will cost $3.99 for a two-hour session. Monthly memberships will cost $19.99 and include access to any of AT&T's 70,000 hot spots worldwide.

NEW YORK

Insurer's news sends Treasury prices higher

Long-term Treasury prices rose Monday after news of problems at American International Group again raised concerns about risky low-quality debt.

The insurer said it will make more information public about the methods it used to value the debt pools known as collateralized debt obligations, or CDOs. These assets are a major concern to investors because CDOs contain some subprime debt instruments that are likely to default.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained 0.25 points to 99 with a yield of 3.62 percent, down from 3.65 percent late Friday.

The 30-year long bond gained 0.28 points to 100.16 with a yield of 4.40 percent, down from 4.43 percent.

The 2-year note rose 0.03 points to 100.41 with a yield of 1.92 percent, down from 1.93 percent.