BRIEFCASE WHOLE FOODS SET TO OPEN NEW STORE.

Byline: - From Staff and Wire Reports

NORTHRIDGE - Whole Foods is casting open the doors of its seventh local store today.

The 27,000-square-foot store, located at 19340 Rinaldi St., will offer a host of amenities, including a self-serve olive bar and a cheese aging room. Additionally, sushi, pizza, a full bakery and fresh roast coffee bar will round out the culinary offerings.

Problem found with SAG ballots

The fiercely contested election for president of the Screen Actors Guild may have hit a snag.

Nearly 24,000 ballots sent to members of the Screen Actors Guild in New York failed to include a signature line, which could allow their validity to be challenged, Variety reported Wednesday.

The other 74,000 envelopes sent around the country include a line that states: ``Voter: Print and sign your name on the back of this envelope.''

The front-runners in the bid to represent Hollywood actors are Melissa Gilbert, best known as frontier girl Laura Ingalls on ``Little House on the Prairie,'' and Valerie Harper, the wisecracking star of ``Rhoda.''

Two other candidates, Angeltompkins and Eugene Boggs, also are seeking the presidency.

None has raised serious objections yet about the ballot envelopes.

Ballots were due Wednesday, and results of the election are expected to be announced by Monday, the guild said.

New CFO named for Guess? Inc.

Guess? Inc. announced Wednesday the appointment of Frederick G. Silny as senior vice president and chief financial officer, effective Nov. 12.

Silny, 51, joins the company from CarsDirect.com Inc., where he has been CFO and corporate secretary since 1999 and part of the team that created the Internet retailer.

Prior to that, he spent 10 years at IHOP Corp., the parent company of a chain of family restaurants, serving as CFO, vice president-finance and treasurer. Silny was part of the group that took that company public in 1991.

Between 1979 and 1989, he held a variety of financial and operational positions with Carnation Co., now a division of Nestle, and from 1982-1984, he headed international treasury for Litton Industries Inc.

Teledyne lands Air Force contract

Teledyne Technologies Inc. announced Wednesday that Teledyne Controls' Optical Quick Access Recorder has been selected by the U.S. Air Force for its C-17 Globemaster III military transport aircraft.

``The C-17 will be the first military aircraft transport jet with a commercial, off-the-shelf Data Acquisition and Recording System capable of meeting the flight data acquisition requirements of the Air Force's Aircraft Information Program Directive of December 2000,'' said Robert Mehrabian, Teledyne's chairman, president and chief executive officer.

Deliveries of the OQAR will be made to meet the C-17 production schedule, based on various options. Those options, if exercised, would support the entire fleet, with a total contract value of about $3.5 million.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, Teledyne Controls manufactures a wide range of air transport, business and commuter aircraft, helicopter and airport systems.

Fed bailout lifts Continental profit

The cash infusion airlines received as part of a $15 billion federal bailout enabled Continental Airlines to record a net profit in the third quarter. The emergency money handed out in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks was not enough to prevent America West from posting a larger-than-anticipated loss over the same period.

Investors responded Wednesday by lifting shares of Continental by more than 5 percent while leaving America West's stock unchanged.

Excluding the federal grants, Continental and America West reported operating losses of $97 million and $69 million, respectively, for the three months that ended Sept. 30.

Takeover rumors aid Enron Corp.

HOUSTON - After plummeting to a nine-year low following recent economic losses and an investigation by federal securities regulators, shares of Enron Corp. jumped nearly 25 percent Wednesday amid speculation the company was ripe for takeover.

Shares of Enron, the nation's largest natural gas and power marketer, rose $2.74 to close at $13.90 Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. Though still down 69 percent since the company reported third-quarter earnings just over two weeks ago.

Enron shares began their steady fall in the middle of October, when the company reported a net loss of $638 million in the third quarter, taking a one-time charge of $1.01 billion attributed to investment losses, troubled assets and unit restructurings.