IN BRIEF

FORT WORTH, Texas

American Airlines raising fees for checked luggage

American Airlines said Monday it is raising its fees on checked bags for passengers buying tickets starting Feb. 1.

The company said it is raising the charge for the first checked bag to $25 from $20 on flights in the U.S., Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands. The fees apply to passengers on the company's American Airlines, American Eagle and American Connection flights.

A second checked bag will cost $35, up from $30.

American Airlines last raised its checked-bag fees in July, when the price of the first bag rose $5 to $20 and the price of the second bag rose the same amount to $25.

Select passengers, including first- and business-class travelers and members of the armed services, will remain exempt from checked-bag fees.

Airlines began instituting checked-bag fees in 2008 to help offset soaring fuel costs. They have largely kept the fees in place, even though prices have fallen.

BLM to hold open-house meetings on solar project

The federal Bureau of Land Management will hold three meetings in Nye County about a company's plans for a solar power generation project on almost 12 square miles of public land in Amargosa Valley.

The BLM says it's preparing a draft environmental study on possible impacts of construction and operation of Pacific Solar Investment's proposed 7,500-acre photovoltaic power generation station.

The site is near Big Dune in the farming community about 80 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Officials say the meetings will be an open-house format.

Sessions are set at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Amargosa Valley Community Center, Wednesday at the Beatty Town Community Center and Thursday at the Bob Ruud Community Center in Pahrump.

NEW YORK

Apple holding invitation-only event to unveil 'latest creation'

Apple Inc. is inviting reporters to an event next week to see what it calls "our latest creation."

The company e-mail Monday offered no specifics about what it would display at the invitation-only Jan. 27 event in San Francisco.

But it comes amid speculation that Apple is close to unveiling a tablet-style touch-screen computer that is bigger than an iPhone but smaller than a standard laptop.

Tablets are one-piece computers with big screens and no keyboards. Such devices have been around since the early 1990s, but haven't seen much success in the mainstream.

An Apple spokesman declined to provide more details on its plans Monday afternoon.

NEW YORK

Tyco acquires Brink's Home Security in $2 billion deal

Diversified manufacturer Tyco International Ltd. says it has acquired home security provider Brink's Home Security Holdings Inc. in a cash-and-stock deal worth $2 billion.

Tyco is paying $42.50 per share for the Irving, Texas-based company. That represents a premium of more than 35 percent over Brink's stock, which closed Monday at $31.42.

Tyco, which is headquartered in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, says it will combine Brink's, which operates as Broadview Security, with its own ADT security business. The deal has been unanimously approved by board members at both companies.

Harmon Theater owner files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

The company that owns Harmon Theater, which is located at the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood, on Monday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Attorney Robert Atkinson said his client intends to continue operations under Chapter 11.

Owner Sia Amiri signed the bankruptcy filing for Krave Entertainment, which does business as Harmon Theater. The theater Web site offers tickets for the Amazing Jonathan and the Naughty Boys Hypnosis Show.

The filing shows that Krave has $153,000 in assets and $3.5 million in liabilities, including $602,000 owed to the Internal Revenue Service for payroll taxes.

The company also owes $717,000 on an unsecured promissory note to John Teichman of Las Vegas.

Secured creditors are Philadelphia-based Fox Rothschild, which has an attorney's lien for $95,000, and Strategic Funding Source Inc. of New York, which is owed $69,000.