In Brief

Southwest Gas Corp. posts $933,000 loss in quarter

Local natural gas utility Southwest Gas Corp. posted a loss in the quarter that ended June 30.

The company's net loss was $933,000, or 2 cents per share, compared with $594,000, or 1 cent per share, in the same quarter a year earlier. Quarterly revenue came in at $385.8 million, down from $387.6 million in the second quarter of 2009.

The quarter included a $3.7 million decrease in the cash-surrender values of company-owned life insurance. That decline was worth 8 cents a share. The same period in 2009 brought a $3.7 million gain in surrender values of life-insurance policies, which added 8 cents a share.

The company's operating margin, defined as operating revenue minus the cost of gas sold, grew by $8 million in the quarter, while operating expenses were flat. Financing costs fell $1.6 million, and the company's construction-services subsidiary improved its results by $1 million.

The company said in a statement that net losses in the second and third quarters, when heating demand is low, are normal and "not generally indicative of earnings for a complete 12-month period."

Pop-Tarts World serves custom toaster treats in Times Square

One of Kellogg Co.'s most popular brands is popping up in Times Square at Pop-Tarts World, with more than 3,000 square feet dedicated to toaster pastries.

Customers will be able to eat Pop-Tart "sushi," order a customized pastry or create a custom box filled with a mix of their favorite flavors. They can suggest new types of Pop-Tarts, select a Pop-Tarts T-shirt made by specialty artists, or get "frosted" and "wrapped in foil" by a light show.

It's the first time Kellogg has focused a store on one product to cash in on its dedicated following and increase its exposure. The company hopes to make the new store a fixture in Times Square, where two candy makers already have stand-alone emporiums, the Hershey store and Mars Inc.'s M&M's World.

Pop-Tarts -- two layers of pastry with sweet filling -- have been a Kellogg mainstay for nearly 50 years; about 2 billion sell each year. But it wasn't until the recent rise of social media that Kellogg grasped the dedication of Pop-Tarts fans.

Brand manager Andrew Shripka says the Pop-Tarts Facebook page is one of the social network's 20 most popular, surprising even some Kellogg employees.

"There's really nothing like a Pop-Tart," Shripka says.

Pop-Tart "sushi" is a combination of three fruit varieties rolled together in a fruit wrap and sliced to look like a roll.

WASHINGTON

Google, Verizon pitch new plan for Internet traffic

Phone and cable TV companies that provide Internet services should be barred from slowing, blocking or charging to prioritize Internet traffic flowing over their regular broadband lines, Verizon Communications Inc. and Google Inc. said in a policy statement released Monday.

But the companies left room for broadband providers to charge extra to route traffic from premium services such as remote medical monitoring and smart grid controls over dedicated networks that are separate from the public Internet.

Verizon and Google laid out their vision in a policy proposal that they hope can serve as a starting point for so-called "network neutrality" rules, which would dictate how phone and cable companies must treat Internet traffic. Although broadband providers such as Verizon and Internet content companies such as Google are at opposite ends in the increasingly bitter debate over such rules, the two companies have been in talks for months to try to identify common ground.

Their proposal comes just days after the Federal Communications Commission declared an impasse in negotiations to craft an industrywide compromise on the thorny issue.

Hard Rock's Wasted Space to be replaced with sports book

The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas is planning to close its Wasted Space nightclub to make way for a new race and sports book.

Hotel spokeswoman Jessie Pound says acts are booked through October and it's not yet clear when the club will close.

Wasted Space has been used as a small concert venue at the hotel, with space for up to about 500 people.

The club was designed by motocross racer Carey Hart, and counted baseball player Jason Giambi and musicians Joel and Benji Madden among its investors.

Pound says the club will close before spring of next year.