SAN NARCISO, Calif. (Bennington Vale Evening Transcript) -- For the past seven years, Bailey Kortright, 11, has hosted one of the most popular and longstanding imaginary tea parties in Bennington Vale. Her afternoon teas, in their early days, were open to every interested child in the affluent suburb. But as demand for seatings grew, exceeding the capacity of Bailey’s bedroom and her meager make-believe staff, the events became more exclusive. The waiting period for a coveted invitation now stretches to the start of the 2014-2015 school year. After Wednesday’s news, however, the hopes of many on that list were dashed. Bailey shocked the community this morning when she announced the end of the weekly Kortright Chai Chanoyu. “I am really sad to tell you we’re closing the doors on the tea party forever. And that’s because a bunch of obnoxious food snobs with allergies to everything have made it impossible to stay in business.”

SAN NARCISO, Calif. (Bennington Vale Evening Transcript) -- In an historic 5 to 4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned a key provision of federal campaign finance law by relaxing limitations on individual contributions. Under the new rules, donors may give money to as many candidates, political parties and committees as they like. The justices also eliminated the cumulative caps of $48,600 to candidates and $74,600 to state and local committees during each term. Political watchdogs and advocates for campaign finance reform noted that under the new rules, or lack thereof, a donor with the financial means could contribute nearly $6 million to support every committee and every member of Congress belonging to his party of choice. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus praised the high court’s ruling as a “long overdue move to make slogans like ‘Invest in America’ and ‘Own a Piece of the American Dream’ hard realities.”

SAN NARCISO, Calif. (Bennington Vale Evening Transcript) -- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation's foremost conservative business lobby, announced on Thursday its annual ranking of the eight worst companies in America -- those organizations that consistently fail to embrace the true spirit of bottom-line capitalism. Why eight? Chamber leaders explained that rating ten employers is more expensive, wasteful, and inefficient. To make the prestigious list, a company must demonstrate its failure to seize opportunities for maximizing profit potential by refusing to cut corners, reduce overhead, eliminate employer-sponsored benefits and perks, replace full-time workers with temps or automation, and outsource jobs to foreign nations with cheap labor pools and abysmal records of human rights. "These are big name companies with big chips on their shoulders," said Len Waybill, head economist for the conservative Peter Pinguid Society. "The role of business is to keep growing, to keep making money, by any legal means necessary. Frankly, every company on the list is an embarrassment -- a monument to shame and anti-American values. I always find it strange that these same businesses end up on Fortune's 'Best Companies to Work For' list."

SAN NARCISO, Calif. (Bennington Vale Evening Transcript) -- With the Labor Day holiday fast approaching, along with the travel that generally accompanies it, American consumers seem certain to focus on the recent spike in gasoline prices, which had subsided after a national average peak of $3.49 per gallon in April but rose again Monday to $3.72 a gallon. For those living in California -- a state that consistently outpaces the nation in higher gas prices -- the news is worse. Chevron's Richmond refinery fire over a week ago signaled a 40-cent increase at the pumps for the Golden State's motorists. California now averages $4.10 per gallon. Concerns over the economic impact of the climbing rates have prompted President Obama to consider releasing oil reserves from U.S. stockpiles to alleviate the pinch on consumers, particularly important during an election year. However, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll published Tuesday indicates that soaring gas prices ranked last in the top 10 factors likely to influence voters this November.

ATHENS, Greece (Bennington Vale Evening Transcript) -- International pharmaceutical companies are working closely with European officials on emergency plans to keep drugs flowing into Greece if the country crashes out of the euro. Officials continue to assure the world that such an eventuality would be unthinkable, but it appears they are giving serious thought to the possibility. Not only has the Greek financial disaster blighted the European economy, it has caused worldwide shares of S.C. Johnson -- the owners of Windex -- to plummet. Drugmakers are reaching back to examine the 2002 situation in Argentina, when manufacturers continued to supply drugs temporarily without payment. Executives at major drug companies -- especially those headquartered in Europe -- admitted to being pressured by EU leaders to prevent a "health catastrophe," which could explode should Greek imports falter as result of massive devaluation of newly issued drachma. "There's a moral obligation to comply," representatives from PricewaterhouseCoopers told reporters Friday. "The fact is, we need to keep the Greeks doped up if we're going to get through this with any reasonable measure of sanity."

OSHKOSH, Wis. (Bennington Vale Evening Transcript) -- Short on delegates, popular appeal and funds, embattled White House hopeful Newt Gingrich made a brief and desperate appearance in Wisconsin Friday. Economically, Gingrich has been sustained by his half million dollar revolving credit account at Tiffany's -- where he eats his only meal of the day, breakfast -- and the generous financial backing of Sheldon Adelson, a Las Vegas benefactor who dumped more than $16 million into a Super PAC to support the campaign. However, Adelson is now sending signals that Gingrich's race is run and that he will start supporting Romney. The former Speaker of the House came to the state with the intent of addressing students at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh. Instead, Gingrich mysteriously changed the venue to a nearby Piggly Wiggly, where he gave an incomplete and emotionally awkward speech before asking someone to show him how the "damned Mega Millions lottery machine" worked.