Maker

NEW YORK - The future of Twinkies is virtually assured. Hostess Brands Inc. got final approval for its wind-down plans in Bankruptcy Court on Thursday, setting the stage for its snack cakes to find a second life with new owners - even as 18,000 jobs will be wiped out, including 400 at the Hostess plant in Northeast Philadelphia. The company said in court that it was in talks with 110 potential buyers for its brands, which include CupCakes, Ding Dongs, and Ho Ho's. The suitors include at least five national retailers such as supermarkets, a financial adviser for Hostess said.

When President Obama comes to Montgomery County on Friday, he will speak in front of a two-foot-tall toy helicopter, a toy roller coaster, a toy grandfather clock, a motorized toy carousel, and an American flag made of 49,000 K'Nex pieces. The Hatfield plastics factory that makes Tinkertoys and Lincoln Logs as well as K'Nex will provide a colorful holiday backdrop for the president to talk about the advantages of extending middle-class tax cuts and the dangers of the fiscal cliff.

Bundled against the cold, more than a bakers' dozen of union bakers in Northeast Philadelphia continued their strike against a company now trying to sell itself out of business. Hostess Brands Inc., maker of Twinkies, Wonder Bread, Ding Dongs, and Ho Ho's, said Friday it would liquidate the company and put its brands up for sale "to the highest bidders," its chief executive said. Closing would mean the loss of 18,500 jobs nationally, including more than 400 at a Hostess plant in Northeast Philadelphia and several depots around the region.

WASHINGTON - Seven members of the secretive Navy SEAL Team 6, including one involved in the mission to get Osama bin Laden, have been punished for disclosing classified information, senior Navy officials said Thursday. Four other SEALs are under investigation for similar alleged violations, one official said. They are alleged to have divulged classified information to the maker of a video game. Each of the seven received a punitive letter of reprimand and a partial forfeiture of pay for two months.

When Rodney Crowell first teamed up with poet and memoirist Mary Karr, he figured the collaboration might yield a couple of songs he could use on an album of his own. "But it caught on so fast and we produced so much in such a short time, I said, 'You know, we're making an album here,' " the 62-year-old singer and songwriter says over the phone while heading east from Columbus, Ohio. Indeed, they were. The terrific result is Kin: Songs by Mary Karr and Rodney Crowell . Produced by Joe Henry, the 10 songs are sung by Crowell, Norah Jones, Vince Gill, Lucinda Williams, Kris Kristofferson, Emmylou Harris, and Crowell's former wife Rosanne Cash.

HARRISBURG - A proposed tax incentive designed to attract software giant Oracle to the Pennsylvania State University area and worth millions to other businesses that hire Pennsylvania workers is awaiting Gov. Corbett's signature after clearing the state House and Senate in the waning days of the 2011-2012 session. The bill would allow employers that hire 250 new workers to keep 95 percent of the workers' state income taxes, money that would otherwise be sent to the state treasury.

DETROIT - After years of struggling with weak sales and mounting losses, electric-car battery maker A123 Systems Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection and reached a deal to sell its automotive assets Tuesday. Auto-parts maker Johnson Controls Inc. will pay $125 million for A123's auto business, which includes two Michigan factories and the lithium-ion battery technology used in cars including the Fisker Karma and upcoming Chevrolet Spark. A123's demise as an independent business reflects the problems of the electric-car industry.

C&D Technologies Inc., a Blue Bell-based maker of energy-storage products and backup power systems, has hired Christian Rheault as its new president and chief executive officer. Rheault had been senior vice president of global business operations for Kulicke & Soffa Industries Inc. until the maker of semiconductor and LED assembly equipment moved its corporate headquarters to Singapore from Fort Washington. Taken by private by Angelo, Gordon & Co. in January, C&D had been led by interim CEO David L. Treadwell since May, after Minnesota-based MTS Systems Corp.