Prussia

4-week bills , Dec. 26; 3-month and 6-month bills , Dec. 24; 1-year bills , Jan. 8; 2-year notes , Jan. 28; 3-year notes , Jan. 8; 5-year notes , Dec. 29; 7-year notes , Dec. 19; 10-year notes , Jan. 9; 30-year notes , Jan. 10; 5-year TIPS , Dec. 20; 10-year TIPS, Jan. 24 ; 30-year TIPS , Feb. 21. Business Referral Luncheon , presented by BNI, King of Prussia chapter. Peppers Italian Restaurant, 236 Town Center Rd., King of Prussia;610-792-2105. Reservations required. 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. recurring Networking Meeting , presented by BNI, Fort Washington chapter.

It was supposed to be a quick trip to the King of Prussia mall Sunday to pick out clothes for a funeral. It ended with an escort off mall property after a clash of individual expression and corporate sensibilities. At issue were black caps worn by two sisters - Zakia and Tasha Clark of North Philadelphia - mourning the loss of their mother, Jackie Underwood, to cancer May 14. The hats were imprinted with "F- Cancer" in pink, with a breast-cancer-awareness ribbon taking the place of the letter C . A security guard approached the two sisters, who were with a third sibling, Makia Underwood, while they were eating in the food court, and told them in no uncertain terms to remove the hats or leave.

I THOROUGHLY enjoy Solomon Jones' Saturday columns. They are refreshing, real and a great reminder about situations that fit into everyday lives, help bring stressful moments into perspective, and are great to relax with over a cup of coffee. Drew M. Brochet Sr. King of Prussia

Browsing at the Valley Forge Crafts Festival Sunday, Parri Perry came upon a booth featuring sculpture, weaving and basketry with a Native American theme by Cheryl Dolby. The juried two-day festival, in its 11th year, took place at the Valley Forge Convention Center in King of Prussia.

The 14-city Tour de LaFrance stopped Sunday at the King of Prussia firehouse on Allendale Road, bringing 12 fully restored vintage trucks, among them an 1857 hand pumper, a 1929 hook and ladder, and a 1911 American LaFrance Metropolitan Steamer.

Call it the battle of the malls. David takes on Goliath. The upstart four-year-old Willow Grove Park mall vs. the granddaddy mall, the largest shopping center in the nation, the King of Prussia complex, which includes the Court and its adjacent sister mall, the Plaza. It is an unlikely matchup of retail wrestling between a young challenger and the champ in an industry not noted for public spats between competitors. In one corner, Willow Grove weighs in with 135 stores, while King of Prussia stands on the other side of the ring with about 350 stores.

Nationwide Financial Services Inc., whose mutual-fund unit is based in King of Prussia, said it had agreed to buy 17 equity and bond mutual funds from HighMark Capital Management Inc. The price was not disclosed. The funds had $3.6 billion in assets at the end of last year and are expected to bring Nationwide Funds' total to about $51 billion, Nationwide said. Highmark, a unit of Union Bank, of San Francisco, will continue managing nine of the funds, which will be recast as Nationwide funds.

James F. Kelley Jr., 69, who ran his own insurance company in King of Prussia for 25 years before selling the business and retiring in 1986, died Saturday at Sacred Heart Hospital in Norristown. He had lived in King of Prussia for 34 years. Born in Bryn Mawr, Mr. Kelley was a graduate of West Catholic High School and Drexel University. He served as a navigator in the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II. He was a member of Mother of Divine Providence Church. He is survived by his wife, Carol D.; a son, Lawrence W.; a granddaughter, Megan; two sisters; and a brother.