Former executive loses bid to leave prison early

Former HomeGold executive Ronnie Sheppard will not be released from prison early. Parole board spokesman Pete O’Boyle says the panel turned down the request Wednesday. It was the second time Sheppard had sought permission to leave prison early. He is serving a 20-year sentence for securities fraud, conspiracy and obtaining property under false pretenses for his role in the 2003 collapse of HomeGold and its subsidiary Carolina Investors. More than 8,000 investors lost $275 million in one of the biggest bankruptcies in state history.

Cruise terminal opponents take case to administrative judge

CHARLESTON Opponents of a planned $35 million Charleston cruise terminal are taking their case to South Carolina’s Administrative Law Court. Neighborhood and environmental groups this week appealed a permit state regulators issued last year for the project. The permit allows the pilings to be pounded into the Cooper River under an old warehouse being converted into the terminal. Opponents want an administrative law judge to either reverse the permit or get regulators to analyze other terminal locations and review noise, traffic and pollution impacts of any terminal in the city’s historic district.

Health experts ask FDA to regulate use of sweeteners

NEW YORK A group of health advocates and public health officials from major cities around the country are asking the Food and Drug Administration to regulate the amount of caloric sweeteners in sodas and other beverages, arguing that the scientific consensus is that the level of added sugars in those products is unsafe. The group, led by the Center for Science in the Public Interest and including public health departments noted that the FDA had pledged in 1982 and 1988 to reassess the safety of sweeteners if consumption increased or if new scientific research indicated that things like high fructose corn syrup and sucrose were a public health hazard.

Patent authority disputes iPhone’s name in Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO Brazil’s patent authority has taken a bite out of Apple with an announcement Wednesday that the iPhone name in Brazil belongs to a local company called Gradiente SA, not to the global computer giant. The official publication of the verdict doesn’t forbid Apple from using the name in Brazil. It only makes it clear the rights belong to the Brazilian company, said Marcelo Chimento, spokesman with the national patent office. Stopping misuse of the name is beyond the patent office’s purview, and would have to be decided in court. Another option is for the two companies to reach a deal, he said.

The Associated Press and New York Times contributed.