The Cheesecake Factory Inc. has received the platinum award in casual dining from Restaurants & Institutions magazine. The publication asked more than 3,100 consumers to rate nearly 120 chain restaurants in its annual Consumers’ Choice in Chains survey. Eight customer satisfaction attributes were considered: food quality, menu variety, value, service, atmosphere, cleanliness, reputation and convenience. “We are delighted to once again receive the platinum award in the Consumers’ Choice in Chains survey,” said David Overton, Cheesecake Factory Inc. chairman and CEO. “We strive to provide our guests with an exceptional experience and receiving the top overall score in casual dining in a survey voted on by consumers tells us that our brand strategy is as relevant today as it was when our first restaurant opened 30 years ago.” This is the 28th year Restaurants & Institutions has presented this award. Cheesecake Factory, headquartered in Calabasas Hills, has 33,000 staff members across the country.

Mattel Inc. seeks $1 billion in profits that MGA Entertainment Inc. has made from its popular line of Bratz dolls. In addition, the toymaker wants $800 million from MGA CEO Isaac Larian for his role in aiding a former Mattel designer who came up with the concept drawings for the Bratz lines while still employed at Mattel, the Associated Press reported. In July, a federal jury ruled against MGA in a copyright infringement case, stating that designer Carter Bryant had come up with the Bratz concept while still a Mattel employee. In court on Aug. 20, lawyers for the two companies gave their closing statements in the damages portion of the case. MGA attorney Thomas Nolan told the jury that it needed to distinguish between the concept drawings and the final product and that MGA had altered the look of the Bratz dolls over the years, AP reported.

Zipper-maker Talon International reported second quarter earnings were moving in the right direction, with net income rising 22 percent higher than in the same period in 2007. The Woodland Hills-based company earned $598,157, or $0.03 per diluted share, on net sales of $17 million in the quarter ending June 30. For the same period a year ago, Talon had net income of $490,500, or $0.02 per diluted share, on revenues of $13.6 million. Talon attributed the sales growth to increased sales in China and a brand awareness program in the United States.

LANCASTER – Percy “Steve” Malicott announced Wednesday he will resign as president and CEO of the Antelope Valley Chambers of Commerce to take a similar position in Great Falls, Mont., where his wife has family. Malicott, who has led the chamber for nearly 10 years, said he expects to stay into mid-October before moving on to become the president and CEO of the Great Falls, Mont., Area Chamber of Commerce. For the full story visit www.avpress.com/n/21/0821_s6.hts

Lead wheel weights, widely used to balance vehicle tires but considered a threat to drinking water, will be phased out in California by the end of next year under a court settlement approved Wednesday. The settlement ends a lawsuit filed in May by the Oakland-based Center for Environmental Health against Chrysler and the three largest makers of lead wheel weights for the U.S. market. Some observers see the settlement as a first step toward a broader ban on the products. For the full story visit www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-wheels21-2008aug21,0,6289041.story

NEW YORK , Countrywide’s acquisition by Bank of America Corp. was supposed to help keep the troubled mortgage lender from collapse. Things might not turn out exactly as planned. The people who did the deal hoped that a strong bank would rescue a weak one. But the deal’s structure may have only delayed the inevitable , Countrywide still could face bankruptcy or a federal takeover potentially involving taxpayer dollars. “This deal is so rancid and unpredictable,” said Christopher Whalen, managing director at the consulting firm Institutional Risk Analytics. “Bank of America’s executives can’t even articulate what the total liabilities from this deal are.” For the full story visit www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/aug/20/bofa-deal-may-not-rescue-lender/

Health Net Inc. signed a five-year agreement to have IBM manage the entire information technology system. The $300 million agreement gives Woodland Hills-based Health Net significant cost savings and increased data center reliability “This is an important step in making Health Net more competitive and a key component of our operations strategy to increase our capabilities while reducing administrative costs and improving efficiency,” said Jim Woys, Health Net’s chief operating officer. “By partnering with IBM, Health Net will receive benefits including reduction of IT costs and operational risk while gaining access to IBM’s global resources and technologies.” IBM will provide full IT infrastructure management services including: data center services, IT security management, help desk and desk side support. IBM partner AT & T; will provide network, voice and data management services.

PALMDALE – Starting next month, travelers wanting to use the free Palmdale Flyer bus service, which shuttles airline passengers between the Palmdale and Van Nuys airports, will need to call ahead for reservations. Since it started in April, the Palmdale Flyer service has used large commuter buses to transport ticketed passengers between the two airports, but it will start using vans on Sept. 3 – the same day United Airlines, the airline serving the L.A./Palmdale Regional Airport, doubles its number of daily flights to San Francisco. For the full story visit www.avpress.com/n/20/0820_s6.hts

GLENDALE , The Redevelopment Agency on Tuesday asked the developer of the nearly completed 12-story Embassy Suites hotel to fix what many on the city panel viewed as a design flaw near the structure’s helicopter-landing pad. Original designs for the landing pad called for a decorative framework around the landing pad called a cornice to “integrate the function of the helipad and the supports for the mechanical screen walls beyond,” according to the plans. Currently, no cornice exists around the landing pad atop the 800 N. Central Ave. hotel, which agency members said was a departure from plans the city had approved in 2002. For the full story visit www.glendalenewspress.com/articles/2008/08/20/politics/gnp-hotel20.txt

Despite the 90-degree heat, residents and city staff members gathered Tuesday along Third Street to celebrate the opening of the new Community Services Building. The new facility will replace the old municipal services building on the lot, which was demolished after being severely damaged during the 1994 Northridge earthquake, City Manager Mary Alvord said. The opening was a momentous occasion for staff members, who started planning the building in 2003. For the full story visit www.burbankleader.com/articles/2008/08/20/politics/blr-communityservice20.txt