(MCT) ORLANDO, Fla. – When hundreds of Democratic activists sat down to dinner in a… (MCT) ORLANDO, Fla. – When hundreds of Democratic activists sat down to dinner in a ballroom at Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club resort last October, the final bill ran into the six figures.

But the Florida Democratic Party, which had arranged the dinner as the centerpiece of its three-day convention in Orlando, didn’t pay the tab. Walt Disney World did.

The food-and-drink freebie, valued at $125,000, is one of 40 such gifts that Disney and Central Florida’s other mega-resort, Universal Orlando, have given the state Democratic and Republican parties in the past seven years. Altogether, Disney and Universal showered more than $571,000 worth of “in-kind contributions” – donations of food, drinks, hotel rooms, meeting space, theme-park tickets and more – on the two political parties from 2001 through 2007, according to an Orlando Sentinel review of state records.

The theme parks say hosting such political events offers them a chance to teach lawmakers and other elected officials about the complexity of running businesses that employ tens of thousands of workers and entertain millions of tourists each year.

But government watchdogs say the gifts, which Disney and Universal made on top of about $1.5 million in direct campaign contributions during the same time period, are simply an extra way in which companies try to curry favor with decision-makers.

Party leaders say the donations earn Disney, Universal and their lobbyists good will, but nothing more. – Jason Garcia, The Orlando Sentinel

(MCT) CHICAGO – United Airlines is pondering its strategic options as stalled talks between Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines threaten other linkups, including a potential tie-up between the Chicago-based carrier and Continental Airlines, sources said.

Talks between United and Continental have halted while the airlines wait to see whether pilots at Delta and its favored partner, Northwest, can resolve a deep split over seniority, sources said.

The complication for United is that it can’t secure a Continental deal until after Delta and Northwest tie up, because Northwest holds a “golden share” in Continental that gives it the power to nix any merger between Continental and another carrier. Northwest forfeits that right if it achieves a merger of its own.

While United waits, it is looking more intently at Delta, whose holdings would also fit well with United’s Midwest and West Coast strongholds and its Pacific Rim network, sources say.

Continental also held exploratory talks with American Airlines, a source said.

Driving the urge to merge is the precipitous plunge in airline stocks over the past year, record-high oil prices and fear that the industry may be headed for another downturn. Executives also want to wrap up deals by spring so they’ll be reviewed by the Bush administration. – Julie Johnsson, Chicago Tribune

(MCT) WASHINGTON – Like the rumble of distant thunder, bird flu continues to spread across Asia, Africa and Europe. Although it’s been out of the news lately in the United States, scientists say that avian influenza, as it’s also known, remains a serious threat to human and animal health.

The lethal H5N1 version of the virus is mutating rapidly and rampaging through bird flocks throughout those parts of the world, infecting and often killing people who come in contact with them. The fear is that the virus will change into a form that makes human-to-human transmission quick and easy. At least seven slightly different subtypes already have been identified.

Although H5N1 hasn’t reached the Western Hemisphere, Joseph Domenech, the chief veterinary officer for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, warned last month that it “could still trigger a human influenza pandemic.”

The virus “continues to cause human disease with high mortality and to pose the threat of a pandemic,” the latest situation report from the World Health Organization says. – Robert S. Boyd, McClatchy Newspapers