Lester Allan "Al" Henning, retired director of Research at the former DeSoto Inc., died Dec. 6, 2001, in Evanston, IL. He was 62.

The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) issued program details for the 29th Annual International Waterborne, High-Solids and Powder Coatings Symposium, scheduled for Feb. 6-8 in New Orleans.

Hedwin Corp. announced the launch of a revamped and expanded website.

The city of Newark, NJ, became the latest jurisdiction to file suit against former suppliers of lead-based paint and pigments. The city filed suit in state Superior Court in New Jersey and said it will seek "billions of dollars" in damages for health problems related to lead poisoning.

Chemcentral Corp. has completed the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Southwest Solvents & Chemicals, a distributor of chemicals with facilities in Texas and Los Angeles.

Celanese Chemicals announced plans to shut down a vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) production plant in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Formation Systems announced the opening of a United Kingdom headquarters facility in London.

Sartomer Co. has acquired Rohm and Haas Co.'s line of Uvithane oligomers, a group of five urethane acrylate oligomers that includes two aromatic and three aliphatic products used in coatings, ink and adhesives.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) issued a notice that new, statewide VOC limits for several consumer products, including certain adhesives and aerosol coatings, were scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 1.

Engineered Polymer Solutions and Color Corp. of America, both of which are units of The Valspar Corp., Minneapolis, announced a merger of their operations in a move the businesses said would improve efficiencies in their sales, marketing and technical functions.