Boddie-Noell Enterprises' refusal to run racy Hardee's ads in its region, including the Carolinas, is getting more mileage.

Last month, the Rocky Mount company and country's largest Hardee's franchisee drew national attention when its chairman wrote a letter bashing ads for a new breakfast product, Biscuit Holes. See the original story here.

In the letter, Mayo Boddie asked Hardee's parent company CKE Restaurants to pull the ads everywhere.

This morning's USA Today has a story looking at how fast-food franchisees are balking at provocative ads from Burger King and other fast-food chains.

The story points out that in tough economic times, no one wants to offend diners.

Tekelec, the Morrisville telecom gear maker, continues to outwit the recession with a strong balance sheet and a suite of products that phone companies need to function.

The company said this morning that revenue from continuing operations was $114.2 million, down just 2 percent for the second quarter. Income was up 9 percent to $16.8 million, or 25 cents per share, and better than Wall Street analysts had expected.

Product orders fell 15 percent compared to the same three-month period last year. But Tekelec officials are confident that orders will rebound and they boosted their sales predictions for the year.

R.H. Donnelley, the bankrupt yellow pages publisher, reported that its business continued to suffer during the second quarter.

Late Tuesday, the Cary company announced that second-quarter revenue fell to $565.6 million, down 15 percent from the same period last year.

Forgive the "cupcake lady" if she feels a tiny bit snubbed.

Last week during his visit to Raleigh, President Barack Obama was introduced by Sara Coleman, owner of the Cupcake Shoppe in Glenwood South.

On Tuesday, the day he turned 48, Obama gave legendary White House journalist Helen Thomas a plate of cupcakes -- they share the same birthday; she's 89.

Alas, they weren't Coleman's creations.

"I would love to say that they were, but they're not," Coleman said by telephone.

Raleigh ranks No. 18 on a new Forbes list of the best cities for working moms.

The list, part of the ForbesWoman section, was compiled using factors such as jobs, salaries, cost of living, health care, public parks and more.

The authors cited Raleigh's low crime rates and strong public school system.

Xerium Technologies, the Youngsville maker of paper-manufacturing equipment, reported another shaky quarter today and said it has hired outside financial advisors to explore the company's contingency plans and other options.

Inspire Pharmaceuticals announced plans to raise $80 million by selling its stock, giving the Durham company fresh cash to pay for further drug research.

The company had $42.5 million in cash and investments as of June 30, enough money to last into 2010. But Inspire officials said last week that they would need to find additional capital.

The state's manufacturing sector is getting hammered by the recession.

Colfax Corp. said today it'll shut down a fabrication plant in Sanford, putting 68 people out of work by the end of this year.

Office Suites Plus is offering rent-free office space to out-of-work professionals for up to 90 days. It's a slick strategy to boost occupancy down the line.

The Pantry this morning announced that sales and profit fell during its fiscal third quarter, as gasoline prices rose and the recession hurt merchandise sales.

The company, which moved its headquarters to Cary from Sanford this summer, is the largest convenience-store chain in the southeast, with more than 1,600 stores in 11 states.

Net income for the quarter ended June 25 was $43,000, or break-even on a per-share basis. During the same quarter last year, net income was $10.7 million, or 48 cents a share.

Revenue fell 34 percent to $1.63 billion. That was slightly less than analysts had expected.

In addition to higher wholesale gas prices, which eat into profit, the results were affected "by the ongoing economic softness in our markets and by higher tobacco excise taxes," said CEO Peter J. Sodini, who plans to retire this fall.