Oregon's Pope & Talbot shuts doors

By The Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. - Pope & Talbot Inc., has shut its doors after a Delaware court ordered the bankrupt timber company to turn its mills over to a court-appointed trustee for liquidation.

The court ruling Friday follows a six-month attempt to reorganize and find buyers for the company's remaining mills. It leaves 180 workers in Oregon jobless as of Friday.

The fate of 700 workers in British Columbia will be decided soon in a separate hearing in Vancouver.

Efforts to save the company's mills failed after the Indonesian company Sinar Mas Group backed out of a deal last week to purchase three mills - two in Canada and one in Oregon - for $105.3 million.