TORONTO (Reuters) - Tim Hortons Incnamed a long-time Nestle executive as its new chief on Wednesday, a job that will be no easy task given drooping demand at the Canadian coffee and doughnut chain and a push by a U.S. hedge fund for better returns.

Shares of Tim Hortons, which boasts that it sells eight of every 10 cups of coffee sold in Canada, fell more than 2.5 percent after the company posted its first decline in established store sales since its 2006 initial public offering.

The company, under pressure from hedge fund Highfields Capital to boost shareholder returns, said it is considering the Boston-based fund's key demands. But any change will await its new CEO, Nestleveteran Marc Caira, a 59-year-old Canadian.

Highfields wants the chain to take on new debt to buy back shares and believes that Tim Hortons' U.S. returns do not justify further investment there.

It also wants the company to enter into less capital-intensive franchise deals in the United States or scrap its U.S. expansion plans, according to documents seen by Reuters.

Interim CEO Paul House said Tims won't pull back from the U.S. market, but is studying a plan to work with well-funded franchisees who could operate multiple locations there.

The chain also announced on Wednesday a franchise deal with Apparel FZCO to open as many as 100 restaurants in Saudi Arabia in the next five years. That follows a deal with Apparel to open up to 120 locations in several Arab states, including Qatar and Kuwait.

"These are the type of deals they should be doing - these royalty deals, where they don't take on any of the risk and get all the reward," said Barry Schwartz, a portfolio manager at Baskin Financial, which owns about 130,000 Tim Hortons shares. "This is the type of structure they should follow in the U.S."

Tim Hortons said it will also consider taking on additional debt and study what would be its "optimal" capital structure considering historically low interest rates. Increased debt could affect its tax rate and investment grade credit rating, it warned.

But executives said they had already considered and rejected a Highfields proposal to create a real estate investment trust to house Tim Hortons property assets because it would not create significant value.

GROWTH CHALLENGE

The company said tough conditions in the first quarter led to heightened competition and drove sales down at established stores by 0.5 percent in the United States and 0.3 percent in Canada.

Other restaurant operators also faced a difficult first quarter, Schwartz said, given issues ranging from poor weather to nervous consumers.

"That's not particular to Tim Hortons. Take a look at every single food company that's reported over the past week."

Despite disappointing results for the first quarter, the company has performed well since its IPO. But analysts now question if the brand, as much a Canadian symbol as hockey and the Maple Leaf flag, has room for further growth at home.

With some 3,400 company-owned and franchised stores in Canada, it faces a tough fight for market share as rivals such as McDonald's and Starbucksstep up their presence.

Tim Hortons said it will roll out a number of plans to drive same-store sales growth this year, including new menu items along with marketing and promotional programs.

It also announced an agreement with RealCup to sell its coffee in the form of capsules used in Keurig single-cup coffee makers, starting in July. That follows its 2012 launch of pods for Kraft's Tassimo coffee makers.

PLAN TO DRIVE SALES

Tim Hortons said Caira will take over from House on July 2. The company had spent nearly two years searching for a new chief executive.

House will become non-executive chairman of Tim Horton's board when Caira takes over. Caira, most recently the global head of Nestle Professional, will be nominated as a director at Tim Hortons' annual meeting in Toronto on Thursday.

Caira has also worked a Nestle Canada and Parmalat Canada.

"Caira comes with an almost made-to-order resume - solid international experience including the U.S. and in the food services segment, specifically the hot beverage and food sectors," said Scotiabank analyst Patricia Baker in a note.

"That he is also a Canadian with experience leading in a Canadian company tops it off."

Tim Hortons also said it has retained a "highly regarded search firm" to help it look for two replacement directors.

Highfields, among its other demands, wants the company to bring in new directors with more financial expertise.

TOUGH QUARTER

First-quarter results were soft, as expected, the company said. Earnings declined despite a 1.4 percent rise in revenue to C$731.5 million ($727.9 million).

Net income was C$86.2 million, or 56 Canadian cents per share, down from C$88.8 million, or 56 Canadian cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding a one-time restructuring charge, earnings were 61 Canadian cents a share, in line with analysts' average forecast, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Tim Hortons shares fell by C$1.51 to close at C$57.13 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, while its New York-listed shares declined $1.42 to end at $56.95. The stock was up 20 percent year-to-date before the quarterly results were announced.

(Reporting by Euan Rocha and Susan Taylor in Toronto and Bhaswati Mukhopadhyay in Bangalore; Editing by Peter Galloway)

Yes, the streakbusters struck again.

Robinson scored 27 points, Jimmy Butler added 21 points and a career-high-tying 14 rebounds, and the Bulls beat Miami 93-86 on Monday night in Game 1 of the teams' Eastern Conference semifinal series. The team that snapped Miami's 27-game winning streak in the regular season the second-longest in NBA history found a way to topple the champs again, this time ending a run of 12 straight Heat victories overall.

"I've played on some tough teams," Robinson said. "But this one, there's something a little different, something special about this group."

A seven-point deficit midway through the fourth wasn't enough to doom the Bulls, who finished the game on a 10-0 run in the final 1:59. And to think, the Bulls weren't anywhere near full strength. Kirk Hinrich was out again with a calf injury. Luol Deng isn't even expected to rejoin the team until Tuesday, after dealing with an illness apparently so severe that a spinal tap and other tests since were needed to rule out things like meningitis.

"So proud of my team man, this bed might be good luck after all," Deng wrote on Twitter after the game, with a photo of him in a hospital bed.

Oh, and Derrick Rose remains sidelined, as he's been since April 2012.

No problem. The Heat are 41-3 in their last 44 games with two of those losses to the Bulls, who are now 3-2 against Miami this season.

"I think when you're facing adversity, you have to be mentally tough," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "But this is just one game. We have to play a lot better in our next one."

LeBron James got his MVP trophy from Commissioner David Stern before the game, then struggled to a two-point first half before finishing with 24 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for Miami. Dwyane Wade added 14 for the Heat, who had no one else in double figures, finished shooting 40 percent from the floor and were outrebounded 46-32.

"I'm not stunned," James said. "This is what the playoffs is all about. We're going against a really good team."

Miami was outscored 35-24 in the fourth, something that drew the ire of Heat coach Erik Spoelstra afterward.

"There's no excuses," said Spoelstra, whose team had not played in more than a week. "We're not making any excuses for time off or anything else."

If anyone could have made excuses, it was Robinson. He needed 10 stitches, five in his lip and five more inside his mouth, to close a nasty cut that came when he dove for a loose ball with James and struck his head on the court late in the first half.

And then not only did he play the whole second half, he scored 24 points in those 24 minutes, including the last seven points that finished the job for Chicago.

"He was born a scorer," Miami guard Mario Chalmers said.

Joakim Noah scored 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Bulls, who got 12 from Taj Gibson and 10 from Marco Belinelli. Game 2 is Wednesday night in Miami.

"We're not really a flashy team," Gibson said. "We like to go out and do our job."

A pair of three-point plays by James one of them coming when he just broke through a tackle attempt by Butler and muscled the ball to the rim anyway gave Miami a 76-69 lead midway through the fourth quarter, the biggest deficit Chicago faced all night.

The Bulls were undeterred.

Coming off a Game 7 road win in Brooklyn two nights earlier just to get into a series with Miami, the Bulls just kept grinding. When Ray Allen made a 3-pointer to give Miami an 80-78 lead, Butler came back with one of his own to put the Bulls back on top. When the Heat went up by three after James made a free throw with 2:22 left, Belinelli connected for 3 on a second-effort possession to knot the game.

Then when Robinson connected on a 20-footer with 1:18 left, the Bulls had the lead and plenty of swagger.

Wade missed a 3-pointer on the next possession, Robinson drove the lane and scored with 45.5 seconds left, and suddenly the Bulls were up 90-86. James drove against Butler and tried a 12-footer that missed everything, the Bulls got the rebound, Robinson made a free throw to stretch the lead to five and the stunner was complete.

Game 1 to the Bulls.

"It's all about being tough," said Butler, who played all 48 minutes for the third straight game. "We're always going to be the underdogs and we take pride in that. Everybody can overlook us, but we feel like we're good enough to hang with a lot of these teams."

It was a night that started with a celebration, James getting his MVP award from the commissioner.

"Thank you so much," James said. "And let's get ready to go."

And with that, the game started.

Problem was, no one was ready to go.

The Heat missed their first seven shots maybe rust really was a factor. It was 37-all at the half and James wore twice as many pairs of sneakers in the opening two quarters (two) as he had field goals (one). He had two points at the break, the lowest of his 120-game postseason career, on just 1 for 6 shooting.

He opened the second half with a 3-pointer, so the shoes were a quick fix.

But the Bulls were in for the long haul, and after James made the consecutive three-point plays to open a seven-point lead, Chicago answered with seven straight points, knotting the game at 76-all when Belinelli made a 3-pointer with just under 5 minutes left.

Momentum belonged to Chicago, and soon, so did the game.

"It's just one game," Belinelli said.

NOTES: James has played 885 regular-season and playoff games. He's scored less than two points in a first half only twice, being shut out by Dallas on Oct. 31, 2007 and Dec. 20, 2010. He scored exactly two points on five other occasions before Monday. ... Wade dove into the second row of seats to save an errant ball, and grimaced after appearing to hit his sore right knee. "I wish somebody would have grabbed me. That would have been kind of nice, especially at home," Wade said. ... The Bulls had 17 second-chance points on only nine offensive rebounds.

Because of the scores of jurisdictions across the state that have already banned the dispensaries, the ruling by the seven justices essentially leaves in place large contiguous tracts of territory where patients with a doctors prescription cannot purchase the drug legally.

Some medical marijuana advocates said the ruling made it likely that more cities and towns, angry that the regulatory burden falls on them and not the state, also would enact bans.

In the case before the court, a ban on such dispensaries was imposed by the city of Riverside in 2010. The plaintiff, the Inland Empire Patient's Health and Wellness Center, which was objecting to being shut down, sued the city on the grounds that the ban contravened the state law's objective of "ensuring access to marijuana for the seriously ill who need it in a uniform manner throughout the State."

But in upholding Riversides ban,wrote: "While some counties and cities might consider themselves well-suited to accommodating medical marijuana dispensaries, conditions in other communities might lead to the reasonable decision that such facilities within their borders, even if carefully sited, well managed, and closely monitored, would present unacceptable local risks and burdens.

According to Americans for Safe Access, aorganization that advocates making medical marijuana available to patients, an estimated 200 jurisdictions in California already have such bans on dispensaries, of which more than 1,000 were established in the wake of the 1996 Proposition 215 that made California the first state to legalize medical marijuana.

Kris Hermes, a spokesman for Americans for Safe Access, says the challenge for California lawmakers already examining legislation to regulate the business is to ensure a more equitable spread of availability of these dispensaries to people so there are not huge pockets without access. Currently, he adds, the entire has no such legal dispensary.

"While theruling ignores the needs of thousands of patients across the state, it simply maintains the status quo," said Joe Elford, Chief Counsel with Americans for Safe Access, which filed an amicus friend of the court brief in the Riverside case. "Notably, the High Court deferred to the State Legislature to establish a clearer regulatory system for the distribution of medical marijuana, which advocates and state officials are currently working on."

Another call for statewide regulation of medical marijuana came from the , which called such regulation the only way to protect patients.

While there are more than 50 localities within California that have adopted ordinances that comprehensively and successfully regulate medical marijuana and provide meaningful patient access, the Drug Policy Alliance said, many others have enacted bans over frustration and hostility at the burden of medical marijuana regulation falling at the local level. It is likely that the courts decision today, absent action by the state Legislature, will lead to more localities enacting bans.

Karen OKeefe, director of state policies for the , called the ruling disappointing to those of us who simply want to have access to improve the quality of our lives. Now, we have the option of going to the criminal market or depend on our own green thumbs.

But Ms. OKeefe and other marijuana advocates are emphasizing a portion of the Monday ruling in which the justices said nothing prevents future efforts by the Legislature, or by the People, to adopt a different approach.

We want to seize on the silver lining here in that there is an opportunity for the Legislature to get rid of the dysfunctional patchwork system that exists around medical marijuana in California and adopt clear regulations that will equitably provide access to the hundreds of thousands here that want medical marijuana, Mr. Hermes, the Americans for Safe Access spokesman, says.

National marijuana organizations say the ruling has no implication for other states, but simply pushes California to do what Prop. 215 was supposed to do in the first place.

This ruling once again emphasizes the need for state lawmakers to fulfill the mandate of Proposition 215, which calls for the state government to implement a plan for the safe and affordable distribution of marijuana to all patients in medical need of marijuana, says Paul Armentano, deputy director for the .

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Oz the dog helped save his owner's life when a fire broke out in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania.

that Randy Merlo was fast asleep in his home when Oz sensed something was wrong. Merlo told WNEP that the 12-year-old cocker spaniel woke him up on purpose.

"He was nudging me or whatever, what I can remember, he was nudging me, and I smelled smoke and we left. Saved my life, he probably did, most likely he did, Merlo told WNEP. "He's a good dog."

Merlo and Oz escaped the blaze, but the housea duplexsuffered extensive fire, smoke, and water damage. The fire reportedly originated in the basement of the vacant side of the building.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the fire. "We determined the origin in the basement of the home. Were saying incendiary, suspicious but still under investigation," Police Chief Brian Hollenbush told WNEP.

Cocker spaniels are known for their loyalty. , a site that focuses on the well-being of pets, writes that they are "loyal, endearing companions that craveand thrive onhuman attention."blog ranks cocker spaniels seventh in terms of breed loyalty. Number one? The German shepard. We think Oz might take issue with that.

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MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in Mexico on Thursday for a visit he hopes will draw attention to Mexico's emerging economic might, even as worries about containing drug-trafficking and related violence remain an inescapable subtext.

Obama meets with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and is then due to hold a news conference at 4:10 p.m. CDT (4.10 p.m. EDT).

The U.S. president has said he wants to hear more about Mexico's new policy of restricting contacts with the United States on drugs and drug-related violence to a single point, the Ministry of the Interior.

The "single-door" policy would be an abrupt change from the wide latitude the U.S. government enjoyed in working with Mexican officials across agencies under Pena Nieto's predecessor, Felipe Calderon.

"From their perspective, its the effort to have better control over all the aspects of security policy and make it more fluid," said Maureen Meyer, a Mexico specialist with the Washington Office on Latin America, a U.S. non-governmental organization.

The change has raised concern about Mexico's commitment to combating drug trafficking and drug-related violence.

While the Mexican government has said that killings linked to organized crime fell 14 percent in the first four months of Pena Nieto's presidency, more than 70,000 people are estimated to have been killed in drug violence in Mexico since 2007, and gang-style murders continue to provide lurid headlines.

"Crime lurks in the background throughout everything. They know it," said Diana Negroponte, a foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution, referring to the Mexican government.

Some question whether Calderon's aggressive policies, which focused on eradicating gang leaders, has been successful or whether it has generated additional violence as rival factions vie for control of turf.

"There's a lot of resentment that the consumption problem is coming from the United States, and so are the guns, and they're getting all the violence, and they're fed up with it," said one government Latin America analyst, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

RIGHTS WORRIES

Rights group Human Rights Watch sent a letter to Obama ahead of his visit urging him to review the United States' public security approach with Mexico, rapping his administration for offering "uncritical support" for Calderon's policies and citing a "dramatic increase" in rights abuses.

Both Obama and Pena Nieto have said they want the visit to focus on economic issues rather than security. Pena Nieto is eager to underscore Mexico's recent run of solid economic growth, fueled in part by its increasing attractiveness as a manufacturing hub.

"The new government wants to change the narrative," said former U.S. ambassador to Mexico Jeffrey Davidow. "It doesn't want the headlines to be about murders and decapitations."

The Mexican president has launched an ambitious reform agenda, aiming to overhaul the tax system and energy sector, among other areas, in a bid to boost economic growth.

"The way the agenda is laid out is to emphasize the economic side of things, to show that the relationship is about more than just security," said Duncan Wood, director of the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. "The signal that's being sent is that the United States fully supports the reform agenda."

Obama, for his part, would like to highlight Mexico's progress in moving up the economic ladder, in part to emphasize that his own goal of reforming U.S. immigration laws will not promote an exodus of Mexicans into the United States.

The two presidents are also likely to discuss the fate of a much-ballyhooed agreement that would remove obstacles to expanding deepwater drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico.

The United States has yet to finalize the deal, know as the Transboundary Hydrocarbons Agreement, which provide guidelines for drilling in an area of the Gulf that straddles the U.S.-Mexico boundary.

The deal is seen as the key to opening a new era of cooperation on oil production between the two countries. Mexico's state-owned oil company Pemex needs technology and investment to boost its stagnant production, and U.S. companies are eager to help.

(Reporting by Mark Felsenthal; Editing by Simon Gardner and David Brunnstrom)

The three-member National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel unanimously upheld all penalties levied against the organization, including defending champion Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, over confiscated parts in the rear suspensions of the drivers' Fords. NASCAR chief appellate officer John Middlebrook will hear Penske's final appeal next Tuesday.

"Obviously a disappointing outcome with the panel," Penske said. "We have a good case and we are allowed under the NASCAR rules in the rule book to appeal this to the next level. We've notified NASCAR that we will appeal this ruling today to the next level."

Penske declined to discuss much of the case because the team will argue again Tuesday before Middlebrook. But he has previously said the team was working in a gray area of the rule book when NASCAR confiscated the parts. NASCAR docked both drivers 25 points, fined the two crew chiefs $100,000 each and suspended seven Penske team members.

"It's clear we have a process, and I am better off to wait to see that conclude and at that point I can make any other personal comments I want to make about this," Penske said. "All I can say about the process is that I think it's fair and equitable and we had the opportunity to explain the case and situation in detail and obviously the information we were able to demonstrate to the panel, they determined they would uphold the appeal."

The decision was not surprising. Since NASCAR began keeping records in 1999, the panel has upheld 106 of 150 appeals.

Keselowski seemed to hint he'd already accepted his fate when he tweeted earlier Wednesday from a tire test at Indianapolis: "Inner peace is easily achievable once you realize that sometimes all you can do is hope for the best and prepare for the worst. (hashtag)Appeal."

Middlebrook, a former General Motors executive, heard two cases last year. He reduced similar penalties against Hendrick Motorsports crew chief Chad Knaus after the initial appeals board upheld his punishment. Middlebrook lifted the suspension and reinstated Jimmie Johnson's points, but left intact the $100,000 fine NASCAR levied against Knaus for altering sheet metal on the car before inspection at the season-opening Daytona 500.

Middlebrook upheld penalties on Richard Childress Racing for modifications made to Paul Menard's frame rails when they appealed to him last year.

Penske said Wednesday's appeal lasted between four and five hours. It was heard by Paul Brooks, former NASCAR senior vice president and president of NASCAR Media Group; Brandon Igdalsky, president of Pocono Raceway; and Dale Pinilis, operator of Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem.

"We take our inspection process very seriously, we believe we do a strong and credible job with it and the level playing field in the garage is the best it's ever been," NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said. "As the sanctioning body, we've got to uphold the rules and regulations. That's part of our job. The inspection process we believe in very, very strongly."

The three panel members have administrative and operations backgrounds, but were not among the former crew chiefs or car owners on the list of 49 potential people who could have heard the appeal and might have had a better understanding of the inspection process. Tharp said panel members are often picked based on availability.

"A lot of times it's based on being able to get here in the time frame we are looking at," he said. "The people on the panel come from a wide variety of backgrounds and that is a positive for them because they are hearing from experts on both sides, from Penske and NASCAR. They do their best to make an equitable and fair decision."

Presenting the case for NASCAR was Sprint Cup Series director John Darby.

Penske had six people on hand for its presentation, which was headed by the team owner. Also present was senior executive Walt Czarnecki, who is listed as the car owner for Logano, team President Tim Cindric, competition director Travis Geisler and crew chiefs Paul Wolfe and Todd Gordon.

Geisler, Wolfe and Gordon are among the seven suspended for the infraction, along with car chiefs Jerry Kelley and Raymond Fox and engineers Brian Wilson and Samuel Stanley. All are suspended six races but were allowed to work at the track while waiting for the appeal to be heard.

Middlebrook will allow them to work this weekend at Talladega while waiting for the next phase of the appeals process.

NASCAR has already scheduled Joe Gibbs Racing's appeal to the three-member board for next Wednesday. JGR is appealing the severity of the penalties levied against Matt Kenseth, crew chief Jason Ratcliff and team owner Joe Gibbs for an illegal part being found inside Kenseth's race-winning engine from Kansas.

"When politicians try to turn Planned Parenthood into a punching bag, they're not just talking about you," Obama said, becoming the first sitting president to address the abortion-rights group in person. "They're talking about the millions of women who you serve."

Obama asserted that "an assault on women's rights" is underway across the country, with bills introduced in more than 40 states to limit or ban abortion or restrict access to birth control or other services.

"The fact is, after decades of progress, there's still those who want to turn back the clock to policies more suited to the 1950s than the 21st century," he said. "And they've been involved in an orchestrated and historic effort to roll back basic rights when it comes to women's health."

Last month, North Dakota Republican Gov. Jack Dalrymple signed a law that bans abortions as early as six weeks, or when a fetal heartbeat is detected, making the state the most restrictive in the nation in which to get the procedure.

Obama said "a woman may not even know that she's pregnant at six weeks."

More than a year ago in Mississippi, a "personhood" ballot initiative that would have defined life as beginning at fertilization was defeated by 58 percent of voters in November 2011, the same election in which staunch abortion opponent Phil Bryant, a Republican, was elected governor. Bryant had campaigned for the initiative. Abortion opponents are expected to soon begin a signature-drive to get a similar initiative on the ballot in 2014 or 2015.

"Mississippi's a conservative state, but they wanted to make clear there's nothing conservative about the government injecting itself into decisions best made between a woman and her doctor," Obama said of the voters there.

The president lauded Planned Parenthood's nearly 100 years of providing cancer screenings, contraception and other health services for women and assured those fighting to protect abortion rights that they have an ally in him.

"You've also got a president who's going to be right there with you, fighting every step of the way," Obama said.

In North Dakota, Republican state Rep. Bette Grande, an abortion opponent from Fargo who introduced the bill banning most abortions based on a fetal heartbeat, said she was happy Obama took notice of her state's stance on the issue.

"He is pointing it out because it's true. We have taken a serious look at the life of a child, and the nation is paying attention to that," she said. "We are dealing with life in North Dakota and something as basic as a beating heart."

Laurie Bertram Roberts, Mississippi president of the National Organization for Women, said voters in her state, while conservative, did not misunderstand what "personhood" would have meant for women and families.

"We understand that when you give a fertilized egg the rights of a person, that affects every aspect of pregnancy and reproductive health," she said.

Obama's pledge to stand with Planned Parenthood echoed his rhetoric in last year's presidential campaign after Republican rival Mitt Romney said he'd eliminate the organization's federal funding if elected. That incident, coupled with other issues, led Democrats to begin accusing Republicans of waging a "war on women." Obama went on to win a second term with 55 percent of the female vote, polls showed.

The president originally was scheduled to address Planned Parenthood on Thursday night, but the appearance was delayed to allow him to spend more time in Texas with the loved ones of those who were killed or injured in last week's explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas.

In his short speech on Friday, Obama made no reference to a pair of abortion-related issues that made headlines in recent weeks.

On April 5, a federal judge in New York gave Obama's administration 30 days to begin allowing over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill, saying the government's decision to limit such sales to those aged 17 and older was "arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable."

Planned Parenthood sided with the judge; the administration has yet to say whether it will file an appeal.

In Pennsylvania, abortion provider Kermit Gosnell is standing trial on charges of killing babies after they were born alive at his West Philadelphia clinic. He also is charged in the 2009 overdose death of a 41-year-old patient. Closing arguments in the case were set for Monday.

___

Associated Press writers Emily Wagster Pettus in Jackson, Miss., and James MacPherson in Bismarck, N.D., contributed to this report.

___

Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap

The shows are highlighting the work of 16 Peruvian designers of clothes, jewelry and accessories as well as the collection of Spanish designer Agatha Ruiz de la Prada, who was invited as a special participant.

One dress presented by designer Sitka Semsh gave a contemporary spin to an Inca princess, while Ani Alvarez Calderon showed designs based on styles from the Puno and Lake Titicaca region. Amaro Casanova showed off a designed playing on the celebration of the Feast of Candlemas in the same area.

Ruiz de la Prada, meanwhile, flooded the catwalks with bold color and patterns.

More conservative members of Illinois' Republican Party have been trying to oust Pat Brady for months, largely because he took a position in favor of gay marriage when a bill to legalize it was before the Legislature earlier this year. About 50 party members attended Saturday's meeting of the GOP's State Central Committee to ask that Brady step down or that the committee fire him.

After a tense, hourslong session, Brady remained as the party's chairman. He said the committee did not take a vote on whether to fire him during a closed-door meeting Saturday.

"I think there are people in the party who don't necessarily agree with me, but the point is .... we're a party that welcomes all ideas," Brady said. "You don't have to be exactly a platform Republican to be welcome in the party, and that's the direction we're taking the party."

Besides Brady's stance on gay marriage, his detractors also point to Republican losses at the polls in November. Illinois Democrats won veto-proof majorities in both chambers of the Legislature and picked up seats in Congress.

"We need a leader people can rally around," said Mark Stern, a GOP township committeeman from DuPage County. "Pat Brady chose to focus on things that that are divisive rather than the 80 percent of things we all agree on. That's not leadership."

Tensions mounted when the committee went into the closed-door session without first taking public comment and remained behind closed doors for several hours. At one point, people gathered in a hallway outside the meeting began yelling and chanting, "Throw him out."

Brady said after the meeting that he does not plan to seek another term after his expires next year and that the committee agreed Saturday to begin working on a succession plan. He said that plan was something the party needed to do and was not a compromise to appease committee members who wanted him gone.

Brady also survived an attempt last month by some committeemen to vote him out. That effort failed amid concerns that getting rid of Brady would reflect poorly on a party that's trying to appeal more to young voters and minorities by being more inclusive.

Brady has the support of the state's ranking Republican, U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, who announced earlier this month he also supports same-sex marriage. Both men have said they don't believe government has a place in deciding who should marry.

Saturday's conflict erupted during a meeting to discuss a preliminary analysis of what went wrong in the 2012 election and what it will take to do better at the polls in the future.

The report is expected to mirror one released by the Republican National Committee last month, which concluded that the party must be more open-minded and do more outreach to Hispanics, African-Americans, women and young voters if they are to be successful in future elections.

Brady and State Central Committeeman Mike Bigger, who's heading up the Illinois analysis, also said the state party needs to upgrade its database of voter information and improve communication and mentoring opportunities within the party.