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OAK BROOK, Ill. (AP) — TreeHouse Foods is buying Flagstone Foods for $860 million as a way to gain access to the growing healthy snacks category.

Flagstone, based in St. Paul, Minnesota, makes store-brand snacks such as trail mix and dried fruit. The privately held company runs a facility in Minneapolis and another in Robersonville, North Carolina. It had $697 million in sales for fiscal 2013.

TreeHouse is purchasing Flagstone from private equity firm Gryphon Investors and other shareholders.

Gryphon formed Flagstone in November 2010 when it acquired private-label trail-mix and nuts company Ann's House of Nuts and private-label dried fruit maker American Importing Co. and combined them.

TreeHouse Foods Inc. makes non-dairy powdered creamers and sweeteners, specialty teas, cereals, macaroni and cheese and other items.

TreeHouse said Monday that it anticipates the transaction adding approximately 24 cents to 28 cents to its earnings per share in the first full year after the acquisition's closing. The deal is expected to lower 2014 earnings by about 5 cents to 8 cents per share.

The transaction is targeted to close in 2014's third quarter.

Shares of Oak Brook, Illinois-based TreeHouse added 33 cents to $80.22 in morning trading.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is wildly unpopular.

In fact, two-thirds of Americans want their own House member booted. And the tea party is dogging longtime Republican lawmakers.

So incumbents are sweating out this year's election, right?

Nope. Mostly they're not.

People talk about throwing the bums out, but voters keep sending the same bunch back in.

More than halfway through the party primaries, 293 House and Senate members have completed their quests for renomination.

The score: Incumbents 291, challengers 2.

Granted, one of those two losses was a shocker. A virtual unknown, Dave Brat, toppled House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia in a Republican primary.

Two longtime lawmakers — Republican Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi and Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel of New York — barely clung to nominations to their seats Tuesday.

But those rare exciting races that draw national attention are misleading. Most of the House candidates, about 60 percent so far, didn't have a soul running against them. Only a few faced a challenger who posed a real threat. No senator has been defeated yet.

What about November, when Republicans and Democrats face off in the general election?

It looks to be a dramatic midterm, all right, with Republicans pushing to seize control of the Senate. More incumbents will be vulnerable in the general election than the primaries. Still, the vast majority of sitting lawmakers are snug in their seats.

Over the past five decades, voters have routinely returned 9 of 10 incumbent candidates to the House. Senate races are a bit less predictable, but usually more than 80 percent of incumbents win.

Consider 2010, which was a "bad year" for incumbents. A wave of angry voters swept Republicans into the House majority. Fifty-eight House members were ousted that year, nearly all of them Democrats. President Barack Obama called it a "shellacking."

Yet even in that remarkable midterm, voters rehired 85 percent of Congress members who were on the ballot.

This year, Congress logged a confidence rating of 7 percent, the lowest Gallup has measured for any institution, ever. People don't put much attachment to their own representative anymore, either. An Associated Press-GfK poll last month found that 65 percent of Americans say their own House member should lose.

So why do these people keep winning?

It's harder for challengers to sell themselves to voters. Incumbents wield tremendous advantages. They raise big bucks from special interests, use their congressional offices to send voters mass mailings, build ties to businesses and advocacy groups in their districts, and benefit from name recognition. They have staff members back home working to keep constituents happy.

"If you know them, if you helped their father or sister or relative or friend, if you go to their events and show interest, if you do good staff work, you're going to go back," said former Rep. Connie Morella, who served 16 years in Congress.

A Republican in a heavily Democratic Maryland district, she was re-elected seven times, until her district boundaries were redrawn by Democrats to push her out in 2002.

Political calculations in the redistricting process every 10 years have contributed to most districts becoming solidly Republican or solidly Democratic.

"The gerrymandering is terrible," said Morella, now a professor at American University. "Few districts are truly competitive anymore."

Only about four dozen of the 435 House seats are considered in play this year, meaning either party might conceivably win them in November. Many of those are open seats, vacated by lawmakers who are retiring or seeking another office.

In dozens of other cases in the House, only one of the two major parties will even have a name on the November ballot.

In the Senate, about a dozen of the 36 seats up for election might be truly competitive.

Turnout is low in midterm elections, usually about 40 percent in the fall and often abysmal for primaries. Voters may feel they lack true choice, although Cantor's loss shows that establishment candidates can be ousted.

"There just aren't that many real races," said Larry Sabato, a veteran election forecaster at the University of Virginia. "So even if people don't like their representative, they don't necessarily vote for the challenger from the other party, or vote at all."

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kenneth Feinberg is prepared to pay out billions of General Motors' money to victims of crashes in GM small cars — provided they can prove the cars' ignition switches caused the crash.

GM links 13 deaths to a defective ignition switch in cars such as the Chevrolet Cobalt and Saturn Ion. But trial lawyers and lawmakers say claims of wrongful death and injury could total in the hundreds.

Feinberg, one of the country's top compensation experts, said GM has placed no limit on the total amount he can pay to injured people or relatives of those killed. And he alone — not GM — will decide how much they each will get, even though he is being paid by the company.

Feinberg wouldn't estimate the ultimate cost for GM, saying he has no idea how many death or injury claims he will get. Based on the methodology he plans to employ, a large amount of claims could mean a sum running into the hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions.

"GM has basically said whatever it costs to pay any eligible claims under the protocol they will pay it. There is no ceiling," Feinberg said at a Monday news conference in Washington to announce details of the plan.

With the plan, GM is trying to limit its legal liabilities, control the damage to its image and eventually move beyond the crisis caused by its failure to correct the ignition switch problem for more than a decade, even as it learned of fatal crashes. The company recalled 2.6 million older small cars earlier this year to replace the switches.

Only those hurt in crashes caused by the small-car ignition switches are eligible, so the program excludes other GM safety problems. People filing claims will have to prove that the switches caused the crashes. Once their claim is settled, they give up their right to sue the company.

Claims can be filed from Aug. 1 to Dec. 31. Once the filing is completed, Feinberg promises payment in 90 to 180 days in most cases. People who previously settled lawsuits with GM are eligible to apply for more compensation.

Feinberg said he will not consider whether those injured in crashes contributed to the cause by drinking alcohol, speeding, not wearing seat belts or other behavior. But GM could use that as a defense if the cases go to trial, he said.

"We have no interest in evaluating any alleged contributory negligence on the part of the driver," he said.

In many cases, cars have been destroyed and it will be difficult to determine if the switches caused the crash, Feinberg said.

"Unlike the 911 fund or the BP oil spill fund, many of these accidents occurred years ago, decades ago," Feinberg said. He urged those seeking compensation to use police, hospital, insurance and auto repair records to buttress their claims. If the accident vehicle is still available, that's even better, he said.

Legal experts say GM has almost no defenses left in crash lawsuits because it conceded the switches are defective and that its employees were negligent in failing to recall the cars. A GM-funded probe by an outside attorney blamed the delays on a dysfunctional corporate culture and misconduct by some employees. The company has dismissed 15 workers in the case.

Feinberg said he won't consider whether a crash happened before GM left bankruptcy protection in July of 2009. Under its bankruptcy deal, "New GM" — the company that emerged from court protection — is shielded from claims stemming from crashes that happened before the bankruptcy. Those claims go to "Old GM," the remnants of the company left behind in the bankruptcy, which has few assets.

Crashes that occurred after the bankruptcy could get big judgments in court, so it may take more money for Feinberg to settle them. Lawyers are challenging the bankruptcy shield, and if that fails, pre-bankruptcy claimants may have to settle with Feinberg.

The faulty ignition switches can slip from "run" to "accessory," unexpectedly shutting off the engines. That knocks out power steering and brakes and can cause drivers to lose control. In addition, the air bags won't inflate due to lack of power, so they won't protect people in a crash. Feinberg said if the air bags inflated, that negates a claim because that means the crash wasn't caused by the switch.

If air bag inflation is in doubt, the claims still will be considered, Feinberg said.

Drivers, passengers, pedestrians and occupants of cars hit by GM vehicles are eligible for payment, Feinberg said.

Feinberg will follow the same methodology he used when he handled a $7 billion government fund for victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He has detailed formulas setting payments based on a victim's age, earnings potential and severity of injuries.

Those injured can either follow the formula and get a quick payment, or try to justify a bigger payment through "an individual negotiation tied to the extraordinary circumstances of the claim," Feinberg said. Claimants still not satisfied after that can sue GM.

Under Feinberg's formula, for example, relatives of a deceased 25-year-old earning $75,000 per year who is married with two children would get $5.1 million. But the relatives could build a case to get more, he said. Severely injured people could get more money than some death cases, Feinberg said. For example, a 40-year-old earning $70,000 per year who is married with no children and became a paraplegic in a crash would get $6.6 million under the formula.

Feinberg will limit how much he'll pay people with less-serious injuries, based on how long they stayed in the hospital, similar to the way he compensated victims of the Boston Marathon bombings. But there is no cap on potential payments to relatives of those killed and people with catastrophic injuries that caused brain damage, amputation, serious burns or paralysis. In addition, Feinberg said it won't matter whether drivers contributed to their crashes by drinking alcohol, texting or failing to wear seat belts.

"GM has agreed that it cannot challenge my ultimate determination," Feinberg said. "They have no right to appeal."

With the Sept. 11 fund, the average award to families of those killed was $2.1 million though 2,880 claims. The fund also paid an average of about $400,000 each for the 2,680 accepted claims of injuries stemming from the attacks. The smallest injury award was $500, the largest $8.6 million, according to the report. Only about 80 lawsuits rose from the attacks.

GM said in a statement that Feinberg's plan shows it is taking responsibility for what happened to victims "by treating them with compassion, decency and fairness."

Feinberg acknowledged that some people will question his fairness, given that he was hired by GM.

"The only way you overcome that problem is by demonstrating through the awards that the program is fair," he said. "Money is a pretty poor substitute for loss. It's the limits of what we can do, unfortunately."

____

Krisher and Auto Writer Dee-Ann Durbin reported from Detroit.

The game show at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) earlier in June wasn't exactly staid. But it was clear that most game publishers are playing it safe — very safe. Each year, I complain about franchise-ization, a godawful game trend that makes a convention focused on the wonders of electronic entertainment a lot less fun - especially since 2014 was the year in which game makers offered more sequels than ever before.

Imagine spending eight hours daily running between two convention halls for meetings and seeing the same old games simply tweaked a bit for each new iteration. It's disturbing, bordering on depressing. These follow-ups aren't terrible — they're not shovelware. But only The Witcher and Batman sequels approach the level of brand new popular art. Thankfully, the other non-franchise offerings on this list of most promising games make up for the hackneyed, trite stuff. Well, almost.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (WBIE)

Made by a thoughtful Polish team and based on a Polish series of novels, The Witcher role-playing game was really the only sequel at E3 that seemed substantially different from its predecessors. Even minor characters, which include one creepy, rude, somehow adorable imp, have well thought-out story lines. Yes, you play a macho monster hunter who's a little too tough-man-quiet for my taste. But you'll find a completely explorable fantasy world and enjoy expertly plotted story lines. It doesn't hurt that the wildly branching narrative is weird. Weirdness is somehow fitting for this series.

Ori and the Blind Forest (Microsoft)

The rotund, empathetic Ori is the star of this small game. His goal is simple: to save the forest and its innocent inhabitants. There's also an incendiary owl with which the player must deal. Yet it's the artwork here that's mesmerizing. It's an inspiring fairy tale that perhaps should be expanded into other media, like film.

Batman: Arkham Knight (WBIE)

The ever-changing Gotham has always been a character in these dark games. But this time, the Batmobile is almost a human-like character. (It kind of recalls the TV show Knight Rider, with a nasty personality). The Batmobile can even grapple and pull down massive steel doors. Even as is shines proudly in the night, this dark, black vehicle is an antihero par excellence - because it's frighteningly, monstrously bad ass.

Rollers of the Realm (Atlus)

E3 should be all about what's innovative and unexpected. Rollers of the Realm sports a medieval story, but it's within a pinball game where you level up by hitting characters with a pinball as they move across the playfield. To me, Rollers is the most adventurous of hybrids, a pinball/role playing game that beat the pants off many of the big-budget console games I saw.

Sunset Overdrive (Microsoft)

Imagine a world in which people become mutated by ... an energy drink called Overcharge Delirium XT. If you're down with that sort of satirical twist on dystopian tragedy, you'll likely enjoy Sunset Overdrive. Additionally, the game design is rife with odd, humorous weaponry like a gun that fires a cute teddy bear who becomes a fiery bomb on impact. And you can parkour everywhere, even on a giant roller coaster in an amusement park. In fact, that's what this game is, one demented amusement park in which to play.

No Man's Sky (Hello Games)

Frankly, no one's quite sure what exactly this game will be, but every critic who's seen it loves it. It's science fiction. It's has familiar dinosaurs and unfamilar, super bright, orange-yellow grass. It has spaceships that allow for travel between many planets. Like Will Wright's Spore made more graphically wondrous for 2014, you seem to be able to do just about anything as a lone explorer. The narrative is there, but it's presented with a smooth, light touch. So it's easy to insert your own storyline into the game as you explore. I certainly did.

Valiant Hearts: The Great War (Ubisoft)

Generally, I stay far away from realistic war games. But Valiant Hearts features a soul-tugging narrative that tells the story of motley souls who, during World War I, try to help a soldier find his missing soul mate. Valiant Hearts isn't a shooter, either. Instead, it's a puzzle-oriented, small game that centers on the personal triumphs. Empathy — that's what games need more of, and this one has it in spades.

Cuphead (Microsoft)

The words "utterly beautiful" and "perfectly nostalgic" come to mind when considering Cuphead. It's a 2D shooting game that recalls the most painstakingly detailed of the 1940s animations, particularly Fleischer Studios' "Screen Songs" cartoons. When I saw Cuphead, I thought, why hasn't someone tried this slightly wry and mocking art style before in games? I bet I'll lose many lives as I play, just ogling the wondrous, occasionally demonic, old school art.