News money 2008-06-05 Andanh.com

Ford's Flex starts production Wed, 04 Jun 2008 04:02:00 EST
Ford Motor Co. launched production here yesterday of the Flex, a new entry in the people-mover category that company officials believe could become a big seller.

Ford sees drastic consumer shift Wed, 04 Jun 2008 01:52:00 EST
Ford sold 41 percent fewer Louisville-built Explorer sport utility vehicles last month than a year ago and 31 percent fewer F-Series trucks, including those built at the Kentucky Truck Plant, underscoring what executives say is a fundamental shift in Americans' buying habits.

KFC's Dedrick quits as fast-food president Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:31:00 EST
Gregg Dedrick has resigned as president of KFC's domestic fast-food operations, and the chain yesterday named Roger Eaton to replace him.

Hilliard Lyons hotel plan stalls Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:31:00 EST
Plans to turn the Hilliard Lyons Center in downtown Louisville into an upscale hotel have stalled nearly seven months after renovation was supposed to start.

GM's new focus: Smaller Wed, 04 Jun 2008 03:42:00 EST
General Motors officially blew up its old business model yesterday, announcing in Wilmington, Del., plans to close four pickup truck and sport utility vehicle factories, confirming that it will build a new small car that could get 45 miles per gallon and saying that 10,000 workers will lose their jobs in the makeover.

Business People Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:31:00 EST
Health care and miscellaneous announcements are in today's Business People. Submit new items at courier-journal.com/businesspeople Sign up for the daily Business People newsletter at courier-journal.com/newsletters.

Q: When I bought my house it was supposed to be "broom clean." What does that mean? Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:32:00 EST
A: The expression is vague, but common in the real estate business. It doesn't mean vacuumed or spotless. Broom clean means the house is free of trash or unwanted furnishings and is ready to be painted and cleaned.

Sypris gets repair contract worth $32 million from FAA Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:32:00 EST
Sypris Solutions has won a Federal Aviation Administration contract to provide calibration repair services for test, measurement and diagnostic equipment at about 1,350 facilities throughout the United States, South Pacific and the Caribbean.

J.M. Smucker buys Folgers for $2.95 billion Wed, 04 Jun 2008 20:05 EDT
Jams and jellies maker J.M. Smucker is adding coffee to its menu of brands by buying Folgers from consumer products company Procter & Gamble in a $2.95 billion, all-stock deal, Smucker's biggest ever.

The deal announced Wednesday will nearly double Smucker's size. Folgers will become the 10th No. 1-ranked brand in the Smucker stable that includes its namesake jams, Eagle Brand condensed milk, Hungry Jack pancake mix and two earlier acquisitions from P&G, Jif peanut butter and Crisco cooking oil.

The company said it expects annual sales increases of 6 percent over the long term with acquisitions continuing to play an important role.

Smucker will assume about $350 million of Folgers' debt and sweetened the offer for its current shareholders with a special pre-acquisition $5 dividend.

Tim Smucker, chairman and co-chief executive, said the special dividend would address any diluted value for Smucker shareholders in the deal and recognize their loyalty. "So both of those are key factors," he said in a conference call.

Ground broken for big infill project Wed, 04 Jun 2008 02:07 EDT
Ground was broken Tuesday for the city's largest mixed-use apartment and retail development, a complicated project that has taken three years since it was announced to work out details.

"Financing was challenging, city approval was challenging, and urban infill projects are always challenging," said Brad Chambers, president of Buckingham Companies out of Indianapolis.

His company will build The Lex, a development of four four- and five-story buildings with 266 apartments and townhouses on an 8-acre site of a long-abandoned tobacco warehouse at the corner of South Broadway and Pine Street.

Included will be 27,000 square feet of retail space. "A grocery store is very high on our list," Chambers said.

Amenities will include a plaza with an outdoor pool, fitness center, basketball court, clubroom with kitchen, a theater, student lounge and tanning beds.

Oil falls after government says gas demand is down Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:30 EDT
Oil prices extended their drop from record highs Wednesday, falling to the $122 level after the Energy Department said gasoline demand fell sharply last week.

Retail gas prices, meanwhile, rose to a new record above $3.98 a gallon and are likely to hit $4 in coming days, although oil prices have retreated nearly $13 from last month's record levels.

In its weekly inventory report, the department's Energy Information Administration said demand for gasoline fell by 1.4 percent over the last four weeks. Meanwhile, gasoline inventories rose by 2.9 million barrels last week, more than three times the increase analysts polled by energy research firm Platts had expected.

Concerns about demand have helped pull oil down from its May 22 high of $135.09. Those concerns were exacerbated Wednesday by the EIA report and by moves by India and Malaysia to cut fuel subsidies, effectively raising prices. Many investors believe subsidy cuts will choke off demand for fuel in the developing world.

"There's definitively smaller demand, (and) you have subsidies that are going to fall in energy consuming nations," said James Cordier, president of Tampa, Fla.-based trading firms Liberty Trading Group and OptionSellers.com. "The psychology is just changing."

Stocks wobble as financials weigh on sentiment Wed, 04 Jun 2008 20:05 EDT
Wall Street ended a wobbly session with a mixed performance Wednesday as concerns about the financial sector eroded enthusiasm over a decline in oil prices and a report that signaled modest growth in the service economy.

The worries about financial companies flared after Moody's Investors Service warned it might downgrade the ratings on bond insurers Ambac Assurance Corp. and MBIA Insurance Corp.

Some investors looking to sidestep the troubled financial sector moved into technology stocks, giving the Nasdaq composite index the biggest advance of the major indexes. The bifurcated trading follows two straight sessions of selling that left the Dow Jones industrial average down 235 points.

But the decline in oil at times appeared to help lift market sentiment. Light, sweet crude fell $2.01 to settle at $122.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after the Energy Department reported that demand for gasoline receded last week and that fuel inventories jumped more than expected. Still, retail gas prices advanced to a fresh record above $3.98 a gallon.

And the Institute for Supply Management's service sector index came to 51.7 percent for May; while any reading above 50 signals economic expansion, the figure is down from 52 in April. Still, the number did indicate that the economy, while behaving erratically, isn't in a steady downturn.

Car sales rise as pickups, SUVs fall Wed, 04 Jun 2008 02:02 EDT
Cars outsold the top-selling Ford F-series truck in May for the first time since 1992, a sign of the rapid shift in customers' preferences from trucks and SUVs to small cars. That shift is forcing painful production cuts and plant closures at General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co.

GM said Tuesday its U.S. sales fell 28 percent in May compared with a year earlier. Ford's sales fell 16 percent, Chrysler LLC's sales were down 25 percent and Toyota Motor Corp.'s sales slipped 4 percent.

Honda Motor Co., riding the wave of customers seeking better fuel efficiency, said its sales jumped 18 percent, led by a 36 percent increase in car sales. Nissan Motor Co. said its sales rose 8 percent, with a 19 percent increase in car sales.

The Toyota Corolla and Camry and the Honda Civic and Accord sedans all outsold the F-series truck, which saw sales plummet 31 percent in May to 42,973. F-series trucks have been the nation's best-selling trucks for 31 years and the best-selling vehicles overall for nearly as long. They also have been the best-selling vehicles each month since June 2005, when the Chevrolet Silverado pickup took a brief lead.

George Pipas, Ford's top U.S. sales analyst, said the last time a car topped the monthly sales charts was the Ford Taurus sedan in December 1992.

GM plans to close 4 factories Wed, 04 Jun 2008 02:02 EDT
General Motors Corp. officially blew up its old business model Tuesday, closing four pickup truck and sport-utility vehicle factories, announcing a new small car that could get 45 miles per gallon and shedding 10,000 jobs in the process.

Now the world's largest automaker by sales needs to figure out how it can sell enough cars to make money in a shrinking U.S. market and stay ahead of the bill collectors.

The automaker said it would idle pickup and SUV factories in Janesville, Wis.; Oshawa, Ontario; Moraine, Ohio; and Toluca, Mexico, as it tries to deal with a shift to smaller vehicles brought on by $4 per gallon gasoline.

GM also took aim at the Hummer, one off the largest vehicles on U.S. highways, saying it would either be sold or get a remake.

GM said the truck plant cuts, which will reduce capacity to produce pickups and large SUVs by about 35 percent, will save the company $1 billion a year, and when combined with earlier measures, by 2011 will save $15 billion over 2005 costs.

Automakers released May sales figures Tuesday. These were the top-selling... Wed, 04 Jun 2008 02:02 EDT

U.S. best sellers
Automakers released May sales figures Tuesday. These were the top-selling vehicles, shown with the total number sold and the percent change in sales from May 2007.

May Percent

Vehicle sales change

1. Honda Civic 53,299 28.3

2. Toyota Corolla 52,826 12.4

BUSINESS NOTES Wed, 04 Jun 2008 02:02 EDT
NATION

WORRIED INVESTORS DRIVE MARKETS DOWN

Wall Street fell sharply for a second straight day Tuesday as investors grew more worried that the financial sector is still suffering badly from the credit crisis. The Dow Jones industrials dropped more than 100 points, bringing their two-day loss to 235.

INFLATION MORE OF A WORRY

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has moved inflation up on his list of worries, suggesting more pointedly than ever that the time for cutting interest rates is over in view of soaring oil and commodity prices and a weakened dollar. Although the country's economic growth, bruised by housing, credit and financial debacles, is still fragile, Bernanke on Tuesday expressed hope for some improvement in the second half of this year. At the same time, he sounded a notably louder warning about the slide in the U.S. dollar, saying it has contributed to an "unwelcome rise" in inflation.

THESE JOBS ARE MORE SECURE DURING A RECESSION Wed, 04 Jun 2008 02:07 EDT
Job security might not be the first thing you think of when you're weighing your next career move, but it's certainly a nice perk. Recession-proof careers do exist. From Kiplinger's Magazine, Erin Burt suggests these five:

Health care. Many of the nation's fastest-growing careers are in health care, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says. An aging population fuels demand in this field.

Education. The need for teachers isn't going away either. High-demand fields include math, science and bilingual education.

Security. Crime doesn't stop in a recession.

Environmental sciences. The bureau expects environmental careers, including ecologists, hydrologists, environmental chemists and others, to grow 25 percent over the next decade.

Canada KFCs, PETA settle Wed, 04 Jun 2008 02:02 EDT
Kentucky Fried Chicken franchisees in Canada have reached an agreement with animal-rights activists to buy chickens for their restaurants from suppliers who use a more humane method of slaughter than throat slitting.

The Norfolk-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said it has ended a protest campaign as a result.

Under the agreement, 750 KFC restaurants in Canada will phase in over eight years the use of "controlled-atmosphere killing" for all chickens bought for its restaurants. PETA calls that the "least-cruel form of poultry slaughter ever developed."

The CAK method involves removing oxygen from crates that carry chickens and replacing it with inert gases such as argon or nitrogen, PETA spokesman Matt Prescott said Tuesday. The birds do not suffocate but die painlessly as they breathe the gases, he said.

PETA is calling on KFC's parent company, Yum Brands in Louisville, to make the same changes.

Report: Verizon Wireless in talks to buy Alltel Thu, 05 Jun 2008 00:05 EDT
Verizon Wireless is in talks to buy Alltel Communications LLC, the country's fifth-largest wireless carrier by subscribers, for $27 billion, according to news reports.

If consummated, an acquisition would be the biggest telecom deal since AT&T Inc. bought BellSouth Corp. at the end of 2006. Adding Alltel's 13.2 million subscribers to Verizon Wireless' 67.2 million would create the largest wireless carrier in the country, far ahead of AT&T Inc. with 71.4 million customers.

Talks are at a sensitive stage, according to CNBC and The Wall Street Journal. Both reports cited unnamed sources close to the discussions. Representatives of Verizon Communications Inc. and Alltel had no comment Wednesday.

Shares of Verizon Communications, the controlling parent of Verizon Wireless, dipped after the report, closing down 38 cents, or 1 percent, to $36.98. Verizon Wireless' other parent is Vodafone Group PLC of Britain, with a 45 percent share of the joint venture.

Little Rock, Ark.-based Alltel was a public company until it was bought out by TPG Capital and GS Capital Partners in November for $24.7 billion. It has a wide-ranging network covering parts of 35 states, mainly in the middle of the country.

United slashes staff, planes in cost-cutting move Thu, 05 Jun 2008 00:10 EDT
United Airlines said Wednesday that it's cutting up to 1,100 more jobs, removing an additional 70 fuel-guzzling airplanes from its fleet and slashing domestic capacity as it tries to cope with spiraling fuel prices.

The nation's No. 2 carrier said it plans to cut an additional 900 to 1,100 salaried, contract and management employees by the end of the year, in addition to 500 previously announced job reductions. The combined reductions mean the airline is cutting nearly 3 percent of its 55,000 workers worldwide.

Officials said the "aggressive" moves are designed to the help the subsidiary of UAL Corp. weather an "unprecedented fuel environment." Crude oil futures prices peaked at a record above $135 a barrel nearly two weeks ago and airline fuel prices have been rocketing higher as well.

"This environment demands that we and the industry act decisively and responsibly," Glenn Tilton, United's chairman, president and CEO, said in a statement. "At United, we continue to do the right work to reduce costs and increase revenue to respond to record fuel costs and the challenging economic environment."

United said it plans to ground its entire fleet of 94 Boeing B737s as well as six of the company's 747s - its oldest and least fuel-efficient planes. It previously said it was going to mothball 30 of the jets. It is also scrapping its coach-only "Ted" service and reconfiguring those planes to include first-class seats.

Chrysler may be next to announce production cuts Thu, 05 Jun 2008 00:05 EDT
With truck and sport utility vehicle sales tumbling and its U.S.-based competitors either closing factories or cutting production, Chrysler LLC may be the next automaker to announce further cuts.

While workers are anxious and industry analysts say additional measures are inevitable, Chrysler says that moves announced late last year are sufficient for now to deal with the declining U.S. auto market.

"We read the headlines just like everyone else," said Melvin Thompson, president of a United Auto Workers local at a pickup truck factory in Warren. "We're just in a holding pattern. The best thing we can do is just build a high-quality truck."

Chrysler's sales were down 25 percent in May, a month in which the whole market dropped 11 percent compared with May of last year. Through the first five months of 2008, Chrysler's sales were off 19 percent, with huge drops in larger vehicles that make up most of its lineup.

For instance, the sales of the Dodge Durango SUV are down 44 percent through May when compared with the same period last year. Dodge Ram sales are down 27 percent, while sales of Chrysler 300 large sedans are off nearly 31 percent.

Friedman resigns as CEO of HarperCollins Thu, 05 Jun 2008 00:00 EDT
HarperCollins President Brian Murray is taking over the duties of chief executive after Jane Friedman's resignation as CEO.

The publishing company says Friedman resigned Wednesday, and Murray's appointment is effective immediately.

The 41-year-old Murray has been president of HarperCollins since July 2007. He joined the publisher owned by Rupert Mudoch's News Corp. 10 years earlier.

Friedman began overseeing HarperCollins' worldwide book publishing in 1997. Previously, she was an executive vice president at Random House Inc. and the Knopf Publishing Group. She also was publisher of Vintage Books and founder and president of Random House Audio Publishing.

Branch merged
The Glasgow branch of AirHydro Power Inc., was consolidated on Friday into the Bowling Green facility.

Belcher attains national Fellow status
Laura Belcher, FACHE, director of Planning and Development at T.J. Samson Community Hospital recently became a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, the nation’s leading professional society for healthcare leaders.

BUSINESS BRIEFS
Local hotel earns recognitionYoung named Oilman of the YearStinson participates in training in Illinois

No date set for closing Dawahares
Dawahares in Glasgow will be closing its doors.

Historic store could anchor Stella revival
One step at a time, Chuck Dalbom and others are working to put Stella back on the map.

Productivity grows; wage pressures calm Wed, 04 Jun 2008 22:46:00 EST
Worker productivity increased at a faster pace in the first three months of this year than previously estimated, wage pressures moderated and an important measure of business activity showed the service sector skirted recession in May.

Ford rises in quality ratings Thu, 05 Jun 2008 02:21:00 EST
The features and accessories of Ford Motor Co. vehicles scored "better than most" in the annual automotive quality report released yesterday by J.D. Power & Associates.

Downs may add to Foster purse Wed, 04 Jun 2008 22:46:00 EST
If the reigning Horse of the Year, Curlin, can be lured into Churchill Downs' Stephen Foster Handicap on June 14, the track will add $250,000, bringing the purse up to $1 million for the top finishers to share.

Smucker's buying spree is sweet Wed, 04 Jun 2008 22:47:00 EST
The maker of Smucker's jam, Jif peanut butter and Crisco oils has in recent years grown its stable of brands by shopping for other companies' castoffs. Over the last few years Smucker has bought up a series of food and consumer brands, many of which were dumped by Smucker's much larger competitors.

Air travelers losing options Wed, 04 Jun 2008 22:48:00 EST
First it was soaring ticket prices and vanishing bargain fares, then new baggage fees. Now air travelers are facing dwindling choices for when they can fly and where.

Q: Home prices in my neighborhood are declining, but my property taxes are increasing. Why? Wed, 04 Jun 2008 22:49:00 EST
A: Tax assessments are made by the Jefferson County Property Valuation Administrator's office every few years, so a small value decline over a short period can be offset by previous increases.

Woodford Reserve to take Manhattan Wed, 04 Jun 2008 22:50:00 EST
Woodford Reserve is making a splash at Saturday's running of the Belmont Stakes. The high-end bourbon, part of Louisville-based Brown-Forman Corp., will sponsor the Manhattan Handicap, a Grade I turf race just before the Belmont.

Bernanke: No repeat of '70s inflation ahead Wed, 04 Jun 2008 22:50:00 EST
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said yesterday that he does not believe that the United States will experience the out-of-control prices seen with 1970s oil shocks.

Airline cuts affecting your travels? Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:29 EDT

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Click here to load this Caspio Bridge DataPage .

SafeAuto to build call center in Somerset Thu, 05 Jun 2008 11:50 EDT
SafeAuto Insurance Co. will build a 24,000-square-foot call center and add more than 260 jobs in Somerset, the state Economic Development Cabinet announced Thursday.

SafeAuto plans to put a new contact center and backup data center in Somerset to handle customers it serves in 14 states. The annual payroll is expected to be $7.3 million, according to the release. It did not state what the average wages of the new jobs will be.

The company will receive $3.2 million in tax benefits under the Kentucky Jobs Development Act, a program designed to expand service- and technology-based employment in the state.

The operation will first be located in the Enterprise Center building in the Valley Oak Business and Technology Park until a 24,000-square-foot call center is built at the park.

SafeAuto is a regional insurance provider offering insurance in 14 states to people who want to carry only the state-required minimum coverage.

Smucker to buy Folgers coffee brand Thu, 05 Jun 2008 02:05 EDT
The J.M. Smucker Co., the maker of jams and jellies, announced Wednesday that it had agreed to buy the Folgers coffee business from Procter & Gamble for $2.95 billion in stock.

This is the 10th brand that Smucker, based in Orrville, Ohio, has bought since 2002. It also owns Jif peanut butter, made in Lexington, Pillsbury and Hungry Jack.

Smucker, which will also assume $350 million of Folgers' debt, said it expects the acquisition to increase earnings next year by 9 percent. Revenue is expected to rise to $4 billion in Smucker's 2009 fiscal year, compared with $2.15 billion in 2007.

In the long term, Smucker's earnings are expected to increase 6 percent per year with more acquisitions on the horizon, the company said in a statement.

"Coffee is the perfect complement to breakfast or dessert, two areas we know a lot about," Richard Smucker, the company's president, said in a statement.

Verizon Wireless agrees to buy Alltel for $5.9B Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:55 EDT
Verizon Wireless has agreed to buy Alltel Corp. for $5.9 billion, which would make it by far the largest cellular carrier in the U.S.

Verizon Wireless would also assume $22.2 billion in debt in the deal, bringing the total value to $28.1 billion, the parties said Thursday.

The deal comes just seven months after Alltel was taken private by TPG Capital and a unit of Goldman Sachs Group. They paid $24.7 billion for the stock and took on $2.7 billion in debt, bringing the value of that deal to $27.4 billion.

Alltel has 13.2 million subscribers in 34 states, mainly in rural areas away from the coasts. Added to Verizon Wireless 67.2 million subscribers, the size of the combined company would surpass the current U.S. cellular leader AT&T Inc., with 71.4 million subscribers.

The parties expect the deal to close by the end of the year, pending regulatory approvals. The deal is likely to face scrutiny by the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, but analysts expect it to pass.

Stocks rise following jobs report, retailer data Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:40 EDT
Wall Street surged Thursday as investors looked past a sharp rebound in oil prices and focused on comforting news about the economy - better-than-expected retail sales and a drop in the number of laid-off workers seeking unemployment benefits.

The Dow Jones industrials rose almost 214 points, posting its biggest daily point gain since April 18.

The market got an additional boost from word that Verizon Wireless will acquire Alltel Communications LLC for $5.9 billion in cash and the assumption of $22.2 billion in debt.

Not all of Thursday's news was positive, however. Even though the Labor Department said applications for unemployment benefits declined last week by 18,000 to 357,000, its four-week average rose to a four-month high.

Other worrisome developments included a more than $5 spike in crude oil prices to almost $128 a barrel, a steep tumble by the dollar against the euro, rising bond yields, a new record high in corn prices, and a Mortgage Bankers Association report showing that nearly 1 percent of mortgages fell into foreclosure between January and March.

Foreclosures hit a record high _ and more coming Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:37 EDT
The foreclosure hammer is hitting ever harder. People lost their homes at the highest rate on record in the first three months of the year, and late payments soared to a new high, too - an alarming sign that the housing crisis and its damage to the national economy may only get worse.

Dumping more empty homes on an already glutted market also is likely to put a further drag on home prices - extending a vicious cycle.

Slumping home values are being blamed in large part for the rising tide of foreclosures. Troubled borrowers are left owing more to the bank than their homes are worth. They can't sell without taking a huge financial hit, so they just walk away.

In fact, Americans' equity in their homes - usually their single biggest asset - now has dropped to the lowest level on record in figures going back to the end of World War II. Homeowners' portion of equity fell to 46.2 percent, which means the amount of debt tied up in their homes exceeds the equity they have built up.

Watching their home values sink, consumers have pulled back on spending, a factor in the economy's slowdown. Buoyed by rebate checks, shoppers did get back in the buying groove in May, but analysts predict that consumers - pounded by galloping gasoline prices - will still be cautious.

Airlines reducing number of flights, destinations Thu, 05 Jun 2008 07:24 EDT
First it was soaring ticket prices and vanishing bargain fares, then new baggage fees. Now air travelers have fewer choices on flight times and destinations -- even to such popular tourist draws as Las Vegas and Orlando, Fla.

The squeeze, a byproduct of record oil prices that are pushing airlines toward financial disaster, accelerated Wednesday when United Airlines announced plans to take 70 more jets out of service and cut domestic capacity by 17 percent to 18 percent in 2008-09. Its discount unit Ted will be shut down and 1,100 additional jobs eliminated, with more to follow.

Nearly all of the largest U.S. carriers are making cutbacks. That's bad news for travelers, especially those who fly out of smaller regional airports that are losing flights and service. And it's almost certain to get worse unless oil prices drop and take the pressure off airlines to keep shrinking.

United didn't specify routes or flights to be trimmed, so it remains unknown whether Lexington's Blue Grass Airport will be affected.

But airlines already have begun targeting less profitable flights even if they are to leisure destinations with strong demand. Several carriers have cut back on service to Las Vegas, Honolulu and elsewhere; Delta's service to and from Orlando, Fla., is down 45 percent from a year ago.

Private colleges might be affordable Thu, 05 Jun 2008 07:24 EDT
Going to college or sending a child to college? When you start to build your short list of schools to which you'll apply, factor in financial-aid issues.

Don't assume that State U. is automatically a better deal than that small private college your child covets.

Affordability often depends on whether or not the college has a sizable endowment and what your child can bring to the campus.

Athletic or academic prowess, musical talent, ethnic or geographic diversity -- any and all of these can influence a college's final decision on your aid package.

PRIVATE COLLEGES MIGHT BE AFFORDABLE

Skirt! makes its debut for women in 8 counties Thu, 05 Jun 2008 02:05 EDT
A fashionable new Skirt! made its debut in Lexington on Monday, a monthly magazine for women with a mix of local and national stories about their work, families, health and recreation.

"We're trying to hit a lot of demographics with stories and profiles about interesting and unique people," said editor Kelli Patrick.

Each issue will be themed, Patrick said. The first issue is about "songbirds," with short profiles and photographs of area singers and musicians.

Other features include a profile of an area teenager and another called 24/7, a question-and-answer article.

Patrick is the former assistant adviser for student publications at the University of Kentucky. Before working at UK, she was the Herald-Leader's arts and entertainment editor.

Continental Airlines to cut 3,000 jobs, capacity Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:17 EDT
Business travelers are likely to lose out when the fall off-peak season arrives and airlines that have cut flights slap more restrictions on the cheap fares that usually come that time of year.

Continental on Thursday became the latest airline to announce cutbacks, saying it will shed 3,000 jobs - more than 6 percent of its work force - and reduce capacity by 11 percent this fall.

The industry is battling record fuel costs that have pushed it into its worst crisis since 2001.

Amid that, Continental said its two top executives will forgo pay the rest of this year.

The Houston-based airline said recent fare hikes have not covered the cost of fuel, which has nearly doubled in the past year. Continental estimates it will spend $2.3 billion more on fuel this year than last - a difference of $50,000 per employee. Fuel has surpassed labor as Continental's biggest expense.

Ford to cut white-collar salary costs by 15 pct Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:42 EDT
Even though employees knew the dreaded e-mail would be coming, the fear became more real on Thursday when it popped up on computers at Ford Motor Co. offices across North America.

The company notified workers it will cut white-collar salary costs 15 percent by Aug. 1, and an unspecified number of people will lose their jobs.

"This unfortunately will result in involuntary separations of Ford employees and agency personnel as well as cost savings through attrition and the consolidation of open positions," President of the Americas Mark Fields said in the message.

The cuts are in response to shrinking U.S. automotive sales brought on by $4 per gallon gasoline and a rapid shift to smaller vehicles from Ford's traditional moneymakers - pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles.

Ford spokeswoman Marcey Evans said the company had no target number of employees to cut, but each department has a salary cost-cutting goal.

Rates on 30-year mortgages rise to three-month high Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:50 EDT
Rates on 30-year mortgages edged up this week to the highest level since March as investors worried about inflation threats.

The mortgage company Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.09 percent, compared with 6.08 percent last week. It was the highest mark for 30-year mortgages in 12 weeks since averaging 6.13 percent the week of March 16.

Analysts cited concerns in financial markets about what the Federal Reserve might do to confront increased inflationary pressures.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke expressed new concerns this week about inflation. The markets interpreted his comments as a signal the central bank will not cut interest rates further because of fears that inflation could spiral out of control.

The Fed cut rates seven times from September through April in an aggressive campaign to keep the economy from sliding into a deep recession. Now financial markets are beginning to consider the possibility that the Fed's next move will be to start raising rates, possibly by year's end.

Chinese Dir