Sherman A1
Sherman A1's JournalImprovements at Forest Park moving from drawing board to bulldozers
ST. LOUIS?•?Another big to-do list in Forest Park is being readied for the heavy machinery.
The new construction projects total $30 million and will complement the $125 million already spent to restore the once-crumbling regional playground and showcase. This second wave of improvements, to be completed over five years, will be paid for through a special bond issue.
The list is heavy on street improvements — necessary, if not headline-grabbing. It also calls for rebuilding more athletic fields, adding year-round restrooms and water fountains for the trail loops, improving three lakes — one with a new waterfall — and rebuilding the upper parking lot at the Muny.
The first go-round of construction produced a marquee transformation of the old park, which opened in 1876 and was the setting for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (World’s Fair) in 1904. In the years after World War II, as the city lost population and tax base, the park became distressingly shabby, symbolized by the walls and staircases around Basin Lake at the foot of Art Hill. They were falling in.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/d6989564-3809-5ff2-af53-224af88cc16b.html
Olive Garden owner to hold off on worker changes
NEW YORK (AP) -- The owner of Olive Garden and Red Lobster says it won't bump any full-time workers down to part-time status, after its tests aimed at limiting health care costs resulted in a publicity backlash that took a bite out of sales.
At the same time, Darden Restaurants Inc. isn't ruling out relying more heavily on part-timers over the long haul.
The company, based in Orlando, Fla., is set to announce Thursday that none of its current full-time employees will have their status changed as a result of the new regulations. The move will come just two days after the company lowered its profit outlook for the year, citing failed promotions and negative publicity from its tests that used more part-time employees. The tests were aimed at keeping down costs tied to new health care regulations, which will require large companies to provide insurance to full-time workers starting in 2014.
After Darden's tests were reported in October, the company received a flood of feedback from customers through its website, on Facebook and in restaurants, said Bob McAdam, who heads government affairs and community relations for Darden. Additionally, he said that internal surveys showed both employee and customer satisfaction declined at restaurants where the tests were in place.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/olive-garden-owner-hold-off-200230971.html
Banana Massacre December 6, 1928
The Banana massacre (Spanish: Matanza de las bananeras[1] or Masacre de las bananeras) was a massacre of workers for the United Fruit Company that occurred on December 6, 1928 in the town of Ciénaga near Santa Marta, Colombia. An unknown number of workers died[2] after the government decided to send the Colombian army to end a month-long strike organized by the workers' union in order to secure better working conditions. The government of the United States of America had threatened to invade with the US Marine Corps if the Colombian government did not act to protect United Fruit’s interests. Gabriel García Márquez depicted a fictional version of the massacre in his novel One Hundred Years of Solitude, as did Álvaro Cepeda Samudio in his La Casa Grande.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_massacre
Report: Supermarket Access Unchanged Since 2006
WASHINGTON — Overall access to supermarkets did not change from 2006 to 2010, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service.
Based on figures from the most recent census, “Access to Affordable and Nutritious Food: Updated Estimates of Distance to Supermarkets Using 2010 Data” found that 85% of Americans lived within three miles of the nearest supermarket, the same percentage as in 2006.
The report also said 80% of Americans lived within five miles of three supermarkets in 2010.
At the same time, not all segments of the population share equal access to supermarkets. Across the general population and in urban areas, low-income Americans and those living in low-income neighborhoods tend to live closer to supermarkets than their moderate- and high-income counterparts. The opposite is true in rural areas.
Read More: http://supermarketnews.com/retail-amp-financial/report-supermarket-access-unchanged-2006#ixzz2EAcjuFAL
Drought Impacts Protein Prices
NEW YORK — The drought and weak corn yield this year will lead to higher wholesale protein prices and multiyear effects on the livestock industry, but those increases won’t translate directly to retail prices, according to panelists in the Penton Media webinar “What’s Ahead: Gauging the Drought’s Impact Into 2013” last week.
Climbing corn prices have led protein producers to use 10% less feed, said Corinne Alexander, agricultural economist, Purdue University. Farmers have been raising fewer animals, bringing lighter-weight animals to slaughter and finding different feed sources such as imported corn, barley and even expired Oreo cookies.
If there is a good corn crop next year, Alexander expects expanded chicken production by late 2013, pork in the second half of 2014 and cattle production in 2016. More protein production would bring down wholesale prices.
“How much [corn] we grow next summer is absolutely essential,” said Alexander.
Read More: http://supermarketnews.com/retail-amp-financial/drought-impacts-protein-prices#ixzz2EAcH36aN
Return Fraud to Cost Retailers $2.9B This Holiday Season
The National Retail Federation’s (NRF) 2012 Return Fraud Survey, completed by loss prevention executives at 60 retail companies in October, has found that retailers are poised to lose an estimated $8.9 billion to return fraud this year -- $2.9 billion just during the holiday season. Retailers estimate that 4.6 percent of total holiday returns are fraudulent.
“Return fraud comes in a variety of forms and continues to present challenges for retailers trying to grapple with the sophisticated methods criminals are using to rip off retailers,” said Rich Mellor, VP of loss prevention at Washington, D.C.-based NRF. “Even more troubling is the fact that innocent consumers often suffer because companies have to look for ways to prevent and detect all types of crime and fraud in their stores, oftentimes resorting to shorter return windows and limitations on the types of products that can be returned.”
Almost all (96.5 percent) retailers polled said they’ve had stolen merchandise returned in the past year, and 84.2 percent noted that they’ve experienced the return of merchandise bought with fraudulent or stolen tender. Nearly two-thirds (64.9 percent) of respondents said they’ve been victims of wardrobing, or the return of used, nondefective merchandise such as special-occasion apparel and certain electronics, within the past year. Further, 45.6 percent have discovered criminals using counterfeit receipts to return merchandise. And eight in 10 (80.7 percent) respondents reported dealing with return fraud or collusion with external sources in the past year.
For the first time in this survey, NRF asked about return fraud with the use of e-receipts, and nearly two in 10 (19.3 percent) loss prevention execs responded that they’ve dealt with the issue. As online sales continue to grow, 86 percent said they let customers return merchandise bought online in their stores, estimating that 3.9 percent of those returns are fraudulent.
http://www.progressivegrocer.com/top-stories/headlines/industry-intelligence/id36834/return-fraud-to-cost-retailers-2-9b-this-holiday-season-nrf/
Kinder leads parade of GOP hopefuls interested in succeeding Emerson
Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder was the first of an expected crowd of Republicans to declare publicly their interest in replacing U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau, who is retiring in February.
But others rapidly emerged as well, including soon-to-be former state Sens. Jason Crowell and Kevin Engler. Missouri Republican Party executive director Lloyd Smith, Emerson's former chief of staff, says he's also interested.
Kinder's statement reflected the sentiment of many who followed suit. “I am certainly giving careful thought and consideration to this opportunity to represent the 8th District in Congress,” said Kinder. “I have long been engaged in federal issues, from the beginning of my career in my hometown of Cape Girardeau heading the first two campaigns for Bill Emerson and working on his staff in Washington to leading the fight against ObamaCare. It would be an honor to serve in Congress.”
Kinder’s statement appeared, in part, to respond to comments on Twitter that seemed to take him out of the running. Some social-media talk centered on concern that if Kinder were successful, Gov. Jay Nixon – a Democrat – might appoint his successor. The state law is somewhat unclear.
https://www.stlbeacon.org/#!/content/28300/kinder_emerson_gop_120312?coverpage=2258
It's AFL-CIO Day
The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merge and form the AFL-CIO, December 5, 1955
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFL-CIO 
Soldiers deployed to demolish shuttered Afghanistan bases
FORT LEONARD WOOD, MO.?•?With the sound of babies playing and fussing in the background, more than 150 soldiers who can swing a sledge hammer snapped to attention Monday for a deployment ceremony in their honor. The group was about to go on a nine-month tour in Afghanistan.
“We are sending you to tear down facilities that we started building 11 years ago,” Army Lt. Col. Gary Calese told them of their effort in the ongoing war. “Keep your head down. Keep aware of your surroundings. Keep in touch.”
Made up of carpenters, electricians and masons with ages ranging from 18 to 52, the 77th Engineer Company is the last of a dozen deployments in 2012 from the 63,000-acre base in south-central Missouri.
Major Gen. Mark Yenter, commander of the base, told the company the war is in a “critical stage.” Afghans are expected to take over combat operations by the end of 2014. Scores of temporary outposts, bases and landing zones need to come down.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/d9a6bc5a-6187-5c7a-8a6c-0da1919b2642.html
Profile Information
Gender: MaleCurrent location: U.S.
Member since: Sat May 13, 2006, 07:37 AM
Number of posts: 38,958
