Latest Headlines

FAA drone rules buzz Amazon; KFC launches smartphone charging gadget, and McD paces Yum with $3B China bids

A news summary, focused on 10 big employers; updated 4:36 p.m.

AMAZON‘s plans to use drones for delivery were slowed yesterday when the Obama Administration released new rules limiting their use, including over urban areas. The Federal Aviation Administration said commercial drones are OK so long as the drone and its payload weigh less than 55 lbs., stays within unaided sight of their pilot, and operators pass a test every two years. In addition, each drone must have its own pilot (Guardian). Also yesterday, Amazon said it’s expanding grocery delivery service to Boston (Boston Inno). The retail giant employs 6,000 employees in the Louisville area, and thousands more across the state.

KFC: In India, the fast-chicken giant has introduced its latest mobile technology to lure younger diners: Watt a Box, a 5-in-1 meal box that comes with a Chicken Zinger, two hot wings, hash browns, a chocolate pie, Pepsi and a 6,100 mAh Lithium-ion battery to charge smartphones. The device isn’t sold, but instead can be won as part of a week-long competition; watch the demo video, above (The Memo). Some customers aren’t so thrilled, however: Testers who charged an iPhone with the box said it only gained 17% battery after charging for half-an-hour, during which time the powerbank became completely drained (Eater).

Meanwhile, in an unusually public spat with an employer, Darrell Hammond — the Saturday Night Live comedian hired to play Colonel Sanders in the new KFC commercials — says the company “played” him into thinking he’d have the gig permanently. He was later replaced by another SNL veteran, Norm Macdonald, in what’s now a running joke of actor switches (Hollywood Reporter). Indeed, it’s part of the script in comedian Jim Gaffigan’s version:

Here are spots by Hammond and MacDonald, who’s none-too-pleased with the switch, either.

YUM: As Yum gears up to spin off its China operations in October, rival McDonald’s has received more than half a dozen bids for its China and Hong Kong stores, including from Beijing Tourism Group, Sanpower and ChemChina, in an auction that could fetch up to $3 billion. In March, McDonalds said it was reorganising its Asian operations by bringing in partners who would own the restaurants within a franchise business (Reuters).

BROWN-FORMAN and other developers Continue reading “FAA drone rules buzz Amazon; KFC launches smartphone charging gadget, and McD paces Yum with $3B China bids” →

Diversions

Speed unveils van Eyck’s ‘Virgin and Child’ from the Frick
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On loan: “Virgin and Child, with Saints and Donor,” about 1441-43.

Jan van Eyck  (c. 1390 to July 9, 1441) was one of the first artists to master oil paint. His skill rendering light effects and highlights made him internationally famous, according to The Courier-Journal.

“Virgin and Child with Saints and Donor” is being show in Kentucky for the first time. It’s on loan to the Speed for what amounts to a swap with the Frick Collection of New York. The Speed recently loaned Anthony van Dyck’s “Portrait of a Woman” to the Frick for a special exhibit on the artist. In return, the Frick is sharing its van Eyck painting with the Louisville museum.

The Frick acquired the painting in 1954; here’s how the museum describes it: The Virgin, holding the Child, stands in majesty on an Oriental carpet, enframed by a sumptuous brocade canopy and hanging inscribed AVE GRA[TIA] PLE[N]A (Hail [Mary] full of grace). She is attended by St. Barbara, with her attribute of the tower in which she was imprisoned rising behind her, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, who gave up her crown to become a nun, and a kneeling Carthusian monk.

About the Speed

The museum is open Continue reading “Speed unveils van Eyck’s ‘Virgin and Child’ from the Frick” →

Food and Dining

Steel City Pops fans can now vote for the best of 12 t-shirt designs submitted by customers, with the winner getting a rarely seen stainless steel “Steel Card” entitling them to free pops every day for the rest of the year. Deadline to vote: June 24. Here’s the top vote-getter so far:

Steel City t-shirt leader

The chain based in Birmingham, Ala., opened its first Kentucky location in March at 1021 Bardstown Road, where business has been booming and winning rave reviews on Yelp.

Latest Headlines

Aetna-Humana clear big hurdle as California regulators OK $37-billion merger, but Anthem-Cigna deal stumbling

A news summary, focused on 10 big employers; updated 4:56 p.m.

HUMANA: Regulators in the nation’s biggest insurance market, California, have signed off on Aetna’s $37 billion plan to buy Humana, saying yesterday the deal could move forward after Hartford-based Aetna agreed to invest $50 million in the state’s health-care infrastructure (Bloomberg). The companies have said they expect the deal to close in this year’s second half. In another big merger before regulators, Anthem and Cigna may find it impossible to divest themselves of large chunks of their health insurance businesses in order to overcome reported Justice Department antitrust concerns (Wall Street Journal). Meanwhile, Humana plans to move 1,000-1,200 employees to the Waterside and Clocktower buildings it owns downtown, from leased space at 12501 Lakefront Place in the Blankenbaker Station Business Park (Courier-Journal, Business First and WDRB).

Papa John's logoPAPA JOHN’S ranked No. 2 among fast-food restaurants in the annual American Consumer Satisfaction Index survey with a score of 82 out of a possible 100, a 5% increase from 2015. No. 1 Chick-fil-A got 87 points, according to the survey results out today. KFC was No. 9 at 78, and Pizza Hut was No. 79 at 77 (CNN).

TACO BELL makes good on a promise to give away potentially millions of Locos Tacos today, in a promotion tied to the NBA championship finals, which ended yesterday with the Cleveland Cavaliers beating the Golden State Warriors (WISH).

GE: Rival LG’s home Continue reading “Aetna-Humana clear big hurdle as California regulators OK $37-billion merger, but Anthem-Cigna deal stumbling” →

Latest Headlines

Kindred pays $39M for Arkansas home-health ops; Humana top doc sells $603K in stock; and no charges for St. Louis cop in fatal KFC robbery shooting

A news summary, focused on 10 big employers; updated 8:29 p.m.

KINDRED: Under the agreement announced late his afternoon, Kindred said it will expand its existing home health and hospice services to 70 of the state’s 75 counties from the current six.

Smaller Kindred building detail
Fourth and Broadway headquarters.

The deal with the Arkansas Department of Health includes the Louisville company’s buying the agency’s 74 home health locations; seven hospice service offices, providing hospice services in 42 counties, plus personal-care service business that helps patients with daily living activities. It’s expected to close in the third quarter, pending regulatory and other approvals (press release).

HUMANA: Chief Medical Officer Roy Beveridge sold 3,228 company shares for $186.67 each — a total $603,000 — in a two-step transaction Friday, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing this afternoon. The shares were among 7,947 he received earlier that day as restricted stock units awarded under the insurance giant’s 2011 stock incentive plan. Humana appointed Beveridge to the post in 2013 (SEC document). Humana’s stock closed at $189.90 a share today, up 1.5%.

KFC: A St. Louis police officer who gunned down a robbery suspect in the doorway of a KFC restaurant in January won’t face charges because he acted in self-defense, Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce announced today (Riverfront Times).

PAPA JOHN’S franchisees have signed a three-year contract to become the official pizza at the Chicagoland Speedway NASCAR track in Joliet in a deal announced today. The track previously served Chicago-based chains Giordano’s Pizza at its concession stands and Connie’s Pizza in its suites (Crain’s).

Laura Kay Roberts
Roberts

TACO BELL: In Eugene, Ore., police arrested a 44-year-old woman at a Taco Bell Friday night when a dispute with a teenager turned ugly in the restaurant’s drive-though lane. Laura Kay Roberts was booked and released from the Lane County Jail on charges of interfering with police, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. “Thank God county [jail’s] full,” read a post on her Facebook page, followed by several emoji icons. “No pickle suit for me hahaha.” When a commenter asked what happened, she replied, “I had beer muscles with a side of fireball” (Register-Guard).

Sporting Scene

Churchill Downs posts new logos for 2017 Derby and Oaks

They were designed by the New York-based SME marketing agency, which has developed the official Derby and Oaks marks since 2007, according to the Paulick Report.

Derby 143 logo

And they’ve been unveiled just in time, because there are now only 319 days, 7 hours, and 21 minutes until next year’s first Saturday in May, according to Boulevard’s exclusive 2017 Derby Countdown Clock™.

 

Kentucky Oaks 143 logo