“We took what in today’s light is an oddly hostile approach on the specific issue of Ali’s name, which did little to help race relations in a turbulent time.”
— The Courier-Journal, in an unsigned editorial this morning, belatedly apologizing for the newspaper’s waiting so long to use Muhammad Ali’s adopted name, after he rejected the one given at birth: Cassius Clay.
The editorial followed a New York Times article Thursday, pointing out this failing on the part of many papers, the Times included. The Louisville paper’s apology is certainly welcome. But was it prompted by the Times story? Or was it already in the works?
Worth noting: In a search this week, the first “Ali” reference Boulevard could find in the CJ’s online database was a page-one story in 1969, five years after he’d chosen the new name. But that’s incorrect; “Ali” appears the year he adopted it — 1964 — although editors didn’t take it seriously until many years later.
Yesterday morning was the first time Cave Hill Cemetery allowed the public to visit Muhammad Ali’s grave, the day after he was buried there. Here are excerpts from some of the first accounts.
It would have looked like any unremarkable rectangle of fresh sod had people not been snapping photos. A few brought flowers, one left a tiny set of boxing gloves. A man unfurled an Islamic flag and laid it alongside the grave. His headstone will be simple when it’s installed, in keeping with Muslim tradition. It will be inscribed with just one word: Ali (Associated Press).
From midnight until well after dawn, Louisville Police Det. Tom Hodgkins sat alone in his car atop an embankment deep in the heart of Cave Hill. There in the dark, with his engine turned off and windows rolled down, the only sound he could hear was a splashing fountain just down the hill. “If I said I didn’t go down there and spend a little time with the champ, I’d be lying,” Hodgkins said. “This place will never be the same. This little corner, anyway” (Courier-Journal).
Discretion is everything in the wealth management world. That’s why the court challenge around the Glenview Trust Co.‘s launch 15 years ago grabbed such unwelcome headlines — before it got settled, of course, for $525,000. That controversial start apparently didn’t dent eventual success at the firm, which is akin to a large family office. Its motto: “enriching life.”
Today, Glenview — named for the posh community where the company is located east of Louisville — says it’s the commonwealth’s biggest independent trust company, working exclusively for individual investors. Glenview now represents more than 500 wealthy families, with a combined $6.5 billion in assets.
Its pitch: “Glenview Trust is a local, closely-held company with employee ownership, our professionals act and think differently. We are not accountable to a headquarters in a distant city, which allows us to effectively and efficiently accommodate our clients’ unique situations.”
Glenview has 40 employees, including nine attorneys. How much does it earn servicing those 500-plus families? That’s hard to estimate without knowing the firm’s fee schedule. Industrywide, fees vary widely, often stair-stepping down as account values rise. But applying a relatively low 0.5%, that would generate $33 million a year.
Boulevard reviews the latest media coverage of the Oscar-winning Louisville native in our exclusive Jennifer Lawrence Diary™. Today’s news, rated on a scale of 1-5 stars:
Mama mia! The headline over this morning’s story in Tribu Magazine says it all: “Jennifer Lawrence interpretará a Elizabeth Holmes en uno película” — if you speak Italian, that is. Fortunately, Boulevard’s crack interpreters on our foreign-news desk at Google Translate have the answer.
Según informó The Hollywood Reporter, tras encarnar a una mujer emprendedora en Joy, la ganadora de un Oscar por “El lado bueno de las cosas” interpretaría a la fundadora de la compañía Theranos, la controvertida empresaria de análisis de sangre.
Theranos surgió como una start up en Silicon Valley en 2003 y llegó a estar valorada en 9.000 millones de dólares cuando escaló en lo más alto de la lista de Forbes en la categoría ‘Mujeres que construyeron su fortuna’. Hasta la semana pasada, cuando solo 12 meses después de encumbrarla la reconocida publicación la eliminaba de su lista de las mujeres más ricas por las dudas sobre sus productos y la caída del valor de la empresa.
Jennifer Lawrence protagonizará el nuevo drama del director de La gran apuesta, Adam McKay. Parece que Lawrence está metida de lleno en películas en las que se pone en la piel de personajes reales.
La causa de Holmes sigue abierta y ejecutivos de la compañía de Holmes admitieron recientemente que sus pruebas no son fiables.
So, for agreeably challenging our foreign-language skills, we’re awarding Tribu tre stelle!
Double trouble
One thing’s clear, the wardrobe department won’t have to spend much to dress Lawrence in Holmes’ signature look.
That’s 25-year-old Lawrence (left) vs. real-life 32-year-old Holmes.
Aetna’s headquarters building in Hartford, where it was founded in 1853.
A news summary, focused on big employers; updated 2:29 p.m.
HUMANA: Connecticut insurance regulators can’t require Aetna to maintain its headquarters in the state should the Hartford insurer’s $37 billion purchase of Humana go through as planned (Journal Enquirer). Last month, Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini refused to rule out the possibility Aetna might abandon its historic Hartford corporate home, saying only that the deal’s terms required the company establish a presence in Kentucky. “The rest of all of our real estate is under review,” he told the annual shareholders meeting. Aetna has 6,000 employees in Connecticut. The merger, expected to close this year if it passes regulatory review, would double its workforce to 110,000; Humana has about 12,500 in Louisville. In San Antonio, meanwhile, Humana plans to hire 140 seasonal and permanent telephone salespeople, adding to the 1,050 already working there (Express-News).
AMAZON is reportedly launching a full-fledged music streaming subscription service for $9.99 a month, placing it in a head-on collision with established rivals Apple and Spotify and their 30-million song catalogs. Amazon already offers a limited music stream for its $99-a-year Prime shipping members. A full service would continue its drive to be a one-stop retailer for all goods (Reuters).
BROWN-FORMAN: Teenage binge drinking has sunk to the lowest level since a prominent survey began in 1991, newly released results show — positive news for an alcoholic beverages industry where Brown-Forman is a major player. The survey, conducted every two years by the Centers for Disease Control, analyzed more than 150,000 U.S. secondary students; it’s one of three sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services (Spirits Business). The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System survey also covers smoking, fighting, technology use while driving, and other risky behavior (CDC).
GE Appliances launched its FirstBuild micro-factory at the University of Louisville two years ago so engineers could prototype ideas with state-of-the-art machinery and a community of helpers; an explainer (The Atlantic). GE sold the residential “white goods” business and 6,000-employee Appliance Park to Haier last week for $5.6 billion; the 20-employee FirstBuild was included.
Mulally
FORD: Retired CEO Alan Mulally, credited with saving the Dearborn, Mich., automaker, will be inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame next month. Mulally, a Boeing executive before Ford, mortgaged everything — including the iconic Blue Oval logo — for a complete product portfolio overhaul to avoid a government bailout as bankruptcy loomed. General Motors and Chrysler went through bankruptcy. Mulally, 70, retired in 2014 and was succeeded as CEO by Mark Fields. Other hall of fame inductees will include auto safety advocate Ralph Nader, 82 (Detroit News). About Ford in Louisville.
PIZZA HUT: In Corpus Christi, Texas, three men stole a money bag from a Pizza Hut employee yesterday morning in a crime police say may be connected to others like it (KRIS).
What birds look like.
TEXAS ROADHOUSE: A pet yellow-naped Amazon bird named Emmett has been safely returned to his New Hampshire family after he was stolen Thursday night from their car in a Texas Roadhouse parking lot in Dewitt — and the finder turned down the $10,000 reward the family had offered (WSYR).
In other news, the Louisville Metro Council passed a critical ordinance granting Google Fiber a franchise for public right-of-way access to start installing hyper-fast Internet and data delivery service; Thursday’s passage had been expected (Business First). The service would provide speeds up to 100 times faster than conventional broadband, a huge economic recruiting tool that would elevate Louisville to the top ranks of high-tech cities.
Google Fiber’s website says the service is already in Atlanta, Kansas City, Nashville and Utah’s Provo — blue push pins on the following map. Louisville and other potential cities are identified with gray dots, and upcoming cities with purple:
News about business and culture in Louisville, Ky.
Boulevard reviews the latest media coverage of the Oscar-winning Louisville native in our exclusive Jennifer Lawrence Diary™. Today’s news, rated on a scale of 1-5 stars:
Mama mia! The headline over this morning’s story in Tribu Magazine says it all: “Jennifer Lawrence interpretará a Elizabeth Holmes en uno película” — if you speak Italian, that is. Fortunately, Boulevard’s crack interpreters on our foreign-news desk at Google Translate have the answer.
AMAZON is reportedly launching a full-fledged music streaming subscription service for $9.99 a month, placing it in a head-on collision with established rivals Apple and Spotify and their 30-million song catalogs. Amazon already offers a limited music stream for its $99-a-year Prime shipping members. A full service would continue its drive to be a one-stop retailer for all goods (Reuters).
Boulevard 