Tag: Texas Roadhouse

Cops and Courts

Fort Wayne cops ID 28-year-old victim in fatal Texas Roadhouse shooting last night; was allegedly targeted by motorcycle club members

The latest crime news across the world of 48,000 restaurants*.

Crime scene tapePolice have identified the victim in a fatal shooting late last night at a Fort Wayne Texas Roadhouse as 28-year old Jeff Lute, and a court documents suggest the incident involved a motorcycle gang Lute once belonged to.

Earlier today, police arrested 29-year old Andrew Cassaday and charged him with murder in connection with the shooting. A second man was shot, but he was taken to a hospital where he was recovering.

The Allen County Coroner’s Office says Lute died at the scene from a gunshot wound, according to WHAS-TV. The restaurant is at 710 West Washington Center Road.

Justin Clark told detectives he had dinner with Lute, then as they walked out of the restaurant about 9:30 p.m., members of a local motorcycle club were hovering around Clark’s car, according to a new report by WPTA-TV.

“There had been an ongoing disagreement between the bike gang and the victim, and their paths crossed at this local eatery,” Officer Michael Joyner with the Fort Wayne Police Department told the station.

Court documents suggested the bike club members were waiting for Lute, who’d apparently been a former club member.

A chase around building

Clark said one of those members, Philip Elkins, started threatening Lute, eventually taking a swing at him, WPTA said. Lute then pulled out a gun and shot Elkins in the leg, according to court documents cited by the station.

Andrew Cassady
Cassady

Clark told police the club members chased Lute around the building. Cassaday didn’t join the chase, according to Clark, instead grabbing his girlfriend’s gun out of a car, waiting for Lute to come around the corner, then  shooting him in the neck, WPTA says.

Cassaday allegedly got back in his car, picked up the injured Elkins, and drove him to the hospital. More news coverage.

Here’s a photo of the restaurant from Google Street View:

Fort Wayne Texas Roadhouse
The chase would have occurred around that building.

* Yum has 43,000 KFCs, Pizza Huts and Taco Bells in nearly 140 countries; Papa John’s has 4,900 outlets in 37 countries, and Texas Roadhouse has 485 restaurants across the U.S. and in five other nations. With that many locations, crimes inevitably occur — with potentially serious legal consequences for the companies.

Latest Headlines

Religious leader in northeast India bans KFC meals, saying they don’t conform to Islamic law; GE contract talks start today; and Texas Roadhouse treads softly as rivals jack up prices

A news summary focused on 10 big employers; updated 8:31 a.m.

KFC: The senior mufti in northeastern India’s Bareilly has issued a fatwa, or an Islamic edict, against KFC restaurants in the area, terming it a “sin” to eat there because the chicken sold doesn’t conform to Islamic law. “People at KFC process the meat away from the eyes of Muslims and such meat has been termed haram in Islam,” he said. The mufti said that the halal certificates displayed at the stores are irrelevant if the owners and workers can’t detail the procedures they use. “Halal is not only about killing the animal,” he said, “it is also about the way its meat is processed and cooked” (Hindustan Times).

GE: Contract talks open today between Louisville-based GE Appliances and the union representing about 4,000 workers at Appliance Park, and the saber-rattling is well underway. Management says the factory complex in the south end is losing money, and workers are earning more than typical in the industry. But a union leader says the company is merely trying to intimidate workers ahead of negotiations (Insider Louisville). The employees are covered by a contract reached before GE Appliances was bought in June by China’s Haier for $5.6 billion. In all, the nearly 60-year-old complex has about 6,000 workers. GE Appliances employs another 6,000 workers elsewhere. More about the company’s history in Louisville.

TEXAS ROADHOUSE, despite a second-quarter earnings miss, is a bright spot in the struggling casual dining industry, where rivals have boosted prices to compensate for falling traffic — and paid a price for the misstep. The steakhouse chain increased prices less than peers, and traffic’s improved, according to KeyBanc Capital Markets. Overall, traffic at casual-dining chains is down almost 30% since 2005. What gives? “Casual-restaurant chains are feeling the heat as loyal baby-boom customers age and millennials take their place,” the business weekly says. “Boomers like big portions and value pricing; their children, who favor organic and gluten-free foods, are pickier and less price-sensitive” (Barron’s).

On Friday, Texas Roadhouse shares ranked No. 1 in weekly performance among big area employers Boulevard tracks. Founded in 1993 with a single restaurant in southern Indiana, it’s grown to nearly 500 outlets in 49 states plus five foreign countries. It employs 48,000 workers, including about 500 in Louisville. More about the chain.

Pizza Hut boxPIZZA HUT: In Albuquerque, a Pizza Hut is seeking delivery drivers in a Craigslist ad posted yesterday that lists the following perks: “The hours are flexible. You’re out and about, listening to tunes and delivering great pizzas. Oh, and people are really, really happy to see you!” (Craigslist).

TACO BELL: In Portland, Ore., a man posted the following in Craigslist’s men-for-men Missed Connections section yesterday: Continue reading “Religious leader in northeast India bans KFC meals, saying they don’t conform to Islamic law; GE contract talks start today; and Texas Roadhouse treads softly as rivals jack up prices” →

Cops and Courts

One dead, another critically wounded in shootings last night at Texas Roadhouse in Fort Wayne; and a man killed at Taco Bell drive-thru in Lorain, Ohio

The latest crime news across the world of 48,000 restaurants*; updated 2:30 p.m.

Crime scene tapeAt the Fort Wayne Texas Roadhouse, the shootings started late last night with a fight between two groups of men inside, then spilled out into the parking lot, according to the Journal Gazette newspaper and WANE-TV.

Andrew Cassady
Cassady

Police have now made an arrest in the case, according to WANE: Andrew Cassaday, 29, has been preliminary charged with aggravated battery and unlawful possession of a firearm.

It all began around 9:30 p.m. at the restaurant on West Washington Street.

After the first victim was shot outside, one group of men put him into a car to be taken to the hospital. As the vehicle drove around the restaurant, the occupants again encountered the rival group. At that point, someone inside the vehicle fired a shot at the opposing group, striking the man who was later pronounced dead, police spokesman Chris Felton told the newspaper.

Police took several people into custody, according to WANE. The victim taken to the hospital was in critical condition last night.

Lorain robbery gone awry

At the Taco Bell in Lorain, the man was killed in an apparent robbery attempt in the drive-thru after 11 p.m. at the 3671 Oberlin Ave. restaurant. Details were very sketchy this morning, including the victim’s manner and place of death, according to Fox 8 TV.

Police were searching for the assailant, after he fled the scene on foot.

Attempted theft at Texas Taco Bell

In Corpus Christi at 2:30 this morning, police say a man in his 20s got away with an undisclosed amount of cash after telling employees he had a weapon and demanded money. No injuries were reported, according to KIII-TV.

That robbery came after a man matching the same description attempted to rob a Little Caesars Pizza around 11 o’clock last night. Detectives say the man in that robbery left the location without any money.

* Yum has 43,000 KFCs, Pizza Huts and Taco Bells in nearly 140 countries; Papa John’s has 4,900 outlets in 37 countries, and Texas Roadhouse has 485 restaurants across the U.S. and in five other nations. With that many locations, crimes inevitably occur — with potentially serious legal consequences for the companies.

Latest Headlines

Papa John’s opening 40 more outlets in Russia; judge sets Dec. 5 trial date for Humana-Aetna case, jeopardizing $1B breakup fee to HUM; and ouch: new GE beverage maker like something out of ‘Spaceballs’

A news summary focused on 10 big employers; updated 3:14 p.m.

PAPA JOHN’S said today it will open 40 restaurants in Russia over the next eight years, with the first store scheduled to open in St. Petersburg next month. Franchiser PJ Western Retail already operates more than 80 restaurants in Russia and Belarus; it’s owned by Global Restaurant Management and private equity firm Capman Russia Fund (press release). The chain opened 357 outlets last year, and now has nearly 5,000 restaurants consisting of 752 company-owned and 4,141 franchised in all 50 states and in 39 countries and territories. Beyond the U.S., the country with the single-most locations is China, with 244, as of the end of last year (annual SEC report).

In Hawaii, a Papa John’s worker is among the latest of scores of people affected by a recent hepatitis A outbreak, according to the state Department of Health. The unidentified employee worked at a restaurant in Waipahu on the island of Oahu, and brings to a total of 168 cases confirmed through yesterday. DOH investigators suspect the source of the outbreak was likely a product widely distributed primarily on Oahu (KHON-TV).

Judge John Bates
Bates

HUMANA: The federal judge hearing the Justice Department’s case to block Aetna’s $37 billion purchase of Humana has set a trial date for Dec. 5 — later than the companies had requested — and allowed 13 days for the proceedings. The date is a compromise between the two sides. During a hearing yesterday in Washington, U.S. District Judge John Bates said he was leaning toward an early November trial, but he later accepted the Justice Department’s arguments that date wouldn’t give the agency enough time to prepare. The insurers had argued for an earlier time frame, noting that the current contractual agreement between the two is subject to a Dec. 31 deadline. If the merger isn’t approved by then, Humana would have the option of walking away and potentially collecting a $1 billion breakup fee. Bates told the parties to proceed with the “expectation” that he will issue a ruling in mid-January  (Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg).

Antitrust cases are typically kept on a strict timetable set by the judge, who in this case is very efficient, said David Balto, a lawyer representing several consumer groups that oppose the insurance mega-mergers. Even though Aetna and Humana extended the deadline to close the deal by the end of this year, the litigation is likely to force them to extend the closing again (Courier-Journal). The DOJ last month sued to block the merger, arguing that it would likely raise consumer prices and stifle competition.

Bates was appointed to the bench in December 2001 by President George W. Bush (Wikipedia).

Ford Explorer Sport
Sport’s MSRP: $45,000.

FORD says professional Generation-Xers don’t always drive SUVs, but when they do they drive a Ford Explorer Sport, according to a new vehicle customer study by MaritzCX. the The vehicle has the highest percentage of Gen-X buyers of any non-luxury SUV in the United States, MaritzCX says (press release). X-ers are the spawn of the huge baby boom generation. There are no precise dates for when the group starts or ends; demographers have used birth years bracketed by the early 1960s to early 1980s (Wikipedia). Ford employs nearly 10,000 workers at truck and auto factories in Louisville; more about the automaker’s local operations.

KFC is opening a new restaurant today at Louisville International Airport, as part of an ongoing renovation of the terminal there (Courier-Journal).

TEXAS ROADHOUSE has reportedly backed out of plans to build a restaurant in the northern Chicago suburb of Mount Pleasant (Journal Online).

AMAZON‘s stock touched a new record trading high, $773.75, before easing back to a recent $771.51, up $2.95. It’s one of the Louisville area’s biggest employers, with 6,000 workers at distribution centers in Jeffersonville and Shepherdsville. More about Amazon here.

GE: The new GE Keurig Beverage Center prototype would be built right into the wall and replace basically every appliance that makes drinks, including coffee, soda, and smoothies. Wolf Appliances debuted a semi-similar mega-coffeemaker two years ago. The cost? Well over $3,000, and it didn’t even have the built-in blender.

Spaceballs posterThere’s no plan to make more Beverage Centers just yet (and no word on how much each one would cost), but Chris Bissig, GE Appliances’ manager of concept and brand development wouldn’t rule it out (CNET and Tech Insider).

CNET’s cruel conclusion: The gadget looks like something out of “Spaceballs,” the 1987 Star Wars parody starring director Mel Brooks, John Candy and Rick Moraines, featuring a character named Pizza the Hut.

Here’s a bad photo of what it looks like:

GE Beverage Center
That’s a pullout tray of Keurig cups is in the foreground.
Latest Headlines

Nuns play legal hardball against Yum; B-F names new Australia region chief; Roadhouse rival is bust; and Amazon’s Bezos sells $757M in stock — most ever

A news summary focused on 10 big employers; updated 1:01 p.m.

Boxing nun puppet
$35.99 at eBay!

YUM: Two activist groups filed a shareholder proposal today requesting that fast-food giant Yum quickly phase out harmful antibiotic use in its meat supply, taking particular aim at the KFC unit’s nearly 15,000 restaurants, according to Reuters. The request from the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia and As You Sow of Oakland, Calif., say KFC lags rivals McDonald’s, Chick-fil-A, Subway and Wendy’s in setting policies to curb routine use of antibiotics in chicken production.

In a statement issued after reports of the shareholder proposal, KFC said its “position on antibiotics is currently being reviewed to determine the viability for our suppliers to go beyond the FDA guidelines for antibiotic usage,” according to The Courier-Journal.

Yum’s 6,500-Taco Bell chain has agreed to stop using antibiotics for humans in its chicken supply early next year. The 14,000-unit Pizza Hut division has made a similar promise for pizza topping chicken. But KFC, which buys far more chicken than the other two brands, hasn’t budged (Reuters and Courier-Journal). Buy a boxing nun hand puppet at eBay for just $35.99 (auction listing).

Marc Satterthwaite
Satterthwaite

BROWN-FORMAN named Marc Satterthwaite as new managing director for Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands, taking over from Michael McShane, who’s retiring Oct. 31 after 17 years with the company. Satterthwaite has held several leadership positions, including division director for the U.S. central states and Canada, director of North America Region sales operations, and as the interim country manager for India. Most recently, he’s been chief of staff to the U.S. commercial director (The Shout).

TEXAS ROADHOUSE competitor Logan’s Roadhouse — founded in Lexington in 1991 — has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware. The Nashville-based steakhouse chain said Monday in its petition that it will close 18 under-performing restaurants; it has 250 overall. Logan’s was easily confused with Louisville-based Texas Roadhouse because of their similar formats, including encouraging patrons eat buckets of free peanuts and drop the shells on the floor (Lexington Herald-Leader). Texas Roadhouse shares recently traded for $45.48, up 1.3%, or 59 cents.

Jeff Bezos
Bezos

AMAZON founder and CEO Jeff Bezos sold one million of his company shares last week, raising $757 million, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. That’s a record for Bezos, exceeding the $671 million he sold in May (Fortune). Amazon’s stock closed yesterday at $766.56, near its all-time high of $770.50 (Google Finance). Say yes to this dress: The retailer’s best-selling wedding gown is gorgeous and a bargain to boot: as little as $16, a steal when the average bridal dress costs $1,357 (Refinery 29). Amazon employs 6,000 workers at distribution centers in Jeffersonville and Shephardsville; more about its local operations.

GE: Twisting the knife in the back of all the cities that didn’t land GE’s new headquarters, the conglomerate has unveiled renderings of its planned, new, high-tech 2.4-acre corporate campus in Boston. The design shows a 12-story building with a giant, sail-like veil and GE logo on top. The former owner of GE Appliances is moving from Fairfield, Conn., its corporate home since 1974 (Boston Globe and Seattle Times).

GE headquarters
New GE headquarters includes two century-old brick warehouses.

GE sold GE Appliances to Haier for $5.6 billion in June. The maker of refrigerators, dish washers and other “white goods” employs 6,000 workers in Louisville’s Appliance Park.