Tag: Yum

Latest Headlines August 16, 2016August 28, 2016

Ford sets 2021 for driverless cars; Kindred closing 37-bed Texas hospital; and the summer news slowdown brings our most ridiculous KFC roundup so far: #ChipGate!

A news summary focused on 10 big employers; updated 2:51 p.m.

FORD announced plans today to begin mass production of fully autonomous vehicles in 2021 for ride-hailing or ride-sharing services such as Uber or Lyft. The cars will be built with no steering wheel, gas or brake pedals. To advance its plan, the automaker, a major employer in Louisville, said it’s investing in or collaborating with four start-ups; doubling its Silicon Valley team, and more than doubling its Palo Alto campus in the valley. “The next decade will be defined by automation of the automobile, and we see autonomous vehicles as having as significant an impact on society as Ford’s moving assembly line did 100 years ago,” said CEO Mark Fields (video, above, and press release). In Louisville, Ford employs nearly 10,000 workers at truck and vehicle assembly factories. More about Ford’s local operations.

KINDRED is shuttering a 37-bed hospital outside Houston in Baytown, Texas, and has notified the state Workforce Commission that it’s eliminating all 33 jobs there during a two-week period starting Oct. 3. The notification letter called the closure a “strategic decision.” Kindred still will have nine long-term care hospitals in the Houston area, including Kindred Hospital Bay Area (Houston Chronicle).

TEXAS ROADHOUSE: Good luck finding the love of your life with this Craigslist Missed Connections advertisement in the Phoenix area. Yesterday (apparently) at 3:30 p.m., a man visited one of the four East Valley Texas Roadhouses for a birthday dinner. (At 3:30 p.m.? Was this an early-bird special?) “I walked in,” he writes, and saw a waitress, “the most amazing woman. She had long curly black hair, eyes that were to die for. The most beautiful face I have ever seen. . . . As I was leaving, I said, ‘I’m getting too old.’ I wish I had said something else. I hope you see this.” Problem is, he didn’t say which of the four restaurants he visited (CraigsList).

KFC: August is usually one of the slowest news periods of the year because so many people are on vacation — not making news. This brings us to the following three stories about Yum’s enormous fried chicken chain:

A vexed vegan

In Australia yesterday, Continue reading “Ford sets 2021 for driverless cars; Kindred closing 37-bed Texas hospital; and the summer news slowdown brings our most ridiculous KFC roundup so far: #ChipGate!” →

Cops and Courts August 16, 2016August 17, 2016

Murder trial date to be set today for man charged with shooting co-worker at Elizabethtown KFC-Taco Bell in February

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

Crime scene tape A judge ruled yesterday that Joshua Ratliff, 27, was competent to stand trial on charges of murder, wanton endangerment of a police officer, and evading police, according to WLKY-TV.

Investigators say Ratliff shot 22-year-old Ryan Birse multiple times last February at the combination KFC-Taco Bell restaurant and then led police on a short pursuit, the station said. A witness had WLKY that Ratliff walked out the door with a gun at his side.

Despite having a relatively high IQ of 110, the defense argued Ratliff had a history of psychiatric problems and wouldn’t be able to participate in his own defense. The judge disagreed, however, saying Ratliff had the capacity to participate rationally in his own defense.

A defense psychiatrist had testified at an earlier hearing about Ratliff’s mental state. “He had delusions that his parents were trying to poison him, delusions that someone had taken on his mother’s identity,” psychiatrist Douglas Ruth said.

Ratliff’s expected trial date comes after an especially grim period of murders at fast-food chains owned by Louisville companies. Sunday in Lorain, Ohio, a man was killed in an apparent robbery attempt in a Taco Bell drive-thru around 11 p.m. Details were scarce, and an Internet search this morning didn’t turn up any fresh news.

Also Sunday, in Fort Wayne, a 28-year-old man was killed and another man was injured during a shooting outside a Texas Roadhouse in Fort Wayne. Police and court records said the man killed had gotten into a fight with members of a motorcycle gang he once belonged to. A suspect has been arrested and charged with murder in the case.

Video emerges in Roadhouse case

A witness, who asked to remain anonymous, said the victim, Jeff Lute, had been harassed by members of the bike gang for months amid a feud that apparently started months ago when Lute decided to quit the gang, WISH-TV said today.

The witness told the station members of the group weren’t going to let him go easy; they threatened Lute’s life and slashed his tires. Lute had filed multiple police reports since January, he said.

WISH obtained home surveillance video of someone slashing Lute’s tires that the station published its story this morning.

* 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 August 16, 2016August 30, 2016

Humana leverages tech-savvy employees to build network of 3,000 advocates on Twitter and other social media — in just one year

A year ago, the Louisville-based insurance giant had already signed up 90% of its 50,000 employees to an internal social network, and 40-45% logged in at least once a month. That’s when it decided to encourage the most motivated ones to share approved articles about the company, plus other health-care news on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other networks outside the company, AdAge reports today.

Employees use the hashtag #HumEmployee to make clear they work for the company. To launch the program, called Humana Advocates, the insurer hired Dynamic Signal, a Silicon Valley company that builds employee advocacy systems. The pilot program started with a couple hundred staffers, rising to 500 by January. Since then, the number has jumped to 3,000.

The system shows a list of approved articles for users to share. But most of it “isn’t directly Humana-related, because we don’t want employees to look like shills for the company,” Dan Gingiss, Humana’s head of digital marketing, told AdAge. Most of the content is about health and wellness, some of which is created by Humana itself, with the rest from third parties.

Humana’s effort is only the latest example of how companies are fiercely competing for market share by harnessing free social media technology, where hundreds of millions of current and potential consumers spend more and more time. Twitter says some 313 million people use the short-message platform each month. The figures on Facebook are even higher: 1.7 billion, including 1.1 billion every day.

Among Louisville companies, the battle is especially strong among restaurant giants that compete for young customers who practically live online: Yum’s troika of KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell; pizza colossus Papa John’s, and steakhouse chain Texas Roadhouse. On the public-relations front, companies also need all the help they can get from employees to burnish their image when bad news spreads online.

The chains have recently pushed back against headline-grabbing behavior from employees themselves. Last month, Continue reading “Humana leverages tech-savvy employees to build network of 3,000 advocates on Twitter and other social media — in just one year” →

Latest Headlines August 15, 2016August 17, 2016

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: 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 August 15, 2016August 17, 2016

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 tape At 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.

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.

Latest Headlines August 14, 2016August 17, 2016

Hooded U.K. youth whacking Papa John’s drivers with eggs; and singer Fergie’s got milk for her ‘primal’ spicy Taco Bell craving

A news summary focused on 10 big employers; updated 8:14 a.m.

PAPA JOHN’S: Police in south England are investigating a string of recent attacks where hooded youths are pelting motorbike-riding Papa John’s delivery men with eggs, causing at least one serious crash that sent a driver to the hospital with a bruised shoulder and black eye. The latest incident in south England came after the same driver was attacked with 10 eggs several weeks ago in Cheltenham an hour west of Oxford.

“Even I have had eggs thrown at me,” the store manager there said. “It’s very dangerous, you do not know what is going to happen next. My staff say it is not safe out there” (Gloucestershire Live).

Back in the United States, Panera Bread claims the former top IT executive who left to work for Papa John’s this month wiped his work computer of critical trade secrets, a statement a federal judge said justified a temporary restraining order barring the executive from joining the Louisville pizza giant. In a lawsuit filed in its St. Louis hometown, the bakery chain says the executive, Michael Nettles, will use the secrets to compete for business from young consumers drawn to the latest ordering technology. Nettles’ LinkedIn profile says he was Panera’s vice president for enterprise architecture and IT strategy (Courier-Journal).

Meanwhile, in the Detroit area, the pizza chain was advertising yesterday for delivery people with a “keen sense of direction with the ability to read a map or use GPS” (Craigslist).

PIZZA HUT was also advertising for drivers — “awesome people,” in fact — to make $12-$15 an hour delivering pies in Cincinnati (Craigslist, too).

TACO BELL: Singer Fergie is still a huge fan of super-spicy Taco Bell food, turning a meal into what a British newspaper today called “absolutely carnage,” citing an interview in NME magazine. The 41-year-old megastar behind the recent hit “M.I.L.F.$” told NME: “It’s a binge meal for me, so I don’t do it all the time. But when I do, I go hard.” She added: “I’m like, primal.”

The singer-songwriter pledged undying love to the fast-Mexican chain six years ago in her smash hit single “Glamorous,” singing: “I still go to Taco Bell/Drive through, raw as hell/I don’t care, I’m still real/no matter how many records I sell” (Sunday World). Watch her (NSFW!) M.I.L.F.$ video: Continue reading “Hooded U.K. youth whacking Papa John’s drivers with eggs; and singer Fergie’s got milk for her ‘primal’ spicy Taco Bell craving” →

A vexed vegan

Video emerges in Roadhouse case

Lorain robbery gone awry

Attempted theft at Texas Taco Bell

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