VOL. 127 | NO. 83 | Friday, April 27, 2012
International Paper Co. said Friday that its first-quarter profit tumbled 47 percent, pulled down by hefty charges, along with higher costs and operational issues at biggest business. Its adjusted earnings beat Wall Street expectations.
KIPP Memphis embarks on massive expansion plan
KIPP Memphis, which currently educates 500 students in grades five through nine at two schools, has embarked on an ambitious expansion plan that will include opening 10 collegiate schools educating roughly 4,500 students in North and South Memphis by 2016.
The U.S. Justice Department said Thursday, April 26, that juvenile offenders in Shelby County are denied due process rights and that black children are treated differently and more harshly than white children by the Juvenile Court of Memphis and Shelby County, including the process used to transfer children who are to be tried as adults.
A Middletown, Conn.-based office supply printing company has entered the local industrial scene, taking advantage of Memphis’ centralized logistical capabilities.
As if owning and operating the city’s fastest growing self-serve frozen yogurt business isn’t enough, Taylor Berger is about to add two more hospitality titles to his resume.
EdR more than doubled its first quarter net income year over year, results the Memphis-based collegiate housing REIT attributes to strong 2012 pre-leasing to date.
When it was time for questions on this week’s earnings conference call by Delta Air Lines Inc., the company’s president evaded questions about reports that Delta is considering buying an oil refinery in Pennsylvania.
MEMPHIS STANDOUT
Editor’s note: This is the sixth in a six-part series on entrepreneurs in the current round of the Seed Hatchery boot camp.
SPORTS
As the shortened but grueling NBA season was winding itself down into so many ugly wins over mere Hornets, Bobcats and Cavaliers, the Grizzlies’ Rudy Gay looked back and summed up the journey.
Sixteen years ago R.C. Johnson became the University of Memphis athletic director and he started the tradition of an annual media appreciation luncheon. John Calipari, among others, would have choked on the idea.
LOCAL COLUMNISTS
EVOLVING RESPONSE. The anachronistic Tennessee Legislature has awarded creationism equal scientific weight to evolution and declared that the prevailing religious belief of that body be offered as viable explanation to our school children for the order, formation and timing of the universe.
Nonprofits are one way we come together to advocate for what we believe in, to provide services, to educate, to heal, inspire and enjoy the arts. To name just a few. At the heart is community, and with that comes communication.
Many business leaders are reluctant to hire a consultant when they need one. In my 15 years as a CEO, I used consultants sparingly, and usually to handle something new to the organization such as ISO9000 certification or lean manufacturing initiatives.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) – A proposal to change the Tennessee Constitution to give the Legislature power to reject the governor's appointments to the state Supreme Court justices cleared the House on Thursday.
NASHVILLE (AP) – A proposal that would prohibit students from dressing in an "indecent manner" at school has been signed by the governor.
NASHVILLE (AP) – A proposal to help Tennesseans get off unemployment and find a job has passed the Senate.
NASHVILLE (AP) – A measure to require drug testing as a condition for receiving welfare has passed the Senate.
NASHVILLE (AP) – Proposals that increase penalties for making or selling imitation drugs are headed to the governor for his signature.
REGIONAL
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – A Mississippi Senate chairman on Thursday killed a bill that could have led to a homicide criminal prosecution for anyone performing an abortion once a fetal heartbeat is found.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits remained stuck near a three-month high last week, a sign that job gains will likely remain modest.
ATLANTA (AP) – UPS said Thursday that its first-quarter profit rose 6 percent, but the result came in below Wall Street's expectations as Asian exports and other international shipments slowed.
NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
WASHINGTON (AP) – House Speaker John Boehner said Thursday that President Barack Obama was acting "beneath the dignity of the White House" when he traveled around the country this week to pressure Republicans to help keep federal student loan costs from ballooning. Boehner said Obama should reimburse taxpayers for the trips' costs.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) – An index that tracks the number of signed contracts to buy U.S. homes rose to its highest level in nearly two years last month, the latest sign the battered housing market is slowly improving.