Tribune Co. plans to invest $53 million in its Food Network partnership in connection with the cable channel’s launch of a second culinary channel last year, a source close to the transaction confirmed Friday.
The Chicago-based parent of the Chicago Tribune and other media assets expects to file a motion regarding the investment with the bankruptcy court in Delaware Friday, the source said. Tribune Co. has been operating under Chapter 11 protection since December 2008. Get the full story »
The United States said on Friday it had asked the World Trade Organization to decide on two disputes with China, one on restrictions Beijing has imposed on U.S. specialty steel exports and the other on access to its credit and debit card market. Get the full story »
Volkswagen looks to come on like gangbusters in the U.S. in the next several years, said Jonathan Browning, CEO of Volkswagen North America, during the unveiling of the 2012 Jetta GLI at the Chicago Auto Show.
The automaker’s goals for the GLI were to keep Volkswagen’s euro-style, with multilink rear suspension for taut handling, but also meet U.S. buyer demands. So the car also includes carefree maintenance, the carmaker’s Intelligent Crash Response System, and fuel economy and power from a turbocharged 4-cylinder engine. It will be priced at $23,000. Get the full story »
The U.S. exchanges left out of this week’s flurry of announced acquisitions now need to consider whether they, too, should strike a deal, a CBOE Holdings Inc. executive said on Friday. Get the full story »
Industrial maintenance and safety products supplier WW Grainger Inc. reported January daily sales growth of 10 percent, mainly driven by strong sales at its heavy manufacturing and reseller end markets in the United States.
The United States, which is the Lake Forest-based company’s largest market, posted sales growth of 6 percent, while sales in Canada were up 24 percent. Get the full story »
The Obama administration on Friday declared the public-private housing finance model in place for the past four decades was dead but pledged to continue backing exisiting obligations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
“The GSE model is dead,” an Obama administration official told reporters as the Treasury Department released a long-awaited report on options to revamp housing reform. Get the full story »
Cubs starting pitcher Ryan Dempster on the mound in August. (Nuccio DiNuzzo/Tribune)
ELITE STREET | By Bob Goldsborough | Chicago Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster has reduced the asking price of one of his homes near Wrigley Field from $2.25 million to $1.95 million.
In December 2009, Elite Street broke the news of Dempster’s $2.25 million listing of the 13-room Lakeview mansion, which he purchased in early 2006 from its builder for $1.715 million. Dempster placed the five-bedroom home on the market because he traded up to another, newly-built house a few blocks away that he had purchased in late 2008 for $2.69 million. Get the full story »
From the Chicago Sun-Times | Senate Democrats proposed raising the state’s minimum wage in a bid that eventually would boost pay for the working poor to more than $10 an hour. Sen. Kimberly Lightford (D-Maywood) introduced legislation that would raise Illinois’ $8.25-an-hour minimum wage by 50 cents plus the rate of inflation annually until it reaches the equivalent in today’s dollars of what $1.60-an-hour was in 1968 — currently about $10.03 an hour.Get the full story >>
Most of the 26,000 white-collar workers at General Motors Co. will get performance bonuses of 4 to 16 percent of their base salaries this year, but payments to a small number could be 50 percent or more, the company confirmed late Thursday.
Chrysler Group LLC also will give bonuses to its white-collar staff, with payments expected on Friday. Both companies needed government bailouts in 2008 and 2009 to stay in business and make it through bankruptcy protection. Get the full story »
Inside the air-traffic control tower at LaGuardia Airport. (EPA/Andrew Gombert)
In a time of unparalleled aviation safety in the United States, reports of mistakes by air traffic controllers have nearly doubled — a seeming contradiction that has safety experts puzzled.
The latest incident — the near midair collision of an American Airlines jet with 259 people aboard and two Air Force transport planes southeast of New York City, has raised eyebrows in Congress and led to questions about a nonpunitive culture of error reporting in air-traffic control facilities. Get the full story »
U.S. workers have reason to hope for slightly better pay raises this year, a shift that could add momentum to the economic recovery.
This could mean average wage gains of as much as 3 percent in 2011, compared with 1.7 percent in 2010–enough to boost consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the economy, but not so much that it would stoke concerns of an inflationary spiral. Get the full story »
Northfield-based Kraft Foods Inc. reported fourth-quarter earnings down 24 percent to $540 million. The company’s operating earnings, at 46 cents per share was in line with Wall Street expectations, but full-year earnings per share of $2.02 missed expectations by a penny.
The company’s shares fell 2.1 percent to $30.45 in after-hours trading. Get the full story »
Apple Inc is working on a smaller and less expensive version of the iPhone, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing sources.
The prototype device is about one-third smaller than the iPhone 4, the report said, citing a person who had seen it.
Apple has considered selling the new iPhone for $200 without a two-year wireless contract, Bloomberg reported. Get the full story »
