Deerfield-based United Stationers Inc. announced Monday its chief executive will retire in May at the annual shareholders’ meeting. Richard W. Gochnauer will be replaced by P. Cody Phipps, the company’s president and chief operating officer. Get the full story »
Civic Federation: Simplify Cook County taxes
From Crain’s Chicago Business | The Civic Federation, a Chicago-based non-partisan government research organization, in a report today recommended Cook County simplify its property tax system, which has become overburdened by exemptions and mulitple layers of administration.
“We’re not calling for a massive immediate overhaul of the property tax system,” Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation, said in an interview. “We recommend that they do no further harm to the property tax system.” Get the full story>>
Boeing to increase production of 777 aircraft
Boeing Co. for the second time this year said it will increase its 777 aircraft production rate based on strong global demand.
Boeing said Monday it will raise its production of the airplanes to 8.3 per month in the first quarter of 2013. In March, the company announced it would increase production to seven from five airplanes per month starting in mid-2011. Get the full story »
Dec. 20, 2010 at 6:30 a.m.
Filed under: Ernst & Young set to be charged in Lehman collapse
New York prosecutors are poised to file civil fraud charges against Ernst & Young for its alleged role in the collapse of Lehman Brothers, saying the Big Four accounting firm stood by while the investment bank misled investors about its financial health, people familiar with the matter said.
State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is close to filing the case, which would mark the first time a major accounting firm was targeted for its role in the financial crisis. The suit stems from transactions Lehman allegedly carried out to make its risk appear lower than it actually was. Get the full story »
Tax deduction for mortgages may be in jeopardy
Nearly a century after coming into existence, the mortgage deduction may face a day of reckoning. Although out of the spotlight while the lame-duck Congress thrashes to an end, the mortgage deduction issue is likely to resurface next year when the new Congress — including a lot more deficit-hawk Republicans — takes over.
In part, the hoary deduction has a target on its back as a result of policymakers rethinking the whole issue of homeownership. In the wake of the havoc that followed the latest housing bust — a calamity that still shadows the U.S. economy and will for years to come — it’s no longer so clear that near-universal homeownership should be a paramount goal. Get the full story »
Dec. 20, 2010 at 5:30 a.m.
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Filed under: Consumer electronics, Internet, Media, TV, Technology, Telecommunications Google TV faces delays amid poor reviews
From the New York Times News Service | The Consumer Electronics Show next month in Las Vegas was meant to be the great coming-out party for Google’s new software for televisions, which adds Web video and other computer smarts to TV sets. Although Google already has a deal with Sony for its Internet TVs, other television makers — Toshiba, LG Electronics and Sharp — were prepared to flaunt their versions of the systems.
But Google has asked the TV makers to delay their introductions, according to people familiar with the company’s plans, so that it can refine the software, which has received a lukewarm reception. The late request caught some of the manufacturers off guard. And it illustrates the struggles Google faces as it tries to expand into the tricky, unfamiliar realm of consumer electronics, and drum up broad interest in a Web-based TV product that consumers want. Get the full story »
Alberto shareholders OK sale to Unilever
Shareholders of Alberto-Culver Co., the maker of beauty products such as VO5 and Noxzema, have approved the company’s $3.7 billion takeover by consumer products maker Unilever NV, the companies said on Friday.
The company also said it and Unilever have received a second request for information from the Department of Justice, which is reviewing the deal. Get the full story »
Dec. 17, 2010 at 5:02 p.m.
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Filed under: Commercial real estate, Management, Personnel moves General Growth top execs to step down next week
General Growth Properties Inc. Chief Executive Officer Adam Metz and President and Chief Operating Officer Thomas Nolan will leave the company Dec. 22, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday.
The moves had been expected. Get the full story »
Obama signs bill extending Bush tax cuts
President Barack Obama signed into law a huge, holiday-season tax bill extending cuts for all Americans on Friday, saluting a new spirit of political compromise as Republicans applauded and liberals seethed. The benefits range from tax cuts for millionaires and the middle class to longer help for the jobless. Get the full story »
Sara Lee reported in sales talks
Sara Lee Corp. is considering selling itself to Brazilian meat producer JBS, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site, citing people familiar with the matter.
JBS approached Sara Lee first and discussions between the two companies have been on and off for several months, the Journal reported, citing these sources. Sara Lee has been considering JBS’s offer more seriously of late, according to the Journal. Get the full story »
Walgreen, U.S. to provide $10M in free flu shots
In a move to increase access to preventive treatment among those for whom health care is a challenge, the Obama administration and Walgreens announced on Friday a partnership to provide vouchers for free influenza shots to uninsured Americans and others with inadequate benefits.
The Deerfield-based drugstore giant will provide more than $10 million worth of vouchers while the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will help distribute the shots to up to 350,000 people in 15 major U.S. markets including Chicago through its network of regional health administrators that work with public health agencies. Get the full story »
Trade panel to take up Xbox patent dispute
Bloomberg News | The International Trade Commission has agreed to review a patent and licensing dispute between Motorola Mobility and Microsoft that could result in an import ban on the latter’s Xbox game system.
Rep. Issa names source of tainted Rolaids
The incoming chairman of the U.S. congressional committee investigating Johnson & Johnson’s recalls of consumer products Friday identified the previously unnamed third-party manufacturer behind last week’s Rolaids recall.
Rep. Darrell Issa of California, in a letter to Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, said investigations by his staff revealed North Carolina-based Best Sweet as the company contracted by J&J to produce widely used Rolaids antacid products. Get the full story »
OnStar to provide in-car Santa updates
For the second year, OnStar is teaming up with NORAD to track Santa Claus on his Christmas Eve flight around the world.
From 5 a.m. Dec. 24 until 4 a.m. Dec. 25, OnStar advisers will let subscribers know exactly where Santa is based on data from the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which has been following the old elf’s adventures for 54 years using North Warning Radar System, geo-synchronous satellites with infrared sensors and Santa Cams. Get the full story »
Caterpillar, UAW halt contract talks for holidays
Negotiators for Caterpillar Inc. and the United Auto Workers are taking a break for the holidays and plan to resume talks on a contract on Jan. 11. The contract covers about 9,500 workers at a number of sites around Illinois and in three other states. Get the full story »
