N.J. paper wants 26% cut in staff Advance Publications Inc. will sell the Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., unless 26 percent of the staff accept buyouts by October, the company told employees in a letter Thursday. Star-Ledger Publisher George Arwady said that if 200 of the paper's 750 full-time employees do not apply for a buyout by Oct. 1, and if the company does not get new agreements from unions representing its mailers and drivers, the paper will be sold. "The situation is critical -- we are currently on life support," Arwady said in the letter. The paper has posted losses for at least three years in a row and is on pace to lose as much as $40 million in 2008, Advance Chief Executive Donald Newhouse said.
Freddie Mac's convention gigs off Freddie Mac has canceled plans to host events at the Democratic National Convention in Denver and the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, the Politico reported on its website Thursday. Amid a deepening housing slump, President Bush on Wednesday signed legislation that allows Treasury to extend Fannie Mae and Freddie's temporary line of credit and allows it to buy equity in the firms.
Miller Lite craft beers run dry MillerCoors is ending testing of its trio of craft styles of top-seller Miller Lite so that it can rethink the brand, the company told distributors this week. The so-called Miller Lite Brewing Collection didn't perform as well as expected in test markets including Minneapolis, Baltimore and Charlotte, N.C., spokesman Julian Green said. The brand tweaks Miller Lite into various styles of craft beers.
Crude oil prices take a breather Oil prices pulled back Thursday, wiping out some gains from the previous day's $4.58 a barrel rally, as traders bet that a cooling U.S. economy will continue to eat into demand here for fuel. At the pump, easing prices underscored the country's waning consumption of gasoline. The average price of a gallon of regular slipped 1.7 cents, to $3.909, according auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express. Light, sweet crude for September delivery fell $2.69, to settle at $124.08 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a day after the contract soared more than $4 in the biggest one-day jump in two weeks. Prices have now fallen in four of the past seven sessions and are 14 percent off their all-time trading high above $147, reached July 11.
Recall costs punish Scotts income Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. said Thursday that its net income plunged in the third quarter because of costs for product recalls and other special items. The lawn and yard care company said its net income, including the special items, dropped to $22.6 million, or 35 cents per share, compared with $129.7 million, or $1.98 per share, for the same period last year. Excluding the impact of the charges, net income edged up slightly, to $130.7 million, or $2 per share, for the quarter.
Venezuela bank to be nationalized President Hugo Chavez said he intends to nationalize the Bank of Venezuela, which is owned by the Santander Central Hispano banking group of Spain. "We are going to take back the Bank of Venezuela to put it at the service of Venezuelans," Chavez said in a televised address. Chavez said he decided to nationalize after learning that Santander had contacted a local bank to sell the institution. He said the local bank asked for authorization from the government, but that he, "as the head of state," nixed the sale. "Now sell it to the government," Chavez said.
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