OMAHA — The missing caricature of billionaire Warren Buffett has been found.
Posted: Thursday, October 9, 2008 7:00 pm
OMAHA— The missing caricature of billionaire Warren Buffett has been found.
The Omaha Press Club will restore the 23-year-old watercolor to its place of honor on the entrance wall above the host’s podium at the club.
The caricature disappeared during the club’s August move between a temporary location and its newly renovated home.
Executive Director Steve Villamonte said someone at the temporary location called him Friday to say the Buffett caricature had been found.
Buffett’s picture was drawn when Berkshire Hathaway’s CEO was inducted into the club’s hall of fame for newsmakers.
Oriental Trading cutting 10% of jobs
OMAHA — Oriental Trading Co. is cutting 10 percent of its corporate staff, citing tough economic times as a major factor.
The Omaha-based company is a direct marketer of novelties, toys, party supplies and home decor. It has about 3,000 workers in the Omaha area.
Company spokesman Paul Knutson says the job cuts were done to streamline operations and eliminate overlapping services in the “challenging economic environment.”
Oriental Trading is one of the largest catalog and Internet retail operations in the country. Its owner, The Carlyle Group, says it offers more than 25,000 products and has more than 18 million customers on file.
USA Today raising price to $1
NEW YORK — USA Today said Friday it will raise its newsstand price by 25 cents to $1 to offset rising newsprint costs.
The 33 percent increase could affect the nation’s highest-circulation newspaper more than price hikes affect the other two national newspapers, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, because USA Today is more dependent on single-copy sales. The cost of the Times went up 25 cents in August, while the Journal’s price rose 50 cents in July.
Even after the increase, USA Today’s newsstand price will be less than the $1.50 now charged for weekday editions of the Times and $2 for the Journal.
Neither home delivery rates nor distribution agreements with hotels will be affected by the newsstand price increase for Gannett Co.’s flagship newspaper, which takes effect on Dec. 8. One-third of USA Today’s sales are in hotel-guest copies.
Amtrak announces record ridership
WASHINGTON — Amtrak has set another ridership record, with 28.7 million people taking its trains last year.
That’s an 11 percent increase over the 25.8 million passengers that the national passenger railroad carried in fiscal year 2007.
Total ticket revenue for the year that ended Sept. 30 reached $1.7 billion, a 14 percent increase over the $1.5 billion taken in the previous year.
Amtrak, long criticized for its reliance on government subsidies, has been enjoying a resurgence. The railroad has posted six years of ridership and revenue growth and recently has benefited from high gas and airline prices.
Earlier this month, Congress passed a bill authorizing $13 billion in funding for Amtrak over five years. President Bush is expected to sign the legislation.
Venezuela has a beef with McDonald’s
CARACAS, Venezuela — The Venezuelan government has ordered all McDonald’s restaurants in the country closed for 48 hours for what it calls irregularities in the financial books of the fast-food chain.
The order stands for Thursday through Saturday, affecting all 115 McDonald’s restaurants nationwide, the state-run Bolivarian News Agency reported.
Tax agency head Jose David Cabello told state television that authorities found “inconsistencies” in sales and purchases books, as well as in taxes collected.
The left-leaning government of President Hugo Chavez, an outspoken critic of Washington, has regularly cracked down on U.S. companies that have allegedly fallen behind on tax payments.
— From news wires