The annual Read Across Chattanooga event to promote literacy returns to Hamilton Place on Saturday, March 2, from noon to 2 p.m.
Hamilton Place and Barnes & Noble Booksellers are calling Chattanooga’s citizens, both young and old, to mark the joys of reading on Dr. Seuss’s birthday. Dr. Seuss books will be given away to the first 200 kids in attendance.
Children of all ages are invited to celebrate with Seuss-character-themed activities, where they can make and wear Horton’s ears, the Cat’s hat and the Lorax’s mustache. There will also be balloon animals, celebrity readers, giveaways and more.
“Reading develops children’s imaginations, memory, ability to concentrate and communication skills,” said Kelly Flemings, community business development manager at Barnes & Noble Hamilton Place.
Milk & Honey in Nashville sued over Salmonella cases
Milk & Honey in Nashville has been hit with four lawsuits, each seeking $1.5 million in damages, after at least 20 customers reported becoming sick with Salmonella last August.
According to Nashville television station WKRN-TV, the suits allege improper management and poor training led to the Salmonella infections.
Brian Todd, director of communications for the Nashville Metro Public Health Department (MPHD), said diners became ill after eating the restaurant’s short rib gnocchi because the dish used contaminated eggs from an Alabama farm.
An investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) found that the eggs came from Gravel Ridge Farms, which was the source of contaminated eggs that produced a Salmonella outbreak last fall in which 44 people were sickened and 12 of them hospitalized in 11 states.
Taylor Monen, the Chattanooga owner of Milk and Honey and other restaurants in Chattanooga and Nashville along with her husband Mike, called the outbreak an “unfortunate incident” and said the restaurant has cut ties with the Alabama farm after the outbreak.
In the past five health department inspections of Milk and Honey in Nashville, the restaurant has passed every inspection with an average score of 88.8, according to Metro Public Health Department records.
Core Civic prison income grows in 4th quarter
Core Civic Inc., formerly Corrections Corp. of America, boosted its funds from operations in the fourth quarter as revenue grew 9.4 percent for the nation’s biggest private prison operator.
The Nashville, Tennessee-based real estate investment trust, which operates the Silverdale Workhouse in Chattanooga, said it had funds from operations of $68.2 million, or 57 cents per diluted share, compared with $65.8 million, or 56 cents per diluted share, a year earlier. Funds from operations is a closely watched measure in the REIT industry. It takes net income and adds back items such as depreciation and amortization.
The company said it had net income of $41.2 million, or 35 cents per share.
The prison operator posted revenue of $482.2 million in the period.
For the year, the company reported funds from operations of $273.8 million. Revenue was reported as $1.84 billion.
For the current quarter ending in April, CCA expects its per-share funds from operations to range from 58 cents to 60 cents.
The company expects full-year funds from operations in the range of $2.36 to $2.44 per share.
Honda closes plant, cuts 3,500 UK jobs
Japanese carmaker Honda plans to close its car factory in western England in 2021, a fresh blow to the British economy as it struggles with the uncertainty associated with leaving the European Union next month.
The company announced the decision, which will imperil 3,500 jobs and possibly many more, at a news conference in Tokyo.
Honda’s president and CEO, Takahiro Hachigo, said the decision was not related to Brexit, but was based on what made most sense for its global competitiveness in light of the need to accelerate its production of electric vehicles.
Still, experts say the uncertainty surrounding Brexit will likely have been a contributing factor in a decision like Honda’s. There is no clarity on what leaving the EU will mean. In a worst case, it could lead to heavy tariffs and border checks, raising costs and slowing deliveries.
That comes at a time when the industry is already in serious flux, with manufacturers shifting to cleaner cars, coping with more tariffs and a slowing global economy.
“We still don’t know what sort of changes Brexit will bring at this point,” said Hachigo. “We have to wait until we have a better idea about the situation.”
Honda Motor Co. makes its popular Civic model at the factory, 115 kilometers (70 miles) west of London, with an output of 150,000 cars per year. Its restructuring is aimed at adjusting its operations to reflect stronger demand in Asia and North America, Hachigo said.
The next model of Civic to be sold in Britain will be exported from Japan.