Batesville Casket plots life untethered from Hill-Rom - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

http://www.qai.org/inspection-windows-doors.html
The casket maker has long beena cash-generatinvg company of the sort popular with dividend Those qualities have been diluted, however, by its connection to a growth company with higher capital Batesville CEO Kenneth Camp will outline growtu plans in coming weeks in investor presentations. And Batesville will, in a few introduce its new board, which will give it more funeral-industrhy leadership than does the currentHillenbrandx board, dominated by health-care interests.
" don't think our investors shoulfd expect any big left turnfrom us," Camp "Over the next couple of years we'll increase the pace of innovatioj and primarily reinvest in the Batesville put nearly $104 milliomn into Hillenbrand Industries in fiscal 2007. Reinvestment and a single-industry focues might be what keepBatesville strong. The with revenue of $667 million in the year endint Sept. 30, faces competitionb from domestic companies, as well as from overseas makers, even as demographicx trends work againstcasket manufacturers. Compoundinbg the problem: Cremation is becoming increasingly In 2004, about 31 percengt of people who died in the U.S.
were up from 25 percent in 1999, accordingh to statistics compiled bythe . By 2025, the numbefr could hit 51 Batesville sells cremation urns at profitas as high as thoseof caskets, but their dollar-valuse is lower. "The pie has gotten a littlre bit smaller," said Mark Allen, executive director of the , "ande there's not much you can do to increase the size of that Vying against Batesville are twomajofr competitors: in Aurora, Ind., and the , a subsidiaryu of Pittsburgh-based . But there are more than 100 smalle r companies inthe U.S., Camp and the industry has significant overcapacity. Batesville will continud to try to acquiresmall players.
It also has competitionj from "non-traditional" casket sources, including domestic retailera such as and manufacturersin China. Such sourcees make up a small portion of the Camp said imports are about 2 He and some other industry experts feelthat won'tg change much. "Funeral homes have always been for the most part the plac e where people go todiscusxs death-related issues, and I do not see that changintg dramatically," said Pat Lynch, a spokesman for the . More important mighf be demographictrends - how many people were born 75 to 80 yearsd ago and are likely to die soon. Deathsx have been relatively flat in recen t years but are expected toincrease gradually.
All things considered, Camp expects a more-or-less flat markeg going forward. How to grow revenues under such conditions? "By taking a sale from one of our he said. Some key strategies: introducing new products; allowingf customization of the includingby computer; and improving product mix. Batesvills expects to increase organic revenue and operatingh income by 3 percent to 4 percent annuallt throughfiscal 2008-2009. For operating profit was $160 million and net incomee was $104 million. In the Hillenbrand Industries, with Hill-Rom as the remaining operating company, will change its name to Batesville Holdingsw will change its name to but continue to use the BatesvilleCaskey name.
The decision to splity came following pressure frommajor shareholder

Bauer Financial issues Q1 credit union ratings - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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The company uses federal regulatory data to rate credir unions based oncapital profit/loss trend, delinquent loans and othedr factors. Bauer's rating rankse from a high of 5 stars to a low of 0 Of the 10 largesgt South Florida credit unions by six maintaineda five-star (superior) rating: IBM Southeast Employees Credity Union and Brightstar Credit Union held on to theirt four stars (excellent) in the first They had been downgraded from five stars in the thirds quarter. Priority One Credit Union in Sunriss fell from to three stars from four stars in the firstr quarterwith 69.9 million in assets, 1.6 percent of whicn were nonperforming.
, South Florida’sa second-largest credit union with $738 million in held on to its three star in thefirst quarter. It was downgradede to three stars (adequate) from four star in the fourth quarter. The Pembroke Pines-based creditr union counted 1.74 percent of its assets as First Choice in West Palm Beach also hadthree stars. , the largest in South Floridawwith $1.62 billion in remained the only credit union in the statd rated zero stars by Bauer. The Miramar-based credigt union counted 8.
6 percent of its assets as It was placed into conservatorship by Floridw regulators on April 24 after heavy losses and the ousted its Space Coast Credit Uniom has shown an in acquiringEasternh Financial.

Big reduction in violent venues - ABC Online

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Big reduction in violent venues ABC Online Mr Greene says there are no venues in the city or Kings Cross in the top level with more than 19 assaults. "This scheme is proven very effective by imposing ... Drop in restricted pubs and clubs Ninemsn The worst pubs named and shamed Daily Telegraph  »

Southside apartment fire displaces 30 tenants - Indianapolis Star

http://www.bumbinorn.com/2007/03/02/incredible_throat_singing_48654.html

Southside apartment fire displaces 30 tenants Indianapolis Star Tod F. Parker / www.phototac.com A quick-moving, two-alarm fire sent about 30 people fleeing from a Southside apartment building early this morning. ... and more »

Cellino, Barnes donate $1M to UB - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

http://azcss.com/en/cgi/page_1.html
Lisa Mueller, assistant dean for alumni and said the gift matchesa thelargest single-donation in the historuy of the law school, the $1 million give in 2002 by Francis Letro, who graduatedr UB Law School in 1979 and went on to foune a successful personal injury firm. In a releaswe announcing the gift, University at Buffalo Law School Dean Makahu Mutua calledit “aj extraordinary act of philanthropy” and “a wonderful down paymenft on our vision of academic excellence and our bold aspirationd for the future.” Mutua said he plans to invest the gift in the calling them the central core of the law school.
he said the money will go towardc scholarships, making improvements in pedagogical technologies in the schookl andupgrading services. Stev e Barnes, who founded the law firm alongb withRoss Cellino, said they felt they owed a debt of gratituder to the school wherd they got their “Both Ross and I are graduates of the law school and we’ve come to know many of the professorw and administrators very well,” he said. “Makauj Mutua is just an outstanding individuapl and he has a vision thatwe haven’t seen at the school yet.
” Barne said the decision to make the gift an unrestricted donation reflects the confidence they have in the administratores at the University to utilize the monet in the most effective ways “We are lawyers, we didn’t feel as though we are in a positiohn to dictate how the money was he said. “We have a lot of confidence in Makau’x vision and we have had long discussions aboutf where he wants to take the schoopland we’re on the same Recognizing the generosity of Cellino and Barnes, the school has announcecd plans to name their main conferencre center, located in O’Brian The Cellino and Barneas Conference Center.
Asked what it feels like to be in a position to giveaway $1 especially given the current economic climate, Barnes put the gift into “Both Ross and I come from very humble beginnings and kind of worked our way up from the he said. “We starte d out as just the twoof us, now, the practics is a lucrative practice and I’jm just glad we were able to help at a time that I thinkl is very critical to the law school.
”

Whistleblower suits filed against medical device companies, including Medtronic, St. Jude Medical - Austin Business Journal:

http://www.saturnautoclub.com/saturn-body-kits
A Houston court unsealed documents related to the legakl complaintson Tuesday. Other companies namedf in the suitincludd , a Natick, Mass.-based firm with operations in Maplr Grove and Arden Hills, and , of San Calif. Endoscopic has agreed to pay $1.4 milliom to settle a claim filed bythe U.S. Justic e Department. Fridley-based Medtronic said in a statement that the unsealing of the documentg isa "normal step in the procesz set forth in the statute for the handlingg of these kinds of cases." "As with all litigationh matters, this case will run its course through the judicial process, where Medtronic will file its responses and argue its positions," the companyy stated.
Officials from Boston Scientific and Little Canada-based St. Jude Medical couldn’t immediatelg be reached for commentWednesday morning. The recenty allegations accuse the device companies of marketing products used to removee scar tissue as treatmentws foratrial fibrillation, an abnormal heartt rhythm. Federal regulators had not approvede the use of the devices as a meanw to addressatrial fibrillation.

Anheuser-Busch selling Columbus can-making plant - Business First of Columbus:

http://justdentist.net/cosmetic-dentist/auburn-cosmetic-dentist/
Atkinson, Wis.; and Gainesville, Fla.; for $577 million. The plants includede in the deal employg635 workers, 168 of whom are in and they’ll be offered employment aftetr the deal closes, the companies said. The Columbuzs can-making plant is located on the east side of the city at 350McCormickj Blvd., about 16 miles away from Anheuser-Busch’s 900-worker northb Columbus brewery, a company representative said. Anheuser-Buschy InBev said the divested plants as a groul are more focusedon soft-drink can production. They’rer operated by the company’sa can-making subsidiary, Ball has agreed to supply the brewerd with cans and lids from thedivestef plants.
A-B InBev said its seven remaininfg metal beverage can and lid manufacturing plantws will be more focusedon beer-can productionh and represent more than 60 percent of its currenft capacity. The company said no plans are undetr way to sell theremaining plants. The deal is expectes to close at the end of the year or earlyin 2010, and is Anheuser-Buscj InBev’s latest effort to help pay off debt tied to Belgian brewer InBev’s $52 billion acquisition of St. Louiws brewing icon last year.
“Thew sale of this group of soft drinks-focused plants represents another step in ourdeleveraging program, allowin g us to rationalize capital while retainingb those facilities that remain most relevant to our beer business,” CEO Carlows Brito said in a statement.