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A new information guide for prospective Lawrence-area residents is ready for distribution -- both in print and on the Web.
The Greater Douglas County Newcomers Guide, produced by Sunflower Publishing in Lawrence, offers 64 color pages of information for people looking to locate in the area, including Lawrence, Baldwin, Eudora and Perry.
"Anyone who moves into a community needs this book, because it has all the information you would need to know -- where the schools are " where you need to register a car, where to find services for people," said Len Egdish, special projects manager for Sunflower Publishing. "It's all in there."
Sunflower Publishing is a division of The World Company, which owns the Journal-World.
Copies of the guide are available from area real-estate offices and at the Journal-World, 609 N.H. It also is available on the World Wide Web.
Copies of the printed version are available by mail for $3, to cover postage and handling. Call (888) 497-8668 to order.
POULTRY PRODUCER
Tyson calls off deal
to purchase IBP Inc.
Tyson Foods Inc., the No. 1 U.S. poultry producer, on Thursday called off a $3.2 billion purchase of IBP Inc. that would have also made it the nation's top beef and pork producer.
The decision was announced nine days after IBP said an investigation into its appetizer unit, DFG Foods, uncovered potential manipulation of financial records and product theft, and mismanagement by former unit managers.
"While we continue to believe that the combination of IBP and Tyson would have created the premiere protein company in the world, we simply cannot endorse a decision to complete the transaction under the facts as we understand them today," said John Tyson, chairman and CEO of the Springdale, Ark.-based Tyson.
AIRCRAFT MAKER
Boeing scraps
plans for 747X
Boeing is shelving plans for its giant 747X and instead will focus on developing the "Sonic Cruiser" -- a radically new jetliner that will travel at nearly the speed of sound, the aerospace company announced Thursday.
Boeing officials said there simply wasn't a market for the larger 747, designed to compete with archrival Airbus Industries new A380 superjumbo. While Airbus has received 66 orders for its 555-seat jet, no customers have ordered the larger 747, which would have carried 525 passengers.
Instead, Boeing released drawings for an aircraft unlike any other existing commercial jet, with a delta wing near its tail, two smaller wings near the nose, and a pair of engines blended into the wing.
AUTO INDUSTRY
Delphi to cut jobs
Citing a soft U.S. auto market, auto parts giant Delphi Automotive Systems Corp. is cutting 11,500 jobs, or 5 percent of its work force.
Delphi also warned Thursday its first-quarter results will fall well short of Wall Street's expectations. Nevertheless, investors responded to the news by pushing shares up 4 percent.
Under the massive restructuring plan, Delphi plans to sell, close or consolidate nine plants and cut staffing at more than 40 other sites as it exits $900 million of what the company called "the weakest portion" of its businesses.
EUROPE
Central bank resists
cutting interest rates
The European Central Bank shunned interest rate cuts Thursday, defying tumbling stock markets and a slowing world economy.
European stock markets and the European single currency dipped as disappointed investors continued their sell-off on concerns that a rate cut was needed to kick start the economy.
The Frankfurt-based ECB has been the only major central bank to resist cutting rates this year amid the worldwide slowdown.
Immediately after Thursday's interest rate decision, the euro fell sharply against the dollar and finished at 88.20 cents in late New York trading, its lowest level since it closed at 87.56 cents on Dec. 13.
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