Coffee shop gets new image

A downtown coffee shop under new ownership since October 2001 got a new sign Friday to go with its new identity.

Zs Divine Espresso Downtown, formerly Java Dive, 10 E. Ninth St., is the downtown branch of Zs Divine Espresso, a coffee shop Mark Zwahl opened at 23rd and Harper streets in April 2000. Though the downtown location’s new name has been posted on the door, Zwahl just got the new storefront sign up Friday.

“I think it needs a new identity that’s synonymous with great coffee,” said Zwahl, owner and coffee roaster. “I think since I roast my own coffee that we’ve kind of got that identity.”

The new sign also should make it clear that Zs has two locations that both serve the same coffee and honor the shop’s drink cards. It also should clear up a common confusion between Java Dive and Java Break, which is just down the road at 17 E. Seventh St.

The sign was installed Friday by Andy Fleming and John Sharkey, both of Fulbright Sign & Lighting in Eudora.

Wall Street: Investors await earning news

Bargain hunting lifted technology stocks sharply higher Friday, but the market’s overall tone was guarded as investors waited for first-quarter earnings reports to begin in earnest next week.

Analysts said Wall Street wanted to see proof that business was improving before making any big moves. Stocks have fallen in recent weeks on fears that the market has rallied prematurely and overestimated the strength of the recovery.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 14.74, or 0.1 percent, at 10,190.82, barely making a dent in its 205-point tumble Thursday. Broader stock indicators moved higher. For the week, the Dow and Nasdaq each lost 0.8 percent, while the S&P fell 1.0 percent.

Tax returns: Government is asking Mellon bank to pay up

The federal government is demanding $13.6 million from Mellon Financial to cover lost interest from some 74,000 tax returns that apparently were hidden or destroyed last year by overworked employees of the bank.

Mellon has already paid the government $12.8 million of that amount, according to Ken Carfine of the Treasury Department.

Some 74,000 returns worth $1.2 billion in tax payments were lost at a Mellon processing center in Pittsburgh last year, according to the Treasury Department. Some of the returns were later found in a storage room last summer.

Mellon said there has been no indication of an attempted theft. Instead, employees may have hidden or destroyed returns because they were behind in their work.

Aviation: Airlines’ fares, shares up

A handful of major airlines raised the price of leisure fares on Friday a move that played well on Wall Street, which was already celebrating lower fuel costs.

Continental Airlines raised fares across-the-board by $20 on Thursday night, and several competitors followed suit.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones transportation index rose 2.7 percent. Airline stocks also were helped by a decline in the price of crude oil Friday in response to the ouster of Venezuela’s president.

On the New York Stock Exchange, shares of AMR Corp., the parent of American Airlines, rose 79 cents to $25, while those of UAL Corp., the parent of United Airlines, gained 58 cents to $15.76. Continental’s stock jumped $1.68 to $30.01 a share.