Firstar turns to US Bank
The signs of banking change once again are sweeping through Lawrence.
Come the morning of Jan. 25, all Firstar Bank branches and ATMs in Lawrence, Topeka and the Kansas City metro area are scheduled to begin operating as US Bank.
Contract crews are busy this week taking down the old Firstar signs, and replacing them with US Bank signs. The new signs will be covered until overnight Jan. 24, when "US Bank" will be revealed.
Firstar has five branches and 18 ATMs in Lawrence, including an ATM at 939 Iowa, above.
Customers in Lawrence shouldn't notice much difference in service, other than receiving correspondence on different letterhead and receiving new ATM/debit cards in the mail within a few weeks, said Joan Golden, a Firstar senior vice president in Lawrence.
"Only the name is changing," said Golden, who started 18 years ago with First National Bank of Lawrence, which later became part of Mercantile Bank, which then merged with Firstar Bank. "All the staff in Lawrence is staying."
Firstar closed its purchase of US Bancorp in February, giving the combined company 10.9 million customers in 24 states.
Strike
United Airlines mechanics sue to block Bush's order
United Airlines' mechanics filed suit Monday to block an emergency panel established by President Bush that delayed the union from striking last month.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union wants a federal judge to set aside Bush's executive order establishing the board. Creation of the board prohibits a strike for at least 60 days while the panel works to reach an agreement between the union and airline, based in the Chicago area. Overturning Bush's order would clear the way for the union to strike.
Leadership
Struggling Lucent names Kodak executive as CEO
Struggling Lucent Technologies on Monday named as its new president and chief executive officer a former company official who left last year for Eastman Kodak.
Patricia Russo, 49, spent 20 years with AT&T and Lucent before leaving nearly nine months ago to become second in command chief operating officer at Rochester, N.Y.-based Eastman Kodak Co.
Lucent chairman Henry Schacht, who had been serving as interim CEO since Richard McGinn was dismissed in October 2000, said he was pleased that Russo had accepted the offer.
Carmaker
Ford restructuring to focus on flexibility
Ford Motor Co.'s massive restructuring program to be announced this week could include thousands of job cuts, analysts who follow the nation's second-biggest carmaker say.
Ford officials wouldn't comment on whether the plan would include job cuts, but said the plan was intended to boost manufacturing flexibility while reducing capacity and renewing focus on quality.
"We can't cost-cut our way out of it," said William Clay Ford Jr., Ford's chairman and CEO. "The turnaround will be driven by great products."
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