Manning opens car wash in East Lawrence area

Former Kansas basketball star Danny Manning is now in the car wash business.

Manning, along with Lawrence businessman Doug Compton, opened the Rock Chalk Car Wash at 1121 E. 23rd St., on Friday.

Manning, who is pictured with Mayor Sue Hack, left, at the business’ grand opening celebration Friday, said the seven-bay “state-of-the-art” car wash is his first step in trying to become more of a player in the Lawrence business community.

“Lawrence is going to be our home, and this is one of my ways to start settling in,” Manning said. “Eventually I want to make the transition from being a professional basketball player to a businessman.”

Manning, who currently is not signed with an NBA team, is building a home in Lawrence and said he’ll make the city his full-time home once his NBA career is over.

“I’ve got a few other ideas, but it is probably a little early to talk about them,” Manning said.

Economy: Jobless rate declines

The nation’s unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped to 5.6 percent in September, even as the economy lost jobs for the first time in five months.

The latest snapshot of the country’s employment situation was released Friday by the Labor Department.

September’s 5.6 percent jobless rate down from 5.7 percent in August represented the lowest unemployment rate in seven months.

Payrolls were cut by 43,000 jobs in September, with job losses in manufacturing, transportation and retail swamping job gains in health care, finance and real-estate.

Aviation: Boeing reduces earnings

Declining aircraft values as a result of the longer-than-expected aviation slump prompted Boeing Co. to announce Friday that it is taking $250 million in third-quarter charges a $158 million setback to net profits.

The world’s largest commercial airplane manufacturer said the charges reflect the deteriorating credit ratings of its airline customers as well as lower collateral values of planes financed to carriers by Boeing Capital Corp., its financing arm. Boeing shares fell $2.30, or 6.7 percent, to close at $32.01 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Chicago-based Boeing said the noncash charges will reduce net earnings by 20 cents a share when it discloses full quarterly results Oct. 16. With 10,000 Wichita employees, Boeing is the state’s largest private employer.

Food Industry: Kellogg cuts KC jobs

Kellogg Co. has laid off 131 people, 15 of them managers, at its Sunshine Biscuits plant in Kansas City, Kan.

Kellogg, which owns Keebler Co., had 470 workers at the Kansas City plant when the layoffs were announced this week.

The plant makes Cheez-It snack crackers, a Keebler product. It shut down production lines for Hi Ho snack crackers and Krispy saltine crackers.