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Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers
Slaughterhouse Exec Gets 27 Years For Fraud
June 23, 2010 4:51 am | by Michael J. Crumb, Associated Press Writer | CommentsCEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A former Iowa kosher slaughterhouse executive was sentenced Tuesday to 27 years in prison for financial fraud, a sentence legal experts called severe but not necessarily surprising as judges take tough stances on white-collar crime. Sholom Rubashkin, a former vice president of Agriprocessors Inc.
Toshiba To Build Motors For Electric, Hybrid Vehicles
June 23, 2010 4:48 am | CommentsHOUSTON (AP) — Toshiba Corp. said Tuesday that it will begin building motors for electric and hybrid vehicles at its plants in Texas. The Japanese conglomerate made the announcement after Ford Motor Co. awarded it a contract to make drive motors for Ford hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Fresh Walkouts Halt Production At Toyota, Honda Plants
June 23, 2010 4:45 am | by Jay Alabaster, Associated Press Writer | CommentsTOKYO (AP) — Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Corp. said Wednesday they stopped production at some of their car assembly plants in southern China after parts suppliers were hit by more labor unrest. The fresh walkouts at the Japanese car makers are slowing output and adding to costs at a time when both companies have been ramping up production to meet strong demand.
Procter & Gamble To Expand Gain Product Line
June 23, 2010 4:43 am | by Dan Sewell, AP Business Writer | CommentsCINCINNATI (AP) — Procter & Gamble Co. said Tuesday that it will expand its Gain brand from the laundry to the kitchen sink, the latest move by the world's largest consumer products company to market its megabrands in new ways and new places. At a Jefferies investor conference in Nantucket, Mass.
Ford Pulls Escape SUV From MO Assembly Plant
June 22, 2010 12:45 pm | CommentsJEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A union president says Ford will stop making the Escape at its Kansas City area plant near the end of next year. United Auto Workers local president Jeff Wright said Tuesday that Ford Motor Co. plans to build the next generation of the sport utility vehicle at a plant in Louisville, Ky.
Pork Board Squeals Over Imaginary Unicorn Meat
June 22, 2010 12:42 pm | by Sarah Skidmore, AP Food Industry Writer | CommentsPORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — It's official: The National Pork Board says it knows unicorns don't exist. The industry group says it was only protecting its trademark when it issued cease-and-desist warning to online retailer ThinkGeek for calling a fake unicorn meat product "the new white meat.
Slaughterhouse Exec Faces 27 Years Over Immigration
June 22, 2010 5:04 am | CommentsDES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A federal judge is to sentence a former vice president of an Iowa kosher slaughterhouse to 27 years in prison and pay $27 million in restitution for financial fraud. Chief U.S. District Court Judge Linda R. Reade is to sentence former Agriprocessor's Inc. manager Sholom Rubashkin on Tuesday in Cedar Rapids.
China: Stop Blaming Us For Domestic Troubles
June 22, 2010 4:55 am | CommentsBEIJING (AP) — China said world leaders should focus on overcoming economic difficulties together and not play the blame game at this weekend's summit of the Group of 20 leading economies, just days after Beijing announced greater flexibility for its currency. China's central bank loosened the yuan's peg to the dollar on Saturday.
Bangladesh Workers Join Chinese In Wage Protests
June 22, 2010 4:45 am | by Julhas Alam, Associated Press Writer | CommentsDHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — About 700 garment factories in Bangladesh were shut Tuesday after days of violent protests by tens of thousands of workers demanding better wages. The manufacturers decided late Monday to close their factories because they had no other way to avoid the anarchy in the major industrial hub outside the capital, according to an official at the Bangladesh GarmentManufacturers and Exporters Association.
FDA's Anti-Tobacco Regulation On Slow Burn
June 22, 2010 4:36 am | by Michael Felberbaum, AP Tobacco Writer | CommentsRICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A year after a new law put tobacco regulation in the hands of the Food and Drug Administration, one thing is clear: It will likely be years before any of the most aggressive steps to reduce deaths from smoking might happen. When President Barack Obama signed the bill into law last June, anti-tobacco advocates suggested it could lead to a reduction in nicotine levels, a ban on menthol cigarettes or other aggressive moves.
Toyota To Hire 100 At Southern Indiana Factory
June 22, 2010 4:32 am | CommentsPRINCETON, Ind. (AP) — Toyota Motor Corp. plans to add about 100 temporary workers to its southern Indiana plant as it increases production. Factory spokeswoman Kelly Dillon says the new production workers for the plant near Princeton will be hired in the coming weeks through its staffing agency, Aerotek.
Disgruntled Mazda Employee Slams Car Into Co-Workers
June 22, 2010 4:31 am | by Yuri Kageyama, AP Business Writer | CommentsTOKYO (AP) — A disgruntled worker slammed his car into employees at a Mazda factory Tuesday, killing one and injuring 10, stunning Japan just two years after an autoworker went on a deadly rampage in central Tokyo. Toshiaki Hikiji, 42, was arrested about an hour later on attempted murder charges after fleeing in his car from Mazda's Ujina plant in Hiroshima prefecture, southwestern Japan, police said.
AstraZeneca Pays $103 Million For Price Fixing Cancer Drug
June 21, 2010 5:05 am | CommentsNEW YORK (AP) — AstraZeneca PLC on Friday agreed to pay $103 million to settle lawsuits that allege it inflated the price of its cancer drug Zoladex and its child asthma medication Pulmicort. The lawsuits alleged that the British drug maker inflated the average wholesale price of the drugs, a benchmark rate used to determine how much the drugs cost for consumers, health plans and government programs.
Biden Breaks Ground On Battery Manufacturing Plant
June 21, 2010 4:58 am | CommentsMIDLAND, Mich. (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden plans to visit Midland for the groundbreaking of an advanced battery manufacturing facility being built by a Dow Chemical Co. joint venture. Biden is to be at the event Monday for the Dow Kokam facility. The joint venture was given a $161 million grant to build a lithium polymer battery technology manufacturing plant.
Miss. Governor, Senators Shopping For A Ford
June 21, 2010 4:44 am | by Chris Blank, Associated Press Writer | CommentsJEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon is shopping for a Ford. The governor ordered lawmakers back for a special session starting Thursday to consider millions in tax incentives and pension plan changes to entice the automaker to keep its Kansas City-area plant producing.
