Kobe Steel’s leader to resign
TOKYO — Kobe Steel said Tuesday that its top executive would resign, after a falsified data scandal that shook Japan Inc. and led other manufacturers to come clean about their broken pledges to meet top quality standards.
Kobe Steel disclosed that some of its executives had known about fake quality data for years and blamed a companywide focus on profitability and weak corporate governance.
Hiroya Kawasaki, the steel maker’s chairman and chief executive, will step down next month, the company said Tuesday. Akira Kaneko, executive vice president and head of the company’s aluminum and copper business, also plans to resign. Four more officials have been dismissed.
Fresh beef ahead for more Quarter Pounders
The Quarter Pounder is getting a fresh makeover. McDonald’s said Tuesday that it is serving Quarter Pounders with fresh beef rather than frozen patties at a quarter of its U.S. restaurants, a switch it first announced a year ago as it works to appeal to customers who want fresher foods. It will roll out fresh beef Quarter Pounders to most of its 14,000 U.S. restaurants by May.
Its pricier “Signature Crafted” burgers, stuffed with guacamole or bacon, will also be made with fresh beef since they use the same sized patty as the Quarter Pounder. The Big Mac and its other burgers, however, will still be made with frozen beef.
Target again raising minimum pay for employees
Target is increasing the minimum hourly pay to $12 starting this spring, the second increase in a matter of months, while accelerating its reinvention plan to make the discounter more competitive in the age of Amazon.
User-friendly electronic health records sought
The Trump administration says it wants to make electronic medical records easier for patients to use.
The new initiative called MyHealthEData will be overseen by the White House Office of American Innovation, headed by presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner. Medicare will play a major role. Administrator Seema Verma said Medicare is working on a program called Blue Button 2.0, with the goal of providing beneficiaries with secure access to their claims data, shareable with their doctors.
Gatehouse Media buying Austin newspaper
AUSTIN — The Austin American-Statesman is being sold.
The newspaper reports Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises, owner of the capital city daily for more than 40 years, is going to New York-based GateHouse Media for $47.5 million. The sale is expected to close early this spring.
GateHouse owns 130 daily newspapers, 24 of them in Texas, including the Amarillo Globe-News and the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. The Statesman will be one of GateHouse’s largest, with a daily print circulation of about 85,000 and almost 17,000 digital subscriptions.
Investors halt their purchase of Weinstein Co.
NEW YORK — A group of investors pulled out of a deal to buy the beleaguered Weinstein Co. on Tuesday after discovering tens of millions of dollars in undisclosed debt, according to people familiar with the negotiations.
Businesswoman Maria Contreras-Sweet, who has been leading the group of buyers along with billionaire investor Ron Burkle, said in a statement that “disappointing information about the viability of completing this transaction” had led her to call off the sale.
The Weinstein Co., which has produced and distributed Oscar winners such as “The King’s Speech” and “Silver Linings Playbook,” has been trying to stave off bankruptcy since sexual assault and harassment allegations emerged last fall against its co-founder, Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.
Houston Airport System looking to hire veterans
The Houston Airport System, looking for talented personnel to fill local aviation jobs, is working with Edge4Vets to provide training and job opportunities for veterans.
The program has two phases. The first phase is online preparation that helps veterans translate their military skills into terminology that resonates with recruiters and HR specialists.
The second phase is connecting with recruiters and employers from the Airport System and its business partners. This is scheduled April 4 at the Double-Tree by Hilton at Houston Airport, 15747 John F. Kennedy Blvd. To register for the event, visit www.eventbrite.com/e /edge4vets-at-airportsregistration-tickets-40693837363