Kiger's Notebook

Roch. Sports Commission cheers rail plan

This is two group I never thought about being linked, but I guess it does make some sense. Sort of.

Matt Stolle asks if the vote was close. Heh. 

Anyway, here's a note that was shot to me this afternoon:

Rochester Amateur Sports Commission Approves Resolution of Support
The Rochester Amateur Sports Commission signed a letter of support for the Southeast Minnesota Rail Alliance. The mission of the RASC is to provide leadership, guidance and expertise in attracting and  administering amateur sporting events for the Rochester, Minnesota area.

I haven't been watching the Southeast Minnesota Rail Alliance Web site closely lately (OK, I didn't know they had a Web site. But I do now.)

On Feb. 18, the Rochester Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Rochester Area Foundation signed similar resolutions.

On Thursday, IBM and Southeastern Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council  also filed pro-rail paperwork.

Wow. This train is leaving the station.

RochFest Hot Air Balloon race - deflated for 2009

Here's some from an announcement that floated in this morning.

The popular Rochesterfest event - The Mayor’s Cup Invitational Hot Air Balloon Race - has been canceled for 2009.

We'll have more on this on the main Web site and in the weekend edition. Here some from the announcement:

After extensive discussions with the event’s major sponsors, and a careful examination of projected operating expenses, the decision was made to cancel the race for this year.

Roscoes Root Beer & Ribs, Re/Max Realtors of Rochester, Higgins Custom Cabinetry and Spring Green Lawn Care, as well as event founder and organizer George Ibach of Ibach Balloon Company in Minneapolis came to the agreement this week.

They will immediately start evaluating the future of the event into 2010 and beyond.
The Mayor’s Cup has been part of Rochesterfest for 23 years.  It has traditionally been held during the last weekend of the city’s annual celebration.

Hormel's add to S&P = stock jump

Remember that Hormel Foods was tapped to be added to the Standard & Poor (Spam and Pork)  500 Tuesday?

Not too surprisingly, it launched the stock prices of Austin's Fortune 500 food processor into an upward trajectory.

Here's some from AP on that:

Late Tuesday Standard & Poor's said Austin, Minn.-based Hormel would replace alternative asset manager American Capital Ltd. on the S&P 500. Financial services company Trustmark Corp. will take over Hormel's spot on the S&P MidCap 400.

The changes take effect after the close of trading on March 3.

S&P noted that changes to the indices do not reflect any opinion on the investment merits of the companies. However, changes do often affect stock ownership, since many investment portfolios are linked to the S&P indices.

Hormel Foods' stock gained 85 cents, or 2.7 percent, to close at $32.80. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $24.81 to $42.77.

BREAKING MAYO CLINIC NEWS - Cortese to retire

Jeff Hansel snagged a good Mayo Clinic story this morning. Dr. Denis Cortese to retire in Nov.

Here's the link to the early version of the piece. Expect an in-depth look in print and later on the Web.

HIP and Olmsted Lumber Mart + Home Design Studio

A new deal is underway between Byron and Rochester in the home construction and remodeling market.

Here are a couple early details:

• Home Improvement Professionals outside of Byron is moving its showroom to the Home Design Studio in Rochester. HIP's garden center, rental center and warehousing will stay at the U.S. 14 location.

• Olmsted Lumber Mart, which is owned by the same group as HIP, is also moving its showroom to HDS.

• Expect a combined showroom designed to better appeal to both home owners and contractors.

I should have more soon.

Eastwood Bank to re-build U.S. 14 branch

It has been a while since the big bank building boom in Rochester with only Home Federal and Think building branches in 2008.

Eastwood Bank is the first bank to pull out its hammers this year with an almost complete re-build planned for its U.S. 14 East branch by Big Lots.

Here's some detail from a release from Julianne Cords of Eastwood:

Eastwood Bank Plans Major Reconstruction for Its Rochester Hwy 14 Office
A major reconstruction for Eastwood Bank’s Highway 14 E office in Rochester will begin this spring. Most of the current office building will be demolished and then rebuilt with a new design. The office will remain open throughout the reconstruction with anticipated completion in October, 2009. 

This bank office location started as a mobile drive up facility in 1979. In 1984, a $500,000 addition more than tripled the size of the building, making it a full-service bank office.

The twist on this is that they intend to stay open during the construction, which should last about four months.

I'll more detail in print soon.

War with drugs heats up

The word is the long-delayed drug store chain war – Walgreens and CVS – in Rochester could heat up real soon.

If the source is right, one side is loading up for a Shock and Awe surge to blow the other guy's bottles away.

Keep your eyes open and your prescriptions close at hand.

Betcha that blonde in Kwik Trip lost a bet

OK, this morning I get one of my usual calls that start out with, "You should more positive news."

My typical response is if something 'positive' happens, I'll write about it just as I write about "negative" news. I believe the labels of positive or negative are the reactions of individual readers. There are two views to each story. If Century beats Mayo in tennis, is it positive or negative? Depends on who you are cheering for.

Anyway, this time I was called on my offer and I was told that the manager at a Rochester Kwik Trip C-store,near Country Club Manor had made a bet with his staff recently.

During a "focus day" sale, he challenged his team of 20 to see if they could sell 300 $1 slices of pizza in a day. If they hit that number, he would wear a dress and in the store for a day,

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You know what is coming next. the general manger Ed Houser lost and he made his flamouant pay-off Tuesday, startling early morning customers by wearing a a light blue ball gown with a white feathery collar and a long, blonde wig.

Add in a couple days of unshaven scruff, hairy legs and a height of more than 6 foot, then you get a clear picture of Ed Houser at work ringing up gas and pizza.

More on this soon.

S&P 500 now = Spam&Pork 500

Goodbye American Capital (a phrase spoken by many this year) and hello the Big Hog of Austin.

Standard & Poor bumped American Capital Ltd. off its S&P 500 and herded Hormel Foods into that spot.

That will go live on March 3,after the market closes.

I wonder what kind of impact this will have on Hormel?

Mayo Clinic's H1-B visas make top 200 list

Just came across a list of the top 200 employers that issued H1-B immigration visas for 2008. A total of 65,000 are issued in the U.S. each year plus 20,000 for people who completed a Masters or more degree at a U.S. college.

All of this info came from www.indianomics.com.

Here are the names on the top 200 list that might be of interest to folks in this area:

#37 THE JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICAL INSTITUTE – 157 VISAS

#53 UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA – 128 VISAS

#79 IBM CORPORATION – 104 VISAS

#95 CLEVELAND CLINIC FOUNDATION– 94 VISAS

     #120 THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA – 83 VISAS

                    #122 MAYO CLINIC ROCHESTER – 82 VISAS