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FAST LANE -
October 2000
According to the FAA and the DOT, weather accounts for about 70 percent of all delays, but it sure didn’t seem that way over the past summer. While large storm systems did disrupt a large number of flight plans, the FAA scrambled to bring together the major airline leaders to help eliminate the congestion contributing to unprecedented flight delays and cancellations, identifying six major “hot spots” where changes in air traffic control and other practices may let off some of the steam coming out of passengers’ ears.
(In a leftover development, Comair pilots were seeking an end to the suit brought against their union by the airline for job actions the pilots took that grounded some flights during the 1999 holiday period. The pilots want it settled in the airline’s favor rather than pursuing the fight.) The U.S. Department of Transportation revealed that the on-time arrival record in June was a mere 66.3 percent, down from 74.3 percent in May, and 70.9 percent in June of 1999. United Airlines was the worst performer, and was averaging over 200 cancellations daily in August. Just as the airline is mending fences with its 10,500 pilots however (the vote is to come in October), there are ongoing negotiations with its machinists, many of whom were taken aback by United’s recent declaration of “operational emergency” at five key airports, which contractually obligated machinists to work overtime. United CEO James Goodwin, in a widely aired national television spot, promised a cutback in flights in order to reduce cancellations and better service the reduced number of customers. “United has big plans down the road,” he said, “but we’re not going anywhere until we get you where you’re going first.” In an unrelated move, six major airlines have teamed with MilePoint.com and the Hilton Hotels loyalty program to offer fliers the chance to exchange their earned miles for goods and services as well as flights. The program, found at www.milepost.com, will feature more than 100 online merchants. According to MilePost, 45 million people in various loyalty programs have accumulated over 1.6 trillion miles, each of which may be converted to two cents in the new program. STATE A
year after converting two downtown streets from one-way
to two-way in order to ease traffic congestion and be
more pedestrian-friendly, Lexington is well on its way to
changing three more – Short, Second and Constitution
streets. The major one-way thoroughfares in the
city’s At the same time, Louisville planners and consultants are looking at doing the same thing to their downtown grid. The city center has already made major improvements in its ease of use for pedestrians as well as overall appearance, especially along the entire length of Main Street. One consultant called the city’s one-way system “confusing.” Cordish Co. of Baltimore plans to reopen Fourth Street to traffic as part of its plans for the upgrade of the Galleria. STATE U.S. employers announced nearly 64,000 job cuts in July, the highest such figure since March of last year and up 270 percent from the job cuts announced in June. Financial sector jobs were the most severely affected, followed by services and the automotive sector. Contrary to that apparent trend, Manpower Inc. announced that 30 percent of statewide employers it surveyed planned to increase hiring over the next few months. Eight percent plan to cut back on jobs. The strongest areas for job growth were Florence (at 57 percent) and Lexington (40 percent), while only 17 percent of Ashland employers planned increases in manpower. Filling out the mixed bag of economic news, the Consumer Price Index rose 0.6 percent in June after a 0.1 percent rise in May, driven primarily by the sharp upturn in the petroleum-based energy index. Meanwhile – despite signs indicating a construction slowdown – new home sales nationwide spiked upward in July, increasing by 14.7 percent. Regional sales changes included a rise of 23.9 percent in the Midwest and 11.3 percent in the South. LOUISVILLE
There is an immediate demand for 2,000 new units, the report by Zimmerman/Volk Associates, of Clinton, N.J., concludes, representing 1,080 rental or apartments and 900 owner-occupied condominiums. Those units would generate almost all of the 5,000 permanent downtown residents Mayor Armstrong envisioned when he announced his housing initiative at the beginning of this year. Most of the proposed new units would be occupied by empty-nest or young professional couples and about 10 percent would be filled by traditional families with children. Meanwhile, Mayor Armstrong is also paying attention to the housing needs of lower-income residents in the downtown area. His administration has announced it will begin working with tenants in the Clarksdale housing project to formulate a plan to redevelop the area. Originally built in 1936, Clarksdale has more than 700 units of public housing and is adjacent to the expanding Louisville Medical Center. Many residents have said they want a planned project like the nationally-recognized Park Duvalle complex that replaced the Lang and Cotter housing projects in West Louisville. The Louisville Metropolitan Housing Coalition has released a report criticizing excessive red tape as the primary barrier to encouraging developers to build affordable inner-city housing. The City opened a new consolidated development information center a few weeks before the Coalition report. LOUISVILLE While the city of Louisville has announced the ambitious eMainUSA business development corridor, many high-tech firms have already moved into new quarters in wired buildings in Eastern Jefferson County. Companies such as IronMax.com, Venusoft, Inc. and Interactive Media Lab, Inc. apparently are unwilling to wait for the eMain complex to be fully operational, in about 12 months. Now these may be joined by a more traditional operation – the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI has contracted for a new secure regional headquarters at Eastpoint Business Center in Anchorage. The agency currently occupies offices in the Romano Mazzoli Federal Building downtown and in two other locations. It would become the second major federal agency to move from downtown in recent weeks. The U.S. Customs Service is opening a new center at Louisville International Airport. STATE The new Pikeville Campus of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) will honor a former legislator from Pike County by naming the “N. Clayton Little Building” after the longtime Pikeville resident. “Clayton Little was instrumental in education reform in Kentucky and has worked diligently for the people of Eastern Kentucky to reduce poverty through education and economic development,” read the proposal. The $12 million Pikeville Campus, which was completed in January, houses Mayo Technical College and Prestonsburg Community College students in state-of-the-art classrooms and labs. “This state-of-the-art building is among the first postsecondary education facilities in Kentucky to provide community college classes and technical college training programs under one roof,” said KCTCS president Dr. Michael B. McCall, “giving students the opportunity to receive a truly comprehensive education.”
“This complete AA degree available anywhere, anytime marks one of the most advanced concepts for delivering full degree programs in a student-friendly fashion,” added Dr. Mary Beth Susman, CEO of the virtual university. This fall, students are able to choose from 19 courses and two labs in the 61-hour program of study. During the 1999-2000 academic year, the KYVU enrolled nearly 2,600 students from 116 of Kentucky’s 120 counties, 18 states and seven foreign countries. This fall, the KYVU will offer nearly 160 on-line courses that lead toward associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degrees and doctoral programs. KCTCS is offering 80 courses over the Internet this fall semester. Last spring, KCTCS institutions enrolled 2,558 students in courses delivered via various modes of distance learning, including Internet-based courses; classes delivered through interactive television sites on college campuses; and courses telecast on Kentucky Educational Television. KCTCS served about 15 percent of all students enrolled in spring 2000 through the KYVU. LOUISVILLE Lambda Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a Las Vegas-based firm, will occupy a new laboratory in the Louisville Health Sciences Research and Business Park when the space is converted early next year. The firm will become the second tenant in the medical business incubator that formerly housed Southland Electric Supply Co. Lambda is a leader in the cutting-edge field of photodynamic therapy, a process that uses chemicals to convert oxygen into isotopes that destroy the tissues that cause macular degeneration, a debilitating eye disease. The new lab will manufacture the cataytic chemicals. The Health Sciences Research and Business Park is one of two ventures operated by the downtown Louisville Medical Center. The other is based in the former Safetran building at the east end of downtown, now occupied by Med Venture Technology Corp. In a related development, DrugEmporium.com, the largest online pharmaceutical provider, has announced it is selling its assets to HealthCentral.com, including a 60,000-s.f. warehouse and distribution center on National Turnpike in Southern Louisville. That facility employs 50 persons locally and apparently will be unaffected by the change. STATE The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, long criticized by environmentalists for its “channelization” theory of riparian management, has announced an ambitious project to restore side channels, islands and scenic waterways along the Ohio River.
The project would correct some of the flow to the river by locating 20 lock and dam projects along its length. It would restore and protect 40 islands and 25,000 acres of wetlands and an equal amount of hardwood bottomlands and improve almost 1,500 acres of aquatic habitat. The 500-page plan has been endorsed by influential politicians from all affected areas. While the 15-year, $200 million goal is relatively modest, comparable projects in other areas have grown through time. For example, The Missouri River project began with less money but now has expanded to almost $450 million and is still in progres LOUISVILLE Churchill Downs has hired Luckett & Farley – the same firm that worked with the track on its new $4 million entrance and offices – to work on a minimum of $15 million in renovations. Among the potential projects are a parking garage, suites, and further amenities added to box seats and Millionaire’s Row. Having had limited success with buying out some of the neighborhood properties around it for more parking, the track is considering building its first structure to provide some of the estimated 2,000 more spaces it needs. The architectural firm will work with Atlanta-based Rosser International. The two firms collaborated before on Papa John’s Stadium and the Freedom Hall expansion in 1986.
Churchill argued that it could not operate Hoosier Park profitably with such a nearby competitor without reducing its own racing calendar. Hoosier Park is offering 102 days of harness racing and 65 days of Thoroughbred racing this year. The park, which opened in 1994, showed a profit for the first time last year. It also receives 100 percent of a state subsidy from casino boat taxes, a subsidy that Hoosier would have had to share with Indianapolis Downs. Last, but certainly not least, Churchill acquired Arlington International Racecourse and five Illinois off-track facilities in exchange for up to 4.4 million shares of Churchill stock. LOUISVILLE
NICHOLASVILLE |
Delta and its
affiliate commuter airlines have canceled an abnormally
high number of flights from Cincinnati over the past six
months, causing many inconvenienced passengers to make
that journey by bus or taxi. The three airlines carry 64
percent of the passengers at Lexington’s Blue Grass
Airport.
downtown will
remain that way until there is a better bypass outlet,
which is expected to come about in several years when the
Newtown Pike extension will be completed, routing drivers
around downtown.
Mayor David
Armstrong’s plan to encourage housing downtown is
workable and marketable, according to a consulting group
for the City of Louisville.
In a separate
announcement, KCTCS and Kentucky Virtual University
announced the creation of Kentucky’s first totally
on-line associate degree. Students will be able to
complete the Associate in Arts Degree, which focuses on a
business curriculum, entirely over the Internet. The
degree consists of courses that are designed to transfer
to bachelor’s degree programs in business offered by
Kentucky universities. “We live in a 24-hour-a-day
society, and our colleges must accommodate the busy
lifestyles of today’s students,” said Dr.
McCall. “Students can pick and choose what courses
they take at any given time, and they don’t have to
take all of them over the Internet – they can take
classes on-line or in person.”
The $200
million proposal, which is awaiting Congressional
funding, was developed by Corps offices in Louisville,
Cincinnati, Ohio, and Huntington, West Virginia, and in
cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and
the natural resources departments of the six states along
the river. The Ohio flows from the confluence of the
Allegheny and Mononghoela rivers at Pittsburgh 891 miles
to the Mississippi, and forms the northern boundary of
Kentucky.
In other
Downs news, the Indiana Horse Racing Commission has
awarded the organization a major victory by ruling
unanimously that a proposed competitor to its Hoosier
Park cannot be licensed because it would be too near and
would drain away revenues from the track in Anderson. The
ruling echos Churchill’s own brief and the
conclusion of the Commission’s professional staff,
issued one month ago. Developers Paul Estridge Sr. and
Jr. had applied for a permit for Indianapolis Downs, only
25 miles from Hoosier Park, and had sought a 120-day
harness racing schedule. The Estridges also planned to
open off-track betting parlors in Clark or Floyd counties
and Evansville, South Bend and Lawrenceburg. Those
facilities would have competed directly with
Churchill’s Sports Spectrum in Indianapolis,
Merrillville and Fort Wayne and with its Ellis Park in
Henderson, Ky.
Tumbleweed, Inc.,
which now operates 33 restaurants and franchises 28
others in eight states and five countries, has retained
the services of First Tennessee Securities Corporation in
order to evaluate strategic alternatives that could raise
shareholder value. The restaurant chain’s revenues
for the first six months of the year were up 11 percent
over last year’s, to $28 million. However,
same-store sales were down three percent for the year,
earnings are expected to be below 1999 results, and the
company’s stock price has tumbled to around $3 a
share from its initial public offering price of $10 in
March 1999. Terrance Smith recently replaced the retiring
Jack Butorac as CEO. Analysts view the chain as ripe for
the picking by a bigger company with deeper pockets.