PERTZ

Thanks to Jim  at KETC for allowing us to share.

Forest Park Highlands share your memories......

In a reversal of its previous hostility to the idea, Anheuser-Busch is in active talks to sell itself to the Belgian brewer InBev in a friendly deal, people briefed on the matter said Thursday night.

Exact terms of the potential deal could not be learned, but one person said that InBev had indicated that it would be willing to pay more than the $65 a share it had originally offered. People briefed on the deal cautioned that the talks might still break down.

In striking an agreement, Anheuser risks a political backlash from the growing number of hometown politicians and customers who had supported the company in its efforts to remain independent.

Helping to drive the deal talks was the indication that some of Anheuser’s largest shareholders, including Warren E. Buffett, were leaning toward backing a deal with InBev.

If a deal is reached, it would end more than a month of hostilities between the two beer giants and create the world’s largest brewer. It would combine Anheuser, the maker of Budweiser and a fixture in American culture, with InBev, the producer of Stella Artois, Beck’s and Bass, creating a new behemoth with distribution channels around the world.

Since InBev unveiled its original $46.3 billion, $65-a-share offer in June, however, the two sides have waged a very public and very bitter brawl. Both companies have sought to press their case in court: InBev has sought to oust the American company’s board, while Anheuser accused the Belgian brewer of lying about its financing commitments and criticized it for having operations in Cuba.

The fight is set against a backdrop of rising prices for beer ingredients like grain and a rapidly consolidating beer industry. Giants like InBev and SABMiller, the world’s two largest brewers — which were themselves the products of mergers struck this decade — have raced to outstrip each other in market share. Though SABMiller, based in London, currently holds the No. 1 position, an Anheuser deal would propel InBev to the top spot.

While the United States remains the world’s largest beer market, domestic brewers have struggled in recent years as their customers drift toward wine and spirits, as well as craft beers and imports. That has tempted the international brewers, as has the weak American dollar. SABMiller and Molson Coors will combine their operations in the United States, forming a formidable rival to Anheuser.

InBev has been mindful of the political pitfalls that could befall a hostile bidder for an American icon like Anheuser. The company said that it would keep St. Louis as its North American headquarters and would try to keep the Anheuser name somewhere in the combined brewers’ new title. Yet on Monday, InBev said that it would begin to canvass Anheuser’s shareholders, seeking their support in ousting the company’s directors. It named an alternate board, including a dissident member of the controlling Busch family.

August A. Busch IV, Anheuser’s chief executive and a scion of the company’s longtime owners, has consistently said that InBev’s offer is too low. But he has felt pressure to enhance his company’s long-stagnant stock. To counter InBev’s claims that it could bolster Anheuser’s bottom line, Mr. Busch and his management team have said that they will cut the company’s work force by as much as 15 percent.

Anheuser has also sought to stymie InBev’s efforts to dislodge its board with its own lawsuit, filed on Tuesday. The company accused its suitor of lying about the firmness of its lending commitments, drawn from a group of eight international banks including JPMorgan Chase. It also argued that because of InBev’s current brewery operations in Cuba, the combined company would run afoul of American trading prohibitions against the island nation.

• InBev Seeks to Remove Anheuser-Busch Board (July 8, 2008)
• Belgian Brewer in Pursuit of Anheuser-Busch Plans to Replace the Directors (July 8, 2008)
• Anheuser Defends Against Bid (June 28, 2008)
• ADVERTISING; How Well Will Budweiser Travel? (June 27, 2008)

• InBev Add Alert
• Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc Add Alert
• Mergers, Acquisitions and Divestitures Add Alert
• Beer Add Alert

Bishop Hermann will fill in until a new Archbishop is named for St. Louis.  There's always the chance the Pope would eventually keep  Bishop Hermann in that position but it is a long shot .

I do not know him personally but through the years I have met countless people who talk about his good deeds.   Bishop Hermann has helped them through the worst of times.  They say he is a kind, smart,  and most of all, a  People Person.    

Because this is an Archdiocese, Pope Benedict will most likely fill the position right away...

Here's his Bio:

Most Rev. Robert Hermann - Auxiliary Bishop of St. Louis.

Bishop Robert J. Hermann was born in Weingarten, Mo., on August 12, 1934, as one of 15 children. He attended Our Lady Help of Christians School in Weingarten. He went to high school at St. Louis Prep Seminary, graduated from Cardinal Glennon College, completed his theological studies at Kenrick Seminary, and was ordained a priest on March 30, 1963.

Bishop Hermann received a Masters Degree in English from Saint Louis University and taught at the following high schools for a total of 14 years: Mercy, DeAndreas, and Prep North. He also served as a part-time associate pastor in Our Lady Help of Christians, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Cronan, Holy Ghost, Holy Cross, and Most Holy Trinity parishes. He served as a full-time associate pastor at St. Piux X Parish for three years, as pastor of St. Andrew Parish for six years, and as pastor of Incarnate Word Parish for 14 years. During those years Incarnate Word became a regional hub parish for the International LIFE TEEN program.

He served as dean of the Northwest County Deanery for six years. In March, 2001, he was appointed to serve as chairman of the Agency Review Task Force. In July, 2002, he was appointed Vicar General of the Archdiocese with responsibilities for four deaneries and numerous Archdiocesan agencies.

Bishop Hermann was named an Auxiliary Bishop of St. Louis on October 16, 2002, and was ordained a bishop on December 12, 2002.

Everytime the corps blames muskrats for busting levees, I'm reminded of a song that haunts me to this day from my High School Daze.

Now you too can be haunted

Phillip McClary song

Thanks Phil

Emily Riesen is a Southern Illinois 22-year-old who's now living in Nashville.

"My heart's In St. Louis" is just one of the many songs she created and performs.

Her uncle shot this music video. Is it just me or does this young woman have undiscovered talent? I called her yesterday to ask for permission to use her St. Louis song during the Friday newscast. She was so sweet, saying yes!

What do you think? you can also purchase her CD on the web by googling her name or going to her MySpace page.

Good Luck Emily!

Why do you think this song isn't this song is not getting any play in St. Louis?

One in eight Baby Boomers are expected to get Alzheimers in the years ahead.  Are we close to a cure?

watch fox 2 news in the morning thursday for details and participate in clinical studies.

Monica Adams suggests that Nudist Colony vacations will increase as a result of American Airlines charging 15 for one bag and 25 for the second, each way!

I just plan to choose another airline after June 15th.  Thoughts?

Washington University will award six honorary degrees this Friday.  One will be given to  Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC's "Hardball".  This is an Outrage!  What about Journalist Tim Ezell! Where are all the protesters? 

 Anyway....

Conservative Phyllis Schlafly is at the center of the other controversial storm.  Read some of the posts in this Washington University blog and experience the outrage.  It's almost as loud as when Iranian "leader" Mahmud Ahmadinejad spoke at Columbia University.

Let the 30 student protest continue but let Schlafly speak and get her degree!  That's what Universities are about ; exchanging  opinions and ideas.   Should either side be silenced, then you and I should  worry.

Phyllis Schlafly joins us Live Thursday morning on Fox 2 News In The Morning...Expect the unexpected.

http://www.studlife.com/home/index.cfm? event=displayArticleComments&ustory_id=c337a3b4-59b3-4
08d-89cc-9fb0f5ccc0ee

 Check out the cut-a-ways of the woman asking questions.

Would you drive one of these things? 100 miles to the gallon ; top speed 40-miles-per-hour.

I feel like Terry The Toad on American Graffiti. for more information on the Vroom, go to:

http://www.altonmotorsportsatv.com/

At least 17 candidates have applied to be the next superintendent of Cincinnati Public Schools as of May 3, though the job is attracting little apparent interest from local educators.

Only one candidate from Greater Cincinnati has applied - outgoing Princeton superintendent Aaron Mackey, who was ousted by that district's school board in January.

No internal candidates have come forward.

• What should CPS look for in new superintendent?

Just seven of the applicants are from school systems with more than 20,000 students.

Several school board members have said experience in a large, urban setting is a high priority for the roughly 34,000-student district.

CPS and its search firm will accept applications until at least early June, when the district's community advisory panel will meet to select semifinalists.

Tim Kraus, president of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers, speculated that most local candidates will hold their applications as long as possible to delay being publicly identified.

"I'm sure the local people would wait until the very last minute for the least amount of exposure," said Kraus.

The applicants and their submitted files were obtained by the Enquirer on Friday.

Among the candidates are 11 current superintendents, including Diana Bourisaw, the outgoing head of St. Louis schools, and Donnie Evans of Providence, R.I.

CPS school board president Eve Bolton said she hadn't yet seen the applications.

The school board delegated the early phases of the search to consultants Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates of suburban Chicago. CPS will pay about $40,000 plus expenses for its services. The current superintendent, Rosa Blackwell, is paid $203,820, and the board has said it will go higher if necessary.

Bolton said publicly identifying candidates this early in the search will discourage applicants. "It will compromise the search," she said. "It will reduce the pool."

Bolton unsuccessfully appealed to The Enquirer to not pursue the applications, which are public records under Ohio law.

The last two CPS superintendents were selected after highly secret searches with little public input and debate.

The Milford and Princeton school districts also are seeking new superintendents, and both recently made their lists public.

Two people whose files were included in the applications made available Friday said they're not active candidates, despite being included in the documents.

Yvonne Bullock, a superintendent of the Meridian school district in Mounds, Ill., and James Turbeville, superintendent of the Tattnall County district in Georgia, said they applied for other job openings through CPS's search firm in earlier years, but are not actively pursuing the Cincinnati job.

A representative from Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates did not return a phone call seeking an explanation.

"I'm not going to tell you I'm not interested, because I might be," said Turbeville. "But I've made no application."

Search consultants are developing a comprehensive district profile based on feedback from a series of community forums held last month, plus an online survey asking for search suggestions.

More than 1,450 people filled out the survey, according to the district, but attendance at the community forums was sparse.

Jim Berry, an Over-the-Rhine resident and a member of the panel empowered to pick semifinalists, estimated that fewer than 35 people attended four public meetings, not counting a forum that coincided with a regularly scheduled district event.

Blackwell said in August that she would retire at the end of her contract, which expires July 31.

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In West Virginia, this is one car you can't miss!

A Clinton landslide victory will not help her pass Obama who is sure of getting the Dem. nomination. However, since 1916, no Democrat has won the White House without winning West Virginia.

Going green in St. Louis:
Cooler home, cooler energy bills.

A lot of people are thinking green, but St. Louis is leading the nation in green.  And when it comes to saving a lot of green, this St. Louis invention could be doing that in your home in the not-too-distant future.

Recently the President mandated that all standard light bulbs become 30 percent more efficient by 2012. But few of us are aware of the mandates that have recently been going on in the highest energy-consuming appliance in your home, your heating and cooling system.

The average home central air conditioning system delivers 8 to 10 SEER.  (SEER is Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio; the higher the SEER, the more efficient the system.) In an effort to clean up energy usage, the federal government mandated a minimum requirement of 13 SEER in early 2006. This is a 30 percent to 60 percent gain in efficiency for most consumers and a big win for the nation’s reduced energy consumption.

At the same time the government was making this mandate, Al Reifel, Vice President of Research and Development for NORDYNE, an international HVAC manufacturer based in St. Louis, realized that just hitting the government minimums wasn’t enough.  He wanted to blow them out of the water. 

Reifel looked to the Asian and European markets where the cost of energy and the tighter living quarters placed more stringent demand on cooling efficiency. Using Japanese technology, he created a 23-SEER air conditioner – 77 percent more efficient than the government minimum and the most efficient air conditioner in North America. The product is so technologically advanced, it received the industry’s highest award for innovation in early 2008.

–more–

Energy savings.
To give you an idea of just how much energy the average consumer would save, think in terms of greenhouse gases. In St. Louis, going from a 10-SEER unit to a 23-SEER air conditioner can save roughly 3,000 kilowatt-hours per year.  Those kilowatt-hours are the environmental equivalent of 2.3 metric tons of harmful carbon dioxide emissions. Other ways to get the same impact are to:
•     Consume 257 fewer gallons of gas.
•     Turn off all the electricity permanently in a third of your home.
•     Stop driving your car for 5 months out of the year.

If every home in St. Louis would replace their current HVAC with this new technology, the environmental benefit would be the equivalent of taking 443,000 cars off the road annually.

Cost savings.
So what does this really mean to the average consumer? Fortunately, right now the cost of energy in St. Louis is about 25 percent lower than the national average. In fact, we haven’t had a major rate increase in two decades.  But if you remember in 2007 when energy was deregulated in the state of Illinois, our neighbors across the river where hit with massive increases.  In some cases these increases more than doubled their bills.

Will an Ameren customer in Missouri or Illinois, expect more frequent requests to increase rates. In both states, Ameren says its costs are rising beyond what they're entitled to collect from customers through current rates. As a result, the company says its utilities are earning less than they're allowed. For example, when Ameren announced its rate filing in Illinois a couple of months ago, it said the cost of pole transformers had risen 75 percent since 2004, wood poles, 45 percent; aluminum wire 40 percent; copper wire 100 percent; and natural gas pipe, 55 percent.”

The net impact is this: The average St. Louisan spends about $450 per year on cooling their home. But with conversion to this new technology, they can be putting approximately $250 back in their pocket every year. And if our local energy rates rise just 2.5 cents to meet that national average, that $250 grows to $340.

With the average unit life of an air conditioner being 15 years, the long-term savings is impressive. And in the short-term, homeowners will can use that saved money to offset rising gasoline and grocery prices. 

What’s next.
With Reifel’s help, NORDYNE is currently working on products that will also offer the consumer similar energy savings on heating bills. Just in time, too, because the Department of Energy expects propane and natural gas costs to rise this year – 29.4 percent and 9 percent,

–more–

respectively. NORDYNE has also recently launched an initiative called ecoLogic, to help homeowners find the most efficient heating and cooling products. Visit ecoLogicComfort.com to see what’s available.

Going green takes more than changing a light bulb or driving an electric car. For true energy efficiency, look at every aspect of your home and where the biggest energy drainers are. For those who are looking to a replace their worn-out air conditioner, looking at the most efficient available make a lot of sense, as in dollars and cents.