ARIZONA
McDonald’s hiring for 2,000 jobs statewide
McDonald’s restaurants plan to hire for more than 2,000 positions statewide during Cyber Hiring Week Feb. 22-26.
Full-time, part-time and manager positions are available at about 300 locations, according to a company spokesman. The positions offer flexible schedules, benefits and opportunity for growth, the company says.
Crew members can advance English-language skills and education through a company program called Archways to Opportunity, which also includes higher-education tuition help for employees who work a minimum of 30 hours.
Apply at www.localmcds.com.
The Arizona Republic
NATION
Minimum wage hike coming in Oregon
SALEM, Ore. — Oregon lawmakers have approved landmark legislation that propels the state’s minimum wage for all workers to the highest rank in the U.S., and does so through an unparalleled tiered system based on geography.
The measure passed the state House on Thursday and is headed to Democratic Gov. Kate Brown, who said she will sign it.
The move makes Oregon a trailblazer in the broader debate about minimum wage unfolding nationwide as the federal threshold remains unchanged from Great Recession levels.
SeaWorld: Shakeup, plus hotels planned
SAN DIEGO — SeaWorld Entertainment, which brought in a new CEO nearly a year ago, announced Friday that it is now making more changes to its leadership, including a promotion of San Diego park president John Reilly to a position overseeing the company’s 11 theme parks.
In addition to replacing its chief parks operations and zoological officers and installing a new head of the San Antonio SeaWorld park, the company is creating a resorts development group as part of a previously announced plan to add hotels to its marine parks.
Such an effort is already under way in San Diego, where the company has teamed with the locally based Evans Hotel Group to develop a SeaWorld-branded resort hotel that would connect guests to the park.
The executive shakeup comes as SeaWorld Entertainment continues to work on boosting lagging revenues and attendance following a prolonged backlash from the 2013 documentary “Blackfish,” which was critical of the marine parks’ treatment of their captive killer whales.
IBM to spend $2.6B on Truven Health
ARMONK, N.Y. — IBM is paying $2.6 billion to buy Truven Health Analytics and bolster the health care capabilities of its Watson cognitive computing system.
IBM has been promoting Watson and related technology as a powerful tool that also can be used in retailing and other industries.
The company says the deal will bring in more than 8,500 clients and allow it to house health-related data representing an aggregate of about 300 million patient lives.
The deal for privately held Truven Health will be IBM’s fourth health-related acquisition since launching its Watson Health cloud computing platform last April.
Consumer prices flat as inflation accelerates
WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer prices were unchanged in January, as the rising costs of housing and health care were largely offset by cheaper oil.
But the annual pace of inflation showed signs of acceleration.
The Labor Department said Friday that prices have risen 1.4 percent over the past 12 months, compared to a year ago when annual inflation was close to zero. Consumer prices climbed at the fastest annual rate since October 2014.
Reopen Jeep fire probe, safety advocate says
DETROIT — An auto safety advocate is calling on the government to reopen an investigation of rear-crash fires in older Jeep SUVs after finding at least 11 more deaths since the vehicles were recalled.
The deaths show that the recall repair — installing a trailer hitch to protect gas tanks in low-speed crashes — hasn’t been effective, said Clarence Ditlow, head of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety.
He is calling on the government to investigate, saying the Jeeps are unsafe and a remedy should be developed that saves lives.
The Associated Press; Tribune News Service
