LOCAL BUSINESS
Fracking may sink home value
Fracking for natural gas may negatively impact the value of homes near the drill sites, says a survey to be reported in The Journal of Real Estate Literature.
“Our surveys show a 5 to 15 percent reduction in bid value for homes located proximate to fracking scenarios,” said Ron Throupe, a professor at the University of Denver.
Throupe, University of Denver colleague Xue Mao, and Robert A. Simons of Cleveland State University arranged for telephone interviews of more than 550 homeowners in Houston, Texas, and the Alabama-Florida panhandle.
They were instructed to imagine that they were going to consider bidding on a house near where hydraulic fracturing or fracking was occurring.
Texans surveyed discounted their bids by about 6 percent. In Alabama-Florida, the bids were reduced about 15 percent.
The term “fracking” can influence public opinion, the researchers said.
The future of real estate values in areas where fracking occurs will likely be influenced by how comfortable homeowners become with the drilling industry, the researchers said.
Giant Eagle to lay off 15 chefs
Giant Eagle is eliminating about 15 chef positions in its area stores, including Howe Avenue in the Chapel Hill area of Akron, plus Streetsboro, Macedonia and Wadsworth.
In an emailed statement, spokesman Dan Donovan said the “company continually seeks ways to operate more efficiently to continue investing in a better overall value proposition for our customers. One result of these efforts is the transition of prepared foods production to other store team members.”
The 15 positions in the Akron-Canton region are among more than 3,000 employees in the area, the company said. The affected chefs will be given a severance package and can apply for other open positions in the company. The affected employees’ last day will be Sept. 29.
The company will still employ more than 100 chefs companywide, said Donovan.
WALL STREET
Dow Jones climbs 66 points
Stocks rose in Thursday trading on data showing improvement in global manufacturing and the American labor market amid a 3½-hour trading halt on the Nasdaq exchange after a computer error. A gauge of homebuilders added 1.9 percent after a report showed house prices rose 7.7 percent in June from a year ago. Yahoo Inc. rallied 3.1 percent as data showed it attracted more U.S. visitors than Google Inc. in July.
Hewlett-Packard Co. slid 12 percent after the personal computer maker’s quarterly profit forecast missed some analysts’ estimates. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. plunged 18 percent as second-quarter earnings that fell short of forecasts. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 0.9 percent to 1,656.96. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 66.19 points, or 0.4 percent, to 14,963.74. The gain snapped a six-day losing streak, its longest slump in 13 months. The Nasdaq composite index rose 1.1 percent to 3,638.71 after trading resumed following a computer error.
TELEVISION
CBS signs deal with Verizon
CBS Corp. agreed to a three-year deal to keep its network on Verizon Communications Inc.’s FiOS pay-TV system, putting pressure on Time Warner Cable Inc. to relent in its stalemate with the broadcaster.
The contract with FiOS is “almost exactly the same deal” offered to Time Warner Cable, giving Verizon customers access to CBS in cities including New York, Los Angeles and Dallas, CBS Chief Executive Officer Les Moonves wrote in a note to employees. It also includes moving CBS Sports Network to a broader tier that will increase distribution for the channel.
Compiled from staff and wire reports