By Lorie Hailey
Associate Editor
Five women are suing Maker’s Mark Distillery Inc. in federal court, alleging sexual discrimination and harassment on the bottling line where they worked dipping the company’s bottles of bourbon whiskey in red wax, reports the Louisville Courier-Journal.
The women allege there was a hostile and intimidating atmosphere around the bottling line at the company’s Loretto distillery, according to a complaint filed early last month in U.S. District Court in Louisville, the paper reports.
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Student loans have become a political football in recent weeks, with Democrats and Republicans maneuvering to point fingers in case Congress fails to pass legislation to prevent interest rates from rising this summer, reports the Associated Press.
The issue centers on a type of federal loan that’s reserved for undergraduate students. The interest rate on these Stafford loans is set to jump from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on July 1. The problem is that Congress can’t agree on exactly how to fund a one-year extension of the current rate, which the government estimates would cost $6 billion, the AP writes.
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Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale, a local brew produced at a quaint brewery in downtown Lexington, is enjoying surging sales and developing plans for national distribution, reports the Lexington Herald-Leader.
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The CEO of LaVerdad Marketing in Cincinnati plans to launch a development program for college-aged students with diverse backgrounds interested in social media, and have them work on projects with LaVerdad’s clients, which include Toyota North America, Procter & Gamble, Kroger and Cintas, reports the Cincinnati Enquirer.
The CEO is searching for space downtown to house the program and hopes to partner with local universities to help provide credibility to the institution and provide accreditation for the program.
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The restart of a Somerset oil refinery — originally expected in June — has been delayed, reports the Somerset Commonwealth Journal.
Plant manager Kristopher Gibson said the restart is dependent on engineering recommendations.
A Louisville-based engineering firm has been chosen to assist in restarting the refinery, and all mechanical, chemical and electrical/instrumentation functions are being assessed, the paper reports.
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Last month’s drop in unemployment to 8.1 percent from 8.2 percent resulted from a shrinking labor force, suggesting that many discouraged workers gave up job searches. But analyses by two economists show growing Baby Boomer retirements were behind most of the decline in the labor force — those employed and looking for work, reports USA TODAY.
Some fear the unemployment rate will rise again when better job prospects draw discouraged workers back to the market, but a boomer exodus could more than offset the re-entry of discouraged workers.
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