Best Buy founder Richard Schulze is stepping down as chairman after an investigation found that he knew that the company’s CEO was having a relationship with a female employee and failed to alert the audit committee. The company also said that despite the fact that its audit committee found that then-CEO Brian Dunn violated company policy by having a ‘close personal relationship’ with a female employee, he got a severance package worth about $6.6 million. Best Buy hired an outside law firm in March to investigate Dunn, who resigned in April. The committee found that Dunn’s relationship with a female employee showed poor judgment. But they found he did not misuse company resources or company aircraft related to the relationship.
Eurozone to Greece: Don’t bail on austerity
Leading European Union finance officials Monday pleaded with Greece not to renege on its bailout terms and to stay the course of its painful austerity program to prevent even worse economic hardship. Greeks fed up with the painful austerity measures gave support to anti-bailout parties in last week’s elections. Many euro finance ministers warned, however, that Athens must stick to the terms of the rescue package if it wants to remain in the 17-nation euro currency. Ahead of a meeting Monday, the ministers seemed unwilling to offer Greece any easier bailout terms to keep it in the eurozone, stressing that whether it leaves the common currency or not, it would take years of belt-tightening to ease its debt.
Apple growers report near-record crop
Most of Washington’s 2011 apple harvest has been sold and growers say prices for the near-record crop have been good for them. A vice president at the Tree Top cooperative in Selah, Lindsay Buckner, says growers are reaping the benefits of strong markets for fresh and processed apples. The Yakima Herald-Republic reported that the industry has shipped 82 million boxes out of a total crop estimated at 107 million boxes. That would be the second-largest, after the 109-million record in 2010. The outlook for the 2012 crop also is good, with some predicting a record 120 million boxes.
Alaska Airlines unveils new salmon design
Alaska Airlines has come up with another big fuselage fish. The 129-foot salmon is the result of a joint effort between Alaska Airlines and the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. The design is intended to promote Alaskan seafood and the airline’s role in getting it to market. The new design was unveiled Monday and replaces an earlier version unveiled in 2005. Like the earlier one, it is an image of a wild Alaskan king salmon. But this time, there are fish scales on the plane’s winglets and a salmon-pink-colored “Alaska” script across the fuselage. The design will adorn a Boeing 737-800 in the fall.
From Herald news services
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
