Correction to Sept. 16 story about Vemma Nutritional Co.

EDS: Clients who used a story slugged  BIZ-Vemma Nutrition Company that moved Wednesday, Sept. 16, under PHOENIX dateline, are asked to use the following correction. An updated version of the story has been posted here.  The error occurred in the first and third paragraphs of the article. 

PHOENIX – A Sept. 16 Cronkite News story about Vemma Nutrition Co. misspelled the CEO’s name. His name is BK Boreyko.

CORRECTION to Sept. 9 story on McAlister’s Deli

EDS: Clients who used a story slugged  BC-CNS-BIZ-McAlister’s that moved Wednesday, Sept. 9, under PHOENIX dateline, are asked to use the following correction. An updated version of the story has been posted here.  The error occurred in the second paragraph of the article and in the information box. 

PHOENIX – A Sept. 9 Cronkite News story about the expansion of McAlister’s Deli incorrectly identified the location of the company’s headquarters. The headquarters are in Alpharetta, Georgia.

ADVISORY: BIZ-Vemma story delayed

ADVISORY: The story slugged BIZ-Vemma that was listed on the Cronkite News digest for today will not move this evening. We hope to move it Wednesday and apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact Christina Leonard at 602-361-5893 or christina.leonard@asu.edu if you have questions.

Correction to Cronkite News story on Rocky Point cruise ship port

  • Slug: BIZ-cruise ship port, CORRECTIVE,050
  • Note: Clients that used the story slugged Cruise Ship Port, which moved April 28, under a PUERTO PEÑASCO dateline, are asked to use the following story. The story has been corrected on the client-delivery site.

PUERTO PEÑASCO – An April 28 Cronkite News story about a new cruise ship home port in Rocky Point erroneously reported information about Joe Houchin, who has followed the cruise industry for decades. He writes a monthly economic impact blog about the home port for Sonoran Resorts.

Mail closure in Tucson could save postal service, but cost region millions

  • Slug: BIZ-Tucson mail, about 1,400 words
  • Photos available (thumbnails, captions below)
  • Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc-00tI3wL8
  • Timeline embed: <iframe src=’http://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline/latest/embed/index.html?source=0As7N6Pmv_sZYdGtqWm02NDNRZ1BQbEwxQUd4bGw5anc&font=Bevan-PotanoSans&maptype=toner&lang=en&height=650′ width=’100%’ height=’650′ frameborder=’0′></iframe>

By AMELIA GOE
Cronkite News

TUCSON – A half dozen customers patiently wait in line at the Cherrybell post office in Tucson. It’s quiet on this weekday morning.

But just through the double doors to the right and behind the security checkpoint, workers are processing millions of pieces of mail.

It’s a scene that may soon come to a close.

While 2.6 million pieces of mail come through the Tucson processing and distribution center daily, volume has dropped nearly 5 percent from 2014. The decrease is one reason U.S. Postal Service officials put Tucson on their nationwide consolidation list.

The agency had planned to close down the processing center on Jan. 5. But officials delayed the move until July 11.

Elected leaders – from U.S. representatives to city councilmembers – have fought the closure since September 2011, when the service announced it would consolidate more than 82 post offices across the country.

Continue reading “Mail closure in Tucson could save postal service, but cost region millions”

Correction to Cronkite News story on Rocky Point cruise ship port

  • Slug: BIZ-cruise ship port, CORRECTIVE,050
  • Note: Clients that used the story slugged Cruise Ship Port, which moved April 28, under a PUERTO PEÑASCO dateline, are asked to use the following story. The story has been corrected on the client-delivery site.

PUERTO PEÑASCO – An April 28 Cronkite News story about a new cruise ship home port in Rocky Point contained incomplete information.  Jose Luís Castro, director of port operations for the Sonoran government’s tourism department, said authorities are in contract negotiations with several liners – including Carnival Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean International and Holland America Line.

Saturday’s Record Store Day may further boost growth of vinyl sales

  • Slug:BIZ-vinyl. About 1,000 words.
  • Photos available (thumbnails, captions below)
  • w/box. Video available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UgL1pNOlZU

By AMY EDELEN
Cronkite News

PHOENIX ­– In the age of streaming music and digital downloads, vinyl records have made a comeback.

Vinyl sales in the U.S. grew by an estimated 52 percent in 2014 to 9.2 million copies, according to a Nielsen report. The sales were the highest since the monitoring group began tracking vinyl in 1991.

Local independent record-store owners said they’ve experienced the trend first hand. Vinyl doesn’t only draw customers seeking some nostalgia, it offers a warmer sound, beautiful artwork and a “cool” factor customers can’t necessarily get with digital music, they said.

Record Store Day, which occurs nationwide on the third Saturday in April, has helped drive growth in vinyl.

Continue reading “Saturday’s Record Store Day may further boost growth of vinyl sales”

New tech trend: Gamification injects gaming into everyday life

  • Slug: BIZ-gamification, about 550 words
  • Photo available  (thumbnail, caption below)
  • Slideshow available: http://www.cincopa.com/media-platform/test?fid=AoMAyVccFent  (Contact christina.leonard@asu.edu for embed code and individual photos.)

By Will Sowards
Cronkite News

TEMPE – Have you ever watched “The Walking Dead” while following the bonus features on your tablet? Or had a computer program train you how to do something at work? What about taking a quiz on Facebook or BuzzFeed?

If so, you’ve been “gamified.”

Schools, companies and other organizations are using gamification to connect teachers, students, workers and other audiences to information and advertising.

“When you look at the Internet, initially it was how do you create rules for everyone to connect with each other?” said Ajay Vinze, associate dean of international programs at the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. “The next frontier, going forward from here, is this notion of gamification.”

Definitions of gamification vary, but it’s generally the idea of using video-game ­ – or even board game – elements to help people reach an objective: solving a problem, training employees or marketing companies or products.

Continue reading “New tech trend: Gamification injects gaming into everyday life”

Digest advisory – BIZ-real estate

Eds: The story slugged BIZ-Real estate that was listed on the Cronkite News digest for today will not move this evening. We hope to move it Thursday and apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact Christina Leonard at 602-361-5893 or christina.leonard@asu.edu if you have questions.

Protests mount throughout state for Resolution Copper mine on Apache ancestral land

  • Slug: BIZ-McCain protest, About 500 words
  • File photo (thumbnail, cutlines below)

By Carina Dominguez
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Tupac Acosta pounded on a drum as he and a handful of others tried to grab the attention of motorists headed down Camelback Road in Phoenix late Friday morning.

Their goal: Bring attention to a federal land exchange they say endangers an area sacred to the San Carlos Apache tribe.

“Today’s action is an act of solidarity, a protest against the inclusion of Oak Flat in the National Defense Authorization Act that was passed in December,” Acosta said.

People from Tonatierra, an indigenous people’s organization, held up signs outside of Sen. John McCain’s office. McCain led the efforts to approve the land exchange with Resolution Copper Mining, which plans to break ground on a $61.4 billion mining operation in southeastern Arizona by mid-2020, according to its website.

Continue reading “Protests mount throughout state for Resolution Copper mine on Apache ancestral land”

Protesters to ask Phoenix officials and developers to preserve Roosevelt Row culture

  • Slug: BIZ-GreenHaus, 600 words.
  • Photo available (thumbnail, caption below)

By AMELIA GOE
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Some of the people who live, work and play in downtown Phoenix’s Roosevelt Row don’t like the direction the arts district is moving.

One developer plans to demolish GreenHaus Boutique and Gallery to make room for housing units. Another wants to tear down buildings on what’s known as the “Arts Market Block” for another residential project.

Projects like these – and other proposed developments – have ignited frustration with some members of the community. They plan to protest what they see as the death of the district’s “arts, culture, small business, street level activity, history and community,” according to the Facebook group organizing the event.

Protesters plan to meet at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday at 420 E. Roosevelt St. The goal: Voice their opposition to city leaders and developers.

The Facebook group “Save Roosevelt Row Symbolic Funeral Procession,” had more than 250 confirmed attendees as of Wednesday afternoon.

Continue reading “Protesters to ask Phoenix officials and developers to preserve Roosevelt Row culture”

Correction to Cronkite News story on Scottsdale company capitalizing on medical marijuana

  • Slug: BIZ-marijuana company, CORRECTIVE,095
  • Note: Clients that used the story slugged BIZ-marijuana company, about a Scottsdale company capitalizing on the medical marijuana industry, are asked to run the following story. The story has been corrected on this site.

SCOTTSDALE – A Jan. 23 Cronkite News story on a Scottsdale company capitalizing on the growing medical marijuana industry in Arizona contained inaccurate information attributed to Anthony Evans, a senior research fellow at the L. William Seidman Research Institute at the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, on whether dispensaries can advertise.  According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, marijuana dispensaries and related business are allowed to advertise their products and services how they see fit. Any existing local ordinances would apply, but there are no explicit regulations at the state level.

SkyMall founder Bob Worsley calls bankruptcy “tragic”

  • Slug: BIZ-Worsley SkyMall, 450 words

By CARINA DOMINGUEZ
Cronkite News

When Bob Worsley found out last week that SkyMall’s parent company had planned to file for bankruptcy, the state senator said he was very upset.

The Mesa Republican had founded SkyMall, the in-flight catalog known for its quirky products, in 1989. He said it’s difficult to see the company struggle.

Phoenix-based Xhibit Corp. officially filed the paperwork in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Phoenix on Thursday evening. Worsley called the situation “tragic.”

“It is lamentable to employees who will lose their jobs,” Worsley posted on his Facebook page. “Pray for those folks today, some of them are my friends that I hired over 20 years ago.”

The company laid off 47 employees last week and still employed about 87 when it filed for bankruptcy, according to court documents.

Continue reading “SkyMall founder Bob Worsley calls bankruptcy “tragic””

Whole Foods CEO discusses move into low-income communities

  • Slug: BIZ-Whole Foods,600
  • Google Map
  • Photos available (thumbnails, captions below)

By MERYL FISHLER
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Whole Foods Market Inc. officials said they want to bring healthier food options to everyone by serving communities with limited access to healthy and fresh-food options.

They have opened stores in lower-income neighborhoods in Chicago, Detroit, New Orleans and Newark, New Jersey.

But does the Austin-based company plan to do the same in Arizona, where food deserts – geographic areas where access to affordable, healthy food options is limited or nonexistent – abound?

Co-Chief Executive Officer Walter Robb didn’t specifically address Arizona during a recent talk at an Economic Club of Phoenix speaker series event in Scottsdale.

Continue reading “Whole Foods CEO discusses move into low-income communities”