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Tempur Sealy to buy Mattress Firm in $4 billion deal

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:12:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bedding provider Tempur Sealy has agreed to acquire Mattress Firm in a cash-and stock-transaction valued at about $4 billion, the companies said Tuesday.Mattress Firm operates more than 2,300 brick-and-mortar retail locations and an e-commerce platfom. After the Tempur Sealy acquistion is complete, the two companies will have a total of some 3,000 retail stores, 30 e-commerce platforms, 71 manufacturing facilities and four research and development facilities worldwide.“This combination will accelerate our growth trajectory and enhance operating cash flow,” Tempur Sealy Chairman and CEO Scott Thompson said in a statement. “Mattress Firm has been a valued retail partner for more than 35 years, and we look forward to welcoming their talented workforce of more than 8,100 employees to the Tempur Sealy family.”Mattress Firm CEO John Eck added that the transaction will increase the companies’ ability “to better address consumers’ needs and drive growth.”In the...

Sweetgreen donates meals Tuesday as part of Ashburn restaurant opening

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:12:52 GMT

Sweetgreen opens a new D.C.-area location in Ashburn, Virginia. (Courtesy Sweetgreen)Home-grown fast-casual salad chain Sweetgreen has opened its newest D.C.-area location in Ashburn, Virginia.The 2,400-square-foot restaurant, at 20347 Exchange Street at One Loudoun, has a bar and a small outdoor patio in addition to its dining room. As part of its grand opening, Sweetgreen is donating one meal to Loudoun Hunger Relief for each meal sold Tuesday, May 9.Sweetgreen has nearly 30 D.C.-area locations now. It reopened its Bethesda Row restaurant earlier this year after a two-month closing for a major renovation.The Ashburn store is a traditional Sweetgreen restaurant, but the fast-causal chain has been experimenting with new store formats. Last fall, it opened its first digital-only pickup location in D.C.’s Mount Vernon neighborhood. It is more or less a self-service operation, with no dining area and no front line services, though there is a patio.Sweetgreen says about 60% of its order...

COVID-19 vaccine maker Novavax to chop workforce, expenses

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:12:52 GMT

Novavax is cutting about a quarter of its global workforce as the COVID-19 vaccine maker seeks to slash expenses while dealing with uncertain future revenue.The company said Tuesday that it expects to trim next year’s costs for research and development as well as selling, general and administrative expenses by about 40% to 50% compared to 2022. The company has 1,992 full-time employees. A Novavax representative said the cuts will affect about 20% of that workforce, or nearly 400 people, and all of the vaccine maker’s contractors. Novavax’s protein-based vaccine debuted long after alternatives from companies like Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson had reached the market. Only about 88,458 doses of the Novavax vaccine have been administered in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.That compares to more than 400 million doses of market leader Pfizer’s two-shot original vaccine and updated booster. The COVID-19 vaccine is Novavax’s l...

Ryanair to order between 150 and 300 Boeing 737 Max jets

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:12:52 GMT

Ryanair will order 150 Boeing 737 Max planes with an option for 150 more, marking the biggest aircraft purchase in the Irish airline’s history and a boost for Boeing.At Boeing’s list prices, the deal would be worth more than $40 billion if Ryanair exercises all the options, but airlines routinely get deep discounts. Financial terms were not disclosed.Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said Tuesday that the planes will replace some of the airline’s older Boeing jets and provide room for growth. The airline selected the largest version of the Max, which O’Leary said will have 21% more seats but burn 20% less fuel than the airline’s current 737s.The airline expects to take delivery of the planes between 2027 and 2033.Boeing is benefitting from a boom in airplane orders, as air travel around the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Arlington, Virginia, company has struggled however with production issues affecting the Max and a larger plane, the 787 Drea...

Armed, dangerous man wanted for 1st-degree murder

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:12:52 GMT

LAKEWOOD, Colo. (KDVR) — Police are looking for a 24-year-old who allegedly shot and killed a woman in Lakewood. Patrick Placencio is wanted for the first-degree murder of a 22-year-old. The Lakewood Police Department said Placencio should be considered armed and dangerous. Police believe deadly Tesla shooting began as a road rage According to LPD, the homicide occurred on April 30 at 2:48 a.m. in the 1200 block of South Marshall Street. The area is in the Lasley neighborhood. Police located the woman inside a home where she had died from at least one gunshot wound.Detectives have not stated what the relationship is between Placencio and the victim.According to LPD, Placencio is known to frequent the Lakewood and Denver areas. If you have any information on his whereabouts you are asked to contact the Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867. Tipsters can remain anonymous and still be eligible for a cash reward of up to $2,000.

Which Colorado ski resorts are still open?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:12:52 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Spring is here and temperatures are getting warmer. However, there is still good snow on the ground for parts of the state.If you are looking to get in some last-minute days on the slopes, you are in luck, a few ski areas are still open. How to see live cameras of ski resorts across Colorado Where can you still ski or snowboard?Here are the ski areas and resorts still open:Arapahoe Basin: Will be open daily until at least June 4, according to its websiteBreckenridge: Lift tickets are still available for as late as May 21Purgatory: Open on the weekend of May 13-14Winter Park: The Mary Jane side of Winter Park remains open and is expected to close in late-MayArapahoe Basin was the last ski area to close last season, which was on June 5. It was also the first ski area to open for this season, which was on October 23.

Do you recognize this person? Why you could get up to $50,000

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:12:52 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- The United States Postal Inspection Service is asking for the public's help to identify a person they said tried to rob a United States Postal Service letter carrier.The USPIS said the incident happened on May 4 at 10:50 a.m. near East 16th Avenue and Humboldt Street in Denver. Attack on mail carrier in Lakewood similar to others across country An unknown person tried to rob a USPS letter carrier.Description of the suspectThe USPIS said the suspect is identified as:Hispanic maleMustacheApproximately 20 to 30 years old5 feet, 6 inches to 5 feet, 7 inches tallHe was wearing a blue baseball hat, shorts, a chain necklace, sunglasses, and over-the-ear headphonesWas carrying a black coatIf you have any information about the incident, you can contact the USPIS at 877-876-2455 and say, "Law Enforcement." The case number is 4030964-ROBB, the USPIS said. You could be eligible for a reward of up to $50,000 for information in this case.

Man accused of installing hidden camera in public bathroom on Royal Caribbean cruise ship that departed from Miami

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:12:52 GMT

(CNN) — The FBI’s San Juan Division is working to identify potential victims after a man was charged with video voyeurism and attempted possession of child exploitation material for allegedly installing a hidden camera in a public bathroom on a Royal Caribbean ship.The camera was allegedly installed on the cruise line’s Harmony of the Seas ship during a seven-day cruise departing from Miami, Florida, in late April, according to the criminal complaint in the case.The man, identified as Jeremy Froias, boarded the Harmony of the Seas in Miami, and while the cruise ship was navigating in international waters, allegedly installed a hidden Wi-Fi camera in a public bathroom on the ship’s top deck between a surfing simulator and a bar, the criminal complaint said.Several days later, another passenger noticed the hidden camera and reported it to Harmony’s crew. Security personnel searched the bathroom and found and seized the hidden camera. According to the crim...

Erdoğan gives civil servants 45 percent pay rise in Turkey’s tight election race

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:12:52 GMT

ISTANBUL — In a sign President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan realizes he needs to pull out all the stops before Turkey’s too-close-to-call election in five days, he announced a 45 percent pay hike for hundreds of thousands of civil servants on Tuesday. The decision affects more than 700,000 public workers, who will now be paid a minimum monthly wage of 15,000 Turkish lira (€700).The announcement is seen as a move to attract voters in a tight election race dominated by the economy. Erdoğan’s economic policies, once one of his main selling points, are unpopular, largely due to high inflation and a tumbling lira. “Within the framework of this collective bargaining agreement, we are raising wages by 45 percent, including the welfare share, thus increasing the minimum wage of public workers to 15,000 lira,” Erdogan said in the capital Ankara.Erdoğan signaled the government would also raise the wages and pensions of civil servants.The announcement was a ...

Belgium violated serial killer’s rights, European rights court rules

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:12:52 GMT

Belgium violated the rights of a man who is currently jailed for several murders committed in the 1970s and has been consistently denied early release since then, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled Tuesday.Freddy Horion, born in 1947, has been detained since 1979 for murdering a family of five, while having previously been found guilty of another murder, according to the court’s ruling.He was sentenced to death by a Belgian court in 1981 — a sentence which was later commuted to life imprisonment.Horion is now in a “predicament” as he has “no realistic prospect of release,” which is a violation of article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights on torture and inhuman treatment, the ECHR said Tuesday.Horion has been eligible for early release since 1993. In the following decades, he filed dozens of requests, which were all denied on the grounds that he was still a danger to society. In March 2017, a group of psychiatric experts found tha...