Caterpillar posts 32 pct. drop in 4Q earnings, layoffs
PEORIA, Ill. (AP) — Caterpillar Inc., the world’s largest maker of mining and construction equipment, said Monday its fourth-quarter profit plunged 32 percent, and that it expects sharply lower results this year as the world economy continues to contract.

The Peoria company said earnings slid as mining companies and other customers scaled back purchases amid slumping commodity prices, the credit freeze and tough market conditions. The results reflect the troubled state of the global economy as Caterpillar’s products are used worldwide in a range of industries.

Caterpillar, an economic bellwether and component of the Dow Jones industrial average, earned $661 million, or $1.08 per share, during the three months ended Dec. 31, 2008. It earned $975 million, or $1.50 per share, in the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose 6 percent to $12.92 billion.

The company forecast sales and revenues of $40 billion, or $2.50 per share in 2009, down from $51.32 billion, or $5.66, last year. It said it had taken actions to remove about 20,000 workers, including Caterpillar employees, contract and agency workers.
Caterpillar, which employs more than 112,000 people worldwide, has expanded dramatically in recent years, driven by surging demand spurred by infrastructure projects in developing countries, particularly in Asia. But that demand has waned with the weakening global economy.

In response to the worsening conditions, the company has announced plans to lay off workers, slash executive compensation by up to 50 percent and offer buyouts to U.S.-based employees. It also instituted a global hiring freeze.

Central Ky. man accused of fatally beating woman

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — A central Kentucky man is behind bars charged with fatally beating a woman who was staying with a relative at a Lexington farm.

Lexington police charged 31-year-old Gary T. Stone of Nicholasville on Jan. 19 with murder, first-degree assault and first-degree burglary. The Lexington Herald-Leader reports Stone is being held in Jessamine County, where he had been arrested Jan. 17 on an unrelated warrant.

He’s charged in the death of 43-year-old Pauline Mastin of Carlisle in Nicholas County. He’s accused of breaking into the home early Saturday and assaulting Mastin and her brother, farm manager Bart Mastin. Bart Mastin suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries.

NW Iowa police chief to be
sentenced for hog theft

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A northwestern Iowa police chief accused of selling stolen hogs and pocketing some of the money will be sentenced next month after pleading guilty to a theft charge.
David Johannsen, 44, of Sutherland, was arrested last July. The O’Brien County clerk of court office said Johannsen pleaded guilty to third-degree theft, an aggravated misdemeanor, on Dec. 29. Sentencing is set for Feb. 9.

Johannsen had also been charged with second-degree theft and conspiracy, which are both felonies. According to the criminal complaint, Johannsen was accused of selling hogs belonging to Liberty Products, Inc., where he worked, to Lynch Livestock in Primghar from July 2004 to July 2006.

According to court documents, Lynch Livestock paid for the hogs with checks payable to Johannsen. He cashed the checks totaling more than $7,000, and the cash was divided between him and two other employees of Liberty Foods.

Sutherland Mayor Carolyn Rohrbaugh said Wednesday that Johannsen has been police chief of the town of 700 for 22 years. She said he has been on unpaid leave since his arrest and that the town’s other police officer, Nick Mazurek, is now the acting police chief.

Northwestern Iowa man facing livestock neglect

MERRILL, Iowa (AP) — A Merrill man has been arrested after nearly 100 animals were found dead in Plymouth County.

Douglas Baldwin, 49, has been charged with failing to properly dispose of dead animals and three counts of livestock neglect. Neighbors reported seeing dead cows at Baldwin’s father’s farm last month. Twenty dead cows were found at the farm and authorities say a veterinarian determined the animals had been neglected.
Authorities also found 30 dead cows, 40 dead sheep and one dead horse at Baldwin’s farm. Authorities say those animals died because they were not given enough food and water to survive.
Baldwin is free on bond.

Man pleads guilty in Iowa hog abuse case

BAYARD, Iowa (AP) — A man who pled guilty to abusing hogs at a Greene County farm has been sentenced to six months’ probation.
Shawn Lyons pleaded guilty to animal cruelty two weeks ago. He was one of six people arrested on livestock abuse and neglect charges last fall. The arrests came after the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) released an undercover video that showed pigs being abused at the MowMar Farms facility in western Iowa.

The Greene County attorney’s office says Lyons’ sentence prohibits him from working with animals. He also was fined $625.
Officials say new trial dates are expected to be set for later this year for others charged in the case. Minnesota-based MowMar has said that it no longer employees any of the workers accused of abuse.

Bird flu found on Canadian turkey farm

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Bird flu has been found on a turkey farm in the Fraser Valley east of Vancouver, British Columbia.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says tests indicate that the H5 avian influenza virus is “low pathogenic.” That means the severity of the illness it causes in birds is relatively low. Even so, agency officials say 60,000 birds on the premises will be euthanized and disposed of safely.

Food inspectors also are restricting the movement of poultry and poultry products within almost two miles of the farm.

Health officials say avian influenza viruses do not pose a danger to food safety when poultry and poultry products are properly handled and cooked. Avian influenza rarely affects humans unless they have had close contact with infected birds.

Idle biodiesel plant in Clayton sold at auction

CLAYTON, Del. (AP) — A plant that made diesel fuel from soybeans has been sold at auction. Clayton-based Mid-Atlantic Biodiesel Co. was sold Jan. 22 for $1.35 million to the Butz brothers, farmers from western Maryland.

The plant opened in Sept. 2006 and shut down in May 2007. State officials had hoped it would play a key role in the alternative energy industry in Delaware, but the increase in the price of soybeans hurt the economic viability of the business.

The plant had received more than $1 million in state and federal grants, as well as a federal loan guarantee of almost $5 million. According to Marty Ross, who headed the Mid-Atlantic project, “Entrepreneurship involves risk-taking, and this risk didn’t work out.”