Blue Bell laying off third of its workforce
HOUSTON – Blue Bell Creameries will lay off more than a third of its workforce after a series of listeria illnesses linked to its ice cream that prompted a nationwide recall of all its products, the Texas company announced Friday.
The company, whose production plants remain closed, said 750 full-time employees and 700 part-time workers are losing their jobs. That represents about 37 percent of its 3,900 employees.
Another 1,400 workers will be furloughed but will still receive a substantial portion of their current pay.
The company’s production plants in Texas, Oklahoma and Alabama have been closed since Blue Bell issued a full recall in April, after more of its products tested positive for listeria.
Gag order sought in Freddie Gray case
BALTIMORE –Baltimore prosecutors are seeking a gag order as they pursue a criminal case against six city officers in the case of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old man who died a week after suffering a spinal injury while in police custody.
A court document that references the gag order, obtained by The Associated Press, is dated Wednesday. Assistant State’s Attorney Antonio Gioia wrote that the gag order motion was mailed to defense attorneys.
House approves plan for defense spending
WASHINGTON – The House defied a veto threat from President Barack Obama on Friday and approved a $612 billion defense policy bill that Democrats complain busts budget limits on military spending and makes it harder for the president to close the U.S. prison for suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
The vote was 269 to 151 for the legislation, a blueprint for next year’s spending on military and other national security programs.
While Republicans voted overwhelmingly for the bill, 41 Democrats disregarded Obama’s objections and joined the GOP lawmakers in passing it. Another 143 Democrats voted against it.
A 2011 bipartisan budget deal placed limits on defense and domestic spending. The House defense bill skirts those caps by putting $89 billion of the total into an emergency war-fighting fund, which is exempt from the restrictions.
Associated Press
