Southwest buys AirTran
Southwest's acquisition of AirTran has airline watchers abuzz. The Buffalo News says the merger could cut the number of sale fares available to travelers. The Democrat and Chronicle reports that the merger could bring Southwest to Rochester, and give fliers more route options. The Innovation Trail's Zack Seward quotes an expert who says Rochester could "win" with the merger.
No go
Yet another round of talks between M&T Bank and Spain's Banco Santander has ended without a merger. M&T's not commenting but the Buffalo News is reporting that the two couldn't agree about who would control the domestic side of operations for the bank that prides itself on its Buffalo heritage.
Dead mall resurrection
Rochester has officially begun demolition on the blighted Midtown Plaza mall. The sight is being cleared for the new headquarters of a telecommunications company and other businesses.
Dirty jobs
The Post-Standard has an Associated Press piece about farms struggling to find workers, despite legions of unemployed Americans:
Most Americans simply don't apply for jobs harvesting fruits and vegetables in California, where one of every eight people is out of work, according to government data for a federal seasonal farmworker program analyzed by The Associated Press.
Hydrofracking
Actor Mark Ruffalo compared hydofracking to prostitution at a forum about the controversial drilling technique at Binghamton University Monday. The Press & Sun-Bulletin has the sordid details.
Saving energy
The Times-Union reports that a company outside Albany has an innovative idea for slashing energy bills: turn off the lights.
Women in the workplace
Women have made few gains in climbing into management positions, according to the New York Times. New Data from the Government Accountability Office shows that only 40 percent of management positions are held by women:
In all but three of the 13 industries covered by the report, women had a smaller share of management positions than they did of that industry’s overall work force. The sectors where women were more heavily represented in management than outside of it were construction, public administration and transportation and utilities.
Congress' shifting population
Gannett's Brian Tumulty says that New York is facing the possibility of losing two congressional seats because of declining population. The numbers don't include military personnel serving overseas though.
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