MINERS TRAPPED
17 salt miners are trapped in an elevator more than 70 stories below ground in an area called Lansing in upstate New York. Emergency crews are on the scene; cranes have been brought in to assist and Cargill, the company that owns the mine has been in constant contact. This is a developing story.
GLOBAL MARKETS
It’s going down, they are yelling timberrr! aka what’s going on with China’s stock market right now. Chinese stocks plunged another 7%, the biggest fall of the Yuan in five months. China is the second biggest economy in the world which means the global markets are facing some shakeups with the Chinese market closing after 29 minutes. Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, is being urged to devalue its Naira amidst a recent visit from IMF chief Christine Lagarde. Washington based World Bank has cut 2016’s global growth forecast to 2.9% down from the 3.3% it projected in June 2015. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, known as the fear gauge or the VIX, is up 13%. It’s going down for real!
SNIPPETS
• Chicago based & Lake Forest High alum Sarah Spain along with Kate Fagan and Jane McManus will debut the ESPN Radio weekly program “The Trifecta with Spain, Jane and Kate” on Saturday, the first ESPN Radio sports show with all women commentators…
•Japanese automaker Mitsubishi is closing its only production plant in the U.S after failing to find an automaker buyer for the Normal, Illinois based plant and its workers but hopes to find a buyer in another industry…
•Netflix has now expanded into 130 countries including India, Nigeria, Russia and Saudi Arabia but excluding China. The news helped the video-streaming company’s stock soar 9.3%, with a goal of reaching 200 countries by the end of 2016 as announced during co-founder Reed Hastings’ keynote at CES…
•United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz underwent heart transplant recently which means his previously reported return date of early 2016 has now been moved to late Q1 or early Q2 and interim CEO Brett Hart will continue to assume the role…
•All is still not well at Yahoo and it seems there might be job cuts on the horizon. Activist investor group Starboard Value LP is pushing for change in business strategy with reports that they want Marissa Mayer and her team out. This is the same activist investor group that called for changes at Macy’s Inc, and now the retailer announced it was slashing 3,000 jobs and closing 40 stores, coincidence?…
•Trooper Brian Encinia, who arrested Sandra Bland and had been on paid desk duty since Bland was later found dead in her Texas jail cell ruled a suicide, has been charged with perjury and fired; he claimed in an affidavit that Bland was “combative and uncooperative” after he pulled her over and ordered her out of her car which a grand jury found to be false…
•The BBWAA have elected Ken Griffey Jr. who set a record votes of 99.3% and Mike Piazza, the 17th primary catcher, for the class of 2016 Baseball Hall of Fame.
ENTERTAINMENT
Award season is rolling right along last night at the People’s Choice awards show in LA. Winners included Chris Hemsworth as favorite Movie Actor; Ellen Degeneres as Favorite Humanitarian; Favorite Late Night Talk Show host went to Jimmy Fallon; Favorite Network TV Sci-Fi/Fantasy Show was Beauty and The Beast, Taylor Kinney and more winners here The Talk accepting their award for Favorite Daytime TV Hosting Team, were interrupted by a stage crasher…Amy Schumer is making every SATC Aiden fan’s dream come true as she revealed her new boyfriend…No Janet Jackson does not have throat cancer as many reports have circulated after she announced she was taking a break from her Unbreakable tour…Leonardo DiCaprio is single again, hide your models.
FASHION
Fashion blogger Sincerely Jules is fronting a new campaign for Reebok Classic x Face Stockholm collection…Hudson’s Bay Co, the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Gilt Groupe for $250 million in cash and fold the luxury flash-sale site into its Saks Off5th division, WWD reports.
Celebs in Chicago Sightings: VEEP’s Julia Louis-Dreyfus, whose son attends Northwestern, was spotted at Siena Tavern this past Sunday; Before breaking Michael Jordan’s record, Jimmy Butler was spotted with eight friends on New Year’s Eve at Prime & Provisions. send your tips to info@socialifechicago.com
LOOK OF THE DAY
