I&M warns of another phone scam

Indiana Michigan Power is cautioning its customers about a phone scam. 

Customers have been receiving calls claiming that they have an overdue bill and will be immediately disconnected if they do not pay. I&M does not call its customers for payment and will not disconnect power without a written warning, it said in a press release. Customers should not provide debit card, credit card or other financial information to these callers.

Anyone who receives a scam call should hang up and call I&M’s customer operations center at (800) 311-4634. 

Alexander joins

Portland native Donisa Alexander has been hired as branch office administrator of the Edward Jones office in Huntington.

Alexander, a 1986 graduate of Jay County High School who now resides in Roanoke, joined the firm on May 2. She oversees daily operations of the office in addition to providing client services and marketing support.

Lawsuit 

Tyson Foods Inc. has been named in a lawsuit alleging it and other chicken producers are inflating prices. 

Several restaurants and grocery chains, including Meijer, sued Tyson and Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. Tuesday in federal court in Chicago, Bloomberg reported. The companies allege Tyson and Pilgrim’s Pride limited chicken supplies to artificially inflate prices. The lawsuit covers chicken purchases from 2008 to 2016. 

Tyson is the parent company of Tyson Mexican Original in Portland. 

New facility 

Coca-Cola is planning a new sales and distribution facility in Kentucky, which will create 430 jobs. 

The 300,000-square-foot facility will be in Erlanger, Kentucky, and is part of a $30 million investment, FoodBev Media reported. The 430 full-time jobs will include distribution, sales and warehouse functions. The facility is expected to open next summer.  

Coca-Cola has a bottling plant in Portland. 

Stores closing 

Sears Holdings has announced it will close 10 more Sears and Kmart stores. 

The company previously announced in May that its Sears location at the Muncie Mall would be closing.

Altogether, the company plans to close 62 Sears and 16 Kmart locations in September. The stores are considered “underperforming,” according to a USA Today article. 

Sears Holdings has closed more than 500 stores over the past two years. The company reported a net loss of $424 million for its first fiscal quarter. 

New president 

IU Health has named its president of IU Health South Central Region. 

Brian Shockney, who has served as interim president since February, has been named president of the region. Shockney joined IU Health in 2010 and had served as the south central region’s chief operating officer since 2016, The (Bloomington) Herald-Times and Inside Indiana Business reported, and was previously CEO of Logansport Memorial Hospital. 

American-Made 

Honda is responsible for four of the 10 “most American” cars in 2018. 

Each year, cars.com releases its American-Made Index, which assesses vehicles’ assembly location, domestic-parts content, engine sourcing, transmission sourcing and factory jobs provided by automakers’ U.S. plants. The Honda Odyssey ranked second, the Honda Ridgeline ranked third, the Honda Pilot ranked sixth and the Acura MDX ranked seventh. 

Honda is a key customer of FCC (Indiana) in Portland. 

Antibiotic free

Pizza Hut plans to serve only chicken raised without antibiotics by 2022. 

The restaurant chain joins Papa John’s, KFC, Chick-fil-A and McDonalds in pledging to serve products from chickens raised without antibiotics, USA Today reported. Pizza Hut originally announced its initial plans to remove antibiotics from its chicken in 2016. 

Store opens 

A new makeup store has opened inside another store in Muncie Mall. 

Sephora Inside JCPenney celebrated its grand opening June 15 at the mall. It is located in the center of JCPenney and offers almost 50 different beauty brands, The Star Press reported. The store is one of about 670 located in JCPenney stores nationwide.