Harley shop banking on sunshine for official debut

Tuesday, April 27, 2004

Jay Culbertson, operations director at Harley-Davidson Bowling Green, is looking for good weather Friday through Sunday. If theres sunshine, about 3,000 to 4,000 will pass through for the grand opening celebration of the Harley-Davidson shop on the southern side of Bowling Green. It kicks off at noon Friday with a ribbon cutting. Folks rollin on through can grab drinks, thick-cut grilled chops, hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza and cool off with some ice cream. Friday evening will bring Skip Bond & The Fugitives, who will play at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. On Saturday, the Team X-treem Stunt Riders will perform at 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. and the Kyle Daniel Band will play at 1 a.m. and 5 p.m., before Saturday nights 6:30 p.m. motorcycle parade to a George Jones concert at E.A. Diddle Arena, which starts at 8 p.m. Sunday will usher in Artis Greene and The Charlie Johnson Band at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. as well as stunt riding from Bubba Blackwell, the American Daredevil, at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.Friday and Saturday the shop is open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 8 p.m.Everything in stock, excluding motorcycles and labor, will be 20 percent to 60 percent off. The Harley-Davidson shop is at 251 Cumberland Trace Road. Its all about the music, the food and the people, Culbertson said. New Kung-FuThe East West Kung-Fu Academy on 6045 Scottsville Road will have a second location in Bowling Green. The new location will be a full-service school at the Total Fitness Complex, suite 300 at 2235 Russellville Road. Skeet Freeman is the manager at the new school, while the Scottsville Road academy will be managed by Steven ONan. Jeff Salings has been promoted to chief operations manager for both locations, which are owned by Tom and Ellen Pardue. Coming: Subway and Peppers GrillCement bricks have been put down for a coming Subway and Peppers Mexican Grill near the corner of Louisville Road and Plum Springs Road. Magnas Belinda StronachFormer president and CEO of Magna International, Belinda Stronach, has made Time Magazines list of the 100 most influential people in the world, according to Mondays special issue. The daughter of founder Frank Stronach recently quit her leadership role in the Canadian company, which will soon employ 1,100 in Bowling Green. She was running for Canadian prime minister. She came in second place in the race, and is expected to run for and win a seat in Canadas Parliament in national elections, which are expected by summer, the article said. Its rumored that if the Conservatives triumph, she would be named minister of industry or trade. In her campaign, some admirers were already comparing her to the young Margaret Thatcher, the article said. Magna is North Americas fifth largest auto-parts company, and is anticipated to be one of Bowling Greens larger employers. Kentucky wins bourbon battleA judge on Friday ordered Chicago-based Barton Inc. to change the name of its fledgling bourbon, Ridgewood Reserve, saying it too closely resembles the name of top-selling Woodford Reserve brand, according to the Associated Press. U.S. District Judge Jennifer Coffman also ordered Barton to immediately have retailers remove any Ridgewood Reserve 1792 stocked after a lawsuit was filed last fall. Louisville-based Brown-Forman sued Barton in October, arguing that consumers confused Bartons Ridgewood Reserve 1792 with its own Woodford Reserve. Woodford has been on the market since 1996; Ridgewood Reserve debuted last fall. They roll off the tongue in the same fashion. Coffman said of the two brand names. There is also a tendency to transpose the two names. She noted that some witnesses confused the brands, saying Woodridge. Coffman also said the presence of the words wood, reserve and select on both labels cause confusion. She ordered Barton to remove the phrase Barrel Select from its bottles, since it is similar to Woodford Reserves Distillers Select marking. Barton plans to reintroduce the bourbon as Ridgemont Reserve 1792 this summer. Humana earnings skyrocketHumana Inc. said Monday that its first-quarter earnings had more than doubled, helped by a surge in its government business, according to the Associated Press. The Louisville-based, managed-care company reported net income of $67.8 million, or 41 cents per share, for the quarter ending March 31, up 117 percent from earnings of $31.2 million, or 19 cents per share, during the same period a year ago. The results were in line with expectations by analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call. Revenues for the most recent quarter totaled nearly $3.3 billion, up 12 percent from $2.9 billion a year ago, the company said. Humana said its total medical membership rose to just over 7 million as of March 31, a nearly 6 percent increase from 6.6 million members a year ago. Its members are mainly spread across 19 states and Puerto Rico. Call in business tips to Christopher Miller at 783-3246 or e-mail cmiller@bgdailynews.com. Daily News ·813 College St. ·PO Box 90012 ·Bowling Green, KY ·42102 ·270-781-1700