Dollars and Sense
June 21

Bluestem's owners now running Leawood's Trezo Vino

The owners of Westport's famed Bluestem restaurant have long wanted to open a second location in Leawood. Now they've taken the first step. A few months ago Colby and Megan Garrelts began consulting with Leawood's Trezo Vino.

Three weeks ago Trezo Vino's owners put them under a management contract and they have since been working on a new menu that will take the restaurant back to its roots - authentic Italian. "The food and restaurant didn't have a single identity

Dollars and Sense
June 21

Legends Outlets stores open this week

Legends Outlets The area's first Chico’s Outlet and Soma Intimates Outlet will open Friday in the Legends Outlets Kansas City. Chico's Outlet will be between BCBGMAXAZRIA Factory and Five Guys Burgers and Fries. It targets women ages 35 and older and offers clothing and accessories. Soma Intimates Outlet will be between Gymboree and Claire's

Dollars and Sense
June 21

New rules would speed up unionizing procedures

Labor regulators are proposing rules that would dramatically shorten the time frame for union elections. The move could make it easier for struggling unions to organize new members, and give businesses much less time to mount anti-union campaigns.

Dollars and Sense
June 20

U.S. Supreme Court rejects class-action claims against Wal-Mart

The U.S. Supreme Court today rejected a lawsuit against Wal-Mart that potentially was the largest class action employment discrimination case in history. In a 5-4 decision, in an opinion written by Justice Antonin Scalia, the court said women who claimed discrimination could not pursue their lawsuit as a class. Up to 1.6 million Wal-Mart employees might have been involved, had the high court allowed the case to go forward. The court did not rule on whether the women had been discriminated against in pay and promotion decisions

Dollars and Sense
June 20

National championships flood KC with students

The SkillsUSA national championships will be in Kansas City this week, bringing with them more than 14,000 people and an estimated $15 million in economic impact. SkillsUSA helps students enrolled in career and technical programs get more hands-on experience through local, state and national competitions. On Wednesday and Thursday, more than 5,500 public high school and technical school students will compete in 94 categories. They will represent all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S

Dollars and Sense
June 20

How I Got the Job: Jeffrey Eye, 33

Jeffrey EyeThe job: Chief nursing officer. The employer: Saint Luke’s Northland Hospital, a member of Saint Luke’s Health System, is a 193-bed facility with a medical staff of 369 and more than 950 employees. My role: I am responsible for all aspects of patient care and the oversight and supervision of nursing personnel throughout the hospital. How long have you been in this position? Since March 2011. How long have you been employed by this organization? Nearly six years. What is your work history with the organization? I was hired in 2005 as the director of emergency services for Saint Luke’s Northland. I was promoted in 2006 to director of acute inpatient and emergency services and served in that role for five years before being promoted to this position

Dollars and Sense
June 20

BATS Global Markets’ European merger hits snag

British regulators will take a closer look at the competitive impact of the planned merger between Lenxea-based BATS Global Markets and a European exchange. BATS agreed in February to acquire Chi-X Europe and needs clearance from the United Kingdom’s Office of Fair Trading, which oversees consumer and competition issues. An announcement from the agency said it referred the matter to its Competition Commission, which will delay the review. At issue is whether competition would suffer from a merger between two of the three pan-European equity markets. These allow investors to trade stocks across Europe from one trading platform, rather than at each local market. BATS and Chi-X compete in this way not only with the London Stock Exchange but also each other. “Although the evidence is mixed, the OFT (Office of Fair Trading) believes that there is a realistic prospect that, absent the merger, the parties would going forward have competed more strongly against each other, as well as competing against the LSE (London exchange),” said a statement from the agency. It noted, however, that this referral had not been driven by complaints. The Competition Committee expects to report its findings by Dec

Dollars and Sense
June 18

Dad finds ways to survive, relish unemployment

By Diane Stafford Paul Smith is looking for work. And in this job market, that can be a frustrating and scary thing. He’s been fortunate to have some severance pay, but that runs out next month, and he’s facing the prospect of tapping his 401(k) savings — money he’d counted on to help in retirement. In short, he’s worried

Dollars and Sense
June 18

Kids & Money: Questions about SAT, ACT data collection and privacy policies

When your teens sign up for the SAT and ACT college entrance exams, what are they really signing up for? That’s one of the questions being asked by two congressmen who head a committee that’s reviewing data collection and privacy practices of the two companies that administer the SAT and ACT exams. Reps. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, and Joe Barton, a Texas Republican, sent a letter in late May to the College Board, which administers the SAT, and its competitor, ACT Inc

Dollars and Sense
June 17

The closing bell, 6/17: Stocks have first winning week -- barely -- since April

Signs that a solution to Greece's debt problems could be near helped the stock market eke out its first week of gains since April. Germany softened its conditions for giving Greece more loans on Friday, putting Greece closer to getting more financial support and avoiding a default. Global financial markets were rattled earlier this week when a default by Greece seemed imminent