The Buzz

Richard Yamarone, the chief economist of Argus Research in New York, gave the keynote address at the 2009 Bluegrass Business Summit on Thursday.
He was introduced by Insight Communications’ John Dobken, who mentioned that Yamarone had been treated to his first Kentucky Hot Brown shortly after he arrived in the state.
Yamarone apparently wasn’t impressed with the [...]

Picture a rocket rising into the heavens.
Now you’ve got a mental image of what Pearse Lyons expects to happen to Alltech’s sales as a result of the agreement to make food flavorings in partnership with Mitsui and Asahi Breweries.
Lyons, founder and chief executive of Nicholasville-based Alltech, tells Feedinfo News Service that Alltech’s annual sales could [...]

It’s not a buffalo, it’s a dog.
Buffalo Trace, which likes to produce bourbons with all sorts of different labels and bottle shapes, is adding another.
But it’s not bourbon. It’s white dog, the 125-proof distillate that is clear and strong before it mellows in oaken barrels. There’s another name for it that rhymes with “loon vine.”
Buffalo [...]

Dennis Frommeyer was annoyed.
When he trimmed the bushes in his yard, the clippings had to be raked up — or picked up by hand if they fell into the landscaping material around his plants.
He vented to his wife, Michelle, and “she told me to invent something,” Frommeyer wrote in an e-mail.
Out of that remark came [...]

The problem is in the name.
They are “Christmas tree farms” so naturally we think they are in rural areas.
Actually, three of the 22 Christmas tree farms in Kentucky are in Lexington and one is in Louisville, according to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.
These farms are a mile or two from the suburbs or maybe on [...]

Toyota or Chevy.
Japanese or American.
Rock or hard place.
Ask Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard.
He recently bought 85 Toyota Camry Hybrids, instead of Chevrolet Malibu Hybrids, for the Indianapolis police.
Good move?
Kentuckians think so. The Toyotas are made in Georgetown.
Indianapolis auto workers are mad and Ballard’s political foes want an investigation.
He faced a tough choice.
Malibu Hybrid parts are made [...]

Looking for a stocking-stuffer?
State government might have just what you need.
That’s right.
Do your holiday shopping with the state.
The Kentucky Finance and Administration Cabinet’s Division of Historic Properties has released its 2008 Kentucky State Capitol ornament, the sixth in a limited-edition series.
“This year’s ornament features the west lunette, depicting the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals,” the announcement [...]

Here’s something to chew on as you eat your next turkey sandwich at Subway: The bird you are digesting might have been a runner-up to a turkey “pardoned” just before Thanksgiving by President Bush.
But there’s more.
Your Subway turkey was raised on feed products made by Nicholasville-based Alltech, chief sponsor of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian [...]

Several whisky makers have created cocktails for the presidential candidates and their backers.
Easy Times Kentucky Whisky, which calls itself the “Workin’ Man’s Reward,” is honoring Joe the Plumber, the workin’ man who has come to symbolize this election.
Joe’s drink is called Everyman’s Plumb.
Pour 3 ounces of red plum juice over ice cubes in a glass, [...]

You’ve heard of “Joe the Plumber.”
Now there’s “Joe the Horse.”
He’s otherwise known as Alysheba or simply “America’s horse” — the world’s third richest Thoroughbred, with purse earnings of $6,679,242.
On Thursday, it was announced that the Kentucky Derby winner, who has spent the last eight years in the royal stables of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, [...]