Highlights
When Illinois blacksmith John Deere brought out the first commercial steel plow in 1837, he helped set the stage for a revolution in agriculture. Because the tough sod of the Midwest slid so easily off what farmers came to call Deere's "singing plow," vast stretches of prairieland could be turned into productive farmland. Deere & Co., the Moline manufacturing giant he created to sell his plow, went on to become the world's biggest maker of agricultural equipment. In addition to its well-known tractors, combines, seed drills and other farm-related equipment, Deere is also a leading maker of heavy equipment used in construction and logging. Despite that diversification, Deere's sales still pri...
When Illinois blacksmith John Deere brought out the first commercial steel plow in 1837, he helped set the stage for a revolution in agriculture. Because the tough sod of the Midwest slid so easily off what farmers came to call Deere's "singing plow," vast stretches of prairieland could be turned into productive farmland. Deere & Co., the Moline manufacturing giant he created to sell his plow, went on to become the world's biggest maker of agricultural equipment. In addition to its well-known tractors, combines, seed drills and other farm-related equipment, Deere is also a leading maker of heavy equipment used in construction and logging. Despite that diversification, Deere's sales still primarily rise and fall with the price farmers get for the grains they harvest -- growers only buy such big-ticket equipment when they're relatively flush -- and the soaring commodity prices that accompanied the ethanol boom of the mid-2000s spurred record profits for the company.
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Pierce J. Flanigan III
Pierce John Flanigan III, president of his family's transportation infrastructure business who advised governors and mayors, died Wednesday of a brain hemorrhage in Chicago while on a business trip. The Harbor East resident was 66. Mr. Flanigan mixed a...Tags: Harbor East, James Joyce, Bolton Hill, Government, Adlai Stevenson
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Family aims to finish race dad began
By the time Todd Western had finished his shift at John Deere, it was already growing dark. He went home, ate a quick dinner and set out on his bike for the local track. At the time, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon was less than three months away....
Tags: Family, Chicago Marathon, Bank of America Corp., Marathon, Banking
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Vandals set fires at Grafton High
247-4644— A riding lawn mower and Port-o-Potty were set on fire and graffiti painted at Grafton High School's field hockey field sometime between Friday and Saturday. A citizen saw something smoldering at the school early Saturday morning and alerted the...Tags: Fires, Field Hockey, Arson
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Farmers going to or from fields fear becoming road-kill
Chicago Tribune reporter"I know you got your own deadlines/But cussin' me ain't savin' no time, hoss/This big-wheeled wide load ain't goin' any faster/So just smile and wave and tip your hat/To the man up on the tractor." —Country music singer Craig Morgan from...Tags: Forests, Natural Resources, Farms, Huntley, Road Transportation
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Toymaker halts deal for kids' publisher
Chicago Tribune reporterOak Brook-based toymaker RC2 Corp., citing "adverse capital markets," said Tuesday that it has called off its $163 million agreement to acquire the children's publishing division of Publications International Ltd. RC2 is "disappointed not to be moving...Tags: RC2 Corporation, Sales, Toy Industry, Lincolnwood, Toys
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Pumpkin farmers pinched by economy, drought
247-4631Local farmers might have trouble dealing with the effects of weather and the fluctuating economy as pumpkin season begins. "This was the driest summer I've seen in the past 10 years," said Steve Berryman of College Run Farms in Surry County. This summer...Tags: Surry County, Hampton Roads Weather, Norfolk (Norfolk, Virginia), Farms, Hampton Roads
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1,000,000 trailers and counting
The Free Lance-StarTwo trailers on display recently in a Westmoreland County factory told the story of J. Pearson. Now 43, Pearson welded one, a big gooseneck trailer, together when he was an eighth-grader in a Fauquier County shop class. It hauled equipment and hay bales...Tags: Auction Service, Employees, Westmoreland County, Plant Openings, Virginia Tech
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Remembering and honoring a beloved principal
The image that sticks with Scott Ruehl is the principal smoking a pipe while mowing the grass at the high school. Val Salvato McNeely recalls receiving the principal's strong support of her effort to form a drill team with classmates. And Frank Aiello... -
Backhoe joy ride causes $5,430 in damage
Someone hopped into a backhoe at a construction site in Whitehall Township last week, started it up and caused more than $5,400 in damage, police said. Joseph Kiss, a maintenance manager at Home Properties Community, 1988 Presidential Drive, said the...Tags: Whitehall, Home Properties Incorporated
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Activities Calendar: Sept. 25-Oct. 3
THURSDAY SEP. 25 HISTORY Lehigh Valley World War II Roundtable: Eugene Richardson and representatives of the Tuskegee Airmen of Greater Philadelphia share their experiences. 6 p.m. Free. Lehigh County Senior Center, 1633 Elm St., Allentown. 610-437-...Tags: Dance, Nature, Johns Hopkins University, Tourism and Leisure, Taj Mahal
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Good, old-fashioned fun
247-4737Past fields of cotton, corn and soybeans sits Heritage Park in Isle of Wight County — the site of last weekend's county fair. It was the perfect spot for old-fashioned fun, where heaps of oversized vegetables, rows of prized chickens and piles of...Tags: Isle of Wight (Isle of Wight, Virginia), Rodeo Bull Riding, Metal and Mineral, Rodeo
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Shore farming enthusiast tries old methods
The (Salisbury, Md.) Daily TimesBill Savage was given a bushel of seed corn two years ago. That single bushel has multiplied and resulted in the 36-year-old Eastern Shore native developing a passion for preserving and sharing old ways of farming. The seed came from a variety of Indian...Tags: Pocomoke City, Salisbury (Wicomico, Maryland), Metal and Mineral, History
Oct 11, 2008
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Sep 25, 2008
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Sep 27, 2008
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Sep 25, 2008
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Sep 28, 2008
|Story| Hampton Roads Daily Press
Sep 20, 2008
|Story| Hampton Roads Daily Press
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