COORS LIT: Today’s the day that H.J. Heinz & Co. shareholders cast their votes for board members, deciding the fate of Coors Brewing Co. scion Peter Coors, who has been on the Heinz board since 2001. The Trian Group, led by Nelson Peltz, has nominated a slate of five directors (including Peltz), to oust Coors and four others from the 12-member Heinz board. Peltz wants deeper cost cuts at the Pittsburgh-based ketchup maker. However, The Wall Street Journal reports today that results of the shareholder vote may not be known for weeks because institutional investors are asking to pick and choose among the competing board slates, complicating the tallies.
WAGING WAR: An announcement is expected Thursday of the business coalition that will oppose the Colorado ballot initiative to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $6.85 beginning in 2007, with automatic cost-of-living adjustments in future years. The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, repping 3,000 business members, has already announced its opposition. Spokesperson for the coalition is Jan Riggs, who had the same role in the successful push for voter approval of the $4.7 billion FasTracks project in 2004. Raising the minimum wage is already a political wedge issue: GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez opposes it; Democratic candidate Bill Ritter is for it.
FUR SURE: A dispute is brewing in Glitter Gulch about whether retailers can put sales racks on the sidewalks, reports the Aspen Daily News. City zoning officials say no. At least two retailers, Aspen Furs and Boogie’s, claim the ordinance is vague because it allows “representative displays” but not outdoor sales. Boogie’s owner Leonard Weinglass told Aspen City Council Monday night “that tourists who can’t afford much of Aspen’s retail offerings appreciate being able to shop via the sales racks,” the newspaper reported.
