HOUSTON -- Natural Resource Partners' Nick Carter will make a presentation at the Wells Fargo 8th Annual Pipeline and MLP Symposium in New York.

The NRP president and chief operating officer will discuss the current coal markets and NRP at 10:15 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 8, at the New York Palace Hotel. A live webcast will be available at www.nrplp.com and archived for 30 days. NRP has its operations headquarters in Huntington.

Delta says November traffic fell 7.1 pct

ATLANTA -- Delta Air Lines Inc. said on Friday that its November traffic fell 7.1 percent, by far the biggest drop among the major U.S. carriers.

Delta flew 13.57 billion revenue passenger miles, or one paying passenger flown one mile, in November. The drop-off from November 2008 included an 11.2 percent drop in international traffic and a 4.6 percent drop in domestic traffic. The results include Northwest, which Delta bought last year.

By comparison, November traffic rose 1.8 percent at United Airlines and 2.9 percent at Continental. It fell 1.6 percent at US Airways and fell 0.5 percent at American, although American's figure didn't include its regional traffic. November traffic jumped 11.7 percent at Southwest Airlines.

Delta cut capacity, too. In November it had 17.06 billion available seat miles, down 8.4 percent from November 2008. Domestic capacity was down 4.2 percent.

Occupancy, called load factor, rose 1.1 percentage points to 79.6 percent.

For the first 11 months of the year, Delta traffic is down 6.7 percent, while it has cut capacity by 6.3 percent.

Attorney publishes book on estate planning

HUNTINGTON -- Huntington attorney Bruce Stout of Huddleston Bolen LLP has recently released a book on estate planning.

"Estate Planning in West Virginia: Real Answers to Real Questions" is Stout's first book and provides information on wills, beneficiaries, spouses, trusts, asset protection and more in a question-and-answer format.

Stout also is scheduled for book signings at 1:30 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5, at the Hospice of Huntington Gift Shop, 1101 6th Avenue; and 4-6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 13, at Borders Books and Music at the Huntington Mall

In addition to local bookstores, the book is available at www.huddlestonbolen.com/books or by calling 304-529-6181.

Macy's to open Sunglass Huts in 430 stores

CINCINNATI -- Department-store operator Macy's Inc. said Friday it will open Luxottica Group's Sunglass Huts in about 430 of its 850 Macy's locations next year.

Along with 240 Sunglass Hut departments already operating in Macy's, this agreement brings the number of in-store Sunglass Huts to about 670 locations. New locations will start rolling out in spring 2010, with completion scheduled for spring 2011.

General Motor chair urges risk taking

DETROIT -- General Motors Co. Chairman Ed Whitacre Jr. urged the troubled automaker's employees to forget their old bureaucratic culture, telling them Friday not to fear being fired for taking risks.

Whitacre, who also announced key management changes, wants to speed up the automaker's shift to an entrepreneurial culture where decisions are made quickly.

"We want you to step up. We don't want any bureaucracy," Whitacre told employees, strolling back and forth across a stage at the company's headquarters here. "We're not going to make it if you won't take a risk," he told the audience of 800.

In a 45-minute presentation that was broadcast to employees on internal television networks and over the Internet, Whitacre also unveiled a mission statement to design, build and sell the world's best vehicles.

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