Wendy’s to bring self-ordering kiosks

Wendy’s to bring self-ordering kiosks

DUBLIN, OHIO

Wendy’s says it plans to install self-ordering kiosks at about 1,000 locations by the end of the year.

A typical location would have three kiosks, The Columbus Dispatch reported. Higher-volume restaurants will be given priority for the kiosks.

Wendy’s chief information officer, David Trimm, said the kiosks are intended to appeal to younger customers and reduce labor costs.

Customers will still be able to order at the counter for now, although Tristano predicts that mobile ordering and payment via smartphones will one day overtake self-ordering kiosks and cash registers.

US gas price rises 2 cents over 2 weeks

CAMARILLO, Calif.

The average price of a gallon of regular-grade gasoline rose 2 cents nationally during the past two weeks, to $2.33.

Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday that the slight rise was due to small increases in crude oil and wholesale gas prices.

The national average is up 56 cents per gallon over the price a year ago.

Gas in Los Angeles was the highest in the contiguous U.S. at an average of $2.94 a gallon Friday. The lowest average was in Tulsa, Okla., at $2.02 per gallon.

Officials to stop dam’s outflow to clear debris

OROVILLE, Calif.

California water authorities will stop the outflow from the Oroville Dam’s crippled spillway to allow workers to remove debris blocking a hydroelectric plant from working, officials said Sunday. The Department of Water Resources said it will gradually reduce outflows from the Northern California dam beginning this morning and completely halt them by afternoon.

The outflow from behind the 770-foot-tall dam will be stopped for several days to allow workers to clear concrete, silt and other debris from a pool at the bottom of the spillway. Removing the debris will protect a shuttered underground hydroelectric plant and allow it to eventually resume operations, the agency said.

2 kidnapped Germans are freed by agents

KADUNA, Nigeria

Nigerian security agents have freed two German archaeologists kidnapped by gunmen at a remote dig, the governor of northern Kaduna state said Sunday.

The two academics are at the German embassy in Abuja and are doing well considering the circumstances, according to the German Foreign Ministry.

Gunmen had been demanding a ransom of 60 million naira (about $200,000) for the release of Professor Peter Breunig and his assistant, Johannes Behringer. The two were abducted at gunpoint Wednesday. Breunig, 65, and Behringer, in his 20s, are part of a four-person team from Frankfurt’s Goethe University.

Vatican stakes rights to pope’s image

vatican city

God’s love may be free, but the Vatican says it has a copyright on the pope.

Unnerved by the proliferation of papal-themed T-shirts, snow globes and tea towels around the world, the Vatican has warned it intends to “protect” the image of Pope Francis and “stop situations of illegality that may be discovered.” It also wants to protect the crossed keys emblem of the Holy See.

“The secretary of state will undertake systematic surveillance aimed at monitoring the way in which the image of the Holy Father and the emblems of the Holy See are used, intervening with opportune measures when necessary,” the Vatican said.

To back up this declaration, the Vatican has hired the global law firm Baker McKenzie to protect its intellectual property rights, the Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported.

Associated Press