Bite-Sized News

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Vending machine dispenses high-quality meats

What could be the United States’ first-ever meat vending machine exists at an Odenville, Ala. store, and the Birmingham company that created it has beefy expectations to expand the concept.

Birmingham’s Smart Butcher recently installed the machine at the Lil Mart in Odenville. With the push of a button, shoppers can leave with fresh cuts of steak or Conecuh sausages. Customers can feed $1 or $5 bills into the machine or swipe a credit or debit card and buy pork steaks, 8-ounce sirloins, 12-ounce ribeye steaks, sausages and other meats (montgomeryadvertiser.com).

 

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Dippin’ Dots tries to avoid meltdown

After a four-year battle with its biggest lender, Dippin’ Dots Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection two weeks ago to avoid foreclosure.

The manufacturer of the quirky and colorful ice cream beads, which are flash frozen using liquid nitrogen, owes over $12 million, the bulk of it to a unit of Regions Financial Corp., which moved to foreclosure on the loan this week.

The company’s sales woes came at the tail end of an expensive legal battle — one that the company ultimately lost — over whether founder Curt Jones properly filed the patents that protected its special freezing process (online.wsj.com).

 

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Wooster resident makes it onto ‘The X Factor’

Josh Krajcik, 30, a Wooster community member, has made it to the final ten contestants on “The X Factor.” Paula Abdul, the group’s mentor on the show, even called his voice “chicken soup for the soul” (entertainment.gather.com).

Wooster’s restaurant The Olde Jaol has broadcasted every episode of the show on its 20-foot screen since his try-outs, and will continue to do so as long as Krajcik remains in the competition (the-daily-record.com).