A Mebane furniture maker is going out of business after 66 years of operation.

Craftique Furniture said today it will wind down operations in May when it fills remaining orders for its "heirloom quality" mahogany furniture.

On Thursday Craftique will hold a liquidation sale in Burlington, at 2679 Ramada Road, the site of its factory store.

The shutdown will cost about 28 jobs at the company's manufacturing facility in Mebane and the factory store, said co-owner John Erwin.

The estimated number of casualties from Monday's layoff at IBM has risen to 1,440 and is likely to be close to the final tally, according to a labor union that is trying to organize IBM's workers.

"This is a big one," said union organizer Lee Conrad in New York. "It's close to the final number."

Conrad said that a half-dozen anonymous emails from IBM's site in Research Triangle Park indicates that North Carolina was not spared in this round of layoffs. The jobs being eliminated in this country are being sent to other countries, the posts say.

The Alliance@IBM began reporting IBM's layoffs on Monday as reports began trickling in from affected workers. The Alliance was able to estimate the layoff totals because affected workers receive notices disclosing how many workers in their units were let go and how many spared.

IBM is going through another layoff that could last all day and into the week, according to a labor union trying to represent the company's workers.

The Alliance@IBM in New York state, where IBM is based, began receiving calls and emails from IBM workers this morning. The layoffs are scattered across various sites and affect numerous divisions, said Lee Conrad, the union organizer.

The scale of the layoffs won't be know for days, but the union reports 350 layoffs as of late afternoon, based on reports received from affected employees. The employees receive layoff notifications that reveal how many colleagues in their departments were affected and how many spared, but don't identify the other employees.

Conrad said he didn't know if anyone lost work today at IBM's Research Triangle Park site, where the company is estimated to employ about 10,000 people.

Industrial oven manufacturer Turkington USA, which moved its manufacturing plant to Clayton just two and a half years ago, is shutting down the facility and laying off 101 people.

The company detailed the layoffs in a notice filed Monday with the N.C. Department of Commerce. The notice said a temporary receiver has been appointed to wind down or sell the business.

Turkington officials could not be reached for comment Thursday. The announcement marks a quick fall for the business, which is the U.S. subsidiary of United Kingdom-based Turkington Industries.

Duke Energy and Progress Energy have fine-tuned their staff-reduction estimates in their pending merger as the two North Carolina companies continue working on their merger integration plan.

The two electric utilities told the N.C. Utilities Commission today they expect to eliminate 1,860 positions over three years. That's down from an earlier estimate that placed the maximum potential staff reduction size at 2,000.

The N.C. Utilities Commission, which is reviewing the proposed merger, requested the updated data. Merger critics argue that the enormity of the staff cuts during one of the most severe economic downturns in decades means the merger is not a public benefit for the state.

Charlotte-based Duke and Raleigh-based Progress also disclosed that they expect 347 workers would be laid off or would leave on their own over the next three years, but the layoff total will depend on how many workers leave on their own. Those laid off will be redundant workers who did not take an early buyout offer or did not leave for another job.

Drug maker Novartis said today it's planning to eliminate  2,000 jobs in Switzerland and the United States in response to falling drug prices.

The Swiss company did not specify how the cuts would affect its operations in North Carolina, where the company employs 960 people in Holly Springs, Wilson and Greensboro.

The pharmaceutical company blamed declining reimbursements from government employers for the cuts, which are expected to take place in the next five years. At the same time, Novartis plans to fill hundreds of positions in India and China.

For more details, see the Associated Press story here.

Novartis employs about 300 at its Holly Springs flu vaccine plant. The company makes generic medications in Wilson and animal health products in Greensboro.

Commercial publishing company Henry Wurst announced today it will be closing its Apex site and laying off about 55 employees in December due to market conditions.

The company is moving its production facility to its home-office in Kansas City, MO.

"It was a very difficult decision to close this facility and certainly not a reflection on the excellent employees we have here," said President Mark Hanf, of Henry Wurst, in a statement.

The Apex plant was an overflow facility for the Kansas City office. Market conditions have made competing in this area no longer viable," Hanf said.

Time Warner Cable plans to lay off 45 employees in Wilmington as the company consolidates operations in the Triangle.

The telecommunications company notified the N.C. Department of Commerce that it expects to lay off 45 call center workers by Dec. 15.

The company said last year it would merge operation in Morrisville; at the time it expected to transfer 100 jobs from the Wilmington call center. 

Time Warner spokesman Keith Poston said about 20 of the Wilmington workers transferred to Morrisville and 50 left the company, leaving the 45 at the call center who will be laid off.

Contract manufacturer Flextronics plans to lay off 83 workers at its facilities in North Carolina over the next several months.

The company filed a notice today with the N.C. Department of Commerce under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.

The notice does not say where the layoffs are taking place, only that they will occur at numerous locations.

A Flextronics officials did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

The company operates facilities in Creedmoor, Morrisville and Charlotte.

Red Bull Racing, which announced in June that it would withdraw from NASCAR at the end of the season, will shutter its operations in Mooresville in December and lay off 152 employees.

The company filed a notice this week with the N.C. Department of Commerce under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.

The operations will close sometime between Dec. 17 and the end of the year.

Red Bull operated its Sprint Cup racing team different than many other teams.