By DEE-ANN DURBIN

Cracker Barrel said Wednesday it expects lower sales and weaker customer traffic in the coming year as the controversy over its planned logo change continues to play out.

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In a conference call with investors, Cracker Barrel said traffic at its restaurants was down 1% in early August, before it announced it was adopting a more simplified logo. The new logo dropped the image of an older man in overalls leaning on a barrel and removed the words “Old Country Store.”

But after the announcement on Aug. 18 and the outcry that followed from many longtime fans, restaurant traffic dropped 8%. Cracker Barrel said Wednesday that traffic will likely be down between 7% and 8% in the first quarter and could decline 4% to 7% for the full 2026 fiscal year.

Cracker Barrel’s shares dropped 9% in after-hours trading Wednesday.

Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Felss Masino said the company conducted extensive research before releasing the new logo and launching a plan to remodel its 660 U.S. restaurants. The company has since scrapped the new logo and paused the remodeling.

Masino said the four restaurants that have been remodeled — with new paint, new lighting, more comfortable seating and other changes — will be transitioned back to their former decor. Remodels that had begun at 58 other restaurants will also be halted, she said.

“What can not be captured in data is how much our guests see themselves and their own story in the Cracker Barrel experience, which is what’s led to such a strong response to these changes,” Masino said during a conference call with investors Wednesday.

Masino said Cracker Barrel will continue other aspects of its plan to boost sales and attract new customers, including menu innovation and kitchen upgrades. She said marketing will lean into nostalgia and fans’ love for Uncle Herschel, the character pictured on the brand’s logo.

FILE – The Cracker Barrel Old Country Store logo in Pearl, Miss., is photographed, Sept. 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

The company is also continuing to grow its loyalty program. Masino said the 2-year-old program now has 9 million members and gained 300,000 new members in just the last four weeks. Masino said one new loyalty perk will be the ability to give the company feedback after every restaurant visit.

“We’re moving ahead with a strong plan to regain traffic and the momentum we had a month ago,” Masino said. “There is a lot to be optimistic about.”

The Lebanon, Tennessee-based company said it expects total revenue of $3.35 billion to $3.45 billion in its 2026 fiscal year, which began Aug. 2. That is lower than the $3.48 billion Cracker Barrel reported in its 2025 fiscal year.

It expects a $25 million hit due to U.S. tariffs on imported goods in the 2026 fiscal year. The company said it’s adjusting some of the products sold in its stores to mitigate that.

A case of highly pathogenic avian flu in Minnesota was confirmed Tuesday at a Redwood County commercial turkey farm. It’s the first confirmed case in the state since April.

The case was not unexpected as the fall migration of wild birds has begun, but it comes just weeks after Minnesota was declared free of avian influenza at the end of August. This detection resets Minnesota’s response teams and will draw responders back into the fight against the costly avian influenza this fall, according to a Minnesota Board of Animal Health news release.

The Redwood County flock, around 20,000 turkeys, showed signs of increased mortality. Samples taken Sunday and submitted to the Minnesota Poultry Testing Laboratory on Monday tested PCR positive for influenza A and the H5 strain.

Molecular testing is a diagnostic tool that looks for the presence of the virus in the bird. Positive influenza results indicate the bird is infected and shedding virus. The USDA National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa, confirmed the results and will run further tests on the sample to classify the virus type, according to the news release.

“Though we remain hopeful that we can eliminate HPAI in Minnesota’s poultry stock, this case was not wholly unexpected as we move into the migration season for wild waterfowl,” Dr. Shauna Voss, assistant director of the Minnesota Board of Animal Health, said in the news release. “Vigilance and robust biosecurity remain the best methods for flock owners to protect poultry from avian influenza.”

The board calls on poultry producers to review their biosecurity plans to maintain flock health.

Avian influenza has also been recently confirmed in commercial turkey flocks in North and South Dakota and a backyard chicken flock in North Dakota.

NEW YORK (AP) — ABC has suspended Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show indefinitely following comments he made about Charlie Kirk’s killing.

The network’s decision came Nexstar announced its ABC affiliates would pre-empt “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” indefinitely over his comments.

“Mr. Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located,” said Andrew Alford, President of Nexstar’s broadcasting division.

This is a breaking news story. More information will be added as it comes in.

To call Carson Wentz a journeyman might not be understating it. The veteran quarterback signed with the Vikings last month having already played for the Philadelphia Eagles, Indianapolis Colts, Washington Commanders, Los Angeles Rams and Kansas City Chiefs.

Carson Wentz #11 of the Minnesota Vikings warms up prior to the game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Sept. 08, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Now Wentz, 32, is preparing to make NFL history as the only quarterback to ever start a game for six different teams in six consecutive seasons. He will reach that distinction when he starts for the Vikings against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday afternoon at U.S. Bank Stadium.

“It’s definitely given me a different perspective,” Wentz said. “I’ve gone from being a starter to being traded to being cut to being a backup.”

Though his path to this point makes Wentz a cheat code in Immaculate Grid — the online game where players attempt to fill a 3×3 grid with players that fit the criteria for the corresponding rows and columns — it also might make him the perfect person for the Vikings at this moment.

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Carson Wentz (2) rolls to the outside looking for an open receiver during an NFL football game against the New York Jets, Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Zach Bolinger)

The vibes surrounding the Vikings already weren’t great after getting manhandled in a 22-6 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Then news broke that J.J. McCarthy had suffered a high ankle sprain, which is expected to keep the second-year quarterback out for the next few weeks at a minimum.

The amount of experience that Wentz has under his belt has allowed him to hit the ground running as he shifts his mindset from being the backup to being the starter. All those previous stops, he said, have helped him “find ways to learn quick.”

“That,” he added, “has definitely helped in this crash course the past couple of weeks.”

That’s something head coach Kevin O’Connell noticed about Wentz last week when McCarthy missed practice to be at the birth of his son. The fact that Wentz has started 94 games was apparent when everything continued to run smoothly.

“You felt that poise and presence from the walkthrough to the practice,” O’Connell said while noting that he challenged Wentz with a lot of stuff before the snap. “His ability to absorb all that, and then run the show, was apparent to everybody.”

The level of comfort Wentz already has in the offense is a testament to all the extra time he has spent working with quarterbacks coach Josh McCown and assistant quarterbacks coach Jordan Traylor.

“He has been on those guys,” offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said. “He has been very intentional about getting up to speed.”

It helps that Wentz has experience playing in so many different offenses. There are some similarities across the board that have allowed him to grasp certain concepts a little bit quicker than expected.

“You’ve got a guy that’s played a lot of football,” O’Connell said. “You can really tap into a lot of that while also shaping a game plan that he’s comfortable with, so he can go out and have consistent success, because that’s what our whole team needs right now.”

As for Wentz, he’s very much looking forward to the game, admitting that he wasn’t sure that an opportunity like this would ever come again. Though his resume would suggest otherwise, it’s actually been a while since Wentz has played in a meaningful game.

His starts with both the Rams and the Chiefs came after they had locked up playoff spots. There were’t the same consequences Wentz will be faced with when he steps under center for the Vikings.

“You never know when the next chance is going to be in this league,” he said. “It’s not something I want to take lightly or take for granted.”

Briefly

It was another lengthy injury report for the Vikings as McCarthy (ankle), center Ryan Kelly (concussion) and left tackle Justin Skule (concussion) were forced to sit out practice, while edge rusher Jonathan Greenard (oblique), left guard Donovan Jackson (wrist), safety Theo Jackson (hip), linebacker Austin Keys (groin), tight end Josh Oliver (ankle), safety Harrison Smith (illness) and edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel (concussion) were limited participants.

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