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Hand-out/Zillow/TNS

World of Warcraft to partner with Zillow to display in-game homes

Business / Business News /

Scrolling through Zillow window shopping homes you can’t afford is a mixed bag. It’s nice to dream, but it can be a tough reminder of your pocketbook.

Or, you could just scroll Zillow on World of Warcraft.

The more than 20-year-old multiplayer online game has teamed up with Zillow to create a new “microsite” where players can browse ...Read more

Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS

California bill would mandate insurance for homeowners who reduce wildfire risks

Business / Business News /

A bill requiring insurers to offer coverage to California homeowners who make their property resistant to wildfires was introduced Wednesday in the Legislature.

SB 1076, by state Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, D-Alhambra, would require insurers to offer and renew coverage for any home that meets wildfire-safety standards adopted by the insurance ...Read more

Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times/TNS

LA fire victims say state regulators ignored complaints about State Farm

Business / Business News /

Last spring, victims of the Los Angeles wildfires complained loudly and en masse over how State Farm General was handling their insurance claims, especially for smoke damage.

Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara urged them to lodge formal complaints with the department.

"That's how we track and how we monitor, and we make sure that we follow ...Read more

Karen Ducey/The Seattle Times/TNS

Microsoft says it hit a key climate milestone. Does the math add up?

Business / Business News /

Microsoft announced Wednesday it has matched 100% of its electricity consumption with renewable energy, meeting a goal it set in 2020. The company’s electricity demand is projected to surge due to the expansion of data centers in a global artificial intelligence race, but the tech giant said for now, it had met a major milestone toward its “...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

How Zillow changed every step of homebuying and selling in 20 years

Business / Business News /

Twenty years ago last week, a Seattle startup called Zillow launched the first public website showing on- and off-market property values.

Since then, and throughout waves of controversy and housing ups and downs, Zillow hasn’t just survived — it’s dominated.

Zillow has ballooned from an advertising business into a market gatekeeper that ...Read more

David Tonelson/Dreamstime/TNS

Gallo will shut North Bay winery and chop scores of Bay Area jobs

Business / Business News /

ST. HELENA, California — E&J Gallo Winery, the world’s largest wine producer by volume, decided to slash nearly 100 Bay Area jobs and shutter one of its production hubs, the company reported to state labor officials.

Including the closure of The Ranch Winery in Napa County, Modesto-based Gallo will eliminate 73 jobs at three sites in St. ...Read more

Glen Stubbe/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

DC Republicans struggle to cut deal for ethanol expansion, risking wrath from farmers

Business / Business News /

WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled Congress and Trump administration have yet to authorize year-round higher ethanol blends, the latest fumble on a farm agenda that could grow into a political liability as the midterm election season heats up.

An all-GOP task force charged with bringing forward a solution between pro-ethanol forces and ...Read more

VOIFO/VOIFO/TNS

Tech review: Two dash cam systems keep an eye on your trips

Business / Business News /

I love watching the evolution of gadgets.

I’ve been around long enough to remember a time before we had a lot of the gadgets we take for granted today, like smartphones or laptops and today’s topic, dash cams.

Today we are looking at two dash cams, the 4K A810S from 70mai and A329S from VIOFO.

Both offer 4K recording and tons of other ...Read more

Christina House/Los Angeles Times/TNS

County prosecutors probing whether Edison should be criminally prosecuted for Eaton fire

Business / Business News /

The Los Angeles County District Attorney is investigating whether Southern California Edison should be criminally prosecuted for its actions in last year's devastating Eaton wildfire, which killed 19 people and left thousands of families homeless, the company said Wednesday.

Pedro Pizarro, chief executive of Edison International, told Wall ...Read more

Christian Gooden/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/TNS

Boeing defense headquarters moving back to St. Louis

Business / Business News /

ST. LOUIS — The Boeing Co.'s defense, space and security division headquarters is moving back to St. Louis, the company said in a news release Wednesday.

The division operated out of St. Louis from 1997 to 2017 when Boeing moved the defense headquarters to Arlington, Virginia.

The relocation is effective as of Wednesday, and there is not a ...Read more

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North America/TNS

DMV decides not to suspend Tesla sales in California over deceptive marketing

Business / Business News /

Tesla sales won't be suspended in California after regulators ruled Tuesday that the electric vehicle company has stopped misleading customers about its driver assistance features.

In December, the California Department of Motor Vehicles found Tesla in violation of state law for exaggerating the capabilities of its "Autopilot" and "Full Self-...Read more

Dan Kitwood/Getty Images North America/TNS

Google Gemini, Apple add music-focused generative AI features

Business / Business News /

Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Apple Inc. are adding music-focused generative artificial intelligence features to their core consumer apps, underscoring how advanced AI tools are moving into mainstream use.

Google’s Gemini AI assistant can now create 30-second music tracks based on text, photos or video uploaded by users using Google DeepMind�...Read more

Wang Yizhe/Dreamstime/TNS

Unprecedented 'jobless boom' tests limits of US economic expansion

Business / Business News /

The U.S. economy is creating plenty of wealth. It’s just not creating many jobs.

Forecasters expect Friday’s report on gross domestic product to show the economy expanded 2.7% in 2025, a solid pace by any standard for a developed country. But employment barely grew, and the combination is drawing comparisons to the infamous “jobless ...Read more

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North America/TNS

Feds kill rule that promoted EV production to meet mpg standards

Business / Business News /

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration said Wednesday it is eliminating a regulatory wrinkle that boosted the miles-per-gallon ratings of electric vehicles, which helped automakers meet federal fuel economy targets.

The announcement follows an appeals court decision in September and a complicated Biden-era standoff between automakers and ...Read more

Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune/TNS

OpenAI blocked from using Cameo name for its AI video features

Business / Business News /

OpenAI has been temporarily blocked from using the word "Cameo" in a product that allows people to generate videos based on prompts amid a trademark dispute.

Last year, the celebrity video platform Cameo sued OpenAI, alleging that the San Francisco company infringed its trademark. People use Cameo to purchase personalized videos of celebrities ...Read more

Ford Motor Co./TNS

How Ford's 'skunkworks' team is designing a more efficient EV

Business / Business News /

Ford Motor Co. engineers assigned to work on the Dearborn, Michigan, automaker's new electric vehicle platform often take several months to transition to the group's different approach to vehicle development, the team's executive director said.

Ford a few years ago broke off a small team of engineers and designers it called "skunkworks" in ...Read more

Glen Stubbe/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Mayo Clinic testing Israeli magnetic-heating technology as cancer treatment

Business / Business News /

Anyone who has used an induction cooktop to boil noodles is halfway to understanding Mayo Clinic’s new experimental approach to killing cancer cells.

The Rochester-based health system announced Tuesday it is the first in the U.S. to test Israeli technology that targets solid tumors with fast-rising heat, or hyperthermia.

“Temperature is ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

General Mills lowers sales, profit outlook as stressed consumers spend less

Business / Business News /

General Mills is forecasting a drop in sales this fiscal year as many Americans continue to cut back in the grocery aisle.

The Minnesota-based food company lowered its outlook in the face of “historically low consumer sentiment, heightened uncertainty and significant volatility,” CEO Jeff Harmening said at the Feb. 17 Consumer Analyst Group...Read more

Al Seib/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Weeks before studio negotiations, the Writers Guild of America's staff union goes on strike

Business / Business News /

The Writers Guild of America West's own staff union is officially on strike.

According to a release, the staff union called for an unfair labor practice strike on Tuesday afternoon, alleging management has shown no intention to come to an agreement on the pending contract. Among its accusations, the labor group also said that guild management ...Read more

Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Warner Bros. Discovery reopens bidding, gives Paramount 7 days to make its case

Business / Business News /

LOS ANGELES — Warner Bros. Discovery is cracking open the door to allow spurned bidder, Paramount Skydance, to make its case that it should win the legendary entertainment company — the latest twist in the contentious, high-stakes auction.

Warner's decision to reopen talks comes after weeks of pressure from Paramount and its controlling ...Read more