As the pork and poultry industries cheer deregulation that will let them permanently increase the speed of production lines at slaughterhouses, workers say they’re already moving too fast.

“We don’t need a faster line,” said Aster Abrahame, who trims loins at the JBS pork plant in Worthington, Minn. “If it goes faster, more people ...Read more

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Teenagers as young as 14 could soon be allowed to work overnight shifts as part of an effort in the Republican-led Legislature to roll back major aspects of the state’s child labor laws.

The proposal — which moved through its first Florida Senate committee Tuesday — comes as Gov. Ron DeSantis says a younger workforce...Read more

Eric McCullough spent months looking for an affordable place of his own but then moved into an apartment with his daughter, his only option to make ends meet.

McCullough, 59, lives on disability insurance and said he could not find apartments or houses for rent that he could afford on those payments alone.

“The magic question, to me, is what...Read more

Over the next three days, 2,400 cashiers, deli clerks, meat cutters, bakery workers, pastry decorators, florists and other grocery store staffers will decide whether Tony’s Fresh Market, the grocery chain founded by Italian immigrants in Logan Square and sold to private equity three years ago, will become a union shop.

Tony’s workers from ...Read more

The messaging app Signal that Trump administration officials used to discuss an attack on Yemen’s Houthi rebels was created by a one-time anarchist to help activists, journalists and others communicate beyond the prying eyes of government intelligence agencies — not to plan government military operations.

Launched by American cryptographer...Read more

Back in December, alcohol importer Raza Zaidi in San Francisco placed an order for a pallet of gins, liqueurs and bitters from a Mexican spirits producer.

As the truck made its way north toward the border several weeks later, it was up against the clock: On Feb. 1, President Donald Trump had announced plans to impose 25% tariffs on imports from...Read more

President Donald Trump’s federal funding cuts are being felt from farms in the Heartland to food banks in Chicago.

More than $1 billion in assistance that usually flows into the U.S. Department of Agriculture for two programs that help local farmers, schools and food banks has already vanished. Now the administration is threatening to slash ...Read more

CHICAGO — The administration of President Donald Trump forged ahead this month with plans to shrink the federal government’s national real estate footprint, canceling hundreds of office leases across the country and proposing to sell off many properties.

In the Chicago area, as of this week nearly 200,000 square feet of leased federal ...Read more

A prominent group of academics and real estate industry experts has crafted a far-reaching plan to hasten the recovery of Los Angeles County neighborhoods devastated by the January wildfires.

The authors identified roadblocks to recovery and proposed such solutions as speeding construction approval processes; addressing labor and supply chain ...Read more

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Arms are a global business, so it's little surprise that at the International Defense Exhibition and Conference, discerning quartermasters had a world buffet of weaponry before them, be it Brazilian ballistic munitions, Indian patrol boats or the latest in AI-enabled drones from the U.S.

Also present was ...Read more

NORTHFIELD, Minnesota — For nearly six decades, KYMN Radio has weathered industry shifts — from the transition to FM to the rise of the internet and the emergence of streaming services. But Minnesota’s winters have proven to be a different kind of challenge.

After a brutal cold spell earlier this season, the station found that one of the ...Read more

When the economic disruption from COVID-19 and the resulting shutdowns began in early 2020, Colorado’s unemployment system was so overwhelmed that it struggled to handle the flood of applications.

The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment went from processing just under 100,000 initial claims in 2019 to nearly 800,000 claims in 2020 and...Read more

LOS ANGELES — After years of hustle, film and TV producer Stephen Love found himself in a situation many of his peers would salivate over: He was in four bidding wars.

Studios clamored to snap up his projects. Hollywood trade news outlets gushed about their merits, bolstering Love's career and reputation. But all the while, Love was shooting ...Read more

ST. LOUIS — A Washington, D.C., startup is looking to hire local neurodivergent workers as it opens an office downtown, attracted to St. Louis by the promised growth of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency campus.

Founded in 2020, Enabled Intelligence is a data-labeling and AI innovation company that works with sensitive and classified...Read more

Seattle was a surprise to Shweta Singhal, 39, when she relocated with her husband and daughter from New Delhi in 2016.

She expected gloomy weather and distant residents. But she fell in love with the mild seasons and kind people she encountered. Eventually, she and her husband had another child, a son born in the U.S., and bought a home in the ...Read more

When Ilya Schwartzburg and his wife moved to Philadelphia from New York City, they were looking forward to lower housing costs, closer proximity to friends, and a shift from renting to homeownership.

But they expected that one of the more unpleasant aspects of urban life would remain constant.

“I thought I would have to deal with rats as a ...Read more

Boeing is seeking to withdraw its guilty plea related to a criminal fraud charge following two deadly 737 Max crashes six years ago, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

Citing “people familiar with the matter,” The Wall Street Journal reported that the aerospace manufacturer is hoping to benefit from “more lenient treatment” from ...Read more

The bankruptcy filing of 23andMe, a South San Francisco company that stores the genetic information of at least 15 million customers, has raised substantial concerns about consumer data security.

According to the company’s U.S. privacy statement, if 23andMe is involved in a “bankruptcy, merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of assets...Read more

SUNOL, California — A huge East Bay property where a nuclear power plant had operated for decades has been bought by a titan in the environmental remediation and nuclear decommissioning business.

The GEH Vallecitos Nuclear Center near Sunol and Pleasanton has been bought by an affiliate of Northstar Group Services for $7 million.

GE Hitachi ...Read more