Business
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Would a Kroger and Albertsons merger drive grocery prices up or down? The answer is complicated
As grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons push to carry out the largest proposed supermarket merger in U.S. history, the companies’ executives have made a contentious claim.
Joining forces, they say, will push food prices down, not drive them up as U.S. regulators argue will happen if the deal is allowed to go through.
“The day that we merge...Read more
Business, auto groups urge officials not to let politics interfere with US Steel deal
WASHINGTON — A collection of major business groups urged top Biden administration officials Wednesday not to let "political pressure" influence decisions on a proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japanese company Nippon Steel.
They did so in a letter sent to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and other members of the Committee on Foreign ...Read more
Stellantis spending $406 million for EVs, hybrids across 3 Michigan plants
Stellantis NV said Wednesday it's investing $406 million across three Michigan plants as it gears up to add more electric vehicles and hybrids to its lineups.
The maker of Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep and Ram said the investments are happening at the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant, the Warren Truck Assembly Plant, and the Dundee Engine Plant, and ...Read more
Core US inflation picks up, damping odds of outsize Fed cut
Underlying U.S. inflation unexpectedly picked up in August on higher prices for housing and travel, undercutting the chances of an outsize Federal Reserve interest-rate cut next week.
The so-called core consumer price index — which excludes food and energy costs — increased 0.3% from July, the most in four months, and 3.2% from a year ago, ...Read more
Meta's home county backs call for warning labels on social media posts
San Mateo County, California, home to tech giant Meta, urged Congress to pass legislation requiring social media companies to add labels to their platforms warning people about their potential to harm users’ mental health.
The Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday, the same day 42 state attorneys general, including ...Read more
Trying to expand a cannabis business, surrounded by moratoriums
CROOKSTON, Minnesota — In a former cellphone store at the Canna Corners operation on Main Street, customers came in and out on a summer afternoon — a young man in sandals and backpack, a retiree in a veteran’s cap.
“My wife takes half a gummy every day before bedtime. It helps her sleep,” said Mike Lafrance, noting his wife suffers ...Read more
Amid Boeing's Starliner troubles, WA space industry thrives
It’d be reasonable to think Washington’s space economy has a lot riding on Boeing’s Starliner, the spacecraft that left two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station and headed back to Earth with an empty cabin Friday.
The astronauts were scheduled to return on Starliner in June after a week on the ISS, but thruster failures ...Read more
How Ford is using AI, augmented-reality and 3D printing to improve quality
Artificial intelligence-powered photographic inspections, 3D-printed tools and augmented-reality training headsets are part of Ford Motor Co.'s strategy to improve vehicle quality, something that has continued to plague its financial results.
The Dearborn automaker in the second quarter was slammed with a more than 5% decline year-over-year in ...Read more
Young climate voters were tired of Biden. They've embraced Harris -- mostly
Wei Zhou moved to the United States from Cambodia at age 13, leaving behind a Southeast Asian nation ravaged by worsening droughts and floods. By 14, Zhou had started volunteering for the Sunrise Movement, their climate activism informed by a keen sense that the world’s great injustices — among them global warming, poverty and genocide — ...Read more
Do this right now if your Social Security number was snared by hackers
In 2020, there were 1,108 data compromises. By 2023, the number of compromises reached 3,205, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center, a nonprofit based in El Cajon, California.
The most recent high-profile breach: An estimated 2.9 billion Social Security records, or 272 million unique Social Security numbers, were stolen from a Florida...Read more
Disney's request to restore ABC for Trump-Harris debate touches off more squabbling
The Walt Disney Co.'s proposal for a partial, temporary detente as the blackout of its channels on DirecTV and U-Verse stretches into its 10th day has devolved into another round of bickering.
Early Tuesday, Disney offered to restore the ABC network to DirecTV, U-Verse and DirecTV Stream customers for tonight's highly anticipated debate between...Read more
Philanthropists invest $15 million in LA County local news
With local news struggling to survive, a collective of Los Angeles media executives and philanthropists launched an ambitious nonprofit group Tuesday to bolster L.A. County's local news ecosystem, support small independent media and build public trust in media.
The new organization, Los Angeles Local News Initiative, has raised almost $15 ...Read more
CT nuclear power plant offers plan for storing hazardous waste. What to know
After operating for decades, the Millstone nuclear power plant is seeking “final closure” of three hazardous waste storage and management units in Waterford, Connecticut.
Dominion Energy, which owns Millstone, needs approval from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection for the plan that covers three separate buildings at...Read more
Boeing Machinists union chief expects members will reject deal, strike
After an overwhelmingly negative reaction to a deal struck by Boeing and Machinists union leaders, union leader Jon Holden said Monday he expects rank-and-file members will reject the contract and strike late this week.
“The response from people is it’s not good enough,” Machinist union district 751 president Holden said in an exclusive ...Read more
Los Angeles should hike hotel and airport workers' pay, report says
A proposal by City Council members to raise the minimum wages of workers at large hotels and Los Angeles International Airport in the run-up to the 2028 Summer Olympics has received a boost from a new city report.
The report, released Thursday by the city's chief legislative analyst, Sharon Tso, concludes that the proposed gradual pay increase ...Read more
Motormouth: Trouble codes
Q: My Jeep was in my garage for 8 months without being started. Of course, the battery died. I am due for a state inspection sticker soon. A mechanic said there is nothing to test because the dead battery erased all info. I was told I need to drive it for 100 miles to get new data for testing. What should I do before I bring it into the station?...Read more
Art Institute announces $75 million gift to create new gallery building on Michigan Avenue campus
The Art Institute announced a transformative $75 million gift Tuesday to construct a new gallery building and begin an ambitious reshaping of its sprawling campus in the heart of downtown Chicago’s lakefront.
The lions will remain at their post in front of the historic 131-year-old main building along South Michigan Avenue, but their ...Read more
What's going to get employees back to the office? A golf simulator alone won't cut it
Are sports simulators, pickleball courts and kombucha on tap enough to lure employees back to their cubicles?
Nope. Not according to Megan Mackinson, anyhow. And she should know. She’s the Chicago-based national lead for workplace strategy for global real estate services firm JLL. It’s her job to help building owners fill their spaces and ...Read more
Michael Hiltzik: Boeing's landmark union contract seeks to reverse its horrible executive decisions since the turn of this century
Reporting on the announcement Sunday that Boeing Co. had reached a landmark contract agreement with its largest union tended to focus on its economic components, such as wage increases of 25% to 33% over four years, a reduction in employee costs for healthcare and improvements in retirement benefits.
Rather less attention was paid to the ...Read more
Apple, Google lose multibillion dollar court fights with EU
Apple Inc. lost its court fight over a €13 billion ($14.4 billion) Irish tax bill and Google lost its challenge over a €2.4 billion fine for abusing its market power, in a double boost to the European Union’s crackdown on Big Tech.
The EU’s Court of Justice in Luxembourg backed a landmark 2016 decision that Ireland broke state-aid law ...Read more
Popular Stories
- Red Lobster bankruptcy exit gets green light. Fate of the all-you-can-eat shrimp deal unclear
- Do this right now if your Social Security number was snared by hackers
- Amid Boeing's Starliner troubles, WA space industry thrives
- UPS is laying off more employees amid effort to boost profitability
- Trying to expand a cannabis business, surrounded by moratoriums