LOS ANGELES — Proof of a COVID-19 vaccination or a recent negative test will soon be necessary to enter Los Angeles County’s largest theme parks, a top health official confirmed Thursday.

Under a new health order to be issued this week, such verification will be necessary for attendees of outdoor “mega events” — those with 10,000-plus...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Life had stalled La Kesha Wash's dream of working in interior design.

More than a decade later, she decided to give it a go — amid a global pandemic that was hammering the economy and shutting businesses.

"I was like OK, you're not getting any younger, so this is the time. If you're going to do it, just do it," said Wash, who...Read more

The pharmaceutical industry, bizarrely, told the American people this week that allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices is tantamount to socialism, rather than an example of a healthy, competitive marketplace.

The industry said in an open letter to Congress that letting Medicare haggle on behalf of its 63 million beneficiaries would give the...Read more

CHICAGO — Sears is closing its Woodfield Mall store in November, leaving the iconic retailer without a single department store in Illinois, where it built its retail empire.

The retailer’s parent company plans to redevelop the property as part of a “strategy to unlock the value of the real estate and pursue the highest and best use for ...Read more

You know it’s bad when ice cream machines at McDonald’s across America are broken so often they’re a punchline for late-night jokesters. (Though blaming the Hamburglar seems too easy.)

Or when a guy comes up with an actual website — mcbroken.com — so someone jonesing for a soft-serve vanilla cone can track which nearby Mickey D’s ...Read more

DETROIT — A year after revealing plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in the iconic Rouge Complex to build the all-electric F-150 Lightning, the automaker announced Thursday that its initial plan didn't go far enough.

Ford confirmed it will double production of the highly-anticipated 2022 Ford F-150 that will be built with a ...Read more

Applications for U.S. state unemployment benefits rose last week, led by a jump in Louisiana, as Hurricane Ida continues to throw a wrench in the labor market’s broad recovery.

Initial unemployment claims in regular state programs increased to 332,000 in the week ended Sept. 11, Labor Department data showed Thursday. The median estimate in a...Read more

CHICAGO — Facing the threat of foreclosure on her home, Carla Diamantes was shaken and frustrated.

Her South Shore house is where she grew up, and has been in her family for six decades, she said. But after challenges with her mortgage servicer and upon exiting a COVID-19 program that allowed her to defer payments, she owes thousands of ...Read more

DETROIT — As it seeks a solution to a battery fire risk, General Motors issued yet another safety recommendation Wednesday for Chevrolet Bolt owners: If you're pulling into a parking deck, keep your car at least 50 feet away from other vehicles.

A customer's concern about the safety of leaving their electric vehicle in a parking garage led ...Read more

Q: We are selling our condo, and closing is fast approaching. Our board is dragging its feet on approving our buyer. We are getting concerned because we must pack and move out, and we do not even know if our buyer will be allowed to buy our home. What can we do? — Anna

A: Selling your home can be incredibly stressful. Not only do you have to ...Read more

The recent increase in inflation could mean retirees already receiving their Social Security benefit might see 2022 it rise by about 5%, which would be the biggest annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in more than a decade.

But the even bigger payoff from a large Social Security COLA will be for anyone at least 62 who has yet to start ...Read more

Unlike many diseases that afflict aging humans, there are already cures for the most common, serious and expensive threat to thousands of aging buildings along Florida’s coast, a malady that structural engineers have dubbed “concrete cancer.”

The symptoms show up first as rust-stained columns or cracked balconies — tell-tale signs the ...Read more

A wet summer that brought several tropical storms and a barrage of torrential rain to Connecticut has hit farms hard, ruining fall crops and dealing a blow to the state’s $4 billion-a-year agriculture sector.

Ida and Henri flooded about 25 acres of Rodger Phillips’ 300-acre Sub Edge Farm, leaving some places submerged 7 feet, killing ...Read more

Florida has been the first home for each of Royal Caribbean’s Oasis-class vessels since Oasis of the Seas debuted in 2008, but was set to lose out to China for the fifth ship in the class, Wonder of the Seas. But the cruise line announced some changes that will bring the ship to the Sunshine State early next year.

What will inherit the title ...Read more

Our favorite housing economist — yes, we have one of those — is Jenny Schuetz, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, who publishes a steady stream of insightful and practical articles on topics like why getting a multi-year lease is a good idea and whom you should blame for high housing costs (spoiler alert: greedy people). We caught...Read more

Lumber prices, a key cost in home construction and an influence on inflation, have plunged from their peaks this spring but remain well above pre-pandemic levels.

The development is welcome news to people who want to build a new home because, aside from land acquisition and labor, lumber is typically the highest component cost.

Prices on ...Read more

South Florida could become the worst place in the country for renters by the end of the year, partly because wages don’t keep up with exorbitant rent increases. a new forecast shows.

Renters here are likely to devote 40% of their income to rent by the end of the year, according to a forecast by Zillow, an online real estate marketplace that ...Read more

Businesses and governments that require customers to show proof of a coronavirus vaccine will start to face hefty fines on Thursday, but some details about how the new law will work remain unclear.

The Florida Department of Health will be responsible for enforcing the $5,000 per violation charge under a law blocking so-called “vaccine ...Read more

The federal government has imposed sanctions on three Medicare Advantage health plans run by UnitedHealthcare because the Minnetonka-based health insurer spent too small a share of premium revenue on medical benefits for seniors.

As a result, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced earlier this month that the ...Read more