The number of tourists, office workers and partyers venturing out in Chicago is ticking up, and ride-share prices are rising with them.

The surge has left many riders wondering: when will prices go back down?

Ride-share users paid an average of $26.43 per trip in June, Chicago city data shows — the highest monthly average since the city ...Read more

Marijuana has long been an illicit yet integral part of the annual Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago. This year, it’s legal for the first time in the event’s 30-year history, and potentially big business.

The four-day event begins Thursday in Grant Park, and nearby Chicago cannabis dispensaries are stocking up and staffing up for what ...Read more

As lawmakers work their way through infrastructure proposals and appropriations bills, Democrats are confronted with a gap between President Joe Biden and members of Congress over how to address what both see as a big shortage of affordable housing.

The lines between the two aren’t always clear, but the president is broadly using the ...Read more

As air travel demand increases, a vast majority of flight attendants say they have dealt with unruly passengers and nearly 1 in 5 experienced a physical incident, including shoving, kicking seats and harassing flight crews at airports, according to a survey of flight attendants released Thursday.

The Assn. of Flight Attendants-CWA conducted the...Read more

Q: Our association’s board of directors is not doing their job. Overgrown landscaping, boats and inoperable vehicles in driveways, and houses that need painting are among the many problems in our community. What can a homeowner do when their board and management company are ineffective? — Margaret

A: The board of directors of your community...Read more

After being laid off from her job as a systems analyst for a specialty chemicals company in December, Gabriela de Pompignan opted to hang on to her former employer’s insurance coverage under the federal law known as COBRA. Typically, laid-off workers pick up the total cost of premiums under COBRA, but her company paid roughly 75% of the ...Read more

Many renters are ramping up their searches for bigger places after COVID-19 forced them to work more than a year at home.

Although workers are gradually returning to their regular offices this summer, many are still being allowed to work at home full time or for portions of their workweeks.

Since the pandemic struck down the economy in March ...Read more

Karen Matzel wanted to be first.

She was one of the last passengers to disembark the Celebrity Edge cruise ship in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on March 15, 2020, as COVID-19 shut down the industry, and she wanted to be the first to step back on board during its restart cruise last month. As she wound her way through the switchbacks of the gangway, ...Read more

The "grand bargain" that Seattle politicians and developers struck for larger buildings and affordable housing is starting to yield some results.

Under the new Mandatory Housing Affordability program formulated in 2015, the city agreed to relax zoning restrictions in more than two dozen neighborhood hubs while requiring developers in those ...Read more

Fred Yoder found that applying nitrogen-infused fertilizer to his fields three times in a growing season instead of all at once helped his crops use the nutrient more efficiently, and less nitrogen ended up in rivers and streams.

The move also saves the Plain City, Ohio, farmer money. If fertilizer stays in the soil, he doesn't have to buy as ...Read more

Despite supply constraints, Qualcomm rode the rising 5G smartphone wave and continued uplift from mobile technologies spilling into new industries to post better-than-expected financial results during its fiscal third quarter.

The San Diego wireless technology giant on Wednesday said its quarterly sales rose 65 percent from a year ago to $8.1 ...Read more

Ford Motor Co. reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results and improved its outlook for the full year, even as it continues to battle supply-chain constraints that have caused delays in delivering hotly-anticipated new vehicles such as the Bronco.

Despite being hit hard by a months-long global shortage of computer chips, the ...Read more

General Motors Co. is restarting its full-size trucks plants next week after a week of production impacts caused by the global semiconductor shortage, but other facilities face additional downtime, the automaker said Wednesday.

GM's Flint Assembly, where heavy-duty trucks are built, went down to one shift this week, while light-duty truck ...Read more

Another round of extra tax refund cash began hitting bank accounts Wednesday as the Internal Revenue Service sent money to taxpayers in the middle of an abrupt change in the rules relating to jobless benefits.

About 1.5 million people received an average of $1,686 this week after the IRS adjusted its federal income tax returns. Refunds by paper...Read more

Richard Hernández bought Sabor Rico Bakery (formerly known as A&Y) in Philadelphia's Franklinville neighborhood in December 2019, three months before the pandemic hit. He didn't even get the chance to change the store's sign before he found himself struggling to keep his small business open.

While managing the store, the Puerto Rican business ...Read more

The U.S. economy stands to gain $160 billion a year in extra output from a successful national high-speed internet plan that would boost labor productivity and allow more people to work from home, according to new research.

The study, which is based on survey data, attempts to put precise numbers on one of the bigger unknowns in President Joe ...Read more

Los Angeles and a growing number of other government entities are taking a new stand in the fight against the coronavirus.

They are requiring employees to provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing to show they are negative for the illness.

The move gets to the heart of an issue that both public and private ...Read more

Employees at Activision Blizzard walked off the job Wednesday to protest the company’s response to an explosive lawsuit filed last week alleging pervasive discrimination and harassment against women.

The suit, filed against the company by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, largely focuses on the Blizzard division of the...Read more

Cruise lines that operate from Florida ports have no intention of violating federal health and safety guidelines even as Gov. DeSantis’ celebrates a recent court ruling stripping the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of authority over cruising in the state.

All major cruise lines intend to voluntarily remain in compliance with the ...Read more