BERKELEY, Calif. -- Berkeley, Calif., will ban natural gas piping for stoves or water heaters in new buildings at the start of 2020, becoming the first city in the state to require new construction to be all-electric.

Berkeley city council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the ordinance, which prohibits developers from applying for land ...Read more

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Oakland police and other city departments will not use facial recognition technology under a new policy -- the third of its kind in the United States.

The Oakland City Council unanimously approved the policy Tuesday.

San Francisco was the first U.S. city to prohibit the facial recognition technology in May, and Somerville, ...Read more

CHICAGO -- As temperatures soar this week with an excessive heat watch starting Thursday, James McHugh Construction Co. has a protocol for teaching workers how to handle and prevent heat-related injuries.

"The heat has a cumulative effect on everyone. It wears workers out. So we talk to every worker on how to identify those who are fatigued, ...Read more

The U.S. Department of Justice and other federal agencies have weighed in to support Qualcomm's efforts to put antitrust sanctions on hold pending appeal, claiming immediately imposing the stiff requirements could harm national security.

In a filing Tuesday with the U.S. Ninth District Court of Appeals, the Department of Justice said it had an ...Read more

MIAMI -- Before Jeffrey Epstein managed money for the world's rich and powerful, he was educating their teenage children.

Epstein, the accused sex trafficker awaiting a bail ruling in a Manhattan jail, taught math and physics at the Dalton School, a private K-12 institution whose students are the sons and daughters of New York City's elite. It ...Read more

Scott and Patricia Smith were looking for a new furry friend at a Middletown, N.J., pet store when they found Chase, a fluffy white Maltese.

It was June 2018, five months after their last dog died, and they quickly fell in love with the pup who curled up in Scott's lap. With the decision made, Scott gave his debit card to pay $3,000 for the dog...Read more

WASHINGTON -- For more than a decade, oil refiners didn't realize what a moneymaker they had in butane -- at least for tax purposes.

They do now.

Over the last few years, the IRS has seen an avalanche of amended excise tax forms from the industry. Their claim is that butane, a liquefied petroleum gas and byproduct of the oil refining process, ...Read more

Alexa, how do I become a healthcare player?

Amazon announced its latest move in this direction last week by introducing a feature that allows British users of its Alexa digital assistant to ask for medical advice, with answers provided by Britain's National Health Service. For example: "Alexa, how do I treat a migraine?"

American Alexa users ...Read more

Google is pushing back against Peter Thiel's insinuation that the company is doing business with China's military after President Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday that his administration will "take a look."

Thiel, the tech industry's most high-profile Trump supporter, questioned Google's loyalty to the United States during a speech Sunday at the ...Read more

Target Corp. has hired Facebook executive Hari Govind as senior vice president of infrastructure and operations, landing a high-profile tech veteran at a time when technology is becoming increasingly vital to the retailer's operations.

Govind has more than 20 years of experience leading engineering and product management teams, and has ...Read more

Wells Fargo reported higher profits but flat revenue in the second quarter of 2019 as the bank works to combat public scrutiny over a series of scandals.

The bank topped analysts' estimates, reporting a profit of $6.2 billion in the second quarter of 2019, a 19% increase from the previous year. But its revenue of $21.6 billion stayed the same. ...Read more

Whether by bot or by byte, nearly 1 million South Florida jobs are at risk of being automated, according to a new report from consulting giant McKinsey.

But even as some jobs disappear, others will be created. And the survivors could be left better off.

McKinsey estimates that the Miami metropolitan statistical area (MSA), which includes Miami...Read more

WASHINGTON -- A House bill that would limit access of foreign airlines to the U.S. based on substandard labor conditions for their workers is the latest round in a long -- and mostly successful -- fight by U.S. airlines and aviation unions to keep low-cost foreign competition out of the U.S. market.

House Transportation and Infrastructure ...Read more

SEATTLE -- Several dozen activists chanted and held banners Monday outside Amazon's Seattle headquarters calling on the company to stop providing technology to U.S. government immigration authorities, in one of several pressure campaigns focused on the commerce giant during its Prime Day summer sale.

Jennifer Lee of the American Civil Liberties...Read more

WASHINGTON -- It's long seemed that nothing could unite President Donald Trump and Democrats on Capitol Hill. Then Facebook Inc. decided to create a cryptocurrency.

Washington's bipartisan distrust of the social-networking giant will be on display this week as it defends the digital-money proposal in two congressional hearings. In a sign that ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- New federal laws will soon address a national chemical pollution problem and could put 3M and other producers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances -- better known as PFAS -- into a multibillion-dollar financial bind.

Once marketed as making items ranging from clothing to cookware resistant to water, grease and heat, PFAS are ...Read more

Some Amazon workers in Shakopee, Minn., began a strike to protest work conditions this afternoon, during the first of a two-day Prime Day sale that's one of its biggest promotions.

The strike is one of the first times workers in the U.S. have challenged Amazon through a work stoppage.

The protest is one of the latest actions organized by the ...Read more

Amazon critics and competitors are turning the retailer's fifth-annual summer sales event into a platform to air their grievances and push their own wares.

A planned strike Monday by workers at a Minnesota fulfillment center is making suburban Minneapolis a focus for the Prime Day protests, with a union representing airline pilots for Amazon ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Just days after another federal agency suspended its periodical study of honey bee populations, the EPA greenlighted the wider use of a pesticide that environmental activists warn could further decimate the pollinators.

A major conservation group says it will take the agency to court over the decision.

The EPA said Friday it was ...Read more