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Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun/TNS

Maryland farmers endure a 'tough year' amid drought conditions

Business / Business News /

BALTIMORE — Soon to be 65, T. R. Robinette has been raising cattle in the fields of Western Maryland practically his whole life.

And this year featured the worst drought he can remember.

Starting in late May and early June, pastures went dry, and cattle farmers like Robinette were forced to use bales of hay, usually reserved for the winter, ...Read more

Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel/TNS

Black Friday sales accelerate with online a bright spot

Business / Business News /

Black Friday sales grew at a faster pace in the U.S. this year, underscoring that choosy consumers are still opening their wallets when they find the right products.

Retail sales, excluding automotive, grew 3.4% on the day after Thanksgiving, the traditional start of the holiday shopping season, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse. That ...Read more

Robyn Beck/Getty Images of North America/TNS

Deal-hungry shoppers hit stores on Black Friday to kick off critical holiday season

Business / Business News /

LOS ANGELES — Bustling crowds and early-morning lines were back as this year’s Black Friday weekend kicked off — a hopeful sign for retailers as they head into the critical holiday shopping season with consumers still grappling with inflation and economic uncertainty.

Shoppers plan to spend an average of $650 during the four-day consumer ...Read more

Jason Redmond/Getty Images of North America/TNS

Boeing's new CEO clips corporate jet trips in show of restraint

Business / Business News /

For members of the Boeing Co.’s executive council, catching a ride on the company’s corporate jets has long been a cherished perk of the job.

The 19 senior leaders have counted on five company-owned Bombardier Inc. Challenger 650 business jets and two customized 737 narrowbodies to help oversee the U.S. planemaker’s sprawling operation. ...Read more

Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Women's clothing store Aritzia opening Magnificent Mile flagship Saturday

Business / Business News /

CHICAGO — Women’s fashion boutique Aritzia will open its eagerly anticipated two-story flagship location Saturday on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, filling the long-vacant storefront at 555 N. Michigan Ave., former home of The Gap.

The Canada-based chain agreed to occupy the nearly 50,000-square-foot building in 2022. It was the most ...Read more

David Dee Delgado/Getty Images North America/TNS

Anxious retailers look to deals, doorbusters to revive sales

Business / Business News /

The lure of $10 gift cards wasn’t enough to draw big early-bird Black Friday crowds at the Macy’s Inc. flagship New York City location in Herald Square.

Andre Langer, 26, and Nicole Galler, 25, were visiting from Germany and arrived at Macy’s when it opened at 6 a.m., hoping to see people storm through the entrance. There were fewer ...Read more

Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun/TNS

Homicides in Baltimore are down, but businesses worry they'll never escape 'The Wire's' reputation

Business / Business News /

BALTIMORE — Baltimore is poised to end the year with the fewest homicides in more than a decade, and nonfatal shootings have plunged from a year ago. But views of the city as unsafe persist.

That’s long been a challenge for city businesses that rely on visitors and customers from around the region and beyond. Even with the homicide rate ...Read more

Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Wall Street wins once again as US assets outpace rest of world

Business / Business News /

In a week in which U.S. inflation data accelerated, President-elect Donald Trump threatened some of America’s closest neighbors with aggressive tariffs, and half of Wall Street was on vacation, the S&P 500 still comfortably beat benchmark stock gauges for both Europe and Asia.

Get used to it, say market pros.

On the sellside and the buyside,...Read more

Handout/Dreamstime/TNS

Walmart worker goes in for an extra shift and walks out a millionaire

Business / Business News /

LOS ANGELES — Rebeca Gonzalez got the call no retail worker wants on a weekend they're scheduled off — the store was short-staffed and her manager needed her to come in for a few hours.

It would be a shift that would change Gonzalez's life.

Overwhelmed with customers during the Labor Day weekend, Gonzalez was unable to keep to her plan to ...Read more

Craig Kohlruss/Fresno Bee/TNS

Sales of Raw Farm's products suspended amid bird flu concerns

Business / Business News /

LOS ANGELES -- State agriculture officials on Thursday banned Fresno-based Raw Farm from distributing its raw dairy products to retailers amid ongoing concerns about possible bird flu infections among its cattle.

However, with the exception of two limited recalls announced in the last few days, products from the farm that are already on store ...Read more

David Dee Delgado/Getty Images North America/TNS

Anxious retailers look to deals, doorbusters to revive sales

Business / Business News /

The lure of $10 gift cards wasn’t enough to draw big early-bird Black Friday crowds at the Macy’s Inc. flagship New York City location in Herald Square when it opened at 6 a.m.

Andre Langer, 26, and Nicole Galler, 25, were visiting from Germany and arrived at Macy’s when it opened, hoping to see people storm through the entrance. There ...Read more

Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times/TNS

California's 1st EV-charging roadway planned for UCLA ahead of Olympics

Business / Business News /

LOS ANGELES — The state's first electric-vehicle-charging roadway is expected to debut by the 2028 Olympics after a multimillion-dollar grant to UCLA — the site of Los Angeles's Olympic Village.

Nearly $20 million will go to electrify the university's BruinBus fleet and install underground charging for shuttles and buses along a route that ...Read more

Henry Payne/The Detroit News/TNS

Auto review: Dirt fight, Ford Ranger Raptor vs. Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro

Business / Business News /

HOLLY, Mich. — The North American Truck of the Year contest this year featured an impressive variety of pickups that included the GMC Sierra EV, Rivian R1T and Ram 1500.

But the marquee matchup is a fight between two midsize truck icons: the Ford Ranger and Toyota Tacoma.

The titans have both completely redesigned their vehicles for this ...Read more

Marc Grasso/Boston Herald/TNS

Auto review: 2024 BMW 5-series is beyond run of the mill

Business / Business News /

As manufacturers continue to keep a close eye on sedan sales volumes, in Grasso’s Garage, they have huge purpose and need. Consumers abound have stuck fast to the sedan market and boycotted brands who have further extinct the “car” and moved into the SUV only market.

For BMW, we expect nothing less than a midsized rightly priced ...Read more

Brad Brenneman/Norfolk Southern Corp./TNS/TNS

Norfolk Southern to test new hybrid locomotives to reduce emissions

Business / Business News /

When it comes to improving efficiency and reducing emissions in transportation, often the answer is to take what’s old and replace it with something entirely new, such as buying an electric vehicle.

Atlanta-based Norfolk Southern and manufacturing giant Alstom are testing a different approach: retrofitting a pair of half-century-old ...Read more

KIA/TNS

Auto review: Enjoy the charging in roomy, award-winning Kia EV9

Business / Business News /

Hooked to a super-fast charger, Kia’s all-new, all-electric EV9 can recapture an 80-percent charge in just 24 minutes. But what’s the rush?

You’ll be stretched out in the ultra-cushy three-row SUV, front seat reclined and power leg-rests deployed, while the Ergo Motion system performs a soothing massage. Might as well do the slow charger ...Read more

Marc Lester/Anchorage Daily News/TNS

Inside Amazon's first Alaska delivery station

Business / Business News /

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — With Anchorage streets mostly empty early on a November morning, dozens of workers at the new Amazon delivery station used tiny devices on their fingers to scan barcodes on packages. Details appeared on smartphones on their forearms, helping them organize the flood of shipments.

The daily Amazon Air cargo jet to Anchorage ...Read more

Minnesota's fertile farm fields have a cost, as this summer's floods showed

Business / Business News /

MOUNTAIN LAKE, Minnesota – The corn succumbing to the forks of Brandon Fast’s combine this autumn morning is green. It shouldn’t be. But the floods of June are finally being felt.

“Two years ago, this was 270 bushel an acre,” said Fast, who has farmed since high school in this southwestern Minnesota town of 2,000. “Right now?”

...Read more

Mario Tama/Getty Images North America/TNS

The plan for EV maker Rivian to emerge from its 'awkward teenage years'

Business / Business News /

Lars Dennert paid $100,000 for a forest green Rivian R1S, an electric SUV he enjoys driving on family road trips to the beach, snow and desert.

This year, he raised his wager on Rivian’s future, spending at least $10,000 on Rivian stock, which has hardly been a winner.

“I’m hoping for another Tesla, that down the road [Rivian] will ...Read more

Bernhard Filser/BMW Group/TNS/TNS

Auto review: 2025 Mini Countryman is full of fun and functionality that belies its size

Business / Business News /

In a world where people convert shipping containers into homes, the idea seems to be emerging that bigger isn’t always better. The same thing could be said of SUVs. Consider the 2025 Mini Countryman. It’s smaller than a Toyota Corolla Cross or a Chevrolet Trax. Yet compared with Mini’s other models, it’s positively huge.

Offered in S ...Read more