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Monica Herndon/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Amazon bets $150 billion on data centers required for AI boom

Business / Business News /

Amazon.com Inc. plans to spend almost $150 billion in the coming 15 years on data centers, giving the cloud-computing giant the firepower to handle an expected explosion in demand for artificial intelligence applications and other digital services.

The spending spree is a show of force as the company looks to maintain its grip on the cloud ...Read more

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North America/TNS

Key bauges of US economy advanced at healthy clip to end 2023

Business / Business News /

The government’s two main measures of U.S. economic activity posted strong advances at the end of last year, pointing to an economy that’s still expanding at a healthy clip.

Gross domestic product rose at an upwardly revised 3.4% annualized pace in the fourth quarter on the back of stronger household demand and business investment, ...Read more

How record cocoa prices could affect your wallet and your Easter basket

Business / Business News /

In candy aisles this week, last-minute Easter shoppers are in for another round of sticker shock as cocoa prices skyrocket to historic levels.

The commodity's price has more than doubled since January as lackluster harvests in West Africa contribute to a cocoa bean shortage. Closer to home, companies are upping prices.

Last month, Hershey ...Read more

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images North America/TNS

Morningstar drops investment service at library after landing on Florida's anti-Israel list

Business / Business News /

TALLAHASSEE — Retiree MaryAnn Kaesberg went to her library in Seminole County recently to research stocks and mutual funds like she usually does, only to find the popular Morningstar Sustainalytics research website was blocked.

A librarian told her it was because the state had added Morningstar to a list of companies prohibited from doing ...Read more

Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Higher prices on the menu as fast-food chains brace for California's big minimum wage jump

Business / Business News /

Chipotle, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Jack in the Box and Shake Shack are planning to raise menu prices. Fast-food franchisees are laying off employees or cutting their hours. Smaller independent business owners, meanwhile, worry their workers will bolt unless they also increase wages.

With California’s mandatory minimum wage for fast-food ...Read more

Robyn Beck/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Finding a ride come May 1 will take immense patience if Uber and Lyft pull out of Minneapolis

Business / Business News /

Minneapolis medical patients, bar hoppers, airport-bound travelers and other habitual users of Uber and Lyft will need a stiff shot of patience come May 1.

When the rideshare giants entered the market, there were over 1,600 licensed cab drivers in Minneapolis. There are now 39, and city officials say it will take two to six weeks for drivers to...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Subaru recalls 120K Legacy and Outback vehicles over airbag defect

Business / Business News /

Subaru is recalling nearly 120,000 vehicles over defective airbags.

The recall covers 118,723 Legacy sedan and Outback crossover models from 2020-2022 with a sensor issue that could prevent the front passenger airbag from deploying during a crash, according to documents the Japanese automaker filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety ...Read more

Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Power up: PG&E says electricity plan can boost Silicon Valley innovation and economy

Business / Business News /

SAN JOSE, California — PG&E is pushing forward with quests to help bolster Silicon Valley’s economy and innovation future, including major South Bay and East Bay electricity projects, utility officials said Wednesday.

Executives with PG&E appeared at a power breakfast in downtown San Jose that was sponsored by law firm Hoge Fenton, using ...Read more

Robin Platzer/Twin Images/Zuma Press/TNS

In Disney proxy battle, second firm urges shareholders to elect Nelson Peltz

Business / Business News /

One week before a highly anticipated shareholder vote, Walt Disney Co. sustained another blow as a second advisory firm recommended that investors elect billionaire Nelson Peltz to the entertainment giant's board of directors.

Peltz, the Trian Fund Management founder, has gained steam in the closing weeks of his proxy campaign against Disney's ...Read more

Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Michael Hiltzik: Sam Bankman-Fried will be sentenced Thursday for his crypto fraud. Throw the book at him

Business / Business News /

Based on the conflicting pre-sentencing reports submitted to the judge who will sentence Sam Bankman-Fried on Thursday on seven fraud counts, you might think this is a complicated case.

After all, the submissions paint drastically different pictures of Bankman-Fried. His lawyers say, in effect, that there are no victims in the case, because no ...Read more

FORD/TNS

Mustang Sydney: Ford's partnership with actress Sydney Sweeney a fit for both parties

Business / Business News /

Just call her Mustang Sydney.

Sydney Sweeney, the bombshell 26-year-old actress who is fast becoming one of Hollywood's brightest young stars, has completed her latest collaboration with Ford Motor Co. In partnership with the Dearborn automaker, Sweeney designed a custom Mustang GT, which was given away to a fan as part of a contest that ...Read more

Hector Amezcua/The Sacramento Bee/TNS

California plan to make home, auto insurance rate increases happen more quickly criticized

Business / Business News /

The California Department of Insurance wants companies to be able to raise their prices for home and auto policies more quickly in the state.

Yet major companies aren’t a fan of how it plans to do so.

That message was shared clearly by representatives of key insurance trade groups at a hearing Tuesday.

“As currently drafted we do not ...Read more

Alejandro A. Alvarez/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Thank God It's ... Thursday? These companies have embraced the four-day work week

Business / Business News /

Software engineer Julian Plotnick made a pitch to his company’s CEO last year: Let me work one less day per week, 32 hours total, without a cut in pay.

The answer was yes, and after six months of Plotnick testing it out, the Philadelphia consulting firm Metropolitan Acoustics is working on transitioning its entire 12-person staff to a four-...Read more

Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Biden's biofuel push risks dethroning corn as king of US crops

Business / Business News /

American farmers will plant more corn than soybeans in 2024 — as they have in most years for over a century. But beyond that, a green diesel boom threatens to dethrone the king of all crops.

President Joe Biden’s decarbonization plan and the huge subsidies it offers to green energy are boosting demand for soybean oil, key to renewable ...Read more

Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune/TNS

Some Minnesota cities want to impose fees on internet providers; customers could pay the price

Business / Business News /

Minnesota cities are asking the Legislature for power to slap internet providers with new fees, an idea they say will lead to more broadband in the state with the added bonus of helping to pay for basic government access programming like video of council meetings.

But the idea has caused a stir at the Capitol, where telecom groups and ...Read more

Disneyland is now a historic theme park district: What's that mean for future projects?

Business / Business News /

The DisneylandForward environmental impact report identifies the potential Disneyland Theme Park Historic District as eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places – which automatically places the district on the California Register of Historical Resources.

The DisneylandForward proposal seeks to update a 1990s Anaheim, ...Read more

Adrian Wooldridge: In US antitrust war, bet on Brandeis not Bork

Business / Business News /

These are boom times for antitrust lawyers. Not only is the volume of high-paying work exploding. On March 21, the Department of Justice added Apple Inc. to the list of tech giants that are under scrutiny (the DoJ is already investigating Alphabet Inc. and the Federal Trade Commission is investigating Amazon.com Inc. and Meta Platforms). Then on...Read more

South Florida yacht brokers hit with lawsuits that claim 10% commissions violate antitrust laws

Business / Business News /

Two newly filed federal lawsuits claim that 10% sales commissions required by South Florida’s yacht broker industry are anticompetitive and violate antitrust laws.

The claims follow an October finding by a federal jury in Kansas City, Missouri, that the National Association of Realtors conspired with brokers to artificially inflate ...Read more

Karl Merton Ferron/The Baltimore Sun/TNS

Titanic law helps ship owner limit bridge collapse liability

Business / Business News /

The owner of the ship that rammed into a Baltimore bridge could face hundreds of millions of dollars in damage claims after the accident sent vehicles plunging into the water and threw the eastern U.S. transportation network into chaos.

But legal experts said there is a path for reducing liability under an obscure 19th-century law once invoked ...Read more

PATRICK T. FALLON/Getty Images North America/TNS

Costco cracking down on non-members eating at food courts

Business / Business News /

Costco is cracking down on non-members eating at its wallet-friendly food courts.

The wholesale store has become known for its cheap eats as much as for allowing everyday consumers to buy in bulk, with the $1.50 hot dog combo and cheap pizza slices, or whole pies, becoming favorites.

According to social media reports, diners will be required ...Read more