As gas prices climb, Americans rethink vacations
Dina Guillen had planned to make the 520-mile drive from her home in the Rio Grande Valley to Dallas to visit family for her teenager’s spring break. But after calculating the cost — particularly the high price of gas — she decided to figure out a cheaper way. So instead...
AP says it will offer buyouts as part of pivot away from newspaper-focused history
The Associated Press, one of the world’s oldest and most influential news organizations, said Monday it is offering buyouts to an unspecified number of its U.S.-based journalists as part of an acceleration away from the focus on newspapers and their print journalism that sustained the company since the mid-1800s. The...
General Electric spinoff GE Vernova spends $70M on Rostraver warehouse
GE Vernova, formerly a part of General Electric, spent $70 million to buy a distribution center in Rostraver last month, adding to the Massachusetts-based power generation equipment manufacturer’s strong Pennsylvania presence. Westmoreland County property records show GE Vernova subsidiary GE Renewables Grid LLC purchased the more than 700,000-square-foot property from...
Key Fed official sees possible rate hike amid higher gas prices, inflation concerns
WASHINGTON — A top Federal Reserve official said Monday that an interest rate hike could be appropriate if inflation remains persistently above the central bank’s 2% target, the latest sign that some policymakers are moving away from a bias toward reducing borrowing costs. Beth Hammack, president of the Federal Reserve...
European ministers call for profit caps on energy companies as Iran war drives price surge
The finance ministers of Spain and four other European countries are urging the European Union to impose a bloc-wide windfall tax on energy companies, concerned that surging oil and gas prices driven by the war in Iran will fuel inflation and strain households. Spanish Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo said Saturday...
Asian shares mostly gain while oil prices keep rising
TOKYO — Asian markets that were open for trading mostly rose Monday, as investors continued to closely watch the war in Iran, soaring oil prices and what President Donald Trump might say next. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose nearly 1.1% to 53,692.42 in morning trading. South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.5%...
Uber and Lyft offer gas price relief, but drivers say it’s not enough
SAN FRANCISCO — As the cost of gas spikes because of the war in Iran, workers who make a living through ride-hailing apps like Uber and Lyft are being hit hard. Margarita Penalosa, a full-time driver for Lyft and Uber who sometimes delivers food for DoorDash and Grubhub around Los...
‘I got back every penny’: Inside Trump’s supercharged tax season
Ashley Norwood’s ears perked up when she first heard about President Donald Trump’s campaign promises to not tax tips and overtime. As a bartender, Norwood earns plenty of tips, and her husband, a diesel technician, works a lot of overtime. Trump’s tax cuts seemed tailor-made to help her family of...
United Airlines raises bag fees amid rising fuel costs and introduces tiered premium fares
Most travelers flying with United Airlines will pay $10 more to check their luggage beginning Friday, as higher jet fuel costs driven by the war in the Middle East push another major U.S. carrier to increase fees. The first piece of checked luggage will now cost customers $45 on flights...
U.S. employers added a surprisingly strong 178,000 jobs last month, rebounding from a weak February
WASHINGTON — American employers added a surprisingly strong 178,000 new jobs last month, rebounding from a dismal February. And the unemployment rate dipped to 4.3%. The Labor Department reported Friday that hiring marked a rebound from the loss of 133,000 jobs in February. The job gains were about three times...
Sewickley’s Fun by the Pound closes, memories remain
Brenda Fisk has built a castle of memories, brick by plastic brick, in her Sewickley toy store. From being “the first job” of her five children to supplying holiday and birthday gifts for countless Quaker Valley-area families, Fun Buy The Pound Toy Store served as a go-to place for fun...
Trump unveils 100% tariff on some patented drugs on ‘Liberation Day’ anniversary
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that could slap long-threatened pharmaceutical tariffs of up to 100% on some patented drugs from companies that don’t reach deals with his administration in the coming months. Companies that have signed a “most favored nation” pricing deal and are...
Dizzying U.S. fuel prices are determined by factors largely outside of a gas station’s control
DES MOINES, Iowa — The near-daily changes in U.S. gas prices are dizzying for drivers, who are left feeling frustrated and cash-strapped by the highest fuel costs since 2022. With the Iran war pushing up prices worldwide, the U.S. average for a gallon of gas topped $4 on Tuesday, according...
One Tech Tip: Got an awkward or embarrassing Gmail address? Google is now letting users change it
Good news for people who regret the Gmail address they came up with when they registered for an account: Google is now letting users change it. Google started quietly rolling out the change late last year in India and said this week in a blog post that it’s now available...
Tesla sales rise as $4-a-gallon gas revives interest in EVs
Tesla sold slightly more cars in the first three months of 2026 than a year earlier, the company said Thursday, a sign that rising gasoline prices as a result of the war with Iran may be prompting more consumers to choose electric vehicles. Tesla said it delivered 358,023 vehicles globally...
U.S. jobless aid filings fall to 202,000 as layoffs remain low despite uncertainty of Iran war
WASHINGTON — U.S. applications for unemployment benefits fell last week as layoffs remain sparse despite a softening labor market and rising energy costs due to the Iran war. The number of Americans applying for jobless aid for the week ending March 28 fell by 9,000 to 202,000 from the previous...
Penn Brewery insists it’s not closing despite filing for bankruptcy protection
Penn Brewery is not closing despite filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, owners said in a social media post early Thursday morning. The popular brewery and restaurant in Pittsburgh’s Troy Hill neighborhood said it is using the filing “as a strategic tool to restructure and secure a stronger future.” In...
Astrobotic’s latest lunar lander on track for 2026 launch
Pittsburgh’s Astrobotic is closing in on the launch of its Griffin-1 lander, a 15-footwide spacecraft that will deliver two state-of-the-art rovers to the moon. CEO John Thornton said Wednesday the lander is nearing completion and should be ready for takeoff on a SpaceX rocket by the end of the year....
Pittsburgh biotech company Lipella Pharmaceuticals files for bankruptcy protection
Lipella Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company in Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood, filed for bankruptcy protection Monday following more than two decades of developing medications that never made it to market. The drugmaker is winding down operations just 10 months after being delisted from the Nasdaq stock exchange, which choked off access to...
Oil and gas prices won’t immediately return to normal even if the Iran war ends, the EU warns
NICOSIA, Cyprus — Skyrocketing oil and gas prices in Europe as a result of the ongoing Iran war won’t return to normal levels any time soon, even if peace is declared tomorrow, the European Union’s energy commissioner warned Tuesday. Commissioner Dan Jørgensen said although there are no immediate oil and...
Retail sales rise 0.6% in February, but impact of Iran war threatens to derail spending
NEW YORK — Shoppers increased their spending in February after pulling back at the start of the year, reflecting volatile and cautious activity by American consumers even before the Iran war sent gasoline prices soaring. Retail sales rose a better-than-expected 0.6% in February, after registering a 0.1% decline in January,...
Aurora looks to Congress to override some states’ more restrictive laws on autonomous trucks
Autonomous big rigs could be close to mass adoption, and the U.S. doesn’t have a law on the books specifically governing them. The least productive Congress in more than a half-century seems like an unlikely bet to finally deliver legislation on driverless trucks. Aurora Innovation, a Pittsburgh-based firm with pole...
How Instagram’s ‘PG-13’ branding for teens unraveled
Last fall, as Instagram faced scrutiny over child safety, the social media company introduced a new approach that it hoped would ease parents’ minds. New content restrictions for teenage users would be guided by the PG-13 rating long used by the film industry. In other words, teenagers should only be...
Coal-heavy Nippon could undo U.S. Steel’s limited environmental progress, green group warns
Nippon Steel lags behind at going green, according to a new report from environmental group SteelWatch, highlighting concerns the Japanese firm could be a bad influence on subsidiary U.S. Steel. Nippon’s progress toward ultra-low-emission steelmaking ranked 17th out of 18 companies given a “corporate scorecard” Monday by SteelWatch, a global...
Jury can’t reach verdict in corruption trial of 2 ex-FirstEnergy executives in $60M bribery scandal
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Jurors said they can’t reach a verdict in the trial of two fired FirstEnergy Corp. executives in a $60 million bribery scheme in Ohio. A jury in Akron said Friday it was at an impasse in the trial of former CEO Chuck Jones and former senior vice...
