Business category, Page 82
Across the U.S., batteries and green energies like wind and solar combine for major climate solution
In the Arizona desert, a Danish company is building a massive solar farm that includes batteries that charge when the sun is shining and supply energy back to the electric grid when it’s not. Combining batteries with green energy is a fast-growing climate solution. “Solar farms only produce when the...
McDonald’s system outages have been reported worldwide; chain says they’re getting fixed
LONDON — System failures at McDonald’s were reported worldwide Friday, shuttering some restaurants for hours and leading to social media complaints from customers, in what the fast food chain called a “technology outage” that was being fixed. Chicago-based McDonald’s Corp. said the problems were not related to a cybersecurity issue....
Kennametal CEO to retire; replacement named
Kennametal Inc.’s top officer will retire and the president of its metal cutting segment will take charge of the global corporation that generated almost $2.1 billion in sales in its 2023 fiscal year, the Pittsburgh-based company said. Sanjay Chowbey, a Kennametal vice president, will succeed Christopher Rossi, who decided to...
February retail sales up 0.6%, but some cracks emerge in what has been a driving force for economy
NEW YORK — Shoppers picked up their spending a bit in February after a pullback the previous month, reflecting the mixed feelings Americans have in an economy where prices are up, but jobs are plentiful. Retail sales rose 0.6% last month after falling a revised 1.1% in January, dragged down...
Biden opposes plan to sell US Steel to a Japanese firm, citing the need for ‘American steel workers’
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden came out in opposition to the planned sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel of Japan, saying Thursday the U.S. needs to “maintain strong American steel companies powered by American steel workers.” In a statement, Biden added: “U.S. Steel has been an iconic American steel...
Dollar Tree to close nearly 1,000 stores, posts surprise 4th quarter loss
Dollar Tree swung to a surprise fourth-quarter loss and will close nearly 1,000 stores after the discount retailer slashed the value of a rival chain it acquired almost a decade ago. Dollar Tree plans to close about 600 Family Dollar stores in the first half of this year and 370...
What to know about the bill that could ban TikTok
WASHINGTON — TikTok once again finds itself in a precarious position as lawmakers in Washington move forward with a bill that could lead to a nationwide ban on the platform. The House on Wednesday passed legislation that would ban TikTok if its China-based owner ByteDance doesn’t sell its stakes in...
Elon Musk visits a Tesla plant near Berlin as production resumes after a suspected arson attack
GRUENHEIDE, Germany — Tesla CEO Elon Musk visited the electric car maker’s first European plant Wednesday as production resumed at the factory just outside Berlin about a week after a suspected arson attack cut its power supply. Musk was expected at a “team huddle” with employees at the plant in...
TikTok won’t be banned if it finds new owner, lawmakers say. But that’s easier said than done.
U.S. lawmakers are threatening to ban TikTok but also say they are giving its Chinese parent company a chance to keep it running. The premise of a bipartisan bill headed for a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives is that TikTok fans in the U.S. can keep scrolling through...
Most automated driving systems are lousy at making sure drivers pay attention, insurance group says
DETROIT — Most electronic systems that take on some driving tasks for humans don’t adequately make sure drivers are paying attention, and they don’t issue strong enough warnings or take other actions to make drivers behave, according to an insurance industry study published Tuesday. Only one of 14 partially automated...
U.S. inflation up again in February in latest sign that price pressures remain elevated
WASHINGTON — Consumer prices in the United States picked up last month, a sign that inflation remains a persistent challenge for the Federal Reserve and for President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign, both of which are counting on a steady easing of price pressures this year. Prices rose 0.4% from January...
Boeing to face ‘enormous’ scrutiny after mishaps, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the Federal Aviation Administration will rigorously assess The Boeing Co. after the blowout of a fuselage section on an Alaska Airlines flight in January. To maintain airline safety, “that means an enormous amount of rigor in dealing with Boeing, in dealing with any regulatory...
What to know about the SAVE plan, the income-driven plan to repay student loans
NEW YORK — More than 75 million student loan borrowers have enrolled in the U.S. government’s newest repayment plan since it launched in August. President Joe Biden recently announced that he was canceling federal student loans for nearly 153,000 borrowers enrolled in the plan, known as the SAVE plan. Forgiveness...
What to know about Shapiro’s proposed $10.3M agriculture innovation program
This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Sign up for our north-central Pa. newsletter, Talk of the Town, at spotlightpa.org/newsletters/talkofthetown. BELLEFONTE — An open-ended pitch by Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro to give...
U.S. employers add a surprisingly strong 275,000 jobs in sign of continued economic strength
WASHINGTON — America’s employers delivered another healthy month of hiring in February, adding a surprising 275,000 jobs and again showcasing the U.S. economy’s resilience in the face of high interest rates. Last month’s job growth marked an increase from a revised gain of 229,000 jobs in January. At the same...
Century III Mall owners joust with Allegheny County DA over razing blighted property
The owners of the blighted Century III Mall said in court papers filed this week that they have contracted with a company to raze the property, but they claim that the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office is interfering with their ability to carry out the demolition. A hearing on the...
Community group criticizes developer’s decision to bring Starbucks to Lawrenceville
A new Starbucks is coming to Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood, and some in the community are complaining about it. Dave Breingan, director of community group Lawrenceville United, said the Arsenal 201 mixed-use development recently agreed to a lease with Starbucks at one of its vacant storefront locations on Butler Street between...
To revive stale U.S. sales, candy companies pitch gum as a stress reliever and concentration aid
Candy companies want to know: What will make Americans start chewing gum again? Gum’s bubble burst during the covid-19 pandemic, when masks and social distancing made bad breath less of a worry and fewer people spent on impulse buys. The number of packages of gum sold dropped by nearly a...
For social platforms, the outage was short. But people’s stories vanished, and that’s no small thing
NEW YORK — Once upon a time, there was a brief outage on some social media platforms. It got fixed. The end. On the face of it, kind of a boring story. But the widespread attention given to the blanking of Meta’s Facebook, Instagram, Threads and Messenger platforms on Tuesday...
Federal judge orders U.S. minority business agency to serve all races
NEW YORK — A federal judge in Texas has ordered a 55-year-old U.S. agency that caters to minority-owned businesses to serve people regardless of race, siding with white business owners who claimed the program discriminated against them. The ruling was a significant victory for conservative activists waging a far-ranging legal...
Regulator proposes capping credit card late fees at $8, latest in Biden’s campaign against junk fees
NEW YORK — The Biden administration announced a rule Tuesday to cap all credit card late fees, the latest effort in the White House push to end what it has called junk fees and a move that regulators say will save Americans up to $10 billion a year. The Consumer...
Federal safety officials say Boeing fails to meet quality-control standards in manufacturing
The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday its audit of 737 Max manufacturing at airplane-maker Boeing and its key supplier turned up “multiple instances” of them failing to make sure manufacturing met quality standards. The FAA said that it found “non-compliance issues” with Boeing’s manufacturing-process control and parts handling and storage....
American Airlines to buy 260 new planes from Boeing, Airbus and Embraer to meet growing demand
DALLAS — American Airlines announced a massive order for new planes on Monday, splitting 260 new aircraft between Boeing, Airbus and Embraer in a move designed to meet growing travel demand and increase the airline’s supply of premium seats. American said it placed options for up to 193 more planes...
Scrapped merger of Spirit, JetBlue good news for Westmoreland airport, official says
Arnold Palmer Regional Airport’s top official welcomed Monday’s announcement that Spirit Airlines and JetBlue Airways are grounding plans for a proposed $3.8 billion merger. “It is a great opportunity for us to know what we are facing. I think it holds nothing but good news for us,” said Gabe Monzo,...
Apple fined nearly $2 billion by the European Union over music streaming competition
LONDON — The European Union leveled its first antitrust penalty against Apple on Monday, fining the U.S. tech giant nearly $2 billion for breaking the bloc’s competition laws by unfairly favoring its own music streaming service over rivals. Apple muzzled app developers from telling users where they could go to...
