Business category
From box office bomb to media powerhouse: Skydance’s 20-year rise to overtake Paramount, Warner Bros
NEW YORK — In its debut film, Skydance Productions released a special effects-laden World War I drama about fighter pilots with a starring role for an unknown actor, the company’s founder, David Ellison. It was a box office bomb. Twenty years later, in a twist fit for Hollywood itself, the...
Breaking into the trades: 4 blue-collar women from Western Pa. share their storiesVideo
When the explosion thundered through the U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works, Renee Hough thought her life was over. She was about 500 feet away when the blast went off in August. The experience left her in therapy for her mental health. Nearly 30 years ago, her job in the male-dominated...
The IRS shut its direct file, but here are other free filing options
The federal government tested a free, direct online tax-filing program for two years but with the change in administrations shut it down. There are still ways, though, to file your return at no charge, using government or commercial options. Direct File, a program started in the Biden administration, was tested...
McCormick visit to Pittsburgh spotlights driverless trucking leader Aurora, liquefied natural gas industry
Aurora Innovation, a Pittsburgh company leading the charge on autonomous trucking in the U.S., is looking for cheerleaders in government to shape regulation of the emerging industry. They may have just found one in U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, who said Friday on a tour of an Aurora manufacturing facility in...
Target will stop selling cereals with synthetic colors by end of May
Target will stop selling cereals containing synthetic colors by the end of May. The Minneapolis-based discounter said Friday it had been phasing out synthetic colors in cereals for several years. Right now, 85% of its cereal sales already come from products made without synthetic dyes. Target said it has worked...
Duolingo posts $400M profit for 2025 but lowers short-term outlook
Duolingo enjoyed a strong 2025 by most financial metrics, surpassing $400 million in profit on just over $1 billion in revenue. It’s a vast improvement from 2024, when the company made $89 million with a revenue of $748 million. Even so, the Pittsburgh-based educational technology company on Thursday warned investors...
Pa. drivers to receive over $1.4 million through national Walmart settlement
Pennsylvania is part of a $100 million multistate settlement that was reached with Walmart due to allegations that Walmart deceived customers and drivers who participated in its Spark Driver Program. Through the program, launched in 2018, nearly 1 million drivers nationwide made over 272 million deliveries to customers who ordered...
Papa Johns pizza chain will close 300 stores across U.S.
Papa Johns announced it plans to close about 300 stores across the United States by the end of 2027. The announcement was made by the Kentucky-based pizza chain during an earnings call on Thursday, USA Today reported. The company also said during the call that it has cut its corporate...
‘Buyers of last resort’: Experts weigh in on Namdar’s Macy’s purchase
Despite owing Frazer and Allegheny County millions of dollars in fines, the owner of the Pittsburgh Mills mall campus is purchasing real estate there. It’s a practice that experts say is uncommon but not prohibited. “In general, I mean, if real estate’s for sale, and you have a buyer and...
Intervala expands at former Westmoreland Sony site, plans to hire 45 workersVideo
The former Sony site in East Huntingdon once hummed with television production; today, it is finding new life as a high-tech anchor thanks to a $6 million expansion by electronics manufacturer Intervala. The company, which moved into the RIDC Westmoreland Innovation Center near New Stanton in 2021, announced Thursday it...
Netflix walks away from Warner Bros. deal, clearing the path for Paramount
NEW YORK — Netflix is declining to raise its offer to buy Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming business, in a stunning move that effectively puts Paramount in a position to take over its storied Hollywood rival. On Thursday, after Warner’s board announced that Skydance-owned Paramount’s offer was superior to...
Surging natural gas prices in Pa. could mean higher utility bills
Wholesale natural gas prices in Pennsylvania surged 71% last year, according to a new report, likely leading to higher residential utility bills. The Independent Fiscal Office, a state agency that supplies lawmakers in Harrisburg with revenue projections and economic analysis, released its quarterly natural gas report Wednesday. It found the...
Cutting-edge BioInterphase moves into Troy Hill’s historic firehouse
When Noah Snyder walks into his new office and laboratory space at a historic firehouse in Pittsburgh’s Troy Hill neighborhood, he’s met with a “whimsical” mix of old and new. A fireman’s pole descends from a circular hole — now patched over with plywood — in the engraved black ceiling,...
Burger King testing AI headsets that will know if employees say ‘welcome’ or ‘thank you’
Burger King is testing AI-powered headsets that can recite recipes, alert managers when inventories are low and even track how friendly employees are to customers. Restaurant Brands International – the Miami-based company that owns Burger King, Popeyes and other brands – said Thursday it’s currently testing the OpenAI-powered headsets in...
Holy fish fries: Fish consumption skyrockets during Lent
Lent becomes a feeding frenzy when it comes to fish fries. Tons of breaded or beer-battered cod and haddock are consumed in Southwestern Pennsylvania during the 40-day holiday period in which Catholics abstain from meat on Fridays leading to Easter. Imperial-based wholesaler Nappies Food Service exports to churches and restaurants...
U.S. moves to cut off a Swiss bank over alleged Iran and Russia money flows
WASHINGTON — The U.S. is moving to sever a small Swiss bank from access to the U.S. financial system for its alleged support for Iranian and Russian actors, as U.S. and Iranian officials hold indirect talks Thursday in Geneva over Tehran’s nuclear negotiations. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed a...
Computer science majors and professors grapple with AI advancements
These are not your father’s computer science students. And for good reason. To find a job in the fast-growing, fast-moving field, college graduates are required to possess more than simple coding skills and the ability to troubleshoot. Artificial intelligence is driving a demand for a more advanced, polished graduate who...
Instagram says it will notify parents if teens ‘repeatedly’ search for terms related to suicide
Instagram said Thursday it will start alerting parents if their kids repeatedly search for terms clearly associated with suicide or self-harm. The alerts will only go to parents who are enrolled in Instagram’s parental supervision program. Instagram says it already blocks such content from showing up in teen accounts’ search...
New York sues Counter-Strike game developer saying ‘loot boxes’ promote gambling
NEW YORK — New York’s attorney general has sued video game developer Valve, claiming the “loot boxes” found in Counter-Strike and other popular video game franchises illegally promote gambling. State Attorney General Letitia James said in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in New York state court that games such as Counter-Strike...
U.S. filings for jobless aid rise modestly to 212,000 as layoffs remain at historically healthy levels
WASHINGTON — Slightly more Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week as layoffs remain at relatively healthy levels. The number of Americans filing for jobless aid for the week ending Feb. 21 rose by 4,000 to 212,000 from the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s in line with...
Jean-Marc Chatellier retiring, closing eponymous French bakery in Millvale
It’s last call for croissants in Millvale this weekend. After more than 30 years, Jean-Marc Chatellier is retiring and closing his pastry shop on North Avenue. “It’s time to go,” said Chatellier, 64, the son of a bread baker from the village of Couffé in western France. “It’s the new...
Discord postpones age verification rollout amid criticism, promises transparency
Discord, the popular platform for gamers to communicate online, is postponing its controversial age verification policy after receiving swift backlash from users with concerns about their privacy. The global rollout of the system is now delayed to the second half of 2026, Discord’s Chief Technology Officer and co-founder Stanislav Vishnevskiy...
DoorDash exits 4 markets, including Japan, to focus on growth elsewhere
DoorDash said Wednesday that it’s ending operations in Qatar, Singapore, Japan and Uzbekistan. The San Francisco-based delivery company said the decision comes after a monthslong review of country-specific conditions. DoorDash said it wants to focus its investments on places where it can build sustainable scale and long-term market leadership. “Our...
Spirit Airlines expects to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy by summer
Spirit Airlines’ parent company says it expects to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the late spring or early summer, after striking a preliminary deal with its lenders and secured creditors that provides the support needed to finish its restructuring. The early-stage agreement would help Spirit finalize changes to its fleet,...
Steel City Pediatric Dentistry removes the ‘scary’ along with the plaque
Do you like going to the dentist? Many adults don’t, often due to uncomfortable memories from their childhood experiences in the dentist’s chair. So when it’s time to take their own children to a dental checkup, parents sometimes struggle to help their kids cope with feelings of fear or resistance....
