Business category, Page 5
A criminal sentence for OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma clears the way for completing its settlement
A judge is expected to sentence OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma to forfeit $225 million to the Justice Department on Tuesday, clearing the way for the company to finalize a settlement of thousands of lawsuits it faces over its role in the opioid crisis. The penalty was agreed to in a...
Consumers are lost at sea as seafood sustainability grows more complex
BOSTON — Don’t overfish. Don’t trawl the seabed. Keep aquaculture healthy for the fish as well as the ocean. Some aspects of sustainable seafood are obvious and well-trod, even if the how-to intricacies likely are lost on most consumers. But sustainability today is complicated terrain, as much about business as...
Retail sales up 1.7% in March from February driven by a spike in gas prices due to the Iran war
NEW YORK — Shoppers accelerated their spending in March from February, but they spent most of their money at the gas pump. A spike in gas prices due to the Iran war, now in its eighth week, resulted in a hefty 1.7% gain in retail sales in March after a...
Oil prices rise and stocks give back a bit of their record-breaking rally
NEW YORK — Oil prices climbed Monday following the latest rise of tensions between the United States and Iran, but the moves were more modest than they were earlier in the war. U.S. stocks, meanwhile, gave back a bit of their record-breaking rally. The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% from its...
Tim Cook will step down as Apple CEO and hand reins over to the iPhone maker’s hardware leader
Apple CEO Tim Cook is stepping down from the job that he inherited from the late Steve Jobs, ending a 15-year reign that saw the company’s market value soar by more than $3.6 trillion during an iPhone-fueled era of prosperity. Cook, 65, will turn the CEO duties over to Apple’s...
Businesses begin claiming refunds for Trump tariffs struck down by Supreme Court
NEW YORK — A refund system for businesses that paid tariffs which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled President Donald Trump imposed without the constitutional authority to do so launched Monday. Importers and their brokers could begin claiming refunds through an online portal beginning at 8 a.m., according to U.S. Customs...
Ligonier Country Market vendors face uncertain season after zoning, lease setbacksVideo
Lori Lentz of North Huntingdon sells pure homemade baking extracts from her Irwin store, Vnlla Cncpt. But she really benefits from the booth she has operated in the spring, summer and fall at the Ligonier Country Market. Yet the popular market — where vendors sell produce, flowers, beef, poultry, eggs...
Oil prices rise anew after a U.S.-Iran standoff in the Strait of Hormuz strands tankersVideo
NEW YORK — Oil prices rose in early trading Sunday as a standoff between Iran and the U.S. prevented tankers from using the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf waterway that is crucial to global energy supplies. The price of U.S. crude oil increased 6.4% to $87.90 per barrel an...
Traffic and trepidation in the Persian Gulf could keep gasoline prices from dropping quickly
NEW YORK — After U.S. President Donald Trump and Iran’s foreign minister said the Strait of Hormuz was fully open to commercial vessels after almost seven weeks of war, oil prices plunged 10% and the stock market rallied Friday. Motorists, hoping for relief at the pump, wondered how quickly gasoline...
$1.3B UPMC Presbyterian Hospital tower construction enters home stretch
Sunlight streams in from almost every angle of UPMC’s new glass-paneled hospital tower in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood. Each of the 636 patient rooms has floor-to-ceiling windows, incorporating research showing the therapeutic effects of a connection with nature. The respite areas for workers to collect their thoughts during tough days follow...
Moss & Rain Boutique to open in downtown Greensburg
Greensburg resident Amy Fiaschetti is living out her dream of owning a boutique. Fiaschetti and her two daughters, Rachel Mormack and Madison Swan, will open Moss & Rain Boutique on Saturday in downtown Greensburg. “I love clothes, and then having two girls, I passed that on (to them),” said Fiaschetti,...
Oil prices drop more than 10% and U.S. stocks soar after Iran reopens Strait of Hormuz
NEW YORK — Oil prices dropped more than 10% Friday, and U.S. stocks raced toward another record after Iran said the Strait of Hormuz is open again for commercial tankers carrying oil from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide. The S&P 500 leaped 1.3% as Wall Street rallied to the...
Airline adding bunk beds for economy travelers but bans snacks, smells and cuddling
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Sleep on a long-haul flight in economy class has always been a fantasy for many travelers. Air New Zealand will soon offer a solution that involves climbing into a triple-tier bunk bed wearing special socks. The airline will soon open bookings for four-hour stints in the...
Ford recalls 1.4 million F-150 pickup trucks to fix a gearshift issue
Ford is recalling almost 1.4 million of its F-150 pickup trucks in the U.S. because of a gearshift issue that may lead to the loss of control of vehicles and increasing the risk of a crash. The automaker is aware of two injuries and one accident possibly related to the...
Painted Tree Boutiques in Homestead closes amid nationwide shuttering
The Homestead location of Painted Tree Boutiques at The Waterfront closed its doors Tuesday along with the more than 60 locations nationwide. A retail chain that leased space to local vendors and artisans, the Arkansas-based company abruptly announced it would shutter this week. The Homestead store’s general manager, Eric Williams,...
Jet fuel supplies are lagging. What does that mean for airlines and travelers?Video
NEW YORK — A looming jet fuel shortage in Europe and Asia sparked by the Iran war and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz could further upend world travel within weeks if oil doesn’t start flowing again soon — meaning higher airfares and flight cancellations as the summer...
QVC prepares for bankruptcy protection in the era of influencers, TikTok and Temu
NEW YORK — The owner of home shopping network pioneer QVC — which for years garnered the attention of millions of TV viewers looking for a deal on baubles and housewares, is planning to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. A filing about imminent bankruptcy protection by parent company QVC...
Walmart stores in Bethel Park, Unity among 32 Pa. stores set for upgrade
Walmart plans to remodel 32 stores in Pennsylvania this year, including two in the Western Pennsylvania region. The retailer announced Thursday morning that the remodels are part of ongoing efforts to modernize the in-store and digital shopping experience at its stores. The remodels include upgrades to layouts, technology, and services....
Could more cattle cause record beef prices to drop? Ranchers say it’s not that simpleVideo
MANDAN, N.D. — It’s never been so expensive for Americans to buy a steak or hamburger, but cutting those costs requires ranchers like Stephanie Hatzenbuhler to raise more cattle — and that’s not an easy ask. For a host of reasons, Hatzenbuhler and other ranchers across the country are reluctant...
Report: Spirit Airlines may liquidate its assets as soon as this weekVideo
Spirit Aviation Holdings could decide to liquidate its assets as soon as this week, according to Bloomberg News, a move that would likely strand travelers and leave Arnold Palmer Regional Airport without a commercial carrier. The Bloomberg report cites sources familiar with the matter, who say the discount carrier faces...
Mobile home park owner takes over as Westmoreland County’s top taxpayerVideo
A New Jersey-based company that owns mobile home parks and prefabricated residential communities in a dozen states will be Westmoreland County’s largest taxpayer in 2026. New totals from the county’s tax assessment office reveal United Mobile Homes Properties Inc. has taken the top spot among local taxpayers, replacing the owners...
U.S. probes suspicious oil trades made before Trump pivots
The top U.S. derivatives regulator is investigating a series of suspiciously well-timed trades in the oil futures market ahead of recent policy pivots by President Donald Trump related to the war in Iran, according to people familiar with the matter. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is leading the probe into...
Wall Street hits a record as S&P 500 continues its 2-week rally on hopes for the Iran war
NEW YORK — The stock market hit a record Wednesday after adding to its two-week rally built on hopes the war with Iran won’t create a worst-case scenario for the global economy. Whether Wall Street is correct to have so much hope for peace and whether stocks should be the...
Data center boom meets resistance in Maine as lawmakers pass yearlong freeze
PORTLAND, Maine — Maine is set to impose the nation’s first statewide moratorium on energy-hungry data centers in a sign of growing political opposition to tech giants’ massive structures that have stoked fears about blackouts, rising electricity bills and voracious water needs. The legislation arose in a state that isn’t...
Walmart is repackaging its Great Value brand to reflect changing consumer habits
NEW YORK — Walmart is redesigning the packaging of its Great Value products to help customers instantly spot whether a bag of spicy chips is gluten-free or how much protein is packed into a serving of chicken nuggets. Encompassing 10,000 different products, Great Value is Walmart’s biggest store brand and...
