Business category, Page 92
How rising prices for restaurants, car repair and other services kept inflation up last month
WASHINGTON — Held down by sinking gas prices, U.S. inflation was mostly unchanged last month. But underlying price pressures — from apartment rents, restaurant meals, auto insurance and many other services — remained stubbornly high. Last month’s inflation data arrived just a day before the Federal Reserve will end a...
Choice Hotels goes hostile in $8 billion takeover bid for Wyndham after being repeatedly rebuffed
Choice Hotels is launching a hostile takeover offer for Wyndham Hotels & Resorts after repeated attempts to reach a deal with the rival hotel chain were rebuffed. Choice Hotels said Tuesday that its exchange offer to shareholders of Wyndham, which runs Days Inn, La Quinta, Ramada and a host of...
Developer plans apartments, townhouses at UPMC South Side hospital site
A developer is planning to replace a former hospital on Pittsburgh’s South Side with apartments and townhouses. Walnut Capital has acquired the 5.5-acre former UPMC South Side hospital complex on Mary, Jane and Josephine streets in the South Side Flats for $9.3 million. The deal was inked in November through...
‘We needed something like this around here’: Hempfield entertainment venue opens doors
For Davin Ruzina, the 814 Lanes & Games in Hempfield opened its doors for business just in time. Ruzina, of Hunker, celebrated his 13th birthday Saturday and went to the new entertainment venue with his family and friends Sunday. Bowling and laser tag were the highlights of their day. “We...
Vento’s Pizza in East Liberty reopens under new family ownership
Vento’s Pizza, the East Liberty restaurant that has been home to “Franco’s Italian Army” for decades, is up and running again. After its longtime owner retired and closed the pizzeria in February, a new family has taken over. They’re working with the Vento family to keep the spirit of the...
McDonald’s testing new CosMc’s chain amid unprecedented global expansion
McDonald’s is testing a new restaurant format with customizable drinks and treats designed to appeal to afternoon snackers — and grab sales from competitors like Starbucks and Dunkin’. The company said Wednesday it will open 10 CosMc’s restaurants through the first half of next year. One will be near the...
Meta makes end-to-end encryption a default on Facebook Messenger
NEW YORK — Meta is rolling out end-to-end encryption for calls and messages across its Facebook and Messenger platforms, the company announced Thursday. Such encryption means that no one other than the sender and the recipient — not even Meta — can decipher people’s messages. Encrypted chats, first introduced as...
The White House is threatening the patents of high-priced drugs developed with taxpayer dollars
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is putting pharmaceutical companies on notice, warning them that if the price of certain drugs is too high, the government might cancel their patent protection and allow rivals to make their own versions. Under a plan announced Thursday, the government would consider overriding the patent...
McDonald’s set for unprecedented growth over the next 4 years with 10,000 new stores
McDonald’s expects to open nearly 10,000 restaurants over the next four years, a pace of growth that would be unprecedented even for the world’s largest burger chain. At an investor update Wednesday, the Chicago burger giant said it aims to have 50,000 restaurants in operation worldwide by the end of...
FDA is inspecting plant in Ecuador that made lead-tainted fruit pouches
U.S. health officials have launched an inspection of a plant in Ecuador that made the cinnamon applesauce pouches linked to dozens of cases of acute lead poisoning in U.S. children. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said that contaminated cinnamon is the likely source of the lead. An FDA...
Google ups the stakes in AI race with Gemini, a technology trained to behave more like humans
Google took its next leap in artificial intelligence Wednesday with the launch of project Gemini, an AI model trained to behave in human-like ways that’s likely to intensify the debate about the technology’s potential promise and perils. The rollout will unfold in phases, with less sophisticated versions of Gemini called...
CEOs of the nation’s biggest banks warn that new regulations could harm the economy
NEW YORK — The heads of Wall Street’s biggest banks used an appearance on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to plead with senators to stop the Biden administration’s proposed changes to how banks are regulated, warning that the new proposals could negatively impact the economy at a time of geopolitical turmoil...
CVS Health lays out changes to clarify prescription drug pricing that may save some customers money
CVS Health is introducing changes to how its prescription drug pricing model works, and that could lead to some savings for customers starting next year. The health care giant said Tuesday that it will roll out a new reimbursement model designed to make costs more predictable at the drugstore counter....
John Dorfman: When CEOs buy their own stock, pay attention
When chief executives buy their companies’ shares, it’s often worth considering the stock. Company insiders achieve better capital gains, on average, than the typical investor does. The effect is especially strong for chief executive officers (CEOs) and chief financial officers (CFOs). Using Guru Focus software, I screened on Dec. 3...
Dick’s Sporting Goods to become official retailer for Notre Dame
Findlay-based Dick’s Sporting Goods struck a deal with Notre Dame to become the official retailer for the university’s athletics. Dick’s and Notre Dame Global Partnerships inked a multi-year partnership, which will include promotions and giveaways on Notre Dame Athletics’ digital platforms, social media channels and national radio network and at...
Pitt opens 2nd location of Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology at the Pete
Patrons of Pitt’s Petersen Events Center will now have an AI-powered market for snacks and beverages and can skip the sometimes lengthy concession lines. The university announced Monday a second location for Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology, “Pitt on the Go,” located at the Pete. The initiative, a collaboration with...
Southwestern Pa. enjoying low natural gas prices after large drop from last year
Historic levels of natural gas production are among factors leading to low prices in Southwestern Pennsylvania. There are signs natural gas prices could stay low moving into next year. Purchased gas prices for Pennsylvanians are down 9% to 65% compared to where they were last year, according to Pennsylvania’s Public...
Can JetBlue buy Spirit? Trial on deal that could further consolidate industry comes to a head
BOSTON — Lawyers for the Justice Department and JetBlue Airways are scheduled to make closing arguments Tuesday in a trial determining whether JetBlue can buy Spirit Airlines, the nation’s biggest low-fare carrier. The Justice Department argues that the proposed $3.8 billion merger would hurt consumers by eliminating Spirit and its...
AI’s future could be ‘open-source’ or closed; tech giants divided as they lobby regulators
Tech leaders have been vocal proponents of the need to regulate artificial intelligence, but they’re also lobbying hard to make sure the new rules work in their favor. That’s not to say they all want the same thing. Facebook parent Meta and IBM on Tuesday launched a new group called...
Whistleblower allegation: Harvard muzzled disinfo team after $500 million Zuckerberg donation
A prominent disinformation scholar who left Harvard University in August has accused the school of muzzling her speech and stifling — then dismantling — her research team as it launched a deep dive in late 2021 into a trove of Facebook files she considers the most important documents in internet...
Spotify axes 17% of workforce in 3rd round of layoffs this year
LONDON — Spotify says it’s axing 17% of its global workforce, the music streaming service’s third round of layoffs this year as it moves to slash costs while focusing on becoming profitable. In a message to employees posted on the company’s blog Monday, CEO Daniel Ek said the jobs were...
Alaska Air to buy Hawaiian Airlines in a $1.9 billion deal that may attract regulator scrutiny
SEATTLE — Alaska Airlines said Sunday it agreed to buy Hawaiian Airlines in a $1.9 billion deal, including debt, putting it on track for a potential clash with a Biden administration that has shown wariness about higher fares in the industry. The combined company would keep both airlines’ brands, rooted...
U.S. targets oil and natural gas industry’s role in global warming with new rule on methane emissions
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Saturday issued a final rule aimed at reducing methane emissions, targeting the U.S. oil and natural gas industry for its role in global warming as President Joe Biden seeks to advance his climate legacy. The Environmental Protection Agency said the rule will sharply reduce...
Wall Street takes a breather after best trading month of the year
Wall Street is mixed early Friday after closing out the best month of the year. Futures for the S&P 500 edged 0.2% lower before the bell while the Dow Jones Industrial Average were essentially flat. Markets marched steadily higher through much of November as investors grew hopeful that the Federal...
Assistant to Bell Acres businessman gets probation in multimillion fraud case
The long-time administrative assistant to a wealthy Bell Acres businessman convicted of concealing more than $60 million in income from the federal government will serve two years of probation for her role in the crime. Ann E. Harris, 62, of Washington County, appeared before Senior U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers...
