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Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

National leader calls for end to Target boycott after diversity pullback

Business / Business News /

A key organizer is calling for an end to the yearlong national boycott of Target, after the retailer’s executives agreed to fulfill a previous diversity pledge.

The Rev. Jamal Bryant, one of the faith leaders who led the movement, made the announcement Wednesday, March 11, at a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington ...Read more

Richie Lomba/Dreamstime/TNS

Senate passes housing bill with Trump investor ban, setting up clash in House

Business / Business News /

The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed a bipartisan bill aimed at boosting the nation’s supply of homes on an 89-10 vote, setting up a showdown in the House over a contentious provision to limit Wall Street’s footprint in the housing market.

The bill bars investors with more than 350 houses from purchasing additional single-family homes — a ...Read more

Thibaud Moritz/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Anduril set to acquire California space surveillance company

Business / Business News /

Southern California defense tech darling Anduril Industries has struck a deal to buy Orange County space surveillance firm ExoAnalytic Solutions.

The purchase for an undisclosed sum is meant to boost Anduril's capabilities in space domain awareness, battle management and fire control.

With the deal, Anduril will absorb ExoAnalytic's network of...Read more

Real estate Q&A: Can builders put up mini-billboards in my residential neighborhood?

Business / Business News /

Q: They’ve been building the house at the end of my block for months, and the builder put out these giant signs like mini-billboards, and they look terrible. If we’re not allowed to have billboards in our residential neighborhood, how do they get away with this? — Alison

A: Construction projects can be a common sight in many neighborhoods...Read more

Saul Loeb/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Microsoft sides with AI startup Anthropic in legal fight with Pentagon

Business / Business News /

Microsoft is asking a federal court to block the Pentagon’s designation of Anthropic’s AI technology as a national security risk, tying the two companies together in a legal battle with the Trump administration.

In a legal filing Tuesday, Microsoft challenged Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s move last week to label Anthropic as a supply ...Read more

David Guralnick/The Detroit News/TNS

Carvana keeps buying new Chrysler dealerships. What's the plan?

Business / Business News /

An unusual buyer has quietly scooped up a half-dozen Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram dealerships across the country over the past year: Carvana Co., the online used car sales giant.

Its most recent purchase of a CDJR store outside Boston closed last week. The other five locations — for which Carvana paid a combined $160 million — are in the Phoenix...Read more

Rivian/Rivian/TNS

Rivian announces pricing for midsize R2 SUV, set to roll off line in Spring

Business / Business News /

Two years after Rivian announced the midsize R2 SUV would be built at its Normal, Illinois, plant, the first versions of the potentially game-changing EV are packaged, priced and getting ready to roll off the line this spring, the company announced Thursday.

Starting prices range from $45,000 to $58,000 — substantially lower than its full-...Read more

Ronaldo BolaÒos/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Why hundreds of people in LA are strapping cameras on their bodies to do chores

Business / Business News /

The hottest new gig-economy job in Los Angeles is performing at home to help artificial intelligence understand how humans move.

Hundreds of people from Santa Monica to Los Feliz are strapping cameras on their heads and hands as they do chores at home so bots can watch how they make coffee, scrub toilets, water plants and wash dishes.

At a ...Read more

Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times/TNS

What soaring gas prices mean for California's EV market

Business / Business News /

It has been a bumpy road for the electric vehicle market as declining federal support and plateauing public interest have eaten away at sales.

But EV sellers could soon receive a boost from an unexpected source: The war in Iran is pushing up gas prices.

As Americans look to save money at the pump, more will consider switching to an electric or...Read more

Brian Cahn/ZUMA Wire/TNS

Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz leaves Seattle for Miami

Business / Business News /

Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, whose vision shaped the coffee giant’s growth into a global brand, has departed his longtime home of Seattle for sunny Miami.

Schultz, who served as CEO three separate times at the Seattle-based company, announced the tandem decision with his wife, Sheri, on LinkedIn on Tuesday evening.

“For those of ...Read more

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North America/TNS

Panera debuts new energy refresher drinks, less caffeine than its 'charged lemonade'

Business / Business News /

Nearly two years after Panera Bread got rid of its “charged lemonade,” the cafe chain is introducing two new caffeinated energy refresher drinks.

In 2023, a pair of wrongful-death lawsuits were filed against Panera in relation to its caffeinated lemonade. Sarah Katz’s family claimed that Katz, a 21-year-old University of Pennsylvania ...Read more

Brad Horrigan/Hartford Courant/TNS

Aetna agreed to pay $117.7 million in Medicare Advantage false claims settlement

Business / Business News /

Aetna, the second-biggest Medicare Advantage company in the Philadelphia area, has agreed to pay $117.7 million to settle claims of false billing, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia announced Wednesday.

Government investigators found that Aetna added diagnosis codes to patient records to generate larger monthly payments for people in ...Read more

Tyger Williams/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Protesters target Citizens Bank for funding US ICE detention contractors CoreCivic, Geo Group

Business / Business News /

PHILADELPHIA — Citizens Bank, based in Providence, Rhode Island, has built one of the largest U.S. commercial-banking networks by courting middle-sized U.S. companies, leaving the biggest corporations and their foreign-trade complications to the larger New York banks.

But Citizens also has found success financing two profitable, U.S.-focused ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Iran-linked group claims responsibility for Stryker cyberattack

Business / Business News /

An Iranian-linked group claimed responsibility Wednesday for a cyberattack against Michigan-based medical giant Stryker Corp., an incident that cybersecurity experts said could be one of unprecedented in size and scope.

A global outage afflicted the company in the early hours of Wednesday, with employees and contractors saying that the logo of ...Read more

Nick Wagner/The Seattle Times/TNS

US budget deficit narrows at slower pace after tariff rate decrease

Business / Business News /

The budget deficit narrowed in February at a slower pace than the previous month as U.S. tariff revenue started to slow from the peak rate hit late last year.

For the five months through February, the government had a deficit of $1 trillion, down $148 billion from the same period the year before, after accounting for calendar-year differences, ...Read more

Mirco Lazzari gp/Bongarts/Getty Images North America/TNS

Yamaha is leaving California after nearly 50 years

Business / Business News /

Yamaha Motor Corp. is relocating part of its operations to Georgia and selling its California assets after 47 years.

The company is the latest among a slew of businesses to relocate operations outside the Golden State to cut costs and improve profitability. Many cite high taxes and strict regulations as obstacles to doing business in the state....Read more

Shawn Inglima/New York Daily News/TNS

Moody's downgrades NYC financial outlook to 'negative' citing budget deficit

Business / Business News /

Moody’s Ratings has projected a negative outlook for New York City’s finances, chalking it up to the city’s large and persistent projected budget gaps — and citing Mayor Mamdani’s plan to draw down from reserves in order to balance the budget this year.

The negative outlook won’t have any immediate impact on the city’s borrowing ...Read more

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North America/TNS

NHTSA takes 'milestone' step toward robotaxi commercial deployment

Business / Business News /

WASHINGTON — The federal government has begun the process of exempting the nation’s first purpose-built robotaxi from certain safety standards so it can deploy commercially on American roads.

Amazon.com Inc. subsidiary Zoox petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in August for such exemptions so it could place up to 2,...Read more

Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times/TNS

California's heralded wine industry is running dry -- here's why

Business / Business News /

Winery owner Stuart Spencer estimates that he left about 50 tons of grapes to rot on vines in Lodi, California, last fall, as harvesting and processing them would have cost more than they were worth.

“We’re doing our best to keep our head above water,” said Spencer, the owner of St. Amant Winery and executive director of the Lodi ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Spotify once had a reputation for underpaying music artists. It hopes to change that perception

Business / Business News /

Back in the early 2010s, the music industry was at a low point.

Piracy was rampant. Compact disc sales were on a steady decline. And the then-new audio streaming services, like Spotify, were taking hits from creators for paying low royalty rates.

Today, Spotify has grown into the world's most popular audio streaming subscription service and ...Read more