Wire stories category, Page 19
Red Lobster seeks bankruptcy protection days after closing dozens of restaurants
Red Lobster, the casual dining chain that brought seafood to the masses with inventions like popcorn shrimp and “endless” seafood deals, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The 56-year-old chain made the filing late Sunday, days after shuttering dozens of restaurants. “This restructuring is the best path forward for...
Bike shops boomed early in the pandemic. It’s been a bumpy ride for most ever since
For the nation’s bicycle shops, the past few years have probably felt like the business version of the Tour de France, with numerous twists and turns testing their endurance. Early in the pandemic, a surge of interest in cycling pushed sales up 64% to $5.4 billion in 2020, according to...
Inflation eased last month in the first slowdown of 2024Video
WASHINGTON — Led by lower food and auto prices, inflation in the United States cooled slightly last month after three elevated readings, likely offering a tentative sigh of relief for officials at the Federal Reserve as well as President Joe Biden’s re-election team. Consumer prices rose 0.3% from March to...
Meme stocks are roaring again. This time may be different
NEW YORK — Meme stocks are shaking Wall Street once again. That shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Ever since bands of smaller-pocketed and novice investors began taking stock prices of downtrodden companies to breathtaking heights three years ago, the potential for more flareups has been obvious. Some things are...
Justice Department: Boeing violated deal that avoided prosecution after 737 Max crashes
WASHINGTON — Boeing has violated a settlement that allowed the company to avoid criminal prosecution after two deadly crashes involving its 737 Max aircraft, the Justice Department told a federal judge on Tuesday. It is now up to the Justice Department to decide whether to file charges against the aircraft...
TikTok content creators sue the U.S. government over law that could ban the popular platform
Eight TikTok content creators sued the U.S. government on Tuesday, issuing another challenge to the new federal law that would ban the popular social media platform nationwide if its China-based parent company doesn’t sell its stakes within a year. Attorneys for the creators argued in the lawsuit that the law...
Red Lobster closes dozens of locations across the country just months after ‘endless shrimp’ losses
NEW YORK — Dozens of Red Lobster locations across the U.S. are on the chopping block. Restaurant liquidator TAGeX Brands announced this week that it would be auctioning off the equipment of over 50 Red Lobster locations that were recently closed as part of the seafood chain’s “footprint rationalization.” The...
Small, well-built Chinese EV called the Seagull poses a big threat to the U.S. auto industryVideo
LIVONIA, Mich. — A tiny, low-priced electric car called the Seagull has American automakers and politicians trembling. The car, launched last year by Chinese automaker BYD, sells for around $12,000 in China, but drives well and is put together with craftsmanship that rivals U.S. electric vehicles that cost three times...
Small, well-built Chinese EV called the Seagull poses a big threat to the U.S. auto industry
LIVONIA, Mich. — A tiny, low-priced electric car called the Seagull has American automakers and politicians trembling. The car, launched last year by Chinese automaker BYD, sells for around $12,000 in China, but drives well and is put together with craftsmanship that rivals U.S.-made electric vehicles that cost three times...
Apple Store employees in Maryland vote to authorize a first strike over working conditions
TOWSON, Md. — Workers at the first Apple Store to unionize have now also authorized a first strike against the tech giant’s retail operations. Apple Store workers in Towson, Maryland, voted late Saturday to authorize a strike, according to a statement from the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers’...
Federal judge temporarily halts Biden plan to lower credit card late fees to $8
LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in Texas temporarily halted a plan by the Biden administration to lower late fees on credit cards to $8 that was slated to go into effect next week. The temporary nationwide injunction imposed by Judge Mark Pittman in the Northern District of Texas is...
Target to reduce number of stores carrying Pride-themed merchandise after last year’s backlash
NEW YORK — Target confirmed Friday that it won’t carry Pride Month merchandise at all stories this spring after the discount retailer experienced backlash and lower sales over its collection honoring LGBTQ+ communities. Target, which operates roughly 2,000 stores, said decisions about where to stock Pride-themed products, including adult apparel,...
With production of the Chevy Malibu ending, long era ends for ol’ Detroit sedans
DETROIT — In another case of Detroit automakers surrendering car sales to foreign competition, General Motors Co. this fall will retire its last mainstream gas-powered sedan when production of the Chevrolet Malibu ends after nine generations. The Detroit automaker confirmed Wednesday it will stop producing the mid-size sedan in November...
TikTok sues U.S. government, saying ban violates 1st Amendment
TikTok, the popular social video app, sued the U.S. government on Tuesday, saying the country’s new law that could ban the app violates First Amendment rights to free speech. President Biden last month signed into law a bill that would effectively ban the service in the U.S. if its Chinese...
Medicare and Social Security go-broke dates are pushed back in a ‘measure of good news’
WASHINGTON — The go-broke dates for Medicare and Social Security have been pushed back as an improving economy has contributed to changed projected depletion dates, according to the annual Social Security and Medicare trustees report Monday. Still, officials warn that policy changes are needed lest the programs become unable to...
Walmart recalls more than 8 tons of ground beef over E. coli fears
Food manufacturing giant Cargill has recalled more than eight tons of ground beef sold at Walmart stores over potential E. coli contamination. The manufacturer this week recalled ” approximately 16,243 pounds of raw ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7,” according to a media release from...
The Fed indicated rates will remain higher for longer. What does that mean for you?
NEW YORK — Mortgage rates, credit card rates, auto loan rates, and business loans with variable rates will all likely maintain their highs, with consequences for consumer spending, after the Federal Reserve indicated Wednesday that it doesn’t plan to cut interest rates until it has “greater confidence” that price increases...
Federal Reserve says interest rates will stay at 2-decade high until inflation further coolsVideo
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve on Wednesday emphasized that inflation has remained stubbornly high in recent months and said it doesn’t plan to cut interest rates until it has “greater confidence” that price increases are slowing sustainably to its 2% target. The Fed issued its decision in a statement after...
Wall Street holds steady after the Federal Reserve says it will keep rates high
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks are holding relatively steady after the Federal Reserve said Wednesday it would keep its main interest rate at the highest level since 2001, just as markets expected. The S&P 500 was down 0.1% in afternoon trading, roughly where it was before the Fed’s announcement. The...
Workers, activists around the world hold May Day rallies urging greater rights, more pay
ISTANBUL — Workers, activists and others around the world took to the streets on Wednesday to mark May Day with protests over the pressure of rising prices and calls for greater labor rights. Pro-Palestinian sentiments were also on display. Police in Istanbul used tear gas and fired rubber bullets to...
Walmart launches store-label food brand as it seeks to appeal to younger shoppers
NEW YORK — Walmart is launching the U.S. retailer’s biggest store-label food brand in 20 years in terms of the breadth of items, seeking to appeal to younger customers who are not loyal to grocery brands and want chef-inspired foods that are more affordably priced. The brand, called Bettergoods, is...
Lawmakers, advocates make last-ditch push to extend affordable internet subsidy
WASHINGTON — Twenty-three million families in the United States will have bigger internet bills starting in May. That’s because a federal broadband subsidy program they’re enrolled in is nearly out of money. Dozens of people joined Biden administration officials, advocates and U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, a Democrat from Vermont, at...
Williams-Sonoma must pay almost $3.2 million for violating FTC’s ‘Made in USA’ order
NEW YORK — Home products retailer Williams-Sonoma will have to pay almost $3.2 million for violating a Federal Trade Commission “Made in USA” order. Williams-Sonoma was charged with advertising multiple products as being “Made in USA” when they were in fact manufactured in other countries, including China. That violated a...
U.S. growth slowed sharply last quarter to 1.6% pace, reflecting an economy pressured by high rates
WASHINGTON — The nation’s economy slowed sharply last quarter to a 1.6% annual pace in the face of high interest rates, but consumers — the main driver of economic growth — kept spending at a solid pace. The report Thursday from the Commerce Department said the gross domestic product —...
Strict new EPA rules would force coal-fired power plants to capture emissions or shut down
WASHINGTON — Coal-fired power plants would be forced to capture smokestack emissions or shut down under a rule issued Thursday by the Environmental Protection Agency. New limits on greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-fired electric plants are the Biden administration’s most ambitious effort yet to roll back planet-warming pollution from...
