Bid to unionize Amazon workers in NYC

Miracle Stewart, right, an employee of Amazon PrimeNow, prepares bags to fill with orders from customers making purchases at a distribution hub in New York in 2016. A bid to unionize Amazon workers at a facility in New York City neared an important milestone this week.
Associated Press File photo

NEW YORK — A bid to unionize Amazon workers at a distribution facility in New York City neared an important milestone, as organizers prepared to deliver hundreds of signatures to the National Labor Relations Board as soon as Monday for authorization to hold a vote.

10/22/2021 Business Features 0 comments

Trump plans new media, tech venture

NEW YORK — Some investors aren’t waiting to see if former President Donald Trump’s plans for a media company to challenge the likes of Facebook, Twitter and even Disney can actually become reality — they’re all in.

10/22/2021 Business Features 0 comments

Texts detail how Ohio regulator helped energy co.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Newly surfaced texts between then-FirstEnergy Corp. executives detail a series of favors delivered to the company by Ohio’s top utility regulator, a man under scrutiny in an ongoing federal corruption probe.

10/22/2021 Business Features 0 comments

Bitcoin surpasses $66,000, sets record

FILE - This May 12, 2021, file photo shows an advertisement for the cryptocurrency Bitcoin displayed on a tram in Hong Kong. Cryptocurrencies have surged to nearly $2.5 trillion in total value, rivaling the size of G7 economies like Canada’s and Italy’s, with more than 200 million users. At that size, it’s simply too large for the financial establishment to ignore. Firms that cater to the world’s wealthiest families are increasingly putting some of their fortunes into crypto. Hedge funds are trading Bitcoin, which has big-name banks starting to offer them services around it. And in the latest milestone for the industry, an easy-to-trade fund tied to Bitcoin began trading on Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

NEW YORK — Bitcoin stormed above $66,000 for the first time on Wednesday, riding a wave of excitement about how the financial establishment is increasingly accepting the digital currency’s rise.

10/21/2021 Business Features 0 comments

Fed says economy facing woes

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve reports that the economy faces a number of headwinds, including supply-chain disruptions, labor shortages and uncertainty about COVID.

10/21/2021 Business Features 0 comments

Energy crunch hits as winter approaches

Steam billows out of the cooling towers at a coal-fired power station in Nanjing in east China’s Jiangsu province in September. The world’s facing an energy crunch. Europe is feeling it worst as natural gas prices skyrocket to five times normal, forcing some factories to hold back production. Reserves depleted last winter haven’t been made up, and chief supplier Russia has held back on supplying extra. Meanwhile, the new Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline won’t start operating in time to help if the weather is cold, and there’s talk Europe could wind up rationing electricity. China is feeling it too, seeing power outages in some towns. (Chinatopix via AP, file)

Power shortages are turning out streetlights and shutting down factories in China. The poor in Brazil are choosing between paying for food or electricity. German corn and wheat farmers can’t find fertilizer, made using natural gas.

10/20/2021 Business Features 0 comments

Vax-or-test fine print awaited

WASHINGTON — More than six weeks after promising a new vaccination-or-testing rule covering the millions of Americans at companies with 100 or more workers, President Joe Biden’s most aggressive move yet to combat the COVID-19 pandemic is almost ready.

10/20/2021 Business Features 0 comments

Data attack disrupts TV stations

Sinclair Broadcast Group, which operates dozens of TV stations across the U.S., said Monday that some of its servers and work stations were encrypted with ransomware and that data was stolen from its network.

10/19/2021 Business Features 0 comments

GameStop mania tested market system, regulator says

NEW YORK — The U.S. stock market certainly shook when hundreds of thousands of regular people suddenly piled into GameStop early this year, driving its price to heights that shocked professional investors. But it didn’t break.

10/19/2021 Business Features 0 comments

Farmers, John Deere suppliers worry about strike’s impact

WATERLOO, Iowa — Farmers and Deere & Co. suppliers are worried about what the strike at the tractor maker’s factories will mean for their livelihoods.

10/18/2021 Business Features 0 comments

Gators thrive, so farmers’ return quota may drop

NEW ORLEANS — Once-endangered alligators are thriving in the wild, so Louisiana authorities are proposing a deep cut in the percentage that farmers must return to marshes where their eggs were laid.