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Prefab housing builders seek to show their stuff in LA fire recovery

Business / Business News /

Inside a factory alongside Interstate 5 in the San Joaquin Valley, a forklift delivered a stack of precut lumber to two waiting carpenters.

Consulting a design on a computer screen, the workers arranged the numbered pieces — from 14 inches to 12 feet long — into a grid on an oversize worktable and attached them with rapid nail gun blasts. ...Read more

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US to explore allowing driverless cars without steering wheels

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The head of the top U.S. auto safety regulator said the agency “absolutely” will consider ending requirements that driverless cars include steering wheels, a potential boon for Tesla Inc. and other robotaxi companies rethinking traditional vehicle design.

“If you’re developing a vehicle that is designed never to be driven by a human ...Read more

Darin Oswald/Idaho Statesman/TNS

Micron boosts US spending to $250 billion to feed memory boom

Business / Business News /

Micron Technology Inc. plans to increase its spending on new plants in the U.S. to $250 billion to help meet unprecedented demand for its memory chips fueled by the global artificial intelligence boom.

The funds would add $50 billion to the company’s previously announced commitment of $200 billion toward expanding domestic chipmaking that ...Read more

DREAMSTIME/TNS

AI office demand seen spreading beyond NYC, San Francisco

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AI-focused tech firms are stepping up searches for office space, and New York and San Francisco won’t be the only cities to benefit from their fast expansion.

Building tours by prospective AI tenants in the U.S. jumped 85% in the year through May, according to commercial-property data provider VTS. Searches are highly concentrated in ...Read more

Real estate Q&A: How can I protect against the 'most expensive scam in real estate'?

Business / Business News /

Q: I am closing on a home purchase next week, and I just received an email from my title company with instructions for wiring my down payment. It says their bank account has changed and asks me to send the funds right away. It looks real and uses the correct names and numbers, but something about it feels off. Is this normal? — Marcus

A: ...Read more

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Tech review: For your consideration -- several cool new gadgets

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I’m lucky that I get to review lots of cool new gadgets, both big and small.

Larger or more complex things usually have enough going on that they take up all the writing space I am assigned, but sometimes I accumulate smaller or simpler gadgets, and I’ve learned to group those together.

This week we are looking at a few smaller gadgets.

...Read more

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Meat giant JBS pulls back from 2040 net-zero emissions goal

Business / Business News /

JBS NV, the world’s largest meatpacker, is stepping back from a 2040 net-zero emissions goal, dropping targets for the indirect emissions that make up the bulk of its environmental footprint.

The company in its latest sustainability report adjusted its goals to eliminate targets for so-called Scope 3 greenhouse gas output, which for JBS ...Read more

'Please control your children': California restaurateur charges parents when kids run wild

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When Bay Area restaurateur You You Xue witnessed a customer changing their child's diaper atop a communal booth in the middle of the dining room, he felt he had to put a stop to the madness.

At the time of the incident, about a year ago, Xue had already been thinking that customer behavior at his restaurant Chez Xue in Foster City, California, ...Read more

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US judge allows SEC-Musk deal despite 'significant misgivings'

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A U.S. judge signed off on Elon Musk paying $1.5 million to end a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit that accused him of cheating Twitter Inc. investors when he missed a deadline in 2022 to disclose his growing stake in the company.

U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan’s approval comes after she said in May that the deal raised “...Read more

DREAMSTIME/TNS

Nexstar launches its first digital subscription service with The Hill Insider, aimed at political junkies

Business / Business News /

Nexstar Media Group's The Hill, the political web site that started as a free newspaper read in most congressional offices in Washington, is launching a new direct-to-consumer streaming service that will be behind a paywall.

Starting Wednesday, Nexstar will offer The Hill Insider, which will carry daily streaming video programs and newsletters....Read more

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China adds to US soy buying with largest daily deal since 2025

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China purchased the largest amount of U.S. soybeans since November, extending a wave of buying as agricultural trade between the world’s two largest economies gathers pace.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday reported sales of 472,000 metric tons of soybeans for delivery to China, the biggest daily export amount reported to that ...Read more

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Michael Hiltzik: Trump wants to let companies make fewer disclosures, thus keeping investors in the dark

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This being the "information age," it would be understandable if investors sometimes feel inundated with too much information to wade through about the stocks in their mutual fund portfolios.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, bowing like a puppy to the urgings of President Trump, is considering exactly the wrong solution to this supposed ...Read more

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Walmart's EV chargers are coming to California with discounts for members

Business / Business News /

Walmart is rapidly expanding its network of electric vehicle chargers designed for customers to use while they shop.

The network could help fill gaps in EV infrastructure in states with greater need for chargers. Walmart, which has more than 5,000 locations in the U.S. and hundreds in California, says more than 90% of Americans live within 10 ...Read more

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Q&A: Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe on how AI will transform autos

Business / Business News /

PARK CITY, Utah — If the early 20th-century auto revolution was sparked in Detroit by entrepreneurs like Ford, Dodge, and Sloan, the early 21st century has brought a new, digital auto revolution on America’s West Coast right out of a science fiction novel.

At its forefront are entrepreneurs like Sergei Brin of Google, Tesla’s Elon Musk, ...Read more

Darin Oswald/Idaho Statesman/TNS

Semiconductor worker shortfall endangers US chip factory revival

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A growing nationwide shortage of high-skilled workers threatens to delay construction of billions of dollars in new semiconductor plants across the US and constrain future chip production unless the industry pools resources and the government keeps up funding, according to a new report.

The deficit is expected to be most acute in states such as...Read more

Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Waymo reports teen riders for bad behavior and delivers them to the police

Business / Business News /

Robotaxis could be turning into robocops.

A self-driving Waymo reported two teens to San Mateo, California, police on Monday after they were found drinking alcohol and shooting toy guns in the back of the vehicle.

According to a social media post from the San Mateo Police Department, officers detained two 15-year-olds after the Waymo they were...Read more

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Zoom to buy Seattle AI startup

Business / Business News /

Zoom, the San Jose, California-based company known for its video conferencing platform, has agreed to purchase a Seattle startup as it tries to position itself as an artificial intelligence-powered workplace.

Four Seattle-area tech workers founded the startup, called Common Room, in 2020. The company offers a sales and marketing platform that ...Read more

John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Illinois bill awaiting Pritzker OK would add oversight on private equity firms buying disability group homes

Business / Business News /

By the time Illinois notified group home provider Broadstep two years ago that it was revoking its license, the list of problems documented by state investigators spanned nearly seven pages.

Expired medications. Incomplete background checks. “Critical incidents,” which may have included medical emergencies and other events that spurred 911...Read more

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Trump pardons Michigan companies, people for Clean Air Act violations

Business / Business News /

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday pardoned a series of western Michigan businesses and individuals for violations of the Clean Air Act in connection with an emissions manipulation scheme.

"It is my Great Honor to have just signed Pardons for six people who were persecuted by the Biden Administration, and were in, or being sent to,...Read more

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Stellantis starts selling Chinese EVs from Leapmotor in Mexico

Business / Business News /

Chinese electric vehicle maker Leapmotor has joined with partner Stellantis NV to start selling an SUV in Mexico — the latest example of Chinese automakers aiming to quickly grow market share just over the U.S. border.

The Leapmotor B10 compact SUV formally launched in recent days with the carmaker promoting the vehicle around various FIFA ...Read more