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Auto review: '25 Taycan confirms Porsche delivers EV sportiness with a flare

Business / Business News /

As Porsche has been a staple in Grasso’s Garage for awhile now, due to their sportiness design and powertrains, the opportunity to add the Taycan EV to the fleet was a no brainer and the Taycan was born. Similar to our tester in October 2022, the Taycan was a powerhouse and easily outstanding. In this year’s test, things get even better.

...Read more

Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

An 'industry behemoth.' Inside the federal government's efforts to break up Google

Business / Business News /

SAN FRANCISCO — In its early days, the quirky tech startup known as Google adopted a visionary corporate credo: “Don’t be evil.” That later evolved into the motto: “Do the right thing,” reflecting the idealistic ambitions of the company’s founders that its technology could be a force for good.

Google’s pioneering search ...Read more

Mike Ditz/Nissan/TNS

Auto review: The 2025 Nissan Altima SR may be the Snoop Dog/Martha Stewart of pleasantly perfect sedans

Business / Business News /

I have to confess one of my recent guilty pleasures has been watching the Martha Stewart documentary, “Martha,” on Netflix. She’s as perfectly pleasant and prone to details as ever, but post-prison Martha has a bit more edge, hanging with Snoop Dog and dropping F-bombs like garden flower ordinances. If she had an automotive alter ego, it ...Read more

Toyota/TNS/TNS

Auto review: 2025 Toyota Camry is more of the same, but now even better

Business / Business News /

While the Toyota Camry has been mocked as something akin to a toaster, the comparison is absolutely misinformed. As anyone who’s bought a toaster recently can attest, they are cheap junk made and imported from China and sure to break sooner than a politician’s promise. Trust me, I’ve been through far too many toasters in the past few ...Read more

Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Econometer: Will California insurance reforms be enough to stop insurers from leaving?

Business / Business News /

Losses from the Los Angeles fires threatened to deepen a crisis that has already left hundreds of thousands of Californians struggling to find and keep affordable homeowners insurance.

A major concern out of the destruction is not just the people without insurance, but the fear other homeowners will lose coverage after the devastation.

...Read more

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FTC refers Snap complaint alleging its chatbot harms young users

Business / Business News /

The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday announced it had referred a complaint against Snap Inc. to the Department of Justice, alleging the social media company's AI-powered chatbot is harmful to young users.

The complaint isn't public, but the commission made the unusual move of announcing its referral because it determined it's in the ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

FTC to ban GM from sharing connected vehicle data with consumer reporting agencies

Business / Business News /

The Federal Trade Commission will ban General Motors Co. from sharing customer geolocation and driver behavior with consumer reporting agencies for five years under a newly proposed order settling the commission's allegations.

This is the FTC's first action related to connected vehicle data, according to a news release. The agency alleged that ...Read more

Ken Wolter/Dreamstime/TNS

US Bancorp ends year on strong note, though it lags other top banks

Business / Business News /

U.S. Bancorp ended its year with hefty earnings strengthened by higher fees and disciplined spending, as executives predicted revenue growth of up to 5% this year.

The Minneapolis-based company that runs U.S. Bank, the fifth-largest bank in the nation, delivered net income of $1.75 billion for the last three months of the year, up 7% from the ...Read more

Wellesenterprises/Dreamstime/TNS

Amex to pay $230 million over misleading sales practices

Business / Business News /

American Express Co. will pay about $230 million to resolve a long-running investigation into some of the firm’s prior sales practices which regulators said misled small-business owners.

Amex reached agreements with federal prosecutors and the Federal Reserve to settle the allegations, according to statements from the parties involved.

The ...Read more

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TikTok poised for reprieve as Trump team pledges extension

Business / Business News /

A U.S. ban on ByteDance Ltd.’s TikTok is poised to be delayed with a deadline for the sale of the app falling on a holiday weekend and President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration pledging an extension.

President Joe Biden’s administration is not planning to intervene before a Jan. 19 deadline for TikTok’s U.S. arm to find a ...Read more

Jeff Gritchen/The Orange County Register/TNS

California Gov. Gavin Newsom extends rental price gouging protections until early March

Business / Business News /

California Gov. Gavin Newsom extended price gouging protections on rental housing Thursday amid calls for authorities to prosecute landlords jacking up rent in the wake of Los Angeles County's devastating fires.

Under California law, price gouging protections kick in during a state of emergency and generally bar landlords, hotel and motels from...Read more

Real estate Q&A: Who should replace aging fence?

Business / Business News /

Q: I live in a zero-lot-line community. The side of our house, a patio wall, and a wood fence extension on the end of our patio wall form the property line with our neighbor. The builder installed the wood fence extension to meet city code and enclose the neighbor’s yard since it has an open, non-enclosed pool. We do not have a pool. The fence...Read more

Carlos Gonzalez/Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

UnitedHealth Group shares fall amid worry over medical costs

Business / Business News /

UnitedHealth Group beat estimates for fourth quarter profit as the Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based health care giant released its first earnings report since the fatal ambush last month of top executive Brian Thompson in New York City.

Despite the earnings result, the company’s stock price fell in early trading Thursday as its massive ...Read more

Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune/TNS

Santas shopped the sales at Target, resulting in a better-than-expected holiday bump

Business / Business News /

Heavy promotion and sales drew people into Target stores over the holidays, boosting comparable sales by 2% as people bought apparel and toys to put under the tree, the retailer said Thursday.

While not robust compared with past holiday seasons, it beat the Minneapolis-based retailer’s guidance of flat sales and is a much better performance ...Read more

Jade Gao/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

China is facing longest deflation streak since Mao era in 1960s

Business / Business News /

China has failed to break a deflationary cycle and is now on track for the longest streak of economy-wide price declines since the 1960s, analysts say, exposing a key vulnerability likely masked by a growth upswing at the end of last year.

Deflation persisted for the second straight year in 2024, official data due Friday is set to show, ...Read more

Eric Lutzens/The Denver Post/TNS

Uber sues Colorado over new laws, saying pricing transparency for drivers violates its free speech rights

Business / Business News /

Uber alleges in a new lawsuit that two Colorado laws aiming to improve transparency for delivery and ride-hailing app drivers will violate its right to free speech.

Senate Bill 75 and House Bill 1129, both passed and signed into law last year, mandate that ride-hailing and delivery companies like Uber, Lyft and DoorDash show their drivers how ...Read more

Jabin Botsford/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Hollywood production rose at the end of a brutal 2024. But wildfires add new uncertainty

Business / Business News /

Although Hollywood production rallied in the last three months of 2024, it was not enough to turn around last year's industry-wide slump, according to a new report.

Overall production from October to December increased 6.2% compared with the same period a year earlier, according to a report released by the nonprofit organization FilmLA, which ...Read more

Jeff Gritchen/The Orange County Register/TNS

The new app that is an essential tool for tracking California wildfires

Business / Business News /

An app built on an off-the-grid ranch in rural Sonoma County, California, supported by solar panels, satellite internet service and a small nonprofit team, is serving as a critical tech hub for free, fast and reliable information to help victims of the catastrophic Los Angeles fires — and future disasters.

The fire-tracking app Watch Duty, ...Read more

Jerry Jackson/The Baltimore Sun/TNS

Maryland's emissions reduction requirements for large buildings challenged in federal court

Business / Business News /

Trade organizations representing builders, developers and building owners joined Washington Gas & Light in filing a lawsuit Monday challenging Maryland’s emissions reduction requirements for large buildings.

The suit alleges that Maryland’s regulation requiring buildings of at least 35,000 square feet to reduce their globe-warming emissions...Read more

Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Fires burned up their restaurant jobs. 'From one day to another, we have no work'

Business / Business News /

LOS ANGELES — Felipe Ortega has spent 38 years — more than half of his life — working at Gladstones in Pacific Palisades. He started as a busboy and worked his way to bartender and maintenance worker. But for the foreseeable future, the 64-year-old is out of a job.

A week after flames damaged the restaurant and destroyed huge swaths of ...Read more