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Jeff Wheeler/Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Minnesota hospitals cut serious drug errors after years of efforts

Business / Business News /

Sandra Hall entered the HealthPartners Same Day Surgery Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, to fix arthritis in her left thumb. When she left, in an ambulance, she was unresponsive and her heartbeat was unstable.

A medication error allegedly caused the 67-year-old woman to enter cardiac arrest before her routine surgery in December 2022. A lawsuit ...Read more

Erika Schultz/The Seattle Times/TNS

Reports of coming layoffs swirl at Microsoft as workers worry they're next

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Microsoft employees aren't getting much time to take a breath between layoff rounds as thousands could be let go in early July, according to news reports.

The Redmond, Washington-based tech giant announced in mid-May that it was firing more than 6,000 employees companywide, including 1,985 based in Washington. Less than three weeks later, ...Read more

Clarence Tabb Jr./The Detroit News/TNS

Industry group calls out 'fractured' relationship between automakers and safety regulators

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WASHINGTON — The relationship between the auto industry and federal safety regulators is "fractured," the industry's top lobbying group said Wednesday in a filing to Congress.

John Bozzella, president and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, called out the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in written testimony to ...Read more

Ariana Ruiz/Prensa Internacional/Zuma Press/TNS

More refunds on the way to Fortnite players from Epic Games' FTC settlement

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Fortnite players and their parents could start receiving close to a million refund payments this week, more than two years after the Federal Trade Commission fined Cary video game maker Epic Games a record sum for deploying deceptive payment tactics in its popular game.

The payouts total over $126 million and arrive six months after the FTC ...Read more

Boulies/Boulies/TNS

Tech review: Three gift ideas for the home office or dorm room

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I’ve got a few things I’ve been testing that would make great additions for a home office or dorm room.

Getting comfortable with your office furniture and equipment is essential for productivity.

Boulies OP300 Ergonomic Chair

When I was in college (back in the days before personal computers), we had small built-in desks in our dorm rooms ...Read more

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North America/TNS

Federal judge orders Trump to unfreeze billions earmarked for EV infrastructure

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A federal judge in Seattle has ordered the Trump administration to roll back an executive order freezing billions of dollars earmarked for electric vehicle infrastructure in a ruling that mentioned a charging station in San Diego — and also quoted an episode of “The Simpsons.”

The case centered on the National Electric Vehicle ...Read more

Brandon Bell/Getty Images North America/TNS

Kroger announces closure of 60 stores across US

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Grocery giant Kroger revealed during its first-quarter earnings call this month that it will shut down about 60 underperforming stores over the next 18 months. At the same time, the company intends to open new locations throughout this year and the next.

“We’re simplifying our business and reviewing areas that will not be meaningful to our ...Read more

Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS

In landmark decision, judge rules California FAIR Plan's smoke-damage policy illegal

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In a landmark decision, a Los Angeles judge ruled that California's home insurer of last resort is violating state law by how it treats smoke-damage claims — a policy that homeowners have long complained shortchanges them, including, most recently, victims of the Jan. 7 firestorms.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Stuart Rice on ...Read more

Lola Gomez/The Dallas Morning News/TNS

Seattle to ban controversial rent-setting software RealPage

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Seattle will soon ban the controversial rent-setting platform RealPage and similar services, becoming the latest local government to take aim at a technology that critics say helps drive up housing costs.

The Seattle City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to ban a widely used class of software that gathers information from an array of ...Read more

Dee DePass/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Trump travel ban disrupting business trips for immigrants

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MINNEAPOLIS — Art dealer Martin Akinseye travels to Africa at least four times each year to meet with artisans and buy art at fairs and festivals. He has a trip planned to Ghana and Liberia in September.

Like several other immigrant business owners at Midtown Global Market, a bustling international marketplace on Lake Street in Minneapolis, ...Read more

Daniel Slim/Getty Images North America/TNS

'We are in trouble.' St. Louis region's slowing population growth spurs call for action

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ST. LOUIS — A growing number of civic and business groups are highlighting the metropolitan area’s stagnant population as an urgent problem, and they’re pushing the region’s planning organization to do something about it.

Backers of the effort say they have so far secured a dozen resolutions from professional associations and civic ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Google debuts Gemini AI coding tool in bid to entice developers

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Alphabet Inc.’s Google is adding an artificial intelligence coding assistant to to ease the work of developers, aiming to catch up with rival products such as OpenAI’s Codex and Anthropic’s Claude Code.

The Gemini CLI — short for “command line interface” — is launching globally, the internet search giant said Wednesday. The tool ...Read more

Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times/TNS

How Wall Street hedge funds are gambling millions on Eaton fire insurance claims

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In a high-stakes gamble, Wall Street hedge funds are offering to buy claims that insurers may have against Southern California Edison if the utility is found liable for causing the devastating Eaton fire in Altadena.

The solicitations are legal, but have alarmed California state officials — who loathe the idea of investors profiting from a ...Read more

Daniel Jacobi II/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

'That's criminal': $26 minibar water bottle at Las Vegas casino-hotel sparks social media outrage

Business / Business News /

How much does a bottle of water cost? At a Las Vegas Strip hotel minibar: $26.

A Las Vegas visitor wrote into blog View from the Wing to share a water bottle from the minibar at the Aria was $26.

“Told me the price after I had already (out of thirst, in the desert) consumed (fortunately only one) bottle of water,” said the visitor who ...Read more

Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Effort to require Chicago businesses install security cameras gets pushback

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CHICAGO — An effort to require Chicago businesses to install surveillance cameras started with a City Council majority but is now seeing its support wither.

West Side Ald. Emma Mitts, 37th, had sign-on from 28 aldermen last week when she introduced legislation requiring public-facing businesses to put in security cameras. But several ...Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

In-N-Out sues YouTuber over fake employee prank video

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In-N-Out Burger has filed a lawsuit against a YouTube personality for allegedly impersonating a company employee, filming customers without their consent and posting videos sharing false and misleading information about the popular California burger chain.

The federal lawsuit, filed in Santa Ana on June 20, stems from a video Bryan Arnett ...Read more

JOSE CARLOS FAJARDO/Bay Area News Group/TNS

US consumer confidence drops on broad concerns about economy

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U.S. consumer confidence unexpectedly declined in June, underscoring lingering anxiety about the potential impacts on the economy and job market from higher U.S. import duties.

The Conference Board’s gauge of confidence decreased 5.4 points to 93, data showed Tuesday. The figure was below all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

A...Read more

Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Illinois must build 227,000 units in 5 years to keep up with housing demand, report finds

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Illinois has a shortage of about 142,000 housing units and must build 227,000 in the next five years to keep pace with demand, a number that would require recent annual production rates to double, according to a new economic study.

The joint study published Tuesday by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the Project for Middle Class ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Job hunting firm CareerBuilder + Monster files bankruptcy

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CareerBuilder + Monster, a firm that brought together early trailblazers in online job recruiting, filed for bankruptcy protection in Delaware as business continues to shrivel.

The company said Tuesday it started a Chapter 11 process to facilitate a sale of the operations, according to a statement. The firm had estimated liabilities between $...Read more

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America/TNS

Layoffs from Trump tariffs ripple across the auto-parts industry

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Elena Morales, the president of SMT Automation, had been preparing for a big year at the tiny Michigan maker of manufacturing machinery.

Morales had purchased a new building and hired staff in anticipation of installing more equipment on automotive assembly lines. Her customers, who are some of the biggest automakers and parts suppliers in the...Read more