Today’s News
Southwest Airlines has been faced with fines, union safety complaints
DALLAS (AP) — Southwest Airlines runs its planes hard. They make many short hops and more trips per day than other U.S. airliners, which adds to wear and tear on parts, including the engines. As the investigation into last week’s deadly engine failure continues, Southwest CEO Gary Kelly could face questions about whether the company’s low-cost business model — which puts its planes through frequent takeoffs and landings — is putting passengers at risk. Some [...]
Privacy debacle prompts changes by social-media users
NEW YORK (AP) — If you’ve made changes to how you use social media since Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica privacy debacle, you’re not alone. A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that 7 out of 10 of online adults who’ve heard of the scandal — revelations that a data mining firm may have accessed the private information of some 87 million Facebook users to influence elections — have unfollowed accounts, [...]
Opioid treatment gap in Medicare: methadone clinics
WASHINGTON — One in three older Americans with Medicare drug coverage is prescribed opioid painkillers, but for those who develop a dangerous addiction there is one treatment Medicare won’t cover: methadone. Methadone is the oldest, and experts say, the most effective of the three approved medications used to treat opioid addiction. It eases cravings without an intense high, allowing patients to work with counselors to rebuild their lives. Federal money is flowing to states to [...]
Koch network success in Trump era draws Democratic pushback
WASHINGTON — The sprawling network funded by the billionaire Koch brothers is having a very good run with President Donald Trump in the White House and Republican control of Congress. Tax cuts are now signed into law. A conservative judge is seated on the Supreme Court. And many governmental regulations, including those on labor and environmental practices, are facing rollbacks. That success is starting to get attention. Democrats are increasingly questioning how far the network’s [...]
Kushner plans to build twin-towers in New Jersey unraveling amid dispute
NEW YORK — First, Jared Kushner’s big plans for a skyscraper in Manhattan fell apart. Now, it’s the turn of his major twin-tower project across the river in New Jersey. Plans for a pair of gleaming, 66-story residential towers in Jersey City championed by Kushner when he was CEO of his family company are in danger of collapsing amid a heated exchange of letters and emails with the city. The Kushner Cos. is now making [...]
Aimed at China, Trump’s tariffs are hitting closer to home
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s escalating dispute with China over trade and technology is threatening jobs and profits in working-class communities where his “America First” agenda hit home. The Commerce Department has received more than 2,400 applications from companies seeking waivers from the administration’s tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, which may result in duty payments of millions of dollars for larger businesses. The department has begun posting the requests online for public comment; several [...]
Bill to prevent workers’ comp awards to illegals meant to preserve system
The Ohio Senate presumably would have to reconcile constitutional questions arising from a bill that prohibits illegal and unauthorized aliens from receiving compensation and certain benefits under the state’s Workers’ Compensation Law. Analysis of House Bill 380 by the Ohio Legislative Service Commission noted the bill’s apparent limitation of remedies for individuals not authorized to work in the United States and who suffer an injury on the job because of employer neglect or wrongful act, [...]
Central Ohio jobless rate drops to 3.5%
Central Ohio’s unemployment rate decreased more than half of a percentage point in March. The 10-county metropolitan statistical area’s not-seasonally adjusted jobless rate was 3.5 percent last month compared with 4.1 percent in March 2017, according to data the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services released Tuesday. But the region’s civilian labor force increased to 1,087,300 people in March from 1,065,100 people the same month last year. The increase was driven by gains of [...]
Dems’ chances may rest on flipping Republican strongholds in cities
DALLAS (AP) — As Dallas has evolved from reliably red to deeply blue, joining many other big cities, one enclave has remained the beating heart of country club conservatism — home to Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens and former President George W. Bush. Just north of downtown, it’s where suits-and-cowboy-boots culture meets the high-powered banking circuit and Southern Methodist University’s immaculately manicured campus. Still, this longtime Republican stronghold could now help [...]
Democrats see Wisconsin as proving ground for party revival
PARDEEVILLE, Wis. — Margo Miller thanked her hosts, covered herself in a blue poncho and headed back into the driving sleet, with more doors to knock in this rural subdivision but with another new volunteer’s name on her clipboard. Miller and about 50 other Democratic activists who braved a recent spring storm returned with 160 petition signatures for a special state Assembly campaign, a local sleeper election that Democrats hope will be anything but. Since [...]
Legal News
Amid opioid crisis, lawmakers want to loosening training mandates for foster parents
As state policymakers and public health official contend with the effects of the opioid scourge plaguing rural and urban Ohio alike, a Marysville Republican has [...]
Senate committee takes up proposed legislation that could help ailing retailers
Having cleared the Ohio House of Representatives by unanimous vote late last year, a measure meant to modernize state tax code and return overpaid sales [...]
A new wave of gun control bills progress to Ohio Senate committees
A quartet of bills aimed at curbing gun violence and introduced in the wake of a national demonstration seeking stricter federal gun laws have been [...]
Business News
After Vegas shooting, Ohio brothers develop bulletproof portable seat
Aaron and Ben Ansel have developed a product with one function they hope nobody will have to use in the near future. The two co-founded [...]
Budtenders to be in high demand in Michigan
DETROIT — With medical marijuana on the cusp of becoming a bona fide industry in Michigan, the people who educate customers and sell the product [...]
Shopping more: Retail sales rebounded a solid 0.6 pct. in March
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumers bounced back in March and bought more cars, furniture and appliances after three months of declining retail sales. The Commerce Department [...]
Real Estate
Columbus ranks 50th for highest share of cash-out borrowers
Central Ohio was among the top 50 metropolitain areas where homebuyers were likely to tap into their home equity when refinancing. Columbus ranked 50th among [...]
Proposed German Village projects not likely the start of a trend, says neighborhood advocate
Despite limited space, German Village hasn’t fully escaped the wave of residential and lodging developments in central Ohio. The German Village Commission provided conceptual reviews [...]
Love that home’s view? See how much more you’ll pay
A house with a fabulous view can be hard for a homebuyer to resist. But seeing the mountains, water or city lights from the comfort [...]
Politics
Dems’ presidential hopefuls may come from city hall
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Democrats searching for potential presidential candidates may find some in an unlikely place: city hall. A handful of Democratic mayors [...]
Another Trump trade war, this time with Rwanda over clothes
KAMPALA, Uganda — The sweaty mechanic tossed aside the used jeans one by one, digging deep through the pile of secondhand clothes that are at [...]
Trump says he wants skilled migrants but creates new hurdles
It may be a while before President Donald Trump gets another chance at creating a new, “merit-based” immigration system, a keystone of his four-part plan [...]
