Backup QBs are on display as injury-depleted teams push toward playoffs
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Joe Flacco was at home a month ago, all but ready to accept his 15-year NFL career might be over. Then came a phone call from his agent with an invitation to a workout with the Cleveland Browns. A commercial flight and practice-squad deal later, the former Super Bowl MVP has [...]
Retailers invest in improving their delivery systems
NEW YORK (AP) — As many shoppers are waiting for packages to arrive during the busiest shipping period of the year, some of America’s biggest retailers are working to increase their shipping speeds to please shoppers expecting faster and faster deliveries. Walmart, Target and Amazon are all-in on the shipping wars, a move retail analysts [...]
EPA increases investigations by 70 percent from last year
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency conducted more on-site inspections of polluting industrial sites this year than any time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency said earlier this week as it seeks to reinvigorate its enforcement program after more than a decade of budget cuts. EPA opened nearly 200 criminal investigations [...]
White House supports industry effort to standardize Tesla’s EV charging plugs
The White House is lending its support to an auto industry effort to standardize Tesla's electric vehicle charging plugs for all EVs in the United States, part of a broad effort to stimulate their sales. More than 1 million EVs have been sold in the United States in 2023, a record, but that pace still [...]
As Congress, Biden administration weigh asylum limits, illegal crossings surge in remote areas
LUKEVILLE, Ariz. (AP) — Hundreds of dates are written on concrete-filled steel columns erected along the United States border with Mexico to memorialize when the Border Patrol has repaired illicit openings in the wouldbe barriers. No sooner are fixes made than another column is sawed, torched and chiseled for large groups of migrants to enter, [...]
Google to pay $700M to states, consumers in settlement
Google has agreed to pay $700 million and make several other concessions to settle allegations that it had been stifling competition against its Android app store — the same issue that went to trial in another case that could result in even bigger changes. Although Google struck the deal with state attorneys general in September, [...]
Government revises management plans to protect old growth forests
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Biden administration is moving to conserve groves of old-growth trees on federal land by revising management plans for national forests and grasslands across the U.S. as they face threats from wildfires, insects and disease. Agriculture Sec. Tom Vilsack said the goal was to provide an "ecologically-driven" approach to older forests [...]
Hawaii governor wants 3,000 vacation rentals converted to housing
HONOLULU — Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said he wants 3,000 condos and homes that are normally rented to Maui tourists converted to long-term housing for displaced wildfire survivors who are now living in hotels. Green said he's prepared to use the "hammer" of post-fire emergency orders to make sure owners of short-term vacation rentals extend [...]