The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has decided to fast-track permits for building a protective tunnel around an aging Enbridge oil pipeline that runs beneath a channel connecting two Great Lakes, stoking environmentalists’ fears that the project will escape scrutiny, damage the sensitive region and perpetuate fossil fuel use. The move comes after President Donald [...]
HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas judge threw out a federal rule that would have capped credit card late fees after officials with President Donald Trump’s administration and a coalition of banking groups agreed that the rule was illegal. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman in Fort Worth came a day after the Consumer [...]
Starbucks is imposing new limits on what its baristas may wear under their green aprons. Starting May 12, employees will be required to wear a solid black shirt and khaki, black or blue denim bottoms. Shirts may be short- or long-sleeved and collared or collarless, the company said in a memo. Starbucks will give each [...]
WASHINGTON (AP) — A review issued last week by the Defense Department inspector general could not determine why Colorado was chosen over Alabama as the permanent location of U.S. Space Command. The inspector general’s report said its lack of a finding was in part due to a lack of access to senior defense officials during [...]
A pair of lawmakers in the Ohio House of Representatives is championing a bill to extend state and local sales and use taxes to short-term rental stays. Current law only allows hotels to collect a tax that goes directly to the convention and visitors bureau in the county in which the hotel operates, according to [...]
NEW YORK (AP) — Shoppers increased their shopping last month, fueled by a spending spree on big ticket items from gadgets to cars. Retail sales rose 1.4 percent in March, after rising 0.2 percent in February, according to the Commerce Department. Retail sales fell 1.2 percent in January. Excluding sales at dealers of autos and [...]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has granted nearly 70 coal-fired power plants a two-year exemption from federal requirements to reduce emissions of chemicals such as mercury, arsenic and benzene. A list recently posted on the Environmental Protection Agency’s website lists 47 power providers — which operate at least 66 coal-fired plants — that are [...]
The $2.8 billion legal settlement designed to reshape college sports is now before a federal judge for a final decision. Attorneys who hashed out the House settlement filed a brief that did not include changes urged by U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken regarding team roster limits, saying such a late change to that rule [...]
Dozens of former student pilots who say they racked up tens of thousands of dollars in debt for tuition are suing United Airlines and its flight school in the Arizona desert, saying it didn’t have enough teachers or aircraft to properly train and graduate its students. The federal lawsuit accuses United and the school, United [...]