Today’s News
Bill would prohibit use of drones for voyeurism
Southwest Ohio lawmakers Reps. Brian Lampton and Tom Young debuted this week a bill to address the privacy interests of Ohioans as the use of drones becomes more commonplace. House Bill 450, upon enactment, would prohibit voyeurism, criminal trespass and aggravated criminal trespass through the use of an unmanned aerial vehicle system, the Republican duo detailed during a Criminal Justice Committee hearing in the Ohio House of Representatives. “Unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, are an [...]
Inflation rate at 3.4 percent last month
WASHINGTON (AP) — Led by lower food and auto prices, inflation cooled slightly last month after three elevated readings, possibly offering a tentative sigh of relief for officials at the Federal Reserve. Consumer prices rose 0.3 percent from March to April, according to a new Labor Department report. That is down from 0.4 percent the previous month. Measured year-over-year, the pace of inflation ticked down from 3.5 percent to 3.4 percent and a gauge of [...]
Retail sales were steady in April compared to the previous month
NEW YORK (AP) — Americans paused their spending in April from March, according to new Commerce Department data. Retail sales were unchanged, coming in below economists' expectations, and follow a revised 0.6 percent pace in March, according to data released earlier this week. Sales rose 0.9 percent in February. That comes after sales fell 1.1 percent in January, dragged down in part by inclement weather. Excluding gas prices and auto sales, retail sales fell 0.1 [...]
Medical professionals uncertain about how helpful AI may be in examining X-rays
WASHINGTON (AP) — How good would an algorithm have to be to take over your job? It's a new question for many workers amid the rise of ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence programs that can hold conversations, write stories and even generate songs and images within seconds. For doctors who review scans to spot cancer and other diseases, however, AI has loomed for about a decade as more algorithms promise to improve accuracy, speed up [...]
Senators urge $32B in emergency spending on AI after finishing review
WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan group of four senators led by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is recommending that Congress spend at least $32 billion over the next three years to develop artificial intelligence and place safeguards around it, writing in a new report that the U.S. needs to “harness the opportunities and address the risks” of the quickly developing technology. The group of two Democrats and two Republicans said in an interview that while they [...]
Meme stocks are disrupting Wall Street once again
NEW YORK — Meme stocks are shaking Wall Street once again. That shouldn't be much of a surprise. Ever since bands of smaller-pocketed and novice investors began taking stock prices of downtrodden companies to breathtaking heights three years ago, the potential for more flareups has been obvious. Some things are different this time. The biggest change from the initial supernova for GameStop's stock is how the experience of 2021 makes this all feel familiar. That [...]
Rebuilding to begin at Pimlico Race Course after Saturday’s Preakness
BALTIMORE (AP) — Preakness days in recent years have featured water and plumbing miscues. A large section of the grandstand at Pimlico Race Course has been rendered unusable because it’s condemned, and much of the rest of the storied but decaying track is a relic to the sport of king’s heyday many yesteryears ago. The home of the second jewel of horse racing’s Triple Crown had become something of an eyesore, far from the glitzy [...]
Surprises, familiar faces await as NASCAR enters the second half of its regular season
DARLINGTON, S.C. — The first half of NASCAR’s regular season wrapped with a satisfying, drought-busting win by past champion Brad Keselowski at Darlington Raceway. Keselowski, in his third full season as a driver-owner at Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, locked himself into the playoffs and marked himself as a title contender for the fall. There are several other usual suspects to watch, including 2021 Cup Series winner Kyle Larson, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron and [...]
Bill would pay for the phasing out of pot-sniffing police dogs
A bipartisan bill aims to resolve the circumstance of police departments statewide that have in their ranks nearly 300 K-9 officers trained to sniff out marijuana in a state where recreational use of the drug is now legal. House Bill 396, upon its enactment, would appropriate $6 million from the state General Revenue Fund to back a grant program for the purchase and training of replacement drug-sniffing dogs and the purchase of any related equipment [...]
Marijuana sales in Ohio could begin by mid-June
COLUMBUS (AP) — Recreational marijuana could be available for sale in Ohio by mid-June, after new licensing rules for dispensaries earlier this week cleared a legislative hurdle. Adult-use sales have been in limbo in the state since December, when an initiated statute approved by voters went into effect. Ohioans older than 21 were immediately able to legally grow and possess cannabis at home, but they had nowhere to legally buy it — prompting concern by [...]
Legal News
Bill would give grants to child-care facilities
The sponsors of legislation designed to beef up child-care capacity throughout the state recently said their bill is in response to circumstances working parents and [...]
Bill introduced would protect NCAA and conferences from legal attacks
Two Republican congressmen introduced a bill last week that would provide the NCAA, college conferences and member schools with federal protection from legal challenges that [...]
Bill designed to help public-owned airports discard abandoned planes
Senate committee members at the Ohio Statehouse recently heard from backers of a bill that addresses what aviation industry officials say is the nuisance of [...]
Business News
Disney’s streaming business turns a profit for first time
The Walt Disney Co. swung to a loss in its second quarter because of restructuring and impairment charges, but its adjusted profit topped expectations and [...]
FAA opens investigation after Boeing says workers falsified inspection records
SEATTLE — The Federal Aviation Administration said it has opened an investigation into Boeing after the beleaguered company reported that workers at a South Carolina [...]
Airbus not expected to extend its sales lead over Boeing
FRANKFURT, Germany — In the latest round of their decades-long battle for dominance in commercial aircraft, Europe's Airbus established a clear sales lead over Boeing [...]
Real Estate
Rise in all-cash buys helping drive up prices for most expensive homes
LOS ANGELES — Well-heeled home shoppers are increasingly paying cash, helping turbo-charge price gains for the most expensive U.S. homes. The median sale price of [...]
Central Ohio home sales fall 3.7 percent in March
Home sales in central Ohio last month were down 3.7 percent compared to March 2023, according to new figures from Columbus Realtors. Sales through the [...]
Kate Ashford: Selling your home could boost your nest egg – but is it worth it?
A 2023 report from investment firm Vanguard estimates that about a quarter of Americans age 60 and over could move to a cheaper housing market [...]
Politics
Federal government considering changes to donor-advised fund regulations
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress and the Biden administration are considering what, if anything, should be done to tighten restrictions on donor-advised funds, an increasingly popular [...]
New sanctions target Russian weapons development, ban uranium imports
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States last week imposed new sanctions on hundreds of companies and people tied to Russia's weapons development program, more than [...]
Temporary farmworkers to have more protections under new Labor rule
SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) — Temporary farmworkers will have more legal protections against employer retaliation, unsafe working conditions, illegal recruitment practices and other abuses under [...]