Business

Florida Politics reports: This week, Panama City Republican Sen. Jay Trumbull refiled SB 170, a controversial measure that would hand businesses new tools to fight what they deem to be harmful overreach by local governments. The bill would enable businesses to sue county and city governments that pass “arbitrary or unreasonable” ordinances for up to $50,000. While a court decides …

Bloomberg News reports: US regulators are investigating Elon Musk’s role in shaping Tesla Inc.’s self-driving car claims, the latest effort by watchdogs to scrutinize the actions of the world’s second-richest person. The review is part of an ongoing Securities and Exchange Commission probe of the company’s statements about its Autopilot driver-assistance system. He personally directed the creation of a 2016 …

Axios reports: Southwest Airlines has been in damage-control mode since its December holiday meltdown, working to defend its reputation. Now, that episode has an actual price tag. The airline said today the snafu cost it $800 million in the fourth quarter, driving it to a net Q4 loss. And it expects to take another $300 million to $350 million hit …

The Christian Post reports: A three-judge panel of the Colorado Court of Appeals has ruled against Christian baker Jack Phillips, having concluded that he was wrong to refuse, on religious grounds, to bake a cake celebrating transgenderism. In a decision released Thursday, Judge Timothy Schutz authored the panel’s opinion affirming an earlier trial court decision against Phillips, concluding that the …

The Escanaba Daily Press reports: The Escanaba City Council met with the Escanaba Planning Commission earlier this week to hash out the future of commercial marijuana, but it is still unclear what changes, if any, will be made to the city’s marijuana rules. The majority of the push back came after a letter to the editor from county commissioner and …

Reuters reports: Advertising spend on Twitter Inc dropped by 71% in December, data from an advertising research firm showed, as top advertisers slashed their spending on the social-media platform after Elon Musk’s takeover. The recent data by Standard Media Index comes (SMI) as Twitter is moving to reverse the advertiser exodus. It has introduced a slew of initiatives to win …

Bloomberg Law reports: The US Justice Department and eight states sued Alphabet Inc.’s Google, calling for the break up of the search giant’s ad-technology business over alleged illegal monopolization of the digital advertising market. “Google abuses its monopoly power to disadvantage website publishers and advertisers who dare to use competing ad tech products in a search for higher quality, or …

Via press release from Business Wire: Amazon today announced RxPass, a new Prime membership benefit from Amazon Pharmacy that offers patients affordable access to commonly prescribed generic medications that treat more than 80 common health conditions. With RxPass, Prime members can receive all of their eligible medications for one flat, low monthly fee of $5, and have them delivered free …

Reuters reports: Once the stuff of science fiction, lab-grown meat could become reality in some restaurants in the United States as early as this year. Executives at cultivated meat companies are optimistic that meat grown in massive steel vats could be on the menu within months after one company won the go-ahead from a key regulator. Cultivated meat is derived …

Reuters reports: Elon Musk, Tesla Inc’s chief executive, told a jury on Friday investors do not always react to his Twitter messages as he expected in a trial over his 2018 interest in taking the electric carmaker private, which shareholders allege cost them millions in trading losses. Musk’s testimony began with questions about his use of Twitter, the social media …

CNBC reports: The Federal Trade Commission on Friday asked that notorious “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli be held in contempt of court for forming a new drug company in violation of a judge’s ban on the convicted fraudster from working in the pharmaceuticals industry. Shkreli, who was released from prison last year, in February was banned “for life from directly or indirectly participating in any manner in the …

TechCrunch reports: In a financial filing on Thursday, T-Mobile revealed that a hacker accessed a trove of personal data belonging to 37 million customers. The telecom giant said that the “bad actor” started stealing the data, which includes “name, billing address, email, phone number, date of birth, T-Mobile account number and information such as the number of lines on the …

Bloomberg News reports: Elon Musk oversaw the creation of a 2016 video that exaggerated the abilities of Tesla Inc.’s driver-assistance system Autopilot, even dictating the opening text that claimed the company’s car drove itself, according to internal emails viewed by Bloomberg. Musk wrote to Tesla’s Autopilot team after 2 a.m. California time in October 2016 to emphasize the importance of …

USA Today reports: On the heels of Amazon beginning its latest round of layoffs that cut thousands of jobs, the e-retailer announced it plans to shut down its charity donation program. The online retailer and cloud computing giant donates a percentage of eligible purchases on the site to the shoppers’ chosen charity organization through the program AmazonSmile, launched a decade ago. Amazon said it has donated at least $449 …

Charleston’s NPR affiliate reports: In a press conference Wednesday morning, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced his office has reached a settlement with the national pharmaceutical chain Walgreens for $83 million. “Today, we’re announcing that the state of West Virginia is settling for $83 million for its claims against Walgreens. We have signed the agreement and we have sent …

USA Today reports: The founder of the Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato was arrested early Wednesday in Miami in connection with a vast money laundering operation, accused of transmitting more than $700 million in illicit funds in the past four years. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said Anatoly Legkodymov, 40, a Russian national, oversaw a major “high-tech financial hub that catered to …

NBC News reports: Bankrupt crypto firm FTX said on Tuesday that $415 million worth of crypto was hacked from the exchange’s accounts, representing a sizeable portion of the identified assets the company is trying to recover. In a presentation titled “Maximizing FTX Recoveries,” lawyers and advisors for FTX debtors updated the total liquid assets identified for recovery, and said they’re valued at …

CNN Business reports: Party City filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday after years of losses and weak sales. The largest party goods and Halloween specialty retail chain in the United States said in a regulatory filing that it reached an agreement with debtholders to cut its $1.7 billion debt load. The company said it secured $150 million in financing that will …

Reuters reports: A 2016 video that Tesla used to promote its self-driving technology was staged to show capabilities like stopping at a red light and accelerating at a green light that the system did not have, according to testimony by a senior engineer. The video, which remains archived on Tesla’s website, was released in October 2016 and promoted on Twitter …

The Daily Beast reports: Twitter’s revenue on Tuesday was down 40 percent year over year as the company continues its free-fall three months into Elon Musk’s takeover, according to Zoë Schiffer, a reporter for Platformer. Musk may also be staring down the barrel of a massive interest payment on the $13 billion in debt he took on to buy the …