Business

NBC News reports: It’s happening: Southwest Airlines will start charging passengers to check bags for the first time. It’s a stunning reversal that shows the low-cost pioneer is willing to part with a customer perk executives have said set it apart from rivals in more than half a century of flying in hopes of increasing revenue. Southwest’s changes come after …

Reuters reports: Tesla’s stock has dropped by nearly half in three months. Even so, investors are still debating whether Elon Musk’s electric-vehicle maker remains overpriced. The company’s market capitalization has dropped 45% since hitting an all-time high of $1.5 trillion on December 17, erasing most of the gains the stock made after CEO Musk helped finance the election victory of …

Norfolk’s PBS affiliate reports: A controversial military-themed brewery championed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin is closing a little more than a year after opening in Norfolk. The company blames a “local woke mob,” but legal filings show a company in deep financial distress dating back years. Armed Forces CEO Alan Beal wrote in a statement the company will sell its Norfolk …

Boston’s ABC affiliate reports: Crews responded to a Littleton shopping complex early Monday morning where seven Tesla EV chargers caught fire, and investigators believe the act was intentional. First responders shows up just after 1 a.m. after receiving reports from a neighbor who saw the fire. Firefighters say the chargers suffered heavy fire damage, and after power was cut to …

CBS News reports: Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen is resigning following a probe into his personal conduct, the grocery chain said Monday. McMullen, who was both the chairman and CEO, is out after a company board investigation found that his personal conduct, “was inconsistent with Kroger’s Policy on Business Ethics,” the company said on Monday. His behavior was unrelated to business, …

NPR reports: Skype, the pioneering and once ubiquitous free video calling service, will be history come May. It was so popular that people used it as a verb: “I’ll Skype you in the morning.” Microsoft, which acquired Skype in 2011 for $8.5 billion, announced in a post on X on Friday that the iconic voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) service would soon …

CBS News reports: Coffee giant Starbucks is shaking up its drinks menu, removing 13 “less popular” beverages from the list of offerings to help streamline operations and move customers through stores more quickly, according to the company. The move comes as the company also plans to cut 1,100 workers as part of a turnaround plan CEO Brian Niccol hopes will …

Yahoo Finance reports: President Donald Trump urged Apple to “get rid” of its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies a day after the company’s investors voted down a proposal to scrap them. “APPLE SHOULD GET RID OF DEI RULES, NOT JUST MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO THEM. DEI WAS A HOAX THAT HAS BEEN VERY BAD FOR OUR COUNTRY. DEI IS GONE!!!” …

Reuters reports: Apple shareholders voted to keep the tech giant’s diversity, equity and inclusion policies at an annual meeting on Tuesday, a win for management which had opposed efforts by a conservative group to scrap the program. The vote was seen as a test of shareholder views about the value of DEI programs, which many companies added or beefed up …

The Independent reports: A CEO resigned after appearing to gesture a Sieg Heil in front of a montage of President Donald Trump pictures at a company event and later admitted his “parody fell short.” Tom Hill, the chief executive of Idaho-based Engineered Stuctures, Inc., stepped down from the construction company Monday after a video of him giving two straight-arm salutes …

NBC News reports: Fabrics outlet Joann will shutter all of its approximately 800 locations after failing to find a buyer who would keep its stores open. In a statement, the company said it would commence nationwide going-out-of-business sales as a stipulation of the group that won its assets at auction. Joann listed some 19,000 employees, most of them part-time, when …

CNBC reports: Denny’s will temporarily add surcharges to meals that contain eggs as Americans contend with a shortage of the staple food item, the restaurant chain said Monday. The company said the size of the surcharge will vary across its approximately 1,500 locations. It marks the latest shift for consumers and businesses alike as they grapple with the bird flu’s …

Axios reports: Apple on Monday morning announced plans to invest more than $500 billion in the U.S. and hire 20,000 people over the next four years, with expansion and construction planned from coast to coast. The new jobs will focus on research and development, silicon engineering, software development, and AI and machine learning. Apple plans to greatly expand chip and …

Investing.com reports: Tesla Inc. is issuing a recall for 376,241 vehicles, according to a notice filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The recall involves certain 2023 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles that are operating on software versions prior to 2023. The issue lies with the printed circuit board for the electronic power steering assist. This component may …

Bloomberg News reports: Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. rewarded employees with more than $107 million in stock last year as revenue declined and it posted a $401 million loss, according to an annual report posted after markets closed Friday. Revenue slipped more than 12% to $3.6 million while its annual loss swelled more than six-fold. The results boosted the …

The Washington Post reports: Amazon plans to unveil a revamped version of its Alexa virtual assistant in New York later this month — the second launch event after a series of delays since the artificial-intelligence-powered upgrade was first announced in September 2023. Amazon staff learned of the new delay, which is due in part to the new version of the …

The New York Times reports: President Trump signed a memorandum on Thursday ordering his advisers to calculate new tariff levels for other countries globally, an ambitious task that will shatter the rules of the global trading system and likely set off furious negotiations in the coming months. The president directed his advisers to come up with new tariff levels that take …

Houston’s ABC affiliate reports: Major cuts appear to be coming for a huge Houston business. Chevron announced it’s planning to cut 20% of its workforce between now and the end of next year. The energy giant, which is headquartered in Houston, employs more than 40,000 people around the world, meaning cuts would be in the thousands. It’s unclear how many, …

The Associated Press reports: Egg prices hit a record high as the U.S. contends with an ongoing bird flu outbreak, but consumers didn’t need government figures released Wednesday to tell them eggs are terribly expensive and hard to find at times. The latest monthly consumer price index showed that the average price of a dozen Grade A eggs in U.S. …

ABC News reports: Joann, the fabrics and crafts retailer, is shutting down hundreds of its stores nationwide as part of its bankruptcy proceedings. The company filed a motion in court on Wednesday seeking approval to begin closing approximately 500 locations. In a statement to ABC News, the company’s spokesperson said the move is “part of the ongoing Chapter 11 process …