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Motormouth: How will all those charging stations work?
Q: With the advent of EVs and the need for thousands of charging stations, who is going to pay for them and will there be a cost to use one? If so, how much? P.J., Carol Stream, Ill. A: Good question, but one that I cannot answer in just a few words. Some stations are free, some you pay per kilowatt. There is no standard fee that I know of. Some are installed by retail businesses at their own cost to attract more customers who may spend more time shopping. Some stations are connected to the power grid, some are solar powered, especially in public municipal lots. The U.S. Department of Energy h...
Tribune News Service
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Commentary: Emergency price gouging regulations can be detrimental
One year ago, California and Hawaii were the first states to announce emergency declarations to fight COVID-19. In doing so, they activated preexisting price gouging regulations. The reasoning, California Gov. Gavin Newsom claimed, was so that “consumers (will be) able to purchase what they need, at a fair price.” Unfortunately, for some of those consumers that fair price cost them their lives. Thirty-nine more states and the District of Columbia, including 11 states who didn’t have previous legislation, subsequently activated price gouging regulations over the next month for health and safety...
Tribune News Service
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News briefs
Becerra’s nomination to lead health agency heads to Senate floorWASHINGTON — California Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s nomination to become Health and Human Services secretary is headed to the Senate floor after the Finance Committee deadlocked Wednesday in a party-line vote. Senate rules now allow Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., to bring the nomination to the full Senate. After two hearings failed to stymie Becerra’s progress or convince Democrats not to support him, he appeared on track for approval. Republicans had zeroed in on derailing Becerra’s confirmation, critici...
Tribune News Service
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Amazon tried to 'destroy' Parler, social network says in new lawsuit
Parler, a social network embraced by right-wing groups, launched a new lawsuit against Amazon in King County, Wash., Superior Court, two weeks after Parler's relaunch rendered moot its original accusation in federal court that Amazon had effectively killed its business. Parler's new lawsuit, filed late Tuesday, alleges a host of contractual offenses, as well as deceptive and unfair trade practices and defamation. The complaint casts Parler as a "victim of Amazon's efforts to destroy an up-and-coming technology through deceptive, defamatory, anticompetitive, and bad faith conduct." Parler is se...
The Seattle Times
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GM extends production shutdown into April due to semiconductor chip shortage
General Motors will keep three of its assembly plants shuttered until at least mid-April and will idle a fourth due to a severe shortage of semiconductor chips used in various vehicle parts. But the automaker is doing everything it can to protect the production of its full-size pickups and SUVs, which are its big profit makers. Demand for semiconductor chips is up in part because of the coronavirus pandemic and increased demand for laptop computers and other personal electronics that use the chips. Cars also use them in a variety of parts and infotainment systems. In fact, one car part could u...
Detroit Free Press
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Bankrupt Philadelphia Energy Solutions blames 'mislabeled' pipe for big blast that led to refinery's closure
The bankrupt former operator of a South Philadelphia refinery has blamed the supplier of an allegedly mislabeled elbow section of pipe for the 2019 leak and explosion that led to the permanent closure of the plant. Philadelphia Energy Solutions Refining and Marketing LLC, along with the trust that is liquidating the company's remaining assets, has sued Babcock & Wilcox Co. for allegedly mislabeling the pipe, whose failure authorities say led to the catastrophic accident. The pipe was installed 46 years before the explosion when the refinery was owned by Gulf Oil. "B&W inadequately and defectiv...
The Philadelphia Inquirer
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Stellantis UAW workers will get $8,010 profit-sharing checks
Stellantis UAW workers are to receive profit-sharing checks this year of $8,010. The announcement of the payouts to about 43,000 UAW-represented workers came early Wednesday, the same day the company released its first earnings report since it was created in January from the merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Peugeot-maker PSA Group. The checks represent an increase from the $7,280 checks FCA workers received last year. The Free Press reported earlier that Ford workers are getting $3,625 and those at General Motors are receiving $9,000 this year. Workers should get their payments on March...
Detroit Free Press
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Family guide to new movie releases
This week on Netflix, enjoy the new Lego short (22 minutes), “Lego Marvel Spider-Man: Vexed by Venom.” Rated TV-Y, it features Spider-Man and a wall-crawling friend team up to stop the one-two punch of the Green Goblin and Venom. That dropped Monday. Also on Netflix, a new animated family series called “City of Ghosts” (not to be confused with the documentary about Syrian journalists), follows the Ghost Club as they adventure around Los Angeles, interviewing ghosts, solving problems, and learning about the city’s history. Season one debuts on Friday. On HBO Max this month there are a couple of...
Tribune News Service
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Ex-etiquette: Trouble with a family business
Q. My partner and I met a few years ago. He had been married for a few years and continues to share a business with his ex after they divorced. Over the past year his ex split from her boyfriend and it appears to me that my partner and his ex are now far too close for comfort. He refers to her as “gorgeous” to his friends, fixes her plumbing without telling me, and invited her to the hospital when our baby boy was born. When she bent over the bed to see our baby, he stuck his toe up her bum. He did have something to drink and said it was a joke, but I didn’t think it was very funny. I started ...
Tribune News Service
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Uncertainty, anger, joy: Businesses react to Texas governor dropping mask mandate
Business operators in Austin and throughout Central Texas expressed a mix of uncertainty, anger and relief after Gov. Greg Abbott's announced that he's lifting the mask mandate in Texas and allowing businesses to return to 100% capacity beginning March 10. That news drew criticism from some in the business community, who said dropping the mask order would increase the risk of workers and consumers contracting COVID-19 – but it won praise from others, who said recent declines in cases justify the decision to allow businesses to get back to more normal operations. Laura Huffman, CEO of the Great...
Austin American-Statesman
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