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Drops in big tech companies including Microsoft and Facebook’s parent company Meta Platforms led Wall Street lower.
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Tag: INC.
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Court approves Tupperware’s sale to lenders, paving way for brand’s exit from bankruptcy
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NEW YORK (AP) — A U.S. bankruptcy judge approved a sale of Tupperware Brands on Tuesday, paving the way for the iconic food storage company to soon exit Chapter 11 protection and continue offering its products while undergoing a hoped-for revitalization.
The sale given the court’s green light in Delaware still is subject to closing conditions. Under terms of the deal, a group of lenders is buying Tupperware’s brand name and various operating assets for $23.5 million in cash and more than $63 million in debt relief.
Tupperware agreed to the lender takeover last week, pivoting from a previously planned asset auction. The brand said it expects to operate as The New Tupperware Co. upon completion of the deal.
Going forward, customers in “global core markets” will be able to purchase Tupperware products online and through the brand’s decades-old network of independent sales consultants, but the new company is set to be “rebuilt with a start-up mentality,” Tupperware said.
AP correspondent Lisa Dwyer reports a U.S. bankruptcy judge has approved a sale of Tupperware Brands.
The specifics of how that will look are unclear. Tupperware did not immediately respond to The Associated Press’ requests for further comment Tuesday.
Tupperware once revolutionized food storage, with the brand’s roots dating back to a post-World War II mission of helping families save money on food waste with an airtight lid seal. The plastic kitchenware saw explosive growth in the mid-20th century, notably with the rise of direct sales through “Tupperware parties.”
First held in 1948, the parties were promoted as a way for women in particular to earn supplemental income by selling the containers to friends and neighbors. The system worked so well that Tupperware eventually removed its products from stores.
In the following decades, the Tupperware line expanded to include canisters, beakers, cake dishes and all manner of implements, and became a staple in kitchens across America and eventually abroad. But the brand struggled to keep up in more recent years.
An outdated business model and rising competition contributed to some of the company’s challenges. When filing for bankruptcy last month, Florida-based Tupperware noted that consumers were shifting away from direct sales, which made up the vast majority of the brand’s sales, and increasingly favoring glass containers over plastic.
While sales improved some during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when consumers cooked and ate at home more, Tupperware saw an overall steady decline over the years. Rubbermaid, OXO and even recycled takeout food containers snagged customers — as well as home storage lines at major retailers like Target, Walmart and Amazon.
Financial troubles piled up in the meantime. In September’s bankruptcy petition, Tupperware reported more than $1.2 billion in debts and $679.5 million in assets.
“This is a situation that was in urgent need of a vast global resolution,” Spencer Winters, an attorney representing Tupperware, said during a U.S. Bankruptcy Court hearing Tuesday. Winters called the sale agreement a “great outcome” that he said preserves Tupperware’s business, customer relationships and jobs.
The sale agreements calls for Tupperware to become a privately held company under supportive ownership of the purchasing lender group, which includes investment firms Stonehill Capital Management and Alden Global Capital.
Last week, Tupperware said the new company’s “initial focus” would be in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, China, South Korea, India and Malaysia, followed by European and additional Asian markets.
Other closing conditions that must be met before the transaction is completed include an issue with a Swiss entity that still needs to be resolved, according to statements made in court Tuesday.
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AP Business Reporter Haleluya Hadero contributed to this report.
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This story was first published on Oct. 29, 2024. It was updated on Oct. 31, 2024 to correct that Stonehill Capital Management and Alden Global Capital are investment firms, not hedge fund managers.
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DoorDash partners with Lyft to give members ride-sharing benefits
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Delivery service DoorDash said Wednesday that it’s partnering with Lyft to bring ride-sharing benefits to its members.
The announcement came as DoorDash released better-than-expected results for its third quarter. The San Francisco company said its revenue rose 25% in the July-September period to $2.7 billion. The figure topped Wall Street’s forecast of $2.65 billion, according to analysts polled by FactSet.
DoorDash said its DashPass members will get discounted rides through Lyft, while Lyft riders will a get a free DashPass trial. DashPass members pay $9.99 per month or $96 per year for free deliveries on most orders.
The combination makes DoorDash a more potent competitor to Uber, which offers free Uber Eats delivery and discounted Uber rides to its Uber One members. Uber’s program also costs $9.99 per month or $96 per year.
Both Lyft and DoorDash have been adding partners to their loyalty programs in order to entice customers. Lyft said 20% of its rides last year were connected to its partners, including Delta Air Lines and Hilton. DoorDash recently partnered with Max, Warner Bros. Discovery’s entertainment streaming service.
DoorDash said its total orders rose 18% in the third quarter to 643 million, more than the 640 million that analysts expected. The company reported net income of $162 million, compared to a loss of $73 million a year ago.
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At 50, Hello Kitty is as ‘kawaii’ and lucrative as ever
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TOKYO (AP) — Hello Kitty turns 50 on Friday. Befitting a pop icon at midlife, the bubble-headed, bow-wearing character’s fictional birthday has brought museum exhibits, a theme park spectacle and a national tour. And that’s just in Japan, her literal birthplace but not the one listed in her official biography.
Confused? Welcome to the party. If there’s one thing about Hello Kitty, it’s that she’s proven adaptable and as much a study in contrasts during her long career. She — and Kitty is a she, according to the company that owns her — may have been conceived as a vessel for the feelings of others, but some women see an empowering symbol in her mouthless face.
“Shrewd” is how Mika Nishimura, a design professor at Tokyo’s Meisei University, describes the way Hello Kitty conquered the worlds of commerce, fashion and entertainment. As a tabula rasa open to interpretation, the non-threatening creation was the perfect vehicle for making money, she said.
“American feminists have said she doesn’t say anything and acquiesces to everyone. But in Japan, we also see how she may appear happy if you’re happy, and sad if you’re feeling sad,” Nishimura told The Associated Press. “It’s a product strategy that’s sheer genius. By being so adaptable, Kitty gets all those collaborative deals.”
The character’s semicentennial is evidence of that. Sanrio, the Japanese entertainment company that holds the rights to Hello Kitty’s name and image, kicked off the festivities a year ago with an animation account on TikTok, Roblox games and an avatar for the social networking app Zepeto.
There have been anniversary editions of merchandise ranging from pet collars, cosmetics and McDonald’s Happy Meals to Crocs and a Baccarat crystal figurine. A gold coin pendant with the image of Hello Kitty holding the number 50 is selling for about 120,000 yen ($800), while a Casio watch costs 18,700 yen ($120).
But first, more on the origin story.
Unlike Mickey Mouse and Snoopy, Hello Kitty didn’t start as a cartoon. A young Sanrio illustrator named Yuko Shimizu drew her in 1974 as a decoration for stationery, tote bags, cups and other small accessories. The design made its debut on a coin purse the next year and became an instant hit in Japan.
As Hello Kitty’s commercial success expanded beyond Asia, so did her personal profile. By the late 1970s, Sanrio revealed the character’s name as Kitty White, her height as five apples tall and her birthplace as suburban London, where the company said she lived with her parents and twin sister Mimmy.
“The main theme of Hello Kitty is friendship. When I first created it, I made a family of which Kitty was a part. But then Hello Kitty started to appear in other settings as the character grew,” Shimizu told the BBC in June. “Sanrio put a lot of effort into building the brand into what it is today.”
At some point, Sanrio designated Kitty’s birthday as Nov. 1, the same as Shimizu’s. Her background was embellished with hobbies that included playing piano, reading and baking. Her TV appearances required co-stars, including a pet cat named Charmmy Kitty that made its debut 20 years ago.
But Hello Kitty’s 40th birthday brought an update that astonished fans. Sanrio clarified to a Los Angeles museum curator that Kitty, despite her feline features, was a little girl. A company spokesperson repeated the distinction this year, renewing debate online about the requirements for being considered human.
“She is supposed to be Kitty White and English. But this is part of the enigma: Who is Hello Kitty? We can’t figure it out. We don’t even know if she is a cat,” art historian Joyce S. Cheng, a University of Oregon associate professor, said. “There is an unresolved indeterminacy about her that is so amazing.”
Part of the confusion stems from a misunderstanding of “kawaii,” which is Japanese for “cute” but also connotes a lovable or adorable essence. Sanrio recruited Shimizu and other illustrators to create “kawaii” characters at a time when cute, girlish styles were popular in Japan. But the word is used often in Japanese society, and not only to describe babies and puppies.
An elderly man, something as innocuous as an umbrella, a subcompact car or a kitchen utensil, or even a horror movie monster can get labeled “kawaii.” By Western standards, the idea may seem embarrassingly frivolous. But it’s taken seriously in Japan, where the concept is linked with the most honorable instincts.
The complexity of “kawaii” may help explain Hello Kitty’s enduring appeal across generations and cultures, why Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne released a song titled “Hello Kitty” a decade ago, and why Britain’s King Charles wished Hello Kitty a happy 50th birthday when he hosted Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako at Buckingham Palace in June.
Although Hello Kitty may seem to embody the self-sacrificing woman stereotype, it’s revealing that three women have served as the character’s chief designers at Sanrio. Yuko Yamaguchi, who has held the role since 1980, is credited with keeping the character both modern and timeless, giving Kitty black outfits or false eyelashes as trends dictated but never removing the bow from her left ear.
“Hello Kitty, this cultural object, has something to tell us about the history of women in East Asia, and how East Asian women modernized themselves and became professional citizens in a modern society,” the University of Oregon’s Cheng said.
Sanrio has come up with hundreds of creatures, all adorable and cuddly, but none with the lasting power of Hello Kitty. Forget the understated wabi-sabi aesthetic historically associated with Japan. A chameleon-like cat-girl who reflects unabashed kitsch is the cultural ambassador of a consumer-crazed, happy-go-lucky nation.
“It’s the anti-wabi sabi, wanting to be as flashy and as bling-bling as possible, like Lady Gaga. In your face, but that’s actually part of the genius, too. It’s powerful,” Cheng said.
Leslie Bow, a professor of English and Asian American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said that while many Asian and Asian American women see Hello Kitty as a symbol of defiance, the protective, caretaking instinct aroused by “kawaii” isn’t without power.
“We take care of our siblings, our babies, our pets, because we are in control. We control their actions. And so that is also the dark side of cute,” Bow said.
Sanrio has taken advantage of the character’s adaptability by allowing relatively unrestricted use of her image in return for a licensing fee.
A visitor wears boots featuring Hello Kitty at the National Museum during the exhibition “As I change, so does she,” marking the 50th anniversary of Hello Kitty at the Tokyo National Museum in Tokyo Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
Visitors react to gigantic Hello Kitty slippers at the exhibition “As I change, so does she,” marking the 50th anniversary of Hello Kitty at the Tokyo National Museum in Tokyo Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama) Just about anything goes for the wee whiskered one, from a growing global empire of Sanrio-sanctioned Hello Kitty cafes to an “augmented reality” cellphone app that shows Kitty dancing in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, London’s Big Ben and other tourist landmarks.
On the unsanctioned side, Hello Kitty even has shown up on guns and vibrators.
During a presentation earlier this year in Seoul, Hello Kitty designer Yamaguchi said one of her unfulfilled goals was finding a way “to develop a Hello Kitty for men to fall in love with as well.” But she’s still working on it.
“I am certain the day will come when men are no longer embarrassed to carry around Hello Kitty,” entertainment news site Content Asia quoted Yamaguchi as saying.
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Leff reported from London. Berenice Bautista in Mexico City contributed reporting.
Yuri Kageyama is on X: https://x.co/yurikageyama
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Apple and Goldman Sachs must pay $89 million for mishandling Apple Card transactions, CFPB orders
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NEW YORK (AP) — A federal regulator on Wednesday ordered Apple and Goldman Sachs to pay a combined $89 million for deceiving consumers and mishandled transaction disputes of Apple Card customers.
The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau orders point to “customer service breakdowns and misrepresentations” around Apple and Goldman’s credit card partnership. Apple failed to send tens of thousands of Apple Card disputes to Goldman, and when such customer disputes were reported, the investment bank did not follow federal requirements for investigating, the agency said.
As a result, many consumers faced long waits to get their money back from disputed charges and, in some cases, saw incorrect negative information added to their credit reports, the CFPB added.
Apple and Goldman were also accused of misleading people who purchased iPhones and other Apple devices about interest-free payments for the credit card. The CFPB found that many customers thought they would automatically get interest-free financing when buying an Apple device with Apple Card, for example, but were instead charged that interest, while Goldman misled consumers about some refund applications.
In a statement, Apple said it learned about the “inadvertent issues” years ago and address them along with Goldman Sachs, adding that it strongly disagrees with the CFPB’s characterization of its conduct. The California tech giant added that “Apple Card is one of the most consumer-friendly credit cards available, and was specifically designed to support users’ financial health.”
Goldman spokesperson Nick Carcaterra echoed that sentiment, noting the investment bank was proud to develop the credit card product with Apple, and said it was pleased to reach a resolution with the CFPB. Both companies also maintained that they had already worked to help impacted customers.
Wednesday’s CFPB action orders refunds for consumers and penalties for both companies. Apple is required to pay a $25 million penalty, the CFPB said, and Goldman a $45 million penalty and at least $19.8 million in redress.
The agency is also barring Goldman, which is already struggling with its wider consumer banking business, from launching another new credit card unless it can prove the product “will actually comply with the law.”
“These failures are not mere technicalities. They resulted in real harm to real people,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in prepared remarks, noting hundreds of thousands of Apple Card users were impacted overall. In a separate statement, he added that “Big Tech companies and big Wall Street firms should not behave as if they are exempt from federal law.”
Apple partnered with Goldman to launch the Apple Card in 2019. The now-popular credit card runs on the Mastercard network and is deeply embedded into Apple Pay. It is designed primarily to be used on devices like the iPhone or Apple Watch.
The CFPB suggested that Apple and Goldman launched Apple Card prematurely, pointing to third-party warnings about technological issues prior to the card’s launch.
Goldman’s venture into consumer banking has been far from smooth sailing. The Wall Street firm recently ended its credit card partnership with General Motors — with Barclays coming forward as its replacement just last week.
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Local news sources are still drying up, but there’s growth in digital sites in metro areas
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Newspapers in the United States closed at the rate of more than two per week during 2023, but a burst of activity among digital entrepreneurs illustrated some tiny shoots of growth in what has become a desert-like climate for local news.
A total of 127 newspapers closed last year, while the 81 digital sites gained was the most in any year since the Medill Local News Initiative at Northwestern University began measuring that activity in 2018, and possibly the most ever.
“It shows that there are some entrepreneurs and innovators out there,” said Tim Franklin, director of the Medill Local News Initiative.
One caution: digital news is still an area with a lot of churn. There were actually 212 new sites that started last year, including 30 that were former newspapers that converted to digital only, while 131 closed, making for the net gain of 81.
The big picture for local news remains tough
The big picture also remains ominous, as few of the factors that have led to the decimation of the local news industry have really changed. Advertisers and readers are still slipping away. More than 3,200 newspapers have closed since 2005, leaving roughly 5,600 remaining, Medill said. Nearly 2,000 newsroom jobs were lost in the last year alone.
“The local news crisis is snowballing,” Franklin said. “We see it in the expansion of news deserts, the unrelenting pace of closures and the loss of newspaper jobs.”
The list includes the Hinton Times in northwest Iowa, which closed after 28 years when its owners retired; the Northland Press outside of Brainerd, Minnesota, which ended after the death of its publisher; and the Tioga Tribune in North Dakota, whose editor left town.
Of the new digital sites, some 90 percent are located in metropolitan areas, servicing communities that had been seeing less coverage because of job losses at larger news outlets. In the Chicago area where Northwestern is located, Block Club Chicago offers hyper-local coverage to nearly two dozen neighborhoods, The TRiiBE is geared to young, professional Black residents and the Cicero Independiente reaches Latino consumers.
Still a need for news in rural areas
While that’s good news for those communities, there’s still an urgent need for news in rural areas, the report said. Using a metric that takes into account poverty and areas with only one news outlet, Medill placed 279 counties on its “watch list” of those at risk of losing local news altogether. That’s up 22 percent from the previous year.
Medill also noticed an increased pace in newspapers changing ownership — 258 in 2023 compared to 180 the year before. A number of smaller companies are more active in acquiring papers, as opposed to a large chain like Gannett, leading to growth in companies like the Carpenter Media Group in Farmville, Virginia.
More of the digital start-ups that have opened in the past few years are nonprofit instead of profit businesses, said Zach Metzger, director of the Medill State of Local News Project. That eliminates the expense of printing and distributing newspapers, while offering greater flexibility in funding sources, he said.
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David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder.
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Intel scores fresh win against EU after top court backs annulment of billion-euro antitrust fine
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LONDON (AP) — Chipmaker Intel won a fresh victory Thursday in a long-running battle with European Union competition watchdogs after the bloc’s top court confirmed a lower tribunal’s decision to overturn a billion-euro antitrust penalty.
The EU’s Court of Justice upheld the decision to annul the fine issued more than a decade ago, dismissing an appeal from the European Commission, the 27-nation bloc’s top antitrust enforcer.
The court said it “rejects all of the grounds of appeal raised by the Commission,” according to a press release summarizing the decision.
Intel said in a statement that it’s “pleased with the judgment delivered by the Court of Justice of the European Union today and to finally put this part of the case behind us.”
The case dates back to 2009, when the Commission slapped Intel with a 1.06 billion euro fine ($1.14 billion at current exchange rates) for allegedly using illegal sales tactics to shut out smaller rival AMD. The Commission accused Intel of abusing its dominant position in the global market for x86 microprocessors with a strategy to exclude rivals by using rebates.
Intel scored a surprise win in 2022 when the EU’s General Court overturned the penalty, the decision that the Court of Justice backed on Thursday.
The latest decision is still not the end of the road for the case, because the company is battling a separate 376.4 million-euro ($406.6 million) fine that Brussels imposed last year targeting some Intel sales restrictions that the General Court found were unlawful in its 2022 ruling.
Shares of Intel Corp., based in Santa Clara, California, rose slightly before the opening bell Thursday.
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AI is being used to send some households impacted by Helene and Milton $1,000 cash relief payments
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Nearly 1,000 hurricane-impacted households in North Carolina and Florida will benefit this week from a new disaster aid program that employs a model not commonly used by philanthropy in the United States: Giving people rapid, direct cash payments.
The nonprofit GiveDirectly plans to send payments of $1,000 on Friday to some households impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. The organization harnesses a Google-developed artificial intelligence tool to pinpoint areas with high concentrations of poverty and storm damage. On Tuesday, it invited people in those areas to enroll in the program through a smartphone app used to manage SNAP and other government benefits. Donations will then be deposited through the app’s debit card.
The approach is meant to deliver aid “in as streamlined and dignified a way as possible,” said Laura Keen, a senior program manager at GiveDirectly. It removes much of the burden of applying, and is intended to empower people to decide for themselves what their most pressing needs are.
It won’t capture everyone who needs help — but GiveDirectly hopes the program can be a model that makes disaster aid faster and more effective. “We’re always trying to grow the share of disaster response that is delivered as cash, whether that is by FEMA or private actors,” said Keen.
The influx of clothing, blankets, and food that typically arrive after a disaster can fill real needs, but in-kind donations can’t cover getting a hotel room during an evacuation, or childcare while schools are closed.
“There is an elegance to cash that allows individuals in these types of circumstances to resolve their unique needs, which are sure to be very different from the needs of their neighbors,” said Keen. She added that getting money into people’s hands fast can protect them from predatory lending and curb credit card debt.
The organization employs direct payments for poverty relief around the world, but it first experimented with cash disaster payments in the U.S. in 2017, when it gave money to households impacted by Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Back then, GiveDirectly enrolled people in person and handed out debit cards activated later. The process took a few weeks.
Now that work is done in days — remotely. A Google team uses its SKAI machine-based learning tool to narrow down the worst-hit areas by comparing pre- and post-disaster aerial imagery. GiveDirectly uses another Google-developed tool to compare those findings with poverty data. It sends the target areas to Propel, an electronic benefits transfers app, which invites users in those places to enroll.
“They don’t have to find a bunch of documentation that proves their eligibility,” Keen said. “We already know they’re eligible.”
Still, focusing on areas with lots of damaged buildings won’t pick up all low-income households devastated by a disaster. Nor will reaching out to those already signed up for government benefits, as not all poor people enroll in them, and undocumented residents aren’t eligible for them. People without smartphones can’t access the app. Propel serves only 5 million of the 22 million households enrolled in SNAP benefits.
In North Carolina, where electricity in some communities has still not been restored after Hurricane Helene, having a smartphone makes no difference without a way to power it and a signal to connect to.
Keen said GiveDirectly is aware of this model’s shortcomings. She said some can be alleviated with a hybrid model that uses both remote and in-person enrollment. But the limitations also come down to funding. So far, GiveDirectly has raised $1.2 million for this campaign, including a $300,000 donation from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.
Despite the pitfalls, GiveDirectly hopes its model sparks ideas for other direct payment programs.
FEMA overhauled its own cash relief program, called Serious Needs Assistance, in January. The agency increased the payments from $500 to $750 ($770 with the start of the new fiscal year on Oct. 1) and eliminated the requirement that states request the aid first.
Across all Helene- and Milton-impacted states, more than 693,000 households have received Serious Needs Assistance as of Oct. 24 for a total spend of more than $522 million, according to a FEMA spokesperson.
But the program still requires households to apply, which proved problematic when misinformation about the program ran rampant in the weeks after Helene. In places with high costs of living, the $750 might not go very far.
Technology could help FEMA improve its system, said Chris Smith, who managed FEMA’s Individual Assistance program from 2015 to 2022 and is now director of individual assistance and disaster housing at the consulting firm IEM. “I think that we have to open up our imaginations that maybe there are other ways to quickly identify need and quickly identify eligibility.”
But Smith cautions that a publicly funded program doesn’t enjoy the same license to experiment as a philanthropic one. “There has to be ultimately an accountability of how any level of government is providing assistance to individuals. People are going to want to know that, and to have that degree of certainty is very important.”
The government has experimented with other types of unconditional cash assistance, such as when it expanded the child tax credit into a monthly direct deposit payment in 2021. That program briefly cut the child poverty rate almost by half before it expired.
Research on guaranteed income programs shows recipients spend the money on their needs, said Stacia West, founding director at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Guaranteed Income Research. “There is no one who can budget better than a person in poverty,” she said.
In a study tracking spending across 9,000 participants in more than 30 guaranteed income programs in the U.S., the Center for Guaranteed Income Research has found that the majority of the money is spent on retail goods, food and groceries, and transportation.
West said one-time cash payments can be a huge help to families recovering from a disaster, but the money can make a more profound difference if it’s given for a sustained time.
That has happened in two U.S. disasters. In 2016, Dolly Parton funded a program that gave $1,000 per month for six months to people in Tennessee who lost their homes in the Great Smoky Mountains wildfires. The People’s Fund of Maui, a program sponsored by Oprah and Dwayne Johnson, gave 8,100 adults affected by the 2023 Maui wildfires $1,200 month for six months.
Keen said GiveDirectly would love to implement such a program if it had the funding, especially because long-term assistance could help people build future resilience. “So you’re not only repairing your home, but also fortifying it to a level that is more protected against the next time.”
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Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
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How major US stock indexes fared Friday, 10/18/2024
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U.S. stocks rose to more records and closed out their longest weekly winning streak of the year. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% Friday.
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Walmart reaches settlement deal for shareholder lawsuits over its handling of opioids
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NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart said Friday it has reached a proposed settlement pact related to three lawsuits filed by shareholders on behalf of the company over the handling of prescription opioids.
According to the terms of the settlement that were disclosed in a regulatory filing, insurance carriers will pay Walmart $123 million, excluding any attorneys’ fees and expenses awarded by the court to the plaintiffs’ counsel. Walmart would also maintain certain corporate governance practices for at least five years, according to the filing.
The settlement doesn’t include any admission of liability by Walmart. It’s subject to court approval.
Three Walmart shareholders filed lawsuits the Delaware Court of Chancery, alleging current and former directors and officers breached their fiduciary duties by failing to adequately oversee the company’s distribution and dispensing of prescription opioids.
In 2022, Walmart agreed to pay $3.1 billion to settle lawsuits nationwide over the impact of prescriptions its pharmacies filled for powerful prescription opioid painkillers.
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Big tobacco companies reach tentative multibillion-dollar settlement with Canada
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TORONTO (AP) — Three large tobacco companies would pay nearly $24 billion to settle a long-running legal battle in Canada, according to a proposed deal.
Philip Morris International said Friday that a court-appointed mediator had filed the proposed settlement with its Canadian affiliate, Rothmans, Benson & Hedges, over tobacco product-related claims and litigation in Canada. Similar deals were also filed covering JTI-Macdonald Corp. and Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd.
“After years of mediation, we welcome this important step towards the resolution of long-pending tobacco product-related litigation in Canada,” Philip Morris International’s CEO Jacek Olczak said in a statement.
The three tobacco companies had sought creditor protection in Ontario in early 2019 after they lost an appeal in a landmark court battle in Quebec.
The Canadian Press reported that under the $32.5 billion Canadian dollar ($23.53 billion) deal, Canadian provinces and territories would get a combined CN$24.8 billion; members of the class action would get CN$4.25 billion; Canadian victims from provinces outside Quebec would receive CN$2.5 billion; and the three tobacco companies would also pour more than CN$1 billion into a foundation to fight tobacco-related diseases — that amount includes CN$131 million taken from the money allocated to the Quebec plaintiffs.
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One of the largest solar projects in the US opens in Texas, backed by Google
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One of the largest solar projects in the U.S. opened in Texas on Friday, backed by what Google said is the largest solar electricity purchase it has ever made.
Google executive Ben Sloss said at the ribbon cutting, about two hours south of Dallas, that the corporation has a responsibility to bring renewable, carbon-free electricity online at the same time it opens operations that will use that power. Google expects to spend $16 billion through 2040 globally to purchase clean energy, he said.
U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, who attended, said the solar project is a posterchild for the administration’s efforts to incentivize manufacturers and developers to locate energy projects in the U.S.
“Sometimes when you are in the middle of history, it’s hard to tell, because you are in the middle of it,” she said. “But I’m telling you right now that we are in the middle of history being made.”
SB Energy built three solar farms side by side, the “Orion Solar Belt,” in Buckholts, Texas. Combined, they will be able to provide 875 megawatts of clean energy. That is nearly the size of a typical nuclear facility. In total, Google has contracted with clean energy developers to bring more than 2,800 megawatts of new wind and solar projects to the state, which it says exceeds the amount of power required for its operations there.
Google, Amazon and Microsoft have all recently announced investments in nuclear energy to power data centers, too, as the tech giants seek new sources of carbon-free electricity to meet surging demand from data centers and artificial intelligence. Google has a commitment to get all of its electricity without contributing to climate change, regardless of time of day or whether the sun is up, but neither it nor other large companies are meeting those commitments with the rise of artificial intelligence.
The International Energy Agency forecasts that data centers’ total electricity consumption could reach more than 1,000 terawatt-hours in 2026, more than doubling from 2022. Estimates suggest one terawatt-hour can power 70,000 homes for a year.
The demand for power is also growing globally as buildings and vehicles electrify. People used more electricity than ever last year, placing strain on electric grids around the world.
In August, Google said it planned to invest more than $1 billion in Texas this year to support its cloud and data center infrastructure.
Google will use about 85% of the project’s solar power for data centers in Ellis County and for cloud computing in the Dallas region. In Ellis County, Google operates a data center campus in Midlothian and is building out a new campus in Red Oak. The rest of the solar power will go to the state’s electrical grid. Thousands of sheep graze in the area, maintaining the vegetation around the solar arrays.
“This project was a spreadsheet and a set of emails that I had been exchanging and a bunch of approvals and so on. And then you come over the rise over there and you see it laid out in front of you and it kind of takes your breath away, right? Because there’s this enormous field of solar arrays,” Sloss said during the ceremony. “And we actually collectively have done this. That is amazing.”
SB Energy said most of the solar farm components are made in the United States, and that’s only possible because the climate law formally known as the Inflation Reduction Act spurred clean energy manufacturing. The company expects the projects to be the first to qualify for an extra tax credit the law affords for using domestic content.
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The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
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Colsen recalls nearly 90,000 tabletop fire pits after reports of serious burn injuries
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NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly 90,000 tabletop fire pits are being recalled after flames shooting out from them resulted in a handful of serious burn injuries.
The Colsen-branded fire pits, which are designed to hold fires by burning liquid alcohol, pose a “flame jetting” hazard, according to a recall notice published Thursday by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The flame jetting can occur when a user is refilling the container, if fire flashes back and propels the burning alcohol.
Alcohol flames can be invisible, and the liquid may also spill or leak out of the pit during use, causing a flash fire. The recall notice warns that this can lead to injury quickly and unexpectedly, potential causing burns “in less than one second that can be serious and deadly.”
To date, the CPSC says it has received 31 reports of flame jetting or flames escaping from the fire pits, resulting in 19 burn injuries. Two of those were third-degree burns on more than 40% of the victims’ bodies, the commission said, and at least six incidents involved surgery, prolonged medical treatment, loss of function or permanent disfigurement.
The CPSC and Miami-based Colsen urge consumers to stop using the fire pits immediately and throw them away. The commission noted that it’s against the law to resell or donate the now-recalled products.
But there’s also no refunds available. According to the recall notice, the company “does not have the financial resources to offer a remedy to consumers” and stopped selling the pits a year after acquiring the product business.
The about 89,500 fire pits under recall were sold at major retailers like Amazon.com, Wayfair, Walmart and Sharper Image — as well as on social media platforms like TikTok and Meta-owned apps, from January 2020 through July 2024. That includes fire pits that were previously manufactured by another company, Thursday’s recall announcement notes, although the notice did not identify that company.
The seven models of the recalled fire pits varied in size, shape and color. Sale prices ranged from $40 to $90.
In a statement on its website, Colsen said it was launching this recall with the CPSC because “we take safety very seriously.”
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JetBlue will imitate bigger and more successful rivals by opening airport lounges at JFK, Boston
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JetBlue Airways will open its first airport lounges next year in New York and Boston in a bid to compete with larger airlines for premium travelers.
The airline said Thursday that it will open an 8,000-square-foot lounge at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York late next year, followed shortly by an 11,000-square-foot one at Boston Logan International Airport.
JetBlue said the lounges will primarily be for top-level members of its TrueBlue frequent-flyer program and those who get a new, premium JetBlue-branded credit card that is not yet available. The airline will also sell day passes if space is available.
Jayne O’Brien, head of marketing and customer support for the New York-based airline, said the lounges are part of building stronger service for premium leisure travelers on the East Coast.
“The lounges are something we have been looking at for a while, and now is the right time to put in these extra benefits for our most valuable customers,” O’Brien said in an interview.
JetBlue declined to say how much it will cost to build and operate the lounges, which are a staple at key airports for American, Delta and United.
Delta and United have reported that revenue from premium passengers is growing faster than other segments.
O’Brien said JetBlue will consider whether to open lounges at other airports after it sees results from JFK and Boston.
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Elon Musk unveils Tesla’s ‘Cybercab,’ plans to bring autonomous driving tech to other models in 2025
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night, though fans of the electric vehicle maker will have to wait until at least 2026 before they are available.
CEO Elon Musk pulled up to a stage at the Warner Bros. studio lot in one of the company’s “Cybercabs,” telling the crowd that the sleek, AI-powered vehicles don’t have steering wheels or pedals. He also expressed confidence in the progress the company has made on autonomous driving technology that makes it possible for vehicles to drive without human intervention.
Tesla began selling the software, which is called “Full Self-Driving,” nine years ago. But there are doubts about its reliability.
“We’ll move from supervised Full Self-Driving to unsupervised Full Self-Driving. where you can fall asleep and wake up at your destination,” he said. “It’s going to be a glorious future.”
Tesla expects the Cybercabs to cost under $30,000, Musk said. He estimated that the vehicles would become available in 2026, then added “before 2027.”
The company also expects to make the Full Self-Driving technology available on its popular Model 3 and Model Y vehicles in Texas and California next year.
“If they’re going to eventually get to robotaxis, they first need to have success with the unsupervised FSD at the current lineup,” said Seth Goldstein, equity strategist at Morningstar Research. “Tonight’s event showed that they’re ready to take that step forward.”
When Tesla will actually take that step, however, has led to more than a little anxiety for investors who see other automakers deploying similar technology right now. Shares of Tesla Inc. tumbled 9% at the opening bell Friday.
Waymo, the autonomous vehicle unit of Alphabet Inc., is carrying passengers in vehicles without human safety drivers in Phoenix and other areas. General Motors’ Cruise self-driving unit had been running robotaxis in San Francisco until a crash last year involving one of its vehicles.
Also, Aurora Innovation said it will start hauling freight in fully autonomous semis on Texas freeways by year’s end. Another autonomous semi company, Gatik, plans to haul freight autonomously by the end of 2025.
“Tesla yet again claimed it is a year or two away from actual automated driving — just as the company has been claiming for a decade. Indeed, Tesla’s whole event had a 2014 vibe, except that in 2014 there were no automated vehicles actually deployed on public roads,” Bryant Walker Smith, a University of South Carolina law professor who studies automated vehicles, told The Associated Press in an email. “Now there are real AVs carrying real people on real roads, but none of those vehicles are Teslas. Tonight did not change this reality; it only made the irony more glaring.”
Tesla had 20 or so Cybercabs on hand and offered event attendees the opportunity to take rides inside the movie studio lot — not on Los Angeles’ roads.
At the presentation, which was dubbed “We, Robot” and was streamed live on Tesla’s website and X, Musk also revealed a sleek minibus-looking vehicle that, like the Cybercab, would be self-driving and can carry up to 20 passengers.
The company also trotted out several of its black and white Optimus humanoid robots, which walked a few feet from the attendees before showing off dance moves in a futuristic-looking gazebo.
Musk estimated that the robots would cost between $28,000-$30,000 and would be able to babysit, mow lawns, fetch groceries, among other tasks.
“Whatever you can think of, it will do,” he said.
The unveiling of the Cybercab comes as Musk tries to persuade investors that his company is more about artificial intelligence and robotics as it labors to sell its core products, an aging lineup of electric vehicles.
Tesla’s model lineup is struggling and isn’t likely to be refreshed until late next year at the earliest, TD Cowen analyst Jeff Osborne wrote in a research note last week.
Osborne also noted that, in TD Cowen’s view, the “politicization of Elon” is tarnishing the Tesla brand among Democrat buyers in the U.S.
Musk has endorsed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and has pushed many conservative causes. Last weekend he joined Trump at a Pennsylvania rally.
Musk has been saying for more than five years that a fleet of robotaxis is near, allowing Tesla owners to make money by having their cars carry passengers while they’re not in use by the owners. Musk said that Tesla owners will be able to put their cars into service on a company robotaxi network.
But he has acknowledged that past predictions for the use of autonomous driving proved too optimistic. In 2019, he promised the fleet of autonomous vehicles by the end of 2020.
The announcement comes as U.S. safety regulators are investigating Full Self Driving and Autopilot based on evidence that it has a weak system for making sure human drivers pay attention.
In addition, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration forced Tesla to recall Full Self-Driving in February because it allowed speeding and violated other traffic laws, especially near intersections. Tesla was to fix the problems with an online software update.
Last April in Snohomish County, Washington, near Seattle, a Tesla using Full Self-Driving hit and killed a motorcyclist, authorities said. The Tesla driver told authorities that he was using the system while looking at his phone when the car rear-ended the motorcyclist. The motorcyclist was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.
NHTSA says it’s evaluating information on the fatal crash from Tesla and law enforcement officials.
The Justice Department also has sought information from Tesla about Full Self-Driving and Autopilot, as well as other items.
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Krisher reported from Detroit.
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Members of Congress call on companies to retain DEI programs as court cases grind on
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NEW YORK (AP) — A group of Democrats in Congress appealed to the largest U.S. companies Tuesday to hold onto their diversity, equity and inclusion programs, saying such efforts give everyone a fair chance at achieving the American dream.
The 49 House members, led by U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia of California, shared their views in a letter emailed to the leaders of the Fortune 1000. The move follows several major corporations saying in recent months that they would end or curtail their DEI initiatives.
“Inclusion is a core American value, and a great business practice,” the lawmakers wrote. “By embracing this value, you create safer and fairer workplaces without sacrificing quality or financial success.”
A handful of U.S. companies, including Ford, Harley-Davidson, John Deere, Lowes and Molson Coors, dialed back their DEI initiatives over the summer. The retreats came in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court outlawing affirmative action in college admissions and after conservative activists targeted the prominent American brands over their diversity policies and programs.
DEI policies typically are intended as a counterweight to discriminatory practices. Critics argue that education, government and business programs which single out participants based on factors such as race, gender and sexual orientation are unfair and the same opportunities should be afforded to everyone.
“They create toxic environments. They divide people,” Ilya Shapiro, director of constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institute, said of diversity, inclusion and equity initiatives.
The opponents have had several legislative and legal victories, and dozens more cases are working their way through the courts.
“These efforts to roll back rights are happening everywhere. They’re happening at the workplace. They’re happening in state legislatures,” Garcia told The Associated Press. “And it needs to stop. And we’ve got to push back and be vocal. We can’t just sit by and allow this to happen.”
The lawmakers’ letter states that growing numbers of American consumers spend their money with businesses that champion inclusion and are unlikely to continue supporting companies that they see backing down on commitments to bring people together.
“Continual progress towards more equal policies and benefits decreases the risk that anyone – employees and consumers – will experience discrimination, bias, and other threats to their safety and well-being,” the letter says.
The letter comes on the heels of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announcing that it filed 110 lawsuits in the past year alleging that employers sexually harassed teenagers, discriminated against workers based on sexual orientation and gender identity, engaged in patterns of discrimination and violated the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, among other violations.
The lawsuits represent a small fraction of the complaints lodged with the EEOC. The agency received more than 81,000 charges of workplace discrimination in fiscal year 2023, which was a 10% increase over 2022, EEOC Chair Charlotte Burrows said.
For every complaint, the EEOC notified the employer and launched an investigation. Many involved allegations of racial harassment or religious discrimination, Burrows said.
“Most people don’t even report internally, much less to the federal government, when they experience discrimination, so unfortunately, it’s the tip of the iceberg,” Burrows told the AP.
She and other commissioners strongly support diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility programs “because it is in so many ways an antidote to the kinds of practices that lead us to have to go to court,” Burrows said.
The Manhattan Institute’s Shapiro counters that DEI programs have little to do with civil rights law.
“The pushback against it is not a pushback against anti-discrimination laws or anything that existed really before 10 years ago or so,” he said. “DEI is divisive. It views people and issues through lenses of identity, classifies people based on privilege hierarchies and intersectional matrices, and is antithetical to a productive working environment.”
Meanwhile, lawsuits claiming reverse discrimination may be gaining momentum. The U.S. Supreme Court recently decided it would hear a lawsuit filed by Marlean Ames, who claims she was discriminated against in her job at the Ohio Department of Youth Services because she was straight.
“It’s a case that people are expecting will open the courthouse doors to more reverse discrimination suits,” said Jason Schwartz, co-chairman of the labor & employment practice group at Gibson Dunn.
Circuit courts have disagreed over whether to hold reverse discrimination cases to a higher standard. Some have ruled that if a person from a majority group brings a discrimination case, they have to show more evidence of discrimination than a person from a minority group who files a similar case.
“The Supreme Court’s interest in that case signals some potential that they’re going to lower the bar,” Schwartz said. “We already see a really massive uptick in these reverse discrimination cases.”
Groups such as the American Alliance for Equal Rights have pushed back on affirmative action policies at universities and diversity, equity and inclusion policies run by corporations.
Recently, the Atlanta-based Fearless Fund had to shut down a grant contest for Black women business owners as part of a settlement with the American Alliance for Equal Rights, which argued that race-based programs should be open to everyone, regardless of race.
“There’s been such an intense focus on all of the risk emanating from the anti-DEI side,” said David Glasgow, executive director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging at the NYU School of Law. “But I do worry sometimes that organizations may be over-correcting for that or worrying a little bit too much about that at the expense of the other side of the equation.”
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Walgreens to close 1,200 stores as US pharmacies struggle to define a new role
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Walgreens is planning to close around 1,200 locations, as the drugstore chain and its rivals struggle to define their role for U.S. shoppers who no longer look to them first for convenience.
Drugstores that once snapped up prime retail space in towns and cities across the country are in retreat. They’ve been battered by shrinking prescription reimbursement, persistent theft, rising costs and consumers who have strayed to online retailers or competitors with better prices.
The boost they received from taking the lead on vaccinations during the COVID-19 pandemic has long since faded.
Walgreens’ announcement Tuesday morning comes as rival CVS Health wraps up a three-year plan to close 900 stores and Rite Aid emerges from bankruptcy, whittled down to about 1,300 locations.
As the companies retract, they raise concerns in many communities about access to health care and prescriptions.
Drugstore leaders and analysts who follow the industry say smaller versions of these chains have a future in U.S. retail, but they’re still trying to understand how that will play out.
“They’ve really got to rethink how they do business and, most importantly, what they mean and what value they bring to the customer,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of consulting and data analysis firm GlobalData.
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc., which runs about 8,500 stores in the U.S., said in late June that it was finalizing a turnaround plan in the U.S. that might lead to hundreds of store closings.
The company said Tuesday that it will start by closing about 500 stores in its current fiscal year, which started last month.
Walgreens didn’t say where the store closings would take place. It will prioritize poor-performing stores where the property is owned by the company, or where leases are expiring.
CEO Tim Wentworth told analysts Tuesday that the majority of its stores, or about 6,000, are profitable and provide the company with a foundation to build on.
“This solid base supports our conviction in a retail pharmacy led model that is relevant to our consumers, and we intend to invest in these stores over the next several years,” said Wentworth, who became CEO nearly a year ago.
Wentworth said the remaining Walgreens stores will help the company respond more quickly to shifting consumer behavior and buying patterns. The company also is taking another look at what it sells in its stores and planning to offer more Walgreens-branded products.
Walgreens also is experimenting with some smaller stores that would be less expensive to operate.
Drugstores also have been pushing to offer more care, with pharmacists diagnosing and treating the flu, strep throat and COVID-19 in many states. Pharmacists say they can play a key role in keeping their customers healthy since they often see people more frequently than family doctors.
Pharmacists can help patients monitor their blood pressure, manage diabetes and quit smoking, among other things.
CVS also is squeezing primary care clinics with doctors into some of its stores. But Walgreens is backing away from a similar push.
The Deerfield, Illinois, company said in August that it was reviewing its U.S. health care operation, and it might sell all or part of its VillageMD clinic business. That announcement came less than two years after the company said it would spend billions to expand it.
Saunders, the analyst, said Walgreens has neglected its stores in recent years as it built its business through acquisitions. He said the appearance of the chain’s locations has suffered, and a lack of staffing hurts customer service.
He noted that store visits are slumping, and the company has lost market share.
“And that has unraveled some of the economics of these stores,” he said.
Saunders said drugstores “have really shot themselves in the foot” because they no longer have a clear way to differentiate themselves from other retailers.
“When you want to get the big bucks from consumers, you have to be a destination for something,” he said. “And unfortunately, drugstores have increasingly become destinations for nothing.”
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Stock market today: Wall Street falls from its records as oil prices tumble and tech stocks drop
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NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street pulled back from its records on Tuesday after the price of crude oil tumbled and technology stocks faltered.
The S&P 500 fell 0.8%, a day after setting an all-time high for the 46th time this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 324 points, or 0.8%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 1%.
Exxon Mobil dropped 3%, and energy stocks fell to some of Wall Street’s sharpest losses after oil prices tumbled more than 4%. A barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, has fallen back below $75 from more than $80 last week.
Crude prices have been weakening as China’s flagging economic growth raises concerns about demand for oil. At the same time, worries have receded about Israel possibly attacking Iranian oil facilities as part of its retaliation against Iran’s missile attack early this month. Iran is a major producer of crude, and a strike could upend its exports to China and elsewhere.
Nvidia was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500 and fell 4.5%. It’s a cooldown for the chip company, whose stock is still up 166.2% for the year so far on euphoria about the profits created by the boom around artificial-intelligence technology.
Stocks for companies across the chip industry fell after Dutch supplier ASML reported its latest quarterly results. CEO Christophe Fouquet said AI continues to offer strong upside potential, but “other market segments are taking longer to recover,” and ASML’s stock trading in the United States fell 16.3%.
Also dragging on the U.S. stock market was UnitedHealth Group. The insurer dropped 8.1% despite reporting better results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It lowered the top end of its forecasted range for profit over the full year.
Helping to keep the S&P 500 and Dow close to their records set on Monday were gains for several financial companies following better-than-expected profit reports for the summer.
Charles Schwab jumped 6.1%. More customers opened brokerage accounts at the company, helping to bring its total client assets to a record $9.92 trillion. Bank of America added 0.5%, and CEO Brian Moynihan said his company benefited from higher average loans and fees for investment banking and asset management.
Walgreens Boots Alliance was another winner, up 15.8%, after topping analysts’ forecasts. The drugstore chain also said it will close about 1,200 locations over the next three years as it tries to turn around its struggling U.S. business.
Chipmaker Wolfspeed jumped 21.3% to trim its loss for the year to 68.3% after the Biden-Harris administration announced plans to provide up to $750 million in direct funding to the company. The money will support its new silicon carbide factory in North Carolina that makes the wafers used in advanced computer chips.
In the bond market, trading of Treasurys resumed after a holiday on Monday, and yields sank following a weaker-than-expected report on manufacturing in New York state.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.03% from 4.10% late Friday. Manufacturing has been one of the areas of the U.S. economy hurt most by high interest rates caused by the Federal Reserve in its efforts to slow the economy enough to stamp out high inflation.
Now, though, the Fed has begun cutting interest rates as it’s widened its focus to include keeping the economy humming instead of just fighting high inflation. It looks set to continue cutting rates through next year, which would ease the brakes further off the economy.
Recent reports showing the U.S. economy remains stronger than expected have raised optimism that the Fed can pull off a perfect landing where it gets inflation down to 2% without causing a recession that many had thought would be necessary.
Because of expectations for continued growth for the U.S. economy, as well as the boost that lower rates can give to corporate profits and prices for stocks, strategists at UBS raised their forecast for how high the S&P 500 could go this year and next.
Led by Jonathan Golub, they’re calling for the S&P 500 to rise to 5,850 by the end of the year, up from their prior forecast of 5,600.
The S&P 500 finished Tuesday at 5,815.26 after falling 44.59 points. The Dow dropped 324.80 to 42,740.42, and the Nasdaq composite sank 187.10 to 18,315.59.
In stock markets abroad, Chinese stocks fell sharply as doubts continue about whether the government will offer enough fiscal stimulus to prop up the world’s second-largest economy.
Stocks in Shanghai fell 2.5%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 3.7%.
Indexes were mixed elsewhere in Asia and in Europe.
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AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
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Marshall is retiring as the CEO of the Mavericks at the end of 2024 but will remain as a consultant
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DALLAS (AP) — Cynt Marshall is retiring as CEO of the Dallas Mavericks at the end of the year, and then she will stay on for another year as a consultant in the organization where she is credited for a comprehensive overhaul of workplace policies.
Marshall, a former AT&T executive, was introduced by the Mavericks in February 2018, about a week after a Sports Illustrated report detailed years of incidents of sexual harassment and misconduct in the franchise’s business office.
When hired, Marshall became the first Black female CEO in NBA history. She will retire as CEO effective Dec. 31 and will remain in the consultant role through December 2025.
“Cynt Marshall is a force of nature. I like to say her superpower is bringing people together, but the truth is she has many superpowers,” said Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont, whose family bought a majority stake in the team last December.
“Cynt has always gone above and beyond in everything she has done, and her leadership of the Dallas Mavericks is no exception. She is an indelible fixture in the history of this franchise, and we are eternally grateful,” Dumont said. “The positive impact she has had here will be felt for a very long time.”
The franchise said in a news release that Marshall redefined the Mavericks’ culture. That began with the creation of a 100-day plan to implement a revamped corporate culture, setting new standards for inclusion, business effectiveness and corporate responsibility.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
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Cleveland’s First AI Security Camera Went Live on Public Square This Week
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Downtown Cleveland, Inc., which in August took over management of Public Square from the Group Plan Commission, has continued its efforts to make the plaza safer with the installation this week of an AI-powered security camera on the southwest corner of the square. (Cleveland police also now have a dedicated, two-man cruiser stationed there.)
The new camera, made by Robotic Assistance Devices, is “equipped with advanced features and smart capabilities that not only detect loitering and trespassing after hours but also engage the public with positive, eye-catching messages on its vivid dual LED displays,” DCI said in a release.
That topic has been in the news recently as new signage was erected reminding Clevelanders that the area is off-limits from midnight to 5 a.m. (Not very “public of Public Square.)
However, should it detect loitering or trespassing after hours, it’s unclear what happens, as the camera will not be monitored from midnight to 7 a.m
DCI declined to say how much they spent on the camera, but Chief Executive Michael Deemer said its foreshadowing for more surveillance efforts for the four blocks.
“This initiative is just our first step in leveraging smart technology as a tool to enhance public safety and security downtown,” Deemer wrote in a release. “It builds upon the foundation we’ve laid” already.
Powered by two wing-like solar panels at its base, and linked to 4G cell towers, the RIO™ 360 is a product of Robotic Assistant Devices, a Michigan-based company that specializes in AI-driven security technology for law enforcement and big business. (They make those intimidating K-9 robot dogs.)
Technology that’s as far-reaching as it is powerful.
With the help of an “AI analytic library,” gunshots, license plates, wanted cars, persons-of-interest, even construction workers working without full protective gear—will all be able to be singled out by the device, according to a company brochure.
Yet, RIO’s four cameras, two-way audio and round-the-clock app-access had some bystanders a bit more creeped out than comforted.
“Where’s the data being stored? Who has access to it? Like, none of that’s being disclosed,” an IT worker in his 40s told Scene, standing in front of the camera on Thursday. “Is it going to police? Is it going to Google?”
“I’m not just worried about the hacking of the system—but what are they doing with that information?” he added.
“It’s all just a little dystopian for me.”
DCI said that the camera will be among the 2,800 camera feeds around Cleveland that officers can tap into at will, most likely with a company app.
In an analysis of crime in the past three months on Public Square, the difference between morning, day and night wasn’t all that glaring. Since July, seven assaults occurred there during the night and morning, CPD’s crime dashboard showed, while five happened during the day and evening. Three robberies happened during the day, and three at night. As did reports of vandalism.
More crime, the dashboard shows, is prone to happen on average in the nearby Flats East Bank and the Warehouse District.
“Hey man, crime is going to happen anyway,” a man in a red-and-black Nike hoodie said, in the shadow of the camera. “It doesn’t matter what you do.”
He looked up to the camera. “I don’t think it’s gonna last long, you know what I mean?”
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Mark Oprea
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