Apr 21 Chipotle agrees to record $25 million fine over tainted food By Brian Melley, Associated Press The fast food company was charged Tuesday in Los Angeles federal court with two counts of violating the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act by serving adulterated food. Continue reading
Apr 21 Oil prices keep crumbling, stocks around the world tumble By Stan Choe, Damian J. Troise, Alex Veiga, Associated Press Stocks are falling in afternoon trading on Wall Street and the collapse in oil prices is deepening as the economic carnage caused by the coronavirus pandemic turns markets upside down. Continue reading
Apr 21 Publicly traded firms get $300M in small-business loans, AP reports By Reese Dunklin, Justin Pritchard, Krysta Fauria, Associated Press An Associated Press investigation has found that a relief fund Congress created to protect small businesses amid the coronavirus crisis has helped companies with thousands of employees, past regulatory run-ins and risks of financial failure even before the economy got… Continue reading
Apr 21 Criminal records shut small business owners out of aid program By Jill Colvin, Associated Press The Paycheck Protection Program is supposed to be a lifeline for small businesses, but government guidelines say that businesses are ineligible if anyone who owns the company is incarcerated, under indictment, on probation or parole or had been convicted of… Continue reading
Apr 21 WATCH: Senate approves $483 billion virus aid deal By Andrew Taylor, Lisa Mascaro, Associated Press The coronavirus aid package flew through the Senate on Tuesday after Congress and the White House reached a deal to replenish a small-business payroll fund and provided new money for hospitals and testing. Continue reading
Apr 20 Talks drag on $450 billion virus aid for small businesses, hospitals By Andrew Taylor, Lisa Mascaro, Associated Press The Trump administration and Congress are struggling to seal an agreement on more than $450 billion to help small businesses hurt by the coronavirus, but the Trump administration and key lawmakers insisted a final pact is within reach. Continue reading
Apr 20 States work to keep meat plants open despite virus outbreaks By Ryan Foley, Associated Press Governors in the Midwest are working to keep large meatpacking plants operating despite coronavirus outbreaks that have sickened hundreds of workers and threaten to disrupt the nation's supply of pork and beef. Continue reading
Apr 20 Watch 4:40 Troubled global oil market tanks amid pandemic's drop in demand Economic damage from the novel coronavirus pandemic has knocked the bottom out of the oil market. The cost of benchmark U.S. crude oil, for delivery in May, actually fell below zero -- dragging down the entire stock market. And in… Continue watching
Apr 20 Watch 7:43 Why getting the U.S. back to normal in the next couple months is a 'fantasy' As the novel coronavirus pandemic wears on, debate is brewing over how long the associated shutdowns should last. The New York Times’ Donald McNeil has covered epidemics for close to two decades and reported recently on why American society could… Continue watching
Apr 20 Watch 10:22 How the COVID-19 pandemic is sending American agriculture into chaos By Stephanie Sy, Lena I. Jackson, Casey Kuhn COVID-19 is disrupting agriculture on many levels. The Trump administration recently announced it will spend $19 billion to help farmers. But they aren’t the only group in need of support -- undocumented immigrants are roughly half of American farmworkers, and… Continue watching