More shelter beds and a crackdown on tents means fewer homeless encampments in San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco’s sidewalks once notorious for sprawling tents belonging to homeless people are largely clear. There are still thousands of homeless people living in RVs and cars and in expanded shelter beds. But Mayor London Breed’s office says the nearly 3,000 people counted sleeping outdoors in tents is the lowest figure in a decade. And even fewer people are likely living on sidewalks after Breed ramped up enforcement of anti-camping laws following a U.S. Supreme Court decision this summer. Part of the decrease in tents is also due to San Francisco adding thousands of new shelter beds and affordable housing units. Other California cities also are seeing fewer tents.
Trial in daytime ambush of rapper Young Dolph 3 years ago to begin in Memphis
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The trial in the slaying of rapper Young Dolph is set to begin in Memphis, Tennessee. Proceedings are scheduled to begin Monday in Memphis in the trial of Justin Johnson. He has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the shooting of the 36-year-old rapper, producer and independent music label owner. Authorities say Young Dolph, whose real name was Adolph Thornton Jr., was buying cookies at a Memphis bakery when he was gunned down in a daytime ambush in November 2021. Three other people were charged in the killing, which shocked Memphis and the entertainment world. His family and friends say Young Dolph’s legacy not only lies in his music, but also in his charitable works.
Brazil drought punishes coffee farms and threatens to push prices even higher
CACONDE, Brazil (AP) — Brazilian coffee farmers are grappling with above-average temperatures as the country, the world’s largest coffee producer, faces its worst drought in more than seven decades. Vietnam, the second-largest coffee producer, is also experiencing heat and drought, affecting its coffee crops. As a result, potential supply shortages in both countries have driven up global coffee prices. Prices prices haven’t reached the record highs the world saw in the late 1970s, after a severe frost wiped out 70% of Brazil’s coffee plants. But they have been soaring in recent years.
Stock market today: Wall Street closes its record-setting week mixed as FedEx slumps and Nike jumps
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks drifted around their all-time highs, as a record-setting week for Wall Street closed on a quieter note. The S&P 500 edged down by 0.2% from its record on Friday, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, added 38 points, or 0.1%, to its all-time high set on Thursday. FedEx dragged on the market after its profit and revenue for the latest quarter fell short of analysts’ expectations. Nike helped limit the market’s losses and jumped after naming a new chief executive officer. Treasury yields ticked higher.
House backs measure to overturn Biden auto emissions rule that Republicans say would force EV sales
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-controlled House approved a resolution Friday that would overturn a new Biden administration rule on automobile emissions that Republicans say would force Americans to buy unaffordable electric vehicles they don’t want. The rule issued by the Environmental Protection Agency in March would impose the most ambitious standards ever in the United States to cut planet-warming emissions from passenger vehicles. The rule comes as EV sales, needed to meet the standards, have begun to slow. If the Senate should pass the resolution, it would face a likely presidential veto.
Seeking to counter China, US awards $3 billion for EV battery production in 14 states
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is awarding $3 billion to U.S. companies to boost domestic production of advanced batteries and other materials used for electric vehicles, part of a continuing push to reduce China’s global dominance in battery production. The grants announced Friday will fund a total of 25 projects in 14 states, including battleground states such as Michigan and North Carolina. The grants mark the second round of EV battery funding under the 2021 infrastructure law. An earlier round allocated $1.8 billion for 14 projects that are ongoing.
Google begins its defense in antitrust case alleging monopoly over advertising technology
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Google has opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government. Testimony Friday afternoon from a Google executive came after the government rested its case two weeks into the federal trial in Virginia. The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by online consumers. Google says the government’s case ignores the competition the tech giant faces from social media companies and others.
Trump Media skids to new low on the first day the former president can sell his shares
Shares of Trump Media have slumped to new lows on the first trading day that its biggest shareholder, former President Donald Trump, is free to sell his stake in the company behind the Truth Social platform. Shares of Trump Media tumbled almost 8% to close Friday $13.55, putting the value of the company at less than $3 billion. Trump owns more than half of it. Trump and other insiders in the company have been unable to cash in on the highly volatile stock due standard lock-up agreements that prevent big stakeholders from selling stakes for a set period after a company becomes publicly traded. TMTG began trading publicly in March. It’s down 83% from its peak.
The head of Boeing’s defense and space business is out as company tries to fix troubled contracts
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Boeing is replacing the head of its defense and space business. That the unit that has been saddled with money-losing government contracts and embarrassing failures by its Starliner space capsule. Boeing said Friday that Ted Colbert was removed immediately as president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security. He’s being replaced temporarily by the division’s chief operating officer, Steve Parker. And a search is underway for a permanent replacement. Colbert spent 15 years at Boeing, serving as chief information officer and leading its global-services business before running the defense unit.
The AI boom may give Three Mile Island a new life supplying power to Microsoft’s data centers
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The owner of the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear power plant says it plans to restart the reactor under a 20-year agreement that calls for tech giant Microsoft to buy the power to supply its data centers. Friday’s announcement by Constellation Energy comes five years after its then-parent company shut down the plant, saying it was losing money. The plant is located on an island in the Susquehanna River just outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It was the site of the nation’s worst commercial nuclear power accident in 1979. The accident destroyed one reactor and left the plant with one functioning reactor. Constellation says it hopes to bring that reactor online in 2028.
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