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Ex-Starbucks manager awarded $25.6 million in suit over firing after 2018 arrests of 2 black men

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — Jurors in a federal court in New Jersey have awarded $25.6 million to a former regional Starbucks manager who alleged that she and other white employees were unfairly punished by the coffee chain after the high-profile 2018 arrests of two black men at one of the chain’s Philadelphia locations. Shannon Phillips won $600,000 in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages on Monday after an eight-member jury decided after five hours of deliberation that race was a determinative factor in Phillips’ firing, in violation of federal and state ...

N.C. lawmakers OK bill blocking local government energy fuel prohibitions

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina General Assembly gave final approval Tuesday to legislation that would prohibit local governments from adopting ordinances preventing the expansion of certain energy services based on fuel type — one of two energy bills the legislature could wrap up this week. The measure — which runs counter to efforts in some other states to curb natural gas use and move toward electricity — next goes to Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk following a House vote of 74-38. The Senate approved the measure last week after adding language that lays out a process to ...

Buttigieg vows federal help to fix collapsed section of I-95

The Associated Press U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg promised Tuesday to help repair the East Coast’s main north-south highway as quickly as possible and said that the destruction of a section of I-95 will likely raise the cost of consumer goods because truckers must now travel longer routes. Speaking near the site where an out-of-control tractor-trailer hauling gasoline flipped over on an Interstate 95 off-ramp and caught fire, Buttigieg said he expected that disruptions in trucking routes will put “upward pressure” on shipping costs along the East ...

US consumer price growth slowed as inflation shows signs of steady decline

WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumer prices in the United States cooled last month, rising just 0.1% from April to May and extending the past year’s steady easing of inflation. At the same time, some measures of underlying price pressures remained high. Measured year over year, inflation slowed to just 4% in May — the lowest 12-month figure in over two years and well below April’s 4.9% annual rise. The pullback was driven by tumbling gas prices, a much smaller rise in grocery prices than in previous months and less expensive furniture, air fares and appliances. Tuesday’s inflation ...

Stock market today: Wall Street rises as inflation keeps cooling

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks climbed Tuesday after a cooler reading on inflation cemented Wall Street’s bet that the Federal Reserve will hold off on hiking interest rates this week. The S&P 500 rose 30.08 points, or 0.7%, to 4,369.01, its highest level since April 2022. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 145.79, or 0.4%, to 34,212.12, while the Nasdaq composite rallied 111.40, or 0.8%, to 13,573.32. The U.S. stock market has been on a roll amid hopes the economy can avoid a severe recession and inflation can fall enough for the Federal Reserve to ease off its rate increases. ...

How billions in COVID-19 relief aid was stolen or wasted

WASHINGTON (AP) — Much of the theft was brazen, even simple. Fraudsters used the Social Security numbers of dead people and federal prisoners to get unemployment checks. Cheaters collected those benefits in multiple states. And federal loan applicants weren’t cross-checked against a Treasury Department database that would have raised red flags about sketchy borrowers. Criminals and gangs grabbed the money. But so did a U.S. soldier in Georgia, the pastors of a defunct church in Texas, a former state lawmaker in Missouri and a roofing contractor in Montana. All of it led to the ...