KVCR Business News

Tesla Rides High, But Faces Formidable Foe: Car Dealers

Sun, 19 May 2013 10:31:00 -0700

Its Model S sedan (base priced at $62,400, after federal tax credits) was just named Motor Trend Car of the Year. Reviewers at Consumer Reports gave the lithium-ion battery powered vehicle a rave.

And the company, headed by billionaire innovator Elon Musk, 41, posted a profit for the first time in its 10-year history — powered in part by zero-emission environmental credits.

Book News: Amazon May Be Called Before Parliament Over Taxes

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:09:00 -0700

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.
Amazon faces a grilling from members of Britain's Parliament over its extremely low U.K. corporate tax payments, Reuters reported Friday. As NPR noted on Thursday, Amazon has the subject of intense scrutiny after it was revealed that the Internet retailer's U.K. unit paid only slightly more in taxes than it received in government grants because its sales are routed through Luxembourg.

Foolish Mistakes Were Made IRS Chief Says

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:38:00 -0700

(Most recent update: 12:50 p.m. ET.)

Saying that "foolish mistakes were made by people trying to be more efficient in their workload selection," the outgoing head of the Internal Revenue Service told Congress on Friday that he and the agency want to apologize for the targeting of some conservative groups during the 2012 campaign cycle.

IRS Chief Says 'Mistakes Were Made' But Weren't Partisan

Tue, 14 May 2013 09:15:00 -0700

"Mistakes were made, but they were in no way due to any political or partisan motivation," the acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service writes in USA Today's op-ed pages.

Comp Time Or Cold Cash. Which Would You Pick?

Mon, 13 May 2013 09:41:00 -0700

Overtime or comp time? Which one suits you best?

Both you and your boss may agree it would be best for you to work a sixth day when a big project is due in March, and then take off for a long weekend in June. No big deal.

U.S. Gas Prices Expected To Remain Low For Summer

Sun, 12 May 2013 10:29:00 -0700

Drivers will find this summer's gas prices are lower than last year's, the result of a spike in crude oil production. Government forecasters say a gallon of regular gasoline will cost about $3.50 this summer — a slide of more than 10 cents from last year.

Colorado Lawmakers Set Taxes And Rules For Marijuana Sales

Fri, 10 May 2013 09:08:00 -0700

Colorado is set to become the first U.S. state to regulate and tax sales of recreational marijuana, after lawmakers approved several bills that set business standards and rules. Legislators expect enforcement of the rules to be paid for by two taxes on marijuana — a 15 percent excise tax, and a 10 percent sales tax.

Wrigley: Maybe We Won't Sell Caffeinated Gum After All

Thu, 09 May 2013 13:00:00 -0700

Less than two weeks after launching its Alert Energy Caffeine Gum, the Wrigley Company decided that maybe the world wasn't ready for amped-up chewing gum after all.

On April 30, the day after Alert Energy launched, the Food and Drug Administration said it was going to take a "fresh look" at caffeinated foods, particularly their effect on children and teenagers.

Furloughs Only The Latest Blow To Federal Worker Morale

Thu, 09 May 2013 09:19:00 -0700

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Federal workers say they don't have much to celebrate these days.

Furloughs began in April, exacerbating already low morale for many government agencies as budgets have tightened. Downsizing has meant more work for those who remain, and talk of further cuts has many worried about job security. This year is also the third that federal workers haven't received a pay increase, contributing to discontent.

Will Tweaking Windows 8 Be Enough To Revive The PC?

Wed, 08 May 2013 09:11:00 -0700

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When Microsoft introduced Windows 8 last year, the software giant billed the new operating system as one of the most critical releases in its history. The system would bridge the gap between personal computers and the fast-growing mobile world of tablets and smartphones.

Pfizer Goes Direct With Viagra Sales To Men

Mon, 06 May 2013 09:01:00 -0700

The ubiquitous blue-toned TV ads for Viagra look downright tame compared with Pfizer's latest gambit for the impotence remedy.

Pfizer is now selling the drug directly from the official Viagra website.

How A Distillery Ages Bourbon In Days, Not Years

Fri, 03 May 2013 09:15:00 -0700

When it comes to bourbon, Tom Lix doesn't believe in age discrimination. Most bourbons might age in the barrel for eight to 12 years or more, but Lix figures his are ready to drink in under a week.

Lix makes Cleveland Whiskey, a new brand of bourbon that exemplifies two major trends in American whiskey-making today: the desire to speed up the process and the effort to establish a local identity.

165,000 Jobs Added In April, Jobless Rate Fell To 7.5 Percent

Fri, 03 May 2013 08:44:00 -0700

The nation's jobless rate edged down to 7.5 percent in April from 7.6 percent in March and employers added 165,000 jobs to their payrolls last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday morning

Grocery Home Delivery May Be Greener Than Schlepping To The Store

Thu, 02 May 2013 09:15:00 -0700

Home grocery delivery sounds like a frill for people too lazy to schlep to the store. But having food delivered can be more environmentally friendly than driving to the store, researchers say.

Having groceries delivered can cut carbon dioxide emissions by at least half, compared to driving to the store, according to a new study. That's because the delivery truck offers the equivalent of a "shared ride" for the food.

Yahoo's Marissa Mayer Expands Parental Leave

Wed, 01 May 2013 09:26:00 -0700

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, who sparked plenty of discussion about work-life balance when she prohibited telecommuting this past winter, took a step in the opposite direction, Tuesday: Mayer expanded Yahoo's parental leave policy.

Would You Pay A Higher Price For 'Ethical' Clothing?

Wed, 01 May 2013 09:06:00 -0700

Look at photographs from the Bangladesh garment factory collapse, and you can see clothing in the rubble destined for a store called Joe Fresh, one of the many retailers using supercheap fashions made overseas to keep shoppers buying often.

Will Bureaucracy Keep The U.S. Drone Industry Grounded?

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 09:08:00 -0700

Americans are suspicious of drones. Reports of the unmanned aerial vehicles' use in war zones have raised concerns about what they might do here at home. For instance, in Seattle earlier this year, a public outcry forced the police department to abandon plans for eye-in-the-sky UAV helicopters.

Gunmaker Says Colorado's New Laws Will Send It Packing

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 08:21:00 -0700

Colorado responded to the mass shootings in Aurora, Colo., and Newtown, Conn., by passing new gun control measures last month. That's not sitting well with several gun-related businesses in the Centennial State, where four companies have announced plans to relocate all or some of their operations.

These Days, More And More Chinese Have Driven A Ford Lately

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 10:21:00 -0700

General Motors has been the American car company in China. Even when GM was in bankruptcy, the Chinese continued to view Buick as a high-status, luxury brand.

But now Ford, an also-ran in the market for years, is making a push to change all that. Last year, Ford's sales were up more than 30 percent in China, and the Ford Focus was the best-selling car in both the world and China.

Google Agrees To Change Display Of Search Results In Europe

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 08:56:00 -0700

Google has agreed to modify the way it displays search results in Europe as part of a deal to end a probe by the EU's anti-trust body. But rivals Microsoft, Nokia and Oracle will first have to sign off on the changes, reports say.

As ZDNet writes:

Coffee For A Cause: What Do Those Feel-Good Labels Deliver?

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 09:04:00 -0700

What does it take to find guilt-free coffee?

Much of our coffee comes from places where the environment is endangered and workers earn very little — sometimes, just a few dollars for a whole day's work. Coffee farmers have helped cut down tropical forests, and most of them use pesticides.

Why Amazon Supports An Online Sales-Tax Bill

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 14:39:00 -0700

If you:

1. Live in a state that charges sales tax

and

2. Buy something from an online store that does not charge you sales tax,

then you are supposed to:

Airline Customers Watch For Delays As Furloughs Hit FAA Workers

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 12:42:00 -0700

Airline passengers and industry analysts are watching airports for flight delays Monday, the first full day of furloughs for nearly 15,000 flight controllers and other Federal Aviation Administration workers. The furloughs are tied to the "sequestration" budget cuts that were enacted this year. We'll be keeping an eye on possible delays today, and updating this post with new information.

How Coffee Brings The World Together

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:08:00 -0700

Coffee is more than a drink. For many of us — OK, for me — it's woven into the fabric of every day.

It also connects us to far corners of the globe.

For instance, every Friday, a truck pulls up to the warehouse of Counter Culture Coffee, a small roaster and coffee distributor in Durham, N.C., and unloads a bunch of heavy burlap sacks.

Want More Gender Equality At Work? Go To An Emerging Market

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 08:59:00 -0700

A White House report puts it bluntly: "Today, younger women are more likely to graduate from college than are men and are more likely to hold a graduate school degree."

For the past decade more American women than men have earned undergraduate and Master's degrees; and in the past three years, they've outpaced men at the doctoral level, too.

FAA OKs Boeing's 787 Battery Fix

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 13:51:00 -0700

The Federal Aviation Administration has approved changes to the design of the Boeing 787's battery system — the first step toward returning the grounded aircraft to service.

The approximately 50 787 "Dreamliners" delivered to airlines worldwide were grounded in January after incidents involving overheating problems in lithium-ion batteries.

Frozen Food Gets Ready For Its Image Upgrade

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 11:50:00 -0700

Alarmed by a nation that increasingly equates fresh with healthy, the frozen food industry has a message for you.

"What we call fresh in the supermarket is really better termed raw," says Kristin Reimers, a registered dietitian and manager of nutrition for ConAgra Foods. "A lot of times, those vegetables have been transported for days, and then sit. It could be a matter of weeks between when they're picked and consumed."

Seeing The World Through Google-Colored Glasses

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 09:22:00 -0700

Google Glass is no longer merely a prototype. Tuesday, the company began delivering its high-tech glasses to a select group of test-customers. The gadget looks kind of like a pair of eyeglasses, except it doesn't always have lenses and it has a tiny screen, about the size of the end of my pinkie, perched just above and to the right of the wearer's right eye.

Italy's Financial Crisis Means More (Bread) Dough At Home

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:25:00 -0700

Processed food packed with salt, fat and sugar has been making incursions into the traditional diets of countries around the world. Even Italy isn't immune to the reach of junk food. But hard economic times are spurring Italians to rediscover home cooking, and especially bread making.

Most People Are Supposed To Pay This Tax. Almost Nobody Actually Pays It.

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:19:00 -0700

The majority of Americans have now filed their taxes. And the majority of Americans have done so incorrectly.

There is one mistake, in particular, that lots of people made: They bought tax-free things online or in another state — and they failed to pay tax on their purchase in their home state.

Tax Day Is This Statue Of Liberty's Last Day Of Work

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 09:05:00 -0700

The intersection of Crenshaw Boulevard and 28th Street looks like a lot of intersections in Los Angeles: There's a Taco Bell on one corner and a strip mall with a liquor store and a Liberty Tax Service office on the other. And out in front, as traffic speeds by, 27-year-old Robert Oliver is hard at work — dancing.

Startup CEO Wields Small Antenna In TV Streaming Battle

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 09:30:00 -0700

A top executive at News Corp. dropped a bombshell this week when he said the company is considering taking Fox's over-the-air network to cable. The announcement follows a court win for a startup company that streams broadcast channels online.

Japanese Car Makers Recall Millions Of Vehicles Over Faulty Airbags

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 07:29:00 -0700

Some 3.4 million vehicles produced by four Japanese automakers are being voluntarily recalled due to faulty airbag inflators.

Construction Booming In Texas But Many Workers Pay Dearly

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 07:06:00 -0700

Like almost everything in the Texas, the construction industry in the Lone Star State is big. One in every 13 workers here is employed in the state's $54 billion-per-year construction industry.

New Data Show Ford Doing Well In Overseas Markets

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 09:29:00 -0700

Which Japanese-manufactured car is the world's most popular vehicle? Maybe none of them. It might just be the Ford Focus.

More than a million Focus models were sold worldwide last year, with Toyota's Corolla coming in second. Next was Ford's top-selling F-Series pickup, sold almost exclusively in the U.S. and Canada, according to the marketing firm R.L. Polk.

To Find Insider Trading, Follow The Kids' Money

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 07:00:00 -0700

In New York and Washington, government regulators are cracking down on insider trading, the illegal practice in which people with internal information about important company events make stock market trades before ordinary investors find out what's happening.

What Drives Us? Car Sharing Reflects Cultural Shift

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 09:21:00 -0700

As car sharing continues to gain traction among American drivers, Car2Go is one company benefiting from the changing way we use cars.

Seattleite David Stewart doesn't own a car. Instead, the managing partner of a small social media company relies on Car2Go for getting around.

Sequester Pinches Long-Term Unemployed Even More

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 09:47:00 -0700

Almost 5 million Americans are considered long-term unemployed, meaning they have been searching for work for at least six months.

This week, their plight is getting a bit tougher as the government cuts their unemployment benefits — part of the automatic reductions in federal spending that took effect recently.

The Jobs Report Puzzle

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 10:41:00 -0700

Lots of people are surely looking at today's jobs headlines somewhat puzzled, asking one significant question: How can it be that hiring was much worse than expected in March and the unemployment rate still fell — to 7.6 percent?

Is The Company Behind Rodman's Korea Visit The Future Of Media

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 10:18:00 -0700

How did Dennis Rodman end up having dinner with Kim Jong Un in North Korea? It was the idea of Vice Media, which has grown from a counterculture magazine into a full-fledged youth media conglomerate.

Friday night, it premieres a documentary series on HBO, a kind of coming-out moment into the mainstream.

Facebook Phone Is 'A Family Of Apps,' Zuckerberg Says

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 15:00:00 -0700

Facebook is going to "turn things around," CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday, by turning "your Android phone into a great, simple social device" that is "designed around people."

Product Chief Is Out At See-Through-Pants-Plagued Lululemon

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 09:58:00 -0700

Two weeks after being embarrassed by the news that some of its yoga pants were way too sheer, there's word from Lululemon that chief product officer Sheree Waterson will be leaving the company April 15.

Hard Times At Apple: Apology To China Comes As Stock Slides

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 09:01:00 -0700

In an unusual move on Monday, Apple CEO Tim Cook apologized to Chinese customers over the company's warranty policy and vowed to improve customer service in the country.

For Legal Pot Sellers, A Big Tax Problem

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 15:01:00 -0700

An obscure tax code provision crafted for drug dealers is giving state-licensed medical marijuana dispensaries a headache.

In Colorado, federal income tax rates for dispensaries can soar as high as 70 percent because of a tax code section that does not allow businesses to claim certain deductions.

In Spain, A Mattress That Lets Your Money Rest Easy

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 14:38:00 -0700

Spaniards wary of trusting their life savings to their country's shaky banking system can now buy a mattress that has an armored safe equipped with a keypad combination lock hidden in one end.

Book News: American Library Association, Barnes & Noble Called 'Facilitators Of Porn'

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 09:10:00 -0700

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

The American Library Association and Barnes & Noble were among the groups named by conservative group Morality in Media in its "Dirty Dozen List" of "the top 12 facilitators of porn." The list states that the ALA encourages libraries to have unfiltered computers, and that the bookstore chain "is a major supplier of adult pornography and child erotica." The top spot, however, went to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder for "refus[ing] to enforce existing federal obscenity laws."

Patent Ruling In India Could Boost Exports Of Cheap Medicine To Third World

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 09:11:00 -0700

A decision by India's Supreme Court to reject Novartis AG's bid to patent a version of one cancer drug could lead to more exports of cheap medicine from that country to "poor people across the developing world," the BBC writes.

EPA's Push For More Ethanol Could Be Too Little, Too Late

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 08:55:00 -0700

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency could soon issue a final ruling that aims to force oil companies to replace E10, gasoline mixed with 10 percent ethanol, with E15.

As Housing Industry Builds Up, Other Sectors Follow

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 16:15:00 -0700

When fortunes rise in the housing industry — as they currently are — it tends to lift sales for other businesses, too. Home construction, sales and prices are all improving. And according to many analysts, the market is gaining steam.

For nearly two decades, Scott Gillis has owned his own moving company, Great Scott Moving in Hyattsville, Md. Moving high season is just around the corner, which means Gillis is hiring.

Obamacare Won't Affect Most 2012 Taxes, Despite Firm's Claim

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 09:14:00 -0700

"The Affordable Care Act means big changes this year when you file your taxes," says the young woman in the ad, with a smug smile. She then claims to have read "all 900 pages" of the law so she can offer you a "solution."