AP National Business

SEATTLE (AP) — Starbucks workers at the coffee giant’s flagship roastery in Seattle have voted to form a union, the chain’s latest location to form a collective bargaining unit. The Seattle store voted Thursday 38-27 to unionize. Workers United said 26 Starbucks locations have unionized nationwide. The Starbucks Reserve and Roastery in the Capitol Hill

By MICHAEL PHILLIS Associated Press California officials say as much as $30 billion is needed to protect the heart of the state’s farm country from significant flooding over the next three decades. Officials released a draft of an updated flood protection plan for the Central Valley on Thursday. Approximately 1.3 million people live in floodplains

By DON THOMPSON Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California workplace regulators have extended mandatory pay for workers affected by the coronavirus through the end of 2022. They acted more than two months after state lawmakers restored similar benefits through September. The Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board kept the regulations Thursday. Its chairman says

SEATTLE (AP) — Court records show a Seattle CEO who gained national attention for raising employees’ salaries and slashing his own is facing misdemeanor assault charges stemming from allegations that he tried to forcibly kiss a woman. The Seattle Times reports credit-card processor Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price was charged in February with fourth-degree assault

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Officials in Poland say new methane explosions in a coal mine have injured 10 rescuers who were preparing to search for seven people missing since two blasts killed five a day earlier. The state Supreme Mining Authority says there were no fatalities from the new explosions Thursday night at the Pniowek

By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH and LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press Boston has urged people to start wearing masks, and the Biden administration is weighing its next legal step in a court fight over the abrupt end of the national mask mandate on airplanes and mass transit. In early April, Boston followed New York, Los Angeles and other

By FATIMA HUSSEIN and CHRIS MEGERIAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The mounting economic damage to Ukraine from Russia’s ongoing bombardment has the U.S. and its allies speeding billions in aid to the beleaguered country — and looking for other sources of cash, including Russia itself. After the U.S. announced $1.3 billion in new economic

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The co-founder of the “We Build The Wall” project aimed at raising money for a border wall has pleaded guilty to charges in a case that once included former President Donald Trump’s adviser Steve Bannon. The plea Thursday by Brian Kolfage came just weeks before a

LONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II has got her own Barbie in honor of her 96th birthday and upcoming Platinum Jubilee. California-based toymaker Mattel released the doll on the monarch’s birthday Thursday in commemoration of her 70 years of service, which will be celebrated beginning on June 2. The doll is dressed in ivory complete

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL is telling a judge there are multiple reasons why a lawsuit brought against it by three Black coaches who allege racist hiring practices should fail. The league said in a letter in advance of an initial hearing before a Manhattan federal judge that it

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes Thursday: American Airlines, Tesla rise; Xerox, Sleep Number fall.

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL is telling a judge there are multiple reasons why a lawsuit brought against it by three Black coaches who allege racist hiring practices should fail. The league said in a letter in advance of an initial hearing before a Manhattan federal judge that it

By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers Stocks shed early gains and closed broadly lower on Wall Street Thursday after the head of the Federal Reserve said the central bank needs to take more aggressive action to fight high inflation. The S&P 500 fell 1.5%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1%

By AMY BETH HANSON Associated Press HELENA, Mont. (AP) — With the cryptocurrency industry under increasing pressure to rein in the environmental impact of the massive amounts of electricity it uses to power computers verifying transactions, some companies mining bitcoin are looking to switch to renewable energy. Many economists and environmentalists have warned that as

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve must move faster than it has in the past to rein in high inflation, Chair Jerome Powell said, signaling that sharp interest rate increases are likely in the coming months, beginning at the Fed’s next policy meeting in May. In a panel discussion

By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers Stocks shed early gains and were broadly lower in afternoon trading on Wall Street Thursday as traders reviewed the latest round of earnings reports from several big U.S. companies. The S&P 500 fell 0.9%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4% and the Nasdaq fell

By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE Associated Press TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida House of Representatives has given final passage to a bill to dissolve a private government that Walt Disney World has been allowed to operate on its properties for more than five decades. House lawmakers approved the measure on Thursday. The passage is a victory

By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer DALLAS (AP) — Remember all those thousands of passengers that airlines banned for not wearing face masks? Now the airlines want them back — or at least, most of them. And leaders of unions that represent flight attendants are reacting with outrage. Officials with United Airlines and American Airlines