Tesla ousted from inquiry
Tesla is no longer a party to the federal investigation into a deadly crash involving one of its vehicles in California last month, the government and company said Thursday.
But the two sides offer different explanations for the split, and the dispute between the National Transportation Safety Board and the electric car maker could have broad implications for safety investigations and the development of partially and fully automated vehicles.
The NTSB says it revoked Tesla’s status in the case after the automaker released information about the crash. Tesla accused the agency of being “more concerned with press headlines than actually promoting safety.”
Tesla said it “will be making an official complaint to Congress” about the NTSB.
Kroger plans to add 300 Houston jobs
Kroger plans to fill 300 jobs at its Houston division, which covers 110 grocery stores stretching to southeast Louisiana and Bryan-College Station, the company announced.
Kroger employs nearly 18,000 in its Houston division.
Pricier newsprint worries publishers
MILWAUKEE — Recently imposed tariffs on Canadian newsprint are causing anxiety for U.S. publishers, who say they'll be forced to make cuts in an industry already hurt by years of falling revenue.
The tariffs are a response to complaint to the U.S. Department of Commerce from a hedge-fund owned paper producer in Washington state. It says its Canadian rivals have an unfair advantage with government subsidies. The tariffs could be finalized by September. The North Pacific Paper Co. was bought by New York hedge fund One Rock Capital Partners in 2016.
“While our company understands the concerns recently surfaced by some newspaper publishers, which also face a challenging marketplace, we strongly disagree with the notion that their industry requires low-priced, subsidized newsprint from Canada to sustain their own business model,” Craig Annenberg, the CEO of NORPAC, said in a statement.
Move may help bid for privacy law
Facebook says it will stop spending money to fight a proposed California ballot initiative aimed at increasing data privacy. The company had contributed $200,000 to a committee opposing the California Consumer Privacy Act.
It made the announcement Wednesday as CEO Mark Zuckerberg underwent questioning from Congress about the handling of user data.
$504 million more for Madoff ’s victims
WASHINGTON — Victims of Bernard Madoff, the architect of one of Wall Street’s largest frauds, will receive another $504 million, proceeds from assets that the government seized after Madoff ’s financial firm collapsed a decade ago.
With this distribution, the second in a series of payouts, about 21,000 victims will have received a total of more than $1.2 billion, the Justice Department said.
The government said it could return more than $4 billion to victims who lost their savings to Madoff and his firm, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities. But that number is still small compared with the imaginary profits the firm had promised investors and the real losses it incurred.
Mortgage-servicing company fined
ALBANY, N.Y. — Regulators have fined Nationstar Mortgage $5 million for violations of state banking rules.
The Dallas-based mortgage servicing company also agreed to donate another $5 million in property and mortgages to local nonprofits working to rehabilitate abandoned properties.
Investigators say Nationstar failed to maintain proper mortgage documentation and didn’t file required paperwork with the state. In a statement, the company apologized.
Long-term mortgage rates flat to higher
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages edged up to 4.42 percent from 4.40 percent last week. The average rate on 15-year loans held steady at 3.87 percent.