Theranos prepares to quietly wind down
Theranos is going out with barely a whisper. Once heralded as a revolutionary new way to conduct a blood test to detect myriad diseases, all with a single finger prick, the company is making preparations to close its operations, according to a letter sent to shareholders.
“We are now out of time,” David Taylor, the company’s chief executive and general counsel, informed investors in an email first reported Tuesday by The Wall Street Journal, whose in-depth investigation unraveled the company’s claims.
Taylor declined to comment further, saying the letter spoke for itself.
Theranos’ efforts are now focused on avoiding bankruptcy.
It is in default under a credit agreement reached last year with Fortress Investment Group, Taylor told shareholders.
The company is negotiating a settlement with Fortress, which would then own the company’s intellectual property and allow Theranos to distribute its remaining cash — some $5 million — to unsecured creditors.
The Theranos board is expected to meet Friday.
The the process of dissolving the company is expected to take six to 12 months.
Uber initiative seeks upgrade in safety
NEW YORK — Uber is aiming to boost driver and passenger safety in an effort to rebuild trust in the brand.
The ride-hailing company has created a feature on its app to reach out to passengers and drivers if it detects an accident or unplanned stop. Drivers will also have access to a hands-free feature to pick up passengers without touching their phones, and they will no longer see data detailing where they retrieved passengers in the past.
Uber plans to use location data to figure out if a stop seems unusual because there's no traffic or if a car hasn't made it to its final destination. If there is a long, unexpected stop during a trip, both the rider and the driver will receive a ride check notification to ask if everything is OK.
The company has also added a button to its app for drivers to contact emergency services, similar to the one it created for passengers in March. Uber says using the button is more efficient than calling 911 because the Uber app contains the vehicle's location.
Going forward, Uber will conceal specific pickup and drop-off addresses in the driver's trip history so that only the general area where a trip has started and ended will show up on the driver's app, not the address.
Jewelry shop switches locations
James Avery Artisan Jewelry has relocated its Highland Village store to the Centre at Post Oak across from the Galleria.
The Texas-based jeweler will hold a grand opening Saturday at 5000 Westheimer with drawings for 30 James Avery gift cards valued at $50, $100 or $500. Also, the first 100 guests will receive a gift with purchase.
Family-owned James Avery has 10 stores in the Houston area, now all outside Loop 610 with the exit from Highland Village. The new location is less than a mile from the previous spot at 4055 Westheimer.
The jewelry is made at the company's workshops in Kerrville, Comfort, Fredericksburg and Hondo.
Brexit prompts plan for seasonal workers
The U.K. will try out a seasonal workers program for fruit and vegetable pickers from outside the European Union next year, the Home Office said, in an attempt to alleviate possible labor shortages faced by one of the industries most affected by Brexit. An annual 2,500 workers over the age of 18 will be granted sixmonth visas to come to Britain from next spring to work on fruit and vegetable farms, Home Secretary Sajid Javid and Environment Secretary Michael Gove said Thursday in a statement. The program will run through December 2020, to alleviate labor shortages during peak production, they said.
Nation’s trade deficit with China at record
The U.S. trade deficit widened in July by the most in three years and the gap with China hit a record as the Trump administration imposed tariffs on a range of Chinese goods, prompting retaliatory levies from Beijing.
The gap increased 9.5 percent to $50.1 billion, the biggest since February, from a revised $45.7 billion in the prior month, Commerce Department data showed Wednesday. Exports fell 1 percent, driven by steep drops in shipments of aircraft and soybeans, while imports rose 0.9 percent in a broad-based gain.
A widening trade deficit would drag on growth in the third quarter after a narrower gap — partly on higher soybean exports ahead of Chinese levies — helped boost the pace of expansion in the prior period to the fastest since 2014. While other indicators suggest gross domestic product is on track for solid gains in the second half, the latest figures show how President Donald Trump’s tariffs may start to weigh on the economy.