SPRING STORM THAT HIT CENTRAL U.S. MOVES EAST
» Minnesotans MINNEAPOLIS slogged through a mid-April storm Sunday that dumped 2 feet of snow on parts of the Upper Midwest, coated roads with ice and battered areas farther south with powerful winds and tornadoes before plowing toward the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic U.S.
The storm system prompted Enbridge Energy to temporarily shutter twin oil and gas pipelines in Michigan that may have been recently damaged by a ship anchor strike.
The Line 5 pipelines were temporarily shuttered Sunday afternoon due to a power outage at Enbridge’s terminal in Superior, Wis., Enbridge spokesman Ryan Duffy told The Detroit News. Enbridge decided to shut down the twin pipelines until weather conditions improve in the Straits of Mackinac, which links Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, Duffy said.
At least three deaths were blamed on the storm system, which stretched from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes. Storms also knocked down trees, caused airport delays and dropped hail on the Carolinas.
Beyoncé’s Coachella set includes Destiny's Child reunion.
CALIF.» Beyoncé paid tribute INDIO, Saturday to historically black colleges and universities and also reunited with Destiny's Child during her headlining performance at Coachella, which was delayed for a year because of her pregnancy.
Beyonce performed at twohour set of her hits in Indio, Calif., where the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is held each year. The superstar was due to perform last year but had to postpone because she was pregnant with her twins, Sir and Rumi.
Her return did not disappoint the audience with a rousing set, including paying tribute to the marching bands, the dance troupes and step teams at HBCUs. She even performed “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” known as the national black anthem.
Joe Biden again says he hasn't ruled out 2020 run, will decide by year's end.
Former Vice President Joe Biden said in an interview broadcast Sunday that he has not ruled out a presidential run in 2020 and that he expects to make a decision by the end of the year.
Biden has previously left the door open to a 2020 presidential run but gave a newly expansive account of his thinking to the Rev. Al Sharpton on MSNBC’s “PoliticsNation.”
“I’m really hoping that some other folks step up,” Biden said. “I think we have some really good people . ... I got to walk away knowing that it is — there's somebody who can do it and can win because we’ve got to win. We’ve got to win in 2020.”
Biden said he is still struggling to recover from the 2015 death of his son Beau at 46 from brain cancer. In a December ABC interview, Biden said it could be a year before he might be ready to make a decision.
Clicking “checkout” could cost more after Supreme Court case.
Online shoppers have gotten used to seeing that line on checkout screens before they click “purchase.” But a case before the Supreme Court could change that.
At issue is a rule stemming from two, decades-old Supreme Court cases: If a business is shipping to a state where it doesn’t have an office, warehouse or other physical presence, it doesn’t have to collect the state's sales tax.
That means large retailers such as Apple, Macy’s, Target and Walmart, which have brick-andmortar stores nationwide, generally collect sales tax from customers who buy from them online. But other online sellers, from 1-800 Contacts to home goods site Wayfair, can often sidestep charging the tax.
Large retailers want all businesses to “be playing by the same set of rules,” said Deborah White, the president of the litigation arm of the Retail Industry Leaders Association, which represents more than 70 of America's largest retailers.