U.S. safety regulators are investigating reports that side curtain air bags can inflate for no reason on some Mazda CX-9 large SUVs.
Documents posted Monday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration say two owners have complained about the problem. Four people were hurt in one of the cases.
In both complaints owners told the agency that the left and right air bags went off for no reason while the SUVs were moving.
The probe covers CX-9s from the 2010 through 2013 model years. Mazda sold just over 112,000 of the SUVs from 2010 through 2013.
The safety agency says investigators will figure out how often the problem happens and determine the safety consequences. The agency could seek a recall. Mazda said in a statement that it is cooperating with NHTSA.
Acadia pays for Medicare fraud
Federal prosecutors say they’ve reached a $17 million settlement with a health care company accused of Medicaid fraud in West Virginia.
U.S. Attorney Mike Stuart announced the civil settlement with Acadia on Monday, saying it’s the largest health care fraud settlement in state history.
Stuart says Acadia, though its subsidiary CRC Health, billed Medicaid for $8.5 million in marked-up costs for blood and urine tests that weren’t done at its drug treatment centers and instead performed by a lab in California.
He says the company has also agreed to implement a risk assessment program and hire an independent organization to review its Medicaid claims.
Local gas prices drop in oil futures
Chattanooga gas prices fell by their biggest weekly decline in more than three months in Chattanooga last week in response to falling oil prices.
Chattanooga motorists could get even more relief at the gas pump this week as oil prices fall in response to President Trump’s statement Sunday that he would sharply raise tariffs on Chinese goods, threatening to upend trade talks between the world’s biggest economies.
In Chattanooga, surveys of 170 area gas stations Sunday by the online gas service Gasbuddy.com found the average price of regular gas in Chattanooga was $2.46 a gallon, or 3.2 cents less than a week ago and 43 cents below the U.S. average. Local gas prices in Chattanooga are still 1.7 cents per gallon higher than a month ago, but they are 4 cents per gallon lower than a year ago at this time.
“It appears that large increases in gas prices have begun to fade to distant memory, lending credibility to the notion that gas prices may be close to peaking for the time being,” said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “We’re in the last inning or so of the seasonal rally and once this game is over we’ll likely begin to see prices recede in the month of June, tracking very closely to what we experienced last summer.”
Mueller profits short of forecast
Mueller Water Products Inc. on Monday reported fiscal second-quarter profit of $10.9 million, or 7 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to 12 cents per share, which was below the average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research for earnings of 14 cents per share.
The maker of fire hydrants, pipes and water valves posted revenue of $234 million in the period, which also did not meet Street forecasts. Seven analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $253.5 million.
Mueller Water Products operates production plants in Chattanooga and Cleveland and has its research and development operations in downtown Chattanooga. Company shares have climbed 18% since the beginning of the year and are up nearly 10% in the last 12 months.
Lord & Taylor may be put up for sale
Lord & Taylor, one of the country’s oldest department stores, may be put up for sale.
Hudson’s Bay, which owns Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue, said Monday that it hired a financial adviser to review Lord & Taylor’s business and that the process may lead to a sale or merger.
Lord & Taylor traces its origins to more than 190 years ago, when it was founded as a dry goods store in 1826. It was acquired by Hudson’s Bay Co. in 2012.
Lord & Taylor has struggled as more people shop online. Hudson’s Bay has closed some of its stores, including Lord & Taylor’s flagship store on New York’s Fifth Avenue, which was shut for good earlier this year after more than a century in the 11-story building. Last year, to attract new customers, Lord & Taylor started selling its brands on Walmart’s website.
Hudson’s Bay Co., based in Toronto, said there are more than 40 Lord & Taylor locations around the country.