EPB service restored after hurricane storms
EPB said its crews finally restored power to all customers that were impacted by the storms from Hurricane Irma early Thursday.
EPB spokesman John Pless said EPB’s smart grid automation and remote repairs prevented about 32,000 customers from experiencing a lasting outage, but thousands of others were without power for at least some time following the storms that hit Chattanooga Monday night.
Extensive storm damage, including downed trees, snapped poles and lines and damaged equipment such as transformers required about two days to repair, Pless said.
Mars resolves dispute with rival chocolatier
Court documents show a Wisconsin chocolate maker and the candy giant Mars Inc. have resolved a trademark dispute.
Mars sued Syovata Edari in federal court in Virginia claiming her Madison chocolate company, CocoVaa Chocolatier, infringed on Mars’ CocoaVia brand of nutritional supplements. The case was thrown out by a judge in June because Edari doesn’t sell any products in Virginia.
Edari sued Mars in federal court in July after learning that Mars was poised to sue again, this time in Wisconsin.
Edari said her company will continue to operate under the CocoVaa name. But neither party wanted to talk about details of the settlement.
Mortgage rates remain at lowest level in 2017
Long-term U.S. mortgage rates were unchanged this week, leaving the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate at the lowest level this year.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said the 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 3.78 percent. While the same as the previous week, that is down sharply from this year’s peak of 4.3 percent, reached in March. It remains slightly above last year’s average of 3.65 percent.
Long-term mortgage rates typically follow the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. The 10-year yield ticked up this week, Freddie Mac said, suggesting mortgage rates could pick up next week.
The 15-year mortgage stayed 3.08 percent.
Google faces lawsuits over gender disparities
MENLO PARK, Calif. – Google faces a new lawsuit accusing it of gender-based pay discrimination.
A lawyer representing three women who formerly worked at Google is seeking class action status for the suit.
It follows a federal labor investigation that made preliminary findings of systemic pay discrimination among the 21,000 employees at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. The initial stages of the review found women earned less than men in nearly every job classification.
Industry panel urges aviation rule changes
An influential industry committee is recommending the Federal Aviation Administration eliminate or scale back dozens of safety rules, including one on airline pilot qualifications.
The FAA’s Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee said the recommendations are a response to an effort by the agency to comply with President Donald Trump’s directives to cut government regulations.
Ban of Kaspersky creates confusion
Best Buy says it will no longer sell antivirus software by Kaspersky Labs, a Russian company the U.S. says may have ties to foreign intelligence services. Kaspersky software is widely used by consumers in both paid and free versions. Security experts differ on whether consumers should follow the lead of the U.S. government, which just banned the federal use of Kaspersky products.
Wisconsin aids Foxconn with $3 billion of subsidies
The Wisconsin Assembly sent a $3 billion incentive package for Taiwan-based Foxconn to Gov. Scott Walker, signing off on a deal to lure the electronics giant to the state with the biggest subsidy to a foreign company in U.S. history.
The bill approved Thursday would make $2.85 billion available to Foxconn Technology Group in cash payments if it invests $10 billion and hires 13,000 workers. The measure will become law with Walker’s signature.
Trump praises Yellen but says he’s still undecided
President Donald Trump says he has not made a decision yet on whether he will re-nominate Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen for another term but says he respects her “a lot.”
Asked about Yellen by reporters on Air Force One on a trip back from Florida on Thursday, Trump said, “I like her and I respect her.”
The president also noted the economy is doing well, with the stock market hitting new highs, unemployment very low and companies moving jobs back from overseas.
Separately, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told a conference in Washington he has enjoyed working with Yellen but Trump has “a lot of great candidates” to choose from if he decides to pick someone else when Yellen’s term ends in February.