In this June 4, 2014 file photo, a Norfolk Southern locomotive moves along the tracks in Norfolk, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)
Norfolk Southern to pay to settle discrimination case
Norfolk Southern Corp. will pay nearly $500,000 to more than 2,000 African-Americans to settle allegations of race-based hiring discrimination.
The U.S. Department of Labor announced Tuesday that Norfolk Southern will pay 2,086 African-Americans who applied for track laborer and building-and-bridge laborer positions at the company's Roanoke, Virginia, location.
The Labor Department's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs had found that the company failed to provide equal-employment opportunities and engaged in discriminatory hiring practices against African-American applicants from Jan. 1, 2010, through Dec. 31, 2011.
Norfolk Southern agreed to pay $492,000 in back pay and interest to the applicants. The company also agreed to change employment practices and will offer jobs to seven applicants who were turned down for some positions.
The Unum headquarters building is located in downtown Chattanooga. Sen. Armstrong, former Unum director, dies
William L. Armstrong, a Colorado media executive who became a major conservative voice in the U.S. Senate and served on the Provident Life and Accident Insurance Co. and UnumProvident boards, died Tuesday after a five-year battle with cancer. He was 79.
A devout Christian as well as a staunch conservative, Armstrong also served as director of the evangelical group Campus Crusade for Christ after retiring from the Senate in 1991 and later as president of Colorado Christian University in Lakewood, Colo.
Armstrong was first elected to the Senate in 1978 and served two terms, spending much of his time focusing on economic issues. He sponsored an amendment to a 1981 tax bill that indexed federal income tax brackets to compensate for inflation. He also played a major role in a fight in the early 1980s over putting Social Security on sound financial footing.
FILE - In this Monday, April 25, 2016, file photo, Gannett's USA Today, top, and Tribune Publishing's Chicago Tribune newspapers are displayed at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. The Tribune Publishing Co. said Wednesday, May 4, 2016, it has rejected Gannett's more than $388 million bid to buy the business. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File) Gannett buys New Jersey newspapers, media firm
Gannett on Wednesday purchased the family-owned North Jersey Media Group, which publishes The Record, NorthJersey.com and other newspapers around the state.
The McLean, Virginia-based company already operates six daily newspapers and websites in New Jersey, including the Asbury Park Press in Neptune. It also publishes the nearby Journal News in New York.
The sale also includes the Herald News, along with community newspapers.
The Record has been owned by the Borg family since 1930 and is lauded in the state for its journalism, including its work fighting for access to public records.
"We will continue to build upon (the Borg family's) legacy of strong journalism, successful community engagement and effectively connecting advertisers to the audiences they seek," said John Zidich, Gannett's president of domestic publishing. "We are focused on being the best news organization in the state."
The sales price wasn't disclosed, but Gannett said it would add $90 million in annual revenue to the company. Gannett operates USA Today and more than 100 daily newspapers in the United States.
U.S. services firms grow at fastest pace in 7 months
U.S. services firms expanded last month at the fastest pace since November, good news for the U.S. economy.
The Institute for Supply Management said Wednesday that its non-manufacturing index rose to 56.5 in June from 52.9 in May. Any reading above 50 signals growth. Production, new orders and export orders grew faster in June. Employment grew last month after contracting in May.
Services have been a source of strength for the American economy. The ISM services index has shown growth for 77 straight months.
"The rebound in the ISM index reinforces our view that the US economy remains on a firm footing," Andrew Hunter, an economist at Capital Economics, wrote in a research report.
He expects growth to accelerate to an annual pace of 3 percent in the second quarter and to come it at "a solid" 2 percent for the year.