Good News: Virginia Beach boy and truck-driving fairy godmother spread kindness

WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS boosted taxpayer services through Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act but still faces processing claims from a coronavirus pandemic-era tax credit program and is slow to resolve certain identity theft cases, according to an independent watchdog report released Wednesday. “For the first time since I became the National Taxpayer Advocate in 2020, […]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — When he was still a boy making long, tedious trips between his school and his woodsy home in the mountains during the 1980s, JoeBen Bevirt began fantasizing about flying cars that could whisk him to his destination in a matter of minutes. As CEO of Joby Aviation, Bevirt is getting closer […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is drifting and making smaller moves on Wednesday, a day after strong reports on the economy stirred up worries that inflation and interest rates may stay higher than expected. The S&P 500 was edging down by 0.1% in early trading after its 1.1% slump the day before. The Dow […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top policymaker at the U.S. Federal Reserve said Wednesday that he still supports cutting interest rates this year, despite elevated inflation and the prospect of widespread tariffs under the incoming Trump administration. Christopher Waller, an influential member of the Fed’s board of governors, said he expects inflation will move closer to […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson often says he sees himself as the quarterback and President-elect Donald Trump as the coach calling plays on their legislative priorities as Republicans take power in Washington. But with Trump set to meet with GOP senators Wednesday on Capitol Hill, Republicans are quickly finding themselves in a dilemma: […]

U.S. applications for unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level in nearly a year last week, pointing to a still healthy labor market with historically low layoffs. The Labor Department on Wednesday said that applications for jobless benefits fell to 201,000 for the week ending January 4, down from the previous week’s 211,000. This week’s […]

VIENNA (AP) — Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg will serve as the country’s interim leader while the far-right Freedom Party attempts to put together a new coalition government, the president’s office said Wednesday. Schallenberg, 55, will take on the duties of outgoing Chancellor Karl Nehammer, who announced his resignation over the weekend after his efforts […]

NEW YORK (AP) — On the night Stephanie Cosme died, her sister and brother said they received a curt explanation from a U.S. Air Force official who met them at the hospital: The civilian contractor was failing to follow protocol when she was hit by an aircraft’s rotating propeller and killed. The family would wait […]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Exxon Mobil Corp. filed a federal defamation lawsuit against California Attorney General Rob Bonta and several environmental groups, months after Bonta sued the oil and gas giant alleging that it deceived the public for half a century by promising the plastics it produced would be recycled. The Texas-based company said in […]

DENVER (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department is suing several large landlords for allegedly coordinating to keep Americans’ rents high by using both an algorithm to help set rents and privately sharing sensitive information with their competitors to boost profits. The lawsuit arrives as U.S. renters continue to struggle under a merciless housing market, with […]

Ski patrollers miffed by wages they say are too low for high living costs have put a wrench in operations at the biggest U.S. ski resort with a rare strike that began over the busy holidays and carried on into the new year’s fresh powder. The resulting thin staffing at Utah’s Park City Mountain Resort, […]

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Biden administration on Tuesday abruptly dropped its nascent plan to protect old-growth forests after getting pushback from Republicans and the timber industry. The move was announced by U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore in a letter to forest supervisors. It brings a sudden end to a yearslong process to craft […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Lenders will no longer be able to consider unpaid medical bills as a credit history factor when they evaluate potential borrowers in the U.S. for mortgages, car loans or business loans, according to a rule the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized Tuesday. Removing medical debts from consumer credit reports is expected […]

New tax credits are available for companies that generate clean electricity, the Biden administration announced Tuesday, while arguing it would be a mistake for President-elect Donald Trump to try to undo them. The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service released final rules for the clean electricity investment and production tax credits, less than two […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Good news on the U.S. economy is back to being bad for Wall Street, and the stock market slumped Tuesday following better-than-expected reports on the job market and business activity. The S&P 500 fell 1.1% after giving up an early gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 178 points, or 0.4%, […]

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. regulators have opened an investigation into 2.6 million Teslas after reports of crashes involving the use of company technology that allows drivers to remotely command their vehicle to return to them, or move to another location, using a phone app. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also said Tuesday that […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a $20 billion investment for data centers in the United States by an Emirati company led by billionaire Hussain Sajwani, a close business partner of the Trump family. The investment by DAMAC Properties in the United Arab Emirates is intended to highlight Trump’s personal ability to […]

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang unveiled a suite of new products, services and partnerships at CES 2025. In a packed Las Vegas arena, Huang kicked off the CES this week with his vision for how his companies’ products will drive gaming, robotics, personal computing and even self-driving vehicles forward. Here’s a look […]

Beyond the general discomfort of talking about death, the topic of inheritance brings in a whole other set of sticky issues. Research finds that parents’ and children’s expectations for bequests are rarely aligned, even among those who have a good relationship, which is why it’s so important to get on the same page with heirs […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. job openings rose unexpectedly in November, showing companies are still looking for workers even as the labor market has cooled overall. Openings rose to 8.1 million in November, the most since February and up from 7.8 million in October, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. They were down from 8.9 million a […]