Business and Economic News

Thinner Mints: Girl Scouts have millions of unsold cookies
The 109-year-old organization says the coronavirus — not thinner demand for Thin Mints — is the main culprit. As the pandemic wore into the spring selling season, many troops nixed their traditional cookie booths for safety reasons.
Fake records of rabies shots prompt U.S. ban on dogs from 113 countries
A surge in pet adoptions has increased demand for dogs imported from around the world. Most are fine, but federal officials turned up 450 dogs in 2020 with false records — 50 percent more than in 2019.
State appeals court upholds approval of Line 3 oil pipeline
On a 2-1 vote, a Minnesota Court of Appeals panel has upheld the state's approval of the Line 3 oil pipeline replacement project, dealing a blow to tribes and environmental groups battling the project.
It's personal: Zoom'd out workplace ready for face-to-face conversations to return
Before the pandemic, the Janelia Research Campus was a hive of collaboration. Now, as researchers return to their offices and labs, they're eager to restore the connections lost this past year.
Worker shortage frustrates Minnesota businesses
Minnesota officials have been reaching out to people on unemployment in hopes of linking them with jobs. Some blame enhanced unemployment payments for the worker shortage, but others underscore the labor shortage preceded the pandemic. Challenges with child care and transportation have prevented some from joining the workforce.
APM documentary: No Place for a Woman
The APM documentary "No Place for a Woman" tells a Minnesota story, but it became well-known nationwide.
G-7 leaders agree on vaccines, China and taxing corporations
Leaders of the Group of Seven wealthy nations staked their claim Sunday to leading the world out of the coronavirus pandemic, pledging more than 1 billion coronavirus vaccine doses to poorer nations, vowing to help developing countries grow while fighting climate change and backing a minimum tax on multinational firms.
'Apple detective' rediscovers varieties of apples thought to be extinct
There are well-known types of detectives: narcotics, homicide, cyber. Add "rare apple," thanks to a Washington state retiree who recently rediscovered seven kinds of apples, including the Almota and the Eper.
Apple iPhones can soon hold your ID. Privacy experts are on edge
Privacy experts worry the convenient feature will open the door to surveillance, data tracking, and Apple possibly turning interactions involving state-issued IDs into a new revenue stream.
Microaggressions are on the minds of some employees returning to in-person work
Host Angela Davis talked with an expert on diversity, equity and inclusion and a business administration professor about how the return to in-person workplaces might also mean a return to the microaggressions employees experience.