Business and Economic News

Small businesses worldwide fight for survival amid pandemic
As economies around the world reopen, legions of small businesses that help to define and sustain neighborhoods are struggling. Whether they can survive will have reverberations not just for the economy but for the communities where they serve as gathering places and provide key services.
The customer is always right. Except when they won't wear a mask
In the age of COVID-19, most people follow social-distancing and mask-wearing guidelines when they enter retail stores and restaurants. But then there are the nightmare customers who won't comply.
Minnesota AG's office settles with Frontier Communications
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison says his office has settled an investigation into possible deceptive practices in Frontier Communications' billing and sale of internet services. Frontier agreed to fully disclose its prices for internet service to new customers before they take service.
Red ink overflowing: In June, U.S. borrowed a typical year's worth
The federal deficit is ballooning as the government tries to cushion the blow from the coronavirus pandemic. June's shortfall totals $864 billion — more than in an entire typical year.
Pandemic bike boom gives cities permission to green their streets
A survey of residents in six European countries found 75 percent of respondents supported maintaining changes to streets that have allowed for more biking and socially-distant walking during the pandemic.
AP: After lobbying, Catholic Church won $1.4B in virus aid
The U.S. Roman Catholic Church used a special and unprecedented exemption from federal rules to amass at least $1.4 billion in taxpayer-backed coronavirus aid, with many millions going to dioceses that have paid huge settlements or sought bankruptcy protection because of clergy sexual abuse cover-ups.
Sales boom, factory shutdowns leave bikes in short supply amid pandemic
There’s been a bike boom around the world — including in Minnesota — as people look for ways to get around town, to replace the gym, or just to get out of the house amid the pandemic. And that has contributed to a shortage of bicycles and parts.
#Goyaway: Calls to boycott Goya Foods after CEO praises Trump
President Donald Trump has maintained a tenuous relationship with much of the Hispanic community since his first campaign speech for the presidency, in which he described Mexican immigrants as "rapists" and "criminals."
Starbucks says customers must wear masks at its cafes
Several states already require people to wear masks in public spaces like coffee shops to slow the spread of the coronavirus, but many still have no such requirement.