Business News

What construction can’t stop: The spirit of downtown Escanaba

ESCANABA — It is no secret that the construction on Ludington Street has been difficult for our downtown businesses this summer. Reduced parking, constantly changing traffic patterns, and torn-up sidewalks have forced downtown businesses to adapt daily since the construction began in the spring. For many customers, the easiest option has been simply to drive somewhere else and avoid the construction altogether. Yet, despite all of these obstacles, something remarkable has revealed itself. Construction has tested our downtown businesses, but what it hasn’t done is quiet the spirit ...

Dunkin’ on the way

UK won’t intervene in Paramount’s $81 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery

British regulators on Thursday gave Paramount the greenlight for its $81 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, with some new assurances from the company — clearing another hurdle for the mega merger while it still faces challenges elsewhere. The U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority cleared the pending acquisition, ruling that a Paramount-Warner tie up does not pose a "substantial lessening of competition" in the country. Meanwhile, Britain's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said it also wouldn't intervene — on the basis of several "legally-binding ...

Musk likely to face tough questions during SpaceX’s first earnings call as a public company

NEW YORK (AP) — Investors in Elon Musk's space company get a chance to question him Tuesday after SpaceX issues its first quarterly earnings since going public. SpaceX shares are down by half from their June peak as investors worry Musk may have oversold them on its future prospects. They're also bracing for volatile trading as some company insiders get the opportunity to sell shares after the expiration of what's known as a lockup provision later in the week. The shares jumped 19% on their first day of trading, making Musk the first-ever trillionaire. The subsequent drop in ...

Malls, once symbols of American consumer culture, are splitting. Some are dying as others thrive

LIVINGSTON, N.J. (AP) — I wasn't a mall rat. Growing up in the 1970s, I didn't hang out much with my friends at my local mall in New Jersey. The Livingston Mall, which opened in 1972 with stores including Bamberger's, Sears and Hahne & Co., may have been a bustling social scene for my peers. But my mother's trips to the mall were mission-driven: to buy me clothes she called "classic" — loafers and plaid dresses. I called them nerdy. So forget about the era's hottest fads: leather platform wedge sandals, Candie's slide sandals and Puma sneakers. One hot trend my mom let me have? ...

A Fair Tradition Worth Celebrating

The United States has many celebrations and occasions that reaffirm our love of family and country. Those days center around birthdays, weddings, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and other similar holidays. My personal favorite day of the year is the Fourth of July because it symbolizes everything good about America and allows us to enjoy all those other days. I want to introduce you to my second favorite day of the year, the 4-H auction at the U.P. State Fair. Every year on Saturday of fair week the 4-H auction is conducted in the show arena next to the beef barn. Kids from all over ...