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Briefcase: Backpack giveaway returns

For the 14th consecutive year, more than 140,000 students and families across the U.S. will receive a much-needed gift heading into back-to-school season. Round Room LLC, one of the country’s largest Verizon authorized retailers, is continuing its commitment to the communities it serves by giving away more than $3 million worth of free backpacks at its stores. “School Rocks Backpack Giveaway” takes place on Sunday at 1 p.m. at participating TCC and Wireless Zone stores. Local participating stores include: 5580 Goods Lane Suite 1067 in Altoona, 300 Walmart Drive, Suite 140 in ...

Paramount, Warner must halt merger

NEW YORK — A federal judge on Monday ordered Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery to halt their $81 billion merger for at least two weeks, allowing states that are challenging the deal more time to see their case through in court. Twelve states, led by California, sued to block Paramount’s pending buyout of Warner last week — alleging that such a combination would “extinguish competition” in Hollywood and lead to fewer choices for consumers, particularly moviegoers and cable customers across the U.S. The states’ top prosecutors called on Warner and Paramount to not close ...

Ticker: Wall Street drifts as AI stocks hold steadier

Wall Street drifted through a quiet day of trading as AI stocks trimmed some of their sharp recent losses. The S&P 500 fell 0.2% Monday, coming off just its third losing week since the end of March. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite was nearly unchanged after slipping less than 0.1%. Stocks like Nvidia and Sandisk steadied after tumbling last week on worries that their prices had shot too high. But the broad market also felt pressure from rising yields in the bond market, which continued to climb with oil prices. FDA focused on lettuce grower as ...

Need for Speed?

Speeding in your car to work, to pick up your children from school, or go from one errand to the next not only wastes money in gas and sends harmful emissions into the air, it barely saves you time, new research says. It is something to think about as gas prices stay elevated throughout the ...

Sell-off for AI stars worsens

NEW YORK — The sell-off for winners of the artificial-intelligence boom deepened Friday and yanked stock markets lower worldwide. Oil prices, meanwhile, continued to jump because of the war with Iran. The S&P 500 fell 1% to finish its first losing week in the last three and only its third since the end of March. Just a couple days earlier, it had climbed within 0.5% of its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 406 points, or 0.8%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 1.4%. Chip stocks and other AI darlings once again were at the center of the shaky trading. They’ve ...

Stretch your car buying dollars

With new-vehicle prices hovering near record highs and monthly payments consuming a growing share of household budgets, many shoppers are looking for ways to make every car-buying dollar go further. And with ample options for where, when and how to buy, it’s not hard to do. The car experts ...