Category: In the News

American Wine Industry Faces Major Challenge

The tragic wildfires in the Pacific Northwest have continued to move south, and now they are ravaging America’s most beloved wine country, Napa Valley. That means the American wine industry is struggling to find a way to keep America’s growing appetite for wine sated. At present, though, the news is not any better elsewhere. American wine drinkers and the wine industry overall can’t expect too much help from Europe. France, Spain, and Italy are currently reporting some of the “worst harvests in decades” thanks to “extreme weather” that hurt grape yields.

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NY Village Responds to Seal Controversy

Sometimes, all it takes to create a PR crisis is time. Things change, people forget, and the world moves on. Then, a new generation sees something, perhaps for the first time, and finds a message entirely different than those who have come before. Take, for example, the case of the village of Whitesboro, New York.

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Toys R Us Files Bankruptcy in Bid to Survive

Toys R Us has a load of debt. Serious debt. The kind of debt that forces you to make $400 million in interest payments alone every year. And that has the toy company seeking bankruptcy protection.

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Motel 6 Facing Barrage of Criticism Over Response

Motel 6 isn’t often in the national spotlight. The discount motel chain offers inexpensive rooms to travelers who are looking for a comfortable stay with few thrills. Now, though, Motel 6 is in the news for entirely different reasons.

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London’s Uber Rival Gets The Boot

Ride sharing service Uber has faced tough challenges everywhere it has pioneered. Local governments and taxi unions have slammed the company, tried to block it and fought Uber in court. Sometimes Uber won. Sometimes they lost. Sometimes they just kept operating anyway. Now, though, it seems like ride-sharing was winning, by popular demand if nothing else. Uber and Lyft had blazed the trail and taken the proverbial bullets. Now the market had shifted. At least, that’s how things looked. But that may not be the case.

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Penn State Fraternity Gets a Small Win But Trouble Not Over

Several members of a Penn State University fraternity have been in hot water in recent months, the subjects of an investigation into the alcohol-related hazing death of a pledge. Now, though, there is a bit of breathing room for the 12 accused college students. A judge tossed out the involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault charges.

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British Airways Turns Bad to Worse

Sometimes, when you try to make it right, you make it worse. Take British Airways for example. This past May, the European airline suffered a catastrophic customer service nightmare.

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Big Pharma on the Hook to Solve “Opioid Epidemic”

One of the most universally reviled Super Bowl commercials in recent years is not one that’s typically discussed. Sure, most of us spent too much time trying to get Puppy-Monkey-Baby out of our heads, but that’s not the one to which we refer. No, this one had the power to bring the entire big game party to a screeching halt with only three words: opioid induced constipation.

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Twitter Attacked for Hate Speech

One of the most common knocks against social media powerhouse, Twitter, is the tone of the “conversations” on the app. People can get way out of line. Twitter has cost people jobs, careers, relationships … and, some have said, even more. The company has vowed to go after those who use the platform for hate speech, terrorism, and a host of other angry content.

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Tesla Flooded with Model 3 Reservations

Not that long ago the critics insisted Tesla could never make a fully-electric car that was affordable for the middle class … and still good looking and enjoyable to drive. Now, those critics are silent, as Elon Musk’s company is taking orders for more than 1,800 Model 3 cars every single day.

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