Author: Mark Schumacher

Business Insider

Optimism and skepticism about Tesla’s future are in an all-out war. Those who are bullish on the 15-year-old maker of sexy all-electric cars are doubling down on their bullishness and support for CEO Elon Musk.

Those who are bearish are predicting a bankruptcy in the next year, as Tesla burns through its cash and fails to persuade new investors to fund its monumental losses — something like $20 billion for the life of the company.
Continue reading “The contrast between Tesla and the rest of the auto industry is terrifying”

CNN

In a victory for employers and the Trump administration, the Supreme Court on Monday said that employers could block employees from banding together as a class to fight legal disputes in employment arbitration agreements.

Justice Neil Gorsuch delivered the opinion for the 5-4 majority, his first major opinion since joining the court last spring and a demonstration of how the Senate Republicans’ move to keep liberal nominee Merrick Garland from being confirmed in 2016 has helped cement a conservative court.   Continue reading “Supreme Court sides with employers in class action arbitration cases”

Diesel Forum

March 8, 2018 (WASHINGTON) – Clean diesel technology upgrades for large tug and switcher locomotive engines cost only $4,379 to $15,201 per ton of nitrogen oxides (NOx), compared to more than $30,000 per ton of NOx for many other diesel emission reduction projects.

The Diesel Technology Forum (DTF) and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) today released a reportdocumenting the significant emission reduction benefits that can be gained by replacing older engines in tug boats and switcher locomotives with the latest clean diesel models. Funds from Volkswagen’s (VW) $2.9 billion environmental trust, established to mitigate for the excess emissions resulting from defeat devices on 590,000 diesel vehicles, can be used to help pay the cost of repowering these and other old diesel engines.   Continue reading “Tug and Switcher Engine Upgrades Offer Most Cost-Effective Option for VW Funds”

Daily Mail

Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano has erupted and sent ash spewing 30,000 feet into the sky before raining down on a nearby town, with residents being warned to shelter in place as the dusty plume engulfs the island.

The powerful, steam-driven explosion occurred on Thursday at 4.17am and started spewing large amounts of volcanic ash and smoke from the crater on Hawaii’s Big Island that shot higher than the peak of Mount Everest.   Continue reading “Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupts from its summit, shoots ash into sky”

Trucks.com

Diesel prices have jumped 22 percent from a year ago and stand at their highest level in 41 months.

The average price of diesel reached $3.24 per gallon Monday, up from $2.54 a year ago, according to the latest U.S. Energy Information Administration fuel pricing report.

This is creating higher expenses for businesses that need to ship goods.   Continue reading “Shippers, Truckers Face Diesel Prices 22 Percent Above A Year Ago”

Chicago Tribune

More than three years after taking title to the land where the audacious Chicago Spire was once envisioned, and more than two years after soliciting designs from a half-dozen architecture firms, Related Midwest on Tuesday unveiled a bold plan for the waterfront site.

The long-awaited vision for the 2.2-acre site along the Chicago River and Lake Michigan, unveiled in the first community meeting for the project, is toned down a bit from the 2,000-foot-tall Spire plan that stirred emotions but never advanced beyond a 76-foot-deep foundation hole. The design, by One World Trade Center architect David Childs, includes a south tower rising 1,100 feet and an 850-foot north tower.   Continue reading “First look at two-tower plan for Spire site: ‘There will not be a shot of Chicago that doesn’t have these buildings in them’”

Market Watch – by Jeffry Bartash

Americans got used to falling gasoline prices and filling up cheaply from 2014 to 2016, but they are paying dearly at the pump now.

Sales at gasoline stations were up almost 12% in April compared to one year ago, reflecting a runup in oil prices that began last summer and accelerated in 2018. The cost of a barrel of oil has climbed above $70 from $45, and it could head higher still with the summer driving season straight ahead.   Continue reading “Filling up the gas tank cost Americans an extra $4.4 billion in April”

Daily Mail

A 12-year-old schoolboy was arrested and taken away by police officers during an anti-Putin rally in southwestern Russia on Saturday.

Egor Pryanishnikov addressed the crowd of demonstrators in the city of Saratov, to vent his anger at the poor state of the roads where he lives.   Continue reading “Russian police arrest a 12-YEAR-OLD for speaking at an anti-Putin rally before Presidential inauguration”

NPR

A U.S. district judge handed a sentence of life in prison today to a driver who was transporting undocumented immigrants in a tractor-trailer so hot that ten people died.

“I am so sorry it happened,” said James Matthew Bradley Jr. in a video statement played in court which The San Antonio Express-News reported. “There’s not a day or night that goes by that I don’t relive this scene.”   Continue reading “Trucker In Human Smuggling Case Sentenced To Life In Prison”

Continue reading “Aspen and Vail, CO – White River”