The Daily Times Business-Regional Section

BUSINESS /

Customers are seen at a Hobby Lobby store in Denver. Hobby Lobby stores is challenging a federal mandate requiring it to offer employees health coverage that includes access to the morining-after birth control pill. AP

Hobby Lobby contests law

In the most prominent challenge of its kind, Hobby Lobby Stores Inc.

5:37 PM, May. 23, 2013

BUSINESS /

Jobless benefits requests decline

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell 23,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 340,000, a level consistent with solid job growth.

12:24 AM, May. 24, 2013

BUSINESS /

Sales gains lift Dollar Tree's 1Q profit 15 percent

Discount retailer Dollar Tree Inc. said Thursday that its net income increased 15 percent in the first quarter as consumers spent more at its stores, which sell goods for $1 or less.

5:39 PM, May. 23, 2013

BUSINESS /

After a particularly ugly TV experience, Amy's Baking Company in Scottsdale, Ariz., is fighting back and trying to raise awareness of cyber-bullying. The owners are doing this after they cursed out critics of their TV experience on the restaurant's Facebook page. AP

Restaurant learns online reviews can make or break

It was the customer service disaster heard around the Internet.

9:38 PM, May. 22, 2013

BUSINESS /

The new controller for Microsoft's Xbox One, front and center, is shown. AP

Game makers offer new consoles

Microsoft is the last of the three big video game console makers to unveil its latest gaming system. It follows last fall's debut of Nintendo's Wii U and a preview in February of the upcoming PlayStation 4 from Sony.

8:44 PM, May. 22, 2013

BUSINESS /

Photographers crowd around Microsoft Corp.'s next-generation Xbox One entertainment and gaming console system after it was officially unveiled, Tuesday at an event in Redmond, Wash. It's been eight years since the launch of the Xbox 360. The original Xbox debuted in 2001, and its high-definition successor premiered in 2005. AP

Microsoft touts Xbox One as all-in-1 entertainment

Microsoft thinks it has the one.

11:00 PM, May. 21, 2013

BUSINESS /

Apple didn't pay how much in taxes?

A Senate subcommittee released a report Monday that held up Apple as an example of the legal tax avoidance made possible by the U.S. tax code. It estimates that Apple avoided at least $3.5 billion in U.S. federal taxes in 2011 and $9 billion in 2012.

11:00 PM, May. 21, 2013

BUSINESS /

A news headline about the Tumblr sale to Yahoo scrolls on a building in New York's Times Square, Monday, May 20, 2013. Yahoo is buying online blogging forum Tumblr for $1.1 billion as CEO Marissa Mayer tries to rejuvenate an Internet icon that had fallen behind the times. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) AP

Yahoo takes big leap with $1.1B dealfor Tumblr

Yahoo is buying online blogging forum Tumblr for $1.1 billion as CEO Marissa Mayer tries to rejuvenate an Internet pioneer that had fallen behind the times.

9:46 PM, May. 20, 2013

BUSINESS /

United Airlines restarts flights of 787s

United Airlines is getting its 787s back in the air.

9:47 PM, May. 20, 2013

BUSINESS /

Phillip A. Bullock, Apple's head of Tax Operations, joins Apple CEO Tim Cook to testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent on Investigations as lawmakers examine the methods employed by multinational corporations to shift profits offshore and how such activities are affected by the Internal Revenue Code, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday. Apple, the world's most valuable company, based in Cupertino, Calif., holds a billion dollars in an Irish subsidiary as a tax strategy, according to a report issued this week by the subcommittee. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Apple didn't pay how much in taxes? Try $9 billion

A Senate subcommittee released a report Monday that held up Apple as an example of the legal tax avoidance made possible by the U.S. tax code. It estimates that Apple avoided at least $3.5 billion in U.S. federal taxes in 2011 and $9 billion in 2012.

5:49 PM, May. 21, 2013

BUSINESS /

Traders gather at the post of specialist Ronnie Howard, center, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange recently. AP

Market's direction: More up, or quick down?

Analysts have been expecting a Wall Street correction, but stocks are defying gravity.

9:41 PM, May. 18, 2013

BUSINESS /

In today's world, you can have your birthday cake in a variety of other foods and products . Gannett

Birthday cake flavors all around

That childish desire to celebrate your birthday every day is evolving into a multimillion dollar industry: birthday cake-flavored everything.

9:41 PM, May. 18, 2013

BUSINESS /

At Work: Polite persistence can be test for getting a job

What's a nice pest? Someone who finds ways to connect and at regular intervals. Be one.

4:00 AM, May. 19, 2013

BUSINESS /

The expansion of H-1b visas is considered the first major victory for Mark Zuckerberg's new non-profit lobbying organization, FWD.us, which receives financial backing from such big tech names as Bill Gates, Reid Hoffman of LinkedIn and Napster pioneer Sean Parker. AP

Tech, labor forces spar on immigration

To the U.S. technology industry, there's a dramatic shortfall in the number of Americans skilled in computer programming and engineering that is hampering business.

8:44 PM, May. 16, 2013

BUSINESS /

Wal-Mart's 1Q profit, salesdisappoint

The first few months of the year were tough for Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

8:45 PM, May. 16, 2013

BUSINESS /

US unemployment claims jump to highest level in six weeks

The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits rose 32,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 360,000, the most since late March. The jump came a week after applications had reached a five-year low.

8:45 PM, May. 16, 2013

BUSINESS /

Inventor Jerry Spessard is shown with his Eagle Eye Electronic Homeplate design in Hagerstown, Md., which he plans to manufacture in nearby Hancock. Spessard says his invention can determine ball speed and location, and he plans to begin construction of a plant in Hancock in June, with production expected to begin by fall. AP

Can't stand the umpire? Electronic relief on way

In the 1950 comedy 'Kill the Umpire,' Bill 'Two Call' Johnson (played by William Bendix) is chased by a mob of fans after he made what they believed to be a bad call in a minor league baseball game.

5:05 PM, May. 15, 2013

BUSINESS /

Hugo Barra, vice president, Android Product Management at Google, holds a Samsung Galaxy S4 'Google Edition' while speaking at Google I/O 2013 in San Francisco on Wednesday. AP

Google unveils streamingmusic plan

Google on Wednesday launched a subscription-based music service, allowing users of Android phones and tablets to listen to their favorite songs and artists for a monthly fee.