Business

Blake Morgan's songs were played some 28,000 times over a 90-day period on Pandora, earning $1.62 in royalties.

Music & Culture

Pandora Buys A Radio Station, Songwriters' Group Calls It A 'Stunt'

4:40pm June 15, 2013

by Laura Sydell

This week, the Internet radio broadcaster bought a radio station in Rapid City, S.D., in an effort to get the more favorable royalty rates given to terrestrial broadcasters. But the move has songwriters and composers up in arms.

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Harlem funeral directors Tamara Bullock and Patricia Hamilton are going to spend their next savings-club payout on a sky-diving trip (unless Bullock can get out of it).

When People Make Their Own Banks

6:12pm June 14, 2013

by Marianne McCune

An ex-con lends money to people in need; a group of friends creates a savings club. Even without banks, people often figure out how to get the money they need, when they need it.

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Housing Market Watchers Edgy As Mortgage Rates Keep Climbing

6:12pm June 14, 2013

by Yuki Noguchi

The Federal Reserve's economic stimulus has helped keep mortgage rates at record lows in the years since the Great Recession. But rates are ticking upward, leaving some investors worried that the nascent housing recovery will suffer if the Fed unravels its policies too quickly.

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At left: Beyond Eggs' egg-substitute product, a powder made of pulverized plant-based compounds. Right: Mother Nature's version.

Why Bill Gates Is Investing In Chicken-Less Eggs

1:34pm June 14, 2013

by Allison Aubrey

Investors like Gates are betting that our planet can't sustain the current rate of growth in animal-based foods for too much longer. Products like Beyond Eggs, a plant-based substitute, are designed to fill the void.

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Bidding War Breaks Out For 2 Boston Parking Spaces

7:03am June 14, 2013

The two spaces in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood went for $560,000, according to the Boston Globe. The spaces are on crumbling asphalt in an alleyway.

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Business News: A Man, A Plan, A Canal

6:59am June 14, 2013

The Nicaraguan congress has granted a Chinese tycoon the exclusive right to develop a multi-billion dollar rival to the Panama Canal. The bill grants the investor 50 years of control over the potential shipping route — pending a study of its viability.

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Economy

Detroit's Emergency Manager Meets With Creditors

6:49am June 14, 2013

by Sarah Swiek

Kevyn Orr will ask unions, retirees and banks to take big losses on debt the city just can't afford to pay. But Orr is walking a fine line trying to convince those parties to accept a bankruptcy-style settlement, without actually going to bankruptcy court — at least, not yet.

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Unpaid No More: Interns Win Major Court Battle

7:36pm June 13, 2013

by Tovia Smith

A federal ruling against a major movie studio's use of unpaid interns could have a wide impact on uncompensated labor, including internships for college credit. Workers' advocates say many interns are preventing workers who can't afford to work free from entering the labor force.

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Antonio Basualdo Solorzano has worked at the Ladder Ranch in south-central Wyoming for eight years. On his wages as a guest worker, he's supported seven children back home in Peru.

Immigration Bill May Keep Wage Exemption For Foreign Herders

5:53am June 13, 2013

by Sara Hossaini

Peruvian shepherds on guest worker visas tend thousands of sheep in Wyoming, but they only make about half of what agricultural workers elsewhere are paid. Some ranchers say the exemption from minimum wage requirements is necessary; workers' rights advocates say it's exploitation.

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Economy

Technology Columnist Sheds Light On New Bulbs

5:53am June 13, 2013

Buying a light bulb isn't as simple as it used to be. Now, you can choose a light bulb that will save you money because it uses less power. And, you can pick a bulb that might last longer than you do. Linda Wertheimer talks to Rich Jaroslovsky, technology columnist for Bloomberg News, about the latest light bulb technology.

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