Author: News Room

Earlier this month, Drew Wallace started paying the cooks, bussers and the rest of the 20 or so employees of his restaurant the Bull and Beggar, in Asheville, N.C., for the first time since two feet of river water flooded its dining room in September.“It’s a really victorious feeling,” Mr. Wallace said, his feet planted on a floor that had recently been buried under several inches of fine brick-colored silt. He seemed a little surprised as the words came out of his mouth. “It’s strange to say, ‘I can’t wait for payroll to kick back in.’”Payroll is one of the…

On its face, the claim feels improbable: In addition to being the world’s richest man, the chief executive of multiple companies and a key adviser to President Trump, Elon Musk says he is also a world-class video game player.It is a claim that Mr. Musk has repeated through the years. He has an account on X, his social media platform, dedicated to posting highlights of his gameplay. He has streamed with some of the top competitive video game players in the world on platforms like Twitch. He has even etched his name on the global leader boards of certain games.But…

Dressed in ball gowns, tuxedos and “Make Bitcoin Great Again” baseball caps, a crowd of some of the country’s most powerful cryptocurrency executives gathered a few blocks from the White House for a lavish party three days before President Trump’s inauguration, toasting an incoming administration that had vowed to promote the industry’s interests.Even Snoop Dogg joined the festivities, offering a rendition of “Don’t Stop Believin.’”But the crypto millionaires and billionaires were caught off guard by what happened next.At 9 p.m. on Jan. 17, with the festivities in full swing, Mr. Trump announced on social media that he was launching a…

Pay Parity, at Last?During my annual evaluation last week, my boss admitted that two senior managers, including myself, have been paid less for years than our peers with similar experience and backgrounds. I’ve been with the company for 12 years, starting as a junior manager and working my way up to a senior role for most of the past nine years.I feel gutted knowing that, despite my hard work and consistently stellar reviews, I’ve been underpaid for so long.My former boss, who swapped roles with my current boss and is now our vice, is likely responsible for this, but my…

Thirty-eight people were injured on a United Airlines flight that was headed this week to Washington, D.C., from Lagos, Nigeria, officials in Nigeria said, after the plane experienced what the airline described as “a technical issue and an unexpected aircraft movement.”Six people were treated at a hospital for their injuries, the Nigerian authorities and the airline said.United described the injuries to the six people as “minor,” though the Nigerian authorities described them as “serious.” The Nigerian authorities also said 32 others on the flight had minor injuries.Video and images on social media show the distress and disarray on the plane,…

Amy Ryan was panicking about her savings when she went online for advice. It was April 2020, and the stock market had plunged, draining a nest egg that she had built up over the years.Ms. Ryan, a 43-year-old sales engineer from Wales, had dumped her portfolio in the crash and was afraid of losing even more. Looking for guidance, she found Kevin Paffrath, a prolific finance influencer who discussed the economy and investing on his Meet Kevin YouTube channel.“At the time, I was not really well educated in buying and selling shares,” she said, adding that she felt reassured that…

For decades, a small but passionate group of academics has offered a potential balm for the fraught relationship between athletics and education at major universities: Allow students to major in sports.One such educator is David Hollander, a clinical professor at New York University’s School of Professional Studies. He has spent years espousing the intellectual value of basketball — positionless play, he says, can teach entrepreneurial thinking, and fast breaks can teach interpersonal communication. Mr. Hollander lobbied for the Catholic Church to name a patron saint of basketball (it did) and helped convince the United Nations to declare Dec. 21 World…

As the Trump administration rolls out its changes to the immigration system, fear is surging in the food-service industry as it braces itself for a promised crackdown on unauthorized workers.Immigrant labor, both authorized and unauthorized, is integral to the staffing and running of restaurants in the United States. In a 2024 data brief, the National Restaurant Association reported that 21 percent of restaurant workers in the United States were immigrants. That figure does not include unauthorized workers, however; the Center for Migration Studies has estimated they number an additional one million employees.Under the new administration, proprietors and workers are preparing…

An email obtained by The Times shows that one committee leader, Representative Sharon Wylie, a supporter of the industry, shared a draft of the bill with a cannabis lobbyist. “Thank you for being open to the compromise approach,” she wrote.In an interview, Ms. Wylie said that “the jury’s still out” on the potential harms of cannabis, and that regulated business brings revenue to the state.Ms. Davis is not giving up. She plans to introduce legislation to another committee this month that would prohibit all concentrates exceeding 35 percent THC, with exemptions for medical use.“The industry needs limits,” she said.METHODOLOGYThe New…

Apps and ankle monitors that track asylum seekers in real time wherever they go. Databases packed with personal information like fingerprints and faces. Investigative tools that can break into locked phones and search through gigabytes of emails, text messages and other files.These are pieces of a technology arsenal available to President Trump as he aims to crack down on illegal immigration and carry out the largest deportation operation in American history. To do so, his administration can tap a stockpile of tools built up by Democrats and Republicans that is nearly unmatched in the Western world, according to an analysis…