Author: News Room

Richard M. Cohen, an outspoken and award-winning television news producer whose career was eventually derailed by the ravages of multiple sclerosis, which he wrote about in a best-selling memoir, died on Dec. 24 in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., a village in Westchester County. He was 76.His wife, the former “Today” show host Meredith Vieira, said his death, in a hospital, was caused by acute respiratory failure.Mr. Cohen spent more than 20 years in the news business, working with luminaries like Ted Koppel at ABC and Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather at CBS. But he tackled a different subject when he wrote…

Bill Belichick grew up around college football. As a child, he tagged along as his father, Steve, went about his duties as an assistant coach at the United States Naval Academy.But his own five-decade coaching career never took him back to the college game until recently. And in that time, and especially in the past few years, the sport has changed tremendously.There are now name, image and likeness rules, or N.I.L., that allow players to be paid directly, sometimes to the tune of millions of dollars. Players can use the transfer portal an unlimited number of times, which has led…

As deadly wildfires raged across Southern California this week, conservative and liberal media outlets reported similarly on the level of devastation that occurred. But they found vastly different culprits for it.Right-wing outlets blamed much of the devastation on Democrats. They assailed the political leadership of California, which is heavily Democratic. They also blamed the destruction on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives undertaken in Los Angeles.Liberal outlets criticized President-elect Donald J. Trump’s reaction to the fires, which they described as insensitive. Some attributed the intensity of the fires to climate change.The fires have so far killed at least five people, although…

A New York State appeals court on Thursday rejected a request by Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Corporation to dismiss part of a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit stemming from the broadcasting of misinformation around the 2020 presidential election.The lawsuit, filed by Smartmatic, a voting technology company, is on track to proceed to trial in state court in Manhattan, although the parties could settle the case out of court.Smartmatic sued Fox in February 2021, accusing the media conglomerate of defaming it by mentioning its name among false claims of vote-rigging in the 2020 election that were repeatedly aired on Fox News.Fox News agreed…

Paul F. Oreffice, who as the pugnacious head of Dow Chemical grew and diversified the company at the same time that he rebuffed Vietnam veterans over Agent Orange, argued that the chemical dioxin was harmless and oversaw the manufacturing of silicone breast implants that were known to leak, died on Dec. 26 at his home in Paradise Valley, Ariz. He was 97.His family confirmed his death.Mr. Oreffice (pronounced like orifice) spoke in staccato, fast-paced sentences, and they were often deployed in pushing back against environmentalists, politicians and journalists during an era, the 1970s and ’80s, when the environmental movement was…

Ski patrollers at Park City Mountain in Utah triumphantly returned to the slopes on Thursday, after ending a nearly two-week strike over union wages and benefits. The strike hobbled the largest U.S. ski resort during a busy holiday period and sparked online fury about deepening economic inequality in rural mountain areas.Late Wednesday, the Park City Professional Ski Patrollers Association ratified a contract with Vail Resorts, which owns Park City and more than 40 other ski areas, that raises the starting pay of ski patrollers and other mountain safety workers $2 an hour, to $23. The most experienced patrollers will receive…

First came the news that Enron was back.Yes, Enron — the energy company whose profits were built on long-term fraud and which ended up filing what was, in 2001, the largest bankruptcy in history.Last month, people began noticing a website for a seemingly reborn Enron, using the same logo and branding, and announcing an ambitious mission: “solving the global energy crisis.”Then, on Monday, the new Enron emerged with a glitzy marketing video announcing its new product, the Enron Egg, which the company proclaimed to be “the world’s first micro nuclear reactor for residential suburban use.”What? Was Enron, a company that…

For more than a year, U.S. Steel pursued an ambitious solution to its mounting challenges. Once a symbol of American industrial might, it had agreed to a takeover by Nippon Steel, a Japanese rival, in a bid to ward off obsolescence.Citing the need to finance a costly modernization of its mills, U.S. Steel warned that if the deal was foiled, it would need to shut down plants and lay off workers.Now, with the $14 billion acquisition blocked by President Biden on national security grounds — and President-elect Donald J. Trump outspoken in opposing it — the company has few easy…

There was a moment in late September when mortgage rates, after a monthslong decline, appeared poised to drop low enough to bring would-be buyers and sellers off the sidelines.But that window has closed, at least for now.The average rate on the 30-year mortgage, the most popular home loan in the United States, rose to 6.93 percent this week, Freddie Mac reported on Thursday, the highest since early July.Mortgage rates tend to track the yield on 10-year Treasury bonds, which has jumped in response to a string of strong economic data, persistent inflation and a potential rise in debt and deficits…

For a time, not too long ago, it was the central question animating economic forecasts and bets laid by investors in financial markets: Will the U.S. economy avoid a recession?Now, for many in the business world, that question feels almost passé, part of an earlier, more fretful era of narratives.After a superlative run of hovering below 4 percent for more than two years, the unemployment rate — at 4.2 percent — has ticked up since last spring. But only by a bit so far; the December reading will come on Friday. While hiring has slowed, layoffs remain low by long-term…