U.S. jobless claims fall to 684,000, fewest since pandemic
Thursday’s report from the Labor Department marked the first time that weekly applications for jobless aid have fallen below 700,000 since mid-March of last year.
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Treasury sends out additional 37 million relief payments
The second batch of payments sent out this week followed an initial 90 million payments made in the week after President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion COVID relief measure on March 11.
Indiana health chief: Pandemic ‘far from over’
A day after the governor announced plans to relax precautions meant to stem COVID-19 spread, the state’s top health official cautioned Hoosiers that it’s still too early to return to “normal” life.
U.S. outlook improving as vaccinations rise, deaths fall
Still, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, said Wednesday he isn’t ready to declare the nation has turned the corner on the outbreak.
Underappreciated cacao shines in Dark Chocolate Tahini Cups
With Brenner’s help, I created my own recipe for Dark Chocolate Tahini Cups, inspired by his focus on the whole cacao fruit.
The ubiquitous orchid: A pandemic project with surprises
In fact, orchids are now “the most popular blooming florist crop in the world,” says Marc Hachadourian, senior orchid curator at the New York Botanical Garden.
Orders for manufactured goods tumbled 1.1% in February
The size of the drop surprised economists, although it is likely that there was significant disruption from severe winter storms that hit much of the country last month, on top of ongoing supply-chain problems.
Teams, players and upstarts to watch in Sweet 16
The tournament is all but guaranteed to have a few more unexpected twists and turns. Here are the players and games to watch.
Problem-gambling foes warn of sports-betting college deals
The National Council on Problem Gambling on Tuesday issued a set of recommendations for such deals that aim to reduce the danger of students developing a gambling problem.
White House: 27M vaccine doses to be shipped next week
The administration expects supplies to continue to increase in the coming weeks, which comes as more states are relaxing eligibility criteria for shots.
Regal Cinemas, second-largest chain in U.S., to reopen in April
Regal had been one of most notable holdouts in the gradual reopening of cinemas nationwide. For nearly half a year, its 7,211 screens and 549 theatres in the U.S. have been dark.
Tourism groups push U.S. to eliminate travel restrictions
U.S. air travel is already picking up. More than 1 million people have passed through U.S. airport checkpoints each of the last 11 days, with Sunday’s total topping more than 1.5 million for the first time in more than a year.
Reputation of AstraZeneca’s COVID vaccine marred by missteps
Coupled with earlier missteps in reporting data and a recent blood clot scare, experts said a new stumble could cause lasting harm to the shot that is key to global efforts to stop the pandemic and erode vaccine confidence more broadly.
In terms of chaos, this year’s Sweet 16 field is historic
The seed numbers of the 16 remaining teams add up to 94, the highest total since the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament expanded in 1985. Here’s how that stacks up against some previous years.
Much Madness: NCAA tourney sets record for upsets after two rounds
The second round just wrapped with an even dozen upsets already in the books — a record for the opening 48 games and just one shy of the mark for the entire tournament — with all kinds of possibilities still out there.
Biden formulating $3T plan for infrastructure, schools, family leave
The infrastructure portion of the package would include roughly $1 trillion for roads, bridges, rail lines, electrical vehicle charging stations and the cellular network, among other items.
Roger Penske bullish on large crowd for Indianapolis 500
There will be fans at this year’s Indianapolis 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Roger Penske said Monday, but how many remains a moving target based on COVID-19 restrictions. More than 170,000 tickets already have been sold for the May 30 race, he said.
Supply bottlenecks leave ships stranded, businesses stymied
Main Street businesses are now forced to wait months instead of the usual weeks for a delivery from China, and no one knows when the situation will be resolved.
New SBA head plans changes at agency; focus now is COVID-19
Two days after she was sworn in, Isabella Casillas Guzman said her immediate focus is implementing the small business provisions in the $1.9 trillion coronavirus rescue package signed into law last week.
Bill to aid U.S. publishers vs. Google, Facebook rises again
The measure aims to give publishers better leverage with the tech companies, while only allowing coordination that benefits the news industry as a whole, amid a long-running decline in local news.