>>FAA Approves Path For Boeing 737 Max 9s To Fly

(Washington, DC) -- The FAA says Boeing can once again fly its 737 Max 9 planes. This, after the agency completed its safety review following the in-flight blow out of a door plug on an Alaska Airlines flight earlier this month. But the FAA accompanied the ruling with a warning, saying the "incident must never happen again." It also said it wouldn't approve any expansion of 737 Max lineup production for the time-being. Alaska said it will fly some of its 737 Max 9s this week, and United Airlines said it would begin using its fleet this weekend.

 

>>PCE Shows Inflation Cooling In December

(Washington, DC) -- A key inflation indicator shows prices easing as 2023 came to a close. December's PCE price index shows prices rose two-tenths of a percent for the month and were up two-point-nine percent on a yearly basis. Including volatile food and energy costs, inflation held steady at two-point-six percent for the year. Experts say the reading makes it more likely the Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates later in the year.

 

>>Billionaire Wants Incorporated Town

(Austin, TX) -- Elon Musk wants to create a whole new town in Texas. But a deal to do a land-swap around his launch pad near Boca Chica Beach is not sitting well with environmental groups. Mary Angela Branch, who is with the non-profit SaveRGV, is unhappy with the deal. They oppose giving away more Texas land to a private company. But the plan is seemingly moving forward. Cameron County and Brownsville officials have both voiced support for recognizing Starbase as an official place. They say locals already use that name to describe the area.

 

>>Microsoft Laying Off 1,900 Employees

(Seattle, WA) -- Microsoft is laying off nearly two-thousand workers from its gaming division. The workforce reduction comes three months after Microsoft acquired "Call of Duty" game publisher Activision Blizzard. Microsoft bought the video game giant for 75-billion dollars. Those impacted by the layoffs are mostly Activision employees. In an email to employees, the CEO of Microsoft Gaming said the layoffs targeted "areas of overlap."

 

>>NY Daily News Stages Walkout

(New York, NY) -- New York Daily News staff staged a walkout Thursday to protest ongoing cuts by the paper's hedge fund owners. Around 40 members of the Daily News union were on the picket line around the Manhattan office building where it uses a small co-working space. The paper sold off its headquarters in 2020. It's owned by Alden Global Capital and workers say they've been reduced to a skeleton staff. Employees argue that the owner's policies and reduced staff have hurt the paper's ability to cover the city. Salaries were cut as much as 15 percent during the pandemic and have not been restored.

 

>>JPMorgan Chase Reorganizes Management

(New York, NY) -- JPMorgan Chase is reorganizing management in preparation for when CEO Jamie Dimon is no longer in charge. Jennifer Piepszak and Troy Rohrbaugh are now co-CEOs of a new commercial and investment bank division. Another frontrunner for the eventual CEO job is Marianne Lake, who will now be fully the lead of the bank's consumer division. President and chief operating officer Daniel Pinto is giving up his title as CEO of corporate and investment banking but will still be working in several other roles.

 

>>Survey: Less Than Half Of Americans Have $1,000 For An Emergency

(New York, NY) -- A new study shows less than half of all Americans are prepared for a one-thousand-dollar emergency expense. The Bankrate survey out this week shows only 44-percent of Americans have a thousand dollars set aside for an emergency. Among those who are unprepared, 21-percent said they would use credit cards to cover emergency expenses, 16-percent said they would cut spending elsewhere to pay for it and ten-percent said they would borrow money from a loved one. Only four-percent said they would take out a personal loan.

 

>>Twitch Reducing Streamer Payout

(Undated) -- Twitch streamers are about to see a dip in payments from the live streaming service. It was announced that through its partnership with Amazon Prime, there will be a shakeup in the payment model for Prime Gaming benefit. Streamers will make 25 cents less than before per gaming subscription. Twitch CEO Dan Clancy said in a blog post Wednesday night that the change is less than five percent in the majority of countries. According to the Verge, streams had been making either two and a half or three and a half dollars per subscription depending on the popularity of the streamer.