Business

It is rare to come across hundreds of acres of land for sale in New Jersey, the country’s most densely populated state. But in Monmouth County, about 50 miles south of New York City, two expansive sites have sat largely undeveloped for years. The catch? Both are former military forts and, as such, come with a litany of hurdles that prospective buyers do not usually encounter with redevelopment projects. After years of setbacks, Fort Monmouth, which is spread across three New Jersey boroughs — Oceanport, Eatontown and Tinton Falls — is inching toward a deal with Netflix to build a production studio on 290 acres. Fifteen miles away at Fort Hancock in Middletown, local officials are struggling to breathe a second life into a deteriorating harbor defense site, despite a commitment from a New York real estate developer to revamp most of the aging officers’ quarters into residences . “I can imagine the project taking off, but I can also imagine the buildings reaching a point of no … [Read more...] about A Long Road to Renewal for Former Military Bases

ATLANTA — As it looks increasingly likely that the Supreme Court will establish a nationwide right to same-sex marriage later this year, state legislatures across the country are taking up bills that would make it easier for businesses and individuals to opt out of serving gay couples on religious grounds. Many states are now reliving a version of events that embroiled Arizona in February 2014, when Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, vetoed a bill that would have allowed businesses to use their religious beliefs as a legal justification for refusing to serve gay customers. The resurgent controversy is fueled in part by a deep anxiety among many evangelicals and other conservatives that the Supreme Court will make same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states after it takes up the matter in April. “The L.G.B.T. movement is the main thing, the primary thing that’s going to be challenging religious liberties and the freedom to live out religious convictions,” said State Senator … [Read more...] about States Weigh Legislation to Let Businesses Refuse to Serve Gay Couples

With Russian missiles pounding apartment buildings, power plants, schools and roads, a glimmering vision of a reconstructed postwar Ukraine seems impossibly far off. But an urgent battle of ideas has already begun over how to manage what would be the most extensive rebuilding project in Europe since the end of World War II. The sparring has engaged heads of state and the leaders of humanitarian groups, universities and banks from around the world — representing the governments, organizations and companies ready to donate or lend the hundreds of billions of dollars that could be needed, as well as those who stand to profit from it. Attention to salvaging Ukraine’s damaged cities and infrastructure has focused largely on its cost. The tussle over the framework that will in large part be expected to carry out that restructuring has taken place below the surface, gaining far less public notice. Any shift for Ukraine from a wartime to a peacetime economy promises to be fraught, … [Read more...] about Out of the Public Eye, a Debate Is Raging Over a Postwar Ukraine Economy

For months, investors and C.E.O.s waited anxiously for China to ease up on its Covid restrictions, which burdened the economy and were out of sync with the rest of the world. Stock markets rallied on mere rumors of policy changes. Companies warned that “zero Covid” was hurting business. Now that China has finally started rolling back its strict mix of mass testing, lockdowns and quarantines, its economy is entering a delicate period when it will face a set of challenges that do not fit neatly with other countries’ experiences during the pandemic. Spending by consumers is unlikely to reawaken swiftly after being smothered for so long, analysts say. China faces a severe downturn in housing and must race to vaccinate more of its population, especially seniors. China’s factories, the motor of the country’s commerce with the world, confront weakening demand from key trading partners like the United States and Europe, both of which are staring down possible recessions. The … [Read more...] about How Will China Turn Its Economy Back On? The World Is About to Find Out.

For the past four years, the campaign to legalize online sports betting has appeared all but unstoppable. In recent weeks, though, some of the momentum has slowed. In New York, a powerful state lawmaker introduced legislation to restrict some of the promotions that gambling companies use to lure new bettors. In Kansas, the governor, an enthusiastic backer of the state’s legalization of online sports betting earlier this year, said she was now seeking to revisit aspects of the law, citing its “unintended consequences.” In Massachusetts, gambling regulators this week unexpectedly paused consideration of an application for a gambling license by the casino company Penn Entertainment because of concerns about its partnership with the controversy-courting media business Barstool Sports . And at some universities, administrators and students voiced concern about deals the universities had struck to promote sports betting on campus. The sentiment shifted after The New … [Read more...] about State Officials Seek to Revisit Sports-Betting Arrangements

“Transforming Spaces” is a new series about women driving change in sometimes unexpected places. Margo Miller, the executive director of the Appalachian Community Fund , describes herself as a “proud Black mountain woman” in a region not widely known for being home to generations of Black people. In her day-to-day work, Ms. Miller, 53, is in charge of financially supporting regional organizations, individuals and groups working to advance social, economic, racial and environmental justice across Appalachia. The largely economically depressed region is a vast swath of land that encompasses some or all of 13 states, including parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, the Carolinas, Maryland and all of West Virginia. Support from the fund is sometimes a couple hundred dollars and other times $5,000 or more, depending on the year and the causes. In 2021, the organization gave out more than $600,000 to organizations, individuals and groups in Appalachia, where the often … [Read more...] about In Appalachia, Margo Miller Leads From a ‘Place of Courageous Joy’

The Defense Department said Wednesday that it had awarded lucrative cloud-computing contracts to four companies: Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Oracle. The contracts run through 2028 and could be valued as high as $9 billion, the Pentagon said in a news release. The work is for a new cloud architecture called the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability, which would provide the Defense Department with cloud services “across all security domains and classification levels.” The decision to award contracts to four companies was a shift for the Pentagon, three years after it had given a $10 billion cloud-computing contract to Microsoft. That contract, for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, known as JEDI, became part of a legal battle over claims that President Donald J. Trump interfered in a process that favored Microsoft over its rival bidder, Amazon. “This is the biggest cloud Beltway deal in history and was a key deal to win for all the software vendors in this multiyear … [Read more...] about Pentagon Divides Big Cloud-Computing Deal Among 4 Firms

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails The US state of Maryland has banned its agencies from using TikTok and other Chinese and Russian platforms, after reports that China ’s state-backed hackers allegedly stole millions of Covid relief funds in the US. Maryland’s governor Larry Hogan issued an emergency directive on Tuesday prohibiting the use of Chinese and Russian products and platforms including the social media app TikTok, the message app WeChat, as well as Russia ’s Kaspersky cybersecurity software. The governor’s office noted that these products and platforms “present an unacceptable level of cybersecurity risk” to the state, adding that they may be involved in cyber-espionage, and surveillance of government entities, or in the inappropriate collection of sensitive personal information. “There may be no greater threat to our personal … [Read more...] about The US state where TikTok has been banned — but only for certain users

The alleged shooter in a deadly attack at a gay nightclub in Colorado opened fire immediately after going inside and had been awake for days, according to an arrest affidavit. Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, is accused of killing five people and injuring more than a dozen others before being wrestled to the ground inside Club Q in Colorado Springs on November 19. Aldrich, who attorneys say is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, began firing indiscriminately with an AR-15-style rifle as soon as they entered the club, according to an arrest affidavit written the day after the shooting and unsealed on Wednesday evening. The affidavit says Aldrich opened fire "almost immediately upon entering the main area of the club." "When Anderson exited the driver's door of the vehicle, it was apparent that he was wearing a ballistic vest and was carrying an AR-15 style assault rifle," the document said. "He entered the business and, after entering the business a short distance, he opened … [Read more...] about Anderson Lee Aldrich opened fire immediately, was awake for days—affidavit

The town of McEwen was hit by intense flooding Saturday, along with the rest of Middle Tennessee, and shattered the state's rainfall record with 17.02 inches in 24 hours, the Associated Press reported. The state hadn't seen record-breaking rainfall since 1982, when 13.6 inches came down in 24 hours, according to the National Weather Service. McEwen, which is in Humphreys County, was issued a flash flood watch before the rain began, with weather forecasters expecting just four to six inches. Weather service meteorologist Krissy Hurley, in Nashville, said the worst storm the middle of the state had seen before Saturday produced nine inches of rain. "Forecasting almost a record is something we don't do very often," Hurley told AP. "Double the amount we've ever seen was almost unfathomable." The flooding in Tennessee has left at least 22 people dead as rescue crews searched Sunday for missing residents. For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below. Rescue crews … [Read more...] about Tennessee Town Hit by Flooding Shatters Rainfall Record with 17 Inches