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☆ As NYC's first-ever rat czar gets to work, cities like Boston and Chicago are looking for inspiration to fix their own rodent problems
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

New York City Mayor Eric Adams appointed a "rat czar" to help eliminate rodents in the city. One Boston city official says the Massachusetts city should follow suit and hire a rat slayer of their own. Days later, Boston City Council President Ed Flynn recommended the Massachusetts city hire someone in a similar position ""to hopefully one day eliminate rats in Boston," the Boston Herald reported. In 2022, Chicago was named the number one "rattiest" city in the US over both New York City and Boston. "You can hear them screaming — ee, ee, ee, ee!"

[1/2] A "now hiring" sign is displayed outside Taylor Party and Equipment Rentals in Somerville, Massachusetts, U.S., September 1, 2022. Economists polled by Reuters expect a gain of 239,000 jobs in March, with hourly wages rising at a 4.3% annual rate and the unemployment rate remaining at 3.6%, a level seen less than 20% of the time since World War Two. Unemployment is still at a very low level," Boston Fed President Susan Collins said in an interview with Reuters last week. How "slack" in the labor market links to lower inflation may depend on where job growth slows, and over what timeline. "The services sector, in particular, has contributed substantially to recent inflation, reflecting ongoing imbalances in labor markets where supply remains impaired and demand remains robust," they wrote.

☆ SVB Collapse Threatens Funding Source for Climate Startups
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Ed Ballard | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Sublime Systems Chief Executive Leah Ellis was about to go on stage at a big energy-industry conference on Thursday when her phone was flooded with messages urging her to withdraw her company’s funds from Silicon Valley Bank. “In the middle of presenting and being interviewed, I was there getting my cofounder to fill out paperwork,” she said. Sublime, based in Somerville, Mass., has developed a way of producing low-carbon cement. The company raised $40 million in venture-capital funding in January, most of which was sitting in its SVB account.

The court also allowed testimony from an expert who said Meta owes Neural Magic as much as $766 million in royalties. Representatives for Meta and Neural Magic did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the decision. Meta asked the court to throw out the case last year, arguing Neural Magic had failed to identify any protectable trade secrets and that Zlateski had not acquired the information improperly. But the court on Monday allowed Neural Magic's case to continue for all but one of the 41 secrets it accused Meta of misappropriating. The case is Neural Magic Inc v. Meta Platforms Inc, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, No.

☆ Companies Are Slow to Adopt Robot-Operated ‘Dark’ Warehouses
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Liz Young | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

More companies are exploring ways to staff warehouses with robots but may have to wait a few years for the technology to catch up. It makes the automation much easier to justify,” said Sean Wallingford, president and chief executive of the Americas region for warehouse technology company Swisslog Holding AG. A robotic arm picks and packs orders at online pharmacy company Apo.com’s automated warehouse in the Netherlands. Photo: RIGHTHAND ROBOTICSAbout 20% of warehouses in 2022 used some form of robotics, up from 15% in 2018, according to research firm Interact Analysis. Mr. Jensen said the company made changes after the first fire in 2019, limiting damage from later fires.

☆ American small business pessimism on recession, inflation, isn't relenting
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Eric Rosenbaum | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

That's according to the CNBC|SurveyMonkey Small Business Survey for the first quarter of 2023. The Q1 survey was conducted from Jan. 23-Jan. 30 among over 2,300 small business owners across the country. "Small business owners have a more difficult time gaining benefits of economies of scale," said Holly Wade, executive director of the NFIB Research Center, whose own recent surveying of small business owners finds persistent pessimism. The new CNBC|SurveyMonkey data finds 75% of small business owners saying they are still facing rising costs of supplies and just over half (51%) supply chain disruptions. Politics is a factor in Main Street outlook Politics plays a role in any small business survey, with a demographic that skews conservative.

The Justice Department has been urged by representatives of a U.S. national-security panel to consider economic-espionage charges against leaders of TuSimple Holdings Inc., an American self-driving-truck company with ties to China, according to people familiar with the matter. The recommendation for criminal charges, made late last year, stemmed from concerns that two founders and the current chief executive of the San Diego-based company were improperly transferring technology to a Chinese startup, the people said. The concerns were based on material gathered as part of a national-security review of TuSimple launched earlier last year.

☆ Startups End a Bruising 2022, Stare Down Another Challenging Year
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Heather Somerville | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Startups had a dismal year by nearly every measurement in 2022, from plummeting investment to scarce public listings, and data point to a 2023 that could be even more difficult. As markets tanked in early 2022, many startup executives and investors were confident that a record amount of venture capital waiting to be spent—known as dry powder—and a lingering enthusiasm for new tech trends would buffer Silicon Valley.

If you're on the fence about electric vehicles, Josh Aviv wants to alleviate one of your top concerns: "range anxiety." That's the nervous feeling EV owners or prospective buyers get when they're concerned that their electric vehicle won't have enough battery power to reach its destination. There are currently more electric vehicles on the road than ever before — with a record 6.6 million sold in 2021, double the previous year's total. SparkCharge has raised roughly $30 million from investors like Mark Cuban, Tale Venture Partners and rapper Pusha-T. The investments currently value SparkCharge at about $110 million, Aviv says.

☆ TuSimple Plans Layoffs That Could Cut at Least Half Its Workforce Next Week
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Heather Somerville | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

As part of the downsizing, much of TuSimple’s operation in Tucson, Ariz., where it does a lot of its test driving, will be eliminated. Self-driving trucking company TuSimple Holdings Inc. plans to cut potentially half its workforce next week, people familiar with the matter said, as it scales back efforts to build and test autonomous truck-driving systems. A staff reduction of that size would likely affect at least 700 employees, the people said. As of June, TuSimple had 1,430 full-time employees globally. It has operations in San Diego, Arizona, Texas and China.

☆ Watch: Brittney Griner Arrives in the U.S. After Prisoner Swap
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Theranos Ex-President Sunny Balwani Sentenced to Almost 13 Years Theranos Inc.’s former No. 2 executive, Ramesh ‘Sunny’ Balwani, was sentenced Wednesday to just under 13 years in prison for his involvement in a fraud scheme at the blood-testing company. WSJ’s Heather Somerville breaks down the judge’s decision. Photo: Jason Henry for The Wall Street Journal

☆ Brittney Griner Returns Home: A Timeline of Her Detainment and Release
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Watch: Brittney Griner Flies Home After Prisoner Swap
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Brittney Griner Released From Russian Custody, Biden Says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Teenage walruses dine on gourmet mussels at new home in U.S. zoo
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Matt Mcknight | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TACOMA, Wash., Dec 8 (Reuters) - A pair of adolescent walruses are settling into their new home at a zoo in Tacoma, Washington, feasting on restaurant-quality mussels and clams. They are now at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium after an international trip via cargo plane and trucks from the Aquarium du Quebec in Canada. There are only 14 walruses, which are considered vulnerable but not endangered, in human care throughout the United States. [1/4] Six-year-old walruses Balzak and Lakina swim inside the exhibit at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma, Washington, U.S., November 17, 2022. Katie Cotterill/Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium/Handout via REUTERS 1 2 3 4“Their tusks lack enamel or have very little enamel.

☆ Theranos Founder’s Former Deputy and Boyfriend to Be Sentenced
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Heather Somerville | Christopher Weaver | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

When Theranos Inc.’s former No. 2 executive is sentenced on Wednesday, he may get a longer prison term than his boss, who was at the center of the fraud at the company she founded. Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani will be sentenced in federal court in San Jose, Calif., starting at 1 p.m. ET, after being convicted of 12 counts of wire fraud and conspiracy. Mr. Balwani’s former business partner and ex-girlfriend, Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes , was sentenced last month to 11¼ years for four counts of criminal fraud tied to her now defunct blood-testing startup.

☆ Theranos Ex-President Sunny Balwani to Be Sentenced Today
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Heather Somerville | Christopher Weaver | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Theranos Ex-Operating Chief Sunny Balwani Sentenced to Nearly 13 Years in Prison
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Heather Somerville | Christopher Weaver | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

SAN JOSE, Calif.—Theranos Inc.’s former No. 2 executive, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, was sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison for his involvement in an elaborate fraud scheme at the blood-testing company, marking the capstone of a yearslong saga that is a blemish in Silicon Valley history. Mr. Balwani’s sentencing comes more than four years after the collapse of Theranos, which promised to revolutionize healthcare but peddled faulty technology to patients and investors, along the way delivering inaccurate health results and squandering hundreds of millions of dollars. Mr. Balwani helped lead the deception as Theranos’s former president and chief operating officer, and along with his longtime romantic partner, he became the focus of one of the highest-profile white-collar cases in recent years.

☆ Theranos Ex-President Sunny Balwani to Be Sentenced Wednesday
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Heather Somerville | Christopher Weaver | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Theranos Inc.’s former No. 2 executive could face an unusual white-collar criminal punishment: the possibility of being sentenced to a longer prison term than his boss, who was at the center of the fraud at her company, some criminal defense attorneys said. Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani faces sentencing in federal court Wednesday after being convicted of 12 counts of wire fraud and conspiracy. He denied all the charges, and his lawyers are asking for probation.

☆ Ramesh ‘Sunny’ Balwani: Who Is the Former Theranos President and What Was He Convicted Of?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Heather Somerville | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Ramesh ‘Sunny’ Balwani, who was convicted on 12 charges, will be sentenced Wednesday. Prosecutors have asked for a 15-year sentence. Ramesh “ Sunny” Balwani , the former top lieutenant to Theranos Inc. founder Elizabeth Holmes , faces sentencing Wednesday in federal court after being convicted in July on all 12 charges that he helped perpetuate a yearslong fraud scheme at the defunct blood-testing startup. The government has requested a 15-year imprisonment for Mr. Balwani. His attorneys have asked for probation.

☆ Medly set out to disrupt the pharmacy industry. Instead it burned through money and laid off more than half its staff as its business crumbled, leaving patients in the dark.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

Medly, a pharmacy startup that took off in the pandemic, laid off over half its staff in August. Natalia Rzeszutek first started using Medly three years ago, relying on the pharmacy startup to deliver her medications for epilepsy. Unbeknownst to her, many other patients, and its own employees, Medly had been approaching this collapse for months. But behind the scenes, the pharmacy startup was on the brink of imploding. Many said they'd repeatedly called their local Medly pharmacy to get their prescriptions filled but never received a response.

☆ Elizabeth Holmes Is Sentenced to More Than 11 Years in Prison for Defrauding Theranos Investors
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Heather Somerville | Christopher Weaver | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos Inc. who was convicted of defrauding investors, was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison, capping the extraordinary downfall of a onetime Silicon Valley wunderkind who promised to revolutionize blood testing. U.S. District Judge Edward Davila, who oversaw the trial in which Ms. Holmes was found guilty of running a yearslong fraud scheme at her blood-testing company, delivered the sentence Friday in federal court. A jury convicted Ms. Holmes in January on four charges that she misrepresented the startup’s technology, finances and business prospects to investors.

☆ Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes to Be Sentenced Friday in Fraud Trial
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Heather Somerville | Sara Ashley O Brien | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Elizabeth Holmes , the founder of disgraced blood-testing company Theranos Inc., has asked a federal judge for leniency for her fraud crimes, positioning herself as a loving mother and selfless community servant. Ms. Holmes, who has asked for a sentence of home confinement and community service, and no more than 18 months in prison, faces an uphill battle when she appears for sentencing in a San Jose, Calif., federal court Friday, according to defense attorneys who have followed her case. The hearing is slated to begin at 1 p.m.

☆ Ramesh ‘Sunny’ Balwani: Who Is the Former Theranos President and What Was He Convicted of in His Trial?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Heather Somerville | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Ramesh ‘Sunny’ Balwani leaving federal court after the verdict was read in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday. A federal jury convicted Ramesh “ Sunny” Balwani , the former top lieutenant to Theranos Inc. founder Elizabeth Holmes , on all 12 charges that he helped perpetuate a yearslong fraud scheme at defunct blood-testing startup Theranos Inc.Mr. Balwani was on trial for more than three months in federal court in San Jose, Calif. Prosecutors argued that he defrauded Theranos investors and patients by lying about the capabilities of Theranos’s finger-prick blood-testing technology.

☆ Elizabeth Holmes Is Sentenced to 11.25 Years in Prison for Defrauding Theranos Investors
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Heather Somerville | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos Inc. who was convicted of defrauding investors, was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison, capping the extraordinary downfall of a onetime Silicon Valley wunderkind who promised to revolutionize blood testing. U.S. District Judge Edward Davila, who oversaw the trial in which Ms. Holmes was convicted of running a yearslong fraud scheme at her blood-testing company, delivered the sentence Friday in federal court. A jury convicted Ms. Holmes in January on four charges that she misrepresented the startup’s technology, finances and business prospects to investors.

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