AP State Business News

Casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp. has promoted longtime executive Robert Goldstein to executive vice president and extended his contract two and a half years.

Microsoft Corp.'s chief operating officer says the software maker is planning to open retail stores "right next door to Apple" in the fall.

Three Republican legislators and the state GOP chairman on Wednesday claimed inattention by Democratic Gov. Timothy M. Kaine to a tax issue cost Virginia an Apple computer data center that North Carolina landed.

The prospects for a quick budget-balancing deal between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and California's top lawmakers dimmed late Wednesday as negotiations hung up over education funding, cuts to social services and borrowing money from local governments.

Home sales, median prices in June compared to a year ago in selected Southern California counties:

A bill to tax and regulate marijuana in California like alcohol would generate nearly $1.4 billion in revenue for the cash-strapped state, according to an official analysis released Wednesday by tax officials.

Las Vegas Sands Corp.'s Palazzo hotel-casino has filed a lawsuit over the sale of clothing items such as T-shirts bearing the name of the hotel.

Prosecutors filed 189 legal actions Wednesday against loan modification consultants accused of bilking homeowners who are desperate to make their mortgage payments more affordable. The nationwide sweep, called "Operation Loan Lies," involved the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. attorney's office for the Central District of California, and 23 other agencies in 19 states:

Breaking into someone's e-mail can be child's play for a determined hacker, as Twitter Inc. employees have learned the hard way - again.

A key committee of the University of California on Wednesday approved an emergency budget plan that would force most of the system's 180,000 employees to take pay cuts and unpaid leave to offset a steep drop in state funding.

Worldwide personal computer shipments declined at a gentler pace than expected in the second quarter as consumers snapped up inexpensive laptops, two technology research groups said Wednesday.

Apple Inc. has shut down one of the most compelling features on Palm Inc.'s rival Pre smart phone, crippling the Pre's ability to act like an iPod.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, plans to demand that all its suppliers measure the environmental cost of making their products so Wal-Mart can calculate and post an eco-rating for each item.

Federal authorities are considering making the potent anesthetic propofol - one of the drugs found in Michael Jackson's home - a controlled substance, which would put new limits on its distribution.

The median price of a home in Southern California surged 6.4 percent in June from May, as a long-stifled wave of high-end properties hit the market, a real estate tracking firm said Wednesday.

A real estate tracking firm says the median price of a home in Southern California surged 6.4 percent in June from May to the highest level in 30 months.

Defending the government's handling of the economic crisis last year, former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Wednesday that the Bush administration's responses were not perfect but "saved this nation from great peril."

Prosecutors nationwide filed 189 legal actions Wednesday against loan modification consultants accused of bilking homeowners who are desperate to make their mortgage payments more affordable.

Harry Potter has conjured up a record-breaking witching hour.

A bid to cut $1.75 billion recently added to the defense spending bill for more Lockheed Martin fighter jets has stalled in the Senate despite repeated veto threats by the White House.

Sara Lipe glanced at her southern Illinois peach orchard after winds topping more than 100 mph tore through in May and felt dread in the pit of her stomach.

The Obama administration will make overhauling the nation's 137-year-old hardrock mining law a top priority despite a full plate of higher profile issues, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Tuesday.

Rocket developer Space Exploration Technologies said Tuesday it conducted its second fully successful launch, placing a Malaysian satellite into orbit.

California Assembly Speaker Karen Bass says lawmakers and the governor are just several hundred million dollars apart on finalizing a $90 billion-plus state spending plan.

State transportation officials on Tuesday defended their handling of federal stimulus money for road projects against criticism they haven't moved quickly enough to turn the money into jobs and pavement.

California-based Space Exploration Technologies has conducted its second successful rocket launch, putting an Earth-observing satellite into orbit for Malaysia.

Intel Corp.'s second-quarter results bolster the company's position that the computer business is on the mend after its roughest patch in years.

Shares of Humana Inc. and Health Net Inc. tumbled Tuesday, a day after the Pentagon decided against renewing lucrative regional military health insurance contracts with both companies.

One trip for their Jack Russell terrier in a plane's cargo hold was enough to convince Alysa Binder and Dan Wiesel that owners needed a better option to get their pets from one city to another.

Sun Microsystems Inc. projected quarterly results below Wall Street estimates Tuesday, signaling it will clear some charges off its books ahead of its $7.4 billion acquisition by Oracle Corp.

With a $109,000-plus sports car as its only vehicle on the market, Tesla Motors would appear to a niche player on the auto scene. Yet parties including the U.S. government and a fund in Abu Dhabi are counting on the company's electric cars to one day go mainstream.

The Pentagon said Monday it has awarded military health care contracts worth tens of billions of dollars to managed care providers Aetna Inc. and UnitedHealth Group Inc., deciding not to renew deals with current contractors Humana and Health Net after a more than year-long bidding process.

Michael Jackson's comeback concerts will never happen, but you can still get the T-shirt.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told state employee unions Tuesday his administration was preparing to cut another 2,000 state jobs to deal with California's $26.3 billion budget deficit.

BusinessWeek magazine is the latest major publication facing an uncertain future amid a deep advertising slump that's draining its main source of revenue.

Sacha Baron Cohen's "Bruno" strutted to a first-place finish at the weekend box office with a $30.6 million debut.

PC maker Dell Inc. said Monday it expects its fiscal second-quarter revenue to be slightly higher than in the first quarter, when sales plunged 23 percent to $12.3 billion.

How much is Facebook worth? A Russian investment firm appears to put it at $6.5 billion to $10 billion.

A payment processor that handles the accounts of online poker players wants a judge to order the return of about $14 million that the company says was illegally seized by the federal government.

Sen. John McCain, in an unusual alliance with the Obama administration, moved Monday to eliminate $1.75 billion recently inserted into the proposed 2010 defense budget for more fighter jets from Lockheed Martin.

A bankruptcy judge on Monday approved a deal that could shift some of auto parts supplier Delphi's assets to General Motors Co., which emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week.

Some excerpts from comments during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing for the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.

Thousands of California business owners are starting the week without the safety net of having major banks accept the state's IOUs.

A few tips for employees regarding Internet and cell phone use:

Ryan Tracy thought he'd entered the Dark Ages when he graduated college and arrived in the working world.

Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino has agreed to pay a $500,000 fine to Nevada gambling regulators over lax policing of illegal activity inside an independently operated nightclub at the resort.

Legislative leaders and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger met privately for more than three hours Saturday on California's budget deficit. They said the meeting was productive but that no deal was imminent.

Sara Lipe glanced at her southern Illinois peach orchard after winds topping more than 100 mph tore through in May and instantly had dread in the pit of her stomach.

Paris Hilton repeatedly fussed with her hair and makeup in a federal courtroom Friday, sported six-inch stiletto heels and a black dress and amused the judge with a little wave on the way to the witness stand.