A Boston city councilor wants to enlist the help of valets in keeping drunken drivers off the road. "They are literally our last line of defense," says Rob Consalvo. But critics say that's too much responsibility for valets who, unlike bartenders, are not trained to spot intoxication.
Grand & Benedicts launches new venture, new headquarters
The Northeast Portland company unveils a new construction division, which has been busy recently building the company's new headquarters and showroom
View full sizeGrand & Benedicts has sold and built fixtures for retailers for more than 60 years and will now offer to build stores for companies from the ground up.
The company, which also sells retail fixtures and offers store closing services, has in the past built and renovated four of its buildings, including showrooms, warehouses and offices, said Camilla Chalmers of Grand & Benedicts. Currently, the company's team is building a new 31,000-square-foot headquarters and showroom on Southwest Macadam Avenue that's expected to open in April.
Grand & Benedicts was born in 1980 from the merging of two longtime local companies -- a hardware store and a retail decor business -- and has gone on to become a major global producer of fixtures and custom systems.
-- Laura Gunderson
Even When Employed, Health Care A Challenge
A little more than a year ago, NPR launched the Road Back to Work series, following six people in St. Louis who started 2011 unemployed and were searching for work. Like so many Americans, the people we followed have had difficulty getting health coverage, even after returning to work.
Google Is Dodging Internet Explorer’s Privacy Protections (So Is Facebook)
Google, Facebook and 11,000 other companies are circumventing privacy protections in Internet Explorer.
Some Greeks Wary Of Bailout Deal, Dread Austerity
European leaders saved Greece from a messy default — and a possible exit from the Eurozone — by finalizing a second bailout, with loans amounting to around $170 million. Greek politicians are celebrating for now, but most Greeks are filled with dread. They fear the new austerity measures will drag out the recession — which is in its fifth year — and continue to push up unemployment, which is already more than 21 percent overall.
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A Family’s Year Of Buying Black
Many consumers try shopping consciously by going to local stores or ones owned by certain faith or ethnic groups. Maggie Anderson and her family spent a year trying to shop exclusively at African American-owned businesses. They chronicled their efforts in the new book titled Our Black Year. Maggie Anderson talks with host Michel Martin.
High Court Will Weigh Discount Fees In Quicken Mortgage Case
Borrowers claim Quicken charged them "something for nothing" when it included a loan discount fee, even though the borrowers did not receive a lower interest fee. At issue is whether that charge violates a a 1974 federal law aimed at preventing abusive practices in real estate closings.
How Companies Are ‘Defining Your Worth’ Online
Advertisers collect information about us with every digital move we make. They then target ads to us based on that information. Communications scholar Joseph Turow worries that advertisers will use such data to discriminate against people and put them into "reputation silos"
Doubts Linger After Late-Night Deal On Bailout For Greece
Though other member nations of the eurozone put together a $170 billion rescue package, much more likely must be done to keep Greece afloat, experts say.
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Greece Secures Bailout To Avoid Debt Default
Greece won a second massive financial bailout early Tuesday morning when its partners in the 17-country eurozone finally stitched together a $170 billion rescue, meant to avoid a potentially disastrous default and secure the euro currency.