Archive

30 stories published to date, newest first.

October 2026

• Oct 7 Three crises at once: the bond market, diesel, and the AI debt machine Money
  Record fuel, a 10-year Treasury at levels not seen since 2007, and hundreds of billions in AI borrowing — September's economy was three shocks wearing one trench coat.
• Oct 6 How the AI buildout is actually financed — and why rising rates threaten it Technology
  Brookings puts the AI investment wave at $10.3 trillion through 2032. The money isn't coming from profits. It's coming from bonds — and bonds are getting expensive.
• Oct 6 Online Auto Parts Sales Nearly Quadrupled Since 2016 Auto & Consumer
  E-commerce auto parts sales grew more than six times faster than the rest of the light-vehicle aftermarket between 2016 and 2024, Lang Marketing reported.
• Oct 5 How NOAA builds a hurricane season outlook — and the one thing it can't tell you World
  Atlantic season runs through November 30. NOAA's August update called for below-normal activity — and the agency is emphatic that its outlook is not a landfall forecast.
• Oct 5 Multi-Unit Restaurant Franchisee Bankruptcies Are Surging in 2026 Food & Culture
  At least 10 multi-unit U.S. restaurant franchise operators have filed for bankruptcy in 2026, Restaurant Dive reported; food and labor costs are up 36% since 2019.
• Oct 4 Counterfeit Auto Parts Seizures Nearly Doubled in 2024 Auto & Consumer
  CBP seized more than 211,000 counterfeit auto parts in fiscal 2024 and fake airbags rose tenfold as federal agencies launched the Put the Brakes on Fakes campaign.
• Oct 4 Senators Press RFK Jr. Over Vaccine-Case Fees Sent to Law Firm Law & Public Affairs
  Four Democratic senators asked Robert F. Kennedy Jr. why his fee stake in the Gardasil vaccine cases went to a personal injury firm instead of his son.
• Oct 3 Why you're nicer to strangers than to the people you love — the research Health & Life
  Studies of human generosity keep finding the same awkward pattern: reputation shapes our kindness to strangers, while our sharpest conflicts wait at home.
• Oct 3 Early Japanese Kei Cars Sold Cheap at Bonhams' Goodwood Sale Home & Garage
  Hagerty says rare early-1960s Mazda, Toyota, Mitsubishi and Suzuki cars sold for cheap at the 2026 Bonhams Goodwood Revival sale; one Fronte made £4,830.
• Oct 2 American Diners Are Spending $100 a Week on Restaurants — and Getting Creative to Afford It Food & Culture
  A new Popmenu report finds the average American now spends $100 a week on restaurants — up from February but down from last year — and is trimming the bill with tap water, pickup orders, coupons, and appetizers-for-dinner.
• Oct 2 Americans Want Marriage Again — But Only on Their Own Terms Health & Life
  The Kinsey Institute’s 15th annual Singles in America survey, released September 14, finds desire for marriage has climbed to 45% while two-thirds of singles say AI can never replace real human connection.
• Oct 2 At Paris Fashion Week, ANREALAGE Showed Dresses That Change Color Like a Second Skin Fashion
  The avant-garde label ANREALAGE teamed with E Ink to show six Spring/Summer 2027 dresses whose e-paper \"scales\" shift color and pattern on the runway — a spectacle, but not yet something you can buy or wash.
• Oct 2 Caltrans and Granite Construction Surplus Equipment Went to Public Auction in Sacramento and Fresno Home & Garage
  Retired Caltrans work trucks and Granite Construction heavy equipment — graders, loaders, excavators, dozers — sold at Bar None Auction's Sacramento and Fresno public auction on September 12, open to anyone with no dealer license needed.
• Oct 2 One Year After the $7,500 EV Credit Ended, Car Shoppers Are Rewriting the Math Auto & Consumer
  One year after the federal EV credit ended, new EV sales are down sharply, hybrids are surging, automakers are discounting to fill the $7,500 hole, and states plus a new loan-interest deduction are picking up pieces of the old incentive.
• Oct 2 The FAFSA Opened Early With a New Rulebook. Here's What Changed for College Applicants Education & Careers
  The 2026-27 FAFSA launched early on Sept. 24 with a rewritten formula: capped Parent PLUS borrowing, a half-time Pell requirement, no sibling discount, and new asset exclusions for farms and small businesses.
• Oct 2 Fed Continues Tightening After the September Rate Hike: What It Costs Money
  On September 16, the Federal Reserve lifted its benchmark rate to 3.75%–4.00% and signaled more hikes are likely. Credit cards and short-term borrowing feel it most — mortgages, oddly, do not.
• Oct 2 Mel Robbins brings Jay Shetty on for an episode on the conversations couples avoid Food & Culture
  The 'Let Them' author's podcast turns to the hardest talks in relationships — with a little help from her friend.
• Oct 2 Mexico Nears Interim Deal With U.S. to Cut Auto, Steel and Aluminum Tariffs World
  With USMCA review talks resuming in October, Mexico is close to an interim deal that could drop U.S. auto tariffs from 25% to 15% — while pledging to buy more American goods and having already slapped tariffs of up to 50% on imports from China.
• Oct 2 'Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story' Tops the Streaming Chart as October's Spooky Slate Arrives
  Netflix's 'Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story' seized the No. 1 spot on Samba TV's weekly streaming chart — the first new chart-topper in over a month — as streamers roll out a crowded October slate of horror and fall premieres.
• Oct 2 OpenAI Unveils Always-On 'Dots' Agents While Seeking $30 Billion at a $1.4 Trillion Valuation Technology
  At its Sept. 29 DevDay, OpenAI introduced Dots — persistent AI agents that work across devices and apps — alongside a $500-a-month tier, even as it talks to investors about a bridge round after delaying its IPO beyond 2026.
• Oct 2 Pennsylvania Returns $190,000 to Drivers Charged for Repairs They Never Got Law & Public Affairs
  Attorney General Dave Sunday’s September 28 settlement with Mavis Tire Supply resolves allegations of billing for unnecessary or unperformed repairs; affected drivers have until January 26, 2027 to claim their share of $190,000 in restitution.
• Oct 2 Senate Blocks 'Stop Insider Trading Act' 53-47 as Democrats Demand a Full Ban U.S. & Politics
  The Sept. 30 vote halted debate on a House-passed bill that would have barred members of Congress, their spouses and children from buying stocks — a proposal Democrats called too weak and Republicans framed as an election-season attack.
• Oct 2 America counts crime twice, two different ways — that's a feature, not a bug Law & Public Affairs
  The FBI's UCR counts crimes reported to police. The victimization survey counts crimes people actually experienced. When their numbers disagree, the disagreement is the story.
• Oct 2 Buyers Keep Choosing Non-Branded Parts, Survey Finds Auto & Consumer
  Roland Berger surveyed 6,000 car owners in 13 markets: loyalty to OEM and supplier-branded parts keeps falling as non-branded parts gain on price and quality.
• Oct 1 Diesel hits another record: $6.53 a gallon, the fourth weekly high of September World
  The national diesel average set its fourth record high in a single month, a jump that's about to land on everything that moves by truck.
• Oct 1 The Fed hiked rates in September. The inflation it's fighting is made of diesel. U.S. & Politics
  The first Fed rate hike since 2023 landed while record fuel prices were doing the inflating — and rate hikes can't refine a single gallon.
• Oct 1 Inside the NFL's Five-Phase Concussion Protocol: How a Player Actually Gets Back on the Field World
  No shortcuts, no same-day returns, no skipping steps: the league's return-to-participation system, explained phase by phase.

September 2026

• Sep 4 EPA Lets Aftermarket Group Self-Certify Emissions Parts Auto & Consumer
  The EPA will let a trade group certify aftermarket auto parts as emissions-compliant in 49 states, bypassing California's own process, Autoweek reported.
• Sep 4 California Bill Advances a Faster Path to CARB Approval Auto & Consumer
  A California bill would let makers sell qualifying emissions parts under conditional approval while CARB review continues, Aftermarket Matters reported.
• Sep 4 O'Reilly's $10 Billion Bid For Napa Parts Rattles Aftermarket Auto & Consumer
  O'Reilly Automotive has placed a $10 billion bid for Genuine Parts' auto unit, which owns Napa Auto Parts, Bloomberg reported, according to Motor1.com.