Fourteen universities will begin offering "MicroMasters" courses based on the massive open online courses model and designed to help students sharpen workforce skills. The graduate-level program is available for free, though students can pay $1,000 to receive a certificate of completion.
The Honolulu Civil Beat has hired Ron Hochuli, 72, as an unpaid intern, saying the longtime Hawaii resident brings valuable community experience and fresh insight. If the experiment succeeds, the publication will create a fellowship based on newsroom-retiree collaboration.
Some student-loan borrowers have complained to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau about private lenders extending repayment terms and lowering monthly payments when borrowers try to prepay their principal. CFPB officials say the practice results in borrowers paying more interest and warn borrowers to watch monthly statements for any irregularities.
Almost 300 tech companies are seeking to reverse the decline in US voter participation by making the day the US selects its next president, Nov. 8, a paid holiday for their workers.
Asheville, N.C.-based organic grocer Earth Fare has opened its fourth Florida store and first in the Tampa Bay area. The 24,000-square-foot store sells only "free-from" products but customers will find all of the groceries on their shopping lists, said CEO Frank Scorpiniti.
The ONC has released an EHR contract guide and a health IT playbook to help health care providers with acquiring and using EHRs and other health IT tools. The "EHR Contracts Untangled" guide aims to assist decision-makers and health care professionals with negotiating EHR acquisitions, while the online Health IT Playbook provides information on implementing and using health IT tools to advance care.
Live Nation is selling Ariana Grande concert tickets on Snapchat, using an ad campaign that lets users swipe up to visit a Ticketmaster sales page.
Amazon is speeding development of its delivery operation to trim shipping costs and give it the ability to compete with FedEx, UPS and the Postal Service. Expansion allows the company to increase delivery capacity during busy times, but some current and former Amazon managers say the ultimate goal is to create a competitive domestic delivery network.
The Consumer Technology Association called out the "Top 5 Technology Trends to Watch for 2017" at its annual Innovate and Celebrate event in San Jose, Calif. CTA says the trends to keep an eye on next year include the advancement of digital assistants, augmented reality, driverless vehicles, and medical and sports technology.
Bristol-Myers Squibb will evaluate Opdivo, or nivolumab, in combination with Nektar Therapeutics' experimental NKTR-214 in Phase I/II trials as a treatment for five types of tumors and several indications, including bladder, kidney and non-small cell lung cancer. The studies will be funded equally by the firms.
Netflix has approximately 20 new original unscripted reality series in the pipeline, Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos says. The new series are part of the company's plan to double its original programming, which currently includes 30 scripted series, 60 documentaries and 35 children's programs.
The James A. Farley Post Office Building in New York City will be transformed into a rail station and retail center by a team that includes Related Cos., Skanska AB and Vornado Realty. The state tapped the group for the $1.6 billion project.
Two separate billion-dollar deals have seen shale formations with a wealth of natural gas in the eastern US trade hands. DTE Energy has agreed to a $1.3 billion deal to acquire natural gas pipeline assets from M3 Midstream and Vega Energy Partners, while Rice Energy has purchased assets in the Marcellus Shale for roughly $2 billion.
Corporate travelers are now able to access Preferred Seats aboard American Airlines flights at no additional cost, regardless of their loyalty rewards status. These seats offer standard economy legroom.
Europe's biggest hotel chain is courting millennials and responding to the increasing Airbnb presence by inaugurating a youth hostel brand called Joe&Joe. AccorHotels hopes to list 50 hostels by 2020, beginning with Paris and Bordeaux, France, sites in 2018.