LR craft retailer faces lawsuit from AG
The Arkansas attorney general sued Little Rock-based Bourbon & Boots on Tuesday, claiming the company failed to deliver dozens of orders, including in some cases sending the wrong items and not issuing refunds.
The lawsuit filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court contends the Southern crafts retailer violated the state's Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The lawsuit seeks nearly $20,000 from the company.
Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said in a statement that some customers paid for products and never got them or received the wrong items. The lawsuit documents complaints filed in Arkansas and in other states.
The Better Business Bureau has collected 285 complaints about the company, many of them about incomplete orders and problems with refunds.
Venture-capital investor xCelerate Capital bought Bourbon & Boots in 2015. Until last year, the company operated a store in downtown North Little Rock.
The company's website was offline Tuesday. Phone numbers for Bourbon & Boots and xCelerate Capital were not in service.
-- Youssef Rddad
Walmart, Google roll out voice ordering
Walmart Inc. now offers voice ordering through Google Assistant, a project the companies have worked on for nearly two years. This helps the retailer compete with rival Amazon.com, which provides voice-command shopping through its Echo personal assistant device.
Shoppers start the ordering process by saying, "Hey, Google, talk to Walmart," Tom Ward, senior vice president of digital operations for Walmart U.S., said in a news release Tuesday. The system uses data from customers' previous purchases to help identify the correct items. "The more you use it, the better we'll get," he said.
The Google Assistant application is available on many mobile and smart-home devices, including smartphones, watches and Google Home Hub.
The Bentonville retailer and the technology giant joined forces in 2017 to work on integrating Google-based features with Walmart's inventory and customer service. When Walmart ended its relationship with Google Express in January, Google said the retailer remained "a strategic partner across multiple businesses," and expressed support for its work with Google Assistant.
-- Serenah McKay
House panel OKs retirement-savings bill
The House Ways and Means Committee voted to approve legislation that would relax the rules for those saving for retirement.
The package of bills removes limits for the age at which taxpayers must stop contributing to individual retirement accounts and delays the age that taxpayers have to start withdrawing from those plans. Under current law, savers at age 70½ must stop putting funds in those accounts and are mandated to start drawing down that money.
The legislation also gives tax credits to small businesses that automatically enroll workers in retirement plans and makes it easier for companies to band together to offer joint retirement plans for their employees. The committee approval tees up the bills for a vote on the House floor before the Senate considers them.
The top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Ron Wyden of Oregon, have introduced similar legislation, increasing the chances the legislation could become law later this year. With Democrats controlling the House and Republicans with a Senate majority, these retirement issues are among the few tax policies that have the support to pass both chambers.
House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal said he plans to work with Rep. Kevin Brady, the panel's top Republican, to bring up another retirement bill that would simplify the retirement system before Congress adjourns in August.
-- Bloomberg News
Fed chief to speak to House Democrats
WASHINGTON -- Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will brief House Democrats on the economy next week at their annual policy retreat -- an unusual appearance by a Republican appointee before a group that has aggressively challenged President Donald Trump during its three-month majority.
Powell, appointed by Trump and confirmed by the Senate last year, will appear at the behest of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries of New York, who are focusing the April 10-12 retreat on economic issues.
Jeffries made the announcement Tuesday morning in a Democratic caucus meeting on Capitol Hill.
Other guests announced Tuesday include the husband-and-wife team of singer John Legend and model/author Chrissy Teigen -- both outspoken Democrats -- as well as comedian Jordan Klepper, who previously hosted a Comedy Central parody of right-wing news programs and is set to debut a new talk show on the network later this year. Also appearing are Kara Swisher, editor of the technology-focused news website Recode, as well as the heads of several labor unions.
The Democratic retreat, set to be held in Leesburg, Va., was rescheduled from its original mid-February date because of the lengthy government shutdown. It now falls just as Democrats reach the 100-day mark for their majority.
-- The Washington Post
Family seeks to toss opioid-crisis suit
The family that controls OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma has asked for the dismissal of a Massachusetts lawsuit that alleges the company fueled the opioid epidemic, arguing that the claim relies on false assertions.
In a motion delivered to Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey on Tuesday, lawyers for members of the Sackler family argue that Healey's lawsuit contains "misleading and inflammatory allegations" and takes internal company emails out of context in alleging that the Sackler family and Purdue deserve accountability for the addiction and deaths that opioids have spread across the country.
"We are confident the court will look past the inflammatory media coverage generated by the misleading complaint and apply the law fairly by dismissing all of these claims," Sackler family members said in a statement released Tuesday.
Healey's lawsuit, filed in June, alleges that individual members of the Sackler family engaged in acts of deception and misconduct to make as much money as possible from sales of OxyContin, a powerful prescription painkiller. Healey accuses the family of disregarding addiction and safety in the name of profit, alleging members of the family directed sales representatives to push high doses of the drug while knowing its potential dangers.
-- The Washington Post
Business on 04/03/2019