Things To Do In SW Florida

By DEE-ANN DURBIN

PURCHASE, NY (AP) — PepsiCo is cutting prices on Lay’s, Doritos, Cheetos and Tostitos chips this year to win back customers exasperated by years of price hikes.

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“For some consumers, low- and middle-income consumers, the biggest friction they have today in our category… is affordability,” PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta said Tuesday during a conference call with investors. “So we have been testing multiple ways to give them affordability.”

PepsiCo has leaned on price increases as the cost of packaging, ingredients and transportation rose. In the fourth quarter, PepsiCo hiked prices by 4.5% globally. Prices for PepsiCo beverages rose 7% in North America, while prices for the company’s snacks ticked up 1%. read more

By DEE-ANN DURBIN, Associated Press

It’s a tale as old as time, or at least as old as TikTok: chicken nuggets lovingly topped with a dab of caviar.

McDonald’s is embracing the trend this Valentine’s Day with a limited-time McNugget Caviar kit. The free kit, which will be available on McNuggetCaviar.com on Feb. 10, pairs a one-ounce tin of Paramount’s Siberian sturgeon caviar with a $25 McDonald’s gift card to buy McNuggets. McDonald’s is even throwing in some crème fraiche and a caviar spoon.

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Valentine’s Day is big business for U.S. restaurants. It’s the second-most popular holiday for dining out after Mother’s Day, according to the National Restaurant Association. read more

By MAE ANDERSON, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The Small Business Administration said in a policy note that green card holders won’t be allowed to apply for SBA loans, effective March 1.

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The move is the latest by the SBA as it works to tighten loan restrictions and restructure the agency.

Last year, it tightened a requirement that businesses applying for loans must be 100% owned by U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, or lawful permanent residents, up from a 51% standard.

In December, it issued a policy note that said up to 5% of a business could be non-citizen owned. But the current policy rescinds that, as well as making lawful permanent residents ineligible, too. read more

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Higher-income Americans and those with college degrees have ramped up their spending more quickly in the past three years than other consumers, according to new data released Tuesday, evidence of worsening inequality that may explain some of the growing pessimism about the economy.

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The data, released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, also show that in the final three months of last year, lower-income and rural households faced higher inflation than higher-income households. The spending data focuses only on goods excluding autos, and does not capture likely spending by higher-income households on travel, restaurants and entertainment. read more

SpaceX has halted launches of its Falcon 9 rockets after an issue from a mission flown from California on Monday.

The Starlink launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base managed to get to space and deploy its payload, but the second stage had issues as it prepared for its normal deorbit burn.

“The vehicle then performed as designed to successfully passivate the stage,” SpaceX stated on its website.

After the upper stage separated from the first stage with no issues, the rocket performed two normal engine burns and its 25 Starlink satellites made it to their intended orbit. Meanwhile, the first stage, making its 31st flight, had no issue landing as planned on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You stationed in the Pacific.

The second stage normally would be brought down safely over the ocean. But instead of performing a burn to get it into the desired deorbit position, it instead vented its propellant and began to drop in altitude.

Astronomer Jonathan McDowell, who tracks thousands of orbital satellites and rockets, said late Monday the errant stage had been cataloged by the Space Force and should reenter Earth’s atmosphere quickly. read more