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Amazon Cutting 9,000 More Jobs; iRobot Facing Opposition

| Mike O'Brien

More bad Amazon news: 9,000 additional layoffs are planned on top of 18,000 previously announced, and there are efforts to block the $1.7 billion iRobot acquisition here and in the EU. On the plus side, the FTC reportedly won’t block Amazon’s purchase of One Medical, but reportedly not for lack of evidence of anticompetitive behavior.

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USPS Getting EVs from Ford, Diesels from Chrysler

| Mike O'Brien

The U.S. Postal Service has awarded Ford a contract to deliver 9,250 electric delivery vehicles, while ordering an equal number of diesel-powered Dodge Ram vans to fill its immediate needs, plus 14,000 charging stations from three separate firms. Overall, the USPS will purchase at least 66,000 EVs between now and 2028, or 62% of the total fleet.

Small Retailers Address Need for Marketplace Fairness Act

| Erin Lynch

The National Retail Federation has released a short video featuring small retailers from across the country expressing the online disparity between Main Street retailers and internet retailers, along with the “urgent” need for Congress to address the Marketplace Fairness Act.