Ana Lucia Murillo

1 month ago | bizjournals.com | Ana Lucia Murillo

A bill recently introduced to the D.C. Council aims to lessen the burden of swipe fees on retailers and restaurants. The Fair Swipe Act, introduced by Councilmember Charles Allen, D-Ward 6, late last month, would ban credit card processors from collecting fees on tax and tips, eliminating those amounts from the calculus. Currently, D.C. business owners pay what’s called an interchange fee on each credit card swipe, which includes a small percentage of the transaction — generally between 1% and 3%.

1 month ago | bizjournals.com | Ana Lucia Murillo

The end of one program means they can no longer buy staples like chicken, eggs and fruit at steep discounts. Cuts to two federal food programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture are poised to have a severe impact on food banks across Greater Washington, which distribute millions of meals annually and help cash-strapped families make ends meet.

1 month ago | bizjournals.com | Ana Lucia Murillo

Immediately after President Donald Trump won the November election, bankers in Greater Washington were confidently claiming his return to the White House would be a boost for business. They anticipated looser regulation would lead to more mergers and acquisitions, open up lending opportunities and lower their operating costs after a challenging few years marked by rising interest rates and weakening commercial real estate portfolios driven by falling office values.

1 month ago | bizjournals.com | Ana Lucia Murillo

“We have seen anecdotal evidence that there is significant stress in the system for federal government employees," one CEO said. Roughly 40% of Securityplus Federal Credit Union’s 35,000 members are current or former employees of the Social Security Administration or the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services — the federal agencies the credit union has served since it was founded in 1938.

1 month ago | thedailybeast.com | Catherine Bouris |Amethyst Martinez |Ana Lucia Murillo |Rachel Olding

Brad Sigmon, a convicted double murderer, has been executed by firing squad in South Carolina. It’s a first for the state using this particular methodology, and only the fourth time a firing squad has been utilized nationwide since the reinstitution of capital punishment in 1976. Sigmon, who at 67 is the oldest person to be executed in South Carolina, chose firing squad over the two more common methods of lethal injection or electric chair, and was pronounced dead at 6:08 p.m. ET on Friday.