Category: 3. Business

A Northern Colorado company, based in Berthoud, is helping major brands around the world produce more eco-friendly packaging and products. Living Ink Technologies, founded by Colorado State University graduates, is continuing to grow its operation in the region.

“Living Ink is a waste-to-value company. So, we take biomass waste, we do our thermal treatment, and we make an alternative to carbon black,” said Scott Fulbright, CEO and cofounder of the company.

Carbon black is found in most products and packaging that contain black ink. Fulbright said carbon black requires petroleum to create and is less eco-friendly than the alternative ink they are creating.

To create an alternative option, Living Ink has found a method to create black ink from waste created by other companies and humans, via biomass.

“Biomass like algae, like spent yeast from breweries and things like that,” Fulbright said.

Living Ink Technologies has partnered with companies like those that produce Budweiser beer. The company sends Living Ink their spent yeast, and then the team in Berthoud helps flip the product into a sustainable and reliable black ink.

Living Ink’s product has already been used in major brands like Nike and Patagonia.

Currently, Fulbright admits that his product does come at a more expensive cost than carbon black ink. However, he said they are working on a trajectory that would make it more affordable and appealing to companies beyond their branding of being eco-friendly.

“We do think we can compete, and potentially undercut traditional carbon black, as we use these different waste streams in our process,” Fulbright said.

Fulbright said his team has moved around Colorado, but found home in Berthoud thanks to the talent pool in the region.

“We ended up in Berthoud because there is a great talent pool in Fort Collins, and there is a great talent pool in Denver and Loveland,” Fulbright said.

Fulbright said his company hopes to one day be able to work, in part, out of the Budweiser facility in Fort Collins. He said, by working directly in the facility, they could make a more cost-efficient way of flipping the company’s spent yeast and turning it into the ink on their packaging, all in-house.

“So, we are working with their Fort Collins facility right now, and we are taking some of their spent grain and yeast from their process as our feedstock,” Fulbright said. “Ideally, making them more profitable and sustainable in their overall manufacturing cost.”

While overall casino gambling revenue was down slightly in November compared with October, revenue from sports betting set an all-time record.

According to the latest report from the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission, the state’s five racetrack casinos brought in just over $1.5 million in total sports betting revenue in November. That was about 25% higher than the previous record of $1.2 million set in November 2024.

As is the case just about every month, the WarHorse casinos in Omaha and Lincoln accounted for most of that revenue, about $1.2 million, but other casinos also saw strong sports betting interest.

Grand Island Casino Resort topped $200,000 in monthly sports betting revenue for the first time ever in November, a number that was nearly 80% higher than a year ago.

Vince Fiala, general manager of the Grand Island Casino Resort, said this time of year college football is the big driver of sports betting interest.

“I can tell you that during the fall … we take a lot of bets on college football,” Fiala said.

He said that by far the most popular football bet is a parlay, where bettors try to predict the outcomes of several games.

“Here for us, the parlays are probably the biggest thing, when you bet two or three different things, because the odds of winning are a little bit higher, but the payouts are a lot higher, too,” Fiala said.

He also credited the rise in sports betting revenue to more casinos in the state and expanded sports betting operations. For example, when the previous record was set in November 2024, Lake Mac Casino & Resort in Ogallala didn’t exist, and some other casinos were still operating in temporary spaces or in spaces that were still being built out.

Grand Island Casino Resort, for instance, didn’t open its fully expanded casino until this past April.

“You know, for us, we opened a new full resort on April 10 of 2025, and with that, we increased the size of our sports book, and we have just two walls of TVs. So that has made a big difference for us,” Fiala said.

Overall, the five casinos had total revenue of $24.1 million last month, making it the third best month ever behind October, which set the all-time record with $24.6 million in revenue, and May, which had $24.2 million.

Total revenue for the year, which stood at nearly $236 million as of the end of November, is on track to end up around $260 million. That would be a nearly 80% increase over the $145.7 million in casino revenue for all of 2024. About $8.1 million of that revenue is from sports betting, up from $4.7 million for all of last year.

[co-author: James Wells]

On 8 December 2025, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a consultation paper (CP25/36) proposing significant changes to the UK’s client categorisation rules in the FCA’s Conduct of Business sourcebook (COBS), as well as streamlining the FCA’s conflicts of interest rules in the Senior Management Arrangements, Systems and Controls sourcebook (SYSC).

The aims of CP25/36 are to better distinguish clients who do not require retail protections, strengthen safeguards where protections are given up, and remove duplication in conflicts rules without changing substantive standards.

Background

CP25/36 follows the FCA’s 2024 Call for Input on Handbook simplification post‑Consumer Duty and the discussion chapter in CP24/24 on potential reforms to EU-derived conduct and organisational requirements. In July 2025, the FCA announced a review of client categorisation and, in September 2025, committed to resetting how wholesale firms distinguish between retail and professional clients. CP25/36 seeks to rebalance risk to support competitiveness while reducing harm from poor practices, such as mis-categorisation.

Client categorisation

Elective Professional Clients

The FCA proposes two routes to elective professional client (EPC) status (excluding local authorities):

1. a wealth‑only route for clients with at least £10 million in investable assets (designated investments and/or cash), requiring informed, signed opt‑out but no qualitative assessment; and
2. a strengthened qualitative route requiring a holistic assessment against specified “Relevant Factors” (including occupational experience, investment history, financial resilience) and prohibiting reliance on self‑certification, click‑through questionnaires, or tick‑box tools. The mandatory quantitative test in COBS 3.5.3R(2) would be removed.

The FCA proposes that clients must actively request EPC status and provide informed consent, with clear disclosure of lost protections and sufficient time to consider implications. In addition, under the proposals firms may only initiate discussions about opting out where there is a reasonable basis to believe the client meets the professional threshold and must not incentivise or pressure clients.

Per Se Professional Clients

The FCA proposes to replace the list of entity types in COBS 3.5.2R(1) with a single concept covering any entity authorised or regulated in the UK or a third country to operate in financial markets and harmonise thresholds for large undertakings across Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) and non-MiFID business. Special purpose vehicles controlled by authorised firms will be expressly included.

Conflicts of interest

SYSC 10 would be streamlined across the UK’s MiFID, Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities and Alternative Investment Fund Managers regimes to reduce duplication, with core duties to identify, prevent and manage conflicts unchanged. Key features include a general proportionality provision, harmonised terminology, a universal gifts and benefits policy, and reinforced guidance that disclosure is a last resort.

Insurance distribution provisions in SYSC 3.3 would be deleted so all distributors follow the streamlined SYSC 10; equivalent changes for full‑scope UK Alternative Investment Fund Managers will commence when HM Treasury revokes the relevant Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive Level 2 provisions.

The FCA also proposes a technical fix to non‑MiFID personal account dealing (COBS 11.7) to align fund exclusions with UK policy and is considering further technical consolidation of personal account dealing rules.

Next steps

The FCA has asked for feedback on CP25/36 by 2 February 2026.

CP25/36 is available here.

Riverfront homes now sell for six times the city median after recording a staggering 29 per cent price jump in one year, highlighting the premium high-end buyers will pay to secure a stake in Brisbane’s dwindling waterfront property.

Place Advisory’s Brisbane Riverfront Property Market Report revealed riverfront home sales in Brisbane averaged $5.8m after the city officially joined the “ultra-prime” club in 2024, recording its first two sales above $20m.

The report analysed the 12 months to October 2025, showing how scarcity and high-net-worth demand had reshaped real estate’s top end.

Hawthorne stood out as one of Australia’s strongest-performing waterfront suburbs, with recent sales averaging more than $12m, including two $20m-plus deals.

Other frontrunners Bulimba and Yeronga had average sale prices of $6.25m and $5.86m respectively.

Sarah Hackett of Place New Farm said the findings reinforced the exclusivity of Brisbane’s blue-chip waterfront belt.

“Buyers know opportunities are incredibly limited, and when quality homes come to market, competition is immediate and decisive,” Ms Hackett said.

The agency had a swelling list of more than 9,000 buyers waiting to secure their slice of the wet stuff, she said, while just 76 detached house sales with river or water frontage were recorded in the 12 months to December 2025.

The city’s residential record was shattered last month with a riverfront knockdown in New Farm changing hands for $25m.

The eye-watering sum was three times what owner Rob Gray, a local developer, had paid for the 688 sqm property just three years prior, with no improvements to it since.

Mr Gray said the site’s five-storey zoning contributed to the high sale.

The co-director of design and build firm Graya said he was already hunting for another riverfront site.

“I genuinely think I am going to regret selling it, because when I look back at this in five, ten years’ time it will look like a cheap sale,” Mr Gray said.

“Even though now the sale looks so big, I still think there is so much more growth to come in inner-city riverfront blocks.

“I’ve been looking to acquire another one in the last year, and noone is willing to sell which really highlights just how scarce those protected view corridors and ridge lines really are.”

Ms Hackett said riverfront homes were attracting a very broad buyer pool, from local families upgrading long-term to interstate buyers who saw Brisbane as exceptional value compared to Sydney and Melbourne.

“There’s a confidence in this part of the market that hasn’t wavered. Even when broader conditions fluctuate, prestige riverfront homes continue to set their own benchmarks.

“Even both of my $20m-plus sales received competitive bidding. I have never seen such a tightly held market with such growing demand,” she said.

Auctioneer Justin Nickerson, of Apollo Auctions, said properties along Brisbane’s inner-east river bends were marked by short campaigns and very high clearance rates.

Historically, waterfront properties attracted 80–120 per cent premiums over non-waterfront homes, with Brisbane’s riverfront now firmly in line with this elite category in company with Sydney Harbour and other coveted global markets.

“It is a given that people are attracted to living by the water, and particularly in Queensland being a state with an active, outdoor lifestyle we find buyers will always gravitate to waterfront properties when they come to auction,” Mr Nickerson said.

“In Brisbane, that means the river since you don’t have beachfront, so those properties do attract a lot of interest and the demand is heightened when they are close to amenities like cafes.”

Place Advisory’s Damian Hackett said no new vacant riverfront land sales were recorded in 2024, confirming the corridor was effectively built out.

“What’s driving resilience is scarcity. There is virtually no new detached riverfront supply coming online, and most future stock will only emerge through knockdown-rebuilds or complex redevelopment,” Mr Hackett said.

“Even if broader transaction volumes moderate, our data suggests pricing for high-quality riverfront homes is likely to remain resilient, supported by long-term demand and absolute land scarcity.”

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The supply pipeline for true riverfront remained constrained, with rising construction costs and funding hurdles slowing project timelines.

New stock would largely be delivered via capital-intensive infill redevelopment, including large-scale apartment projects at Newstead and Bulimba Barracks.

“With Brisbane house prices up strongly over 2025 and the city tracking towards the 2032 Olympic Games, the underlying drivers of prestige riverfront demand remain in place: interstate migration, upgrading local households, and high-net-worth buyers consolidating in scarce absolute frontage,” Mr Hackett said.

BEIJING  –  China has achieved breakthroughs in industrial technological innovation in 2025, with the core artificial intelligence (AI) industry exceeding 1 trillion yuan (about 142 billion US dollars) in scale, according to a national conference on industry and information technology held on Friday. As part of its 2026 agenda, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology emphasised cultivating and expanding emerging and future industries, as well as supporting AI research and development, according to the conference.

Efforts will be made to develop new pillar industries, including integrated circuits, new display technologies, new materials, aerospace, low-altitude economy, and biomedicine.

The ministry expected the total added value of large industrial enterprises to grow 5.9 percent year on year in 2025.

From January to November this year, the value added of large high-tech manufacturing and equipment manufacturing enterprises increased by 9.2 percent and 9.3 percent year on year, respectively, according to official data.

China has cultivated more than 600,000 technology and innovation-driven small and medium-sized enterprises, and the number of high-tech enterprises has reached 504,000.

Li Lecheng, minister of industry and information technology, said that efforts should be made to consolidate the steady, positive momentum of the industrial economy and to enhance the independent, controllable development of industrial chains.

Millions of people across the globe celebrated Christmas on Thursday. And once presents are opened and decorations come down, families are left with overflowing trash bags. 

Miriam Holsinger, co-president and COO of Eureka Recycling, says taking the extra time and care when tossing holiday trash can make a big difference.

“So often when we’re in a hurry and we’re exhausted from the family gatherings, and we’re just like, ‘Can we just throw it all out for once,’ and you know, anyone who we can convince like no, it really does make a difference if you just take a little extra time to put those boxes and those bottles and cans in the blue bin,” Holsinger said.

She says to recycle like normal, but keep an eye out for things like holiday lights and electronics.

“No old electronics or toys,” Holsinger said. “Holiday lights [are] not something that should go in your recycling cart. With that wrapping paper, anything that’s got those sparkles or the metals or the glitter, those are also items that we’re not able to recycle.”

She also says ribbons cannot be recycled because they can cause processing machines to malfunction. WCCO also spoke with Abigail Sztein of the American Forest and Paper Association, who echoed Holsinger’s ribbon guidance and also warned against trying to recycle bows and tinsel.

“Some places will even call them ‘tanglers.’ We would prefer you take those out, put those in the trash or reuse them,” Sztein said.

Sztein also gives the green light to recycle cardboard boxes and mailers — even if covered in labels and tape — as well as tissue paper and some types of wrapping paper.

“If you scrunch the paper up and it stays scrunched, that is paper and it can go in the bin. If it expands again, that should go in the trash,” Sztein said.

As for plastic bags, Sztein said grocery stores typically have bins for recycling them.  

Trees and greenery

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture is also urging proper disposal of your holiday trees and greenery to mitigate the spread of disease and invasive species like boxwood blight, elongate hemlock scale and roundleaf bittersweet. 

Follow these tips:

• Use a curbside tree collection service or a designated drop-off site.
• Contact your waste disposal company, city or county for their services.
• Never throw your trees and greenery into wooded areas.
• Check the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s map of yard waste compost locations, and confirm if your location accepts trees and greenery.
• You can toss decorative greens and wreaths in your trash bin if need be.
• And if all else fails, you can burn your trees and greenery — but first check the current fire danger conditions and your community’s local burn rules.

State officials are asking anyone who believes their trees or greeneries are infested or diseased to call their Report a Pest line at 1-888-545-6684.

Erin Hassanzadeh and

Stephen Swanson

contributed to this report.

CHERRY HILL, N.J. (WPVI) — The week after Christmas is one of the busiest shopping periods of the year, and Friday was no exception at the Cherry Hill Mall.

According to the National Retail Association, 70% of consumers plan to shop during the week immediately following Christmas. Top reasons include taking advantage of post-holiday sales and using gift cards received during the holidays.

Cherry Hill Police are assisting mall security as crowds grow throughout the day.

A parental supervision policy is in effect after 2 p.m., requiring anyone under 17 to be accompanied by an adult.

The mall opened at 10 a.m. and will remain open until 7 p.m.

Action News caught up with shoppers who came out for everything from exercise to returns and big deals.

“Got my parents out today so they can do some walking and do some shopping,” said Martina Tucker of Voorhees, N.J.

“Our Keurig is broken,” said Ed Gallagher of Pennsauken, N.J., who scored a great deal on a new one with husband Gary Ward.

Mye Chapman of Voorhees told us she was returning a gift for her son: “He just kind of looked at it and laughed, so this is a return.”

As crowds continue to hunt for bargains and make returns, retailers expect strong post-holiday traffic through the weekend.

LOS ANGELES— Conservation groups have sued the Trump administration for taking over the regulation of the Las Flores Pipeline System and rushing this week to approve Sable Offshore Corp.’s pipeline restart plan and application for an “emergency” waiver from federal safety regulations.

The groups condemn the administration’s blatant attempt to circumvent California regulators and fast-track the restart of Santa Ynez Unit oil production using this defective pipeline system, which has been shut down since the massive 2015 Refugio State Beach oil spill.

“Sable and the Trump administration are running roughshod over transparency, environmental review, and pipeline safety requirements,” said Julie Teel Simmonds, senior counsel at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Offshore drilling is one of the most dangerous businesses there is for both people and wildlife, and no one should be cutting corners or playing games with California’s coast.”

The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday by the Center for Biological Diversity on behalf of itself and Wishtoyo Foundation and the Environmental Defense Center on behalf of itself and Get Oil Out!, Santa Barbara County Action Network, Sierra Club, and Santa Barbara Channelkeeper.

The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration approved Sable Offshore Corp.’s restart plan on Dec. 22, after it reclassified the onshore pipelines that start in Santa Barbara County and terminate in Kern County as “interstate” on Dec. 17. This change was PHMSA’s attempt to move the pipeline from the State Fire Marshal’s oversight to the PHMSA’s.

On Tuesday PHMSA issued an emergency special permit to Sable, waiving compliance with certain federal pipeline safety regulations. The agency contended this action was justified under President Trump’s national energy emergency. The environmental groups are requesting the court to grant an emergency stay of PHMSA’s decisions.

These PHMSA approvals blatantly violated the Pipeline Safety Act and the National Environmental Policy Act in failing to follow the required public process, conduct the necessary environmental review, or make the required findings about pipeline safety or the so-called emergency, according to the lawsuit.

The onshore pipelines are part of what’s known collectively as the Santa Ynez Unit, which also includes offshore pipelines, three offshore platforms, and onshore processing facilities at Las Flores Canyon. The drilling unit had been shut down for 10 years since a corroded onshore pipeline failed, spilling what is believed to be more than 450,000 gallons of oil onto the coast.

The May 19, 2015, spill at Refugio State Beach near Santa Barbara ravaged 150 miles of the California coast. The oil polluted thousands of acres of shoreline and habitat and killed hundreds of animals, shutting down beaches and fisheries.

Sable purchased the SYU in 2024 and has generated numerous notices of violation, cease-and-desist orders, and criminal charges as it has worked to try to restart oil operations and resuscitate the failed onshore pipeline system. Sable announced in May that it had resumed oil production and was storing that oil in onshore tanks while it sought a full restart of the onshore pipelines.

The company has hit other roadblocks in its efforts to restart, including Santa Barbara County’s recent denial of its application for the transfer of Exxon’s permits for the onshore infrastructure, citing “systemic non-compliance” with the law and other reasons. Sable still needs other approvals from California agencies to restart the onshore pipelines, including a new easement across Gaviota State Park.

The Center and Wishtoyo Foundation sued the California Office of the State Fire Marshal in April 2025 for waiving safety rules for the pipeline. They also have active lawsuits against the U.S. Department of the Interior for failing to require updated development and production plans for oil drilling at the Santa Ynez Unit and for rubberstamping extension of the offshore leases despite shuttered production.

The lawsuit was filed in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.