Money

Southwest producers have nearly wrapped seeding operations for the 2016 crop according to the May 17 to 23 Crop Report issued by the Ministry of Agriculture. Seeding is most advanced in the southwest at 90 per-cent, followed by 87 per-cent in the southeast, 84 per-cent in the northwest, 75 per-cent in the northeast and 68 per-cent in the east-central region. …

Less than a month before he was murdered in Sept. 1996, rapper Tupac Shakur had purchased a black 1996 Hummer H1 hardtop pickup. Earlier this month, it was sold during RR Auction’s Marvels of Modern Music online auction for $337,144. Like any self-respecting Hummer H1 owner, Shakur wasn’t going to let this one go unpersonalized. Additional features, according to RR …

TD Bank has pulled the plug on its Penny Arcade coin-counting machines, the bank said Thursday. “Offering free coin-counting to our customers has been a long-standing service at TD,” Michael Rhodes, head of Consumer Bank for TD Bank said in a statement. “However, recent accounts regarding the performance of our penny machines have led us to reassess this offering.”

A big diamond known as the Oppenheimer Blue has set a new auction record, reaching a price of $50.6m. The Oppenheimer Blue, at 14.62 carats, was estimated to be worth as much as $46m. The stone now belongs to a private collector after a 25-minute battle between bidders on three continents, Christie’s said after Wednesday’s sale. The gem is named …

Taco Bell is trading in its one-size-fits all restaurant design for more modern upgrades. The chain, which is a unit of Yum! Brands Inc., will be testing four new design concepts as the company aims to open 2,000 new restaurants in 2016. The Irvine-based Mexican fast-food chain is testing four new restaurant designs that represent its next generation of stores. …

Apple Pay is expected to gain major momentum in Canada after five of the country’s major banks announced partnerships with the mobile payment system. Apple has announced that its tap-to-pay service is now available through a much, much wider range of providers. Right now, you can use it through heavyweights CIBC and RBC (both credit and debit cards) as well …

Woman With Breast Cancer Wins The Lottery TWICE In Three Months. Gina Short, of Mecklenburg County, has another reason to keep smiling and celebrating each day. Gina beat the lottery odds of 1 in 2.7 million to win the top All or Nothing Prize of $250,000. You could say luck is on Gina’s side because this is the second time …

A legal challenge over media mogul Sumner Redstone’s mental competency goes to trial in Los Angeles on Friday. The outcome will have implications far beyond the small Los Angeles courtroom where the trial will examine Redstone’s mind and the inner workings of his mansion in recent months. The 92-year-old through his company National Amusements controls CBS Corp. and Viacom Inc., …

The federal agency responsible for monitoring money laundering across the country said that it has fined a Canadian bank more than $1.1-million for failing to report a suspicious transaction, a hefty penalty that is designed to send a message of deterrence in the financial sector. The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, or FINTRAC, published an overview of …

Cara to buy the Quebec-based fast-food rotisserie chicken chain for C$537 million. Cara Operations Limited, the Ontario-based company that owns restaurant brands like Swiss Chalet, Kelsey’s Neighbourhood Bar & Grill, Harvey’s, Milestones Grill and Bar, and Montana’s Cookhouse, purchased Quebec’s iconic St-Hubert chicken brand today for just over half a billion dollars. The Wall Street Journal reports that the juggernaut …

The federal broadcast regulator has cleared the way for Corus Entertainment Inc.’s $2.65-billion acquisition of Shaw Media, removing the final obstacle to a deal that endured a public dissection at the hands of shareholders. “We are very pleased with the CRTC’s decision to approve the acquisition of Shaw Media by Corus Entertainment,” said Doug Murphy, President and Chief Executive Officer, …