Andrew Schneider

The business of pop culture conventions is exploding, with comic cons and other animation and pop culture gatherings taking place every weekend at cities around the country.

About 1.6 million tons of carbon dioxide will be captured annually from a coal-burning power plant near Houston. Then the CO2 will be injected into a nearby oil field to help boost crude production.

States like Texas are enjoying a boom in commercial construction but there aren't enough skilled workers. Companies have little choice but to offer higher pay and bonuses to attract and keep workers.

When goods arrive in Houston, they may come in containers stacked high on huge ships or strung out on long lines of rail cars. But to get to the customer, those goods need to be put on trucks and driven to their final destinations.

And now with the oil and ...

As August begins, retailers are stepping up sales promotions to attract back-to-school shoppers. And several states are offering tax-free shopping to encourage purchases.

But most economists say this year's sales will be slower than last summer's because consumers have been coping with more expensive gasoline and higher payroll taxes.

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Supplies of oil have been surging this year, and U.S. drivers, who have been switching to more fuel-efficient cars, are using less gasoline.

That would seem to be the right economic combination to push down prices at the pump, but gasoline prices have remained stubbornly high this summer.

Even some ...