A Chicago Dunkin’ employee was arrested Saturday after an Illinois state trooper accused him of spitting into his coffee.

The incident at a Dunkin’ location near Chicago Midway International Airport allegedly occurred Thursday night when the unidentified trooper ordered a large black coffee and looked inside, according to a statement from Illinois State Police.

“Due to the coffee being extremely hot, the Trooper removed the lid from the top of the cup of coffee in order to cool it down,” state police said. “The Trooper observed a large, thick piece of mucus which was later confirmed to be saliva, floating inside it.”

State troopers investigated and arrested Vincent J. Sessler the next day, Illinois State Police said. He was in Chicago Police Department custody Saturday, state police said.

Sessler was booked on suspicion of battery on a peace officer, disorderly conduct and reckless conduct, the state department said. It was unclear Saturday night whether he has an attorney.

Illinois State Police Director Brendan F. Kelly said officers and employees were prohibited from patronizing that Dunkin’ location “for their safety.”

“This is outrageous and disgusting,” he said in a statement. “The men and women of the Illinois State Police put their heart and soul into protecting the lives and rights of all people in this state every day. They deserve better than this.”

The allegation was among a number of high-profile claims by police across the country being served adulterated beverages since the in-custody death of George Floyd in May sparked national outcries for police reform.

In June, a New York Police Department union, the Police Benevolent Association, said three officers were sickened by adulterated shakes served to them at a Lower Manhattan Shake Shack. But the NYPD looked into the matter and concluded there was “no criminality” by Shake Shack employees.

Later in June, after an off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer claimed he found a tampon in a Frappuccino he bought at a Target Starbucks, Target said it reviewed security video and did not find anything suspicious.

In this case, it appears Dunkin’ is siding with authorities: The company, formerly known as Dunkin’ Donuts until shortening its name last year, said in a statement to NBC Chicago that the franchise owner fired Sessler.

“Dunkin’ has a deep appreciation for police officers who work tirelessly to keep our communities safe, and the franchise owner has reached out directly to the officer to apologize for the experience,” the company said.

While thousands of other business owners in Minnesota were scrambling to find a bank willing to take their application for the popular Paycheck Protection Program, Minnesota Senate President Jeremy Miller found himself at the front of the line.

His family’s application for a forgivable loan was approved April 3, the same day the U.S. Small Business Administration began taking applications for the program, according to recently released records from the federal agency. Miller’s company, Wm. Miller Scrap Iron & Metal Co., received $200,000, assistance that helped the Winona recycling operation retain 19 jobs, SBA records show.

“I don’t think [my political connections] had any impact on the loan process for Miller Scrap, and I’m confident the bank would say the same thing,” said Miller, noting that his company’s sales were down 60% at the time he sought federal help. “Miller Scrap being a longstanding customer of the bank, that may have made a difference.”

Altogether, 58 politically connected companies in Minnesota received between $64.9 million and $144 million in PPP money, according to the SBA, which released information for all firms that collected at least $150,000. However, the SBA limited the data to certain size categories, such as loans worth $5 million to $10 million, and did not provide exact dollar amounts.

Those 58 companies received a disproportionate share of the largest PPP loans, which were capped at $10 million. At a minimum, the companies received an average of $1.1 million, while the typical small business in Minnesota got $114,209 through the program, federal records show. Most of the officials have made political contributions to congressional or presidential candidates, or political action committees that support those candidates.

The recipients included a technology company owned partly by U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips, a construction firm that owns most of state Sen. John Jasinski’s real estate agency and six board members of Enterprise Minnesota, a consulting firm that helps manufacturing companies on the state’s behalf.

State officials defended their participation in the program, noting they followed all of the rules and used the money as it was intended by maintaining their payrolls at a time of great economic uncertainty. Most officials said the money allowed them to avoid laying off a significant number of employees.

Steven Chies, a member of the Board of Examiners for Nursing Home Administrators whose nursing home company, North Cities Health Care, received $1.9 million in PPP aid, said he even handed out bonuses during a “critical” phase of COVID.

“We didn’t buy a Lamborghini like the guy in Florida did,” said Chies, referring to a Florida businessman who was recently charged with fraud for making false statements on his PPP application and using some of the proceeds to buy a $318,000 sports car.

Officials also denied that their politically appointed positions made it easier to connect with a lending institution. Though other companies had to wait as long as a month or two to complete the PPP process, most of the politically connected firms received approval for their loans in the first week of the program, federal records show.

Mary Ives, who was first appointed to the Higher Education Facilities Authority in 2016, acknowledged that several banks competed for the chance to handle two applications for her hotel companies. She obtained a total of $550,000, with the first loan approved on April 9.

“We had very good treatment by our local banks, and it had absolutely nothing to do with education,” said Ives, whose family owns four hotels in northern Minnesota, including Timberlake lodges in Grand Rapids and Staples. “I doubt the banks even know I was involved in the commission.”

The Star Tribune reviewed the financial disclosure statements of more than 3,000 state officials in Minnesota for this story, ranging from people who serve on local watershed districts to state regulatory boards, as well as state legislators and other statewide officials. The Star Tribune also reviewed the financial disclosure statements of the 10 members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation. To have been included on the politically connected list, the public official either has an ownership interest or serves as a high-ranking executive or director of the PPP recipient.

Minnesota received a total of $11.2 billion, with about 1% flowing to the 58 firms, records show.

Only one Minnesota member of Congress made the list: Phillips, who co-authored legislation that tripled the amount of time small business owners have to spend their PPP money and still have the loan forgiven by the government. Earlier this year, Phillips told the Star Tribune he thought it was wrong for members of the U.S. House and Senate to take PPP money.

However, Phillips acknowledged last week that he invested about $100,000 for a 1% stake in a Minneapolis company, MyMeds Inc., that received $150,000 to $350,000 through the PPP. The loan was approved on the program’s first day. Phillips said he made the investment several years ago. He said he is not involved in the company’s management and was unaware of the loan.

“There’s a big difference between being an investor and an owner or operator,” said Phillips, adding that he stopped discussing his extensive financial holdings with his advisers when he first ran for Congress to avoid any possible conflicts of interest.

Rajni Shah, head of client engagement and business development at MyMeds, said neither Phillips nor his staff provided help on the loan. MyMeds is a technology company that provides medication support.

“His name was not used in any way,” Shah said.

The Star Tribune also found that the wife of U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn, state Republican chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan, received a PPP loan of $1,800. Carnahan used the money to help her small boutique in Nisswa. Carnahan said her husband played no role in helping her get the PPP loan or her business, which she said she founded with her own savings before she married him.

“I’m not an elected official,” Carnahan said. “I’m a small-business owner. It shouldn’t matter who my husband is.”

Most officials at the politically connected companies said they pursued PPP money because of concerns over plunging revenue related to a downturn that has swamped the American economy. At Ives’ hotels, which were closed for three months, the companies lost more than $1 million in event bookings and room occupancies are still hovering at the anemic level of 50%.

Board of Electricity member Duane Hendricks said sales at his Minneapolis construction company, Egan Co., will probably finish the year down 20% from the original forecast. Egan received $5 million to $10 million in PPP money; Hendricks declined to be more specific. The company qualified with exactly 500 employees, the maximum allowed under PPP rules.

“Our business is doing OK,” Hendricks said. “A lot of projects got put on hold and others that were started got put on delay. … We didn’t have the financial capacity to carry us through the downturn with the people we employ.”

However, officials at the Animal Emergency & Referral Center of Minnesota, which received $2.3 million in PPP money, acknowledged they don’t really need the money.

“It’s been crazy busy, which has taken us all by surprise,” said chief marketing officer Heidi Brenegan.

Brenegan said the company sought federal relief shortly after it closed its St. Paul hospital, figuring revenue would plunge. Instead, she said, the caseload for emergency services is up 25% this year over the same period in 2019.

Hospital co-owner Steven Shadwick, who was appointed to the Board of Veterinary Medicine in 2018, said the company will not be seeking forgiveness of the loan. “We don’t think it is the right thing to do,” he said.

The Star Tribune called all of the officials who received PPP money and received responses from most of them. When asked if their public positions helped them obtain public money, some officials laughed. Others became angry. A few said they were glad the Star Tribune was asking such questions.

“If federal money is being used, it is good you guys are checking up on that,” said Katy Graves, whose law firm, Henson Efron, obtained $1 million to $2 million in PPP money. Graves is a member of the Board of Marriage and Family Therapy.

Several board members of Enterprise Minnesota said they didn’t discuss the program before they applied for a PPP loan.

“Any discussion as a board came after the fact,” said Steve Palmer, whose North Central Door Company received $1 million in federal relief. “There was nothing about, ‘How can we do this?’ ”

Several officials distanced themselves from the process, saying other people at their company handled the PPP application and dealt with the bankers.

“I am 71 years old, and I am not active in the business,” said Racing Commission member Alan Gingold, whose company, Lorenz Bus Service, received $1 million to $2 million in PPP money. “I have no connections at the state level that would be useful for my business.”

Sen. Jasinski acknowledged that his real estate company shares ownership and offices with Met-Con Companies, but he said he had nothing to do with the construction company’s PPP application. The Faribault firm received $150,000 to $350,000.

“I don’t even know how much they got,” said Jasinski, who serves as the Senate’s Assistant Majority Leader.

None of the officials acknowledged having any influence over the process or receiving inside information that was not available to the general public.

“Maybe the banks were making decisions on priority customers and maybe they weren’t,” said Minnesota Ballpark Authority member Paul D. Williams, the former deputy mayor of St. Paul who is now president and CEO of affordable housing provider Project for Pride in Living, which received $2.4 million in PPP money. “The whole thing was so fast moving. … It doesn’t strike me as something that I would worry a whole lot about.”

Several kinds of frozen beef and chicken taquitos and chimicangas are included in a new public health alert because they may contain plastic.

The Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service issued the alert Saturday for ready-to-eat products that contain “diced green chilies that have been recalled by the producer, Sun Valley Foods, due to concerns that the products may be contaminated with extraneous materials, specifically hard plastic.”

According to the alert, the “plastic may pose a choking hazard or cause damage to teeth or gums.” 

Select products under José Olé, Casa Mamita and Walmart’s Great Value brand are listed in the USDA notice.

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The USDA is urging consumers not to consume these products and says they should be thrown out or returned. There have been “no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products.”

Hand sanitizer warning: FDA’s list of hand sanitizers to avoid grows again with more than 100 identified that may contain methanol

Ground beef recall 2020: JBS Food Canada recalls more than 38,000 pounds of meat

The products were produced by Ajinomoto Foods North America Inc. in Lampasas, Texas, and San Diego and shipped to retail locations nationwide. The products have the establishment number “EST 5590,” “P5590” or “EST. 17417” printed on the packaging above the expiration date. 

“FSIS is issuing this public health alert out of the utmost of caution to ensure that consumers are aware that these products, which bear the USDA mark of inspection, should not be consumed,” the alert said.

The affected products are:

• 19.2-ounce carton containing 16 pieces labeled as “Great Value Flour Chicken Taquitos Tortillas Stuffed with All White Chicken Meat & Monterey Jack Cheese” with a best if used by date of “11 JUL 2021” and “P5590” printed on the side panel.
• 20-ounce carton containing 20 pieces labeled as “Casa Mamita Beef Taquitos Rolled in Corn Tortillas” with a best by date of “26 JUN 2021” and “EST 5590” printed on the side panel.
• 22.5-ounce carton containing 15 pieces labeled as “Casa Mamita Chicken and Cheese Taquitos Rolled in Flour Tortillas” with a best by date of “26 JUN 2021” and “P5590” printed on the side panel.
• 15-ounce carton containing 15 taquitos labeled as “José Olé Taquitos Chicken and Cheese Pollo Y Queso in Flour Tortillas” with a best by date of “08 JUL 2021” or “18 JUL 2021,” and “P5590” printed on the side panel.
• 20-oz. carton containing 20 taquitos labeled as “José Olé Taquitos Beef Carne De Res in Corn Tortillas” with a best by date of “08 JUL 2021” and “EST 5590” printed on the side panel.
• 22.5-ounce carton containing 15 taquitos labeled as “José Olé Taquitos Chicken and Cheese Pollo Y Queso in Flour Tortillas” with a best by date of “09 JUL 2021,” “14 JUL 2021” or “17 JUL 2021” and “P5590” printed on the side panel.
• 55.5-ounce carton containing 37 taquitos labeled as “José Olé Value Pack Taquitos Chicken and Cheese Pollo Y Queso in Flour Tortillas” with a best if used by date of “15 JUL 2021” and “P5590” printed on the side panel.
• 60-ounce carton containing 60 taquitos labeled as “José Olé Taquitos Beef Carne De Res in Corn Tortillas” with a best if used by date of “9 JUL 2021” or “10 JUL 2021,” and “EST 5590” printed on the side panel.
• 5-ounce individual plastic bag containing “José Olé Chimichangas Loaded Beef Nacho” with a best by date of “15 JUL 2021” and “EST. 17417” printed on the label.

According to the USDA, Ajinomoto Foods North America, Inc. discovered the problem “when they identified pieces of hard plastic in their production process and in a barrel of diced green chilies that was received from their ingredients supplier, Sun Valley Foods.”

Consumers with questions can contact Ajinomoto Foods at 855-742-5011

Follow USA TODAY reporter Kelly Tyko on Twitter: @KellyTyko

TAMPA — The teen accused of masterminding the Twitter hack of the accounts of celebrities and major companies to in an illicit attempt to obtain Bitcoin had his bail set on Saturday:

It is $725,000.

But the defense attorney for 17-year-old Graham Ivan Clark said his client has more than $3 million worth of Bitcoin.

His bail is six times what he’s accused of stealing last month through an elaborate scheme that authorities say unfolded online on July 15. It involved manipulating Twitter employees, taking control of celebrity and company Twitter accounts and reaping $117,000 in the hard-to-track cryptocurrency within a matter of hours.

Authorities say the Tampa teen is the “mastermind” of the plot, in which he used prominent Twitter accounts including former Barack Obama, Bill Gates and Kim Kardashian to solicit for Bitcoin. When he made his first court appearance Saturday, authorities described in greater detail how they say he pulled it off.

Clark was in the county jail, but appeared on a video screen in a small courtroom in front of County Judge Joelle Ann Ober inside the Hillsborough County Courthouse Annex building.

He faces state charges because he is a juvenile, federal authorities say, and was held without bail when he was arrested Friday. Two others involved in the scheme face federal charges in California.

Under Florida law, it would take 10 percent of the bail set Saturday — $72,500 — to free Clark pending trial.

Both sides argued over what would be an appropriate amount of bail for a 17-year-old facing 30 criminal charges.

Hillsborough Assistant State Attorney Darrell Dirks called Florida Department of Law Enforcement Special Agent Corey Monaghan to testify.

The agent said Clark hired 22-year-old Nima Fazeli of Orlando and 19-year-old Mason Sheppard of the United Kingdom “as proxies” to “manipulate” Twitter employees into giving up access to the company’s system. He declined to specify how Fazeli and Sheppard, who face federal charges in the Northern District of California, manipulated employees.

Twitter on Thursday updated a blog post it published after the scheme played out, calling the hack of its systems “social engineering” that targeted “a small number of employees through a phone spear phishing attack” to obtain their credentials and access to Twitter’s systems.

“This attack relied on a significant and concerted attempt to mislead certain employees and exploit human vulnerabilities to gain access to our internal systems,” the company wrote.

The New York Times reported in July that the hacker accessed Twitter’s internal Slack messaging system and gained control of special tools that could be used to take over any Twitter account.

Prosecutors sought bail at $1 million per charge for each of Clark’s 30 counts and argued Florida case law says he must prove the money used to post his bail was legitimately obtained.

“Because, based upon the conduct of this defendant, I believe it’s appropriate to assume that every single penny that this defendant has access to is by ill-gotten gains,” the prosecutor said. “And we’re talking about millions of dollars.”

Defense attorney David Weisbrod denied that his client’s assets were illegally obtained. He explained to the judge that Clark was the subject of a criminal investigation last year conducted by prosecutors in Hillsborough and Santa Clara, Calif. They obtained a search warrant and seized about $15,000 in cash from Clark, plus 400 Bitcoin, Weisbrod said.

When prosecutors declined to charge Clark in April, his defense attorney said, they returned to him the cash and 300 Bitcoin, which is worth more than $3 million. Weisbrod argued that legitimizes those assets.

“I can think of no greater indication of legitimacy than law enforcement giving the money back,” said Weisbrod. He asked the judge to set bail at $20,000.

The judge decided to set bail at $25,000 per 29 counts. For the 30th charge, the judge ordered that if Clark posts bail he must wear an electronic monitor and be confined to his home, except for visits to the doctor or his attorney. The judge barred him from accessing the internet on any device and ordered the 17-year-old to surrender his passport if he has one.

Some of the celebrities who authorities say were hacked by Clark included presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, Jeff Bezos, Mike Bloomberg, Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Wiz Khalifa, Floyd Mayweather, Elon Musk and Kanye West. A handful of companies had their accounts hacked, too, including Apple and Uber. Twitter said the hackers had access to 130 Twitter accounts and tweeted from 45.

Clark faces 17 counts of communications fraud, 11 counts of fraudulent use of personal information and one count each of organized fraud for more than $5,000 and accessing a computer or electronic device without authority.

(Bloomberg) — Marathon Petroleum Corp, the largest U.S. independent oil refiner, said it won’t restart two refineries in California and New Mexico amid concerns that demand for fuels is unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels this year.

Marathon said in a statement it will convert its 166,000 barrel-a-day Martinez, California, refinery near San Francisco into a terminal facility and may add a renewable diesel plant to align with California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standards objectives and Marathon’s greenhouse gas-reduction targets. It will also close the 26,000 barrel-a-day Gallup refinery in New Mexico.

Both refineries were idled in April as Covid-19 decimated demand for refined products like gasoline and jet fuel. Marathon said May 5 during its first-quarter earnings call that Martinez and Gallup were targeted because they are the highest-cost facilities among its 16 refineries. It assumed product demand would improve enough to restart them before the end of the year. Subsequently, gasoline demand briefly improved after a slew of states attempted to reopen their economies around Memorial Day, then stalled as Covid-19 raged anew.

London consultancy Energy Aspects says there is too much global refining capacity and existing refineries will be pressured by new facilities coming online that can operate more efficiently, forcing some shutdowns of older sites. It projects global demand won’t return to pre-coronavirus levels until 2022.

“U.S. gasoline demand may never go back to normal,” Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst and co-founder of Energy Aspects, said in an interview., “Demand is trending low and, if anything, Covid is accelerating that.”

Martinez was also under pressure because California’s environmental regulations add to the cost of operating in its crowded refining market. “The situation in the West Coast market, which was already long refining capacity, has gotten exacerbated by the demand destruction caused by Covid 19,” Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston, said in an interview.

Gasoline demand in California, the state with the most registered vehicles in the country, is about 60 percent of pre-Covid levels, according to California Fuels and Convenience Alliance.

Marathon, which acquired Martinez and Gallup 2018 when it bought rival Andeavor for $23.3 billion, might have been faced with high-cost refineries in its portfolio requiring expensive capital expenditures, Lipow said. “In the face of declining demand, it made more sense to shut them down.”

Gallup’s closure isn’t surprising, said Jon Sudduth, senior North American crude analyst for Energy Aspects in Houston. It is in a very small market and its source of regional crude production has been dwindling as drilling declined, which would have forced Marathon to find another, perhaps more expensive, supply, he said.

The company expects to begin a phased-out reduction of staff at the two refineries in October. Marathon will report second-quarter earnings on Monday.

(Updates with analyst comment in 5th paragraph)

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America’s first coronavirus surge nearly wiped out the summer season on Cape Cod, one of the most popular summer destinations in the US. Now there is talk about a second wave – will this imperil the vacation spot’s escape?

When the pandemic hit the US in March, Sarah Sherman, owner of Hopper Real Estate in Eastham – a holiday home rental business on the Cape – saw her summer season erased with cancellations. But by mid-July, her business had revived – despite the number of cases in the country setting records.

At one point, she scored more than 16 bookings in just two days – a number unheard of in a typical year.

“It’s definitely feeling like summer,” she says.

The return of visitors was a major relief to Ms Sherman and business owners like her across Cape Cod, a peninsula that juts off Massachusetts into the Atlantic Ocean that was made famous as the summer playground of the Kennedys.

Cold and grey in the winter, it is dependent economically on the summer months, when its population doubles and families from across the northeast pour in to sunbathe, cycle and gorge on lobster and fried clams.

As the country went into lockdown, reservations “just stopped”, she recalls. “We were like, ‘Oh my god, what is going to happen?'”

“We didn’t know whether there was going to be a summer.”

That worst case scenario didn’t materialise.

Families with second homes de-camped for extended stays earlier in the year than usual. Renters soon followed, as a long spring in lockdown created pent-up demand, particularly for places like the Cape, to which most visitors travel by car.

By the 4 July holiday weekend – typically one of the busiest in the year – occupancy rates at hotels were above 90%.

But as case counts rise elsewhere in the country, Ms Sherman says it is too early to say if the area’s economy has escaped.

“As we watch the rest of the country spike, we’re like, ‘If that happens here, that could close down the rest of our summer really quickly.'”

Consumer spending stalls

Ms Sherman’s concerns are widely shared.

Economists have warned that consumer spending in the US appears to be stalling, even in places, like Massachusetts, which have so far escaped a sharp rise in cases.

Spending has flattened across the country since the 4 July holiday, and remains down more than 6% since January, according to data from a team of researchers at Harvard University, who found the pullback has been driven by wealthy families and led to significant job loss at businesses in neighbourhoods that cater to such a clientele.

• US retail sales in record monthly rebound
• US firms create record 4.8 million jobs in June

For a place like the Cape, which relies on tourist dollars, the economic impact is likely to be significant, says Karen Dynan, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Wealthy families are more likely to have been spared job and income cuts, which could help spending bounce back when people feel safe again. But it’s not clear how many businesses will be able to survive until then, she says.

“We’re just beginning to see the longer term harm to the economy,” she says.

‘Not as busy’

Many restaurants and other stores are offering off 20% or more, as visitors shop and dine out less.

At Scargo Cafe in Dennis, takeaway and outdoor tables have helped to maintain business, but with a nearby cinema and theatre closed, co-owner David Troutman says it’s nothing like a typical summer, when people pack three deep at the bar and wait for an hour to be seated.

Many of his 73 staff are working part-time and he didn’t hire extra seasonal help.

“Whether it’s a good economy or bad economy or the pandemic, [second-home owners] going to come down here no matter what,” he says. “But people are unquestionably afraid to come into the building …. It’s certainly not as busy.”

The subdued tone is especially evident in Provincetown, a small town on the tip of the Cape whose art galleries and restaurants are typically jammed with visitors.

Mike Carroll, owner of the Schoolhouse Gallery, says he has reduced public hours and cut back his staff from three to one, opting to handle most things himself.

“It’s really good to have a to-do list every day because the news is not good,” he says. “Our visitor population will be down, business will definitely be down and the seasonal aspect of it will definitely make it more acute.”

New economy?

That’s what longtime Cape Cod vacationer Zoe Fishman fears.

Though her family has retreated to its second home on the Cape almost every weekend since March – much earlier than usual – activities have been largely limited to beach-going and pool-time at the grandparents’. And she knows that will take a toll.

“There are definitely major changes to how we spend,” says the paediatrician, who described her economic outlook as “dismal”.

“I hope that next summer will be a summer of a lot of new restaurants. I hope that we’ll see a new sort of economy,” she says. “But I think what we’re probably going to see next summer is a lot of empty places.”

(Reuters) – SoftBank Group Corp <9984.T> will keep a stake in its chip company Arm Holdings Ltd, even if it sells part of it to Nvidia Corp <NVDA.O> or through an initial public offering, the Nikkei Asian Review reported https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/SoftBank2/SoftBank-to-maintain-stake-in-Arm-after-partial-sale.

The Japanese conglomerate is currently negotiating terms with Nvidia after receiving an approach last month, the report said, citing an unidentified source familiar with the matter, adding that it is possible that SoftBank would take stake in Nvidia after it bought Arm.

The report did not mention how much stake the company will retain in Arm.

SoftBank did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that SoftBank was exploring options including a full or partial sale or public offering of Arm.

SoftBank acquired the British chip designer for $32 billion in 2016, its largest-ever purchase, in part to expand into the internet of things, which connects everyday devices from traffic signals to refrigerators to the internet.

In March, it unveiled a 4.5 trillion yen ($42.50 billion) plan to buy back shares and reduce debt.

Under the plan the group has been selling down core assets including stakes in Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba Group Holding <BABA.N> and U.S. wireless carrier T-Mobile US Inc <TMUS.O>.

A sale would not be part of group’s asset monetization program, Nikkei reported.

($1 = 105.8800 yen)

(Reporting by Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru; Editing by Mike Harrison)

Louisiana has taken its first serious enforcement action on a restaurant for violating Gov. John Bel Edwards’ coronavirus rules regarding masks, revoking the food permit of a defiant Denham Springs BBQ restaurant after its owner refused to require masks for employees or customers. 

Health Department spokeswoman Aly Neel said the agency revoked the food permit for Firehouse BBQ after repeated efforts to get the business to comply with mask and social distancing rules in recent days. 

LDH sent a sanitarian to inspect the restaurant after the state received multiple complaints. After handing the owner a report — which included violations of masking for employees and customers, as well as tables not spaced out properly — the owner refused to make changes. 

A copy of the order delivered by the Health Department shows the restaurant is owned by Eunice and Danielle Bunch through God’s Table, LLC. When reached by phone Saturday, an employee of the restaurant declined to comment or connect a reporter with the owner. 

In a Facebook post pinned to the restaurant’s profile, the owner writes that masks are not required, and claims that they have “caused several medical reactions” to employees.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and a wide range of health experts have urged the public to wear masks to limit the spread of viral droplets from the wearer to others. And the White House Coronavirus Task Force has recently said widespread mask usage is one of the few ways to prevent more stay-at-home orders. 

In another Facebook post on Saturday, the business wrote that “despite the attempted enforcement of an illegal mandate, we are conducting business as usual,” with an image of a cartoon character and the words “yes, we’re open.” The post encouraged patrons to “show your support” by patronizing the restaurant to help pay for an attorney “that will be fighting for your rights and ours as citizens.” 

The move represents the first time the Edwards administration has taken serious action against a restaurant in violation of coronavirus rules, which require businesses to have employees and customers wear masks. 

Edwards’ administration has taken a lax approach to enforcing its restrictions so far, hesitating to penalize businesses.

Instead, the fire marshal and Health Department have given businesses several opportunities to comply, operating on a “three-strike” rule.

Neel said the Health Department would wait to take legal action against the business until Wednesday, when a judge is expected to rule in a separate lawsuit brought by several bars in the Acadiana region against coronavirus rules that effectively shut them down.

The state Fire Marshal and Edwards’ administration ordered four bars to close last week after discovering they were allowing large crowds or on-site consumption. Bars have been closed to in-person consumption since earlier in July, when Edwards modified his Phase 2 executive order and shuttered bars and required masks statewide when people are out in public. 

Firehouse is located in Denham Springs, a Republican stronghold represented in the state House by Rep. Valarie Hodges, who has backed efforts to end coronavirus restrictions. 

Firehouse wrote on Facebook that “customers and employees are given the option to wear a mask or not. It is not mandated in our store. As we have been for a while, we are open to dining in customers.” 

Staff writer Jackie DeRobertis contributed to this story.