Median compensation for the CEOs of some of North Carolina's largest publicly traded companies rose 14 percent last year - and figuring out how the executives are paid is even tougher than ever. "Executive pay packages are more complicated than ever, tied to an array of performance targets like 'return on non-cash average assets' with components such as 'performance share rights.'"
Proposed natural gas pipeline expansions could delay fracking in North Carolina and boost the economy in the eastern part of the state. Two companies have proposed a new interstate transmission line that would transport natural gas from the Marcellus Shale to Duke Energy power plants, among other customers, "creating temporary construction jobs and boosting property tax revenues for cash-strapped governments" in rural counties.
About 30 gunmen opened fire on a group of soccer fans watching the World Cup in Kenya last night. Officials say Somalia's al Shabaab Islamist group is likely to blame for the massacre, which killed at least 50.
Starbucks announced it will pay for two years' worth of tuition for its baristas to take online courses at Arizona State University. Juniors and seniors will get full rides; freshmen and sophomores will be offered partial scholarships. "The so-called Starbucks College Achievement Plan is for employees who work at a company-operated store for an average of at least 20 hours a week, which Starbucks says covers the vast majority of its 135,000 U.S. staffers."