School bus manufacturer issues recall over steering

Blue Bird is recalling more than 2,500 All American school buses and some transit buses to fix a problem that could make steering more difficult.

The company also is recalling a smaller number of school buses that may be prone to a propane fuel leak.

It says it has received no injury or accident reports tied to any of these recalls.

Georgia-based Blue Bird Corp. says the steering problem can develop on some buses made between 2011 and last May if a steering shaft clamp comes into contact with a rubber close out boot on the floor. It also is recalling more than 400 transit buses to fix the same problem.

The company also is recalling 388 Vision school buses made in 2012 or 2013 to address the possible fuel leak.

SiriusXM fires program host over ‘abhorrent’ tweets

Anthony Cumia of the “Opie & Anthony” radio show has been fired by SiriusXM, who cited his “racially charged” and “hate-filled” remarks on Twitter as the reason.

SiriusXM spokesman Patrick Reilly said Friday that Cumia’s remarks and postings were “abhorrent” to the satellite radio company. Reilly says the shock jock was fired late Thursday.

In addition to racial remarks, they also included tweets and retweets that were degrading to women.

Cumia’s response Friday on Twitter included an obscenity in relation to SiriusXM. He says he was fired over material that was not aired and was not illegal.

Bureau of Labor Statistics sees gains by public-sector unions

Unions representing government workers are expanding while organized labor has been shedding private sector members over the past half-century.

A majority of union members today now have ties to a government entity – at the federal, state or local levels.

Roughly 1-in-3 public sector workers is a union member, compared with about 1-in-15 for the private sector workforce last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Overall, 11.3 percent of U.S. wage and salary workers are unionized, down from a peak of 35 percent during the mid-1950s.

The typical union worker now is more likely to be an educator, office worker or food or service industry employee rather than a construction worker, autoworker, electrician or mechanic. Far more women than men are among the union-label ranks.

Venezuelan newspaper, El Universal, has been sold

One of Venezuela’s oldest and most prestigious newspapers has been sold amid increasing government pressure on the country’s press.

The editor in chief of Caracas-based El Universal, Elides Rojas, confirmed that a group of Spanish investors had bought the broadsheet from the family that has run the paper since it was founded 104 years ago.

Rojas said he had been assured that the paper’s editorial independence would not be compromised.

— From news service reports