Tucson Arizona

Freedom Communications said Wednesday that it has finalized an agreement to sell the East Valley Tribune in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa to a com...

CARSON CITY, Nev. — A new report shows Nevada's Reno-Sparks region is the nation's hardest hit area when it comes to construction jobs lost in the recession.

The report released Wednesday by the Associated General Contractors of America ranks the metropolitan area 337th based on the percentage of construction jobs gained or lost in the past year.

From August 2008 to August 2009, Reno lost 35 percent of its construction work force.

The area of Duluth, Minn., and Superior, Wis., did only slightly better, followed by Tucson, Ariz., Wenatchee, Wash., and Redding, Calif.

On the other end of the spectrum, construction employment in Columbus, Ind., grew 14 percent. Other spots that improved include Anderson, Ind., Tulsa, Okla., Longview, Wash., and Baton Rouge, La.

Qwest Communications International Inc. is doubling its top Internet download speeds in some areas to keep up with the offerings of cable companies.

The phone company said Monday it is introducing a plan with download speeds of up to 40 megabits per second and upload speeds of up to 20 mbps in parts of 15 cities, including Denver; Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz.; Salt Lake City; Seattle and Vancouver, Wash.; and Minneapolis/St. Paul.

It costs $110 per month for the first year when combined with home phone service.

Qwest aims to add more areas in the next few months. It's also offering higher upload speeds to existing customers in the upgraded areas: up to 5 mbps for $5 per month. Higher upstream speeds are useful for online backups, sharing of large files and video conferencing.

Cable companies are rolling out a new cable-modem technology this year, allowing them to offer download speeds of 50 mbps, and in some places, even more.

Nissan will introduce zero-emission vehicles in the United States in 2010, starting with a 5-passenger compact vehicle that will have a range of 100 m...