Brooke Shields

is union president

Brooke Shields has taken over America’s stage actors’ union at a moment of crisis. While showgoers have flocked back to concerts and sporting events, live theater attendance still lags pre-pandemic times, sidelining the industry longer than others shuttered by the coronavirus pandemic. The storied Actors’ Equity Association union, representing 51,000 stage actors and managers from Broadway to San Francisco, is also fighting a high-profile battle for its first contract for Disneyland Resort performers in Anaheim, California. And there’s an ongoing strike against theaters for higher pay for shows in development. Plus, the union’s top legislative priority is to get Congress to rewrite tax policy so that unreimbursed business expenses are tax deductible again, a 2017 change that hit the industry hard. “It’s usually money that is the factor that gets us shafted,” Shields, 59, said in an interview with The Washington Post. “What I have come to see is that those that can [afford it] really seem to give the least at times.”

Startup to build

e-sports boats

A 23-foot boat hurtling along a Northern California river at speeds of up to 40 miles per hour looked like other vessels but didn’t have the familiar roar. It was a different breed of boat, one powered by electricity instead of gasoline. Unencumbered by the din and smell, the boat’s passengers could chat with a person water skiing behind them. It’s a rare scene that could become more frequent as entrepreneurs set out on a voyage to electrify sports boats. As Tesla did with its first car 16 years ago, California startup Arc Boats is starting with luxurious vessels likely to appeal to a small and affluent audience.

Firms seek new

way to grow cocoa

From California to Israel, companies are aiming to grow cocoa beyond the tropics in a bid to buffer chocolate’s key ingredient from climate change. In addition, those concerned with the impact of rising temperatures on the future of cocoa are crafting chocolate-tasting alternatives using other, more readily available ingredients. The efforts come as the global demand for chocolate rises along with pressures on cocoa-growing farmers in West Africa and Latin America. Climate change is expected to impact cocoa crops around the equator as soils grow drier. The highly sensitive plant already is susceptible to devastating diseases.

VW says it may

close factories

Volkswagen says it’s not getting the cost reductions that it needs — and won’t rule out plant closings in its home country Germany. CEO Oliver Blume is also saying the company is cancelling its job protection promise in effect since 1994 that bars layoffs through 2029. Germany’s industrial union and VW’s top employee representative have sharply criticized the possibility.

— Bulletin wire reports