Monday’s business headlines

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Here’s a look at Monday’s business headlines.

The nicest place

Reader’s Digest has named the 50 finalists of its third annual search for “the nicest place in America,” a national crowd-sourced effort to uncover places where people are kind and treat each other with respect in an area of cultural and political divides.

In Florida, it’s The Villages, where it says the residents remember the young men and women serving overseas by sending them goody bags chocked full of treats.

America will vote on which of these finalists will get a cover story in the November issue of Reader’s Digest magazine.

Tariffs affecting weddings

President Trump’s proposed higher tariffs on goods from China would devestate the U.S. wedding industry, which relies heavily on imported fabric and trims to create its designs.

Industry trade representatives told lawmakers that the U.S. bridal industry could be out of business in a year if a 25% tariff is enacted.

Even gowns that are made in America rely on China for silk and other specialty fabrics and trims.

T-Mobile and Sprint

A highly-anticipated verdict by the Justice Department on T-Mobile’s proposed $26 billion merger with Sprint is taking longer than anticipated.

The decision isn’t now expected until toward the end of next week.

At stake is a $26 billion deal to combine the nation’s third and fourth largest cellular providers, creating a massive new company with as many as 127 million customers.

Bee population

New data show the U.S. honeybee population is still dying in record numbers.

Over the last year, American beekeepers reported losing about 41% of their honeybee colonies, a 3% increase in the loss recorded in the same period for 2017, that’s according to the University of Maryland.

The 2018 winter colony loss hit an all-time high.