Michael R. Blood

Associated Press
Latest in Supply Chain
Modeling AI ROI Like a CFO, Not a Vendor
Sponsored
Modeling AI ROI Like a CFO, Not a Vendor
August 12, 2026
Fiber Optic Cable
Zayo Signs Long-Term Fiber Supply Agreement with Corning
August 21, 2026
Dol
U.S. Ends Labor Dispute With Mexican Auto Parts Maker
August 21, 2026
A mine operated by Serra Verde Mining digs for rare earth elements including neodymium, praseodymium, terbium and dysprosium, which are essential for the production of permanent magnets, in Minacu, Goias state, Brazil, July 28, 2025.
U.S., Others Turn to Brazil for Rare Earths, Raising Environmental Concerns
August 20, 2026
Related Stories
In this Jan. 25, 2017 photo, a truck drives near the Mexico-US border fence, on the Mexican side, separating the towns of Anapra, Mexico and Sunland Park, New Mexico.
Supply Chain
Trade War Could Increase Migration
Ep241 F Bnowlogothumbnail 588b67866650a
Product Development
Army Fires Beretta
Shell Logo svg 588b64ffc2006
Regulation
Nigeria Seizes $1.2B Oil Bloc
Beyond the Dashboard
Sponsor Content
Beyond the Dashboard
More from Michael R. Blood
Financial Storytelling in the Age of AI
Sponsored
Financial Storytelling in the Age of AI
Transforming data-driven presentations into compelling stories that drive actual business decisions.
August 12, 2026
An aerial photo of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, south of Los Osos, in Avila Beach, Calif., is seen on June 20, 2010.
Operations
California Reactors Win Exemption in Fight to Keep Running
The state's largest utility received an unusual exemption that could allow the nuclear power plant to continue running after the expiration of its federal operating licenses.
March 3, 2023
One of Pacific Gas & Electric's Diablo Canyon Power Plant's nuclear reactors in Avila Beach, Calif., is viewed Nov. 3, 2008. The California Energy Commission is holding a three-hour workshop focused on the state's power needs in the climate change era and what role the power plant might have in maintaining reliable electricity.
Regulation
California Officials Ponder Nuclear Future
Nuke or no nuke?
August 12, 2022
In this Oct. 22, 2012, file photo provided by the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, the platforms Ellen and Elly stand offshore near Long Beach, Calif., in the BSEE's Pacific Region. Oil production in federal waters in the Pacific is down 90% over the past several decades and no new drilling leases have been sold in the region since the early 1980s.
Operations
Aging Equipment, Spills Test Ties Between Oil, California
A recent incident has renewed calls to end drilling in coastal waters.
October 15, 2021
Workers in protective suits walk by as dead marine life washed off on a beach after an oil spill in Newport Beach, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2021.
Safety
California Pipeline Likely Damaged Up to a Year Before Spill
Investigators will pore over a year of data on ship movements near the area of the break.
October 11, 2021
This Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2019, photo shows the new Kingpen packaging, center, flanked by the previous packaging in Los Angeles. Bootleggers eager to profit off unsuspecting consumers are mimicking popular vape brands, pairing replica packaging churned out in Chinese factories with untested, and possibly adulterated, cannabis oil produced in the state's vast underground market. As a result of the bootleggers, the company had to change and innovate their new packaging.
Safety
As Illnesses Spread, Fake Vape Gear Sells
The deceptive rip-offs on the street could be linked to an emerging public health crisis.
September 17, 2019
Cannabis
Regulation
California Pot Regulators Struggling
The agency overseeing California's legal marijuana market is struggling to hire staff and set a strategy for the nation's largest cannabis economy, an audit found.
July 18, 2019
In this April 15, 2019, file photo, a vendor makes change for a marijuana customer at Rev-Up a cannabis marketplace in Los Angeles. An alliance of large cannabis businesses in the growing global marketplace has a message for the public: We're good corporate citizens. The 45-member Global Cannabis Partnership that includes Canopy Growth Corp. and other major companies issued guidelines Tuesday, June 18, 2019, aimed at minimizing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting ethical conduct and responsible pot use.
Operations
Weed Industry Sets Goals
The cannabis marketplace "is Wall Street now," said one expert.
June 19, 2019
In this Oct. 20, 2018, file photo marijuana clone plants are displayed for sale by Interstate 5 Farms at the cannabis-themed Kushstock Festival at Adelanto, Calif. When California voters broadly legalized marijuana, they were promised that a vast computer platform would closely monitor products moving through the new market. Sixteen months after the start of broad legal sales, just a few hundred operators are entering data into the track-and-trace system.
Supply Chain
CA Pot Market Not Traced, Tracked
As of last month, just nine retail outlets were entering data into the network established under an estimated $60 million state contract.
May 8, 2019
In this June 27, 2017 file photo, the proprietor of a medical marijuana dispensary prepares his monthly tax payment, over $40,000 in cash, at his Los Angeles store. Congress on Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019, was urged to fully open the doors of the nation's banking system to the legal marijuana industry, a change that supporters say would reduce the risk of crime and resolve a litany of problems for pot companies from paying taxes to getting a loan.
Regulation
Congress Urged to Open Banks to Marijuana
Most banks shun money from the cannabis industry for fear it could expose them to trouble from the federal government, which still considers marijuana illegal.
February 14, 2019
In this Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018, photo, edible marijuana samples are set aside for evaluation at Cannalysis, a cannabis testing laboratory, in Santa Ana, Calif. Nearly 20 percent of the marijuana and marijuana products tested in California for potency and purity have failed, according to state data provided to The Associated Press.
Safety
Many Marijuana Products Failing Safety Tests
The testing has been especially tough on cannabis-infused cookies, candies and tinctures.
September 11, 2018
In this Jan. 6, 2018, file photo, an employee stocks cannabis at a store shortly before its first day of recreational marijuana sales in San Francisco. California cities on Monday, Aug. 13, 2018, objected to a proposed change in state rules that they say would allow unchecked home marijuana deliveries in places that have banned local pot sales.
Regulation
CA Could Reshape Pot Rules
Temporary rules have governed sales, growing and manufacturing since Jan 1. The state is now considering changes to those rules.
August 15, 2018
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau poses for photos with employees as he leaves the offices of Salesforce on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018 in San Francisco.
Supply Chain
Trudeau on Jobs, NAFTA
He said 9 million jobs in America are tied to trade and investment with Canada, and that both countries are "winning."
February 12, 2018
In this photo taken Nov. 28, 2017, Brad Eckenweiler, chief executive of Lifestyle Delivery Systems, poses for a photo while holding cannabis buds from his freezer that will be used to manufacture concentrates in Adelanto, Calif. Lifestyle is what’s known as a “vertically integrated company,” with a hand in every aspect of the business, from producing organic seeds to transportation and over-the-counter sales.
Operations
The Fight to Survive in California Pot
Some fear corporate-level businesses will eventually doom mom-and-pop growers and sellers
December 20, 2017
This Friday, Nov. 3, 2017 photo shows jars of medical marijuana on display on the counter of Western Caregivers Medical marijuana dispensary in Los Angeles. Consumers eager for the coming of California's legal recreational marijuana market should be ready for sticker shock. An array of new taxes and fees will be attached to pot sales, driving up prices.
Regulation
Sticker Shock in Pot Market
It could be up to a 70 percent jump in price.
November 6, 2017