Ohio board gives OK to tax credit for Amazon center

Ohio board gives OK to tax credit for Amazon center

NORTH RANDALL, Ohio

An Ohio board has approved an estimated $7.8 million tax credit for Amazon as the e-commerce giant plans a new fulfillment center outside Cleveland that could employ 2,000 people.

The Plain Dealer reports the Ohio Tax Credit Authority signed off on a 1.35 percent, 10-year tax credit last week in Columbus.

The credit would go toward an 855,000-square-foot building in North Randall, where workers will pack and ship Amazon products.

The building is set to open in 2018.

Mexico’s low wages are under fire at NAFTA negotiations

MEXICO CITY

Mexico’s low wages have become an increasing point of debate as the second round of negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement moved into their fourth day Monday.

The United States has said it wants to tighten labor standards in the 23-year-old trade pact. But Mexico has drawn plants and investments by capitalizing on low wages and weak union rules, and Mexican business and labor leaders appear to be resistant to any attempt to tighten labor standards or ensure that Mexican wages rise.

Mexican and Canadian auto unions have said in a report that Mexican autoworkers earn about $3.95 an hour, which is about one-ninth of average wages north of the border.

Wildfires threaten National Park icons

HELENA, Mont.

Winds wreaked havoc on wildfires that were threatening two crown jewels of the National Park Service on Monday, pushing the flames toward manmade and natural icons in and around Glacier and Yosemite national parks.

The wind-driven fires, combined with high temperatures and dry conditions, have disrupted holiday travel and hampered firefighters across the West during a Labor Day weekend that capped a devastating summer in which an area larger than Rhode Island has burned.

The dozens of fires burning across the West and Canada have blanketed the air with choking smoke from Oregon, where ash fell on the town of Cascade Locks, to Colorado, where health officials issued an air-quality advisory alert.

Poland to seek extradition of gang rape suspects

WARSAW, Poland

Poland will seek the extradition from Italy of the four suspects in the gang rape of a Polish tourist on a beach, Poland’s deputy justice minister said Monday.

Patryk Jaki said the country was planning to open negotiations with the Italian side over extraditing the four, who are also alleged to have attacked the victim’s partner at the Italian resort of Rimini in the early hours of Aug. 26. The four are also alleged to have raped a Peruvian woman on the same night in a separate incident.

Boy’s body found encased in concrete in Kansas house

WICHITA, Kan.

Police are investigating after the body of a small child was discovered encased in concrete inside a rental home in Wichita, Kan.

The landlord was cleaning the house Saturday when he found a concrete structure and noticed an odor coming from it, the Wichita Eagle reported. Police removed the structure and discovered the remains of a 3-year-old boy inside.

Police have not named the child.

Associated Press