At , Fortune 500), one of the city’s homegrown oil and gas firms, one crane and two front-end loaders — the kind of heavy machinery normally used to assemble drilling rigs — are being used to help clear rubble from the disaster. They’re being manned by Chesapeake employees, working on the company’s dime.

“Our equipment is designed to work in very austere conditions, and our people are trained for this,” said James Pratt, head of emergency response at Chesapeake. “We get called quite regularly to assist in these large events.”

Chesapeake has also provided about a dozen generator-powered flood lights for the rescue operations.

On Tuesday, the company sent trucks up to a distributor in Wichita, Kansas, that normally supplies its workers with gear such as leather gloves, hard hats and safety glasses. It bought every item the distributor had in stock, and plans to distribute them throughout the affected neighborhoods when people can finally return to sift through whatever is left of their homes.

Throughout Oklahoma City, dozens of businesses have stepped up, offering goods and services to help with the relief effort, according to the local Chamber of Commerce.

, Fortune 500) set up a mobile command center and is offering emergency phones and charging stations. A LaQuinta Inn just west of downtown is giving free rooms to those without a home. The , Fortune 500) in Moore, ground zero for the destruction, is now a shelter for homeless pets.

A local branch of T&W Tire has had up to a dozen service trucks in and around the disaster area, offering free fixes for relief vehicles with tires damaged from all the debris. As of Tuesday morning, the trucks had fixed more than 150 vehicles.

“These emergency responders are working their tails off over there,” said Steve Theissen, a managing partner at T&W. “We need to help keep them going.”

The efforts extend beyond the business community.

The University of Oklahoma housed more than a hundred people Monday night in its dorms, and is serving free food as well. Laptops are set up at the University’s headquarters, a nurse is available to treat light injuries, and activities are being run to keep children entertained.

“This is just part of being from Oklahoma,” said one local resident, noting that the community’s tradition of generosity in times of emergency extends at least as far back the Oklahoma City federal building bombing in 1995. “It’s become known as the Oklahoma Standard.”

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After a morning of debate Tuesday, council voted 40-4 in opposition to any new gaming sites in the city. The four in favour of gaming expansion were Ford and Councillors Giorgio Mammoliti, Vincent Crisanti and Norm Kelly.

The vote came after city manager Joe Pennachetti released new figures showing the city would be paid a $40 million fee for hosting a downtown casino.

That’s far short of the minimum $100 million the city wanted under a revenue-sharing proposal with the province that Ford called a “pretty good deal.”

Ford attacked Premier Kathleen Wynne for what he called a change of attitude at Queen’s Park.

“It seems no deal is good enough for this premier,” the mayor said. “The fact is she simply doesn’t want a casino, at least not in Toronto.”

At Queen’s Park, Wynne brushed off Ford’s criticism.

“I don’t think this is a personal debate between me and any other politician in the province,” Wynne said. “I think this is about a principle, which is municipalities should be able to make this decision.”

Anti-casino forces that have fought a casino for the past year were delighted with the vote.

“We could only hope way back when that this would be the outcome, and the fact it is the outcome, we are ecstatic,” said Peggy Calvert, of No Casino Toronto. “We couldn’t be more ecstatic.”

Mammoliti called the vote “a shame” and said the province needs to act to help Woodbine racetrack fast payday loan.

City staff had suggested increasing the slots at Woodbine to 4,500 machines from 3,000 currently, and adding 150 table games. But council voted 24-20 against any gaming expansion in suburban Toronto.

“We’re disappointed,” said Woodbine president Nick Eaves, who was surrounded in council by 200 casino workers wearing lime green T-shirts with the slogan Woodbine Jobs.

Eaves expressed concern that a major casino could be located in Vaughan, hurting Woodbine.

“If that goes ahead, then Woodbine’s ability to compete will be severely compromised,” he warned.

Ford had tabled a motion that recognized there wasn’t majority support for a downtown casino and urged council to support expanding Woodbine. The motion was defeated 31-13.

Ford’s council speech constituted his first public remarks since reports appeared last week about a video allegedly showing him smoking crack. The mayor made no mention of the controversy. He avoided reporters and left city hall after the vote.

Meanwhile, anti-casino stalwarts on council were happy to comment.

Councillor Joe Mihevc said he was surprised to see the overwhelming 40-4 vote.

“I think what people on council were feeling was the energy and vitality of their residents, who’ve been calling and emailing and pushing the reluctant people in the right direction,” Mihevc said.

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It’s an amount too high for many to imagine. For instance, the municipal budget for Zephyrhills is a little over $49 million. The winning Powerball jackpot is 12 times that.

As of Sunday, whoever has the ticket hadn’t come forward.

Maria Brous, a spokeswoman for the Publix store, said there are a lot of rumours about who won but the store doesn’t know who it is.

“We’re excited for the winner or winners,” said Brous. “We don’t promote or endorse the lottery. We offer it as a convenience.”

Plenty of people in Zephyrhills — population 13,337 — are wondering whether it’s someone they know.

Joan Albertson drove over to the Publix early Sunday morning with her camera in hand, just in case the winner emerged. She said she had bought a ticket at a store across the street, and the idea of winning that much money was still something of a shock.

“Oh, there’s so much good that you could do with that amount of money.” Albertson said. “I don’t even know where to begin.”

Zephyrhills is a small city 50 kilometres northeast of downtown Tampa. Once a rural farming town, it’s now known as a hotbed for skydiving activity, and the home to large retiree mobile home parks and Zephyrhills bottled water. And now one lucky lottery ticket.

The chances of winning the prize were astronomically low: 1 in 175.2 million. That’s how many different ways you can combine the numbers when you play.

But lottery officials estimated about 80 per cent of those possible combinations were in play, which made it almost certain that someone would win.

Estimates had earlier put the jackpot at around $600 million. But Powerball’s online site said Sunday that the jackpot had reached an estimated $590.5 million.

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“We have a new tentative agreement with our 6,700 unionized employees,” said LCBO spokeswoman Heather MacGregor at a press conference. “The ratification process will now be under way. The LCBO board has to approve, as does the government, but we’re happy that a strike has been averted.”

Although details of the agreement won’t be released until both the board of directors and the workers vote on whether to accept it or not, both parties agreed that the deal seems fair to both sides.

“I think the team was able to strike a very fair balance for everybody and our team is unanimously recommending it to the membership for ratification,” said Ontario Public Service Employees Union president Warren (Smokey) Thomas.

It is welcome news for Ontario liquor store workers and tipplers across the province who were anxiously waiting for the marathon talks to conclude. With the assistance of a mediator, the two sides had been negotiating all day under a news blackout.

“We’re very satisfied,” said Denise Davis, chair of the bargaining team for the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU). “We had some modest demands from our members and we feel that we have negotiated a fair and decent settlement with those interests at the table.”

The fact talks were continuing without a break was cause for optimism there may be a settlement, said Craig Hadley, of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union.

If Liquor Control Board of Ontario employees had walked out, it would have been the first strike in the organization’s 87-year history.

A major issue in the talks, according to the union, is increased use of part-timers. The union said that between 2008 and 2012 the LCBO added 981 part-time positions paying an average of $26,000 a year.

Earlier Thursday, Finance Minister Charles Sousa expressed confidence that Ontarians can still drink in the Victoria Day long weekend. Sousa said he was “hopeful both parties can come to an agreement that both the LCBO and the (7,000) employees will be comfortable with.”

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Popular models such as the Honda CR-V, Ford Escape and Jeep Wrangler received only “marginal” or “poor” ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Subaru’s 2014 Forester was the only vehicle to get a “good” rating. The 2013 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport received an “acceptable” rating.

The IIHS tested crashes that cover only 25 percent of a vehicle’s front end. The group’s tests are more stringent than the U.S. government’s full-width front crash test.

IIHS is a nonprofit research group funded by auto insurance companies. It develops crash tests to cut deaths, injuries and property damage from car and truck crashes.

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The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index climbed to 44 this month from 41 in April. It was the first increase since December.

Measures of customer traffic and current sales conditions also improved from April’s reading.

Readings below 50 suggest negative sentiment about the housing market no fax payday loans. The last time the index was at 50 or higher was in April 2006.

Concerns over rising costs for land, building materials and labor have dimmed builders’ confidence in recent months.

Regardless, steady job creation, near record-low mortgage rates and rising home values have spurred sales this year.

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Icahn and prominent Dell shareholder Southeastern Asset Management said last week they want to keep Dell Inc. publicly traded and give shareholders $12 in cash or more shares.

But a Dell board special committee says that proposal comes with many unanswered questions. They say they need more details on financing and who will run Dell, among other items.

An investment group led by company founder Michael Dell offered earlier this year to pay $13.65 per share to take the Round Rock, Texas, company private. Icahn and other shareholders say that price is too low.

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The announcement came the same day federal agents said they found bomb-making materials belonging to a paramedic who helped evacuate residents the night of the explosion. Bryce Reed was arrested Friday on a charge of possessing a destructive device, but officials said they had not linked the charge to the April 17 fire and blast at West Fertilizer Co.

“It is important to emphasize that at this point, no evidence has been uncovered to indicate any connection to the events surrounding the fire and subsequent explosion . . . and the arrest of Bryce Reed by the ATF,” the McLennan County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

The Texas Department of Public Safety said earlier Friday that the agency had instructed the Texas Rangers and the McLennan County Sheriff’s department will conduct a criminal probe into the explosion. The agencies will join the State Fire Marshall’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which have been leading the investigation and never ruled out that a crime may have been committed.

McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara said residents “must have confidence that this incident has been looked at from every angle and professionally handled — they deserve nothing less.” No other reasons for the criminal probe were given.

A criminal complaint unsealed Friday said Reed was arrested after county deputies were called earlier this week to a home near West, Texas, and found bomb-making materials — including a galvanized metal pipe, canisters filled with fuses, a lighter, a digital scale and a variety of chemical powders. “After further investigation, it was determined that the resident had unwittingly taken possession of the components from Reed on April 26,” says the complaint signed by ATF special agent Douglas Kunze.

An ATF explosives specialist and a chemist examined the items and agreed the “combination of parts can be readily assembled into a destructive device,” the complaint says.

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Green Mountain Coffee Roasters announced Wednesday that it will continue its partnership with Starbucks for at least another five years. The two companies have been partners since 2011, when they inked a deal for Starbucks and Tazo-branded single-serve packs to be made and sold for Keurig brewing machines.

Shares for Vermont-based ) rose more than 10% after hours on the news.

Financial terms of the expanded deal were not disclosed, but it puts an end to investor concerns that , Fortune 500) would nix the partnership after introducing its own single serve machine, the Verismo, last year.

Since the original deal, Starbucks has shipped more than 850 million of the Starbucks coffee K-Cup packs, according to a press release. As a part of the new contract, Starbucks will add new brands, including its Seattle’s Best Coffee and Teavana teas, to the product lines Faxless payday loans.

The companies also said they hope to expand global marketing of the products.

“This agreement further strengthens our North American partnership with Starbucks and expands our relationship to explore global single-serve opportunities,” Green Mountain President and CEO Brian P. Kelley said in the statement.

Green Mountain also posted strong quarterly earnings after the bell Wednesday, beating analyst estimates.

The company’s single serve business, which includes Keurig brewers, accessories and single serve packs, grew by 16%, according to the company’s release.

Shares of Starbucks were up slightly after hours.

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The lines discussed ranged from the Scarborough RT and downtown relief subway line to a North York relief line.

City Manager Joe Pennachetti said he knew those discussions were underway even though staff would have preferred that councillors not discuss individual transit projects before the fall, after the provincial government has seen Metrolinx’s recommendations for new tax tools.

He also warned that council would need a 2/3 majority to re-open discussion of replacing the SRT with a subway rather than the planned LRT conversion.

Some Scarborough councillors have made tying new transit taxes to a Scarborough subway a key condition for endorsing revenue tools.

Metrolinx says the region needs to raise $2 billion a year just to build its Big Move regional transportation plan.

City staff is recommending that council endorse a gas tax, sales tax, development charges and a $1 a day commercial parking levy as the first revenue tools.

Those are the taxes Pennachetti said were fairest, given that the tax plan can’t unfairly punish drivers, who in many parts of the city, simply don’t have enough public transit alternatives to leave their cars at home.

Metrolinx and the city have agreed they would wait until the fall to discuss how to pay for the operating costs of new lines, said Pennachetti.

“You’re going to need hundreds of millions of dollars even early in 2025 for operating,” he said.

Ford, who wasn’t in council chambers for most of the transit discussion, spoke to reporters after an appearance at the McDonald’s in the Eaton Centre food court for the food company’s McHappy Day my credit score.

“I don’t want any taxes. We don’t need any taxes. Enough money in government to pay for subways,” he said, then cited examples of waste by the provincial Liberals.

The mayor’s allies, who had tried to stall council on debating transit taxes by deferring the city manager’s report at executive committee, insist that Toronto is being used by the province – that the governing Ontario Liberals should own the tax grab.

“They should be helping out to pay for the transit in the Greater Toronto area. It’s far bigger than any of the municipalities could ever afford. But instead of them coming up with the money they’re trying to make it look like we’re taxing for the money. That really isn’t the case, they’re going to make the decision in the end but they’re just trying to (muddy) the waters,” said Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday.

Some councillors still believe there are measures that should be explored before new taxes, he said.

“There’s other sources of revenue and there’s other efficiencies that still have to be had,” Holyday told reporters.

But council needs to state its position in the regional discussion, said Pennachetti.

“If we don’t give an opinion they may choose tools we don’t like,” he told council.

The debate on transit taxes is expected to continue at council on Wednesday afternoon.

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