In Brief: U.S. says it won’t challenge Expedia’s purchase of Orbitz

NEW YORK – The Justice Department won’t challenge travel booking site Expedia’s $1.3 billion purchase of competitor Orbitz, saying the deal is unlikely to hurt consumers or reduce competition.

The agency said Wednesday it does not think Expedia will raise the commissions it charges to hotels, airlines and car rental companies or charge new fees to consumers.

Expedia agreed to buy Orbitz for $12 per share in February, and Orbitz shareholders approved the sale in May.

Expedia, of Bellevue, Washington, owns Expedia.com, Hotels.com, Check Tickets, Trivago, Hotwire.com and Travelocity. Orbitz, of Chicago, owns HotelClub.com, Orbitz.com and CheapTickets.com.

Colorado pot tax break saves grower big bucks

DENVER – Tim Cullen smiled when he reckoned a one-day marijuana tax holiday in Colorado had probably saved him tens of thousands of dollars.

Cullen, the owner of Colorado Harvest Co., a chain of marijuana dispensaries, was among the many growers and shoppers who benefited Wednesday from a quirk that required the state to suspend taxes for a day.

While shoppers saved roughly $20 an ounce, or about 33 cents per joint, pot growers saved $300 a pound.

The odd tax waiver was triggered almost two years ago, when Colorado voters approved two taxes on recreational marijuana – a 10 percent sales tax for shoppers and a 15 percent excise tax for wholesale growers.

Ahead of that vote, state tax analysts miscalculated overall state revenue for 2014. The error triggered a suspension of the new pot taxes.

Lawmakers decided to waive the taxes only for a single day, though voters will have to return to polls in November to authorize the state to keep some $50 million in pot taxes collected in 2014.

Confused? So were many shoppers – but they loaded up on lower-cost weed anyway.

Colorado tracks marijuana sales but doesn’t make the data public. Retailers said the day was akin to a busy holiday weekend.

Amazon adds Post access to Prime perks

NEW YORK – Amazon is adding six months of free online access to the Washington Post for members of its $99 annual Prime membership program.

Amazon.com Inc. founder and CEO Jeff Bezos acquired the newspaper in 2013 and until now has not linked up the businesses.

The deal is the latest perk that Amazon is giving Prime members as it seeks to grow its membership base and could help the Post boost its readership. Amazon doesn’t disclose how many people belong to the Prime program but there are an estimated 35 million to 40 million members.

Apple touts iPhones’ environmental upgrade

SAN FRANCISCO – Apple has given its latest iPhones an environmental upgrade to go along with a better camera and a few new features.

The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus have reduced their carbon emissions by 14 to 16 percent from last year’s models, according to Apple measurements that quantify how much pollution is caused during the production, distribution, consumer usage and recycling of the devices.

Most of the improvements reflected changes made in the purchasing and manufacturing of the aluminum used in the iPhone enclosures. Lisa Jackson, Apple’s top environmental executive said carbon emissions tied to the production of those iPhone enclosures have been cut in half from last year.