Briefs for Tuesday

Audible is rolling out a cheaper version of its popular audiobook service that includes original series from Hollywood talent, part of a drive to go beyond books and win over podcast listeners.

Audible Plus will cost $7.95 a month, about half the price of the main plan, and include more than 11,000 titles spanning audiobooks, original series and podcasts, the company said Monday.

The cheaper plan is the clearest sign yet of Audible’s ambitions to compete with Spotify Technology as the go-to app for millions of listeners interested in nonmusic audio.

Army Corps rips Alaska mine plan

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A proposed gold and copper mine at the headwaters of the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery in Alaska would cause “unavoidable adverse impacts,” the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said in a letter to the developer released Monday.

The corps is giving Pebble Limited Partnership 90 days to come up with a mitigation plan for thousands of acres and nearly 200 miles of streams to secure a key federal permit to proceed. Once filed, the corps said it will decide if the plan for Pebble Mine is sufficient.

It’s a seemingly stunning reversal for the corps, which just last month said in an environmental review that the proposed mine under normal operations “would not be expected to have a measurable effect on fish numbers.”

From wire reports