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Stocks rise…Diet Pepsi switches sweeteners…Harleys recalled

By The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are moving higher in afternoon trading on Wall Street, helped by gains in big technology companies. Amazon soared 15 percent after revealing details about its cloud computing service for the first time. Google and Microsoft also rose after reporting quarterly results. The technology-heavy Nasdaq has been higher than the rest of the market. That’s after a record close yesterday.

NEW YORK (AP) — PepsiCo says it’s dropping aspartame from Diet Pepsi in response to customer worries and replacing it with sucralose, an artificial sweetener commonly known as Splenda. Rival Coca-Cola says it has no plans to stop using aspartame in Diet Coke, the country’s top-selling diet cola. The Food and Drug Administration says aspartame, known by the brand names Equal and NutraSweet, is “one of the most exhaustively studied substances in the human food supply” and more than 100 studies have found it to be safe.

DETROIT (AP) — Harley-Davidson is recalling nearly 46,000 motorcycles in the U.S. because they could stay in gear due to clutches that won’t fully disengage. The recall covers certain Electra Glide, Ultra Limited, Police Electra Glide, Street Glide, Road Glide and Road King models from the 2014 and 2015 model years. The problem was found through customer complaints. Harley reported 27 crashes and four minor injuries.

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors CEO Mary Barra’s compensation more than tripled in 2014 to $15.8 million in her tumultuous first year in the automaker’s top job. Barra and other top executives got only 74 percent of the cash incentives they could have received, because GM fell short of goals set by the board. But her stock awards more than doubled from 2013, when she was senior vice president of for product development and purchasing.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s wife has left her lucrative job at a Wall Street firm as her husband prepares for a potential run for the White House. A spokesman for Christie’s office says Mary Pat Christie recently resigned as managing director at Angelo, Gordon and Co. and is putting her career on hiatus to spend more time with her family.

Business Journal reporter to run for cancer as he battles it

By WTOP Staff
WASHINGTON - It is a race in more ways than one for one of our own at WTOP. And you can help. Tucker Echols, the Washington Business Journal's reporter normally heard on WTOP every morning, is battling diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, a type of cancer that was discovered after he found a lump on his neck. "The very good news here is that it's very treatable," says Echols. "There is a chemotherapy regimen that has worked more than 10 years, almost 15 now, to give lots of folks like me, who catch it early, a good chance of survival." When the cancer is caught early, patients have an 80 percent chance of survival. But Echols, who is 51, has lost his hair to chemotherapy. And he has had a few difficult moments, like telling his two kids, who are 6 and 8. They asked him if he was going to die. "I said, 'No, I'm not going to die. That is the good news here.'" Now after consulting his oncologist, and despite the side effects that often accompany his treatment, Echols is preparing for the EagleMan Triathlon competition, a 70.3-mile race held in Cambridge, Md., June 9. "The key with chemotherapy is that you listen to your body and if you think you can do it, go ahead and do it," Echols says. Echols will run to raise money for three charities that are trying to cure cancer, and his goal is to raise $30,000. Click on the links below to donate: American Cancer Society; Leukemia & Lymphoma Society; Cure Starts Now Foundation. Follow @WTOP and @WTOPliving on Twitter.
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AP Top News at 11:36 a.m. EDT