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What you may have missed from the weekend in business

TRANSPORTATION

Software upgrade suspected as cause of air traffic woes

A departure sign with cancelled or delayed flights, as seen on Saturday at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Va.LOIC HOFSTEDT/AFP/Getty Images

WASHINGTON — A problem at an air traffic control center in Leesburg, Va., that caused hundreds of flights to be delayed or canceled on the East Coast was possibly caused by a software upgrade, the Federal Aviation Administration said Sunday. The upgrade was designed to provide more tools for controllers, but the new features have been disabled while the systems contractor assesses the malfunction. There were roughly 492 delays and 476 cancellations, the FAA said. Part of the backlog was the result of a decision to reduce arrival and departure rates in the Washington area between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday for safety reasons. Flights leaving Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey and Kennedy and LaGuardia airports in New York that normally flight over the Washington region were also affected. The FAA initially blamed the problem on ''technical issues'' in Leesburg; at about 4 p.m. the agency said the problem had been resolved. Information the FAA posted Saturday suggested the problem was with the En Route Automation Modernization computer system, or ERAM. The agency on Sunday confirmed the upgrade was to this computer system but said there is ''no indication that the problem is related to any inherent problems" with ERAM.

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MUSIC

Dr. Dre album selling fast on Apple Music

Dr. Dre.Andy Kropa/Invision/AP/File 2014

NEW YORK — When Apple Inc. introduced its streaming service, Apple Music, in June, one of the big questions was whether it could compete with outlets like Spotify to deliver blockbuster results for big new albums. In the first major test, the answer is a qualified yes. Dr. Dre's album "Compton: A Soundtrack" had 25 million streams around the world in its first week and sold nearly half a million downloads through Apple's iTunes store, Apple said Sunday. "We're beginning to show what we can do in terms of communicating music to a worldwide audience and helping artists at the same time," said Jimmy Iovine, the former record executive who helped build the service after Apple paid $3 billion last year for Beats, the electronics company and music brand he started with Dr. Dre. When Billboard's latest album chart is released Monday, "Compton" is expected to be in second place, after "Kill the Lights," from country star Luke Bryan. Apple, long the biggest retailer of music, has more than 800 million customer accounts around the world, but as a late entry to streaming it has to rely heavily on the heft of its brand to compete in an increasingly crowded market.

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NEW YORK TIMES

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES

N.H. state liquor stores post record sales of $642m

CONCORD, N.H. — The New Hampshire Liquor Commission says it posted record sales of $642 million in the fiscal year ended June 30 — an increase of $21 million over the previous year. Net profits transferred into the General Fund also set a record at nearly $152 million. Commission chairman Joseph Mollica said innovative marketing and a successful holiday season drove the record gains. The commission "is committed to generating record revenue year after year for the taxpayers of New Hampshire,'' he said, citing "the continued relocation and renovation of N.H. Liquor & Wine Outlets, strategic buying, building strong relationships with suppliers, and a focus on superior customer service.'" The commission operates 78 stores. The commission notes that since the first one opened in 1934, liquor and wine sales have generated more than $3 billion in revenue for the state.

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FOOD

In Maine, artisanal cheese makers thrive

PORTLAND, Maine — Maine has established itself as the state with the fastest-growing artisanal cheese industry in the country, and state officials said it's not slowing down. The number of retail cheesemakers grew from 40 in 2010 to 80 this year, they said, and applications for more licenses are in the pipeline. That's despite a decline in the number of dairy farms in Maine: 271 in 2014, down from more than 1,000 in 1980. The surge has tracked a growing number of producers of raw milk, which some cheesemakers use, said Linda Stahlnecker, director of Maine's Milk Quality Lab — up to 61 this year, from 15 in 2006, driven in part by affordable farmland, said Eric Rector, president of the Maine Cheese Guild. Local cheese is also booming because of changing tastes: ''People are increasingly interested in knowing what's in their food and knowing their farmers,'' Stahlnecker said. Jeffrey Roberts, author of ''The Atlas of American Artisan Cheese,'' said the growth reflects a broad trend around the country. He reported in a 2012 count that there were 825 artisanal cheese makers, more than double the total in 2006. He said there are probably close to 1,000 now.

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ECONOMY

No ‘haircut’ on Greece’s debts, Merkel says

German chancellor Angela Merkel says Greece will not receive a debt “haircut.”Gero Breloer/Associated Press

BERLIN — Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, says there's no certainty the latest bailout for Greece will succeed but she is hopeful the country can overcome its economic crisis if it adheres to the agreements forged with its creditors. Merkel on Sunday also told the German broadcaster ZDF that Greece can't expect its debt to be cut. The International Monetary Fund has insisted that Greece be given some form of debt relief before it will participate in any new bailout, something Germany wants. But Merkel said that while repayment periods may be extended and interest rates can be tweaked, a so-called debt ''haircut'' is ruled out. Dozens of lawmakers in Merkel's conservative bloc plan to oppose the new bailout package for Greece at a special session of Parliament on Wednesday.

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