Roundup: Business loan survey / Hard Rock Hotel / Pulitzer Prizes awarded

Lending standards: Loan officers at U.S. banks reported significantly tightening standards and terms on business loans in the first three months of the year as the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. began to shutter large parts of the economy and millions became newly unemployed, Reuters reports. The officers also said in the Federal Reserve survey released today that there was greater demand for business loans from medium- and large-sized firms, but that business loan demand from small businesses was roughly unchanged. Read the full story. 

Traditional demolition: Demolition teams are preparing to begin the process of demolishing the Hard Rock Hotel site in New Orleans today, WAFB-TV reports. The demolition work comes after the city gave contractors the green light on the latest plan submitted. The plan to demolish the site will use cranes with a traditional demolition, instead of an implosion, taking down the site piece by piece. The demolition is expected to take months to complete. Read the full story.  

Journalism excellence: The Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica won the Pulitzer Prize in public service today for illuminating the sparse policing of many Alaska villages. The New York Times won the investigative reporting prize for an expose of predatory lending in the New York City taxi industry, while the staff of The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Kentucky, took the breaking news reporting award for quickly unpacking racial disparities and other issues in a spate of pardons by the outgoing governor. Read the full story.