A plan for an affordable housing portion of a new development in Yellow Springs, Ohio has reportedly been scrapped after comedian Dave Chappelle added his voice to those opposing it. Chappelle, who plans to open a restaurant and a comedy club in the area under his company Iron Table Holdings...
Millions Who Are Unvaccinated Provide Virus New Opportunity for Variants, Expert Says
In a week, California's statewide mask mandate is due to expire as data shows a marked drop in the virus's effect. As of February 15th, the state will no longer require general indoor masking for vaccinated folks because COVID cases have fallen by two thirds over the month and hospitalizations are...
Mortgage Lenders See Increase in Applications From Week Earlier Before ‘Rates Go Even Higher’
Mortgage lenders in the US saw a 12% increase in applications from a week earlier — with the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed mortgages increasing to 3.86% from 3.69%, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting, pointed out...
Data Highlights ‘Egregious’ Pandemic Profiteering by US Food and Oil Giants
A new analysis released this week ahead of a congressional hearing on pandemic-era price gouging shows that U.S. corporations in the food and energy sectors—from Tyson to Exxon Mobil—are pushing higher costs onto consumers while raking in ever-increasing revenues and handing executives massive pay packages. Conducted by the advocacy...
What to Expect From the Housing Market Now That the Fed Has Signaled Rate Hikes
Plan to buy a house in 2022? The good news is that conditions won’t rapidly get out of control the way they did last year. The bad news is that supply remains tight and prices are still on an upswing — and the likelihood of higher mortgage rates looms on...
Gas Prices in California Will Soar Following LA Ban on New Oil and Gas Wells, Industry Rep Warns
California Independent Petroleum Association CEO Rock Zierman warned in an interview that aired on Fox Business Tuesday that already high gas prices in Los Angeles will be even higher if oil is no longer allowed to be produced in the area. Zierman, who heads the group representing nearly 400 oil and...
‘Liberal Privilege Is Real’: Disney-Fired Actress Trends After Whoopi Suspension by ABC
Actress Gina Carano trended on Twitter this week after news broke that “The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg was suspended for two weeks for controversial comments she made about Jews, race, and the Holocaust. Carano was canned from the Disney+ show "The Mandolorian" supposedly over a social media post she...
18 Million Bees Heading to California for Annual Pollination Event
Eighteen million bees are embarking on a risky journey to California to support the state’s almond industry. February is known as the “Super Bowl of Beekeeping” because it's the largest pollination event in the entire world. Major almond growers in the Central Valley are urging beekeepers across the country...
Banned: Books on Race and Sexuality Are Disappearing From Texas Schools in Record Numbers
Records requests to nearly 100 school districts in the Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin regions — a small sampling of the state’s 1,250 public school systems — revealed 75 formal requests by parents or community members to ban books from libraries during the first four months of this...
A Small Island Nation Has Cooked up Not 1, Not 2 but 5 COVID Vaccines. It’s Cuba!
In the early days of the COVID pandemic, Cuba decided it was going to make its own vaccine – even though vaccine development historically takes years, even decades, to bear fruit. Cuba was taking a gamble that it could develop a vaccine before the coronavirus swept across the island....