Business

(NEW YORK) — Americans may be feeling the pinch at grocery store checkouts, but the largest chain in the country has shared some positive news ahead of the holiday season.

“Our turkey costs are up about 20%, but we decided early on to not pass that cost increase through to try to help somebody stretch their budget,” Kroger Chairman and CEO Rodney McMullen told Good Morning America.

The announcement comes at a crucial time for last-minute Thanksgiving shoppers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in its latest National Retail Report on turkey that there is currently “a wide variant in prices throughout most regions” but that “fresh and frozen weighted average whole turkey prices increase when compared to the previous ad cycle.”

“However, many lucrative values abound for both fresh and frozen turkeys helping to lure the customer through [grocery store] doors,” the agency noted.

With inflation impacting grocery bills for many people, some have turned to other Thanksgiving main dishes, including roasted chicken, to save a few dollars. But while McMullen said the price of “chicken and some of those items” was “starting to come down,” the latest USDA Agricultural Marketing Service report shows that, overall, whole chicken prices “are trending at least steady for all sizes.”

The best deal for a non-turkey poultry option, according to the USDA National Retail Report on chicken, are bulk packs of thighs and drums.

McMullen noted that other meats like beef and pork were still affected by high price tags. “Beef is still inflationary, pork is still a little bit inflationary,” he said.

He added, however, that “some of the produce items are starting to come down just a little bit.”

With inflation currently at 7.7%, prices on goods have continually crept upward in the food category, which rose 10.9% overall in the last year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index report. Food at home costs, meanwhile, have risen 12.4% since last year.

“The biggest thing we’re seeing is people continue to eat and cook at home. One of the things during COVID, people learned to cook at home and they found they enjoy it, they love eating as a family,” McMullen said. “It also helps stretch the budget because it’s significantly cheaper for somebody to cook a meal at home versus going out to a restaurant.”

When looking for savings opportunities at Kroger, McMullen encouraged people to shop the grocery chain’s “private label” products which are generic store-brand offshoots of mainstream consumer packaged goods.

As for the end-of-year outlook, McMullen added, “Our hope and expectation, as we get early into next year, is that we’ll see [inflation] continue to decrease a little bit.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — As Americans get ready for the holiday season, millions will turn to food donations and assistance from organizations to help get meals on the table.

Over 33 million Americans lived in food-insecure households last year, with 8.6 million adults living in very low food security households, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition data. According to the agency, food-insecure households are defined as households that are “uncertain of having or unable to acquire enough food to meet the needs of all their members because they had insufficient money or other resources for food.”

How to help fight food insecurity this Thanksgiving

Nonprofits like Feeding America, which works with a network of food banks and food programs nationwide, offer lots of free resources for people who want to help tackle food insecurity, especially during the holidays.

Start by locating a nearby food bank to donate Thanksgiving essentials, such as canned goods or other non-perishable foods, for a great way to help neighbors in need.

Foods to donate for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is one of the busiest times of the year for food banks looking to add healthy, non-perishable items to their already in-demand essentials.

Feeding America suggests adding the following items to your donation lists and grocery carts: boxed stuffing, instant mashed potatoes, canned vegetables, dry macaroni, cranberry sauce and canned pumpkin.

Although it’s the main dish of a Thanksgiving table, Feeding America reminded interested donors to hold off on including turkey. The Feeding America network collaborates with restaurants, caterers and manufacturers to donate leftover foods like turkey, which are guaranteed to be fresh and safe for families in need.

Similarly, skip sending in any fresh fruits or vegetables since those are highly perishable items. Many food banks work with farmers and corporate partners to help bring fresh produce to families before it goes bad, the organization said.

How to volunteer for food banks this Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a perfect opportunity to volunteer at a local soup kitchen, food pantry or food bank.

Between assembling Thanksgiving meal boxes or serving food at a Thanksgiving dinner, there are a lot of ways to help families in need make the holiday special.

Click here to locate volunteer opportunities through one of the many partners with Feeding America.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — The nation’s largest rail union on Monday voted down a tentative contract brokered by the White House, raising the possibility of a nationwide strike next month that could cripple the U.S. economy.

The SMART Transportation Division, or SMART-TD, which represents about 28,000 conductors, rejected the contract in a vote that garnered record turnout, the union said Monday. The contract was nixed by a slim margin, as just 50.8% of workers voted against it.

The second-largest rail union, made up of engineers, voted in favor of the contract on Monday, splitting the top rail unions, which represent roughly half of the industry’s workers.

The results arrive roughly a month after the nation’s third-largest rail union rejected the White House-brokered contract.

A nationwide strike is expected next month unless the contract is ratified by each of the 11 rail unions, since all of the unions have vowed not to cross the picket line in the event of a work stoppage. So far, four unions have ratified the agreement.

“SMART-TD members with their votes have spoken, it’s now back to the bargaining table for our operating craft members,” SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson said in a statement.

“This can all be settled through negotiations and without a strike. A settlement would be in the best interests of the workers, the railroads, shippers and the American people,” he added.

In a statement, SMART-TD did not provide the reason behind the members’ disapproval. Previously, unions have rejected the tentative contract due to frustration with compensation and working conditions, particularly a lack of paid sick days.

The National Carriers’ Conference Committee, or NCCC, the group representing the freight railroad companies, said in a statement that the risk of a nationwide strike next month will require the companies to start taking steps to prepare for the disruption.

“A national rail strike would severely impact the economy and the public,” the NCCC said. “Now, the continued, near-term threat of one will require that freight railroads and passenger carriers soon begin to take responsible steps to safely secure the network in advance of any deadline.”

The tentative contract included a 24% compounded wage increase and $5,000 in lump-sum payments, the NCCC said last month.

American railway companies and unions reached a tentative labor agreement in September amid the threat of strikes. That agreement came after 20 consecutive hours of negotiations led by U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh at his office in Washington, D.C., Walsh said.

The agreement improved the time-off policies at the rail companies, which made up a key sticking point in the negotiations, BLET and SMART-TD said in a statement in September.

A potential strike could lead to $2 billion a day in lost economic output, according to the Association of American Railroads, which lobbies on behalf of railway companies.

Rail is critical to the entire goods side of the economy, including agriculture, manufacturing, retail and warehousing. Freight railroads are responsible for transporting 40% of the nation’s long-haul freight and a work stoppage could endanger those shipments.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — The cryptocurrency exchange FTX owes creditors $3.1 billion, according to court documents filed late Saturday night.

The Bahamas-based platform filed for bankruptcy earlier this month after the company, run by 30-year-old Sam Bankman-Fried, collapsed. The company saw its value soar to a peak of $32 billion in January.

Creditors’ names were not listed on the court filing, but the largest is owed $226,280,579.

As part of its bankruptcy proceedings, FTX was required to list to the court its 50 largest creditors — either individuals or corporations — who are owed money. The second largest entity is owed $203,292,504, the court filing shows.

Bankman-Fried drew the scrutiny of investigators from state and federal agencies, as well as the Justice Department, for how his company collapsed and the money under his control that went missing.

Congress has also asked him to testify in December.

The new FTX CEO brought in to shepherd the company through bankruptcy proceedings said earlier this week that he has never seen such a “complete failure” of corporate controls in his career, including during the Enron scandal.

“Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here,” John Ray, who also oversaw the Enron bankruptcy proceedings, said in a court filing Thursday. “From compromised systems integrity and faulty regulatory oversight abroad, to the concentration of control in the hands of a very small group of inexperienced, unsophisticated and potentially compromised individuals, this situation is unprecedented.”

In 2001, Houston-based energy corporation Enron filed the most prominent bankruptcy claim in U.S. history, and many of its executives were sent to prison for securities fraud.

Ray said FTX corporate funds were used to purchase executives’ and advisers’ houses in the Bahamas.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Bob Iger is returning to The Walt Disney Company as its chief executive officer, effective immediately, the company announced Sunday night.

“We thank Bob Chapek for his service to Disney over his long career, including navigating the company through the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic,” Susan Arnold, chairman of the board, said in a press release. “The board has concluded that as Disney embarks on an increasingly complex period of industry transformation, Bob Iger is uniquely situated to lead the company through this pivotal period.”

Iger has agreed to serve as CEO for two years, according to the press release. He previously served as CEO from 2005 to 2020.

Chapek has stepped down from his position, the company said.

“Mr. Iger has the deep respect of Disney’s senior leadership team, most of whom he worked closely with until his departure as executive chairman 11 months ago, and he is greatly admired by Disney employees worldwide — all of which will allow for a seamless transition of leadership,” Arnold said.

Arnold will continue to serve as chairman of the board, the company said.

“I am extremely optimistic for the future of this great company and thrilled to be asked by the Board to return as its CEO,” Iger said in the press release. “Disney and its incomparable brands and franchises hold a special place in the hearts of so many people around the globe — most especially in the hearts of our employees, whose dedication to this company and its mission is an inspiration. I am deeply honored to be asked to again lead this remarkable team, with a clear mission focused on creative excellence to inspire generations through unrivaled, bold storytelling.”

The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of ABC News.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(SAN FRANCISCO) — A number of Twitter employees appear to be on their way out after declining to accept an ultimatum from new company owner Elon Musk asking that they “commit or leave,” three sources told ABC News.

It is not yet known how many Twitter employees accepted Musk’s email request that they commit to being “extremely hardcore” or resign with three months severance, but all three sources told ABC News that dozens of Twitter employees are sending the “salute” emoji over the company’s Slack — presumably signaling their departure from the company.

“I did not accept [Musk’s] ultimatum,” one Twitter employee told ABC News. “Many of us didn’t. … Now we are just waiting for our access to be shut down.”

ABC News confirmed that several of the employees who did not agree to Musk’s request had a key role in targeting and disposing of misinformation and hate speech on Twitter.

Twitter did not respond to a request for comment.

Musk sent a companywide ultimatum on Wednesday morning that Twitter employees must commit or resign by Thursday evening, according to an email from Musk obtained by ABC News.

Bearing the subject line “A Fork in the Road,” the email from Musk on Wednesday said: “Going forward, to build a breakthrough Twitter 2.0 and succeed in an increasingly competitive world, we will need to be extremely hardcore. This will mean working long hours at high intensity. Only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade.”

For those who wished to be part of the “new Twitter,” Musk directed employees to “click yes” on the link in the email.

“Anyone who has not done so by 5pm ET [Thursday] will receive three months of severance,” Musk said. “Whatever decision you make, thank you for your efforts to make Twitter successful.”

Musk, the CEO of Tesla and Space X, earlier this month began layoffs that cut roughly half of Twitter’s 7,500-person workforce.

Those laid off will receive compensation and benefits until the first week of January 2023, though the date may vary for employees. Affected employees were already locked out of their Twitter systems, such as email and Slack.

Musk, who said he overpaid for the platform at the purchasing price of $44 billion, faces pressure to boost the company’s profits. Earlier this month, he said the company was losing $4 million each day.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — With the traditional start of Christmas tree shopping about one week away, growers and retailers are telling customers to ready themselves for higher prices this year.

Tim O’Connor, the executive director of the National Christmas Tree Association, which supplies the Christmas tree to the White House and the vice president’s residence every year and represents 38 state and regional Christmas tree grower associations, said anyone interested in fresh trees should head out to the farm lot sooner than later.

“If you want to shop the Christmas tree farm, you really have to go early,” O’Connor told ABC News’ Good Morning America. “They’re popular and they will sell out. They have whatever trees they have available for that season and then they’re done. And they have been selling out every year early.”

The American Christmas Tree Association, whose members are Christmas tree manufacturers and retailers, is also encouraging shoppers to buy early as prices will rise as Christmas nears.

“Because inflation impacts absolutely everything, the industry is seeing increases in shipping costs, fertilizer, trucking, everything you can possibly think of, whether it be real or artificial trees. So I think consumers can expect to see anywhere from 5% to 20% increases across the board on artificial and live Christmas trees this year,” American Christmas Tree Association executive director Jami Warner told GMA.

Warner also said that shoppers may also see fewer tree options this holiday season.

“People are used to abundance and choice — and again, the choices will be limited but choose the tree that fits your lifestyle the best, be it real or artificial,” she said.

Inflation isn’t the only major issue affecting the Christmas tree industry this season. In some parts of the country, shoppers may notice there are fewer fresh trees due to drought conditions and climate change.

At Kadee Farm in Greenville, Texas, a town about 35 miles northeast of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan region, owner Woody Woodruff said a drought that started in the spring decimated over 1,000 trees on his 53-acre farm, which grows Virginia pine trees.

“There’s gonna be a lack of trees this year. In the South, which includes Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, there’s some tree growers that are all down in those states that experienced drought conditions and therefore it’s gonna be a little more difficult to get the trees that we needed,” Woodruff told GMA.

Woodruff explained that in addition to drought, businesses like his have also been hit by higher prices.

“We all use diesel fuel or gasoline, that was more expensive this year,” the 55-year-old farm owner said. “Our fertilizers, some of them more than doubled [in price] this year. And so that really took a toll … and that was nationwide. So that took a toll on anybody that is in the farming industry trying to grow Christmas trees.”

To make up for the lost sales, Woodruff plans on trucking in trees from other areas, including Michigan and states in the Pacific Northwest and the Carolinas.

“Of course those trees are going to be more expensive. So the consumer is going to pay more this year when they go to find a live tree,” Woodruff continued. “And if you go to any of the big box stores, I’ve noticed that their artificial trees have really skyrocketed as well. That’s again due to inflation and shipping.”

Overall, Woodruff estimated that customers could see as much as a 30% increase in Christmas tree prices compared to last year.

For now, though transportation costs has been “outrageous” at times, Woodruff said it’s a necessary expenditure, and he’s not worried in the long term.

“We’re eating as much of the cost as we possibly can and still staying in business,” Woodruff added. “Everything’s gonna work out as it should. Is it, you know, sickening to sit here and look at all of my lost trees that have died, that I have spent 25 years growing? Absolutely. But I think it’ll all come back. You just have a positive outlook and just keep trudging ahead. … You can’t cry over spilt milk.”

Both the NCTA and ACTA representatives say there should still be plenty of Christmas trees for everyone interested at the end of the day, real or artificial.

“We always say there’s a tree for every family,” O’Connor said. “There are trees for different budgets too. So if you really are concerned about price, you know, yes, it won’t be the most beautiful tree on the lot perhaps but there’ll be a tree that fits your price range, that when you bring it home, you’ll enjoy it in your home.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(SAN JOSE, Calif.) — Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of shuttered blood testing company Theranos, is set to be sentenced on Friday for defrauding investors.

The sentencing marks the latest development in a legal saga that has turned the former billionaire entrepreneur into an emblem of Silicon Valley malfeasance.

Holmes faces a sentence of 20 years for each of four counts, but legal experts expect the sentences to be served at the same time, giving her a maximum sentence of 20 years.

Holmes’ legal team requested no more than 18 months in prison in a court filing last week. In fact, a lighter sentence involving house arrest and community service would prove sufficient, her attorneys argued.

Prosecutors appealed for Holmes to be sentenced to 15 years in prison, calling it “one of the most substantial white collar offenses” in Silicon Valley history.

“She repeatedly chose lies, hype and the prospect of billions of dollars over patient safety and fair dealing with investors,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Leach wrote in the request last Friday. “Elizabeth Holmes’ crimes were not failing, they were lying.”

Last week, Holmes’ legal team submitted 130 letters of support, including a note from personal friend Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who said Holmes “has within her a sincere desire to help others, to be of meaningful service, and possesses the capacity to redeem herself.”

Regardless of the sentence, Holmes and her family will face ongoing hardship as a result of widespread criticism of Holmes, her legal team said. “[T]here is no avoiding the scorn that accompanies Elizabeth Holmes,” Billy Evans, her husband, said in the court filing.

Holmes, 38, was convicted in January on four counts of investor fraud and conspiracy while at the helm of Theranos. The verdict followed a four-month trial that detailed Holmes’ trajectory from a Stanford University dropout in 2003 to a star business leader on the cover of Fortune magazine little more than a decade later.

Ultimately, her downfall began in 2015 amid investigations from journalists and regulators over the medical company’s faulty product, which claimed to provide accurate information from tests using just a finger-prick of blood.

A year later, as the company struggled, Forbes downgraded its assessment of Holmes’ net worth from $4.5 billion to $0. Facing charges of massive fraud from the Securities and Exchange Commission, Holmes agreed to forfeit control of Theranos in 2018.

That year, federal prosecutors indicted Holmes and Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, Holmes’ former lover and Theranos’ chief operating officer, on nine counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, alleging that the two business leaders knowingly misled investors and patients about the effectiveness of the company’s product.

Holmes was found guilty on four of the 11 charges, as jurors decided she had lied to investors in an effort to raise money on false pretenses. Holmes was found not guilty on four counts centered on defrauding patients and the jury could not reach a verdict on counts pertaining to the deception of investors.

Since her conviction, Holmes has filed three unsuccessful requests for a new trial, citing freshly available evidence. She has remained free on bail. Holmes confirmed last week she is also pregnant.

The latest request for a new trial earlier this month centered on a visit to Holmes’ house by former Theranos lab director Adam Rosendorff. During the trial last year, Rosendorff testified for six days, saying that Holmes was aware the company’s product yielded inaccurate test results but still sought its continued use on patients.

Lawyers for Holmes argued that Rosendorff privately expressed guilt to Holmes over his depiction of the company during the trial. Ultimately, Rosendorff reaffirmed the veracity of his testimony and the judge dismissed the request for a new trial.

The sentence on Friday will be handed down by Judge Edward J. Davila at a federal courthouse in San Jose, California.

Balwani awaits sentencing after being convicted on 12 felony counts of fraud and conspiracy.

Earlier this month, he was granted a three-week delay in his sentencing hearing. He is now scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 7.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Amazon’s layoffs will continue into the new year, CEO Andy Jassy said in a new memo Thursday.

The announcement comes a day after the tech company began layoffs of workers on its devices team, which focuses on products like its voice-operated Alexa, according to a memo from Dave Limp, senior vice president of devices and services.

“This year’s review is more difficult due to the fact that the economy remains in a challenging spot and we’ve hired rapidly the last several years,” Jassy said Thursday.

Decisions on the latest Amazon role reductions will be shared in early 2023, Jassy said. It is not yet certain how many jobs will be impacted, though the reductions will impact Amazon’s stores and People Experience and Technology Solutions organizations, he said.

The move adds the company to a list of major tech firms that have imposed job cuts in recent weeks, including Facebook-parent Meta and Twitter.

Limp’s memo did not provide details on the scale of the layoffs, but the job losses arrive at a time when the company typically expands its workforce during the busy holiday season.

“We continue to face an unusual and uncertain macroeconomic environment,” Limp’s memo said. “After a deep set of reviews, we recently decided to consolidate some teams and programs.”

“In cases where employees cannot find a new role within the company, we will support the transition with a package that includes a separation payment, transitional benefits and external job placement support,” the memo added.

The layoffs follow major job cuts at other big tech firms, as industry titans retreat from record sales attained during the pandemic, when billions across the world were forced into isolation. Customers stuck at home came to rely on delivery services like e-commerce and virtual connections formed through social media and videoconferencing.

However, persistent recession fears, rising interest rates and a shift back toward a pre-pandemic lifestyle have crunched the tech sector.

Under new owner Elon Musk, Twitter laid off roughly half of its 7,500-person workforce, citing losses of about $4 million each day.

Days later, Meta announced that it would cut about 11,000 employees, which amounts to roughly 13% of its workforce. The company reported a second consecutive quarter of declining sales last month.

Lyft, Netflix, Coinbase, Salesforce, Microsoft and Snap are among a slew of other tech companies that have cut workers this year.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq has fallen more than 25% in 2022. Shares in Amazon are down 18% this year.

Third-quarter earnings released by Amazon last month fell short of analyst expectations for revenue, sending the stock down 13% in extended trading on the day of the announcement.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — The Tennessee attorney general said he is looking into whether consumer protection laws were violated after Ticketmaster botched the rollout of Taylor Swift concert tickets.

“We have received complaints about the sale process, and we have previously looked into antitrust allegations involving Ticketmaster and Live Nation. We want to make sure that there are no issues here that merit legal response,” Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti told reporters Wednesday, according to a transcript of the press conference obtained by ABC News.

Swift is hitting the road for the first time since the pandemic started on her “Eras Tour” and demand for tickets including the three shows in Nashville, Tennessee, have never been higher. Users reported waiting in a virtual line for hours without being able to purchase tickets when it was their turn. Ticketmaster has since cancelled Friday’s regular sale of tickets due to “ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory.”

Skrmetti said there are a few specific issues his office is looking at, in particular the representations made with the presale code fans were given to buy tickets with.

“If there were any representations made with respect to the process in advance, that could be an issue,” he said. “We’re talking about a company with an extremely dominant market share.”

Under a previous settlement with Ticketmaster, it allows the attorney general to get information that is otherwise not public regarding the company’s business practices. He did say it was worth looking at whether or not Ticketmaster and Live Nation are a monopoly.

“I know the Department of Justice and the states took a hard look at the Ticketmaster Live Nation merger and secured a consent decree that was theoretically going to reduce the antitrust risks,” he said. “If we’re seeing a situation where people are trying to use the service and aren’t getting the product that they’ve paid for, the product that they were promised, that could be an indicator that there’s not enough competition in the market. We just need to take a closer look.”

Ticketmaster responded Thursday to the criticisms it has faced over its handling of the Verified Fan presale, which opened earlier this week and noted that over 2 million tickets were sold in a single day for Swift’s shows on Tuesday.

“The biggest venues and artists turn to us because we have the leading ticketing technology in the world – that doesn’t mean it’s perfect, and clearly for Taylor’s on sale it wasn’t. But we’re always working to improve the ticket buying experience. Especially for high demand on sales, which continue to test new limits,” the statement said.

Ticketmaster said that it would “improve the experience and that’s what we’re focused on.”

Ticketmaster also canceled the Friday public sale of “Eras Tour” due “to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand.”

Ticketmaster and Live Nation merged in 2010 and in 2019 the company paid fines pertaining to the company violating the agreed upon terms of DOJ consent decree during the final merger.

“Despite the prohibitions in the Final Judgment, Live Nation repeatedly and over the course of several years engaged in conduct that, in the Department’s view, violated the Final Judgment,” a press release by DOJ said in 2019. “To put a stop to this conduct and to remove any doubt about defendants’ obligations under the Final Judgment going forward, the Department and Live Nation have agreed to modify the Final Judgment to make clear that such conduct is prohibited.”

As part of the updated 2019 settlement, the company agreed to have the Justice Department’s antitrust division monitor the companies’ practices.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was also critical of the merger after seeing reports people couldn’t get tickets to Swift shows.

“Daily reminder that Ticketmaster is a monopoly, it’s merger with LiveNation should never have been approved, and they need to be reigned in,” she tweeted Tuesday. “Break them up.”

If the company was found to be in violation of consumer protection laws, they could be the subject of fines and a court order to not engage in similar practices.

“This is a company that we’ve looked at in the past,” Skrmetti said. “This is a company that’s been the subject of numerous complaints going back decades. And there may be other people who are interested, but this is something that we are interested in to make sure that they’re treating consumers fairly.”

The reason Skrmetti is doing this, he said, is because music is an important part of the local economy.

“It’s not just a matter of fans who are or being harmed by this potentially. There are a lot of people involved in concert production and concert promotion in this area,” he said. “The ramifications of it are more significant here than elsewhere. The other thing is there are different AGs with different bandwidths and different opportunities.”

Attorney General Skrmetti said he is “curious” about the company’s planning given the widespread announcement of the tour.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.