(NEW YORK) — Iconic cosmetics brand Fashion Fair has announced it will be making a long-awaited relaunch in September.
Initially founded in 1973 by American businesswoman Eunice Johnson with people of color top of mind, the company went on to become a pioneering makeup brand — producing everything from inclusive foundations to rich color cosmetics for deeper skin tones.
One of Fashion Fair’s original models, Pat Cleveland, appeared in a short clip revealing the brand would be returning next month.
Koai Martin proudly rocks natural hair in new headshots and shared on LinkedIn. Her post continues to inspire many others.
The updated version of Fashion Fair Cosmetics will include modernized vegan makeup as well as skin care.
Key products include lipstick, stick foundation, powder foundation, priming serum, loose powder and a pressed powder. The formulations include a mashup of clean, naturally derived ingredients such as vitamin C, vitamin E, turmeric, bamboo powder and green tea extract as well.
Prices start at $26.
Along with the relaunch of the brand, Fashion Fair also recently named actress Kiki Layne, known for her roles in “If Beale Street Could Talk” and “Native Son,” as the beauty label’s brand ambassador as well as legendary makeup artist Sam Fine, who has glammed up everyone from Queen Latifah to model Iman, as its global makeup ambassador.
Layne posted the news on Instagram, saying how “incredibly excited” she is, alongside a striking Fashion Fair campaign photo of herself wearing bronze-toned glowing makeup.
Fashion Fair will launch exclusively with Sephora online on Sept. 1 and in select stores on Sept. 9.
Through the years, Fashion Fair said it has contributed more than $55 million back to the Black community and plans to motivate and support the next generation of minority entrepreneurs as well as give toward projects important to the community.
“I feel like Fashion Fair is putting her crown back on,” Fashion Fair CEO Desiree Rogers told Vogue.
She continued, “The queen may have taken a little break, but she’s putting on her gown and her high heels, and sitting back in that throne. So watch us reign.”
(NEW YORK) — Consumer demand has soared for some grocery store products and retailers are scrambling to keep up.
According to The Wall Street Journal, some grocers are struggling to keep items in stock. From kid-favorite frozen waffles to certain beverages and Lunchables, the fight to keep store shelves filled with many popular brands is real.
“In the 50 years I’ve been in the business, we’ve never seen the markets like they are today. They’re wild,” Stew Leonard, CEO of his eponymous Northeast-based grocery chain, told Good Morning America.
Kraft Heinz said in a statement it is “seeing an all-time high demand for our brands.”
Kraft said it’s seen “double-digit growth for the first time in five years.”
The company told ABC News that it has increased production to meet demand and is “working fast and furiously to get more product into the hands of consumers as soon as possible.”
In the meantime, as demand outpaces supply for some items, Leonard said his stores have tried to come up with new solutions.
“Lobster is probably at a record high right now as far as the price per pound and lobster rolls are a big hit,” he said. “One of the things we’ve done is make a shrimp roll right now.”
According to the Food Marketing Institute, a national trade association, demand pressures have yet to go back to pre-pandemic levels. The food and retail organization told ABC News that a combination of factors such as shortages of materials and ingredients, combined with labor and transportation, “will continue to be disruptive and will create an uneven supply chain recovery, but we ask that shoppers hold on as we continue to recalibrate.”
Market research firm IRI, which examines consumer, shopper and retail market intelligence, found in its data that monthly grocery store sales are up 3% from last year and nearly 14% from August 2019.
The change, according to IRI, comes down to the simple factor that consumers have been eating at home more and out less.
“So many behaviors changed during the pandemic. And that’s kind of what we’re experiencing. There’s a lot more confidence in the kitchen,” Joan Driggs, vice president of content and thought leadership for IRI, told GMA. “We have a whole new generation of cooks out there who like it, they get more of exactly what they want, they take great pride in it.”
Driggs is telling consumers there’s no need to panic shop.
“People are able to go and fulfill their list — I don’t think we’re going to go back to that big stop, stock up panic shopping that we experienced in the spring of 2020,” he said.
(NEW YORK) — For people who were fortunate enough to be employed during the coronavirus pandemic, the past 18 months of lockdown have provided one silver lining, a boon to their wallets.
With dining out and happy hours cut to a minimum and commutes gone for people who could work remotely, the pandemic inadvertently became a money saver for people lucky enough to do so.
As restaurants, stores and beauty salons reopen and with some returning to the office, the urge to spend is back.
With the economy on the rebound, Americans are now spending an average $765 more a month than they did this same time last year, according to the MassMutual Consumer Spending & Saving Index.
Millennials and Gen Z are spending even more, dishing out an average of $1,016 more per month compared to last summer, with the majority of the money going toward travel and dining out, according to the index.
“Now, with the ability to travel and go out more freely, [people are] making big plans and possibly spending more than they normally would to ‘make up for lost time,’ as they see it,” Farnoosh Torabi, editor-at-large of CNET Personal Finance and host of the “So Money” podcast. “There may be a tendency to go overboard.”
On the flip side, people who struggled financially during the pandemic — a large percentage of the U.S. population — may have a harder time keeping up with increased expenses, according to Torabi.
Just over 50% of U.S. households have any type of savings account, according to an analysis released this month by Consumer Federation of America, an association of non-profit consumer organizations.
“People who suffered financial losses in the pandemic are likely having a hard time budgeting, especially in the face of inflation and rising costs,” she said. “Prices on everything from coffee to cars have gone up in recent months. There’s definitely some sticker shock going on.”
Here are five tips from Torabi to help find your footing financially in this next stage of the pandemic.
1. Keep your emotions separate from spending.
“It’s important to be mindful of your emotions related to spending and saving right now,” said Torabi. “The pandemic was traumatic and coming out of this experience, many of our emotions will linger.”
“Making financial decisions in a highly emotional state is never wise. So take time to reflect and reevaluate your goals and values, which may have changed dramatically over the course of the pandemic,” she said. “Get clear on any lifestyle changes you may want to make, the relationship or career shifts you may newly desire, and from here, start to design a new financial roadmap for yourself that’s aligned with all of that.”
“There’s no sense in rushing to make financial choices that don’t match your goals,” added Torabi.
2. Prioritize building your savings.
Torabi advises saving money as a top priority, even over paying debt.
“The pandemic woke many of us up to the fact that life is fragile and it can take very unexpected turns, and along with that, it reminded us of the importance of having a healthy savings cushion that can help us ride out several months of unemployment or financial loss,” she said. “That’s first and foremost.”
When it comes to prioritizing savings over debt, Torabi explained, “That may sound controversial to some, but if you are starting at $0 in savings, it’s important to dedicate as much of your paycheck as possible — and quickly — towards having a minimum 6 months of your bare-bones living expenses reserved in a savings account.”
“Pay the minimums on your debts every month, of course. But contribute any extra income towards your emergency savings first before any other financial goal,” she said. “Start small if you have to, but just start.”
Torabi also recommends making your savings payments automatic, like having it taken out automatically from your paycheck.
“When you earn a lump sum of cash for a holiday, birthday or tax refund, funnel it towards savings first, all until you save a minimum six months worth of your necessary monthly living expenses,” she said, also suggesting the app Digit, which helps users save small amounts of money, like $5 here and there.
3. Spend money on needs, not wants.
“Prior to the pandemic, we may have been spending money on items that didn’t really fulfill us or create meaningful value, things like subscription services or fancy clothes,” she said. “But we learned again what matters most like our affording health care, investing in a support system in your life and investing in experiences that create memories, as opposed to shiny objects that lose their luster after a while.”
4. Don’t spend to ‘catch up’ with people on social media.
“Pace yourself and be true to your financial reality, not your friends’ or what you see on social media that’s pressuring you to spend,” recommends Torabi. “Honestly, social media can be a costly influence, so if you find yourself triggered to spend because of ads or friends’ experiences on Instagram, step away from the app for a while. And take time to get clear on your personal goals.”
“From there, take it month by month,” she said.
5. Reverse-engineer your money goals.
“Think of creating a ‘new normal’ way of life for yourself that takes into account all the lessons and learnings of the last 18 months,” said Torabi. “If there’s an experience you really want to afford, then create a plan and start saving now. Reverse-engineer it. If you start saving a little today, you have a far better chance of achieving your goal in good time.”
Torabi said a similar approach can be taken when it comes to budgeting for eating out.
“If it helps, create financial ‘rules’ for yourself related to eating out like, ‘I will pack lunch three out of five days and leave two days of the week for eating out,'” she said. “Or reserve a budget ahead of time for lunches and coffee so that you can better plan for these expenses and not feel guilty.”
“I’d never say to someone, ‘Don’t have the latte,'” she added. “Instead, figure out what plans or trade-offs you can arrange to afford that more comfortably.”
(CALIFORNIA) — The California ride-hailing driver suing over the controversial Proposition 22 law said he can “breathe a little easier” after a judge ruled it unconstitutional, but an ongoing legal battle still looms as industry giants ready an appeal.
Proposition 22 — a ballot measure backed by Uber, Lyft and others — defines rideshare and related gig workers as independent contractors instead of employees, a distinction providing them less labor protections under state law.
Corporations spent more than $200 million in support of the measure, according to The Associated Press. Proposition 22 was approved by California voters last November, winning 58% of the vote.
Last Friday, however, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch ruled that Proposition 22 was unconstitutional and unenforceable after a lawsuit was brought forth by three drivers and the Service Employees International Union.
“The court ruling isn’t just about us drivers or Uber or Lyft,” Hector Castellanos, a full-time rideshare driver and one of the plaintiffs on the suit, told reporters during a call organized by the SEIU on Monday. “To me, it also means that corporations can’t spend their way out of following the law.”
“There’s a lot to celebrate, and now I feel like I can breathe a little easier,” Castellanos added. “Sometimes it’s hard to find the words to describe how much this means to me. But one thing for sure is that I’m excited to share this news with more drivers and continuing to speak out and to stand up for our rights.”
Fellow rideshare driver and plaintiff Michael Robinson added that he feels “relieved.”
“Prop 22 was deceptively written by gig corporations to protect their profits,” Robinson said during a press conference organized by the SEIU in California. “I want others to remember that and the court’s ruling as these same gig corporations try to take copy-cat laws on the road.”
“I’m happy that the court sided with drivers, but the fight is far from over,” Robinson said. “We’re going to keep putting a spotlight on how the gig corporations are putting their profits above their workers.”
“We won’t stop until we’re treated with the dignity and respect we deserve,” he added.
Cherri Murphy, a rideshare driver from Oakland, California, told ABC News Monday that she worked at Lyft for three years before she stopped as the pandemic hit last spring because she was worried about risking her and her family’s exposure to the virus. She still works as an organizer fighting for the rights of rideshare drivers in the state.
“This court ruling that Proposition 22 is unconstitutional is a major victory to all drivers across California,” she told ABC News Monday. “What it indicates is that this fight is not over, and it’s a major step of building a more powerful movement for protecting app-based drivers.”
Murphy said the law “disproportionately hurt African Americans, people of color, immigrants and low-wage workers,” and dubbed it a “corporate power grab.”
Lyft referred ABC News’ request for comment to Geoff Vetter, a spokesperson for a group dubbed the Protect App-Based Drivers & Services Coalition that is backed by Uber, Lyft and others and was a defendant in the SEIU suit.
“We believe the judge made a serious error by ignoring a century’s worth of case law requiring the courts to guard the voters’ right of initiative,” Vetter said in a statement. “This outrageous decision is an affront to the overwhelming majority of California voters who passed Prop 22.”
“We will file an immediate appeal and are confident the Appellate Court will uphold Prop 22,” Vetter added. “Importantly, this Superior Court ruling is not binding and will be immediately stayed upon our appeal. All of the provisions of Prop 22 will remain in effect until the appeal process is complete.”
Vetter also shared a comment from Jim Pyatt, a California app-based rideshare driver who supported Proposition 22.
“This ruling is wrong and disrespectful to the hundreds of thousands of app-based rideshare and delivery drivers like me who actively supported Prop 22,” Pyatt stated.
“It’s clear that the special interests behind this frivolous challenge are attacking the overwhelming will of the voters and the decisive wishes of drivers who fought to remain independent,” he added.
An Uber spokesperson told ABC News that it plans to appeal, and that the measure will remain in effect pending the appeal.
“This ruling ignores the will of the overwhelming majority of California voters and defies both logic and the law. You don’t have to take our word for it: California’s Attorney General strongly defended Proposition 22’s constitutionality in this very case,” company spokesperson Noah Edwardsen said in a statement.
“We will appeal and we expect to win,” Edwardsen added. “Meanwhile, Prop. 22 remains in effect, including all of the protections and benefits it provides independent workers across the state.”
Murphy told ABC News that Uber’s announcement does not come as a surprise.
“It doesn’t surprise me but yet it disappoints me,” Murphy said.
Scott Kronland, an attorney representing the SEIU in the suit, said during a call with reports Monday that Judge Roesch’s ruling is “solid” and “well-reasoned.”
“There were several ways in which the drafters of the initiative overreached and included provisions that conflict with our state constitution, which is the higher law, and therefore we expect that the ruling will be upheld on appeal,” Kronland said.
Alma Hernandez, the executive director of the SEIU California, added that she hopes the judge’s ruling will send a “clear” message to states elsewhere that try to enact similar legislation.
“When you’re going to try to go to the ballot to purchase your own law to deny workers basic rights, there will be a fight, and the law will be continued to be upheld by our courts,” Hernandez said.
“I know that this is a national agenda that these companies have tried to run across the country, and they’re trying to mimic Prop. 22 across in other states, but it serves as a warning that these fights will be challenged,” she added. “And they are not on the right side of history.”
(NEW YORK) — In the exploding realm of cryptocurrencies, a new line of financial products has emerged that has caught the attention of both investors and regulators — so-called “stablecoins,” which are backed by cash or another reserve asset.
Stablecoins seek to provide the best of both worlds: the stability of a traditional government-backed currency as well as the privacy and convenience offered by crypto transactions. They are often marketed towards investors who may not have the stomach for the volatility associated with Bitcoin, Ethereum and other popular cryptos — which have been known to see-saw widely in value on a day-to-day basis.
The existing stablecoins market is worth some $113 billion, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler said earlier this month during a speech at the Aspen Security Forum. He added that in July, nearly three-quarters of trading on all crypto trading platforms occurred between a stablecoin and some other token.
Even social media behemoth Facebook is trying to get in on the action, seeking to launch a stablecoin-like project of its own of its own after its initial Libra cryptocurrency efforts fizzled.
As their popularity rises, stablecoins have also recently drawn new scrutiny from authorities and regulators. Federal Reserve officials mulled over the threats posed by “new financial arrangements such as stablecoins” in a recent meeting, according to a readout released earlier this week, raising concerns over the lack of transparency and regulations.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen last month also called on regulators to “act quickly” in forming new regulatory frameworks for stablecoins, raising alarms over their “potential risks to end-users, the financial system, and national security.”
Here is what experts say investors should know about the novel class of cryptos dominating headlines in recent weeks.
What are stablecoins?
Stablecoins are essentially cryptocurrencies that are backed by a reserve asset — usually a traditional currency such as the U.S. dollar. The valuations of stablecoins are therefore supposed to be less volatile than other digital currencies, because they are pegged directly to a fixed, non-virtual currency.
“Think of stablecoin as a cryptocurrency without, or with limited, volatility. That is the best way to think about it,” Haran Segram, a professor of finance at New York University’s Stern School of Business, told ABC News, adding they are sometimes looked at as “the bridge between fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies.” Fiat currencies are traditional currencies like the dollar, backed by the government.
“Stablecoins are backed by other central bank currencies,” Segram explained.
Bryan Routledge, an associate professor of finance at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business, added that this makes stablecoins more useful as an everyday currency.
“For example, the price of Bitcoin is just stunningly volatile,” he told ABC News. “That makes it harder to use as a currency.” In 2021 alone, Bitcoin’s value has seen swings of 100% — starting the year at a price of less than $30,000, reaching a peak of over $63,000 in April, before receding back to the $30,000 mark in July. As of Friday, Bitcoin was trading at a little over $46,000.
“When I tell you a latte cost $2.50, you know what that means — but if I quote a price of a latte in Bitcoin, it’s just really hard to keep track of because one day it’s the equivalent of $2.50, the next day it’s equivalent to $25,” he added.
Pegging cryptocurrencies to a fixed exchange rate relative to the U.S. dollar, as stablecoins attempt to do, makes them “more useful as a currency,” according to Routledge.
‘It’s a stablecoin because they call it a stablecoin’
While this may sound like an overall positive development for everyday investors interested in crypto, experts and authorities have warned of lurking risks associated with the largely unchecked stablecoin market.
Segram noted that one of the most popular stablecoins out there is Tether, which claims to be backed one-to-one to the U.S. dollar.
“The issue with that is some research was done into that, and then actually they found that one unit of that stablecoin is backed by .74 of the U.S. dollar,” Segram said. “So things like that, what people put out saying it’s a stablecoin, it might not be truly a stablecoin.”
“That’s something that investors and your audience should be aware of,” he told ABC News. “Because people don’t know exactly what’s happening in the background, and I would really encourage your readers to be aware of that.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office led an investigation into Tether that said there were periods of time when Tether did not have access to banking and “held no reserves to back tethers in circulation at the rate of one dollar for every tether, contrary to its representations.” As part of a settlement reached with James’ office, Tether is barred from doing business with New Yorkers but admitted no wrongdoing and pledged increased transparency. The Hong Kong-based entity still maintains on its website, however, that Tether tokens are “100% backed by Tether’s reserves” at a conversion rate of one Tether token equaling one U.S. dollar.
“Under the terms of the settlement, we admit no wrongdoing,” Tether said in a statement on its website in response to the investigation. “The settlement amount we have agreed to pay to the Attorney General’s Office should be viewed as a measure of our desire to put this matter behind us and focus on our business.” The company added that it is pleased by the “loyalty” customers have shown, saying that the market capitalization of tethers grew from $2 billion to an excess of $34 billion during the past two years, while the investigation was ongoing.
“Tether is complicated because it’s an international business,” Routledge added in regards to who regulates it. “Cryptocurrencies, one of their either charms or weak points, is they don’t sort of fall under anybody’s direct jurisdiction.”
For most stablecoins, “it’s a stablecoin because they call it a stablecoin,” Routledge added.
Despite assurances of cash reserves, there is a risk that some stablecoins might operate under the assumption that the likelihood of having to liquidate all at once is slim if confidence remains high.
“If everybody thinks Tether is going to be a stablecoin, it will work as a stablecoin and the few people that need to exchange it at the ‘Tether store,’ to be colloquial, would do that,” he said. “The trouble with that policy is that you can get what the foreign exchange economists would call like a speculative attack, which is that we don’t think Tether has enough money, and I think everybody thinks that, they’re all going to show up and demand those currencies — It’s a bit like a run on the bank.”
“That’s what makes it really hard to stabilize, because your credibility as a stablecoin is the thing that makes it stable, and that’s inherently flighty,” he said.
Why the Fed and Yellen are so concerned about stablecoins
Yellen’s calls for quick action on creating regulatory frameworks for stablecoins have been echoed by other lawmakers.
Stablecoins were also recently debated by Fed officials, who “highlighted the fragility and the general lack of transparency associated with stablecoins,” at their most recent Federal Open Market Committee meeting. “The importance of monitoring them closely, and the need to develop an appropriate regulatory framework to address any risks to financial stability associated with such products.”
Segram said that while stablecoins can “regulate themselves to some extent by being transparent with the public, I think Yellen is calling for more top-down regulations rather than let it be voluntary.”
This could mean having the reserve currency kept somewhere independent, or having claims be regularly audited, he added.
Segram added that the Fed, meanwhile, might have other concerns around stablecoins’ growth.
“If stablecoins become popular, the central bank loses its control,” Segram said, noting that there have been discussions of stablecoin-like “Central Bank Digital Currency” to be issued by the Federal Reserve.
A Central Bank Digital Currency would give the Fed more control “over how we manage demand, supply and all other means,” Segram said.
Routledge added that the Fed may also have worries about a “banking panic” situation if a lot of assets are flowing through a specific stablecoin.
“If for whatever reason that stablecoin has a shock to it — that can be a systemic event to the financial system,” he added. “That is what’s on the Fed’s radar.”
SEC Chair Gensler, meanwhile, signaled a regulation crackdown could be looming during his remarks earlier this month in Aspen.
Gensler said the use of stablecoins on crypto trading platforms “may facilitate those seeking to sidestep a host of public policy goals connected to our traditional banking and financial system: anti-money laundering, tax compliance, sanctions, and the like.”
“This affects our national security, too,” he added. Gensler said he looks forward to working with regulators and lawmakers on these matters.
Despite the risks, Segram sees cryptocurrencies as the future, which may be in part why regulators are raising alarm bells and why there is so much discussion over a potential central bank digital currency. Major U.S. companies including Amazon and Walmart have recently announced they are hiring cryptocurrency experts, and a growing number of firms have started accepting cryptos as a form of payment.
China’s central bank has already launched its digital Yuan, he added, saying that the U.S. most likely will at some point in if it does not want to lose its status as the “reserve currency of the world.”
“If a stablecoin is issued by a private authority, it is not 100% fail-proof,” he said. “In a democracy like ours, or other democracies where there’s some political stability and currency stability, a central bank digital currency might be the way to go.”
“I think of stablecoin sort of as a link between fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies, this takes that to another level,” he said.
(WASHINGTON) — The $1.1 trillion infrastructure bill passed by Congress last week will fund roads, bridges, rails and other components of the country’s infrastructure. The legislation is also addressing racial inequity.
President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan aims to “reconnect neighborhoods cut off by historic investments” and “redress historic inequity.” Part of his plan includes awarding government contracts to minority-owned businesses, including real estate development companies that will do the work in conjunction with climate projects.
Why is racial injustice being addressed in the plan? The real estate development community is almost exclusively white. That lack of diversity, Black developers who spoke with ABC News said, translates into less affordable housing in Black communities, low rates of homeownership and a scarcity of retail and other businesses within those communities.
According to a 2019 report from Urban Land Institute — a nonprofit organization for real estate and land use experts — only 5% of its U.S. members are African American, 4.5% are Asian and 82% are white.
One of the major problems with diversifying real estate, Black developers say, is that they often face hurdles in acquiring funds, and ultimately in expanding their businesses.
Many are working to eliminate those barriers. Last year’s racial reckoning protests invigorated the real estate development community to create and leverage more initiatives and programs to help not only the Black real estate development business, but to further Black economic power.
D.C. becoming model of Black real estate development
Last summer, Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office established several initiatives to provide access to funding for minority developers.
“We are committed to making our city’s prosperity more inclusive, but that won’t happen by chance – it will happen because as a government and as individuals, we are intentional about how we invest and who we make opportunities available to,” said Bowser shortly after its launch.
One of those initiatives is Capital Impact Partners’ $20 million Diversity in Development DMV Loan Fund (DiD-DMV) and coinciding grant program.
“Our goal is to really take a holistic approach to provide opportunity — specifically in communities of color,” Ellis Carr, president and CEO of Capital Impact Partners and CEO of CDC Small Business Finance told ABC News.
“As we thought about the opportunity to support the D.C. area’s real estate development community, we looked at where the hurdles were, particularly those that were faced by developers of color. We heard a number of things, but primarily it was really boiled down to the lack of access to capital in both debt and equity for developers to really be able to take the leap and expand their businesses and wage,” Carr said.
Through the fund, developers, both nonprofit and for-profit, will have access to lower-cost, flexible pre-development and acquisition loans, unlocking crucial early-stage financing that is often denied to developers of color.
The first two financed projects are set to be built in Washington, D.C.’s Ward 7 and Ward 8, areas with a large African American population.
Thomas Houston and Talayah Jackson both received nearly $1 million in funding for their nonprofit community development corporation, Medici Road.
“U.S. housing is a product change,” Jackson told ABC News. “There is a connection between public health, education and housing … it’s all a systemic problem. It’s not just about solving one answer for someone, it’s … tackling multiple things.”
With the funds, Medici Road plans to develop a 17,000-square-foot building in a vacant lot in D.C.’s Deanwood neighborhood with affordable housing, retail and office space to create essential services in the community.
“We’re creating systemic change for generations,” Jackson said. “I think it’s just due time that taxpayers, as residents, have access to the things that really should already be in place. This community should be flourishing, it should be thriving.”
The new condominium community will create a mixed-income development to provides access to healthy food and health and wellness education, Jackson said.
Currently, the seventh ward has higher crime rates, low homeownership rates and few grocery stores. But Houston says that’s the reasoning behind the decision to develop in the area.
“We have a car to drive to wherever grocery store we wanted to. But what if there is an emergency for say food, formula, and we didn’t have any access at all? When you start looking at this from the professional side of the road, and we start looking at public health outcomes access all the stuff is linked, and none of it exists in our neighborhood. And so that’s where the idea came,” Houston said.
The grocery store is expected to be a franchise owned and staffed by residents of the community.
Steps away from the Deanwood neighborhood project, another developer, Mustafa Durrani of Durrani Development Corporation, secured a $2.5 million acquisition loan and another $900,000 predevelopment loan. Durrani plans to transform a vacant area into a new affordable housing community in the Randle Heights neighborhood of D.C.’s Ward 8.
“There’s an idea that affordable homeownership and affordable rentals are like public housing. And so we want to be able to create something that looks like market rate but it’s still affordable,” Durrani said.
(NEW YORK) — Southwest Airlines pilots are preparing to picket as front-line employees at the airline complain of mismanagement, low staffing, scheduling chaos and a lack of food and hotels for pilots and flight attendants.
Unions representing Southwest’s front-line employees say the airline is severely understaffed, but continues to pack its flight schedule as air travel rebounds, forcing pilots and flight attendants to regularly work the maximum number of hours permitted by federal law. Staffing and weather issues have forced Southwest to cancel thousands of flights this summer.
On Thursday, by late afternoon, Southwest had canceled 170 flights and delayed 852 others, the most of any U.S. airline. At the same time, United had 31 cancellations, while Delta had four.
“We are united on this issue. Our flight attendants are weary, exhausted, and they can take no more,” Lyn Montgomery, Southwest flight attendant and union president, told ABC News. “We’re asking that additional flights not be added to the schedule until the company can handle the flight schedules that we currently have. We all want to get back to the pre-pandemic days, but we have to be able to handle things the way they are right now, the way things are still with the pandemic.”
Crews say they routinely arrive in destination cities only to learn they have no hotel or food availability and cannot reach the company for help.
“We’re being asked to work longer hours, more shifts and extended duty days. We get to the curb and at the end of the day, and we have no idea what hotel we’re supposed to go to,” Montgomery said. “We have to wait for hours to call crew scheduling. There’s no food in the hotel, so we’re unable to get food. We’re not able to get food with the long lines at the airport. So food is the major issue. And we’re also being told that if we call in sick, we have to go see a company doctor to verify the illness.”
In July, Southwest offered its flight attendants double time to pick up extra shifts. The company is now offering its employees referral bonuses to try and fill vacancies.
“The safety of our Employees and Customers comes first, at all times, and that continues to be the priority in everything that we do, Sonya Lacore, Southwest vice president of inflight operations, told ABC News in a statement. “We are aware of the concerns the TWU 556 raised in their letter, and there is much work already underway to address many of the issues this summer.”
Casey Murray, a Southwest captain and pilot’s union president, said issues raised with the company have largely been ignored.
“Management’s refusal to even attempt any of our solutions, or have any real discussion has led us to this point, we must accept that our efforts to improve efficiency and make Southwest Airlines more competitive have fallen on deaf ears, time and time again, because the company has made it clear that they are comfortable with the operation as managed,” Murray said in a video to Southwest pilots Thursday morning.
Southwest Vice President Bob Waltz acknowledged some of the airlines’ challenges, telling ABC News in a statement: “The airline and travel industry have seen a multitude of operational challenges as we navigate the effects of the pandemic. We have teams across the airline working diligently to adapt to the current environment and support our employees during this peak travel season, including efforts focused on providing support to our pilots.”
“We routinely work with the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association on a variety of matters that affect our pilots, but we also have a responsibility to consider a number of factors before implementation of suggestions. We remain committed to listening to feedback and proactively working to address issues as we navigate the months ahead,” Waltz explained.
Southwest is not the only airline facing staffing challenges. American Airlines has had to cancel thousands of flights this summer due pilot and flight attendant shortages.
While airlines received billions of dollars in government aid to keep employees on the payroll, many front-line workers took early retirement or severance packages at the height of the pandemic, leaving airlines desperate to fill openings as air travel rebounded.
Southwest pilots say they will picket during the busy Thanksgiving and Christmas rush if their demands are ignored.
(NEW YORK) — American Airlines will not serve alcohol in coach until at least 2022, aligning with the expiration of the Transportation Security Administration’s federal mask mandate for airports and planes.
American and Southwest airlines suspended alcohol sales early in the pandemic and said they wouldn’t restart serving booze until September, when the mask mandate originally expired. That date has now been extended to Jan. 18.
Southwest told ABC News it hasn’t decided whether it, too, will extend its alcohol suspension beyond September.
United Airlines has stopped selling hard liquor but is serving beer, wine and hard seltzer.
American’s announcement comes as the Federal Aviation Administration has reported a surge in unruly passengers.
The FAA announced Thursday that it has proposed $1 million in fines for unruly passengers in 2021. The agency said it’s received more than 3,889 reports of unruly behavior this year and that 71% of the reported incidents involved passengers who refused to comply with the federal mask mandate.
Many of the incidents aboard U.S. aircraft also have been fueled by alcohol, including one on a Frontier Airlines flight in which a man was duct-taped to his seat after allegedly touching the breasts of two flight attendants and punching a third. Frontier said the man had requested multiple drinks, spilled on himself, and then walked around the aircraft without wearing a shirt.
The FAA is also asking airport bars and restaurants not to serve alcohol to-go.
American will continue to serve alcohol in first class.
(WASHINGTON) — The Federal Trade Commission is not backing down in its antitrust legal battle against Facebook.
The agency filed an amended complaint against the social media giant on Thursday — voting 3-2 along party lines to proceed — after a federal judge in June dismissed an initial antitrust complaint brought by the FTC.
The new complaint alleges that after Facebook failed to develop innovative mobile features for its network, the company instead opted for an “illegal buy-or-bury scheme” to maintain dominance, according to a statement from the FTC. The agency also accuses the company of “unlawfully” acquiring innovative competitors after its own failed efforts to create popular mobile features.
“Facebook lacked the business acumen and technical talent to survive the transition to mobile. After failing to compete with new innovators, Facebook illegally bought or buried them when their popularity became an existential threat,” Holly Vedova, the FTC’s Bureau of Competition acting director, said in a statement Thursday. “This conduct is no less anticompetitive than if Facebook had bribed emerging app competitors not to compete.”
“The antitrust laws were enacted to prevent precisely this type of illegal activity by monopolists,” Vedova added. “Facebook’s actions have suppressed innovation and product quality improvements. And they have degraded the social network experience, subjecting users to lower levels of privacy and data protections and more intrusive ads.”
Vedova said the FTC’s latest legal move seeks to “put an end to this illegal activity and restore competition for the benefit of Americans and honest businesses alike.”
Many of the arguments are along similar lines of the initial lawsuit, though the FTC said the new complaint includes additional data and evidence.
The new complaint in part focuses on the “transition period” when the emergence of smartphones and mobile internet use seemingly threatened Facebook’s dominance.
The agency alleges in a statement that after Facebook suffered “significant failures during this critical transition period,” the company opted instead to engage in anticompetitive behavior and buy up mobile innovators, including former rivals Instagram and WhatsApp.
The agency also takes aim at Facebook’s treatment of software developers, saying that after starting its Facebook Platform as an open space for third-party software developers, it abruptly reversed course and required developers to agree to conditions that prevented successful apps from emerging as competitors.
In response to ABC News’ request for comment, Facebook referred to a company Twitter post that said: “We are reviewing the FTC’s amended complaint and will have more to say soon.”
In response to the initial complaint, the company has previously slammed the allegations as “revisionist history,” noting that the agency had cleared the acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. The company has also argued that Instagram and WhatsApp have become what they are today due because Facebook further funded and developed them.
When he dismissed the initial antitrust complaint, District Judge James Boasberg stated that the agency’s complaint “is legally insufficient and must therefore be dismissed.” Boasberg said the FTC failed to provide enough facts to prove Facebook’s alleged monopolistic behavior.
Lina Khan, a vocal critic of Big Tech’s dominance, took the helm at the FTC earlier this year, leading many to speculate a crackdown on the industry could be looming. Facebook has petitioned for Khan to be recused from the antitrust investigation, but the agency on Thursday dismissed the petition.
(NEW YORK) — Travel looks different in 2021 with changes at hotels like charges for amenities and services.
Some hotels have stripped-down room rates to the bare minimum, tacking on extras like access to the gym or pool for a fee.
MCR Hotels, one of the largest hotel owners in the country with 110 properties in 33 states, said it will experiment with this new feature at New York’s High Line Hotel and the retro hit TWA Hotel located at JFK airport.
The hotel will charge $25 to use the pool on weekends or a day pass at the gym. For guests who want an early check in, that will come with a $20 fee and breakfast will run an additional $10 to $25.
Tyler Morse, CEO of MCR hotels told Good Morning America that this new model tailors the appropriate cost of a stay to fit various guests and their needs.
“There’s business travelers, leisure travelers. Some people want to go to the pool. Some people want to go to the gym. Some people don’t want to do either,” he said. “But by having all of the products together for one price, it forces some people to pay for products that they don’t want or never going to consume.”
These new changes could also save some travelers money if they aren’t planning to use any amenities.
“By going to our cart model, it unbundles the product, it allows us to charge a lower rate for those who just want a sleeping room,” Morse explained. “You can buy the products that you want.”
The hotel and travel industry has been hit hard by the pandemic and now faces labor shortages. Those in the industry are looking for ways to experiment with new options to recover losses and win back business.
“There is going to be quite a long period before we’re back to pre-pandemic levels,” Melanie Lieberman, senior editor of The Points Guy told GMA. She added: “it’s not surprising to see this type of model roll out right now as hotels are looking for ways to ways to save money and generate new revenue.”
Other hotel giants like Marriott and Hilton have yet to jump on the a la carte fee model.
“I think the hotel industry is going to take a cautious approach to doing this — but certainly the more brands, the more major players and the hotel space that start to participate in this type of pricing model, the faster it’s going to take off,” Lieberman said.
Before booking your next stay, she suggested to think about what you actually need for the type of trip you want.
“It certainly goes back to this concept of, if you think you want the whole buffet, you shouldn’t be ordering a la carte,” Lieberman said. “There’s a ton of choice out there for travelers right now. And they’re really going to have to choose at their discretion what kind of experience they want.”
