Jessica Wynne Lockhart and her partner first moved to New Zealand in 2018, eager to explore life in the southern hemisphere. After struggling to find an affordable apartment, the couple signed up to be house sitters, and ended up booking back-to-back sitting gigs for an entire year. But when COVID-19 began, a 7-month sit was […]
Franchisees of iconic American chains are ‘hemorrhaging’ sales, as operators of IHOP, Pizza Hut, and more file for bankruptcy
The franchisees that run locations of some of America’s most iconic chains are facing the same financial struggles as the rest of the industry. Franchisees for Pizza Hut, IHOP, and Subway have already filed for bankruptcy. McDonald’s internally warned franchisees that they may have to downsize or sell locations. “Every franchisee is a small business, […]
How leaders should address race with their employees, the Warren Buffett of tech, and top healthcare startups
Hello, New York. Atlanta. Los Angeles. Denver. Dallas. Detroit. Washington, DC. Seattle. Miami. Chicago. Thousands marched in cities across the US last night, with many of the protests turning violent. The protests first broke out in Minneapolis after a black man, George Floyd, was killed after a white police officer knelt on his neck for […]
‘We’re sick of it’: Anger over police killings shatters U.S.
MINNEAPOLIS — Americans awoke Sunday to charred and glass-strewn streets in dozens of cities after another night of unrest fueled by rage over the mistreatment of African Americans at the hands of police, who responded to the violence with tear gas and rubber bullets. Tens of thousands marched peacefully through streets to protest the death […]
SpaceX’s new ‘Endeavour’ spaceship just made history by docking to the International Space Station with 2 NASA astronauts inside
SpaceX on Saturday launched its first humans into space: veteran NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley. On Sunday morning, the astronauts caught up to the International Space Station inside their Endeavour spaceship — their new name for SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft — and docked it there. The docking marks a big milestone in the […]
TV this week: ‘Quiz’ recalls a game-show scandal
Chuck Barney’s TV and streaming picks for May 31-June 6 DON’T MISS: “Quiz” — This thrilling three-part miniseries whisks viewers back to 2001 and a remarkable moment in British TV history. It recalls how Charles Ingram (Matthew Macfadyen), a former British Army major, and his wife Diana (Sian Clifford) were accused of cheating their way […]
Opinion: Washington abandoning front-line coronavirus workers
Politicians speaking out of both sides of their mouths isn’t exactly news. But doing so at the expense of the front-line workers leading our nation through the COVID-19 pandemic is appalling — even by Washington standards. Kathryn Lybarger There’s been no shortage of praise for the front-line nurses, health care technicians, first-responders, grocery and farm […]
Trucking has been in a recession since late 2018 — and the coronavirus is just the latest slam on some of America’s most vulnerable workers
Aaron Terrazas is the director of economic research at Convoy, a digital freight network. He says that, for the millions of truckers around the United States, the current recession is old news — there’s been a freight recession since 2018. It’s important to remember the real impact of a recession: the disruptive effect it has […]
Problem Solved: Do I have to pay for this MacBook Pro keyboard problem?
Q: I had a problem with the backlight on my MacBook Pro keyboard last year. Since it was out of warranty, I paid for it to be repaired. A few months later, Apple came out with the MacBook Pro display backlight service program to fix this problem at no cost. Christopher Elliott I contacted Apple […]
Bay Area doctor volunteers at New York hospital overwhelmed by coronavirus
Before coronavirus hit Sutter Delta Medical Center in Antioch where he works as an emergency physician, Tom Sugarman spent his days tending to people hurt in car accidents or suffering from heart attacks. His focus shifted several months ago when people with COVID-19 began arriving at the hospital. In April, he was further immersed into […]
Chain restaurants have permanently closed over 500 locations so far in 2020. Here’s the full list.
Restaurant chains were set to suffer major losses since the beginning of the pandemic. Even with dining rooms reopening in some parts of the country, it’s still nigh-impossible for casual dining restaurants to generate a profit at reduced dine-in capacity. As a result, many chains have decided to permanently close some stores, and some brands […]
10 times that Elon Musk proved Tesla doesn’t need advertising (TSLA)
A Tesla shareholder intends to agitate at the company’s annual meeting next month for more old-school advertising. Tesla has never spent any money on traditional ads, while other carmakers have spent billions. But Tesla and CEO Elon Musk enjoy an immeasurable amount of goodwill, earned advertising, both from fans and customers, but also from Musk’s […]