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☆ Foreign Buyers, Who Nearly Disappeared During Covid, Finally Return to the U.S. Housing Market
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Katherine Clarke | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Alice-Christine Merenda and her family, who live in Munich, Germany, had been thinking of moving to the U.S. for years. A professional translator and interpreter, she said she and her husband, Stefano Merenda, wanted to raise their four children bilingually and admired the freedoms U.S. citizens had amid the Covid onslaught, when Germans were completely confined to their homes. Then, the war in Ukraine began.

☆ California Mass Transit Hopes for Bailout in Already Tight Budget
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Christine Mai-Duc | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit, or BART, is more reliant on passenger fares than most California transit systems, leaving it particularly vulnerable. Public transit agencies across California are asking the state for a bailout, saying they face a looming fiscal crisis due to lagging ridership that could otherwise force them to cut service, lay off employees or shut down some lines and stations. Since the start of the pandemic, some $69 billion in federal emergency funding has kept buses, trains and subways across the country running. But most of California’s transit agencies say they expect that funding to run out within two years. Meanwhile, ridership numbers remain well below prepandemic levels as many high-income workers continue to work from home at least some of the time.

☆ What is a microaggression? 15 things people think are fine to say at work — but are actually racist, sexist, or offensive.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Marguerite Ward | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Microaggressions are indirect or subtle expressions of racism, sexism, ageism, or ableism. A number of Black workers report facing less discrimination and fewer microaggressions working from home than when they're at the office. Some women of color say remote work has helped them in the same way, too. From telling a new female worker that she "looks like a student" to asking a Black colleague about her natural hair, microaggressions can make a workplace feel uncomfortable, unsafe, and toxic. Since microaggressions are subtle, it's often hard to know if you're committing one or if you're on the receiving end.

☆ Lawmakers show rare bipartisan unity in pursuing protections for kids online
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee found rare alignment at a recent hearing about how Congress can help protect kids from online harms. They're speaking out in support of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), which would require sites likely to be accessed by kids 16 or younger to maintain certain privacy and safety protections by default. "We must and we will double down on the Kids Online Safety Act," Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who co-sponsored the bill with Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said at the hearing. Though lawmakers have shared similar goals in other discussions around regulating tech, when it comes to protecting kids online, they're more united in the types of action they want to see take place. However, a bill that recently passed the state's House of Representatives removed that provision, instead allowing for consumers to sue social media companies that knowingly cause harm.

"This reorganization will result in a more cost-effective, coordinated approach to our operations," Iger told analysts on a conference call. Disney earlier reported its first quarterly decrease in subscriptions for its Disney+ streaming media unit, which lost more than $1 billion. Iger also repositioned the company to capitalize on the streaming revolution, acquiring 21st Century Fox's film and television assets in 2019 and launching the Disney+ streaming service that fall. Now, Iger will seek to put Disney's streaming business on a path to growth and profitability. It reorganized its business in 2018 to accelerate the growth of its streaming business, and again in 2020, to further spur streaming's growth.

☆ Inside Disney, 'nervous and anxious' execs brace for news of cost cuts and layoffs that could number in the thousands
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Claire Atkinson | Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Cost cutting reductions, including layoffs, are expected to hit Disney in the coming weeks and months. CEO Bob Iger has asked top execs to reorganize the former Disney Media Entertainment Distribution division. Disney employees are expecting wide layoffs as returning CEO Bob Iger moves to get costs in line. Internally, there's speculation that Disney will target people who work on nonpremium digital products for layoffs, one company insider said. Iger is expected to dismantle the division formerly known as DMED (Disney Media Entertainment Distribution) and shift P&L controls back to creative leaders and others.

☆ Disney investors await CEO Iger's revival plan with results on tap
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Dawn Chmielewski | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LOS ANGELES, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) CEO Bob Iger is expected to discuss a turnaround plan on Wednesday, when the media company delivers its first quarterly results since the return of the executive who built the modern incarnation of Disney. "This is the right place to do it. It also endorsed Iger's leadership, adding that Disney generated a shareholder return of 554% under his previous tenure as CEO. That change resulted in the departure of Kareem Daniel, head of the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution group created by Iger's predecessor, Bob Chapek, to consolidate budgeting and distribution for the studio's content. Analysts polled by FactSet estimate Disney+ will have 163 million subscribers, down modestly from the previous quarter.

☆ Ukrainians Survey Damage After Barrage of Russian Missiles Hit Kyiv
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Motive Sought in Monterey Park Shooting as Families Mourn Victims Investigators continue to search for a motive in a mass shooting that killed 11 people celebrating the Lunar New Year at a dance ballroom in Monterey Park, Calif. Meanwhile, victims are being remembered by grieving families. WSJ’s Christine Mai-Duc reports on the community in mourning. Photo: Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images

☆ A supportive and educational online community exists for people with chronic illnesses. They call themselves "spoonies."
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Laura Wallis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The online spoonie community offers social connection, support, and education. From there, spoon theory was born, and today, the idea has grown in popularity, sparking a supportive online community around those living with chronic illnesses or who are disabled. The online community is made up of spoonies who self-identify and may have a range of diagnoses, such as Crohn's disease or endometriosis. The online community also represents neurological identities and divergences including autism and ADHD. Those who are disabled or have chronic illnesses may find that doctors and those around them don't take any pains or symptoms they experience seriously.

☆ 3 strategies to help give your finances a much-needed reboot this year, according to a financial expert
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Christine Mui | Jason Stauffer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

Welcome back to Money Made Easy, where we focus on simple ways to manage your finances and save money. Plus, qualified borrowers can apply for up to $100,000, and this lender doesn't charge an origination fee, early payoff fee, or late fee. For short-term financial goals, high-yield savings accounts can help you grow your money by earning a much better return than a traditional savings account. Automating your transfers to a savings account can help this process, making it easier and helping you know that you're continuously growing your account. Find the best savings account for you: Help your money grow by finding the savings account that offers the best rates and features for you.

MONTEREY PARK, Calif.—An eleventh person shot last weekend at a dance ballroom in Monterey Park, Calif. died Monday, officials said, as authorities continued to investigate why a 72-year-old man carried out the attack on a roomful of people celebrating the Lunar New Year. Law-enforcement officials named Huu Can Tran as the gunman. Tran took his own life Sunday morning after officers surrounded his vehicle in a shopping-plaza parking lot in Torrance, Calif., about 30 miles from where the shooting took place.

☆ NYPD police officer filed a complaint alleging sergeant tugged her ponytail to prove a point – causing 'substantial' neck pain
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Nakia Middleton-House in January, NY Post reports. SBA president says Middleton-House was "doing her job," according to NY Post. Nakia Middleton-House tugged her ponytail causing "substantial" pain in her neck, according to a complaint obtained by The New York Post. Vallelong told the NY Post that the "false report" was filed after Meisner was disciplined for not properly requesting time off. Vallelong added that in a video depicting the alleged incident "the officer did not stumble and the sergeant did not jerk her back," he told NY Post.

☆ California’s Newsom Proposes Budget Cuts as State Faces $22.5 Billion Deficit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Christine Mai-Duc | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a leaner budget Tuesday that would cut spending on climate change and transportation programs in response to a projected $22.5 billion budget shortfall. The $297 billion spending plan released Tuesday represents an $11 billion decrease from the current year’s budget. It comes just months after the Democrat signed a record-busting $308 billion budget, buoyed by a more than $100 billion surplus. Mr. Newsom said that the whiplash demonstrates the effects of California’s progressive tax system on state revenues, which rely heavily on personal income taxes, particularly from the ultrawealthy.

☆ California Faces $22.5 Billion Deficit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Christine Mai-Duc | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is leading a state that relies heavily on personal income taxes. California is facing an estimated $22.5 billion budget shortfall in the coming fiscal year, according to a spending plan released Tuesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom . The proposal includes $297 billion in spending, an $11 billion decrease from the current year.

California Rep. Katie Porter , a favorite of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, said she would run for Senate in 2024, the first big name to enter what is expected to be a hotly contested race to succeed longtime Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein . Ms. Porter, 49 years old, is one of just a handful of progressive members who represent battleground districts. A law professor who had no previous electoral experience, Ms. Porter was one of seven California Democrats who flipped GOP-held districts in 2018, riding an anti-President Donald Trump wave that handed her party the House majority. She narrowly won reelection in 2022.

☆ California’s Torrential Rains Don’t Mean the Drought Is Over
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Christine Mai-Duc | Jim Carlton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

One of the wettest two-week periods on record in California brought much-needed water to its reservoirs and snow to its mountains, but researchers and officials said it would take several more winter storms to make a dent in the drought that has sapped reservoirs, fallowed farmland and forced homeowners to let lawns turn brown. California has been drenched in the past few weeks by heavy rains and, at higher elevations, snow, caused by an atmospheric river, a flowing column of condensed water vapor in the atmosphere that produces significant levels of rain and snow. Swaths of the state received 15 or more inches of rain over the past two weeks, according to the National Weather Service.

☆ Former Colorado funeral home owner sentenced to 20 yrs for selling body parts
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( John Shiffman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Jan 3 (Reuters) - A former Colorado funeral home owner was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison on Tuesday for defrauding relatives of the dead by dissecting 560 corpses and selling body parts without permission. Sheoperated a funeral home, Sunset Mesa, and a body parts entity,Donor Services, from the same building in Montrose, Colorado. "Hess and Koch used their funeral home at times toessentially steal bodies and body parts using fraudulent andforged donor forms," prosecutor Tim Neff said in a court filing. The federal case was triggered by a 2016-2018 Reuters investigative series about the sale of body parts in the UnitedStates, a virtually unregulated industry. But selling body parts such as heads, arms and spines –which is what Hess did – for use in research or education is notregulated by federal law.

☆ Final farewell: From Sidney Poitier to Pope Emeritus Benedict a look back at the influential figures who died in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +55 min

Other world leaders who died in 2022 include former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who died in August. The final days of 2022 saw the loss of some exceptionally notable figures, including Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Here is a roll call of some influential figures who died in 2022 (cause of death cited for younger people, if available):___JANUARY___Dan Reeves, 77. A Cuban-born artist whose radiant color palette and geometric paintings were overlooked for decades before the art world took notice. A prolific character actor best known for playing villains and tough guys in “The Manchurian Candidate,” “Ocean’s Eleven” and other films.

☆ Hawaii Is Still Waiting for Big-Spending Japanese Tourists to Return
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Christine Mai-Duc | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Tourism spending in Hawaii recovered to prepandemic levels this year, but state officials say they are counting on a return of Japanese tourists to stave off a downturn next year. Armando Dinong used to count on buses coming like clockwork every December to bring crowds of high-spending Japanese tourists to the Waikele Premium Outlets in Hawaii, where he manages a luxury luggage shop. “It would be like a tornado in the room,” Mr. Dinong says. “They were the No. 1 source for our sales.”

☆ Scott Peterson is denied a new trial in the death of his pregnant wife
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Minyvonne Burke | Minyvonne Burke Is A Senior Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

Convicted murderer Scott Peterson was denied a new trial in the 2002 death of his pregnant wife, Laci Peterson, a judge has ruled. The decision comes more than a year after the California Supreme Court ordered Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo to consider whether juror misconduct denied Peterson a fair trial. Nice, who co-wrote a book about the case with other jurors, has denied that she was influenced by her personal experiences. His sentence was overturned by the California Supreme Court in 2020. Laci Peterson, 27, was eight months pregnant with their son, Conner, when she was killed in December 2002, five years after she and Peterson married.

☆ Harvey Weinstein Convicted of Three Sex Crimes in California
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Christine Mai-Duc | Erich Schwartzel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Harvey Weinstein saw his Hollywood empire collapse after allegations of sexual harassment were publicized. LOS ANGELES—Disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein was convicted Monday of three counts of sexual assault and related crimes in Los Angeles and acquitted of another. The jury failed to reach a verdict on three other counts.

☆ 6 key Disney executives working with Bob Iger to remake former CEO Bob Chapek's business structure
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Lucia Moses | Alison Brower | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Disney CEO Bob Iger has returned to a company facing significant pressures on its linear and streaming businesses. He'll also need to unwind the business structure implemented in 2020 by his short-lived predecessor, Bob Chapek — which separated budgeting and distribution decisions from creative content development. Alan Bergman, chairman, Disney Studios ContentAlan Bergman. Disney Interactive/Reuters/Jonathan AlcornPitaro is close to Iger, has a long tenure at Disney, and has a foot in both creative and business sides. Dana Walden, chairman, Disney General Entertainment ContentDana Walden.

☆ 12 media executives anonymously predict 2023's biggest deals, trends and changes
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Alex Sherman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Candle Media has acquired intellectual property assets including Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine production company and Moonbug, which owns the animated kids series "CoComelon." Executive 3: Iger extends his contract There's been lots of speculation over who Iger will choose as his successor. History suggests he has a hard time leaving the role of Disney CEO. Christine M. McCarthy, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer The Walt Disney Company. "I love Shari [Redstone], but ViacomCBS is not long for this world as it stands today," said a media executive last year.

☆ Major Winter Storm Begins to Move Across U.S. Ahead of Holidays
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Ginger Adams Otis | Christine Mai-Duc | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/major-winter-storm-begins-to-move-across-u-s-ahead-of-holidays-11670791134

☆ Disney+ streaming service launches with major advertisers
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Dawn Chmielewski | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dec 8 (Reuters) - The ad-supported version of the Disney+ service launched Thursday, attracting major advertisers from different sectors, bringing in new revenue as Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) strives to push its streaming business into profitability. The company is under pressure to turn a profit on its streaming business, which posted a $1.5 billon loss in the company's most recent quarter. The company's other streaming services, Hulu and ESPN+, already have commercials. A $3-a-month price increase also took effect Dec. 8, bringing the price for the ad-free version of Disney+ to $10.99. Other streaming services, such as HBO Max, Paramount+ and Peacock, also offer ad-supported versions of their streaming services, emulating the business model that has long supported the television business.

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