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Ryan Reynolds takes a 'hard pass' on calls to rename a street in his honor Inside NoVA
When it comes to money managers, Scott Minerd is unconventional. After stops at Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and other big financial firms, the Wharton grad left Wall Street behind at 37 and moved to Los Angeles to enjoy, he says, a better lifestyle and pursue other business opportunities. He found one soon enough. Minerd joined what would become Guggenheim Partners — a familiar name in Los Angeles because the financial services firm’s chief executive, Mark Walter, owns a piece of the Dodgers.
Working out of an office in Santa Monica that overlooks the ocean, Minerd, 61, is Guggenheim’s chief investment officer, overseeing more than $233 billion of assets under management. His investment acumen has turned him into a Wall Street commentator — but he’s also a bodybuilder and evangelical Christian whose perspectives on topics such as income inequality, the Green New Deal and the social safety net don’t necessarily jibe with what you’d expect from a Republican investor. Minerd recently spoke to Times editorial staffers. His comments were edited and condensed for space and clarity.
The stock market is booming, yet the unemployment numbers don’t look good. Have we seen the worst of the damage?
The worst is yet to come for Main Street. A lot of jobs in retailing are never going to return. We had way too much square footage in retail space relative to our population. There are other small and medium-sized enterprises that are just not going to come back. As a reminder, more than 50% of all employment in the United States is in small- and medium-sized enterprises. What’s going to happen here is we are going to create a structural underclass that is either chronically unemployed or is employed at wages substantially lower than the wage they were employed at prior to the downturn. This is just going to continue to exacerbate the long-term trend that we’ve had of wealth and income inequality.
Why are you so certain of that?
If you look at the level of output in our economy today and you go back to a little over a year ago, where we were at this level of output before, the unemployment rate today is meaningfully higher than what the unemployment rate was at that time, like more than two times. That’s showing you that businesses have focused on becoming more efficient and more productive — that with consumers buying more stuff online you don’t need as many people working.
Do you place much stock in the gig economy, such as working for Uber, in providing some relief?
A large percentage of these people are doing it to supplement their income, and if you actually figure it out, which most people don’t, or at least I don’t think the average person understands, is that the amount these people are earning is the equivalent of probably like the depreciation and service of their automobile. So if you are unemployed, or you are marginally employed, and you need income and you’d like to monetize the value of your automobile by being a driver, it’s a great way to turn your asset into cash. That doesn’t really sound like a fair economic deal to me.
How did you vote on Prop. 22, which exempted gig transportation companies such as Uber from classifying workers as employees, rather than independent contractors?
I am an overseer of the Hoover Institution, right? I favor free enterprise and support free enterprise, but there is a difference between free enterprise and exploitation. I voted not to exempt these people. I think they should be treated like employees and paid a wage.
Since you’re a Republican and overseer of the Hoover Institution, which largely opposes federal government solutions to societal problems, I am curious what your friends think about your opinions.
They can’t refute the conservative foundation and logic on which my policy beliefs are built. All of my best friends, with few exceptions, voted for Trump for one of two reasons: because they didn’t want their taxes increased, or they’re from the evangelical community and they think they will help advance evangelical issues. So I guess the point I am trying to make is that the real message that we get here is that the majority of these people are opposed to sort of heavy-handed government policies and broad tax increases. I understand that view, and I think there is some very good merit to it. However, I do understand also that a lot of things that we need to get done cost money, and so i think to bridge the conservatives and the liberals there are a number of broad-based ideas.
Can you give an example?
I had dinner with President Obama when he was still president, and I said if you could be king for a day and you got to do whatever you wanted, what would you do? One of the first things he said is: I would implement a carbon tax, and I would get rid of the national gas tax. And he said, “Here is the reason, Scott: Oil is not the vilest offender, there are other offenders who are vile and so a carbon tax would be an incentive to basically either get the largest contributors to carbon emissions to modify their behavior or it would just put them out of business.” You know, George Bush supported the idea of a carbon tax. That’s something that I think is a way to help start bridging the gap.
What about the Green New Deal?
I think I’m gonna have my conservative friends throwing rocks at me here, but the Green New Deal is actually not such a bad idea. Now, the thing is, I don’t necessarily agree with the form in which it’s being proposed, but it is essentially addressing these climate issues in a way to actually increase efficiency [and] economic output. Why shouldn’t we encourage people from where I grew up, in western Pennsylvania, which was all about steel and coal; why shouldn’t we be working with them to integrate them into the development or manufacture of solar panels or windmills? Why aren’t we saying we want to exploit the underemployed labor in the region to lift them out of this poverty and help it become a vital and growing part of the new economy. So something like the Green New Deal could actually be something that is very good for the people who have supported Trump.
So what do you mean then by saying you don’t support it in the way it’s being proposed?
Generally they’re talking about a lot of government programs, which I am not in favor of. There is no such thing as a temporary government program. The thing I am in favor of is a series of tax incentives. I was in Davos, and I was on a panel with Al Gore ... and as I pointed out to Vice President Gore, “This is just an inconvenient truth. Until we have economic incentives behind these initiatives, we are not going to get them implemented fast enough to make a difference.”
What about the question of providing more access to affordable healthcare through something like “Medicare for all”?
In terms of Medicare for all, what is the problem, people? I don’t get it. If you get to a certain age or are at a certain income level and you can’t afford your healthcare, I don’t see an issue about having Medicare for all. Again, I’ll probably get somebody at the Hoover Institution throwing rocks at me for that comment. I think that, in a society like ours, a social safety net is necessary.
And universal basic income?
As opposed to universal income, I would favor Milton Friedman’s idea of a negative income tax. You are given some amount of money every year to provide essentially a basic wage, and if you get a job, for every dollar you earn you give back some amount, like 50 cents, or you forego some amount, which incentivizes people to seek ways to increase their income and encourages them to increase or improve their skills in different areas, and that sort of ties into job training and education.
Talking about education, how might access to it be expanded?
I went to undergraduate school at the University of Pennsylvania. When I went there, it was a ghetto. We sat in a building that was cinder block with a brick face on it with linoleum tiles on the floors and these wooden paddle desks. The last time I went to Wharton, it was the frickin’ Taj Mahal — marble sidewalks, the whole shebang. I am picking my alma mater to pick on so I don’t pick on somebody else’s. These schools have huge endowments, and why are they not focusing their endowment on advancing a cause of essentially free education or at least education that provides complete support for people below certain income levels? I think it’s a travesty. I honestly won’t give money to the school, because I don’t want to see it going to bricks and mortar and making the place look better when people who would be qualified to come there can’t afford to do it. And, of course, if we had more equal access to education, it would help address some of the issues around race and poverty.
It’s expected that a Biden administration will revisit the Trump tax cuts. Any thoughts on that?
I was the economic advisor for Howard Schultz in his attempt to run for president. One of the things we discussed was the corporate tax cuts that the current administration put through, and I made the case to Howard that it was a great idea because it encouraged investment and so on and so forth over time — which I now sort of recant because it encouraged stock buybacks and dividends.
So are you saying we should hike corporate taxes?
The thing that Howard said to me that I thought was very interesting, and I totally bought into it, is if we are going to give a tax cut to a corporate America, what did we get back for it? Why do companies that don’t offer health insurance pay the same tax rate as companies that do? It doesn’t make sense. I think that government policy can be used as a tool to address issues like this. You want to keep your corporate tax rate? Condition it on providing healthcare for your employees, providing tuition assistance, providing job training, providing diversity. So you can have your tax cut, but we only want the tax cut to be for companies that are being responsible.
How would any of this stuff you are talking about be possible with a divided government?
I would hope that both sides would recognize there are compromises and bridges to be built here that can actually work for both of them and support their agendas. While they might not get fully what they want, they can get a lot of what they want.
LONDON (AP) — On a bustling street in east London, shops are scrambling to adapt to the pandemic and survive. Small businesses all over the world are struggling as the virus forces many to close outright while also remaking consumer habits, but many in the U.K. are facing the double whammy of the pandemic and the economic uncertainty caused by Britain’s exit from the European Union. As in much of Europe, the United Kingdom saw a sharp resurgence of COVID-19 infections this autumn, and officials imposed a second round of severe restrictions. The suffering has been especially acute in the U.K., where Europe’s deadliest outbreak has plunged the economy into the worst recession on record.
TOKYO (AP) — Global shares were mixed Monday on renewed caution despite a record high finish on Wall Street last week driven by hopes for a COVID-19 vaccine and relief for the global economy.
France’s CAC 40 fell 0.3% to 5,579.72 in early trading, while Germany’s DAX inched up less than 0.1% to 13,346.33. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.6% to 6,403.93. U.S. shares were set to decline as Dow futures dropped 0.5% to 29,730.50. S&P 500 futures fell 0.4% to 3,623.38.
After Tokyo trading ended, Koichiro Miyahara, the head of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, resigned to take responsibility for a massive system glitch that shut down trading last month. The full-day outage on Oct. 1 was the worst ever for the world’s third largest exchange.
Japan Exchange Group, or JPX, the exchange’s parent, said it had accepted his resignation over the error that disabled the system called Arrowhead.
Trading resumed as normal the following day after repairs of malfunctioning computer systems. There was no sign the outage resulted from hacking or other cybersecurity breaches.
Akira Kiyota, JPX’s CEO, will take Miyahara’s place, the company said in a statement.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dipped 0.8% to finish at 26,433.62, as markets throughout the region shed early gains. South Korea’s Kospi lost 1.6% to 2,591.34. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 1.3% to 6,517.80. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged down 2.0% to 26,361.96, while the Shanghai Composite slipped 0.5% to 3,391.76.
Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist at Axi, noted that despite ups and downs investors are looking toward the arrival of vaccines for a gradual return to business as usual.
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“Vaccines offer the promise that the major disruptions of the pandemic will fade from the scene in 2021. Economic life will gradually heal; the world will start to move on from all the human suffering that the virus has wrought,” said Innes.
One bit of encouraging news for the region came in the purchasing managers’ index, or PMI, for China’s manufacturing sector, which showed the nation where the pandemic all started continues to recover, with its manufacturing sector growing.
Positive developments on the vaccine front have investors looking forward to progress in gaining control over the pandemic that plunged the global economy into its deepest slump since the 1930s. That optimism persisted last week even as one vaccine candidate suffered a setback and cases of coronavirus remain high around the world.
The University of Oxford and AstraZeneca have released positive test results about their vaccine. Hopes for a vaccine have offset concerns about spiking coronavirus cases in the U.S. and other parts of the world. U.S. states and European governments are re-imposing controls on business and travel as infection rates surge.
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Worries are also growing in Asia, including Japan and South Korea, about another wave of infections. Tokyo is reporting several hundred new cases a day, often setting new records. The disease has killed more than 1.4 million people worldwide, according to data gathered by Johns Hopkins University.
The OPEC nations, led by Saudi Arabia, will be meeting virtually on Monday to decide, once again, how much oil their members should produce as lockdowns related to the coronavirus stifle demand for crude. They’re expected to extend production cuts well into the new year, in an effort to boost volatile oil prices.
The group has to reach agreement among its member countries and the additional members in the group known as OPEC Plus, which is led by Russia.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude lost 67 cents to $44.86 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 92 cents to $47.26 a barrel.
The U.S. dollar inched up to 104.33 Japanese yen from 104.07 yen. The euro cost $1.1976, up from $1.1962.
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Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
Stock futures fell in early morning trading on Monday as the market looks set to shed some of the historically strong gains seen so far in November.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 281 points. Meanwhile, S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures traded lower.
Futures took a leg down after Reuters reported that the Trump administration is weighing blacklisting Chinese leading chipmaker SMIC as well as national offshore oil and gas producer CNOOC. The move would limit their access to American investors and escalate tensions with China before President-elect Joe Biden takes over.
Despite the overnight weakness, major equity averages are poised to wrap up a strong month. The blue-chip Dow has risen 12.9% so far this month, on pace for its best monthly performance since January 1987, as promising vaccine developments boosted confidence of a smooth economic reopening. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq have climbed 11.3% and 11.9%, respectively, in November, both on track to post their biggest monthly advance since April.
Cyclical sectors, those most economically sensitive groups, have led the market's November rally amid a slew of positive vaccine news. Energy, 2020's biggest loser, has jumped 33.8% this month, while financials, industrials and materials have all gained at least 13% during this period.
Small caps have been on a tear this month as investors piled into beaten-down value names. The Russell 2000 has rallied 20.6% so far in November, on track for its best month ever.
"This rally has been notable as the rotation from Growth to Value has continued to gain momentum despite the negative news flow of Covid cases surging around the country and lockdowns again being imposed in various parts of the nation," said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Independent Advisor Alliance.
The market is coming off a record-setting holiday week that saw the 30-stock Dow surge past the 30,000 milestone for the first time. The benchmark has since dipped below the threshold. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both closed Friday at fresh record highs.
Still, investors continue to monitor the coronavirus pandemic which has killed more than 266,000 people in the U.S. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said on Sunday that the U.S. is heading into a tough period of the pandemic in which restrictions and travel advisories will be necessary.
Los Angeles County in California imposed a new stay-home order Friday as cases surged in the nation's most populous county. Meanwhile, New York City public schools will begin to reopen on Dec.7.
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I am saddened and grief-stricken today as I announce the passing of my friend, Philip Street, (Ret.) Dade County, Georgia Sheriff and current Walker County Sheriff’s Office Captain of the Detention Facility.
Philip passed away last evening in a Chattanooga, TN hospital due to Covid-19 complications.
Our friendship spanned thirty-five years, dating to the time as parents we met in lamaze classes at East Ridge, TN hospital. (Can you imagine Philip saying and blowing he, he, he, whew?) Our daughters were born a month apart and became good friends at an early age.
Throughout our law enforcement careers, Philip has always been there. As a board member of the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit Drug Task Force, as a fellow Sheriff and for the last seven years, as a supervisor and Captain of the Jail.
There are numerous Philip Street stories to tell that I will keep close to me. However, one thing is for certain...if you were Philip’s friend, you knew it, no questions asked.
Philip cared for his co-workers, especially the younger officers that he mentored. We will miss his counsel and work ethic.
Philip loved his wife, his daughter, sisters, brother and his mother.
Philip loved Dade County.
What last words would Philip leave us with? Wear your mask, wash your hands and social distance.
I’ll see you again, my friend, my brother in blue.
Fullerton City Council voted unanimously at their November 17 meeting to ban all RV parking on public and private streets citywide unless first obtaining a temporary permit from the police department. This has prompted concern from those living in Recreational Vehicles (RVs) in the City who feel they are being discriminated against for being poor.
Prior to voting on this, a Fullerton police officer gave a Power Point presentation that showed photos of RVs lined up on streets in certain industrial areas along Valencia where some folks live in their RVs and vehicles. Some of the photos showed trash and waste surrounding the RVs. The photos were presented as justification for banning RV parking in Fullerton, except with temporary permits for “residents.”
“‘Resident” means a person who customarily resides and maintains a place of abode or who owns land within the City, according to the ordinance, “It shall not mean a person who maintains an address at a mailbox drop or who rents a room that is not his or her primary place of abode nor shall it mean a person who maintains only a post office box, unless that person also provides evidence of residence at a street address within the City.”
According to the last Point in Time Count (of people experiencing homelessness), the city of Fullerton has an estimated 308 unsheltered homeless people on a given night, a portion of which are living in vehicles. The exact number of people experiencing homelessness and living in vehicles is not known, but estimates place the number between 30 and 50 vehicles.
Michael Horton, a retired crane operator, and Mary Lopez are currently living in an RV on Valencia Ave. Prior to living in the RV, Horton grew up in and owned a house on Lille Ave. just a few blocks away from where he now parks.
“I wish they would lighten up on the RV people,” Lopez said. “Most people who are out here like this don’t want to be out here…People are doing the best they can. When you don’t have money to buy gas for your vehicle, to move it when they tell you to, then they come back and you’re still there, then they impound you.”
The City recently began placing flyers on all the RVs parked on Valencia, stating: “Effective December 17, 2020, RV Parking will be Prohibited on All City Streets in Fullerton. Please plan and prepare to move now before enforcement, including towing, starts.”
For the past few years, Horton and Lopez have been forced to move around due to surrounding cities passing similar ordinances. Anaheim, Buena Park, La Mirada, Placentia, and Orange all have ordinances banning or restricting RV parking.
“They do everything they can to criminalize being homeless,” Horton said. “When we buy gas, we pay state road taxes. I am a taxpayer, and it is a public street. Am I not Joe Public? It seems to me the city ordinances are prejudiced.”
Under the new ordinance, the police-issued temporary RV permits are only permitted in residential zones and are only available to “residents.”
“Any resident may obtain a temporary RV parking permit authorizing him or her to park a recreational vehicle in front of his or her residence,” the ordinance states. These permits are good for 24 hours.
Additionally, “Any out-of-town visitor may obtain a temporary RV parking permit to allow him or her to park a recreational vehicle in front of the residence in which they are visiting.” These are good for up to seven days.
At the Council meeting, only one resident, Tony Package, submitted an e-Comment in opposition to the ordinance. Package, who is on the Fullerton Police Chief’s Advisory Council said he “would prefer we take care of the homeless crisis before we take RVs off the streets.”
Nonetheless, Council approved the ordinance unanimously.
The city of Fullerton currently has a Safe Parking Program, operated by local non-profit Pathways of Hope, that says people living in their vehicles are allowed to park in a certain lot, with certain restrictions.
Pathways took over the program in May 2020. Since then, they have served a total of 20 unduplicated community members, according to David Gillanders, Executive Director of Pathway of Hope. This program is set to end December 31.
“For now, we are certainly accepting those folks who are living in their cars and need a safe place to be at night, as well as working on case plans that will end homelessness permanently,” Gillanders said.
Though there is currently no plan to extend Fullerton’s program, Gillanders said the need is huge and his group would like to try a regional approach to this program in north Orange County.
Fullerton City Manager Ken Domer supports the ordinance. “In Fullerton we provide places (Safe Parking) for Fullerton-connected persons,” he said. “I will not open our City as a refuge from other cities having RV parking bans that push them into Fullerton.”
Brooke Weitzman, the attorney representing several homeless plaintiffs in the court case Orange County Catholic Worker v. County of Orange, et al, called the RV parking ban “a surefire way to increase homelessness.”
Weitzman cited recent legal cases in Los Angeles and San Diego that found such ordinances unlawful.
“More importantly, similar to writing people tickets, it works against the interests of the City,” Weitzman said. “If the City’s interest is having more people housed and fewer people homeless, forcing the people who are in their RVs (which in many cases are seniors, often senior women, or parents with minor kids) out of their last chance at housing and onto the streets doesn’t serve anyone’s interests.”
The ordinance itself states, “The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed this Ordinance and each section, subsection, phrase or clause thereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, phrases or clauses may be declared unconstitutional.”
“The intention appears to either make [people living in RVs] more homeless or force them out of the City,” Weitzman said. “Typically, if the City decides to start enforcement, they would start writing tickets, rather than taking their RVs a few days before Christmas and leaving them on the road.”
On Nov. 13, Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul, MTA Construction & Development President Janno Lieber and local elected officials opened the new School Street underpass in the Village of Westbury and Hamlet of New Cassel. The undergrade crossing separates it from the Long Island Rail Road Main Line. It’s the fifth railroad crossing to be eliminated in the past 14 months—on time and on budget—as part of the LIRR Expansion Third Track Project.
“New York continues to lead the nation in modernizing and strengthening our transportation infrastructure and the removal of the School Street grade crossing is just the latest example of these efforts,” Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a statement. “Not only was this project completed on time and on budget, but this new underpass will improve safety and bring a higher quality of life to this community by reducing noise, air and traffic pollution.”
In coordination with municipal, county and state government partners, MTA Construction & Development rebuilt the railroad crossing at School Street as a two-lane grade separated underpass with a sidewalk on the east side. The roadway project began with utility relocation in September of 2019, followed by LIRR signal modification in April 2020.
“The removal of this grade crossing will improve traffic flow and increase safety on our roads,” Hochul said.
To date, the School Street railroad crossing is the fifth of eight eliminated through the LIRR Expansion Project. Last year, crews transformed former crossings at Urban Avenue in New Cassel and Covert Avenue in New Hyde Park into safe grade-separated underpasses.
School Street was closed to traffic on May 18 to allow excavation to begin as crews assembled the new bridge at an adjacent parking lot. The bridge was put into place over the course of just a single weekend, Oct. 3 and 4.
The School Street railroad crossing was the site of a tragic collision on Feb. 26, 2019, in which the three occupants of an automobile lost their lives after driving around a downed crossing gate. The grade crossing eliminations will also reduce traffic backups, as vehicles will no longer need to wait at crossings as trains pass, which can be as much as 35 percent of the time during rush hours.
North Hempstead Councilmember Viviana Russell said, “As eight of the Expansion Projects were taking place in my district we embarked on conversations with MTA/Long Island Railroad and their contractor 3TC a few years ago. With the first two projects being completed at Urban Avenue and the Cherry Lane Bridge there were many ‘growing pains.’ At the end of it all, now that the School Street grade elimination is coming to a close and just a few more projects to be completed, we look forward to utilizing the community benefit funds in the areas that were most impacted by this project and I believe this project will be a safer, positive benefit to all of Long Island.”
Westbury Mayor Peter Cavallaro said, “The Westbury community is very happy that the School Street grade crossing has been eliminated, as for decades that location had posed a grave danger to motorists and pedestrians. There was a fatal accident at that location, and there had been others in the past as well. We’re also very pleased to see the completion of an important infrastructure project that will enhance the road and rail systems servicing the community. As the Third Track Project progresses, we see the great benefits that we had anticipated coming to fruition.”
Senator Anna M. Kaplan said, “Last year, our community was shaken by a terrible tragedy at the School Street grade crossing that took three lives and caused a significant disruption to the entire LIRR system. This incident was the final in a long history of tragedy at this location, which was considered one of the most dangerous in the entire region. Today begins a new chapter for our community, with the opening of this new underpass, that has dramatically improved public safety, while simultaneously reducing local traffic throughout the area. I applaud the hard-working men and women who worked tirelessly on this great achievement even through the pandemic, and I thank Governor Cuomo for setting an ambitious agenda to modernize the Long Island Railroad and improve infrastructure on Long Island.”
Assemblymember Charles Lavine said, “The railroad bridge is going to be a tremendous benefit to our community. It will guarantee convenient transportation for our community in the long run. As well as the added safety benefits, building the overpass has eliminated the grade crossings, which will ensure safety for drivers and reduce traffic in the area. The railroad bridge is also going to aid our environment with fewer cars idling in traffic, the air quality in the surrounding area will improve. Overall this is a great step to ensuring our residents are safer and have adequate transportation.”
North Hempstead Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth said, “I would like sincerely to thank Governor Cuomo and the Long Island Rail Road for their commitment to this infrastructure program that eliminated the grade crossing at School Street. The new underpass will alleviate train congestion and improve traffic safety.”
According to a press release, “This fast pace of work and the use of unique engineering methods limited the associated traffic detour to just six months.”
Funding for LIRR Expansion Project comes from the MTA’s 2015-19 Capital Program and 2020-24 Capital Program. Once the work is complete, the LIRR will have increased its capacity by roughly 50 percent. Together, the upgrades will help transform transportation across the region and provide a reliable, state-of-the-art rail system for Long Islanders. Visit aModernLI.com for more information.
—Submitted by the MTA
Early Sunday morning, Ted Booth and Matt Gross hit the road from their home in Brooklyn, N.Y., to drive to Four Seasons Total Landscaping in Northeast Philly.
“We knew we were in the right place when we saw the adult bookstore,” Gross, 46, said.
The men came to Philly to participate in the Fraud Street Run, an “11-ish mile” charity race inspired by the bizarre news conference Rudy Giuliani held in the parking lot of Four Seasons Total Landscaping (near the Fantasy Island sex shop and the Delaware Valley Cremation Center), as news of Joe Biden’s presidential victory swept the nation Nov. 7.
Though the unexpected popularity of the run forced race organizers Jeff Lyons and Chip Chantry (hosts of the Junk Miles podcast) to make the race all-virtual — meaning anyone in the world could participate by running an 11-mile course of their choosing — several dozen runners still showed up in Northeast Philly early Sunday to run the race as it was intended, from the “famous” Four Seasons Total Landscaping to the “lesser-known” Four Seasons hotel in Center City (making for a better turnout than the press conference itself, as one Twitter user noted).
As runners arrived on site, Sean Middleton, director of sales for Four Seasons Total Landscaping, handed out company-branded stickers. He said the news conference and the subsequent memes it inspired have brought hundreds of people to their business to take photos.
“People have knocked on our door from all throughout the world, as far away as from Australia,” he said. “I guess American politics are big all over.”
On Wednesday, two sisters, one from New York City and one from Bethlehem, Pa., even met at the landscaping business and had a full Thanksgiving picnic lunch — with champagne — outside on a blanket on the sidewalk, Middleton said. And so far, the company has sold more than 30,000 shirts with its catchy “Lawn and Order” phrase on them.
“We’re from Northeast Philly, we can laugh at ourselves,” Middleton said. “For us to come out and make a political statement as Four Seasons Total Landscaping in Northeast Philly was never our intent.”
When Lyons thought up the idea for the Fraud Street Run (a play on words of Philly’s popular Broad Street Run), he thought maybe a handful of people would show up, but when he put the idea out on social media Nov. 9, the internet ran with it.
Not only did more than 2,100 people sign up to participate from around the world, but through requested donations of $10 for participation, the virtual event raised more than $50,000 for Philabundance, a milestone which was marked while Lyons was greeting participants on-site at Four Seasons Total Landscaping Sunday.
For Sav Nop, 51, who lives less than three miles from Four Seasons Total Landscaping, participating in the charity run he’d heard so much about was both purposeful and poignant.
“My mother was cremated across the street,” he said, as he looked over at the Delaware Valley Cremation Center.
Throughout the morning, runners showed up at the landscaping business in shirts that read “Bad things happen in Philadelphia” and “Bada-- things happen in Philadelphia,” as well as paper bibs they’d printed out from the Fraud Street Run website.
Many, however, decided to run to and from various Four Seasons-named businesses in their own backyard, including a Four Seasons Hair and Nail Design, a Four Seasons Bowling Center Arcade, and a Four Seasons Fitness Center.
Brian Kelley, 49, ran his course in his hometown of Hamilton Township, N.J., pausing along the way to take a photo of himself posed like Captain Morgan with landscaping equipment and another photo of a sign that read “Rudy’s Landscaping.”
“Completed my #Virtual #FraudStreetRun with 11.5 LEGAL MILES!” Kelley posted on Twitter. “Even sweated like Giuliani, who may or may not be trying to muscle in on Four Seasons Total Landscaping’s business based on the sign I saw.”
In Germany, Karsten Becker, 39, ran from his hometown in Neuenhagen to the Four Seasons Elementary School and Kindergarten in the neighboring town of Petershagen. He said while he enjoys watching what’s happening in the United States “with the same curiosity I watch monkeys in a zoo” he said the actions of U.S. presidents have long-lasting impacts, even on the people in Germany.
“The weakest link of a democracy is social contract of people to the institutions. Trump was a master in tearing a hole into that contract,” Karsten said. “That is why I participated in that run, to at least let people in power know that their behavior is not tolerated. And attacking the president’s ego by calling him a fraud might just be the right way.”
A few politicians even got in on the Fraud Street Run action. Former mayor of Minneapolis Betsy Hodges tweeted photos of herself doing the run, as did a local congresswoman, U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon.
“While the annual turkey trot might have been cancelled this year, I still needed to break in my new shirt,” Scanlon tweeted, along with a picture of herself in official Fraud Street Run gear.
In the spirit of the race, many runners ran less than 11 miles, but called reports of them doing otherwise “fake news.” Other participants said data from their running apps, which showed they averaged an 11-minute mile, were obviously fraudulent because they know they ran 7-minute miles.
And several people unilaterally declared themselves victors of the race, despite organizers expressly stating there would be no awards or winners.
“’We won BIG BIG win We were fastly fast! Philly Loves US. Everyone adores us! We are the best of the best,” read one sign posted by participants in Orlando, Fla.
Shortly before 10 a.m. Sunday, after most of the crowd had dissipated, Maria Paredes and four other women from T3 Philly, a Philadelphia-based triathlon club, rode up to Four Seasons Total Landscaping on their bicycles to start their Fraud Street Run.
“You mess with Philly and this is what happens,” Paredes said. “You get a whole run out of it.”
One man was out for an evening stroll when someone came up behind him and bashed him in the face with a blunt object. Another victim was taking out the trash at his apartment complex when he was ambushed, and a U.S. Postal Service carrier was badly beaten while out delivering the mail after dark.
Residents of Waltham, Massachusetts, are on edge after police said at least 10 men have been targeted by a mystery assailant in a string of unprovoked assaults that have occurred since Nov. 10.
"Waltham police are using all means necessary to bring these cases to an end as quickly as possible," Detective Sgt. Steve McCarthy said in a statement.
McCarthy said the latest attack occurred around 8 p.m. on Friday when a culprit came up behind a man walking on a residential street, hit him in the face with a blunt weapon and ran off under the cover of darkness. As in the other cases, McCarthy said the person responsible for the serial assaults appears to be lying in wait and attacking victims by surprise.
On Saturday, police released surveillance video of an individual they described as "a suspect in the string of recent assaults around Waltham" and urged the public to contact them with any information on the person's identity.
The video shows a man dressed in a dark hooded coat, light blue jeans and sneakers running down a street. Police did not specify when or where the video was taken.
Investigators only have a general description of the assailant, saying he appears to be a Black male, 5-foot-6- to 5-foot-10-inches tall and 160 to 180 pounds.
Police also took the unusual step of making reverse 911 calls to alert residents of the city, cautioning them to be vigilant and remain aware of their surroundings, especially after dark.
Authorities said that in all of the "random, unprovoked" attacks, the suspect has struck between 5:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. in the city 22 miles northwest of Boston.
Initially, the assailant appeared to be targeting residents of an apartment complex but has since spread out across the community of roughly 63,000 people, attacking several recent victims in the city's downtown area, according to police.
David Cameros, one of the victims, told ABC affiliate station WCVB-TV in Boston, that he was attacked Wednesday night outside his apartment complex. He said he had just taken out his garbage and was talking on his cell phone while having a smoke when he was clobbered in the head by what he believes was a baseball bat.
Cameros said he was knocked unconscious and left with a fractured skull.
"I don't know if it is only one or there are more attackers. The aggressor always attacks from behind," Cameros said.
Another victim, who would only give his first name, Emerson, a mechanic, told WCVB he was targeted while out for an evening stroll also on Wednesday evening. Emerson remains in a hospital being treated for several fractures to his face and skull.
Emerson said the attacker came up behind him like a "coward" and that he didn't have a chance to see his face.
"I did not have the opportunity to defend myself," Emerson said Saturday, adding that he is awaiting surgery on his face.
Melissa Gallant, a friend of Emerson, said she and other residents of the city have been left rattled by the attacks.
"I know he's beat up bad, bad, bad and he's such a nice guy," Gallant told WCVB of Emerson. "It's heartbreaking. It's not right. He helps everybody. He's a very good man."
Greetings from the land of leftovers. Cut yourself a slice of cold pie and catch up on the business news you need to know for the week ahead. — Charlotte Cowles
Wall Street rejoiced at the news that President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. planned to nominate Janet Yellen, the former chair of the Federal Reserve, to head the Treasury Department. Ms. Yellen is known for her patient and steady hand at the Fed, where her policies helped create a record-long economic expansion before the coronavirus hit. If confirmed, she would be the first woman to hold the position. She also faces the unenviable job of rebuilding an economy that’s still being pummeled by the pandemic.
Ms. Yellen wasn’t the only thing that made Wall Street happy this week. Two major stock market indexes rose to all-time highs on Tuesday. Investors were reacting to several signs of future stability, including the Trump administration’s agreement on Monday to finally begin the formal transition process with Mr. Biden’s team, effectively ending the postelection turmoil. Markets were also cheered by more good vaccine tidings, this time from AstraZeneca, which became the third pharmaceutical company to show promising results in trials for its coronavirus vaccine. But the stock market is not the economy, and the latter is still struggling. Unemployment claims jumped again last week as coronavirus cases continued to spike across the country.
Purdue Pharma, the maker of the highly addictive painkiller OxyContin, pleaded guilty to its role in the deadly opioid crisis as part of a multibillion-dollar settlement with the Justice Department. The company admitted to paying illegal kickbacks to doctors who prescribed OxyContin and marketing the drug to doctors who were suspected of illegally prescribing it. Now, Purdue Pharma’s owners (the wealthy Sackler family) will pay $225 million in civil penalties, but they do not face criminal charges — yet. The fine is peanuts compared with the fortune that OxyContin helped the Sacklers build, which is estimated to be at least $13 billion.
The largest car manufacturer in the United States, abruptly dropped its support for President Trump’s crusade to strip California of the power to set stricter fuel economy standards than the rest of the country. Instead of backing Mr. Trump, General Motors announced that it would dedicate itself to electric vehicles and other green energy initiatives championed by Mr. Biden. The about-face was no doubt driven by the election outcome, and it signals that the auto industry (and perhaps corporate America more generally) may be willing to work with Mr. Biden as he tries to institute stronger climate change regulations.
The holiday shopping season is officially in full swing — and has been for weeks already, from people’s couches. As the pandemic has pushed more people to do their shopping online, retailers are adjusting their business models and encouraging customers to place orders earlier if they want their stuff on time. Macy’s turned two of its brick-and-mortar locations into shipping fulfillment centers. And Amazon has recruited 100,000 temporary workers for the holiday season, on top of the more than 427,300 workers it hired from January to October this year. Analysts are expecting online holiday spending to surge by over 35 percent compared with last year.
Brexit negotiations are as messy as ever, and the deadline for Britain’s trade deal with the European Union is just weeks away. To prepare for the inevitable, French border police tested out post-Brexit procedures at the Eurotunnel, which connects Britain to France. The result: a five-mile traffic jam in southern England. Officials are warning that the gridlock could become permanent starting Jan. 1, when Britain officially leaves the European Union’s customs bloc and French and English officials will begin conducting checks on both sides of the tunnel. But that could be the least of the region’s problems if they can’t reach an agreement and a no-deal Brexit occurs.
The Netflix show “The Queen’s Gambit,” about a fictional chess prodigy, has boosted the sales of chess sets by 125 percent. The Ad Council, a nonprofit advertising group, is working on a $50 million campaign to urge Americans to immunize themselves once vaccines are ready. And Penguin Random House is buying Simon & Schuster in a deal that would create the first megapublisher.
DENVER — When Covid-19 hit the U.S. in March, revenue at Alyssa Manny’s yoga studio fell 60 percent to 70 percent. And it wasn’t just her. Nearly every business on Tennyson Street, in a gentrifying neighborhood about 15 minutes from downtown Denver, was hit hard by the pandemic.
First to go was Biju’s Little Curry Shop, a popular dining spot featuring dishes that Biju Thomas grew up with in south India, like samosa chaat, dosas and rotis. He moved to the U.S. in 1980 and settled in north Denver. February had been his best month since he opened the restaurant in 2016. But by March, he was done.
“We lost $80,000 in bookings that first week,” Thomas said recently. “We had weddings and events booked into March, April, May. We did about $400,000 in catering and events over the course of a year. Fifteen hundred meals a day out of the kitchen. There’s no coming back from that.”
Thomas’ experience is echoed by small-business owners across the country who have fallen on hard times since the start of the pandemic, which has killed over 260,000 people in the U.S. and strangled the economy. At least 100,000 small businesses nationwide have closed permanently, according to a Yelp analysis released in September. Many others are barely hanging on.
Small businesses make up 44 percent of U.S. economic activity, according to a 2019 report from the Small Business Administration. Restaurants, which before the pandemic employed 15 million people, have been especially hard hit. The wreckage is evident in empty storefronts, takeout-only signs and GoFundMe pitches to help merchants stay afloat.
“No one was prepared for the reality of shutting down an entire economy,” said Manny, owner of Ohana Yoga + Barre and vice president of the local merchants’ association. “Business owners had to decide, do you want to take on debt and play the long game or get out?” Manny chose the former, taking on $200,000 in debt and turning her popular studio into a membership-only operation.
In the early 20th century, streetcars ran along 38th and 44th avenues, and riders hopped off at Tennyson to shop and go to the movies. Over the decades, the bowling alley became a grocery store; the movie theater, a music store; and the post office, a furniture store. Other small businesses moved in, like a barber shop, a print shop and a corner bar.
The Tennyson Street commercial corridor, with its eight blocks of restaurants, breweries, an independent bookstore and The Oriental Theater, a venue for live music performances, is the beating heart of the community. Today, Tennyson is rapidly gentrifying, and in a nod to the transformation, the high-end athletic-wear purveyor Lululemon recently opened a seasonal pop-up, Corepower Yoga moved in and a boutique hotel is coming in January.
But some residents are critical of the changes, which include apartment buildings without ground-floor retail to promote foot traffic, saying the trendiness is out of character with a neighborhood where century-old bungalows sit beside contemporary apartments.
Along Tennyson, a vibrant painting of a buffalo hangs in an art gallery window and the scent of citrus candles greets pedestrians outside a nearby shop. The familiar notes of “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” rise out of an antiques store, and passersby know what the restaurants are serving just by breathing — bacon, toast, red sauce, pepperoni.
Over the spring and summer, restaurants that survived the initial shell shock of Covid-19 pivoted to takeout and outdoor dining. Picnic tables moved to parking lots and vacant plots of land, and the street had a party-like vibe. Three houses that had been slated for demolition became pop-up spaces for an interactive art experience sponsored by a marijuana brand. The Wana Art House featured a magic circus, the Beach House projected immersive beach scenes and The Club House was a place for pop-up art and boutique sales.
But with the turn of seasons, businesses shut down again. Fencing surrounds the former art houses, and Local 46, a popular watering hole with a tree-covered patio, closed for good on Halloween.
Hops and Pie, a pizzeria owned by Drew Watson and his wife, Leah Watson, had a busy summer, but a short video they released in November informed customers they were moving to takeout and delivery indefinitely. The heated outdoor tent they had just erected would sit empty as the state announced that one in 41 Coloradans were testing positive for Covid-19. No indoor dining would be allowed, not even in a tent.
“This has surely been the worst year we’ve ever had by a landslide,” said Watson, who has owned the eatery for 10 years.
On Nov. 16, word came that the Alchemy 365 fitness studio was shutting down after opening in January, occupying the entire first floor of a residential building. During the pandemic, membership declined by over 60 percent, said co-owner Tyler Quinn. The business received federal Paycheck Protection Program loans, enabling most of its staff to stay on for a while, and the landlords adjusted rent payments. But it still wasn’t enough.
“It’s terribly disappointing,” Quinn said. “This was designated as a really aggressive growth year for us. We’re going to be delayed if not completely derailed on our long-term vision.”
Two of his seven locations, one on Tennyson Street and one in Minneapolis, were forced to close during the pandemic. Quinn and his team were discouraged by the lack of leadership from all levels of government to help navigate the crisis.
“It doesn’t feel like there’s anybody out there thinking, ‘How do we support these small businesses?’” he said.
Despite Covid-19, Elias Lehnert decided to move forward with the newest Colorado Cherry Company pie shop after his landlord sweetened the deal. His family started the business in 1929, and his parents have three stores in northern Colorado.
“Pie is comforting. It’s like a hug,” said Lehnert, who represents the fourth generation of his family in the business. “People just need a hug right now in a lot of different ways. “
Lehnert, who began setting up his pie store in August, said the building’s owner, Asana Partners, offered him the space rent free until he opened in November, and he’s paying up to 15 percent less than a previous prospective tenant was offered.
He is starting cautiously with pop-ups for the holidays, having customers order a pie and pick it up at the takeout window.
“They want to see us succeed,” Lehnert said of the landlords. “I feel a lot better that we don’t have the pressure to be fully open today. … If I had to be fully open, I’d be very scared.”
The handful of developers who have staked their claim on Tennyson Street also face uncertainty. Lenny Taub, who owns First Stone Development, is working on his second project on Tennyson Street. He sold out a 42-unit apartment building this year, but the pandemic has changed his approach for his next development after he had trouble moving smaller units.
“What I learned during the middle of the pandemic is people were looking for elbow room and they were willing to spend money for larger spaces,” Taub said.
He hopes to break ground on his next apartment building by spring 2022, with fewer studios and more two-bedroom units. Taub expects the gentrification of Tennyson to continue, pandemic or no pandemic.
“It’s the walkability. It’s really a nice place to walk,” he said. “I see the attraction. I see why young families are moving in there. It’s a great place to bring children up.”
Still, Alyssa Manny worries that Covid-19 will permanently alter the mom-and-pop nature of Tennyson Street because only national companies will be able to afford leases as small businesses close and landlords stop providing pandemic rent relief.
“It’s our small businesses on our streets that are constantly giving back to our communities,” Manny said. “We’re the ones sponsoring baseball teams and giving back to the homeless. We want to see this whole area continue to thrive.”
Berwisata ke luar negeri tak lengkap rasanya jika tidak mencoba berbagai hal yang khas dari negara tersebut. Mulai dari tempat wisata , b...
