Thursday, December 24, 2020

Miami is having a moment

Spurred by a newfound acceptance of remote work capabilities amid the pandemic, tech professionals looking to get out of Silicon Valley have increasingly set their sights on Miami. Financial groups started the trend earlier this year, and it’s continued with individual tech entrepreneurs and venture capitalists who are coming without ready-made businesses. The Miami Mayor has embraced the influx and encouraged it on social media. In October, finance giant Blackstone announced it would open a tech office in Miami, and Founders Fund said it is moving many of its executives there. (Miami Herald)

The Department of Justice sued Walmart alleging that the retail giant exacerbated a national opioid crisis by pressuring pharmacists to fill prescriptions quickly and ignore potential warning signs

The suit suggests that a change in policy could have allowed pharmacists to “reject invalid prescriptions” and avoid further fueling the rapid increase in U.S. opioid-related deaths over the last decade. The DOJ’s lawsuit says Walmart offered cheap prices on opioids and kept pharmacies understaffed, which pressured employees to work quickly to fill all prescriptions. As a result, “suspect prescribers” were not rejected. Walmart knew this was coming, and filed its own lawsuit against the DOJ and Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in October, blaming the government’s regulations for the opioid crisis. The company wants a federal judge to rule that the government has no basis to seek damages for its actions. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, more than 760,000 Americans have died from a drug overdose since 1999, and two-thirds of those deaths were opioid-related. The number of opioid-related deaths has increased steadily over the last two decades, with some of the biggest leaps in new deaths occurring in the past five years. (The Wall Street Journal)

Dipping sauce dispute leads to shooting at Wendy’s in St. Louis

A Wendy’s worker is recovering after he was shot in the back early Tuesday morning when a customer upset over dipping sauces opened fire. This happened around 1 a.m. at a restaurant in the area where St. Louis University is. Workers said that a drive-thru customer asked for more sauce with his order, and when he didn’t get it, he shot into the store and struck an employee in the back. The employee was taken to a hospital, and is expected to be okay. St. Louis City Police are investigating, but the shooter hasn’t been arrested yet. (Fox 2 Now)

Man dressed as Grinch attempts to steal packages

Los Angeles, California Sheriff deputies responded to several calls of a certain suspect trying to steal Christmas recently. When arriving at the scene, authorities found the grinch himself, trying to swipe packages off people’s doorsteps. Deputies promptly arrested the imposter and reminded people on Twitter to always remember to remove valuables from your car, schedule deliveries when you’ll be home, and have friends or neighbors keep an eye on your doorstep. ( Los Angeles, California Sheriff Department Twitter )

The pandemic pet boom?

The coronavirus pandemic and social distancing measures exposed a different type of unsung hero: animals. The health crisis has led to a surge in demand for pet adoptions as Americans spend more time at home and rely on their pets for emotional support to get through the pandemic. Consumers are also spending more on their pets than ever before: Pet supplies sales saw double-digit percentage increases from March through July compared to the same time last year, according to market research firms SPINS and IRI. (CNBC)

Your Christmas gifts may come late

The Saturday before Christmas is typically a busy day for brick-and-mortar stores as shoppers scramble to secure last-minute gifts. But with virus cases spiking across the U.S., many opted to stay home and buy online, driving down foot traffic to physical stores by 39.1% on Super Saturday compared to 2019. The flood of online holiday orders is intensifying strain on the United States Postal Service and private shipping companies, with record shipping volume colliding with staff shortages to cause delays. (Washington Post)

Airlines vow to bring back workers

Major U.S. airlines have shared plans to bring back thousands of their furloughed employees after Congress approved the latest relief bill. The new stimulus package includes government assistance to cover airline payrolls through March, helping about 32,000 United and American Airlines staff who were put out of work in September. United said it plans to bring its workers back, but warned that it may be only temporary if travel bookings don’t pick up in the coming months. (CNN)

Man goes to hospital after drinking unknown liquid from McDonald’s chocolate milk container

Officials with the Davis County, Utah Health Department and McDonald’s were investigating Monday after an unknown liquid inside a McDonald’s chocolate milk container sent one man to the hospital. The man took his family to a McDonald’s in Farmington, Utah in the drive-thru and ordered a happy meal and chocolate milk for their 6-year-old son, then headed back toward their home. When their son finished his cheeseburger meal, the man did what fathers often do and implemented a “dad tax.” In other words, he took a gulp before handing it to his son. And this time, it really paid off. “All of a sudden he made a really weird face and swallowed it,” his said. “He was like, ‘Oh my gosh that chocolate milk is rotten.'” But after looking inside the bottle, they realized it wasn’t chocolate milk. Or, at least, it didn’t look anything like it. Pictures and video show what looks like a clear liquid in the bottle. He felt sick. And not knowing what he had just put inside of him, they decided to drive him to the ER at Lakeview Hospital. The hospital staff called poison control and gave him some kind of drink. Three or four hours later, he was released from the hospital, still feeling off and still wondering how their trip to McDonald’s left them with a very unhappy meal. The Davis County Health Department said it received a complaint and have an investigator working with the restaurant to investigate. Meanwhile, the family said they dropped off the chocolate milk container with its remaining liquid at the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food for further investigation. (KSL)

WARNING: MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR ALL AUDIENCES!!

Police hunt well dressed man who drew penis pictures on pavement by spinning wheels of electric bike

Police in Western Australia are on the hunt for a well dressed cyclist who allegedly drew lewd penis images on the pavement by spinning the wheels of his electric bike. The man has appeared to spin the wheels of an electric bicycle in order to draw explicit images with the rubber from the tires, resulted in multiple images drawn on to the ground. Western Australia Police released CCTV images of the man, described as having olive skin, thin to average build and short black hair. “He wore a black business jacket, white business shirt, light blue jeans and grey running shoes,” police said. The Facebook post by WA Police has attracted more than 1400 comments, with many ridiculing the serious tone. (Western Australia Police Force)

Four sisters invent coronavirus board game during lockdown and now its selling by thousands

The four sisters during the first lockdown in Germany decided to put their long hours indoors to good use by inventing a coronavirus board game that is selling by the thousands. “Corona – the rush to the shops” can be played by up to four players, who compete to buy all the groceries on a shopping list for an elderly neighbor who is shielding against the virus. The players collect and swap game cards, and the winner is whoever delivers all the items first. Hurdles along the way include encountering the virus, which sends you into quarantine, or finding that hoarders have already snapped up all the pasta or toilet rolls. The sisters worked on the game most evenings during the northern spring lockdown, gradually incorporating more elements from news broadcasts about the pandemic. Impressed with his daughters’ efforts, their father decided to commercialize the game by hiring an artist to design cards, board and box. So far he has sold 2,000 copies, and signed up a toy store as a secondary distributor. (The Pigeon Express)

Couple Use Emergency Slide To Exit Plane With Dog, Arrested

A Florida couple that was scheduled to travel recently from New York to Atlanta along with their Great Dane forced an hourslong delay instead after they broke through the cabin door of a Delta aircraft and slid down the inflatable slide as the plane began taxiing toward the runaway, authorities said. The 31-year-old man and the 23-year-old were arrested following the incident at LaGuardia Airport. A passengers on Delta flight 462 said the couple had moved from one seat to another before telling a flight attendant that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and would “freak out” if he sat down. Refusing to sit, the man instead moved toward the front of the plane and forced open a cabin door on the aircraft, authorities said. When the door opened, an inflatable slide was activated and the couple, along with their dog, then slid down, authorities said. The plane was forced to return to the gate, where other passengers were re-routed. A spokesperson for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said the man faced charges of criminal mischief and reckless endangerment, and the woman faced charges of criminal trespass, but had been released from custody. Authorities said that the dog, which was listed in multiple reports as a service dog, was turned over to a local animal shelter. (The New York Times) 

Alabama father and son kill each other in fight over dog

An Alabama man and his son killed each other in a dispute over a dog, authorities said. Washington County, Alabama Sheriff said that a 60-year-old father discovered his dog had been shot. The man then drove to the home of his 32-year-old son who claimed to have killed the animal. The older man shot first, shooting his son in the leg, and the younger man returned fire with a shotgun, resulting in both men died from their wounds. (WALA)

Household spending in the U.S. fell by 0.4% in November, the first decline in seven months

The drop has largely been linked to the rise in COVID-19 cases, along with another stimulus package not yet being signed into law. The U.S. recorded 3,401 deaths from COVID-19 on Tuesday, the second-highest single-day total so far. A record 117,777 people are currently hospitalized with the virus. Earlier this week, Congress passed a $900B COVID-19 relief bill, containing $600 stimulus checks for individuals earning less than $75,000 annually, along with $300 in federal unemployment benefits, but later President Trump signaled he would not sign the bill unless it contains $2,000 direct payments. 803,000 Americans filed for unemployment last week, a drop of 89,000 from the previous week. Despite the decline, millions of Americans remain unemployed. As of December 5th, 20.4 million Americans were receiving some form of unemployment benefits, with 12 million scheduled to lose it on December 26th should the president not sign the stimulus bill. (The Wall Street Journal)

Thursday Humbles Us With:

• Christmas Eve
• Eggnog Day
• Re-Gifting Day