Month: July 2022

US newspapers continuing to die at rate of 2 each week

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Read time : 2 mins

Level : Intermediate

Various local newspapers appear outside a convenience store in the Brooklyn borough of New York on June 30, 2022. The United States continues to see newspapers die at the rate of two per week, according to a report issued Wednesday on the state of local news. The country had 6,377 newspapers at the end of May, down from 8,891 in 2005, the report said. (AP Photo/Mark Kennedy)

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Despite a growing recognition of the problem, the United States continues to see newspapers die at the rate of two per week, according to a report issued Wednesday on the state of local news.

Areas of the country that find themselves without a reliable source of local news tend to be poorer, older and less educated than those covered well, Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media and Integrated Marketing Communications said.

The country had 6,377 newspapers at the end of May, down from 8,891 in 2005, the report said. While the pandemic didn’t quite cause the reckoning that some in the industry feared, 360 newspapers have shut down since the end of 2019, all but 24 of them weeklies serving small communities. Continue reading

Is Airbnb Responsible For High Home Prices?

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Read time : 4 mins

Level : Advanced

By Justin McDevitt 

Short-term rental app Airbnb may have another banner year, but many question the ripple effect of vacation rental services on the housing market.

Communities have turned into ghost towns. The housing market has become insurmountable for new buyers. There are more listings for Airbnb than long-term rentals in major cities such as New York. A simple search of the hashtag #airbnbnightmare will yield more than just complaints about unreturned deposits and missing towels.

“Airbnb destroys communities,” tweets one user. @MeMeBoomer is no stranger to talking politics on Twitter, but her feelings for Airbnb couldn’t be more personal. She describes her community as a lonely and desolate place to live. Airbnb dominates her neighborhood, making it impossible for new tenants or potential homeowners to move in permanently.

“No long-term housing options for people who work in these towns, so businesses and services also suffer,” she tweeted on June 21. @MeMeBoomer’s is not the only story to be shared on the social media platform. Continue reading

5-letter word for fun? Hasbro & NYT create Wordle board game

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Read time : 2 mins

Level : Intermediate

A Wordle game is seen on a mobile phone, Friday, July 15, 2022, in Boston. Hasbro Inc. and The New York Times, which owns Wordle, announced Thursday that Wordle: The Party Game will be available for purchase in North America in October. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

By MARK PRATT Associated Press

The company that makes some of the world’s most iconic board games including Scrabble, Monopoly, and Clue is developing a new one based on Wordle, the obsessively popular digital word-guessing game.

Hasbro Inc. and The New York Times — which purchased Wordle earlier this year — announced Thursday that Wordle: The Party Game will be available for purchase in North America in October, with preorders already being accepted. Continue reading

Some schools build affordable housing to retain teachers

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Read time : 4 mins

Level : Advanced

A view from the third floor of the courtyard, of a new housing complex for Jefferson Union High School District teachers and education staff, in Daly City, Calif., Friday, July 8, 2022. The school district in San Mateo County is among just a handful of places in the country with educator housing. But with a national teacher shortage and rapidly rising rents, the working class district could serve as a harbinger as schools across the U.S. seek to attract and retain educators. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

By JANIE HAR Associated Press

DALY CITY, Calif. (AP) — San Francisco Bay Area high school teacher Lisa Raskin moved out of a cramped apartment she was sharing with a roommate and into her own place this month, paying a deeply discounted $1,500 a month for a one-bedroom with expansive views within walking distance to work.

It was once an impossible dream in an exorbitantly priced region hostile to new housing. But her employer, a 4,000-student school district south of San Francisco, was the rare success story in the struggle to provide affordable housing and in May, it opened 122 apartments for teachers and staff.

“I have a sense of community, which I think is more valuable than anything else,” the 41-year-old San Francisco native said. “More districts really need to consider this model. I think it shows educators that they value them.”

The Jefferson Union High School District in San Mateo County’s Daly City is among just a handful of places in the country with educator housing. But with a national teacher shortage and rapidly rising rents, the working-class district could serve as a harbinger as schools across the U.S. seek to attract and retain educators. Continue reading

Report: Europe’s banks need to raise game on climate risk

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

FILE – Residents evacuate their home in Nemours, 50 miles south of Paris, France, June 2, 2016. The European Central Bank has run a stress test on 104 banks, which concluded that Europe’s banks aren’t sufficiently considering risks from climate change and understanding the possible impact of floods, wildfires and losses on investments. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, file)

By DAVID McHUGH AP Business Writer

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Europe’s banks aren’t sufficiently considering risks from climate change and must “urgently step up efforts” to make sure they understand the possible impact of floods, wildfires and losses on investments.

That was a key conclusion from a climate stress test on 104 banks run by the European Central Bank and released Friday.

The ECB said that for now the climate stress test was a learning exercise that would not result in requiring banks to strengthen their financial buffers against possible losses from borrowers who can’t pay.

But the bank’s supervisory arm warned that as things stand now, 60% of the 104 surveyed banks have no framework for assessing the impact of climate risk on their financial solidity, and only 20% consider climate risk when granting loans. Continue reading