NHTSA ends probe involving 1.3 million GM vehicles
Investigations began following reports of faulty seat belt cables detaching and increasing injury risks.
Donald Trump says he can stabilize prices. Does his plan make sense?
David Lightman | (TNS) McClatchy Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — Will Donald Trump’s plans to impose steep taxes on foreign goods and services mean more inflation? It sure looks that way.
Though inflation has slowed considerably, polls consistently show voters are frustrated about high prices. The cost of living increased at its highest rate in 40 years during 2022.
Trump keeps hammering away at the Biden administration — and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris — saying their policies helped elevate cost of living. They’re the reason, he says, that people are paying $5 a gallon for gasoline, the $4 a carton for a dozen eggs and so on.
Prior to the holiday weekend, the campaign sent an email saying, “As Americans hit the road this Labor Day weekend, they have Kamala Harris to thank for sky-high prices.” A Trump ad in battleground states charges “two-thirds of Americans are struggling to make ends meet.”
Higher tariffs, higher prices?
Trump’s plans for the economy include higher tariffs, or taxes on foreign imports. He’s suggested a 10% tariff on imports from other countries, with tariffs reaching 60% tariff on all imports from China.
Florida land dedicated to growing citrus continues to dwindle
TALLAHASSEE — The amount of land in Florida dedicated to growing citrus continues to shrink.
Reports issued last week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Florida had 17 percent fewer acres used for growing oranges, grapefruit and other citrus than in 2023, though the harvest during the 2023-2024 growing season was valued 6 percent higher than the previous season.
A preliminary federal Commercial Citrus Inventory report found 274,705 acres in Florida continued to be used for citrus production, down from 332,256 acres when the annual survey was conducted in 2023.
Hendry County was down 12,374 acres, the largest acreage loss over the past year. Polk County, which has more commercial acres than any other county, saw a drop from 60,131 acres to 58,516 acres.
Citrus land has been dwindling for more than two decades as the industry has faced pressure from residential and commercial growth, increased foreign competition, hurricane damage in 2004, 2005, 2017 and 2022, and the effects of citrus greening disease, which has decimated groves.
Voters will decide minimum wage ballot measures in several states
Elaine S. Povich | (TNS) Stateline.org
Grace McGovern, a 24-year-old bartender and server at a downtown Boston brewery, recalls one recent customer vividly. He was very rude.
It was a slow night, and she only had one table, a large group led by a man who “kept touching my lower back and my leg and making jokes,” she told Stateline.
It rankled her, but she smiled and laughed along with him, knowing that much of her pay for the night would come from whatever tip he and his companions left her.
Now, McGovern has turned her irritation to action, and is advocating for a referendum that would raise the hourly rate for workers who earn tips up to the standard minimum wage.
“Men will still be creepy,” said McGovern, who is the state’s organizer for One Fair Wage, a national nonprofit seeking to end all pay below minimum wage. “But [if the referendum passes], I’m no longer relying on their money to make a full minimum wage for the day.”
In Massachusetts, the minimum wage is $15 an hour for most workers, but $6.75 an hour for tipped workers, as long as their tips bring them up to at least $15 an hour. Under the ballot measure, employers would pay $15 an hour and tipping would still be allowed.
California moves ahead with self-driving trucks despite labor opposition
The California Department of Motor Vehicles has rolled out proposed regulations for self-driving trucks, a move that comes one day after the state’s legislature advanced an anti-AV trucking bill.