Monday, May 10, 2021

Wake-Up Call: Prices Are Increasing Everywhere

If you think prices are going up on many of the things you need to buy, you're not wrong. CNN Business says some price increases start at the source, where wholesale prices for products from lumber to corn and cheese are rising. A shortage of computer chips is inevitably pushing up prices for electronics and appliances. And, diaper prices have risen sharply and are going higher soon. Economists can't agree on whether it's a short-term problem as we transition to a post-lockdown world or if it's a longer-term problem.


🏡TOUGH TIMES FOR HOMEBUYERS: People who are house hunting are facing stiff competition these days as the available supply hits a low point and prices soar. The number of available homes nationwide dropped 40% from a year ago, according to Redfin, while average prices rose by 20%. Bidding wars are breaking out in especially hot markets. The hottest housing markets in 2021 stretch from San Jose, California, to Hartford, Connecticut. Check Out Nationwide Prices.


…AND SPEAKING OF PRICES: We can expect higher gasoline prices by late this week if the giant Colonial Pipeline isn't up and running again soon. The pipeline, which stretches all the way from Texas to New Jersey, shut down last Friday after it was targeted by a ransomware attack on the system's computer network. Officials are calling it the worst cyberattack yet on U.S. soil. A hacker's network called DarkSide that operates out of Russia is a major suspect.

 

➤6 KILLED AT BIRTHDAY PARTY: Seven people are dead, including the apparent shooter, in a violent incident at a birthday party in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The suspect shot his girlfriend and five others at the family party before committing suicide, police said. A number of children were safely removed from the scene in the early hours of Sunday morning.

➤SHOOTOUT IN TIMES SQUARE: Two women and a four-year-old child were shot in the middle of New York's Times Square on Saturday. All were innocent bystanders in the incident, which apparently began with an argument among several men. All three victims survived. At least one shooter escaped and is being sought. Shooting incidents in New York have skyrocketed 83% in just a year, according to NYPD statistics.

➤EARLY STORM PETERS OUT IN PACIFIC: The first tropical storm of the season has formed in the Pacific Ocean hundreds of miles west of the Mexican coast. It's expected to peter out pretty soon. But the remarkable thing about Tropical Storm Andres is its timing. It's the earliest named storm on record to develop in the eastern Pacific, according to the National Weather Service.

➤CHINESE ROCKET DROPS INTO INDIAN OCEAN: Well, we dodged this bullet. Space debris from an 18-ton Chinese rocket booster fell to Earth on Saturday night as expected, and by sheer luck it fell into the Indian Ocean instead of into somebody's house. The mission was designed to allow an "uncontrolled reentry" of the rocket booster, meaning it would get pulled into Earth's orbit and gradually be pulled closer until it went into a freefall.


💰​U.S. MINT HONORS WOMEN: The U.S. Mint plans to honor as many as 20 American women in a series of newly designed quarters to be issued over the next four years. The poet Maya Angelou and the astronaut Sally Ride have already been chosen for the honor and the Mint is accepting recommendations from the public for others. The final choices are up to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellin.

➤THE FLU SEASON THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN: Here's an odd side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic: the flu season just didn't happen. There were about 2,000 verified cases of the flu nationwide during this past winter, compared to about 200,000 by this time in a typical year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Public health experts say that all of the mask-wearing and social-distancing we endured to fight COVID-19 probably protected us against the flu as well. However, they are concerned that a real flu season will kick off as soon as we start emerging from our homes.


🏇DERBY WINNER FLUNKS DRUG TEST: Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit has tested positive for elevated levels of the drug betamethasone. The test revealed more than double the levels of the anti-inflammatory drug allowed in Kentucky racing. Yesterday, Churchill Downs suspended trainer Bob Baffert from entering horses at its track. Baffert vigorously denies Medina Spirit was improperly medicated. The three-year-old colt won the Derby at Churchill Downs on May 1st. A retest of the sample will determine if he keeps his crown.


⚽BIG INVESTMENT IN WOMEN'S SOCCER: Washington Capitals ice hockey star Alex Ovechkin has joined the ownership group of the Washington Spirit women's soccer team. He's the latest big name to invest in the National Women's League. Others include Serena Williams, Natalie Portman, Naomie Osaka and Billie Jean King. Ovechkin has been playing pro hockey for Washington for 16 years, and he says he and his wife are big soccer fans.

🏀PELICAN VEEP PAYS FOR PUBLIC TIRADE: New Orleans Pelican Executive Vice President David Griffin has been fined $50,000 by the league for mouthing off against referees during a press conference Friday. He alleged that referees have been ignoring and even encouraging "egregious and horrific" violence against star power forward Zion Williamson. Griffin went off shortly after the team announced that Williamson is sidelined indefinitely with a fractured left ring finger.

🏌RORY McELROY IS BACK: Rory McElroy won the Wells Fargo Championship with a final-round, 3-under-par 68 yesterday. It's the 19th PGA Tour title of his career but it breaks a 550-day winless streak.

🏀TRIPLE-DOUBLE HONORS FOR WESTBROOK: Washington Warriors star Russell Westbrook recorded his 181st career triple-double on Saturday night. That brings him to a tie with Oscar Robertson for the most triple-doubles in NBA history. Westbrook made history in the third quarter of the team's 133-132 overtime win against the Indiana Packers. Robertson's record had stood for 47 years.
 
A triple double means a score of at least 10 in at least three of the following categories: points, rebounds, assists and steals. Westbrook got 33 points, 19 rebounds, and 15 assists.
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