Vaccine mandate at Disney World, Florida paused

• Disney’s policy that requires Florida-based employees to take the COVID-19 vaccine has been paused as new legislature in the state restricts employer’s power to require vaccinations
• Any Disney employees who are not fully vaccinated will be required to wear face coverings, and observe social distancing and other safety protocols

Kansas proposal is failing to gain GOP support on COVID-19 mandates

• Legislators representing the GOP in Kansas are struggling to rack up support among Republicans for a proposal providing unemployment benefits to workers who lose their job for refusing the vaccine
• Top Republicans in the House were unsure enough about support for the unemployment proposal that they left it out of legislation before their chamber

Judge rules Iowa Medicaid doesn’t cover sex-change surgery

• In a ruling on November 22, a Judge said that an Iowa law that prohibits Medicaid coverage for sex reassignment surgeries for transgender residents actually violated the state law and constitution
• Judge William Kelly ordered the Iowa Department of Human Services to provide coverage for sex reassignment surgeries when ordered to treat gender dysphoria
• 12 additional states have already excluded these types of surgeries in Medicaid coverage 

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• Shares of Disney have continued to be negative for this year in 2021 and remain behind the S&P 500 Index Return
• As Disney’s3rd quarter earning swerve announced, it shows that streaming subscriber additions slowed down and costs for its content and Parks business rise

GM aims to produce vehicle-based on Hummer EV for the US military in 2022

• According to company officials from General Motors, the eLRV from GM Defense is expected to be based on the company’s Hummer EV
• The new vehicle will use and change components of the Hummer EV like the motors, frame, and the automaker’s “Ultium” batteries starting in 2022

Major fast-food restaurants affected by labor shortages 

• For the entire fast-food industry, the unemployment rate fell by 7% in September 2021, while food services and drinking establishments added almost 120,00 new jobs during the same month 
• Fast-food chains like Burger King and Taco Bell have reported that the lack of workers is causing restaurants to cut back open hours and some menu items

Past GM factory of Lordstown Motors bought out by Foxconn for $230 million

• By the end of April 2022, Foxconn plans to sign a contract to assemble Lordstown Motors’ first vehicle, an all-electric pickup truck named the “Endurance”
• Both companies benefit as EV start-up Lordstown Motors get desperately needed capital, and Foxconn gets to go into the EV space by producing fully electric trucks
• After the news, shares of Lordstown rose more than 13%

Elon Musk has sold more than 3.5 million shares of Tesla stock valued at over $3 billion

• In a series of trades that happened on November 8 and 9, Elon Musk sold more than 3.5 million shares that are worth over $3.88 billion
• Filings show that Musk had planned to sell a block of Tesla shares set in motion on September 14, 2021
• Musk still currently holds over 166 million shares in Tesla 

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• Out of the company’s announcement in July 2021, Walt Disney World announced its plans to relocate 2,000 of its employees from California to Florida
• The chairman of Disney Parks, Josh D’Amaro, in a letter to employees has said the move would allow creative and business teams to become better integrated
• This new Disney campus will be located about 20 miles to the east of Disney world in Lake Nona 

State officials say that no adult in California will be denied a COVID-19 booster shot

• According to a statement from the California Department of Public Health, adults in California will not be denied a COVID-19 booster shot 
• The health authorities make announced this in an attempt to increase the number of booster shots being administered in the state
• The US CDC also says that those who have received any of the three vaccines should receive a booster shot if they live or work in positions that put them “at-risk”

California wife and 3 children murdered by husband who now faces life in prison

• A man 55-year-old man named Shankar Hangud was sentenced to life in prison without parole on November 10 after confessing to killing his wife and 3 children 
• The man said that he murdered his wife and three children over the span of several days and across two Northern California counties in October 2019
• His children were ages 13, 16, and 20 years old

California school district will not tolerate Gov. Newsom’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate 

• The Calaveras Unified school district made a unanimous decision to not support or enforce Governor Newsom’s new vaccine mandate for schools
• This decision came in a meeting taking place on November 9 that applied to both students and staff
• The district acknowledges that they may come across possible repercussions such as loss of funding and other legal actions on them by the state

About 784,000 new state stimulus checks are to be sent out soon

• On November 12, more stimulus checks are expected to go out in California 
• The California Franchise tax Board has reported that they will send about 748,000 stimulus checks to “qualifying residents” who had filed paper tax returns in 2021
• As a part of the “Golden State Stimulus II program, each payment will be worth $600 and these payments are a part of Governor Newsom’s $100 billion budget that was signed into law in July 2021

Federal government blocks $12 billion funding for California transit

• The Federal government recently decided that California is ineligible for $12 billion in public transit funding because of an extensive dispute over changes to the state’s public pension law
• In order to be eligible for the transit grants, Federal law says state and local agencies must protect the interests of their employers

SoCal drought emergency announced that affects 19 million people

• In a declaration on November 9, Newsom advocated for additional conservation efforts and has pleaded with residents to cut their water use by 15% 
• Almost half of all California residents are under this regional drought emergency which affects 19 million people

Possible winter pandemic surge has California healthcare line preparing

• On November 10, Governor Gavin Newsom has said that California has begun positioning equipment and finalizing contracts with temporary health care workers 
• This action comes as health care offficials beleive there to be a “Winter surge” in COVID-19 cases 

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• According to an SEC disclosure on September 7, from between 2013 and 2020, Khosla Ventures had invested $28.2 million into Rocket lab through several funding rounds
• The firm now holds over 115 million shares of Rocket Lab’s stock which is worth $1.67 billion at the September 7 closing price

WHO urges world leaders to stop Covid booster administration until the end of 2021

• According to the World Health Organization, they have called on world leaders to start a Covid-19 booster moratorium until the end of 2021
• About 5.5 billion vaccine doses have been administered globally, but 80% have been given out in high or upper-middle-income countries

• With total box office earnings of $75.5 million over September 3, 4, and 5, Disney’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” has given the movie industry confidence in recovering from pandemic losses
• The success of the film had also urged Sony to push its release of “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” to October 1 from October 15

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• Major grill manufacturers like Weber and Traeger are investing in technology that uses connectivity to smartphone devices to make grilling easier
• Trager has recently made a $100 million purchase of a connecting cooking start-up called Apption Labs in July 
• More than $1.8 billion worth of grills, smokers, grill accessories, fuel, and stoves and accessories were sold between March and May in the U.S., a 5% increase compared to 2020

Foot Locker stock rises after earnings exceed their goal 

• Foot Locker exceeded their fiscal second-quarter earnings estimates and voiced optimism about the back half of the year
• Consumers have continued to spend on athletic footwear and workout apparel during the Covid pandemic, with these areas outperforming others
• The company’s CEO, Richard Johnson said the company saw strong demand in its women’s and kid’s footwear business

New Disney Development could bring the Hulk to their theme parks

• Disney’s research and development team is performing testing to bring the company’s biggest characters to their theme parks in “Project Exo” 
• Disney hasn’t shared which characters could ultimately go to the parks, but it is speculated that the Hulk from Avenger and Baymax from Big Hero Six could be among the first

The post Business News – 08-20-2021 appeared first on Easy Ad - Local Small Business Resources.

• Currently, the Dallas Cowboys are the latest NFL team to add new antennas to their stadium to boost cellular connectivity and speeds
• The team has agreed to have 20 MatSing’s antennas installed before the team’s opening on September 27 with costs of up to $250,000

Kohl’s, McDonald’s, and Target to require masks for all store workers 

• Kohl’s, McDonald’s, and Target will begin rolling out their mask mandates for store employees in counties considered at high risk in the United States based on the CDC’s rankings
• On August 3, these mandates will be in effect

Atmos and WSS to be bought by Foot Locker for $1 billion

• To extend its reach in Asia, Foot Locker will soon buy two smaller shoe store chains “WSS” and “Atmos” for $1.1 billion
• The Japanese streetwear retailer “Atmos” will be bought for $360 million and a California-based company “WSS will be bought for $750 million

Domestic debut of Disney’s “Jungle Cruise” receives $34.2 million and $30 million from Disney+

• From the Box Office, Disney’s Jungle Cruise has garnered $34.2 million and $30 million from their digital sales of the film on Disney+
• Disney has decided to release their new film on both Disney+ and in theaters to allow audiences to have the choice of watching from home or going to see it in person

Spirit Airlines and American Airlines have passenger flights canceled after storms

• On August 1, Summer storms have disrupted operations at the DFW airport, the United States’ busiest hub
• Passengers complained about social media about long hold times and lengthy waits before plane departures at customer service
• According to FlightAware.com, the site says that about 14 percent of American’s mainline schedule was canceled, and about 35 percent of Spirit’s

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• On July 30, Disney announced that they will be requiring all employees (salaried and non-union) in the US to be fully vaccinated within the next 60 days
• Those employees that are working from home will also be required to provide vaccination verification when returning to Disney sites

125,000 Fully vaccinated Americans have tested positive for COVID-19

• According to new data, a least 125,000 fully vaccinated US residents have tested positive for COVID-19 and 1,400 of those have died
• Currently, the number of breakthrough cases is at 125,628 in 38 states which is less than 0.08 percent of the 164.2 million+ people who have been vaccinated 

CEO of Spirit urges employees and passengers to get the vaccine but still has no mandate

• Ted Christie, the CEO of Spirit Airlines has said that he urges all employees and passengers to get Covid shots
• The carrier currently has no plans to implement vaccination requirements 

Royal Caribbean stock falls after 6 Covid cases are discovered aboard a ship 

• On July 30 Royal Caribbean Cruises has announced that they will soon require all guests on US cruises of 5 or more days to test for COVID
• This announcement comes after Six guests on one of the Cruise’s ships tested positive for COVID-19

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• Chinese companies that seek to go public in the United States will still be allowed by China as long as they meet listing requirements according to the country’s securities regulator
• Companies like Tencent and Alibaba have seen their shares decrease drastically in the last several days with Chinese authorities increasing scrutiny on tech companies over their data security and monopolistic practices

Rivian to invest $5 billion into a 10,000-acre production plant

• According to company documents, Rivian will be breaking ground on a new facility in Mesa, Arizona alongside their first production facility in Normal, Illinois
• On the 10,000 acre plot, Rivian’s initial investment will be $5 billion which exceeds many other production plants in the country

Founder of Nikola, Trevor Milton is indicted by grand jury on three counts of fraud

• Trevor Milton now has federal criminal fraud charges as the grand jury accuses him of lying about “nearly all aspects of the business”
• Shares of Nikola Motors has decreased significantly after the indictment was announced
• In an emailed statement, the company has said they have, “cooperate with the government throughout the course of its inquiry.”

Disney sued by Scarlett Johansson over the release of “Black Widow”

• After Walt Disney Company has released “Black Widow, Scarlett Johansson sues the company as it appeared on streaming and in theaters simultaneously 
• Johansson has claimed that her agreement with Disney had guaranteed an exclusive theatrical release for the film and her salary was based on box office performance, not on the Disney+ streaming platform

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