Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania company to complete purchase of R.I. utility – The Boston Globe
AUTOMOTIVE
Age of US automobiles hits a file
Automobiles on US roads are as outdated as they’ve ever been, doubtlessly complicating efforts to increase using new security and emissions-reduction applied sciences. The age of sunshine automobiles domestically is now 12.2 years on common, up nearly two months from final yr’s determine, in response to S&P International Mobility. That’s a file excessive and marks the fifth straight yr of will increase. Analysts on the information supplier pointed to the worldwide microchip scarcity, supply-chain snags, and stock challenges — all of which probably saved drivers of their outdated automobiles longer. The rising value of recent automobiles — $46,526 final month, in response to Kelley Blue Guide — was one other deterrent for potential consumers. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
MIGRATION
N.Y. dropping residents because of excessive value of dwelling
Even earlier than COVID-19 hit, the state of New York was dealing with an outflow of tax-paying residents. The state had a median annual internet out-migration of 28,700 part-year residents, or 0.3 % of taxpayers, between 2015 and 2019, in response to a report from New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. Which means the state misplaced roughly 115,000 tax filers in the course of the interval, in a pattern that’s prone to have continued after the pandemic with the rise of distant working. Households in search of extra space and rich people making an attempt to save lots of on taxes are leaving the state, which is among the many most costly locations to reside. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
MINERALS
Nice curiosity in Chinese language lithium mine
An public sale for a controlling stake in a Chinese language lithium mine has garnered 3,448 bids, underscoring the scramble to safe the battery steel that’s key to the clean-energy transition. The 54.3 % stake in Yajiang Snowway Mining Growth, which owns the mine in Sichuan, a southwestern province in China, was bought for about 2 billion yuan ($299 million), in response to the JD.com’s judicial public sale platform. The shift to electrical automobiles has spurred a world rush for lithium, which is utilized in nearly all EV batteries, and seen Chinese language costs of lithium carbonate surge greater than 400 % over the previous yr. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
UKRAINE
Starbucks newest firm to drag out of Russia completely
Starbucks introduced Monday that it was formally exiting Russia, with 130 shops run by a licensee there closing. The corporate has additionally halted the cargo of any Starbucks merchandise. The corporate stated in a press release that almost 2,000 staff within the nation could be paid for six months and given assist to “transition to new alternatives outdoors of Starbucks.” In early March, the espresso chain condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and introduced that it was suspending all retailer operations in settlement with its licensing accomplice, which owns and operates all the Starbucks shops within the Russia. — NEW YORK TIMES
FINANCE
Financial institution of America raises minimal wage to $22 an hour
Financial institution of America is growing its minimal hourly wage to $22, taking one other step towards a aim of paying $25 by 2025, as employers beef up compensation and advantages in a good labor market. The transfer, introduced Monday, bumps pay up from $21, a stage the agency had enacted final yr inside its deliberate schedule. A $22 wage interprets to a full-time annualized wage of $45,000. It continues a sequence of hikes lifting the agency’s base pay from $15 in 2017. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
TOURISM
Vacationers say Bonjour to Paris once more
Paris tourism is bouncing again as European and American guests return to soak up the sights of the French capital after two years of COVID-related lockdowns and restrictions. The town is the second-most sought-after vacation spot worldwide this yr, behind London, in response to reserving aggregator Trivago. That has steadily pushed up resort room charges and occupancy for the reason that starting of the yr. The common resort value in Paris was round 173 euros ($183) the final week of April, a 17 % improve from the identical interval in 2019 and up much more sharply in contrast with the beginning of the yr, in response to information from tourism analysis agency MKG Consulting. Paris is historically one of many most-visited cities on the earth and, earlier than COVID, tourism-related spending represented greater than 7 % of France’s financial system, in response to the Group for Financial Cooperation and Growth. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
BANKING
Chase hiring 1,300 wealth-management advisers
JPMorgan Chase plans to rent about 1,300 advisers over the following three years as a part of a technique to spice up belongings in its wealth-management operation to $1 trillion. The additions would convey the full to six,000 from about 4,700, Jennifer Piepszak, co-chief govt officer of JPMorgan’s client and neighborhood banking operation, stated on the agency’s investor day Monday. The financial institution has already added 1,100 advisers since 2017, she stated. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
TRAVEL
Luxurious corporations need Britain to reinstate tax-free looking for vacationers
A bunch of 250 luxurious UK manufacturers, together with Burberry and Harrods, have known as on the federal government to reintroduce tax-free looking for vacationers as a option to increase the financial system. Scrapping tax from purchases will set off an additional £1.2 billion ($1.5 billion) in annual retail gross sales and appeal to an extra 600,000 guests to the nation, in response to Walpole, a bunch representing the UK luxurious business. The UK is the one European nation to not supply this perk to vacationers from outdoors the European Union. Earlier than the pandemic, tourism contributed 4 % of Britain’s financial system and had an general worth of £85 billion. Greater than a 3rd of that cash was generated by gross sales to high-end vacationers staying in luxurious lodging similar to five-star motels. These guests, who usually spent 14 instances greater than the common vacationer, at the moment are favoring boutiques in cities like Paris, Madrid, and Milan. That’s largely due to the UK’s resolution to abolish tax-free procuring in 2020, the report stated. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
Pennsylvania
Mostly cloudy and breezy conditions on tap this evening
Pennsylvania
Bacteria In Toothpaste: What PA Customers Need To Know
PENNSYLVANIA— Any Pennsylvania residents who use Tom’s of Maine toothpaste and have noticed a strange taste or smell from the product aren’t alone, according to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, which recently detailed how bacteria was found in some of the company’s products and black mold was discovered at a facility.
The agency this month issued a warning letter to Tom’s of Maine Inc. about its “significant violations” of manufacturing regulations for pharmaceuticals, and discussed a May inspection of the facility in Sanford, Maine.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a type of bacteria that can cause blood and lung infections, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was found from June 2021 to October 2022 in samples of water that was used to make Tom’s Simply White Clean Mint Paste, the letter stated. The water was also used for the final rinse in equipment cleaning.
Gram-negative cocco-bacilli Paracoccus yeei, which is associated with several infections, according to the Hartmann Science Center, was in a batch of the company’s Wicked Cool! Anticavity Toothpaste, the letter stated.
Ralstonia insidiosa, a waterborne bacteria, according to the Journal of Medical Microbiology, was repeatedly found at water points of use at the facility, the letter stated.
“A black mold-like substance” was discovered within one foot of equipment that came into contact with products, according to the letter, which stated the substance was at the base of a hose reel and behind a water storage tank.
The company received about 400 complaints related to toothpaste odor, color and taste, including in relation to products for children, but the complaints were not investigated, the letter said.
“We have always tested finished goods before they leave our control, and we remain fully confident in the safety and quality of the toothpaste we make,” Tom’s of Maine said, according to News Center Maine. “In addition, we have engaged water specialists to evaluate our systems at Sanford, have implemented additional safeguards to ensure compliance with FDA standards, and our water testing shows no issues.”
In the federal administration’s letter, dated Nov. 5, the agency directed the company to provide multiple risk assessments, reserve sample test results from all unexpired batches, and a water system remediation plan, among other things. The administration requested a written response from Tom’s of Maine within 15 working days.
With reporting by Anna Schier of Patch.
Pennsylvania
How Philadelphia took care of its own through history
The Orphan Society was formed by a committee of wealthy Philadelphia women, notably Sarah Ralston and Rebecca Gratz, who each took the role of social reformer very seriously.
Gratz, the daughter of a wealthy Jewish merchant, also formed the Female Association for the Relief of Women and Children in Reduced Circumstances, the Female Hebrew Benevolent Society, and the Hebrew Sunday School. Gratz College in Elkins Park is named after her.
“She never married,” Barnes said. “She did things like put her money and her time toward doing that kind of public service.”
Ralston, the daughter of onetime Philadelphia mayor Matthew Clarkson, also formed the Indigent Widows and Single Women’s Society, which ultimately became the Sarah Ralston Foundation supporting elder care in Philadelphia. The historic mansion she built to house indigent widows still stands on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, which is now its chief occupant.
Women like Ralston and Gratz were part of the 19th-century Reform Movement that sought to undo some of the inhumane conditions brought about by the rapid industrialization of cities. Huge numbers of people from rural America and foreign countries came into urban cities for factory work, and many fell into poverty, alcoholism, and prostitution.
“These are not new problems, but on a much larger scale than they ever were,” Barnes said. “It was just kind of in the zeitgeist in the mid- and later-1800s to say, ‘We’ve got to address all these problems.”
The reform organizations could be highly selective and impose a heavy dose of 19th-century moralism. The Indigent Widows and Single Women’s Society, for example, only selected white women from upper-class backgrounds whose fortunes had turned, rejecting women who were in poor health, “fiery-tempered,” or in one case, simply “ordinary.”
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