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US payrolls add 638,000 jobs; unemployment rate drops to 6.9%
Seth Sandronsky Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementU.S. employers added 638,000 nonfarm jobs in October, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. October’s rate of unemployment fell to 6.9% from September’s 7.9% and August’s 8.4%. The gradual employment improvement is a result of eased COVID-19 restrictions on social movement and resuming of commerce, though the pandemic remains uncontained and prospects for a vaccine available to the public are unclear. "The number of unemployed persons fell by 1.5 million to 11.1 million," according to the BLS. "Both measures have declined for 6 consecutive months but are nearly twice their February levels."
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Associations and democracy
Robert C. Harris Association ManagementIt seems appropriate this week to highlight the connection between associations and democracy. I am sharing after learning of the death of our colleague, Belarusian association executive Vladimir Karyagin. He died November 2. He was the founder and CEO of the Republican Confederation of Entrepreneurship and the Minsk Capital Association of Entrepreneurs and Employers. His country does not encourage the formation of business associations. Belarus limits the doctrines enjoyed in the U.S., freedom of speech, assembly, and the right to petition government.
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Hawaii inches toward opening for tourism
Lark Gould Travel, Hospitality & Event ManagementTraveling to Hawaii has never been tougher. The Aloha State, which saw visitor numbers nearing 10.5 million in 2019, has seen visitation decrease by some 50% this year so far. In May alone, that was down 98.9%. That number came to 9,116 visitors, and they traveled to Hawaii by air. That figure compared to 841,376 total visitors that entered by air and cruise ships during the same month a year ago. On the upside, a new pre-travel testing program recently began in October that will allow visitors in Hawaii who test negative for COVID-19 to avoid the two weeks of mandatory quarantine Hawaii has had in place since the pandemic began.
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How construction can contribute to a recovering economy
Patrick Hogan Construction & Building MaterialsThe construction industry could be a means for the economy to recover after the outbreak of COVID-19, as history has shown that construction has been relied upon in the past to help improve the economy. The federal government has usually driven the upswing by increasing investments in building and infrastructure. Construction will also indirectly benefit local businesses when they supply food, shelter, raw materials, transport and other services to workers for the duration of the projects. To kick-start the economy and employment, sound principles and pledges are required.
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Costa Rica slowly opens to US travelers
Lark Gould Travel, Hospitality & Event ManagementCosta Rica intends to allow all U.S. residents to visit the country as of Nov. 1. This move marks a radical departure from its policy of partial openings that started in the beginning of September. That allowed visitors from limited U.S. states to enter the country. The list later grew to 20 states and territories in recent weeks as conditions changed. Although waves of spikes continue to ripple through various U.S. states, Costa Rica still remains on target to uphold the November date. But there are still hurdles for those who want to head to the pristine rainforests and soft white beaches of this Central American tourism mecca.
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How to keep your business and employees on track no matter who wins the…
Amanda Kowalski Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementFor months, Americans have been counting down to Election Day. Now that it’s within days, it’s time to talk about the day "after" the election. Some of your employees and customers are going to be really happy, and some are not. But you still have a company to run, work to be done and products to sell. You don’t need to deal with gloating, miserable or warring workers. And what happens if there isn’t a decision on Election Day? It could take some time to count all those votes, especially if the results are close. Don't look for either of the candidates to concede, either.
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Pull over, have no regrets: Teaching teens, young adults not to drive away…
R.V. Scheide Law Enforcement, Defense & SecurityIn 2002, Candy Priano and her husband were driving their 15-year-old daughter Kristie to a high school basketball game in Chico, California, when their minivan was T-boned in an intersection by a 17-year-old-girl fleeing a traffic stop. The teenaged driver’s crime? Her mom had called police to report her daughter was using the family car without permission. The inexperienced driver blew through four stop signs in a residential neighborhood at high speed with a police cruiser hot on her trail before crashing into the Prianos. Kristie was severely injured in the crash and died seven days later in the hospital. After their initial grieving, Priano and her husband became fierce advocates for reforming police pursuit policies.
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Fiction and fact: The undermining of science and society
Keith Carlson Medical & Allied HealthcareIn these days of a tumultuous and politically divided country and a raging pandemic taking scores of lives each day, research is a cornerstone of the bedrock of public health, evidence-based science, and healthcare delivery. However, when determined efforts are made to undermine the importance of the truth of scientific inquiry and discovery, our society itself is lamentably and powerfully undermined. The very notion of how we as humans accept or reject the concept of facts has changed remarkably in the course of the first two decades of the 21st century.
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Tax this: California’s Proposition 15
Seth Sandronsky Civil & GovernmentThere is a fiscal-political story heating up in the world's fifth biggest economy this election season. Proposition 15 on the California state ballot Nov. 3 would tax commercial and industrial properties, except commercial agriculture, at their market value. Property taxes on residential properties would continue to be calculated on the purchase price, also known as the split roll valuation. "Upon full implementation," according to the California Legislative Analyst’s Office, "the measure’s shift of most commercial and industrial properties to market value assessment would increase annual property taxes paid for these properties by $8 billion to $12.5 billion in most years."
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What is the long-term prognosis for telehealth?
Scott E. Rupp Medical & Allied HealthcareDuring the rush of COVID-19’s onslaught in March and April, health systems attempted to scale up and survive, so they invested in telehealth technology, according to a report from the Center for Connected Medicine and KLAS Research. Despite the meteoric rise of telehealth services during the quarantine, these same health systems are wrestling with how they will make long-term use of the technology when the pandemic winds down. Per the report, health system leaders who adopted telehealth want to improve integration, infrastructure, and security in the years ahead and focus on long-term telehealth decisions.
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