Verne Hill
Tuesday News for August 08, 2023
Clean up continues in some communities after yesterday’s storms that rumbled through the Piedmont.
Power outages as of noon: Rowan county = +9,000 homes without power
Klaussner Furniture Industries Inc. abruptly closed on Monday impacting almost 4,000 employees. The Asheboro company is ‘working to provide resources to assist its displaced employees…” Klaussner, which had been in business since 1963, manufactured more than 70% of its products at five NC campuses.
Please pray for those now without employment. https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/local/klaussner-furniture-industries-inc-closes-lays-off-all-employees
US trucking company ‘Yellow Corp’ has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The Nashville-based logistics provider is closing down its 99-year-old business that once employed over 30,000 workers.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/07/business/yellow-bankruptcy-filing/index.html
Student enrollment in private schools has skyrocketed in Forsyth County (up 30%) since March 2020 (remember that Covid pandemic?). That trend is likely to continue with a proposed expansion of private school tuition assistance on the verge of becoming law. BTW: Homeschooling has seen a bump as well.
The Mega Millions latest jackpot has risen to an estimated $1.55 billion dollars — the largest in the game’s history. The next drawing is set for TONIGHT at 11 p.m. Eastern time. BTW: If you are wondering, the odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are approximately one in 302.5 million.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mega-millions-jackpot-how-to-win/
Drivers in Oregon are now allowed to ‘pump their own gas’ after the state lifted a ban (last Friday) dating back to 1951.
The new law, however, does not phase out ‘full service’ completely.
In Oregon’s most populous counties, the new law requires that only HALF of pumps at any service station be self-serve and that at least one gas station employee is available at all times to pump gas.
*Do you remember when an attendant actually came out to fuel up your vehicle?
NOTE: New Jersey is now the ONLY state in the US where customers can NOT pump their own fuel. www.cnn.com/2023/08/06/us/oregon-drivers-pump-own-fuel-law/index.html
Zoom became a household name during the pandemic for powering the remote work revolution. Now, in an ironic plot twist, the video-conferencing company wants its employees back in the office because it’s “most effective” for business. https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/07/business/zoom-return-to-office/index.html
DJ Casper, best known for the party classic “Cha Cha Slide” passed away on Monday after a seven-year battle with cancer. He was 58.
The Chicago artist (born William Perry Jr.) created ‘the Cha Cha Slide’ for his nephew — a fitness trainer — around 1998 as an aerobics exercise track with the original title “Casper Slide Pt. 1.”
The line dancing track however, with its instructions “To the left/ Take it back y’all/ One hop this time/ Right foot, let’s stomp/ Left foot, let’s stomp/ Cha cha real smooth,” blew up to become a global hit at weddings receptions, proms and any party that needed starting.
“My hope is that “Cha Cha Slide” would always serve as a joyful reminder of the power of music to unify people with a positive message…”
-DJ Casper, who passed away on Monday after a seven-year battle with cancer.
https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/dj-casper-dead-cha-cha-slide-creator-dies-1235386902/
Casper had already overcome earlier health struggles including a brain aneurysm aged 22 and eye surgery for detached retinas.
