Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.
Arizona: More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high-tech for your demise; in Phoenix, internet medical check up scheduling service Zocdoc laid off 33 people and is consolidating its sales team to its NYC HQ. Local news reports say its part of a larger plan by the high-tech industry to drastically cut back because they expect the economy to get much worse!
California: Martial Law as Chase Bank blocked a disabled San Francisco man access to his account because his service dog’s name is on the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control list of possible terrorists! The dog’s name is Dash, and the Chase Bank’s automatic online search program for possible terrorists linked it to the name Daesh (the incorrect ‘western’ news media created acronym for DAIISH-Islamic State-ISIS-ISIL, etc. DAIISH=DA for al-DAwla, I for al-Islamiya, I for al-Iraq, SH for al-SHam [al-Sham=Syria])! 11 months after going out of business Corinthian Colleges lost a lawsuit brought by the state. They must now fork over $1.1-billion USD after being caught lying about employment placement after graduation, running ads for education programs that didn’t exist, illegal debt collections, and using U.S. Department of Defense promotional material without permission! It’s also hoped that the thousands of students who were suddenly dropped will get some restitution to help them pay back their student loans (individuals can’t claim bankruptcy protect against student loans, yet the school was about to file bankruptcy to protect its own ass).
Connecticut: Gov’na Malloy shutting down two nursing homes, Ella T. Grasso Center and the Meriden Center, 171 jobs lost by June! At least 40 aging and disabled residents kicked to the curb! Gov’na Malloy claims the shutdowns will actually help the state ‘care’ for more people!
Florida: In Gulf Breeze, God powerless to stop the shutdown of ‘his’ more than 60 years old WaterFront Rescue Mission for women, and consolidate ‘his’ men’s shelters, and sell off ‘his’ Olive Road Career Development Center and lay off 20 paid staff. The homeless shelter funded itself mainly with recycling projects, but because of the crash in prices of recycled goods they’re now broke: “We’ve been in the business of trying to help people, so we have given away every dollar.”-Devin Simmons
“Yeshua [Jesus of Nazareth] said to him, ‘Foxes have lairs and birds of the sky have shelters, but The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’”-Matthew 8:20, Aramaic Bible
Local news media pointed out that most homeless shelters are packed to capacity with homeless people with disabilities, mental problems or addictions, and as a result the growing number of healthy and employed, yet homeless, people (mainly women) are being kicked to the curb: “We just don’t have the beds available for women who don’t have a substance abuse problem or mental health.”-John Johnson, EscaRosa Coalition
In Jacksonville, after eight years O’Brothers Irish Pub shutting down tomorrow: “I tell people that restaurants are like martinis: One isn’t enough and two is too many. We’re going back to one. It’s time to slow down.”-Drew Cavins, co-owner
Idaho: Right to Work ‘elected christian lawmakers’ have killed the bill to expand healthcare coverage to those in The Gap, proving they’re evil sadistic genocidal maniacs! I’ve reported how the director of an east Idaho hospital directly blames Idaho’s version of ObamaCare for killing at least 1-thousand Idahoans, due to The Gap!
Illinois: Missouri based coal company Peabody Energy has essentially told Illinois taxpayers to ‘fuck off’! That’s in response to state administrators asking Peabody how it would pay the estimated $92-million USD to clean up its shutdown mining operations. Reports say the world’s largest privately held coal company Peabody Energy is about to go chapter 11 bankrupt busted. After making a fool of themselves and telling readers that the Lake Zurich Sports Authority was not shutting down, local news media now eating their words as the Lake Zurich Sports Authority announced it is shutting down. It’s blamed on the recent Sports Authority bankruptcy, a corporate rep said they cannot pay the rent.
Indiana: Indianapolis based sports shoe store Finish Line revealed it has shutdown 54 stores and will continue until they’ve shuttered 150 stores across the U.S.! It’s because the athletic apparel industry expects the economy to get worse! Finish Line administrators also blame supply chain problems for its 3rd quarter loss of $21.8-million USD.
Montana: In the city of Billings there’s a growing number of residents who are employed, but now homeless!
New York: Mitt Romney wunderkind Staples shutting down one of its two Binghamton stores by mid-April.
North Carolina: In Beaufort County, after 18 years the Golden Corral suddenly shutdown on Friday, rented Uhaul trucks were carting away the contents of the restaurant. Local news media said there was no explanation from the corporate office.
Virginia: Martin’s shutting down three grocery stores by Summer, they are not part of the shutdowns due to the merger of Giant Food and Food Lion, but are the result of a decision back in 2015. Another ten Martin’s stores in Virginia will be sold off as part of the merger! Hundreds of jobs lost! In Lynchburg, after two years art co-op 5th Street Art House shutting down, the owner is “moving on”.
Washington: In Spokane, after almost 60 years Williams Seafood suddenly shutdown on Saturday. The owner blames increasingly low quality of imported seafood and damage from a windstorm back in November. More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high-tech for your demise; Rosetta Stone owned Seattle based critically acclaimed internet language service Livemocha shutting down by mid-April.
Washington DC: CityBikes shutdown their five years old store on 8th Street SE on Sunday, due to jacked up rent. However, the store owners are opening a new ElectricCityBikes in an abandoned VW dealership. Popular bar, known for its model planes and Starship Enterprise, Millie & Al’s shutting down in April, the property was sold.
Wyoming: More of what I call Ripple Effect Layoffs (REL); local TV news KCWY reported that the massive oil and coal industry shutdowns and layoffs are having Ripple Effect on the overall state economy. Truck stops/convenience stores and local manufacturers of specialty oil field trucks all reporting a crash in sales: “Right now, I think it could be said were probably at about 50% of what we were last year this time.”-Rick McFall, Ameri-Tech Equipment
“Over the last year we have seen a steady decline so just month to month it gets a little worse, a little worse.”-Tiffany Mortimer, business advisor
WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification
24-25 March 2016: “Catastrophic!”
Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed!
Employees of religious non-profits might not qualify for unemployment assistance: “If the non-profit organization is a church, you may or may not be entitled to unemployment. It all depends upon state regulations for church employers. In many cases, churches are allowed to set their own rules regarding unemployment benefits, meaning the church can choose whether to offer benefits to former employees.”
The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) no longer issues mass layoff reports: “On March 1, 2013, President Obama ordered into effect the across-the- board spending cuts (commonly referred to as sequestration) required by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, as amended. Under the order, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) must cut its current budget by more than $30 million, 5 percent of the current 2013 appropriation, by September 30, 2013. In order to help achieve these savings and protect core programs, the BLS will eliminate two programs, including Mass Layoff Statistics, and all ‘measuring green jobs’ products. This news release is the final publication of monthly mass layoff survey data.”