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U.S. Food Crisis February 2016: “it’s killing me to give it up, but I have no choice.” “This feels personal…”

Incomplete list of announced United States food supply shutdowns for the month of February, 2016: Many food suppliers/distributors are consolidating operations and killing jobs due to the collapsing grocery store and restaurant industries, as well as rising costs of food production, spread of disease and extreme weather.

Alabama:  In Birmingham, Cosi Restaurant announced it would not renew its lease.  After 30 years Cosmo’s Pizza shutdown,  the stressed out co-owner Leisa Bunn blames money troubles: “…I’ve worked here for over half my life, and it’s killing me to give it up, but I have no choice.”

Arizona: In Yuma, a local business is blaming currency wars for its demise. After two years restaurant Carnivores of Yuma shutting down due to lack of Snow Birds from Canada. The Canadian dollar has dropped in value against the U.S. dollar, making it too expensive for many Canadians to travel within the United States. I lived in hot-as-hell Yuma for almost two years and I can tell you that Snow Birds from the north, during winter, are a major source of revenue for local mom-n-pops. The rest of the year revenues come from taxpayer funded Yuma Marine Corps Air Station and Yuma Army Proving Grounds.

Arkansas: Boulevard Bread shutting down their River Market kiosk.

California:  In Oxnard, after 27 years frozen veggie food maker Coastal Green Vegetable shutting down, 137 jobs lost by March! The owners blamed currency wars, crashing sales and gave out a list of increasing costs; water, regulations, wages and ObamaCare healthcare.   Bon Appetit Management issued a shutdown WARN for their San Francisco ops, 79 jobs lost by April.  Albertsons-Safeway eliminating another 24 jobs from the old Safeway HQ in Pleasanton, by April.   In Berkeley,  after two years the Off the Grid food truck giving up and shutting down its Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) location.  Prior to this the Off the Grid food truck was chased out of its original location in the Gourmet Ghetto by city A-Hole administrators, when brick-n-mortar restaurants complained.  Warren Buffett owned Kraft-Heinz issued a shutdown WARN for their San Leandro food factory, 117 jobs lost by mid-April! Pacific Harvest issued a layoff WARN for their Guadalupe food ops, 75 jobs lost by mid-April. Valley Fine Foods suddenly shutdown their Benicia 22 years old production ops, 94 jobs gone. The company moved their production, sanitation, shipping and receiving and maintenance operation to North Carolina, loyal employees had no warning: “They were shocked and surprised. A few have been here a while, 17 years. Those were the hardest impacted. They appeared…..in shock, like phases of any loss, it’s shock and denial first.”-Adriana Nunez, HR manager

Colorado: CB & Pott’s shutting down their 42 years old West Campus restaurant.  The operators claim they will open a new restaurant in a new location “to be closer to our core guests.”   Yet another Denver restaurant shutdown. After 12 years popular Gypsy House Cafe shutting down mid-March due to the greedy property owners selling out without warning the operators of the Cafe.  In Fort Collins, after 30 years restaurant South China shutting down due to a significant increase in rent. The Vail Cascade resort issued a layoff WARN, 2-hundred jobs being eliminated!   Sky Hotel 39 Degrees issued a shutdown WARN, 91 jobs lost.

Connecticut:   In Wallingford, after 56 years banquet host Villa Capri shutting down in July.  The family owners are in the process of selling the property, they need to focus on their other business ops.

Florida:  Troubled Aramark issued a shutdown WARN for its Florida Gulf Coast University ops, 288 jobs lost by May! In Maitland, after nearly 30 years RanGetsu Japanese Restaurant and Bar shutting down in March, no reason given. Local news reports say at one time the owners were trying to open five restaurants, now they’ll be down to just their restaurant back in Japan.  Wholesale soup maker Chef Creations is no more, they’ve sold out to a Massachusetts corporation resulting in 110 Chef Creations HQ employees, in Orlando, becoming jobless between April and July! Local news media made the sale sound like a surprise as Chef Creations had recently won new local tax breaks, and gotten approval for major financing, for expansion of their soup making operations.  Lee Roy Selmon’s shutting down their 10 years old Saint Petersburg restaurant. The corporate owners said it needed extensive remodeling, and it wasn’t worth it. They also blamed lack of parking and increased competition.  Tampa based Bloomin’ Brands confirmed it will shutdown 14 Bonefish Grill restaurants by the end of the year, due to crashing sales.  In Miami Beach, Shore Club Hotel issued a mass layoff WARN, 218 food service workers to be laid off in April!  In Lake Buena Vista, Fulton’s Crab House issued a shutdown WARN, 214 food service jobs gone by mid-April!   In Bradenton, after almost five years Tarpon Pointe Grill & Tiki Bar shutdown because of an evil landlord: “Our landlord has chosen not to renew our lease. Why? He states we are not successful. We have always paid our rent and a percentage of our sales to him on time, which has equated to almost $1.1 million in five years, and our initial investment of over $800,000 to build Tarpon Pointe.”-Facebook posting

Georgia: The city of LaGrange shutdown a second homeless ‘overnight warming’ shelter in as many months, using the excuse they are not safe.

Hawaii: In Honolulu, Tsukiji Fish Market and Restaurant shutdown due to the landlord suddenly demanding the keys to the store. The landlord is one of my former evil employers, GGP (General Growth Properties). A rep for the operator of the restaurant said there were three years left on the lease.

Idaho:  Albertsons-Safeway is doing it again, taking over and killing off an independently owned grocery store chain, this time on the west side of The Gem State.  Paul’s Market has sold out to the evil corporate giant (who caused the demise of Washington’s Haggen grocery chain last year, killing off thousands of jobs!).  It sounds like three Paul’s Markets will be shutdown and four will be rebranded as Albertsons stores.  Idaho’s Department of Labor has yet to publish any required WARN regarding the shutdowns.  The city of Boise could be sued by some of the tenants at the Boise International Airport. Tenants also suing the New York based food service management contractor hired by the city, Delaware North. Owners of airport eateries accuse Delaware North, and the city, of running them into the ground, primarily by substituting their original products with lower quality items and providing terrible customer service, resulting in decreased sales. Boise area news sources say Delaware North refuses to responded to their questions.   A former manager at Aberdeen’s Idaho Select potato processing plant has been sentenced for his crime of ripping off the company. He admitted to using company money to buy cars, homes, go on vacations, send his daughters to college and even pay his daily bills. He must now repay $1.7-million USD within seven years, as well as spend time in prison. Embezzlement crimes are very common here in the ‘christian’ dominated Idaho (2010 U.S. Census Bureau data says at least 80% claim to be Christians).  For more food fraud: Idaho farmer caught selling modified seeds as ‘organic’!

Illinois: Local news media revealed that two Carbondale/Route 13 area restaurants shutdown in January; KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) and Show Me’s Restaurant.  Three Joe Caputo & Sons grocery stores shutdown, and more could follow!  The grocery store operator is being sued by its supplier who says they haven’t paid for any food delivered since June 2015!!!  Moline based farm equipment maker Deere (aka John Deere) revised its 2016 profit expectations downward. Originally administrators thought 2016 sales would drop by 7%, but now they say things are so bad they expect a 10% drop in sales.  In Prospect Heights after only two years and $13-million in renovations, the Ultra Foods grocery store shutdown due to lack of sales, 98 jobs lost by mid-April.

Indiana: In South Bend, after 20 years Top Notch Restaurant & Bakery shutdown. News reports say it will be replaced with a grocery store. But don’t get excited, the new grocery store is actually an old grocery store moving to a new location, so it’s a net loss of jobs.  In South Bend, 88 years old (surviving The Great Depression and numerous recessions) Dainty Maid Bake Shop shutdown due to the death of the owner. The popular shop is for sale and the employees hope any potential buyer will re-open it.   In New Albany, after 30 years Mom & Pop’s Cone Corner is no more. The current owners bought the ice cream joint last year, they gave no reason for the shutdown.

Kansas: In Topeka, the Dillions grocery store on Huntoon Street shutdown. City administrators are fearful of increased food insecurity based on U.S. Department of Agriculture data that says residents in the area around the Dillions are now living in a “food desert”.

Louisiana: In Lafayette, the Winn-Dixie grocery store, on Ambassador Caffery Parkway, shutting down. 61 jobs lost by March.  Also in Lafayette, after seven years Jolie’s Louisiana Bistro shutdown.  Krispy Kreme Doughnuts shutting down their Shreveport donut shop on Youree Drive. In a ’round-a-bout way administrators said the store was losing money.

Maine: In Sanford, after 31 years Fi Wood restaurant shutdown.

Maryland: C&S Wholesale Grocers shutting down their distribution ops on Lums Road, about 2-hundred jobs lost by April! A county administrator said she was surprised because C&S was recently advertising to hire more employees! C&S administrators told county officials they could not stop the shutdown due to the sudden loss of a major contract.

Massachusetts: In Somerville, after five years Sabertooth Vegan Bakery shutting down so the owner can get the hell outta Boston Weak Massachusetts and go on “permanent vacation”: “…things here just haven’t been working out. It’s always been my dream to live in California and work on an animal sanctuary and I was offered an amazing opportunity to do that.”-Evie Noël

Michigan:  It’s been revealed that Southfield based Bagger Dave’s burger joint shutdown 11 restaurants across Michigan and Indiana in 2015.  One of those restaurants was only ten months old. Bagger Dave’s is controlled by Diversified Restaurant Holdings.  After 45 years Bacchus Wine & Spirits shutdown: “We were given an offer to buy the license, the building and the land that was enough to make it worth it.”-Dean Caplan

Minnesota: Egan based Ovation Brands suddenly shutdown 74 restaurants! Apparently the only warning was given back in August when company administrators warned they were about to begin shutting down ‘underperforming’ restaurants (August is also when Ovation Brands was taken over by Food Management Partners). The shutdown restaurants include Home Town Buffet (three just in the San Francisco area of California), Old Country Buffet, Ryan’s, Fire Mountain and Country Buffet.  Price Chopper shutdown the New Adams grocery store, 57 jobs lost. Administrators basically said it wasn’t worth it to keep the food store open.

Mississippi:  In Oxford, after nine years Holli’s Sweet Tooth shutting down in April, the owner blames non-stop increasing costs of operation that now exceed sales.

Missouri: Yet another Saint Louis restaurant gone.  After ten years bistro Soulard shutdown.  In Florissant, local news reports are questioning why restaurant Deaver’s suddenly shutdown after 13 years.  No explanation was given.

Nebraska: Food giant ConAgra shutting down a frozen food production line in Council Bluffs, administrators claim this time they won’t layoff any employees.   Douglas County must have a suicide wish as they’re shutting down 160 food joints, for operating without a license! Administrators with the county Health Department claim they do it every year, however, the interim prosecutor for the city of Omaha says as far as he knows such an operation has never been “enforced”. Chris Janicek, the owner of Cupcake Omaha and Cake Box, exclaimed “This agency has run amok!” 

New Mexico: In Albuquerque, the Satellite Coffee shop consolidated with a restaurant across the street. It should be noted that the restaurant across the street, Flying Star, is currently chapter 11 bankrupt busted.

New York:   In New Hartford, after six years the Sav-A-Lot grocery store shutdown, the only notice was a sign taped to the front door. Allied Frozen Storage issued a shutdown WARN for its West Seneca frozen food warehouse, 64 jobs lost by the end of July.  In NYC the owner of the 28 years old Cafe Lalo told  Community Board 7’s Business and Consumer Issues Committee “business is terrible and he may have to close”.   After 80 years, reports say iconic Fairway market is in so much financial trouble it can’t pay its debts, and will default. The news comes from credit rating company Moody’s.  After 33 years in Times Square Sushi Zen shutdown without warning. Local news reports said the owners had originally stated they would be moving to a new location, not shutting down.   In Brooklyn, the owners of Bark Hot Dogs shutdown their Park Slope eatery saying “…economics just weren’t working out.”  Brach’s Supermarket issued a shutdown WARN for their Lawrence grocery store, 127 jobs lost by the first of May! Administrators blame the bad economy.   Despite a grand opening send-off by U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer, Constantino’s Market in Rochester’s College Town shutdown after less than one year in business! It’s blamed on lack of sales: “Unfortunately, Constantino’s was ultimately not supported at a level that allowed them to be profitable.”-Randy Ruttenberg, Fairmount Properties

The restaurant known for having its walls plastered with autographed dollar bills, 69 Bayard Restaurant, shutdown with no explanation. Local news said the restaurant has a history of changing owners frequently. Near Star Lake, the Padgett’s Hometown IGA shutting down after 35 years of grocery sales: “Sales keep going down, expenses keep going up and I’m having a hard time just paying my bills, so it’s just time.”-Mark Padgett

North Carolina: In Durham, after 12 years restaurant City Beverage shutdown.  Local news reports say the owners have failed to pay $1-million USD in state & federal taxes!

Ohio: In Cheviot, Vitor’s Bistro shutdown, the owner blames low sales on a bad location. The Fort Rapids Indoor Waterpark Resort and Seafood Buffet & Grill shutdown after a long history of violating local health codes, which resulted in several customers getting sick. In West Chester, after 68 years bakery supplies maker Bakery Crafts shutting down, 119 jobs lost starting in April! Columbus based Bravo Brio Restaurant Group is warning it must shutdown Bravo Cucina Italiana and Brio Tuscan Grille restaurants after a third straight year of revenue losses!  And in Columbus, eateries Till Dynamic Fare and Izzy & Mo’s Luncheonette both shutting down. The owners said they’re leaving the area.  Anti-gun laws failed to stop a man from attacking customers at the Nazareth Restaurant and Deli, with a machette! Four people were wounded. The restaurant has shutdown for an undetermined amount of time: “We need more time to regroup and heal as a team.”-Facebook post

In Cleveland, decades old iconic the DINER on clifton shutdown due to the greedy landlord: “We’re being thrown out on the street! Next to my parents dying this is the most stressful time of my life! …..This feels personal when it’s something that’s been such a huge part of my life.”-Perry Drosos, operator

The landlord claims the eviction was coming for at least a year, primarily due to planned radical remodeling of the building.

Oklahoma: In OKC, Texas based Spaghetti Warehouse suddenly shutdown, with no explanation why: “After more than 30 years in the community, we have made the difficult business decision to suspend operations and announce the closure of the Spaghetti Warehouse Restaurant in Oklahoma City. The closure is effective on Tuesday, February 2nd. ….we are hopeful that in the near future we can reopen Spaghetti Warehouse….” (I did find a lot of internet postings by customers that hated the place, and were even surprised it was still open, many claimed it shutdown years ago)

Oregon: After 36 years Sewick’s Dive Bar shutting down, to be replaced by a 46 unit apartment building.

Pennsylvania: Texas based upChuck Cheese, I mean Chuck E. Cheese pizza joint shutting down in the Clearview Mall by the end of March. Food maker Mondelez eliminating 509 jobs in two locations, between March and May!  After six years Pittsburgh Public Market shutting down by the end of March.  The eatery owner blames lack of customer traffic due to the recent shutdown of Marty’s Market, and the Firehouse farmer’s market.  In Allentown, Tony Luke’s shutdown their Hamilton Street sandwich shop.  Local news reports say it’s the 5th business inside the city’s Neighborhood Improvement Zone to shutdown within the past three months!  Penn State University warned all 1-thousand 1-hundred Ag Ex employees of mass layoffs, due to the state ‘lawmakers’ failing to pay the 2015-16 agricultural extension subsidies!

Rhode Island:  In Cranston, Ted’s Montana Grill shutdown blaming the landlord for wanting to jack up the rent.

Texas: In Austin, restaurant Arro shutdown suddenly, apparently it’s being turned into a bar.  In Dallas, after less than a year restaurant Hickory & Fry shutdown. Apparently residents of Dallas-Fort worth can’t handle the concept of a tapas bar.  Houston base food distribution giant Sysco says they have to kill more jobs, this time 1-thousand 2-hundred employees will become unemployed over the next 15 months! Administrators say the economic environment is forcing them to find ways to increase profits without relying on sales (because sales suck).

Virginia: In Virginia Beach, after 70 years popular Charlie’s Seafood Restaurant shutdown, local news reports blame the bad economy.  Urban Farmhouse shutdown their three years old Church Hill restaurant.  Sounds like they couldn’t afford the rent as they claim they’re looking for a new location.

Washington: After creating booze selling ‘privatization’ rules which jacked up the cost (including taxes) of your favorite hard drink by 15%, new data shows that the idiot ‘lawmakers’ of The Evergreen State actually drove booze buyers into neighboring Oregon and Idaho. The Idaho State Liquor Division credits at least 7% of its state run store sales to buyers from Washington. For Oregon the jump in hard drink sales was even bigger, with ten border booze stores reporting between 17% and 67% increase in sales to Washingtonians since 2011!

Washington DC: Crane & Turtle announced they’re shutting down in April, after less than two years of serving eats. Both the lead chef and the lead baker decided to move to New York.  The owners of the restaurant decided it wasn’t worth it to find replacements.   The U.S. Army announced it must shutdown, or reduce in size, one out of every three chow halls due to “changing soldier demographics, satisfy soldier desire for selection/taste or nutritional requirements … or meet commander mission requirements”.

Wisconsin: In Sheboygan, after five years restaurant Weimann’s Sports Center shutdown despite being voted best sports bar. The owners blame constant road construction projects among other issues: “We fought a battle we just couldn’t win and ultimately felt it would be a lot less stressful for our family to not be in business. It’s a tough business.” 

500 years of German Beer Purity flushed by Monsanto!

Deflation will cause 1 in 5 dairy farms to fail!

Honey Bee Colony Collapse caused by Human Globalization! 

U.S. Food Crisis January 2016: “We were not ready to close 10 years ago, but we’re ready now.” 

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

Business/Economics

“took a knife and cut my heart out” Landlords stab tenants in the back! “wild swings in currency” killing shoe stores? : U.S. Job Losses & Closings 28 – 29 February 2016

Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.

Alabama: ‘Elected lawmakers’ have shit-canned a proposal to increase minimum wage to $10.10 per hour.  The minimum wage increase was an attempt by the ‘lawmakers’ of the city of Birmingham to increase living standards for the residents, but state level ‘lawmakers’ stepped in and passed their own law forbidding cities from setting their own wage standards!

California: Ojai Unified School District is deciding the fate of five elementary schools due to what I call Disappearing Students Syndrome and (this is so typical of California) the school’s property values!  Local news reports say greedy school administrators have already met with local real estate agents about selling off the schools!  By the way, last year it was discovered that embezzlement was being conducted by some Ojai district employees.  A reader, and Kmart employee, says the City of Commerce Kmart is shutting down. Several district managers for California Kmarts have been laid off as well.

Colorado: A Kmart employee in California notified Blind Bat News that Sears Holdings plans on shutting down another Kmart in The Centennial State.  Yet another Denver restaurant shutdown.  After 12 years popular Gypsy House Cafe shutting down mid-March due to the greedy property owners selling out without warning the operators of the Cafe.

Connecticut:  Fairfield based federal tax dodger General Electric (GE) just admitted its mass U.S. job culling (through off-shoring of jobs, layoffs and selling their assets) has resulted in their lowest level of U.S. employment in more than two decades!   In 2015 alone GE eliminated 11-thousand U.S. jobs!  GE says it currently employs 125-thousand U.S. citizens, a number not see since 1993! And great news for investors; GE plans to continue to U.S. job destruction!

Florida: Troubled Aramark issued a shutdown WARN for its Florida Gulf Coast University ops, 288 jobs lost by May!  Aramark has been downgraded by investment analysts, and an Aramark prison food service supervisor in Michigan was sentenced to prison time for hiring a prisoner to attack another prisoner!   

Illinois: Local news reports say Chicago Public Schools is expected to begin ‘mid-year’ mass layoffs, today.  Western Illinois University eliminating an additional 1-hundred jobs!  They laid off 30 people in January.  Unconfirmed reports to Blind Bat News that Hoffman Estates based Sears Holdings is shifting most full time employees to part time, calling it a necessary “realignment”!  Also, district and regional management jobs across the country are being consolidated, hundreds of managers will become unemployed!  Without warning, Chicago based Starcom MediaVest Group laid off 80 people.  Administrators called the layoff ‘routine’, implying it had nothing to due with the loss of a major client; Walmart.

Indiana: Traderbakers flea-market in Evansville shutdown after the building they were in was sold out from under their feet.  Yes, even their lease was sold to a major corporation who then said ‘get out’!

Maryland: In Arlington, after five years Tweet Tweet toy store shutting down for “personal reasons”.

Michigan: Battle Creek based shoe seller Wolverine Worldwide announced they must shutdown 1-hundred stores in 2016, that’s on top of the 104 stores they shutdown in 2015!  Their brands include Stride Rite, Merrell, Sperry, and Saucony, and now dead Patagonia Footwear and Cushe.  They also sell the Sebago brand of shoes loved by British empire princess Kate, and their CAT brand shoes are even promoted by the false working class spokesman Mike Rowe.  Interestingly Wolverine Worldwide reported “Performance of our retail stores has improved significantly…”, but blamed the mass store shutdowns on currency wars for “wild swings in currency” that they think will adversely affect their revenues. This is because of where their shoes are made versus where they sell them.  What automotive industry recovery? In what I call Ripple Effect Layoffs, Grand Rapids Plastics eliminating 85 jobs due to the loss of a major customer; Fiat Chrysler.

New Jersey: Enclara Health issued a WARN for their West Deptford operations, at least 1-hundred jobs lost by May!

New York: What automotive industry recovery? In Massena Hamilton’s Automotive Service Center shutting down due to a greedy landlord: “Our building was sold from under us that we faithfully paid and kept up for the past 8 years. It saddens me cause of the loyal and faithful friends and customers we have grown to know and like. It feels like someone took a knife and cut my heart out…”-Kevin Hamilton

North Carolina: In Durham, after 12 years restaurant City Beverage shutdown. Local news reports say the owners have failed to pay $1-million USD in state & federal taxes!  

Two Hawk Employment Services being sued, accused of illegal pre-employment medical inquiries and then using the information to destroy job applications and deny employment!  The accusation comes from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Two Hawk Employment is a privately owned company.

Ohio: The city of Niles eliminated 12 jobs, including most of its police detective positions.

South Dakota: God powerless to stop the shutdown-consolidation of 41 of ‘his’ churches!!!   The Catholic Diocese of Sioux City will begin the drastic operation in Summer 2017, blaming The Rapture, I mean declining membership which results in declining revenues, inadvertently revealing their true god is money.  Some of the surviving consolidated churches won’t even operate on a weekly bases!

Texas: In Dallas, after less than a year restaurant Hickory & Fry shutdown.  Apparently residents of Dallas-Fort worth can’t handle the concept of a tapas bar (reports say it was the only one).  Houston base food distribution giant Sysco says they have to kill more jobs, this time 1-thousand 2-hundred employees will become unemployed over the next 15 months!  Administrators say the economic environment is forcing them to find ways to increase profits without relying on sales (because sales suck).

Virginia: After 137 years (surviving The Great Depression and numerous recessions), more proof the true god is money as the Belle Haven Presbyterian Church announced it will shutdown after the ‘pagan’ Ishtar inspired holiday of Easter: “It’s for sale, someone can turn it into a restaurant if they want to.”-Nancy Bunce, church treasurer

Washington: Maslow Media Group shutting down their Seattle ops by the end of April.

Washington DC: Proof we’re in a deflationary depression?  The U.S. Postal Service is dropping the price of a postage stamp for the first time in 97 years, or is it?  In April the cost of a Forever stamp might drop from 49 cents to 47 cents.  I must point out that the last price increase was only temporary and that time has expired, which is why it should be coming down. However, postal officials are actually begging Congress not to go forward with the price drop.        The president of the United States, Barack Obama, claims his first ‘real’ job was scooping ice cream in Hawaii: “…it taught me some valuable lessons: Responsibility. Hard work. Balancing a job with friends, family, and school.”  My first real jobs (after graduating High School a year early) were part time as a 12F (MOS no longer exists, consolidated with 12B) in the California Army National Guard and as a full time civilian contracted bombing range technician at Edwards AFB!  So Obama becomes president and now I’m unemployed! What does that teach me?

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

27 February 2016: “They are laying off workers, cutting out their hours, their pay and their rights, and now they can no longer afford living!”-Stephanie Padilha, American Apparel employee 

Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed

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.”

U.S.

Dumbing Down the United States, February 2016: Schools being used as sex torture prisons!

Disappearing Students Syndrome (DSS): A phrase created by me to describe a phenomenon taking place across the United States, affecting both privately and publicly funded schools, from Kindergarten all the way through University levels.

“If you grow up low income and manage to get higher education, which few people manage to do, the potential for that to lift you solidly up into the middle-class and upper-middle class is more limited than we thought.”-Brad Hershbein, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment

A Brookings Institute study (A college degree is worth less if you are raised poor) revealed some surprising data about what is now obviously the ‘lie’ of higher education: Using decades worth of data the researchers discovered that having a four year college degree does absolutely nothing to help low income people get out of poverty! It seems only people from wealthy families benefit from a college degree!

Incomplete list of publicly announced education layoffs & school shutdowns, and crimes, February 2016:

Arizona: Phoenix based Apollo Education Group selling off its failing University of Phoenix after losing more than 50-thousand students in 2015! The loss of students was the result of the U.S. Department of Education investigating claims of false promises of finding jobs after graduation, and the U.S. Department of Defense banning military personnel from taking University of Phoenix courses!

California: Inland Early Steps issued a shutdown WARN for their Corona operation, 79 jobs lost by April. B&H Education shutdown their Whittier ops, 73 jobs gone.  After four years the Malibu Bank of Books shutting down in April. The owner blames lack of sales and points out that the landlord actually tried to helped the bookstore.   In San Francisco, Pearson Education eliminated 34 jobs.  UTi shutting down their automotive school in Long Beach, 64 jobs gone by April.  Pinecrest Schools finally revealed how many jobs will be lost by their mass shutdown of campuses; 176 by June! Greedy Ojai Unified School District is deciding the fate of five elementary schools due to what I call Disappearing Students Syndrome and (this is so typical of California) the school’s property values! Local news reports say school administrators have already met with local real estate agents about selling off the schools!

Florida: In Palm Beach, after 35 years the Jupiter Academy private school shutting down, they can’t afford to renew the lease.  For profit Mattia College shutting down, 1-hundred jobs lost and more than 7-hundred nursing students looking for a new home. No word on an official shutdown date, but local news says pay for teachers has been cut off! This is the second nursing school in The Sunshine State, in the past two years, to shutdown. The top administrator of that other nursing school, Dade Medical, was recently arrested. This is all part of the U.S. Department of Education’s crackdown on schools that promise their students ‘The Moon’.

Idaho: State Senate Education Committee rejecting science education standards for K thru 12 students, saying they’re too hard!  However, some local news reports suggested that the ‘christian lawmakers’ rejected the new standards (without any discussion by-the-way) because they include evolutionary concepts like the Big Bang (never mind that scientists have just proven Big Bang with discovery of gravitational waves).  As I’ve written before looks like we’re entering a new Dark Age.  I remember when my kids were attending junior high school in District 25 (just a decade ago) and their science books opened with the statement “One day man will walk on the moon.”  You ‘christians’ are so dumb, no wonder it’s so easy for ‘The Good Shepard’ to lead you ‘lambs’ to your slaughter!

Illinois: Western Illinois University eliminating an additional 1-hundred jobs! They laid off 30 people in January.  Eastern Illinois University quietly issuing layoff notices to non-instructional staff (latest reports say as many as 2-hundred!). It’s blamed on the state ‘lawmakers’ failing to come up with a budget. The layoffs will start in March, university administrators say the state owes them at least $40-million USD.  In connection, the Test Center had to shut down temporarily “in order to train the remaining staff in the building to assume the duties of the lost positions”.  Chicago State University has warned all 9-hundred employees of impending layoffs due to ‘lawmakers’ failing to create a new budget! Chicago Public Schools (CPS) warning of even more layoffs after the teacher union rejected their latest offer. The Failed State system CPS claims it is lacking $500-million for its latest budget, but they’re actually $1-billion ‘in the hole’, structurally!  Danville Area Community College eliminating at least four jobs, offering early retirement and eliminating their Automotive and Sustainability programs: “These are challenging times, and it’s challenging because of the uncertainty”-Alice Jacobs, DACC President

School District 205 eliminating stipends for club sponsors and eliminating 109 jobs! The district is short $2.6-million USD, blaming lack of taxpayer funding caused by what I call Disappearing Students Syndrome. For the first time in 25 years Parkland College eliminating jobs, administrators blame the state ‘lawmakers’ for dragging their feet on taxpayer funding for the next school year.  Sycamore School District 427 eliminating at least 56 jobs: “We see other businesses where employees are just being told to do more with less, and unfortunately, that seems to be the mentality of our state government when incomes to education.”-Jim Dombek, District 427

Iowa: In Keokuk, the local Sheriff’s Department, and even the federal FBI, have shutdown the so called ‘therapeutic’ Midwest Academy after at least 80 cases of torture, including starvation, isolation and sex abuse.   Get this, police raided the torture chamber in January, but are only now telling the public about it.  Female victims told the Associated Press the ‘school’ was “hell”, with many students trying to kill themselves.  One girl was tortured for having a belly button ring!  Don’t confuse the Keokuk Midwest Academy with several others of the same name.  Midwest Academy is a privately funded “therapeutic boarding school”, which refers to its torture tactics as a “powerful, proven and unique system”.

Mississippi: Hattiesburg Public Schools cutting pay and eliminating jobs “immediately”. No details about how many jobs will be lost, local news reports say employees have not been notified.

Montana: More job killing at University of Montana; 27 jobs gone by the end of June, due to what I call Disappearing Students Syndrome (DSS).

New Jersey: Sussex County Community College eliminating 20 full time jobs due to crashing enrollments.   Upper Saddle River based Pearson Education finally revealed plans to eliminate 4-thousand jobs across the U.S.!  Administrators refused to give specifics about where those layoffs will impact: “Out of respect for all of our employees, it wouldn’t be appropriate to discuss the number of job cuts in a specific location before we inform our employees across the rest of our workforce.” 

New York:  God powerless to stop ‘his’ Albany Roman Catholic Diocese from shutting down ‘his’ Saint Augustine school in Lansingburgh. Church leaders blamed the state government for refusing to give them taxpayer funding (which would be a violation of the U.S. 1st Amendment). In Hamburg, God powerless to stop the shutdown of ‘his’ Immaculate Academy. It’s blamed on lack of students, “changing realities within the congregation” and only one Nun on staff.   The Smithtown Board of Education forced to shutdown Branch Brook Elementary School by 2017. Administrators revealed that student enrollment has been declining since 2009.   NYC Department of Education shutting down three charter schools; Beginning with Children, Lefferts Garden and Staten Island Community.  “The Department of Education overturned a principal’s firing and gave her more than a year’s back pay so she wouldn’t file ­legal actions charging ethics violations by the DOE’s new top lawyer, sources say.”–New York Post, Education officials ‘bought off’ principal… 

Pennsylvania: Penn State University warned all 1-thousand 1-hundred Ag Ex employees of mass layoffs, due to state ‘lawmakers’ failing to pay the 2015-16 agricultural extension subsidies! News sources reporting that some ‘lawmakers’ have revealed that tax revenues are so tight they must choose between funding higher education and grade schools! God powerless to stop the Diocese of Erie from shutting down four of ‘his’ grade schools; Venango Catholic high school and Saint Boniface, Saint Peter Cathedral and Our Lady of Mount Carmel elementary schools. Church leaders blame The Rapture, I mean low enrollment.  Pennsylvania University School of Nursing shutting down, 96 jobs lost by the end of March.  Administrators for the second largest cyber charter school in the state, Agora, admitted they eliminated jobs at the beginning of the month, but they refuse to say how many.  Local news reports say former employees report between 1-hundred and 150 people were fired without warning!  Cyber school administrators blame lack of state taxpayer funding due to ‘lawmakers’ failing to pass a budget.   However, local news media also published a direct quote from an Agora chairwoman, made back in December: “We have no plans to cut or furlough staff due to the lack of funds we are currently receiving. Please do not fear for your position here at Agora.”-Mary Steffey

South Dakota:  The editors of the Rapid City Journal are calling for a hike in state taxes to support the governor’s proposed education funding plan.  This shows you how uneducated the Rapid City Journal is.  Tax revenues are down across the board, across the country, due to the bad economy.  Many political scientist will tell you that jacking up taxes during a down economy is a sign of a Fail State.  Many economist will tell you that jacking up taxes during a down economy will only snowball the downward spiral.  There is no ‘return’ on more education spending when fewer and fewer people are able to find a job that pays a ‘living wage’, and the small business environment is such that it’s not worth it to even try and start a small business.  (I’ve heard the mo-funding, mo-funding mantra for education for more than 30 years now and it’s plain to see that overall education has only gotten worse as more money is spent)   Grant-Deuel School District shutting down the school in Revillo, due to what I call Disappearing Students Syndrome (DSS): “You talk to any smaller school, smaller town and they are basically losing enrollment…..”-Paulette Grube, Dean of Students

Tennessee: More proof the real ‘god’ is money; God refuses to stop the shutdown of three of ‘his’ LifeWay Christian Store on Southern Baptist seminary campuses.  It’s blamed on the sale of Southern Baptist Convention property and changing spending habits of Christian students.

Utah: A fine example of no matter how much money ‘lawmakers’ promise to spend on education, if there ain’t no tax revenues (due to a bad economy) it ain’t gonna happen:  “A committee of lawmakers settled last week on a preliminary funding proposal ….with more than $266 million of it as ongoing funding…..   …..But dollar amounts in the final education budget could likely fall short….Revised income tax revenue estimates won’t be available until the end of February, and they’re projected to produce less than the $266 million of ongoing funds included in the subcommittee’s proposal.”–Deseret News, Slicing and dicing money for your child’s education 

Virginia: In Woodbridge, C&W Books shutdown: “After 25 years in your community, C & W Used Books will be closing on Feb. 29. Our lease is up and we cannot afford the rent increase.” 

Washington: In Gig Harbor, after 47 years Mostly Books shutting down due to the property owner wanting to sell.

West Virginia:  Cabell County Schools eliminating 61 jobs and transferring another 97! It’s blamed on the loss of 2-hundred students since 2014!  Kanawha County School Board eliminating 25 jobs due to what I call Disappearing Students Syndrome (DSS). Local news reports say DSS is the number one reason for education layoffs in southern West Virginia. McDowell County Board of Education eliminating 30 jobs due to loosing $1.5-million in state and local tax funding, caused by loosing an average of 1-hundred students per year (that’s what I call Disappearing Students Syndrome)!  Boone County Schools eliminating 77 jobs after the bad economy caused tax revenues to be cut by more than half: “There were signs that it was happening….just didn’t expect it all at once…came on very quickly….we just didn’t realize the enormity of it.”-Jerry Pcholinsky, Boone County Education president

Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin System-Extension eliminating 80 jobs due to a sudden and unexpected budget cut by Right to Work (you over) Scott Walker.  40 of the jobs were already vacant.

Dumbing Down the United States, January 2016: “…in the end, you have to say ‘it’s not working.’” 

Business/Economics

Shit hitting the fan! Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania economic Failed States! HP accelerates mass layoffs! : U.S. Job Losses & Closings 27 February 2016

Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.

California: Palo Alto based Hewlett Packard (HP) changed its plan to eliminate 3-thousand jobs!  Originally they were going to spread the job culling over three years, but now the economy is so bad they will dump all 3-thousand jobs by the end of this year!!! In Modesto, Memorial Medical Center eliminating 96 jobs by the end of April claiming lack of money, and despite advertising that they have 1-hundred vacant positions to fill!   In Los Angeles, employees of bankrupt American Apparel walked off the job: “They are laying off workers, cutting out their hours, their pay and their rights, and now they can no longer afford living!”-Stephanie Padilha, employee

Colorado: Englewood based Sports Authority adding their Denver warehouse to recent store shutdown announcements.  72 distribution jobs lost by the end of April.  Sports Authority recently defaulted on a massive interest payment and announced it must shutdown 140 stores!

Connecticut:  Without warning two Shoreline Health & Fitness gyms shutdown last night!  The owners would only say they’ve “sold off their assets” and to contact state authorities for refunds!

Florida: U.S. Department of Justice accusing Herard Tax Services of preparing fraudulent tax returns.  Investigators say the false tax filings have cost U.S. taxpayers millions of dollars since 2009.

Georgia: Duluth based computer company NCR moving jobs out of Peachtree City, to Ohio and Texas.  Local news reports say as many as 1-thousand 2-hundred Peach State jobs affected!

Illinois: Chicago State University has warned all 9-hundred employees of impending layoffs due to ‘lawmakers’ failing to create a new budget!

Michigan: After 45 years Bacchus Wine & Spirits shutdown: “We were given an offer to buy the license, the building and the land that was enough to make it worth it.”-Dean Caplan

Mississippi: United Artists Clinton Center 10  in Clinton and  United Artists Northpark 14 in Ridgeland being shutdown by the owner.  Local news reports gave no reason, but it should be noted that the owner is a property developer.

New York: The state ‘lawmakers’ have failed to come up with a new budget, but promise to somehow pay SolarCity GigaFactory contractors $80-million USD!  Contractors Quakenbush just laid off 122 people, and Mader Construction laid off at least 75,  due to not being paid by the Failed Empire State!  The Riverbend site in Buffalo was employing 1-thousand people, but local news sources say failed ‘lawmakers’ haven’t paid the contractors since November 2015!!!  NYC based Too Big to Jail JPMorgan Chase revealed they expect their investment-banking revenues to crash by 25% just in their 1st quarter of 2016! In Hamburg, God powerless to stop the shutdown of ‘his’ Immaculate Academy.  It’s blamed on lack of students, “changing realities within the congregation” and only one Nun on staff.  The Smithtown Board of Education forced to shutdown Branch Brook Elementary School by 2017.  Administrators revealed that student enrollment has been declining since 2009.   The restaurant known for having its walls plastered with autographed dollar bills, 69 Bayard Restaurant, shutdown with no explanation.  Local news said the restaurant has a history of changing owners frequently.

North Carolina: News reports out of India say Too Big to Jail Charlotte based Bank of America is preparing for “significant” job cuts around the world, more than 5% of its workforce.

North Dakota: In Bismark, Box Office Video shutting down by mid-March.  However, don’t blame internet streaming, the owner said in the past year rentals actually increased, but her rent is about to increase as well (that’s why she’s shutting down).

Ohio: Wood basket maker Longaberger shutting down their iconic basket shaped Newark HQ.   The company can no longer afford the property tax and is moving to a cheaper location.  News reports say the company hasn’t paid their property tax and the county is about to foreclose.  Also, the basket shaped HQ once employed 5-hundred people but as of last year there were only 68 employees left! 

Oregon: In Portland, after 23 years The Celtic Corner shutting down, the 83 years old owner says he’s finally ready to retire!

Pennsylvania: Penn State University warned all 1-thousand 1-hundred Ag Ex employees of mass layoffs, due to the failed state ‘lawmakers’ failing to pay the 2015-16 agricultural extension subsidies!  For proof of Failed State-ism, news sources are reporting that some ‘lawmakers’ have revealed that tax revenues are so tight they must choose between funding higher education and grade schools!

Virginia: After 64 years Nationwide Insurance about to complete its exodus from Lynchburg, a total of 340 jobs lost!  The property was sold to Liberty University, who claims they will set up a internet based ‘distance learning’ operation in the former insurance building.

West Virginia: The Cross Lanes Fruth Pharmacy shutting down by the end of April, 14 jobs lost due to lack of drug sales.

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

26 February 2016: “That’s a lot of people getting hurt!”

Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed

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.”

U.S.

ObamaCare job destruction, Febuary 2016: “…how could this be?” Doctors say Idaho’s ObamaCare killed 1-thousand people, so far!

Incomplete list of healthcare related layoffs and shutdowns, February 2016.

California:   EXP Pharmaceuticals shutting down their Fremont operations, 111 jobs lost by the end of March!  In San Francisco, electronic health records keeping company Practice Fusion issued a layoff WARN, 74 jobs lost by the beginning of April.  Health insurance giant Blue Shield of California issued several layoff WARNs, 460 jobs lost across the state by mid-March!  Cardinal Health issued a layoff WARN, 73 jobs lost by the end of March.  Visiting Nurse Association shutting down their Victorville ops, 178 jobs lost by April!  In Modesto, Memorial Medical Center eliminating 96 jobs by the end of April claiming lack of money, and despite advertising that they have 1-hundred vacant positions to fill!

Connecticut: Hartford based health insurance giant Aetna is now accusing the federal government of not enforcing ObamaCare with martial law, saying current enforcement is “not sufficient”! Greedy Aetna administrators blame low ObamaCare participation rates for their loss of revenues.  Germany based drugs maker Boehringer Ingelheim conducting more layoffs, management at their Danbury plant refused to say how many people will lose their jobs.

Florida: Preferred Medical Plan eliminating 18 jobs in Coral Gables, by the beginning of April.  CVS Pharmacy issued a shutdown WARN for their Medley distribution center, 117 jobs lost between April and September!   For profit nursing school Mattia College shutting down, 1-hundred jobs lost and more than 7-hundred nursing students looking for a new home. No word on an official shutdown date, but local news says pay for teachers has been cut off! This is the second nursing school in The Sunshine State, in the past two years, to shutdown.

Idaho: More proof the real ‘christian god’ is money; ‘christian’ run Saint Luke’s Health has agreed to return revenues from two hospitals to the respective tax districts.  The privately funded hospital system took over management of the taxpayer funded McCall and Mountain Home hospitals over the past six years and, according to the state Attorney General, was keeping the tax revenues for themselves in violation of the law.    An Idaho Statesman investigation also revealed that the two dominant ‘christian’ run hospital chains, Saint Alphonsus and Saint Luke’s, control $793-million USD worth of property that are tax-exempt, and that’s just the 1-hundred properties they own in Ada County!  (more in The truth about Idaho hospital taxes)  The Gem State’s version of ObamaCare is being directly blamed for the deaths of 1-thousand Idahoans since 2013! That accusation came from Kenneth Krell, director of Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls. He targeted the claim at state Right to Work (you over) ‘lawmakers’: “And I kept asking myself, how could this be? How, in a state like Idaho where we care about each other, could I be seeing deaths and really damaging illness on a nearly daily basis as a result of failure to expand Medicaid that cost tangible lives? It’s difficult to understand.” 

Illinois:  In Belleville, God refuses to stop the shutdown of ‘his’ Saint Elizabeth’s Hospital.  Administrators blame ObamaCare for “increased utilization of outpatient services”.  26 non-nursing jobs eliminated, nurses will supposedly be transferred to smaller healthcare operations.

Indiana: In Fort Wayne, drugs pusher Walgreens shutting down their 20 years old store on Pettit Avenue.  But don’t cry, local news reports say Walgreens has a monopoly on the Fort Wayne market, with at least 15 other drug pushing stores in the city.

Kentucky: The Village 8 movie house shutting down by the end of the year because its home, the Village Center mall, is being sold to KentuckyOne Health. Local news reports say the hospital operator refuses to say what it’ll do with the property, yet for some reason is buying up land in the area. Speculation is that KentuckyOne Health is trying to prevent competing hospital operators from moving in. So much for your healthcare, see what Obamacare is doing!

Michigan: Flint based McLaren Medical Group eliminating 89 jobs by April. The layoffs will hit medical operations in four cities.

New Jersey:  New York Life Insurance issued two layoff WARNs,  at least 68 jobs gone by the end of April.  In Vineland, Inspira Health Network issued a WARN, 105 jobs lost by mid-April!  CarePoint Health eliminated an undisclosed number of employees at three hospitals in Hudson County. Union reps said 49 nurses at just one hospital were laid off. Another hospital is slashing hours for employees. The union is demanding CarePoint Health release financial data to prove the sudden layoffs and cuts in hours were justified.  Enclara Health issued a WARN for their West Deptford operations, at least 1-hundred jobs lost by May!

New York: New York Life Insurance is shutting down their IT & Finance office in Sleepy Hollow, layoffs will take place between April and December. Administrators indicated they were moving the jobs elsewhere, but didn’t say where.   That Which Cannot Be Named powerless to stop Jewish Home Lifecare from shutting down and selling out to a competitor, 997 jobs lost by the end of May!  TransCare Ambulance service now chapter 7 bankrupt busted. News reports out of The Empire State are confusing as some say TransCare will continue operations, yet other reports say employees have been “locked out”!  Channel 4 interviewed dozens of employees who were told they had 30 days notice before their jobs would end, yet the very next day their job site was shutdown, and company administrators are not allowing employees to collect their personal items in the building and administrators are (so far) refusing to issue final paychecks!

North Carolina:  The MERCI Clinic in New Bern halting free medical services due to running out of grant money, and so far no new donations have come in.  In Jacksonville, after 42 years Crist Clinic for Women shutting down by the end of the month due to “unforeseen circumstances”.

Oklahoma: Non-profit Sayre Memorial Hospital shutdown without warning, due to “continual financial strain” caused by declining Medicare reimbursements, and the crashing-n-burning of the local economy.

Pennsylvania: North Philadelphia Health System shutting down in mid-March, 7-hundred jobs lost!  Pennsylvania University School of Nursing shutting down, 96 jobs lost by the end of March.  Prudential Insurance eliminating 91 jobs in Montgomery County, by the end of April.  In Pittsburgh, cancer treatment center Helomics issued a mass layoff WARN, 125 jobs gone by the beginning of March!

Virginia: Catabwa Hospital shutting down as part of the governor’s plan to shutdown mental health hospitals.  Genworth has halted its life insurance operations and as a result 330 employees will become unemployed!

Washington: Cardinal Health issued a WARN for its Auburn ops, 59 jobs lost by the end of March.

Washington DC: The U.S. Department of Labor reports that ObamaCare (Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act) health insurance costs jumped by at least 4.8% in 2015. That’s faster than the official rate of inflation in 2015.

West Virginia: The Cross Lanes Fruth Pharmacy shutting down by the end of April, 14 jobs lost due to lack of drug sales.

ObamaCare job destruction, January 2016: “This is health care today. This is an ongoing thing.”

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

Business/Economics

Sears Kmart update 27 February 2016: While sales crash, customers steal work clothes & stores are literally given away, Sears exec spends millions on new home!

Sears Holdings revealed that the end of year holiday (mainly ‘christian’ holiday) sales sucked! Sears stores experienced a 6% drop in sales, but Kmart got whomped with a 15.6% crash in sales for 2015.  Sears Holdings lost $580-million USD, just in their 4th quarter of 2015!  As a result more than 4-hundred headquarter jobs have been eliminated!

To save money Kmart is now going to source its products from other failing retail operators, via bankruptcy sales!  This will negatively impact the wholesale market, accelerating the economic death spiral of the country.

While the Sears empire burns, executives are fiddling with their money. Illinois newspapers revealed that Sears’ chief content integration officer, Paul Hayward, bought a $3.3-million six bedrooms, eight bathrooms, mansion in Winnetka.  However, he and his wife claim most of the money came from the sale of their other mansion in Kenilworth.  In fact, they claim they sold their Kenilworth home at a loss.  They bought the Kenilworth mansion in 2007, for $3.8-million.

And for proof we’re in a depression; a middle aged man in California stole work boots at gun point, in the City of Industry Sears store!

In the Great White North; Sears Canada has given away eight money losing Sears Home furnishing stores to its rival Leon’s!   This comes a month after Sears Canada announced it would ramp up the shutdown of stores.  Executive chairman Brandon Stranzl said when it comes to shutdowns “anything and everything” will be considered!

10 February 2016: No more Sears Auto Centers? More lies about “competition”! Once again, taxpayers hit for failed Kmart! 

Here’s the updated list of U.S. store closings that I’ve been compiling since the end of 2011, new closing revelations in BOLD:

Arizona: The Prescott Valley Kmart shutting down by April 2016. No word on how many jobs lost, but one employee was quoted by local news as saying “Walmart won.” Local news reports say there is a Now Hiring sign posted on the Kmart store front. Reports that the Glendale Kmart will shutdown, no word on job losses. Scottsdale Sears/Great Indoors, Chandler Sears/Great Indoors. Recently revealed Arrowhead Towne Center Sears sold-off then rented back! Chandler Fashion Center Sears sold-off then rented back!

Alabama: Prattville Kmart will shutdown in April 2016, 70 jobs lost. Florence Kmart in March, 64 jobs lost in 2016. A local news report said the employees knew nothing about it and were shocked to hear it from the news media! Dothan Kmart (south side of Ross Clark Circle) shutting down in March, 56 jobs lost in 2016. Gadsden Kmart (50 jobs lost), Mobile Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Auburn Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Anniston Kmart (no word yet on how many jobs lost), Birmingham Eastwood Kmart (70 jobs lost), Decatur Mall Sears (91 jobs lost), Fort Payne Kmart, Northport Kmart (68 jobs lost), Dothan Sears (68 jobs lost), Huntsville Kmart (73 jobs lost), Sears Store and Auto Center at the Bel Air Mall in Mobile (more than 100 jobs lost).

California: Anaheim Kmart shutting down, 107 jobs lost in 2016! The Chula Vista Kmart, San Mateo Sears and Citrus Heights Kmart shutting down between March and April 2016, a total of 3-hundred jobs lost! El Monte Sears (at least 40 jobs lost. Damien Arrula, El Monte’s economic development director, said the store manager had lied about what was going on: “The general manager of the store had just indicated to me that they were remodeling.”), two San Diego Sears (more than 80 jobs lost), Pleasant Hill Kmart (more than 50 jobs lost), Torrance Kmart, Fairfield Kmart (63 jobs lost), Lampert owned OSH taken over by Lowe’s home improvement in bankruptcy court, at least 17 of 99 stores to be closed down (935 jobs lost!), Rancho Cordova Kmart (97 jobs lost), San Clemente Kmart/Sears/Kmart on Camino de Estrella (58 jobs lost), placed on an official hit list in 2011 the Oceanside Kmart on College Boulevard finally being shut down, Banning Kmart (91 jobs lost) recently revealed that Sears Holdings is still paying rent on the abandoned property, Laguna Hills Mall Sears, San Diego Mid-City Kmart (73 jobs lost), Hemet Kmart (77 jobs lost), Oakland Sears repair center (75 jobs lost), San Mateo Kmart (82 jobs lost to an apartment building connected to public transportation), Hesperia Kmart building sold at a loss to a vulture capitalist REIT, no word on if the Kmart will be shutdown. Customers complain that the Kmart employees have a bad attitude, gee I wonder why? Yuba City Kmart (63 jobs lost), Rocklin Kmart (at least 63 jobs lost, the store had just posted “Now Hiring” signs), San Leandro Kmart (102 jobs lost), San Jose Mercury News says the El Centro Kmart to shutdown in January, the website Foursquare says the Covina Kmart is now shutdown (other sources say it will shutdown in December), Cupertino Sears and Auto Center (98 jobs lost), somebody posted on yelp* that the Diamond Bar Kmart was shutting down in December (confirmed by Armijo Newspapers), Westfield Topanga Sears (122 jobs lost), it looks like the Blythe Kmart is being slowly shutdown despite denial by Sears Holdings. San Mateo Kmart being demolished to make room for 599 unit apartment complex, as part of the the Hayward Park Caltrain Station project. Atwater Kmart (74 jobs lost), Los Banos Kmart (67 jobs lost).

Colorado: Broomfield Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Glenwood Springs Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Lone Tree Sears/Great Indoors, Longmont Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Pueblos’ South Side Kmart (52 jobs lost), Denver Kmart (number of jobs lost have not been made public at this time, but could be at least 40), Colorado Springs Kmart at Powers and Palmer Park boulevards (57 jobs lost), Fort Collins Sears (67 jobs lost), Denver-Cherry Creek North Sears store & Auto Center (66 jobs lost).

Connecticut: Waterbury Big Kmart, Torrington Kmart (73 jobs lost), Enfield Sears Optical (no word on jobs lost), Wallingford Sears Appliance & Hardware (employees say the shutdown was a surprise, I guess they don’t read Blind Bat News), Wallingford Sears Appliance & Hardware (at least 13 jobs lost).

Delaware: Dover Kmart (at least 72 jobs lost, some reports said 100), Seaford Sears (30 jobs lost), Claymont Kmart (87 jobs lost).

Florida: The Lutz Kmart shutting down by March 2016, 62 jobs lost. The 46 years old Daytona Beach Kmart, on International Speedway Boulevard, is shutting down by mid-March 2016, 86 jobs lost. Fernandina Beach Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Callaway Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Orange City Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Deland Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Stuart Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), West Palm Beach Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Port St. Lucie Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Crystal River Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), New Smyrna Beach Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Saint Augustine Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Pompano Beach Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Jacksonville Kmart on 5751 Beach Boulevard (71 jobs lost), second Kmart in Jacksonville on 4645 Blanding Boulevard (83 jobs lost), Ocoee Sears (102 jobs lost), Pensacola Kmart on Airport Boulevard closed in 2011, Pensacola Kmart on Mobile Highway closed in February 2013 (69 jobs lost), Pensacola Kmart on East 9 Mile Road will close in May (73 jobs lost), Hialeah Kmart (67 jobs lost), Bonita Springs Kmart (67 jobs lost), Mount Dora Kmart (100 jobs lost), Lake Mary Kmart, Panama City Beach Kmart (54 jobs lost), Winter Park Kmart (100 jobs lost), Niceville Kmart (59 jobs lost), Winter Haven Kmart (92 jobs lost), Palm Bay Kmart, Oakland Park Kmart (112 jobs lost), Clearwater Sears Auto Center (21 jobs lost), Zephyrhills Kmart (70 jobs lost), Winter Springs Kmart (69 jobs lost), Naples Kmart (72 jobs lost), New Port Richey Kmart (58 jobs lost), ‘redevelopment’ of Aventura Sears & Auto Center into an “open-air village” (unknown how many jobs affected), Kmart on Northeast 108 Street being annexed by Miami Shores, Sears Holdings threatens to shutdown Kmart as a result of higher local taxes. The property that’s home to an operating Kmart, on South Green Bay Road in Racine, was foreclosed by the local Sheriff and sold-off for $2.5-million, no word on what the new property owner will do with it. Fort Myers Kmart (67 jobs lost). Dicks Sportings Goods subleasing space in an existing Sears store in Palm Beach Gardens.

Georgia: The 37 years old Carrollton Kmart shutting down by the end of April 2016. Dublin Kmart will shutdown in April 2016, 71 jobs lost. Milledgeville Kmart shutdown in April 2016, 60+ jobs lost. Mount Berry Square Mall (Rome) Sears and Auto Center shutting down in March 2016, 86 jobs lost. Macon Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Buford Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Douglasville Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Atlanta Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Columbus Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Jonesboro Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Cartersville Kmart (74 jobs lost), Hiram Kmart (53 jobs lost), Marietta-East Cobb Kmart, Warner Robins Kmart (77 jobs lost), Coweta County Kmart distribution center (164 jobs lost), one of the last two North Augusta Kmart to be torn down by new property owner from Canada, Sears Holdings denies the Kmart will shutdown.

Guam: Sears Hometown Store.

Hawaii: Iconic 25 years old Nimitz HWY Iwilei-Honolulu Kmart shutting down in March 2016, 141 jobs lost! Honolulu Sears (owned by GGP, 372 jobs lost! GGP spending $573-million chopping it up into smaller store spaces), Kauai Sears (41 jobs lost), Iwilei-Honolulu Kmart for lease (no confirmation of store closing).

Idaho: Boise Kmart on Fairview shutting down by mid-March 2016, 56 jobs lost. Pocatello Kmart shutting down by April 2016, 65 jobs lost. Lewiston Sears (at least 60 jobs lost), Rexburg Kmart (63 jobs lost), Chubbuck Pine Ridge Mall Sears shutdown by the end of October/beginning of November 2014 (the remaining 28 jobs lost).

Illinois:  Eliminated 401 Hoffman Estates HQ jobs due to crappy 2015 holiday sales! 151 of those jobs were already vacant.   Morton ‘green’ Kmart shutting down by the end of April 2016, 47 jobs lost. Canton Kmart shutting down mid-April 2016, 38 jobs lost. Alton Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Melrose Park Sears parts and repair center (50 jobs lost), Zion Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Oak Lawn Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), McHenry Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Peru Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Lombard Sears/Great Indoors (at least 40 jobs lost), Fairview Heights Kmart (81 jobs lost), Freeport Kmart (45 jobs lost), Pontiac Kmart (more than 47 jobs lost), Homer Glen Kmart (82 jobs lost), Streator Kmart (45 jobs lost), Lombard Kmart (70 jobs lost), Naperville Kmart (98 jobs lost), Calumet Sears (164 jobs lost), two Sears stores in Grand Crossing area of Chicago (247 jobs lost!), Mount Vernon Sears (68 jobs lost), Moline Sears (at least 60 jobs lost), Homewood Kmart (185 jobs lost), Belvidere Kmart (91 jobs lost?) revealed is now a perpetual closing sale Kmart At A Discount store, Champaign’s Market Place Mall Sears (56 jobs lost), Sterling Kmart (60 jobs lost), Montgomery Kmart (81 jobs lost), Mattoon Sears (more than 40 jobs lost), Chicago Sears on North State Street (160 jobs lost), Chicago Sears Craftsman Experience store, Galesburg Sears (46 jobs lost), White Lake Township Kmart (42 jobs lost), Orland Park Sears Appliance, Collinsville Kmart (84 jobs lost), Crystal Lake Kmart (at least 77 jobs lost), Danville Sears store & Auto Center (63 jobs lost), Forsyth Sears store & Auto Center (45 jobs lost), Peoria Kmart (73 jobs lost), Forest Park Kmart (107 jobs lost), Chicago Sears on North and Harlem avenues, supposedly it’s being replaced (most likely at taxpayer expense) with a new building and it will become a Sears-Mariano’s store, Bloomington Kmart (79 jobs lost), Hoffman Estates Headquarters 100 jobs eliminated, another 15 corporate jobs eliminated elsewhere, Chicago-Wicker Park Kmart (106 jobs lost), abandoned Market Place Mall Sears location to be occupied by Dick’s Sporting Goods and Field & Stream. 58 Chicago area stores up for lease or sale. North Mayfair Kmart (99 jobs lost), Chicago Kmart at 5033 North Elston Avenue (99 jobs lost). By the way, Illinois elected officials gave Sears Holdings/Hoffman Estates a $150 million USD tax break to keep their headquarters in the state. The tax break was not tied to any promise not to close stores.

Indiana: In Schererville, Sears Hardware shutting down in April 2016. Terre Haute Kmart by April, 62 jobs lost. Anderson Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Saint John Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Indianapolis Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Richmond Sears (49 jobs lost), South Anthony Kmart (70 jobs lost), Fort Wayne Kmart on South Anthony Boulevard (70 jobs lost), FairOaks Mall Kmart, Logansport Sears (43 jobs lost), Muncie Kmart (59 jobs lost), Fort Wayne Kmart on Coliseum Boulevard North (69 jobs lost), Decatur Kmart (49 jobs lost), Indianapolis Kmart on Madison Avenue (131 jobs lost), Indianapolis Kmart on Washington Street (139 jobs lost), Bedford Kmart (62 jobs lost), Indianapolis (Evansville) Sears & Auto Center at Washington Square Mall (91 jobs lost), Greenwood Kmart (78 jobs lost), Plymouth Kmart (68 jobs lost), Bloomington Sears to be replaced by Whole Foods grocery store.

Iowa: Ottumwa Kmart shutting down by April 2016, 38 jobs lost. Cedar Rapids Kmart on 16th Ave (at least 40 jobs lost), Davenport Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Burlington Kmart (50 jobs lost), Coralville Sears (94 jobs lost, this is a store sold to GGP earlier in the year), Cedar Rapids Kmart on Collins Road NE (56 jobs lost), Mason City Kmart (50 jobs lost), Clive Kmart (at least 49 jobs lost), Ames Kmart (44 jobs lost), Fort Dodge Sears (no job loss numbers made public, yet. The Auto Center was secretly shutdown in September), 56 years old Mason City Sears & Auto Center (more than 100 jobs lost). Davenport Kmart (59 jobs lost), Belvidere Kmart (67 jobs lost).

Kansas: North Topeka Kmart shutting down in 2016, 49 jobs lost. Lawrence Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Merriam Kmart-then Sears-then Kmart (jobs lost unknown), Wichita Sears store & Auto Center (103 jobs lost), Manhattan Sears & Auto Center (number of jobs lost were never revealed).

Kentucky: Middlesboro Sears (in September 2012 the Sears store re-opened under independent ownership, official grand re-opening scheduled for November), Winchester Kmart, Hazard Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Lexington Fayette Mall Sears (114 jobs lost!), Newport Kmart (81 jobs lost), Cannonsburg Sears and Sears Auto Center (no employee info given), Louisville Dixie Highway Kmart/Sears/Kmart shutdown and now being taken over by Kroger basically to sell the same crap the old Kmart did! Madisonville Kmart (39 jobs lost), Owensboro Sears store & Auto Center (52 jobs lost).

Louisiana: Slidell Sears (77 job lost), Gretna Kmart (94 jobs lost), Metairie Kmart secretly sold off, no word if it will be shutdown, Laplace Sears Hometown Store.

Maine: Lewiston Sears (60 to 70 jobs lost), Presque Isle Aroostook Centre Mall Sears (63 jobs lost), Aroostook Centre Mall Sears Auto Center leased out to VIP Tires & Service.

Maryland: Ellicott Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Gaithersburg Sears/Great Indoors, Landover Sears rebuild & call center (115 jobs lost), Baltimore Kmart on Wabash Avenue (107 jobs lost), Parkville Kmart (102 jobs lost), California Kmart (71 jobs lost), Sears Hometown Store in Perryville.

Massachusetts: North Reading Sears Hardware store closed, lease not renewed, Milford Kmart (80 jobs lost), Kingston Kmart (73 jobs lost). Braintree Kmart on Grossman Drive shutdown. Also, the Braintree South Shore Plaza Sears store is renting out an entire floor to Ireland based Primark. Even with the lease to Primark there is still 4-thousand square feet of vacant space in the Sears store. The Sears at the Auburn Mall shutdown on Black Friday due to electrical fire. The store was experiencing electrical problems, an investigation is underway.

Michigan: The Bradley Kmart has a new owner who is shutting it down in 2016. Retailer Meijer bought the Kmart property for $5-million USD. The Kmart will be shutdown in May, but the new Meijer store won’t be ready until 2018. The Sears and Auto Center in Fort Gratiot shutting down by mid-March, 48 jobs lost. Ironwood Kmart by mid-April, 47 jobs lost. Sears/Great Indoors, Brighton Sears Grand/Essentials, Harper Woods Sears Full line, Monroe Sears Full line, Adrian Sears Full line, Washington Township Kmart, Chesterfield Kmart, Woodhaven Kmart, Saginaw Kmart on Bay Road, Flint Kmart on Dort Highway (46 jobs lost), Gaylord Kmart (48 jobs lost), Sterling Kmart (58 jobs lost), Bloomfield Township Kmart and Sears, Bad Axe Kmart (61 jobs lost), Ypsilanti Township Kmart (83 jobs lost), Petoskey Kmart (45 jobs lost), Saint John’s Kmart (48 jobs lost), White Lake Township “Store of the Future” Kmart (42 jobs lost), Grand Blanc Kmart (49 jobs lost), Lapeer Kmart (56 jobs lost), Southgate Kmart (155 jobs lost), Detroit’s Telegraph Road Kmart (115 jobs lost), Waterford Township Sears (no word on how many jobs lost), Rochester Hills Kmart (77 jobs lost), ‘perfect Kmart town’ of Port Huron Kmart (188 jobs lost), Flint Kmart on Miller Road (81 jobs lost), Burton Kmart (85 jobs lost), Madison Heights Kmart (179 jobs lost), it’s now official the last remaining Saginaw Kmart (on Gratiot Road) will remain shutdown after its roof collapsed during a snowstorm back in January 2014 (Sears Holdings claims only 18 people worked there at the time of the collapse!), Ann Arbor Kmart (59 jobs lost), Iron Mountain Kmart (54 jobs lost), Bangor Township Sears aka Bay City Mall Sears, the Auto Center was already secretly shutdown some time ago (at least 47 jobs lost), Big Rapids Kmart (about 50 jobs lost). Vacant Wyandotte Sears Auto Center is being renovated at a cost to taxpayers of $1-million & 20-thousand, plus 15 years worth of tax breaks valued at $2-million! Shakopee Kmart distribution center shutdown and sold-off for $17-million in 2013, now it’s finally getting a new tenant; snowmobile and electric cart maker Polaris Industries will rent out a fraction of the building to use as their new parts warehouse. The Kmart Plaza in Sandusky sold to “A group of investors”, no word on what will happen to the Kmart store.

Minnesota: Dundas Kmart by April 2016, 32 jobs lost. Thunderbird Mall Kmart shutting down in April 2016, 48 jobs lost. Willmar Kmart, Duluth Kmart, New Hope Kmart, White Bear Lake Kmart, Bemidji Kmart, Monticello Kmart, GGP owned Sears Auto Center in the Apache Mall closed (10 jobs lost), the entire Sears store in the Apache Mall being sold off, Fergus Falls Kmart (40 jobs lost), Fergus Falls Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Alexandria Kmart (46 jobs lost), Grand Rapids Kmart (61 jobs lost), Seritage is selling off three Sears Auto Centers in Minnetonka, Brooklyn Center and Saint Paul, Marshall Kmart (57 jobs lost), Oakdale Kmart (77 hourly wage employees losing their jobs, unknown how many salaried employees will become unemployed), Winona Kmart (67 jobs lost), Minneapolis city officials trying to shutdown profit making Nicollet Avenue Kmart, to make way for a new road. Anoka Kmart (47 jobs lost), Blaine Kmart (60 jobs lost), Burnsville Kmart (62 jobs lost), Waite Park Kmart (57 jobs lost), Northeast Minneapolis Sears Hometown & Outlet store now for sale, Coon Rapids Sears Hometown & Outlet store now for sale.

Mississippi: The 44 years old Greenville Kmart shutting down in April, no word on job losses. Jackson Sears Full line, McComb Sears Full line, Columbus Sears Full line, Gautier Sears (71 jobs lost), Waveland Gulfport Kmart (32 jobs lost), Pass Road Gulfport Kmart (52 jobs lost), Pascagoula Sears at the Singing River Mall, Olive Branch distribution center (unknown how many jobs lost).

Missouri: Lee’s Summit Sears Grand/Essentials, Saint Louis Sears Full line, High Ridge Kmart (59 jobs lost), Ellisville Kmart (55 jobs lost), Springfield Kmart on South Campbell Avenue (60 jobs lost), South Belt Kmart (64 jobs lost), Florissant Kmart (100 jobs lost), O’Fallon Kmart (76 jobs lost).

Montana: Missoula Kmart (50 jobs lost), Great Falls Kmart (closed “until further notice” due to fire, 63 jobs on hold), Great Falls Sears store & Auto Center (65 jobs lost) due to great sales (ironically) the shutdown date has been moved from 07 December 2014 to 23 November, Bozeman Kmart (37 jobs lost), Missoula Sears store and Auto Center (57 jobs lost).

Nebraska: Grand Island Kmart (55 jobs lost), Omaha Kmart near West Maple Road (50 jobs lost).

Nevada: Sparks Kmart distribution center (100 jobs lost).

New Hampshire: Nashau Sears Grand/Essentials, Keene Sears Grand/Essentials, Portsmouth Kmart (30 jobs lost), Claremont Kmart (59 jobs lost).

New Jersey: Lodi Kmart will shutdown in April 2016, 75 jobs lost. Lawnside Kmart (about 80 jobs lost), Howell Kmart (57 jobs lost), Berlin Kmart, Dover Kmart (92 jobs lost), Randolf Kmart (91 jobs lost), Paramus Kmart (74 jobs lost), Closter Kmart (102 jobs lost), Vineland Kmart (74 jobs lost). After 18 years Sears Holdings shutdown their Roselle Sears Hardware store due to “landlord issues”.

New Mexico: Las Cruces Kmart (58 jobs lost), Albuquerque Kmart on Central SW (80 jobs lost), Rio Rancho Kmart (59 jobs lost).

New York: Staten Island Mall Sears Auto Center will shutdown in February, 20 jobs lost. Lindenhurst Sears Hardware, North Babylon Sears Hardware, Hauppauge Sears Hardware, Depew (Lancaster?) Kmart (68 jobs lost), Colonie Kmart (72 jobs lost), Fulton Kmart (51 jobs lost), Clifton Park Kmart (74 jobs lost) now revealed to be turned into a Town Center with more than 200 apartments at an estimated cost of $50-million, Latham Kmart (61 jobs lost), East Greenbush-Rensselaer Kmart (70 jobs lost), Tonawanda Sears Appliance and Hardware, Bronx Sears (91 jobs lost), BBN reader reported that the Ithaca Sears and Auto Center shutdown and one month later it’s been officially confirmed (at least 37 jobs lost), DeWitt Kmart (92 jobs lost), Auburn Sears (51 jobs lost), Massena Sears and Auto Center (51 jobs lost), Staten Island Mall Sears leased out to Ireland’s Primark, Bay Shore Sears and Sears Auto Center (144 jobs lost), New Hartford (Sangertown Mall) Sears & Auto Center (109 jobs lost), Lancaster Kmart sold for $1.7-million to Dave’s Christmas Wonderland. Herkimer Sears Hometown, Saranac Lake Sears Hometown the ‘independent’ co-owners said Sears Holdings forced them to shutdown. Melville Appliance Repair Division (31 jobs lost).

North Carolina: Cary Kmart (71 jobs lost), High Point Sears, Moorehead Sears, Rocky Mount Sears, Statesville Sears, Durham Kmart (79 jobs lost), Asheville Kmart (53 jobs lost), West Smithfield Kmart (59 jobs lost), Winston-Salem Kmart (69 jobs lost), Hendersonville Kmart (58 jobs lost), South Ashville Kmart on Hendersonville Road, Raleigh Kmart (88 jobs lost), Garner Kmart, Cleveland County mall Sears (56 jobs lost), Charlotte Kmart (89 jobs lost), Conover Kmart (74 jobs lost), Raleigh Kmart on Capital Boulevard (53 jobs lost), High Point Kmart (71 jobs lost), Boone Kmart (41 jobs lost), Greensboro Kmart (96 jobs lost), Gastonia Sears store & Auto Center (65 jobs lost), Kinston Kmart (64 jobs lost), Cary Sears (66 jobs lost), Greensboro Kmart distribution center (130 jobs lost), Greenville Kmart (75 jobs lost), Kinston Sears Hometown Store shutdown with little notice, Lexington Sears Hometown Store.

North Dakota: Jamestown Kmart (45 jobs lost), Dickinson Kmart (41 jobs lost, despite a “Now Hiring” sign on the front of the store).

Ohio: The 28 years old Sears and its Auto Center in New Philadelphia shutting down by mid-April 2016, 46 jobs lost. Without warning the Medina Sears Appliance & Hardware Store shutdown. Warren Kmart on Parkman Road NW will shutdown in April 2016, 63 jobs lost. Zanesville Kmart shutting down mid-April 2016, 47 jobs lost. Steubenville Kmart shutting down by April 2016, 65 jobs lost. Boardman Kmart by April 2016, 81 jobs lost. Chagrin Falls Kmart, Springfield Kmart, two Toledo Kmarts, Medina Kmart, Columbus Kmart, Columbus Sears/Great Indoors, Zanesville Sears (67 jobs lost), Trotwood Kmart (71 jobs lost), Austintown Sears auto parts and service on Interstate Boulevard, London Kmart (no word on number of jobs lost), Trotwood Sears (67 jobs lost), Westlake Kmart/Sears (at least 57 jobs lost), Xenia Kmart (at least 57 jobs lost), Norwalk Kmart (52 jobs lost), Blue Ash Kmart (77 jobs lost), Northwood Sears at Woodville Mall (36 jobs lost), Conneaut Kmart (43 jobs lost), Anderson Township Kmart (71 jobs lost), Brooklyn Kmart (200 jobs lost), Columbus Lockbourne Industrial Parkway Sears distribution center (200 jobs lost), also in Columbus, Sears Product Rebuild-Call Center (112 jobs lost), Marion Sears Auto Center (at least nine jobs lost), Springfield Kmart #3767 (68 jobs lost), Fairborn Kmart (66 jobs lost), Solon Sears & Auto Center (at least 53 jobs lost), Tiffin Sears Hometown Store. Also, Van Wert Sears franchise bought out by Kirk Berryman, owner of Computer & Networking Technologies (CNT), who plans on moving the store to a new location. Fairlawn Sears Appliance & Hardware, Macedonia Sears Appliance & Hardware, Lorain Sears Appliance & Hardware, Elyria Sears Appliance & Hardware, North Olmsted Sears Appliance & Hardware, Sheffield Village Sears Appliance & Hardware, Akron Sears Appliance & Hardware.

Oklahoma: Oklahoma City Sears (98 jobs lost, GGP owned, GGP wants a $2 million sales tax rebate, claiming it’s needed to offset capital investments needed to bring the space up to the standards for potential new tenants), Shawnee Sears (31 jobs lost), Sand Springs Kmart (52 jobs lost), Muskogee Sears (60 jobs lost), Enid Sears and Auto Center (at least 38 jobs lost), Tulsa BigKmart (51 jobs lost).

Oregon: Roseburg Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Tualatin Kmart Center (new property owner from California is tearing everything down for new shopping center, so far no indication the Kmart will be part of the new shopping center), Milwaukie Kmart (61 jobs lost), Coos Bay Kmart (25 jobs lost), Bend Sears (48 jobs lost), Klamath Falls Kmart (64 jobs lost), Albany Kmart (64 jobs lost), Portland Sears Homes Services (no notice), Albany Sears (57 jobs lost), in October a BBN reader warned that Oregon City Kmart was being quietly shutdown, confirmed on 06 November 2014 by Sears Holdings (70 jobs lost). Ontario Kmart (55 jobs lost).

Pennsylvania: Reports that the Exton Kmart will shutdown, no word on job losses. Upper Darby Sears Full line, Pottstown Sears Full line, Pittsburgh Kmart, Wilkins Sears, Warminster Kmart (85 jobs lost), Shippensburg Kmart (46 jobs lost), Moon Kmart (143 jobs lost), Bethlehem Township Kmart (62 jobs lost), Philadelphia Gallery Mall Kmart (120 jobs lost), Philadelphia Kmart on Orthodox Street and Castor Avenue (169 jobs lost), Levittown/Middle Township Kmart (87 jobs lost), Waynesboro Kmart (43 jobs lost), Sanatoga-Lower Pottsgrove Kmart (65 jobs lost, the store was also advertising for new hires!), West Mifflin Sears store & Auto Center (88 jobs lost), Rochester Kmart (78 jobs lost), Frazer (Pittsburg Mills Mall) Sears and Auto Center (97 jobs lost), Bloomsburg Sears (57 jobs lost), Frackville Sears and Auto Center (84 jobs lost), North Cornwall Township Sears (51 jobs lost), King of Prussia Sears and Auto Center (no word on number of jobs lost), Lebanon Sears (51 jobs lost), Scotland Chambersburg Mall Sears and Auto Center (62 jobs lost), the upper level of the Willow Grove Mall Sears store to be leased by Primark, King of Prussia Sears store leased out to clothing retailer Primark, East Towne Mall Kmart (51 jobs lost), Frackville Kmart in the Skuylkill Mall (80 jobs lost), Mount Pocono Kmart (66 jobs lost), Fairless Hills Sears Hardware. Granite Run Mall shutdown, meaning the Sears and Sears Auto Center now apparently on a month to month (possibly day to day) lease are soon to follow. Brookhaven Kmart (89 jobs lost).

Puerto Rico: Vega Baja Kmart (206 jobs lost).

South Carolina: Sumter Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Orangeburg Sears (57 jobs lost), Columbia Kmart on Fort Jackson Boulevard in 2012, Columbia Kmart on Bush River Road in 2009, Columbia Kmart on St Andrews Road (66 jobs lost), Irmo Kmart (no info on how many jobs lost), both Greenville Kmarts (140 jobs lost between the two), Mount Pleasant Kmart (43 jobs lost), Harbison Sears & Sears Auto Center in the Columbiana Centre mall (97 jobs lost), Aiken Sears & Sears Auto Center (at least 54 jobs lost), Inlet Square Mall Kmart (50 jobs lost), West Ashely Kmart (69 jobs lost), Myrtle Beach Kmart (59 jobs lost), Easley Kmart (62 jobs lost).

South Dakota: The Pierre Kmart shutting down by the end of March 2016, 45 jobs lost. The Michell Kmart shutting down in April 2016, 52 jobs lost. Spearfish Kmart (51 jobs lost), Sturgis Kmart (57 jobs lost).

Tennessee: The Murfreesboro Kmart shutting down by the end of April, 43 jobs lost. A Memphis Sears and Auto Center (on Poplar Avenue) shutting down in April, 109 jobs lost! Clarksville Kmart shutting down in April, 68 jobs lost. Cleveland Kmart shutting down by mid-March 2016, 67 jobs lost. Antioch Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Cleveland Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Oak Ridge Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Hendersonville Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Morristown Sears (about 70 jobs lost), Clinton South Kmart, Franklin Cool Springs Galleria Sears (92 jobs lost), Memphis Hickory Ridge mall Sears (job loss data not revealed), 48 years old Nashville Kmart on Nolensville Pike to close by January 2014 (57 jobs lost), Franklin Kmart (33 jobs lost), Dickson Kmart (65 jobs lost), talks in progress to end lease for Bellevue (Nashville) Center Mall Sears, Nashville Bellevue Center Sears & Auto Center (at least 44 jobs lost).

Texas: Two Sears parts and repair centers closing in The Woodlands (117 jobs lost), rebuild center in Garland (58 jobs lost), Farmers Branch Sears/Great Indoors, Houston Sears Great/Indoors, Dallas Sears home appliance parts distribution center (77 jobs lost), Simon Property Group owned McAllen Sears store & Auto Center (so far no word on how many jobs will be lost), recently revealed Palestine Sears Hometown (franchise owner quit to work as assistant manager at a local Dollar General). Wichita Falls Sikes Senter Mall Sears (56 jobs lost).

Utah: 35 years old Richfield Kmart will shutdown in April 2016, 63 jobs lost. North Logan Kmart shutting down by April 2016, 58 jobs lost. Murray Sears (local news media in Utah never reported the closure, but they reported that the building was demolished), Orem Kmart (no details reported), Woods Cross Kmart (54 jobs lost), Provo Kmart demolished in anticipation of yet another AtHome furniture store.

Vermont: The Bennington Sears Hometown Store shutdown. Rutland Sears store & Auto Center (65 jobs lost), South Burlington Kmart (66 jobs lost).

Virginia: The Cedar Bluff (50 jobs lost), Covington (36 jobs lost) and Virginia Beach on General Booth Boulevard (no job numbers reported) Kmarts shutting down between March and April 2016! The Sears Hometown Store in Culpeper shutting down by the end of the month. Norfolk Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Midlothian Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Richmond Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Lynchburg Sears (84 jobs lost), Fairfax Kmart (no word on how many jobs lost), Christiansburg Sears (59 jobs lost), Norfolk Kmart on East Little Creek Road (77 jobs lost), Manassas Kmart (71 jobs lost), Stafford Sears Hometown, Newport News-Denbigh Kmart (at least 50 jobs lost), Wise Kmart (58 jobs lost), Harrisonburg Kmart (79 jobs lost), Winchester Kmart (91 jobs lost), Dale City Kmart (69 jobs lost), Chesapeake Sears and Auto Center (82 jobs lost), Front Royal Kmart (88 jobs lost), Pembroke Mall Sears renting out part of their store to DSW & Nordstrom Rack, Sears Holdings say they’re still looking for a “third tenant” for their occupied space. The current nearby Sears Auto Center will be rented out to REI. Colonial Heights Kmart (113 jobs lost), Virginia Beach Hilltop Square Shopping Center Kmart (82 jobs lost).

Washington: Eatonville Sears Hometown store. Walla Walla Sears Full line (in August 2012, it was reported that an independent owner of Sears Hometown stores will open a store in Walla Walla), Lacey Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Kelso Sears (47 jobs lost), Lakewood Kmart (59 jobs lost), Bellingham Sears (92 jobs lost), Seattle Kmart (85 jobs lost), East Wenatchee Sears (59 jobs lost), Puyallup Kmart (51 jobs lost), Oak Harbor Kmart (68 jobs lost), Sodo Sears and Sears Auto Center (79 jobs lost), Everett Kmart (65 jobs lost), Marysville Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost).

West Virginia: Oak Hill Kmart (59 jobs lost), Morgantown Kmart (100 jobs lost), Bluefield Sears store & Auto Center (64 jobs lost).

Wisconsin: Superior Kmart shutting down in April 2016, 42 jobs lost. West Baraboo Sears (at least 40 jobs lost, local village officials say the store generated 3% of local tax collections), Rice Lake Kmart (about 71 jobs lost), Brookfield Kmart (56 jobs lost), Racine’s Regency Mall Sears (52 jobs lost), Fort Atkinson Kmart (51 jobs lost), Greenfield Kmart (107 jobs lost), Portage Kmart (78 jobs lost) and Hales Corner (129 jobs lost), Chippewa Falls Kmart (79 jobs lost), Menomonie Kmart (at least 50 jobs lost), Ashwaubenon Kmart recently revealed now owned by Green Bay Packers, will be torn down (80 jobs lost), Shawano Kmart (55 jobs lost), Fond du Lac Sears (42 jobs lost), Glendale Sears store & Auto Center (86 jobs lost), Janesville Kmart (70 jobs lost), Glendale Sears Rebuild center (67 jobs lost), Sheboygan Sears & Auto Center (at least 31 jobs lost), Eau Claire Kmart (93 jobs lost), Plymouth Kmart (59 jobs lost before Xmas), Sheboygan Sears Rebuild Center (30 jobs lost), Wauwatosa Kmart (103 jobs lost).

In April 2015, Sears Holdings (through Seritage Growth Properties) and General Growth Properties (GGP) became 50/50 joint owners of 12 Sears stores.

Here’s a list of 11 Sears stores 100% owned by GGP:

Iowa: Coral Ridge Mall (it’s official the Sears is closing, see above), and Mall of the Bluffs

Texas: The Woodlands Mall (this does not involve the two repair centers being closed by Sears)

Florida: West Oaks Mall

Utah: Fashion Place, and Provo Towne Centre (note the evil British empire way of spelling town & center. Due to a favorable lease agreement the GGP owned Provo Sears will continue to stay open under Sears Holdings management)

Oklahoma: Quail Springs Mall (it’s official, the Sears closed, see above)

Hawaii: Ala Moana Center (closed, see above)

Washington: Bellis Fair Mall (Bellingham store, see above)

Minnesota: Apache Mall (see update above, GGP will close Sears store by 2014)

Illinois: Market Place Shopping Center (see update above, GGP closing store)

Business/Economics

“That’s a lot of people getting hurt!” Connecticut officially an economic Failed State? : U.S. Job Losses & Closings 26 February 2016

Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.

Arkansas: Bentonville based Walmart eliminated an undisclosed number of HQ IT jobs, saying “…It’s something we’ve done before and will continue to do, just like any technology business.”  In other words, this round of layoffs were not part of their bigger plans to shutdown stores and eliminate thousands of jobs.

California: More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high tech for your demise; insurance software company Zenefits eliminated 250 jobs without warning, saying the bad economy is forcing them to “refocus”!  San Francisco based interactive entertainment company Kabam revealed how many jobs they are about to kill; at least 76 jobs lost by the end of March.  Boeing continues to issue mass layoff WARNs, this time 92 jobs across three cities gone by mid-April.  What automotive industry recovery? Affinia Brake Parts issued a new layoff WARN saying 111 people will lose their jobs at the Chowchilla factory, by mid-April!  That’s on top of the 43 jobs Affinia eliminated this month.  In Yountville, event eatery to the elites The Pavilion at The Vintage Estate issued a mass layoff WARN, 326 jobs lost by mid-April!  TGI Friday’s shutting down their Laguna Niguel restaurant, 51 jobs lost by the end of April.  New York based clothier BCBG Max Azria Group eliminating 71 jobs in Vernon, by the end of April.  It sounds like a shutdown, but the WARN listing says “layoff”.   In Hayward, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals shutting down by the end of July, 43 jobs lost.  Right wing news media outlet Freedom Communications issued a mass layoff WARN for their Santa Ana operations, 969 jobs lost by the end of March!  Maslow Media issued layoff WARNs, 38 jobs across three cities lost by mid-April.

Connecticut: As I’ve written before crashing tax revenues are a sign of a depression. State tax collections are crashing and burning according to the state Office of Fiscal Analysis.  The current budget is now short $266-million USD, while the planned budget for next fiscal year is already short $900-million!  

Florida:  Basketball star Vince Carter shutting down his six years old Daytona Beach restaurant.  Employees found out on Wednesday that they’ll be unemployed tomorrow!

Illinois: American Coal revealed they’ve eliminated 101 jobs at their Galatia mine, last week!

Indiana: In Schererville, Sears Hardware shutting down in April.

Iowa: In line with recent warnings, farm vehicle maker Deere (John Deere) eliminating an additional 1-hundred jobs at factories in Davenport and Dubuque!   And in Dubuque, after five years Crust Italian Kitchen & Bar shutting down tomorrow, 30 jobs lost.  The owner said she was offered a better paying ‘regular’ job with a company in Chicago.  Donut King shutting down their West Des Moines store by mid-March, due to the greedy property owner selling out to a property developer.  Donut King hopes to find a new affordable location.

Maryland: In Reisterstown, after 40 years Ski Shoppe shutting down, the owner would only say they’re “going out of business”.

New Jersey: God powerless to stop ‘his’ Catholic Saint Francis Life Care from issuing a shutdown WARN for their Franciscan Oaks nursing home, 257 jobs lost by the end of April!   It’s been for sale since 2014.  God also powerless to stop ‘his’ Quaker Cadbury Senior Lifestyles from shutting down, 255 Cherry Hill nursing home jobs lost by the end of April!

Pennsylvania: In Olyphant, France based Technicolor eliminating 50 more jobs, on top of recent mass layoffs.  A production line was  halted without warning as well: “That’s a lot of people getting hurt! That’s something that no community whether it’s Olyphant or its surrounding communities wants to hear. A lot of people used to be employed there, thousands, and it was one of the biggest employers Olyphant ever had!”-Jerry Tully, city councilman

Texas: Lone Star Tubular Operations warning that low oil prices could cost all 677 employees their jobs, by the end of March!   

Illinois based heavy vehicle maker Caterpillar warning that it might end it’s semi-truck production before it even starts!  Caterpillar was about to start a new semi-truck factory in Victoria, but “…we determined there was not a sufficient market opportunity to justify the investment. We have not yet started truck production in Victoria, and this decision allows us to exit this business before the transition occurs.”  There are already 70 people working to gear up the Victoria factory, but they will become unemployed in March.  Plano based JCPenney is so desperate that they are about to sell off specific women’s clothing for only one cent (The Penny Sale, get it, a play on the name Penney. JCPenney stands of James Cash Penney)!  The sale will last through next week and is for JCPenney’s Arizona house brand. Administrators admitted they now realize many women are hurting for cash in this suck-ass economy.

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

25 February 2016: “like phases of any loss, it’s shock and denial”

Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed

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.”

Business/Economics

“shock and denial” Mo Mass Layoffs in California! Sears kills hundreds of office jobs! No more Kohl’s? : U.S. Job Losses & Closings 25 February 2016

Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.

Arkansas: Boulevard Bread shutting down their River Market kiosk.

California: Once again British empire based, U.S. tax sucking, BAE Systems way late on issuing a mass layoff WARN.  This time they revealed they laid off 230 people in San Francisco, at the beginning of the month!  In Bakersfield, California Resources eliminating 74 oil industry jobs by mid-April.  In Vacaville, after 55 years Green Tee Golf Club shutting down, the operators blaming lack of money.  InCosta Mesa, after 55 years H.J. Garrett Furniture shutting down when the inventory is gone, the operators say they want to retire, but also blame declining sales and the now sky-high cost of living in California. What automotive industry recovery? UTi shutting down their automotive school in Long Beach, 64 jobs gone by April.  Southern California Edison eliminating 48 jobs in Rosemead, by April.  Pinecrest Schools finally revealed how many jobs will be lost by their mass shutdown of campuses;  176 by June! More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high tech for your demise; Palo Alto based Hewlett Packard (HP) revealed they eliminated 74 HQ jobs back in January.  Mountain View based software company Symantec laid off six people at the beginning of this month.  Also in Mountain View, TangoMe eliminating 53 jobs by mid-April.  Japan based Toshiba Information Systems began eliminating jobs in Irvine.  Sunnyvale based internet company Yahoo issued more layoff WARNs, this time 322 jobs across four cities eliminated by mid-April!  Warren Buffett owned Kraft-Heinz issued a shutdown WARN for their San Leandro food factory, 117 jobs lost by mid-April!  Pacific Harvest issued a layoff WARN for their Guadalupe food ops, 75 jobs lost by mid-April.  Valley Fine Foods suddenly shutdown their 22 years old Benicia production ops, 94 jobs gone.  The company moved their production, sanitation, shipping and receiving and maintenance operation to North Carolina, loyal employees had no warning: “They were shocked and surprised. A few have been here a while, 17 years. Those were the hardest impacted. They appeared…..in shock, like phases of any loss, it’s shock and denial first.”-Adriana Nunez, HR manager

Colorado: Smartphone case maker OtterBox admitted it began laying off an undisclosed number of Fort Collins employees in 2015, and into 2016.  Administrators admitted they failed to file a WARN with state employment officials.

Florida: In Maitland, after nearly 30 years RanGetsu Japanese Restaurant and Bar shutting down in March, no reason given.  Local news reports say at one time the owners were trying to open five restaurants, now they’ll be down to just their restaurant back in Japan.

Illinois: Hoffman Estates based Sears Holdings revealed it eliminated 401 HQ jobs due to crappy 2015 holiday sales!  151 of those jobs were already vacant.   Sears Holdings will also accelerate the sale of assets.  School District 205 eliminating stipends for club sponsors and eliminating 109 jobs! The district is short $2.6-million USD, blaming lack of taxpayer funding caused by what I call Disappearing Students Syndrome.  For the first time in 25 years  Parkland College eliminating jobs, administrators blame the state ‘lawmakers’ for dragging their feet on taxpayer funding for the next school year. In Prospect Heights after only two years and $13-million in renovations, the Ultra Foods grocery store shutting down next week due to lack of sales.

Indiana: Indianapolis based Republic Airways Holdings now chapter 11 bankrupt busted, blaming in part “a nationwide pilot shortage”.  What they really mean is a shortage of pilots who want to work for peanuts!  In New Albany, after 30 years Mom & Pop’s Cone Corner is no more.  The current owners bought the ice cream joint last year, they gave no reason for the shutdown.

Louisiana: Krispy Kreme Doughnuts shutting down their Shreveport donut shop on Youree Drive.  In a ’round-a-bout way administrators said the store was losing money.

Michigan: Benton Harbor based home appliance maker Whirlpool warning of mass factory layoffs and confirmed it already eliminated an undisclosed number of HQ jobs.  Administrators also gave a conflicting 4th quarter 2015 report saying ‘net revenues’ had doubled from 4th Q 2014, but that actual ‘sales’ were down by almost half a million dollars.

North Carolina:  Charlotte based Too Big to Jail Bank of America continues to kill jobs, this time admitting they eliminated a “small number” of corporate level and global marketing  jobs.

Oklahoma: Petroleum company Kimray eliminating 65 jobs in March.  Administrators say the layoffs are their last resort as they’ve already frozen pay levels, cut budgets & investments and encouraged employees to accept bribes to quit (buyouts).

Texas: Houston based Halliburton killing more jobs, 5-thousand this time! That’s on top of the almost 22-thousand jobs killed by the oil field service company in the past two years!

Virginia: In Woodbridge, C&W Books shutting down on Monday: “After 25 years in your community, C & W Used Books will be closing on Feb. 29. Our lease is up and we cannot afford the rent increase.”

Washington: In Gig Harbor, after 47 years Mostly Books shutting down due to the property owner wanting to sell.

Wisconsin: Menomonee Falls based retailer Kohl’s warning that it must shutdown at least 18 stores this year.  Locations and timing of the shutdowns yet to be determined.  It’s blamed on stagnant 2015 holiday sales (a meager 0.4% above 2014 holiday sales).

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

24 February 2016: “Sales keep going down, expenses keep going up and I’m having a hard time just paying my bills, so it’s just time.”

Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed

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.”

Business/Economics, Idaho

“These are challenging times…because of the uncertainty” Thousands more jobs killed!: U.S. Job Losses & Closings 24 February 2016

Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.

Alaska: In Juneau, the nine years old Holly’s Hallmark gift store shutting down. The owner said sales went south in 2013 and got worse in 2014.

Florida: For profit Mattia College shutting down, 1-hundred jobs lost and more than 7-hundred nursing students looking for a new home.  No word on an official shutdown date, but local news says pay for teachers has been cut off!  This is the second nursing school in The Sunshine State, in the past two years, to shutdown.  The top administrator of that nursing school, Dade Medical, was recently arrested.  This is all part of the U.S. Department of Education’s crackdown on schools that promise their students ‘The Moon’.

Idaho:  More fraud in The Gem State.  The state Attorney General says a former Idaho boat builder owes customers several millions of USD after failing to deliver the boats.   The state and financier KeyBank have joined multiple customers in suing Christopher Bohenkamp, accusing him of taking customer’s money for pre-ordered boats, but then pulling stakes and moving to New York without building the boats!  It was revealed in 2015 that Bohenkamp was being sued by numerous customers for taking their money and running to The Empire State.   Fraud by hybrid and electric car owners in The Gem State as many are just now waking up to the fact that last year the state imposed additional vehicle registration fees for motorized vehicles that use very little or no petroleum based fuel.  There is now a push by the unfair tax avoiding environmentalist crooks to repeal the fees.  Here’s why owners of hybrids and electric cars are crooks; state road repair work is paid for mainly with the state tax on fuel, and partly by vehicle registration fees, if you’re driving a vehicle that doesn’t use fuel you are not paying your fair share of road maintenance tax!   The only way the state can fairly charge (pun intended) electric and hybrid car users for road maintenance is by greatly jacking up the vehicle registration fee.  As one commentator in the state of Georgia wrote “We now have a class of people (mostly well-off) who can choose to get around without having to pay the gas tax.”)   By the way, this why bicycle fanatics piss me off! They think they own the roads but they pay nothing towards maintaining the roads, especially their special ‘bike lanes’. And don’t give me your crap about ‘you drive cars too’, the roads were built for cars not pedestrians or bicycles.  In Boise, the Ada County Highway District responds to criticism about bike lanes by saying “…it’s fair to assume that bicyclists in and around downtown Boise are contributing some amount to the upkeep of Ada County roads.”  But they admit they have no way to prove that statement!  You know what they say about ass-u-me…..

Illinois:  In Alqonquin, the Stride Rite shoe store in Algonquin Commons shutting down by April.  It’s the third retailer to leave Algonquin Commons in the past 12 months.  Publisher Costar Group laying off 44 employees in Chicago, by mid-March.   God powerless to stop ‘his’ Lutheran Social Services from shutting down ‘his’ Chicago nursing home services, 109 job lost by the end of March!  Walmart shutting down two Chicago stores by mid-April, at least 110 jobs lost!  What automotive industry recovery? Danville Area Community College eliminating at least four jobs, offering early retirement and eliminating their Automotive and Sustainability programs: “These are challenging times, and it’s challenging because of the uncertainty”-Alice Jacobs, DACC President

  Sycamore School District 427 eliminating at least 56 jobs: “We see other businesses where employees are just being told to do more with less, and unfortunately, that seems to be the mentality of our state government when incomes to education.”-Jim Dombek, District 427

Missouri: Spain based bio-energy company Abengoa Bioenergy now chapter 11 bankrupt busted, affecting their administrative office in Chesterfield, and their ethanol production in the state of Illinois.  In Hannibal, after more than 50 years Kirlin’s Hallmark shutting down their Huck Finn Shopping Center gift store, blaming “today’s challenging economic climate”.

New York:  That Which Cannot Be Named powerless to stop Jewish Home Lifecare from shutting down and selling out to a competitor, 997 jobs lost by the end of May!  General Electric (GE) updated their shutdown WARN for their Fort Edward operation, 128 jobs lost between now and the end of May!  Near Star Lake, the Padgett’s Hometown IGA shutting down after 35 years of grocery sales: “Sales keep going down, expenses keep going up and I’m having a hard time just paying my bills, so it’s just time.”-Mark Padgett

Ohio: Columbus based Bravo Brio Restaurant Group is warning it must shutdown Bravo Cucina Italiana and Brio Tuscan Grille restaurants after a third straight year of revenue losses!

Texas: In Houston, Cobalt International Energy issued a layoff WARN, 50 oil industry jobs lost by the end of April.  Pioneer Natural Resources shutting down their Victoria oil ops, 148 jobs lost by mid-April!  Transocean Offshore shutdown two Gulf of Mexico rigs, 180 jobs gone!  IPSCO Tubulars issued a layoff WARN for their Chambers oil pipe ops, 112 jobs lost by the beginning of April!  In Pleasanton, C&J Energy Services eliminating 78 oil industry jobs by the beginning of April.

West Virginia: Cabell County Schools eliminating 61 jobs and transferring another 97! It’s blamed on the loss of 2-hundred students since 2014!

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

23 February 2016: “….a slowdown in the market, we can’t say for sure what will happen next.”

Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed

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.”

Business/Economics, Technology

No more electronics maker Sharp! Foxconn beats out Samsung!

24 February 2016 /19:16 UTC-07 Tango 01 (06 Esfand 1394/16 Jumada al-Ula 1437/18 Geng Yin 4714)

Executives with one of Japan’s iconic electronics maker, Sharp, have decided to sell out to a Republic of China (Taiwan) company.

The nearly $6-billion USD sale puts a ‘major’ Japanese electronics maker under foreign ownership for the first time in Japan’s history.  Hon Hai Precision Industry, aka Foxconn, outbid Republic of Korea’s Samsung.  Sharp executives even rejected the offer from the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan.

Sharp has been dealing with crashing revenues for the past few years.  Analysts have criticized the offer by Foxconn as being absurdly high as there are other Japanese electronics makers who are financially secure, yet are considered worth less than unstable Sharp.

Foxconn is a major supplier to Apple, and in 2014 signed a joint venture deal with Hewlett Packard.

Japan Economic Front: Biggest ever loss for Sharp!

What Economic Recovery? Sharp projects record loss for 2012!

Sharp makes deeper cuts than originally planned, blame the Too Big to Fail banks! 

For the first time in 62 years, TV maker Sharp will layoff 5,000 workers!

Sharp blames the United States for lack of economic recovery

Sharp’s economic woes began with the 2011 quake-tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disasters: Sharp has announced that production of their Liquid Crystal Display TVs will be halted