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Business/Economics

U.S. Job Losses & Store Closings, 24 – 25 March 2015: “unforeseen circumstances beyond our control” Warren Buffet kills jobs in Texas! “we were unable to get some sort of rescue plan.”

Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:

Arkansas:  World Gym announced it is shutting down three gyms in The Natural State.  An official company statement mentioned two; “Due to unforeseen circumstances beyond our control we have been forced to close our Bentonville and Lowell World Gym locations.”  However, news reports say at least one other gym is being shutdown, and that the franchise owners claim they cannot afford to renew the leases.  Gym members are reporting they are not being allowed to cancel their memberships without paying penalties!

California: Technicolor issued a mass layoff WARN saying 162 people will become jobless in May!  Apparently Technicolor is also laying off people in London, England.  In Los Angeles, The Patina Group issued a temporary shutdown WARN, saying 75 people will become unemployed in June.

Connecticut: In Stafford Springs, 207 years old (surviving numerous depressions and recessions) Bakers Country Furniture shutdown.

Florida: In Orlando, apparently Aircraft Service International lost their Disney Magical Express contract, 204 jobs lost by May!

Iowa: In Davenport, a decades old Godfather’s Pizza shutdown: “The lease is up and for the amount of revenue it brings, it is not feasible to stay.”-Andy Fuhrman, co-owner

Massachusetts: Facing less funding, due to Disappearing Student Syndrome, Marshfield will eliminate seven elementary school jobs for the next school year.  In Charlton, Masonic Health System-Overlook Life Care Community laid off nine employees and cut the hours for eight others.

New Jersey: The Trenton School District says it must eliminate 226 jobs, and will shutdown schools due to a $19-million shortfall! But wait there’s more, previous announcements said a total of 350 jobs could be lost, once the state government puts out its final funding numbers for the 2015-16 school year! (and those layoffs are for just one of many school districts!)   State imposed emergency financial managers warned of massive layoffs for the crashing and burning Atlantic City.  It’s blamed on last year’s implosion of the city’s mega casino industry.   And what housing market recovery?  Atlantic City reports that property values have crashed 35% since last year!  Japan based legal drugs maker Daiichi Sankyo announced they will eliminate 16% of its U.S. workforce in Parsippany.

New York:  In NYC, Homes for the Homeless issued a shutdown WARN saying 34 people will become jobless in June.  In Garden City, Visiting Nurses Association of Long Island issued a shutdown WARN saying 93 people will be jobless by June.  In Brooklyn, Jofaz Transportation issued a shutdown WARN, due to loss of contract, saying 341 people will become jobless in June!  3rd Avenue Transit issued a shutdown WARN, due to loss of contract, saying 60 people will become jobless by June.  In Syracuse, Carrier Corporation issued a shutdown WARN for its warehouse, due to “relocation”, saying at least 58 people will become jobless by March 2016.  In Rochelle, after 65 years the Merry Go Round Toy Discount Center shutdown.  The owner said he tried to sell the business “but nothing panned out.”

North Carolina: British empire legal drugs pusher GlaxoSmithKline continues to kill jobs, this time 180 people in The Tar Heel State will become jobless!  Just the week prior GlaxoSmithKline said they would eliminate 150 jobs in Pennsylvania!

Ohio: Columbus based steel maker Worthington Industries says they will layoff 555 people across the U.S.!  They are shutting down at least one factory, blaming crashing orders from the oil industry.  American Electric Power is shutting down a coal fired electric plant, and laying off 62 people by May.  Administrators say it’s not worth it to update the electricity factory to comply with new EPA standards.

Pennsylvania: In Reading, British empire Canada based Surgical Specialties announced it will shutdown its ops in The Keystone State by December, at least 254 jobs will be moved to Mexico (possibly to avoid the new Obama Care taxes on medical devices)!  The Old Navy store at Carlisle Crossing shutdown, almost overnight!  Local news reports say the store manager posted a closing sign only two days prior to the shutdown.

South Carolina: Aircraft maintainer AvCraft now bankrupt after losing its ass financially and unable to find a buyer: “Unfortunately, we were unable to get some sort of rescue plan. We weren’t able to make that happen, so we were forced to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.”-Mike Hill

South Dakota: Motorcycle Trike maker Champion Investments-Champion Trikes announced they are shutting down their Lehman Trikes factory in Spearfish.  Company administrators admitted the economy is so bad in the U.S. that they’re moving manufacturing to California, and will focus sales ops in Asian countries!

Tennessee: Texas based computer maker Dell announced it will shutdown its international call center in Nashville, 96 jobs lost.

Texas:  Fort Worth based tax-sucking Bell Helicopter announced it will layoff 315 people across the U.S., due to crashing V-22 Osprey orders!  Bell laid off 320 people back in October!  Warren Buffet owned Justin Brands announced they will shutdown their Western Clothing distribution center in Fort Worth, and layoff 68 people by May.

Wisconsin: What housing market recovery?  Too Big to Jail Wells Fargo will layoff 1-thousand people when they shutdown their Milwaukee home loan service center this summer!   And Wells Fargo reported a $23.1-billion USD profit last year!  Rollcast-Advance Die Cast Company issued a WARN saying 75 people will ‘soon’ become jobless.  Sand supplier Chippewa Sand Transport says they must layoff 55 people, by May, due to decreased demand for sand.

21 – 23 March 2015: “LIKE PART OF YOU IS DYING.”

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) doesn’t count the hundreds of layoffs involving less than 50 people each, in its mass layoff reports. It also doesn’t count all the little ‘mom & pop’ businesses that shutdown. It doesn’t count people who get a severance for being laid off.

Business/Economics

U.S. Job Losses & Store Closings, 21 – 23 March 2015: “After 30 years…we can’t do it any longer.” “Like part of you is dying.”

Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:

Alabama:  In Birmingham, the Bottletree Cafe shutdown, reports say the property was sold, the owners said only “We have ten days left.”

Arkansas: Shale oil company M&M Environmental Group (notice the Orwellian Double Speak name of the oil company) lost a contract and instantly laid off 2-hundred employees!

California: Albertsons-Safeway issued a layoff WARN, saying another 72 people will be laid off in Pleasanton.  The new Los Angeles based owners of former British empire grocery store Fresh & Easy announced they will shutdown 50 Fresh & Easy stores across The Golden State, Arizona and Nevada!

Connecticut: In West Haven, decades old American Steakhouse shutdown. The owners say they have to “downsize” and claim they’re helping their employees find new jobs.

Hawaii:  After 22 years Imperial Jewelers shutdown, apparently to make room for a restaurant.

Massachusetts: Boston Weak ‘streetwear’ clothing company Karmaloop now chapter 11 bankrupt busted.

Minnesota: Minneapolis Public Schools announced they will eliminate 120 tax-sucking administrative jobs!  Administrators implied the money saved will now be focused on actual education.  Bloomington based tech company Nerdey laid off 23 employees.  In a complex way administrators blamed the bad economy: “Technology moves fast, forcing market demand to fluctuate. This fluctuation coupled with the pace of change in our industry has driven a shift on our resource utilization.”  

New Jersey: After 34 years the massive and expensive Izod Center is officially dead, 1-thousand 7-hundred jobs lost! “Like part of you is dying.”-Veronica Jackson, employee

New York: In Bronx, HHH Home Care apparently lost its Home health Care Services contract and issued a WARN, saying 72 people will become unemployed at the end of June.  In Syracuse, General Super Plating laid off about 1-hundred people, without notice!   Basically all but one of the company’s laborers were let go, yet company administrators say they’re still open for business.  God refuses to stop his 156 years old Saint Patrick School in Tiago County from shutting down. Administrators say enrollment has crashed & burned, they were able to get only 58 students for the year.

North Carolina:  In Raleigh, the owners of 518 West Italian Cafe said Easter Sunday is their last day of business. It sounds like they’re going to sell the property.

Ohio:  USA Synthetic Fuel now bankrupt busted, halting the Lima Energy Project.  The company is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Pennsylvania: In Collegeville, aerospace company Transicoil announced it will layoff at least 99 people by summer, as they shift motion control production to Kansas.  In Petersburg, legal drugs maker UniTao Pharmaceuticals shutdown without notice. Administrators actually said they won’t re-open until “business conditions improve”!  In 2014, govn’a Terry McAuliffe claimed the drugs maker was going to employ 370 people and even gave UniTao  $1-million in free taxpayer funded money!  UniTao now says it won’t accept the money.

South Dakota: In Tea, Oggie’s Grille & Bar shutdown.

Texas: In Hutchins, the Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center warned it no longer has enough money to save wild birds: “After 30 years of absorption we can’t do it any longer.”-Kathy Rogers

19 – 20 March 2015: “the downturn ….will be severe”

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) doesn’t count the hundreds of layoffs involving less than 50 people each, in its mass layoff reports. It also doesn’t count all the little ‘mom & pop’ businesses that shutdown. It doesn’t count people who get a severance for being laid off.

Business/Economics

SEARS & KMART CLOSING UPDATE, 01 May 2015: Right to Work you over Governor fails to pay his Sears debt? Lampert creates another REIT, to self finance Sears! Bootlegged shoes at Kmart? Long time customer leaves her own ‘Blue Light Special’! More shutdowns!

Police report that a female Kmart shopper decided to leave her own ‘blue light special’ by doin’ a dump right in a Racine Kmart’s box of security tags.  The Wisconsin woman has been accused of crapping and pissing in a box next to a cash register.   The woman was returning merchandise, so maybe she was upset by the lack of customer service?  She denied she did it, but police have security camera video of her doing her duty.

Maybe she was upset by her Right to Work you over governor, Scott Walker, for failing to pay his Sears credit card debt?  The Daily Beast says Walker owes Sears MasterCard $50-thousand USD.  The report says that at the end of 2014, Walker still owed as much as $100-thousand to credit cards.  This by a governor that claims he gives back $370-thousand of his ill-gotten money to the impoverished people of Wisconsin!  Walker’s Our American Revival Political Action Committee says Walker’s personal fiances are “pretty ordinary stuff.”

In Illinois, the Tinley Park Super Kmart is being switched to the smaller format K-Fresh plan, which means fewer product, fewer hours of operations and fewer employees.   Sears Holdings is almost finished converting all the remaining Super Kmarts to the smaller K-Fresh format.

In Kentucky, an abandoned Newport Kmart is reportedly being replaced with a ALDI grocery store.  Nothing has been confirmed.

Complex Media reporting that Kmart is selling ‘bootlegs’ of luxury brand shoes.

Sears Holdings announced they will “reward” you for buying your drugs at the local Kmart: “We listened to our members and transformed the Kmart pharmacy rewards program to better fit their needs…”

In Oklahoma, a Big Kmart will shutdown in July.

In Connecticut, a Sears Appliance & Hardware will shutdown in May.  Local news reports said employees were shocked.  Apparently the lease was not renewed.

Eddie Lampert just can’t stop playing the finance shell game.  He’s created yet another real estate ‘holding’ company to self finance his failing Sears Holdings.  The new REIT is a 50-50 deal with mall owner Macerich.  Nine Sears stores are being sold (some reports say “contributing”)  to the new REIT and will then rent the stores back!  Lampert has reportedly already made $150-million in this latest self financing shell game.

THE SHUTDOWN OF ANOTHER KMART CALLED A “GOOD SIGN”!

Here’s the updated list of U.S. Sears/Kmart store closings that I’ve been compiling since the end of 2011:

Arizona: Scottsdale Sears/Great Indoors, Chandler Sears/Great Indoors.

Alabama: 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).

California: 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 (number of employees affected not made public, no WARN filed), 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.

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), recently revealed 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: 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).

Georgia: 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: 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: 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). Across the street, in Pocatello, the property where the Kmart is located has a “pad site available” sign, posted ever since the Kmart bankruptcy. The Kmart building takes up most of the ‘pad’. Latest news from inside sources say Sears Holdings will not comment on any plans to expand the small amount of Craftsman products already being sold at the Kmart, or shift the Kenmore products line, from the closing Chubbuck Sears to the Pocatello Kmart. In fact all plans for the Pokey Kmart are in a ‘holding pattern’.

Illinois: 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. 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: 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 (“approximately” 68 jobs lost), Bloomington Sears to be replaced by Whole Foods grocery store.

Iowa: 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).

Kansas: 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 (back in May, Rankin Paynter bought out what was left of the inventory and gave it to charity), 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.

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).

Massachusetts: North Reading Sears Hardware store closed, lease not renewed, Milford Kmart (80 jobs lost), Kingston Kmart (73 jobs lost).

Michigan: Novi 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!

Minnesota: 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: 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: 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).

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

New York: 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 Sears & Auto Center (109 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).

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

Ohio: 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). 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), recently revealed 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: 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).

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).

Tennessee: 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.

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).

Utah: Murray Sears (for some reason Mormon controlled 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).

Vermont: Rutland Sears store & Auto Center (65 jobs lost).

Virginia: 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), Wincester 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).

Washington: 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: 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).

On top of that, Sears Holdings sold stores to General Growth Properties (GGP), of which it has been reported that most of those stores will be closed.

Here’s the list of 11 Sears stores now 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

U.S. Job Losses & Store Closings, 19 – 20 March 2015: “preparing for the future” ObamaCare causes more layoffs in The Golden State! “the downturn…will be severe”

Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:

California: Sunnyvale based internet company Yahoo announced it will shutdown its last office in China, as many as 3-hundred jobs lost!  Gold River based eHealthInsurance Services continues to blame Obama Care as it  plans to eliminate 160 more jobs!  eHealth administrators blame The Golden State’s Obama Care exchange program for stealing thousands of eHealth customers!  Keck Medicine of USC issued several WARNS saying 94 people will become unemployed in may.  Redwood City based video game maker Perfect World Entertainment laid off 18 employees, affecting their Star Trek Online ops.   Boeing issued several more WARNs saying 196 Californians will become jobless in May!

Florida: Miami based Norwegian Cruise Line laid off an undisclosed number of employees, some reports said it was more than 2-hundred!   The company failed to issue a mandatory WARN!  It might be connected to the take over of Prestige Cruise lines last year.

Illinois: Yellow Cab of Chicago now chapter 11 bankrupt!  News reports indicate the evil taxi company did so to stop the court award of $26-million USD to a victim of a high speed taxi crash!  Chicago Transit Authority warns that state leaders plan to cut funding by 45% will result in layoffs and fee hikes.  Warsaw Community School District laid off 11 employees and eliminated vacant jobs, and administrators are now pushing to jack up local property taxes.  In Geneva, after 28 years Irish Sisters Imports shutdown, their lease expired and they couldn’t renew.

Louisiana: Texas based Parker Drilling laid off 35 employees in New Iberia, but issued a WARN saying as many as 297 people could become unemployed, because “We anticipate the downturn in our U.S. markets will be severe…”

Massachusetts: Boston weak law firm Goodwin Procter laid off 38 employees, blaming a crash in lawsuits.

Minnesota: Minneapolis based Target laid off an undisclosed number of HQ employees, without notice.

New York: In NYC, cable TV empire Viacom issued a WARN saying 264 employees in The Big Apple will become unemployed by July!  It’s blamed on crashing advertising revenues caused by crashing ratings.  In Suffern, Switzerland based legal drugs maker Novartis began a 4th round of layoffs, letting go 89 employees.  By the time the drugs factory is shutdown in 2017, 525 jobs will be lost!  Toys R Us announced they will shutdown their NYC Times Square store.  The lease ends in January 2016, and administrators say it’s not worth it to renew.  The store is known for its 20 feet tall animated T-Rex.

North Carolina:  In Asheville, the owner of the brand new Katuah Market says the economy is so bad he’s already giving up: “We’ve been struggling ever since we opened and, for whatever reason, sales dropped off a cliff at the first of the year! At this point we can’t continue, we’d need to be 50% higher in sales.”-John Swann

Ohio: Homecare product maker Proctor & Gamble is shutting down the Sharon Woods Innovation Center by 2018, as many as 13-hundred jobs affected!

Oklahoma: What construction industry recovery?  In Sand Springs, after 59 years Morrow-Gill Lumber Company shutdown.  The family owners say they’ve had the business up for sale, but nobody wanted to buy it.

Pennsylvania: British empire United Kingdom based legal drugs maker GlaxoSmithKline laid off 150 people in the Philadelphia region!

Texas: Gainesville Foundry laid off 30 people.  Administrators blame the oil, mining, earth moving, industrial machinery, power, construction and many other industries!

Vermont: Lyndon State College laid off five employees, blaming a huge decline in enrollment.

Virginia: Kroger announced another shutdown of a grocery store, this time in Portsmouth in April. The store was originally owned by Hannaford, but Kroger took that company over in 2000.

Washington DC: The U.S. ABC News (not to be confused with Australia’s ABC news) laid off 12 District of Columbia employees, saying they are “preparing for the future” .

Wisconsin: Veggie canning company Del Monte shutting down operations; their Sager Creek processing facility in Pulaski, and their warehousing and labeling facilities in Oconto Falls. Nearly 250 jobs will be lost by June! Company administrators would say only that it’s a move they had to take in order to keep Del Monte “strong”.

15 – 18 March 2015: “SUDDEN AND UNANTICIPATED EVENTS…”

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) doesn’t count the hundreds of layoffs involving less than 50 people each, in its mass layoff reports. It also doesn’t count all the little ‘mom & pop’ businesses that shutdown. It doesn’t count people who get a severance for being laid off.

Business/Economics

U.S. Food Crisis 29 April 2015: Albertsons Safeway to kill 800+ California jobs! Safeway anti- 2nd Amendment unAmerican! Massive data breach!

“Safeway and Albertsons don’t have much going for them other than their size. The main thing that saved both companies was to combine and grow together. As an investment, I’m not sure what the upside is.”-David Livingston, grocery store analyst

The San Jose Mercury News reporting that the merged Albertsons-Safeway filed layoff notices with state employment administrators, saying at least 8-hundred Californians are about to be laid off!

Also the new company will be called New Albertsons, and owners New York based Cerberus, and Idaho based AB Acquisitions, will issue new stocks (IPO, Initial Public Offering) by the end of the year.

A side note, at the end of last year AB Acquisitions revealed that “…its third party IT services provider SUPERVALU of a separate, more recent, attempted criminal intrusion seeking to obtain payment card information used in some of its stores………..may have captured account numbers, expiration date, other numerical information and/or the cardholder’s name.”  This was separate from an earlier data breach, and involved “….Albertsons stores in Southern California, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming and Southern Utah were impacted. In addition, ACME Markets in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey; Jewel-Osco stores in Iowa, Illinois and Indiana; and Shaw’s and Star Markets stores in Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Rhode Island were affected by this new incident.”

Albertsons just made $33-million USD by selling off three stores,  one in Palmdale, California, and two others in Oregon.  The buyer is Spirit Realty Capital, the sale was mandated by the Federal Trade Commission as part of the merger of Albertsons and Safeway.  No word on what Spirit Realty Capital will do with the three properties, which currently are home to active grocery stores.

Recently unAmerican and pro-British empire Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America took credit for Albertsons-Safeway’s gun ban.  However, Beitbart showed that the grocery stores already had a gun ban in place by 2014, and implied that competitor Kroger’s pro-gun stance actually increased Kroger’s profits: “Safeway did not ban guns in response to a Moms Demand campaign. Rather, Safeway’s store policy has long prohibited guns….. …Safeway’s gun ban was in place during the third quarter of 2014, the very quarter in which Kroger’s profits jumped ’21 percent’ after they refused to ban guns.”

update, 24 April 2015: Haagen stores jack up prices! Safeway bottles city water in drought stricken California! 

Business/Economics

U.S. Job Losses & Store Closings, 15 – 18 March 2015: “sudden and unanticipated events…” No more Red Cross? ObamaCare kills hundreds of jobs overnight!

Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:

Alabama:  After 43 years women’s clothing store The Wagon Wheel shutdown.  The owner says she must focus on other things.

California: In Carson, Tatung of America issued a shutdown WARN, saying 98 people will become jobless in May.  In San Diego, Japan based Sony laid off 75 employees.  In Santa Ana, ITT Cannon issued a layoff WARN saying 56 people will be unemployed by the end of May. The Red Cross shutting down its San Diego call center, 38 jobs lost.

Colorado: In Colorado Springs, 144 years old (surviving the Great deflationary Depression and numerous recessions) Sinton Dairy Foods announced they will end fresh milk production and layoff 120 employees by May! It’s part of their plan to make a new extended shelf life milk.

Florida: In Orlando, DeVry University issued a layoff WARN saying 50 employees will be unemployed in May.  In Jacksonville, Bank of America WARNed that three more employees will be laid off in May.

Illinois:  Elgin School District U-46 announced they will eliminate 463 jobs!  It’s blamed on what I call DSS (Disappearing Student Syndrome).  The state court system is short $14-million USD, and is about to layoff court reporters.  The layoffs and reductions in hours will take place in April.

Iowa: In Ames, the Department of Natural Resources warned they might have to shutdown their 80 years old nursery.  Administrators say revenues are so low they can no longer support themselves.

Kentucky: In Bowling Green, after 29 years the owner of Steve’s Sports Cards announced he’s calling it quits in April, blaming the internet: “It’s been impossible for a single store to compete with the selection and the price you can find on the Internet.”

Maine: After 33 years the Grasshopper Shop in Ellsworth shutdown. No reason was given.

Maryland: Mass producer of frozen food Gourmet Express Acquisition now chapter 11 bankrupt busted. Company administrators blame crashing sales (an almost $20-million drop in sales).

Massachusetts:  The Red Cross announced it is shutting down its Springfield call center in May, 14 jobs lost.

Michigan: The city administrators of Saginaw say they’re being pro-active and will layoff 13 firefighters.  The city never had enough money to pay them anyway, their current salaries being paid for with federal taxes, which are scheduled to end in June.  The FutureMark paper mill in Manistique shutdown, 147 jobs lost!  Company administrators blamed “sudden and unanticipated events including loss of liquidity”.

Nebraska: In Omaha, Great Western Bank shutdown three offices.

New Hampshire: In Hampton, after 39 years O’Donnell’s Imports shutdown their brick-n-mortar store.  They will continue their Irish import business on the internet.

New Mexico: In Sante Fe, after almost 40 years Leishman’s Fine Furniture shutdown.  The owner said she must care for her parents.

New York: In Bronx, warehouse operator Morris Okun issued a shutdown WARN, saying 115 people will be jobless by June!  The property was sold-off.  In Rochester, metal shop Dayton Rogers issued a layoff WARN saying 35 people will be laid off in June, due to the bad economy.  Crashing & burning Viacom laid off “a number of executives and assistants” at Nickelodeon.

North Carolina: In Denton, Councill Furniture surprised its employees by announcing the shutdown of both its furniture factories!  The factories are actually owned by another company, which sold off the factories to a competitor.   Obama Care killed off a home care company overnight! Employees of Royal Home Care arrived to work to find a note stating “With the Medicaid reimbursement rate being inconsistence, another reimbursement rate cut at the beginning of this year, trying to meet everyone’s demand for a higher pay rate/salary, paying all employees in advance who came over from St. Mary’s and now being placed on a prepayment review by DMA due to the spike in volume of clients, Royal will no longer be able to take on anymore debts. Attempts to have the prepayment review status rescinded was unsuccessful. 

We regret to inform you, due to all the above we were forced to close the agency effective immediately.”  At least 24 employees never got their final paycheck, according to state labor administrators.

Cary based convenience store The Pantry is now owned by British empire Canadian company Alimentation Couche-Tard. As a result, at least 250 people in North Carolina are now being laid off!

South Dakota: In Sioux Falls, Great Western Bank shutdown two offices.

Texas: Fort Worth natural gas producer Quicksilver Resources now chapter chapter 11 bankrupt busted. Administrators say they’ve lost so much money they can’t pay debts that aren’t due until 2019!  Failed Radio Shack laid off “several dozens” of people at its Forth Worth HQ.

Virginia: Horizon Behavioral Health laid off 20 employees, blaming new state laws.

Wisconsin: In Marshfield, after 15 years The Back Porch shutdown, the owners said they had to care for their ill mother.

13 – 14 March 2015: Great Depression surviving variety store crashing & burning! 

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) doesn’t count the hundreds of layoffs involving less than 50 people each, in its mass layoff reports. It also doesn’t count all the little ‘mom & pop’ businesses that shutdown. It doesn’t count people who get a severance for being laid off.

Business/Economics, U.S.

Dumbing Down the United States, 1st Quarter 2015: “we’ve had a 66% decrease in our enrollment!” “I just want to say how sorry I am.” “I don’t think the entire truth is here…!”

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.

Incomplete list of publicly announced education layoffs & school shutdowns from January to March 2015:

Alabama: Jefferson County Board of Education will beginning laying off 160 employees in July!

Alaska:  The University of Alaska Southeast shutdown their bookstore, due to crashing revenues.

Arizona: Dysart Unified School District announced they will kill off 147 jobs over the next three years! Administrators added that the 147 job cuts are just the first round of cuts! Back in November tax burdened voters rejected a school levy that would have jacked up their taxes even more. What gets me is why, year after year, school districts need more and more tax creating levies and bonds to be passed? Where is all that money going, especially the lottery money for those school systems that get money from lotteries as well as taxes?!

California:  The Los Angeles School District approved the elimination of 609 teaching jobs! The LASD is short $158-million USD for the upcoming school year.  Castaic Union School District has approved the elimination of at least 43 jobs. Those still employed will be forced to take unpaid days off (furlough). It’s blamed on what I call DSS, district administrators say the school system has lost more than 1-thousand students over the past ten years!   In Los Angeles, is Obama Care behind the layoff of 15 employees at the Bienvenidos Children Center? The WARN only says the layoffs will take place in April.  Denair Unified School District warned it must eliminate at least 16 teachers, shutdown classes and are even offering a bonus to anybody who’ll take early retirement. Administrators blame ongoing DSS.  The Acalanes Union High School District has decided to end its 70 years old adult education program, killing eight full time jobs.  In San Francisco, Apollo Education issued two WARNs saying 38 people will be laid off between June and August.

Connecticut: In Berlin, The Learning Experience preschool shutdown with ten days notice. The operators blamed “several circumstances beyond our control”.  The Milford Board of Education is planning to layoff 18 teachers for the 2015-16 school year, “primarily stemming from continued enrollment decline”. The University of Connecticut admitted they laid off employees, but refused to say how many.  Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system approved a 4.8% increase in tuition.  In Meridian, God refuses to stop the shutdown of ‘his’ Saint Stanislaus School.  God refuses to stop the shutdown of ‘his’ Saint John Paul II School. Christian administrators officially blame lack of money, but one parent thinks it’s a conspiracy: “I don’t think the entire truth is here because it’s NOT about money!”– Ewald Kuchciak, who pointed out that Christian students are being forced into a smaller school building

Florida: The state Department of Education has ‘failed’ Osceola County military prep school Acclaim Academy, twice, and as a result it shutdown.  In Orlando, DeVry University issued a layoff WARN saying 50 employees will be unemployed in May.

Idaho: In Kellogg, the Sunnyside Elementary school shutdown due to massive population exodus which created what I call DSS: “Since 1970, we’ve had a 66% decrease in our enrollment!”-Art Krulitz, Kellogg School District

Illinois:  Warsaw Community School District laid off 11 employees and eliminated vacant jobs, and administrators are now pushing to jack up local property taxes.  Elgin School District U-46 announced they will eliminate 463 jobs, due to DSS!   The 42 years old Aurora Child Development Center shutting down due to state funding problems. Administrators say the great state of Illinois is at least three months behind on their Child Care Assistance Program payments!  In Harvey, after 23 years Ingalls Childcare Center shutdown. Administrators blamed the bad economy for not being able to pay their employees!   The Adler Planetarium laid off 15 people, blaming lack of public attendance: “We’re trying to make it so that our annual revenues match our expenses. For at least the last few years, we were using money either from our endowment or a fundraising campaign to sustain us.”-Marc Lapides

Louisiana: The Pelican State’s Secretary of State Tom Schedler said he is laying off 24 museum employees and reducing operating hours for state run museums in April. A special election is being postponed until October. It’s part of a plan to cut state spending by $61-million. Politicians are blaming crashing tax revenues from the petroleum industry caused by ‘low’ oil prices.  The Gov’na also warned of massive layoffs for the university-higher education system, saying there’s a $1.6-billion shortfall!  Tulane University warned it must consider layoffs due to being constantly $20-million in the hole, year after year.

Massachusetts: Facing less funding, due to DSS, Marshfield will eliminate seven elementary school jobs for the next school year.  In Springfield, private Curtis Blake School shutdown with short notice to parents. Administrators blame what I call DSS, as usual parents were shocked by the bad economic news: “This is a big huge blow, we weren’t expecting this at all!”-Melissa Sullivan

Michigan:  In Lakewood, the Clarksville and Sunfield elementary schools are being shutdown, the school district is short $1-million! The last two libraries of the Wayne County Library system threatened with shutdown. The communities of Ecorse and Taylor say they will follow the other former library system members and go independent, in order to save money.  Baraga Area School District warned that Pelkie Elementary School could shutdown due to massive DSS: “The primary problem is shared actually across the district. We have been experiencing declining enrollments in a very similar pattern that the State of Michigan has, but it really hit hard about two years ago.”-Jennifer Lynn, superintendent

Minnesota: Minneapolis Public Schools laid off 160 people, with only one weeks notice! Administrators implied most of the jobs were administrative and had no direct impact on education, they claim the money saved will now be focused on education.

New Jersey:  In Manville, God refuses to stop the Diocese of Metuchen from shutting down ‘his’ Christ the King School. It’s the 11th ‘christian’ school to be shutdown by the Diocese of Metuchen, since 2009.  The Trenton School District says it must eliminate 226 jobs, and will shutdown schools due to a $19-million shortfall! But wait there’s more, previous announcements said a total of 350 jobs could be lost, once the state government puts out its final funding numbers for the 2015-16 school year! (and those layoffs are for just one of many school districts!)  Kean University announced it will layoff 54 janitors and grounds keepers. The jobs will be contracted out. University administrators claim they’re trying to cut $3.4-million per year, yet this didn’t stop them from spending $219-thousand on a conference table made in China!  The Paterson Board of Education has decided it will not jack up taxes on the impoverished taxpayers, but it means 363 school employees will become jobless next school year!

New York:  God refuses to stop his 156 years old Saint Patrick School in Tiago County from shutting down.  Administrators say enrollment has crashed & burned, they were able to get only 58 students for the year.  In West Nyack, Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge (aka Cambridge University Press) issued a WARN saying they will shutdown in June, 42 jobs lost.   In Brooklyn, upscale The Guild for Exceptional Children preschool shutdown, 81 jobs affected.  Corning Community College shutdown its 30 years old child care center.  In Brooklyn, Milestone School for Child Development issued a WARN saying they will shutdown, 73 jobs lost in June.  Grandpa’s Bus Service issued a massive shutdown WARN saying they lost their state Department of Education contract, more than 5-hundred jobs threatened!

Ohio: In Mentor, school administrators announced that Rice Elementary School will shutdown at the end of the school year. The school now boasts the lowest enrollment in the district.  Owens Community College eliminated 50 occupied and vacant positions, as well as cut wages and salaries. They also proposed new taxes, blaming increased employment costs caused mainly by higher insurance and retirement rates mandated by Obama Care!  In Mansfield, School Specialty revealed it had laid off an undisclosed number of employees last week, this after they claimed to be investing $7-million into a new school supply warehouse.

Pennsylvania:  God refuses to stop the shutdown of ‘his’ Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in Roseto, and ‘his’ Pius X Junior/Senior High School in Bangor.  Pittsburgh based Education Management shutdown all its Art Institutes across the U.S., killing at least 225 jobs! Education Management is in big trouble with the federal Department of Education for basically bribing students and violating other federal education laws.  In Oakmont, after 88 years (surviving the Great deflationary Depression and numerous recessions) God refused to stop the Saint Irenaeus Catholic Elementary School from shutting down. Administrators say enrollment has dwindled to only 44 students.

Tennessee: After 70 years the Christian God refuses to stop the shutdown of Tennessee Temple University. Local news reports say some student athletes were told about the shutdown, and were also told not to tell anybody about it.

Texas:   God refuses to stop ‘his’ Southern Methodist University from laying off 100 people! The Christian school will also eliminate 50 vacant jobs. Typical of ‘christians’ the administrators are living in denial, regarding their financial status, calling efforts to cut $35-million from their budget “addressing our slight structural budget deficit”.   In Abilene, McMurry University announced it will layoff 12 people in May, blaming DSS.

Vermont: Lyndon State College laid off five employees, blaming a huge decline in enrollment.

Wisconsin:    In Green Bay, Excel Driving School shutdown without notice. Somehow the state DMV heard of the shutdown before anybody else. The owner of the driving school said he could no longer juggle his personal life with his business. About 250 paid up students looking for answers and refunds.   University of Wisconsin Madison warned of layoffs: “I just want to say how sorry I am. Because some of the people in this room are going to be impacted by cuts. I know how hard you work for this university and this state… we will get through this.”-Rebecca Blank, Chancellor, apologizing for the actions of Right to Work you over gov’na Scott Walker who wants to cut higher education funding by $300-million over the next two years!

Wyoming: God refuses to stop Saint James of the Valley School from shutting down. Church administrators blame it on what some Christians call The Rapture, or what I call DSS.

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

Into the New Dark Ages as students ‘disappear’ and Obamacare ‘kills’ 

Business/Economics

ObamaCare job destruction, 1st quarter 2015: “more change than we’ve seen in the past 75 years combined.”

“It’s not really affordable. I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep it.”-Erica Cherington, disability case worker reacting to her new Obama Care premium after it was revised upward because of her income, she says it would be cheaper to pay the tax penalty for not having Obama Care!

Incomplete list of healthcare (and other industries) job cuts that took place, or were announced, from January to March 2015, and were directly or indirectly blamed on Obama Care:

A company that specializes in collecting payments for medical bills from individuals, Value Healthcare Services, is now alarmed at how many hospitals are going bankrupt, so much so they are compiling lists of failed hospitals: Hospitals that Filed for Bankruptcy in 2014

An east coast health insurance company is killing jobs, no thanks to Obama Care. Highmark laid off almost 1-hundred people in Pennsylvania, Delaware and West Virginia! Administrators admit that since Obama Care went into effect they’ve actually lost customers, so much so that they have to make drastic cuts! Apparently Obama Care favors Highmark’s competitor Aetna as many of Highmark’s customers were forced to change insurance plans and become Aetna and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center customers. One report says Highmark lost 60% of “market share” just in the western half of Pennsylvania!

Alabama: Obama Care forcing the only mental hospital in the Tennessee Valley to shutdown? North Alabama Regional Hospital will shutdown by June, 149 jobs lost!  Obama Care forcing Alabama Psychiatric Services to shutdown. 250 jobs lost and 28-hundred patients affected! Administrators say Obama Care created a situation in which Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama pushed the majority of people into more expensive insurance plans, and effectively killed off most of Alabama Psychiatric Services business! (What was that about Obama Care increasing access to healthcare?)

California: In Turlock, MedicAlert laid off 31 employees.  In Gold River, Obama Care caused eHealthInsurance Services to layoff 72 people without warning, then announced plans to eliminate 160 more jobs! eHealth administrators blame The Golden State’s Obama Care exchange program for stealing thousands of eHealth customers!    Keck Medicine of USC issued several WARNS saying 94 people will become unemployed in May.  In San Francisco, legal drugs pusher Amgen announced it will eliminate as many as 3-hundred drugs making jobs and shutdown its recently acquired Onyx Pharmaceuticals ops! News reports say Amgen’s announcement still leaves 2-hundred Onyx Pharmaceuticals jobs in limbo.  In Novato, Fireman’s Fund Insurance issued a WARN saying they laid off 23 people. In Foothill Ranch, legal drugs pusher Pfizer issued a WARN saying they will shutdown in May, 70 jobs lost.   Obama Care forcing El Centro Medical Center to issue a WARN saying 20 people will be laid off in April. In San Pablo, Obama Care forcing Doctors Medical Center to issue a shutdown WARN for April, 709 jobs lost!

Colorado: God refuses to stop Obama Care from forcing ‘his’ Arapahoe County based non-profit Catholic Health Initiative from laying off 15-hundred people across the United States!

Connecticut:  Fairfield based GE (General Electric) canceled Obama Care health insurance for any retired employee who is younger than 65 years! A judge recently allowed GE to kick all its 65-thousand retirees off of company health insurance and onto expensive private Obama Care insurance! Obama Care being blamed for the demise of Waterbury Hospital. Administrators say they are losing $9.7-million USD because of Obama Care, they are now trying to sell the hospital! Four other non-profit hospitals are up for sale as well!  Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford Springs now chapter 11 bankrupt busted, 460 jobs threatened!

Florida: In Miami, Obama Care forcing Crothall Healthcare to layoff 54 employees. Obama Care forcing non-profit healthcare provider Florida Blue to eliminate 150 jobs!  In Weston, Obama Care forcing wholesale legal drugs pusher Vital Pharmaceuticals to issue a WARN saying 143 people will become jobless in April!

Idaho: Virginia based Obama Care call center operator Maximus shutdown their Boise call center, rendering 15-hundred people jobless! According to state WARN records, Maximus was planning to shutdown back in April 2014.

Illinois: In Harvey, Obama Care forcing 92 years old Ingalls Memorial Hospital to layoff 80 people and shutdown their child care center. Administrators say Obama Care, plus the bad economy, is forcing them to slash $3.5-million from its budget!

Indiana: CVS Pharmacy issued a shutdown WARN for their Coram Enteral Nutrition Center, at least 124 jobs lost!

Iowa: Gov’na Terry Branstad issued layoff notices for 36 employees at the state run mental health institution in Mount Pleasant. The gov’na wants to shutdown the mental health hospital in Clarinda as well, meaning 150 jobs will be lost between April and mid-summer!

Maryland: In Hagerstown, after 22 years Obama Care forcing the Robinwood Surgery Center to shutdown. The operators said Obama Care is forcing healthcare providers to become smaller, so much for expanding access to healthcare.

Massachusetts: Legal drugs pusher Synta Pharmaceuticals announced it will layoff 20% of its employees. They laid off workers last year.  Obama Care forced Southcoast Health System to layoff 35 people. Three months ago they laid off 70 people.  Near Boston Weak, drugs makers Merck and AstraZeneca both announced they will kill jobs. Between the two more than 2-hundred drug making jobs will be eliminated! Merck is shutting down its recently acquired Cubist ops, and AstraZeneca is shutting down its Infection iMed unit.  In Tauton, the last old school silversmith, 191 years old (surviving the Long Depression, Civil War, Great deflationary Depression and numerous recessions) Reed & Barton now chapter 11 bankrupt busted and shutting down in June! The CEO said insurance industry written Obamacare was the final straw as it caused their employee retirement plan costs to skyrocket to as much as $18-million per year: “It absolutely killed us….We hung on as long as we could…it’s been all-consuming for the past year and half.”-Tim Riddle

Michigan: The city of Detroit is kicking many retired city employees off the city health insurance plan, due to a federal court ruling on ObamaCare! Here’s what one ignorant retired city worker said: “How can human beings that have given so much be cast aside?”-Nancy Headapohl (that’s exactly what happened to millions of people in the former Soviet Union, and good ol’ Ronald Reagan took credit for wining that Cold War)

Montana: In Kalispell, Obama Care forcing 30 patients to find a new assisted living center by April. Reports indicate that the owner of Greenwood Village assisted living center can’t make money under Obama Care funding, so he’s turning it into a hotel!  Bilderberger vaccine pusher GlaxoSmithKline announced they’re shutting down their Hamilton research center during 2015, at least 27 jobs lost. Administrators also warned shutdowns and layoffs will take place elsewhere: “Other parts of the business are facing similar restructuring. It’s happening companywide, not just Hamilton, but all parts of GSK’s business.”-Melinda Stubbee

Nebraska: In Lincoln, Nationwide Insurance has notified employees of Allied Insurance that 140 of them will become jobless by 2020! Blame Obama Care, because Nationwide says Obama Care will result in less insurance claims being filed, which is exactly what the insurance industry wanted.  Obama Care forcing CHI Health to kill off a minimum of 156 jobs: “As the landscape of the health care industry changes, how health care systems are organized changes as well. In an effort to bring healthcare costs down, across the country, expense reductions are being made and staffing is being restructured. CHI Health is no different, and will be reducing its workforce across the organization. Many of the reductions will be accomplished through attrition, and not filling open positions. However, the plan also includes the elimination of 156 active positions, about 1 percent of its workforce.”-company statement

New York:  In NYC, Rivington House shutdown their The Nicholas A. Rango Healthcare Facility in February, at least 214 jobs lost!   In Rouses Point, legal drugs maker Pfizer issued a WARN saying they will shutdown by June.   Is Obama Care responsible for the shutdown of Jewish home healthcare services? In Bronx, FEGS (Federation Employment and Guidance Services) Family Care Services (Jewish Home Healthcare) issued a WARN saying they lost their contract with the state Children Services, 80 jobs lost by March. FEGS also issued a WARN saying as a result they must “restructure” resulting in at least 206 employees across the state becoming jobless by May!   Is Obama Care forcing Phoenix House to shutdown its residential treatment center Westchester Academy? 56 employees will be laid off in June. In Staten Island, Obama Care forcing Richmond University Medical Center to outsource their security guard jobs, 31 in-house security guards to become unemployed in June.  In Pomona, Israel based Teva Pharmaceuticals issued a WARN saying they started laying off employees back in December 2014, and it will continue until March 2015. In Irving, TLC Health Network/Lake Shore Health Care Center issued a WARN saying Obama Care forcing them to shutdown their long term care ops in April, 70 jobs lost.  The Nicholas A. Rango Healthcare Facility has been sold to Allure Group, WARN indicates 158 of the 204 employees will become jobless! In Pittsford, service provider for government-sponsored benefits programs such as the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, Medicare and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, Maximus issued a WARN saying at least 54 people will become jobless due to the failure to win an Obama Care contract.  In Hauppauge, God refuses to stop Obama Care from forcing ‘his’ Catholic Health Services from issuing a WARN saying they will shutdown their Home Support Services in May, at least 40 jobs lost.  In Huntington, Obama Care forcing mental healthcare provider The Pederson Krag Center to sell its offices across New York, at least 85 jobs lost between March and April (not known if new owner will continue operations).  In Suffern, Switzerland based legal drugs maker Novartis began a 4th round of layoffs, letting go 89 employees. By the time the drugs factory is shutdown in 2017, at least 525 jobs will be lost!  In Bronx, HHH Home Care apparently lost its Home health Care Services contract and issued a WARN saying 72 people will become unemployed at the end of June.  That Which cannot be Named refuses to stop Obama Care from shutting down and selling off its non-profit Hebrew Hospital Home of Westchester.  The nursing home in Valhalla has lost more than $1-million after Obama care went into effect!

North Carolina:  British empire legal drugs pusher GlaxoSmithKline eliminating 180 jobs in The Tar Heel State!  Employees of Royal Home Care arrived to work to find a note stating “With the Medicaid reimbursement rate being inconsistence, another reimbursement rate cut at the beginning of this year, trying to meet everyone’s demand for a higher pay rate/salary, paying all employees in advance who came over from St. Mary’s and now being placed on a prepayment review by DMA due to the spike in volume of clients, Royal will no longer be able to take on anymore debts. Attempts to have the prepayment review status rescinded was unsuccessful.

We regret to inform you, due to all the above we were forced to close the agency effective immediately.” At least 24 employees never got their final paycheck, according to state labor administrators.

For the third year in a row Durham based legal drugs pusher Quintiles announced layoffs, this year at least 270 people will become jobless!  New Obama Care taxes forcing Illinois based drug and medical device maker Hospria to shutdown their Clayton factory by the 2nd half of 2015, at least 250 jobs lost!  Obama Care forcing Transylvania Regional Hospital to shutdown its labor and delivery services. Women in the area are complaining they must now travel out of the area to give birth. (What was that about Obama Care increasing access to healthcare?)  Thinking about getting that plastic surgery? Lifestyle Lift suddenly began shutting down their clinics, with no notice or explanation. News reports say employees have been working without pay! One doctor blames capitalism: “The more it’s treated like a commodity, the more you’re going to see failures like this.”-Stephen Finical

Ohio: The Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities announced plans to shutdown the Montgomery Developmental Center by 2017, at least 213 jobs lost! Apparently Obama Care is forcing them to consolidate operations.  Owens Community College eliminated 50 occupied and vacant positions, as well as cut wages and salaries. They also proposed new taxes, blaming increased employment costs caused mainly by higher insurance and retirement rates mandated by Obama Care!  The Youngstown Developmental Center is being shutdown by 2017, at least 500 jobs lost! It’s part of the massive shutdown being done by the Department of Developmental Disabilities, who blamed crashing government funding and a crashing population. An ‘elected’ representative was upset: “… I, intend, as a state legislator, to hold the governor accountable.”-Michele Lepore-Hagan

Oregon: Obama Care health insurance exchange operation Cover Oregon announced it will layoff its 62 employees by April, blaming the failure of the exchange program: “The state abandoned the exchange in April after deciding it was cheaper to switch to the federal site than to fix Cover Oregon……Lawmakers plan to pass a bill dissolving Cover Oregon….”-KTVZ

Pennsylvania: In Reading, British empire Canada based Surgical Specialties announced it will shutdown its ops in The Keystone State by December, at least 254 jobs be moved to Mexico (possibly to avoid the new Obama Care taxes on medical devices)!  British empire United Kingdom based legal drugs maker GlaxoSmithKline continues to kill jobs, this time 150 people laid off in the Philadelphia region!  In Canton, reports that after 40 years of doctor office operations Arnot Health Systems shut it down. Local news reports say administrators with Arnot Health Systems would not talk to them.  Obama Care forcing 114 years old (surviving the Great deflationary Depression and numerous recessions) hospital Penn Highlands Clearfield to layoff 30 people, eliminate 11 vacant jobs and cut hours for 50 employees. Administrators say they’re being forced to cut $3.1-million per year from their budget, pointing out that 65% of their customers are on Medicare or Medicaid, which are being drastically cut by Obama Care!   In Saint Marys, hospital Penn Highlands Elk announced they will eliminate 43 jobs and reduce the hours for 25 employees. A local news report blamed “systemic changes implemented under the Affordable Care Act”. Hospital administrator Raymond A. Graeca said “We’re facing a very different healthcare delivery environment today than we were five years ago, and the American Hospital Association is projecting that the next five years alone will hold more change than we’ve seen in the past 75 years combined.”   In Petersburg, legal drugs maker UniTao Pharmaceuticals shutdown without notice. Administrators actually said they won’t re-open until “business conditions improve”! In 2014, govn’a Terry McAuliffe claimed the drugs maker was going to employ 370 people and even gave UniTao $1-million in free taxpayer funded money! UniTao now says it won’t accept the money. 

Rhode Island: Obama Care destroys 41 jobs at the Women & Infants Hospital. Work hours for other employees are being reduced. Local news reports referred to Obama Care as a “challenging healthcare environment”.

Tennessee: In Somerville, God refuses to stop Obama Care from forcing ‘his’ Methodist Healthcare from shutting down in March.

Texas: Obama Care forced Harris Health System (formerly Harris County Hospital District) to kill off 260 jobs! Administrators blamed Obama Care for causing them to lose $70-million!  Obama Care forced the El Paso Children’s Hospital to layoff five more people, and eliminated vacant positions. The Children’s Hospital also rents space to University Medical Center of El Paso, which reported that Obama Care has caused them to lose $60-million! As a result the University medical Center cannot pay the rent owed to Children’s Hospital.  In Houston, for-profit University General Health System now chapter 11 bankrupt busted, this after shutting down their recently acquired Dallas hospital.  News reports say many hospital employees never got their final paycheck!

Washington:  After less than one year of operation Trios Medical Center now in big financial trouble no thanks to Obama Care (referred to as “the changing healthcare market”) with CEO Glen Marshall explaining that “The national trend has and will continue to be one of doing more with less. We have not been spared in that regard.” 40 employees laid off without notice and hospital assets are now being sold off. An unnamed employee told local news media “On Fridays, on paydays, people are frantically checking their bank accounts to see if they’ll get paid. It’s a real fear that 1,200 plus employees may not be getting a paycheck.”

Wyoming: The Wyoming Medical Center laid off five administrators, directly blaming Obama Care: “In response to rapid and challenging changes in the healthcare market, Wyoming Medical Center regretfully announced today the elimination of five leadership positions. Other management positions will be realigned in order to streamline operations and become more efficient in the way we deliver care.” 

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

Obamacare widens the great income divide!

Got subsidized Obamacare? Think again, no tax refund for you! 

“There’s no way they can propose this plan without threatening patient care!”

Business/Economics, Idaho

U.S. Job Losses & Store Closings, 13 – 14 March 2015: Idaho based Great Depression surviving variety store crashing & burning!

Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:

Arizona: In Gilbert, Barnes & Noble shutdown their Crossroads Towne Center bookstore. It’s part of the company’s plans to shutdown 225 stores by 2023 (proof there is no recovery).

California: In San Diego, Service America Corporation issued a massive layoff WARN saying 831 people will become jobless in April! Two tech companies merged, Cypress Semiconductor and Spansion, and made it clear they will eliminate 16-hundred Golden State jobs by the end of April!

The quietly vacated and now for lease King's Store in Pocatello, Idaho. Prior to King's moving in 3 years ago it was a sporting goods store.

The quietly vacated and now for lease King’s Store in Pocatello, Idaho. Prior to King’s moving in 3 years ago it was a sporting goods store.

Idaho: Burley based King’s Variety Store is crashing & burning, according to Payette news sources.  The 100 years old (surviving the Great deflationary Depression and numerous recessions) chain store has 26 stores in five states, but now is forced to shutdown six stores within The Right to Work (you over) Gem State; Payette, Weiser, Emmett, Middleton, Twin Falls and Pocatello.  Administrators blame the suck-ass economy!  In Boise, Post Holdings announced it will shutdown their PowerBar factory in July, 165 jobs lost! Company administrators have decided to outsource the making of their energy food to unknown contractor factories, in the name of increasing profits.  In Kellogg, the Sunnyside Elementary school shutdown due to massive population exodus which created what I call DSS (Disappearing Student Syndrome): “Since 1970, we’ve had a 66% decrease in our enrollment!”-Art Krulitz, Kellogg School District

Illinois: In Harvey, after 23 years Ingalls Childcare Center shutdown.  Administrators blamed the bad economy for not being able to pay their employees!    The Adler Planetarium laid off 15 people, blaming lack of public attendance: “We’re trying to make it so that our annual revenues match our expenses. For at least the last few years, we were using money either from our endowment or a fundraising campaign to sustain us.”-Marc Lapides

Michigan: The Right to Work (you over) Great Lakes State shut down its unemployment office in Grand Haven!   State administrators say unemployment isn’t high enough to justify so many unemployment offices!

Minnesota: US Steel continues to slash & burn jobs, this time they’re shutting down their Keetac plant in Keewatin, 412 jobs lost in May!   After 57 years the owner of McCormack’s Furniture said she must shutdown by the end of summer.  Local news reports didn’t explain why, but indicated the owner wanted to retire.

New York: After 61 years the Lindenhurst Diner shutdown. The owners say a property developer made them an offer they couldn’t refuse.  Hospital Kaleida Health says Obama Care forced them to layoff 24 managers.

Texas: In Longview, oil services company FTS International laid off about 37 employees: “The reality is that continued decline of oil and gas prices has caused a slowdown in well completions work.”-Lynaia Lutes

Vermont: State administrators warned the taxpayers that as many as 325 state employees will be laid off!  The state leaders have apparently lost $113-million in tax revenues!  Of course, state social services will be slashed & burned.  State employees reminded taxpayers that they’ve been making sacrifices for ten years now: “Our members have for almost a decade come to the table to help the state to balance the budget! We do not think it’s fair that the way we’re balancing the budget is by picking the pocket of snowplow drivers, administrative assistants and nursing aides, working class Vermonters who provide public services….”-Steve Howard, Vermont State Employees Association

Virginia: United Airlines continues to slash & burn jobs, this time 67 people at the Richmond International Airport will be let go by May.  It’s part of United Airlines’ plans to replace in-house employees with cheap-o contractors.  In Culpeper, the owner of 109 years old (surviving the Great deflationary Depression and numerous recessions) Clarke Hardware announced he must shutdown by June.  News reports say the owner wants to retire, but the owner blames the local Masonic Lodge, who owns the property: “They told me last Wednesday that I have to be out by the end of June. They want the building to renovate. They plan to split it into two sections to get more rent.”-Claude Minnich

Wyoming: God refuses to stop Saint James of the Valley School from shutting down.  Church administrators blame it on what some Christians call The Rapture, or what I call DSS.

11 – 12 March 2015: Harley Davidson motorcycle crashing & burning?

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) doesn’t count the hundreds of layoffs involving less than 50 people each, in its mass layoff reports. It also doesn’t count all the little ‘mom & pop’ businesses that shutdown. It doesn’t count people who get a severance for being laid off.

Business/Economics

U.S. Job Losses & Store Closings, 11 – 12 March 2015: “The issue is oil and gas drilling.” Coal shutdowns create job loss ripple effect! Harley Davidson motorcycle crashing & burning?

Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:

A natural gas company created as a result of the merger between an Oklahoma company and a Texas company just two years ago, Enable Midstream Partners, is already killing jobs.   About 2-hundred jobs were eliminated, including 1-hundred in Louisiana!   Company administrators warned of the layoffs at the beginning of the year.

California: In Gold River, Obama Care caused eHealthInsurance Services to layoff 72 people without warning.  Who said batteries are more environmentally friendly than gas and diesel? In Vernon, The U.S. EPA forcing Exide Technologies to issue a shutdown WARN saying 84 people are now unemployed, and more will lose their jobs as they shutdown their battery factory after repeatedly violating federal environmental protection rules.  In El Segundo, toy maker Mattel laid off 107 employees!  Paramount Pictures is the latest victim of Viacom’s slashing & burning.  Reports say as many as 40 movie studio employees were laid off.  In San Francisco, legal drugs pusher Amgen announced it will eliminate as many as 3-hundred drugs making jobs and shutdown its recently acquired Onyx Pharmaceuticals ops!  News reports say Amgen’s announcement still leaves 2-hundred Onyx Pharmaceuticals jobs in limbo.

Florida: The state Department of Education has ‘failed’ Osceola County military prep school Acclaim Academy, twice, and as a result it shutdown.

Michigan:  In Lakewood, the Clarksville and Sunfield elementary schools are being shutdown, the school district is short $1-million USD!

Missouri: Iconic U.S. motorcycle maker Harley Davidson issued a WARN saying they will eliminate 169 jobs at their Kansas City factory, beginning in May!  Administrators say the economy is going to suck for the “long term”!   In Saint Joseph the World’s largest wire rope maker, WireCo WorldGroup, announced they will eliminate at least 30 jobs, blaming the petroleum industry saying “The issue is oil and gas drilling.”  Local news media said they asked several employees how they felt, and they all basically said ‘it was news to them’!

New York: Port Washington based computer retailer Systemax announced it will shutdown 31 of its 34 TigerDirect brick-n-mortar stores, and one distribution center, more than 1240 jobs lost by June! Two of the company’s administrators had been convicted of committing financial crimes, including stealing money from Systemax.  Is Obama Care forcing Phoenix House to shutdown its residential treatment center Westchester Academy?  56 employees will be laid off in June.  In Staten Island, Obama Care forcing Richmond University Medical Center to outsource their security guard jobs, 31 in-house security guards to become unemployed in June.  In NYC, Viacom (Video & Audio Communications) administrators said the job culling will continue until profits improve: “As announced, we are in the process of restructuring and there will be employees leaving the company as a result.”

North Dakota: Despite the oil boom, agricultural and construction equipment dealer Titan Machinery shutting down three stores and eliminating 14% of its jobs!

Pennsylvania: Bustin Industrial Products announced it is jumping ship, leaving East Stroudsburg and moving to Missouri, about 40 jobs lost by January 2016.

South Dakota: In Sioux Falls the maker of “special” plastics, electronics and apparel products, Raven Industries, revealed they’ve  eliminated more than 1-hundred jobs due to crashing sales!  Administrators say they need to cut $13-million in costs.  The company got its start making hot air balloons.

Virginia: Waynesboro based fiber optics internet company Lumos Networks laid off a total of 31 people in two states.

West Virginia: Nickolas County Courthouse announced it will kill off 24 jobs and reduce pay for another 20 employees.  Administrators blame crashing tax revenues caused by the massive shutdowns of coal mines.  Since last year the county lost $1.4-million in tax revenues!

Wisconsin: California based jelly bean maker Jelly Belly announced they will sell-off their $43-million Pleasant Prairie factory and gift shop. Company administrators say it’s part of their plan to consolidate operations.

09 – 10 March 2015: “We’re in crisis management now.”

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification
The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) doesn’t count the hundreds of layoffs involving less than 50 people each, in its mass layoff reports. It also doesn’t count all the little ‘mom & pop’ businesses that shutdown. It doesn’t count people who get a severance for being laid off.