Tag Archives: idaho

U.S.

“Concerning & certainly somewhat problematic.” : ObamaCare Destruction October 2016

It must be noted that I started documenting these ObamaCare/healthcare related shutdowns at the beginning of 2014. In that year I posted the reports biannually (every six months). In 2015 ObamaCare cutbacks ramped up and I posted quarterly (every three months). For the past ten months of 2016 there have been so many ObamaCare cutbacks that I’ve posted a report every month!

Incomplete list of healthcare related layoffs and shutdowns, October 2016:

Arizona: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services warns that ObamaCare insurance rates for men in The Grand Canyon State could skyrocket 116%, to an average of $422 per month in 2017!

California: CareFusion Resources revealed it laid off 128 people in San Diego at the end of September! Then the U.S. Department of Defense announced it awarded CareFusion a five years tax-sucking contract to design a Pharmacy Impatient Automation Solution-Automated Dispensing Cabinet. Apparently some of the tax-sucking development can be done outside the U.S.   Ireland based drugs maker Shire issued a layoff WARN for its Los Angeles ops, 320 jobs gone by January 2017!  Palo Alto based blood tester Theranos eliminating 340 jobs in Arizona, California and Pennsylvania!  Theranos is shutting down labs in an effort to make themselves more economically viable.  UC Irvine Medical Center eliminating 175 jobs due to costs of operation: “Academic centers are generally more costly because we provide services that other hospitals don’t…”-John Murray

Connecticut: Hartford based health insurer Aetna eliminating 8-hundred jobs directly connected with the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare)!  Administrators said it was part of their attempts to survive ObamaCare in 2017.

Florida: Grocery chain Winn Dixie suddenly began shutting down 13 pharmacy operations throughout The Sunshine State. Administrators blame ObamaCare for declining business.

Georgia: Memorial Hospital and Manor eliminating 18 jobs, blaming ObamaCare lack of funding.

Idaho: Karcher Care Group issued a WARN for their Nampa nursing home ops, 172 jobs gone!  “Concerning and certainly somewhat problematic.”  That’s how state Department of Insurance Director Dean Cameron describes health insurance provider’s plans to greatly jack up ‘out of network’ charges.  According to the Idaho Statesman “Blue Cross of Idaho plans will have a $50,000 out-of-network deductible for individuals, and patients will have an out-of-pocket responsibility for up to $75,000 of all out-of-network claims — up from $4,000 and $10,000 this year.

BridgeSpan and SelectHealth members will have less-extreme deductibles, but they will be responsible for up to $200,000 of their bills if they go out of network.

The amounts are doubled for families.”

Illinois:  Cook County Health and Hospitals System eliminating 320 jobs by Xmas!  It’s blamed on a drastically reduced taxpayer funded operating budget for fiscal 2017.

Indiana: Community Health Network shutting down Community Westview Hospital after Xmas, 187 jobs lost!

Kentucky:  University of Louisville claims ‘christian’ owned KentuckyOne Health owes $46-million USD in back due payments! In 2012, U of L contracted with Colorado based ‘christian’ KentuckyOne to manage its hospital and cancer treatment center.  Instead of making the U of L health care operations profitable KentuckyOne ended up eliminating more than 5-hundred jobs.  ‘Christian’ administrators of KentuckyOne countered by demanding to know what U of L is doing with the money it already got!  Let me remind you ‘christians’: “But the root of all these evils is the love of money, and there are some who have desired it and have erred from the faith and have brought themselves many miseries.”-1 Timothy 6:10 Aramaic Bible

Louisiana: Lafayette General Medical Center canceled its contract for house cleaning services, resulting in 243 contracted cleaners becoming jobless! 

Michigan: Emergent BioSolutions eliminated 91 jobs due to making their drug ops more efficient.  After 40 years Detroit East Health Services shutdown, affecting 8-hundred patients!  An unnamed employee told local news media the shutdown was “…for corruption, for personal gain…”

New Jersey: Meda Pharmaceutical eliminating 94 jobs after being taken over by the evil maker of the hyper expensive EpiPen.

North Carolina: Drugs maker Pfizer warning that as many as 4-hundred employees could become unemployed “Due to recent changes in market demand…”

Ohio: Summa Health announced they eliminated jobs, but refused to say how many.  DentalOne Partners shutting down their HQ, 53 jobs lost right after Xmas.  The dental service chain is “consolidating” its HQ ops to Texas.

Oklahoma:  Muscogee (Creek) Nation Department of Health eliminated 123 jobs without warning, many former employees being escorted off tribal property by police!  Administrators blame it on the drastically reduced taxpayer funded 2017 budget.

Oregon: Bend Memorial Clinic eliminating 20 jobs and several services: “This is part of a gradual strategic alignment, eliminating certain services which will free up resources to do the things we think will strengthen us in the future. We tried to look not necessarily at money losers, but services that are provided elsewhere in the community.”-David Holloway, ceo

Tennessee: God can’t stop ‘his’ Baptist Memorial from shutting down their Union City office, 60 jobs killed right before Xmas.

Virginia:  Ace Insurance eliminating at least 60 jobs in Salem by Xmas, it might be connected to their take-over of Switzerland based Chubb.

Washington: The ‘christian’ god powerless to stop ‘his’ Saint Joseph Medical Center laying off 44 people right before Xmas.  The so called christian administrators of the hospital boasted that they’re advertising that they have 6-hundred vacant positions, so why the layoffs?  Colonial Vista Retirement Center issued a shutdown WARN for their Wenatchee ops, 219 jobs gone right after Thanksgiving!  Hearthstone Cottages issued shutdown WARNS for two of its assisted living centers, 84 jobs gone right after Thanksgiving. “Wellness provider for employers” Healthways issued a shutdown WARN for their Bellevue ops, 68 jobs gone right after Xmas.

Washington DC: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services warns that ObamaCare insurance rates will increase an average of 25% across 39 U.S. states, in 2017!

September 2016: “YOU CAN’T KEEP THE DOORS OPEN IF YOU DON’T HAVE PROVIDERS”

U.S. CHRISTIAN SELF-DESTRUCTION 2ND Q 2016:  “ALL THE CHURCHES ARE EXPERIENCING THIS DECLINE….”

Idaho, International, U.S.

Idaho Strike Eagles deploy to Middle East!

Video

29 October 2016 (03:54 UTC-07 Tango 01)  08 Aban 1395/27 Muharram 1438/29 Wu Zu 4714

It’s been revealed that F-15E Strike Eagles based at Mountain Home Air Force Base, in Idaho, recently deployed to an undisclosed location in the Middle East (aka Southwest Asia).

Official USAF deployment explainer:

INVASION OF SYRIA “WITHIN WEEKS”: ASHTON CARTER

IDAHO ONE OF ONLY 11 STATES SUPPLYING MOST OF THE HUMAN CANNON FODDER FOR THE OBAMA REGIME!

NATO Turkey blocks Idaho Air Guard A-10s from attacking Islamic State!

SAUDI ARABIA KILLS MORE THAN $5-MILLION FOR IDAHO?

SNAKE RIVER MILITIA, AIR ASSAULT MOVE TO CONTACT, ROMANIA!

U.S.

“an unforeseen slowdown” Drowning in beer & chromium-6? : U.S. Food Crisis, October 2016

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

California: Treehouse Foods ( Treehouse Private Brands) issued a shutdown WARN for their Azusa food factory, 647 jobs gone right after Thanksgiving!  In Fresno, Sierra Food Group issued a layoff WARN, 46 jobs gone after Thanksgiving.  Also in Fresno, after 93 years Louie Kee Market shutdown so the tired owner can “…do some traveling, some fishing, and maybe a little casino work.”  Kroger owned Ralph’s issued a shutdown WARN for a grocery store in Los Angeles, 87 jobs gone after Xmas.  After 38 years San Diego based Garden Fresh-Souplantation-Sweet Tomatoes now chapter 11 bankrupt busted and shutting down as many as 30 restaurants.  The restaurant chain owner, Garden Fresh, has been up for sale for some time.  Escondido-based Stone Brewing suddenly laid off as many as 60 people “…due to an unforeseen slowdown in our consistent growth and changes in the craft beer landscape.” Research by two universities has revealed that the typical marijuana farm in northern Cali is contributing to the demise of Salmon and Trout: “…the sites are typically placed on remote plots of land in forested areas, many on steep slopes. Access roads need to be created and swaths of land cleared for production, regardless of whether the cannabis is grown outdoors or in a greenhouse; that increases potential for soil erosion and chemical run-off into streams in which the Chinook salmon and steelhead trout live.”

Colorado: Albertsons-Safeway shutting down their grocery store on Pueblo’s east side right before Thanksgiving.  News reports say its the second Pueblo Safeway to shutdown this year.

Connecticut: Greenwood Village based Red Robin suddenly shutdown nine of its 12 experimental fast casual restaurants, mainly in Illinois (see below), calling the experiment an economic failure.

Delaware: Berri Yummi Frozen Yogurt shutdown as the owners refused to renew the lease because “It did not make economic sense…”

Florida: In Pensacola, Sluggo’s shutdown due to a “…long battle with the landlord over power in the building.”  In Miami, British empire owned Miller Brewing (SABMiller) suddenly laid off 104 people, then issued the required WARN three days after the fact!

Idaho: Instant potatoes maker Basic American Ingredients issued a WARN for their Blackfoot ops, 91 additional jobs gone. The Blackfoot potato factory was sold to Basic American Ingredients back in February 2013, and 103 people lost their jobs just three months later.

Illinois: Fake sweetener maker Merisant shutting down their Equal factory in Manteno, 86 jobs lost.  The company is moving to Kansas because the cost of labor is apparently cheaper than the $16 to $24 per hour they pay employees in Illinois.  Colorado based burger joint Red Robin suddenly shutdown all five of its Chicago area experimental ‘fast casual’ restaurants, including two that had been opened just in the past six months!

Indiana: After only two years donut shop Rocket 88 shutdown its only two locations; Fountain Square and the other in South Broad Ripple.  The owner said he’s pursuing his dream of owning a record shop.  In Indianapolis, O’Malia’s Food Market shutting down their South Meridian Street store by November.  According to local news reports the shutdown will leave the local grocery chain (started in 1966)  with only one store.  Paradise Bakery & Cafe shutdown its last store, news reports say at one time there were a dozen Paradise Bakery & Cafes.  AGWEB reports that farmers are being forced to pay cash upfront for rent, causing many farmers to quit: “We’d been previously farming on shares….when this lease was up, the owner wanted to go to a cash rent. We felt it was just in an area where we couldn’t survive long-term.”-Jason Wykoff, farmer for 22 years

Kansas: In Haysville, Taco J’s suddenly shutdown after 34 years, their Facebook page said “With the cost of product going up we are not comfortable with the prices we need to charge to stay profitable.”

Kentucky: In Louisville, BBQ joint Smoketown USA shutdown after nine years, the owner called it a “success”.  In Lexington, after 83 years Fayette Seed shutdown, the retiring owners blame it on a radical change in home gardening.

Massachusetts: Boston based Boloco sold-off nine of their restaurants to a competitor, some will be shutdown due to lack of sales.  In Worcester, Sakura Tokyo shutdown pending the sale of the restaurant property.  In Somerville, Spoke Wine Bar shutting down just days before Xmas, due to the owner’s health problems.

Michigan: In South Lyon, Brown’s Root Beer & Sandwich Shop shutdown after 56 years.

Minnesota:  Heartland Restaurant & Wine Bar shutting down and selling-off its original 14 years old location in Saint Paul.

Missouri: In Saint Joseph, the Apple Market shutting down in November, the owners cry “..the current market conditions and incoming competition, we see no alternative but to cease operations.”   U.S. Environmental Protection Agency investigating the improper use of the Monsanto made herbicide Dicamba.  The herbicide is for use before planting, or after harvest, only.  Missouri farmers complained that somebody sprayed their crops with the herbicide, damaging at least 16,600 hectares (41-thousand acres)!  

Montana: After “34 years of… hard creative work” John Bozeman’s Bistro suddenly shutdown days after filing chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Nebraska: Omaha’s Alchemy Bar & Grill shutdown, the operators saying only that the action was “sudden and unplanned”.

New Mexico: In Las Cruces, after 11 years popular Si Italian Bistro shutdown, the owners blaming increasing costs of operations, especially building maintenance costs.

New York: It was revealed that Larchmont based Natural Markets Food Group-Mrs. Green’s Natural Market quietly shutdown four stores across the country, since 2015. Local news reports say inventories at other stores are not being restocked and plans to open 1-hundred new stores are now dead. Company administrators are refusing to explain.  In Buffalo, Century Grill shutdown due to the greedy landlord selling the property out from under the restaurant owner’s feet. In Rochester, Mex Restaurant shutdown after 17 years.  In Ithaca, after five years Smart Yogurt shutting down right before Xmas. In Fayetteville, after only one year Kandied Kernal shutdown: “It’s a combination of high rent, and not enough business.”-Melissa Kelly, owner

North Carolina: Golden Corral suddenly shutdown their New Bern all-you-can-eat buffet, more than 50 jobs gone.  Local news media said employees told them it was due to crashing sales.

North Dakota: In Medina, fire destroyed the Diamond W Feed main grinding operations for area livestock.

Ohio: In Sylvania, Anderson’s Market shutting down right before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, 96 jobs gone due to sales not being able to cover costs.

Oregon: Farmers Insurance issued a layoff WARN for Hillsboro, 50 jobs lost right after Xmas.

Pennsylvania: In Palmyra, after six years popular Top That Restaurant shutdown, not because of low sales but because the owners could not find a new bigger, and affordable, location. O’Hara based grocery chain Giant Eagle announced it will force as many as 350 corporate HQ employees to quit by offering voluntary buyouts! It’s blamed on declining profits.

South Carolina: Brown Roof Coffee shutdown, the operators say it became too expensive to operate, and the operators of Brown Roof Thrift say it was interfering with their thrift store business.

Tennessee: In Mount Juliet, after ten years Marble Slab Creamery suddenly shutdown, due to the greedy landlord refusing to renew the lease: “They were not interested in renewing our lease…..The thing that took me off guard was the lack of communication and telling us why.”-Carey Hook, operator

Restaurant Krystal shutting down their Green Hills location due to pending road construction.  Memphis based Ag info ‘expert’ Informa Economics IEG predicts U.S. grain exports will set a record 150-million to 180-million bushels this year, despite all the bad news affecting farmers. But they also had this warning: “If we’re not going to keep investing in our system and we’re not investing high enough nor efficient enough, we’re going to have challenges to really be a competitive, long-term player in the market.”-Ken Eriksen

Texas: Lubbock based Rita Restaurant Group-Don Pablo’s now chapter 11 bankrupt busted.  At one point there were 120 Don Pablo’s restaurants, but news reports say there are now only 12.   In Houston, after 14 years Ponzo’s Italian Food shutdown.  In San Angelo, TJ’s Frozen Yogurt shutdown their store on North Bryant due to “Not enough income…”  In Austin, Brass House shutdown, the owner blaming the “…rising tide of the downtown Austin rental market, lack of free parking and unforeseen circumstances.”  After 111 years, Dallas based Sigel’s Beverages now chapter 11 bankrupt busted and shutting down five stores.  It’s blamed on increasing competition caused by more ‘dry christian’ Texas municipalities going ‘wet’ (in order to increase local tax revenues).   Dallas based Fiesta Restaurant Group revealed it suddenly shutdown 10 Pollo Tropical restaurants, and will convert three Pollo Tropicals to Taco Cabana restaurants, after a loss of $4.8-million USD!  Also, administrators suddenly halted all expansion plans and are reportedly prepping to sell everything off!

Virginia: In Fredericksburg, after 35 years commercial bankers confirmed to local news that Sammy T’s was sold. The restaurant manager said it will shutdown pending plans of the new owners.  In Rocky Mount, Bootleggers Cafe shutdown, 20 jobs gone because the restaurant “…could not live up to our market potential…” In Cornerstone, after two years Auburnlea Farms Corner Market shutdown because “…it didn’t work out…”

Washington: Craft Brew Alliance suddenly laid off “at least a dozen” Redhook brewery employees, due to crashing contracts for beer from Pabst Brewing Company.  In Seattle, after 46 years The Old Spaghetti Factory shutting down right before Xmas, due to the property being sold to developers.  Healthy Options food maker issued a shutdown WARN for its Wenatchee ops, 66 jobs lost by January 2017.  Ocean Beauty Seafoods shutting down its Seattle ops, 69 jobs lost right after Xmas.

Washington DC:  A study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found cancer causing chromium-6 (hexavalent chromium) in most of the public drinking water, affecting 200-million people across the country (Including where I live in Bannock County, Idaho. Maybe it’s a good thing the city shutoff my public water supply back in March, due to not being able to pay their newly imposed late fees).  The study ran from 2013 to 2015, with more than 75% of water samples showing contamination.

 Wisconsin: In Milwaukee, Lucille’s suddenly shutdown.  After 45 years John Hawk’s Pub shutdown due to not being able to renew the lease.

Wyoming: Western Sugar shutting down their Torrington operation, 86 jobs gone as the co-op consolidates production to Colorado.  After several decades the Ghost Town Restaurant shutdown, at least eight jobs lost due to two years of crashing sales.

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

September 2016: IT’S OFFICIAL; MORE THAN HALF OF U.S. FARM WORKERS ARE ILLEGAL! FARMERS ARE THE BIGGEST WELFARE PROGRAM?

FOOD CRISIS: U.S. DEFORESTATION CAUSED LANDSLIDES IN HAITI! NO MORE CHEAP COFFEE OR COCOA?

U.S.

“You can’t keep the doors open if you don’t have providers” : September 2016 ObamaCare destruction

It must be noted that I started documenting these ObamaCare/healthcare related shutdowns at the beginning of 2014. In that year I posted the reports biannually (every six months). In 2015 ObamaCare cutbacks ramped up and I posted quarterly (every three months). For the past nine months of 2016 there have been so many ObamaCare cutbacks that I’ve posted a report every month!

Incomplete list of healthcare related layoffs and shutdowns, September 2016:

Denmark based drugs maker Novo Nordisk eliminating 1-thousand jobs worldwide, blaming crashing U.S. sales (due to its own skyrocketing prices for insulin).

California: Tulare Regional Medical Center laid off 29 people.  Administrators hinted that layoffs will be ongoing because they “continue to streamline operations”.  Israel based drugs maker Teva issued a layoff WARN, 11 jobs gone in Corona, by December.

Florida: Drugs maker Merck eliminating 112 jobs between November 2016 and June 2017!  CVS Pharmacy issued a WARN, 94 jobs in Tampa gone by Thanksgiving.

Idaho: The state Department of Insurance warning of yet another rate hike for insurance, as much as 24% for 2017!

Illinois:  Health Care Service Corporation (parent company of Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Illinois) off-shoring as many as 540 InfoTech jobs, by April 2017! Health Care Service Corporation has also been encouraging employees 50 years of age or older to quit, by offering them buy-outs.

Kentucky: God powerless to stop ‘his’ Catholic owned  KentuckyOne Health from laying off three top executives, a fourth executive resigned. The ‘christian’ hospital admin called it “leader transitions”.  Signature Healthcare shutting down two locations, 207 jobs gone by Thanksgiving!  Patients are being transferred elsewhere.   In Louisville, McDonald’s shutting down their Kosair Children’s Hospital by Xmas. The lease expires and the Kosair-McDonald’s franchise can’t afford to renew it!

Louisiana: Non-profit Lafayette General Medical Center eliminating 70 jobs by the end of October.

Maine: Mercy Hospital suddenly laid off 31 people.  Administrators say it was a “clinical redesign of services offered”.

Massachusetts: Drugs maker ImmunoGen laid off 65 people.

Minnesota: Superior View Assisted Living shutdown, the CEO Rob Gannucci blamed the state and federal government saying “It just wasn’t worth it anymore.”

Mississippi: Quitman County Hospital quit and shutdown due to lack of money. Local news reports indicated it was the only hospital in the area.

Montana: Medicare health insurer New West Health Services shutting down, 14-thousand customers losing their insurance by the end of the year, and 84 people losing their jobs.  Administrators directly blame ObamaCare saying “…with the increased complexity in this industry and the new challenges that affect our ability to break even, we are not able to make this insurance plan financially successful.”

New Hampshire: Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center eliminating up to 460 jobs by Xmas!  ObamaCare is forcing the hospital to make at least $100-million USD in cuts, CEO James Weinstein saying “We cannot be all things to all people…… Reductions at all levels of the organization will be considered…”

New York:   Crouse Hospital laid off nine management, 13 non-union and 12 union employees. Unfilled positions are also being eliminated. Administrators called the layoffs ‘routine’.  God powerless to stop ‘his’ Catholic Charities Neighborhood Services from issuing a layoff WARN for their ops in Brooklyn. The layoffs take place right before Xmas.

North Carolina: Oncology specialist Biologics shutting down their Cary ops after being taken over by California based McKesson, 132 jobs gone! Johnston Ambulance Service shutdown, 4-hundred jobs suddenly gone! Administrators blame ObamaCare rules for lack of payment of services rendered.

Oklahoma:  Pushmataha Hospital now chapter 9 bankrupt busted despite four years of trying to reign in costs to deal with greatly reduced ObamaCare insurance reimbursements.

Pennsylvania: Ohio based HCR ManorCare sold-off their Devon Manor nursing home, 124 jobs gone by the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday!  Patients are being transferred elsewhere.  Drug testing startup Falcon Genomics already chapter 11 bankrupt busted due to failing to raise enough investment cash.  Somerset Hospital shutting down their obstetrics unit by the end of November.

Tennessee: It’s been revealed that in August Church Hill Emergency Medical Services suddenly shutdown, eliminating “dozens” of jobs due to lack of funding.  Church Hill EMS is now officially chapter 11 bankrupt busted. Tennova Healthcare eliminating 45 jobs in October.

Texas:  Saint Mark’s Medical laid off nine people and then sold their La Grange office building to Rainier Realty Investments.  Administrators directly blame ObamaCare for the layoffs saying “The layoffs were…..an adjustment to our current healthcare environment.  As penalties increase and volumes decrease, it’s critical each hospital/physician office adapt to the new landscape.”

Virginia:  After 40 years Dominion Psychiatric Associates shutting down in November, one of the doctors told local news media “You can’t keep the doors open if you don’t have providers.”

Wisconsin: Integrated Health Network laid off 21 employees.

Wyoming: Mountain View Regional Hospital laid off 15 employees.

August 2016: “…WE’LL ALL HAVE TO DO MORE WITH LESS.”

ObamaCare = Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

U.S.

It’s official; more than half of U.S. farm workers are ILLEGAL! Farmers biggest welfare program? : September 2016 Food Crisis

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

The Wall Street Journal reports that despite a 65% increase in hops farming the number of new ‘craft’ breweries in operation far outpace hops production, creating a massive shortage of citra hops.

Read the article Digested: Buying the Farm to find out why the so-called organic farm industry is bogus. The article is about U.S. demand exceeding U.S. supply, but read between the lines and you should realize that there’s now so much government and corporate involvement that who knows if what you’re eating is truly ‘organic’.

Alabama: After 89 years C.F. Penn Hamburgers posted a shutdown notice on their Decature store, blaming crashing sales and skyrocketing rent: “This decision was made as the result of a decline in business, coupled with our rent increasing 80%.”

However, once the word got out the greedy landlord changed their mind and claimed it was a misunderstanding so, according to local news reports, C.F. Penn Hamburgers will remain open.

Arizona: Less than a month after shutting down a Tennessee location (without warning) Florida based World of Beer suddenly shutdown their Gilbert, Tempe and Tucson locations!

California:  Border Grill shutting down their 26 years old Santa Monica location in October.  In Bakersfield,  after being evicted at the end of June RJ’s Bar & Grill now legally chapter 7 bankrupt dead.  In San Francisco, Buttons Candy Bar shutdown, a defiant video store which shares the same retail space said “we aren’t intending to close.”  Keil’s Food Stores issued a shutdown WARN for their Clairemont location, 49 jobs gone by November.

Colorado:  Spice and ‘spirits’ seller Vom Fass shutdown their Fort Collins location to focus on internet sales. In Boulder, Conor O’Neill’s Traditional Irish Pub & Restaurant shutdown due to crashing sales, caused by construction on a next-door building, and on jacked-up rent and property tax.

Connecticut: Monsanto laying off 39 people in Mystic, at the end of October.

Florida:  After 41 years Mama B’s Giant Subs shutting down two Orlando locations, the owner is selling the properties so she can retire.  Local news media said it was the third sandwich chain to recently shutdown restaurants in Orlando.  In Ybor, Spaghetti Warehouse shutting down at the beginning of October.  The owners spent 12 months looking for cheaper place to rent, with no luck.

Georgia:  Food Lion shutdown their 20 years old Gainsville grocery store, the store’s manager said “Sales had really been suffering.”  After 12 years Kitchenware Outfitters shutting down at the end of October.

Idaho: Trading Company Stores suddenly shutdown their Post Falls and Bonners Ferry locations, 68 jobs lost due to the owner selling out to Washington based Yoke’s.  In Twin Falls, after more than 42 years Addison Restaurant West shutting down in October.  The owner sold it so he could take care of his 98 years old mom.

Illinois: After 25 years Italian restaurant Rose Angelis shutdown in Lincoln Park, there was no explanation on the restaurant website.  In Chicago, after 48 years The Parthenon suddenly shutdown, local news reports said the restaurant had failed two health inspections, which were supposedly rectified.  There was no official reason for the unexpected permanent shutdown.  Shop-N-Save shutting down a grocery store in Peoria, 69 jobs gone by October.

Indiana: Orscheln Farm and Home shutting down their Seymour store once the inventory is gone.

Kentucky: In Lexington, after 82 years Fayette Seed shutting down by the end of October.  The owner is hoping to find a buyer for the business.  In Louisville, McDonald’s shutting down their Kosair Children’s Hospital by Xmas. The lease expires and the Kosair-McDonald’s franchise can’t afford to renew it!

Massachusetts: Boston based restaurant operator Cosi now chapter 11 bankrupt busted, and possibly for sale.

Minnesota: In Saint Paul, The Barbary Fig Mediterranean Cuisine shutdown, the owner-chef said he’s tired of repairs, government regulations and employees calling in sick right before their shift.

Mississippi: Cheeky Monkey shutdown its D’Iberville bakery right after opening a new operation in Biloxi.  In Jackson, The Penguin Restaurant & Bar suddenly shutdown.

Nebraska: Lincoln based United States Drought Monitor declared extreme drought conditions in the eastern half of Massachusetts, southeastern New Hampshire and the southern part of Maine.

New Jersey: General Mills shutting down the 76 years old Vineland Progresso soup factory, 340 jobs gone by 2018!  Corporate administrators blame the labor union!

New Mexico: In Albuquerque, after 36 years Fair-n-Square grocery store shutdown so the mom-n-pop owners could retire.

New York: Another TGI Friday’s shutdown, this time their 20 years old restaurant in Dewitt. Administrators claim the 30 employees were offered jobs at other locations. After 79 years in the Big Apple iconic Carnegie Deli shutting down by the end of 2016, apparently it’s become a money losing proposition to do business in New York. In Schenectady, the Grog Shoppe shutting down after 40 years, the owners are considering whether to open a new business or just rent out their property to somebody else.  In Wading River, the Davis Peach Farm shutdown due to a massive storm that destroyed their peach crop.

North Carolina: Rudean’s Restaurant shutdown after 17 years so the owner, who started operating restaurants while she was a teenager in the 1950s, could retire.  The popular (customers started a petition to keep it open) Rusty Rudder shutdown by greedy landlord: “Regrettably, our landlord has decided not to renew the lease after 15 years of business forcing us to close our doors.”-Eric Paul and Brian Johnston, co-owners

North Dakota: In Grand Fork, after eight months of trying to sell the operation, 10 years old Dakota Harvest Bakers finally died.  Local news media wasn’t sure if the popular bakery was finally sold as nobody in-the-know was talking.

Ohio: In Fairfield, after 13 years Symmes Tavern on the Green forced to shutdown by the greedy landlord, the owners hope to find a new affordable location.  The Greene Town Center is now suing  Florida based World of Beer for backing out on plans to open a restaurant.  The lawsuit revealed that World of Beer had signed and then reneged on a ten year lease.  Buehler Food Markets shutting down their nine years old store in Brunswick, 125 jobs gone by the end of October!  In Bowling Green, after 39 years Myles’ Pizza Pub shutting down at the beginning of October. In Hamilton, after 102 years Milillo Grocery was suddenly shutdown for not being in compliance with current state health and city building codes, despite a waver for ‘grandfathered’ businesses.  The third generation owner says city and state administrators are singling him out: “They’re considering me a new owner even though I’m the third Frank Milillo to stand behind that counter in the last 102 years. They consider this a new business.”-Frank Milillo

Oregon: After 53 years restaurant Der Rheinalnder was sold and the new owners are shutting it down at the begining of 2017.   Grower owned fruit packer Tree Top shutting down their Woodburn operation in January 2017, 60 people losing their jobs because the factory supposedly isn’t effecient (which is a bogus excuse because many employers have laid off employees precisly becasue they became too efficient, as I’ve pointed out in past postings).  The Dairy Queen in Gold Beach shutdown, the owners are building a new Dairy Queen in the town of Brookings and say updating the Gold Beach location is too expensive: “If we weren’t trying to build the one in Brookings right now, we’d try to figure out the financing and do the remodel.”-Bart Burroughs

Pennsylvania:  In Lancaster, after four years employee owned The Seed cafe shutdown due to “a variety of concerns”.    Pepsi shutting down their Reading distribution center, 95 jobs lost by November.  In Levittown the Big Q BBQ suddenly shutdown, the owners consolidated several of their restaurants.  In York Haven, Hummingbird Ridge Winery shutdown, the owner has a full-time job and apparently making and selling wine part time isn’t worth the effort.

South Carolina: In Myrtle Beach, the Piggly Wiggly grocery store in The Market Common shutting down due to increased competition.

Tennessee: Local news reports revealed that not only did Florida based World of Beer shutdown its Chattanooga location without warning last month, but it failed to pay the employees final paychecks, and even walked away with their tips: “I depend on this income. …how I’m going to make money in the next couple of weeks?  ….it was so sudden.”-Jenison Owens, who says World of Beer still owes two weeks of pay plus tips customers made using their credit cards

Texas: The Kettle Restaurant in Killeen shutdown after 36 years, the property was sold. San Angelo based Logan’s Roadhouse now bankrupt busted and shutting down at least 21 of their restaurants due to a 9.9% drop in revenue this year. In Longview, the Waffle Shoppes of Texas shutting down by the end of October, after 40 years of Belgian style waffles.  The Highland Village Kroger shutting down in November, 80 jobs lost due to crashing sales. Zio’s Italian Kitchen chapter 11 bankrupt busted.  Administrators blame the oil industry BS for crashing sales.

Vermont: In Lyndonville, Phat Kats Tavern shutdown.

Virginia: Food Lion shutdown one of their grocery stores in Martinsville saying it wasn’t worth it to renew the lease, 35 jobs affected.  Despite using illegal employees and continuing taxpayer subsidies, U.S. farmers also benefit from 31st Farm Aid concert in Bristow.

Washington DC:  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reducing allowable levels of dangerous atrazine weed killer used on food crops.  Chemical addicted farmers are complaining it will effectively ban the use of most weed killers.    U.S. Department of Labor confirms that more than 50% of farm workers are in the U.S. illegally!  Blame farmers who bemoan that there aren’t enough cheap-ass illegal workers for U.S. businesses!  On top of that, U.S. taxpayers are again being raped to subsidize farmers with the Urban Agricultural Act of 2016: “This legislation offers services and support to urban farmers. The research component of the bill is not only critical for production, but also for exploring the risk management, food safety, environmental and economic factors that are critical for economic success.”-Zippy Duvall, American Farm Bureau Federation

Wisconsin: After only five months that restaurant with the ‘racist’ sounding name, Hibachi Boy, shutdown.  The owner would only say that it was “a difficult but necessary decision.”

Food Crisis August 2016: ALBERTSONS MAKES “BILLIONS IN PROFITS” YET PAYS EMPLOYEES WELFARE WAGES!

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

U.S.

“particularly complex…potentially expensive” : September 2016 Dumbing Down the U.S.

It must be noted that I started documenting these education shutdowns at the beginning of 2014, in that year I posted the reports biannually (every six months). In 2015 education cutbacks ramped up and I posted quarterly (every three months). For the past eight months of 2016 there have been so many education cutbacks that I’ve posted a report every month!

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 related layoffs & school shutdowns, September 2016:

California: Reports of unknown rash affecting 40 teachers and children at Lake Forest Elementary, in Orange County.  Some victims say the rash looks and feels like “bug bites”.  Orange County health administrators ruled out vectors.  A local TV station showed video of the lawn at the school with Do Not Cross ‘tape’ around it, school admin refused to comment but parents say many of the affected students were playing on the lawn (chemical contamination?).

Idaho: State education administrators and ‘lawmakers’ debating new ways to divy out dwindling taxpayer funding for schools, some plans would see as much as $131-million USD cut from school funding! School district administrators also told ‘lawmakers’ that ObamaCare mandated employee health insurance is sucking up more and more taxpayer funding.  Blue Cross of Idaho provides the insurance for Idaho teachers and jacked up their rates by 16.5% in 2015.  One plan for handling ObamaCare insurance for Idaho teachers could actually cost taxpayers an additional $17-million!  Budget policy analyst Paul Headlee warned “This is a This is a particularly complex and potentially expensive endeavor, endeavor.”

Illinois:  In Mount Carmel, District 348 shutting down South Elementary at the end of their school year.  It’s blamed on building repair costs and years of tax funding cuts due to years of Disappearing Students Syndrome.  In Obama’s Failed Homie State of Chicago, after years of slowly declining enrollments Chicago Public Schools reported a sudden 3.5% drop in enrollments, compared to last school year.  Administrators are now warning of even more layoffs.

Indiana: ITT Tech now officially bankrupt dead after the U.S. Department of Education banned the for-profit national school from accepting new students who rely on federal education loans or grants, because it couldn’t prove graduates were getting good paying jobs.  8-thousand jobs gone, at least 35-thousand students screwed!  I find it par-for-the-course (in this age of Dumbing Down) that many former ITT students say they were unaware of the school’s problems, despite at least two months of news reports!

Michigan: In Detroit, the Big Bookstore near Wayne State University shutting down, due to the owner getting an incredible offer for the land from a property developer.

Minnesota: Blaine based Regency Beauty Institute suddenly shutdown all 79 campuses across the country.  Administrators say there is a conspiracy to Dumb Down the U.S. : “…declining numbers of cosmetology students nationwide, a negative characterization of for-profit education by regulators and politicians that continues to worsen and, in light of these factors, an inability to obtain continued financing…. ..The environment is simply not one that allows us to remain open.” 

New York: God powerless to stop ‘his’ College of Saint Rose from possibly eliminating 23 jobs due to a $9-million shortfall, despite boasting of a record number of enrollments this school year!  It should be noted that the College of Saint Rose is deeply involved/connected with U.S. attorneys and court judges, unAmerican corporate America and the main stream news media.

North Dakota: North Dakota State University eliminating 95 jobs through attrition, buyouts, and vacant positions will not be filled.  Remaining employees will have their hours reduced.  Administrators say they must cut their 2017-19 budget by $15.7-million USD!

Oregon: In Northeast Portland, pissed-off parents say the now dead Tiny Revolution Montessori failed to refund their money after shutting down without warning on 04 September.  What’s more interesting is that according to court documents the school owners knew they would be shutting down back in July!

Pennsylvania: DuBois Business College shutting down all four campuses due to problems with the Accrediting Council of Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS).

Texas:  In Bryan, after 30 years of supplying educators Jacque’s Toys and Books shutting down after Halloween.

Wyoming: It’s been revealed (nationally) that the shutdown of Midwest School, back in May, was caused by the oil industry.  To show you how much the oil industry controls The Cowboy State an oil well ‘donkey pump’ was planted on one end of the school’s football-track field!   The school had to shutdown because gas from the pumping of the well filled the only school for the town of Midwest!

August 2016: “IT’S AN INDECENT PRACTICE!” THROWING MONEY AT EDUCATION DOESN’T WORK, UNLESS IT’S TO HELP FUTURE POLICE CHEAT ON THEIR EXAMS!

U.S.

Marijuana saves Colorado! Illegal immigrants protected in Idaho? : September 2016 U.S. FEDERAL, STATE & LOCAL SHENANIGANS

Incomplete list (there’s just too much government BS to be able to keep up with all of it) of U.S. Federal/State/Local Government self-destruct announcements for September 2016:

Arkansas:  July sales tax revenues for the cities of Fayetteville,  Rogers, Springdale, Bentonville were up compared to July of 2015.  There was no immediate explaination for the increase in tax revenues.

Arizona:  Counties are begging the state goverment to raise gas taxes, threatening an increase in property taxes as an alternative.  County leaders point out that since 2008 state administrators have used gas tax revenues for things other than road repairs!

California: Not only has Cupertino based Apple avoided paying its fair share of taxes to the not-so Golden State, as well as Taiwan, United States and European Union, but also failed to pay its fair share of taxes owed to Japan! Apple was apparently offshoring profits made in Japan to its tax haven operations in Ireland.  Once caught Apple administrators quickly agreed to pay Japan $118-million USD in back-due taxes!  Last month The Guardian reported that the Obama regime is threatening the European Union (an ally of the U.S.) for demanding U.S. companies like Apple pay their fair share in taxes!

Colorado: As everything else declines state and local tax revenues from marijuana sales continue to climb, but local news reports say desperate cities addicted to tax revenues are now fighting over how much of the state collections they’ll get, and how they can spend the money.  For an example, the city of Edgewater claims they’ll make $1.2-million USD off the sale of marijuana! 

Idaho: The State Police will stop enforcing a booze law that allows them to crash establishments that serve alcohol during ‘live sex acts’.  It’s the result of a lawsuit that proved that the law being used to harass bars with adult performers is too vague, and possibly unconstitutional.    And the State Police are being sued for the 2013 killing of a Montana man.  The man was questioned by police for 40 minutes before they shot him while he was sitting in the passenger’s seat of his car.  Police claim the license plates didn’t match the man’s car and that there was a gun in the glove box. The family of the victim says police dash-cam video shows their son never threatened police with any gun.  Boise State Public Radio revelaed that the federal government refuses to reveal how many illegal immigrants in Idaho get deported.  The U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Immigration and Customs Enforcement admitted that actual deportations have declined since 2012, due to a focus on immigrants convicted in court of crimes other than immigration violations.   Here in Idaho deportations in 2015 dropped by about 4-hundred compared to 2011.  And in Camas County, actor Bruce Willis‘ plans for a private airport crashed and burned after complaints from residents, and the city of Ketchum claimed it violated local laws.  Apparently the land was zoned specifically for agricultural use.

Indiana: Dearborn County facing crashing riverboat gambling tax collections as analysts expect a 15% decline in the next two years.  Local news reports say the county has been relying on casino taxes to support its budget and even with projected declines the casino tax still brings in the most revenue.

Louisiana: More proof of a Failed State; the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Department eliminating 26 jobs, directly blaming crashing sales tax revenues.

Michigan: More proof of a Failed State; Montcalm County eliminating 20 jobs due to crashing tax revenues.  Operating costs have outpace tax revenues by $2-million USD per year since 2012!  Detroit Metropolitan Airport claims skyrocketing revenues from fees charged to airlines, to vendors and for parking.  Thomas Naughton, CEO of the airport, credits “…increased demand and air service opportunities that have resulted in part by keeping our airline rates competitive…” Grand Rapids owned Indian Trails Golf Course threatening the city budget due to its $2.8-million income tax funded renovation.  The problem is that optimistic city leaders expected almost $700-thousand from customer fees to help repay the renovation, which is now 50 days behind schedule.

Mississippi: The city of Jackson eliminating 28 jobs in an attempt to balance their budget.  In Leake County, the troubled taxpayer funded Mormon corporate run Management and Training Corporation’s (MTC) Walnut Grove child prison shutdown after a lawsuit revealed years of sexual abuse, illicit drugs and physical abuse of child prisoners by corporate correctional officers.

Missouri: Kansas City reports a 58% increase in revenues due to its ‘special’ property and sales tax created to fund its new downtown public transportation streetcars.  However, analysts point out that most of the increased revenues took place before the streetcar system went into operation and that the actuall economic impact of the new streetcar system is not yet knowable.

Nebraska: The Omaha Public Power District eliminating an ‘estimated’ 4-hundred jobs at the soon to be shutdown Fort Calhoun nuke plant!

New Mexico: The state Department of Tourism shutting down 50% of its visitor centers claiming its due to lack of use, but its really because the gov’na ordered a 5% reduction in spending.

Oklahoma:  Oklahoma City revealed sales tax revenues continue to crash, and ordered more city government layoffs.  The city needs to cut an additional $4.5-million USD.  Reduced tax collections forced Comanche County to reduce next year’s budget by $204-thousand.

Pennsylvania: Local news reports say the city of Hazelton is short $813-thousand in tax collections, yet the mayor is asking for a 5% increase in spending so he can hire more people.

Tennessee: Evil Nashville based tax-sucking for profit prison company CCA (Corrections Corporation of America) laid off 55 HQ employees due to the federal government ending reliance on corporate run, yet still taxpayer funded, prisons.

Texas: Brown County reports that all cities within the county are suffering crashing sales tax revenues, for the fourth month in a row.  However, some cities leaders swear their sales tax collections will be up for the year.   The city of Plainview unanimously adopted a new budget that increased property values (a backdoor way of increasing property taxes) without hearing any public comment on the budget plan.

Virginia: City of Falls Church claims hard-to-believe tax revenues from a two months old mega-gorcery store/apartment complex combo, and that’s despite a sudden change of corporate ownership.  The city council is crediting the new mega-gorcery store/apartment complex for helping create almost $500-thousand USD more than what was expected in fiscal year tax collections.  The city of Fredericksburg claims an across the board increase in tax revenues.  City leaders credit tourism for most of the tax revenue increases. Fairfax County wants to rape the tourists even more by proposing a 4% meal tax!  Residents will vote on the proposal in November. 

Washington: King County claims their local economy is strong, yet property tax revenues continue to go down.  County leaders warn they must cut $22-million USD from next year’s budget, meaning jobs.    Davis County wants to massively jack up property taxes for 2017.  Leaders want an additional $7.2-million for county operations and $1.25-million for the county library system.   

Washington DC: More proof of a Failed State; the Congress passed yet anther short term spending bill to avoid federal government shutdown.  The new spending bill is good only until December, and will cost taxpayers trillions of U.S. dollars.  Federal tax collector Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced it must kill-off more than 7-thousand jobs between now and 2024, due to crashing hard copy filings of income tax ‘returns’!    The massive layoffs will directly affect the states of California, Kentucky, Missouri, Texas and Utah.

Wisconsin: The ijiot ‘Right to Work’ you over gov-na Scott Walker is now so desperate to save his Failed State economy he’s proposing a sales tax holiday on school supply items.  If the state cheese-weenie-head ‘lawmakers’ approve it it’ll go into effect in the 2017-19 school year.

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

ISRAEL RAPES U.S. TAXPAYERS OF $38-BILLION IN NEW MILITARY FUNDING!

MORE U.S. TAXPAYER FUNDED MD-530 HELICOPTERS FOR AFGHANISTAN 

FALSE FLAG: 15 YEARS LATER 9/11 BS CONTINUES, AT TAXPAYER EXPENSE!

End of Days? U.S. Forest Service and Department of Defense spend your taxes buying more firefighting planes, because they expect the wildfire season to get worse!

U.S. AFRICOM: FROM WAR ON TERROR TO WAR ON POACHING

August 2016: “EVERYTHING IS ON THE TABLE….NO ONE IS SAFE.”

Business/Economics

Sears Kmart Shutdown, September 2016 : 2,583 stores up for lease or sale!

Sears Canada reports sales continue to crash.  For their 2nd quarter of 2016 Sears Canada lost $66-million CAD.  But that’s actually not bad when you realize the Canadian dollar lost value, and that the majority of retail operators in Canada and the U.S. suffered huge sales declines in the 2nd quarter.

Sears Holdings has revealed a list of stores being considered for “opportunities”.  The list of 2583 properties available (which includes vacant properties, but mainly currently operating stores) can be found at the Sears Holdings Real Estate web site.    Spokesman Howard Riefs swears that the list of store opportunities “…is not an indication that there are plans to close the store itself.”  

The taxpayers of Wausha, Wisconsin, are about to be raped for $700-thousand USD as the city’s Finance Committee voted four to one to buy the vacant Sears building at the Wausau Center Mall!  It should be pointed out that the taxpayers of Wausha already own the land the Sears building sits on!  What are the city’s big plans for the vacant Sears building? To sell it off to another sucker, of course.

Business Insider: Kmart employees and mall owner reveal additional shutdowns!

SEARS KMART UPDATE, AUGUST 2016: BEWARE OF LAMPERTS ‘DONATING’ PROPERTY TO COLLEGES!

U.S. Food Crisis August 2016: ALBERTSONS MAKES “BILLIONS IN PROFITS” YET PAYS EMPLOYEES WELFARE WAGES!

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

Alabama: 27 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  After 16 years the Troy Sears Hometown Store suddenly shutdown, the contracted owners said they couldn’t find anybody willing to take over the contract. Oxford Sears (local news reports said the Oxford Sears opened in 1985 with 225 employees!), Birmingham Kmart on Chalkville Mountain, Decatur Kmart on Beltline Road, Homewood Kmart, Mobile Kmart on Z Schillingers Road. The Montgomery Sears store and Auto Center in the Eastdale Mall shutting down, 56 jobs lost in June 2016. City leaders of Anniston have agreed to fork over $3-million precious local tax dollars to fund the re-development of an abandoned Kmart. Prattville Kmart will shutdown in April 2016, 70 jobs lost. Florence Kmart in March, 64 jobs lost in 2016. A local news report said the employees knew nothing about it and were shocked to hear it from the news media! Dothan Kmart (south side of Ross Clark Circle) shutting down in March, 56 jobs lost in 2016. Gadsden Kmart (50 jobs lost), Mobile Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Auburn Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Anniston Kmart (no word yet on how many jobs lost), Birmingham Eastwood Kmart (70 jobs lost), Decatur Mall Sears (91 jobs lost), Fort Payne Kmart, Northport Kmart (68 jobs lost), Dothan Sears (68 jobs lost), Huntsville Kmart (73 jobs lost), Sears Store and Auto Center at the Bel Air Mall in Mobile (more than 100 jobs lost).

Alaska: The Anchorage Sears Store & Auto Center, the Wasilla Sears Store, the Fairbanks Sears Store & Auto Center made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  

Arkansas: 17 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  Sears store and Auto Center in Pine Bluff shutting down in August 2016. Little Rock Sears shutdown in July 2016.

Arizona: 42 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Nogales Kmart shutdown by July 2016, despite the fact that it’s a profit making store (many of its cash paying customers cross the border from Mexico). The Prescott Valley Kmart shutdown April 2016. No word on how many jobs lost, but one employee was quoted by local news as saying “Walmart won.” Reports that the Glendale Kmart will shutdown, no word on job losses. Scottsdale Sears/Great Indoors, Chandler Sears/Great Indoors. Recently revealed Arrowhead Towne Center Sears sold-off then rented back! Chandler Fashion Center Sears sold-off then rented back!

California: 233 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!!!  Sears Holdings shutdown a Los Angeles Kmart, 132 jobs lost in May 2016! Dinuba Kmart 68 jobs lost, Lodi Kmart, Tulare Kmart, Wasco Kmart. Sears Holdings created Seritage Growth Properties is renting out half of three Sears stores; one in Roseville, one in Citrus Heights and one in Sacramento. Supposedly Sears will continue its operations in the other half of the buildings. On 10 March the Garden Center roof of the Santa Rosa Kmart collapsed during a rain storm. Fire inspectors said the roof was already compromised due to dry rot before the rain storm, a local news reporter said managers knew about the condition of the roof because it was sagging, and they called in contractors. The contractors tried to prop up the roof before the rain storm hit. Anaheim Kmart shutdown, 107 jobs lost in 2016! The Chula Vista Kmart, San Mateo Sears and Citrus Heights Kmart shutdown between March and April 2016, a total of 3-hundred jobs lost! El Monte Sears (at least 40 jobs lost. Damien Arrula, El Monte’s economic development director, said the store manager had lied about what was going on: “The general manager of the store had just indicated to me that they were remodeling.”

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

Colorado: 40 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  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: Local news media pointed out that every remaining Sears and Kmart store in the state is on the new Sears Holdings Real Estate “opportunities” list! Putnam Kmart. Waterbury Big Kmart, Torrington Kmart (73 jobs lost), Enfield Sears Optical (no word on jobs lost), Wallingford Sears Appliance & Hardware (employees say the shutdown was a surprise, I guess they don’t read Blind Bat News), Wallingford Sears Appliance & Hardware (at least 13 jobs lost).

Delaware: Seven Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  Dover Kmart (at least 72 jobs lost, some reports said 100), Seaford Sears (30 jobs lost), Claymont Kmart (87 jobs lost).

Florida: 173 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!!   In Orlando, the 50 years old Fashion Square Mall Sears & Auto Center shutting down, 101 jobs lost by mid-November! Inverness Sears Hometown suddenly shutdown due to disagreements with the landlord. Jacksonville Sears. Mandarin (Jacksonville) Kmart, Neptune Beach Kmart and Perry Kmart shutting down between July-September. The Lutz Kmart shutdown March 2016, 62 jobs lost. The 46 years old Daytona Beach Kmart, on International Speedway Boulevard, is shutdown mid-March 2016, 86 jobs lost. Fernandina Beach Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Callaway Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Orange City Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Deland Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Stuart Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), West Palm Beach Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Port St. Lucie Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Crystal River Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), New Smyrna Beach Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Saint Augustine Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Pompano Beach Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Jacksonville Kmart on 5751 Beach Boulevard (71 jobs lost), second Kmart in Jacksonville on 4645 Blanding Boulevard (83 jobs lost), Ocoee Sears (102 jobs lost), Pensacola Kmart on Airport Boulevard closed in 2011, Pensacola Kmart on Mobile Highway closed in February 2013 (69 jobs lost), Pensacola Kmart on East 9 Mile Road will close in May (73 jobs lost), Hialeah Kmart (67 jobs lost), Bonita Springs Kmart (67 jobs lost), Mount Dora Kmart (100 jobs lost), Lake Mary Kmart, Panama City Beach Kmart (54 jobs lost), Winter Park Kmart (100 jobs lost), Niceville Kmart (59 jobs lost), Winter Haven Kmart (92 jobs lost), Palm Bay Kmart, Oakland Park Kmart (112 jobs lost), Clearwater Sears Auto Center (21 jobs lost), Zephyrhills Kmart (70 jobs lost), Winter Springs Kmart (69 jobs lost), Naples Kmart (72 jobs lost), New Port Richey Kmart (58 jobs lost), ‘redevelopment’ of Aventura Sears & Auto Center into an “open-air village” (unknown how many jobs affected), Kmart on Northeast 108 Street being annexed by Miami Shores, Sears Holdings threatens to shutdown Kmart as a result of higher local taxes. The property that’s home to an operating Kmart, on South Green Bay Road in Racine, was foreclosed by the local Sheriff and sold-off for $2.5-million, no word on what the new property owner will do with it. Fort Myers Kmart (67 jobs lost). Dicks Sportings Goods subleasing space in an existing Sears store in Palm Beach Gardens.

Georgia: 63 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! The 23 years old Rome Kmart shutdown in August 2016, 1-hundred jobs lost! Administrators say employees can apply at other Sears Holdings stores, but local news reports say the Rome Kmart is the last Sears Holdings store in the area! The 37 years old Carrollton Kmart shutdown April 2016. Dublin Kmart shutdown in April 2016, 71 jobs lost. Milledgeville Kmart shutdown in April 2016, 60+ jobs lost. Mount Berry Square Mall (Rome) Sears and Auto Center shutting down in March 2016, 86 jobs lost. Macon Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Buford Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Douglasville Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Atlanta Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Columbus Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Jonesboro Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Cartersville Kmart (74 jobs lost), Hiram Kmart (53 jobs lost), Marietta-East Cobb Kmart, Warner Robins Kmart (77 jobs lost), Coweta County Kmart distribution center (164 jobs lost), one of the last two North Augusta Kmart to be torn down by new property owner from Canada, Sears Holdings denies the Kmart will shutdown.

Guam: Tamuning Kmart made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  Sears Hometown Store.

Hawaii: 14 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  Iconic 25 years old Nimitz HWY Iwilei-Honolulu Kmart shutdown in March 2016, 141 jobs lost! Honolulu Sears (owned by GGP, 372 jobs lost! GGP spending $573-million chopping it up into smaller store spaces), Kauai Sears (41 jobs lost), Iwilei-Honolulu Kmart for lease (no confirmation of store closing).

Idaho: Lewiston Kmart, Boise Town Square Mall Sears Store & Auto Center, Boise Kmart Auto Center, the Nampa Kmart Store & Auto Center, the Coeur d’Alene Kmart and Sears Store & Auto Center, the Twin Falls Sears Store & Auto Center and Kmart, the Ammon Kmart, the Idaho Falls Sears Store & Auto Center, the abandoned but still owned by Sears Holdings Chubbuck (the “opportunities” listing incorrectly says Pocatello) Sears Store (esentially all remaining Sears & Kmarts in Idaho) made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Boise Kmart on Fairview shutdown mid-March 2016, 56 jobs lost. Pocatello Kmart shutdown April 2016, 65 jobs lost. Lewiston Sears (at least 60 jobs lost), Rexburg Kmart (63 jobs lost), Chubbuck Pine Ridge Mall Sears shutdown by the end of October/beginning of November 2014 (the remaining 28 jobs lost).

Illinois: 116 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!!  An update for the abandoned Rock Island Kmart; the recently vacated property was ‘donated’ to Augustana College, but now college adminitrators are looking to sell the property to anybody foolish enough to buy it. The real reason the college is trying to dump the vacant Kmart is that the property tax is about $92-thousand per year, indicating the ‘donation’ was actually a screw-job (lets not forget that local news media pointed out that city officials spent $15-million tax dollars attracting Walmart to town, but spent zilch on trying to keep Kmart from leaving!). The Kmart Super Center in Bradley shutdown, 125 jobs lost! Sears Holdings sold the building to Meijer, unconfirmed reports say the Bradley Kmart Super Center (which has a full grocery op) was actually making money. After 90 years Chicago Sears on Lawrence Avenue shutting down by August 2016, local news says its the oldest Sears store still operating. The last Decatur Kmart shutting down by August 2016, 61 jobs lost, administrators say employees can apply at other Sears Holdings stores, but local news reports say there are no more Sears Holdings stores in the immediate area! Chicago Kmart on South Pulaski. Danville Kmart, Galesburg Kmart, Lansing Kmart, Pekin Kmart, Eddie Lampert eliminated 401 Hoffman Estates HQ jobs due to crappy 2015 holiday sales! 151 of those jobs were already vacant. Morton ‘green’ Kmart shutting down by the end of April 2016, 47 jobs lost. Canton Kmart shutting down mid-April 2016, 38 jobs lost. Alton Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Melrose Park Sears parts and repair center (50 jobs lost), Zion Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Oak Lawn Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), McHenry Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Peru Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Lombard Sears/Great Indoors (at least 40 jobs lost), Fairview Heights Kmart (81 jobs lost), Freeport Kmart (45 jobs lost), Pontiac Kmart (more than 47 jobs lost), Homer Glen Kmart (82 jobs lost), Streator Kmart (45 jobs lost), Lombard Kmart (70 jobs lost), Naperville Kmart (98 jobs lost), Calumet Sears (164 jobs lost), two Sears stores in Grand Crossing area of Chicago (247 jobs lost!), Mount Vernon Sears (68 jobs lost), Moline Sears (at least 60 jobs lost), Homewood Kmart (185 jobs lost), Belvidere Kmart (91 jobs lost?) revealed is now a perpetual closing sale Kmart At A Discount store, Champaign’s Market Place Mall Sears (56 jobs lost), Sterling Kmart (60 jobs lost), Montgomery Kmart (81 jobs lost), Mattoon Sears (more than 40 jobs lost), Chicago Sears on North State Street (160 jobs lost), Chicago Sears Craftsman Experience store, Galesburg Sears (46 jobs lost), White Lake Township Kmart (42 jobs lost), Orland Park Sears Appliance, Collinsville Kmart (84 jobs lost), Crystal Lake Kmart (at least 77 jobs lost), Danville Sears store & Auto Center (63 jobs lost), Forsyth Sears store & Auto Center (45 jobs lost), Peoria Kmart (73 jobs lost), Forest Park Kmart (107 jobs lost), Chicago Sears on North and Harlem avenues, supposedly it’s being replaced (most likely at taxpayer expense) with a new building and it will become a Sears-Mariano’s store, Bloomington Kmart (79 jobs lost), Hoffman Estates Headquarters 100 jobs eliminated, another 15 corporate jobs eliminated elsewhere, Chicago-Wicker Park Kmart (106 jobs lost), abandoned Market Place Mall Sears location to be occupied by Dick’s Sporting Goods and Field & Stream. 58 Chicago area stores up for lease or sale. North Mayfair Kmart (99 jobs lost), Chicago Kmart at 5033 North Elston Avenue (99 jobs lost). By the way, Illinois elected officials gave Sears Holdings/Hoffman Estates a $150 million USD tax break to keep their headquarters in the state. The tax break was not tied to any promise not to close stores.

Indiana: 67 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Bloomington Kmart, New Albany Kmart. Bloomington’s College Mall Sears & Auto Center shutdown mid-June 2016, at least 52 jobs lost. In Schererville, Sears Hardware shutdown in April 2016. Terre Haute Kmart April 2016, 62 jobs lost. Anderson Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Saint John Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Indianapolis Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Richmond Sears (49 jobs lost), South Anthony Kmart (70 jobs lost), Fort Wayne Kmart on South Anthony Boulevard (70 jobs lost), FairOaks Mall Kmart, Logansport Sears (43 jobs lost), Muncie Kmart (59 jobs lost), Fort Wayne Kmart on Coliseum Boulevard North (69 jobs lost), Decatur Kmart (49 jobs lost), Indianapolis Kmart on Madison Avenue (131 jobs lost), Indianapolis Kmart on Washington Street (139 jobs lost), Bedford Kmart (62 jobs lost), Indianapolis (Evansville) Sears & Auto Center at Washington Square Mall (91 jobs lost), Greenwood Kmart (78 jobs lost), Plymouth Kmart (68 jobs lost), Bloomington Sears to be replaced by Whole Foods grocery store.

Iowa: 22 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Des Moines Southridge Mall Sears shutting down by August 2016, the store was in the process of dying anyway, only 37 employees left. Sears Holdings shutdown their West Des Moines call center in June 2016, 162 jobs lost! Ottumwa Kmart shutdown April 2016, 38 jobs lost. Cedar Rapids Kmart on 16th Ave (at least 40 jobs lost), Davenport Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Burlington Kmart (50 jobs lost), Coralville Sears (94 jobs lost, this is a store sold to GGP earlier in the year), Cedar Rapids Kmart on Collins Road NE (56 jobs lost), Mason City Kmart (50 jobs lost), Clive Kmart (at least 49 jobs lost), Ames Kmart (44 jobs lost), Fort Dodge Sears (no job loss numbers made public, yet. The Auto Center was secretly shutdown in September), 56 years old Mason City Sears & Auto Center (more than 100 jobs lost). Davenport Kmart (59 jobs lost), Belvidere Kmart (67 jobs lost).

Kansas: 18 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  In El Dorado, a contracted Sears store suddenly shutdown due to Sears Holdings continually changing the contract: “We had a contract that we had to follow to a ‘T’ while they changed it at will. They changed our commission bonuses and percentages and that hurt us.”-Russ Christy, contracted Sears store operator

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

Kentucky: 31 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Two Kmarts in Louisville. Elizabethtown Kmart, Maysville Kmart, Paintsville Kmart. Middlesboro Sears (in September 2012 the Sears store re-opened under independent ownership, official grand re-opening scheduled for November), Winchester Kmart, Hazard Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Lexington Fayette Mall Sears (114 jobs lost!), Newport Kmart (81 jobs lost), Cannonsburg Sears and Sears Auto Center (no employee info given), Louisville Dixie Highway Kmart/Sears/Kmart shutdown and now being taken over by Kroger basically to sell the same crap the old Kmart did! Madisonville Kmart (39 jobs lost), Owensboro Sears store & Auto Center (52 jobs lost).

Louisiana: 36 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! The Bossier Kmart shutting down by August 2016. Houma Sears, Pineville Kmart. Slidell Sears (77 job lost), Gretna Kmart (94 jobs lost), Metairie Kmart secretly sold off, no word if it will be shutdown, Laplace Sears Hometown Store.

Maine: 13 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list. Presque Isle Aroostook Centre Mall Kmart shutting down by August 2016, more than 50 jobs lost. 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: 54 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Ellicott Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Gaithersburg Sears/Great Indoors, Landover Sears rebuild & call center (115 jobs lost), Baltimore Kmart on Wabash Avenue (107 jobs lost), Parkville Kmart (102 jobs lost), California Kmart (71 jobs lost), Sears Hometown Store in Perryville.

Massachusetts: 64 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Tewksbury Kmart. Fairhaven Sears Appliance & Hardware shutdown mid-April 2016. Local news reports said the ignorant employees actually thought the shutdown notice was a joke! I guess they don’t read Blind Bat News. 79 jobs lost as the Fall River Kmart shutdown in May 2016. North Reading Sears Hardware store closed, lease not renewed, Milford Kmart (80 jobs lost), Kingston Kmart (73 jobs lost). Braintree Kmart on Grossman Drive shutdown. Also, the Braintree South Shore Plaza Sears store is renting out an entire floor to Ireland based Primark. Even with the lease to Primark there is still 4-thousand square feet of vacant space in the Sears store. The Sears at the Auburn Mall shutdown on Black Friday due to electrical fire. The store was experiencing electrical problems, an investigation is underway.

Michigan: 113 Sears and Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!! The Holland Sears Appliance & Hardware shutdown, the manager of the francise store refused to say why. Plymouth Township Super Kmart shutting down by November 2017 (that’s when the lease expires). According to Plymouth’s Planning Commission, Sears Holdings is selling the property to a developer. A Kmart on Groesbeck Highway, Clinton Township, shutting down, 82 jobs lost by October 2016. The Farmington Hills Kmart shutting down by mid-July 2016, 61 jobs lost. Midland Sears, Houghton Lake Kmart, Taylor Kmart. The Bradley Kmart has a new owner who is shutting it down in 2016. Retailer Meijer bought the Kmart property for $5-million USD. The Kmart shutdown in May, but the new Meijer store won’t be ready until 2018. The Sears and Auto Center in Fort Gratiot shutdown by mid-March, 48 jobs lost. Ironwood Kmart by mid-April, 47 jobs lost. Sears/Great Indoors, Brighton Sears Grand/Essentials, Harper Woods Sears Full line, Monroe Sears Full line, Adrian Sears Full line, Washington Township Kmart, Chesterfield Kmart, Woodhaven Kmart, Saginaw Kmart on Bay Road, Flint Kmart on Dort Highway (46 jobs lost), Gaylord Kmart (48 jobs lost), Sterling Kmart (58 jobs lost), Bloomfield Township Kmart and Sears, Bad Axe Kmart (61 jobs lost), Ypsilanti Township Kmart (83 jobs lost), Petoskey Kmart (45 jobs lost), Saint John’s Kmart (48 jobs lost), White Lake Township “Store of the Future” Kmart (42 jobs lost), Grand Blanc Kmart (49 jobs lost), Lapeer Kmart (56 jobs lost), Southgate Kmart (155 jobs lost), Detroit’s Telegraph Road Kmart (115 jobs lost), Waterford Township Sears (no word on how many jobs lost), Rochester Hills Kmart (77 jobs lost), ‘perfect Kmart town’ of Port Huron Kmart (188 jobs lost), Flint Kmart on Miller Road (81 jobs lost), Burton Kmart (85 jobs lost), Madison Heights Kmart (179 jobs lost), it’s now official the last remaining Saginaw Kmart (on Gratiot Road) will remain shutdown after its roof collapsed during a snowstorm back in January 2014 (Sears Holdings claims only 18 people worked there at the time of the collapse!), Ann Arbor Kmart (59 jobs lost), Iron Mountain Kmart (54 jobs lost), Bangor Township Sears aka Bay City Mall Sears, the Auto Center was already secretly shutdown some time ago (at least 47 jobs lost), Big Rapids Kmart (about 50 jobs lost). Vacant Wyandotte Sears Auto Center is being renovated at a cost to taxpayers of $1-million & 20-thousand, plus 15 years worth of tax breaks valued at $2-million! Shakopee Kmart distribution center shutdown and sold-off for $17-million in 2013, now it’s finally getting a new tenant; snowmobile and electric cart maker Polaris Industries will rent out a fraction of the building to use as their new parts warehouse. The Kmart Plaza in Sandusky sold to “A group of investors”, no word on what will happen to the Kmart store.

Minnesota: 32 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  The 40 years old Eden Prairie Center Sears store shutting down in time for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. Eddie Lampert sold the store to the mall owner for $16-million! The owner of the mall wants to carve up the Sears into smaller stores. Dundas Kmart in April 2016, 32 jobs lost. Thunderbird Mall Kmart shutdown in April 2016, 48 jobs lost. Willmar Kmart, Duluth Kmart, New Hope Kmart, White Bear Lake Kmart, Bemidji Kmart, Monticello Kmart, GGP owned Sears Auto Center in the Apache Mall closed (10 jobs lost), the entire Sears store in the Apache Mall being sold off, Fergus Falls Kmart (40 jobs lost), Fergus Falls Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Alexandria Kmart (46 jobs lost), Grand Rapids Kmart (61 jobs lost), Seritage is selling off three Sears Auto Centers in Minnetonka, Brooklyn Center and Saint Paul, Marshall Kmart (57 jobs lost), Oakdale Kmart (77 hourly wage employees losing their jobs, unknown how many salaried employees will become unemployed), Winona Kmart (67 jobs lost), Minneapolis city officials trying to shutdown profit making Nicollet Avenue Kmart, to make way for a new road. Anoka Kmart (47 jobs lost), Blaine Kmart (60 jobs lost), Burnsville Kmart (62 jobs lost), Waite Park Kmart (57 jobs lost), Northeast Minneapolis Sears Hometown & Outlet store now for sale, Coon Rapids Sears Hometown & Outlet store now for sale.

Mississippi: 14 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  Corinth Kmart. The 44 years old Greenville Kmart shutdown in April, no word on job losses. Jackson Sears Full line, McComb Sears Full line, Columbus Sears Full line, Gautier Sears (71 jobs lost), Waveland Gulfport Kmart (32 jobs lost), Pass Road Gulfport Kmart (52 jobs lost), Pascagoula Sears at the Singing River Mall, Olive Branch distribution center (unknown how many jobs lost).

Missouri: 48 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Bridgeton Kmart, Springfield Kmart. 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: The Hamilton Kmart, Havre Kmart, Helena Kmart, Glendive Kmart, Billings Sears Store & Auto Center, Butte Kmart, Great Falls Kmart Store & Auto Center, Kalispell Kmart Store & Auto Center (essentially all remaining stores) made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Billings Kmart. 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: Six Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  40 years old Hastings Kmart. Grand Island Kmart (55 jobs lost), Omaha Kmart near West Maple Road (50 jobs lost).

Nevada: 22 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Sparks Kmart distribution center (100 jobs lost).

New Hampshire: 23 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Nashau Sears Grand/Essentials, Keene Sears Grand/Essentials, Portsmouth Kmart (30 jobs lost), Claremont Kmart (59 jobs lost).

New Jersey: 53 Kmart and Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! Nearly one acre of the Rockaway Townsquare Mall Sears (which is still in operation) is now rented out to a furniture dealer. Lodi Kmart shutdown in April 2016, 75 jobs lost. Lawnside Kmart (about 80 jobs lost), Howell Kmart (57 jobs lost), Berlin Kmart, Dover Kmart (92 jobs lost), Randolf Kmart (91 jobs lost), Paramus Kmart (74 jobs lost), Closter Kmart (102 jobs lost), Vineland Kmart (74 jobs lost). After 18 years Sears Holdings shutdown their Roselle Sears Hardware store due to “landlord issues”.

New Mexico: 21 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! Back in May local news reports said the Artesia Kmart was shutting down, in July Sears Holdings finally confirmed it. Albuquerque’s Coronado Center Sears suddenly shutdown their Auto Center, and will reduce the size of the main store by 50% within two months. Sears goon Howard Riefs stated “We will rightsize the labor…”, but gave no numbers. The ‘rightsizing’ of the Coronado Center store is in partnership with one of my evil former employers, mall owner GGP. SearsLas Cruces Kmart (58 jobs lost), Albuquerque Kmart on Central SW (80 jobs lost), Rio Rancho Kmart (59 jobs lost).

New York: The second level of the Staten Island Sears shutting down right before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, 44 jobs killed, it’s been leased to Ireland’s clothier Primark. 104 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!! The 50 years old Sears Auto Center in the Colonie Center Mall shutdown by Sears Holdings subsidiary Seritage Growth Properties, so the space could be rented out to Avis-Budget Car Rental Group. In Brooklyn, the Kings Plaza Sears shutting down, 210 jobs gone by mid-September 2016! Eddie Lampert is renting the space to a couple of European clothing retailers. Sears Holdings issued a shutdown WARN for its Plattsburgh Sears store and Auto Center, 56 jobs lost by the end of July 2016. New York Post says Sears is shutting down their NYC clothing design office, 40 jobs moved to California, another 154 jobs gone by July! Rotterdam Mall Sears and Auto Center shutting down by August 2016 (67 jobs lost). Sears Holdings issued yet another WARN, this time 75 Rochester Kmart employees losing their jobs by mid-July 2016. Irondequoit Sears, Plattsburgh Sears, Poughkeepsie Kmart, Rochester Kmart. Staten Island Mall Sears Auto Center shutdown in February, 20 jobs lost. Lindenhurst Sears Hardware, North Babylon Sears Hardware, Hauppauge Sears Hardware, Depew (Lancaster?) Kmart (68 jobs lost), Colonie Kmart (72 jobs lost), Fulton Kmart (51 jobs lost), Clifton Park Kmart (74 jobs lost) now revealed to be turned into a Town Center with more than 200 apartments at an estimated cost of $50-million, Latham Kmart (61 jobs lost), East Greenbush-Rensselaer Kmart (70 jobs lost), Tonawanda Sears Appliance and Hardware, Bronx Sears (91 jobs lost), BBN reader reported that the Ithaca Sears and Auto Center shutdown and one month later it’s been officially confirmed (at least 37 jobs lost), DeWitt Kmart (92 jobs lost), Auburn Sears (51 jobs lost), Massena Sears and Auto Center (51 jobs lost), Staten Island Mall Sears leased out to Ireland’s Primark, Bay Shore Sears and Sears Auto Center (144 jobs lost), New Hartford (Sangertown Mall) Sears & Auto Center (109 jobs lost), Lancaster Kmart sold for $1.7-million to Dave’s Christmas Wonderland. Herkimer Sears Hometown, Saranac Lake Sears Hometown the ‘independent’ co-owners said Sears Holdings forced them to shutdown. Melville Appliance Repair Division (31 jobs lost).

North Carolina: 71 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! 40 years old Thomasville Kmart shutting down in time for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. Brevard Kmart, Gastonia Kmart, Lumberton Kmart, Pineville Kmart, Rocky Mount Kmart. Cary Kmart (71 jobs lost), High Point Sears, Moorehead Sears, Rocky Mount Sears, Statesville Sears, Durham Kmart (79 jobs lost), Asheville Kmart (53 jobs lost), West Smithfield Kmart (59 jobs lost), Winston-Salem Kmart (69 jobs lost), Hendersonville Kmart (58 jobs lost), South Ashville Kmart on Hendersonville Road, Raleigh Kmart (88 jobs lost), Garner Kmart, Cleveland County mall Sears (56 jobs lost), Charlotte Kmart (89 jobs lost), Conover Kmart (74 jobs lost), Raleigh Kmart on Capital Boulevard (53 jobs lost), High Point Kmart (71 jobs lost), Boone Kmart (41 jobs lost), Greensboro Kmart (96 jobs lost), Gastonia Sears store & Auto Center (65 jobs lost), Kinston Kmart (64 jobs lost), Cary Sears (66 jobs lost), Greensboro Kmart distribution center (130 jobs lost), Greenville Kmart (75 jobs lost), Kinston Sears Hometown Store shutdown with little notice, Lexington Sears Hometown Store.

North Dakota: 18 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  Jamestown Kmart (45 jobs lost), Dickinson Kmart (41 jobs lost, despite a “Now Hiring” sign on the front of the store).

Ohio: 124 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!! 18 years old Defiance Sears shutting down by August 2016. Marion Sears store (the Auto Center was shutdown in 2014), Ashtabula Kmart, Eaton Kmart, Fremont Kmart, Lima Kmart, Lorain Kmart, Springboro Kmart. Englewood Kmart, 57 jobs lost by the end of July 2016. Fort Stueben Mall Sears store and Auto Center, 53 jobs lost in June 2016. Sandusky Mall Sears store and Auto Center, 44 jobs lost in June 2016. 78 jobs lost as the Lancaster Kmart is shutdown in May 2016. 18 jobs lost as the Dixie Highway Sears Hardware shuts down this Friday. The 28 years old Sears and its Auto Center in New Philadelphia shutdown by mid-April 2016, 46 jobs lost. Without warning the Medina Sears Appliance & Hardware Store shutdown. Warren Kmart on Parkman Road NW shutdown in April 2016, 63 jobs lost. Zanesville Kmart shutdown mid-April 2016, 47 jobs lost. Steubenville Kmart shutdown by April 2016, 65 jobs lost. Boardman Kmart by April 2016, 81 jobs lost. Chagrin Falls Kmart, Springfield Kmart, two Toledo Kmarts, Medina Kmart, Columbus Kmart, Columbus Sears/Great Indoors, Zanesville Sears (67 jobs lost), Trotwood Kmart (71 jobs lost), Austintown Sears auto parts and service on Interstate Boulevard, London Kmart (no word on number of jobs lost), Trotwood Sears (67 jobs lost), Westlake Kmart/Sears (at least 57 jobs lost), Xenia Kmart (at least 57 jobs lost), Norwalk Kmart (52 jobs lost), Blue Ash Kmart (77 jobs lost), Northwood Sears at Woodville Mall (36 jobs lost), Conneaut Kmart (43 jobs lost), Anderson Township Kmart (71 jobs lost), Brooklyn Kmart (200 jobs lost), Columbus Lockbourne Industrial Parkway Sears distribution center (200 jobs lost), also in Columbus, Sears Product Rebuild-Call Center (112 jobs lost), Marion Sears Auto Center (at least nine jobs lost), Springfield Kmart #3767 (68 jobs lost), Fairborn Kmart (66 jobs lost), Solon Sears & Auto Center (at least 53 jobs lost), Tiffin Sears Hometown Store. Also, Van Wert Sears franchise bought out by Kirk Berryman, owner of Computer & Networking Technologies (CNT), who plans on moving the store to a new location. Fairlawn Sears Appliance & Hardware, Macedonia Sears Appliance & Hardware, Lorain Sears Appliance & Hardware, Elyria Sears Appliance & Hardware, North Olmsted Sears Appliance & Hardware, Sheffield Village Sears Appliance & Hardware, Akron Sears Appliance & Hardware.

Oklahoma: 23 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Oklahoma City Sears (98 jobs lost, GGP owned, GGP wants a $2 million sales tax rebate, claiming it’s needed to offset capital investments needed to bring the space up to the standards for potential new tenants), Shawnee Sears (31 jobs lost), Sand Springs Kmart (52 jobs lost), Muskogee Sears (60 jobs lost), Enid Sears and Auto Center (at least 38 jobs lost), Tulsa BigKmart (51 jobs lost).

Oregon: 23 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  A Blind Bat News reader warning that the Beaverton Kmart has replaced its permanent signage with temporary ones, and the store is looking empty. There’s been no public reports of the store shutting down. 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: 168 Sears and Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!! In July, Sears Holdings shutdown the Uniontown Kmart, killing at least 73 jobs. But the shutdown is also affecting a locally owned restaurant (Mark C’s Diner) still on the property, whose owners say their sales have crashed-n-burned since the shutdown. Now Sears Holdings say they are about to sell the Uniontown property in an effort to “realize shareholder value from the property”. Butler Sears, New Castle Sears, Beaver Falls Kmart, Philadelphia Kmart on Frankford Avenue. Two Pittsburgh Kmarts. Reading Kmart. Sears store in the Beaver Valley Mall, 62 jobs lost. Viewmont Mall Sears store and Auto Center, 86 jobs lost in July 2016. Reports that the Exton Kmart will shutdown, no word on job losses. Upper Darby Sears Full line, Pottstown Sears Full line, Pittsburgh Kmart, Wilkins Sears, Warminster Kmart (85 jobs lost), Shippensburg Kmart (46 jobs lost), Moon Kmart (143 jobs lost), Bethlehem Township Kmart (62 jobs lost), Philadelphia Gallery Mall Kmart (120 jobs lost), Philadelphia Kmart on Orthodox Street and Castor Avenue (169 jobs lost), Levittown/Middle Township Kmart (87 jobs lost), Waynesboro Kmart (43 jobs lost), Sanatoga-Lower Pottsgrove Kmart (65 jobs lost, the store was also advertising for new hires!), West Mifflin Sears store & Auto Center (88 jobs lost), Rochester Kmart (78 jobs lost), Frazer (Pittsburg Mills Mall) Sears and Auto Center (97 jobs lost), Bloomsburg Sears (57 jobs lost), Frackville Sears and Auto Center (84 jobs lost), North Cornwall Township Sears (51 jobs lost), King of Prussia Sears and Auto Center (no word on number of jobs lost), Lebanon Sears (51 jobs lost), Scotland Chambersburg Mall Sears and Auto Center (62 jobs lost), the upper level of the Willow Grove Mall Sears store to be leased by Primark, King of Prussia Sears store leased out to clothing retailer Primark, East Towne Mall Kmart (51 jobs lost), Frackville Kmart in the Skuylkill Mall (80 jobs lost), Mount Pocono Kmart (66 jobs lost), Fairless Hills Sears Hardware. Granite Run Mall shutdown, meaning the Sears and Sears Auto Center now apparently on a month to month (possibly day to day) lease are soon to follow. Brookhaven Kmart (89 jobs lost).

Puerto Rico: 31 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Vega Baja Kmart (206 jobs lost).

Rhode Island: Five Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.

South Carolina: 37 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! The 44 years old Orangeburg Kmart shutting down in August 2016. Camden Kmart. 61 jobs lost as the North Augusta Kmart is shutdown by May 2016. Sumter Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Orangeburg Sears (57 jobs lost), Columbia Kmart on Fort Jackson Boulevard in 2012, Columbia Kmart on Bush River Road in 2009, Columbia Kmart on St Andrews Road (66 jobs lost), Irmo Kmart (no info on how many jobs lost), both Greenville Kmarts (140 jobs lost between the two), Mount Pleasant Kmart (43 jobs lost), Harbison Sears & Sears Auto Center in the Columbiana Centre mall (97 jobs lost), Aiken Sears & Sears Auto Center (at least 54 jobs lost), Inlet Square Mall Kmart (50 jobs lost), West Ashely Kmart (69 jobs lost), Myrtle Beach Kmart (59 jobs lost), Easley Kmart (62 jobs lost).

South Dakota: 11 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  Huron Kmart, Yankton Kmart. The Pierre Kmart shutdown March 2016, 45 jobs lost. The Michell Kmart shutdown in April 2016, 52 jobs lost. Spearfish Kmart (51 jobs lost), Sturgis Kmart (57 jobs lost).

Tennessee: 58 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!   Local news reports say Sears Holdings has posted “Going out of business!” signs on the North Knoxville Kmart, however they could not get any confirmation of shutdown from corporate administrators. Bristol Kmart shutting down by August 2016. Athens Kmart, Sweetwater Kmart, Maryville Kmart. The Murfreesboro Kmart shutdown April, 43 jobs lost. A Memphis Sears and Auto Center (on Poplar Avenue) shutdown in April, 109 jobs lost! Clarksville Kmart shutdown in April, 68 jobs lost. Cleveland Kmart shutdown by mid-March 2016, 67 jobs lost. Antioch Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Cleveland Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Oak Ridge Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Hendersonville Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Morristown Sears (about 70 jobs lost), Clinton South Kmart, Franklin Cool Springs Galleria Sears (92 jobs lost), Memphis Hickory Ridge mall Sears (job loss data not revealed), 48 years old Nashville Kmart on Nolensville Pike to close by January 2014 (57 jobs lost), Franklin Kmart (33 jobs lost), Dickson Kmart (65 jobs lost), talks in progress to end lease for Bellevue (Nashville) Center Mall Sears, Nashville Bellevue Center Sears & Auto Center (at least 44 jobs lost).

Texas:  134 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!! Fort Stockton Sears Hometown Store was ‘re-branded’ the America’s Appliance Experts outlet. Sears Holdings revealed the Brownsville Kmart is shutting down by August. El Paso Kmart, Mission Kmart, Sweetwater Kmart. Two Sears parts and repair centers closing in The Woodlands (117 jobs lost), rebuild center in Garland (58 jobs lost), Farmers Branch Sears/Great Indoors, Houston Sears Great/Indoors, Dallas Sears home appliance parts distribution center (77 jobs lost), Simon Property Group owned McAllen Sears store & Auto Center (so far no word on how many jobs will be lost), recently revealed Palestine Sears Hometown (franchise owner quit to work as assistant manager at a local Dollar General). Wichita Falls Sikes Senter Mall Sears (56 jobs lost).

Utah: 16 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  Draper Kmart, Price Kmart, West Jordan Kmart. 35 years old Richfield Kmart shutdown in April 2016, 63 jobs lost. North Logan Kmart shutdown April 2016, 58 jobs lost. Murray Sears (local news media in Utah never reported the closure, but they reported that the building was demolished), Orem Kmart (no details reported), Woods Cross Kmart (54 jobs lost), Provo Kmart demolished in anticipation of yet another AtHome furniture store.

Vermont: Five Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  The Bennington Sears Hometown Store shutdown. Rutland Sears store & Auto Center (65 jobs lost), South Burlington Kmart (66 jobs lost).

Virgin Islands: Three Kmarts  made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.

Virginia: 63 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Christiansburg Kmart and the Hampton Kmart shutting down by August 2016. Chester Kmart, 76 jobs gone by mid-July 2016. The Cedar Bluff (50 jobs lost), Covington (36 jobs lost) and Virginia Beach on General Booth Boulevard (no job numbers reported) Kmarts shutdown between March and April 2016! The Sears Hometown Store in Culpeper. Norfolk Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Midlothian Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Richmond Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Lynchburg Sears (84 jobs lost), Fairfax Kmart (no word on how many jobs lost), Christiansburg Sears (59 jobs lost), Norfolk Kmart on East Little Creek Road (77 jobs lost), Manassas Kmart (71 jobs lost), Stafford Sears Hometown, Newport News-Denbigh Kmart (at least 50 jobs lost), Wise Kmart (58 jobs lost), Harrisonburg Kmart (79 jobs lost), Winchester Kmart (91 jobs lost), Dale City Kmart (69 jobs lost), Chesapeake Sears and Auto Center (82 jobs lost), Front Royal Kmart (88 jobs lost), Pembroke Mall Sears renting out part of their store to DSW & Nordstrom Rack, Sears Holdings say they’re still looking for a “third tenant” for their occupied space. The current nearby Sears Auto Center will be rented out to REI. Colonial Heights Kmart (113 jobs lost), Virginia Beach Hilltop Square Shopping Center Kmart (82 jobs lost).

Washington: 46 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! After officially denying that their Marysville Kmart was shutting down, calling it a “a bad rumor” and swearing to local news media that “the store will remain open”, guess what? Local news media reporting that the Marysville Kmart is now plastered with “store closing” signs, 47 jobs lost by by mid-July. Arrogantly Sears Holdings said the employees can apply at other Sears/Kmart stores, however, local news reports say it’s the last Kmart in all of Snohomish County. Eatonville Sears Hometown store. Walla Walla Sears Full line (in August 2012, it was reported that an independent owner of Sears Hometown stores will open a store in Walla Walla), Lacey Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Kelso Sears (47 jobs lost), Lakewood Kmart (59 jobs lost), Bellingham Sears (92 jobs lost), Seattle Kmart (85 jobs lost), East Wenatchee Sears (59 jobs lost), Puyallup Kmart (51 jobs lost), Oak Harbor Kmart (68 jobs lost), Sodo Sears and Sears Auto Center (79 jobs lost), Everett Kmart (65 jobs lost), Marysville Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost).

West Virginia: 34 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  The Bluefield Kmart shutting down by August 2016. Oak Hill Kmart (59 jobs lost), Morgantown Kmart (100 jobs lost), Bluefield Sears store & Auto Center (64 jobs lost).

Wisconsin: 36 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! Seritage Growth Properties is ‘downsizing’ the Sears store in the West Towne Mall, according to plans filed with the city of Madison. Those plans show a new restaurant taking up more than half of the space of the Sears store. Administrators refused to answer questions from the local news media. The Wausau Center Sears shutting down, 35 remaining employees became unemployed June 2016. Sears Holdings administrators would only say “we are accelerating the closings of unprofitable stores.” Hartford Kmart. Superior Kmart shutdown in April 2016, 42 jobs lost. West Baraboo Sears (at least 40 jobs lost, local village officials say the store generated 3% of local tax collections), Rice Lake Kmart (about 71 jobs lost), Brookfield Kmart (56 jobs lost), Racine’s Regency Mall Sears (52 jobs lost), Fort Atkinson Kmart (51 jobs lost), Greenfield Kmart (107 jobs lost), Portage Kmart (78 jobs lost) and Hales Corner (129 jobs lost), Chippewa Falls Kmart (79 jobs lost), Menomonie Kmart (at least 50 jobs lost), Ashwaubenon Kmart recently revealed now owned by Green Bay Packers, will be torn down (80 jobs lost), Shawano Kmart (55 jobs lost), Fond du Lac Sears (42 jobs lost), Glendale Sears store & Auto Center (86 jobs lost), Janesville Kmart (70 jobs lost), Glendale Sears Rebuild center (67 jobs lost), Sheboygan Sears & Auto Center (at least 31 jobs lost), Eau Claire Kmart (93 jobs lost), Plymouth Kmart (59 jobs lost before Xmas), Sheboygan Sears Rebuild Center (30 jobs lost), Wauwatosa Kmart (103 jobs lost).

Wyoming: Sheridan Kmart, Rock Springs Kmart, Riverton Kmart, Cody Kmart & Auto Center, Laramie Kmart, Jackson Kmart, Gillette Kmart, and in Casper and Cheyenne the Sears Stores & Auto Centers and Kmarts (essentially all remaining stores) made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!

Technology

MAFFS: Wildfire season 2018 going to be a hot one?

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10 September 2016 (15:32 UTC-07 Tango 01) 20 Shahrivar 1395/07 Dhu I-Hijja 1437/10 Ding-You 4714

North Carolina Air National Guard photo by First Lieutenant Monica Ebert.

Apparently the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of Defense (DoD) think the 2018 fire season is gonna’ be big because they’ve just added another MAFFS C-130 firefighting unit to their western states inventory.

Nevada National Guard 152 Airlift Wing’s brand new MAFFS C-130H

MAFFS stands for Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System.  The Forest Service owns the MAFFS, the DoD (through USAF Reserve and state militias) provides the C-130s and personnel to operate it.

C-130J MAFFS 4, Channel Islands, California

Currently there are three MAFFS units operated by the state militias of California, North Carolina and Wyoming, and one MAFFS Air Force Reserve unit out of Colorado.  Since early August MAFFS have already flown 142 firefighting missions, dropping more than 3.5-million pounds (1.6-million kilos) of fire-retardant in Idaho, Nevada and Oregon.

North Carolina ANG photo by First Lieutenant Monica Ebert.

Nevada’s 152 AW High Rollers will be used to augment the units from Colorado and Wyoming, and will be based in Reno.  While MAFFS fly missions across the country, the U.S. Forest Service wanted a new MAFFS unit whose home base is in the fire prone Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.  The MAFFS equipment is being transferred from North Carolina Air National Guard’s 145th Airlift Wing to Nevada’s 152nd Airlift Wing.

C-130H MAFFS 8, out of North Carolina

This year’s official fire season began MAFFS on-job-training for crews of the High Rollers: “The actual drops have been challenging and exhilarating. It’s a great feeling to see your immediate results whether we are dropping a protective line of retardant between the fire and someone’s property or dropping ‘mud’ directly on flames leaping from the tops of trees in an effort to slow the fire’s progress.”-Lietenant Colonel Tony Machabee, first member of the High Rollers to co-pilot a MAFFS mission

The U.S. Forest Service wants the new 152 AW MAFFS unit ready to launch for the 2018 wildfire season.  The Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences predicts that by 2050 the official U.S. wildfire season will be three weeks longer, and for several years now the Pacific Northwest has been dealing with major fires in the official off-season.

Video: 45 YEARS OF C-130 MAFFS OPS. WHO WOULD’VE KNOWN WILDFIRES WOULD BECOME SUCH A PROBLEM? 

Despite a busy wildfire season, Oregon based helicopter fire bomber operator Erickson Air Crane laid off 1-hundred people! Company administrators admitted that despite years of busy wildfire seasons they’re burned by massive debt to Wells Fargo (the evil bank owned by ‘christian’ agnostic Warren Buffett).

U.S.

“Everything is on the table….No one is safe.” : August 2016 U.S. Federal State & Local Shenanigans

Incomplete list of U.S. Federal/State/Local Government self-destruct announcements for August 2016:

Bill & Hillary Clinton claim they paid 34.2% of their income to federal income taxes.  They also claim they paid 9.8% of their ‘adjusted’ income to charity, mostly to their own charity informally called Clinton Family Foundation (which, by the way, is how they keep their daughter Chelsea employed, it’s officially called the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation).

Flip-Flopper Hillary: According to The Washington Times, Hillary Clinton helped create the not-so-free Obama regime’s free trade deal known as Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), but now as a presidential candidate Hillary Clinton claims she will cancel TPP becasue it’s not free or fair to the working class!

The Washington Post revealed that despite Donald Trump claiming his golf courses are worth tens of millions of U.S. dollars his state tax filings are claiming otherwise, but only because Trump is trying to reduce paying his fair share of taxes.  

California: Victor Valley Wastewater Reclamation Authority laid off 13 people.  VVWRA is paid by how much sewage water flows into their privately run treatment plant, and sewage flows crashed by 22% (since 2010), forcing VVWRA to conduct across the board layoffs.  VVWRA blames the city of Victorville for diverting one-millions gallons of sewage into the city run treatment plant.  The city of Victorville counters by blaming delayed construction of a new pipeline on VVWRA.  That pipeline is supposedly functional now, and was 94% funded by taxes from the federal government (through FEMA).  Not only has Cupertino based Apple avoided paying its fair share of taxes to the not-so Golden State, as well as the United States, but apparently failed to pay the equivilant of $14-million USD in taxes to the European Union!  The Guardian reports that the Obama regime is threatening the European Union (an ally of the U.S.) for demanding U.S. companies like Apple pay their fair share in taxes!  And San Francisco based Uber failed to pay Taiwan the equivilant of $6.3-million in taxes!  The government of Taiwan (an ally of the U.S.) says Uber hasn’t paid taxes since 2013!

Colorado: The Colorado Weekly Homebuyers List reports at least six property owners/businesses facing federal and state tax liens, just in Boulder County.

Delaware: Illinois based HVS Convention, Sports, and Entertainment Consulting ties Delaware with Idaho for the 8th highest hotel tax rate in the U.S.

Florida: Brevard County Court warning of layoffs due to state taxpayer funding cuts.  The county Clerk of Courts told local news that 28 jobs could be eliminated between now and January 2017.  Local news reports say Brevard County Court has been eliminating jobs since 2008; from 480 to now less than 3-hundred.

Idaho: A Fourth District Judge has thrown out a lawsuit challenging the 2014 law that heaps huge taxpayer funded incentives on companies moving to The Gem State.  Tens of millions in tax breaks (supposedly in the form of “reimbursements”) have already gone to companies like California based Amy’s Kitchen and Ireland’s Glanbia Foods. Agricultural news source Capital Press also revealed that an undisclosed food producer was recently given a $15-million tax credit for creating a piddly 80 jobs in Boise.  The state Depatment of Commerce claims that tax ‘reimbursments’ helped create 4,737 new jobs. But if companies aren’t paying their fair share of taxes how are the state and local governments going to make up for it?  By hitting Idaho residents with jacked up taxes and fees, of course.

If you’ve got a family and you’re thinking about moving to Idaho to get a job with one of those taxpayer subsidized companies, think again.  The Gem State is one of the worst when it comes to affordable child daycare, and the state government does nothing about it.  Economic Policy Institute says the average Idaho family spends $6-hundred per month per child on daycare.  Child Care Aware says from 2013 to 2014 childcare costs in Idaho skyrocketed by 19.9%!  Even a daycare operator says it’s not worth it to raise a family in Idaho: “Ultimately, when you do the math, and mom is only making X amount, how much of that money is going toward lunches out, and extra clothing, and taxes, and gas to get to and from? You have to look at all of that and see if it’s cost-effective.”-Megan MacCleary, Megan’s Munchkins Preschool, whose income from her daycare operation is so low she qualies for Medicaid (even though daycare rates have gone up Idaho still ranks third lowest for daycare operator/worker pay)

Indiana: Ball State University economist Michael Hicks warned that taxpayers are being raped in the name of saving the corporate retail industry: “We are in the fourth or fifth iteration of government subsidizing new development at the urging of property developers, consultant firms and bond attorneys. Each time a shiny new strip mall is opened, a small-business owner somewhere else is eventually put out of business. The cycle continues. Consultants get rich, local economic developers claim jobs and local taxpayers get struck with empty retail infrastructure they didn’t need, and not enough money to fix the schools…”

Kansas: More proof of Failed State-ism; yet again monthly state tax collections failed to cover state government expenses.  August tax collections were $10-million USD short of what was needed!  Blame unAmerican corporate America: “Individual income taxes beat estimates for the second month of the fiscal year, which is encouraging, but corporate, sale and use tax receipts continue to lag pulling down the overall totals.”-Nick Jordan,  Secretary of Revenue

Kentucky: Illinois based HVS Convention, Sports, and Entertainment Consulting says Kentucky experienced a 19.32% hotel tax revenue growth, the biggest growth in the U.S.

Massachusetts: The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority warning of mass layoffs due to being ‘in the hole’ by $100-million USD!  At least 60 MBTA janitors are being laid off, for a start.

Michigan:  Proof of Failed State-ism; Montcalm County Sheriff Department warning deputies of possibly layoffs due to the county being in the financial hole by $1.5-million USD.  County administrators revealed that since 2012 tax collections have fallen behind expenses by an average of $2-million per year!  (if the private sector can’t pay people enough, then people can’t pay taxes)

New Jersey: More proof of Failed State-ism; The city of Paterson shutdown 36 taxpayer funded summer camps, warned of 250 layoffs, forced furlough days for remaining employees, and  intentionally increase police issued traffic tickets to generate cash!  Even with the layoffs, and forcing police to arbitrarily issue 30-thousand (80 per day) additional money generating traffic tickets, city administrators whine that they will still be short $2.1-million USD!  The New York Times revelaed that when Chris Christie became governor he reduced the $30-million in taxes owed by the now dead Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort to just $5-million!  Now we know the reason why Trump went from being a Democrat to being a Republican; bribery!

New Mexico: Cibola County prison shutting down by October, 3-hundred jobs affected!  The prison has been operated by the evil for profit Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) since 1998, CCA refused to say why they’re shutting the prison down.  It might be connected to the fact the federal government’s own study shows “They do not save substantially on costs and … they do not maintain the same level of safety and security.”

New York: The town of Oyster Bay is $700-million USD in debt, 103 employees have been retired early and another 150 will be laid off!    John Venditto, town supervisor for 18 years, warned “Everything is on the table. There will be a proportion between non-exempt employees and exempt employees. No one is safe.”

By the way, former Oyster Bay commissioner Frederick Ippolito had his federal court sentencing delayed. He pled guilty to failing to pay taxes on a $2-million consulting fee he was paid while serving as the town’s planning and development commissioner.

Ohio: According to Crain’s Cleveland Business the Internal Revenue Service has filed federal tax liens against 21 businesses.

South Carolina: Illinois based HVS Convention, Sports, and Entertainment Consulting says South Carolina experienced a negative 3.22% hotel tax revenue ‘growth’, the biggest decline in the U.S.

Washington DC: The Congressional Budget Office says within ten years taxpayer spending on military and civilian government jobs will hit a 53 years low, due to crashing tax revenues and skyrocketing costs of operations (especially due to ObamaCare).  Already the Internal Revenue Service has eliminated 17-thousand tax collecting jobs in the past six years!

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

JULY 2016 U.S. FEDERAL/STATE/LOCAL GOVERNMENT SHENANIGANS