Grumpy Editor

SHADES OF THE WICKED WITCH: AVOID APPLE OFFERED NEAR END OF FLIGHT

So you think walking off a commercial airliner with an apple in a carry-on is nothing to worry about, asks Grumpy Editor.  Hold on.  That one apple could nick your wallet for $500.

Most media missed this one.

It’s the case of Crystal Tadlock, returning to the U.S. on a Delta Air Lines flight from Paris.  Nearing the U.S., flight attendants passed out apples in plastic bags for passengers who needed a snack. 

Sounds like a good gesture, right?

Tadlock put the fruit in her carry-on as a later treat for the second leg of her flight to Colorado.

Back on U.S. soil, Tadlock and her bags were randomly selected to be searched by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent, reports Fox 31 in Denver.  Tadlock said the agent pulled out the apple still in the plastic bag with Delta’s logo on it.

When questioned about the snack, Tadlock explained she received the apple from Delta and asked if she could throw it away or eat it. 

The Customs agent, as reported by the Fox affiliate, allegedly told her no and said there is a $500 fine for carrying undeclared fruit.

"He had asked me if my trip to France was expensive and I said, 'yeah.' I didn’t really get why he was asking that question, and then he said 'It’s about to get a lot more expensive after I charge you $500,'" said Tadlock.

Tadlock told Fox 31 she was frustrated with the incident and felt Delta should not have passed out the apples to passengers or should have at least reminded passengers not to take the fruit off the plane. She also thinks Customs could have handled the situation differently after seeing the fruit was in an airline-marked bag.

"It’s really unfortunate someone has to go through that and be treated like a criminal over a piece of fruit," added Tadlock.

 

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HAPPENS IN CHINA, TOO.  Seven students are killed and 12 injured in a stabbing rampage at a middle school in Mizhi county.  Knives are common weapons in violent crimes in China since the country tightly restricts private gun ownership.

GET BACK TO COVERING WEATHER?  With the House intelligence committee finding no evidence that Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016 presidential campaign, how is CNN and MSNBC going to fill up air time?  Suggestion:  Get back to covering breaking news events…or the weather.

CHINA CALLS U.S. “BULLY.”  The U.S. is “acting like a bully,” says a Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman in response to reports that the U.S. Treasury Department is considering using an emergency law to curb Chinese investments in sensitive technologies, reports Bloomberg Businessweek.

WSJ EYES MORE WOMEN READERS.  Talking Biz News reports that “a media battle is being fought over the next generation of business-minded women and The Wall Street Journal has achieved early success by recruiting nearly 200,000 female students as subscribers.”

43-YEAR-OLD SPIDER PASSES.  Australian scientists report the world’s oldest known spider --- a female Giaus Villosus or trapdoor spider --- died at the age of 43, outliving its nearest rival by 15 years.  The spider was under observation since 1974.

CODE TALKER DIES.  Ex-Marine Roy Hawthorne Sr., an Arizona Navajo “code talker” who used his native language in U.S. military communications to confound the Japanese in World War II, died at 92.  

TRUMP GREETS OFFSPRING OF D.C. JOURNALISTS.  President Donald Trump treats children of White House journalists to an Oval Office visit on Thursday while their parents are left outside looking in through windows.

FAREWELL TO FUSION AND TAURUS.  Ford plans another $11.5 billion in cuts in order to reach a profit margin target of 8 percent by 2020, two years earlier than previously planned, reports Fortune. The move means the end of the line for Fusion and Taurus sedans. Ford wants to save $25.5 billion by 2022.

BBC ADVERTISES IN WSJ.  British Broadcasting Corp. takes out a one-quarter page ad in The Wall Street Journal asking:  How do you know you can trust the news?  Then BBC lists five reasons, including, “Because we’ve covered the story from every angle” and “We’ve always asked the difficult questions.”

L.A. TIMES SLATED TO MOVE TO SEASIDE EL SEGUNDO

The Los Angeles Times soon will move its long-time headquarters from downtown Los Angeles --- one block from City Hall and other city-county operations that are key sources for news --- to outside the city limits at El Segundo, notes Grumpy Editor.

With the move, tiny El Segundo (population about 17,000) with be home to two newspapers:  The Times and the long-established weekly El Segundo Herald.

Behind the action is Patrick Soon-Shiong, a biotech billionaire who is buying the L.A. Times from Chicago-based Tronc for $500 million.

The Times’ current home, a 1935 art deco building in the Los Angeles Civic Center, is about 19 miles from El Segundo, close to Los Angeles International Airport and home to Los Angeles’ giant Hyperion sewage treatment plant.

With the news, Times staffers grumble about the longer commute they will have through the City of Angels’ growing traffic to the new newsroom.

A question that remains:  How will events, originating from the Los Angeles Civic Center, be covered.  Currently, Civic Center is within easy walking distance from The Times building at First and Spring Streets.

 

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TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE.  With the upcoming new round of negotiations with the U.S. and South Korea, North Korea on Saturday says it has suspended nuclear and long-range missile tests and plans to shutter its nuclear test site.

WILL IT BE SWEDEN OR SWITZERLAND?  In a surprise visit to North Korea, CIA Director Mike Pompeo meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and expresses optimism over a planned summit with Sweden and Switzerland among locations being considered for the meeting. 

ALMOST $3 MILLION FOR A BASEBALL CARD.  A 1952 Mickey Mantle Topps baseball card, when Mantle was a rookie, sold for $2.88 million, reports Sports Illustrated. Seller is former NFL offensive lineman Evan Mathis.

MARINES REPLACING AGING AMPHIBIOUS VEHICLES.  Cost of a Marine Corps push to replace its aging fleet of Assault Amphibious Vehicles (AAV) remains $60 million below original projections of $810.5 million.  The Marines seek 208 amphibious vehicles, described as a better protected and faster way to carry troops from ship to shore, by 2022. 

CAUTION URGED IN STARTING TRADE WAR.  Biggest risk to global growth comes from the U.S., say Bloomberg View editors.  “If Trump really does start a trade war at a time when U.S. financial conditions and macroeconomic policy pose risks of their own, watch out," they warn. "The road back to economic sanity could be bumpy.”

ARMY RECRUITMENT GOAL FIZZLES.  The U.S. Army will not meet its goal to recruit 80,000 soldiers this year and has lowered it to 76,500.  Army leaders claim the service has been able to encourage more experienced members to stay on the job to satisfy a growing demand for troops.  Six months into the recruiting year, the service has brought in just 28,000 soldiers.

MUNITIONS DROP HIGHEST IN FOUR YEARS.  The U.S. drops more bombs and other munitions in Afghanistan last month than it did on Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria for the first time since the anti-ISIS campaign began in 2014, reports Stars and Stripes.

 

BANANA PRICES GO YOU-KNOW-WHAT IN FIRST QUARTER

As mentioned in The Wall Street Journal, “the wholesale cost of the world’s most popular fruit went bananas in the early part of this year,” notes Grumpy Editor.

Despite the squeeze, U.S. supermarkets are holding the line on prices of the yellow-skin fruit,  top seller.   

The development bypasses most print and broadcast news editors.

Americans eat about 11.4 pounds of bananas a year, according to the Department of Agriculture.  That places bananas better sellers than apples or oranges.

Limited supplies in Central and South America, which supply most bananas sold in the U.S., boost prices paid by markets to a record in the first quarter.

Wholesale banana prices increase 15.5 percent to about 58 cents a pound in the January-February period.  With improvement in supplies, prices slip somewhat in March but are 8.4 percent higher than the like year-ago month.

Banana crop yields, notes The Journal, are affected by floods, cooler temperatures and mudslides in areas such as Costa Rica and Guatemala.  Also contributing to a shortage:  a banana plantation workers strike in Honduras.

 

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DAILY MESSAGES FOCUS ON CHILD ABUSE.  In connection with National Child Abuse Prevention Month, veteran author Morgan St. James, who co-authored attention-getting books on abuse survivors Bella Capo (No More Crying Angels) and Cheryl Cuccio (Incest, Murder and a Miracle) is producing daily YouTube messages on abuse during April.  Check this one at: https://youtu.be/KA_JCiDOiHs.  Incidentally, her four-minutes on-camera are wrapped up in one take --- without notes or cue cards.

TERRESTRIAL RADIO SHOW ORIGINATOR DIES.  Art Bell, originator of the long-time paranormal-themed Coast to Coast AM overnight radio show that airs seven nights a week, died Friday at his Pahrump, Nev. home.  He was 72.  Bell left the show, in which he was producer, engineer and host, in 2003.  Current host most nights is George Noory.

EARTH FALLS FLAT WITH SOME MILLENNIALS.  A third of young U.S. millennials --- 18 to 24-year olds --- aren’t convinced the Earth is round, finds a national poll by YouGov, a British market research firm.  Four percent of young adults in that age group answer they always believed the planet is flat while 66 percent of millennials say they “always believe the world is round.”

CBO NOTES BENEFIT OF TAX CUT.  Points out a Wall Street Journal editorial:  “You probably didn’t read anywhere else that CBO (Congressional Budget Office) says the tax cut will help the economy grow faster --- to 3.3 percent this year and 2.4 percent in 2019.”

FLORIDA HAS RICHEST ZIP CODE IN U.S.  The richest zip code --- 33109 --- in America is 216-acre Fisher Island, near Miami.  Accessible only by ferry or water taxi, average income was $2.5 million in 2015.  Residents represent more than 50 nationalities, and professions range from professional athletes and supermodels to executives and lawyers.

PODCASTS GROWTH MUSHROOMS.  There are half a million podcasts now in more than 100 languages on Apple iTunes, according to Variety.

NETFLIX UPS PRODUCTION OUTPUT.  Netflix is spending $8 billion on original and acquired content this year.

SOON --- NO CREDIT CARD SIGNATURES.  Major credit card companies will end signature requirements for credit card transactions starting in some parts of the nation late this month.  All states eventually will be covered.  Since all new credit and debit cards have the more secure chip technology, and since different retailers have different price thresholds that require signatures, the signing requirement is being scrapped without affecting  security.

AIR PASSENGERS DESTINED FOR CARGO HOLDS.  In a bid to boost passenger comfort, Airbus plans to put passenger sleeping facilities in the cargo holds of A330 aircraft.  The company plans to make compartments easily interchangeable with regular cargo containers.

CITY OF ANGELS TURNING STREETS WHITE.  Los Angeles is in a program of painting streets white to reduce the effect of urban heat islands and combat effects of climate change. Early tests show the procedure reduces roadway temperature up to 10 degrees. While each coating can last up to seven years, it’s also pricey, with an estimated cost of $40,000 a mile, reports the Los Angeles Daily News.

 

VOLATILE STOCK MARKET ACTION CONFOUNDS VETERAN JACK BOGLE, TOO

The stock market has many investors uneasy as daily gyrations continue with the Dow Jones industrial average closing last week at 23,932.76, down a hefty 572.46 points on Friday, the day after dropping as much as 767.02 points, even puzzling Vanguard Funds founder Jack Bogle, notes Grumpy Editor.

Equities hit Friday’s session lows in the final two hours of trading after Fed Chief Jerome Powell indicated the central bank would continue hiking rates this year. The market also ran into volatility stemming from a U.S.-China trade dispute.

Bogle, 88, says the renewed regime of volatility in stocks is uncanny, adding on CNBC that “I have never seen a market this volatile to this extent in my career” --- and that’s 66 years.

(Pssst!  Or maybe the Chinese are involved with the stock market’s gyrations.  Or could it be Russian collusion?)

Continuing its zig-zag routine, two hours before the close today the DJ industrial average was up about 400 points. Then, at the close, it settled back to plus 47 points.

Also on CNBC, J.J. Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade, described market trading as “truly a reaction to China,” pointing out, “we've seen with this administration a trend of a big statement, followed by everyone getting riled up, and then a pragmatic solution is found."

He added, "Cooler heads may prevail moving forward.”

After China announced fresh tariffs on 106 U.S. products, President Donald Trump threatened more levies, asking the U.S.Trade Representative to consider an additional $100 billion in tariffs against China.

 

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EXPENSIVE DOG TRAVEL FROM JAPAN.  Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Jennifer McKay, owner of a 221-pound English mastiff (see photo), may have to pay $31,000 to fly her dog back to the U.S. from Japan after United Airlines’ recent decision to suspend its pet travel program. The dog travels in a carrier that weighs an additional 100 pounds. McKay paid $3,200 to fly the canine to Japan two years ago using United’s air cargo service, she tells Stars and Stripes.  “I am a single-parent servicemember just trying to get home to the U.S. with my dog and my son,” says McKay, who is heading for a June assignment in Washington, D.C.  Other options exist for shipping pets from Japan, but with large animals, in can be expensive and inconvenient.  

NATIONAL GUARD TO BORDER NOT NEW.  While media are excited by President Donald Trump’s action, sending National Guard troops to the border is nothing new.  Over the past dozen years, presidents have twice sent Guardsmen to the border to bolster security and assist in surveillance and other support.

WOMEN HAVE EYES ON U.S. HOUSE.   The number of women running for the U.S. House of Representatives sets a record as 309 from the two major parties file candidacy papers.  More are expected.

AIR FLEET GETTING WORN OUT?  Four U.S. military aircraft crashes last week kills seven service members, causing some in Washington to claim the fleet may not be getting the funding it needs. Six noncombat aviation crashes so far this year kills 11 service members, while 37 are killed in crashes last year, nearly double the number killed in 2016.

DATA SCIENTIST FASTEST GROWING JOB.  Fortune’s Alan Murray cites LinkedIn for pointing out the fastest growing job in America is data scientist.  “The profession has grown 6.5 times since 2012 – which is when the Harvard Business Review first branded it “the sexiest job of the 21st century,” he mentions. “It also happens to be one of the best paying jobs, with a median salary of $113,000.”

OOPS!  NEWSPAPER PUBLISHES WRONG BASEBALL FIELD PHOTO.  The Denver Post published an article with a guide to Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies, in anticipation of the baseball team's home opener last Friday with Philadelphia.  However, instead of using an image of the Rockies’ stadium, the paper erroneously published a photo of the Phillies’ Citizens Bank Park.

MARCH TURNAWAYS AT BORDER RISES.  CNSNews.com reports 50,308 people are either apprehended or deemed inadmissible at the Southwest border last month, highest monthly total since Donald Trump took office.  The March total is a 37 percent increase from the 36,695 in February, and 203 percent up from March 2017's 16,588.

WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY TAKES PRESIDENT’S PLACE.  President Donald Trump is skipping the White House Correspondents Association annual dinner April 28.  White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders fills in.

HOW TO PREVENT PRESS ATTENDANCE.  The Nevada Republican Men’s Club keeps reporters away from a lunch spotlighting U.S. Sen. Dean Heller because, as the group’s president says:  Reporters take up too much room in the restaurant and get in the way of food servers.

GENERAL MILLS LATEST TO SEE GROWTH AHEAD FOR PET FOOD

Grumpy Editor notes the country definitely is going to the dogs as Americans last year spent almost $70 billion on its canine population, almost a 70 percent hike from 2007, according to the American Pet Product Association.

It’s becoming big business with major food companies.

General Mills, maker of breakfast cereals such as Cheerios and with Haagen-Dazs, Pillsbury, Yoplait, Progresso Soup and Fiber One in the family, recently reached a deal to acquire Blue Buffalo Pet Products for about $8 billion.

The transaction with Wilton, Conn.-based Blue Buffalo will place Minneapolis-based General Mills into the mushrooming market for natural pet foods made with "wholesome" ingredients aimed at the 90 million dogs in the U.S.

So there’s much to bark about.

"We are competing more effectively in our existing categories by really listening to consumers and providing a variety of options that meet their needs," says General Mills CEO Jeff Harmening.  "In pet food, as in human food, consumers are seeking more natural and premium products and we have tremendous respect for how attentive Blue Buffalo has been to the needs of their consumers, pet parents and pets, as they have built their brand."

Other examples of consumer packaged goods manufacturers buying pet food companies iin recent years include J.M. Smucker and Big Heart Pet Brands in 2015, Mars and Iams in 2014, Nestle and Ralston Purina in 2001 and Procter & Gamble and Iams in 1999.

 

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RED SOX TOPS WITH PAYROLL.  With the baseball season under way, it’s the Boston Red Sox, not the New York Yankees, with the highest payroll.  With Boston, it’s a whopping $223 million.  For the Yankees, it’s about $167 million, lowest since 2003.

BAD NEWS ON FAKE NEWS.  “Fake news will become very much a local experience, and very much a destructive one,” says David Chavern, CEO of News Media Alliance.  “If we get to disappointing journalism, then we lose civil society.” 

AFGHAN EXPENDITURES NOT TRACKED.  A Pentagon watchdog says U.S. military officials failed to properly track some 95,000 vehicles provided to Afghan forces or ensure millions of dollars of gasoline and other commodities --- adding up to $3.1 billion --- were used for their intended purposes.

BIG MAC TO SHELVE PLASTIC STRAWS IN U.K.  McDonald's, on an environmental kick, says it will phase out use of plastic straws in its United Kingdom restaurants. It will start using paper straws next month, but customers will have to ask for them. 

A JOB WHERE ONE CAN BARE ALL.  A Foster, R. I. lifeguard job being advertised has a rather unusual dress code:  No swimsuit required (although wearing one is okay).  The job, from May 26 to Sept. 3, is at Dyer Woods Nudist Campgrounds.  “Excellent communication skills” is one of the requirements.