Another effect stemming from the coronavirus pandemic: a shortage of nickels, dimes and quarters, notes Grumpy Editor.
The Federal Reserve says the supply system for coins is severely disrupted because many businesses are closed and consumers are not out spending as much.
Lack of coins poses problems for those who use parking meters, toll booths, vending machines and other coin-gulping sites such as coin-operated machines in laundromats.
The U.S. Mint urges Americans to use coins in transactions or turn them in to their banks, while retailers suggest shoppers use credit cards or exact change whenever possible.
The North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores sees the shutdown as a splendid opportunity to help offset lost revenue by clearing out the aquarium’s waterfall to gather coins tossed by visitors over the past 14 years. The collected washed coins will go toward operating costs.
The coin supply is expected to normalize as the economy recovers and businesses reopen.
IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…
FEMALE JOURNALIST BECOMES FINANCE MINISTER. Chrystia Freeland, Canada's first female finance minister, is a former journalist. She started her journalism career as a stringer for the Financial Times, the Washington Post and The Economist then worked later as a deputy editor for the Financial Times in London, later serving as Moscow bureau chief for the Financial Times. Later she became deputy editor of The Globe and Mail, then managing director and consumer news editor at Thomson Reuters, moving on to U.S. managing editor at the Financial Times based in New York City. A Harvard graduate, Freeland speaks five languages.
GANNETT AIMS FOR DIVERSITY. Gannett, owner of USA TODAY and more than 260 local news operations, unveils a broad initiative to make its workforce as diverse as the country by 2025 and to expand the number of journalists focused on covering issues related to race and identity, social justice and equality. With that, the company says it is adding or reassigning journalists to 60 newly-created beats in a concerted effort to enhance coverage of topics such as criminal justice, educational inequity, roots of racism, environmental justice, fairness in housing and employment, and LGBTQ issues.
SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWERS. A Pew Research Center analysis of surveys conducted between October, 2019 and June, 2020 finds those who rely most on social media for political news stand apart from other news consumers. These U.S. adults, it adds, tend to be less likely than other news consumers to closely follow major news stories, such as the coronavirus outbreak and the presidential election.
ALCATRAZ REOPENS TO VISITORS. Noted for containing hardened prisoners, Alcatraz island, off San Francisco, reopens to the public after months shut down by the pandemic.
NOISY BALLPARKS --- WITH NO PEOPLE. With the current unusual baseball season --- with no real people in the stands (just cutouts of smiling heads) --- hearing constant recorded fans' noise plus beating of drums during telecasts is very irritating, as with the Angels-Athletics games in Oakland over the weekend. Solution: press the mute button.
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