Grumpy Editor

TECHNICAL WORKERS SHORTAGE AFFECTING U.S.

A shortage of technical workers is hitting the U.S., notes Grumpy Editor.

A major problem is older workers in skilled trades are retiring and the available supply isn’t meeting demand.

The construction industry, for example, faces a gap of 500,000 workers, according to an industry source.

As America de-industrialized in the second half of the 20th century, education was reimagined to emphasize seeking four-year college degrees, says Anthony Carnevale, director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.

Some 30 million jobs in the U.S. are paying an average of $55,000 a year and don't require a bachelor's degree, according to one report.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

COLLEGE DEGREE VALUE QUESTIONED.  A Wall Street Journal-NORC at the University of Chicago Poll shows growing skepticism on the value of a college degree and record-low levels of happiness.

NORTH KOREA BOASTING AGAIN.  North Korea on Friday claimed to have tested a nuclear-capable underwater drone designed to generate a gigantic “radioactive tsunami” that would destroy naval strike groups and ports.

TOM HANKS SET AS HARVARD SPEAKER.  Actor Tom Hanks will be Harvard University’s principal commencement speaker on May 25.  University presidnet Lawrence Bacow called Hanks “a true master of his craft.”

EIFFEL TOWER GETS GOLD PAINT.  The Eiffel Tower in Paris is being painted in gold for the 2024 Olympics.  The work is expected to cost $60 million.

DRY-DOCKED VESSEL TIPS OVER.  A large research vessel tipped over while dry-docked in Scotland, injuring 25 people. The 250-foot long vessel, named the Petrel, was previously bought and outfitted by the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. 

U.S. READIES BATTLE TANKS FOR UKRAINE.  The Defense Department is speeding up plans to send the U.S. military’s most sophisticated battle tank to Ukraine as the country braces itself for an expected increase in Russian attacks in coming weeks.

 

STORES CONCERNED ABOUT GROWING THEFT

Retailers are concerned about growing theft at stores, notes Grumpy Editor.

“It’s an industrywide trend,” Macy’s Chief Executive told analysts this month.

 

In the industry the swiping is called shrink.

 

“Theft is growing at a faster rate than sales,” said Dean Rosenblum, senior retail analyst at Bernstein Research.  It is starting to affect margins, he added.

 

In efforts to combat the problem, Macy’s, for example, is using radio frequency identification tags in tracking inventory, adding more security personnel and securing high-end brands with locked cables and sensors.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE  NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

HALF THE WORLD DUE TO BE OVERWEIGHT BY 2035.  Half the world will be overweight by 2035, warns the World Obesity Federation.  That means more than four billion people will be obese unless preventitive measures are implemented.

 

MEN NAILED FOR LEAVING STORE WITH MUCH BABY FORMULA.  Two men nailed shoplifting at a Georgia grocery store had an estimated $26,000 worth of baby formula in their car.  Seems they left a store near Atlanta with backpacks filled with cans of formula. Police found 662 more cans of formula inside the car.

 

NORDSTROM LEAVING CANADA.  Nordstrom, the luxury department store chain, is liquidating operations in Canada — closing 13 stores and laying off about 2,500 workers.

 

VAST VANDERBILT ESTATE SOLD.  The Vanderbilt estate --- on 40 acres of gardens on Long Island, N.Y. --- sells for $8 million.  It’s about the same size as the White House with 55,000 square feet and 106 rooms, the largest shingled-style home in the United States.

 

NORTH KOREA COMES UP WITH UPTEEN ANNOUNCEMENT.  In another periodic announcement, North Korea claims almost 800,000 people signed up to join or volunteer for the military to fight against U.S.  

 

INDIANA SCHOOLS SHELVE HANDWRITING.  Schools in Indiana are abandoning teaching children handwriting in favor of showing them how to type.  Individual schools will no longer be required to instruct pupils in longhand from the age of eight.  So now it’s only print.

 

NEW TITLE ON DAILY NEWSPAPER.  Remember when newspaper editorial room staffers only had titles such as managing editor, city editor, sports editor, etc.?  The Los Angeles Times just announced the newly-created editorial position of senior vice president for content business strategy.

 

U.S. SENDING $171 MILLION TO VENEZUELA.  The U.S. on Friday pledged more than $171 million in humanitarian assistance and development funding at a donor conference to help Venezuelans impacted by the South American country's economic and political crisis.  Some seven million people have fled as a result of the crisis in Venezuela in recent years.

 

OLDEST FEMALE HOCKEY PLAYER.  Linda Sinrod, of Lorton, Va., was a figure skater before becoming enamored with hockey at age 35 after a friend asked her if she wanted to try the sport during a visit to a frozen pond. Now she’s the world's oldest female hockey player, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

 

FRENCH BULLDOG GAINS NO. 1 SPOT IN U.S.  The American Kennel Club announced that after a record 31-year reign, the Labrador Retriever has been eclipsed as the most prevalent purebred dog in the U.S. by the French bulldog. The sturdy, push-faced, perky-eared, world-weary-looking and distinctively droll French bulldog became the nation’s most prevalent purebred dog last year.

 

TAX FILING TIME FACES CPA SHORTAGE

Tax filing time is approaching and there is a CPA shortage, notes Grumpy Editor.

The profession that thrives on numbers is now having a problem seeking people to tangle with numbers.

The Wall Street Journal points out 150 college credit hours are required to become a certified public accountant.

The shortage of accountants in the U.S. has firms boosting salaries  and sending work abroad, it adds.

Would-be CPAs need to attend college for five years to amass 150 hours of college credit required to get  licenses.

The Journal cites some in the field say the extra time and expense in schools “are keeping  students from entering the field.”

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

FALSE NEWS IS SPEEDY.  A MIT study finds false news online reaches people about six times faster than the truth and falsehoods are 70 percent more likely to be retweeted on Twitter than the truth.

U.S. MOVIE SCREENS DECLINE.  The number of movie screens in the U.S. declines to 39,007 last year from 41,172 in 2019 while the North American count slips to 42,063 from 44,283.

GM OFFERS BUYOUTS.  General Motors is offering buyouts to most of its U.S. salaried workforce and some global executives in an effort to trim costs as it makes the transition to electric vehicles.  GM has about 58,000 salaried workers in the U.S.

WORLD’S OLDEST LIVING DOG IS 30+ YEARS.  Bobi, a farm dog in Portugal, set a Guinness World Record as the world’s oldest living dog --- 30 years and almost 300 days. He is a purebred Rafeiro do Alentejo.

WOMAN MARINE BECOMES SERGEANT MAJOR.  U.S. Marines welcome Joy Kitashima as the first woman to become sergeant major of III Marine Expeditionary Force.  She is based in the Pacific.

HAWAII VOLCANO ERUPTION ENDS.  Most recent eruption of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano stops after 61 days, note  scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.  Volcanic activity was confined to the crater’s floor.

CAMPBELL’S SOUP SALES RISE 12 PERCENT.  Campbell's Soup sales rise 12 percent for the quarter ended Jan. 29, topping analysts expectations.  Sales were led by popular brands Goldfish crackers and Pepperidge Farm cookies.

 

 

NEW WORD APPEARS IN WEATHER STORIES

A new word — graupel — worked into weather stories during the past week, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

It’s a German word referring to soft hail or snow pellets.

 

It forms when supercooled water droplets in the air freeze on falling snowflakes.

 

Graupel is distinct from hail and  ice pellets in both formation and appearance. However, both hail and graupel are common in thunderstorms with cumulonimbus clouds.

 

Got that?

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

WOMAN SLATED TO BECOME ONE-STAR ADMIRAL.  Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt, first woman to command a U.S. aircraft carrier, is slated to become a one-star admiral.  A 1994 graduate of the Naval Academy, she earned a master’s degree from the Naval War College and was designated a pilot in 1996.

 

GM CUTTING 500 SALARIED WORKERS.  General Motors is cutting about 500 salaried employees.  The auto maker seeks to cut costs while it prepares to roll out several new models this year.

  

MAN VISITS DISNEYLAND 500 DAYS IN A ROW.  Jeff Reitz likes to visit Disneyland.  He has visited the California amusement park nearly 3,000 days in a row.  That’s every day for eight years and about four months.

 

FRAUDULENT NURSING CREDENTIALS.  Three Florida schools are accused of selling thousands of bogus diplomas. Medical licensing officials in multiple states are scrambling to stop nurses with fraudulent academic credentials from caring for patients.

 

LIZ CHENEY BECOMES PROFESSOR.  Former Rep. Liz Cheney, the Wyoming Republican noted for her criticism of former President Donald Trump, is joining the University of Virginia's Center for Politics as a "professor of practice." 

DOG SLEEPING ON BED ABOARD AIRLINER DRAWS ATTENTION.  Picture of a dog sleeping on a lie-flat bed in business class of an airliner attracts much world-wide attention.  The South American flight shows the medium-size dog with its head on a pillow and resting comfortably .

NORDSTROM LEAVING CANADA.  Not seeing "a realistic path to profitability," Nordstrom is closing operations in Canada.  It involves 13 department stores and 2,500 workers.