Current Events in May 2015

Millions of people are going to be taking to the nation's highways over the Memorial Day weekend – May 21 – 25, and unlike the last few years, they're going to feel a little better about it.

Since 2008 refueling stops on the first unofficial weekend of summer were filled with angst. In 2011 prices had just peaked at a national average price of just under $4 a gallon when the holiday weekend arrived.

Gasoline prices vary state to state but most drivers will likely see the lowest Memorial Day pump prices in at least 5 years. The recent national average price of $2.66 a gallon suggests rising prices during the spring, due to refinery maintenance and the switch-over to summer blends of fuel, has just about peaked.

$1 a gallon less

Even at that elevated price – about 26 cents a gallon more than a month ago -- fuel is $1.00 less than last year's average Memorial Day price.

Travel is expected to be up all the way around with AAA projecting that 88% will travel by car and another 2.6 million booking flights on airlines, an increase of 2.5% from last year.

While gasoline prices and air fares are down travelers may find it more expensive this year to stay in a hotel. Still, AAA says many consumers are ready to splurge a little.

"Following a harsh winter, many Americans are trading in their snow boots for flip flops and making plans to start the season with a vacation getaway," said Marshall L. Doney, president of AAA. "AAA is expecting more Memorial Day travelers this year than any time in the past 10 years as confident consumers come out of hibernation ready to explore national parks, beach destinations and America's great cities."

Lower gasoline prices, which have yet to make much of an impact on economic data over the last 6 months, may finally be showing up. Doney says savings at the gas pump, along with more encouraging hiring data from U.S. employers, are lifting both consumers' optimism and their disposable income.

Travel tips

For travelers hitting the road a couple of weeks from now, AAA has some advice; inspect your car – particularly battery and tire condition – before heading out on a holiday getaway. AAA says its principal Memorial Day weekend road service calls are for flat tires and dead batteries, along with lock-outs.

If you plan to travel by air to your holiday weekend destination, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) reminds travelers to plan for extra time to clear security.

TSA said it screens approximately 1.8 million passengers each day at more than 450 airports nationwide. During major holidays, including the Memorial Day travel period, TSA sees a spike in the number of passengers screened at airport checkpoints across the country.

If you or a member of your party has disabilities or medical conditions that make air travel difficult there's a special TSA hot line that will answer questions about screening policies, procedures and what to expect at the security checkpoint. Injured service members and veterans including individuals associated with a wounded warrior program may contact TSA Cares to help facilitate the screening process.

The hotline number is 1-855-787-2227.

Amid concerns about childhood obesity, the food industry adopted voluntary standards for the food it advertises on television programs for children.

The industry agreed to nutritional standards the advertised food should meet, setting limits on trans fat, saturated fat, sugar and sodium.

So how does reality sync up with aspiration? Dale Kunkel, a communications professor at the University of Arizona in Tucson, organized a research project to monitor 103 kids' shows on 2 cable channels and 5 broadcast networks.

The team said it found the industry has kept its promise, but still has a lot of room for improvement.

Nutritionally deficient food

"The long-standing pattern favoring nutritionally deficient food products over more-healthy items clearly persisted despite the advent of industry self-regulation,” Kunkel said. “This outcome occurred largely because participants in self-regulation achieved no significant improvement in the nutritional quality of their advertised foods between 2007 and 2013."

The research team found that 80% of the food products advertised to children fall into what it calls the poorest nutritional category set by US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) guidelines.

So how can the food industry be keeping its promise but still be falling short? Kunkel says it has to do with the industry standards.

In 2006 the industry formed the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI), the means for the nation's 17 largest food companies to set nutritional standards for child-targeted ads.

However, it was left up to each participating company to set its own standards. For example, Kellogg pledged that all child-targeted advertising will contain a maximum per serving of 200 calories, 2 grams (g) saturated fat/0 g trans fat, 230 milligrams (mg) sodium, and 12 g added sugar.

Industry meeting its guidelines

The study finds that CFBAI-participating companies have completely delivered on promises by advertising only products that meet nutritional guidelines agreed to by their parent corporations and have used licensed characters solely in advertising for products that comply with their parent corporations' guidelines for healthier products.

In that regard, Kunkel says the industry has done everything it promised. His complaint is with the standards themselves. He says a number of companies have classified a product as healthy if only a small portion of an unhealthy ingredient has been removed from its formulation.

When the researchers analyzed the products they found the food hit the companies' stated benchmarks but fell short of HHS nutritional standards. Companies that did not sign on to CFBAI standards, Kunkel says, tended to advertise the least-healthy food products.

"Deficiency in the nutritional standards employed by industry self-regulation has already been recognized as a critical shortcoming," Kunkel said.

The Association of National Advertisers takes strong exception to Kunkel's conclusions. A spokesman told Reuters that the nutritional standards the researchers are holding the food industry to “went way overboard,” claiming 87% of the most consumed food products in the U.S. wouldn't pass the test.

"In the face of pleas for advertising reform, the food industry has achieved what might be labeled as baby steps," Kunkel said.

But he says the takeaway from the study is the limits of self-regulation. Continuing to rely on self-regulation, he predicts, won't achieve the goal of reducing childhood obesity.

Baby’s Dream Furniture of Buena Vista, Ga., is recalling about 4,600 cribs and furniture pieces.

The vintage grey paint on the cribs, furniture, and accessories exceeds federal lead limits. If ingested, lead can cause adverse health effects.

No incidents or injuries have been reported.

This recall involves Baby’s Dream full-size cribs, furniture and accessories sold in a vintage grey paint finish under the Brie, Braxton, Heritage, Everything Nice and Legendary collections. Cribs and furniture included in this recall were manufactured between March 2014 and March 2015.

A label affixed to the bottom of the crib’s back frame and the back panel of the furniture lists the product name, date and location of manufacture, model number and purchase order number (PO#).

The following model numbers are included in the recall:

The cribs and furniture, manufactured in Chile, were sold at specialty furniture stores nationwide and online at BabysDream.com from March 2014, through March 2015, for between $350 and $900 for the cribs, and between $450 and $1,000 for the dressers, hutches, nightstands, bookcases and chests. Additional accessories were sold for between $100 and $300.

Consumers should immediately contact Baby’s Dream to arrange for an exchange at (800) 835-2742 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.

Walker's Foods of Carrollton, Ga., is recalling approximately 46,612 pounds of pork-with-sauce products.

The products contain soy, an allergen not listed on the label.

There are no reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products.

The following products are being recalled:

• 38,462.5 lbs. (in 5-lb. tubs) of "WALKER'S PIT COOKED BARBEQUED PORK WITH SAUCE" bearing packing codes "50115 to 50716."
• 8,150 lbs. (in 24- oz. tubs) of "WALKER'S PIT COOKED BARBEQUED PORK WITH SAUCE" bearing packing codes "50115 to 50716."

The products, which bear the establishment numbers "EST. 9062" inside the USDA mark of inspection, were shipped for institutional distribution and to retail stores in Alabama and Georgia.

Consumers with questions about the recall may contact Walker's Foods Public Relations Manager Nicole Walker at (770) 834-8171 or by email at Nicole@walkermeats.com.

Honda is recalling 504 model year 2014 Honda CBR1000S motorcycles manufactured December 9, 2013, to March 28, 2014, and 2015 Honda CBR1000S motorcycles manufactured October 20, 2014, to February 27, 2015.

The recalled motorcycles may have been built with an improperly manufactured rear shock absorber. The nut on the damper rod for these shock absorbers may loosen, resulting in a loss of damping and the possible disassembling of the shock.

If the damper rod nut loosens, shock absorber performance would be affected, possibly causing a loss of vehicle control and increasing the risk of a crash.

Honda will notify owners, and dealers will remove the shock assembly and send it to the supplier's service center for repair. Once repaired, the supplier's service center will ship the shock assembly back to the dealer and the dealership will reinstall the shock on the motorcycle. This work will be performed free of charge. The manufacturer has not yet provided a notification schedule.

Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-866-784-1870. Honda's number for this recall is JQ3.

There is no doubt the Apple Watch does many cool things and over time, consumers may find even more uses for it.

But people who worry about distracted driving now have a new concern – that drivers wearing an Apple Watch might become even more distracted, making the highways less safe.

Maybe they have a point. You might be driving in traffic and your Apple watch vibrates. If it were your cellphone, maybe you would leave it in your pocket until you could safely pull over and retrieve and respond to the message.

But the watch is on your wrist. All you have to do is glance at it. Is that a dangerous distraction? There are people trying to figure that out.

Still trying to figure it out

“The Apple Watch has great potential,” said Eddie Bermudez, Manager of Product Development for GPSTrackIt.com. “But we’re still trying to get a handle on cell phone use and the impact that has on distracted driving.”

GPSTrackIt.com is a firm in the fleet management industry, meaning it assists companies that operate fleets of cars and trucks. One of its roles is to make sure the vehicles are operated in a safe manner.

This industry has been focused on distracted driving since cellphones became a ubiquitous part of modern life. It has backed state laws that fine drivers for talking or texting while behind the wheel.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), 14 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands all have some form of primary handheld device ban. This applies to using a smartphone for navigation as well as for communication.

“This means that law enforcement doesn’t need another reason to pull you over,” said Bermudez. “And those are just the states that ban the use of handheld devices while driving. Many other states have cell phone or texting bans, with specific criteria like for school bus drivers or novice drivers.”

Uncharted waters

So now a new device has entered the mix, one that is always close at hand and performs a multitude of functions. Users can receive text messages on the watch, which vibrates to alert them to an incoming message.

With the watch attached to the wrist, Bermudez says a user will need the other hand to manipulate the device's controls.

“Now they’re not just distracted, they’re driving one-handed,” he said. “And the watch is smaller, so it requires more attention to manipulate it.”

Bermudez admits it is very early in the Apple Watch product cycle so it is hard to know just how it will add to driver distraction, if it does at all. But he says technological advances, even when it was expected they would improve safety, haven't always worked out that way.

“Think about what happened with Google Glass,” he said. “They thought a ‘heads up display’ would be safer for drivers, but even that proved to be too distracting.”

Many fleet managers have policies that require their drivers to turn off cell phones while driving. To make sure they do, some companies have even installed lock boxes in their vehicles to prevent drivers from even handling their phones while driving.

That probably makes fleet vehicles a little safer on the road. But there are no such requirements for all the other drivers.

Over the spring, Blue Bell Creameries recalled a number of ice cream products potentially contaminated with the Listeria bacteria. In late April it expanded the recall to include all products.

Now, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has concluded that the company had evidence of the contamination long before it began recalling its products.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as many as 10 consumers were infected with the Listeria bug in Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas between 2010 and 2015. There were 3 deaths in Kansas.

Recalls began in March

Blue Bell began the recalls in early March. On March 13, it reported that it had removed the affected ice cream products from the market by picking them up directly from the retailers and hospital settings the company serves. The firm also said it shut down the production line where the products were made.

As part of the investigation, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) and the Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA) collected environmental samples, which are swabs from surfaces likely to come in contact with food, from the hospital kitchen.

On April 3, the company said it had voluntarily suspended operations at its Broken Arrow, Okla., plant. But the FDA reports (PDF) Blue Bell uncovered at least 17 positive tests for Listeria at that plant as early as 2013, but did not take steps to improve sanitation procedures.

Company will respond

For it's part, the company said it is preparing a detailed response to the agency's inspection observations. However, a company spokesman confirmed to  The Wall Street Journal  that Blue Bell had discovered the presence of Listeria at a location inside its Broken Arrow plant but thought it had eliminated the problem.

“The Broken Arrow plant has been closed for cleaning and sanitizing since April 3, 2015,” the company posted on its website. “Numerous cleaning, upgrade and facility construction projects are well underway or have been completed, including floor repairs, extensive equipment disassembly and sanitizing, and a re-design of the processing and production areas to increase production and cleaning efficiency and eliminate potential contamination pathways.”

It also said the process of updating, cleaning and sanitizing the four Blue Bell production facilities, as well as training employees and implementing new programs and procedures, “will take longer than we initially anticipated.”

Three strains

The FDA said the three strains of Listeria related to the illnesses reported in Kansas and four other rare strains were found in samples of Blue Bell Creameries single serving Chocolate Chip Country Cookie Sandwich and the Great Divide Bar ice cream products collected by the South Carolina Department of Health & Environmental Control.

The samples were found during routine product sampling at a South Carolina distribution center on February 12, 2015. These products are manufactured at Blue Bell Creameries’ Brenham facility.

The Texas Department of State Health Services later collected product samples from the Blue Bell Creameries Brenham facility. The FDA says these samples yielded Listeria monocytogenes from the same products tested by South Carolina and a third, single-serving ice cream product, Scoops, which is also made on the same production line.

According to the Kansas health officials, hospital records available for four patients show that all were served ice cream from Blue Bell Creameries’ prepackaged, single-serving products and milkshakes made from these products. The hospital receives ice cream manufactured by Blue Bell Creameries but it could not be determine which plant produced it.

After creating an anemic 85,000 (revised downward from 126,000) jobs in March, the economy got fired up and cranked out 223,000 nonfarm payroll positions in April, pushing the unemployment rate down 0.1% to 5.4% -- a 7-year low.

Figures released by the Labor Department (DOL) show most of the job gains came in professional and

business services, health care, and construction, while mining employment continued to decline.

On and off the job

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for Asians rose to 4.4%, while the rates for adult men (5.0%), adult women (4.9%)+, teens (17.1%), whites (4.7%), blacks (9.6%), and Hispanics (6.9%) showed little or no change.

The number of long-term unemployed (those without jobs for 27 weeks or more) was little-changed at 2.5 million, accounting for 29.0% of the unemployed. The number of long-term unemployed has decreased by 888,000 over the last 12 months.

The civilian labor force participation rate (62.8%) showed little change last month. In the past year, it has remained within a narrow range of 62.7% to 62.9%. The employment-population ratio held at 59.3%, where it has been since January.

Gains and losses

Employment increased in professional and business services (+62,000 jobs), health care (+45,000), and construction (+45,000) while employment in mining continued to decline (-15,000).

There was little change during the month in other major industries, including manufacturing,

wholesale trade, retail trade, information, financial activities, leisure and hospitality, and government.

The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls held steady at 34.5 hours and average hourly earnings rose by 3 cents -- to $24.87. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 2.2%.

The complete employment report is available on the DOL website.

Ford Motor Company is recalling 73 model year 2015 Ford F-150s manufactured January 30, 2015, to January 31, 2015.

The affected vehicles may have loose or missing underbody heat shields. A missing underbody heat shield can lead to degradation or melting of the fuel or vapor lines, increasing the risk of a fire.

Ford will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the vehicle for missing underbody heat shields and fasteners, and will install the missing components as required, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin on May 11, 2015.

Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 15S12.

SP Wholesale Meats of a Portland, Ore., is recalling approximately 1,729 pounds of raw pork and chicken sausage products.

The products contain wheat, an allergen not listed on the label.

There are no reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products.

The following products are being recalled:

• 10-pound boxes with 4 oz. and 2 oz. links of CASCADE FARMS “Chicken Apple Sausage” with a lot number of 079.
• 1-pound packages with 4 oz. links and bulk of DON FELIPE’S TOLUCAN BRAND “Chorizo Verde” with a lot number of 084, 097, 104, 111, 113 and 118.
• 1-pound packages with 4 oz. links and bulk of DON FELIPE’S TOLUCAN BRAND “Chorizo Rojo” with a lot number of 104, 111, 113 and 118.
• 1-pound packages with 4 oz. links and bulk of DON FELIPE’S TOLUCAN BRAND “Chicken Chorizo” with a lot number of 079, 098, 112 and 119.

The recalled products bear the establishment numbers “EST. P-2886” and “EST. 2886” inside the USDA mark of inspection, and were shipped to restaurants in Oregon and Washington.

Consumers with questions may contact Charlie Ryan or Jim Register at 503-234-0579.

Franklin Corporation of Houston, Miss., is recalling about 81,000 pieces of power reclining furniture.

The switch used to operate the reclining function can overheat, posing a fire hazard to consumers.

The company has received 2 reports of switches igniting and 3 reports of switches smoking on showroom samples, resulting in minor property damage to the flooring. No injuries have been reported.

This recall involves power reclining furniture with rectangular power switches. The black plastic switches measure 1 3/8 inches by 3 inches and are installed either on the arm, console or side of various styles of reclining chairs, sofas and sectionals. Furniture with the rectangular power switches was sold under the name, Franklin Corporation or one of eight private labels, including Big Sandy Superstore, Cardi’s Furniture, Cimarron Lumber/Sutherland’s, The Great American Home Store, Levin Furniture, Overstock.com, Raymour & Flanigan and Slumberland Furniture.

A label on the underside of the footrest lists the retailer or private label name and the product style number and, if applicable, the basic change (BC) number.

The following style and BC numbers are being recalled:

The recalled products, manufactured in the U.S. and China, were sold at furniture stores nationwide and online from October 2013, to December 2014, for between $400 and $4,000.

Consumers should immediately unplug the recalled units and contact Franklin for a replacement operating switch.

Consumers may contact Franklin Corporation toll-free at (866) 551-2706 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.

Chevrolet has made changes to the structure and airbags of its 2015 Sonic, lifting the small car's rating for small overlap front crash protection from marginal to good.

That was enough for the vehicle to qualify for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's (IIHS) TOP SAFETY PICK award.

The new rating applies to both sedan and hatchback versions of the Sonic built after February 2015. The modifications were made to the front-end structure, door sill and door hinge pillar. In addition, the side curtain airbags were lengthened and reprogrammed to deploy earlier in small overlap crashes.

Improved test results

In the latest test, the driver space was maintained reasonably well, with maximum intrusion of 4 inches at the footrest and adjacent footwell. That's less than the 6 inches of intrusion in the lower interior that occurred in the earlier test.

The lower intrusion likely contributed to better injury indicators. Measures taken from the dummy in the earlier test showed that leg injuries would be possible. The new test indicated significant injuries would be unlikely in a crash of this severity.

The dummy's movement in the latest test was well-controlled. The head hit the front airbag and stayed there until rebound. The side curtain airbag deployed and had enough forward coverage to protect the head from contact with side structure and outside objects.

In contrast, the curtain airbag in the earlier test deployed too late, and the dummy's head ended up between the airbag and the side structure.

The Sonic also has good ratings in the moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests. To qualify for TOP SAFETY PICK, a vehicle must have good ratings in those four tests and a good or acceptable small overlap rating.

The Sonic is available with an optional forward collision warning system that earns a basic rating from IIHS for front crash prevention.

Fewer homeowners are finding themselves in trouble with their mortgages.

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) National Delinquency Survey, the delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties fell to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.54% of all loans outstanding at the end of the first quarter of 2015 -- the lowest level since the second quarter of 2007.

In addition, the delinquency rate dropped 14 basis points from the previous quarter, and 57 basis points from a year ago.

The delinquency rate includes loans that are at least 1 payment past due but does not include loans in the process of foreclosure. The percentage of loans in the foreclosure process at the end of the first quarter was 2.22%, down five basis points from the fourth quarter of 2014 and 43 basis points lower than the same quarter one year ago. That's the lowest foreclosure inventory rate since the fourth quarter of 2007.

The percentage of loans on which foreclosure actions were started during the first quarter was 0.45%, a dip of 1 basis point from the previous quarter, and unchanged from the first quarter of 2014.

The serious delinquency rate, the percentage of loans that are 90 days or more past due or in the process of foreclosure, was 4.24%, down 28 basis points from the previous quarter, and 80 basis points from the first quarter of 2014.

"Delinquency rates and the percentage of loans in foreclosure continued to fall in the first quarter and are now at their lowest levels since 2007," said Joel Kan, MBA's associate vice president of industry surveys and forecasting. "The job market continues to grow, and this is the most important fundamental improving mortgage performance. Additionally, home prices continued to rise, as did the pace of sales, thus increasing equity levels and enabling struggling borrowers to sell if needed."

Change from last quarter

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the overall delinquency rate fell 14 basis points to 5.54%. For prime loans, the delinquency rate was down 7 basis points to 3.18% and for subprime loans the rate plunged 90 basis points to 17.60%. The FHA delinquency rate fell by 63 basis points to 9.10%. VA loans saw the only increase across loans types -- 4 basis points to 5.02% in the first quarter.

Overall foreclosure starts were down 1 basis point to 0.45%. Prime loan foreclosure starts had an increase of 1 basis point to 0.28%, while the foreclosure starts rate for subprime loans fell 34 basis points to 1.39%. For FHA loans, the foreclosure starts rate rose 9 basis points to 0.70%, while the foreclosure starts rate for VA loans inched up 1 basis point to 0.37%.

Year-over-year change

The delinquency rate for all loans -- excluding loans in foreclosure -- dropped 55 basis points from the same quarter a year ago. Prime loans had a 33 basis point decline, while the rate for subprime loans plummeted 214 basis points. The delinquency rates for FHA and VA loans were down 65 basis points and 35 basis points, respectively, over the year.

Compared with the first quarter of 2014, the foreclosure inventory rate for prime loans decreased 37 basis points and the rate for subprime loans fell 110 basis points, while the foreclosure inventory rate decreased 36 basis points for FHA loans, and 27 basis points for VA loans.

Over the past year, the foreclosure starts rate slipped 1 basis point for prime loans and rose 6 basis points for subprime loans. The foreclosure starts rate was up 6 basis points for FHA loans, and down 2 basis points for VA loans compared with the same quarter one a year ago.