Current Events in April 2017

If you owe the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) back taxes and despite repeated reminders, still haven't gotten around to writing a check, expect a call from a debt collector.

The IRS has started sending letters to what it calls “a relatively small group” of taxpayers who are severely delinquent. The letters will explain that the IRS has turned the account over to one of four private debt collection agencies.

The IRS says the delinquent accounts are old and multiple attempts have been made in the past to collect them. Still, this effort could pose dangers for a wide range of consumers if scammers seize on this development.

“The IRS is taking steps throughout this effort to ensure that the private collection firms work responsibly and respect taxpayer rights,” said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. “The IRS also urges taxpayers to be on the lookout for scammers who might use this program as a cover to trick people. In reality, those taxpayers whose accounts are assigned as part of the private collection effort know they have a tax debt.”

How to avoid a scam

That last part is key. Koskinen says the people who will receive calls from these legitimate debt collectors are well aware that they have an unpaid tax debt. They have dealt with IRS personnel on this issue in the past.

That means if you are unaware that you owe the IRS money and get a call from someone claiming to be a debt collector, the IRS says you are being targeted by a scammer and should hang up.

Okay, this bears repeating. If you are unaware that you owe back taxes and someone calls you claiming you do, you don't. It's that simple.

Letter from the IRS

The collection program began this week and the people who owe the money should have received a letter from the IRS, telling them to expect a call. If you didn't get one of these letters, you don't owe any money.

Here's another clue – the IRS says people who owe money will always be contacted by the tax agency first, before they are ever contacted by a debt collector. So if the IRS hasn't contacted you, neither should a debt collector.

The IRS reiterates that taxpayers should be vigilant for scammers posing as private collection firms. The IRS said it will also be watching for these schemes as the collection program begins.

A loss of positions in the retail sector helped keep March job creation well below expectations.

The Department of Labor (DOL) reports employment edged up by 98,000 last month -- well short of the 180,000 jobs projected by economists at Briefing.com.

The economy had created 219,000 jobs in February and 216,000 in January.

At the same time, the unemployment rate dipped to 4.5% from 4.7% in February, the lowest level since may 2007.

Gainers and losers 

Employment in professional and business services was up by 56,000 last month -- about in line with the average monthly gain over the prior 12 months. Other fields adding employees include mining (+11,000), health care (+14,000), financial activities (+9,000), and construction (+6,000).

Retail trade lost 30,000 jobs in March, while employment in other major industries, including manufacturing, wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, information, leisure and hospitality and government, showed little or no change.

Who's working

The number of people out of a job in March fell by 326,000 to 7.2 million. 

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult women (4.0%), Whites (3.9%), and Hispanics (5.1%) declined in March. The jobless rates for adult men (4.3%), teenagers (13.7%), Blacks (8.0%), and Asians (3.3%) showed little or no change.

The labor force participation held steady at 63.0% in March, and the employment-population ratio, at 60.1%, changed little. The employment-population ratio has edged up over the year, while the labor force participation rate has shown no clear trend.

Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by a nickel in March to $26.14, following a 7-cent increase in February. Over the year, average hourly earnings have are up 68 cents, or 2.7%.

The complete report is available on the DOL website.

Xootr of Old Forge, Pa., is recalling about 3,000 Xootr adult kick scooters.

The steer support can break during normal use, posing a fall hazard to the user.

The firm has received six reports of breaks in steer supports, resulting in one report of scrapes and bruises from a fall.

This recall involves all Xootr adult kick scooters with the QuickClick push-button latching mechanism.

The silver scooters are 30 inches long by 10 inches wide, and have a handlebar height of 36 inches. The Xootr logo is on the deck and lower section of the handlebar.

The scooters have a plastic, wood or metal deck, and can be identified by a black push button located on the steer support.

The scooters, manufactured in the U.S., were sold at Lajolla Swim and Sport, Nyce Wheels, San Francyclo and other sporting goods stores nationwide and online at Amazon.com and Xootr.com from November 2016, through January 2017, for about $270.

What to do

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled scooters and contact the firm to receive the free repair.

Consumers may contact Xootr at 800-816-2724 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (ET) Monday through Friday, by email at support@xootr.com or online at www.xootr.com.

ALDI and Lakeside Foods are recalling Season’s Choice Frozen Sweet Peas due to possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination.

No illnesses related to this product have been reported to date.

The recalled product, packaged in a 16-oz. bag, has the UPC code 041498164294, and contains one of the following packaging codes and best by dates on the back of the bag:

The recalled product was sold at ALDI locations in Florida, Illinois

Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia.

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled product should discard it immediately or return it to their local store for a full refund.

Consumers with questions about the recall may contact Lakeside Foods at 1-800-466-3834, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. (CT).

Hyundai Motor America is recalling 572,000 model year 2013-2014 Sonatas and Santa Fe Sports.

Machining errors during the engine manufacturing process may cause premature bearing wear within the engine, which could result in the engine seizing, increasing the risk of a crash.

What to do

Hyundai will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the engine, replacing the engine short block, as necessary, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin May 19, 2017.

Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-800-633-5151. Hyundai's number for this recall is 162.

Marin Mountain Bikes of Novato, Calif., is recalling about 380 Pine Mountain bicycles sold in the U.S. and Canada.

The rigid front forks on these recalled bikes can bend or break while in use or during jumping, causing the rider to lose control, posing fall and crash hazards.

The firm has received four reports of bent bicycle forks including one report in the U.S., and three in other countries. No injuries have been reported.

This recall involves two Marin Mountain bicycle model years and model names: 2016 Pine Mountain 1 and 2017 Pine Mountain bicycles. The bicycles were sold in five frame sizes and in one basic color scheme (silver painted frame with orange painted fork.)

The model name “Pine Mountain 1” (2016) or “Pine Mountain” (2017) is printed on the top tube of the frame and the downtube of the frame has a “MARIN” decal.

The bikes, manufactured in Indonesia, were sold at independent bicycle stores nationwide from December 2015, through February 2017, for about $1,000.

What to do

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled mountain bikes and contact the firm for instructions on receiving a replacement bicycle fork and scheduling a free repair.

Consumers may Contact Marin Bikes at 800-222-7557 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (PT) Monday through Friday or online at www.marinbikes.com and click on the “recalls/safety” link at the bottom of the page for more information.

Fast-food and beverage companies have a well-documented history of using money to influence research that delivers favorable findings on their products. That research, in turn, can indirectly lead to positive press coverage.  

Now a new report published in the British Journal of Medicine suggests that at least one major company isn’t just indirectly trying to shape media coverage or public opinion through industry-funded academic research. Coca-Cola has poured thousands of dollars directly into the media via journalism conferences, the BMJ report says. 

Soda companies push "diet soda is better" narrative

It perhaps should have been obvious that a 2014 conference for journalists, officially hosted by the University of Colorado Foundation and the National Press Foundation, was backed in part by the junk food industry as well. Part of the conference’s programming included a talk from McDonald’s and Coca-Cola representatives about their initiatives to end obesity. Yet, according to the BMJ report, only one reporter raised questions with the National Press Foundation about the conference. In an interview, she told the journal that she felt she had been lied to and regretted attending.

Records obtained by the BMJ showed that Coca-Cola in total contributed $73,00 to that event. Another reporter from CNN who attended enthusiastically described the speakers she saw  as “rock stars of the obesity topic...Never have I been to such a helpful fellowship.” That reporter, who declined an interview with the BMJ, later contributed to a CNN story that describes the soda industry’s efforts to help people lose weight by selling more diet sodas.

“To cut calories but keep the taste, soda makers generally substitute in natural or artificial sweeteners...The result is a low- or no-calorie option that satisfies your sweet tooth,” the CNN story says.  "If you used to drink three 20-ounce bottles of regular Coke every day and you switch to a beverage with zero calories, you're saving yourself around 720 calories a day. Do that for five days and you'll lose a pound (or at least prevent yourself from gaining another one)."

Quoted in the CNN report is research by Dr. Jim Hill, a nutrition expert whom other reporters later revealed was awash in Coca-Cola money. Hill at the time had recently published a study, cited in the CNN report, claiming that diet soda drinkers lose more weight than people who do not drink diet soda. 

It was Hill who had also helped organize the journalism conferences through his post at the University of Colorado and his nonprofit there, the Global Energy Balance Network. In total, Coca-Cola had donated $1 million to Hill’s organization at the university, and a small portion of that money went to organizing the 2014 conference for journalists and a previous journalism conference in 2012. University officials ultimately returned the money in 2015 when news got out about Coca-Cola’s funding and its ties to Hill's research. By the end of 2015, the Global Energy Balance Network went out-of-business.

The recent BMJ report criticizes journalists who attended Coca-Cola’s conferences before that all happened. “Overall, this looks like an industry meeting framed as science, and the journalists bought into it. Coca-Cola got its money’s worth on this one,” the BMJ quotes public health professor Marion Nestle as saying.

Diet soda likely doesn't help with weight loss

While the beverage industry portrays diet sodas as a preferable choice for people trying to lose weight, researchers and public health experts aren’t so sure, and many have said that they would prefer to see people cut out soda altogether. Researchers have pinpointed processed sugar as a major culprit in the obesity epidemic, but they say that alternative no-calorie sweeteners, such as the sweeteners used in diet sodas, are not necessarily any better. 

The National Institutes of Health in 2014 announced findings of a John Hopkins study that obese and overweight adults who drink diet soda actually consume “significantly more solid-food calories—particularly from snacks," than overweight adults who drink regular soda. 

And a review of dozens of studies conducted in the last thirty years on sugar-free and diet drinks, published in January by British researchers at the Imperial College, found “no evidence” that the diet drinks can lower body weight or prevent health problems. The researchers hypothesized that fake sweeteners trigger sugar cravings.  

“Far from helping to solve the global obesity crisis, artificially-sweetened beverages may be contributing to the problem and should not be promoted as part of a healthy diet,” the lead researcher said at the time. 

Comcast has finally rolled out the wireless service it's been working on for the last few years. Called Xfinity Mobile, it will be available to existing Comcast customers and newcomers who agree to bundle wireless and Comcast home internet service.

Pricing is competitive, ranging from $45 to $65 per line per month, depending on how many other Comcast services are bundled. The $65 figure is $15 less than Verizon's charge for a single unlimited line and $25 less than AT&T's.

Comcast is also offering a pay-per-gig option of $12 per gigabyte for customers who don't use much data. That's much cheaper than any options from major carriers.

Comcast is hoping the attractive pricing for its wireless services will help reduce cable-cutting -- the dread practice of consumers getting rid of their cable service and relying on over-the-air and streaming video.

The other major carriers are also offering bundling in the markets where they are able to do so, but none has cut wireless prices quite as much as Comcast.

Wi-fi plus 4G LTE

Xfinity Mobile is using a combination of 4G LTE service that it is reselling from other carriers as well as its own 16 million wi-fi hotspots, located in commercial venues and subscribers' homes. Comcast has been quietly installing wireless routers that contain a public channel as well as a private one for use only by the subscriber.

"We’re doing mobile differently by bringing our customers the best networks and a product designed to save them money in an increasingly data-driven world," said Greg Butz, president of Comcast Mobile. 

America's obesity epidemic has brought with it new health problems. There has been a spike in the number of people with high blood pressure and a big increase in cases of type-2 diabetes, a disease directly related to obesity.

Now doctors are focusing on a third risk – metabolic syndrome, which they describe as “a silent killer.”

Researchers at Florida Atlantic University have published a study describing how being overweight or obese can contribute to metabolic syndrome, which is a group of adverse health conditions – high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess belly fat around the waist, high triglycerides, and abnormal cholesterol levels.

Doctors say a third of adults in the U.S. are affected by it – 40% of those 40 and older. Traditionally, doctors have evaluated the various risk factors separately. But the Florida Atlantic researchers believe the individual risk factor are greater than the sum of their parts.

Pathway to metabolic syndrome

“The major factor accelerating the pathway to metabolic syndrome is overweight and obesity,” said Dr. Charles H. Hennekens, one of the research team leaders. “Obesity is overtaking smoking as the leading avoidable cause of premature death in the U.S. and worldwide.”

When it comes to metabolic syndrome, you can tell a lot with just a quick glance. Doctors want to see a man's waist measure no more than 40 inches, and a woman's no more than 35 inches.

The visceral fat component of abdominal obesity can lead to the body's insulin resistance. It can also trigger the release of fatty acids from body fat. Lipids can accumulate elsewhere in the body, like the liver and muscle.

Heart risks

One dangerous problem with metabolic syndrome is that someone with the condition might not show any symptoms but run a high risk of suffering a cardiac event within a 10-year period. They run nearly the same risk as someone who has already had heart failure.

More concerning to health researchers is the fact that metabolic syndrome risks are rising, not declining. They are rising because Americans, starting in childhood, are increasingly overweight or obese.

The Mayo Clinic advises consumers to seek a doctor's advice and treatment if you have a large waist. Another sign that you are suffering from the condition is very high blood sugar and symptoms associated with diabetes, such as increased thirst, fatigue, and blurred vision.

Treatment for metabolic syndrome usually includes drastic changes in lifestyle, with an emphasis on exercise and diet.

Choosing a name for your bundle of joy can be a daunting task. Unusual names may be problematic, potentially leading to a lifetime of misspellings and mispronunciations. Conversely, choosing a name that ends up becoming super popular has been known to cause some baby name regret among parents.

For those who aren’t planning on saddling their little one with a family name, the process of choosing a baby name can be challenging. But now, expectant parents can turn to their smartphones for a little help whittling it down to one perfect name.

Chooze, a science-based app backed by two cognitive psychologists, aims to prevent the baby name regret that sinks in for as many as 1 in 5 parents by helping parents uncover their subconscious preferences for names.

Serves as a tie-breaker

The way the app works is simple. Parents-to-be input two names they dislike and two names they’re considering. Then, they’re prompted to associate them as quickly as possible to negative and positive topics by tapping left or right.

The speed at which the associations are made helps the app determine parents’ emotional connection to certain names, ultimately revealing their true name preferences.

Chooze’s co-founders, professors Eran Chajut and Ran Hassin, say the app is based on the idea that we are intimately affected by our emotional associations with names.

"Baby names are a challenging journey for every expectant parent and there's never been any technology that helps them pick,” Hayut said in a statement. “Chooze helps parents navigate the top names they're considering and feel more confident about a decision that will affect them each and every time they say their child's name.”

Chooze is currently available on the app store.

Getting a good night’s sleep becomes increasingly difficult as consumers get older. Being kept up by frequent trips to the bathroom or unexplained periods of wakefulness becomes more common, and as a result, some seniors tend to enjoy less deep, restorative sleep.

While this has led some to theorize that seniors need less sleep to get by, researchers from UC Berkeley say that lack of quality sleep increases health risks for these individuals. Their recent report explains how poor sleep affects seniors and calls for increased efforts to improve sleep quality.

"Nearly every disease killing us in later life has a causal link to lack of sleep," said senior author Matthew Walker. "We've done a good job of extending life span, but a poor job of extending our health span. We now see sleep, and improving sleep, as a new pathway for helping remedy that."

Memory decline

The authors point out that there are many diseases that directly correlate with lack of sleep, and that the health risks only get higher as we age. Chief among them for seniors are problems with memory and cognitive function, seen prominently in conditions like dementia and Alzheimer’s.

The problem, the researchers say, is that lack of quality sleep affects the amount of “slow wave sleep” and “sleep spindles,” that consumers experience on a nightly basis. Researcher Joseph Winer states that these waves provide curative sleep and neurochemicals that help us transition stably from sleep to wakefulness.

“Sadly, both these types of sleep brain waves diminish markedly as we grow old, and we are now discovering that sleep decline is related to memory decline in later life,” he said.

Sleeping pills not the answer

So, how would you solve these sleep-related problems? If your answer is to turn to pharmaceutical sleep aids, then the researchers say you are heading in the wrong direction.

"The American College of Physicians has acknowledged that sleeping pills should not be the first-line kneejerk response to sleep problems," Walker said. "Don't be fooled into thinking sedation is real sleep. It's not. . . Sleeping pills sedate the brain, rather than help it sleep naturally. We must find better treatments for restoring healthy sleep in older adults, and that is now one of our dedicated research missions. "

Going forward, it is important that consumers change the way they think about sleep. Instead of thinking of it as a numbers game, the researchers say that people should consider the quality of their sleep first.

"Previously, the conversation has focused on how many hours you need to sleep. However, you can sleep for a sufficient number of hours, but not obtain the right quality of sleep. We also need to appreciate the importance of sleep quality,” said researcher Bryce Mander

The full study has been published in Neuron.

When illness strikes, many consumers head to their doctor seeking a diagnosis. And while they may receive one, a new study suggests it may be in a patient’s best interest to obtain a second opinion before following through with treatment.

For patients with complex conditions, new research shows that a second opinion can lead to a more refined diagnosis, more effective treatment, and reduced stress in a patient’s family.

In a new study, researchers found that 88% of patients who went to Mayo Clinic seeking a second opinion ended up changing their care plan after receiving a new or refined diagnosis.  

Only 12% of the 286 patients who were referred from primary care providers to Mayo Clinic’s General Internal Medicine Division left the facility with confirmation that their original diagnosis was complete and correct.

Identifies diagnostic error

Second opinions can lead to quicker access to lifesaving treatment and may even keep patients from undergoing unnecessary treatments, said lead researcher Dr. James Naessens. They can also reduce stress in a patient’s extended family when they learn that the new diagnosis does not carry dire genetic implications.

“Effective and efficient treatment depends on the right diagnosis,” said Naessens, a health care policy researcher at Mayo Clinic.

“Knowing that more than 1 out of every 5 referral patients may be completely [and] incorrectly diagnosed is troubling -- not only because of the safety risks for these patients prior to correct diagnosis, but also because of the patients we assume are not being referred at all," Naessens said in a statement.

Why referrals are often limited

The researchers explained that several factors may prevent patients from receiving a referral for a potentially lifesaving second opinion. Reasons include:

• Limited access from health insurers to receive care outside their network
• A physician who feels confident in their diagnostic expertise
• Lack of knowledge or assertiveness on behalf of the patient to request a referral

Factors like these “may prevent identification of diagnostic error, and could lead treatment delays, complications leading to more costly treatments, or even patient harm or death,” said Dr. Naessens.

Regarding the costs associated with second opinions, Naessens noted, “Total diagnostic costs for cases resulting in a different final diagnosis were significantly higher than those for confirmed or refined diagnoses, but the alternative could be deadly.”

Naessens and his colleagues plan to conduct further research on diagnostic errors to identify ways to improve the process.

The full study has been published online in the Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice.

In a recent report, we detailed how Payless was likely going to be filing for bankruptcy in the near future. Indications showed that the chain would be another in a long line of retailers who have had to close their doors due to poor performance and the dominance of online retailing.

And, on Tuesday, the company did indeed file under Chapter 11, announcing the closing of 400 of its worst-performing stores. Under Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Payless will have the opportunity to try to reorganize its business and pay back its creditors to stay afloat, but company officials predict a rough road ahead.

“This is a difficult, but necessary, decision driven by the continued challenges of the retail environment, which will only intensify. . . We will build a stronger Payless for our customers, vendors and suppliers, associates, business partners and other stakeholders through this process,” said CEO Paul Jones in a statement.

The company said that it will continue to operate its business and honor employee wages, insurance coverage, and any customer gift cards. However, the company is looking pretty down and out when it comes to their financials.

In its bankruptcy filing, Payless stated that it had no more than $1 billion in assets, but that its liabilities could be as large as $10 billion. Upon filing for bankruptcy, the company said that it will be closing 400 of its 4,000 stores across the U.S. The company has provided a full list of the stores that will be closing, as well as nearby stores that will remain open, here.

The grocery shopping experience has changed over the years. Shoppers once compiled a list, went to the store, loaded up their cart, and were mostly done for the week.

Now consumers are likely to mix grocery shopping with the purchase of apparel, electronics, jewelry, and household goods at stores like Target, Walmart, and Kroger Marketplace.

They might even go to the grocery store, not to buy dinner, but to have dinner. In Chicago, WBBM-TV reports “grocerants,” where consumers can purchase and consume quality prepared food, allowing shoppers to mix stocking up on groceries with dining out.

SupermarketGuru.com recently surveyed consumers on the top 10 changes they've noticed and most appreciate at their neighborhood supermarket.

Self-checkout

No, it doesn't work perfectly every time, but consumers obviously don't like standing in line, especially when they only have a few items.

Online ordering, in-store pick-up

Consumers ranked this service high on the list because they like having someone else do the shopping for them. All they have to do is show up at the appointed time and their groceries are placed in their car.

Delivery

What's better than having someone else do your shopping for you to pick up? How about having it delivered to your home? Look for more stores to start offering this service.

High quality prepared food

Consumers like the fact that supermarkets have healthy and tasty meals already prepared, making dinner a breeze. It's just as easy and a lot healthier than the drive-thru at a fast-food restaurant.

In-store dietitians

Consumers want more information about food and more stores are obliging by hiring dietitians. These nutrition professionals are available to answer consumers' questions and recommend healthy food products.

Barcoding for faster check-out

Electronic scanning at check-out has been around for a long time and is now the norm. But plenty of consumers can remember when it wasn't. It shows up on the list of things about supermarkets that consumers appreciate.

Local and organic products

Consumers increasingly want locally-sourced food, and stores that provide it are earning their loyalty. At the same time, consumers say they appreciate the growing number of organic products that are available.

Stores within the store

Consumers are busier than ever, and when they can do different types of shopping, and even banking, at the supermarket, they like it. Walmart and Target have been providing this for years, but now supermarkets are joining in.

Digital presence

The world has gone digital and consumers like it when their supermarket joins the parade. They say they like the convenience offered by apps and the information provided on up-to-date websites.

Allergen free sections

Food allergies are a growing concern. Consumers like it when a supermarket groups allergen free products in sections that are clearly marked with shelf tags.

The federal income tax filing deadline is closing in, and consumers who haven't yet filed are no doubt making last minute preparations.

While tax preparation software has made the task easier in recent years, tax preparers nonetheless caution taxpayers on some of the most common mistakes that are made.

The National Association of Enrolled Agents (NAEA) has released a survey which indicates that the tendency to overlook deductions and other mistakes creates the potential to leave money on the table.

The group distills the errors into three categories – disorganization, software, and procrastination.

Disorganization

If you are highly disorganized you might not be able to find all the documents you need. Nearly two in five respondents in the survey – 38% – say that when they seek professional help with their taxes, they don't have all the records to support their return.

Software

Okay, it should be no surprise that tax preparers are not big fans of software that allows taxpayers to prepare their own returns. But NAEA says its survey found one third of respondents complained that DIY tax software did not flag all the deductions they could have taken.

Procrastination

No one likes to pay taxes. More than 20% of tax preparers in the survey said clients increasingly wait until the last minute before filing. Then, when they learn they owe additional tax, the respondents say many simply don't file, which might be one of the biggest tax mistakes.

"As tax preparers, we know that all too often people wait until the last minute and rely on one-size-fits-all shortcuts to file their taxes," said James Adelman, EA, President-Elect of NAEA.

He says taxpayers not only risk leaving money on the table, they may take actions that could make an IRS audit more likely.

Could end up saving time and money

"There is no cookie-cutter method for filing taxes, and securing the help from a licensed professional like an enrolled agent is the best way to save time and money now, and avoid headaches later," Adelman said.

Maybe, but it all depends on your situation. If your financial life is fairly simple – two W-2s and two standard deductions – doing your taxes yourself may be just fine. Depending on your income, you may be eligible to use the IRS's Free File.

If you have a small business and itemize personal deductions, you could probably benefit from some professional help. According to NAEA, small business owners often require special attention because their financial lives are more complicated.

The increases in home prices keep on coming.

Property information provider CoreLogic reports its Home Price Index (HPI) shows housing prices across the U.S. were up 7% in February from the same month a year ago.

On a month-over-month basis, prices rose 1%.

“Home prices and rents have risen the most in local markets with high demand and limited supply, such as Seattle, Portland and Denver,” said CoreLogic Chief Economist Dr. Frank Nothaft. “The rise in housing costs has been largest for lower-tier-priced homes.”

According to Nothaft, from December to February in Seattle, the HPI shot up 12% and the CoreLogic single-family rent index jumped 6% percent for all price tiers compared with the same period a year earlier.

He notes, though, that when looking at only lower-cost homes in Seattle, the price increase was 13% and the rent increase was 7%.

In the year ahead

The CoreLogic HPI Forecast indicates home prices will increase by 4.7 percent on a year-over-year basis from February 2017 to February 2018, and on a month-over-month basis home prices are expected to increase by 0.4 percent from February 2017 to March 2017.

“Home prices continue to grow at a torrid pace so far in 2017 and these gains are likely to continue well into the future,” said CoreLogic President and CEO Frank Martell. “Home prices are at peak levels in many major markets and the appreciation is being driven by a number of dynamics -- high demand, stronger employment, lean supplies and affordability -- that will continue to play out in the coming years.”

The flurry of pink slips intensified a bit in March.

According to the tally by outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas announced job cuts by US-based employers rose 17% from the February total to 43,310.

While the month-over-month change is higher, March cuts are down 2% from the same month last year -- the third consecutive month of lower job cuts than the corresponding month a year earlier.

For the first quarter of the year, employers have cut 126,201 jobs -- 38% more than in the final three months of 2016, but down 30% from the same period last year.

A healing energy sector

“Cuts in the energy sector, which started en masse in mid-2014, were still occurring in the first quarter of 2016;” said Challenger, Gray & Christmas CEO John A. Challenger, but adds that “the energy industry is no longer bleeding jobs, which is partly why job cut announcements have trended down.”

Through the first quarter of the year, the energy sector has announced 7,880 job cuts, down 84% from the first three months of 2016. Since January 2014, the energy sector has announced 224,265 cuts -- 107,714 of them in 2016.

Retail is the job cut leader so far this year, with 38,464 announced terminations, 4,084 occurring last month. While retailers have cut over 53,000 jobs in the last seven months, the industry has announced over 121,000 new jobs so far this year.

“Retail is typically an industry in flux, but we’ve seen long established companies close stores and cut workers,” said Challenger. “The industry, though, is creating openings just as quickly as they are cutting.”

First quarter retail cuts are up 19% from the same period last year.

Even as companies continue to cut jobs, hiring announcements continue to break records. Challenger tracking shows that in the first quarter, companies announced 289,272 new positions -- the bulk of them in the retail sector.

Home Depot hired 80,000 new seasonal workers in March. Last quarter’s total is the highest first quarter total on record, and the highest quarterly total except for third quarter totals when holiday hiring plans are typically announced.

Jobless claims

The week ending April 1 saw a sold drop in the fining of first-time applications for state unemployment benefits.

The Labor Department (DOL) reports there were a seasonally adjusted 234,000 initial jobless claims, down 25,000 from the previous week's level was revised up by 1,000.

The less volatile 4-week moving fell 4,500 from the previous week to 250,000.

The complete report is available on the DOL website.

Last week, Congress trashed consumers' right to browse the web in private. This week it's considering a measure that would derail protections for consumers who use prepaid debit cards.

A coalition of attorneys general from the District of Columbia and 17 states are opposing three resolutions in the House and Senate that would throw out a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule scheduled to go into effect in April 2018. 

“The millions of consumers who increasingly use prepaid debit cards deserve the same robust protections for those cards that apply to traditional credit and debit cards,” said Karl A. Racine, the District of Columbia attorney general. “This CFPB rule for prepaid cards offers common-sense reform that increases transparency for hidden fees and limits losses for fraud and unauthorized charges, among other protections. Congress should not block this rule.”

Convenient but sometimes costly

Prepaid cards are a rapidly growing market and are often used by consumers who don't have a traditional bank account. Today, more consumers receive their wages by prepaid cards than by paper checks.

But while the cards are convenient, consumers frequently find they incur hidden or undisclosed fees, even when the cards are used to receive their salary or student loans. Although most consumers use the cards to avoid overdraft fees, some of the payday lenders who provide funds through these cards also subject consumers to overdraft fees.

The CFPB rule that has been in the works since 2012 would provide many of the protections consumers have come to expect when they use credit cards or other more traditional financial products. Key provisions include:

• Protecting prepaid card users against fraud and unauthorized charges;
• Helping consumers avoid hidden fees and comparison shop with a simple chart of common fees;
• Providing convenient, free access to account transactions and account balances;
• Requiring employers to inform employees that they do not have to receive wages on a prepaid card; and
• Requiring prepaid credit cards to comply with existing credit card laws (including an ability to pay analysis, limits on overdraft fees in the first year, and safeguards on how funds are repaid).

Well-heeled interests

Parts of the rule are supported by both industry and consumer groups, but some GOP members of Congress are being influenced by well-heeled influential interests that are trying to have the rule permanently blocked.

Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.), a prime backer of the effort to block the new consumer protection rule, claims the rule would actually hurt consumers who use prepaid cards.

“As a business guy, I have experienced first-hand the impact overregulation has on growth and innovation," said Perdue, a member of the Senate Banking Committee. "This rule is entirely too broad and would cripple the electronic payment marketplace which Georgians and millions of consumers across the country depend on.”

But the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) contends that isn't the case at all. It claims the primary beneficiary of the CFPB rules rollback would be a prepaid card company called NetSpend, whose parent company, TSYS, is based in Perdue's state.

$53 million penalty

NetSpend yesterday agreed to pay $53 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it deceived its customers, often delaying or denying activation of consumers’ cards or blocking them from accessing their funds.

The FTC said that many NetSpend customers were left strapped for cash by NetSpend's actions, with many being evicted from their homes, having their vehicles repossessed, or incurring late fees on bills.

“These delays in access to funds are especially harmful to consumers who have made the NetSpend card their primary means of financial management, leaving them without alternative means of accessing funds,” the FTC stated.

The resolutions to stop implementation of the rule have been filed under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which would mean that not only could the rule not be reinstated but no similar rule could be enacted in the future without approval from Congress.

The CRA is becoming a favorite tool among Congrssional leaders looking to quickly deep-six consumer measures and ensure they are not easily reinstated by future administrations. Congress used the CRA to roll back Obama-era privacy protections enacted by the Federal Communications Commission last week.

In addition to the District of Columbia, the states signing on to the letter are: California, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington state.

A mayor in Texas rose to unlikely national stardom several years ago when she began suggesting that radical Muslims were imposing Sharia Law in her town of Irving, the suburb previously known for hosting the Dallas Cowboys before they moved to a bigger stadium in another suburb.

Concerns about Sharia Law coming to Irving began with Breitbart Media, the right-wing outlet whose founder Steve Bannon was appointed to the White House chief strategist position this year. Breitbart News had reported in 2015 on finding an “Islamic Tribunal using Sharia law in Texas.” 

While that assertion may conjure images of people losing their hands or being stoned to death in Saudi Arabia, the truth was very different. What Breitbart News had actually discovered was the Islamic Tribunal, a Dallas-based nonprofit advertising “intra-community arbitration” for Muslims who would prefer to handle civil disputes privately rather than in court.

That other religions such as Christianity and Judaism offer similar tribunals in accordance with their own religious laws goes unmentioned in the Breitbart story.  The Islamic Tribunal’s “judges” -- in reality they are Imams -- repeatedly say that their decisions are non-binding and that they have no authority or intention of overriding American laws. Breitbart News acknowledges this but still implies without evidence that something more sinister is actually happening.  

“If the parties are not satisfied with the tribunal’s decision, they do not have to accept it and they can take the matter to Texas civil courts,’” Breitbart quotes one Imam as saying.

“However, [the Imam] would not discuss what happens to someone who did not follow their rulings,” the Breitbart reporter adds ominously at the end of his piece.

"Fight with every fiber ..."

Shortly after the story went viral, Irving Mayor Beth Van Duyne published a post on Facebook promising to look into the matter and to stand up against human rights violations. “While I am working to better understand how this ‘court’ will function and whom will be subject to its decisions, please know if it is determined that there are violations of basic rights occurring,  I will not stand idle and will fight with every fiber of my being against this action,” she wrote in her post.

Van Duyne’s words on Facebook catapulted her into right-wing stardom. She repeatedly appeared on Glenn Beck’s talk show afterward and sat beside him as he discussed issues such as the supposed importance of Irving to “Sharia law advocates." 

"Mayor Van Duyne closed down the first known Sharia court on American soil," another conservative news site inaccurately reported. "The Irving mayor was met with intense backlash for doing what her oath of office mandates -- following the law."

The tribunal has not actually been shut down, and at a hearing before the Texas Homeland Security Forum earlier this year, Van Duyne pleaded with state lawmakers to investigate it. "I haven't seen any action at all. I am asking you as mayor, help me," Van Duyne had testified. "I need to get to the bottom and find out, are there people in my community whose rights are not being observed?"

And on a speaking tour, she has given talks to crowds similarly concerned about being subjected to Sharia Law in America. “We have a civilized society that the rest of the world tries to emulate and wants to come to, and at the same time tries to destroy. And what we’re seeing is they destroy from within,” she said in one speech.

And now, Van Duyne is reportedly moving up in the ranks and is possibly in line for a top post in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Last week, she informally announced during a luncheon that she had accepted a role in the Trump Administration. Though she has not yet announced what that job would be, The Daily Caller, another right-wing news site, published a report Friday stating that Van Duyne was recently appointed to work under Housing Secretary Dr. Ben Carson, who had been touring the Dallas area last week. 

Van Duyne did not return messages left by ConsumerAffairs. “The mayor has been much busier than usual,” one person who answered the telephone for the City of Irving said. 

An Imam sees armed protests form outside mosque

Only two mosques existed in north Texas when Imam Moujahed Bakhach arrived from Lebanon in 1982, he recalls. He quickly signed on to serve the rapidly growing Muslim population near his new home of Fort Worth, becoming the Imam for the Islamic Association Of Tarrant County that year, founding a school ten years later and serving as chairman for a local chapter of the Fiqh Council, an association for Muslims living in North America. 

“Now we have more than 86 mosques in north Texas,” Bakhach tells ConsumerAffairs. Despite being in the minority, Bakhach describes being welcomed as a religious leader in this stereotypically Christian and red state. Bakhach was the first Imam invited to the Texas House of Representatives as a “Pastor of the Day,” a tradition in which state lawmakers take turns selecting pastors from their district to lead each legislative session with a payer.

Bakhach also currently volunteers for the Clergy and Police Alliance, an interfaith program in which clergy members accompany officers from the Fort Worth Police Department on calls so that they can console family members. “I’ve never been rejected,” from a stranger’s home on a police call, Bakhach says. He was also invited to lead the audience in prayer at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo several years ago and currently serves in the Mayor of Fort Worth’s Faith Leaders Cabinet, an interfaith advisory panel.  “We are in debt to her as a Muslim community,” Bakhach favorably says of Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price.

A counselor and licensed mediator, Bakhach is one of four Imams advertising his dispute-resolution services for civil matters on the Islamic Tribunal website, a role that he says brought him no controversy until the negative press began in early 2015. In addition to the Breitbart story, a local CBS affiliate published their own report one week later claiming to have discovered the Islamic Tribunal themselves. In their report, CBS unsuccessfully asked the Dallas County District Attorney’s office to make a comment about the tribunal. Van Duyne’s reaction to the reports, Bakhach says, “showed the world that she’s absolutely ignorant and completely irresponsible acting.”

Despite claiming to stand up to Sharia Law in Texas and promising to investigate the local Islamic Tribunal specifically, Van Duyne never actually contacted him or any of the other mediators, Bakhach says. She became a celebrity in the right-wing news circuit “but she was failing her citizens as a public figure, as a mayor...I wish the mayor would pay attention maybe. It doesn't need [to be] more than a one-hour meeting, to sit down with the community, to understand what we have. She can question whatever she wants.”

Later that year, in November 2015, a crowd of armed protesters gathered outside the Islamic Center of Irving, a development that Bakhach blames Van Duyne for inspiring. In interviews outside the mosque with the Dallas Morning News, the shotgun and rifle-wielding protesters cited rumors that Muslims were sending death threats to Van Duyne and rumors of a Sharia law court in Irving as their reasons for being there.

Talk shows weren’t much better; Bakhach recalls calling one radio program that was discussing the tribunal and asking to be put on the line, but they refused to give him airtime. “They want to use it for their own benefit. They want to use the show to scare the people,” he says. Looking back, he sees Van Duyne’s warnings about Sharia law coming to Texas as a similarly calculated attempt to use people’s fears to build a bigger following. “She’s a politician, she wants to play the game,” he says. “Everybody wants to be famous.”

The infamous 'Clock boy' incident

Van Duyne’s role in the Islamic Tribunal controversy would not be the last time that Irving’s relationship with its Muslim community would bring her into the national spotlight. Later that same year, 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed was famously arrested at school when administrators and police claimed that they mistook a homemade clock he had brought in for a bomb.

"We've heard more from the media than the child ever released to police when we were asking him questions,” Van Duyne said on Glenn Beck’s show. “He told a lot more to the reporters than he ever told to the police. There’s a problem with that.”

Mohamed’s father later filed a defamation lawsuit against Glenn Beck and Van Duyne, but a judge tossed out the case.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Housing and Urban Development department said he had read the same story on Friday reporting that Van Duyne would be appointed to the housing agency, but he was not authorized to confirm whether or not it is accurate. “We can only talk about people that are federal employees and people who have been federal employees,” the spokesman tells ConsumerAffairs.