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Trump administration finalizes plan to open pristine Alaska wildlife refuge to oil and gas drilling

Summary

  • Trump administration finalizes Arctic Refuge drilling plan
  • Move fulfills GOP pledge to expand U.S. energy production
  • communities oppose drilling on sacred lands
  • Conservationists vow lawsuits over environmental impact

JUNEAU, (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday finalized plans to open the coastal plain of Alaska’s to potential oil and gas drilling, renewing a long-simmering debate over whether to drill in one of the nation’s environmental jewels.

U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced the decision Thursday that paves the way for future lease sales within the refuge’s 1.5 million-acre ( 631,309 hectare) coastal plain, an area that’s considered sacred by the Indigenous Gwich’in. The plan fulfills pledges made by President and congressional Republicans to reopen this portion of the refuge to possible development. Trump’s bill of tax breaks and spending cuts, passed during the summer, called for at least four lease sales within the refuge over a 10-year period.

Burgum was joined in Washington, D.C., by Alaska Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy and the state’s congressional delegation for this and other lands-related announcements, including the department’s decision to restore oil and gas leases in the refuge that had been canceled by the prior administration.

A federal judge in March said the Biden administration lacked authority to cancel the leases, which were held by a state corporation that was the major bidder in the first-ever lease sale for the refuge held at the end of Trump’s first term.

Leaders in Indigenous Gwich’in communities near the refuge consider the coastal plain sacred, noting its importance to a caribou herd they rely upon, and they oppose drilling there. Leaders of Kaktovik, an Iñupiaq community within the refuge, support drilling and consider responsible oil development to be key to their region’s economic well-being.

“It is encouraging to see decisionmakers in Washington advancing policies that respect our voice and support Kaktovik’s long term success,” Kaktovik Iñupiat Corp. President Charles “CC” Lampe said in a statement.

A second lease sale in the refuge, held near the end of President Joe Biden’s term, yielded no bidders but critics of the sale argued it was too restrictive in scope.

Meda DeWitt, Alaska senior manager with The Wilderness Society, said that with Thursday’s announcement the administration “is placing corporate interests above the lives, cultures and spiritual responsibilities of the people whose survival depends on the Porcupine caribou herd, the freedom to live from this land and the health of the Arctic Refuge.”

The actions detailed Thursday are consistent with those laid out by Trump on his return to office in January, which also included calls to speed the building of a road to connect the communities of King Cove and Cold Bay.

Burgum on Thursday announced completion of a land exchange deal aimed at building the road that would run through Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. King Cove residents have long sought a land connection through the refuge to the all-weather airport at Cold Bay, seeing it as vital to accessing emergency medical care. Dunleavy and the congressional delegation have supported the effort, calling it a life and safety issue.

Conservationists vowed a legal challenge to the agreement, with some tribal leaders worried a road will drive away migratory birds they rely on. The refuge, near the tip of the Alaska Peninsula, contains internationally recognized habitat for migrating waterfowl. Past land exchange proposals have been met with controversy and litigation.

The Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group, said the latest land agreement would exchange about 500 acres (202 hectares) of “ecologically irreplaceable wilderness lands” within the refuge for up to 1,739 acres (703.7 hectares) of King Cove Corp. lands within the refuge boundaries. Tribal leaders in some communities further north, in Yup’ik communities in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region, have expressed concerns that development of a road would harm the migratory birds important to their subsistence ways of life.

“Along with the Native villages of Hooper Bay and Paimiut, we absolutely plan to challenge this decision in court,” said Cooper Freeman, the center’s Alaska director.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, told reporters she has been fighting for the land access for King Cove throughout her tenure and has been to both the community and the refuge. She called the refuge a “literal bread basket” for many waterfowl and said it was in everyone’s interest to ensure that a road is built with minimal disturbance.

“I think it’s important to remember that nobody’s talking about a multi-lane paved road moving lots of big trucks back and forth,” she said. “It is still an 11-mile, one-lane, gravel, noncommercial-use road.”

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A previous version of this report erroneously reported that about 1,739 acres involved were outside the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. They are inside the refuge boundaries.

Modine announces $19.6M Buena Vista expansion

Modine, a Wisconsin-based manufacturer of heating, cooling, and ventilation solutions, will invest $19.6 million through 2029 in planned capital expenditures to expand its operation in Buena Vista, creating 57 jobs, announced Thursday.

As part of the expansion, will move the headquarters of its heating division from Wisconsin to Buena Vista, where the company has operated a facility since 1963. Modine’s heating business manufactures energy-efficient gas-fired, electric, hydronic and oil-fired heating systems for commercial, industrial and residential spaces.

“Modine’s decision to relocate their heating division to Virginia is a powerful testament to what is possible when we foster an environment where businesses and families can thrive,” Youngkin said in a news release.

The investment will fund construction of a facility that will include , office and testing space. It will also cover new machinery and equipment transfers to support growth in Modine’s heating business.

“Modine is proud of our long partnership with the City of Buena Vista, having operated our manufacturing facility here for more than 60 years,” Matt Niebur, general manager of Modine Heating, stated in a news release. “We are excited to build on that legacy with this new investment in our operations and testing facilities.”

In March 2024, Youngkin announced Modine planned to invest $18.1 million to increase capacity for the production of data center cooling equipment at the company’s operation, creating 211 jobs.

Modine did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

At the end of October, Modine reported net sales of $738.9 million for the second quarter of fiscal year 2026, a 12% increase year-over-year. The company has more than 11,000 employees globally. As of March 2024, Modine employed 75 workers in Rockbridge County and more than 300 in Buena Vista.

The Virginia Partnership worked with Buena Vista and the to secure this project for Virginia. Youngkin approved a $300,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist Rockbridge County with the project.

Modine will also receive support from the Investment Program, which provides consultative services and funding to companies creating new jobs.

Henrico appoints new EDA director

The Henrico announced Thursday that it has appointed the county’s chief of staff, , as its next executive director, effective Jan. 1.

Tretina succeeds , who is stepping down from the role on Jan. 16 after more than six years leading the county’s efforts. Tretina has been Henrico’s chief of staff since 2019 and also became a deputy county manager in 2022.

Tretina joined the county in 2013 and has held roles in Recreation & Parks, the Division of Fire, and the county manager’s office. A lifelong Henrico resident, she is a graduate of J.R. Tucker High School. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and public relations from Eastern Kentucky University and and has completed leadership programs through Harvard University, the Metro Richmond Public Safety Leadership Academy and the University of Virginia.

Tretina is currently leading the Best Products Reimagined project, for which the county government is seeking proposals for an arena-anchored development in the county’s West End. During her tenure, she has collaborated with the county on dozens of agreements and initiatives to attract jobs and investment to Henrico.

“Cari brings a wealth of experience and a proven track record of leadership and innovation,” said Edward Whitlock III, chair of the EDA board of directors, in a statement.

In a statement, Manager John A. Vithoulkas described Tretina as “an incredible talent whose energy is contagious,” adding that Tretina has worked on nearly every major redevelopment project and initiative the county has completed over the past six years.

​​Her achievements include helping establish Nourish Henrico during the pandemic, negotiating the county’s purchase of the historic 2,095-acre Varina Farms property, and occasionally serving as acting county manager.

“She has been a trusted copilot for me, and Cari is going to flourish in this role,” Vithoulkas said. “I relish the thought of watching her run laps around localities we compete against nationally. Cari has an incredible heart, but she also has a steel-trap mind that is going to benefit our county for years to come.”

The EDA works to attract business growth and investment in Henrico, which counts more than 353,000 residents, 25,000 businesses and 200,000 jobs. A 10-member board oversees the agency, which has a staff of 11 and a $2.6 million budget for fiscal 2025–26. Although the agency receives operating support from the county, it remains independent of Henrico’s government.

 

Lego holds groundbreaking for $366M Prince George distribution center

The Group held a ceremonial Thursday for its $366 million and in .

The 2 million-square-foot building will be the largest regional center in Lego’s global network. The site is located at 8800 Wells Station Road in the county, about 20 miles from the $1 billion facility the Danish toymaker is building in Chesterfield County, which was about 35% complete in early October.

“Virginia is Lego, and increasingly, Lego is Virginia, and that is such an exciting thing to say. The partnership between the and the Commonwealth of Virginia is nothing sort of awesome,” said Thursday at the groundbreaking.

The company and Youngkin announced the facility in May. Lego started construction in the middle of this year, said Cindy Sikora, Lego’s vice president of supply chain operations for the Americas. The toymaker expects to open the distribution center in early 2027 and to open its factory in Chesterfield, expected to create about 1,760 jobs over 10 years, in January 2027.

Together, the facilities will form an integrated supply chain, Sikora said.

“Obviously, we’d have no products to distribute without the manufacturing,” she told reporters at the groundbreaking, “but also, we need to move the products that manufacturing creates, and so having those located together is super for us.”

The Prince George regional distribution center will be its sixth globally and the second in Lego’s Americas network, joining an existing center in Fort Worth, Texas.

“We currently have a distribution center in Texas, and we work with our manufacturing site in Mexico very closely, and we expect to have the same setup here,” Sikora said.

A third-party logistics company will operate the distribution center, which is standard for Lego distribution facilities, Sikora said. Lego expects that the facility will create about 300 jobs, but the logistics company will be doing the hiring. The announcement of which company that will be is “forthcoming,” Sikora said.

Lego has signed a built-to-suit lease for the regional distribution center with Crosspointe Commerce Center, a joint venture between Hillwood Investment Properties and The Silverman Group.

The toymaker aims to power the facility by using only renewable energy sources and hopes to achieve LEED Gold standard, the second-highest LEED certification from the nonprofit U.S. Green Building Council.

Adding to its presence in Central Virginia, Lego opened a retail store in the Short Pump Town Center in on Nov. 7.

“Think through that supply chain of innovation and that supply chain of creativity,” Youngkin said, “all the way from manufacturing right here in Virginia to distributing in Virginia, to buying and playing and innovating and being part of a child’s life right here in Virginia…

“One of the other things that many of you may not know is that when that child opens that Lego box and places his or her small hands on those bricks,” Youngkin continued, “it’s the first human hand to ever touch that brick. That is one of the great quality pledges of The Lego Group.”

Founded in 1932 by Danish carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen, Lego reported 74.3 billion Danish Krone in 2024 revenue, equivalent to about $11.27 billion. It employs more than 31,000 people worldwide, including more than 3,500 employees in the United States.

Lego has had a presence in the U.S. since the 1960s, when it entered a partnership with Samsonite to manufacture and market its bricks in the country. In 1973, the company established its American subsidiary, Lego Systems, after the license agreement with Samsonite for the U.S. market was cancelled. The toymaker is moving its U.S. headquarters from Enfield, Connecticut, where it has been since 1975, to Boston in 2026.

Amentum wins $995M Air Force contract

Chantilly-based announced Wednesday that it was awarded an contract worth up to $995 million to modernize and provide maintenance for the unmanned MQ-9 Reaper aerial system.

The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract, awarded by the Air Force Air Combat Command, requires Amentum to deploy specialized personnel, weapons loading support and aerospace ground equipment services in the United States and globally, reinforcing combat readiness and training capabilities.

The MQ-9 Reaper is an unmanned aerial system that includes aircraft, sensors, armaments, ground control stations and a satellite link.

“Amentum’s unmanned aerial solutions are designed to ensure the MQ-9 Reaper remains a formidable force in complex, dynamic environments,” said Mark Walter, president of Amentum’s Engineering and Technology business, in a statement.

In a statement, Mark Evans, Amentum’s senior vice president of modernization and training, said the company is “uniquely positioned” to enhance the Reaper’s operational capabilities.

The contract has a five-year ordering period.

The company did not immediately return requests for comment.

With $8.4 billion in 2024 revenue, Amentum has more than 53,000 employees in approximately 80 countries across all seven continents. The company was founded as a spinout of AECOM’s Management Services Group in 2020 and moved its headquarters from Germantown, Maryland, to in 2023.

Regent University names law school dean

SUMMARY:

  • named S. Ernie Walton as its new
  • Walton previously served in senior roles and led the Center for Global Justice
  • His background includes clerking, legal practice and religious liberty advocacy

Regent University announced Thursday that it has tapped longtime administrator and faculty member S. Ernie Walton as the dean of the .

Walton, who has been serving as interim dean of the private Christian university’s law school since July, replaces Bradley J. Lingo, who stepped down in March of this year to become president of his alma mater, Grove City College.

“Dean Walton has consistently demonstrated exceptional scholarship, integrity and leadership,” said Chancellor , in a statement. “He embodies the thoughtful, principled leadership essential to equipping the next generation of legal professionals. Under his guidance, Regent Law will continue its remarkable growth in both quality and enrollment. His dedication to advancing Christ-centered legal education will strengthen our mission and impact for years to come.”

Walton was previously senior associate dean and associate professor of law at the university. He has taught sales, business structures and agency, international law, national security law and international business transactions. Additionally, he served as the director of the law school’s Center for Global Justice from 2013 to 2023.

In a statement, Walton said he was “profoundly honored and deeply humbled” to receive the position and expressed his enthusiasm for working with the university’s faculty and staff in his new role.

Before joining Regent, Walton served as a law clerk for Virginia Supreme Court Justice D. Arthur Kelsey. He later practiced law in Southern California with Tyler & Bursch, focusing on civil litigation and business matters, and concurrently worked as an associate attorney with Advocates for Faith & Freedom, a nonprofit legal organization that litigates cases involving religious liberty. In that role, he represented churches in Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) land-use disputes as well as pastors who had been arrested while evangelizing in public spaces.

He has also written critically about how schools and state agencies handle issues related to gender identity, arguing that some policies conflict with parental rights and constitutional limits on government authority.

An alumnus of Regent Law, Walton graduated first in his class in 2011, served as notes and comments Editor for the Regent University Law Review and clerked for the American Center for Law and Justice.

Regent Law has risen significantly in the U.S. News & World Report rankings in recent years, now ranked 94th, a 53-place climb in four years.

Founded in 1977 by the late televangelist Pat Robertson, Regent University today has more than 13,000 students studying on its 100-acre campus in Virginia Beach and online worldwide.

There are 769 students enrolled in Regent’s law school across all programs, with 341 in the law degree program. More than 3,800 law school alumni practice in all 50 states and over 20 countries, including 38 currently serving as judges.

Wall Street has its worst day in a month on worries about AI stocks and interest rates

Summary

  • drops 1.7%, its worst day in a month
  • and lead market losses
  • Dow falls nearly 800 points from record high
  • Traders question whether Fed will keep cutting rates

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. sank to its worst day in a month and its second-worst since April. The S&P 500 fell 1.7% Thursday and pulled further from its all-time high set late last month. The Industrial Average fell nearly 800 points from its own record set the day before, while the composite lost 2.3%. Nvidia and other AI superstar stocks dragged the market lower amid continued worries that their prices had shot too high. Most other stocks on also fell as traders questioned whether the coming cuts to that they’ve been banking on will actually happen.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market is tumbling Thursday toward one of its worst days since its springtime sell-off, as Nvidia and other AI superstar stocks keep dropping on worries their prices shot too high. Wall Street is also questioning whether the coming cuts to interest rates that it’s been banking on will actually happen.

The S&P 500 sank 1.7% and pulled further from its all-time high set late last month. It’s on track for its worst day in a month and its second-worst since plunging in April after President shocked the world with his “Liberation Day” tariffs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 748 points, or 1.6%, from its own record set the day before, while the Nasdaq composite was down 2.4%, with an hour remaining in trading.

Nvidia was the heaviest weight on the market after the chip company lost 4.2%. Other stocks that have been swept up in the artificial-intelligence frenzy also struggled, including drops of 7.3% for Super Micro Computer, 6.7% for Palantir Technologies and 5% for Broadcom.

Questions have been rising about how much further such AI darlings can go following their already spectacular gains. At the start of this month, Palantir was sporting a stunning rise of nearly 174% for the year so far, for example.

Such sensational performances have been one of the top reasons the U.S. market has hit records despite a slowing job market and high inflation. AI stock prices have shot so high, though, that they’re also drawing comparisons to the 2000 dot-com bubble which ultimately burst and dragged the S&P 500 down by nearly half.

In the meantime, stocks outside of AI also fell across Wall Street as traders worried that the Federal Reserve may not deliver another cut to interest rates in December, as they had been assuming.

Wall Street loves cuts to rates because they can goose the and prices for investments, even though they can also worsen inflation. A halt in cuts could undercut U.S. stock prices after they already ran to records in part on expectations for more reductions.

Expectations have sunk sharply in recent days that the Fed will cut its main interest rate for a third time this year. Traders now see only a coin flip’s chance of it, 49.6%, down from nearly 70% a week ago, according to data from CME Group.

Recent comments from Fed officials have helped drive the doubt.

Susan Collins, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, said late Wednesday that it’s likely appropriate to leave interest rates steady “for some time.” That was a turnaround from her speech last month, when she supported another cut.

The Fed’s job became more difficult recently because of the U.S. government’s six-week shutdown, which delayed many updates on the job market and other signals about the economy. That left it less certain about whether the slowing job market or high inflation is the bigger threat.

The stock market mostly rose through the U.S. government’s shutdown, as it has often done historically, but Wall Street is bracing for potential swings as the government gets back to releasing those updates. The fear is that the data could persuade the Fed to halt its cuts to rates.

The “looming data deluge may spur additional volatility in the coming weeks,” according to Doug Beath, global equity strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

On Wall Street, The Walt Disney Co. helped lead the market lower after falling 8.1%. The entertainment giant reported profit for the latest quarter that topped analysts’ expectations, but its revenue fell short.

That helped offset a jump of 4.2% for Cisco Systems after the tech giant delivered profit and revenue that were bigger than analysts estimated.

Another one of the relatively few stocks to rise was Berkshire Hathaway, the company run by famed investor Warren Buffett. He is known for loving bargains and won’t buy stocks when they look too expensive. Berkshire Hathaway rose 1.9%.

In the bond market, Treasury yields pushed higher, which put downward pressure on prices for stocks and other investments.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.11% from 4.08% late Wednesday.

In stock markets abroad, indexes sagged in Europe following modest gains in Asia.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.4%, even as Japanese tech giant SoftBank Group lost another 3.4%. It’s been struggling since it said earlier this week that it had sold all of its $5.8 billion stake in Nvidia.

Metsera shareholders vote for up to $10 billion acquisition by Pfizer

(Reuters) -Metsera shareholders on Thursday approved Pfizer’s takeover offer worth up to $10 billion, according to a preliminary vote count, securing a critical re-entry into the lucrative obesity treatment market for the U.S. drug giant after a fierce bidding war with Wegovy-maker Novo Nordisk.

The approval paves the way for Pfizer to diversify beyond its shrinking COVID-19 portfolio, navigate looming patent expirations, and tap into the fast-growing weight-loss drug market that analysts estimate could be worth $150 billion annually by the end of the decade.

Shares of Pfizer were up 1.3%, while U.S.-listed shares of Novo slipped nearly 1%.

Pfizer had discontinued two oral GLP-1 candidates – lotiglipron in 2023 and danuglipron in 2025 – due to liver safety concerns, leaving it without a viable in-house obesity drug.

Metsera’s board had unanimously backed Pfizer’s amended offer, which valued the biotech at up to $86.25 per share, including $65.60 in cash and up to $20.65 tied to success of its drug pipeline.

Metsera’s lead candidate, MET-097i, a once-monthly GLP-1 injection, has drawn attention for its potential to rival Novo’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound, which require weekly injections.

MET-097i had helped patients lose up to 14.1% of their body weight in two mid-stage studies. The company is advancing it into late-stage trials.

Pfizer said in September it expects Metsera’s drugs to launch in the 2028, 2029 time frame and potentially help offset upcoming patent losses.

Earlier this year, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said the company expects a $17 billion to $18 billion revenue hit annually from drugs losing patent protection between 2026 and 2028, including blood thinner Eliquis and cancer drugs Ibrance and Xtandi.

Metsera shareholders ARCH Venture Fund XII and XIII, Validae Health and Population Health Partners GP had agreed to vote for the deal, according to a proxy filing.

As of September 29, the firms collectively held about 37.6% of Metsera’s outstanding stock.

(Reporting by Kamal Choudhury and Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

 

Starbucks workers kick off 65-store US strike on company’s busy Red Cup Day

Summary

  • Over 1,000 workers strike at 65 U.S. stores
  • Walkout timed with Starbucks’ busy
  • cites stalled contract talks, low pay, short hours
  • Starbucks says most stores will remain open as usual

More than 1,000 unionized Starbucks workers plan to strike at 65 U.S. stores Thursday to protest a lack of progress in with the company.

The strike was intended to disrupt Starbucks’ Red Cup Day, which is typically one of the company’s busiest days of the year. Since 2018, Starbucks has given out free, reusable cups on that day to customers who buy a holiday drink.

, the union organizing Starbucks baristas, said stores in 45 cities would be impacted, including New York, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, San Diego, St. Louis, Dallas, Columbus, Ohio, and Starbucks’ home city of Seattle. There is no date set for the strike to end, and more stores are prepared to join if Starbucks doesn’t reach a contract agreement with the union, organizers said.

Starbucks emphasized that the vast majority of its U.S. stores would be open and operating as usual Thursday. The coffee giant has 10,000 company-owned stores in the U.S., as well as 7,000 licensed locations in places like grocery stores and airports.

Around 550 company-owned U.S. Starbucks stores are currently unionized. More have voted to unionize, but Starbucks closed 59 unionized stores in September as part of a larger reorganization campaign.

Here’s what’s behind the strike.

A stalled contract agreement

Striking workers say they’re protesting because Starbucks has yet to reach a contract agreement with the union. Starbucks workers first voted to unionize at a store in Buffalo in 2021. In December 2023, Starbucks vowed to finalize an agreement by the end of 2024. But in August of last year, the company ousted Laxman Narasimhan, the CEO who made that promise. The union said progress has stalled under Brian Niccol, the company’s current chairman and CEO.

Workers want higher pay, better hours

Workers say they’re seeking better hours and improved staffing in stores, where they say long customer wait times are routine. They say too many workers aren’t getting the required 20 hours per week they need before Starbucks’ benefits kick in. They also want higher pay, pointing out that executives like Niccol are making millions.

The union also wants the company to resolve hundreds of unfair labor practice charges filed by workers, who say the company has fired baristas in retaliation for unionizing and has failed to bargain over changes in policy that workers must enforce, like its decision earlier this year to limit restroom use to paying customers.

Starbucks stands by its wages and benefits

Starbucks says it offers the best wage and benefit package in retail, worth an average of $30 per hour. Among the company’s benefits are up to 18 weeks of paid family leave and 100% tuition coverage for a four-year college degree. In a letter to employees last week, Starbucks’ Chief Partner Officer Sara Kelly said the union walked away from the bargaining table in the spring.

Kelly said Starbucks remained ready to talk and “believes we can move quickly to a reasonable deal.” Kelly also said surveys showed that most employees like working for the company, and its barista turnover rates are half the industry average.

Limited locations with high visibility

Unionized workers have gone on strike at Starbucks before. In 2022 and 2023, workers walked off the job on Red Cup Day. Last year, a five-day strike ahead of Christmas closed 59 U.S. stores. Each time, Starbucks said the disruption to its operations was minimal. Starbucks United said the new strike is open-ended and could spread to many more unionized locations.

The number of non-union Starbucks locations dwarfs the number of unionized ones. But Todd Vachon, a union expert at the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations, said any strike could be highly visible and educate the public on baristas’ concerns.

Unlike manufacturers, Vachon said, retail industries depend on the connection between their employees and their customers. That makes shaming a potentially powerful weapon in the union’s arsenal, he said.

Improving sales

Starbucks’ same-store sales, or sales at locations open at least a year, rose 1% in the July-September period. It was the first time in nearly two years that the company had posted an increase. In his first year at the company, Niccol set new hospitality standards, redesigned stores to be cozier and more welcoming, and adjusted staffing levels to better handle peak hours.

Starbucks also is trying to prioritize in-store orders over mobile ones. Last week, the company’s holiday drink rollout in the U.S. was so successful that it almost immediately sold out of its glass Bearista cup. Starbucks said demand for the cup exceeded its expectations, but it wouldn’t say if the Bearista will return before the holidays are over.

Federal workers question whether the longest government shutdown was worth their sacrifice

Summary

  • relieved but frustrated as shutdown ends
  • Over 1 million employees went weeks without pay
  • Deal ensures and reverses some dismissals
  • Workers fear another shutdown could happen again

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jessica Sweet spent the federal  cutting back. To make ends meet, the Social Security claims specialist drank only one coffee a day, skipped meals, cut down on groceries and deferred paying some household bills. She racked up spending on her credit card buying gas to get to work.

With the longest shutdown ever coming to a close, Sweet and hundreds of thousands of other federal workers who missed paychecks will soon get some relief. But many are left feeling that their livelihoods served as political pawns in the fight between recalcitrant lawmakers in Washington and are asking themselves whether the battle was worth their sacrifices.

“It’s very frustrating to go through something like this,” said Sweet, who is a steward of AFGE Local 3343 in New York. “It shakes the foundation of trust that we all place in our agencies and in the federal government to do the right thing.”

The shutdown began on Oct. 1 after Democrats rejected a short-term funding fix and demanded that the bill include an extension of federal subsidies for health insurance under the . Its end emerged when eight Democratic-aligned senators agreed to a deal to fund the government with no extension of the expiring subsidies.

Federal workers deeply felt the impacts of the shutdown

The shutdown created a cascade of troubles for many Americans. Throughout the shutdown, at least 670,000 federal employees were furloughed, while about 730,000 others were working without pay, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.

The plight of the federal workers was among several pressure points, along with flight disruptions and cuts to food aid, that in the end ratcheted up the pressure on lawmakers to come to an agreement to fund the government.

Throughout the six-week shutdown, officials in President ‘s administration repeatedly used the federal workers as leverage to try to push Democrats to relent on their health care demands. The Republican president signaled that workers going unpaid wouldn’t get back pay. He threatened and then followed through on firings in a federal workforce already reeling from layoffs earlier this year. A court then blocked the shutdown firings, adding to the uncertainty.

The deal that is bringing an end to the shutdown will reverse the dismissals that occurred since Oct. 1, while also ensuring back pay for furloughed federal workers the Trump administration had left in doubt. The bipartisan deal provides funding to reopen the government, including for SNAP food aid and other programs.

Frustration over the shutdown and how it was brought to an end

But the whiplash of the past six weeks, coupled with the concern that the longest shutdown ever may not be the last they face, has shaken many in the workforce.

“Stress and hunger are great tactics for traumatizing people,” Sweet said.

For Sweet, the feelings of frustration are only compounded by a feeling that she was betrayed by the Democratic-aligned senators who broke with the party on the health care subsidies.

She said that she understands that many workers were desperate for a paycheck. But she thought standing firm on the issue of the health care subsidies was worth her sacrifice.

“There are other federal workers who understood what we were holding the line for and are extremely unhappy that line was crossed and that trust was breached,” she said.

Ready to get back to work

Adam Pelletier, a National Labor Relations Board field examiner who was furloughed Oct. 1, said he is glad the compromise includes rehiring laid-off workers, but “the agreement that was reached almost feels like the Charlie Brown cartoon where Lucy holds the football and pulls it out from them.”

Pelletier, a union leader for NLRBU local 3, had financially prepared for the shutdown back in March when it became clear that a funding agreement between Democrats and Republicans likely would not be reached. He says the shutdown has made him feel “like a pawn” because federal workers had no say over their own fate.

The federal workers who spoke to The Associated Press had one common message: that they were reeling but ready to get back to work.

“This has been the worst time in my 20 years to be a federal employee,” said Elizabeth McPeak, a furloughed IRS employee in Pittsburgh who is National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 34 first vice president. She said colleagues had to beg their landlords to hold off on collecting rent payments and relied on food banks during the shutdown.

“A month without pay,” McPeak said, “is a long time to go.”