On Our Radar

Essence, August 13, 2024, Environmental Protection Agency Launches Historic Partnership With HBCUs Black communities have long been victims of environmental racism, from the contaminated water crises in Flint, Newark and Jackson, to the noxious fumes from truck depots and factories disproportionately located in our neighborhoods, leading to high asthma rates. So the Environmental Protection Agency’s […]

World Resources Institute, August 14, 2024, Banks Have Committed To Net Zero But Aren’t On Track To Reach It Banks themselves don’t produce a lot of direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. But they do wield the power of financing. By prioritizing lending toward climate solutions and phasing out harmful financing, such as for fossil fuel

USA Today, August 13, 2024, Voucher Program Is Supposed To Help Poor Families Rent A Home. Nearly Half The Time, It Fails. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which oversees the voucher program, does not require that the thousands of local authorities around the country who administer the vouchers track or improve these

AXIOS, August 15, 2024, Why Credit Unions Are Buying Banks Between the lines: The key question here is whether growing via acquisition means that a credit union has lost sight of its nonprofit mission — or whether such acquisitions are a sign it’s pursuing that mission, of providing high-quality banking services to as many members

ABC News, August 15, 2024, Harris To Propose Up To $25K In Down-Payment Support For 1st-Time Homebuyers Prior to Harris’ speech on Friday, an official also released more details on the housing component of Vice President Harris’ lower costs plan to “help end the housing supply shortage” that includes calling for the construction of 3

New York Times, August 17, 2024, As California Clears Homeless Camps, Two Projects Point A Way Forward California doesn’t guarantee a right to housing or shelters, both of which are in notoriously short supply. Study after study shows that just arresting people or shooing them along doesn’t work. Neither have progressive legal efforts championing the

KXAN, August 19, 2024, Almost Every Texan Considers Housing Affordability A Problem, New Survey Finds “Houses are sitting longer on the market, it seems,” Carrell said. “The one I just looked at on Saturday, I think it was four months on market with three price decreases, and that third price decrease put it at the

PYMNTS, August 19, 2024, Regional Banks Pursue Mergers And Acquisitions To Enhance Competitiveness More than two-thirds of the banks in the KBW Regional Banking Index have a greater than 50% chance of being acquired within the next 12 months, the report said, pointing to a Reuters analysis of LSEG’s StarMine M&A data. This surge in

Morning Journal, August 19, 2024, Anthem, Lorain Metropolitan Housing Authority Launch Onsite Wellness Programs For Residents These Anthem-sponsored programs, which launch Sept. 1, are designed to promote healthy habits and foster social connections among residents of these public housing communities, the release said. Participants in the Anthem International Plaza Wellness Program and the Anthem Harr

Boston Globe, August 20, 2024, State’s Steward Exit Plan Is No Sure Thing, As Landowners, Creditors Push Back In bankruptcy court filings, meanwhile, disputes between bankrupt Steward and some of its top creditors over how to divvy up proceeds from the Massachusetts hospital sales threw up new roadblocks to the transactions, which were on track

New York Times, August 23, 2024, U.S. Accuses Software Maker RealPage Of Enabling Collusion On Rents The suit escalates the government’s efforts to regulate what it says is misuse of technology. Officials have sued Google, Amazon, Meta and Apple over what they said were monopolistic behaviors that harm consumers. RealPage’s software, YieldStar, gathers confidential real

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, August 27, 2024, CFPB Report Finds Large Retail Chains Charging Cash-Back Fees To Customers Using Debit And Prepaid Cards Getting cash back at a store is a common way for people to get cash. While making a purchase at a retailer that offers the service, people can get access to their

Wall Street Journal, August 25, 2024, Pay Your Rent, Get 2% Cash Back: Landlords Join Craze For Rewards Traditional concessions include a month or two of free rent or a discount on utilities, but monthly rewards offer a new format. Some rental-rewards companies, like Stake, offer cash back. With Piñata, people accrue and cash in

New York Times, August 14, 2024, A Nurses’ Union Flexed Its Power. One Hospital Is Pushing Back. Three weeks ago it filed a petition in Federal District Court in Manhattan, asking a judge to overturn an arbitration decision that awarded nurses in an understaffed unit at Columbia University Medical Center more than $270,000. The hospital

Rolling Stone, August 25, 2024, The Right Is Doing All It Can To Hamstring Racial Equity Groups It’s a familiar story. After the police murder of George Floyd in 2020, there was national soul searching and protests, and racial justice suddenly became fashionable. Money that once had been a trickle flowed into racial equity and