Personal Incomes, Consumer Spending Up In December

Barely a day passes without colleges scolded in the headlines over admissions or athletics and endowments or education and expression. Schools have become scapegoats for both good and bad reasons. Prominent commentators and populist political leaders from both the far left and far right now target higher education as a common enemy. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] In fact the current fight over the meritocracy vs charges of elitism which would not characterize other fields such as sports or entertainment have torn open a seam on the right between Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk in favor of selectivity and merit on one side and Laura Loomer and Matt Goetz on the other.

By Jack Flemming, Los Angeles Times LOS ANGELES — The Facebook post seemed straightforward enough, offering up a newly built ADU rental in Burbank. Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, 1,000 square feet. A private yard. Finishes “you wouldn’t find in any other ADU.” The price? $4,500 per month. “Dam, ya’ll need to chill out!!

By Kemberley Washington, CPA, Bankrate.com The IRS Direct File program, which lets taxpayers file their federal income tax return directly with the IRS for free, is doubling its reach to 24 states for the 2025 tax season, up from 12 states in 2024, the program’s pilot year. The Direct File program will also accept more types of tax situations for the 2025 tax season.

The news can be tough in a world often marked by suffering, disaster and war. Sometimes you need to stop and remember that good things happen all the time, all across the world, and 2024 was no different. Take a look at some of the stories that made us smile. Moo Deng FILE – Two-month-old baby hippo Moo Deng plays with a zookeeper in the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand, Thursday, Sept.

In 2019, Erika Mahoney was working as a reporter at KAZU Public Radio — a National Public Radio member station in Monterey, Calif. and she loved everything about it: the people, the work, the community. Then one evening, her phone blew up with calls from NPR. There was an active shooter in Gilroy, Calif.

Michelle Villanueva’s son was just 11 when Douglas County school resource officers handcuffed him and put him in a patrol car, leaving the sixth-grader for two hours before booking the boy, who has autism, into juvenile jail for poking a classmate with a pencil. After the August 2019 incident, Villanueva no longer felt comfortable sending her son to Sagewood Middle School in Parker. “There was just a whole lot of trust broken,” she said. But Villanueva’s son, who The Denver Post is only identifying by his initials — A.