(CBS13/CNN) — Best Buy said Thursday that it laid off 5,000 workers this month and is planning to close more stores this year as more consumers buy electronics online. The news comes at a time when big chains face growing competition from Amazon and other sites that sell items like TVs and laptops. Fry’s Electronics said Wednesday that it would abruptly close all of its stores overnight, ending nearly four decades in business. READ MORE: Young Girl Saves Mom From Burning Home: 'I Was Really Scared' Best Buy expects 40% of its sales to come from online purchases this year, up from 19% two years ago, and the company said it needed to alter its workforce in response to this shift. CEO Corie Barry told analysts Thursday that starting earlier this month, Best Buy had been adjusting the mix of full-time and part-time employees in stores, due to “having too many full-time and not enough part-time employees.” As a result of this reorganization, Best Buy laid off 5,000 employees, the majority of whom worked full-time. It also said it is adding approximately 2,000 new part-time positions. Best Buy has around 102,000 employees. It is the first time Best Buy provided a specific number of job cuts, which were first reported by the Wall Street Journal. READ MORE: Pandemic Halts Family Planning As More Women Freeze Their Eggs: 'It Is Frustrating' Best Buy has been a pandemic winner. The retailer saw a surge in sales of items from laptops to kitchen appliances as more Americans worked and cooked at home. During its latest quarter ending Jan. 30, sales at stores open for at least one year increased 12.6% compared with the year prior. Best Buy expects demand to slow this year, however. The company also said Thursday that it closed 20 of its big-box stores in each of the past two years and expects to close a higher number this year. Best Buy has 450 store leases coming up for renewal in the next three years, and Barry said “there will be higher thresholds on ...
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Gretchen Whitmer Administration Refuses to Answer Questions About Nursing Home Policy
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s (D) administration refused to answer questions from legislators Thursday about her coronavirus nursing home policy. During a House Oversight Committee meeting, chairman Rep. Steve Johnson (R) acknowledged a representative from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) declined to participate: “Most of your guys got a letter last night from the director (MDHHS’s Elizabeth Hertel) in response” to the announced hearing, he said. “We asked them to testify, we asked them last week. We really wanted them to testify, because there are questions that need to be answered. They refused to testify. They sent us this letter instead,” Johnson told the committee. The committee chairman indicated the letter claimed MDHHS has “the greatest data out there,” but did not share any of it. “I’m just a simple guy, but in my mind if you have the best data out there, wouldn’t you share it with people?” he said. Johnson said the data reported by the Whitmer administration indicated Michigan has the 14th highest coronavirus-related death rate in the country per 100 residents. The U.S. Department of Justice attempted to get data from Whitmer’s administration in August, and the governor issued a joint statement with now-embattled New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D). The pair argued there were partisan motivations for probing the large coronavirus-related percentage of nursing home deaths. “This is nothing more than a transparent politicization of the Department of Justice in the middle of the Republican National Convention,” Whitmer and Cuomo, who is embroiled in his own nursing home death scandal, said, according to the Daily Gazette . “It’s no coincidence the moment the Trump administration is caught weakening the CDC’s COVID-19 testing guidelines to artificially lower the number of positive cases, they launched this nakedly partisan deflection,” the duo said. “At least 14 states — including Kentucky, Utah and Arizona ...
The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by The AIDS Institute – Senate ref axes $15 minimum wage, House votes today on relief bill
Presented by The AIDS Institute Welcome to The Hill’s Morning Report. Today is Friday and the last one in February! We get you up to speed on the most important developments in politics and policy, plus trends to watch. Alexis Simendinger and Al Weaver are the co-creators. Readers can find us on Twitter @asimendinger and @alweaver22. Please recommend the Morning Report to friends and let us know what you think. CLICK HERE to subscribe! Total U.S. coronavirus deaths each morning this week: Monday, 498,901; Tuesday, 500,310; Wednesday, 502,660; Thursday, 505,890; Friday, 508,307. House Democrats today are expected to pass legislation that would spend nearly $2 trillion to tackle the coronavirus crisis with direct payments to Americans and money for schools to reopen, small business loans and extended unemployment benefits for some of the 10 million people who are struggling without paychecks. Passage will give President Biden Joe Biden Biden 'disappointed' in Senate parliamentarian ruling but 'respects' decision Taylor Swift celebrates House passage of Equality Act Donald Trump Jr. calls Bruce Springsteen's dropped charges 'liberal privilege' MORE ’s 100-day agenda a significant, but short-lived boost as the narrowly divided Senate next week will start to wrestle with the mammoth measure. Most if not all House Republicans are expected to oppose the Democrats’ bill today. The White House has approached Biden’s ambition to enact a stimulus sized to the national emergency as a public relations and lobbying challenge, fast-tracked with a budgetary tool that clears a path for Senate passage with 50 votes, plus support from Vice President Harris . Bloomberg News describes the administration’s focus on building public support for the relief bill in 13 targeted states, including Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Georgia and Arizona. Biden, through a spokeswoman, said he was “disappointed” that the ...
Stifling defense lifts Arizona men’s basketball to win over Washington State
The Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team defeated the Washington State Cougars Thursday, Feb. 25 in going-away fashion, with a final score of 69-53. The game was closer than the final score as WSU either led or were level with the Wildcats for a majority of the first 20 minutes of play before Arizona closed the half on an 8-2 run to take a 28-24 halftime lead and never looked back from there. It was a sloppy basketball game from an offensive standpoint as the two teams combined for 25 turnovers, 28% (11-39) from three and 63% (19-30) from the free-throw line. To go along with its minimal 12 turnovers, Arizona was able to match that with a team total of 15 assists, almost doubling WSU’s total. Arizona head coach Sean Miller and his team looked to have found a defensive identity in this game as the Wildcats were able to keep the Cougars at an alarming 31% (20-63) from the field. MORE FROM THE DAILY WILDCAT Arizona men's basketball team falls to Utah in worst performance of the season Turnovers haunt the Wildcats in loss to short-handed Stanford Arizona looks deep into its bench for help as injuries pile up "Our defense improved as the game went along," Miller said. Freshman guard Kerr Kriisa was a late scratch to tonight’s game, forcing Terrell Brown Jr. to fill his space in the starting lineup. Brown had one of his best games in recent memory by filling up the stat sheet very steadily, logging 35 minutes and putting up seven points, five rebounds, eight assists and a game-high four blocks. Brown said his mindset didn’t change at all when he heard he would be starting. “Whatever the team needed me to do tonight,” Brown said. Miller was also extremely impressed of Terrell’s performance. “[Brown] is unselfish, smart and experienced, [Brown] is just a steady force”. Very touting words from the head coach after Brown’s overall game. Terrell Brown Jr. may be playing his final home game as a ...
Pandemic Halts Family Planning As More Women Freeze Their Eggs: ‘It Is Frustrating’
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — There was a lot of talk about a pandemic baby boom with couples stuck at home during the lockdown. While we’re still waiting to see an uptick in babies, we are seeing an uptick in eggs. More women are freezing their eggs during the pandemic. READ MORE: Victimized Again: Looters Rummage Through Victims' Burned Homes Bao Xiong planned every part of her growing family until the pandemic. “It is frustrating. We had the perfect plan. Once my son turned one, we were going to start the cycle and that’s what happened,” said Bao. Bao planned a little sister for her son. She and her husband have a frozen embryo ready to be implanted, but they’re holding off over fears of COVID-19. “Oh very disappointing. We never thought it was going to put our family on hold,” said her husband, Xeng Vang. “Their embryos aren’t going anywhere and so they can then decide whether or not they want to thaw their embryos tomorrow or six months from now when the world is hopefully back to normal,” said Dr. Michael Murray, Medical Director of the Northern California Fertility Medical Center. READ MORE: Man Killed In West Sacramento Police Shooting Dr. Murray tells CBS13 not only are couples holding off on thawing their embryos, but he’s also seeing an uptick in women freezing their eggs during the pandemic. “Whether or not that’s due to the pandemic or whether or not it’s due to the fact that it’s very difficult to start a new relationship during a pandemic. They’d rather freeze their eggs than wait another year,” said Dr. Murray. So life is on hold until they reach that light at the end of the tunnel. “I am praying to get a vaccine as soon as a vaccine is available. I will be 34 next year in February and I really don’t want to wait any longer,” said Bao. The baby boom we expected could actually be right around the corner. MORE NEWS: Man Arrested In Manteca Linked To 1989 Rape, Stabbing In San Mateo Dr. Murray says the phone has been ringing ...
