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Bowling Green, Kentucky, is known for being the city from which Corvettes roll off the production lines, and for Fruit of the Loom underwear, which is headquartered there. But the city of 76,000 could soon be known for something else: its AI-powered mass civic engagement project that is using public surveys to chart the future of the city. In the next 25 years, the county within which Bowling Green sits is set to double in size, thanks largely to the growth of nearby Nashville. Figuring out what to do about that vexes the public officials in Bowling Green and the greater Warren County. The What Could BG Be? project is an open consultation open to all residents in the area to share their hopes, dreams, and fears for the future of the area. The tech-driven consultation opens today, and runs through March 17. The insights provided by citizens will be gathered by Google’s Jigsaw team, alongside Polis, a statistical analysis company, and synthesized to try and come up with concrete conclusions the local council can pursue for the future. Bowling Green is going through this incredible transformation, Jigsaw CEO Yasmin Green tells Fast Company. Theyre doubling in size over the next 20 years. It sounds fantastic on the surface, but theres a mixed bag of emotions about whether thats going to be good or not. The data will be parsed by Jigsaws Sensemaking tools, which utilize large language models to make sense of large-scale online conversations. In an attempt to foster transparency through the whole process, all the comments, and any votes made by the public on potential options that stem from them, will be available on a website devoted to the project. The website also provides a public square for the general populace to chip in with any comments. The publishing of the comments is very important so that people can check it, says Green. A summary by definition is a lossy act. That transparency is particularly important because of the intricacies of Bowling Green, a purple city with a Republican mayor and a diverse population. City planners and public figures say there are more things that unite city folk than divide thembut it can sometimes be difficult to discern those areas of uncommon agreement in this age of partisanship. Bowling Green is kind of a microcosm of what happens around the world, says Green. You feel so much change. Theres technological disruption, immigration, the changing nature of jobs, and the economy. They are going through this change. The ultimate goal is to try and help encourage participation with civic engagement processesand to glean any ideas that could help the local community head into the future in a stronger position to address the challenges of rapid population growth and changing economic and social circumstances. I think if we can get a proof point in Bowling Green, that could be inspiring for a lot of other places to pick up, says Green.
Category:
E-Commerce
U.S. retail sales dropped sharply last month, in part because cold weather kept more Americans indoors, denting sales at car dealers and most other stores. Retail sales fell 0.9% in January from the previous month, the Commerce Department said, after two months of healthy gains. It was a much bigger drop than economists expected and the biggest decline in a year. The average temperature in January was the lowest since 1988, according to Pantheon Macroeconomics, and was particularly disruptive in the more temperate South. Devastating fires in Los Angeles may have also impacted spending. The data does not show that Americans rushed to buy goods in January to get ahead of President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs, as some analysts had expected. However, sales were revised higher for December. Many consumers may have just cut back in January after splurging during the holiday season. The tail-off in sales may provide some measure of reassurance for the Federal Reserve, after a very hot read on inflation for January, that the economy may not be overheating. And he decline in retail sales indicates that the economy, while still expanding, will grow more slowly in the first three months of this year. It grew at a 2.3% annual rate in last year’s final quarter. Sales plummeted 2.8% last month at auto dealers and slumped at furniture stores, home and garden centers. Even in the usually strong online retail sector saw a 1.9% decline. Sales rose at general merchandise stores, a category that includes big retailers like Walmart and Target, and at restaurants and bars. In addition to cold weather, the sales decline could in part point to fading consumer confidence as was reflected in a pair of recent surveys by the Conference Board and University of Michigan. Still, hiring and wage growth have been steady, suggesting the economy is still expanding. Last week the government reported that the unemployment rate fell for the second straight month to a low 4%. Inflation did tick higher last month despite the Federal Reserve’s efforts to cool prices through higher interest rates. The cost of groceries jumped in January from the previous month, pushed higher by soaring egg prices. Rising costs at the grocery store is exacting a toll on Americans. At the same time Trump is also stepping up tariff threats, which could lead to higher prices. Trump said Thursday he would soon impose reciprocal tariffs on countries that levy large duties on U.S. goods exports. Trump has already added 10% import taxes on goods from China, and has said he will place 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports. David French, executive vice president of the National Retail Federation, warned the import taxes could raise prices for consumers. While we support the presidents efforts to reduce trade barriers and imbalances, this scale of undertaking is massive and will be extremely disruptive to our supply chains,” French said Thursday. It will likely result in higher prices for hardworking American families and will erode household spending power. Retail executives say that its hard to plan given the fluidity of the tariff policies under the Trump administration. Kim Tobman, CEO of Bouqs, a floral retailer based in Marina del Ray, California, said most of her vases come from China, and that the 10% increase wasnt as bad as she expected. She doesnt expect to raise prices, but she is considering Vietnam, Indonesia and other areas to source vases. We feel at this moment we can absorb it, Tobman said. She experienced the turbulence that comes with Trumps shifting tariff plans last month during his showdown with Colombia, a massive exporter of flowers, after that nation initially refused to accept flights of deported migrants. Trump swiftly announced a series of retaliatory measures, including a 25% tariff on Colombia exports to the U.S., with a threat it could escalate. Colombia is the largest flower exporter to the U.S and represents a big chunk of sourcing for Bouqs floral arrangement, Tobman said. The Colombian government eventually agreed to Trumps demands, and the tariffs never materialized. By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER and ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP Business Writers
Category:
E-Commerce
The Treasury Department’s Office of Inspector General on Friday said it was launching an audit of the security controls for the federal government’s payment system, after Democratic senators raised red flags about the access provided to Trump aide Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency team. The audit will also review the past two years of the system’s transactions as it relates to Musk’s assertion of alleged fraudulent payments, according to a letter from Loren J. Sciurba, Treasurys deputy inspector general, that was obtained by The Associated Press. The audit marks part of the broader effort led by Democratic lawmakers and federal employee unions to provide transparency and accountability about DOGE’s activities under President Donald Trump’s Republican administration. The Musk team has pushed for access to the government’s computer systems and sought to remove tens of thousands of federal workers. We expect to begin our fieldwork immediately, Sciburba wrote. Given the breadth of this effort, the audit will likely not be completed until August; however, we recognize the danger that improper access or inadequate controls can pose to the integrity of sensitive payment systems. As such, if critical issues come to light before that time, we will issue interim updates and reports. Tech billionaire Musk, who continues to control Tesla, X and SpaceX among other companies, claims to be finding waste, fraud and abuse while providing savings to taxpayers, many of his claims so far unsubstantiated. But there is a risk that his team’s aggressive efforts could lead to the failure of government computer systems and enable Musk and his partners to profit off private information maintained by the government. Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Ron Wyden of Oregon led the push for the inspector general office’s inquiry. On Wednesday, Warren, Wyden and Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent noting the inconsistencies in the accounts provided by his department about DOGE. Your lack of candor about these events is deeply troubling given the threats to the economy and the public from DOGEs meddling, and you need to provide a clear, complete, and public accounting of who accessed the systems, what they were doing, and why they were doing it, the Democratic lawmakers wrote in their letter. The Treasury Department provided conflicting information about DOGE’s access to the payment system. Initially, it claimed the access was read only, only to then acknowledge that a DOGE team member briefly had the ability to edit code, and then to say in an employee sworn statement that the ability to edit was granted by accident. The 25-year-old employee granted the access, Marko Elez, resigned this month after racist posts were discovered on one of his social media accounts, only for Musk to call for his rehiring with the backing of Trump and Vice President JD Vance. Advocacy groups and labor unions have filed lawsuits over DOGEs potential unauthorized access to sensitive Treasury payment systems, and five former treasury secretaries have sounded the alarm on the risks associated with Musks DOGE accessing sensitive Treasury Department payment systems and potentially stopping congressionally authorized payments. Earlier this week, the Treasury declined to brief a pair of the highest-ranking lawmakers on the Senate Finance Committee, including Wyden, on the ongoing controversy related to DOGE’s use of Treasury payment systems, citing ongoing litigation. By FATIMA HUSSEIN and JOSH BOAK Associated Press
Category:
E-Commerce
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