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On Saturday evening, a group of Yosemite National Park employees hung an upside-down American flag 3,000 feet in the air, at the top of El Capitan summit. The display was absolutely not missed. It happened in the midst of this year’s Firefall at Horsetail Fall, a popular event at the Mariposa County, California, national park, when between mid- to late February, the waterfall begins to light up 5 to 15 minutes before sunset, looking almost like molten lava. Hundreds of photographers and observers were in the park when the upside-down flag, known as a “distress flag,” according to American flag codea sign that something is desperately wronghung from the mountain top. The act came shortly after Elon Musks so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) fired more than 1,000 National Park Service rangers amid drastic cuts to the federal budget. The message was clear: America’s parks are in trouble. Were bringing attention to whats happening to the parks, which are every Americans properties,” Gavin Carpenter, a maintenance mechanic at the park, told the San Francisco Chronicle. Carpenter was central to the employees pulling off the feat, supplying the flag and helping to get it to the top of El Capitan. “Its super important we take care of [the parks] and were losing people here, and its not sustainable if we want to keep the parks open,” Carpenter told the paper. National Park Service rangers are massively important to the preservation of our national parks. Their duties range from running programs and camps for children to maintaining the cleanliness and upkeep of trails, as well as staffing visitor centers and helping to keep visitors safe from wild animals and other dangerous natural elements. But as DOGE’s federal firings continue, many are expressing huge concerns over how parks will be maintained if there are not enough employees to manage them. Some parks have already begun trimming their hours, cancelling tours and other events, and closing visitor centers. In a post on Facebook, which has garnered more than 20,600 comments, the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument in Florissant, Colorado, announced it would be forced to cut hours. “Due to a lack of staffing, effective Monday, February 24, 2025, Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument will be closed Mondays and Tuesdays. There will be no access to the visitor center, trailhead parking, or public restrooms,” the post read. Social media posts from devastated park employees who have been let go in recent weeks have gone viral, too. I am absolutely heartbroken and completely devastated to have lost my dream job of an education park ranger with the National Park Service this Valentines Day, former ranger Brian Gibbs wrote in a February 14 post on Facebook. “My position was ripped out from under my feet after my shift was over at 3:45 p.m. on a cold snowy Friday. The post went on to detail the many irreplaceable roles of a national parks ranger: “I am my son’s ‘Junior Ranger’ idol . . . I am a college kids dream job . . . I am the smiling face that greets you at the front door . . . I am your family vacation planner . . . I am a voice for 19 American Indian cultures.” DOGE’s alarming layoffs have not been limited to park workers. Last week, the administration also fired more than 300 National Nuclear Security Administration workers, then quickly rehired most of them over major national security concerns. And on Sunday, approximately 2,000 employees at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) were informed they were being laid off. The majority of full-time staff were put on administrative leave.
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Starbucks plans to lay off 1,100 corporate employees and eliminate hundreds of open and unfilled positions, CEO Brian Niccol said on Monday. In a memo, Niccol said the cuts will remove duplication “to create smaller, more nimble teams,” and the company will inform employees who are being laid off by midday Tuesday. Starbucks, which has 16,000 corporate employees, said the cuts will not affect staff at cafés. We believe its a necessary change to position Starbucks for future success, Niccol said in the statement. “Our intent is to operate more efficiently, increase accountability, reduce complexity, and drive better integration.” Shares of the coffee giant (NASDAQ:SBUX) rose nearly 2% on the news in midday trading Monday. Like many fast-food chains and retail stores, Starbucks has been struggling with declining in-store sales as customers are less interested in the chain’s high-priced drinks. The cuts come just one month after the Seattle-based coffee chain reversed its popular open-door policy, which allowed anyone to sit in its cafés or use the bathroom without making a purchase. Last week, Niccol told the Wall Street Journal he plans to speed up wait times and improve mobile ordering. He also said Starbucks will be offering smaller menus in the future. According to Today.com, starting March 4, these 13 drinks will be off the menu: Iced Matcha Lemonade Espresso Frappuccino Caff Vanilla Frappuccino White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino Java Chip Frappuccino Chai Crme Frappuccino Caramel Ribbon Crunch Crme Frappuccino Double Chocolaty Chip Crme Frappuccino Chocolate Cookie Crumble Crme Frappuccino White Chocolate Crme Frappuccino White Hot Chocolate Royal English Breakfast Latte Honey Almondmilk Flat White The chain will instead focus on customer favorites like the new Cortado and will be bringing back the Iced Cherry Chai and Jalapeo Chicken Pocket this spring.
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Want more housing market stories from Lance Lamberts ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. National home prices have risen by 2.6% year-over-year from January 2024 to January 2025, according to the Zillow Home Value Index, a slightly decelerated rate from the 4.6% year-over-year rate last spring. However, not every housing market is seeing rising home prices. Among the 300 largest metro area housing markets, 31 markets are seeing falling home prices on a year-over-year basis. While home prices continue to rise in regions with tight inventorysuch as much of the Northeast, Midwest, and Southern Californiasome housing markets in states like Texas, Florida, and Louisiana, where inventory has now surpassed pre-pandemic 2019 levels, are experiencing modest price corrections. These year-over-year declines are evident in major metros such as Austin (-3.4%); Tampa (-2.8%); San Antonio (-1.8%); New Orleans (-1.1%); Jacksonville, Florida (-0.9%); Phoenix (-0.8%); Dallas (-0.7%); and Orlando (-0.6%).\] The markets seeing the most softness, where homebuyers are gaining leverage, are primarily located in Sun Belt regions, particularly the Gulf Coast and Mountain West. These areas saw major price surges during the pandemic housing boom, with home price growth outpacing local income levels. As pandemic-driven migration slowed and mortgage rates rose, markets like Tampa and Austin faced challenges, relying on local income levels to support frothy home prices. This softening trend is further compounded by an abundance of new home supply in the Sun Belt. Builders are often willing to lower prices or offer affordability incentives to maintain sales, which also has a cooling effect on the resale market. Some buyers, who would have previously considered existing homes, are now opting for new homes with more favorable deals. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r
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