Many small business owners lack access to financing, leaving them vulnerable to predatory lenders. A digital platform supported by Mastercard is making it easier for them to secure CDFI funding instead.
Through this series, we examine the disproportionate financial toll of COVID-19 on Black and Latino communities, including how it has affected individuals, families and businesses.
Maryland is joining a nationwide effort to crack down on illegal robocalls. Along with attorneys general from every other state, Maryland s Brian Frosh is joining the Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force. It will investigate and take legal action against the telecommunication companies turning a blind eye and profiting from illegal robocalls coming into the U.S. .
As New Hampshire faces another week of hot, humid temperatures, its residents also are bracing for a dramatic spike in energy bills. As a result of the cost tripling for natural gas used to generate electricity, many customers will see their power bills double starting this month. Patrick McDermott, volunteer vice president of AARP New Hampshire s executive council, said it s going to make it harder on everyone s pocketbooks, especially those with fixed incomes or who are age 50 or older. .
A new analysis shows big oil companies are much more reluctant to lower gasoline prices when crude prices drop than they are to raise prices when crude costs rise. In one example documented by the group Accountable.US, when crude prices dropped by just over 1% in April, oil companies raised gas prices by nearly 2%. Jordan Schreiber, energy and environment director for the group, said Wyoming consumers might expect prices at the pump to go down as the cost of crude oil drops, but gas prices remain stubbornly high. .