More Stimulus Checks On The Way? Petition For $2,000 Monthly Payments Gains Traction
07/25/21 AT 6:23 PM
A Change.org petition to Congress for $2,000 monthly stimulus checks is close to being 90% complete Sunday, with nearly 2.7 million signatures for the 3 million goal. The petition was at 2,698,800 signatures as of 6:17 p.m. ET.
While such petitions rarely sway Congress, the petition may help restart the conversation about more direct payments to Americans at a time when Congress debates a roughly $1 trillion infrastructure plan.
There have been three rounds of direct payments amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The last payment was part of the American Rescue Plan, which was enacted in March, and provided eligible Americans with a payment of $1,400 or $2,800 for married couples along with $1,400 per eligible child.
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There are outward signs of a reviving service economy â increased customer traffic, streams of tourists on weekends â but many local owners are still struggling with serious staffing shortages, and the end is not yet in sight.
Most also are dealing with supply chain bottlenecks, exacerbated nationwide by staffing issues all down the line, resulting in skyrocketing costs for basic supplies, said downtown Bennington business owner Heather Hassett.
Hassett, who with her husband, Ryan, owns three local businesses, doesnât think the general public is aware of how much more improvement is needed before Benningtonâs downtown, and others around the county, can return to their pre-COVID-19 pandemic strength.
Amy and Dustin Barrett, owners of Tables in Park Hill, say that kitchen staffers were cheering when they were able to start plating food again. The dining experience for customers just wasn’t the same with meals packed away in boxes and delivered outside closed doors. It was, of course, a survival necessity, and even now, they’re grateful to provide takeaway for those who want it. But greater indoor dining capacity is bringing the Barretts one step closer to the true dynamic of their restaurant: an interactive experience between food and setting, staff, chef and customer.
Sitting down to dine is like taking a seat at a Broadway play, Amy Barrett says. It’s a show in its own right, where the guest’s reaction informs and inspires the kitchen. A year after the pandemic first forced Colorado restaurants to close to on-premises dining, many in the industry are looking forward to regaining a degree of normalcy, where they can see the fruits of their labor reflected in the faces o
67 popular N.J. restaurants that closed in 2020, many due to COVID-19
Updated Dec 29, 2020;
Posted Dec 29, 2020
The Double S Diner in Wantage as it appeared in June 2015. It closed in October because of the COVID-19 pandemic, as many restaurants have. (Amanda Marzullo | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)Amanda Marzullo | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Advance Media for NJ.com
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The restaurant industry is notoriously tough, with razor-thin profit margins and unpredictable customer bases. But 2020 was a year unlike any other for food and dining, with the COVID-19 pandemic creating restrictions for restaurants and quelling business in a way that crippled the industry.
The slow death of the 24-hour diner: How the pandemic may spell the end of a Jersey icon
Updated Dec 14, 2020;
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Nothing says “Jersey” like a diner, especially a 24-hour one, with its blazing neon sign a welcoming beacon in the night.
Prior to mid-March, when the coronavirus forced lockdowns around the country, there were dozens of 24-hour diners in New Jersey, the Diner Capital of the World.
Now there are just a scant few, including the Stateline Diner in Mahwah, the Coach House Diner in Hackensack and the Chit Chat Diner, also in Hackensack.
The owners of the former 24-hour diners are not hopeful they’ll go back to 24/7 when things return to “normal.”