The Georgia Rental Assistance Program and Georgia Power have partnered to help eligible households with their past-due utility bills.

The state and the power company are using federal American Rescue Plan dollars that were originally allocated to Georgia last year for emergency rental assistance. Tonya Cureton Curry, deputy commissioner for housing at the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, said some of the money was used to keep more than 51,000 renters safely housed, by satisfying past-due rent bills for more than 8,000 landlords.

"So, this one-time funding was provided by the federal government," she said, "and it was an unprecedented opportunity to really shore up the rental, utility and other housing-related expenses for Georgians and their families that were experiencing hardships due to the COVID-19 pandemic."

Cureton Curry added that almost $45 million still is available, which should help about 200,000 Georgia households pay their past-due utility bills. Georgia Power is the electriciy provider for 2.7 million customers in 155 of the state's 159 counties.

During the pandemic, Cureton Curry said, many families experienced job losses or cutbacks in work hours, as well as serious illness in some cases. For some, it has taken longer to recoup their losses.

"People are getting back to work, and all those types of things," she said. "And so, we're hoping that they will be able to pay their rent, and we're hoping that they will have benefited from these funds."

Although the Rental Assistance Program portal is no longer accepting new applications, she said they're still processing the current pipeline of applications and distributing funds to those who are eligible.

Farm advocates say price gouging on meat and poultry are taking a toll on Montanans.

A farm group cites U.S. Department of Agriculture data as proof of corporate greed, and says companies are still using supply-chain issues as an excuse for inflated prices.

Companies faced massive supply-chain disruptions during the pandemic. But Ag Department data show most of those problems are gone - and food prices in Montana haven't dropped.

Groceries here are 5% higher than the national average and egg prices are up 50% since last year, according to the Consumer Price Index.

Joe Maxwell, chief strategy officer with Farm Action, said food producers are looking for ways to keep prices artificially inflated.

"And it's just a part of their doing business now," said Maxwell. "They find excuses in the markets to gouge that consumer. And one thing we want to be very clear on is that the consumer knows it's not the farmer. The farmer's getting squeezed just as much as is the consumer."

Food producers have blamed the supply chain, but also plant closures and a strain of avian flu for supply and demand issues - driving up production costs.

Farm Action is the same group which, not long after the official end of the pandemic, asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate egg prices - which had tripled in some cases.

Maxwell said Ag Department data show the numbers did not justify the price hike, and adds corporate food producers have positioned themselves to have outsize control over the market.

"They've got that control over the farmer, not unlike oil companies have over oil fields," said Maxwell. "They now have that control because there are very few buyers of farmers' commodities, so they have that control over the farmer, the producer."

Farm Action has also been critical of large, corporate operations that raise thousands of animals in confined spaces, which have been known to pollute air and groundwater.





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A recent wave of racist texts targeting Black Wisconsinites has sparked concerns about data privacy.

The personal information people voluntarily disclose on various online platforms is often used for marketing purposes and can be sold to data brokers, who then sell it to others.

Chad Johnson, assistant professor of computing and new media technologies at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, said industry estimates show most data brokers have no less than 15 data points on every American including age and ethnicity, detailed contact information and even Social Security numbers.

"Since there's no regulation over who can buy those, of course, it could be other advertising agencies, it could be other platforms," Johnson pointed out. "But there's also nothing stopping, for example, a white supremacist movement from buying that information for purposes exactly like this."

Personal data can also be stolen or leaked. Johnson added there is currently no comprehensive federal law to protects data and privacy in the U.S. However, Wisconsin's new data privacy law goes into effect next year.

The Wisconsin Data Privacy Act, passed a year ago today, includes requiring businesses to inform people if their data is being collected and the purpose, as well as the right to access their personal data and request it be corrected or deleted.

Johnson said because anyone can have such detailed information about their targets is where an intimidation factor comes in.

"It kind of sends the message, also implicitly, well what else could they possibly know?" Johnson explained. "If they have my ethnicity, do they have my address, do they have my children's names, do they have my school or my children's school? Do they have my web history, or anything along those lines? It's impossible to know."

He added until people come together to demand better regulation, little can be done to prevent cyberattacks, making individual precautions more important than ever.


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With Thanksgiving just over two weeks away, will Michiganders and shoppers across the country face sticker shock at the grocery store while planning their holiday meals?

There is a mix of good and not-so-good news. According to consumer experts, grocery inflation has eased, with prices rising just 1.3% over the past year. However, prices are more than 20% higher than four years ago.

David Ortega, professor of food economics and policy at Michigan State University, said you won't have to dig as deep for the star of the Thanksgiving menu: turkey.

"Turkey prices, they're expected to be down compared to last year," Ortega reported. "The industry has been struggling with the bird flu outbreak over the past couple of years but producers are better prepared now. So you can expect to find turkeys anywhere between 2% and 10% lower in price."

The price increases this holiday season stem from several factors, including the 2019 pandemic disrupting supply chains, droughts damaging crops, avian flu driving up egg prices, and global conflicts raising overall costs.

Ortega emphasized taking advantage of your grocery store's loyalty program or app can unlock significant savings, which sometimes offers personalized discounts tailored to your shopping habits. He shared a couple of other practical strategies to help keep your holiday meal costs in check.

"Look for store brands or private labels," Ortega advised. "They're a great way to cut costs and often times, you're not really compromising on quality. And I suggest that you make a detailed shopping list, and that you stick to it."

Ortega added as shoppers become more budget-conscious, stores are offering more promotions and loyalty programs. Retailers are working to keep holiday meals affordable, with some even matching prices from 2019.


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