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The Supreme Court throws out a Trump-era ban on gun bump stocks; a look at how social media algorithms and Shakespearian villains have in common; and states receive federal funding to clean up legacy mine pollution.

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The Supreme Court for now protects access to abortion drug mifepristone, while Senate Republicans block a bill protecting access to in-vitro fertilization. Wisconsin's Supreme Court bans mobile voting sites, and colleges deal with funding cuts as legislatures target diversity programs.

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As summer nears, America's newest and largest international dark sky sanctuary beckons, rural job growth is up, but full recovery remains elusive, rural Americans living in prison towns support a transition, while birth control is more readily available in rural areas.

Report: Grocery prices unnecessarily inflated during pandemic

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Wednesday, May 22, 2024   

Americans got a bit of a reprieve last month, as food and auto prices dipped for the first time in 90 days.

As Texas households continue to deal with high food costs, the latest report from the Federal Trade Commission showed some major retailers unnecessarily increased prices during the pandemic in 2020 and are still reaping the benefits of inflated prices.

Angela Huffman, president of the nonprofit Farm Action, said although supply-chain problems have been largely fixed, Amazon, Kroger and Walmart continue to show high profit margins.

"These companies made money over and above their total costs," Huffman pointed out. "It's one thing to raise your prices to cover higher expenses that you're facing, sure, but what these companies did is use the pandemic as an excuse to exploit the American people."

The report found the pandemic exposed bottlenecks up and down the supply chain, as firms struggled to maintain their output and feed the nation. The average Texas household spends about $286 a week on groceries, and a new report from the nonprofit Feeding America showed Texas is one of the most food-insecure states in the nation.

The reports come as pandemic-era food subsidies have expired and many families are struggling to make ends meet. The FTC did not offer recommendations on how to keep companies from raising prices during a crisis or issue any penalties or fines.

Huffman argued the big grocers have become monopolies with too much influence and power.

"This will be kind of the farthest extent of what they could do but go so far as breaking them up," Huffman pointed out. "In years past, they broke up the telephone companies and the railroads and you know that would be the ideal outcome for us, is to take away their excessive power. But other than that, these companies, they can be fined for this kind of price gouging."

The FTC report found retailer profits rose to 6% over total costs in 2021, and 7% in the first three quarters of 2023, compared to 5.6% in 2015.


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