Henry County is one step closer to bringing high-speed internet to everyone who lives here. Crews officially started broadband construction.
Officials began planning out the $34 million project about three years ago. So far, nearly 18,0000 square feet of aerial fiber optic cable has been installed – which is about three miles. Throughout the project, there will be 428.74 miles of fiber optic cable installed in the county.
Currently, three routes are in various stages of development: The Fieldale-Spencer route is under construction, while the Axton-Ridgeway route is set to kick off next month, pending a VDOT permit.
Construction in Leatherwood is slated for early December, and residents in Figsboro, Soapstone and Bassett can look forward to work beginning in the spring of next year.
(WASHINGTON) — In an effort to beef up protections for consumers against corporations, the Biden administration on Monday announced a handful of policies to crack down on “headaches and hassles that waste Americans’ time and money.”
Through the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the administration will ask companies to make it as easy to cancel subscriptions and memberships as it is to sign up for them, and through the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a new rule will require companies to let customers cut through automated customer service “doom loops” by pressing a single button to reach a real person.
“For a lot of services, it takes one or two clicks on your phone to sign up. It should take one or two clicks on your phone to end the service,” White House Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden said on a call with reporters to discuss the new policies.
Consumers could see the new rule applied to gym memberships or subscriptions with phone and internet companies.
The administration will also call on health insurance companies to allow claims to be submitted online, rather than requiring insured customers to print out and mail forms in for coverage.
“Essentially in all of these practices, the companies are delaying services to you or, really, trying to make it so difficult for you to cancel the service that they get to hold on to your money longer and longer,” Tanden said. “And what that means is, ultimately, consumers, the American public, is losing out.”
The new regulations were rolled out Monday but will be on varying timelines, with some taking weeks and others taking months to be implemented, administration officials said.
They target a range of industries and companies at a time when Americans feel strapped by high prices and stubborn inflation — an issue that has weighed on President Joe Biden and now Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign as voters continue to rank the economy among their top issues.
As part of an agenda centered around “lowering costs,” the administration has tried to improve voter confidence in the economy through consistent but piecemeal efforts to bring down daily costs, from lowering prescription drug prices to canceling student loan debt.
Volatility in the stock market last week after a lower-than-expected jobs report has increased the pressure for Democrats to prove their economic bonafides to voters. Experts urge caution before drawing any major conclusions from the week, remaining divided over whether the U.S. is headed for a downturn or still on a resilient path of growth.
Other efforts by the Biden administration to reduce daily bills and offset higher prices include targeting junk fees tacked onto tickets and hotel costs, requiring airlines to automatically refund passengers for delayed flights, and banning medical debts from credit reports.
The efforts have frequently pitted Biden and Harris against big companies, as they accuse them of “shrinkflation,” or delivering less product for the same price, and keeping their prices high even as inflation falls. The Biden administration has also been heralded by antitrust advocates for reviving enforcement on companies for the first time in a meaningful way in decades — including with lawsuits against companies like Google, Apple and LiveNation.
Tanden insisted that Monday’s efforts were about creating a better functioning market, not targeting any particular company or “shaming corporations writ large.”
“This is a broad initiative in which we are talking about a whole series of practices across multiple industries, and the real focus is ensuring that consumers and their choices are what is driving decision making in the market, not the practices of companies that make it hard for people to switch,” Tanden said.
“When they want to end one subscription, they can shop for another, but it’s their decision,” she said. “That’s what a free market is really about, empowering individuals to make the decisions they want to make without these practices that get in their way.”
According to Deadline, the movie starring Michael Keaton, Jenna Ortega, Willem Dafoe and Winona Ryder scared up $13 million in sneak previews on Thursday.
That’s impressive by itself, but especially because Keaton’s “Ghost with the most” hasn’t haunted theaters since the 1988 original.
While Warner Bros. is predicting the movie will do $90 million over the weekend, the trade suspects the studio is being conservative — some experts speculate the film could pull in as much as $110 million worldwide, making it one of the biggest September openings of all time.
For the record, 2017’s Stephen King adaptation It holds the September crown: It opened to $123 million.
That said, Tim Burton‘s Beetlejuice sequel’s Thursday night sneaks were only half a million behind It‘s sneaks.
(HILLSBOROUGH, N.C.) — A convicted murderer is on the loose after escaping from a North Carolina hospital Tuesday morning, officials said.
Ramone Alston, 30, escaped from North Carolina Department of Corrections custody while receiving medical care at UNC Hospital in Hillsborough, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
Alston was convicted of shooting and killing a 1-year-old girl in 2015.
He was last seen wearing a gray T-shirt, brown pants and white New Balance sneakers, as well as handcuffs connected to a belly chain, officials said.
Officials are asking the public to immediately call 911 if they see Alston and warning them not to approach him.
