BJ’s to open 12 new stores in 2024; will enter new state next year (chainstoreage.com)

Nordstrom, Inc. reported third quarter results, which reflected sequential improvement in sales and earnings relative to the prior quarter. The Company generated earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of more than $100 million, supported by improved merchandise margin trends and benefits from resetting its cost structure. Earnings per diluted share of $0.34 included an income tax benefit of $0.12 related to the CARES Act. For the third quarter ended October 31, 2020, net sales decreased 16 percent from last year and included a positive impact of approximately 10-percentage points due to the shift of the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale from the second quarter to the third quarter this year. Digital sales of $1.6 billion accounted for 54 percent of Nordstrom's business.

On September 23, 2024, the Association of American Publishers, along with the American Booksellers for Free Expression, Authors Guild, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Freedom to Read Foundation, and Independent Book Publishers Association filed an amicus brief supporting the Free Speech Coalition in the Supreme Court case Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton. The brief argues that Texas law HB 1181, which requires age-verification on websites where over one-third of the content is considered “harmful to minors,” violates the First Amendment because it will impede access by adults and older minors to constitutionally protected materials, including contemporary fiction, literary classics, young adult fiction, and health books. The brief also argues that the Fifth Circuit’s failure to apply strict scrutiny amounted to a radical departure from decades of legal precedent.

As people get ready to reopen many businesses, SAGE (the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies that provides scientific and technical advice to support government decision makers during emergencies) has reviewed the evidence on the spread of COVID-19 and the efficiency of mitigation measures. One of the issues considered is washroom hygiene with a large amount of useful information on cleansing and air flows. Specifically on hand drying the documents states: Replacement of jet dryers with paper towels. Rationale: Jet air dryers can aerosolise microorganisms from poorly washed hands. Incomplete drying of hands means that contamination can persist on hands. The full SAGE document can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transmission-of-sars-cov-2-and-mitigating-measures-update-4-june-2020