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| Happy Monday, Insiders! Today's newsletter covers: - 🏗️ Plans to build a new "mega-city" in California's Solano County
- 🎓 Major budget cuts at West Virginia University
- 🤸 Simone Biles' record-breaking performance at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships this weekend
And much more! If you find this newsletter useful, please share it with your friends and colleagues. Your faithful IDB writer, Daniel
p/Dan-Smith | |
| 1 | | Silicon Valley tycoons are reportedly backing a company that plans to build a "mega-city" in Solano County near San Francisco. The company, Flannery Associates, has spent more than $800M buying thousands of acres of farmland in California. More: - Former Goldman Sachs trader Jan Sramek is one of the main forces behind Flannery, which has also received money from LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, venture capitalists Michael Moritz and Marc Andreessen, and other prominent Silicon Valley figures.
- In a 2017 email to potential investors, Moritz said that the creation of a new city "should relieve some of the Silicon Valley pressures we all feel — rising home prices, homelessness, congestion etc."
- Lawyers for Flannery filed a lawsuit earlier this year, claiming that local landowners were colluding to raise property prices in the area.
- According to the lawsuit, Flannery said it had made offers to "most landowners in [the] area" and had purchased 140 properties from 400 owners over a five-year period.
Zoom Out: - Locals recently received a poll asking them about a possible ballot initiative to approve a project that "would include a new city with tens of thousands of homes, a large solar energy farm," and more.
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| 2 | | Hawaiian Electric stock is up over 40% on Monday after the company publicly blamed Maui County for the fire that killed over 100 people earlier this month. 
What the numbers say: Hawaiian Electric stock lost nearly 65% over the last month as reports suggested that the publicly-owned utility was partially responsible for the wildfire that ravaged the island of Maui earlier in August. On Monday, Hawaiian Electric CEO Shelee Kimura said that power lines probably caused a bush fire that was extinguished by firefighters. However, he said that no power was running through the company's lines when a second fire broke out nearby, pushing back against claims made by Maui County in its lawsuit against the electrical company. Relevance: Maui County and homeowners on the island have filed lawsuits against Hawaiian Electric that have sent the company's stock into a tailspin because the company could be liable for billions of dollars in damages. Hawaiian Electric provides power to 95% of Hawaii's residents. Q: Do you think Hawaiian Electric could be bankrupted by lawsuits from Maui County and Maui residents? Join the conversation here. | | | |
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| 3 | | Federal authorities opened a hate crime investigation in relation to a mass shooting in Jacksonville, Florida, that left three African-American people dead on Saturday. The gunman, who took his own life, reportedly used a swastika-emblazoned assault rifle during the shooting and shouted racial slurs. More: - The 21-year-old shooter reportedly visited Edward Waters University, a historically Black college campus, before going to the Dollar General.
- Campus security confronted him and reported him to the sheriff's officer.
- Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters said the shooter specifically targeted Black people and he had left racist writings in his parent's home that outlined his "disgusting ideology of hate."
- Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department is investigating the shooting as a hate crime and an act of racially motivated violent extremism.
Zoom Out: - The shooter, who was involuntarily detained in 2017 under Florida's Baker Act, obtained the two firearms he used in the shooting legally.
- Waters said that people who are detained under the Baker Act are typically prohibited from buying guns but that it was unclear what happened in this instance.
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| 4 | | GOOD NEWS: American gymnast Simone Biles won her eighth all-around title at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships this weekend. The 26-year-old Olympic gold medallist recently returned to competitive gymnastics after a two-year break to focus on her mental health. More: - Biles became the first U.S. gymnast to win eight all-around titles, surpassing the record set by Alfred Jochim in 1933.
- She took a break from competitive gymnastics after dropping out of some competitions in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
- At the time, Biles said she was experiencing "the twisties," a mind-body block experienced by some gymnasts who lose their sense of space while moving through the air.
- Biles has not said if she plans to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics, but she is expected to participate in the World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, from September 30 to October 8.
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| 5 | | The administration of West Virginia University (WVU) is proposing major budget cuts that will end several graduate programs, close the world languages department, and lay off over a hundred teachers. Students and staff protested against the cuts last week, with many accusing WVU President Gordon Gee and other senior administrators of mismanagement. More: - The school last week proposed cutting 169 positions, or 7% of faculty, at its main Morgantown campus.
- It would also end 32 of its 338 majors, while other programs would be consolidated.
- Spending at the university rose by an inflation-adjusted 38% between 2002 and 2022, while enrollment only rose by 7% during that time.
- The school sought to boost the number of students to 40,000, from ~33,000 in 2014, but enrollment dropped to 27,500 last fall.
Zoom Out: - Gee has a base salary of $800,000.
- In an article for Slate, WVU graduate Myya Helm said that while Gee worked at Brown and Vanderbilt, the universities paid more than $10M in expenses for him, including house renovations and social events.
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| 6 | | An appeals court ruled that McDonald's violated anti-trust law by barring franchisees from hiring each other's employees. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court reversed a lower court decision that dismissed a class action lawsuit against McDonald's last year, reopening the lawsuit. More: - Two former McDonald's employees filed a class action suit, alleging that the policy depressed their wages.
- The Justice Department and Democratic attorney generals from 20 states and Washington D.C. submitted briefs in support of the plaintiffs last year.
- The lower court found that the policy was acceptable because it protected investments in workers made by franchisees.
- However, the appeals court questioned why the no-hire agreement applied to the entire country and lasted six months after employees left McDonald's.
Zoom Out: - McDonald's said it stopped requiring franchisees to sign no-poach agreements in 2017.
- Other fast food companies have ended their own no-poach policies after Massachusetts and other states began investigating the matter in recent years.
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- A judge scheduled former President Donald Trump's federal criminal trial over allegations that he tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election for March 4, 2024, one day before the Super Tuesday primaries in which Republican primary voters from 15 states will cast their ballots.
- Spanish prosecutors are investigating Luis Rubiales, the president of the country's soccer federation, for sexual assault. Rubiales kissed soccer player Jenni Hermoso on the lips while they were celebrating Spain's victory in the Women's World Cup.
- A new study found that over 40% of 152 contact sport athletes who died before the age of 30 had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the degenerative brain disease that comes from repeated blows to the head.
- OpenAI launched ChatGPT Enterprise, a business-level generative AI tool. The AI firm said that Block, Canva, and Estée Lauder have served as beta testers for the new tool.
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Term of the Day Core Consumer Price Index (CPI): Core CPI measures the change in price of all items — less food and energy — for urban consumers. Question of the Week Do you share details about your salary with your coworkers? Join the conversation |
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 | Writer | | Dr. Daniel Smith is an Inside writer with a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Cambridge. Follow him on Twitter @DJS12321 or email him at Daniel@inside.com. | | This newsletter was edited by NO ACCOUNT ASSOCIATED WITH THE EDITOR | |
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