Month: May 2024

One person was killed and 23 injured in a fatal bus crash on Interstate 95 early Sunday in Harford County, Maryland State Police said in a news release. Harford County is about 35 miles north of Baltimore.

Maryland State Police shared that a preliminary investigation found the bus lost control for unknown reasons and struck a guardrail just after 6 a.m. The bus had been carrying 24 people and was traveling northbound when it crashed; no other vehicles were involved.

State police told CNN that one passenger was pronounced dead on the scene and 23 others, including the driver, were transported to a local hospital. The Maryland State Police Crash Team is leading the investigation into its cause, and northbound lanes of I-95 were closed for the investigation, but have since reopened. No charges were immediately filed as of Sunday afternoon.

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The University of Mississippi announced they have opened an investigation into reports of students making hostile and racial gestures toward Black students on campus.

The University’s chancellor, Glenn F. Boyce sent a letter to students and staff noting that Ole Miss leaders were aware of behaviors that were “offensive, hurtful, and unacceptable, including actions that conveyed hostility and racist overtones” at Thursday’s protest, with NBC reporting that “statements were made at the demonstration on our campus Thursday that were offensive and inappropriate”.  Boyce wrote: “While student privacy laws prohibit us from commenting on any specific student, we have opened one student conduct investigation. We are working to determine whether more cases are warranted.”

A video posted online with many noting that the pro-Palestinian demonstrators appeared to be a multiracial group but were surrounded by a mostly white group of Ole Miss counterprotesters taunting them at a pro-Gaza rally on campus.  The one confrontation which drew particular offense showed a Black female graduate student on the protest side of a barricade went up to two young men to record the group as they yelled in her direction, and a man can be seen jumping up and down and appearing to make a noise to imitate an ape at the woman.

In a statement provided to The Independent, a spokesperson for Ole Miss said: “Statements were made at the demonstration on our campus Thursday that were offensive and inappropriate. We cannot comment specifically about that video, but the university is looking into reports about specific actions. Any actions that violate university policy will be met with appropriate action.”

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More than 16,000 pounds of ground beef sold at Walmart stores nationwide were recalled due to potential E. coli contamination. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced the recall on Wednesday; according to the release, approximately 16,342 pounds of six different types of raw ground beef products sold by Cargill Meat Solutions were recalled. The products were produced April 26-27, 2o24 under a variety of different labels, the release said (see HERE for labels.). Consumers are urged to check their fridge or freezer and immediately dispose of the product or return it to the place of purchase.

According to the agency, the ground beef may have been contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, a “bacterial strain that is an important food and a waterborne pathogen that causes diarrhea, hemorrhagic colitis, and hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) in humans,” according to StatPearls, an online library published in the National Library of Medicine.

All products contained the establishment umber “EST. 86P” printed on the back of the label, and the products were then shipped to Walmart retail locations nationwide. According to the release, the producer flagged the issue after it was discovered that the impacted products, which had previously been segregated, have been “inadvertently utilized in the production of ground beef.”

No confirmed reports of adverse reaction has been reported, the release added. For more information about the recall, head here.

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Peloton announced on Thursday that CEO Barry McCarthy will be stepping down as the company, and that it is also cutting 15% of its staff worldwide (or about 400 employees).  Karen Boone and Chis Bruzzo, Peloton’s current board chair and director, respectively, will temporarily handle the CEO duties until a new leader is chosen. Another board director, Jay Hoag, has been named the new chair, and McCarthy will stay with Peloton as a strategic advisor for the rest of 2024.

The announcement was made ahead of revealing its 2024 third-quarter financial report Thursday morning, after which shares slid 12%, to $2.81. The job cuts are just the latest round for the company, which announced in October 2022 that it was cutting about 500 jobs on top of the nearly 800 layoffs it made in August of that year. Peloton also said it will also close some retail showrooms while it consolidates resources.

Peloton said in a letter to shareholders: “Today we are announcing a new restructuring program to reduce annual expenses by more than $200 million. The objective of the cost reductions is to align our cost structure with the current size of our business and position Peloton to generate sustained and meaningful positive free cash flow, which is a top priority for us.”

In a message to employees, McCarthy said the layoffs were unavoidable in streamlining costs and making Peloton profitable again. The statement said in part: “Hard as the decision has been to make additional headcount cuts, Peloton simply had no other way to bring its spending in line with its revenue. The company had to do that in order to generate sustainable positive [free cash flow]. Achieving positive FCF makes Peloton a more attractive borrower, which is important as the company turns its attention to the necessary task of successfully refinancing its debt.”

The New York-based fitness company experienced incredible sales growth during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, with shares multiplying by more than five times in 2020 amid lockdowns. However, sales began to slow in 2021 as vaccines allowed people to come out of quarantine and begin to visit gyms and exercise establishments outside of the home.

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