Foundations offer cities help convincing workers to relocate
A new effort in Northwest Arkansas offering $10,000 incentives to new residents is part of an increasing number of philanthropy-financed projects trying to spark economic development, promote civic and cultural life, attract skilled workers, and offset declining or sparse populations.
Walmart, longtime seller of firearms, reevaluating position on guns
With the latest violence, this pressure is again directed at Walmart not only from gun control advocates but also some customers and even employees. Government agencies and private-sector firms track how many cars are sold, or how much Americans spend on food and gasoline, but firearms sales are not tracked with the same detail. Burt Flickinger III, a veteran retail analyst with Strategic Resource Group, estimates that US retail gun sales total around $11 billion a year. "Gun sales is the fastest declining big category in the US and, just based on sales, is reaching a point of retail irrelevancy," Flickinger said. Watts also encouraged Walmart to step up its advocacy for gun control legislation, such as stronger background check laws.