Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. I’m Bill Thomas, we have some pressing stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s happening.
A federal agency is banning a company from servicing student loans, one of the country’s top food producers is shutting down one of its facilities, and thousands of workers have just gone on strike at a leading aerospace firm.
Also, the governor of New York makes an important announcement regarding her health, and a new survey has just been released outlining just how pricey it is to rent a home.
Federal Government Bans Large Student Loan Servicer
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is banning Navient, which was formerly known as Sallie Mae, from servicing student loans.The bureau filed a proposed order to permanently bar the largest student loan servicer in the United States from federal student loan servicing, and the company must now pay a huge $120 million settlement following years of alleged violations.
The order is pending court approval and permanently bans Navient from servicing or acquiring certain federal loans. Under the terms of the settlement, Navient will pay a $20 million penalty and shell out another $100 million to borrowers who have been harmed by its practices.
The CFPB says that hundreds of thousands of consumers could be eligible to benefit from the settlement, but the agency doesn’t know yet how much each individual will receive.
The company at one point serviced loans for over 12 million borrowers, and half of them were accounts under its contract with the Department of Education. In total, it serviced over $300 billion in federal and private student loans.
A director for the CFPB says that the action is going to “finally put an end to the years of abuse,” and that Navient’s top executives made a huge profit by exploiting both students and taxpayers.
You should know that this new settlement stems from a previous lawsuit filed by the CFPB against Navient back in 2017, in which the agency accused the company of steering borrowers into very costly repayment options that made them pay more than they should have.
In response to the CFPB’s latest move, Navient issued a statement saying that while the company disagrees with the allegations, the resolution is consistent with its plans to move forward.
“This agreement puts these decade-old issues behind us,” Navient said. “Navient is no longer a servicer or purchaser of federal student loans.”
The company stopped servicing federal direct loans in 2021.
Boar’s Head Closes Down Plant
Meat company Boar’s Head says it’s shutting down a Virginia plant that has been linked to a deadly outbreak of listeria and a nationwide recall of its products.Inspectors for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) flagged the organization’s facility in Jarratt, Virginia, for numerous violations over the last couple of years, including mold, pools of blood, and insect contamination.
In 2022, USDA inspectors warned Boar’s Head of an “imminent threat” to its products posed by some of the outstanding problems at the facility, which remained operational until July 2024, when the recall was initiated.
Interesting to note, the company says that it has already recalled 7 million pounds of its products.
Boar’s Head has apologized for the dangerous outbreak, and calls it a “dark moment” in the company’s history. It says that closing the plant is the most prudent course, even if it impacts hundreds of employees.
You should know that a couple of months ago, investigators issued a “notice of suspension” to the company, pointing out that the firm’s workers could be helping to spread the bacteria throughout the facility.
You should also know that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that so far, nine people have died and another 57 people have been hospitalized in connection to the listeria outbreak, which spread to 18 states.
33,000 Boeing Workers Go on Strike
Factory workers at Boeing are now on strike after rejecting the company’s latest contract proposal, and the ongoing labor dispute is halting the production of the prominent company’s aircraft.Boeing says the strike involves some 33,000 of the company’s machinists, and that the strike is likely going to completely shut down the production of its top-selling commercial jetliners.
The striking machinists assemble the 737 Max, Boeing’s best-selling airliner; the 777, or “triple-seven” jet; and the 767 cargo plane at factories in Renton and Everett, Washington.
You should know that employees at the company are represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), and the union members walked off the job yesterday, just after midnight.
A union official says that the striking workers want better pay, improved health care options, and a decent retirement plan, and that the company’s wages have been stagnant for the last decade.
Boeing’s CEO says that earlier this week the company made a historic contract offer to its employees, and that the proposal addressed each one of those important issues.
However, nearly 95 percent of the union members in the Seattle area and Oregon voted to reject the company’s proposal, and 96 percent voted to go on strike.
The federal government says that officials are in touch with both sides, and it is encouraging both parties to negotiate in good faith.
The strike marks yet another setback for Boeing, which has struggled to ramp up production and bolster its reputation after a series of high-profile safety incidents in recent years.
Gov. Kathy Hochul Announces Cancer Diagnosis
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is back at work after undergoing an outpatient procedure for skin cancer.Hochul underwent treatment for the condition yesterday and is now wearing a bandage on her face, only a day after announcing that she had discovered the condition.
The governor says the diagnosis was made a few weeks ago by her doctor, who found a tiny speck on her nose during a routine visit.
She’s urging people to use suntan lotion to protect themselves from the harmful effects of sunlight, and is encouraging everyone to get regular health checkups as well.
You should know that the governor has advocated for several measures that she says will protect the mental and physical health of New York residents.
Hochul’s initiatives include legislation that limits the availability of tobacco products in her state, and she also toured New York schools earlier this year attempting to raise awareness about the effects of cell phone use on the well-being of students.
Rents Rise Faster Than Home Values for First Time in a Decade
The U.S. Census Bureau is now reporting that rental costs in the country last year outpaced the rise in home values for the first time since 2011.The agency just released the results of a survey, and the report shows that nearly half of the country’s renter households are “cost-burdened,” meaning they spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing.
The survey looks at median gross rent, which includes both rent and utilities, and it shows that these numbers went up by almost 4 percent last year, more than doubling the increase in median home values.
You should know that this represents the largest increase in rental costs in 12 years, when adjusted for inflation.
The report also shows that homeowners generally had a lower median housing cost as a percentage of income than renters last year, but face a significant expense in property insurance.
Arizona, Florida, and Georgia all saw significant increases in the share of renter incomes devoted to housing, while the percentage of incomes spent on rent actually decreased in Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, and West Virginia.
As higher rents generally make it harder to afford other necessities, such as food and transportation, first-time homeownership will be pushed further out of reach for many people nationwide.
And now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so we’re going to call it a wrap for the Saturday edition (the weekend edition) of The Epoch Times News Brief.
*(Don’t forget the News Brief Motto): We’re portable, affordable, and always on-demand.
And finally, as we do each and every day on this program, we wrap everything up with a very notable quote, and this one comes to us from former late night host Conan O'Brien, who said: “Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen.”
Before we go, today is National Eat a Hoagie Day. A hoagie is a sandwich that is also known as a grinder, sub, or hero. The hoagie consists of meats, cheeses, vegetables, sauces, and seasonings on a long roll of Italian or French bread.
For all of us here at The Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.
The Epoch Times News Brief program was written today by David Ross.
Thank you for making us your one-stop source for a concise, accurate, and unbiased daily synopsis of many of the news stories you need to know about.
Enjoy the remainder of your Saturday, and we’ll see you right back here next time for another edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.
For now, let’s all continue to watch out for one another, and have an absolutely superb day today—an awesome weekend as well—and bye for now.
