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ST. LOUIS NEWS TODAY - Sunday, January 27, 2008
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Whole Foods Market to Sack Disposable Plastic Grocery Bags by Earth Day
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), January 27, 2008 - Whole Foods Market has announced it will end the use of disposable plastic grocery bags at the checkouts in all of its 270 stores in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. with the goal to be plastic bag-free by Earth Day, April 22, 2008.
"Central to Whole Foods Market's core values is caring for our communities and the environment, and this includes adopting wise environmental practices," said A.C. Gallo, co-president and chief operating officer for Whole Foods Market.
"More and more cities and countries are beginning to place serious restrictions on single-use plastic shopping bags since they don't break down in our landfills, can harm nature by clogging waterways and endangering wildlife, and litter our roadsides. Together with our shoppers, our gift to the planet this Earth Day will be reducing our environmental impact as we estimate we will keep 100 million new plastic grocery bags out of our environment between Earth Day and the end of this year alone."
Beginning immediately, each store in the Company will work on depleting stocks of disposable plastic grocery bags at the checkouts and will help raise awareness about the benefits of reusable bags. Over the next three months, stores will reduce plastic grocery bag inventories and increase selections of reusable bags for purchase.
"Before Whole Foods Market decided to do away with this disposable plastic grocery bags at our checkouts, we ran tests in San Francisco, Toronto and Austin. Customers have overwhelmingly supported the plastic bag ban initiated by Whole Foods Market in these cities and applauded the progressive stance the stores have taken," said Gallo.
Although the natural and organic grocer hopes to inspire shoppers to bring their own reusable bags, the Company will continue to offer an environmentally sensitive option when needed - 100 percent recycled paper grocery bags. Last year, Whole Foods Market became the first and only food retailer in North America to offer these recycled paper grocery bags made with 100 percent recycled fiber content, which also are completely recyclable.
St. Louis Fed Analyzes Economics of Unilateral Divorce
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), January 27, 2008 - Some economic studies suggest that divorce may have led to an increase of the number of mothers in the labor force and a decline in the level of girls' educational attainment, and may also have reduced spousal violence.
Researcher Kristie M. Engemann and economist Michael T. Owyang surveyed several studies for the January issue of The Regional Economist, the quarterly journal of business and economic issues published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
Statistics indicate that the number of divorces rose steadily from 1960 the early 1980s, but has declined since then. "This rise in the divorce rate coincided with the time when many states modified their laws, allowing divorce to be initiated unilaterally," said Engemann and Owyang.
One study found that unilateral divorce laws contributed 17 percent of the increase in the overall divorce rate from 1968 to 1988. Another study found that the adoption of unilateral divorce raised divorce rates in the short term but not in the long term.
Surveying economic literature, Engemann and Owyang noted one analysis which found that a married woman in a unilateral divorce state with a community-property law (meaning all marital property is divided in half upon divorce) was more likely to work outside the home than a woman in a state without unilateral divorce. On the other hand, a woman in a unilateral divorce state that had a common-property law (meaning she would retain only her own property) became less likely to work in the labor market. Yet another study found that married women with young children responded most to a change in divorce laws and became more likely to enter the labor force.
Engemann and Owyang also studied the common concern often discussed about divorce: the potentially negative effect on children. One analysis using data from the 1980 census suggested that educational attainment is negatively affected, more so for girls than boys. In addition, while women's wages were negatively affected by increased exposure to unilateral divorce laws, men's wages were not significantly different.
One economist who studied the potential relationship between divorce and spousal abuse found that the adoption of unilateral divorce did not cause a significant change in the number of husbands who killed their wives. He did find that the number of wives who killed their husbands, however, increased by 20 to 26 percent. In contrast to these studies, they found research which suggested that adults' wellbeing - the rates of both domestic abuse and suicide - improved after states adopted unilateral divorce laws.
Judge Rules in Favor of Special Administrative Board
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), January 27, 2008 - Judge Richard Callahan of the Cole County Circuit Count has ruled that the state legally had the right to name the Special Administrative Board (SAB) to govern the St. Louis Public Schools.
In his 61-page ruling issued on January 23, Callahan agreed with the state on all claims.
Most notably, Callahan ruled that the Special Administrative Board assumed complete control of SLPS operations on June 15, 2007. State law allows the elected board only the powers of "auditing and public reporting." Elected board members may continue to meet, as well as to monitor and report on district activities.
Today's court ruling - according to SAB members - reaffirms that the appointed board governs the St. Louis Public School District. The Special Administrative Board is made up of Rick Sullivan, Melanie Adams, and Richard Gaines.
The SLPS elected board made more than a dozen claims, among them:
- The law providing for the creation of the SAB and the Transitional School District for the City of St. Louis was unconstitutional.
- The process that the State Board followed in removing the SLPS' accreditation was unlawful.
- The appointment of Rick Sullivan, chief executive officer of the Special Administrative Board, was improper.
- The elected board retained governing authority over the SLPS, even after the district lost its accreditation.
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