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  • High rents are forcing small businesses into tough choices like raising prices or changing location

    High rents are forcing small businesses into tough choices like raising prices or changing location

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    NEW YORK (AP) — While many costs have come down for small business, rents remain high and in some cases are still rising, forcing many owners into some uncomfortable decisions.

    “Every time the rent goes up, we have to raise prices, to keep up with the cost,” said Adelita Valentine, owner of HairFreek Barbers in Los Angeles. “But with the cost of living, it makes it difficult on our customers.”

    Other owners are choosing to be late on payments or seeking out new locations where the rent is lower. A few are pushing back against their landlord.

    Although inflation is easing, it remains a top concern for small businesses. According to Bank of America internal data, rent payments per small business client rose 11% year-over-year in July. That’s more than twice the increase for renting and owning a residence, a metric known as shelter, according to the government’s monthly Consumer Price Index. That figure rose 5.1% in July.

    And although the situation has improved since the height of the pandemic, a survey by business networking platform Alignable of more than 6,000 small business owners found that 41% could not pay their July rent on time and in full. And 52% said they’ve encountered rent spikes in the past six months.

    The rent for Valentine’s barbershop rose to $4,000 in January from $3,600 in December, the fifth increase in the past eight years. She had to raise the price for her cuts from $35 to $40.

    Two months ago, she moved locations for a cheaper $3,200 rent, but her space is smaller now and she sees fewer families coming in.

    “A lot of people can’t afford to take a whole family to get haircuts,” after the price increase, she said.

    Peter Yu has owned iPAC Automotive, an auto repair and detailing shop in Ontario, Canada, for six years. He said the rent on the shop typically went up about 4% a year. But when his landlord sold the property to a new owner, Yu’s rent jumped from about $1,800 (2,500 Canadian dollars) to about $2,700 (3,700 Canadian dollars) after three months.

    He contemplated moving, but decided that the cost of a move would be more than just paying the extra rent.

    Yu tried to raise prices a month ago, but customers would come in and say “Oh, its too expensive,” and leave, he said. So, he had to drop the price increase in order to get those customers back.

    “When we do try to raise our prices, consumers don’t have the money to pay for it. They’re looking for financing options,” he said. Yu’s services run the gamut from paint correction that costs a few hundred dollars to troubleshooting problematic EV battery and electric drive units for out-of-warranty Teslas that can cost up to $15,000.

    So instead, he’s going to try to improve his marketing, close more sales, and find a way to offer more financing.

    Standing firm against a landlord sometimes works. Janna Rodriguez has run her home-based The Innovative Daycare Corp. in Freeport, New York, since 2018. When she first signed her lease, she paid $3,500, plus costs including landscaping and maintenance. In 2020, the pandemic began, and her landlord raised her rent to $3,800 and also made her start paying half of the homeowner’s insurance. Last year, the landlord raised her rent to $4,100, plus the additional expenses.

    Rodriguez raised her prices for the first time, by $10 per child per week, to help offset the rising rent.

    This year she successfully pushed back when the landlord wanted to raise the rent yet again.

    “I said to them, if you do that, then I’m going to find another property to move my business to, because at this point now you’re trying to bankrupt a business, right?”

    It’s worked – so far. But Rodriguez is worried about the future.

    For others, negotiating a late payment is an option. Nicole Pomije owner of Minneapolis-based The Cookie Cups, which makes cookie kits for kids, has a 4,000-foot office space along with a warehouse where she develops her line of baking kits. Her rent rose 10% this year to $4,000 monthly. Then there are unanticipated bills, such a $1,500 for snow plowing.

    “There’s so much stuff that pops up that you just you never expect,” she said. “And it’s always when you never expect it.”

    Pomije hasn’t raised prices, but instead tried to mitigate the higher rent costs by buying materials in bulk – like ordering 5,000 boxes instead of 1,000 boxes for a 40% discount — and finding cost savings elsewhere.

    Still, there have been several months the past couple of years where she couldn’t pay rent on time. So, far the landlord has been amenable.

    “If we have a conversation like hey, we don’t know if we’re going to make it for the first this month. It might be closer to the tenth,” she said.

    Asked if she thinks costs might ease in the future, Pomije said she is focused on the present.

    “It’s weird, but I’m trying not to think about the future too much and I’m trying to just do what we have to do, and get ready for a holiday season and just, like, get everything paid on time now,” she said. “And then we’ll kind of reevaluate everything in January.”

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  • Does American tennis have a pickleball problem?

    Does American tennis have a pickleball problem?

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Does American tennis have a pickleball problem?

    Even as the U.S. Open opened this week with more than a million fans expected for the sport’s biggest showcase, the game’s leaders are being forced to confront a devastating fact — the nation’s fastest-growing racket sport (or sport of any kind) is not tennis but pickleball, which has seen participation boom 223% in the past three years.

    Women wait for friends to practice pickleball on the courts of CityPickle at Central Park’s Wollman Rink, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

    “Quite frankly, it’s obnoxious to hear that pickleball noise,” U.S. Tennis Association President Dr. Brian Hainline grumbled at a recent state-of-the-game news conference, bemoaning the distinctive pock, pock, pock of pickleball points.

    Pickleball, an easy-to-play mix of tennis and ping pong using paddles and a wiffleball, has quickly soared from nearly nothing to 13.6 million U.S. players in just a few years, leading tennis purists to fear a day when it could surpass tennis’ 23.8 million players. And most troubling is that pickleball’s rise has often come at the expense of thousands of tennis courts encroached upon or even replaced by smaller pickleball courts.

    “When you see an explosion of a sport and it starts potentially eroding into your sport, then, yes, you’re concerned,” Hainline said in an interview with The Associated Press. “That erosion has come in our infrastructure. … A lot of pickleball advocates just came in and said, ‘We need these tennis courts.’ It was a great, organic grassroots movement but it was a little anti-tennis.”

    Some tennis governing bodies in other countries have embraced pickleball and other racket sports under the more-the-merrier belief they could lead more players to the mothership of tennis. France’s tennis federation even set up a few pickleball courts at this year’s French Open to give top players and fans a chance to try it out.

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    A man jumps to return the ball as people practice pickleball on the courts of CityPickle at Central Park’s Wollman Rink, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

    But the USTA has taken a decidedly different approach. Nowhere at the U.S. Open’s Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is there any such demonstration court, exhibition match or any other nod to pickleball or its possible crossover appeal.

    In fact, the USTA is flipping the script on pickleball with an ambitious launch of more than 400 pilot programs across the country to broaden the reach of an easier-to-play, smaller-court version of tennis called “red ball tennis.” Backers say it’s the ideal way for people of all ages to get into tennis and the best place to try it is (wait for it) on pickleball courts.

    “You can begin tennis at any age,” USTA’s Hainline said. “We believe that when you do begin this great sport of tennis, it’s probably best to begin it on a shorter court with a larger, low-compression red ball. What’s an ideal short court? A pickleball court.”

    And instead of the plasticky plink of a pickleball against a flat paddle, Hainline said, striking a fuzzy red tennis ball with a stringed racket allows for a greater variety of strokes and “just a beautiful sound.” Players can either stick with red ball tennis or advance through a progression of bouncier balls to full-court tennis.

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    People practice pickleball on the courts of CityPickle at Central Park’s Wollman Rink, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

    “Not to put it down,” Hainline said of pickleball, “but compared to tennis … seriously?”

    So what does the head of the nation’s pickleball governing body have to say about such comments and big tennis’ plans to plant the seeds of its growth, at least in part, on pickleball courts?

    “I don’t like it but there is so much going on with pickleball, so many good things, I’m going to stick to what I can control, harnessing the growth and supporting this game,” said Pickleball USA CEO Mike Nealy.

    Among the positive signs, Nealy said, is the continuing construction of new pickleball courts across the country, raising the total to more than 50,000. There’s also growing investment in the game at clubs built in former big-box retail stores, pro leagues with such backers as Tom Brady, LeBron James and Drake, and the emergence of “dink-and-drink” establishments that tap into the social aspect of the game by allowing friends to enjoy pickleball, beer, wine and food under the same roof.

    “I don’t think it needs to be one or the other or a competition,” Nealy said of pickleball and tennis. “You’re certainly going to have the inherent frictions in communities when tennis people don’t feel that they’re getting what they want. … They’re different games but I think they are complimentary. There’s plenty of room for both sports to be very successful.”

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    People practice pickleball on the courts of CityPickle at Central Park’s Wollman Rink, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

    Top-ranked American tennis player Taylor Fritz agreed. “There are some people in the tennis world that are just absolute pickleball haters, and that’s fine. But for me, I don’t really have an issue with pickleball. I like playing sometimes. … I don’t see any reason why both of them can’t exist.”

    The relative health of tennis and pickleball is calculated by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, a marketing research group whose annual survey of 18,000 Americans on their preferences of physical activity has been widely cited for decades.

    Though the group’s President and CEO Tom Cove refused to hazard a guess on if or when pickleball could overtake tennis, he said the American pickleball boom is unlike anything his organization his ever seen and several key stats suggest it could be poised to keep going.

    For starters, though the initial growth of pickleball was fueled during the coronavirus pandemic by retirees looking for a socially distanced, low-impact way to get some exercise, the growth now is driven by those ages 18 to 34, with a million new players 17 and younger added last year. Also, of the current 13.6 million pickleball participants in SFIA’s survey, the core number, those who play eight or more times a year, is a robust 4.8 million.

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    People practice pickleball on the courts of CityPickle at Central Park’s Wollman Rink, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

    But perhaps more important than any stat, Cove said, is that pickleball puts up almost no barriers to entry. Equipment is relatively cheap, the game can be played almost anywhere, even on a driveway, and it takes almost no time to start having meaningful games with players of all ages and skill levels. That’s unlike nearly every other sport, including tennis, which can often take months of practice to learn, be physically demanding and require finding players of similar skill level to play competitive matches.

    “Pickleball has a unique quality to give enjoyment very early,” Cove said. “People figure it out and after one or two times. They say, ‘I like to play. It’s fun and I can do this. There’s enough competition, but not too much. There’s enough skill but not too much. There’s enough urgency but it doesn’t make me feel like I’m going to fall over. And I like the social part.”’

    The USTA is seeking to capture some of that vibe as it charts tennis’ future. The game is coming off its own 10% growth over the past three years, according to SFIA’s survey, and the USTA has a goal to increase its ranks from 23.8 million to 35 million players — about 1 in 10 of all Americans — by 2035.

    Building that base starts with outreach like a special “red ball” demonstration court set up next to stadium Court 17 at Flushing Meadows. A game that was once used almost exclusively to introduce children to tennis is now being promoted to adult U.S. Open fans — among the same people currently flocking to pickleball.

    “I have to say, I kind of like it better than pickleball,” 27-year-old Angelique Santiago of Boston said after her first-ever session of red-ball. “The ball is softer compared to the hard pickleball. The tennis racket has a softer feel. It’s just easier to get into a rally. … I’d definitely play it again.”

    Such comments are music to the ears of the USTA’s Hainline, who says comparing tennis to pickleball in terms of skill, nuance and athleticism is “like comparing apples to potatoes.”

    “We want to present another option,” he said, “and let the people choose.”

    ___

    AP Tennis Writer Howard Fendrich contributed.

    ___

    AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

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  • Embrace the smoke, and other tips for grilling vegetables at a Labor Day barbecue

    Embrace the smoke, and other tips for grilling vegetables at a Labor Day barbecue

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    When barbecue expert Steven Raichlen traveled the world searching for novel grilling traditions, he marveled at the commonalities across 60 countries.

    The way live fire brings people together. The universal embrace of smoky flavors. The theatrical nature of what could otherwise just be a family getting food on the table.

    “If you simmer a pot of soup on the stove, nobody’s going to gather around and watch the show,” said Raichlen, author of “The Barbecue Bible” and 32 other books.

    He wasn’t searching for grilled vegetables. He found them everywhere anyway.

    Grilled mushrooms, peppers and even artichokes in Italy. Planks of asparagus laced onto wire-thin skewers in Japan. Corn and chilies served in countless ways in Latin America.

    Much of what he found ended up in “ How to Grill Vegetables,” which also is a nod to his wife, daughter and cousin, all vegetarians. “So it’s sort of self-defense.”

    But he notes that nearly all his books devote a substantial section to vegetables.

    “There’s nothing like the high, dry heat of the grill that intensifies a vegetable’s sweetness,” he said. “In so many cultures, grilled vegetables really have a very important place.”

    How to get the most out of vegetables on the grill

    The first thing to consider is the structure of the vegetable, Raichlen said, and then select the appropriate method.

    As a general rule, high-moisture vegetables like zucchini, peppers and mushrooms are best served by direct grilling, meaning cooking over a high-heat fire with the lid open. He recommended bringing the temperature to 500 F to 600 F.

    Denser vegetables like turnips, cauliflower or leeks are better served by indirect grilling, or cooking next to the fire, with the lid closed, at 350 F to 400 F.

    Closing the lid presents another opportunity to inject the vegetables with smoky flavor by adding wood chips or chunks to the fire or smoker vault of a gas grill, he said.

    “Then you can smoke as well as roast, so you wind up with very incredible flavors,” he said.

    Or try ‘caveman grilling’

    Many cultures char certain vegetables directly on hot coals, which Raichlen calls “caveman grilling.”

    Baba ganoush, the Middle East’s smoky eggplant dip, is the best-known example.

    “It’s an absolutely magical dish, because the eggplant has a smoking device built right into it,” he said, referring to its thick skin. “All you do is char the skin and it permeates the flesh.”

    Tomatoes, onions, squash and zucchini work, too. Just fan the embers with newspaper to blow away excess ash. Sear the vegetables on all sides, turning frequently, and scrape away the most-burnt parts.

    Don’t limit yourself to the obvious

    Beyond corn, peppers and other usual suspects, Raichlen also has grilling recipes for potatoes, beets, carrots, avocados and even lettuce.

    He makes a grilled version of the steakhouse classic wedge salad with a quick homemade dressing spiked with chipotle peppers. Simply cut a head of iceberg lettuce into quarters and briefly sear the cut sides. The edges get sweeter and pick up smoky notes while the center stays cool and crisp.

    Before grilling, it’s best to scrub the grill grate and coat it with vegetable oil — good advice for all types of grilling. And it’s usually a good idea to first season vegetables with an olive oil-based marinade.

    Then it’s a matter of “doing a dance on a razor’s edge” between pleasantly charred and outright burnt, Raichlen said. “You try and get as close to burnt as possible without actually burning.”

    Two recipes from Raichlen’s “How to Grill Vegetables”:

    Armenian Charred Eggplant Dip with Tomatoes and Onions

    Serves: 4 to 6, about 2 cups

    Time: 10 minutes to prep, 6 to 10 on the grill

    2 small or 1 medium eggplant, about 1 pound

    2 large plum (Roma) tomatoes

    1 sweet onion (unpeeled)

    1 large clove garlic, peeled, loosely wrapped in aluminum foil

    1⁄2 teaspoon freshly and finely grated lemon zest

    2 tablespoons lemon juice

    3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

    2 tablespoons chopped dill or parsley

    Directions

    Set up your grill for ember, or “caveman,” grilling. Rake out the coals in an even layer and fan off loose ash. (Alternatively, this recipe can be made with high-heat, direct grilling.)

    Lay the vegetables on the coals and grill, turning often with tongs, until the skins are charred and flesh is easily pierced with a skewer, about 2 minutes for the garlic, 4 minutes for the tomatoes, and 6 to 10 minutes for the eggplants and onions.

    Transfer the veggies to a wire rack set over a rimmed sheet pan to cool. Scrape and discard the really burnt parts. Roughly chop the vegetables.

    Place them in a food processor and pulse to a coarse puree. Work in the zest and juice and enough extra-virgin olive oil to obtain a loose puree. Add the dill, season to taste with coarse salt and black pepper. Serve with pita bread or chips.

    Grilled Wedge Salad with Smoky Ranch Dressing

    Serves 4

    Time: 15 minutes to prep, 3 to 4 minutes on the grill

    1⁄3 cup mayonnaise

    1⁄3 cup buttermilk

    1 tablespoon rice vinegar

    1 teaspoon minced canned chipotles in adobo

    1⁄2 teaspoon lime zest

    1 tablespoon lime juice

    3 tablespoons chopped cilantro or dill

    1 head iceberg lettuce, cut into quarters through the core

    1⁄4 cup chopped smoked almonds

    Directions

    In a small bowl, whisk the mayonnaise, buttermilk, vinegar, chipotle, and lime zest and juice. Salt and pepper to taste. Wait to stir in the cilantro until just before serving.

    Set up your grill for high-heat, direct grilling. Scrape the grill grate clean and coat with vegetable oil.

    Brush the cut sides with olive oil. Arrange the wedges cut sides down on the grill on a diagonal. Grill until lightly singed, 1 to 2 minutes, giving each wedge a quarter turn after 30 to 60 seconds to lay on a crosshatch of grill marks. Grill the other cut side, working quickly so the lettuce remains raw in the center.

    Transfer the wedges to a platter, spoon over the dressing and sprinkle with almonds.

    EDITOR’S NOTE: Albert Stumm writes about food, travel and wellness. Find his work at https://www.albertstumm.com

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  • Comic Relief US launches new Roblox game to help children build community virtually and in real life

    Comic Relief US launches new Roblox game to help children build community virtually and in real life

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    NEW YORK (AP) — The notion that online gaming could help players develop charitable habits seemed bold when the anti-poverty nonprofit Comic Relief US tested its own multiverse on the popular world-building app Roblox last year.

    As philanthropy wrestles with how to authentically engage new generations of digitally savvy donors, Comic Relief US CEO Alison Moore said it was “audacious” to design an experience that still maintained the “twinkle” of the organization that’s behind entertainment-driven fundraisers like Red Nose Day.

    But the launch was successful enough that Comic Relief US is expanding the game this year. Kids Relief’s second annual “Game to Change the World” campaign features a magical new Roblox world, an exclusive virtual concert and a partner in children’s television pioneer Nickelodeon.

    The goal is to instill empathy and raise money through a scavenger hunt across various realms, including SpongeBob SquarePants and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Users travel through portals to collect magical tools that will improve their surroundings. The net proceeds from in-game purchases will be donated.

    The community-building inherent in collaborative gaming is intended to subtly encourage off-screen acts of kindness.

    “It’s a little bit like me helping you, you helping me — all of us together. I love the idea of doing that in a game space,” Moore told The Associated Press. “It’s not meant to be a banner ad or a sign that says, ‘Do Good.’ It’s meant to be emblematic in the gameplay itself.”

    Nickelodeon is also promoting an instructional guide for kids to start their own local projects in real life such as backpack drives.

    Quests are delivered from wizards voiced by “Doctor Who” icon David Tennant, “Veep” star Tony Hale and “Never Have I Ever” actress Maitreyi Ramakrishnan. One wizard invites users to “embark on an enchanted journey to awaken the heart of your community.”

    The campaign will culminate in a weekend music festival on Roblox beginning Sept. 13 that features rock band Imagine Dragons, whose lead singer Dan Reynolds has focused his philanthropy on LGBTQ+ causes. Virtual acts also include Conan Gray, Poppy, d4vd and Alexander Stewart — all musical artists who got their big breaks on YouTube.

    Moore said she was “blown away” by last year’s numbers. The inaugural game has been played for over 32 billion minutes and one performance received the highest “concert thumbs up rating” ever on Roblox, according to Comic Relief US.

    Charitable donations are increasingly being made through gaming, according to business strategist Marcus Howard.

    The fit comes naturally, he said, considering that young people value experiences such as gaming over the material possessions that past generations might have bought at a charitable auction.

    “It just makes sense,” Howard said.

    But he finds that partners must overcome the negative stigma associated with online chat rooms. To its credit, Howard said, Roblox combines the creativity of popular competitor Fortnite with less “toxicity” because of its emphasis on cooperation over competition.

    Comic Relief US kept in mind the need to build a game that appeals to both children and their parents, Moore said.

    To navigate that tricky balance, the nonprofit has adopted a mindset that she credits Nickelodeon with originating: Include parents in the conversation but speak to their children.

    “Good games are good games,” Moore said. “Good games that make me feel good are good things.”

    ___

    Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and non-profits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

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  • Too many people, not enough management: A look at the chaos of ‘overtourism’ in the summer of 2024

    Too many people, not enough management: A look at the chaos of ‘overtourism’ in the summer of 2024

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    SINTRA, Portugal (AP) — The doorbell to Martinho de Almada Pimentel’s house is hard to find, and he likes it that way. It’s a long rope that, when pulled, rings a literal bell on the roof that lets him know someone is outside the mountainside mansion that his great-grandfather built in 1914 as a monument to privacy.

    There’s precious little of that for Pimentel during this summer of “overtourism.”

    Travelers idling in standstill traffic outside the sunwashed walls of Casa do Cipreste sometimes spot the bell and pull the string “because it’s funny,” he says. With the windows open, he can smell the car exhaust and hear the “tuk-tuk” of outsized scooters named for the sound they make. And he can sense the frustration of 5,000 visitors a day who are forced to queue around the house on the crawl up single-lane switchbacks to Pena Palace, the onetime retreat of King Ferdinand II.

    “Now I’m more isolated than during COVID,” the soft-spoken Pimentel, who lives alone, said during an interview this month on the veranda. “Now I try to (not) go out. What I feel is: angry.”

    This is a story of what it means to be visited in 2024, the first year in which global tourism is expected to set records since the coronavirus pandemic brought much of life on Earth to a halt. Wandering is surging, rather than leveling off, driven by lingering revenge travel, digital nomad campaigns and so-called golden visasblamed in part for skyrocketing housing prices.

    Anyone paying attention during this summer of “overtourism” is familiar with the escalating consequences around the world: traffic jams in paradise. Reports of hospitality workers living in tents. And “anti-tourism” protests intended to shame visitors as they dine — or, as in Barcelona in July, douse them with water pistols.

    The demonstrations are an example of locals using the power of their numbers and social media to issue destination leaders an ultimatum: Manage this issue better or we’ll scare away the tourists — who could spend their $11.1 trillion a year elsewhere. Housing prices, traffic and water management are on all of the checklists.

    Cue the violins, you might grouse, for people like Pimentel who are well-off enough to live in places worth visiting. But it’s more than a problem for rich people.

    “Not to be able to get an ambulance or to not be able to get my groceries is a rich people problem?” said Matthew Bedell, another resident of Sintra, which has no pharmacy or grocery store in the center of the UNESCO-designated district. “Those don’t feel like rich people problems to me.”

    What is ‘overtourism,’ anyway?

    The phrase itself generally describes the tipping point at which visitors and their cash stop benefitting residents and instead cause harm by degrading historic sites, overwhelming infrastructure and making life markedly more difficult for those who live there.

    It’s a hashtag that gives a name to the protests and hostility that you’ve seen all summer. But look a little deeper and you’ll find knottier issues for locals and their leaders, none more universal than housing prices driven up by short-term rentals like Airbnb, from Spain to South Africa. Some locales are encouraging “quality tourism,” generally defined as more consideration by visitors toward residents and less drunken behavior, disruptive selfie-taking and other questionable choices.

    Tourists visit the old center of Sintra, Portugal, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)

    “Overtourism is arguably a social phenomenon, too,” according to an analysis for the World Trade Organization written by Joseph Martin Cheer of Western Sydney University and Marina Novelli of the University of Nottingham. In China and India, for example, they wrote, crowded places are more socially accepted. “This suggests that cultural expectations of personal space and expectations of exclusivity differ.”

    The summer of 2023 was defined by the chaos of the journey itself — airports and airlines overwhelmed, passports a nightmare for travelers from the US. Yet by the end of the year, signs abounded that the COVID-19 rush of revenge travel was accelerating.

    In January, the United Nations’ tourism agency predicted that worldwide tourism would exceed the records set in 2019 by 2%. By the end of March, the agency reported, more than 285 million tourists had travelled internationally, about 20% more than the first quarter of 2023. Europe remained the most-visited destination. The World Travel & Tourism Council projected in April that 142 of 185 countries it analyzed would set records for tourism, set to generate $11.1 trillion globally and account for 330 million jobs.

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    Tourists queue to visit the interior of the 19th century Pena Palace in Sintra, Portugal, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)

    Aside from the money, there’s been trouble in paradise this year, with Spain playing a starring role in everything from water management problems to skyrocketing housing prices and drunken tourist drama.

    Protests erupted across the country as early as March, when graffiti in Malaga reportedly urged tourists to “go f——— home.” Thousands of protesters demonstrated in Spain’s Canary Islands against visitors and construction that was overwhelming water services and jacking up housing prices. In Barcelona, protesters shamed and squirted water at people presumed to be visitors as they dined al fresco in touristy Las Ramblas.

    In Japan, where tourist arrivals fueled by the weak yen were expected to set a new record in 2024, Kyoto banned tourists from certain alleys. The government set limits on people climbing Mount Fuji. And in Fujikawaguchiko, a town that offers some of the best views of the mountain’s perfect cone, leaders erected a large black screen in a parking lot to deter tourists from overcrowding the site. The tourists apparently struck back by cutting holes in the screen at eye level.

    Air travel, meanwhile, only got more miserable, the U.S. government reported in July. UNESCO has warned of potential damage to protected areas. And Fodor’s “ No List 2024 ” urged people to reconsider visiting suffering hotspots, including sites in Greece and Vietnam, as well as areas with water management problems in California, India and Thailand.

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    Tourists queue to catch a shuttle bus from the gate up to the the 19th century Pena Palace, in Sintra, Portugal, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)

    Not-yet-hot spots looked to capitalize on “de-touristing” drives such as Amsterdam’s “Stay Away” campaign aimed at partying young men. The “Welcome to MonGOlia” camapaign, for example, beckoned from the land of Genghis Khan. Visits to that country by foreign tourists jumped 25% the first seven months of 2024 over last year.

    Tourism is surging and shifting so quickly, in fact, that some experts say the very term “overtourism” is outdated.

    Michael O’Regan, a lecturer on tourism and events at Glasgow Caledonian University, argues that “overtourism” has become a buzzword that doesn’t reflect the fact that the experience depends largely on the success or failure of crowd management. It’s true that many of the demonstrations aren’t aimed at the tourists themselves, but at the leaders who allow the locals who should benefit to become the ones who pay.

    “There’s been backlash against the business models on which modern tourism has been built and the lack of response by politicians,” he said in an interview. Tourism “came back quicker than we expected,” he allows, but tourists aren’t the problem. “There’s a global fight for tourists. We can’t ignore that. … So what happens when we get too many tourists? Destinations need to do more research.”

    Of visitors vs being visited

    Virpi Makela can describe exactly what happens in her corner of Sintra.

    Incoming guests at Casa do Valle, her hillside bed-and-breakfast near the village center, call Makela in anguish because they cannot figure out how to find her property amid Sintra’s “disorganized” traffic rules that seem to change without notice.

    “There’s a pillar in the middle of the road that goes up and down and you can’t go forward because you ruin your car. So you have to somehow come down but you can’t turn around, so you have to back down the road,” says Makela, a resident of Portugal for 36 years. “And then people get so frustrated they come to our road, which also has a sign that says `authorized vehicles only.’ And they block everything.”

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    A poster hanging from a balcony reads “Sintra: A traffic jam in paradise”, in Sintra, Portugal, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)

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    Traffic crawls through a narrow street where a poster on the wall of a house reads in Portuguese “Chaotic traffic harms everyone, residents and visitors”, in Sintra, Portugal, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)

    Nobody disputes the idea that the tourism boom in Portugal needs better management. The WTTC predicted in April that the country’s tourism sector will grow this year by 24% over 2019 levels, create 126,000 more jobs since then and account for about 20% of the national economy. Housing prices already were pushing an increasing number of people out of the property market, driven upward in part by a growing influx of foreign investors and tourists seeking short-term rentals.

    To respond, Lisbon announced plans to halve the number of tuk-tuks allowed to ferry tourists though the city and built more parking spaces for them after residents complained that they are blocking traffic.

    A 40-minute train ride to the west, Sintra’s municipality has invested in more parking lots outside town and youth housing at lower prices near the center, the mayor’s office said.

    More than 3 million people every year visit the mountains and castles of Sintra, long one of Portugal’s wealthiest regions for its cool microclimate and scenery. Sintra City Hall also said via email that fewer tickets are now sold to the nearby historic sites. Pena Palace, for example, began this year to permit less than half the 12,000 tickets per day sold there in the past.

    It’s not enough, say residents, who have organized into QSintra, an association that’s challenging City Hall to “put residents first” with better communication, to start. They also want to know the government’s plan for managing guests at a new hotel being constructed to increase the number of overnight stays, and more limits on the number of cars and visitors allowed.

    “We’re not against tourists,” reads the group’s manifesto. “We’re against the pandemonium that (local leaders) cannot resolve.”

    ___

    Associated Press reporters Helena Alves in Lisbon and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report. Laurie Kellman writes about global affairs for AP’s Trends + Culture team. Follow her at http://x.com/APLaurieKellman

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  • What to stream: Adam Sandler, John Legend, ‘Only Murders in the Building’ and Star Wars Outlaws

    What to stream: Adam Sandler, John Legend, ‘Only Murders in the Building’ and Star Wars Outlaws

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    “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” returning for its second season and Adam Sandler’s first comedy special since 2018 are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you.

    Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: John Legend offers his first-ever children’s album, season four of “Only Murders in the Building” shifts to Los Angeles and DJ and dance producer Zedd is back with an album after nearly a decade.

    NEW MOVIES TO STREAM

    — “The Fall Guy” is finally coming to Peacock, where it will be streaming starting Friday, Aug. 30, alongside an “extended cut” version. It might not have reached the blockbuster heights the studio dreamed about during its theatrical run, but it’s pure delight: A comedy, action, romance that soars thanks to the charisma of its stars. Based on the 1980s Lee Majors television series (he gets a cameo), the film features Ryan Gosling as a stunt man, Emily Blunt as his director and dream girl, Aaron Taylor-Johnson as an egotistical movie star and “Ted Lasso’s” Hannah Waddingham as a Diet Coke slurping producer.

    — Ishana Night Shyamalan’s thriller, “The Watchers,” in which Dakota Fanning plays an artist stranded in western Ireland where mysterious creatures lurk and stalk in the night, begins streaming on MAX on Friday, Aug. 30.

    — Emma Stone gives a performance (and interpretive dance) worth watching in “ Kinds of Kindness,” her latest collaboration with Yorgos Lanthimos fresh on the heels of her Oscar-winning turn in “Poor Things.” The film, streaming on Hulu on Friday, Aug. 30, is a triptych with a big ensemble cast including Willem Dafoe, Jesse Plemons (who won a prize for his performance at Cannes), Hong Chau, Margaret Qualley, Mamoudou Athie and Joe Alwyn. Jocelyn Noveck, in her Associated Press review, described it as “a meditation on our free will and the ways we willingly forfeit it to others — in the workplace, at home, and in religion.” Noveck wrote that the “Stone-Lanthimos pairing… is continuing to nurture an aspect of Stone’s talents that increasingly sets her apart: Her fearlessness and the obvious joy she derives from it.”

    — Somehow the Yorgos Lanthimos film is not the most eccentric new streaming offering this week. That title goes to “ Sasquatch Sunset,” Nathan and David Zellner’s experimental film about a family of sasquatches just living their lives. Starring an essentially unrecognizable Jesse Eisenberg and Riley Keough (in addition to Nathan Zellner), this Sundance curiosity begins streaming on Paramount+ on Monday. In his review for the AP, Mark Kennedy wrote that it is “a bewildering 90-minute, narrator-less and wordless experiment that’s as audacious as it is infuriating. It’s not clear if everyone was high making it or we should be while watching it.”

    — AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr

    NEW MUSIC TO STREAM

    — DJ and dance producer Zedd is back with an album after nearly a decade, “Telos.” The first single is the appropriately titled “Out of Time” featuring Bea Miller, a dreamy tune with atmospheric strings that builds into a dancefloor banger. Zedd has revealed that he started writing “Out Of Time” way back in 2015 but was never able to finish it. That changed with Bea — “her voice added an emotional depth that completed the song. ‘Out Of Time’ really encapsulates the DNA of the Telos album, which is why I chose it to be the song that introduces this new era,” he says.

    — If you’re into a slower change of pace, check out John Legend, who releases his first children’s album, “My Favorite Dream,” on Friday, Aug. 30. It’s produced by the chamber pop polymath Sufjan Stevens and centers on universal themes like love, safety, family and dreams across nine original tracks, two covers, a solo piano track and three bonus covers of Fisher-Price songs.

    — Get ready for a blast of K-pop — on your television. Apple TV+ has the six part documentary “K-Pop Idols,” a behind-the-scenes look at the highly competitive reality of K-pop stardom, starting Friday, Aug. 30. It features Jessi, CRAVITY and BLACKSWAN as they learn choreography and pull everything together to seize the stage. Producers say the series “follows the superstars through trials and triumphs, breaking down cultural and musical barriers in K-pop with passion, creativity and determination as they chase their dreams.”

    — RZA takes a sharp turn as a classical composer with the album “A Ballet Through Mud.” The composition made its debut in the form of a ballet last year, performed by the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Composed and scored by the Wu-Tang Clan star, the piece mirrors his journey from growing up in the projects in New York City to famous artist, “weaving in tales of love, loss, exploration, Buddhist monks, and a journey ‘through mud.‘” RZA says he began the project early in the pandemic after rediscovering notebooks full of lyrics he had written as a teenager. “The inspiration for ‘A Ballet Through Mud’ comes from my earliest creative output as a teenager, but its themes are universal — love, exploration, and adventure,” he says.

    — AP Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy

    NEW SHOWS TO STREAM

    — Adam Sandler has the feels in his new Netflix special “Adam Sandler: Love You” featuring his standup and trademark comedy songs. It’s directed by Josh Safdie who — with his brother Benny — co-directed Sandler in the 2019 movie “Uncut Gems.” “Love You” is Sandler’s first comedy special since 2018. It premieres Tuesday on Netflix.

    — Charles, Oliver and Mabel (Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez) head to Los Angeles in season four of “Only Murders in the Building,” because their podcast is being turned into a film. Their Hollywood life is interrupted when another murder occurs, meaning the trio has a new case to cover. Eugene Levy, Zach Galifianakis and Eva Longoria join the cast. “Only Murders in the Building” premieres Tuesday on Hulu.

    — A new animated series in the “Terminator” universe comes to Netflix on Thursday. It follows new characters voiced by “House of the Dragon” actor Sonoya Mizuno, Timothy Olyphant, André Holland Rosario Dawson and Ann Dowd.

    — Season two of “The House of the Dragon” has aired in its entirety on HBO and if your fantasy itch still needs to be scratched, “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” returns for its second season Thursday on Prime Video. The story is set in the Second Age of Middle-earth, prior to the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings.”

    — Alicia Rancilio

    NEW VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY

    — Luke Skywalker may get the headlines, but the true MVPs of the Star Wars franchise are rascals like Han Solo and Lando Calrissian. Ubisoft’s Star Wars Outlaws introduces a new scoundrel: Kay Vess, a young thief who’s trying to work her way up the galaxy’s crime syndicates and make the big score. She isn’t a Jedi or a Sith, but she knows how to fire a blaster and fly a spaceship. Outlaws comes from Massive Entertainment, the developers of Tom Clancy’s The Division, and it aims to spread Ubisoft’s brand of open-world adventure across multiple planets. It launches Friday, Aug. 30, on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S and PC.

    — Many gamers who grew up with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System remember 1993’s Secret of Mana as their introduction to a particular type of high-fantasy role-playing. It’s been 15 years since we’ve gotten a new chapter in the marquee Mana series, but Square Enix is finally delivering Visions of Mana. A youngster named Val is chosen to accompany his friend Hinna on a pilgrimage to the life-sustaining Mana Tree, and they’ll need to use magic and swordplay to fight all the monsters along the way. The lush, anime-style graphics are bound to stir memories in old-school RPG fans, starting Thursday, Aug. 29, on PlayStation 5/4, Xbox X/S and PC.

    — Lou Kesten

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  • Travelers are getting a head start on the long Labor Day weekend

    Travelers are getting a head start on the long Labor Day weekend

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    Labor Day weekend is upon us, which means lots of people will be traveling. Here’s what to do if your flight gets canceled or delayed.

    Airports, highways, beaches and theme parks are expected to be packed across the U.S. this Labor Day weekend as a lot Americans mark the unofficial end of summer the same way they celebrated the season’s unofficial start: by traveling.

    After what’s already been a record-breaking summer for air travel, the Transportation Security Administration predicted its agents would screen more than 17 million people during a holiday period that started Thursday and runs through next Wednesday, about 8% more than last year.

    The TSA anticipates Friday being the busiest day. In a sign the summer travel season really is winding down, however, the agency said that fewer than 2 million passengers passed through airport security checkpoints one day this week — the first time that has happened since early March.

    If you plan to be part of the crowds heading out of town to enjoy one last blast of summer, here is a rundown of what you need to know.

    AP correspondent Julie Walker reports on Labor Day travel.

    How is holiday travel going so far?

    Busy, as expected, and flight delays were common.

    Airlines had canceled more than 200 U.S. flights as of late afternoon on the East Coast, a modest number by current standards. However, more than 4,500 other flights were delayed, led by Southwest and American, according to tracking service FlightAware.

    Plenty of people appeared to have heeded experts’ advice to get away as early as possible on Friday.

    Lines of cars and passengers appeared at Los Angeles International Airport before the sun was up. Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport was buzzing early but slowed by midmorning, and parking spaces were still available.

    Why travel over a holiday weekend?

    Boston resident Dani Fleming flew across the country to visit her son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren. She got to the airport at 4:30 a.m. for her departing flight and was pleasantly surprised by how quickly the lines moved both there and at San Francisco International Airport.

    “The flight was easy. (I) napped for a little bit, watched movies,” Fleming said. “This was a breeze.”

    Benjamin Schmeiser and his wife and 16-year-old daughter planned to fly from Chicago to San Diego to attend a concert of 1970s rock bands. It was the family’s first flight together since COVID-19 hit.

    “We have been looking forward to this trip for quite some time, and I’m happy that we can get the whole family in on the trip,” Schmeiser said while waiting at O’Hare International Airport. “A lot of us are huge live music fans, and we love sports. Now that travel is open, it’s much more affordable, we’re able to travel a lot more.”

    Where are the potential trouble spots?

    Weather is the leading cause of flight delays. Forecasts call for rain and maybe scattered thunderstorms from Texas to New England plus parts of Florida over the weekend, spreading over more of the Southeast on Monday.

    Seattle-Tacoma International Airport was still working to restore all services after what airport officials described as a possible cyberattack last weekend. Flights have been running normally all week, but the airport told passengers to arrive extra early and to avoid checking bags, especially on smaller airlines, because of problems with the bag-sorting system.

    Michael Novick got to SeaTac 30 minutes earlier than usual and checked three bags for his American Airlines flight to Dallas on Friday. “I was a little concerned about what things might look like, but it was absolutely seamless,” he said. “It was a normal day.”

    The only thing out of the ordinary: gate agents checked boarding passes manually, Novick said.

    What are prices like?

    Motorists are getting a break on gasoline. The nationwide average Friday was $3.35 per gallon, compared to $3.83 a year ago, according to AAA.

    For electric vehicles, the average price for a kilowatt of power at an L2 commercial charging station is about 34 cents. The average is under 25 cents in Kansas and Missouri but tops 40 cents in several states, including New Hampshire, Tennessee and Kentucky. Hawaii is the costliest, at 56 cents.

    Average airfares in July were down 7.1% from June and 2.8% from July 2023, according to the government’s consumer price index. Steve Hafner, CEO of the travel metasearch site Kayak, said airfares are dropping as the peak summer-vacation season ends.

    When is the best time to hit the road?

    Early morning or late evening. Transportation-data provider INRIX says traffic will be heaviest between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, when people head home.

    When will airports be busiest?

    The TSA expects to screen 2.86 million people Friday. That’s impressive, but it won’t rank among TSA’s top 15 days — 14 of which were this year. The single-day record of 3.01 million was set July 7, the Sunday after Independence Day.

    TSA says it has enough screeners to keep the time it takes to get through regular lines to 30 minutes or less and to no more than 10 minutes for PreCheck lines.

    American Airlines expects to operate 6,400 flights Friday, the same as Thursday, and 6,300 on Labor Day itself.

    What should I do if my flight is delayed or canceled?

    Check your flight’s status before leaving for the airport. It’s better to be stuck at home than stranded at the airport.

    If your flight is canceled, the airline might automatically rebook you. That might not be the best option.

    “Get on the phone (to the airline’s help center), get in front of an agent, reach out to the airline via social media if you have to, but find out what the other options are,” says Julian Kheel, the founder and CEO of Points Path, a browser extension that lets users compare fares with deals available using frequent-flyer points.

    Kheel said agents at the airport have more leeway to help but might be overwhelmed by the number of passengers needing help. DIY rebooking on the airline website or app might be faster, he said.

    Phone tip: If the airline has international help numbers, call one of those to get through more quickly.

    What about refunds and reimbursement?

    Airlines are required to provide refunds — including for extra fees paid — to passengers whose flights are canceled for any reason. However, they are not required to pay cash compensation, and no major U.S. airlines do. Only Alaska, Southwest and JetBlue even promise travel vouchers if the cancellation is their fault.

    If you’re stuck overnight, ask the airline about paying for a hotel, meals and ground transportation. All major U.S. airlines except Frontier promise to help with all three for “controllable” disruptions, according to the Transportation Department’s airline-policy dashboard.

    Keep receipts for all out-of-pocket expenses in case you can file a claim later.

    A few final tips

    — Leave early. Everything will take longer than you expect, including getting through airport security.

    — Watch the weather. Even if skies are clear at home, there could be storms at your flight’s destination or along your road route. Have a backup route.

    — Don’t check a bag. About one in every 170 checked bags was lost, damaged or stolen in May, the latest month covered by government figures.

    — Be nice. “Go with the flow. You don’t need to hate on the customer-service people. They’re doing the best they can,” said Shannon Beddingfield of Texas as she prepared to board a flight to Orlando, Florida.

    __

    Teresa Crawford in Chicago, Mat Otero in Dallas, Haven Daley in San Francisco and Jae C. Hong in Los Angeles contributed reporting.

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  • Groceries are expensive, but they don’t have to break the bank. Here are some tips to save

    Groceries are expensive, but they don’t have to break the bank. Here are some tips to save

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    NEW YORK (AP) — If you’ve noticed that you’re paying more than before for the same amount of groceries, you’re not the only one. Inflation is easing, but grocery prices are still high — up 21%, on average, since inflation started to surge more than three years ago.

    Unlike some other items, you can’t just stop buying groceries when they get pricey. There’s nothing you can do about inflation, but you can find ways to save on groceries so they don’t heavily affect your wallet or your eating habits. These include using coupons, budgeting and buying in bulk.

    Here’s are some expert recommendations for saving on groceries:

    Try coupons

    Kiersten Torok started using coupons back when she was in high school, after her parents lost their jobs during the 2008 recession. She began relying on them even more in 2020, when she lost her own job during the pandemic. Now she’s using her social media platform to help others learn how to save.

    “When times like these come up, coupons are a necessity for so many Americans,” said Torok, known on Instagram and TikTok as Torok Coupon Hunter.

    Many might think that using coupons means cutting them out of a magazine. While you can certainly still do that, there are now easier ways to get the discounts. Many stores, like Walmart and Target, have coupons available on their apps.

    “All you have to do is scan an item in a store, the coupons pop up on your app and then they automatically apply in the register,” Torok said. “It’s become much more streamlined.”

    This article is part of AP’s Be Well coverage, focusing on wellness, fitness, diet and mental health. Read more Be Well.

    One of Torok’s coupon golden rules is: Never pay big for toothpaste — there’s always a combination of coupons and offers available. For anyone who wants to try couponing, Torok recommends that you first start using them at your favorite store and never buy things you don’t need, even if there’s a big discount.

    Apps like Flipp, which lets you browse for coupons from all major grocery stores, and Ibotta, an app that gives you cashback for using coupons, can make your journey with couponing easier.

    Track current spending

    Making a budget is a key to keeping grocery spending under control, and the first step is to track how much you’re already spending. Start by reviewing how much you have spent on the last few times you’ve gone grocery shopping, recommended David Brindley, deputy editor for AARP Bulletin.

    If you don’t keep receipts from past grocery runs, try looking at your bank account statement and adding up the grocery charges. Once you know how much you spend on groceries, set a goal, for example, staying within a specific budget or reducing your spending.

    Review what you already have

    You need a plan, but before you make one, ensure you know what you currently have in your fridge and your pantry. Sarah Schweisthal, personal finance expert and social media manager at budgeting app YNAB, recommends taking everything out and making an inventory so you don’t buy duplicates of things you already have on hand.

    Brindley also recommends planning to cook multiple meals with similar ingredients, which saves money and also cuts down on food waste.

    Make a plan

    Once you’ve tracked your spending and inventoried what you already have, the next step is to make a plan. Write down the items you’re looking to buy and your estimated cost, making sure you stay on budget. Meal planning for the week or month can be a good way to stay on top of your spending, Schweisthal said.

    Going up and down the aisles can sometimes make you crave things that you haven’t planned for, like a snack or a new dish. If you foresee that it’ll be hard for you to stick to your list, include some flexibility in your plan, such as allotting a specific amount to buy snacks or a random item you see at the checkout line.

    “I think having flexibility in a plan actually helps you stick to it more,” Schweisthal said.

    Making a plan can be as simple as writing down a list on paper or in your phone’s notes app. Or, you can use apps that specifically help you with meal planning such as AnyList or Mealime.

    Shop online

    If you tend to wander off your grocery list because every time you go to the store you buy things you don’t need, shopping online and picking up curbside is a good workaround.

    “I 100% recommend sitting down Sunday morning and just looking at the stores and comparing the items you need for the week, especially with things you can get for curbside pickup,” Torok said.

    If you buy your groceries from multiple stores because each has better prices on some items, ordering ahead of time can also save time.

    Involve your family in saving

    If you are in charge of buying groceries for your entire family, it can be beneficial to include them in your grocery budgeting routine. For Torok, this has meant teaching her children how to scan coupons while they shop.

    Since buying in bulk can be very cost-effective. Brindley also recommends that you team up with a friend or a family member to buy specific items in bulk and share the discount.

    Food sharing apps

    Lastly, you can save money by using food-sharing apps such as Olio, which connects people around their community to share extra grocery items, and Too Good to Go, where you can buy surplus food at a discount.

    ___

    The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism.

    ___

    A version of this story was published on July 12, 2024. This version has been updated with the latest inflation report.

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  • People with ADHD are turning to AI apps to help with tasks. Experts say try it cautiously

    People with ADHD are turning to AI apps to help with tasks. Experts say try it cautiously

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    Becky Litvintchouk didn’t think she’d be able to manage the mountain of tasks needed to become an entrepreneur. Every other part of her life has been overwhelming because of ADHD, which can impact her ability to concentrate.

    So, she turned to AI. The app Claude helps her decide which contracts made the most sense for her hygienic-wipes business, GetDirty, without having to read them word for word. She also created business plans by telling the generative AI bot what her goals were and having it create steps for her to get there.

    “It’s been just massively instrumental. I probably would not be where I am today,” she said of using AI for about two years.

    Experts say generative AI tools can help people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder — who experience difficulties with focusing, organizing and controlling impulses — to get through tasks quicker. But they also caution that it shouldn’t replace traditional treatment for ADHD, and also expressed concerns about potential overreliance and invasion of privacy.

    Will apps replace ADHD treatment?

    Emily Kircher-Morris, a counselor who focuses on neurodivergent patients, said she’s seen the tools be useful to her clients with ADHD. She even uses them herself since she has ADHD.

    Her clients, she said, seem to have varying levels of comfort with the idea of using AI. But for those who take to the technology, “it really can help to hook people in, like, ‘Oh, this is kind of a fancy new thing that catches my interest. And so I really want to dig in and explore it.’”

    This article is part of AP’s Be Well coverage, focusing on wellness, fitness, diet and mental health. Read more Be Well.

    She also said it’s good to use caution. John Mitchell, an associate professor at Duke University School of Medicine, added that AI apps should be used more as “one tool in a toolbox” instead of replacing traditional treatments such as developing organizational skills or taking prescription medications.

    “If you’re kind of treading water in your job and AI’s a life preserver, well, that’s great you’re staying above water, but, you know, you still don’t know how to swim,” he said.

    What else can the apps do?

    Litvintchouk, a married mother of four living in New York City, dropped out of high school and left the workforce — all things that research shows are more likely to happen to people with ADHD, putting them at higher risk of economic instability.

    Aside from helping with her business, she uses ChatGPT to help with grocery shopping — another thing that can be fraught for people with ADHD because of the organization and planning skills needed — by having it brainstorm easy-to-prepare recipes with a corresponding grocery list.

    When she shared her technique with another mom who also has ADHD, she felt more people needed to know about it, so she started creating videos on TikTok about various AI tools she uses to help manage her ADHD struggles.

    “That’s when I was like, you know what? I need to, like, educate people,” she said.

    Generative AI tools can help people with ADHD break down big tasks into smaller, more manageable steps. Chatbots can offer specific advice and can sound like you’re talking with a human. Some AI apps can also help with reminders and productivity.

    Software engineer Bram de Buyser, said he created Goblin.tools with his neurodivergent friends in mind. Its most popular feature is the “magic to-do,” where a user can enter a task and the bot will spit out a to-do list. They can even break down items on the list into smaller tasks.

    “I’m not trying to build a cure,” he said, “but something that helps them out (for) two minutes out of the day that they would otherwise struggle with.”

    What kinds of problems could apps create?

    Husson University professor Russell Fulmer describes the research around AI and ADHD as “inconclusive.” While experts say they see how artificial intelligence could have a positive impact on the lives of people with anxiety and ADHD, Fulmer said, it may not work perfectly for everyone, like people of color with ADHD.

    He pointed to chatbot responses that have been racist and biased at times.

    Valese Jones, a publicist and founder of Sincerely Nicole Media, was diagnosed with ADHD as a child and uses AI bots to help with reading and responding to emails and proofreading public relations plans. But its responses don’t always capture who she really is.

    “I’m southern, so I talk like a southerner. There are cadences in my writing where you can kind of pick up on the fact that I’m southern, and that’s on purpose,” said Jones, who is Black. “It doesn’t pick up on Black women’s tone, and if you do put in like, ‘say it like African American,’ it automatically goes to talking like ‘Malibu’s Most Wanted.’”

    And de Buyser said while he sees a future where AI chatbots function more like a personal assistant that is “never tired, never sleeps,” it could also have privacy implications.

    “If you say, ‘Oh, I want an AI that gives me personal information and checks my calendar’ and all of that, you are giving that big company access to your emails, your calendar, personal correspondence, essentially your deepest, darkest secrets just so it can give you something useful back,” he warned.

    ___

    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • An offering, a fire, a prayer. How a Mexico City community celebrates its pre-Hispanic origins

    An offering, a fire, a prayer. How a Mexico City community celebrates its pre-Hispanic origins

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    MEXICO CITY (AP) — Claudia Santos’ spiritual journey has left a mark on her skin.

    Soon after the 50-year-old embraced her pre-Hispanic heritage and pledged to speak for her ancestors’ worldview in Mexico City, she tattooed the symbol “Ollin” — which translates from the Nahuatl language as “movement” — on her wrist.

    “It’s an imprint from my Nahuatl name,” said Santos, wearing white with feathers hanging from her neck. She was dressed to perform an ancestral Mexica ceremony on Tuesday in the neighborhood of Tepito.

    “It’s an insignia that represents me, my identity.”

    Mexica dancers perform during a ceremony. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

    Image

    Members of an Amaxac Indigenous organization hold corn during a ceremony. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

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    Residents and members of an Amaxac Indigenous organization hold an statue of a feathered serpent, Quetzalcoatl. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

    Since 2021, when she co-founded an organization that raises awareness of her community’s Mexica heritage, Santos and members of close Indigenous communities gather by mid-August to honor Cuauhtémoc, who was the last emperor or “tlatoani” of Mexico-Tenochtitlan, as the capital was known before it fell to the Spaniards in 1521.

    “It’s important to be here, 503 years after what happened, not only to dignify Tepito as an Indigenous neighborhood where there has been resistance, strength and perseverance,” Santos said. “But also because this is an energetic portal, a sacred ‘teocalli’ (‘God’s house’, in Nahuatl).”

    The site that she chose for performing the ceremony has a profound sacred meaning in Mexico’s history. Though it’s currently a Catholic church, it’s also the site where Cuauhtémoc — a political and spiritual leader — initiated the final defense of the territory that was lost to the European conquerors.

    “Our grandfather, Cuauhtémoc, is still among us,” said Santos, who explained that the site where the church now stands is aligned with the sun. “The cosmic memories of our ancestors are joining us today.”

    Though he was not present during the pre-Hispanic rituals, the priest in charge of the Tepito church allowed Santos and fellow Indigenous leaders to move freely through the esplanade of the temple. Their preparations started early each morning, carefully placing roses, fruit, seeds and sculptures of pre-Hispanic figures among other elements.

    “I’m very thankful to be given the chance of occupying our sacred compounds once again,” Santos said. “Making this connection between a religious and a spiritual belief is a joy.”

    Before Tuesday’s ceremony, as this year’s activities began August 9, a Mayan spiritual guide was also invited to perform a ritual at the church’s main entrance.

    A group in Mexico City commemorates their pre-Hispanic heritage at the site where Mexica warriors prepared the defense of the ancient Mexico-Tenochtitlan empire against the Spanish Conquistadores, which is now a Catholic church. (AP Video: Amaranta Marentes, María Teresa Hernández)

    “This is an act of kneeling with humbleness, not in humiliation, to make an offering to our Creator,” said Gerardo Luna, the Mayan leader who offered honey, incense, sugar, liquor and other elements as a nourishment for the fire.

    “The fire is the element that links us to the spirit of the Creator, who permeates everything that exists,” said Luna, also praising the opportunity to practice his beliefs in a Catholic space.

    “There are different ways of understanding spirituality, but there is only one language, the one of the heart,” Luna said. “Our Catholic brothers breathe the same air as us. We all have red blood in our veins, and your bones and mine are the same.”

    Some locals approached the church and joined both Mayan and Mexica ceremonies. They were drawn in by the sound of a conch shell that was blown to announce the rituals and the smoke released by the lighting of a resin known as “copal.”

    Lucía Moreno, 75, said that participating made her feel at peace. Tomás García, 42, added that he is Catholic, but these ceremonies “purify” him and allow him to let go of any wrongdoing.

    Others, like Cleotilde Rodríguez, call upon the ancestors — and God — with a deeper need of comfort.

    After Tuesday’s Mexica ritual, the 78-year-old said that she prayed for her health and well-being. No doctor or medicine has cured her aching knees, and none of her 10 children visit her or call to ask how she is. Another son of hers, she said, died by suicide some years ago, and she has not felt at ease since.

    “This is what has happened to me, so I hope that God allows me to keep working, that my path is not shortened,” Rodríguez said. “Otherwise, what is going to become of me?”

    The “tlalmanalli,” as the Mexica ceremony is known, is as an offering to Mother Earth. All members of the community are encouraged to participate and benefit from its spiritual force.

    Image

    Residents and members of an Amaxac Indigenous organization hug during a ceremony. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

    “What people take with them is medicinal,” Santos said. “It is all blessed, so people leave with medicine for life, which they can use in moments of sadness.”

    She was not always aware of the depth of the Mexica and other pre-Hispanic worldviews, but a couple of decades ago, feeling that Catholicism no longer fulfilled her spiritually, she started looking for more.

    She researched Buddhism and Hinduism. She practiced yoga and studied the awakening of the mind. But still, she wondered: “What’s in my country? Why, if other nations have gurus, aren’t there any widely known spiritual references in Mexico?”

    And then she found them. The Mexica provided her with answers. They were wise, spiritual people, who resisted what others brought upon them, always connected to their ancestors and the profoundness of their land.

    As part of her transformation, she received a new name, this time in Nahuatl and tied to the pre-Hispanic calendar. And so, just as her parents baptized her in the very same Tepito church where she now performs Mexica rituals, she embraced her current spirituality in a “sowing” ceremony, where she became “Ollin Chalchiuhtlicue,” which means “precious movement of the water.”

    Image

    People watch as Mexica dancers perform during a ceremony. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

    Image

    Residents and members of an Amaxac Indigenous organization use incense during a ceremony. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

    Image

    Mexica dancers burn incense during a ceremony commemorating the 503rd anniversary of the fall of the Aztec empire’s capital, Tenochtitlan. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

    The name, she said, also comes with a purpose. As directed, she defined her life mission after the ceremony. Santos chose to comply with Cuauhtémoc’s final wishes for his people: Maybe the sun has gone down upon us, but it will come out again. In the meantime, we must tell our children — and their children’s children — how big our Motherland’s glory is.

    “Through the spirituality of our Mexica tradition we are taking back our dignity and the essence of our Indigenous community,” Santos said. “Being here today is a joy, but also a work of resistance.”

    “Tepito exists because it has resisted, and we will continue resisting.”

    ____

    Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

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  • Schools have made slow progress on record absenteeism, with millions of kids still skipping class

    Schools have made slow progress on record absenteeism, with millions of kids still skipping class

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    MEDFORD, Mass. (AP) — Flerentin “Flex” Jean-Baptiste missed so much school he had to repeat his freshman year at Medford High outside Boston. At school, “you do the same thing every day,” said Jean-Baptiste, who was absent 30 days his first year. “That gets very frustrating.”

    Then his principal did something nearly unheard of: She let students play organized sports during lunch — if they attended all their classes. In other words, she offered high schoolers recess.

    “It gave me something to look forward to,” said Jean-Baptiste, 16. The following year, he cut his absences in half. Schoolwide, the share of chronically absent students declined from 35% in March 2023 to 23% in March 2024 — one of the steepest declines among Massachusetts high schools.

    Flerentin “Flex” Jean-Baptiste, 16, of Medford, Mass., poses for a photo at Medford High School, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Medford. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)

    Years after COVID-19 upended American schooling, nearly every state is still struggling with attendance, according to data collected by The Associated Press and Stanford University educational economist Thomas Dee.

    Roughly one in four students in the 2022-23 school year remained chronically absent, meaning they missed at least 10% of the school year. That represents about 12 million children in the 42 states and Washington, D.C., where data is available.

    Before the pandemic, only 15% of students missed that much school.

    Society may have largely moved on from COVID, but schools say they’re still battling the effects of pandemic school closures. After as much as a year at home, school for many kids has felt overwhelming, boring or socially stressful. More than ever, kids and parents are deciding it’s OK to stay home, which makes catching up even harder.

    In all but one state, Arkansas, absence rates remain higher than pre-pandemic. Still, the problem appears to have passed its peak; almost every state saw absenteeism improve at least slightly from 2021-22 to 2022-23.

    Schools are working to identify students with slipping attendance, then providing help. They’re working to close communication gaps with parents, who often aren’t aware their child is missing so much school or why it’s problematic.

    So far, the solutions that appear to be helping are simple — like letters to parents that compare a child’s attendance with peers. But to make more progress, experts say, schools must get creative to address their students’ needs.

    Caring adults — and incentives

    In Oakland, California, chronic absenteeism skyrocketed from 29% pre-pandemic to 53% in 2022-23 across district and charter schools. Officials asked students what would convince them to come to class.

    Money, they replied, and a mentor.

    A grant-funded program launched in spring 2023 paid 45 students $50 weekly for perfect attendance. Students also checked in daily with an assigned adult and completed weekly mental health assessments.

    Paying students isn’t a permanent or sustainable fix, said Zaia Vera, the district’s head of social-emotional learning.

    But many absent students lacked stable housing or were helping to support their families. “The money is the hook that got them in the door,” Vera said.

    More than 60% improved their attendance after taking part, Vera said. The program is expected to continue, along with district-wide efforts aimed at creating a sense of belonging. Oakland’s African American Male Achievement project, for example, pairs Black students with Black teachers who offer support.

    Kids who identify with their educators are more likely to attend school, said Michael Gottfried, a University of Pennsylvania professor. According to one study led by Gottfried, California students felt “it’s important for me to see someone who’s like me early on, first thing in the day,” he said.

    A caring teacher made a difference for Golden Tachiquin, 18, who graduated from Oakland’s Skyline High School this spring. When she started 10th grade after a remote freshman year, she felt lost and anxious. She later realized these feelings caused the nausea and dizziness that kept her home sick. She was absent at least 25 days that year.

    But she bonded with an Afro-Latina teacher who understood her culturally and made Tachiquin, a straight-A student, feel her poor attendance didn’t define her.

    “I didn’t dread going to her class,” Tachiquin said.

    Another teacher had the opposite effect. “She would say, ‘Wow, guess who decided to come today?’ ” Tachiquin recalled. “I started skipping her class even more.”

    In Massachusetts, Medford High School requires administrators to greet and talk with students each morning, especially those with a history of missing school.

    But the lunchtime gym sessions have been the biggest driver of improved attendance, Principal Marta Cabral said. High schoolers need freedom and an opportunity to move their bodies, she said. “They’re here for seven hours a day. They should have a little fun.”

    Image

    Flerentin “Flex” Jean-Baptiste, 16, poses for a photo at Medford High School, Aug. 2, 2024, in Medford. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)

    Image

    Flerentin “Flex” Jean-Baptiste, 16, poses at Medford High School, Aug. 2, 2024, in Medford. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)

    Image

    Flerentin “Flex” Jean-Baptiste, 16, works on an assignment at Medford High School, Aug. 2, 2024, in Medford. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)

    Stubborn circumstances

    Chronically absent students are at higher risk of illiteracy and eventually dropping out. They also miss the meals, counseling and socialization provided at school.

    Many of the reasons kids missed school early in the pandemic are still firmly in place: financial hardship, transportation problems, mild illness and mental health struggles.

    In Alaska, 45% of students missed significant school last year. In Amy Lloyd’s high school classes in Juneau, some families now treat attendance as optional. Last term, several of her English students missed school for vacations.

    “I don’t really know how to reset the expectation that was crushed when we sat in front of the computer for that year,” Lloyd said.

    Emotional and behavioral problems also have kept kids home from school. Research shared exclusively with AP found absenteeism and poor mental health are “interconnected,” said University of Southern California professor Morgan Polikoff.

    For example, in the USC study, almost a quarter of chronically absent kids had high levels of emotional or behavioral problems, according to a parent questionnaire, compared with just 7% of kids with good attendance. Emotional symptoms among teen girls were especially linked with missing school.

    How sick is too sick?

    When chronic absence surged to around 50% in Fresno, California, officials realized they had to remedy pandemic-era mindsets about keeping kids home sick.

    “Unless your student has a fever or threw up in the last 24 hours, you are coming to school. That’s what we want,” said Abigail Arii, director of student support services.

    Often, said Noreida Perez, who oversees attendance, parents aren’t aware physical symptoms can point to mental health struggles — such as when a child doesn’t feel up to leaving their bedroom.

    More than a dozen states now let students take mental health days as excused absences. But staying home can become a vicious cycle, said Hedy Chang, of Attendance Works, which works with schools on absenteeism.

    “If you continue to stay home from school, you feel more disengaged,” she said. “You get farther behind.”

    Changing the culture around sick days is only part of the problem.

    Image

    Melinda Gonzalez, 14, in Fresno, Calif., Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian)

    Image

    Melinda Gonzalez, 14, shown in her home getting ready to start her day in Fresno, Calif., Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian)

    At Fresno’s Fort Miller Middle School, where half the students were chronically absent, two reasons kept coming up: dirty laundry and no transportation. The school bought a washer and dryer for families’ use, along with a Chevy Suburban to pick up students who missed the bus. Overall, Fresno’s chronic absenteeism improved to 35% in 2022-23.

    Melinda Gonzalez, 14, missed the school bus about once a week and would call for rides in the Suburban.

    “I don’t have a car; my parents couldn’t drive me to school,” Gonzalez said. “Getting that ride made a big difference.”

    Image

    Melinda Gonzalez, 14, poses at Fresno High School where she’ll be a freshman in Fresno, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian)

    ___

    Becky Bohrer contributed reporting from Juneau, Alaska.

    ___

    The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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  • Mongolia is in the tourism spotlight and making it easier to visit. Reindeer sledding, anyone?

    Mongolia is in the tourism spotlight and making it easier to visit. Reindeer sledding, anyone?

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    ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (AP) — With its reindeer sleigh rides, camel racing and stunning landscapes with room to roam, Mongolia is hoping to woo visitors who are truly looking to get away from it all.

    Like most countries, its tourism industry was devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and it has launched a “Welcome to MonGOlia” campaign to win people back. The government has added flights and streamlined the visa process, offering visa-free visits for many countries.

    At least 437,000 foreign tourists visited in the first seven months of this year, up 25% over the same period last year, including increasing numbers from Europe, the U.S. and Japan. Visitors from South Korea nearly doubled, thanks in part to the under-four-hour flight.

    Despite the gains, Mongolia’s government is still short of its goal of 1 million visitors per year from 2023-2025 to the land of Genghis Khan, which encompassed much of Eurasia in its 13th-century heyday and is now a landlocked nation located between Russia and China.

    With a population of 3.3 million people, about half of them living in the capital, Ulaanbaatar, there’s plenty of open space for the adventure tourist to explore, said Egjimaa Battsooj, who works for a tour company. Its customized itineraries include horseback trips and camping excursions with the possibility of staying in gers, the felt-covered dwellings still used by Mongolia’s herders.

    There’s little chance of running across private property, so few places are off-limits, she said.

    “You don’t need to open a gate, you don’t need to have permission from anyone,” she said, sitting in front of a map of Mongolia with routes marked out with pins and strands of yarn.

    “We are kind of like the last truly nomad culture on the whole planet,” she added.

    Lonely Planet named Mongolia its top destination in its Best in Travel 2024 report. The pope’s visit to Mongolia last year also helped focus attention on the country. Its breakdancers became stars at last year’s Asian Games. And some local bands have developed a global following, like The Hu, a folk-metal band that incorporates traditional Mongolian instruments and throat singing with modern rock.

    Still, many people know little about Mongolia. American tourist Michael John said he knew some of the history about Genghis Khan and had seen a documentary on eagles used by hunters before deciding to stop in Ulaanbaatar as part of a longer vacation.

    “It was a great opportunity to learn more,” the 40-year-old said.

    Tourism accounted for 7.2% of Mongolia’s gross domestic product and 7.6% of its employment in 2019 before collapsing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the World Bank. But the organization noted “substantial growth potential” for Mongolia to exploit, with “diverse nature and stunning sceneries” and sports and adventure tourism possibilities.

    Mongolia tourism ads focus on those themes, with beautiful views of frozen lakes in winter for skating and fishing, the Northern Lights and events like reindeer sledding and riding, camel racing and hiking.

    Munkhjargal Dayan offers rides on two-humped Bactrian camels, traditional archery and the opportunity to have eagles trained for hunting perch on a visitor’s arm.

    “We want to show tourists coming from other countries that we have such a way of life in Mongolia,” he said, waiting for customers by a giant statue of Genghis Kahn on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar.

    Outside the lively capital, getting around can be difficult in summer as the steppes become waterlogged, and there is limited infrastructure, a shortage of accommodation and a deficit of skilled labor in tourism destinations.

    It is also easy for foreigners to get lost, with few signs in English, said Dutch tourist Jasper Koning. Nevertheless, he said he was thoroughly enjoying his trip.

    “The weather is super, the scenery is more than super, it’s clean, the people are friendly,” he said.

    ___

    Rising reported from Bangkok.

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  • Oh, babies. New Dr Seuss Babies merchandising line includes everything from board books to diapers

    Oh, babies. New Dr Seuss Babies merchandising line includes everything from board books to diapers

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    NEW YORK (AP) — The latest Dr. Seuss releases are designed for the very youngest audience.

    On Thursday, Dr. Seuss Enterprises and Random House Children’s Books announced the launch of Dr. Seuss Babies, which includes interactive board books, a video series called “Learn to Read” and even a line of diapers, onesies and feeding solutions.

    “Learn to Read” debuts Friday on the Dr. Seuss YouTube channel.

    “Babies and toddlers love to discover the world around them. Dr. Seuss Babies will help them explore, learn and laugh. Our hope is that this brand inspires and delights a new generation.” Susan Brandt, president and CEO of Dr. Seuss Enterprises, said in a statement.

    The first board book, “Happy First Birthday!”, will be published Jan. 7, 2025. Other board books scheduled for next year include “Mr. Brown On the Farm” and “Happy Grinchmas, Baby!” Three more books are expected in 2026.

    “We are so excited to bring this adorable new line of books to the youngest of Dr. Seuss fans,” Alice Jonaitis, executive editor of Dr. Seuss Publishing at Random House, said in a statement. “With the eye-catching new art style, the beloved characters have become even more baby-friendly and will help nurture a love of reading at the earliest age.”

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  • Tiny South American deer debuts at New York City zoo

    Tiny South American deer debuts at New York City zoo

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    NEW YORK (AP) — A tiny South American deer that will weigh only as much as a watermelon when fully grown is making its debut at the Queens Zoo in New York City.

    The southern pudu fawn weighed just 2 pounds (just under 1 kilo) when it was born June 21, the Wildlife Conservation Society, which runs New York City’s zoos, said in a news release Thursday. It is expected to weigh 15 to 20 pounds (7 to 9 kilograms) in adulthood.

    The southern pudu, one of the world’s smallest deer species, is listed as near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It is native to Chile and Argentina, where its population is decreasing because of factors including development and invasive species.

    The Queens Zoo breeds southern pudus in collaboration with other zoos in an effort to maintain genetically diverse populations, the conservation society said. Eight pudu fawns have been born there since 2005.

    The newborn fawn will share a Queens Zoo habitat with its parents. There are two more pudus at the conservation society’s Prospect Park Zoo in Brooklyn.

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  • FTC ban on noncompete agreements comes under legal attack

    FTC ban on noncompete agreements comes under legal attack

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    NEW YORK (AP) — The federal government wants to make it easier for employees to quit a job and work for a competitor. But some companies say a new rule created by the Federal Trade Commission will make it hard to protect trade secrets and investments they make in their employees.

    At least three companies have sued the FTC after it voted to ban noncompete agreements, which prevent employees from working for competitors for a period of time after leaving a job. Their cases are now pending in Florida, Pennsylvania and Texas and the issue could end up in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.

    Here’s what you should know about noncompete agreements:

    What are they?

    Once seen as a way to protect trade secrets among high-level executives, noncompete agreements have become more common, with some companies requiring lower-wage employees in fast-food and retail establishments to sign them before accepting a job.

    The agreements prohibit employees from taking a job with a rival company or starting a competing business for a set period of time, to prevent employees from taking corporate secrets, sales leads, client relationships or skills to a competitor.

    What did the FTC do?

    The FTC voted in April to prohibit employers nationwide from entering into new noncompete agreements or enforcing existing noncompetes starting Sept. 4, saying the agreements restrict freedom of workers and suppress wages.

    “In many cases, noncompetes are take-it-or-leave-it contracts that exploit workers’ lack of bargaining power and coerce workers into staying in jobs they would rather leave, or force workers to leave a profession or even relocate,” the FTC said.

    The FTC says roughly 30 million people, or 1 in 5 workers, are subject to noncompete agreements. That in turn limits their ability to change jobs, which is often the best way to get a pay raise or promotion. Some people don’t even realize they’ve signed such an agreement until they’re hit with a lawsuit after changing jobs.

    The FTC rule does not apply to senior executives, which the agency defines as workers earning more than $151,164 who are in a policy-making position.

    Several states, including California, already have bans on noncompete agreements.

    “As far as I know there’s a lot of companies in California, and high tech employees who are doing just fine,” said Tom Spiggle, founder of the Spiggle Law Firm based in Washington, D.C., that focuses on protecting workers.

    “They’ve just gotten a little out of hand with line cooks being subject to noncompetes in some industries,” Spiggle added. “Think about it. You can’t work in a similar position for a year or more, and there’s often a geographical radius. You’ve got to move so you’re able to continue to work. For people who are spooning the beans on the front line, they’re signing noncompetes. Why?”

    Who is suing the FTC and why?

    Companies opposing the ban say they need noncompete agreements to protect business relationships, trade secrets and investments they make to train or recruit employees.

    “The ban would make it easy for top professionals to go across the street and compete against us,” said John Smith, chief legal officer at Ryan, LLC, a tax services firm based in Dallas that sued the FTC.

    Ryan uses noncompete agreements and nondisclosure agreements to ensure employees don’t share trade secrets when they leave. But nondisclosure agreements are harder to detect — and enforce — than noncompete agreements.

    “In a nondisclosure agreement, that employee leaves, and you don’t know what information they are sharing with the new employer, a competitor of yours,” Smith said. “It can take a lot of time and money to figure that out.”

    Business groups have voiced support for Ryan’s lawsuit, including the Society for Human Resource Management, which said the FTC rule is overly broad and would discourage employers from investing in training for workers if those workers could easily quit the next day and take their knowledge elsewhere.

    U.S. District Judge Ada Brown has ruled that Ryan and its co-plaintiffs, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, are likely to prevail in court and that the ban on noncompete agreements cannot go into effect for them until their case is resolved.

    In Florida, a retirement community called Properties of the Villages sued saying its sales associates’ lifelong relationships with residents of the community are central to its business model. The company said it invests heavily in training its sales associates, and they sign noncompetes, which say for 24 months after leaving the company they won’t compete to sell homes within the Villages community, which spans 58,000 acres.

    Lawyers for Properties of the Villages said in a hearing Wednesday that the FTC’s rule would have major economic consequences, and under the so-called “major questions” doctrine, Congress cannot delegate to executive agencies issues of major political or economic significance.

    While stating sympathy for lower-wage workers caught in noncompete agreements, U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan said the plaintiff is likely to succeed in its argument that the FTC’s rule invokes the major questions doctrine.

    He noted that the FTC, by one metric, estimates that employers will pay from $400 billion to $488 billion more in wages over 10 years under the rule. “Suffice it to say that the transfer of value from employers to employees, from some competitors to other competitors, from existing companies to new companies and other ancillary effects will have a huge economic impact.”

    Congress intended for the FTC to take action to prevent unfair competition, and all noncompete agreements are unfair, said Rachael Westmoreland, an attorney with the Department of Justice who defended the FTC Wednesday. “They restrict competition. That’s their entire purpose,” she said.

    Corrigan granted a preliminary injunction in the case, prohibiting enforcement of the rule just for Properties of the Villages, until the case is resolved. His ruling did not apply to any other company, and will not stop the FTC’s rule from going into effect on Sept. 4, he said.

    Meanwhile in a separate case, ATS Tree Services sued the FTC in Pennsylvania, calling its proposed ban unfair and saying it usurps states’ authority to establish their own laws.

    ATS said it makes employees sign noncompete agreements because it invests in specialized training for workers and it couldn’t afford to if the employees could leave and immediately use that training and the company’s confidential information for a competitor.

    But U.S. District Court Judge Kelley Hodge said the tree company failed to show it would be irreparably harmed by the ban and the company wasn’t likely to win the case.

    What happens next?

    In Texas, the judge there is planning to file a merits disposition, which is essentially a decision about the case without a trial, on or before Aug. 30. And in Pennsylvania, ATS Tree Services is expected to file a request for summary judgment later this month.

    With divergent rulings expected to emerge from the cases — and with lawyers on the losing sides likely to appeal — observers are expecting the issue to work its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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  • After a stroke, this musician found his singing voice again with help from a special choir

    After a stroke, this musician found his singing voice again with help from a special choir

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    In the 1980s and ’90s, Ron Spitzer played bass and drums in rock bands — Tot Rocket and the Twins, Western Eyes and Band of Susans. He sang and wrote songs, toured the country and recorded albums. When the bands broke up, he continued to make music with friends.

    But a stroke in 2009 put Spitzer in a wheelchair, partially paralyzing his left arm and leg. He gave away his drum kit. His bass sat untouched. His voice was a whisper.

    Now music is part of his healing. Spitzer sings each week in a choir for people recovering from stroke at the Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.

    “I’ve found my voice, quite literally,” Spitzer said.

    AP correspondent Ed Donahue reports on the power of singing to heal stroke victims.

    Scientists are studying the potential benefits of music for people with dementia, traumatic brain injuries, Parkinson’s disease and stroke. Music lights up multiple regions of the brain, strengthening neural connections between areas that govern language, memories, emotions and movement.

    And music seems to increase levels of a specific protein in the brain that’s important for making new connections between neurons, said Dr. Preeti Raghavan, a stroke rehabilitation expert at Johns Hopkins Medicine and volunteer for the American Stroke Association.

    “It increases the possibility that the brain will rewire,” Raghavan said.

    Choirs like the one at Mount Sinai offer the hope of healing through music while also providing camaraderie, a place where stroke survivors don’t have to explain their limitations.

    “We’re all part of the same tribe,” Spitzer said.

    Strokes often damage cells in the brain’s left-hemisphere language center, leaving survivors with difficulty retrieving words, a condition called aphasia. Yet the ability to sing fluently can remain, said Jessica Hariwijaya, a research fellow at Mount Sinai who is studying the stroke choir.

    Singing can help stroke survivors improve their ability to speak. The National Aphasia Society maintains a list of music and arts programs, including choirs that meet online, for people with the condition.

    Spitzer’s stroke damaged the right side of his brain, which some scientists identify as important for processing musical pitch patterns. He lost the ability to sing familiar music. Once, a Beatles song came on the radio and he tried to sing along but the tune was gone from his mind. He called it an “out-of-body experience.”

    “It was like, ‘This isn’t me,’” he said

    Rigorous research is in its early days, with the National Institutes of Health supporting studies on how music works in the brain and how it might be used to treat symptoms of various conditions.

    That level of research will be important for music therapy to be more widely reimbursed by health insurers, Raghavan said.

    The Mount Sinai study will gauge how participation in the choir affects speech and mood, as researchers compare 20 patients randomly assigned to choir therapy with 20 patients receiving standard care. The study also will measure the effects on the patients’ caregivers who participate in the choir.

    Now 68, Spitzer has completed other rehabilitation programs that helped him regain physical skills. He walks with a cane, can yell like any New Yorker and has recovered his singing voice.

    “I attribute a good amount of this recovery to the stroke choir,” he said. “For me, just getting back to being able to sing a tune was very invigorating.”

    ___

    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • Seeds are gifts from nature, one organic producer says. It’s ending sales and giving them away

    Seeds are gifts from nature, one organic producer says. It’s ending sales and giving them away

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    NAPLES, New York (AP) — An organic seed company with national reach has surprised its supporters by announcing it will end sales and give hundreds of varieties away, declaring “we can no longer commodify our beloved kin, these seeds, or ourselves.”

    The Cocozelle zucchini, now $14.25 per 100 seeds? No charge. Catnip, kale, the rampant mint? All free.

    Petra Page-Mann and Matthew Goldfarb, the couple who run Fruition Seeds in upstate New York, said they’re letting go workers, stopping sales on Aug. 27 and relying on public goodwill — donations of money, talent and effort — to grow and distribute seeds on a $76,000 budget.

    That’s a dramatic shift for a company with a budget of over $1 million in 2022 and a profile high enough that it’s among a handful of seed companies featured in the New York Botanical Garden’s shop.

    “The call is simple enough: Seeds are gifts. Gifts are shared,” the couple said in a long and searching announcement weeks ago. They’ve thought about barriers to access and what they call the indignity of the dollar. Burnout, too, played a role. “We’re weaving a new fabric together, Friends.”

    As ripe apples plunked into the grass at their farm in the hilly Finger Lakes region, and workers pounded together a bunkhouse for the volunteers who’ll now be crucial, Page-Mann and Goldfarb were open about not having all the answers.

    Their parents are “terrified,” said Goldfarb, 48. “I’m concerned you’re freeloading, I’m concerned you’re gonna become a liability to this community,” he recalled friends and family saying. “And I think the potentially hard thing for people to hear is, yes, that’s actually how this is gonna work.” In a way.

    Next year, instead of shipping seed packets, they plan to give away seeds by hosting events and visiting cities around the Northeast. It’s a radical extension of their work with seed libraries, seed swaps and community harvests.

    The move has inspired some and bewildered others in their green village of Naples, where cyclists zip past produce stands and Black Lives Matter signs. Elsewhere, some customers have said they’re too far away to get Fruition’s seeds without shipping and will look to other sources.

    The announcement noted Fruition’s decision during the COVID-19 pandemic to face painful economic losses and make their online growing courses, featuring the exuberant Page-Mann, 40, free for all. There was joy in giving.

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    A greenhouse shows past work with the garlic harvest at Fruition Seeds. (AP Photo/Cara Anna)

    Now they hope others feel the same. They have begun listing their own needs, from financial donations and legal expertise to items like printer paper and Mason jars. “I trust, like air, what is present – though not yet visible – will carry us all,” Page-Mann wrote.

    The Fruition founders said they were inspired in part by friend and mentor Adam Wilson, who runs a farm in Keeseville, New York, that he describes as an “experiment in neighborly farming and feeding,” with all food and events offered as gifts.

    “And he’s still alive,” Goldfarb said.

    But Fruition has been a much larger endeavor, partnering with nearby Cornell University and a number of growers in the region and as far away as Oregon and Idaho.

    “They embark on an agri/cultural experiment many times the scale of the work here,” Wilson wrote after the announcement. “I am shaking with excitement, but also a tinge of responsibility.”

    Already, Cornell has told Fruition that some of the seed varieties they had agreements for must be returned to Cornell or destroyed, Goldfarb told supporters last month. Conversations with the university continue.

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    Goldfarb and Page-Mann aren’t saying others should stop selling seeds. They’re looking into forming a nonprofit. They admire the collective work of the not-too-far-away Amish and Mennonite communities. But there is no definite plan.

    “We’ll have different answers tomorrow. I hope,” Goldfarb said.

    About 40% of the seeds that Fruition has sold have been produced by partners. One of them, Daniel Brisebois with Tourne-Sol farm in Canada, said he was excited to see what would happen now. Others didn’t respond.

    Page-Mann and Goldfarb said the most excruciating part of their decision was taking it without the collective consent of their 12 employees.

    “Simultaneously they were very gracious, like, ‘This makes sense for you and your lives,’ and also, ‘This sucks,’” Page-Mann said.

    One worker told the AP that while they respect where Fruition’s founders are coming from, “so far this transition feels like a big missed opportunity to learn how to minimize harm in the process of trying to transform systems, especially harm toward workers.” The worker, who is looking for new work, spoke on condition of anonymity.

    At the bunkhouse under construction on the Fruition farm, local mushroom producer David Colle, 49, said the thinking behind the transformation — a purpose bigger than the individual — drew him to help build.

    Some in the community have said, “I won’t do business with these people anymore,” Colle said, but “you have to have people willing to explore the edges to learn what’s possible.” He’s as curious about Fruition’s future as anyone. He’s given away mushrooms but doesn’t see how to do it full time and still pay the bills.

    And he wasn’t completely volunteering his time. “I need money,” he said, sweating in the afternoon heat, and acknowledged: “We’re all walking paradoxes.”

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  • For Olympic pole vaulters, hammer throwers, getting there (with your equipment) is half the fun

    For Olympic pole vaulters, hammer throwers, getting there (with your equipment) is half the fun

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    SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — One of America’s very best in the medieval-looking pursuit of hammer throw thought she had seen it all when it came to lugging that 8.8-pound hunk of metal, along with the handles and the chain, across the globe.

    Then, a few years back, DeAnna Price arrived in Beijing.

    The note from the Transportation Security Authority notifying her they had opened her case wasn’t all that unusual. The hole they drilled into the hammer in an apparent attempt to find contraband or weapons, then sealed up with epoxy — well, give those security guards a gold medal for leaving no stone unturned.

    “I definitely sent them a bill for that one,” Price said of her ruined piece of equipment that goes for around $1,000.

    Thankfully for the 2019 world champion, the TSA reimbursed her.

    Price’s ordeal is one of hundreds of tales from the road for all the hammer throwers, pole vaulters, javelin hurlers and shot putters who have descended on Paris to bring the “field” to Olympic track and field, starting Friday. For most of them, simply making it to the games is the dream of a lifetime. Getting their equipment there — sometimes, that feels like quite a triumph, as well.

    Pole vaulters are often first to the airport

    When pole vaulter Sam Kendricks arrived in Croatia a few years ago but his poles did not, he figured he’d do what he’d done many times before and borrow a different pole that was around the same dimensions and stiffness as his. Not ideal, but what else could he do?

    Out of nowhere, as he was warming up, he heard sirens approaching the stadium.

    The emergency? Turns out, the poles had been located, and the mayor had gotten in touch with the town’s police force to rush them to Kendricks. Paramedics carted them out to him just in time for him to jump.

    He won that day. Talk about the “VIP” treatment — Very Important Poles.

    “You become this animal of a stress sponge,” Kendricks said of the typical trials and tribulations involved in parading his poles from place to place. “You eat everybody else’s stress because you’re first in the airport and you’re the last to leave.”

    Convincing a gate agent that 17-foot poles can fit on a plane

    Need to get a pole to Poland, rush a discus to Denmark or hurry a hammer to Hungary? Kendricks’ partners on the pole-vault circuit, Sandi Morris, can point you in the right direction.

    The Olympic silver medalist not only has a travel-agent’s familiarity with airline timetables, she can also tell you which carriers barely blink an eye at a 17-foot-long piece of checked luggage and which ones do.

    She typically shows up at the airport five hours early. But she’s the first to concede that, sometimes, all the planning in the world can’t overcome bad luck. Morris knows if she walks up to the wrong ticket agent — say, one who doesn’t know the difference between the pole vault and a pet carrier, a flurry of calls will ensue and new arrangements will have to be made on the fly.

    In case of emergency, she stores one set of poles in Europe with fellow vaulter Renaud Lavillenie. Morris has heard many tales of poles being broken in transit. Katie Moon, she said, had it happen to her one time.

    “You have to just be ready for anything,” said Morris, who didn’t qualify for Paris. “Because sometimes you encounter somebody who’s never seen poles before and they can’t believe that they can fit them on the plane. So then it takes three hours to get on the plane.”

    Using video to explain their sport to security officials

    Hammer thrower and U.S. Olympic trials champion Daniel Haugh got stopped by authorities in Turkey, who were genuinely baffled by the contents of his travel case. He had to pull out his phone and show the Turkish police videos on his Instagram account to demonstrate what he did for a living.

    “It was a whole ordeal,” Haugh said.

    Other times, security has inspected his equipment but forgot to close the latch on the case.

    “If you don’t have the lock on the outside, you’ll just get an empty case that they didn’t latch shut,” he said. “And there’s no hammers inside.”

    You aren’t allowed to carry on a 16-pound metal ball

    If permitted, American shot putter Payton Otterdahl would carry that 16-pound metal ball on the plane with him. But that’s not an option.

    “It’s a weapon, apparently,” Otterdahl explained.

    Thousands of years ago, huge rocks the size of the “shot” that Otterdahl and Co. use today were, indeed, used as weapons. Legend has it that ancient and medieval cultures used to have contests involving “throwing the stone” to see who their strongest men were for battle.

    Not until the 19th century in Scotland did people start “putting” that 16-pound rock of metal for cash and prizes.

    None of which makes Otterdahl’s life any easier.

    Before his trips, he carefully packs the shot in his suitcase. Same with Italy’s Leonardo Fabbri, the shot put silver medalist at world championships last year, who wraps it inside his clothes to keep it secure.

    “It’s my baby,” Fabbri said. “It’s worth more to me than anything else, because together we want to achieve great things.”

    On point

    Javelins don’t weigh that much (between 600 and 800 grams) but they’re more than twice as long as the longest golf club. And given that they are, essentially, spears with sharp points makes it tricky to get them through the airport.

    American javelin thrower Curtis Thompson has seen meticulously packed and protected javelins come out of their carrying tubes with scratches — or, worse, sometimes even bent. There is always the option of throwing the “house javelin” — the one they keep at the stadium — if theirs don’t arrive.

    “We just hope for the best and if something happens, you just try to adapt,” said Thompson, who usually brings three or four javelins with him just in case.

    Decathletes are the world’s greatest luggage packers

    They often bestow the title of “World’s Greatest Athlete” on the champion of the Olympic decathlon.

    Too bad there’s no gold medal for packing luggage, too.

    Decathlete Harrison Williams recalled walking through the airport for the 2019 world championships in Doha with two baggage carts loaded down with his poles, javelin and a few more bags that contained his discus and shot.

    “It’s comical the amount of stuff we have to bring,” said Williams, who also has an entire suitcase dedicated to shoes.

    The questions from bystanders are inevitable. In college at Stanford, he and his teammates used to joke they were carrying goal posts or the mast for a sailboat.

    “People rarely guess poles unless they know pole vault,” Williams said.

    Getting to Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon, was a family affair for decathlete Zach Ziemek. He flew out of Madison, Wisconsin, with boxes containing a shot put, two discuses and his shoes. His wife and father traveled from a different airport to transport his poles.

    “That flight they were on was a 12-hour travel day, but me flying out of Madison was a six-hour travel day,” Ziemek said. “So, it was a team effort.”

    The easiest equipment to pack is clearly the discus

    The discus is compact and sleek enough to fit into a carry-on bag. Still, the circular apparatus frequently raises eyebrows at security. That’s why Germany’s Henrik Janssen packs his 2-kilogram disc with his clothes.

    American discus thrower Joseph Brown used to get stopped and quizzed about what he was carrying. He signed up for TSA Precheck and hasn’t been bothered since.

    “Now, it’s a breeze,” Brown said.

    So much easier than what some of these field athletes have to schlep.

    “I get really jealous of the discus throwers and shot putters,” says Price, the hammer thrower. “But I’m not jealous of the pole vaulters. They are a different breed of amazingness.”

    Says Kendricks, the two-time world champion in field’s “longest” event: “That’s why you see so much camaraderie out there on the track, because we walk a very difficult road together. It’s an unseen burden sometimes.”

    ___

    AP Sports Writer Andrew Dampf contributed to this report.

    ___

    AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

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  • Korean Air says turbulence is knocking instant noodles off its economy menu

    Korean Air says turbulence is knocking instant noodles off its economy menu

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Turbulence is knocking a beloved instant-noodle offering off Korean Air’s economy menu.

    Cups of Shin Ramyun instant noodles, a favorite among Korean Air travelers over the years, will no longer be available for economy-class passengers starting Aug. 15, a spokesperson for the Seoul-based airline said.

    “This decision is part of proactive safety measures in response to increased turbulence, aimed at preventing burn accidents,” Korean Air said.

    The instant noodles are currently part of Korean Air’s in-flight snack service, which is a self-serve bar beyond meals available for economy passengers on long-haul trips. In this week’s announcement, the carrier added that it had “renewed” economy’s snack options to instead include offerings like sandwiches, corn dogs and hot pockets.

    But business- and first-class passengers will still get their noodles. Korean Air told the BBC that the noodles are brought individually to business- and first-class travelers, reducing spill risks.

    Concern about the dangers of serving hot food and liquids on airplanes isn’t new. Over the years, several carriers have faced lawsuits from customers who say they suffered serious burns after having hot coffee, for example, spilled on them during a flight. And, while legal precedent may vary around the world, the European Union’s highest court ruled in 2019 that an airline can be held liable if a passenger is injured in this way, even if turbulence or other flight-related factors didn’t cause the spill.

    But turbulence, of course, still adds to risk. Flying through unstable air can make balancing something like soup or a hot beverage in-flight all the more precarious.

    Numerous turbulence-related injuries have been reported over the years, but most incidents are minor — and airlines have made steady improvements in reducing accident rates. Those include suspending cabin service when needed or taking extra caution when distributing certain refreshments.

    Still, rough air might be getting harder and harder to avoid. Some meteorologists and aviation analysts note reports of turbulence encounters are on the rise, pointing to the potential impacts climate change may have on flying conditions.

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  • Looking to buy a home? You may now need to factor in the cost of your agent’s commission

    Looking to buy a home? You may now need to factor in the cost of your agent’s commission

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    LOS ANGELES (AP) — Thinking of buying a home with the help of a real estate agent? You can no longer take it for granted that a seller will cover the cost of your agent’s commission.

    Home sellers have traditionally offered a blanket commission to a buyer’s agent when they listed their home on the market. But that will no longer be allowed as of this weekend, when various changes to U.S. real estate industry practices are set to take effect.

    A homebuyer may still try to negotiate such an offer from the seller. But if they decline, that would leave the homebuyer on the hook for paying for their agent’s services.

    The National Association of Realtors is behind the policy changes, which stem from its $418 million settlement earlier this year of federal class-action lawsuits that claimed U.S. homeowners were forced to pay artificially inflated real estate agent commissions when they sold their home.

    Companies behind several major real estate brokerage brands, including Keller Williams, Anywhere Real Estate, HomeServices of America, Re/Max and Redfin, also agreed to pay millions and make policy changes to make home seller lawsuits go away.

    The new rules, which go into effect nationally on Saturday, apply to brokers and agents representing clients looking to buy or sell a home advertised on a multiple listing service, or MLS, affiliated with the NAR.

    They boil down to two significant changes: Blanket offers of compensation on behalf of sellers to buyers’ agents will no longer be included in listings posted on the MLS, though they can still be made through other means. And homebuyers will be required to sign detailed representation agreements when they hire an agent.

    It remains to be seen whether the policy overhaul will lead to lower agent commissions or fewer sellers opting not to offer to cover the buyer’s agent fees.

    But the changes are likely to have the biggest impact on home shoppers — especially first-time buyers already facing elevated mortgage rates, a shortage of properties on the market and record-high home prices. They will now have to factor in the cost of hiring an agent if a seller isn’t willing to cover it.

    “This will have a negative impact on a buyer’s ability to purchase a home, and so there are going to be quite a few large scale changes in the buyer’s process,” said Bret Weinstein, CEO of Guide Real Estate, a brokerage in Denver.

    Homebuyer representation agreements

    Home shoppers who want to work with an agent will have to sign an agreement upfront that details the services that agent will provide and how much they will be paid, including whether it’s through a commission split with a seller’s agent.

    Generally, an agent who represents a buyer typically receives around 2.5%-3% commission based on the purchase price of the home. Agents then share part of their commission with their brokerage.

    Similar buyer representation agreements are already required in roughly 20 states. However, the new rules require that buyer agreements be completed before an agent begins working on a client’s behalf. That includes before the agent takes a buyer to tour a home, whether in person or virtually. A buyer can still go to an open house without signing a representation agreement.

    “The big change now is that we are required to ask the buyer to commit to us early and hire us early in the process,” said Andrea Ratcliff, a Redfin agent in Indianapolis, where the policy changes were rolled out July 1.

    One home shopper she spoke with was put off by the changes and the prospect of covering an agent’s fees, she said.

    “They definitely weren’t ready to commit to me — weren’t ready commit to any agent, because they weren’t prepared to take on that cost,” Ratcliff said.

    Removing buyer-agent compensation offers from home listings

    Traditionally, a buyer’s agent’s commission has been paid by the seller. Agents who work with homeowners to market and sell their home would list the property on an MLS and include how much their client was offering to pay a buyer’s agent, a practice known as an offer of “cooperative compensation.” That’s when a seller agrees in advance to offer a commission on the sale of their home to be split between their agent and the buyer’s representative, typically around 2.5%-3% each.

    The home sellers behind the lawsuits against the NAR and others argued sellers have had little choice but to offer to cover the buyer’s agent’s compensation in order to ensure their listing was shown to as many prospective buyers as possible.

    To address this, homes listed on an MLS will no longer include a seller’s offer to cover the cost of a buyer’s agent’s services. However, they will still be allowed to advertise them practically anywhere else, including the agent’s own website, a display at an open house, or when communicating directly with an agent representing a prospective homebuyer.

    Sellers may still elect to pay for a buyer’s agent’s compensation, but without the pressure of making a public, blanket offer on the MLS. Some may opt to pocket the savings and only cover their own agent’s commission.

    “If there’s not a clear offer of cooperative compensation from the seller through their broker to the buyer’s broker, then yeah, it’s going to be part of (the) negotiation,” said Kevin Sears, president of the National Association of Realtors. “I think that will be something that we see changing in the marketplace.”

    Where does this leave buyers and sellers?

    Much of how the industry policy changes play out for buyers and sellers will depend largely on the state of the local housing market.

    In a sluggish housing market where homes are taking longer to move and sellers are having to lower prices, it’s more likely that a buyer will be able to negotiate for the seller to cover their agent’s commission. In a hotter market, where properties are selling fast and receiving multiple offers, sellers will have the leverage to accept an offer from a buyer who isn’t asking for them to cover their agent’s fees.

    While sales of previously occupied U.S. homes have been in a slump since 2022, years of underbuilding and other factors have kept the inventory of homes for sale at near all-time lows. That’s pushed up prices and fueled multiple offers for many homes, giving a clear edge to sellers in most markets.

    Still, real estate agents say sellers should keep offering to cover the buyer’s agent commission.

    “We’ve advised that it would be wise for sellers to continue to be open to covering some or all of the buyer’s costs, because the last thing you want to do when you are selling something is to make it complicated for someone to buy it or to limit the number of people who can buy it,” said Alex McEwen, associate broker with Selling Utah in Orem, Utah.

    As for homebuyers, they will have to budget for the possibility that a seller won’t cover their agent’s fees. Those who can’t afford to do so may have to come to an arrangement with their agent to only pursue listings where the seller is offering buyer’s agent compensation.

    Will commissions come down?

    It’s unclear whether the policy changes will spur sellers or buyers to negotiate lower broker commissions, and whether they’ll succeed if they do.

    Buyer-agent commissions have eased somewhat this year: The average buyer’s agent commission fell nationally from 2.62% at the beginning of the year to 2.55% through July 14, according to an analysis by Redfin. However, because home prices have kept rising this year, the average commission paid to a buyer’s agent in dollar terms has risen about 1.7% since January to $15,377.

    Stephen Brobeck, senior fellow at Consumer Federation of America, expects that more sellers will be encouraged to negotiate with their agent lower their commission by at least half a percentage point.

    “That represents, over the course of a year in the housing market, a very large sum of money,” he said.

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