The Daily Populous

Food is more expensive than it has been in decades

New York (CNN Business) Bad news for American consumers: It's getting more expensive to dine out, and it's getting more expensive to eat at home.

Restaurant prices spiked 5.8% over the 12 months ending in November without seasonal adjustments, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday .

That's the largest 12-month increase since the year ended January 1982.

And unfortunately for those hoping to curb spending by turning to home cooking, grocery prices are also at record highs: They jumped 6.4%, the largest 12-month increase since December 2008.

Beef had the most dramatic increase with a 20.9% spike in prices.

The sharp increases underscore the fact that restaurants and food makers are not immune to supply chain and labor pressures contributing to pricing increases across the board.

In fact, restaurants have been raising prices as their own food and labor costs rise, and so far, they say, consumers have accepted the hikes. »

As Biden promotes democracy abroad, advocates urge him to focus on fixing US elections

Authored by edition.cnn.com

Election officials also are lobbying to secure the federal funding they say is needed to administer future elections.

Democracy advocates argue Biden could have tackled both -- advancing voting bills alongside his spending agenda.

"This is one that delay or wavering has dire consequences for our democracy, our simple ability to run elections.". »

With nearly 5 million children getting COVID vaccines, no safety problems have been seen, CDC director says

Authored by abcnews.go.com

With nearly 5 million children ages 5 to 11 now vaccinated against COVID-19, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky says real-world monitoring finds vaccines are safe for young children.

"We have an incredibly robust vaccine safety system, and so if [problems] were there, we would find it.".

Despite robust safety data, fewer than 1 in 5 children in this age group has receive their first dose. »

Florida man used flamethrower to settle parking dispute, police say

Authored by clickorlando.com

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A Florida man angry over his neighbors’ parking habits sprayed fire from a commercial flamethrower toward a car with three teenagers inside, police said.

Gainey’s daughter, Nate’talya Baker, 16, fled the car with her friends as Abrams continued to spray flames toward them, police said.

This story was produced by Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. »

California governor says he will use legal tactics of Texas abortion ban to implement gun control

Authored by edition.cnn.com

(CNN) California Gov. Gavin Newsom expressed his "outrage" Saturday at a Supreme Court decision to allow the Texas six-week abortion ban to remain in effect and said he would use similar legal tactics to tackle gun control in his state.

"I am outraged by yesterday's US Supreme Court decision allowing Texas's ban on most abortion services to remain in place, and largely endorsing Texas's scheme to insulate its law from the fundamental protections of Roe v. Wade," Newsom said in a statement.

The Friday ruling from the Supreme Court allowed Texas' abortion law that bars the procedure after the first six weeks of pregnancy to remain in place but said abortion providers have the right to challenge the law in federal court. »