Worst jobs record another sign of Victoria's long economic hangover
Almost four years after the last pandemic lockdowns were lifted, economists say the damage they caused was still being felt by businesses and households in Victoria, where the jobless rate lifted by 0.1 percentage point to 4.6 per cent in July, above the national average of 4.2 per cent.
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Hindustan Times
4 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
IRS approved $1390 stimulus checks this month? Here's the truth behind viral claims
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has shut down social media claims that new stimulus checks worth $1,390 are on the way to millions of Americans. This comes days after posts about the alleged IRS and Treasury Department payments for low- and middle-income taxpayers surfaced. President Donald Trump's name is printed on a stimulus check issued by the IRS (AP) The agency confirmed those reports are inaccurate, noting no new stimulus program has been authorized. Why the rumor spread The speculation may have stemmed from a separate IRS announcement earlier this year, when the agency distributed $2.4 billion to taxpayers who had not claimed the 2021 Recovery Rebate Credit. That credit, worth up to $1,400 per person, was tied to COVID-era stimulus programs, but the deadline to file for it passed on April 15. 'Millions of Americans could soon receive a $1,390 stimulus check, according to reports citing the U.S. Treasury Department and the IRS. The payment is aimed at providing relief to low and middle-income households and is expected to roll out in late summer,' one account noted on X, platform formerly known as Twitter. The facts New stimulus payments cannot be issued without congressional approval. No legislation authorizing such payments has been passed in 2024. The IRS has made no announcements about fresh relief programs. Congress previously approved three rounds of direct relief during the pandemic under the CARES Act, the COVID-related Tax Relief Act, and the American Rescue Plan Act. The last payments were tied to the 2021 Recovery Rebate Credit. Sen Josh Hawley introduced the American Worker Rebate Act in July, which would send at least $600 per taxpayer using tariff revenues, plus additional funds for families with children. But the measure remains in committee and has not advanced in either chamber of Congress. Hawley argues Americans 'deserve a tax rebate' and compares his plan to earlier proposals from President Donald Trump. Supporters say the rebates would provide immediate financial relief. Critics, however, caution that relying on tariff revenue is unstable and point out that no checks could be issued without congressional approval. Tax scam warning signs 'Scammers mislead you about tax refunds, credits and payments. They pressure you for personal, financial or employment information or money. IRS impersonators try to look like us,' the IRS said. Watch out for: A big payday - If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Bad tax advice on social media may convince you to lie on tax forms or mislead you about credits you can claim. Demands or threats - Impersonators want you to pay 'now or else.' They threaten arrest or deportation. They don't let you question or appeal the amount of tax you owe. Website links - Odd or misspelled web links can take you to harmful sites instead of
Ottawa Citizen
10 hours ago
- Ottawa Citizen
Westover: Summer childcare challenges parents
Article content For many working parents, summer isn't the care-free respite we've been promised. It's more like a season of discontent. Article content It's like an impossible-to-assemble puzzle of disparate pieces that don't fit neatly together: childcare, work obligations, family well-being. Article content Article content The challenge is especially acute for parents of tweens and young teens. Too old for traditional daycare but too young for jobs, these 11- to 14-year-olds crave independence, yet default to couches and screens when left to their own devices (pun intended). Article content Article content This summer, the refrain I kept hearing from parents was: 'What are you doing with your kids?' Article content While our economy now runs on two-income households, our summer infrastructure hasn't caught up with this reality, leaving many families in a state of existential panic. The burden of untangling this Gordian Knot falls disproportionately on mothers; precisely the kind of invisible labour that has us awake at 3 a.m. frantically researching options or block-scheduling calendars before dawn. Article content And despite the best-laid plans and the most water-tight preparation, the available solutions are imperfect at best, out of reach at worst. Article content Traditional sleepaway camps offer that 'real summer experience,' but they're prohibitively expensive, book up months in advance, and often require lengthy stays. (This is why initiatives like Tim Horton's Camp Day matter so much. They extend opportunities to kids who would otherwise miss out.) Article content Article content Sports camps come with their own premium price tags. Even the more affordable city-run programs quickly add up over many weeks. And many of these programs typically run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. — hours misaligned with standard workdays. Parents must somehow cover the gaps at both ends, creating a daily logistical headache. To add insult to injury, oftentimes the kids don't want to be there, so the cost is financial and parental guilt is paid in interest. Article content Article content Even those who are counting down to a family vacation quickly discover two weeks away doesn't a summer make. Article content While we pay lip service to equity, and lament the COVID-era outflow of women in the workforce, we're not doing much to lighten the load.
USA Today
13 hours ago
- USA Today
What is a show-cause? Explaining former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh's NCAA punishment
On August 15, about 22 months after much of the country first learned of the name Connor Stalions, the NCAA announced its long-awaited findings and punishments following its investigation into alleged in-person scouting by the Michigan football program. Per the NCAA's report, it found what it called "overwhelming" evidence of illegal in-person scouting, and punished several figures within the Michigan program at the time of the infractions and the athletic department. The scandal and its potential ramifications have followed the Wolverines since news of the probe was first publicized in October 2023. Much has changed in that time. Michigan won its first national championship since 1997. Head coach Jim Harbaugh left his alma mater to return to the NFL, with Sherrone Moore taking his place. Now, that seldom straightforward saga will be nearing a conclusion. One of the biggest questions heading into the NCAA's announcement wasn't just what kind of punishment awaited the Wolverines' program or how it would affect their coaches and players, but what impact it might have on someone who's now thousands of miles from the school's Ann Arbor campus. Harbaugh is entering his second season as the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, a job he left for a few weeks after guiding Michigan to a College Football Playoff championship game victory against Washington in January 2024. Though he wasn't directly implicated in Stalions' in-person scouting operation, which violated NCAA Bylaw 11.6.1 and led to Friday's punishment, Harbaugh presided over the program during that time and wasn't shielded from the NCAA's wrath. In addition to a four-year show cause penalty leveled upon Harbaugh for impermissible contact with recruits and players during the COVID-19 pandemic's dead period, Harbaugh suffered an additional 10-year show-cause for his role in the sign-stealing scandal. With stacking, that means Harbaugh has a 14-year show-cause overall. What, exactly, does that mean for Harbaugh and a potential future at the college level? Here's a closer look at the show cause and what comes with it: Is Jim Harbaugh banned from college football? By receiving the punishment he did for the COVID-era transgressions and his involvement in the Michigan sign-stealing scandal, yes, Harbaugh is banned from the sport, for all intents and purposes, as his show cause includes a one-year suspension, which would serve as a significant deterrent to any school interested in hiring him. Harbaugh's show cause is set for 14 years (four years for the recruiting violations and 10 years for the sign-stealing), meaning that he is effectively outlawed from coaching college football until August 2038, by which point the former Michigan and NFL quarterback will be 74 years old. In its ruling for the recruiting violations, the NCAA said Harbaugh "engaged in unethical conduct, failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance and violated head coach responsibility obligations." Harbaugh dismissed allegations that he failed to cooperate with NCAA investigators over the course of the probe. "The panel noted that Harbaugh's intentional disregard for NCAA legislation and unethical conduct amplified the severity of the case and prompted the panel to classify Harbaugh's case as Level I-Aggravated, with penalties to include a four-year show-cause order. Subsumed in the show-cause order is a one-season suspension for Harbaugh," the NCAA said. In its latest ruling on Friday, August 15, the NCAA wrote: "The underlying violations resulted in a head coach responsibility violation for former head football coach Jim Harbaugh (Harbaugh), and a failure to monitor violation for the institution. Further, several individuals failed to cooperate with the investigation and processing of this case." In Harbaugh's punishment, the NCAA repeatedly referenced his status as a repeat violator and a consistent failure to cooperate with investigative bodies. Thankfully for Harbaugh, he may not have to worry about returning to college football. Last season, he led the Chargers to an 11-6 mark, a six-win improvement from the previous season, and a spot in the NFL playoffs. As an NFL head coach, Harbaugh is 55-25-1. He previously coached the San Francisco 49ers for four seasons, leading them to three NFC championship games and a berth in Super Bowl XLVII. What is a show cause? A show cause is an NCAA penalty primarily reserved for coaches who have been found to have committed major rules violations. The punishment lasts for a specified period of time and is applicable to any NCAA member institution, meaning that if a coach commits NCAA infractions at one school, the show cause they received would apply at another university that's under the NCAA's jurisdiction. In effect, it means a coach is outlawed from coaching at an NCAA university. The measure is meant to prevent a coach from avoiding accountability for their role in rule-breaking. Should a school want to hire a coach serving a show cause penalty, it would have to appear before the NCAA's committee on infractions to explain why it wants to do so. In Harbaugh's case, there are several wrinkles to his show cause that the NCAA outlined when it handed down the initial punishment. If a school wants to hire Harbaugh, it would have to suspend him for the first full season. Additionally, he would be barred from all athletically related activities, including team travel, practice, video study, recruiting and team meetings, at any NCAA institution that employed him. Harbaugh's hardly the first prominent coach to be slapped with a show cause. In football, Jim Tressel received a five-year show cause for his role in the Ohio State tattoo scandal and Jeremy Pruitt got a six-year show cause (which remains active) for a slew of recruiting violations during his ill-fated stint as Tennessee's coach. Two of the four head coaches in last year's men's basketball Final Four had received show causes over the previous 20 years. Houston coach Kelvin Sampson served a five-year show cause for impermissible phone calls to recruits during his short-lived tenure at Indiana while Auburn's Bruce Pearl received a three-year show cause for lying to the NCAA during an investigation over an impermissible recruiting visit to his home while he was at Tennessee. Auburn made the unusual move of hiring Pearl five months before his show cause expired in August 2014, which meant that Pearl was unable to be in contact with recruits during that summer's recruiting period.
