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Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up MERGER Advertisement Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Mass. merges with former rival Big Sister Association of Greater Boston Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Massachusetts has merged with Big Sister Association of Greater Boston. Photo courtesy of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Massachusetts The sibling rivalry is finally over. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Massachusetts has wrapped up its merger with Big Sister Association of Greater Boston after months of planning. They announced the deal's completion earlier this week, saying it would expand access to their one-on-one youth mentoring programs. The two groups had once been rivals: They faced off in court in the 2000s after the Big Brothers group added 'Big Sisters' to its name. But now, they say it's one big happy family. Big Brothers Big Sisters serves around 4,000 kids, split evenly between girls and boys, and has a budget of around $9 million, with 90 employees. At the time of the merger, Big Sister Association of Greater Boston served 350 girls, had 16 employees and a budget of around $1.5 million. Big Sister had faced some fundraising hurdles, post-pandemic, and has pared back its budget over the past two years. The two groups will operate as one out of the bigger organization's office at 184 High St. Mark O'Donnell, the chief executive, will continue to lead the combined organization. Annissa Essaibi George, a former city councilor and mayoral candidate who led Big Sister, will be a senior partnership advisor, helping with the integration. The merger was effective as of Jan. 30, with the larger nonprofit keeping the Big Brothers Big Sisters name. The organization said Big Sister's mentoring matches have all been transferred, and at least seven staffers from Big Sister have joined Big Brothers Big Sisters. 'This merger ... will help us to expand girls' programming outside of Boston and help to further our collective impact across the region,' O'Donnell said in a statement, 'to ensure young people have consistent access to mentorship.' — JON CHESTO Advertisement RETAIL Walmart rolled through 2024, but uncertainty about consumers and tariffs seep into year ahead A Walmart store in Martinez, Calif., on Feb. 4. David Paul Morris/Bloomberg Walmart delivered another year of strong sales and profits as its competitive prices became a strong magnet for inflation-weary shoppers. Yet, uncertainty about the state of the American consumer and the potential impact of tariffs have seeped into expectations for 2025. The financial outlook from nation's largest retailer, which has thrived amid stubborn inflation, delivered a jolt across the retail sector. Walmart sees per share profit over the next year coming in as much as 27 cents below analyst projections, a notable shift that sent company shares down more than 6 percent at the opening bell. Its sales outlook was also mild, potentially a reflection of challenges ahead as consumers pull back on spending and President Trump's tariffs on China and other countries threaten the low-price model that is the core of Walmart's success. During an interview with the Associated Press Thursday, Walmart's chief financial officer John David Rainey said shoppers remain resilient while cautious, but there is no apparent change in behavior related to tariffs. — ASSOCIATED PRESS Advertisement DEI Pepsi joins companies retreating from DEI in Trump era Pepsi soda bottles are on display for sale on Feb. 5, 2021, in Dallas. LM Otero/Associated Press PepsiCo Inc. is the latest company to dial back its diversity, equity and inclusion programs as President Trump's push to purge DEI ripples through corporate America. The company will abandon workforce representation targets, no longer have a dedicated chief DEI officer, and expand its supplier diversity program to include all small businesses, among other changes, according to a memo from Chief Executive Ramon Laguarta. He said the company had been refining its approach over the past year 'to ensure it is aligned with our long-term business strategy, responsive to local markets, and focused on the principles that drive sustainable growth.' — BLOOMBERG NEWS MEDIA Fox News, CNN, other news outlets urge White House to drop ban on the AP White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt took questions during a briefing for reporters at the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington on Jan. 31. ERIC LEE/NYT Dozens of major news organizations, including CNN, The Washington Post, and Fox News, wrote to the White House this week urging the Trump administration to immediately lift its ban on The Associated Press, which had been prohibited from attending a number of official press events over the past week. The White House has said it is blocking reporters from the news service because the outlet refers to the Gulf of Mexico in its articles, rather than 'Gulf of America,' as decreed by President Trump in an executive order on Jan. 20. The letter, which was coordinated by the White House Correspondents' Association and delivered on Monday, was signed by 40 outlets. It said the decision to bar the AP was 'an escalation of a dispute that does not serve the presidency or the public.' 'The First Amendment prohibits the government from asserting control over how news organizations make editorial decisions,' the letter said. 'Any attempt to punish journalists for those decisions is a serious breach of this constitutional protection.' — NEW YORK TIMES Advertisement MANUFACTURING Boeing CEO says Musk helping speed troubled Air Force One jets President Trump boarded Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Feb. 16. AL DRAGO/NYT Boeing Co.'s chief executive officer said Elon Musk and his DOGE team are helping the planemaker work through bottlenecks that have caused the next fleet of Air Force One jets to fall years behind schedule. 'He's able to pretty quickly ascertain the difference between technical requirements and things that we can move out of the way,' Kelly Ortberg, Boeing's CEO, said of Musk during a Barclays conference. 'I'm all in on trying to get these airplanes up and get the president his airplanes delivered to him, which is what he wants,' Ortberg said. President Trump has repeatedly criticized the planemaker for failing to deliver the jets on time. Trump this week warned that he 'may have to go a different route' than the two highly customized Boeing 747-8 jets that were ordered to much fanfare during his first term in office. The first of the jumbo jets was supposed to be delivered by 2024, but is running at least three years behind schedule. — BLOOMBERG NEWS FASHION Can sandals be art? Birkenstock says yes, but a German court says no. A Birkenstock sandal is pictured in Birkenstock store in Frankfurt, Germany, on Oct. 4, 2023. Michael Probst/Associated Press Birkenstocks: They are ubiquitous in summer, comfy, and very German. Sometimes they look chic and sometimes shabby. But can these sandals be considered art? That's the question Germany's Federal Court of Justice wrestled with Thursday, and it ruled they're just comfy footwear. Birkenstock, which is headquartered in Linz am Rhein, Germany, and says its tradition of shoemaking goes back to 1774, filed a lawsuit against three competitors who sold sandals that were very similar to its own. The shoe manufacturer claimed its sandals 'are copyright-protected works of applied art' that may not be imitated. Under German law, works of art enjoy stronger and longer-lasting intellectual property protections than consumer products. The company asked for an injunction to stop its competitors from making copycat sandals and order them to recall and destroy those already on the market. The defendant companies were not identified in the court statement. — ASSOCIATED PRESS Advertisement