CNN BUSINESS | Stores are closing. This discount chain plans to move in

New York (CNN Business) – A record number of stores are closing across America. One discount clothing chain thinks it can step in to fill some of those vacancies.

Burlington Stores plans to open 100 new stores this year and sees an opportunity to reach 2,000 US stores in the future, the company said Thursday. Previously, Burlington (formerly known as Burlington Coat Factory) expected to build 1,000 stores. It currently has more than 750 outlets.

Burlington said in a news release that it was increasing its total store target because of the “opportunity presented by accelerating retail disruption and industry wide store closures.”  —read more— 

CNN BUSINESS | Disney is closing 60 stores in the US and Canada

New York (CNN Business) – The Disney Store, once a mall mainstay, is drastically reducing the number of locations it has in the United States and Canada.

Disney said it’s closing at least 60 stores in North America, amounting to about 35% of its locations in the region. Moving forward, Disney is placing a larger emphasis on its e-commerce business rather than its brick-and-mortar footprint. “While consumer behavior has shifted toward online shopping, the global pandemic has changed what consumers expect from a retailer,” said Stephanie Young, president of Disney’s consumer products, games and publishing unit, in a press release.  –read more— 

CNN health | Here’s when the US will see a lot more vaccine doses

(CNN) – Millions more Covid-19 vaccines are on the way.

Moderna, Pfizer and now Johnson & Johnson will deliver enough doses to fully vaccinate 130 million people — more than one-third of the US population — by the end of March, the pharmaceutical companies told a House subcommittee last week.  —read more— 

CNN style Arts | Unseen Vincent van Gogh painting of Paris goes on public display for the first time

A painting of Paris by Vincent van Gogh, which has almost never been seen by the public after being stashed within a French family’s private collection for more than a century, has finally been unveiled.

“Street scene in Montmartre” was painted in the spring of 1887, three years before the Dutch master is believed to have died by suicide.

It shows Parisians walking through a rural and sparse landscape in Montmartre, a historic district which today is one of the city’s most popular destinations.

The painting is set to go on public display for the first time, before being sold at auction in Paris. It is expected to fetch between 5 million euros and 8 million euros ($6 million and $9.7 million) when it goes under the hammer in March.  –read more—

CNN | Traumatized and tired, nurses are quitting due to the pandemic

(CNN) – Nursing was more than a career to Rachel Ellsworth. She says she was “called” to the work.

For 10 of her 12 years in nursing, Ellsworth was an indefatigable intensive care nurse. The work energized her, and she felt privileged to witness some of the most important moments of people’s lives, when their worlds shifted for better or worse. Though she did all she could to save them, she also found purpose in giving her patients a “peaceful, dignified death” when it was time.

“I was the kind of person who went into work every day, like, literally, ‘Let’s go save lives,’ for 12 years” she said. “I was just so excited to be there, so full of hope and compassion.”  —read more— 

CNN BUSINESS | Meet the Minnesota mom fighting QAnon conspiracies one Instagram story at a time

(CNN) – When Sharon McMahon scrolled through social media in the months leading up to last year’s presidential election, she found herself horrified by the amount of “straight misinformation” filling her feed.

“It was just shockingly wrong,” McMahon, a Minnesota mom of four, told CNN. “Like not even a little bit right.”

Armed with a passion for constitutional law, along with over a decade of government and law classroom teaching experience, McMahon decided she wanted to combat the mistruths with education.  –read more— 

CNN BUSINESS | Harris and Yellen work with Black business leaders on recovery plan

New York (CNN) – Vice President Kamala Harris called on America’s Black business leaders to help spread the word that it is critical for Black Americans to take the Covid-19 vaccine to begin repairing the economic damage caused by the pandemic.

“If we’re going to build back up our economy, we’ve gotta get control of this,” Harris said of the virus Friday afternoon. “People have within their power the ability to save their lives, the lives of their family members, their community — but they’ve gotta get vaccinated.”  —read more— 

CNN opinion | Black History Month this year is more than a trip down memory lane

(CNN) – Black History Month is more important to the future of American democracy than ever. At a critical time, it offers the nation a window into its own soul — if we are only courageous enough to look. What gazes back at us is not just the past, but a way of better understanding the political, economic and social ills that plague us. The racial disparities so terribly evident in the Covid-19 pandemic and the most divisive presidential election in American history are rooted in circumstances that can best be explained, analyzed and interrogated through the lens of Black history.  –read more— 

CNN Opinion | FDR got this right. Biden can, too

(CNN) – Since assuming office on January 20, President Joe Biden has taken vigorous action, signing over 40 executive orders that address problems ranging from health care to the economy. Predictably, the reaction has been mixed, with the editorial board of The New York Times opining that the new president should “Ease Up on the Executive Actions, Joe.”

However, Biden’s flurry of executive orders forms part of a deliberate strategy to project a new vision for the country, and it makes sense for him to use the power he has in this way. In fact, Biden and his team are modeling their first 100 days in office after the example of one former president in particular: Franklin D. Roosevelt.  –read more— 

CNN health | Covid-19 safety guidance has changed. Get caught up.

watch: (CNN) – Dr. Leana Wen explains how the CDC’s Covid-19 safety guidelines have changed, given what scientists now know about how it spread.  —watch—