CNN BUSINESS | First toilet paper, then yeast. Now laptops are hard to find

New York (CNN Business) – In March, as the country transitioned to online learning almost overnight because of the pandemic, many schools and families did their best to make do with the tools they had.

The situation revealed deep disparities in access to at-home technology, and many school districts hoped to rectify the situation when they began hybrid or online schooling come fall.

“When we found out we would be doing remote learning in full, it meant we had to get devices distributed out to students in need,” Lara Hussain, manager of academic technology for Denver Public Schools, told CNN Business. “Timing was critical … No one wants to start where students have no access to devices or the internet.”  —more—

CNN style | Misty Copeland offers a glimpse inside her elegant New York home

Misty Copeland has become the first ballet dancer to appear on the cover of Architectural Digest in more than three decades after she opened the doors to her Manhattan home.

The 37-year-old, who was named the American Ballet Theater’s principal dancer in 2015 — the first Black woman to hold that role — offered the magazine a rare glimpse inside her Upper West Side apartment as part of its forthcoming October issue.  —more—

CNN health | Lewy body dementia: The life-changing disease that devastated Robin Williams

(CNN) – Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are two diseases that many Americans are all too familiar with, but there is another dementia that plagued the late comedian Robin Williams.

It might be “the most common disease you’ve never heard of,” said Dr. James Galvin, a professor of neurology and director of the Lewy Body Dementia Research Center of Excellence at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine.

Williams had Lewy body dementia, which his family learned only after his death. It’s often misdiagnosed as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease due to its early similarity to those other neurodegenerative diseases.  —more—

CNN BUSINESS | The Rolls-Royce Ghost was so eerily quiet inside the engineers had to make it louder

(CNN) – Rolls-Royce unveiled its all new Ghost Tuesday, and it looks strikingly different from any Rolls-Royce that has ever come before. The Ghost is the ultra-luxury automaker’s slightly smaller and somewhat less expensive sedan, and the new version is far more understated than its predecessor.

In preparing to develop the new Ghost, Rolls-Royce learned that customers who would typically buy this model no longer wanted an eye-catching emblem of affluence.  —more—

CNN | Former NASA astronaut Leland Melvin was never afraid to go to space. But a police stop made him sweat

(CNN) – A police stop could have cost former NASA astronaut Leland Melvin his career in space before he ever got started.

Melvin, who was never afraid launching into space on two Space Shuttle Atlantis missions to help build the International Space Station, never knew what was going to happen when the cops pulled him over.  —more—

CNN | See boy’s sweet reaction to getting bike after his was stolen

A boy’s bicycle was stolen just nine days before his birthday. Then this local detective stepped in to help.  —more—

CNN BUSINESS | 1 in 4 hotels can’t pay their mortgages

New York (CNN Business)– In a desperate plea for help, the hotel industry said it faces a default disaster, in which 25% of hotels are at risk of foreclosure.

The report, sent to Congress this week and compiled by Trepp, shows that the percentage of hotel loans 30 or more days delinquent is 23.4% as of last month — the highest percentage on record. By comparison, the percentage of hotel loans that were 30 or more days delinquent at the end of 2019 was just 1.3%.

“With record low travel demand, thousands of hotels can’t afford to pay their commercial mortgages and are facing foreclosure with the harsh reality of having to close their doors permanently,” said Chip Rogers, CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, in a statement Tuesday. He added that “tens of thousands” of hotel employees and other jobs in the industry are at risk if federal aid isn’t administered.  —more— 

CNN health | Black newborns 3 times more likely to die when looked after by White doctors

(CNN) – Black newborn babies in the United States are more likely to survive childbirth if they are cared for by Black doctors, but three times more likely to die when looked after by White doctors, a study has found.

The mortality rate of Black newborns shrunk by between 39% and 58% when Black physicians took charge of the birth, according to the research, which laid bare how shocking racial disparities in human health can affect even the first hours of a person’s life.

By contrast, the mortality rate for White babies was largely unaffected by the doctor’s race.  —more— 

CNN politics | Democrats fight back in US Postal Service showdown with Trump

CNN) – Democrats are launching an emergency effort to thwart what they warn is President Donald Trump’s attempt to squeeze the US Postal Service — one of the country’s most beloved institutions — to suppress the vote in November’s election.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi is calling on the House to return to Washington, likely next weekend, for an unheard of session during presidential convention season.

Democrats have also demanded that new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy testify on August 24 to answer charges that his controversial new policy changes are intended to deliberately slow voting by mail.  —more—

Related article:  CNN BUSINESS | Why you shouldn’t use FedEx or UPS to send in your ballot

CNN Business | American shopping is back to pre-pandemic levels. That’s a big deal

New York (CNN Business) – Millions of Americans remain unemployed during the coronavirus pandemic and many are struggling to pay their bills. But despite devastation in other parts of the US economy, American consumerism has staged a rapid comeback.

US retail sales rose 1.2% in July from the previous month, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

Initially, Wall Street wasn’t impressed with the data. Stocks fell in morning trading after the number fell short of economists’ forecasts.

But lurking in the report was a bright spot.  —more—