The travel industry is in the midst of another hot summer as Americans hit the road and make for the airport to take advantage of slightly cheaper flights and gas. But the 2024 vacation outlook isn’t all sunny: Like the rest of the American consumer experience this year, it is sharply divided.

In the year since the Supreme Court banned the consideration of race in college admissions last June, students have had to give more thought to how they present themselves in their application essays.

Previously, they could write about their racial or ethnic identity if they wanted to, but colleges would usually know it either way and could use it as a factor in admissions. Now, it’s entirely up to students to disclose their identity or not.

Three years after it was made a federal holiday, Juneteenth 2024 marks a day of celebration as well as education.

The federal holiday known as “Second Independence Day,” marks the day the last African American slaves were notified that they had been freed from their masters, the National Museum of African American History and Culture said.

America today celebrates Juneteenth, a commemoration both of the horrors of the nation’s original sin, slavery, and of its end.

The holiday traces to victorious Union Gen. Gordon Granger’s June 19, 1865 order putting the Emancipation Proclamation (issued in January 1863) into full legal effect across Texas and freeing all the state’s remaining slaves.

The celebration has since spread, especially in the South, culminating in federal recognition in 2021 by President Biden

“Party with a purpose” is a phrase that fits well with most Black holidays and occasions. Historically, Juneteenth has been no different. Yet something curious has happened since the day became a federal holiday in the United States in 2021. This jubilant celebration of African American independence has somehow become less fun.

Stop me if you’ve heard some variation of this statistic: More than half of U.S. counties have no or almost no access to a “reliable local news source.”

It’s factually true. As of November 2023, roughly 204 American counties did not have a designated news outlet. The U.S. has lost almost 2,900 newspapers and 43,000 newspaper journalists since 2005. Northeastern and coastal states tend to retain access to news, while swaths of the Midwest and central South have multiple counties with only one news outlet — or worse, none.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce received an $800,000 wire transfer from billionaire donor Hank Meijer days after it endorsed his son, then-Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Mich.), in a contentious 2022 primary, according to previously unreported internal emails reviewed by The Hill. 

Within days of the transfer, the Chamber spent $381,000 on “Media Advertisement – Energy and Taxes – Mentioning Rep. Peter Meijer,” according to a report filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). 

Many low-income urban areas in the United States have a pressing need for trees. With about half as much tree canopy coverage as their affluent counterparts have, these areas face a host of risks, such as air pollution, poor water quality, and dangerously high heat.

But government tree-planting programs meant to close this gap can face resistance from the very communities they intend to help. The resistance, research shows, is tied not only to residents’ lack of means to maintain trees but also to distrust. 

Flaunting a lavish lifestyle to promote materialism can get you thrown off social media in China.

Since April, China has been busy cracking down on influencers who promote ostentatious lifestyles as a means of gaining profit.

China's internet regulator, Cyberspace Administration of China, launched a campaign last month to discourage social media users from "deliberately showcasing a lavish lifestyle built on wealth," the Financial Times reported.

The U.S. opposes a proposed global wealth tax on billionaires, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said, rejecting an idea floated by Brazil, France and other nations to tip the economic scales away from the megarich.