Can't believe it will be December this week. Time is flying by. What's in store for us this week? Can only hope it will be calm and pleasant.

A Florida woman is suing the Kraft Heinz Company for $5 million, claiming they misled the public about the time it takes to prepare its Velveeta microwavable mac and cheese cups.

She says it takes longer than the 3 1/2 minutes claimed by Kraft because in addition to 3 1/2 minutes to microwave, it takes time to remove the lid and stir the product. Wow! First world problems.

Give thanks.
Give to others.
Share a smile.

All in four days.

Chesapeake, VA, Walmart mass shooting - 6 dead

Colorado, CO, LGBTQ nightclub mass shooting - 5 dead

Charlottesville, VA, Univ. of VA mass shooting - 3 dead

Moscow, ID, Univ. of Idaho, mass killing with knife - 4 dead

What can be said? Something needs to be done to protect our ordinary citizens, of which so many just want to have fun and have nothing to do with guns and murder.

With rent on the rise in Knoxville, some people have to look for a more affordable place to live.

Rising rent in Knoxville pushes people to move to other cities

high-tech public toilets that feature see-through walls when they’re unoccupied.

High-end, transparent public toilets

From Knox County, as of 11/12/2022,
and from State of Tennessee as of 11/12/2022,

since the inception of COVID-19, approx. 1/23/2020...

The Knox County Health Department reports 112,292 coronavirus cases and 38,054 probable cases.
1,051 cases in 35 days, averaging 30 cases a day. No reduction in daily cases.

There have been 1,539 deaths due to coronavirus in Knox County.
That is up from 1,515 total deaths as of 10/08/2022.
24 deaths in 35 days. Nearly 5 deaths a week.

Deaths by age group (age breakdown as of 11/12/2022, Knox County count of 1,539 deaths ):

1 in the 0-17 age group (0%) (0% (+0) (no increase since 10/08/22)
65 in the 18-44 age group (4%) (1.5% (+1) (no increase since 10/08/22)
312 in the 45-64 age group (20%) (2 additional deaths 10/08/22)
353 in the 65-74 age group (23%) (4 additional deaths since 10/08/22)
808 in the 75+ age group (53%) ((18 additional deaths since 10/08/22)

As of 11/12/2022, there are
53 COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized in the Knox County region. Only one less than the hospitalizations on 10/08/2022 (54 hospitalized). Nearly three times the hospitalizations on 5/14/2022 (19 hospitalized).

As of 11/12/2022 there are
8 COVID-19 patients in ICU. An increase of 3 patients from the number reported on 10/08/2022.

Hospitalizations still are not below the low of 21 on 7/4/21.

As of November 12, 2022, ICU bed available capacity is at 14.2%
of 317 total ICU beds. Down from 18.3% on October 8, 2022.

As of November 12, 2022, the TN Dept of Health reports the average positivity rate over the past 7 days is 13% ,down from the previous rate of 15% reported on 10/08/2022.

Vaccinations reported, last updated 11/21/2022:

The Internal Revenue Service announced the tax year 2023 annual inflation adjustments for more than 60 tax provisions, including the tax rate schedules and other tax changes.

• "The standard deduction for married couples filing jointly for tax year 2023 rises to $27,700 up $1,800 from the prior year.
• For single taxpayers and married individuals filing separately, the standard deduction rises to $13,850 for 2023, up $900,
• and for heads of households, the standard deduction will be $20,800 for tax year 2023, up $1,400 from the amount for tax year 2022.

Marginal Rates: For tax year 2023,
"the top tax rate remains 37% for individual single taxpayers with incomes greater than $578,125 ($693,750 for married couples filing jointly)."

The other rates are:

• 35% for incomes over $231,250 ($462,500 for married couples filing jointly);
• 32% for incomes over $182,100 ($364,200 for married couples filing jointly);
• 24% for incomes over $95,375 ($190,750 for married couples filing jointly);
• 22% for incomes over $44,725 ($89,450 for married couples filing jointly);
• 12% for incomes over $11,000 ($22,000 for married couples filing jointly).
• 10% for incomes of single individuals with incomes of $11,000 or less ($22,000 for married couples filing jointly).

The 7.1% adjustment is one of the biggest in decades, and more than twice what it was in 2022.

"While the changes affect everyone, they particularly have an impact on people whose income did not keep pace with inflation this year"

In addition, contribution limits for 401(k)s, IRAs, and HSAs have increased.

These tax changes in addition to the possibility of record high increases in paychecks can be very beneficial.

But with headline inflation still at 7.7%, any raise an employee gets below those levels effectively means they will be earning less because their paycheck won’t buy as much.

Get ready for bigger paychecks: Record high increases expected in 2023

“When I turned over my ticket I saw a three percent health fee and I didn’t know what that was and to be honest I was a little angry at first,” he said. “Then it explained down at the bottom of the ticket that this was to provide health benefits for their employees and almost like an epiphany I thought that’s outstanding.”

Knoxville restaurant owner puts health insurance on the bill

Hancen Sale, the Government Affairs and Policy Director of the Knoxville Area Association of Realtors, said the median principal and interest payment has increased from around $1,214 in 2020 and 2021 — to $2,306.97 as of November 2022.

Both Trotta and Sale said it's become more difficult for people who live in Knoxville to afford new houses. Sale said you have to make around $74,000 a year to afford a median-priced house in Knoxville, assuming you're able to put 20% down.

Average mortgage payment for Knoxville listings increases by almost $1,000 a month

BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, had been quickly gaining ground in the U.S. in recent weeks. On Friday, they officially overtook BA.5, accounting for an estimated 44% of all new infections nationwide and nearly 60% in some parts of the country, such as New York and New Jersey, according to the CDC's estimates. BA.5 now accounts for an estimated 30% of all new infections nationwide.

"The bad news is that it's likely that people who've been vaccinated and/or infected will still get infected" with these new subvariants, says Dr. Daniel Barouch, a virologist at Beth Deaconess Hospital in Boston who's been studying the new strains.

New omicron subvariants now dominant in the U.S., raising fears of a winter surge

BA.5 is no longer dominant in the U.S. for the first time since July, as two new subvariants take over

"Target stores are getting looted, and it's taking a huge bite out of profits."

"The discount retailer told reporters... disappearance of merchandise — has reduced its gross profit margin by $400 million so far in 2022."
...
A Target spokesperson told Yahoo Finance... the [inventory] shrinkage was mostly "organized retail crime."

"Organized retail crime is not just a Target issue as it has impacted other big name retailers such as Best Buy and Rite-Aid."
...
"Goods stolen from stores increased to $94.5 billion in losses in 2021, up from $90.8 billion in 2020."
...
"Last month Wegman’s ended its scan-and-go shopping app. Why? Shrinkage, of course."

We thought about opening a bar many years ago. A close friend said, don't do it. Employees steal you blind. It's very hard to manage retail. You're opening up everything for customers and employees to manage with trust as your only tool. Sure you can setup many different methods of security but when dealing with retail you can't secure everything without making the customer angry. Remember when Best Buy used to check every receipt and bag before you were able to leave the store?

The New York Post had a bottom of the page title for the announcement made yesterday for a Florida man. No, I'm not linking to the NYP.

None of the major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) showed the speech. MSNBC did not show the speech. CNN showed the first 25 minutes. Fox showed 35 or so minutes.

Maybe this Florida man, this nonentity, will slowly disappear into the sunset.

Trying out a new camera. Click image for slideshow...

Thanks to RoaneViews, As of the week ending October 29, 2022, "Tennessee is epicenter of U.S. flu cases as flu vaccinations lag behind."

From News Channel 5, Nashville, "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Tennessee is among three epicenters of the flu virus across the country right now, experiencing the highest levels of flu virus spread in the country.

The other states are Alabama and South Carolina."

According to the CDC, as of November 5, 2022, the very high levels of flu activity has spread to nearly every state in the South.

"The U.S. is seeing the highest flu hospitalization rates in a decade for this time of year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday, with people ages 65 and up hit the hardest, followed by young children.

The rise comes as other respiratory viruses, including respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, are also spreading early and rapidly."

Tennesseans like to be on the top no matter how bad it is.

Note, there are flu vaccines that will help to prevent hospitalizations and potentially serious complications. You can get a flu vaccine at nearly every pharmacy and county health department.

Oh, and let's not forget masks! Masks are not just for Covid-19, they can help prevent colds and flu.

Today is the day Yassin’s Falafel House opens in Alcoa. We look forward to a visit. I'm sure residents of Alcoa and Blount County will welcome this addition.

In April, 2022, Greyhound moved the bus "station" from the long time Magnolia Avenue location to Cherry Street, which did not turn out to be a good location.

In October, 2022, Greyhound moved the bus "station" to 1607 North Sixth Avenue, Knoxville, TN, where there is the "Top Market and Deli".

Greyhound is going to have to move the bus "station" once again.

On Oct. 10, the city informed the owner of the Top Market at Grainger Avenue and North Sixth Avenue that it wasn’t zoned to allow for a commercial bus stop. Greyhound had been using it only a few days when the city issued notice.

"Knoxville Area Transit has evaluated the possibility of Greyhound leasing space at its downtown transit center, but that site does not have the capacity to accommodate both KAT and Greyhound when city buses are running most of the day."

Once again, "It is kind of sad how Greyhound can't get a decent depot in Knoxville. They say they can't accommodate Greyhound at the "John J. Duncan, Jr. Knoxville Station, state-of-the-art, LEED-certified transit center" that was only built 12 years ago in 2010." On top of that KAT has cut back on bus services. Not much growth planning.

Congratulations to Gloria Johnson for winning the Tennessee House of Representatives District 90 seat with nearly 58% of the votes.

Congratulations to Tanya Martin for being reelected to the City of Alcoa Commission with the highest number of votes (1,137) of the five people running for the three open seats.

Many thanks to Jason Martin, Mark Harmon, and the many other Democrats running for office as Democrats. In Tennessee it is an especially thankless task but something that needs to be done and appreciated.