The post Apples to Zucchini Cooking School Moves to New Home at First Presbyterian Church of Santa Barbara appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

Por Bryan Mena, CNN

El ánimo económico de Estados Unidos se deterioró en enero hasta su nivel más bajo en más de una década, debido a que los consumidores se mostraron preocupados por las tensiones geopolíticas, la asequibilidad y la incesante guerra comercial del presidente Donald Trump.

El Índice de Confianza del Consumidor de The Conference Board para enero, publicado el martes, cayó 9,7 puntos hasta una lectura de 84,5, el nivel más bajo desde 2014, superando los mínimos del año pasado cuando Trump impuso fuertes aranceles y los peores momentos de la recesión por la pandemia en 2020.

El reporte de enero fue mucho menor que la proyección de 91,1 que los economistas estimaron en una encuesta de la firma de datos FactSet.

Los índices de la encuesta sobre cómo se sienten los estadounidenses respecto a las condiciones económicas actuales y sus expectativas para el futuro de la economía de EE.UU. también cayeron bruscamente este mes.

“Los cinco componentes del Índice se deterioraron, llevando el Índice general a su nivel más bajo desde mayo de 2014 (82,2), superando los mínimos de la pandemia de covid-19”, dijo Dana Peterson, economista jefe de The Conference Board, en un comunicado.
“Las referencias a los precios y la inflación, los precios del petróleo y el gas, y los precios de los alimentos y comestibles se mantuvieron elevadas”.

“Las menciones a los aranceles y el comercio, la política y el mercado laboral también aumentaron en enero, y las referencias a la salud/seguros y la guerra subieron ligeramente”, agregó.

En el último mes, el Gobierno de Trump capturó al exlíder de Venezuela; amenazó con imponer fuertes aranceles a Canadá y países europeos; declaró su intención de comprar Groenlandia; y continuó ejerciendo presión sobre la Reserva Federal, que es políticamente independiente.

Los consumidores estadounidenses también siguen frustrados por el mayor costo de vida en el país en estos días, especialmente con empleadores contratando a un ritmo débil y personas aseguradas a través de la Ley de Atención Asequible viendo cómo sus primas se disparan.

“Los estadounidenses están frustrados por el aumento de precios de los comestibles y la electricidad, y temen la recesión de contrataciones que está ocurriendo en este momento”, dijo Heather Long, economista jefe de Navy Federal Credit Union, en un comentario emitido el martes. “La economía en forma de K es excelente para el 20 % superior, pero muchos estadounidenses de clase media y con ingresos moderados apenas pueden mantenerse al día”.

En los últimos años, el pesimismo entre los estadounidenses no se ha traducido en un menor gasto, lo que podría seguir siendo el caso esta vez, especialmente con los contribuyentes esperando recibir reembolsos de impuestos más grandes.

En el verano de 2022, cuando la inflación alcanzó su nivel más alto en cuatro décadas y la confianza del consumidor se desplomó, los estadounidenses continuaron gastando en los meses siguientes. Lo mismo ocurrió el año pasado, cuando los aranceles de Trump hicieron que los estadounidenses se desilusionaran con la economía.

“Aunque el gasto se mantuvo durante las fiestas, la última caída en las lecturas de la encuesta es una señal de advertencia de una actividad más débil en el primer trimestre de 2026”, comentó Ben Ayers, economista senior de Nationwide, en una nota para analistas el martes. “Aun así, esperamos que los reembolsos de impuestos más grandes y estímulos fiscales adicionales den un impulso a muchos hogares preocupados por un mercado laboral debilitado y el aumento de precios”.

La temporada de presentación de impuestos ha comenzado oficialmente y el Departamento del Tesoro proyecta que los reembolsos de impuestos aumentarán en un promedio de US$ 1.000 este año por hogar.

Pero se espera que el

By Brian Stelter, CNN

(CNN) — TikTok’s new US business, led by a group of mainly American investors approved by President Donald Trump, is off to an inauspicious start.

The wildly popular TikTok app has been on the fritz for several days. While other social media sites have been full of speculation that the Trump-aligned joint venture is suppressing criticism, TikTok insists otherwise, and says the trouble stemmed from a power outage at a data center.

TikTok said Tuesday morning that it has made “significant progress” restoring service on the platform, but users “may still have some technical issues, including when posting new content.”

Some Democratic politicians are seizing on the public’s suspicions about political foul play.

“It’s time to investigate,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday night. “I am launching a review into whether TikTok is violating state law by censoring Trump-critical content.”

Newsom’s press office said it had “received reports — and independently confirmed instances — of suppressed content critical of President Trump.” Thus, the press office said, the governor wants state attorney general Rob Bonta “to determine whether it violates California law.”

Other Democratic office holders have also shared messages about the matter, seeing it as an opportunity to raise awareness about the new ownership structure.

In a deal required by Congress and brokered by Trump, a consortium of investors took control of TikTok’s US user data and most of its US operations last week. Key investors like Oracle, led by Larry Ellison, are close Trump allies.

Oracle and the other non-Chinese investors own about 80% of the new entity, with Beijing-based ByteDance keeping the rest.

Critics of the new arrangement have questioned whether the new investors will give TikTok a Trumpian makeover and manipulate the app to assist Trump and other Republicans in future elections.

Elon Musk made similar changes to Twitter when he acquired the social media platform and renamed it X.

What went wrong…

Some users assumed similar changes were afoot over the weekend. Huge celebrities like Billie Eilish and ordinary TikTok users said their videos criticizing Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts were stalled in “review” or were receiving shockingly few views.

Some of the videos were specifically about the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, which stoked widespread outrage and condemnation all across social media sites.

Over the weekend, Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy amplified the mostly left-leaning concerns about perceived interference, writing on X, “I know it’s hard to track all the threats to democracy out there right now, but this is at the top of the list.”

TikTok eventually responded to the complaints and blamed a data center power outage and “cascading systems failure” that resulted.

In an updated statement on Tuesday morning, the company said, “We’re committed to bringing TikTok back to its full capacity as soon as possible. We’ll continue to provide updates. Thanks for your patience.”

Other TikTok users have said the app won’t allow them to send the word “Epstein” in their direct messages. Enough people complained about that issue that a US TikTok representative told NPR, “We don’t have rules against sharing the name ‘Epstein’ in direct messages and are investigating why some users are experiencing issues.”

In some ways, the current TikTok controversy is the inverse of the

By Chris Isidore, CNN

(CNN) — Boeing just announced the end of years of deep financial losses, a turnaround for a company after nearly seven years of bad news.

The US aircraft maker reported $8.2 billion in net profit in the fourth quarter, its first profitable period in more than three years thanks to the sale of a unit that made airline software. This is only Boeing’s third quarterly profit since early 2019, which was the beginning of a 20-month grounding of its 737 Max planes following two fatal crashes that killed 346 people. The pause contributed to $47 billion in total core operating losses for Boeing.

But this profitable quarter is not a one-off. Analysts forecast the company will make money going forward as it ramps up production. Over the past year, the Federal Aviation Administration has eased up 737 Max production caps that had been in place due to safety concerns. Boeing also recently outpaced rival Airbus in new plane orders for the first time since 2018, a turning point for a company that, despite problems, is a key part of the US economy.

CEO Kelly Ortberg said in a statement Tuesday that the company is setting up momentum to fully restore “Boeing to the iconic company we all know it can be.”

Boeing is the United States’ largest exporter, one of only two suppliers of full-size jets to both the US and global airline industries and a key US military contractor. Boeing has 10,000 suppliers across 50 states and estimates its annual contribution to America’s economy at $79 billion, supporting 1.6 million jobs directly and indirectly.

But Boeing has been in a slump for years, largely due to problems of its own making.

First, its profit took a hit from the 737 Max grounding, then the pandemic slowed sales. Things took a turn for the worse two years ago when a door plug blew off an Alaska Air 737 Max shortly after take-off, renewing questions about the safety of its manufacturing and put federal restrictions on the pace of production.

“They still have work to do, but they have made very strong progress,” said Richard Aboulafia, managing director of AeroDynamic Advisory, an industry consultant.

For example, while Boeing is outpacing Airbus in orders, it’s trailing in deliveries of completed jets. Deliveries are more important than new orders, financially, since payment comes when the planes are delivered.

Boeing also still needs approval from the FAA to certify two new versions of the 737 Max and its next widebody jet, the 777X, all of which are years behind schedule. And it faces a possible strike this fall at its Washington state factories from the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, which could shutter production.

Boeing also needs to break through on sales to airlines in China, a crucial market.

Orders there ground to a near halt in 2017 due to rising trade tensions between the United States and China during President Donald Trump’s first term. There have been reports a massive sale to China could be announced soon but has not yet materialized.

“There’s two kinds of problems – problems of their own making, and all that other stuff,” Aboulafia said.

He said Boeing has made progress on the first part, but when it comes to things like Chinese trade relations and certification of the new jets, “who knows? There’s just so much they

By Kaanita Iyer, CNN

(CNN) — Philip Glass has withdrawn his symphony based on Abraham Lincoln from the Kennedy Center, with the award-winning composer writing to the board of the arts institution that its values conflict with the work.

“Symphony No. 15 is a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, and the values of the Kennedy Center today are in direct conflict with the message of the Symphony,” Glass wrote in the letter, which was shared with CNN. “Therefore, I feel an obligation to withdraw this Symphony premiere from the Kennedy Center under its current leadership.”

The world premiere of Symphony No. 15 was scheduled at the Kennedy Center for June 12 and 13. The symphony was co-commissioned by the Kennedy Center and the National Symphony Orchestra, which was set to perform the piece, according to the event page on the center’s website.

CNN has reached out to the Kennedy Center for comment.

Glass’s withdrawal follows a string of cancellations at the Kennedy Center after the board moved to change the arts institution’s name to recognize President Donald Trump. The facility has been renamed to “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”

Some artists who have pulled out of their performances at the center have directly pointed to the name change as the reason behind the cancellation.

Kristy Lee, a folk singer-songwriter, who last month canceled her January 14 show, said in a social media post, “When American history starts getting treated like something you can ban, erase, rename, or rebrand for somebody else’s ego, I can’t stand on that stage and sleep right at night.”

Since returning to the White House, Trump has dramatically reshaped the performing arts center, gutting the board of trustees and ousting its chairman. Soon after, the president was elected chair of the center.

Glass was among the Kennedy Center honorees recognized in 2018. Trump — then serving his first term — skipped the event.

But the president was center stage at the 2025 awards show, serving as its host as musicians George Strait, Gloria Gaynor and the band KISS were honored, along with actors Sylvester Stallone and Michael Crawford. He previously boasted that he personally rejected some honorees who he felt were too “woke.”

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Piper Hudspeth Blackburn and Aleena Fayaz contributed to this report.

The post Philip Glass withdraws his ‘Lincoln’ symphony from the Kennedy Center, citing conflicting values appeared first on Read more