Interest rates have dropped, but homeowners are not moving

• September 5, 2024

By Rukmini Callimachi | The New York Times

On an earnings call last month, the CEO of online real estate brokerage Redfin was asked whether he had a contingency plan if interest rates did not come down. His answer was maybe a bit too frank.

“Great question,” Glenn Kelman, the CEO, began on the Aug. 6 call, “Plan B is to drink our own urine or our competitors’ blood.”

A little more than a minute later, he corrected himself, saying that he shouldn’t have used those exact words. But to the analysts on the call, his point was clear: The housing economy is in trouble, and a major reason has been soaring interest rates, which hit a high-water mark of 7.79% last fall.

Since then, the 30-year mortgage rate has dipped into the low 7s, then the high 6s, and as of last week, it fell to 6.35%. The drop — coupled with a “likely” rate cut by the Federal Reserve at its upcoming meeting in September — should spell good news for the housing economy, but a major structural problem remains. Close to 60% of homeowners have outstanding mortgages that are locked in at rates below 4%, according to recently released data from Redfin.

If a homeowner sold and bought a new home in a comparable neighborhood, they would forego a low rate for another that is at least 2.5 percentage points higher. For many homeowners, that simply doesn’t make sense — a phenomenon that economists call the “golden handcuffs.”

Although the recent dip in the mortgage rate has been significant — over 1 point in less than a year — I interviewed seven economists, as well as finance and real estate experts, who say it’s not enough.

“It’s a drop in the bucket,” said Sam Khater, chief economist of Freddie Mac.

A Sisyphean battle

The recent decrease in rates is equivalent to a 2% reduction in the price of the home, according to Daniel McCue, a senior research associate at the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies.

The math is as follows: Take a house priced at the national median, which is around $430,000. The recent drop in interest rates would have shaved $66 off the monthly payment of around $3,435, McCue estimates. Had the interest rate not dropped, that $66 in savings is equivalent to buying the same house for around $424,000.

Although that may sound significant, McCue points out that this year alone, the price of homes has inched up over 4.5%, according to the Case-Shiller index. McCue estimates that rates would need to drop almost another half-point — down to around 6.09% — for homeowners to get back to the payments they would have had in the first month of this year.

He paints a picture of a Sisyphean battle: Rates have come down, reducing the cost of a monthly mortgage, but even as they fall, prices continue to rise, negating any savings.

“The bottom line,” said McCue, “It’s not enough to kind of make up for these rising prices.”

Sidelines

As many as 800,000 fewer moves occurred last year, a direct result of what economists call the “rate lock effect” or the “golden handcuffs,” according to a paper published last month by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Growing families have postponed moving to more spacious homes. Households hoping to trade up have held off. And a lot of people have been sitting on the sidelines, waiting and watching.

Yet, people are itching to pack their bags, according to a survey of more than 1,000 homeowners published Wednesday by Point, a home equity startup. About 72% of homeowners have a desire to move, up from 35% last year, the startup found.

Sean Adu-Gyamfi, 33, an associate broker with Coldwell Banker Warburg, sets aside an hour each day to send out text messages to the list of contacts and fence-sitters he has amassed in the months since interest rates hit a two-decade high.

His messages mostly went out into the ether. “Very little engagement,” he said.

Then, as rates tumbled to 6.49% from 6.73% in the first half of August, he began hearing back.

Among the people who responded was 31-year-old Christina Branche: “I was waiting for rates to drop for sure,” she said, describing how she was at work at Citigroup, where she is an in-house counsel, when she received an alert on her phone about the fall in rates.

When Adu-Gyamfi’s message popped up sometime after, she decided to resume her search — she had been looking for more than a year and had given up, frustrated at the double whammy of high interest rates and high home prices.

At her broker’s urging, she began looking in the upper reaches of the New York City borough of Manhattan, including a neighborhood not far from the Cloisters, an outpost of the Met, where a listing caught her eye: a two-bedroom co-op in the low $700,000s.

But Branche fits into a unique category: a first-time homebuyer. She has no former mortgage to give up, hence no “golden handcuffs.”

The part of the housing economy that has been hit the hardest is the so-called “resale” sector — homes that were previously owned and are sold again.

“That segment of the market is what has really evaporated,” said Lance Lambert, co-founder of news-and-research platform ResiClub and one of the analysts on the Redfin earnings call last month, who previously reported on Kelman’s colorful comments.

Existing home sales remain at the lowest they have been since 1995, but the country has almost 70 more million people today, according to data from the National Association of Realtors.

Five D’s

John Campbell, a research analyst who focuses on real estate-related stocks at investment research firm Stephens Inc., refers to the five “D’s” that drive the housing economy even in times like these, when the finances of homebuying are out of whack: diamonds (or marriage), diapers (or having children), divorce, downsizing and death. Major life events, he said, will eventually overwhelm a subset of families who are trying to wait it out.

“Like you’re not going to live in your house with your ex-wife, right, and her new husband,” Campbell said.

It was the last of the D’s — death — that finally made things come together for Branche: The co-op that she fell in love with was being offered at a competitive price because its former owner had died.

When she got off the subway in the Hudson Heights neighborhood, it felt familiar — and then she realized why: An avid runner, she had gone for long runs along the Hudson River ending at Fort Tryon Park, a slice of green that is walking distance to the co-op.

The apartment has a curved archway and a blue mosaic tile in the bathroom that reminded her of the bathhouses she had visited in Istanbul. She loved it immediately: “I’m not a grand person, but it makes you feel grand,” she said.

In August, her offer was accepted in a convergence of two forces — lower interest rates and one of the D’s.

Since the CEO of Redfin made his blunt comments, the company’s stock price has jumped from just over $7 to just under $10 — a far cry from its height of $96 a few years ago, but also significantly better than earlier this summer.

​ Orange County Register 

Bunk beds are the trendiest new amenity at luxury hotels

• September 5, 2024

Carlye Wisel | (TNS) Bloomberg News

The new trend at luxury hotels draws inspiration from the least luxurious accommodations on Earth: dorm rooms.

At a time when consumers are looking for better value and hotels are dealing with unprecedented demand, the bunk bed has emerged a win-win design solution.

“In markets with really high room rates and really high occupancies, adding a few more beds to a room means you can fit more people in it and charge more,” says Alastair Thomann, chief executive officer of the hip hostel brand Generator, where custom bunks now stretch three high in some locations. “Suddenly, a little villa which used to sleep two or three can sleep five because they’re doubling up. The space allows it. So that’s the game, really — that’s the economics behind it.”

But it isn’t just well-designed hostels that are thinking vertically: It’s luxury and lifestyle brands that range from JW Marriott to Montage and Moxy. And the demand isn’t coming from budget travelers but from parents who want a luxe vibe without paying for multiple rooms. In these cases, bunk beds provide a glorious and rare compromise. They allow families to room together without getting in one another’s way.

Thomann, who got in early on the bunk bed trend, says the uptick in demand has been so sharp — from hoteliers and consumers alike — that it’s driven up purchasing costs and created a supply chain crisis. As a result, he says he now spends 40% more per bunk bed than he did five years ago. And there are so many orders that factories can’t keep up the production, leaving hotels waiting two to three times longer for their orders. Thomann says it’s like witnessing the emergence of a new cottage industry. “The companies that manufacture for us are producing fantastic numbers,” he says. “Their sales guys are really happy.”

With luxury bedding and cozy accommodations, these posh hotel bunks are a far cry from your teenage backpacking days. Here are some high-capacity alternatives for your next family getaway.

Tourists, North Adams, Massachusetts

This Berkshires weekend escape — a 48-room converted motel whose owners include the former bassist of Wilco — is all about comfortable minimalism, with a white-and-blond-wood look that’s full of clean lines and rustic accents. For a particularly smart use of space, book into the Caravan rooms: They have a lofted wooden bunk tucked between the king bed and the wall. Sure, it’s meant as a sleeping nook, but the boxy design feels almost like a fort or play area for kids who need a break from all the hikes, art classes and activities on offer. The bunks are such a hit that when Tourists designed a new cluster of rental homes near the main hotel earlier this year, they included a five-bedroom option with its very own bunked room. Caravan rooms from $196 per night.

Moxy Hotels, New York, New York

“There is something about bunk beds that is inherently playful and camplike,” says Mitchell Hochberg, president of real estate group Lightstone and developer of Moxy Hotels in New York City. He thought the quad bunk accommodations at the 612-room Times Square property, which opened in 2017, would appeal to young travelers who’d also enjoy the nightly DJs at the rooftop bar. But the rooms, outfitted with two sets of twin bunks, have been a hit with a much wider demographic. “Much to our surprise, they’ve been embraced by a broader array of guests — everyone from families with small children to bachelorette parties,” he says.

The bunks were added as a riff on Yabu Pushelberg’s initial design for the hotel, which had an urban camping theme—think pegboard closets, retro phones and metal-framed tray tables with ceramic campfire mugs. They’ve proved so successful that the brand has added them to several other locations around the city, including the Moxy Hotels in the Lower East Side, Chelsea, the East Village and Williamsburg. “The rooms become a win-win to both travelers and hotel owners, notes Hochberg. “They afford a lower rate to the individual traveler [in cases where multiple friends are splitting the nightly rate] and, in the aggregate, a higher rate to the hotel.” Twin bunk rooms from $264.

Beaverbrook, Surrey Hills, UK

Just 20 miles outside London is this family-friendly manor with 470 acres in the scenic Surrey Hills. Since December 2023, it’s also been home to the Village, a collection of cottages inspired by literary and artistic giants, including C.S. Lewis and the Brontë sisters. Of the 21 rooms, a half-dozen are whimsically outfitted suites that feature bunks: pastel-colored beds adorned with sweet checkered blankets and seersucker privacy curtains.

The elevated design of the bunks proves that Beaverbrook is a place that knows how to play to fancy kids—or perhaps fancy parents. On any given week there are G-rated film screenings in a private cinema, mini bento box lunches in the dining room and a full slate of camplike weekend activities, such as survival skills training and beekeeping. That means parents get to explore the grounds on their own, whether that means enjoying an afternoon spritz at Sit Frank’s Bar, which is lined floor to ceiling in botanical paintings, or taking a jaunt to the checkerboard-tiled pool at the Coach House Spa. Village Suites from $1,512.

JW Marriott Orlando Grande Lakes, Orlando, Florida

Bunk suites have proved so popular among theme-park-bound families in central Florida that the JW Marriott Orlando Grande Lakes doubled its inventory just two years after first introducing them in 2022. “As we continue to see the rise of multigenerational travel, the need and desire for this style of room continues to grow,” says Michael Scioscia, the hotel’s general manager. Guests in the hotel’s two-bedroom suites — which have a king bed and twin bunks in one bedroom and a king bed in the other — get a dedicated hospitality team and VIP check-in experience. (Consider it a leg up on the chaos of Disney and Universal.) The newly renovated on-site water park is another perk: Its three waterslides, lazy river and aquatic ropes course rival the options at its theme-park neighbors. Two-bedroom suites from $1,741.

Montage Los Cabos, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

The two- and three-bedroom residences at this Baja Peninsula getaway take bunk beds to another level — a wider one. Here, three sets of bunks contain a total of six queen-size mattresses — no twins — which may be the plushest way to sleep a half-dozen cousins under one roof.

“It’s a great way to turn a room into a fun, larger sleepover experience,” says Azadeh Hawkins, global creative director for Montage International, which has also installed bunks at its Big Sky, Montana location. In Cabo, it takes an already kid-friendly resort over the edge. When larger broods aren’t splashing in the villa’s private plunge pool or running on the white sand beaches of Santa Marina Bay, their younger members can partake of activities such as paintball, mountain biking and archery. As for the adults, the hotel has a focus on mezcal, using it for “renewal” massages at the spa, putting it into Benedicts at breakfast and offering classes on mixing the spirit into cocktails. Three-bedroom residences with bunks from $4,370.

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©2024 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

​ Orange County Register 

USC retires Heisman winner Caleb Williams’ No. 13 jersey

• September 5, 2024

LOS ANGELES — The word immortality was always special to Caleb Williams, a word that represented a legacy forever left, cementing one’s name would circle through rooms they’d never walk into.

The goal to cement that for himself at USC was a national championship, as Williams expressed before the start to last season. And such lofty expectations led to the most trying season of his career, with losing stretches and playoff hopes quickly dashed and a bevy of character attacks on the former Heisman winner.

On Thursday, though, the now-Chicago Bears quarterback Williams became immortal in a wholly different light, as USC announced on Twitter the school had retired his No. 13 jersey with a star-studded video fitting for a quarterback who helped restore glamour to college football in Southern California.

Congratulations poured in from singer John Legend, whose song “Ordinary People” Williams performed – shakily – as part of a rookie ritual with the Bears displayed on the show “Hard Knocks;” Snoop Dogg, who dubbed him “nephew” while surrounded by an appropriate cloud of smoke; head coach Lincoln Riley, the man who brought Williams from Norman, Oklahoma to USC; and even fellow Trojan superstar JuJu Watkins.

Several of his former teammates, too, assembled on Howard Jones Field for well wishes.

“Caleb, one-three, 13, we just wanted to say congratulations on getting your jersey retired,” said Trojans quarterback Miller Moss, flanked by teammates like Jaylin Smith and Zachariah Branch.

Williams led USC to the brink of the College Football Playoff in 2022, captivating the collegiate football world in a Heisman campaign throwing for 4,537 yards and amassing 52 touchdowns. His junior season, before being drafted by the Bears, saw a slight step back in stats and team success, but still ranked among the most efficient quarterbacks in the nation.

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Along the way, he became perhaps the face of the name, image and likeness movement in college athletics, building a remarkable portfolio of sponsorships and commercial appearances, and was frequently praised for his foundation Caleb Cares’ work with a local Boys and Girls Club in Los Angeles.

USC revealed Thursday, too, that Williams’ No. 13 banner under the peristyle at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum will set next to renewed Heisman winner Reggie Bush’s No. 5, the former superstar running back seeing another step toward vindication after a long legal battle with the NCAA.

​ Orange County Register 

Brace yourself for more 100-degree days and red-flag warnings, Southern California

• September 5, 2024

Hot. Hotter. Not quite hottest, but really really hot.

That’s the forecast for the next week throughout Southern California, as temperatures soar past 100 degrees in many areas. A late-summer heat wave — expected to stretch into the weekend — pushed up temperatures anew on Thursday and raised fears of wildfires in some areas.

The days won’t likely reach “hottest ever” status because the heat wave “is coinciding exactly with the extreme heat wave in 2020, so while we may not break a lot of records with this event, it doesn’t diminish the impacts or lessen the precautions that need to be taken to stay safe,” said the National Weather Service. “Do not do any hiking or other physical activities except very early in the day and even then use extreme caution and stay well-hydrated.”

“All systems go for what will be a dangerously hot stretch of weather through the weekend, and in some areas continuing into next week,” according to NWS forecasters.

The NWS issued an excessive heat warning for much of Southern California’s inland areas through 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7. Coastal region have a heat advisory in place through 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6.

In the Inland Empire, temperatures are forecast to reach 112 degrees Friday, Sept. 12, in Riverside and San Bernardino, and 110 in Murrieta and Redlands, according to the National Weather Service.

An excessive heat warning took effect Tuesday morning in the western San Fernando Valley, and it will remain in force until 8 p.m. Saturday — one day longer than originally anticipated. Forecasters said the area could see temperatures reaching as high as 118 degrees.

An excessive heat warning was also in effect through 8 p.m. Saturday in the Santa Clarita Valley, the inland coastal areas stretching into downtown Los Angeles, the Santa Monica Mountains Recreational Area, Calabasas, eastern San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Mountains, San Gabriel Valley, the Antelope Valley and Antelope Valley foothills and the 5 and 14 Freeway corridors.

Forecasters said those areas could reach 110 degrees.

The Santa Ana Mountains and foothills and Orange County inland areas were also under excessive heat warnings, with temperatures predicted up to 105 degrees.

There won’t be much relief overnight either, low temperatures are forecast to drop into the high 70s.

Even coastal areas will not be immune from the heat. An excessive heat warning will take effect at 11 a.m. Thursday and remain in place until 8 p.m. Saturday for the Malibu Coast and Los Angeles County beaches, along with the Palos Verdes Hills, with some of those areas possibly reaching triple-digits, according to the NWS.

A less severe heat advisory will be in place for Orange County coastal areas from 11 a.m. Thursday through 8 p.m. Friday. Temperatures there are anticipated as high as 95 degrees.

The combination of high heat and anticipated low humidity prompted the NWS to issue a red flag warning of heightened fire danger for the Santa Monica Mountains Recreational Area, San Gabriel Mountains, Western Antelope Valley Foothills and the 5 and 14 Freeway corridors until 10 p.m. Saturday.

Forecasters said wind conditions will “limit the potential for classic red flag criteria,” however, “there is a history of large fires with similar weather conditions during this time of the year.”

According to the NWS, humidity levels could drop to between 8 and 15% in the red flag areas, with little recovery during overnight hours. Meanwhile, temperatures will be soaring well into the triple digits.

A cooling trend is expected to begin by Saturday, slowly lowering temperatures over the ensuing days, reaching normal levels by about Wednesday of next week, according to the NWS.

Due to the high heat, the South Coast Air Quality Management District issued an ozone advisory that will be in place until 8 p.m. Friday due to anticipated elevated smog levels because of the heat wave. The ozone level is expected to reach the unhealthy level or worse in the Santa Clarita Valley and portions of the San Gabriel Valley through Friday, according to the AQMD.

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Officials warned the public to drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun and check up on relatives and neighbors.

Residents were also urged to never leave children or pets in unattended vehicles, which can reach lethal temperatures in a matter of minutes.

The hot, dry weather will also create elevated fire conditions across the mountains, valleys and deserts throughout the week.

City News Service contributed to this report

​ Orange County Register 

Security technology credited with helping in Georgia school shooting

• September 5, 2024

Cassidy Alexander and Martha Dalton | (TNS) The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

ATLANTA — Staff at Apalachee High School have only worn badges for about a week that can quickly alert school officials or first responders about emergencies with a few clicks of a button.

On Wednesday, the badges were used by school workers and are being credited by law enforcement officials for helping authorities arrive quickly at Apalachee High to respond to the school shooting.

“All of our teachers are armed with a form of an ID called Centegix. And Centegix alarms us and alerts the law enforcement office after the buttons are pressed,” Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith told reporters during a news conference Wednesday night.

About 60% of schools statewide have contracts with Centegix, a company based in metro Atlanta. Centegix charges roughly $8,000 per school per year for its system, which includes the badges, other equipment and software.

The system has two types of alerts that are triggered based on the number of times a user pushes a button. General alerts for medical help, intervention with a student or other situations send a signal to the school district’s central office along with computers and smartphones connected to the system. Emergency alerts trigger flashing lights and a lockdown message that plays throughout the campus.

Apalachee High students reported seeing screens in their classrooms change to say “lockdown” before hearing gunshots on Wednesday.

The vast majority of the approximately 50,000 alerts issued nationwide in fall 2022 — upward of 98% — only went to school personnel. Most uses of the badges were related to student behavior or medical emergencies, the company previously told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Inadvertent presses of the badges accounted for roughly 10% of the alerts in Cherokee, Fayette and Henry counties. The company’s 2022 report does not include information about accidental alerts.

“When we talk now about the platform, we call the campuswide emergency program more of an insurance policy,” Centegix CEO Brent Cobb said. “It’s not going to be used very often — but when you need it, it’s by far in the industry the best solution.”

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©2024 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Visit at ajc.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

​ Orange County Register 

Are more Americans backing gaming? Bet on it

• September 5, 2024

David Danzis | Las Vegas Review-Journal (TNS)

LAS VEGAS — Las Vegas casinos are enjoying a sustained post-COVID boom, and new industry research might shed some light on why they are doing so well.

As states across the country continue to legalize and regulate new forms of gambling, such as mobile sports betting and lotteries, an increasing number of Americans are more frequently being exposed to and participating in something once confined to a handful of domestic locations. As a result, Americans’ attitudes toward gambling are shifting, according to polling research from the American Gaming Association.

The AGA — the industry’s Washington-based lobbying organization — found in a new poll that nearly 88% of respondents viewed gambling as acceptable for either themselves or others. Just under 60% of those surveyed said that gambling was personally acceptable, the highest percentage in the study’s history.

Majority has gambled in the past year

Fifty-five percent of the 2,000 U.S. adults polled for the AGA study said they had gambled in some form in the last year. Over a quarter (28%) said they had gambled at a brick-and-mortar casino in the past year, while 21% said they bet on sports.

Furthermore, Americans are convinced that regulated gambling has a positive social impact and that the gaming industry is operating responsibly, based on the research’s findings.

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Respondents overwhelmingly agreed with statements suggesting that the gambling industry creates “good paying” jobs (80%), produces jobs and investments here in the U.S. that “cannot be outsourced to other countries” (83%) and that physical casinos “bring entertainment and dining options to areas or regions that might not otherwise be able to attract them” (85%).

The AGA research found that 65% of people believe the gaming industry is committed to encouraging responsible gaming and combating problem gambling. That figure is up from less than 40% in 2018, which was the same year the Supreme Court ruled against the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act and states outside Nevada began offering legal sports wagering.

“These latest survey results highlight a consistent trend over the years: as gaming expands to new audiences, Americans increasingly see the benefits of a legal, regulated gaming marketplace that contributes to communities, prioritizes responsibility and provides unmatched entertainment,” said Joe Maloney, AGA senior vice president of strategic communications.

Record-setting gaming revenue

Casinos in the Silver State have financially benefited from Americans’ positive outlook on legalized gambling, particularly in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the 2020 industrywide shutdown, Las Vegas casinos reported three consecutive years of record-setting gaming revenue, beginning in 2021.

Las Vegas Strip casinos generated over $8.8 billion in 2023, easily outperforming Atlantic City ($2.86 billion), the country’s second-largest gaming market. Four of the top 20 domestic gaming markets were in Nevada, with the Boulder Strip ($964.7 million; No. 10), Sparks/Reno ($911 million; No. 13) and downtown Las Vegas ($811.3 million; No. 17) reporting all-time annual highs.

Kantar, a New York City-based marketing data and analytics firm, conducted an online survey between July 31 and Aug. 9 on behalf of the AGA. The research included a nationally representative sample of 2,000 registered voters aged 21 and over. The questions posed were related to responsible gaming and industry perceptions. The polling’s margin of error is +/- 2% and greater among subgroups.

©2024 Las Vegas Review-Journal. Visit reviewjournal.com.. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

​ Orange County Register 

Disability rights activist pushes government to let him participate in society

• September 5, 2024

Tony Leys | (TNS) KFF Health News

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Garret Frey refuses to be sidelined.

Frey has been paralyzed from the neck down for more than 37 of his 42 years. He has spent decades rejecting the government’s excuses when he and others with disabilities are denied the support they need to live in their own homes and to participate in society.

The Iowan won a landmark case before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1999, after his school district refused to pay for the care he needed to continue attending high school classes in Cedar Rapids. He recently scored another victory when a complaint he lodged with federal officials pressured Iowa to agree to increase Medicaid payments for caregivers to stay overnight with Frey so he won’t need to move into a nursing home.

“These are civil rights issues,” he said. “They are human rights issues.”

Frey makes his points a handful of words at a time. The cadence of his speech follows the rhythm of a mechanical ventilator, which pushes air into his lungs every few seconds through a tube in his throat.

His voice is soft, but he makes sure it’s heard.

Frey was paralyzed in an accident at age 4. He uses sip-and-puff controls to drive his wheelchair into courtrooms and through the halls of the Iowa Statehouse and the U.S. Capitol, where he demands policies that allow people with disabilities to live full lives.

“We’ll get there. It takes time, but I’m not going to just let things go or let things slide,” he said in an interview on the sunny patio of his Cedar Rapids home.

Frey emphasizes that anyone could find themselves needing assistance if they suffer an accident or illness that hampers their ability to care for themselves. He encourages other people with disabilities to cite his victories when seeking services they’re entitled to under federal law.

Activist Garret Frey confers with Nancy Baker Curtis, president of The Arc of Iowa, in July during a state board meeting of the disability-rights group in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (Tony Leys/KFF Health News/TNS)

He has served on numerous local, state, and national boards and committees focused on protecting disability rights. He composes emails and updates his website using voice commands and a sticker on his chin that can interact with his computer’s camera.

His activism has drawn admirers nationwide.

“People like Garret are critically important, because they are the trailblazers,” said Melanie Fontes Rainer, director of the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

In June, Fontes Rainer’s office announced an agreement with the state of Iowa to settle Frey’s complaint that Medicaid pay rates were insufficient for him to hire and retain overnight caregivers at his home.

Frey said he filed his federal complaint after being rebuffed by state officials. The resulting agreement increased his workers’ pay from about $15.50 to $22 an hour, the federal agency said. It also made other changes designed to allow Frey to continue living in the home he shares with his mother and brother.

Fontes Rainer said state officials cooperated with her office in settling Frey’s complaint. She said she hopes other people will take notice of the result and report problems they have in obtaining services that help them remain in their communities.

The federal administrator said she gets emotional when she sees how hard Frey and others fight for their rights. “You shouldn’t have to advocate for health care,” she said. “When I think about all that he’s been through, and that he continues to use his voice, I think it is so powerful.”

The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services declined to comment on Frey’s case. But spokesperson Alex Murphy said the department is “committed to ensuring access to high-quality behavioral health, disability, and aging services for all Iowans in their communities.”

This summer, Frey and his mother visited Washington, D.C., where they participated in a 25th anniversary celebration of the Supreme Court decision Olmstead v. L.C. In that landmark case, the justices declared that people with disabilities have a right to live in their own communities, instead of in an institution, if their needs can be reasonably accommodated.

Frey was reminded during the ceremony that others are still buoyed by his own Supreme Court case, Cedar Rapids Community School District v. Garret F.

In 1999, Garret Frey won a U.S. Supreme Court case in which the justices ruled that the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, school district had to provide him with the nursing care he needed to attend high school classes. That same year, the teenager was greeted at a Cedar Rapids event by Vice President Al Gore. (Frey family/TNS)

The 1999 case focused on the Frey family’s contention that the school district should pay for help Garret needed to safely use his ventilator so he could continue to attend classes. School district leaders said they shouldn’t have to pay for such assistance because it was health care.

The court, in a 7-2 decision, described Frey as “a friendly, creative, and intelligent young man” who had a right to services enabling him to attend school with his peers.

At the recent Washington ceremony, a California teenager approached Frey. “He said, ‘You’re Garret F? Thank you. Without you, I’d never have been able to go to school,’” recalled Frey’s mother, Charlene Frey.

The 13-year-old fan was James McLelland, who breathes through a tube in his throat because of a genetic issue that impedes his windpipe. His breathing apparatus needs constant monitoring and frequent cleaning by a nurse.

His mother, Jenny McLelland, said she shows printed copies of the Garret F. court decision to school officials when she requests that James be provided with a nurse so he can attend regular classes instead of being sent to a separate school.

Because of the Supreme Court precedent, “we didn’t have to litigate, we just had to educate,” she said in an interview.

James, who is entering eighth grade this school year, is thriving in classes and loves playing percussion in band, his mother said. “James has had the life that people like Garret had to fight to get,” she said. “These are the kinds of rights that are built brick by brick.”

Frey said he found inspiration from earlier advocates, including Katie Beckett, a fellow Cedar Rapids resident who, four decades ago, drew national attention to the plight of children with disabilities who were forced to live away from their families. Beckett, who was partly paralyzed by encephalitis as an infant, was kept in a hospital for about three years. At the time, federal rules prevented payment for Beckett to receive care in her home, even though it would have been much less expensive than hospital care.

In 1981, President Ronald Reagan denounced the situation as absurd and told administrators to find a way to let the young Iowan go home. The Republican president’s stance led to the creation of what are still known as Katie Beckett waivers, which make it easier for families to get Medicaid coverage for in-home care for children with disabilities.

Frey knew Beckett and her mother, Julie Beckett, and admired how their outspokenness prompted reforms. He also drew inspiration from meeting Tom Harkin, the longtime U.S. senator from Iowa who was the lead author of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act.

Harkin, a Democrat, is retired from the Senate but keeps tabs on disability issues. In an interview, he said he was glad to hear that Frey continues to push for the right to participate in society.

Harkin said he is disappointed when he sees government officials and business leaders fail to follow requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act. To maintain the law’s power, people should speak up when they’re denied services or accommodations, he said. “It’s important to have warriors like Garret and his mother and their supporters.”

Iowa’s agreement to increase Medicaid pay for Frey’s caregivers has helped him hire more overnight workers, but he still goes some nights without one. When no outside help is available, his mother handles his care. Although she can be paid, she no longer wants to play that role. “She should be able to just be my mom,” he said.

At a recent board meeting of The Arc of Iowa, a disability rights group, Frey told his friends he’s thinking about applying for a civil rights job with the federal government or running for public office.

“I’m ready to rumble,” he said.

___

(KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs of KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling and journalism.)

©2024 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

​ Orange County Register 

Don’t know what to do with your old clothes? California may require the fashion industry to take them back from you — for free

• September 5, 2024

In California, it’s relatively easy to recycle aluminum cans, newspapers or glass bottles. But for one of the most commonly used household products — clothes — options are few.

Every year, tons of unwanted shirts, jeans, dresses, jackets and other garments end up in landfills across the state. Almost none are recycled. Some are donated to thrift stores, but thrift stores often re-sell to companies that ship them to developing nations, such as Ghana and Chile, where they are piled in mountains as high as 50 feet in deserts and along rivers.

On Friday, state lawmakers sent a bill to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk that would require companies to set up the nation’s first mandatory take-back program for unwanted clothes.

If Newsom signs the bill, SB 707, as expected, companies that make clothing and other textiles sold in California, including drapes, sheets and towels, will be required to create a non-profit organization by 2026 that would set up hundreds of collection sites at thrift stores, begin mail-back programs and take other steps in all of California’s 58 counties to take back and recycle their products by 2030.

“All across America, there are closets full of clothing that never gets worn,” said Mark Murray, executive director of Californians Against Waste, an environmental group based in Sacramento that supports the bill. “It is surrounding us. Look around your house. It’s the biggest waste problem that we’re ignoring.”

The accumulation of clothing waste is being made worse by “fast fashion,” a trend in which clothing companies make low-cost clothes intended to be worn only a few times as fashions shift.

“We have no use for things that aren’t in fashion, or don’t fit, or are worn out, and they often have no place left to go but the landfill,” Murray said.

The numbers are daunting.

In 2021, roughly 1.2 million tons of clothes and textiles were disposed of in California, according to the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, known as CalRecycle. While 95% of them are reusable or recyclable, only 15% currently are.

The bill is the latest in a trend of California lawmakers requiring companies that make difficult-to-dispose-of products to take responsibility for recycling and reusing them, rather than leaving the cost and challenge up to local city and county governments.

One example: Under state law since 2018, consumers are charged $10.50 when they buy a new mattress in California. That money helps fund an industry-led program, the Mattress Recycling Council, that has opened 240 collection sites and now recycles 85% of old mattresses in the state.

Similar “extended producer responsibility” programs with paint and carpet have been put in place in recent years. Newsom signed a landmark law in 2022 that will require the packaging industry to take back plastic packaging in the next few years.

The idea is to shift the burden away from consumers and government — which have to pay to expand and build landfills — to industry, which profits from selling the products in the first place, said State Sen. Josh Newman, a Fullerton Democrat, who wrote the clothing recycling bill.

“If I produce something as a manufacturer, I have a responsibility to participate in the full life cycle of that product, with the goal of minimizing the impact on the environment,” Newman said.

Lawyer Paulin Silva shows clothes dumped in the desert, in La Pampa sector of Alto Hospicio, about 10 km east of the city of Iquique, Chile, on November 11, 2022. – Hills of clothes from the United States, Asia and Europe; used cars from Japan or Korea and thousands of tires contaminate extensive areas of the immense but vulnerable Atacama desert in northern Chile, which has become the planet’s “backyard”. (Photo by MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP via Getty Images)

France, center of the world’s fashion industry, already has a mandatory clothing recycling program. Other states around the U.S. are watching California to see if this one will work.

Industry groups at first opposed the bill, led by the California Chamber of Commerce and the American Apparel and Footwear Association, which represents more than 300 large clothing companies. After negotiating some changes with Newman, including allowing the industry group to do an assessment and work with CalRecycle to set recycling targets, they shifted to neutral.

“The biggest challenge is that apparel brands are not waste-management providers,” said Chelsea Murtha, the association’s senior director of sustainability. “This isn’t their area of expertise. Building out a system that doesn’t exist in a state this big is going to be a challenge. It’s ambitious. We are hopeful we can rise to the challenge.”

Murtha said the nonprofit group the industry is required to set up will likely operate in or alongside thrift stores in big counties and set up collection bins in rural counties. The costs will be passed on to consumers in the price of the clothing, she said, adding that it’s too early to provide an estimate.

Newman said he expected the law will only add “pennies” to the cost of new clothing.

Murtha said clothes in good condition will probably be resold or recycled. Damaged or worn garments can be recycled fairly easily if they are made of wool, cotton or other natural fibers. The fibers can be reused and spun into new fabrics.

Some old clothes will be shredded and used to stuff pillows or provide insulation for other products, she said. Garments made of mixed fabrics, such as polyester and spandex, can be broken down by a chemical process in which the basic materials are recycled.

The industry has not been pleased to see many old clothes ending up in landfills or waste piles in African and South America, Murtha added.

“That’s not something that any designer or sustainability team at an apparel brand wants,” she said.

​ Orange County Register