NEW YORK (AP) — The video was seen millions of times across social media but some viewers were suspicious: It featured a young Black woman who claimed Vice President Kamala Harris left her paralyzed in a hit-and-run accident in San Francisco 13 years ago.

In an emotional retelling from a wheelchair, the alleged victim said she “cannot remain silent anymore” and lamented that her childhood had “ended too soon.”

Immediately after the video was posted on Sept. 2, social media users pointed out reasons to be wary. The purported news channel it came from, San Francisco’s KBSF-TV, didn’t exist. A website for the channel set up just a week earlier contained plagiarized articles from real news outlets. The woman’s X-ray images shown in the video were taken from online medical journals. And the video and the text story on the website spelled the alleged victim’s name differently.

The caution was warranted, according to a new Microsoft threat intelligence report, which confirms the fabricated tale was disinformation from a Russia-linked troll farm.

The tech giant’s report released Tuesday details how Kremlin-aligned actors that at first struggled to adapt to President Joe Biden dropping out of the race have now gone full throttle in their covert influence efforts against Harris and Democrats.

It also explains how Russian intelligence actors are collaborating with pro-Russian cyber “hacktivists” to boost allegedly hacked-and-leaked materials, a strategy the company notes could be weaponized to undermine U.S. confidence in November’s election outcome.

The findings reveal how even through dramatic changes in the political landscape, groups linked to America’s foreign adversaries have redoubled their commitment to sway U.S. political opinion as the election nears, sometimes through deeply manipulative means. They also provide further insight into how Russia’s efforts to fight pro-Ukrainian policy in the U.S. are translating into escalating attacks on the Democratic presidential ticket.

The report builds on previous concerns the U.S. has had about Russian interference in the upcoming election. Earlier this month, the Biden administration seized Kremlin-run websites and charged two Russian state media employees in an alleged scheme to secretly fund and influence a network of right-wing influencers.

Russia-linked actors have spent several months seeking to manipulate American perspectives with covert postings, but until this point, their efforts saw little traction. Notably, some of the recent examples cited in the Microsoft report received significant social media engagement from unwitting Americans who shared the fake stories with outrage.

“As the election approaches, people get more heated,” Clint Watts, general manager of the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center said in an interview. “People tend to take in information from sources they don’t really know or wouldn’t even know to evaluate.”

Microsoft explained that the video blaming Harris for a fake hit-and-run incident came from a Russian-aligned influence network it calls Storm-1516, which other researchers refer to as CopyCop. The video, whose main character is played by an actor, is typical of the group’s efforts to react to current events with authentic-seeming “whistleblower” accounts that may seem like juicy unreported news to U.S. voters, the company said.

The report revealed a second video disseminated by the group, which purported to show two Black men beating up a bloodied white woman at a rally for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. The video racked up thousands of shares on the social platform X and elicited comments like, “This is the kind of stuff to start civil wars.”

Microsoft’s report also pointed to another Russian influence actor it calls Storm-1679 that has recently pivoted from posting about the French election and the Paris Olympics to posting about Harris. Earlier this month, the group posted a manipulated video depicting a Times Square billboard that linked Harris to gender-affirming surgeries.

The content highlighted in the report doesn’t appear to use generative artificial intelligence tools. It instead uses actors and more old-school editing techniques.

Watts said Microsoft has been tracking the use of AI by nation states for more than a year and while foreign actors tried AI initially, many have gone back to basics as they’ve realized AI was “probably more time-consuming and not more effective.”

Asked about Russia’s motivation, Watts said the Russia-aligned groups Microsoft tracks may not necessarily support particular candidates, but they are motivated to undermine anyone who “is supporting Ukraine in their policy.”

Harris has vowed to continue supporting America’s ally Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion if elected president. Trump has demurred when asked about whether he wants Ukraine to win the war, saying in the recent presidential debate, “ I want the war to stop.”

At a forum in early September, Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to suggest jokingly that he would support Vice President Kamala Harris in the upcoming U.S. election. Intelligence officials have said Moscow prefers Trump.

The Harris campaign declined to comment. The Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.

Earlier this summer, Microsoft found that Iranian groups have also been laying the groundwork to stoke division in the election by creating fake news sites, impersonating activists and targeting a presidential campaign with an email phishing attack.

U.S. intelligence officials are preparing criminal charges in connection with that attack, which targeted the Trump campaign, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

Microsoft’s new report also touches on how a Chinese-linked influence actor has used short-form video to criticize Biden and Harris and to create anti-Trump content, suggesting it doesn’t appear interested in supporting a particular candidate.

Instead, the company said, the China-aligned group’s apparent goal is to “seed doubt and confusion among American voters ahead of the 2024 presidential election.”

___

The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

For 13 years, the 3% annual salary boost that Ricardo M. could count on every October felt like a beacon of stability and a nod that his loyalty as a plumbing supply salesman was being rewarded.

But in the aftermath of a post-pandemic inflation surge, those raises have since lost their luster. His grocery bills have doubled. The cost of filling up his Toyota 4Runner has jumped to $70 a week, and he’s had to dip into his savings to avoid taking on credit card debt. All the while, his pay increases have stayed the same.

“Inflation has taken it all,” says Ricardo, a California resident who requested that his last name be abbreviated, so he could speak freely about his employment situation. “I know costs are going up everywhere, and I understand that a business has to make money and stay profitable. But at the same time, don’t forget about the people who are bringing you business. I don’t make enough for the sales that I generate.”

Economists have celebrated inflation’s rapid dissent, and perhaps even more, the relatively little pain it’s caused the U.S. job market. For over a year now, wages have been rising faster than inflation as prices slow and the job market holds up, giving Americans an opportunity to recover the buying power that they lost after ultralow interest rates, supply shortages and a stimulus check-fueled spending boom combined to form the worst inflation crisis in 40 years.

But the race isn’t over yet. The past 16 months of “real” wage growth — as economists have called it — haven’t been enough to offset the 25 months where prices were rising disproportionately faster than Americans’ paychecks, according to a new analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data from Bankrate.

Bankrate’s 2024 Wage To Inflation Index

Since the beginning of the post-pandemic inflation surge in Jan. 1, 2021, prices have risen 20.0%, compared with a 17.4% increase in wages over the same period, Bankrate’s second-annual Wage To Inflation Index found.

Inflation feels akin to taking a pay cut, helping explain why Americans have been so downtrodden about the U.S. economy. Despite a half-century low unemployment rate at the time, the majority (59%) of Americans said in a Bankrate poll from December 2023 that they felt like the U.S. economy was in a recession.

Americans could even take these frustrations to the voting booth come November. Most adults (89%) say the economy will be an important factor in determining their vote, with two-thirds (62%) calling it very important, according to Bankrate’s Biden and Americans’ Personal Finances Survey from November 2023.

To be sure, some ground has already been recovered. Thanks to over a year of “real” wage growth, the current gap between wage growth and inflation (2.6 percentage points) marks major improvement from when it was at its widest in the summer of 2022 (3.9 points).

Yet, wages have recently lost some momentum. In Bankrate’s 2023 index, Americans’ paychecks were on track to fully recover from post-pandemic inflation by the fourth quarter of this year. Now, Americans’ paychecks are on pace to bounce back by the end of the second quarter of 2025, updates to Bankrate’s index for 2024 found.

The job market has cooled more than expected this year

Wages are taking longer to recover amid a faster-than-expected cooldown in the job market, which has already stripped workers of some of their bargaining power to ask for higher pay.

Between the second quarter of 2023 and 2024, prices rose 3.194%, nearly matching the 3.187% expected increase from last year’s index. Wages, however, rose 4.03% over the same period, after previously being on pace to grow 4.6%.

The labor market functions much like any other open market, economists say. Wage growth is often a reflection of who has the upper hand: the employer or the employee.

When there are too many job openings and not enough workers, employers compete for talent by lifting pay or offering big bonuses. But too few jobs for the number of people seeking work might make Americans hesitant to leave their current positions, wary about how greener other pastures might actually be in a more competitive job market.

If they’ve been on the hunt for a while, they might be inclined to settle for a job that pays less. And if they’re so inclined to negotiate for higher pay, they might not ask for as much.

“We’re seeing wage growth cool because demand is falling,” says Sam Kuhn, labor economist at Appcast, a recruiting platform. “In 2022, there were serious labor shortages. As that gap has closed, there’s just less incentive to give out higher wages or yearly raises.”

Illustrating the shift, there’s now just one job opening per every unemployed worker, the smallest ratio since April 2018, Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows. Employers have created an average 96,000 jobs in the private sector over the past three months, a massive slowdown from a three-month moving average of 203,000 in March. The hiring rate, meanwhile, has plunged to levels that are even lower than they were before the pandemic. Unemployment is now the highest since before the pandemic.

ADP’s Chief Economist Nela Richardson has watched wage growth for job changers dip from a high of 16.4% in June 2022 to the most recent level of 7.3%, according to data that her firm collects. Americans who’ve stayed at their current positions, meanwhile, saw their pay increase 4.8% for the second month in a row, ADP data also shows. In the leisure and hospitality sector, Richardson says she’s starting to notice that workers are accepting new positions for less pay than they were making previously — echoing trends from before the pandemic and painting a picture of a slowing labor market.

“There’s a lot of reasons workers switch jobs that aren’t tied primarily to compensation,” she adds. “It could be a better shift, a better team, a better location.”

What happens next for the U.S. job market can have grave implications for Americans’ prospects of catching up. In June, economists projected that job growth over the next year would average 115,000 jobs a month, Bankrate’s quarterly Economic Indicator Survey found. That would represent an even sharper slowdown in labor demand, with job growth currently averaging 197,000 over the past 12 months.

A cooling economy means less inflation, but slower wage growth, too, setting Americans back in their game of catch up. Richardson says a valid concern is whether their wages will recover at all.

“Will workers make up the ground lost when real wages weren’t growing with inflation? From what I see in key sectors, the answer is not likely,” Richardson says. “It’s really about can the wage level remain above current inflation, to get a better picture for workers.”

Not all workers have lost ground to inflation

Some workers are even further ahead — or behind — in their race against inflation, depending on the specific industry in which they work.

Bankrate’s analysis found that pay has risen faster than inflation in two industries: leisure and hospitality (23.7%) and accommodation and food services (23.3%), compared with a 20% rise in prices from the start of 2021 to the end of June. Paychecks are furthest behind in education (13.6%), construction (14.1%) and financial activities (14.3%) during that same timeframe.

Meanwhile, after increasing at a faster rate than inflation in Bankrate’s 2023 Wage to Inflation Index, pay in the retail sector (up 19.4% since the beginning of 2021) has since fallen behind.

The industries where wage growth has boomed correspond with where labor demand was the strongest. At one point, a record 11.1% of jobs within the accommodation and food services sector and 10.9% of positions within leisure and hospitality were vacant, the most of any other industry. On the flip side, job opening rates in the industries with the slowest wage growth peaked at much lower levels, with construction at 5.4% and education hitting 4%, according to Bankrate’s analysis.

That’s not to say Americans in inflation-beating industries are feeling particularly better off. The average hourly earnings of workers in the financial activities sector ($45.73), for example, are more than two times as high as those in leisure and hospitality ($22.18).

The more money workers make, the better positioned they are to absorb higher prices in their budgets. Low-income households tend to spend more money on essentials that they can’t cut back on, whereas upper-income Americans have more options to free up cash, such as trimming discretionary spending or their savings contributions.

Workers making less than $50,000 a year (at 43%) were nearly twice as likely as those who earn $100,000 or more a year (24%) to feel that they’re living paycheck to paycheck, according to a Bankrate survey from July.

Americans working jobs in retail, leisure and hospitality and food services were also more likely to have lost their jobs during the pandemic, making it hard to say whether they’re truly better off today, says Elise Gould, senior economist at the independent Economic Policy Institute.

“Even if their wages have risen, it has been very hard for people to make ends meet on the kinds of wages that our labor market has been delivering over the last 50 years,” Gould says. “But the fact that people are struggling doesn’t mean that they didn’t experience real wage growth. Both things can be true.”

‘I don’t know if it’ll get as good as it was’

Robert Santy, a psychotherapist based in Connecticut, has taken on 20 extra clients in the four years since the pandemic. He says the decision was equal parts personal necessity and societal urgency.

For starters, every corner of Santy’s budget has grown more expensive. Car insurance for his family of five is costing him $10,000 a year. His monthly electric bills often range between $600-$800. His cell phone bill jumped by $40 a month, and even his grocery costs can easily reach $1,000 a week. He’s taken on longer hours simply to replace some of his lost income.

“It’s nickel and dime, nickel and dime, and everyone wants a piece of the pie,” he says. “My pie keeps getting smaller and smaller and smaller.”

But whether it’s lingering stress from the pandemic or financial anxieties surrounding inflation and recession fears, Santy says he’s been in no need for clientele over the past four years, either. He often takes calls from patients after hours and goes to his office on weekends to catch up on paperwork. He estimates that he gets about four cold calls a week from new, inquiring clients, whom he has to turn away because he doesn’t have enough room for them in his schedule.

“People are highly stressed, highly anxious, struggling financially. That leads to family squabbles, relationship issues,” he says. “You get the cable company, the electric company, the cell phone company, your mortgage goes up, your taxes go up. Any one thing might be manageable, but when it’s death by a thousand needles, that just wears on people over time.”

Contributing to his rising expenditures, his two youngest children are in college, while his oldest daughter is living at home on an extended job hunt after graduating two years ago. Him and his wife are now earning nearly $300,000 a year as a household, but they feel like they had an easier time getting by when they were in their early 20s, earning just $22,000 a year. Still feeling surprised by bills or unexpected expenses, he’s had to temporarily halt his retirement contributions.

“I’m certainly in better shape financially than I’ve ever been in my life, but I’m not where I thought I was going to be or where I think I should be,” Santy says. “It’ll get better, but I don’t know if it’ll get as good as it was. I realize everything goes up and up and up, but did it have to go up so much so quickly when I didn’t have time to adjust? It felt like it just happened overnight.”

Even if wages recover, inflation may have already damaged the American psyche

Americans look at inflation differently than economists. Analysts track annual rates of change in inflation to determine whether the U.S. economy is overheating, while the typical American consumer focuses on how much the items they see everyday have risen in cost.

Just 6% of the nearly 400 items the Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks are cheaper today than before the pandemic, a Bankrate analysis of inflation data shows. Key essentials that consumers regularly buy — like gasoline, groceries, utilities, rent and more — have risen at a faster rate than overall inflation. Car insurance, meanwhile, is up almost 50% since February 2020.

Inflation can have a profound effect on consumer psychology. Nearly half of adults (47%) say money has a negative impact on their mental health at least occasionally, Bankrate’s Money and Mental Health Survey from May 2024 found. Almost two-thirds of them (65%) cited rising prices as a reason.

“It will require that workers continue to enjoy some restoration of buying power through real wage gains,” Hamrick says, referring to when Americans could start to feel better. “To the extent we see falling prices for goods within a fairly normal, not recessionary, economic environment, that would be helpful.”

Ricardo is already gearing up for his annual review next month. He’s preparing to make a case for why he deserves a bigger raise than usual, citing his sales numbers and translating how it adds to his company’s bottom line. He hopes to use the money to visit his five grandchildren, who live across the country in both Florida and Seattle.

But even if he doesn’t get the money he’s hoping for, he says he’s unlikely to quit. He hopes to retire within the next few years and is afraid of taking a pay cut by starting over somewhere else.

“I’m waiting for them to one day tell me, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll take care of you.’ That’s what you want to hear after 16 years,” he says. “Hopefully, I don’t get disappointed with what I’m going to hear.”

Visit Bankrate online at bankrate.com.

©2024 Bankrate.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

It showcases 15 eateries, including La Poblanita Food Truck, Sabor Latino Cuban & Peruvian Cuisine and La Parrilla Mexican Grill. Explore a different spot each day and get discounts.  Guapo’s Mexican Grill is offering 30% off its menu, excluding alcohol. It has entrees such as ramen birria (Mexican beef stew), ostiones montados (raw oysters topped with ceviche) and enchiladas poblanas (chicken mole enchiladas).

El Rey Tequila has 10% off its menu, excluding alcohol. According to its website, street tacos, cheese dip and quesadillas are the most popular dishes.

Receive 20% off the menu at Peruvian Charcoal Chicken and Wings. The chicken comes in quarters, halves and whole. Pair it with plantains, yucca, pinto beans and other side dishes.

There’s another opportunity for people to score big. Enter a contest to win a gift card from participating restaurants. The VisitNewportNews site has the details, including on its social media pages.

Details and restaurants, bit.ly/HHRestaurantWeek

Donald Trump headlined an event billed as the unveiling of a crypto platform promoted by the Republican nominee and his sons, putting the spotlight on a niche digital-asset sector with a history of controversy.

The project, World Liberty Financial, will be part of the decentralized finance segment of digital assets and is supposed to help with financial security and being able to transact freely, Trump’s son Donald Jr. said in an X Spaces livestream on Monday.

“It’s a real problem that needed to be addressed, and honestly I think this is the way,” Donald Jr. said after comments from his father. The launch came a day after the former president emerged unscathed from a second apparent assassination attempt, the latest shock to roil the presidential contest.

The Republican nominee has pivoted to courting the digital-asset sector in search of donations and votes amid a tight race for the White House, even vowing to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet.” His stance is an about-face given that he previously denounced Bitcoin as a “scam.”

On the goal of becoming the key crypto hub, Donald Trump said: “If we don’t do it, China is going to do it. China is doing it anyway. But if we don’t do it, we’re not going to be the biggest, and we have to be the biggest and the best.”

Trump’s sons Eric and Donald Jr. began promoting World Liberty Financial on X and Telegram in recent weeks. Decentralized finance — or DeFi — is an arcane crypto sector, where people trade, lend and borrow digital assets peer-to-peer using automated software.

“The effort is consistent with Trump’s pro-crypto policy stance,” said Campbell Harvey, a finance professor at Duke University. “It’s one thing to say you are pro-crypto, and other to launch a company in the space.”

The former president’s profile may make many more people aware of DeFi, proponents of which often claim gains in efficiency resulting from cutting out traditional intermediaries like banks. Critics argue the sector rests in a regulatory gray zone and is prone to hacks, a bugbear for crypto as a whole.

___

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

Owner Zakia Thom, a Morocco native, added the “spice” in honor of her dad who had a restaurant and spice store in Casablanca. She moved here in 2021 from New York where she worked as a caterer. She fell in love with the Italian frozen dessert after taking bakery and gelato training.

I’m glad she did. The quaint shop has about 30 flavors listed on its website such as chocolate chili, apple cinnamon and strawberry. Those marked with a logo indicate what’s available for the day. Thom makes sure to have at least one sugar-free and dairy-free option.

On my visit, I sampled most of the 12 available flavors. They were fantastic, except for one: Mango chili margarita sorbet. The fruit teleported me to a tropical island, lying on a hammock. Then came the spice to snatch my soul back to reality. Hot stuff. It could work by mixing another flavor.

Three, however, stood out on their own. The basil mojito sorbet had a cool herbaceousness that I wanted to re-create as a drink. It stayed on my mind like a new love interest.

The smooth goat cheese with a blueberry swirl gelato made me feel the same way. It had a delicate tang and sweetness in every bite. In the words of “J.J.” on the ’70s sitcom “Good Times:” Dy-no-mite!

The pistachio and pecan topped with stracciatella — a chocolate used to create shredded pieces —was delightful too. I sat in a bistro chair imagining myself in an Italian gelateria enjoying the creamy nutty taste. The chocolate solidified into a shell and made me smile. All was right with the world.

Rekaya Gibson, 757-295-8809, rekaya.gibson@virginiamedia.com; on X, @gibsonrekaya

___

If you go

Where: 1115 Independence Blvd., Virginia Beach

Hours: 1 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday

Prices: $5 scoop, $7.75 for two scoops

Details: 757-763-7439; gelatovb.com

Restaurants are welcoming fans to dine, watch a game and leave happy or sad, depending on your team.

This list isn’t exhaustive but it will get you through the season.

___

Peninsula

Every Sunday District 41 Sports Bar has $5 food specials, $3 beers and $7 straight or mixed drinks. Try the mozzarella sticks, two jumbo whole wings with fries, two shrimp tacos or something else. Every seat is a good seat, according to its Facebook post. 605 Pilot House Drive, Newport News, 757-223-0552; bit.ly/District41SportsBar

The Greene Turtle has personal pitchers from 8 to 11 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Sundays. They include craft beers ($8), cocktails ($12) and crushes ($15). 3610 Von Schilling Drive, Hampton, 757-838-3854; bit.ly/GreenTurtleHVA

My Neighbors’ Pub has football specials starting at 6 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays, and noon on Sundays, according to its Facebook page. They range from nachos ($7) to a hot dog and fries ($3) to popcorn ($.50). Get a pitcher ($11) or bucket ($12 for 4 bottles) of beers to wash down the food. 12743 Jefferson Ave., Newport News, 757-833-3333; bit.ly/MyNeighborsPub

___

Southside

The tailgate menu at Ballyhoos sounds delicious. It features a loaded hot dog ($4), barbecue chicken nachos ($10), six buffalo shrimp ($10) and other delectables. Don’t forget about the orange crush ($6), Jameson green tea ($6) and the bucket of four beers ($13). Available 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. 2865 Lynnhaven Drive, Virginia Beach, 757-412-4441. bit.ly/Ballyhoos

On Sundays, Busky’s Chill & Grill rolls out specials from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., including beef brisket tacos ($11.99), pepperoni pita pizza ($8.99) and two beef hot dogs with the fixings ($7.99). On Monday nights, it’s serving hamburger sliders with chips ($9.99), loaded potato skins ($9.99) and two other football specials. 237 Hanbury Road, Chesapeake, 757-482-3864; buskyschillngrill.com/events

If dining out isn’t your thing, watch the games at home and pre-order football platters from Dave’s BBQ. The Rookie ($85) includes 2 pounds of pulled pork, 25 smoked wings, 2 quarts of sides and six buns. Got a hangry — slang for really hungry—bunch? Select the Hall of Fame ($170) that includes 5 pounds of pulled pork, 50 smoked wings, 3 quarts of sides and 12 buns. 1009 Laskin Road, Virginia Beach, 757-434-6093; davesbbqvb.com

The Dirty Buffalo knows good food; it’s been around since 2012. The football menu is available every day which includes tailgate nachos ($16.99), cheesy porker sliders ($9.99) and a starter platter with onion rings, chicken dippers and pretzel bites ($17.99). 4012 Colley Ave., Norfolk, 757-226-7851; 4213 East Little Creek Road, Norfolk, 757-321-7242; 2080 South Independence Blvd., Virginia Beach, 757-937-1171; 612 Grassfield Parkway, Chesapeake, 757-819-7548; bit.ly/DirtyBuffalo

Swing down to Hackers Bar & Grille on Monday nights. It has a football buffet with pizzas, wings, sliders and hot dogs for $20. Happy hour drink prices run until 9 p.m. 1532 Laskin Road, Virginia Beach, 757-351-3931; bit.ly/HackersVB

Socky’s Bar and Grill — opened in February— has a menu lineup that will make fans rejoice. It’s offering $2 off drafts and burgers on Monday nights; 4 to 9 p.m. on Thursdays get $1 off bottles and cans and $2 off appetizers. Round out the week from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays with deals such as fried pickles ($7), 25-piece wing platter ($33) with a choice of three flavors, and a sampler platter ($18) with boneless wings, onion rings, corn dog nuggets, chips and choice of dip (tip: get the queso). 2401 Seaboard Road, Virginia Beach, 757-301-2274; sockysbarandgrill.com/events/

Watch the NFL season at the Waterside District. On Mondays and Thursdays (5 to 11 p.m.) and Sundays (all day), it’s serving libations such as a Field Goal Shooter for $5 but it’s $3 when a field goal is made; NFLIT (Long Island tea) for $5; Miller or Coors Beer tower (100 ounces) for $25, which includes four souvenir cups. The Game Day food specials are half off, including eight-piece wings, spinach artichoke dip and soft pretzels with cheese and honey mustard. Order at Guy’s Smokehouse kiosk. 333 Waterside Drive, Norfolk, 757-426-7433; bit.ly/WatersideNVA

___

Isle of Wight

Fatboy’s Grill & Steamshack is punching the NFL Sunday Ticket from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sundays. Grub on banana pepper rings ($5), beef or chicken nachos ($8) and 10, 18 or 45 wings (naked, breaded or boneless) for $10, $18 and $45. Domestic beer ($2) and imported ($3) pints are also available. 15042 Carrollton Blvd., Carrollton, 757-745-8200; bit.ly/FatboysGrill

___

Williamsburg

Football season isn’t complete without a pizza or two. Highway Pizza has a NFL Sunday Bundle with six-piece wings, a small pizza and a draft beer (16 ounces) for $24.89. It also has 10-piece boneless and 10 traditional wings for $24.99 and 20/20 for $39.99. Other shareable vittles include an appetizer platter ($21.99) and a slider platter ($23.79). Deals are available every Sunday throughout the season. 3044 Richmond Road, Williamsburg, 757-920-5242; bit.ly/HighwayPizza

Rekaya Gibson, 757-295-8809, rekaya.gibson@virginiamedia.com; on X, @gibsonrekaya

Architect B. Kay Van Dyke purchased the T.C. Walker mural building at 6769 Main St. to offer co-working spaces, dedicated desks and small private offices. In the 2,000-square-foot space, members can meet clients and use high-speed Wi-Fi, the printer, coffee station and conference room. The space is conducive to offering classes.

The different levels of membership are open to 40 people, she said.

A basic membership is $95 monthly and offers open work areas with desks, kitchen, meeting space and conference room. An open-area dedicated workspace, with a worktable or desk, lockable storage and access to amenities, costs $200 monthly. Studios and offices are $3.50 a square foot. Facilities, for the conference room or classroom configuration, can also be reserved a la carte.

A successful entrepreneur, Van Dyke hopes to attract startups to create a business incubator atmosphere.

“By working in a co-working space with other entrepreneurs, it makes it easier to support each other and exchange ideas,” she said.

Continuous learning is also on this 85-year-old’s agenda. She said classes set to be offered include welding, taught by a blacksmith, and art classes.

The building, constructed in the 1930s, had been empty for more than 10 years. It stands out because of the murals on each side. This is just one of several endeavors Van Dyke has undertaken for Gloucester’s Main Street since she arrived with her late husband in 1985.

“I think I am still considered new,” she laughed.

In 2010, she purchased and restored an empty building to create Arts on Main. Van Dyke sold it in 2020 and bought another abandoned building for a co-op space called Village Art Colony, where local artists sell their work and teach classes.

When asked about starting another business, Van Dyke simply said, “I get bored easy, so I thought, ‘Why not?’”

Art/Work is expected to open this month. For more information, visit awvillage.com.

Congratulations on your college graduation! Now, get ready for your next milestone: student loan repayment.

Most student loan borrowers get a six-month grace period after graduating or dropping below half-time enrollment. This grace period applies to all federal student loans and some private loans. Monthly payments begin after your grace period. So, if you graduated in May, your student loan bills could start in November.

Student loan payments can make it difficult to find your financial footing, but there are ways to manage them. Spend a few hours taking stock of your student loan situation before your grace period ends. Then, consider strategies to lower your monthly payments.

Here’s your cheat sheet to Student Loan Repayment 101.

Log into your student loan accounts

Review your student loan situation: How much do you owe? What type of loans do you have?

Start by logging into your account on studentaid.gov. On your dashboard, you’ll see how much federal student loan debt you have. In the top-right corner, you’ll see the name of your federal student loan servicer, which is the company the government assigns to manage your repayment.

Create an account on your servicer’s website, too. You’ll manage billing with your servicer. If you have any questions about your student loans, your first step should be calling your servicer’s customer service department.

If you have private student loans, log into your lender’s website to see how much you owe and what your repayment options are. Options vary by lender.

If you’re not sure what type of student loans you have or who your lender is, check your credit report, which may show who holds your debt. You can also contact your school’s financial aid office. They may have records of where your tuition payments came from.

Set up automatic payments

In your servicer account, make sure your contact and billing information are up to date.

Set up student loan autopay to save money and time. For federal student loans, automatic billing will get you a 0.25 percentage point reduction in your interest rate each month. For example, a 5.50% interest rate could be lowered to 5.25%. This could save you money over the life of your loan.

Plus, autopay will help you avoid missing a monthly payment.

Some private lenders also offer an interest rate discount if you set up autopay. Ask your lender if they have this perk.

Choose a repayment plan

Your federal student loan servicer will automatically place you on the standard 10-year repayment plan, which splits your total debt into 120 monthly installments, plus interest.

If you owe a significant sum or your income is low, your monthly payments on the standard plan could be unmanageable. Instead, consider an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan, which caps your monthly payments at 10% to 20% of your discretionary income and potentially extends your repayment term up to 20 or 25 years. The government’s loan simulator can help you estimate monthly and overall payments on different student loan repayment plans.

Currently, borrowers can choose from two IDR plans:

• Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE).
• Income-Based Repayment (IBR).

Expect major IDR application processing delays. You could be placed into a 60-day or more administrative forbearance after your servicer gets your application, during which payments won’t be due.

Shop around for lower interest rates

You might be able to shrink your monthly student loan payments by refinancing to a lower interest rate. When you refinance, you replace your existing student loan (or loans) with a new loan that ideally has better repayment terms.

If you already have private student loans, there’s no downside to refinancing if you can get a lower interest rate or better repayment terms. You’ll need a credit score at least in the high 600s, steady income and a monthly debt-to-income ratio below 50% to qualify for the lowest rates. A qualified co-signer can also help you get a better rate.

To explore refinancing options, look for lenders that offer pre-qualification with a soft credit check. Soft credit checks won’t ding your credit score, but hard credit checks could.

Think twice before refinancing your federal student loans, even if you can get a lower interest rate. Refinancing will turn your federal loans into private loans. You’ll permanently forfeit federal borrower protections like access to flexible repayment plans, potential student loan forgiveness and generous forbearance policies.

Eliza Haverstock writes for NerdWallet. Email: ehaverstock@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @elizahaverstock.

The article 2024 College Grads: Get Ready for Student Loan Repayment originally appeared on NerdWallet.

Inflation has slowed and the labor market has softened enough to satisfy the Federal Reserve. That means the central bank is about to cut interest rates.

On Aug. 23, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said, “The time has come for policy to adjust. The direction of travel is clear, and the timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks.”

In other words, Americans should prepare to finally catch a break when it comes to borrowing to pay for a home, buy a car or open a new credit card. There are also other implications for the health of the broader economy.

Back in March 2022, the Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) began to increase the federal funds rate in response to growing inflation. It hiked rates 11 times before finally pausing. The rates, set at 5.25% to 5.50%, haven’t budged since July 2023.

The first cut will almost certainly happen at the Fed’s upcoming meeting scheduled for Sept. 17-18. The futures market’s CME FedWatch Tool now predicts a 87% likelihood that the FOMC will cut the current target rate by 25 basis points; it predicts a 13% likelihood of a larger cut of 50 basis points.

But even if the Fed trims rates next week as expected, the target will still be a long way from the near-zero rate of early 2020 and immediate effects will be muted. Mortgage rates have already been easing in anticipation of a cut, for example, and most consumer credit and lending products are more dependent on your credit score than on the Fed rate. Still, this is viewed as a significant event and could build expectations for more cuts down the road.

So what happens next? NerdWallet writers teamed up to explain how upcoming Fed rate cuts could impact your personal finances and what you can do to prepare.

Credit cards

Sara Rathner, credit cards writer

Credit card interest rates are variable, meaning they adjust up or down shortly after the Fed changes the federal funds rate. So if the Fed lowers interest rates, credit card debt will cost slightly less.

The operative word here is “slightly.” Credit card debt is expensive no matter what the federal funds rate happens to be. Let’s say you have an average balance of $5,000 on a card charging 25% APR. You’ll spend around $1,250 in interest over the course of a year. If your interest rate was 24% instead, that’s just $50 less in interest for the year. Point being, a rate reduction doesn’t translate to a massive savings in interest when it comes to credit cards.

Still, you can use the upcoming Fed news as a reminder to check in on your debt and make a plan to pay it down as aggressively as you can. If you qualify, a balance transfer credit card could give you a year or more without interest. Lower interest rates might make a personal loan a compelling debt consolidation option.

Mortgages

Kate Wood, home and mortgages writer

Mortgage interest rates have already headed lower ahead of any action by the Fed. In April, the average interest rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate loan was 7.04%. August’s average was nearly three-quarters of a percentage point lower, at 6.31%. That 73-basis-point drop is larger than any anticipated rate cut, but rates may push even lower once the central bankers start chopping.

Homeowners with adjustable-rate mortgages or home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) should see savings right away as their interest rates ratchet downward. But lower mortgage interest rates might also be a boon to homeowners with fixed-rate mortgages. Those who bought when rates were higher could finally see a significant benefit from refinancing, while owners who feel tethered by their current low mortgage rates may feel more confident about making a move. Reducing that rate “lock in” effect could put more homes on the market, particularly at the starter-home level.

Prospective home buyers likely feel heartened by the prospect of rate cuts, but a quarter or even half of a percentage point cut from the Federal Reserve shouldn’t cause a sudden drop in mortgage rates, especially with a downward trend already in progress. So, don’t wait on the Fed: Buy when you’re ready, not when interest rates are. While you’re preparing to buy — and during your home search — work on your finances. Continue to pay down high-interest debt, try to build your credit score, don’t take out new loans and keep making on-time payments. That way, when you’re applying for a mortgage, you’ll be in a strong position to get a lender’s best possible interest rate regardless of where prevailing rates are.

Auto loans

Shannon Bradley, auto loans writer

Auto loan interest rates typically follow the path of the Fed rate, but it can take time to see. When car loan rates do begin to fall, will it be a good time to buy or refinance? Here are some considerations to help you decide.

Your APR on a car loan is determined by many factors, such as your credit history, credit score, loan term and vehicle age. Taking time to improve your credit, or to find a slightly used car rather than a new one, is likely to affect your loan rate more than a slight drop in the Fed rate.

From the car-buying perspective, your interest rate is just one part of your monthly payment, which also includes the amount you borrow to pay for the car. In July, the average transaction price for new cars was $48,401, with an average monthly payment of $753. The average listing price for used cars was $25,415. Car prices have improved compared to a year ago, but they still remain higher than pre-pandemic levels. Even when interest rates drop, you will want to focus on a vehicle’s out-the-door price and whether the resulting monthly payment fits your budget.

If you financed a car at a high interest rate, refinancing could be a way to lower the rate and your monthly payment. In general, lenders recommend reducing your rate by 1% or more, without extending the loan term, to get the most out of refinancing. And you’ll want to make sure your savings outweigh any lender or title transfer fees. Since the Fed’s rate decrease is expected to be 50 basis points or less, waiting to refinance after additional rate cuts could be more beneficial.

When you do move forward with an auto purchase or refinance loan, apply to several lenders to find the lowest rate. Most lenders offer pre-qualification with a soft credit check, which gives you an idea of the rate you might get without affecting your credit score. You can use an auto loan calculator to input pre-qualified rates and terms to see an estimated monthly payment and total loan interest.

Personal loans

Jackie Veling, personal loans writer

Prospective borrowers may see slightly lower rates on personal loans at banks, credit unions and online lenders after the Fed makes a rate cut. However, the rate a borrower gets on a personal loan is still mostly determined by information supplied on their application, such as credit score, credit history and debt-to-income ratio. There are steps borrowers can take to boost their chances of qualifying for a loan with a low rate, including building their credit and paying off small debts.

If you’re considering using a personal loan to consolidate debt, it’s probably best not to wait for additional rate cuts, especially if you’re struggling with credit card debt. Credit cards tend to have higher interest rates than personal loans, and consolidating credit card debt will begin the process of getting out of debt while saving money on interest.

If you already have a personal loan, you may consider refinancing. Not every lender offers personal loan refinancing, so make sure to research lenders before formally applying for a new loan.

A smart way to always make sure you get the best rate possible on a personal loan is by pre-qualifying. This allows you to check your potential rate with only a soft credit check and compare loan options between lenders.

Student loans

Eliza Haverstock, student loans writer

A Fed interest rate cut will impact private student loans, but not federal student loans.

Some private student loan interest rates will fall. Whether you can qualify for the lowest rates, though, depends on factors like your credit score and income. If you have an existing fixed-rate private student loan, explore refinancing options to lower your interest rate and the amount you’ll repay in total.

If you have a variable rate private student loan, your rate may fall automatically. Consider locking in that lower rate by refinancing to a fixed-rate loan.

Federal student loan interest rates only change once a year. The government sets rates each spring, ahead of the upcoming school year. The rates apply to all federal loans taken out that school year, and they remain fixed throughout repayment. For example, if you borrow an undergraduate loan for 2024-25 at the current 6.53% interest rate, you will keep that rate until you pay off the loan or refinance.

Think twice before refinancing federal student loans — even if you can get a lower rate. Refinancing will permanently turn your loan from federal to private, and you’ll forfeit access to loan forgiveness programs, generous deferment options and other borrower protections, like payments based on your income.

High-yield savings accounts

Margarette Burnette, consumer savings writer

The 2022 Fed rate increases kicked off a prolonged period of rising savings rates, and today some of the best savings accounts have annual percentage yields, or APYs, above 5%. Once the Fed reduces rates, we will likely see a dip in the highest savings rates, so expect those to top out at about 4% APY (or slightly lower). At the same time, the best savings yields will remain well above the national average rate of about half a percent. This average is low in part because some savings accounts, particularly those offered by large banks, consistently offer a next-to-nothing 0.01% APY.

If you deposit $1,000 in an account that earns a rate of 0.01%, it would earn only 10 cents in interest after one year, according to the NerdWallet savings calculator. Put that same $1,000 in a high-yield account that earns 5% and it would grow by a lot more — the interest earned would be about $51.

Even when rates fall, a high-yield account will still be one of the best and safest places for your savings. Say that an account with a 5% rate decreases its yield and now offers 4%. A $1,000 deposit would earn just under $41 in interest after a year. Not quite as much as the 5% account, but still much better than the low-rate option.

Historically, we’ve seen that savings accounts with the best yields tend to consistently outperform their competitors over time, whether overall rates increase or decrease. So if your money is already in a high-yield account, you will probably continue to earn one of the best rates available. But do monitor your rate and compare it to that of other banks, especially for the next few weeks. If your savings APY falls faster than others, consider shopping around for a better option.

Certificates of deposit (CDs)

Spencer Tierney, consumer banking writer

As with savings accounts, certificates of deposit had higher interest rates in the last few years than for most of the past decade. CD rates at major online banks and credit unions exceeded 5% APY, particularly for one-year CD terms. When the Fed raised its rates from March 2022 to July 2023, banks raised CD yields. But the upcoming Fed rate cut is a sign that CD rates have likely peaked and APYs will gradually drop. August saw bigger CD rate decreases than all previous months in 2024, according to a NerdWallet analysis.

If CDs fit into your short-term savings goals, this is a good time to get them. The longer you wait, the lower rates will likely get.

What a CD can do that a regular savings account can’t do is lock in a fixed rate for a dedicated sum of savings. CDs are time-based accounts with term lengths ranging from about three months to five years. Normally, long-term rates are higher than short-term rates. But that trend flipped in recent years. In 2024, competitive five-year CD rates were closer to 4% APY while the best CDs for one year or shorter surpassed 5% APY.

CDs aren’t for everyone, though, and withdrawing from a CD before it ends generally means paying a penalty that wipes out some or all of the interest you earn. Consider CDs for preserving savings earmarked for a large purchase a few years down the road, such as car or home down payment. Or think of CDs as a way to earn steady interest without market risk, especially for folks using CDs for retirement.

The stock market

Sam Taube, investing writer

Publicly-traded companies borrow a lot of money, and the interest rates set by the Federal Reserve affect the cost of that borrowing. With that in mind, interest rate cuts have the potential to boost the bottom line of many companies, although that may affect some sectors of the market more than others.

Certain types of stocks, such as tech stocks and small-cap stocks, may be especially dependent on borrowing to stay afloat. Consumer discretionary stocks primarily make money from consumer spending — and stand to benefit from the increase in buying power brought by lower rates on credit cards and personal loans.

Bank stocks may benefit from a greater spread between the interest they pay out to depositors and the interest they collect from borrowers, as the rates they pay may decrease faster than the rates they collect. And real estate investment trusts (REITs) are income investments that behave a lot like bonds, which tend to rise in value when interest rates decrease.

So lower interest rates are generally a positive for the stock market — but there’s a catch. The Fed is cutting rates because recent jobs reports and other economic data indicate that the economy is slowing down, and a slowing economy can spook investors. Weak jobs data points toward interest rate cuts, but it can also stir recession fears and provoke stock market sell-offs, as it did back in August.

The broader economy

Elizabeth Renter, senior economist

The goal of raising interest rates (and then keeping them elevated) was to take some of the gusto out of the economy. An economy that runs too hot, with lots of spending and borrowing, is one that leads to faster-than-sustainable price growth. When the Fed begins to cut rates, they’ll be signaling they’re done with tapping the brakes. However, they won’t be punching the gas, either.

As they were throughout their rate-raising campaign, they’ll be carefully watching the economic data to determine the magnitude and speed of these cuts. And assuming the economy experiences no unanticipated shocks, they’ll be cautious. Just as the rate-hiking campaign took time to impact the whole of the economy, changing direction will too.

Over time, the ability of both businesses and consumers to borrow at lower rates will lead to increased economic activity. Employers who have been waiting to expand facilities or hire new workers will eventually see rates that entice them to take those steps. Consumers who have been sidelined by high auto loan or mortgage rates may feel a similar nudge, and make those big-ticket purchases. The goal will be to return rates to a reasonable level, one where the economy can continue to grow at a sustainable — not too fast, not too slow — pace.

The 2024 presidential election

Anna Helhoski, news writer

The Federal Reserve operates independent of the rest of government. That means the president doesn’t tell the Fed what to do and the Fed doesn’t factor politics into its decisions. The central bank’s commitment to making nonpartisan decisions is crucial to its effectiveness.

Therefore, the Fed is not going to make any rate decision intended to steer voters toward either Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump. Still, some critics are likely to see a rate cut prior to the presidential election as a political move. The same could be said if the Fed waited until after the election to cut rates. So it goes.

The Fed’s actions do impact the economy — they’re intended to. And how an American feels about the economy could influence their vote. Still, it takes a while for the Fed’s decisions to be felt by consumers, so it’s unlikely that a Fed rate cut in September would influence a voters’ choice one way or another.

It’s possible that an avid consumer of economic policy news could be swayed by the Fed’s decision to cut rates. But it’s still unlikely; as many of those news consumers probably have their minds made up.

Meanwhile, a casual news consumer who is also an undecided voter might learn about the Fed’s decision to cut rates and feel more positive about the economy. Those good vibes could lead them to support the current administration. Or not — undecided voters can be fickle.

Hypothetical scenarios aside, the Fed’s rate cut probably won’t impact this election. But whoever wins would almost certainly enjoy presiding over an economy with lower interest rates for consumer products. Even if it’s unwarranted, the winner is pretty likely to take the credit for any economic improvements while they’re in power.

NerdWallet writes for NerdWallet. Email: articles@nerdwallet.com.

The article What Happens When the Fed Finally Cuts Rates? originally appeared on NerdWallet.

The company, known for high-quality burgers, hot dogs and craft beer and wine, acquired Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza & Wings in 2021 but has been signaling possible financial trouble for months as it coped with rising food prices and declining sales.

In May it announced it was undergoing a “strategic review process” and offered no assurance that the process would result in an outcome “favorable to the Company or its shareholders.”

In August, it warned it had just $4.4 million on hand and expected to report a loss of $18.4 million for the second quarter. It also said then that it might have to file for bankruptcy.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the company said the filing in United States Bankruptcy Court in Delaware affected only its 67 corporate-owned locations of both brands and excluded 77 franchisee-owned locations in the United States, Puerto Rico and Saudi Arabia.

In the Hampton Roads region, BurgerFi’s website shows its only local restaurant, in the Williamsburg area at 6610 Mooretown Road, is temporarily closed.

Jimmy Rosenthal, chief restructuring officer of BurgerFi International Inc. was quoted in the statement as saying, “BurgerFi and Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza & Wings are dynamic and beloved brands, and in the face of a drastic decline in post-pandemic consumer spending amidst sustained inflation and increasing food and labor costs, we need to stabilize the business in a structured process.”

Rosenthal added, “We are confident that this process will allow us to protect and grow our brands and to continue the operational turnaround started less than 12 months ago and secure additional capital.”

The brand has been undergoing a top-to-bottom evaluation of its operations as part of turnaround efforts that began in 2023 to address what it called “foundational issues including declining same store sales, high employee turnover and a stale menu.”

The company recently closed 19 underperforming corporate-owned locations. Its statement said its “current platform is primed for success.”

In June, the industry website Restaurant Business Online reported that Jeff Crivello, founder of TREW Capital Management, might be planning to leverage TREW’s purchase of BurgerFi debt into a takeover of the company. TREW and L Catterton, another private equity firm, had each agreed to lend BurgerFi $2 million during the strategic review process.

Crivello is known as a “fixer” who had recently turned around Minneapolis-based barbecue chain Famous Dave’s. On Wednesday, he told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that he planned to make a bid to purchase the chain during a sales process that will take place as the bankruptcy unfolds.

The company grew out of a single location in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea that was founded in 2011 by David Manero, creator of two Vic & Angelo locations. It is headquartered on Cypress Creek Road.

Ron Hurtibise covers business and consumer issues for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He can be reached by phone at 954-356-4071, on Twitter @ronhurtibise or by email at rhurtibise@sunsentinel.com.