Cole Gordon took a break during a busy day to show off what his family has been building on their farm in Skagit County, Washington for decades a picturesque pumpkin paradise that's become a popular fall destination.

"Back in the 80s, my father started selling pumpkins on the side of the road. Just like, a couple. And then it blew up into this big thing," he said.

Now, when you visit Gordon Skagit Farms, you can buy one of over 150 varieties of pumpkins, wreaths made with dried flowers grown on the farm, as well as go through a corn maze, walk through a garden, and take pictures in front of the many hand-painted murals.

"People come here for the fall experience," Gordon said.

He says they expand Gordon Skagit Farms' offerings every year to meet demand that skyrocketed during the pandemic.

"Everyone wanted to be outside and they wanted to spend time with their family and experience everything. And I think since then, we've actually, we've blown up a lot more than what we have in the past," said Gordon.

What the Gordon family has seen play out on their farm matches consumer trends.

While Halloween spending is predicted to be down a bit over all in 2024, it's grown significantly since the pandemic, as has the number of people participating.

According to the National Retail Federation, Halloween spending this year will hit $11.6 billion, less than 2023's $12.2 billion, which was a record. This year's spending is still up from 2022's $10.6 billion.

This year 72% of consumers plan to celebrate the holiday, similar to last year's 73%. They will spend about $4 less this year than last, but retailers aren't too worried about that.

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"We're seeing consumers consistently over the last several years, spending over $100 on average on their Halloween celebrations and really viewing this holiday as a time to celebrate fall," said Katherine Cullen, vice president for industry and consumer insights at the National Retail Federation.

Different from last year, the National Retail Federation says more consumers started their Halloween shopping earlier this year their biggest reason being that they were looking forward to fall.

They're also going to be looking for a deal Advantage reports that 46% of shoppers will be looking for deals on candy.

Jason Katz, vice president of strategic planning at Advantage, says this shows that more people are getting emotionally attached to the holiday and unwilling to give up on making seasonal memories.

"People are willing to spend more, despite recession across categories," said Katz. "It just echoes that, you know, Halloween is just not one of those things they're willing to sacrifice on."

Experts say this need for nostalgia and making memories is tied to the pandemic and consumers ever since wanting to spend money on experiences.

"So you saw a lot of people buying decorations, creating socially distanced trick or treating, really embracing the joy and fun of this holiday at a time when a lot of people were dealing with some heavy stuff. And we're seeing that continue today," said Cullen.

"I'm always happy that people get to come here and make memories with their families. And then they tell me about their memories," said Gordon.

It's that emotional connection to the season families have that make Gordon happy to be in the business of making memories, along with making a living, during the Halloween season.

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The holiday shopping season wouldn't be possible without seasonal workers, hired for only a few weeks to help make the magic happen.

Amazon will be hiring 250,000 full, part-time and seasonal workers this year the same number as last year.

Other retailers, like Bath and Body Works and Target, also plan to hire thousands of workers this season. This year, Macy's is scaling back. The retailer said it would add 31,500 seasonal positions about 6,000 fewer than last year.

According to Indeed's Hiring Lab, as of September 24, seasonal job postings were half of a percentage point higher than the same time in 2019, but 12% lower than the peak in 2021, putting seasonal hiring back closer to pre-pandemic levels.

Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst for Bankrate, says years of inflation have impacted both spenders and stores.

"While inflation on a year-over-year and month-over-month basis has been coming down, consumers are still up against it when it comes to elevated prices," he said.

RELATED STORY | Robust hiring highlights surprising September US jobs report

While the number of seasonal jobs are down, Indeed says searches for seasonal work are up 18% from last year meaning if you want seasonal work this year, it's going to be competitive.

Hamrick says the fewer seasonal jobs and increase of people wanting them isn't necessarily a bad omen for the economy.

"So many things were sort of knocked out of whack distorted by the pandemic, the shutting down of the economy and the rapid reopening in the economy when we had a red hot job market. And now the job market is essentially normal," said Hamrick.

As far as spending goes, Mastercard forecasts a 3.2% increase in holiday shopping this year over last.

A Scripps News/IPSOS poll finds more than half of respondents support a mass deportation of undocumented migrants.

However, experts say it would take a herculean effort to carry out the Trump campaign promise that may be hindered by current immigration law.

Trump told Time Magazine that he would use local law enforcement and possibly the National Guard to carry out his plan to mass deport millions of undocumented residents. He added that it was also possible that migrant detention camps would be built.

"Legally, I think Trump would face quite a few challenges to his actions if this is done by executive order," said Tony Payan, director of the Rice University Center f the U.S. and Mexico, which is part of the non-partisan Baker Institute.

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Migration experts like Payan say not only would such an effort be difficult to do under current migration law, but the actual process of expelling millions of people would be too.

"Logistically it would be quite difficult to mobilize forces at the local, state and federal level to try and find these people all over the country in many different places, cities, neighborhoods, small towns, hunt them down detain them and have them deported," Payan said. "That logistically would be a nightmare."

Trump advisor Stephen Miller has said a second Trump administration would focus on two goals: "seal the border" and "deport all illegals."

The Associated Press reports that the plan includes flying people without legal status out of the country before they could make legal appeals.

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request from Scripps News for comment on mass deportations, but his former immigration and customs enforcement director Tomas Homan told Fox Digital: "People say, 'How are you going to remove millions?' The answer is: One at a time."

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The Republican Party's platform includes what it described as the largest such effort in American history. And while it might be a difficult task, mass deportation does have its backers.

A new Scripps News/IPSOS poll shows 54% of respondents say they strongly or somewhat support the policy. But some critics warn that such an expulsion could adversely affect the economy.

"There are almost 11 million workers in the United States undocumented specifically and those are scattered throughout the country," said Payan. "They certainly are working. Most of them are actually employed formally or informally and they contribute to the economy and they pay taxes. So I think extracting what is about 6% of the overall workforce in the United States would certainly diminish the U.S. economy."

It would also require a massive infrastructure to make it work.

"Think of it this way in the United States there are about two million prisoners in the prison system," Payan added. "Do you have the system to detain and hold 11 million people? It's impossible."

For drivers passing along Airport Road in Everett Washington, outside the Boeing plant, it's impossible to ignore the passion from some of the 33,000 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers in Washington, Oregon and California as they go on strike.

"We are very proud to build these planes, we're very proud to work at Boeing, but management doesn't see that," said mechanic Gustavo Martinez.

Each machinist has their own reason for voting down the contract and for casting their vote to strike even if it means giving up their paycheck for the amount of time they're on the picket line, an easy decision for Martinez to get back concessions made in the past, like giving up worker pensions a decade ago.

According to Boeing's numbers, the current annual salary for a machinist at the company is over $76,000. With the rejected contract, Boeing says the average salary would be over $106,000. According to Redfin, the median home price in Washington's King County is $875,000.

"The cost of living is way too much, we're barely making ends meet," he said.

For mechanic Lonnie Holman-Hernandez, one of the reasons he's on strike was sitting on his lap, as he took his daughter Neomi, who's too young for pre-school, along to demonstrate.

"She sees the planes all day everyday and wants to be apart of it so why not bring her to the picket line," he said.

RELATED STORY | 33,000 Boeing workers on strike after rejecting contract offer

Holman-Hernandez came from the military and started building planes for Boeing in march. With two young kids, the other in kindergarten, the strike is a sacrifice, but he wants to see a pay increase of 40% or more, instead of the 25% in the rejected contract. It's also important for him to have his kids see him fight for it.

"The strike is difficult not only for us but for all my union brothers and sisters, just showing her the importance of standing up for what you believe in and not taking no for an answer," he said.

On Friday, Boeing CFO Brian West commented on the strike on a Morgan Stanley investors conference call, saying that it's disappointing that the contract agreed upon by both Boeing and IAM 751 district leadership missed the mark with union members.

Boeing is working on restoring its reputation as numerous problems regarding safety and quality have plagued the company this year, which is nearly 60 billion dollars in debt. West said a strike will jeopardize the company's recovery.

"We want to reach an agreement that's good for our people, their families, our community, and our intent is to do just that," said West during the call.

The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service says that both parties will be going back to the negotiating table early this week.

"We build the planes, what were asking for isn't a crazy demand," said Holman-Hernandez.

For workers like Holman-Hernandez, they're focused on the future, their family, and what could be a long fight.

In 2021, Oregon stopped making it a crime to possess small amounts of drugs meant for personal use. It was called Measure 110, and the hope was that instead of getting arrested, people using drugs would get a $100 ticket or a health assessment that could lead to counseling.

But with the rise in fentanyl use and the pandemic, overdose deaths increased in the state, the system was overwhelmed and the resources for treatment were sorely lacking. On the street, people saw open drug use.

As of this month drugs in Oregon are now recriminalized, but there's a new emphasis on "deflection." It's an ultimatum for people caught with personal-use amounts of drugs: Get arrested or get matched with services, like detox.

"This work is part of our larger strategy to improve community health, well-being, and safety," said Jessica Vega Pederson, Multnomah County chair, during a Zoom call for reporters to explain how deflection works in Oregon's most populous county.

"We've already learned so much about this. We've learned that there are indeed community members who are eligible for deflection who otherwise would be arrested under the new law," she said.

Each county in the state has the option of setting up a system of deflection.

"The idea is to deflect those individuals before they get into the criminal justice system, connect them with the services that they need. And hopefully that would prevent them from having any more criminal justice system involvement in the future," said Ken Sanchagrin, executive director of the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission.

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The commission gives out grants for counties to set up their own deflection program. From a state pot of money of about $20 million, counties choose how to carry out this new idea, paired with the new recriminalization laws.

"The legislature wrote the statutory portions of the grant program very, very broadly, and that was with an eye toward letting locals determine what their needs were and also to hopefully spur some innovation," said Sanchagrin.

The program is inspired by LEAD, or law enforcement assisted diversion a model that's been around since 2011. It's already being used in dozens of cities and towns in 23 states.

Oregon's northern neighbor Washington was a source of inspiration for its deflection program. Seattle has had its own LEAD initiative for years and in 2021, Washington enacted one statewide that officials say has helped to reduce red tape to help people quickly.

"Having it not be tied to other funding streams, which might require certain steps to be taken prior to engaging with somebody, we're able to engage with somebody right away," said Tony Walton, a section manager for Washington's Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery.

However, the idea is so new in Oregon that the current system does not have all the pieces in place to fit the need a problem officials in Multnomah County are well aware of.

For example, at the very start of the rollout, some people in Multnomah County who qualified for deflection couldn't start because there wasn't the personnel or space available.

"We know that the entire state is facing a shortage of treatment beds. The entire state is facing a shortage of public defenders, but we still have to respond to the law change," said Vega Pederson.

David Hertzberg is a professor who specializes in the history of drugs and drug policies. He says the idea of centering on the needs of drug users is a novel one in a country that has waged a "war on drugs" for decades.

"Whether that can last or not, it's actually hard to say because it's so new, and I find it pretty inspiring," said Hertzberg.

Hertzberg believes for this to be successful, it needs a buy-in from everyone involved, from those experiencing addiction, to police, to community members, which means giving it grace as it works out its problems.

"There is no solution that is perfect, and that we're really looking for the least-worst outcome. And one of the things that happens here is that you have a reformist policy come into play and things still aren't perfect. And then that becomes a reason to snap back," he said.

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With the buzz surrounding AI and how it's likely to impact our lives, you may be wondering whether your job will soon be replaced by a computer.

There are some jobs at risk. A recent Forbes article lists eight types of jobs that will likely be eliminated first. They include roles that can become easily automated and have structured tasks, like retail checkouts and customer service.

Nick Bunker, a research director with Indeed, says AI has the potential to change the way the workforce functions.

"There are going to be some jobs that are gonna be more directly impacted by AI, generative AI, any new technology. But this seems like it could be a technology that affects sort of every job, at least indirectly," said Bunker.

And while AI is not expected to replace careers such as a computer programmer, Bunker sees the opportunity for AI to help augment the roles like these by making them more productive and efficient.

RELATED STORY | How businesses are increasingly embracing the use of artificial intelligence

Bunker also believes that AI isn't going to impact the job market overnight.

"We're going to have to see how people are using it, how it gets integrated, the different business cases for it and the different products before we can really feel the effect of this technology on labor market," he said.

While super intelligent algorithms can automate many tasks, it still can't replace human expertise and craft.

Freelancing platform Upwork looked at 119 professions that it says AI can't replace, including skilled trades like construction, public service posts like firefighting and healthcare positions like nurses and surgeons.

There's no doubt that machines an mimic human intelligence and AI has the potential to be transformative, but it could take quite a while before we see dramatic changes to the labor market.

RELATED STORY | More Americans are boosting their income with the help of artificial intelligence

A major effort is underway in Gaza as health officials work to protect children from polio.

Israel agreed to pause fighting in Gaza to allow for the vaccination of children against the disease, which was detected in sewage in June. The pause, starting on Sept. 1, is taking place over three days, with an option for a fourth day if more time is needed.

A ten-month-old unvaccinated child is the first confirmed human case of polio in Gaza in 25 years. The boy is now paralyzed in his left leg.

RELATED STORY | Israel to temporarily halt fighting in Gaza for children's polio vaccinations

With the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with open sewage on the streets, there is fear unvaccinated children are at greater risk of the disease.

"You find it in the wastewater, and when it causes polio," said Dr. Paul Offit of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "It only causes paralysis in about one of every 200 people, so you can assume that that strain is circulating and it's causing a much greater incidence of infection."

Health officials hope to vaccinate 640,000 Palestinian children under 10 years of age during the brief humanitarian pause. There are 1.3 million vaccine doses in cold storage in the region, which will be distributed from 160 vaccination sites.

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Officials say the tight timeline makes getting 100% of the children vaccinated extremely challenging.

"We are not doing house-to-house vaccination, people are moving, so the risk of missing children remains high," said Dr. Hamid Jafari, director of polio eradication for the World Health Organization.

Adding to the difficulty, children need multiple doses of the vaccine to be effective, weeks apart. According to the United Nations, if children dont get a second dose, the first will not be effective. Right now, there is no guarantee of a second humanitarian pause to finish the job.

For some people, it takes only one cruise to hook them for life.

That was the case for Stewart Chiron, who loved his first cruise so much he made a career out of it.

"It was a weekend cruise, and that was 326 cruises ago," he told Scripps News.

Known as "The Cruise Guy," Chiron started a cruise-exclusive travel agency 35 years ago.

"Cruising is an incredible way for people to connect, get together, to experience different cultures, different destinations," he said.

But the pandemic's impact on cruising numbers was enough to make even him uncertain about the future.

In 2019, 29.7 million people took cruises. In 2020 and 2012, 5.8 and 4.8 million took cruises, respectively.

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"With the pandemic hitting, the cruise industry completely shut down," Chiron said. "The ships were all anchored or docked somewhere around the world. I mean, it was a Herculean feat trying to get the crew back to their homes."

However, recent data from Cruise Lines International Association shows an epic comeback. Last year, the number of people taking cruises climbed to 31.7 million, a 6% increase from 2019. Its data is also forecasting 34.7 million passengers for next year, and nearly 40 million by 2027.

"The industry, I mean, they're shocked by how far out people are booking," Chiron said. "They've never been in a better book position at this time of the year for the next following years."

And the industry is putting in the infrastructure for that demand. According to the recent Cruise Ship Index, 15 newcruiseships are set to enter service next year, adding nearly 40,000 guest berths to the market. The industry is also expected to hire over 20,000 new crew members in 2025.

Cruise ships have also gotten much bigger. The industry campaign group Transport & Environment says the world's biggestcruiseships have doubled in sizesince 2000, which is raising environmental concerns.

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According to a report from The New York Times, a single cruise ship docked for one day emits as much exhaust as 34,400 idling semitrucks.

"They have to keep their engines running in order to keep power on the ship while they're unloading passengers and cargo, and then of course loading passengers and cargo on the back end. Of course, that produces emissions," said Phil Ambrose, senior project manager at Seattle City Light.

That is why ports like Seattle's are investing in shore power, with which instead of idling on diesel while in the port, cruise ships can plug into a city's electric grid just like an electric car in a garage.

"Shore power is really important for the maritime industry as a whole," Ambrose said.

Right now, Seattle is working toward getting all of its piers equipped with shore power, and will with the completion of its Pier 66 project by the end of this cruising season in October.

While CLIA data says that 46% of cruise ships are capable of plugging into shore power, only 35 ports worldwide have shore power capabilities. That's 3% of ports; so although the industry is growing, the infrastructure to sustain it has further to go.

The Department of Justice is filing an antitrust lawsuit against RealPage, a real estate software company, accusing it of orchestrating a scheme to coordinate with other landlords to raise prices nationwide using an algorithm to give high recommended rent prices.

"Everybody knows the rent is too damn high. And we alleged this is one of the reasons why," said U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.

The lawsuit is being filed alongside attorneys general from eight states, including California and North Carolina.

In 2021 and 2022, rents exploded across the country. In the 50 largest metro areas, rents rose 19.3% over a year. It's tapered off since but has remained high for many renters.

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RealPage has garnered scrutiny since 2022, when a ProPublica investigation suggested it could be one of the reasons behind that sharp increase.

The DOJ believes that this algorithm helped get landlords on the same page, undercutting competition that would usually help keep prices lower.

"Competing landlords agree to submit to RealPage on a daily basis their most sensitive nonpublic information, including rental rates, lease terms and projected vacancies. RealPage then combines this data from competing landlords and feeds it into an algorithm that provides real-time pricing recommendations back to the competing landlords," said Garland.

The company is not the only one to offer such software, but the lawsuit claims it's the largest in the industry, saying it controls 80% of the market.

"So make no mistake, training a machine to break the law is still breaking the law. Price coordination using AI is still price coordination. And monopolization advanced by an algorithm is still monopolization," said Lisa Monaco, deputy U.S. Attorney General.

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Detroit-based trial attorney Michael Jaafar believes this lawsuit is smoke and mirrors and wrongfully puts the blame for the housing market on a single private company whose services are not mandatory, even if it has a market majority.

"It's wrong. And I'll tell you why it's wrong: because RealPage is just a service. It's an analytics platform... It's not like they're providing a utility service that everybody has to use. It's not like it's the railroad," said Jaafar.

In a statement to the AP, RealPage said the suit is "devoid of merit and will do nothing to make housing more affordable."

This filing is the latest by the DOJ to try and tackle rising prices through antitrust suits, including against Apple and TicketMaster, something Jaafar disagrees with as the right move to combat high costs.

"The government is not concerned with making money. They're concerned with getting justice. The problem comes in when you have an administration that has political agendas," he said.

As both sides move to the next phase, Jaafar says RealPage has a battle ahead.

"Either you survive or you die. There have been websites that have just died under something like this. I don't think that would happen to RealPage. What RealPage is going to have to do is just fight this and fight this in the public spectrum," said Jaafar.

While the country's attention has been focused on the DNC and the race for president, Boeing and the union representing thousands of its machinists in the Pacific Northwest has been deep in around-the-clock contract negotiations.

Taking a short break from the 12-hour days spent in a downtown Seattle hotel, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, or IAM, District 751 president Jon Holden says, with 3 weeks to go, Boeing and the union representing its machinists don't yet see eye to eye.

"We've been meeting multiple times a day, spending hours with our committees, crafting proposals and counterproposals. And we are still far apart on many of the issues," said Holden.

This is the first time in 16 years that Boeing machinists are able to negotiate an entirely new contract.

"We're fighting for our current members, those that follow behind us but the whole region, the communities we live in, and we literally are fighting for everyone," said Holden.

RELATED STORY | Boeing grounds 777X test fleet after finding issue with key engine part

Earlier this summer, the 33,000 union members rallied and voted to authorize a strike if no agreement is made by the deadline, now weeks away.

Along with a large pay increase of 40% over 3 years, the union is fighting for better health and retirement benefits as well as getting the next all-new airplane built in Washington, which Holden says will provide crucial job security and help sustain the local economy.

And for the first time, the union is demanding articles in the contract that will guarantee that Boeing which has seen a cascade of controversies and quality issues since the Alaska Airlines door plug blow-out of Jan. 5 will give machinists more of a say in the safety and quality of the airplanes.

"We have never felt the need to propose those things in the past, but we do today. And it's our reputation that's at stake along with the company's. It's our jobs that are at stake. And it's important for us to have a say in any changes to the quality management system and how that impacts the production system and the quality of the airplane," said Holden.

Boeing told Scripps News that while their lead negotiator is not doing interviews, they say they are "confident we can reach a deal that balances the needs of our employees and the business realities we face as a company."

"A strike of this size in an industry and a company as important as Boeing will have a major impact," said Harley Shaiken, professor emeritus at UC Berkeley who specializes in labor and the global economy.

He says that while the flying public won't feel an impact at the airport when it comes to flight delays unless the strike lasts for a long time, this strike would set off a domino effect of impacts throughout both local economies where factories are and the global economy, as Boeing's suppliers depend on the company's success.

With the pressure that Boeing has been under lately to rebuild their public image and trust among stakeholders, that pressure is most likely being felt at the negotiating table

"They're going to have pressure from every side imaginable. And then some of the suppliers don't want to be idled, which is positively what happens if Boeing goes on strike," said Shaiken.

While negotiations continue, Shaiken believes with Boeing's reputation on the line, paired with momentum from recent labor victories across the nation, there's a chance this may end with a satisfied union.

"Better-paid workers with better benefits, but more competitive companies with higher quality: That's all a possibility. The 12th is the deadline. We may go right up to that deadline. A strike is certainly possible, but by no means assured," he said.

RELATED STORY | Boeing names new president and CEO following big second quarter loss

This week's Donald Trump interview with Elon Musk on X is getting pushback from auto workers.

The United Auto Workers union filed unfair labor practice charges after the two talked about firing striking workers during their Monday conversation.

"You're the greatest cutter, they go on strike and you say, 'That's OK. You're all gone," Trump said about Elon.

UAW filed separate charges against Trump and Musk with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that the men interfered with workers who may want to join a union. In a statement, the UAW wrote, "Under federal law, workers cannot be fired for going on strike, and threatening to do so is illegal."

The NLRB is looking into the charges. The AP reported that a senior advisor from the Trump campaign called the allegations "frivolous" and a "shameless political stunt."

RELATED STORY | Harris and Walz show their support for organized labor with appearance at Detroit union hall

For many politicians courting the labor vote, getting on the wrong side of unions doesn't help their cause.

"Workers are seeing the extent to which unions that are willing to fight for them can be a positive force in their lives," said Hayley Brown, research associate at the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

The U.S. Department of Labor says about 14.4 million Americans are in unions. That's about 10% of the workforce.

That's about the same rate as the year before, but it's down considerably from 1983, when about one in five workers were in unions.

Unions have regained some high-profile ground recently.

"Then these victories that happened, the strike and organizing victories, really inspired but also the anger that built up over the years of the concessions during the recession, the risk that workers took during COVID, it's just an enormous amount of anger, and particularly among young people who feel like they don't have a future," said Kate Bronfenbrenner, the director of Labor Education Research at Cornell's ILR School.

Support for unions is relatively high. The latest Gallup polling shows about 67% of those surveyed approve of unions. Three in four sided with the UAW in their latest negotiation, when they signed agreements with automakers that raised pay by 33%.

Bronfenbrenner says strikes and labor movements are contagious.

"Workers are seeing the extent to which unions that are willing to fight for them can be a positive force in their lives, and that having agency in your workplace is really important as a quality of life thing and also as an economic thing," she said.

More recent unions wins include a new contract for 28,000 flight attendants with American Airlines and a new contract for California Disneyland Resort workers that includes the biggest wage increase ever after a historic strike.

In Massachusetts, Uber and Lyft drivers could win union representation if a ballot measure is approved by voters in November.

There have also been some losses. Workers at two Alabama Mercedes factories rejected joining the UAW.

But that came after Volkswagen workers in Tennessee joined  which was a key win in the South.

"That's sort of new territory for them," Brown said. "But we've also seen it with them getting these major contract wins. And when workers see unions having those types of successes, it makes them sort of think about how that might benefit them in their workplaces as well."

Amid the wins and losses, the political power of unions is being recognized by both Republicans and Democrats.

In a first for the GOP, a Teamsters president, Sean O'Brien, was invited to speak at the Republican National Convention.

The AFL-CIO, representing 60 unions and 12.5 million workers, has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.

RELATED STORY | Disneyland performers vote to join labor union after pay raise

At least 80 people were killed and nearly 50 others were injured in an Israel airstrike early Saturday that hit a school-turned-shelter in Gaza, local officials said.

The Israeli military acknowledged the strike and claimed the school was a Hamas command center, though Hamas denies that claim.

The facility, like most schools in Gaza, was being used to house Palestinians who were forced to flee their homes because of the war. But as of July 6, the United Nations reports 477 of Gaza's 564 schools have been directly hit or damaged in the war, with at least 21 strikes since July 4 leaving hundreds dead.

RELATED STORY | Hamas names Yahya Sinwar, mastermind of the Oct. 7 attacks, as its new leader in show of defiance

Saturday's attack is now one of the deadliest since the war between Israel and Hamas began 10 months ago, and officials believe the death toll is expected to rise.

Fadel Naeem, the director of Gaza City's al-Ahli hospital, told The Associated Press the attack produced some of "the most serious injuries we encountered during the war," including severe burn wounds and many needing their limbs amputated.

Israeli airstrike on Gaza shelter kills at least 80, wounds nearly 50 others

A witness who worked at the shelter said many people were praying inside the school's mosque or were sleeping when the strike hit unexpectedly, with three missiles hitting the two-story building in total, the AP reported.

RELATED STORY | 9 UN staffers fired after probe into involvement in Oct. 7 attack on Israel

In a post on X, a spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces said the country's intelligence found at least 20 Hamas and "Islamic Jihad militants" operating inside the compound, "using it to carry out terrorist attacks."

The spokesperson also said an "initial review" showed Gaza's reports on the death toll, the "precise munitions used" and the strike's accuracy doesn't align with that of the IDF.

Meanwhile, National Security Council Spokesperson Sean Savett said in a statement that U.S. officials have asked their Israeli counterparts for additional details about the country's targets.

"We know Hamas has been using schools as locations to gather and operate out of, but we have also said repeatedly and consistently that Israel must take measures to minimize civilian harm," the statement read. "We mourn every Palestinian civilian lost in this conflict, including children, and far too many civilians continue to be killed and wounded. This underscores the urgency of a ceasefire and hostage deal, which we continue to work tirelessly to achieve."

In Grants Pass, the Oregon city that launched the Supreme Court case that reshaped how communities can approach homelessness, city councilors voted unanimously on Wednesday to designate four spots for camping, in a new effort to address local homelessness.

In three spots, camping is only allowed for 24 hours before a person must move to a different spot. In the other, campers can remain for 96 hours at a stretch.

Any person camping on any other public property will be given 72 hours' notice to move, as per Oregon state law. The penalty will be no more than a $50 fine.

The vote took place after passionate public comment, where some residents believed the measure went too far, and others not far enough.

"I don't want them in our parks, but I also don't want to create more of what we already have," said Grants Pass resident Mike Pelfrey during the public comment period.

"Everybody wants to sit up here and talk about where they should go and how many times they should move, how 'bout give them a home?" said Helen Cruz, a Grants Pass resident who also spoke during the comment period.

"There is no perfect plan, we're just doing the best we can, no matter what we do, no matter where we site these things, there are people who are going to be upset," said city councilor Brian DeLaGrange.

A Supreme Court ruling at the end of June said that penalizing someone for sleeping outside when there is not sufficient shelter available is not cruel and unusual punishment.

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Since then, state and local leaders in the West and beyond have been cracking down on homeless encampments.

That includes California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who last month urged state agencies "to move urgently to address dangerous" encampments, which he says present threats to public health and safety to both the homeless and to others.

Escondido, California is set to do that, enacting a ban on camping in a couple of weeks.

Des Moines, Iowa also recently gave initial approval to fines for sleeping on public property. Camping bans have also been introduced in a couple places in Minnesota.

Proponents believe it's the communities themselves that should have the power to decide what's best in handling homelessness.

"You go and you enforce these bans, but you don't provide an alternative for folks, then they're just going to be displaced," said Sarah Hunter, the director of the Rand Center on Housing and Homeless.

She says the center's research in California shows that encampment sweeps did not result in long-term decreases in unhoused people. In another study, researchers found that displacements from sweeps increase mortality and hospitalizations.

"What we're going to see is just like an increased cost to society, not only for the enforcement of the encampments, but also folks then cycling in and out of emergency rooms, people dying prematurely because of these displacements," she said.

Hunter hopes that while communities work to address camping, they also make efforts to create housing opportunities and follow research-backed approaches.

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"Chaos" and "an explosive experience" is how the co-pilot and captain described being on board a Boeing 737 that suffered a midflight blowout in January.

"This was quite traumatic for the crew and the passengers and injuries we can't see, which we often don't talk about, can have profound, lasting impacts on lives and livelihoods," said Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board

Federal investigators with the NTSB began its two-day hearing Tuesday with Boeing and the company's manufacturers to better understand what led up to midflight blowout.

The fuselage of the plane and the door plug was made in Wichita, Kansas, by Spirit Aerosysyems. Spirit then shipped the fuselage last summer to Boeing's Renton, Washington, facility.

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The plug was taken off when to fix some damaged rivets, but the bolts of the plug were never reinstalled when the plug was put back into place. It's still not clear who took the door plug off at the Renton facility.

The NTSB also released more than 3,000 pages of documents with details and transcripts of interviews with workers, including contractors who said they felt like the "cockroaches of the factory," working six to seven days a week, with major pressure from Boeing.

Other workers interviewed by the NTSB said that the company's safety culture was "garbage."

In an interview during a lunch break, Homendy told reporters: "These are known issues. Again, why does it take a serious tragedy which could have been so much more serious for change to occur?"

"Going into all of this with the 737 Max, and it would really apply to all businesses, frankly, not just airline manufacturers, is that clearly they took their eye off the ball and and they're paying a huge price," said Chris Dane, the president of Hickory Global Partners who has five decades of experience in the aerospace industry.

Despite the high price Boeing is paying, he believes the company is on the right path to fix its quality and culture issues. However, it may take time for the public to believe that.

"They need to fix it and they need to fix it quickly," Dane added. "And it looks like, like they are, they're on that road, but it's going to take some time for that for the perception to catch up to the reality."

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"Since the accident, as a part of our ongoing dialog with the FAA and our comprehensive quality and safety plan, we have established a set of six key performance indicators or KPIs that we are using to roll up and indicate a healthy factory," said Elizabeth Lund, senior VP of quality at Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

Lund was hired in her role in February, and noted during the hearing the company's plans to improve factory safety plans and inspection processes.

Since the Alaska Airlines blowout, production of 737 Max jets dropped below ten per month. It has been steadily increasing to more than 20 planes per month.

The hearing will continue Wednesday.