Savvas Learning Company, a next-generation K-12 learning solutions leader, today announced the acquisition of Pointful Education, a provider of innovative, online career and technical education (CTE) courses that prepare students with the industry knowledge and skills needed for future careers. Specializing in career-focused courses and certification exam preparation for middle and high school students, Pointful Education offers a wide range of virtual and blended learning solutions that engage students in career exploration and prepare them for the workforce. Its robust catalog features 55 courses that are aligned with nationally recognized career clusters. The courses offer engaging instructional design packed with interactives, videos, projects, language translations, and text-to-speech functionality.

Local publications, like city and regional magazines, comprise a unique class. That’s because most people like where they live, and they enjoy reading content that echoes the best aspects of local life. City/Regional magazines are masters at civic storytelling, celebrating the soul of neighborhoods and capturing the essence of local life. And readers respond with a strong passion for their local magazines. Savvy publishers support this passion in a variety of ways. City/Regional magazines often are defined by their great design, excellent photography, insightful long-form journalism and superior printing.

This temporary price adjustment is to help cover extra handling costs to ensure a successful peak season. The planned peak-season pricing, which was approved by the governors of the Postal Service on Aug. 8, would affect prices on the following commercial and retail domestic competitive parcels: Priority Mail Express (PME), Priority Mail (PM) and USPS Ground Advantage. No other products or services would be affected. Pending favorable review by the PRC, the temporary rates would go into effect at midnight Central on Oct. 6 and remain in place until midnight Central on Jan. 19, 2025. This seasonal adjustment will bring prices for the Postal Service’s commercial and retail customers in line with competitive practices.

Costco Wholesale Corporation reported net sales of $19.83 billion for the retail month of August, the four weeks ended September 1, 2024, an increase of 7.1 percent from $18.51 billion last year. For the 16-week fourth quarter, the Company reported net sales of $78.2 billion, an increase of 1.0 percent compared to net sales of $77.4 billion in the 17-week fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023. For the 52-week fiscal year ended September 1, 2024, the Company reported net sales of $249.6 billion, an increase of 5.0 percent from $237.7 billion reported in the 53-week fiscal year 2023.

Google has been hit with a second privacy lawsuit over its Google Cloud Contact Center AI -- an artificial intelligence service used at call centers operated by some outside companies. In a complaint filed this week in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, California resident Christopher Barulich alleges that Google “secretly wiretapped” phone calls he placed to Home Depot. He adds that Google used its technology to transcribe and analyze the conversation, and suggest potential replies to the Home Depot agent who was on the phone.

Contend, a leading content creation and marketing company in Canada and the U.S., has announced a strategic partnership with Postmedia Network Inc., to launch Postmedia Studios, an ambitious project aimed at transforming the Canadian media landscape. This collaboration seeks to harness the potential of Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act, which mandates that all broadcasters, including digital platforms, contribute to the development, production, and distribution of Canadian content. As part of this partnership, all intellectual property will be created, owned, and produced by Canadians, focusing on amplifying Canadian stories through the nation’s largest media network. This initiative aims to enhance the cultural landscape of Canada by providing a platform for Canadian voices and narratives.

“The Wiley leadership team and I are pleased with how we started the year, as measured by both our performance indicators and financial results,” said Matthew Kissner, Wiley President and CEO. “Research delivered solid growth driven by robust demand to publish in our journals and execution of our publishing and go-to-market strategies. Learning delivered strong growth as it sees continued demand for its authoritative content in training GenAI models and core growth in Academic. Finally, we closed our third and final divestiture and actioned the remainder of our $130 million cost savings program, positioning us for further performance and profit improvement.” GAAP Results: Revenue of $404 million (-10%), Operating Income of $29 million (+$45 million)

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the District Court’s March 2023 opinion in favor of publishers Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, John Wiley & Sons, and Penguin Random House, finding Internet Archive liable for copyright infringement and rejecting all four factors of Internet Archive’s fair use argument. The Court squarely addressed the question of whether it is “fair use” for a nonprofit organization to scan copyright-protected print books in their entirety, and distribute those digital copies online, in full, for free, subject to an asserted one-to-one owned-to-loaned ratio between its print copies and the digital copies it makes available at any given time, without any authorization from the copyright owner.

“Our letter carriers and facilities teams across the country, the 640,000 women and men of the Postal Service, are fully focused on the critical mission of delivering the nation’s election mail – just as we have done so excellently through this current primary season and as we have done in the past,” said Postmaster General and CEO Louis DeJoy. “We are proud to do our part to help citizens’ who choose to use the mail to vote to do so effectively.” In the 2020 general election, the Postal Service delivered 99.89 percent of ballots from voters to election officials within seven days. The 2022 midterm elections saw a similar level of on-time performance, with 99.93 percent of ballots delivered within the same timeframe. Post election analysis of the Postal Service’s performance in the 2020 and 2022 elections can be found here and here. The Postal Service has the operational capacity to deliver the nation’s ballots in the final weeks of the election. In 2020, ballots accounted for just .11% of the Postal Service’s total mail volume. USPS officials announced that the organization will once again implement proven extraordinary measures in the weeks immediately before and after the general election (Oct. 21 - Nov. 15, 2024) to enhance the timely delivery of mail-in ballots entered close to or on Election Day and/or the state’s ballot return deadline. These efforts may include additional pickups, extra deliveries, and special sort plans on processing equipment to expedite and enhance ballot delivery.

Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishers, Simon & Schuster, and Sourcebooks have filed a lawsuit against Florida public officials, challenging sweeping book removal provisions of HB 1069, an education law that restricts books in school libraries. The additional plaintiffs joining the publishers are the Authors Guild, bestselling authors Julia Alvarez, Laurie Halse Anderson, John Green, Jodi Picoult, and Angie Thomas, two students, and two parents. As a result of HB 1069, hundreds of titles have been banned across the state since the bill went into effect in July 2023. The list of banned books includes classics such as Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, as well as contemporary novels by bestselling authors such as Margaret Atwood, Judy Blume, and Stephen King. Among nonfiction titles, accounts of the Holocaust such as The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank have been removed.

When it comes to its financial future, America’s mood is improving. In McKinsey & Co.’s latest ConsumerWise analysis, 41% of respondents say they are optimistic about the U.S. economy, up from 33% in the previous quarter. They plan to spend -- and even trade up -- a little more freely in the coming months, especially on essential, semi-discretionary, and discretionary items. That jibes with the just-released monthly Consumer Confidence Index, which shows an increasingly rosy outlook for the economy, the job market and income.

The Postal Regulatory Commission submitted its Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Budget Justification to the Postal Service Board of Governors. Members of the Commission unanimously approved the budget. This marks the third budget request for the Commission under the Postal Service Reform Act- Title 39, United States Code, Section 205. The Commission’s request of $25,400,000 of annual funding for FY2025 supports a total Commission requirement of $28,644,000 and is in line with its role as the primary regulator providing critical oversight, transparency, and expert reporting and analyses on the Postal Service. The remaining $3.264 million would come from a Commission reserve fund and the Technology Modernization Fund. The Commission recently added a new office of Budget and Finance that will serve as a strategic partner for the Commission to plan, execute, and manage fiscal resources necessary for the successful execution of its mission as well as compliance with applicable laws and regulations.