
AP News Summary at 6:42 p.m. ESTPHOENIX — We saw several new businesses debut throughout the Valley but unfortunately, we also saw some doors close permanently. Here’s a look at some of the establishments we had to say goodbye to. BARRIO CAFÉ Barrio Café in Phoenix opened its doors in 2002 and inevitably a lot of things happened over the course of 22 years. Dishes 'got deeper', a pandemic broke out, owner Silvana Salcido Esparza was diagnosed with sarcoidosis, and the support she's found in the Valley grew over the years. In May, Esparza, better known as Chef Silvana, closed the iconic restaurant near 16th Street and Thomas Road. In a one-on-one interview with ABC15’s Nicole Gutierrez, Esparza opened up about how she was going to make “room for greatness” despite retiring and closing the restaurant. SERRANO’S DOWNTOWN CHANDLER RESTAURANT Serrano’s Mexican Restaurants closed its downtown Chandler location in June and listed the property for sale. The Serrano family, which has operated the restaurant chain in the Valley for 44 years, said in a March 5 announcement that the Chandler location, at 141 S. Arizona Ave., is one of its largest restaurants and is quite costly to run on a day-to-day basis. HALF MOON WINDY CITY SPORTS GRILL After 18 years, Half Moon Windy City Sports Grill closed its doors in Phoenix in February. Don Talbot and Clay Moizo, co-owners, told ABC15 that the decision to close was out of their hands. “They informed us middle to the end of last year that as our lease was coming up and expiring that they would not be renewing it and that we would be able to operate up until roughly this time Super Bowl or possibly a little bit later,” Moizo told ABC15. Moizo says the landlord will be “building high-rise apartments.” DEVIL'S ADVOCATE BAR & GRILL The Devil’s Advocate Bar & Grill , a longtime staple of many within the Arizona State University community, announced it will shut its doors after 15 years. Devil’s Advocate, located near Rural Road and University Drive, said it was selling its leasehold back to the property owners. The location will operate through Dec. 28, 2024. LITTLE O'S O.H.S.O. Brewery’s sister concept Little O's has closed its Phoenix location near 7th Avenue and McDowell. The business made the announcement ‘ A Heartfelt Goodbye, Little O’s on 7th Avenue ’ on their website and social media, writing the following: We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has supported us over the years. Our proprietor Summer has made the difficult decision to leave the desert. Without her, we can’t continue, as she was the heart and soul of Little O on 7th. As a result, we closed our doors today. The memories we’ve made here will never be forgotten. LO-LO’S CHICKEN AND WAFFLES IN GILBERT The local business officially closed its doors in Gilbert, as its owners decided to not renew the lease. The local restaurant chain posted a statement on Instagram regarding the closure of the East Valley location. BUCA DI BEPPO Buca di Beppo’s location in Chandler, Arizona has been permanently closed, according to Google, as well as the location's voicemail. The good news is other Valley locations remain open. The states of California, Florida, Utah, and others in the country have reported Buca di Beppo restaurant closures. THUNDERCAT LOUNGE The 80s-early 90s dance club concept in Downtown Phoenix , which opened in January has permanently closed its doors as of Tuesday, November 26. Over the past months, the venue is said to have hosted more than 200 events. The remaining events that were programmed for December were then hosted at 'Thunderbird Lounge,' which is another Valley concept of the owners. PICKLEMALL It was just last August of 2023 that the 104,000-square-foot pickleball facility occupied the former At Home store at Arizona Mills and became the first U.S. 'Picklemall' location . The doors to this pickleball facility closed in July and moved its operations to Arizona Athletic Grounds in Mesa with dozens of outdoor pickleball courts. BIG LOTS Big Lots is beginning the "going out of business" sales at all of its remaining stores after a possible deal to sell the company to Nexus Capital Management fell through. The company says it will continue to effort an "alternative going concern transaction" with Nexus or another company, but with no deal in sight, it is beginning the "GOB process." The company has previously closed several Arizona locations as it went through the bankruptcy process, though nine locations in the Valley appear to remain open, according to its website. It's unclear how long the remaining Valley locations would stay open if a sale is not complete. To see which locations are still open while the going-out-of-business sale continues, use the store locator tool on its website. MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INC. The company said it intends to shut down its Tempe computer chip factory as it tries to curtail costs amid an anticipated slowdown in sales. In a regulatory filing released after the markets closed, Microchip (Nasdaq: MCHP) CEO Steve Sanghi – who moved back into the company's top job at the end of November – said that after he did a deep dive into the Chandler-based company's operations, he "determined that certain actions are necessary," according to a statement emailed to the Business Journal. 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Philadelphia (9-2) at Baltimore (8-4) Sunday, 4:25 p.m. EST, CBS BetMGM NFL Odds: Ravens by 3. Against the spread: Eagles 7-4; Ravens 6-5-1. Series record: Baltimore leads 3-2-1. Last meeting: Ravens beat Eagles 30-28 at Philadelphia on Oct. 18, 2020. Last week: Eagles beat Rams 37-20; Ravens beat Chargers 30-23. Eagles offense: overall (3), rush (1), pass (25), scoring (7) Eagles defense: overall (1), rush (7), pass (3), scoring (6) Ravens offense: overall (1), rush (2), pass (3), scoring (2) Ravens defense: overall (24), rush (2), pass (31), scoring (10) Turnover differential: Eagles plus-3; Ravens plus-2. RB Saquon Barkley. Barkley has not only turned the Eagles into legitimate Super Bowl contenders, his numbers could make him the first non-QB to win MVP since Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson in 2012. He had a career-high 255 yards on 26 carries and two rushing TDs against the Rams. It was the ninth-best single-game rushing performance in NFL history. Barkley has only played against Baltimore once, and finished with 83 yards rushing and a touchdown in October 2022. RB Derrick Henry. Not to be outdone, Henry is close behind Barkley in the race for the NFL rushing title, trailing 1,392 yards to 1,325. His 15 total TDs lead the league. This is the first meeting between players with at least 1,300 yards rushing since Week 16 of 2012, when Peterson's Minnesota team faced Houston and Arian Foster. Baltimore's Lamar Jackson vs. Philadelphia's top-ranked defense. Jackson has been particularly good with ball security this season. He's thrown only three interceptions. The Eagles lead the league with 46 points off turnovers since Week 8. Eagles: Philadelphia lost the heart of the team when DE Brandon Graham announced after last week's game that he was out for the season with a torn triceps. He said previously this would be his final season. Graham has 3 1/2 sacks this season, his 15th with the Eagles. ... The Eagles should know closer to game day if CB Darius Slay (concussion) and WR DeVonta Smith (hamstring) will play against the Ravens. Ravens: Star LB Roquan Smith (hamstring) did not play against the Chargers, but he was back at practice this week. The past three meetings between the teams have been decided by a combined four points. In fact, only one matchup in the series — Baltimore's 36-7 win in 2008 — has had a margin of more than five. ... The past two meetings came down to 2-point conversion attempts by Philadelphia near the end of the game, and both times the Eagles failed. ... John Harbaugh spent a decade on the Eagles' staff before becoming Baltimore's head coach in 2008. The Eagles have started 9-2 or better in three consecutive seasons. ... Nick Sirianni is the first Eagles head coach with winning seasons in each of his first four years with the team. ... Over the past 30 years, only five coaches have opened 9-2 or better in three straight years: Sirianni (2022-24 Eagles), Sean Payton (2018-20 Saints), Bill Belichick (2014-17 Patriots), Tony Dungy (2005-07 Colts) and Mike Shanahan (1996-98 Broncos). ... Philadelphia’s seven-game winning streak is tied for its third-longest stretch in a single season since 2004, trailing only the 2017 (nine) and 2022 (eight) seasons. ... The Eagles are second in the NFL with a .719 (23-9) road winning percentage since 2021, trailing only Kansas City (23-8) in that span. ... The Eagles have held opponents to fewer than 300 total yards for seven straight games, their longest streak since 2008. ... The Ravens have at least two sacks in 15 straight games. That's the longest active streak in the NFL. ... Jackson is 23-1 in games started against the NFC. ... Baltimore has scored TDs on 78.7% of its red zone trips, tops in the league. ... The Ravens are the first team in the Super Bowl era with at least 3,000 yards passing and 2,000 yards rushing through the first 12 games of a season. ... Jackson is the first player since 2020 (Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers) with at least 3,000 yards passing and a passer rating of at least 115 entering Week 13. ... Odafe Oweh and Kyle Van Noy have eight sacks apiece for Baltimore. The Ravens, Texans and Vikings are the only teams with two players who have reached that total. ... Baltimore has gone three straight games without scoring in the first quarter. Ravens TE Mark Andrews has a TD catch in two of his past three games and appears to be Baltimore's top option at that position despite the presence of Isaiah Likely. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nflUltimate guide to Bitcoin: How and what to buy, how to protect yourself... and if you can make a fortuneJust after Apple was sued for using surveillance in technology , the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued guidance for employers regarding employee use of wearable technology. The 21st Century has seen numerous technological advances with the impressive ability to track the person wearing the device's activities and monitor their sleep schedule, stress levels, heart rate, and blood pressure. Some of the technology can even perform diagnostic testing, such as an electroencephalogram. Employers who require employees to wear technology that tracks physical and mental conditions may be conducting “medical examinations” under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Specifically, the EEOC indicates the “ADA strictly limits disability-related inquiries or medical examinations for all employees, not just those with disabilities, to situations when it is ‘job related and consistent with business necessity’ for a specific employee, or otherwise permitted under the ADA, 42 U.S.C. § 12112(d)(4)(A).” The ADA provides that a medical examination or a disability-related inquiry is “job related and consistent with business necessity” when an employee has a medical condition that poses a significant safety risk that cannot be reduced by means of providing a reasonable accommodation. Purely by way of example, a disability-related inquiry or medical examination is only permitted when required by federal or state safety-related laws or regulations, employees in certain positions (i.e., police officers and firefighters), and when the inquiry or examination is part of an employee health program designed to promote health or prevent disease. If the inquiry or examination is outside these statutorily authorized purposes, then an employer risks being noncompliant with the ADA. Moreover, when an employer collects the data described above, employers are required to maintain those records separately and treat that data as confidential medical information. Notably, the EEOC says employers may also be required to make an exception to a wearable technology policy as a reasonable accommodation under Title VII, the ADA, or the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, even if the ADA allowed an employer to collect medical information from wearable technology. Based on the EEOC's guidance, employers who are contemplating implementing wearable technology policies, or who already have them in place, should ensure they follow applicable laws and policies.
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