1) Article 1
Title: McDonald’s fires back in cheese lawsuit filed on behalf of South Florida customers
Link: https://www.local10.com/lifestyle/legal-news/mcdonalds-fires-back-in-cheese-lawsuit-filed-on-behalf-of-south-florida-customers
Description: The franchisors of McDonalds claimed to have no control over pricing in their franchisee’s locations. In many South Florida McDonald locations, customers are forced to pay for cheese on their quarter pounder burger even if they ask for no cheese.
Problem: Customers should not be forced to pay for a product that they are not going to eat. McDonald’s should have a more direct impact on their franchise locations in pricing and strategy.
Who: People who don’t like cheese, all McDonald customers, poor people
2) Article 2
Title: South Carolina shelter animals evacuated to Broward County
Link: https://www.local10.com/weather/hurricane/south-carolina-shelter-animals-evacuated-to-broward-county
Description: In preparation for Hurricane Florence, about 50 animals were transported from animal shelters in South Carolina to shelters in Broward County, FL. They will now be available for adoption in a new county starting next week.
Problem: During natural disasters, many animals are left behind while the families or businesses evacuate. It’s a tough situation, especially for shelters, to help every animal either find and transport to a new shelter or find families very quickly before the storm hits. There were also more animals flown in from Puerto Rico where Hurricane Isaac is projected to hit.
Who: Animal shelters, farms, families with pets
3) Article 3
Title: Colorful umbrella exhibit in Coral Gables to come down
Link: https://www.local10.com/news/florida/coral-gables/colorful-umbrella-exhibit-in-coral-gables-to-come-down
Description: This colorful art piece in Coral Gables, FL has brought over 1 million people to the area. People come from all towns to take a famous selfie with this beautiful backdrop. While providing shade to the streets, they also have become a landmark for Miami. Now being taken down by the city this upcoming Monday, they are selling each umbrella at $25 to help fund future city projects.
Problem: Art is being less and less recognized in cities. They would rather use that space for building a new skyscraper or opening a new business. By the city taking down this art piece, tourism in the city will significantly decrease as well as local businesses and restaurants will suffer.
Who: Miami locals, tourist, surrounding businesses
4) Article 4
Title: Fort Lauderdale residents alarmed as algae blooms infest waterways
Link: https://www.local10.com/news/local/fort-lauderdale/fort-lauderdale-residents-alarmed-as-algae-blooms-infest-waterways
Description: There has been an unsightly blue-green alga in the waterways of Fort Lauderdale. This cyanobacterium has been spotted in downtown marinas and rivers making it very unsafe for people and animals. Locals claim to call it ‘green slime’ as it has been killing the oxygen levels in the water, which is a direct threat to the marine life.
Problem: People are not allowed to water their lawns or go in the water south of Fort Lauderdale. This also provides a threat to the marine life as the oxygen level has been decreasing killing a lot of fish.
Who: Fort Lauderdale residents, businesses, and surrounding cities and beaches; marine industries, water enthusiasts
5) Article 5
Title: Fake contractor stole thousands from 67-year-old woman, police say
Link: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/tamarac/fl-ne-fake-contractor-hurricane-windows-20180913-story.html
Description: Margaret Dorman, a 67-year-old woman, played into the games of an unlicensed contractor to install impact resistant windows in her house. He ended up running away with around $21,000 of her savings. She first began to notice something was off when all of the amounts due was rounded up to the thousands. So, when she called his former company, they stated he was fired months ago and willing to help out with the police.
Problem: Old people are often falling for scams with no protection. They are losing so much money from people fooling them and coming door-to-door.
Who: elderly, retired people, companies, families of old people
Description: In preparation for Hurricane Florence, about 50 animals were transported from animal shelters in South Carolina to shelters in Broward County, FL. They will now be available for adoption in a new county starting next week.
Problem: During natural disasters, many animals are left behind while the families or businesses evacuate. It’s a tough situation, especially for shelters, to help every animal either find and transport to a new shelter or find families very quickly before the storm hits. There were also more animals flown in from Puerto Rico where Hurricane Isaac is projected to hit.
Who: Animal shelters, farms, families with pets
3) Article 3
Title: Colorful umbrella exhibit in Coral Gables to come down
Link: https://www.local10.com/news/florida/coral-gables/colorful-umbrella-exhibit-in-coral-gables-to-come-down
Description: This colorful art piece in Coral Gables, FL has brought over 1 million people to the area. People come from all towns to take a famous selfie with this beautiful backdrop. While providing shade to the streets, they also have become a landmark for Miami. Now being taken down by the city this upcoming Monday, they are selling each umbrella at $25 to help fund future city projects.
Problem: Art is being less and less recognized in cities. They would rather use that space for building a new skyscraper or opening a new business. By the city taking down this art piece, tourism in the city will significantly decrease as well as local businesses and restaurants will suffer.
Who: Miami locals, tourist, surrounding businesses
4) Article 4
Title: Fort Lauderdale residents alarmed as algae blooms infest waterways
Link: https://www.local10.com/news/local/fort-lauderdale/fort-lauderdale-residents-alarmed-as-algae-blooms-infest-waterways
Description: There has been an unsightly blue-green alga in the waterways of Fort Lauderdale. This cyanobacterium has been spotted in downtown marinas and rivers making it very unsafe for people and animals. Locals claim to call it ‘green slime’ as it has been killing the oxygen levels in the water, which is a direct threat to the marine life.
Problem: People are not allowed to water their lawns or go in the water south of Fort Lauderdale. This also provides a threat to the marine life as the oxygen level has been decreasing killing a lot of fish.
Who: Fort Lauderdale residents, businesses, and surrounding cities and beaches; marine industries, water enthusiasts
5) Article 5
Title: Fake contractor stole thousands from 67-year-old woman, police say
Link: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/tamarac/fl-ne-fake-contractor-hurricane-windows-20180913-story.html
Description: Margaret Dorman, a 67-year-old woman, played into the games of an unlicensed contractor to install impact resistant windows in her house. He ended up running away with around $21,000 of her savings. She first began to notice something was off when all of the amounts due was rounded up to the thousands. So, when she called his former company, they stated he was fired months ago and willing to help out with the police.
Problem: Old people are often falling for scams with no protection. They are losing so much money from people fooling them and coming door-to-door.
Who: elderly, retired people, companies, families of old people
Hi, Jessica! Researching articles for this exercise made me realize how many sad stories there are in the world. Two of your articles stood out to me. The first is the one about people having to leave their pets behind due to natural disasters. A great opportunity could be coming up with a disaster-friendly shelter of some sort, where the building housing the animals could withstand the forces of nature and keep the pets safe. The other article is was Article #5. There are so many stories of old people being scammed or falling victim to the bad guys. I can see lots of opportunities here as well, finding ways to help the elderly protect themselves from scams or even from violent attacks, burglars, car thieves, etc.
ReplyDeleteGood afternoon Jessica!
ReplyDeleteAll of your articles were good, the one that stood out to me most was article #1. There is a problem with customers being charged for products that they don't want on their meals. That's really not fair for those customers who can't eat cheese because they may be lactose intolerant but still be forced to pay for cheese.
I agree with you that McDonalds should have a more direct impact with the franchises. If not, this problem may lead customers to go to other competitors.