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Pawn shops offer a way for people to get fast cash for loaned items, or for them to shop for items at a discount.When the pandemic hit, pawn shops were deemed essential and stayed open, but the reasons people came in were different than what was expected.“This is how we test diamonds, it’s a diamond tester” Michael Mack, owner of Max Pawn, said while explaining how pawn shops figure out the worth of a ring. “And then we weigh.”This is part of the process at a pawn shop, customers bring an item in and an employee assesses it. They make an offer based on value. If you say yes, you walk out the door with cash. You either keep the money and the shop eventually puts your stuff up for sale, or you bring the money back and reclaim your items.Like all industries, COVID-19 has caused some change.“Business is difficult,” Mack said. “All of these businesses are not able to do business the way they used to, and pawn shops are no different.”However, pawn shops were deemed essential. “We’re a financial institution. We remained open this entire time,” said Andy Zimmerman, CFO at Gold & Silver Pawn Shop.There to provide loans for people in need of fast cash, sometimes to those who don’t have access to a bank.“Unbanked and underbanked, they typically refer to a consumer that finds your typical bank branch not really meet their needs,” said Jonathan Polter, CEO of the app PawnGuru. The app connects customers with pawn shops, without having to go into a store first.“Traditional banks make money off a variety of transactions and because of the financial situation of the unbanked and underbanked consumer, they’re typically not credit-worthy of many of those other products,” Polter said. This was important during the last recession.“When 2008 hit, pawn shops became more prevalent because banks were giving less money to everyone. Before, pawn shops catered to a lower class middle class,” Mack explained. “We had people come in and get a loan on a Ferrari to pay their private school bill.”That’s what shop owners said they expected when the economy took a hit in March.“The anticipation was that the loan balances or the pawns would increase but, in fact, it’s worked the other way, with the federal stimulus, it seems that a lot of the customers typical of a pawn shop have in essence received a raise,” Zimmerman said. Zimmerman works at the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop in Las Vegas, a popular shop and tourist destination.“The outflow of goods versus the inflow of goods has been a surprise to everyone in the industry,” he said.Pawn shops can’t even keep certain items in stock, such as electronics, guns, and jewelry.“We were just selling through thousands of ounces of silver,” Zimmerman said. “The stimulus really had an impact on people’s behavior.”“Also bicycles, everyone wanted to ride a bicycle, so bikes are gone,” Mack said. This left many shops with low inventory, and lots of cash.“Right now, I don’t know that the industry has ever seen this before,” Polter explained. “Their industry is dried up and at the same time, they haven’t really had the time to replenish it.”“Pawn shops are not built to sit on cash,” Polter said. “They’re built to put cash into consumers pockets and that’s how they make money.”Mack’s shop is working with customers like many pawn shops are, offering curbside pickup or lowering loan interest rates for a while. “The asset is the customer,” he said.But without more loans coming in and a low inventory of items, pawn shop owners said there could be trouble further down the line.“We've been affected and if you drive to any other pawn shops there's nothing in their stores at all. So for that to come back we need a normal economy to really get loans and sell things,” Mack said. 3747

OTAY MESA, Calif. (KGTV) - A 7-Eleven employee waiting for his shift to start jumped into action Wednesday when three employees of a Church’s Chicken were shot in south San Diego County. David Walker, who had been inside the Otay Mesa West restaurant just an hour earlier, was sitting in his car when he heard the gunfire that killed a woman and injured two men. “It sounded like firecrackers and that’s what I thought it was at first, at first two, then it kept going,” Walker said. “It went two, pow pow! And it stopped, then it went again. That’s when I realized something was wrong.” The scene became chaotic as people in the drive-thru sped away from the area while others started shouting and running back inside. RELATED: One dead, two more shot at Church’s Chicken in Otay Mesa WestWalker saw the shooter leave the Church’s Chicken. “He was just booking it; he was out that door as fast as he could get out it.” Walker then focused on a disturbing sight: one of the male employees fell out of the back door, bleeding. “So my concentration went to him and I took my belt off, wrapped it around his arm. He had another hole in him, I tried to plug that until police got here.” While he was giving medical aid, Walker talked with the man, who he described as a South Bay resident in his 50s with three children. “Just telling him - calm his breathing, talk to me about his family, tell me about his kids just to calm his breathing down; he was going to black out a couple times.” Walker believes the man was shot twice, in the arm and armpit. He was able to use skills he learned from his sister and ex-partner, both nurses. “He was bleeding so bad, I just had to do what I had to do.” The victim was able to tell Walker the shooter was a man he had seen around the neighborhood. “I’m from this neighborhood; I’m not really surprised that something like this happened. I’ve only worked here for two and a half months but I’ve been here my whole life,” Walker said. San Diego Police said the man was in stable condition about two hours after the shooting. “If he lived, you know I’m happy. I did what I could do to help somebody,” Walker said. 2155

PINE VALLEY, Calif. (KGTV) -- A dozen undocumented migrants were arrested Thursday after they were discovered inside a stack of hay aboard a tractor trailer, Border Patrol says.According to the agency, the discovery was made at the Interstate 8 checkpoint in Pine Valley around 3:30 p.m. Thursday.USBP says a K-9 alerted Border Patrol agents about a void inside the trailer, containing the migrants.All 12 people were arrested along with the 46-year-old driver, who is a U.S. citizen, Border Patrol says.“Human smugglers have no regard for life,” said Chief Patrol Agent Aaron M. Heitke. “This tight space within the hay-stacks was not ventilated and was not designed with passenger safety in mind. I am proud of our agents. Their dedication to service and the preservation of life prevented serious harm from befalling these individuals.” 847

People are taking a lot more road trips because their traditional travel plans have been canceled due to COVID-19.Many are renting RVs for the first time. RV rental website Outdoorsy said in May and June, 93% of their bookings were first timers.“The first thing I would say is don’t worry, you know a lot of the worry is up in your head, because these recreational vehicles looking larger and scary and intimidating to drive," said Jennifer Young, co-found and CMO of Outdoorsy.Young says owners renting on the website are willing to walk an RV newbie through the entire process. If you don't want to drive one, they can come to you and set it up.Insurance is covered for everyone when you rent online.First time renters should really focus on researching where they want to stay.“There are thousands and thousands of private RV parks, national parks, state level parks and BLM lands, free camping space available,” said Young.Depending on where you stay, there may be a fee. In terms of pricing, the average RV rental on Outdoorsy is around 1 per night.You usually only drive on the first and last day, so you're not spending a ton on gas. You can pack food to keep costs down.And to no surprise, those surveyed by Outdoorsy said they felt less stressed and the kids were happier on a road trip.“Spending time outside quite literally is the antithesis of being cooped up,” said Young. “Most of the time you spend when you're traveling is on the hikes exploring new places, checking out a river or a stream, going to a nearby town and just hanging out for the day.”Another popular option now is car camping, essentially packing up a smaller rented vehicle or your own car and sleeping outside. Borrowing or renting camping gear is another way to trim costs. 1768

Parents are approaching back-to-school as best they can, whether their kids are learning at home or face-to-face in the classroom. Many are also relying on after-school programs to help keep their kids mentally and academically successful."The reality is that because most of our schools are virtual or hybrid, after school is all the time and so our programs have been on overdrive to try and meet the need of all of our working parents. And whether you’re working from home or you have to go into work, it’s really hard to do that when you have kids that are home," said Jodi Grant, the Executive Director of the Afterschool Alliance.Grant says after-school programs during the pandemic are essential. The national organization works with 27,000 programs across the country that are not only providing meals to children, but also virtual classroom spaces and childcare for working parents."I think we need to stop and put the kids first. And there’s a lot of creative ways that our kids can be learning, and they don't need to be isolated. After-school programs have jumped to do that and jumped through hoops to do that," said Grant.YMCA of the USA has slowly been reopening some programs since the spring, including a number of day camps this summer. As the fall approached, organizers realized they needed to expand after-school programs."We saw the need in the community to pivot to an all-day childcare model, where the children can now come to the Y, they’ll be separated into different pods and staff as they go through their virtual learning programs via their schools," said Ryan O'Malley with YMCA of the USA.O'Malley says there are more than 370 YMCA locations providing full-day childcare and virtual learning classrooms in 45 states across the country. Boys and Girls Clubs of America has 4,700 locations in the U.S. and right now more than 83% of them are providing some level of service."I think it's critical for both the physical safety but also the emotional safety for those young people and being able to provide those services," said Misty Miller, Senior Vice President for Organizational Development, Field Operations for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.Miller says a majority of their Boys and Girls Clubs have opened in some capacity."With many of our schools being virtual, we have about 1,300 sites that are opening for the full day to be these virtual learning hubs or safety zones, if you will, which is a different place for us. And it's a very expensive place for us. Clubs are increasing their operating costs," said Miller. Boys and Girls Clubs reports it’s spending at least three times as much as it normally does on after-school care to accommodate safety protocols for COVID-19. YMCA of the USA says they've lost more than billion in revenue since the spring and that after-school programs are suffering financially right now."Very much so. I think it's a combination of things. One is that the programs that are operating its much more expensive to do. In many cases they have to rent additional space, they have to hire more staff, it's longer hours. We are pushing very hard in the next COVID bill to get some federal resources into after-school [programs] so that we can do this one-time short-term influx of money," said O'Malley.Some after-school programs are even helping families cover the costs of childcare, since many parents are finding it hard economically right now to pay the fees."We are looking to the communities for that support but we’re also looking to the federal government for that support. Ys are facing financial hardship that only the federal government can provide, so we’re really asking Congress to give back and look for that relief for charities that are so important to keep non-profits open like the Y open," said O'Malley. 3810

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