Briefs for Tuesday
The Avista Foundation recently announced its latest grants to nonprofit organizations in Washington, Idaho and Oregon to benefit youth development and education.
The foundation awarded $276,700 to 25 nonprofit organizations, including the Boys & Girls Club of Spokane County. That organization received a $75,000 grant that will go toward building a new facility in Spokane.
“Supporting organizations that provide services to youth and families is an important part of our commitment to invest in our communities,” Dennis Vermillion, Avista Corp.’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “We also want to help broaden educational opportunities – such as support for after school programs, expanding STEM curriculum, culturally relevant learning experiences, or funding scholarships for post-secondary education and technical training.”
The Avista Foundation allocated additional grants supporting higher education to the Community Colleges of Spokane, the University of Idaho, Eastern Washington University and Washington State University.
Other grant recipients include Inland Northwest Farmers Market Association, Spokane Eastside Reunion Association, Odyssey Youth Movement and World Relief Spokane, among others.
The Avista Foundation has awarded more than $10 million in grants since 2002.
WhatsApp facing EU complaint
LONDON – Facebook’s WhatsApp faces a complaint from European Union consumer groups who say the chat service has been unfairly pressuring users to accept a new privacy update in what it calls a breach of the bloc’s regulations.
The European Consumer Organisation, or BEUC, filed a complaint Monday over the way WhatsApp has brought in changes to its terms of service and privacy policy, saying they aren’t transparent or easily understood by users.
Many WhatsApp users switched to other chat apps like Signal and Telegram because of privacy concerns when the update was rolled out earlier this year because of concerns the changes would give Facebook access to more information on users.
“WhatsApp has been bombarding users for months with aggressive and persistent pop-up messages to force them to accept its new terms of use and privacy policy,” BEUC Director General Monique Goyens said. “They’ve been telling users that their access to their app will be cut off if they do not accept the new terms. Yet consumers don’t know what they’re actually accepting.”
BEUC and consumer rights groups from eight member countries filed the complaint to the EU’s executive Commission and the bloc’s network of consumer authorities. WhatsApp said the complaint is based on a misunderstanding of the update’s purpose and effect and would welcome the opportunity to explain it to the BEUC.
Idaho Dept. of Labor reopens offices
The Idaho Department of Labor is re-opening remote locations in 40 cities to return to its pre-pandemic service delivery levels for job seekers and employers.
Walk-in hours and appointment times are available for the same employment services staff traditionally provide including resume writing, applying for jobs, filing for unemployment insurance benefits, mock interviews, job training assistance, access to community resources and more, the department said in a news release.
Idaho businesses are also encouraged to use the department’s remote service locations for support with recruiting employees, listing job openings, collecting applications and accessing additional workforce resources.
Mobile office locations and service hours can be accessed at labor.idaho.gov/officedirectory.
One-Stop Labor offices are located in Sandpoint, Post Falls, Lewiston and Orofino. They are open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. except holidays.
From staff and wire reports