By : Jalalaisa Geleto

The lockdown that started in March has caused hundreds of thousands of businesses to close down, but the restaurant industry has been hit the hardest.

The reason restaurants have been suffering more than any other business is because of the small margin of profit they make. According to ‘Restaurants 365′ the average margin of profit a restaurant makes is 3 – 5 %. For bigger chains like Mcdonalds it’s around 10%.

During the first few months of lockdown restaurants were completely closed meaning they had to sustain workers, supplies, and a building, while making no money to pay them at all. Because restaurants tend to make smaller profits there was only so much money the owners could save up to pay all their future bills.

Restaurants couldn’t pay up because restaurants’ financial model isn’t effective at all without customers for a long period of time.

16,000 restaurants have been permanently closed since the beginning of the lockdown, that’s 60% of all restaurants that closed form the pandemic according to ABC News. The restaurant industry is not going to recover from this for a very long time.

Now that the lockdown has loosen up, restaurants are now allowed to open up but only under strict guidelines. This helps the surviving restaurants very little because they have to spend extra money (which they probably don’t have) on the safety guidelines that their state demands, and serve less than half of the customers they would usually get before the pandemic.

This will lead to restaurants laying off workers because they support their full work force when they already have to pay for equipment to reach their states safety guidelines and their customers being cut in half. As I stated before, restaurants have a very small margin of profit therefore they are going to sacrifice a lot of things to even get there again.

ABC News reports that around 40% of the surviving restaurants believe they will make a full recovery with government assistance by the end of the year. Only 6,400 of the over 26,000 restaurants closing this year plan on making a full recovery this year.

Many business owners want the safety guidelines to go away so they can go back to when things were normal, but state governments have ignored their cries.

More restaurants might close in the future but they have definitely slowed down for now.

Things might start to fully open up again and the state mandated guidelines might go away allowing restaurants to go back to their old ways and hire more waiters and cooks. Only time will tell.

For more information, please visit:

• https://abcnews.go.com/Business/16000-restaurants-closed-permanently-due-pandemicyelpdata/storyid=71943970https://www.restaurant365.com/restaurant-industry-trends/

By: David Meyer

Starting over a century and a half ago, state parks have been great places for visitors to camp, to hike, and to view the amazing wildlife and scenery. They have also been safe havens for wildlife and people alike. However, with the introduction of COVID-19, this past year, state parks have had to shut down. Many reopened soon after the quarantine was lifted, but some were still unable to open to the public. This is because people who help maintain the parks got COVID-19 or are highly susceptible to getting it. 

With that being said, the pandemic has created an eagerness to get outdoors since quarantine ended because people want a change of scenery. Large numbers of people quickly began to fill up the parks with more visitors and more people willing to pay money to stay at these parks. This overflow helped many state parks recoup much of the money they had lost from their months of closure.

However, the increased revenue has ended up deficient in combating the issues that many state parks are facing. With the large influx of people, there has been an increase in trash and coronavirus littering throughout the parks. In turn, this leads to many workers at state parks having to go out more to help pick up the trash while increasing the chance for employees to contract COVID-19. Because of this, more state parks are beginning to close not only from having less healthy workers to maintain the parks but also from the lack of funding states can provide to help keep them open.

At the moment, many state parks have been staying open despite these troubles, but hopefully people maintain their excitement of visiting state parks after the pandemic eventually ends, so our beautiful parks can remain open to visitors and continue to be havens for wildlife and people alike.

Looking for somewhere to go this Christmas, here are some places to consider if you have the funds: 

• London, England- London has great things during the holiday season like going on a Christmas river cruise, visiting one of the Royal Parks, and going ice skating at JW3.

• The Maldives– The Maldives is a chain of 1192 islands located south-west of Sri Lanka and India in the Indian Ocean. Flying time from the United States to the Maldives takes about 20 hours, 4 minutes. In Maldives you can snorkeling, go diving, go fun tubing, have a private picnic on a sandbank, and go whale watching.

• Jerusalem, Israel– Israel is a holy city for Muslims, Jews, and Christians. You can explore the Western Wall, Holy Sepulcher, Tower of David, Bethlehem, Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee, the Golan Heights, Haifa, and the Mount of Olives.

• Honolulu, Hawaii– From Minnesota to Honolulu, Hawaii, it takes about 13 hours to fly. There are plenty of fun things to do in Hawaii like: go on a Makani Catamaran, go to the Honolulu Museum of Art, go to Pearl Harbor Historic Sites, go on a Diamond Head Hike, go to Waikiki Beach, and go snorkeling in Hanauma Bay.

• San Jose, Costa Rica– Costa Rica is a rainforested Central American country with coastlines on the Caribbean and Pacific. In Costa Rica you can go ziplining; it is one of the most essential things to do there. You can also go horseback riding, go on a sunset sailing cruise, go on a private boating tour in the Gulf of Papagayo, and you can go canoeing.

Visit these sites for more information: https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/travel-guide/g12919081/places-to-go-for-christmas/

I think that all Minnesotans can agree that our winters are cold.

But, there are two kinds of Minnesotans during the winter: those who embrace the cold, and those who don’t. This article is a list of activities to do this winter to bring out the inner, cold, Minnesotan within you.

1) Lake Superior Ice caves

The Lake Superior Ice caves are a truly amazing place to visit this winter.

It’s an amazing experience that has been around for a billion years. People say you can’t imagine the beauty of it until you see it for yourself. The caves are in a rural section of the coastline and there is a 1 mile hike across the frozen coast to reach them.

2) Roseville Oval 

The Roseville oval is a huge outdoor skating rink for hockey players, figure skaters, and just about anyone regardless of their skill level at skating. The Roseville oval is unique because of its size and is definitely a place to spend one of your cold days this winter.

 3) Keg and Case Market

Another way to enjoy your Minnesota winter, without having to deal with the cold, is to visit the Keg and Case Marketplace on West 7th Street, in Saint Paul.

This market is very unique and doesn’t offer what your normal farmer’s market would. The stores here vary from, bubble tea and homemade cotton candy, to a mushroom farm and pottery.

4) Saint Paul Winter Carnival

The Saint Paul Winter Carnival is an event, more of a tradition, that has been happening in Minnesota for a little over a hundred and fifty years! This carnival consists of ice sculptures, ice themed games, food trucks, vendors, and the classic Vulcans Vs King Boreas parade/ battle to determine if we will have a long winter or spring is on its way.

Overall, these are fun, entertaining, and unique places to visit in Minnesota this winter. You’re sure to be amazed with all of them, and to be surrounded with Minnesota culture.

Halloween has passed, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a jump on next year. Here are some candy ideas for the next time October 31st comes around.

Hershey’s Glow in the Dark:

Hershey’s chocolate and Reeses peanutbutter cups are delicious, right? Imagine getting these on Halloween but glow in the dark. They are fun chocolates that taste exactly the exact same as the traditional ones. You can buy 230 of these fun sized treats with $20. 

Reese’s Peanut butter cup eyeballs:

Add a twist to your candy bowl and give out Reese’s in cool eyeball shapes. They are spooky mini treats. But don’t worry, they still taste like normal Reese’s peanut butter cups. They come in small packets. 

Reese’s Peanut Butter cup bats:

Not only can you get Reese’s looking like spooky eyeballs, but also Reese’s in the shape of bats. They are fun treats to get. They are available in individually wrapped punches for your convenience.  

Spooky cat marshmallow Peeps:

Remember those yellow Peeps you would get for Easter? Now you can get some more Halloween festive ones to hand out. They’re purple and full of sugar. Trick or treaters will love them.

Cookies and Creams M and M’s:

Now you can get cookies and cream M and M’s. They come in dark and white Halloween festive colors. Spice up your candy collection with these. They taste like the yummy cookies and cream flavor along with the traditional chocolate.  

By Maddie Baggenstoss and Daniela Fernandez

Minnesota is a great place to be during the summer. Here are some of the best places to explore this summer!

Grand Marais is a great place to go in Northern Minnesota. It’s a small town on the waterfront of Lake Superior. There are many small restaurants, stores, museums, and trails to go on while you visit. Some of these places are the Cook County Museum, Pincushion Mountain Trail, and the Grand Marais Harbour point according to Google. Not to mention the beautiful view of Lake Superior, which you can go on.

The Boundary Waters is another amazing place to go in Minnesota. While there you can canoe and kayak in Lake Superior. As you travel the lake you can also look at the amazing sights and views of nature. You can even look at the amazing and beautiful wildlife all around the Lake as you camp there according to Google.

Gooseberry Falls State Park is another beautiful place to visit. Located in northern Minnesota you can walk the trails and see the falls. While there you can take a hike through the park and see all the falls the park has to offer according to Google.

Split Rock Lighthouse in Two Harbors, Minnesota is a great place to go. While there you a tour the lighthouse and see the view from the top of Lake Superior, and visit the State Park. You can also visit the museum and the lighthouse’s history according to Google.

Taylors Falls is a fun place to go with family. While there you can canoe and kayak the St. Croix River, and take a boat tour. Another fun thing to do is go hiking through the park and camp. While hiking you can see ancient lava flow traces and glacial holes according to Explore Minnesota.

Itasca State Park is Minnesota’s oldest state park, and it is located right at the beginning of the Mississippi river. It has over 30,000 acres of land and over 100 lakes. It offers many beautiful views and several dozen campsites.

Don’t forget the local stuff. The twin cities has a lot to offer on a warm summer day! A quick search will reveal seemingly endless options. Some of our favorites include art museums, local coffee shops and restaurants, and bike trails. Did you know that Minneapolis has over 200 miles of bike trails? If you don’t have your own bike, try renting a lime green bike from Nice Ride Minnesota.

Have fun this summer, and see you all next year!