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If youre an egg lover, you know that the cost of a dozen has skyrocketed in recent months. As Fast Company previously reported, depending on where youre located in America, you could be paying anywhere from around $5 per carton to nearly $9. Gone are the days of cheap eggs. But just how bad have things gotten, and where will egg prices likely go in the coming year? Two online egg price tracking tools help crack those answers. Egg price tracking tools The first online egg price tracking tool comes from TradingEconomics.com. Its Eggs US tracker is updated daily and shows how the price of eggs has changed from 2012 to today. Its prices represent the price of futures contracts for eggs. As the site states, Prices for Eggs displayed in Trading Economics are based on over-the-counter (OTC) and contract for difference (CFD) financial instruments. The trackers most recent update shows that the price of a dozen eggs reached $7.09 in January 2025. Thats an increase of over 22%, or $1.28 per dozen, since the beginning of the year. But the chart also reveals some good newsand bad news. If you click on its forecast tab, it will reveal that it expects the price of a dozen eggs to drop to $6.28 by the end of this quarter. However, by the end of 2025, it expects a dozen eggs to surpass even todays high pricetopping out at $7.95 per dozen by the end of December. A second online tool that tracks the price of eggs is from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The tool tracks the average cost of a dozen large Grade A eggs in U.S. cities. While this egg tracking tool will reveal egg prices going back to 1980, the tool is also only updated monthly, so its egg prices are only current until December 2024, when, it reveals, the average cost of a dozen eggs was just $4.146. But those who miss the heyday of cheap eggs might want to avoid this tool, lest they are reminded that, with a few exceptions, up until 2021, the price of a dozen eggs rarely broke the $2 barrier. Why are egg prices skyrocketing? Both charts reveal that egg prices have skyrocketed since around September 2023. But why? As Fast Company previously reported, three main factors are affecting the cost of eggs. The first is inflation: Since 2023, the cost of nearly everything has been going up for American consumers. The second reason is supply chain issues that are partially a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The egg industry continues to suffer from a labor shortage, which hurts production. The third reason is the ongoing bird flu outbreak, which has led to the demise of tens of millions of the creatures we rely on to lay our eggs. President Trump has previously promised on the campaign trail to bring down the prices of eggs, but given the challenges the industry faces, it seems like that is easier said than done.
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The Grammy Awards will look a little bit different this week.Each year, the Recording Academy hosts a multitude of events to welcome the music industry during Grammy week and record labels do the same. However, many institutions have canceled their plansUniversal Music Group, Sony, Spotify, BMG, and Warner Music Group among themand instead are allocating resources to help those affected by the devastating Los Angeles-area wildfires.The Grammys will still take place on Sunday at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles but now will focus its attention on helping wildfire victims. How will Grammy week differ in 2025? Within days of fires ravaging the Pacific Palisades and Altadena neighborhoods, the Recording Academy and its affiliated MusiCares charity launched the Los Angeles Fire Relief Effort with a $1 million dollar donation. According to a letter sent to members on January 13, thanks to additional contributions, they’ve already distributed $2 million in emergency aid.Once the fund was set up, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. said they began focusing on reformatting what Grammy week would look likemany conversations conducted “on the road, mobile-y, virtually” as staffers had evacuated their homes.“That process has really consisted of reaching out to just listen and learn from a lot of peoplestate officials, local officials, the governor’s office, the mayor’s office, the fire department. We talked to hotel managers, just really trying to get a grasp on what was happening currently. What did they project was going to happen in the next week to 10 days? Would be safe to have a show?”Ultimately, the Recording Academy decided to condense its pre-Grammy week plans to just four events, each featuring a fundraising element.On Friday, MusiCares, an organization that helps music professionals who need financial, personal, or medical assistance, will hold its annual Persons of the Year benefit gala celebrating the Grateful Dead.On Saturday, the Special Merit Awards Ceremony and Grammy nominees’ reception will still take place, followed by Clive Davis’ pre-Grammy fundraising event. Then the Grammys take the stage on Sunday.Events like the annual pre-Grammy Black Music Collective event, Grammy advocacy brunch, and others scheduled to take place at the immersive pop-up Grammy house have been canceled.“We thought consolidating the events would allow us to have more impact,” Mason explains. “And we just don’t feel it was the right time to have social gatherings or places to party or schmooze and just hang out. We wanted to have our events be places that could be purposeful and impactful. Some of the party settings, we decided to fold down into our fundraising efforts.” How has the Grammy award show been reformatted? “Obviously, we can’t have a normal show in the midst of people’s belongings being burned or loss of life or other things like that. At the same time, canceling would not have helped,” Mason says.“We needed to raise money. We needed to show unity and come together around music. We need to support the city of L.A. (Over) 6,500 people work on our shows and ancillary gatherings. So, once we decided to move forward, it was really a conversation with (Grammy producers) Ben Winston, Raj Kapoor, and Jesse Collins and myself. And we started to think about, ‘How do we make the show have the greatest impact?'”They decided the path forward was to still give out awards and host performances to give viewers and attendees a bespoke concert experience. But most importantly, the show could raise awareness, drive donations and resources to funds that benefit people in need.And the conversations are ongoing. “We have some great things in the show that will definitely help to raise funds,” he assures. “It will honor some of the heroes that have been protecting our lives and our homes. It will hopefully shine a light on some people that need more help and more services.”Don’t expect a traditional telethon, but he says the show will feature announcements and activations in the arena.“Hopefully we’ll be talking about things that have been pledged from the sponsors or from the community,” he adds. How many Recording Academy members were affected by the fires? “We know right off the bat that we’ve got almost 3,000 requests for help from our members or people in the music community,” Mason says. “So that was just in the first few days.”The immediate needs have been “the basics,” as he explains. “Food, water, shelter, the bare necessities to live.”“The next phase will involve, you know, where they’re going to live, how are they going to replace maybe damaged or destroyed instruments, studios. How will they make a living? I’m sure there’ll be some mental health component that people may need assistance with. But it’s really across the board. But the early, immediate relief is around just the bare necessities.” Has anything like this happened before? There’s no shortage of natural disasters, and they affect the music community too. Mason brings up the COVID-19 pandemic as a recent example. With MusiCares, they were able to contribute “over $40 million to people who needed help.” They have the infrastructure to provide assistance quickly.However, he notes, the Grammys are the first major award show taking place after the wildfires, which means “there’s no playbook for this.”“But I’ve always said it all changes if the fires were to continue, or possibly got worse, or the winds changed. So, I always want to reserve that right. We’re not going to go blindly forward if things are unsafe or if it feels inappropriate,” he says.But consider the fundraising, the economic and financial impacts, and the possibility of unity, “It all makes sense for us to move forward.” For more coverage of this year’s Grammy Awards, visit: www.apnews.com/GrammyAwards Maria Sherman, AP Music Writer
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President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to revise the Pentagon’s policy on transgender troops, likely setting in motion a future ban on their military service.He also ordered troops to be reinstated who had left voluntarily or been booted for refusing COVID-19 vaccines, outlined new rollbacks in diversity programs, and provided for the deployment of a space-based missile defense shield for the U.S.all on Hegseth’s first day.Trump and Hegseth had described parts of the anticipated orders throughout the day, but the exact language did not drop until late Monday. Transgender order A transgender ban had been widely expected, and Trump’s order largely sets the stage for a future banbut directs Hegseth to come up with how that would be implemented in policy.In his order, Trump claimed that service by troops who identify as a gender other than their biological one “conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life” and is harmful to military readiness, requiring a revised policy to address the matter.Trump had tried to ban transgender troops during his first term, but it was tangled up in the courts for years before being overturned by then-President Joe Biden shortly after he took office.Two groups, Lambda Legal and Human Rights Campaign, which represented transgender troops the first time, vowed to fight again.“We have been here before and seven years ago were able to successfully block the earlier administration’s effort,” Lambda Legal attorney Sasha Buchert said. “Not only is such a move cruel, it compromises the safety and security of our country and is particularly dangerous and wrong. As we promised then, so do we now: we will sue.” Space-based missile defense During his first presidency, Trump established U.S. Space Command and the U.S. Space Force, which just marked its fifth birthday. Space continues to be a priority for the president, who has now directed the Pentagon to begin to develop the capability to shoot down missiles from space.For years, the U.S. has cautioned that China, Russia, and others were weaponizing space. It has at times declassified information about both countries’ efforts to create offensive weapons to disable critical U.S. satellites, including the capability to move satellites from orbit, temporarily blind them, or potentially even destroy them.The Space Force is building a low-orbit ring of redundant satellites that can more quickly track and detect potential missile launches.But establishing a way to shoot missiles down from space is something the U.S. has not pursued since President Ronald Reagan announced the Strategic Defense Initiative”Star Wars” as it was commonly knownin the 1980s. The system was never developed due to cost and technological limitations.In his order called “an Iron Dome for America,” Trump called for a multilayer missile defense system capable of countering an array of threats to the U.S., to include development and deployment of space-based interceptors. COVID-19 vaccination At least 8,200 troops were forced out of the military in 2021 for refusing to obey a lawful order when they declined to get the vaccine. Notices advising them they could return were sent out in 2023, but just 113 have reenlisted.The reinstatement process for any who now want to return requires that they meet military entry standards. Trump and Hegseth have persistently stated that the military must not reduce standards.“We will offer full reinstatement to any service member who was expelled from the armed forces due to the COVID vaccine mandate,” Trump told a Republican crowd at the Trump National Doral Miami, a resort he owns. “And we will restore them to their former rank with full pay.”In addition to troops forced out for refusing the shot, the order extends the same offer to anyone who signs a sworn statement saying they left the service voluntarily to avoid the vaccine.The order isn’t expected to have a major impact on the number of service members returning. But it could take a bite out of the budget if more do now, since it requires back pay.To return, all would have to meet weight, fitness, medical, and other requirements, and they could be refused if they now have a criminal record or other disqualifying factor. Officers would have to get recommissioned, which is a simple appointment process.According to the services, 3,748 Marines were discharged, and 25 have opted to reenlist; 1,903 Army soldiers were discharged, and 73 returned; 1,878 sailors were discharged and two returned; 671 airmen were discharged and 13 returned.The Pentagon made the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory in August 2021 for all service members, including the National Guard and Reserve. Then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said getting the vaccine was critical to maintaining a healthy, ready force that could be prepared to defend the nation.The Pentagon formally dropped the mandate in January 2023.Defense officials said then that many troops appeared to use the vaccine mandate as a way to quickly and easily to get out of their service obligations. DEI initiatives Trump also, as expected, issued a sweeping order to abolish all programs, initiatives, and mentions of diversity, equity, and inclusion across the Defense Department and the Coast Guard, which is governed by the Department of Homeland Security.The order looks to scrub “any vestiges” of such initiatives that seek to “promote a race-based preferences system that subverts meritocracy, perpetuates unconstitutional discrimination, and promotes divisive concepts or gender ideology.”It prohibits the departments from promoting or following “un-American” theories that suggest that America’s founding documents are racist or sexist; that discuss gender ideology; and that promote “divisive concepts” such as “race or sex stereotyping.”The order says the defense and homeland security secretaries must issue guidance to implement the order in 30 days. It calls for a review to find any instances of actions taken in pursuit of DEI, which will be due to the defense secretary in 90 days.The secretaries must submit a report to the White House in six months outlining their progress.The Pentagon had already been taking steps to comply with Trump’s initial action ending DEI programs across the U.S. government, and it has had far-reaching consequences. Without clearer direction, agencies were taking a broad approach to removing any content that seemed to run afoul of Trump’s ban.That temporarily included videos of the storied Tuskegee Airmen and World War II Women’s Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs, which were part of DEI training courses for the Air Force’s basic military training. Videos on both the Tuskegee Airmen and WASPs were removed as the courses were taken down last week, cauing an uproar.WASPs were vital in ferrying warplanes for the military. The Tuskegee Airmen were the nation’s first Black military pilots, serving in a segregated WWII unit, and their all-Black 332nd Fighter Group had one of the lowest loss records of all the bomber escorts in the war.On Sunday, the Air Force clarified that the DEI courses had been removed to be edited but that the Tuskegee Airmen and WASP content would continue to be taught. Follow the AP’s coverage of the U.S. Department of Defense at https://apnews.com/hub/us-department-of-defense. Tara Copp and Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press
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