Partnering: Hancock Whitney has struck a multifaceted partnership with the Urban League of Louisiana, along with the National Housing Services of New Orleans, to increase homeownership opportunities for minorities from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. The announcement, made at the Urban League’s headquarters in New Orleans, includes a $50,000 donation from the bank to Urban League. The bank’s loan originators in the Crescent City and the Capital City will take part in several planned financial education sessions to counsel clients on credit and teach mortgage readiness.
Costly condition: The overall prevalence of diabetes in the U.S. adult population is growing, up from 10.6% in 2008 to 11.5% in the first nine months of 2017, according to the latest Gallup-Sharecare Wellbeing Index. The rising prevalence has not only increased health care costs, but has contributed to lower employee productivity due to unplanned absenteeism, the report says. Over 57 million additional unplanned days of work are missed each year by workers living with diabetes as compared to workers without diabetes, costing U.S. employers $20.4 billion annually. See the full report.
Up for debate: Should elementary and middle school students be permitted to have smartphones in school? The Washington Post reports that’s the question educators are grappling with as more parents send their kids to school with phones, believing they would be safer walking home or in an emergency. One Maryland district recently moved to do away with an old rule requiring kids in lower grades to have special permission from their parents to have smartphones, other parents objected—shocked that children as young as 6 or 7 would be permitted to bring smartphones to school. One father recalled his child’s school banning fidget spinners and Pokémon cards. Why allow cellphones? Read more.
