K-12 Funding Crunch: National Life Group’s LifeChanger of the Year Back to School Supply Grants found 3,544 educators spent an average $626 of their own money on classroom supplies, underscoring a widening gap in teacher funding. Immigration & Labor Demand: USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub shows “Other Services (except Public Administration)” filings in 2025—Alabama (9, all approved), Iowa (6, 5 approved), Ohio (72, 71 approved), Connecticut (17, 15 approved), plus similar counts in North Dakota (3), Missouri (15), Maryland (37), and Kansas (6). Corporate Restructuring: Starbucks plans to close about 250 underperforming coffeehouses this week; Bay Area closures include 13 locations across Concord, Gilroy, Hercules, Lafayette, Millbrae, Mountain View, San Carlos, San Jose, Santa Rosa, South San Francisco, and Walnut Creek. Energy Investment: DOE awarded $99M for 21 geothermal projects, splitting between field tests and exploration drilling to scale next-gen geothermal. Markets & Rates: Treasury yields surged—10-year topping levels not seen since 2007—while stocks held up, as investors weigh growth, deficits, and inflation risk. Crypto & Regulation: The SEC issued new staff FAQs on when crypto buybacks and network upgrades may raise securities-law questions, emphasizing context over automatic classification. AI Infrastructure Politics: A Brookings-linked study warns AI build-outs could absorb ~3.6% of GDP through 2032 and rely on complex financing that may carry systemic risk. Geopolitics & Oil: Iran’s Hormuz reopening proposal and U.S. responses kept crude volatile, with WTI sliding back near $92.