ShareRead ModeNavigate to:The trend toward robots and computers taking jobs people have held is getting a big push from COVID-19.A human face behind the counter is traditionally a welcome sight, but now people are warier of close contact with strangers. That opens the door to robots taking orders, flipping burgers, even delivering room service meals.“This was an issue for germaphobes, and now everybody is going to be a germaphobe. The future started in March,” said Johannes Moenius, a University of Redlands business professor.Adding some robots can help factories keep up production when...…ShareRead ModeNavigate to:The trend toward robots and computers taking jobs people have held is getting a big push from COVID-19.A human face behind the counter is traditionally a welcome sight, but now people are warier of close contact with strangers. That opens the door to robots taking orders, flipping burgers, even delivering room service meals.“This was an issue for germaphobes, and now everybody is going to be a germaphobe. The future started in March,” said Johannes Moenius, a University of Redlands business professor.Adding some robots can help factories keep up production when...WW…

Read time:Read ModeEditor's note: This story was updated to clarify the California Department of Food and Agriculture's role in the Farm to Family program.As the pandemic shut down restaurants this spring, California farmers and ranchers saw their markets drop by half, leaving many with fields full of crops but no buyers. And as millions of people lost their jobs, the state’s food banks needed to triple their food supply.Fortunately for California, the state had a longstanding initiative tailor-made to help with these twin crises. The Farm to Family program, run by the California...…Read time:Read ModeEditor's note: This story was updated to clarify the California Department of Food and Agriculture's role in the Farm to Family program.As the pandemic shut down restaurants this spring, California farmers and ranchers saw their markets drop by half, leaving many with fields full of crops but no buyers. And as millions of people lost their jobs, the state’s food banks needed to triple their food supply.Fortunately for California, the state had a longstanding initiative tailor-made to help with these twin crises. The Farm to Family program, run by the California...WW…

ShareRead ModeNavigate to:Over the past 4 1/2 years, The Pew Charitable Trusts has collected and shared data about the numerous repairs needed throughout our country’s 100-year-old National Park System and worked with hundreds of local and regional organizations around the nation to share this information with policymakers. These case studies include national historic sites that have been closed to visitors because of structural and safety concerns, such as  in Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in West Virginia. Or Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky, which has a decades-old...…ShareRead ModeNavigate to:Over the past 4 1/2 years, The Pew Charitable Trusts has collected and shared data about the numerous repairs needed throughout our country’s 100-year-old National Park System and worked with hundreds of local and regional organizations around the nation to share this information with policymakers. These case studies include national historic sites that have been closed to visitors because of structural and safety concerns, such as  in Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in West Virginia. Or Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky, which has a decades-old...WW…