Retail industry analysts say that rising concerns over theft may have contributed to Walmart’s decision last month to shutter its Portland stores. But it’s likely not the driving factor.

Theft and other crime, the Walmart watchers said, is surely a concern for the chain. But the impact is rarely enough to close an otherwise successful store without warning, and especially without appeals to local officials for assistance.

“The decision to close down a store is typically linked to sales,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of the retail division at GlobalData, a market analysis firm, “which often has nothing to do with thefts or shoplifting.”

After Walmart announced the pending closure of its two Portland locations, the role of retail theft in its departure took center stage as politicians and commentators sparred over the cause on Twitter. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott took aim at Portland last weekend, blaming the closures on “what happens when cities refuse to enforce the rule of law.”

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, however, disputed Abbott’s claim and pointed to the store closures in Texas in recent years, adding, “The retail industry is changing and retail theft is a national issue.”

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How much would you pay for an in-demand Girl Scout cookie?

That's the question being asked of consumers on secondary selling websites such as eBay, where a flavor of Girl Scout cookies called "Raspberry Rally," is seeing a host of listings, according to news reports.

After selling out on official websites, the raspberry-flavor-filled cookie has become a hot secondary market commodity.

A listing on eBay is currently asking $29.99 for one box, which is several times what the typical cookie box costs from the organization (typically about $5) — about a 500% markup. Another Etsy sale posting, which appeared to solicit orders ahead of Girl Scout cookie season for a presale, offered a box of raspberry cookies for $20.98. Insider found a box for $99.99.

(If you're buying cookies from an official Girl Scout site, in some cases, at least, you have to buy at least four boxes, according to Entrepreneur's attempt to buy cookies from Troop 4758, which is also sold out of Raspberry Rally.)

"Wow! Our Raspberry Rally was released online today, and boy did she sell out QUICKLY," the Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay wrote in a Facebook post, as Insider noted.

Girl Scout announced the Raspberry Rally cookies in August 2022, along with the lineup of cookies for its 2023 season, which typically starts in January and runs until April, as CNN noted.

"The thin, crispy cookie is a 'sister' cookie to the beloved Thin Mints™, infused with raspberry flavor instead of mint and dipped in the same delicious chocolaty coating," Girl Scouts wrote in the August press release.

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Green Zebra, a Portland-based healthy convenience store, is closing its doors after ten years in business. The three locations will be closed on March 31.

The local grocer, founded in 2013, tried to redefine convenience stores. Instead of cigarettes, lottery tickets and sugary drinks, Green Zebra was known to offer fresh produce, kombucha Zlurppees and locally sourced meat. The store cites the pandemic, supply chain and economy as factors in its decision to close down.

“We have been holding on by a thread since the pandemic started and have been in austerity mode since then,” said Lisa Sedlar, Green Zebra Founder and CEO. “We experienced 9 straight quarters of increases to our cost of goods, packaging, fuel, insurance, taxes, freight charges and well, pretty much everything. Combine that with supply chain and staffing shortages and razor-thin grocery margins, we just couldn’t overcome all the obstacles. We definitely gave it our all and fought the good fight. We are thankful for the opportunity to have been in service to our community.”

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As harried Americans rush to file their taxes before the April 18 deadline, one of the IRS’s most puzzling rules — to self-report income from crimes — has turned into comedy gold.

Outlined in the IRS Publication 525, the agency tells sticky-fingered taxpayers: “If you steal property, you must report its FMV (Fair Market Value) in your income in the year you steal it, unless in the same year you return it to its rightful owner.”

As for illegal drug sales or bribery, Uncle Same needs you to include those profits in your 1040 form as well.

The reminder has triggered massive mocking on social media, with one Twitter user cheekily asking: ‘So my black ski mask and duffle bag is used as a deductible from robbing the local liquor store?’

An IRS spokesman said he wasn’t aware of any instance where the agency publicly published how many taxpayers reported income from crimes.

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Stevon Williams says he is proud of his job as a bus driver for King County Metro, but he says fentanyl smoke is now so common that it's making him sick.

“I really hadn’t ever heard of fentanyl smoking on the bus when I was hired by Metro," Williams told KOMO News. "I don’t want to be put in a predicament where I’m around drugs every day on my job - I didn’t sign up for that.”

King County Metro data shows there were 1,885 reports of drug use on the bus system in 2022. 52 transit operators reported being exposed to smoke from drugs, and 16 operators filed worker's comp claims, according to data obtained by KOMO News.

“You have people who are on there smoking right beside passengers, right beside mothers with little children. It’s for the drug users, they’re looked out for first," Williams said.

Williams is now on leave while he receives medical testing for exposure to fentanyl smoke.

“I just know when we’re sick, we should be checked and listened to," he said.

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Mayor Ted Wheeler is firing back at Texas Gov. Greg Abbott who recently blamed the upcoming closures of Portland’s last two Walmart locations on the city’s apparent lack of law and order.

Walmart recently announced the stores at Hayden Meadows and East Port Plaza in Portland would permanently close on March 24. According to a spokesperson, the decision was made based upon “several factors,” including profitability concerns.

Although the big box store is closing multiple locations across the country, Abbott took to Twitter and weighed in on the closures in the Rose City.

“This is what happens when cities refuse to enforce the rule of law,” the Texas governor tweeted on Sunday. “It allows the mob to take over. Businesses can’t operate in that environment, and people can’t live in it.”

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Worries about the safety of New York City's deli clerks and bodega workers have Mayor Eric Adams making an unusual request: Members of the public should lower their face masks to reassure store workers they're not criminals, Adams and other city leaders said on Monday.

"We are putting out a clear call to all of our shops, do not allow people to enter the store without taking off their face mask," Adams said in an interview with radio station 1010 WINS.

"Once they're inside, they can continue to wear it if they so desire to do so," Adams said of the policy.

The guidance quickly caused a stir in New York City, where the terrible toll from the early COVID-19 pandemic prompted a mask mandate. At many stores, doors and windows remain plastered with reminders to wear face coverings.

And in a town famous for its no-nonsense culture, questions immediately popped up about the wisdom of putting yet another onus on store workers — and whether armed criminals would follow new rules about masks. Some people also wondered if forcing those with compromised immune systems to remove their masks indoors might itself break the law.

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Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler has asked Nike to reopen its shuttered community store in Northeast Portland “on a limited basis,” even though he says the city can’t meet the company’s request to detail off-duty police officers to provide security.

In his message to company executives, the mayor also revealed two broader strategies he thinks could help the sneaker giant and retailers like it minimize shoplifting and other crime along Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and in the surrounding Eliot neighborhood.

First, a plan to flood the area with extra public safety measures, similar to what the city recently rolled out in Old Town, the Central Eastside and a small but deadly pocket of the Madison South neighborhood near Northeast 82nd Avenue.

Second, a plea for Nike and other retailers to do more on their own to prevent and help prosecute retail theft.

Wheeler outlined his proposal in a letter last week, in which he reiterated some of the reasons behind the city’s dismal police staffing numbers and challenges clearing a backlog of new recruits who have yet to complete required training.

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The National Park Service has an important message for those who encounter a bear in the wild: Don't "push a slower friend down" when running away, even if the friendship is nearing the end of its life.

NPS gave the cheeky advice Tuesday in a series of tweets, saying, "If not friend, why friend shaped? What about your other friend? Seeing a bear in the wild is a special treat for any visitor to a national park. While it is an exciting moment, it is important to remember that bears in national parks are wild and can be dangerous."

As the snow begins to melt and temperatures rise, bears become more active. NPS has some tips you can use to help ward off a potentially lethal situation:

Identify yourself by talking calmly so the bear knows you aren’t prey.
Remain still and stand your ground, but slowly wave your arms.
Stay calm. Remember that most bears do not want to attack, they just want to be left alone.

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Washington is currently taking applications for business licenses to sell legal retail weed in the state through a special program that grants favor to people with certain experience: convicted drug dealers.

The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board opened its "Social Equity Program" this week, which provides "a limited number of cannabis retail licenses to individuals disproportionately impacted by the enforcement of cannabis prohibition laws."

The agency provides a scoring system that assigns points to determine how much an individual has been hurt by the state's previous ban on weed, and priority status for snapping up the more than 40 open licenses available will be given to those who have been incarcerated for a marijuana offense.

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