Newark Memorial High School in the East Bay began dismissing all 45 of its athletic coaches and assistants at the end of their respective seasons last month, telling them they may be rehired next year as part of a new policy.

As NBC Bay Area reports, the Newark Memorial High School community was blindsided Thursday by the news that all of the school’s coaches and assistants were being let go at the end of their seasons and told to reapply next school year, with no certainty about getting their jobs back. Very little information was provided by the school district aside from the move being part of a new hiring policy.

“Newark Unified School District is strengthening its coaching hiring practices to ensure the safety and well being of students,” said Newark Unified School District’s Superintendent Tracey Vackar, who’s retiring this year, per KPIX. “Releasing coaches at the end of each season allows the district to complete required vetting, background clearances, and mandatory trainings so students are supported by properly qualified adults.”

Per Bay Area News Group, coaches are being released on a rolling basis as their seasons end.

“I can’t help thinking about the negative impact on athletics in general,” Gordon Crosby, who coached swimming and water polo at the school for over 30 years, told NBC Bay Area. “When there are question marks and no consistency in a program, then programs fail.”

“These coaches have been here for so long,” parent Jazmin Padilla told KPIX. “It's surprising. It's a decision that, why all of a sudden are they doing this?”

Per KPIX, while the school has yet to provide any comments to the media, some community members have speculated whether the school district is dealing with legal concerns surrounding a particular coach, prompting routine background checks.

“I think they should just let everybody know if there is,” said Padilla, “just so nobody is doubting or has any thoughts of 'what ifs and buts.’”

Crosby told NBC Bay Area he reapplied for his position but was skeptical others did the same. “Will some coaches say ‘Enough is enough, I’m tired of being jerked around’? Crosby said. “I think it’s hard not to think that way after the way it’s all been handled.”

“I would think that they would have the foresight to see that this is not going to attract quality candidates to a school,” Crosby told KPIX, “but it's going to chase them away.”

Image: Newark Unified School District

A federal investigation into a Popeyes franchisee called 14th St. Chicken Corp, which ran three fast food restaurants in Oakland, Tracy, and Newark, revealed that it was illegal hiring employees as young as 13.

The franchisee, which is based at 7007 International Blvd. in Oakland, also had hired minors who worked later and longer than permitted by child labor laws, as well as shortchanged workers by not paying out overtime earnings.

It was apparently the third time that the 14th St. Chicken Corp had been found in violation of labor laws, according to a federal press release.

The company has already had to pay a total of $212,000 in fines, damages, and unpaid wages, with federal investigators saying, "This is the third time that the division has cited the Oakland-based Popeyes franchisee for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act."

The Chronicle reportedly tried to reach the listed CEO and secretary, Mohammad Zarif Noor and Sedig Joe Amin, but he did not respond.

The announcement came nearly nine months after fast food workers held a protest outside that Oakland Popeyes at 7007 International Blvd. over the child labor complaints, per the Mercury News. The restaurant temporarily shut down, but has since reopened.

The original complaint reportedly came from two 17-year-old employees who worked at the Oakland location. They complained of alleged child labor and “frequent violence.” As the Mercury News reported, they said that a 13-year-old girl in the seventh grade was working 40 to 45 hours a week, six days a week, with shifts until midnight on three school nights a week.

Federal laws prohibit the employment of any child under 14 in restaurants, and while 14- and 15-year-olds can be hired, they cannot work during school hours, no more than 3 hours on a school day, more than 8 hours on a non-school day, and no more than 18 hours during a week when school is in session.

"The U.S. Department of Labor is determined to fight child labor violations in all sectors, including the fast-food industry," said Wage and Hour Division Assistant District Director Alberto Raymond in a statement. "Child labor laws protect minors and help ensure young workers enjoy positive workplace experiences without jeopardizing their education."

Image of Oakland Popeyes via Google Street View.

This is not just a Bay Area “doom loop” story, as Dallas-based Ashford Hospitality Trust is handing back the keys to 19 U.S. hotels, four of which are in Oakland, Newark, and Walnut Creek.

One of the primary fallacies of the media-hyped San Francisco “doom loop” narrative is the assumption that retail closures and challenging economic headwinds only apply to San Francisco. When the owners of the Hilton San Francisco Union Square and Parc 55 hotels announced they were surrendering those properties to their lender, media reports tied this to the Nordstrom closure and the ills of the Westfield Center shopping mall.

But it’s hardly a San Francisco problem when a Dallas-based hotel chain announces it's abandoning 19 of its hotels nationwide, surrendering these properties to their lenders in cities like Las Vegas, Phoenix, Atlanta, and Plano, Texas. None of the closures are in San Francisco, but the Bay Area News Group reports that four East Bay hotels are being surrendered as part of this debt offload.

The four are all chain hotels owned by Dallas-based Ashford Hospitality Trust. Per the News Group, the East Bay hotels are the Courtyard by Marriott Oakland Airport in Oakland, Courtyard Newark Silicon Valley in Newark, Residence Inn San Jose Newark in Newark, and Embassy Suites Walnut Creek in Walnut Creek.

The SF Business Times points out these surrenderings were announced Friday, and that “the properties failed to meet debt yield tests or attract offers for more than the debt that is owed.” That publication notes that Ashford Hospitality Trust is keeping 15 of their hotels secured by commercial mortgage-backed security (CMBS) loans, including the Fremont Marriott Silicon Valley.

“This is a prudent economic decision that reflects a comprehensive capital management process by the Company, which explored and assessed multiple options for these assets including refinancing, extensions, and potential asset sales,” Ashford Trust CEO Rob Hays said in a release. And golly, we’re sure seeing a lot of this wealthy companies not paying their bills being framed as a “prudent economic decision” these days.

And there is some hay being made that that Ashford Hospitality Trust’s parent company Ashford, Inc. is helmed by Republican megadonor Monty Bennett, who gave at least $3.8 million to the RNC and the Trump camping in 2020, and also just happened to get $58 million in PPP loans before returning them amidst backlash.

These four East Bay hotels are unlikely to close — the banks will probably just shop them to new owners. And as with the SF Hilton and Parc 55, the public announcement of the nonpayment could indicate this is just be a negotiating tactic to redo the terms of some or all of these loans.

But this clearly marks that other cities are having hospitality and hotel downturns too. Similarly, there was some local media skirmish last week that San Francisco Airbnb bookings were down, supposedly because of the bad press the city is getting. But Airbnb listing revenue is falling all over the country, including in supposedly red-hot Austin, Texas. So there’s clearly a nationwide hospitality downturn, one that’s far more complicated than many headlines suggest.

Related: Owner of SF's Largest Hotel, the Hilton Union Square, Is Walking Away, Surrendering It to Lender [Joe]

Image: Jamal C via Yelp

Check your pockets, folks. Someone who bought a CA Lottery ticket in Newark on April 4 at a Lion Food Center hasn't stepped forth to claim his or her booty. And it's worth $35 million. (Do you even know how many lunches at the Rotunda that can buy you? Like, lots.) The again, according to Lottery spokeswoman Cathy Doyle Johnston, coming forward late with the winning scrap of paper isn't unusual. "It happens fairly frequently, but they usually come in within a couple of weeks," she said. Anyway, if you bought your ticket in Newark and your numbers are 8, 18, 21, 41, 46, and the Mega number is 24, you're in luck.