We start our newsletter today with the terrible news of a television news helicopter crash in Charlotte, North Carolina, that killed the pilot and a WBTV meteorologist. Police say the pilot flew the chopper heroically to avoid interstate traffic. Go here to learn more about what happened, hear what colleagues said about their two coworkers, and learn how a horrific TV station chopper collision more than a decade ago led to increased safety.

Have you noticed that when you go to CVS or Walgreens that more and more stuff is locked up in cages? Retailers say shoplifting is killing them. Rite Aid lost $5 million dollars to shoplifters at one store in New York City in the last quarter. Read that again. One quarter, one store $5 million dollars’ worth of stuff--gone. Target estimates shoplifters are costing it $400 million a year. This is not petty theft; it is organized crime. 

When voters went to the polls this month, they said crime was one of the big issues on their minds. But when we drill down on crime figures, it seems that Americans, once again, overestimate the likelihood that they will be crime victims. Most categories of crime in most cities are declining. But if you compare the 2022 rates to 2021 or 2020, when we were in the depth of the pandemic, you might be making a comparison that leads to a false conclusion. Let’s dive into the data together, not to sugar-coat a problem, but to understand the paths to real crime solutions, not catchy slogans.

Thanksgiving gatherings can be warm and wonderful and at the same time lead to bitter disagreements. I will point you toward four topics that are best left unmentioned at holiday gatherings and give you some ideas about how to divert uncomfortable conversations to safer topics.