Tokyo – September 25, 2026 -- LEIFRAS Co., Ltd. (Nasdaq: LFS) has secured new contracts with five Japanese municipalities to manage the regional transition of school club activities, expanding its footprint in an estimated JPY500 billion domestic market as the country's teacher work-style reform enters what officials call the "Reform Implementation Period" in fiscal 2026.
Hong Kong – September 25, 2026 -- The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) of Hong Kong and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) trained 35 law enforcement officials from 19 jurisdictions in a 10-day programme running September 7 to 16, targeting the investigation of illicit enrichment by public officials.
Participants came from Indonesia, Kuwait, Madagascar, Malta, Mauritius, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nigeria, Oman, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, Tonga and Ukraine, alongside officials from the Guangdong Provincial Commission of Supervision, the UNODC Regional Corruption and Financial Crime Hub for South-East Asia and the Pacific, the Commission Against Corruption of Macao SAR, the Hong Kong Police Force, Customs and Excise Department, the Securities and Futures Commission and the Hong Kong Jockey Club.
North Chicago, Illinois – September 25, 2026 -- Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science (RFU) neuroscientist Nicole Ferrara, PhD, has secured a five-year, $2.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to investigate how social disruptions, including COVID-19 lockdowns, alter brain development in adolescents.
The project, titled "Social Experience Guides BMA Mediated Social Development," will examine how the basomedial amygdala (BMA) responds to restricted or inconsistent social contact during adolescence and young adulthood. Dr. Ferrara's preliminary data indicate the BMA functions differently during teen and young adult years compared with other brain regions, making it potentially more vulnerable to social disruption.
New York City – September 25, 2026 -- The Conference Board has been named one of the Best Places to Work in New York City by Crain's New York Business, marking the fourth consecutive year the global think tank has earned the distinction.
The recognition, compiled in partnership with independent research firm Best Companies Group, is based on employee surveys and employer questionnaires assessing company culture, leadership, advancement opportunities, and benefits.
Washington – September 25, 2026 -- Four in ten Americans report moderate to severe loneliness, according to the second annual Social Connection in AmericaTM survey, which found that key indicators of social connection weakened for a second consecutive year.
The survey, part of a 25-year national tracking initiative led by RAND and The Connection Institute with founding funder the Barnes Family Foundation, found that one in five Americans meet with people they care about only a few times a year or less. Time constraints are the top barrier to connection, cited by 30.6% of respondents, followed by distance (14.8%), effort (13.3%) and social anxiety (11.1%).
Arlington – September 25, 2026 -- Communities In Schools (CIS) has appointed 10 alumni to its National Alumni Advisory Council, a body tasked with shaping engagement strategy across the organization's national network.
The cohort draws from CIS chapters including Atlanta, Tacoma, Georgia, Los Angeles, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Eastern Pennsylvania, Nevada, South Carolina, East Texas and Nation's Capital. Members are Ariana Ellis, Leanna Esquivel, J'Niyah Freeman, Bryan Harris, Amanye Jinwright, James Leap, Kaylee Main-Gomez, Miracle Mozzee, James Rivera and Kuniya Young. The group will advise on alumni programs, network connectivity and leadership pathways.
San Ramon, Calif. – September 25, 2026 -- Accela and KCI Technologies announced an expanded strategic partnership to help state and local government agencies modernize permitting, licensing, inspections, and enterprise asset management through a connected cloud platform.
The partnership combines Accela's Civic Platform and Novotx Elements XS with KCI's government operations, GIS, and asset management capabilities. KCI is a 100% employee-owned engineering and technology services firm with a dedicated Land Management practice spanning nearly a decade and an asset management team certified by the Institute of Asset Management.
Baltimore – September 25, 2026 -- Richard Huffman, founder, president and CEO of Celebree School, joined U.S. Rep. Johnny Olszewski and a local Chick-fil-A owner on a featured panel at the 2026 International Franchise Association Advocacy Summit in Washington, D.C., pressing for passage of the American Franchise Act.
The Summit, hosted by IFA Senior Director of Federal Government Relations Haider Murtaza, drew more than 500 franchise executives, owners and Franchisees of the Year to the capital. Attendees spent the week urging lawmakers to pass the bipartisan American Franchise Act, which would establish a single, permanent federal joint-employer standard for the franchise industry after a decade of shifting rules.
Minneapolis – September 25, 2026 -- Kiddie Academy of Woodbury, a new franchise location of Kiddie Academy Educational Child Care, opened in February 2026 and is licensed to serve 160 children ages 6 weeks to 12 years in Washington County, Minnesota.
The Academy is owned by longtime friends Josh Orloff and Andrew Lemon along with their wives, Caitlin Orloff and Amye Lemon. Located at 805 Stephens Way in Woodbury, the facility includes 12 classrooms, an indoor gross motor room, a Zono disinfecting cabinet, and live-stream camera access for parents.
Josh Orloff said he and Lemon founded the Academy after struggling to find high-quality child care for their children, born six weeks apart. Three of the owners' own children now attend the facility, two in the toddler room and one in the infant room.
Washington, D.C. – September 25, 2026 -- The Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity (LISEP) reported that its True Rate of Unemployment (TRU) fell 0.6 percentage points in August to 24.3%, down from 24.9% in July, partially reversing a four-month climb that began in March. The August reading still sits above January's 23.9%, following a 1.3-point rise between March and July. By contrast, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics headline unemployment rate held steady at 4.1% in August.
LISEP's TRU Out of the Population (TRU OOP)—which captures the share of the working-age population not functionally employed, including those who have exited the labor force—declined 0.6 percentage points to 53.2%. LISEP said the move aligns with the BLS-reported improvement in labor force participation.