1. CURREN|T|CY
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We all use the Internet. Most of us like cookies.
And the rest of us have to remember to fill up
our gas tank before the gauge goes from F to E.
These stories tell us that much and more.
COOKIE S GO DIGITAL
Even Girl Scout Cookies went
digital this year.
Girl Scouts branched out from
the booth by inviting custom-
ers online. With simple mar-
keting options on the Internet,
customers visited personal-
ized cookie websites designed
by scouts. Scouts also took in-
person orders using a mobile
app designed specifically for
Girl Scouts.
With Digital Cookie, custom-
ers all over America had the
opportunity to purchase tasty
cookie favorites like Tagalongs,
Samoas, and Thin Mints from
Girl Scouts online.
NE W TECH TOWNS
If you’re thinking about rounding up
some cash for a new vehicle, buying a
used rig might be the way to go.
Used car sales hit a record high in 2014,
with a total of 2.3 million certified
pre-owned (CPO) vehicles sold. A used
car sold for an average price of $16,800
last year. That’s nearly a 6% increase
over the average price for a used vehicle
in 2013, which was $15,900.
There are also a lot of options to con-
sider when paying for a used set of
wheels. You can either pay for the
vehicle all at once or choose a finance
plan and make payments. Interest
rates for used car loans can also be
higher than loans for new cars.
Will used car sales hit another record
high in 2015? We’ll just have to wait
and see.
USED CAR SALE S
We live in an age where new tech gadgets are being churned out daily by
innovative startup companies across the globe.
We often think of Silicon Valley as the top tech hub in the U.S., but a fresh
group of tech “boom towns” are cropping up across America.
Cities in the American Midwest, like Omaha, Neb., and St. Louis, Mo., and
more remote locations, like Alaska, where one woman founded a beauty
startup in a log cabin, are attracting new businesses. Heck, when all that’s
needed for work is a laptop and a Wi-Fi connection, it’s easy to see why
people are creating new things in new places (like their living rooms).
Abbie Tumbleson

2. By next summer, students and borrowers will soon have a simple way to file complaints about
federal student loan lenders and servicers, colleges and universities, and collections agencies.
The U.S. Secretary of Education has until July 1, 2016 to create a new website for people who
are borrowing money for school or paying back their student loan debts. Students and borrowers
will be able to tell the U.S. Department of Education what’s irking them. People will also be
able to provide feedback about institutions of higher education or how they’ve been treated
by a loan lender’s customer service department.
The initiative to create a responsive student feedback system comes with the new Student Aid
Bill of Rights.
Complaints from students and borrowers will be directed to the right party for timely resolu-
tion, according to the White House Office of the Press Secretary. If it all works out, the federal
government will be better able to ensure more borrowers get fair treatment throughout the
federal student loan process.
SOURCES: girlscouts.org, rushtimes.com, ftc.gov, whitehouse.gov, bloomburg.com,
fuelgaugereport.com, usnews.com, fcc.gov, ppic.org, 247wallst.com, uncubed.com
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A NE W PL ACE TO FILE COMPL AINTS
KEEPING THE INTERNE T OPEN
Last year, Americans watched in awe as gas prices plummeted. Last December,
gas prices fell to the lowest price they’ve been in years. That’s when a gas station
in Oklahoma City, Okla., was the first place to sell gas below $2 a gallon in the
U.S. since July 2010. They sold that precious fuel for $1.99 a gallon.
However, prices at the pump are on the rise again. This spring, the national
average price for a gallon of regular unleaded was around $2.45.
The West Coast often experiences the most extreme
jumps in price.
It can be difficult for the West Coast to meet the demand
for fuel when there are refinery disruptions due to the
lack of pipelines to major refining regions east of the
Rocky Mountains, according to AAA’s daily Fuel Gauge
Report. That can mean higher gas prices for states like
California. As of March, a gallon of gas in California was
a hefty $3.43 per gallon. If you’re one of California’s 38
million residents, you might be better off investing in a
new pair of walking shoes.
THE RISE AND FALL OF GA S PRICE S
TOP 5 STATES
WITH THE
HIGHEST
GAS PRICES
1. CALIFORNIA
2. HAWAII
3. ALASKA
4. OREGON
5. NEVADA
With the passing of new net neutrality rules by
the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
in February, it looks like the “Open Internet” will
be sticking around.
What that means for us is that we won’t have to
pay more money for streaming videos on Netflix
and Hulu or for faster download speeds for stuff
like online gaming and video chatting on Skype.
Under the new net neutrality rules, the Internet
will remain open for anyone and everyone in the
U.S. Think of the “Open Internet” as a place where
all the traffic “drives” at roughly the same speed.
The FCC wants to keep the web functioning using
this concept so consumers can make their own
choices about what applications and services to
use. We’ll be free to decide what lawful content
we access and share with others. The rules could
also prevent Internet service providers and big
wireless companies from increasing download
speeds on websites of their choosing.