Morning! We’re The Neutral, your one stop shop for news without an agenda. Today we’re covering LA school worker strike, deadly fungus, and much more. First time reader? Sign up here!

Education

*LA school employees say enough. Employees of the second-largest school district in the U.S. are striking for three days in Los Angeles in hopes of better pay. Low wage employees — bus drivers, custodians, cooks, and others are being backed up by the teachers union, who joined the protest in solidarity.

How did we get here? For over a year, school employees have been unsuccessfully bargaining with the state for an immediate 30% pay bump and an additional $2 an hour over the next four years. Get this — the median wage for these workers is $25,000. The desired increase would bring their yearly median paycheck to $36,000. The offer from the district included a cumulative 23% raise gained incrementally over the next 2 years, bonus pay potential, and enhanced medical benefit opportunities. This offer was declined by the employee union.

Zoom out: The effects of the strike are felt throughout the city as more than 500,000 students have been displaced for three days. Many of the students rely of California’s Universal Meals Program, which provides them with a free healthy breakfast and lunch. With the school cafeteria staffs striking, many at risk children are going without food.

Business & Economy

*Home sales go ⬆️ median prices go ⬇️. Existing home sales jumped 14.5% in February compared to January, putting total yearly sales on track to top $4.58 million. The median sale price fell year over year by .02% to $363,000. The sale counts were based on closing dates and contracts were likely signed when mortgage rates were hovering around 6% in December and January. Homes sales are still 22.6% lower than they were in February of last year.

We don’t want your chips. The U.S. Commerce Department is preventing China or other countries deemed a concern (*coughs* Russia), from seeing any of the $52 billion in funding for semiconductor research and manufacturing. The proposal also prevents recipients of the fund from conducting joint-research initiatives with China or Russia.

Sports

*U.S. Comes up short. On Tuesday night, Japan beat the U.S 3-2 in World Baseball Classic final.

*Shaq’s got jokes. Shaq had fans concerned when he posted a photo of himself hooked up to machines in a hospital bed. He took to social media to let fans know that he is “fine and just getting some BBL work done aka #hipreplacement”. BBL is an acronym for “Brazilian butt lift”. Joke on, big fella.

World

*Fungus among us. A deadly fungus called Candida auris is spreading quickly in the U.S. It has shown resistance to several antifungal medications and is difficult to distinguish between other strains of yeasts, making it easy to misdiagnose. The CDC says that it isn’t a threat to healthy individuals but it can cause severe illness and death in sick individuals, those who use invasive medical devices, or have long or frequent visits to healthcare facilities.

*Earthquake hits Middle East. A 6.5 magnitude earthquake hit Pakistan and Afghanistan, leaving at least 9 dead and 100 injured.

Extras

*Travel plans derailed in the Netherlands. Tunneling Badgers have halted train travel in parts of the country over safety concerns.

*March of the planets. Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Uranus, and Mars will align alongside the moon and can be visible March 25 through 30.

*Black Sea Mysteries. Take a look at what’s lurking at the bottom of the Black Sea. (Video via BBC)