BALTIMORE — Restaurants are the backbones of communities across the country. They bring us to the freshest bodies of water, different countries, and the most unique spaces without leaving the comfort of our neighborhoods. Three years after the start of the pandemic, restaurants are still fighting to stay alive.

A year ago, we visited Baltimore to check in on restaurants that never received their funds from the government's Restaurant Revitalization Fund, and now, a year later, we are checking in.

Every restaurant has something different their customers always come back for. Here in Baltimore, it's likely you'll find it to be seafood. However, those signature flavors disappear if a business can't stay afloat. The Local Oyster is one restaurant that worries about its future.

"The Local Oyster started in 2015. We have been shucking oysters and serving crab cakes for the last seven years," said Patrick Hudson, one of the owners. "We were not generating any revenue; we were simply incurring losses and debt throughout the entire pandemic."

The Local Oyster has already had to close one of its locations in Arlington, Virginia. The restaurant's last spot remains standing, but shakily.

"Thinking about business before COVID is sort of like thinking about college; it was just a haze. It's like I can't even really remember what it was like. It's just so different," Hudson said.

Hudson says they are one of the thousands of businesses who saw their approval for the restaurant revitalization fund revoked last year. Congress provided $28.6 billion in grants, but funding dried up and two-thirds of the restaurants that were approved for funding received nothing.

"What that does is it leaves the local oyster in a position where we have hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt going forward, and to be honest, I don't know how sustainable that is. I don't know if that's going to last," Hudson said.

It's been over a year since that bad news was delivered, but the ripple effects of the pandemic continue to affect them every minute, of every day.

"And it's kind of surreal and people will come up to me during service and say, 'Well, I'm really glad you survived the pandemic' and I just have to shake my head," Hudson said. "We're gonna be struggling with the impact of the pandemic for the next generation of restaurant owners."

Damye Hahn runs Faidley's Seafood just a few minutes down the road.

"It would be like equating you to having a year and a half worth of mortgage payments that you haven't been able to pay, and all of a sudden, you get a job. Well that you're gonna be able to pay your mortgage, but that year and a half of mortgage payments is still hanging out there," Hahn said. "We just felt like the hits just kept coming and once we thought everything was beginning to get better than this incredible inflation hit. And it has been difficult again."

They've been in business for more than 130 years. Yet, these last few have been unmatched.

"We've had to raise prices. We've had to cut items off the menu that we can't carry anymore because they are just too expensive," Hahn said. "Fishing, it's been terrible to try to get fish because the poor guys, all their boats are diesel, and the diesel is outrageous. Fish and seafood have gone up dramatically. Some of it two and three times what we paid in 2019."

These are the kinds of roadblocks that can change a restaurant's identity.

"We consider ourselves really ambassadors of the Chesapeake region, so we make sure that we gave local fish, local crab, local oysters, real local seafood," Hahn said.

It worries Hahn about the future of the industry.

"This industry is so important because we tell the story of the Chesapeake, but there's restaurants that tell stories of the farms and other industries," Hahn said.

PORTLAND, Maine — For almost two decades Dean's Sweets has been serving the locals and visitors of Portland, Maine, alongside the dozens of people who order online.

"My husband Dean and I started this business just about 18 years ago and we started it in our home kitchen," said Kristin Thalheimer Bingham, the co-owner of Dean's Sweets.

All these years later, they are facing the reality of inflation and many businesses like them are heading into a crucial season for business.

Bingham said about 50% of their revenue is made during the holiday season.

"The supply chain has gotten to be more of an issue recently," said Dean Bingham, the co-owner of Dean's Sweets.

"Especially in this last eight months, nine months, 2022 everything has just kind of shot up and skyrocketed," Thalheimer said. "We were taken a little bit unaware by even just a few months ago. To see that sugar has increased 10% to 15% last spring and then it increased again over the summer, same with chocolate."

That's along with other items like cocoa, butter, cardboard, packaging and shipping materials. It's all making them question if it's time to raise their prices.

"I think we're going to take another good look at it as we head into the holiday season," Thalheimer said.

They say it's not something they want to do.

Thalheimer worries a rise in prices could change that and cause people to skip purchasing that chocolate gift.

"I'm as aware as anybody else about inflation and I hate to be one of the contributors but on the other hand if all of my costs are going up I cannot afford to stay in business if I'm not recouping my costs and making a little money for myself," Dean said.

They've tried to ease the pain in other ways.

"For a long time I thought my mantra was, make more sell more and you sort of make up for the increase in price by volume but we're starting to realize that you can't do that," Dean said. "Volume has costs associated with it too because the more that you sell, the more you need to buy and the more help you need."

Buying that treat is attached to a sense of happiness they don't want to see disappear and a moment of magic they hope a rise in cost won't ruin.

"I've always felt that chocolate was one of those things that you may not buy a pound but you can buy one or two pieces and that's going to help you get through some of the stresses of the other difficult times," Dean said.

"We are always conscious of the fact that we want to be a place where people can come and get a little gift for somebody and find something nice for themselves so we want to keep it that way," said Thalheimer.

If you've dined out during the pandemic, you've probably noticed your local restaurants are operating with reduced or even dramatically reduced staffing. The Omicron variant is adding to an already existing staffing problem for the restaurant industry.

"We knew that it just was one more wave, one big variant, one bad winter away from disaster for a lot of restaurants, and that reality is quickly settling in at bars and restaurants throughout the country," said Caroline Styne, co-founder of the Independent Restaurant Coalition. 

With food prices going up, along with the cost of just about everything, fewer customers have also been dining in at restaurants around the country. All of those challenges add to the already huge problem with staffing shortages in the restaurant industry, and some of those businesses say they're on the brink of closing permanently. 

"It could be the end of January. It could be into March or April. But, it's not very long," said Bret Csencsitz, managing partner at Gotham Bar and Grill. 

Restaurant Business Magazine cites the research firm Placer.ai, that reports restaurant visits for the week of Dec. 20 were more than 10% lower than the same time in 2019. And the National Restaurant Association in November said 77% of restaurants reported not having enough employees.

Some of those lucky enough to have enough workers say they're now having to pay them even when they're closed because the demand for labor is so high. 

"I have no business, but please come work for us and we'll pay you. You know that's not normal logic and business," said Michael Dorf, CEO of City Winery.

Businesses say the whiplash of COVID-19 surges are driving them into the ground, as owners struggle to keep their doors open. Industry advocates say these current problems will have an economic ripple effect throughout the country. 

"The financial hit to the country is huge when you lose restaurants to the neighborhood, to the community, and to the job market in general," Styne said. 

This story was originally published by Meg Hilling and Bianca Facchinei of Newsy.

CINCINNATI —

Cincinnati is energized around the UC Bearcats as they count the days to the Cotton Bowl in Texas.

It's now just about nine days away.

On Tuesday, there was an incredible show of support for the football team with a drone show and fireworks at Nippert Stadium.

The excitement is also keeping businesses around campus booming.

Fans chanted, clapped and rooted for the football Bearcats during the show.

It was a phenomenal display in the sky that seemed to send a bit of a warning to Alabama: this team and its fans mean business.

"We have just been non-stop busy. Extended store hours. Tons of online orders," DuBois Book Store Operations Manager, Ty Bonawitz, said.

Counting down the days to the Cotton Bowl and fans are getting geared up for the Bearcats at DuBois Book Store.

Bonawitz said as soon as they put out new stuff, it's gone, and they have to restock again.

"The biggest problem we're having right now is the cotton shortage that we're dealing which is kind of ironic going to the Cotton Bowl," Bonawitz said.

Even the dogs are rooting on these cats — well, the book store owner's dog — who wanders around as shoppers pick their next piece of gear.

People said they're making a mad dash to get ready for Texas.

"Roll tide cool, but no, they ain't cool for us. We've got to beat them. We've got to beat them," fan, Jason Stewart, said.

Fans have a hearty appetite to see undefeated UC conquer in this historic appearance in the College Football Playoffs.

Over at Mio's, Rich Owens knows the team does, too.

They fed them on Monday.

"We had a whiteboard that we had every player on the team sign and then we're going to laminate it. We haven't titled it yet. We're hoping to put national champs on it," Owens said.

It's a moment in Bearcat history that will stick with the kids.

As the sun went down on Tuesday, there was a bit of an incognito pep rally to "Light Up Nippert Stadium."

There were fireworks and there was also a drone show with messages to root on the team.

"The programming that went into it and the messages up in the sky. They were really neat," fan, Kerri Todd, said.

Of course, there were also the signature UC chants to let Alabama know UC means business.

"I was excited. I was actually up there and he can vouch for me, I was jumping up and down. I was like, 'Oh my God, I can't wait,'" UC employee, Alex Coleman, said.

Fans said some people are driving to Texas and booking houses a couple of hours away so that they can still get close.

Even still, businesses believe turnout locally will be good.

According to officials, more than 150 synchronized drones were used in the show.

They also said a video shot at the event will be featured at some point during the Cotton Bowl.

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday announced that she was instituting a statewide mask mandate for all businesses and venues in her state, effective Dec. 13

Under Hochul's order, businesses that require proof of vaccination to enter are exempt from the mandate. The policy applies to anyone ages two years old and older, any time they are indoors at a business or venue.

The mandate will remain in effect until Jan. 15, when the state will re-evaluate the situation based on COVID-19 data.

"As Governor, my two top priorities are to protect the health of New Yorkers and to protect the health of our economy," Hochul said in a statement. "The temporary measures I am taking today will help accomplish this through the holiday season. We shouldn't have reached the point where we are confronted with a winter surge, especially with the vaccine at our disposal, and I share many New Yorkers' frustration that we are not past this pandemic yet."

Hochul also thanked the 80% of New Yorkers who are currently fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

"If others will follow suit, these measures will no longer be necessary," her statement read.

Hochul's office cited increases in both the seven-day average case rate (up 43%) and hospitalizations (up 29%) for the new policy.

The state's mask policies remain unchanged for schools, public transit, homeless shelters, correctional facilities, nursing homes and health care settings.

This story was originally published by August Erbacher on Scripps station WKBW in Buffalo, New York.

With Thanksgiving now behind us, the holiday shopping season is officially in full swing.

Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday deals are helping families cash in on discounted gifts.

While the rush of business is greatly needed by smaller businesses that were impacted by last year's COVID-19 shutdowns, many say supply may not be able to keep up.

Greenhaven Ace Hardware in California has been locally owned since 1976.

Nicholas Dellos, the store's manager, said business so far this holiday shopping weekend has doubled its usual amount.

The shop ordered its holiday items back in January 2020. Almost a year later, they're still waiting for some product to arrive.

"Normally we have a lot more variety here," Dellos said while walking past the holiday lights section. "Lots of different types of lights that we just weren't able to get this year."

Supply chain issues and back-ups at California ports are raising prices, too.

"Everything's gone up 30 percent or more," Dellos explained. "It's unreal."

Whether you need lights, tree stands, Santa hats or extension cords, you can find them at most hardware stores.

Dellos' advice to those hoping to deck the halls of their home? Don't wait. Demand is high and there's "not enough supply to keep up."

Gregg Jones agrees.

He owns "Chad's Christmas Trees" at the Greenhaven Plaza Shopping Center in California and has been in business for eight years.

"This year has been a challenge for sure," he said.

With demand up, supply down and shipping prices on the rise due to supply chain delays, Christmas trees have a higher price tag this year.

He said silvertip trees, which many refer to as "Charlie Brown trees," are up about 15%.

"We try to do what we can to make it fair for everybody, but the costs go up," he said. "There's not much we can do."

He said customers should consider buying their tree earlier this season due to low inventory. Larger trees are more in demand, as well.

Watch the full story in the video above.

RICHMOND, Va. -- Markeisha Harris-Minor is a young entrepreneur who has always considered herself to be a resource to people. And she has always wanted to do it, as she says, on a macro level.

So, last December, she came up with an idea for a new app she calls Blocal Search.

What is it?

“This is a nationwide directory and app for locating Black-owned businesses all across the country," Harris-Minor, CEO of Blocal Search, said.

Harris-Minor said she was constantly seeing the Black dollar recycle in front of her eyes. That’s why she said it was important for her to find an avenue that would allow the money to stay in local neighborhoods, especially in a moment in time where a demand to support Black businesses is on the rise.

“Because we all know that buying Black right now, it’s something that’s important. It may look more trendy or what have you, but I want to make sure I’m pushing it to be a lifestyle, so just kind of changing that focus and perspective, like why am I really buying Black?” she said.

Ajay Brewer, owner of Brewer’s Café on the city’s south side, added his business to Blocal Search this year.

“I’ve had several people tell me that they’ve found me through Blocal, so any sort of search engine that creates that sort of awareness for us is really priceless. It’s created revenue for Brewer’s Café for sure," Brewer said.

Harris-Minor said she has over 150 local businesses -- like restaurants, juice bars, beauty supplies, family dentistry, and more -- in the app.

The number is even higher nationwide. Blocal has promoted about 4,000 companies across 160 cities since the app launched in February.

“Blocal at minimum is going to be a directory, but this is going to be a brand that I’m building to really make sure that we’re able to have a sustainable community that we’ve had in the past and be able to create the generational wealth that we all are looking for our families,” she said.

Blocal Search is available to download on your phone by going to your App Store or on Google Play. You can also get more information here.

This story was originally published by Rob Desir at WTVR.

CINCINNATI —

The excitement of prime-time football in Cincinnati was felt all over the city Thursday. Fans flooded into bars and restaurants to cheer on Bengals as they faced the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Thursday night game came at a time when bars and restaurants are trying to stay afloat, a year and a half into the pandemic that's forced many to close.

"We're still working on bringing that clientele and crowd, but I understand that there's still a lot of people that are not yet comfortable coming out and really socializing, and that's completely understandable," said Jordan Norman, general manager at Queen City Radio in Over-The-Rhine.

Norman said business has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels. He is also dealing with the staffing challenges that have become an industry staple throughout the country.

Queen City Radio recently marked its fifth year of business. Norman said TQL Stadium is helping breathe life into businesses like his.

"I think it kind of brings and stretches out the length of the city," he said. "There are things to go on from stadium to stadium."

Thursday, there were more Jaguars jerseys than Bengals jerseys in the bar's outdoor seating area.

"We actually got a booking from a Jacksonville Jaguars fan group that came up from Florida to pre-game here with us," said Erica Turer, Queen City Radio's event coordinator and social media manager.

"I mean I'll take money from Florida," she said.

Closer to the stadium, Kitty's Sports Grill on West Third Street saw a big crowd Thursday as well.

"This is our best night probably in three years," owner Billy Watson said.

Business is still way down during the week, especially during the day.

"Business is not there because there's so many people working remote," Watson said. "If they are working downtown, they're working two, three days a week."

He was thrilled to see a full bar Thursday and as a small business owner and fan, is optimistic about the season.

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Asserting its role in setting COVID-19 policies, the Kentucky House voted Thursday to block the governor from temporarily closing schools and businesses that comply with federal guidelines.

Continuing a fast-paced opening week, the Republican-led House easily passed the top-priority bill, sending it to the GOP-dominated Senate. The measure seeks to guarantee that Kentucky businesses and schools stay open amid the pandemic if they meet federal virus-related guidelines.

“I’m voting ‘yes’ today ... because we, the policymaking branch of government, should be involved in these decisions that affect every Kentuckian,” Majority Floor Leader Steven Rudy said.

The bill and similar bills reflect mounting GOP frustration with Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s use of his executive authority amid the health crisis. His restrictions on businesses, schools and individuals to try to contain the spread of the coronavirus have increasingly become politicized.

The bill drew opposition from House Democrats. Rep. Angie Hatton said lawmakers should let the governor “do his job” in defeating the virus, which is needed to fully reopen the economy.

Democratic Rep. Patti Minter said the state would cede authority to CDC guidelines if the bill becomes law. She warned some business owners could “get an ugly surprise,” because those federal guidelines can be stricter than standards in Beshear’s orders.

CINCINNATI —

North High Brewing in Hyde Park Square officially opened its doors to business last Friday.

The successful turnout amid a pandemic was just one surprise, and the number of job applications, yet another.

"Our staff is very small and the amount of applicants we got was overwhelmingly large, so it was very hard to pick the staff that we picked," General Manager Ryan Peirce said.

A sign of the times, well over 100 applications for this 13 employee business.

"There are people that have been laid off all over Cincinnati, not even in the restaurant industry that have applied, and I even hired some of them," Peirce said.

The pandemic has wreaked havoc on the restaurant community for almost a year now.

According to preliminary data by the department of job and family services, Ohio's Leisure and Hospitality Industry lost 9,200 jobs in December and about 125,000 over the past year.

Like North High Brewing, Lucy Blue Pizza in Anderson Township is also new, opening just three weeks ago.

Owner Jim Thompson is happy Gov. Dewine recently moved curfew back to 11 o'clock.

"My business is based on late night," Thompson said.

Like so many businesses, he had to close his two downtown locations when the pandemic first hit. He's finding more success in the suburbs.

"Out here in Anderson I knew there was lots of families," Thompson said. "We have had great success with people calling in and picking up food, it's been beyond our expectations."

HAMILTON, Ohio — Hamilton’s original plan was to activate its new downtown parking-meter kiosks in March 2020, but then COVID-19 arrived. With businesses reopening to customers, the city now plans to activate the machines July 12, according to the Journal-News.

In the meantime, people parking near the kiosks on parts of High and Dayton streets and RIverfront Plaza (near The Marcum apartment and retail development) are receiving fliers on their windshields telling them that starting July 12, parking tickets soon will be written.

The parking enforcement is not an effort to make money for the city, said Rich Engle, Hamilton’s director of engineering.

Parking enforcement is never a profit-maker for city government, he said: “It’s always a deficit for the city. We just want to make sure there’s spaces available a potential customer drives through High Street or Main Street, that we have parking spaces available.”

So far, new parking kiosks aren’t on Main Street, but that is being considered, Engle said.

The kiosks will charge 50 cents per hour, for a maximum of two or three hours, depending on the location. Parkers will be able to pay the meters using coins, credit cards and soon, an app called Passport, he said.

He said for shops and restaurants, it’s important to have a free flow of parking nearby so customers are encouraged to pull in to park. The two-hour parking limits enforced by the meters are intended to keep nearby residents and employees from using parking for long periods.

Parking will be enforced from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. In addition to that, evening hours also will be enforced along Riverfront Plaza from 5 to 10 p.m., Thursday through Saturday, when nearby restaurants and bars have some of their busiest hours.

Fines for violations are $10, if the penalty is paid within 48 hours from midnight of the violation date the citation was issued. If it is paid between 48 and 96 hours afterward, the fine climbs to $20. After that, the fine climbs to $30.

The city will continue its use of the ‘Curbside Hamilton’ parking spaces in front shops and restaurants the city created early in the pandemic. Those areas, which are painted green, allow free parking for 10 minutes while people either park and wait for food and beverages either to be brought out to them or while they quickly go inside to make the pickups.

“We have those strategically placed all over the urban core,” said Mallory Greenham, small-business specialist for the city. “In fact, we’re getting ready to repaint those spots — some of them faded over the winter — and add a few more spots to places we think would benefit.”

Some of those spaces are along Main Street, in the downtown, in German Village, with another soon to be added in Lindenwald’s business district, Greenham said.

Each kiosk serves several parking spaces. After parking, people need to find the nearest kiosk and enter their license plate number before paying the parking fee.

The kiosks cost $85,000. City Manager Joshua Smith has said the city’s only goal financially is to recover costs of those kiosks plus their maintenance and costs of parking enforcement, not to make profits.

CINCINNATI —

The financial impact of the pandemic cannot be understated for businesses, families and city governments.

The city of Cincinnati has lost revenue in a list of areas due to the pandemic. Some revenue streams will continue to be impacted for years.

The city lost millions of dollars in parking meter and parking enforcement revenue.

In a memo earlier this month, City Manager Paula Boggs Muething estimated revenue from off-street parking will come in almost $2,083,489 below budget and that parking meter and enforcement revenue will come in $2,050,124 under.

According to data WLWT obtained from the city, the city gave out 110,732 parking citations in 2018, 100,056 parking citations in 2019 and just 57,387 parking citations in 2020.

"It's not unexpected that you would see a big drop in parking meters. It will rebound when people feel safe to go out again," said Mayor John Cranley in an interview with WLWT. "Parking revenues are down because people are working remotely. They're not going out to shop as much in order to be safe under the pandemic. I'm more worried about the small businesses and retail establishments who are suffering because of that."

This is the last year of Cranley's mayoral term.

The city is anticipating an $18.7 million deficit for this fiscal year, according to a memo by the city manager. That includes parking-related revenue, $4.7 million due to canceled events at the Duke Energy Center, $5.3 million from the transient occupancy tax due to decline in lodging, $1.9 million from canceled events at city parks and $2 million from city recreation centers, to name a few of the biggest losses.

Next year's budget has to be balanced by June 30.

"It's a juggling act that we face each year, " said Councilman David Mann. "It's particularly challenging when there's so many uncertainties and we have a pandemic."

Mann also chairs the budget and finance committee. He told WLWT the biggest priorities in the budget are covering the deficit and funding the rainy day fund.

Help is coming from the federal government via the American Rescue Plan. Cincinnati is slated to receive $290 million.

Chris Seelbach, vice chair of the budget and finance committee said council still has a lot of questions surrounding how the federal government will allow cities to spend the money.

"The answer is we don't know. The treasury department has not given any guidelines on where the money can be used," he said.

"We do have a budget deficit this year that I believe we're going to use some of the money to close. We won't have to cut services and jobs this year, so that's good news," Seelbach said. "Our budget deficit is a direct response of COVID. This money is to help the results of COVID, and so it's expected that it will be able to be used."

Mayor Cranley has held a series of announcements about how he believes some of the $290 million should be used, including investments in the arts, parks, neighborhoods and minority-owned businesses.

The leaders of the budget and finance committee do not plan to vote on any of the mayor's ordinances for a few weeks, as they await guidance from the U.S. Treasury Department, which is expected in May.

"The mayor has been announcing these press conferences as if the money has already been allocated," Seelbach said. "Only council can do that, and we have not allocated a single dollar."

City council will hold several additional public hearings for community members to weigh in on how they want the money allocated. Public comment will continue to be available via Zoom, and as of this week, people are now allowed to testify in-person in council chambers.

Once life returns to "normal," it will still take time for behaviors to return to pre-pandemic levels. There is also a big concern surrounding remote work and how many people will not return to the office.

"It's unclear if their home is not in the city of Cincinnati whether they still have to pay city of Cincinnati income taxes," Seelbach said. "If they don't, we could lose 25% of our entire budget, which would affect everything from police to fire to sanitation. Everything would be affected."