Cause of death identified for Gene Hackman, Betsy Arakawa. No foul play was identified

March 10th, 2025

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SGT
March 10, 2025

Salty Ginger Talk Newsletter

March 10th, 2025

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CURRENT EVENTS

Cause of death identified for Gene Hackman, Betsy Arakawa. No foul play was identified

Our take: 

Just over a few weeks ago, film legend Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa, herself a classical pianist, were found dead in their home along with one of their three dogs.

The rumor mill sprang into action, wildly speculating about the cause of death for the longtime couple. Admittedly, some of the initial details seemed strange: they were found in separate rooms of the spacious home they shared, there were pills “strewn about” near Arakawa, and there did not seem to be any evidence of forced entry or obvious signs of trauma on either body.

After autopsies and blood work were done on both bodies, the coroner's office is comfortable making the call.

Gene Hackman died due to hypertensive atherosclerosis cardiovascular disease, with Alzheimer's disease as a significant contributing factor, New Mexico officials confirmed Friday. He was likely alone in the home for about a week, until he died around Feb. 18, which was the last time activity was recorded on his pacemaker.

His wife, Betsy (Arakawa) Hackman, died due to Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, which is transmitted from animals to humans and is commonly found in rodents, the New Mexico Department of Health confirmed. Her autopsy determined the manner of death as natural. Authorities believe she died on or about Feb. 11. 

Chief Medical Investigator Dr. Heather Jarrell performed a full autopsy on Hackman the day after his body was discovered, which showed "severe heart disease, including multiple surgical procedures involving the heart, evidence of prior heart attacks, and severe changes of the kidneys due to chronic high blood pressure."

Occam’s razor wins again. Occam’s razor essentially states that the simplest answer to a question or solution to a problem is almost always the right one. It was fun to listen to people’s wild imaginations for a few weeks, though.

COURTESY: EURONEWS

Walmart CEO says customers running out of money at end of month

Our take: 

It’s not front-page news that things are expensive these days. Prices for housing, medical care, cars, food, energy, and consumer goods have all risen substantially since 2021. That trend has continued in the early part of 2025.

Prices are rising for just about everything; the most recent CPI found that the cost of foods and services rose by 0.5% for January after rising 0.4% for December.

This puts the annual rate of inflation at 3%, which is higher than most analysts anticipated. 

The index for food at home rose 1.9 percent over the last 12 months. The meats, poultry, fish, and eggs index rose 6.1 percent over the last 12 months as the eggs index increased 53.0 percent," the CPI found.

"The index for nonalcoholic beverages increased 2.2 percent over the same period, while the index for other food at home rose 0.8 percent and the index for dairy and related products increased 1.2 percent. The cereals and bakery products index increased 0.4 percent over the year and the fruits and vegetables index rose 0.3 percent over the same period."

Many consumers have begun to start shopping at lower-priced national retailers in an attempt to cut costs.

One such retailer is Walmart (WMT), which is already the number one grocer in the United States.

The retailer has been taking great pains to cut costs, announcing in 2024 that it would work to reduce the cost of many items—including food—back to pre-inflation levels. 

However, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon says that sometimes those efforts are just not enough to ease the difficulties entirely.

“You can see that the money runs out before the month is gone; you can see that people are buying smaller pack sizes at the end of the month," McMillon said at the Economic Club of Chicago. 

He added that he feels the stress of consumers across all socioeconomic levels, particularly for folks who are more exposed to price hikes.

“There are lots of income levels in this country—if you’re at the lower end of that scale, you are feeling more frustration and pain because of higher food prices,” he said. “They’ve persisted for years now, and you’re just tired of it. And you want it to get better.”

COURTESY: THESTREET

AOC, Anna Paulina Luna co-sponsor bill to cap credit card interest at 10%

Our take: This may be a sign of the end of the world approaching - we agree with something AOC thinks - at least partially.

The Congresswoman from New York burst on the political scene in 2018, scoring a huge upset victory over 10 term Congressman Joe Crowley, who no one thought had anything to worry about. It was a truly impressive victory that led many to expect great things legislatively from the new Representative. So far, she has yet to deliver.

She has recently co-sponsored a bill with Florida Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna aimed at capping credit card interest fees.

Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), 35, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), 35, who usually find themselves on opposite sides of issues, unveiled legislation Friday to immediately stop credit card interest rates from jumping above 10%.

“For too long, credit card companies have abused working class Americans with absurd interest rates, trapping them in an almost insurmountable amount of debt,” Lunda said in a statement.

Critics argue that an artificial cap on credit card interest rates will lead to significant economic ramifications and prompt credit card companies to stop giving credit to millions of families.

AOC and Luna noted that the Fed’s benchmark interest rate at which commercial banks loan and borrow reserves is between 4.25% to 4.50%, which is dramatically lower than credit card interest rates.

COURTESY: AOL.COM

TIP OF THE DAY

Schedule quiet time at work to accomplish tasks that need extra concentration.  Do your most challenging work when your energy is at its highest; save less demanding work for other times.  If you tend to procrastinate, focus on the sense of accomplishment you’ll feel when the job is done.  Use commute time to plan your day’s activities.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Great things in business are never done by one person; they're done by a team of people." – Steve Jobs

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