Only in America: Cracking down on a kid's cupcake business
Health officials in Illinois shut down an 11-year-old's cupcake business — and more in our collection of strange revelations about the nation


Health officials in Madison County, Ill., shut down an 11-year-old girl's cupcake business for not following laws regulating food establishments. Sixth-grader Chloe Stirling, who makes about $200 per month selling cupcakes, was told she would need to set up her own kitchen to continue her business. "A separate kitchen? Obviously we can't do that," said Chloe's frustrated mother, Heather Stirling.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Samantha Rollins is TheWeek.com's news editor. She has previously worked for The New York Times and TIME and is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.
-
Can Donald Trump get Zelensky and Putin into the same room?
Today's Big Question Trump might get the leaders together for a photo op but brokering a peace deal won’t be easy
-
Alan Davies: Think Ahead – 'gifted' comedian's first stand-up show in a decade
The Week Recommends The QI panellist 'rawly' discusses childhood abuse in this 'compelling' show
-
Inside the Cult of the Jesus Army: a troubling documentary
The Week Recommends BBC2's harrowing two-part series shines a light on the abuse at the heart of the Christian group
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliable
speed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages
-
Crypto firm Coinbase hacked, faces SEC scrutiny
Speed Read The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers in past disclosures
-
Starbucks baristas strike over dress code
speed read The new uniform 'puts the burden on baristas' to buy new clothes, said a Starbucks Workers United union delegate