Recag/C4_21 · Datasets at Hugging Face

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Who Left Ex On The Beach With A Crush -- And Who Went Home Solo?
Angela, Chase, Chris, Cory, Faith, Jasmine, Paulie, Taylor, Tor'i and Victoria were blindsided by a bunch of former flames (except for lucky Tor'i) on Ex on the Beach. And during tonight's finale, they -- plus ex-turned-OG Alicia -- were faced with a decision: Give someone (anyone in the house) a Crush vote lei or keep it (and go home solo).
How did the final ceremony unfold? While some choices were not surprising -- like Alicia, Jasmine and Chris wrapping the flower necklaces around their own necks as well as Angela/Tor'i and Cory/Taylor crushing each other -- Paulie and Faith giving their former flames a Crush was a bit unexpected. The biggest shocker: Chase blindsided and rejected Victoria, telling her that their connection was "probably not going to work outside of this house," then saying he was going to keep the vote for himself and that she should follow his lead. And she was pissed.
But in the end, it wasn't happily ever after for three out of the four couples who opted to leave paradise with a mate.
History repeated itself with Paulie and Lexie (yep, he was caught texting another girl), while June ghosted Faith (and she's "currently searching for his car so she can pee in it").
As for Bonnie and Clyde Cory and Taylor, they are still together in the City of Angels -- except for Cory allegedly cheating on her with Alicia after the show.
Which outcome surprised you the most -- and which had you saying "no s**t"? Offer your take in the comments, and watch the video below of some cast members revealing their current status with their exes.
Season 1 vets, Kathryn Newton, Robin Weigert, Merrin Dungey and Sarah Sokolovic, will return for Season 2 of the HBO drama.
The esteemed actress joins alongside fellow Oscar winners Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman.
'This Is Us' and 'The Handmaid's Tale' also took home awards at the 75th annual Golden Globe Awards.
The rand traded flat early on Monday, pausing a recent rally that pushed it past 14.00 to the dollar as investors waited for new developments in a holiday-shortened week across global markets.
At 0630 GMT the rand was 0.05% firmer at 13.96, stretching gains made since the beginning of April to more than 3% that saw it break through 14.00 on Wednesday for the first time since late February.
Locally, Stats SA publishes consumer inflation and retail sales figures on Wednesday, while China’s first-quarter GDP and activity data on the same day are the main market events.
Bonds opened flat, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year issue steady at 8.475%.
Within walking distance of Mott College and the Historic Cultural District of Downtown Flint. This gorgeous 2 story, 3 bedrooms, 1.5 bath, 1362 sq. ft. home has so much personality. It's excited to keep you warm this winter! Just 2 minutes from 475 and the University of Michigan-Flint. This is the perfect location for anyone living in Flint. Come take a look before it's gone!.
Chevy fans eager for the SS revival now know how much to save. The new Chevrolet SS will carry a price tag of $44,470, the company announced today. As the company's first rear-wheel-drive sedan since 1996, Chevy is taking a cue from the late Steve Jobs, limiting the SS to just two options: a sunroof and a full-size spare tire.
Don't panic. Much like Apple products, the SS will come standard with awesome equipment including LED headlights, Bose speakers, and automatic parking. Under the hood is a LS3 6.2L small-block V8 engine, certified at 415 horsepower. You'll have until the fourth quarter of this year to get together the dough. Start schemin'.
By SERENITIE WANG, JULIA HOROWITZ, LILY LEE AND EDUARDO BAPTISTA CONTRIBUTED TO THIS REPORT.
An investor looks at stock market information at an exchange hall in Fuyang, Anhui Province of China.
Companies and executives around the world are desperately trying to gauge the severity of China's economic slowdown. But getting a clear picture is very difficult.
Growth in the world's second-biggest economy cooled last year to its lowest level in almost three decades, according to government data. Top global brands including Apple and Caterpillar have blamed weakness in China for their disappointing earnings.
The situation could be even bleaker than China's official statistics suggest, according to many analysts.
"The Chinese published GDP numbers are absolute garbage," said Leland Miller, CEO of advisory firm China Beige Book. "It's certainly the consensus that these numbers are unreliable."
His firm gathers data from thousands of companies across different industries in China to come up with its own picture of what's happening, drawing its name from the US Federal Reserve's Beige Book report. Miller said the Chinese economy is "much, much weaker" at the moment than Chinese government figures suggest and things are unlikely to turn around anytime soon.
Some experts suspect China's National Bureau of Statistics, which reports much of the country's data, is more focused on making the government look good rather than giving an accurate reflection of its economic health.
The bureau is a "Communist Party organ first and an honest statistical broker second," Derek Scissors, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, wrote in a recent blog post.
It's difficult to determine China's true rate of growth, as a lot of government data "don't make sense," according to Scissors, who is also chief economist at China Beige Book. For example, the numbers on the economy's size compared with the average income of Chinese citizens don't tally, he said.
Research firm Capital Economics examines a range of data including sea freight, electricity generation and financial lending to come up with a proxy indicator. Based on that, China's economy may have only grown by around 5% last year rather than the official rate of 6.6%.
"The economy will get increasingly worse in the coming months," said Wei Bingyu, the owner of an industrial paint factory in Beijing. He blamed the difficulties on the trade war and other issues.
A closely watched independent survey that measures the health of China's huge manufacturing sector sank to its lowest level in nearly three years last month.
The behavior of Chinese consumers is a key focus. Spending by Chinese shoppers rose by almost 10% last year, according to official data. But the country's huge car market shrank in 2018 for the first time in around 20 years, and retail sales over the Lunar New Year holiday this month grew at their slowest pace in more than a decade.
Official Chinese data is likely "overstating consumption growth," Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist at Capital Economics, said in a recent note to clients. He estimated that consumer spending in China's big urban areas shrank by about 3% last year, suggesting middle-class shoppers are tightening their belts.
Using a gym "is not quite like eating, clothing, housing or commuting," Zhou said. "Those are must-haves, while bodybuilding is not." As the economy slows, "many gyms have temporarily shut down or gone bankrupt," he added.
Is stimulus going where it's needed?
In a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, Vice President Wang Qishan urged investors to stop freaking out about the economy. "There will be a lot of uncertainties in 2019, but something that is certain is that China's growth will continue and will be sustainable," he said.
It's still unclear how much the moves will do to halt the slowdown because a lot of the extra funds they free up go to inefficient state-run enterprises rather than private businesses, analysts say.
Many private companies in China typically rely on shadow financing, murky forms of lending that are kept off banks' official balance sheets. Regulators have cracked down on those practices in recent years.
"It is extremely difficult to get financial leverage as a private business," said Guo Yucheng, the owner of a drug manufacturing business in the northern province of Jilin.
"There are so many businesses, like ours, who are trying to just get by every month," Guo said. "Private businesses are going through a long winter."
Egyptian authorities have released senior Muslim Brotherhood member Mahmud Izzat after holding him without trial for more than three months.
He was released late on Saturday, said an official in Cairo on Sunday.
A Brotherhood official on Sunday denied there was a deal with the government to release key members of the movement who have been detained for months.
The Brotherhood, which is Egypt's largest opposition group but which the government refuses to recognise, had called for a boycott of the referendum because of the conditions limiting independent presidential candidates.
Because of the restrictions, the Brotherhood does not have a candidate among the nine opposition politicians challenging President Hosni Mubarak, who is seeking a fifth six-year term in the elections on 7 September.
But the Brotherhood, its eyes on parliamentary elections in November, has advised its members to take part in the presidential elections and to vote for the candidate of their own choice.
Izzat, who is among the top four members of the Islamist movement, was the most senior Brotherhood member detained in a crackdown which began in March, when the movement started a series of street protests for political reform.
Another leading Muslim Brother, Issam al-Irian, remains in detention.
Izzat paid bail of 2000 Egyptian pounds ($350) and could still face charges, such as belonging to an illegal organisation, the official sources said.
SALEM — Cynthia Harvey, 64, formerly of East Liverpool, passed away Friday, May 25, 2018, at Salem East Healthcare Center.
Born Oct. 18, 1953, in East Liverpool, she was a daughter of the late Betty Jean Harvey.
At one time she was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
A brother, Robert Mitchell, survives.
Arrangements handled by Dawson Funeral Home.
EAST PEORIA — Jesse Williams and the rest of the owners at J.K. Williams Distilling knew what they had in their Young Buck Bourbon.
They had overseen the acquisition of the grain, observed its mashing, fermentation and distilling. They had tasted it, and were convinced of the bourbon’s quality, the smoothness and sweetness of it. Even then, it had to be considered an underdog at the Great American Distillers Festival, held in Portland, Ore., in October in the “Small Batch Bourbon Aged Less than 10 Years” category.
The Young Buck wasn’t even aged a whole year, and yet it brought home the bronze medal in that category.
Jesse Williams, along with his wife, Kassi, his brother, Jon, and his sister-in-law, Kristin, opened a craft whiskey distillery in October 2013 — the type of venture that has little precedent, particularly in downstate Illinois.
Kassi Williams said the best part about being a small business was starting the second year of operations, since a baseline of expectations exists that can better gauge how the business is performing.
The formative months of J.K. Williams Distilling were shoddy indicators of what was to come. The Nov. 17 tornado eroded participation in its first Small Business Saturday, and a trove of product wasn’t available while the first batches of whiskey were aging.
But much has changed in the intervening year for the Williams clan, and not only with the recent honors bestowed upon their whiskey.
Touring the distillery, in a modest building off Interstate-74 between East Peoria and Morton, on weekends has morphed into a local attraction. On Saturday and Sunday afternoons, people are ferried around J.K. Williams and are shown the inner workings of the whiskey operation, with samplings to boot. Both Kassi and Jesse Williams expressed their surprise at some of the stories from people in the tour groups who weren’t from central Illinois but made it a priority to stop at J.K. Williams in their travels through the area. The distillery’s second Small Business Saturday was a whirlwind of activity and traffic that nearly depleted the whiskey on hand for samples.
“There are some Saturdays where we look at each other and say, ‘We can’t talk anymore,’” Jesse Williams said.
J.K. Williams also has paired up with another locally renowned small business, Thirty-Thirty Coffee, for a limited edition J.K. Williams bourbon-conditioned coffee released in October and December at the coffee shop, with more partnerships planned in the future. Both the packaged grounds for sale and the coffee at Thirty-Thirty sold out within a day.
Kassi Williams said the commitment to local small businesses has been nurtured out of J.K. Williams’ own growth fortified in the past year through good word of mouth and a backbone of community support.
“It reminds us how awesome this entire adventure has been,” Kassi Williams said.
Keeping the heat in before Trinidad Moruga Scorpion germinated.
An average chilli/fajita/stir fry contains 30-40 ‘small ones’, not including loads of chilli flakes and powder.
I’ve grown the tame but nice Loco before, but for Christmas I thought I’d push him to his limit by attempting to grow Trinidad Moruga Scorpion (Plant World Seeds, £3.15) from seed.
It has an enormous Scoville rating (the official scale of how hot a chilli is) of between 1,200,000 to 2,000,000 SHU.
Check seed tray every day in such high heat.
The fruit produced are quite small and lumpy, maturing from lime green to bright red. Once you get past the burn, they have a pleasant fruity flavour.
Super hot chillies need a long season to mature, so surface sow in January (save half your seeds so you have time for another go in February if the first lot fail).
They also need a great deal of heat to germinate, so thank goodness for the BioGreen propagator – you need a bottom heat of between 27ºC to 32ºC, 24 hours a day.
Once the seedlings are established, pot on quickly, lower the heat and move them to a sunny windowsill.
I kept the heat in and the air circulating by rigging up a small seed tray with two small lids propped over it and the lot covered with a bag of bubble wrap.
It worked – all five germinated after 11 days.
It is also important to wash your hands well after touching the chilli seeds (or wear gloves) and avoid your eyes!
Keep containers tidy, cutting back and removing dead leaves. Mulch with grit – it looks good and reduces surface puddling after heavy rain.
Prune Wisteria – cut back side shoots shortened by summer pruning to two or three buds. Don’t cut off flower buds!
Coral spot is often noticed on twigs from deciduous hedges, shrubs, and trees, connected with poor ventilation and congested, twiggy growth inside clipped hedges.
The movie, opening Feb. 22, is the fact-based story of how British wrestler Saraya-Jade Bevis, aka Paige (Florence Pugh), became a WWE superstar and the resulting impact her fame has on her wrestling-crazed, working-class family.
Johnson sent Merchant the documentary to watch and the rest is history.
“The Tooth Fairy” was a flop (“You’re welcome for that,” Merchant quips), but “Fighting With My Family” is generating buzz after its well-received debut at last month’s Sundance Film Festival. Reaction was so strong, the movie got a second screening at the fest.
As if that moment weren’t enough, Merchant, who has made a career off his 6-foot, 7-inch gangly frame and awkward shtick, recalls walking on Main Street in Park City with Vince Vaughn when they ran into Jeff Goldblum and all shared a hug. “I was like, ‘Wow, it’s the three tallest men in Hollywood,’” Merchant said.
“Fighting With My Family” is Merchant’s solo directorial debut. He said his self-issued marching orders were to strive for strong storytelling infused with heart, humor and dynamic wrestling scenes. Those wrestling sequences were a challenge, however.
Merchant said the WWE allowed to film the climactic match between Paige and Summer Rae at the Staples Center following a regular show.
The movie follows Paige from her humble beginnings in the small English town of Norwich. She’s part of a family of grapplers who run an amateur wrestling circuit. Dad (Nick Frost) is the mohawked “Rowdy Ricky”; Mom (“Game of Thrones’” Lena Headey) lays the smack down as “Sweet Saraya” and Saraya-Jade (Pugh) and her brother, Zak (Jack Lowdon), are the dynamic sibling duo. When the WWE comes to town, the sibs get a tryout and only Saraya (she’ll change her name to Paige later) earns a spot. A family rivalry and riff ensue.
Thinking back to the first time he watched the documentary, Merchant said he thought he would sit there and just “sneer” at the family.
Merchant said he also wanted to write and direct the movie because there’s a woman at the core.
“Particularly, a working-class British woman,” he said. “You don’t see a lot of movies in which they succeed and excel. When you see working-class British women, they’re often single mothers in gritty dramas struggling to feed their kids, whereas this was quite exciting because it was a celebration of this woman being away from home and trying to remain true to who she was. I found it kind of uplifting and empowering.
When it was go-time, Merchant said he took a leap (from the third rope) of faith and went all-in.
“I did my research, spent time with Dwayne,” Merchant said.
He also tried to stick to the facts as much as possible.
It’s always risky to tell someone’s life story. Merchant was nervous when he showed Paige the movie for the first time at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando.
His next project remains up in the air. “I’m just waiting for another giant film star to send me another documentary to make into a movie,” he said, laughing.
Dame Heather Rabbatts, who served on the board of the English Football Association and Millwall Football Club, discusses racism in the game.
The funeral has taken place of Gordon Banks in Stoke. He was England’s World Cup-winning goalkeeper in 1966 and was regarded as the best keeper of his generation and one of the very best of all time.
John Amaechi, a psychologist and former basketball player, and Ryan Atkin, the first openly gay referee in English professional football, discuss Joe Root.
The England cricket captain, Joe Root, has been praised for challenging an alleged homophobic slur during the third Test match in St Lucia.
The footballing world has been paying tribute to England’s World Cup-winning goalkeeper Gordon Banks, who has died at the age of 81.

Who Left Ex On The Beach With A Crush -- And Who Went Home Solo?

Angela, Chase, Chris, Cory, Faith, Jasmine, Paulie, Taylor, Tor'i and Victoria were blindsided by a bunch of former flames (except for lucky Tor'i) on Ex on the Beach. And during tonight's finale, they -- plus ex-turned-OG Alicia -- were faced with a decision: Give someone (anyone in the house) a Crush vote lei or keep it (and go home solo).

How did the final ceremony unfold? While some choices were not surprising -- like Alicia, Jasmine and Chris wrapping the flower necklaces around their own necks as well as Angela/Tor'i and Cory/Taylor crushing each other -- Paulie and Faith giving their former flames a Crush was a bit unexpected. The biggest shocker: Chase blindsided and rejected Victoria, telling her that their connection was "probably not going to work outside of this house," then saying he was going to keep the vote for himself and that she should follow his lead. And she was pissed.

But in the end, it wasn't happily ever after for three out of the four couples who opted to leave paradise with a mate.

History repeated itself with Paulie and Lexie (yep, he was caught texting another girl), while June ghosted Faith (and she's "currently searching for his car so she can pee in it").

As for Bonnie and Clyde Cory and Taylor, they are still together in the City of Angels -- except for Cory allegedly cheating on her with Alicia after the show.

Which outcome surprised you the most -- and which had you saying "no s**t"? Offer your take in the comments, and watch the video below of some cast members revealing their current status with their exes.

Season 1 vets, Kathryn Newton, Robin Weigert, Merrin Dungey and Sarah Sokolovic, will return for Season 2 of the HBO drama.

The esteemed actress joins alongside fellow Oscar winners Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman.

'This Is Us' and 'The Handmaid's Tale' also took home awards at the 75th annual Golden Globe Awards.

The rand traded flat early on Monday, pausing a recent rally that pushed it past 14.00 to the dollar as investors waited for new developments in a holiday-shortened week across global markets.

At 0630 GMT the rand was 0.05% firmer at 13.96, stretching gains made since the beginning of April to more than 3% that saw it break through 14.00 on Wednesday for the first time since late February.

Locally, Stats SA publishes consumer inflation and retail sales figures on Wednesday, while China’s first-quarter GDP and activity data on the same day are the main market events.

Bonds opened flat, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year issue steady at 8.475%.

Within walking distance of Mott College and the Historic Cultural District of Downtown Flint. This gorgeous 2 story, 3 bedrooms, 1.5 bath, 1362 sq. ft. home has so much personality. It's excited to keep you warm this winter! Just 2 minutes from 475 and the University of Michigan-Flint. This is the perfect location for anyone living in Flint. Come take a look before it's gone!.

Chevy fans eager for the SS revival now know how much to save. The new Chevrolet SS will carry a price tag of $44,470, the company announced today. As the company's first rear-wheel-drive sedan since 1996, Chevy is taking a cue from the late Steve Jobs, limiting the SS to just two options: a sunroof and a full-size spare tire.

Don't panic. Much like Apple products, the SS will come standard with awesome equipment including LED headlights, Bose speakers, and automatic parking. Under the hood is a LS3 6.2L small-block V8 engine, certified at 415 horsepower. You'll have until the fourth quarter of this year to get together the dough. Start schemin'.

By SERENITIE WANG, JULIA HOROWITZ, LILY LEE AND EDUARDO BAPTISTA CONTRIBUTED TO THIS REPORT.

An investor looks at stock market information at an exchange hall in Fuyang, Anhui Province of China.

Companies and executives around the world are desperately trying to gauge the severity of China's economic slowdown. But getting a clear picture is very difficult.

Growth in the world's second-biggest economy cooled last year to its lowest level in almost three decades, according to government data. Top global brands including Apple and Caterpillar have blamed weakness in China for their disappointing earnings.

The situation could be even bleaker than China's official statistics suggest, according to many analysts.

"The Chinese published GDP numbers are absolute garbage," said Leland Miller, CEO of advisory firm China Beige Book. "It's certainly the consensus that these numbers are unreliable."

His firm gathers data from thousands of companies across different industries in China to come up with its own picture of what's happening, drawing its name from the US Federal Reserve's Beige Book report. Miller said the Chinese economy is "much, much weaker" at the moment than Chinese government figures suggest and things are unlikely to turn around anytime soon.

Some experts suspect China's National Bureau of Statistics, which reports much of the country's data, is more focused on making the government look good rather than giving an accurate reflection of its economic health.

The bureau is a "Communist Party organ first and an honest statistical broker second," Derek Scissors, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, wrote in a recent blog post.

It's difficult to determine China's true rate of growth, as a lot of government data "don't make sense," according to Scissors, who is also chief economist at China Beige Book. For example, the numbers on the economy's size compared with the average income of Chinese citizens don't tally, he said.

Research firm Capital Economics examines a range of data including sea freight, electricity generation and financial lending to come up with a proxy indicator. Based on that, China's economy may have only grown by around 5% last year rather than the official rate of 6.6%.

"The economy will get increasingly worse in the coming months," said Wei Bingyu, the owner of an industrial paint factory in Beijing. He blamed the difficulties on the trade war and other issues.

A closely watched independent survey that measures the health of China's huge manufacturing sector sank to its lowest level in nearly three years last month.

The behavior of Chinese consumers is a key focus. Spending by Chinese shoppers rose by almost 10% last year, according to official data. But the country's huge car market shrank in 2018 for the first time in around 20 years, and retail sales over the Lunar New Year holiday this month grew at their slowest pace in more than a decade.

Official Chinese data is likely "overstating consumption growth," Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist at Capital Economics, said in a recent note to clients. He estimated that consumer spending in China's big urban areas shrank by about 3% last year, suggesting middle-class shoppers are tightening their belts.

Using a gym "is not quite like eating, clothing, housing or commuting," Zhou said. "Those are must-haves, while bodybuilding is not." As the economy slows, "many gyms have temporarily shut down or gone bankrupt," he added.

Is stimulus going where it's needed?

In a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, Vice President Wang Qishan urged investors to stop freaking out about the economy. "There will be a lot of uncertainties in 2019, but something that is certain is that China's growth will continue and will be sustainable," he said.

It's still unclear how much the moves will do to halt the slowdown because a lot of the extra funds they free up go to inefficient state-run enterprises rather than private businesses, analysts say.

Many private companies in China typically rely on shadow financing, murky forms of lending that are kept off banks' official balance sheets. Regulators have cracked down on those practices in recent years.

"It is extremely difficult to get financial leverage as a private business," said Guo Yucheng, the owner of a drug manufacturing business in the northern province of Jilin.

"There are so many businesses, like ours, who are trying to just get by every month," Guo said. "Private businesses are going through a long winter."

Egyptian authorities have released senior Muslim Brotherhood member Mahmud Izzat after holding him without trial for more than three months.

He was released late on Saturday, said an official in Cairo on Sunday.

A Brotherhood official on Sunday denied there was a deal with the government to release key members of the movement who have been detained for months.

The Brotherhood, which is Egypt's largest opposition group but which the government refuses to recognise, had called for a boycott of the referendum because of the conditions limiting independent presidential candidates.

Because of the restrictions, the Brotherhood does not have a candidate among the nine opposition politicians challenging President Hosni Mubarak, who is seeking a fifth six-year term in the elections on 7 September.

But the Brotherhood, its eyes on parliamentary elections in November, has advised its members to take part in the presidential elections and to vote for the candidate of their own choice.

Izzat, who is among the top four members of the Islamist movement, was the most senior Brotherhood member detained in a crackdown which began in March, when the movement started a series of street protests for political reform.

Another leading Muslim Brother, Issam al-Irian, remains in detention.

Izzat paid bail of 2000 Egyptian pounds ($350) and could still face charges, such as belonging to an illegal organisation, the official sources said.

SALEM — Cynthia Harvey, 64, formerly of East Liverpool, passed away Friday, May 25, 2018, at Salem East Healthcare Center.

Born Oct. 18, 1953, in East Liverpool, she was a daughter of the late Betty Jean Harvey.

At one time she was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

A brother, Robert Mitchell, survives.

Arrangements handled by Dawson Funeral Home.

EAST PEORIA — Jesse Williams and the rest of the owners at J.K. Williams Distilling knew what they had in their Young Buck Bourbon.

They had overseen the acquisition of the grain, observed its mashing, fermentation and distilling. They had tasted it, and were convinced of the bourbon’s quality, the smoothness and sweetness of it. Even then, it had to be considered an underdog at the Great American Distillers Festival, held in Portland, Ore., in October in the “Small Batch Bourbon Aged Less than 10 Years” category.

The Young Buck wasn’t even aged a whole year, and yet it brought home the bronze medal in that category.

Jesse Williams, along with his wife, Kassi, his brother, Jon, and his sister-in-law, Kristin, opened a craft whiskey distillery in October 2013 — the type of venture that has little precedent, particularly in downstate Illinois.

Kassi Williams said the best part about being a small business was starting the second year of operations, since a baseline of expectations exists that can better gauge how the business is performing.

The formative months of J.K. Williams Distilling were shoddy indicators of what was to come. The Nov. 17 tornado eroded participation in its first Small Business Saturday, and a trove of product wasn’t available while the first batches of whiskey were aging.

But much has changed in the intervening year for the Williams clan, and not only with the recent honors bestowed upon their whiskey.

Touring the distillery, in a modest building off Interstate-74 between East Peoria and Morton, on weekends has morphed into a local attraction. On Saturday and Sunday afternoons, people are ferried around J.K. Williams and are shown the inner workings of the whiskey operation, with samplings to boot. Both Kassi and Jesse Williams expressed their surprise at some of the stories from people in the tour groups who weren’t from central Illinois but made it a priority to stop at J.K. Williams in their travels through the area. The distillery’s second Small Business Saturday was a whirlwind of activity and traffic that nearly depleted the whiskey on hand for samples.

“There are some Saturdays where we look at each other and say, ‘We can’t talk anymore,’” Jesse Williams said.

J.K. Williams also has paired up with another locally renowned small business, Thirty-Thirty Coffee, for a limited edition J.K. Williams bourbon-conditioned coffee released in October and December at the coffee shop, with more partnerships planned in the future. Both the packaged grounds for sale and the coffee at Thirty-Thirty sold out within a day.

Kassi Williams said the commitment to local small businesses has been nurtured out of J.K. Williams’ own growth fortified in the past year through good word of mouth and a backbone of community support.

“It reminds us how awesome this entire adventure has been,” Kassi Williams said.

Keeping the heat in before Trinidad Moruga Scorpion germinated.

An average chilli/fajita/stir fry contains 30-40 ‘small ones’, not including loads of chilli flakes and powder.

I’ve grown the tame but nice Loco before, but for Christmas I thought I’d push him to his limit by attempting to grow Trinidad Moruga Scorpion (Plant World Seeds, £3.15) from seed.

It has an enormous Scoville rating (the official scale of how hot a chilli is) of between 1,200,000 to 2,000,000 SHU.

Check seed tray every day in such high heat.

The fruit produced are quite small and lumpy, maturing from lime green to bright red. Once you get past the burn, they have a pleasant fruity flavour.

Super hot chillies need a long season to mature, so surface sow in January (save half your seeds so you have time for another go in February if the first lot fail).

They also need a great deal of heat to germinate, so thank goodness for the BioGreen propagator – you need a bottom heat of between 27ºC to 32ºC, 24 hours a day.

Once the seedlings are established, pot on quickly, lower the heat and move them to a sunny windowsill.

I kept the heat in and the air circulating by rigging up a small seed tray with two small lids propped over it and the lot covered with a bag of bubble wrap.

It worked – all five germinated after 11 days.

It is also important to wash your hands well after touching the chilli seeds (or wear gloves) and avoid your eyes!

Keep containers tidy, cutting back and removing dead leaves. Mulch with grit – it looks good and reduces surface puddling after heavy rain.

Prune Wisteria – cut back side shoots shortened by summer pruning to two or three buds. Don’t cut off flower buds!

Coral spot is often noticed on twigs from deciduous hedges, shrubs, and trees, connected with poor ventilation and congested, twiggy growth inside clipped hedges.

The movie, opening Feb. 22, is the fact-based story of how British wrestler Saraya-Jade Bevis, aka Paige (Florence Pugh), became a WWE superstar and the resulting impact her fame has on her wrestling-crazed, working-class family.

Johnson sent Merchant the documentary to watch and the rest is history.

“The Tooth Fairy” was a flop (“You’re welcome for that,” Merchant quips), but “Fighting With My Family” is generating buzz after its well-received debut at last month’s Sundance Film Festival. Reaction was so strong, the movie got a second screening at the fest.

As if that moment weren’t enough, Merchant, who has made a career off his 6-foot, 7-inch gangly frame and awkward shtick, recalls walking on Main Street in Park City with Vince Vaughn when they ran into Jeff Goldblum and all shared a hug. “I was like, ‘Wow, it’s the three tallest men in Hollywood,’” Merchant said.

“Fighting With My Family” is Merchant’s solo directorial debut. He said his self-issued marching orders were to strive for strong storytelling infused with heart, humor and dynamic wrestling scenes. Those wrestling sequences were a challenge, however.

Merchant said the WWE allowed to film the climactic match between Paige and Summer Rae at the Staples Center following a regular show.

The movie follows Paige from her humble beginnings in the small English town of Norwich. She’s part of a family of grapplers who run an amateur wrestling circuit. Dad (Nick Frost) is the mohawked “Rowdy Ricky”; Mom (“Game of Thrones’” Lena Headey) lays the smack down as “Sweet Saraya” and Saraya-Jade (Pugh) and her brother, Zak (Jack Lowdon), are the dynamic sibling duo. When the WWE comes to town, the sibs get a tryout and only Saraya (she’ll change her name to Paige later) earns a spot. A family rivalry and riff ensue.

Thinking back to the first time he watched the documentary, Merchant said he thought he would sit there and just “sneer” at the family.

Merchant said he also wanted to write and direct the movie because there’s a woman at the core.

“Particularly, a working-class British woman,” he said. “You don’t see a lot of movies in which they succeed and excel. When you see working-class British women, they’re often single mothers in gritty dramas struggling to feed their kids, whereas this was quite exciting because it was a celebration of this woman being away from home and trying to remain true to who she was. I found it kind of uplifting and empowering.

When it was go-time, Merchant said he took a leap (from the third rope) of faith and went all-in.

“I did my research, spent time with Dwayne,” Merchant said.

He also tried to stick to the facts as much as possible.

It’s always risky to tell someone’s life story. Merchant was nervous when he showed Paige the movie for the first time at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando.

His next project remains up in the air. “I’m just waiting for another giant film star to send me another documentary to make into a movie,” he said, laughing.

Dame Heather Rabbatts, who served on the board of the English Football Association and Millwall Football Club, discusses racism in the game.

The funeral has taken place of Gordon Banks in Stoke. He was England’s World Cup-winning goalkeeper in 1966 and was regarded as the best keeper of his generation and one of the very best of all time.

John Amaechi, a psychologist and former basketball player, and Ryan Atkin, the first openly gay referee in English professional football, discuss Joe Root.

The England cricket captain, Joe Root, has been praised for challenging an alleged homophobic slur during the third Test match in St Lucia.

The footballing world has been paying tribute to England’s World Cup-winning goalkeeper Gordon Banks, who has died at the age of 81.