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Filed under: backstory • Science and Technology • U.S.
It costs a lot to run for U.S. president, but this year’s campaigns are spending less on advertising and benefitting from a new form of financing called super Political Action Committees or super PAC’s.
Fionnuala Sweeney talked with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer about the powerful new player in the race for president.
Filed under: backstory • journalists • politics • U.S.
CNN's Tim Lister explains why the Strait of Hormuz is so strategically important and why tensions are rising there.
Filed under: backstory • Iran • Iraq • journalists • U.S.
After nearly nine years in Iraq, the United States military is packing up its gear and bringing its troops home. The U.S. says the war is over, and Iraq is now a stable, sovereign country. If you ask Iraqis how they feel after almost nine years of occupation, the answer is not so cut and dry.
Arwa Damon and Michael Holmes have been covering the war since the beginning. John Vause talked with them to help put it all in perspective.
Check out this link to see some pictures from Michael Holmes after he recently visited a camp for displaced people in Taji, Iraq.
Filed under: Arab World • Arwa Damon • backstory • Interviews • Iraq • Iraq War • John Vause • journalists • Michael Holmes • U.S.
On any given Sunday in the state of Georgia you will find college students attending Sunday school. But one unique group of college students doesn’t attend Sunday school in a church. And their classes aren’t led by a pastor or priest. Instead, they attend class in a secret location in Athens, Georgia.
Thelma Gutierrez and I traveled across the country to meet these students and pay an exclusive visit to their Sunday school class. We were never given the school’s address and had to follow a guide to the location.
When we got to the school, we were met by a diverse group of 33 students from different religious backgrounds who came from places as far away as South Korea, Morocco and ElSalvador. But they all had one thing in common; they were undocumented. Most grew up in the United States and attended public schools in Georgia - until now.
These undocumented students had been banned from attending any of the top five state colleges in Georgia after the Board of Regents changed their admissions policy this fall.
So, instead of just allowing these young minds to sit idle – four University of Georgia professors decided to take things into their own hands and created Freedom University. It's a school with college-level courses that they teach for free.
One of the founders, Lorgia Garcia-Pena, already juggles her time as a mother and full-time Latin Studies professor, but says she can’t turn her back on these students. This is clearly a tough issue. The U.S. is struggling over just how many undocumented immigrants should be allowed to remain in this country, if any at all. This struggle is manifested at Freedom University– where a small group of professors, like Garcia-Pena, come down on the side of giving these students an equal opportunity. "We are aware that some people might not agree with what we are doing and not necessarily feel that this is a thing that we should be doing even though we are all doing this as volunteer work on the weekend. So we feel like we should protect the students from people who might not be happy about Freedom University. That's why we keep the location a secret."
The students who attend the three hour class earn no college credit and they have to compete with each other just to get one of the coveted spots. The university had so many applicants students were turned away.
Freedom University is held in donated space and is run entirely by volunteers. The volunteers we spoke to were very passionate about donating their spare time to help the students. Volunteer coordinator Allie McCullen says Freedom University is powered by hundreds of volunteers. "They do everything from tutoring for SATs to helping the students with their day-to-day assignments and they are driving all over Georgia." Since the students are undocumented, they’re ineligible for driver’s licenses. We saw first-hand how this group of volunteers operates. For example, one of the students failed to get a ride to class from a relative. The volunteers immediately sprang into action and a driver was quickly located and dispatched to pick up the student and drive her to class, even though she lived one and a half hours away.
Freedom University has also rallied the community into action. When we were there a local Colombian caterer served up empanadas and baklava for lunch complete with Peruvian soda. Hundreds of people across the country have already shown their support for Freedom University by making donations online at their website www.freedomuniversitygeorgia.org. People can even purchase text books online.
Freedom University exists because of the volunteers. But the school is really driven by the students’ hunger to learn. When we talked to the students, they were thrilled to be back in class. "Freedom University means a lot to me. I may not be getting college credit but it's my desire to get that college experience,” said one student. Another student said, "After graduating I felt like the door had been shut in my face and with this after waiting so long I am grateful and glad to be here."
Having the class on Sunday accommodates the staff, as well as, the students’ work schedules. Many have paying jobs as tutors or domestics. While others work in the family business or even as farm laborers.
So for now, these kids will continue chasing their educational dreams at Freedom University, where every Sunday they cherish the opportunity to go to Sunday school.
CNN’s Thelma Gutierrez and Michael Schulder contributed to this report.
A huge thank you to Cydney Millstein, an Architectural Historian in Kansas City Missouri and to Butch Rigbey, Chair of Thank You Walt Disney for their participation in telling this story. Also to Dan Viets of Kansas City. Their passion for history is appreciated.
Filed under: Animation • backstory • Entertainment • History • U.S.
Cellphones, computers, refrigerators and cars — these are just some of the objects that have been vaporized in California’s deadly wildfires, and the chemicals and particles from the melted objects have blanketed the northern part of the state in endless smoke this month.
“It literally felt like you were living in a cloud of fog, but it was not fog, it was smoke from the fire,” said James Steele, a realtor in San Francisco who described nearly two weeks unrelenting air pollution even being over 150 miles south of Butte County, the center of the Camp Fire, the deadliest fire in the state’s history.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection this weekend said that the Northern California fire was has been nearly extinguished after several days of rain. Since its start on Nov. 9, the Camp Fire has left at least 84 people dead (and 475 others missing), charred 240 square miles and destroyed 19,000 buildings, mostly homes.
Almost all of Northern California is under a poor air quality advisory, with residents from Redding to San Francisco donning industrial-grade face masks to filter polluted air. Emergency room visits for asthma, heart attacks, stroke and other cardiovascular maladies are known to increase after a wildfire, but less is known about the long-term consequences on public health.
For people who are generally healthy, headaches, burning and itching eyes, and difficulty breathing are the most commonly reported symptoms.
While lung cancer is associated with long-term exposure to particle pollution and wood-fire smoke, it’s unclear how short-term exposure to such smoke, increasingly burning up residential areas, will affect people.
Few studies have examined exposure to wildfire smoke and long-term health effects, Rebecca Schmidt, an assistant professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of California, Davis, told The Washington Times.
Ms. Schmidt and other researchers from UC-Davis have embarked on a fast-paced research effort to collect as much data about the current wildfires to analyze health effects.
The California Department of Public Health lists a toxic combination of chemicals likely present in smoke that can be a risk factor for heart disease, cancer and neurological problems.
Ms. Schmidt is leading a research team evaluating the impact of smoke exposure and the stress of the wildfire emergencies on women who were pregnant during the fires in 2017, which were similarly destructive to residential communities in Northern California.
Called the Wine Country Fires, the most devastating ones occurred in Napa and Sonoma counties, burning almost 37,000 acres and destroying more than 5,600 structures. A total of 44 people died in at least five fires that burned from October to December.
Ms. Schmidt has enrolled about 200 pregnant women and collected data on thousands of compounds detected in their hair, blood and urine samples, as well as testing the placenta and umbilical cord. Researchers also are collecting data on air pollution on specific days and chemicals in the soil, among other methods.
“We’re casting a broad net and collecting as much as we can … because we really just don’t know that much and this is a way to narrow it down to what might be of most concern,” Ms. Schmidt said.
A colleague, UC-Davis environmental epidemiologist Irva Hertz-Picciotto, is helping lead a study on general population health related to wildfire smoke exposure.
Toxic chemicals are one concern, but fine particulate matter is another. Microscopic solid materials are inhaled and absorbed in the lungs and enter the blood stream, threatening to trigger an immune response or add to blockage buildup in arteries.
“We know that to some extent they seem to behave in the body much like the way cigarette smoke does in terms of promoting hardening of the arteries and cardiovascular risk over the longer run,” said Patrick Kinney, professor of environmental health at Boston University.
Mr. Kinney noted the long-term effects for firefighters, first responders and civilians in ground zero of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York.
“The exposure level there in California would be far less than what the firefighters — several weeks and months working in the debris and getting really exposed to high levels,” he said.
Ms. Schmidt was cautious to compare the two events but said trauma and stress can harm the body and exacerbate health issues.
Kent Pinkerton, a professor of pediatrics and in the school of veterinary medicine from UC-Davis, echoed Ms. Schmitt’s assessment that trauma and stress can be an added layer to whatever long-term consequences may occur.
Both Ms. Schmidt and Mr. Pinkerton can be counted among the cohort of their subjects — their university closed for more than two weeks because of poor air quality. In the areas of Northern California down to the Bay Area of San Francisco, the air quality index has rated above 100 or 150 over that time period, unhealthy levels that at points were worse than air quality in China and India.
Rain over the coming days is expected to break up the smoke and wash away some of the larger particles clouding the atmosphere, although ultra fine particles, Mr. Pinkerton said, can remain.
The concern is mostly for the most vulnerable populations — pregnant women, newborns, children, elderly and those with compromised immune systems — and the general, healthy population are likely to recover, said Cindy Pak, chief of pulmonology at Kaiser Permanente in West Los Angeles.
English Tudor With Waterviews Has Such Potential! This Home Features A En Suite W/Private Fbth, 2 Add'l Lrg Br's, Fbth, Kitchen, Banquet Size Formal Dining Rm, Expansive Formal Living Rm W/Fpl, Lrg. Family Rm, Floor To Ceiling Windows & Extra Wide Slider Doors Which Allow For Winter Water Views, Full Bsmt Finished W/2 Outside Enterances, Jacuzzi Rm W/White Marble Flr To Ceiling, Cac On Main & Lower Floor, This Home Is Built On 2 Lots, Detached 3 Car Garage, Trex Bridge To Entry.
National Post Green Report. Not.
The National Post publishes screeds from the likes of Alexander Cockburn, runs a denier-of-the week profile, and printed a disgusting tirade by George Jonas that included "The Green Gestapo of the environment seems ready to launch nuts right here at home. Eco-fascists share the self-righteous arrogance of Islamo-fascists, safety-Nazis and other control freaks."
Hundreds of people jumped into Lake Michigan for the 2016 Polar Plunge on Sunday, including several celebrities who braved the chilly waters.
Actors from the hit NBC shows “Chicago Fire,” “Chicago PD,” and “Chicago Med” took the plunge Sunday morning at North Avenue Beach. Meteorologists Al Roker and Dylan Dreyer from the TODAY Show also flew into Chicago to take part.
“Chicago Fire” star Taylor Kinney and his fiancée Lady Gaga joined in on the fun for the second year in a row, even repeating a piggyback exit from the water.
Last year, Kinney and Gaga were joined by actor Vince Vaughn and more than 4,500 Chicagoans in the icy dip into Lake Michigan. While Vaughn was the guest of honor at the event, Lady Gaga's appearance was a surprise.
Plungers raised more than $1 million dollars in 2015, which supports athletes involved in Special Olympics Chicago. NBC is a proud sponsor of this year's Polar Plunge. Donations can also be made online.
The 16th annual Polar Plunge began at 10 a.m. Sunday for the first wave, then continued at 10:30 a.m., 11:00 a.m., and 11:30 a.m.
Candeo-hotels.com is the main portal of a chain of mid-range and business hotels with locations in many cities of Japan. When finding a name for the business, the founding partners of Candeo-hotels.com chose the name Candeo, which is Latin for 'shining' as they felt it strongly imbibes the company's philosophy-that hotel staff, suppliers and most importantly, guests can harmoniously work together to help each other shine and be the best at what they do.
One way in which Candeo-hotels.com show appreciation for guests and potential guests is by offering them discount vouchers. Discount vouchers for Candeo-hotels.com properties in Japan are always honoured, be it in the beautiful seaside destination of Fukuyama in Hiroshima Prefecture, in the industrial centre of Ozu in Kumamoto Prefecture and even in the Ueno district right in the heart of Tokyo, the Japanese capital.
Candeo-hotels.com regularly comes up with different types of promos as a sign of goodwill to clients and guests. There are early-bird rates, long-stay price reductions, Candeo-hotels.com discount codes and even affordable breakfast plans.
Each Candeo-hotels.com property is equipped with complete facilities for the comfort and the enjoyment of guests. All hotels, save for the one in Ueno, have a sky-spa for that ultimate relaxing activity. Those who prefer to stay in their rooms can simply book one with a relaxing sofa. It is easy to understand why many travellers choose to stay at Candeo hotels.
A man accused of a Farmington bank robbery this morning has been taken into custody.
The robbery occurred around 9:45 a.m. at the First Convenience Bank inside the Walmart at 4600 E. Main St.
The FBI will identify the suspect when he is charged on the robbery.
FARMINGTON — A man accused of a Farmington bank robbery this morning has been taken into custody.
Officers were dispatched around 9:45 a.m. to the First Convenience Bank inside the Walmart at 4600 E. Main St. on reports of a bank robbery, according to a Farmington Police Department Facebook post.
The department posted photos of the male suspect to its Facebook page in an attempt to locate him.
The suspect, Justin Watchman Jr., 26, was taken into custody around 1 p.m. at a bus stop near 126 E. Main St, according to Farmington Police spokesperson Georgette Allen.
She declined to comment on the details of the robbery, referring questions to the FBI. The federal agency is involved in the investigation of the case.
Farmington police will charge Watchman with one count of robbery and the FBI will adopt the case, Allen said.
By adopting the case, the state charges will be dismissed and the federal charges will take over, according to Allen.
Watchman handed the clerk a note demanding the cash and no weapon was observed, according to FBI spokesman Frank Fisher.
The entrance of the bank was closed off by police this morning as police investigated the scene.
The bank was previously robbed on March 18, 2015, by Richard Buckner of Farmington, according to the Daily Times archives.
Buckner approached the bank teller with a handwritten note which stated "Give me $4,000 And Nobody gets Hurt."
Buckner used part of the stolen cash to make a down payment on a vehicle.
He was arrested on March 20, 2015, and entered a guilty plea on Sept. 1, 2015.
Buckner received a two-year prison sentence on Feb. 9, 2016, in Albuquerque federal court.
He was also sentenced to three years of supervised probation following his prison term.
While 303 Day — an annual March 3 celebration of all things Colorado — sure seems like the type of event that the state’s founding fathers would have written into the constitution, it’s actually a relatively new occasion.
In fact, when we reached out to Colorado historians and experts to learn more about the origins of the now-ubiquitous event named after our first area code, we were surprised that they had no clue how or when 303 Day got started. Professors at the University of Colorado’s Boulder and Denver campuses couldn’t help us. Then we tried History Colorado, the Colorado and Denver tourism offices, and the Denver mayor’s arts and culture commission. No luck there, either.
Turns out, 303 Day isn’t an official state holiday at all. It’s the brainchild of Channel 93.3, Denver’s modern rock radio station, and Illegal Pete’s, the Colorado-based burrito chain. Denver’s periodical for young professionals, 303 Magazine, later joined in on the project.
The first 303 Day was in 2009, after a conversation between Channel 93.3 deejay Jeb Freedman — aka Nerf — and members of the Colorado band 3OH!3.
The first year was “just a handful of tweets,” Freedman said, but the idea quickly caught on.
Since then, 303 Day has ballooned into a well-known Colorado “holiday” and includes a little something for everyone, including $3.03 breakfast burritos or bowls, margaritas, bloody marys and New Belgium beers at all nine of Illegal Pete’s locations. Plus, if you wear your favorite Colorado gear, you’ll get a free “I 303’d” sticker there, too.
You can also enter to win tickets to 303 Day at Night, a show at The Oriental Theater featuring 888, AMZY, One Flew West and others. Though the March 3 concert is free, it’s first-come, first-served access, but you can score guaranteed admission by donating at least $3.03 to Foodbank of the Rockies.
Plus, on March 3, when you visit the Illegal Pete’s on Colfax between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., you can win clothing made by Colorado-based Belong Designs, say “hi” to Nerf the 93.3 deejay, and grab a copy of 303 Music Vol. 2, a vinyl album featuring all local artists created by 303 Magazine.
The magazine is donating 80 percent of the proceeds from record sales to Youth on Record, a nonprofit that seeks to empower at-risk teens with music.
The organizers also are offering free headshots to 150 local comedians, artists and bands in honor of 303 Day, since that can be a stumbling block for burgeoning performing artists. The photos will be on display on the magazine’s website and at Illegal Pete’s restaurants around Colorado.
Living near or in the mountains isn’t all that makes Colorado special, said Erin Barnes, spokeswoman for Illegal Pete’s. It’s also the eclectic mix of people who live here.
Nationally, three-digit area codes date back to 1947 (with 303 reportedly covering the entire state of Colorado), but they were used primarily for making long-distance calls between states. As the number of people using telephones and fax machines grew, so too did the need for additional area codes. Colorado, for instance, added the 720 area code for Front Range residents in 1998 once all the 303 numbers were taken.
In August 1998, The Associated Press described the day when Denver residents first began having to dial 10-digit phone numbers to make local calls — and they were not thrilled. One Denver resident complained that she was “starting to feel like a robot” because of all the numbers she had to memorize.
A FAMILY told it must now pay pay £650 a year to keep a shrine to a deceased child was last night (Tuesday, January 29) hoping the situation could be resolved.
Becky Bell, of Hartlepool, died of cancer aged just seven in January last year and since then her parents have preserved her room and kept her ashes in there.
But her parents, Julie and Mark, have now been told her bedroom is classed as a spare room and, under new Government rules, must pay £56 a month from April.
However, Mrs Bell told The Northern Echo last night she was hopeful the situation could be turned round after speaking to the authorities.
Housing Hartlepool, the housing association involved, has confirmed it is proposing a transitional discretionary fund be established to help in unusual situations like that of the Bells.
The 41-year-old added: “It doesn’t bear to think about them calling it a spare room, it’s Becky’s room.
ROOM SHRINE: Becky Bell, who died from cancer, age seven.
“It’s not her fault she’s not here any more and to us she is still here.

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