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It turns out Mr. Gehry’s connection to the city, and the site of the new Signature, at the corner of 10th and 42nd, is quite strong. “My father was born in New York City in 1900,” Mr. Gehry, wearing a tweed blazer, black t-shirt and jeans, said from the dais. “He was a street urchin in Hell’s Kitchen, it was a very poor family, and he was worried all his life, he kept calling me a dreamer, and he said ‘you’re gonna have trouble making it in this world as a dreamer.’ So I want to say, Pop, I hitched my wagon to the most incredible group of dreamers you’ll ever imagine, including the dreamiest dreamer of all, the mayor of this city, Mayor Bloomberg.” Dreamy!
And yet Mr. Gehry is not as familiar with his latest project as one might think.
While the Blackhawks closed St. Louis to reach the Western Conference semifinals, the Bulls are in deep trouble. Well, one out of two ain't bad.
Hawks coach Joel Quenneville on Game 6: "We have to play our best game."
Taj has entered the game, folks.
Jeff Carl, director of the emergency department, holds a sexual assault kit Jan. 26, 2018, at St. Luke's Magic Valley Medical Center in Twin Falls. Each kit is sealed to prevent tampering.
BOISE — A bill crafted with the support of a Magic Valley police chief could ensure nearly all sexual assault kits collected in Idaho are tested.
The legislation brought by Rep. Melissa Wintrow, a Democrat from Boise, would tweak sexual assault kit laws passed in 2016 to require that all kits be processed, with the exception of cases where there is evidence that the assault claim was unfounded. The bill will be heard on the House floor after passing through the House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee on a unanimous vote Wednesday.
Wintrow and other supporters of House Bill 116, including Twin Falls Police Chief Craig Kingsbury, say making sure all kits are tested up front could help identify serial offenders and provide a safety net for victims who choose not to pursue charges at first but may change their minds down the road. It’s the latest effort in a push to reform Idaho’s standards for the processing of sexual assault kits; the bill follows a series of laws passed in recent legislative sessions, including laws requiring law enforcement agencies to submit kits for testing within 30 days and to keep kits as evidence for longer periods of time.
A total of 78 sexual assault kits collected across the state went untested in 2018, 23 of which weren’t tested because the victim chose not to move forward with the processing, according to an Idaho State Police report. Two of those 23 kits were collected by the Gooding County Sheriff’s Office.
One sexual assault kit collected by the Twin Falls Police Department was not tested in 2018, but not because the victim opted out. The kit was not processed because there was no evidence to support a crime being committed, according to the ISP report.
Testing as many kits as possible could help identify serial offenders whose DNA is a match for other assaults, Wintrow noted — and, she suggested, knowing they aren’t alone could encourage a victim to assist law enforcement and prosecutors in building their case.
“That could be an empowering moment for somebody to say, ‘Oh boy, it’s not just me and I do want to do something about that,’” Wintrow said.
Twin Falls Prosecuting Attorney Grant Loebs told the Times-News he would be glad to see the opt-out option for victims removed from the law, describing the legislation as “a big step forward” for the state.
The bill was met with unanimous bipartisan support from the majority-Republican committee, with no lawmakers voting or speaking against the proposal.
“We don’t necessarily agree on every issue, but I think this is an issue we can all agree upon,” said Rep. Paul Amador, a Republican from Coeur d’Alene.
Analyze the pros and cons of your building project before putting money down.
Building developments can take years and sometimes millions of dollars to complete. Before you commit to a site and a building plan, perform a SWOT analysis to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats internally on your company and externally on the plan. This helps you decide if the project is viable and helps you create a successful building development.
Internally, measure the strengths of your company and the person you plan to use to lead the building development. This person must be skilled in project management and able to build strong relationships with subcontractors. Your company must have the capital -- or the ability to borrow the capital -- necessary to finish the project, along with extra to cover unexpected problems. When choosing a site for your development, look at the amount of traffic by the site and the demographics of the area to make sure those both add value to your development.
Internal and external weaknesses can offset the strengths you listed, so be as honest as possible in this part of the assessment. If your project manager is unorganized or refuses to learn new technology, it could lead to a failed project or one that falls behind schedule. If your company has pledges from investors to fund the development but no money in hand, that could also be a red flag about potential funding problems. Pay close attention to the work that must be done on the job site to prepare it for the building development -- if you must demolish an existing building and then grade the land again, it costs more than starting on a fresh piece of land. These weaknesses aren't a reason to abandon the project, but they help you see the full picture before you make your final decision.
Explore the opportunities the building project might offer to your company, such as building strong relationships with vendors, subcontractors and investors. These relationships can lead to future projects that tend to run smoother because you've all worked together before and understand each other's expectations. Examine your site location to see if it's convenient for public transportation or parking, which could turn your development into a sought-after office location or housing development.
Threats are challenges that can significantly impact the success of your building development. If you have a fantastic project manager but he has a history of leaving projects in the middle, that could threaten the success of your development. If your funding is contingent upon you sticking to your schedule, an ill-timed week of rainfall can cause you to lose your funding. If the site requires you to connect to existing buildings, there may be codes that limit the type of building you can create. Or, if you're building on an empty lot, the public may be upset about losing green space and could address the local government about your building project, potentially causing major problems for your development.
When creating your SWOT analysis, always start with a fresh set of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Sometimes, an issue that is a threat in one project, such as the lack of a certain type of technology, can be an opportunity in the next project -- the investors may care enough about the new technology to pay extra so you can purchase it. Copying the SWOT information from another project could jeopardize the success of a new one.
Munroe, Shala. "SWOT Analysis for Building Development." Small Business - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/swot-analysis-building-development-42456.html. Accessed 23 April 2019.
May. 26, 2017, 5:31 p.m.
Veteran Democratic operative Bob Mulholland slammed infighting among California Democrats, and urged Kimberly Ellis, who came up short in a nasty party chair election, to work to unify the party.
“I … and others did not understand some of your supporters' … attacks on those of us who have spent decades or years building the Democrats in California as the most successful political Party in the country,” he wrote in an open letter to Ellis on Thursday.
He sent the email in the aftermath of the party’s rancorous convention last weekend that featured a bitter leadership battle between Ellis, a favorite of newer members including the backers of Bernie Sanders’ failed presidential bid, and longtime party leader Eric Bauman.
EDINSON CAVANI was reportedly denied a move to Manchester United last summer by Paris Saint-Germain boss Laurent Blanc.
The striker has been linked with a switch to Old Trafford at the end of the current campaign, with loanee Radamel Falcao set to return to Monaco.
However, reports in Spain claim that Cavani had his heart set on a switch to United after the 2014 World Cup in Brazil after telling Blanc of his unhappiness at playing second fiddle to Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
It is believed that United made a £32million offer for the Uruguay international, but PSG refused to sanction the switch as the Red Devils eventually wrapped up a temporary deal for Falcao on transfer deadline day.
And United may have to look elsewhere this summer, with Cavani said to be keen on a Parc des Princes stay despite an apparent offer to join Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid side.
Christina Aguilera is still determined to make a musical comeback.
We’re hearing rumblings that the former The Voice coach is ready come off the sidelines and take center stage with a new album and new sound. She has even sparked speculation she may be the 2017 recipient of the MTV Video Vanguard Award.
Like many of her 2000s contemporaries (with the exception of the visionary Beyoncé), the talented singer has struggled to find mainstream success in a digital age that has been pretty much dominated by the likes of Taylor Swift.
However, a source tells Hollywood Life Christina is ready to return to the pop scene.
The 36-year-old and mother of two hinted back in February that she was working on the final touches of a new album. She even missed the last three seasons of The Voice so that she can fully focus on her comeback.
Earlier this week, Aguilera sparked more speculation that a new album was on the way. Though she has amassed 16.4 million followers on Twitter, she only follows 24 accounts, with the Video Music Awards (@vmas), being added to her selective list on Tuesday (Jul. 11).
Fans of the singer immediately took this as a sign she would be receiving this year’s coveted Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.
Though this year’s Vanguard Award recipient has not been confirmed, one source does say Aguilera would like to attend the VMAs to promote her new album.
Aguilera has attempted two comebacks in the past seven years with Bionic (2010) and Lotus (2012). Both albums received mix reviews and disappointing sales, even despite The Voice momentum/promotion for Lotus.
There’s no word on what influenced her “new sound,” but, as a huge Aguilera fan, I have long wished she could bounce back, particularly with a duets album.
Aguilera has had several successful duets and collaborations throughout her career. Working with current chart-toppers would allow her a space in today’s music scene and to, again, become musically relevant.
A duets album is the perfect formula for someone in Aguilera’s position. It most recently worked for legends Barbra Streisand (Partners, Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway) and Tony Bennett (Duets II), earning them both No. 1 debuts on the Billboard 200, something Aguilera hasn’t achieved since 2006.
Here’s to hoping 2017 is the year of the Christina Aguilera comeback!
There’s a new toy in the bin at Bonnie’s place.
The new footage shows Woody and crew adjusting to life under new ownership. The last installment, “Toy Story 3,” ended with the toy’s long-time owner Andy passing his beloved friends to Bonnie before heading off to college.
“Toy Story 4” begins with a distraught Bonnie, who doesn’t want to leave her toys behind, preparing for her kindergarten orientation. Her toys are her close confidants at home, but at school, Bonnie has trouble making new friends. It doesn’t get any easier for her when, after her teacher tasks the students with decorating a cup, a male classmate comes over and snatches all the crafts off Bonnie’s table. He’s not looking for a new pal.
Elsewhere in Bonnie’s backpack, it’s Woody to the rescue. Against the better wishes of Bonnie’s parents, the lovable sheriff snuck into school to ensure his owner adjusts to classroom life. When nobody is looking, Woody hops into the trashcan and tosses some unused supplies onto Bonnie’s work station. Bonnie doesn’t know where the materials came from, but she uses them — a plastic spork, a bright red pipe cleaner, and some googly eyes — to create a friend of her own: Forky.
When Woody (Tom Hanks) and Forky (Tony Hale) arrive back at Bonnie’s house, the cowboy introduces Bonnie’s creation to the gang, including Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Bo Peep (Annie Potts), Jessie (Joan Cusack), and Slinky Dog (Blake Clark). It sends Forky into an existential crisis. He’s not a toy, in his mind, he’s trash — literally.
Even though he’s composed of loose items Woody found in the garbage, the others help him understand how to be a toy. The clip ends as Bonnie and her family prepare to go on a road trip with Forky along for the ride.
Judging by the enthusiastic reception at Casear’s Palace, “Toy Story 4” looks to be another success for the hit franchise. The fourth installment in the series stays true to its predecessors, including a familiar rendition of “You’ve Got a Friend.” The upcoming animated adventure promises that new and old friends can co-exist.
This Impact Investing Platform Was Set To Be A Game-Changer. So Why Did It Fail?
In order to scale, impact investing needs a platform that will make it easier for investors to connect with vehicles for their funds. ImpactUs promised to do that–but its failure shows that the space wasn’t quite as ripe for innovation as its founders had hoped.
By making it easier for investors and mission-driven organizations to find each other and do business, the Kickstarter-like platform was set to spur major “new deal flow,” according to its founders. They hoped to be doing deals worth $100 million by now, and to have $3 billion in assets under management within 10 years. But apparently it didn’t have enough startup funding to become a sustainable operation, according to groups that used the marketplace to raise capital.
Impact investors often complain about a lack of ready-made opportunities for their capital. ImpactUs took on a screening role, defining what was on offer and laying out minimum investment levels and expected returns. Purpose-focused groups like B-Corps and community development financial institutions (CDFIs), meanwhile, say they lack the capacity to market themselves to investors and manage complex legal and tax paperwork. ImpactUs offered to take on those roles as well, providing an approachable website, online transaction processing, and back-office support.
Growing numbers of investors are willing to invest for below-market returns as long as they’re also compensated with evidence of social and environmental benefits. ImpactUs hoped to help B-corps, CDFIs, and microfinance groups reach such people. When Fast Company reported on the initiative last May, opportunities on the site included restorative farming, micro-finance projects, and affordable housing. Expected returns ranged from 0% to 5%. (By comparison, the long-term average return for the S&P 500 is about 12%).
ImpactUs was founded by a handful of CDFIs, including Enterprise Community Partners and City First Enterprises–financial institutions that support projects from affordable housing to small business development in lower-income communities, which often struggle to access loans from big banks. CDFIs work by leveraging philanthropic dollars–either from a foundation, or from the federal CDFI Fund, which supports the financial institutions–to bring in money from big banks or private lenders. CDFIs have a proven track record of success and consistent, if not huge, returns on investment, which de-risks investing in impact projects for big investors.
It’s clear that in the beginning, the CDFI and philanthropic communities had high hopes for ImpactUs. The platform had received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation, Kellogg Foundation and the Open Road Alliance as well as the CDFIs to get off the ground. MacArthur alone had put in $400,000 while Kellogg invested $350,000, according to their websites. ImpactUs was aimed at “accredited investors” who earn more than $200,000 a year, or have a net worth of more than $1 million. But it had hoped to broaden its base to less wealthy individuals once it was established.
ImpactUS’s founders declined to comment on the closure, citing legal formalities around winding down a broker-dealer organization. But it is understood that financing was a big factor. The platform couldn’t attract private capital to go with the philanthropic funding–which is core to the way that CDFIs function. At least four issuing groups–Iroquois Valley Farms, Low Income Investment Fund, CommonBond Communities, and Coastal Enterprises–were listed on the platform when it closed down.
ImpactUS had delivered “a handful” of new investors, says Egolf at Iroquois, which finances organic farming. He thinks the marketplace failed to attract enough impact investors to inspire confidence about its future. “It’s a chicken and egg problem. You need investors on the platform to attract issuers. And, to attract investors, you need issuers on the platform. It’s not easy to do,” he says. Iroquois looks after about 300 investors currently.
The ongoing question is whether ImpactUs demonstrates a general problem with aggregating impact investing online, or whether it’s a more particular failure. Similar projects like Mission Markets have also closed down. Enable Impact, a matchmaking impact investing marketplace founded by fintech entrepreneur Philip Berber, has faced problems as well.
Egolf says online impact investing can reduce costs on all sides, but getting an entrenched industry to move to an internet exchange may be a challenge. “The impact investing world is big enough for these solutions, but the way it is right now, it’s largely organized by existing institutions–financial advisers and mutual funds. You are trying to aggregate people who already have their own systems,” he says. Which may explain why online crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter, for instance, have succeeded where ImpactUs failed: Before Kickstarter launched, “there was no pre-existing ecosystem,” Egolf says.
The lesson for any future impact investing marketplace may be to have more funding lined up beforehand and for more investors to be primed to join the platform once opportunities are available. ImpactUs seemed to lack both. If other types of crowdfunding are any guide, two-sided platforms take time to balance themselves between sellers and buyers and ImpactUs didn’t manage to strike that middle ground. Eight months isn’t much runway for any startup to be successful.
The instance [To provide payment for certain depredations of Creek Indians on property of citizens of Georgia and Alabama.], (electronic resource) represents a material embodiment of a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Boston University Libraries. This resource is a combination of several types including: Instance, Electronic.
Revenues from ancient Egyptian monuments such as the pyramids have fallen by 95% since Egypt's 2011 revolution, the country's antiquities minister has said.
Revenues fell from 3bn Egyptian pounds (£250m) in 2010 to just 125m (£10.5m) in 2014, Mamdouh el-Damaty told al-Mehwar, a private Egyptian television channel.
The drop has left the ministry – which derives most of its income from tourist revenues – struggling to pay thousands of staff. "The current yearly income is good enough to pay the salaries of the ministry's employees for just two months," Damaty said in the interview.
Tourism in Egypt has been decimated since 2011, with media reports of social unrest coupled with western travel warnings putting off holidaymakers from travelling to most of the nation's famous destinations. Only 9.5 million tourists stayed in Egypt's hotels in 2013, compared to 14.7 million in 2010.
Footfall has started to pick up in Egypt's Red Sea resorts but visitors to its historic sites in Cairo, Luxor and Aswan – from where the ministry derives most of its income – are still few and far between.
On one night this month in Luxor, which houses the tomb of Tutankhamun among other pharaonic treasures, just 264 foreigners slept in the city's hotels, according to police.
"It's dead," said Mena Melad, the editor of the Luxor Times. "It's even worse than in 1997 after the massacre of the tourists" at the Hatshepsut temple in the Valley of the Kings. "There are lots of people who have given up working in tourism and are trying to find new work."
The tourism minister, Hisham Zaazou, said a rise in Arab visitors had bolstered this year's figures – but only in the sun and sea destinations.
"There are more Arabs arriving into the country from the Gulf, and from Jordan and Lebanon," said Zaazou. "But although we're hearing some better figures about Red Sea and southern Sinai, we still have a very big challenge in Luxor, Cairo and Aswan."
• This article was amended on Sunday 31 August 2014. The original headline said Egypt's tourism revenues had fallen by 95%. In fact, revenues from ancient monuments fell by 95%, while overall tourism revenues were down by about 54%.
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. will help the Air Force test and evaluate its sensor technologies under an eight-year contract that has a potential value of $19.7 million.
The company will support independent, impartial, third-party evaluation of sensor exploitation technologies critical to the Air Force’s mission, Jacobs officials said today.
Technical objectives include development, modeling, testing and implementation of performance assessment methodologies. The goal is to analyze, demonstrate, and simulate systems, algorithms and technologies that will support sensor technology development, officials said.
The work will help further the state of the art and enhance mission-critical sensor exploitation, said Craig Martin, Jacobs’ president and chief executive officer, in a statement.
The contract, which runs through February 2016, was awarded under the Sensors Technology Research, Development, Test and Evaluation Open-Ended Broad Agency Announcement.
The Air Force Research Laboratory’s Sensors Directorate at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, awarded the task order.
Jacobs, of Pasadena, Calif., ranks No. 20 on Washington Technology’s 2008 Top 100 list of the largest federal government prime contractors.
As concerns build that an influx of Russian military aid to Syria could make the conflict there worse, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke Tuesday with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
The U.S. Defense Department has said Moscow appears to be setting up an air base near the northwestern Syrian port of Latakia.
At the White House, Press Secretary Josh Earnest repeated the U.S. position that Russia's support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is a "losing bet."
"The reason for that is we have seen over the years that because of his failed leadership and because of his willingness to slaughter innocent people using the mechanics of that country’s military, he has lost the legitimacy to lead that country," Earnest said.
"We have made clear that the solution - despite the decision of Russians to build up their military - the solution in Syria requires a diplomatic strategy."
Earnest indicated President Barack Obama might phone Russia's President Vladimir Putin in the coming days.
Russian newspaper Vedomosti, citing a source close to Russia's Defense Ministry, reported Tuesday that Russian personnel are simply helping to repair and upgrade infrastructure at a Syrian airfield in Latakia and at the Russian navy's supply and maintenance facility at Tartus, farther south on the coast, its only base on the Mediterranean.
In a Russian television interview aired on Sunday, Foreign Minister Lavrov confirmed that Moscow is supplying and will continue to supply weapons to Syria's government. Addressing concerns over a build up of Russian personnel, he said the shipments are "inevitably accompanied by Russian specialists, who help to get the appropriate equipment up and running [and] to train Syrian personnel in the handling of these weapons."
Yet some observers in Moscow say Russian personnel in Syria are engaged in something more significant than routine repair work and training.
Alexander Shumilin, head of the Center for Analysis of Middle East Conflicts at the Institute for U.S. and Canada Studies in Moscow, said he is convinced Russia's actions are aimed at ensuring the physical survival of President Assad and his inner circle.
"The emphasis is on the survival of the president, not maintaining his power ... in Damascus," Shumilin told VOA's Russian service. "Because Assad is losing territory to the advancing enemies, and it cannot be ruled out that he will have to hide somewhere in the north, in the district of Latakia, if events on the battlefield [continue to] unfold in the same way."
This is why, according to Shumilin, facilities are being strengthened in Latakia district, a stronghold of Assad's Alawite co-religionists.
"Correspondingly, while Bashar Assad is still alive and has not yet been overthrown, it should be possible to start a political process of handing over power," he said. "Because only Assad can ensure Russia's role in this transition. With his departure, this role will sharply decrease."
In an interview with VOA Russian service, Mahmoud al-Hamza, a Moscow-based member of the Syrian National Council, a coalition of opposition groups, also argued Russia's behavior in Syria is aimed at preventing Assad from being toppled.
"Apparently, it is motivated by a desire to transfer Assad ... to Latakia and keep him there as the legitimate president of Syria," Hamza said, adding that if Assad's government falls, Russia "will lose virtually everything" it has in Syria.
"That's why they are rushing to gain a foothold on the coast, above all to help the Alawites and preserve their interests," he said, adding: "I don't think this is happening without coordination with Iran."
In Hamza's view, Moscow's intervention in Syria is only adding to the crisis. "There will be more war, blood, and the chances for a political solution will disappear. In Russia, they say all the time that the Syrians must solve their own problems" he said. "Why, then, do they choose to intervene, and so unceremoniously?"

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