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BOSTON, Jan. 2, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Formerly NewVantage Partners, now part of Wavestone, has published the results of its 11th annual Data and Analytics Leadership Executive Survey of Fortune 1000 and industry leading Chief Data Officers (CDO), Chief Data & Analytics Officers (CDAO), and senior corporate data and business leaders. The theme of the 2023 data leadership survey is Delivering Business Value from Data and Analytics Investments.
Participants in the 2023 Data and Analytics Leadership survey comprised data executives who served in CDO, CDAO, and other executive data leadership positions at 116 Fortune 1000 companies or organizations during 2022, up 22% over last year's survey, the highest level of participation in the survey since its inception in 2012. Of this year's survey participants, 84.6% held the role of Chief Data Officer, Chief Data & Analytics Officer, or the most senior data leadership title within their organization, up 10% from last year and up nearly 20% over five years.
In the Foreword to this year's survey, Randy Bean, Innovation Fellow at Wavestone and Founder of NewVantage Partners, and Thomas H. Davenport, author of the landmark study Competing on Analytics, write "The 11th survey in this series contains much evidence of data's rise in importance within large corporations. Some of this change has taken place amazingly rapidly. The Chief Data Officer role has quickly become much more common over time and across more industries. But these rapid changes in the importance of data stand in contrast to lack of progress—even regression in some cases—in other areas. The human side of data continues to challenge companies, and data leaders and the organizations that they serve appear reluctant to change their paradigms."
Key findings of the 2023 Data and Analytics Leadership Executive Survey are:
- The CDO/CDAO role is evolving and maturing as organizations strive to deliver business value from their data investments.
- Yet a lack of clear expectations contributes to dissatisfaction and turnover in the CDO/CDAO position.
- Investments in data are growing and remain strong.
- Becoming data-driven and building a data culture remain aspirational objectives.
- Cultural factors continue to be the greatest obstacle to achieving business value.
- Companies continue to fall short in attention to data ethics.
In a world where knowing how to drive transformation is key to success, Wavestone's mission is to inform and guide large companies and organizations in their most critical transformations, with the ambition of a positive outcome for all stakeholders. In 2021, Wavestone acquired NewVantage Partners to expand its ability to deliver expertise in data strategy, data governance and data management. Wavestone draws on some 4,000 employees across Europe, US and Asia to deliver solutions for clients globally.
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SOURCE Wavestone | 2023-01-03T05:20:55+00:00 | mysuncoast.com | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/01/02/newvantage-partners-wavestone-company-releases-2023-data-analytics-leadership-executive-survey/ |
HOUSTON (AP) — Deshaun Watson signed autographs for Texans and Browns fans and posed for selfies before his first game in 700 days in a familiar place.
Once the game started, it was overwhelming boos for Watson.
Watson heard jeers before taking each snap throughout the first half in his first game Sunday since returning from an 11-game suspension for sexual misconduct. Watson’s debut with Cleveland came against Houston, where he was a three-time Pro Bowl pick in four seasons.
After an interception gave the Browns their first possession at their 43, Watson threw a pair of incomplete passes. He spun away from a sack on third down, and fans cheered when his throw to David Bell hit the ground.
Watson’s first completed pass on his third attempt resulted in a turnover when Anthony Schwartz fumbled after a 12-yard gain. Watson later drove the Browns to Houston’s 11 before throwing an interception in the end zone.
Watson looked rusty after the nearly two-year layoff, completing 8 of 14 passes for 96 yards and a pick. But the Browns took a 7-5 lead into halftime following a 76-yard punt return for a score by Donovan Peoples-Jones.
Watson had several supporters in the stands before the game, while a group of the women who accused him of sexual harassment and assault during massages also planned to attend the game.
One fan walked into NRG Stadium wearing a derogatory shirt in Browns colors that includes text saying “I need a massage.” He was joined by a fan wearing Watson’s No. 4 Browns jersey.
Fans in the parking lot set up a fake massage table with a mannequin wearing a red Texans jersey and a towel.
The few fans in their seats when Watson and the Browns jogged onto the field about an hour before kickoff booed.
Watson sat out the 2021 season after demanding a trade from Houston. After two grand juries in Texas declined to indict him over the allegations, the Browns traded several draft picks to get Watson and then signed him to a fully guaranteed $235 million contract.
After warming up, Watson signed jerseys for fans behind the end zone. An 18-year-old man from East Texas got Watson’s autograph on his Browns jersey. A couple from Houston wearing Texans jerseys also got Watson’s signature on their jerseys.
“We don’t really know what happened and everyone deserves a second chance,” said Sherry Holden, explaining her support.
Several Browns fans said they were uncomfortable rooting for Watson.
“I’m cheering for the jersey and the team but it’s hard to accept him as my quarterback,” said Brandon Collins, who traveled from Ohio for the game.
The NFL wanted to suspend Watson for at least one season but settled for 11 games after an independent arbiter initially gave him a six-game ban. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell pointed to former U.S. District Judge Sue Robinson calling Watson’s behavior “egregious” and “predatory” in seeking the full suspension.
Watson also was fined $5 million and required to undergo professional counseling and therapy. Watson has maintained his innocence but also apologized to the women he impacted.
The Browns went 4-7 with veteran Jacoby Brissett filling in for Watson. The Texans are 1-9-1.
___
Follow Rob Maaddi on Twitter at https://twitter.com/robmaaddi
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL | 2022-12-04T20:03:17+00:00 | ksn.com | https://www.ksn.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-deshaun-watson-has-supporters-in-the-stands-for-his-return/ |
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara should reject Allstate's proposed $165 million auto insurance rate hike and its two-tiered job- and education-based discriminatory rating system, wrote Consumer Watchdog in a letter sent to the Commissioner today. The group called on the Commissioner to adopt regulations to require all insurance companies industrywide to rate Californians fairly, regardless of their job or education levels, as he promised to do nearly three years ago. Additionally, the group urged the Commissioner to notice a public hearing to determine the additional amounts Allstate owes its customers for premium overcharges during the COVID-19 pandemic, when most Californians were driving less.
Overall, the rate hike will impact over 900,000 Allstate policyholders, who face an average $167 annual premium increase.
Under Allstate's proposed job-based rating plan, low-income workers such as custodians, construction workers, and grocery clerks will pay higher premiums than drivers in the company's preferred "professional" occupations, including engineers with a college degree, who get an arbitrary 4% rate reduction.
"Allstate's two-tiered system is illegal under voter-approved Proposition 103, which prohibits the use of education and occupation as rating factors," said Consumer Watchdog attorney Pamela Pressley. "Rather than continuing to approve individual companies' discriminatory rating plans like Allstate's, Commissioner Lara needs to follow through on his three-year-old promise to stop unfairly discriminatory rating practices based on occupation on an industry-wide basis."
The Insurance Commissioner has failed to act on a regulation proposed three years ago to curb job- and education-based rate discrimination.
Consumer Watchdog and ten community and civil rights organizations challenged auto insurers' illegal and discriminatory use of job and education in setting rates in February 2019, in a petition to the Commissioner to adopt regulations to end the practice industrywide. In September 2019, a Department of Insurance investigation confirmed that "wide socioeconomic disparities" are created by insurance companies surcharging California drivers based on nothing more than their occupation or educational status. Three years later, Commissioner Lara has yet to adopt a regulation to stop the practice, and the last workshop on a potential regulation held by the Department of Insurance was nearly a year and a half ago.
Consumer Watchdog also called on the Commissioner to notice a public hearing to determine the amount of additional premium overcharges that Allstate owes its California policyholders due to their reduced driving during the period the state's COVID-19 stay-at-home orders were in effect from at least March 2020 to June 2021. According to Consumer Watchdog's analysis, Allstate has so far only provided premium credits totaling less than half of the amount that the company overcharged customers during that time period, leaving hundreds of millions of dollars more owed. The Commissioner issued a letter to Allstate on October 5, 2021, confirming that "the PPA [private passenger auto] policyholders of Allstate Northbrook Indemnity Company should have received substantial additional PPA premium refunds or credits." But to date, the Commissioner has taken no further action publicly to ensure that Allstate's policyholders receive the refunds they deserve, according to Consumer Watchdog.
Read Consumer Watchdog's Letter to the Commissioner.
Over the last two months, Consumer Watchdog has filed challenges against proposed auto insurance rate hikes by another three of the largest auto insurers in the state—Mercury Insurance Company, Interinsurance Exchange of the Automobile Club ("Auto Club"), and GEICO—that also utilize job- and education-based discriminatory rating systems and owe additional amounts for premium overcharges during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read the community and civil rights groups' 2019 petition.
Voter-approved Proposition 103 requires auto insurance premiums be based primarily on three mandatory factors—driving safety record, annual mileage, and years driving experience—and prohibits unfairly discriminatory rates. Occupation and education have never been approved by regulation as lawful rating factors under voter-enacted Proposition 103. Proposition 103 prohibits this kind of unfair rate discrimination, which can serve as a proxy for income or race.
Consumer Watchdog is a non-profit public interest organization. Visit us on the web at www.ConsumerWatchdog.org.
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SOURCE Consumer Watchdog | 2022-09-22T21:17:32+00:00 | kcbd.com | https://www.kcbd.com/prnewswire/2022/09/22/consumer-watchdog-calls-insurance-commissioner-lara-reject-allstates-job-based-insurance-rate-discrimination-adopt-regulations-stop-practice-industrywide/ |
SUPERIOR, Colo. — A gun-rights group has filed a lawsuit against the Town of Superior and the Boulder County Sheriff for a recently-passed ordinance that put stricter gun laws in place, claiming the ordinance violates their constitutional rights.
The Town of Superior Board of Trustees passed the ordinance that changes the town’s municipal code regarding the possession and use of weapons on June 7. Some of the regulations in the 21-page ordinance include:
- Banning “assault weapons,” which the town defines as “a semi-automatic center-fire pistol with a fixed magazine that has the capacity to accept more than ten (10) rounds,” and large-capacity magazines, which is defined as having “the capacity to accept more than ten (10) rounds”
- Banning carrying a concealed weapon
- Prohibiting possession of a firearm on property under the town’s control, including public parks
- Implementing a waiting period of 10 days to buy a firearm
Exemptions are in place for law enforcement and members of the military. The ordinance also allows for anyone who owned an assault weapon before July 1, 2022 to obtain a certificate for the weapon by Dec. 31, 2022.
The Rocky Mountain Gun Owners and Superior resident Charles Bradley Walker filed the lawsuit in federal court Thursday, saying the ordinance violates Superior residents and RMGO members’ Second and Fourteenth Amendment rights, including “their constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms without being subjected to criminal prosecution, and to continue to lawfully possess and/or transfer property that they lawfully obtained,” according to the lawsuit. Walker currently owns certain semi-automatic firearms and magazines that are now considered illegal in Superior that he has possessed “lawfully for years,” the lawsuit says.
“Superior’s anti-gun ordinance flies directly in the face of our right to keep and bear arms, and we’re not going to stand idly by and let this town – or any other rogue government – trample on our right to self-defense,” said Taylor Rhodes, executive director of RMGO.
The lawsuit also addresses the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, which struck down a New York gun law that required a person applying for a license has to show a specific need to carry the weapon.
“Frankly, last month’s Bruen decision gave gun rights organizations a 4-ton wrecking ball to dismantle gun laws that we have known to be unconstitutional since their conception. If you think this stops in the small town of Superior, you are mistaken; this has the potential to hold much broader implications,” Rhodes said.
Before the Supreme Court’s decision, scholars said it’s possible multiple recently passed gun laws in Colorado could all be impacted by Bruen.
Neal Shah, a Town of Superior Trustee, said the town hadn’t been served the lawsuit as of Friday morning, so he could not provide a comment on it. | 2022-07-08T22:11:55+00:00 | koaa.com | https://www.koaa.com/news/covering-colorado/gun-rights-group-files-suit-against-town-of-superior-over-gun-safety-ordinance |
BATON ROUGE (AP) — A 23-year-old has defeated a two-term incumbent to become a small Louisiana city’s next mayor.
Tyrin Truong, a Democrat, bested independent Mayor Wendy O’Quin Perrette, 47, in Bogalusa, a city of about 11,000 in southeastern Louisiana, WWL-TV reported Wednesday.
“I’m honestly at a loss for words,” Truong said. “This campaign was never about me; it was about building a better Bogalusa and a better city, and I’m glad everybody got out to vote, because it was a team effort, truly a team effort,”
Perrette, who was first elected in 2014, conceded.
“I wish the mayor-elect well, but young Tyrin has demonstrated repeatedly during this campaign that he lacks the skills necessary to lead and unite our city,” Perrette said in a statement to WWL. “I pray I am wrong. During the transition period, I will help any way that I can.”
With all participating precincts reporting Wednesday, Truong was in first place, followed by independent Teddy Drummond and, in third, Perrette, according to unofficial returns published by the secretary of state’s office. Voter turnout was 47%. | 2022-11-10T07:17:54+00:00 | ksn.com | https://www.ksn.com/news/weird-news/ap-strange-news/ap-23-year-old-defeats-2-term-mayor-in-small-louisiana-city/ |
Jack Bill and Ryan Neal each had four goals and an assist to lead Delaware Valley to a 13-8 win over Hopewell Valley in Pennington.
Will Fritsche contributed three goals and an assist for Deleware Valley (1-0), while Jake Small and Brock Kephart tallied one goal apiece.
Jacob Sanderson led Hopewell Valley (0-1) with four goals and two assists, while Luke Caldwell added two points and two assists.
The N.J. High School Sports newsletter now appearing in mailboxes 5 days a week. Sign up now and be among the first to get all the boys and girls sports you care about, straight to your inbox each weekday. To add your name, click here. | 2023-04-05T01:53:20+00:00 | nj.com | https://www.nj.com/highschoolsports/2023/04/boys-lacrosse-delaware-valley-downs-hopewell-valley.html |
(The Hill) – Arizona’s GOP Senate primary is turning increasingly bloody in a contest that could determine who wins control of the Senate in November.
As the race to nominate Sen. Mark Kelly’s (D-Ariz.) GOP opponent hurtles toward its Aug. 2 conclusion, businessman Jim Lamon, former tech executive Blake Masters and state Attorney General Mark Brnovich are throwing elbows and millions of dollars around in a race that polls show remains fluid.
Lamon has dumped millions of his own dollars going scorched-earth against Masters over his ties to PayPal founder and early Facebook investor Peter Thiel after Masters scored former President Trump’s endorsement earlier this month. Outside groups backing Masters, like the Club for Growth and a well-heeled super PAC seeded by $13.5 million of Thiel’s money, are responding in kind. And Brnovich is hanging on as Trump harangues him for not overturning his defeat in the state in 2020.
And operatives say it’s just getting started.
“Given the fact that early ballots have not gone out yet, I think there’s still a lot of energy in all of these campaigns where I think they’re going to do everything they can to be successful. It’s shown to date that they’re using the attack strategy,” said Lorna Romero, an Arizona GOP strategist who worked on the late Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) 2016 reelection campaign. “I think this is just the start of it.”
What had already been a contentious primary turned into a slugfest this month after Trump endorsed Masters, handing the protege of his ally, Thiel, a key boost.
Lamon, who had already loaned his campaign $13 million in total through the end of the first quarter of 2022, last week released a blistering ad casting Masters as a “fake” and a “puppet” with “Big Tech pulling his strings.” Versions of that message have been echoed in a slew of statements from Lamon.
Another ad touting Lamon’s past military service urges voters to not “believe Blake Masters or his pro-China, Big Tech billionaire.”
Alongside the ads, opposition research dumps appeared almost daily last week, including the unearthing of 17-year-old comments Masters made in which he said a border is just a “line in the sand”; remarks from the spring wondering whether the FBI was involved in last year’s Capitol riot; and an interview from April in which he said “Black people, frankly,” are to blame for gun violence.
Masters’s allies, meanwhile, are using their own considerable funds to hit Lamon at the same time.
The pro-Masters super PAC accused Lamon’s business of having ties to China and of opposing Trump’s foreign policy, while Club for Growth released another ad suggesting Lamon is a secret Democratic sympathizer.
At the same time, Trump has lobbed occasional volleys at Brnovich, this month calling him a “disappointment” for not overturning the results of the 2020 election in Arizona, which the former president baselessly said was “stolen.” Brnovich’s campaign says it’s not concerned the attacks will sink him.
The GOP infighting follows what is increasingly becoming a common theme of Republican primaries.
“If it follows form, which it appears to be doing, a Republican primary is a race to the bottom, and this should be a really great example of that. It’s an ever-increasing smaller audience that the Republican primary voters are trying to talk to and who can be the Trumpiest, who can be the most outrageous,” said veteran Arizona GOP strategist Chuck Coughlin.
The clashes have already sparked grumbling, including from Richard Grenell, the former acting director of national intelligence during the Trump administration, who is close to Thiel and has endorsed Lamon.
A source close to Grenell told The Hill that he reached out to the Lamon campaign in May prior to their attack ads being released recommending it leave Thiel — a close Trump ally — out of its messaging. Lamon’s campaign, however, seems to have ignored that advice.
Lamon’s campaign told The Hill that conversation did not take place and indicated it will not let up on its attacks.
“I think they’re very effective,” a GOP strategist supporting Lamon said of the attacks so far. “Frankly, it’s only going to get more aggressive as time goes on.”
“A lot of this hasn’t happened yet,” the source added. “This absolutely will happen. We have millions of dollars to make it happen, not reporting on the past but potentially the future. This is coming.”
People close to Masters, meanwhile, said they’re not concerned about the attacks linking him to Thiel, noting the tech entrepreneur’s well-known Trump-aligned stances.
“I don’t think they’re that impactful. He keeps saying ‘funded by big tech,’ but he can’t even name the one guy he’s talking about, Peter Thiel, because conservatives know Peter Thiel is one of them. And the mistake that Jim Lamon is making is he’s making an assumption that our primary voters are stupid. He thinks that he can make a fake, BS attack like this and our voters are so stupid that they don’t even know how to Google to fact-check it for themselves,” said one GOP consultant supporting Masters.
Polling shows a fluid race among Lamon, Masters and Brnovich, with a Trafalgar Group poll released Monday showing Masters ahead of Brnovich by about 5 points and Lamon by more than 10 points. The same poll from April showed Lamon leading Brnovich by 1 point and Masters by about 6 points.
Both polls show that more than 20 percent of voters are undecided.
“It’s a three-way scrum right now between Lamon, Masters and Brnovich. Any one of those could come out on top,” said one GOP strategist based in the West.
But while the candidates duke it out to collect support from undecided voters, some Republicans are voicing concerns that their ultimate nominee will be too bloodied after the late primary and aren’t focusing on a message that appeals to a purple state general electorate.
“People want to talk about water. People want to talk about education, not just about the culture war in classrooms,” Coughlin said. “I’d be talking about that narrative. But nobody is currently doing it. I’m waiting to see if somebody opens up the book and starts playing a larger narrative here, but we’ll see.”
“It’s the same shit, that everything gets D.C.-ified,” he lamented. “Everything follows the same narrative. Nobody understands the electorate outside of the lens of national politics.”
Those worries are only heightened by the outsized importance of any Senate race in the 50-50 chamber, with each individual seat having the power to determine party control — and with the fire trained on each other, no candidate is consistently bashing Kelly, the perceived centrist they’re all trying to unseat.
“You’re spending all your time attacking your primary opponent and then that short shift of you having to go after Mark Kelly. It’s typically a dual approach, a primary and a general strategy,” Romero, the McCain campaign veteran, said. “Whoever comes out of it is going to be bruised and battered, and has spent a lot of money, and [is] going into a very expensive general where they’ve already been defined.” | 2022-06-15T18:08:06+00:00 | wate.com | https://www.wate.com/news/nexstar-media-wire/republicans-go-scorched-earth-in-arizona-senate-primary/ |
Updated September 30, 2022 at 12:42 PM ET
The antipathy many conservatives feel toward President Biden's student debt relief plan, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office recently estimated will cost roughly $400 billion, is as vivid as many borrowers' enthusiasm for it.
"The president isn't a king. He's not an emperor. And if he does something unconstitutional, hell yeah, I'm going to hold him accountable," Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich told NPR in an interview. On Thursday, Brnovich made good on that promise, suing to block Biden's plan.
"I can assure you that my Republican colleagues and I will fight to the bitter end against this illegal, abusive use of the executive pen," Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., said in a recent speech.
In short, legal opposition to Biden's debt relief plan has become a team effort. Brnovich's lawsuit is just the third this week. And other conservative politicians, interest groups and attorneys are likely to file additional suits soon.
How likely are they to succeed?
That depends on whom you ask.
The Biden administration's legal defense of student debt relief
In a memo defending Biden's plan, the U.S. Justice Department cited the Higher Education Relief Opportunities For Students Act, or HEROES Act, which President George W. Bush signed after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, as U.S. soldiers fought in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The act gave an incredible power to the U.S. secretary of education: the authority "to alleviate the hardship that federal student loan recipients may suffer as a result of national emergencies," according to the Justice Department's memo.
Fast-forward two decades to a very different national emergency: the COVID-19 pandemic.
Early in the pandemic, the Trump administration used this same HEROES Act authority to freeze payments and interest accrual on federal student loans – helping many borrowers who, because of COVID's crippling effect on the economy, would have struggled to keep up.
President Biden not only extended the payment freeze through December but, citing the same authority, announced he would go even further, canceling up to $10,000 in student loan debt for any borrower who earns less than $125,000 a year, and up to $20,000 for any borrower who meets that income requirement and received a Pell Grant to attend college.
The Biden administration argues, if Republicans feel this debt relief is an abuse of power, why didn't they oppose President Trump's use of the same authority in 2020?
"That has not been challenged in court. It has not been found improper by a court," Bharat Ramamurti, deputy director of the National Economic Council, said of the Trump-initiated payment pause after Biden's announcement. "It's the same statute that the previous administration used and that we've used, that we are now using, for this action."
The case against student debt relief
Opponents of Biden's debt relief plan have been clear: They think it is an illegal abuse of power.
Congress controls government spending, they argue, and the president can't simply erase hundreds of billions of dollars in student loan debt without going through lawmakers.
"If Joe Biden or the Biden administration implement a policy that is unconstitutional, we will sue him," Arizona's Mark Brnovich told NPR before he did just that.
The courts can only get involved ... when someone who has been harmed in a concrete way by that action files a lawsuit.
The problem for Brnovich, and anyone else hoping to legally block Biden's plan, boils down to one word: standing.
"The courts can only get involved ... when someone who has been harmed in a concrete way by that action files a lawsuit," says Abby Shafroth, director of the Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project at the National Consumer Law Center.
Who might Biden's plan – meant to help as many as 40 million borrowers – actually hurt?
"Standing is really the major hurdle," Brnovich conceded. Though it's a hurdle, not a wall.
A very specific borrower could have standing to sue
Several types of plaintiffs could potentially clear that standing hurdle.
First, a borrower – though not just any borrower. The harm has to be automatic, and most borrowers who qualify for debt relief will have to apply for it. That's not automatic.
Some 8 million borrowers, though, have enough income information on file with the U.S. Education Department that they could receive their debt relief automatically, and, of those, borrowers in as many as seven states (though likely fewer) could end up having to pay state income tax on their relief – a tax of perhaps $500 to $1,000 that they may not be able to afford.
That could be considered a kind of automatic harm.
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, borrower Frank Garrison, an attorney based in Indiana, argued he would be harmed by the president's plan. The suit was filed by the conservative Pacific Legal Foundation, which also employs Garrison.
Garrison says he should qualify for up to $20,000 in automatic debt relief under Biden's plan. But Indiana is one of those states that would tax that relief as income. Garrison does not want the relief now (or the tax hit) because he anticipates having all his debts erased in four years, through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program – relief that Indiana will not tax.
When the suit was filed on Tuesday, the harm to Garrison seemed to be concrete and automatic. But, just a few hours later, White House spokesperson Abdullah Hasan told NPR in a statement:
"The claim is baseless for a simple reason: No one will be forced to get debt relief. Anyone who does not want debt relief can choose to opt out. Why would this group bring this baseless claim? Because opponents of the debt relief plan are trying anything they can to stop this program that will provide needed relief to working families."
Neither the White House nor the Department of Education had previously said borrowers would have the opportunity to opt out of debt relief.
"That undercuts the whole theory that courts need to intervene here," Shafroth says.
And the judge in Garrison's case appears to agree with Shafroth.
On Thursday, he denied Garrison's request for the court to stop Biden's debt relief plan and wrote, "in view of the fact the Department of Education exempted Plaintiff from receiving debt relief, [the court] finds Plaintiff cannot be irreparably harmed."
Banks and loan servicers could also have standing to sue
While Thursday's denial appeared to close the door on one legal strategy, another opened. Six states sued the Biden administration on behalf of a handful of state-based loan servicers and investment entities that manage old, privately-held federal loans, known as FFEL loans.
FFEL loans are guaranteed by the federal government but often issued, held and managed by outside groups – including private banks and these state-based entities, like Missouri's MOHELA.
These federal loans were a mainstay until the FFEL program ended in 2010. Today, according to federal data, more than 4 million borrowers still have commercially-held FFEL loans. Until Thursday, the department's website advised FFEL borrowers that they could consolidate these loans into federal Direct Loans and qualify for relief.
In Thursday's lawsuit, the six states argue that letting FFEL program borrowers do this – consolidate their old loans to qualify for cancellation – could hurt these state-based loan agencies.
"The consolidation of MOHELA's FFELP loans harms the entity by depriving it of an asset (the FFELP loans themselves) that it currently owns," says the complaint. "The consolidation of MOHELA's FFELP loans harms the entity by depriving it of the ongoing interest payments that those loans generate."
In response, the department quietly reversed its guidance for FFEL borrowers Thursday morning, likely fearing the policy's legal vulnerability. An administration official told NPR the move could exclude roughly 800,000 FFEL borrowers from relief they had been promised.
The sudden change angered not only borrowers, but advocates who have been staunch supporters of debt relief.
"The Biden plan would provide life-changing relief to 40 million Americans," says Aaron Ament, president of Student Defense, a borrower advocacy nonprofit. "I think the reality is that, no matter what they do, they will face politically motivated lawsuits. But, rather than play whack-a-mole by eliminating relief for some borrowers, it would be great to see the administration confidently defend their plan."
It's not yet clear if the department's Thursday policy change, limiting the number of FFEL borrowers who can qualify for debt relief, will undercut these states' claims and make other groups that manage and profit from FFEL loans less likely to legally oppose relief.
And then there's Arizona
Also on Thursday, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich filed his lawsuit to stop debt cancellation, and he took a slightly different tack from the previous suits.
Like the six-state case, he argues that debt relief will deprive Arizona of important, future tax revenue. He also suggests relief will hurt Arizona's economy by exacerbating inflation, increase the state's borrowing costs and increase the law enforcement costs of cracking down on debt relief scammers.
But the first harm listed in Brnovich's complaint may be the most interesting. He essentially argues that broad debt relief will nullify the impact of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which he says dozens of attorneys in his office are eligible to receive.
Simply discharging these attorneys' debts, he writes, "harms [the Office of the Attorney General's] ability to recruit legal talent, and directly makes it less lucrative for lawyers to work for the OAG."
It's too soon to know what a judge will make of those arguments.
And these are just the suits that have been filed so far.
Alfredo Ortiz, the president and CEO of the Job Creators Network (JCN), told NPR his group "absolutely" plans to file a lawsuit, though he wasn't comfortable sharing details.
"We feel very comfortable that our legal strategy is on solid ground and not only will be found to have standing, but the merits of the case, I think, are very clear."
Ortiz says they're waiting to file until the department releases its relief application in early October.
What a lawsuit could mean for borrowers
If a lawsuit is allowed to proceed, Brnovich and other opponents say their priority would be to seek an injunction. That would mean asking the court to stop the Biden administration from canceling any student loan debts.
What's not clear is whether an injunction could come before some borrowers see their debts erased, sowing confusion among remaining borrowers who must then wait for the suit to play out.
"We don't want to create a situation where, you know, a bunch of people are in limbo on this," Brnovich told NPR. "And so I think it's incumbent on all of us ... to file a lawsuit as quickly as possible. So that way there isn't any uncertainty. And that would, of course, mean getting an injunction to stop the president."
We don't want to create a situation where, you know, a bunch of people are in limbo on this. And so I think it's incumbent on all of us ... to file a lawsuit as quickly as possible.
In Tuesday's filing, plaintiff Frank Garrison asked the court to prevent the department from canceling any loans under this new Biden plan – a request the judge quickly shot down.
Also worth noting, says Shafroth: "A preliminary injunction is not all or nothing: Even if a court grants [one], it wouldn't necessarily stop the government from moving forward with providing debt relief to most people."
At this point, a few things are clear:
Conservative legal groups are taking notes – to make the next lawsuit even stronger. Since the department's addition of an opt-out undermined Garrison's case, that legal path may be closed.
Soon we'll see how the court responds to the department's changing of its FFEL rules and whether the move, sudden though it was, hurts the six-state case against debt relief.
For its part, the Education Department is clearly willing to make changes, on the fly, if it means protecting the president's debt relief plan for most borrowers.
If Brnovich, Ortiz or other opponents of debt relief do successfully bring a suit – or suits – to federal court, it's possible this legal fight could make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | 2022-09-30T17:04:49+00:00 | kunm.org | https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2022-09-30/a-look-inside-the-legal-battle-to-stop-bidens-student-loan-relief |
BERLIN (AP) — The Berlin museum authority said Wednesday that it was ready to return hundreds of human skulls from the former German colony of East Africa after having researched their origin for several years.
During their research at the city’s Museum of Prehistory and Early History, scientists examined 1,135 skulls. Of those, 904 could be assigned to areas in present-day Rwanda; 202 to Tanzania; and 22 to Kenya. In the case of a further seven skulls, a more precise assignment was not possible.
German East Africa was a German colony which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, parts of Tanzania, and a small region of Mozambique. Kenya was a British colony.
“The clear objective of provenance research on human remains is to restitute them to the countries concerned,” said Hermann Parzinger, the president of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, an authority that oversees many of Berlin’s museums, including the Museum of Prehistory and Early History.
“We are ready for immediate restitution and are now waiting for signals from the countries of origin,” he added.
The vast majority of the skulls originate from burial sites, especially cemeteries or burial caves, but partly also from local execution sites and in some cases also from executions by Germans, according to a statement by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation.
The human remains examined belong to the anthropological collection of about 7,700 skulls that the museum authority had taken over from Berlin’s Charité hospital in 2011.
Due to the size of the collection and the diversity of its geographic origin, it has not been possible to examine all skulls yet, the museum authority said.
The human remains from East Africa, which at the time they were removed was under German colonial rule, were examined first in a test project. In order to clarify the exact origin of the skulls, for which hardly any written documents had been preserved, intensive archival work was necessary, including field research by Rwandan scientists.
In recent years, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation has made efforts to return several human remains and artifacts that were stolen by Germans and other European colonialists in the past and ended up in Berlin collections. Among the most famous artifacts are hundreds of the so-called Benin Bronzes that Germany started returning late last year to Nigeria following an agreement between Berlin and Abuja. | 2023-01-19T06:35:48+00:00 | wjhl.com | https://www.wjhl.com/news/international/ap-berlin-museums-ready-to-return-skulls-from-african-ex-colony/ |
JOHANNESBURG — South African animal welfare officials on Monday successfully sedated and captured a tiger that was spotted roaming a residential area to the east of the capital Johannesburg.
Residents were warned to remain alert and keep all their animals indoors.
It is the second incident of a tiger on the loose in South Africa in as many weeks.
It is not known where the latest tiger came from or when but authorities believe it to be an escaped pet.
Two weeks ago another escaped tiger was euthanized after being on the loose for about four days in Walkerville, to the south of Johannesburg.
The death of Sheba, the Walkerville tiger, has sparked calls by animal welfare groups for the government to ban citizens from being allowed to keep wild animals as pets.
A man who was attacked by the tiger survived his injuries, while two dogs were killed.
“Keeping wild animals in captivity undeniably places people at risk of an attack as well. Due to basic legislation and no inspections by authorities, it has become far too easy for laypeople to own and breed dangerous and exotic wild animals,” the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said. | 2023-01-30T11:23:14+00:00 | washingtonpost.com | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/tiger-on-the-loose-in-south-africa-successfully-captured/2023/01/30/a9670ee0-a08e-11ed-8b47-9863fda8e494_story.html |
- Exhibition commemorating the Pony, Korea's first independently developed car, to be held at Hyundai Motorstudio Seoul from June 9
- Heritage project also heralds the publication of RETRACE, a book and magazine series celebrating the brand's heritage
- Opening celebration took place on June 7 with VIPs and members of Hyundai who enabled the creation of Pony
SEOUL, South Korea, June 7, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyundai Motor Company today announced its first heritage exhibition 'PONY, the timeless' at Hyundai Motorstudio Seoul. The exhibition is presented as part of the newly launched Hyundai Heritage project that reflects on the past and future of the brand, and will open to the general public from June 9. The project also heralds the publication of RETRACE, a collection book and magazine series that celebrates the brand's heritage.
The opening celebration took place on June 7 with VIP guests from various industries, including art, fashion, and architecture. The event included presentations about Hyundai's Heritage project, the exhibition, and the RETRACE Series, and also featured a performance from the band Jannabi.
Joining the event were Euisun Chung, Executive Chair of Hyundai Motor Group, Jaehoon Chang, President and CEO of Hyundai Motor Company, and many former members of Hyundai who enabled the creation of Pony.
The exhibition follows the inaugural Hyundai Reunion event in Lake Como, Italy in May, where the restored Pony Coupe Concept was unveiled nearly 50 years after its debut at the 1974 Turin Motor Show.
'PONY, the timeless' emphasizes Hyundai's human-centered philosophy that was established by the company's Founding Chairman Ju-yung Chung. The exhibition is an opportunity to see how Hyundai Motor got started and grew over the years alongside the development of the country. Visitors are guided through Pony's timeline from multiple angles in terms of historical background, archiving, design and philosophy.
Hyundai Motor has been actively communicating its brand heritage in various formats, including the Pony documentary film 'The Next Chapter' released earlier this month. The company also newly released the film 'A Pony Tale' about a young man in the Netherlands who still drives the Pony for his daily commutes.
'PONY, the timeless' exhibition will be open to public until August 6 at Hyundai Motorstudio Seoul, and tickets can be reserved here.
More information about Hyundai Motor can be found at: http://worldwide.hyundai.com or http://globalpr.hyundai.com.
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SOURCE Hyundai Motor Company | 2023-06-07T23:42:18+00:00 | ksla.com | https://www.ksla.com/prnewswire/2023/06/07/hyundai-motor-opens-heritage-exhibition-pony-timeless-introduces-retrace-heritage-publication-series/ |
BERWYN, Pa. (AP) _ Triumph Group Inc. (TGI) on Wednesday reported a loss of $10.6 million in its fiscal fourth quarter.
On a per-share basis, the Berwyn, Pennsylvania-based company said it had a loss of 16 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs and restructuring costs, were 39 cents per share.
The results fell short of Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 41 cents per share.
The aircraft supplier posted revenue of $386.7 million in the period, also missing Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $412.6 million.
For the year, the company reported a loss of $42.8 million, or 66 cents per share. Revenue was reported as $1.46 billion.
Triumph Group expects full-year earnings to be 40 cents to 60 cents per share, with revenue in the range of $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion.
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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on TGI at https://www.zacks.com/ap/TGI | 2022-05-18T10:44:48+00:00 | sfgate.com | https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Triumph-Group-Fiscal-Q4-Earnings-Snapshot-17180956.php |
Fed faults Silicon Valley Bank execs, itself in bank failure
WASHINGTON (AP) — Silicon Valley Bank failed due to a combination of extremely poor bank management, weakened regulations and lax government supervision, the Federal Reserve said Friday, in a highly-anticipated review of how the central bank failed to properly supervise the bank before it collapsed early last month.
The report, authored by Federal Reserve staff and Michael Barr, the Fed’s vice chair for supervision, takes a critical look at what the Fed missed as Silicon Valley Bank grew quickly in size in the years leading up to its collapse. The report also points out underlying cultural issues at the Fed, where supervisors were unwilling to be hard on bank management when they saw growing problems.
“The Federal Reserve did not appreciate the seriousness of critical deficiencies in the firm’s governance, liquidity, and interest rate risk management. These judgments meant that Silicon Valley Bank remained well-rated, even as conditions deteriorated and significant risk to the firm’s safety and soundness emerged,” the report said.
Silicon Valley Bank was the go-to bank for venture capital firms and technology start-ups for years, but failed spectacularly in March, setting off a crisis of confidence for the banking industry. Federal regulators seized Silicon Valley Bank on March 10 after customers withdrew tens of billions of dollars in deposits in a matter of hours.
Two days later, they seized Signature Bank of New York. Although regulators guaranteed all the banks’ deposits, customers at other midsize regional banks rushed to pull out their money — often with a few taps on a mobile device — and move it to the perceived safety of big money center banks such as JPMorgan Chase.
The report also looks at the role social media and technology played in the bank’s last days. While the bank’s management was poor and ultimately that was the reason the bank failed, the report also notes that social media caused a bank run that happened in just hours, compared to days for earlier bank runs like those seen in 2008.
Although the withdrawals have abated at many banks, First Republic Bank in San Francisco appears to be in peril, even after receiving a $30 billion infusion of deposits from 11 major banks in March. The bank’s shares have plunged 57% this week after it revealed the extent to which customers pulled their deposits in the days after Silicon Valley Bank failed.
The nation’s banks are regulated by a troika of regulators: the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. All have been criticized for potentially missing signs that Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank might be in trouble.
Barr appeared at two hearings in Congress last month and acknowledged that Federal Reserve bank supervisors had warned Silicon Valley management as early as the fall of 2021 of risks stemming from its business model, but the bank’s managers failed to take the steps necessary to fix the problems.
Republicans at both hearings had criticized federal regulators for failing to act with the proper sense of urgency.
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Sweet reported from New York.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | 2023-04-28T15:40:26+00:00 | wbrc.com | https://www.wbrc.com/2023/04/28/fed-faults-silicon-valley-bank-execs-itself-bank-failure/ |
It’s not everyday that an independent artist sees Beyoncé wearing their original creation in British Vogue. But for Victoria Shen, a small experimental musician based in San Francisco, that’s exactly what happened earlier this month.
In a July 1 video released by the fashion behemoth, Beyoncé introduces her latest single, “Break My Soul,” by gently dragging long, chrome acrylic nails with needles on them across a spinning record. However, these unique “needle nails” were originally made by Shen, who performs under the name Evicshen and had no idea that Vogue lifted her idea without proper attribution or compensation (and who posted photos of her sonic creation in 2021, long before the video came out).
The artist, who used to be a nail technician and cleverly incorporates them in her rowdy, kinetic live sets, says she “was totally gagged” when she saw them on Queen B herself. “It really came as a shock,” she said over the phone.
After Shen’s followers ignited a firestorm on social media — and after the “Beyhive” came after her, which she refers to as more of a “wasps’ nest” — Shen reached out to Andrew Makadsi, the creative brain behind Beyoncé’s “Homecoming” and her 2022 Oscars performance, and asked for credit. (Shen shared screenshots of their private conversation on Instagram with SFGATE).
“Sorry for this incident, the idea came from our director and we didn't do well on our end to check the background,” Makadsi replied. “We will update the British Vogue credits, I would love to figure out a collaboration together in the future.”
Shortly after, Beyoncé’s publicist quietly came forward to apologize to Shen and let her know that credits have been updated to include her name, according to screenshots of the conversation shared with SFGATE. In the exchange, she asks Shen to take down her original Instagram post calling out British Vogue, and after Shen replies that she’d consider it if they made “proper amends,” Shen says she was ghosted.
British Vogue’s communications team did not respond to SFGATE’s request for comment, nor did they outline steps for how they’d prevent similar situations from happening again.
“So it's like, I feel like half good, half bad because it also still feels like I was ripped off, you know, in an uncredited way,” Shen says. “But you know, I'm also kind of happy that the idea is out there. It's reaching a much wider audience than I ever could.”
And the way Beyoncé’s team could truly make amends? “The total dream is if Beyoncé let me rip the noise set in her mansion,” she laughs. “I would be so like, ‘This is it. I’ve made it, I can retire happy.’” | 2022-07-07T21:56:36+00:00 | sfgate.com | https://www.sfgate.com/sf-culture/article/beyonce-team-lifts-artist-design-17290556.php |
Jaguar Land Rover will henceforth be known simply as JLR, the automaker announced on Thursday.
The move will also see the automaker act as a “House of Brands” that will position the Range Rover, Discovery, and Defender nameplates as individual brands alongside Jaguar. The Land Rover brand is noticeably absent, although JLR emphasized that the name will not be dropped completely.
When previously hinting at the move in April, CEO Adrian Mardell said it will help amplify the unique characteristics of those brands and accelerate the delivery of future products.
The new branding also includes a new corporate logo (shown below). The company previously used the Jaguar and Land Rover logos side by side to represent itself.
The change essentially elevates the individual Land Rover nameplates to the same level as Jaguar, unambiguously making them brands in their own right. Land Rover had previously moved in this direction by attempting to create “families” of variants, adding the Range Rover Sport, Evoque, and Velar alongside the traditional Range Rover, and the Discovery Sport as a companion model to the original Discovery.
As for the Land Rover name, JLR confirmed it won’t disappear altogether.
“The Land Rover brand will remain a key part of the company’s DNA,” the automaker said. “Land Rover continues as a world-renowned and important heritage mark, remaining on vehicles, websites, social media, and retail sites, underpinning the world-class Range Rover, Defender, and Discovery brands.”
The changes to the corporate identity come as JLR moves to sell only electrified vehicles by 2025 as well as overhaul its lineup with new models, including an electric version of the current Range Rover due in 2024 and an electric Jaguar four-door GT, likely in 2025.
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- Bugatti Bolide hypercar tests ahead of deliveries in 2024 | 2023-06-02T19:19:45+00:00 | wcia.com | https://www.wcia.com/automotive/internet-brands/jlr-defines-new-branding/ |
Iga Swiatek is coming off her third title in the past four years on the French Open’s red clay.
Last September, she won a championship on the U.S. Open’s hard courts for the first time. That’s also the surface used at the Australian Open, where she’s been to the semifinals.
And what about on grass courts? Wimbledon, which begins Monday, has been her least successful Grand Slam tournament so far. Swiatek is just 5-3 at the All England Club — compare that to her 28-2 mark at Roland Garros, for example — and those three losses came in the first round, third round and fourth round.
Swiatek, who has been ranked No. 1 since April 2022, offered a bit of insight on how she views her game on grass when she was asked in Paris this month about whether reaching the latter stages of a major is still a big deal to her.
“Well, it depends, because … if I would (make) a quarterfinal of Wimbledon, I would be, like, over the moon,” Swiatek replied, “and I wouldn’t believe that I’m in that place.”
So even though other players might concur with the sort of assessment Claire Liu, an American ranked in the Top 100, provided after facing Swiatek in Paris this year — “I’d say she’s good on pretty much any surface” — the subject of playing on the slick green stuff tends to bring certain sentiments to mind for the 22-year-old from Poland.
Two words she repeats when discussing grass: “uncomfortable” and “challenge.”
It’s such a contrast from how she feels on clay.
And yet, let’s not forget: Swiatek was the 2018 junior champion at Wimbledon, so it’s not as if it’s a completely foreign surface or setting.
Still, she insists, “On grass, sometimes it’s tougher and I still have to learn a lot.”
“It just feels like you’re going to go on court and not play the way you ‘should,‘” she said, making air quotes with her fingers, “or the way you ‘could,’ you know? So this thing is adding more pressure.”
All of what she does so well on clay or hard courts seemingly should translate just fine to grass.
That big forehand of hers. The way she can defend so well. And, above all, the way Swiatek can think her way around a match, find an opponent’s weaknesses and counter her own with tweaks here and there.
There are, to be sure, other women who have already shown they can do well on grass and at Wimbledon. Players such as 2022 champion Elena Rybakina, 2022 runner-up Ons Jabeur, two-time winner Petra Kvitova, 2021 semifinalist Aryna Sabalenka.
But there are not a lot of folks who are going to doubt that Swiatek will figure things out at some point.
“It’s the power,” said Agnieszka Radwanska, the 2012 runner-up to Serena Williams at the All England Club and the only Polish woman to reach the singles final there in the past 85 years.
“There are other players hitting the ball very strong,” Radwanska said, before explaining that Swiatek’s heavy topspin gives her shots more of a chance of landing in with consistency, as opposed to the flat strokes that create more misses “to the fence.”
“That’s the difference,” Radwanska said. “A big difference.”
After watching her beat Karolina Muchova in three sets in the final at Roland Garros, French Open tournament director Amelie Mauresmo said she thinks Swiatek has what it takes to thrive at the All England Club.
“She has to make maybe one or two adjustments, maybe technically or in her game,” said Mauresmo, a former No. 1-ranked player who won Wimbledon and the Australian Open in 2006, “but I don’t see why, with her consistency, with her physical abilities and, of course, mentally — how she fights and how she gives a lot of trouble to the other girls — she wouldn’t be able to have a breakthrough there.”
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Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/HowardFendrich
___
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | 2023-06-28T11:05:44+00:00 | seattletimes.com | https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/iga-swiatek-is-no-1-and-owns-4-grand-slam-titles-at-age-22-can-she-win-wimbledon-too/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all |
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden built his 2020 White House run around promises to beat Donald Trump “like a drum.” As Biden gears up for an expected reelection campaign, he insists he can do it again.
But what if Trump isn't next year's Republican nominee?
Though the GOP primary race is only just beginning, a general election pitting Biden against any other Republican could look very different from one against Trump, with Democrats perhaps seeing enthusiasm to stop Trump at all cost evaporate.
Biden's continually low approval ratings and polling showing that many Americans — even a majority of Democrats — don't want him to seek a term that won't end until he's age 86 may also begin taking a bigger toll.
“I believe that, both for Biden and for Trump, going up against a new nominee would be more challenging than facing each other," said Julián Castro, a former Obama administration housing chief who ran against Biden in the 2020 Democratic primary.
For now, Trump remains a leading figure within the GOP and exercises tremendous influence among primary voters. Still, the field of Republican presidential candidates is beginning to expand with his former U.N. ambassador, Nikki Haley, announcing her candidacy. Polling suggests that GOP voters are open to backing someone other than Trump.
Beyond Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis could be a leading Trump alternative. More moderate challengers, such as former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, may soon emerge. Trump’s vice president, Mike Pence, and secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, might run. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott is planning to visit Iowa, fueling speculation about his political future.
All offer younger alternatives to both Biden and the 76-year-old Trump, and can promise fresher approaches to Washington, a point Haley made explicitly in her campaign kickoff. But so many choices could split the anti-Trump vote, perhaps allowing the former president to prevail in a fractured primary field.
Celina Vasquez, founder of the progressive group Texas Latinas List, said Biden's reelection appeal is built on his experience, not simply defeating Trump again.
"My generation, and the generation behind me, we’ve seen the dangers and the disaster of the MAGA Republicans," said Vasquez, whose organization promotes engagement by Texas Hispanic women at all levels of political office. MAGA is the acronym for the 2016 Trump campaign’s slogan, “Make America Great Again,” and has since become a general synonym for a descriptor of Trump policies and supporters.
Biden’s political standing within his own party is perhaps stronger than it has ever been. After Democrats showed surprising resilience during last fall's elections, no major challenger has emerged to compete against the president in the party's upcoming primary.
Democrats also just replaced Iowa with South Carolina to lead off their 2024 primary at Biden's behest. And, despite still-high inflation, unemployment has fallen to its lowest level since 1969.
Top Democrats say another factor in Biden’s favor is that, unlike former President Barack Obama, who was seen as a political phenomenon, Biden only got to the White House after two previous failed runs and was never viewed as a potentially transformational Washington force. That has kept the party and voters alike from falling into the complacency that contributed to Democratic losses in the 2010 and 2014 midterm elections under Obama.
For Biden, "the political nature of his presidency is one where Democrats around the country realize we all have a role to play in making sure he succeeds,” said Ben Wikler, chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party. “It’s everybody’s job.”
Some voters in competitive states such as Georgia, however, say Democrats would be foolish not to think that a younger Republican nominee could capitalize on Biden’s age.
“It really matters also who his actual opponent will be," Latabia Woodward, founder of Who’s Got Next Music, a music tech platform in Atlanta, said after listening to Vice President Kamala Harris speak recently at Georgia Tech University. "But, as a strategy, I do believe that it is a concern and I think we need to prepare for it, not just react to it.”
Doing so may not be easy. Polling from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that only 37% of Democrats say they want Biden to seek a second term — down from the 52% who backed the president running for reelection in the weeks before he led the party to a stronger-than-expected showing in November.
Among Republicans, 49% say they want Trump to run next year, while 50% do not. That's a modest shift from October, when 57% of Republicans reported wanting Trump to run.
Overall, just 22% of U.S. adults want Biden to run again compared to 27% who want Trump to run again.
Former House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has said he thinks “anybody not named Trump" can beat Biden. Gov. Chris Sununu, R-N.H., himself mentioned as a possible White House 2024 contender, said Trump “can’t get it done” against Biden.
Biden has shrugged off those findings, noting that he's been counted out before — for example, the recent midterms and when his 2020 campaign lost the first three Democratic primary contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, only to be revived by a resounding South Carolina win.
Castro said beating Trump is a central argument for Biden’s reelection, though equally important will be his legislative accomplishments, including a sweeping public works package, new gun safety rules and steep federal spending increases on green energy,high-tech manufacturing and health care. But Castro said polls nonetheless show an electorate not supportive of a second Biden term and that Democrats must “patch that up by the time he gets to the general election.”
“Somebody can make the case out there – and right now there’s nobody on the horizon – but there certainly seems to be an opening” for a Democratic primary challenger to Biden, Castro said, adding that it won’t be him.
Biden's close aides acknowledge that, in 2020, he was laser-focused on having come out of retirement to deny Trump a second term. If Trump's not on next year's presidential general election ballot, they say, the president will broaden the contrasts he presents, seeking to make the race a referendum on broader Trumpism.
That's a strategy Biden effectively employed during the 2022 elections, when he constantly denounced “ultra-MAGA Republicans." He hinted there will be more where that came from, recently telling Univision that he didn't fear facing DeSantis more than Trump next year “because I think that they have a similar modus operandi, a similar way in which they work.”
Biden allies say that the appeal of thwarting Trump can be expanded to Republicans as a whole because many in the party have either continued to embrace Trump's White House tenure or larger MAGA movement, or at least have struggled to condemn things such as spurious questioning of the 2020 election results and defending the mob that overran the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Many top Republicans also have, at one time or another, suggested they would support cuts to Medicare or Social Security, Biden aides note, a criticism the president has already begun lobbing.
The Democrats' midterm performance shows Biden was able to win last year without Trump on the ballot, and could do so again next year, those close to the president argue. Either way, they predict Biden will be buoyed in 2024 by two years of promoting trillions of dollars of reinvestment domestically.
That all resonates with Brandon Mayberry, an Emory University senior who also came to hear Harris in Atlanta. He said he plans to vote for Biden in 2024 regardless of who the president's opponent is, but admits that what happens next gives him pause.
“I like his passion as an 80-year-old man,” Mayberry said. “But five, six more years –- that’s kind of concerning.”
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Associated Press writers Bill Barrow in Atlanta and Zeke Miller contributed to this report. | 2023-02-17T12:04:25+00:00 | sfgate.com | https://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/biden-s-trump-focused-campaign-could-be-risky-if-17790395.php |
BERLIN (AP) — Climate activists in Austria on Tuesday attacked a famous painting by artist Gustav Klimt with a black, oily liquid and one then glued himself to glass protecting the painting’s frame.
Members of the group Last Generation Austria tweeted they had targeted the 1915 painting “Death and Life” at the Leopold Museum in Vienna to protest their government’s use of fossil energies.
After throwing the liquid on the painting, which wasn’t damaged, one activist was pushed away by a museum guard while another glued his hand to the glass over the painting’s frame.
The group defended the protest, saying in a tweet that they were protesting “oil and gas drilling,” which they called “a death sentence to society.”
In a video of the incident, which the group posted online, one of the activists can be heard shouting that “we have known about the problem for 50 years — we must finally act, otherwise the planet will be broken.”
“Stop the fossil fuel destruction. We are racing into a climate hell,” he added.
After the attack, police arrived at the museum and the black liquid was quickly cleaned off the glass protecting the painting, Austria Press Agency reported.
Despite thorough controls at the museum’s entrance, the activists succeeded in bringing the liquid inside by hiding it in a hot water bottle under their clothes, the agency reported.
The Leopold Museum couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
The Klimt work is an oil on canvas painting in the Art Nouveau style depicting death on the left side and a group of partially naked, hugging people on the right side. It’s one of the latest pieces of art to be targeted by climate activists to draw attention to global warming.
Different activist groups have staged numerous demonstrations in recent months, including blocking streets and throwing mashed potatoes at a Claude Monet painting in Germany.
The British group Just Stop Oil threw tomato soup at Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” in London’s National Gallery last month.
Just Stop Oil activists also glued themselves to the frame of an early copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” at London’s Royal Academy of Arts, and to John Constable’s “The Hay Wain” in the National Gallery.
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Follow AP’s coverage of climate issues and the environment at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment | 2022-11-15T13:06:42+00:00 | upmatters.com | https://www.upmatters.com/news/international/ap-international/ap-climate-activists-throw-liquid-at-klimt-painting-in-vienna/ |
TRENTON, N.J. — (AP) — A New Jersey political consultant who hired two career criminals to kill a colleague plotted the slaying because the fellow consultant sought to extort money from him, prosecutors said in a court filing made public Wednesday.
Sean Caddle, a former Democratic campaign consultant, is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday for his role in the murder-for-hire scheme that resulted in the death of fellow political operative Michael Galdieri in Jersey City in 2014.
Federal prosecutors have long cloaked the case in secrecy, revealing few details about the killing even after Caddle pleaded guilty in 2022, citing an ongoing investigation.
But authorities finally outlined the motive for the first time in the court filing, saying Caddle and Galdieri were longtime friends and collaborators on political campaigns whose relationship had gone sour.
Caddle told investigators he had become concerned that Galdieri was abusing drugs, but felt compelled to help him with money and occasional favors partly because he reminded him of his younger brother, according to the prosecutors’ document.
But during Galdieri’s final months, Caddle told authorities, Galdieri became erratic because of drug use and threatened to go public with details about “certain things” he had seen while working on campaigns together — unless Caddle funneled him money.
Prosecutors didn't say in the filing what what sort of things Galdieri had threatened to expose or how much money he sought to extort from Caddle.
“Fearing that Galdieri’s revelations would ruin him as a political consultant and cause his clients to abandon him, Caddle made the fateful decision to have Galdieri killed,” prosecutors wrote.
In November, a former top aide to the state Senate president pleaded guilty to tax and fraud charges related to work he did with Caddle. By inflating political invoices, the former aide made $107,800 and failed to pay taxes, prosecutors said.
Caddle has admitted to hiring two hit men who stabbed Galdieri to death and then set fire to his apartment in May 2014.
The two men, George Bratsenis and Bomani Africa, pleaded guilty in 2022. Bratsenis has already been sentenced to 16 years and Africa to 20 in prison.
Bratsenis and Bomani had met while in prison in New Jersey where Caddle's now-deceased brother, James Caddle, also was serving time. Their role in the killings became known to prosecutors after the pair pleaded guilty to a 2014 Connecticut bank robbery.
Unprompted, Bratsenis said he had information about a killing in New Jersey. He told authorities that after his release from prison in 2013, he went to work for Sean Caddle and that in March or April of 2014, Caddle invited him to his Jersey City home for dinner. There, Caddle said he was aware of his “extensive” criminal history and asked if he could find someone to commit murder for $15,000.
Bratsenis then sought out Africa, who agreed to help, according to prosecutors. Caddle said he wanted Galdieri dead within 30 days and gave Bratsenis between $2,000 and $4,000 upfront, according to prosecutors.
On May 22, 2014, the two men drove together to Galdieri's apartment. He was expecting Bratsensis because they had discussed robbing drug dealers together, authorities said.
Not long after letting the men in, Galdieri was fatally stabbed by both men and they doused his home in gasoline and set it on fire, according to authorities.
The day after the killing, Bratsenis and Caddle met in the parking lot of a diner where Caddle paid him the remaining money, though he hadn't brought enough and left to withdraw more from his political consulting business' bank account, prosecutors said.
On the same day, prosecutors inverviewed Caddle about Galdieri's death. He told them about his drug use, according to prosecutors, but did not disclose his role in the killing.
The prosecutor’s memo describes Caddle as “cold-hearted” and says he even attended the repast after Galdieri’s funeral.
“Caddle’s crime was among the most serious a defendant can commit. He set into a motion the brutal murder of a friend,” prosecutors wrote. “This was not just a fleeting crime of passion.”
The U.S. attorney’s office is seeking a 15-year sentence.
Caddle has been confined to his home on pre-trial release and hasn’t committed any violations, his lawyer said in a sentencing memo also released on Wednesday. His health has also deteriorated and while he’s employed he’s also fallen into poverty and been evicted from his home, Caddle’s attorney wrote. Caddle’s attorney asked for a 9-year sentence.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | 2023-06-28T20:12:31+00:00 | wsbtv.com | https://www.wsbtv.com/news/politics/extortion-threat/2TA3Z55YPDRSKKWDGHYI5MUUEI/ |
What the Tech? How much is your Barbie worth?
WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - The buzz surrounding the new Barbie Movie in theaters now has driven up the value of old collectible Barbie dolls. Mattel has sold over a billion Barbie dolls over the years and if you’ve ever had a little girl in the house, you likely could find a few around the house. How do you find out what they’re worth?
There are websites devoted to putting a value on Barbie dolls but you need to know which one you have. That can be a problem, particularly if she isn’t in a box or wearing the clothes she came with.
An easy way to identify a Barbie doll or any collectible is by using your smartphone and the camera.
Google lets users search by text of course but it also has the ability to search by image. In the Google app next to the search bar is a camera icon. This is in the app for both Android and iPhones. Tap the camera icon which will open Google Lens.
It will then ask you to frame something using the camera. I tried this using several Barbie dolls my daughters kept through the years.
The first scan correctly identified a 1990s-era Barbie doll wearing a pair of flowered overalls and listed websites where the doll is shown on Etsy and eBay for $10. Another Barbie was listed for sale on eBay for $95.
That’s helpful but only shows what someone is selling it for. But in eBay, you can filter results to show only items that have been sold which should give you a better idea of what it is actually worth.
Google Lens can help you identify and price all collectibles such as baseball cards, Beanie Babies, and other toys. Once you identify the doll you can visit an official Barbie Doll collectors website or database to get a more detailed idea of its value.
Don’t get your hopes up too high though. Those collectible Limited Edition Barbie Dolls from the 90s and 2000s you may have still in their boxes aren’t valued as high as you might think. Still, it’s fun to see for yourself.
Copyright 2023 KWCH. All rights reserved. To report a correction or typo, please email news@kwch.com | 2023-07-25T23:08:18+00:00 | kwch.com | https://www.kwch.com/2023/07/25/what-tech-how-much-is-your-barbie-worth/ |
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – The Wichita Public Library’s 2022 Summer Reading Program, “Oceans of Possibilities,” kicks off today through July 28 at all Wichita Public Library locations.
The program will be in person this year and toddlers, kids and teens are invited to participate in educational programs and activities. They can also win prizes.
“We’re excited to return to a more normal-paced Summer Reading Program this year,” said Director of Libraries Jaime Prothro. “The Summer Reading Program is a great way for both caregivers and kids to explore reading, learning and play at the public library.”
Toddlers aged 0-3 will participate in early literacy bingo, a new spin on the classic Baby Bookworms program. Kids 3-11 can participate in the Kids Read program and teens 12-18 can participate in the Teens Read program, both promoted to read 20 minutes each day. Prizes are awarded at 10-day increments.
Kids and teens enrolled in the program receive a Summer Reading Guide or summer reading log sheet to keep track of progress. Customers can also use the Beanstack app to digitally track progress.
The Library is planning a busy schedule of programming, available to view by clicking here. Programs include story times, STEAM activities, virtual reality exploration, DIY crafts and more. Returning this year are family-friendly concerts at Naftzger and Riverside Parks. | 2022-05-31T14:31:32+00:00 | ksn.com | https://www.ksn.com/news/local/summer-reading-program-kicks-off/ |
BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson will return from his 11-game NFL suspension for sexual misconduct allegations and start in Houston against his former team on Dec. 4, general manager Andrew Berry reiterated Wednesday.
During his bye week news conference, Berry said Watson has “done everything and more” since returning to the team’s facility last month and will play immediately when he’s eligible next month.
Watson played four seasons with the Texans, who traded him to the Browns in March. The 25-year-old was suspended by the league on Aug. 18 after being accused of sexual misconduct by more than two dozen women in massage therapy sessions.
Two grand juries in Texas declined to indict Watson on criminal complaints.
The three-time Pro Bowler agreed to a settlement with the league for violating its personal conduct policy. He accepted the suspension, a $5 million fine and to undergo professional counseling and treatment.
Watson can begin practicing on Nov. 14, and as long as he meets provisions in his deal with the league, he’ll return to face the Texans, who drafted him in 2017 before trading him to the Browns for three first-round draft picks.
Watson initially turned down Cleveland’s offer — Carolina and Atlanta also courted him — before owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam enticed him with a five-year, $230 million contract that’s fully guaranteed.
Berry said the Browns anticipate Watson being ready to play in what will be his first regular-season appearance in 700 days. Watson, who returned to the Browns’ facility last month, sat out the 2021 season while his legal issues festered.
Jacoby Brissett has filled in for Cleveland and played well during Watson’s absence.
The Browns (3-5) prevented falling way back in the AFC playoff chase with an impressive 32-13 win over Cincinnati on Monday night. Brissett will make three more starts — at Miami, at Buffalo and home against Tampa Bay — before turning things over to Watson.
Berry said the Browns are being careful not to put any extra expectations on Watson when he comes back.
“Our mindset with him is when he’s available and back, we’ll welcome him back and get him ramped up appropriately,” Berry said. “Until that point, it’s really a focus on the guys who are playing and obviously at the quarterback position, getting Jacoby (Brissett) prepared to play and putting our best foot forth against the upcoming opponent.”
Watson has been able to work out and attend meetings with the Browns since Oct. 10. He had been banned since his suspension began on Aug. 30. He played briefly in one exhibition game before the suspension.
“It’s been great to have him back in the building,” Berry said. “He’s been focused on working on himself. He’s stayed in great shape. He’s been a part of the meetings. He’s done everything and more that’s been asked of him.
“We’ll be excited to have him when he can continue to ramp up football activities and get back on the practice field.”
Berry didn’t disclose any details about Watson’s workouts, saying only he’s been permitted to be with members of the team’s strength and conditioning staff.
Before the suspension, the Browns integrated Watson into their offense and got him ready for the season by giving him the bulk of snaps in training camp practices, so Berry isn’t worried about the long layoff affecting him.
“We spent a lot of time with Deshaun in the spring in camp and banked a lot of good reps during the time,” Berry said. “And that being said, I don’t think that our approach, really with any quarterback, but certainly with the time that Deshaun has had off, to expect him to shoulder everything.
“That’s not necessarily how the team is designed or put together. I don’t know that that would be a fair ask for any quarterback. In a couple weeks, we’ll be in that world where we’re getting him ready to play and we’ll handle it appropriately.”
Watson reached undisclosed financial settlements in 23 of 24 civil lawsuits filed against him by women in Texas. Another lawsuit was recently filed in Houston, but Berry said it had no bearing on Watson’s status.
___
AP NFL coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL | 2022-11-03T15:32:25+00:00 | wearegreenbay.com | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-deshaun-watson-to-start-vs-texans-after-suspension-gm-says/ |
BOCA RATON, Fla., Dec. 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- PreIPO Corporation™ owner of a suite of proprietary platforms; including: PreIPO Exchange®, PreIPO.com™, and PreIPO Intelli™, has officially received its first International Registered Trademark from the Intellectual Property Office of the United Kingdom for "PreIPO®".
The registration covers Class 35: Business management and administration services provided on-line via a website for the sale, transparency, immutability and decentralization of non-liquid assets, namely, smart contracts, endorsements, tokens, artwork, jewelry, wine, valuables, intellectual property and non-fungible tokens using the blockchain, tokenization and diligence as a service using artificial intelligence and machine learning.
As well as, Class 42: Software as a service (SAAS) services featuring software for administering the sale, transparency, immutability and decentralization of non-liquid assets using the blockchain, tokenization and diligence as a service using artificial intelligence and machine learning, namely, for the sale of smart contracts, endorsements, tokens, artwork, jewelry, wine, valuables, intellectual property and non-fungible tokens; Software as a service (SAAS) services featuring software using artificial intelligence for deep learning, in-depth qualitative evaluation of digital assets, goods, contracts, tokens, artwork, jewelry, wine, valuables, intellectual property and non-fungible tokens.
CEO of PreIPO®, David Grzan, speaks about the new trademark approval for their company. "Registering the "PreIPO®" trademark with the Intellectual Property Office of the United Kingdom will help to further strengthen the branding of our ever-growing company. By continuing to establish and validate the PreIPO® brand world-wide, we believe we will continue to disrupt the private market industry in a major way."
About PreIPO Corporation™
PreIPO Corp.™ is a financial technology company specializing in actively participating in private market securities transactions for qualified investors, sellers, issuers, and financial institutions through its vertically integrated ecosystem of 'licensable while-labeled' SaaS offerings designed especially for broker/dealers. As a pioneer in digitally distributed financial systems, PreIPO® is deploying its proprietary PreIPO-as-a-Service Platform™. We are also pleased to offer PreIPO INTELLI™, this program will condense hours and days of internal research into easily digestible and actionable insights for qualified investors. Visit our website www.preipo.com.
For more information please contact: info@preipo.com
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SOURCE PreIPO Corp | 2022-12-28T08:26:30+00:00 | newschannel10.com | https://www.newschannel10.com/prnewswire/2022/12/28/preipo-corporation-receives-its-first-international-registered-trademark-united-kingdom-preipo/ |
It’s Cinco de Mayo, and avocado prices are soaring
By Danielle Wiener-Bronner, CNN Business
Bad news for guacamole lovers, especially on Cinco de Mayo -— avocado prices are through the roof.
Last week, prices for a carton of 48 Hass avocados hit a high of about $78.75 on average, according to ProduceIQ, a digital marketplace for produce buyers and growers, which uses USDA data. That reflects the price for avocados coming into the United States from Mexico at the Texas border.
This time last year, avocado carton prices were in the $40 range, according to ProduceIQ.
“It’s been high all year … and it’s maintained historic highs,” said Mark Campbell, CEO of ProduceIQ.
A number of factors have led to higher prices this year, he said.
In February, the United States briefly suspended imports from Mexico’s western state of Michoacan after a US official received a threat. It didn’t take long for the US government to reinstate imports, but the brief disruption still drove prices up.
And a few months later, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott required “enhanced safety inspections” of commercial vehicles entering Texas for a week. That disruption resulted in hundreds of millions of lost dollars and delays in shipments — and raised avocado prices. That’s on top of less rain in the region, which has resulted in lower yields and smaller avocados, said Campbell.
Meanwhile, demand has been strong, noted David Magaña, senior analyst for horticulture at Rabobank. That’s not just due to typical spikes around the Super Bowl and Cinco de Mayo, but also because more Americans are interested in in avocados year-round, he said.
“Per capita consumption in the US has more than doubled over the last decade,” he said. “And I still think there is some room for growth.”
The good news is that prices have already eased off their highs, and could continue to fall.
The Peruvian avocado season has started, Campbell noted, which means that overall supply will increase, and could prices down further. And later this year, the US government will start accepting avocados from Jalisco, another region in Mexico. Previously, the US allowed imports only from Michoacan.
So what does all of this mean for consumers?
Some restaurants or retailers are already passing their costs onto customers. During an analyst call in April, Chipotle noted that higher avocado prices contributed to the company’s decision to raise menu prices this year.
“Consumers are seeing some slightly elevated prices in supermarkets,” said David Rossi, fresh produce research analyst at Gro Intelligence, an agricultural data analytics firm. But, he noted, retailers can decided to absorb the cost and lessen the impact on consumers, reducing the impact on shoppers.
— CNN’s Alicia Wallace, Vanessa Yurkevich and Karol Suarez contributed to this report.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved. | 2022-05-05T19:55:07+00:00 | keyt.com | https://keyt.com/news/national-world/cnn-other/2022/05/05/its-cinco-de-mayo-and-avocado-prices-are-soaring/ |
Family members believe a body found in a wooded area in Miami-Dade is a woman who went missing last week after authorities said she was murdered by her estranged husband.
A cousin said the body found Wednesday near Northwest 204th Street and 55th Court is Mimose Dulcio, though authorities haven't confirmed the identity of the remains.
Dulcio, 39, had been last seen the evening of Nov. 10 at her home in unincorporated central Broward, and a missing person alert was issued for her on Saturday.
Family members and authorities said Dulcio had been going through a messy divorce with her husband, 36-year-old Jose Luis Pacheco.
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Pacheco was arrested Monday night and charged with second-degree murder in the killing of Dulcio.
A search warrant was obtained for the couple's home and shared vehicle and during the search, investigators found evidence that suggested Dulcio had been murdered in the couple's home, and that her body had been transported in the couple's shared vehicle and disposed of in an unknown location, Broward Sheriff's Office officials said.
Local
Family members said they knew something wasn't right when they found two of Dulcio's cellphones shattered and specks of blood in her home.
The family had suspected Pacheco from the beginning.
"She's going through a messy divorce. She’s going through something with an individual that I don’t take this lightly. I'm gonna call him a monster. A monster," sister Simenta Dulcio said.
Pacheco remains held without bond. | 2022-11-17T22:19:33+00:00 | nbcmiami.com | https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/family-believes-body-found-is-missing-broward-woman-allegedly-murdered-by-husband/2911718/ |
Trump rejects last chance to testify at New York civil trial
NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump rejected his last chance Sunday to testify at a civil trial where a longtime advice columnist has accused him of raping her in a luxury department store dressing room in 1996.
Trump, a Republican candidate for president in 2024, was given until 5 p.m. Sunday by U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan to file a request to testify. Nothing was filed.
It was not a surprise. Trump has not shown up once during the two-week Manhattan trial where writer E. Jean Carroll testified for several days, repeating claims she first made publicly in a 2019 memoir. She is seeking compensatory and punitive damages totaling millions of dollars.
The jury has also watched lengthy excerpts from an October videotaped deposition in which Trump vehemently denied raping Carroll or ever really knowing her.
Without Trump’s testimony, lawyers were scheduled to make closing arguments Monday, with deliberations likely to begin on Tuesday.
After prosecutors rested their case Thursday, Trump attorney Joe Tacopina immediately rested the defense case as well without calling any witnesses. He did not request additional time for Trump to decide to testify. Tacopina declined in an email to comment after the deadline passed Sunday.
On Thursday, Kaplan had given Trump extra time to change his mind and request to testify, though the judge did not promise he would grant such a request to reopen the defense case so Trump could take the stand.
At the time, Kaplan noted that he’d heard about news reports Thursday in which Trump told reporters while visiting his golf course in Doonbeg, Ireland, that he would “probably attend” the trial. Trump also criticized Kaplan, a Bill Clinton appointee, as an “extremely hostile” and “rough judge” who “doesn’t like me very much.”
On the witness stand, Carroll, 79, testified that Trump, 76, raped her in spring 1996 after they met at the entrance of the midtown Manhattan department store Bergdorf Goodman.
She said the encounter began as a fun and flirtatious outing as Trump coaxed her into helping him shop for a gift for another woman. She said they ended up in the store’s desolate lingerie section, where they teased each other to try on a see-through bodysuit.
As Carroll recalled it, laughter accompanied them into a dressing room where Trump became violent, slamming her up against a wall, pulling aside her tights and raping her before she kneed him and fled the store.
In his deposition, Trump said Carroll made it up. He called it “a false, disgusting lie” delivered by a “nut job” who was trying to stoke sales of her book.
He also repeated comments he made in statements that she was not his “type.”
“She’s not my type and that’s 100% true,” he said.
And he repeated his claims in a 2005 “Access Hollywood” video in which he bragged that men who are celebrities can grab women by the genitals without asking.
“Historically that’s true with stars,” he said.
Carroll sued Trump in November, minutes after New York state enacted a law allowing adult sexual assault victims to sue others even if the attacks occurred decades earlier.
Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, wrote a letter to the judge Sunday to complain that Trump still has not removed April 26 posts on his social media network in which he called Carroll’s allegations “a made up SCAM.” And she noted that he repeated disparaging remarks about the trial three days ago in Ireland.
After the April 26 postings on Truth Social, Judge Kaplan, who is not related to Carroll’s lawyer, said Trump’s comments were “highly inappropriate” and expressed concern that Trump was trying to communicate to the jury “about stuff that has no business being spoken about.”
The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Carroll has done.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | 2023-05-07T22:34:32+00:00 | wbrc.com | https://www.wbrc.com/2023/05/07/trump-rejects-last-chance-testify-new-york-civil-trial/ |
Facebook parent Meta unveiled a high-end virtual reality headset Tuesday with the hope that people will soon be using it to work and play in the still-elusive place called the “metaverse.”
The $1,500 Meta Quest Pro headset sports high-resolution sensors that let people see mixed virtual and augmented reality in full color, as well as eye tracking and so-called “natural facial expressions” that mimic the wearer’s facial movements so their avatars appear natural when interacting with other avatars in virtual-reality environments.
Formerly known as Facebook, Meta is in the midst of a corporate transformation that it says will take years to complete. It wants to evolve from a provider of social platforms to a dominant power in a nascent virtual-reality construct called the metaverse — sort of like the internet brought to life, or at least rendered in 3D.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has described the metaverse as an immersive virtual environment, a place people can virtually “enter” rather than just staring at it on a screen. The company is investing billions in its metaverse plans that will likely take years to pay off.
VR headsets are already popular with some gamers, but Meta knows that won’t be enough to make the metaverse mainstream. As such, it’s setting office — and home office — workers in its sights.
“Meta is positioning the new Meta Quest Pro headset as an alternative to using a laptop,” said to Rolf Illenberger, founder and managing director of VRdirect, which builds VR environments for businesses. But he added that for businesses, operating in the virtual worlds of the metaverse is still “quite a stretch.”
Meta also announced that its metaverse avatars will soon have legs — an important detail that’s been missing since the avatars made their debut last year. | 2022-10-12T02:42:43+00:00 | kdvr.com | https://kdvr.com/news/money/ap-facebook-owner-meta-unveils-1500-vr-headset-will-it-sell/ |
27 people lashed in public in Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD - Twenty-seven people were lashed in public on Thursday in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan as punishment for alleged adultery, theft, drug offenses and other crimes, according to a court official.
Afghanistan’s new authorities have implemented hard-line policies since they took over the country in August 2021 that have underlined their interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia.
The country's Supreme Court issued the final rulings after appeals. In a statement, the court said the lashings took place in the northern province of Parwan, with 18 men and nine women punished in all.
Abdul Rahim Rashid, an official with the court, said the men and women were each lashed between 25 to 39 times. An unspecified number of those punished also received two-year prison terms in Charakar, the provincial capital, he added.
The lashings were carried out before a "public gathering of locals and officials," Rashid added.
Provincial officials and local residents attended the public punishments, during which officials spoke about the importance of Sharia law, added the court statement.
Thursday's lashings come a day after the Taliban authorities executed an Afghan convicted of killing another man, the first public execution since the former insurgents returned to power last year.
The execution, carried out with an assault rifle by the victim’s father, took place in western Farah province before hundreds of spectators and many top Taliban officials, according to Zabihullah Mujahid, the top government spokesman. Some officials came from the capital Kabul.
The execution was met with international criticism. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said "the death penalty cannot be reconciled with full respect for the right to life," spokeswoman Stephanie Tremblay said.
In comments late Wednesday, State Department spokesman Ned Price said the U.S. condemned the public execution. Price said the Taliban's future relationship with Washington depended "largely on their actions when it comes to human rights."
No foreign state has officially recognized the Taliban government that took over as U.S. and NATO troops withdrew last year. The Taliban formerly ruled Afghanistan before the U.S. invasion of 2001.
On Thursday, spokesman Mujahid rejected international criticisms of the Taliban government.
"Unfortunately, a number of countries and institutions still do not have a proper knowledge and understanding of Afghanistan," he said.
Mujahid pointed out that capital punishment was practiced in many other countries including the United States.
A separate court statement said that earlier this week, three men convicted of theft were lashed in public in the eastern province of Paktika.
During the previous Taliban rule of Afghanistan in the late 1990s, the group carried out public executions, floggings and stonings.
After they overran Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban initially promised to allow for women’s and minority rights. Instead, they have restricted rights and freedoms, including imposing a ban on girl’s education beyond the sixth grade.
The former insurgents have struggled in their transition from warfare to governing amid an economic downturn and the international community’s withdrawal of aid. | 2022-12-08T18:39:16+00:00 | fox10phoenix.com | https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/27-people-lashed-afghanistan |
Obama heads to Georgia as Warnock seeks big early vote advantage in Senate runoff
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia voters have cast more than 1 million ballots ahead of the Dec. 6 U.S. Senate runoff between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker, with Warnock looking to juice an apparent Democratic head start in early voting with a visit Thursday from Barack Obama.
The former president will campaign with Warnock on the eve of the final day of early voting. The rally, which promises to be the largest event of Warnock’s four-week runoff blitz, underscores the two parties’ different approaches to early voting in the final contest of the 2022 election.
Democrats have employed an all-hands-on-deck push to bank as many votes as possible while Republicans, especially Walker, have taken a less aggressive approach that could leave the GOP nominee heavily dependent on runoff Election Day turnout.
“I think the turnout we’re seeing is good, and I want to encourage people to stick with it,” Warnock said as he campaigned this week, comparing voting to waiting in line at a popular Atlanta lunch spot. “The other day I went to the Slutty Vegan, and the line was wrapped around the block, and folks still waited and got their sandwiches,” he said. “I went and voted yesterday, and it was pretty painless.”
Walker, meanwhile, is expected to vote on the runoff’s Election Day, as he did in November for the midterms.
Warnock led Walker by about 37,000 votes out of almost 4 million cast in the general election but fell short of the majority required under Georgia law. That triggered a four-week runoff blitz, with a shorter early voting window than occurred during the first round.
Statewide early voting data, including some weekend and Thanksgiving weekdays in certain counties, shows higher overall turnout in the most heavily Democratic counties and congressional districts. Still, both parties are finding data to tout as they jockey for any advantage in the final contest of the 2022 midterm election cycle, and both campaigns agree generally that Warnock will lead among early voters, as he did in the first round, while Walker will have the advantage in Election Day ballots, as he did in November. The respective margins will determine the eventual winner.
TargetSmart, a Democratic data firm, analyzed the identities of the 830,000-plus voters who’d cast ballots by the end of Tuesday and concluded that Democrats have increased their advantage by 14 percentage points over what it was with six days to go before the Nov. 8 election. That analysis did not include the 240,000-plus additional ballots cast Wednesday.
Walker’s campaign manager, Scott Paradise, pushed back on notions of Democrats’ domination. He argued that their advantage comes only because it was heavily Democratic metro-area counties that held weekend early voting, while more Republican areas waited until the statewide mandatory early voting window that began Monday. Republicans had sued, unsuccessfully, in state court trying to block Saturday early voting for the runoff.
Paradise said a Walker campaign analysis found that nine of the 10 counties with the highest turnout Monday were counties Walker won in November with a combined 70% of the vote. He added that of the state’s most populous counties -- those with more than 100,000 registered voters -- it was two Republican strongholds, Hall and Forsyth, that posted the highest turnout percentages Monday. Paradise said those trends reflect high enthusiasm among Republicans.
Still, Republicans have catching up to do.
According to state voting data compiled by Ryan Anderson, an independent analyst in Atlanta, four of the state’s five Democratic-held congressional districts had already seen advance turnout through Tuesday of at least 43% of the total early vote for the November election, when every Georgia county had at least 17 days of early in-person voting. Just one of Georgia’s nine Republican-held congressional districts had eclipsed that 43% mark.
Warnock first won the seat as part of concurrent Senate runoffs on Jan. 5, 2021, when he and Jon Ossoff prevailed over Republican incumbents to give Democrats narrow control of the Senate for the start of President Joe Biden’s tenure. Warnock won a special election and now is seeking a full six-year term.
This time, Senate control is not in play: Democrats have already secured 50 seats and have Vice President Kamala Harris’ tiebreaking vote. That puts pressure on both Warnock’s and Walker’s campaigns to convince Georgia voters that it’s worth their time to cast a second ballot, even if the national stakes aren’t as high.
Warnock got about 70% of his overall first-round votes from advance voting; for Walker, it was about 58%. That translated to an advantage of more than 256,000 votes for Warnock. Walker answered with an Election Day advantage of more than 200,000.
The senator’s campaign, Democratic Party committees and aligned political action committees have tailored their voter turnout efforts toward early voting. Republicans have countered with their own wide-ranging push, including a direct-mail push from one super political action committee featuring Gov. Brian Kemp, who got 200,000 more votes than Walker to win a second term comfortably.
Yet Republicans are battling some internal party narratives, including from former President Donald Trump, that question some advance voting, especially mail-in ballots, pushing some Republicans toward an Election Day ballot. As recently as Tuesday, Trump declared on social media that “YOU CAN NEVER HAVE FAIR & FREE ELECTIONS WITH MAIL-IN BALLOTS - NEVER, NEVER NEVER. WON’T AND CAN’T HAPPEN!!!”
Walker himself does not mention early in-person voting or mail-in ballots at all as he urges his supporters to vote.
Democrats, meanwhile, see Obama as a key figure in repeating Warnock’s advance voting lead, because the former president remains intensely popular among core Democrats and has a solid standing among independents.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | 2022-12-01T14:00:44+00:00 | kswo.com | https://www.kswo.com/2022/12/01/obama-heads-georgia-warnock-seeks-big-early-vote-advantage-senate-runoff/ |
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Caleb Grill has followed T.J. Otzelberger from South Dakota State to UNLV and now back to Iowa State hoping the pair could share a moment like they did Friday.
Taking down the No. 1 team in the country was another bookmark moment in a long journey for the pair.
“I’m actually really enjoying sitting next to him from this moment right now just thinking about how long we’ve known each other and how cool this really was,” Otzelberger said.
Grill hit seven 3-pointers and scored a career-high 31 points and Iowa State rallied in the final five minutes to stun No. 1 North Carolina 70-65 in the semifinals of the Phil Knight Invitational.
Iowa State (5-0) picked up just its third win over a team ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25. The Cyclones are 3-22 against No. 1 teams, with the other wins coming against Kansas in 1957 and Oklahoma in 2016.
The Cyclones can now add North Carolina (5-1) to the list.
“I was just staying the course of the game. I never really thought about it and the game just kind of came to me,” Grill said.
Grill was averaging 7.3 points and had made just 4 of 24 3-point attempts for the season entering Friday. But he couldn’t be stopped from beyond the arc, hitting a pair of big 3s to spark Iowa State’s late rally. His deep fadeaway jumper just inside the 3-point line with 1:40 left gave Iowa State a 63-61 lead and the Cyclones did just enough at the free throw line in the final minute to close out the upset victory.
Grill’s previous career high was 27 points while playing for UNLV in the 2020-21 season against Alabama. He also hit seven 3-pointers in that game.
Grill originally signed with South Dakota State when Otzelberger was the coach there. He was released from his commitment when Otzelberger took the head job at UNLV and started his career at Iowa State before deciding to join his coach in Las Vegas.
When Otzelberger returned to Ames, Grill followed again.
“Just having him be the first person that really had belief in me, it’s just really special what he’s done for me and my family and everything we’ve done,” Grill said.
Jaren Holmes added 22 points and the Cyclones withstood off shooting games from Aljaz Kunc and Gabe Kalscheur, who combined for three points and missed all eight of their shot attempts. Both were averaging double figures scoring for Iowa State.
RJ Davis led North Carolina with 15 points, Armando Bacot added 14 and Caleb Love scored 12. But the Tar Heels will lament a series of mistakes in the closing minutes that allowed Iowa State to rally.
“We had wide open threes. We were able to get to the basket. We were able to get whatever we wanted, we just didn’t make those shots,” North Carolina coach Hubert Davis said.
North Carolina led 57-49 after Leaky Black’s layup with 5:43 left, but missed four of its final six shots and had four turnovers during that span.
“We turned the ball over a couple of times and you just can’t do that in late-game situations,” Davis said. “You have to be sound and discipline and you have to do that on both ends of the floor and we just didn’t do it.”
NO. 1 LOSSES
North Carolina lost as the No. 1 team in the country for the first time since Nov. 21, 2015 when it lost 71-67 at Northern Iowa. The Tar Heels also lost as No. 1 to UNLV in 2011 at a Thanksgiving tournament.
BIG PICTURE
North Carolina: Pete Nance wasn’t able to contribute in the same way he did in Thursday’s opening round. Nance, who tied his career high with 28 points against Portland, didn’t score for the first 27 minutes and finished with seven points.
Iowa State: The Cyclones were playing a No. 1 team from outside their conference for the first time since 1999 when they faced Cincinnati in the championship game of the Big Island Invitational.
UP NEXT
Iowa State will face either No. 18 Alabama or No. 20 UConn in the championship game while the Tar Heels will face the loser for third place.
___
AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25 | 2022-11-26T12:46:54+00:00 | upmatters.com | https://www.upmatters.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-caleb-grill-iowa-state-topples-no-1-north-carolina-70-65/ |
Zero-Party Data leader adds healthcare specific compliance to enable privacy-first data and customer experiences
NEW YORK, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Wyng, the leading zero-party data platform, today announces compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the U.S. national standard set for health information security and privacy. Wyng is committed to the protection of customer data, and this move is the latest in ensuring its products meet the rigorous requirements of appropriate data protection regulations.
Personal data privacy is an increasing concern in every industry, and especially in healthcare. As markets embrace the privacy-first era, Wyng uniquely equips brands to build deep and profitable customer relationships based on trust. Compliance with HIPAA provides assurance that proper and continual measures are taken to protect PHI (Protected Health Information),and enables HIPAA-regulated customers to use the Wyng zero-party data platform to collect, better understand, and securely process user health data.
Wyng provides a complete solution for marketers to address evolving attitudes and public awareness around privacy and the changing regulatory landscape. The company has a profitable customer base of more than 250 brands and enterprises that rely on its products across industries such as retail, beauty, finance, travel, entertainment, media and consumer goods.
Jacob Borgeson, Director of Product Marketing at Wyng commented, "Our software provides customers with more transparency and control over the data they share with a brand, and how that data is used. In meeting the regulatory standards of GDPR, CPRA and CCPA, and being SOC 2 Type 2 certified, we at Wyng are deeply committed to privacy and security, and are proud to now add HIPAA compliance to be able to serve healthcare customers."
To learn more about Wyng, visit www.wyng.com
Wyng is the world's leading zero-party data platform. Built on a zero-party data API and privacy by design principles, Wyng makes it easy for marketers to deliver customer experiences that are always welcome, relevant, and compliant. More than 250 brands and enterprises use Wyng to build relevance and trust with their customers. To learn more, visit wyng.com.
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SOURCE Wyng | 2022-06-14T13:42:01+00:00 | kswo.com | https://www.kswo.com/prnewswire/2022/06/14/wyng-announces-hipaa-compliance-extending-zero-party-data-into-healthcare-market/ |
Oregon Psilocybin Services (OPS) has begun accepting applications for licenses for manufacturers, laboratories, service centers and facilitators.
OPS, located at the Oregon Health Authority’s Public Health Division, has posted information on how to apply for the license types on its website, Oregon.gov/psilocybin. OPS began accepting applications Jan. 2.
Under the Oregon Psilocybin Services Act, or ORS 475A, a client 21 and older may access psilocybin services and will be required to complete a preparation session with a licensed facilitator. The client will only access psilocybin at a licensed service center. Integration sessions will be made available after administration sessions to further support clients.
Psilocybin products must be cultivated or processed by licensed manufacturers and tested by licensed, accredited testing laboratories and are the only licensee authorized to sell psilocybin.
It will take some time for these four license types to become licensed and set up operations. | 2023-02-08T06:34:42+00:00 | columbiagorgenews.com | https://www.columbiagorgenews.com/news/oregon-psilocybin-services-accepting-applications/article_c4184b74-a727-11ed-bb6f-cfd362c0da92.html |
Near the start of 2022, Warner Music Group announced a partnership with The Sandbox, "a virtual world where players can build, own, and monetize their gaming experiences in the Ethereum blockchain," with the promise that the Minecraft-like game would serve as a new arena for music and entertainment. Exactly what was being offered was unclear, other than the chance to buy virtual real estate near WMG's digital property. Sony, meanwhile, moved forward on an agreement to bring the artists on its roster into Roblox, staging a "concert experience" on the platform in March starring an avatar of rapper 24kGoldn. Universal teamed up with the avatar company Genies, whose CEO Akash Nigam asserted,"We're not bringing culture to NFTs and crypto. Genies and UMG together are bringing the power of NFTs and crypto to culture."
The gamification of music experiences isn't new, or necessarily bad — and who knows whether these label partnerships will take root in any meaningful way, especially given recent news on the state of Web 3.0 and the metaverse. But in a year when even beloved independent music retailer Bandcamp was purchased by Epic Games, these moves have left me thinking more than usual about albums, and their utility in a digital age that seems disinterested in what they do best.
If the invention of the album made music, an intangible thing, literally tangible, it's fair to say that streaming nudged it back toward the abstract. The most recent digital expansions of music listening, fixated on virtual immersion, would appear to offer a corrective, an invitation to step fully inside the work. And yet, at least as envisioned so far by the Big Three, these experiments never seem to be designed with continuous, intent listening in mind. Events like Charli XCX's June performance on Superstar Galaxy, a virtual Roblox concert promoting a Samsung phone, conjure a vision of artists as intellectual property to be leveraged and music as wrapping paper for whatever's really being sold. (Beat Saber, the VR game that's like Rock Band with lightsabers, might at least point to a retail endgame for labels, as users can buy artist "packs" of songs to slash to; a dozen BTS tracks will run you $14.99.) The way consumption of full albums is trending — down again this year — this kind of thing feels at best like a hedge in a shifting landscape. But if each new digital economy assigns less value to the album as a substantial medium, a thing with its own shape and directive even when floating in the ether, what will its next life cycle be? What is an album's function in purely theoretical space?
For me, the role of the album is to insist upon listening to music as not only an active experience, but an empathic one. Great albums reveal themselves to attentive audiences, who in turn unpack their aesthetic and existential truths. They are immersive on their own, VR be damned. The albums that drew me in this year made narratives of self-reflection: artists working through pandemic changes, coming to terms with elevated profiles or adjusting to new phases in their personal lives. I found resonance in songwriting that wrestled with its own creation, foregrounding the impact on artistry of experiencing everyday life. Sonically, I was struck by sprawling records bursting with ideas — diaspora connectors, convention subverters, explorers of environment and rhythm, improvisation and chaos, composition and control. Cohesion is overrated, but holism is essential. Genre-bending is commonplace, but rare is music with a strong genre identity and a broad understanding of its relationship to other musical forms. These connections tell us so much about the nature of our physical world — and even now, the album remains as sturdy a bridge as ever between this world and the ones we can't touch.
FKA twigs
Caprisongs
During the first pandemic lockdown in the U.K., the English singer and producer FKA twigs wondered privately about the sustainability of her creative process. Making her 2019 album, Magdalene, a woe-inspired electronic aria, took its toll; she likened the exercise to putting her insides on blast. Restoration came through connection and collaboration — and her splendid, ever-changing mixtape Caprisongs is uplifting in its pursuit of sorority, some of which is found on the dance floor. Produced by twigs with El Guincho, the project is jubilant and inquisitive; it scans Afropop, hymnals, road rap and the club. A diverse cast of characters — local underground artists, mostly — chimes in on a far-reaching mix, but the project feels most intimate when twigs explores dance music as a form of communion and escape.
Rosalía
Motomami
El Mal Querer, Rosalía's ambitious flamenco-pop masterpiece, seemed to set the bar for her aspirations, transforming the traditional into something not merely modern but chic. Motomami pushes her high-concept pop experiment to daring new extremes, making good on previous flirtations with urbano and rap. Its loose thematicism is lost on me as a non-Spanish speaker, but its genre-bending is exhilarating. Rosalía told the Los Angeles Times that the album is inspired by the miscellany of Tumblr, and it seems to embody the wondrous chaos, discovery and recycling of microblogging. Take its moments separately or together: the mechanical reggaeton of "Saoko," the sweetest song ever to be called "Hentai," the overwhelming semi-auto sass of "Bizcochito," snap music as bolero, industrial cantatas, sampling other samples. Its curiosity is dizzying, breakneck — and beautiful.
Kojey Radical
Reason to Smile
The British-Ghanain rapper Kojey Radical recorded most of Reason to Smile off the cuff, and that freedom comes through in his verses. He has always been an emphatic storyteller, but here he learns to let his instincts dictate his dynamism, balancing vigor with grace — a mode closer to his origins as a spoken-word poet. The songs here consider Black masculinity, growing up a transplant in the U.K. and how those things inform fatherhood, pulling from grime, R&B and Afro-fusion. He shares those ingredients with artists like Burna Boy and J Hus, who live at similar intersections, but Kojey's music is far more lyrical and to the point, its imagery keener and scope grander. Rare is the statement record that doesn't get bogged down in its own myth-making, but Reason to Smile feels unpretentious in its pursuit of joy.
Duval Timothy
Meeting with a Judas Tree
Many listeners met Duval Timothy through his ambitious work on Kendrick Lamar's Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, but the multidisciplinary artist has been deconstructing things since 2017. Meeting with a Judas Tree continues a recent habit of venturing out into nature (in London, Italy, Ghana and Sierra Leone) to engage with the natural world: The album blends field recordings from his journeys with the playing from various pianos, a Moog Grandmother and a Juno-G. Given his interest in ambience, the temptation arises at first to call these compositions muzak — but they are insistent and enticing, bending the ear until, suddenly, something breathtaking emerges.
Ethel Cain
Preacher's Daughter
As the gothic Southern belle Ethel Cain, the singer and producer Hayden Silas Anhedönia mines Bible Belt fervor and domestic trauma for heartland horror stories. Her haunted, vast debut explores the doom attendant to the American Dream, how its promise is a lure out into the open and an enticement of predators. The songs are epic and dynamic but also dark and faint, swept along by Cain's sullen, spectral voice as she performs with a wonder and a naiveté that make everything in her view feel intimate or tremendous. The album's truly backwater premise — girl runs away from her religious, restrictive home and falls for a cannibal — is facilitated by its slowcore pop sound. She sings so tenderly of what transpires, it can feel as if you're being lulled into the trap with her.
Beyoncé
RENAISSANCE
More than anything, this record appeals to me as an encyclopedic, almost archival work. Obviously, there's plenty more to like — its otherworldly vocal displays, nonchalant dance floor politics and meticulous, near-seamless sequencing — but beneath lies an entire history to unearth. Like Homecoming, RENAISSANCE is a deeply considerate celebration of Black musical forms, placing Beyoncé in a lineage of unheralded dance icons. Its components are lovingly shown off: the diva house of Robin S., the Hov ghostwriting, the Syd impersonating, the Kilo Ali sample, nods to Donna Summer, Teena Marie, Kelis and even Right Said Fred. Beyoncé is both auteur and hagiographer here, lauder of legends past and present, and it is that attention to detail that resonates the most.
Roc Marciano & The Alchemist
The Elephant Man's Bones
Since 2010's Marcberg, the Long Island rapper Roc Marciano has carved a path for a certain kind of insular, hardscrabble MC. In that same period, Los Angeles producer The Alchemist has continuously repaved that lane with dozens of albums worth of gritty, bar-friendly soul loops that seem to uncoil infinitely. The two masters of their respective, intersecting forms reunite here for a collaboration that's delightfully surprising despite its 11 years in the making. The Alchemist challenges Roc with some of his strangest beats ever, craggy numbers that chime, clang and squawk. The rapper responds in kind with casually sinister verses that stagger in and out of pockets. It is an off-kilter, fulfilling entry into New York's racket rap canon.
Lucrecia Dalt
¡Ay!
On ¡Ay!, an alien named Preta, new to Earth, learns of the world's nature and background through sensory glands that allow her to taste the planet's history. You don't need to understand Spanish to feel that alienness, or the album's radical, uncanny sense of discovery. This self-described "bolero sci-fi" is a refreshing take on electronic music's futurist obsession, one based primarily in tropical music. Dalt devises a construct that puts folkloric sounds at the center of an alien expedition, providing a firm foundation for her adventures into the avant-garde. Preta's experimentation seems to mirror the artist's: She experiences time displacement as the slow-moving music clicks around her disembodied voice. As the organless being inhabits a material form for the first time, the trumpet- and bass-led production becomes increasingly congealed. It's an ET probe fascinated with earth's peculiarity.
Open Mike Eagle
Component System with the Auto Reverse
Open Mike Eagle's music is powered by his remarkable candor, a self-effacing monologue that can be incisive and charmingly facetious at once. If 2020's Anime, Trauma and Divorce sought catharsis through confession, Component System with the Auto Reverse — inspired by an impulse-shaping mixtape Eagle made in his days as a college-radio obsessive — feels like rebirth through reflection. There's a DOOM eulogy where he embodies the late rap villain's flows, and he enlists Diamond D of D.I.T.C. for some of the album's cranky boom-bap. In mining the audio of his past, he is able to reconsider everything that got him here.
Makaya McCraven
In These Times
The drummer and bandleader Makaya McCraven has the impulses of a great hip-hop beatmaker: His work cuts live takes together into a synchronized rhythmic world, finding a linear path through improvisation. More important, though, is his inclination to recreate. In splicing material until it births something new, he is somehow able to maintain the intuition behind his playing, the responsiveness of the rhythm section and the unscripted connection that gives his music shape and dimension. Constructed over seven years worth of sessions (with McCraven's drumming deeply enhanced by guitarist Jeff Parker and harpist Brandee Younger), In These Times meets the ideal of his method — meticulously crafted yet warm and overflowing, the endless possibilities resolving before our ears into stunning purpose.
Koffee
Gifted
A lot was immediately foisted upon Koffee, the reggae futurist who won a Grammy for her debut EP, Rapture, in 2019. Her anointing as the genre's next great hope is well earned. Koffee's initial sound was a more pop-oriented iteration of the rap-informed dancehall made by artists like Skeng, and in its freshness and exuberance, it's easy to hear the next evolution of Jamaican music. Gifted demonstrates even greater command of her skill for synthesis, nodding to Bob Marley, roots reggae, lovers' rock and even R&B; the music is rousing yet easygoing, bringing a liveliness to the genre's standards without sacrificing its inherent sway. But her beaming, optimistic songs are still best when they imagine homegrown sounds through a pop lens.
Quelle Chris
DEATHFAME
Detroit's Quelle Chris is both one of the most consistent and most underrated rappers of the last decade, but he finally comes for his credit with DEATHFAME, an album that is as self-aware as it is uncannily observant. From his position as a career indie-rap denizen, he considers craft and fame, the creators who are willing to die for success and those who die as collateral damage. The largely self-produced music is quietly eerie yet droll, as all the best Quelle Chris albums are, and his bassy deadpan sells sharp considerations on his own place in rap. This world is messy and lawless, and sometimes making it through means embracing anarchy, but the artist is insistent that knowing the truth doesn't mean he has to like it. "I kicked a couple habits trying to live for something / But in the end what's within? Nothing / Big-headed bars be bluffin', I do this for the love and money / I do this for the love of money, anyone say otherwise is broke or frontin'," he raps on the title track, compelling even in his cynicism.
Caroline Shaw & Attacca Quartet
Evergreen
Deep into Evergreen is a four-song suite offered to a single tree in a forest on Swiikw (Galiano Island), off the Canadian coast. The suite grows from movement to movement, from sharp, grinding strings to beaded, dew-like pizzicato, until it sprouts into something rich and verdant. It is surrounded by other splendid works — Three Essays, influenced by written and digital languages; And So, a more lyrics-focused piece; the Beethoven-inspired work Blueprint; and Cant voi l'aube, a vocal interpretation of a 12th century poem. Together, they expand upon the potential established on Shaw and Attaca's 2019 album Orange, functioning as a stunning ode to the quartet, as a work born of simple, often naturalist ideas, and as music emanating an unpredictable wildness.
Immanuel Wilkins
The 7th Hand
If there is a point where spontaneity becomes kismet, this album seeks to capture it. The 7th Hand is a continuation of the alto saxophonist's attempts to discover spirituality's place in Black rituals; reuniting his quartet with the intention of making the unit completely improvisational and interconnected, as if overcome with Holy Spirit, Wilkins sees God's influence in the group's unscripted performance, its harmony and fluidity. Throughout the record, the players feel deeply attuned to one another, but it's in the feverish passages of a monumental 26-minute finale that they truly feel in conversation with a higher power.
DOMi & JD Beck
NOT TiGHT
Much has already been made of DOMi & JD Beck as supposed trailblazers for an impudent Gen-Z jazz insurrection, but what is most striking about the duo, and their album NOT TiGHT, is how that irreverence masks a virtuosity that is whimsical and never self-important. That the two only ever entered a proper studio to record Herbie Hancock's piano is telling: They understand and even respect convention, but won't be beholden to it. Instead, these drum and keys compositions are loose yet focused, as fun as they are technical, deeply groovy with the eclectic principles of the lo-fi beat scene. Some of their music sounds like throwback Tyler, the Creator production. Some of it sounds like Adult Swim bump music. But the two musicians behind it never seem too hung up on what it sounds like at all.
$ilkMoney
I Don't Give a F*** About This Rap S***, Imma Just Drop Until I Don't Feel Like It Anymore
Since his days impressing André 3000 in Divine Council, $ilkMoney has always radiated chaotic energy. Still, his new album (and its blunt title) is the first to capture the full appeal: madcap raps that marry an edgelord's shrugging boredom with the clear-eyed purpose of someone with nothing to lose. There are shroom-fueled conversations with a "giant portal wizard snake," a song that likens Black culture to grub for white elites, all over beats that sound like someone trying to escape the glitzy Vegas casino they've just robbed. But beneath the absurdity is something more sinister: truth. In the mellowed-out finale, as he raps about the death clause above the dotted line on the big contract he didn't sign, the aggression of the title starts to feel more like resignation.
Let's Eat Grandma
Two Ribbons
Two Ribbons is a vibrant document of reconciliation, working through grief to rekindle a friendship. Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth, the duo behind Let's Eat Grandma's experimental pop, have been making music together since they were teenagers, but things have become turbulent lately: Hollingworth's boyfriend died of a rare bone cancer, their friend and collaborator SOPHIE died in an accident, and the pair started to drift apart. The opening half is restorative and cathartic synth music brimming with optimism, but eventually the album dissolves into something more understated — quiet conversations, sweetly sung, as longtime companions work their way back to each other.
Amber Mark
Three Dimensions Deep
The Tennessee-born Mark has been on the verge for quite some time, seemingly trying to work out exactly what to say, and beneath the loose cosmic concept of her studio debut is the sound of a searching young artist. She has said that its central theme is "figuring out what's going on," and it does feel expansive in its pursuit of answers, but the music is most potent when she sets stargazing aside to work out more down-to-earth problems. The real magic of the album's three dimensions is in its lyrical and sonic coherence: sample-heavy hip-hop soul for personal songs of epiphany, island- and dance-inflected pop for matters of the club, reflective funk to probe inner turmoil and spacey R&B for headier considerations. Her voice is lithe, and her singing is fluid enough to accommodate the shifts in tone. Even when it can't quite justify its premise, the quality of the songcraft stuns.
Earl Sweatshirt
Sick!
After a few years reassessing his youth and remaking his image, the rapper Thebe Kgositsile, who performs as Earl Sweatshirt, shares the most accessible record since his enlightened, lo-fi turn, carrying the lessons of a 20-something veteran and new dad in his sagely bars. Where Feet of Clay, his last post-album experiment, was nearly impenetrable, the verses on Sick! are punchy and idiomatic. Rarely has his rapping been so snappy, or so transparent, and the spiraling, enclosed production from The Alchemist and Black Noi$e reflects the atmosphere into which it was released. Kgositsile is no stranger to isolation, but this music is restless; not closed off, anxious to step outside.
Big Thief
Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You
Traveling across the country — to upstate New York, Topanga Canyon, the Sonoran Desert and the Colorado mountains — and enlisting a different engineer in each place, the Brooklyn band turned inward to survey its own sweeping sound. Big Thief has always been a deeply connected group, but its first album without producer Andrew Sarlo would require an even more intense exploration of singer-guitarist Adrianne Lenker's revealing songwriting and the ingrown music that shelters it. Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You, the double LP they emerged with, is immense and panoramic, acoustic folk-rock that comes to include scenic Americana, its freestanding stories drawn together by Lenker's unassuming and enchanted voice.
The Next 10:
Young Nudy, EA Monster
Groggy stick talk from deep inside a zonked-out house of horrors.
Nilufer Yanya, Painless
Intimate and intense, the interplay of voice and guitar is galvanic and intoxicating.
Soccer Mommy, Sometimes, Forever
The ephemeral and eternal are balanced in warped, softly sung songs of trepidation.
Shygirl, Nymph
Fragmentary pop curated with a DJ's instincts, distorting rap, R&B and Eurodance.
Alvvays, Blue Rev
A triumphant upswing — dreamlike and distorted, sportive and ecstatic.
Sudan Archives, Natural Brown Prom Queen
The violin is a lodestar as this omnivore navigates complex, fluid arrangements.
Aldous Harding, Warm Chris
Stunning character work from a raconteur with a shape-shifting voice.
Hikaru Utada, Bad Mode
A J-pop icon's pandemic-induced meditation produces understated yet dazzling songs.
Kehlani, blue water road
Cleansing, withdrawn, watercolor R&B; a pop convert finds her little sanctuary.
billy woods, Aethiopes
One of rap's all-time writers cranks out epiphanies (or omens?) from behind the veil.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | 2022-12-09T12:56:22+00:00 | kunm.org | https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2022-12-09/sheldon-pearces-top-20-albums-of-2022 |
Driver arrested after crash through fence at Texas Capitol
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Authorities say a driver has been arrested after an SUV crashed through a fence at the Texas State Capitol. Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Victor Taylor says in a statement that the vehicle was driven through the fence about 6:40 p.m. Thursday in Austin. Taylor says the vehicle was then driven up the south steps of the building before stopping. Taylor says the investigation is ongoing and unspecified charges are pending against the driver. No other information was immediately released. | 2023-02-10T13:40:32+00:00 | keyt.com | https://keyt.com/news/2023/02/10/driver-arrested-after-crash-through-fence-at-texas-capitol/ |
CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s annual inflation rate set a record high in June, as the most populous Arab country continues to battle price hikes and a depreciating currency, the Egyptian statistics bureau said Monday.
The annual inflation rate reached 36.8% last month, up from 33.7% recorded in May, according to data released by the state-run Central Agency for Mobilization and Statistics.
Prices in Egypt rose across many sectors, from food items and medical services to housing and furniture following the Russia-Ukraine war, which unleashed a wave of inflation across the globe.
In Egypt, food and beverage prices, the main drivers of inflation, rose by 64.9% in June over the same time last year, the data released Monday showed. Grains, meat, poultry, fish, and fruit were among the products with the biggest price spikes.
The inflation rate last month more than doubled compared to June 2022 when it was at 14.7%.
Egypt, a country with over 105 million people, is the world’s largest wheat importer. Most of its imports traditionally come from Ukraine and Russia.
Even before the war, Egyptians suffered price hikes as the government embarked on an ambitious reform program in 2016 designed to reverse longstanding distortions in the country’s battered economy.
The program included painful austerity measures, such as slashing subsidies for fuel, water and electricity. In return, the government received multi-billion-dollar bailout loans from the International Monetary Fund. The latest loan was for $3 billion in December.
In recent months, the Central Bank of Egypt has tried to contain inflation, including raising its main interest rate and devaluing the Egyptian pound.
The moves set off an economic shock that hit millions of people who found their savings running low as the cost of living surged. About 30% of Egyptians are poor, according to official figures.
Since the war in Europe, the Egyptian pound has lost over 50% of its value against the dollar, trading Monday at over 30.80 pounds for $1. | 2023-07-10T15:21:29+00:00 | keloland.com | https://www.keloland.com/news/national-world-news/ap-egypts-inflation-rate-sets-record-high-at-36-8-in-june-official-data-show/ |
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — A judge on Wednesday rejected a request from actress Amber Heard to set aside the $10 million judgment awarded against her in favor of her ex-husband, Johnny Depp.
Depp won a defamation suit against Heard last month in a high-profile civil trial. Heard won a smaller, $2 million judgement on a counterclaim she filed against Depp.
Earlier this month, Heard filed a motion seeking to have Depp’s verdict set aside, or have a mistrial declared. Her lawyers cited multiple factors, including an apparent case of mistaken identity with one of the jurors.
In a written order, Judge Penney Azcarate rejected all of Heard’s claims and said the juror issue specifically was irrelevant and that Heard can’t show she was prejudiced.
Heard still has the ability to appeal the verdict to the Virginia Court of Appeals.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — The Johnny Depp-Amber Heard libel trial, which generated intense interest for two months earlier this year as a livestreamed, no-holds-barred soap opera featuring one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, is not fading away quietly.
Earlier this month, Heard’s lawyers filed a 51-page motion asking Judge Penney Azcarate to set aside the jury’s verdict, which gave $10 million to Depp and $2 million to Heard on competing defamation claims.
The motion cites multiple reasons that the verdict is untenable, from the surprising decision to declare both sides victorious to one extent or another, to a bizarre case of mistaken identity with one of the jurors.
Among the issues raised:
WHY $10 MILLION?
Depp sued for $50 million in Fairfax County after Heard wrote a 2018 op-ed piece in The Washington Post about domestic violence in which she referred to herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” The article never mentioned Depp by name, but his lawyers said several passages in the article defamed him by implication by referring to highly publicized abuse allegations she made in 2016 as she filed for divorce.
Heard then filed a $100 million counterclaim, also for defamation. By the time the case went to trial, her counterclaim had been whittled down to a few statements made by one of Depp’s lawyers, who called Heard’s abuse allegations a hoax.
The jury awarded $15 million to Depp and $2 million to Heard on her counterclaim. The $15 million judgment was reduced to $10.35 million because Virginia law caps punitive damages at $350,000.
Heard’s lawyers say in court papers that the $10 million verdict is unsupported by the facts, and seems to demonstrate that jurors failed to focus on the fallout from the 2018 op-ed piece — as they were supposed to do — and instead just looked broadly at the damage Depp’s reputation suffered as a result of the alleged abuse.
Depp’s lawyers, though, say the damages are supported by testimony from his agent and others. They say the precedents cited by Heard’s team to support her arguments “are decades old, and none involves an international A-list celebrity.”
Steve Cochran, a civil lawyer in Virginia who was appointed by a judge as a neutral conciliator in the case to try to minimize pretrial discovery disputes, said he always believed the weakest link in Depp’s case was the damages, given evidence that the actor’s reputation had been ruined in Hollywood well before the publication of the op-ed. Still, he said he’s skeptical that Heard can get the verdict set aside.
Scott Surovell, a lawyer and Democratic state senator who practices law in Fairfax, also said he sees little reason to set aside the damages.
“What the judge looks for … is that the verdict was adequately supported at trial and wasn’t based on speculation or conjecture. (Depp) makes a lot of money from movies. That doesn’t sound to me like the damages were based on speculation or conjecture, but on evidence,” he said.
“INCONSISTENT AND IRRECONCILABLE”
Heard’s lawyers argue that the verdicts for Depp on one hand and Heard on the other are fundamentally nonsensical.
“The jury’s dueling verdicts are inconsistent and irreconcilable,” her lawyers wrote.
Depp’s lawyers, though, say the verdict form used by jurors allowed them to express with specificity exactly which statements they found defamatory. When you look at the individual statements, they say, the dueling verdicts make sense.
Jeremiah Denton III, a Virginia Beach attorney with experience in defamation cases, said he doesn’t view the verdicts as irreconcilable. If anything, he said, the award most in jeopardy is the $2 million given to Heard, because he said it’s legally dubious that Depp can be held liable for statements made by his attorney.
“I don’t understand why the judge even allowed that issue to go to the jury,” he said.
JUROR #15
One of the more unusual items in the discussion is a case of apparent mistaken identity with one of the jurors. According to court papers, a 77-year-old county resident received a summons for the trial. But the man’s son, who has the same name and lives at the same address, responded to the summons and served in his stead.
Heard’s lawyers say Virginia law is strict about juror identities, and the case of mistaken identity is grounds for a mistrial. They have presented no evidence that the 52-year-old son, identified in court papers only as Juror #15, purposefully or insidiously sought to replace his father, but they argue that possibility should not be discounted.
“The Court cannot assume, as Mr. Depp asks it to, that Juror 15’s apparently improper service was an innocent mistake. It could have been an intentional attempt to serve on the jury of a high-profile case,” Heard’s lawyers wrote.
Paul Bekman, a Baltimore lawyer who has also tried cases in Virginia, said Heard’s team needed to raise any issues about the juror ahead of time.
“Anybody looking at a 52-year-old and a 77-year-old would be able to tell — hopefully — that there’s a difference of 25 years, and they would have the right to inquire about that,” he said. “I believe it is too late to complain about the juror.”
Cochran also said he was skeptical that the confusion could result in a mistrial or the judge setting aside the verdict, but he cautioned that it’s difficult to predict because the issue is so rare.
“I’ve been practicing for 50 years and never seen that issue come up,” he said.
___
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Depp sued for $25 million and that Heard’s counterclaim sought $50 million. ___
Lavoie reported from Richmond. | 2022-07-13T18:08:24+00:00 | upmatters.com | https://www.upmatters.com/news/ap-top-headlines/heard-faces-high-legal-hurdles-seeking-to-reverse-depp-win/ |
Those who only exercise on weekends still lower their risk of early death, study says
Weekend warriors can still stave off disease even if they are packing their workouts into a couple of days, according to a new study.
Related video above: Motivation to Workout When you Don’t Feel Like It
Adults should get 150 minutes of physical activity and two days of muscle-strengthening activity a week, according to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. If you are trying to spread that out over the week along with work, errands, cooking and cleaning, it can sound like a lot.
People who are physically active -- whether that is on weekends only or more often -- have lower mortality rates than inactive people, according to a study published Tuesday in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.
There wasn't a big difference in all-cause or cause-specific mortality between those who exercise regularly and weekend warriors, as long as they were getting the same amount of moderate to vigorous physical activity in a week, said study author Leandro Rezende, adjunct professor of epidemiology in the department of preventive medicine at the Federal University of Sao Paulo in Brazil.
"This is good news considering that the weekend warrior physical activity pattern may be a more convenient option for many people to achieve the recommended levels of physical activity," Rezende said in an email.
As long as you are getting the 150 minutes of exercise that adults need each week -- or more -- working out whenever you can fit it in may help lower your mortality rate, according to the study.
The results could help public health officials promote physical activity even among busy people and support the idea that "every minute of physical activity counts," said Eric Shiroma, staff scientist at the National Institute on Aging.
CNN fitness contributor Dana Santas often hears clients talk about their crazy weekday schedules as a reason for not exercising.
"Understandably, they don't want to sacrifice much-needed sleep by getting up early or lose invaluable family dinner time by going to the gym right after work," said Santas, a certified strength and conditioning specialist and mind-body coach in professional sports. "Those are valid concerns as we all need sleep to function.
"And family dinners not only represent quality time but also increase the odds of eating healthy as opposed to grabbing fast food."
Other health impacts to look out for
The mortality benefits of weekend exercise are great news for people with busy weekdays, Santas said. But there are advantages to working out during the week.
The study didn't account for sleep, injury or mental health impacts of regular daily exercise, so it is important to keep that in mind, she added.
"Bodies are designed for movement," Santas said. "Being sedentary all week long could increase susceptibility to injury if you go too hard in your weekend workouts."
With that in mind, it is even more important for weekend warriors to make sure they are properly warming up and paying attention to form, she said.
A study from 2018 also found that exercise plays a big role in mental health. Participants in the study who reported exercising at all had about 1.5 fewer days of "bad self-reported mental health" in the past month compared with those who did not exercise.
And a big part of many aspects of health is getting good sleep. Getting enough daily exercise can help our bodies crave rest naturally at the end of the day, Santas said.
That daily exercise to help with sleep doesn't necessarily have to make you sweaty and out of breath, but you should strive for increased respiration and heart rate, she added.
That could mean devoting 20 to 25 minutes to a brisk walk, a bike ride or bodyweight exercises for better sleep, Santas said.
Shiroma recommended five ways to keep physical activity as part of your life: Find small ways like taking the stairs; exercise in ways you enjoy; make it social with friends; make and reward goals; and build back gradually when you fall off your routine. | 2022-07-11T03:43:34+00:00 | wisn.com | https://www.wisn.com/article/only-exercise-weekends-still-lower-risk-early-death-study-says/40568836 |
LAS VEGAS, Jan. 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Globally-recognized portable power supply and green outdoor energy solutions brand, Litheli, will showcase its latest products at the National Hardware Show (NHS) exhibition in Las Vegas. Running from January 31 – February 2, 2023, the NHS exhibition presents a prime opportunity for Litheli to demonstrate the capabilities and benefits of its products to a diverse audience of hardware industry professionals and potential customers, while also sharing insights and experiences with industry colleagues and partners. The company will present three series of products at the exhibition: the U56, U20, and U4 series, each offering flexible modular energy storage and one-for-all tool platforms, powered by Litheli's innovative lithium batteries.
As a leading event in the hardware and garden tools industry, the NHS exhibition presents a valuable opportunity for Litheli to build its brand and connect with potential customers, as it allows the company to demonstrate the benefits of its advanced and environmentally-friendly battery-powered products. The company's U56, U20 and U4 series empower users with the freedom to work outdoors, delivering maximum power and performance thanks to their Power Hubs. The Power Hubs create an ecosystem in which all tools can be powered by a single, modularized battery. The battery is housed and charged in a central Power Hub, which allows for easy and convenient use of multiple tools without the need for multiple batteries or charging stations.
The U56 series is the company's flagship product line, featuring high-efficiency energy applications and advanced tools for professional and personal use. These products are designed to reduce energy consumption through innovative battery technology and futuristic tool design while providing users with green, portable, and multi-functional solutions. The U56 series includes garden tools, snow blower shovel, and lawncare, all powered by Litheli's advanced lithium batteries. These batteries are designed to be durable, long-lasting, and efficient, providing users with reliable power and performance.
Regarding the event, Litheli Spokesman, Ivy Ying, general manager of Litheli overseas business said, "We are delighted to be able to participate in this exhibition. At Litheli, we are driven by technology and product design and are committed to preserving the planet's precious natural resources by constantly improving the energy use efficiency through innovation in our battery technology and futuristic tool design. The integration of mobile energy storage and tools with batteries revolutionizes the battery pack platform, increasing its utilization by liberating it from the limitations of being confined to a tool room. At the same time, we strive to provide our customers with green, portable, and multi-functional battery-powered solutions that improve their daily lives."
The U20 series is a line of powerful and versatile tools suitable for indoor and outdoor use. It boasts a comprehensive range of products designed to cater to a wider range of scenarios with its well-balanced performance, making it the go-to choice for customers looking for versatile and high-performing products, with a focus on affordability and overall convenience. The U20 series includes screwdrivers, wrenches, garden tools and impact drivers, all designed to be easy to use and maintain. The U20 series also includes a range of Power Hubs, making it easier to use power in indoor, garden, and outdoor settings.
Also on show at the exhibition, the U4 series is a line of compact and lightweight tools, perfect for on-the-go use and small projects. The U4 series is the earliest to be released among the three series displayed at this exhibition, and will be released in the United States on February 10th. These products offer the same high-quality performance as the U56 and U20 series in a more convenient and portable package. The U4 series includes a range of products for various applications.
About Litheli
Founded in 2017, Litheli is a fast-growing brand that specializes in the design and manufacturing of battery-powered tools and portable power stations featuring detachable, modular batteries. By innovatively applying the modular batteries that can be detached from the power station to power cordless tools directly, Litheli aims to create a modular battery-powered ecosystem that significantly boosts the efficiency of green energy use and brings an upgraded experience to global users.
Litheli boasts a strong in-house R&D team of over 180 dedicated professionals and has built a patent portfolio of 428 patents, including 150 patents for invention as of 2022. Currently, Litheli has offices in the United States and Europe, and is looking to grow its global presence in the future.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Litheli | 2023-01-23T15:55:04+00:00 | kcrg.com | https://www.kcrg.com/prnewswire/2023/01/23/litheli-showcase-latest-innovative-products-nhs-exhibition-las-vegas/ |
BRUSSELS (AP) — New rules requiring airlines to use more sustainable fuels across the European Union have been agreed by negotiators from member countries and the EU Parliament in a bid to help decarbonize the sector.
The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, said Wednesday that the deal reached by member states and the European Parliament demands that suppliers blend sustainable aviation fuels with kerosene in growing amounts from 2025.
The move is expected to reduce aircraft carbon emissions by two-thirds by 2050 compared to “a ‘no action’ scenario, and provide climate and air quality benefits by reducing non-CO2 emissions,” the Commission said.
The aviation sector accounts for 13.9% of transportation emissions in the EU, making it the second biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the sector after road transport, the Commission says. If global aviation were a country, it would rank in the top 10 emitters.
The political agreement is part of the EU ’s “Fit for 55” package, which sets a goal of cutting emissions of the gases that cause global warming by at least 55% by 2030.
The EU has also set a goal of reaching climate neutrality by 2050. It says it needs to cut transport emissions by 90% compared to 1990 levels to achieve this.
“The EU is setting all sectors on a pathway to climate neutrality, with the measures necessary to meet our 2030 and 2050 climate targets,” said Frans Timmermans, the EU Commissioner in charge of the European Green Deal. “The EU is ready for take-off towards a more sustainable future for aviation.”
Despite a drop during the COVID-19 pandemic, emissions from the aviation sector are expected to continue growing. According to EU data, they increased “an average of 5% year-on-year between 2013 and 2019.”
Under the deal, at least 2% of all fuels supplied at airports from 2025 will need to be sustainable, with that share reaching 70% by mid-century.
“The new EU jet fuel blend will need to also contain a minimum share of the most modern and environmentally friendly synthetic fuels, which increases over time,” the Commission said.
The deal now only needs formal approval from EU lawmakers and member states to enter into force.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of climate and environment at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment
. | 2023-04-26T20:32:40+00:00 | everythinglubbock.com | https://www.everythinglubbock.com/news/international/eu-agrees-to-boost-green-fuels-for-aviation-cut-emissions/ |
The 2022 NFL season is underway, and cleveland.com is providing something for fans who want more than to simply watch the action.
That’s why we’re excited to bring you the cleveland.com Pro Picks Challenge, a free weekly contest that allows participants to pick NFL games against the spread for cash prizes.
Each week you will have the chance to pick every NFL game against the point spread, with the tiebreaker being the combined score of the Monday Night Football game.
Pick the most games correctly for the week and you win $50. However, don’t miss a week because there is also a prize of $250 for whoever cumulatively picks the most games correctly for the season.
If you are a cleveland.com subscriber or have a cleveland.com account, you are good to go. If not, you will need to create an account.
Then, visit the Pro Picks Challenge contest entry page to play. Come back every week to show if you have what it takes to live up to the challenge.
· Sports betting comes to Ohio on Jan. 1, 2023: Your questions answered
If you or a loved one has questions and needs to talk to a professional about gambling, call the Ohio Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-589-9966 or the National Council on Program Gambling Helpline (NCPG) at 1-800-522-4700. | 2022-09-16T11:10:11+00:00 | cleveland.com | https://www.cleveland.com/betting/2022/09/play-clevelandcom-pro-picks-challenge-and-make-free-week-2-nfl-picks-against-the-spread.html-3 |
A shot of this rare, 55-year old Japanese whisky can cost $58,000
BELTSVILLE, MD - A Beltsville, MD liquor store is showcasing a bottle of the oldest and most valuable Japanese Whisky in existence. The "Yamazaki 55," can sell for up to $1 million dollars.
Lax Vinnakota is the owner of LAX Wine & Spirits on Baltimore Ave. in Beltsville and has the rare 55-year old whisky on display for people across the DMV to come see (presumably while they shop for other spirits). 200 bottles of the whisky were released in 2020 and 100 in 2021, with 44 of those bottles being distributed across the USA.
Vinnakota won't say what the bottle will sell for eventually, but average prices with tax range around $1 million dollars. Its exclusivity has led to the price going up dramatically at auction, according to Sotheby's.
According to the Yamazaki website, the whisky features a deep amber color; has an aroma "redolent of sandal wood" and a "sweet, mature bouquet like well-ripened fruit," - and the taste is sweet, slightly bitter - and a bit woody. The finish (or after-taste) is "slightly bitter" and has a "sweet, rich, lingering finish."
Japanese whisky has a particular following by people in Japan and around the world. Yamazaki is the flagship single malt whisky brand for Suntory (which is one of the oldest alcoholic beverage companies in Japan). Vinnakota says that the company offered him a bottle because of his "great partnership with the company."
The Yamazaki 55 however isn't the world's most expensive whisky ever sold. At an auction in 2019, a bottle of Macallan Fine and Rare 60 Year Old whiskey was sold for $1.9 Million. In 2021, a bottle of Irish whiskey was sold for over $2 million however the cost was largely due to it being encased in a fabergé egg.
All of this to say, the Yamazaki 55 nor the other high-end whiskies are the kind you'd put in a Manhattan, mix with soda, or drink in excess. If you consider the bottle is 750ml, and the average shot is 44ml, that's where a single shot of it could cost $58,000 - that is if any bar would dare to offer it - and if your palate is rich enough to afford it. | 2022-09-01T23:00:53+00:00 | fox29.com | https://www.fox29.com/news/rare-yamazaki-55-japanese-whiskey-whisky-beltsville-maryland-suntory |
West Feliciana High French students created traditional bûches de Noël to celebrate Noël with classmates.
West Feliciana High French students celebrate Joyeux Noël
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Purchases made via links on our site may earn us an affiliate commission | 2022-12-24T09:58:05+00:00 | theadvocate.com | https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/communities/st_francisville/west-feliciana-high-french-students-celebrate-joyeux-no-l/article_6296d00c-8303-11ed-8e13-c335888f372e.html |
Hours before Cristiano Ronaldo's highly anticipated tell-all interview with Piers Morgan was finally broadcast, Manchester United was pulling down a giant mural outside Old Trafford containing an image of the Portugal superstar.
Surely they knew what was coming.
Few at United were spared in a scathing condemnation of the club that Ronaldo delivered in the first part of a 90-minute interview that went out on TalkTV on Wednesday.
Past and present teammates. Former managers. The people who run the club. They all got a blast from the one of the world's biggest sporting superstars, whose days at United are now surely numbered.
Excerpts from the interview had already been released on Sunday, including clips where Ronaldo said he felt "betrayed" by United and that he didn't respect manager Erik ten Hag.
Here are some of the other key parts of the incendiary interview, broadcast four days before the World Cup — likely Ronaldo's last — starts in Qatar:
‘CLOSE TO CITY’
Ronaldo said he came close to joining Manchester City before agreeing to join United for a second spell in August last year. “It was close, it was close ... they tried hard to have me,” Ronaldo said of City and its manager, Pep Guardiola. “But as you know, with my history at Manchester United, your heart, your feeling, the history that you did before, makes the difference.” Ronaldo added that a conversation with Alex Ferguson, who was United manager in his first spell at the club, was influential. “I spoke with him — he said, 'It's impossible for you to come to Manchester City,” Ronaldo said. “I said, ‘OK boss.’”
ZERO PROGRESS
Ronaldo said he quickly realized United hadn't moved on from his first successful spell there, from 2003-09. “When I arrived, I thought everything will be different — the technology, the infrastructure, everything,” he said. “I was surprised, in a bad way, in that way. I saw everything was the same.” Ronaldo said he was also surprised that United didn't attract a better caliber of player after signing him. He said the club “stopped in time.”
“I knew Manchester United wasn't the same but I didn't see that it was such a big gap ... in the last 10 years.” He said “the progress was zero” at United compared to his two previous teams, Real Madrid and Juventus.
RALF WHO?
Ronaldo was critical of United's decision to hire Ralf Rangnick as interim manager following the firing of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. “This guy is not even a coach,” Ronaldo said. “A big club like Manchester United bringing a sporting director surprised not only me but all the world.” He agreed with Morgan's assessment that it was a “ridiculous decision” and suggested he had never heard of Rangnick. “Of course not,” he said. “Deep inside me, I never saw him as the boss.” Ronaldo blamed the “structure” of the club for the decision to hire someone like Rangnick.
NO HUNGER
Ronaldo said he was surprised that the young players at United didn't use him as more of an example. “They listen to one thing, and in two minutes they already forgot and do whatever they think is better," he said. Without naming names, Ronaldo said “they don't care.” “Some ones, yes," he said. "But most of them, no. But for me, it's not surprising because they aren't going to have longevity in their career, in my opinion. It's impossible." Ronaldo then went on to say Diogo Dalot, Lisandro Martinez and Casemiro were exceptions at United.
ROYAL CONDOLENCES
Ronaldo announced in April that one of his newborn twins had died, and he told Morgan it was one of the toughest periods of his life. He thanked the English public for the support he got during that time and said he even received a letter from Britain's royal family offering their condolences.
CRITICIZING ROONEY
Ronaldo said he had been hurt by criticism in the media from former United teammate Wayne Rooney, saying it wasn't long ago that the ex-England striker was in his house picking up his kids. Was it jealousy, asked Morgan? “Probably,” the 37-year-old Ronaldo replied. “Because he finished his career in his 30s and I'm still playing at a high level. I'm not going to say I'm looking better than him — which is true, but...” Ronaldo added: "It is hard to listen to that criticism and negativity from people who played with you.”
___
AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Credit: Francisco Seco
Credit: Francisco Seco
Credit: Armando Franca
Credit: Armando Franca | 2022-11-16T23:04:47+00:00 | springfieldnewssun.com | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/nation-world/ronaldo-delivers-scathing-criticism-of-united-in-interview/WWQOK7NVCBDCTOAIGE6XYH5GTA/ |
Queer love isn’t just for the human world – the animal kingdom is also across all kinds of love too, and boy, are we here for it. However, out of all the creatures great and small, penguins are known for being particularly keen on same-sex partnerships.
In case you didn’t know – one of the world’s most famous gay penguin couples lives in a loving monogamous matrimony together in the heart of our very own Sydney city at Sea Life Sydney Aquarium. Gentoo penguins Magic and Sphen have been together since 2018, during which time they have successfully raised a foster chick from egg to baby penguin, built a number of romantic pebble nests, raised ANOTHER chick, and just basically (dare we say) an empire. Move over, Beyoncé and Jay-Z.
Although it’s clear that Magic and Sphen are the ultimate penguin power couple, they aren’t the only penguins on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum at the Sydney aquarium. King penguins, Neptune, Arthur and Aurora are this season’s polyamorous, bisexual throuple, while Forrest and Nog are 2023’s freshest blossoming queer romance. Plus, Odin and Wallace are Sydney’s first interstate penguin couple, following Odin’s arrival from Melbourne. Sometimes, love does make the distance.
These penguins are all valued members of the Sealife Sydney universe, and now, you can get up close and personal with them in a special new experience that’s popped up, just for Sydney WorldPride.
Dating and Mating: Celebrating Diversity and Relationships in the Animal Kingdom is an exhibition running from now through to March 5, at Sea Life Sydney Aquarium and Wild Life Sydney Zoo. All about love, breeding and youngster rearing in the animal world, this experience will let you help Sphen and Magic build their pebble nest for the new mating season, discover which fish species transition from male to female during their life cycle, learn all about the endangered male White’s seahorse ability to give birth in their on-site seahorse nursery, and snap a selfie with Pig the dugong in Pig’s Tunnel of Pride.
It’s a yaas from us.
Plus, the queer penguins at the sub-Antarctic enclosure all did a Penguin Pride March across a seriously adorable model Sydney Harbour Bridge (unfortunately they won’t be able to make the big one due to work commitments), with the bridge, rainbow flags and good vibes all set to be left in place until March 5.
Dating and Mating is open every day from 10am to 5pm (with last entry at 4pm), and the cost of it is included in your general admission ticket. You can also snag yourself a 2-attraction pass for $65 per adult, and $48 per child, while the whole thing is free for kids under 3.
Animals deserve equal love too.
Get in on the action and book yourself a ticket now. | 2023-02-24T18:32:25+00:00 | timeout.com | https://www.timeout.com/sydney/things-to-do/dating-and-mating |
Area Circuit Clerk says voting will continue rain or shine
STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Run Off Elections are in the plans for tomorrow and many are ready to cast their vote but be sure to take the weather report into account before you head to the polls.
With severe weather in the forecast for our area Tuesday, Election Officials want you to know the election goes on – rain or shine.
Even if the lights go out Circuit Court Clerk Tony Rook says the equipment is built for these types of conditions.
“The DS 200 machines that we use have a battery backup in place in the event of a power failure that battery backup will automatically kick in. Voting continues. Voting does not stop,” said Rook.
Depending on the use of the machine it can last up to 4 hours without power.
Rook says you can never be too prepared and that’s why they have a back up- backup plan.
“In the event that we exhaust the backup power. We are currently working with the emergency management agency director as well as volunteer fire stations to make sure they can deploy backup generators,” said Rook.
Rook says whatever the weather, he doesn’t plan to stop the voting or counting process.
“We have a vault here and we will go to the vault and continue the process but we want to give the results to voters as soon as possible as far as I’m concerned. Other than a catastrophic event voting is going to continue,” said Rook.
And the results are planned to be given to voters at a reasonable time.
“As far as the information from the precincts themselves, we should have some information I would expect by 10 o’clock,” said Rook.
The polls will open at 7 and close at 7 pm
For 24/7 news and updates, follow us on Facebook and Twitter | 2022-11-29T03:23:51+00:00 | wcbi.com | https://www.wcbi.com/area-circuit-clerk-says-voting-will-continue-rain-or-shine/ |
Torrential rain could spark some flooding on the roads for the Fourth of July, as showers and thunderstorms continue to impact the region during the holiday weekend.
The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for a wide swath of the Bay State through late Tuesday night.
Meteorologists are warning that flash flooding caused by excessive rainfall continues to be a threat.
“Locally heavy downpours at times, which may result in flooding especially along & south of the MA Turnpike,” the National Weather Service’s Boston office tweeted on Monday.
“Shower/storm activity will be more widespread across southern New England on July 4th,” NWS Boston added.
The counties that were under the flood watch Monday afternoon were: central and northern Middlesex; western Essex; southern and northern Worcester; eastern Hampden; eastern Hampshire; and eastern Franklin.
“Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations,” the National Weather Service wrote in its alert. “Flooding may occur in poor drainage and urban areas.”
Two to up to four inches of rain fell on Sunday. Multiple rounds of showers and thunderstorms are anticipated through the Fourth of July, which may produce additional rain amounts between one to three inches.
“Slow moving and re-developing downpours may elevate the risk for urban and street flooding along with localized areas of rapid-onset flash flooding,” the NWS wrote. “Excessive runoff will also result in rises on streams, creeks and tributaries to potentially over bankfull.” | 2023-07-03T23:20:25+00:00 | bostonherald.com | https://www.bostonherald.com/2023/07/03/a-flood-watch-is-on-for-massachusetts-through-the-4th-of-july-heavy-downpours-at-times/ |
How to Watch the Timberwolves vs. Lakers Game: Streaming & TV Channel Info for March 31
Published: Mar. 31, 2023 at 1:31 PM CDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
The Los Angeles Lakers (38-38) play the Minnesota Timberwolves (39-38) at Target Center on March 31, 2023.
Keep reading for everything you need to know about this matchup between the Timberwolves and Lakers, including how to catch the action live with a free trial to fuboTV.
Watch live sports and TV without cable on all your devices with a seven-day free trial to fuboTV!
Timberwolves vs. Lakers Game Info
- When: Friday, March 31, 2023 at 8:00 PM ET
- Where: Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota
- TV: NBA TV
- Watch Timberwolves vs. Lakers with fuboTV
Watch the NBA and tons of other live sports without cable! Use our link to get a free trial with fuboTV.
Timberwolves Stats Insights
- This season, the Timberwolves have a 49.1% shooting percentage from the field, which is 2.2% higher than the 46.9% of shots the Lakers' opponents have knocked down.
- Minnesota is 32-14 when it shoots better than 46.9% from the field.
- The Lakers are the sixth-ranked rebounding team in the league, the Timberwolves sit at 23rd.
- The Timberwolves record 115.7 points per game, just 0.9 fewer points than the 116.6 the Lakers allow.
- When Minnesota totals more than 116.6 points, it is 21-12.
Timberwolves Home & Away Comparison
- The Timberwolves put up 116.4 points per game when playing at home, compared to 114.9 points per game in road games, a difference of 1.5 points per contest.
- Minnesota allows 115.2 points per game at home this year, compared to 116.6 when playing on the road.
- The Timberwolves are draining 12.3 threes per game, which is 0.5 more than they're averaging away from home (11.8). When it comes to three-point percentage, they are shooting 35.4% at home and 37.1% when playing on the road.
Timberwolves Injuries
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | 2023-03-31T19:35:09+00:00 | kttc.com | https://www.kttc.com/sports/betting/2023/03/31/timberwolves-vs-lakers-nba-live-stream-tv/ |
Viral license plate deemed inappropriate recalled by state DMV
RENO, Nev. (KOLO/Gray News) – A Nevada license plate saying “GOBK2CA” - go back to California - went viral on Facebook but has since been recalled by the state DMV.
Adam Steelmon had the license plate for two decades with no issues until last month.
“Local law enforcement have pulled me over to tell me they liked my license plate. Texas has pulled me over. In 20 years, I’ve had one person say well I don’t think your license plates are very appropriate,” Steelmon said.
Steelmon said he got a letter from the DMV about a week after the Facebook post saying the license plate is inappropriate and it would be recalled.
The DMV in Nevada says that it only takes one complaint for a license plate to be reviewed by their special license committee.
“All it takes is for one person to issue or file a complaint. If it goes against the statute, we have a duty to execute on that and recall it,” said Eli Rohl, public information officer for the Nevada DMV in Carson City.
The statute states the following may not be put on a Nevada license plate:
- Upside down numbers
- More than seven numbers
- Phrases of contempt, ridicule or superiority of race, ethnic heritage or gender
- Phrases sexual in nature, derogatory or obscene
- A direct or indirect reference to drugs, paraphernalia or gang
The special committee meets every Monday to discuss reported license plates to decide which license plates violate the statute or not.
Those with a recalled plate can appeal the committee’s decision by taking the case to a judge that is distinctly separate from the DMV but still on their payroll.
Steelmon is appealing the recall and will have the hearing July 12.
Copyright 2023 KOLO via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | 2023-07-07T16:03:04+00:00 | ktiv.com | https://www.ktiv.com/2023/07/07/viral-license-plate-deemed-inappropriate-recalled-by-state-dmv/ |
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The United States Department of Veteran Affairs announced that starting Jan. 17, veterans in suicidal crisis, can go to any VA or non-VA healthcare facility for free emergency healthcare.
According to the VA, 6000 veterans die by suicide every year. That's about 125,000 veteran suicide deaths since 2001. In a press release, the VA said that preventing veteran suicide that has become a top priority of the Biden-Harris administration and the VA.
Ben Dykes is the Washington county Director of Veteran Services. The Navy veteran emphasized that many veterans face trauma when re-integrating into society.
"Veteran suicides has been around as long as there has been veterans," said Dykes. "I personally have lost too many friends, I've lost seven friends because of suicide."
"First World War, there was a term called shell shock. And it's gradually grown and metastasized into what we now call PTSD," added the Navy veteran.
In recent years veteran suicide rates have dropped after peaking in 2018, which saw about 127 veteran suicide deaths a day.
"The VA has recognized that 2020 was the second consecutive year where there was an actual decrease in the percentage of suicides. So that's huge," said Dykes.
In the press release, the VA said that nearly 9,000,000 veterans were not registered with the VA. Which Dykes explained, could mean many were missing out on the mental and medical health services provided. Starting Jan. 17, veterans in a cute, suicidal crisis, will be able to go to any VA or non-VA healthcare facility for emergency healthcare at no cost.
"Veterans whether they're enrolled in VA health care or not enrolled, they can seek care at any VA or non-VA health care facility, if they're in a suicidal crisis. And the VA is going to reimburse that also offer I think it's 30 days of inpatient treatment and pay for up to 90 days of outpatient treatment," Dykes added.
Dykes pointed out that veterans don't have to visit to Little Rock or Fayetteville VA after former President Donald Trump signed the VA choice act.
The efforts by the VA are a part of a 10-year national strategy for preventing veteran suicide and the Biden and Harris administration's plan for reducing military and veteran suicide.
"You know that never leave a man behind is a great motto on the battlefield. But when you're off the battlefield, never leave your family behind," said Dykes.
The Director of Veterans Services says you can use a DD 214 to show you're a veteran at any healthcare facility. You can fill out one at any VA or community-based outpatient clinic. You could also visit the VA or national archives website to receive that information.
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To report a typo or grammatical error, please email KFSMDigitalTeam@tegna.com. | 2023-01-16T01:04:09+00:00 | 5newsonline.com | https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/local/veterans-suicidal-crisis-receive-free-emergency-healthcare/527-278e7e98-d2d2-4bee-a157-a7f84d3576bd |
Eagles fans who missed out on NFC Championship tickets turn to pricey secondary market
PHILADELPHIA - Eagles fans pounced on a limited number of tickets to Sunday's NFC Championship game at Lincoln Financial Field, leaving those who missed out to turn to the pricey secondary market.
Fans logged onto Ticketmaster's website at 10 a.m. Tuesday morning hoping to get a chance to purchase the hottest ticket in Philadelphia, but most were turned away after just 10 minutes.
"It's heartbreaking," said Shaun Coleman of Woodbury, New Jersey. "You sit and wait to get tickets and they tell you it's sold out."
The cheapest ticket for resale immediately after the single-game tickets were sold out was around $800. Meanwhile, on the secondary ticket market, a standing room only ticket will cost nearly $700.
Ticket brokers say the best way to secure the cheapest possible playoff tickets in the future is to become a season ticket holder, like Joel Klingler who has seldom missed a game since 2013.
"I usually don't have to worry about it," Klingler said. "I know I'm going."
In the meantime, experts advise fans to use trusted ticket resellers like StubHub and SeatGeek to avoid possible scams and protect their purchase from fraud by using a credit card. | 2023-01-25T12:57:27+00:00 | fox29.com | https://www.fox29.com/news/eagles-fans-who-missed-out-on-nfc-championship-tickets-turn-to-pricey-secondary-market |
NEW YORK, April 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --
WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of the securities of Everbridge, Inc. (NASDAQ: EVBG) between November 4, 2019 and February 24, 2022, inclusive (the "Class Period") of the important June 3, 2022 lead plaintiff deadline.
SO WHAT: If you purchased Everbridge securities during the Class Period you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement.
WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the Everbridge class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=3095 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email pkim@rosenlegal.com or cases@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than June 3, 2022. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation.
WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources or any meaningful peer recognition. Many of these firms do not actually handle securities class actions, but are merely middlemen that refer clients or partner with law firms that actually litigate the cases. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs' Bar. Many of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.
DETAILS OF THE CASE: According to the lawsuit, defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Everbridge was experiencing integration problems with respect to its acquiring nine separate companies; (2) Everbridge was using the revenues from these acquisitions to mask increasingly stagnant organic growth; and (3) Everbridge was failing to disclose that the COVID-19 pandemic was having a material impact on the size of the deals that Everbridge was able to obtain, with a negative effect on the Company's revenue growth. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.
To join the Everbridge class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=3095 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email pkim@rosenlegal.com or cases@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action.
No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff.
Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/.
Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Contact Information:
Laurence Rosen, Esq.
Phillip Kim, Esq.
The Rosen Law Firm, P.A.
275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Tel: (212) 686-1060
Toll Free: (866) 767-3653
Fax: (212) 202-3827
lrosen@rosenlegal.com
pkim@rosenlegal.com
cases@rosenlegal.com
www.rosenlegal.com
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SOURCE Rosen Law Firm, P.A. | 2022-04-29T22:48:22+00:00 | kalb.com | https://www.kalb.com/prnewswire/2022/04/29/rosen-recognized-investor-counsel-encourages-everbridge-inc-investors-secure-counsel-before-important-deadline-securities-class-action-evbg/ |
(The Hill) – Former White House senior adviser Jared Kushner in his new memoir offers few details about former President Trump’s battle with COVID-19 in 2020, but he did pinpoint a moment when he knew his father-in-law was on the mend.
“I knew he was feeling better when he requested one of his favorite meals: a McDonald’s Big Mac, Filet-o-Fish, fries and a vanilla shake,” Kushner wrote in “Breaking History,” due out Tuesday.
In the book, an advanced copy of which was obtained by The Hill, Kushner does not offer many insights into how serious Trump’s condition was when he contracted the virus in the home stretch of the 2020 campaign, before any COVID-19 vaccines had been authorized.
He mentions then-chief of staff Mark Meadows saying he was “nervous” about Trump’s diagnosis, but otherwise just recounts encouraging Trump to go to Walter Reed Medical Center, which could offer better treatment than remaining at the White House.
“As the president recovered at Walter Reed, we all recognized that the campaign would have to wait until Trump was both physically strong and medically cleared to return to the trail,” Kushner wrote. “In the meantime, he spoke directly to Americans through social media to update them on his recovery.”
Trump contracted the virus days after his first debate with now-President Biden in Cleveland. The White House at the time did not disclose whether he complied with the venue’s testing requirement for both candidates.
Meadows was caught days later attempting to brief reporters anonymously about Trump’s condition at Walter Reed, expressing concern about his oxygen levels. At one point, Trump left isolation in the hospital to take a ride around the block with Secret Service so he could wave at supporters gathered near the hospital.
Kushner himself tested positive for the virus in November 2020, a short time after the election. He attributes the fact that he missed much of the discussion over how to handle fraud claims to his absence while in isolation. | 2022-08-19T16:13:32+00:00 | wric.com | https://www.wric.com/news/u-s-world/kushner-knew-trump-felt-better-after-covid-19-when-he-asked-for-mcdonalds/ |
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ The winning numbers in Thursday afternoon's drawing of the Indiana Lottery's "Daily Three-Midday" game were:
3-5-0, SB: 7
(three, five, zero; SB: seven)
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ The winning numbers in Thursday afternoon's drawing of the Indiana Lottery's "Daily Three-Midday" game were:
3-5-0, SB: 7
(three, five, zero; SB: seven) | 2022-10-13T19:04:39+00:00 | sfgate.com | https://www.sfgate.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Daily-Three-Midday-game-17507103.php |
PUYALLUP, Wash. — Authorities arrested a Puyallup police officer on Thursday night in connection to a reported rape in 2022.
The Pierce County Sheriff's Office said Niamkey Ange Amichia, 32, faces charges of third-degree rape after the victim reported the rape in October 2022. Amichia was booked into the Pierce County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court on Friday afternoon.
Investigators said the reported rape happened when Amichia was off-duty. The victim told police she met the officer on an online dating app before the rape occurred. DNA from a rape kit submitted to authorities revealed a match for Amichia and the evidence indicated another match for an unrelated 2016 rape case in Waterbury, Connecticut, according to probable cause documents.
Immediately upon his arrest, the Pierce County Sheriff's Office said Amichia was fired from the Puyallup Police Department. Amichia was hired by the department on Aug. 8, 2022.
Amichia was still in training at the time of his arrest and never worked alone as a Puyallup officer, the department said in a release.
The Pierce County Prosecutor's Office is reviewing the case. The investigation is ongoing. | 2023-03-03T23:18:18+00:00 | king5.com | https://www.king5.com/article/news/crime/puyallup-officer-rape-arrest/281-351709dc-ce5b-4aef-ad3a-0e90d2751ac4 |
Henri Richard’s family says the late Hockey Hall of Famer has been diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative brain disease linked to concussions.
“I hope my father’s brain donation and diagnosis will lead to more prevention efforts, research, and eventually a CTE treatment,” Denis Richard, Henri’s son, said on Wednesday, a day after the clinching game of the Stanley Cup Final. “I want people to understand this is a disease that impacts athletes far beyond football.”
Richard, who died in 2020 at the age of 84, was diagnosed with CTE by Dr. Stephen Saikali at Université Laval in Québec City. The disease, which can only be diagnosed posthumously, can cause memory loss, depression and violent mood swings in athletes, combat veterans and others who sustain repeated head trauma.
The Concussion Legacy Foundation said 16 of 17 NHL players studied have now been diagnosed with CTE, including Steve Montador, Ralph Backstrom, Bob Probert, and Hall of Famer Stan Mikita.
“Henri Richard was not an enforcer and CTE still ravaged his brain,” said Tim Fleiszer, a former Canadian Football League player who is CLF Canada’s executive director. “It is far past time for all of us in the Canadian sports community to acknowledge the long-term effects of repetitive impacts on the brain.”
Nicknamed the “Pocket Rocket” after following his brother, fellow Hall of Famer Maurice “Rocket” Richard into the sport, Henri Richard won the Stanley Cup 11 times in a 20-year career — the most in NHL history. He scored 358 goals with 688 assists for the Montreal Canadiens from 1955-75.
Teammate and fellow Hall of Famer Ken Dryden said Richard “fits none of the easy stereotypes” from an era when players didn’t wear helmets and fighting was common.
“Like Stan Mikita and Ralph Backstrom, he was a great skater, and physical, but he had a playmaker’s mind, and played that way. But all those hits to the head,” Dryden said. “We have to understand, whatever the sport, a hit to the head is not a good thing.”
___
AP NHL Playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | 2023-06-14T20:05:09+00:00 | springfieldnewssun.com | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/nation-world/henri-pocket-rocket-richard-11-time-winner-of-stanley-cup-diagnosed-with-cte-after-death-in-2020/NKINLWZLEFF7XPTP7ALZGQAYQI/ |
Thunderstorms this evening with some fog possible late. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. Low 64F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%..
Tonight
Thunderstorms this evening with some fog possible late. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. Low 64F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%.
SCRANTON — A former Carbondale man will spend 18 months to five years in state prison for sexually abusing a 7-year-old girl.
Kevin Jamerson Bennett was sentenced Tuesday by Lackawanna County Judge Margaret Bisignani Moyle for his Jan. 5 guilty plea to one count unlawful contact with a minor.
The Times-Tribune does not identify victims of sexual assault.
Carbondale police filed charges against Bennett in August 2021 after the 7-year-old told authorities he fondled her over and under her clothing on multiple occasions between December 2020 and May 2021.
The 46-year-old defendant, who most recently lived in Smyrna, Delaware, was taken into custody in April 2022.
In seeking a harsh sentence, Deputy District Attorney Bo Loughney described Bennett as a predator and cited a series of aggravating factors in the case.
He told Moyle the abuse involved planning by Bennett, and there were instances when he assaulted his victim several times in one day.
"This 7-year-old girl was abused for six months by a man in his 40s," Loughney said.
Defense attorney Patrick Rogan asked the judge to consider Bennett's status as a veteran, including his two tours of duty overseas, and the fact he had no previous involvement with the criminal justice system.
Bennett told Moyle he was sorry the abuse happened.
In handing down the sentence, the judge told Bennett she thought he was sincere in his remorse but said Loughney made some strong points.
Bennett faces lifetime registration as a sexually violent predator after Moyle ruled following a hearing last week that he met the criteria for the designation. She also ordered him to have no contact with the victim or her family. | 2023-06-27T21:04:04+00:00 | thetimes-tribune.com | https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/news/crime-emergencies/former-carbondale-man-sentenced-to-state-prison-for-sexually-abusing-girl/article_360a2951-f098-514c-bd56-43b63f82174d.html |
LONDON, Sept. 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Arbolus, the knowledge-sharing platform, has strengthened its leadership team with the appointment of Dolly DeNyse, a senior executive with 25 years of continuous experience successfully scaling revenues and leading large commercial teams.
Arbolus was founded in 2018 with a mission to make human knowledge digital. Their platform is a disruptor to traditional expert networks, and allows for more flexible knowledge sharing, for example through the medium of video via their new Canopy tool. Following significant growth in recent years, particularly in the US, the role of CRO is a timely addition to Arbolus's leadership team.
As Chief Revenue Officer at Arbolus, Dolly will be responsible for global revenue across all product groups, setting the strategy for continued and increased growth and maintaining a best-in-class culture across all parts of the company.
She will have overall ownership of Sales and Marketing, Customer Success, Account Management and Professional Services, ensuring alignment and performance of all of Arbolus's revenue-generating departments to drive continued growth. She will also be instrumental in growing Arbolus's footprint in North America, and serve as a member of Arbolus's Executive Committee, partnering with the founders to define and execute Arbolus's vision and strategic plan.
Prior to joining Arbolus, Dolly was the Chief Revenue Officer at Kantar, the $4bn+ market research firm owned by Bain Capital. In her role at Kantar, she led Sales and Marketing across North America. Prior to her role as CRO, she held various roles at Kantar, including Chief Sales Officer for Kantar Insights, the company's largest division within North America, and Head of Sales for Kantar Millward Brown.
Sam Glasswell, CEO of Arbolus, said:
"Dolly is such an exciting hire for us at the perfect time.
"Arbolus has evolved from its roots of improving the user experience in the expert network industry, towards a full-scale insight and market data platform. Our customers today use the platform not just for gathering individual expert insights, but also to deliver surveys or gather customer sentiment analysis (through our Canopy product) or as an improved way to carry out secondary research instead of using static industry reports (through our Channels product).
"Dolly's experience at Kantar, one of the most diversified global research groups, will accelerate this evolution of the company.
"Plus, she has the rare virtues of absolute authenticity and humility. We can't wait to start working with her."
Regarding her new role, Dolly DeNyse said:
"Our industry is undergoing rapid change, and Arbolus is well positioned to further transform the global knowledge network space and beyond, providing meaningful connections for our clients in a seamless and tech-enabled way.
"I am excited to join Arbolus at this important juncture, to help accelerate the strategy and plans for the company, continuing their journey operating at the intersection of expert knowledge, technology, data, and analytics.
"Sam and Will have set forth an inspirational and ambitious roadmap for Arbolus, and I am honored to join them in pursuing the next chapters of transformation, growth and success for the company."
Contact:
Federico D'Amico
Communications & Social Media Manager
federico.damico@arbolus.com
+34 661 045 196
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SOURCE Arbolus | 2022-09-06T14:25:39+00:00 | wagmtv.com | https://www.wagmtv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/06/arbolus-announces-dolly-denyse-former-kantar-cro-their-new-chief-revenue-officer/ |
EL PASO, Texas (AP) — Mekhi Mason scored 19 points and Quincy Olivari added five in overtime as Rice beat UTEP 72-67 on Saturday night.
Mason added five rebounds and four steals for the Owls (11-3, 2-1 Conference USA). Max Fiedler scored 14 points and added 15 rebounds. Olivari finished with 13 points.
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The Miners (8-6, 1-2) were led by Mario McKinney Jr., who recorded 17 points. UTEP also got 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists from Shamar Givance. Calvin Solomon had nine points, eight rebounds and four steals.
Mason scored 12 points in the first half for Rice, who led 32-25 at halftime. Rice was outscored by seven points in the second half as the teams ended regulation tied at 62. Olivari was 1 of 4 shooting (1 for 3 from distance) on the way to his five points in the overtime period.
Both teams play Louisiana Tech next, Rice on Thursday at home and UTEP on the road on Saturday.
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___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar. | 2023-01-01T01:07:07+00:00 | seattlepi.com | https://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/Mason-and-Rice-win-72-67-in-OT-against-UTEP-17687786.php |
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon's public sector unions are pushing a ballot measure that would limit the ability of the minority party in the Legislature to use walkouts to block legislation.
Republicans have used the tactic frequently at the Capitol in recent years to try to thwart the agenda of Democrats, who have firm control of both the state House and Senate.
Oregon Public Broadcasting reports that under the proposal, a lawmaker who is marked unexcused by a chamber’s presiding officer 10 or more times in a single legislative session would be barred under the state Constitution from seeking re-election.
Backers of Initiative Petition 14, dubbed “Legislative Accountability 1,” planned to to deliver a last batch of nearly 58,000 signatures to the Oregon secretary of state, giving the effort a total of more than 183,000 signatures.
To qualify for the November ballot, state elections officials will need to determine that at least 149,360 of those signatures are from registered Oregon voters.
“It’s long past time that there were rules in place to make sure politicians show up to do their jobs,” Oregon Education Association President Reed Scott-Schwalbach, one of two chief petitioners, said in a statement Friday.
Because of the proposal’s reliance on unexcused absences, the law would place a lot of power in the hands of the speaker of the House and the Senate president, the two presiding officers who decide whether or not a lawmakers’ absence is excused.
Excused absences are fairly routine in Salem, with lawmakers filing requests with presiding officers explaining why they are unable to attend. They are not granted in cases where lawmakers are absent in order to block legislation. | 2022-05-27T19:42:02+00:00 | ourmidland.com | https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/Oregon-measure-aims-to-limit-legislative-walkouts-17203917.php |
Part Four of Bright Talent's Rapid Change Management Webinar Series Examines the Quiet Quitting Phenomenon and Helps HR Leaders Be Prepared to Respond
TUSTIN, Calif., Oct. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Bright Talent, Inc., a strategic HR consultancy helping business leaders solve their most vexing people challenges, today announced the webinar titled,"Quiet quitting – is it disengagement or something different?" In this fourth podcast-style, micro-webinar in the company's rapid change management series, Paul Falcone, former CHRO, bestselling author and workplace leadership expert, will discuss the true meaning behind the term and how HR leaders can prepare and navigate this current wave of change in the workplace. The webinar will be held on November 11, 9:00 – 9:30am PT, and early pre-registration is encouraged at BrightTalent.com/change-management.
"My knee jerk reaction the first time I heard the term 'quiet quitting' was to dismiss it as another way of saying someone is disengaged, but if you delve deeper into the term, there's a lot more going on," said Brenan German, founder and president of Bright Talent. "Since the pandemic, more employees are rethinking their careers and defining clearer work-life boundaries. What does this have to do with quiet quitting? Possibly everything! As HR leaders, we must educate ourselves and be ready to respond to all workplace changes."
This concise, 30-minute session will help HR leaders understand the key factors behind quiet quitting and unpack what it means in the context of employee engagement. It will provide tangible take-aways to help HR leaders respond effectively while supporting their companies and employees. The webinar will include live audience Q&A.
To pre-register for the webinar, visit: BrightTalent.com/change-management.
Bright Talent, Inc. is a human resources consultancy focused on helping HR teams and business leaders solve people challenges.
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SOURCE Bright Talent, Inc. | 2022-10-26T18:02:42+00:00 | kwtx.com | https://www.kwtx.com/prnewswire/2022/10/26/new-hr-webinar-unpacks-quiet-quitting-is-it-disengagement-or-something-different/ |
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A California man who pleaded guilty to plotting to firebomb the state Democratic Party’s headquarters and other buildings in Northern California must undergo a psychiatric examination, a judge said.
The court wants more information about the mental state of Ian Benjamin Rogers before he is sentenced, Senior U.S. District Judge Charles E. Breyer wrote in an order filed in San Francisco on Friday.
Prosecutors said Rogers and another man conspired to attack targets they associated with Democrats after former President Donald Trump’s defeat in the November 2020 presidential election, including the California governor’s mansion and buildings for social media companies Facebook and Twitter.
Breyer on Friday ordered sentencing documents turned over to a psychiatrist to “assess the defendant’s mental condition, recommend an appropriate course of treatment, if any, and assess the defendant’s dangerousness,” according to the order cited Monday by the Sacramento Bee.
A report is due within 60 days. Rogers’ Oct. 27 sentencing date was postponed.
Rogers, of Napa, pleaded guilty in May to conspiring to destroy the building in Sacramento by fire or explosives, possessing an explosive device and possessing a machine gun as part of an agreement that could bring him seven to nine years in federal prison.
But three weeks ago, Breyer rejected the proposed plea agreement, saying he was concerned that Rogers hadn’t shown any remorse for his actions and had told probation officials for a pre-sentencing report that he only felt bad for putting himself in a situation ”that allowed the government to destroy my life.”
The judge said: “I have to say in … 23 years I’ve never seen that type of statement. I’ve never seen a defendant come in and simply say I regret I was caught.”
A co-defendant, Jarrod Copeland, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy and destruction of records. He also was scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 27. | 2022-10-18T21:26:02+00:00 | everythinglubbock.com | https://www.everythinglubbock.com/news/national/ap-man-who-wanted-to-blow-up-democratic-hq-must-have-psych-exam/ |
First Alert: Sunny and warm New Year’s Day, ahead of rain/storms to start the week
Tracking an active weather pattern during the start of the week ahead, with strong to severe storms possible Tuesday.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - New Year’s Day will feature partly to mostly sunny skies along with dry conditions. Afternoon highs will be rather warm for the first day of 2023, in the 70s. Light to calm winds will prevail through the day and night. Lows Sunday night will hover in the 50s under mainly clear skies.
Monday will be mostly cloudy with rain and a few thunderstorm chances increasing by the afternoon and evening. Afternoon highs will again top out in the 70s with lows in the 60s. Cloudy and wet conditions are expected Monday night with a few thunderstorms possible.
A FIRST ALERT Tuesday as we will track a strong storm system that will swing across the Deep South.
That boundary will bring the possibility for strong to severe storms to Alabama Tuesday. Highs ahead of the front will be in the 70s with cloudy skies and breezy winds. Rain lingers into Tuesday night with lows hovering near 60 degrees.
The messy storm system setup will keep rain in the forecast for Wednesday morning along with mainly to partly cloudy conditions. Highs will be in the 60s and 70s Wednesday with lows in the 40s.
Conditions become calmer by Thursday and temperatures will cool down. Skies will be mostly sunny by late week with highs in the 50s. Lows are back into the upper 30s by Thursday night under partly to mostly clear skies.
Friday of next week will be sunny and afternoon highs will hover in the 50s, lows will again drop into the 30s to near freezing.
Saturday of next week also looks dry and calm with afternoon highs hovering in the 50s for the start to the first full weekend of the new year.
As always, remember to download the free WSFA 12 News First Alert Weather app. That way you can gain the latest weather information from the First Alert Weather Team wherever you go. Just search WSFA Weather in the Apple App Store or Google Play store today.
Copyright 2022 WSFA. All rights reserved. | 2023-01-01T17:08:11+00:00 | wsfa.com | https://www.wsfa.com/2023/01/01/first-alert-sunny-warm-new-years-day-ahead-rainstorms-start-week/ |
Can sound take the terror out of nightmares? Here's what new research says
Related video above: Your dreams are preparing you for future threats
For people suffering from trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression or anxiety, frightening dreams may come night after night, ruining their sleep and ultimately their health.
Visions from nightmares can also creep like dark shadows into the light of the next day, disrupting a person's ability to focus and think. Mood plummets, and anxiety rises. Days may be filled with an intense fear of falling asleep and trigger yet another terrifying dream.
Such symptoms can lead to a diagnosis of nightmare disorder, a sleep condition that affects about 4% of adults, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
Treatment can include stress reduction, counseling, gradual desensitization and medications, but the gold standard is imagery rehearsal therapy, a form of cognitive behavioral training that teaches people to reimagine their nightmares with positive endings. Still, not everyone with nightmare disorder responds to the treatment, experts say.
Now a new study has added a twist — playing a sound the person's memory has associated with a more positive outcome during REM (rapid eye movement) or the dream stage of sleep. The result was a fourfold reduction in nightmares over the basic therapy alone.
"As far as I know, this is the first clinical and therapeutic study that uses target memory activation to accelerate and enhance therapy," said lead author Dr. Lampros Perogamvros, a psychiatrist at the Sleep Laboratory of the Geneva University Hospitals and the University of Geneva.
"This is a promising development. It does appear that adding a well-timed sound during REM sleep augments the effect of image rehearsal therapy ... which is a standard and perhaps one of the most effective non-pharmacologic therapies at this time," said Dr. Timothy Morgenthaler, lead author of the most recent American Academy of Sleep Medicine guidelines on nightmares.
"The result should be replicated," said Morgenthaler, who was not involved in the study. "But I was a bit excited at this new possibility."
Reinventing the nightmare
Imagery rehearsal therapy has four basic steps that can be taught in one day, experts say. First, people are asked to write down every detail of their nightmare. Next, each person rewrites the nightmare with a positive arch, making sure that it ends with a pleasant or empowering solution or resolution.
Now the practice begins. The reworked dream must be rehearsed for five to 20 minutes each day until it's woven into the memory circuits of the brain. Once that is in place, it's time to put it into action by rehearsing the new dream just before bed.
In the new study, published Thursday in the journal Current Biology, researchers added a twist to the therapy. Eighteen people with nightmare disorder heard a neutral sound — a piano cord — while they reinvented their nightmares in more positive ways. A control group of 18 people who also had nightmare disorder heard no additional sound, while they reworked their dreams.
All 36 people were given a headband called an actimeter to wear at night for two weeks. In addition to monitoring the stages of sleep, the device delivered sound in a way that would not wake the sleeper — via bone conduction.
"One of the significant things about this study's intervention is the use of relatively new technology that can more accurately time the stimulus to true REM sleep," said Morgenthaler, a professor of medicine at Mayo Clinic School of Medicine.
"Most wearable devices do not accurately measure actual REM sleep," he added. "Of course, further study might find that the timing is not that critical — but that remains to be determined."
The sound was delivered to both groups every 10 seconds during the dream stage of sleep over a two-week period. In this case, "imagery rehearsal therapy worked for all of the participants, including the control group," Perogamvros said.
"But in the experimental group, where the sound was positively associated, the decrease was significantly bigger — they had nearly four times fewer nightmares," he added.
Imagery rehearsal therapy also lessened overall distress, measures of mood and sleep quality in both groups, but nightmare reduction happened faster in the experimental group and persisted at a three-month follow-up, Perogamvros said. In addition, members of the group who heard the sound reported more joyful dream experiences during their dreams than those in the control group.
Additional research is needed to verify these results and expand upon the concept, but Perogamvros said he hoped the technique might lead to breakthroughs for about 30% of patients who are unresponsive to imagery rehearsal therapy, also called IRT.
"The ideas underpinning the hypothesis that targeted memory reactivation might boost the effects of IRT have merit," Morgenthaler said, "and this elegant test of that hypothesis strengthens that theory." | 2022-10-28T03:12:57+00:00 | wxii12.com | https://www.wxii12.com/article/can-sound-take-the-terror-out-of-nightmares/41794783 |
SpaceX launches US, Russia, UAE astronauts to space station
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - SpaceX launched four astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA on Thursday, including the first person from the Arab world going up for an extended monthslong stay.
The Falcon rocket bolted from Kennedy Space Center shortly after midnight, illuminating the night sky as it headed up the East Coast.
Nearly 80 spectators from the United Arab Emirates watched from the launch site as astronaut Sultan al-Neyadi — only the second Emirati to fly to space — blasted off on his six-month mission.
Half a world away in Dubai and elsewhere across the UAE, schools and offices planned to broadcast the launch live.
Also riding the Dragon capsule that’s due at the space station on Friday: NASA’s Stephen Bowen, a retired Navy submariner who logged three space shuttle flights, and Warren “Woody” Hoburg, a former research scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and space newbie, and Andrei Fedyaev, a space rookie who’s retired from the Russian Air Force.
“Welcome to orbit,” SpaceX Launch Control radioed, noting liftoff occurred four years to the day after the capsule’s first orbital test flight. “If you enjoyed your ride, please don’t forget to give us five stars.”
The first attempt to launch them was called off Monday at the last minute because of a clogged filter in the engine ignition system.
“It may have taken two times, but it was worth the trip,” Bowen said.
They will replace a U.S.-Russian-Japanese crew that has been up there since October. The other station residents are two Russians and an American whose six-month stay was doubled, until September, after their Soyuz capsule sprang a leak. A replacement Soyuz arrived last weekend.
Al-Neyadi, a communications engineer, served as backup for the first Emirati astronaut, Hazzaa al-Mansoori, who rode a Russian rocket to the space station in 2019 for a weeklong visit. The oil-rich federation paid for al-Neyadi’s seat on the SpaceX flight.
He thanked everyone in Arabic and then English once reaching orbit. “Launch was incredible. Amazing,” he said.
The UAE’s minister for public education and advanced technology, Sarah al-Amiri, said the long mission “provides us a new venue for science and scientific discovery for the country.”
“We don’t want to just go to space and then not have much to do there or not have impact,” said the director general of the UAE’s space center in Dubai, Salem al-Marri.
The Emirates already have a spacecraft orbiting Mars, and a mini rover is hitching a ride to the moon on a Japanese lander. Two new UAE astronauts are training with NASA’s latest astronaut picks in Houston.
Saudi Prince Sultan bin Salman was the first Arab in space, launching aboard shuttle Discovery in 1985. He was followed two years later by Syrian astronaut Muhammed Faris, launched by Russia. Both were in space for about a week.
Al-Neyadi will be joined this spring by two Saudi astronauts going to the space station on a short private SpaceX flight paid by their government.
“It’s going to be really exciting, really interesting” to have three Arabs in space at once, he said last week. “Our region is also thirsty to learn more.”
He’s taking up lots of dates to share with his crewmates, especially during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month which begins later this month. As for observing Ramadan in orbit, he said fasting isn’t compulsory since it could make him weak and jeopardize his mission.
Bowen, the crew’s leader, said the four have jelled well as a team despite differences between their countries. Even with the tension over the war in Ukraine, the U.S. and Russia have continued to work together on the space station and trade seats on rides there.
“It’s just tremendous to have the opportunity to fly with these guys,” Bowen said.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | 2023-03-02T06:26:36+00:00 | kfyrtv.com | https://www.kfyrtv.com/2023/03/02/spacex-launches-us-russia-uae-astronauts-space-station/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the specter of nuclear weapon use, Earth crept its closest to Armageddon, a science-oriented advocacy group said, moving its famous “Doomsday Clock” up to just 90 seconds before midnight.
“We are really closer to that doomsday,” former Mongolian president Elbegdorj Tsakhia said Tuesday at the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists annual announcement rating how close humanity is from doing itself in. He and former Ireland President Mary Robinson joined scientists to underscore what they consider a gathering of several existential threats, with Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s actions and words chief among them.
“People and scientists are warning us and we have to wake up now,” he said.
The advocacy group started in 1947 to use a clock to symbolize the potential and likelihood of people doing something to end humanity. It moved the clock 10 seconds closer than last year, making it the closest it has ever been to striking 12. It’s been as much as 17 minutes from midnight after the end of the Cold War but in the past few years, the group has changed from counting down the minutes to midnight to counting down the seconds.
Doomsday has not happened yet.
“We are sending a message that the situation is becoming more urgent,” Bulletin President Rachel Bronson said at the online announcement. “Crises are more likely to happen and have broader consequences and longer standing effects.”
And to emphasize the effect that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had on moving closer to theoretical doomsday, the group said it was also announcing the clock movement in the Russian and Ukrainian languages for the first time.
“Putin has repeatedly raised the specter of nuclear use,” said Steve Fetter, dean of the graduate school and a public policy professor at the University of Maryland.
“Putin has given no indication that he’s willing to accept defeat,” Fetter said. “He might make desperate moves if no other options are available that he regards as acceptable.”
Scientists and activists at the Bulletin announcement also mentioned nuclear weapon proliferation in China, Iran increasing its uranium enrichment, missile tests in North Korea, future pandemics from animal diseases, pathogens from lab mistakes, “disruptive technologies” and worsening climate change as other existential threats to humanity. | 2023-01-25T06:49:47+00:00 | fox44news.com | https://www.fox44news.com/news/national-world-news/ap-ukraine-war-moves-doomsday-clock-to-90-seconds-to-midnight/ |
Google in a letter to lawmakers on Thursday said it would clearly identify facilities that provide abortions to ensure people seeking the procedure are not misled by anti-abortion clinics.
Mark Isakowitz, the vice president for government affairs and public policy for the U.S. and Canada at Google, said in a letter to Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) that the company will include labels like “Provides abortions” and “Does not provide abortions” that the company has verified at the top of advertisement search results.
The change could help prevent women from seeking the procedure at clinics that oppose abortion or crisis pregnancy centers, which work to convince people against having the procedure.
The announcement comes in response to a letter Warner, Slotkin and other members of Congress sent to the CEO of Google in June to urge him to prevent misleading abortion search results.
The lawmakers said in the letter that 37 percent of Google Maps results and 11 percent of search results for “abortion clinics near me” and “abortion pill” in states with abortion trigger bans were for anti-abortion clinics.
A Google spokesperson told The Hill that the company has been working for months to find more useful ways to display results that show the specific services that businesses offer.
The spokesperson said the update that Google is introducing will help users find locations that offer the services they search for or broaden their results so they can see more options. The company will confirm that certain places provide a service through regularly calling them directly and collaborating with “authoritative” data sources.
“When people turn to Google to find local information, we aim to help them easily explore the range of places available so they can determine which are most helpful to them,” the spokesperson said.
The updates will affect how Google shows search results and maps to give people additional context about what they are viewing, according to a Google spokesperson.
The company will include the note “Might not provide abortions” when it is unable to verify information.
Google will also allow users to expand their search radius if the most relevant results are not nearby.
Warner said in a release that the changes are not about restricting speech but providing results that accurately address a search.
“I welcome the changes that Google has announced today so that women seeking abortion services aren’t directed towards fake clinics that traffic in misinformation and don’t provide comprehensive health services,” he said. | 2022-08-25T22:19:01+00:00 | wnct.com | https://www.wnct.com/hill-politics/google-to-clearly-label-facilities-that-provide-abortions/ |
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Subscribe Now | 2022-09-01T13:49:28+00:00 | kxnet.com | https://www.kxnet.com/weather/stones-thursday-morning-oneminuteforecast-9-1/ |
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Summer Myomick bundled her baby against the freezing winds whipping off the Bering Sea and stepped outside into a blur of blowing snow. It was a short walk from the school where she had visited relatives to the health clinic about 150 yards (137 meters) away, but the young mother could hardly have seen where she was going — or the terror that was approaching.
Myomick, 24, and her son, 1-year-old Clyde Ongtowasruk, made it just beyond the front of the Kingikmiut School in Wales, Alaska, just below the Arctic Circle, when a polar bear emerged from the impenetrable snow squall and mauled them Tuesday. It was the first fatal polar bear attack in 30 years in Alaska, the only U.S. state that is home to the animals.
As the attack unfolded, the principal ordered a lockdown and closed the blinds so the children couldn’t see what was happening outside the entrance. Several employees and community members left the safety of the building and tried to scare away the bear with shovels.
The mauling stopped temporarily, but only when the animal turned on them, and they rushed back inside. Principal Dawn Hendrickson slammed the door in the face of the charging bear, possibly saving lives, according to Susan Nedza, chief administrator of the Bering Strait School District.
“The polar bear was chasing them and tried to get in as well,” said Nedza, who received frantic calls about the attack in Unalakleet, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) away. “Just horrific. … Something you never think you would ever experience.”
There is no law enforcement in Wales, so with the bear still outside, a call went out to community members for help. A person who has not been identified showed up with a gun and killed the bear as it continued to maul Myomick and her son.
It appears the mother and toddler had no idea what was coming because of low visibility, Alaska State Troopers spokesperson Austin McDaniel told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Wales, a whaling community, is the westernmost point on the North American mainland — just 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Russia across the Bering Strait — and is home to about 150 people, almost all of them Inupiat. It’s accessible by plane and boat, including barges that deliver household goods. Winter trails provide snowmobile access to other communities and subsistence hunting grounds.
Kingikmiut School, like other schools in many rural Alaska Native communities, doubles as a community center. The view from its front, where the attack occurred, is an endless expanse of frozen snow and ice to the horizon.
Nedza, the school district chief administrator, said she received a call from a distraught Hendrickson just after 2 p.m. Tuesday. She said the students were locked down and safe.
The snowstorm that camouflaged the bear, along with a lack of runway lights at Wales’ gravel air strip, prevented Alaska State Troopers from flying in an officer and a state wildlife official from Nome to investigate until Wednesday.
It’s not known what prompted the attack. However, polar bears see humans as prey, said Geoff York, the senior director of conservation at Polar Bear International.
Samples from the bear were taken for the state veterinarian, and the bodies of Myomick and her son were flown to Nome for eventual transport to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Anchorage.
School was cancelled Wednesday so students could be with their families, and the school district flew counselors to Wales. The school planned soft openings Thursday and Friday with no classes but opportunities for students to meet with counselors, get a meal or play a game, Nedza said.
Alaska scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey in 2019 found changes in sea ice habitat had coincided with evidence that polar bears’ use of land was increasing and that the chances of a polar bear encounter had risen.
Polar bears are the largest bear species, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Males typically weigh 600 to 1,200 pounds (270 to 540 kilograms) but can reach more than 1,700 pounds (770 kilograms) and as many as 10 feet (3 meters) in length. Females weigh 400 to 700 pounds (180 to 320 kilograms). Polar bears generally feed on seals, but also walruses and beluga whales.
They were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 2008 and are also protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Both laws prohibit harming the animals without authorization, unless necessary for human safety. | 2023-01-19T23:42:56+00:00 | ourquadcities.com | https://www.ourquadcities.com/news/national-news/ap-polar-bear-emerged-unseen-from-squall-to-kill-mother-son/ |
Thai business tycoon, transgender activist buys Miss Universe org for $20M
A Thai business tycoon and transgender activist has purchased the Miss Universe Organization for $20 million, her company announced Wednesday.
Chakrapong "Anne" Chakrajutathib, who controls JKN Global Group Public Co. Ltd., is a celebrity in Thailand who has starred in reality shows and is outspoken about being a transgender woman. She helped establish a nonprofit group, Life Inspired For Transsexual Foundation, to promote trans rights.
JKN said it acquired the rights to the Miss Universe pageant from IMG Worldwide LLC, a sports, talent and events marketing company which has held the Miss Universe Organization since 2015. Former U.S. President Donald Trump was part owner of the pageant rights from 1996 until IMG’s purchase.
JKN said it has established a subsidiary in the United States, JKN Metaverse Inc., to own the Miss Universe Organization. The Miss Universe pageant is broadcast in 165 countries, according to IMG.
READ MORE: Miss Universe pageant to allow married women, mothers to compete for 1st time
In a statement, Chakrapong described the purchase as "a strong, strategic addition to our portfolio." JKN, which is involved in content distribution, beverages, food supplements, beauty and consumer products, said the Miss Universe name will be used to promote its consumer products.
Miss Mexico Andrea Meza is crowned Miss Universe 2020 onstage at the 69th Miss Universe competition at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on May 16, 2021 in Hollywood, Florida. (Photo by Rodrigo Varela/Getty Images)
A profile of Chakrapong in the Bangkok Post newspaper earlier this year said in her youth, she studied at an all-male school where she was harassed for identifying as female. After attaining financial success, she spent 40 million baht ($1 million) on sex reassignment surgery and other procedures, the newspaper reported.
While Thailand enjoys a positive international reputation when it comes to the rights and lifestyles of LGBTQ communities, the absence of a procedure for transgender people to change their legal gender, coupled with insufficient legal protections and social stigma, limits transgender people’s access to services and exposes them to daily indignities, New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a report last year. | 2022-10-27T17:29:12+00:00 | fox9.com | https://www.fox9.com/news/thai-business-tycoon-transgender-activist-buys-miss-universe |
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A pedestrian has died after being hit by a vehicle in Fresno County Monday evening.
The California Highway Patrol says it happened in the area of Elm and North.
It is not known what led up to the incident but officers confirmed a pedestrian was killed.
This is a developing story. Stay with Action News for updates. | 2022-11-15T03:30:01+00:00 | abc30.com | https://abc30.com/pedestrian-killed-fresno-county-elm-and-north-chp/12454307/ |
BATANG KALI, Malaysia (AP) — Rescuers on Saturday found the bodies of a woman and two children, raising the death toll from a landslide on an unlicensed campground in Malaysia to 24 with nine others still missing.
Selangor state fire chief Norazam Khamis told reporters the bodies of a mother and son were found buried under a meter (3 feet) of mud and debris. The body of a little girl was discovered later. He said there was hope of finding survivors if they clung on to piles or branches or rocks with pockets of air but that chances were slim.
Authorities said 94 people were sleeping at the camp site on an organic farm early Friday when the dirt tumbled from a road about 30 meters (100 feet) above them and covered about 1 hectare (3 acres). Most were families enjoying a short vacation during the yearend school break.
The 24 victims included seven children and 13 women. Authorities were still carrying out autopsies and waiting for next of kin to identify the victims.
A mother and her toddler daughter were found Friday hugging each other in a heart-rending scene, rescuers said. Seven people were hospitalized and dozens more, including three Singaporeans, were rescued unharmed.
Wearing helmets and carrying shovels and other equipment, rescuers worked in teams Saturday to comb through debris as deep as 8 meters (26 feet). Excavators were deployed to clear mud and fallen trees and rescue dogs were sent to sniff out possible signs of life and cadavers. Officials said an estimated 450,000 cubic meters (nearly 16 million cubic feet) of debris — enough to fill 180 Olympic-sized swimming pools — hit the campsite.
Norazam said rescuers were treading carefully as underground water streams may trigger further landslides.
Authorities have said the landowners did not have a license to run a campground. Officials are unable to pinpoint the exact cause of the landslide, which came without warning, but believed it could be due to underground water movement while the yearend monsoon rains made the soil unstable.
Survivors recounting their ordeal told local media they heard a thunderous noise and felt the earth move before soil collapsed on their tents. The government has ordered all campsites nationwide that are near rivers, waterfalls and hillsides to be shut for a week to assess their safety.
The campsite in Batang Kali, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Kuala Lumpur, is a popular recreational site for locals to pitch or rent tents from the farm. But authorities said it has been running illegally for the past two years. It has permission to run the farm but no license to operate camping activities. If found guilty, the operator faces up to three years in prison and a fine. | 2022-12-17T19:34:33+00:00 | myfox8.com | https://myfox8.com/international/ap-international/ap-search-resumes-for-12-missing-in-malaysia-landslide/ |
Bonita “Bonnie” Jo McMillan
Bonita “Bonnie” Jo (Unander) McMillan, 84, of Duluth, Minnesota, passed away peacefully in her sleep on June 7, 2023 at her home.
Bonnie was born on November 22, 1938 in Gwinner, North Dakota to Gustaf and Lydia Unander. She and her family moved to Duluth when she was just a young girl. She attended Denfeld High School and graduated in 1956. Bonnie married John McMillan on May 31, 1958. She worked for a number of years as a secretary for Diamond Tool and Horseshoe Company, secretary for the Lutheran Church of Christ the King, and most recently as the membership secretary at the American Legion Post 71. She was very involved in her church, both at the Lutheran Church of Christ the King and Christ Lutheran Church in Superior. She spent countless hours at the American Legion socializing and volunteering with the Auxiliary and Monday night meals. She was awarded a lifelong membership to the American Legion in recognition.
The most important thing in her life was her kids and family. Her favorite hobby was to iron. Everyone that knew her, knew they would find her at her ironing board in her shorts and nylons, ironing and talking on the phone. She loved her Royal Rummy Group, Card Club, Red Hat Club, bowling, spending time at the cabin, reading, puzzles and playing cards, and bingo with her friends at Edgewood Vista. She was a true friend and was loved by so many.
Bonnie was preceded in death by her loving husband of 63 years, John McMillan; parents; brother, Gene Unander; and brother-in-law, Gerald Privette.
Bonnie is survived by their four children: Kevin (Luanne) McMillan and their children, Kyle McMillan and Samantha (Alex) Youngren; Ken (Becky) McMillan and their daughters, Lydia (Cody) Aasen and Lindsey McMillan; Brian (Dawn) McMillan and their daughter, Taylor McMillan; Jennifer (Scott) Pleus and their children, Jared Pleus, Jamie Pleus and Jack Pleus; six great-grandchildren; loving sister, Una Privette; along with many lifelong friends.
The family wishes to extend their gratitude to all the friends and staff at
Edgewood Vista Independent Living for being a great source of happiness to Bonnie.
Visitation to be held at 10:00 AM on Thursday, July 6th at Sunrise Funeral Home, 4798 Miler Trunk Hwy, with Memorial Service to follow at 11:00 AM. Interment at Sunrise Memorial Park Cemetery with John.
Please share online condolences and photos at SunriseFuneralHomeandCemetery.com | 2023-06-28T15:32:08+00:00 | duluthnewstribune.com | https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/obituaries/obits/bonita-bonnie-jo-mcmillan-5d0135ff67a60618cb3bf3a9-649630b0c26b2f7fce6b9323 |
Organization recognized for exceptional work-life balance, communication, employee education and retention
ROSEMONT, Ill., Nov. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) has once again been named a best place to work. The organization was recognized as one of the "Best and Brightest® Companies to Work for in Chicago and in the Nation" by the National Association for Business Resources (NABR) for the second consecutive year.
AAOS has demonstrated how to create a rewarding work environment by bringing employees together through a shared mission and fostering a community that values innovation, learning and diversity. The recognition marks the seventh such workplace award the company has received since 2020, including Chicago Tribune's Top Workplaces.
"Receiving the 'Best and Brightest Companies to Work for in the Nation' year-over-year is a testament to the passion and dedication of our employees and leadership," AAOS CEO Tom Arend, JD, CAE said. "Employee needs and preferences have shifted since the pandemic and the AAOS has worked hard to keep a steady pulse on the health of our organization and culture. In fact, we've seen several employees return to AAOS after brief experiences at other organizations, citing AAOS' core values and strong benefits."
With the help of an independent research firm, the NABR reviewed more than 2,500 nominations for the 2022 "Best and Brightest" award based on employee feedback regarding key measures such as communication, work-life balance, employee education, diversity, recognition, retention and more. This year, 315 organizations were selected for their exceptional dedication to their human resource practices and employee enrichment.
"The 2022 winning organizations stood out during unpredictable times and have proven they are an employer of choice," NABR President and CEO Jennifer Kluge said. "They continue to keep the needs of their employees first and provide perks that include development, wellbeing, work-life balance, rewards and recognition. In addition, these winning companies offer a fantastic work culture and workplace environment that attracts and retains superior employees."
AAOS previously won the "Best and Brightest Companies to Work for in the Nation" award and was named one of "Chicago's Best and Brightest Companies to Work for" in both 2021 and 2022.
To view the full list of Best and Brightest winners, click here.
AAOS is also celebrating its third consecutive time being named a Top Workplace by the Chicago Tribune. This award is also based on employee feedback gathered through the third-party survey service Energage. The anonymous survey measures 15 drivers of organizational culture including alignment, execution, connection and more.
"Earning a Top Workplaces award is a badge of honor for companies, especially because it comes authentically from their employees," Energage CEO Eric Rubino said. "In today's market, it is paramount for employers to allow staff to have a voice and be heard. Top Workplaces do this, and it pays dividends."
To view the full list of 2022 Top Workplaces, click here.
Interested in joining us? Click here to review current AAOS open positions
With more than 38,000 members, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) is the world's largest medical association of musculoskeletal specialists. The AAOS is the trusted leader in advancing musculoskeletal health. It provides the highest quality, most comprehensive education to help orthopaedic surgeons and allied health professionals at every career level to best treat patients in their daily practices. The AAOS is the source for information on bone and joint conditions, treatments and related musculoskeletal health care issues and it leads the health care discussion on advancing quality.
Follow the AAOS on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.
The Best and Brightest Companies to Work For® competition identifies and honors organizations that display a commitment to excellence in operations and employee enrichment that lead to increased productivity and financial performance. This competition scores potential winners based on regional data of company performance and a set standard across the nation. This program celebrates those companies that are making better business, creating richer lives and building a stronger community. There are numerous regional celebrations throughout the country, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Houston, Milwaukee, San Diego, San Francisco, Miami, New York, Charlotte, Denver, Nashville, Pacific Northwest and nationally. Nominations are now being accepted for all programs. Visit thebestandbrightest.com to nominate your organization.
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SOURCE American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons | 2022-11-04T22:52:02+00:00 | waff.com | https://www.waff.com/prnewswire/2022/11/04/aaos-again-named-one-best-brightest-companies-work-nation-chicago-tribune-top-workplace/ |
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Activate your digital account | 2022-04-15T11:46:56+00:00 | fayobserver.com | https://www.fayobserver.com/restricted/?return=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fayobserver.com%2Fstory%2Fsports%2F2022%2F04%2F15%2Fterry-sanfords-tamia-morris-play-college-basketball-unc-pembroke%2F7288616001%2F |
The trial for the accused shooter in the 2018 synagogue shooting is underway. Eleven Jewish worshippers were killed and six more injured. The shooter could get the death penalty.
Copyright 2023 90.5 WESA
The trial for the accused shooter in the 2018 synagogue shooting is underway. Eleven Jewish worshippers were killed and six more injured. The shooter could get the death penalty.
Copyright 2023 90.5 WESA | 2023-05-31T09:48:00+00:00 | wlrn.org | https://www.wlrn.org/npr-breaking-news/npr-breaking-news/2023-05-31/trial-begins-for-robert-bowers-accused-of-killing-11-in-a-pittsburgh-synagogue |
ASU secures win over Mississippi Valley State 24-9
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - The Alabama State University Hornets secured a win over the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils at home Saturday afternoon.
The Hornets scored the only points of the first quarter. With 4:38 left to play, Linebacker Dylan Creech completed a 12-yard touchdown pass after three plays and four yards.
The Delta Devils scored early in the second quarter. Within a minute of the quarter, they got a 25-yard field goal after 12 plays and 51 yards.
Alabama State was able to answer back with two scores, a touchdown and a field goal, later in the second quarter. The Hornets led the Delta Devils 17-3 by halftime.
Neither of the teams were able to add points in the third quarter of the game.
ASU scored a 36-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, expanding the lead 24-3.
With 14 seconds left in the game, Mississippi Valley State scored a 62-yard touchdown. But the play wasn’t enough for a comeback.
The Hornets went on to beat the Delta Devils 24-9.
ASU improved to 4-3 for the season. After an off week, the Hornets will play Alabama A&M in Birmingham’s Magic City Classic on Oct. 29 at 2:30 p.m. CT.
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Copyright 2022 WSFA. All rights reserved. | 2022-10-15T22:42:49+00:00 | wsfa.com | https://www.wsfa.com/2022/10/15/asu-secures-win-over-mississippi-valley-state-24-9/ |
Retailer searches for inspiring girls across the country
DULUTH, Minn., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Evsie, a popular clothing brand for young girls, has announced the launch of its brand ambassador program. The program aims to empower young girls to become confident and inspiring role models for their peers while promoting the Evsie girls brand.
To kick off the brand ambassador program, Evsie hosted a sweepstakes to find its first-ever brand ambassador on its one-year anniversary. The winner of the brand ambassador sweepstakes was Hadley from Corydon, Indiana. Hadley participates in scholarship pageants and gymnastics; her favorite subject in school is writing and she's an advocate for Children with Hair Loss, a nonprofit organization that provides wigs to kids with hair loss due to medical conditions.
"We are thrilled to launch our brand ambassador program and give young girls the opportunity to represent our brand," said Swati Kelkar, head of Evsie. "Hadley is a true beauty educator and it's her mission to teach others that it's okay to be different. We believe that every girl has the potential to inspire others, and we hope that this program will help them do just that."
The brand ambassador program is open for participants between the ages of 7 and 14 with a consenting parent or legal guardian. Evsie is searching for young girls who aspire to be part of a community spreading kindness and joy, and their favorite fashion finds. As part of the program, ambassadors will receive exclusive access to new product releases, be showcased in evsie marketing, and participate in special events and seasonal campaigns. They will also have the opportunity to have their experiences shared as Evsie brand ambassadors on social media.
To apply for the program, the parent or legal guardian of an eligible participant must submit a video or photo explaining why their girl would make a great Evsie brand ambassador. Submissions for applications will begin June 7, and the selected ambassadors will be announced on July 12, 2023.
Evsie has quickly become a favorite among young girls for its trendy and comfortable clothing. The brand's mission is to inspire confidence and self-expression in young girls through fashion.
For more information about the brand ambassador program and how to apply, follow the Evsie brand on Instagram and TikTok, @evsieofficial.
Join the Evsie movement and become a role model for young girls everywhere! #EvsieAmbassador #EvsieStyle
About Evsie™
Evsie™ is a style shop for girls' sizes 7-14 offering on-trend fashions and Style Superstars at everyday great values. Its fashion is uniquely tailored with comfort-conscious apparel made for movement and ease. Versatile and affordable, the Evsie collection is anchored by denim in 9 leg shapes, 2 rises and 8 washes, bringing stretchable comfort to fashion-forward style. Evsie's Style Superstars are everyday essentials made with extra love and priced just right. Classic graphic tees with positive messages and specialty graphic tees offer fashionable options. Evsie is located in nearly 400 maurices stores and 9 freestanding evsie stores, with even more to love online at www.evsie.com.
For more information, please visit www.evsie.comhttp://www.maurices.com/evsie. Connect with Evsie on TikTok and Instagram @evsieofficial.
About Maurices
Maurices is a leading women's fashion brand offering size-inclusive clothing that celebrates feel-good fashion for real life™. Offering versatile, affordable styles that take her from day to night, Maurices is a destination for denim, knit tops, loungewear, intimates, and accessories, along with dressy collections. Known for its fun and friendly service and trusted stylists, Maurices offers a warm welcoming experience in stores and is guided by its greater purpose of making a positive difference in the lives of women who are the heart of its hometowns. Maurices operates nearly 900 stores in hometowns across the U.S. and Canada and offers even more to love at maurices.com with additional categories, sizes, and colors.
For more information, please visit www.maurices.com. Connect with Maurices on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn.
Media Contact:
Kristin McClement
Head of Brand Connections
Evsie
P: (218) 600-6929
E: kmcclement@maurices.com
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SOURCE maurices | 2023-05-17T18:04:47+00:00 | wsfa.com | https://www.wsfa.com/prnewswire/2023/05/17/evsie-launches-brand-ambassador-program/ |
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dustin Johnson’s summary of the quadruple bogey he made that could be the difference between winning and losing the U.S. Open was succinct, matter-of-fact and, of course, ugly.
“Chunked my bunker shot and then chunked the next one. Skulled the next one,” he said. “Everything that you could do wrong, I did wrong.”
That 8 he took on the second hole Friday was as bad as it gets. The 4-under par he shot over the next 16 holes was a reason he could smile at least a little.
Even with the snowman, Johnson shot an even-par 70 and finished the day at 6-under 134. When he left the course with the afternoon players just getting started, he was only three shots out of the lead held by Wyndham Clark.
“I just tried to focus on, there were a lot of holes left,” Johnson said. “You just don’t try to push it. You know this course is tough, but if you can drive it in the fairway, be aggressive when you can, you can have some shots at birdie.”
Johnson made five of them, to be exact, and in what might be viewed as a promising sign, three of those came on the back nine, which was playing more than 1.2 shots harder through the first 200-plus rounds completed at Los Angeles Country Club.
The rally in its entirety is a sign, to Johnson, that his swing is coming around after a less-than-ideal start to his major season. He tied for 48th at the Masters and 55th at the PGA Championship, sandwiching those results around a LIV Golf Series victory in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
He is seeking his second U.S. Open title and his third major, though Johnson is one of those players who might be known as much for what he hasn’t won as what he has. His close calls have included ugly numbers and ugly episodes.
In the 2010 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, it was grounding his club in a bunker he didn’t know was a bunker on the 72nd hole that cost him a spot in a playoff.
Months earlier in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, he came into the final round with a three-shot lead, only to watch it sail into the Pacific with a triple bogey on 2 and a double on 3.
A 2-iron out of bounds on the 14th hole in the final round of the 2011 British Open at Royal St. George’s dropped him out of contention after trailing by two.
His three-putt from 12 feet at Chambers Bay on the 72nd hole cost him the U.S. Open title in 2015.
He won the U.S. Open the following year at Oakmont, then added his second major at the Masters in 2020.
That this crooked number from Johnson came on a Friday, not a Sunday, was good news simply because there’s plenty of time to make it up. If he ends up falling a shot or two short, though, he’ll remember one hole.
It started when he pulled his tee shot on the 497-yard second, leaving it in a bunker on the left side. He had an uphill lie there and didn’t make clean contact, leaving himself a 100-yard shot out of deep rough, over the barranca and onto the green.
He made poor contact there and hit it into the junk. His drop for shot No. 5 was into a clean lie in the fairway, but Johnson caught it thin, and the ball landed in tangled rough behind the green. One chip and two putts later, he had gone from 6 under to 2 under.
Johnson called “skulling a chip shot” the worst moment of that nightmare.
His best shot of the day?
“Hitting a good shot and just getting settled back down after making an 8,” Johnson explained. “Definitely wasn’t too thrilled with myself walking off that green.”
He made a birdie on No. 3 after that good drive, then four more as the day went on.
“I really feel like I’m swinging it really well, driving it good,” he said, “so looking forward to this weekend.”
___
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | 2023-06-17T01:27:28+00:00 | kron4.com | https://www.kron4.com/sports/ap-sports/dustin-johnson-makes-a-crazy-8-at-the-us-open-but-crawls-back-into-contention/ |
Update at 10:25 a.m.
All roads are back open, however the intersection is still considered a four-way stop. Police have confirmed with us two cars were involved in the accident. One of those cars was a maroon Dodge Durango. We know the two people from that vehicle were taken to the hospital.
Update at 9:48 a.m.
The southbound lane on North Country Fair Drive has reopened. The northbound lanes are still closed at the moment.
The crash did knock out a stop light at the intersection, so drivers should be expecting delays.
Original Story
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) – Police are currently on scene of an accident at North Country Fair Drive and West Church Street in Champaign. They have closed down West Church street while they are responding to the accident.
We know two people were taken away in an ambulance.
This is a developing story. | 2023-06-08T17:49:51+00:00 | wcia.com | https://www.wcia.com/news/champaign-police-close-major-intersection-due-to-accident/ |
EAU CLAIRE COUNTY (WQOW) - Grant applications are now open for Eau Claire County school districts looking to fight food waste.
According to a press release, the county received funding from the USDA. Part of those funds will help K-12 schools with food waste diversion efforts and education about food waste, food systems and composting.
Applications for the first round of grants up to $1,000 are due August 18. Click here for more information. | 2023-06-23T00:08:38+00:00 | wqow.com | https://www.wqow.com/eye_on_eau_claire/applications-open-for-grants-that-will-help-schools-fight-food-waste/article_06a424e4-1141-11ee-9ca9-bb5902c65d0d.html |
PHOENIX (AP) — Mikal Bridges and Devin Booker each scored 25 points to lead the Phoenix Suns to a 115-105 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.
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The Suns, playing without point guard Chris Paul for the seventh straight game, have beaten the Lakers five straight times in regular season play — eight counting the last three games of their 2020-21 playoff series.
Things got chippy in the fourth quarter. With 3:55 left in the game, the Lakers’ Patrick Beverley was ejected for shoving Phoenix’s Deandre Ayton following a foul called on Booker against Austin Reaves that was assessed a flagrant-1 after review. Booker later fouled out.
Anthony Davis had 37 points and 21 rebounds for the Lakers, who had won three in a row. It was Los Angeles’ fifth game in a row without LeBron James, out with a left adductor strain.
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Davis was 15 of 16 from the free-throw line, where Los Angeles held a big advantage (29-3) in points. But Phoenix hit 16 of 31 3-point attempts, five by Bridges. The Lakers were just 4 of 22 from behind the arc.
Lonnie Walker IV scored 24 points and Russell Westbrook came off the bench to score 21 for the Lakers (5=11). Reaves scored 11 and Beverley had 10 rebounds — but no points in 29 minutes.
Deandre Ayton had 14 points and 15 rebounds for Phoenix (11-6), which won consecutive games since a five-game winning streak ended Nov. 4. Reserve Duane Washington Jr. scored 15 for the Suns.
DAVIS STEPS UP
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Davis has scored 30 points or more in the last four games, including a 38-point, 16-rebound night against Detroit on Friday.
Davis entered Tuesday second to Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert in rebounding.
Suns coach Monty Williams coached Davis when both were in New Orleans.
“The last three games tell the tale,” Williams said before the game. “This is the player that he’s always been. I know how talented he is.”
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TRAINER’S ROOM
Lakers: Coach Darvin Ham isn’t sure when James will play again, but didn't rule out a return this weekend.
Suns: Besides Paul, G Landry Shamet (concussion protocol) missed his sixth. Shamet practiced Tuesday but Williams said only that he’s making progress. Cam Johnson has been out (right meniscus tear) since Nov. 4; the Suns are 5-4 without Johnson.
NEXT
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Lakers: At San Antonio Friday.
Suns: Host Detroit Friday. | 2022-11-23T06:25:21+00:00 | seattlepi.com | https://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/Suns-hold-on-to-win-115-105-Lakers-Beverley-17605640.php |
Gregory O. Krausert, 58
Published 10:45 am Friday, March 3, 2023
Gregory Owen Krausert, age 58, of Austin, Minnesota, passed away on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, at Mayo Clinic Hospital Rochester, Saint Marys Campus. Greg was born October 8, 1964, in Austin, Minnesota, to Donald and Lorraine (Reents) Krausert. He attended and graduated from Lake Forest College. In addition to Austin, Greg also lived in Rochester, Minnesota and San Diego, California. While living in Austin, he was an active member of the United Methodist Church.
Survivors include his mother, Lorraine Krausert of Austin, Minnesota; and brother, Robert Krausert of Eden Prairie, Minnesota. He was preceded in death by his father, Donald Krausert; and sister, Mary Smith.
A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 8, 2023, at First United Methodist Church in Austin. Visitation will take place one hour prior to the service at the church. Interment will be in Grandview Cemetery, Austin. Memorials are preferred to First United Methodist Church in Austin. Worlein Funeral Home of Austin is assisting the family with arrangements. Condolences may be expressed to the family online at www.worlein.com. | 2023-03-03T17:25:44+00:00 | austindailyherald.com | https://www.austindailyherald.com/2023/03/gregory-o-krausert-58/ |
Immigration and Customs Enforcement made more arrests and deportations this past fiscal year after dropping to significant lows during the pandemic.
Between Oct. 2021 and Sept. 30, immigration authorities made over 142,000 arrests. That's nearly double the number conducted in the year prior, according to government figures released last month.
ICE also carried out more than 72,000 deportations — a slight increase from fiscal year 2021, when numbers dipped to a historic low since the agency's creation in 2003.
The agency said its workload "increased significantly" this past fiscal year due to a surge of migrants fleeing Central and South America to seek refuge in the U.S.
For much of the Biden administration, ICE agents have largely focused on arresting and deporting people with criminal histories — a sharp contrast to the Trump administration, which had empowered the agency to detain anyone unauthorized to live in the U.S.
But this past fiscal year, people with criminal histories no longer made up a majority of ICE arrests during Biden's presidency. Instead, immigrants without any known criminal convictions made up a bulk of the arrests — tripling in size compared to fiscal year 2021. The agency said it was a result of its agents helping Customs and Border Protection officers process migrants during a record surge of apprehensions.
Nearly half of the 2.3 million encounters on the southern border resulted in expulsions under Title 42 — the public health rule that essentially allows border agents to bypass normal immigration procedures and rapidly expel migrants without giving them a chance to seek asylum.
Similar to fiscal year 2021, the U.S. reported over a million expulsions this past fiscal year — indicating Title 42's strong foothold on the southern border despite the Biden administration's efforts to wind down the restrictions.
The policy was put in place by the Trump administration during the early months of the pandemic aimed at stopping the spread of COVID.
The Supreme Court is slated to hear arguments about the future of the pandemic border restrictions in February.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | 2023-01-07T11:59:41+00:00 | delawarepublic.org | https://www.delawarepublic.org/npr-headlines/2023-01-07/ice-arrests-and-deportations-started-to-pick-up-in-2022-a-federal-report-shows |
In midst of parade shooting, strangers save a young boy
CHICAGO (AP) — A woman — stunned and speechless in the chaos of a July 4 parade massacre — walked up to Greg Ring and handed him a 2-year-old boy, covered in blood.
Ring had fled the scene in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park with his wife and three children to an area behind a popular pancake house.
“We kind of met eyes and didn’t say anything.... I put my arms out, and she gave him to me,” Ring said Thursday, when describing the exchange with the unidentified woman, who then laid down in front of their car in shock.
The boy pointed in the direction of the parade route, saying “Mommy, Daddy, Mommy, Daddy.”
Ring’s wish to help the boy carried him back to the scene. He tucked the boy’s face in his chest, so he couldn’t see the carnage. But Ring quickly realized it was too dangerous.
“Active shooter! Get back down!” a police officer shouted. Ring fled again.
He and his family got to their car and took the boy to a Highland Park fire station. “I have a boy. He’s not ours,” he told the department staff, who asked him to keep the boy as authorities searched for the shooter and helped the wounded.
“They were getting ready for war,” Ring said.
WARNING: Video contains graphic content.
The family drove to Ring’s in-laws, where they hunkered down. There, the boy sat with Ring’s 4-year-old, watching a Mickey Mouse show.
“He asked my wife to wipe him off because he had blood on him that wasn’t his,” said Ring, an insurance broker from Highland Park.
They were later able to identify the boy and reunite him with his grandparents.
Aiden McCarthy’s parents, Kevin and Irina, both died in the shooting, which left five others dead and more than two dozen wounded.
Friends of the McCarthys said Irina’s parents would care for the boy going forward.
“Aiden ... will have a long road ahead to heal, find stability, and ultimately navigate life as an orphan. He is surrounded by a community of friends and extended family that will embrace him with love, and any means available to ensure he has everything he needs as he grows,” Irina Colon, a family friend, wrote on a GoFundMe account she created for the family and Aiden. The account has raised more than $2 million.
On Thursday, Ring was still trying to process what happened at the July 4 parade. He said he’s not a hero and just did what anyone would have done in the situation.
“I’m just filled with immense gratitude. I’m really sad. I don’t know, I don’t know how I feel. I have not slept for a minute the last two nights,” he said.
“What could’ve happened — it is nothing short of a miracle that the five of us — me, my wife and my three kids — one of us or all of us isn’t dead. I do not understand. Everybody around us was hit or got shot.”
The five others who were killed were identified Tuesday as Katherine Goldstein, 64; Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63; Stephen Straus, 88; Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78; and Eduardo Uvaldo, 69.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | 2022-07-06T19:11:52+00:00 | uppermichiganssource.com | https://www.uppermichiganssource.com/2022/07/06/midst-parade-shooting-strangers-save-young-boy/ |
ST. PAUL, Minn., Aug. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Johnson // Becker, PLLC is a nationwide products liability law firm with extensive experience representing victims of pressure cooker explosions. The firm has represented over 500 clients who have been severely burned by exploding pressure cookers designed and sold by numerous manufacturers.
Johnson//Becker filed this Complaint against manufacturer Pick Five Imports, on behalf of Kimberly Harbin, a resident of Canton, North Carolina, alleging that Ms. Harbin's Maxi-Matic pressure cooker exploded during normal use due to a defective and unsafe lid locking mechanism.
The Maxi-Matic pressure cooker explosion left Ms. Harbin with "serious and substantial burn injuries" after the steaming-hot contents of the cooker were explosively projected onto her when she attempted to open the lid. The explosion happened despite Maxi-Matic's claims of "safety," including the contention that the unit cannot open while its contents are still under pressure. The Complaint alleges Maxi-Matic "put profit ahead of safety by continuing to sell its pressure cookers to consumers" and failing to warn consumers or recall its defective product.
This suit is filed by Adam J. Kress and Anna R. Rick of Johnson // Becker, PLLC. Adam exclusively handles injury cases, with an emphasis on national products liability litigation, including cases involving burn injuries from defective products.
If you or a loved one has been injured by a defective Maxi-Matic pressure cooker, you may want to speak with the lawyers at Johnson//Becker. We are filing new pressure cooker lawsuits across the country, and you may be entitled to financial compensation for your defective pressure cooker injuries.
We offer a free case evaluation. To learn more about Johnson // Becker's product liability cases, or to arrange a free, no obligation case review, please visit Johnson // Becker at https://www.johnsonbecker.com/product-liability/pressure-cooker-lawsuit/, https://www.johnsonbecker.com/product-liability/elite-bistro-and-elite-platinum-pressure-cooker-lawsuits/ or contact Johnson // Becker directly at (800) 279-6386.
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SOURCE Johnson // Becker, PLLC | 2022-08-01T21:04:05+00:00 | kswo.com | https://www.kswo.com/prnewswire/2022/08/01/maxi-matic-lawsuit-filed-north-carolina/ |
NOTTINGHAM, England — Beatriz Haddad Maia’s defense of her grass-court Nottingham Open title is over already.
Third-seeded Magda Linette advanced to the last 16 by beating Olivia Gadecki 6-4, 6-4 and seventh-seeded Camila Giorgi defeated Madison Brengle 7-6 (5), 6-2.
New British No. 1 Katie Boulter beat Emily Appleton 6-1, 6-3.
___
More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | 2023-06-13T18:59:10+00:00 | washingtonpost.com | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/tennis/2023/06/13/nottingham-open-snigur-haddad-maia/11051daa-0a19-11ee-8132-a84600f3bb9b_story.html |
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A man has been arrested after State Capitol Police said he threw lit objects at the Capitol building Sunday morning.
According to police, 31-year-old Chris Marshall-Miller was arrested around 1:30 a.m. and he is expected to face criminal mischief charges.
An arrest report said a man was caught on surveillance video lighting an object and throwing it at the building, but no damage was reportedly done to the structure.
According to the arrest report, the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms will be investigating to determine whether felony charges are warranted for possession of a prohibited device.
A court date for Marshall-Miller has been set for July. | 2022-06-06T05:37:27+00:00 | nwahomepage.com | https://www.nwahomepage.com/news/police-man-arrested-after-throwing-lit-objects-at-the-arkansas-state-capitol/ |
Journalist, 9-year-old dead; 2 others hurt in shooting, Orange County sheriff says
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Updated: 7:58 PM EST Feb 22, 2023
Let's listen in to sheriff john Mina with an update on the people shot in Pine hill to our injuries. Our homicide detectives responded to that scene conducted follow up collected evidence and develop good leads on the suspect in that case. This morning. At 405 we received 911 calls about another shooting at that location and *** shooting nearby On highly *** street deputies located two men who had been shot in or near *** vehicle. They are news 13 reporter and photographer who were on the scene to cover the homicide from this morning on Harrington street. *** woman and her nine year old girl were also shot inside of *** home. It is unclear why the suspect entered that home. The victims were transported to nearby hospitals and tragically one of the news 13 employees has passed. So we have detained the person uh believed to be responsible for the murder this morning as well as the shootings this afternoon. He is 19 year old keith Melvin moses he is being formally charged in the murder from this morning and we expect additional charges for the shootings of the four people this afternoon At 19. He has *** lengthy criminal history to include gun charges, aggravated aggravated battery and assault with *** deadly weapon, burglary and grand theft charges. So I want to acknowledge what *** horrible day this has been for our community and our media partners. I work closely with all of you and know many of you and know the very difficult job that you do and also the very important job that you do for our community and for law enforcement. No one in our community, uh, not *** mother, not *** nine year old and certainly not news professionals should become the victim of gun violence in our community. So at this time I'm happy to take questions from you. So, the suspect is not saying much right now, it is unclear if he knew they were news media or now we're still trying to work all that out. Um, that vehicle was almost exactly in the same spot as the vehicle was from the homicide this morning. So it's unclear why exactly they were targeted. And, you know, certainly we're gonna look into that and, and we will definitely let you know how is the child doing. So, uh, still in critical condition and we'll notify you of the outcome soon. So, yeah, so the shooting this morning, uh, the two shootings of the two news reporters and the shooting of the mother and the nine year old child are all connected. The same suspect. Mr moses is responsible for all those shoes. He's been charged, um, formally charged in the murder this morning. And we expect charges soon on all of the other victims. It's hard to know if he was targeting this news crew. Um, again, that will be all part of our investigation. I was out there at the scene, the vehicle doesn't really look like *** news vehicle. Um to me. Um, so, but then again, you know, there was *** photographer there. So that's possible, but that's all part of our investigation. He, um, was an acquaintance of the woman this morning, but as far as we know, had no connection to the reporters and no connection um, to the mother and *** nine year old and we were unknown. We don't know why he entered that home. I don't have the information on how many shots were fired at this time. So, um, in this area, we have not had any violence against our media partners, but certainly we have seen that around the nation and around the world. So that's something we're definitely gonna be taking *** look at and see if we can put the pieces together and see why this happened. So again, the vehicle didn't look like *** typical news vehicle with *** lot of markings on it. Um, you know, it's, it's possible that he could have mistaken them for law enforcement. I just don't know at this time, like I said, there was *** photographer there and um, you know, both were in or near the vehicle. So you really don't know what was in the mind of this suspect. And you know, hopefully at some point he'll, he'll talk to us about, you know what his motives were, but regardless, you know, he's eventually gonna be charged with, uh, murder this morning. And then the four shootings, uh, this afternoon, definitely murder on the news reporter. So right now critical condition and at the hospital. No, so we had cleared the scene. The prior homicide happened at 11:00 AM. It happened in *** vehicle, that vehicle was towed for processing the Texas had already done their canvas of the neighborhood and had cleared the scene. And we're out actually following leads on the suspect moses because they quickly developed him as *** suspect in this case. Yeah, it's unclear at this time he was um detained and arrested near that area right after the two shootings. Um very good description was given out. Deputies located him in the exact same clothes that he was wearing during the shootings. And you know, once they did detain him homicide detectives who were familiar with him from the previous cases. Yeah, that's our, that's our same guy from the earlier homicide. Yeah. I do not know how long the suspect has lived in this area. That's that's correct. So um they were both in or near the vehicle, *** reporter and *** photographer and unfortunately one has passed. So the mother is in. Oh, I'm sorry, critical condition. Right? So there is one news 13 media person who has passed from his injuries. The other person is being treated at the hospital. I have no idea if there's any kind of situation, the hospital, not to my knowledge. Um, we have, we have plenty of deputies in that area reports, witnesses saying that the suspect looked at several these vehicles or several. I am not aware of any reports that the suspect was looking at any other news vehicles especially activity just looking into. I have not heard that yet. So it's unclear. It seems like there were three people in the car. The suspect shot the victim as they were in that vehicle on Hialeah. Um, so I'm assuming they were acquaintances that we just don't know the exact um relationship at this point. Okay. So um tragically we have just learned that the nine year old has also succumbed to her injuries. Um, we were waiting next of kin notification. So just wanted to let you know that. So, um, so we have the 20 year old female who was shot and killed this morning has died. We have one of the news media personnel has died. And now the nine year old child child has also passed from the gunshot wounds as well. So again our, you know, our hearts go out to her mom who's also uh fighting for her life and her father and all of her family members. And of course uh you know prayers and condolences to uh the news media and their their family and friends of these uh media professionals. So we're doing our canvas right now. I mean it was four o'clock, so chances are there were people out and about uh, you know, we're doing all the normal things we do during investigation, uh looking for uh doorbell cameras and other cameras in the area. We're reviewing that footage and certainly tracking down all the witnesses that we can no whether the suspect had any connection to mom. So that is unclear right now. So how it all worked, of course we had the homicide earlier this morning at some point around 4:00, he returns to the scene. Um, he goes to the vehicle where the news media people are at uh, he shoots uh both the people from news 13. Uh, then he goes up to Harrington Street, takes *** left and there's *** brown house up there. He walks inside the house and shoots the nine year old and the mom. And right now we're unclear as to why he shot them in that house. Really unclear as to why he shot at the news vehicle as well. No, he wasn't saying anything we did uh, when deputies located him and arrested him, he was armed with *** handgun, which we believe um, will link him to these cases as well. Just to confirm the other news 13 employees remain critical. Yeah, they're in critical condition, correct. Uh, about *** block away from Hialeah, about *** block away from the scene on highly it's all all very close. Um, where, where it all happened. Okay, thank you
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Journalist, 9-year-old dead; 2 others hurt in shooting, Orange County sheriff says
A suspect was taken into custody after an Orlando journalist and 9-year-old child were killed and two others were shot in Pine Hills Wednesday afternoon.Deputies got reports of two shootings around 4:05 p.m. One of the shootings happened on Hialeah Street where deputies had been investigating a separate homicide earlier in the day. A woman in her 20s was shot and killed there at about 11 a.m. At that scene, deputies found a reporter and photographer from Spectrum News 13 shot. One of the journalists died and the other is in critical condition.Deputies say after shooting the news crew, the suspect then went to a home on Harrington Street and shot a 9-year-old girl who later died. Her mother was also shot and she is in critical condition. Keith Moses, 19, is believed to have been the gunman involved in all of the shootings, including the killing from earlier in the day.It’s unclear why he shot at any of the victims. "I want to acknowledge what a horrible day this has been for our community and media partners,” Mina said.WESH 2 reporter Senait Gebregiorgis says she and her photographer left moments before the shooting, saying "we got a gut feeling," and decided to leave for their safety.This is a developing story.Top headlines:85-year-old Florida woman dragged into water, killed by 10-foot gator while walking her dogLaunch date postponed for SpaceX Crew-6Central Florida leaders approve zoning request for new Buc-ee's
PINE HILLS, Fla. —
A suspect was taken into custody after an Orlando journalist and 9-year-old child were killed and two others were shot in Pine Hills Wednesday afternoon.
Deputies got reports of two shootings around 4:05 p.m.
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One of the shootings happened on Hialeah Street where deputies had been investigating a separate homicide earlier in the day. A woman in her 20s was shot and killed there at about 11 a.m.
At that scene, deputies found a reporter and photographer from Spectrum News 13 shot. One of the journalists died and the other is in critical condition.
Deputies say after shooting the news crew, the suspect then went to a home on Harrington Street and shot a 9-year-old girl who later died. Her mother was also shot and she is in critical condition.
Keith Moses, 19, is believed to have been the gunman involved in all of the shootings, including the killing from earlier in the day.
It’s unclear why he shot at any of the victims.
"I want to acknowledge what a horrible day this has been for our community and media partners,” Mina said.
WESH 2 reporter Senait Gebregiorgis says she and her photographer left moments before the shooting, saying "we got a gut feeling," and decided to leave for their safety.
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Members of the media gather to support one another at Orlando Regional Medical Center after a shooting in the Pine Hills area. No details on the victims or their conditions. ORMC has placed the hospital on lockdown. Stay with @WESH for live updates. pic.twitter.com/GrwIhS7Hkq | 2023-02-23T01:04:30+00:00 | wesh.com | https://www.wesh.com/article/pine-hills-florida-shooting/43032545 |
LACEY TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — Denise Vaccaro bought her home on the Jersey Shore over 20 years ago, charmed by the little beach at the end of a sandy spit on Barnegat Bay where she could sit and read while listening to the waves and enjoying the cool breezes.
That home was destroyed 10 years ago in Superstorm Sandy, and the beach she loved is also gone, claimed by rising seas that are eroding the shoreline and pushing water to porches.
“It’s so sad that this little community has lost its beach,” Vaccaro said. “People are losing their property. My home was totally destroyed. It’s a way of life that’s being lost.”
It’s a story being played out on shorelines all around the world as once idyllic beach communities are washing away, and residents are struggling to adapt.
But a partial solution being tried around the world is also being done here: establishing oyster colonies to form natural barriers that blunt the force of waves and help stabilize eroding shorelines.
Such a project is underway near Vaccaro’s rebuilt house, carried out by the American Littoral Society, which received a $1 million grant from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. The group has been building steel wire cages, filling them with rocks and whelk shells and positioning them in rows along the shoreline of Barnegat Bay.
Tiny baby oysters, called spat, are attached to whelk shells and placed in the bay near the existing cages to further stabilize the shoreline.
The shoreline in Vaccaro’s neighborhood has lost 150 feet (46 meters) of beach since 1995, according to the Littoral Society.
In much of it, there is no sand at all; waves pound against grassy mounds that are getting smaller all the time. A shuffleboard court that used to be part of a wide beach with plenty of sand between it and the bay is now halfway submerged in water.
“Some of the people along this shoreline have seen the bay swallow their back porches, more than one,” said Julie Schumacher, habitat restoration coordinator for the Littoral Society. “The water is right up against them.”
The rows of oysters appear to be doing their job as effective breakwaters. One recent day, a strong east wind rippled the bay with whitecaps out beyond the oysters. But between the oysters and the shoreline, the water was much calmer, and waves sloped gently onto the shoreline instead of pounding against it.
As an added benefit, the oysters help improve water quality in the bay: A single oyster can filter up to 50 gallons (190 liters) of water a day.
Projects like this one are an important part of New Jersey’s coastal resilience program — using plants and shellfish beds to create “living shorelines” that complement engineered structures like sea walls and bulkheads to protect homes and people.
A few miles south, a group called ReClam the Bay is building an oyster reef to protect the shoreline of Mordecai Island, an uninhabited patch of land that in turn protects the shoreline of Beach Haven, a popular resort town on Long Beach Island.
Volunteers fill mesh bags with 35 pounds (16 kilograms) of whelk shells, to which millions of baby oysters have been attached, then sail them out to the reef a few hundred yards offshore. They’ve placed 10,000 bags of oysters and whelk shells there since 2015.
“In the last 100 years, Mordecai Island has lost 35% of its size,” said Jack Duggan, a longtime volunteer with the group. “If we do nothing, in 40 years the island will be gone — just washed over. This island protects Beach Haven from taking the force of all that wave action.”
ReClam The Bay has done a similar project establishing an oyster reef in front of a brick wall in Tuckerton, further north in the bay, and the Littoral Society has numerous other oyster projects underway. At the Naval Weapons Station Earle in Middletown, the NY/NJ Baykeeper organization is growing oysters along the heavily guarded pier and deploying them along the shoreline to protect the coast, which suffered serious erosion during Sandy.
Governments and volunteers in other places are doing the same thing.
In New York, city, state and federal agencies are building “living shorelines” along the southwestern tip of Long Island, using oysters, shells and native plants. A similar project in Delaware used 1,300 bags of shells to extend shoreline protection near Lewes CanalFront Park.
The Oyster Recovery Partnership in Maryland has placed billions of oysters on shells in Chesapeake Bay in a project set to run through 2025. In Florida, volunteers and researchers established oyster colonies along portions of the Peace River in Punta Gorda.
In California, the Wild Oyster Project is establishing reefs in San Francisco Bay for shoreline protection and water quality improvement purposes.
In Argyll, Scotland, a group called Seawilding began restoring an area in 2020 near a coastal inlet that had become degraded. They’ve restored more than 300,000 oysters there. Also in Scotland, a project aims to restore 30,000 oysters near Edinburgh.
Vaccaro realizes her New Jersey home may well depend on the success of a bunch of tiny oysters.
“If we don’t do anything, we’re not going to have any of these houses,” Vaccaro said. “In 20 years my house — which I rebuilt on pilings — could be gone again. This is why what we’re doing here is so important to me. I saw what happened and I see what can happen again.”
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Follow Wayne Parry on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/WayneParryAC | 2022-08-29T03:04:53+00:00 | siouxlandproud.com | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/science/ap-science/ap-tiny-oysters-play-big-role-in-stabilizing-eroding-shorelines/ |
BOSTON (AP) — A “swift-footed lizard” that lived millions of years ago in what is now Massachusetts has been named the state's official dinosaur under legislation signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Charlie Baker.
Podokesaurus holyokensis received more than 60% of the roughly 35,000 votes cast in a social media campaign initiated early last year by state Rep. Jack Lewis, beating out another dinosaur that was also discovered in the state.
“If I think about my own childhood ... the thing that got me interested in science in the first place was dinosaurs," the Republican governor said at the signing ceremony at the Museum of Science in Boston, with some of the state's leading paleontologists standing behind him. “And the main reason they got me interested is because of their majesty, and their ferocity and their almost alien-being status. As a kid, they just created wonder."
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Lewis came up with the idea of a state dinosaur while trying to find engaging projects for the Cub Scout den he led during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The project did not just get people involved in science, but also taught them about the legislative process, the Framingham Democrat said.
Podokesaurus holyokensis, which means “swift-footed lizard of Holyoke,” was discovered in western Massachusetts in 1910 by Mount Holyoke College professor Mignon Talbot, “the first woman to find, discover, name and describe a dinosaur," Lewis said.
“Hopefully if this project inspires just a couple young girls to grow up and explore paleontology, it would have been all worth it,” he said.
The species was 3 to 6 feet (around 1 to 2 meters) in length, weighed approximately 90 pounds (40 kilograms), and was estimated to run 9 to 12 mph (14 to 19 kph), Lewis has said.
Baker called the creature “a tough, spunky underdog from Holyoke."
About a dozen other states also have official state dinosaurs, Lewis said. | 2022-10-19T17:16:54+00:00 | wcfcourier.com | https://wcfcourier.com/news/national/swift-footed-lizard-named-massachusetts-state-dinosaur/article_7a37ebdc-97e5-59d9-b491-8383d10e60c6.html |
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — A parking ramp project will take off Monday at the Sioux Falls Regional Airport.
While more parking spaces will eventually be added to the airport, travelers could run into some challenges in the meantime.
Chloe Loftstrom flew to Las Vegas with her friends to celebrate her 21st birthday Friday.
The group flew out of the Sioux Falls Regional Airport.
“We tried to get here really early just because we didn’t really know what the parking may be like and we got here like, ‘Oh my gosh. Where do I park? There’s so many cars,'” Loftstrom said.
Other travelers will want to plan ahead too.
The airport already has about 300 spaces blocked off in short and long term parking so crews can get to work Monday.
“After Easter, April 10th, they’re going to block off another 400 spaces, so we have over 700 spaces that won’t be available for use for the next at least 12 months and most of that for 18 months,” Sioux Falls Regional Airport executive director Dan Letellier said.
For now, drivers are encouraged to get a ride to the airport if they can.
This summer, about 500 spaces will be added to the economy lot, which will help make up for some of the spaces lost during construction.
Still, it may be a challenging time for travelers.
“If you’re dropping off, picking up out front there’s going to be a lot of congestion in front of the terminal building. There will be fewer parking spaces available, so we just ask people to get here early, two hours before your flight, so if you do have to drive around looking for a spot you have that time. If you have to take a shuttle for the economy lot you can factor some of that time in as well,” Letellier said.
Avoiding a parking headache means you can focus on the more enjoyable part of vacation.
“I’m excited to spend the weekend with my friends, so now that that’s off my list I’m excited,” Loftstrom said.
The airport will have a net gain of about 700 spaces once the parking ramp is complete, plus the extra spaces added to the economy lot this summer.
The project is expected to be complete in October of next year. | 2023-04-02T17:02:26+00:00 | keloland.com | https://www.keloland.com/news/local-news/work-to-start-monday-on-airport-parking-ramp/ |
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A woman came forward Wednesday to accuse Herschel Walker, the anti-abortion Republican running for U.S. Senate in Georgia, of encouraging and paying for her 1993 abortion — an accusation that came just weeks after a former girlfriend said he did the same for her in 2009.
Walker's campaign didn't immediately respond to a request for comment by The Associated Press to the latest accusation. The candidate vehemently denied a claim earlier this month from a different woman who said Walker paid for and encouraged her abortion in 2009, two years before she gave birth to their son.
The second accuser, identified only as "Jane Doe," spoke to reporters via an audio Zoom call arranged by her attorney Gloria Allred. She alleged that Walker, a former college and professional football star making his first bid for public office, pressured her into an abortion and paid for one after she became pregnant during the course of their six-year relationship.
“The reason I am here today is because he has publicly taken the position that he is ‘about life’ and against abortion under any circumstances when, in fact, he pressured me to have an abortion and personally ensured that it occurred by driving me to the clinic and paying for it,” Doe said.
“I do not believe that Herschel is morally fit to be a U.S. senator and that is the reason why I am speaking up and providing proof,” she said.
Doe said partisan allegiances were not a factor in her decision to come forward. She called herself a registered independent and said she voted twice for former President Donald Trump, a Republican who endorsed Walker.
The second round of abortion allegations against Walker returned the issue to the forefront of the campaign in the final two weeks before the midterm elections. Walker is competing against Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in a tight race that could help determine party control of the Senate. The Republican was campaigning Wednesday in north Georgia as part of his ongoing tour of the state.
Allred addressed reporters gathered in her office in Los Angeles and detailed, among other items, cards Walker gave to her client and a hotel receipt from Minnesota. Allred also played audio of what she described as a telephone message that Walker allegedly left her client in 1992 after he had arrived in Europe as part of the U.S. Olympic bobsled team.
Doe said she is not revealing her identity because she fears “reprisals against myself, my family and my livelihood.”
A notable women’s rights attorney, Allred has represented several clients who’ve accused powerful men, including Trump and Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, of sexual assault and harassment.
When The Daily Beast broke the story earlier this month of the first abortion allegation, Walker's insistence he had no idea who could make such a claim was undermined by a follow-up report in which the woman identified herself as the mother of one of his children.
Her evidence included a $575 receipt for an abortion, along with a get-well card signed by Walker and a personal check for $700 from the multimillionaire celebrity athlete. The check is dated five days after her abortion receipt.
Doe on Wednesday said Walker gave her cash to have an abortion after she told him she was pregnant. She alleged that she first went to a clinic alone but was unable to go through with an abortion. Walker was “upset” when she told him she hadn’t gone through with it and insisted they return the following day. He drove her to the clinic that day and “waited in the car” and then took her to fill prescriptions, Doe said. Allred declined to discuss the cost or any records of the alleged abortion “at least at this time.”
Walker’s responses to The Daily Beast’s series of stories about the woman’s claims evolved from absolute denials to suggesting the signature on a get-well card wasn’t his to suggesting he did send the woman money but that he didn’t know it was to cover an abortion.
Doe said Wednesday she heard Walker's denial that he ever signs anything with a lone initial “H,” as the get-well card was signed. She said she knew that wasn't true because he'd signed cards to her that way.
The woman has not identified herself publicly but has spoken to multiple media outlets, revealing herself to be the same woman who filed a paternity suit for child support in New York family court. She has also alleged that Walker encouraged her to end their second pregnancy, though she refused. She said Walker knows the son they share but has seen the child only a handful of times.
Walker’s campaign has since shared with NBC News texts between his current wife and the woman acknowledging his relationship to the child.
Walker promised to file a lawsuit against The Daily Beast after the outlet's initial story on the abortion claim was published Oct. 3. As of Wednesday afternoon, Walker had still not confirmed that he's taken any legal action against the outlet.
The reporting has put Walker on the defensive both about his claims of being a family man and his previous support for a national abortion ban, without any exceptions — a notable position since the Supreme Court in June ended a constitutional right to an abortion and Congress has been discussing federal legislation to set a national regulation.
As a Republican primary contender, Walker was consistent about his absolute opposition to abortion. He repeated that approach after winning the GOP nomination but has since shied away from it, attempting to turn the issue back on Warnock by suggesting the Democrat supports no limits on abortion access.
In their lone debate, Walker denied his previous position and said he has settled on backing Georgia's new state law that bans abortion at six weeks of pregnancy — before many women know they're pregnant. That law includes exceptions for pregnancies involving rape, incest or threats to a woman's life or health.
Walker has been dogged throughout his campaign with intense scrutiny of his past.
He's been accused of repeatedly threatening his ex-wife's life, exaggerating claims of financial and business success, suggesting he's been a sworn law enforcement officer and overstating his role in a for-profit program that is alleged to have preyed upon veterans and service members while defrauding the government.
After a story by The Daily Beast in June, Walker acknowledged the existence of three children he had not previously talked about publicly, including the son of the woman who first accused Walker of urging her to have abortions.
More than 1.1 million Georgia voters have cast ballots so far ahead of the Nov. 8 election, either by mail or through advance in-person voting that began Oct. 17 and continues through Nov. 4. That is about 50% higher than at this point in 2018, the last midterm election.
With a Libertarian nominee also on the ballot, it remains possible that neither Warnock nor Walker attracts the required majority to win outright. In that case, the two would meet in a Dec. 6 runoff.
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Barrow reported from Atlanta.
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Follow AP's coverage of the elections at: https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections
Check out https://apnews.com/hub/explaining-the-elections to learn more about the issues and factors at play in the 2022 midterm elections. | 2022-10-26T20:06:52+00:00 | daytondailynews.com | https://www.daytondailynews.com/nation-world/herschel-walker-faces-abortion-allegation-from-2nd-accuser/4XA25G2YKZAGRFSXS64P3TMQXQ/ |
STOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden is recommending a fifth COVID-19 vaccine dose for people with an increased risk of becoming seriously ill, including pregnant women and anyone aged 65 and over, authorities said Tuesday, adding that the country must “be prepared for an increased spread during the upcoming autumn and winter season.”
“The vaccine is our strongest tool for preventing serious illness and death,” Swedish Social Affairs Minister Lena Hallengren said, adding the pandemic is not over.
As of Sept. 1, Sweden recommends that another booster shot is given to people aged 65 and older and people over 18 in the risk groups. The Swedish Public Health Agency said the latter includes pregnant women, people with weakened immune systems and people with heart and lung disease.
“In general, the risk of serious illness is assessed as low for adults under the age of 65 who have been vaccinated with three doses, but the risk increases with age and varies within the group,” agency chief Karin Tegmark Wisell said.
For most of the pandemic, Sweden stood out among European nations for its comparatively hands-off response. It never went into lockdown or closed businesses, largely relying instead on individual responsibility.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic | 2022-05-24T13:36:20+00:00 | upmatters.com | https://www.upmatters.com/health/ap-health/sweden-5th-covid-19-shot-to-people-over-65-pregnant-women/ |
Wilmington’s Public Safety Committee is urging state lawmakers to pass gun reform legislation before the session is over at the end of the month.
The Committee convened on Monday night to discuss two resolutions.
One resolution sponsored by Councilmember Linda Gray asks the General Assembly to back a measure allowing Wilmington to make its own rules and laws about gun usage.
Municipalities had the ability to regulate firearms before 1986, when the 133rd General Assembly passed legislation revoking that right. Gray notes the legislature was controlled by the Republicans at the time.
“It’s just asking them to give us back the authority because we have the highest murder rate," Gray said. "We have probably, I don’t know the statistics, but probably the highest rate of gun ownership. And with everything that is happening, this could be preemptive.”
A second resolution urges the General Assembly to pass SB3 - a permit to purchase bill. Its sponsor, Councilmember Chris Johnson, says requiring permits for firearms is a long overdue, common sense piece.
“You need a permit to drive a car, but in Delaware, unfortunately, you don't need a permit to purchase a firearm," Johnson said. "This is a tool that even law enforcement supports because it allows them to better make sure that gun owners are responsible and that we can keep a lot of illegal guns, off the streets of Wilmington.”
Gray says there are many useful reasons to have such a system.
“When there's a crime, it helps the police trace the gun," she said. "If you have a permit and you're supposed to have the gun and you don't have it, then that gives the police a lot of information and might be easier to trace it down and find a perpetrator.”
The bill passed the Senate last year and is awaiting a House committee hearing.
Johnson says he isn’t sure that Gray's resolution will reach the General Assembly by the end of session this month, but is likely to be ready when lawmakers reconvene in January. | 2022-06-14T00:41:29+00:00 | delawarepublic.org | https://www.delawarepublic.org/delaware-headlines/2022-06-13/wilmington-councilmembers-push-for-gun-reform-in-public-safety-committee-meeting |
Series is a Partnership Between Graduate School USA and Federal News Network
WASHINGTON, Aug. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Phyllis Fong, Inspector General (IG), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), will be the featured guest on the August 29 broadcast of "The Search for Accountability," airing at 2:00 p.m. ET on Federal News Network 1500 AM, hosted by Michael Binder, Director of Graduate School USA's Government Audit Training Institute.
To listen to this broadcast live, visit: https://live.federalnewsnetwork.com/listen/ or tune in to 1500 AM radio at 2:00 p.m. on August 29.
"USDA plays an enormous role in the health of every American – especially helping to protect the safety and availability of food and agricultural products domestically and abroad as a driver of commerce, humanitarian assistance and diplomacy," said Binder. "We expect a lively discussion with Ms. Fong about the accountability and monitoring challenges associated with food and nutrition, agricultural research and rural development. We will also discuss the great work that federal inspectors general do in pursuing integrity and public trust in government operations."
Ms. Fong was nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Inspector General of USDA in December 2002, providing leadership and expertise in oversight of the vast portfolio of the USDA's services and programs. She leads the USDA Office of Inspector General's independent and objective audits, inspections and investigations of efficiency and effectiveness, plus efforts to detect and prevent fraud, waste, and abuse. She was elected by the IG community as the first Chairwoman of the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), serving three terms in that role.
Prior to being the USDA's IG, Ms. Fong was nominated by President Bill Clinton and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be the Inspector General of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) in 1999.
Ms. Fong has a bachelor's degree from Pomona College and a Juris Doctor Degree from Vanderbilt University Law School. She is a member of the Tennessee and District of Columbia Bars.
"The Search for Accountability" features insightful conversations with key government oversight officials including inspectors general and the Comptroller General of the United States. This series, which airs most Mondays at 2:00 p.m. ET., is produced in a partnership between Graduate School USA and Federal News Network. Recordings of past programs are available here.
For information on Graduate School USA's Auditing and Federal Financial Management courses, visit www.graduateschool.edu.
ABOUT GRADUATE SCHOOL USA (GSUSA)
Graduate School USA is a leading training provider to the federal workforce with an extensive portfolio of government agency customers. It serves the federal workforce through customized contract training (B2G) to federal agencies and through open enrollment (B2C) to government professionals. GSUSA is a wholly owned subsidiary of American Public Education, Inc. (Nasdaq: APEI) which educates service minded students by providing career-focused higher education and career learning.
ABOUT MICHAEL BINDER
Michael Binder is Director, Government Audit Training Institute, at Graduate School USA. He has dedicated his career to advancing accountability in government, as well as the knowledge, skills, and abilities for bringing that goal to fruition. Binder is also a 43-year veteran in service to the GAO/IG community and a professor since 1975.
Contact: Frank Tutalo, Public Relations Director, APEI FTutalo@apei.com
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SOURCE Graduate School USA | 2022-08-26T14:30:22+00:00 | wlox.com | https://www.wlox.com/prnewswire/2022/08/26/august-29-broadcast-search-accountability-federal-news-network-will-feature-usda-inspector-general-phyllis-fong/ |
No. 10 Utah (8-2, 6-1 Pac-12, No. 10 CFP) at No. 12 Oregon (8-2, 6-1 Pac-12, No. 12 CFP), Saturday, 10:30 p.m. EST (ESPN)
KEY MATCHUP
Oregon QB Bo Nix vs. Utah’s secondary. The best pass defense in the Pac-12 belongs to Utah, giving up an average of 206.5 yards per game through the air. Nix leads the conference is passing efficiency, is tied for third in TD passes and is fourth in yards passing per game at 277.4. Nix also has the added element of his running ability but that will need to be watched after a tackle to his legs late in the loss to Washington left him a little gimpy.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Utah: QB Cam Rising. The Utes saw last week the success Washington was able to have throwing against Oregon’s secondary when Michael Penix Jr. threw for 408 yards. Utah’s offense isn’t built the same and Rising hasn’t been asked to chuck it that often.
Oregon: RBs Bucky Irving and Noah Whittington. The two-headed duo in the Oregon backfield each rushed for more than 100 yards last week against Washington. The only times this season Utah has allowed more than 200 yards rushing it lost, so Oregon’s duo will be critical to the Ducks’ offensive success.
FACTS & FIGURES
Oregon leads the country in fewest sacks allowed with just two. ... Utah is eighth in the country in time of possession averaging 33:46 per game. ... Oregon ranks No. 2 in the country in total yards per game at 520.6. ... Utah is one of six Power Five teams in the country to rank in the Top 25 in scoring offense (12th at 39.3) and scoring defense (21st at 20.0).
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More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/ap_top25. Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://bit.ly/3pqZVaF | 2022-11-17T17:44:47+00:00 | washingtonpost.com | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/no-10-utah-travel-to-no-12-oregon-in-pac-12-showdown/2022/11/17/f2b19f12-669a-11ed-b08c-3ce222607059_story.html |
MONACO (AP) — Formula One champion Max Verstappen's lights-to-flag victory win at the Monaco Grand gave the Red Bull driver his fourth victory of the season and extended his championship lead on Sunday.
Spanish veteran Fernando Alonso was a season's best second for Aston Martin as he collected a fifth podium in six races, while Frenchman Esteban Ocon secured third place and a rare podium for Alpine.
For most of the race, Verstappen coasted on a dry and narrow track where overtaking is the hardest in F1.
But an incident-free race in Monaco is rare and heavy rain played havoc with about 20 of the 78 laps left. Some drivers had pitted for the wrong medium tires shortly before the downpour and slid around.
Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr. glided sideways into the barriers and was lucky not to damage his Ferrari. Kevin Magnussen lost control of his Haas and Lance Stroll retired after damaging his Aston Martin.
Red Bull had wisely put Verstappen on the versatile and more suited to the wet conditions intermediates on Lap 56 and they carried him to his second win in Monaco. The first was in 2021.
Lewis Hamilton finished fourth for Mercedes and picked up a point for fastest lap. His teammate George Russell was fifth, having earlier almost slammed into Sergio Perez's Red Bull as visibility worsened. A serious crash was somehow avoided in a hectic few minutes before the rain eased off.
On Saturday, Verstappen just edged out Alonso to deny the 41-year Spaniard his first pole for 11 years.
Perez, who won the race last year, started from last after a clumsy crash in qualifying and finished 16th.
Verstappen’s 39 F1 wins have all been with Red Bull since his first on debut for the team at the Spanish GP in 2016 when he became the youngest F1 winner at 18 years old.
He set a team record for wins as he passed former Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel’s previous tally of 38 victories for the team when he won four straight titles from 2010-13.
___
More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
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Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP | 2023-05-28T15:39:16+00:00 | daytondailynews.com | https://www.daytondailynews.com/nation-world/verstappen-wins-monaco-gp-to-extend-f1-championship-lead-alonso-2nd-ahead-of-ocon/B4JPMZNF5JECNNYF3BZRPSIODE/ |
MIDWEST CITY, Okla. (KFOR) – A high-speed chase finally came to an end in Midwest City on Monday night.
Police say they attempted to pull over a vehicle because the driver had some misdemeanor warrants.
However, the driver refused to stop and led officers on a chase, heading eastbound on I-40.
At points during the chase, speeds reached up to 100 miles per hour.
Eventually, the suspect got off of the highway and ended up in a neighborhood.
The chase came to an end near S.E. 15th St. and Air Depot Blvd. in Midwest City.
The driver was taken into custody. | 2023-01-03T14:27:53+00:00 | kfor.com | https://kfor.com/news/local/high-speed-chase-ends-in-midwest-city-neighborhood/ |
SAN ANTONIO – A man was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Friday after being convicted of setting his girlfriend on fire.
Roberto Cocolam and the victim, Deborah Romo, were in a relationship in 2021.
The couple got into an argument, during which Cocolam turned off the water to the home and then doused the woman with gas before setting her on fire.
Romo’s granddaughter was able to save her by using a bucket of mop water that was nearby.
Cocolam was later charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and arson.
Romo’s family say they believe Cocolam should have gotten a harsher punishment.
Romo was present at the trial, while family on both sides filled parts of the courtroom as they proceeded with the sentence. | 2023-02-04T01:58:54+00:00 | ksat.com | https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2023/02/04/man-sentenced-to-40-years-in-prison-for-setting-girlfriend-on-fire-in-2021/ |
Staying on top of your kids’ online gaming can feel like an uphill battle with how quickly new technology unfolds. Elementary and middle school kids are probably familiar with the popular game Roblox, but parents might not know anything about it. According to Active Player, in the last thirty days, the game has drawn more than 217 million players. It’s advertised as an “imagination platform” and can be played on smartphones, computers, tablets and gaming systems.
But is Roblox safe for kids? Well, for starters, it’s helpful to know how it works.
What is Roblox?
If you’re not familiar with the online gaming platform, here’s how it works. The multi-player platform is a space where you can play games designed by other users and create and share your own game. The company says it’s a “global platform where millions of people gather together every day to imagine, create, and share experiences with each other in immersive, user-generated 3D worlds.” The types of gameplay on Roblox are just as limitless as the imagination of the creators themselves.
After signing up, you can play as many games as you’d like for free and communicate with other users. There’s no minimum age to play and people from any group can chat with each other.
If kids want to customize their avatar with clothing and accessories or play the game to its full ability, they have to purchase “Robux,” the in-game currency that costs real-life dollars. Additional charges come when subscribing to Roblox Premium, which supplies additional features for a fee.
What Precautions Are In Place To Make Roblox Safe For Kids?
Common Sense Media rates Roblox OK for users age 13 and older, but younger children are able to set up accounts and play. Since users of any age can interact with each other, it poses some risks to kids.
Users are given the option to interact with it’s “Chat & Party” function, which has filters in place. So, if someone types in a swear word, it’s replaced by symbols. For those under 13, stronger filters are in place. In 2021, the company implemented an age verification system, requiring anyone 13 and up to show a government-issued ID. Parents who verify their kid’s age means they will be granted access to more features, including voice chat. In addition to programmed filters, employees also monitor chats for inappropriate language and content.
Roblox offers controls that allow parents to restrict how kids can interact with the site and what kind of games they are allowed to play. However, kids of any age can create an account without parental restrictions. For those following the rules, the company has “Experience Guidelines” that rate each game as all ages, 9+ or 13+. To help reduce risk even further, communication and privacy settings should be set to friends-only or no communication.
No matter what gaming platform children use, parents can help their kids stay safe by teaching them online best practices and enabling privacy settings. However, if you have a tech-savvy kid, this could pose a risk. While there are stricter settings on accounts for children under age 13, kids can change the settings if no parent PIN is enabled.
Cost Concerns
Not only do parents want to make sure appropriate settings are in place, but they can now set a cap on their child’s spending habits, thanks to a recent rollout. This is the direct result of parental complaints that their children spent thousands of dollars with Robux without being notified. One man’s daughter spent over $7,200 on Roblox over two months during the lockdown, despite putting a cap on purchases when he originally set up the account. Another man’s granddaughter racked up more than $5,000 in charges, not realizing she was spending real money.
Some kids have reported feeling pressured to buy gifts for others, and scammers have also taken advantage of children, conning them into gifting these expensive items to them. Sometimes the scammers pretend to be famous YouTubers to gain trust. To stop this from happening, parents are urged to check settings on the app and third-party services like iTunes to make sure in-app purchases are either restricted or turned off. You can also install a password to be required for all purchases.
Keeping Online Predators Away
Unfortunately, online predictors lurk wherever games are marketed to children. They try to gradually lure kids off the platform and onto other social platforms where restrictions aren’t in place. In the past, kids have reported sexually suggestive material in the game, or times when their characters were assaulted. This can happen on any multiplayer platform game. People with ill-intentions try to lure others to different platforms under the disguise of being a “friend” and then ask to either meet in person or exchange illicit images.
At the end of the day, the more open communication you have with your child, the better. As a parent, familiarizing yourself with parental controls and setting up restrictions can help create necessary guardrails. And once those basic parameters are in place, your kids can have a relatively fun and safe gaming platform to enjoy.
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Check out Simplemost for additional stories. | 2023-03-10T15:12:04+00:00 | kjrh.com | https://www.kjrh.com/is-roblox-safe-for-kids-what-parents-should-know |
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