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WFO SHREVEPORT Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Tuesday, December 13, 2022
_____
TORNADO WARNING
Severe Weather Statement
National Weather Service Shreveport LA
400 PM CST Tue Dec 13 2022
...THE TORNADO WARNING FOR SOUTHEASTERN RUSK AND NORTH CENTRAL
NACOGDOCHES COUNTIES IS CANCELLED...
The tornadic thunderstorm which prompted the warning has moved out
of the warned area. Therefore, the warning has been cancelled.
A Tornado Watch remains in effect until 500 PM CST for northeastern
Texas. A Tornado Watch also remains in effect until 1000 PM CST for
eastern Texas.
...A TORNADO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 415 PM CST FOR SOUTH
CENTRAL PANOLA AND NORTH CENTRAL SHELBY COUNTIES...
At 400 PM CST, a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado
was located near Timpson, or 12 miles south of Carthage, moving
northeast at 40 mph.
HAZARD...Tornado.
SOURCE...Radar indicated rotation.
IMPACT...Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without
shelter. Mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. Damage
to roofs, windows, and vehicles will occur. Tree damage is
likely.
This dangerous storm will be near...
Tenaha around 405 PM CST.
Other locations impacted by this tornadic thunderstorm include Woods,
Paxton and Gary City.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
TAKE COVER NOW! Move to a basement or an interior room on the lowest
floor of a sturdy building. Avoid windows. If you are outdoors, in a
mobile home, or in a vehicle, move to the closest substantial shelter
and protect yourself from flying debris.
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Copyright 2022 AccuWeather | 2022-12-13T23:00:40+00:00 | sfgate.com | https://www.sfgate.com/weather/article/TX-WFO-SHREVEPORT-Warnings-Watches-and-17651993.php |
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) —
The hottest thing in technology is an unprepossessing sliver of silicon closely related to the chips that power video game graphics. It’s an artificial intelligence chip, designed specifically to make building AI systems such as ChatGPT faster and cheaper.
Such chips have suddenly taken center stage in what some experts consider an AI revolution that could reshape the technology sector — and possibly the world along with it. Shares of Nvidia, the leading designer of AI chips, rocketed up almost 25% last Thursday after the company forecast a huge jump in revenue that analysts said indicated soaring sales of its products. The company was briefly worth more than $1 trillion on Tuesday.
SO WHAT ARE AI CHIPS, ANYWAY?
That isn’t an easy question to answer. “There really isn’t a completely agreed upon definition of AI chips,” said Hannah Dohmen, a research analyst with the Center for Security and Emerging Technology.
In general, though, the term encompasses computing hardware that’s specialized to handle AI workloads — for instance, by “training” AI systems to tackle difficult problems that can choke conventional computers.
VIDEO GAME ORIGINS
Three entrepreneurs founded Nvidia in 1993 to push the boundaries of computational graphics. Within a few years, the company had developed a new chip called a graphics processing unit, or GPU, which dramatically sped up both development and play of video games by performing multiple complex graphics calculations at once.
That technique, known formally as parallel processing, would prove key to the development of both games and AI. Two graduate students at the University of Toronto used a GPU-based neural network to win a prestigious 2012 AI competition called ImageNet by identifying photo images at much lower error rates than competitors.
The win kick-started interest in AI-related parallel processing, opening a new business opportunity for Nvidia and its rivals while providing researchers powerful tools for exploring the frontiers of AI development.
MODERN AI CHIPS
Eleven years later, Nvidia is the dominant supplier of chips for building and updating AI systems. One of its recent products, the H100 GPU, packs in 80 billion transistors — about 13 million more than Apple’s latest high-end processor for its MacBook Pro laptop. Unsurprisingly, this technology isn’t cheap; at one online retailer, the H100 lists for $30,000.
Nvidia doesn’t fabricate these complex GPU chips itself, a task that would require enormous investments in new factories. Instead it relies on Asian chip foundries such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Korea’s Samsung Electronics.
Some of the biggest customers for AI chips are cloud-computing services such as those run by Amazon and Microsoft. By renting out their AI computing power, those services make it possible for smaller companies and groups that couldn’t afford to build their own AI systems from scratch to use cloud-based tools to help with tasks that can range from drug discovery to customer management.
OTHER USES AND COMPETITION
Parallel processing has many uses outside of AI. A few years ago, for instance, Nvidia graphics cards were in short supply because cryptocurrency miners, who set up banks of computers to solve thorny mathematical problems for bitcoin rewards, had snapped up most of them. That problem faded as the cryptocurrency market collapsed in early 2022.
Analysts say Nvidia will inevitably face tougher competition. One potential rival is Advanced Micro Devices, which already faces off with Nvidia in the market for computer graphics chips. AMD has recently taken steps to bolster its own lineup of AI chips.
Nvidia is based in Santa Clara, California. Co-founder Jensen Huang remains the company’s president and chief executive. | 2023-06-01T11:15:30+00:00 | wboy.com | https://www.wboy.com/news/business/ap-business/ai-chips-are-hot-heres-what-they-are-what-theyre-for-and-why-investors-see-gold/ |
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ST. ANDREWS, Scotland (AP) — Tiger Woods is among the few who can appreciate how the Old Course played in the old days.
His first time playing St. Andrews for the British Open as a pro was in 2000, and on his final day of practice, Woods ripped a driver in relatively benign conditions to the front of green on the 352-yard ninth hole.
Then, swing coach Butch Harmon pulled out a replica of the gutta-percha golf ball from more than a century ago. Woods ripped another driver and then a 5-iron just over the back.
Such is the mystique of St. Andrews, particularly the Old Course.
This is the 150th edition of the Open, and it's been 149 years since it was first held at the home of golf. Yes, the course has changed over the years. And yes, the evolution of the game has led to scores getting lower with each generation, just as times have come down on the track and in the pool.
But it's still the Old Course.
“Even with advancements in technology, this golf course still stands the test of time,” Woods said. “It's still very difficult, and it's obviously weather dependent. You get winds like we did today, it's a hell of a test.”
This was on Tuesday, the strongest wind of the week. Woods hit 6-iron for his second shot on the 386-yard 10th hole. He was 120 yards out into the wind. With a different wind, perhaps even no wind, he can still get driver around the green.
Amid so much celebration of history this week at St. Andrews, there are rumblings that the Old Course could be exposed as being obsolete. It already uses parts of three other courses to stretch it out to 7,313 yards. And while it's a par 72 with only two par 5s, at least four of the par 4s might be reachable off the tee considering how crusty the links is this year.
And the fearsome wind, which along with the bunkers is the great defense of the Old Course, is forecast to be a little more than a wee breeze.
Rory McIlroy still rues a 3-foot birdie putt he missed on the 17th hole in the opening round in 2010. He had to settle for a 63. And then the wind arrived, and he shot 80.
Jordan Spieth, who missed the playoff by one shot in 2015 in his St. Andrews debut, raised concerns last week when he said the British Open could be little more than a “wedge contest” if the wind goes on holiday.
The reason it stands up to the modern game? “Because of the weather,” he said. But then he quickly added, “I don't think it stands the test of time if it's benign.”
He thought back to the last time, in 2015, when Louis Oosthuizen won the three-man playoff after they finished at 15-under par. That was a Monday finish because of wind delays.
“If the conditions are calm for four days — which I don't think happens over here — I think that with today's technology, it becomes a shootout.”
It's not all about power. Spieth says wind or not, there are certain spots to which players can hit because of subtle turns, pot bunkers, even a few gorse bushes depending on the line. Getting there is easier without wind. The next shot is easier. Scores get lower.
But then there's Scottie Scheffler, who is contemplating hitting left toward the sixth fairway when he's playing the 13th just to avoid the bunkers.
The No. 1 player in the world can join some elite company. Winning at Augusta National and St. Andrews is special. The list includes Woods and Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Seve Ballesteros, most recently Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson.
Scheffler is spending more time on the course than on the range, discovering countless options on how to play shots. From 30 yards or so off the green, he has used just about everything from a putter to a 6-iron. He already has experienced how differently the course has played with normal wind by Scottish standards — 5-iron, wedge into the first hole one day, 3-iron, 5-iron another day.
“When you get a little bit of wind, all bets are off,” he said.
In some respects, St. Andrews is like Pebble Beach. On a calm day, it can be a most enjoyable walk and as easy a course as players will find in a major championship. In the wind, it can be a holy terror. Nicklaus and Woods are the only players to have won majors on both.
“To believe the game of golf essentially started here, and it just absolutely is mind-boggling to me that it still stands up to the golfers of today,” Nicklaus said. “I tell you, if you get a little bit of weather — anytime you get it — it will tell you real fast how it makes you stand up to it.”
And without wind?
The record score in a major is 62 by Branden Grace at Royal Birkdale in 2017.
Martin Slumbers, the R&A chief, isn't the least bit worried about scoring. He cares only about getting the Old Course as perfect as possible, and it's close to that. The links are so firm and bouncy that the ball moves faster on the fairways than on the greens.
“The second bit is luck, and luck with Mother Nature,” he said.
Even with moderate wind, he is confident the Old Course can handle the best. He wasn't bothered when someone raised the notion of a 59, which is 13-under par.
“There's 7,300 yards. It's got greens that are running at 10 1/2 to 11 (on the Stimpmeter). It's got fairways where the ball is bouncing 50 yards if it’s hit and more if it catches the downslope. I'll tell you what, if someone shoots that, I will be the first person on the 18th green to shake their hand because they have played outstanding golf.”
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More AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | 2022-07-13T17:37:06+00:00 | lmtonline.com | https://www.lmtonline.com/sports/article/Old-Course-that-stands-test-of-time-at-modern-17302453.php |
President Biden will head to Japan to meet with G7 leaders. He canceled plans to travel on to Australia because of the looming debt ceiling deadline. He also planned to stop in Papua New Guinea.
Copyright 2023 NPR
President Biden will head to Japan to meet with G7 leaders. He canceled plans to travel on to Australia because of the looming debt ceiling deadline. He also planned to stop in Papua New Guinea.
Copyright 2023 NPR | 2023-05-17T11:31:41+00:00 | kgou.org | https://www.kgou.org/politics-and-government/politics-and-government/2023-05-17/biden-alters-his-overseas-travel-plans-because-of-the-debt-limit-standoff |
School backpacks are on sale now, and we scouted some good styles for our back-to-school shopping crowd from the selections now available at Amazon, Kohl’s and Walmart. Save on school essentials with hundreds of styles to choose from at different price points. You’ll find everything from affordable backpacks to high-end bookbags. Find deals on JanSport, Nike Elite and many other brand-name backpacks.
Amazon has backpacks for kids and backpacks for travel. Amazon has free returns, and fast, free delivery and you can buy backpacks in bulk. Walmart has kids’ backpacks, clear backpacks and Lunch backpacks with insulated coolers. Walmart offers free shipping and free 90-day returns.
Kohl’s has discounts on Disney, Paw Patrol and Marvel Avengers backpacks, 20% off, when you use code FAMILYSHOP at checkout. Get free shipping with a $35 purchase and fast & free store pickup! Family and Friends take an extra 25% off in store only. Sales end July 31.
Find Backpack Deals on the links below:
Kids Fortnite The Multiplier Backpack, by Licensed Character $27.99 Sale $39.99 Reg
That Girl Lay Lay 5-Piece Backpack & Lunch Bag Set, $27.99 Sale $39.99 Orig $22.39 (20% OFF)
Disney Princess 5-Piece Backpack Set $39.99 Reg $27.99 save (20% OFF)
PAW Patrol 5-Piece Backpack Set $39.99 Reg $27.99 FAMILYSHOP (20% OFF)
Marvel Avengers 5-Piece Backpack Set by Licensed Character $39.99 Reg $27.99 FAMILYSHOP (20% OFF)
adidas Foundation V Backpack 45.00 Reg $33.75 Sale
Reebok Girls Marley Backpack - Sweet Pink Splatter Print $28.00
Lego Backpack 16″ Multi-Color Bricks Bag Front & Side $25.99Was $29.99
K-Cliffs Heavy Duty Clear Backpack Transparent Bookbag Black $26.99Was $29.99
Matein Lunch Backpack, Insulated Cooler Backpack with USB Port for Women Men, $35.98Was $49.99 | 2022-07-28T23:40:11+00:00 | mlive.com | https://www.mlive.com/business/2022/07/find-deals-on-back-to-school-backpacks-from-amazon-kohls-walmart.html |
BOCA RATON, Fla., Oct. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Hispanics are increasingly concerned about their personal finances, leading to a decline in optimism in the U.S. economy during the third quarter, according to a new poll from the Florida Atlantic University Business and Economics Polling Initiative (FAU BEPI).
The Hispanic Consumer Sentiment Index dropped to 74.3 from 78.3 in the second quarter and 92 for the first quarter, the survey found.
Only 44 percent of the 454 respondents said they are better off financially than a year ago, down from 56 percent in the second quarter and 65 percent in the first quarter. In addition, a smaller percentage of respondents are more optimistic about their financial futures.
Hispanics also remain troubled over the cost of living, with 81 percent saying costs are going up, compared with 80 percent who said that in the second quarter.
"They are less optimistic about their personal finances because Hispanics spend a greater share of their budgets on items that have seen the most inflation, like used cars, food, gas and housing," said Monica Escaleras, Ph.D., director of FAU BEPI in the College of Business.
In three other questions used to create the index, respondents were slightly more upbeat compared to the second quarter but not nearly as optimistic as the first quarter.
When asked about business conditions over the next year, 44 percent of respondents said they expect conditions to be good, up from 43 percent in the prior quarter but down from 55 percent in the first quarter.
Compared to the second quarter, a higher percentage of respondents (53 percent) expect good times for the country over the next five years, but that still was down from 61 percent in the first three months of 2022.
Finally, while 40 percent said now is a good time to buy a big-ticket item, 50 percent felt that way in the first quarter. Only 26 percent said it's a good time to buy a house, but 49 percent felt that way in the first quarter.
In all the questions, Escaleras noted that younger Hispanics generally appeared more optimistic than their older counterparts.
The poll is based on a sampling of Hispanic adults from July 1 to Sept. 30. The margin of error is +/- 4.59 percentage points. The polling results and full cross-tabulations can be viewed here.
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SOURCE Florida Atlantic University Business and Economics Polling Initiative | 2022-10-13T16:36:46+00:00 | wsfa.com | https://www.wsfa.com/prnewswire/2022/10/13/fau-poll-hispanics-losing-confidence-us-economy/ |
It is no secret that the U.S. has one of the highest obesity rates in the world and that obesity leads to long-term health issues.
So it should come as no surprise that most Americans do not get the recommended level of physical activity needed to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
According to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, just 1 in 4 adult Americans in 2020 performed the recommended amount of physical activity for both aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities.
EXERCISE GUIDELINES:
150-300 MINUTES A WEEK OF MODERATE-INTENSITY AEROBIC ACTIVITY
OR
75-150 MINUTES A WEEK OF VIGOROUS AEROBIC ACTIVITY
AND
2 DAYS A WEEK OF MUSCLE-STRENGTHENING ACTIVITY THAT WORKS THE ENTIRE BODY
The CDC said that 22.7% met only the guidelines for aerobic activity, 6.8% met only the guidelines for muscle-strengthening activity, and 46.3% did not meet the guidelines for either type of activity.
Guidelines call for a minimum of 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity. Guidelines also call for adults to perform two days a week of activities that strengthen muscles throughout the body.
The CDC data found that income, gender and race all played a factor. The data showed that those who earn at least 200% of the federal poverty level are more than twice as likely to meet exercise guidelines than those making below the poverty level.
Men were also more likely to meet exercise requirements than women. Hispanic men were much more unlikely to meet physical activity guidelines than Black, Asian or white men. White women were more likely to exercise enough than Black, Hispanic or Asian women. | 2022-09-01T16:21:57+00:00 | abc15.com | https://www.abc15.com/news/national/most-americans-especially-those-who-are-poor-not-exercising-enough-data-finds |
BERLIN (AP) — The Group of Seven wealthy democracies announced plans Friday to strengthen epidemiological early-warning systems to detect infectious diseases with pandemic potential following the emergence of the coronavirus more than two years ago.
Germany’s health minister, who hosted a two-day meeting of his G-7 counterparts in Berlin this week, said an existing World Health Organization office in Berlin would be used to gather and analyze data more quickly.
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said the G-7 also wants to increase compulsory contributions to WHO by 50% in the long term to ensure the U.N. agency can perform fulfill its global leadership role.
The ministers who met in the Germany capital separately agreed to provide more support for developing new antibiotics that could be used to treat people infected with resistant strains of bacteria, which kill millions of patients each year.
Lauterbach said the G-7 also agreed to better protect the global population from the health impacts of global warming, including by making adaptation to climate change part of medical training.
The G-7 includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
___
Follow all of AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic | 2022-05-20T15:34:01+00:00 | wjhl.com | https://www.wjhl.com/news/international/g7-agree-pact-to-better-prepare-for-future-pandemics/ |
Federal prosecutors said Friday they have arrested the attorney general in Mexico's previous administration on charges he committed abuses in the investigation of the 2014 disappearances of 43 students from a radical teacher college.
Jesús Murillo Karam served as attorney general from 2012 to 2015, under then President Enrique Peña Nieto. The office of the current attorney general, Alejandro Gertz Manero, said Murillo Karam was charged with torture, official misconduct and forced disappearance.
In 2020, Gertz Manero said Murillo Karam had been implicated in “orchestrating a massive media trick” and leading a “generalized cover-up” in the case.
The arrest came a day after a commission set up to determine what happened said the army bore at least partial responsibility in the case. It said a soldier had infiltrated the student group involved and the army didn't stop the abductions even though it knew what was happening.
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Corrupt local police, other security forces and members of a drug gang abducted the students in the city of Iguala in Guerrero state, although the motive remains unclear eight years later. Their bodies have never been found, though fragments of burned bone have been matched to three of the students.
Murillo Karam, under pressure to quickly solve the case, announced in 2014 that the students had been killed and their bodies burned at a garbage dump by members of a drug gang. He called that hypothesis “the historic truth.”
But the investigation included instances of torture, improper arrest and mishandling of evidence that has since allowed most of the directly implicated gang members to walk free.
U.S. & World
The incident occurred near a large army base, and independent investigations have found that members of the military were aware of what was occurring. The students’ families have long demanded that soldiers be included in the investigation.
On Thursday, the truth commission looking into the case said one of the abducted students was a soldier who had infiltrated the radical teachers' college, yet the army did not search for him even though it had real-time information that the abduction was occurring. It said the inaction violated army protocols for cases of missing soldiers.
The defense ministry has not responded to a request for comment.
The Institutional Revolutionary Party, which both Murillo Karam and Peña Nieto belonged to, wrote in its Twitter account that Murillo Karam's arrest “is more a question of politics than justice. This action does not help the victims' families get answers.”
Mexican federal prosecutors previously issued arrest warrants for members of the military and federal police as well as Tomás Zeron, who at the time of the abduction headed the federal investigation agency, Mexico’s detective agency.
Zeron is being sought on charges of torture and covering up forced disappearances. He fled to Israel, and Mexico has asked the Israeli government for help in his arrest.
Gertz Manero said that in addition to Zeron’s alleged crimes connected to the case, he is alleged to have stolen more than $44 million from the Attorney General’s Office budget.
The motive for the students’ abduction remains a subject of debate.
On Sept. 26, 2014, local police from Iguala, members of organized crime and authorities abducted 43 students from buses. The students periodically commandeered buses for their transportation.
Murillo Karam claimed the students were turned over to a drug gang who killed them, incinerated their bodies at a dump in nearby Cocula and tossed the burned bone fragments into a river.
Later investigations by independent experts and the Attorney General’s Office, and corroborated by the truth commission, have dismissed the idea that the bodies were incinerated at the Cocula dump.
There has been no evidence that any of the students could still be alive. | 2022-08-20T02:05:04+00:00 | nbcmiami.com | https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/national-international/mexico-charges-former-ag-with-torture-misconduct-in-missing-students-case/2840005/ |
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Facebook will be removing personal details from user profile bios starting on Dec. 1, according to reports from Business Insider and other outlets. Personal details that will no longer be included in profile bios include religious views, political views, addresses and the “interested in” field, which indicates a user’s sexual orientation.
Technology news outlet TechCrunch reports a Facebook representative said in a statement the changes are “part of our efforts to make Facebook easier to navigate and use.” The representative told TechCrunch users with these fields will be alerted before they disappear.
The change also represents an even further shift away from profile-based social media formatting, like the original iterations of Facebook and MySpace. These outlets originally centered user activity around personal profiles — remember the Facebook “Wall”? — but feeds increasingly became the norm.
The migration away from personal information on a profile may also signal an increasing hesitancy when it comes to revealing identifiable information online.
The announced changes come on the heels of Meta Inc., Facebook’s parent company, announcing the largest layoffs in its history last week. The company last week, let go of approximately 13% of it workforce, around 11,000 people. | 2022-11-18T23:34:17+00:00 | siouxlandproud.com | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/national-news/facebook-removing-religious-political-views-and-interested-in-from-user-bios-report/ |
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BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Thursday that Russia's war in Ukraine mustn't lead to a “worldwide renaissance” for coal — comments that come as Germany itself brings coal-fired power plants back online in an effort to prevent an energy crunch this winter.
In a speech to parliament, Scholz highlighted his government's efforts to counter the effects of Russia's decision to cut off gas supplies to Germany. The government has in recent months approved reactivating several coal- and oil-fired power plants, and environmental activists warn that Germany risks defaulting on its climate goals by burning more fossil fuels.
Scholz said five further plants that use lignite, a low-quality and high-emission type of coal, have gone back online in recent days “as a time-limited but necessary emergency measure.” The chancellor this week also decided to keep Germany's last three nuclear power plants, which originally were supposed to be switched off at the end of the year, running until mid-April.
“We continue to stand firmly by our climate targets,” Scholz told lawmakers.
Officials from almost 200 countries will gather next month in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, to discuss how to tackle global warming.
Scholz vowed that Germany, which is moving to expand its use of renewable energy, will pass all the major legislation needed to fulfill its climate targets by the end of this year and that the European Union will stay on course. He called for a final agreement in the coming months on the EU's proposed “Fit for 55” package to achieve the bloc's goals of cutting emissions of the gases that cause global warming by 55% over this decade.
“The Russian aggression and its consequences mustn't lead to a worldwide renaissance of coal,” the chancellor said. “We will make clear offers so that developing and emerging countries also can embark resolutely on the path toward a climate-neutral energy sector.”
“We will vigorously help the states that today already are suffering particularly from the consequences of climate change,” he added.
Germany's foreign minister said earlier this month that Berlin wants the huge economic damage resulting from global warming to be discussed at the climate talks in Egypt.
Coal accounted for 31.4% of Germany's electricity generation in this year's first half, up from 27.1% a year earlier. Around 48.5% of the country's electricity came from renewable sources, up from 43.8% the year before, while the proportions derived from nuclear power and gas declined to 6% and 11.7%, respectively.
___
Follow all AP stories on climate change at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment | 2022-10-20T10:44:26+00:00 | expressnews.com | https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/German-leader-warns-against-worldwide-17521635.php |
BEREA, Ohio (AP)Jadeveon Clowney didn’t even want to visit the Browns as a free agent a few years ago. Now, he won’t leave them.
Coming off one of his best seasons, Clowney re-signed Wednesday with Cleveland to once again chase quarterbacks alongside All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett.
The Associated Press was one of several outlets to report Clowney agreed to terms on a contract worth up to $11 million last week. He’s now officially back on the roster as the team continues its offseason program.
Clowney had one of his most productive and healthiest seasons in 2021 with Cleveland. After signing a one-year deal, Clowney, who has dealt with injuries for most of his career, recorded nine sacks and played in 14 games – his most since 2018. He finished with a flurry, getting 5.5 sacks in his final three games.
With Clowney on the opposite side of the line tying up blockers, Garrett thrived as well and finished with a team single-season record 16 sacks.
The No. 1 overall pick in 2014, Clowney was hesitant to come to Cleveland a few years ago when he was on the free-agent market. He didn’t know much about the city or the Browns, but has found something of a second home.
Clowney has recorded 41 career sacks in 97 games with Houston, Seattle, Tennessee and Cleveland.
—
More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://apnews.com/hub/pro-32 and https://twitter.com/AP-NFL | 2022-05-26T14:18:45+00:00 | krqe.com | https://www.krqe.com/sports/nfl-football/clowney-re-signs-with-browns-bookends-again-with-garrett/ |
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota’s five American Indian tribes are seeking exclusive rights to host internet gambling and sports betting in the state, a monopoly worth millions, just a year after legislators turned aside a push by one big national player to allow it in the state.
The tribes are turning to Republican Gov. Doug Burgum to approve the idea under tribal-state agreements known as compacts, the first of which was signed in 1992. The current compacts expire at the end of this year and only Burgum can approve them, said Deb McDaniel, North Dakota’s top gambling regulator.
The tribes argue their casinos have been hurt by the explosion of electronic pull tab machines statewide after they were legalized in 2017, with North Dakotans pouring almost $1.75 billion into the machines in fiscal 2022. Their proposal, obtained by The Associated Press, is still in draft form. A public hearing on a final proposal is set for Oct. 21, McDaniel said.
DraftKings, a big player in the U.S. mobile gambling market, supported legislation and a failed resolution last year to allow sports betting in North Dakota to join about two dozen other states. The company said at the time that sports wagering already is taking place in North Dakota, with an estimated 138,000 people betting more than $355 million in illegal offshore markets annually each year.
The company did not immediately return messages seeking comment on the tribes’ proposal. FanDuel, another major player in the mobile gambling market, said it had no comment.
Americans have bet more than $125 billion on sports with legal gambling outlets in the four years since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 decision that lifted a federal ban on sports gambling, clearing the way for all 50 states to offer it.
In the fifth year of legal sports betting, the action is speeding up due to microbetting, the ability to place a bet on an outcome as narrowly targeted as the result of the next pitch in baseball or the next play in football.
It’s unclear what the financial benefits would be to the tribes — or the state — under the proposal, or how it would be regulated and taxed.
Burgum spokesperson Mike Nowatzki said the governor would not comment because negotiations are ongoing.
The proposal comes as Burgum has worked to improve state-tribal relations that have been especially strained since he took office in 2016 in the midst of prolonged protests and hundreds of arrests during the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline that passes beneath the Missouri River near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. The tribe draws its water from the Missouri and fears pollution.
Burgum in 2017 signed legislation that approved the electronic pull tab machines, despite opposition from tribes that warned the Las Vegas-style games would lure gamblers away from the state’s tribal-owned casinos.
Allowing the tribes to host internet gambling and take off-reservation bets would help improve relations and offset losses tribes have suffered from e-tabs, said Cynthia Monteau, a lawyer and executive director of the United Tribes Gaming Association, which consists of leaders from each of the state’s five tribes.
“I think it’s time to start looking at ways on how we can work together and help each other and mend relationships and move forward in a positive way,” she said.
Tribes believe the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act gives them authority to conduct online betting statewide, using servers on tribal lands.
A similar compact between Florida and the Seminole Tribe is tied up in federal court after a judge in November found the multibillion-dollar agreement between the state and tribe allowing online betting violated a federal rule that requires a person to be physically on tribal land when wagering. The lawsuit, filed by non-Indian casino owners in Florida, challenged the approval of the agreement by the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees tribal gambling operations.
North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley, a Republican, said he has offered Burgum legal advice on the tribes’ proposal but would not disclose what it is. Wrigley said he’s aware of the lawsuit in Florida.
West Fargo Republican Rep. Michael Howe, who now is a candidate for secretary of state, has long been an advocate of expanding online sports gambling operations in the state.
Howe said he does not necessarily oppose the tribes’ proposal. But he said if it fails, he expects legislation to resurface allowing it with or without tribes’ involvement because of its growing popularity.
“I think the average North Dakotan who enjoys sports wagering isn’t concerned where the tax revenue is going,” he said. | 2022-10-07T22:29:57+00:00 | kxnet.com | https://www.kxnet.com/news/state-news/north-dakota-tribes-want-exclusive-rights-on-online-gambling%EF%BF%BC/ |
DADEVILLE, Ala. (AP) — Alabama officials are identifying the four people who were killed in a weekend shooting at a teenager's birthday party that also injured 28.
Victims include Marsiah Emmanuel “Siah” Collins, 19, of Opelika; Corbin Dahmontrey Holston, 23, of Dadeville; Philstavious “Phil” Dowdell, 18, of Camp Hill and Shaunkivia Nicole “Keke” Smith, 17, of Dadeville, Tallapoosa County Coroner Mike Knox told The Associated Press on Monday. Relatives had identified Dowdell and Smith on Sunday.
The Saturday night shooting took place at a birthday party for Dowdell’s sister at the Mahogany Masterpiece dance studio in Dadeville. It's not clear how many of the 28 injured were shot.
Also unclear is who may have started the shooting and why, or whether investigators have made any arrests. Sgt. Jeremy Burkett of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency did not take questions during news conferences Sunday. Officials repeatedly asked others to come forward with information on the shooting.
Dowdell was a Dadeville High School student who planned to attend Jacksonville State University to play football.
Michael Taylor, an assistant coach, said he met Dowdell when the boy was 9 and coached him in youth football. Taylor said the team was invited to Atlanta to play in the stadium used by the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons.
“He did some amazing things there, and he never stopped doing them since then,” he said. “He was the No. 1 athlete in the school.”
Smith was also a Dadeville High senior who managed the basketball and track teams.
Collins had played football at Opelika High School before graduating in 2022, his father, Martin Collins, told Al.com. Collins was an aspiring rapper and his father said Collins planned to attend Louisiana State University, where the father is a law student.
Keenan Cooper, the DJ at the party, told WBMA-TV the party was stopped briefly when attendees heard someone had a gun. He said people with guns were asked to leave, but no one left. Cooper said when the shooting began some time later, some people took shelter under a table where he was standing, and others ran out.
At least five bullet holes were visible in the windows of the front of the dance studio Sunday. Investigators combed the scene for more than 12 hours, including climbing onto the roof of the one-story brick building to look for evidence.
The shooting sparked what Mayor Frank Goodman said was a “chaotic” scene at the town's small hospital, where emergency workers, relatives and friends swarmed on Saturday. Some of the most severely injured people were taken to larger hospitals elsewhere in Alabama.
Antojuan Woody, from the neighboring town of Camp Hill, was a senior and fellow wide receiver with Dowdell on a Dadeville Tigers football team that went undefeated before losing in the second round of the playoffs last year. He said he and Dowdell had been best friends for all of their lives.
He described the victims “as great people who didn’t deserve what happened to them.”
Other Dadeville High students returned to class Monday, where Tallapoosa County Superintendent Raymond Porter said counselors would be present. Flags flew at half-staff outside the school Monday as an electronic sign displayed information about the prom and make-up days to take college entrance exams.
The 485-student high school includes grades 6-12. It's a center of civic life in the small town, where “Home of the Tigers” is painted on the water tower. Dadeville, population 3,200, is tucked off a busy highway that runs from Birmingham to Auburn near Lake Martin, a popular recreational area.
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Feb. 17 — NextEra Energy 250 (Zane Smith)
March 3 — Victoria's Voice Foundation 200 presented by Westgate Resorts (Kyle Busch)
March 18 — Fr8 208 (Christian Eckes)
March 25 — XPEL 225 (Zane Smith)
April 1 — SpeedyCash.com 250, Fort Worth, Texas
April 8 — x-Qualifying Race 1, Bristol, Tenn.
April 8 — x-Qualifying Race 2, Bristol, Tenn.
April 8 — x-Qualifying Race 3, Bristol, Tenn.
April 8 — x-Qualifying Race 4, Bristol, Tenn.
April 8 — Weather Guard Truck Race on Dirt, Bristol, Tenn.
April 14 — Long John Silver’s 200, Ridgeway, Va.
May 6 — Heart Of America 200, Kansas City, Kan.
May 12 — NASCAR Craftsman Series Race at Darlington, Darlington, S.C.
May 20 — NASCAR Craftsman Series Race at North Wilkesboro, North Wilkesboro, N.C.
May 26 — North Carolina Education Lottery 200, Concord, N.C.
June 3 — Toyota 200, Madison, Ill.
June 23 — Rackley Roofing 200, Lebanon, Tenn.
July 8 — O'Reilly Auto Parts 150 at Mid-Ohio, Lexington, Ohio
July 22 — CRC Brakleen 150, Long Pond, Pa.
July 29 — Worldwide Express 250, Richmond, Va.
Aug. 11 — TSport 200, Indianapolis
Aug. 27 — NASCAR Craftsman Series Race at Milwaukee, West Allis, Wis.
Sept. 8 — Kansas Lottery 200, Kansas City, Kan.
Sept. 14 — UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics, Bristol, Tenn.
Sept. 30 — Love’s RV Stop 250, Talladega, Ala.
Oct. 21 — Baptist Health 200, Homestead, Fla.
Nov. 3 — Lucas Oil 150, Avondale, Ariz. | 2023-03-27T18:45:05+00:00 | expressnews.com | https://www.expressnews.com/sports/article/nascar-craftsman-truck-schedule-winners-17862610.php |
A number of historically Black colleges and universities are seeing an increase in Black students applying and enrolling after years of decline.
The National Center for Education Statistics reports these enrollments fell from 18% in 1976 to 8% in 2014. But in 2020, that number rose to 9%. HBCUs such as Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, have seen an increase in applications. At that school, the number went up over 60% in 2020 from the previous year, according to Data USA.
There are a number of factors behind the change — including boosts from famous graduates such as Vice President Harris — but some Black students and their families see a safer learning environment with these institutions.
Sherrille McKethan-Green, whose son Gideon Green is attending Morehouse, counts herself among them.
"I felt that after he graduated from college, he would have time to be a minority, but at Morehouse, he would be a majority," she told NPR.
The first HBCU was established in the 1830s, before the Civil War, giving Black Americans the opportunity to pursue higher education.
Walter Kimbrough, the interim executive director of the Black Men's Research Institute at Morehouse College, told NPR these schools were critical to the development of a Black professional group.
"Your teachers, your doctors, your lawyers, your ministers — they came out of that HBCU tradition," he said.
However, these schools are not immune to forces such as financial challenges and questions about whether affirmative action policies should still exist.
The pandemic has also affected Black student enrollment in overall higher education, according to an analysis by the Latino Policy and Politics Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, on the impact of COVID on enrollment among students of color.
But then a movement for racial justice caught the nation's attention.
Paulina Webber, an incoming senior at Dillard University, told NPR she saw more students choosing HBCUs.
"We saw the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, and then we saw students say, 'Hey, I want to go to a Black school. I want to be safe. I want to enjoy my time,'" she said.
Webber added that the shared experiences as Black people at HBCUs helps students to understand and navigate the world when they graduate.
For McKethan-Green, her son attending Morehouse is the culmination of a years-long dream.
"I got [him] a sweatshirt made that says 'Future Morehouse College Graduate' at the age of 3," she said.
He chose to apply only to HBCUs, and when he was accepted to Morehouse, she was overjoyed.
"He needed to be around people ... that had his best interest at heart and would also tell him that 'You're going to be great. You're going to be a success.'"
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | 2022-08-15T12:24:39+00:00 | kcbx.org | https://www.kcbx.org/npr-top-news/2022-08-15/after-the-rise-of-blm-black-students-and-their-families-are-heading-back-to-hbcus |
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A dirt farmer and Montana's only statewide-elected Democrat will seek reelection to the U.S. Senate. Jon Tester's campaign launch boosts Democrats' hopes of holding on to their slim Senate majority in 2024. Montana Public Radio's Austin Amestoy reports.
JON TESTER: It is great to be back with you today to speak a little bit about how we can better serve our bosses, the people of Montana.
AUSTIN AMESTOY, BYLINE: Days before announcing his fourth run for the U.S. Senate, Jon Tester addressed a joint session of the Montana legislature. He struck a moderate tone, appealing to his base and saying he'll stand up to President Biden on issues like securing the southern border and constructing the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
TESTER: I will always take on anyone to defend Montana values and do what's right for our state.
AMESTOY: In recent years, Tester has done what many other Democrats haven't been able to do - win in rural conservative states. In Montana, a state Donald Trump carried twice by double-digit margins, Tester was narrowly reelected in 2018 despite Trump visiting the state four times to campaign against him. The Cook Political Report rates Montana's 2024 Senate race as Lean Democrat with Tester in the contest. Lee Banville is a journalism professor and political analyst at the University of Montana.
LEE BANVILLE: It was obviously going to be a highly anticipated decision by Sen. Tester whether to run again because the alternative was really unclear.
AMESTOY: Banville says Tester's bid to retain his seat will test his ability to reach a new landscape of Montana voters. When Tester won his first Senate race in 2006, Montana had a Democratic governor and was known for its power sharing between the parties. Now, though, Republicans hold a historic supermajority in the state legislature and have pushed Democrats out of all other statewide-elected positions. Tester's latest bid gives Democrats with dwindling control in Montana hopes of keeping a foothold in Congress.
Democrats hold the majority in the U.S. Senate by just a single seat and have twice as many incumbent positions up for reelection in 2024 than Republicans. The National Republican Senatorial Committee, led by Tester's counterpart from Montana, Sen. Steve Daines, already released a statement attacking Tester by linking him with President Joe Biden and blaming the duo for an uptick of crime and fentanyl distribution in Montana. Banville says Tester's entrance gives Democrats a better chance, but Tester always runs a close race.
BANVILLE: But I will tell you, it will be a large battle in the state of Montana to see if Tester can win reelection again.
AMESTOY: Tester has never won by more than 4 points. For NPR News, I'm Austin Amestoy in Missoula, Mont. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | 2023-02-23T15:40:53+00:00 | kgou.org | https://www.kgou.org/politics-and-government/politics-and-government/2023-02-22/montanas-jon-tester-a-rare-red-state-democrat-in-senate-announces-reelection-bid |
Mexico, or large parts of it, is running out of water.
An extreme drought has seen taps run dry across the country, with nearly two-thirds of all municipalities facing a water shortage that is forcing people in some places to line up for hours for government water deliveries.
The lack of water has grown so extreme that irate residents block highways and kidnap municipal workers to demand more supply.
The numbers underlining the crisis are startling: In July, eight of Mexico’s 32 states were experiencing extreme to moderate drought, resulting in 1,546 of the country’s 2,463 municipalities confronting water shortages, according to the National Water Commission.
By mid-July, about 48% of Mexico’s territory was suffering drought, according to the commission, compared with about 28% of the country’s territory during the same period last year.
While tying a single drought to human-caused climate change requires analysis, scientists have no doubt that global warming can alter rainfall patterns around the world and is increasing the likelihood of droughts.
Across the border in recent years, most of the western half of the United States has been in drought, with conditions ranging from moderate to severe. For the region, this period is now the driest two decades in 1,200 years.
The crisis is particularly acute in Monterrey, Mexico’s second-largest city and one of its most important economic hubs, where the entire metropolitan area of about 5 million people is affected by drought, according to officials. Some neighborhoods in Monterrey have been without water for 75 days, leading many schools to close before the scheduled summer break.
The situation in the city has gotten so dire, a visiting journalist could not find any drinking water for sale at several stores, including a Walmart.
Buckets, too, are scarce at local stores — or being sold at astronomically high prices — as Monterrey’s residents scrape together containers to collect water supplied by government trucks sent to the driest neighborhoods. Some residents clean out trash cans to ferry water home, children struggling to help carry what can amount to 450 pounds of water.
While Monterrey’s poorest neighborhoods are the hardest hit, the crisis is affecting everyone, including the wealthy.
“Here you have to chase the water,” said Claudia Muñiz, 38, whose household is often without running water for up to a week. “In a moment of desperation, people explode,” she said about the violence that has flared as people fight over what water there is.
Monterrey is in northern Mexico, the most parched region of the country, which has seen its population grow in recent years as the economy boomed. But the area’s typically arid weather is struggling to support the population as climate change reduces what little rainfall the region has.
Monterrey’s residents can now walk across the floor of the reservoir that was created by the Cerro Prieto dam and that was once one of the city’s largest sources of water. The reservoir also used to be a major tourist attraction that the local government marketed for its lively waterfront restaurants and its fishing, boating and water-skiing.
Now Cerro Prieto is mostly popular because of the coins buried at the bottom of the reservoir that bakes under the sun. Residents swipe metal detectors across exposed rock and scrub, filling pouches with peso coins once tossed in by visitors as they made a wish.
Along with the Cerro Prieto reservoir, a seven-year drought — interrupted only by strong rains in 2018, according to a local official — has also dried up water along two other dams that provide most of Monterrey’s water supply. One dam reached 15% of its capacity this year, while the other reached 42%. The rest of the city’s water comes from aquifers, many of which are also running low.
The amount of rain in July in parts of the state of Nuevo León, which borders Texas and whose capital is Monterrey, was just 10% of the monthly average recorded since 1960, according to Juan Ignacio Barragán Villarreal, the general director of the city’s water agency.
“In March it did not rain a single drop in the entire state,’’ he said, adding that it was the first rain-free March since the government started keeping records in 1960.
Today, the government distributes a total of 9 million liters of water daily to 400 neighborhoods. Every day “pipas,” large trucks filled with water and pipes for distribution, fan out across Monterrey and its suburbs to tend to the needs of the driest neighborhoods, often illegal settlements that are home to the poorest residents.
Alejandro Casas, a water truck driver, has been working for the government for five years and said that when he started, he supported the city’s firefighters and was called perhaps once or twice a month to deliver water to a fire scene. His workdays were often spent staring at his phone.
But since Monterrey’s water shortage became so acute that taps started running dry in January, he now works every day, making up to 10 daily trips to various neighborhoods to supply about 200 families with water with each trip.
By the time Casas arrives, a long queue snakes through neighborhood streets with people waiting their turn. Some families carry containers that can hold 200 liters, or 53 gallons, and wait in the sun throughout the afternoon before finally receiving water at midnight.
The water he delivers can be all the family gets for up to a week.
No one polices the lines so fights break out, as residents from other communities try to sneak in instead of waiting for trucks to reach their neighborhood days later. Residents are allowed to take home as much water as their containers can hold.
In May, Casas’ truck was stormed by several young men who got into the passenger seat and threatened him as he was delivering water to the San Ángel neighborhood.
“They spoke to me with a very threatening tone,” Casas said, explaining that they demanded he drive the truck to their neighborhood to distribute water. “They told me that if we don’t go to where they wanted, they were going to kidnap us.”
Casas headed to the other neighborhood, filled residents’ buckets and was set free.
Edgar Ruiz, another government water truck driver, has also seen the crisis worsen. Starting in January he has delivered water from the wells the government controls and has watched nervously each week as their levels plunge.
“In January I distributed two or three pipes,” he said, referring to individual water tanks that can carry up to 15,000 liters. “Now I distribute 10, and they have hired many more people” to drive water trucks. Neighboring states have also sent drivers and trucks to help out.
He now fears doing his job. Residents used to be grateful when they saw his water truck entering their neighborhood; now they are irate the government has not been able to fix the water shortage.
“They stoned a water truck,” he said.
María De Los Ángeles, 45, was born and raised in Ciénega de Flores, a town near Monterrey. She says the water crisis is straining her family and her business.
“I have never experienced a crisis like this before,” De Los Ángeles said. “The water only comes through our taps every four or five days.”
The crisis, she said, is pushing her into bankruptcy — a garden nursery she owns is her family’s only source of livelihood and needs more water than can be provided by the occasional water that flows through her home’s taps.
“I have to buy a water tank every week that costs me 1,200 pesos,” equal to $60, from a private supplier, she said. That consumes about half of her weekly income of $120.
“We can’t handle it anymore,” De Los Ángeles said.
Small-business owners like De Los Ángeles are frustrated that they are left to fend for themselves while Monterrey’s big industries are largely able to operate normally. Factories are able to draw 50 million cubic meters of water per year because of federal concessions that give them special access to the city’s aquifers.
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The government is struggling to respond to the crisis.
To try to mitigate future shortages, the state is investing about $97 million to build a plant to treat wastewater and plans to buy water from a desalination plant under construction in a neighboring state.
The government has spent about $82 million to rent more trucks to distribute water, pay additional drivers and dig more wells, according to Barragán, the general director of the water agency.
The governor of Nuevo León state, Samuel García, recently urged the world to act together to tackle climate change because it was beyond the capacity of any single government to confront.
“The climate crisis has caught up to us,” García wrote on Twitter.
“Today we have to take care of the environment, it is life or death.”
c.2022 The New York Times Company | 2022-08-03T18:04:13+00:00 | sun-sentinel.com | https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/ct-aud-nw-nyt-mexico-drought--20220803-5fbfwv7gdjadtnitxt5tko63s4-story.html |
BOZEMAN – Hyundai Motor Group announced Thursday that the company will locate its New Horizons Studio (NHS) headquarters in Bozeman. Hyundai’s NHS is a unit focused on the development of Ultimate Mobility Vehicles (UMVs).
Representing an estimated $20 million investment by Hyundai, the facility will create more than 50 jobs in Gallatin County.
Governor Greg Gianforte welcomed the company and representatives to Montana at a press event Thursday morning.
“An innovative, global company, Hyundai Motor Group’s decision to bring its NHS headquarters to Bozeman is a testament to our business-friendly environment, booming hi-tech sector, unmatched quality of life, and Montanans’ strong work ethic,” Gov. Gianforte said. “Montana is open for business to the world, and we’re thrilled by the good-paying jobs and opportunities Hyundai’s investment will bring to our state.”
Gov. Gianforte: "Montana's open for business"
Hyundai announced its plans to open a new research, development, and lab center which will serve as NHS headquarters within MSU’s Innovation Campus.
Gov. Gianforte joined John Robb, CEO of Hyundai America Technical Center, Inc., and Dr. John Suh, head of New Horizons Studio and vice president of Hyundai Motor Group, to cut the ribbon at the new facility which is scheduled to break ground on next month.
“Montana is quickly becoming a hub for high-tech companies and entrepreneurs with a growing talent pool of skilled labor in the field of engineering, research and natural science,” said Dr. Suh. “Bozeman is a thriving and economic micropolitan city. Nestled near dozens of off-road trails with more than 150 miles of terrain and mountain access for UMV testing – it’s the perfect fit for our new R&D Lab.”
“Hyundai’s investment in Montana is an example of what we can accomplish through targeted, focused, and coordinated business recruitment efforts,” President and CEO of the Montana Chamber of Commerce Todd O’Hair said. “With leading support from Governor Gianforte and his administration, business, education and government leaders came together to demonstrate Montana’s potential to the Hyundai Team. The Montana business community welcomes New Horizons Studio to our great state and we are excited for their future.”
The estimated 12,000 to 15,000 sq. ft. facility on MSU’s Innovation Campus will support prototyping, field testing, and application development for UMVs.
The facility’s location on MSU’s campus will also allow Hyundai to work closely with undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, and professors on campus.
“Montana State University is pleased to welcome Hyundai to Bozeman. As the state’s largest research university, we see many opportunities in the future for collaboration between Hyundai and our students, faculty and graduates in an enormous range of fields from engineering, to laser optics, to computing and artificial intelligence. This is a very exciting day for us all,” said Jason Carter, MSU vice president of research, economic development and graduate education.
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With the explosion in popularity of tools like ChatGPT, generative AI (artificial intelligence) is emerging as a widely sought-after solution to reduce the burden of administrative and routine tasks in HR.
TORONTO, July 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - As advancements in generative AI technology are fundamentally changing how organizations approach and conduct work, HR is positioned to play an integral role in successfully adapting to the future of work. To help HR leaders bridge the gap between the lack of employee and organizational knowledge and understanding versus the immense capabilities and possible benefits of generative AI, McLean & Company has released its timely new research blueprint, Harness the Potential of Generative AI in HR.
Many employees are already using generative AI tools and products, though they often lack the skills and competencies needed to maximize the benefits of this technology while minimizing the risks. Organizations are also struggling to optimize and manage the use of AI tools and must contend with significant risks, biases, and inaccuracies in generative AI.
The global HR research and advisory firm explains in the new resource that through the development of skills needed to leverage evolving technology and empowering employees to embrace the associated capabilities, HR has a key opportunity to support the evaluation and implementation of generative AI throughout the organization.
"Generative AI presents an exciting opportunity for people leaders to rethink how HR does its work and find unprecedented efficiencies," says Will Howard, director of HR Research and Advisory Services at McLean & Company. "HR plays a crucial role in supporting the entire organization in understanding the far-reaching impacts of generative AI and helping employees adapt to the disruption."
In the blueprint, the firm explains that the relationship between generative AI tools and employees is mutually beneficial. Generative AI tools can improve efficiency and accelerate innovation by automating routine day-to-day tasks, while employee input is crucial for validating and improving the output provided by generative AI.
McLean & Company also suggests that the key to successful implementation of generative AI in the workplace is creating a culture of trust and support within the organization, with employees who aren't afraid of trying new ideas being 4.47x more likely to be engaged than those who are.
The latest data-backed blueprint is divided into three sections to provide a concise process HR leaders can follow to evaluate and implement generative AI tools within their organizations. The firm's recommended process is outlined below:
- Define generative AI use cases in HR: Completion of the first section of the process will identify key stakeholders and a project team, evaluate organizational and HR strategy to inform the project purpose and guiding principles, and complete a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities) analysis to understand how generative AI applies to HR practices. This section also requires gathering feedback from employees, prioritizing HR capabilities, and determining the application of generative AI use cases.
- Pilot and launch generative AI use cases: The second section supports HR leaders in creating guidelines for generative AI use in HR, piloting the generative AI use case in HR prior to implementation, and identifying the skills, knowledge, and behaviors needed to optimize generative AI.
- Support the organization in implementing generative AI: The third and final section of the research guides the development of a policy on the acceptable use of generative AI, the conduction of a risk assessment of use cases across the organization, and the empowerment of employees to leverage generative AI in their roles. It also reminds HR leaders to conduct workforce planning to anticipate and prepare for future needs.
"There is a lot of anxiety among employees about the impact of generative AI on job security," explains Howard. "Engaging employees early and often is crucial to reduce uncertainty."
McLean & Company advises that the cornerstone of a successful evaluation of generative AI in the workplace is transparency. Being open about its potential uses and the benefits and drawbacks of using generative AI will increase employee trust.
To access the full blueprint, download Harness the Potential of Generative AI in HR.
As a future-focused advisory partner, the firm has also recently released its cutting-edge report, The Future of HR Report, which examines how HR leaders must prepare for the unpredictable through the evaluation of HR trends and consideration of drivers of change.
For HR leaders as well as C-suite and VP-level executives who are responsible for enabling, streamlining, and future-proofing their organizations' HR functions, Signature, the highly anticipated HR industry conference from McLean & Company, is returning from November 5-7, 2023, in Orlando, Florida. Register for Signature 2023 or learn more here. Early bird tickets are available until August 1, 2023.
Media interested in connecting with McLean & Company analysts for exclusive, data-backed insights and commentary on generative AI in HR, the future of work, and trends people leaders should anticipate in the coming months can reach out to kking@infotech.com.
Through data-driven insights and proven best-practice methodologies, McLean & Company offers comprehensive resources and full-service assessments, action plans, and training to position organizations to meet today's needs and prepare for the future.
McLean & Company is a division of Info-Tech Research Group.
Media professionals can register for unrestricted access to research across IT, HR, and software and over 200 industry analysts through the firm's Media Insiders program. To gain access, contact kking@infotech.com.
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SOURCE McLean & Company | 2023-07-12T17:06:17+00:00 | kxii.com | https://www.kxii.com/prnewswire/2023/07/12/new-generative-ai-research-mclean-amp-company-calls-focusing-hr-resources-amid-inevitable-technological-disruption/ |
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Ron DeSantis is taking his presidential campaign to Utah on Friday, prioritizing a state where rival Donald Trump has struggled in the past and that could be a beacon of strength for the Florida governor’s stalled bid.
DeSantis is set to appear at the state Capitol with about a dozen supportive state lawmakers, meet with Republican Gov. Spencer Cox and attend a fundraiser.
His trip out West comes as he has been working to reset a campaign confronting financial pressures and a static position in the field trailing Trump. The former president has remained a front-runner despite his mounting legal problems, including an expected indictment in a Justice Department investigation into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
“The more people see Governor DeSantis and hear his forward-thinking plan for our nation’s comeback, the more inspired they become to vote for him for president,” campaign spokesperson Andrew Romeo said in a statement.
For DeSantis, the ability to show strength against Trump in a heavily Republican state like Utah could buoy his effort. In a place where the conservative and religious culture has at times given Trump a chilly reception, there are signs there’s an opening for the Florida governor.
Among those set to appear with him on Friday is state Senate President Stuart Adams, who was one of the few Republicans to endorse Trump early in 2016 but who is now backing DeSantis.
“They’re both great candidates. But I believe Gov. DeSantis deserves a shot. I wouldn’t say anything bad about President Trump,” Adams said in an interview this week.
Trump’s history and style have long been jarring to Utah’s dominant religious culture.
More than half the state’s residents belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the faith’s emphasis on decorum pervades its politics. Trump, a former reality television star known for his brazen personality and insulting comments about women and people of color, finished third in the state’s 2016 Republican presidential caucuses, behind Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
Utah was also home to the resistance campaign of Evan McMullin, an anti-Trump former Republican who launched a long-shot independent bid for president in 2016.
Nevertheless, Trump won the state in both the 2016 and 2020 general elections.
Utah politicians have historically boasted of their penchant for striking compromises on polarizing issues ranging from immigration to discrimination against LGBTQ residents. But the Legislature, with its Republican supermajority, has lurched rightward in recent years, in line with many red states.
It has passed laws banning gender-affirming care for transgender kids and directing school boards to convene “sensitive materials” committees to weigh whether to remove certain books from school libraries — issues that have become a key feature of DeSantis’ campaign message.
Adams, who said he was impressed with the way DeSantis steered his state during the pandemic, believes it will be a very close race between Trump and DeSantis in Utah.
“I believe as people get to know Gov. DeSantis, he’d have great support in Utah,” he said. “Utah has great family values. Gov. DeSantis has great family values.”
Asked if he thought Trump did not have great family values, Adams said, “No, I think he has a great family.” He went on and said, “I think he loves his family.”
Republican state Sen. Todd Weiler, who helped put together Friday’s event with DeSantis, said he didn’t think the former president would win the state’s GOP primary.
“I think it’s his character when it comes to his affairs and his divorces and also when it comes to some of his rhetoric and some of his rude comments on Twitter and whatnot,” Weiler said. He cited the Jan. 6 attack and multiple indictments as among the reasons Trump wouldn’t win the support of independents, along with his record of already having lost one presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump has even lost one of his biggest supporters in Utah: Don Peay, who helped lead Trump’s 2016 effort in Utah, went hunting with Trump’s children and once said those who didn’t support Trump need to “ask for forgiveness.”
Peay told the Deseret News in an interview earlier this year that he’s no longer supporting Trump and doesn’t feel he can win “because he’s living in the past.” He did not respond to messages seeking comment from The Associated Press.
Utah will be among more than a dozen states holding primary contests on Super Tuesday, which falls on March 5 next year. Super Tuesday, a critical proving point for campaigns, is the biggest day on the primary calendar because it offers up the largest number of delegates, which candidates must win state by state.
Unlike 2016, when voters had to wait in long lines and attend meetings to participate in Utah’s caucuses, the state now holds a primary election. That is expected to draw a broader base of voters, though it’s unclear what that means for the GOP field. The winner is expected to be awarded all 40 of Utah’s delegates.
Cox, the recently minted head of the National Governors Association, will meet with DeSantis on Friday afternoon. He has said on numerous occasions that he would like to see a governor in the Oval Office. He and DeSantis co-headlined the state GOP convention in April.
His spokeswoman Jennifer Napier Pearce did not respond to a question about whether Cox is endorsing DeSantis or meeting with other candidates, but instead said in a statement: “As chairman of the National Governors Association, Gov. Cox has been vocal about supporting candidates who are Republican governors — including Gov. DeSantis — because governors are executives who get things done. He looks forward to welcoming Gov. DeSantis to Utah,”
Cox has notably not been supportive of Trump in the past.
___
Price reported from New York. | 2023-07-21T10:49:44+00:00 | qcnews.com | https://www.qcnews.com/news/politics/election/ap-desantis-takes-his-presidential-campaign-to-utah-a-heavily-gop-state-where-trump-has-struggled/ |
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG) — A 34-year-old school teacher who went for a run Friday morning is missing and may have been abducted, Memphis police say.
Eliza Fletcher, who lives in Midtown, went out for a run early Friday, according to a City Watch alert. Police say she was seen near the University of Memphis around 4:20 a.m., when an unknown person approached her.
Fletcher was reportedly forced into an SUV and taken away. The suspect is believed to be in a mid-sized dark-colored SUV, that was possibly heading west on Central after Fletcher was abducted.
Fletcher’s personal items have been found, but she has not returned home, police say. A family friend told WREG her phone was found in the area, which is when officials were alerted.
It is believed the abduction was captured on nearby surveillance cameras. There was a large police presence near Central Avenue and Zach Curlin Street, near where she was believed to be abducted.
“You don’t wanna hear that that’s going on. We want to find her,” said Hart Robinson, a friend of Fletcher. “We don’t know what’s going on, but everybody is desperately looking for her and the police here are on it.
“You can see there is a lot of activity, so if you know anything or saw anything early this morning, we just ask that you come forward,” Robinson added.
Multiple agencies are now involved in the search for Fletcher, including the FBI and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Sam Sparrenberger is a student of the university and has spent most of the day in disbelief after learning what happened to Fletcher.
“Me and my buddy were probably one of the first to see the police cars come out, but we had no idea,” Sparrenberger said. “I’ve never heard of anything like it happening. I spent time in colleges. I’ve been to University of Tennessee and the University of Mississippi; I’ve never heard of anything like this happening.”
Anyone with information is asked to call 911 immediately.
Fletcher, who teaches at St. Mary’s Episcopal School, is a mother of two, Nexstar’s WREG has learned. Her family is offering a $50,000 reward for helping to find her.
The Second Presbyterian Church of Memphis also identified Fletcher as a member. On Friday, they asked congregants to pray for her safe return. | 2022-09-21T12:00:42+00:00 | ktalnews.com | https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/missing-teacher-forced-into-suv-while-on-morning-run-in-memphis-police-say/ |
Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee Women's Basketball Predictions & Picks - NCAA Tournament Sweet 16
Published: Mar. 21, 2023 at 3:39 AM EDT|Updated: 32 minutes ago
Saturday's contest that pits the Virginia Tech Hokies (29-4) against the Tennessee Lady Volunteers (25-11) at Climate Pledge Arena is expected to be a tight matchup based on our computer prediction, which projects a final score of 69-67 in favor of Virginia Tech. Game time is at TBA on March 25.
Last time out, the Hokies won on Sunday 72-60 over South Dakota State.
Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee Game Info
- When: Saturday, March 25, 2023
- Where: Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington
Use this link to get a free trial of fuboTV, where you can watch every women's NCAA Tournament game and other live sports without cable!
Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee Score Prediction
- Prediction: Virginia Tech 69, Tennessee 67
Virginia Tech Schedule Analysis
- When the Hokies defeated the Duke Blue Devils (No. 13 in the AP's Top 25) on March 4 by a score of 58-37, it was their signature win of the season thus far.
- The Hokies have tied for the fourth-most Quadrant 1 victories in the nation (12).
- Against Quadrant 2 teams, Virginia Tech is 9-0 (1.000%) -- tied for the fourth-most victories.
Virginia Tech 2022-23 Best Wins
- 58-37 over Duke (No. 13/AP Poll) on March 4
- 59-56 on the road over Tennessee (No. 24/AP Poll) on December 4
- 61-45 at home over Duke (No. 13/AP Poll) on February 16
- 81-79 at home over Louisville (No. 19) on January 12
- 75-67 over Louisville (No. 19) on March 5
Tennessee Schedule Analysis
- The Lady Volunteers' best win this season came in a 69-67 victory over the No. 9 LSU Lady Tigers on March 4.
- When facing Quadrant 1 teams, the Lady Volunteers are 5-11 (.313%) -- tied for the 30th-most wins, but also tied for the 12th-most losses.
- Tennessee has 10 wins against Quadrant 2 opponents, tied for the second-most in the country.
Tennessee 2022-23 Best Wins
- 69-67 over LSU (No. 9/AP Poll) on March 4
- 69-51 at home over Colorado (No. 21/AP Poll) on November 25
- 65-51 at home over Ole Miss (No. 20) on February 2
- 68-55 at home over Georgia (No. 32) on January 15
- 80-69 at home over Mississippi State (No. 35) on January 5
Watch college hoops all season on all your devices without cable with a seven-day free trial on fuboTV!
Virginia Tech Performance Insights
- The Hokies' +516 scoring differential (outscoring opponents by 15.7 points per game) is a result of scoring 72.1 points per game (55th in college basketball) while giving up 56.4 per contest (22nd in college basketball).
- In conference action, Virginia Tech tallies fewer points per game (68.9) than its overall average (72.1).
- The Hokies are putting up 75.5 points per game in home games. Away from home, they are averaging 67.1 points per contest.
- In 2022-23, Virginia Tech is surrendering 53.2 points per game in home games. On the road, it is allowing 61.9.
- On the offensive side of the ball, the Hokies have struggled over their last 10 games, scoring 67.7 points per contest over that span as opposed to the 72.1 they've racked up over the course of this year.
Tennessee Performance Insights
- The Lady Volunteers' +421 scoring differential (outscoring opponents by 11.6 points per game) is a result of putting up 77.4 points per game (19th in college basketball) while giving up 65.8 per outing (218th in college basketball).
- In 2022-23, Tennessee has averaged 76.5 points per game in SEC play, and 77.4 overall.
- The Lady Volunteers are scoring more points at home (79.4 per game) than on the road (76.4).
- Tennessee gives up 61.7 points per game at home, and 71.4 on the road.
- The Lady Volunteers have fared better offensively over their last 10 games, putting up 79.5 points per contest, 2.1 more than their season average of 77.4.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | 2023-03-21T08:12:09+00:00 | mysuncoast.com | https://www.mysuncoast.com/sports/betting/2023/03/25/virginia-tech-tennessee-womens-college-basketball-picks-predictions-ncaa-tournament-sweet-16/ |
NEW YORK, July 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Weiss Law is investigating possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of law by the board of directors of Syros Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Syros" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: SYRS) in connection with the proposed merger of the Company with TYME Technologies, Inc. ("TYME") (NASDAQ: TYME). Under the terms of the merger agreement, the two companies will combine their businesses in an all-stock transaction that will result in one combined entity that will continue to trade publicly on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "SYRS." Syros expects to issue approximately 74.3 million shares of its common stock to TYME stockholders to acquire TYME's expected net cash at closing, and TYME stockholders are expected to receive approximately 0.4312 shares of Syros common stock for each share of TYME common stock. The actual number of shares to be issued in the merger and the exchange ratio will be subject to adjustment based on the amount of TYME's net cash at closing and the number of TYME shares outstanding at closing.
If you own Syros shares and wish to discuss this investigation or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, visit our website:
https://www.weisslaw.co/news-and-cases/syrs
Or please contact:
Joshua Rubin, Esq.
Weiss Law
305 Broadway, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10007
(212) 682-3025
(888) 593-4771
stockinfo@weisslawllp.com
Weiss Law is investigating whether Syros' board acted in the best interest of Syros' public shareholders in agreeing to the proposed transaction, whether the board was fully informed as to the valuation of the proposed acquisition by the Company, whether the deal's equity split is fair to Syros shareholders, and whether all information regarding the sales process and valuation of the transaction will be fully and fairly disclosed. Notably, Syros shareholders holding approximately 28% of the outstanding shares of the Company's common stock and TYME shareholders holding approximately 30% of the outstanding shares of TYME common have essentially locked up the deal, agreeing to vote their shares in favor of the merger.
Weiss Law has litigated hundreds of stockholder class and derivative actions for violations of corporate and fiduciary duties. We have recovered over a billion dollars for defrauded clients and obtained important corporate governance relief in many of these cases. If you have information or would like legal advice concerning possible corporate wrongdoing (including insider trading, waste of corporate assets, accounting fraud, or materially misleading information), consumer fraud (including false advertising, defective products, or other deceptive business practices), or anti-trust violations, please email us at stockinfo@weisslawllp.com
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SOURCE Weiss Law | 2022-07-06T02:05:40+00:00 | wafb.com | https://www.wafb.com/prnewswire/2022/07/06/shareholder-alert-weiss-law-investigates-syros-pharmaceuticals-inc/ |
The Montana Veterans Memorial in Great Falls started renovations in June of 2022 in an effort to keep the site updated. Three months later, they have made significant progress in creating a community safe place for remembrance.
So far, the Veteran's Memorial has three flag poles, three light poles, new concrete, four additional tree plaques, seven panels acid-washed, and 19 benches repositioned with a new one from the Marine Corps.
Airmen from 819th RED HORSE unit at Malmstrom Air Force Base helped out in setting up three flag poles that will be placed towards the center of the memorial. They are also part of the Veterans Motorcycle Club.
Herb Gilmour is the Construction Lead for the project. He said there hasn't been too many hiccups as far as renovations go.
"Actually, it's gone pretty smoothly," he said. "We've had a few small minor glitches, but you have it any time you got construction. Other than that, with we had to work with, and time and challenges to the contractors, it has gone fantastic I believe."
President of the Montana Veterans Memorial Association Star Darko explained some of the updates.
She said, ""Since we held our Memorial Day ceremony have included additional granite stone benches in the primary location for tree plaques along the islands, and we have also started acid washing the granite tiles to improve the uniformity and look of the tiles."
When renovations started, one of first additions was refurbishing two external flame pillars that haven't been lit in years.
Michael Winters, one of the people who spearheaded the creation of the memorial, says that the pillars represent the eternal flame and honor of veterans and those currently serving: “The lights are so important, so very important. It's honoring everyone who signed the bottom line on a check to defend our nation.”
New solar-powered lights were drilled into the bowl on top of the pillar and will emit a soft glow, forever shining brightly once again.
The other restoration is the concrete replacement within the memorial itself.
"Some parts were falling," Gilmour said. "It was getting heaves in, it was cracking, we were afraid of people falling from place. It had sunk two or three inches. It was just bad all the way around. And we figured if we're going to do it, do it right. It'll be good for hopefully the next 40 or 50 years. We put rebar in, had everything brought up to snuff. Thomas Dean has done all the engineering. They checked all the compaction and stuff. And I think we're way ahead of the game where we were before."
About 5,800 square feet of concrete was replaced in poured and four sections with the goal of creating a community safe place for remembrance. The next steps are to place bricks around the base of the three flagpoles and light poles.
Plans for a ribbon cutting ceremony is yet to be determined, but they aim hope to host it sometime this autumn season.
Since it opened in 2006, the Montana Veterans Memorial has placed more than 7,400 tiles honoring Montana veterans, both living and deceased. About 200 new tiles are added every year before Veterans Day and Memorial Day.
The Montana Veterans Memorial is at 1025 25th Street North in Great Falls. For more information, or if you would like to honor a veteran, click here to visit the website, or call 406-454-9070.
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- Recent obituaries on KRTV | 2022-09-27T23:26:42+00:00 | krtv.com | https://www.krtv.com/news/military-matters/upgrades-continue-at-montana-veterans-memorial-in-great-falls |
NEW YORK (AP) — A scooter-riding gunman killed an 87-year-old man and wounded three others in a string of random shootings that stretched across two New York City boroughs, police said Saturday.
A 25-year-old man was taken into custody without incident and his identity was not revealed by police, Assistant Police Chief Joseph Kenny said at a news conference. A 9 mm handgun with an extended magazine and a scooter were recovered.
The New York Police Department pulled an image of the gunman from video and sent it to phones of officers, some of whom spotted the suspect about two hours after the first shooting.
“We don’t know the motive. It seems his acts were random,” Kenny said.
In all, the NYPD said there were five shootings carried out during the spree by someone on a scooter, one in Brooklyn and four in Queens. No one was injured in one of the shootings.
The shootings began around 11:10 a.m. when someone on a scooter shot a 21-year-old man in the shoulder in Brooklyn. He was brought to a hospital and is expected to survive, police said.
Seventeen minutes later, a 87-year-old man was shot multiple times in the Richmond Hill area of Queens. He later died at a hospital.
Shortly afterward in Queens, witnesses reported a man on a scooter firing randomly into a group of people, although nobody was hurt.
Eight minutes later, a 44-year-old man was shot in the face. He was in critical condition at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center.
About one minute later, a 63-year-old man was shot in the torso. He was in stable condition at a hospital.
Killings in the nation’s most populous city have risen in recent years to about where they were a decade ago — well below an early-1990s peak. The number of people wounded by gunfire surged in New York City during the pandemic and remains stubbornly high, and the city has also confronted a series of high-profile crimes.
Mayor Eric Adams, a former New York City police captain, has stressed the importance of getting guns off the streets.
____
This story has been updated to correct several details about the shooting victims due to incorrect information from New York City police. The man who died was 87 years old, not 86. The second-to-last victim was age 44, not 63; he was wounded in the face, not the shoulder; and he was in critical condition, not stable. The final victim was age 63, not 61; and he was in stable condition, not critical. | 2023-07-09T03:12:24+00:00 | mytwintiers.com | https://www.mytwintiers.com/news-cat/national/ap-man-on-scooter-shoots-randomly-in-nyc-police-say-killing-an-86-year-old-and-wounding-2-others/ |
Supreme Court’s affirmative action ruling leaves colleges looking for new ways to promote diversity
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has sent shockwaves through higher education with a landmark decision that struck down affirmative action and left colleges across the nation searching for new ways to promote student diversity.
Leaders of scores of universities said Thursday that they were disappointed by what they see as a blow to diversity. Yet many also voiced optimism that they would find new ways to admit more Black and Hispanic students, despite evidence that eliminating the practice often leads to steep enrollment decreases among them.
President Joe Biden said he disagreed with the decision and asked the Education Department to explore policies that could help colleges build diverse student bodies. He also pushed against policies like legacy preferences — admissions boosts given to the children of alumni — that tend to help white, wealthy students.
“We should never allow the country to walk away from the dream upon which it was founded,” Biden told reporters. “We need a new path forward, a path consistent with the law that protects diversity and expands opportunity.”
Yet evidence from states that previously outlawed affirmative action show it will be a daunting challenge.
As an alternative to affirmative action, colleges from California to Florida have tried a range of strategies to achieve the diversity they say is essential to their campuses. Many have given greater preference to low-income families. Others started admitting top students from every community in their state.
But years of experimentation — often prompted by state-level bans on considering race in admissions — left no clear solution. In states requiring race-neutral policies, many colleges saw enrollment drops among Black and Hispanic students, especially at selective colleges that historically have been mostly white.
At Amherst College, officials had estimated going entirely race-neutral would reduce Black, Hispanic and Indigenous populations by half.
“We fully expect it would be a significant decrease in our population,” said Matthew McGann, Amherst’s director of admission, earlier this year.
Facing a conservative Supreme Court that appeared skeptical from the start, colleges have been preparing for a rollback. Some were considering adding more essays to get a better picture of an applicant’s background, a strategy invited in Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling.
“Nothing prohibits universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected the applicant’s life, so long as that discussion is concretely tied to a quality of character or unique ability that the particular applicant can contribute to the university,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court’s conservative majority.
Other colleges were planning to boost recruiting in racially diverse areas, or admit more transfer students from community colleges.
The court took up affirmative action in response to challenges at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. Lower courts upheld admission systems at both schools, rejecting claims that the schools discriminated against white and Asian American applicants. But at Supreme Court arguments in late October, all six conservative justices expressed doubts about the practice, which had been upheld under Supreme Court decisions reaching back to 1978, and as recently as 2016.
Nine states already have banned affirmative action, starting with California in 1996 and, most recently, Idaho in 2020.
After Michigan voters rejected it in 2006, the University of Michigan shifted attention to low-income students.
It sent graduates to work as counselors in low-income high schools. It started offering college prep in Detroit and Grand Rapids. It offered full scholarships for low-income Michigan residents. More recently, it started accepting fewer early admission applications, which are more likely to come from white students.
Despite those efforts, the share of Black and Hispanic undergraduates hasn’t fully rebounded from a falloff after 2006. And while Hispanic enrollments have been increasing, Black enrollments continued to slide, going from 8% of undergraduates in 2006 to 4% now.
The campus is drawing more low-income students, but that hasn’t translated to racial diversity, said Erica Sanders, director of undergraduate admissions at Michigan.
“Socioeconomic status is not a proxy for race,” Sanders said.
At the same time, some of Michigan’s less selective colleges have fared better. At nearby Eastern Michigan University, the number of students of color increased, reflecting demographic shifts in the state. It illustrates what experts say is a chilling effect seen most acutely at selective colleges — students of color see fewer of their peers at places like Ann Arbor, prompting them to choose campuses that appear more welcoming.
Growing up in Ann Arbor, there was an expectation that Odia Kaba would attend the University of Michigan. When her application was deferred, she started at Eastern Michigan with plans to transfer to Ann Arbor her sophomore year.
By then, Kaba was getting daily texts from her sister, who attended U-M, describing the microaggressions she faced as a Black student on campus. Rooms went silent when she walked in. She was ignored in group projects. She felt alone and suffocated.
“Why would I go to U of M?” Kaba, 22, remembers thinking. “I’m just going to be stuck with people that don’t look like me, can’t relate to me, and with no way to escape it.”
Kaba stayed at Eastern Michigan and graduated with a degree in quantitative economics this year. Even though it’s a mostly white campus, Kaba said she found pockets of diversity that helped make her comfortable.
“I’m in economics, which is a white male-dominated space. But I can walk out of the classroom and be surrounded by my people, and I just feel safe,” she said.
The University of California also saw enrollment slides after a statewide ban in 1996. Within two years, Black and Hispanic enrollments fell by half at the system’s two most selective campuses, Berkeley and UCLA. The system would go on to spend more than $500 million on programs aimed at low-income and first-generation college students.
It also started a program that promises admission to the top 9% of students in each high school across the state, an attempt to reach strong students from all backgrounds. A similar promise in Texas has been credited for expanding racial diversity, and opponents of affirmative action cite it as a successful model.
In California, the promise drew students from a wider geographic area but did little to expand racial diversity, the system said in a brief to the Supreme Court. It had almost no impact at Berkeley and UCLA, where students compete against tens of thousands of other applicants.
Today at UCLA and Berkeley, Hispanic students make up 20% of undergraduates, higher than in 1996 but lower than their 53% share among California’s high school graduates. Black students, meanwhile, have a smaller presence than they did in 1996, accounting for 2% of undergraduates at Berkeley.
Opponents of affirmative action say some states have fared well without it. After Oklahoma outlawed the practice in 2012, the state’s flagship university saw “no long-term severe decline” in minority enrollments, the state’s attorney general told the Supreme Court.
It pointed to a recent freshman class at the University of Oklahoma that had more Hispanic, Asian and Native American students than in 2012. The share of Black students fell, but it wasn’t far from flagship universities in other states that allow affirmative action, the state said.
Still, many colleges expect racial diversity could take a hit. With affirmative action struck down, colleges fear they will unknowingly admit fewer students of color. In the long run, it can be self-perpetuating — if numbers fall, the campus can appear less attractive to future students of color.
That’s a problem, colleges say, because racial diversity benefits the entire campus, exposing students to other worldviews and preparing them for a diverse workforce.
Beyond race, the decision has the impact to reshape other admissions policies. To draw more underserved populations, experts say colleges may need to do away with policies that advantage white students, from legacy preferences and early admission to standardized test scores.
___
The Associated Press education team receives support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | 2023-06-30T06:11:04+00:00 | fox5vegas.com | https://www.fox5vegas.com/2023/06/30/supreme-courts-affirmative-action-ruling-leaves-colleges-looking-new-ways-promote-diversity/ |
A panel in California created to consider reparations for Black residents voted over the weekend to approve recommendations for the payments of reparations to Black Californians for injustices and discrimination stemming from slavery.
Saturday's meeting in Oakland was the 15th public meeting of the Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans, according to Kamilah Moore, chair of the panel.
The recommendations will be presented at the task force's next meeting before being presented to the Legislature by the deadline of July 1. The recommendations outline restitution, which, if approved, could cost the state billions of dollars.
Among the possible estimates of reparations for Black Californians recommended by the task force are:
- Estimated value of payment for health care disparities: $13,619 for each year of residency, based on 71-year life expectancy.
- Estimated payment for housing discrimination: $148,099 or $3,366 for each year between 1933 and 1977 spent as a resident of the state.
- Estimated payment for mass incarceration and overpolicing: $115,260 or $2,352 for each year of residency in California during the 49-year period between 1971 and 2020.
The task force recommendations have previously called for a state office to process reparations claims and "identify and mitigate the ways that current and previous policies have damaged and destabilized Black families," to restore historical sites, to support education, and to offer free legal aid and other services.
Other recommendations include updating language in the state's Constitution, removing racial bias and discriminatory practices in standardized testing, compensating people deprived of profits for their work, investing in and creating free health care programs, and apologizing for acts of political disenfranchisement.
It is not yet clear how and if the Legislature will put all or some of the recommendations into place. California's Black population is more than 2.5 million, according to the US Census Bureau.
At the end of Saturday's meeting, Moore urged people to "stay encouraged and know that justice will prevail at the end of the day."
The task force voted for the next meeting to be held on June 29 in Sacramento, where the group will discuss final changes before presenting its proposals to the Legislature.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. | 2023-05-08T13:21:57+00:00 | wlfi.com | https://www.wlfi.com/news/national/reparations-task-force-votes-to-approve-recommendations-for-the-payments-of-reparations-to-black-californians/article_403cffd7-b93f-57df-9202-38982c97b049.html |
To elevate fans' summer days and in celebration of National Pool Day, the premium hard seltzer brand and leading pool sharing marketplace have partnered to cover lucky fans' pool costs
MODESTO, Calif., July 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Spirit of Gallo's High Noon, the #1 selling spirit-based hard seltzer1, today announced a strategic partnership with Swimply, a premium pool rental platform, in celebration of National Pool Day. The two brands, who are committed to elevating summer days, have teamed up to provide the ultimate experience for select fans across the country by covering private pool rentals complete with a custom High Noon Pool Kit to elevate their day.
Pool days are more popular than ever – just last year, searches for "Swimming Pools" doubled between May and June2 – but less than 10% of people actually own a pool3. As a brand that believes in always living like the sun's out, coupled with the launch of its new limited time Pool Pack, High Noon saw an opportunity to help fans trade up their summer plans.
"As the #1 premium hard seltzer we can't help but be obsessed about elevating everything about our fans' summers," said Brandon Lieb, Vice President at Spirit of Gallo. "Our partnership with Swimply, who shares our sunny outlook, allows us to continue treating our fans to epic summertime experiences, this time by giving them exclusive access to enjoy High Noon poolside."
"We're thrilled to be partnering with such a staple premium hard seltzer brand like High Noon," said Bunim Laskin, Co-Founder and CEO of Swimply. "This partnership brings a natural synergy, as both companies are at the heart of summer culture, and promote fun in the sun with friends and family."
The High Noon and Swimply private pool day rentals will be available on highnoonswimplysummer.com, starting on July 15 at 12pm ET. Fans will have to swim fast, because only the first 50 people will have their private pool days covered. They'll also receive a High Noon Pool Kit filled with pool day essentials including a cooler, koozie, High Noon x Tropical Bros merch and more.
To score a chance at a private High Noon x Swimply Pool Day and to see the full terms and conditions, visit highnoonswimplysummer.com. For more information on High Noon and its summertime offerings, including Lemon and the LTO Pool Pack, visit highnoonspirits.com.
High Noon premium Hard Seltzer is made with real vodka and real fruit juice, with no added sugar and gluten free. At only 100 calories per can, High Noon is available in Lime, Peach, Black Cherry, Grapefruit, Pineapple, Mango, Passionfruit and Watermelon. The High Noon flavors are available individually ($2.50 MSRP), in 4-packs ($9.99 MSRP), 8-packs ($18.99 MSRP), and 12-packs ($27.99 MSRP). High Noon is part of Spirit of Gallo, an award-winning spirits portfolio that includes E&J Brandy, New Amsterdam and more.
For nearly half a century, the Gallo family has been growing its portfolio of spirits, now enjoyed by people around the world at occasions ranging from a day at the beach to a fine, after-dinner drink. Known best for E&J Brandy, New Amsterdam and the highly acclaimed High Noon Sun Sips, Spirit of Gallo also delivers RumChata, Stratusphere Gin, RumHaven and esteemed partner-owned brands such as The Dalmore, Diplomatico, Don Fulano, and Grupo Montenegro. Spirit of Gallo portfolio is featured on www.spiritofgallo.com
Swimply is a marketplace that connects owners of underutilized swimming pools with people seeking to gather, swim and escape locally. The company is trailblazing the experiential-based sharing category and creating an entirely new income stream for homeowners with pools that are otherwise used just 15 percent of the time. For swimmers, Swimply is disrupting the multi-billion dollar aquatic space and providing an option for the 96 percent of Americans that do not have access to a pool. The company was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in New York City. Swimply is backed by Mayfield, GGV, Norwest Ventures and other notable angels. Learn more on www.swimply.com.
¹ Source: The Tasting Panel, January 2021. Rated via blind tasting of industry professionals.
² Source: Google Trends, May 2022
³ Source: Comfy Living, January 2022
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SOURCE High Noon Spirits Company | 2022-07-11T13:39:05+00:00 | witn.com | https://www.witn.com/prnewswire/2022/07/11/no-pool-no-problem-high-noon-swimply-are-making-splash-by-giving-out-free-private-pool-days/ |
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6:30 p.m.;SMU at Tulane;ESPN
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Don't have an account? Sign Up Today | 2022-11-17T01:14:24+00:00 | pantagraph.com | https://pantagraph.com/on-tv-today-11-17-22/article_eb4b7ede-608f-11ed-a201-87f5bde0106b.html |
Thanks to recent reports about financial and personal dealings by members of the Supreme Court — including lavish trips bestowed upon Justice Clarence Thomas by a friend and prominent Republican donor — the public has become aware of a troubling fact: Unlike other federal judges, justices aren’t bound by the Code of Conduct for United States Judges. But if that loophole is to be closed by Congress, bipartisan support will be necessary.
That will be difficult because, as a hearing Tuesday by the Senate Judiciary Committee demonstrated, the campaign to tighten ethics for the high court is ensnarled by partisan divisions in Congress. The leading proponents of ethics reform are Democrats, while Republicans are reflexively defending the court. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the panel’s ranking Republican, railed against an “unseemly effort” to undermine the high court’s legitimacy.
Reform of the court shouldn’t be a partisan issue. Fortunately, there is an effort co-sponsored by a Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and an independent senator, Angus King of Maine, who caucuses with Democrats. It could be refined, but its introduction is a milestone.
Though less ambitious than other proposals, the Supreme Court Code of Conduct Act comprises important reforms: a code of conduct for the justices, which the court itself would issue, and a mechanism for the investigation of whether a justice engaged in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice or in violation of federal law or codes of conduct. The bill also would require the court to designate an individual to process complaints against justices.
Under existing law, complaints can be filed alleging that lower-court federal judges engaged in “conduct prejudicial to the effective and expeditious administration of the business of the courts” or are “unable to discharge their duties by reason of mental or physical disability.”
There ought to be a similar process for filing complaints about ethical lapses by Supreme Court justices, though because of their prominence justices might be targets of frivolous or politically motivated complaints. Ideally, justices — and other federal judges — also should be required to seek approval in advance before accepting gifts or travel and lodging.
So far the justices’ attitude to criticism seems to be “nothing to see here.” In declining a request to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. cited a statement agreed to by all current members of the court. The statement noted that in 1991, justices adopted a resolution to follow the substance of the regulations of the Judicial Conference of the United States. Since then, it added, “justices have followed the financial disclosure requirements and limitations on gifts, outside earned income, outside employment, and honoraria. They file the same annual financial disclosure reports as other federal judges.”
That may sound reassuring, but the justices still aren’t bound by the code of conduct applicable to other federal judges. Thomas didn’t reveal the hospitality he received from real estate developer Harlan Crow in his voluntarily disclosures. After Pro Publica reported on that generosity, Thomas said that he had received advice from colleagues and others in the judiciary that “personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the court, was not reportable.”
Thomas added that he would comply with new and more stringent disclosure guidance promulgated earlier this year by the Judicial Conference. (Of course, sometimes disclosure won’t be enough to inspire public confidence. Justices should decline generous gifts from political actors, even if they are friends.)
Even if the Supreme Court were to adopt a code of conduct, it wouldn’t rectify all of the court’s credibility problems. The justices have lost public confidence not wholly, or even primarily, because of perceived ethical lapses. The court’s image also suffers because of the perception that the justices are predictable partisans in politically charged cases and the successful effort by Republicans to cement a conservative majority on the court by blocking a superbly qualified nominee, Merrick Garland, who was nominated by then-President Obama in 2016. The culmination of that strategy was last year’s disastrous decision overruling Roe vs. Wade and extinguishing a federal constitutional right to abortion.
But ethics reform is still important. In an injudicious interview published in the Wall Street Journal, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. — the author of the majority opinion overruling Roe — said that it wasn’t surprising that the court’s approval rating was sagging with critics saying “day in and day out, ‘They’re illegitimate. They’re engaging in all sorts of unethical conduct.’ “ A binding code of conduct for the court is one way to address such criticism. | 2023-05-07T19:48:26+00:00 | tylerpaper.com | https://tylerpaper.com/the-supreme-court-needs-ethics-reform-that-shouldn-t-be-a-partisan-issue/article_a47300fc-ed04-11ed-b06c-97bffbe1375f.html |
Milwaukee County exec David Crowley makes final push for sales tax passage today
Heading into today's crucial Milwaukee County Board vote to nearly double the county's sales tax Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said he was still working the phones with supervisors.
"I'm confident but I'm still lobbying. I'm still talking to folks," Crowley said at a news conference at the Milwaukee Athletic Club on Wednesday that highlighted painful budget cuts that would likely result without the 0.4% increase to the county's current 0.5% tax.
The measure passed in a joint committee meeting last week, but several holdout votes remain, with supervisors remaining quiet about how they intend to vote, and a couple of possible swing votes ahead of today's full County Board meeting.
Last week, Supervisor Patti Logsdon teetered on abstaining during the joint committee meeting but ultimately voted yes. She, along with Supervisors Kathleen Vincent, Sequanna Taylor and Priscilla Coggs-Jones, said they wanted more time to engage with constituents.
Supervisor Steve Taylor, while he voted against the sales tax increase during last week's vote, said his vote was not set in stone.
"I'm going to vote no right now and I have the right to change mind," Taylor told supervisors.
Approval Thursday requires a two-thirds majority — or 12 of the 18 district supervisors to send it to Crowley for his signature.
If enacted, the 0.4% increase would lift the county's sales tax to 0.9%. The higher rate could be implemented as soon as Jan. 1, 2024, but only if it is adopted and sent to the Secretary of Revenue by Sept. 1, 2023. The board is scheduled to be on recess in August.
The increased tax if approved is projected to bring in an additional $82.2 million in revenue, rising to $92 million by 2028. The county is projected to have a $31 million surplus with the expanded sales tax, instead of the deficit of $18 million currently projected.
Last month, the City of Milwaukee enacted a 2% city sales tax enabled by the same state legislation that allows the county to raise its tax. That same legislation also increased the amount of shared revenue that is returned from the state to Milwaukee and Milwaukee County, along with all of the state's counties and municipalities.
If the increased county sales tax also passes, the total sales tax in the city of Milwaukee would be 7.9%, including the existing 5% state sales tax. The total sales tax in other Milwaukee County communities would rise to 5.9% Critics of both the new city sales tax and an increased county tax point to the impact of that higher rate on low-income residents.
Missing the September deadline could cost the county close to a quarter of the annual projected bump of $82.2 million, which equates to roughly $20.5 million, Joe Lamers, director of strategy, budget and performance, told supervisors earlier this month.
The county would face major cuts to more than half the county's bus routes and other non-mandated services, including parks. The county would also be unable to address $1 billion of deferred infrastructure needs and substantial payments to the estimated $760 million unfunded pension liability.
Even with the sales tax, deficits would return in 2026 with a projected $13 million gap. Without the 0.4% hike, the deficit would be $64 million, which would grow to $95 million by 2028.
Ahead of the vote, the Milwaukee County Transit System reached out directly to five supervisors — Logsdon, Vincent, Steve Taylor, Liz Sumner and Deanna Alexander — spelling out reduced Transit Plus program services for riders with disabilities that would result if the county doesn't raise its sales tax.
Over the last two decades, the county has taken measures to stave off major cuts, including liquidating assets, including several buildings, cutting more than 1,400 full-time equivalent employees and outsourcing services, such as behavioral health inpatients and crisis services. The county also enacted a $30 vehicle registration fee.
"Still, the county is on the precipice of some severe financial disorder," Rob Henken, president of the nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum, said during the Wednesday news conference with Crowley.
Roughly 700 riders would be left without any kind of Transit Plus service — or van service, according to Director of Paratransit Services for MCTS, Fran Musci.
"A 'no' vote is really going to put many of our programs and services on the chopping block," said Crowley. "A no vote is a 'yes' to cut our public transit, a 'yes' to cut our parks department, a 'yes' to cutting the services and the programs that increase and maintain the quality of life that everybody deserves all across Milwaukee County."
Contact Vanessa Swales at 414-308-5881 or vswales@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Vanessa_Swales. | 2023-07-27T14:09:26+00:00 | jsonline.com | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2023/07/27/milwaukee-county-board-votes-on-sales-tax-increase-today/70457361007/ |
The most important objective for investors is to review portfolios and bring them in line with long-term strategic allocation recommendations
MINNEAPOLIS, Dec. 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - A U.S. recession may arrive mid-2023 based on historical economic markers and waning consumer financial power, RBC Wealth Management suggests in its Global Insight 2023 Outlook, released Tuesday.
An inverted yield curve on U.S. Treasuries, coupled with the arrival of "tight money" and inflation rates that have pushed real incomes below where they were a year ago, are further indications a recession and accompanying global equity bear market may be on the horizon. The most important objective for investors is to review portfolios and bring them in line with long-term strategic allocation recommendations.
History has shown that the market rebounds well before a recession ends – usually about three to five months before.
"Recessions are painful, but they are relatively short in the context of long-term investment horizons," said Kelly Bogdanova, vice president and portfolio analyst at RBC Wealth Management – U.S. "The economy and already successful businesses should adapt as they have in the past, and it's wise for investors to keep that in mind when making big portfolio decisions."
Even if the economy goes in to recession next year, with history as a guide, the equity market would likely begin a new bull market cycle before the recession ends, according to the report.
Moderating inflation data, negative investor sentiment around October lows, and the fact the S&P 500 has almost always delivered strong, positive returns for months following the U.S. midterm elections could mean a rally in equity prices over the next few weeks or months.
Investors could see the equity market continue to rally into 2023, then give way to another period of falling share prices and subsequently tick back up later in the year.
"Despite the lingering and anticipated economic challenges, the equity market has already absorbed significant blows, including one of the Fed's fastest and biggest tightening cycles in history," Bogdanova said. "It would also be rare for the S&P 500 to deliver back-to-back negative return years, and the corporate earnings outlook isn't as bad as in previous periods of economic stress."
Going into 2023, investors should consider leaning more heavily toward quality and sustainable dividends and away from individual company risks. Small-cap and midcap segments are attractive due to their valuation discounts and because they are likely to benefit as economic green shoots start to emerge, according to the report.
Within the large-cap S&P 500, the analysts continue to favor the energy sector next year. Tight energy commodity supplies will linger, supporting prices and earnings to a greater degree than in typical periods of economic weakness.
The Federal Reserve spent the past two years focused on boosting employment rates in the labor market and stabilizing pricing in the economy. Its next act will be to zero in on financial stability in 2023.
The historically aggressive tightening campaign will likely necessitate a far more cautious approach from policymakers, and a heightened focus on domestic and global financial vulnerabilities that may come as a result of higher interest rates, particularly from the strength of the dollar.
"This could mean the Fed soon places the blunt tool of rate hikes back in the toolbox and employs more surgical, macroprudential measures that help to ensure the soundness of, and liquidity within, the financial system," said Tom Garretson, fixed income senior portfolio strategist at RBC Wealth Management – U.S.
Interest rates may peak in early 2023 on the heels of an anticipated 50-basis-point hike at the Federal Reserve's December meeting. This could mark the last of sharp hikes, and rates could even drop modestly over the back half of 2023 in an attempt to mitigate the anticipated mid-year economic slowdown.
Yields across the fixed income landscape are expected to fall in 2023. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield could fall below 3.5% by the end of the year, from levels close to 4.0% currently, based on RBC Capital Markets' forecast.
The window for fixed income investors to put money to work is open, but it could close sooner than expected. If yields continue to fade over the course of 2023, that could introduce heightened reinvestment risk for short-maturity securities. Analysts continue to favor a strategy of locking in historically high yields in intermediate and longer-dated bonds.
The Global Insight 2023 Outlook also presents RBC Wealth Management's house position for regional equity and fixed income markets. Those views can be found here.
Royal Bank of Canada is a global financial institution with a purpose-driven, principles-led approach to delivering leading performance. Our success comes from the 95,000+ employees who leverage their imaginations and insights to bring our vision, values and strategy to life so we can help our clients thrive and communities prosper. As Canada's biggest bank and one of the largest in the world, based on market capitalization, we have a diversified business model with a focus on innovation and providing exceptional experiences to our 17 million clients in Canada, the U.S. and 27 other countries. Learn more at rbc.com.
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In the United States, RBC Wealth Management operates as a division of RBC Capital Markets, LLC. Founded in 1909, RBC Wealth Management is a member of the New York Stock Exchange, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, and other major securities exchanges. RBC Wealth Management has $489 billion in total client assets with more than 2,100 financial advisors operating in 186 locations in 42 states.
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SOURCE RBC Wealth Management - U.S. | 2022-12-07T03:08:02+00:00 | live5news.com | https://www.live5news.com/prnewswire/2022/12/06/recession-is-likely-2023-us-markets-could-change-course-more-quickly-than-investors-might-assume-rbc-wealth-management-suggests/ |
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., July 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, TabaPay announced a true real-time account funding solution where Fintechs can leverage frictionless instant account funding experiences to drive customer loyalty and improve bottom lines. Fintechs who provide consumer banking and brokerage services can benefit from true real-time and risk-free account funding utilizing an integration between TabaPay and partner processors, Galileo, Helix by Q2, Unit and others. Verticals such as crypto, remittance, early wage access providers and more, can benefit from low-cost, instant account funding with reduced risk using TabaPay Shield™. All Fintechs currently using ACH for account funding can switch from a process rife with delay and fraud to an instantaneous transaction that removes/reduces risk, reduces onboarding friction and boosts customer engagement.
Fintechs that manage card programs often struggle with friction in account funding flows while users want instant, seamless experiences. Account funding historically with ACH has been considered good enough, but in the current market environment where customers are increasingly looking for an "instant" money movement experience, ACH seems to fall short. For Fintechs, providing improved user engagement and increased revenue opportunities are key metrics for success. Adding a card-based account funding option enables Fintechs to deliver instant funding without PCI exposure, customer account prefunding and reconciliation.
Manoj Verma, Chief Revenue Officer & Co-Founder of TabaPay said: "This new solution helps clients to remove the friction and pain from account funding flows while enabling a superior user experience. True real-time account funding will become a key differentiator for all Fintechs, and the risk-free functionality will improve bottom lines for banking and brokerage clients."
"Our clients specialize in creating differentiated, personalized products that delight users. Partnering with Tabapay helped us enable our clients to offer faster account funding, so users can start utilizing their products faster, driving engagement and long-term retention," said Ahon Sarkar, General Manager, Helix by Q2.
Itai Damti, Chief Executive Officer, Unit, said: "We created Unit to be the most complete banking-as-a-service platform, making it easier to build exceptional banking solutions. Partnering with Tabapay helps our clients create world-class banking experiences and grow their product adoption by enabling customers to quickly and easily fund their accounts."
TabaPay welcomes you to join our Risk-Free Account Funding Webinar with Visa Direct, on August 17, 2022, at 11:00 AM Pacific Time. Register here - https://bit.ly/37Ubr9l
TabaPay, the leading instant money movement platform, enables secure, reliable, and lower cost instant payments for Fintech innovators. We offer direct access to 15 banking partners, 14 networks, multiple geographies, innovative products, and features in one unified API. TabaPay is trusted by >2,000 Fintechs and Financial Institutions and is ranked a top merchant acquirer in the US, processing over a million transactions a day. For more information, visit www.tabapay.com
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SOURCE TabaPay | 2022-07-19T21:55:53+00:00 | kalb.com | https://www.kalb.com/prnewswire/2022/07/19/announcing-risk-free-true-real-time-account-funding-solution-tabapay/ |
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Two years after a former Gettysburg College student finally saw charges filed over her 2013 campus sexual assault, the man suspected of sending her a Facebook message that said, “ So I raped you,” remains on the run.
Shannon Keeler, 28, and her attorneys question how Ian T. Cleary has avoided capture in an age when people are tracked by their cellphones, internet connections, security cameras and credit card purchases. Investigators, led by the U.S. Marshals Service, believe the 30-year-old from Silicon Valley is likely overseas and on the move.
“How is he financially supporting himself? How is he able to travel abroad without detection? Has he assumed a false identity?” asked Andrea Levy, legal director of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, who represents Keeler. “Who’s helping him?”
Keeler was sexually assaulted on a snowy December night in her dorm room. She texted friends for help even before he fled, and went to police the same day.
For years, local officials declined her pleas to file charges, even after she showed them the startling Facebook messages she discovered in 2020. They reversed course weeks after she went public in an Associated Press story that examined the reluctance of local agencies to prosecute campus sexual assaults.
For Keeler, the years of limbo have been painful, even as she moves forward with her life and career. She works for a software company and is getting married this fall. But she remains on high alert for an arrest that could come at any time, knowing a trial could disrupt her life for months or even years.
“She’s had to push and push and put herself out there … and then he’s just literally gone on with his life. It’s hard to measure that impact on her as a human being, (and on) her family, her partner,” Levy said. “There’s a cost. There’s a real human cost. It’s someone’s life.”
After leaving Gettysburg, Cleary, 30, graduated from Santa Clara University, near a family home in Saratoga, California, worked for Tesla, then moved to France for several years, according to his website, which describes his self-published medieval fiction.
Adams County District Attorney Brian Sinnett, who filed the arrest warrant on June 29, 2021, called the duration of the search “somewhat frustrating.”
“I just have to think this person is accessing resources from somewhere,” Sinnett said.
Neither Cleary’s father in California, a marketing executive who has served as a professor and trustee at Santa Clara, nor his mother in Baltimore returned messages this month seeking comment.
U.S. marshals said the search remains active. An Interpol Red Notice has been issued, asking police agencies worldwide to detain Cleary, although he is not yet listed in the public database, which includes a few dozen rape and sexual assault cases.
“We put a lot of work and effort into it,” said Deputy U.S. Marshal Phil Lewis, warrant supervisor for the office in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. “Any crimes against women and children, we take seriously and we make those types of cases a priority.”
As the #MeToo movement continues to shape society — and some adults, including accusers of Bill Cosby and Donald Trump, use the courts to seek monetary damages if it’s too late for criminal charges — college students are also seeking accountability.
In California, students are lobbying for campus health centers to keep rape kits on hand, or pay for victims in the throes of trauma to travel to a hospital for an exam. More states are requiring colleges to survey students on the climate around sexual assault, and groups such as End Rape on Campus are working on tools to make school data more accessible.
And some law enforcement agencies have shown sustained commitment, including police who stayed on top of advances in DNA science to make an arrest this year in a 2000 knifepoint rape on a Penn State golf course.
In 2004, they matched the DNA to an unsolved 1999 golf course rape in Michigan. In 2011, they filed a “John Doe” arrest warrant, identifying the subject only by his DNA before the 12-year statute of limitations in Pennsylvania expired. Using genetic genealogy, they identified the suspect this year as Michigan business owner Kurt Rillema, and matched the DNA samples to a coffee cup he discarded at a Lexus dealership before charging him in both cases.
“The police so often get beat up for doing the wrong thing. Here, it’s pretty impressive, they were on the ball,” said lawyer Conor Lamb, who sued Rillema last month on behalf of the Penn State accuser, a 42-year-old woman in suburban Philadelphia.
Rilemma’s lawyers plan to challenge the privacy issues raised by the genetic sleuthing, especially the way his DNA from the coffee cup was obtained without a warrant.
“Everybody wants to solve old crimes, but the process is so invasive, and when it’s done without a warrant, people ought to think about that. It’s creepy and scary,” said defense lawyer Deanna Kelley of suburban Detroit.
In Gettysburg, meanwhile, a small town known for its Civil War history, Sinnet said there is now more coordination between campus and local police, in the hope that more college rape victims can have their day in court.
Keeler is still waiting for that day, nearly a decade after she reported the attack and Cleary left school, ending the college’s Title IX investigation.
“Since then, he has again run away from facing this felony charge,” she said, while she tries to “to finally close this never-ending, painful chapter of my life.” | 2023-06-21T19:17:22+00:00 | wate.com | https://www.wate.com/news/so-i-raped-you-man-still-on-the-run-2-years-after-facebook-message/ |
An ongoing battle in New York City over giving delivery workers for apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub a minimum wage came to a head at an hours-long council hearing on Friday.
Copyright 2023 NPR
An ongoing battle in New York City over giving delivery workers for apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub a minimum wage came to a head at an hours-long council hearing on Friday.
Copyright 2023 NPR | 2023-04-08T13:19:32+00:00 | kpcc.org | https://www.kpcc.org/2023-04-08/the-new-york-city-council-is-divided-over-minimum-wage-for-delivery-workers |
SUMMERVILLE, S.C., Jan. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Advanced Technology International (ATI) is proud to announce that it has been selected to manage the Training and Readiness Accelerator II (TReX II) Other Transaction Agreement (OTA). As the Consortium Management Firm (CMF) for TREX II, ATI will lead the collaboration of non-traditional contractors, traditional contractors and academia to develop and deliver innovative prototype technologies that enhance the training effectiveness of U.S. and partner nation militaries. Sponsored by the Army's Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation (PEO STRI) and Army Contracting Command (ACC) – Orlando, the TREX II OTA and consortium will focus on modeling, simulation, education/training, experimental validation, and military readiness focused projects to improve Warfighter readiness and keep pace with ongoing and emerging threats.
"ATI is thrilled to be selected to manage the TReX II consortium and catalyze the collaborative development of leading-edge modeling, simulation and training technologies. Through these efforts, TREX II-developed innovations will provide high fidelity, lower risk training environments that enhance the readiness and lethality of the Army of 2030," said Chris Van Metre, ATI President and CEO. "We will build on the success of this program's first generation and bring together the most innovative solution providers to support the mission effectiveness of PEO STRI, ACC Orlando and, most importantly, our nation's warfighters."
As the nation's first and leading consortium management firm, ATI leverages the power of collaboration to deliver results at the speed of mission need in federal research and development. For over 24 years, ATI has managed collaborative R&D programs and consortia to deliver high priority, innovative solutions spanning a wide variety of disciplines and technology areas. To meet the nation's most complex challenges, ATI brings together emerging innovators, traditional defense contractors, small businesses and academia to deliver prototypes that improve the capability and readiness of weapons systems and provide a battlespace advantage for the U.S. and allied Warfighter.
For more information about TReX II or to become a member, please visit: https://www.trexii.org/.
ABOUT ATI
ATI, a public-service nonprofit based in Summerville, South Carolina, builds and manages collaborations that conduct research and development of new technologies to solve our nation's national security challenges. Fueled by a community of experts from industry, academia, and government, ATI accelerates impact by using the power of collaboration to help the federal government quickly acquire novel technologies. ATI is a nonprofit subsidiary of Analytic Services, Inc. (ANSER), a public-service research institute organized as a nonprofit corporation, which is dedicated to informing decisions that shape the nation's future.
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SOURCE ATI (Advanced Technology International) | 2023-01-09T18:12:30+00:00 | kswo.com | https://www.kswo.com/prnewswire/2023/01/09/ati-manage-training-readiness-accelerator-ii-other-transaction-agreement/ |
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Tanner Stephens | 2022-12-12T20:51:03+00:00 | nprillinois.org | https://www.nprillinois.org/tags/tanner-stephens |
NEW YORK, May 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Levi & Korsinsky, LLP notifies investors in International Business Machines Corporation ("IBM" or the "Company") (NYSE: IBM) of a class action securities lawsuit.
CLASS DEFINITION: The lawsuit seeks to recover losses on behalf of IBM investors who were adversely affected by alleged securities fraud between April 4, 2017 and October 20, 2021. Follow the link below to get more information and be contacted by a member of our team:
IBM investors may also contact Joseph E. Levi, Esq. via email at jlevi@levikorsinsky.com or by telephone at (212) 363-7500.
CASE DETAILS: The filed complaint alleges that defendants made false statements and/or concealed that: (i) Strategic Imperatives Revenue and growth, CAMSS and CAMSS Components' revenue and growth, and the Company's Segments' revenue and growth were artificially inflated as a result of the wrongful reclassification of revenues from non-strategic to strategic to make those revenues eligible for treatment as Strategic Imperatives Revenue; (ii) the Company's present success and positive future growth prospects concerning its Strategic Imperative business strategy were being fueled by the wrongful reclassification of revenues from non-strategic to strategic to make those revenues eligible for treatment as Strategic Imperative Revenue and, as a result (iii) the Company misled the market by portraying the Company's Strategic Imperative's financial performance and future prospects more favorable than they actually were as a result of the wrongful reclassification of revenues from non-strategic to strategic to make those revenues eligible for treatment as Strategic Imperatives.
WHAT'S NEXT? If you suffered a loss in IBM during the relevant time frame, you have until June 6, 2022 to request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.
NO COST TO YOU: If you are a class member, you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out-of-pocket costs or fees. There is no cost or obligation to participate.
WHY LEVI & KORSINSKY: Over the past 20 years, the team at Levi & Korsinsky has secured hundreds of millions of dollars for aggrieved shareholders and built a track record of winning high-stakes cases. Our firm has extensive expertise representing investors in complex securities litigation and a team of over 70 employees to serve our clients. For seven years in a row, Levi & Korsinsky has ranked in ISS Securities Class Action Services' Top 50 Report as one of the top securities litigation firms in the United States.
CONTACT:
Levi & Korsinsky, LLP
Joseph E. Levi, Esq.
Ed Korsinsky, Esq.
55 Broadway, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10006
jlevi@levikorsinsky.com
Tel: (212) 363-7500
Fax: (212) 363-7171
www.zlk.com
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SOURCE Levi & Korsinsky, LLP | 2022-05-19T19:12:20+00:00 | wlbt.com | https://www.wlbt.com/prnewswire/2022/05/19/ibm-lawsuit-alert-levi-amp-korsinsky-notifies-international-business-machines-corporation-investors-class-action-lawsuit-upcoming-deadline/ |
ANDREW: THAT IS A NINE-YEAR-OLD NAILING A HALF-COURT BUZZER-BEATER. THE SHOT OF A LIFETIME, HAPPENING RIGHT HERE IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA. SHANNON: PITTSBURGH’S ACTION SPORTS REPORTER EMILY GIANGRECO, HERE NOW IN THE STUDIO WITH THE STORY. I CAN’T STOP WATCHING THIS VIDEO. EMILY: I DON’T BLAME YOU. MAKING A HALF-COURT SHOT AT THE BUZZER IS ALREADY IMPRESSIVE BUT TO DO IT AT JUST NINE-YEARS-OLD THAT TAKES SOME SERIOUS TALENT AND THAT’S SOMETHING COEN PARONISH HAS A LOT OF COEN WAS THE HERO FOR NORTHERN CAMBRIA ELEMENTARY. WITH JUST 1.3 SECONDS LEFT ON THE CLOCK, HE ATTEMPTS A HALF COURT SHOT AND MAKES IT. >> WHEN I SAW THAT HE WAS ROLLING THE BALL I WAS LIKE, OH MY GOODNESS AS YOU GOING TO TAKE THE SHOT? I KNOW HE PRACTICES ALL THE TIME AND HE COULD MAKE IT. BUT I DIDN’T THINK HE WOULD MAKE IT. WHEN HE MADE IT, I WAS LIKE OH MY GOODNESS. >> I LIKE TO THE CROWD’S REACTION WHEN I MADE IT. EMILY: SHOCK AND DISBELIEF TOOK OVER THE ARENA. BUT WHAT MOST DON’T KNOW, IS MAKING A HALF COURT SHOT IS JUST A NORMAL DAY FOR COEN. >> WHEN I DO ONE V1 WITH HIM HE IS DOING WEIRD SHOTS -- ONE VERSUS ONE WITH HIM HE IS DOING WHERE SHOTS. EMILY: WHAT SHOULD I DO? >> I JUST LOOK AT THE FRONT OF THE RIM AND THROW IT, TO AIM IT RIGHT AT THE FRONT OF THE RIM. EMILY: OK, TWO HANDS ARE ONE? >> I USUALLY DO ONE? EMILY: DO YOU THINK I CAN DO THIS? >> YEAH. EMILY: TIME TO FIND OUT. OK. STRAIGHT TO JACK’S. OK WELL. WE TRIED. HE SUNK ONE RIGHT IN FRONT OF US. OH! LET’S GO! JUST A NORMAL DAY FOR HIM. I’M NOT AS TALENTED AS HIM. COEN’S TEAM WON THE GAME 18-9 WAS THE FINAL SCORE AND COEN MADE 16 OF THOSE 18 POINTS. LIVE IN THE STUDIO, EMILY GIANGRECO, PITTSBURGH’S ACTI
9-year-old makes buzzer beater half-court shot
Updated: 5:36 PM EST Jan 19, 2023
Coen Paronish was the hero of Northern Cambria Elementary. With just 1.3 seconds left on the clock, he attempts a half-court shot and sinks it. "When I saw that he was rolling the ball, I was like, 'Oh my goodness, is he going to take a shot?" said his mother, Jackie. "I know that he practices all the time and that he could make it, but I really didn't think that he was going to make it."The crowd erupted. Screams of shock and disbelief filled the arena, and Coen's team won 18-9. "I was very excited because it went in," said Coen, "I liked the crowd's reaction whenever I made it."What most don't know is that a half-court shot is just a normal day for Coen. "When I play one-on-one with him, he's always doing some weird shots and making them all the time," said his brother, Colton."In my mind, I was like, I have to shoot it to see if I can make it," said Coen.
Coen Paronish was the hero of Northern Cambria Elementary. With just 1.3 seconds left on the clock, he attempts a half-court shot and sinks it.
"When I saw that he was rolling the ball, I was like, 'Oh my goodness, is he going to take a shot?" said his mother, Jackie. "I know that he practices all the time and that he could make it, but I really didn't think that he was going to make it."
The crowd erupted. Screams of shock and disbelief filled the arena, and Coen's team won 18-9.
"I was very excited because it went in," said Coen, "I liked the crowd's reaction whenever I made it."
What most don't know is that a half-court shot is just a normal day for Coen.
"When I play one-on-one with him, he's always doing some weird shots and making them all the time," said his brother, Colton.
"In my mind, I was like, I have to shoot it to see if I can make it," said Coen. | 2023-01-20T00:00:11+00:00 | wtae.com | https://www.wtae.com/article/9-year-old-makes-buzzer-beater-half-court-shot/42577796 |
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — In an attempt to attract semiconductor companies to Oregon, the state Legislature authorized the governor on Thursday to expand urban growth boundaries to provide land for chipmakers to build factories.
Lawmakers backing the bill, which also provides some $200 million in grants to chipmakers, said it’s needed to make Oregon more competitive among other states in luring more of the multibillion-dollar semiconductor industry to the state. Other lawmakers argued that the measure is an attack on the nation’s first statewide policy — created a half-century ago — that limits urban sprawl and protects farmland and forests.
“These regulations have resulted in 50 years of success protecting our farm and forest lands, containing urban sprawl and protecting natural resources,” said Rep. Anna Scharf, a Republican. “Senate Bill 4 throws that out the window.”
The bill, approved by the state Senate last week and passed by the House on a 44-10 vote Thursday, allows Gov. Tina Kotek to designate up to a maximum of eight sites for urban growth boundary expansion — two that exceed 500 acres (202 hectares) and six smaller sites.
“There is some extremely valuable farmland in the area that produces Oregonians’ food and provides those families and those employees jobs,” Scharf said. “Farmland, once it is paved over, can never be reclaimed.”
Rep. Kim Wallan, a Republican and co-sponsor of the bill that a joint committee spent more than a month working on, said it gives Kotek only narrow authority and is aimed at expediting the process for setting aside land for semiconductor factories, called fabs, and related businesses.
State officials and lawmakers were stung by chipmaker Intel’s decision last year to build a massive $20 billion chipmaking complex in Ohio, and not in Oregon where suitable zoned land is scarce. Intel is the state’s largest corporate employer.
In Oregon, once land is included in an urban growth boundary, it is eligible for annexation to a city. Those boundary lines are regularly expanded. But the process can take months or even years. Under the bill, any appeals to the governor’s urban growth boundary expansions are expedited by going straight to the state Supreme Court.
The bill goes to Kotek for signing into law and takes effect immediately. In a statement Thursday, Kotek said the bill makes Oregon “poised to lay the foundation for the next generation of innovation and production of semiconductors.”
“Oregon has been at the center of the semiconductor industry in the United States for decades,” the Democrat said. “This bill is an absolutely essential tool for leading a coordinated effort with the private sector to ensure we can compete for federal funds to expand advanced manufacturing in Oregon.”
The CHIPS and Science Act, passed by Congress in 2022, provides $39 billion for companies constructing or expanding facilities that will manufacture semiconductors and those that will assemble, test and package the chips.
It was Republican Gov. Tom McCall, who served from 1967 to 1975, who had urged lawmakers to push for a tough new land-use law. In a 1973 speech at the Legislature, he denounced “sagebrush subdivisions, coastal ‘condomania’ and the ravenous rampage of suburbia.” Lawmakers responded by passing the law that placed growth boundaries on Oregon’s cities.
Some opponents of the Oregon CHIPS bill objected on Thursday to changing a system that’s been in place for 50 years.
“I cannot in good conscience give the governor what is essentially a super-siting authority to take lands and bring them into the urban growth boundary,” said Rep. Ed Diehl, a Republican. “That is not the Oregon way.” | 2023-04-06T23:18:32+00:00 | kdvr.com | https://kdvr.com/news/technology/oregon-alters-half-century-old-land-use-law-for-chipmakers/ |
Data from additional patients in the TakeAim Leukemia trial of emavusertib to be presented during ASH 2022
Curis focuses its resources to drive the development of emavusertib
Cash runway extended into 2025
Management to host conference call today at 4:30 p.m. ET
LEXINGTON, Mass., Nov. 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRIS), a biotechnology company focused on the development of innovative therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, today reported its business update and financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2022.
The Company plans to release updated data from its TakeAim Leukemia Phase 1/2 trial of emavusertib in relapsed or refractory (R/R) acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (hrMDS) during the upcoming 64th annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) in New Orleans on December 10-13, 2022. The release includes data for 11 additional evaluable AML/hrMDS patients treated with monotherapy (total to date 24) in targeted populations (patients with U2AF1, SF3B1 or FLT3 mutations), as well as 5 AML/hrMDS patients treated with the combination of emavusertib and venetoclax.
To further advance the development of emavusertib based on these data, the Company is concentrating its resources to focus on and accelerate emavusertib. Resources will be reallocated to the emavusertib programs and resources dedicated to all other pipeline programs will be reduced. Deprioritization of other programs will enable a reduction of approximately 30% of the Company's workforce and is expected to extend the Company's cash runway into 2025.
"We believe emavusertib's potential to address an area of high unmet need in R/R AML and R/R hrMDS sets it apart. To that end, we are dedicating the resources of the company to prioritize the acceleration of its regulatory path," said James Dentzer, President and Chief Executive Officer of Curis. "While we continue to believe in our entire pipeline, we recognize the unique potential of emavusertib and are fortunate that our existing cash will allow us to extend our runway into 2025 to advance its development," continued Mr. Dentzer.
Third Quarter 2022 and Recent Operational Highlights
Precision Oncology, Emavusertib (IRAK4 Inhibitor)
- The Company announced in August that, after review of the comprehensive data packages submitted by the Company, the FDA has allowed enrollment to resume in the TakeAim Lymphoma study and in the monotherapy dose finding phase (Phase 1a) of the TakeAim Leukemia study.
- Curis held the first annual IRAK4 in Cancer symposium virtually on October 7, 2022 where leaders from academia and industry gathered to present their cutting edge research on IRAK4, its biology and the role it could play as a target for therapeutic intervention.
Upcoming Milestones
- The Company plans to report monotherapy and combination data from the TakeAim Leukemia studies during ASH 2022.
Third Quarter 2022 Financial Results
For the third quarter of 2022, Curis reported a net loss of $13.3 million or $0.14 per share on both a basic and diluted basis, as compared to a net loss of $11.1 million, or $0.12 per share on both a basic and diluted basis for the same period in 2021. Curis reported a net loss of $45.3 million or $0.49 per share on both a basic and diluted basis, for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 as compared to a net loss of $31.8 million, or $0.35 per share on both a basic and diluted basis for the same period in 2021.
Revenues, net for the third quarter of 2022 and 2021 were $2.8 million and $3.0 million, respectively. Revenues, net for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 were $7.3 million as compared to $7.5 million for the same period in 2021. Revenues for both periods comprise primarily royalty revenues recorded on Genentech and Roche's net sales of Erivedge®.
Operating expenses for the third quarter of 2022 were $15.4 million, as compared to $13.1 million for the same period in 2021. Operating expenses for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 were $50.1 million, as compared to $37.0 million for the same period in 2021, and comprised the following:
Cost of Royalty Revenues. Cost of royalty revenues, which represents amounts due to third-party university patent licensors in connection with Genentech and Roche's Erivedge net sales, were $0.1 million for the third quarter of 2022 and $0.2 million for the same period in 2021. Cost of royalty revenues for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 were $0.2 million, as compared to $0.4 million for the same period in 2021.
Research and Development Expenses. Research and development expenses were $10.8 million for the third quarter of 2022 as compared to $8.6 million for the same period in 2021. The increase in research and development expenses for the quarter is primarily attributable to increased personnel and consulting costs, partially offset by decreased manufacturing and clinical development costs. Research and development expenses were $34.6 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 as compared to $24.1 million for the same period in 2021.
General and Administrative Expenses. General and administrative expenses were $4.6 million for the third quarter of 2022, as compared to $4.3 million for the same period in 2021. The increase in general and administrative expenses was driven primarily by the timing of costs. General and administrative expenses were $15.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022, as compared to $12.5 million for the same period in 2021.
Other Expense. For the third quarter of 2022 and 2021, total other expense was $0.7 million and $1.0 million, respectively. Other expense primarily consisted of imputed interest expense related to future royalty payments partially offset by interest income. Other expense was $2.5 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022, as compared to $2.3 million for the same period in 2021.
As of September 30, 2022, Curis's cash, cash equivalents and investments totaled $98.7 million, and the Company had approximately 96.4 million shares of common stock outstanding. Curis expects its existing cash, cash equivalents and investments should enable it to maintain its planned operations into 2025.
Conference Call Information
Curis management will host a conference call today, November 9, 2022, at 4:30 p.m. ET, to discuss the business update and these financial results.
To access the live conference call, please dial 1-888-346-6389 from the United States or 1-412-317-5252 from other locations, shortly before 4:30 p.m. ET. The conference call can also be accessed on the Curis website at in the Investors section.
About Curis, Inc.
Curis is a biotechnology company focused on the development of innovative therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. In 2015, Curis entered into a collaboration with Aurigene in the areas of immuno-oncology and precision oncology. As part of this collaboration, Curis has exclusive licenses to oral small molecule antagonists of immune checkpoints including the VISTA/PDL1 antagonist CA-170, and the TIM3/PDL1 antagonist CA-327, as well as the IRAK4 kinase inhibitor, emavusertib (CA-4948). Emavusertib is currently undergoing testing in the Phase 1/2 TakeAim Lymphoma trial in patients with hematologic malignancies, such as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and other B cell malignancies, both as a monotherapy and in combination with BTK inhibitor ibrutinib, and the Phase 1/2 TakeAim Leukemia trial in patients with acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome, for which it has received Orphan Drug Designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA has placed a partial clinical hold on the TakeAim Leukemia trial during which no new patients will be enrolled in the monotherapy expansion phase (Phase 2a) or the combination phase (Phase 1b) of emavusertib with azacitidine or venetoclax, and current study participants benefiting from treatment may continue to be treated with emavusertib at doses of 300mg BID or lower. In addition, Curis is engaged in a collaboration with ImmuNext for development of CI-8993, a monoclonal anti-VISTA antibody, which is currently undergoing testing in a Phase 1 trial in patients with solid tumors. Curis is also party to a collaboration with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, under which Genentech and Roche are commercializing Erivedge® for the treatment of advanced basal cell carcinoma. For more information, visit Curis's website at www.curis.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, without limitation, any statements with respect to Curis's plans, strategies and objectives, cash runway, statements concerning product research, development, clinical trials and studies and commercialization plans, timelines, anticipated results or the therapeutic potential of drug candidates including any statements regarding the initiation, progression, expansion, use, safety, efficacy, dosage and potential benefits of emavusertib in clinical trials as a monotherapy and/or as a combination therapy, the progression, use and potential benefits of CI-8993, Curis's plans and timelines to provide preliminary, interim and/or additional data from its ongoing or planned clinical trials, its ability to resume and further patient enrollment in its TakeAim Lymphoma trial and in the monotherapy dose escalation phase (Phase 1a) of the TakeAim Leukemia trial, its ability to resolve the remaining partial clinical hold on the monotherapy expansion phase (Phase 2a) and the combination therapy phase (Phase 1b) of the TakeAim Leukemia study, any statements concerning Curis's expectations regarding its interactions with the FDA, statements with respect to mutations or potential biomarkers, and statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Forward-looking statements may contain the words "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "intends," "seeks," "estimates," "assumes," "predicts," "projects," "targets," "will," "may," "would," "could," "should," "continue," "potential," "focus," "strategy," "mission," or similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. For example, the FDA may not remove the remaining partial clinical hold on the monotherapy expansion phase (Phase 2a) and the combination therapy phase (Phase 1b) of the TakeAim Leukemia trial or may take further regulatory action with regard to such trial. Curis may experience adverse results, delays and/or failures in its drug development programs and may not be able to successfully advance the development of its drug candidates in the time frames it projects, if at all. Curis's drug candidates may cause unexpected toxicities, fail to demonstrate sufficient safety and efficacy in clinical studies and/or may never achieve the requisite regulatory approvals needed for commercialization. Favorable results seen in preclinical studies and early clinical trials of Curis's drug candidates may not be replicated in later trials. There can be no guarantee that the collaboration agreements with Aurigene and ImmuNext will continue for their full terms, or the CRADA with NCI, that Curis or its collaborators will each maintain the financial and other resources necessary to continue financing its portion of the research, development and commercialization costs, or that the parties will successfully discover, develop or commercialize drug candidates under the collaboration. Regulatory authorities may determine to delay or restrict Genentech's and/or Roche's ability to continue to develop or commercialize Erivedge in basal cell carcinoma (BCC). Erivedge may not demonstrate sufficient or any activity to merit its further development in disease indications other than BCC. Competing drugs may be developed that are superior to Erivedge. In connection with its agreement with Oberland Capital, Curis faces risks relating to the transfer and encumbrance of certain royalty and royalty-related payments on commercial sales of Erivedge, including the risk that, in the event of a default by Curis or its wholly-owned subsidiary, Curis could lose all retained rights to future royalty and royalty-related payments, Curis could be required to repurchase such future royalty and royalty-related payments at a price that is a multiple of the payments it has received, and its ability to enter into future arrangements may be inhibited, all of which could have a material adverse effect on its business, financial condition and stock price. Curis will require substantial additional capital to fund its business. If it is not able to obtain sufficient funding, it will be forced to delay, reduce in scope or eliminate some of its research and development programs, including related clinical trials and operating expenses, potentially delaying the time to market for, or preventing the marketing of, any of its product candidates, which could adversely affect its business prospects and its ability to continue operations, and would have a negative impact on its financial condition and its ability to pursue its business strategies. Curis faces substantial competition. Curis and its collaborators face the risk of potential adverse decisions made by the FDA and other regulatory authorities, investigational review boards, and publication review bodies. Curis may not obtain or maintain necessary patent protection and could become involved in expensive and time-consuming patent litigation and interference proceedings. Unstable market and economic conditions, natural disasters, public health crises, political crises and other events outside of Curis's control could significantly disrupt its operations or the operations of third parties on which Curis depends and could adversely impact Curis's operating results and its ability to raise capital. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic may result in closures of third-party facilities, impact enrollment in clinical trials or impact sales of Erivedge by Genentech and/or Roche. The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic may impact Curis's business or operating results is uncertain. Other important factors that may cause or contribute to actual results being materially different from those indicated by forward-looking statements include the factors set forth under the captions "Risk Factor Summary" and "Risk Factors" in our most recent Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, and the factors that are discussed in other filings that we periodically make with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). In addition, any forward-looking statements represent the views of Curis only as of today and should not be relied upon as representing Curis's views as of any subsequent date. Curis disclaims any intention or obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law.
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SOURCE Curis, Inc. | 2022-11-09T21:29:25+00:00 | wcjb.com | https://www.wcjb.com/prnewswire/2022/11/09/curis-provides-third-quarter-2022-business-update/ |
Locals Representing 340K UPS Workers Nearly Unanimously Recommend Contract
WASHINGTON, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Teamsters local unions representing 340,000 full- and part-time workers at UPS voted 161-1 on Monday to endorse the tentative agreement reached with the delivery giant on July 25 and recommend its passage by the full membership.
Of the 176 local unions with UPS members, 14 affiliates failed to show up to a meeting in Washington, DC, to review the tentative agreement.
At least two representatives from all other local unions discussed more than 60 changes and improvements to the UPS Teamsters National Master Agreement, the largest private-sector collective bargaining agreement in North America. The gains achieved during negotiations, which occurred regionally and nationally since January, are larger and more lucrative than any previous Teamsters contract at UPS. The tentative agreement, valued at $30 billion, establishes record wage increases for all workers for the life of the contract, installation of air conditioning in new vehicles, the end of an unfair two-tier wage system, catch-up raises for part-timers, Martin Luther King Day as a paid holiday for the first time, new language to prevent forced overtime on days off, and other huge wins.
Now that local unions have nearly unanimously endorsed the tentative agreement, all rank-and-file UPS Teamsters will have the chance to vote on ratification from August 3-22.
"The entire UPS Teamsters National Negotiating Committee stands behind this historic contract and our UPS local unions have resoundingly voted to endorse it," said Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien. "Our tentative agreement is richer, stronger, and more far-reaching than any settlement ever negotiated in the history of American organized labor. The Teamsters are immensely proud of reaching agreement with UPS to improve the lives of our members, their families, and working people across the country."
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.2 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.
Contact:
Kara Deniz, (202) 497-6610
kdeniz@teamster.org
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SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters | 2023-07-31T23:37:27+00:00 | live5news.com | https://www.live5news.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/ups-teamsters-local-unions-endorse-tentative-agreement/ |
WFO DALLAS / FT. WORTH Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Friday, November 4, 2022
_____
TORNADO WARNING
Severe Weather Statement
National Weather Service Fort Worth TX
308 PM CDT Fri Nov 4 2022
...A TORNADO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 330 PM CDT FOR EAST
CENTRAL HILL...SOUTHWESTERN ELLIS AND WEST CENTRAL NAVARRO
COUNTIES...
At 307 PM CDT, a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado
was located near Bynum, or 11 miles east of Hillsboro, moving
northeast at 55 mph.
HAZARD...Tornado and quarter size hail.
SOURCE...Radar indicated rotation.
IMPACT...Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without
shelter. Mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. Damage
to roofs, windows, and vehicles will occur. Tree damage is
likely.
This dangerous storm will be near...
Italy around 320 PM CDT.
Other locations impacted by this tornadic thunderstorm include
Forreston, Milford, Mertens, Avalon, Brandon, Irene and Frost.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
TAKE COVER NOW! If you are outdoors, in a mobile home, or in a
vehicle, move to the closest substantial shelter now! Get to an
interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building and avoid
windows.
...THE TORNADO WARNING FOR NORTH CENTRAL HILL COUNTY WILL EXPIRE AT
315 PM CDT...
The rotation associated with the storm that prompted the Tornado
Warning has weakened, and no longer appears capable of producing a
tornado. Therefore the Tornado Warning will be allowed to expire.
A Tornado Watch remains in effect until 800 PM CDT for central Texas.
_____
Copyright 2022 AccuWeather | 2022-11-04T20:49:29+00:00 | seattlepi.com | https://www.seattlepi.com/weather/article/TX-WFO-DALLAS-FT-WORTH-Warnings-Watches-and-17559476.php |
MONTRÉAL, Oct. 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - CDPQ announced the appointment of Martin Longchamps as Executive Vice-President and Head of Private Equity.
Mr. Longchamps will work in CDPQ's Montréal office and will be responsible for the International Private Equity portfolio, which includes investments in various sectors around the world. Before joining CDPQ, Mr. Longchamps was Managing Director, Head of Origination and Execution, Private Equity, at the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments).
He earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor's in Commerce from McGill University and has previously worked as Vice-President, Corporate Development at Transcontinental, as a Partner at Edgestone Capital Partners and as an Investment Analyst at CDP Capital Communications, previously a CDPQ subsidiary, in the early 2000s. Mr. Longchamps starts in his new position on November 14, 2022.
"I'm delighted that Martin Longchamps is joining our team. His experience in the institutional and private sectors, in all stages of the investment cycle and aspects of asset management, will be an asset," said Charles Emond, President and Chief Executive Officer of CDPQ.
CDPQ would also like to thank Martin Laguerre for his work over the last three years in the organization's Private Equity portfolio.
At CDPQ, we invest constructively to generate sustainable returns over the long term. As a global investment group managing funds for public pension and insurance plans, we work alongside our partners to build enterprises that drive performance and progress. We are active in the major financial markets, private equity, infrastructure, real estate and private debt. As at June 30, 2022, CDPQ's net assets totalled CAD 391.6 billion. For more information, visit cdpq.com, follow us on Twitter or consult our Facebook or LinkedIn pages.
CDPQ is a registered trademark owned by Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and licensed for use by its subsidiaries.
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SOURCE CDPQ | 2022-10-24T18:48:31+00:00 | kswo.com | https://www.kswo.com/prnewswire/2022/10/24/martin-longchamps-appointed-executive-vice-president-head-private-equity/ |
Which travel tripods are best?
Whether you’re traveling solo or with a group, getting the perfect self-portrait can be tricky. That’s where a travel tripod comes in handy. These lightweight tripods fold up to a compact size that is easy to transport wherever you travel in the world. Most of these tripods will weigh under 4 pounds, meaning that you’ll find them very easy to carry in your bag during day trips.
The top pick for a travel tripod has to be the lightweight and stable GEEKOTO 79 inches Carbon Fiber Camera Tripod.
What to know before you buy a travel tripod
Materials
The most common material you will see travel tripods being made out of is carbon fiber. Carbon fiber is a polymer that is extremely durable, yet incredibly lightweight. Aluminum is also a good choice and will most likely be a cheaper option for a travel tripod. When choosing aluminum, you might have to sacrifice quality, but the price will drop significantly.
Compatibility
When traveling, you might want to take the big DSLR with you, or you might find that you have limited space and have to leave it behind. Finding a tripod that will be compatible with both a DSLR and a mobile phone is key. Suppose you plan on switching back and forth between the two-piece of technology for capturing your video and photographs. In that case, you’ll need to make sure you find a tripod that will fit both devices, as well as be able to carry the weight of a DSLR.
Weight
One thing that sets a travel tripod apart from a regular tripod is the weight. As most modes of transport have baggage allowances, you want to ensure that your tripod won’t take up half of your allowance. Most carbon fiber tripods will weigh very little, with the heaviest coming in around 4 pounds. This is something you will need to consider when looking to purchase a tripod, as it will be up to you and how much extra weight you are willing to carry around each day.
What to look for in a quality travel tripod
Folded size
Another difference between regular tripods and their travel versions is the size. Travel tripods tend to fold up a lot smaller than the regular version and come in much smaller sizes when unfolded. Some travel tripods will just be countertop tripods that don’t need to be folded up but will only be suited to situations where you can stand your tripod on something else to achieve the height you are after.
Make sure you take a look at the size of the tripod when it is folded up. The last thing you need is a travel tripod that is too big for your backpack once it has been folded up, which would defeat the purpose of a travel tripod altogether.
Usage size
One feature you will want to make sure you pay close attention to is how far you will stretch the tripod. Most travel tripods will reach anywhere between 10 to 70 inches. The taller the tripod can go, the more photo opportunities you will capture, but the larger the piece of equipment will be. Another downside to having a tripod that can be adjusted to a taller height is that it will be less stable, since it will most likely be made from a lightweight material.
Setup
When you’re on the go, you need a tripod that will easily put up and takedown. The setup needs to be simple yet sturdy. The larger travel tripods that have adjustable legs will have leg locks so you can adjust the height of your shot while making sure the camera is secure. Most tripods will either have lever locks or twist locks. Every photographer has their preference, so you will need to try them both out to determine which one suits you best.
How much you can expect to spend on a travel tripod
Basic tripods that won’t last long will cost around $10. These tripods are great for a last-minute pack but don’t expect them to be of amazing quality. The high-end travel tripods will cost anywhere between $60-$250 but will work very well, be easy to travel with and last a lot longer.
Travel tripod FAQ
Will I be able to carry my tripod in my backpack?
A. If you choose a travel tripod that is lightweight and easy to pack up into a compact size, you will be able to carry it with you in your backpack when going on hikes. The smaller countertop tripods are probably better suited, as they will take up very little space and weigh next to nothing.
What size should my tripod be?
A. If you plan on doing lots of full-body shots or taking pictures of big landscapes, you will need a tripod that can stretch to at least 70 inches. If you only want to take the occasional seated selfie or time lapse, you’ll be fine with a countertop tripod that will be around 12 inches in height both when set up and when packed away.
What’s the best travel tripod to buy?
Top travel tripod
GEEKOTO Carbon Fiber Camera Tripod
What you need to know: A superior quality carbon fiber tripod that is both lightweight and stable.
What you’ll love: This tripod features a 360 degree ball head, enabling you to adjust the angle of your camera with ease. The tripod is multi-functional, functioning as a monopod, trekking pole and aerial stand. When folded, this tripod is 19 inches, but it has a max height of 78 inches when unpacked.
What you should consider: The tripod is not compatible with smartphones.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Top travel tripod for the money
Joby JB01507 GorillaPod 3K Kit
What you need to know: A flexible tripod that is lightweight, compact and stable.
What you’ll love: This tripod can be bent to whatever shape and wrapped around poles and countertops. The base can cover 360 degrees and tilt up to 90 degrees The tripod will hold up to 3kg of equipment.
What you should consider: You will need to purchase the smartphone mount separately.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Worth checking out
What you need to know: A full-package travel tripod that folds down to a compact size.
What you’ll love: A tripod that will fold down to 14 inches and weighs around 2.9 pounds. The tripod is made from aluminum, making it lightweight and affordable. The tripod has a max height of 56 inches when unfolded.
What you should consider: The feet are not removable, meaning that you cannot use it as a monopod.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
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Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | 2022-07-08T10:38:21+00:00 | wric.com | https://www.wric.com/reviews/br/travel-br/travel-essentials-br/best-travel-tripod/ |
INDIANAPOLIS – Indianapolis Police are investigating a deadly hit-and-run that left a man dead late Tuesday on the southwest side of Indianapolis.
The crash happened just after 10:30 p.m. on State Road 37 at Epler Avenue, which is just south of I-465.
Officers said a civilian IMPD employee noticed police of what appeared to be a person laying in the roadway.
Officers located the man who had struck by a vehicle. Medics pronounced the man deceased at the scene.
IMPD said the vehicle that struck was a passenger car. Police were talking to witnesses at the scene.
IMPD is asking anyone who might have seen the vehicle, or has any formation to contact the IMPD Crash Investigations Unit, or Crime Stoppers. | 2022-09-21T06:14:16+00:00 | fox59.com | https://fox59.com/news/man-struck-and-killed-in-hit-and-run-on-indys-southwest-side/ |
Hot temperatures are predicted today. It looks like it will be a warm 84 degrees. Today's forecasted low temperature is 62 degrees. We will see a mix of sun and clouds. There is only a 21% chance of rain, but check the radar before you head outdoors. The sunshine will be intense today; high UV indexes are forecasted. The sun's rays will be intense. Stay in the shade as much as possible. Wear sunglasses, a hat and sunscreen when in sunlight. Breezy conditions are expected this Thursday, with forecast models showing 16 mph wind conditions coming up from Southeast. This report is created automatically with weather data provided by TownNews.com. Keep an eye on wcfcourier.com for forecast information and severe weather updates.
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It might not rain or snow in space, but our solar system is pretty active. | 2023-05-11T11:58:47+00:00 | wcfcourier.com | https://wcfcourier.com/weather/here-is-todays-weather-outlook-for-may-11-2023-in-waterloo-ia/article_66dd9fce-fa85-5905-ad0e-fe2658620439.html |
FAYETTEVILLE – The Arkansas women’s basketball team (20-11, 7-9 SEC) earned their way back in the win column after taking down Texas A&M (7-19, 2-14 SEC), 78-65, to clinch the Razorbacks’ third 20-win season with Mike Neighbors at the helm. Arkansas earned the win off a season-high 13 3-pointers and seven players with 7+ points, as well as 18 points off the bench. Samara Spencer led the Razorbacks for the second straight game with 19 points, as Arkansas broke a three-game losing streak to the Aggies. Seniors Chrissy Carr and Avery Hughes were honored following the win.
Spencer got the scoring started with a layup, which started a 7-0 run. Texas A&M scored its first field goal after over three minutes into the contest to start a 4-0 run, but Spencer responded with a 3-pointer. At the media timeout, Arkansas held a 12-6 advantage. Arkansas fell in a drought for nearly 2.5 minutes until Makayla Daniels made the backend of her two free throw attempts. Jersey Wolfenbarger then started a 7-0 run all on her own, which was initiated with a 3-pointer. After one quarter, Arkansas led, 20-10.
Spencer got the Razorbacks their first basket of the second quarter after driving to the basket for a layup. Texas A&M nailed a 3-pointer to cut the lead to eight, but Spencer answered with a triple of her own. Hot from the field, Texas A&M made its third straight field goal, but Arkansas held a 28-21 edge going into the media timeout with 4:49 left in the first half. Arkansas was in a scoring drought for over two minutes, but the Razorbacks forced four Texas A&M turnovers during that period. Wolfenbarger then dug the Razorbacks out of the hole with a reverse layup. Poffenbarger then found herself on that scoreboard with 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions, while Texas A&M was held from scoring a field goal for the remaining 6:09 of the quarter. Arkansas led 36-25 at the half.
Poffenbarger came up with a steal to set up Arkansas on offense. She then nailed her third 3-pointer of the contest, Arkansas’ first of three field goals to open the second half. After a Carr triple, Texas A&M called a timeout, as Arkansas led 44-25 with 7:57 remaining in the quarter. Out of the timeout, the Aggies began a 5-0 run, which was started by a 3-pointer. The Razorbacks would respond, as Emrie Ellis came through with a layup. The Aggies answered with another triple, but Ellis matched it with a shot from beyond the arc of her own. Arkansas continued to stay hot from the field, and after a Daniels 3-pointer, Arkansas led 57-34 with under five minutes left in the quarter. Texas A&M went on a 7-0 run, while Arkansas was held from the field for the remaining four minutes of the quarter. The Razorbacks still held a 60-46 advantage going into the final quarter.
Spencer gave the Razorbacks their first field goal in nearly five minutes in the fourth quarter with a jumper. Daniels from beyond the arc extended Arkansas’ lead to 20, 68-48, with 7:23 left in the game. Texas A&M scored seven straight points, while Arkansas was in a scoring drought for nearly three minutes. Spencer then banked in a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded to extend Arkansas’ lead to 16, 71-55. Arkansas came up with a pair of stops, but then Texas A&M knocked down a 3-pointer to cut Arkansas’ lead to 11 with 2:36 left in the game. Out of the timeout, Erynn Barnum knocked down a 3-pointer, Arkansas’ 13th of the game, to extend her point total to double digits. Texas A&M outscored the Razorbacks 10-7 in the final 2:30 of play, but Arkansas held on to win, 78-65.
HOG HIGHLIGHTS
- Spencer led the way with 19 points off 7-of-15 from the field. She also logged five rebounds, one block and one steal
- Barnum logged 12 points and five rebounds, as well as a block and steal
- Daniels tallied 12 points, four rebounds and a career-high two blocks
- Poffenbarger had a productive day with nine points, four rebounds and a career-high five assists
- The bench put up 18 points on the day. Wolfenbarger created a big spark in the first quarter, finishing the day with nine points off 4-of-7 shooting, as well as three rebounds and a steal
- Ellis logged seven points, three rebounds and two blocks
- Carr registered eight points off two 3-pointers and six rebounds on her Senior Day
- Arkansas recorded a season-high 13 3-pointers, which was done by seven players scoring a triple, the most this season | 2023-02-27T01:20:27+00:00 | 5newsonline.com | https://www.5newsonline.com/article/sports/ncaa/university-of-arkansas/arkansas-clinches-20-win-season-with-victory-over-texas-am/527-a9ee1f6f-6a96-4ca7-b70c-c38af55f222f |
AP
At least 18 dead after tornadoes rake US Midwest, South
Storms that spawned possibly dozens of tornadoes have killed at least 18 people in the South and Midwest, including at a heavy metal concert in Illinois where the theater's roof collapsed
- By ADRIAN SAINZ and ANDREW DeMILLO - Associated Press
- Updated
- 0 | 2023-04-01T20:04:16+00:00 | timesdaily.com | https://www.timesdaily.com/news/state/at-least-18-dead-after-tornadoes-rake-us-midwest-south/article_6b32880f-1e44-56d3-9012-7eb875ac3776.html |
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — (AP) — Rose Lavelle believes she's developed into a smarter player in the four years since becoming a breakout star for the United States in the 2019 Women's World Cup final against the Netherlands.
The midfielder was 24 and one of the Americans' younger players when she scored in the 69th minute of the title game in Lyon, France. Megan Rapinoe also scored in the 2-0 victory that earned the United States its second straight World Cup trophy, and fourth overall.
The United States meets the Netherlands again on Thursday, this time in the group stage of the tournament. Both teams have a win in Group E headed into the match in New Zealand's capital of Wellington.
Lavelle, now a veteran on an American team that has 14 players making their World Cup debuts, reflected on the past four years on the eve of the rematch.
“I feel like obviously I have a lot more experience, so I think just my mentality is a bit is a bit different. Four years ago I was obviously one of the younger players on the team, and I think now I find myself in a different position, which I think just kind of gives me a little more confidence," she said. "I feel like I'm a smarter player. I think I've grown in every realm, which is what I would hope."
Lavelle injured her knee in an April exhibition match against Ireland and hadn't played for her club team, OL Reign, in the run-up to the World Cup.
Coach Vlatko Andonovski declared that Lavelle was available before the team's opener against Vietnam, and she came in the game as a substitute in the 61st minute. The United States won 3-0 on a pair of goals from Sophia Smith and another from Lindsey Horan.
Lavelle was subbed in at the same time as Rapinoe, her Reign teammate who injured her calf in a National Women's Soccer League match in June.
The win over Vietnam in Auckland wasn't as lopsided as many expected given the Golden Star Women's Warriors inexperience on the international stage. The Vietnamese were among eight teams making their first World Cup appearance at the tournament co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia.
The Netherlands will no doubt be a bigger challenge than Vietnam.
The two teams also met in the quarterfinals at the Tokyo Olympics, with the Americans advancing on penalties after a 2-2 draw.
Ranked No. 9 in the world, the Netherlands has won just one of its 10 matches against the United States overall. Only one of those meetings came in a World Cup — that 2019 final. The only Dutch victory in the series came in the first meeting in 1991.
The Netherlands opened the World Cup with a 1-0 victory over Portugal, winning it on Stefanie van der Gragt's goal. But the team is missing one of its most dynamic players, forward Vivianne Miedema, who ruptured her ACL while playing for her club team, Arsenal, in December.
“I think every time we play them it's a very physical, intense match. They have a lot of different threats,” Lavelle said. “I think they're technical, good on set pieces, so I think it's going to be a tough game. But I think we're really excited for it.”
Lavelle was introspective when asked Wednesday whether the World Cup championship goal changed her.
“I don't really feel like it did. It was a goal and it was fun,” she said. “But I feel like I'm still just me.”
Andonovski went a little further in what the goal did for Lavelle.
“If I can add on that, maybe Rose's life changed, but she hasn't changed a bit," the coach said. "She's still the same humble and good person.”
___
AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | 2023-07-26T07:30:50+00:00 | wsbtv.com | https://www.wsbtv.com/sports/rose-lavelle-returns/GXX7IQSM5VWYJARVPL4OL3VQQU/ |
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A 21-year-old male has appeared in a South African court in connection with the discovery of six bodies at a car repair workshop in Johannesburg.
The victims are believed to have been sex workers and the suspect is so far facing one charge of murder.
He was arrested on Sunday in connection with the disappearance of one woman but then five other bodies were discovered during his arrest.
The suspect is expected to be in an identity line-up before he appears again in court on Oct. 18, according to officials.
The case has sparked an outcry from women’s rights groups who are calling for police and officials to do more to fight gender violence.
The groups protested outside the Johannesburg Magistrates Court on Tuesday, calling for the suspect to be denied bail.
The media has been barred from publishing images of the suspect until the identity line-up has been conducted. | 2022-10-11T23:03:28+00:00 | upmatters.com | https://www.upmatters.com/news/international/ap-international/ap-man-in-south-africa-charged-with-murder-after-6-bodies-found/ |
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Tommy Paul was too little at the time to remember watching Andy Roddick win the 2003 U.S. Open, the last Grand Slam singles title for an American man.
Paul, now 25, does recall seeing posters from that triumph displayed at the club in North Carolina where he learned how to play tennis as a kid. What stood out the most, Paul said, was the Reebok outfit Roddick wore.
“I was actually salty when he switched to Lacoste. I was like, ‘He’s not going to win another Slam now,’” Paul said with a smile after reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open, where he will face Novak Djokovic of Serbia on Friday, after Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece faces Karen Khachanov of Russia. “I thought it was the outfits.”
That championship at Flushing Meadows two decades ago remains the last in Grand Slam singles for any American man, although a trio of fellows named Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic probably (wink) had more to do with where the major trophies kept going over the rest of Roddick’s career — and beyond — than any clothing choices.
Paul’s run at Melbourne Park is one of the many examples of the ways in which U.S. men are suddenly relevant again in tennis.
“Since I was young, that’s all we’ve been hearing. Since like 14 years old, the coaches have been telling us, ‘We need new Americans. We need new Americans.’ It’s kind of engraved in my head,” Paul said, tapping his temple with his right index finger. “We all want to perform. … I mean, I think we all want it pretty bad for ourselves, but we want it for U.S. tennis, too.”
This breakthrough for Paul, who never had been past the fourth round at a major, comes on the heels of Frances Tiafoe’s trip to the semifinals at the U.S. Open last September, which included a victory over Nadal before a loss to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz.
That makes this sequence the first time U.S. men reached the final four at consecutive Slams in 16 years, when Roddick was the runner-up to Federer at the 2006 U.S. Open and lost to him in the semifinals at the 2007 Australian Open.
There’s more evidence to support the idea that a country that produced Don Budge and Bill Tilden and Arthur Ashe and John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors and Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi and more but did not matter in men’s tennis in recent years — Serena and Venus Williams, along with others, made sure U.S. women stayed at the forefront — must be taken more seriously.
Consider:
— The Australian Open men’s bracket was filled with big wins by 20-something Americans, including Mackenzie McDonald beating defending champion and No. 1 seed Nadal, Jenson Brooksby beating No. 2 seed Casper Ruud, and Sebastian Korda beating the runner-up each of the last two years, No. 7 seed Daniil Medvedev;
— Paul, Ben Shelton, 20, and Korda, 22, became the first trio of Americans in the men’s quarterfinals in Melbourne since 2000;
— There was a stretch of 22 majors spanning about 4 1/2 years in which not a single U.S. man made the quarterfinals at any Grand Slam tournament, a drought that ended when Sam Querrey reached that round at Wimbledon in 2016;
— With Paul set to crack the top 20 for the first time by the end of the Australian Open, and big jumps by others, there are projected to be 10 Americans in the ATP top 50 on Monday, something that last happened in June 1995.
“I don’t see why, at the end of this year, we couldn’t have five, six guys in the top 20, with the way that some of these guys are playing,” said Shelton, who turned pro after winning the NCAA singles title as a sophomore at the University of Florida last year and made it all the way to the quarterfinals in Australia before losing to Paul in four sets Wednesday.
“There’s a lot of hope for American tennis,” Shelton said. “I’m really looking forward to being a part of it.”
When Paul finished off that victory, he was asked during his on-court interview at Rod Laver Arena about what fans back home might be thinking.
“It’s not just exciting for the American fans,” Paul said. “It’s exciting for fans all around the world. And for us, too. I’m really excited for Ben. I’m excited for all the players that are coming up.”
Djokovic agreed with the premise.
He thinks having successful players from the United States taking part in the latter stages of the biggest tournaments — and being part of the conversation at last — can only be a good thing for the popularity of tennis.
“America, for our sport, is an extremely important country. We have some of the biggest tournaments in the world played there, in the North American continent. I think it is important that we see successful American men and women doing well. America is producing, historically, always top players,” Djokovic said. “Now you have a list of maybe four or five young players that are knocking on the door of the top level. I think that’s great for our sport.”
___
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | 2023-01-27T12:41:33+00:00 | pahomepage.com | https://www.pahomepage.com/sports/ap-tommy-pauls-australian-run-helps-make-us-men-relevant-again/ |
TikTok on Tuesday unveiled its updated community guidelines, which the company says will focus on improving content moderation on the platform.
Some of the key changes include updating the company’s rules on how it evaluates content created or altered by AI technology and providing more details about the work it does to protect civic and election integrity.
The company also outlined steps it will take to moderate content, which include removing violative content and restricting mature content from being shown to viewers under the age of 18.
“These principles guide our decisions about how we moderate content, so that we can strive to be fair in our actions, protect human dignity, and strike a balance between freedom of expression and preventing harm,” said Julie de Bailliencourt, TikTok’s global head of product policy.
The company said that the updated guidelines will take effect on April 21.
The revised rules and standards come just days before TikTok’s CEO is scheduled to testify before Congress to address some of the national security and privacy concerns that lawmakers have been raising about the app.
Last week, the Biden administration said it would ban the app in the U.S. if TikTok’s Chinese-based parent company, ByteDance, did not sell its stake to an American company.
TikTok’s CEO Shou Zi Chew said that divesting wouldn’t solve any security concerns that the company hasn’t already addressed.
“Divestment doesn’t solve the problem, a change in ownership would not impose any new restrictions on data flows or access,” Chew said in a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal.
During a briefing call on Monday, Republican Congressional aides highlighted talking points they think the company may use to defend itself against criticism regarding the app.
The aides said to expect TikTok’s CEO to focus on “Project Texas,” which is a plan designed by the company to address security concerns by routing U.S. user traffic through Oracle’s domestic cloud servers.
They also expect Chew to argue against banning the app because of its popularity.
“They’ve clearly recognized that they can’t convince the Biden administration, the various national security agencies or Congress that TikTok is not an immediate threat to American interests and national security,” one of the aides said.
“So instead they’re pivoting to attempt to use the court of public opinion and TikTok’s popularity with younger generations to try to make it politically toxic to ban the app,” the aide added. | 2023-03-21T18:33:08+00:00 | wnct.com | https://www.wnct.com/hill-politics/tiktok-unveils-updated-rules-standards-ahead-of-ceos-congressional-testimony/ |
Two men were arrested at a rental property in Atlantic City on Thursday and charged in the March 3 shooting death of a man on a Pennsylvania hiking trail, authorities said.
Cody Reed, 23, of Norristown, Pennsylvania, and Marquise Johnson, 23, of Philadelphia, were charged in the death of Daquan Tucker, whose body was found by a bicyclist about 100 feet off the Schuylkill River Trail in southeastern Pennsylvania.
Members of the U.S. Marshals Service, Atlantic City police officer, along with members of the city’s SWAT team, arrested Reed without incident about 5:15 p.m. at an Airbnb rental property on North Rhode Island Avenue, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office in Pennsylvania.
Johnson returned to the Airbnb about 7:30 p.m. and barricaded himself inside the rental unit, investigators said.
Johnson was arrested after a four-hour standoff when SWAT team members entered the home and found him hiding inside a washing machine, the district attorney’s office said.
The district attorney’s office said the alleged killers and victim knew each other and walked onto the trail, where Tucker was shot multiple times.
Reed and Johnson are charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, third-degree murder, robbery, two counts of conspiracy and a weapons offense.
They were held without bail pending an arraignment. Attorney information for the men was not immediately available on Friday.
Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. | 2023-04-07T18:08:17+00:00 | nj.com | https://www.nj.com/atlantic/2023/04/2-arrested-in-atlantic-city-after-shooting-death-of-man-on-pa-hiking-trail-authorities-say.html |
DOJ: Alabama ignored sewer issues, harmed Black residents
HAYNEVILLE, Ala. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday said an environmental justice probe found Alabama engaged in a pattern of inaction and neglect regarding the risks of raw sewage for residents in an impoverished Alabama county and announced a settlement agreement with the state.
The departments of Justice and Health and Human Services announced the results of the environmental justice probe and a settlement agreement with state health officials to address longstanding wastewater sanitation problems in Lowndes County, a high-poverty county between Selma and Montgomery.
The agreement is the result of the department’s first environmental justice investigation under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said it will not be the last, because the “fight for environmental justice is an urgent one” and the impacts of climate crisis have exacerbated the health risks faced by marginalized communities.
“For generations, Black rural residents of Lowndes County have lacked access to basic sanitation services. And as a result, these residents have been exposed to raw sewage in their neighborhoods, their yards, their playgrounds, schools and even inside their own homes,” Clarke said.
The Alabama Department of Public Health agreed to a number of changes, including the creation of a comprehensive plan for the region, and a moratorium on fines against people who can’t afford functioning septic systems. The federal department agreed to suspend their investigation as long as the state complies with the settlement terms.
Wastewater problems are well-documented in Lowndes County, a county of about 10,000 people where 72 percent of residents are Black and 28% live in poverty. Before the Civil War, the county was home to cotton plantation owners where wealthy landowners got rich off the labor of enslaved people. The county later became a center of the struggle for voting rights and civil rights in the 1960s.
The region is known as the Black Belt because of the dark rich soil, but the type of soil also makes it difficult for traditional septic tanks, in which wastewater filters through the ground, to function properly.
The region’s intense poverty and inadequate municipal infrastructure contribute to the problem. Maintaining septic tanks have typically been the responsibility of a homeowner, while local governments maintain sewage systems. Some homes in the rural county, where the median household income is about $31,000, still have “straight pipe” systems, letting sewage run untreated from home to yard.
“Environmental justice is a public health issue, and where you live should not determine whether you get sick from basic environmental hazards not faced in other affluent and white communities,” Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights Director Melanie Fontes Rainer said in a statement.
State and federal officials have announced a number of changes through the years to try to address the problems in Lowndes County. Alabama lawmakers agreed to use a portion of the state’s pandemic relief funds for water and sewage projects, with some funds dedicated for high-needs projects.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | 2023-05-04T20:08:23+00:00 | wlbt.com | https://www.wlbt.com/2023/05/04/doj-alabama-ignored-sewer-issues-harmed-black-residents/ |
FAISALABAD, Pakistan – A dervish in a scarlet whirling skirt, bells strapped to his chest, raises his fist to salute a Sufi saint buried in a soaring shrine on the outskirts of the capital Islamabad.
The dervish, Ghulam Mohammad says he loves the saint, Bari Imam, because he comforted the afflicted. Muhammad wishes more people would do the same. Lately, all he sees in his travels from shrine to shrine across the length of Pakistan are poor and hungry people.
Since the pandemic, Pakistan has been battered by calamities that have pushed up the price of food and fuel: Russia's invasion of Ukraine and two events made more extreme by climate change: a spring heatwave that shriveled harvests, then summer floods that drowned them. Now there's an economic crisis so dire, the country risks default.
Inflation reached nearly 25% last year, but the figure conceals dramatic variations. In poorer rural areas, prices of food rose even higher.
Now, the World Food Programme expects that 5.1 million people are likely to be a step away from famine-levels of hunger by the end of March – an increase of 1.1 million people from the previous quarter. "That number is frightening," says Chris Kaye, the Pakistan country director of the WFP.
And it has put a proud Pakistani tradition of feeding the hungry under strain just when it is needed the most.
In one hall at the Bari Imam shrine complex, a cook dishes up plates of greasy rice. A waitress slaps them down on benches where women and girls have gathered. One woman fights with the waitress, demanding more rice.
Salima-Bibi, 52, hovers at the hall entrance, hoping the waitress will forget she's already been served once. She clutches a plastic bag in one hand, which she hopes to fill with free rice for her four children. Salima-Bibi, who does not have a family name like many Pakistanis, says she can't afford to bring her kids because bus rides are now too expensive.
The meal she's already received is stuffed in a different plastic bag tucked under her draping headscarf. "I haven't eaten any of it," Salima-Bibi says. "I'm a mother. How can I eat without my kids?"
Salima-Bibi is not alone.
At the feeding halls at the Bari Imam shrine, cooks at open-air stalls prepare enormous cauldrons of food. They have to pay for the food themselves and rely on donations to cover their costs and their salary.
For a price, the cooks will serve up a plate of meaty stew or a plainer meal, like buttery rice.
But cooks tell NPR that they're receiving fewer donations because people are too hard up. Inflation means everything costs more so they're making less food.
Bilal Khan, a 28-year-old cook, says last year, he was tending to about 20 cauldrons a day, each holding about 22 pounds of food like chicken and beef stews. Now, with fewer donations, he's cut back on the number of cauldrons and they've got less food in them. Requests to prepare meat dishes for the poor are rare. "This year, people don't want to even order chickpeas with their rice," he says.
Across the sweeping shrine, 13-year-old Sheba chases her friends down a marble-paved courtyard. She's from a nearby crowded slum, and this is where she's always come to play. Now, she comes to eat as well. Sheba says her father, a security guard, can't afford to buy lentils, – once their staple. Now it's just tea and bread at home
It's already early evening, and she says, "I haven't eaten today, not yet." She and her friends were going to eat after playing, but as she speaks, a security guard rushes over and smacks Sheba across her shoulders – and she scrams. The guard later tells NPR that he thought Sheba was trying to pickpocket fellow NPR reporter Abdul Sattar and me.
Reports of crime are growing as tentacles of hunger spread. It's even reached a prosperous area where the poor have long flocked to work: the textile mills on the fringes of Faisalabad, a city about a four hours south from the capital. There, one charity recently opened a roadside cafeteria to serve free meals to workers, like Mohammad Imran, a quality controller at a textile mill.
He sits with his back to the entrance so nobody can see him. "I came here with a heavy heart," says Imran, as he mops up a plate of curried goat with a piece of flat bread, or naan. "But I have no choice."
About six months ago, Imran says the price of wheat, oil and vegetables doubled in his village. His family cut down on food, but even so, his monthly wage of $115 no longer stretched to the end of the month. He began sleeping at the mill on weekdays after the price of bus ticket home doubled to 80 cents.
It got so bad, Imran pulled his daughter out of the ninth grade because couldn't pay her $20 school fee. "My daughter had such a promising future. If there was any hope at all that I could pay her fees I'd send her back, but there's no hope."
Imran says this cafeteria is full of men like him.
It's run by a charity called Saylani, which operates an industrial kitchen to meet demand. Bakers slap dough into thousands of pieces of flat bread. Butchers skin freshly slaughtered goats and chop them up, ready to be cooked in pots the size of bathtubs by men holding stirring spoons the size of shovels. Vats of prepared food are pushed into open-backed jeeps.
The drivers zoom off to distribute lunch to 40 cafeterias that feed around 20,000 people each day. Irfan Malik, a senior administrator, says just two years ago, the charity ran 26 cafeterias in town.
Already, Malik says the charity, which is funded through local donations, is making trims to keep up with demand as inflation climbs. They now add potatoes to once-meat only dishes. They're building wood-fire bread ovens to replace those run on natural gas, which is now too expensive. They've limited serving times in free cafeterias so people can't come for seconds.
And his staff expect the number of people needing food to double this year. That's just one charity in one relatively prosperous city.
That's partly because the government in February raised taxes and trimmed subsidies on fuel and electricity as part of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund to resume a stalled bailout.
Those moves have already triggered more price hikes locally and are expected to push inflation up by more than 30% this year. The problem is, without a bailout, Pakistan could spiral into chaos.
Back in Faisalabad, 45-year-old Ghulam Nabi keeps an eye on cotton looms in a one-room factory. He's gaunt. His cheekbones protrude. His arms are bony.
He's piling up debt to buy food for his family and now owes $70 – his monthly wage – at the local shop. But somehow, Ghulam Nabi says, he is managing. "I work," he says, "I don't need free food."
At least for now.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | 2023-03-04T11:50:46+00:00 | klcc.org | https://www.klcc.org/npr-health-fitness/2023-03-01/the-proud-pakistani-tradition-of-feeding-the-hungry-is-strained-as-food-prices-soar |
Turnaround Plan Continues; Retail Expansion in North America
ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE: TUP), a leading global consumer products company, today reported operating results for the third quarter ended September 24, 2022.
Third Quarter 2022 Financial Summary
- Net sales were $302.8 million, a decrease of 20% year over year (or 14% on a constant currency basis), compared to $376.9 million in the prior year period
- Gross profit was $196.6 million, or 64.9% of net sales, compared to $247.9 million, or 65.8% of net sales, in the prior year period
- (Loss) income from continuing operations was $(3.8) million, compared to $60.4 million in the prior year period
- Diluted (loss) earnings per share from continuing operations was $(0.09), compared to $1.14 in the prior year period
- Adjusted diluted earnings per share (non-GAAP) from continuing operations was $0.14, compared to $1.19 in the period year period
- Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP, per debt covenant)1 from continuing operations was $29.9 million, compared to $77.7 million in the prior year period
- Consolidated Net Leverage Ratio (non-GAAP) was 4.17, within the 4.5 debt covenant limit for the quarter
The Company continues to implement its Turnaround Plan; fixing the core, right sizing the business, divesting non-core assets and opening new channels of distribution. "While we are excited to expand the Tupperware ecosystem to have some of our products available at a major US retailer early in the fourth quarter, we faced internal and external challenges in the third quarter that eroded our business economics," said Miguel Fernandez, President and Chief Executive Officer of Tupperware Brands. We experienced decelerating top line trends in Asia Pacific and North America, and continuing declines in Europe given ongoing geopolitical tensions and the difficult macroeconomic environment there. These trends were partially offset by continued positive sales growth in South America, where pricing actions have more than offset a modest decrease in sales force activity. Additionally, currency headwinds were more than expected given the continued strengthening of the dollar against most major currencies.
"While we continue to make investments that are essential for our turnaround, we remain disciplined to ensure we are focused on meeting our debt covenants, while making decisions that we believe will improve long term profitability," said Mariela Matute, Chief Financial Officer of Tupperware Brands. "Given the revenue trends year to date, we expect to take additional restructuring actions in the fourth quarter, as well as implementing stringent inventory reduction programs."
Third Quarter 2022 Operating Results
Total net sales were $302.8 million, a decrease of 20% (or 14% on a constant currency basis) compared to the prior year period. The decrease was driven primarily by lower overall sales force activity, continuing lockdowns in China, lower consumer sentiment in Europe and adverse impact to unit volumes due to price elasticity, partially offset by strength in South America, driven by retention efforts and promotional campaigns, as well as the overall benefit from broad-based price increases taken throughout the year. For detailed performance by region, please refer to the segment tables in the appended exhibit.
Gross profit was $196.6 million, as compared to $247.9 million for the prior year period. Gross margin was 64.9%, as compared to 65.8% for the prior year period. The decrease was driven by lower volumes, higher resin and logistics costs, and country and product mix, partially offset by additional pricing actions taken during the quarter.
Selling, General and Administrative expenses were $175.6 million, a decline of 7.9% from $190.7 million in the prior year. However, it was 740 basis points higher as a percent of sales given the magnitude of the sales declines experienced in the quarter. While the Company believes it is making progress on its right sizing efforts, it continues to make investments in conjunction with the Turnaround Plan, and the Company is also experiencing inflation in its freight and labor costs.
1 "Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP, per debt covenant)" is calculated the same way as the non-GAAP measure "Debt covenant EBITDA" that the Company disclosed in its prior earnings releases.
Note: All figures reflect results from continuing operations only. A reconciliation of non-GAAP measures to comparable GAAP measures can be found in the tables included in this release.
(Loss) income from continuing operations was $(3.8) million, as compared to $60.4 million for the prior year period. Diluted (loss) earnings per share from continuing operations was $(0.09), as compared to $1.14 for the prior year period. Adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations (non-GAAP) was $0.14, as compared to $1.19 for the prior year period. The decrease was driven by lower volumes, higher resin costs, logistics costs and tax rate.
Personnel Changes
The Company is pleased to announce that, as part of the next chapter of the Turnaround Plan, Hector Lezama has been promoted to Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) to holistically oversee the Company's efforts to achieve sustainable growth and profitability. He will be responsible for guiding all commercial activities around the world.
Liquidity and Balance Sheet
Cash balances at the end of the quarter were $103 million, compared to $267 million as of the end of 2021. Total debt was $704.0 million, compared to $684.8 million a year ago. Cash flow from operations was an outflow of $65.8 million year to date driven by an increase in working capital and lower than expected earnings. The Company's recent credit agreement amendment calls for the maximum leverage ratio to decrease from 4.5x in the third quarter to 4.25x in the following two quarters (the fourth quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023).
The Company has experienced volatility in earnings during the nine months ended September 24, 2022 as it executes the Turnaround Plan and responds to the unpredictability in the market related to recessionary concerns, inflation and COVID lockdowns. As of September 24, 2022, the Company was in compliance with its financial covenants in the First Amendment to the Credit Agreement. Due to the volatility in the Company's earnings and progressive tightening of the financial covenants in the First Amendment to the Credit Agreement, it is probable that the Company will not be able to maintain compliance with the covenants in its Credit Agreement, including the existing Consolidated Net Leverage Ratio covenant, for the next twelve months, which raises substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern. The Company is in negotiations with its lenders to amend the Credit Agreement; however, the Company's ability to amend its covenants, obtain a waiver or otherwise refinance its debt, as well as the timing and terms of any such amendment or refinancing, are dependent upon a number of factors, and there can be no assurance that the Company will be successful in such efforts.
53rd Week
Due to the timing of the Company's fiscal calendar, 2022 will have 53 weeks as compared to 52 weeks in 2021, which will occur during the last week of the calendar year. The Company expects the extra week in 2022 to contribute an incremental 5% to sales in the fourth quarter and 1% to the full year.
Earnings Conference Call
The Company will host its third quarter 2022 earnings conference call today, November 2, 2022, at 8:30 a.m. ET. A link to the live webcast can be found under the Events and Presentations section of the Company's Investor Relations page on the Company's website at https://ir.tupperwarebrands.com. A webcast replay will be made available in the same section of the Company's Investor Relations website later today.
About Tupperware Brands Corporation
Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE: TUP) is a leading global consumer products company that designs innovative, functional and environmentally responsible products that people love and trust. Founded in 1946, Tupperware's signature container created the modern food storage category that revolutionized the way the world stores, serves and prepares food. Today, this iconic brand has more than 8,500 functional design and utility patents for solution-oriented kitchen and home products. With a purpose to nurture a better future, Tupperware products are an alternative to single-use items. The Company distributes its products into nearly 70 countries primarily through independent representatives around the world. For more information, visit Tupperwarebrands.com or follow Tupperware on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements contained in this release that are not historical fact and use predictive words such as "estimates", "outlook", "guidance", "expect", "believe", "intend", "designed", "target", "plans", "may", "will", "are confident" and similar words are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements and related assumptions involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and outcomes to differ materially from any forward-looking statements or views expressed herein. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following: the continuing effects of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic; the successful execution of the Company's Turnaround Plan; the effects of inflation on the Company's business; the sale of the Company's Nuvo business; the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on the Company's business; the Company's ability to ship product to customers on a timely basis, including because of delays caused by its supply chain; the Company's ability to sustain the same level of growth in net sales and net income that it recorded in the prior quarters; the success of the Company's efforts to improve its profitability and liquidity position and any capital structure actions that it may take; the Company's access to, and the costs of, financing and other sources of liquidity and the potential that banks with which the Company maintains lines of credit may be unable to fulfill their commitments; the costs and covenant restrictions associated with the Company's current credit facility with Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. and the other lenders; the Company's ability to comply with, or further amend, financial covenants under its credit agreement and its ability to repay or refinance the debt outstanding under its current credit facility and take other actions to address its capital structure, as well as potential downgrades to the Company's credit ratings; the absence of foreign exchange lines of credit; the potential impact of management's determination that the Company may not be able to continue to operate as a going concern; cyberattacks and ransomware demands that could cause the Company to not be able to operate its systems and/or access or control its data, including private data; the success and timing of growth and turnaround initiatives; leadership development and succession changes; impairment and other charges related to purchase accounting goodwill and restructuring actions; the risk of foreign-currency fluctuations and currency translation impacts on the Company's business associated with these fluctuations; the Company's ability to engage in hedging transactions (including, without limitation, forwards and swaps) with financial institutions to mitigate risks relating to foreign-currency fluctuations and/or interest rate fluctuations and the possibility that such hedging transactions, even if entered into, are unsuccessful; the risk of changes in cash flow resulting from changes in foreign exchange rates and hedge settlements; uncertainties related to the interpretation of, and regulations under, changes in the U.S. tax law and tax laws and regulations in other countries; the Company's future tax-planning initiatives; any prospective or retrospective increases in duties on the Company's products; any adverse results of tax audits or unfavorable changes to tax laws in the Company's various markets; risk that direct selling laws and regulations in any of the Company's markets may be modified, interpreted or enforced in a manner that results in negative changes to the Company's business models or negatively impacts its revenue, sales force or business, including through the interruption of recruiting and sales activities, loss of licenses, imposition of fines, or any other adverse actions or events; unpredictable economic and political conditions and events globally; the success of new product introductions and promotional programs to generate interest among the Company's sales force and customers and generate selling activities on a sustained basis; success of business-to-business selling arrangements and their timing; success of buyers in obtaining financing or attracting tenants for commercial and residential developments; the timing and success of closing asset sales; risks related to litigation against the Company, including pending securities class action lawsuits filed against the Company and certain of its current and former officers and directors; risks related to accurately predicting, delivering or maintaining sufficient quantities of products to support planned initiatives or launch strategies; governmental approvals of materials for use in the Company's products; continued competitive pressures for products or sales force in the Company's markets; and other risks detailed in the Company's periodic reports as filed in accordance with the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
The Company updates each month the impact of changes in foreign exchange rates versus the prior year, posting it on Tupperware Brands Foreign Exchange Translation Impact Update available at https://ir.tupperwarebrands.com/financial-information/foreign-exchange-impact. Other than updating for changes in foreign currency exchange rates, the Company does not intend to update forward-looking information.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
The Company utilizes non-GAAP financial measures in this release, specifically, Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share from continuing operations ("Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share"), Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP, per debt covenant), and Consolidated Net Leverage Ratio, each of which are provided to assist readers' understanding of the Company's results of operations. The Company believes Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share is useful as it is used by management in their capital allocation decision process and in discussions with investors, analysts, and other interested parties. This measure is based on a continuing operations basis. Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP, per debt covenant) and Consolidated Net Leverage Ratio are useful as they reflect the Company's liquidity as required under its credit facility. These measures are based on a consolidated basis with the results of both continuing operations and discontinued operations included. These amounts exclude certain items that at times materially impact the comparability of the Company's results of operations. The adjusted information is intended to be indicative of the Company's primary operations, and to assist readers in evaluating performance and analyzing trends across periods by providing what the Company believes is a useful measure for predictive purposes. These results should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, results reported in accordance with GAAP.
The non-GAAP financial measures include comparisons related to profit that exclude:
- gains from the sale of property, plant and equipment and other real estate related operations
- insurance settlement gains or significant charges related to casualty losses caused by significant weather events, fires or similar circumstances
- exit or disposal cost obligations related to rationalizing supply chain operations and other re-engineering activities performed to wind-down or significantly restructure businesses, including cumulative translation adjustments recognized in income upon liquidation of operations in a country, asset sales or fixed asset impairments, inventory obsolescence and other operating losses incurred in conjunction with such activities
- certain asset retirement obligations
- pension settlements
- significant discrete impacts of new tax laws upon adoption, including the impact on cumulative deferred taxes from items previously recorded as cumulative translation adjustments
- amortization of definite-lived intangible assets
- non-cash impairment charges related to the carrying value of acquired intangible assets and goodwill
- infrequent costs incurred in connection with a change in capital structure
- the impact from hyper-inflationary economies on net monetary assets and other balance sheet positions that impact near term income
- non-recurring costs associated with the turnaround plan
While these types of events can and do recur periodically, they are not part of the Company's primary business operations and are excluded from indicated financial information due to their distinction from ongoing business operations, inherent volatility and impact on the comparability of earnings across periods, as amounts recognized in any given period are not indicative of amounts that may be recognized in any particular future period.
Additionally, the Company engages in business to business transactions, in which it sells products to a partner company. Since the level of these sales is volatile from quarter-to-quarter and year-to-year, and is largely independent of the activities of its sales force, the Company at times, in addition to disclosing reported sales, discloses "core" sales amounts and comparisons, which excludes amounts sold under business to business transactions. This illustrates sales results and trends directly associated with activities of its independent sales force. All financial information disclosed and presented includes business to business transactions unless specifically stated as "core" sales or otherwise indicated.
Also, as the impact of changes in exchange rates is an important factor in understanding period-to-period comparisons. The Company believes the presentation of results on a constant currency basis, in addition to reported results, helps improve readers' ability to understand the Company's operating results and evaluate performance in comparison with prior periods. The Company presents constant currency information that compares results between periods as if current period exchange rates had been the exchange rates in the prior period. The Company uses results on a constant currency basis as one measure to evaluate performance and generally refers to such amounts as restated or excluding the impact of foreign currency.
These core sales and constant currency results should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, results reported in accordance with GAAP. Core sales and results on a constant currency basis may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies and are not measures of performance presented in accordance with GAAP.
1 Information included with this release includes references to Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share, and covenants under the Company's credit agreement with Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.: Net Consolidated Leverage Ratio and Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP, per debt covenant). The Company uses Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share as this measure is used in its capital allocation decision process and in discussions with investors, analysts and other interested parties, while management believes Net Consolidated Leverage Ratio and Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP, per debt covenant) are useful to investors as they are used by management to assess the Company's liquidity. The Company's calculation of its Net Consolidated Leverage Ratio and Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP, per debt covenant) is in accordance with its credit agreement, and such calculations, as well as the Company's calculation of Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share, is set forth in the reconciliation from GAAP amounts in an attachment to this release; however, the reader is cautioned that other companies define these measures in different ways, and consequently they may not be comparable with similarly labeled amounts disclosed by others.
Investors: Douglas M. Lane, CFA, douglaslane@tupperware.com, (321) 503-9640
Media: Cameron Klaus, cameronklaus@tupperware.com, (407) 371-9784
Summary Financial Statements
Segment Information
The Company manufactures and distributes a broad portfolio of products, primarily through independent direct sales force members. Certain operating segments have been aggregated based upon consistency of economic substance, geography, products, production process, class of customers and distribution method.
Sales Force Statistics
Sales force statistics shown below are collected by the Company and, in some cases, provided by distributors and sales force. Active sales force is defined as the average number of sellers ordering in each cycle over the course of the quarter. Constant currency changes, or changes excluding foreign exchange impact, are measured by comparing current year results with those of the prior year, translated at the current year's foreign exchange rates.
GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures Reconciliation
Net Income to Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP, per debt covenant) Reconciliation and Consolidated Net Leverage Ratio (1)
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SOURCE Tupperware Brands Corporation | 2022-11-02T12:32:18+00:00 | kxii.com | https://www.kxii.com/prnewswire/2022/11/02/tupperware-brands-corporation-reports-third-quarter-2022-financial-results/ |
Powerful documentary on Heaven's most mighty Angel is the latest in the new collection of films inspired by the everyday people who have become saints
DENVER, Aug. 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Fathom Events and Sonovision announce the release of the new documentary film SAINT MICHAEL: MEET THE ANGEL in theaters for one-night-only on Thursday, September 29. Watch the teaser trailer here.
This is the first documentary of its kind on Saint Michael to release in theaters. It will lead the audience to the places of apparitions of Saint Michael the Archangel and will include powerful testimonies of faith, riveting Church history, and beautiful architecture and art in Christian culture that will bring people closer to the extraordinary figure of Archangel Michael.
Tickets for SAINT MICHAEL: MEET THE ANGEL can be purchased at www.FathomEvents.com or at participating theater box offices. Fans throughout the U.S. will be able to enjoy the event in select movie theaters; for a complete list of theater locations visit the Fathom Events website (theaters and participants are subject to change).
Who is Archangel Michael? What is his role in the life of Church history to today? Why do we need angels? These are some of the questions that will be answered and bring inspiration to audiences of all ages.
"SAINT MICHAEL: MEET THE ANGEL will present audiences with an opportunity to really get to know the very first among the pure spirits known as angels – Saint Michael. This look into his life is based on Scripture, history and Church teaching," said Konrad Sosnowski, CEO of Sonovision. "The documentary focuses on the history of the person and the veneration of the Commander of the Hosts of Heaven, Saint Michael the Archangel."
SAINT MICHAEL arrives as part of a new offering by Fathom Events called The Saint Series, a special collection of films in which moviegovers can learn the fascinating stories behind everyday people who became Catholic saints.
After the SAINT MICHAEL documentary film plays, audiences are encouraged to remain in their seats as the filmmakers have produced a bonus feature that includes commentary from several leaders and experts who will expound upon the efficacy of Archangel Michael and the meaning of angels and holy helpers in general. This bonus feature adds to the rich documentary content that will expose viewers to the divine mystery of the angelic. Some of the notable leaders to appear in the bonus feature include: Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC, author of Consecration to Saint Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father; Fr. Chris Alar, MIC, Provincial Superior of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy Province of the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception; Fr. Robert Altier; and Fr. Wolgang Seitz, ORC, of the Order of Canons Regular of the Holy Cross and Secretary of Opus Sanctorum Angelorum.
"In a world of increasing darkness and chaos, God has set up for us a supernatural force to help us combat this evil," said Fr. Wolfgang Seitz of Opus Angelum, an order dedicated to studying and propagating the work of the Holy Angels. "SAINT MICHAEL: MEET THE ANGEL introduces us to the Holy Angels especially Saint Michael which explains his importance through scripture and Church teaching. You need to call upon the angels as they are your first line of defense."
For more information and for resources including still images, promotional images, video trailers and a downloadable discussion guide, please visit http://www.saintmichaelmovie.com.
ABOUT FATHOM EVENTS
Fathom Events is a recognized leader in the entertainment industry as one of the top distributors of content to movie theaters in North America. Owned by AMC Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: AMC); Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CNK); and Regal, a subsidiary of the Cineworld Group (LSE: CINE.L), Fathom operates the largest cinema distribution network, delivering a wide variety of programming and experiences to cinema audiences in all the top U.S. markets and to more than 45 countries. For more information, visit FathomEvents.com.
ABOUT SONOVISION
Sonovision is an American founded sales and distribution company based in Warsaw Poland, with offices in Los Angeles, California and Vienna, Austria. Thanks to a history of forty years in the film industry, with its first distribution company, DMS – Distribution & Media Services, being started in Los Angeles, California in the late 80's, it has very strong relationships and experienced partners worldwide. In the USA and Poland Sonovision is a theatrical distributor, and represents numerous films as a sales agent worldwide. It has cooperated with companies like Miramax, Netflix, and Discovery. Sonovision is present at all the major Film Festivals and Markets, and is always open to new partnerships and ventures.
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SOURCE Fathom Events | 2022-08-25T18:29:47+00:00 | witn.com | https://www.witn.com/prnewswire/2022/08/25/saint-michael-meet-angel-hits-theaters-thursday-september-29th-part-fathom-events-new-saint-series/ |
Rihanna to headline the next Super Bowl halftime show
NEW YORK (AP) — Rihanna will take center stage at February’s Super Bowl halftime show.
The singer, who declined to perform in the 2019 Super Bowl halftime show out of solidarity with Colin Kaepernick, will headline the 2023 Super Bowl, the NFL announced Sunday along with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation and Apple Music. Rihanna posted an image on Instagram of an arm outstretched holding an NFL football.
“Rihanna is a generational talent, a woman of humble beginnings who has surpassed expectations at every turn,” Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, whose Roc Nation is an executive producer of the show, said in a statement. “A person born on the small island of Barbados who became one of the most prominent artists ever. Self-made in business and entertainment.”
The Super Bowl will take place at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on Feb. 12. After years of Pepsi’s sponsorship, the upcoming halftime show will be sponsored by Apple Music.
Rihanna earlier said she turned down a similar opportunity for the 2019 Super Bowl that was ultimately headlined by Maroon 5. At the time, many artists voiced support for Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback whose 2016 national anthem protests sparked debate throughout football.
“I couldn’t dare do that. For what?” Rihanna told Vogue in 2019. “Who gains from that? Not my people. I just couldn’t be a sellout. I couldn’t be an enabler. There’s things within that organization that I do not agree with at all, and I was not about to go and be of service to them in any way,” she said of the league.
With sales of more than 250 million records worldwide, Rihanna ranks as one of the best-selling female artists ever. Her last album was 2016′s “Anti.”
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | 2022-09-25T20:22:10+00:00 | kalb.com | https://www.kalb.com/2022/09/25/rihanna-headline-next-super-bowl-halftime-show/ |
TURIN, Italy (AP) — United States winger Tim Weah has a lot to live up to after joining Juventus from Lille.
Not only is he the son of one of the top players to have plied his trade in Italian soccer — former FIFA Player of the Year and current Liberian President George Weah — but the 23-year-old will have to replace Juan Cuadrado.
The Colombia international signed a one-year deal with Inter Milan on Wednesday after eight seasons at Juventus.
“Definitely a responsibility, because what he’s done at the club has been amazing, I mean for me he’s a legend,” Weah said about Cuadrado in a news conference on Thursday. “Just watching his every move, his plays and what he’s done for the club has been great. And, you know, I can only just be inspired.
“So, you know, I just pray to God and hopefully, you know, I put in the work, work hard and … definitely some big shoes to fill. But I’m ready for the challenge.”
Weah’s father also played in Italy, for AC Milan, but recently told Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport that he would have loved to play for Juventus.
In a deal completed at the start of the month, Juventus will pay Lille 10.3 million euros (now $11.5 million) for Weah, plus up to 2.1 million euros in bonuses.
“Very easy choice for me,” Weah said. “From the moment I heard that they were interested, I knew that I wanted to come here and I wanted to create my own history here and be a part of this beautiful organization.
“From a young age my dad has always supported Juventus so I think it was such a coincidence that, you know, that opportunity came. And I’m just so, so happy and proud to be here.”
Weah’s mother has also played a significant role in his soccer choices, with the winger explaining she is the reason he chose the No. 22 shirt.
“Number 22 has a long history. First of all, it’s my birthday and the day I was born, 22nd of February,” Weah said. “And then 22 is the first number my mother ever put on my back.
“So I made a promise to her that … whatever club I play for, I’ll always use the 22 in honor to her.”
Weah could be joined soon at Juventus by one of his former teammates at Lille, with the Bianconeri reportedly interested in signing Canada forward Jonathan David.
“With Jonathan David, that’s one of my best friends in the whole world,” Weah said. “So, you know, he has asked me questions and I told him you should come here and make sure you’re ready to work.”
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | 2023-07-21T01:07:46+00:00 | mytwintiers.com | https://www.mytwintiers.com/sports/ap-united-states-winger-tim-weah-ready-for-the-challenge-of-replacing-juan-cuadrado-at-juventus/ |
Integrity's robust, end-to-end systems will empower Virginia-based Velocity to provide a wider range of technology, products and resources to its fast-growing network of agents
DALLAS, June 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Integrity Marketing Group, LLC ("Integrity"), a leading distributor of life and health insurance, and provider of wealth management and retirement planning solutions, today announced it has acquired Velocity Life Insurance Agency ("Velocity"), a rapidly growing independent marketing organization ("IMO") based in Roanoke, Virginia. As part of the acquisition, Dave Whichard, President of Velocity, will become a Managing Partner in Integrity. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
With a well-earned reputation for hard work and compassion toward the agents and clients it serves, Velocity has shattered growth records across the industry since its inception. The dynamic agency specializes in providing final expense, mortgage protection and other insurance products to consumers nationwide. In 2021, the agency was able to support its network of thousands of agents in placing $33 million in annual paid premium while serving more than 40,000 Americans.
"Just like Integrity, Velocity has built one of the fastest-growing businesses in the industry — and I can't wait to see what we're going to do together," expressed Bryan W. Adams, Co-Founder and CEO of Integrity. "Dave is a perfect fit for the Integrity family. His selfless commitment to service is inspiring — he truly goes above and beyond in delivering solutions that protect families. Partnering with Integrity offers Dave the opportunity to expand Velocity's presence as a key national player in the industry. It also makes it possible to advance Velocity's technology offerings by using our proprietary end-to-end insurtech platform. With Integrity supporting its goals and vision, there's no stopping the Velocity team."
"Integrity offers all its partners game-changing insurtech services — but equally important are the world-class relationships we gain," explained Dave Whichard, President of Velocity. "Being part of Integrity means we're joining a championship team. When you unite your business with partners of that stature and magnitude, and are prepared to learn and grow, the sky is the limit. I'm excited to utilize Integrity's innovative resources and systems to diversify our product offerings and further expand our footprint. This partnership allows me to create a long-lasting legacy of service, while impacting the lives of more agents and American families. This is the perfect time for Velocity to become an Integrity partner, and I couldn't be prouder."
Velocity quickly understood how Integrity's vision of innovating the insurance industry for all stakeholders could benefit its agents and clients. The agency will activate further growth by utilizing Integrity's comprehensive, end-to-end platform, including consumer-centric product design, powerful customer relationship management software and proprietary agency management systems. All partners retain valuable time to focus on growth by utilizing Integrity's centralized business services. Streamlined areas include Technology & Innovation, People & Culture, finance, legal and compliance, as well as a leading marketing and advertising agency.
These benefits are further enhanced by Integrity's groundbreaking Employee Ownership Plan, which allows Velocity to offer its employees meaningful ownership in one of the nation's fastest-growing companies.
In addition, Velocity will contribute to Integrity's partner network, where industry legends are continually working to innovate and improve insurance and financial processes. By collaborating and strategizing on best practices and solutions, these leading companies can better protect the life, health and wealth of more Americans.
"Adding Dave Whichard to the Integrity team is a move that will benefit the entire partner network," shared Shawn Meaike, President of Family First Life and Managing Partner at Integrity. "He brings an unrivaled commitment to hard work that has already resulted in incredible growth. The combination of Dave's compassion and commitment, supported by Integrity's technology and systems will create an unstoppable trajectory of growth for Velocity."
For more information about Velocity's partnership with Integrity, view a video at www.integritymarketing.com/Velocity.
About Integrity Marketing Group
Integrity, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, is a leading distributor of life and health insurance, and provider of innovative solutions for wealth management and retirement planning. Through its partner network, Integrity helps millions of Americans protect their life, health and wealth with a commitment to meet them wherever they are — in person, over the phone and online. Integrity's cutting-edge technology helps streamline the insurance and financial planning experience for all stakeholders. In addition, Integrity develops products with carrier partners and markets them through its distribution network of agencies, brokerages and RIAs throughout the nation. Integrity's nearly 6,000 employees work with more than 420,000 agents and advisors who serve over 10 million clients annually. In 2021, Integrity helped carriers place more than $10 billion in new sales and oversaw more than $20 billion of assets under management and advisement through its RIA and broker-dealer platforms. For more information, visit www.integritymarketing.com.
About Velocity Life Insurance Agency
Velocity Life Insurance Agency, is headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, and serves agents and families nationwide. Velocity specializes in providing top products in final expense, mortgage protection, IULs, annuities and more. Velocity agents provide coverage tailored to their clients from a variety of carriers. The agency owes its record-setting production to comprehensive and ongoing training and strong carrier relationships. In 2021, Velocity's thousands of agents protected more than 40,000 families, while providing over $33 million in production. Velocity consistently leads by example and has an unwavering commitment to outwork the competition. The company's impressive growth is an inspiration for other agencies that strive to duplicate Velocity's success.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Integrity Marketing Group, LLC | 2022-06-28T14:02:48+00:00 | wsfa.com | https://www.wsfa.com/prnewswire/2022/06/28/velocity-life-insurance-agency-accelerates-growth-through-integrity-partnership/ |
(NEXSTAR) – If you’ve used Snapchat or your camera app recently, you may have noticed a green dot appear at the top of your iPhone. Or maybe it was an orange dot when you were on a FaceTime call or while recording a Voice Memo. But what do they mean?
If you’re confused by the dots, you aren’t alone.
Apple introduced the orange and green indicators when it rolled out iOS 14 in 2020. That means that, as long as your iPhone is up-to-date (we’re on iOS 16 now) or if you recently purchased a new iPhone, you have these indicators.
According to Apple, both dots serve as a security feature. You’ll find them in the top right corner of your screen, above the service, Wi-Fi/LTE, and battery indicators.
The green dot indicates when an app on your iPhone is using either the camera or the camera and the microphone, Apple explains. The orange dot means an app on your iPhone was using just the microphone.
You’ll also be prompted to give an app permission to use your iPhone’s camera or microphone the first time you use the app, Apple notes.
If you notice an orange or green dot but aren’t sure which app is using your microphone or camera, you can check in the Command Center.
To do this, swipe down from the upper right corner. Once there, you’ll see a notification at the top of your screen, like the one seen below. If you tap on that notification, you can see the app that was using the microphone or camera, and if it was collecting any other data (like your location).
Not a fan of the orange dot? You can change it to appear as a square by going to Settings, then Accessibility, then Display & Text Size. Once there, you can toggle Differentiate Without Color on. This feature only applies to the orange dot.
Neither dot will appear on your Apple Watch. You may, however, notice an orange microphone icon appear in the upper right-hand corner if your Watch is listening to your voice – this may happen when you’re talking to Siri, for example.
Because the orange and green dots are part of Apple’s privacy settings, you can’t turn either off.
Nexstar’s Scott Gustin contributed to this report. | 2023-03-03T18:49:04+00:00 | wboy.com | https://www.wboy.com/news/national/what-do-the-orange-green-dots-on-my-iphone-mean/ |
PHOENIX (AP) — Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said he’s not requiring a first-round pick in a potential trade sending four-time MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets but added he’d want “fair value.”
Gutekunst was asked Monday at the NFL annual meeting if there was any way in which he could feel comfortable trading Rodgers without getting a first-round pick in return.
“Yeah, I think that’s not a necessity,” Gutekunst told reporters. “But at the same time, the value of the player – he’s a premier player, so getting premier picks back for (premier) players is important.”
Gutekunst and Jets general manager Joe Douglas both discussed trade talks involving the 39-year-old Rodgers, who said March 15 during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on SiriusXM and YouTube that he intends to play for the Jets in 2023.
Rodgers remains under contract with Green Bay but said he wanted the Packers to “do the right thing.”
“There’s been some productive conversations. Obviously, we’re not where we need to be yet. But feel like we’re in a good place.” Douglas said, adding he’s “very optimistic.”
Gutekunst said that “hopefully, we can come to an agreement sooner than later” but indicated he could afford to wait until May or June to make a trade if necessary.
“Yeah, I think so,” Gutekunst said. “Again, there’s not much going on right now. So, again, I think it has to work for both parties and I think we’re both committed to figuring that out. It’s really kind of in their court right now. We’ll kind of see where it goes.”
Gutekunst also said he tried unsuccessfully to speak with Rodgers on multiple occasions this offseason before the quarterback’s representatives told him the four-time MVP was requesting a trade.
Rodgers and Gutekunst met shortly after Green Bay’s season ended with a 20-16 loss to the Detroit Lions that snapped the Packers’ string of three straight playoff appearances. Gutekunst said they’d planned to have follow-up conversations.
“Those never transpired,” Gutekunst said. “So there came a time where we had to make some decisions so we went through his representatives to try to talk to him (about) where we were going with our team. And at that point, they informed us that he would like to be traded to the Jets.”
That account conflicts with what Rodgers said during his appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
Rodgers said he wished the Packers had told him early in the offseason that they intended to move on from him in the 2023 season. Rodgers said instead that after returning from his isolation retreat last month, he “heard from multiple people that I trust around the league — players mostly –— that there was some shopping going on, that they were interested in actually moving me.”
“The Packers would like to move on,” Rodgers said. “They’ve let me know that in so many words. They’ve let other people know that in direct words.”
Gutekunst said he wanted to have more discussions with Rodgers earlier in the offseason to discuss how the veteran quarterback could fit in the Packers’ future plans.
“(With) our inability to reach him or for him to respond in any way, I think at that point, I had to do my job and kind of reach out and, understanding that a trade could be possible and see who was interested,” Gutekunst said.
A trade of Rodgers would clear the way for 2020 first-round pick Jordan Love to take over as Green Bay’s starting quarterback.
Gutekunst was asked if there’s any scenario in which Rodgers starts another game for the Packers.
“I think right now all options are on the table,” Gutekunst said. “It’s not trending that way, and we’re very hopeful we can facilitate this (trade) and get this accomplished. But he’s come back under certain circumstances before where maybe he wasn’t the happiest with everything that was going on and played very well. So we’ll just kind of see how all of this transpires.
“I think it’s trending hopefully in the right direction for what everybody wants, and we can conclude this hopefully.” ___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL | 2023-03-28T11:09:40+00:00 | siouxlandproud.com | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/sports/ap-sports/gms-for-packers-jets-discuss-status-of-rodgers-trade-talks-2/ |
PHOENIX (AP) — If the Super Bowl is decided in the trenches: Advantage Philadelphia Eagles with their two All-Pro offensive linemen and four double-digit sack artists.
If it comes down to which team has better receiving and running options: Advantage Eagles with their pair of 1,000-yard receivers and record-setting running game.
If it comes down to the superior secondary: Advantage Eagles and their two proven cornerbacks.
Philadelphia has built a team without any holes, which should set the stage for a repeat from five years ago when Eagles used a more complete roster to outduel an MVP quarterback and win the Super Bowl.
The Eagles will do to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs what they did to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots and deliver Philadelphia its second Lombardi Trophy.
“We’ve been getting overlooked all year, but for what reason I don’t know,” edge rusher Haason Reddick said. “Because we have dogs across every position, people who can make plays. This team is talented from top to bottom. I don’t think I’ve been on a more talented team.”
This version of the Eagles might be even better than the 2017 team, which got to the title game with backup quarterback Nick Foles.
While Foles delivered a surprise MVP performance in that 41-33 victory with three TD passes, one TD catch and a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter, it would be little shock to see Jalen Hurts lead the way on Sunday.
While Hurts isn’t at the level of two-time MVP Mahomes, he proved in his third season that he is a legitimate threat of his own and the Eagles lost just once when he started this season.
Hurts was a second-team All-Pro and finished second to Mahomes in MVP voting after tying a franchise record with 35 combined TD passes and runs despite missing two games with a shoulder injury.
Hurts hasn’t looked in peak form since returning from the injury that sidelined him in Weeks 16 and 17, but the two weeks since the NFC championship game should help him regain his deep passing prowess that should prove the difference on Sunday.
At the time of his injury, Hurts was tied for the NFL lead with 11 touchdown passes on throws at least 20 yards downfield and ranked fourth in yards gained on those plays with 786. Since returning in Week 18, Hurts is 3 for 10 on deep throws with no TDs.
A healthier Hurts should be able to connect with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith on a few long balls against a Kansas City defense that allowed the third-highest passer rating on deep passes in the regular season.
If the big-play pass doesn’t do it, Philadelphia has the running game that has set a record with 39 touchdowns on the ground in the regular season and playoffs.
The Chiefs allowed the fifth-most rushing yards to opposing quarterbacks this season, which could be a major problem against Hurts, who rushed for 760 yards in the regular season and has a quarterback-record 15 TDs runs, including the playoffs.
Hurts’ rushing ability opens up holes for a trio of backs in Miles Sanders, Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott running behind a line that ranks near the top in all run-blocking metrics thanks to All-Pro center Jason Kelce and All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson.
To beat Mahomes and the Chiefs, the Eagles defense will also need to step up and the league’s deepest group of pass rushers should do the trick.
Reddick led the way for Philadelphia with 16 sacks in the regular season and he has been even better in the playoffs with 3 1/2 sacks in wins over the Giants and 49ers.
Reddick will line up against the weak link on Kansas City’s line — right tackle Andrew Wylie, whose nine sacks allowed in the regular season were fourth most in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus.
If the Chiefs want to pay extra attention to Reddick, good luck against the rest of the defensive line. Brandon Graham, Javon Hargrave and Jose Sweat each had 11 sacks as the Eagles had the highest sack rate in the NFL in more than 30 years.
With Fletcher Cox and Ndamukong Suh also in the mix, Mahomes could be on the run on his gimpy ankle as he was in Kansas City’s Super Bowl loss to Tampa Bay two years ago.
The fierce front four allows the Eagles to get pressure without blitzing, which will make life easier for cornerbacks Darius Slay and James Bradberry against Kansas City’s less-than-stellar wideouts.
That will allow the rest of the back seven to focus on limiting All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce and making sure the Chiefs don’t get big gains in the screen game.
If that happens, get ready for another parade down Broad Street.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL | 2023-02-11T16:28:17+00:00 | fox59.com | https://fox59.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-depth-of-roster-gives-eagles-edge-in-super-bowl-matchup/ |
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the state's attempt to tax NASCAR for broadcasting its races in Ohio was unlawful.
At issue before the court was whether the state tax commissioner properly subjected those broadcasts to Ohio’s commercial activities tax during an audit from 2005 to 2010. The tax requires payments on a company's annual sales.
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The court ruled that the Daytona Beach, Florida-based NASCAR's broadcast revenue, licensing revenue, media revenue and sponsorship fees were wrongly subjected to the tax. A group of three justices on the 7-member court dissented over licensing fees.
The state had argued that it imposed the tax based on NASCAR's commercial activity, including the organization's sale of Ohio broadcast rights. Tuesday's ruling reverses a Board of Tax Appeals ruling in its favor and sends the organization's disputed tax bill — which totaled $529,520 — back to the panel to be readjusted.
NASCAR maintained that its commercial activities in Ohio such as broadcasting races and selling merchandise are done by other companies — Fox Broadcasting Co., for example — which are taxed accordingly.
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Applying the tax to NASCAR broadcasts in Ohio was “an unconstitutional expansion of tax liability for out-of-state content providers,” it said.
In an opinion written by Justice Pat DeWine, the court agreed, determining that taxing NASCAR's broadcasts “did not lie within the tax commissioner's authority.” That was because its broadcast, media and sponsorship agreements are based on fixed fees that “do not vary with the amount of use.”
On the question of licensing agreements, Justices Melody Stewart, Jennifer Brunner and Michael Donnelly disagreed that they should not be subject to the tax.
They sided with the tax commissioner's decision to calculate licensing fees separately from sales of NASCAR's licensed products — flags, mugs, grill covers, keychains, hood ornaments, fuzzy dice — by its contract holder, BSI Products. NASCAR had argued that amounted to a double tax.
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Stewart wrote: “If a homeowner hires a plumber to fix his sink and pays the plumber with earnings that Ohio has already taxed, Ohio is fully justified in also taxing what the homeowner paid the plumber as part of the plumber’s earnings.” | 2022-11-22T22:40:50+00:00 | seattlepi.com | https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Ohio-court-sides-with-NASCAR-in-challenge-to-17604773.php |
CA Phoenix AZ Zone Forecast for Saturday, July 23, 2022
_____
159 FPUS55 KPSR 240902
ZFPPSR
Zone Forecast Product for Southwest Arizona/Southeast California
National Weather Service Phoenix AZ
202 AM MST Sun Jul 24 2022
This is an automatically generated product that provides average
values for large geographical areas and may not be representative
of the exact location that you are interested in. For a more site
specific forecast, please visit weather.gov/phoenix and either
(1) Select a location from the dropdown menu above the map or
(2) Click a location on the map. You can refine your selection by
clicking on the map displayed on the resulting page.
AZZ537-540-542>544-546-548-550-551-241100-
Northwest Valley-Buckeye/Avondale-Deer Valley-Central Phoenix-
North Phoenix/Glendale-Scottsdale/Paradise Valley-East Valley-
South Mountain/Ahwatukee-Southeast Valley/Queen Creek-
Including the cities of Circle City, Surprise, Wittmann, Beardsley,
Sun City West, Avondale, Cashion, Goodyear, Liberty, Peoria, Phoenix,
Paradise Valley, Mesa, Chandler, Tempe, Gilbert, Sun Lakes,
and Queen Creek
202 AM MST Sun Jul 24 2022
...FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM MST THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE
TUESDAY NIGHT...
.TONIGHT...Partly cloudy with a slight chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Lows 81 to 89. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of
rain 20 percent.
.SUNDAY...Partly sunny. A chance of thunderstorms and a slight chance
of showers in the afternoon. Not as warm. Highs 100 to 104. West wind
5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30 percent.
.SUNDAY NIGHT...Partly cloudy in the evening then considerable
cloudiness. A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows 79 to 86.
Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent. Rainfall up to
a half of an inch possible, except locally higher in thunderstorms.
.MONDAY...Considerable cloudiness. A chance of showers and
thunderstorms in the morning, then showers and thunderstorms likely
in the afternoon. Highs 95 to 100. West wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of
rain 60 percent. Rainfall around a tenth of an inch, except locally
higher in thunderstorms.
.MONDAY NIGHT...Considerable cloudiness with a chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Lows 78 to 84. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of
rain 50 percent. Rainfall between a tenth and a quarter of an inch
possible, except locally higher in thunderstorms.
.TUESDAY...Considerable cloudiness. A chance of showers and
thunderstorms in the morning, then showers and thunderstorms likely
in the afternoon. Highs in the mid to upper 90s. Chance of rain
60 percent. Rainfall around a tenth of an inch, except locally higher
in thunderstorms.
.TUESDAY NIGHT...Considerable cloudiness with a 30 percent chance of
showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the upper 70s to mid 80s.
.WEDNESDAY...Partly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Highs 96 to 101.
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT...Partly cloudy. A slight chance of showers and
thunderstorms in the evening, then a chance of showers and
thunderstorms after midnight. Lows in the upper 70s to mid 80s.
Chance of rain 30 percent.
.THURSDAY...Partly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Highs 98 to 103.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...Partly cloudy. A chance of showers and
thunderstorms in the evening, then a slight chance of showers and
thunderstorms after midnight. Lows in the upper 70s to mid 80s.
Chance of rain 30 percent.
.FRIDAY...Partly cloudy. A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms
in the morning, then a chance of afternoon showers and thunderstorms.
Highs 99 to 104. Chance of rain 30 percent.
.FRIDAY NIGHT...Partly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Lows in the upper 70s to mid 80s.
.SATURDAY...Partly cloudy. A slight chance of showers and
thunderstorms in the morning, then a chance of afternoon showers and
thunderstorms. Highs 99 to 103. Chance of rain 30 percent.
$$
AZZ541-549-555-241100-
Cave Creek/New River-Fountain Hills/East Mesa-
Apache Junction/Gold Canyon-
Including the cities of Scottsdale, Fountain Hills,
and Apache Junction
202 AM MST Sun Jul 24 2022
...FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM MST THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE
TUESDAY NIGHT...
.TONIGHT...Partly cloudy with a slight chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Lows 75 to 85. South wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain
20 percent.
.SUNDAY...Partly sunny. A chance of thunderstorms and a slight chance
of showers in the afternoon. Highs 98 to 103. West wind 5 to 15 mph.
Chance of rain 30 percent.
.SUNDAY NIGHT...Considerable cloudiness. Showers likely with a chance
of thunderstorms in the evening, then a chance of showers and
thunderstorms after midnight. Lows 74 to 84. Southwest wind 5 to
10 mph in the evening becoming east around 5 mph after midnight.
Chance of rain 60 percent. Rainfall up to three quarters of an inch
possible, except locally higher in thunderstorms.
.MONDAY...Mostly cloudy. A chance of showers and thunderstorms in the
morning, then showers and thunderstorms likely in the afternoon. Not
as warm. Highs 93 to 98. West wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain
60 percent. Rainfall around a tenth of an inch, except locally higher
in thunderstorms.
.MONDAY NIGHT...Considerable cloudiness with a chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Lows 72 to 82. West wind 5 to 10 mph in the evening
becoming east around 5 mph after midnight. Chance of rain 50 percent.
Rainfall between a tenth and a quarter of an inch possible, except
locally higher in thunderstorms.
.TUESDAY...Considerable cloudiness. A chance of showers and
thunderstorms in the morning, then showers and thunderstorms likely
in the afternoon. Highs in the mid to upper 90s. Chance of rain
60 percent. Rainfall between a tenth and a quarter of an inch
possible, except locally higher in thunderstorms.
.TUESDAY NIGHT...Considerable cloudiness with a 40 percent chance of
showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 70s to lower 80s.
.WEDNESDAY...Partly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Highs in the mid to upper 90s.
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT...Partly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of showers
and thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 70s to lower 80s.
.THURSDAY...Partly cloudy. A slight chance of showers and
thunderstorms in the morning, then a chance of afternoon showers and
thunderstorms. Highs 95 to 100. Chance of rain 40 percent.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...Partly cloudy. A chance of showers and
thunderstorms in the evening, then a slight chance of showers and
thunderstorms after midnight. Lows in the lower 70s to lower 80s.
Chance of rain 30 percent.
.FRIDAY...Partly cloudy. A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms
in the morning, then a chance of afternoon showers and thunderstorms.
Highs 96 to 101. Chance of rain 40 percent.
.FRIDAY NIGHT...Partly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 70s to lower 80s.
.SATURDAY...Partly cloudy. A slight chance of showers and
thunderstorms in the morning, then a chance of afternoon showers and
thunderstorms. Highs 96 to 101. Chance of rain 30 percent.
$$
AZZ553-554-241100-
Northwest Pinal County-West Pinal County-
Including the cities of Casa Grande, Cactus Forest, Florence,
and Coolidge
202 AM MST Sun Jul 24 2022
...FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM MST THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE
TUESDAY NIGHT...
.TONIGHT...Partly cloudy with a slight chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Warmer. Lows 76 to 86. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph.
Chance of rain 20 percent.
.SUNDAY...Partly sunny. A chance of afternoon showers and
thunderstorms. Not as warm. Highs 99 to 104. West wind 5 to 10 mph.
Chance of rain 40 percent.
.SUNDAY NIGHT...Considerable cloudiness with a chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Lows 74 to 84. South wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain
50 percent. Rainfall up to a half of an inch possible, except locally
higher in thunderstorms.
.MONDAY...Showers and thunderstorms likely. Not as warm. Highs 94 to
99. West wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60 percent. Rainfall around
a tenth of an inch, except locally higher in thunderstorms.
.MONDAY NIGHT...Considerable cloudiness with a chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Lows 72 to 82. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph in the
evening becoming southeast around 5 mph after midnight. Chance of
rain 50 percent. Rainfall between a tenth and a quarter of an inch
possible, except locally higher in thunderstorms.
.TUESDAY...Showers and thunderstorms likely. Highs in the mid to
upper 90s. Chance of rain 60 percent. Rainfall around a tenth of an
inch, except locally higher in thunderstorms.
.TUESDAY NIGHT...Considerable cloudiness with a 40 percent chance of
showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 70s to lower 80s.
.WEDNESDAY...Partly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Highs 95 to 100.
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT...Partly cloudy. A slight chance of showers and
thunderstorms in the evening, then a chance of showers and
thunderstorms after midnight. Lows in the lower 70s to lower 80s.
Chance of rain 30 percent.
.THURSDAY...Partly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Highs 97 to 102.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...Partly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of showers
and thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 70s to lower 80s.
.FRIDAY...Partly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Highs 97 to 102.
.FRIDAY NIGHT...Partly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 70s to lower 80s.
.SATURDAY...Partly cloudy. A slight chance of showers and
thunderstorms in the morning, then a chance of afternoon showers and
thunderstorms. Highs 97 to 102. Chance of rain 30 percent.
$$
CAZ566-241100-
Imperial County West-
Including the cities of Coolidge Springs, Salton City, Winona,
Coyote Wells, Ocotillo, and Plaster City
202 AM PDT Sun Jul 24 2022
.TONIGHT...Partly cloudy. Not as warm. Lows 76 to 86. East wind 5 to
10 mph.
.SUNDAY...Mostly sunny. Highs 103 to 108. East wind 5 to 10 mph.
.SUNDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear in the evening then becoming partly
cloudy. Lows 75 to 85. South wind 5 to 15 mph.
.MONDAY...Mostly sunny. Highs 103 to 108. East wind 5 to 10 mph.
.MONDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows 76 to 86. South wind 5 to 15 mph.
.TUESDAY...Mostly sunny. Highs 104 to 109.
.TUESDAY NIGHT...Partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 70s to upper 80s.
.WEDNESDAY...Partly sunny. Highs 102 to 107.
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT...Partly cloudy. Lows in the mid 70s to mid 80s.
.THURSDAY...Partly sunny. A 10 percent chance of afternoon showers
and thunderstorms. Highs 102 to 107.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 70s to upper 80s.
.FRIDAY...Mostly sunny. A 10 percent chance of afternoon showers and
thunderstorms. Highs 103 to 108.
.FRIDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 70s to upper 80s.
.SATURDAY...Mostly sunny. A 10 percent chance of afternoon showers
and thunderstorms. Highs 103 to 108.
$$
CAZ562-241100-
Imperial County Southwest-
Including the city of Mountain Spring
202 AM PDT Sun Jul 24 2022
.TONIGHT...Partly cloudy. Not as warm. Lows 76 to 86. Northwest wind
10 to 15 mph.
.SUNDAY...Mostly sunny. Highs 103 to 108. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph
in the morning becoming east 5 to 15 mph in the afternoon.
.SUNDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows 77 to 87. South wind 10 to 20 mph
in the evening becoming west after midnight.
.MONDAY...Mostly sunny. Highs 102 to 107. North wind 5 to 10 mph in
the morning becoming southeast in the afternoon.
.MONDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows 78 to 88. Southwest wind 10 to
20 mph.
.TUESDAY...Mostly sunny. Highs 104 to 109.
.TUESDAY NIGHT...Partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 70s to upper 80s.
.WEDNESDAY...Partly sunny. Highs 102 to 107.
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT...Partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 70s to upper 80s.
.THURSDAY...Partly sunny. Highs 101 to 106.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 70s to upper 80s.
.FRIDAY...Mostly sunny. Highs 102 to 107.
.FRIDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows 80 to 90.
.SATURDAY...Mostly sunny. Highs 103 to 108.
$$
CAZ560-561-241100-
Joshua Tree NP West-Joshua Tree NP East-
Including the cities of Cottonwood Visitor and Lost Horse-Keys
Village
202 AM PDT Sun Jul 24 2022
.TONIGHT...Partly cloudy. Not as warm. Lows 72 to 82. South wind 5 to
10 mph.
.SUNDAY...Partly sunny in the morning then becoming mostly sunny.
Highs 92 to 102. South wind 5 to 15 mph.
.SUNDAY NIGHT...Partly cloudy. Lows 72 to 82. South wind 5 to 15 mph.
.MONDAY...Mostly sunny. Highs 91 to 101. South wind 5 to 15 mph.
.MONDAY NIGHT...Partly cloudy. Lows 72 to 82. Southwest wind 5 to
10 mph.
.TUESDAY...Partly sunny. Highs 92 to 102.
.TUESDAY NIGHT...Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 70s to lower 80s.
.WEDNESDAY...Partly sunny. Highs 91 to 101.
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT...Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 70s to lower 80s.
.THURSDAY...Partly sunny. Highs 91 to 101.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 70s to lower 80s.
.FRIDAY...Mostly sunny. Highs 93 to 103.
.FRIDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 70s to lower 80s.
.SATURDAY...Mostly sunny. A 10 percent chance of afternoon showers
and thunderstorms. Highs 93 to 103.
$$
Visit us on Facebook, Twitter, and at weather.gov/phoenix
_____
Copyright 2022 AccuWeather | 2022-07-24T09:59:28+00:00 | expressnews.com | https://www.expressnews.com/weather/article/CA-Phoenix-AZ-Zone-Forecast-17325312.php |
WASHINGTON (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas faced a barrage of criticism Wednesday from House Republicans who, in recent months, have floated impeaching him over what they say is his dereliction of duty in securing the southern border.
Mayorkas’ appearance before the House Judiciary Committee comes as the Biden administration’s immigration policies are facing legal attacks from across the political spectrum, despite a steep drop last month in the number of border crossings.
“I know that today Secretary Mayorkas is going to try to paint a rosy picture of this disastrous mismanagement of our border,” Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the Republican chair of the Judiciary Committee, said in his opening statement. “But the numbers don’t lie.”
Jordan and other Republicans attributed the sudden falloff in migrant crossing to a new Biden administration asylum policy that allows migrants to use a Customs and Border Patrol app when seeking asylum. The new technology is attempting to streamline the asylum process by allowing more people — on average 1,400 a day — to get an appointment through the app before appearing at a U.S. port of entry with an asylum claim.
“That’s why the numbers are dropping,” said Republican Rep. Tom McClintock of California.
Mayorkas pushed back on the GOP line of questioning and defended his department, which employs more than 260,000 people, for the “selfless” work they have done while facing unprecedented challenges both at the southern border and across the country.
“Our approach to managing the borders securely and humanely — even within our fundamentally broken immigration system — is working,” Mayorkas said.
The secretary said illegal border crossings have been falling since the peak that came before Title 42, a public health law allowing curbs on migration in the name of protecting public health. The policy was instituted under former President Donald Trump in March 2020 as part of an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The Biden administration ended Title 42 in May.
Since then, total encounters along the southern border — meaning migrants who either came to one of the ports of entry or tried to cross between them — were down 30% in June compared with the previous month. DHS said it was the lowest monthly total since February 2021.
The Biden administration has said the asylum rule was a key part of its strategy to strike a balance between strict border enforcement and ensuring several avenues for migrants to pursue valid asylum claims.
And the secretary implored Congress on Wednesday to join his department and work as “partners” in creating long-term, sustainable solutions to what both sides agree is a flawed immigration system.
But Republicans zeroed in on the influx of fentanyl into the country, blaming Mayorkas for the number of overdoses that have happened across American communities in the past several years.
“The fentanyl killing thousands of Americans every year is a direct result of your dereliction,” said Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., “When people die of fentanyl poisoning, it is your fault.”
The agency, Mayorkas responded, have stopped nearly 10,000 pounds of fentanyl from entering the country last year, leading to more than 280 arrests.
Democrats pressed Mayorkas on how fentanyl is getting into the U.S. and spreading across the country. He said much of the smuggling is done by Americans.
“I believe the data suggests that approximately 70% of the people who are arrested are US citizens,” Mayorkas testified.
But Republicans insisted Mayorkas is broadly responsible for deaths from fentanyl, despite those factors.
“In my mind, this makes your actions criminal,” Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., said. “Secretary Mayorkas you must resign. Will you resign?” Mayorkas said he would not.
Van Drew replied that it “leaves us with no other option: you should be impeached.”
Republicans proposed impeaching Mayorkas well before they won the House majority last November. This year, Jordan and the GOP chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee, have been conducting a multi-step investigation into the situation at the southern border. | 2023-07-27T13:05:00+00:00 | wric.com | https://www.wric.com/news/politics/ap-house-republicans-grill-mayorkas-on-disastrous-border-policy-and-renew-calls-to-impeach-him/ |
HOLYOKE — The Wistariahurst Museum, housed in the historic Skinner home, is undergoing a meticulous restoration, with crews painstakingly removing layers of old paint. The home’s exterior will return to its former splendor in the coming weeks.
“Right now, we’re in the first phase, which is getting the house repainted and restored to its original color,” Megan Seiler, the Wistariahurst’s director, said about the restoration effort. “It’s more of a cream color and a little less yellow.
The restoration began several weeks ago, starting with the carriage house, music room and the Wistariahurst’s Beech Street entrance. A crew from Homer Contracting continues to remove layers of old paint down to the bare wood. The company holds a certification for such restorations.
Seiler said the restoration has been challenging because of the home’s historic nature.
“It’s a tough job because it’s a historic property, so they can’t come in with modern tools,” Seiler said. “They must hand scrape it. They have been working hard to get this job done.”
According to Seiler, a paint analysis in 1987 determined the house originally sported a deep red paint with gray trim. The building is currently painted a bright yellow.
In keeping with home’s intentions, the house will be covered in a more accurate “Belle Skinner Butter,” a nickname Seiler gave to the cream-colored hue as a nod to the socialite who graced the stately home in the early 1900s.
The new paint has a silkier, smoother finish, far more pleasing than the former coating.
The home was built in 1868 by William Fenno Pratt. After a dam on the Mill River burst in 1874, the Skinner family relocated to Holyoke. They had the home dismantled and rebuilt where it stands today.
A dismal battleship gray covered the house for years. Even the past yellow was a welcome improvement. At one point, wisteria planted in the 1880s climbed up across the building and buried it in vines, which was inspiration for the name ‘Wistariahurst.’
Over the years, the Wistariahurst grew with the addition of the faux-marbled music room and great hall. The main house spans 17,500 square feet across three floors and two basements. Unfortunately, the expansion covered over period details.
“There were some architectural details on the house that we no longer are seeing, which happened when the remodels were done,” Seiler said. “We have original photos of the Carriage House if anybody’s interested in seeing them.”
The contract calls for the work to be completed by the end of May. However, Seiler felt confident the painters would finish weeks early. She hoped to host a garden party in late spring or early summer to show off the new color.
“It’s going to look like a jewel in this neighborhood. It’s going to glisten, especially once the gardens come in bloom,” Seiler said. “I’m excited we can show it off, show our pride and give this great building a new coat of love for the community.” | 2023-04-12T09:30:56+00:00 | masslive.com | https://www.masslive.com/news/2023/04/with-some-elbow-grease-holyokes-wistariahurst-museum-restored-to-buttery-yellow-hue.html |
Woman retires from Dillard’s after over 70 years of service
TYLER, Texas (KLTV/Gray News) - A Dillard’s store in Texas is saying goodbye to a longtime employee, as she retires after nearly 74 years of service.
Melba Mebane, 90, started working at the department store in Tyler as an elevator operator in 1949. At that time, it wasn’t even called Dillard’s; that change took place in 1956. She also worked in the men’s clothing department and eventually stayed in cosmetics.
“I loved everybody there, and I loved to go to work every day,” she told KLTV.
“She really enjoyed the conversations with the people,” said Melba’s son, Terry Mebane.
But after more than seven decades, the 90-year-old decided to retire. Friends, family and coworkers gathered Saturday to celebrate her hard work and dedication.
“Most of the fellow employees had all retired, and it was kind of a new generation. So, she decided, ‘May be time to go do something fun,’” Terry Mebane said.
The vice president of Dillard’s, Drue Dillard Matheny, attended the party. She has known Melba Mebane for 65 years.
“She is the happiest, most ‘up’ person, gives so much service to the community. She’s made so many friends. I would come watch her in cosmetics and just go, ‘I wish I could be like that’ because she was incredible with people. Still is,” Matheny said.
Dillard’s awarded Melba Mebane with a certificate of excellence for being the longest-working employee there.
“We love you,” Matheny said. “You’ve been one of the most important people at Dillard’s for 70 years, and we love you and God bless you.”
As Melba Mebane enters the next chapter of her life, she says she plans to rest, travel and eat some good food.
Copyright 2023 KLTV via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | 2023-06-12T07:22:34+00:00 | wsfa.com | https://www.wsfa.com/2023/06/12/woman-retires-dillards-after-over-70-years-service/ |
DENVER, Oct. 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- DaVita Inc. (NYSE: DVA) announced financial and operating results for the quarter ended September 30, 2022.
"The third quarter was a challenging quarter for us. Like others in the healthcare community, negative volume trends due to COVID and continued labor pressure impacted our financial performance more than expected." said Javier Rodriguez. "Despite this, I'm incredibly proud of the execution of our teams in a challenging operating environment and the unwavering focus of our frontline teammates on patient care. Looking ahead, I remain confident in our business and ability to leverage our end-to-end kidney care platform as a differentiated asset."
Financial and operating highlights for the quarter ended September 30, 2022:
- Consolidated revenues were $2.949 billion.
- Operating income was $312 million and adjusted operating income was $351 million.
- Diluted earnings per share was $1.13 and adjusted diluted earnings per share was $1.45.
- Operating cash flow and free cash flow were $711 million and $500 million, respectively.
- Repurchased 2.1 million shares of our common stock at an average cost of $87.10 per share.
U.S. dialysis metrics:
Volume: Total U.S. dialysis treatments for the third quarter of 2022 were 7,335,825, or an average of 92,859 treatments per day, representing a per day decrease of (0.4)% compared to the second quarter of 2022. Normalized non-acquired treatment growth in the third quarter of 2022 compared to the third quarter of 2021 was (2.1)%.
Primary drivers of the changes in the table above were as follows:
Revenue: The quarter change was primarily due to normal revenue fluctuations in the third quarter, increased hospital inpatient dialysis revenues and continued migration to Medicare Advantage plans. These increases were partially offset by unfavorable changes in government rates due to the reinstatement of 2% Medicare sequestration as of July 1, 2022, as well as a decrease in commercial mix. The year to date change was primarily driven by an increase in commercial mix and rate, an increase in the Medicare base rate in 2022, and the continued shift to Medicare Advantage plans, partially offset by the reinstatement of 1% Medicare sequestration in each of the second and third quarters of 2022.
Patient care costs: The quarter change was primarily due to increases in compensation expenses, health benefit expenses, medical supply costs, other direct operating expenses associated with our dialysis centers, as well as costs related to travel, professional fees and center closures, as described below. These increases were partially offset by decreases in insurance expense and pharmaceutical costs. The year to date change was primarily due to increases in compensation expenses, other direct operating expenses associated with our dialysis centers, including increases in utilities expense, insurance expenses, center closure costs, as described below, and travel expenses. In addition, our fixed other direct operating expenses negatively impacted patient care costs per treatment due to decreased treatments in 2022. These year to date increases were partially offset by decreases in pharmaceutical costs, health benefit expenses and professional fees.
General and administrative: The quarter change was primarily due to gains recognized in the second quarter of 2022 on the sale of our self-developed properties, increased closure costs, as described below, as well as increases in compensation expense, and contract wages due to the deployment of IT projects. Other drivers of the increase include increased professional fees and travel costs. The year to date change was primarily due to increases in advocacy costs to counter union policy efforts, compensation expenses, travel costs, and closure costs, as described below. These year to date increases were partially offset by the gains on sale, as described above, and decreases in professional fees and contributions to our charitable foundation.
Share repurchases: During the three months ended September 30, 2022, we repurchased 2.1 million shares of our common stock for $185 million, at an average cost of $87.10 per share.
Subsequent to September 30, 2022 through October 27, 2022, we did not repurchase any shares.
Financial and operating metrics:
Center activity: As of September 30, 2022, we provided dialysis services to a total of approximately 243,800 patients at 3,128 outpatient dialysis centers, of which 2,776 centers were located in the United States and 352 centers were located in 11 countries outside of the United States. During the third quarter of 2022, we acquired five dialysis centers, opened a total of six new dialysis centers and closed 44 dialysis centers in the United States. We also acquired three dialysis centers, opened three dialysis centers and closed three dialysis centers outside of the United States during the third quarter of 2022.
Integrated kidney care (IKC): As of September 30, 2022, we had approximately 43,000 patients in risk-based integrated care arrangements representing approximately $3.3 billion in annualized medical spend. We also had an additional 12,000 patients in other integrated care arrangements; we do not include the medical spend for these patients in this annualized medical spend estimate. See additional description of these metrics at Note 2.
Certain items impacting the quarter:
Closure costs. During the third quarter of 2022, we incurred higher than normal charges for center capacity closures. These closures are the result of a strategic review of our outpatient clinic capacity requirements and utilization, which have been impacted both by declines in our patient census in some markets due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as by our initiatives toward, and advances in, increasing the proportion of our home dialysis patients.
Our third quarter charges for U.S. dialysis center closures were approximately $40 million, which increased our patient care costs by $7 million, our general and administrative expenses by $12 million and our depreciation and amortization expense by $21 million. These capacity closures costs included net losses on assets retired, lease costs, asset impairments and accelerated depreciation and amortization.
Advocacy costs: During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, we incurred advocacy costs of approximately $28 million and $51 million respectively to counter union policy efforts, including a California ballot initiative. These costs are included in the U.S. dialysis segment's general and administrative expense.
Outlook:
The following forward-looking measures and the underlying assumptions involve significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including those described below, and actual results may vary materially from these forward-looking measures. For example, the widespread impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to generate significant risk and uncertainty, and as a result, our future results could vary materially from the guidance provided below. We do not provide guidance for operating income or diluted net income per share attributable to DaVita Inc. on a basis consistent with United States generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) nor a reconciliation of forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures on a forward-looking basis because we are unable to predict certain items contained in the GAAP measures without unreasonable efforts. These non-GAAP financial measures do not include certain items, including capacity closure charges and foreign currency fluctuations, which may be significant. The guidance for our effective income tax rate on adjusted income attributable to DaVita Inc. also excludes the amount of third-party owners' income and related taxes attributable to non-tax paying entities.
Key drivers of 2023 adjusted operating income growth(1):
We will be holding a conference call to discuss our results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2022, on October 28, 2022, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. To join the conference call, please dial (877) 918-6630 from the U.S. or (517) 308-9042 from outside the U.S., and provide the operator the password 'Earnings'. This call is being webcast and can be accessed at the DaVita Investor Relations website investors.davita.com. A replay of the conference call will also be available at investors.davita.com for the following 30 days.
Forward looking statements
DaVita Inc. and its representatives may from time to time make written and oral forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA), including statements in this release, filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), reports to stockholders and in meetings with investors and analysts. All statements in this release, during the related presentation or other meetings, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and as such are intended to be covered by the safe harbor for "forward-looking statements" provided by the PSLRA. These forward-looking statements could include, among other things, DaVita's response to and the expected future impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19), including statements about our balance sheet and liquidity, our expenses and expense offsets, revenues, billings and collections, availability or cost of supplies, treatment volumes, mix expectation, such as the percentage or number of patients under commercial insurance, the availability, acceptance, impact, administration and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and therapies, the continuing impact on the U.S. and global economies, labor market conditions, and overall impact on our patients and teammates, as well as other statements regarding our future operations, financial condition and prospects, expenses, strategic initiatives, government and commercial payment rates, expectations related to value-based care, integrated kidney care, and Medicare Advantage plan enrollment and our ongoing stock repurchase program, and statements related to our guidance and expectations for future periods and the assumptions underlying any such projections. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Without limiting the foregoing, statements including the words "expect," "intend," "will," "could," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "forecast," "guidance," "outlook," "goals," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on DaVita's current expectations and are based solely on information available as of the date of this release. DaVita undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of changed circumstances, new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. Actual future events and results could differ materially from any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things:
- the continuing impact of the dynamic and evolving COVID-19 pandemic, including, among other things, on our patients, teammates, physician partners, suppliers, business, operations, reputation, financial condition and results of operations; the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including, among other things, federal, state and local vaccine mandates or surveillance testing requirements and the extent to which they may ultimately be applicable to us; the pandemic's continuing impact on the U.S. and global economies, labor market conditions, interest rates, inflation and evolving monetary policies; the availability, acceptance, impact and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and therapies; further spread or resurgence of the virus, including as a result of the emergence of new strains of the virus; the continuing impact of the pandemic on our revenues and non-acquired growth due to lower treatment volumes; COVID-19's impact on the chronic kidney disease (CKD) population and our patient population including on the mortality of these patients, among other things; any potential negative impact on our commercial mix or the number of our patients covered by commercial insurance plans; continued increased COVID-19-related costs; our ability to successfully implement cost savings initiatives; supply chain challenges and disruptions; and elevated teammate turnover and training costs and higher salary and wage expense, including, among other things, increased contract wages, driven in part by persisting labor market conditions and a high demand for our clinical personnel, any of which may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks and uncertainties discussed below, and in many cases, the impact of the pandemic and the aforementioned global economic conditions on our business may persist after the pandemic subsides;
- the extent to which the ongoing implementation of healthcare reform, or changes in or new legislation, regulations or guidance, enforcement thereof or related litigation result in a reduction in coverage or reimbursement rates for our services, a reduction in the number of patients enrolled in or that select higher-paying commercial plans, including for example Medicare Advantage plans or other material impacts to our business or operations; or our making incorrect assumptions about how our patients will respond to any such developments;
- risks arising from potential changes in laws, regulations or requirements applicable to us, such as potential and proposed federal and/or state legislation, regulation, ballot, executive action or other initiatives, including, without limitation, those related to healthcare and/or labor matters, such as the Dialysis Clinic Requirements Initiative in California, which is scheduled to be voted on in November 2022 and AB 290 in California;
- the concentration of profits generated by higher-paying commercial payor plans for which there is continued downward pressure on average realized payment rates; a reduction in the number or percentage of our patients under such plans, including, without limitation, as a result of restrictions or prohibitions on the use and/or availability of charitable premium assistance, which may result in the loss of revenues or patients, or as a result of our making incorrect assumptions about how our patients will respond to any change in financial assistance from charitable organizations; as a result of payors' implementing restrictive plan designs, including, without limitation, actions taken in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Marietta Memorial Hospital Employee Health Benefit Plan, et al. v. DaVita Inc. et al. ("Marietta"); how and whether regulators and legislators will respond to the Marietta decision including, without limitation, whether they will issue regulatory guidance or adopt new legislation; how courts will interpret other anti-discriminatory provisions that may apply to restrictive plan designs; whether there could be other potential negative impacts of the Marietta decision; and the timing of each of these items;
- our ability to attract, retain and motivate teammates and our ability to manage operating cost increases or productivity decreases whether due to union organizing activities, legislative or other changes, demand for labor, volatility and uncertainty in the labor market, the current challenging and highly competitive labor market conditions, or other reasons;
- U.S. and global economic and marketplace conditions, interest rates, inflation, unemployment, labor market conditions, and evolving monetary policies, and our ability to respond to these changing conditions, including among other things our ability to successfully identify cost savings opportunities and to implement cost savings initiatives such as ongoing initiatives that increase our use of third party service providers to perform certain activities, initiatives that relate to clinic optimization and capacity utilization improvement, and procurement opportunities, among other things;
- our ability to successfully implement our strategies with respect to integrated kidney care and value-based care initiatives and home based dialysis in the desired time frame and in a complex, dynamic and highly regulated environment, including, among other things, maintaining our existing business; meeting growth expectations; recovering our investments; entering into agreements with payors, third party vendors and others on terms that are competitive and, as appropriate, prove actuarially sound; structuring operations, agreements and arrangements to comply with evolving rules and regulations; finding, training and retaining appropriate staff; and further developing our integrated care and other capabilities to provide competitive programs at scale;
- a reduction in government payment rates under the Medicare End Stage Renal Disease program, state Medicaid or other government-based programs and the impact of the Medicare Advantage benchmark structure;
- noncompliance by us or our business associates with any privacy or security laws or any security breach by us or a third party involving the misappropriation, loss or other unauthorized use or disclosure of confidential information;
- legal and compliance risks, such as our continued compliance with complex, and at times, evolving government regulations and requirements;
- the impact of the political environment and related developments on the current healthcare marketplace and on our business, including with respect to the Affordable Care Act, the exchanges and many other core aspects of the current healthcare marketplace, as well as the composition of the U.S. Supreme Court and the current presidential administration and congressional majority;
- changes in pharmaceutical practice patterns, reimbursement and payment policies and processes, or pharmaceutical pricing, including with respect to hypoxia inducible factors, among other things;
- our ability to develop and maintain relationships with physicians and hospitals, changing affiliation models for physicians, and the emergence of new models of care or other initiatives introduced by the government or private sector that, among other things, may erode our patient base and impact reimbursement rates;
- our ability to complete acquisitions, mergers, dispositions, joint ventures or other strategic transactions that we might announce or be considering, on terms favorable to us or at all, or to successfully integrate any acquired businesses, or to successfully operate any acquired businesses, joint ventures or other strategic transactions, or to successfully expand our operations and services in markets outside the United States, or to businesses or products outside of dialysis services;
- continued increased competition from dialysis providers and others, and other potential marketplace changes, including without limitation increased investment in and availability of funding to new entrants in the dialysis and pre-dialysis marketplace;
- the variability of our cash flows, including without limitation any extended billing or collections cycles; the risk that we may not be able to generate or access sufficient cash in the future to service our indebtedness or to fund our other liquidity needs; and the risk that we may not be able to refinance our indebtedness as it becomes due, on terms favorable to us or at all;
- factors that may impact our ability to repurchase stock under our stock repurchase program and the timing of any such stock repurchases, as well as our use of a considerable amount of available funds to repurchase stock;
- risks arising from the use of accounting estimates, judgments and interpretations in our financial statements;
- impairment of our goodwill, investments or other assets;
- our aspirations, goals and disclosures related to environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters, including, among other things, evolving regulatory requirements affecting ESG standards, measurements and reporting requirements; the availability of suppliers that can meet our sustainability standards; and our ability to recruit, develop and retain diverse talent in our labor markets; and
- the other risk factors, trends and uncertainties set forth in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2022 and June 30, 2022, and the risks and uncertainties discussed in any subsequent reports that we file or furnish with the SEC from time to time.
The financial information presented in this release is unaudited and is subject to change as a result of subsequent events or adjustments, if any, arising prior to the filing of the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2022.
DAVITA INC.
SUPPLEMENTAL FINANCIAL DATA-continued
(unaudited)
(dollars in millions)
Note 1: Calculation of the Leverage Ratio
Under our senior secured credit facilities (the Credit Agreement) dated August 12, 2019, the leverage ratio is defined as (a) all funded debt plus the face amount of all letters of credit issued, minus unrestricted cash and cash equivalents (including short-term investments) not to exceed $750 divided by (b) "Consolidated EBITDA." The leverage ratio determines the interest rate margin payable by the Company for its Term Loan A and revolving line of credit under the Credit Agreement by establishing the margin over the base interest rate (LIBOR) that is applicable. The calculation below is based on the last twelve months of "Consolidated EBITDA," as of the end of the reported period and pro forma for acquisitions or divestitures that occurred during the period, and "Consolidated net debt" at the end of the reported period, each as defined in the Credit Agreement. The Company's management believes the presentation of "Consolidated EBITDA" is useful to investors to enhance their understanding of the Company's leverage ratio under its Credit Agreement. The leverage ratio calculated by the Company is a non-GAAP measure and should not be considered a substitute for the ratio of total debt to operating income, determined in accordance with GAAP. The Company's calculation of its leverage ratio might not be calculated in the same manner as, and thus might not be comparable to, similarly titled measures of other companies.
DAVITA INC.
INTEGRATED CARE METRICS
(unaudited)
Note 2: Integrated Care Metrics
Our integrated kidney care (IKC) business is party to a variety of risk-based integrated care and disease management arrangements, including value-based care (VBC) contracts under which we assume full or shared financial risk for the total medical cost of care for patients below or above a benchmark.
The aggregate amount of medical spend associated with risk-based integrated care arrangements that we disclose includes both medical costs included in our reported expenses for certain risk-based arrangements (such as its special needs plans), as well as the aggregate estimated benchmark amount above or below which we will incur profit or loss on for VBC arrangements under which third-party medical costs are not included in our reported results. This metric is an annualization of our estimate of this amount for the most recent quarter.
A number of our VBC contracts are subject to complex or novel patient attribution mechanics and benchmark adjustments, some of which are based on information not reported to us until periods after we report our quarterly results. As a result, our estimates of our patients under, and the dollar amount of, our value-based contracts remain subject to estimation uncertainty.
DAVITA INC.
RECONCILIATIONS FOR NON-GAAP MEASURES
(unaudited)
Note on Non-GAAP Financial Measures
As used in this press release, the term "adjusted" refers to non-GAAP measures as follows, each as reconciled to its most comparable GAAP measure as presented in the non-GAAP reconciliations in the notes to this press release: (i) for income measures, the term "adjusted" refers to operating performance measures that exclude certain items such as impairment charges, (gain) loss on ownership changes, capacity closure charges, restructuring charges, accruals for legal matters and debt prepayment and refinancing charges; and (ii) the term "effective income tax rate on adjusted income attributable to DaVita Inc." represents the Company's effective tax rate excluding applicable non-GAAP items and the tax associated with them as well as noncontrolling owners' income, which primarily relates to non-tax paying entities. Note that the non-GAAP measures presented for prior periods below have been conformed to the non-GAAP measures presented for the current period.
These non-GAAP or "adjusted" measures are presented because management believes these measures are useful adjuncts to GAAP results. However, these non-GAAP measures should not be considered alternatives to the corresponding measures determined under GAAP.
Specifically, management uses adjusted operating income, adjusted net income attributable to DaVita Inc. and adjusted diluted net income per share attributable to DaVita Inc. to compare and evaluate our performance period over period and relative to competitors, to analyze the underlying trends in our business, to establish operational budgets and forecasts and for incentive compensation purposes. We believe these non-GAAP measures also are useful to investors and analysts in evaluating our performance over time and relative to competitors, as well as in analyzing the underlying trends in our business. Furthermore, we believe these presentations enhance a user's understanding of our normal consolidated results by excluding certain items which we do not believe are indicative of our ordinary results of operations. As a result, adjusting for these amounts allows for comparison to our normalized prior period results.
The effective income tax rate on adjusted income attributable to DaVita Inc. excludes noncontrolling owners' income and certain non-deductible and other charges which we do not believe are indicative of our ordinary results. Accordingly, we believe these adjusted effective income tax rates are useful to management, investors and analysts in evaluating our performance and establishing expectations for income taxes incurred on our ordinary results attributable to DaVita Inc.
Finally, free cash flow represents net cash provided by operating activities less distributions to noncontrolling interests and all capital expenditures (including development capital expenditures, routine maintenance and information technology); plus contributions from noncontrolling interests and proceeds from the sale of self-developed properties. Management uses this measure to assess our ability to fund acquisitions and meet our debt service obligations and we believe this measure is equally useful to investors and analysts as an adjunct to cash flows from operating activities and other measures under GAAP.
It is important to bear in mind that these non-GAAP "adjusted" measures are not measures of financial performance or liquidity under GAAP and should not be considered in isolation from, nor as substitutes for, their most comparable GAAP measures.
The following Notes 3 through 6 provide reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures presented in this press release to their most comparable GAAP measures.
The effective income tax rate on adjusted income attributable to DaVita Inc. is computed as follows:
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SOURCE DaVita | 2022-10-28T11:15:07+00:00 | wlbt.com | https://www.wlbt.com/prnewswire/2022/10/28/davita-inc-3rd-quarter-2022-results/ |
ROCHESTER, Minn.-The Med City could soon have another Cub Foods grocery store.
KA Rochester Holdings LLC submitted a site development plan to the City of Rochester for the creation of a new Cub Foods store.
Rochester already has one Cub Foods in the east side of the city. However, the new grocery store would be located in northwest Rochester near fellow competitors Costco and Aldi.
According to the application, the developer is looking to build the new store on roughly 9.5 acres of land near Commerce Drive NW and Scott Road NW.
KIMT reached out to the city's community development department but did not hear back. | 2022-12-02T06:00:52+00:00 | kimt.com | https://www.kimt.com/news/another-cub-foods-could-be-coming-to-the-med-city/article_494944fa-71fa-11ed-a55d-6fbf4c6574aa.html |
Seventeen barrels and bags of yard waste sat outside Jim Midolo’s Lawrence home on Monday, ready for crews to collect and leave his freshly spruced up lawn neat and tidy.
Two days later, the pile was still there. Republic Services, the city’s new waste hauler, had failed to show up. Again.
“I actually called Republic Services [Tuesday] morning at 7:30, and told them nothing got picked up. And they said, ‘OK, we’ll open a ticket,’ ” Midolo said. “Did they ever show up? No.”
The waste was finally collected Wednesday morning, Midolo said, when the city’s Department of Public Works sent its own crews to those neighborhoods where Republic has not picked up the trash.
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The stinky situation in Lawrence is playing out in other communities around Greater Boston, after the Arizona-based Fortune 500 company recently acquired their local waste contractor and threw trash collection schedules into chaos.
Now, after weeks of missed pickups outside houses and public buildings alike, inaccurate or unhelpful information from Republic, and fury among residents, town officials are threatening to cancel their contracts and levy six-figure fines on Republic.
“We have given Republic enough time to address the issue, but the situation persists. This is unacceptable and inexcusable,” Lawrence Mayor Brian A. DePeña said in a press release announcing the city’s intention to sanction the company. The city pays Republic about $4 million a year for trash, recycling, and yard waste pickup.
In May, Republic Services acquired JRM Hauling and Recycling of Massachusetts, and promised a “seamless” transition as it absorbed JRM’s service areas. But when Republic formally took over operations in early October, it took just hours for complaints from Massachusetts residents to start pouring in.
Ed Thomas, 65, who has lived in Reading for decades, said that JRM would occasionally miss the odd pickup day, but that he hasn’t seen a Republic truck outside his house in weeks. Instead, it’s the local rodents that appear to be the most interested in the growing pile of trash along his street, as evidenced by busted bags and refuse spilled onto the road.
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“Our town looks like a trash yard, everyone’s garbage is out,” Thomas said. “Why didn’t they leave things running the way they were? They just completely dropped the ball.”
In an e-mailed statement, Republic said it has “been in constant communication with the Town of Reading” and plans to be back on schedule by the end of the week. The company did not specify a reason for the failures.
Republic did not respond to multiple calls and e-mails seeking an explanation for the disruptions or a response to the communities’ threats to cancel contracts.
Republic is one of the country’s largest waste management firms, with nearly 40,000 employees and $11 billion in revenue last year, according to its annual report. Its website lists 430 Massachusetts cities and towns served. The state attorney general’s office has received 115 complaints about Republic since 2016, 17 this year. Since 2016, the office received four complaints about JRM.
In Lawrence, city officials said Wednesday that they spent weeks trying to get Republic Services to comply with its existing contract and provide timely removal of curbside waste. DePeña said in a statement that he tried to arrange an emergency meeting with Republic about the waste pickup issues, but on Tuesday, company managers told him that “they were out of the region.”
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The most recent meeting DePeña had with officials from Republic Services was about two weeks ago, and during that session, company officials “promised that they were going to catch up,” Jhovanny Martes, DePeña’s chief of staff, said Wednesday. He said Republic claimed it was dealing with a lack of staffing, but would improve services quickly, Martes said.
“People want answers, but we don’t have answers from Republic,” Martes said. “It is challenging for us to provide accurate answers to constituents.”
DePeña and other city officials are determining what sanctions, including fines, the city should impose. Lawrence is also working with other communities where Republic isn’t picking up the trash, including Reading, Martes said.
In Reading, Town Manager Fidel Maltez joined DPW crews himself on Monday, clad in a neon safety vest, hoisting garbage bags and talking to residents.
In a statement Monday, Maltez gave Republic an ultimatum: pick up the trash on time by Friday or the town will terminate its contract. As of Wednesday, Reading had received more than 1,000 complaints, according to business administrator Jayne Wellman.
“We will continue to press for performance satisfaction and relief under the terms of the contract,” Matlez said in the statement, “or we will find a new contractor that can meet the sanitation needs of the community.”
Shawn Brandt, chair of the Reading School Committee, confirmed that at least two scheduled pickups by Republic from Wood End Elementary School were missed. Wellman added that trash piled up outside public buildings downtown.
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North Reading, meanwhile, sent Republic a notice of breach of contract Tuesday, giving the company 10 days to fulfill its pickup responsibilities or the town may terminate the agreement.
The North Reading notice also claimed Republic owes the town more than $200,000 in damages, due to a clause in its contract requiring the company to pay $100 for any failure to collect trash or recycling. Since Oct. 4, the first collection day, North Reading residents have filed more than 2,000 complaints.
Michael Gilleberto, North Reading town administrator, said his community did not see more than one or two trucks in town during Republic’s first week in charge, although its contract stipulates that 11 trucks must be supplied on pickup day.
Gilleberto said he has tried repeatedly to establish a new pickup plan with Republic, but said the company would then send trucks to the wrong part of town or, at times, fail to show up entirely.
“We had been told that their customer service center was going to be open on Saturday morning for folks to call, and they were not,” he said. “So when folks were trying to call at our suggestion, they were greeted with the office not being open.”
Gilleberto said there has been some progress, but said, “I cannot say that something permanent is starting to form” in terms of a schedule.
Officials from North Reading and Reading also said Republic has been consistently unpredictable and difficult to reach.
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The phone number Republic gave customers to voice questions or complaints rings a call center in Texas. There, an apologetic Republic employee gave the Globe two phone numbers she thought might lead to its Massachusetts offices. The first was for another location in Texas; the second had been disconnected.
It is not yet clear what is causing the missed pickups. Among residents and officials, rumors of short-staffing, equipment failure, and issues relating to the employee union are circulating.
Wellman said she is confident that Reading’s trash will be picked up by Friday, but not necessarily by Republic.
Dozens of Reading employees worked overtime to cover regular pickup routes Monday and Tuesday, while a handful of Republic trucks attempted to tackle the backlog from the previous week, Wellman said.
Wellman said the town will charge any additional labor costs to Republic, emphasizing that the burden would not land on taxpayers.
Wellman said crews on Tuesday had to cut their routes short as the trucks became overloaded with trash. “The problem compounds over time,” she said.
“It’s getting cleaned up, which is the good news,” Wellman said. “They’ve [Republic] been put on notice. And we continue to try to work with them, but it’s been very challenging communication-wise as well.”
Daniel Kool can be reached at daniel.kool@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @dekool01. John Hilliard can be reached at john.hilliard@globe.com. | 2022-10-20T01:37:27+00:00 | bostonglobe.com | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/10/19/metro/our-town-looks-like-trash-yard-delayed-missed-garbage-pickups-plague-mass-communities/ |
Galileo's novel community-based care model brings Elation's dynamic, flexible platform to complex and underserved populations across the U.S.
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Elation Health, the clinical-first technology company powering innovation in primary care, today announced a partnership with Galileo, a rapidly growing risk-bearing primary care group serving diverse and complex populations across 50 states.
"Galileo shares our passion for delivering the highest-quality primary care with technology, and we're so pleased to welcome them to Elation," said Kyna Fong, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of Elation Health. "Together under this shared vision, we're excited that our radical approach to technology that prioritizes the physician-patient relationship aligns so well with Galileo across product development, operations, and customer experiences."
Through the Elation Health application programming interface (API), Galileo clinicians are now seamlessly able to automate and customize alerts at the point of care to maximize their value-based contracts. As the platform of choice for primary care innovators and a leader in value-based care, Elation's clinical-first approach means its API gives customers the ability to build proprietary applications that drive excellent cross-collaboration for clinical and operations teams to scale to more than one million daily API calls.
"After a thorough evaluation of the market it was clear that Elation was the best partner to meet the needs of our complex care business," said Thomas Lee, CEO of Galileo and the pioneer behind One Medical and Epocrates. "The scalability of Elation's platform, vision for supporting value-based care, and clinically driven technology were key factors in our decision. We're excited to partner with Elation on providing the highest quality care for our complex Medicare and Medicaid members."
Powering the largest network of independent primary care organizations in the U.S., Elation Health works across traditional and newer care settings (small independent practices, onsite employer clinics, at-home models, and hybrid teams) to drive success in Medicare, Medicaid, commercial, and other quality programs by closing care gaps and alleviating reporting burden.
High-quality, effective primary care is rooted in a strong physician-patient relationship and requires thoughtful and innovative technology designed to enhance the clinical experience. Elation Health's approach to primary care technology stands apart because of its clinical-first design, intuitive charting, seamless integrations, and API-first development. These tools along with Elation's modern, open, cloud-native platform support enterprise clients in achieving success in value-based care delivery, driving results such as 30% healthcare cost savings and four times reduction in referrals to high-cost specialists. Elation's tiered implementation and training packages and its technical consulting services will allow Galileo to quickly get up and running — and innovating — on the Elation platform, and Elation's automation and customizable alerts will support Galileo achieving maximum performance in its contracts.
For more information about Elation for primary care, visit elationhealth.com/enterprise/. To explore Elation's developer toolkit and access its powerful APIs further, visit elationhealth.com/contact-us/sandbox/.
Galileo is a modern, risk-bearing medical group working to improve the quality and affordability of healthcare for all. Operating nationally across 50 states, Galileo offers high-touch, multispecialty, longitudinal care to diverse and complex patients — on the phone, in the home, and everywhere in between. Regional and national health plans, employers, and Fortune 500 organizations trust Galileo as the leading solution to improve population health. Founded by Thomas Lee, MD, the healthcare pioneer behind One Medical and Epocrates, Galileo includes a team of leading innovators from healthcare, technology, and human-centered design. More can be discovered at Galileo. Follow Galileo on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.
Elation Health is the most trusted technology platform for high-value primary care. Since 2010, the company has delivered clinical-first solutions — built on a collaborative EHR platform — that help practices start, grow, communicate, and succeed in delivering the highest-quality personalized care to patients. Elation Health supports primary care clinicians in upholding the craft of medicine, while thriving in an evolving healthcare landscape. Today, Elation Health serves 24,000 clinicians caring for millions of Americans. Learn more at elationhealth.com, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
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SOURCE Elation Health | 2022-10-06T14:33:53+00:00 | ksla.com | https://www.ksla.com/prnewswire/2022/10/06/elation-health-galileo-partner-shape-future-technology-driven-primary-care-home/ |
The FBI announced Thursday the reward for the capture of a Chicago man wanted in the 2012 stabbing death of his wife has increased to $250,000, officials said.
In May 2012, Arnoldo Jimenez, allegedly stabbed his wife to death inside his black Maserati and dragged her body, while still wearing her wedding dress, to the bathtub of her Burbank apartment, the FBI said.
Officials said the stabbing happened less than 24 hours after the couple’s wedding.
Jimenez is believed to have ties to Durango, Mexico. He may also frequent Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico. The public can report tips, even anonymously, at 1-800-CALL-FBI or tips.fbi.gov. | 2023-05-25T19:17:39+00:00 | chicagotribune.com | https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-wedding-dress-slaying-reward-20230525-lorokty6anglbgrb3nh3tmqxna-story.html |
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A federal appeals court on Thursday said Arkansas can’t enforce its ban on transgender children receiving gender-affirming medical care.
A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a judge’s ruling temporarily blocking the state from enforcing the 2021 law. A trial is scheduled for October before the same judge on whether to permanently block the law.
Arkansas was the first state to enact such a ban, which prohibits doctors from providing gender-confirming hormone treatment, puberty blockers or surgery to anyone under 18 years old, or from referring them to other providers for the treatment. There are no doctors who perform gender-affirming surgery on minors in the state.
“Because the minor’s sex at birth determines whether or not the minor can receive certain types of medical care under the law, Act 626 discriminates on the basis of sex,” the court’s ruling Thursday said.
The American Civil Liberties Union challenged the law on behalf of four transgender youth and their families, as well as two doctors who provide gender-confirming treatments.
“The Eighth Circuit was abundantly clear that the state’s ban on care does not advance any important governmental interest and the state’s defense of the law is lacking in legal or evidentiary support,” Chase Strangio, deputy director for Transgender Justice at the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project, said in a statement. “The state has no business categorically singling out this care for prohibition.”
Arkansas argued that the restriction is within the state’s authority to regulate medical practices.
Republican Attorney General Leslie Rutledge will ask the full 8th Circuit Court of Appeals to review the ruling, said spokeswoman Amanda Priest, adding that Rutledge was “extremely disappointed in today’s dangerously wrong decision by the three-judge panel.”
The 8th Circuit covers Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and the Dakotas. The ruling on Arkansas’ law comes after the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals that covers Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia ruled last week that gender dysphoria is covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Experts and advocates have said that decision could help block conservative political efforts to restrict access to gender-affirming care.
Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson vetoed Arkansas’ ban last year, and GOP lawmakers overrode him. Pediatricians, social workers and the parents of transgender youth said the measure would harm a community already at risk for depression and suicide. Hutchinson has said he would signed such legislation if it only focused on gender-confirming surgery.
On Thursday, he called Arkansas’ ban the “most extreme law in the country” and urged lawmakers to scale it back next year “with a more narrow focus to protect our children.”
“No other state has passed such a law that interferes with a parent making health care decisions for minor children based upon a doctor’s recommendations when the recommendations are based upon generally accepted medical guidance,” Hutchinson, who leaves office in January, said in a statement.
Multiple medical groups, including the American Medical Association, oppose the ban and have said the care is safe if properly administered. The Justice Department has also opposed the ban as unconstitutional.
An attorney for the ACLU told the appeals panel in June that reinstating the restriction would create uncertainty for families.
A federal judge in May blocked a similar law in Alabama. A Tennessee ban that was enacted last year on transgender treatments for youth, which is limited to providing gender-confirming hormone treatment to prepubescent minors, remains in effect.
In Texas, child welfare officials have been blocked from investigating three families of transgender youth over gender-confirming care the minors have received. A state judge is considering whether to prevent additional investigations. | 2022-08-27T11:00:16+00:00 | wivb.com | https://www.wivb.com/news/u-s-headlines/ap-court-arkansas-cant-ban-treatment-of-transgender-kids/ |
East Central baseball prepares for state title matchup with Neshoba Central
HURLEY, Miss. (WLOX) -The East Central Hornet baseball team has a busy week ahead of them.
Next Tuesday in Pearl, they’ll face off against the Neshoba Central Rockets to kick off the 5A State Title series.
To make it to the championship series, the Hornets took down Long Beach, South Jones, and Vancleave.
Head coach Bo Long says they have never played Neshoba Central in baseball, so they’re looking forward to the challenge of facing an unfamiliar foe. Above all, they’re hoping to come away with two more wins in Pearl and bring home some hardware.
“I think it will be way more special than what these guys can understand now is what they have the opportunity to take with them for the rest of their lives,” said Long
“We’ve been hot since the first week. We’ve been swinging it real well,” said senior Hollis Porter. “We got beat in game 2 by Vancleave and then came out game 3 and had a really good game. It’s a bunch of momentum going our way going into state.”
“Me personally, I really want to win it because I see all the guys that have played here before and how much it means to them, and I feel like it would mean a lot if we were the ones to do it,” said senior Cadyn Hayes.
“I think it’s pretty important. We’ve got the whole community around us,” said senior Chandler Thompson. “It’s been awesome, we’ve really come together as a group and I think we’re playing our best ball.”
Game one for the Hornets and Rockets is set for Trustmark Park in Pearl on Tuesday.
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Copyright 2022 WLOX. All rights reserved. | 2022-05-21T00:28:40+00:00 | wlox.com | https://www.wlox.com/2022/05/20/east-central-baseball-prepares-state-title-matchup-with-neshoba-central/ |
Which moisturizers are best for dry skin?
Moisture is essential for healthy skin. If you have dry skin, though, you need some extra help to hydrate your skin. That means any old moisturizer won’t do.
When you’re buying a moisturizer for dry skin, you want a heavier formula with ingredients that attract moisture to the skin and seal it in, such as hyaluronic acid, glycerin, dimethicone and urea. Adequate hydration can help smooth the skin, fight fine lines and wrinkles, and leave you with a glow even if your skin is naturally dry.
Need a high-quality moisturizer to boost your skin’s hydration? The best moisturizers for dry skin can leave you a bright, healthy complexion year-round.
Best moisturizers for dry skin 2023
Drunk Elephant Lala Retro Whipped Cream Moisturizer with Ceramides
With six African oils and a ceramide complex, this rich moisturizer helps provide intense hydration and strengthen your skin’s protective barrier. It also helps combat wrinkles and protects against environmental stress. The formula is also vegan.
Sold by Sephora, Kohl’s, Ulta Beauty and Amazon
Avene Eau Thermale Rich Revitalizing Nourishing Cream
This intensive moisturizer provides plenty of hydration without clogging your pores. It helps strengthen your skin’s natural protective barrier and fights damage from pollution and other environmental stressors with red fruit extract. Formulated to reduce the risk of irritation, it’s safe for sensitive skin.
Sold by Ulta Beauty and Amazon
Cetaphil Deep Hydration Healthy Glow Daily Face Cream
This affordable moisturizer can restore your skin’s hydration for up to 48 hours but is still lightweight and non-greasy. It contains hyaluronic acid, vitamin B5 and vitamin E to moisturize and soothe skin. It helps strengthen sensitive skin over time and leaves your complexion with a healthy glow.
Clinique Smart SPF 15 Custom-Repair Moisturizer for Very Dry Skin
If you want a moisturizer that can help fight fine lines and wrinkles and firm the skin, this is an excellent option. It contains no oil but features ingredients that help draw and retain moisture in the skin. It also provides SPF 15 for sun protection during the day and is non-acnegenic.
Sold by Amazon, Sephora, Kohl’s, Target and Ulta Beauty
For highly dehydrated skin, this intensive moisturizing ointment is your best bet. It provides a protective barrier for the skin that locks in moisture and helps soothe irritation and redness. It’s preservative- and fragrance-free.
Farmacy Honey Halo Ultra-Hydrating Ceramide Moisturizer
This rich cream can restore moisture to dry, stressed skin and plump its appearance to reduce the look of fine lines. It contains fig fruit extract to help bind moisture in the skin and a ceramide blend that prevents moisture loss. It’s also cruelty-free and comes in recyclable packaging.
Sold by Sephora, Kohl’s and Amazon
This creamy moisturizer doesn’t contain any fragrance, dyes or parabens, so it’s a good option for sensitive skin. It’s dermatologist-tested and non-comedogenic, too, which reduces the risk of breakouts. Despite the rich texture, it absorbs quickly, preventing any greasy residue.
Tatcha The Dewy Skin Cream Plumping & Hydrating Moisturizer
An intense moisturizer, this formula is full of antioxidants and hydrating, plumping ingredients, which leave the skin with a healthy glow. The hyaluronic acid attracts moisture to the skin, while the botanical extracts help retain the moisture. It can help restore firmness and elasticity and boost luminosity.
Sold by Amazon, Kohl’s and Sephora
Keys Soulcare Skin Transformation Cream
Developed by a board-certified dermatologist, this moisturizer is clean and cruelty-free. It contains ceramides to hydrate and plump the skin and antioxidants that help improve tone and texture. It also adds instant radiance to the skin.
Sold by Ulta Beauty
Youth To The People Adaptogen Deep Moisture Cream with Ashwagandha + Reishi
This vegan, cruelty-free cream provides rich hydration with squalane, jojoba and shea butter. It won’t clog the pores and can help improve fine lines, wrinkles and redness. It doesn’t contain any parabens, phthalates or sulfates.
Sold by Sephora, Kohl’s and Amazon
This highly affordable, dermatologist-recommended moisturizer is ideal for dry skin. It contains hyaluronic acid and ceramides to provide 24-hour hydration. It absorbs quickly and doesn’t leave a greasy or sticky residue. It’s also fragrance-free, paraben-free and non-comedogenic.
Sold by Amazon, Target and Ulta Beauty
Sunday Riley Ice Ceramide Moisturizing Cream
Another ceramide-rich moisturizer, this helps strengthen your skin’s natural protective barrier to lock in moisture. The included beetroot and coconut help draw moisture to the skin, where vitamin F and pomegranate sterols seal it in. It helps diminish fine lines, wrinkles, uneven texture and dullness.
Sold by Sephora, Target, Kohl’s and Amazon
Weleda Skin Food Original Ultra-Rich Cream
This rich moisturizer can hydrate and smooth dry, rough-looking skin, leaving you with a luminous complexion. It features a blend of plant-based ingredients that help nourish and soothe the skin. It’s dermatologist-tested, too, so it’s usually safe for sensitive skin.
Shiseido Benefiance Wrinkle Smoothing Cream
This anti-aging moisturizer doesn’t just help improve existing fine lines and prevent future wrinkles. It also delivers intense moisture that lasts for up to 24 hours. Because it absorbs so easily, you don’t have to worry about a greasy residue. It doesn’t contain any sulfates, parabens or phthalates.
Sold by Sephora, Amazon, Ulta Beauty, Kohl’s and Target
Elf Cosmetics Holy Hydration Face Cream SPF 30
This lightweight moisturizer delivers a surprising amount of hydration to leave the skin looking plump and supple. It includes hyaluronic acid to lock in moisture and peptides to help boost collagen production for firmer-looking skin. It also provides SPF 30 to protect your skin from sun damage.
Sold by Amazon, Ulta Beauty and Target
Olay Regenerist Ultra-Rich Moisturizer
This fragrance-free moisturizer instantly hydrates your skin and leaves it looking firm and plump. It also features vitamin B3+ peptides that help strengthen and nourish the skin. The formula is extremely thick and creamy, but it doesn’t leave a greasy residue.
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Copyright 2023 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | 2023-01-26T03:29:45+00:00 | nwahomepage.com | https://www.nwahomepage.com/reviews/br/beauty-personal-care-br/skin-treatments-br/best-moisturizer-for-dry-skin/ |
Almost from the start of his tenure this year as chief judge of the federal district court in Washington, D.C., weighty legal issues arrived on the desk of James "Jeb" Boasberg.
Boasberg, 60, presides over a building where trials of rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, are underway, as are grand jury investigations of former President Trump.
In one of his first official acts, Chief Judge Boasberg issued what could become a landmark ruling that directs former Vice President Mike Pence to testify about his contacts with Trump in the days before the insurrection.
The decision, which is still sealed, turned away an executive privilege challenge from Trump, but honored some boundaries Pence tried to erect in terms of his role presiding over the Senate on that chaotic day. Pence recently announced he would not appeal, setting up the prospect he could within weeks tell a grand jury about the pressure campaign to overturn the 2020 election.
Former prosecutor Glenn Kirschner said based on what he's read, Boasberg's decision is both proper and savvy, because it deftly recognizes complex legal issues and shortcuts Trump's efforts at delay.
"You know it kind of gives everybody what they're entitled to under the law but it keeps matters moving forward," said Kirschner, who supervised Boasberg decades ago when they were homicide prosecutors in the District.
Kirschner said Boasberg, who boasts degrees from Yale and Oxford University, made a good trial lawyer because he can connect with people from all walks of life. Indeed, the new chief judge often walks down the courthouse corridors, greeting prosecutors, defense lawyers and courthouse staffers by name.
Boasberg also remains close to the lawyers he met in that homicide section in the 1990s. One of them is Ronald Machen. They shared an office and played basketball every Wednesday back in those days.
"And he was good," Machen said. "I mean he's a tall guy and played at Yale and was very successful....I couldn't believe it, he was actually pretty good."
Those basketball-playing days are over after the judge's athletic pursuits helped contribute to a knee replacement several years ago, another friend said.
Boasberg started his judicial career in the D.C. Superior Court, where he was appointed by then-President George W. Bush. Years later, President Obama elevated him to a seat on the federal court, where he won unanimous confirmation by the Senate in 2011. He also served on the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court during a period where the FBI faced harsh criticism for submitting inaccurate applications to the court.
Boasberg has since become one of the top feeder judges in the U.S., sending many of his young clerks onto clerkships at the Supreme Court.
"You know this is a guy that's devoted his life to public service, that could probably be the managing partner of any firm in the city making millions of dollars but he has devoted his life to serving people," Machen said.
Boasberg's friend and former colleague Amy Jeffress said the judge is known for following the law, even when it produces unexpected results. She cited his decision last year throwing out the Justice Department's civil lawsuit against casino mogul Steve Wynn for his failure to register as an agent of China, a move that has the potential to defang DOJ's enforcement efforts.
"While the goals of FARA are laudable, this Court is bound to apply the statute as interpreted by the D.C. Circuit and that requires dismissal," Boasberg wrote.
The judge cited a decades-old court precedent and quoted former appeals court Judge Robert Bork, a pillar of the conservative legal community.
Collegiality is a priority for Boasberg and for his tenure on the court, said fellow U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich. Last month, they traveled together to Yale for a conversation with other judges about "crossing divides."
An online notice about the program said the focus would be "their approach to judging in partisan times, their experiences on the federal bench, and their shared commitment to the rule of law."
"We socialize with each other and we genuinely respect each other," Friedrich said in an interview this week. "You can become better lawyers and better people by listening to the other side."
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | 2023-04-10T12:48:35+00:00 | klcc.org | https://www.klcc.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-04-10/meet-the-chief-federal-judge-overseeing-several-high-profile-trump-grand-jury-probes |
The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can refuse to answer questions or turn over documents under a state law that exempts religious officials from having to report child sex abuse if they learn of the crime during a confessional setting.
The ruling was issued April 7 but not released to the public until Tuesday. A lawsuit filed by child sex abuse victims accuses the church, widely known as the Mormon church, two of its bishops, and other church members of conspiracy and negligence in not reporting church member Paul Adams for abusing his older daughter as early as 2010. This negligence, the lawsuit argues, allowed Adams to continuing abusing the girl for as many as seven years, a time in which he also abused the girl’s infant sister.
Lynne Cadigan, an attorney for the Adams children who filed the lawsuit, criticized the court’s ruling.
“Unfortunately, this ruling expands the clergy privilege beyond what the legislature intended by allowing churches to conceal crimes against children,” she said.
In a statement, the church concurred with the court’s action.
“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints agrees with the Arizona Supreme Court’s decision,” the statement said. “We are deeply saddened by the abuse these children suffered. The Church has no tolerance of abuse of any kind.”
Adams had also posted videos of himself sexually abusing his daughters on the internet, boasted of the abuse on social media, and confessed to federal law enforcement agents, who arrested him in 2017 with no help from the church.
Those actions prompted Cochise County Superior Court Judge Laura Cardinal to rule on Aug. 8, 2022, that Adams had waived his right to keep his 2010 confession to Bishop John Herrod secret.
“Taken together, Adams’ overt acts demonstrate a lack of repentance and a profound disregard” for the principles of the church, Cardinal said in her ruling. “His acts can only be characterized as a waiver of the clergy penitent privilege.”
Clergy in Arizona, as in many other states, are required to report information about child sexual abuse or neglect to law enforcement or child welfare authorities. An exception to that law — known as the clergy-penitent privilege — allows members of the clergy who learn of the abuse through spiritual confessions to keep the information secret.
The church has based its defense in the lawsuit on the privilege, asserting that Herrod and a second bishop who learned of Adams’ confession, Robert “Kim” Mauzy, had no legal obligation to report him for abusing his older daughter and appealed Cardinal’s ruling.
On Dec. 15, the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the church, saying it did not have to turn over disciplinary records for Adams, who was excommunicated in 2013. The Appeals Court also ruled that a church official who attended a church disciplinary hearing could refuse to answer questions from the plaintiff’s attorneys during pretrial testimony, based on the clergy-penitent privilege.
Lawyers representing the Adams girls and one of their brothers took the case to the Arizona Supreme Court, where they did not prevail, according to the April ruling.
In an unusual move, Cadigan said attorneys for the three Adams children intend to file a motion asking the Supreme Court to reconsider its ruling.
An Associated Press investigation of the clergy privilege shows it exists in 33 states and that the Mormon church, often joined by the Catholic Church, Jehovah’s Witnesses and other faiths, have successfully lobbied against attempts to reform or eliminate it. | 2023-04-12T18:46:20+00:00 | wnct.com | https://www.wnct.com/news/ap-top-headlines/arizona-court-upholds-clergy-privilege-in-child-abuse-case/ |
ATLANTA -- Georgia might be the defending champions and the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff, but coach Kirby Smart said there's just as much pressure now as there was during his first season in 2016.
"The standard doesn't change," Smart said Friday on the eve of a Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl matchup against No. 4 Ohio State. "Players change."
But Smart acknowledged the difficulty in trying to repeat as national champions, which hasn't happened in college football since Alabama did it in 2011 and 2012.
Smart left Alabama to become the head coach at Georgia prior to the 2016 season, but he said he remembers that experience as an assistant on Nick Saban's staff with the Crimson Tide.
"I knew the kind of year it would be," Smart said. "It's always a little tougher to bring everyone back to home base. It was much easier for us this year because we had so many players leave and we had a hungrier young team."
Smart said they made use of in-house sports psychologists to talk to players during the offseason about "how the mighty fall" and "some different models where ego got the best of business organizations."
Georgia's 15 picks in the 2022 NFL draft -- including five defensive players in the first round -- were the most since it was shortened to seven rounds.
And still the Bulldogs went undefeated during the regular season, won the SEC championship and have allowed the second-fewest points in the FBS.
"Georgia's defense is complete," Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. "They have really good players in the back end -- very, very talented, highly recruited and developed at a high level with tremendous scheme. And then when you go into the front: athletic linebackers who run sideline to sideline. Their front is powerful.
"So, you see the statistics. You see the way they played all year. They're a complete defense. But, you know, when you get into this level of competition, that's what you're gonna get."
Day said his team experienced a range of emotions after losing to Michigan during the final weekend of the regular season. If USC hadn't lost to Utah in the Pac-12 Championship, the Buckeyes might not have gotten into the playoff.
"When you have something taken away from you, it does give you a little bit more appreciation," Day said.
But, like Smart, Day said that there's no more pressure than normal and that, at the beginning of the season, "this is the exact situation you saw ourselves in."
"The expectations at Ohio State and Georgia are the highest level," Day said. "We embrace that. Our players embrace that. That's why you come to Ohio State -- to be in situations like this and play in games like this and go compete for a national championship." | 2022-12-30T17:02:49+00:00 | espn.com | https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/35348094/georgia-ohio-state-coaches-not-feeling-added-pressure |
BANGKOK >> U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris spoke briefly with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Saturday in another step toward keeping lines of communication open between the two biggest economies.
Harris and Xi exchanged remarks Saturday while heading into a closed-door meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum’s summit in Bangkok.
“I greeted President Xi before the APEC Leaders Retreat,” Harris wrote on Twitter. “I noted a key message that President Biden emphasized in his November 14 meeting with President Xi: we must maintain open lines of communication to responsibly manage the competition between our countries.”
Their exchange closely echoed Biden’s comment to Xi at an meeting between the two leaders earlier in the week about China and the U.S. keeping lines of communication open.
A brief statement from China’s Foreign Ministry also referenced the Biden-Xi meeting at the Group of 20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, which it described as “strategic and constructive” with “major significance in guiding the next stage of China-US relations.” It said it hoped the vice president will play an active role in working with China to promote the two nations’ relations “to return to a healthy and stable track.”
Relations between Washington and Beijing have suffered frictions over trade and technology, China’s claims to the separately governed island of Taiwan, the pandemic and China’s handling of Hong Kong, human rights and other issues.
Harris later took part in a handover ceremony in which Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha handed over chairmanship of APEC to the United States, which will host the group’s meetings next year.
She told the leaders present for the ceremony that the United States would continue to focus APEC on sustainable economic growth, building on the strong foundation Thailand set this year with new ambitious sustainability goals.
She also touted her home state, California, saying “there is no better place to host APEC 2023 than California, a state known for economic innovation.”
“Our host year will demonstrate the enduring economic commitment of the United States to the Indo-Pacific,” said Harris.
“As I have made clear throughout my time in Bangkok: under our administration, the United States is a strong partner for the economies and companies of the Indo-Pacific, and we are working to strengthen our economic relationships throughout the region, including by increasing two-way trade flows and the free flow of capital, which supports millions of American jobs.”
On Friday, Harris pitched the U.S. as a reliable economic partner, telling a business conference on APEC’s sidelines, “The United States is here to stay.”
Harris told leaders at the APEC summit that the U.S. is a “proud Pacific power” and has a “vital interest in promoting a region that is open, interconnected, prosperous, secure and resilient.”
After receiving news that North Korea had fired an intercontinental ballistic missile that landed near Japanese waters, Harris convened an emergency meeting of the leaders of Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Canada in which she slammed the missile test as a “brazen violation of multiple U.N. Security resolutions.”
“It destabilizes security in the region and unnecessarily raises tensions,” she said.
“We strongly condemn these actions and again call on North Korea to stop further unlawful, destabilizing acts,” Harris said. “On behalf of the United States I reaffirmed our ironclad commitment to our Indo-Pacific alliances.”
Her remarks at the broader APEC forum capped a week of high-level outreach from the U.S. to Asia as Washington seeks to counter growing Chinese influence in the region, with President Joe Biden pushing the message of American commitment to the region at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Cambodia and the G-20 meeting in Indonesia.
Many Asian countries began questioning the American commitment to Asia after former President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, which had been the centerpiece of former President Barack Obama’s “pivot” to Asia.
The Biden administration has been seeking to regain trust and take advantage of growing questions over strings attached to Chinese regional infrastructure investments that critics have dubbed Beijing’s “debt trap” diplomacy.
Biden and Harris have also highlighted Washington’s Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, launched earlier this year.
After the APEC meeting, Harris also met with with Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha. Details of their talk were not immediately available, but had been expected to cover global and regional issues, such as the war in Ukraine and the crisis in Thailand’s neighbor Myanmar, where a military takeover last year triggered what amounts to a civil war and a humanitarian crisis.
In addition to economic issues, the two were expected to talk about the close and long-term security alliance between Thailand and the United States.
Earlier, Harris announced a spree of initiatives to extend bilateral cooperation on climate change and economic growth, as well as to tackle drug trafficking and cybercrime in the Southeast Asia region, both alarmingly on the rise.
Harris launched a series of partnerships with Thailand aimed at driving down emissions, advancing clean energy goals and promoting sustainable development, among other matters.
Biden and Harris have also highlighted Washington’s Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, launched earlier this year.
—————
Associated Press writer David Rising contributed to this report. | 2022-11-19T19:05:44+00:00 | staradvertiser.com | https://www.staradvertiser.com/2022/11/19/breaking-news/vp-harris-meets-with-chinas-xi-in-bid-to-keep-lines-open/ |
Which Thule bike racks are best?
Whether you’re an avid bike-tourer or a weekend road-warrior, a good Thule bike rack can help you discover new terrain. However, choosing the wrong rack can cause more problems than solutions.
Some vehicles have more attachment options than others and will allow you to choose between hanging your bikes, which is ideal for hardtail and road bikes, or securing them to a tray, which is great for full suspension bikes but may require removing the front wheel. For more information, check out the Best Reviews buying guide for bike racks.
Best Thule roof bike racks
Roof racks are tray-style racks that require an existing crossbar system, ideally from Thule. Although these are the easiest bike racks to set up, they can add significant height to your vehicle and increase drag. Roof racks are best suited for lower sedans and wagons, as opposed to SUVs.
This roof bike rack is easy to install and has a universal mount to fit all bikes. You don’t have to remove the wheel to use it, and it doesn’t have any frame contact for maximum protection. To top it all off, you can easily slide from the passenger side to driver side for easy access.
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Thule ProRide XT roof bike rack
The Thule ProRide XT is designed for heavier bikes with large front and rear suspension. With a weight capacity of 44 pounds and large foam pads to grip the frame, you can count on this rack to hold your bike securely under any conditions. Another great feature of the Thule ProRide XT is the fact that it self positions itself in the rack when you tighten the straps.
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Best Thule truck bed bike racks
Truck bed bike racks are a great option if you have a truck, since they’re affordable and don’t reduce your gas mileage as much as roof racks. If you manage to get a tall cap for your truck, you can add a layer of security as well.
Thule GateMate Pro truck bed bike rack
The Thule GateMate Pro slips right over the tailgate of your truck and can hold up to seven adult-sized bikes. The GateMate provides heavy duty protection for your bike, as well as your truck, and easily folds away when not in use. With a price tag of $200, it’s hard to beat the versatility, convenience and affordability of the GateMate Pro truck bed bike rack.
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Thule Insta-Gater Pro truck bed bike rack
While the GateMate Pro saves on space and offers great versatility, the Insta-Gater places a premium on frame protection. Designed as an upright rack for the inside of your truck bed, this rack is heavy duty from tip to the tail. It can handle tires up to 5 inches thick and heavy electric bikes without breaking a sweat.
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Best Thule hitch bike racks
Hitch bike racks easily attach to a trailer hitch and tend to be the most versatile. With both hanging and tray-style mount options, some hitch racks can hold up to seven bikes. However, hitch bike racks limit access to your rear cargo space while in use.
Thule EasyFold XT 2 hitch bike rack
If you’re looking for Thule’s flagship hitch bike rack then EasyFold XT 2 is for you. Featuring a fulling foldable design with built-in wheels and a foot-operated tilt lever for easy trunk access, this bike rack has all the bells and whistles and avid biker needs. Plus, loading it up with heavy electric bikes or mountain bikes is easy thanks to the integrated loading ramp.
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Thule Apex XT Swing 4 hitch bike rack
The Apex XT features a simple hanging-mount design and an awesome swing feature that allows you to easily move a fully loaded rack out of the way of your trunk opening. Thule also added their unique anti-sway cradles to prevent bike movement while in transit. This hitch bike rack is ideal for anyone constantly on the move.
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Specifically designed for the back of an RV or trailer, this hitch bike rack is ideal for people committed to living life outdoors. The Thule Range is packed with premium features, like enhanced anti-sway cradles and integrated security that keeps your gear safe during extended road trips.
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Best Thule trunk bike racks
Trunk bike racks, also known as rear racks, don’t require a trailer hitch or roof bars to attach to your vehicle. You can affix a trunk bike rack to almost any type of car, and they usually don’t increase the height of your vehicle or ruin it’s aerodynamics. However, it may take some time to learn how to quickly and properly install your Thule trunk bike rack.
Thule Outway 3 trunk bike rack
The Outway 3 is Thule’s flagship trunk bike rack. It can hold up to three bikes and offers maximum security for them by using steel cables, rather than nylon straps, to attach to your vehicle. Each cable is equipped with a plastic coating and rubber pads to protect your vehicle from scratches and dings.
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Designed for convenience and weight-saving, this simple bike rack is great for anyone on a budget. Although it’s loaded with Thule’s premium innovations, this trunk bike rack has loads of straps, no-sway cages and ample padding to keep both your bike and car safe. With a two bike capacity, it’s hard to beat the functionality of the Thule Passage for the price.
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Thule Spare Me Pro trunk bike rack
This trunk bike rack is ideal for anyone with a spare tire on the back of their vehicle. The Thule Spare Me Pro can easily attach to regular and oversize tires and hold two bikes with ease. With a load capacity of 75 pounds, you can put two heavy-duty bikes on this rack. Thule also included their signature anti-sway cages and stay-put cradles to keep everything together.
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Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | 2022-05-09T13:33:40+00:00 | siouxlandproud.com | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/reviews/br/camping-outdoors-br/gear-br/which-thule-bike-rack-should-i-get/ |
Two-thirds of California voters say Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is no longer fit to serve in her role, according to a Thursday poll.
The poll, conducted by UC Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies, found that 67% of California registered voters believe that Feinstein's latest illness has rendered her unfit for office. That opinion does not universally translate into support for her resignation, however, with only 42% saying she should step down.
Another 27% stated that Feinstein should continue to serve in the Senate until the end of her term, while 31% said they were undecided.
The 67% of voters reported that they agreed with the statement, "Feinstein’s latest illness underlines the fact that she is no longer fit to continue serving in the U.S. Senate."
DIANNE FEINSTEIN'S SHINGLES DIAGNOSIS: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE RASH CAUSED BY A VIRUS
UC Berkeley conducted the poll from May 17 to 22, surveying 7,465 California registered voters. Emails were sent out randomly to the state's voter list containing an invitation to take a non-partisan online survey. The emails and survey were available in both English and Spanish.
IOWA WOMAN, 27, HAS 99% CHANCE OF DEVELOPING DEMENTIA: ‘I NEEDED TO KNOW’
Feinstein's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Feinstein has faced widespread scrutiny with her return to Washington, D.C., earlier this month. The long-serving Democrat had been forced to stay in California for more than a month due to health complications related to a shingles infection.
Feinstein's office confirmed earlier this week that the 89-year-old senator had been more seriously ill than they initially let on.
"While the encephalitis resolved itself shortly after she was released from the hospital in March, she continues to have complications from Ramsay Hunt syndrome," a spokesperson for Feinstein said.
DIANNE FEINSTEIN WAS SICKER THAN PUBLIC KNEW DUE TO SHINGLES THAT CAUSED BRAIN INFLAMMATION
Feinstein had previously claimed that she did not have encephalitis, noting, "It really has never been diagnosed properly."
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
A staff photographer for the Los Angeles Times wrote on Wednesday that Feinstein is surrounded by a cocoon of staffers in the U.S. Capitol and everywhere she goes. | 2023-05-25T22:04:59+00:00 | foxbangor.com | https://www.foxbangor.com/news/national/two-thirds-of-california-voters-say-dianne-feinstein-no-longer-fit-for-office-poll/article_55ca126b-c78a-5804-8a07-4b4da9708a0c.html |
VOORSCHOTEN, Netherlands (AP) — A train derailed near The Hague in the early hours of Tuesday, sending two carriages into a field next to the tracks, Dutch emergency services said. One person died and some 30 passengers were injured, many of them seriously.
Television images showed people using makeshift bridges and ladders to cross a narrow drainage canal running alongside the rails to reach the stricken train in the darkness. Many windows in the train carriages were broken. It was not clear if that happened during the accident or as passengers attempted to escape.
Two of the bright yellow and blue train carriages came to rest perpendicular to the tracks across the small canal and partially in a field. What appeared to be the front of the train was badly damaged. Other parts of the train were partially derailed.
The four-carriage passenger train was carrying about 50 passengers at the time of the crash.
A freight train also was stopped on rails close to the wreckage of the passenger train near the rails between the cities of Leiden and The Hague.
The exact cause of the accident that happened around 3:25 a.m. (0125 GMT) in the town of Voorschoten, near The Hague, was not immediately clear.
Railway company NS said in a statement said a passenger train, a freight train and a construction crane were involved in a collision, but the company gave no further details.
“Like everyone else, I’m full of questions and we want to know exactly what happened,” NS CEO Wouter Koolmees said in a statement. “A thorough investigation must be carried out. At the moment, all attention is focused on the well-being of our travelers and colleagues.”
The regional coordinator of emergency services said that 11 of the injured passengers were treated in homes near the line and the others were transported in a fleet of ambulances to hospitals, including a “calamity hospital” opened in the central city of Utrecht.
The local fire brigade tweeted after the crash that it appeared to be a collision between a passenger train and “building material.”
“A terrible train accident near Voorschoten, where unfortunately one person died and many people were injured. My thoughts are with the relatives and with all the victims. I wish them all the best,” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said in a tweet.
Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima also expressed their sympathy in a tweet.
Ingrid de Roos, a spokeswoman for local fire services, told news show WNL that a small fire broke out at the rear of the train but was quickly extinguished.
John Voppen, CEO of the rail network company Pro Rail, called the accident “a black day for Dutch railways” and said the cause was under investigation.
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Corder reported from The Hague.
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Credit: AP | 2023-04-04T08:16:47+00:00 | springfieldnewssun.com | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/nation-world/train-derailment-near-the-hague-kills-1-injures-several/JNESOG25PFD57CK4IXYJSSPA3M/ |
MACON, Ga. (AP) — Kamar Robertson scored 23 points as Mercer beat Winthrop 77-68 on Saturday.
Robertson also added five rebounds for the Bears (2-2). David Craig added 15 points while going 6 of 7 and 3 of 5 from the free throw line, and they also had 10 rebounds. Jah Quinones shot 5 for 9, including 1 for 3 from beyond the arc to finish with 13 points.
Sin'Cere McMahon led the way for the Eagles (2-3) with 24 points. Kelton Talford added 14 points and eight rebounds for Winthrop. Toneari Lane also recorded 14 points.
NEXT UP
Up next for Mercer is a matchup Monday with Florida State on the road. Winthrop takes on Southern Miss on Tuesday.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar. | 2022-11-19T23:50:54+00:00 | ourmidland.com | https://www.ourmidland.com/sports/article/Robertson-s-23-lead-Mercer-over-Winthrop-77-68-17597999.php |
House OKs short-term spending package to avert government shutdown
Published: Sep. 30, 2022 at 12:12 PM CDT|Updated: 27 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House of Representatives OKs a short-term spending package to avert a government shutdown and aid Ukraine; the bill next goes to President Joe Biden for his signature.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | 2022-09-30T17:39:47+00:00 | kxii.com | https://www.kxii.com/2022/09/30/house-oks-short-term-spending-package-avert-government-shutdown/ |
MASON CITY, Iowa – A California man is pleading guilty to getting caught with illegal drugs in Cerro Gordo County.
Davon James Conley, 27 of Riverside, CA, has entered a guilty plea to possession of marijuana and failure to use a drug tax stamp.
He was arrested on November 7, 2021, after a traffic stop on Interstate 35 near Clear Lake. Law enforcement says Conley was speeding and the smell of marijuana was coming from his vehicle.
Conley allegedly admitted to smoking the drug in Colorado eight to 10 hours before and court documents state a search of his vehicle found 56 grams of marijuana, a scale, resealable bags, and multiple black tubes with marijuana crumbs inside each.
Conley’s sentencing is set for August 29. | 2022-07-12T23:53:37+00:00 | kimt.com | https://www.kimt.com/news/guilty-plea-from-california-man-arrested-with-marijuana-in-north-iowa/article_14de3a1e-0214-11ed-af6f-4f89d334c37e.html |
West Perry wrestling stampedes on.
After an impressive performance in the previous post season round, the Mustangs kept it up in regionals.
At the end of the day, the team earned fifth place with two Mustangs going to the championship round.
To open the weekend, Blain Puchalsky earned a pin over Hunter Troutman from Tri-Valley in 47 seconds in the first round. Tyler Morrison followed suit with a 17-1 technical fall over Owen Woll.
Tucker Seidel also moved on with a 15-3 major decision against Austin Martin followed by a pin from Justice Hockenberry-Folk in just 28 seconds.
Carter Nace, Quade Boden and Ashtyn Leigh all dropped their first-round matches.
In the quarterfinals, Jackson Rush made his debut for the evening and pinned Jonah Peterson from Upper Dauphin in the second period.
Puchalsky continued his success with a 3-0 decision against Mason Wagner, and Nolen Zeigler earned a 6-2 decision in his first round of the weekend.
Morrison dropped an 8-1 decision and Seidel suffered a pin in the second period. Hockenberry-Folk brought the momentum back up with a hard fought 7-6 decision over Northwestern Lehigh’s Luke Fugazzotto.
Leigh and Nace both dropped their first consolation matches while Boden won a close 5-4 decision.
The second consolation round went much better for the Mustangs.
Morrison earned a first period pin against Donovan Leone, Seidel took an easy 15-0 technical fall over Susquenita’s Dylan Fulton, and Boden won a 6-1 decision over Ethan Yoh.
For the semifinals, Rush and Puchalsky both pulled out decisions over their opponents.
Rush took a quick takedown to beat Aiden Grogg 4-2, while Puchalsky held on to John Haubert to win 4-0.
Zeigler and Hockenberry-Folk both dropped their semifinal matches.
In the consolation semifinals, Morrison and Zeigler both recorded pins with Morrison’s landing at 3:28 and Zeigler’s at 2:04.
Hockenberry-Folk also won his bought with an 8-2 decision over Joseph Lapenna, Boden dropped a 4-2 decision against Jacob Scheib from Tri Valley.
Seidel fought for seventh place but got caught on his back by Peter Ranck from Halifax and was pinned at the five-minute mark.
Boden went for fifth place and dropped a 10-4 decision against Lucas Miller. Morrison, Zeigler and Hockenberry-Folk all went for third place.
Morrison suffered a 13-0 major decision, while Zeigler and Hockenberry-Folk walked away with bronze medals. Zeigler had another hard-fought match where he came out on top with a 1-0 decision, and Hockenberry-Folk took a 10-8 decision to earn his medal.
Rush and Puchalsky represented West Perry in the championship rounds, but both dropped their matches and took second place. Rush lost an 18-3 tech fall while Puchalsky dropped a tough 6-5 decision.
West Perry will take on the PIAA state tournament next with hopes to come back to Perry County with some gold medals. | 2023-03-11T16:32:12+00:00 | pennlive.com | https://www.pennlive.com/perry-county-times/2023/03/mustang-wrestling-keeps-the-momentum-going.html |
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ATLANTA (AP) — Two months into the season, it looked like the New York Mets were headed for an NL East runaway.
Not so fast, said the reigning World Series champions.
Sparked by two budding stars, the Atlanta Braves suddenly found their mojo.
Now, they're a mere game behind the Mets heading into the biggest series of the year, a three-game set in the A-T-L on the final weekend of the regular season.
“It's gonna be fun,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “That's kind of why you play.”
This isn't quite like the classic pennant races of the pre-wild card era, when a team had to win its league or division to make the postseason. The Mets and Braves have both locked up playoff berths.
But every other division title has been clinched with a week to go, leaving the NL East as a most enticing outlier. And winning the division does come with a major perk.
The NL East champion gets a first-round bye. The team that winds up second will have to host a best-of-three series, most likely against the San Diego Padres.
“We know how good (the Braves) are and we've got an opportunity just like they do,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said. “It's great for baseball and it's good for our sport that we all love.”
The free-spending Mets, bolstered by a dynamic rotation and sluggers Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor, are headed to the postseason for the first time since 2016.
Their biggest goal has been met.
Still, considering they've been in first place all but a couple of days this season, it would be a major downer if the Mets fail to snap Atlanta's run of four straight NL East titles.
“It's an important series and it's one where everyone is going to play hard,” Mets third baseman Eduardo Escobar said though a translator.
Early on, it didn't look like much a of race.
The Braves were 10 1/2 games behind the Mets on May 31, stumbling along with a record of 23-27.
Since then, Atlanta has matched the Los Angeles Dodgers as the hottest team in baseball with a 74-32 mark, getting huge contributions from a pair of rookies.
Michael Harris II was called up from Double-A to join the lineup on May 28, largely with the idea that he would bolster the team's defense in center field.
Turns out, the 21-year-old is much more than a glove man. Harris is hitting .305 with 19 homers, 64 RBIs and 20 stolen bases, making him the favorite for NL rookie of the year and already earning him a long-term deal.
If Harris is the best first-year player in the league, he's not far ahead of teammate Spender Strider.
The hard-throwing right-hander with the bushy mustache began the year in the bullpen before making his first career start on May 30.
The 23-year-old Strider has been nothing short of dazzling. In 20 starts, he is 10-4 with a 2.77 ERA and 165 strikeouts in 107 1/3 innings.
Unfortunately for the Braves, Strider won't be available for this series. He's out for the rest of the regular season with an oblique injury, though Atlanta is hopeful of getting him back for the playoffs.
Even without Strider, the pitching matchups are enticing: New York's Jacob deGrom (5-3, 2.93 ERA) against Atlanta's Max Fried (13-7, 2.50) on Friday, followed by Max Scherzer (11-4, 2.13) vs. Kyle Wright (20-5, 3.18) on Saturday, and Chris Bassitt (15-8, 3.2) vs. Charlie Morton (9-6, 4.29 ERA) Sunday night.
The weather forecast also looked much more promising than just 24 hours earlier.
With Hurricane Ian barreling up the East Coast, the Mets proposed shifting the series opener to Thursday — an off day for both teams. The Braves declined, having played 13 straight days.
By Thursday morning, the forecast called for only a slight chance of showers over the weekend.
The Braves have been chasing the Mets all summer, finally catching them on Sept. 6. But this one has been a nail-biter for a while, the margin no more than three games for more than a month.
New York leads the season series 9-7, which means the Mets can clinch the potentially important tiebreaker with one win in Atlanta.
The Mets won four of five when the teams met in New York the first week of August, which many thought would finish off Atlanta's division hopes.
But the Braves are 32-13 since then, feasting on below-.500 teams with a 21-5 mark. New York, meanwhile, opened the door by getting swept at home by the lowly Cubs, though the Mets bounced back to win nine of their last 12, including a 10-inning win over the Marlins on Wednesday in which they rallied from a four-run deficit.
The Braves lost in extra innings at Washington, dropping a game behind New York.
That's OK, said Snitker, who pointed out that his team has played “a lot of big games, long years, high-pressure games. These guys have gotten a whole bunch of them under under their belt. I don't think there's a whole lot that's gonna shake them.”
This was supposed to be final three games of the regular season, but the lockout forced an extension of the schedule. The Braves will travel to Miami for three games against the Marlins next week, while New York closes out at home with three against the Nationals.
No one is thinking about those games.
It's all about this series.
“Two really good teams obviously going at it," Snitker said. "We’ll see what happens.”
___
Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at https://twitter.com/pnewberry1963
___
AP Baseball Writer Mike Fitzpatrick in New York and AP freelancer Harvey Valentine in Washington contributed to this report.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | 2022-09-29T17:04:34+00:00 | lmtonline.com | https://www.lmtonline.com/sports/article/Big-series-in-A-T-L-Mets-vs-Braves-with-NL-East-17475464.php |
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia might be willing to discuss a potential prisoner swap with the U.S. involving jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich after his trial on espionage charges, a top Russian diplomat said Thursday.
Gershkovich, 31, his employer and the U. S. government all deny he was involved in spying and have demanded his release.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the state news agency Tass that talks about a possible exchange could take place through a dedicated channel that Russian and U.S. security agencies established for such purposes.
“We have a working channel that was used in the past to achieve concrete agreements, and these agreements were fulfilled,” Ryabkov said, adding that there was no need for the involvement of any third country.
However, he emphasized that Moscow would only negotiate a possible prisoner exchange after a trial. “The issue of exchanging anyone could only be considered after a court delivers its verdict,” he was quoted by Tass as saying.
That practice is in keeping with previous cases in which Russian authorities have insisted on completing the judicial process before considering exchanges.
It’s not clear how long the investigation could last, but other espionage cases have lasted for a year or more.
In December, American basketball star Brittney Griner was exchanged for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout following her trial and conviction on drug possession charges. She had been sentenced to nine years in prison and ended up spending 10 months behind bars.
Another American, Michigan corporate security executive Paul Whelan, has been imprisoned in Russia since December 2018 on espionage charges that his family and the U.S. government have called baseless.
During the Griner case, the Kremlin repeatedly urged the United States to use the “special channel” to discuss it and work on a potential prisoner swap, saying such private communications were the only appropriate means for resolution, rather than public statements and speculation.
Gershkovich could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Russian lawyers have said past investigations into espionage cases took a year to 18 months, during which time he could have little contact with the outside world. A Moscow court has received a defense appeal of his arrest and it’s scheduled to be considered April 18.
Speaking at a panel discussion on the case Wednesday at Columbia University in New York, the newspaper’s chief news editor, Elena Cherney, said the Journal’s lawyers had visited Gershkovich three times, that he appears to be in good spirits and health, and that he had received updates on one of his favorite soccer teams, Arsenal.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, this month to immediately secure the release of both Gershkovich and Whelan.
President Joe Biden spoke to Greshkovich’s parents Tuesday and again condemned his detention. “We’re making it real clear that it’s totally illegal what’s happening, and we declared it so,” he said.
On Monday, the U.S. government declared Gershkovich as “wrongfully detained,” a designation that means that a particular State Department office takes the lead on seeking his release.
Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB, arrested Gershkovich in Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth-largest city, on March 29. He is the first U.S. correspondent since the Cold War to be detained in Russia for alleged spying.
The FSB, a successor agency to the Soviet-era KGB, accused Gershkovich of trying to obtain classified information about a Russian arms factory.
On Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov again emphasized Moscow’s claim that Gershkovich was caught red-handed. He denied reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin had personally sanctioned Gershkovich’s arrest.
“It’s not the president’s prerogative. It’s up to the special services, who are doing their job,” Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.
The U.S. has pressed Russian authorities to grant U.S. consular access to Gershkovich. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Wednesday that Moscow would provide it “in due time in line with the consular practices and Russian legislation.”
Gershkovich is held in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, which dates from the czarist era and has been a terrifying symbol of repression since Soviet times.
Whelan was also held in Lefortovo until he was sent to other prison to serve his 16-year sentence after his conviction in 2020.
The Wall Street Journal launched a campaign to support Gershkovich, offering the public a way to submit letters to him via its website. Members of the Journal’s newsroom posted photos of themselves wearing T-shirts that read #IStandWithEvan.
“We need to make sure that Evan and his wrongful detention and the effort to get him back remain in the public consciousness and don’t fade with the news cycle,” Cherney said in explaining the campaign’s goal at Wednesday’s event at Columbia.
“What we’re doing is trying to ensure that we do reach Evan with these messages,” she added. “We do what we can to keep his spirits up, as well.” | 2023-04-13T22:07:40+00:00 | myfox8.com | https://myfox8.com/news/international/ap-international/official-russia-may-discuss-swap-involving-wsj-reporter/ |
After turning down two royalty deals on ABC's Shark Tank, The Little Burros Lands Deals with Major Nationwide Retailers
ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Alexandria, VA-based company The Little Burros turned down royalty deals from Lori Greiner and Kevin O'Leary after pitching their gardening product, The Burro Buddy, on ABC's Shark Tank in 2020.
"Turning down a deal, let alone two, from the sharks was a difficult decision but at the end of the day we knew we were already getting traction in the stores and we would regret taking a royalty." shared Mollie Thorsen, COO.
The father-daughter pair have persisted in pitching their product to retailers across the U.S., while continuing their online sales and maintaining their existing retail partnerships. They recently were awarded a deal with Lowe's, with The Burro Buddy set to launch in over 1,200 Lowe's stores nationwide on September 5, 2022. This figure represents nearly 75% of Lowe's total nationwide locations.
The Little Burros was also one of over 500 companies that attended Walmart's Annual Open Call Event for U.S. Manufacturing companies in June 2022. The company received a coveted "golden ticket" deal from the event, and their product is predicted to be available in 1,100 Walmart stores in the spring of 2023.
"There's nothing like The Burro Buddy out there, it really changes the way you work in the yard, so we are really excited to get these into the hands of Lowe's and Walmart customers," expressed Managing Partner Bob Thorsen.
To learn more about The Little Burros, visit www.littleburros.com.
The Little Burros is a family-run, mission-driven, quality tool line that provides innovative solutions to everyday garden problems. The company prides itself on producing American-made, lasting products that keep its users organized while working on whatever project is at hand.
The Burro Buddy is an award-winning garden tray that is thoughtfully designed to store the user's drink, cell phone, short and long handle tools. It allows users to easily organize their wheelbarrow, so they can navigate throughout their yard and complete gardening projects efficiently.
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SOURCE The Little Burros | 2022-08-10T15:56:57+00:00 | waff.com | https://www.waff.com/prnewswire/2022/08/10/former-shark-tank-contestant-little-burros-launching-lowes-walmart-stores-throughout-us/ |
Gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects and bring down tree limbs in Lancaster County from Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday morning.
National Weather Service in State College has issued a wind advisory for Lancaster County from noon Tuesday until 8 a.m. Wednesday. Other counties included in the advisory are Cambria, Blair, Somerset, Bedford, Fulton, Franklin, Dauphin, Schuylkill, Lebanon, Adams and York.
NWS predicts wind speeds of 20 to 30 mph, but with gusts as high as 50 mph. Along with blowing away unsecured objects, the winds could result in power outages, according to NWS.
NWS issues wind advisories when it expects sustained winds of 31 to 39 mph for an hour or more, or wind gusts of 46 to 57 mph.
The NWS urges the public to use extra caution while driving, especially with vehicles that have a lot of surface area, and to secure outdoor objects. | 2023-03-14T12:51:31+00:00 | lancasteronline.com | https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/wind-gusts-as-high-as-50-mph-possible-in-lancaster-county-nws-issues-wind-advisory/article_80ea4080-c25e-11ed-a7b2-fb93b18ddb77.html |
SIOUX CIYTY (KCAU) — Siouxlanders gathered today to reflect on a troubling time in our nation’s history
160 years ago Monday President Abraham Lincoln ordered the largest mass execution in U.S. History killing 38 Dakota Sioux Tribe men. Relatives and descendants of those men gathered all over Iowa and Minnesota to honor them, including here in Sioux City where they shared a meal of corn soup and fry bread and prayed for their loss.
“We want to breathe life into our people and remind our youth and even our young adults how resilient we are and to what level our ancestors sacrificed for us to be here and the consequences that we paid along the way,” said Manape Lamere, Urban Native Center Board Member
Members of the Lakota tribe are also holding the last ride of remembrance to Mankato today. | 2022-12-27T00:27:06+00:00 | siouxlandproud.com | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/local-news/event-honors-men-killed-in-larges-us-mass-execution/ |
Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX's founder, arrested in the Bahamas
Video above: Crypto exchange FTX files for bankruptcy
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of failed crypto exchange FTX, was arrested in the Bahamas on Monday after U.S. prosecutors filed criminal charges against him, according to a statement from the government of the Bahamas.
The Southern District of New York, which is investigating Bankman-Fried and the collapse of FTX and its sister trading firm Alameda, confirmed his arrest on Twitter.
"Earlier this evening, Bahamian authorities arrested Samuel Bankman-Fried at the request of the US government, based on a sealed indictment filed by the SDNY," wrote U.S. attorney Damian Williams. "We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time."
A representative for Bankman-Fried's legal team didn't immediately respond to CNN's request for comment.
It's unclear what charges await Bankman-Fried, the 30-year-old crypto celebrity who became a pariah overnight last month as his company suffered a liquidity crisis and filed for bankruptcy, leaving at least a million depositors unable to access their funds.
Bankman-Fried has since sought to cast himself as a somewhat hapless chief executive who got out over his skis, while denying accusations that he defrauded FTX's customers.
"I didn't knowingly commit fraud," he told the BBC over the weekend. "I didn't want any of this to happen. I was certainly not nearly as competent as I thought I was."
Bankman-Fried was scheduled Tuesday to appear virtually before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, which is demanding answers about how the company came crashing down, ricocheting throughout the digital asset ecosystem. Several crypto companies have halted operations, freezing customer accounts and in some cases filing for bankruptcy themselves because of their exposure to FTX.
Also set to testify Tuesday was FTX's new CEO, John J. Ray III, who took over for Bankman-Fried on Nov. 11 and is tasked with shepherding it through the bankruptcy process.
Ray has so far painted a picture of a crypto empire with virtually no corporate controls and a shocking lack of financial and other record-keeping.
"The scope of the investigation underway is enormous," Ray said in prepared remarks released Monday ahead of his testimony.
While the probe isn't completed, Ray said, FTX's collapse appears to stem from the concentration of power "in the hands of a very small group of grossly inexperienced and unsophisticated individuals" who failed to implement virtually any corporate controls.
Ray also states as fact that "customer assets from FTX.com were commingled with assets from the Alameda trading platform." That's a key issue for investigators, as FTX and Alameda were, on paper, separate entities.
Bankman-Fried has denied knowingly commingling funds and sought to distance himself from the day-to-day management of Alameda, which made a number of high-risk trading strategies such as arbitrage and "yield farming," aka investing in digital tokens that pay interest-rate-like rewards, according to reporting from The Wall Street Journal.
"I was frankly surprised by how big Alameda's position was," Bankman-Fried said at the New York Times' DealBook Summit late last month. | 2022-12-13T01:33:38+00:00 | koat.com | https://www.koat.com/article/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-founder-arrested-bahamas/42222470 |
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ The winning numbers in Thursday evening's drawing of the Texas Lottery's "Cash 5" game were:
07-08-14-25-27
(seven, eight, fourteen, twenty-five, twenty-seven)
Estimated jackpot: $25,000
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ The winning numbers in Thursday evening's drawing of the Texas Lottery's "Cash 5" game were:
07-08-14-25-27
(seven, eight, fourteen, twenty-five, twenty-seven)
Estimated jackpot: $25,000 | 2022-10-28T04:44:32+00:00 | sfgate.com | https://www.sfgate.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Cash-5-game-17540418.php |
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
The death toll from the earthquake in Turkey and Syria continues to rise. At least 20,000 people are dead. And the quake hit an area covering hundreds of square miles, collapsing thousands of buildings. NPR's Jason Beaubien is near the epicenter of the quake in Turkey. He says the focus now is on recovering bodies rather than rescuing survivors. And we'll note, this story, for about three minutes, contains disturbing descriptions.
(SOUNDBITE OF TRUCK ENGINE RUMBLING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Speaking Turkish).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Speaking Turkish).
JASON BEAUBIEN, BYLINE: As a rescue team carries a black body bag out of a debris pile that was once a multistory apartment block, a group of women wail with grief.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: (Crying).
BEAUBIEN: Workers hold back a young man who lunges at the bag, wanting to see if it's really his mother. An old woman collapses on the ground in tears. This is just one family in front of one rubble pile in a landscape of collapsed buildings. Scenes like this are unfolding across a vast swath of southeastern Turkey and northern Syria. It's been more than three days since the quake hit when most residents were sleeping. Many people here in Kahramanmaras, commonly known as Marash, have accepted that they're waiting for their loved ones' bodies rather than their loved ones themselves. Getting a full body back to bury would be a blessing. Others say they'd take anything - a scarf, a shoe. Hakton Saka is sitting on a pile of debris, watching local volunteers pull blankets and steel bars out of another pile that used to be his sister's seven-story apartment building.
Did they find any people in here alive?
HAKTON SAKA: (Through interpreter) Yeah. Very few people.
BEAUBIEN: Saka says through an interpreter that he's accepted that his sister, brother-in-law and their child are gone.
SAKA: (Through interpreter) Right now they're not looking for rescue. They're looking for funerals.
BEAUBIEN: Prior to Monday, the city of Marash had just over a million residents. Now most of the center of the city lies in ruins. Work crews with bulldozers and backhoes cut valleys through the fields of debris. Swollen black body bags sit waiting for collection in front of some of the rubble piles. The quake also knocked out the electricity and running water. People huddle around open fires to stay warm. Others are sleeping in their cars. The air is filled with dust, wood smoke and the distinct stench of rotting flesh. One woman describes the current scene in her city as apocalyptic. Some help is arriving. In an open lot next to what used to be a major shopping mall, there's now a soup kitchen in a large, white party tent.
(SOUNDBITE OF METAL CLATTERING)
BEAUBIEN: Bulent Yildirim is with a local Turkish aid group that's providing hot meals to residents and rescue workers.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: (Speaking Turkish).
BULENT YILDIRIM: Lentil soup.
BEAUBIEN: In just a matter of days, local aid groups have arrived and are handing out food, blankets, toilet paper. There are piles of bottled water lining the main road. A tent city has gone up in a soccer stadium. What's missing are so many people. Fifty-five-year-old Nuriye Comru says so many of her friends and relatives are dead, she can't even say how many were killed in the quake.
NURIYE COMRU: (Through interpreter) Firstly, from family, four people died. But from the relatives, five people in one building, seven people in one building. So she's not able to count right now.
BEAUBIEN: Her hands are bloodied and bandaged from digging through the rubble to search for her son. Miraculously, on Monday, hours after the quake, searchers found Comru's 2-week-old granddaughter in the debris. The baby girl is named Alper. She's alive, and she's healthy. Jason Beaubien, NPR News, Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | 2023-03-08T13:41:52+00:00 | publicradioeast.org | https://www.publicradioeast.org/2023-02-09/in-turkey-the-focus-shifts-from-rescuing-earthquake-survivors-to-recovering-bodies |
Biden meets NFL player Damar Hamlin, praises his resilience
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden met Thursday with Damar Hamlin, the Buffalo Bills safety who went into cardiac arrest and was resuscitated on the field after making a tackle during an NFL game in January.
Biden tweeted a photo of him with Hamlin in the Oval Office and said it was an honor to meet Hamlin and his family. In the photo, Hamlin is seen holding a Bills jersey in his lap.
Hamlin collapsed while playing against the Cincinnati Bengals on Jan. 2 during ESPN’s “Monday Night Football.” Since then, Hamlin has had a remarkable recovery, according to doctors, and the team’s general manager said last month that Hamlin’s “end game” is to resume playing so long as he receives the necessary medical clearance.
The White House said in a statement that Hamlin’s efforts during his recovery had helped to “make life-saving technologies more widely available.” Biden had previously spoken by phone with Hamlin’s parents while visiting Cincinnati on Jan. 4, two days after the game and while Hamlin was in the hospital.
On Wednesday, Hamlin appeared with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., to discuss a bill that would increase access to defibrillators in public and private elementary and secondary schools. A defibrillator helped to save Hamlin’s life.
Biden said in his tweet that “Hamlin’s courage, resilience, and spirit inspired the American people. And what’s more: he turned recovery into action -– and our country is better for it.”
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | 2023-03-30T22:25:30+00:00 | wagmtv.com | https://www.wagmtv.com/2023/03/30/biden-meets-nfl-player-damar-hamlin-praises-his-resilience/ |
CHICAGO, July 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Brown Gibbons Lang & Company (BGL) is pleased to announce the sale of MOTIS Brands (MOTIS), a portfolio company of Rotunda Capital Partners, to Prospect Hill Growth Partners (PHGP). The specific terms of the transaction, which closed in May 2022, were not disclosed. The transaction furthers BGL's market-leading position in eCommerce investment banking, representing omni-channel brands, and as an advisor to companies across a range of branded consumer products, including automotive aftermarket.
MOTIS is a vertically integrated direct-to-consumer (DTC) and omni-channel manufacturer and marketer of branded products in the loading, hauling, mobility, automotive, and recreational segments. The MOTIS family of brands includes discountramps.com, Race Ramps, Black Widow Pro, HD Ramps, Silver Spring Mobility, Elasco Products, Pier d' Nort, and MAC's Custom Tie Downs. A market leader in several end-markets, the company uses data-driven decision making, effective merchandising, and sophisticated digital marketing capabilities to win in its channels.
Prospect Hill Growth Partners is a Boston-area private equity firm that makes control equity investments in North American consumer and healthcare growth companies. The partners at Prospect Hill have collectively invested approximately $3 billion of capital in more than 35 portfolio companies over two decades. The partners' successful investment track record has been built on their sector-focused investment strategy and expertise, a robust operational value-add model, and strong alignment of interests.
MOTIS CEO Rich Spratt will continue to lead the company and, together with PHGP, aims to continue driving strong growth organically and through complementary acquisitions. MOTIS is actively seeking acquisition targets that can benefit from the company's broad channel expertise, as well as its experience in e-commerce, product development, and supply chain logistics.
BGL's Consumer Group has an extensive track record in mergers and acquisitions advisory and capital-raising services spanning the entire consumer retail spectrum, with deep experience in eCommerce, branded consumer, and omni-channel investment banking. The firm's Automotive & Aftermarket investment banking team maintains coverage of the broad automotive sector, including automotive supply chain, automotive aftermarket, and the on- and off-highway commercial vehicle sectors. BGL's professionals and affiliates have completed more than 100 transactions in the automotive sector globally.
Brown Gibbons Lang & Company (BGL) is a leading independent investment bank and financial advisory firm focused on the global middle market. The firm advises private and public corporations and private equity groups on mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, financial restructurings, business valuations and opinions, and other strategic matters. BGL has investment banking offices in Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia, and real estate offices in Chicago, Cleveland, and San Antonio. The firm is also a founding member of Global M&A Partners, enabling BGL to service clients in more than 30 countries around the world. Securities transactions are conducted through Brown, Gibbons, Lang & Company Securities, LLC, an affiliate of Brown Gibbons Lang & Company LLC and a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC. For more information, please visit www.bglco.com.
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SOURCE Brown Gibbons Lang & Company | 2022-07-07T19:28:29+00:00 | kwch.com | https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2022/07/07/bgl-announces-sale-motis-brands/ |
BANGKOK (AP) — Countries in the Asia-Pacific region need to drastically increase their investments in disaster warning systems and other tools to counter rising risks from climate change, a United Nations report said Tuesday.
The report by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, or ESCAP, says nearly $145 billion is needed to set up systems to minimize deaths and damage from floods, earthquakes, drought and other disasters.
Artificial intelligence, satellites, remote sensing and other technologies would help with forecasting, notifying the public during emergencies and providing other services, but telecommunications systems must be fortified to ensure that vulnerable communities get the information, the report states.
Most countries have failed to spend even 10% of what is needed, according to the commission’s review, which was released to mark the U.N.’s Disaster Resilience Week.
The U.N. has set a goal of having every person on Earth covered by early warning systems by 2027, yet half of all countries lack such systems and even fewer have ones that are linked to emergency planning, Doreen Bogdan-Martin, head of the International Telecommunications Union, said in a video message on Twitter.
She noted that countries that have put early warning systems in place, such as India and Bangladesh, which faces severe threats from devastating tropical storms, can save thousands of lives and drastically reduce damage by giving people enough time to escape and potentially salvage their properties.
Countries lacking adequate early warning coverage have a disaster mortality rate that is eight times higher than countries that do have such systems in place, the U.N. estimates.
And without such precautions, regional annual losses from disasters are projected to amount to about $1 trillion annually, or 3.1% of regional GDP.
The Asia-Pacific region experienced 140 major natural disasters that killed 7,300 people and affected 62 million in 2022 alone, the ESCAP report said. Losses amounted to $57.3 billion. But far more people are at risk and the number is rising as climate change spurs more floods, droughts, dangerous heat waves and other extreme weather, the report said.
By analyzing data from many sources, including past disasters, social media platforms, sensors and satellite imagery, artificial intelligence can help warn warn communities about potential disasters and also provide information on evacuation routes, safe shelter locations, and other resources, the ESCAP report said.
Aside from warning systems, the report urges countries to do more to mitigate impacts of climate change, such as planting mangroves to control coastal erosion and flooding, restoring natural flood plains and wetlands and diversifying crops to help farmers adjust to changing conditions.
The urgency to find ways to protect people and adapt has grown with the increasing frequency of extreme weather as powerful tropical storms and unprecedented heat waves hit many parts of the world.
The report said China, India and Japan face the biggest potential losses from warming global temperatures in absolute monetary terms. But it is smaller and poorer nations that will see the worst damage to their economies, with the Pacific island nations of Vanuatu, Tonga, Palau and Micronesia among the top five.
Cambodia, Myanmar, Bhutan and Laos are also likely to see large proportionate losses, amounting to 7%-13% of their gross domestic product, the report said.
___
Follow AP’s climate and environment coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment | 2023-07-25T15:05:11+00:00 | fox59.com | https://fox59.com/news/national-world/ap-international/ap-asia-pacific-needs-disaster-warning-systems-to-counter-rising-climate-change-risks-report-says/ |
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