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NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. is setting aside an extra 50,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine for places with upcoming gay pride events, health officials said Thursday.
The number of doses sent to each place will be based on factors like the size of the event, how many health workers will be available to give shots, and how many of the attendees are considered at highest risk for catching the virus.
“More shots in arms is how we get the outbreak under control,” Bob Fenton, the White House monkeypox response coordinator, told reporters Thursday. He said the effort is an attempt to “meet people where they are.”
At least a dozen U.S. pride events are scheduled over the next two months, including large gatherings in Atlanta and New Orleans in early September. U.S. officials said they will send up to 2,000 additional doses to North Carolina, where the Charlotte Pride Festival & Parade will be held this weekend.
Southern Decadence, one of the nation’s largest LGBTQ events, is expected to attract 200,000 or more people to New Orleans over Labor Day weekend. The Bourbon Street Extravaganza, a free concert held amid the event, has been canceled over monkeypox concerns, organizers said this week.
Frank Perez, a former grand marshal of the parade that’s the centerpiece of Southern Decadence, said a number of New Orleans gay bars have already had vaccine events. He said so far officials have done an adequate job with the vaccine campaign although “more is better.”
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cautioned: “While we are offering the vaccine at these events to those at high risk, this is a two-dose vaccine series, and receiving the vaccine at the event will not provide protection at the event itself.”
Health officials also are urging other steps to prevent the spread of the virus, including temporarily limiting sexual partners.
Monkeypox is endemic in parts of Africa, where people have been infected through bites from rodents or small animals, but it wasn’t considered a disease that spreads easily among people until May, when infections emerged in Europe and the U.S.
There have been more than 39,000 cases reported in countries that have not historically seen monkeypox. The vast majority have occurred in men who have sex with men, but health officials stress that anyone can get monkeypox.
The U.S. has the most infections of any country — more than 13,500. About 98% of U.S. cases are men and about 93% were men who reported recent sexual contact with other men.
Officials say the virus has been spreading mainly through skin-on-skin contact, but they warn it might also transmit in other ways, including through touching linens used by someone with monkeypox.
People with monkeypox may experience fever, body aches, chills and fatigue. Many in the outbreak have developed extremely painful zit-like bumps. No one in the U.S. has died, but deaths have been reported in other countries.
The U.S. has a limited supply of what is considered the main weapon against the virus — a vaccine called Jynneos. The doses are currently being given to people soon after they think they were exposed. Scientists are still trying to establish how well the shots are working.
The government last week moved to stretch the supply by giving people one-fifth the usual dose, injected just under the skin, instead of a full vial injected into deeper tissue.
Many health workers may have little experience giving shots using the just-under-the-skin method, which requires different needles and syringes. Some health departments have started doing that, but some local officials have said they may need a week or more to make the change.
Officials this week announced the release of 442,000 of the smaller doses for order by state, local and territorial health departments. On Thursday, they said more is coming next week — 1.8 million doses, or 360,000 vials.
Officials also announced a new agreement with a Michigan manufacturer to help speed production of 5.5 million vaccine vials recently ordered by the U.S. government.
Under the deal, Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing will help package raw vaccine ingredients currently stored at an overseas facility owned by Bavarian Nordic, which makes the Jynneos vaccine. Officials said the extra capacity should help speed up U.S. vaccine orders, most of which weren’t expected to be delivered until next year. The Biden administration has faced weeks of criticism for not ordering more vaccine sooner.
Also on Thursday, health officials said next week they will boost the supply of TPOXX, a drug for treating monkeypox infections, by 50,000 treatment courses.
___
AP reporters Rebecca Santana in New Orleans and Matthew Perrone in Washington contributed to this report.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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2022-08-19T01:08:23+00:00
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nwahomepage.com
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https://www.nwahomepage.com/lifestyle/health/ap-health/us-offers-extra-monkeypox-vaccine-doses-for-gay-pride-events/
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WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Wednesday announced a round of criminal charges and sanctions related to a complicated scheme to procure military technologies from U.S. manufacturers and illegally supply them to Russia for its war in Ukraine.
The Justice Department charged nine people in separate cases in New York and Connecticut, as well as two oil brokers for Venezuela. The defendants are accused of acquiring the military technology from U.S. companies and then laundering tens of millions of dollars for wealthy Russian businessmen and other sanctioned entities. Some of the defendants are also accused of brokering illicit oil deals for the Venezuelan state-owned oil company.
“As I have said, our investigators and prosecutors will be relentless in their efforts to identify, locate, and bring to justice those whose illegal acts undermine the rule of law and enable the Russian regime to continue its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
The five defendants charged in New York are all Russian nationals, and two have been arrested. All four defendants in the Connecticut case — three Latvians and one Ukrainian — were taken into custody months ago at the request of U.S. authorities.
The criminal charges complement the latest round of Biden administration sanctions targeting Russia.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions Wednesday against one of the men charged by the Justice Department, designating Yury Orekhov and two of his firms, Nord-Deutsche Industrieanlagenbau GmbH and Opus Energy Trading LLC, for procuring advanced semiconductors and microprocessors used in fighter aircraft and ballistic and hypersonic missile systems among other military uses.
Orekhov and the firms ultimately sent the materials to Russian end-users, including companies designated by various federal agencies, in violation of U.S. export controls.
The Justice Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control worked in coordination to identify the Russian network.
Along with sanctions on members of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner-circle, the U.S. has frozen Russian Central Bank funds and imposed aggressive export controls.
The latest effort is dedicated to preventing Russia from procuring military technologies.
Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a statement Wednesday that Russia has increasingly struggled to get the technologies it needs to sustain the war “thanks to the unprecedented sanctions and export controls imposed by our broad coalition of partners and allies.”
“We know these efforts are having a direct effect on the battlefield,” he said, “as Russia’s desperation has led them to turn to inferior suppliers and outdated equipment.”
Information from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, presented Friday at the Treasury Department, said Russia has lost more than 6,000 pieces of equipment since the beginning of the war in late February and is turning to Iran and North Korea for supplies.
Russia is reliant on foreign production machinery and ongoing banking sanctions have undercut the Kremlin’s ability to obtain financing for importing military equipment, the ODNI said.
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2022-10-19T23:47:39+00:00
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washingtonpost.com
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/us-busts-network-providing-technology-to-russian-military/2022/10/19/a445d0fc-4ffa-11ed-ada8-04e6e6bf8b19_story.html
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BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A woman charged in Idaho with killing her two youngest children and her new husband’s previous wife will be tried alongside her husband and their trial has been delayed until early next year because the judge says that will give her lawyers enough time to effectively prepare a defense.
Judge Steven Boyce on Thursday ruled that delaying Lori Vallow Daybell’s trial another 90 days to Jan. 9 would not violate her rights for a speedy trial.
Vallow and her husband Chad Daybell have pleaded not guilty and could face the death penalty if they are convicted.
The Daybells are charged with murder, conspiracy and grand theft in connection with the deaths of 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan.
Idaho law enforcement began investigating the Daybells in November 2019 after extended family members reported the children were missing. While the children were missing, police said the couple lied about the children’s whereabouts. Their bodies were found buried later on Chad Daybell’s property in rural Idaho.
Chad and Lori Daybell married just two weeks after his previous wife, Tammy Daybell, died unexpectedly. Tammy Daybell’s death was initially reported as “natural causes,” but investigators had her body exhumed after growing suspicious when Chad Daybell quickly remarried.
Lori Vallow Daybell is also charged with conspiracy to commit murder in Arizona in connection with the death of her previous husband. Charles Vallow was shot and killed by Lori Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox, who claimed it was self-defense. Cox later died of what police said was natural causes.
Vallow in April entered a “not guilty” plea and invoked her right to a speedy trial, which legally needed to take place by October. That complicated plans for a combined trial for her and her husband.
On May 19, prosecutors asked that Vallow’s trial be postponed until Jan. 9. Prosecutors expressed concern that if Vallow was separately in October that an “improper severance” would happen with the couple’s cases.
Boyce also expressed concern whether Vallow’s recently appointed attorneys had enough time to prepare for the trial and said the 90-day delay would give them more. He noted that prosecutors have worked on the case since 2020.
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2022-05-27T18:08:28+00:00
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expressnews.com
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https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/Idaho-trial-for-Chad-and-Lori-Daybell-delayed-to-17203555.php
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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz will be sentenced to life in prison this week — but not before the families of the 17 people he murdered get the chance to tell him what they think.
A two-day hearing is scheduled to begin Tuesday that will conclude with Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer formally sentencing Cruz for his Feb. 14, 2018, massacre at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Because the jury at his penalty trial could not unanimously agree that the 24-year-old deserved a death sentence, Scherer can only sentence the former Stoneman Douglas student to life without parole — an outcome most of the families criticized.
Each family of the 14 students and three staff members Cruz murdered can speak, as can the 17 people he wounded during the seven-minute attack. The families gave highly emotional statements during the trial, but were restricted about what they could tell jurors: They could only describe their loved ones and the murders’ toll on their lives. The wounded could only say what happened to them.
They were barred from addressing Cruz directly or saying anything about him — a violation would have risked a mistrial. And the jurors were told they couldn’t consider the family statements as aggravating factors as they weighed whether Cruz should die.
Now, the grieving and the scarred can speak directly to Cruz, if they choose.
“We are looking forward to speaking without the guardrails that were imposed upon us,” said Tony Montalto, whose 14-year-old daughter Gina was murdered.
Broward County Public Defender Gordon Weekes, whose lawyers represent Cruz, said he has no problem with the families expressing their anger directly to Cruz.
“Rightly so,” Weekes said. The sentencing hearing “is not only an accountability process, but there are also some cathartic pieces that come from it.”
“Hopefully, after expressing (their anger), not only will the community be able to hear the pain they are carrying, the court will be able to hear it and we will move forward.”
Cruz is not expected to speak, Weekes said. He apologized in court last year after pleading guilty to the murders and attempted murders — but families told reporters they found the apology self-serving and aimed at garnering sympathy.
That plea set the stage for a three-month penalty trial that ended Oct. 13 with the jury voting 9-3 for a death sentence — jurors said those voting for life believed Cruz is mentally ill and should be spared. Under Florida law, a death sentence requires unanimity.
Prosecutors had argued that Cruz planned the shooting for seven months before he slipped into a three-story classroom building, firing 140 shots with an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle down hallways and into classrooms. He fatally shot some wounded victims after they fell. Cruz said he chose Valentine’s Day so it could never again be celebrated at Stoneman Douglas.
Cruz’s attorneys never questioned the horror he inflicted, but focused on their belief that his birth mother’s heavy drinking during pregnancy left him brain damaged and condemned him to a life of erratic and sometimes violent behavior that culminated in the massacre — the deadliest mass shooting to go to trial in U.S. history.
After Cruz is sentenced, he will be transferred from the Broward County jail to the state correctional system’s processing center near Miami, then later to a maximum-security prison, his lawyers have said. The Florida Department of Corrections declined to comment.
Ron McAndrew, a former Florida prison warden, believes that because of Cruz’s notoriety, officials at that prison will place him in “protective management,” separated from other inmates, to keep him from being harmed.
Cruz’s cell will be 9 feet by 12 feet (3 meters by 4 meters) with a bed, metal sink and metal toilet, McAndrew said. For one hour a day, he will be allowed alone into an outdoor cage that is usually 20 feet by 20 feet (6 meters by 6 meters) where he can exercise and bounce a basketball. Florida prisons do not have air conditioning. McAndrew noted that because Cruz has a life sentence, he will be last in line for education and rehabilitation programs.
Cruz will be kept in protective management until prison officials believe it is safe to place him into the general population, a process that could take years, McAndrew said. It is also possible that Florida could send Cruz to another state in exchange for one of its notorious prisoners, so both could have more anonymity, the former warden said.
But eventually, Cruz will be placed in the general population, McAndrew said. He will be required to bunk, work and mingle with other prisoners. At 5-foot-7 (1.4 meters) and 130 pounds (59 kilograms), Cruz could have difficulty defending himself — though he did attack and briefly pin a Broward jail guard. It is possible a more physically imposing prisoner could become his protector — “but that comes with a horrible price,” McAndrew said.
Linda Beigel Schulman, whose son, teacher Scott Beigel, was murdered by Cruz, said she hopes Cruz “has the fear in him every second of his life just the way he gave that fear to every one of our loved ones whom he murdered, or the students and people that he harmed.”
Craig Trocino, a University of Miami law professor, said one benefit of Cruz receiving a life sentence is that he will fade from public view; a death sentence would have brought a decade of appeals, with the possibility of a retrial, and eventually an execution. Each step would have been covered extensively.
“No one is going to hear about him anymore until he dies,” Trocino said.
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2022-10-31T12:46:48+00:00
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cbs4indy.com
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https://cbs4indy.com/news/national-world/ap-us-news/ap-families-get-final-say-before-parkland-shooter-is-sentenced/
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NEW YORK, Sept. 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Climb Credit, a mission-driven FinTech company focused on expanding access to career-advancing training programs, has released a report on surveyed student outcomes for their partnered trucking schools.
Climb partners with several commercial driver's license (CDL) programs nationwide to provide several payment options for their students.
As outlined in their report, surveyed students who used Climb to attend a trucking school saw not only an 81% job placement rate*, but also a $25,000 median salary increase — roughly four times the average tuition cost for their partner CDL programs. In contrast, a Georgetown report last year found that though typical college costs range from $27,330 to $55,800, the median earnings for young adults with a college degree is roughly $45,000. While comparing career training to 4-year bachelor's degrees can be like comparing apples and oranges, this difference in education ROI between the two highlights an important conversation to be had about education investment in America.
With the American Trucking Association, estimating that the 2021 shortage of truck drivers had reached 80,000, experts believe that this number could surpass 160,000 by 2030. Climb has long believed in the importance of boosting career-training programs such as trucking schools. And with the current need for more truck drivers, they remain fully committed to providing financial support for these institutions.
"Throughout our years of researching and evaluating not only individual CDL schools but also the industry as a whole, it's gratifying to see that our confidence in our partner schools has resulted in such positive outcomes," said Climb CEO Casey Powers. "With the current need for truck drivers, it's even more imperative that we continue to strengthen the programs that have a track record of advancing their students' careers and providing a positive return on their financial investment."
Going forward, Climb is excited to continue their support of CDL programs and other career training programs through even more mission-aligned initiatives that will help students access their training and ultimately succeed in their careers.
Click the link below to view the full report:
Climb Credit Trucking Outcomes Report
Climb (NMLS# 1240013) is an innovative student payment platform that makes career advancement more accessible, affordable, and accountable than ever before. Driven by a mission to empower individuals to unlock their career potential – no matter what their credit profile – Climb utilizes a proprietary return-on-investment calculation to identify and evaluate programs and schools with a demonstrated ability to benefit their graduates. Then they provide learners with payment options that are priced and structured to meet the unique needs of those seeking career training. Recognizing the dynamic and rapidly-changing needs of our workforce, Climb partners with schools that teach everything from cybersecurity to healthcare training, trucking to data science, and culinary arts to coding. While some colleges are struggling to meet the real-world needs of their students, Climb and its partner schools are committed to providing access to valuable, cost effective education that enable individuals to reach their career goals and own their next chapter. For more information, visit https://climbcredit.com or follow @ClimbCredit on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Contact:
Laura Fitzpatrick
laura.fitzpatrick@climbcredit.com
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Climb Credit
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2022-09-28T14:57:40+00:00
|
kalb.com
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https://www.kalb.com/prnewswire/2022/09/28/climb-credit-releases-outcomes-report-trucking-schools-with-findings-that-students-are-gaining-4x-roi-their-career-training-investment/
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(The Hill) – Instagram will roll back some of the recent changes to its platform after critics complained it was only trying to be more like TikTok and that they preferred it before.
Adam Mosseri, who serves as the head of Instagram, told Platformer, a publication focused on covering Big Tech and democracy, in an interview on Thursday that a test-version of the platform that displayed full-screen photos and videos will be phased out in the next one to two weeks.
He said Instagram will also cut down on the number of recommended posts in the app while it works on its algorithm.
“I’m glad we took a risk — if we’re not failing every once in a while, we’re not thinking big enough or bold enough,” Mosseri said. “But we definitely need to take a big step back and regroup. [When] we’ve learned a lot, then we come back with some sort of new idea or iteration.”
The changes received criticism from celebrities including Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian for shifting toward the style of TikTok, which allows users to scroll through full-screen videos from one to the next.
Mosseri said in a video on Twitter on Tuesday that photo-sharing would remain part of the app but that the future of Instagram would focus more on video.
Mark Zuckerburg, the CEO of Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, has been pushing the platform for more video-based content.
Mosseri told Platformer that the usage data “isn’t great” for the new design and users were frustrated. He said Instagram will temporarily reduce the number of recommended posts but did not say by how much.
He said the rollback will not be permanent.
Instagram did not immediately return a request from The Hill for comment.
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2022-07-29T21:45:38+00:00
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wwlp.com
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https://www.wwlp.com/news/instagram-rolls-back-tiktok-like-changes-after-criticism/
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El Camino Mexican restaurant stands out on somewhat staid Las Olas Boulevard like a red chili pepper in a bowl of oatmeal. With its flamboyant exterior mural and its bold interior design, you can almost hear the place shouting, “Hey, there’s a fiesta going on in here.”
Opened in 2018, the restaurant and mezcal and tequila bar has two similarly spicy sister locations in Palm Beach County and a third on the way. The Delray Beach-based Modern Restaurant Group launched the inaugural iteration of the brand in that city in 2014 and a larger location in West Palm Beach last summer. An even more spacious spot is set to open in the burgeoning Restaurant Row in Boca Raton in the fall.
All the El Caminos share the same balance of authentic and high-end design elements and a floor plan that feeds off the energy pulsating from the bar.
“Definitely the tie-in is the bar component and the design,” says Brandon Belluscio, co-owner of the Modern group with Brian Albe and Anthony Pizzo. “The natural elements, the brick work, the tufted booths, the right lighting, the murals — they are essential for us. So if you walk into El Camino, whether in West Palm, Boca, Lauderdale, you’re going to see all these elements and know that you’re there, for sure.”
In sizing up the locations, the key word for Belluscio is authenticity.
“We look at all the authentic pieces, like the brick work. And if it’s not there, we have to get it there. Every time we start a project — whether it be a new plaza, old plaza or whatever it might be — we really try to make it look like it’s been an old warehouse and we put a restaurant in there. And as you walk into the space, it creates this vibe and atmosphere that we’re looking for. We also combine some really high-end touches for a nice balance.”
Belluscio takes the lead in building and design for the group.
“From the leasing [of a property], I push it all the way through to opening.”
The design process is “something I’m passionate about,” he says, adding that it develops organically in close collaboration with restaurant and hospitality designer Pam Manhas of Manhas Design in Fort Lauderdale.
“She jumped on board for the original El Camino in 2013 and she’s been working with us ever since. It’s a really great relationship, because some designers are very, um, stubborn, for lack of a better word, when it comes to their design approach. But she’s very open and we have a great collaboration and communication. We kind of think alike. So it’s not really that hard to come up with a design and where we’re going with it.”
It was Manhas who introduced the group to the person whose work is perhaps the most striking feature of the El Camino design scheme: Miami muralist Ruben Ubiera. His vibrant, Mexican-inspired murals are specific to each location.
“We don’t want to cookie-cut the artwork,” Belluscio says, “but they have a little bit of a theme. A rose and a rose petal has been definitely consistent throughout all the art. In Mexico it’s a very popular, authentic flower.
“No matter where, El Camino always has his murals. He’s phenomenal. When we first met him, he was basically just starting to make his bones. So now, 10 years later, he’s working constantly all over the world, and every time someone opens up a Mexican restaurant, they call him.”
It was those 10 years ago that the El Camino style emerged at the original Delray location.
“The building was built in the ’30s and the space itself was just so perfect,” Belluscio says. “We always looked for the highest ceilings, and the ceilings in there, even though it’s small, were 24 feet. And it had all these cool elements. The ceiling was all old original pine. It had this old brick still on the walls and the old rusted-out trusses.
“The building itself originated as a car dealership, up and through the 1970s. So, when we were excavating and doing the build, we would find all these old car parts. We kind of played off the words ‘El Camino’ for the car.”
****
Despite having no prior professional training, Belluscio’s experience has accorded him a particular savvy about restaurant design.
“I think it’s not as much about decor — I mean, it is, don’t get me wrong — but the flow and the energy is crucial,” he says. “Some places, as soon as you walk in, you just feel the energy. That’s created by how you situate where you want groups to congregate, where you want the bar to get a little more traffic — and then the energy spills over to certain areas in the dining room.
“There’s a little bit of science behind it, and we put a ton of thought into it. People want to feel the energy. Our bars are big and active, so it makes it a little bit easier for us. But you’ve got to create a little coziness to it as well. You’ve got to have that balance. So the floor plan is crucial.”
One way this is realized at El Camino is with the booth seating.
“We elevated the booths, so we got them very close to the bar area,” he says. “And you’d think that people would tend to not want to be close to that. But because we brought the booths up, it still created a space where people weren’t getting bumped into, and they had their own space and could be within their own conversation — but they still were getting all that energy from the bar area.”
Those tufted green booths have become somewhat of a trademark.
“A lot of other restaurants have them now. It’s unfortunate. But that’s one of our things. There’s nothing faux about the restaurants. We really go out of our way to make it feel authentic.”
As an example, Belluscio points to the Fort Lauderdale location’s terrazzo floors, which remain from the original 1946 building.
“When we were doing the plumbing, we cut the terrazzo and put the plumbing down. We then backfilled and cemented it. Any other traditional restaurant would’ve tiled over it. You have all these saw cuts in the floor. You could see the backfill, you could see the old terrazzo peeling away. Those are those subtle little things that as you walk in the restaurant, you don’t pay a whole lot of attention to them, but it kind of brings together this feeling of authenticity. Because that’s our food, too. It’s authentic.”
What’s Belluscio’s favorite design element?
“Honestly, I love our lighting. From the design and how we place it, it really gives a warm, amber glow. We use all vintage bulbs, even though it’s not very easy to do anymore, because LEDs have taken over the world. But we go out of the way to really achieve that. And I just think it lends itself to a place you wanna be.”
Before venturing into the Mexican milieu, the Modern Restaurant Group had opened two other design-forward establishments in Delray: Cut 432 steakhouse in 2008 and Park Tavern in 2012. The following year they acted on the need they saw for a really quality Mexican restaurant in the city, and the El Camino concept was born.
Now a decade later, the forthcoming Boca location is bringing the three owners full-circle. They originally came together 20 years ago at Pranzo Cafe and Bar in Mizner Park, where Belluscio and Albe were bartenders and Pizzo was executive chef.
The Boca El Camino will be the largest of the quartet, with a nearly 7,000-square-foot interior and an elevated 3,000 square-foot courtyard dining area featuring a tree canopy and a fire pit with a 15-foot high, hand-troweled fireplace.
“I think the outside is going to be the true gem,” Belluscio says. “The courtyard lends itself to an amazing atmosphere. So we really played into that. It’s really spectacular, honestly.”
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2023-05-12T07:29:22+00:00
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sun-sentinel.com
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https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2023/04/13/you-know-that-youre-there-how-el-camino-restaurants-concoct-an-unmistakable-atmosphere/
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PITTSBURGH, Aug. 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- William H. Palmer, a retired Boeing 747 Captain for a major U.S. domestic airline said to Safe Eyes America: "You must be kidding that the California legislature is considering legislation to reduce the surgical training required to perform eye surgery. Eye health is critical for an airline pilot. I would be crazy to let anyone but a trained surgeon, an ophthalmologist perform laser or scalpel surgery on my eyes."
The legislation now under consideration in the California State Senate is AB 2236. This bill would allow non-surgeons (optometrists) to perform laser and scalpel surgery and injections on the eyes of Californians without completing the necessary years of medical, clinical, and surgical training.
Californians only need to look at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) when the agency reviewed the training requirements for an individual to become a licensed pilot of a U.S. commercial passenger airliner. The FFA did not lower the training standards, instead they increased the pilot training requirements to be licensed as a pilot to fly a commercial passenger airliner in the United States. Captain Palmer said: "The FAA's action is a very good example that training requirements cannot be shortened or lowered at the expense of the standards that were put in place to protect citizen safety."
So, we must ask: Why would the California Senate and Assembly now consider lowering the surgical training requirements for someone to become licensed to perform eye surgery? Surgical skills require years of medical, clinical, surgical training, and experience before an individual can be licensed to perform surgery, Captain Palmer continued: "There is no shortcut to become a properly trained pilot or surgeon. A four-day weekend course does not make a skilled pilot or an eye surgeon."
Any day now, the California state Senate will consider AB 2236, the legislation that would allow your eyes to be lasered or cut by someone who is not a surgeon. Amalia Miranda, MD, Safe Eyes America board member said: "It is imperative that California voters let their state Senators know that eye surgery by non-surgeons is unacceptable. Surgical authority should not be granted through legislation, but through completing the necessary medical, clinical, and surgical training. You and your eyes deserve better."
The California legislature adjourns for the 2022 year on August 31. It is imperative that Californians contact their state Senator NOW and urge them to Vote NO on AB 2236. To find your state Senator click on the following link: (https://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/).
About Safe Eyes America
Safe Eyes America is a 501(c) 4 non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the delivery of the highest quality medical and surgical eye care to the American public. SafeEyesAmerica.org.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Safe Eyes America
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2022-08-22T19:32:03+00:00
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waff.com
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https://www.waff.com/prnewswire/2022/08/22/retired-boeing-747-captain-says-you-must-be-kidding-authorizing-non-surgeon-perform-eye-surgery/
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PHILADELPHIA (AP)Dalton Guthrie had the sweet spot of the baseball already tattooed with his name and first hit and RBI. The ball sat in a case in his locker and was soon headed back to Florida as a gift for his parents. Nick Nelson stashed the ball from his first save in the majors in his backpack.
The September souvenirs are a sweet reminder that Philadelphia’s playoff push has been about more than just the stars that make up the bulk of the $230 million-plus payroll. But those reliable sluggers sure don’t hurt, either.
Rhys Hoskins and J.T. Realmuto hit solo homers and Noah Syndergaard pitched well enough into the seventh inning to keep the Philadelphia Phillies in playoff position with a 5-3 victory over the Washington Nationals on Friday night.
”Hats off to player development, but also to the guys in the clubhouse to make these young guys feel comfortable and come in here and let them do the work,” Phillies interim manager Rob Thomson said.
Phillies reliever Brand Hand failed to earn a save in the ninth when he put two runners on and was pulled for Nelson with two outs. Nelson retired .188 hitter Riley Adams on a grounder to earn his first save in 61 career relief outings.
The Phillies entered with a grip on the third wild-card spot and each win moves them closer to their first playoff berth since 2011. Bryce Harper got the night off, but even that was OK because the Phillies have Edmundo Sosa. Sosa tripled and scored in his first at-bat and singled in the fifth, bringing his streak of reaching base to 11 straight plate appearances over his last four starts. He had three singles, four doubles, one triple, two homers and one walk over that span.
Syndergaard (9-9) allowed eight hits and walked none over 86 pitches in six-plus innings. The plus in this instance was a homer to Alex Call to lead off the seventh that brought the Nationals to 4-3. Andrew Bellatti and Jose Alvarado each tossed a scoreless inning of relief.
Guthrie, who hit ninth and played right field, ripped a run-scoring single to right in the third for his first major league hit and RBI. He drove in Sosa, who reached third on a headfirst slide for a triple that continued his torrid pace.
”It’s cool. It’s a pretty comfortable environment when you come up here,” Guthrie said. ”These older guys make you feel at home. They make it seem like it’s just baseball.”
Like most teams this season, the Phillies continued to rough up Nationals starter Patrick Corbin (6-18). Hoskins, who cost the Phillies with a ninth-inning error a night earlier in a loss to the Marlins, hit his 27th homer of the season in the fourth. Alec Bohm nearly made it back-to-back but his deep drive knocked off the top of the right-field wall for a double. Realmuto drove him in for a 3-0 lead on a single up the middle.
Realmuto, drilled with a pitch in his left elbow in the eighth, hit his 16th homer of the season in the sixth for a 4-2 lead.
Philadelphia’s bottom of the order was clutch again when Guthrie, who this week became the 81st former Florida Gator to play in the majors, made it 5-3 in the seventh with an RBI infield single.
Corbin, who had actually won his last two starts, gave up 12 hits and five runs in 6 2/3 innings.
HARPER OUT
Harper had the night off for the first time since he returned two weeks ago from the injured list with a broken left thumb. Harper was hitless in his last seven at-bats and 10 of his last 11.
”I think anybody that comes back from a short rehab stint kind of takes off and then plateaus. Maybe fatigue sets in or whatever,” Thomson said. ”So he might be going through a little bit of that.”
FIRST FAN
First lady Jill Biden attended the game to mark Childhood Cancer Awareness Night. Biden joined children ages 4-15 from the Delaware Valley area receiving or who had received treatment for cancer. The kids were recognized on the field during pre-game ceremonies.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Nationals: C Keibert Ruiz was placed on the 10-day injured list with a testicular contusion and, quite understandably, his season might be over. Ruiz took one where it hurts most in Thursday’s game – his plight even made TMZ – and stayed in St. Louis, though he was set to join his teammates in Philadelphia. Manager Dave Martinez said Ruiz was instructed to avoid strenuous activity for three weeks.
”He’s matured behind the plate, he’s gotten a lot better calling games, his hitting has gotten a lot better. He’s going to be a big part of our future moving forward, and I truly believe that one of these years, this kid will be an All-Star,” Martinez said.
Phillies: RHP Seranthony Dominguez (right triceps tendinitis) will be activated Sunday to bolster a creaky bullpen after he threw a scoreless inning in a minor league rehab stint on Thursday. RHP Zach Eflin (right knee) struck out three in two innings in a rehab start Friday for Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
UP NEXT
The Nationals send Erick Fedde (6-9, 5.08 ERA) to the mound against LHP Ranger Suarez (8-5, 3.52)
—
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports
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2022-09-10T14:26:15+00:00
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siouxlandproud.com
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https://www.siouxlandproud.com/mlb/hoskins-realmuto-homer-to-power-phillies-past-nationals-5-3/
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WSGW Morning Team Show: September 2, 2022 (Friday)
It’s the WSGW Friday Morning Team Show with Charlie and Dave and Pat and YOU…..
DEADLINE TO ENTER IS WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7
Win a Family Four Pack of Tickets to the Tigers just for Signing Up for the WSGW NewsLetter…..
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Click for Link to Story from Huffpost
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His name isn’t Jonah, but this guy had an incredible encounter with a whale
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New Rocket Grab Plus Launch for YOU…..
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Wake Up Song of the Day: Little Eva “The Loco-Motion“. It’s the Friday Flashback Song! We “Flash Back” in 10-20-30-40-50 year increments to find Number One Songs at this time that are still remembered today, along with the artists and groups that perform. Or, Number One Songs that are long forgotten, along with the artists and groups that perform. On this date, 60 years ago in 1992, Little Eva was #1 for 1 week. The song is notable for being covered by Grand Funk Railroad in 1974 and hitting #1, and then covered by Kylie Minogue in 1988 and hitting #3.
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2022-09-02T09:43:30+00:00
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wsgw.com
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https://www.wsgw.com/wsgw-morning-team-show-september-2-2022-friday/
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Copyright © 2022 Albuquerque Journal
The massive wildfire roaring in northeast New Mexico grew by about 9,000 acres Sunday, reaching 288,942 acres as crews worked on the ground and used aircraft to battle the blaze.
There were moderate winds in the area over the weekend, a break from the howling winds that have at times helped fuel the fire, according to a federal fire information system.
But the area also saw near record-breaking high temperatures and dry conditions.
Dave Gesser, one of the incident commanders on the fire, said that winds could pick up strength overnight Sunday and there is a chance for thunderstorms Monday.
“This has been challenging, unprecedented weather,” he said at a community meeting.
Jayson Coil, an operations section chief, said Sunday evening that ground crews and aircraft made progress on protective lines in the northeast section of the blaze. He said that the fire was becoming more active on its northwestern flank.
“That part of the fire is starting to be more active,” he said.
Residents of Bull Canyon, Cow Creek and Upper and Lower Colonias were told to evacuate Sunday, adding to the thousands of homes that have been evacuated as a result of the fire which has been burning for more than a month.
“It’s something I’ve been trying to prepare people for,” San Miguel County Sheriff Chris Lopez said of the new evacuation orders.
The Hermits Peak Fire started April 6 as a prescribed burn. But the fire broke containment and merged with the Calf Canyon Fire, creating one of the largest and most destructive fire complexes in the state’s history. It’s currently the largest active fire in the country.
The fire was 36% contained on Sunday.
There are nearly 2,000 personnel and several incident management teams assigned to different sections of the massive blaze.
The fire stretches east of Las Vegas, New Mexico, north through the town of Mora all the way to Chacon and Guadalupita.
Meanwhile, a fire burning east of Jemez was at 45,602 acres Sunday, which is about how big the fire was Friday.
That fire started April 22 and was 40% contained on Sunday.
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2022-05-16T04:43:26+00:00
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abqjournal.com
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https://www.abqjournal.com/2499626/as-winds-relent-fire-grows-by-9k-acres.html
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REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Dec. 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX), the world's digital infrastructure company™, today announced its commitment to reducing its overall power use by increasing operating temperature ranges within its data centers – the first such commitment by an operator of colocation data centers. Starting immediately, Equinix will begin to define a multi-year global roadmap for thermal operations within its data centers aimed at achieving significantly more efficient cooling and decreased carbon impacts, all while continuing to deliver the premium operating environment Equinix is known for. Over time, this initiative is expected to enable thousands of Equinix customers to reduce the Scope 3 carbon emissions associated with their data center operations as supply chain sustainability becomes an increasingly important part of the overall environmental initiatives of today's businesses.
IT equipment within data centers, including routers, servers and storage arrays, emit high levels of heat that requires data centers to be fitted with robust cooling systems to remove that heat. "Most datacenters operate within restrictive temperature and humidity bands, resulting in environments that are unnecessarily cooler than required," said Rob Brothers, Program Vice President, Datacenter Services, IDC. "Equinix will work with enterprises to change the way we think about operating temperatures within datacenter environments and how the industry can ensure optimal service levels for mission-critical digital infrastructure, while improving data center efficiencies. With this initiative, Equinix will play a key role in driving change in the industry and help shape the overall sustainability story we all need to participate in."
"As a long-time partner, we are pleased to see that Equinix is driving efficient data center operations through smart, sustainable operating practices," said Sue Preston, vice president and general manager, Advisory and Professional Services, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). "Optimizing data center temperatures results in more efficient operations, benefitting businesses and the planet. Through the HPE GreenLake alliance, both HPE and Equinix offer a comprehensive, cloud-smart and sustainable customer solution."
As a part of this new efficiency initiative, Equinix expects to operate its facilities closer to 27°C (80°F), aligning operating limits across its global data center portfolio with the globally accepted boundaries of the A1A standards from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). When combined with existing Equinix initiatives such as optimizing the use of outside air temperatures to cool its data centers, this new initiative will contribute to the overall sustainability of its data centers through efficiency improvements measured through Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE). PUE represents the total amount of power being used by a data center divided by the power used to run the IT equipment within the data center, providing an industry standard for data center energy efficiency.
"Our cooling systems account for approximately 25% of our total energy usage globally," said Raouf Abdel, Executive Vice President, Global Operations for Equinix. "With this new initiative, we can intelligently adjust the thermostat in our data centers in the same way that consumers do in their homes. Once rolled out across our current global data center footprint, we anticipate energy efficiency improvements of as much as 10% in various locations."
"Data centers are critical to our daily lives, housing the equipment and interconnecting the businesses that fuel our digital lives – from online shopping to sending emails to streaming movies and video calls," said Jon Lin, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Data Center Services for Equinix. "As more than 10,000 businesses globally rely on Equinix's digital infrastructure, it plays a critical role in their supply chains. This initiative, once deployed, has the potential to significantly benefit these businesses as they seek to reduce the Scope 3 carbon emissions in their supply chain to meet their overall climate targets. It marks an important step in our comprehensive sustainability program and our climate-neutral commitment."
Highlights/Key Facts
- Equinix was the first in the data center industry to commit to becoming climate neutral, aligned to approved science-based targets, for emissions reduction across its global operations and supply chain by 2030.
- Equinix recently signed two new Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) in Finland for the creation of new renewable energy generation, bringing its total renewable energy capacity under long-term contract globally to approximately 300MW.
- Equinix's renewable energy coverage has been over 90% since 2018. In 2021, the company achieved 95% renewable energy coverage.
Additional Resources
- The 4 Principles of Sustainable Data Center Design [Equinix blog]
- Equinix Sustainability & Reports [Equinix website]
About Equinix
Equinix (Nasdaq: EQIX) is the world's digital infrastructure company™. Digital leaders harness Equinix's trusted platform to bring together and interconnect foundational infrastructure at software speed. Equinix enables organizations to access all the right places, partners and possibilities to scale with agility, speed the launch of digital services, deliver world-class experiences and multiply their value, while supporting their sustainability goals.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from expectations discussed in such forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to, risks to our business and operating results related to the COVID-19 pandemic; the current inflationary environment; foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations; increased costs to procure power and the general volatility in the global energy market; the challenges of acquiring, operating and constructing IBX® and xScale® data centers and developing, deploying and delivering Equinix products and solutions; unanticipated costs or difficulties relating to the integration of companies we have acquired or will acquire into Equinix; a failure to receive significant revenues from customers in recently built out or acquired data centers; failure to complete any financing arrangements contemplated from time to time; competition from existing and new competitors; the ability to generate sufficient cash flow or otherwise obtain funds to repay new or outstanding indebtedness; the loss or decline in business from our key customers; risks related to our taxation as a REIT and other risks described from time to time in Equinix filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In particular, see recent and upcoming Equinix quarterly and annual reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, copies of which are available upon request from Equinix. Equinix does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this press release.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Equinix, Inc.
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2022-12-06T09:44:28+00:00
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kwch.com
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https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2022/12/06/equinix-adjust-thermostat-optimize-data-center-energy-use/
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After more than a decade without any significant changes, the county bus system is being overhauled.
Niagara County Rural Transportation is underutilized and often has low ridership, data shows. The bulk of funds for the bus service come from the state and federal governments; fares make up less than 5% of the system’s operating revenue.
The service is run by the county Department of Public Works and Commissioner Garret Meal says some needed improvements, including more expansive service, are on the way.
“We’ve been investigating ways to improve ridership,” said Meal. “At the same time, we’ve had some people speak up at legislature meetings over the past few years about the need to have better public transportation for work and other needs.”
The new route plans will add more frequency to common routes that will have less overlap with the NFTA Metro system.
“This will allow us to have a more consistent bus route, where a bus will be able to go down that route several times a day, and provide much more predictability of when services will be available,” said Meal.
In addition, the service will provide coverage to Somerset and Barker for the first time.
To raise public awareness of the county bus system, rebranding is underway. The name is being changed to Connect Niagara, which, Meal believes, should dispel any notions about the bus service being for rural areas of the county only.
“The name ‘Niagara County Rural Transportation’ kind of indicates that it’s a rural service, which isn’t entirely true. It’s a service for all of Niagara County,” said Meal. “Choosing a name that will speak out to the entire county, I think will better reflect our service.”
Other planned improvements are: free transfers from one route to another, fare reciprocity with the NFTA Metro system, a Connect Niagara smartphone app to make fare payment easier, and monthly fare plans that would cost riders less over the long term.
Amidst these changes, DPW does not plan to increase bus fares, Meal said.
He emphasized that while DPW is hoping to implement these changes by the end of the year, there are still things that need to be done such as finding a graphic designer to help with the Connect Niagara rebranding, as well as gaining input from the community on the new routes.
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2022-06-17T03:29:04+00:00
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niagara-gazette.com
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https://www.niagara-gazette.com/news/local_news/rebranding-rerouting-the-county-bus-system/article_8f969252-35eb-5f58-b417-c9fc1bcb8b01.html
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STACKER — Of the 1,600-plus tornadoes that happen around the world each year, the vast majority occur in the United States.
A large part of the central U.S.—dubbed Tornado Alley—has become famous for its high number of annual tornadoes; however, even though it has been enshrined in films like “The Wizard of Oz” and “Twister,” the storms can happen anywhere. The Southeast experiences tornadoes at a similar frequency, and even seemingly unlikely states like Hawaii have experienced them.
Meteorologists use the Enhanced Fujita scale to classify tornadoes’ severity. The storms are ranked on a scale of EF0 to EF5 based on wind speed and related damage, with EF5 storms having wind speeds above 200 mph. Most tornadoes in the U.S. have wind speeds below 110 mph—making them primarily EF0 and EF1 storms. Still, even smaller-scale storms can cause significant damage. EF0 and EF1 storms have contributed to more than $900 million in property damage since 2012, averaging $75,000 per storm. EF1 tornadoes are associated with broken windows, uplifted roofs, and torn-down garage doors.
Less than 3% of tornadoes have reached EF3 status—wind speeds between 136 and 165 mph—or greater since 2012. Though they represent a small percentage of events, their impacts cause an outsized portion of property damage. Storms EF4 or stronger can flatten entire homes. Even though the U.S. has experienced only one EF5 storm in the past decade—it emerged from a series of tornadoes that struck central Oklahoma in May 2013—that storm took 24 lives and left billions of dollars of damages.
Tornadoes result in about 71 deaths per year, most of which are due to flying debris. The prevalence of mobile homes in areas of the Southeast often afflicted by tornadoes can put people at greater risk of death or serious injury. 2023 has already recorded over 500 tornadoes, according to preliminary counts, a high number this early in the season. And by the end of April, nearly two-thirds of the 23 deaths recorded this year had occurred in mobile homes.
Citing data from NOAA’s Storm Events Database, Stacker identified the biggest tornadoes in North Dakota since 2012. Storms are ranked by the Enhanced Fujita Scale, with length and width serving as tiebreakers. In an outbreak of multiple tornadoes, the storm with the highest Enhanced Fujita Scale rank was used. Storms ranked “EFU,” meaning that they did not result in any property damage or deaths, are not included.
Read on to see if you remember the biggest storms that have hit North Dakota over the past decade.
Editor’s note: The accompanying photos capture tornadoes but not necessarily those named in each slide.
You may also like: Cities with the fastest-growing home prices in North Dakota
1 / 15
Canva
#15. Jul. 21, 2014
– Number of tornadoes: 4
– Maximum tornado scale: EF1 (86-110 mph)
– Maximum tornado length: 8.0 miles
– Maximum tornado width: 300 feet
– Estimated property damage: None
– Estimated deaths: None
2 / 15
Canva
#14. Jul. 23, 2015
– Number of tornadoes: 2
– Maximum tornado scale: EF1 (86-110 mph)
– Maximum tornado length: 0.5 miles
– Maximum tornado width: 350 feet
– Estimated property damage: None
– Estimated deaths: None
3 / 15
Canva
#13. Jul. 19, 2016
– Number of tornadoes: 3
– Maximum tornado scale: EF1 (86-110 mph)
– Maximum tornado length: 5.3 miles
– Maximum tornado width: 880 feet
– Estimated property damage: None
– Estimated deaths: None
4 / 15
Canva
#12. May. 26, 2014
– Tornado scale: EF2 (111-135 mph)
– Estimated length: 0.5 miles
– Estimated width: 100 feet
– Estimated property damage: $2.5M
– Estimated deaths: 0 direct, 0 indirect
5 / 15
Canva
#11. Aug. 15, 2022
– Number of tornadoes: 3
– Maximum tornado scale: EF2 (111-135 mph)
– Maximum tornado length: 2.3 miles
– Maximum tornado width: 100 feet
– Estimated property damage: $275.0K
– Estimated deaths: None
You may also like: Counties with the highest rate of food insecure children in North Dakota
6 / 15
Canva
#10. Jul. 31, 2018
– Number of tornadoes: 5
– Maximum tornado scale: EF2 (111-135 mph)
– Maximum tornado length: 7.3 miles
– Maximum tornado width: 200 feet
– Estimated property damage: $180.0K
– Estimated deaths: None
7 / 15
Canva
#9. Oct. 28, 2021
– Number of tornadoes: 4
– Maximum tornado scale: EF2 (111-135 mph)
– Maximum tornado length: 5.0 miles
– Maximum tornado width: 300 feet
– Estimated property damage: $153.0K
– Estimated deaths: None
8 / 15
Canva
#8. Sep. 17, 2018
– Tornado scale: EF2 (111-135 mph)
– Estimated length: 0.5 miles
– Estimated width: 400 feet
– Estimated property damage: $3.5M
– Estimated deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
9 / 15
Canva
#7. Sep. 12, 2018
– Number of tornadoes: 3
– Maximum tornado scale: EF2 (111-135 mph)
– Maximum tornado length: 1.7 miles
– Maximum tornado width: 400 feet
– Estimated property damage: $300.0K
– Estimated deaths: None
10 / 15
lafoto // Shutterstock
#6. Jun. 27, 2015
– Number of tornadoes: 18
– Maximum tornado scale: EF2 (111-135 mph)
– Maximum tornado length: 5.3 miles
– Maximum tornado width: 800 feet
– Estimated property damage: None
– Estimated deaths: None
You may also like: Most popular baby names for boys in North Dakota
11 / 15
Fer Gregory // Shutterstock
#5. Aug. 8, 2017
– Number of tornadoes: 9
– Maximum tornado scale: EF2 (111-135 mph)
– Maximum tornado length: 18.0 miles
– Maximum tornado width: 800 feet
– Estimated property damage: $2.0M
– Estimated deaths: None
12 / 15
Cammie Czuchnicki // Shutterstock
#4. Oct. 22, 2016
– Tornado scale: EF2 (111-135 mph)
– Estimated length: 8.0 miles
– Estimated width: 880 feet
– Estimated property damage: $600.0K
– Estimated deaths: 0 direct, 0 indirect
13 / 15
Todd Shoemake // Shutterstock
#3. Oct. 22, 2016
– Number of tornadoes: 4
– Maximum tornado scale: EF2 (111-135 mph)
– Maximum tornado length: 12.0 miles
– Maximum tornado width: 1,200 feet
– Estimated property damage: None
– Estimated deaths: None
14 / 15
KingShopArt // Shutterstock
#2. Jul. 11, 2017
– Number of tornadoes: 9
– Maximum tornado scale: EF2 (111-135 mph)
– Maximum tornado length: 22.0 miles
– Maximum tornado width: 1,200 feet
– Estimated property damage: $1.0M
– Estimated deaths: None
15 / 15
Minerva Studio // Shutterstock
#1. Aug. 27, 2016
– Number of tornadoes: 3
– Maximum tornado scale: EF3 (136-165 mph)
– Maximum tornado length: 4.0 miles
– Maximum tornado width: 600 feet
– Estimated property damage: None
– Estimated deaths: None
You may also like: North Dakota is the #8 worst state at buckling up
This article originally appeared on Stacker and was produced and distributed through a partnership with Stacker Studio. This article has been republished pursuant to a CC by NC 4.0 License.
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2023-05-27T17:39:11+00:00
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kxnet.com
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https://www.kxnet.com/news/top-stories/last-decades-biggest-tornadoes-in-nd/
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WFO LAS VEGAS Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Saturday, October 15, 2022
_____
AREAL FLOOD ADVISORY
Flood Advisory
National Weather Service Las Vegas NV
342 PM PDT Sat Oct 15 2022
...FLOOD ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 645 PM PDT THIS EVENING...
* WHAT...Flooding caused by excessive rainfall is expected.
* WHERE...A portion of southern California, including the following
county, San Bernardino.
* WHEN...Until 645 PM PDT.
* IMPACTS...Rises in small streams and normally dry washes.
* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...
- At 340 PM PDT, Doppler radar indicated heavy rain due to
thunderstorms along and north of Interstate 40 between Desert
Oasis Rest Area and Ludlow. Minor flooding is ongoing or
expected to begin shortly in the advisory area.
- Some locations that will experience flooding include...
Ludlow.
- http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood
deaths occur in vehicles.
_____
Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
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2022-10-16T00:16:53+00:00
|
expressnews.com
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https://www.expressnews.com/weather/article/CA-WFO-LAS-VEGAS-Warnings-Watches-and-Advisories-17511938.php
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The products and services mentioned below were selected independent of sales and advertising. However, Simplemost may receive a small commission from the purchase of any products or services through an affiliate link to the retailer's website.
Imagine you’ve had a long day and would love to decompress in a natural, healthy way. A hot shower is a great way to loosen up tight muscles and wash away the day and its problems. Any time we hear we can heighten a daily task by turning it into a spa-like experience, our ears perk up! This is why we got excited when we learned about this bath-bomb alternative.
Shower steamers can heighten your shower experience, elevating your self-care to new levels of luxury. Shower steamers offer all the benefits of a bath bomb without needing to put the time or energy into drawing a tub.
BodyRestore Shower Steamers Aromatherapy
Crafted with organic and natural ingredients and essential oils, the potent eucalyptus and mint add an extra layer of relaxation to your shower experience and help you feel rejuvenated and refreshed. These scents of aromatherapy are great for relaxation and stress relief and can relieve nasal congestion. A bag comes equipped with 15 individually wrapped tablets, which helps retain their freshness for as long as possible. The Eucalyptus and Mint Shower Steamers are 25% off right now on Amazon, going for $29.97 — about $2 per steamer.
Similar to bath bombs, shower steamers are activated with warm water. To use, place one tablet on the bottom of your shower and shower as usual.
With an average rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars, a lot of reviewers speak highly of these shower steamers. Several people noted the scent stayed strong until the product is fully dissolved. One reviewer said they can last for more than one shower. She purchased them for her 83-year-old mother when she was suffering from COVID and her mom fell in love with them. Since she didn’t take long showers, they lasted for 2 to 3 showers.
Reviewer Stephanie thinks they are a great alternative to bath bombs when she doesn’t have the time to soak in a tub.
“The next best thing is the scent,” she wrote. “If you’re a fan of menthol, like tea tree, or eucalyptus scents, then this will be for you! I’ve always associated those scents with muscle relaxation and spas.”
These shower steamers would make an excellent gift for men or women. Another user said they would make a great addition to a gift basket. We like that this product is not tested on animals, is paraben-free, long-lasting and vegan.
Do you see yourself using this inexpensive at-home spa experience that doesn’t require planning ahead?
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for additional stories.
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2022-09-06T22:09:09+00:00
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kgun9.com
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https://www.kgun9.com/shower-steamers-turn-showers-into-spa
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Collaboration combines leading expertise of Neuron23 in drug discovery, data science, and machine learning with QIAGEN's long-standing experience in companion diagnostic development
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. and GERMANTOWN, Md. and HILDEN, Germany, Sept. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Neuron23™ Inc., an early stage biotechnology company focused on developing precision medicines for genetically defined neurological and immunological diseases, and QIAGEN (NYSE: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) today announced a collaboration to develop a companion diagnostic for Neuron23's LRRK2 inhibitor for Parkinson's disease.
Under the Master Collaboration Agreement, QIAGEN will develop and validate a clinical trial assay that will detect a combination of biomarkers discovered by Neuron23 that together predict the responsiveness of Parkinson's disease patients to a LRRK2 inhibitor. The partnership will support the clinical development of Neuron23's drug candidate that is currently in the late stages of preclinical development. Subject to further clinical development, the agreement also covers options for the future development of additional companion diagnostics.
The assay for this collaboration will be integrated into a next-generation sequencing (NGS) workflow that leverages QIAGEN's Sample to Insight capabilities. Parallel development of the diagnostic assay and the therapeutic will allow the companies to submit the application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for premarket approval (PMA) of the NGS companion diagnostic test in tandem with the new drug application (NDA) for Neuron23's LRRK2 inhibitor.
"We are excited about this partnership as this is the first companion diagnostic to be developed for Parkinson's disease. This collaboration combines the leading expertise of Neuron23 in drug discovery, data science, and machine learning with QIAGEN's long-standing experience and global leadership in companion diagnostic development," said Nancy Stagliano, Ph.D., CEO of Neuron23. "QIAGEN's blood-based test will help to identify patients with Parkinson's disease who are likely to respond to Neuron23's LRRK2 inhibitor. The development of a companion diagnostic identifying this sub-population of Parkinson's disease patients will de-risk the clinical development of Neuron23's LRRK2 inhibitor and help identify individuals who may benefit from this disease-modifying therapy. We are excited to be working with an industry leader on the first companion diagnostic developed for Parkinson's disease."
"The collaboration with Neuron23 shows the rapid momentum precision medicine is gaining in disease areas outside oncology," said Jonathan Arnold, Vice President, Head of Oncology and Precision Diagnostics at QIAGEN. "Our expertise in blood- and NGS-based molecular testing from Sample to Insight will enable Neuron23 to run a clinical trial for a drug candidate that may have the potential to modify the course of an inexorable neurodegenerative disease in a genetically defined population."
LRRK2 is a complex, multidomain protein found in neurons and many other tissues and cell types throughout the body. Mutations in the LRRK2 gene are one of the most common causes of familial Parkinson's disease and individuals who inherit gain of function mutations in LRRK2 are clearly at higher risk to develop the disease in later life. Additionally, there is emerging evidence that LRRK2 activity may play a role in a subset of the larger population of patients with non-familial Parkinson's disease. Recent investigations have shown that small-molecule LRRK2 inhibitors can be neuroprotective, suggesting that therapies targeting LRRK2 could be beneficial in a larger population of patients.
No laboratory tests are currently available for the diagnosis of non-genetic cases for Parkinson's disease. Usually, the disease is diagnosed based on medical history and neurological examination. Although no cure currently exists for Parkinson's disease, therapies are used to alleviate some symptoms.
QIAGEN is a pioneer in Precision Medicine and the global leader in collaborations with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to co-develop companion diagnostics, which detect clinically relevant genetic abnormalities to provide insights that guide clinical decision-making in diseases such as cancer. QIAGEN has an unmatched depth and breadth of technologies from NGS to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and digital PCR (dPCR) for companion diagnostic development. QIAGEN has ten PCR based companion diagnostic indications that are FDA approved, including therascreen EGFR for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), therascreen KRAS for colorectal cancer and NSCLC, therascreen FGFR for urothelial cancer, therascreen PIK3CA for breast cancer based on tissue or plasma samples and the therascreen BRAF kit for colorectal cancer.
Currently, QIAGEN is working under master collaboration agreements with more than 25 leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to develop and commercialize companion diagnostic tests for their drug candidates – a deep pipeline of potential future products to advance Precision Medicine for the benefit of patients.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
About Neuron23™
Neuron23™ Inc. is an early stage biotechnology company focused on developing precision medicines for genetically defined neurological and immunological diseases. Neuron23 combines recent advances in human genetics with a state-of-the-art artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled drug discovery and biomarker platform to advance therapeutics for devastating diseases. The Company's focus areas are neurodegenerative diseases, neuroinflammatory diseases, and systemic autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Founded in 2018, Neuron23 has assembled a world-class team of experts and entrepreneurs located in South San Francisco, CA. For more information, please visit www.neuron23.com.
About QIAGEN
QIAGEN N.V., a Netherlands-based holding company, is the leading global provider of Sample to Insight solutions that enable customers to gain valuable molecular insights from samples containing the building blocks of life. Our sample technologies isolate and process DNA, RNA and proteins from blood, tissue and other materials. Assay technologies make these biomolecules visible and ready for analysis. Bioinformatics software and knowledge bases interpret data to report relevant, actionable insights. Automation solutions tie these together in seamless and cost-effective workflows. QIAGEN provides solutions to more than 500,000 customers around the world in Molecular Diagnostics (human healthcare) and Life Sciences (academia, pharma R&D and industrial applications, primarily forensics). As of June 30, 2022, QIAGEN employed more than 6,100 people in over 35 locations worldwide. Further information can be found at http://www.qiagen.com.
QIAGEN Forward-Looking Statement
Certain statements contained in this press release may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. To the extent that any of the statements contained herein relating to QIAGEN's products, collaborations markets, strategy or operating results, including without limitation its expected adjusted net sales and adjusted diluted earnings results, are forward-looking, such statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that involve a number of uncertainties and risks. Such uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to, risks associated with management of growth and international operations (including the effects of currency fluctuations, regulatory processes and dependence on logistics), variability of operating results and allocations between customer classes, the commercial development of markets for our products to customers in academia, pharma, applied testing and molecular diagnostics; changing relationships with customers, suppliers and strategic partners; competition; rapid or unexpected changes in technologies; fluctuations in demand for QIAGEN's products (including fluctuations due to general economic conditions, the level and timing of customers' funding, budgets and other factors); our ability to obtain regulatory approval of our products; difficulties in successfully adapting QIAGEN's products to integrated solutions and producing such products; the ability of QIAGEN to identify and develop new products and to differentiate and protect our products from competitors' products; market acceptance of QIAGEN's new products and the integration of acquired technologies and businesses. For further information, please refer to the discussions in reports that QIAGEN has filed with, or furnished to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
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2022-09-14T21:39:33+00:00
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wafb.com
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https://www.wafb.com/prnewswire/2022/09/14/neuron23-qiagen-announce-collaboration-develop-first-next-generation-sequencing-companion-diagnostic-novel-parkinsons-disease-drug/
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Hyundai this week, at the New York auto show, revealed U.S.-spec details for the redesigned 2024 Kona Electric, along with the Kona Limited and Kona N Line gasoline models.
What was missing from the announcement was the Kona Hybrid, a model that had been emphasized as a growing and important model in the revised Kona’s global rollout.
Hybrid versions of the Kona aren’t part of the plan for the U.S., according to spokesperson Miles Johnson. Kona Electric sales have been comprising about 6% of total Kona sales up until now, according to Johnson, but with the redesigned Kona lineup it plans to raise that percentage significantly.
What may help enable broadened sales of the Kona Electric, despite its lack of eligibility for the revamped EV tax credit, is the availability of a standard-range version offering a preliminary 197 miles of EPA range from 48.6 kwh of capacity—and almost surely a lower price versus the outgoing 64-kwh model’s $34,885 base price. Up the lineup, the Kona Electric has a slight upgrade in the battery pack capacity of its longer-range version—to 64.8 kwh, stretching its preliminary EPA range out to 260 miles.
In the wake of EV tax credit upheaval, that’s a good decision, as it leads with value and might avoid the now-awkward pricing position of the otherwise appealing 2023 Kia Niro EV. Pricing for the Kona Electric hasn’t yet been revealed.
Standard-range Kona Electric versions will make 133 hp, versus the long-range version’s 201 hp, although both will make 188 lb-ft of torque. So expect standard-range models to likely accelerate to 60 mph in closer to eight seconds versus the long-range version’s circa-seven-second time.
The decision not to bring the Kona Hybrid may also have been influenced by its rather slow acceleration in this configuration—about 11 seconds for the 0-62 mph dash, incorporating its 1.6-liter inline-4, 42-hp electric motor, and 6-speed dual-clutch transmission with a 1.56-kwh battery pack.
The Kona Electric doesn’t operate on the 800-volt architecture that’s the foundation for the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6, among other models, although it’s pretty quick with the longer-range pack’s 400 volts, at 10% to 80% charge in 43 minutes, achievable with an increasingly common 150-kw CCS fast-charging connector.
The design of the Kona electric, as seen in person last week at the show, has become sleeker and more distinctive than that of the outgoing model, and it boasts a coefficient of drag of 0.27. As Hyundai has hinted from the start with this generation of the Kona, it developed the electric version from the start—and applied this “EV-led design” to the whole lineup.
As such, it borrows some of the angular creasing and sculpting of the Tucson Hybrid crossover and Elantra Hybrid sedan families, but it’s the first model outside the Ioniq EV lineup to bring in the “Parametric Pixel” lighting—in the form of thin-strip detailing that up close makes this model look more than an inch wider than the outgoing version.
Dimensions are just slightly larger in all aspects, actually. According to Hyundai the Kona is 5.7 inches longer, and it rides on a wheelbase 2.3 inches longer than the previous version.
As before, the Kona Electric doesn’t make any packaging sacrifices in EV form, even though it shares its platform with internal combustion versions. Hyundai says that the front seats are 30% slimmer, while the second row is a “curveless bench seat”—together boosting back-seat space significantly. Cargo space is a generous 25.5 cubic feet with the rear seatbacks up or 63.7 feet with them folded forward, and a power tailgate is now offered. The shift lever has been moved behind the steering wheel to free up console space, and there’s a very small frunk compartment under the hood.
Gasoline versions of the Kona, this time around, include a 190-hp, 1.6-liter turbo-4 with an 8-speed automatic transmission, and a 147-hp, 2.0-liter inline-4 that runs on the Atkinson cycle for greater efficiency. Kona Electric models get a multi-link rear suspension versus the gasoline models’ torsion-beam setup.
With no hybrid on board for the U.S., Hyundai has effectively underscored the stark difference in strategy versus rival Toyota, which is rolling out a sub-$30,000 Corolla Cross Hybrid. This week Toyota also confirmed plans to continue expanding hybrid offerings and add plug-in hybrids with much more electric range.
Hyundai says that gasoline versions of the 2024 Kona will arrive at U.S. dealers this summer, while the Kona Electric will follow this fall. The 2023 Kona Electric was only available in 26 states, although Hyundai is steadily expanding EV availability. And with the standard-range Kona Electric joining the lineup, and pricing not yet announced, here’s to hoping the Kona Electric will be more competitive versus the $28,795 Chevy Bolt EUV.
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- Lyft expands Green mode to order up EV rides exclusively
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2023-04-11T08:41:47+00:00
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wdtn.com
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https://www.wdtn.com/automotive/internet-brands/hyundai-skips-kona-hybrid-in-us-adds-lower-priced-kona-ev-instead/
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Most people today know artist Maurice Sendak as the creator of children's book classics such as “Where the Wild Things Are” and “In the Night Kitchen.” A new exhibition of his work looks at that reputation and a less well-known side of his immense output: his work as a designer for opera, theater, film, and television.
“We wanted people to understand that Maurice was actually a serious artist,” said Lynn Caponera, executive director of the Maurice Sendak Foundation in Ridgefield, Connecticut. Though most knew him as an illustrator and picture book artist, “they didn’t see beyond the fact that he did a lot more than that,” she said.
“Wild Things are Happening” opened this month at the Columbus Museum of Art and runs through March 5, 2023. It's the first major retrospective of Sendak’s work since his 2012 death and the largest and most complete to date.
The exhibit takes its name from a 1990s advertising campaign Sendak did for Bell Atlantic that featured Wild Things characters promoting “a fast, dependable Internet service.”
The exhibit features more than 150 sketches, storyboards and paintings of work Sendak did for his own books, including “Higglety Pigglety Pop!,” which he based on the fatal sickness of his beloved Sealyham terrier Jennie. The show also displays some of Sendak's most celebrated illustrations of other writers’ work, such as Else Holmelund Minarik’s “Little Bear” books.
To commemorate Sendak's affinity for Mickey Mouse — who first appeared in 1928, the year Sendak was born — the exhibit includes an illustration that TV Guide commissioned in 1978 for Mickey Mouse's 50th birthday featuring Sendak, also 50, waving at a mirror as the cartoon character waves back.
In the late 1970s, Sendak embarked on a second career as a costume and stage designer. His design work for operas included Krása’s “Brundibar,” Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” and “The Goose of Cairo,” and Prokofiev’s “The Love for Three Oranges.” A video on repeat at the exhibit features the design work Sendak did for a new production of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker commissioned in 1981 by the Pacific Northwest Ballet.
Sendak also designed sets and costumes and wrote the book and lyrics for the musical “Really Rosie” based on his book of the same name, with music by Carole King.
And then there is “Where The Wild Things Are,” featuring the fantastical nighttime adventures of a boy named Max on an island of monsters. Since its publication in 1963, the book has sold more than 50 million copies and been translated into 40 languages.
The exhibit includes rarely seen “Wild Things” sketches and completed paintings, and traces the book's history from early 1953 drawings to its publication. Also on display: costumes from Spike Jonze’s 2009 movie “Where the Wild Things Are” based on the book.
Adults troubled by the scary nature of Max's fantasy “forget that my hero is having the time of his life and that he controls the situation with breezy aplomb,” Sendak said upon accepting the 1964 Caldecott Medal for the book.
Sendak was an admirer of many artists and illustrators, including William Blake, Walt Disney and Beatrix Potter, a devotion that the exhibit tries to get across, said Jonathan Weinberg, an artist and curator of the Maurice Sendak Foundation, which is housed in the home where Sendak worked and lived from 1972 until his death. Most of that time he lived with his partner, psychiatrist Dr. Eugene Glynn.
“Maurice had this unbelievable range,” said Weinberg. “And if he couldn’t do something, if he didn’t have that style at that moment for what was needed, he would figure it out and learn.”
When it came to his work for children, Sendak never preached or tried to instill a stuffy moral, Caponera said. Instead, he understand that, as sometimes happens in real life, children are the brave ones, the ones who triumph and are in control.
“Maurice used to say that a good children’s book is sort of like creating an act of guerilla warfare,” Caponera said. “You put things in there that the kids see, and the kids get, and then the kids have to sort of explain to the parents, ‘Oh, no, this isn’t scary.’”
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2022-10-27T12:42:24+00:00
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ourmidland.com
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https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/Columbus-art-museum-debuts-major-Maurice-Sendak-17538085.php
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly two years after he defeated Donald Trump, President Joe Biden has some unfinished business he’s aiming to settle with the restive forces of Trumpism.
The president is set to use a primetime address Thursday to frame the upcoming midterm elections as part of an ongoing battle for the “soul of the nation” — a reprise of his 2020 campaign theme that he’s now using to cast the current stakes in as dire terms as those that sent him to the Oval Office two years ago.
Biden, who largely avoided even referring to “the former guy” by name during his first year in office, has grown increasingly vocal in calling out Trump personally, which White House officials say reflects the urgency with which he views the threat of Trump and his devotees.
His speech at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, less than 10 weeks before the midterms, comes as Biden is feeling emboldened by a series of legislative wins. He is sharpening his attacks on Republicans as the “ultra-MAGA” party — a reference to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan — that opposes his agenda, embraces conservative ideological proposals and spreads Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election.
“What we’re seeing now is either the beginning or the death knell of an extreme MAGA philosophy,” Biden told Democrats at a Maryland fundraiser last week. “It’s not just Trump, it’s the entire philosophy that underpins the — I’m going to say something, it’s like semi-fascism.”
In his Thursday address, White House officials said, Biden will hark back to the 2017 white supremacist protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, which he says brought him out of political retirement to challenge Trump. He’ll argue that the country faces a similar crossroads in the coming months.
“The president thinks that there is an extremist threat to our democracy,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Wednesday. “It’s not stopping. It’s continuing.”
Biden allies stressed that while the president was set to condemn “ultra-MAGA” Republicans, he was not rejecting the entirety of the GOP and would use his remarks to call on traditional Republicans to join him in condemning Trump and his adherents. Still, he faces a balancing act, as more than 74 million Americans voted for Trump in 2020.
“I respect conservative Republicans,” Biden said last week. “I don’t respect these MAGA Republicans.”
Larry Diamond, an expert on democracy and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, said Biden faces a difficult situation as he confronts Trump. Calling him out for attacks on democracy “can be manipulated or framed as being partisan. And if you don’t call it out, you are shrinking from an important challenge in the defense of democracy.”
“Wishing it away, or shrinking away from the challenge out of fear of appearing partisan will do no good in my view,” he said. “The threats are too grave and too imminent.”
Even this week, Trump was posting on his beleaguered social media platform about overturning the 2020 election results and holding a new presidential election, which would violate the Constitution.
Timothy Naftali, a presidential historian at New York University, said it’s not unusual for there to be tension between a president and his successor, but it’s “unprecedented for a former president to be actively trying to undermine the U.S. Constitution.”
“The challenge that President Biden faces is to get on with his agenda while still doing what he needs to uphold the Constitution,” Naftali said. “That’s not easy.”
The White House has assiduously tried to keep the president removed from the legal and political maelstrom surrounding the Department of Justice’s discovery of classified documents in Trump’s Florida home. Biden has taken advantage of some Republicans’ reflexive condemnation of federal law enforcement.
“You can’t be pro-law enforcement and pro-insurrection,” Biden said Tuesday in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. “I’m opposed to defunding the police,” he added. “I’m also opposed to defunding the FBI.”
Biden’s appearance is being billed as an official, taxpayer-funded event, a mark of how the president views defeating the Trump agenda as much as a policy aim as a political one. The major broadcast television networks are not expected to carry the address live.
Jean-Pierre said Biden was holding the event in prime time because he believes “we need to save the core values of our of our country.”
“They just don’t respect the rule of law,” she said of “MAGA Republicans.” “And they are pursuing an agenda that takes away people’s rights.”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy announced he would speak in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on Thursday afternoon on “Biden’s assault on the soul of America,” accusing the president of planning to “continue to disparage hard-working Americans.”
” Joe Biden is the divider-in-chief and epitomizes the current state of the Democrat Party: one of divisiveness, disgust, and hostility towards half the country,” said RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.
Biden’s trip to Philadelphia will be one of three presidential visits to the state within a week, a sign of its importance in the midterms, with competitive Senate and governor’s races. Trump will have a rally there this weekend.
The White House hopes to use the Philadelphia speech to unite familiar themes of Biden’s presidency under one banner: holding out bipartisan legislative wins on guns and infrastructure as evidence that democracies “can deliver,” pushing back on “extreme” GOP policies on guns and abortion that are out of step with most people’s views, and rejecting efforts to undermine confidence in the nation’s election or diminish its standing abroad.
“The contrast is clear, While the MAGA wing has really focused on weakening the guardrails of our democracy to undermine the will of the people, the president is fighting to defend our democracy, while also delivering real results for working families,” said Danielle Melfi, executive director of Building Back Together, which coordinates messaging among Democratic groups on behalf of the White House.
Biden, she said, was expected to “lay out how that contrast ripples across every issue top of mind for voters” from abortion to guns to ensuring American elections remain free and fair.
The challenges to democracy have only multiplied since the tumult surrounding the 2020 presidential election.
Lies surrounding the 2020 election have triggered a wave of harassment and death threats against state and local election officials and new restrictions on mail voting in Republican-dominated states. County election officials have faced pressure to ban the use of voting equipment, efforts generated by conspiracy theories that voting machines were somehow manipulated to steal the election.
Candidates who dispute Trump’s loss have been inspired to run for state and local election posts, promising to restore integrity to a system that has been undermined by false claims and conspiracy theories. Some have claimed widespread fraud and supported efforts to decertify Biden’s win.
There is no evidence of any widespread fraud or manipulation of voting machines. Judges, including ones appointed by Trump, dismissed dozens of lawsuits filed after the election and Trump’s own attorney general has called the claims bogus. Yet AP-NORC polling has shown about two-thirds of Republicans say they do not think Biden was legitimately elected president in 2020.
Heading into the November midterms, election officials face not only the threat of foreign interference but also ransomware, politically motivated hackers and insider threats. Over the last year, security breaches have been reported at a small number of local election offices in which authorities are investigating whether office staff improperly accessed or provided improper access to sensitive voting technology.
___
AP writer Christina A. Cassidy in Atlanta contributed to this report.
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2022-09-01T15:41:46+00:00
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cbs4indy.com
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https://cbs4indy.com/news/politics/ap-politics/ap-unfinished-business-biden-sharpens-his-attacks-on-trumpism/
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PARSIPPANY, N.J., Feb. 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ascensia Diabetes Care, a global diabetes care company, maker of the CONTOUR® Blood Glucose Monitoring (BGM) system portfolio and exclusive distributor of Eversense® Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) Systems, announces a landmark global collaboration with SNAQ, an award-winning app-based solution that offers key insights on food and nutrition for people with diabetes (PWDs). Collaborating to integrate their technologies, Ascensia and SNAQ will empower more PWDs to make impactful mealtime decisions, with a goal to improve diabetes management.
Users of Ascensia's world-renowned CONTOUR BGM portfolio will now be able to seamlessly incorporate SNAQ into their diabetes management regimen, in order to make data-driven decisions about food and nutrition. Through the SNAQ app, users simply take a photo of their food and are provided with nutritional information and actionable insights to help in facilitating glycemic control. With easy-to-read graphs and comparisons to previous meals, SNAQ supports both immediate insights and long-term learning, which is reflected in its strong user retention and high app ratings.
The initial three-year collaboration extends across several phases and regions, launching first in the United States. SNAQ will be integrated with Ascensia's most popular Bluetooth connected BGM devices. SNAQ meal data can also be shared with GlucoContro.Online, Ascensia's streamlined platform, which enables PWDs to seamlessly access, analyze and share their diabetes data. Making this data more easily accessible to PWDs and healthcare practitioners (HCPs) can help them to monitor how different foods affect blood glucose levels and adjust treatment accordingly.
Frank Held, Head of BGM Marketing and Strategy at Ascensia, commented: "This collaboration is a further step in Ascensia's mission to simplify diabetes management whilst providing convenient and effective solutions for people with diabetes and their healthcare providers. I look forward to working together with SNAQ as we collaborate to bring this valuable tool to more people."
Chester Lu, Head of BGM Digital Connected Solutions at Ascensia, added: "Many of the people we speak to with diabetes are looking for smart, connected technologies that give them the data they need when they need it. Data and technology have a central role in helping people to make treatment decisions, and our collaboration with SNAQ will ensure that insights to guide food and meal choice are easily found at the tap of an app."
Aurelian Briner, CEO of SNAQ, commented: "Taking the guesswork out of mealtime glucose control is what SNAQ is aiming for, and this collaboration means that we will be able to support more people in their day-to-day choices. Working with Ascensia's team is an exciting opportunity for SNAQ to grow and continue making a difference for people living with diabetes."
PWDs and HCPs interested in learning more about SNAQ can visit www.ascensiadiabetes.com/snaq or download SNAQ at https://snaq.io/ascensia
Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/749389/Ascensia_Diabetes_Care_Logo.jpg
View original content:
SOURCE Ascensia Diabetes Care
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2023-02-21T12:50:57+00:00
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uppermichiganssource.com
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https://www.uppermichiganssource.com/prnewswire/2023/02/21/ascensia-diabetes-care-collaborates-with-snaq-support-mealtime-decision-making-people-with-diabetes/
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BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets were mixed Friday after Wall Street sank on worries about the health of U.S. banks under pressure from interest rate hikes.
Shanghai declined while Hong Kong and Sydney advanced. Markets in Japan and South Korea were closed for holidays. Oil prices advanced.
Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 index lost 0.7% on Thursday as investors worried about the health of banks following three high-profile failures in the United States and one in Switzerland.
Shares of PacWest Bancorp, a target of investor scrutiny, tumbled 50.6%. The bank said it was considering options and has been approached by potential partners and investors.
Investors are watching what steps authorities might take to “limit further contagion risks,” Yeap Jun Rong of IG said in a report. “Any inaction over the weekend could translate to a more downbeat risk environment to start next week.”
The Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.8% to 3,322.52 while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 0.5% to 20,056.21. Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 rose 0.3% to 7,216.20.
India's Sensex opened down 0.4% at 61,529.24. New Zealand and Southeast Asian markets declined.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell to 4,061.22. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.9% to 33,127.74, putting it in negative territory for the year. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.5% to 11,966.40.
Rate hikes by the Federal Reserve and other central banks in Europe and Asia have put pressure on banks by causing the market prices of bonds on their books to decline. Investors worry depositors might pull money out of lenders that are thought to be troubled, worsening their financial pressures.
Shares of Western Alliance Bancorp plunged as much as 61% after The Financial Times said the Phoenix-based bank was considering selling its business. The company denied the report. Its stock ended the day down 38.5%.
This week, regulators seized First Republic Bank and sold most of it to JPMorgan Chase.
Officials say the banking system is sound and secure, but investors remain worried.
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve announced another increase that raised its key overnight rate to a range of 5% to 5.25% from close to zero early last year.
Traders expect at least a brief U.S. recession this year. They expect the Fed to start cutting rates in the second half of the year to prop up economic growth, though chair Jerome Powell said this week he doesn't see cuts coming so early.
Investors worry that even without more bank failures, the industry turmoil might lead smaller institutions to reduce lending. That might push up borrowing costs, putting more downward pressure on economic growth.
A report Thursday showed the number of U.S. workers filing for unemployment last week accelerated a bit more than expected. A resilient job market is one of the main pillars propping up the slowing economy.
A more comprehensive government report on employment is due out Friday.
The Fed indicated Wednesday it might be finished with rate hikes for now, but the president of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, on Thursday said, “we are not pausing.” The ECB announced another rate hike but by a smaller margin of one-quarter percentage point.
Helping to support stocks despite all the worries has been a largely better-than-feared earnings reporting season.
Companies in the S&P 500 are still on track to report a second straight quarter of profit drops, but the results have mostly been better than expected.
In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude rose 60 cents to $69.16 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 4 cents on Thursday to $68.56. Brent crude, the price basis for international oil trading, added 68 cents to $73.18 per barrel in London. It advanced 17 cents the previous session to $72.50.
The dollar declined to 133.93 yen from Thursday's 134.14 yen. The euro gained to $1.1041 from $1.1016.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
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2023-05-05T07:33:41+00:00
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springfieldnewssun.com
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https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/nation-world/stock-market-today-asia-mixed-after-wall-st-sinks/77YWKEYOJRG7NOB5SXIVUN3ADY/
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Associated Press
CHICAGO (AP) — A federal warrant unsealed Thursday says agents found bomb-making materials at the apartment of the alleged gunman charged with fatally shooting seven people at a Fourth of July parade in suburban Chicago last year, a newspaper reported.
Among the items found in the Highland Park-area home of Robert Crimo III days after the attack were commercial components used for explosions and a timer, according to the Chicago Tribune report.
An affidavit attached to the warrant cited Crimo, 22, as telling FBI agents he mulled the possibility of deploying explosives in the attack on the annual holiday parade in Highland Park, just north of Chicago.
“It could have been planted if it worked, in theory it could have been planted . . . somewhere where it could cause harm,” Crimo was quoted as saying. “If it worked, I might have planted it early, or I might have just sat down, left the bag there, and walked away.”
The affidavit said that Crimo also told agents the explosives would have been “too heavy to carry to the parade, but he considered using them if the opportunity arose.”
A grand jury indicted Crimo in July on 21 first-degree murder counts, 48 counts of attempted murder and 48 counts of aggravated battery, representing the seven people killed and dozens wounded in the attack at the holiday parade in Highland Park. He has pleaded not guilty.
The warrant was filed in U.S. District Court shortly after the shooting, though no federal charges have been filed in the case, the Tribune reported.
Last month, Crimo’s father, Robert Crimo Jr., 58, entered a not guilty plea to charges that he helped his then-19-year-old son obtain a gun license three years before the attack. A grand jury indicted him on seven counts of reckless conduct. Each count carries a maximum 3-year prison term.
The father is free on bail. His son was ordered held in jail pending trial.
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2023-03-03T22:41:03+00:00
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wtmj.com
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https://wtmj.com/national/2023/03/02/warrant-bomb-materials-at-home-of-alleged-july-4th-gunman/
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Texas Tech edges Gonzaga to sweep 4-game series
Presidents Day doubled as getaway day for the Gonzaga baseball team, so the finale of Texas Tech's season-opening series needed to fit into a 3 1/2-hour window.
With the score tied in the ninth inning, somebody needed to be a hero.
Zac Vooletich did his part. Vooletich started a game-winning rally in the bottom of the ninth with a leadoff double and scored on a bases-loaded walk as the 20th-ranked Red Raiders swept the series with a 9-8 victory Monday at Dan Law Field/Rip Griffin Park.
The two teams agreed in advance that no inning could start after 2:30 p.m. because the Bulldogs had a plane to catch to get back to Spokane. That was news to the Tech players.
"I'm glad I got a double then," Vooletich said. "That would've been a sour week if we'd have tied."
Vooletich, having come to the plate only once previously this season, ripped a shot to the left-center gap. Nolan Hester singled him to third. After Gage Harrelson struck out and the Bulldogs intentionally walked Kevin Bazzell to load the bases, losing pitcher Cade McGee walked Austin Green on four pitches.
Vooletich played in only 27 of Tech's 61 games last season, starting 15, so coming in cold isn't new to him.
"Experience from last year definitely does help," he said. "Pinch hitting's not easy, but I think after you do it a while it gets maybe a little easier with experience."
Hester added three more hits and two walks, giving him eight walks, five hits and a hit by pitch in four games. The Red Raiders' disciplined leadoff hitter has a .700 on-base percentage. With no outs in the ninth, he fouled off two bunt attempts trying to move the winning run to third, then pulled a base hit to right.
"He got him moved up, right?," Tech coach Tim Tadlock said. "He was disappointed in himself he didn't get the bunt down. But really professional at-bats. Knows the strike zone. He's doing a good job with that."
Freshman righthander Damian Bravo (1-0) struck out three of the four batters he faced in the top of the ninth.
Tech (4-0) won even with six errors that led to five unearned runs. Two of the errors — and three in the series — came on catcher interference with Gonzaga leadoff batter Enzo Apodaca swinging.
It appeared the Red Raiders had two misplays too many when Gonzaga (0-4) took an 8-6 lead in the eighth. Brock Bozett reached on the second error of the game by shortstop Will Burns, and Apodaca's swing clipped Hudson White's mitt, putting him on. With two outs, McGee unloaded a three-run homer that wiped out Tech's 6-5 lead.
The Red Raiders answered in the bottom of the eighth. Hester drew a leadoff walk, and Harrelson doubled him home. Harrelson eventually scored when pinch hitter Ryan Brome lifted a sacrifice fly.
Harrelson, one of the team's highly touted freshman outfielders, finished 3 for 5 with three runs scored and his first homer. That came in the sixth, an opposite-field drive into the bullen down the left-field line. That made Tech's lead 5-3, but in the top of the seventh, Gonzaga cleanup hitter Brian Kalmer unloaded a two-run homer.
The wind blew out to center and left for much of the game. According to the National Weather Service, the west wind was 32 mph with gusts to 44.
That helped Gavin Kash in the bottom of the seventh. Green drew a leadoff walk and was at first with one out when Kash hit a drive to right-center and Dylan Johnson had trouble with the wind. The Zags' right fielder was still going at the edge of the warning track when the ball went off the tip of his glove. Kash wound up at third with a go-ahead triple.
"You never know with this kind of wind," Kash said. "It could have been anything. It could have been a routine popup. It could have been what it was. It could have been a home run. I was just going out of the box thinking it was going to be down (for a hit)."
"I tell you what: I called a homer (for Kash) before that at-bat," Vooletich said, "and I was a little upset when it didn't go over. But I was glad that it dropped."
Kash finished 3 for 4 with two RBI, making the sophomore transfer from Texas 9 for 13 for the series. He and Green co-lead the team with eight RBI.
"Definitely an impact guy," Tadlock said of Kash. "Had a good weekend."
The Red Raiders were glad to finish with four victories rather than three wins and a tie. The Red Raiders' last tie game was in 2006. When they started the bottom of the ninth, there were 21 minutes to 2:30, so a three-up, three-down inning would have left time for a 10th.
"The guys didn't even know the time deal," Tadlock said. "We were probably going to have one extra inning. We were thinking about that. The worst thing in a baseball game is having to worry about time. It doesn't seem normal, but on getaway day, it's something we do."
TEXAS TECH 9, GONZAGA 8
Gonzaga 100 200 230 — 8 9 0
Texas Tech 200 021 121 — 9 10 6
Buckner, Graham (5), Francis (7), McGee (8) and Samperi; Parish, Beckel (4), Crowley (6), Sanders (7), Bravo (9) and Maxcey, White (5). W—Bravo (1-0). L—McGee (0-1). 2B—Gonzaga, McGee (1); Texas Tech, Hester (2), White (1), Harrelson (1), Vooletich (1). 3B—Texas Tech, Kash (2). HR—Texas Tech, Gonzaga, D. Johnson (1), Kalmer (2), McGee (1); Texas Tech, Harrelson (1). Records: Gonzaga 0-4, Texas Tech 4-0.
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2023-02-20T22:48:03+00:00
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lubbockonline.com
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https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/sports/college/red-raiders/2023/02/20/texas-tech-edges-gonzaga-to-sweep-4-game-series/69922012007/
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By MARGARET STAFFORD and JIM SALTER (Associated Press)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — As 16-year-old Ralph Yarl struggled to come to grips with being shot for going to the wrong house to pick up his younger brothers, the white Kansas City, Missouri, homeowner who shot the Black teenager turned himself in on Tuesday.
Andrew Lester, 84, surrendered at the Clay County Detention Center a day after being charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action. Some civil rights leaders urged a hate crime charge but Clay County Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson said first-degree assault is a higher-level crime with a longer sentence — up to life in prison.
Meanwhile, Yarl was home recovering from his wounds.
“Ralph is doing considerably well,” his mother, Cleo Nagbe, told “CBS Mornings” co-host Gayle King. “Physically, mornings are hard, but his spirits are in a good place. I borrow from his spirits.”
Nagbe said the trauma remains evident. She said her son is “able to communicate mostly when he feels like it, but mostly he just sits there and stares and the buckets of tears just rolls down his eyes.”
“You can see that he is just replaying the situation over and over again, and that just doesn’t stop my tears either,” she said.
The shooting happened about 10 p.m. on Thursday. Police Chief Stacey Graves said that Yarl’s parents asked him to pick up his twin brothers at a home on 115th Terrace.
Yarl, an honor student and all-state band member, mistakenly went to 115th Street. When he rang the bell, Lester came to the door and shot Yarl in the forehead — then shot him again, in the right forearm.
Lester faces arraignment Wednesday afternoon. He does not yet have a listed attorney.
Lester told police he lives alone and was “scared to death” when he saw a Black male on the porch and thought someone was trying to break in, according to the probable cause statement.
No words were exchanged before the shooting, but afterward, as Yarl got up to run, he heard Lester yell, “Don’t come around here,” the statement said.
Yarl ran to “multiple” homes asking for help before finding someone who would call the police, the statement said.
James Lynch was the neighbor who found Yarl. Lynch didn’t immediately respond to an interview request but his wife, Tiffany, in a brief interview, confirmed an NBC News report that said Lynch heard shouting and saw Yarl banging on the door of another home.
“I heard somebody screaming, ‘Help, help, I’ve been shot!’” Lynch, who is white, told NBC. The father of three ran out and found Yarl covered in blood. Lynch checked his pulse and, when another neighbor came out with towels, helped stem the bleeding until paramedics arrived.
“He just wants the family to know that Ralph wasn’t alone,” Tiffany Lynch said, adding that the action was typical of her husband.
“He helps out anyone he can and always has,” she said.
The shooting outraged many in Kansas City and across the country. Civic and political leaders — including President Joe Biden — demanded justice. Biden also invited Yarl to the White House.
“No parent should have to worry that their kid will be shot after ringing the wrong doorbell,” Biden said on Twitter. “We’ve got to keep up the fight against gun violence.”
“And Ralph, we’ll see you in the Oval once you feel better.”
Thompson said Monday that there was a “racial component” to the shooting. He did not elaborate. But Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Alexander Higginbotham clarified in an email to The Associated Press on Tuesday that “there is not a racial element to the legal charges that were filed.”
Still, some — including lawyers for Yarl’s family — pressed the racial dimension of the case. A protest rally was planned for Tuesday afternoon, and several civil rights organizations planned a news conference there.
“The police are not treating this case in the same way Black people accused of murder are treated,” Missouri NAACP President Nimrod Chapel Jr. said in a statement. “A Black suspect would have been in jail.”
Higginbotham said the prosecutor’s office policy is to wait for a criminal referral from police. “KCPD submitted their referral to us on Monday afternoon and charges were filed within approximately an hour of the case being referred to us by law enforcement,” he said in an email.
The assault charge carries a penalty of up to life in prison. Lester also was charged with armed criminal action, which has a penalty range of three to 15 years in prison.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the U.S. Department of Justice was investigating. Messages left with a spokesman were not immediately returned.
Charging Lester with a hate crime would have potentially meant a shorter sentence if he’s convicted, experts said.
Washington University School of Law Professor Peter Joy said the state hate crime law is used only to enhance low-level felony or misdemeanor charges, taking them no higher than a class-C felony level, with a penalty range of three to 10 years upon conviction.
“What the prosecutor did was charge (Lester) with the highest degree of felony they could charge him with,” Joy said.
Legal experts believe Lester’s lawyers will claim self-defense under Missouri’s “Stand Your Ground” law. The law allows for use of deadly force if a person is in fear for his or her life. Missouri is among roughly 30 states with such statutes.
Robert Spitzer, a professor emeritus of political science at the State University of New York, Cortland, whose research focuses on gun policy and politics, said the Missouri law provides “wide latitude for people to use lethal force.”
St. Louis defense attorney Nina McDonnell agreed. She said prosecutors have a strong case but the Stand Your Ground law defense is a “huge hurdle” to overcome.
“The defendant was in his house and has expressed that he was in fear,” McDonnell said.
By Tuesday morning, a GoFundMe page set up for Yarl had raised $2.9 million from 77,000 donations.
___
Salter reported from O’Fallon, Missouri. Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas, contributed to this report.
|
2023-04-18T19:54:51+00:00
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bostonherald.com
|
https://www.bostonherald.com/2023/04/18/ralph-yarl-shedding-buckets-of-tears-shooter-in-custody/
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Mexico wanted 1st degree murder charges for Arizona rancher
MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Mexican official says her government thought Arizona rancher George Alan Kelly should have faced first-degree murder charges for allegedly killing a Mexican migrant. Mexico’s head of consular protection Vanessa Calva said Friday Mexico had told U.S. prosecutors that it thought first-degree charges more accurately described the circumstances in which migrant Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea was killed at the ranch on Jan. 30. An Arizona Justice of the Peace ruled last week that Kelly should face trial on charges of second-degree murder and aggravated assault. Cuen-Buitimea was a 48-year-old from Nogales, Mexico.
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2023-03-03T21:48:22+00:00
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localnews8.com
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https://localnews8.com/news/ap-national/2023/03/03/mexico-wanted-1st-degree-murder-charges-for-arizona-rancher/
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6 Special Olympics participants from Haiti are missing, officials say
ORLANDO, Fla. (Gray News) – Six people participating in the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games are missing, authorities said.
According to a Facebook post from the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, all six missing persons are members of the Haitian delegation participating in the Special Olympics in Orlando, which began Sunday and runs through June 12.
Officials did not confirm whether the missing persons are athletes.
The sheriff’s office sent out a bulletin looking for Antione Mithon, Nicholson Fontilus, Peter Berlus, Anderson Petit-Frere, Steevenson Jacquet and Oriol Jean, all men between the ages of 18 and 32.
The sheriff’s office said they believe this is an isolated event and do not suspect foul play.
The sheriff’s office is working with Walt Disney World, Special Olympics, and local and federal law enforcement to find the men.
Copyright 2022 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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2022-06-08T18:01:53+00:00
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wfsb.com
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https://www.wfsb.com/2022/06/08/6-special-olympics-participants-haiti-are-missing-officials-say/
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Tornados and severe storms struck swaths of the U.S. south and the Midwest on Friday and Saturday. We'll look at the severity of the events and if more frequent tornados might become the norm.
Copyright 2023 NPR
Tornados and severe storms struck swaths of the U.S. south and the Midwest on Friday and Saturday. We'll look at the severity of the events and if more frequent tornados might become the norm.
Copyright 2023 NPR
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2023-04-02T12:09:11+00:00
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kgou.org
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https://www.kgou.org/2023-04-02/tornadoes-struck-the-u-s-south-and-midwest-raising-questions-about-the-new-normal
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URBANA — A Rantoul police officer was justified in his use of force against a young armed man who was fatally shot with his own gun during a struggle with that officer, the county’s chief prosecutor said Tuesday.
Champaign County State’s Attorney Julia Rietz offered her preliminary legal opinion about the Feb. 6 death of Azaan Lee, 21, of Champaign, after reviewing preliminary autopsy information and police reports.
In a three-page synopsis she released Tuesday afternoon to Rantoul police and The News-Gazette, Rietz said it’s possible that additional witnesses could come forward and provide relevant information.
“However, I do not expect any additional evidence or information to affect or alter my preliminary opinions,” she said.
Mr. Lee’s family has been in communication with Illinois State Police investigators heading up the investigation into his death.
Detectives plan to travel to their home in Chicago on Thursday to show them police body-camera footage of what took place late that Monday and answer their questions.
“It’s my understanding that ISP and Rantoul police will publicly release the video and reports that have been gathered to date either late Thursday or Friday, depending on how things go with the family,” Rietz said.
How it started
At 10:43 p.m. that Monday, Rantoul officers Haley Mennenga and Rikki McComas were sent to the 200 block of West Belle Avenue to take a report of a stolen vehicle.
A woman had left the car running in the road and went into a residence, then returned to see the car driving away.
As the officers were speaking with her in the street, Mr. Lee approached and interacted with her and them.
It was unclear then if Mr. Lee was involved with the car theft. He told the officers he was there to see a friend who lives in the area.
About 20 minutes later, at 11:04 p.m., the stolen car was found at Scott Street and Campbell Avenue, so officers took the woman to that area to identify it.
In the meantime, Mr. Lee had walked away from where he had interacted with the officers and car-theft victim.
Officer Jose Aceves, aware of the stolen vehicle but unaware that his two fellow officers had already talked with Mr. Lee, saw him walking near the intersection of Belle Avenue, Tanner Street and Ohio Avenue and approached to talk to him.
‘What do you have right here?’
Aceves told investigators that Mr. Lee was wearing a hooded sweatshirt under a jacket and that the officer could see a rectangular heavy object in the sweatshirt pocket pulling the pocket down under the jacket.
McComas, who had earlier spoken to Mr. Lee at the original scene, arrived and asked Mr. Lee if he had any keys on him, as officers had learned that the keys to the stolen car were missing.
Mr. Lee emptied his pants pockets, pulling out change, a lighter and a headphone case.
McComas then asked him what was in his front sweatshirt pocket. Mr. Lee reached his right hand into the pocket, at which time Aceves grabbed Mr. Lee’s right wrist and patted the bulky pocket, asking him “What do you have right here?”
Aceves reported later that he saw a black object with a circular hole, which appeared to be the bottom of a handgun magazine, in the sweatshirt pocket.
Struggle begins over firearm
Mr. Lee then pulled away from Aceves with his hand in his pocket as Aceves reached into the pocket and grabbed the object, confirming his suspicions that it was a handgun.
Aceves and Mr. Lee struggled over the gun. Aceves said it appeared Mr. Lee was trying to pull the gun out of his pocket. During the struggle, Aceves’ body camera fell off.
Aceves, Mr. Lee and McComas, who had joined the effort to get Mr. Lee into custody, then all went to the ground.
Aceves and Mr. Lee got back up and continued to skirmish over the firearm. Aceves reported that he and Mr. Lee had hold of the gun from both the inside and outside of the sweatshirt pocket.
For approximately 20 seconds, they wrangled over the firearm. At 11:18 p.m., it fired and Mr. Lee took off, dropping the gun as he ran.
Aceves then got up and fired his duty weapon three times in Mr. Lee’s direction, but none of those shots hit him.
Aceves said he fired due to the seriousness of the offense and because he was concerned about Mr. Lee being a danger to the public and possibly possessing another weapon.
Citizen reports man in backyard
Rantoul police officers and Champaign County sheriff’s deputies found Mr. Lee almost 20 minutes later, at 11:37 p.m., in a backyard at 208 E. Campbell Ave., about two blocks northeast and across the Canadian National railroad tracks from where he had struggled with the officers. They had been unable to locate him until a citizen called to report hearing a man moaning in her backyard.
They found Mr. Lee unresponsive and with a gunshot wound to his inner left thigh. Officers applied a tourniquet and administered aid until paramedics arrived and took him in an ambulance to Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, where he was pronounced dead.
Preliminary autopsy results from forensic pathologist Dr. Shiping Bao indicated that the cause of death was a single contact gunshot wound to the left inside thigh, tracking downward from front to back, perforating the left femoral artery. Bao found no other injuries to Mr. Lee.
‘Totality of the circumstances’
Because of Mr. Lee’s 2021 conviction for domestic battery with a prior domestic battery, he was not able to legally possess a gun.
Rietz opined that Aceves was legally justified to speak with and search Mr. Lee, based on existing case law. The officer knew of an ongoing stolen-vehicle investigation and saw Mr. Lee in the area.
He was not aware that other officers had spoken to Mr. Lee earlier, nor that the vehicle had been recovered.
“It was appropriate for the officers to attempt to determine if he was a witness, the suspect or uninvolved,” Rietz said. “Moreover, Aceves reasonably would have potential concerns for his own safety and the safety of the public given the time of day, the lack of lighting, the appearance of a heavy object in Mr. Lee’s pocket and Mr. Lee’s actions when asked about the object. These concerns further justify his attempt to search Mr. Lee.”
As for his use of deadly force, Rietz cited the applicable Illinois law to conclude it was legally justifiable:
“A peace officer is justified in using force likely to cause death or great bodily harm when he reasonably believes, based on the totality of the circumstances, that such force is necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or another person; or when he reasonably believes, based on the totality of the circumstances, both that such force is necessary to prevent the arrest from being defeated by resistance or escape and the officer reasonably believes that the person to be arrested is likely to cause great bodily harm to another; and the person to be arrested committed or attempted to commit a forcible felony which involves the infliction or threatened infliction of great bodily harm or is attempting to escape by use of a deadly weapon, or otherwise indicates that he will endanger human life or inflict great bodily harm unless arrested without delay.”
Said Rietz: “Officer Aceves reasonably believed Lee presented a risk to the officers and the public; Mr. Lee had attempted to escape the encounter with the illegally possessed firearm; Officer Aceves was not aware of the extent of Mr. Lee’s injury when he fled; and Officer Aceves reasonably believed Lee may have access to another deadly weapon at the time he fled from Officer Aceves after the gun discharged.”
|
2023-02-15T10:55:11+00:00
|
news-gazette.com
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https://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/courts-police-fire/states-attorney-rantoul-officers-use-of-deadly-force-justified/article_a6bf3300-20b5-5f40-9f79-c818d2cdf49d.html
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Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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2022-11-28T22:46:13+00:00
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wtmj.com
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https://wtmj.com/sports/2022/11/28/ap-top-sports-news-at-406-p-m-est/
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NY Marine Warnings and Forecast for Saturday, September 24, 2022
_____
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY
URGENT - MARINE WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service New York NY
356 AM EDT Fri Sep 23 2022
...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM EDT SATURDAY...
* WHAT...Northwest winds 15 to 25 kt with gusts up to 30 kt and
seas 6 to 9 feet.
* WHERE...Sandy Hook NJ to Montauk Point NY out 20 nm.
* WHEN...Until 6 PM EDT Saturday.
* IMPACTS...Conditions will be hazardous to small craft.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Inexperienced mariners, especially those operating smaller
vessels, should avoid navigating in hazardous conditions.
...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM EDT SATURDAY...
* WHAT...Northwest winds 15 to 20 kt with gusts up to 30 kt.
* WHERE...Long Island Sound, New York Harbor, Peconic and
Gardiners Bays, and South Shore Bays from Jones Inlet through
Shinnecock Bay.
* WHEN...Until 6 AM EDT Saturday.
_____
Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
|
2022-09-23T08:24:35+00:00
|
ourmidland.com
|
https://www.ourmidland.com/weather/article/NY-Marine-Warning-and-Forecast-17461434.php
|
The Biden administration is unveiling an ambitious new student loan repayment program today that will be more generous, flexible and forgiving than previous plans — but it's unclear how or when the administration will be able to fully implement it.
The U.S. Department of Education says proposed updates to its income-driven repayment plan would, among other things, cut loan payments in half for undergraduate borrowers, but its rollout could be complicated by the fact that the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) — the agency that oversees the government's student loan portfolio — is in an unexpected funding crisis, created by a political fight between Congressional Republicans and Democrats, and the White House.
Behind closed doors, officials at FSA and the U.S. Department of Education are surprised and angry, sources tell NPR, because they must now safeguard priorities like today's announcement while also scrambling to find hundreds of millions of dollars to cut from other current and future programs.
In December, Congress approved a massive, $1.7 trillion government funding bill known as an "omnibus," but the bill did not deliver nearly enough money for FSA to do everything it has been asked to do in 2023 — by Congress, the Biden administration and even the courts.
A "big f***ing deal" is how one federal official describes the surprise decision, last month, to abandon a much-needed funding increase for the Office of Federal Student Aid.
Another person familiar with FSA's inner workings worries that the result, not just for the agency but for people with federal student loan debts, could be "catastrophic."
"There is a lot of work at FSA that can benefit students and borrowers that it simply cannot do now," says a third government official.
That work includes not only recent initiatives but also potentially basic, everyday loan oversight functions — like making sure loan servicing companies don't keep borrowers waiting hours on the phone to talk with a customer representative.
This is the story of the politics behind the funding crisis, and why any resulting cuts would hurt millions of borrowers. It is based on the accounts of ten people, including eight officials across government who are familiar with FSA's inner workings but who are not authorized to speak publicly.
2023: Big promises for student loan borrowers
FSA is a relatively small federal agency with a Herculean job: managing the U.S. government's entire federal student loan portfolio. It's a $1.6 trillion program that touches the lives of more than 44 million borrowers. In 2022, FSA ran on a $2 billion budget.
For 2023, the White House knew FSA would need more money, both to keep up with routine loan management and to fulfill long-laid plans, some mandated by Congress, to improve the whole system. In its initial 2023 budget proposal, the Biden administration pitched increasing FSA's budget by a third, to the tune of $2.65 billion. Why propose such a big bump?
For starters, the agency is in the middle of a massive, Congressionally-required overhaul of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. Approved three years ago, the bipartisan goal is to make the famously complicated forms college students and their families must fill out easier to complete.
In addition, 2023 is expected to include a host of expensive new reforms meant to directly help borrowers, including improvements to a loan forgiveness program for people who work in public service, a move to lift seven million borrowers out of default, today's unveiling of a new income-driven repayment plan (IDR), and a review of millions of borrower records to help those who were unfairly hurt by past IDR failures make up lost ground toward loan forgiveness.
On top of all that, FSA is responsible for handling the enormous — and enormously expensive — task of helping millions of federal student loan borrowers start paying back their loans later this year after the long pandemic pause. The agency will need to pay for communicating timelines and expectations to borrowers, fielding questions and processing mountains of new paperwork.
This long list of expected expenses doesn't include Biden's headline plan for debt relief, announced in August but now tied up at the Supreme Court. That plan ran into Republican opposition, but some of the largest reforms on FSA's agenda this year have enjoyed bipartisan support in the past.
So why not give the agency the money it needs?
How December funding talks fell apart
During bipartisan wrangling among Congressional negotiators and the White House last month over funding the federal government, multiple sources tell NPR that Republicans initially offered a roughly 20% budget increase for FSA, lower than the initial White House proposal but still a meaningful bump.
"There was a proposal put forward to the White House to say, 'Listen, we'll give you an extra couple hundred million dollars here, in order to focus on improvements... for the student loan program,'" says one source familiar with the negotiations. "But that came with a tradeoff."
That tradeoff, required by Republicans, was that the money could not be spent to implement President Biden's debt relief plan, should the Supreme Court let it go forward.
According to sources involved in the negotiations, both sides agreed to not include any conditional language, known as riders, that had not been part of past budgets.
But, according to a source familiar with Republicans' thinking, Republicans were frustrated by Biden's efforts to try to unilaterally erase student debt. They were not inherently opposed to increased funding for things like better customer service, but they were not supportive of spending on debt relief.
A Democratic source close to the negotiations argues that in demanding conditions on FSA funding, Republicans broke their agreement not to add riders to the budget bill, giving Democrats, concerned a concession would open the negotiations to a flood of other riders, no choice but to reject the proposal.
Which is exactly what happened. Democrats and the White House held firm on the no new riders agreement, Republicans refused to agree to additional money for FSA without a debt relief exception, and the agency's prospects for new funding evaporated. FSA ultimately received not a single dollar more than it had gotten the year before, and must now figure out what, of its many obligations, it can and cannot afford to fulfill.
In its write-up of the result, Senate Republicans crowed that the omnibus "provides no new funding for the implementation of the Biden Administration's student loan forgiveness plan." It did not mention the impact on other FSA work.
The White House also got a modest win: A funding bill with no restrictions against paying for debt relief.
But borrowers and FSA, the agency in place to help them, will lose mightily.
Programs that may be cut or trimmed
Sources tell NPR it's too early to know exactly how this flat funding will impact a whole host of programs, though it's clear FSA will need to make hundreds of millions of dollars in difficult cuts. Agency staff are now looking at their options, including reviewing reforms already underway.
For example, in April last year, after NPR, as well as borrower advocates and a subsequent GAO report, revealed widespread mismanagement of previous income-driven repayment plans, the department pledged a sweeping "account adjustment" that would fully erase the debts of tens of thousands of borrowers and bring millions closer to forgiveness.
But the bulk of that account adjustment isn't scheduled to happen until July of this year, and multiple sources tell NPR that without new funding, it could be delayed for an undetermined length of time.
2023 was also due to bring further improvements to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program — changes that could also be delayed or abandoned.
In fact, the list of borrower-focused efforts that could be postponed or cut is long.
In early 2022, the Education Department committed to restore 7 million federal student loan borrowers who had been in default to good standing. This so-called Fresh Start program would require considerable money and staff in 2023. It's unclear now where either could come from.
Also affecting the department's priorities are legal obligations the Education Department must fulfill. As part of its settlement in a class-action case, it will be on the hook to reconsider the cases of tens of thousands of borrowers who say they were defrauded by their mostly for-profit colleges and deserve to have their debts erased.
Several sources suggest one of the biggest initiatives that could be on the chopping block is an effort, already long overdue, to sign new, long-term contracts with the servicing companies that manage all federal student loan accounts.
These federal student loan servicers have been working on short-term, stop-gap contracts while FSA develops a much-needed new system that's meant to improve and streamline many of the problems that make the current servicing system hard for borrowers to navigate.
This planned new arrangement with servicers, known as the Unified Servicing and Data Solution or USDS, was set to begin this year. It would include important new safeguards around cybersecurity that would cut down on scammers and lay the groundwork for what some student loan insiders consider their holy grail: a single portal where all borrowers could make payments, get help, and make changes to their accounts.
But now, sources tell NPR, the best-case scenario for USDS is that it will be stripped of many of its most important — and expensive — provisions. Worst-case: It will be delayed indefinitely.
And then there's the new income-driven repayment plan being unveiled today.
A new effort to help vulnerable borrowers
On a call with reporters Monday night, senior administration officials trumpeted this new IDR program, saying it would be even more generous to low-income borrowers and, unlike previous IDR plans, would prevent accruing interest from exploding.
According to details of the plan provided by the Department of Education, no borrower who earns less than $30,600 a year would have to make a monthly loan payment.
What's more, undergraduate degree borrowers in this new plan would be required to pay only 5% of their discretionary income — "half the rate charged on the most generous existing IDR plans," according to the Department announcement.
"We cannot return to the same broken system we had before the pandemic, when a million borrowers defaulted on their loans a year and snowballing interest left millions owing more than they initially borrowed," said Education Secretary Miguel Cardona in a statement.
The announcement was noticeably vague, though, on how the Department would pay to implement the new initiative and on its timeline, saying only that it aims to "start implementing some provisions later this year."
Multiple sources tell NPR that this new repayment plan could be costly to set up and, under FSA's flat-funded budget, the agency could not roll it out without delaying or scaling back other things on its long list of obligations.
Worse customer service may be ahead
Multiple sources, both inside the Education Department and within the servicing industry, say FSA could be forced not only to cut programs but to quietly lower the customer service standards it requires loan servicers to meet — because it cannot now afford them.
For example, how long a servicer takes to process a student loan-related application. Or how long a borrower has to wait on the phone to reach a call service representative. Over the past year, many borrowers have taken to social media to complain that those wait times are already too long.
"An easy way for [FSA] to reduce their costs is to [tell servicers], 'Cut your call center hours.' Well, that cuts costs," says Scott Buchanan, executive director of the Student Loan Servicing Alliance, the trade association that represents federal student loan servicers.
But Buchanan says, that kind of austerity isn't ideal for anyone, "in an environment where we're trying to talk about improving the experience for borrowers."
"I always say, on student loan servicing, you get what you pay for," Buchanan says. "And if you want improvements, we've got to invest in them."
But FSA's flat funding will make it difficult to pay servicers for the increased demand that inevitably accompanies new programs — not to mention the help borrowers will need later this year if they are required to begin repaying their loans after the pandemic pause, as the Department has pledged.
One source points to the hollowing out of the IRS as a cautionary tale of the impact this kind of underfunding can have, and who feels it.
The prospect of millions of borrowers calling servicers later this year at the same time servicers are potentially being told to scale back worries many borrower advocates.
Mike Pierce, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center and an outspoken supporter of Biden's debt relief plan, says, as long as there are federal student loan borrowers, there must be investment in a system to support them.
"If they are confused about what their options are, it costs money to pay a person to walk them through what their rights are," Pierce says. "If they just need paperwork processed, it costs money to send them that paperwork, to process that paperwork, to update their student loan account, to send them an accurate bill at every step. Someone needs to touch the borrower's account, and that costs money."
For now, officials at the Education Department and FSA are scrambling to figure out how to save both money and their most ambitious plans, but sources warn: The choice to underfund FSA will cost borrowers dearly.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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2023-01-14T02:45:33+00:00
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klcc.org
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https://www.klcc.org/npr-news/npr-politics/2023-01-10/exclusive-new-biden-student-loan-plan-unveiled-amid-agency-funding-crisis
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RYE BROOK, N.Y., April 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Curemark announced today that Stacy E. Grant will join the company as Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Finance, effective immediately.
Previously, Ms. Grant was a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley and enjoyed a successful 25-year career in finance and private wealth management. During her tenure, she advised some of the nation's largest and most influential entrepreneurs and companies. A Finance Fellow at the Aspen Institute, Ms. Grant has helped many tech and biotech companies navigate the capital markets to fund their businesses at every stage of development and expansion.
Curemark CEO Dr. Joan Fallon stated, "As Curemark moves forward, Stacy's wealth of financial expertise and savvy are welcome additions to our team as we fuel our efforts to expand, scale and commercialize our products. Her deep insight into the financial markets has garnered the trust of founders, prominent CEOs and major investors globally."
Ms. Grant commented, "I'm delighted to be joining a company with an incredibly exciting future and help lead its evolution. With over 400 patents worldwide, Curemark is poised for explosive growth that can improve the lives of children everywhere."
ABOUT CUREMARK
Curemark, LLC is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel therapies for the treatment of neurological disorders. Curemark's pipeline includes preclinical and clinical-stage programs for the treatment of autism, schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease, ADHD and addiction. For additional information, please visit our website at http://www.curemark.com or follow @Curemark on Twitter.
SAFE HARBOR
This press release includes both historical facts and forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "may," "will," "should," "anticipate," "expect," "intend," "plan," "believe," "seek," "estimate," "predict," "potential," the negative of such words, variations of such words and similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. These forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, uncertainties inherent in (i) research and development, (ii) the building of Curemark, LLC's patent portfolio and protection of its intellectual property, (iii) the conduct of clinical trials, (iv) obtaining the requisite approval of regulatory authorities to market and sell Curemark LLC's product candidates, (v) decisions by regulatory authorities regarding labeling and other matters that could affect the availability or commercial potential of Curemark LLC's product candidates, and (vi) competitive developments. Readers should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which are based on Curemark, LLC's current expectations of future events and speak only as of the date they are made. Except as may be required by law, Curemark, LLC undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release to reflect any change in Curemark, LLC's expectations or any change in information, events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statements may be based, or that may affect the likelihood that actual results will differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.
View original content:
SOURCE Curemark, LLC
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2023-04-10T16:14:22+00:00
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wsfa.com
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https://www.wsfa.com/prnewswire/2023/04/10/curemark-announces-addition-stacy-e-grant-senior-vice-president-corporate-strategy-finance/
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Resident Federico Pignatelli and shareholder Pignatelli Trust calls for entire co-op board's resignation over their failure to protect a historic SoHo building from reckless billionaire Ray Dalio
NEW YORK, July 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Local financier and SoHo resident Federico Pignatelli along with Pignatelli Trust today called for the resignation of the entire West Broadway Arches co-op board, led by chair Matthew Dicker, which failed to protect the 1880s New York City landmark building from a 200,000 pound, illegally newly built 7th floor Penthouse and deck addition constructed by billionaire Ray Dalio after he was sold the roof rights for one million dollars—as reported in May by the New York Times.
Pignatelli also called for Buchbinder & Warren, which manages the building, to appoint three non-Board shareholders from the building to an ad-hoc committee in charge of investigating how this grave failure, along with the full breach of the co-op rules and regulations, occurred.
As early as 2012, the co-op board was acutely aware of the structural risks associated with additional weight on top of the building. At that time, they solicited and received a report from local engineering firm Howard Zimmerman that concluded, "existing roof framing cannot support any additional load," a finding that forced the co-op to abandon expansion plans for the building's roof in just building a recreational roof garden.
"Frankly, if this board had any self-respect, they would have resigned months ago," said Federico Pignatelli, a SoHo resident since 1991 whose home has been severely jeopardized by the overly heavy and dangerous new construction. "They have known for more than a decade that this was unsafe, but they let reckless Ray Dalio bully them into submission, after accepting a nice sum of money, and they should be ashamed for kowtowing to the whims of a billionaire that built whatever he liked. The board had a responsibility to preserve a historic landmark. They failed. The board had a responsibility to protect the residents in our building fairly and equally. They failed. They need to take full responsibility for the harm they have done and resign."
Recently, Pignatelli and architect Richard Donald sounded the alarm on the dire safety risks posed by Dalio's unsafe construction, including the possibility of the building collapsing under the pressure of the weight of the new Penthouse floor and harming local residents and passersby. Their presentation included a statement from New York City Council Member Christopher Marte and additional expert analysis from CUNY Professor of Civil Engineering Anil Agrawal.
"In my professional opinion, the construction built by Mr. Dalio and his team is structurally unsound," shared Richard Donald, President, RSD Engineering. "After conducting a close examination, the structure is not compliant with multiple NYC Building Code and lacks adequate lateral stability. Furthermore, eight steel connectors over 140 years wood columns are holding up the suspended newly constructed penthouse and deck, resting on the antique timber columns, also within Mr. Pignatelli's apartment, that cannot structurally bear that weight with the required margin of safety against events such as use of the floor by contemporaneous multiple people, or natural events such as high winds or even mild earthquakes" concluded Mr. Donald.
"This is a systemic enforcement problem, and we cannot let reckless construction projects lead to conditions that jeopardize people's lives and livelihoods," shared New York City Councilmember Christopher Marte. "Seeing what happened at the parking garage on Ann Street, our city needs to do better to enforce code and ensure that approved plans are followed at every site and every stage."
"This 140-years-old building was designed and constructed without any consideration of seismic loading, even for a mild earthquake. Hence, the building was at risk of damage, even during a mild earthquake," added Anil Agrawal, CUNY Professor of Civil Engineering. "Learning from the Virginia earthquake in 2011, the likelihood of occurrence of such earthquakes in the Northeastern United States is quite high. With the construction of the penthouse, the risk of severe damage to the entire building has increased drastically—there is now a serious risk that severe damage or even collapse to the entire building will occur if any mild earthquake or hurricane strikes New York City."
To date, despite calls from Pignatelli, Councilman Marte, and three Engineers and the New York City Buildings Department having issued a stop construction order, a violation for failure to codes, and an intent to revoke the original permit, Mr. Dalio has yet to take the immediate action necessary—taking down the illegal and dangerous new construction—to remediate the damage done to the building and to end the ongoing safety risks facing the residents of the building and community members.
View original content:
SOURCE Federico Pignatelli
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2023-07-17T17:08:49+00:00
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wagmtv.com
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https://www.wagmtv.com/prnewswire/2023/07/17/is-corruption-an-issue-co-ops-negligent-co-op-board-does-billionaires-bidding-resulting-ongoing-public-safety-risk-calls-mass-resignation/
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TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands, Nov. 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading consumer privacy and security company ExpressVPN today publishes two new audits by KPMG and Cure53. The audits underline ExpressVPN's commitment to transparency and delivering to customers privacy and security that they can trust.
Cure53 conducted a penetration test and source code audit of TrustedServer, ExpressVPN's innovative in-house VPN server technology that significantly minimizes privacy and security risks that traditional server management poses.
Separately, independent auditors from KPMG performed testing to check on the processes, systems and controls intended to ensure ExpressVPN's servers were in compliance with its Privacy Policy. This includes testing ExpressVPN's policy of not collecting activity logs or connection logs, and that TrustedServer technology operates as described.
On the basis of the reports provided to ExpressVPN, users can be confident that ExpressVPN will never know what they do online and that ExpressVPN does not have such sensitive information to share, even if compelled to.
The full report by KPMG is available to anyone, as long as you acknowledge KPMG's terms and conditions before accessing it. The full report by Cure53 is available here.
"We are pleased that our systems and core server technologies were examined by KPMG and Cure53. Regular third-party audits that validate our controls and the results of our internal team's work, along with other security efforts like our bug bounty program, give us even more confidence that we are protecting our users well. We are proud to be leading the industry in trust and transparency, and look forward to publishing even more audits this year," said Aaron Engel, Head of Cybersecurity, ExpressVPN.
The full blog article can be read online via: https://www.expressvpn.com/blog/kpmg-privacy-policy-cure53-trustedserver-audit/
About ExpressVPN
Since 2009, ExpressVPN has empowered millions of users to take control of their internet experience. The company's award-winning consumer VPN service is backed by its open-source VPN protocol Lightway, delivering user privacy in just a few clicks. ExpressVPN's Keys password manager and Aircove router make digital privacy and security easy and accessible for all. With a commitment to transparency, ExpressVPN products have been audited by PwC, Cure53, and others.
ExpressVPN has been part of Kape Technologies (LSE:KAPE) since 2021. To learn more about ExpressVPN's industry-leading privacy and security solutions, visit www.expressvpn.com.
View original content:
SOURCE ExpressVPN
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2022-11-10T13:58:40+00:00
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uppermichiganssource.com
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https://www.uppermichiganssource.com/prnewswire/2022/11/10/expressvpns-protections-examined-two-new-independent-audits-by-kpmg-cure53/
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While many couples will be demonstrating their love this Valentine’s Day, other relationships will be showing telltale signs that a breakup is on the horizon.
In fact, there are four signs based on how a couple communicates that can predict if they'll break up with over 90% accuracy, according to research from John Gottman, Ph.D., co-founder of the Gottman Institute, which provides couples' counseling and educates mental health care providers.
The good news? There are ways to address these issues head on.
Toxic Criticism
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Toxic criticism is the first indicator of a problem that needs to be addressed, Kim Polinder, the host of the podcast “Engineering Love” and a relationship coach based in Long Beach, California, tells TODAY.com.
She warns against criticizing your partner too often or doing so generally and unfairly. She explains that making generalizations such as, “You never take out the garbage,” isn’t conducive to constructive communication. “When you use the words ‘never’ and ‘always,’ you’re commenting on someone’s character versus focusing on the issue at hand,” she explains.
Defensiveness
The Scene
Defensiveness, Polinder says, is about making excuses without demonstrating any sort of accountability for one’s own actions. She advises to “learn to take accountability for your part in your partner’s complaint,” — even in situations when it’s a very small part. “I like to refer to the 1% test,” she continues. “Is 1% of what your partner is complaining about true? If so, take accountability for that 1%. Couples get so busy defending themselves that empathy gets lost in the conversation.”
Stonewalling
Stonewalling, Polinder explains, is about shutting a conversation down completely and even physically turning away from your partner. Some couples also engage in the silent treatment.
“When it comes to stonewalling, both partners need to understand the importance of deescalating fights and learning to recognize when one partner is overwhelmed,” she says. “And if you do take a break, it should never last more than a day, and frequent check-in’s should be happening during the break.”
Contempt
Signs of contempt include sighing, rolling your eyes, mocking your partner, engaging in cutting sarcasm, or demonstrating an all-around dislike of your partner or the things they value, Polinder says.
“Out of all of (the warning signs), contempt is the most dangerous predictor, and it’s referred to as the relationship killer,” she says. “Left unaddressed, these behaviors will eventually evolve into percolating resentment over the years.”
Instead, she advises, “learn to speak your feelings rather than communicate in passive-aggressive ways.”
Dr. Donald Cole, the current clinical director of the Gottman Institute, tells TODAY.com that three of the four warning signs occur from time to time in most relationships, but contempt is the most worrisome.
“It is not unusual for even satisfied couples to occasionally slip into criticism and defensiveness. Even occasional stonewalling has been observed. Contempt, however, is only observed in couples whose relationships were on the path to failure,” he explains.
How to fix these communication troubles
Polinder says the best way to address any of these issues is to do so head on. “If you notice any or all of these arguing styles in your relationship, the best way to approach it is to talk about them with your partner,” she advises. “These behaviors are indicative of underlying sentiments and feelings that are going unexpressed.”
Cole agrees that addressing problems as they arise is critical. “Repair is an essential skill for all couples to be successful," he says. "A gentle approach is essential when someone is bringing up an issue to their partner.”
To do this, he recommends following this three-step model:
- State your feeling, such as "I’m worried."
- Describe the situation, such as "About the way we’ve been arguing."
- Express your need, such as, "I need us to find a way to make our conversations go better."
In addition to dealing with obstacles head on, Polinder recommends proactively fostering a stronger connection with your partner.
“The No. 1 skill you can cultivate to improve your relationship is to learn to empathize with your partner,” Polinder says. “Research shows that individuals will not move forward in a conversation until they feel that the other party understands their position.” And until the person feels understood, they'll be less inclined to compromise or listen to another point of view.
“Validating feelings is all about focusing on your partner’s emotions, not their thoughts or judgments about you,” she says. “You don’t have to agree with their conclusions, but you do need to agree with the emotional pain that they’re experiencing. Empathy has become a lost art amongst couples, and it is a key piece to emotional intimacy.”
Polinder also recommends daily 10-minute check-ins with no distractions to make sure resentments aren’t building and getting professional help, either as a couple or alone. For example, "many stonewallers benefit from individual therapy to teach them how to practice communicating through conflict and to understand the root of their trauma,” she says.
Cole recommends couples learn stress management techniques to help them stop taking out individual frustrations on each other and to increase the amount of time they spend together.
He also points out that showing public signs of affection "seem to have a very positive effect on the emotional connection of couples" and that, above all, it's crucial to "cultivate a culture of appreciation and fondness" within your relationship.
You can do this with small actions, such as placing notes around the house, sending a thoughtful text or leaving a loving voicemail during the workday.
“All of these small things can really add up," Cole suggests. “Successful couples tend to spontaneously say things and do things designed to make their partner feel loved and appreciated.”
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
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2023-02-15T20:12:39+00:00
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nbcmiami.com
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https://www.nbcmiami.com/entertainment/the-scene/these-4-signs-of-divorce-predict-if-a-couple-will-split-with-over-90-accuracy/2974724/
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A law firm claims new evidence has been discovered in the case of Oklahoma death row inmate Richard Glossip.
Glossip was convicted of hiring an accomplice to murder his boss in 1997. His supporters claim he was condemned largely by bad police work, ineffective defense attorneys, false testimony from the actual murderer and dishonest prosecutors.
The law firm, Reed Smith, completed a 343-page investigative report in June.
In a recently released supplemental report, they say an uncovered handwritten note from 2007 shows Justin Sneed, the man who admitted to killing motel owner Barry Van Treese, wanted to recant his statement claiming Richard Glossip hired him to carry out the murder. Sneed's attorney responded to his note, saying his testimony implicating Glossip is the reason he was not given the death penalty.
This follows 61 Oklahoma legislators — 44 Republicans and 17 Democrats — calling for a new evidentiary hearing in Glossip's case last week. The lawmakers sent a letter to Attorney General John O’Connor, asking him to join their request to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals. They say the new evidence could prove Glossip is innocent.
"Over 40% of the Oklahoma legislature have signed on to ask Attorney General O’Connor to join Richard Glossip’s request for an evidentiary hearing," said Rep. Kevin McDugle, R-Broken Arrow. "It is my hope and belief that AG O’Connor will move quickly and join this request to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals."
McDugle has been fighting for Glossip’s innocence for years, even filing legislation in 2021 that would have created Oklahoma’s first conviction integrity unit to review convictions. That bill failed to clear legislative hurdles.
"I believe that the people of Oklahoma deserve a full accounting of what went wrong in this case in a new hearing so we can ensure we are not executing an innocent man," McDugle said in June. "That's why my colleagues and I asked for this independent investigation, and why I am so convinced that we need a new hearing in this case to help fix what's been done to this man."
But, O’Connor declined the lawmakers’ request, saying it is the court’s authority to make decisions on claims raised on appeal.
“I look to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals to carefully consider the claims before it and render a decision that complies with Oklahoma law,” O’Connor said.
Prosecutors in his office have urged the court to reject Glossip’s request for an evidentiary hearing.
Executions were put on hold for seven years in Oklahoma, following a last-minute stay of execution for Glossip in 2015. Then-Gov. Mary Fallin issued the stay when it was discovered the Department of Corrections received a shipment of potassium acetate instead of potassium chloride, as required in the state's execution protocol.
That was the third time Glossip’s execution was halted in 2015. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals had granted a two-week reprieve earlier that month, and the U.S. Supreme Court stopped a scheduled execution in January of that year. Glossip’s attorney has argued the repeated start-and-stop at the last minute amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.
The incorrect shipment and use of drugs — as well as the botched lethal injections of Charles Warner in 2015 and Clayton Lockett in 2014 — prompted a multicounty grand jury to investigate Oklahoma’s execution procedures.
That investigation revealed that most Department of Corrections employees “profoundly misunderstood” the protocol and that no one verified the execution drugs prior to injection. The grand jury also condemned Fallin’s then-general counsel Steve Mullins for “flippantly and recklessly disregard[ing]” the state’s written protocol and rights' of inmates. Mullins knew about the wrong drug for hours before the stay was ordered, but advised officials to continue preparing for the execution anyway.
Oklahoma resumed executions in October 2021, when John Grant convulsed and vomited repeatedly after being administered the three-drug cocktail. Three other inmates — Bigler Stouffer, Donald Grant and Gilbert Postelle — were executed in late 2021 and early 2022. Those executions were all reported by witnesses to happen without any complications.
Glossip is scheduled to be executed Sept. 22, but has a clemency hearing before the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board set for Aug. 23. His clemency petition was filed on Friday.
"His conviction is the product of an inexcusably negligent police investigation, coercive and unreliable interrogation techniques, intentional destruction by the State of key physical evidence prior to the trial, prosecutors’ presentation of unvetted, unreliable evidence, and incompetent state-provided defense attorneys, among other breakdowns of the justice system," the petition states.
Last week, the Pardon and Parole Board recommended clemency for another death row inmate, James Coddington. Gov. Kevin Stitt has yet to respond to that recommendation. If he rejects the recommendation, Coddington is set to be executed by lethal injection on Aug. 25 at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
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2022-08-15T09:24:54+00:00
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kgou.org
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https://www.kgou.org/criminal-justice/2022-08-15/report-uncovers-new-evidence-in-death-row-inmate-richard-glossips-case-as-oklahoma-lawmakers-request-new-hearing
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Women's leading fashion retailer launches inaugural bra donation campaign in partnership with I Support the Girls
DULUTH, Minn., Jan. 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading women's fashion retailer, Maurices is launching its inaugural bra drive in partnership with national nonprofit organization I Support the Girls to help collect and distribute bras, allowing women who are survivors of domestic violence or human trafficking, or are experiencing homelessness or distress to stand tall with dignity. This partnership continues to drive Maurices' greater purpose to make a positive difference in the lives of women who are the heart of their hometowns.
The lack of bras and hygiene products is an issue in every community and one that is not often discussed due to the taboo nature of women's intimates and menstruation. The act of wearing a bra gives women the confidence to apply for jobs, maintain employment, and builds self-esteem.
"We learned that bras are the most needed, yet least donated clothing item, so we wanted to jump into action and do our part to help," said Laura Sieger, Chief Marketing Officer of Maurices. "As a company with the interest of women at heart, Maurices is proud to partner with I Support the Girls, so no woman has to choose between buying a hot meal or purchasing a bra to support herself."
From January 5 through January 31, Maurices' customers can donate a new or gently worn bra to any of its nearly 900 locations across the U.S. and receive a $5 coupon off the purchase of a new bra from the brand.
In addition, Maurices will be donating $10,000 to I Support the Girls. Customers can also donate directly to I Support the Girls during checkout at any Maurices' store throughout the U.S between January 5 - 31.
"We're thrilled Maurices has chosen to partner with us to help women in their hometowns," stated Dana Marlowe, CEO of I Support the Girls. "I've seen firsthand how a gently worn or new bra can build confidence and self-esteem to women in need."
In an effort to further support their mission, Maurices will also be partnering with micro and macro female influencers to educate their fan base and share Maurices' bra donation initiative, because there is nothing more powerful than women supporting women.
Any type and size of gently worn or new bra is welcome and needed. To learn more about the partnership with I Support the Girls, visit any Maurices location across the U.S.
Maurices is a leading women's fashion brand offering size-inclusive clothing that celebrates feel good fashion for real life™. Offering versatile, affordable styles that take her from day to night, maurices is a destination for denim, knit tops, loungewear, intimates, and accessories, along with dressy collections. Known for its fun and friendly service and trusted stylists, Maurices offers a warm welcoming experience in stores, and is guided by its greater purpose of making a positive difference in the lives of women who are the heart of its hometowns. Maurices operates 900 stores in hometowns across the U.S. and Canada and offers even more to love at maurices.com with additional categories, sizes, and colors.
For more information, please visit www.maurices.com. Connect with maurices on Facebook (www.facebook.com/maurices), Instagram (www.instagram.com/maurices), TikTok (www.tiktok.com/@officialmaurices) and LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/company/maurices).
I SUPPORT THE GIRLS (ISTG) is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization that collects and distributes donations of new and gently used bras and feminine products to women and girls in need. Since 2015, I Support the Girls has donated more than 21 million bras, underwear, menstrual products, and toiletries across our 4,200 vetted social service agencies. ISTG has served more than 1.8 million women, girls, and folx over the last eight years through organizations including homeless and domestic violence shelters, low-income schools, food banks, and LGBTQ+ centers. ISTG has seven innovative programs to address the unique needs of many populations. Visit www.isupportthegirls.org for more information.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE maurices
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2023-01-05T15:50:10+00:00
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wagmtv.com
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https://www.wagmtv.com/prnewswire/2023/01/05/maurices-creates-hometown-bra-drive-support-womens-self-esteem-confidence/
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How to choose the best plaid shirts
The plaid shirt is a fall and winter staple. Typically long-sleeved and made from flannel, plaid shirts are cozy and warm. While the pattern is casual, a plaid button-up can be worn to work in business casual settings. Wearing one unbuttoned over a T-shirt is a stylish, everyday look. Plaid shirts are also great for outdoor excursions, such as camping.
What’s the difference between plaid and flannel?
Plaid shirts and flannel shirts are often used interchangeably. However, plaid refers to a pattern and flannel to a type of fabric. The confusion stems from the fact that many plaid shirts are made of flannel. Plaid is a print formed by crisscrossing lines in various widths and colors. You can find non-flannel shirts in this pattern.
What are plaid shirts made from?
Plaid shirts are made of several kinds of fabric:
- Cotton: Cotton plaid shirts made of lightweight weaves — such as poplin or dress shirts — have a crisp, smooth texture. Flannel cotton shirts have a soft weave with a subtle, fuzzy finish that’s woven to retain heat. In general, cotton shirts are breathable. Over time and washes, cotton flannel becomes softer, though it can wear out.
- Cotton/polyester blend: A plaid shirt made from a cotton/polyester blend is also breathable but more durable than cotton due to the synthetic threads. It’s also less likely to shrink in the wash. You can find polyester blends with flannel finishes, which feel soft and cozy for cooler weather. There are also 100% polyester plaid shirts.
- Wool: Wool is the traditional material used in flannel shirts. Woolen plaid shirts are heavyweight and can be worn as outerwear in mild cold weather, often over a base layer. The material is naturally breathable, a great insulator and repels moisture. A long-sleeved woolen shirt will keep you cool when you sweat but warm on a cold day.
How to wear a plaid shirt
Plaid shirts offer a versatile look and can be dressed up or down. If you have an active job, a flannel plaid shirt is softer and roomier than a dress shirt, which can constrict movement. Most plaid shirts are button-up and feature collars. Tuck it in if you work in an office. Untuck it and unbutton a few buttons for socializing after work.
You can wear a plaid shirt with jeans, khakis, corduroys and skirts. Aim to match your undershirt or bottoms with a complementary color or with the color elements in the plaid.
Price
Most plaid shirts cost between $14-$100. Wool plaid shirts can cost well over $100.
Best plaid shirts
Best plaid shirts for women
Tommy Hilfiger Plaid Roll-Tab Button-Down Shirt
This is a lightweight, attractive plaid shirt that features roll-tab sleeves so you can wear them three-quarters length. The red plaid looks cute paired with a red tank top underneath or can be worn buttoned up for the holiday season.
Sold by Macy’s
Legendary Whitetails Women’s Cottage Escape Button-Up Flannel
This cotton flannel comes in 19 plaids. It’s great for layering or wearing standalone. The chambray lining at the cuffs and collars is a nice touch.
Sold by Amazon
Dokotoo Women’s Corduroy Button-Down Shirt
This oversized button-down can be worn as a light jacket. The flannel material is thick without being bulky and will keep you warm and stylish.
Sold by Amazon
Match Women’s Long-Sleeved Flannel Plaid Shirt
This classic plaid flannel features a slim, feminine cut if you’re not into the boxy look. The all-cotton material has an authentic thick, soft feel, like wool without the itchiness or high price.
Sold by Amazon
Best plaid shirts for men
Columbia Men’s Cornell Woods Flannel Long-Sleeve Shirt
This high-quality flannel shirt can be worn tucked or untucked. The soft cotton is lightweight, features a little stretch and comes in attractive plaids.
Sold by Macy’s
Carhartt Men’s Loose Fit Heavyweight Flannel
This is roomy, warm flannel you can wear days in a row. The triple-stitched seams and durable cotton can be worn for work and in the great outdoors.
Sold by Amazon
Wrangler Authentics Men’s Long Sleeve Heavyweight Fleece Shirt
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2022-11-22T01:02:53+00:00
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keloland.com
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https://www.keloland.com/reviews/br/apparel-br/shirts-tops-br/8-best-plaid-shirts/
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CUTE: Husky becomes neighborhood watchdog on roof
PHOENIX, Ariz. (KNXV) – A dog that loves to hang out on the roof of her house is becoming the talk of the town in Arizona.
Nala the husky scales the balcony in her backyard to get up on the roof, and it’s drawn the attention and concern of people passing by.
The envy can be seen from lap dogs across the street as Nala is clearly the most popular girl on the block. Her owner, Jason Camarena, said a lot of people love her.
“Honestly, they want to take pictures every time they see her,” he said.
Nala isn’t a typical pet. She takes being “man’s best friend” to the next level and acts as full security detail.
“One person actually came and knocked on her door and thought she was a statue because she just stood there like she did not move at all,” Camarena said.
Her owners have posted on social media that she’s not stuck on the shingles, but that hasn’t stopped the gawkers.
Even law enforcement showed up, with Glendale police arriving for a call about Nala while KNXV was there.
True in form, Nala can be seen looking down from the rooftops, prompting neighbors to give her the nickname “Pigeon.”
“It’s funny because when she’s up there they’re still up there,” Camarena said. “The pigeons.”
When other family members couldn’t provide the backyard Nala needed, Camarena and his mom offered their home two years ago.
He said she’s liberally taken to that freedom.
“Now she’s very happy and outgoing,” Camarena said. “We try to give her a limit, like, maybe like 20 minutes, half hour, but during the winter she could stay out there as long as she wants. we don’t mind. At the end of the day, you know, she’s just enjoying the view up there.”
Her owners said Nala also has a pool in her backyard where she loves to take breaks to cool off.
Copyright 2022 KNXV via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.
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2022-09-18T17:34:16+00:00
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wnem.com
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https://www.wnem.com/2022/09/18/cute-husky-becomes-neighborhood-watchdog-roof/
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Justin Thomas, winner of the 2017 PGA Championship, called out the tournament this week for its cost of concessions.
Golfweek reported that the PGA Championship was charging $18 for a can of Michelob Ultra and $19 for Stella Artois. Thomas reacted to the prices in a tweet.
$18(!!!!!!) for a beer… uhhhh what. Gotta treat the fans better than that! 🤦🏽♂️ https://t.co/7DeyC7WTJE
— Justin Thomas (@JustinThomas34) May 17, 2022
“You want people to come to the tournament. If I'm on the fence and I'm looking at the concession stand, that's not the greatest thing,” Thomas told reporters. “I was just blown away because I've never seen a beer $18 or $19 in my life. Guys have been talking about it, so I, you know, had to stand up for the fans. Felt like it was right.”
Brooks Koepka defended the prices.
“I mean, it's bigger than the normal 12 ounces, 16 ounces. It's bigger than the normal ones, so you'll be all right. You drink enough, you'll be fine,” he said.
The PGA of America told Golfweek the prices at the concession stands are comparable to other stadium events.
“We do have a new concession area, but we also have a new ticketing pricing offering for all the spectators this year, which includes basically as much food and non-alcoholic beverage as they want included in the price of the ticket,” Kerry Haigh, Chief Championships Officer of the PGA of America, told Golfweek.
During the four-day tournament, spectators are given a wristband allowing them to access food and non-alcoholic beverages. For each concession visit, fans can receive two entrees, two sides and two non-alcoholic beverages. There is no limit to the number of visits a fan can make, but PGA officials said they monitor for fans abusing the privilege.
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2022-05-20T16:08:03+00:00
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abc15.com
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https://www.abc15.com/news/national/former-winner-rips-pga-championship-for-its-18-beers
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Authorities in Texas want to find out who stuffed a body inside a suitcase and left it on the side of a hill. The luggage was first spotted on Thursday by people who were feeding animals on the ranch in Bexar County, according to Sheriff Javier Salazar.
"There wasn't really a whole lot of effort to hide the body, other than it was inside of a suitcase," Salazar said during a briefing with reporters.
Authorities have not been able to identify the body.
"We don't know anything about the gender of the remains or how long the remains have been out here," Salazar said.
Salazar said the medical examiner will provide details about the deceased individual, including how the person died.
SEE MORE: Mother arrested after trying to hire hitman to kill her 3-year-old son
The ranch where the body was found is in a rural area of the county, which includes San Antonio.
Salazar noted that there were areas on the property where burn marks were present, so the Fire Marshall was called in to determine whether there was an effort to burn the body.
A search warrant was also being sought in the investigation.
The people who own the land were reportedly out of town when the discovery was made. However, Salazar said they are cooperating with authorities.
Trending stories at Scrippsnews.com
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2023-07-21T19:09:06+00:00
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kivitv.com
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https://www.kivitv.com/body-found-in-luggage-on-texas-ranch
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The Boston City Council is planning to hold hearings on gun violence amidst an uptick in shootings.
City Councilor Brian Worrell and Tania Fernandes Anderson introduced the hearing order this week, calling for a hearing to “discuss appropriate public health and safety responses in conjunction with the community to address gun violence throughout the City with particular attention paid to City Council District 4, and that representatives from BPD, BPHC, Neighborhood Services, and other relevant and interested parties be invited to attend.”
Worrell, at times choking up during Wednesday’s council meeting, spoke passionately about the recent killing of a friend and the issues of violence in the city.
“We are tired of inaction,” Worrell said, going back through his own history of losing loved ones: a 16-year-old cousin killed when he was a kid “over a pair of sneakers,” then an uncle killed in his own house. Now, just this past week, it was his friend Max — Herman Maxwell Hylton, 43, of Roxbury — a popular barber who was killed in his storefront on Washington Street. “We are tired of feeling unsafe.”
“Sad thing is that this story, my story, isn’t unique in our neighborhoods,” said Worrell, of the Dorchester-Mattapan District 4.
He added: “If we are truly getting gun violence in Boston, we will need to address it from all sides. That means short and long-term solutions. rebuild a relationship between communities and departments. Investing in social services, which includes short and long-term solutions.”
Fernandes Anderson said the city needs to take a holistic approach and deal with root causes of violence.
“We are all impacted,” she said, “some of us by way of visceral trauma and some of us directly experience these harsh experiences in disenfranchised communities.”
City Council Public Safety Chair Michael Flaherty said in the council meeting that he will schedule a hearing in short order if that’s what the order’s sponsor’s want.
Anti-violence advocates speaking to the Herald described a rise in street violence over the past month or so.
Matt Parker of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts said he’d spoken to Worrell recently about the hearing and was glad it was happening.
From the city, he said, “a comprehensive assessment of all the city programs that address violence would be huge.”
He said he thinks some of what’s going on is after effects from pandemic isolation.
“The pandemic has really hampered young people’s development,” Parker said. “Any threat or contradiction that occurs, people may result to violence.”
He said it’s important to make sure programs that existed with success before the pandemic open back up. Just recently, for example, the Roxbury YMCA brought back its Friday night activities that he said are a great alternative to draw kids to something positive.
Longtime Dorchester anti-violence worker Emmett Folgert said violence has been heading “in the wrong direction the last month or so.” Like Parker, he too mentioned alternatives: many sports and arts programs that once were free now cost money, which has the side effect of making it less likely that at-risk kids enroll in them.
He noted the recent closure of SOAR, the city’s street outreach program, saying this is the first time in a long time that that service is missing. One key, he said, could be getting a dedicated funding stream for prevention efforts like that so they don’t just have to keep “chasing grants.”
“It’s something communities can plan on and rely on year in and year out,” he said.
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2022-11-03T23:58:04+00:00
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bostonherald.com
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https://www.bostonherald.com/2022/11/03/boston-city-council-planning-hearings-on-gun-violence/
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TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Temperatures have dropped and the wind has calmed a bit on Friday--though it is still breezy and occasionally gusty, especially south and east of Tucson.
Saturday is shaping up to be a beautiful day. Slightly warmer with highs in the low to mid-80s and sunny skies across Southern Arizona.
But Sunday and Monday, we'll feel even more of a warm-up, as high pressure builds and brings us back to near 90 degrees in Tucson with breezy conditions. We'll see another cool down during the middle of next week, but our general pattern will stay dry and mostly sunny.
Ryan Fish
Cochise County Forecast
Cochise County forecast 4.14.23
——
MORE WEATHER
WEATHER STATS AND FACTS
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2023-04-15T00:48:01+00:00
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kgun9.com
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https://www.kgun9.com/weather/forecast/todays-forecast/warmer-with-less-wind-to-start-the-weekend
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TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — With Chinese leader Xi Jinping receiving a norms-breaking third five-year term as president on Friday, the other six men who serve with him on the ruling Communist Party’s all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee are beginning to take up their new portfolios.
All are party veterans with close personal and professional ties to Xi, China’s most powerful figure in decades.
Chief among them, the party’s second-in-command Li Qiang is widely expected to take over as premier, nominally in charge of the Cabinet and caretaker of the economy.
Li is best known for ruthlessly enforcing a brutal “zero-COVID” lockdown on Shanghai last spring.
Shortly after Xi received unanimous approval from the National People’s Congress, the party’s third-ranking official Zhao Leji was put in charge of the nearly 3,000-member ceremonial legislature.
A member of the Politburo Standing Committee until October, Han Zheng was made vice president.
Underscoring the overwhelmingly male makeup of the Chinese political elite, the Politburo Standing Committee has only men on it. The 24-member Politburo, which has had only four female members since the 1990s, also has no female officials after the departure of Vice Premier Sun Chunlan. The other key body, the 200-plus member Central Committee, remains 95% male.
Some details about the current standing committee members in order of their party rank:
LI QIANG
Perhaps the official closest to Xi, Li Qiang is widely expected to take over as premier, nominally in charge of the Cabinet and caretaker of the economy. Li is best known for ruthlessly enforcing a brutal “zero-COVID” lockdown on Shanghai last spring as party boss of the Chinese financial hub, proving his loyalty to Xi in the face of complaints from residents over their lack of access to food, medical care and basic services.
Li, 63, came to know Xi during the future president’s term as head of Li’s native Zhejiang, a relatively wealthy southeastern province now known as a technology and manufacturing powerhouse.
ZHAO LEJI
A holdover from the previous Politburo Standing Committee, Zhao Leji won Xi’s trust as head of the party’s anti-corruption watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, pursuing an anti-graft campaign that has frozen all potential opposition to the leader.
Zhao, 66, was made head of the National People’s Congress and its standing committee, which handles most actual legislative work. As in the case of Xi, who was also made head of the government commission overseeing the military, there were no other candidates or dissenting votes.
WANG HUNING
Another returnee from the previous standing committee, Wang Huning is from an academic background, having been a professor of international politics at Shanghai’s Fudan University and a senior adviser to two of Xi’s predecessors. Unusual for a top official, Wang, 67, has never held office at either the local or central government level.
Wang is known for authoring books critiquing Western politics and society, and on Friday was named as head of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the NPC’s advisory body that, in coordination with the party’s United Front Department, works to build the Xi’s influence and image abroad.
CAI QI
As leader of the capital since 2017, Cai Qi oversaw the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been celebrated by the party as a victory. Cai, 67, also oversaw the forcible eviction of thousands of migrant workers from rundown urban neighborhoods and kept COVID cases relatively low in Beijing without enacting the harsh measures seen in Shanghai and elsewhere.
Cai, who holds a doctorate in economics, also entered into Xi’s political orbit in the Zhejiang political scene. An early adopter of Chinese social media, Cai is also among the very few top officials to have visited Taiwan, praising the island’s ubiquitous convenience stores in a 2012 posting for Caixin magazine’s website. He’s expected to be put in charge of propaganda and messaging.
DING XUEXIANG
As director of the party’s General Office since 2017, Ding Xuexiang has effectively served as Xi’s chief of staff, notably present on state visits and meetings with foreign leaders. Like Wang, Ding has never held government office but sits at the center of party affairs just below the Politburo.
Still just 60, Ding’s career took off after he was appointed secretary to Xi during his brief term as Shanghai party head. He is expected to be appointed first vice premier overseeing administrative matters.
LI XI
Prior to his appointment to the standing committee, Li Xi, 66, headed Guangdong province, one of China’s wealthiest regions and the base of its vast manufacturing sector. He earlier served as party secretary of Mao Zedong’ s famed revolutionary base of Yan’an and had became an early pioneer in what is known as “red tourism,” promoting sites hallowed to the party’s history prior to its seizure of power in 1949.
A close Xi confidante, Li has already been appointed to replace Zhao as head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
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2023-03-10T19:47:39+00:00
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siouxlandproud.com
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https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/international/loyal-and-experienced-chinas-other-top-leaders-take-posts/
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NEW YORK (AP) — A taxi cab turning onto a narrow section of Broadway hit a bicyclist, then swerved onto a Manhattan sidewalk and into a group of pedestrians Monday afternoon, critically injuring three people, police said.
The crash spurred onlookers into action, police said, with bystanders rushing to try to lift the taxi off two women pinned by the vehicle.
It happened at 1 p.m. in the city’s Flatiron district, a little more than five blocks south of tourist-packed Herald Square. Police said it appeared to be accidental, but an investigation was underway to determine exactly what happened.
The yellow cab was on West 29th Street, turning south onto Broadway, when the collision with the bicyclist took place, according to NYPD Deputy Chief John Chell.
The cab crossed through a bike lane and continued onto a narrow sidewalk, striking people before coming to rest against the side of a building, trapping the two women.
“As this occurs, a remarkable scene took place,” Chell said. “About 15 to 20 New Yorkers attempted to take this cab off these women.”
A total of six people were taken to the hospital, police said, including the taxi driver. Three of the injuries were not considered critical.
The crash took place outside a bagel shop on the same block as the New York City flagship bakery of Milk Bar, a dessert shop with a national following.
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2022-06-24T23:41:49+00:00
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kfor.com
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https://kfor.com/news/national/ap-us-news/police-3-critically-hurt-when-taxi-jumps-curb-on-broadway/
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Cleveland Guardians right-hander Triston McKenzie has allowed 16 home runs in 13 starts this season.
McKenzie (4-6, 4.03 ERA) will receive the start against the visiting New York Yankees in the finale of a three-game series on Sunday afternoon. And it won’t be an easy task.
New York belted six home runs in the doubleheader sweep on Saturday. The Yankees went deep four times in a 13-4 victory in the opener before launching two homers in a 6-1 win in the nightcap.
Matt Carpenter hit two home runs in the first game and D.J. LeMahieu and Jose Trevino each added one. In Game 2, Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton belted back-to-back homers in the fourth inning.
Guardians manager Terry Francona doesn’t appear concerned about McKenzie’s penchant to surrender the long ball.
“I don’t think he has issues,” Francona said recently of McKenzie, who is 0-0 with a 6.75 ERA in one career start against New York. “On some of the days he’s given up runs, he’s given up two home runs in seven innings, we’ll take that.
“I think it’s probably a little different every time out. I think in the past he’s given up some solos, which isn’t the worst thing in the world when you’re not giving up other runs.”
Left-hander Jordan Montgomery (3-1, 3.27) will attempt to help the Yankees secure a season sweep of the Guardians. He is 0-1 with a 5.27 ERA in three career starts against Cleveland, as well as 0-0 with a 3.72 ERA in two career starts at Progressive Field.
New York has scored the most runs in majors (403) and given up the fewest (239). There’s a reason the Yankees have the best record in baseball.
They hit for power. They clog the bases with runners. Their starting pitching is top notch, as is their bullpen.
The Guardians made a number of player moves on Saturday, including sending rookie Oscar Gonzalez to the 10-day injured list with right abdominal tightness.
Gonzalez underwent an MRI on Friday, which revealed mild swelling in his rib area. Francona said the outfielder will be shut down for about a week, but he isn’t expecting it to be a long-term problem.
Rookie infielder Gabriel Arias was recalled from Triple-A Columbus to take Gonzalez’s roster spot. Francona said Cleveland might call up another player, perhaps an outfielder, in the near future.
The Yankees recalled outfielder Miguel Andujar as the 27th man for Saturday’s doubleheader before sending him back to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. There has been talk that Andujar has asked to be traded.
“I enjoy playing baseball,” Andujar said. “I’ve been playing this game for a long time. I want to play at this level. The exact details of the conversation, I’m going to keep those private.”
Andujar batted .352 with three homers and 17 RBIs in his first 19 games in Triple-A. He started both games of the doubleheader and was 1-for-8, with three runs and an RBI.
“I definitely think this year’s version of Miggy is more in line with 2018 and hopefully a more mature refined hitter, fielder … everything,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
In the first game of the doubleheader, Aroldis Chapman faced three batters and walked them all. He had not appeared in a major-league game since May 24 and was activated from the injured list on Friday.
Boone said Chapman won’t move into the closer’s role. That’s being manned by Clay Holmes, who threw two pitches in Game 2 and earned his 15th save.
–Field Level Media
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2022-07-03T20:33:55+00:00
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siouxlandproud.com
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https://www.siouxlandproud.com/mlb/triston-mckenzie-guardians-aim-to-subdue-high-octane-yankees/
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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Carey Wooten spent nearly seven weeks hunting for safe drinking water for herself, her two children and three dogs after clocking out each day as a Taco Bell manager, so Gov. Tate Reeves’ announcement that the water is clean again in Mississippi’s capital came as welcome news.
But the crisis in the city of Jackson isn’t over, even if its boil-water advisory was lifted on Thursday. While the state plans to stop handing out free bottled water at sites around the city Saturday night, the city said water pressure still hasn’t been fully restored, and state health officials said lead in some pipes remains so worrisome that pregnant women and young children should still use bottled water.
“The water that’s coming out of my kitchen sink smells like fresh sewage … as soon as you turn it on, it hits you right in the face. It’s horrible,” Wooten said earlier this month. “I’ve tried to give one of my dogs the water, but when she smells it she won’t even touch it. She walks away from it.”
Wooten said Friday that the liquid flowing into her kitchen sink still smells like sewage, but not as bad as before, and she’s glad she won’t have to run to distribution sites before their bottled water supplies run out each day.
Other residents told The Associated Press on Friday that their water remains too discolored to count on, so now they’ll have to rely on water distribution by community-run charities or buy water again themselves, adding insult to injury.
Jackson had already been under a state health department boil-water notice for a month when torrential rain fell in August, flooding the Pearl River and overwhelming the treatment system. Water pressure abruptly dropped, emptying faucets for days.
How did this happen? Residents, politicians, experts and activists say systemic racism is the root cause.
Jackson’s population has declined since 1980, a decade after the city’s schools began integrating. Many white families left for the suburbs, leaving less revenue to maintain the infrastructure. Middle class Black people then moved out to escape urban decay and rising crime. State and federal spending never made up the difference.
“The legacy of racial zoning, segregation, legalized redlining have ultimately led to the isolation, separation and sequestration of racial minorities into communities (with) diminished tax bases, which has had consequences for the built environment, including infrastructure,” said Marccus Hendricks, an associate professor of urban studies and planning at the University of Maryland.
Other cities across the United States could face similar challenges with aging water systems that are ill-equipped to handle more intense and frequent flooding caused by climate change, experts in water infrastructure and environmental justice told The Associated Press.
And when it comes to water scarcity and contamination, they say working-class communities of color are most vulnerable. Jackson’s population is more than 80% Black and the poverty level is 24.5%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Majority-Black Flint, Michigan, has struggled to remove lead from its water since 2014. Other areas where large poor or nonwhite populations lack reliably safe drinking water include major cities like Baltimore and Honolulu as well as smaller municipalities like Las Vegas, New Mexico; and Benton Harbor, Michigan.
Heather McTeer Toney worked to clean up discolored tap water as mayor of Greenville, Mississippi, before serving as the Environmental Protection Agency’s southeast regional administrator from 2014 to 2017. Now she works on environmental justice issues nationwide for the Environmental Defense Fund. She said many majority-minority communities lack consistent access to clean water.
“Any community that is suffering from lack of infrastructure maintenance is dealing with the same problem, maybe just on a different scale,” Toney said. “But across the nation, with …. poor communities that are often Black, brown, Indigenous and on the frontlines of the climate crisis, we see the same thing happening over and over again.”
Hendricks and Toney blame systemic racism for government disinvestment in communities of color. Maisie Brown calls Jackson’s troubles “the product of environmental racism.”
“I don’t think we realize how deeply ingrained racism is in all of our structures and systems, including infrastructure,” said Brown, a 20-year-old student at Jackson State University who was born and raised in the city.
Brown is a member of the Mississippi Students Water Crisis Advocacy Team, a group of about 30 students delivering water to residents who are disabled, elderly or don’t have vehicles. That’s what relief has looked like in Jackson — the people most affected doing what they can to help each other. But the limited handouts each day haven’t been enough, forcing people to buy water in stores.
The two cases Wooten and nearly 500 others picked up at the site in south Jackson one day contained just under nine gallons (30 liters). That’s less than 3% of the roughly 300 gallons (1,136 liters) that the EPA says the average American family uses each day.
Needed improvements at the city’s two treatment plants include replacing ineffective pumps, leaky filters, faulty membranes and corroded pipes; removing accumulated sludge and hiring enough qualified staff to properly manage the system. Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, a Democrat, has pleaded for patience while seeking state and federal help, saying such fixes could cost billions of dollars that the city doesn’t have.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan said while visiting Jackson that he wants the city to get its fair share of federal money flowing to the state.
Reeves, a Republican, has not said how much Mississippi should spend on solving this problem. The legislature directed $400 million of federal pandemic relief funds toward water infrastructure upgrades around the state, but it’s unclear how much Jackson will receive because cities are still applying for money. “We cannot perfectly predict what may go wrong with such a broken system in the future,” Reeves said Thursday.
Without reliable funding streams, many Jackson residents don’t expect to see consistently drinkable water anytime soon.
Karla McCullough, 46, is a Black woman and Jackson native who runs a charity that helped organize the distribution site where Wooten got her water. She told the AP that the city’s residents have experienced some level of water scarcity their entire lives.
“I want to be hopeful and optimistic,” McCullough said. “In my lifetime, I may not see the infrastructure fixed and it restored to a point where there are not any water issues. But my hope is that my son and his children won’t have to deal with this.”
___
Emily Wagster Pettus contributed to this report. Follow Drew Costley on Twitter: @drewcostley.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content
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2022-09-16T16:19:52+00:00
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everythinglubbock.com
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https://www.everythinglubbock.com/news/health/ap-racism-seen-as-root-of-water-crisis-in-mississippi-capital/
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — In just 20 months, Republican Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt has filed 25 lawsuits against Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration, challenging policies on COVID-19 vaccinations, climate change, immigration and education, among other things.
It puts Missouri behind only Louisiana in the number of lawsuits against the Biden administration.
Schmitt’s wins are about equal to his losses thus far. But Schmitt has made the court cases a central theme in his front-running campaign for an open U.S. Senate seat.
“Since Joe Biden has taken over the White House, Eric has been one of the leading state attorneys general to hold the Biden administration accountable,” Schmitt’s campaign website declares.
Schmitt’s legal barrage against the federal government contrasts sharply with his approach during his first two years in office, when he filed just one suit against Republican President Donald Trump’s administration.
It also marks a significant departure from the way Missouri attorneys general have historically run the office, though it’s more in line with recent national trends. Attorneys general in both Republican- and Democratic-led states have increasingly sparred with the federal government over the past decade.
Schmitt said it’s his responsibility “to push back on the Biden administration’s policies.”
“The Attorney General’s Office standing in between Missourians and a radical, overreaching government is a hallmark of federalism, and states have a vital duty to keep the federal government in check,” Schmitt said in a statement to The Associated Press.
His Democratic Senate opponent, Trudy Busch Valentine, said Schmitt has wasted taxpayer resources “by filing endless publicity-seeking lawsuits over things that rarely have anything to do with the critical issues facing Missouri.”
Missouri’s campaign season effectively began when Republican U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt announced on March 8, 2021, that he would not seek reelection. Less than three hours later, Schmitt announced he was leading a dozen states in a lawsuit challenging a Biden directive on calculating the “social cost” of greenhouse gas emissions for federal regulations.
The timing of the two announcements may have been coincidental — the lawsuit had been in the works for weeks, said Schmitt spokesman Chris Nuelle. But it wasn’t the last time Schmitt sued.
The next week, Schmitt joined other states in a lawsuit challenging Biden’s revocation of a permit for the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
Then on March 24, 2021 — the same day Schmitt formally announced his Senate candidacy — Schmitt joined a dozen other states in a lawsuit challenging Biden’s moratorium on new oil and gas leasing permits on U.S. lands and waters.
He followed that up with his fourth lawsuit in as many weeks against Biden’s administration — a case alleging the U.S. Treasury Department was threatening to adopt an overly broad interpretation of a law prohibiting federal pandemic relief funds from being used to offset state tax cuts.
The initial flurry of lawsuits led to months of legal wrangling, with mixed results.
A judge dismissed the Keystone pipeline case this January after the company abandoned the project. A federal appeals court in July also upheld the dismissal of the Treasury Department lawsuit, saying Schmitt’s office failed to show any harm justifying the suit.
After an appeals court lifted a nationwide injunction, a district judge in August imposed a limited injunction blocking Biden’s moratorium on new oil and gas leases from being enforced in the 13 states that sued, including Missouri.
The first case Schmitt filed — challenging the social cost of greenhouse gases — was dismissed by a federal judge last year. A panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in June but has yet to rule.
Schmitt’s overall win-loss record is close to even so far, though many cases are awaiting rulings from trial judges or appellate courts.
His most recent lawsuit — contesting Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan — was dismissed last Thursday by a federal judge who said the six suing Republican-led states raised “important and significant challenges” but failed to show harm giving them grounds to sue. The next day, an appeals court temporary blocked Biden’s administration from forgiving student loans while it considers an appeal from the states.
Schmitt previously was on a winning team of states that halted Biden’s COVID-19 vaccination policy for employers with more than 100 workers. He also joined with other states to stop Biden’s administration from ending pandemic-related restrictions on migrants seeking asylum on the southern border, though that case is on appeal.
The cost of Schmitt’s federal legal battles is unclear, because they’re handled as regular duties of state employees.
But “when you spend your time on these kinds of national issues, that necessarily means that you are not spending time on — or giving attention to — other things that the office is doing,” said Jim Layton, a top attorney from 1994-2017 under Democratic state attorneys general Jay Nixon and Chris Koster.
Schmitt’s office said other duties have continued as normal. He has filed suits alleging consumer fraud, just as predecessors did, and has sought to shut down a private boarding school over abuse allegations, among other things. He also filed nearly 60 lawsuits to overturn mask mandates and other COVID-19 restrictions imposed by public schools, cities and counties.
Schmitt’s frequent lawsuits put him at the forefront of a national trend. States collectively have filed 55 multi-state lawsuits against the federal government during the first 22 months of Biden’s administration, according to data compiled by Paul Nolette, chair of the political science department at Marquette University. Nearly all have come from Republican-led states.
But that’s well shy of the 160 multi-state lawsuits filed against Trump’s administration, when Democratic-controlled states led the barrage. New York filed 109 lawsuits against Trump’s administration.
Prior to Trump, states filed a median of 24 multi-state lawsuits per presidential term from Republican Ronald Reagan through Democrat Barack Obama. Missouri typically was involved in just one or two of those.
“We never really had occasion that I could think of where the federal government was doing things that we did not approve of,” said attorney Jim Deutsch, chief deputy under Missouri Attorney General William Webster from 1989 to 1993. Webster and then-President George H.W. Bush both were Republicans.
Layton said attorneys general used to function more like the CEO of a large law firm defending state agencies and statutes. But they now seem more focused on affecting public policies, he said.
“As the country has gotten more partisan, I think it’s become more common for attorneys general to operate that way,” Layton said.
___
Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2022 midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter, https://twitter.com/ap_politics. Check out https://apnews.com/hub/explaining-the-elections to learn more about the issues and factors at play in the 2022 midterm elections.
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2022-10-26T17:47:05+00:00
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kron4.com
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https://www.kron4.com/news/politics/ap-politics/ap-biden-suits-get-mixed-results-for-missouri-senate-candidate/
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NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with New York Times reporter Russ Buettner about what the release of former President Donald Trump's taxes reveals and what kind of precedent the move sets.
Copyright 2022 NPR
NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with New York Times reporter Russ Buettner about what the release of former President Donald Trump's taxes reveals and what kind of precedent the move sets.
Copyright 2022 NPR
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2022-12-21T22:06:05+00:00
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delawarepublic.org
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https://www.delawarepublic.org/2022-12-21/what-trumps-tax-returns-reveal-about-him-and-the-u-s-financial-disclosure-system
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WFO SACRAMENTO Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Wednesday, May 25, 2022
_____
HEAT ADVISORY
URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Sacramento CA
224 PM PDT Sun May 22 2022
...Very Hot Temperatures Expected Tuesday and Wednesday...
.High pressure over interior northern California will result in
triple digit temperatures across much of the Valley for both
Tuesday and Wednesday, with the hottest temperatures forecast on
Wednesday. Hot temperatures combined with warm overnight lows will
result in widespread moderate heat risk to locally high heat
risk. Sensitive groups should take precautions to prevent heat-
related illnesses.
...HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM NOON TUESDAY TO 11 PM PDT
WEDNESDAY...
* WHAT...Afternoon temperatures from 98 to 103 degrees, with the
hottest day expected on Wednesday. Overnight lows from the upper
60s to mid 70s.
* WHERE...Portions of the Sacramento Valley, Carquinez Strait and
Delta, Northern San Joaquin Valley and Northeast Foothills.
* WHEN...From noon Tuesday to 11 PM PDT Wednesday.
* IMPACTS...Widespread moderate heat risk to locally high heat
risk. Heat-related illnesses will be possible, especially for
groups that are sensitive to the heat.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out
of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young
children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles
under any circumstances.
Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When
possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or
evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat
stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when
possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent
rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone
overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location.
Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1.
_____
Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
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2022-05-22T23:02:01+00:00
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sfgate.com
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https://www.sfgate.com/weather/article/CA-WFO-SACRAMENTO-Warnings-Watches-and-17190968.php
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MASTRY Ventures Co-founder Rudy Cline-Thomas becomes Chairman
NEW YORK, Feb. 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- MASTRY Ventures announced today, in partnership with General Catalyst, that it has acquired a majority stake in Athletes First. Athletes First is the premier football agency representing athletes, coaches, front office personnel, and broadcasters. Founded in 2001 by Brian Murphy, Athletes First has set itself apart by brokering countless record-breaking contracts, representing eight Super Bowl MVPs, the most first round NFL draft picks for three years in a row, and a prestigious list of NFL and NCAA coaches and front office personnel. Athletes First's roster of more than 450 clients includes Aaron Rodgers, Dak Prescott, Aaron Donald, Derwin James, Green Bay Packers Head Coach Matt Lafleur, LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly, and Chicago Bears General Manager Ryan Poles. This partnership will expand opportunities for Athletes First's clients to take their success to new levels beyond the field. The terms of the deal were undisclosed.
"Athletes First is not simply the name of our company, it is our culture, mission, and family," said Brian Murphy, an Athletes First Founder and CEO. "MASTRY Ventures and General Catalyst are exceptional partners for us as their success is rooted in that same philosophy. This partnership will redefine the traditional continuum of representation services as we use our combined platforms and vision to help clients maximize their positive impact on families, communities, and the world."
"Athletes have yet to capitalize on the full value and scale of their social reach and cultural impact. As we move into the next chapter, I look forward to building on the existing success of Athletes First, while focusing on empowering athletes beyond the field by transforming them from players to owners," said Rudy Cline-Thomas, MASTRY Ventures Co-founder and Managing Partner. "This acquisition creates a tangible pathway for our clients to play the long game on their terms. MASTRY Ventures has long admired Athletes First, not just for building the world's top football agency, but also for the intentional way they do business, their unique culture of putting athletes first, and genuine commitment to teamwork."
MASTRY Ventures and General Catalyst plan to create new platforms in which Athletes First's clients can unlock new opportunities, build enterprises, and establish greater ownership across various industries. MASTRY Ventures Co-founder Rudy Cline-Thomas will assume a pivotal role as Chairman of the largest NFL agency.
"The need for more diverse representation in the sports industry was a driving force in pursuing this partnership," said Cline-Thomas. "The acquisition allows us to expand opportunities for our clients, create real value, and remove long-standing barriers to access."
"We believe athletes are among the most important influencers and creators in society today. They need and deserve the tools, technology, and relationships to grow and build their personal enterprises and their impact. We have seen this shift happen before for artists, content creators and small businesses and how it's unlocked incredible opportunity," said Paul Kwan, Managing
Director at General Catalyst. "We are excited to collaborate with Athletes First and MASTRY Ventures to build a category defining company that helps athletes thrive and brings powerful positive change that endures."
Brian Murphy will remain CEO and run day-to-day operations.
About Athletes First
Athletes First is a full-service management firm that has been representing elite players, coaches, personnel, and broadcasters since its inception in 2001. Based in Southern California, with satellite offices in New York City, NY, Gainesville, FL, Austin, TX and Atlanta, GA, Athletes First is a staple in the sports representation business. Athletes First has strategically grown its practice with the most widely experienced agent team in the industry composed of forward thinkers, trained attorneys, and master negotiators. Our mission is simple: Do the right things, with the right people, for the right reasons.
About MASTRY Ventures
MASTRY Ventures is a venture capital firm that leads early-stage investments. Our promise at MASTRY Ventures is to be a lot more than capital. Our network includes 100+ of the most impactful public and private company founders and CEOs, the brightest operators with deep technical and industry expertise, a roster of Midas List VCs, and the most progressive athletes and influencers shaping today's world. We leverage our unique network to bend the risk curve for our companies. We develop partnerships, create distribution advantages, help build people strategies, and provide true rolled-up-sleeves support to help our founders succeed. And it doesn't end there. Diversity, equity and inclusion is a MASTRY Ventures cornerstone. We are building a unique playbook to ensure access to diverse capital, governance and talent for our portfolio companies from day one.Our past portfolio includes Zoom, Pager Duty, Datadog, Robinhood, Carta, Coinbase, GOAT, Uber, Dapper Labs, Levels Health, Hippo, Madison Reed, Acorns, Papa, Pachama, Nurx, Hims, Shef to name a few.
About General Catalyst
General Catalyst is a venture capital firm that invests in powerful, positive change that endures — for our entrepreneurs, our investors, our people, and society. We support founders with a long-term view who challenge the status quo, partnering with them from seed to growth stage and beyond to build companies that withstand the test of time. With offices in San Francisco, Palo Alto, New York City, London, and Boston, the firm has helped support the growth of businesses such as: Airbnb, Deliveroo, Guild, Gusto, Hubspot, Illumio, Lemonade, Livongo, Oscar, Samsara, Snap, Stripe, and Warby Parker. For more: www.generalcatalyst.com.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE MASTRY Ventures
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2023-02-28T16:38:09+00:00
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ksla.com
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https://www.ksla.com/prnewswire/2023/02/28/mastry-ventures-general-catalyst-acquire-nfl-sports-agency-athletes-first/
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AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Overhaul, a software-based, supply-chain visibility, risk, compliance and insurance solution for the world's leading brands, is ending 2022 on a strong note, announcing continued company growth and momentum through three new prestigious award wins. The company was selected as an Inno Pick in the 2022 Austin Inno Fire Awards by The Business Journals, ranked #52 as a Top Workplace for 2022 by The Austin American-Statesman Top Workplaces and named a recipient of the 2022 Top Tech Startup award by Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive.
"We're so pleased to end 2022 on a positive note with these additional award wins," said Barry Conlon, CEO and Founder of Overhaul. "These acknowledgements prove that we are not only dedicated to our local Austin roots, but the larger supply chain and logistics industry as a whole. We look forward to carrying this momentum into the New Year and accomplishing even more."
Now in its seventh year, the Austin Inno Fire Awards is an annual celebration of innovation across the Austin ecosystem - big and small, people and organizations. The award seeks to highlight and honor the local startups, VC firms and supporting organizations in the Austin community that have accomplished major wins during 2022.
The Austin-American Statesman Top Workplaces list is based solely on employee feedback and evaluates how companies measure up to the competition in the greater Austin area. The confidential survey given to employees uniquely measures 15 culture drivers that are critical to the success of any organization: including alignment, execution, and connection. Overhaul is listed among 127 companies on this year's list with over 80 employees surveyed.
The Top Tech Startup awards spotlight top software and technology startups in the supply chain and logistics space. This year's winners play in a variety of different market sectors, however AI-powered automation and real-time transportation visibility make up a majority of the winners (35% and 33%, respectively) and bring in $1 million to $20 million-plus in revenue per year.
These latest honors add to Overhaul's award portfolio for 2022, with the company honored as No. 1003 on the 2022 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in America, ranked #236 on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500, rated as a High Performer in the G2 Summer 2022 Supply Chain Visibility Grid and recognized as a Challenger on Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Real-Time Transportation Visibility Platforms in this year alone.
Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, Overhaul is the only data-agnostic supply chain visibility and security solution. Overhaul transforms real-time visibility into risk management, compliance, and insurance solutions for its partners. Its software-based approach offers high configurability and efficient time-to-value to supply-chain organizations without heavy tech. Additionally, Overhaul's experienced team members hold thousands of years of logistics experience, partnering with each client to create a comprehensive solution for their entire supply chain. As such, Overhaul has quickly grown to be a trusted provider for Fortune 100 companies moving freight globally across industries, such as pharmaceutical and healthcare, technology, logistics, and food and beverage. Customers include Microsoft, Bristol Myers Squibb and many others. For more information, visit over-haul.com, and follow them on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
View original content to download multimedia:
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2022-12-14T16:31:37+00:00
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mysuncoast.com
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https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2022/12/14/overhaul-closes-out-momentous-2022-with-three-prestigious-company-award-recognitions/
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Annual conference brings together top industry leaders to explore the future of digital banking
PLANO, Texas, Nov. 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Alkami Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALKT) ("Alkami"), a leading cloud-based digital banking solutions provider for banks and credit unions in the U.S., today announced the keynote speakers for its annual conference, Alkami Co:lab 2023, being held in Grapevine, TX, April 3-5, 2023. The event is known for bringing together the best minds in the industry to examine key trends and digital innovation strategies for financial institutions.
"Banks and credit unions deserve digital banking solutions that work as hard as they do to earn and develop customer trust," said Alex Shootman, CEO, Alkami. "Co:lab is where the best and the brightest in the industry gather to share their experiences and insights, collaborate around challenges and solutions, and accelerate innovation to make digital banking the primary growth channel for financial institutions."
This year's event will feature two prominent digital banking visionaries and a thought-provoking stand-up star:
- Jim Marous, co-publisher of The Financial Brand, owner of the Digital Banking Report—and one of the most respected experts on banking trends—will deliver in-depth research and actionable insights on next-generation financial services with passion and enthusiasm.
- Scott Klososky, founding partner of digital strategy firm Future Point of View, will focus on the intersection of humanity and digital transformation. He's known for accurately predicting the next digital trends and explaining the opportunities they present for the economy and society.
- Michael Jr., is a stand-up star who helps audiences laugh, think, and discover and activate their purpose. His combination of dynamic storytelling with thought-provoking life principles has landed him on The Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live and at keynotes and comedy stages far and wide.
Alkami CMO, Allison Cerra, added, "Alkami is giving a voice to the future of digital banking. Together with our clients, fintech partners and digital banking leaders from across the industry, we come together to form Co:lab—a place where collaboration and innovation converge to shape what's next for the industry."
The event will also feature leading banks and credit unions from across the country sharing their digital transformation stories, while numerous breakout sessions will further explore the hottest topics and trends impacting the industry today, with learning tracks focused on retail banking, business banking, and data analytics and marketing. Throughout the event, conference attendees will enjoy networking opportunities to connect with some of the fastest-growing banks and credit unions in the country and the most innovative technology partners in the industry.
Register now at AlkamiColab.com to secure your spot.
Alkami Technology, Inc. is a leading cloud-based digital banking solutions provider for financial institutions in the United States that enables clients to grow confidently, adapt quickly and build thriving digital communities. Alkami helps clients transform through retail and business banking, digital account opening and digital loan origination, payment fraud prevention, and data analytics and engagement solutions. To learn more, visit www.alkami.com.
Media Relations Contact
Jennifer Cortez
jennifer.cortez@alkami.com
Katie Schimmel
katie@outlookmarketingsrv.com
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Alkami Technology, Inc.
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2022-11-02T18:16:34+00:00
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kcbd.com
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https://www.kcbd.com/prnewswire/2022/11/02/alkami-announces-keynote-lineup-colab-2023/
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At Metro Richmond Zoo in Virginia, a zookeeper who happened to be breastfeeding has helped a new orangutan mom learn how — via a live demonstration. This happened after the orangutan, Zoe, didn’t show appropriate maternal instincts with her first child two years ago.
On March 2, 2021, Zoe the orangutan had her first child at the zoo, Taavi, but didn’t seem to understand how to care for him. Zookeepers tried to show her how to hold and nurse her baby by demonstrating with a doll, but that didn’t work. Zoo experts think that Zoe, whose mother died when she was nine months old, had never really learned the skills necessary to be a mom.
Eventually, keepers had to step in to help the baby thrive. They made attempts to reintroduce the two, but these were unsuccessful. The care team decided to hand-raise Taavi, which initially required feedings every two hours and constant monitoring.
In this Facebook post from the time, an image shows Taavi being held in a baby carrier by a human, mimicking the primates’ mother-child relationship in the wild.
Recently, Zoe gave birth a second time. Determined to try to help her again, keepers tried something different. And this time it worked.
The new baby was born on Dec. 12, 2022. When it happened, the zoo’s vet contacted a zookeeper and new mom, Whitlee Turner, and asked her to breastfeed her own baby, Caleb, in front of Zoe. Turner agreed. She grabbed her son Caleb and they arrived at the indoor orangutan habitat not long after Zoe gave birth.
Wearing her breastfeeding bra, Turner used exaggerated movements and pointed and talked to make sure Zoe understood what she was doing. She said Zoe watched her curiously the entire time. And not long after the live demonstration, Zoe was able to successfully breastfeed her own child.
“I had a really hard time in the beginning as a new mom with my breastfeeding journey,” Turner said in a zoo press release. “[I] required a lot of guidance and help before we really figured it out. I think it was really special being able to share this with [Zoe] and help her in her journey. Whether it was an orangutan or a human, I just want to be able to help any new mom.”
This YouTube video from the zoo tells the whole story:
In the video, the zoo notes that it wasn’t just the demonstration that helped. Zookeepers worked with Zoe for months before the birth to try and “kickstart her maternal instincts.” They showed her videos of orangutan moms giving birth and caring for their young and used a stuffed orangutan to show her what to do.
Lead zookeeper Jessica Gring would hold the plush toy out and show it to Zoe, and this technique seems to have helped, since the video above shows Zoe mimicking that behavior with her own child. This has allowed the keepers to do a visual wellness check of the baby.
Orangutans are great apes native to the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. They are the second largest of all primates, with a gestation of eight and a half months. Their populations suffer from poaching and deforestation; they are listed as critically endangered by the IUCN Red List. There have been just four orangutan births in Metro Richmond Zoo’s history, so this success is a big deal for the small institution.
The mom and baby have bonded and can now be seen in the orangutan house, thanks to the great work from zoo staff!
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Check out Simplemost for additional stories.
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2023-03-31T14:17:10+00:00
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krtv.com
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https://www.krtv.com/zookeeper-teaches-orangutan-breastfeed-example
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New York City authorities are searching for three suspects who allegedly participated in an armed robbery on Tuesday while they were purchasing a puppy.
New York Police Department (NYPD) officials announced that three men met the dog's 23-year-old owner at around 9:22 p.m. near his residence on Seneca Avenue and Faile Street in the Bronx.
The suspects told the dog's owner that they were interested in purchasing the pup on social media.
During their encounter, the suspects brandished a gun and "forcibly removed" the puppy from its owner before rushing to a vehicle and fleeing.
NEW YORK DEMOCRATS TURN ON EACH OTHER OVER HOMELESS MAN’S SUBWAY DEATH
"The three individuals then fled the location in a gray four-door sedan," the NYPD said, adding that the victim was not injured.
Police released the photo of one of the alleged suspects, who has a mustache and a light complexion.
NYC SUBWAY CHOKEHOLD DEATH OF JORDAN NEELY PROBED BY ‘SENIOR’ PROSECUTORS AS PROTESTERS CLASH WITH POLICE
The second and third suspects are males, but there are no known details about their appearances.
The NYPD asks that anyone who recognizes the suspect or has any information about the theft to call the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).
NYPD officers are actively investigating the incident. No other details are available at this time.
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2023-05-12T08:05:00+00:00
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foxbangor.com
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https://www.foxbangor.com/news/national/new-york-city-puppy-stolen-by-armed-robbery-suspects-during-sale-police/article_9cc8ba53-fe0b-5441-bb3e-1677a27e5658.html
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Trending:
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Friday, February 17th 2023, 7:25 pm
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Be among the first to get breaking news, weather, and general news updates from News on 6 delivered right to your inbox!
February 17th, 2023
February 18th, 2023
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2023-02-19T00:05:41+00:00
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newson6.com
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https://www.newson6.com/story/63f02922e2931a7db504f232/news-on-6-6-pm-newscast-2172023
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Chris Stapleton expands 2023’s All American Road Show
February 2, 2023 12:46PM CST
ABC
Chris Stapleton‘s adding nearly 20 dates to the 2023 edition of the All American Road Show.
The new concerts kick off April 26 in El Paso, Texas, and continue through August, though Chris does have a handful of already-scheduled shows in Texas and Oklahoma in March.
Presales start next Tuesday, February 7, before tickets become available to the general public on Friday, February 10.
Next up, Stapleton’s scheduled to sing the national anthem at Super Bowl LVII Sunday, February 12, on FOX.
Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
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2023-02-02T22:23:52+00:00
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klll.com
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https://www.klll.com/chris-stapleton-expands-2023s-all-american-road-show/
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No arms, no problem: Middle schooler born without arms tackles football
CORALVILLE, Iowa (KCRG/Gray News) - A middle schooler in Iowa who has a unique disability doesn’t let it get in the way of his dreams.
Seventh-grader Thaddeus Longmire was born without arms, but that doesn’t stop him from playing the game he loves: football.
“Football is very fun and being a tight end blocking and feeling like a part of the team,” Thaddeus told KCRG. “No one really said I couldn’t do it, they just gave me, like, looks. That made me feel like I should do it to prove them wrong.”
Thaddeus said it’s not easy playing football without arms.
“I feel like it’s dangerous depending on the size of the guy I am blocking,” he said
When Thad gets knocked down he gets right back up and works hard to get his body in front of defenders to make a block. Even though he knows he will never score a touchdown, he takes pride in his blocking.
“Kind of hard to score a touchdown because I can’t hold the ball,” Thaddeus said. “I can’t really score a touchdown but maybe like blocking to get a touchdown.”
He takes a lot of pride in seeing his teammates have that success. His coach, Zach Smith, said he is selfless.
“He doesn’t care if he scores a touchdown, he wants the team to get the touchdown,” Smith said.
So why does Thaddeus play tight end? Because that is the position his favorite player, George Kittle, plays.
Thaddeus also inspires many of his teammates.
“He inspires me to go 100% even though I know he can’t do as many things as I can do,” Nirvan Kandel said.
After the games, the teammates and coaches help Thaddeus take his gear off.
“It would be very hard for me to do that and I’m so glad that he’s choosing football, and then I can be his teammate alongside him,” another teammate said.
Thaddeus gets his own inspiration from his amazing family. His sister, Hannah, is known as the “Blade Runner.” She is one of the top runners in the country, according to KCRG.
Thaddeus’ mother Lee said she believes her children can do whatever they put their minds too.
“We always tell our kids, ‘Dream big,’” Lee said.
Copyright 2022 KCRG via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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2022-10-10T22:37:16+00:00
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fox5vegas.com
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https://www.fox5vegas.com/2022/10/10/no-arms-no-problem-middle-schooler-born-without-arms-tackles-football/
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Costco is selling the world’s largest jigsaw puzzle with 60,000 pieces
Published: Oct. 27, 2022 at 4:13 PM CDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
(CNN) - Think you’re a puzzle master? Costco is about to challenge that notion.
The big-box retail store is selling what it claims to be “the world’s largest” jigsaw puzzle.
The puzzle is made up of 60,000 pieces, with the final product ending up being 29 feet long and 8 feet tall.
The jigsaw can be divided into 60 smaller puzzles to make it easier to tackle.
It features a map of the world with different famous landmarks in place of the ocean.
Costco’s giant jigsaw will cost you $599, including shipping and handling.
You can buy it here.
Copyright 2022 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.
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2022-10-27T22:42:42+00:00
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kwch.com
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https://www.kwch.com/2022/10/27/costco-is-selling-worlds-largest-jigsaw-puzzle-with-60000-pieces/
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Which golf nets are best?
It’s not always possible to head out to the golf driving range to practice your golf swing, but if you have a golf net, you can hit golf balls regularly and improve your golf game right in your own backyard without the expense and hassle of visiting the range. The SteadyDoggie Golf Net Bundle is a stellar golf practice net.
What to know before you buy a golf net
Consider the durability
Your golf net needs to be rugged and durable enough to stand up to regular practice without too much wear and tear. You can use all golf nets inside, but if you plan to use it on your driveway or lawn, you should make sure that it can handle any inclement weather.
Think about the portability
The support structure of the golf net is composed of either aluminum or fiberglass, which means you have a lightweight golf net that’s simple to carry around. Just make sure that the golf net is easy to break apart and put together if you are going to be taking it apart regularly for storage or transporting it from one place to another.
Find a stable golf net
Some golf nets feature ground stakes to help stabilize the net when you’re playing with it outside. Other nets have some kind of non-skid material or rubber feet on the bottom of the frame to keep it from moving when you’re playing inside.
What to look for in a quality golf net
Driving vs. chipping
There are two different kinds of golf practice nets, including chipping nets and driving nets. Driving nets are net-size driving ranges, while chipping nets are smaller and meant to help you practice your golf shots closer to the green.
Ball return
Some golf nets come with some kind of automatic ball return, which helps if you don’t want to spend a ton of time chasing the golf balls around.
Turf mat
Turf mats should be used with all golf nets for shot consistency. They also help protect your garage floor, lawn and other surfaces where you use the golf net.
How much you can expect to spend on a golf net
Golf nets range in price from about $30 to hundreds of dollars. The most inexpensive golf nets go for about $30-$80, while high-end golf nets cost about $80-$300.
Golf net FAQ
Can you use a golf net for other sports?
A. You can use some golf nets to improve your skills in other sports besides golf, including lacrosse, baseball, football and soccer, depending on how rugged and durable the golf net is. You should consult with the manufacturer to figure out if you can use the golf net for other sports.
What is the simplest way to boost your golf swing with a golf net?
A. If you want to boost your golf swing but don’t have a swing analyzer, you can use a little tape and some time. Simply put a strip of impact tape on your golf club’s hitting edge and take a few golf shots, paying attention to the trajectory of the ball, as well as how your shots feel. You can examine the impact tape afterwards to see how solidly you are hitting the golf ball and use this info to adjust your golf swing.
How far apart should you place the golf net and turf mat?
A. The distance between the golf net and the turf mat depends on the size of the golf net. If you have a smaller net, you should be closer to the turf mat, and if you have a bigger net, you can set the turf a bit farther away.
When you are first starting out, you should place the turf mat as close as possible to the golf net, so that the net catches all of your shots, without being so close that your golf swing actually hits the net.
What are the best golf nets to buy?
Top golf net
What you need to know: This golf bundle from SteadyDoggie comes with a sturdy and wide net, which works well for players with a huge amount of space.
What you’ll love: This golf bundle features a carrying bag, a rubber tee, two different lies and a turf golf mat, as well as a wide net with a target in the middle. SteadyDoggie also provides amazing customer service for any issues that crop up.
What you should consider: The sides of this golf net don’t extend out very much, which is problematic for some players.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Top golf net for the money
JEF World of Golf Collapsible Chipping Net
What you need to know: This golf chipping net is ideal for golfers who want to work on their short golf game.
What you’ll love: This net is budget-friendly, simple to set up and use and suitable for light practice. The three-ring target imprint helps improve your focus when you’re practicing different golf swings.
What you should consider: The netting sometimes tears from the Velcro attachment system.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Worth checking out
What you need to know: This golf practice net from Rukket Sports is perfect for golfers who want their own backyard golf practice range.
What you’ll love: This durable, portable and light, three-piece golf bundle includes a carrying bag, a turf mat and a net. The golf net stands up to bad weather conditions and assembles fairly quickly.
What you should consider: It can be difficult for only one person to move it around.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
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Alex Kilpatrick writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved.
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2022-05-29T10:23:58+00:00
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ourquadcities.com
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https://www.ourquadcities.com/reviews/br/sports-fitness-br/golf-br/best-golf-net/
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This acquisition broadens UL Solutions' global expertise in indoor environmental quality and health and safety across the built environment value chain.
NORTHBROOK, Ill., July 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- UL Solutions, a global leader in applied safety science, today announced its acquisition of Healthy Buildings International, a U.K.-based health, safety and compliance company with expertise in indoor environmental quality, building health and safety, water audits and fire safety.
"The pandemic heightened our collective awareness of the safety and quality of our indoor environment," said Jennifer Scanlon, president and CEO, UL Solutions Inc. "This acquisition allows us to broaden our global expertise, helping building owners and managers to demonstrate their commitment to improved indoor environmental quality for tenants and communities."
The acquisition allows UL Solutions to expand its indoor environmental inspection services to include the Verified Healthy Building program in the U.K. and Europe. The verification program features three tiers to provide owners, occupants and tenants peace of mind: Verified Healthy Building for Indoor Air, Verified Healthy Building for Indoor Air and Water and Verified Healthy Building for Indoor Environment. UL Solutions also intends to leverage Healthy Buildings International's proprietary software, RecordsForBuildings, to help centralize all health, safety and compliance risk assessments and routine building inspections into one online system.
"With building health playing such a critical role in the physical and psychological well-being of tenants, we are pleased that this acquisition allows us to offer a software solution that provides owners and managers a comprehensive understanding of a building's indoor environmental quality compliance status," said John Genovesi, executive vice president and president of Software and Advisory, UL Solutions. "Healthy Buildings International supports our mission of working for a safer world while allowing us to accommodate the global demand for sustainable buildings that provide a best-in-class experience."
Founded in 1992 and headquartered in Reading, Berkshire, Healthy Buildings International focuses on the indoor environment, providing advisory and software-related building safety services. This acquisition accelerates UL Solutions' momentum in the indoor environmental quality industry, which began in 2019.
"Healthy Buildings International's reputation for excellence and dedication to strong customer relationships make the company an ideal fit for UL Solutions," said Mike Jamfrey, managing director, Healthy Buildings International. "We are excited to join UL Solutions and apply our expertise to join the organization's more than 15,000 employees in working for a safer world."
The transaction closed on July 5, 2023.
About UL Solutions
A global leader in applied safety science, UL Solutions transforms safety, security and sustainability challenges into opportunities for customers in more than 100 countries. UL Solutions delivers testing, inspection and certification services, together with software products and advisory offerings, that support our customers' product innovation and business growth. The UL Certification Marks serve as a recognized symbol of trust in our customers' products and reflect an unwavering commitment to advancing our safety mission. We help our customers innovate, launch new products and services, navigate global markets and complex supply chains and grow sustainably and responsibly into the future. Our science is your advantage.
Press contact:
Steven Brewster
UL Solutions
ULNews@UL.com
1+847.664.8425
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE UL Solutions
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2023-07-10T14:48:56+00:00
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witn.com
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https://www.witn.com/prnewswire/2023/07/10/ul-solutions-acquires-healthy-buildings-international/
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DETROIT (AP) _ The winning numbers in Thursday afternoon's drawing of the Michigan Lottery's "Midday Daily 3" game were:
5-2-0
(five, two, zero)
DETROIT (AP) _ The winning numbers in Thursday afternoon's drawing of the Michigan Lottery's "Midday Daily 3" game were:
5-2-0
(five, two, zero)
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2022-09-22T17:33:35+00:00
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expressnews.com
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https://www.expressnews.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Midday-Daily-3-game-17459839.php
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WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s Groundhog Day at the IRS.
After digging out of a daunting backlog from 2021, the agency has an even bigger backup for this tax season than it did a year ago and its pace for processing paper returns is slowing down, according to a watchdog report released Wednesday.
The National Taxpayer Advocate, an independent watchdog within the IRS, also said taxpayers are experiencing longer wait times on the telephone, and delays in processing paper returns have been running six months to one year.
The report on taxpayer challenges, which must be submitted twice a year to Congress, comes one day after the Internal Revenue Service announced that it is on track to eliminate its 2021 backlog of tax returns this week.
The Objectives Report to Congress contains proposals for lawmakers to consider going forward.
“When I released my Annual Report to Congress six months ago, I wrote that ‘Paper is the IRS’s Kryptonite, and the agency is still buried in it,’” National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins wrote in the report. “Fast forward to this Objectives Report: It’s Groundhog Day.”
She added: “At the end of May, the IRS had a larger backlog of paper tax returns than it did a year ago, and its pace of processing paper tax returns was slowing.”
Collins, who serves as an IRS ombudsman, said of the agency’s problems: “The math is daunting.”
According to the report, at the end of May the agency had a backlog of 21.3 million unprocessed paper tax returns, an increase of 1.3 million over the same time last year. The agency fell short on its goal to bring on 5,473 new employees to process returns, with just 2,056 employees hired.
Additionally, phone wait times increased to 29 minutes on average, compared with last year’s 20-minute average wait time.
“That the backlog continues to grow is deeply concerning, primarily because millions of taxpayers have been waiting six months or more to receive their refunds,” Collins said.
Jodie Reynolds, a spokesperson for the IRS, said the report’s numbers “are neither the most accurate nor most recent figures.”
“Today, the IRS is running well ahead of tax return processing compared to a year ago,” Reynolds said. “The IRS continues to make substantial progress on the inventory,” bringing on new contractors, shifting staff and mandating employee overtime, she said.
In a joint letter to Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who heads the Senate Finance Committee, Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo and IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig said that roughly six to eight IRS employees manually handle each paper return that is filed.
“What the agency requires to avoid a crisis like this in the future is sustained, multi-year funding to invest in overhauling antiquated technology, improving taxpayer service, and increasing voluntary compliance,” the letter said.
“Those resources will be crucial to automating operations to increase efficiency.”
Tony Reardon, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said “no one feels the pressure about backlogs more than the front-line workers who have been plowing through that paperwork for months now.”
“Employees working on the backlogs have been doing so at IRS facilities around the country throughout the pandemic,” and have been working overtime to address the logjam.
He said the IRS is “in desperate need of more staffing, more resources and updated technology, all of which are necessary to prevent future backlogs.”
The Taxpayer Advocate report said credit is due to agency leadership for the burden it carries with “an extraordinarily complicated tax code,” antiquated technology, inadequate staffing and lingering challenges that have come from distributing COVID-19 related programs.
“Despite these challenges, the tax system, as a whole, has held up well during the past two years,” the report said.
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2022-06-23T10:05:52+00:00
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wboy.com
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https://www.wboy.com/news/politics/groundhog-day-at-irs-returns-pile-up-phone-delays-worsen/
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The updated 2024 Jeep Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid gets a price cut for the new model year.
First noticed by CarsDirect, the price cut comes as other Wrangler variants get a price increase, which is typical for a refreshed model like the 2024 Wrangler. But Jeep is also adding a new base Sport S trim level for the 4xe below the carryover Willys, Sahara, Rubicon, and High Altitude grades.
The starting price for the 2024 Jeep Wrangle 4xe Willys is unchanged from 2023, at $56,530 with destination. The new Sport S base model starts at $51,790, making the entry-level 2024 Wrangler 4xe $4,740 cheaper than 2023. Granted, the Sport S 4xe still costs $10,600 more than a non-hybrid Sport S model.
That said, the Wrangler 4xe is eligible for a $3,750 EV tax credit under Clean Vehicle Credit rules that, for eligibility, also require a sticker price of $80,000 or less and upper limits for household income.
The Sport S trim has the same powertrain as other 4xe models, consisting of a 2.0-liter turbo-4 engine and a pair of electric motors working with a mechanical four-wheel-drive system similar to other Wrangler models. Jeep designed it not to be an off-road slouch, with motors actually aiding off-roading, and has even offered a lift kit in the past.
Fuel economy and electric range should be the same for all 4xe models. EPA ratings for the 2024 Wrangler 4xe haven’t been published yet, but the 2023 model had 22 miles of electric range with an efficiency rating of 49 MPGe, with just 20 mpg combined on gasoline. Even that capability proved unreliable in a recent cold weather test of a Rubicon 4xe.
The new-for-2024 Sport S does have less equipment than other 4xe models, including off-road hardware. It lacks the Willys model’s 33-inch all-terrain tires, rock rails, locking rear differential, and Offroad+ mode, as well as its trailering package, although it does get standard adaptive cruise control, forward-collision warnings, keyless entry, automatic headlights, power heated exterior mirrors, power windows, and 32-inch tires.
All Wrangler models get some notable updates for 2024, including side-curtain airbags and some subtle styling revisions. The Wrangler 4xe also gets a new Power Box with four 120-volt outlets and 30 amps of total power output to run devices or appliances out on the trail.
The Wrangler 4xe has been a very strong seller. In early 2022 it was the top-selling plug-in hybrid in the U.S., outselling the Toyota RAV4 Prime. It may also prove a good on-ramp to the all-electric Jeep Recon, a Wrangler-inspired EV scheduled for a reveal later this year.
Related Articles
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- These hybrids have AWD, top 40 mpg, cost less than $30,000
- Lexus LBX hybrid bows for Europe, doubles down on “self-charging”
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2023-06-12T23:22:26+00:00
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kdvr.com
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https://kdvr.com/automotive/internet-brands/jeep-wrangler-4xe-top-selling-phev-gets-a-price-cut-for-2024/
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MOSCOW (AP) — Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny released excerpts of his correspondence with prison administrators Friday, detailing his sarcastic demands for things like a bottle of moonshine, a balalaika and even a kangaroo. His requests were denied.
Responses from prison officials, posted on his social media account apparently by his team, came after he has spent almost 180 days in solitary confinement since last summer at Penal Colony No. 6 in the Vladimir region east of Moscow.
Navalny, 46, is serving a nine-year sentence after being convicted of fraud and contempt of court — charges he says were trumped up for his efforts to expose official corruption and organize anti-Kremlin protests. He was arrested in January 2021 upon returning to Moscow after recuperating in Germany from nerve-agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.
“When you are sitting in a punishment isolation cell and have little entertainment, you can have fun with correspondence with the administration,” wrote Navalny.
Among his denied requests: a megaphone to be given to the prisoner in a nearby cell “so he can yell even louder,” and to award another inmate who “killed a man with his bare hands” with the highest rank in karate.
He also was turned down for his requests of moonshine, tobacco for rolling cigarettes and the balalaika. But Navalny expressed particular mock outrage at the administrators’ refusal to allow him to keep a kangaroo in his cell. The politician said inmates can have a pet if the prison administration allows it.
“I will continue to fight for my inalienable right to own a kangaroo,” Navalny wrote sarcastically in his social media post.
Navalny will mark his 47th birthday on Sunday, and there have been calls by his team for protests to support him.
A Moscow court has set a June 6 date for a hearing for a new trial for Navalny on a charge of extremism, which could keep him in prison for 30 years. He also said an investigator told him that he also would face a separate military court trial on terrorism charges that potentially carry a life sentence.
The new charges come as Russian authorities are conducting an intensified crackdown on dissent amid the fighting in Ukraine, which Navalny has harshly criticized.
__
Associated Press writer Elise Morton in London contributed.
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2023-06-02T17:44:47+00:00
|
twincities.com
|
https://www.twincities.com/2023/06/02/kremlin-foe-navalnys-demands-in-prison-moonshine-a-balalaika-and-a-pet-kangaroo-all-denied/
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Having grown up in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, Ethan Pecko is a fan of all things Philadelphia, especially the city’s professional sports franchises. And as a baseball player, he once attended a Phillies game in full uniform.
“Baseball was a sport that always just kind of stuck with me,” he said. “I was a fan from 4 years old until now. As a kid, I moved up in age and other kids were there picking flowers. So that was definitely something I always wanted.”
Pecko’s dream is now reality after the Houston Astros used the last pick of the sixth round (194th overall) of the Major League Baseball draft on Monday to select the Towson pitcher. He is the fourth-highest draftee in Tigers history, trailing pitchers Chris Nabholz (49th in second round by the Montreal Expos in 1988) and Chris Russ (94th in third round by the New York Yankees in 2000) and shortstop Richie Palacios (103rd in third round by Cleveland in 2018).
Pecko, who doesn’t turn 21 until next month, said he was watching the draft at home with his parents Kathleen and Greg, older brother Marc and friend John Lockhart when the reigning World Series champion Astros selected him.
“We knew about 20 picks before, but we had to see it to believe it,” he said. “It was really just a dream come true. Several weeks leading up, I knew I had put myself in a position to maybe be selected, but you never really know going into it. It was a very anxiety-filled week, but then it was just a pure moment of relief and just happiness and probably every emotion you could think of in that one-minute moment.”
Tigers coach Matt Tyner described Pecko as “the kind of guy you would want your daughter to date and one of the fiercest competitors I’ve ever had on the mound.”
“I’ll take that mix in any and every player that I coach,” Tyner said. “He’s that kind of kid. He had his eye on the prize from the minute he walked into Towson University, and he prepared himself for this. This is his game. He did a great job.”
Pecko, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound right-hander, recently completed his redshirt sophomore season with a 2-2 record that included a 3.21 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 42 innings over 11 starts. The slot value for the 194th pick is $280,700.
The last three years have been a whirlwind for Pecko, whose senior year of high school in 2020 was wiped out by the coronavirus pandemic. In the fall at La Salle, he began to experience discomfort in his right elbow and underwent ulnar collateral ligament surgery in February 2021 just before the university discontinued the baseball program.
One of three Explorers players who transferred to Towson (senior outfielder Elijah Dickerson and junior pitcher Luis Rivera were the others), Pecko said he was grateful that Tyner welcomed him to the team.
“I got there, and the work of him and the other coaches and trainer Jimmy Lee and strength coach Henry Bergmann, they helped me out a ton, and I got back healthy,” he said. “This year, it definitely came all together. I don’t regret anything. I feel like everything kind of happens for a reason, and those three or four years have definitely molded me into the player and person that I am today.”
Tyner said Pecko’s fastball topped out at 95 mph and remained in the low 90s even as he threw close to 100 pitches in a game. Just as importantly, Pecko is a player who cares, said Tyner, who recalled offering Pecko a partial scholarship at the end of the 2022 season.
“The guy accepted the scholarship and teared up when he got the offer from us,” he said. “That’s the kind of kid he is. He’s got a heart, and he plays the game the right way. I’m extremely happy to call him a friend and to have had the opportunity to coach him and watch him develop and reap this reward.”
Tyner said he and his coaches talked with 10 MLB clubs – including the Miami Marlins, San Diego Padres, Texas Rangers and Washington Nationals – about Pecko. Many of those conversations revolved around Pecko as a starting pitcher, and that’s where he envisions his future role.
“At Delaware this year [on May 13], I threw 107 pitches, and my last pitch was a 92-miles-per-hour fastball,” he said. “I feel like I have the endurance to do that, and I feel like if I get a little stronger and put on a little more weight, I can get back into it.”
Tyner said Pecko has the potential to be a longtime contributor to the Astros.
“I think there are probably 3 to 4 more miles per hour on that fastball,” he said. “He’s got such a high spin rate as well on his breaking ball. I think once the Astros get a hold of him and really start working with him and he develops a little more confidence, I think the worth in him is that he’s a guy who can carry a load.”
Pecko is scheduled to fly to Houston on Thursday and undergo a physical and work through contract details on Friday. Barring a setback, he will then travel to join the Astros’ Florida Complex League team to begin his professional career.
Pecko is aware he is set to play for an organization that defeated his beloved Phillies for the World Series title. He said he has reconciled any lingering feelings from that pain.
“It was tough to see my Phillies lose to them, but that chapter has closed, and I couldn’t be more excited to join a great and accomplished organization,” he said. “Some of my friends may give me a little [mocking] from time to time, but they’re super happy for me, and I’m just super grateful, and I can’t wait to get started.”
()
|
2023-07-13T14:09:57+00:00
|
bostonherald.com
|
https://www.bostonherald.com/2023/07/13/towson-pitcher-ethan-pecko-drafted-by-astros-after-whirlwind-three-years-he-had-his-eye-on-the-prize/
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Councilman Bill Bush presented the proclamation to several baseball players, who showed up at the Old Central Building on Tuesday with their devoted leader, Rams head coach Larry Turner.
Art Haddaway
News Editor
“What these guys (Larry and Steve) teach you about life is of much greater value than anything that you’ll take away from that diamond,” Bush said to players.
The Owasso High School Varsity Baseball Team received a special recognition at Owasso City Council this week.
Owasso Mayor Kelly Lewis signed a proclamation officially declaring Tuesday, June 21, 2022, as Owasso Rams Varsity Baseball Day.
The distinction came after Owasso defeated Edmond Santa Fe, 7-3, in the Oklahoma Class 6A State Championship on May 14 — an effort that led to the team taking home its 14th state title.
Councilman Bill Bush presented the decree to several of the team’s players, who showed up at the Old Central Building on Tuesday with their devoted leader, Rams head coach Larry Turner.
“He, along with longtime coach (Steve) Holleman, were instrumental in bringing this (team) to where it’s at right now,” Bush said at City Council. “They do a great job of more than just coaching, but guiding these guys to be better citizens.”
Buoyed by a pair of Jacksons — Jackson Farrell, who twirled a complete-game three-hitter, and Jackson Smith, who had three hits — Owasso’s title game followed a major milestone for Turner, who surpassed 1,200 career victories in March.
“Larry, you’ve done such a great job over the years,” Councilman Doug Bonebrake said at City Council. “So proud of you and proud of this school system propping this team up.”
Prior to Council’s proclamation, Turner and his team were also recognized by Sen. J.J. Dossett, D-Owasso, at the state Capitol on May 17, and then by the Owasso school board on June 20.
“We appreciate everyone’s support in the community, and it’s a great place to be,” Turner said at this week’s school board meeting. “I love this school, and I love baseball.”
Bush at City Council left players with a departing thought, adding, “What these guys (Larry and Steve) teach you about life is of much greater value than anything that you’ll take away from that diamond, so congratulations.”
Photos: Owasso Rams claim the school's 14th state baseball title
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Nicholas Fernandez, an Owasso High School alumnus, teaches at Bentonville High School in Bentonville, Arkansas, and was recently named a quarterfinalist for the 2023 Music Educator Award.
The Collinsville gym offers one-on-one fitness training and customized nutrition guidance for local residents looking to take their health and wellness to a new level.
Several Owasso residents filed for candidacy for this year’s primary ballot on Tuesday, June 28, including local pastor Jackson Lahmeyer who is challenging U.S. Sen. James Lankford.
Bling Glamour, located at 12317 E. 96th St. N., sells a variety of women’s apparel and accessories, including shoes, clothing, jewelry, purses and more — “anything that a woman could want,” owner Nicole Campos said.
Those students from Owasso include: Boston Reed, Eli Hall, Ethan Turner, Kennedy Rutherford, Maggie Wall, Presley Boschert and Rebekah Holland. Those from Collinsville include: Even Goforth and Hunter Blakestad.
“The record breaking hasn’t let up since we launched, and now we have officially raised $1.45 million for the kids and families of St. Jude — the most ever in the Tulsa campaign,” said Jillian Bolding with St. Jude.
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Councilman Bill Bush presented the proclamation to several baseball players, who showed up at the Old Central Building on Tuesday with their devoted leader, Rams head coach Larry Turner.
“What these guys (Larry and Steve) teach you about life is of much greater value than anything that you’ll take away from that diamond,” Bush said to players.
|
2022-06-22T18:10:07+00:00
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tulsaworld.com
|
https://tulsaworld.com/community/owasso/news/city-council-declares-june-21-2022-as-owasso-rams-varsity-baseball-day/article_331b234c-f252-11ec-af2d-33f794521f44.html
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Patrick Mahomes wins 2nd MVP award ahead of Super Bowl
PHOENIX (AP) — Patrick Mahomes dominated the voting for the AP NFL Most Valuable Player award. Now, he’ll try to break the MVP curse.
Mahomes, who also won in 2018, easily outdistanced Jalen Hurts, receiving 48 of 50 first-place votes from a nationwide panel of media members who regularly cover the league. He earned 490 points to 193 for Hurts, who got one first-place vote, 26 seconds, 11 thirds and 10 fourths.
Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs (16-3) face Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles (16-3) in the Super Bowl on Sunday.
Mahomes thanked the Chiefs organization and his teammates in a video at NFL Honors on Thursday night.
“I would never be standing here without y’all,” Mahomes said. “Every day we’ve given everything we have together to win the ultimate goal, the Super Bowl. Let’s continue to go for that dream this weekend.”
The last nine MVPs to play in the Super Bowl that season are 0-9. Kurt Warner was the last to win both the MVP award and Super Bowl following the 1999 season.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen received the other first-place vote, finishing third with 151 points. Bengals QB Joe Burrow placed fourth and Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson came in fifth.
The 27-year-old Mahomes is the third player to win his second MVP before turning 28, joining Brett Favre (27) and Jim Brown (22).
Mahomes was the 2018 NFL MVP in his first full season as a starter.
The Chiefs lost the AFC championship game that season but Mahomes led them to a Super Bowl victory over San Francisco the following season.
In the second-closest race Thursday, Brian Daboll won AP Coach of the Year after leading the New York Giants to their first playoff appearance in six years.
Daboll received 16 first-place votes and 123 total points to outpace 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, who got 12 votes for first and 100 points.
Jaguars coach Doug Pederson finished third with 75 points, including five first-place votes.
“It’s a tremendous honor,” Daboll said. “You don’t think about that when you take a job. You think about leading a team and building the culture.
Other awards announced Thursday:
DeMeco Ryans, who spent the past two seasons as the defensive coordinator of the 49ers, was named AP Assistant Coach of the Year. He is now the head coach of the Texans.
Nick Bosa made it a landslide for the AP Defensive Player of the Year award. San Francisco’s All-Pro defensive end received 46 first-place votes after leading the NFL with 18 ½ sacks in the regular season.
Bosa and the 49ers lost to the Eagles 31-7 in the NFC title game. He joked that he’s ready to start the season now.
“One weekend in Las Vegas is enough for me,” Bosa said.
Jets cornerback Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner won the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year award. Gardner, the No. 4 overall pick in the draft, started every game for the Jets. He had two interceptions and allowed just 33 catches on 73 targets.
Jets receiver Garrett Wilson edged out Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker for the AP Offensive Rookie of the year award.
“This means everything.,” Wilson said. “You put in a lot of work to end up in this point and to see it come to fruition, it’s awesome.”
Wilson and Gardner are the third teammates to win the offensive and defensive rookie awards in the same season. Alvin Kamara and Marshon Lattimore did it with the Saints in 2017 and Detroit’s Mel Farr and Lem Barney did it in 1967.
“I was more happy for Garrett,” Gardner said.
Justin Jefferson ran away with the AP Offensive Player of the Year award. Minnesota’s All-Pro wide receiver got 35 first-place votes and earned 192 points, outdistancing runner up Mahomes by a significant margin.
“It means a lot, especially where I come from, this doesn’t happen,” Jefferson said. “I was always doubted, wasn’t highly recruited. Having this award is amazing.”
Geno Smith, who earned his first Pro Bowl berth after becoming a full-time starter for the first time since 2014, is the AP Comeback Player of the Year. The Seattle Seahawks quarterback threw for 4,282 yards, 30 TDs and led Seattle to an NFC wild-card berth.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was the Walter Payton Man of the Year. The prestigious award recognizes an NFL player for outstanding community service activities off the field, as well as excellence on the field.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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2023-02-10T15:13:53+00:00
|
live5news.com
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https://www.live5news.com/2023/02/10/patrick-mahomes-wins-2nd-mvp-award-ahead-super-bowl/
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TORETSK, Ukraine — Everything was set for a nighttime mortar attack by a Ukrainian special forces team close to the Russian front line.
The moon was up. The night was still. The sky was clear — all excellent conditions to pinpoint a mortar strike or float a drone so close to Russian front lines that incoming Ukrainian artillery could be heard whistling on the ride down.
“We will find them with the drone, and we will hit them,” said Lisnyk, the Ukrainian special forces team leader, who requested to be identified by his call sign in keeping with military protocol. “If we don’t find them, we’ll look elsewhere.”
But the team’s first drone to go up went missing, perhaps lost to Russian jammers, and they decided not to risk another — the second time within two days that bad weather or bad luck slowed their effort to reclaim the eastern city of Bakhmut in an inch-by-inch battle on its flanks.
So goes the grinding Ukrainian counteroffensive on a small but important sector of the 600-mile front. The fight in villages around Toretsk, where some battle lines have hardly budged since 2014, reflects the difficulty Ukraine faces in breaking a stalemate when the only real air power to speak of comes from drones.
The capture of Bakhmut in May, after the war’s longest and bloodiest battle, was Moscow’s only significant territorial gain so far in 2023. Wagner mercenaries, who led the months-long siege of the city, claimed victory in May and quickly withdrew, turning over responsibility for holding it to regular Russian units.
Now, with Ukraine mounting its long-awaited counteroffensive, the battle has shifted to the destroyed city’s flanks. “We are trying to pin as many Muscovites as possible around Bakhmut,” said Mykola Bielieskov, a research fellow with Ukraine’s National Institute for Strategic Studies.
To the north, the Ukrainians have pushed toward Yagidne and Berhivka. To south, they’ve been moving on Klishchiivka and Kurdyumivka amid a landscape dotted with abandoned coal mines and giant slag piles grown over with trees.
Ukrainian troops have also encountered Wagner Group’s successors for the first time — a force known as Storm Z that is under the control of Russia’s Defense Ministry and includes a mix of reservists, conscripts and convicted criminals.
By the end of June, Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade eliminated a Russian bridgehead on the western bank of the Siverskyi-Donets-Donbas canal, its commander reported on Telegram.
The canal is a key source of water for the Russian-occupied parts of Donetsk region. Securing the waterway also means controlling high ground southwest of the city, said Gerych, the leader of a mortar company in 3rd Assault Brigade located two kilometers or less from the waterway.
To reach his position, Gerych, a 27-year-old sergeant, jumped on a quad-runner and blazed up a dusty road, bumping over ruts and swerving around mudholes. He roared by an armored personnel carrier ferrying troops to the rear before climbing a grassy ridge overlooking Klishchiivka, a settlement about four kilometers from Bakhmut on the city’s southern edge.
At the fire base — code named “Alabama” — a gun crew was preparing to lob a batch of 82mm mortar rounds into Russian positions less than two kilometers away.
Their pace of fire had picked up as Ukrainian infantry advanced: 60 rounds overnight, Gerych said, compared to the usual 40 or so. In fact, the front line had advanced so far, Gerych said, that his company was approaching the limit of its effective range. He said orders had already come to advance the following day.
That was progress enough for Gerych, who said his company didn’t need any prodding.
The following day, Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s Interior Ministry, reported on Telegram that Klischchiivka had been liberated — a claim acknowledged with regret by Ivan Sladkov, a pro-Russian military blogger with more than 1 million followers.
Sladkov wrote on Telegram that he feared the fall of the Klishchkiivka meant Bakhmut, too, could soon change hands — but then reversed himself hours later, claiming his sources had been mistaken about the town’s capture.
Amid the up and down battle against perceptions and enemy positions, the Ukrainian special forces team thought things looked promising for their mission to shell Russian lines north of Druzhba.
While two soldiers dug a mortar pit in the weedy yard behind the kindergarten, another set up a tripod and helped zero in the 120mm weapon using a distant point on the horizon. Inside the ruined school, the squad leader brewed coffee on a propane stove.
Lisnyk said his special forces unit sent out drones and recon patrols on foot — sometimes within 500 meters, roughly a third of a mile, of enemy lines — to hunt possible targets, such as ammo dumps, troop concentrations and armor.
Two days earlier, they had spotted signs of hidden Russian bunkers and a signal-jamming station, but wet weather prevented them from taking a closer look with a drone. And now this night — another drone lost, another too risky to fly.
The delays are typical, and frustrating.
Ukraine’s military — from its highest ranking general to grunts in the field — hears the world tapping its foot and sifting daily battlefield reports for hints of progress. Many Ukrainian soldiers shrug off the expressions of impatience from the United States and European supporters. But some soldiers get a little salty.
“They just need to chill out — because they’re idiots,” said Sgt. Alen Dudnik, who is credited with shooting down a Russian fighter jet with a shoulder-mounted rocket in Bakhmut during the siege led by Yevgeniy Prigozhin’s Wagner Group mercenaries.
Dudnik and other Ukrainians have suggested that the West’s expectations for swift progress in the counteroffensive have sometimes outpaced the delivery of promised weapons. They ask: When was the last time a modern army was expected to mount a major offensive without fighter jets to control the skies?
Soldiers also complain — often privately, in a war where front line access is limited and public information officers try to shape the messaging — about ammunition shortages and insufficient training for combat. The terrain Ukraine is now struggling to reclaim also includes breakaway areas where the sympathies of local residents can be uncertain.
Dudnik, whose antiaircraft unit in the 93rd Brigade was rotated out of the city to rest about six weeks ago, said anyone with basic military knowledge should understand the daunting challenge of pushing back an invader with superior air power and a greater number of forces.
“This is not going to be as fast as they expect,” Dudnik said, illustrating with toothpicks in a gas station cafe why an army’s offensive operations typically require force ratios of around 4-to-1 to succeed against a defender.
After Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion in February 2022, Russian forces tried to seize all of Luhansk and Donetsk, eventually overrunning heavily engineered Ukrainian fortifications near Bakhmut and repurposing them against Ukraine.
Getting to Russian lines now means crossing a no man’s land of mines, trenches and “dragon’s teeth,” an antitank defense harking back to World War II built of concrete or metal points protruding from the earth.
To advance, Ukraine’s military has engaged in cat-and-mouse efforts to find openings and weak spots where smaller units can slip in, hit targets and roll out, while heavy artillery pops off from farther away.
No one is more eager for the counteroffensive to progress than the Ukrainian commanders and soldiers in the field.
“The soldiers themselves want it to end quickly and not drag on,” Lysnyk said.
Garych, the sergeant, said critics should put up or shut up. “It just gets boring,” he said of he complaints that Ukraine’s counteroffensive is too slow-going. “You can just come here and help if you feel that it’s not going fast enough.”
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2023-07-09T05:27:12+00:00
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washingtonpost.com
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/07/09/bakhmut-flanks-ukraine-russia-war/
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OSLO, Norway, Oct. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Zwipe is proud to announce a significant commercial order for its Zwipe Pay platform, which enables smart card manufacturers to deliver biometric payment cards. This order has been placed by one of the world's largest smart card manufacturers delivering tens of millions of payment cards globally.
The order value is approximately USD 225,000 and the shipment is targeted for later Q4 2022, making it the single largest commercial order for a quarter in Zwipe's history. Most notably this initial order is part of a larger volume that the smart card manufacturer expects to place in 2023. This development comes after the smart card manufacturer has started to ramp up its production readiness to deliver biometric payment cards in high volume to key growth markets in Europe.
Robert Puskaric, President and CEO of Zwipe added, "It is encouraging to see the growing commitment from one of the largest smart card manufacturers to launch biometric payment cards in higher volumes from 2023 with Zwipe. Our platform's Visa certification in March and Mastercard's approval in August this year has further accelerated our customers' interest to bring their next generation payment cards to markets in continued partnership with Zwipe".
This information is subject to the disclosure requirements in Regulation EU 596/2014 article 19 number 3 and the Norwegian Securities Trading Act section 5-12, and is information that Zwipe AS is obligated to make public pursuant to the continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Euronext Growth Oslo (Euronext Growth Oslo Rule Book - Part II) and on Nasdaq First North Growth Market. Certified Adviser on Nasdaq First North is FNCA Sweden AB, info@fnca.se. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out below, at 10:10 on 11 October 2022.
About Zwipe
Zwipe believes the inherent uniqueness of every person is the key to a safer future. We work with great passion across networks of international organizations, industries and cultures to make convenience safe and secure. We are pioneering next-generation biometric card and wearables technology for payment and physical & logical access control and identification solutions. We promise our customers and partners deep insight and frictionless solutions, ensuring a seamless user experience with our innovative biometric products and services. Zwipe is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with a global presence. To learn more, visit http://www.zwipe.com.
For more information, please contact:
Danielle Glenn, CFO and Head of IR
+47 909 98 201
ir@zwipe.com
This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com
The following files are available for download:
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SOURCE Zwipe AS
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2022-10-11T10:05:32+00:00
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wbrc.com
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https://www.wbrc.com/prnewswire/2022/10/11/significant-commercial-order-received-zwipe-pay-platform/
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio's efforts to curb gerrymandering are not working and voters must once again amend the constitution to take politics completely out of the process, the retiring chief justice of the state Supreme Court said Thursday.
The current redistricting commission, created by constitutional amendment in 2015, has had no discernible effect on gerrymandering and as a result voters this fall will elect candidates based on unconstitutional legislative districts, Republican Maureen O’Connor said in her annual and final state of the judiciary speech.
A new amendment must create a commission that restricts partisan politics by prohibiting elected officials from serving, O'Connor said. The current Ohio Redistricting Commission consists of elected lawmakers and state officeholders, including the governor, and has a 5-2 Republican majority.
Instead, commission members must consist of “sensible people who are not driven by politics but rather by what’s fair,” O'Connor said. “Fair representation and justice.”
O'Connor's remarks echoed the position she took in January when the court first ruled — in a 4-3 decision with O'Connor in the majority — that initial maps drawn by the commission were unconstitutional.
The court made similar rulings four more times before a federal court ordered Ohio to use the third set of Statehouse maps approved by the Ohio Redistricting Commission, maps the state Supreme Court had also found unconstitutional.
O'Connor sided with the court's three Democrats each time, and some fellow Republicans called for her impeachment, though nothing came of it.
“Political theater,” O'Connor said after the speech, adding: “I don’t give it a second thought.”
During her speech, O'Connor said she planned to play some kind of role in promoting another constitutional amendment to fight gerrymandering.
Also Thursday, O'Connor criticized an upcoming constitutional amendment that will require judges to consider criminal suspects' threat to public safety when setting bail. Republicans pushed the measure in reaction to a January state Supreme Court ruling that lowered the bond for a man accused of fatally shooting another in the head during a robbery.
O'Connor called the measure an effort “to manufacture fear” and said it wasn't necessary because public safety is the first thing judges must consider when setting bail.
Putting an emphasis on high monetary bonds will “continue a pattern of jailing the people who can least afford release,” O'Connor said to applause from a crowd consisting mainly of other judges.
O’Connor is a former Summit County judge and prosecutor who also served as lieutenant governor and the state Public Safety director in the administration of former Republican Gov. Bob Taft. She was first elected to the Ohio Supreme Court in 2003 and twice elected chief justice, in 2010 and 2016.
O'Connor, who turned 71 in August, is the first Ohio chief justice to leave office because of age limits, which prevent judicial candidates from running for office at 70 or older. Other Ohio chief justices have died or lost elections before confronting age limits.
“Now I’m not going to lose an election again, we know that for sure," O'Connor joked. “And if I can stick out 105 more days I think I’ve got a new record for the state of Ohio.”
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2022-09-15T21:31:58+00:00
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daytondailynews.com
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https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/ohio/ohio-chief-justice-new-redistricting-amendment-needed/YSOY3EQG5JAS5LE5YRZIRTAL4Q/
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The Colorado Avalanche are professional hockey's new champions — and road warriors with a flair for the dramatic.
The team defeated the two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 for the Avalanche's first championship in 21 years and third overall Stanley Cup.
Colorado scored two goals, while the Lightning, which won the Stanley Cup in both 2020 and 2021, scored the game's first goal. The Avalanche's Cale Makar was awarded the series' most valuable player.
Key statistics tell the story of the new NHL champions. Colorado clinched all four of its 2022 playoff series on the road – becoming just the fourth team in NHL history to do so. Its 16-4 playoff record is the second-best in league history. And Colorado's 10 comeback wins during the playoffs tied the record for most in NHL history.
Colorado's championship was years in the making. The team finished the 2016-17 season with the league's worst record. It was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in 2018 and in the second round the past three seasons.
"This is what I've always dreamed of, as a kid, with my buddies, my father," said 34-year-old Colorado defenseman Erik Johnson. "That's what life is all about. You surround yourself with people who believe in you. It truly takes a village, including all the (team's) support staff."
Tampa Bay had aimed to become the NHL's first three-peat champion since the early 1980s New York Islanders dynasty. Now Colorado will try to create its own title streak.
"They're a team that's looking to become a dynasty," Makar said. "We're a team that's looking to start a legacy."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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2022-06-27T06:31:14+00:00
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iowapublicradio.org
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https://www.iowapublicradio.org/news-from-npr/news-from-npr/2022-06-26/the-colorado-avalanche-wins-its-first-stanley-cup-in-21-years
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Dodgers edge Marlins 2-1 for 34th come-from-behind win
By BETH HARRIS
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Will Smith’s fielder’s choice-grounder scored Mookie Betts with the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Miami Marlins 2-1 Friday night for their major league-leading 34th come-from-behind victory.
After six scoreless innings, the Dodgers rallied with runs in the seventh and eighth.
“That was huge,” Dodgers starter Tyler Anderson said. “We never die. There’s always a lot of fight in every guy.”
Betts scored on the bizarre play in which Marlins catcher Jacob Stallings abandoned the plate. Third baseman Jon Berti fielded Smith’s grounder and wanted to throw home, but Stallings had moved toward first base, leaving no one at the plate.
“We got a little fortunate,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Betts tripled leading off for the last of his three hits, Trea Turner grounded out and Freddie Freeman was intentionally walked to set up Smith.
Trayce Thompson’s stellar defense robbed Nick Fortes of a potential tying homer leading off the ninth. He leaped to make the catch and crashed into the center field wall but held onto the ball.
“Off the bat I thought I had a good beat on it,” Thompson said. “I didn’t think it was going over the fence.”
Chris Martin (4-0) got the victory with one inning of relief. Evan Phillips pitched the ninth to earn his second save as the major league-best Dodgers improved to 22-6 since the All-Star break.
Former Dodger Dylan Floro (0-2) gave up one run and one hit in one inning of relief.
The Dodgers tied the game 1-1 on Thompson’s RBI double down the third-base line in the seventh. Justin Turner, who singled leading off, scored on left fielder Jerar Encarnación’s throwing error that missed the cutoff man and allowed Thompson to take third.
Encarnación’s RBI double on an 0-2 pitch with two outs in the seventh gave Miami a 1-0 lead.
Miami starter Jesús Luzardo allowed one run and four hits in 6 1/3 innings. The left-hander struck out seven and walked two.
“Luzardo has got an amazing arm and he was just on tonight,” Thompson said. “We were just happy to get him out of the game.”
Anderson gave up one run and five hits in seven innings. The left-hander struck out six and walked three.
“I didn’t feel like I had my best stuff,” Anderson said. “It was more of a day of just trying to compete. You just try to take it pitch-by-pitch.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Marlins: Placed 1B/DH Garrett Cooper on the injured list with a concussion.
Dodgers: LHP Clayton Kershaw (low back pain) tossed a bullpen session off the mound. Next up is another bullpen, followed by a simulated game and then he’ll likely be activated if all goes well. … RHP Brusdar Graterol (shoulder) is set to return to the Dodgers on Monday. … RHP Yency Almonte (right elbow tightness) will throw the next few days in a row.
UP NEXT
Marlins: Rookie LHP Braxton Garrett (2-6, 3.67 ERA) has allowed two runs or fewer in seven of his 13 starts.
Dodgers: RHP Dustin May makes his season debut Saturday. He underwent Tommy John surgery in May 2021. He recently made his fifth and final start for Triple-A Oklahoma City, compiling a 1.89 ERA with 33 strikeouts over 19 innings.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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2022-08-20T06:31:29+00:00
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kyma.com
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https://kyma.com/sports/ap-sports/2022/08/19/dodgers-edge-marlins-2-1-for-34th-come-from-behind-win-2/
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Chiefs top Bengals 23-20 to win AFC title, will face Eagles in Super Bowl
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chiefs top Bengals 23-20 to win AFC title, will face Eagles in Super Bowl.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chiefs top Bengals 23-20 to win AFC title, will face Eagles in Super Bowl.
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2023-01-30T04:03:52+00:00
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kyma.com
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https://kyma.com/news/ap-arizona/2023/01/29/chiefs-top-bengals-23-20-to-win-afc-title-will-face-eagles-in-super-bowl/
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DUBLIN, Ohio (WGN) — Much like a bank drive-up, Wendy’s patrons may soon have their orders sent to them through an underground tube.
The Ohio-based company announced Wednesday they are partnering with Pipedream, a hyperlogistics company, for the pilot.
“We know that serving orders quickly and accurately leads to increased customer satisfaction,” said Wendy’s U.S. Chief Operations Officer Deepak Ajmani. “Pipedream’s Instant Pickup system has the potential to unlock greater mobile order speed of service and accuracy, enabling us to consistently deliver hot and fresh Wendy’s products to our fans.”
“Instant pickup portals” will be positioned next to parking spots. Patrons will place their order and the technology uses autonomous robots to transport meals underground to their vehicle.
Wendy’s plans to integrate the Pipedream delivery system into an existing restaurant later this year.
Earlier this month, the company announced they’re teaming up with Google to add artificial intelligence to its menu.
Dubbed FreshAI, the AI tech will hold limited conversations with customers, handling their food orders and answering frequently asked questions. The bot will integrate with the store’s hardware and cash register systems for processing orders.
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2023-05-18T18:30:06+00:00
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myfox8.com
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https://myfox8.com/news/wendys-testing-underground-robot-system-for-orders/
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Hear ye, hear ye- the Arizona Renaissance Festival is back for its 35th season!
The grounds for the medieval outdoor amusement park features a 50-acre village with over a dozen stages, jousting tournaments, and more! If you’re thinking of attending this long-standing Valley event, here’s some key information.
UPCOMING THEMED DATES
- Feb. 25 and 26: Time Travelers
- March 4 and 5: Kids need to read, pirates and BrewFest
- During this weekend, kids that donate two new books at the Read booth enter for free.
- BrewFest will offer several craft brews in the Village Green between 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Click here to see the brew menu.
- A child pirate costume contest will be held on Saturday.
- March 11 and 12: Wizards and wonder
- There’s a child costume contest at 1:30 p.m. on March 11.
- There’s a child costume contest at 1:30 p.m. on March 11.
- March 18 & 19: Artisan Appreciation & Celtic Celebration
- According to event officials, if you spend $250 on either of these dates, you’ll receive one adult admission ticket to return for free.
- If you spend $350 on either of those dates, you’ll receive two free adult admission tickets.
- April 1 and 2: Fool’s Masquerade Final Huzzah
- Kids enter free with the donation of three non-perishable food items to the Superstition Community Food Bank at the festival, according to event officials.
- If you buy your adult [$33] or child [$21] general admission ticket online, you’ll be able to save $1.
- According to event officials, GA tickets for active/retired adult military personnel and their spouses are $32 and $20 for each of their children/dependents ages 5-12.
- Group discount ticket information can be found here.
- If you purchase your adult or child general admission ticket at Bashas' or Food City you can also save $1.
- Children 4 and under enter for free.
- Don’t worry, there’s no parking fee.
IF YOU GO
- When: runs from February 4 to April 2.
- Box office prices: Adult general admission is $33, and children’s admission is $21.
- Where: 12601 E US Highway 60
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2023-02-21T00:09:46+00:00
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abc15.com
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https://www.abc15.com/entertainment/events/2023-arizona-renaissance-festival-special-dates-and-how-to-save-money-if-you-go
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CANNES, France (AP) — Indiana Jones and Harrison Ford swung into Cannes on Thursday for the world premiere of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” in one of the most anticipated events of the French Riviera festival.
Fedoras abounded in the throngs of onlookers who watched Ford and company hit the red carpet.
Ford walked hand in hand with his wife, Calista Flockhart, and later joined his cast mates as John Williams’ score played across the red carpet. Among those in attendance were Disney chief Bob Iger, Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy and filmmaker Steve McQueen.
Ford, 80, who has said “Dial of Destiny” will be his last performance as the character, also received an honorary Palme d’Or from the Cannes Film Festival. Last year, Cannes feted “Top Gun Maverick” and Tom Cruise in a similar manner.
Inside the theater, Ford was greeted with thunderous applause. He beamed and looked around the theater before receiving the honorary Palme.
“I’m very touched. I’m very moved by this. They say when you’re about to die, you, you see your life flash before your eyes. I just saw my life flash before my eyes,” Ford said after a clip reel of his career was played.
“A great part of my life, not all of my life,” Ford continued, thanking Flockhart as well as “Dial of Destiny” director James Mangold and co-star Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
It’s not the first “Indiana Jones” film to premiere in Cannes. The fourth installment, “Indiana and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” launched at the 2008 edition of the festival. Critics and fans alike dismissed “Crystal Skull” as a misjudged sequel, though it still made $790 million worldwide.
This time, “Dial of Destiny” is hoping to make a similar if not larger global impact without its famous filmmakers. The new film, which the Walt Disney Co. will release June 30 in the U.S., is the first “Indiana” film not directed by Steven Spielberg or with a story credit to George Lucas. Instead, Mangold (“Ford vs. Ferrari,” “Logan”) takes the reins for a film co-starring Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas and Mads Mikkelsen.
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2023-05-19T10:48:51+00:00
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cbs4indy.com
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https://cbs4indy.com/entertainment-news/ap-entertainment/ap-indiana-jones-swings-into-cannes-film-festival-harrison-ford-honored-before-joyous-festivalgoers/
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REDWOOOD CITY, Calif., Nov. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ivalua, a global leader in spend management, today announced that Tchibo, one of the largest coffee roasters in the world, has chosen Ivalua and its partner Capgemini to digitize Source-to-Contract (S2C) for its indirect purchasing of goods and services.
Tchibo is one of Germany's largest international consumer goods and retail companies. Founded in 1949, the company today has a turnover of €3.2 billion and employs around 10,000 people. In addition to a strong, national business focus, the company is active in Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Hungary, Romania, the Czech Republic, and Turkey. Additionally, Tchibo exports its coffee to around 40 countries worldwide.
Tchibo was looking for a reliable solution to digitally transform its S2C purchasing processes of indirect goods and services. Ivalua has been deemed most suitable for the challenges thanks to its flexibility to deliver bespoke developments and the user-friendliness of its platform, critical to user acceptance and adoption. Additionally, a crucial part of the selection process was finding partners who shared values of customer centricity and quality, which are central to the company's identity, to be able to build a long-standing relationship.
The scope of the project includes a number of modules such as supplier relationship management and risk, sourcing, and eProcurement, including guided buying.
"We look forward to developing our procurement digitization strategy supported by the technical capabilities of Ivalua's platform supporting retailers to optimize their procurement operations", said Florian Ehring, Purchasing Director at Tchibo. "The stronger digitization and further optimization of our procurement processes with the support of Ivalua will be crucial to meet our current and future challenges in a disrupting business environment".
"We are honored to empower Tchibo, an impressive retail brand with whom we share similar values of customer centricity and quality that are key to building a long-standing relationship", said Dan Amzallag, COO of Ivalua.
Ivalua is a leading provider of cloud-based Spend Management software. Our complete, unified platform empowers businesses to effectively manage all categories of spend and all suppliers, increasing profitability, improving ESG performance, lowering risk and improving employee productivity. We are trusted by hundreds of the world's most admired brands and recognized as a leader by Gartner and other analysts. Learn more at www.ivalua.com. Follow us at @Ivalua.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Ivalua
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2022-11-14T17:39:52+00:00
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wafb.com
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https://www.wafb.com/prnewswire/2022/11/14/ivalua-supports-digitalization-tchibos-indirect-purchasing-process-with-its-source-to-contract-solution/
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Leading Cyber C-UAS provider and its Counter-Drone solution was chosen based on innovation, performance, installation, manageability, value, and industry appeal
RA'ANANA, Israel and MCLEAN, Va., Feb. 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- D-Fend Solutions, the leader in radio frequency cyber-based counter-drone, takeover technology, is pleased to announce that their flagship product, EnforceAir, is the recipient of the 2023 Intersec Homeland Security/Service of the Year Award. This honor was announced at the 2023 Intersec Expo on January 18 at the Ritz Carlton DIFC in Dubai, UAE.
"They've developed a product that not only has a wide bandwidth of capture from potentially hostile drones, but also they've developed technology that can take control of that drone and send it to a safe place," said Howard Leedham, MBE, MSc, Aviation and Security Expert Consultant, former UK Special Forces Officer, former Royal Navy Commando Pilot, and 2023 Intersec Award Juror, "The company is well deserved of this award."
EnforceAir was selected by a rigorous panel of jurors, joining four other finalists within the Homeland Security and Defense sector. The Homeland Security Product/Service of the Year selection criteria are innovation, performance, installation, manageability, value, and industry appeal. The Awards, which recognize people, products, and companies for exceptional performance attracted almost 1300 entries across ten categories.
"We are immensely honored that EnforceAir's innovative technology has been objectively recognized on the global stage by such a highly qualified, prestigious and independent jury of expert security leaders at the 2023 Intersec Awards" said Jeffrey Starr, Chief Marketing Officer. "The criteria, competitiveness, and rigorous selection process, combined with the specific mention of our capture, control, and safety attributes, represents tremendous validation for our performance in the growing and demanding counter-drone space."
For more information, please visit https://d-fendsolutions.com/
About the 2023 Intersec Awards
Rewarding and celebrating the exceptional in security, the Intersec awards recognize and celebrate the exceptional achievements of individuals, products, and institutions committed to the theme of uniting the world's leading industry specialists for the safety & security of the future. The winners of the Intersec Awards 2023 were announced at a gala dinner event at the Ritz Carlton, DIFC. The Intersec Awards are part of Intersec 2023, which took place at the Dubai World Trade Centre on January 17-19.
About D-Fend Solutions
D-Fend Solutions is the leading counter-drone, cyber-takeover technology provider, enabling full control, safety and continuity during rogue drone incidents across complex and sensitive environments, to overcome both current and emerging drone threats. With hundreds of deployments worldwide, EnforceAir, the company's flagship offering, focuses on the most dangerous drone threats in military, public safety, airport, prison, major event and critical infrastructure environments. D-Fend Solutions' technology has been chosen as best-in-class and is in deployment at top-tier U.S. government agencies – including with U.S. military, federal law enforcement and homeland security – as well as major international airports globally. EnforceAir autonomously executes RF, cyber-takeovers of rogue drones for a safe landing and outcome, ensuring the smooth flow of communications, commerce, transportation and everyday life.
Media Inquiries
Paul Bilardo- PR@D-FendSolutions.com
View original content:
SOURCE D-Fend Solutions
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2023-02-01T12:36:59+00:00
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wafb.com
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https://www.wafb.com/prnewswire/2023/02/01/d-fend-solutions-enforceair-wins-2023-intersec-homeland-security-productservice-year-award/
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By TIA GOLDENBERG
Associated Press
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared headed toward victory Wednesday, with 80% of the ballots from national elections counted and showing that voters gave him and his far-right allies what looks like a stable majority in the country’s parliament.
Votes were still being counted and results were not final. But if preliminary indications were correct, Israel was potentially headed to its most right-wing government, bolstered by a strong showing from the ultranationalist Religious Zionism party, whose members use inflammatory anti-Arab and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric.
The initial results pointed to a continued rightward shift in the Israeli electorate, further dimming hopes for peace with the Palestinians and setting the stage for possible conflict with the Biden administration and Israel’s supporters in the United States.
The early results also showed that Netanyahu had overcome his detractors, who claimed he was not fit to rule while on trial for corruption and have refused to sit with him in government. Netanyahu’s partners have promised to help him evade a conviction.
“We are on the verge of a very big victory,” Netanyahu, 73, told supporters at a gathering in Jerusalem early Wednesday. “I will establish a nationalist government that will see to all Israeli citizens without any exceptions.”
Elections officials worked through the night tallying votes and by Wednesday morning, nearly 80% of the ballots had been counted. The vote, like past elections, was tight but initial indications showed Netanyahu was headed back to the premiership with a firm majority in Israel’s 120-seat parliament.
With Netanyahu and his allies projected to win more than the 61-seat majority needed to form a government, the country’s protracted political crisis may be headed toward a conclusion, but the country remains as divided as ever.
Tuesday’s election was Israel’s fifth in less than four years, with all of them focused largely on Netanyahu’s fitness to govern. On trial for a slew of corruption charges, Netanyahu, who denied wrongdoing, is seen by supporters as the victim of a witch hunt and vilified by opponents as a crook and threat to democracy.
Even if Netanyahu and his allies emerge victorious, it could still take weeks of negotiations for a coalition government to be formed.
Netanyahu was Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, governing for 12 consecutive years – and 15 years altogether – before he was ousted last year by a diverse coalition led by the centrist Yair Lapid, the current caretaker prime minister.
But the coalition that Lapid cobbled together, which included the first Arab party ever to join a government, was decimated by infighting and collapsed after just one year in power. Those parties were poised to capture about 50 seats, according to initial results.
Lapid, addressing supporters early Wednesday, insisted that the race was not decided.
“Until the last envelope is counted, nothing is over and nothing is final,” he said.
The night’s strongest showing was by far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Religious Zionism, which emerged as the third-largest party. At an all-male campaign gathering in Jerusalem, religious men wearing Jewish skullcaps and waving Israeli flags danced in celebration. At the celebration, Ben-Gvir’s supporters chanted “Death to terrorists.”
Ben-Gvir is a disciple of a racist rabbi, Meir Kahane, who was banned from parliament and whose Kach party was branded a terrorist group by the United States before he was assassinated in New York in 1990.
Kahane’s agenda called for banning intermarriage between Arabs and Jews, stripping Arabs of Israeli citizenship and expelling large numbers of Palestinians.
But while Kahane was seen as a pariah, Ben-Gvir is one of Israel’s most popular politicians, thanks to his frequent media appearances, cheerful demeanor, knack for deflecting criticism and calls for a harder line against Palestinians at a time of heavy fighting in the occupied West Bank. Young ultra-Orthodox men are among his strongest supporters.
Ben-Gvir lives in the hard-line West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba and is a strong proponent of settlement construction. He has described Arab colleagues in parliament as “terrorists,” called for deporting those who are “disloyal” and recently brandished a handgun in a tense Palestinian neighborhood of Jerusalem as he called on police to shoot Palestinian stone-throwers.
“We want to make a total separation between those who are loyal to the state of Israel — and we don’t have any problem with them — and those who undermine our dear country,” he said.
Muhammad Shtayyeh, the Palestinian prime minister, said the rise of Israel’s far right was “a natural result of the growing manifestations of extremism and racism in Israeli society.”
It appeared as though two of the three parties representing the country’s 20% Palestinian minority earned enough votes for a spot in parliament, as polls had predicted.
But it was unclear whether Meretz, a dovish party that opposes Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and a member of the current coalition, would make it into parliament.
If the Netanyahu alliance ends up controlling a majority, Ben-Gvir and his party leader, Bezalel Smotrich, are sure to drive a hard bargain. Ben-Gvir has said he will demand the Cabinet post overseeing Israel’s police force.
The pair have also said they will seek legal reforms aimed at weakening the independence of the judiciary and giving parliament power to override court decisions they don’t like. That could clear the way for the dismissal of criminal charges against Netanyahu. Smotrich and other members of the party have also made repeated anti-LGBTQ comments.
Such positions could put a future Netanyahu government on a collision course with the Biden administration, which supports a two-state solution with the Palestinians. It could also alienate Israeli allies in the U.S., particularly the predominantly liberal Jewish American community.
In Israel, voters vote for parties, not individual politicians. No party has ever won a majority on its own, and coalition-building is necessary to govern.
___
Associated Press writers Ilan Ben Zion and Josef Federman in Jerusalem, and Joseph Krauss in Ottawa, Ontario, contributed to this report.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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2022-11-02T15:30:31+00:00
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wtmj.com
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https://wtmj.com/national/2022/11/02/israels-netanyahu-appears-to-edge-toward-victory-after-vote-3/
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2 rare leopards born at Pittsburgh Zoo
Published: Apr. 29, 2023 at 1:18 AM EDT|Updated: 38 minutes ago
(CNN) - Two Amur leopard cubs are the latest additions to the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium.
They were born March 18.
Mother Semba, who was also born at the zoo, and the cubs are thriving.
Anyone anxious to see them will have to wait until June though. That’s when they get vaccinated and learn how to navigate the outdoors.
But for now, animal lovers can lend a helping hand in naming them.
For a $5 donation, people can submit name recommendations on the zoo’s website.
The contest is expected to close at the end of May.
Amur leopards are considered one of the rarest subspecies of cats on earth.
There are roughly 100 critically endangered leopards surviving in the wild in their native Russia and China.
Copyright 2023 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.
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2023-04-29T05:56:33+00:00
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witn.com
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https://www.witn.com/2023/04/29/2-rare-leopards-born-pittsburgh-zoo/
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By CLIFF BRUNT
AP Sports Writer
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Dillon Gabriel looked all healed up.
The Oklahoma quarterback passed for 403 yards and two touchdowns in his first game back after a concussion, and the Sooners defeated No. 19 Kansas 52-42 on Saturday to end their three-game losing streak.
Gabriel was injured in the second quarter of Oklahoma’s loss to TCU on October 1, and the team’s offense had sputtered in nearly seven quarters without him heading into the Kansas game. But a week after the Sooners were held to 195 yards against Texas, Oklahoma (4-3, 1-3 Big 12) exploded for 701 yards against the Jayhawks.
Gabriel had been in concussion protocol, but he passed tests during the week, clearing the way for him to play.
“I’m grateful for every opportunity I step out there because I know this game is aggressive,” he said.
Gabriel also ran 10 times for 37 yards and a touchdown, often sliding well before Kansas defenders had a chance to hit him.
“It’s football,” he said. “I’m going to get hit. Just being smart. Trying to protect myself, but also not taking any unnecessary hits.”
Kansas had been one of the nation’s darlings so far this season, surprising experts by winning five straight games to start the season and pushing TCU before losing 34-27 the previous week.
But Eric Gray ran for 176 yards, Marvin Mims had a career-high nine catches for 106 yards and Brayden Willis had five catches for a career-best 102 yards for the Sooners, who relieved some of the pressure that had been building for first-year coach Brent Venables.
It was Oklahoma’s 18th straight win over Kansas, with all the victories coming by double digits. The Sooners haven’t lost to the Jayhawks since 1997.
“I love seeing our guys in victory formation there at the end,” Venables said. “It was a good, hard fought win, dragging ourselves off the mat and getting back on the saddle.”
Filling in for the injured Jalon Daniels (shoulder), Jason Bean passed for 265 yards and four touchdowns for Kansas. Daniels was hurt in the loss to TCU.
Lawrence Arnold had 113 yards and two touchdowns receiving and Mason Fairchild had 106 yards and caught two touchdown passes for Kansas. The Jayhawks (5-2, 2-2) lost their second straight and missed out on the chance to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2008.
Gabriel completed 21 of 29 passes for 304 yards in the first half to help the Sooners take a 35-21 lead. The Sooners’ 487 yards in the first half were the second-most gained in a half in school history, trailing the 507 gained in the first half against Missouri in 1986.
“They came out clicking on all cylinders,” Kansas coach Lance Leipold said. “They played very well, very aggressive. I think we were on our heels most of the day. It was like they were playing downhill.”
Gray had 124 yards rushing in the first half, eclipsing his previous high as a Sooner before the break. The Sooners kept the Jayhawks at bay in the second half, controlling the ball for more than 17 minutes.
“Their backs were to the wall a little bit in this situation, and they came out and played extremely well,” Leipold said. “And we didn’t quite match that. And we’ve got to find a way if we want to be that type of team, that we can do that.”
THE TAKEAWAY
Kansas: If not for three Oklahoma turnovers and a goal-line stand by the Jayhawks on the final play of the second quarter, the Sooners would have done even more damage.
Oklahoma: The Sooners showed they could run the ball and chew up the clock if necessary. They ran for 298 yards and had the advantage in time of possession for the first time this season.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Even though Oklahoma has the reputation and was favored, Kansas lost to an unranked team and could drop out of the Top 25.
UNITY UNIFORM
Oklahoma honored running back Prentice Gautt, the first Black scholarship football player at the school, by wearing a “Unity” uniform.
Gautt starred on coach Bud Wilkinson’s teams from 1957 to 1959. He was an All-Big Eight Conference selection twice and was an Academic All-American in 1958.
The uniform, designed by a group of the school’s athletes, featured dark gray jerseys, pants and helmets with crimson trim and lettering. It had the word “TOGETHER” sewn on the collar, the word “UNITY” on the back-of-the-jersey nameplate and an outline of the state of Oklahoma on the sleeves.
INJURED JAYHAWK
Kansas cornerback Cobee Bryant left the game after suffering an injury to his left ankle in the closing seconds of the first half.
Bryant left on a cart and received a standing ovation from the crowd. Leipold said it is a “wait-and-see” situation.
UP NEXT
Kansas visits Baylor on Saturday.
Oklahoma visits Iowa State on Oct. 29.
___
Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: twitter.com/CliffBruntAP
___
More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/ap_top25. Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/mrxhe6f
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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2022-10-16T01:29:28+00:00
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wtmj.com
|
https://wtmj.com/sports/2022/10/15/gabriel-helps-sooners-top-no-19-kansas-end-skid-at-3-games-4/
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Police: Man critical after being shot 3 times inside a North Philadelphia home
PHILADELPHIA - A man is in critical condition after police say he was shot multiple times Sunday afternoon.
The shooting occurred inside a house on the 1000 block of Erie Avenue around 1:30 p.m.
Police say a 27-year-old was shot three times, once in the stomach and twice in the arm.
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He was transported to Temple University Hospital, where he is said to be in critical condition.
No arrests have been made, and no information given on possible suspects.
|
2022-09-11T19:04:56+00:00
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fox29.com
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https://www.fox29.com/news/man-critical-after-being-shot-3-times-inside-a-north-philadelphia-home-police-say
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TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares advanced Monday across the board as buying set in after the lull of a U.S. national holiday.
Analysts said the optimism may be driven by expectations the U.S. may decide to cut Chinese tariffs, a welcome move that would also help tame inflation.
China's Commerce Ministry said Tuesday that Vice Premier Liu He spoke with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen about coordinating economic policy between the two biggest economies and maintaining the stability of supply chains.
In a statement, it also said the Chinese side “expressed its concern over issues such as the removal of additional tariffs and sanctions imposed by the United States on China and fair treatment of Chinese companies." The two sides agreed to continue their discussions, it said.
Investors also have been encouraged by the lifting of restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic across the region, including in Japan, which had been booming with tourists from abroad ahead of the pandemic.
“The quiet economic calendar yesterday brings sentiments to focus on the single relief headline of a potential US tariff-easing decision, which could run the risks of a sharp paring back in speculative bullish bets in the event of any inaction," in taming inflation,” Yeap Jun Rong, a market strategist at IG in Singapore, said in a commentary.
But risks remain because of inflation and slowing economic activity in some countries. A resurgence in COVID-19 infections in Europe, the U.S. and parts of Asia is also looming, bringing the threat of a reversion to pandemic precautions.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 added nearly 1.0% in morning trading to 26,404.90. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3% to 6,632.00. South Korea's Kospi jumped 1.8% to 2,342.24. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.8% to 21,997.04, while the Shanghai Composite inched up 0.1% to 3,409.95.
Market players are also closely watching for an interest rate decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia. It is expected to raise its key rate by 50 basis-points. Minutes of the latest policy meeting of the Federal Reserve are also due out on Wednesday and could bring hints on future policy.
Global investors have been worried about surging inflation and the possibility that higher interest rates could bring on a recession in some economies. U.S. trading was closed Monday for Independence Day.
The futures for the Dow industrials and the S&P 500 were both up 0.4% early Tuesday.
Shares ended last week with a rally, with the S&P 500 surging 1.1%. The Dow gained 1% and the Nasdaq rose 0.9%. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies gained 1.2%.
In the first half of this year, the S&P 500 had its worst performance since the first six months in 1970. It’s now down 20.2% from the peak it set at the beginning of this year.
The risk of a recession is simmering as the U.S. Federal Reserve aggressively hikes interest rates. The Fed is raising rates to purposefully slow economic growth to help cool inflation, but could potentially go too far and bring on a recession.
In Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz gathered top employer and labor union representatives at his Berlin office Monday to seek ways of addressing the impact of rising prices while preventing a spiral of inflation in Europe's biggest economy.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude surged $1.87 to $110.30 a barrel. It gained $2.67 on Friday to $108.43 a barrel. Trading was closed Monday. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 3 cents to $113.47 a barrel.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar edged up to 136.15 Japanese yen from 135.69 yen. The euro cost $1.0434, up from $1.0423.
___
Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
Credit: Kin Cheung
Credit: Kin Cheung
Credit: Kin Cheung
Credit: Kin Cheung
Credit: Kin Cheung
Credit: Kin Cheung
|
2022-07-05T05:00:52+00:00
|
springfieldnewssun.com
|
https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/nation-world/asia-shares-rise-on-optimism-about-easing-covid-restrictions/VHEHS2AUWNABBGAWGMOVDNY3CQ/
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CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Juan Guaidó has been the face of Venezuelans’ efforts to restore their democracy since he took to the streets to challenge the rule of President Nicolás Maduro in early 2019.
But the 39-year-old former head of the country’s legislature, the National Assembly, is at risk of being pushed aside by some of his one-time allies who feel that his leadership of the opposition isn’t working and that they need to find a better way to connect with disillusioned voters ahead of the 2024 presidential elections.
Three of the four main opposition parties that make up the so-called interim government voted Thursday to replace Guaidó with a leadership by committee.
Guaidó, fighting for his political future, has warned that such a move would be unconstitutional and open the door to recognizing Maduro’s “dictatorship.”
But the former lawmakers — who were elected to the National Assembly in 2015 but saw their terms expire five years later and now operate as a symbolic shadow to Maduro’s rubber-stamping legislature — pressed ahead, approving the measure by a vote of 72 to 23. A second vote to ratify the decision was expected to take place in the coming days
“The process that we began in January of 2019 has weakened and is no longer perceived as a real option for change,” the group of opposition leaders said in a statement Wednesday. “This country requires new paths that will help us to return to democracy.
In January 2019, the National Assembly, then controlled by the opposition, voted to stop recognizing Maduro as president after several top potential opponents were barred from running against him. It then appointed Guaidó, a backbench lawmaker who was one of the few leaders in his Popular Will party to avoid arrest or exile, to be the nation’s “interim president” in accordance with the order of succession outlined in Venezuela’s constitution.
Guaidó was quickly recognized as Venezuela’s legitimate leader by the United States and dozens of governments in Europe and Latin America. But his interim government was unable to gain control of any government institutions and, crucially, failed to win over the military.
In the meantime, Maduro has only strengthened his grip on power, even as regular Venezuelans suffer from high inflation, deepening poverty and widespread shortages made worse by U.S. oil sanctions.
Geoff Ramsey, a Venezuela analyst at the Washington Office on Latin America, said the proposal to reshape the interim government reflects efforts by the opposition to adapt to Venezuelans’ growing frustration. In an opinion survey conducted in November by one of the nation’s leading universities, 57% of Venezuelans said the interim government should be dissolved and only 6% said they would vote for Guaidó in the event of primaries to see who would run against Maduro should he decide to seek a third term, as is widely expected.
“Venezuelans have moved on from the interim government experiment,” Ramsey said. “This proposal is a recognition from the wider opposition that they need to find ways to reconnect with the population beyond simply sitting back, folding their arms and waiting for the military to unplug from Maduro.”
Mariano de Alaba, a Venezuela analyst at the think tank the International Crisis Group, said removing Guaidó from his post would make primaries more competitive because he wouldn’t have as much access to the funds and machinery of the interim government.
“They are trying to close this chapter because the opposition is seeking a new leader” de Alba said.
Guaidó officially lost his position as the head of the National Assembly at the start of 2021, when the legislature’s five-year mandate ended. But opposition parties boycotted congressional elections staged that year by Maduro’s government, and instead, lawmakers chosen in 2015 continued to legislate in parallel to the Maduro-controlled National Assembly.
Earlier this month, Guaidó asked the opposition to extend his term as leader of the interim government for another year. But on Wednesday, 67 opposition legislators signed a statement saying they would vote to change how the interim government operates.
One of the circulating proposals calls for the creation of a commission comprised of opposition legislators that will promote the transition to democracy, handle cooperation with foreign governments and protect Venezuelan government assets abroad.
Those overseas assets include Houston-based oil refiner Citgo, control of which was handed to opposition-appointed managers after the Trump administration withdrew recognition of the Maduro government. Citgo has been fighting lawsuits from Venezuelan government creditors who want to seize its assets in the United States as compensation for unpaid debts accrued by the Maduro administration.
Thursday’s session of the interim assembly was being held virtually as many opposition politicians have fled Venezuela.
___
Rueda reported from Bogota, Colombia. Associated Press writer Joshua Goodman in Miami contributed to this report.
|
2022-12-23T02:48:35+00:00
|
wjhl.com
|
https://www.wjhl.com/news/international/ap-venezuela-opposition-weighs-overhauling-interim-government/
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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ The winning numbers in Friday afternoon's drawing of the Indiana Lottery's "Daily Four-Midday" game were:
1-0-4-1, SB: 5
(one, zero, four, one; SB: five)
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ The winning numbers in Friday afternoon's drawing of the Indiana Lottery's "Daily Four-Midday" game were:
1-0-4-1, SB: 5
(one, zero, four, one; SB: five)
|
2022-09-02T18:10:26+00:00
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seattlepi.com
|
https://www.seattlepi.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Daily-Four-Midday-game-17415616.php
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TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Flash floods in Iran's drought-stricken southern Fars province have killed at least 21 people, state television said Saturday.
Heavy rains swelled the Roudbal river by the city of Estahban, according to the city's governor Yousef Karegar.
Karegar said rescue teams had saved 55 people who were trapped by the flash flooding, but at least six people were still missing.
Flooding hit more than 10 villages in the province, he added.
Iran’s interior minister, Ahmad Vahidi, shared his condolences with the families of the flood victims, state television later reported.
Iran’s meteorology department had warned about possibly heavy seasonal rainfall across the country that is facing a decades-long drought blamed on climate change. The dangers of flash flooding have also been exacerbated by the widespread construction of buildings and roads near riverbeds.
In March 2018, a flash flood in Fars province caused the death of 44 people.
|
2022-07-23T12:07:20+00:00
|
springfieldnewssun.com
|
https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/nation-world/flash-flood-kills-at-least-21-people-in-southern-iran/N4NDQRBSRRFQZF5ECY5YZBCTY4/
|
Planned Parenthood is shifting funding to its state affiliates and cutting national office staff to reflect a changed landscape in both how abortion is provided and how battles over access are playing out.
The group, a major provider of abortion and other health services and also an advocate for abortion access, told its staff on Monday that layoff notices would go out in June. It provided The Associated Press with an overview Tuesday.
The changes are to kick in on July 1, just over a year after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that provided a right to abortion across the country. Since then, most Republican-controlled states have banned or restricted abortion, and most Democrat-controlled states have made moves to protect access.
“We are in a moment when I just believe that Planned Parenthood needs to change, too,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of the two arms of the organization: the political Planned Parenthood Action Fund and the network for local service providers, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
She said the changes do not reflect financial struggles for the organization — just priorities that need to change.
Currently, bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy are in effect in 14 states. Planned Parenthood affiliates have sued several states over their restrictions.
The organization plans to increase funding for non-abortion health services in states with bans. Planned Parenthood's services include testing for sexually transmitted infections, providing contraception, cancer screenings and gender-affirming care. The group also plans to increase funding in places where abortion remains legal in order to help serve patients who travel from states with restrictions.
In Ohio, a court has blocked enforcement of a ban on abortion after cardiac activity can be detected — generally about six weeks and before many women know they are pregnant. For now, the state has an influx of abortion patients from neighboring Kentucky and West Virginia and other states with bans. But a court ruling could bring a strict ban to the state.
More funding from the national Planned Parenthood will help, said Kerha Deibel, president and CEO of Cincinnati-based Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region. “No matter what happens, we are continuing to build power and making plans to protect and support patients who need access to care,” she said.
The national group plans to improve technology for electronic medial record sharing and telehealth. It will also launch an initiative to better serve Black patients, particularly in the South and Midwest. That element is in a multi-year, $50 million effort that began more than a year ago and has so far focused mostly on the planning stages.
The group's political arm is looking to increase funding at the state level. Last year, six states had ballot measures that dealt with abortion, and the side that supported abortion access prevailed in all of them — even generally conservative states like Kansas and Kentucky. Abortion is expected to be on ballots elsewhere in coming years, including in Ohio this fall.
The New York-based group said the Black health equality initiative will cost $15 million in the coming budget year and other elements will total close to $70 million. Political spending on these initiatives will be added on top of those costs.
To fund the changes, McGill Johnson said that 10% to 15% of the group's 725 to 750 employees — possibly around 100 — face layoffs in June.
Also Tuesday, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a major anti-abortion group, announced it is working with Kellyanne Conway, a former adviser to President Donald Trump, to "get pro-life candidates on offense in the 2024 election cycle."
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
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2023-05-23T20:29:53+00:00
|
springfieldnewssun.com
|
https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/nation-world/planned-parenthood-moving-money-to-affiliates-cutting-national-staff-as-abortion-battle-shifts/J57MYGJLH5DXLJAQKUMTNFZ6MM/
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Indigenous mythologies, says Tomson Highway, provide unique, timeless solutions to our modern problems. In his lecture, On Language, he argues that language shapes the way we see the world. "Like bird song, languages make our planet a beautiful place, a fascinating place — indeed, a miraculous place — to live on," he writes. Without language, we are lost creatures in a meaningless existence — which is why we tell stories. Language helps us create different mythologies, ways of understanding who we are and why we're here.
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2022-11-21T15:03:22+00:00
|
mainepublic.org
|
https://www.mainepublic.org/show/2-pm-public-affairs-programs/2022-11-21/ideas-from-the-cbc-2022-cbc-massey-lecture-tomson-highway-on-language
|
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PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — When two skiers collided on a beginner run at an upscale Utah ski resort in 2016, no one could foresee that seven years later, the crash would become the subject of a closely watched celebrity trial.
But Gwyneth Paltrow’s live-streamed trial over her collision with Terry Sanderson, a 76-year-old retired optometrist, in Park City has emerged as the biggest celebrity court case since actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard faced off last year — spawning memes, sparking debate about the burden of fame, and making ski etiquette rules of who was uphill and who had the right of way relevant beyond those who can afford resort chairlift tickets.
As attorneys plow through questioning their final witnesses Wednesday and prepare for closing arguments Thursday, here is a look back at highlights from the two-week trial:
LIFESTYLES OF THE RICH AND THE FAMOUS
For seven days, attorneys have both highlighted — and downplayed — Paltrow and Sanderson’s extravagant lifestyles.
Sanderson’s attorneys are asking for more than $300,000 in damages, but the money at stake for both sides pales in comparison to the typical legal costs of a multiyear lawsuit. Both sides have marshalled brigades of expert witnesses, including a biomechanical engineer and collision expert.
Paltrow’s legal team has attempted to represent Sanderson as an angry, aging man who continued to travel internationally and go wine-tasting after the collision. Sanderson’s attorneys have questioned Paltrow about that day's $8,890 bill for private ski instructors for four children accompanying her, as well as her decision to leave the slope after the crash to get a massage.
To keep jurors engaged through hours of jargon-heavy testimony, Paltrow’s team has shared a series of advanced, high-resolution animations rendered by an artist.
THE BURDEN OF FAME
Attorneys on both sides have tapped into the power of celebrity to make their cases that reputations and moral principles are what's at stake in the trial.
Sanderson’s side has tried to characterize Paltrow, the actor-turned-lifestyle influencer, as clumsy, out of touch, and evading accountability. They likened her decision to file a $1 countersuit against Sanderson to Taylor Swift, who filed a similar counterclaim in a lawsuit in 2017 — drawing attention to Paltrow’s testimony that she was “not good friends” with Swift but just “friendly.”
Paltrow’s defense team has called the highly publicized case an attempt to exploit her fame and suggested that she’s vulnerable to unfair, frivolous lawsuits. They’ve questioned witnesses about Sanderson’s “obsession” with the case and homed in on an email subject line in which Sanderson wrote after the collision: “I’m famous.”
“To become famous, he will lie,” one of Paltrow’s attorneys said. “I’m not into celebrity worship,” Sanderson later rebutted.
FACTORY OF MEMES
Though the trial has tested the jury’s endurance as its eight members have gradually sunk deeper into their chairs through hours of expert-witness testimony, it has titillated spectators worldwide, become late-night television fodder and fed the internet’s insatiable appetite for memes.
Viewers tuning into proceedings on CourtTV have seen Paltrow complain about losing a half-day of skiing after the crash. They’ve compared the spectacle to “The White Lotus” — an HBO series that satirizes the petty grievances of rich, white vacationers.
Photographs of Paltrow entering and exiting the courtroom — often shielding her face, perp-walk style, with a blue GP-initialed notebook — have gone viral on social media.
UTAH’S POSHEST SKI TOWN
The proceedings have drawn the world’s attention to Park City, Utah, the silver boomtown-turned posh ski resort where Paltrow and Sanderson crashed and the trial has been held.
The jury and local residents who’ve braved blizzards to get to the courthouse each day have nodded along as attorneys referenced local landmarks like The Montage Deer Valley, the slopeside luxury resort where Paltrow got a massage after the crash.
The all-white jury is drawn from registered voters in Summit County, where the average home sold for $1.3 million last month and residents tend to be less religious than the rest of Utah, where the majority of the population belongs to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Unlike the high-powered Hollywood attorneys that become household names at celebrity trials, both sides are represented by local lawyers. Paltrow’s team specializes in medical malpractice suits, while Sanderson’s lead counsel, Bob Sykes, is known in Salt Lake City for his work suing police departments. Sykes has attempted to play up his folksiness, referring to himself as “just a country lawyer" more than six times during the trial.
THE MYSTERIOUS MISSING GOPRO
Paltrow’s attorneys have intrigued the jury with questions about the collision potentially being captured on a helmet-cam video, though no footage has been included as evidence in the trial.
Sanderson’s daughter testified this week that an email she sent the day of the accident referring to a GoPro didn’t imply footage existed. She said that she and her father speculated that on a crowded beginner run, someone wearing a camera must’ve turned to look at the crash after hearing Paltrow scream.
Internet sleuths following the trial later found and sent attorneys the link included in the email. Rather than revealing GoPro footage though, it contained a chatroom discussion between members of Sanderson’s ski group, including the man claiming to be the sole eyewitness who testified Paltrow crashed into Sanderson.
__
Furman reported from Los Angeles.
|
2023-03-29T21:54:47+00:00
|
sfgate.com
|
https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/gwyneth-paltrow-s-ski-collision-trial-spawns-17867506.php
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DOSWELL, Va. (WRIC) — Organizers say this year’s Virginia State Fair will offer an abundance of fun events and activities for the family. 8News has you covered with everything you need to know!
The Virginia State Fair will run each day from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 22, until Saturday, Oct. 1. The fair will be held at the Meadow Event Park, located at 13191 Dawn Blvd. in Doswell.
Tickets go on sale on Friday, Sept. 1, and pricing breakdowns for online and at-the-gate tickets are available at the State Fair of Virginia’s website.
This year, attendees will enjoy free, riveting entertainment provided by the Triple Crown Circus, there will also be pig racing competitions, a petting zoo featuring horse and camel rides, captivating fire performances by a world-famous “fire-eater” and an exhilarating rodeo to name a few.
Other attractions at this year’s fair will include animals and livestock such as sliding ducks, hatching chicks, pigs, roosters, and goats from Young McDonald’s farm. Guests will also have the opportunity to see part of the dairy production process through hand-milking demos, which will be provided by The SouthLand Dairy Farmer Center.
The fair will also feature a pigeon and dove tent, exhibiting 300 different breeds of pigeons and doves with strikingly beautiful markings and colorations.
This year’s special events and contests will include a “Black Tie and Boots” competition in which attendees will wear their best suit, cocktail dress with their favorite boots. Proceeds from the event benefit the SFVA Scholarship Program, which “promotes positive youth development by recognizing and rewarding leadership and scholarship attributes developed through meaningful competition” according to the State Fair of Virginia’s website.
This year, the fair will also feature “Tastes of Virginia,” a culinary experience in which attendees have the opportunity to delight in exquisite dishes produced by Virginia’s farmers by celebrity chefs at Meadow Hall. Guests will have the chance to taste delicious food, wines, brews and cocktails provided by some of Virginia’s best producers.
Another event this year is the Blue Ribbon Craft Beer Fest, featuring numerous local breweries. Updated information on this webpage with this year’s list of breweries is expected soon.
Attendees of the fair will also enjoy free live musical entertainment with paid gate admission.
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2023-07-12T18:21:30+00:00
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wric.com
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https://www.wric.com/news/virginia-news/virginia-state-fair-will-return-to-meadow-event-park-in-2023/
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CANNES, France (AP) — Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest,” a chilling Auschwitz-set drama shot through “a 21st century lens,” has delivered the Cannes Film Festival’s first critical sensation by approaching the Holocaust from an unlikely perspective.
“The Zone of Interest,” which premiered to rave reviews Friday night, dramatizes the life of a fictional German family whose handsome home and tasteful gardens abut the outer wall of Auschwitz. There, they live a mostly peaceful, mundane life, while incinerators rumble in the background, smoke rises from the gas chambers, and muffled screams can be heard.
The father is Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel), a Nazi commandant who designed Auschwitz, who lives with his wife, Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) and children. “The Zone of Interest,” loosely based on a Martin Amis novel, rigorously follows the family’s daily lives while atrocity thrums next door.
“What it’s trying to do is talk to the capacity within each of us for violence, wherever you’re from, and to try to show these people as people and not as monsters was a very important thing to do,” Glazer told reporters Tuesday. “The great crime and tragedy is that human beings did this to other human beings.”
“It’s very convenient to distance ourselves from them as much as we can because we think we don’t behave that way,” added Glazer. “But we should be less certain than that.”
Following its premiere, “The Zone of Interest” quickly rose to the top of forecasts for the Palme d’Or, the festival’s top prize to be handed out May 27. Critics lauded the film’s formal rigor in capturing the capacity of people to compartmentalize horror.
“The Zone of Interest,” Glazer’s first film since 2013’s grimly elegant science fiction “Under the Skin,” proceeds largely without story in almost documentary fashion. It’s set almost entirely in the orderly hallways and flower beds of the Höss home. Glazer said he and his filmmaking team, using up to 10 cameras at once, tried “to make ourselves as absent as possible, almost as authorless as possible.”
“It had so little to do with acting what we were doing,” said Hüller. The process, she said, was more about being present.
Glazer sought to avoid movie tropes to bring viewers into a life they might recognize as their own, composed mostly of chores, work and child-rearing. For Glazer, it was about creating something “in present tense, not as a museum piece or something in aspic.”
“It needed to be presented with a degree of urgency and alarm,” said the 58-year-old British filmmaker.
Höss is based on Karl Bischoff, the concentration camp’s builder. A trip to Auschwitz, in which Glazer visited Bischoff’s home, inspired him to make “The Zone of Interest,” which A24 will release in theaters at a not-yet-announced date. He returned to shoot it at the camp in Poland.
“It was never an option for it to be shot anywhere else,” he said. “We tried to look for a place to shoot in other parts of Poland, but I kept gravitating back to Auschwitz.”
As in “Under the Skin,” Glazer uses a wide spectrum of techniques to create a densely layered visual and auditory experience. The score is by Mica Levi. Key in the process, Glazer said, was to avoid all the usual trapping of period films. Props were authentic but new. Glazer wanted a “present day” precision to make “The Zone of Interest” cut through history to reach today.
Glazer isn’t the only British filmmaker in Cannes with a formally daring film that seeks to bridge Holocaust past with the present. Steve McQueen debuted his lengthy documentary “Occupied City,” which combines narrated accounts of Nazi atrocities in Amsterdam with present-day footage from those locations.
To Glazer, finding new ways to make the Holocaust real and immediate drove him to make “The Zone of Interest.”
“It’s important to try to find a new paradigm for it so that a new generation can understand it,” Glazer said.
___
Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
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2023-05-21T04:04:49+00:00
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fox59.com
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https://fox59.com/news/entertainment/ap-entertainment/ap-jonathan-glazer-rocks-cannes-with-a-chilling-holocaust-drama-from-a-different-perspective/
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WASHINGTON — The economy was slowing down in late 2000, but nobody was really talking about an imminent recession — nobody except newly elected President George W. Bush and his team.
“’We may well be on the front edge of a recession here,” his running mate, Dick Cheney, warned in early December, shortly before being sworn in as vice president. Bush echoed those concerns and dismissed any positive economic indicators, including a retail sales report he derided as “one good statistic amongst a sea of some pretty dismal statistics.”
Presidents normally talk up the economy and then claim credit for any successes. But Bush had a reason for talking it down: to bolster his case for large tax cuts by framing them as a vitally needed economic stimulus. Plus, as the incoming president, no one could blame his policies for a recession so early in his administration.
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But some could — and did — blame his words.
Some Democrats and economists charged that Bush was intentionally driving down consumer and business confidence by exaggerating economic troubles to sell his tax cuts. Amid recession fears, he got his $1.35 trillion tax cut plan through Congress that spring. He also got his recession. The economy slid into a relatively short and mild one in March 2001.
It’s unclear if all the negative talk from Bush helped pushed the economy over the edge. But a similar dynamic might be at play again now, with an increasing drumbeat of recession warnings fueled by high inflation and slower economic growth — leading some analysts to worry that the country could be talking itself into a recession by spooking Americans into spending less.
“Consumers may have this idea that things are worse than they really are,” said Mahir Rasheed, a US economist at Oxford Economics, a global forecasting and analysis firm, noting that the underlying fundamentals of the economy remain strong. “They might start to pull back on spending and businesses might start to pull back on hiring and that’s where it could cascade into a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
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This time, it’s not the president talking down the economy. Instead, it’s some Republicans, economists, corporate executives, and financial analysts waving warning flags about a coming recession as the Federal Reserve aggressively hikes interest rates to try to lower inflation. They’ve got a vulnerable audience in Americans scarred by the historically deep Great Recession more than a decade ago, traumatized by the pandemic, and now grappling with four-decade high inflation.
They also have a stronger case than Bush did in 2000, due to unique and worrisome dynamics in the economy. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent gas prices skyrocketing to record highs and rising interest rates triggered a steep stock market decline. This is driving down consumer confidence and may be causing Americans to think the economy is in more trouble than it actually is.
In an Economist/YouGov Poll released last month, 56 percent of respondents said they believed the United States already was in a recession. Two-thirds of them said it is as bad or worse than the Great Recession from 2007-09, which is wildly wrong. In that disastrous downturn, the country lost 8.6 million jobs and the unemployment rate shot to 10 percent.
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Most economists say the country is not in a recession right now, although that determination could change in the coming months as more data is analyzed. The unemployment rate remained at a historically low 3.6 percent in June after the economy added 372,000 jobs in another strong labor market performance, the government reported Friday. But all the positive statistics in the world won’t make a difference if an even deeper decline in consumer and business confidence pushes an already slowing economy over the edge.
All the grim warnings could provide the final shove.
“In typical times, confidence doesn’t matter. It reflects what’s going on in the economy,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, an economics research and consulting firm. “But at turning points in the economy, the causality flips and the sentiment drives economic decisions and pushes the economy, and that is the catalyst for ultimately going into recession.”
Chuck Robbins, chief executive of computer networking giant Cisco Systems, cautioned his fellow CEOs at a World Economic Forum meeting in May that they needed to be careful about how they talked to each other about the economy since they’ll be making spending decisions that help shape it.
“I don’t want to see us talk ourselves into a recession,” Robbins told Yahoo Finance Live. “If we go back and say ‘We think there’s going to be a recession, so slow down spending,’ then that ultimately could lead to it.”
Consumer spending has remained solid despite high inflation, but it slowed in May, amid rising interest rates and more predictions of recession. Still, there’s no sign people have started socking away money in anticipation of a recession, which suggests one isn’t coming this year, said Robert J. Shapiro, a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business and chairman of the economic advisory firm Sonecon.
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“I don’t have any doubt that paying more for food and energy ... is dragging down demand for some other things, but you still have this incredibly strong labor market and that means that every month you have hundreds of thousands of more people earning wages and spending more,” he said.
Americans pay less attention to what they’re hearing and more to what they’re feeling, Shapiro said. Paying more for gas, groceries, and other purchases eats into Americans’ disposable income, and a declining stock market shrinks their retirement savings, all combining to make people feel poorer and worse about the economy.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell has said he thinks the central bank can bring inflation back down to normal without causing a recession, although he has acknowledged that executing such a so-called soft landing will be “very challenging.” President Biden has tried to stress the progress the economy has made on his watch, including record job creation, while acknowledging the pain people are facing because of inflation.
The US economy grew 5.7 percent in 2021, the fastest pace since 1984. But in 2022, the picture turned much less rosy. The economy contracted at a 1.6 percent rate in the first three months of the year, and a closely followed tracker by the Federal Reserve of Atlanta estimates that it continued shrinking in the second quarter, though the government’s official numbers won’t be released until later this month.
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A recession typically is described as two consecutive quarters of a shrinking economy, so the United States could be in one right now. Republicans have been hammering away on that point. Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell declared the country on the “brink of recession” in late June.
But the standard two quarter recession rule of thumb might not apply in today’s highly atypical economy. The private, nonpartisan organization that officially dates recessions, the Cambridge-based National Bureau of Economic Research, analyzes a broader set of data to determine if there has been “a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and that lasts more than a few months.”
Many economists have said the first-quarter economic growth report didn’t accurately indicate the state of the economy that is slowing but not stalling. A major reason for the contraction was a record high trade deficit that actually reflected the strength of the US economy compared to the rest of the world. With other nations still trying to recover from the pandemic, Americans imported more goods while demand was down for US exports, an imbalance that detracts from the growth calculation.
Strong demand for imports is not typical for a recession. Neither is robust job creation. So it’s possible NBER will determine that the United States is not in a recession even if the economy contracted again in the second quarter, which ended June 30.
If NBER does make a recession determination, it probably won’t come for several months. In 2001, it took until November of that year for the organization to declare a recession had started in March. The recession technically ended in November 2001, but NBER didn’t make that announcement until mid 2003.
That doesn’t mean that Bush was prescient in his warnings. NBER’s announcement said it might have resisted designating the downturn a full-blown recession if not for the initial economic shock of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. That highlighted how a slow-growing economy can be pushed into a recession.
“At the end of the day, a recession is a loss of faith by consumers who worry that they’re going to lose their jobs and pull back on their spending, a loss of faith by businesses who fear they can’t sell what they produce and start laying off,” Zandi said. “You get into this kind of self-reinforcing negative psychological dynamic with everyone running for the proverbial bunker, and that’s a recession.”
Jim Puzzanghera can be reached at jim.puzzanghera@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter: @JimPuzzanghera.
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2022-07-09T21:57:06+00:00
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bostonglobe.com
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https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/07/09/nation/is-us-danger-talking-itself-into-recession/
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JERUSALEM (AP) — Two Palestinians were killed and a third was wounded by Israeli army fire in the occupied West Bank early Friday, Palestinian health officials said, as conflicting claims about the incident emerged.
The shooting near the city of Nablus, the West Bank’s second largest, was the latest sign of escalation in recent months.
The Israeli military said troops at an army post south of Nablus opened fire after being shot at from a passing car. It said troops identified two suspicious vehicles and responded with live fire, reporting “hits.” The army did not specify whether this referred to people in the cars being killed or wounded.
An armed group, the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, portrayed the incident as an attack and said its fighters were involved, but was short on specifics. The group is an offshoot of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party. The Palestinian prime minister, Mohammed Ishtayyeh, claimed the two men were killed in cold blood, but did not provide evidence.
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified those killed as two men from the Askar refugee camp near Nablus, ages 47 and 35. Ishtayyeh said they worked for the Civil Defense, a department in the Palestinian self-rule government that includes firefighters and other emergency services workers.
The shooting came three days after Israeli forces raided a stronghold of a small armed group in Nablus, blowing up a bomb lab and engaging in a firefight. Five Palestinians were killed at the time, including a leader of the militia, which calls itself Lions’ Den.
Ongoing Israeli arrest raids in the West Bank pose a serious challenge to Abbas’ Palestinian Authority. Abbas relies on security cooperation with Israel, particularly against his Islamic militant rivals, to remain in power. At the same time, this cooperation is deeply unpopular among Palestinians who chafe against Israel’s open-ended occupation, now in its 56th year.
Younger Palestinians are particularly disillusioned. Small bands of gunmen have formed in some areas, first in the Jenin refugee camp, a stronghold of militants, and now in Nablus. These groups challenge the Palestinian Authority and carry out attacks against Israeli targets.
More than 125 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli-Palestinian fighting in the West Bank and east Jerusalem this year. The fighting has surged since a series of Palestinian attacks killed 19 people in Israel in the spring. The Israeli army says most of the Palestinians killed have been militants. But stone-throwing youths protesting the incursions and others not involved in confrontations have also been killed.
Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war and has built more than 130 settlements there, many of which resemble small towns, with apartment blocks, shopping malls and industrial zones. The Palestinians want the West Bank to form the main part of their future state. Most countries view the settlements as a violation of international law.
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2022-10-29T08:59:28+00:00
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wwlp.com
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https://www.wwlp.com/news/ap-international-news/ap-2-palestinians-killed-by-israel-military-alleges-ambush/
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JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Migrants in South Africa are living in fear of attacks and even death, Amnesty International said Wednesday, days after a Zimbabwean man was burned to death amid renewed violence against foreigners in some poor neighborhoods of Johannesburg.
Zimbabweans, who make up the largest number of migrants in Africa’s most advanced economy, are mostly targeted, according to the human rights group.
Amnesty International accused South African authorities of “inaction” and “a lack of political will” to stem the wave of anti-migrant violence witnessed in recent weeks.
The violence is driven by vigilante groups who blame foreigners from poorer African countries for South Africa’s rampant unemployment, said the report.
South Africa’s unemployment rate has reached 35%, according to figures released this month by StatsSA. The jobless rate for youths is more than 60%, according to the statistics.
A gang in Johannesburg’s poor Diepsloot township stoned and then burned to death Elvis Nyathi, a Zimbabwean, last week when he failed to produce identity documents showing that he was in the country legally, causing outrage in both South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Nyathi was one of seven people — two foreigners and five South Africans — who lost their lives “after attacks and counter-attacks by non-state actors” in the past week, said Amnesty International’s report, describing the deaths as “easily preventable.”
Migrants interviewed in the township by Amnesty said they are living in “constant fear” and “feel unsafe” due to constant harassment from both the police and anti-migrant gangs that move around demanding identity documents from migrants, said the group.
“These attacks represent just the latest wave in a rising tide of violence against migrants in South Africa,” said Amnesty, adding that the assaults are not isolated as they “mirror the heavily-orchestrated, anti-migrant attacks” witnessed in other poor townships in Johannesburg in recent months.
A group calling itself Operation Dudula has held anti-foreigner demonstrations in several South African cities in recent weeks.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa this week criticized the violence.
“We have seen people being attacked, hurt and even killed because of how they looked or because they have a particular accent,” he said in his weekly letter to the nation, appealing for restraint.
In Zimbabwe, authorities say they are engaging the South African government “at all levels,” while the country’s Parliamentarians called for an end to the attacks.
Once one of Africa’s most prosperous economies, Zimbabwe has battled a debilitating economic downturn over the past two decades that critics attribute to economic mismanagement, corruption and poor governance. President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government blames Western-imposed sanctions.
South Africa has said it will no longer renew special permits that allow Zimbabwean migrants to live and work in that country and gave about 250,000 holders of those permits until December this year to apply for regular permits.
It is estimated that as many as 3 million Zimbabweans live in South Africa without proper legal documentation.
Zimbabweans say it is difficult to return home because unemployment is even higher than in South Africa at more than 80%, according to some economists.
“The attacks are deplorable, but they can easily be solved if Zimbabwe fixes its economy,” opposition leader Nelson Chamisa told The Associated Press Wednesday.
“Zimbabweans are forced to run away from their country and live wretched lives elsewhere because they have no future in their own country,” Chamisa said.
Despite the threat of violence in South Africa, many Zimbabweans are still willing to risk sneaking across the border without documentation to try their luck in South Africa to escape the biting conditions at home.
“There is nothing for me here,” said Jonathan Sibanda 21, an unemployed resident of the capital, Harare. “I am willing to take that chance rather than die a slow death here in Zimbabwe.”
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2022-04-14T14:29:29+00:00
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wcia.com
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https://www.wcia.com/news/international/migrants-to-south-africa-face-threats-says-amnesty-report/
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Company wins the "Next Gen Risk Management" category during the 10th Annual Global InfoSec Awards
TEL AVIV, Israel, June 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Vulcan Cyber, developers of the cyber risk management platform for infrastructure, application, and cloud security, today announced the company has been recognized as a Next Gen Risk Management company in the 10th Annual Global InfoSec Awards from Cyber Defense Magazine.
"We're proud to receive this coveted award from Cyber Defense Magazine and to be recognized during one of the industry's most impactful conferences," said Yaniv Bar-Dayan, CEO and cofounder of Vulcan Cyber. "Our team is dedicated to helping organizations manage and mitigate cyber risk across all digital surfaces, rather than blindly attending to vulnerabilities that don't present actual risk to their business. This recognition highlights our team's work in helping IT, security, cloud-native and business teams to work together to own and mitigate the cyber risk that threatens their business."
Recent Vulcan Cyber research revealed that 76% of companies have been impacted by IT unmitigated vulnerabilities but only 33% of the same security executives said their organizations consider risk-based vulnerability management to be very important. This is where Vulcan Cyber is filling a gap.
Vulcan Cyber delivers an end-to-end risk management platform which automates security tasks and allows disparate teams and tools to collaborate efficiently. The platform consolidates security data then provides a consolidated dashboard for security teams to see their unique risk. Then Vulcan Cyber is used to orchestrate and track mitigation campaigns in real time across all teams. Vulcan Cyber also integrates easily with all of a team's existing tools for vulnerability assessment, asset management, collaboration, ITSM, patch, cloud-native application development and more, acting as an umbrella to bring all these tools together to efficiently remediate vulnerabilities.
"Vulcan Cyber embodies three major features we judges look for to become winners: understanding tomorrow's threats today, providing a cost-effective solution, and innovating in unexpected ways that can help mitigate cyber risk and get one step ahead of the next breach," said Gary S. Miliefsky, Publisher of Cyber Defense Magazine.
The company is laser focused and committed to helping overworked and under-supported security teams measure and communicate cyber risk to deliver impactful cyber risk management programs. The platform consolidates all vulnerability and IT asset data and combines it with threat intelligence feeds, giving a single view into the organization's unique vulnerability risk in order to strategically prioritize which vulnerabilities could be the most harmful to the business and its digital assets.
To view the Vulcan Cyber risk management platform in action, schedule a live demo during RSA here, or stop by our booth in the Moscone Center North Expo Hall at booth 5480.
To see Vulcan Cyber in action, please request a demo or try Remedy Cloud today. In addition, Vulcan Free is now available as the industry's only free vulnerability prioritization tool. Request Vulcan Free access today.
Vulcan Cyber has developed the industry's first cyber risk management platform, built to help businesses reduce cyber risk through measurable and efficient infrastructure, cloud and application security programs. The Vulcan platform orchestrates and tracks the cyber risk management and remediation lifecycle from scan to fix by prioritizing vulnerabilities, curating and delivering the best remedies, and automating mitigation processes through the last mile of remediation at scale. Vulcan Cyber is proud to offer Remedy Cloud and Vulcan Free as freemium SaaS solutions for IT security teams at businesses of all sizes. The unique capability of the Vulcan Cyber platform has garnered Vulcan Cyber recognition as a 2019 Gartner Cool Vendor and as a 2020 RSA Conference Innovation Sandbox finalist. https://vulcan.io
Media contact:
Dex Polizzi
Lumina Communications on behalf of Vulcan Cyber
vulcan@luminapr.com
View original content:
SOURCE Vulcan Cyber
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2022-06-06T16:51:44+00:00
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kwch.com
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https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2022/06/06/vulcan-cyber-named-winner-global-infosec-awards-rsa-conference-2022/
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NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A consortium made up of energy companies Eni of Italy and France’s Total is expediting plans to develop natural gas deposits off Cyprus following the discovery of a third field containing 2-3 trillion cubic feet of the hydrocarbon inside the same licensed exploration area, the Cypriot energy ministry said Wednesday.
The ministry announced the discovery at the “Zeus-1” well some 162 kilometers (100 miles) inside Block 6 off Cyprus southern coastline, at a depth of 2,300 meters (1.42 miles).
The field, containing a 105-meter (344-foot) column of gas is located just 5 kilometers (3 miles) west of the “Cronos-1” well where the consortium announced in August an estimated 2.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
The consortium made its initial gas discovery in Block 6 in 2018 at the “Calypso-1” well, but hasn’t offered any estimates yet as to its size.
The ministry said the newest discovery “reaffirms the promising potential of the area” as Cyprus looks to export the hydrocarbon amid an energy crisis compounded by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Cypriot Energy Minister Natasa Pilides told The Associated Press on Monday that the amount of gas already discovered inside Cyprus’ offshore economic zone is conservatively estimated at 12-15 trillion cubic feet. Other companies also holding exploration licenses for blocks inside Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone include Chevron and partners Dutch Shell and Israeli NewMed as well as ExxonMobil and partner Qatar Petroleum.
The Eni-Total consortium holds by far the most concessions — 7 of 13 blocs that make up Cyprus’ zone.
Chevron, Shell and NewMed are developing the Aphrodite field, estimated to hold approximately 4.25 trillion cubic feet of gas that’s expected to reach markets by 2027.
There’s enough natural gas in the east Mediterranean area for export until at least 2050, according to analyses by the East Mediterranean Gas Forum, a body composed of Greece, Italy, Egypt, Cyprus, Israel, France, Jordan and Palestine.
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2022-12-21T20:57:21+00:00
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kron4.com
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https://www.kron4.com/news/business/ap-business/ap-eni-total-announce-sizeable-new-gas-discovery-off-cyprus/
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Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
© 2022 Good Karma Brands Milwaukee, LLC.
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2022-08-23T21:55:48+00:00
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wtmj.com
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https://wtmj.com/sports/2022/08/22/ap-top-sports-news-at-1119-p-m-edt-4/
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Anyone driving through the streets of our city can see that there is energy and excitement with the many political campaigns taking place. Nov. 8, is Election Day. I want to invite all eligible voters in our city to come out and cast your vote, or stay home, sit down at the kitchen table and cast your vote.
Share your voices, Watsonville. The best part of democracy is the opportunity given to all of us to vote our values and impact the way our community is shaped into the future. Please vote early or on Election Day. Our city clerk’s office at 275 Main St. is open now as a satellite-voting place until Nov 8. From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and the two weekends before the Election Day, Watsonville residents can come to the city hall building to vote. If you are not registered to vote yet but are eligible to vote, you may register and vote on the same day.
After a year of construction and site improvements, it is also very exciting to see the 975 Main St. commercial development finally being occupied and businesses starting to thrive. Starbucks and The Habit Burger are now open and very busy. Chipotle will be opening in the next two weeks. Stop by and check it out.
The city of Watsonville now has a new sister city. This week, the Watsonville City Council welcomed a delegation from Portugal and signed an agreement establishing a sister-city partnership between Watsonville and Velas, Azores, Portugal. What a wonderful celebration of our diverse community. With our new sister city, we aim to create opportunities to exchange ideas, share culture and heritage and, most importantly, establish a long-lasting friendship and partnership.
During its stay in Watsonville, the delegation toured several city facilities as well as some of our local businesses. Our Sister City Program dates to November 1986 when we established our first sister city partnership with Kawakami-Mura in Japan. Since then we’ve added six cities to the program, including our most recent one with Velas, Portugal.
Following this important celebration of the cultural diversity in our community, the Watsonville City Council unanimously approved municipal code updates to align our city with state mandates known as SB9, which eases restrictions on residential development in an effort to make the construction of residential units easier and faster.
The lack of housing is not just a problem in our community; it is one that is shared by all cities all over our state. This update to the city ordinance eases the development of up to two residential units per parcel for single-family residential zoned parcels that meet certain requirements, which creates a direct opportunity for the development of more housing in our city.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and the Watsonville Police Department, as a highly visible organization in our community, is in a unique position to make a tremendous impact in the battle against this deadly disease. Since 2017, we have joined multiple law enforcement agencies around the state and country to participate in the Pink Patch Project.
During October, you will once again see our officers and professional staff wearing pink patches on their uniforms. You will also see the Pink Police Cruiser patrolling our streets. We are now taking online orders for our 2022 Pink Patch Project merchandise. Online orders will be processed during normal business hours and available for pick-up at the police department (215 Union St.) from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. To place your online order, visit https://forms.gle/iKoHNdxu5SyEMWj99.
The Parks and Community Services Department and the Watsonville Library have partnered to create a new Teen Action Council comprised of a group of youth ages 13 to 18 who want to make a difference. The Teen Action Council provides teens the opportunity to amplify the voice of youth within the community. This program helps develop the tools necessary for teens to build leadership skills, explore and identify issues and concerns important to teens, communicate issues and challenges in the city of Watsonville, organize special events for the community and promote mutual respect, understanding, and diverse representation for teens of different backgrounds. Two Teen Action Council members will also have the opportunity to serve as youth representatives on the Parks and Recreation and Library Commissions. Teen Action Council members will be working towards a framework for youth and teens that will equip them for a successful future, and resiliency from violence, alcohol & drugs, and other negative influences. The Teen Action Council will have its first meeting this month.
Our Parks and Community Services Department has some fun events planned to celebrate the Fall and the start of the holiday season.
Join us at the Watsonville Film Festival from 4-9 p.m. Oct. 28 for Dia de los Muertos at the Watsonville City Plaza. Everyone is invited to celebrate this beautiful tradition, complete with altars, live music, hands-on activities and a screening of the movie, Coco. For information and to view additional Dia de los Muertos arts & crafts tutorials and curated films, visit watsonvilfilmfest.org.
The fun doesn’t stop there. Our second Halloween Downtown Candy Crawl is from 2-6 p.m. Oct. 29. This free event for ages 13 and younger is a safe and fun way for families to trick or treat and visit participating downtown businesses. Pre-registration is required and space is limited. To sign up, visit watsonvillerec.com.
See you around town, Watsonville.
Ari Parker is the mayor of Watsonville.
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2022-10-15T23:41:23+00:00
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santacruzsentinel.com
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https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2022/10/15/mayors-message-election-day-is-just-around-corner/
|
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