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"Countdown to Pride" Campaign to support GLAAD, The Trevor Project, and Project Contrast to Conclude with First-Ever Nationwide "Pride Eve" Celebration
LOS ANGELES, May 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Inviz.tv, an Invisible Narratives company, is partnering with over 100 creators, influencers, and artists to launch a nationwide campaign and celebration to support the LGBTQ+ community.
Nearly 40 states are considering legislation targeting the LGBTQ+ community, with hundreds of anti-LGBTQ+ bills filed already in 2022. This year's "Countdown to Pride" campaign is a digital telethon powered by Invisible Narratives' creative partners and social media influencers, encouraging millions of followers to support organizations fighting for the LGBTQ+ community.
Over 20 different Pride flags representing a broad array of LGTBQ+ identity groups are available for purchase at Inviz.tv. All donations and proceeds will benefit Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation ("GLAAD"), The Trevor Project, and Project Contrast.
There is not only an urgent need to support these and other organizations, but also to show our full support for the LGBTQ+ community, and to celebrate love. Pride has spread nationwide, with events spanning the month of June and beyond. That is why May 31st this year, and each year going forward, will be "Pride Eve" – an opportunity to celebrate Pride together as a nation, counting down to 12:00 AM on June 1st to signal the official start of Pride Month.
Because not all LGBTQ+ community members and allies can be in the same place at the same time to countdown to Pride Month, Invisible Narratives is bringing everyone together by launching a first-of-its-kind celebration across social media platforms – a decentralized broadcast that will be streamed across TikTok, Instagram, and Youtube. Additionally, Inviz.tv is working with creators, influencers, and artists including Raven Symone, Big Freedia, Nyle DiMarco, Adelaine Morin, Josh Zilberberg, Loey Lane, Brooklynne Webb, Nikita Dragun, and others - to help spread the word about Pride Eve. The company is partnering with Jake Webb, President and Founder of Slash Management and Studios, and Range Media Partners to produce the broadcast program.
Invisible Narratives will also be hosting an in-person VIP event to celebrate Pride Eve, with the creators, influencers, and artists who are championing the cause. DJ Alex Chapman will perform live at this first-ever celebration on May 31st at Poppy Nightclub in West Hollywood where the stars will countdown to Pride Month together.
Invisible Narratives launched in 2018 as an opportunity to eliminate the gatekeeping, red tape, and slow pace of traditional media giants. At a time when the digital landscape was becoming more decentralized, Invisible Narratives began building a direct-to-fan platform designed to empower creators.
"At Invisible Narratives, many of our friends, family, and talent we work with are members of the LGBTQ+ community. When one of our concerned creative directors expressed the urgent need for a unifying Pride celebration, it became clear we needed to rally collectively to cement this moment in history. We have a platform and thus the responsibility to take action against hate by spreading love," said Catherine McEvoy, Co-President of Invisible Narratives. "Pride Eve is an opportunity to illustrate that it is possible to mobilize quickly and drive authentic advocacy by empowering influencers to speak out and motivate their audiences. There is no better time and no better purpose."
Now more than ever, this community needs our support. An event and campaign of this caliber typically requires a year to plan and execute. Given the urgency of the moment, Invisible Narratives is organizing and launching Pride Eve and the campaign to raise funds for GLAAD, The Trevor Project, and Project Contrast in under 60 days.
"This has been a very tough year for the LGBTQ+ community and we are excited to partner with Invisible Narratives during this critical time on the first-ever Pride Eve celebration," said Anthony Allen Ramos, GLAAD Vice President of Communications and Talent. "At a time when Pride flags are even being politicized and banned in educational and corporate spaces, now is the time to reclaim them for what they are: a symbol of love, acceptance, and resilience. We hope this celebration will unite the LGBTQ+ community and allies, while also helping to spread love and acceptance across the nation."
To learn more about Pride Eve and to #RaiseYourFlag visit Inviz.tv.
Media Contact
Caroline Beckmann
cbeckmann@tridentdmg.com
202-440-1783
About Invisible Narratives
Founded by former DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures Executive, Adam Goodman, Invisible Narratives is a next-generation shopping and entertainment company. Sitting at the intersection of the creator economy, the crypto economy, and the entertainment business, Invisible Narratives is designed for today's audience, one that does not want to pay for content but to invest in people, culture, and drops.
About GLAAD
GLAAD rewrites the script for LGBTQ acceptance. As a dynamic media force, GLAAD tackles tough issues to shape the narrative and provoke dialogue that leads to cultural change. GLAAD protects all that has been accomplished and creates a world where everyone can live the life they love. For more information, please visit www.glaad.org or connect with GLAAD on Facebook and Twitter.
About Range Media Partners
Range Media Partners was founded in September 2020 with the mission of partnering with the world's most creatively ambitious minds to build cultural capital. Range's Managing Partners have formed a strategically curated group of leaders across talent representation, production, activism, brand storytelling, venture strategy, and Web 3. With clientele spanning film, television, music, literary, tech, and activism, Range's thoughtful approach to representation is at the forefront of a vibrant new cultural era that is dynamic, diverse, and engaged. Range guides exceptional talent into unlocking their full global value in all businesses and amplifies truly remarkable voices across every part of the entertainment ecosystem.
About Slash Management and Studios
Slash Management & Studios, Inc. is a talent management firm representing multi-talented artists reaching a broad digital fan base. The firm offers full-service talent management with a focus in music TV/Film Development, endorsements, and licensing/brand-building. The company was founded in 2019 by Jake Webb, Heinz Holba, and Karine Roman. Slash Studios clients include Nikita Dragun, Pressley Hosbach, Tati Mitch, Dinah Jane, Loey Lane, Snitchery, Princess Mae, and more.
View original content:
SOURCE Invisible Narratives | 2022-05-18T16:23:56+00:00 | kalb.com | https://www.kalb.com/prnewswire/2022/05/18/inviztv-partners-with-over-100-influencers-reach-millions-driving-immediate-support-lgbtq-community-amid-nationwide-legislative-attacks/ |
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A mass of mostly young people among tens of thousands who gathered to celebrate Halloween in Seoul became trapped and crushed as the crowd surged into a narrow alley, killing at least 151 people and injuring 82 others in South Korea’s worst disaster in years.
Emergency workers and pedestrians desperately performed CPR on people lying in the streets after the crush in the capital’s nightlife district of Itaewon on Saturday night.
Those killed or hurt were mostly teens and people in their 20s, according to Choi Seong-beom, chief of Seoul’s Yongsan fire department. The dead included 19 foreigners, he said, whose nationalities weren’t immediately released. The death toll could rise further as 19 of those injured were in critical condition.
An estimated 100,000 people had gathered in Itaewon for the country’s biggest outdoor Halloween festivities since the pandemic began and strict rules on gatherings were enforced. The South Korean government eased COVID-19 restrictions in recent months and this was the first big chance to get out and party for many young people.
While Halloween isn’t a traditional holiday in South Korea, where children rarely go trick-or-treating, it’s still a major attraction for young adults, and costume parties at bars and clubs have become hugely popular in recent years.
Itaewon, near where the former headquarters of U.S. military forces in South Korea operated before moving out of the capital in 2018, is an expat-friendly district known for its trendy bars, clubs and restaurants and it’s the city’s marquee Halloween destination.
Witnesses say Itaewon’s streets were so densely clogged with people and slow-moving vehicles that it was practically impossible for emergency workers and ambulances to reach the alley in time to treat the injured.
Seoul’s city government said more than 1,000 people have called a city office in nearby Hannam-dong as of midday Saturday, reporting their relatives as out of contact and asking officials to confirm whether they were among those injured or dead after the crush in Itaewon.
Officials initially said 150 people were injured as of Sunday morning before later lowering their tally.
National Fire Agency officials didn’t immediately explain why the tally was reduced but said emergency workers would have had a more accurate idea of the casualties as rescue operations proceeded and that some of the injured would have been converted to deaths. It was also possible that some of those who were lightly injured had returned home overnight and were no longer counted.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared a national mourning period on Sunday and ordered flags at government buildings and public offices to fly at half-staff. During a televised speech, Yoon said supporting the families of the victims, including their funeral preparations, and the treatment of the injured would be a top priority for his government.
He also called for officials to thoroughly investigate the cause of the accident and review the safety of other large cultural and entertainment events, including regional festivals, to ensure that they proceed safely.
“This is really devastating. The tragedy and disaster that need not have happened took place in the heart of Seoul amid Halloween (celebrations),” Yoon said during the speech. “I feel heavy hearted and cannot contain my sadness as a president responsible for the people’s lives and safety.”
After the speech, Yoon visited the Itaewon alley where the disaster occurred. Local TV footage showed Yoon inspecting the alley filled with trash and being briefed by emergency officials.
It was not immediately clear what led the crowd to surge into the narrow downhill alley near the Hamilton Hotel, a major party spot in Seoul. One survivor said many people fell and toppled one another “like dominos” after they were pushed by others. The survivor, surnamed Kim, said they were trapped for about an hour and a half before being rescued, as some people shouted “Help me!” and others were short of breath, according to the Seoul-based Hankyoreh newspaper.
Another survivor, Lee Chang-kyu, said he saw about five to six men push others before one or two began falling, according to the newspaper.
In an interview with news channel YTN, Hwang Min-hyeok, a visitor to Itaewon, said it was shocking to see rows of bodies near the hotel. He said emergency workers were initially overwhelmed, leaving pedestrians struggling to administer CPR to the injured lying on the streets. People wailed beside the bodies of their friends, he said.
Another survivor in his 20s said he avoided being trampled by managing to get into a bar whose door was open in the alley, Yonhap news agency reported. A woman in her 20s surnamed Park told Yonhap that she and others were standing along the side of the alley while others caught in the middle of the alley had no escape.
Choi, the fire department chief, said that bodies were being sent to hospitals or a gym, where bereaved family members could identify them. He said most of the dead and injured are in their 20s.
“Horrific news from Seoul tonight,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tweeted. “All our thoughts are with those currently responding and all South Koreans at this very distressing time.”
Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security adviser, tweeted that reports of the disaster were “heartbreaking” and said Washington “stands ready to provide the Republic of Korea with any support it needs.”
The last South Korean disaster this deadly also hit young people the hardest. In April 2014, 304 people, mostly high school students, died in a ferry sinking. The sinking exposed lax safety rules and regulatory failures; it was partially blamed on excessive and poorly fastened cargo and a crew poorly trained for emergency situations. Saturday’s deaths will likely draw public scrutiny of what government officials have done to improve public safety standards since the ferry disaster.
It was also Asia’s second major crushing disaster in a month. On Oct. 1, police in Indonesia fired tear gas at a soccer match, causing a crush that killed 132 people as spectators attempted to flee.
More than 1,700 response personnel from across the country were deployed to the streets to help the wounded, including about 520 firefighters, 1,100 police officers and 70 government workers. The National Fire Agency separately said in a statement that officials were still trying to determine the exact number of emergency patients.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol issued a statement calling for officials to ensure swift treatment for those injured and review the safety of the festivity sites.
This was the deadliest crushing disaster in South Korean history. In 2005, 11 people were killed and around 60 others were injured at a pop concert in the southern city of Sangju.
In 1960, 31 people died after being crushed on the stairs of a train station as large crowds rushed to board a train during the Lunar New Year holidays. | 2022-10-30T04:35:17+00:00 | kdvr.com | https://kdvr.com/news/nationalworld-news/ap-international/ap-officials-dozens-in-cardiac-arrest-after-seoul-crowd-surge/ |
ORANGEBURG -- The funeral service for Mr. Frankie Lee Oliver will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 29, 2022, at The Garden of Prayer Church.
Viewing will be held from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, May 28, at Greater Orangeburg Funeral, 1656 Joe S. Jeffords Highway. Greater Orangeburg Funeral Home has been entrusted with the services. | 2022-05-28T07:56:43+00:00 | thetandd.com | https://thetandd.com/news/local/obituaries/frankie-lee-oliver----orangeburg/article_ca6549b3-edfa-5ef9-8c7b-8a5b4e3fb39c.html |
NORMAL — Illinois State basketball coach Ryan Pedon’s transfer portal shopping list included a playmaking guard, a versatile wing and a post player with size.
With those players secured and those needs filled, Pedon has turned to more of a wish list.
Pedon knows what he and the Redbirds are wishing for, but he also is prepared to move forward if that wish does not come true.
“We’re going to be real picky. It would have to be somebody who adds value to our roster that it doesn’t already have,” Pedon said of filling his final scholarship entering the 2023-24 seasons.
“It would have to have a real purpose and fit well with the pieces we have. I’m very much a how the pieces fit type of coach rather than recruiting talent and then figuring it out.”
Pedon is not limiting himself to a traditional center but one more addition would bolster the ISU inside game and “would not be on the perimeter in all likelihood.”
The Redbirds have signed 6-foot-2 guard Dalton Banks (a transfer from Southern Illinois), 6-4 wing Jordan Davis (Wisconsin) and 7-0 center Brandon Lieb (Illinois).
“I do. I feel really good,” Pedon said when asked if that trio addresses the team’s needs. “We wanted a playmaking guard, a paint touch guy, a tough guy, a good passer and we filled that box with Dalton Banks.
“Jordan Davis fills a real important slot as a tough, physical, competitive wing with size. We see him as a real two-way player. We love two-way guys who add value to your team on both sides of the ball. We got some strength and toughness we definitely need. We’re really excited about him.”
Although Lieb saw little playing time at Illinois, Pedon said he would rather have a player like Lieb who has faced the likes of Kofi Cockburn and Dain Dainja on a daily basis in practice than someone who “played a modest role or did well at a low major school. Lieb has length, size, versatility and mobility.”
Pedon and his staff also are working on a recruiting class of current high school juniors who will graduate in 2024. Among those offered scholarships by ISU are Normal Community’s Jaheem Webber and Braylon Roman and Central Catholic’s Cole Certa.
The Redbirds coach acknowledged the comings and goings of the transfer portal throw a wrinkle of uncertainty into prep recruiting.
“Recruiting at the grass roots level and predicting into the future, that model has completely changed,” he said. “You have to be willing to be so flexible. You can’t say I know in that class we’re going to need exactly this.
"Anybody who tells you they’re doing that is lying to your face. You’ve got to do a good job of evaluating.”
PHOTOS: Illinois State men's basketball practice
Contact Randy Reinhardt at (309) 820-3403. Follow him on Twitter: @Pg_Reinhardt | 2023-05-02T17:30:19+00:00 | pantagraph.com | https://pantagraph.com/sports/college/illinois-state/after-filling-needs-with-three-transfers-illinois-state-coach-pedon-mulls-fourth-addition/article_f4a23110-e845-11ed-a73c-f3357fb22628.html |
VALLETTA, Malta, Nov. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Kindred reinforces its "0% revenue from harmful gambling" ambition by becoming the first online platform to offer its players the ability to block access to all online gambling sites on their devices using Gamban software. Kindred also sponsored its localisation in French in order to make it as widely accessible as possible.
Kindred Group plc (Kindred) will, through its flagship brand Unibet, be the first operator in France to offer Gamban to all players who opt out of its platform, starting 10 November. In line with Kindred's ambition to achieve 0% revenue from harmful gambling, this will be a new addition for Unibet's players in France, on top of Kindred's own responsible gambling tools. Gamban was designed for players in a situation of loss of control to offer them a solution to block online gambling sites on all personal devices. It is now one of the most effective tools to help problem gamblers stay in control.
"At Kindred, we want gambling to remain a fun source of entertainment. As an online gambling operator, we take our responsibility towards our players very seriously and want to provide them with the most effective support tools on the market. This is what the partnership between Unibet and Gamban is all about, and we encourage all gambling operators to adopt this solution in order to make it more widely available in France," says Mathieu Drida, General Manager France, Kindred Group.
While Gamban wasn't previously accessible in French, Kindred funded its development and localisation to make it widely accessible to French players. Even though it is possible to self-exclude or be banned from the 17 licensed operators in France, Gamban provides a much wider coverage, allowing players to block more than 60,000 online gambling sites, including unlicensed operators.
"We are very excited to be assisting Kindred on their journey to derive 0% revenue from harmful gambling. Kindred's voluntary commitment to offer Gamban for free in France means accessible blocking software can further protect those harmed by gambling from unlicensed operators outside the scope of regulation. Kindred's commitment to best practice has led to them choosing Gamban to partner with, which illustrates the reliability of our solution to protect players and work toward the sustainability of the industry." concludes Stephen Aupy, VP of Partnerships at Gamban.
CONTACT:
For more information:
Maria Angell Dupont, External Communications Manager, Kindred Group
press@kindredgroup.com
+46 72 165 15 17
The following files are available for download:
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SOURCE Kindred Group | 2022-11-07T11:53:46+00:00 | wafb.com | https://www.wafb.com/prnewswire/2022/11/07/kindred-partners-with-gamban-make-its-blocking-software-available-french-customers/ |
MILWAUKEE - Gino Salomone talks with actress Rosario Dawson about working with Kevin Smith on ‘Clerks III.’
Rosario Dawson on 'Clerks III'
Gino Salomone talks with actress Rosario Dawson about working with Kevin Smith on ‘Clerks III.’
Milwaukee Public Schools students on the traditional calendar start school Tuesday, Sept. 6.
A new UWM dining program allows students to eat whenever and however often they want, but the school doesn't have enough employees, sending an email to faculty and staff asking if they would volunteer to staff and clean the dining halls. | 2022-09-06T16:52:53+00:00 | fox6now.com | https://www.fox6now.com/real-milwaukee/rosario-dawson-clerks-iii |
NEW YORK (AP) — A three-year pause on student loan payments will end this summer regardless of how the Supreme Court rules on the White House plan to forgive billions of dollars in student loan debt.
If Congress approves a debt ceiling deal negotiated by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden, payments will resume in late August, ending any lingering hope of a further extension of the pause that started during the COVID pandemic. Even if the deal falls through, payments will resume 60 days after the Supreme Court decision.
That ruling is expected sometime before the end of June. No matter what the justices decide, more than 40 million borrowers will have to start paying back their loans by the end of the summer at the latest.
Here’s what to know to get ready to start paying back loans:
HOW SHOULD I PREPARE FOR STUDENT LOANS PAYMENTS TO RESTART?
Betsy Mayotte, President of the Institute of Student Loan Advisors, encourages people not to make any payments until the pause has ended. Instead, she says, put what you would have paid into a savings account.
“Then you’ve maintained the habit of making the payment, but (you’re) earning a little bit of interest as well,” she said. “There’s no reason to send that money to the student loans until the last minute of the 0% interest rate.”
Mayotte recommends borrowers use the loan-simulator tool at StudentAid.gov or the one on TISLA’s website to find a payment plan that best fits their needs. The calculators tell you what your monthly payment would be under each available plan, as well as your long-term costs.
“I really want to emphasize the long-term,” Mayotte said.
Sometimes, when borrowers are in a financial bind, they’ll choose the option with the lowest monthly payment, which can cost more over the life of the loan, Mayotte said. Rather than “setting it and forgetting it,” she encourages borrowers to reevaluate when their financial situation improves.
WHAT’S AN INCOME-DRIVEN REPAYMENT PLAN?
An income-driven repayment plan sets your monthly student loan payment at an amount that is intended to be affordable based on your income and family size. It takes into account different expenses in your budget, and most federal student loans are eligible for at least one of these types of plans.
Generally, your payment amount under an income-driven repayment plan is a percentage of your discretionary income. If your income is low enough, your payment could be as low as $0 per month.
If you’d like to repay your federal student loans under an income-driven plan, the first step is to fill out an application through the Federal Student Aid website.
TALK TO AN ADVISER
Fran Gonzales, 27, who is based in Texas, works as a supervisor for a financial institution. She holds $32,000 in public student loans and $40,000 in private student loans. During the payment pause on her public loans, Gonzales said she was able to pay off her credit card debt, buy a new car, and pay down two years’ worth of private loans while saving money. Her private student loan payment has been $500 a month, and her public student loan payment will be $350 per month when it restarts.
Gonzales recommends that anyone with student loans speak with a mentor or financial advisor to educate themselves about their options, as well as making sure they’re in an income-driven repayment plan.
The Federal Student Aid website can help direct you to counselors, as well as organizations like the Student Borrower Protection Center and the Institute of Student Loan Advisors.
“I was the first in my family to go to college, and I could have saved money with grants and scholarships had I known someone who knew about college,” she said. “I could have gone to community college or lived in cheaper housing … It’s a huge financial decision.”
Gonzales received her degree in business marketing and says she was “horrible with finances” until she began working as a loan officer herself.
Gonzales’s mother works in retail and her father for the airport, she said, and both encouraged her to pursue higher education. For her part, Gonzales now tries to inform others with student loans about what they’re taking on and what their choices are.
“Anyone young I cross paths with, I try to educate them.”
CAN I SET UP A PAYMENT PLAN FOR MY STUDENT LOANS?
Yes — payment plans are always available. Even so, some advocates encourage borrowers to wait for now, since there’s no financial penalty for nonpayment during the pause on payments and interest accrual.
Katherine Welbeck of the Student Borrower Protection Center recommends logging on to your account and making sure you know the name of your servicer, your due date and whether you’re enrolled in the best income-driven repayment plan.
WHAT IF I CAN’T PAY?
If your budget doesn’t allow you to resume payments, it’s important to know how to navigate the possibility of default and delinquency on a student loan. Both can hurt your credit rating, which would make you ineligible for additional aid.
If you’re in a short-term financial bind, according to Mayotte, you may qualify for deferment or forbearance — allowing you to temporarily suspend payment.
To determine whether deferment or forbearance are good options for you, you can contact your loan servicer. One thing to note: interest still accrues during deferment or forbearance. Both can also impact potential loan forgiveness options. Depending on the conditions of your deferment or forbearance, it may make sense to continue paying the interest during the payment suspension.
HOW CAN I REDUCE COSTS WHEN PAYING OFF MY STUDENT LOANS?
— If you sign up for automatic payments, the servicer takes a quarter of a percent off your interest rate, according to Mayotte.
— Income-driven repayment plans aren’t right for everyone. That said, if you know you will eventually qualify for forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, it makes sense to make the lowest monthly payments possible, as the remainder of your debt will be cancelled once that decade of payments is complete.
— Reevaluate your monthly student loan repayment during tax season, when you already have all your financial information in front of you. “Can you afford to increase it? Or do you need to decrease it?” Mayotte said.
— Break up payments into whatever ways work best for you. You could consider two installments per month, instead of one large monthly sum.
ARE STUDENT LOANS FORGIVEN AFTER 10 YEARS?
If you’ve worked for a government agency or a nonprofit, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program offers cancellation after 10 years of regular payments, and some income-driven repayment plans cancel the remainder of a borrower’s debt after 20 to 25 years.
Borrowers should make sure they’re signed up for the best possible income-driven repayment plan to qualify for these programs.
Borrowers who have been defrauded by for-profit colleges may also apply for borrower defense and receive relief.
These programs won’t be affected by the Supreme Court ruling.
___
The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism. | 2023-05-31T22:47:31+00:00 | ksn.com | https://www.ksn.com/news/business/ap-business/ap-heres-how-to-prepare-to-start-paying-back-your-student-loans-when-the-pandemic-payment-freeze-ends/ |
FBI: 5 militia members charged with storming Capitol
(AP) - Five Florida men affiliated with a militia group called “B Squad” have been arrested on charges that they joined a mob’s attack on the U.S. Capitol, disrupting Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory, federal authorities said Wednesday.
“B Squad” members stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, while wearing riot gear and armed with metal batons, knives, chemical spray and walking sticks, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit. Group members joined the mob in a “heave-ho” push against police officers trying to secure a tunnel on the Lower West Terrace, the affidavit says.
Officers ultimately repelled the mob after more than two hours of violence inside the tunnel. More than 100 police officers were injured at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
The FBI says the five defendants charged together are self-identified adherents to the “Three Percenters” militia movement, which refers to the myth that only 3% of Americans fought in the Revolutionary War against the British. The men are members of a group called Guardians of Freedom and a subgroup called “B Squad,” according to an FBI agent’s affidavit.
A criminal complaint charges four of the defendants with a felony count of interfering with a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder. They are Benjamin Cole, 38, of Leesburg; John Edward Crowley, 50, of Windermere; Brian Preller, 33, of Mount Dora; and Jonathan Rockholt, 38, of Palm Coast.
They and a fifth defendant — Tyler Bensch, 20, of Casselberry — also are charged with misdemeanor counts of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds.
Crowley, Rockholt and Bensch were arrested in Florida, where a federal magistrate judge ordered them released after their initial court appearances Wednesday. Attorneys for the three men didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
Cole was arrested in Louisville, Kentucky. Court records didn’t immediately list an attorney for him.
Preller was arrested in Hardwick, Vermont, and ordered released after his initial court appearance in Rutland. A lawyer for Preller declined to comment on the charges.
A flier sent to “B Squad” members two weeks before the riot advertised a “March for Trump” bus trip to Washington for the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, according to the affidavit. It says the flier encouraged Guardians of Freedom members to “deploy” and help protect people at the rally, where then-President Donald Trump addressed a crowd of supporters.
A man identified by the FBI only as “B Leader” coordinated the group’s travel from Florida to Washington and reserved a block of rooms at a hotel near Capitol. He, the five defendants charged in the complaint and approximately 40 other “B Squad” members stayed on the same floor of the hotel on the eve of the riot, the FBI says. “B Leader,” who isn’t one of the five arrested defendants, also spoke at a rally at Washington’s Freedom Plaza on Jan. 5, 2021, according to the affidavit.
More than 850 people have been charged with federal crimes for their conduct on Jan. 6. The Justice Department says more than 260 defendants have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement at the Capitol.
Nearly 400 Capitol riot defendants have pleaded guilty or been convicted by a judge or jury after trials. More than 240 have been sentenced, with roughly half of them getting terms of incarceration ranging from seven days to over seven years.
___
For full coverage of the Capitol riot, go to https://www.apnews.com/capitol-siege
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | 2022-08-25T00:30:39+00:00 | kxii.com | https://www.kxii.com/2022/08/24/fbi-5-militia-members-charged-with-storming-capitol/ |
LOS ANGELES — Aerosmith will be touring a city near you for the last time to celebrate the rock band's 50-plus years together.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band announced Monday the dates for their farewell tour called “Peace Out” starting Sept. 2 in Philadelphia. The 40-date run of shows, which includes a stop in the band’s hometown of Boston on New Year’s Eve, will end Jan. 26 in Montreal. A general onsale begins on Friday at 10 a.m. local time. See a full list of shows at the end of this article.
“I think it’s about time,” guitarist Joe Perry said.
Perry said the group, with frontman Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer and guitarist Brad Whitford, learned from the staging and production from their recent Las Vegas residency shows.
Perry believes the time to say goodbye is now, especially with every founding band member over the age of 70. Tyler, 75, is the oldest in the group.
“It’s kind of a chance to celebrate the 50 years we’ve been out here,” Perry said. “You never know how much longer everybody’s going to be healthy to do this. … It’s been a while since we’ve actually done a real tour. We did that run in Vegas, which was great. It was fun, but (we're) kind of anxious to get back on the road.“
Tyler and Perry said the band is looking forward to digging into their lengthy catalog of the group’s rock classics including “Crazy,” “Janie’s Got a Gun” and “Livin’ on the Edge.”
Over the years, Aerosmith, which formed in 1970, has collected four Grammys. The band broke boundaries intersecting rock and hip-hop with their epic collaboration with Run-DMC for “Walk This Way.”
Aerosmith performed the Super Bowl halftime show in 2001 and even had their own theme park attraction in 1999 at Disney World in Florida and later in Paris with the launch of the “Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith" ride.
“We’re opening up Pandora’s Box one last time to present our fans with the Peace Out tour,” Tyler said in a statement to The Associated Press. His “Pandora's Box” reference calls out Aerosmith's 1991 three-disc compilation album that covered the band's output from the 1970s to the early 1980s.
“Be there or beware as we bring all the toys out of the attic. Get ready,” Tyler added.
The band said Kramer decided to not take part in the current dates on the upcoming tour. He’s still a part of the group, but the drummer has been on leave to “focus his attention on his family and health” since their Vegas residency last year. Drummer John Douglas will continue to play in his place.
Perry called Kramer their brother. The band said his “legendary presence behind the drum kit will be sorely missed.”
Before the 40-date tour wraps, Perry said other cities domestically and internationally could be added.
“It’s the final farewell tour, but I have a feeling it will go on for a while,” he said. “But I don’t know how many times we’ll be coming back to the same cities. It could very possibly be the last time.”
Aerosmith 'Peace Out' tour: List of concerts
Here's the full list of shows, according to an emailed announcement from Live Nation.
- Saturday, Sept. 2 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center
- Wednesday, Sept. 6 – Pittsburgh, PA – PPG Paints Arena
- Saturday, Sept. 9 – Belmont Park, NY – UBS Arena
- Tuesday, Sept. 12 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena
- Friday, Sept. 15 – Chicago, IL – United Center
- Monday, Sept. 18 – Detroit, MI - Little Caesars Arena
- Thursday, Sept. 21 – Cleveland, OH – Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse
- Sunday, Sept. 24 – Raleigh, NC – PNC Arena
- Wednesday, Sept. 27 – Washington, DC – Capital One Arena
- Wednesday, Oct. 11 – Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena
- Saturday, Oct. 14 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena
- Tuesday, Oct. 17 – Charlotte, NC – Spectrum Center
- Friday, Oct. 20 – Sunrise, FL – FLA Live Arena
- Monday, Oct. 23 – Austin, TX – Moody Center
- Thursday, Oct. 26 – St Louis, MO – Enterprise Center
- Sunday, Oct. 29 – Indianapolis, IN – Gainbridge Fieldhouse
- Wednesday, Nov. 1 – San Antonio, TX - AT&T Arena
- Saturday, Nov. 4 – Tulsa, OK – BOK Center
- Tuesday, Nov. 7 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
- Friday, Nov. 10 – Omaha, NE – CHI Health Center
- Monday, Nov. 13 – St Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center
- Thursday, Nov. 16 – Kansas City, MO – T-Mobile Center
- Sunday, Nov. 19 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena
- Wednesday, Nov. 22 – Salt Lake City, UT – Vivint Arena
- Saturday, Nov. 25 – Portland, OR – Moda Center
- Tuesday, Nov. 28 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena
- Friday, Dec. 1 – San Francisco, CA – Chase Center
- Monday, Dec. 4 – San Jose, CA – SAP Center
- Thursday, Dec. 7 – Los Angeles, CA – The Kia Forum
- Sunday, Dec. 10 – Phoenix, AZ – Footprint Center
- Thursday, Dec. 28 – Newark, NJ - Prudential Center
- Sunday, Dec. 31 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
- Thursday, Jan. 4 – Cincinnati, OH – Heritage Bank Arena
- Sunday, Jan. 7 – Louisville, KY – KFC Yum! Center
- Wednesday, Jan. 10 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
- Saturday, Jan. 13 – Knoxville, TN – Thompson-Boling Arena
- Tuesday, Jan. 16 – Buffalo, NY - KeyBank Center
- Friday, Jan. 19 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
- Tuesday, Jan. 23 – Columbus, OH – Schottenstein Center
- Friday, Jan. 26 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre | 2023-05-01T14:48:28+00:00 | 9news.com | https://www.9news.com/article/news/nation-world/aerosmith-announces-farewell-tour/507-385cae06-95eb-4496-94ba-2822cda089b1 |
House Republicans are pressing the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for answers after the agency funded research experiments they say could result in a "supercharged" monkeypox virus.
In a letter to acting NIH Director Lawrence Tabak, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and two subcommittee chairmen are demanding that the agency turn over documents and information regarding a government-funded experiment that reportedly involves swapping monkepox genes with a deadlier version of the virus. The lawmakers want to know whether this project was approved by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) review board tasked with oversight of research involving enhanced pathogens that could potentially cause a pandemic.
This letter is a follow-up to an October 31, 2022, letter to which Republicans say the NIH never responded. GOP lawmakers accused NIH of "stonewalling" in a press release.
"Based on the available information, it appears the project is reasonably anticipated to yield a lab-generated monkeypox virus that is 1,000 times more lethal in mice than the monkeypox virus currently circulating in humans and that transmits as efficiently as the monkeypox virus currently circulating in humans. The risk-benefit ratio indicates potentially serious risks without clear civilian practical applications," the Republicans wrote.
FORMER CDC DIRECTOR SLAMS GAIN-OF-FUNCTION RESEARCH: ‘PROBABLY CAUSED THE GREATEST PANDEMIC’ IN HISTORY
"Accordingly, this experiment would seem to involve risks reasonably anticipated to create, transfer, or use [potential pandemic pathogens] resulting from the enhancement of a pathogen’s transmissibility or virulence in humans. Thus, under the circumstances, we are interested in learning whether this experiment was reviewed under the HHS P3CO framework used to review research proposals posing significant biosafety or biosecurity risks."
The project leader is Dr. Bernard Moss, a veteran poxvirus researcher at the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. An article in Science magazine described his efforts to learn the differences between two variants of monkeypox virus: clade 2, the West African variant that caused a global outbreak last year, and clade 1, which is believed to be deadlier and has caused outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo for decades.
Moss' research involves swapping the genes of the two variants, one at a time, to discover whether a specific gene in the clade 1 virus makes it deadlier. The Republicans want to know whether these lab experiments could artificially enhance the clade 2 variant.
AFRICA'S CDC HOPES MPOX VACCINES WILL ARRIVE IN ‘ANOTHER TWO WEEKS,’ AFTER MONTHS OF SEEKING DOSES
Such research, known as "gain-of-function," is highly controversial, because it involves extracting viruses from animals to artificially engineer in a laboratory to make them more transmissible and deadly to humans. Proponents say these experiments can help scientists understand the nature of viruses and develop new treatments and vaccines. Skeptics warn that gain-of-function experiments are one lab accident away from causing another global pandemic.
Moss did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
FOX NEWS POLL: MAJORITY SAYS BIDEN TRYING TO COVER UP ORIGINS OF COVID-19
"Human disease associated with clade 2 or West African monkeypox virus infection is less severe and is associated with less than one percent mortality, whereas clade 1 or Congo Basin monkeypox infection has a 10 percent case fatality rate in unvaccinated persons," the Republicans wrote. "Because of its significantly greater lethality, clade 1 or Congo Basin clade monkeypox viruses are regulated as select agents by the Federal Select Agents Program. Entities that possess, use, or transfer this agent must comply with the HHS Select Agent and Toxin Regulations unless there is an applicable exemption or exclusion.
"Thus," the letter continues, "under these regulations, it would appear the clade 1 monkeypox virus experiment is a restricted experiment that must be reviewed by the Federal Select Agent Program, and may be further reviewed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention‘s (CDC’s) Intragovernmental Select Agents and Toxins Technical Advisory Committee (ISATTAC)."
The Republicans want NIH officials and employees to testify about Moss' project and other related matters. They gave NIH an April 13, 2023, deadline to respond to their inquiry. | 2023-04-01T20:08:43+00:00 | foxbangor.com | https://www.foxbangor.com/news/national/house-republicans-accuse-nih-of-stonewalling-on-supercharged-monkeypox-experiment/article_bbb7c791-0efd-52b2-8e00-15f1afbb61eb.html |
WFO EUREKA Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Tuesday, November 29, 2022
_____
FREEZE WARNING
URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Eureka CA
206 PM PST Mon Nov 28 2022
...FREEZE WARNING IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 9 AM PST
TUESDAY...
* WHAT...Sub-freezing temperatures as low as 26 expected.
* WHERE...Coastal Del Norte, Northern Humboldt Coast and
Mendocino Coast Counties.
* WHEN...From midnight tonight to 9 AM PST Tuesday.
* IMPACTS...Frost and freeze conditions will kill crops and other
sensitive vegetation.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Take steps now to protect tender plants from the cold. Provide
adequate shelter for outdoor pets or consider bringing them
indoors.
Frost Advisories and Freeze Warnings are issued during the local
growing season as defined by climatology and local agriculture
experts. Once the growing season has ended these statements will
no longer be issued until the spring.
...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH
THURSDAY AFTERNOON ABOVE 2000 FEET...
* WHAT...Heavy snow possible above 2000 feet. Total snow
accumulations of 7 to 24 inches possible. Winds could gust as
high as 40 mph.
* WHERE...Northern Humboldt Interior, Southern Humboldt
Interior, Northern Trinity and Southern Trinity Counties.
* WHEN...From Wednesday afternoon through Thursday afternoon.
* IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult to impossible. The
hazardous conditions could impact the morning or evening
commute.
Monitor the latest forecasts for updates on this situation.
_____
Copyright 2022 AccuWeather | 2022-11-28T22:54:48+00:00 | expressnews.com | https://www.expressnews.com/weather/article/CA-WFO-EUREKA-Warnings-Watches-and-Advisories-17616573.php |
A look at what’s happening around the majors on Monday:
___
SOTO SETBACK
Washington star Juan Soto is being checked out after exiting a game early because of an injured left calf.
The 23-year-old outfielder flexed and pointed to his left leg after making a throw in right in the third inning against Miami. He was taken out after being involved in a rundown in the fourth.
Soto left Nationals Park to get an MRI.
“We’ll re-evaluate him and see what’s going on,” manager Dave Martinez said.
Soto, the face of the franchise, is attempting to sign to a long-term contract. He has 15 home runs and 33 RBIs this season, along with a .382 on-base average and a .449 slugging percentage.
“Oh yeah, it’s terrifying, obviously,” Nationals first baseman Josh Bell said. “Fingers crossed that it’s not anything too, too time-consuming. We’ll see. I know he’s probably going to get the results back here soon. I know we’re all holding our breath for him. I guess time will tell.”
The Nationals get an early start, hosting the Marlins at 11:05 a.m.
CHECK HIM
The Red Sox will see how shortstop Xander Bogaerts is feeling, a day after he got seven stitches in his left thigh because of a spike wound.
The three-time All-Star left in the second inning with a laceration after the Cubs’ Willson Contreras slid into him while caught stealing second at Wrigley Field.
Bogaerts said he didn’t think Contreras meant to harm him, and he didn’t mean to block the base as Contreras was arriving.
“I know he probably didn’t do it on purpose. My foot being in that position, it shouldn’t be there, either,” he said.
Bogaerts is hitting .318 going into Boston’s series opener at Fenway Park against Tampa Bay.
A FOURTH TRADITION
Way back, it seemed as if every big league team playing a doubleheader on the Fourth of July. It would be Koufax and Drysdale going for the Dodgers or Palmer and McNally for the Orioles or Seaver and Koosman for the Mets.
Well, it’s not quite that way anymore.
But, like it or not, the Cleveland Guardians are keeping up the twinbill tradition.
The Guardians will play yet another doubleheader, already their seventh this season and third in six days, when they take on the Tigers at Comerica Park.
Zach Plesac (2-5, 3.86) will start the opener against Detroit rookie Garret Hill, making his major league debut. Cleveland lefty Konnor Pilkington (1-1, 4.31) starts the second game against RHP Alex Faedo (1-4, 4.84).
The Philadelphia Phillies, meanwhile, are scheduled off on July 4 for the first time since 1916.
LOOKING FOR 10
Toronto right-hander Alek Manoah (9-2, 2.09 ERA) has a chance to tie Tony Gonsolin of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Justin Verlander of the Houston Astros for the major league lead in wins when he starts for the Blue Jays in the opening game of a trip to Oakland.
Manoah is third in the American League in ERA but he has a 6.55 ERA in two career starts against the Athletics, allowing eight runs in 11 innings.
ROOKIE STRUGGLES
Cincinnati right-hander Hunter Greene is 0-2 with a 6.33 ERA in four starts since pitching seven shutout innings of one-hit ball to beat Arizona on June 7. He takes his 100 mph heat and a 3-9 record and 5.72 ERA into the series opener at home against Pete Alonso and the NL East-leading Mets.
Greene will be trying to avoid becoming the third pitcher with double-digits losses this year after Washington’s Joan Adon (1-11) and Patrick Corbin (4-10).
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More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | 2022-07-04T12:56:14+00:00 | kxnet.com | https://www.kxnet.com/sports/leading-off-nats-examine-soto-bosox-check-bogaerts/ |
KEY LARGO, Fla. (AP) — A university professor broke a record for the longest time living underwater without depressurization this weekend at a Florida Keys lodge for scuba divers.
Joseph Dituri’s 74th day residing in Jules’ Undersea Lodge, situated at the bottom of a 30-foot-deep lagoon in Key Largo, wasn’t much different than his previous days there since he submerged March 1.
Dituri, who also goes by the moniker "Dr. Deep Sea," ate a protein-heavy meal of eggs and salmon prepared using a microwave, exercised with resistance bands, did his daily pushups and took an hour-long nap. Unlike a submarine, the lodge does not use technology to adjust for the increased underwater pressure.
The previous record of 73 days, two hours and 34 minutes was set by two Tennessee professors -- Bruce Cantrell and Jessica Fain -- at the same location in 2014.
But Dituri isn't just settling for the record and resurfacing: He plans to stay at the lodge until June 9, when he reaches 100 days and completes an underwater mission dubbed Project Neptune 100.
The mission combines medical and ocean research along with educational outreach and was organized by the Marine Resources Development Foundation, owner of the habitat.
“The record is a small bump and I really appreciate it,” said Dituri, a University of South Florida educator who holds a doctorate in biomedical engineering and is a retired U.S. Naval officer. “I’m honored to have it, but we still have more science to do.”
His research includes daily experiments in physiology to monitor how the human body responds to long-term exposure to extreme pressure.
“The idea here is to populate the world’s oceans, to take care of them by living in them and really treating them well,” Dituri said.
The outreach portion of Dituri’s mission includes conducting online classes and broadcast interviews from his digital studio beneath the sea. During the past 74 days, he has reached over 2,500 students through online classes in marine science and more with his regular biomedical engineering courses at the University of South Florida.
While he says he loves living under the ocean, there is one thing he really misses.
“The thing that I miss the most about being on the surface is literally the sun,” Dituri said. “The sun has been a major factor in my life – I usually go to the gym at five and then I come back out and watch the sunrise.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP | 2023-05-15T10:08:26+00:00 | daytondailynews.com | https://www.daytondailynews.com/nation-world/he-likes-to-be-under-the-sea-florida-man-sets-record-for-living-underwater/RPA3XU4RGFBQHF23PGKQC7UGBE/ |
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Adam Scott felt he was playing well enough that he should start seeing some better scores at some point. That moment appears to have arrived at just the right time.
Scott put together another tidy round Friday except for one hole — a double bogey on the 17th — for a 2-under 69 that gave him a one-shot lead going into the weekend at the BMW Championship.
Masters champion Scottie Scheffler opened with three straight birdies and then cooled for 67, while Jordan Spieth's hopes for a bogey-free round ended by a few inches when his tee shot caught the sticky first cut instead of the fairway. His bogey gave him a 67.
They were one shot behind, along with Cameron Young (68) and Corey Conners (67).
Scott, who was at 8-under 134, wasn't sure how much golf would be on is plate in August. He was No. 77 in the FedEx Cup, not assured of even making it to the BMW Championship, until a tie for fifth last week in the FedEx Cup playoffs opener.
That was enough of a spark, and now he's looking to cash in as one of the top 30 players who make it to the FedEx Cup finale next week in Atlanta for the Tour Championship.
“I’m in great shape going into the weekend. I don’t even know when the last time I led a tournament was,” Scott said.
He won at Riviera in 2020. His last 36-hole lead was at Doral for a World Golf Championship in 2016, which he went on to win.
“I certainly haven’t had my best stuff for quite a while. It’s been a battle for sure,” he said. “But that’s how this game is. I’d like to make the most of this position now over the next 36 holes.”
A brief look behind would remind him it won't be easy, and the Australian knows this.
Spieth has looked solid over two days at Wilmington Country Club, with only one bogey in each round. He missed the cut last week and feels his postseason didn't start until Monday when he arrived at Wilmington. That's not just about trying to erase a bad memory.
Spieth headed to southern tip of Baja California after the British Open, wanting a break before the hectic finish to the season. One problem. Upon returning to Dallas, every course he plays was closed, and his only option was hitting from a stall in a practice facility.
Only when he arrived in Tennessee last week did he realize his swing had stayed on vacation, and his coach wasn't available to join him until Delaware. He turned it around quickly.
“I feel like I’m doing everything good, nothing spectacular, but I feel like in every facet of my game, it’s trending and improving, and I know what to do to get it better and better,” Spieth said. “Certainly feels really good. Coming into the weekend, it’s a good opportunity to just have a lot of trust, focus on trying to win this golf tournament, not think about next week.”
Scheffler also missed the cut last week and joined Spieth and others at Pine Valley on Sunday. And then he opened with three short birdies, didn't make too many mistakes the rest of the way and will be in the final group with Scott on Saturday.
Conner is at No. 29 and is in a great spot to protect his position for East Lake. Young seems to play great every week — twice contending in majors, five runner-up finishes for the season. One win would tick a lot of boxes on his list of goals.
Xander Schauffele holed out with a wedge on the 17th hole for an eagle and a 69, and he was in he group two shots behind that included defending champion Patrick Cantlay and Rory McIlroy, who chipped in for birdie on his final hole for another 68.
Scott didn't get a finish quite that good. He was sailing along on a warm, breezy afternoon when he pushed his tee shot near a tree. The lie was clean, but his punch shot toward the fairway hung up in rough. From there he didn't reach the green or get up-and-down, and all that meant a double bogey.
“It’s a good reminder for the weekend that I’ve really got to keep it under control and don’t want to have too many get off the map and get out of position around here,” Scott said.
___
More AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Credit: Nick Wass
Credit: Nick Wass
Credit: Nick Wass
Credit: Nick Wass
Credit: Julio Cortez
Credit: Julio Cortez
Credit: Julio Cortez
Credit: Julio Cortez
Credit: Nick Wass
Credit: Nick Wass
Credit: Julio Cortez
Credit: Julio Cortez
Credit: Nick Wass
Credit: Nick Wass
Credit: Julio Cortez
Credit: Julio Cortez
Credit: Julio Cortez
Credit: Julio Cortez
Credit: Julio Cortez
Credit: Julio Cortez
Credit: Julio Cortez
Credit: Julio Cortez | 2022-08-20T00:40:50+00:00 | daytondailynews.com | https://www.daytondailynews.com/nation-world/adam-scott-seeing-results-he-needs-at-just-the-right-time/SW6T3ZSHHZAUPGFM5FPCE2MC2A/ |
NEW YORK, Oct. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of PayPal Holdings, Inc. ("PayPal" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: PYPL). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980.
The investigation concerns whether PayPal and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.
On February 1, 2022, PayPal reported disappointing fourth quarter and full year 2021 results. Specifically, PayPal reported that its Net New Active Accounts were only 49 million for 2021, less than the guidance of 50 million it initially provided in February 2021. The Company admitted that "in connection with the increased use of cash incentive campaigns throughout 2021, [it] identified 4.5 million accounts that "it" believes(s) were illegitimately created," and that as a result the Company changed course on some of its customer acquisition strategies including incentive-led campaigns in the fourth quarter. Further, because the Company was evolving its customer acquisition and engagement strategy, PayPal now expects only 15-20 million net new customer accounts for 2022 and that the Company "no longer believe(s) that the 750 million medium-term account aspiration [it] set last year, is appropriate."
On this news, PayPal's stock price fell $43.23 per share, or 24.59%, to close at $132.57 per share on February 2, 2022.
Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com
CONTACT:
Robert S. Willoughby
Pomerantz LLP
rswilloughby@pomlaw.com
888-476-6529 ext. 7980
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Pomerantz LLP | 2022-10-27T05:05:59+00:00 | newschannel10.com | https://www.newschannel10.com/prnewswire/2022/10/27/shareholder-alert-pomerantz-law-firm-investigates-claims-behalf-investors-paypal-holdings-inc-pypl/ |
An inexplicable botched lateral, a deflected pick-6 and a touchdown run provided one of the rarest days in NFL history.
For the second time ever Sunday, three NFL games ended with a winning touchdown on the final play on the same day.
Chandler Jones returned a fumble 48 yards for a TD to end regulation and lift Las Vegas over New England, Rayshawn Jenkins had a pick-6 in overtime to push Jacksonville past Dallas, and Jerick McKinnon scored on a 26-yard run in OT to give Kansas City a win over Houston.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the only other day three games ended with a go-ahead touchdown came on Sept. 17, 1995, when Emmitt Smith (TD run in OT for Dallas vs. Minnesota), Rod Smith (TD catch to end regulation for Denver vs. Washington), and James Hasty (pick-6 in OT for Kansas City vs. Oakland) did it.
The most improbable one on Sunday might have been the win for Las Vegas. The Raiders nearly blew their record-setting fifth game after leading by 13 points before getting bailed out in a wild finish against New England.
Las Vegas tied the game with 32 seconds left and it appeared headed for overtime when the Patriots called a running play from their 45 with three seconds remaining.
But inexplicably, Rhamondre Stevenson lateraled the ball to Jakobi Meyers, who then tried to throw it back across the field to quarterback Mac Jones.
Chandler Jones caught the lateral and returned it for the game-winning score.
According to Elias, it was just the third fumble recovery touchdown on the final play of regulation in AFL-NFL history, with the Raiders and Patriots also involved in the other two.
In 1978, Raiders tight end Dave Casper recovered a fumble in the end zone to beat the Chargers on a play memorialized as the “Holy Roller” game.
The Patriots did it in 1960 against the New York Titans when Chuck Shonta returned a fumble 52 yards for the winning score in a 28-24 win.
Combined with Jenkins’ pick-6, it marked the first time since the merger that there were two game-winning defensive scores on the final play in a single week.
COMEBACK QBs
Leading an epic comeback is nothing new for Kirk Cousins, and being part of a team that blew a big lead is familiar territory for Matt Ryan.
So perhaps it was appropriate they were the two quarterbacks who took part in the NFL’s biggest comeback ever when Cousins and Minnesota rallied from 33 points down to beat Ryan and Indianapolis 39-36 in overtime Saturday.
No team had come back from at least 24 points down in a regular-season game since Cousins did it in Week 7 of the 2015 season with Washington against Tampa Bay. Teams had been 0-346 when trailing by 24 in between those two rallies.
Cousins engineered his seventh fourth-quarter comeback of the season, one shy of the record set by Matthew Stafford in 2016.
The Vikings became the third team to win at least 10 games in a season decided by eight points or fewer, joining the 2019 Seahawks and 1978 Oilers. Minnesota is 10-0 in those one-score games.
Ryan somehow finds himself on the wrong end of these epic comebacks, having been on the Atlanta team that blew a Super Bowl-record 28-3 lead against New England following the 2016 season.
Ryan is the only quarterback since at least 1950 to lose two starts after his team led by at least 25 points in the regular season or playoffs.
TRIPLE THREAT
New Orleans’ Taysom Hill joined some select company with his 68-yard touchdown pass to Rashid Shaheed in a 21-18 win over Atlanta.
That gave the Saints’ versatile playmaker 10 TD passes in his career, including the playoffs, to go along with his 21 touchdown runs and 11 TD catches.
Hill become the third player in NFL history with at least 10 touchdowns running, passing and receiving, joining Frank Gifford (46 receiving, 34 rushing, 14 passing) and Charlie Trippi (24 rushing, 16 passing, 11 receiving).
TOM NOT TERRIFIC
Tom Brady is hitting several new lows in his 23rd season.
After the Bucs blew a 17-point lead to Cincinnati on Sunday, Brady has lost eight games as a starter for the first time in his career.
Brady’s four home losses are the most he’s ever had in a season, and he lost at home for the first time ever when leading by at least 17 points. Brady also had his first career game with multiple interceptions and lost fumbles.
RUNNING QBs
Jalen Hurts and Justin Fields are running their way into the record book.
Hurts ran for three more touchdowns Sunday in a Philadelphia Eagles win over Fields and the Chicago Bears, giving him 13 on the season.
Hurts also threw for 315 yards, joining Dak Prescott (Sept. 20, 2020, vs. Atlanta) and Jack Kemp (Oct. 26, 1963, vs. the Patriots) as the only players to throw for at least 300 yards and run for three scores in the same game.
Hurts, who also ran for three TDs in a game against New Orleans in 2021, joined Daunte Culpepper, Johnny Lujack and Tobin Rote as the only QBs with at least two games with three or more rushing touchdowns.
Hurts’ 13 touchdown runs this season are one shy of Cam Newton’s record set in 2011.
Fields ran for 95 yards in the game to give him 1,000 on the season, joining Lamar Jackson (1,206 yards rushing in 2019 and 1,005 in 2020) and Michael Vick (1,039 in 2006) as the only QBs to reach 1,000 yards rushing in a season.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL | 2022-12-22T04:20:44+00:00 | wcia.com | https://www.wcia.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-walk-off-sunday-3-games-end-with-tds-on-1-day-for-2nd-time/ |
MADRID (AP) — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Monday called an early general election for July 23 in a surprise move after his Socialist party took a serious battering in local and regional elections.
Prior to Sunday’s debacle, Sánchez had insisted that he would ride out his four-year term with leftist government coalition partner United We Can, indicating that a election would be held in December.
But the outcome of the local and regional votes quickly changed things.
“I have taken this decision given the results of the elections held yesterday,” Sánchez said Monday from the Moncloa presidential palace.
The woes for Sánchez and his PSOE party come as Spain is due to take over the rotating presidency of the European Union on July 1.
Sánchez said he had spoken to King Felipe VI and would hold a special Cabinet meeting later Monday to dissolve parliament. The date chosen for the early election comes in the middle of Spain’s summer holiday period, with many people likely to be away from their voting areas.
The local and regional elections on Sunday saw Spain taking a major swing to the right and made the leading opposition conservative Popular Party, or PP, the main political force in the country.
“This is unexpected,” said Ignacio Jurado, a political scientist at Madrid’s Carlos III University. “Sánchez is trying to short circuit the PP’s rise as soon as possible.”
In the municipal vote, the Popular Party, or PP, won 31.5% of votes compared with 28.2% for the Spanish Socialist Workers Party, or PSOE. This was a 1.2 percentage point decrease for PSOE on 2019, but almost a nine point increase for the PP, which benefited from the collapse of the centrist Citizens party.
The PP, which is led by Alberto Nuñez Feijóo, won in seven of the 12 regions contested and dominated in several regions previously won by PSOE including Valencia, Aragon and La Rioja. It remains to be seen how much the PP will be forced to rely on far-right party Vox to form local and regional governments.
Feijóo said at a news conference on Monday that the results expressed “the desire for change that exists in our society.”
Vox, which is headed by Santiago Abascal, tripled its number of town councilors from the last municipal elections in 2019 after taking 7% of the vote on Sunday. The party’s support will be key if the PP wants to form governments in six of the regions it won.
Abascal called on Feijóo to join together to defeat Sánchez in July.
PP also won an absolute majority in the region and capital of Madrid, with Isabel Díaz Ayuso being reelected as Madrid’s regional president.
Spain’s regional governments have enormous power and budgetary discretion over education, health, housing and policing
Sánchez said that although the elections Sunday were local and regional, the trend in the vote sent a message.
“I take full responsibility for the results and I think it is necessary to provide an answer and put our democratic mandate to the people,” he said.
The poor showing by both by the Socialists and United We Can was immediately taken as a dire assessment of public feeling towards the ruling leftist coalition. The new leftist group Sumar, headed by Second Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz, also failed to live up to expectations.
“Sánchez reacts to a shock with another shock,” Spanish political expert Sandra León said. “He also avoids deterioration of his party in two ways: the costs of internal division in the government until December and the division with PSOE party barons in the regions.”
She said the announcement will force the parties to the left of the Socialists — United We Can and Sumar — to regroup fast.
Although the coalition government has shepherded Spain out of the COVID-19 pandemic, made the economy among the fastest growing in the EU and introduced several ground-breaking laws, something was sorely lacking.
“The message received last night was clear: Things have to be done differently,” Díaz tweeted.
Feijóo has capitalized on criticizing the coalition’s reliance to stay in power through support from separatist parties such as the Republican Left in Catalonia and the Basque region’s EH Bildu.
Sánchez has been in office since 2018, when he brought and won a no-confidence vote against the PP prime minister at the time, Mariano Rajoy. He then led the Socialists to a general election victory in 2019 before forming Spain’s first coalition government in four decades. | 2023-05-30T10:37:05+00:00 | wnct.com | https://www.wnct.com/news/international/ap-spanish-prime-minister-calls-early-general-election-after-battering-in-regional-vote/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — For more than a year, President Joe Biden’s ability to avoid the coronavirus seemed to defy the odds. When he finally did test positive, the White House was ready. It set out to turn the diagnosis into a “teachable moment” and dispel any notion of a crisis.
“The president does what every other person in America does every day, which is he takes reasonable precautions against COVID but does his job,” White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain told MSNBC late in the afternoon on Thursday.
It was a day that began with Biden's COVID-19 results and included repeated assurances over the coming hours that the president was hard at work while isolating in the residential areas of the White House with “very mild symptoms” including a runny nose, dry cough and fatigue.
Biden, in a blazer and Oxford shirt, recorded a video from the White House balcony telling people: “I’m doing well, getting a lot of work done. And, in the meantime, thanks for your concern. And keep the faith. It’s going to be OK.”
“Keeping busy!” he also tweeted.
On Friday, Biden was scheduled to meet virtually with his economic team and senior advisors to discuss congressional priorities.
It was all part of an administration effort to shift the narrative from a health scare to a display of Biden as the personification of the idea that most Americans can get COVID and recover without too much suffering and disruption if they’ve gotten their shots and taken other important steps to protect themselves.
The message was crafted to alleviate voters’ concerns about Biden’s health — at 79, he’s the oldest person ever to be president. And it was aimed at demonstrating to the country that the pandemic is far less of a threat than it was before Biden took office, thanks to widespread vaccines and new therapeutic drugs.
Conveying that sentiment on Day 1 of Biden’s coronavirus experience virus wasn’t always easy, though.
In a lengthy briefing with reporters, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said repeatedly that the White House had been as transparent as possible about the president’s health. But she parried with reporters over specifics. And when pressed about where Biden might have contracted the virus, she responded, “I don’t think that that matters, right? I think what matters is we prepared for this moment.”
Jean-Pierre and White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha didn’t fully answer questions about whether Biden began isolating as soon as he started experiencing symptoms on Wednesday night, as federal guidelines suggest, or did so following his positive test the next day. Jha declined to speculate on some aspects of the president’s prognosis, characterizing the questions as hypotheticals.
Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said it’s important for Americans to know they must remain careful about the virus, which continues to kill hundreds of people daily.
“That’s the balance that we have to strike,” Osterholm said. “The president of the United States will do very well. But that may not be true for everyone.”
Biden’s first-day symptoms were mild in large part because he’s fully vaccinated and boosted, according to a statement issued by his physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor. The president also is taking Paxlovid, an antiviral drug designed to reduce the severity of the disease.
Jha said Biden’s case was being prioritized, meaning it will likely take less than a week for sequencing to determine which variant of the virus Biden contracted. Omicron’s highly contagious BA.5 sub-strain now makes up more than 65% of U.S. cases.
Jean-Pierre said first lady Jill Biden was in close contact with the president, but she declined to discuss others who also might have been exposed, citing privacy reasons. Biden had traveled to Massachusetts a day earlier to promote efforts to combat climate change and flew on Air Force One with several Democratic leaders, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
A White House official confirmed that Vice President Kamala Harris was also in close contact with Biden, and Klain said he was too.
Klain, who called the president’s testing positive a “teachable moment” for the country, said the White House wasn’t aware of any positive COVID results that were linked to the president’s case.
During her briefing, Jean-Pierre bristled at suggestions the Biden administration wasn’t being much more forthcoming with information about the president’s illness than that of his predecessor, Donald Trump. The former president contracted COVID-19 in the fall of 2020, before vaccines were available, and was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for three nights.
“I wholeheartedly disagree,” Jean-Pierre said of comparison. “We are doing this very differently — very differently — than the last administration.”
Asked about the possibility Biden might need to be hospitalized, Jha stressed that the president was “doing well” and added that there were “obviously a lot of resources available here at the White House to take care of him.”
“Walter Reed is always on standby for presidents. That’s always an option,” he added. “That’s true whether the president had COVID or not.”
Dr. Leana Wen, a public health professor at George Washington University, said it was good for the White House to send the message that Biden can keep working even after testing positive.
“That shows that it’s business as usual,” Wen said.
Jean-Pierre’s predecessor, Jen Psaki, noted that White House officials have “been preparing for this probably for several months now, given the percentage of people in the country who have tested positive.”
“What they need to do over the next couple of days is show him working and show him still active and serving as president and I’m certain they’ll likely do that,” Psaki, who left her post as White House press secretary in May, said on MSNBC, where she’s becoming a commentator.
Biden plans to continue to isolate until he tests negative, the White House said.
Dr. Eric Topol, head of Scripps Research Translational Institute, said that could mean he’s “out of commission from interacting with people for at least eight to 10 days.”
“This could go on easily for a couple of weeks, but the good thing is they are going to monitor him very carefully,” Topol said. “That is what we should be doing for everyone so that we don’t keep playing into the virus’ hands, causing more spread when it’s already hyper-spreadable.” | 2022-07-22T12:17:41+00:00 | wsfltv.com | https://www.wsfltv.com/news/national/coronavirus/white-house-tries-to-make-bidens-covid-a-teachable-moment |
DIGITAL ACCESS TO THE WORLD CREATES A BETTER FUTURE
TEL AVIV, Israel, Sept. 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- China (Shenzhen) Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, known as the "Olympics" of innovation and entrepreneurship circle, is here again. The sixth International competition was officially launched on July 15, 2022, in the form of "online + offline" integration, covering 10 countries. IEC Technology Industry (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. is the co-organizer of this event. At the same time, for the landing development enterprises who meet the conditions will be eligible to receive up to 1 million yuan start-up subsidies, individual can receive up to 1.85 million yuan bonus and start-up subsidies. The competition will also provide industrial support, science and technology finance, project incubation and other support for high-quality entrepreneurial projects, and give full play to the "four-chain" synergies of industrial chain, innovation chain, talent chain and education chain to help build the Shenzhen Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the pilot demonstration zone.
Highlights of the Competition
- Insight into the latest trends in global technology, focusing on seven industry tracks, such as "the New Generation of Electronic Information, Digital and Fashion, High-end Equipment Manufacturing, Green and Low-carbon, New Materials, Biomedicine and Health, Marine Economy"
- Explore cutting-edge technology application scenarios, both "Industrial Software Design" and "Semiconductor Technology Research and Development"
- A "cloud event" comes together, spanning space, and connects 10 divisions around the world
- The rewards are generous, with eligible businesses eligible for up to ¥1 million in subsidies, and individuals up to ¥1.85 million
- There are many well-known venture capital institutions, for nearly 100 well-known venture capital institutions, all participating projects can get social capital investment opportunities through the investment docking service platform of the competition
- A comprehensive landing service system, covering "entrepreneurship counseling, mentors-experts docking, support policy docking" and so on, facilitates the rapid development of high-quality projects
Introduction to the Competition
The China (Shenzhen) Innovation & Entrepreneurship International Competition aims to further promote the organic combination of talent, technology and capital, attract more overseas talents to start business and work in Shenzhen, select overseas high-end projects to settle in Shenzhen, and promote Shenzhen to become an international and innovative city full of charm, energy, vibrancy and creativity.
The Competition is divided into six stages: signing up, overseas competitions at divisions, reward competition, industrial final, the final and award ceremony. The total prize for the Competition is RMB 8.75 million, which is divided into four parts: final prize, industrial final prize, reward final prize and overseas division prize. Meanwhile, the Competition will also set up a competition service platform and provide services for projects taking part in the Competition through establishing the competition service institutions, the expert pool and the venture capital pool in cooperation with investment institutions and provide a series of supporting policies in entrepreneurial space, business services, talent policy and other aspects.
Overseas Division
- London, U.K. Division
- Berlin, Germany Division
- Sydney, Australia Division
- Toronto, Canada Division
- Tokyo, Japan Division
- Tel Aviv, Israel Division
- Eindhoven, Netherlands Division
- Madrid, Spain Division
- Silicon Valley, U.S. Division
- Paris, France Division
Competition schedule
Sign up: To end on September 30
Overseas Division Competition: Early October - Early November
Reward Competition: Early November
Industry Final: Mid November - Late December
Final and Awarding: Late December
(Note: The specific time of each competition is subject to notices by the Organizing Committee of International Competition)
Qualification requirements
- Overseas high-level entrepreneurial teams or individuals with innovative achievements and entrepreneurial plans.
- The participant doesn't register or act as legal representatives or shareholders of commercial entities in Shenzhen but plans to set up enterprises in Shenzhen or reach cooperation with relevant industries in Shenzhen after the competition.
- The ownership of products, technologies or related patents of the projects shall belong to the participants. All participants shall confirm that there is no property right dispute with others, and shall be responsible for any liabilities arising from/relating to infringement.
- Participants and projects that have won awards in the 1st China (Shenzhen) Innovation Competition of International Talent and previous China (Shenzhen) Innovation &Entrepreneurship Competition (including domestic and international competitions) cannot participate in this competition repeatedly.
How to Signing Up
Please visit http://cn.itcsz.cn/ for signing up
About Longhua District, Shenzhen
Longhua District was officially established as an administrative district on January 7, 2017. After years of development and planning, it has become a vibrant and promising hot spot for entrepreneurship. Longhua District takes the Digital Longhua and the Urban Core as its strategic goals, adheres to the concepts of digital industrialization, industrial digitization, governance digitization and digital value, strives to build a Digital Longhua consisting of digital economy, digital urban area and digital governance and establishes the regional development pattern of "one digital economic circle, one central dynamic area and three major urban corridors".
About Tel Aviv, Israel
Israel enjoys the reputation as a "country for start-ups" in the world. Tel Aviv is a coastal city located in middle Israel and well-known around the world as Israel's innovation center, attracting many powerful transnational companies, investors and young people with entrepreneurial dreams.
Home to Talents
Tel Aviv is home to Israel's top talents and one of the best tech talent pools in the world. Israel's universities, high schools and even the military are supplying the country with a steady stream of innovative talents. Among them, Tel Aviv University is a cradle of innovative talents and has helped to bring about many unicorn companies.
Assistance from Featured Institution
Israel has established a specialized agency, the Small and Medium Business Agency, to provide assistance for the survival and development of small and medium-sized enterprises and take various measures to encourage them to do R&D and innovation.
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SOURCE IEC Technology Industry (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. | 2022-09-28T06:08:52+00:00 | kwtx.com | https://www.kwtx.com/prnewswire/2022/09/28/6th-china-shenzhen-innovation-amp-entrepreneurship-international-competition-tel-aviv-israel-division-waiting-your-signing-up/ |
Webb leads Jacksonville State’s rally past S.F. Austin 42-17
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Quarterback Zion Webb ran for three scores, Jacksonville State scored five unanswered touchdowns and the Gamecocks rallied to a 42-17 victory over Stephen F. Austin in a lightning-shortened FCS Kickoff. The game was delayed by lightning with a little more than 13 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and did not resume, making a winner of Rich Rodriguez in his debut as Gamecocks coach. After their short field goal try was blocked with 3:32 remaining in the second quarter, the Gamecocks, trailing 17-7, forced three-and-out on consecutive S.F. Austin possessions and cashed in with two touchdowns. They added three touchdowns in the third quarter to close out the scoring. | 2022-08-28T07:45:59+00:00 | krdo.com | https://krdo.com/sports/ap-national-sports/2022/08/28/webb-leads-jacksonville-states-rally-past-s-f-austin-42-17/ |
Damian Lillard becomes first player in NBA history to score over 70 points in under 40 minutes in Portland Trail Blazers’ win over Houston Rockets
By Alasdair Howorth, CNN
Damian Lillard set an NBA record in his monster scoring night on Sunday, racking up 71 points in 39 minutes, including 13 three-pointers, as the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Houston Rockets 121-114.
With his effort, Lillard became the first player in NBA history to score more than 70 points in under 40 minutes and just the eighth player to hit the 70-point mark.
He is also the only player on that elite list to score 70 over the age of 30, and the first to do so with 10 or more three-pointers.
“I enjoy those moments in the game when I’m just going after people,” the NBA All-Star said after the game. “That’s all it was tonight. I wanted to be in attack mode. I got it going and stayed aggressive.”
Lillard came into the game averaging 37.6 points in his previous 18 games and continued that stellar run with a league-wide, season-high mark, equaling Donovan Mitchell’s 71 points against the Chicago Bulls in January.
Lillard started the scoring early, with 41 points, including eight three-pointers at halftime. Whether driving into the paint or dropping shots from distance, the Blazers guard was unplayable.
He made all 14 of his free throw attempts and had a magnetic relationship with the basket when shooting — even sinking a ludicrous, 36-foot jumper in the second quarter.
He ended the game shooting 22-of-38 from the field, making 13 three-pointers from 22 attempts — just one off Klay Thompson’s record 14 3-pointers set in 2018.
Lillard’s teammates continued looking for him in the closing minutes to try and get ahead of Mitchell’s total, but after missing a couple of shots, he came off the court exhausted with 44 seconds left the clock.
“It really, really was a masterful performance,” Portland coach Chauncey Billups said of his star’s game. “It was a piece of art. That was incredible.”
With that performance, Lillard entered a pantheon of NBA greats. His 71-point haul is tied for the eighth-most points scored in a game in NBA history, though still some way off Wilt Chamberlain’s record of 100 points set in 1962.
Lillard is behind only Chamberlain and Kobe Bryant for career 60-point games and he joins the two NBA legends as the only players to have separate games hitting 50, 60 and 70 points in a season according to CBS Sports.
“I think any hooper enjoys those moments when you’re hot, you’re in attack mode, you’re feeling good,” he said.
Not only was it a brilliant individual showing from Lillard, but it was also a much needed one.
The Blazers snapped a two-game losing skid with the win and keep their slim hopes of a playoff spot alive. Portland now sits in 11th place in the Western Conference with a 29-31 record but is only three games off the Phoenix Suns in fourth.
The Trail Blazers stay on the west coast for their next game as they travel to the Bay Area to play the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. | 2023-02-27T11:12:04+00:00 | localnews8.com | https://localnews8.com/news/2023/02/27/damian-lillard-becomes-first-player-in-nba-history-to-score-over-70-points-in-under-40-minutes-in-portland-trail-blazers-win-over-houston-rockets/ |
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan tax filers will not receive $180 checks under a sweeping tax proposal passed by the state Senate late Tuesday night, advancing the bills to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's desk without a key promise in the start of her second-term.
The package, if signed by the governor, will provide relief to retirees by phasing out taxes on public and private pensions and would help lower-income families through significant expansion of the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit from the current 6% to a 30% match of the federal rate. It could also send up to $1.5 billion to the state's business incentive fund.
But after weeks of negotiations, and a nearly 13-hour session day Tuesday, Democrats were unable garner the necessary support from Republicans to include $180 checks for every tax filer in the proposal.
“It’s unfortunate that those won’t be going out,” Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks said Tuesday. “We were hoping that we would be able to get Republican support for that. But unfortunately, they were unwilling to do so.”
The $180 checks were unveiled in early February as part of Whitmer's plan that aimed to help residents with rising costs. The plan, according to the Democratic governor, would have provided the “largest tax break in decades.”
As the bill was written, the $180 checks would have only been sent out if the bill was implemented by mid-April of this year.
Republicans for weeks had refused to side with Democrats to make that immediate effect happen, accusing Whitmer of using the $180 checks to sidestep an automatic income tax rate reduction that would be triggered by the state’s high revenue.
The nonpartisan House fiscal agency said in January that the budget surplus could reach over $9 billion by fall and that the state’s revenues could activate a trigger that would permanently lower the income tax rate from 4.25% to 4.05%.
The $180 checks would have cost the state around $800 million, lowering revenues enough to avoid the trigger. The income tax cut is now “likely,” Brinks said after Tuesday’s vote.
“Senate Republicans protected the automatic income tax rollback that is due to millions of Michigan residents who need permanently lowered taxes, not a one-time gimmick that disappears in one trip to the grocery store,” Senate Republican Leader Aric Nesbitt said in a statement.
In a statement Wednesday morning, Whitmer celebrated the passage of Tuesday's tax breaks for the state's retirees and low-wage workers, saying it will put “money back in people’s pockets to help them pay the bills and put food on the table.”
The package also created ongoing funding for the state's business incentive efforts by sending $500 million a year in corporate income tax revenue to the fund through 2026, totaling up to $1.5 billion over three years.
The fund, known as the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve, has been used to attract large corporate business projects to the state through tax incentives. Republicans have criticized the fund as being a “corporate slush fund.”
Earlier this month, a large tax incentive package was approved for a $3.5 billion Ford project planned in the state. The state is expected to spend over $1 billion in tax incentives and site preparations for the project. | 2023-03-01T17:45:28+00:00 | lmtonline.com | https://www.lmtonline.com/news/politics/article/michigan-senate-passes-tax-relief-plan-without-17813221.php |
NEW YORK, Aug. 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Klein Law Firm announces that a class action complaint has been filed on behalf of shareholders of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE: ET) alleging that the Company violated federal securities laws.
This lawsuit is on behalf of persons who purchased or otherwise acquired common shares of Energy Transfer stock between April 13, 2017 and December 20, 2021, both dates inclusive.
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: August 2, 2022
No obligation or cost to you.
Learn more about your recoverable losses in ET:
https://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/energy-transfer-lp-loss-submission-form-2?id=30425&from=4
Energy Transfer LP NEWS - ET NEWS
CLASS ACTION CASE DETAILS: The filed complaint alleges that Energy Transfer LP made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (a) Energy Transfer had inadequate internal controls and procedures to prevent contractors from engaging in illegal conduct with regards to drilling activities, and/or failed to properly mitigate known issues related to such controls and procedures; (b) Energy Transfer, through its subsidiary Rover Pipeline, LLC, hired a third-party contractor to conduct Horizontal Directional Drilling Activities for the Rover Pipeline Project, whose conduct of adding illegal additives in the drilling mud caused severe pollution near the Tuscarawas River when a large inadvertent release took place on April 13, 2017; (c) Energy Transfer continually downplayed its potential civil liabilities when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") was actively investigating the Energy Transfer's wrongdoing related to the April 13 release and consistently provided it with updated information about FERC's findings on this matter.
WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU AS A SHAREHOLDER: If you have suffered a loss in Energy Transfer you have until August 2, 2022 to petition the court for lead plaintiff status. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.
NO COST TO YOU: If you purchased Energy Transfer securities during the relevant period, you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out-of-pocket fees.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR FINANCIAL INTERESTS: For additional information about the ET lawsuit, please contact J. Klein, Esq. by telephone at 212-616-4899 or click this link: https://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/energy-transfer-lp-loss-submission-form-2?id=30425&from=4.
ABOUT KLEIN LAW FIRM
J. Klein, Esq. represents investors and participates in securities litigations involving financial fraud throughout the nation. The Klein Law Firm is a boutique litigation firm with experience in a wide range of areas including securities law, corporate finance and commercial litigation. Since 2011, our experienced attorneys have achieved superior results for our clients with a personalized focus. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
CONTACT:
J. Klein, Esq.
Empire State Building
350 Fifth Avenue
59th Floor
New York, NY 10118
jk@kleinstocklaw.com
Telephone: (212) 616-4899
www.kleinstocklaw.com
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SOURCE The Klein Law Firm | 2022-08-02T11:01:10+00:00 | kwtx.com | https://www.kwtx.com/prnewswire/2022/08/02/et-alert-klein-law-firm-announces-lead-plaintiff-deadline-august-2-2022-class-action-filed-behalf-energy-transfer-lp-shareholders/ |
Paxson's 1998 paper "Bro: A System for Detecting Network Intruders in Real-Time" honored for its profound impact on the field of security and privacy
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Corelight, the leader in open network detection and response (NDR), today announced company co-founder, and creator of Zeek®, Dr. Vern Paxson has received the distinguished USENIX "Test of Time" award for his work entitled "Bro: A System for Detecting Network Intruders in Real-Time" published in 1998. The paper marked the official launch of open source technology Bro (now known as Zeek), which has since become the de-facto standard for network security monitoring and network visibility.
"Dr. Paxson's work in creating Bro marked a turning point in how organizations could get a handle on, and gain better access to, the traffic that was coming into their networks at a time when the Internet was still in its infancy," said Dr. Kevin Fu, associate professor of EECS at the University of Michigan and USENIX steering committee member. "The committee felt strongly that this paper should stand as a 'must read' classic paper for any graduate computer security course."
The USENIX "Test of Time" award is intended to recognize papers that have had a lasting impact on their respective fields and that were presented at its respective conference at least 10 years ago.
"In the late 1990s, effective ways to monitor and analyze traffic over the Internet were virtually nonexistent. That left sites unable to distinguish malicious traffic from harmless traffic," said Paxson. "Bro/Zeek was designed as a means of identifying possible intrusions on a network right as they were happening, by analyzing in detail the traffic flying by on high-speed network links. By open sourcing the code, the hope was that it would both benefit the community and in turn benefit from community efforts to enhance it.
"More than 20 years later it is a thrill to see how not only how expansive the Bro/ Zeek, community has grown, but also to see how the thousands of contributions to it over the years have made it one of the most powerful and reliable network security offerings today," he continued. "I have long had roots in the USENIX community, so I'm particularly honored to receive this recognition."
USENIX "Test of Time" award recipients received recognition at the 31st USENIX Security Symposium. The USENIX Security Symposium brings together researchers, practitioners, system administrators, system programmers, and others interested in the latest advances in the security and privacy of computer systems and networks.
Since 1975, USENIX has brought together the community of engineers, system administrators, SREs, researchers, and technicians working on the cutting edge of the computing world. USENIX conferences have become the essential meeting grounds for the presentation and discussion of the most advanced information on the development of all aspects of computing systems. For more information, visit https://usenix.org.
About Corelight
Corelight provides security teams with network evidence so they can protect the world's most critical organizations and companies. Corelight's global customers include Fortune 500 companies, major government agencies, and large research universities. Based in San Francisco, Corelight is an open-core security company founded by the creators of Zeek®, the widely-used network security technology. For more information, visit https://corelight.com or follow @corelight_inc.
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SOURCE Corelight, Inc. | 2022-08-11T16:52:56+00:00 | wagmtv.com | https://www.wagmtv.com/prnewswire/2022/08/11/corelight-co-founder-dr-vern-paxson-receives-prominent-usenix-security-test-time-award/ |
Since 2019 when COVID-19 emerged in China, scientists worldwide have been trying to ascertain the origin of the virus.
The two major theories are a natural spillover from bats to an animal source and then to humans or a laboratory accident. A related question is whether the virus emerged from nature or was the result of human-made genetic manipulation.
Chinese scientists and many of their Western counterparts, including prominent American researchers, argued that animals transmitted the virus to humans. They downplayed the lab leak theory. Particularly notable was a report on the pandemic’s origin released in March 2021 by the World Health Organization, which failed to identify the source of the virus but claimed an animal source was “likely to very likely.”
This scenario strained credulity but was a convenient way of shifting the blame away from China, which had a say in determining which facts outsiders could investigate.
In the past year as the pandemic wound down, the “very likely” theory of an animal vector has been met with increasing skepticism. Many in the scientific community, as well as some in U.S. intelligence circles, do not buy the remarkable coincidence that the first COVID-19 cases just happened to appear in Wuhan, China, the site of the Chinese government-run Wuhan Institute of Virology. FBI Director Christopher Wray has said that the bureau believes COVID-19 most likely originated in a Chinese government-controlled lab.
Now out is a comprehensive investigation of the virus origin by the Sunday Times of London, compiled with extensive sourcing including interviews with U.S. State Department special investigators who have been studying the origin of COVID-19 and have amassed secret intelligence on events in China before COVID-19 emerged.
The conclusion of Times reporters was startling. “Scientists in Wuhan working alongside the Chinese military were combining the world’s most deadly coronaviruses to create a new mutant virus just as the pandemic began. Investigators who scrutinized top-secret intercepted communications and scientific research believe Chinese scientists were running a covert project of dangerous experiments, which caused a leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology and started the COVID-19 outbreak. The U.S. investigators say one of the reasons there is no published information on the work is because it was done in collaboration with researchers from the Chinese military, which was funding it and which, they say, was pursuing bioweapons.”
While the Times does not claim the virus was intended to be a bioweapon, the findings bolster the lab leak theory and support it by noting the first cases of COVID-19 likely occurred in Chinese researchers involved in the early lab work at Wuhan. Journalists from other news outlets also have reported that the virology institute scientists were the first humans to be infected.
Moreover, scientists from the Chinese military working at the Wuhan institute were coincidentally involved in vaccine development just before the international outbreak. The Times also fleshes out unsettling details previously reported. The U.S. government gave more than $1 million in research funding to the virology institute through an intermediary organization, and an American virus expert provided critical research to the Chinese by exploring the potential for a vaccine while being well aware of the dangers of his research.
Now that the pandemic is over, what difference does it make how it started? This is a significant moment. If the Times investigation is substantially true, there are at least three disturbing conclusions:
First, if the Chinese cannot be trusted to provide reliable information and their military is actively working on bioweapons, that’s ominous. Washington shouldn’t be providing research funds for China or any other country if U.S. officials cannot tell how the money is being used.
Second, this episode dispels the notion that scientists are an apolitical community that can work without regard to international borders — a lesson we must continuously relearn in the face of the profession’s protestations to the contrary. During World War II, many of the nuclear physicists who worked on the Manhattan Project were committed pacifists and internationalists. But they subordinated their beliefs, knowing what the Nazis would do if German physicists delivered the atomic bomb to Adolf Hitler first.
Third, just as a politicized United Nations cannot guarantee world peace, the politicized WHO cannot guarantee biosecurity — these organizations are necessary but not sufficient. The U.S. should explore NATO-type independent alliances to create a distant early warning system that includes real-time international genomic, case and wastewater surveillance for dangerous biological agents.
Hard truths, to be sure. But unless we acknowledge and respond to these truths, as bad as COVID-19 was, the inevitable next pandemic could be much worse. | 2023-06-28T18:56:30+00:00 | pantagraph.com | https://pantagraph.com/opinion/columnists/commentary-if-a-lab-leak-led-to-covid-19-there-are-truths-we-must-not/article_737cf92e-15ba-11ee-a553-3f69b1c857e6.html |
Elton John‘s final U.S. concert will take place this Sunday night at L.A.’s Dodger Stadium, and will be livestreamed on Disney+. But when the Rocket Man’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road finally wraps up for good some time, don’t worry — Elton will still continue to play live, though what that might look like is still up in the air.
Elton’s husband and manager David Furnish tells Variety that the Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour will definitely “be the end of all touring without a question,” but adds, “I hope he still does a one-off every now and then — or maybe, like not in Vegas, but a small residency at some point.”
He explains, “He would love to at some point go and play a lot of the songs he doesn’t normally get to play during his concerts. He has such a huge catalog and has written so many beautiful songs. I think there will definitely be a 2.0 in some shape or form.”
And of course, Elton won’t stop recording or writing songs. Furnish tells Variety that Elton is eager to “work more” with Britney Spears, his “Hold Me Closer” duet partner, and would like to do something with her “in person…because she was in L.A. and he was in London and it was recorded that way.” He adds, “She can pick up the phone and speak to Elton about it at any time.”
As for Elton’s final concerts, the first time he played Dodger Stadium back in 1975, he wore a now-iconic sequined Dodgers uniform. Furnish says for these shows, Elton will “be recreating the spirit of the Dodgers suit on stage,” with help from Gucci, who’s designed all his outfits for the tour.
Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. | 2022-11-15T16:03:47+00:00 | warm1069.com | https://warm1069.com/after-elton-johns-farewell-tour-there-will-definitely-be-a-2-0-in-some-shape-or-form-says-manager/ |
Prosecution rests, Oath Keepers 1/6 case turns to defense
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors rested their case Thursday against Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and four associates charged in the U.S. Capitol attack after presenting nearly five weeks of testimony, videos and text messages they say prove the defendants were behind a violent plot to stop the transfer of presidential power.
The case will now turn to the defense, which is preparing to put Rhodes on the witness stand — an enormously risky move that the extremist group leader may see as his only way to escape conviction. Rhodes’ lawyers have signaled that they will rely on an unusual defense strategy with former President Donald Trump at the center.
Defense attorneys typically advise their clients to keep their mouths shut at trial, but Rhodes’ lawyers have said the Oath Keepers leader, who pressed his far-right ideas in fiery speeches and writings before the insurrection, has been insistent since his arrest that his voice be heard in the seditious conspiracy case against him.
In doing so, Rhodes will open himself up to aggressive questioning on cross examination from prosecutors, who will try to provoke him into saying something that will hurt his case or catch him in a lie on the stand.
“There’s always a risk and something to lose when you take the stand,” said Jeffrey Jacobovitz, a white-collar criminal defense attorney in Washington not involved in the Oath Keepers case. But “if you feel like there’s no alternative, that the government has presented an air-tight case or a very strong case, and you don’t have other witnesses that would be helpful, then you have to.”
Prosecutors spent weeks methodically laying out evidence that shows Rhodes and other Oath Keepers discussed the prospect of violence and the need to keep Democrat Joe Biden out of the White House at all costs, before stashing a massive cache of weapons referred to as a “quick reaction force” at a Virginia hotel.
On Jan. 6, 2021, Oath Keepers wearing helmets and other battle gear were seen pushing through the pro-Trump mob and into the Capitol. Rhodes remained outside, like “a general surveying his troops on a battlefield,” a prosecutor told jurors. After the attack, prosecutors say Rhodes and other Oath Keepers celebrated with dinner at an Olive Garden restaurant.
Among prosecutors’ key witnesses were two of Rhodes’ former followers who pleaded guilty in the riot and are cooperating with investigators in the hopes of getting a lighter sentence. One of them told jurors that the Oath Keepers were prepared to stop the certification of Biden’s electoral victory by “any means necessary.”
Three other Oath Keepers who pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy and struck cooperation deals with prosecutors were notably not put on the stand by prosecutors. It’s unclear why the government decided not to have them testify. The government has the right to introduce rebuttal testimony after the defense rests.
Rhodes and his co-defendants — Kelly Meggs, Jessica Watkins, Kenneth Harrelson and Thomas Caldwell — are the first among hundreds of people arrested in the Capitol riot to stand trial on seditious conspiracy, a rare Civil War-era charge that calls for up to 20 years behind bars. The stakes are high for the Justice Department, which last secured such a conviction at trial nearly 30 years ago, and intends to try two more groups on the charge later this year.
Rhodes’ attorneys have said that his defense will focus on Rhodes’ belief that Trump was going to invoke the Insurrection Act to call up a militia and put down what the extremist group leader viewed as a coup by Democrats.
Rhodes repeatedly called on Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act in the weeks leading up to Jan. 6, but Trump never did. Rhodes’ lawyers say he cannot be found guilty of seditious conspiracy because he was merely lobbying Trump to invoke the law, which gives the president wide discretion to decide when military force is necessary, and what qualifies as military force.
If Rhodes takes the stand, prosecutors will be able to pepper him with questions about messages they say show he was prepared to act regardless of what Trump did. In one message in December 2020, Rhodes wrote that Trump “needs to know that if he fails to act, then we will.”
In their defense, Rhodes’ attorneys are also likely to focus on prosecutors’ lack of evidence of an explicit plan from Rhodes and the Oath Keepers to attack the Capitol before Jan. 6. While cross examining an FBI agent who testified for the government, defense attorney James Lee Bright asked if the agent had seen any orders from Rhodes for Oath Keepers to enter the Capitol.
“No, sir,” the agent responded.
As prosecutors wrapped up their case on Wednesday, jurors heard a recording of a meeting between Rhodes and another man days after the insurrection in which Rhodes expressed frustration with Trump for not taking action: “If he’s not going to do the right thing and he’s just gonna let himself be removed illegally then we should have brought rifles,” Rhodes said of the Capitol riot.
“We should have fixed it right then and there. I’d hang (expletive) Pelosi from the lamppost,” Rhodes said, referring to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
One of Rhodes’ lawyers has said his client — a Yale Law School graduate — understands the risks of taking the stand. Rhodes practiced as a lawyer before being disbarred by Montana in 2015 after he was accused of abandoning a client’s case and filing an appearance for a client in an Arizona court without a license to practice there.
In some cases, testifying can work in a defendant’s favor. Last year, Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted of all charges in Kenosha, Wisconsin, after he testified that he fatally shot two men and wounded another because he feared for his own life.
“It’s high risk, but also high reward,” said Robert Fisher, a Boston defense attorney who isn’t involved with the Oath Keepers case. “If you have a defendant who is very polished ... and has a good demeanor and they do well and don’t get upset and don’t lose their patience with a prosecutor, then it can work out well.”
But it’s difficult to know how a defendant is going to perform under pressure when being questioned by a skilled prosecutor until it happens: “Even the most prepared, sophisticated witnesses can have a bad day,” Fisher said.
____
Richer reported from Boston. Associated Press reporter Michael Kunzelman in Washington contributed to this report.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of Jan. 6 at https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | 2022-11-03T17:26:17+00:00 | kmvt.com | https://www.kmvt.com/2022/11/03/prosecution-rests-oath-keepers-16-case-turns-defense/ |
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Massive cheers rather than the usual boos rained down on Gary Bettman on Tuesday night because nothing could keep Vegas Golden Knights fans from enjoying what the NHL commissioner was about to do.
He first presented the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP to Jonathan Marchessault and then moments later handed the Stanley Cup to captain Mark Stone, who shared it with the rest of the team.
“What has happened here has been simply incredible,” Bettman told the crowd. “Not only is Vegas a hockey town, it’s a championship town.”
The modern era for Las Vegas sports began when the NHL awarded the city an expansion franchise in 2016, and the Knights began playing in the 2017-18 season. Owner Bill Foley issued his famous “playoffs in three, cup in six” proclamation and Vegas made the Stanley Cup Final in its first season and won it all this year — its sixth season.
Since the Knights came on board, Las Vegas has acquired an NFL team in the Raiders and the WNBA’s Stars moved from San Antonio and became the Aces. The Aces won the championship last year and this season are again the league’s best team.
“It’s exciting as heck,” Raiders and Aces owner Mark Davis said about the state of Las Vegas sports. “When you watch a great organization win a championship, it’s obviously inspiration. It shows how much hard work and everything that goes into it, but as far as feeding off it, I don’t know that that’s the right term.”
Davis said his late father, Al, saw the potential in Las Vegas many years ago when he used to celebrate his July 4 birthday in the city. The Oakland Raiders defeated the Houston Oilers in an 1964 preseason American Football League game in the first pro football event in Las Vegas.
Al Davis saw “an opportunity here,” his son said.
More sports milestones could be ahead for Vegas.
The Nevada Legislature voted Wednesday to help fund a new Las Vegas stadium for the Oakland Athletics. Next is Gov. Joe Lombardo’s signature, which could come Thursday. Major League Baseball’s owners also must approve the move.
LeBron James has also made noise about wanting to own an NBA franchise in Las Vegas, and Commissioner Adam Silver told “Inside the NBA” last week that expansion will be considered once a media-rights deal is reached. He said talks “will begin in earnest probably next spring.”
“We don’t have anything specific (on expansion) right now, but I think it makes sense over time if you’re a successful organization and continue to grow,” Silver said. “There’s no doubt there are a lot of great cities interested in having the NBA.”
Las Vegas has a long history of being a go-to city for major events, and that’s especially true now.
The Super Bowl will be played at Allegiant Stadium in February, the Final Four will be there in 2028, and Formula One will plant its flag on Las Vegas Boulevard in November.
It’s been an incredible journey for a city that, because of legalized sports betting, was mostly shunned by professional leagues in the past and was ruled out at one time from hosting NCAA championship events. The NFL once even nixed a Super Bowl ad touting Las Vegas tourism.
Now the NFL not only has scheduled its premier event for Las Vegas, the league placed its popular draft in the city last year.
It’s not, however, that Las Vegas was devoid of sports before the Knights came along. Basketball has long maintained a prominent presence because of the famous UNLV teams that became a national brand and won the NCAA Tournament in 1990 to the NBA Summer League becoming the place of business for all 30 clubs to USA Basketball making this its home training site to five conferences staging their basketball tournaments here.
Major boxing and UFC fights, NASCAR and the National Finals Rodeo have long helped define Las Vegas sports, and under the national radar, the Triple-A team has been around 40 years and is among the top draws in minor-league baseball.
But when the Knights came along, that took Las Vegas to another level in how the city viewed itself and the outside world perceived southern Nevada. Las Vegas was truly in the club at that point as home to a team in one of the four major professional sports.
And then the fans packed T-Mobile Arena, the Knights changed how games are presented with elaborate shows before the puck drop and — most importantly — the franchise won right away.
“Best place to play,” Knights forward William Carrier said. “This building is unbelievable and we saw it (Tuesday). We fed on their energy and we got a couple big goals here. You can tell that everyone wants to come play here now.”
Foley said he thought early on that the pieces came together this season to make his dream of “cup in six” come true.
“This was our year to do something special,” he said.
This, indeed, is Las Vegas’ time in the sports world.
___
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | 2023-06-15T21:41:03+00:00 | kron4.com | https://www.kron4.com/sports/ap-sports/golden-knights-success-lifted-las-vegas-to-another-level-in-sports-world/ |
DAVISON, Mich. (WJRT) - Davison and Hamady went to 5 overtimes, with the Cardinals ultimately prevailing, 94-90.
HS Boys Hoops - Hamady vs. Davison
Yousef Nasser
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Don't have an account? Sign Up Today | 2023-02-15T23:43:28+00:00 | abc12.com | https://www.abc12.com/sports/hs-boys-hoops---hamady-vs-davison/article_74eda508-ad7b-11ed-9768-57b0da8ffe1d.html |
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Former Vice President Mike Pence has been subpoenaed by the special counsel overseeing investigations into efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to a person with direct knowledge of the event.
The subpoena to Pence as part of the investigation by special counsel Jack Smith was served in recent days, according to the person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Thursday to discuss a sensitive issue.
The extraordinary scenario of a former vice president potentially testifying against his former boss in a criminal investigation comes as Pence considers launching a 2024 Republican presidential bid against Trump. The two have been estranged since a mob of Trump's supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to stop Democrat Joe Biden's victory.
The subpoena is an aggressive step from a prosecutor who for years led the Justice Department’s public corruption section and who oversaw indictments against major political figures. The move sets the stage for a likely executive privilege fight, given Pence’s close proximity to Trump for four years as major decisions were being contemplated and planned. It is unclear whether efforts to secure voluntary testimony from Pence stalled before the subpoena was issued.
Spokespeople for Pence and Smith declined to comment on the issuance of the subpoena, which was first reported by ABC News.
Pence was a central figure in Trump's efforts to stay in power after losing the 2020 election. Trump falsely insisted that his vice president, who had a ceremonial role in overseeing the certification of the election, could simply reject the results and send them back to the battleground states he contested.
On Jan. 6, Trump supporters driven by the lie that the election was stolen marched to the Capitol building, brutally pushed past the police and smashed through the windows and doors while Pence was presiding over the certification of Biden’s victory. The vice president was steered to safety with his staff and family as some in the mob chanted, “Hang Mike Pence!”
While the mob was in the Capitol, Trump tweeted, “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution.”
Smith, who was named special counsel in November by Attorney General Merrick Garland, has been tasked with overseeing investigations into Trump’s attempts to subvert his defeat, his actions leading up to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol and his possession of top-secret government documents at his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago.
Federal prosecutors have been especially focused on a scheme by Trump allies to elevate fake presidential electors in key battleground states won by Biden as a way to subvert the vote, issuing subpoenas to multiple state Republican party chairs.
Federal prosecutors have brought multiple Trump administration officials before the grand jury for questioning, including former Trump White House counsel Pat Cipollone and Pence’s own former chief of staff, Marc Short.
In a sign of the expanding nature of the investigation, election officials in multiple states whose results were disputed by Trump have received subpoenas asking for communications with or involving Trump and his campaign aides.
A House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack recommended that the Justice Department bring criminal charges against Trump and associates who helped him launch a pressure campaign to try to overturn his 2020 election loss. | 2023-02-10T02:28:27+00:00 | sfgate.com | https://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/ap-source-pence-subpoenaed-by-special-counsel-17775379.php |
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
If you live with kids, you may recognize this...
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #1: Whoa. How did he hit it off...
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #2: One more shot.
CHANG: ...The sound of kids playing video games. Since the pandemic, kids spend more time online, and that is prompting more research on the impact of virtual activities on children. As part of our ongoing series Living Better, NPR's Yuki Noguchi wanted to find out more about video games.
YUKI NOGUCHI, BYLINE: My brief stint in gaming ended in the mid-1980s, when a pocket-sized electronic game my grandfather bought at a Tokyo toy store broke. My parents were not sad to see it go. To them, it seemed like television, and prevailing wisdom then said TV rotted kids' brains. I carried these notions with me into parenthood. Clinical psychologist Kelli Dunlap talks to plenty of parents like me.
KELLI DUNLAP: One of the most difficult things about video games is that they have this really bad rap - that they're brain rot, they're stupid, they're not productive and therefore bad.
NOGUCHI: Dunlap is a parent, too, but one who appreciates games. She designs them and is community director for Take This, a mental health advocacy group within the gaming community. She says gaming and its effects on child development are misunderstood.
DUNLAP: You can use games to improve your social connections, to practice feeling emotions that we normally avoid like guilt or grief or shame. A lot of games bring those feelings out in us, and they give us a space to play with those feelings.
NOGUCHI: She says these are benefits not observed with TV or social media, which are passively consumed and more about marketing. That had not occurred to me. My two boys are 12 and 13. They're growing up in a digital world in a way I did not. I'm lucky. My sons are healthy, hardworking and kind to their chronically frazzled single mom. They've made raising them relatively easy and joyful, even in adolescence. Yet no amount of yelling, no games on school nights, or, not before dinner, worked. When they were young, I banned shooter games, but since middle school, bans have felt futile. So I asked experts who study gaming and children for advice, and several consistent themes emerged. One is to stop my obsession with limiting it. Like many people, I long for a recommended daily cap on game time the way nutritionists advise on grams of sugar. Doesn't exist, Dunlap says.
DUNLAP: Research has shown again and again and again that time spent playing video games is not predictive of mental health outcomes.
NOGUCHI: Because, again, gaming's effects differ from those of social media. Michael Rich directs the Center on Media and Child Health at Boston Children's Hospital. He says parents should instead take stock of time spent outside gaming - homework, chores. Do they play outside? Why kids play games varies. Shy kids might find it easier to socialize there. Maybe it's a stress outlet. Rich tells parents to simply play with their child to find out.
MICHAEL RICH: What's happening is that you are saying, I love you; I respect you; I want to understand what is engaging you here.
NOGUCHI: Which is how I ended up playing again after three decades...
OK, remind me again.
KOJI: Left click to shoot.
NOGUCHI: ...With Koji (ph), my 12-year-old, patiently tutoring.
Oh, oh, I hit him. I hit him. Why isn't he dying?
KOJI: You have to reload.
NOGUCHI: What am I doing? I'm scoping in instead of shooting?
KOJI: No. Hold this, and then shoot. No, you died. They're shooting - oh. What?
NOGUCHI: As I start over, I see who else is playing. Invites pop up from people looking to team up.
These are your friends?
KOJI: Yeah. That's Ryan.
NOGUCHI: That's Ryan. OK.
KOJI: Yeah.
NOGUCHI: It's reassuring to know he's playing with actual friends. That's key because gaming is very social. British psychologist Peter Etchells says that's part of what makes games powerful training grounds. He studies behavioral effects of gaming at Bath Spa University. He says games involving quests, battles or creative projects, for example, are very complex tasks.
PETER ETCHELLS: It requires very kind of precise team building, thinking about timings and placement, good communication skills to coordinate with people. It's doing that sort of kind of coordinating work that's really useful for all sorts of things.
NOGUCHI: He says games can teach many types of skills. Why? They motivate users to improve by practicing over and over. So another reason to play is to know what your child actually takes away from the game. For example, I asked Koji to teach me how to make my avatar dance.
KOJI: It's kind of, like, a toxic thing. So if you, like, killed somebody and you, like, start dancing on them, that's, like, kind of toxic.
NOGUCHI: Oh, it is?
KOJI: Yeah.
NOGUCHI: I'm glad I asked.
Koji assures me he limits contact with unsportsmanlike people by interacting mostly with friends. Ohio University professor Jesse Fox studies game culture and says toxic behavior can thrive in games because parents tend not to monitor those spaces. Most often, she says, it takes the form of harassment of female gamers.
JESSE FOX: Games for girls aren't unlike other spaces, where girls can be shut out.
NOGUCHI: Fox says some deal with harassment by hiding their gender. Many quit gaming altogether. She says it's on parents like me with sons to listen in on conversations, discipline bad conduct just as I would offline. Parents can also help find games with more inclusive culture by design. For example, on Fortnite, my sons play using female avatars almost exclusively. I asked Kenzo (ph), my 13-year-old, why.
KENZO: That's, like, the culture of the game, I guess. The girls are seen as - it means you're trying hard, or, like, you're good at the game.
NOGUCHI: So do you feel like you know whether a person is a girl or a boy on this game in real life?
KENZO: No.
NOGUCHI: I realized what I had not understood. Games are just new spaces with different social dimensions and cultures. Many things are possible in video games - good, bad or just plain wild. But isn't that also true of real life? I feared technology had turned playtime into an entirely different, scarier beast. It hasn't. Nor have the fundamentals for parenting around games changed, either. You love them, support them and help them navigate as best you can. Yuki Noguchi, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | 2023-06-09T16:21:25+00:00 | kosu.org | https://www.kosu.org/u-s-news/arts-culture/2023-05-30/the-impact-of-video-games-on-child-development-is-often-misunderstood |
LIMA, Peru (AP) — The main suspect in the 2005 disappearance of U.S. student Natalee Holloway was handed over to U.S. custody and departed Peru on a flight to the United States on Thursday, roughly a month after both countries agreed on his extradition.
Joran van der Sloot is wanted in the U.S. on one count each of extortion and wire fraud, the only charges to have ever linked the Dutch citizen to Holloway’s disappearance on the Caribbean island of Aruba.
His extradition moved forward after a Peruvian judge on Tuesday affirmed the government’s decision to temporarily transfer custody to U.S. authorities.
Video and photos released by Peruvian authorities Thursday show him wearing jeans and a black puffer jacket, shaking his shoulders and grimacing as officers adjust his handcuffs and remove an Interpol-marked vest. Footage and images also show van der Sloot in a conference room with law enforcement officers from Peru, the FBI and Interpol, and a health care professional.
Van der Sloot is serving a 28-year sentence after confessing to the slaying of a Peruvian woman. Over the weekend, authorities moved him from a maximum-security prison in the Andes to the detention facility in Lima.
It was not immediately clear when he would make his first court appearance in the U.S. The U.S. Justice Department declined to comment.
Holloway, who lived in suburban Birmingham, Alabama, was 18 when she vanished during a trip with classmates to Aruba. She was last seen leaving a bar with van der Sloot, who was a student at an international school on the island.
Van der Sloot was identified as a suspect and detained weeks later, along with two Surinamese brothers. Holloway’s body was never found, and no charges were filed in the case. A judge later declared Holloway dead.
The federal charges filed in Alabama against van der Sloot stem from an accusation that he tried to extort the Holloway family in 2010, promising to lead them to her body in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars. A grand jury indicted him that year on one count each of wire fraud and extortion.
Holloway’s mysterious disappearance sparked years of news coverage and countless true-crime podcasts.
Van der Sloot in 2012 pleaded guilty in Peru to killing 21-year-old Stephany Flores, a business student from a prominent Peruvian family. She was killed in 2010 five years to the day after Holloway’s disappearance.
A 2001 treaty between Peru and the U.S. allows a suspect to be temporarily extradited to face trial in the other country. Van der Sloot’s attorney, Máximo Altez, initially indicated his client would not challenge his extradition but that changed Monday when he filed a writ of habeas corpus. A judge ruled against van der Sloot the following day.
The time that van der Sloot ends up spending in the U.S. “will be extended until the conclusion of the criminal proceedings,” including the appeal process, should there be one, according to a resolution published in Peru’s federal register. The resolution also states that U.S. authorities agree to return van der Sloot to the custody of Peru afterward.
Van der Sloot married a Peruvian woman in July 2014 in a ceremony at a maximum-security prison. He was transferred among Peruvian prisons in response to reports that he enjoyed privileges such as television, internet access and a cellphone, and accusations that he had threatened to kill a warden.
Joyce Vance, a federal prosecutor in Alabama when van der Sloot was charged, said his arrival in the southern U.S. state is a long-awaited opportunity for justice.
“We always say that justice delayed is justice denied, and there’s a certain simple truth to that,” said Vance, the former U.S. attorney for the northern district of Alabama, which includes Birmingham. “But this case makes me think sometimes justice delayed is actually worth it. It’s not optimal. It’s not what anybody would have wanted at the outset, but justice delayed is better than justice never delivered.”
___
Garcia Cano reported from Mexico City. Associated Press journalists Mauricio Muñoz in Lima and Kimberly Chandler in Birmingham, Alabama, contributed to this report. | 2023-06-08T19:12:50+00:00 | krqe.com | https://www.krqe.com/news/world/main-suspect-in-2005-disappearance-of-natalee-holloway-due-to-be-extradited-to-us/ |
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — American consumers and nearly every industry will be affected if freight trains grind to a halt next month.
One of the biggest rail unions rejected its deal Monday, joining three others that have failed to approve contracts over concerns about demanding schedules and the lack of paid sick time. That raises the risk of a strike, which could start as soon as Dec. 5.
It wouldn’t take long for the effects of a rail strike to trickle through the economy. Many businesses only have a few days’ worth of raw materials and space for finished goods. Makers of food, fuel, cars and chemicals would all feel the squeeze, as would their customers.
That's not to mention the commuters who would be left stranded because many passenger railroads use tracks owned by the freight railroads.
The stakes are so high for the economy that Congress is expected to intervene and impose contract terms on railroad workers. The last time US railroads went on strike was in 1992. That strike lasted two days before Congress intervened. An extended rail shutdown has not happened for a century, partly because a law passed in 1926 that governs rail negotiations made it much harder for workers to strike.
Here are some of the expected impacts of a rail strike:
$2 BILLION A DAY
Railroads haul about 40% of the nation's freight each year. The railroads estimated that a rail strike would cost the economy $2 billion a day in a report issued earlier this fall. Another recent report put together by a chemical industry trade group projected that if a strike drags on for a month some 700,000 jobs would be lost as manufacturers who rely on railroads shut down, prices of nearly everything would increase even more and the economy could be thrust into a recession.
And although some businesses would try to shift shipments over to trucks, there aren't nearly enough of them available. The Association of American Railroads trade group estimated that 467,000 additional trucks a day would be needed to handle everything railroads deliver.
CHEMICALS RUN DRY
Chemical manufacturers and refineries will be some of the first businesses affected, because railroads will stop shipping hazardous chemicals about a week before the strike deadline to ensure that no tank cars filled with dangerous liquids wind up stranded.
Jeff Sloan with the American Chemistry Council trade group said chemical plants could be close to shutting down by the time a rail strike actually begins because of that.
That means the chlorine that water treatment plants rely on to purify water, which they might only have about a week's supply of on hand, would become hard to get. It would be hard for manufacturers to make anything out of plastic without the chemicals that are part of the formula. Consumers will also pay more for gasoline if refineries shut down either because they can't get the ingredients they need to make fuel or because railroads aren't available to haul away byproducts like sulfur.
Chemical plants also produce carbon dioxide as a byproduct, so the supply of carbon dioxide that beverage makers use to carbonate soda and beer would also be restricted, even though the gas typically moves via pipelines.
PASSENGER PROBLEMS
Roughly half of all commuter rail systems rely at least in part on tracks that are owned by freight railroads, and nearly all of Amtrak’s long-distance trains run over the freight network.
Back in September, Amtrak cancelled all of its long-distance trains days ahead of the strike deadline to ensure passengers wouldn’t be left stranded in remote parts of the country while still en route to their destination.
And major commuter rail services in Chicago, Minneapolis, Maryland and Washington state all warned then that some of their operations would be suspended in the event of a rail strike.
FOOD FEARS
It would take about a week for customers to notice shortages of things like cereal, peanut butter and beer at the grocery store, said Tom Madrecki, vice president of supply chain for the Consumer Brands Association.
About 30% of all packaged food in the U.S. is moved by rail, he said. That percentage is much higher for denser, heavier items like cans of soup.
Some products, like cereal, cooking oils and beer, have entire operations built around rail deliveries of raw ingredients like grain, barley and peanuts, along with shipments of finished products.
Those companies typically keep only two to four days’ worth of raw ingredients on hand because it’s expensive to store them, Madrecki said, and grocers also keep a limited supply of products on hand.
Madrecki said big food companies don't like to discuss the threat of a rail strike because of worries about product shortages can lead to panic buying.
HUNGRY HERDS
Any disruption in rail service could threaten the health of chickens and pigs, which depend on trains to deliver their feed, and contribute to higher meat prices.
“Our members rely on about 27 million bushels of corn and 11 million bushels of soybean meal every week to feed their chickens. Much of that is moved by rail,” said Tom Super, a spokesman for the National Chicken Council, a trade group for the industry raising chickens for meat.
The National Grain and Feed Association said a rail strike now would hit pork and chicken producers in the southern U.S. hardest, because their local supply of corn and soybeans from this year’s harvest is likely exhausted and they’d have to ship feed by truck, dramatically increasing costs.
“They only have so much storage. They can’t go without rail service for too long before they’d have to shut down the feed mills and they run into problems,” said Max Fisher, the NGFA's chief economist.
RETAIL RISKS
Jess Dankert, the vice president for supply chain at the Retail Industry Leaders Association, said retailers’ inventory is largely in place for the holidays. But the industry is developing contingency plans.
“We don’t see, you know, canceling Christmas and that kind of narrative,” Dankert said. “But I think we will see the generalized disruption of really anything that moves by rail.”
David Garfield, a managing director with the consulting firm AlixPartners, said a rail strike could still impact holiday items shipped to stores later in December, and would definitely hamper stocking of next season’s goods.
Retailers are also concerned about online orders. Shippers like FedEx and UPS use rail cars that hold roughly 2,000 packages in each car.
AUTOMOBILE ANGST
Drivers are already paying record prices and often waiting months for new vehicles because of the production problems in the auto industry related to the shortage of computer chips in recent years.
That would only get worse if there is a rail strike, because roughly 75% of all new vehicles begin their journey from factories to dealerships on the railroad. Trains deliver some 2,000 carloads a day filled with vehicles.
And automakers may have a hard time keeping their plants running during a strike because some larger parts and raw materials are transported by rail.
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Associated Press Writers David Pitt in Des Moines, Iowa, and Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit contributed to this report. | 2022-11-22T06:41:53+00:00 | ourmidland.com | https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/EXPLAINER-Rail-strike-would-have-wide-impact-on-17602885.php |
ST. JOSEPH. Mo. (AP) — The Powerball jackpot rose yet again to an estimated $1 billion after no winning ticket was sold for the latest drawing.
No ticket for Monday’s drawing matched the white balls 5, 8, 9, 17, 41 and red Powerball 21. The jackpot was estimated at $900 million.
The new jackpot for Wednesday’s drawing would be the seventh highest in U.S. history and the third largest for Powerball. Ticket buyers have a chance at $1 billion paid out in yearly increments or a $516.8 million one-time lump sum before taxes.
Three people won $2 million after matching all five numbers plus the Power Play, lottery officials said. The winning tickets were sold in Arkansas, Georgia and Texas.
Five people won $1 million after matching all five numbers. The winning tickets were sold in Connecticut, Florida, Kentucky, New York and Pennsylvania.
The game’s abysmal odds of 1 in 292.2 million are designed to build big prizes that draw more players. The largest Powerball jackpot was $2.04 billion Powerball last November.
The last time someone won the Powerball jackpot was April 19 for a top prize of nearly $253 million. Since then, no one has won the grand prize in the past 38 consecutive drawings. The jackpot will keep growing until someone wins.
Powerball is played in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
___
The story has been updated to correct that the jackpot for Wednesday’s drawing would be the seventh highest lottery jackpot in U.S. history. It also has been updated to correct the number of the red Powerball to 21. | 2023-07-18T13:31:23+00:00 | wdtn.com | https://www.wdtn.com/news/ap-top-headlines/ap-no-winner-in-mondays-powerball-drawing-jackpot-reaches-1-billion/ |
Man taken into custody after vehicle fire near Monument Valley Parking Lot
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- A man was taken into custody after a vehicle was found engulfed in flames near Monument Valley Parking Lot on Sunday.
Colorado Springs Police Department and ColoradoSprings Fire Department responded to a vehicle fire in the 1800 block of N. Cascade Ave., just after 10 p.m.
According to the police, the fire started intentionally, causing extensive damage to the vehicle.
Police said officers found probable cause to arrest Elton Duncan in connection to the incident.
That same day, police said officers found Duncan at another location where he was taken into custody without incident. | 2023-01-03T15:52:22+00:00 | krdo.com | https://krdo.com/top-stories/2023/01/03/man-taken-into-custody-after-vehicle-fire-near-monument-valley-parking-lot/ |
MEXICO CITY – Mexico is undergoing a fevered competition among states to win a potential Tesla facility in jostling reminiscent of what happens among U.S. cities and states vying to win investments from tech companies.
Mexican governors have gone to loopy extremes, like putting up billboards, creating special car lanes or creating mock-ups of Tesla ads for their states.
And there’s no guarantee Tesla will build a full-fledged factory. Nothing is announced, and the frenzy is based mainly on Mexican officials saying Tesla boss Elon Musk will have an upcoming phone call with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The northern industrial state of Nuevo Leon seemed to have an early edge in the race.
It painted the Tesla logo on a lane at the little-used Columbia border crossing into Texas last summer, and erecting billboards in December in the state capital, Monterrey, that read “Welcome Tesla.”
The state governor’s influencer wife, Mariana Rodriguez, was even shown in leaked photos at a get-together with Musk.
However, López Obrador appeared to exclude the semi-desert state from consideration Monday, arguing he wouldn’t allow the typically high water use of factories to risk prompting shortages there.
That set off a competitive scramble among other Mexican states, like feeding time at a piranha tank. The governors’ offers ranged from crafty proposals to near-comic ones.
“Veracruz is the only state with an excess of gas,” quipped Gov. Cuitláhuac Garcia of the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, before quickly adding “gas … for industrial use, for industrial use!”
A late-comer to the race, Garcia had to try harder: He noted Veracruz was home to Mexico’s only nuclear power plant. And he claimed Veracruz had 30% of Mexico’s water, though the National Water Commission puts the state’s share at around 11%. Water, it turns out, is thicker than blood.
The governor of the western state of Michoacan wasn’t going to be left out. Gov. Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla quickly posted a mocked-up ad for a Tesla car standing next to a huge, car-sized avocado — Michoacan’s most recognizable product — with the slogan “Michoacan — The Best Choice for Tesla.”
“We have enough water,” Ramírez Bedolla said in a television interview he did between a round of meetings with auto industry figures and international business representatives.
Michoacan also has an intractable problem of drug cartel violence. But similar violence in neighboring Guanajuato state hasn’t stopped seven major international automakers from setting up plants in Guanajuato.
Nuevo Leon Gov. Samuel Garcia had to think fast to avoid being shut out entirely, and came up with a novel strategy.
Garcia reached out to the western state of Jalisco, whose governor, Enrique Alfaro, belongs to the same small Citizen’s Movement party. Together, the two came up with an “alliance” Thursday that would allow trucks from Jalisco preferential use of Nuevo Leon’s border crossing, the same one where a “Tesla” lane appeared last year.
Jalisco has an already healthy foreign tech sector, but most importantly, it has more water than Nuevo Leon.
The two appeared intent on playing nice. “We are two states that do not have to compete and cannibalize each other … cannibalization for investment is a mistake,” Alfaro said.
López Obrador’s focus on water might be more about politics than about droughts, said Gabriela Siller, chief economist at Nuevo Leon-based Banco Base. She said the president appeared to be trying to steer Tesla investment to a state governed by his own Morena party, like Michoacan or Veracruz.
That could be a dangerous game, Siller said.
“Tesla could say it’s not somebody’s toy to be moved around anywhere, and it could decide not to come to Mexico,” she said.
Sam Abuelsamid, a principal research analyst at U.S.-based Guidehouse Insights, said playing one state off against another has been common practice in the U.S.
“You remember a few years back, Amazon talked about building their headquarters, like every state, city in the country was putting in bids, trying to lure Amazon there,” Abuelsamid said.
There are doubts that whatever Musk eventually does announce will be an auto assembly plant. Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said his understanding is that it won’t be a plant, but rather an “ecosystem” of suppliers.
Musk previously has made promises that don’t come true, or happen years after he says they will. For instance, in 2019 he promised a fleet of fully autonomous robotaxis on the roads sometime in 2020. Nearly three years later, Tesla has yet to sell any autonomous vehicles.
While there has been little talk in Mexico so far of subsidies, many auto companies have gotten significant incentives to build plants in Mexico. That kind of race can be costly.
“It’s questionable whether it’s actually that economically beneficial to localities or providing those subsidies,” said Abuelsamid. “They’re sometimes spending billions of dollars in tax breaks to lure a company in there.”
Musk at times has floated the idea of building a $25,000 electric vehicle that would cost about $20,000 less than the current Model 3, now Tesla’s least-expensive car. Many automakers build lower-cost models in Mexico to save on labor costs and protect profit margins.
A Tesla investment could be part of “near shoring” by U.S. companies that once manufactured in China but now are leery of logistical and political problems there. That those companies will now turn to Mexico represents the Latin American country’s biggest foreign investment hope.
“The fight among states to attract investments from this nearshoring phenomenon is going to be tough, complicated,” Alfaro said.
As Ramírez Bedolla put it, “wherever Tesla sets up, it is going to be big news in Mexico.” | 2023-02-25T05:30:29+00:00 | clickorlando.com | https://www.clickorlando.com/business/2023/02/25/mexican-states-in-hot-competition-over-possible-tesla-plant/ |
EXTON, Pa., May 3, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ricoh USA, Inc. today announced RICOH 3D for Healthcare – a HIPAA-compliant, ISO 13485 certified 3D medical manufacturing center for the development, design and production of 3D-printed anatomic models – has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for new areas of patient-specific anatomic modeling for diagnostic use, including cardiovascular, neurological, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, and breast applications.
Ricoh previously received FDA 510(k) clearance for its craniomaxillofacial (CMF) and orthopedic patient-specific anatomic modeling in June 2022. The expanded clearance empowers Ricoh to support more surgical specialties and patient diagnoses to print diagnostic quality 3D anatomic models of bony and soft tissue using Stratasys 3D printing technology and materials.
"Receiving the expanded 510(k) clearance for anatomic modeling of soft tissue is an exciting milestone for Ricoh as we continue to lead the way in offering democratized access to patient-specific 3D-printed models in healthcare," said Gary Turner, managing director, Additive Manufacturing, North America, Ricoh USA, Inc. "As a manufacturer of precision additive medical devices, Ricoh offers one of the broadest scopes of FDA-cleared 3D models for anatomic regions and a wide range of print materials available for diagnostic use – which combine to improve outcomes, enhance the patient experience and increase opportunities for physician education and training."
The end-to-end workflow solution integrates with Merge Universal Viewer (formerly IBM iConnect® Access), an enterprise imaging solution from Merative (formerly IBM Watson Health) that is used in many hospitals across the U.S., making it easy to fit into a provider's existing workflow. The integration capabilities allow providers to request 3D-printed anatomic models using Ricoh's centralized print-and-ship solution for same-week delivery or produce the models at a Ricoh-managed, point-of-care production facility onsite at the healthcare facility for next-day delivery.
"Ricoh's ability to 3D print various materials – now expanded to additional areas of anatomy under the new 510(k) – will assist our care team in better understanding what surgeons and interventionalists can expect to see in the operating room before they ever step foot inside," said Dr. Vishal Gupta, Co-Chair, Ascension Borgess Heart Institute. "Patient-specific models for diagnostic purposes are crucial in pre-surgical planning and can also support clinicians in better educating patients about what procedures will entail – something we recently did for a case."
Ricoh 3D for Healthcare produces patient-specific anatomic models via additive manufacturing, using segmented 3D print files created from medical images in FDA-cleared applications. These models are used for diagnostic purposes in various medical fields, including craniomaxillofacial, orthopedic, cardiovascular, neurological, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, and breast applications. With the ability to manage 3D print operations at the point of care, Ricoh 3D for Healthcare provides a streamlined and efficient solution for producing these models.
For more information about RICOH 3D for Healthcare, view the brochure on the RICOH 3D for Healthcare webpage or follow the company's social media channels on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter or YouTube.
| About Ricoh |
Ricoh is empowering digital workplaces using innovative technologies and services that enable individuals to work smarter from anywhere.
With cultivated knowledge and organizational capabilities nurtured over its 85-year history, Ricoh is a leading provider of digital services, information management, and print and imaging solutions designed to support digital transformation and optimize business performance.
Headquartered in Tokyo, Ricoh Group has major operations throughout the world and its products and services now reach customers in approximately 200 countries and regions. In the financial year ended March 2022, Ricoh Group had worldwide sales of 1,758 billion yen (approx. 14.5 billion USD).
For further information, please visit www.ricoh.com
© 2023 Ricoh USA, Inc. All rights reserved. All referenced product names are the trademarks of their respective companies.
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SOURCE Ricoh USA, Inc. | 2023-05-03T14:49:44+00:00 | waff.com | https://www.waff.com/prnewswire/2023/05/03/ricoh-3d-healthcare-receives-expanded-fda-510k-clearance-3d-anatomic-modeling-soft-tissue/ |
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – A New Jersey man pleaded guilty to 21 counts in connection with a scam involving seniors on outstanding Amazon balances.
The Hampden District Attorney’s Office is warning the public of the latest scam after 35-year-old Rahul Alam of Voorhees, New Jersy pleaded guilty on September 15th to the following charges:
- Attempt to commit a crime (3 counts)
- Larceny more than $1,200.00 (single scheme & false pretense, victim over 60 years or disabled (2 counts)
- Larceny over $1,200.00 (by false pretense) (4 counts)
- Larceny more than $250 (single scheme & false pretense, victim over 60 years or disabled) (4 counts)
- Larceny more than $250 (by false pretense, victim over 60 years or disabled) (8 counts)
The DA’s office says an investigation began when victims reported fraud in a total of $69,404 to the Westfield Police. The scheme began when a victim received an email that appeared to be from Amazon about a small outstanding balance. When the victim called the number to cancel an Amazon Prime membership provided in the email, the person claiming to be with Amazon then obtained personal information, including their name, phone number, and address, then told the victim they owed more money.
The victims began meeting with Rahul Alam after relentless calls to pay off the fake debt owed to Amazon. Westfield detectives arranged to be present at the next scheduled meet-up with the victims and identified Alam.
The investigation revealed that Alam was working with people overseas in Bangladesh and would drive around the country to pick up payments from unsuspecting victims and transfer the money out of the country.
During an “unagreed” plea hearing in Superior Court, Alam was sentenced in Superior Court to two and a half years in state prison, followed by 3 years of probation with the following conditions:
- Stay away and have no contact with the victims
- Stay away from the victim’s address
- Pay $68,504 restitution to the victims ($900 was already forfeited)
- Seek and maintain employment with verification to the Office of Probation
Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni stated, “I thank both victims, who are in their 80s, for their bravery and moxie, which will prevent others from falling victim to this perpetrator. I would like to thank the Westfield Police Department for their investigation, as well as, Elder Abuse Unit Assistant District Attorney Nina Vivenzio for her skillful prosecution. We will continue to aggressively prosecute and hold accountable those who victimize vulnerable people and our senior citizens.” The District Attorney went on to say, “Scammers can be very pushy to create a sense of urgency and panic. When confronted with such situations, do not act in haste or alone. You should always verify who you are dealing with by stopping the conversation to consult a family member, friend, or to call your local police department before providing any personal information or money.” | 2022-09-20T20:52:45+00:00 | mytwintiers.com | https://www.mytwintiers.com/northeast-region/nj-man-sentenced-to-prison-for-scamming-westfield-residents-of-amazon-payments/ |
PITTSBURGH, Nov. 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- "I thought there could be an improved system to clean HVAC coils and ventilation screens to increase efficiency and the life span of HVAC units," said an inventor, from Humble, Texas, "so I invented The AC Sprayer. My convenient design would eliminate the need for anyone to clean the system."
The invention provides a systematic and automated, self-cleaning mechanism for condenser and evaporator coils as well as the ventilation screens. It works with any HVAC unit and in doing so, it helps keep the HVAC system clean on a continuous basis and increases efficiency. The invention features a functional and adaptable design that is easy to use so it is ideal for homeowners and commercial use. Additionally, it is producible in various sizes.
The original design was submitted to the Houston sales office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 21-HOF-253, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com.
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SOURCE InventHelp | 2022-11-18T19:36:17+00:00 | waff.com | https://www.waff.com/prnewswire/2022/11/18/inventhelp-inventor-develops-new-hvac-cleaning-system-hof-253/ |
BURR RIDGE, Ill., Sept. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SkinCure Oncology, the world leader in providing a comprehensive model for the delivery of Image-Guided Superficial Radiotherapy (Image-Guided SRT), the most advanced non-surgical technology for the treatment of common skin cancers, today announced the availability of the technology in Oregon. The state's first installation is at Central Oregon Dermatology in Bend.
Image-Guided SRT is the only treatment for nonmelanoma skin cancer (basal and squamous cell carcinomas) that uses ultrasound images to help clinicians direct low-level X-ray energy to targeted areas of the skin, killing cancer cells. A study published in the peer-reviewed journal Oncology and Therapy showed that Image-Guided SRT produces a 99.3 percent cure rate, making it just as effective as traditional Mohs surgery.
"We're thrilled to be the first dermatology practice in Oregon to offer this exceptional treatment option for patients with nonmelanoma skin cancer," stated Mark Hall, M.D. of Central Oregon Dermatology. "Image-Guided SRT is a real game-changer in that it allows us to offer our patients an option for curing these common cancers without surgery, without pain, without bleeding, and without scarring. This is an excellent option to treat skin cancer, and we're proud to be the first in our state to make it available," Hall concluded.
"Some 41,000 Oregonians are estimated to be diagnosed with nonmelanoma skin cancer this year alone, and we're pleased to be partnering with Central Oregon Dermatology to offer a highly effective, non-surgical treatment option for their patients," said Kerwin Brandt, CEO of SkinCure Oncology, the company which brought the technology to the state.
SkinCure Oncology is the world leader in providing a comprehensive model for the delivery of Image-Guided Superficial Radiotherapy (Image-Guided SRT), the most advanced non-surgical technology for the treatment of common skin cancers. The company partners with quality-focused dermatologists and Mohs surgeons to bring cancer center-level radiotherapy treatment to physician offices. To date, SkinCure Oncology is working with more than 240 dermatology practice locations across the country, and more than 40,000 patients have been treated with Image-Guided SRT over the last five years. Learn more about the company at skincureoncology.com, and visit gentlecure.com for helpful consumer and patient information.
Matt Russell
Russell Public Communications
520-232-9840
mrussell@russellpublic.com
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SOURCE SkinCure Oncology | 2022-09-27T19:05:33+00:00 | kfyrtv.com | https://www.kfyrtv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/27/central-oregon-dermatology-is-first-state-offer-non-surgical-technology-treating-common-skin-cancers/ |
(The Hill) — Posts spreading misinformation are most amplified on Twitter and TikTok, according to a new report that looked at the spread of false narratives online.
The Integrity Institute, an advocacy group, found that Twitter and TikTok have the highest “Misinformation Amplification Factor,” a figure the report’s authors used to track the spread of misinformation
Twitter and TikTok’s high levels of the Misinformation Amplification Factor are based on the mechanisms for “virality” on the platforms, the report found.
The report analyzed misinformation content from fact-checkers that are part of the International Fact Checking network. The amplification factor was weighed as a ratio between how much engagement a misinformation post received and what engagement would be expected based on the historical performance of content from the creator.
Twitter’s retweet feature has less friction than other platforms’ sharing options — users can retweet a post with one click, allowing it to spread to a wider audience.
On TikTok most content is public and views are generated by recommendations dependent on machine learning models that predict engagement, meaning misinformation can spread “far beyond the followers of the account that created it,” the report stated.
The report identified the highest number of misinformation posts on Facebook, based on the sample analyzed. But posts with misinformation are amplified to a lesser degree on Facebook than on Twitter and TikTok because Facebook’s sharing option has what the report called a higher level of “friction.”
Facebook requires that users pick if they want to share a post as a new post or a direct message and if they want to add commentary. Those options add a level of friction that isn’t apparent to share posts on Twitter or TikTok.
Instagram had the lowest Misinformation Amplification Factor, based on limited mechanisms for “virality,” the report found.
The Integrity Institute, however, found signs that Facebook’s Misinformation Amplification Factor may increase as the platform adds more features like TikTok and increases the role of recommended content.
The Hill reached out to TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook parent company Meta for comment. | 2022-10-14T22:06:44+00:00 | wnct.com | https://www.wnct.com/news/politics/misinformation-most-amplified-on-tiktok-twitter-report/ |
CHERRY HILL, N.J. (AP) — A horror movie convention promoter says it is assisting authorities following charges against actor Gary Busey involving alleged sexual offenses at an event in New Jersey earlier this month.
Busey, 78, was charged Friday with two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact, one count of attempted criminal sexual contact and one count of harassment following alleged actions Aug. 12-14 at the Monster Mania Convention at the Doubletree Hotel in the Philadelphia suburb of Cherry Hill, police said Saturday.
Monster-Mania Convention said in a Facebook post that after attendees complained, an unspecified “celebrity guest was removed from the convention and instructed not to return.”
“Monster-Mania also encouraged the attendees to contact the police to file a report,” the company said, adding that behavior that compromised the safety and well-being of attendees would not be tolerated. “Monster-Mania will continue to assist the authorities in any and every way possible,” it said.
“It was about contact. It was about touching,” Lt. Robert Scheunemann told The Philadelphia Inquirer of the muliple complaints police had received about Busey’s conduct.
Busey, who lives in Malibu, California, was scheduled as a featured guest for all three days of the event.
Police did not immediately respond to a message seeking details. It also wasn’t clear whether Busey has an attorney to comment on the charges, and a representative didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment Saturday.
Busey is widely known as a character actor, largely in supporting roles, though he came to attention and was nominated for an Oscar for best actor for playing the title role in the 1978 film “The Buddy Holly Story.” | 2022-08-21T17:26:45+00:00 | cbs4indy.com | https://cbs4indy.com/entertainment-news/ap-entertainment/horror-film-convention-promoter-speaks-after-busey-charges/ |
5 people hospitalized for overdoses at Maricopa County jail in Phoenix
Five people incarcerated in a Maricopa County jail were hospitalized after overdosing Saturday morning.
Public Information Officer Sgt. Joaquin Enriquez said the overdoses occurred at the Towers Jail in Phoenix.
According to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, the 720-bed facility located on Gibson Lane houses medium security general population inmates, a majority of whom are "un-sentenced, pre-trial detainees."
"This morning Towers Jail had a call of 5 inmates suspected of overdosing," Enriquez said in an email Saturday evening. "All five received doses of Narcan. All inmates were conscious, and have been promptly evaluated and released from the hospital."
According to a report obtained by The Arizona Republic, the Phoenix Fire Department assisted in the response.
Seven women incarcerated at the Estrella Jail were hospitalized after overdosing in April.
In response to an increase in fentanyl overdoses in county jails, Sheriff Paul Penzone announced a plan in March to install additional security scanners to screen employees and volunteers who go in and out of the jails for drugs and contraband.
Disturbing trend:Pinal County has a DUI problem, officials say. Here's how they hope to solve it
Have a news tip on Arizona jails? Reach the reporter at jjenkins@arizonarepublic.com or at 812-243-5582. Follow him on Twitter@JimmyJenkins.
Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today. | 2023-05-07T05:59:43+00:00 | azcentral.com | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2023/05/06/5-people-at-maricopa-county-jail-in-phoenix-hospitalized-after-overdosing/70191953007/ |
The outdoor event connected families and children with organizations that provide employment assistance, food supplies, and afterschool programs. Additional photos available upon request.
ARLINGTON, Texas, Aug. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Lincoln Avenue Capital (LAC), a mission-driven affordable housing company, hosted a Family Resource Day community event for residents at its Paddock on Park Row Apartments, which serve lower-income families in the Arlington area.
LAC regularly hosts Family Resource Days at its properties across the country for residents to connect with service organizations, participate in engaging activities, and enjoy food options from local partners.
Residents had the opportunity to meet representatives from local service providers including the Arlington Housing Authority Envision Center, Mission Arlington, Wright Care Benefits, Workforce Solutions, and Arlington Charities. These providers shared information on employment assistance, food supplies, free cell phones, banking opportunities, afterschool programs for children and other key resources.
Children received complimentary haircuts from the A&M Barber Academy and free school supplies from LAC. Residents were also provided free meals from a local food truck. Additionally, members of the Arlington Police Department and Arlington Fire Department attended the event to meet with residents.
"LAC is proud to offer social and professional services to our residents through community events such as Family Resource Day," said LAC CEO Jeremy Bronfman. "We are grateful to partner with local nonprofit organizations in Arlington to provide free and low-cost programs for families and children at Paddock on Park Row."
"Lincoln Avenue Capital is proud to invest not only in quality affordable homes, but also in the overall health of our residents at Paddock on Park Row and across our nationwide portfolio," said Nina-Lee Jewell Alhambra, LAC Vice President of Asset Services. "Our Family Resource Days connect residents to opportunities and local community organizations that can directly impact their lives."
About LAC: Lincoln Avenue Capital is one of the nation's fastest-growing developers, investors, and operators of affordable and workforce housing, providing high-quality, sustainable homes for low- and moderate-income individuals, seniors, and families nationwide. LAC is a mission-driven organization that serves residents across 22 states, with a portfolio of 109 properties comprising 20,000+ units.
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SOURCE Lincoln Avenue Capital | 2022-08-11T20:25:04+00:00 | wcjb.com | https://www.wcjb.com/prnewswire/2022/08/11/lincoln-avenue-capital-hosts-resource-day-event-affordable-housing-residents-arlington-tx/ |
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Two orthopedic surgeons, a medical officer staffer and a patient visitor were killed Wednesday on the campus of Saint Francis Health System in Tulsa.
The shooter was armed with a rifle and handgun and has been confirmed among the dead. His wound was self-inflicted, police said.
The victims were identified by Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin as Dr. Preston Phillips, Dr. Stephanie Husen, Amanda Glenn and William Love.
A total of 68 parcels will be up for grabs across 11 counties: Tulsa, Creek, Rogers, Craig, Oklahoma, Wagoner, Murray, Canadian, McClain, Grady and Lincoln.
The jury also has reached a verdict regarding a $100 million counterclaim Heard filed against Depp.
Union coach Kirk Fridrich confirmed for the Tulsa World that Shaker Reisig and his family have moved into the Union district.
Authorities said a suspect, Skylar Dewayne Buckner, turned himself in Sunday afternoon in connection with the shooting.
The Saint Francis Health System family is mourning after a disgruntled patient took the life of the surgeon he blamed for his back pain.
Four decades after he was acquitted, the latest DNA testing in the case, although officially inconclusive, strongly suggests Gene Leroy Hart's involvement, officials say, while eliminating several other potential suspects.
Union coach Kirk Fridrich: “As of (Friday morning), we found out that Shaker has enrolled in our school and wanted to join the football team."
Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. | 2022-06-03T10:16:14+00:00 | tulsaworld.com | https://tulsaworld.com/wheeler/article_dbfa043c-9418-5616-88a3-5fd477a72103.html |
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is urging parents and caregivers not to use baby neck floats after the death of at least one infant and hospitalization of another. In both cases, the babies were injured while not being directly monitored, the agency cautioned on Tuesday.
The inflatable plastic rings can be worn around a baby's neck, letting the infant float freely in water. Some are marketed for those as young as two weeks old, as well as premature babies or those with developmental delays or disabilities.
While the necks floats are touted by manufacturers as a product that gives babies mobility and as a valuable tool for special-needs infants and kids, the FDA said the effectiveness of the products has not been established.
The agency recently became aware of companies marketing neck floats for use as a water therapy tool without FDA clearance or approval, it stated.
"The safety and effectiveness of neck floats to build strength, to promote motor development or as a physical therapy tool, have not been established," the agency stated. "The risks of using neck floats include death due to drowning and suffocation, strain and injury to a baby's neck. Babies with special needs such as spina bifida or SMA Type 1 may be at increased risk for serious injury."
Baby neck floats started gaining in popularity a number of years ago, with photos of the pint-sized swim devices cropping up on social media and prompting one pediatrician to describe the products as "potential death traps" on multiple social media accounts.
First published on June 29, 2022 / 11:47 AM
© 2022 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. | 2022-06-29T18:46:04+00:00 | newson6.com | https://www.newson6.com/story/62bc757a29de7b0c922bd71f/fda-warns-against-neck-floats-for-babies-after-one-dies-another-hospitalized |
NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Hassan Hassanlou about his brother, Hamid Ghareh Hassanlou, a doctor in Iran who was sentenced to death by the Iranian government after he attended a demonstration.
Copyright 2022 NPR
NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Hassan Hassanlou about his brother, Hamid Ghareh Hassanlou, a doctor in Iran who was sentenced to death by the Iranian government after he attended a demonstration.
Copyright 2022 NPR | 2022-12-22T11:19:11+00:00 | wyomingpublicmedia.org | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-12-22/a-doctor-in-iran-is-sentenced-to-death-for-participating-in-an-antigovernment-protest |
NEW YORK , July 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Attention Teladoc Health, Inc. ("Teladoc") (NYSE: TDOC) shareholders:
The Law Offices of Vincent Wong announce that a class action lawsuit has commenced on behalf of investors who purchased between October 28, 2021 and April 27, 2022.
If you suffered a loss on your investment in Teladoc, contact us about potential recovery by using the link below. There is no cost or obligation to you.
ABOUT THE ACTION: The class action against Teladoc includes allegations that the Company made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) increased competition, among other factors, was negatively impacting Teladoc's BetterHelp and chronic care businesses; (ii) accordingly, the growth of those businesses was less sustainable than Defendants had led investors to believe; (iii) as a result, Teladoc's revenue and adjusted EBITDA projections for FY 2022 were unrealistic; (iv) as a result of all the foregoing, Teladoc would be forced to recognize a significant non-cash goodwill impairment charge; and (v) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
DEADLINE: August 5, 2022
Aggrieved Teladoc investors only have until August 5, 2022 to request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. You are not required to act as a lead plaintiff in order to share in any recovery.
Vincent Wong, Esq. is an experienced attorney who has represented investors in securities litigations involving financial fraud and violations of shareholder rights. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
CONTACT:
Vincent Wong, Esq.
39 East Broadway
Suite 304
New York, NY 10002
Tel. 212.425.1140
E-Mail: vw@wongesq.com
View original content:
SOURCE The Law Offices of Vincent Wong | 2022-07-11T10:30:44+00:00 | witn.com | https://www.witn.com/prnewswire/2022/07/11/class-action-alert-law-offices-vincent-wong-remind-teladoc-investors-lead-plaintiff-deadline-august-5-2022/ |
This weekend’s USFL games: Familiar foes clash in postseason semifinals
WASHINGTON - The USFL’s postseason kicks off this weekend and is highlighted by a regular season rematch between the Philadelphia Stars and New Jersey Generals at 3 p.m. ET Saturday on FOX.
These two familiar foes square off in a semifinal matchup at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio.
Philadelphia, led by quarterback Case Cookus, has revenge on their mind against the Generals who beat them in the regular season.
New Jersey was one of the top teams in the regular season thanks to the stellar play of league MVP KaVontae Turpin and elite coaching from USFL Coach of the Year Mike Riley.
A lot is riding on this matchup for both teams. The winner punches their ticket to next week’s championship game.
USFL 2022 postseason schedule
Philadelphia Stars (6-4) vs. New Jersey Generals (9-1) -3 p.m. ET, June 25, FOX.
New Orleans Breakers (6-4) vs. Birmingham Stallions (9-1)- 8 p.m. ET, June 25, NBC.
USFL 2022 Championship game
Teams to be determined. Game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET on July 3.
USFL regular season records
North Division-W-L
- New Jersey Generals (9-1)
- Philadelphia Stars (6-4)
- Michigan Panthers (2-8)
- Pittsburgh Maulers (1-9)
South Division-W-L
- Birmingham Stallions (9-1)
- New Orleans Breakers (6-4)
- Tampa Bay Bandits (4-6)
- Houston Gamblers (3-7)
The USFL is a new, independent American football league controlled by FOX Sports through NSFL HoldCo, LLC, a new business entity.
This story was reported from Washington, D.C. | 2022-06-24T04:32:28+00:00 | wogx.com | https://www.wogx.com/sports/this-weekends-usfl-games-familiar-foes-clash-playoffs |
MORRIS, Conn. (WTNH) — A black bear that attacked a 10-year-old boy has been euthanized, Connecticut wildlife officials confirmed Sunday.
The attack happened around 11 a.m. in the town of Morris, a spokesperson with the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said.
Details about the attack haven’t been released but according to the spokesperson, the boy was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The bear was found by DEEP’s Environmental Conservation Police and Connecticut State Police and euthanized.
This isn’t the first bear euthanized in Connecticut this year.
In June, a bear deemed a “public safety threat” was euthanized after breaking into a home in Canton.
A homeowner told wildlife officials they tried to scare the bear away but the animal tried to break through a window. It then ran away, only to return to the area a few hours later.
The bear then ransacked a home’s kitchen and was found with food items it had taken. Because it showed no signs of fear or wariness of people, officials euthanized the bear. They then found four young cubs nearby.
The bear population has been on the rise across Connecticut, officials said earlier this year. Five years ago, the population was around 600 to 800 bears. Now, it is estimated to be around 1,200.
Officials warn against feeding bears, and if you encounter one in the wild, you should make your presence known by shouting and waving your arms or walking away slowly. | 2022-10-16T22:23:34+00:00 | ourquadcities.com | https://www.ourquadcities.com/news/national-news/bear-euthanized-after-attacking-10-year-old-boy-in-connecticut/ |
SHENZHEN, China, July 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- At the Win-Win·Huawei Innovation Week, David Wang, Executive Director of the Board and Chairman of the ICT Infrastructure Managing Board of Huawei, delivered a keynote speech titled "Innovation, Lighting up the 5.5G Era". In his speech, Wang spoke about the next evolution of 5G technology, which the company has termed, 5.5G, and the industry's innovation roadmap for the next five to ten years.
David Wang, Executive Director of the Board and Chairman of the ICT Infrastructure Managing Board of Huawei, delivering a keynote speech
"Looking ahead to 2025, the sheer diversity and magnitude of network service requirements will create huge new market potential," said Wang. "We're here to discuss these opportunities with operators and industry partners, and explore the innovations we need to help pave the way for 5.5G."
Huawei proposed 5.5G for the first time at the 11th Global Mobile Broadband Forum in 2020, and F5.5G (or fixed 5.5G) at the Global Analyst Summit this April. Since then, the industry has been simmering with new ideas and best practices.
A wealth of new requirements will raise the bar for next-generation ICT infrastructure
According to Wang, new developments in digital technology need to support a truly real-time, engaging, and more immersive experience in the digital world, and gradually make a 10 Gbps network experience available everywhere on the planet.
On the industrial front, digitalization has already entered the fast lane. AI will be fully integrated into enterprise production processes, and the size of the 5.5G IoT market will grow rapidly. Collaboration between robots and people in complex scenarios will impose greater requirements on next-generation industrial field networks.
Currently, bottlenecks in computing, such as memory walls, unbalanced utilization of data center resources, and low energy efficiency, are hindering the rise of new computing demand. To address these challenges, the industry needs to innovate at the architecture and system levels to boost computing supply.
Six features of 5.5G – New value for digital life and development
The first is a 10 Gbps user experience. 5.5G will deliver a 10 Gbps experience through MIMO technology that boasts larger bandwidth, higher spectrum efficiency, and higher-order modulation. With next-generation technologies like FTTR, Wi-Fi 7, 50G PON, and 800G, F5.5G will bring a 10 Gbps experience everywhere.
At the event, Wang proposed Net5.5G for the first time, defining the evolution of IP networks to meet the rising demand for computing power by intelligent applications. "As digitalization takes hold, intelligent applications will see large-scale commercialization and computing resources will be located across multiple clouds," said Wang. "Enterprises need to make use of computing power from multiple clouds at lower costs, with greater agility and flexibility. To this end, we need to keep innovating based on IPv6 to help the industry thrive. This is why we proposed Net5.5G."
Second, the business scope will go beyond connectivity. 5.5G will go beyond connectivity to include sensing, which will result in a wealth of new scenarios and applications. Wireless sensing and fiber sensing technologies will be used in vehicle-road collaboration and environment monitoring. Passive IoT will integrate cellular and passive tag technologies to create 100 billion potential connections. 5.5G core networks will redefine architectures and foundational technologies to enable new service scenarios, such as industry private networks, industrial field networks, and new calling.
Third, diversified computing will enable diversified applications. In the 5.5G era, computing architectures will be redefined to increase computing efficiency by 10-fold through chip engineering and full peer-to-peer interconnection architectures.
Fourth, data-centric storage will break through existing limits in storage architecture. Future storage will improve storage performance by 10-fold through data-centric hardware and software architecture and diversified data application acceleration engines.
Fifth, full-stack AI native will make L4 highly autonomous driving networks (ADNs) a reality. ADNs have become a common goal of the industry. Full-stack AI native, from network elements to networks and services, will accelerate breakthroughs in ADN technology. The results of new innovation, such as compression algorithms for hundreds of network indicators and unknown fault identification by AI foundation models, will be widely applied in the 5.5G era.
Lastly, developments in green technology and system-level innovation will increase energy efficiency. The ITU-T has adopted Network Carbon data/energy intensity (NCIe) as the unified energy efficiency metric to guide the industry's green development roadmap. Huawei has developed innovative solutions for green sites, green networks, and green operations to increase network capacity and cut energy consumption per bit. These solutions will empower operators in the 5.5G era.
"As we move towards the 5.5G era, all industry players need to work together to bring standards to maturity and cultivate a thriving industry," said Wang. He proposed three recommendations to conclude his speech.
- The industry needs to work closely together to define the vision and roadmap for 5.5G.
- The industry should define technology standards within the standards frameworks set by 3GPP, ETSI, and ITU.
- All industry players should work together to promote a thriving industry ecosystem by incubating more use cases and accelerating digital, intelligent transformation.
The Win-Win·Huawei Innovation Week is held from July 18 to July 21 in Shenzhen, China. Together with global operators, industry professionals, and opinion leaders, we dive into topics such as 5.5G, green development, and digital transformation to envision shared success in the digital economy. For more information, please visit: https://carrier.huawei.com/en/events/winwin-innovation-week.
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SOURCE Huawei | 2022-07-18T16:22:26+00:00 | kswo.com | https://www.kswo.com/prnewswire/2022/07/18/huaweis-david-wang-innovation-lighting-up-55g-era/ |
As part of an occasional series of conversations with new gun owners, NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Michelle McGhee, a teacher, and Dirk Waldrop, a firearms trainer, both from Arkansas.
Copyright 2022 NPR
As part of an occasional series of conversations with new gun owners, NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Michelle McGhee, a teacher, and Dirk Waldrop, a firearms trainer, both from Arkansas.
Copyright 2022 NPR | 2022-10-29T12:35:55+00:00 | nprillinois.org | https://www.nprillinois.org/2022-10-29/why-do-people-want-to-own-guns-we-asked-a-teacher-and-a-firearms-trainer |
By MICHAEL R. SISAK (Associated Press)
NEW YORK (AP) — A man charged with manslaughter for putting an agitated New York City subway rider in a fatal chokehold has been indicted by a grand jury, an expected procedural step that will allow the criminal case to continue.
Daniel Penny was charged by Manhattan prosecutors last month in the May 1 death of Jordan Neely, a former Michael Jackson impersonator who struggled in recent years with homelessness and mental illness.
Grand jury proceedings are secret and spokespeople for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg declined to comment Wednesday, but the indictment was confirmed by New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
“I appreciate DA Bragg conducting a thorough investigation into the death of Jordan Neely. Like I said when the DA first brought charges, I have the utmost faith in the judicial process, and now that the Grand Jury has indicted Daniel Penny, a trial and justice can move forward,” Adams said in a statement.
Neely was shouting at passengers and begging for money when Penny pinned him to the floor of the moving subway car with the help of two other riders. Penny, a former U.S. Marine, then held Neely in a chokehold that lasted more than three minutes.
Penny has said he was protecting himself and other passengers, claiming Neely shouted “I’m gonna’ kill you” and that he was “ready to die” or go to jail for life.
A freelance journalist who recorded Neely struggling to free himself, then lapsing into unconsciousness, said he was acting aggressively and frightening people but hadn’t assaulted anyone. Neely was Black. Penny is white.
Penny’s lawyers, Steven Raiser and Thomas Kenniff, said in a statement that Neely had not intended to kill Neely, just hold him until police arrived.
“While we respect the decision of the grand jury to move this case forward to trial, it should be noted that the standard of proof in a grand jury is very low and there has been no finding of wrongdoing. We’re confident that when a trial jury is tasked with weighing the evidence, they will find Daniel Penny’s actions on that train were fully justified,” Raiser said.
Neely’s death prompted protests by many who saw it as an example of racial injustice, but some people have rallied around Penny, including several of the Republican candidates for president. A fund set up to pay for Penny’s legal defense has raised more than $2.8 million, according to his lawyers.
Penny, 24, was released on $100,000 bond following his May 12 arraignment. He will need to return to court to be arraigned on the new indictment.
Under New York law, prosecutors needed a grand jury indictment to move forward with the case.
If convicted, Penny could face years in prison. | 2023-06-15T21:27:29+00:00 | sun-sentinel.com | https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2023/06/14/grand-jury-indicts-daniel-penny-in-chokehold-death-of-new-york-city-subway-rider-jordan-neely/ |
Arizona election 2022: GOP on track to keep control of Arizona House
Election workers were still digging into a mountain of ballots Thursday — more than 600,000 statewide, according to a tracker posted by the Arizona secretary of state.
The highest-profile offices on the ballot, from U.S. senator to governor to other key statewide positions, remained too close to call. Results from around the state will continue to be posted throughout the day.
Maricopa County, the most populous county in the state, is expected to release a major update of results Thursday evening.
Here's a recap of Wednesday's election events.
Follow coverage of Arizona's midterm election by Republic reporters here.
Arizona's biggest races still up for grabs | Red vs. blue, rural vs. urban voting
Here's a recap of Tuesday's election events. | Wednesday's election events.
8:50 a.m.: GOP likely to keep control of Arizona House
Republicans were on track to keep control of the Arizona House of Representatives with vote counting that continued Wednesday.
At stake is not just the continuance of decades of Republican dominance, but the potential rise of a more conservative Legislature augmented by Trump-supporting candidates.
Democrats ran six candidates in the five legislative districts designed as competitive by last year's redistricting process.
Results from Wednesday evening showed all six leading at least one of the Republican competitors in each of the races. If that and other results hold, including a potential upset by a GOP candidate, Republicans would keep the same one-seat advantage in the chamber.
More:Republicans still on track to keep control of Arizona House as Democrats' hopes for a tie fades
— Ray Stern
8 a.m.: Cochise County defies judge's order on hand count
Cochise County officials proceeded with a hand count of every ballot cast in Tuesday's election, despite a court ruling that bars them from doing so.
Meanwhile, the Board of Supervisors on Wednesday authorized its attorney to appeal that ruling to the Arizona Supreme Court, complicating the timeline for when — or if — the controversial count would actually happen.
Recorder David Stevens acknowledged the order that blocks the county from hand counting all ballots. But, Stevens said, he was moving ahead on the advice of his attorney, Bryan Blehm.
“I have to drive on as if it’s going to happen," Stevens said, noting the law requires a hand count to begin within 24 hours of when the polls close on Election Day.
Four races will be included in the hand count.
If he didn't start the process Wednesday, Stevens said, critics could argue the county had missed the window to begin the unorthodox full count.
"I'm between a rock and a hard place," he said.
An attorney for the Arizona Alliance of Retired Americans, whose lawsuit blocked the hand count, was unaware of the plan to proceed and declined comment on what action, if any, plaintiffs would take.
— Mary Jo Pitzl | 2022-11-10T16:02:09+00:00 | azcentral.com | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/11/10/election-2022-arizona-live-updates-across-state/8267106001/ |
Michael Lerner, the Brooklyn-born character actor who played a myriad of imposing figures in his 60 years in the business, including monologuing movie mogul Jack Lipnick in “Barton Fink,” the crooked club owner Bugsy Calhoun in “Harlem Nights” and an angry publishing executive in “Elf” has died. He was 81.
His nephew, actor Sam Lerner, announced his death in an Instagram post Sunday. Sam Lerner wrote that his uncle died Saturday but did not provide further details. Neither his nor Michael Lerner’s representatives immediately responded to requests for further comment.
“He was the coolest, most confident, talented guy,” Sam Lerner wrote. “Everyone that knows him knows how insane he was — in the best way…we’re all lucky we can continue to watch his work for the rest of time. RIP Michael, enjoy your unlimited Cuban cigars, comfy chairs, and endless movie marathon.”
Born in 1941 to Romanian-Jewish parents and raised in Brooklyn’s Red Hook neighborhood, Michael Lerner began acting locally as a teen and into his days at Brooklyn College, where he got the chance to play Willie Loman in “Death of a Salesman.” His ambitions to pursue acting professionally crystalized when he received a Fulbright Scholarship and chose to study theater at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, where he lived in an apartment with Yoko Ono for a time, appearing in her short film “Smile.” His brother, Ken Lerner, also became an actor.
Lerner moved to Los Angeles in 1969, at the urging of an agent who saw his work at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. He started getting cast in television shows, including “M(asterisk)A(asterisk)S(asterisk)H,” “The Brady Bunch” and “The Rockford Files,” making his film debut in Paul Mazursky’s “Alex in Wonderland,” alongside Charlotte Rampling. But he considered his first significant role to be in the television movie “Ruby and Oswald” (he played Jack Ruby) with Brian Dennehy.
In 1981, he was cast in Bob Rafelson’s remake of “The Postman Always Rings Twice,” alongside Jack Nicholson, who he called one of the most generous actors he’d ever worked with, and Jessica Lange. A longtime cigar aficionado, Lerner felt out of his depths when he was asked to smoke a cigarette in a scene with Nicholson in a jail. Lerner said he held the cigarette with both hands.
He felt more comfortable playing cigar-smoking journalist and politician Pierre Salinger in “Missiles of October,” for which Jackie Kennedy once told him that he’d “out Pierre’d Pierre.”
Lerner also loved working with John Sayles on “Eight Men Out,” in which he played Arnold Rothstein, the crime boss who conspired to fix the 1919 World Series.
“Most of the time I don’t rehearse, but I do a lot of preparation. Especially for a biographical character or one of the studio heads,” he said in 2016. “I did a lot of research for Barton Fink and looked into Louis B. Mayer and all the moguls in Hollywood.”
Joel and Ethan Coen’s “Barton Fink,” released in 1991, is the film Lerner is most remembered for.
“I had auditioned for Joel and Ethan before, for Miller’s Crossing. So I walked into the room, as the character, and I don’t say hello to anybody. And I sit down behind my desk and do this big speech: ‘Bart! Bart! So great to see you,’” Lerner said in 2016. “I did the monologue the way I wanted to do it and I just walked out of the room and that was it. And Joel and Ethan were just sitting in a corner just laughing and laughing and that was it.”
Lerner, who drew inspiration from Preston Sturges movies, said the Coens didn’t give him much acting direction and “were a little nervous that I was talking so fast” but that they let him do what he wanted.
The role got him his first and only Oscar nomination, but in 1992, the Academy Award for supporting actor went to Jack Palance for “City Slickers.”
The Coens called him years later to do a cameo in “A Serious Man.”
Lerner also said he was frequently recognized for his turns in Eddie Murphy’s “Harlem Nights” and “Elf,” as Fulton Greenway. He also played Cher’s father in the television spinoff of “Clueless.”
In the late 90s, he was excited to get a chance to work with Woody Allen on the film “Celebrity,” but it turned into a terrible experience, he said in a 2016 interview.
“He is a schmuck,” Lerner said. “And the movie’s a piece of s—-.”
Lerner also appeared in several bigger blockbusters over the years, including “Godzilla” as Mayor Ebert, “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” as Senator Brickman, and “Mirror Mirror” as Baron.
“Those are good parts but not great acting roles,” Lerner said.
And he never felt cheated by being known as a “character actor” rather than a leading man. In 1999, in an interview with Cigar Aficionado, he said, simply, “Every role is a character role.” | 2023-04-11T05:36:49+00:00 | wate.com | https://www.wate.com/entertainment/ap-entertainment/michael-lerner-barton-fink-oscar-nominee-dies-at-81/ |
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JERUSALEM (AP) — A Polish Nobel Prize-winning author on Sunday called Russia a threat to the “free world,” saying its attack on neighboring Ukraine had echoes of the Second World War.
Olga Tokarczuk, known for her humanist themes and playful, subversive streak, spoke at a writers festival in Jerusalem.
“The Poles share the Ukrainian feeling of danger that Russia presents to the free world,” Tokarczuk said, adding that the Polish government had warned about the risk presented by Russian aggression for years.
Poland, Ukraine's western neighbor, has taken in over three million Ukrainian refugees since Russia launched its invasion in late February. Warsaw has called for tough international sanctions against Russia.
“Nobody could imagine that this war would be so cruel so anachronistic and this war brings to mind the horrible images of World War Two," she said.
Tokarczuk was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2018 for her 18th-century epic “The Books of Jacob," about a Jewish mystic and sect leader named Jacob Frank. | 2022-05-16T05:31:07+00:00 | sfgate.com | https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Polish-Nobel-author-says-Russia-threat-to-free-17174300.php |
KYIV – Russian forces on Sunday fired rockets on the Mykolaiv region in southern Ukraine, killing at least one person, and a Russian diplomat called on Ukraine to offer security assurances so that international inspectors could visit a nuclear power station that has come under fire.
The Mykolaiv region is just to the north of the Russian-occupied city of Kherson, which Ukrainian forces have vowed to retake. The Ukrainian emergency service said one person was killed in shelling early Sunday of the Mykolaiv region settlement of Bereznehuvate.
As fighting steps up in southern Ukraine as Russia's war closes in on six months, concern has grown sharply about the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is held by Russian forces and has been hit by sporadic shelling. Both Ukraine and Russia blame each other for the shelling, which officials say has damaged monitoring equipment and could lead to a nuclear catastrophe.
The Zaporizhzhia facility is Europe's largest nuclear power plant.
Russia's envoy to international organizations based in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, called on Ukraine to stop attacking the plant in order to allow an inspection mission from the International Atomic Energy Agency.
“It is important that the Ukrainians stop their shelling of the station and provide security guarantees to members of the mission. An international team cannot be sent to work under continuous artillery shelling,” he was quoted as saying Sunday by Russian state news agency Tass.
___
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine | 2022-08-14T11:58:37+00:00 | local10.com | https://www.local10.com/business/2022/08/14/shelling-kills-1-in-ukraine-russia-wants-nuke-plant-pledges/ |
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A truck rammed into several other vehicles and market traders in western Kenya killing at least 51 people, police said.
The Friday evening accident occurred at a location known for vehicle crashes near the Rift Valley town of Londiani, which is about 200 kilometers (125 miles) northwest of the capital, Nairobi.
Officers at the scene counted 51 bodies, but more people were believed to be trapped in the wreckage, Rift Valley police commander Tom Odera told The Associated Press.
The Kenya Red Cross Society said on Saturday 32 people were injured and hospitalized, and asked Kenyans to donate blood. It also said heavy rainfall interrupted rescue efforts and people were still trapped in wrecked vehicles.
Transport Minister Kipchumba Murkomen visited the scene on Saturday morning and said the government would relocate markets away from the highways to prevent such future accidents.
President William Ruto tweeted a condolence message to bereaved families describing the accident as “distressing” and urging motorists to be “extra cautious.”
Witnesses quoted by local media said the truck veered off the major highway and hit several vehicles before hitting pedestrians and traders. Witnesses shared photos of the vehicle wreckages mangled beyond recognition.
Police had said on Friday rescue operations would continue into the night.
The Kenyan Red Cross Society said they have set up stations at hospitals where people can report loved ones still missing and are providing psychological support to those affected. | 2023-07-01T17:57:37+00:00 | nwahomepage.com | https://www.nwahomepage.com/news/national/ap-at-least-51-people-killed-in-road-accident-in-western-kenya-32-injured-police-and-red-cross-say/ |
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia has become the last of the “Five Eyes” security partners to ban the Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok from its federal government’s devices.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said in a statement Tuesday that based on intelligence and security agencies’ advice, that ban would come into effect “as soon as practicable.”
The so-called Five Eyes intelligence-sharing partners — the United States, Canada, Britain and New Zealand — have taken similar steps.
TikTok objected to the decision.
“We are extremely disappointed by this decision, which, in our view, is driven by politics, not by fact,” the company’s general manager for Australia, Lee Hunter, said in a statement. “Again, we stress that there is no evidence to suggest that TikTok is in any way a security risk to Australians and should not be treated differently to other social media platforms.”
He urged the Australian government to treat all businesses fairly, “regardless of country of origin.”
Western governments are worried that TikTok poses risks to cybersecurity and data privacy, and that the app could be used to promote pro-Beijing narratives and misinformation.
TikTok is owned by the Chinese technology company Bytedance and has long maintained that it does not share data with the Chinese government. It is carrying out a project to store U.S. user data on Oracle servers, which it says will put the information out of China’s reach.
The company has disputed accusations it collects more user data than other social media companies, and insists that it is run independently by its own management.
The European Parliament, European Commission and the EU Council, the 27-member bloc’s three main institutions, have also imposed bans on TikTok on staff devices. Under the European Parliament’s ban, which took effect last month, lawmakers and staff were also advised to remove the TikTok app from their personal devices.
India imposed a nationwide ban on TikTok and dozens of other Chinese apps, including the messaging app WeChat, in 2020 over privacy and security concerns. The ban came shortly after a clash between Indian and Chinese troops at a disputed Himalayan border killed 20 Indian soldiers and injured dozens.
In early March, the U.S. gave government agencies 30 days to delete TikTok from federal devices and systems. The ban applies only to government devices, though some U.S. lawmakers are advocating an outright ban.
China has lashed out at the U.S. for banning TikTok, saying it is an abuse of state power and is suppressing companies from other countries.
More than half of the 50 U.S. states also have banned the app from official devices, as have Congress and the U.S. armed forces. | 2023-04-04T13:46:41+00:00 | wate.com | https://www.wate.com/news/national/ap-international/australia-bans-tiktok-from-federal-government-devices/ |
Defense wins championships and there are some standout defensive players returning this fall all around the state.
Check out the list below to see some of the top defenders who return in the Colonial Conference.
Defense wins championships and there are some standout defensive players returning this fall all around the state.
Check out the list below to see some of the top defenders who return in the Colonial Conference.
Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission. | 2022-08-30T11:41:56+00:00 | nj.com | https://www.nj.com/highschoolsports/2022/08/colonial-conference-girls-soccer-defenders-to-watch-in-2022.html |
WASHINGTON, June 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ahead of the first asteroid sample collected by the U.S. arriving on Earth in September, media are invited on Monday, July 24, to meet mission scientists and see NASA's newly-built OSIRIS-REx Sample Curation Laboratory where the agency will study the sample at its Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The asteroid Bennu, the target of the OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security – Regolith Explorer) mission, is a carbonaceous asteroid whose regolith may record the earliest history of our solar system. The Bennu sample may contain the molecular precursors to the origin of life and Earth's oceans, and its study also will help scientists understand planet formation.
The media day will include opportunities to speak with subject matter experts and capture still and moving imagery at the curation lab. Full interviews with subject matter experts will be available after the lab tour concludes.
U.S. and international media interested in participating must request accreditation no later than 5 p.m. CDT Friday, July 7, by contacting the NASA Johnson newsroom at: 281-483-5111 or jsccommu@nasa.gov. Media accreditation is limited due to space.
Johnson houses the world's largest collection of astromaterials from the solar system under one roof, including samples from asteroids, comets, Mars, the Moon, Sun, and dust from other stars. Scientists use world-class laboratories to perform research on planetary materials and the space environment to investigate the origin and evolution of our solar system and beyond.
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SOURCE NASA | 2023-06-30T21:09:37+00:00 | mysuncoast.com | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/06/30/nasa-hosts-osiris-rex-sample-lab-media-day-houston/ |
CPP Investments makes $585 million commitment to the fund, marking its third investment with HGI in four years
NORFOLK, Va., Jan. 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Harbor Group International, LLC ("HGI"), a privately owned international real estate investment and management firm, today announced that its Multifamily Credit Fund ("the fund") has secured a total of approximately $1.6 billion in capital commitments, including a $585 million USD commitment from CPPIB Credit Investments III Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board ("CPP Investments"). The commitment marks CPP Investments' third investment with HGI since 2019.
The fund seeks to achieve attractive risk-adjusted returns by investing in U.S. multifamily credit opportunities including senior mortgage loans, Freddie Mac K-series bonds, preferred equity and mezzanine debt investments, and investments in securitized multifamily mortgage products.
"We are thrilled to continue our relationship with CPP Investments through this partnership as our lead investor for the Multifamily Credit Fund," said Richard Litton, President, HGI. "The fund is uniquely positioned to build on HGI's track record both as an investor in multifamily credit strategies and as a multifamily operator with a large national portfolio. We also expect to benefit from the current rate environment as we seek to achieve positive returns for our investors."
The commitment strengthens HGI's and CPP Investments' tenured relationship. In 2020, CPP Investments served as the lead investor in HGI's multifamily whole loan platform, committing $110 million, and in 2019, CPP Investments committed $180 million to HGI's Freddie Mac Supplemental Loan program.
"We continue to view multifamily credit investments as resilient assets that are well positioned to drive strong returns for the CPP Fund over the long term," said Geoffrey Souter, Managing Director, Head of Real Assets Credit at CPP Investments. "HGI is a market leader in this space and we are pleased to extend our relationship with them through this new investment."
As a national commercial real estate investor, owner and operator, more than 80% of HGI's portfolio is composed of multifamily-related investments.
About Harbor Group International
Harbor Group International, LLC, and its affiliates control an investment portfolio of approximately $20 billion, including 59,000 apartment units in the United States and 5.0 million square feet of commercial space throughout the United States and the United Kingdom. In addition to its corporate headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, HGI maintains offices in New York, Baltimore, Los Angeles, and Tel Aviv.
Media Contact:
Kailyn Myshrall
kmyshrall@prosek.com
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Harbor Group International, LLC | 2023-01-25T15:15:48+00:00 | kcrg.com | https://www.kcrg.com/prnewswire/2023/01/25/harbor-group-international-secures-16-billion-capital-commitments-multifamily-credit-fund/ |
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RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Kevin Harvick took the lead from Joey Logano with 66 laps to go and held off Christopher Bell at Richmond Raceway on Sunday for his second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series victory.
Harvick, who ended a 65-race drought last week at Michigan, won for the 60th time, the fourth time at Richmond and first time on the 0.75-mile oval since 2013. He matched Kyle Busch for ninth in career victories in the premier series.
Harvick's victory also kept alive the intriguing battle for the final playoff position with two races remaining in the regular season. The 15 winners this year have all likely claimed playoff berths unless there are new winners when the series moves to Watkins Glen and then Daytona.
Bell finished second, followed by Chris Buescher, Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott. Joey Logano, who led for 221 of the 400 laps, faded to sixth, followed by Martin Truex Jr. Ryan Blaney was 10th. Blaney and Truex are the top two drivers in points hoping to make the 16-driver playoffs without a victory.
Thanks to stage points, Blaney increased his lead from 19 points to 26 over Truex for the final playoff spot, assuming there is not a 16th different winner.
The race featured just five cautions for 28 laps, and that includes the two that come at the end of each stage. The last one came when Bell spun on the 252nd lap, and Harvick pulled away after a pair of green-flag pit cycles.
ODDS AND ENDS
Ty Gibbs again replaced Kurt Busch, who missed his fourth consecutive race while recovering from a concussion. After getting his first top-10 finish a week ago, Gibbs finished just 180 laps before his engine blew. ... Bubba Wallace, like Gibbs driving for 23XI Racing owned by Michael Jordan and Hamlin, had his string of top 10 finishes stop at four. He wound up 13th. ... Kyle Busch's string of eight consecutive finishes outside the top 10 ended with a ninth-place run.
UP NEXT
The series moves to the road course at Watkins Glen, New York.
___
More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | 2022-08-14T23:22:00+00:00 | ourmidland.com | https://www.ourmidland.com/sports/article/Harvick-wins-again-NASCAR-playoff-picture-17373154.php |
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Biden administration cleared the way Friday for California's plan to phase out a wide range of diesel-powered trucks, part of the state's efforts to drastically cut planet-warming emissions and improve air quality in heavy-traffic areas like ports along the coast.
The decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency allows California — which has some of the nation's worst air pollution — to require truck manufacturers to sell an increasing number of zero-emission trucks over the next couple of decades. The rule applies to a wide range of trucks including box trucks, semitrailers and even large passenger pick-ups.
"Under the Clean Air Act, California has longstanding authority to address pollution from cars and trucks. Today's announcement allows the state to take additional steps in reducing their transportation emissions through these new regulatory actions," said EPA Administrator Michael Regan, in a statement.
Gov. Gavin Newsom applauded the state's role as a leader for setting ambitious vehicle emission standards.
"We're leading the charge to get dirty trucks and buses – the most polluting vehicles – off our streets, and other states and countries are lining up to follow our lead," the Democrat said in a statement.
The EPA typically sets standards for tailpipe emissions from passenger cars, trucks and other vehicles, but California has historically been granted waivers to impose its own, stricter standards. Other states can then follow suit, and eight other states plan to adopt California's truck standards, Newsom's office said. In a letter last year, attorneys general from 15 states, Washington, D.C., and New York City urged the EPA to approve the California truck standards.
The transportation sector accounts for nearly 40% of California's greenhouse gas emissions. Newsom has already moved to ban the sale of new cars that run entirely on gasoline by 2035. The EPA has not acted on those rules.
The new truck standards are aimed at companies that make trucks and those that own large quantities of them. Companies owning 50 or more trucks will have to report information to the state about how they use these trucks to ship goods and provide shuttle services. Manufacturers will have to sell a higher percentage of zero-emission vehicles starting in 2024. Depending on the class of truck, zero-emission ones will have to make up 40% to 75% of sales by 2035.
California has a long legacy of adopting stricter tailpipe emission standards, even before the federal Clean Air Act was signed into law, said Paul Cort, a lawyer with environmental nonprofit Earthjustice.
"We have a vehicle problem," Cort said. "We're addicted to our cars and trucks, and that's a big cause of the air pollution that we're fighting."
But Wayne Winegarden, a senior fellow at the Pacific Research Institute, said it's too soon to adopt the California standards.
"The charging infrastructure is certainly not there," he said about powering stations for electric vehicles. "And on top of the charging infrastructure, we have the grid issues."
While California was hit this winter by atmospheric rivers that soaked much of the state, it has for years suffered from drought conditions, and in September, a brutal heat wave that put its electricity grid to the test.
The announcement came as advocates are pushing for more ambitious tailpipe emissions standards in other states and at the national level.
"We don't just fight for California, we fight for all of the communities," said Jan Victor Andasan, an activist with East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice. The group advocates for better air quality in and around Los Angeles, the nation's second-most populous city that is known for its dense traffic and intense smog.
Andasan and other environmental activists from across the country who are a part of the Moving Forward Network, a 50-member group based at Occidental College in Los Angeles, met with EPA officials recently to discuss national regulations to limit emissions from trucks and other vehicles.
But some in the trucking industry are concerned about how costly and burdensome the transition will be for truck drivers and companies.
"The state and federal regulators collaborating on this unrealistic patchwork of regulations have no grasp on the real costs of designing, building, manufacturing and operating the trucks that deliver their groceries, clothes and goods," said Chris Spear, president of the American Trucking Association, in a statement.
"They will certainly feel the pain when these fanciful projections lead to catastrophic disruptions well beyond California's borders," he added.
Federal pollution standards for heavy trucks are also getting tougher. The EPA released rules that will cut nitrogen oxide pollution, which contributes to the formation of smog, by more than 80% in 2027. The agency will propose greenhouse gas emissions limits this year.
The agency expects the new standards and government investment will lead to zero-emissions electric and hydrogen fuel cell trucks carrying most of the nation's freight.
California activists Andasan and Brenda Huerta Soto, an organizer with the People's Collective for Environmental Justice, are troubled by the impact of pollution from trucks and other vehicles on communities with a large population of residents of color that live near busy ports in Los Angeles, Oakland and other cities as well as warehouse-dense inland areas.
Huerta Soto works in Southern California's Inland Empire, where a high concentration of trucks pass through to transport goods. On top of truck pollution, the many cars, trucks and trains that travel through the area burden residents with noises, odors and pollutants these vehicles emit, she said.
"We have the technology, and we have the money" to move toward zero-emission vehicles, she said.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | 2023-04-01T01:35:55+00:00 | mtpr.org | https://www.mtpr.org/2023-03-31/the-epa-approves-californias-plan-to-phase-out-diesel-trucks |
For the first time in more than three years, the U.S. is changing its immigration policy for asylum seekers, or people who are seeking protection from persecution in their country.
Title 42, which allowed federal authorities to expel migrants without the opportunity to apply for asylum, expires on May 11. It was implemented to limit the spread of COVID-19 during the pandemic.
Once Title 42 ends, the U.S. will resume processing asylum claims at ports of entry.
This has prompted some people online to claim that the U.S. will have a “wide open border” when Title 42 ends. Other people, including a VERIFY reader, are wondering if that’s true.
THE QUESTION
Will the U.S. have an “open border” when Title 42 ends?
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
No, the U.S. will not have an “open border” when Title 42 ends. The government will transition back to immigration procedures outlined in a body of federal law known as Title 8.
WHAT WE FOUND
Title 42 ends on Thursday, May 11 and immigration procedures outlined in Title 8 of U.S. Code will resume the following day. But that doesn’t mean the U.S. border is “open” for anyone to enter the country without permission.
Though the end of Title 42 does not mean the border is “wide open,” as some people have claimed, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is expecting an increase in migration. The agency announced on May 2 that additional personnel would be sent to the border to offer assistance for 90 days after Title 42 expires.
Since the 1940s, U.S. immigration law has been governed by Title 8 of the U.S. Code. But some provisions of Title 8 were suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic under a different law called Title 42.
Title 42 is a section under the Public Health Service Act, which President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law in July 1944. That section allows federal health authorities to prohibit people who pose a danger associated with disease from entering the United States.
In March 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director under former President Donald Trump invoked Title 42 in order to slow the spread of COVID-19. Title 42 is set to expire on the same day that the Biden administration is ending twin national emergencies for addressing COVID-19.
Both DHS and the State Department explain that when Tile 42 ends, authorities will return to using immigration processes under Title 8.
Here’s a breakdown of what changes.
Under Title 42, many asylum seekers were returned back to Mexico or their home country without having their case heard, the National Immigration Forum explains. Now, with its expiration, the federal government will resume regularly processing legal claims for asylum at ports of entry beginning Friday, May 12.
Asylum status is a form of protection available to people who meet the definition of a refugee, and are already in the United States or are seeking admission at a point of entry. A person seeking asylum protection must apply for it within one year of their arrival to the U.S.
The federal government will also reimpose stricter penalties for illegally crossing the border under Title 8. Those penalties can include deportation, at least a five-year ban on reentry and criminal prosecution, DHS and the State Department say.
These penalties were not enforced under Title 42, according to the National Immigration Forum.
“Because they are not based in existing immigration or border laws, Title 42 expulsions carry zero penalties for repeat entries and they do not distinguish between those with meritorious claims to protection and those attempting to enter the U.S. undetected,” the Forum says.
DHS also says it will work to quickly remove people who arrive at the border to claim asylum, but who cannot prove they have a credible fear of persecution or harm in their home country. | 2023-05-10T09:25:03+00:00 | wfmynews2.com | https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/verify/immigration/title-42-end-does-not-open-us-border-what-it-means/536-b42a0230-b695-4fe5-8856-3525477dcb06 |
More than $2,100 stolen from Taco Bell in Westmoreland County
Incident happened early this week
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More than $2,100 stolen from Taco Bell in Westmoreland County
Incident happened early this week
State police are investigating the theft of more than $2,100 from a Taco Bell in Westmoreland County.Investigators said the theft happened at the Mountain Laurel Plaza location in Unity Township sometime between 11 p.m. Monday and 5 a.m. Tuesday.Police said they have a known suspect in the case but haven’t publicly released that person’s name.The investigation is ongoing.
UNITY TOWNSHIP, Pa. —
State police are investigating the theft of more than $2,100 from a Taco Bell in Westmoreland County.
Investigators said the theft happened at the Mountain Laurel Plaza location in Unity Township sometime between 11 p.m. Monday and 5 a.m. Tuesday.
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Police said they have a known suspect in the case but haven’t publicly released that person’s name.
The investigation is ongoing. | 2022-10-07T10:25:42+00:00 | wtae.com | https://www.wtae.com/article/more-than-dollar2100-stolen-from-taco-bell-in-westmoreland-county/41553191 |
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Bird flu has returned to the Midwest earlier than authorities expected after a lull of several months, with the highly pathogenic disease being detected in two commercial turkey flocks in western Minnesota and a hobby flock in Indiana, officials said Wednesday.
The disease was detected after a farm in Meeker County reported an increase in mortality last weekend, the Minnesota Board of Animal Health said. The flock was euthanized to stop the spread. The board later reported that a second flock in the county tested positive Tuesday evening.
They were the first detections of avian influenza in Minnesota since May 31, when a backyard flock was struck in Becker County. Indiana’s case was its first since a backyard flock there tested positive June 8, which had been the last detection in the Midwest before this week.
However, there have been several detections in western states in July and August, including California, where a half-dozen commercial farms have had to kill more than 425,000 chickens and turkeys since last week. There have also been cases in Washington, Oregon and Utah, plus a few in some eastern states.
“While the timing of this detection is a bit sooner than we anticipated, we have been preparing for a resurgence of the avian influenza we dealt with this spring,” said Dr. Shauna Voss, the board’s senior veterinarian. “HPAI is here and biosecurity is the first line of defense to protect your birds.”
The Indiana State Board of Animal Health reported that a small hobby flock of chickens, ducks and geese in northern Indiana’s Elkhart County tested presumptively positive on Tuesday, though final confirmation from a federal lab was pending.
Across the country, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 414 flocks in 39 states have been affected since February, costing producers over 40 million birds, mostly commercial turkeys and chickens. The disease has struck 81 Minnesota flocks this year, requiring the killing of nearly 2.7 million birds.
Minnesota produces more turkeys annually than any other state.
This year’s outbreak contributed to a spike in egg and meat prices, and killed an alarming number of bald eagles and other wild birds. It also affected some zoos. It appeared to be waning in June, but officials warned then that another surge could take hold this fall.
The disease is typically carried by migrating birds. It only occasionally affects humans, such as farm workers, and the USDA keeps poultry from infected flocks out of the food supply. A widespread outbreak in 2015 killed 50 million birds across 15 states and cost the federal government nearly $1 billion. | 2022-09-01T11:41:13+00:00 | upmatters.com | https://www.upmatters.com/news/deadly-bird-flu-returns-to-the-midwest-earlier-than-expected/ |
Priest killed in Mexico; 9th under the current administration
MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Roman Catholic priest has been killed in the western Mexican state of Michoacan, the ninth killed during the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The church’s Catholic Multimedia Center said Rev. Javier García Villafaña, who had been assigned to the Capacho parish in Huandacareo just one month earlier, was killed Monday. The killing came one day after the Mexican Episcopal Conference expressed its solidarity and condemnation of an attack against Monsignor Faustino Armendáriz Jiménez, archbishop of the northern state of Durango. On Sunday, an elderly man tried to stab Armendáriz in Durango’s cathedral. The archbishop escaped uninjured. | 2023-05-23T20:31:40+00:00 | krdo.com | https://krdo.com/news/ap-national-news/2023/05/23/priest-killed-in-mexico-9th-under-the-current-administration/ |
NEW YORK — Guitarist Jeff Cook, who co-founded the successful country group Alabama and steered them up the charts with such hits as “Song of the South” and “Dixieland Delight,” has died. He was 73.
Cook had Parkinson's disease and disclosed his diagnosis in 2017. He died Tuesday at his home in Destin, Florida, said Don Murry Grubbs, a representative for the band.
Tributes poured in from country stars, including Travis Tritt who called Cook “a great guy and one heckuva bass fisherman.”
As a guitarist, fiddle player and vocalist, Cook — alongside cousins Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry — landed eight No. 1 songs on the country charts between spring 1980 and summer 1982, according to the Country Music Hall of Fame. That run included the pop crossover hits “Love In The First Degree” and “Feels So Right,” as well as “Tennessee River” and “Mountain Music.”
“Jeff Cook, and all of the guys in Alabama, were so generous with wisdom and fun when I got to tour with them as a young artist,” Kenny Chesney said in a statement. “They showed a kid in a T-shirt that country music could be rock, could be real, could be someone who looked like me. Growing up in East Tennessee, that gave me the heart to chase this dream.”
The band had a three-year run as CMA Entertainer of the Year from 1982-1985 and earned five ACM Award Entertainer of the Year trophies from 1981-1985. He stopped touring with Alabama in 2018.
Cook released a handful of solo projects and toured with his Allstar Goodtime Band. He also released collaborations with Charlie Daniels and “Star Trek” star William Shatner. He entered the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005 as a member of Alabama.
Survivors include his wife, Lisa. | 2022-11-09T00:57:19+00:00 | wfmynews2.com | https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/nation-world/jeff-cook-musician-dies-at-73/507-9ab3f870-9f75-48f7-b4f1-6a1f514d1f49 |
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Tools to help with decision-making are useful with the November general election less than a month away.
Kristin Higgins, extension program associate with the Public Policy Center at the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service stopped by our sister station KARK 4 News to discuss the 2022 Voter Guide. The free nonpartisan publication is produced every election by the Extension Service.
The publication reviews each of the four ballot initiatives which will be on the November ballot. The review includes what supporters and proponents have to say about each issue.
Ballot issues appear at the end of the ballot. Some ballot titles can be very long or full of jargon. Voters have 10 minutes by law to cast their vote and it helps to review ballot titles before they are in line ready to vote. The voter guide allows Arkansans to read the ballot title ahead of time at their leisure, and in sentence case instead of the ALL CAPS of a ballot title.
The booklet also contains a worksheet that voters can use to make notes about how they want to vote on the issues. They can tear it out and take the worksheet with them to vote.
The guide is available at the local Cooperative Extension office or online at UAEx.UADA.edu. | 2022-10-14T17:04:00+00:00 | nwahomepage.com | https://www.nwahomepage.com/election/your-local-election/arkansas-extension-service-explains-free-2022-voter-guide/ |
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The Biden administration cleared the way Friday for California's plan to phase out a wide range of diesel-powered trucks, part of the state's efforts to drastically cut planet-warming emissions and improve air quality in heavy-traffic areas like ports along the coast.
The decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency allows California to require truck manufacturers to sell an increasing number of zero-emission trucks over the next couple of decades. The rule applies to a wide range of trucks including box trucks, semitrailers and even large passenger pick-ups.
“We’re leading the charge to get dirty trucks and buses – the most polluting vehicles – off our streets, and other states and countries are lining up to follow our lead,” Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement.
The EPA typically sets standards for tailpipe emissions from passenger cars, trucks and other vehicles, but California has historically been granted waivers to impose its own, stricter standards. Other states can then follow suit, and eight other states plan to adopt California's truck standards, Newsom's office said. In a letter last year, attorneys general from 15 states, Washington, D.C., and New York City urged the EPA to approve the California truck standards.
The transportation sector accounts for nearly 40% of California’s greenhouse gas emissions. Newsom has already moved to ban the sale of new cars that run entirely on gasoline by 2035. Those rules are still waiting on EPA approval.
The new truck standards are aimed at companies that make trucks and those that own large quantities of them. Companies owning 50 or more trucks will have to report information to the state about how they use these trucks to ship goods and provide shuttle services. Manufacturers will have to sell a higher percentage of zero-emission vehicles starting in 2024. Depending on the class of truck, zero-emission ones will have to make up 40% to 75% of sales by 2035.
The announcement came as advocates are pushing for more ambitious tailpipe emissions standards in other states and at the national level.
“We don't just fight for California, we fight for all of the communities,” said Jan Victor Andasan, an activist with East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, a group that advocates for better air quality in and around Los Angeles.
Andasan and other environmental activists from across the country who are a part of the Moving Forward Network, a 50-member group based at Occidental College in Los Angeles, met with EPA officials recently to discuss national regulations to limit emissions from trucks and other vehicles.
But some in the trucking industry are concerned about how costly and burdensome the transition will be for truck drivers and companies.
“The state and federal regulators collaborating on this unrealistic patchwork of regulations have no grasp on the real costs of designing, building, manufacturing and operating the trucks that deliver their groceries, clothes and goods,” said Chris Spear, president of the American Trucking Association, in a statement.
“They will certainly feel the pain when these fanciful projections lead to catastrophic disruptions well beyond California’s borders,” he added.
Federal pollution standards for heavy trucks are also getting tougher. The EPA released rules that will cut nitrogen oxide pollution, which contributes to the formation of smog, by more than 80% in 2027. The agency will propose greenhouse gas emissions limits this year.
The agency expects the new standards and government investment will lead to zero-emissions electric and hydrogen fuel cell trucks carrying most of the nation’s freight.
California activists Andasan and Brenda Huerta Soto, an organizer with the People’s Collective for Environmental Justice, are troubled by the impact of pollution from trucks and other vehicles on communities with a large population of residents of color that live near busy ports in Los Angeles, Oakland and other cities as well as warehouse-dense inland areas.
Huerta Soto works in Southern California's Inland Empire, where a high concentration of trucks pass through to transport goods. On top of truck pollution, the many cars, trucks and trains that travel through the area burden residents with noises, odors and pollutants these vehicles emit, she said.
“We have the technology, and we have the money" to move toward zero-emission vehicles, she said. ___
Associated Press writer Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to this report.
___
Sophie Austin is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on Twitter: @sophieadanna | 2023-03-31T16:18:56+00:00 | lmtonline.com | https://www.lmtonline.com/news/politics/article/epa-approves-california-rules-phasing-out-diesel-17871371.php |
Thanks to a late-night floor amendment shoe-horned into an unrelated bill on Ohio teacher professional development, the Ohio House has voted in House Bill 151 to:
* Bar the participation of transgender girls and women in Ohio in school-sponsored sports.
* Override policies set by the state’s high school, college and junior college athletic associations on participation of transgender athletes, and;
* Leave all school athletes subject to possible inspection of their private parts if someone questions their sex.
The bill now goes to the Ohio Senate, which is already in summer recess, and where a similar bill, SB 132, introduced by state Sen. Kristina Roegner of Hudson more than a year ago, is still pending.
Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman told cleveland.com’s Andrew J. Tobias this week that the Senate was likely to take up Roegner’s transgender sports ban bill after the November elections, “when we have time to properly vet these policy measures.” Huffman also criticized the way HB 151 was passed.
HB 151, however, appears simply to have incorporated language from House Bill 61, introduced in February 2021, and which was the subject of two committee hearings last year, albeit with only proponent testimony. Roegner’s bill has had no hearings.
Tobias reported that Huffman declined to offer his opinion on language in HB 151 (and SB 132) that would subject school athletes whose sex was challenged to highly invasive “internal and external reproductive anatomy” inspections by their doctors, plus genetic tests and blood tests on hormone levels. One critic, in a cleveland.com letter to the editor, called the requirements “hateful” and “perverse” and an unjustifiable invasion of the privacy of minors.
It’s possible, although far from certain, that Huffman’s real plan is to let the legislation die at the end of this year’s lame-duck session, while reaping the ballot-box benefits this November of getting conservative voters agitated on yet another of the ripe issues in the culture wars.
So what does our Editorial Board Roundtable think? Is this just another culture-wars political play or is Ohio really preparing to bar transgender athletes from sports and subject them to humiliating and invasive physical, genetic and blood tests? Or is the legislation a reasonable response to a controversial question?
Leila Atassi, manager public interest and advocacy:
This invasion of a child’s privacy is unconscionable. But the affected group of athletes is such a tiny minority that I’m sure Republican lawmakers would think nothing of counting them among the casualties of the culture wars, just to score at the ballot box among conservatives.
Thomas Suddes, editorial writer:
Legislation such as this is demagogic -- a solution in search of a problem. Complete coincidence: It’s an election year.
Ted Diadiun, columnist:
If we imagine that legislators might be attempting to “reap ballot-box benefits,” that must mean we think most people agree with them on this. That is correct. This isn’t complicated: Male athletes should compete against males; females against females. With overwhelmingly rare exceptions, everyone knows the difference. Nothing invasive about it.
Eric Foster, columnist:
If there is a problem of transgender athletes dominating women’s sports in Ohio (there is not), banning their participation entirely is like killing a mouse with a bazooka. Fairness can be achieved through science-based regulations. An outright ban is both unreasonable and immoral. Shame on all involved with this legislation.
Lisa Garvin, editorial board member:
Color me surprised that Senate President Matt Huffman is the voice of reason on the sneaky way HB 161 passed the House. But if the Ohio GOP is indeed throwing a political firebomb, it could backfire and drive both sides of this hot-button issue to the polls, to their detriment.
Victor Ruiz, editorial board member:
Forced identity, genital inspection, genetic testing … who would have thought that we would ever reach this point? Seems like Ohio Republicans are creating the fascist state that they have warned us about. What’s next? Forced religion? Assigned jobs? Does not seem too far-fetched.
Mary Cay Doherty, editorial board member:
The Left’s radical gender ideology disproportionally targets and tramples women’s rights. So, while HB 151′s proof-of-sex clause seems unnecessary and invasive, the legislature should act quickly next fall to pass a stand-alone bill that will protect girls’ and women’s constitutional right to private spaces and single-sex athletic competitions.
Elizabeth Sullivan, opinion director:
This is pernicious legislation. Beyond the bills’ outrageous invasion of children’s privacy, they aim at a nonissue in Ohio, where athletic associations have already developed reasonable (and adjustable) guardrails aimed at giving all student athletes a chance to compete fairly, guided by science, not hysteria.
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* Email general questions about our editorial board or comments on this editorial board roundtable to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com. | 2022-06-11T10:27:45+00:00 | cleveland.com | https://www.cleveland.com/opinion/2022/06/are-ohio-lawmakers-going-too-far-with-legislation-on-trans-athletes-editorial-board-roundtable.html |
BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — The Central African Republic went to the polls Sunday in a highly anticipated vote on a new constitution, which would remove presidential term limits.
President Faustin Archange Touadera wants to extend presidential terms from five to seven years and remove the previous two-term limit, enabling him to run again in 2025.
The new constitution would replace the one adopted at Touadera’s inauguration in 2016, when the country was in a civil war and 80% of it was not under state control. If the new constitution is passed, it could entrench the ruling party’s power indefinitely, analysts say.
“This referendum basically confirms the fears of authoritarian drift (in CAR),” said Enrica Picco, Central Africa project director with the International Crisis Group. The new constitution would weaken checks on the executive by opposition parties, closing the space for Central Africans to participate in democratic decision-making, she said.
The proposed changes also would lift requirements that executive decisions be debated by the legislative and permit Central Africans with dual nationalities to vote.
The mineral-rich but impoverished nation has faced intercommunal fighting since 2013, when predominantly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power and forced then-President Francois Bozize from office. Mostly Christian militias later fought back, also targeting civilians in the streets. The United Nations, which has a peacekeeping mission in the country, estimates the fighting had killed thousands and displaced over a million people, one fifth of the country’s population.
When Touadera won re-election in 2020, barely a third of Central Africans made it to the polls, largely due to threats of violence by rebel groups. Touadera’s government has relied on support from UN peacekeepers, soldiers from neighboring Rwanda and Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group to keep rebels out of the capital Bangui.
“Now that there is peace … the time has come for us to take action,” said Fidel Gouandjika, a presidential advisor.
Opposition groups accuse the ruling party of making a draft of the new constitution publicly available too late for people to make informed decisions, less than three weeks before the referendum, said Picco.
Together with opposition parties they are calling on Central Africans to vote against the proposed constitution, or abstain from the referendum.
“Touadera wants to see himself as an emperor, and he wants to make our country what he wants, not what Central Africans want,” said former Prime Minister Nicolas Tiangaye. | 2023-07-30T23:05:40+00:00 | valleycentral.com | https://www.valleycentral.com/news/international/ap-international/ap-constitutional-referendum-to-remove-presidential-term-limits-divides-central-african-republic/ |
BEIJING (AP) — For seven decades, China's Communist Party has ruled the world's most populous country. As the country's population crests and begins to shrink, experts say, it will face challenges ranging from supporting the elderly to filling the ranks of its military.
Population growth has been slowing for years, but the announcement Tuesday that the country's population fell by about 850,000 in 2022 came sooner than earlier projections.
“Those developments... may well feed domestic challenges at home and strategic challenges abroad. The Party, in short, may be in for a rough go," said Mike Mazza, an analyst of Chinese military modernization at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.
Others are less pessimistic.
“China’s increasingly becoming a higher-tech nation, so concentrating on improving the educational system, particularly in impoverished rural areas, and even in cities, is vital. So as well is increasing productivity. Wealthier people will buy more, which also increases GDP,” said June Teufel Dreyer, a Chinese politics specialist at the University of Miami.
With the trend expected to continue, the U.N. estimates China’s population will fall from 1.41 billion to about 1.31 billion by 2050 and keep shrinking from there.
Beijing previously tried to rein in its population growth. Worries that China's population was getting too big prompted it to adopt its “one-child policy” in the late 1970s. Beijing says the policy prevented 400 million additional births, but demographers disagree about how much of the drop in birth rates is explained by the policy.
The one-child policy came on top of existing societal changes, notably the flocking of people to live in cities during the economic boom, demographers say.
“Of course, the one-child policy had an effect,” said Sabine Henning, who heads the demographic change section at the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok. “But lifestyles have changed. Living expenses have increased so people are less inclined to have children. All of this has resulted ... in a further decline in fertility since the one-child policy stopped.”
Experience in Europe and Japan shows how difficult it is to change mindsets and reverse the decline with government incentives and campaigns.
Faced with a crashing birthrate, the policy was abandoned seven years ago, but efforts to encourage bigger families have been largely unsuccessful, like similar efforts in other countries. Europe and Japan have also struggled to change mindsets and reverse the decline with government incentives and campaigns.
“It amazes me how everyone seems to agree that the planet already has too many people whose demands for even the basics of existence like food, water and shelter are placing intolerable demands on the ecosystem — yet as soon as the population of a country begins to decline, its government reacts with near panic,” Dreyer said.
Beijing's most immediate demographic challenge is an aging population: Tuesday’s figures showed almost 20% of the population is now age 60 or older, and Chinese estimates say the number will rise to 30%, or more than 400 million people, by 2035.
Similar changes took decades in Europe.
“They had more time to adjust, whereas it’s happening much faster in in Asia,” said Srinivas Tata, director of the social development division at the U.N. commission in Bangkok.
To support this population of retirees, China may increase the retirement age, currently 50-55 for women and 60 for men.
The demographic news comes as China’s economy is still recovering from the three-year struggle against COVID-19, which not only battered the economy but sparked rare antigovernment and anti-party protest.
Even with a shrinking population, China maintains considerable economic advantages over emerging manufacturing rivals such as Vietnam and India, which is set to overtake China as most populous this year. China has superior infrastructure and long-standing private sector relationships that it can rely on for years to come, said Mazza.
China’s political system also plays a role, said Mary Gallagher, a scholar of Chinese politics at the University of Michigan.
“Becoming the workshop of the world... requires a political system that can take advantage of that cheap young labor without much regard for the laborers’ political and civil rights,” Gallagher said.
U.S. economic sanctions and its push to block Beijing’s access to cutting-edge processors and chip-making technology are further complicating efforts at recovery.
The Party also faces a challenge finding qualified recruits for its military, the 2 million-member People's Liberation Army, experts say.
“It is doubtful that the PLA is getting the best and the brightest, given that families who have the means will discourage military service,” said Daniel Blumenthal, director of Asian Studies at the American Enterprise Institute and an expert on East Asian security issues and US-China relations.
Blumenthal warns, however: “That said, if Xi decides he wants a war over Taiwan he will not be deterred by caring about one-child families.”
Some American observers argue that these challenges could prompt Beijing to make aggressive moves sooner. With the U.S. refocused on the Indo-Pacific, China’s economy slowing and the population shrinking, some in Washington see Beijing as facing a narrowing window for military action against the self-governing island that it claims as its territory.
Still, the effects may not be known for some time.
“Since demographic changes happen slowly, at least at the start of the turn, their effect on China’s standing and influence globally will take time to happen,” said Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at the London University School of Oriental and African Studies and a longtime observer of Chinese political and social trends.
President Xi Jinping is committed to his program of achieving “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” by 2049, Tsang said — even if his country may be 100 million people smaller by then. | 2023-01-18T14:13:49+00:00 | hjnews.com | https://www.hjnews.com/world/threats-advantages-seen-in-chinas-shrinking-population/article_34ed5484-80fe-54ef-b4e0-853c4fb10971.html |
ADVENTDALEN, Norway (AP) — Kneeling by his crew as they drilled steel bolts into the low roof of a tunnel miles-deep into an Arctic mountain, Geir Strand reflected on the impact of their coal mine’s impending closure.
“It’s true coal is polluting, but … they should have a solution before they close us down,” Strand said inside Gruve 7, the last mine Norway is operating in the remote Svalbard archipelago.
It’s scheduled to be shut down in two years, cutting carbon dioxide emissions in this fragile, rapidly changing environment, but also erasing the identity of a century-old mining community that fills many with deep pride even as the primary activities shift to science and tourism.
“We have to think what we’re going to do,” Strand, a 19-year mining veteran, told two Associated Press journalists as his headlamp spotlighted black dust and the miners’ breath in the just-below-freezing tunnel. “(Mining) is meaningful. You know the task you have is very precise. The goal is to get out coal, and get out yourself and all your crew, safe and healthy.”
After the main village of Longyearbyen, 16 kilometers (10 miles) away, announced it would switch its only energy plant from coal-fired to diesel this year, and later to greener alternatives, mining company Store Norske decided it would close its last mine in Svalbard. The date was then postponed to 2025 because of the energy crisis precipitated by the war in Ukraine.
Puzzlement over the future mingles with grief for the end of an era. It permeates the underground room where the last five dozen soot-covered miners take a break during their 10-hour shifts and the stylish café where their retired predecessors gather on weekday mornings to trade news.
“A long, long tradition is fading away,” said foreman Bent Jakobsen. “We’re the last miners. Makes me sad.”
The history of mining and its perils are etched on the mountainside in Longyearbyen. Below abandoned coal conveyor towers on a mid-January day, a trail of footprints in the snow led to a memorial monument, floodlit in the constant darkness of winter’s polar night, listing the 124 miners who have died on the job since 1916.
“I’ve been there, and families go there,” said Trond Johansen, who worked in mining for more than 40 years.
The half dozen other retired miners sipping their morning coffee were quick with more examples of the sacrifice that mining entailed, citing the exact ages and dates when colleagues were killed.
Among the last was Bent Jakobsen’s older brother, Geir, who was 24 when he was crushed to death inside Gruve 3 in 1991. Their eldest brother, Frank, who also worked at the mine, rushed to the scene only to be told by the doctor that it wasn’t survivable. Frank did most of the research for the memorial, erected in 2016.
“We have a place to go and put flowers on Christmas Eve,” Frank said. “It’s not only our brother, it’s other colleagues, too.”
Longyearbyen’s only pastor, the Rev. Siv Limstrand, whose Svalbard Kirke was founded by the mining company a century ago and still plays a critical role in the community, said it’s important to recognize the pain.
“People ask themselves the question, ‘Was it (worth) nothing?’ So there’s a kind of sorrow,” Limstrand said in the church’s cabin, a retreat built in the broad valley below where Gruve 7’s entrance lights shone in the polar night. “It should upset us in the community.”
In nearly two decades at Gruve 7, Bent Jakobsen rose to production manager and is now working on the clean-up processes needed for the closure.
His pride in the job is palpable, whether he’s driving down a 6-kilometer (3.7 mile) tunnel dug with “a lot of time, a lot of sweat, a lot of swearing,” or scraping off a piece of 40-million-year-old coal, or checking one of the steel bolts, each 1.2 meters long (4 feet), that hold up 400 meters (1,300 feet) of mountain above the workers.
“We’re a really tight-knit group in the mine, because you actually trust and lay your lives in the hands of others every day,” he said.
Jakobsen has seen how the landscape outside the mine is rapidly changing, too. Scientists say this slice of the Arctic warms up faster than most of the rest of the world.
From his childhood, the Svalbard native recalls the rhythmic clanking of the coal carts making their way across town, every day except Sunday. Today, herds of reindeer dig through the snow for moss and grass by the disused mining conveyances.
Jakobsen remembers when the archipelago’s fjords regularly froze over in winter, giving polar bears easy passage, while earlier this month it was all open water. He’s unconvinced, however, that closing the mine will make a significant difference.
Environmental scientists agree that Svalbard’s own emissions are minuscule – its coal reserves could keep the global economy running for about 8 hours, according to Kim Holmén, a special advisor at the Norwegian Polar Institute and professor of environment and climate. But they counter that every pollutant counts, and the archipelago can set an example.
“We’re all part of the problem and should become part of the solution … every action has a symbolism, is a value, period,” Holmén said.
Most of all, Jakobsen and others in mining worry about the alternatives, especially since Gruve 7 exports coal for Europe’s metallurgic industry – like car engine construction in Germany – in addition to feeding the local energy plant.
“If you don’t take coal from us, you’ll take coal from someone else where it’s not that good – the world needs to take coal for your Tesla battery,” he said.
Even windmill components need coal, added Elias Hagebø, his face smeared with coal dust as he grabbed a quick lunch in the mine’s underground break room.
“If they just throw away coal, it’s stupid,” he said. At 18, he’s the youngest worker, and hopes he’ll be able to make a career in the mine just like his father.
Furthermore, Russia has operated mines in Svalbard for 93 years under an international treaty that gave Norway sovereignty on the archipelago while allowing all signatory nations equal rights to commercial enterprise.
“There are no plans to decrease this operation,” Ildar Neverov, director general of Russia’s mining company Arcticugol, told AP in an email from Barentsburg, a village about 37 miles (60 kilometers) from Longyearbyen.
Given the race by global powers, including China, for increasingly profitable natural resources in Arctic, some in Longyearbyen worry that Norway might give up precious rights by closing the mine.
“It will be an unusual situation if the only nation doing mining is the Russians. This is a very geopolitical place,” Arnstein Martin Skaare, a businessman and former shareholder in Store Norske, said at the retired miners’ coffee hour in Longyearbyen’s café.
Back inside Gruve 7, crouched in a 1.3-meter-high (4.1 foot) tunnel, Jonny Sandvoll said he wished people understood more about coal and its uses before deciding to close the mine.
“It’s not the right way to do it,” said Sandvoll, a miner’s son with 20 years in mining. Then he refocused on the huge machine next to him that loudly burrowed into the shining black vein and extracted more coal.
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
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Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content. | 2023-01-28T00:41:13+00:00 | wboy.com | https://www.wboy.com/news/world/ap-norways-last-arctic-miners-struggle-with-coal-mines-end/ |
HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) — President Joe Biden planned on Sunday to speak directly with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, hoping to salvage talks to raise the debt limit that have stalled in recent days while he was abroad at the Group of Seven summit.
GOP lawmakers are holding tight to demands for sharp spending cuts, rejecting the alternatives proposed by the White House for reducing deficits. Biden and world leaders at the gathering for industrial nations in Japan had been closely tracking the negotiations, looking for signs of a compromise that would ensure the federal government can keep paying its bills and avoid a potentially catastrophic default.
Biden has tried to project optimism even as the talks back in Washington were rocky. Republicans are rejecting a White House plan that would impose less strict cuts while also increasing revenues. The two sides are up against a deadline as soon as June 1 to raise its borrowing limit, now at $31 trillion.
“We’re going to get a chance to talk later today,” Biden said of McCarthy, R-Calif., while the president met with the leaders of Japan and South Korea at the G7 in Hiroshima, Japan.
But McCarthy may need bipartisan support; it’s possible he’ll need as many as 100 House Democratic votes to pass an agreement, based on likely GOP defections and past votes, according to a person familiar with the talks. The person was not authorized to provide details about the proposal and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
In the latest round, McCarthy’s team called for deep cuts to non-defense spending, while insisting on increased funding for the military. Education, health care, Meals on Wheels and other programs would likely bear the burden, according to the person.
The GOP wants work requirements on Medicaid, though the administration has countered that millions of people could lose coverage. The Republican side also introduced new cuts to food aid by restricting states’ ability to wave work requirements in places with high joblessness, an idea that when floated by the Trump administration was estimated to cause 700,000 people to lose their food benefits.
The GOP lawmakers are also seeking cuts to IRS funding and asking the White House to accept provisions from their proposed immigration overhaul.
The White House has countered by keeping defense and nondefense spending flat next year, which would save $90 billion in fiscal 2024 and $1 trillion over 10 years.
Republicans have also rejected White House proposals to raise revenues in order to further lower deficits. Among the proposals the GOP objects to are policies that would enable Medicare to pay less for prescription drugs and the closing of a dozen tax loopholes. Republicans have refused to roll back the Trump-era tax breaks on corporations and wealthy households as Biden’s own budget has proposed.
With talks frozen on Saturday as each side accused the other of being unreasonable, Biden was frequently briefed on the status of negotiations and directed his team to set up the call with McCarthy.
The decision to set up a call came after another start-stop day with no outward signs of progress. Food was brought to the negotiating room at the Capitol on Saturday morning, only to be carted away hours later, and no meeting was expected. Talks, though, could resume on Sunday after the two leaders’ conversation.
“The Speaker’s team put on the table an offer that was a big step back and contained a set of extreme partisan demands that could never pass both Houses of Congress,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement late Saturday.
“Let’s be clear: The president’s team is ready to meet any time,” said Jean-Pierre, adding that Republican leadership is beholden to its extreme wing in threatening default.
McCarthy tweeted that it was the White House that was “moving backward in negotiations.”
He said “the socialist wing” of the Democratic party appears to be in control, “especially with President Biden out of the country.”
Republican Rep. Dusty Johnson, who has worked closely with McCarthy to shape the GOP proposal told The Associated Press late Saturday that there were no meetings scheduled Sunday. Republicans are trying to grab the president’s attention rather than negotiators.
“If the president doesn’t re-engage, I don’t know the staff conversations can bear fruit,” Johnson said.
Biden, attending the meeting of the world’s most powerful democracies, tried to reassure them on Saturday that the United States would not default, a scenario that would rattle the world economy. He said he felt there was headway in the talks.
“The first meetings weren’t all that progressive, the second ones were, the third one was,” he said. The president added that he believes “we’ll be able to avoid a default, and we’ll get something decent done.”
For months, Biden had refused to engage in talks over the debt limit, insisting that Congress must not play political games by trying to use the borrowing limit vote as leverage to extract other policy priorities.
But as the deadline approaches as soon as June 1 when Treasury says it could run out of cash, and Republicans put their own legislation on the table, the White House launched talks on a budget deal that could accompany an increase in the debt limit.
Negotiations heading into the weekend had been dizzying. McCarthy said Friday it was time to “pause” talks but then the two sides convened again in the evening, only to quickly call it quits for the night.
“We reengaged, had a very, very candid discussion,” Rep. Garret Graves, R-La., a negotiator on McCarthy’s side, said Friday evening.
As the White House team left the nighttime session, Biden counselor Steve Ricchetti, who is leading talks for the Democrats, said he was hopeful. “We’re going to keep working,” he said.
McCarthy had said resolution to the standoff is “easy,” if only Biden’s team would agree to some spending cuts Republicans are demanding. The biggest impasse was over the fiscal 2024 top-line budget amount, according to another person briefed on the talks and granted anonymity to discuss them. Democrats contend the steep reductions Republicans have put on the table would be potentially harmful to Americans, and they are insisting that Republicans agree to tax increases on the wealthy, in addition to spending cuts, to close the deficit.
Wall Street turned lower Friday as negotiations came to a sudden halt. Experts have warned that even the threat of a debt default could spark a recession.
Republicans argue the nation’s deficit spending needs to get under control, aiming to roll back spending to fiscal 2022 levels and restrict future growth. But Biden’s team is countering that the caps Republicans proposed in their House-passed bill would amount to 30% reductions in some programs if Defense and veterans are spared, according to a memo from the Office of Management and Budget.
Any deal would need the support of both Republicans and Democrats to find approval in a divided Congress and be passed into law. Negotiators are eyeing a more narrow budget cap deal of a few years, rather than the decade-long caps Republicans initially wanted, and clawing back some $30 billion of unspent COVID-19 funds.
Still up for debate are policy changes, including a framework for permitting reforms to speed the development of energy projects, as well as the Republican push to impose work requirements on government aid recipients that Biden has been open to but the House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York has said was a “nonstarter.”
McCarthy faces pressures from his hard-right flank to cut the strongest deal possible for Republicans, and he risks a threat to his leadership as speaker if he fails to deliver. Many House Republicans are unlikely to accept any deal with the White House.
Biden is facing increased pushback from Democrats, particularly progressives, who argue the reductions will fall too heavily on domestic programs that Americans rely on.
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AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro and AP writers Seung Min Kim, Kevin Freking, Stephen Groves and Farnoush Amiri in Washington contributed to this report. | 2023-05-21T19:17:25+00:00 | nwahomepage.com | https://www.nwahomepage.com/news/business-news/ap-biden-mccarthy-to-speak-on-debt-limit-talks-stalled-as-republicans-seek-deep-spending-cuts/ |
HONG KONG, May 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- OKX, the world's second-largest crypto exchange by trading volume and a leading Web3 technology company, today announced it has joined Okcoin's Open Source Developer Grants program in support of independent developers building and enhancing the Bitcoin protocol.
OKX and Okcoin also announced that the two firms would co-sponsor the latest Open Source Developer Grant recipient, Dusty Daemon, who is developing Splicing, a powerful new feature for the Lightning Network which vastly improves its ability to scale, making it easier for everyday people to use Bitcoin for small payments and instant settlement.
OKX Chief Innovation Officer Jason Lau said: "Bitcoin is constantly being enhanced by open source developers who dedicate themselves to contributing to the protocol's development, and we strongly believe that they deserve support and recognition from the industry. OKX will always be a strong supporter of the Bitcoin community and is very pleased to work with Okcoin to extend a grant to Dusty Daemon for his invaluable work on the Lightning Network."
Dusty Daemon said: "In 2021 I left the corporate rat race with whatever savings I could muster and started learning everything I could about the Lightning Network. Lightning scales bitcoin payments to almost the entire world, but it also is the first truly trustless instant payment settlement. This is leaps and bounds ahead of traditional payment methods and gets us closer to a future where people can enjoy more freedom when it comes to their money and finances. It's only because of grants like this that I'm able to do this work full time and I thank OKX and Okcoin for the incredible support."
OKX and Okcoin's support of Dusty Daemon will allow him to work full-time on Splicing. In particular, Dusty will focus his efforts on the following four technical areas:
1. Unified Bitcoin Balance: No more "on-chain" and "off-chain" distinction between Bitcoin and Lightning! Users always get the benefits of Lightning, while wallet software handles the onchain splicing payment to resize channels for the user on the fly.
2. Increased Privacy: Allows multiple Lightning peers to splice at one time in one transaction. Similar to a "coin join," this improves privacy and reduces transaction costs.
3. Significantly Reduced Costs: Move funds from outwardly unbalanced channels to inwardly balanced channels without relying on paid services, vastly reducing costs for large scale operators.
4. Seamless channel rebalancing and resizing: Managing inbound vs outbound liquidity is an incredibly complex hurdle rate for using Lightning effectively. Splicing allows you to move funds in and out of channels, on and off chain, with zero downtime.
Dusty is also supported by grants from Human Rights Foundation and Superlunar.
Okcoin started its Open Source Developer Grant Program in 2019 and has since donated over USD 1.5 million to Bitcoin research and development of Bitcoin Core and the Lightning Network.
OKX is a longtime supporter of Bitcoin, having integrated the Lightning Network to its centralized exchange in early 2021. OKX Wallet also recently announced that it is the first multi-chain wallet to support BRC-20 trading with the launch of its Ordinals Marketplace.
About OKX
OKX is the second largest crypto exchange by trading volume and a leading Web3 ecosystem. It is known for being the fastest and most reliable crypto trading app for investors and professional traders everywhere.
As a top partner of English Premier League champions Manchester City F.C., McLaren Formula 1, golfer Ian Poulter, Olympian Scotty James, and F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo, OKX aims to supercharge the fan experience with new engagement opportunities. OKX is also the top partner of the Tribeca Festival as part of an initiative to bring more creators into web3.
Beyond OKX's exchange, the OKX Wallet is the platform's latest offering for people looking to explore the world of NFTs and the metaverse while trading GameFi and DeFi tokens.
To learn more about OKX, download our app or visit: okx.com
Disclaimer
This announcement is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended to provide any investment, tax, or legal advice, nor should it be considered an offer to purchase, sell, hold or offer any services relating to digital assets. Digital assets, including stablecoins, involve a high degree of risk, can fluctuate greatly, and can even become worthless. You should carefully consider whether trading or holding digital assets is suitable for you in light of your financial condition. Please consult your legal/tax/investment professional for questions about your specific circumstances.
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SOURCE OKX | 2023-05-19T13:23:00+00:00 | wymt.com | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2023/05/19/okx-joins-okcoin-developer-grant-program-announces-co-sponsorship-award-bitcoin-developer-dusty-daemon/ |
PEMBROKE PINES, FLA. (WSVN) - A tornado passed through a residential area in Pembroke Pines as Hurricane Ian churned offshore.
Tuesday night, a Pembroke Pines neighborhood was barely damaged when the tornado passed by.
Gill lives in the neighborhood near Pasadena Elementary and said around 7:30 p.m., he received a tornado alert on his phone, which led him to take a look outside and see what was occurring.
“I looked outside and heard the familiar freight train sound, locked up the doors and all of us went into the interior bathroom inside the house,” he said. “You can actually hear it through one of the doors that goes out to the patio. It was extremely loud, so we didn’t know what was going to happen.”
Gill said it had to have been a tornado that didn’t stick around that long.
“I’ve never heard a sound like that in any of the storms, and I’ve been here a long time,” he said. “I think it was about 45 seconds, and then it was just quiet.”
Some of the homes experienced power outages but for Gill, at least, his power came back on.
Once the coast seemed to be clear, Gil was curious and decided to take a look outside.
“It wasn’t clear when you walked out, and the garbage can had moved a little bit, and you go, ‘OK, that’s kind of interesting,'” he said. “But once you go up the street here and down west on Pasadena Boulevard, you can see where all the damage was.”
Gill told 7News that when he came outside he also saw someone in their car had been trapped under a tree, presumably caused by the strong winds of the tornado.
Neighbors helped the person get out of the car and began cutting up the tree.
Gill said his neighbors are good people and always help each other out.
“Neighbors were here just trying to help each other,” he said. “Yeah, they’re all good people.”
Hurricane Ian may be targeting the west coast of Florida but South Florida is surely feeling its effects with the outer rainbands, but Gill said he’s been through this before.
“I’ve been through Andrew, I’ve been through Wilma, and all the other ones in between, but this one is definitely the most unusual and was basically my first tornado,” said Gill. “I’ve never experienced it before.”
There was no extensive damage on any homes in the area.
Copyright 2022 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | 2022-09-28T01:57:50+00:00 | wsvn.com | https://wsvn.com/news/local/broward/tornado-touches-down-in-several-broward-county-neighborhoods/ |
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (AP) — Miles Gibson scored 21 points to help Binghamton defeat NJIT 86-67 on Wednesday night.
Gibson added seven rebounds for the Bearcats (12-13, 8-4 America East Conference). Jacob Falko scored 17 points while going 5 of 9 from the floor, including 3 for 7 from distance, and 4 for 4 from the line, and added five rebounds and nine assists. Dan Petcash recorded 13 points and shot 5 for 6, including 3 for 4 from beyond the arc.
The Highlanders (7-18, 4-8) were led by Adam Hess, who recorded 23 points. Da'mir Faison added 10 points for NJIT. In addition, Kevin Osawe finished with eight points and six rebounds.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar. | 2023-02-16T03:23:16+00:00 | expressnews.com | https://www.expressnews.com/sports/article/gibson-scores-21-binghamton-beats-njit-86-67-17787379.php |
After running aground on Bainbridge Island on Saturday evening, the Walla Walla ferry limped back to Bremerton early Sunday morning, where it welcomed weary passengers returning to pick up the cars they’d been forced to abandon the night before.
The 50-year-old boat on its way to Seattle from Bremerton beached on the south end of Bainbridge Island as it entered Rich Passage around 4:30 p.m. on Saturday; the cause was an apparent loss of power, according to a spokesperson for Washington State Ferries.
Roughly 600 people were aboard the ship when it beached on Saturday, all of whom were shuttled off the Walla Walla and back to Bremerton via a Kitsap Transit fast boat. That meant, however, that close to 200 cars were left on board.
Tugboats managed to flip the boat around and dock it in Bremerton so cars wouldn’t need to reverse their way off on Sunday morning. Full details of the boat’s failure have not yet been reported, but Washington State Ferries said it appeared to be an issue with the generator. Divers were set to plunge into Puget Sound on Sunday to examine the ship’s hull for damage, according to Phil Olwell, relief terminal supervisor with Washington State Ferries.
Beginning at 9 a.m. Sunday, travelers and tow trucks began lining up on the Bremerton dock. Over the course of an hour, the crew puzzled their way through offloading the ship, wrapping up around 10 a.m.
Passengers on board when the boat ran aground on Saturday afternoon recalled the lights flickering, followed by alarms sounding on the boat and the captain warning people to brace for impact. The crash itself was gentle, as the Jumbo-class ferry settled on the sandy shores of southern Bainbridge Island.
“It was controlled chaos,” said Rhona Jones, who was trying to return home to Seattle on Saturday night but instead spent the night in Bremerton with her son after five hours aboard the ferry.
Marisha Doan, who was on board with her two young children and husband, called the whole experience “very, very surreal.”
Once it was clear no one was hurt, the experience was amusing for a short time, she said. “Then it was parenting hell.”
This story will be updated. | 2023-04-16T19:06:02+00:00 | seattletimes.com | https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/passengers-retrieve-cars-stuck-on-the-wa-ferry-that-ran-aground-on-bainbridge-island/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_seattle-news |
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia resumed its blockade of Ukrainian ports on Sunday, cutting off urgently needed grain exports to hungry parts of the world in what U.S. President Joe Biden called a “really outrageous” act.
Biden — speaking in Wilmington, Delaware — warned that global hunger could increase because of Russia’s suspension of a U.N.-brokered deal to allow safe passage of ships carrying grain from Ukraine, one of the world’s breadbaskets.
“It’s really outrageous,” Biden said Saturday. “There’s no merit to what they’re doing. The U.N. negotiated that deal and that should be the end of it.”
Biden spoke hours after Russia announced it would immediately halt participation in the grain deal, alleging that Ukraine staged a drone attack Saturday against Russia’s Black Sea Fleet off the coast of occupied Crimea. Ukraine has denied the attack, saying that Russia mishandled its own weapons.
A ship carrying 40,000 tons of grain bound for Ethiopia under the United Nations aid program could not leave Ukraine on Sunday as a result of Russia’s “blockage of the grain corridor,” Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine’s minister of infrastructure, said on Twitter. He didn’t specify from which Ukrainian port the ship, the Ikraia Angel, had been scheduled to depart.
The grain initiative has allowed more than 9 million tons of grain in 397 ships to safely leave Ukrainian ports since it was signed in July. U.N. chief António Guterres had urged Russia and Ukraine on Friday to renew the deal when it expires Nov. 19. The grain agreement has succeeded in bringing down global food prices about 15% from their peak in March, according to the U.N., which has listed Ethiopia as one of the countries most at risk for food shortages.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that 176 ships loaded with grain for more than 7 million consumers are being blocked.
“Why is it that a handful of people somewhere in the Kremlin can decide whether there will be food on the tables of people in Egypt or Bangladesh?” he said Saturday in his nightly video address.
Turkey’s Defense Ministry said Sunday that no more ships would depart from Ukraine but those already waiting near Istanbul would be inspected on Sunday or Monday. The statement said Defense Minister Hulusi Akar was in talks with his counterparts to “solve the problem and to continue the grain initiative.”
Russia requested a meeting Monday of the U.N. Security Council to discuss the alleged attack and the security of the Black Sea grain corridor. Guterres delayed a trip to Algiers by a day to engage in talks aimed at ending Russia’s suspension of the grain export deal.
Analysts say Russia pulling out of the deal signals that it sees the agreement as a way to exert pressure on Ukraine.
“By leaving the deal now and putting the blame on Ukraine, it aims to slow Ukrainian attacks around the Black Sea,” said Mario Bikarski, Europe’s analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit. Russia could be hoping that Ukraine’s Western allies might ask it to focus its forces elsewhere in order to preserve the grain deal, he said.
More conflicting details emerged Sunday about the alleged attack on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
The city council of Mariupol, a Ukrainian port captured by Russia on the Azov Sea, said on Telegram that Ukrainian special services had destroyed at least three Russian warships near the city of Sevastopol on the Russian-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
An adviser to Ukraine’s Interior Ministry claimed that the Russians’ “careless handling of explosives” had caused blasts on four Russian warships. Anton Gerashchenko wrote on Telegram that the vessels included a frigate, a landing ship and a ship that carried cruise missiles.
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed Sunday that one of the drones that attacked Sevastopol could have been launched from a civilian ship carrying agricultural products from Ukraine. The ministry claimed an inspection of the wreckage showed the drones used Canadian-made navigation technology and that the launch point was the Ukrainian coast near the port of Odesa. The ministry claimed the ships that were attacked had helped secure the safety of the Black Sea grain corridor.
Independent verification of each side’s claims was not possible.
Russia’s action is facing international condemnation over the grain deal suspension. In a tweet Sunday, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell urged Russia to reverse its decision.
Russia had been angling to withdraw from the deal for some time, said the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank.
On the diplomatic front, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said any peace talks between Russia and Ukraine should be held with Washington, which Russia views as Kyiv’s “mastermind.”
“Obviously, the deciding vote belongs to Washington … It is impossible to talk about something, for example, with Kyiv,” Peskov said on Russian state television.
Ukraine and the United States are unlikely to agree to such a demand.
On the battlefront, Russian missile attacks kept pounding key front-line hot spots in Ukraine. The Russians shelled seven Ukrainian regions over the past 24 hours, killing at least five civilians and wounding nine more, Ukraine’s presidential office said.
In the eastern Donetsk region, where the fighting is ongoing near the cities of Bakhmut and Avdiivka, eight cities and villages were shelled.
Earlier this month, Moscow intensified its missile and drone strikes on Ukraine’s power stations, waterworks and other key infrastructure, damaging 40% of Ukraine’s electric system and forcing the government to implement rolling blackouts. Kyiv’s mayor said the Ukrainian capital’s power system was operating in “emergency mode.”
In addition, in areas that Ukraine has recaptured, residents are still recovering bodies of killed civilians, Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said.
“Over the past 24 hours alone, in three de-occupied towns and villages, we found abandoned bodies of Ukrainian civilians,” Kyrylenko said. “The Russians are ignoring all principles of war. Every week we discover either individual or mass graves of civilians.”
Ukraine’s Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskiy said Sunday that Russian forces were mining territories they leave behind twice as densely as during the first months of the war.
“Virtually everything in the recently de-occupied territories has been mined,” Monastyrskiy told Ukrainian television.
Power outages were reported Sunday in the occupied Ukrainian city of Enerhodar, home to the closed Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe’s largest. Ukrainian and Russian officials traded blame for the shelling that caused the blackout.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine | 2022-10-30T17:51:00+00:00 | wdtn.com | https://www.wdtn.com/news/ap-top-headlines/ap-global-concern-on-russias-suspension-of-ukraine-grain-deal/ |
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AMORY – After a five-month waiting period, music is in the air in and around Frisco Park following the addition of speakers.
“We’re starting in Frisco Park but plan to expand the system along Main Street in time. We believe the music will attract more people to come and enjoy downtown Amory,” said city clerk Jamie Morgan.
“We will have to get a larger router to mount outside to expand the service along Main Street as we grow it. Tennessee Valley Authority’s Community Care Fund has pledged money for another speaker, and local businesses can do the same as the system is expanded. Our only holdup now is funding and supply chain issues,” she added.
The music plays from JBL speakers mounted on light and utility poles and it is transmitted wirelessly from a small router perched on a windowsill in Morgan’s office at City Hall.
“We receive our music by subscription from StreetSoundswireless.com. The agreement secures permission for playing the music, as well as filtering out any objectionable content,” she said.
Those with an ear for musical genres will notice that the style of music varies with the day.
“We can do classical, country, ‘80s to 2000s hits, kids’ favorites, acoustic varieties and more. Best of all, it’s all clean,” Morgan said.
Amory followed suit with other northeast Mississippi communities, such as Pontotoc, New Albany, Fulton and Booneville, to provide music for public spaces.
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Error! There was an error processing your request. | 2022-09-02T13:55:54+00:00 | djournal.com | https://www.djournal.com/monroe/living/frisco-park-music-streaming-addition-goes-live/article_b26fafa6-28cc-5277-a606-e593047fbcb0.html |
In recent weeks, there have been a number of "strange" sightings around the Lone Star State, including what some were calling a chupacabra and the City of Amarillo describing as an "Unidentified Amarillo Object" near the area zoo. Last week, heading into the Labor Day weekend, a news report detailed a "mysterious" aerial sighting caught on camera in the Round Rock-area near Austin.
Round Rock, Austin 'UFO' sighting
Video shared with Fox 7 Austin shows a hazy series of lights in the evening sky near Brushy Creek. In the clip, a seemingly oblong arrangement of greenish-white lights can be seen in the sky. The report also includes social media posts with footage of the unidentified object. The Twitter footage was uploaded by Chris Walker, listed as the assistant news director for Fox 7 Austin in their page bio.
Explanations related to the sighting range from potential unidentified flying objects to much less exotic explanations such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) a la drones.
In an interview with Fox 7 Austin, Gene Robinson, who reviewed the footage and is described as a "drone expert" responsible for training drone pilots and flies several types of UAV platforms, said there's "nothing extraterrestrial involved" with this particular sighting.
"My initial take on this is that it is very likely a drone based phenomena," Robinson told Fox.
The full report and video related to the aerial sighting are available on Fox 7 Austin. | 2022-09-08T03:16:04+00:00 | expressnews.com | https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/Texas-UFO-video-Round-Rock-17426295.php |
NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer speaks with Brendan Phillips, a backpacker who was stranded due to the flooding that slammed Yellowstone National Park.
Copyright 2022 NPR
NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer speaks with Brendan Phillips, a backpacker who was stranded due to the flooding that slammed Yellowstone National Park.
Copyright 2022 NPR | 2022-06-15T21:16:21+00:00 | nprillinois.org | https://www.nprillinois.org/2022-06-15/yellowstone-backpacker-on-community-that-sheltered-him-during-flooding |
For well over a year, Russia has carried out air strikes across Ukraine. Now Russia finds itself on the receiving end, including drones that hit apartment buildings in Moscow.
Copyright 2023 NPR
For well over a year, Russia has carried out air strikes across Ukraine. Now Russia finds itself on the receiving end, including drones that hit apartment buildings in Moscow.
Copyright 2023 NPR | 2023-05-31T10:32:05+00:00 | wboi.org | https://www.wboi.org/2023-05-31/russia-is-hit-with-more-air-strikes-does-this-point-to-an-escalation-in-the-war |
Senate passes defense bill rescinding COVID vaccine mandate
WASHINGTON (AP) — A bill to rescind the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for members of the U.S. military and provide nearly $858 billion for national defense passed the Senate on Thursday and now goes to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.
The bill provides for about $45 billion more for defense programs than Biden requested and roughly 10% more than last year’s bill as lawmakers look to account for inflation and boost the nation’s military competitiveness with China and Russia. It includes a 4.6% pay raise for service members and the Defense Department’s civilian workforce.
The Senate passed the defense policy bill by a vote of 83-11. The measure also received broad bipartisan support in the House last week.
To win GOP support for the 4,408-page bill, Democrats agreed to Republican demands to scrap the requirement for service members to get a COVID-19 vaccination. The bill directs Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to rescind his August 2021 memorandum imposing the mandate.
Before approving the measure, the Senate voted down a couple of efforts to amend it, including a proposal from Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., to speed the permitting process for energy projects. The effort had drawn fierce opposition from some environmental advocacy groups who worried it would accelerate fossil fuel projects such as gas pipelines and limit the public’s input on such projects.
Manchin, who chairs the Senate Energy Committee, secured a commitment from Biden and Democratic leaders last summer to support the permitting package in return for his support of a landmark law to curb climate change.
Machin’s legislation sets deadlines for completion of National Environmental Policy Act reviews for major energy and natural resource projects. It would require courts to consider litigation involving energy project permits on an expedited basis. It also directs federal agencies to permit the completion of a natural gas pipeline in his home state and Virginia “without further administrative or judicial delay or impediment.”
“We’re on the verge of doing something unbelievable, but let me tell you, most of it will be for naught. Because without permitting reform, the United States of America is more litigious than any nation on earth,” Manchin told colleagues.
Biden voiced his support for Manchin’s legislation a few hours before Thursday’s vote. He said far too many projects face delays and described Manchin’s amendment “as a way to cut Americans’ energy bills, promote U.S. energy security, and boost our ability to get energy projects built and connected to the grid.”
Not only did some environmental advocacy groups bash Manchin’s proposal, but so did many Republicans. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said it didn’t go far enough, calling it “reform in name only.”
The amendment fell short of the 60 votes needed for passage, 47-47.
An amendment from Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, also went down to defeat. It would have allowed for the reinstatement of those service members discharged for failing to obey an order to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and compensate them for any pay and benefits lost as a result of the separation.
“People serving our military are the finest among us. Over 8,000 were terminated because they refused to get this experimental vaccine, and so I’m urging all of my colleagues to support Senator Cruz’s and my amendment,” Johnson said.
But opponents worried about the precedent of rewarding members of the military who disobeyed an order. Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said orders are not suggestions, they are commands.
“What message do we send if we pass this bill? It is a very dangerous one,” Reed said. “What we’re telling soldiers is, ‘if you disagree, don’t follow the order, and then just lobby Congress, and they’ll come along and they’ll restore your rank, or restore your benefits, or restore everything.’”
The amendment failed, with 40 senators supporting it and 54 opposing it.
The defense bill sets policy and provides a roadmap for future investments. Lawmakers will have to follow up with spending bills to bring many provisions to reality. It’s one of the final bills Congress is expected to approve before adjourning, so lawmakers were eager to attach their top priorities to it.
The directive to rescind the vaccine mandate for service members proved to be among the most controversial provisions, but Democrats agreed to it to allow the bill to advance.
As of early this month, about 99% of the active-duty troops in the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps had been vaccinated, and 98% of the Army. Service members who are not vaccinated are not allowed to deploy, particularly sailors or Marines on ships. There may be a few exceptions to that, based on religious or other exemptions and the duties of the service member.
The vaccination numbers for the Guard and Reserve are lower, but generally all are more than 90%.
____
Associated Press writer Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | 2022-12-16T01:37:31+00:00 | wlox.com | https://www.wlox.com/2022/12/16/senate-passes-defense-bill-rescinding-covid-vaccine-mandate/ |
The latest: Tropical storm watch issued for the Suncoast as Nicole strengthens
SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - A tropical storm watch has been issued for parts of Southwest Florida as Nicole is forecast to make a transition to a tropical storm and begin strengthening later today.
As of 1 p.m. Tuesday, Tropical Storm Nicole was about 310 miles northeast of the northwest coast of the Bahamas. Nicole’s maximum sustained winds increased to 60 mph. At the center of the storm meteorologists have noted increased thunderstorms. Earlier this morning, the storm was upgraded to a Tropical Storm.
Hurricanes warnings have been issued for multiple spots along the Space Coast, including Boca Raton and the Flagler/Volusia County Line Florida
Gov. Ron DeSantis also issued a state of emergency for 34 counties:
Counties under a State of Emergency are:
- Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, DeSoto, Duval, Flagler, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Lee, Manatee, Martin, Miami-Dade, Nassau, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Polk, Putnam, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, St. Lucie, Sumter, and VolusiaNicole is expected to bring storm surge of 5 feet in places along the east coast of Florida. A storm surge warning is now up for much of the east coast of Florida as Nicole is expected to gain strength. Tropical storm warnings have now been issued for the Florida east coast along with a hurricane watch for parts of the east coast of Florida.
The turn to the west and west-southwest is seems to be starting, and that motion should continue through Wednesday. A turn toward the northwest and north-northwest is expected Thursday and Thursday night. On the forecast track, the center of Nicole will approach the northwestern Bahamas today and tonight, move near or over those islands on Wednesday, and approach the east coast of Florida Wednesday night.
Nicole’s center is then expected to move across central and northern Florida into southern Georgia Thursday and Thursday night, producing between 3-5 inches of rain in Florida.
Winds of 40 mph extend outward up to 380 miles from the center. Data from a NOAA reconnaissance aircraft indicate that the minimum central pressure is 992 mb (29.29 inches).
However, it should be noted that at this time we are not forecasting a storm that will do any major structural damage. Locally heavy rain will cause some flooding, a few power outages, and perhaps a severe storm or two might be a reasonable worst case forecast given what we know at this time.
Copyright 2022 WWSB. All rights reserved. | 2022-11-08T18:32:51+00:00 | mysuncoast.com | https://www.mysuncoast.com/2022/11/08/latest-tropical-storm-watch-issued-suncoast-nicole-strengthens/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) —
The U.S. announced a new $400 million military aid package for Ukraine on Friday that for the first time includes armored vehicles that can launch bridges — allowing troops to cross rivers or other gaps as Russian and Ukrainian forces remain entrenched on opposite sides of the Dnieper River.
The war had largely slowed to a grinding stalemate during the winter months, with Russia and Ukraine firing at each other from across the river. Both sides are expected to launch offensives as temperatures warm.
This round of aid will be drawn from existing U.S. weapons stockpiles so it can arrive in Ukraine faster. The U.S. and allies are trying to rush additional support to Kyiv to best position it for intensified spring fighting.
The Armored Vehicle Launched Bridge is a portable, 60-foot (18-meter) folding metal bridge that is carried on top of a tank body. Providing that system now could make it easier for Ukrainian troops to cross rivers to get to Russian forces.
Because Ukraine also continues to face shortages of ammunition in the intense firefight, this aid package, like previous ones, includes thousands of replacement rounds, such as rockets for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems and 155mm Howitzer rounds. This package also includes demolition munitions and equipment for clearing obstacles to help Ukraine break through dug-in lines.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago, the U.S. has sent in more than $32 billion in weapons and equipment.
The U.S. is also roughly tripling the number of Ukrainian forces it is training on advanced battle tactics at a base in Germany, to help them punch through entrenched Russian lines. At the Grafenwoehr training area, Ukrainian forces run through a five-week course that prepares them to conduct advanced combined arms maneuvers with Bradley fighting vehicles, M109 Paladins and Stryker armored personnel carriers. The first 600 Ukrainian troops completed the course last month and 1,600 more are in training.
The aid will also include spare parts and equipment for vehicle maintenance and repair.
The announcement comes on the heels of a brief meeting Thursday between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at a gathering of top diplomats from the Group of 20 nations in New Delhi. It was the highest-level in-person talk between the two countries since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But there was no indication of any movement toward easing the intense tensions between the two nations.
Blinken said he told Lavrov the U.S. would continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes.
Lavrov, who did not mention speaking with Blinken when he held a news conference after the meeting, told reporters Moscow would continue to press its action in Ukraine. | 2023-03-03T21:50:26+00:00 | fox59.com | https://fox59.com/news/politics/ap-politics/ap-us-sending-bridge-launchers-to-ukraine-for-spring-fight/ |
Ravens defensive lineman Derek Wolfe underwent his second hip surgery in five months, he announced Monday, further delaying his return to the field.
Wolfe, who missed all of last season with hip and back injuries, shared on Instagram that he was “fresh out of my second hip surgery this year.” He had his first operation in late January, which he called a “success.”
“Feeling pretty good,” Wolfe said Monday in a video recorded from his hospital bed. “Pretty drugged up. But we’re going to get a full recovery here and try to live a normal life.”
Wolfe’s $2 million salary this season is fully guaranteed, and he counts $3.8 million against the salary cap. After signing a three-year, $12 million contract extension in March 2021, he said he hoped to build on a strong debut season in Baltimore.
But Wolfe, 32, suffered an apparent back injury in training camp last year, was designated to return in late October from injured reserve and was never healthy enough to come back.
In March, Wolfe tweeted that he “fully intends” on returning this season. The comments came after he said in an interview on the “Blood Origins” hunting podcast that his future in football was uncertain. Wolfe said he had his labrum, the soft tissue that covers the socket of the hip, “completely reattached” in the January operation. Wolfe said doctors shaved off “a bunch of extra bone off my femur and off my pelvis,” describing operations that typically address hip impingement.
The Ravens’ mandatory minicamp starts Tuesday in Owings Mills, meaning Wolfe will be out until at least the start of training camp in late July. With defensive lineman Brent Urban having re-signed with the Ravens, Wolfe’s roster spot appears to be in jeopardy.
() | 2022-06-13T22:28:30+00:00 | bostonherald.com | https://www.bostonherald.com/2022/06/13/ravens-dl-derek-wolfe-undergoes-second-hip-surgery-in-five-months-hoping-for-full-recovery/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — Eva Guzman’s expenses have swelled, but she feels comfortable financially thanks to the savings she and her late husband stockpiled for a rainy day. Nevertheless, the 80-year-old retired library clerk in San Antonio limits trips to the grocery store, adjusts the thermostat to save on utilities and tries to help her grandchildren and great-grandchildren get what they need.
It was difficult to raise her own four children, Guzman said, but she and her husband were able to manage. She doesn’t know how young families today stay financially afloat with such high prices for groceries and clothes.
“It’s really gotten worse in this age for a lot of people,” said Guzman, who identifies as a conservative and blames President Joe Biden for inflation and economic instability. “It’s really getting out of hand.”
Like Guzman, 30% of people in the United States consider inflation a high priority for the country, named in an open-ended question as one of up to five issues for the government to work on in 2023, according to a December poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That’s roughly twice the percentage as a year ago, though down from 40% in June, with inflation easing somewhat despite remaining high.
Overall, the economy in general remains a bipartisan issue, mentioned by most U.S. adults across party lines. But the poll finds Republicans and Democrats have sharply distinct views of priorities for the country in the new year. More Republicans than Democrats name inflation, gas and food prices, energy and immigration, while Democrats focus on health care, climate change, poverty, racism, abortion and women’s rights.
Elizabeth Stephens, a 41-year-old Democratic-leaning independent in Houston, recognizes that inflation is an issue right now. But she thinks there are other problems that the government should focus on addressing.
“Inflation comes and goes,” said Stephens, a manager working in learning and development. But issues such as poverty and health care disparities, she said, “are always there.”
“Even if the economy is great, there are still people who are suffering,” Stephens added.
There is broad skepticism from members of both parties that progress will be made on the issues about which the public most cares. In the poll results and in interviews with the AP, many people cite hostile political divisions as part of the problem.
Stephens said the country is so divided that “it seems close to impossible” to imagine there would be progress this year.
Glenn Murray, a 59-year-old in Little Mountain, South Carolina, also called out the distance between the left and the right, wishing that politicians would recognize the “truth in the middle.” But his priorities are different from Stephens’.
Murray, a moderate Republican, thinks inflation and the economy are critical issues and he worries that the U.S. will soon face a recession. But he is also concerned about energy policy, suggesting the nation’s reliance on foreign oil is driving up gas prices, and he describes the surge of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border as “unsustainable.”
“I definitely understand that immigration is what helped build this country … but you have to have guardrails,” said Murray, who works for a university’s audit services. “You just can’t open the gates and let everyone in that wants to come in.”
Named by 45% of Republicans, immigration is one of the GOP’s leading priorities. The Supreme Court recently extended Trump-era pandemic restrictions on people seeking asylum, as thousands of migrants gathered on the Mexico side of the border seeking to the enter the United States.
Roughly 2 in 10 Republicans also name crime, foreign policy issues, energy and health care. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to specifically name inflation, 37% vs. 26%, and gas prices, 22% vs. 7%.
Among Democrats, about 4 in 10 rank climate change and health care, 3 in 10 prioritize gun issues and roughly one-quarter name education and abortion or women’s rights. Roughly 2 in 10 Democrats name racism and poverty.
For 24-year-old Osbaldo Cruz, the country’s minimum wage is insufficient, especially to keep up with high inflation. But the Democrat, who works as an assistant manager at a fast-food restaurant, equally prioritizes climate change and gun policy, issues that have been close to his home in Las Vegas.
Seeing record temperatures and increasing waste, Cruz worries that conditions on Earth won’t be livable in the future. “People pretty much think short term, so we never take the time to invest in proper long-term solutions,” he said.
And while he said he understands the importance of the right to bear arms, he’s concerned with how easy it is for people to get a gun.
Joseph Wiseman, a 52-year-old Presbyterian pastor in Wichita, Kansas, wants the country to prioritize protections for women’s health care, including access to abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and LGBTQ individuals.
“I’m very concerned that basic human rights are under threat,” he said. “The blatant politicization of the Supreme Court and the handing down of that ruling really brought home in stark circumstance how deadly important this is for the livelihood of 51% of God’s children.”
Wiseman was a lifelong Republican up until the past few years, registering instead as a Democrat. He said he worries about the “dangerous” shift toward authoritarianism and Christian nationalism happening in the country, especially within the GOP.
Still, he said he has to be hopeful.
“I have to be optimistic that the threat will be met and that basic human rights can be secured for all,” Wiseman said.
Most of those surveyed say the opposite. About three-quarters of U.S. adults say they are not confident in the ability of the federal government to make progress on the important problems facing the country in 2023, according to the poll.
About one-third of Republicans and Democrats name the state of politics as a critical issue facing the country.
Michael Holcomb, a 35-year-old audio technician in Los Angeles, wants less polarization in the election process, which he thinks leads politicians to be more extreme. But he sees the issue as extending beyond politics.
“I think that it’s more of a cultural problem,” the independent said. “We all have to figure out a way to get past it.”
___
The poll of 1,124 adults was conducted Dec. 1-5 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. | 2023-01-01T18:22:06+00:00 | mytwintiers.com | https://www.mytwintiers.com/news-cat/political-news/ap-politics/ap-dems-gop-have-distinct-priorities-for-2023-ap-norc-poll/ |
Prosecutors reveal planned Proud Boys witness was informant
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and LINDSAY WHITEHURST
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — A lawyer for one of the former Proud Boys leaders charged with seditious conspiracy says federal prosecutors have revealed that a defense witness was secretly acting as a government informant for nearly two years after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Defense attorney Carmen Hernandez on Wednesday asked a judge to schedule an emergency hearing so the defense can learn more about the prosecutors’ use of the informant. The judge ordered prosecutors to file a response to the defense filing by Thursday afternoon and scheduled a hearing for the same day, putting testimony in the case on hold until Friday. The U.S. attorney’s office did not immediately comment on the filing. | 2023-03-23T01:52:07+00:00 | localnews8.com | https://localnews8.com/news/ap-national/2023/03/22/prosecutors-reveal-planned-proud-boys-witness-was-informant/ |
TORONTO, May 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Facedrive Inc. ("STEER" or "the Company") (TSXV: FD) (OTCQX: FDVRF), an integrated ESG technology platform, is pleased to announce it has successfully rolled out its Delivery as a Service ("DaaS") offering with over 200 small and medium businesses ("SMBs"), and is now marketing such services to large big box retailers. STEER's DaaS offering provides a last mile logistics solution for retailers to offer just-in-time deliveries to end-users. The Company expects the DaaS platform to be a key element of its business and a valuable driver of ESG data, reporting and analytics.
STEER's DaaS offering has demonstrated operational success, with over 200 local merchants in the Greater Toronto Area and a 99% on-time delivery rate. The Company has also seen many of its customers transition from a hybrid to a full-time arrangement with STEER. Following its success with smaller local vendors, STEER's DaaS offering is being promoted to big box retailers, some of whom have also expressed an interest for the offering. The Company feels its ESG value proposition, powered by its proprietary EcoCRED carbon offset analytics platform, sets the STEER DaaS offering apart from competitors. In particular, EcoCRED's capabilities to capture, analyse and report on key ESG data can appeal to socially-responsible brands and larger retailers, who are increasingly conscious of environmental tracking and reporting protocols.
The global Delivery as a Service market, valued at USD 18.7Bn in 2020, is expected to grow at 18.9% CAGR for the period 2021-20271, making it one of the high-growth sectors in today's global economy. This growth has been accelerated by the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and goes beyond food deliveries, spanning nearly all categories of consumer products. This megatrend presents qualified providers like STEER with a potentially-lucrative opportunity to increase market presence and significantly increase revenues.
STEER's DaaS offering leverages the assets and technology developed by the Company through its existing on-demand offerings. Specifically, introduction of DaaS enables the Company to draw on its tech stack, operational expertise, and its existing infrastructure—including drivers—to deliver a nimble, agile, cost efficient, and customizable product. STEER's tech-driven delivery management software integrates directly with the merchant's Point of Sale ("POS") solution and provides visibility, KPI controls and data processing. Moreover, STEER leverages its built-in data science algorithms to analyse daily demand cycles for each individual offering and to streamline resource allocation. In the future, this data will be utilized to identify cross-selling opportunities within the STEER platform and provide customers with analytics, metrics and data that quantify their carbon reduction efforts.
STEER's DaaS offering also capitalizes on synergies with its existing on-demand services through a shared driver fleet. For drivers, this means potentially higher earnings through an additional revenue stream, minimized idle time, and the convenience of managing fewer apps on their phone. For the Company, introduction of the DaaS functionality results in greater operational efficiencies through unified driver acquisition, training and optimized marketing spend across the platform. The Company feels these operational efficiencies will translate into economies of scale as STEER's DaaS onboards more vendors and launches operations in new geographies.
"Delivery as a Service represents a natural evolution for our Company. Having built significant assets and expertise in the mobility and food delivery segments, it is important for us to leverage our existing assets to enter a growing market space. It allows us to grow incremental revenues in the near future while not increasing costs at the same rate. We have confirmed the demand during our launch with over 200 small and medium vendors and are now focused on large retail customers. With the launch of DaaS, STEER's vision of creating a one-stop shop ecosystem for an environmentally-conscious B2C and B2B consumer has come a step closer to fulfilment", said Suman Pushparajah, Chief Executive Officer.
STEER is an integrated ESG technology platform that moves people and delivers things through subscription and on-demand services. The Company's goal is to build a one-of-a-kind system that aggregates conscientious users, through a series of connected offerings, and enables them to buy, sell, or invest with the same platform, STEER. The Company's offerings generally fall into two categories: subscription-based offerings led by its flagship electric vehicle subscription business, Steer EV, and on-demand services incorporating delivery, B2B marketplace, Delivery-as-a-Service (DaaS) and rideshare businesses. The Company's platform is also powered by EcoCRED, its big data, analytics and machine learning engine which seeks to capture, analyse, parse and report on key data points in ways that measure the Company's impact on carbon reductions and offsets.
For more about the Company, visit www.facedrive.com.
STEER
100 Consilium Pl, Unit 400
Scarborough, ON
Canada M1H 3E3
www.facedrive.com
Certain information in this press release contains forward-looking information, including with respect to the Company's business, operations and condition, management's objectives, strategies, beliefs and intentions, and the company's forward plans to rebrand. This information is based on management's reasonable assumptions and beliefs in light of the information currently available to us and are made as of the date of this press release. Actual results and the timing of events, such as those pertaining to the Company's next step launch with big box retailers, may differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking information as a result of various factors. Information regarding our expectations of future results, performance, achievements, prospects or opportunities or the markets in which we operate is forward-looking information. Statements containing forward-looking information are not facts but instead represent management's expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events or circumstances. Many factors could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements or future events or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.
See "Forward-Looking Information" and "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Management Discussion & Analysis (MD&A) for the year ended December 31, 2021 (filed on SEDAR on may 2, 2022) and its interim MD&A for the period ended September 30, 2021 (filed on SEDAR on November 29, 2021) for a discussion of the uncertainties, risks and assumptions associated with these statements and other risks. Readers are urged to consider the uncertainties, risks and assumptions carefully in evaluating the forward-looking information and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such information. We have no intention and undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities legislation and regulatory requirements.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
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SOURCE Facedrive Inc. | 2022-05-16T11:47:30+00:00 | wlbt.com | https://www.wlbt.com/prnewswire/2022/05/16/steer-announces-rollout-its-delivery-service-daas-offering-with-200-small-medium-businesses/ |
Amazon has opened another of its convenience stores, Amazon Go, in Puyallup.
The 5,250-square-foot facility is part of Amazon’s new store format, designed to bring the high-tech checkout experience closer to customers by setting up shop in the suburbs. Amazon launched the new format with a store in Mill Creek last April.
The Puyallup store’s opening comes just after Amazon told investors it planned to pause expansion of its brick and mortar grocery footprint as it works to refine the format. Along with its Amazon Go convenience stores, the company also operates Amazon Fresh grocery stores and acquired Whole Foods in 2017.
CEO Andy Jassy confirmed on an earnings call earlier this month that Amazon does not plan to open more Amazon Fresh grocery stores for now. Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky said the same day Amazon was taking a “hard look” at its Go and Fresh stores, and considering where to slow down, where to get out of some leases and where to close stores.
“Continuously refining our store format to find the ones that will resonate with customers will build our grocery brand and will allow us to scale meaningfully over time,” Olsavsky said. “We continue to believe grocery is a significant opportunity and we’re focused on serving customers through multiple channels – whether that’s online, delivery, pickup or in-store shopping.”
The Puyallup store – located at 17710 Canyon Road E. in Frederickson – will feature 2,483 square feet of shopping space filled with “grab-and-go” food and beverages, beer, wine and “everyday essentials you might need in a pinch,” Amazon said in its announcement.
The store is equipped with Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology, a network of sensors and software that allows customers to skip the checkout line when they’re done shopping.
Using Just Walk Out, customers can enter the store using their palm, a code on their phone or their credit card. Once through the turnstile, a network of hardware and software keeps track of what they pick up and what they put back on the shelf. Amazon charges their account after they leave.
The concept for Amazon Go was unveiled in 2016 and the company opened its first Amazon Go store to the public in 2018 in Seattle, on the ground floor of Amazon’s Day 1 skyscraper at the intersection of Seventh Avenue and Blanchard Street.
Amazon now has seven Amazon Go stores in Washington and five Amazon Fresh stores. Nationally, the company operates 44 Amazon Fresh stores and has Amazon Go stores in Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco and New York.
The decision to slow its grocery expansion comes amid a year of cost-cutting measures, including the end of some experimental projects, a hiring freeze and job cuts that impacted 18,000 roles.
Last March, Amazon announced it would close its physical bookstores, Amazon 4-Star stores and mall pop-up kiosks to narrow its brick-and-mortar push to the grocery sector. This month, Jassy said Amazon has a “pretty significant size grocery business” and expects it to continue to accelerate.
“We’re doing a fair bit of experimentation today in those stores to try and find a format that resonates with customers and is differentiated in some meaningful fashion and where we like the economics,” he said. “We’ve decided over the last year or so that we’re not going to expand the physical Fresh store until we have that equation. … We’re optimistic that we’re going to find that in 2023.” | 2023-02-15T05:07:59+00:00 | seattletimes.com | https://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon-go-opens-in-puyallup/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_business |
Today
Concert Band and Campus Band: Join the CU Campus Band and Concert Band for their first performance of the spring semester. With works by Michael Daugherty, James Barnes, Dana Wilson, Danielle Fisher and Ron Nelson, this promises to be a great evening of music making; 7:30 p.m. Monday, Grusin Music Hall, 1020 18th St., Boulder; free; cupresents.org.
St. Patrick’s Day Dinner order: Through Friday, March 10, order St. Patrick’s Day dinner from Niche Market — corned beef and cabbage with potatoes and soda bread — for $14.99 per dinner. Proceeds benefit Meals on Wheels of Boulder; 10 a.m. Monday, Feb. 27, The Niche Market, 3701 Canfield St., Boulder; $14.99; mowboulder.org.
Drop-in figure drawing in NoBo: Bring your own easel, or use ours, for this facilitated, uninstructed figure drawing with a nude fine arts model who does short, uninstructed poses. All skill levels and mediums are welcome; 1 p.m. Monday, NoBo Art Center, 4929 Broadway, #E, Boulder; $25; artofmodeling.org.
Trivia with Trevonius Monk: Join Trivia Night on the last Monday of every month at the Sanitas Brewing Co. taproom, led by Trevonius Monk of ACE Entertainment. Prizes include free beers, merch and more; 7 p.m. Monday, Sanitas Brewing Company, 3550 Frontier Ave., Unit A, Boulder; free; facebook.com.
Upcoming
Self-Care Through Movement: Learn to listen intuitively and honor your body’s needs in a safe and supportive environment. Develop a regular practice exploring methods and tools of physical self-care and nervous system regulation; 6 p.m. Tuesday, Matrix Wellness, 737 29th St., Suite 300, Boulder; $20-$45; eventbrite.com.
Tuesday evening drop in figure drawing: Partake in an evening of facilitated, uninstructed figure drawing with a nude fine arts model. All skill levels and mediums are welcome; 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, NoBo Art Center, 4929 Broadway, E, Boulder; $25; artofmodeling.org.
Jam with the Jam Society: The Jam Society at CU offers a platform for young musicians to expand their musical abilities by jamming out with other musicians on Tuesdays on campus; 7 p.m. Tuesday, University Memorial Center, The Connection, First Floor, 1669 Euclid Ave., Boulder; calendar.colorado.edu.
Faculty Tuesdays: Faculty from the CU Boulder College of Music are joined by students in the honors chamber music program for a dazzling evening of performances. This program will feature Johann Strauss’ Capriccio for String Sextet, Camille Saint-Saëns’ Septet and Robert Schumann’s Adagio and Variations for Two Pianos, Two Cellos and Horn; 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Grusin Music Hall, 1020 18th St., Boulder; free; cupresents.org. | 2023-02-27T19:35:20+00:00 | dailycamera.com | https://www.dailycamera.com/2023/02/27/concert-and-campus-band-to-perform-and-other-boulder-events-for-today/ |
Digital Health Veteran to Bring Strategic Vision and Long-Term Growth Focus
NEW YORK, Sept. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Remedy Health Media ("Remedy" or "the Company"), a leading digital health platform serving patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers through a family of trusted digital brands, today announced the appointment of Steve Zatz, M.D., as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. The Company will conduct a process within the coming year to identify an individual who will assume the role of Chief Executive Officer while Dr. Zatz continues in his role as Chairman of the Board.
Dr. Zatz succeeds Mike Cunnion, who has led the company for 14 years, during which Remedy has become one of the leading digital health and content platforms in the industry. Mr. Cunnion will continue to provide strategic guidance through his role on the Board of Directors.
"It has been a privilege to lead Remedy for the last 14 years, and I could not be prouder of the growth we have achieved, the team we have built and the countless patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals we have positively impacted, supported and empowered," said Mr. Cunnion. "Steve is a pioneer in the digital healthcare space, and I know that he will bring a unique perspective and tireless drive to expanding our audience and growing our commercial business."
Dr. Zatz is a long-time industry leader in the digital health sector. He spent more than 20 years at WebMD and held various senior positions, including President and CEO. Under his leadership, WebMD became the leading source of online information for consumers and healthcare professionals. Before joining WebMD, Dr. Zatz founded and ran US Quality Algorithms (USQA), a subsidiary of US Healthcare (now Aetna), and earlier served as CEO of Physicians' Online. He currently serves as a Director of Prognos Health.
"I've spent my career helping inform the decisions patients and healthcare professionals make in order to enhance patients' quality of life and outcomes. I greatly admire the impressive work that Mike has done to position Remedy for long-term success and am very excited to join a company that shares my mission and values," said Dr. Zatz. "Remedy has a unique portfolio of highly engaging brands that provide current, informative and inspiring content, and there are many exciting opportunities for continued growth across the business in today's digital health economy."
Dr. Zatz continued, "I look forward to working with the talented team at Remedy as we continue to expand the reach and impact of Remedy's leading digital brands."
Remedy Health Media board member Nick Amigone added, "Mike's efforts have provided the business with a remarkable foundation and numerous opportunities for continued growth, and I look forward to working with our Board of industry veterans and the Remedy leadership team to position the company to enter a new phase of growth."
About Remedy Health Media
Remedy Health Media is a leading digital platform that serves communities of patients, care partners and healthcare professionals through a family of trusted health brands that exist to remove barriers and inspire action towards better health. Remedy Health Media owns and operates HealthCentral, Patient Power, TheBody, PsyCom, EndocrineWeb, Practical Pain Management, Spine Universe, TheBodyPro, EndocrineWebPro, Oncology Business Review, PsycomPro, and SpineUniversePro.
Contact
Erik Carlson
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
212-355-4449
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SOURCE Remedy Health Media | 2022-09-14T18:30:20+00:00 | wlbt.com | https://www.wlbt.com/prnewswire/2022/09/14/remedy-health-media-appoints-steve-zatz-chairman-chief-executive-officer/ |
A 13-year-old died in Ohio after participating in a Benadryl TikTok ‘challenge’
CNN, CNN BUSINESS
By Michelle Watson and Carma Hassan, CNN
A 13-year-old in Ohio has died after “he took a bunch of Benadryl,” trying a dangerous TikTok challenge that’s circulating online, according to a CNN affiliate and a GoFundMe account from his family.
Jacob Stevens was participating in a TikTok challenge with some friends at home when he ingested the antihistamine, the family donation account states. Jacob was on a ventilator for almost a week before he died, according to WSYX.
CNN has not independently confirmed his cause of death.
Overdosing on Benadryl can result in “serious heart problems, seizures, coma, or even death,” the US Food and Drug Administration said in a 2020 warning to the public about the deadly “Benadryl Challenge” on TikTok.
Jacob’s grandmother is doing anything she can “to make sure another child doesn’t go through” with the challenge, she told CNN affiliate WSYX.
In a statement to CNN, TikTok said, “Our deepest sympathies go out to the family. At TikTok, we strictly prohibit and remove content that promotes dangerous behavior with the safety of our community as a priority. We have never seen this type of content trend on our platform and have blocked searches for years to help discourage copycat behavior. Our team of 40,000 safety professionals works to remove violations of our Community Guidelines and we encourage our community to report any content or accounts they’re concerned about.”
The maker of Benadryl, Johnson & Johnson, has called the challenge “dangerous.”
“We understand that consumers may have heard about an online ‘challenge’ involving the misuse or abuse of diphenhydramine,” the undated online statement reads.
“The challenge, which involves ingestion of excessive quantities of diphenhydramine, is a dangerous trend and should be stopped immediately. BENADRYL® products and other diphenhydramine products should only be used as directed by the label.”
“We are working with TikTok and other social platforms to remove content that showcases this behavior,” the statement added. “We will look to partner across industry and with key stakeholders to address this dangerous behavior.”
CNN has reached out to the Stevens family and Columbus Public Health for comment.
The FDA’s 2020 warning said the agency had “contacted TikTok and strongly urged them to remove the videos from their platform and to be vigilant to remove additional videos that may be posted.”
Benadryl is an antihistamine used to treat symptoms such as a runny nose or sneezing from upper respiratory allergies, hay fever or the common cold. It’s safe and effective when used as recommended, the FDA said.
“Diphenhydramine is marketed under the brand-name Benadryl, store brands, and generics. It is also available in combination with pain relievers, fever reducers, and decongestants,” the agency said.
Consumers and parents should store Benadryl and other over-the-counter medications and prescription medicines out of the reach of children, the FDA said.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
CNN’s Jamie Gumbrecht and Travis Nichols contributed to this report. | 2023-04-19T19:16:45+00:00 | keyt.com | https://keyt.com/news/2023/04/19/a-13-year-old-died-in-ohio-after-participating-in-a-benadryl-tiktok-challenge-2/ |
Taking vitamin D supplements won’t protect your bones, study says
Published: Jul. 28, 2022 at 2:27 PM CDT|Updated: 29 minutes ago
(CNN) – Taking vitamin D supplements might not be as good for you as previously thought.
Many people take vitamin D supplements believing they are strengthening bones or helping prevent fractures.
The largest, longest and most controlled trial on vitamin D supplements in the U.S. was released Wednesday.
After looking at the data from nearly 26,000 people, researchers reported that vitamin D pills taken with or without calcium had no effect on bone fracture rates.
The authors of the study, however, said supplements could still help some people, like patients with osteoporosis.
For more information about the study, check out the latest edition of the “New England Journal of Medicine.”
Copyright 2022 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | 2022-07-28T19:57:19+00:00 | kalb.com | https://www.kalb.com/2022/07/28/taking-vitamin-d-supplements-wont-protect-your-bones-study-says/ |
MADRID (AP) — Some 700 people were evacuated from four small towns in western Spain owing to a wildfire fanned by strong winds that has razed some 8,000 hectares (20,000 acres), officials said Friday.
More than 400 firefighters, including 50 agents from the army’s Military Emergency Unit, are battling to bring the fire under control in Las Hurdes, a hilly area west of Madrid.
Officials suspect the fire, which began Wednesday night, was started intentionally as they say two separate blazes erupted almost simultaneously.
The president of the surrounding region of Extremadura, Guillermo Fernández Vara, said the person responsible “knew very well what they were doing” to cause the most damage by starting the blaze at night, making it more difficult to extinguish.
Many wildfires in Spain are believed by police and officials to be started intentionally. The reasons why are said to vary.
Fernández Vara said the problem Friday was not a lack of means to fight the blaze, but the winds.
“With 60 kph (40 mph) winds, it's difficult to predict how it will evolve,” he told reporters, adding that the pine trees in the area were virtual “cans of gasoline, flame throwers,”
Some 267,000 hectares (666,000 acres) burned last year in Spain, making 2022 its worst year of fire destruction since 1994, government statistics say. That was three times the national average for the past decade.
According to the European Union’s Copernicus satellite observation service, Spain accounted for 35% of all burnt land in European wildfires last year.
Spain recorded its hottest and driest April ever last month and nearly 30% of the country is now in a drought “emergency” or “alert.”
___
Follow AP’s climate coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment | 2023-05-19T17:01:35+00:00 | lmtonline.com | https://www.lmtonline.com/news/world/article/hundreds-evacuated-as-suspected-intentional-18108601.php |
SAN FRANCISCO — Draymond Green has been fined but won’t be suspended by the Golden State Warriors for a violent punch to the face of teammate Jordan Poole last week.
“We feel like we have a great feel for our team. We’ve got a lot of continuity on this team, so Bob and I know our players extremely well,” Kerr said. “We feel like this is the best way after assessing everything for us to move forward. It’s never easy no matter what decision you make in a situation like this. It’s not going to be perfect. This is the biggest crisis that we’ve ever had since I’ve been coach here. It’s really serious stuff.”
Green and Poole met in recent days about the fight and everyone involved has taken part in exhaustive discussions since the incident last Wednesday in practice, Kerr said. Two-time MVP Stephen Curry has led some of those talks.
“We have spent the last week in deep discussions with all of our key figures in the organization, including Jordan and Draymond of course, Steph, all of our players, Bob, myself, and I can tell you there have been a lot of conversations, individual, one-on-one discussions, players-only discussions,” Kerr said. “Everything that you can think of, all the different combinations that are possible to have in a conversation, we’ve had them. It’s been an exhaustive process.”
Green has been away from the team since the altercation and has been working out on his own every day.
Neither player was injured. The fiery Green has been a key veteran presence, defensive leader and part of Golden State’s four championships in eight seasons.
“Any criticism that we face here is fair,” Kerr added about the team’s decisions, noting “everything was on the table” regarding punishment.
“I support their decision,” second-year guard Moses Moody said, ready to welcome Green back.
Video of the punch leaked to TMZ was published Friday. The footage shows Green approaching Poole near the baseline and them coming chest to chest. Poole used both hands to push Green away, then Green punched Poole in the face and sent the fourth-year guard into the wall behind the baseline.
“He broke our trust with this incident but I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt because I think he’s earned that, and I think our team feels the same way,” Kerr said.
Kerr said an investigation is ongoing into the leak.
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | 2022-10-12T05:51:27+00:00 | washingtonpost.com | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nba/draymond-green-fined-but-not-suspended-set-to-rejoin-team/2022/10/12/1a137b8a-49ee-11ed-8153-96ee97b218d2_story.html |
Police: Alabama woman searched for “Taken” movie, info on Amber Alerts before she vanishedMother breastfeeding 11-month-old son says she was asked to leave popular GA water parkPassengers said people were passing out, getting sick from extreme heat on Delta flight to AtlantaA woman was seen wearing a headlamp in a pickup truck. Cherokee deputies then uncovered a chop shop Gas station owner putting up displays shot, killed by robber in DeKalb, employee says | 2023-07-19T20:54:37+00:00 | wsbtv.com | https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/convicted-felon-sentenced-illegally-having-guns-officials-say/TEKG47V7JFG7JFOTQ434SJIHQI/ |
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