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KARUIZAWA, Japan (AP) — Top diplomats from the Group of Seven wealthy democracies vowed a unified front against Chinese threats to Taiwan and Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, saying at the close of their meetings Tuesday that they were committed to boosting and enforcing tough sanctions against Moscow.
The G-7 communique laying out their commitments also included strong words over an unprecedented run of North Korean missile tests. But it was China’s growing assertiveness in Asia and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that highlighted the three-day summit hosted by Japan in this hot springs resort town.
“There can be no impunity for war crimes and other atrocities such as Russia’s attacks against civilians and critical civilian infrastructure,” the ministers said.
“We remain committed to intensifying sanctions against Russia, coordinating and fully enforcing them,” the communique said, and would support “for as long as it takes” Ukraine as it defends itself.
The foreign ministers’ communique was prepared as a template for global leaders to use at a G-7 summit that will be held in Hiroshima next month, and included language about Iran, Myanmar, Afghanistan, nuclear proliferation and other “grave threats.”
But two crises stood out: China’s increasing threats against, and military maneuvers around, Taiwan, the self-governing democracy that Beijing claims as its own, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s current offensive is largely stalled and Ukraine is preparing a counteroffensive, but there’s widespread global worry about the Russian leader’s repeated threats to use tactical nuclear weapons.
“Russia’s irresponsible nuclear rhetoric and its threat to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus are unacceptable,” the ministers said.
The G-7 envoys from Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Italy and the European Union have underlined that their meeting in Karuizawa marks a crucial moment in the world’s response to Russian and Chinese aggression, two crises that are seen as challenges to the post-World War II rules-based international order. Global efforts to confront the matters at the United Nations have been stymied by Chinese and Russian intransigence on the Security Council.
Leaders and foreign ministers of G-7 countries, most recently France and Germany, have recently concluded visits to China, and there is growing worry after China recently sent planes and ships to simulate an encirclement of Taiwan. Beijing has also been rapidly adding nuclear warheads, taking a tougher line on its claim to the South China Sea and painting a scenario of impending confrontation.
The G-7 ministers said that peace and stability between China and Taiwan in the Taiwan Strait is “an indispensable element in security and prosperity in the international community,” and they called for “the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues.”
On Taiwan, “there is clear unanimity in the approach we are taking,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters of his talks with other ministers in Karuizawa.
“What I heard was a remarkable convergence on concerns related to (China) and what we’re doing to address those concerns,” he said.
On stalled discussions with the Chinese, Blinken said the United States placed a premium on keeping communications channels open as President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed to last year.
“My expectation would be that we will be able to move forward on that, but it does require China to make clear its own intentions in doing that,” Blinken said.
The communique also urged China to “abstain from threats, coercion, intimidation or the use of force. We remain seriously concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas. … There is no legal basis for China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea, and we oppose China’s militarization activities in the region.”
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Wenbin said the G-7 had “grossly interfered in China’s internal affairs and maliciously slandered and smeared China.”
He said the communique “is full of arrogance, prejudice and sinister intentions against China. We strongly oppose and deplore this and have lodged solemn complaints with the Japanese side, the host country of the meeting.”
Despite indications, notably comments from French President Emmanuel Macron, that the G-7 is split over China, U.S. officials said in Karuizawa that there is a shared worry among G-7 nations over China’s actions, and a desire to continue a coordinated approach on working with Beijing even as nations confront Chinese coercion and attempts to water down or circumvent international rules regarding trade and commerce.
Japan’s worry about China can be seen it its efforts to make a major break from its self-defense-only post-World War II principles, which include work to acquire preemptive strike capabilities and cruise missiles.
“For the first time as the G-7, we noted in a statement our commitment to a rules-based, free and open international order and our strong objection to unilateral attempts to change the status-quo anywhere in the world,” Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters.
He said that Japan, as the only G-7 member in Asia, brought a focus to the Indo-Pacific region.
Besides China, a key worry is North Korea, which since the beginning of last year has test-fired around 100 missiles, including intercontinental ballistic missiles that showed the potential of reaching the U.S. mainland and a variety of other shorter-range weapons that threaten South Korea and Japan.
“We demand North Korea refrain from any other destabilizing or provocative actions, including any further nuclear tests or launches that use ballistic missile technology,” the communique said, adding that future actions “must be met with a swift, united and robust international response, including further significant measures to be taken by the UN Security Council.”
“It is critical that sanctions be fully and scrupulously implemented by all states and remain in place for as long as North Korea’s WMD (weapons of mass destruction) and ballistic missile programs exist,” the ministers said.
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Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo. | 2023-04-18T16:39:54+00:00 | wjhl.com | https://www.wjhl.com/news/international/g7-vows-to-intensify-sanctions-on-russia-over-war-in-ukraine/ |
TOKYO (AP) — He’d paid about $80 for his ticket. He wore a Japan cap above a blue Los Angeles Angels jersey. And as he enthused about the sensation that is Shohei Ohtani, baseball fan Hotaru Shiromizo was talking about far more than sports.
Shiromizu, 23, was part of the quilt of thousands of colorfully dressed fans outside the Tokyo Dome on Thursday afternoon. They paced, they camped out, and they discussed their hopes of seeing Ohtani pitch — and hit — against China in Japan’s opening game in the World Baseball Classic.
“He’s a legendary player, but he’s more than just a good player,” Shiromizu said, using his translator app to help clarify a few thoughts in English. “His aspirations — his achievements — have had a positive influence on all Japanese people.”
He added: “All the kids want to be like Ohtani.”
These days, Japanese culture and politics feel more tenuous than a few decades ago. The economy is stagnant. The birthrate is among the world’s lowest. A former prime minister was assassinated a few months ago on the street. And despite the “Cool Japan” image abroad, the nation faces uncertainty on many fronts, a corruption scandal surrounding the pandemic-delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and a giant Asian rival in neighboring China.
For many, Ohtani is the antidote.
PART OF AN EVOLUTION
He does things modern players don’t do. He’s a throwback who pitches, bats and can play in the field. Many call him the finest player in the major leagues. If that’s the case, then he’s better than Americans — Latin Americans, too — at what they consider their own game.
He’s the culmination — so far, at least — of an evolution in Japanese baseball that began when the game was introduced to the country in 1872 by an American professor. And his fame has now surpassed that of players like Ichiro Suzuki and Hideo Nomo, who came before him.
One of them could hit really well. One could pitch the same way. But Ohtani? He does both, and with more power — on the pitcher’s mound and at bat — than either Ichiro or Nomo.
“I suppose the idolization of Ohtani in Japan reflects its own inferiority complex vis a vis the fatherland of baseball that is the U.S.,” said Koichi Nakano, who teaches politics and culture in Tokyo at Sophia University.
“Baseball is so major here, but it has long been said that Japanese baseball, called yakyu, is different from `real’ baseball in America. Books have been written and published on the topic,” Nakano said. “So each time where there is a Japanese `export’ that was hugely successful in MLB, the Japanese are enthralled.”
The wait to see Ohtani play again in Japan is also driving the buzz around him — and the sellouts at the Tokyo Dome.
It had been almost 2,000 days since Ohtani played his last inning in Japan on Oct. 9, 2017, for the Nippon Ham-Fighters before leaving for California. That appearance drought ended in a practice game on Monday when Ohtani hit a pair of three-run homers off the Hanshin Tigers.
Keiichiro Shiotsuka, a businessman waiting outside the stadium, called Ohtani “a treasure of Japan.”
“I don’t know if such a player like him will ever exist in the future, so I’m happy he’s now playing in Japan,” he said.
TALENT AND CHARACTER
Atop all the talent, Ohtani has a sterling reputation. No scandals. No tabloid stories about his social life. He’s overflowing with $20 million in endorsements, more than any other major leaguer. And he could sign the largest contract in baseball history — the number $500 million has been kicked around — when he becomes a free agent after this season.
“He is very authentic,” said Masako Yamamoto, standing in a ticket line outside the Tokyo Dome with her 12-year-old son Shutaro and other family members. Facing her was a pulsating billboard with Ohtani’s image flashing.
“As a human, he’s polite and very charming and good to people,” she said. “He’s special. His personality is so even. He seems to make the atmosphere.”
Ohtani came out of Japan’s regimented baseball system at Hanamaki Higashi High School in largely rural Iwate prefecture in northeastern Japan. Blue Jays pitcher Yusei Kikuchi attended the same high school a few years earlier. The military-like system has its critics, but Ohtani is making it look good.
“Ohtani was raised in this Japanese, martial arts-inspired training system where you join a baseball team and you play year-round,” Robert Whiting, who has written several books on Japanese baseball and lived here off and on for 60 years, said in an interview last year with The Associated Press.
“Ichiro, in his first year in high school was probably the best player on the team, but he couldn’t play. He had to do the laundry and cook the meals. He’d get up in the middle of night and practice his swing,” Whiting said. “The same thing with Ohtani. He was cleaning toilets in high school during his first year.”
Ohtani is the polar opposite of Ichiro, who had an edge. The Japanese phrase “deru kugi wa utareru’” captures Ichiro: “The nail that sticks up gets hammered down.”
In explaining how baseball took root in Japan, Whiting and others have pointed to the importance of a game in 1896 in Yokohama between Japanese and Americans. Japan won 29-4, and many of the players were from Samurai families.
The result was front-page news in Japan. The victory is thought to have given Japan confidence as it was modernizing, coming out of centuries of isolation, and showed it could compete against the industrially advanced West.
On Thursday night, so many years later, Japan got itself more front-page baseball news. Ohtani allowed one hit in the four innings he pitched and struck out five, ending up as the winning pitcher in an 8-1 Japan victory. He also doubled off the left field wall in the fourth to score two. So fans like Shiromizu got what they came for — Ohtani pitching, hitting and not disappointing the 41,616 who showed up.
“Ohtani is the latest of these idols, but he might be even bigger than any before him,” said Nakano, the political scientist. He noted that only Ohtani hits and pitches both — just like the old-timers used to, which gives him a unique profile. “He is ‘Made in Japan,’ but more real now than America players.”
___
Video journalist Koji Ueda contributed to this report. Follow Japan-based AP sports writer Stephen Wade on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StephenWadeAP
___
AP MLB coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | 2023-03-09T16:50:58+00:00 | kron4.com | https://www.kron4.com/sports/ap-sports/shohei-ohtani-and-japan-its-much-more-than-just-baseball/ |
Report finds ‘troubling’ trend of a lack of actionable information in data breaches
42% of data compromises in Q1 2023 had no actionable information about the root cause
(InvestigateTV) — An estimated 89 million people have had their data compromised so far this year, according to a recent Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) report.
While that figure represents a 13% decrease compared to the previous quarter, the number of data breaches with no actionable information about the root cause of the compromise increase by more than 20%, the report noted.
“It is troubling to see the trend of a lack of actionable information in data breaches continue from 2022,” Eva Velasquez, President and CEO of the ITRC, wrote in an announcement of the report’s findings. “This means individuals and businesses remain at a higher risk of cyberattacks and data compromises.”
James Lee and his team at the ITRC monitor data breaches across the nation.
“What we’ve seen is, companies shift away from providing information about what happened and why,” Lee said. “Because it’s not required under their state’s law.”
A data breach can also impact consumers and clients.
“They’re going to use it to impersonate you,” Lee said. “They’re going to use it to open up accounts in your name. Not to take your existing account, but to go and find new ways of pretending to be you.”
The ITRC’s report found criminals targeted industries that carry a lot of data, such as healthcare and financial services
Lee shared several ways businesses and individuals can protect and prepare themselves against a data breach:
Businesses
- Recognize you can be a target
- Make sure staff is trained to recognize a phishing attack or when someone is trying to gain unauthorized access into your system
- Keep track of your software and have protection against malware
- Remove any excess or residual data from your systems
Individuals
- Freeze your credit if you’ve become a victim of a data breach
- Make sure you regularly update passwords on your accounts
- Keep all of your software up to date
- Maintain high quality security software
- Use a multi factor authentication app on your smartphone
“The bad guys want emails, log ins and passwords because they know the vast majority of the time, people reuse the same password and login on every account,” Lee noted. “And once that’s compromised, they have access to everything you have.”
Copyright 2023 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | 2023-05-10T20:57:05+00:00 | wsfa.com | https://www.wsfa.com/2023/05/10/report-finds-troubling-trend-lack-actionable-information-data-breaches/ |
This story is part of the My Unsung Hero series, from the Hidden Brain team, about people whose kindness left a lasting impression on someone else.
In 2013, John Kindschuh was on track to become a partner at an international law firm. He was enjoying being a dad to his 3-year-old son and newborn daughter. Then, one fall day, he started to feel incredibly dizzy — so dizzy, he had to be admitted to the Missouri Baptist Medical Center in St. Louis.
That's where he met his unsung hero: his hospital roommate.
"Usually, we think of our heroes as being strong or invincible ... mine was lying in the hospital bed. He was weak. He was immobile. He was vulnerable," Kindschuh said.
Kindschuh had struck up a conversation with his roommate. The man couldn't help but notice when Kindschuh's speech started to rapidly decline — prompting him to push the call button on his bedside remote.
"Medical professionals rushed into my room and began to think I was suffering from a stroke because my speech was clearly affected," Kindschuh said.
He doesn't remember much about this moment, but Kindschuh now knows he was having a massive stroke. And his roommate's quick actions may have made the difference.
"Without him, doctors would not have known to perform the life-saving surgery needed on my skull," Kindschuh said.
Nearly 10 years later, Kindschuh has regained much of what he lost to the stroke. He's able to drive, work and once again be a father to his three kids — one of whom was born after the stroke. Kindschuh attributes his life as it is now to his unsung hero.
"Without him it is unclear if I would have lived or died," Kindschuh said. "I was unable to thank him years ago. I want to say that he not only saved me, but in doing so, he saved my unborn child. I will be blessed for the rest of my entire life because of my unsung hero's actions."
My Unsung Hero is also a podcast — new episodes are released every Tuesday. To share the story of your unsung hero with the Hidden Brain team, record a voice memo on your phone and send it to myunsunghero@hiddenbrain.org.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | 2023-07-18T02:53:14+00:00 | kvpr.org | https://www.kvpr.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-07-17/john-was-talking-with-a-fellow-patient-who-noticed-his-speech-rapidly-declining |
Company brings effective, affordable and holistic foot care solutions to over 900 locations
BELLINGHAM, Wash., June 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ZenToes, a fast growing FDA-registered, podiatrist-recommended foot care brand, today announced that it is rolling out its fun and functional products for effective, fast and holistic relief for common foot conditions in over 900 Target stores and on Target.com.
Founded in 2015 by Sarah Parks who initially set out to create an affordable and effective holistic solution for a family member struggling with bunions, ZenToes now offers a full line of products to increase comfort and relieve discomfort associated with bunions, hammer toes, plantar fasciitis and other common foot conditions. ZenToes products are rigorously tested, easy-to-use, stylish, durable, washable, reusable and proven to relieve discomfort during use.
"Our mission has always been to empower people to live an active, balanced and pain free life at every age – and we believe firmly in creating effective solutions that are affordable and accessible to everyone," says ZenToes founder, Sarah Parks. "We're so excited to have the support of Target in expanding our retail footprint to bring our product line to even more consumers around the country with the ease and convenience of now finding our fun and functional foot care products in their favorite store."
Target now carries ZenToes best-selling products including ZenToes Silicone Toe Separators, ZenToes Toe Spacer, ZenToes Double-Loop Toe Separator, ZenToes Cushioned Fabric Toe Wraps, ZenToes Triple Loop Toe Crest, ZenToes Gel Toe Caps, ZenToes Metatarsal Gel Pads, and ZenToes Callus Cushions – all of which are presented in beautiful, fun Target-exclusive packaging.
ZenToes is proudly women-owned and WBENC certified. All of the company's products are distributed with dignity and purpose by individuals with diverse abilities at Opportunities Inc.
The launch of ZenToes in Target stores marks a milestone for the brand and holistic and preventative medicine movements, making it easier for consumers to access effective, affordable and thoughtfully developed products without having to compromise on quality, effectiveness or expensive and invasive surgical procedures. ZenToes is now available for purchase at select Target stores across the country and on target.com.
For more information about ZenToes, please visit ZenToes.com
For more information on where to find ZenToes at Target please visit https://www.target.com/s/zentoes
For visual assets, please see Dropbox
PR Contact:
zentoes@nettepr.com
About ZenToes
Founded in 2015, ZenToes is an up & coming FDA-registered, podiatrist-recommended foot care brand offering fun and functional products for effective, fast and holistic relief for common foot and ankle conditions. ZenToes products are rigorously tested to provide relief from the discomfort associated with bunions, hammer toes, plantar fasciitis and other common foot conditions. ZenToes is proudly women-owned, WBENC certified and works with Opportunities Inc. to distribute its products with dignity and purpose by individuals with diverse abilities.
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SOURCE ZenToes | 2023-06-05T14:16:54+00:00 | wcjb.com | https://www.wcjb.com/prnewswire/2023/06/05/zentoes-disrupts-personal-care-aisles-with-national-retail-launch/ |
KITSAP COUNTY, Wash. — A voter-funded recount is underway in the Kitsap County sheriff’s race.
Incumbent Sheriff John Gese overwhelmingly defeated challenger Rick Kuss in the November election by nearly 20,000 votes.
The backers of the recount do not expect their effort to overturn the initial results, the citizens behind the request said they hope the process will confirm the accuracy of the November results.
“A hand recount is one check we can commission to verify that the tabulating machines did in fact tally the votes correctly,” said William Campbell, in a written statement.
Campbell was elected chair of the group that is made up of six registered voters.
The group is paying Kitsap County $31,000 to conduct the recount, which is expected to take two weeks, said Kitsap County Auditor Paul Andrews.
Andrews said he is confident the initial numbers will be confirmed.
"If they're willing to pay for it, I'm willing to count them," Andrews said. ”I welcome this. For me, this is our chance to really shine now. To prove what we did back in the election when we did the initial count.”
Kuss, who was not part of the group who requested the recount, said he helped the citizens raise funds.
He is not expecting to be named sheriff as a result, he is just curious how accurate the machine count will turn out to be.
”I have accepted the results. I’m moving on,” said Kuss, “I’ve already done a job interview, so it’s not like I’m holding out hope for a Christmas miracle here.”
Sheriff Gese, in a written statement, said he respects the recount process.
“But at this time I am moving forward and focusing on my work as sheriff by serving the people of Kitsap County and leading the women and men of the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office,” said Gese. | 2022-12-13T02:39:54+00:00 | king5.com | https://www.king5.com/article/news/politics/elections/voter-funded-recount-kitsap-county-sheriff-election/281-8afa5c56-3dab-44dd-8336-446a2c075dfc |
A homeless man assaulted three Laredo police officers when they interrupted him cooking a meal for himself at the north Laredo H-E-B, states an arrest affidavit.
Jeremiah Chapa, 42, was charged with criminal trespass, resisting arrest and three counts of assault on a public servant.
An LPD officer responded about 10:49 a.m. Nov. 14 to assist other officers who were in a struggle with a man at the H-E-B Plus! on 1911 NE Bob Bullock Loop.
Officers said they were attempting to detain the male, Chapa, for violating a criminal trespass warning that had been issued to him, according to court documents.
Chapa was cooking himself a meal using H-E-B equipment and groceries he had not yet purchased. A manager told Chapa he needed to leave the premises. Chapa refused to leave, states the affidavit.
Chapa resisted the arrest when officers arrived. Chapa then punched the officers in the face and head area. | 2022-11-21T21:49:02+00:00 | lmtonline.com | https://www.lmtonline.com/local/article/Police-Man-assaulted-3-cops-at-H-E-B-Plus-17601556.php |
Drivers can expect delays on Interstate 35/35E/35W in Forest Lake this weekend as crews work to repair concrete on the roadway.
Beginning 5 a.m. Saturday, northbound I-35E and northbound I-35W will each be reduced to one lane south of the I-35E/I-35W split. At the same time, northbound I-35 will be reduced to two lanes from the I-35E/I-35W split to about 1/4 mile north of the split, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
Crews plan to reopen the lanes by 10 a.m. Sunday.
All construction activities and traffic impacts are weather dependent and subject to change. | 2022-07-20T20:23:06+00:00 | twincities.com | https://www.twincities.com/2022/07/20/forest-lake-i-35-lane-closures-begin-saturday/ |
A large dust cloud is headed for Florida and has the potential to influence air quality in the southeastern U.S. and could lead to more vivid sunrises and sunsets this weekend, according to several news sources.
The plume of dust originated over The Sahara in Africa and will have traveled more than 5,000 miles before it reaches the Sunshine State. It could lessen rainfall across the southeastern U.S., block out sunlight, lower temperatures and stop hurricanes from forming off the coast, according to reports from FOX Weather and Forbes.
The Saharan dust clouds were spotted by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite over the eastern Caribbean Sea on Thursday, Forbes reported.
Dust clouds of the Saharan Air Layer are said to be common during the early summer and mid-summer when tiny particles are carried by winds across the Atlantic Ocean. But if the Saharan Air Layer is thick enough, there’s a good chance it could result in poor air quality readings.
According to the NOAA, the air has about 50 percent less moisture than the typical atmosphere, which can affect cloud formation and thunderstorm activity, FOX Weather reported.
“Tropical waves, the origin of many tropical storms and hurricanes, thrive on a moist atmosphere,” AccuWeather Director of Forecast Operations Dan DePodwin said. “When Saharan dust is present, development of these waves can be impeded due to the atmosphere being drier than what is typical.”
On a few occasions, though, the dust could mix to lower levels of the atmosphere, which can cause breathing difficulties for those who have weak respiratory system, as well as the possibility of eye, nose and throat irritations due to the dust particles in the air.
The plumes are predicted to reach Florida by Saturday and could spread as far west as Texas over the weekend. It could also impact the Gulf Coast through the next week, according to reports.
Read more via FOX Weather and Forbes.
Read More:
- How a Florida therapist uses pleasure to liberate Black women
- Earth sets an unofficial heat record for the third time this week
- Earth may have set heat record this week, but Wednesday could be hotter | 2023-07-07T22:20:20+00:00 | pennlive.com | https://www.pennlive.com/nation-world/2023/07/dust-from-the-saharan-desert-could-affect-air-quality-sunsets-over-florida-reports.html |
Company's Enterprise-Level Open Kitchen® IoT Platform Is Helping to Fuel Restaurants, Grocers, and C-Stores Continued Strength
BOSTON, July 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Powerhouse Dynamics, the leading enterprise-level Internet of Things (IoT) partner to the restaurant, foodservice, grocery, C-store, and retail industries, has received a 2023 IoT Evolution Product of the Year Award for its Open Kitchen IoT platform from IoT Evolution World, a major website covering advances in IoT technologies from TMC and Crossfire Media.
Powerhouse Dynamics's Open Kitchen platform for foodservice and restaurant brands enables clients to connect, analyze and control their equipment to improve operational and energy efficiency, reduce costs, automate tasks, increase food quality and safety, speed new recipes/limited-time promotions into the market, and help meet environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) goals.
"The solutions selected for this award reflect the diverse range of innovation driving the multibillion-dollar IoT market today. It is my honor to congratulate Powerhouse Dynamics for their superior contribution to the rapidly evolving IoT industry," said Rich Tehrani, CEO of TMC.
"We are thrilled to receive this recognition," said Jay Fiske, President of Powerhouse Dynamics, a Middleby (NASDAQ: MIDD) company. "Though the pandemic was hard on the restaurant and retail industries, Powerhouse Dynamics's Open Kitchen IoT platform helped our foodservice customers maintain their strength and have been critical to their comeback. It is gratifying to be a part of our clients success stories."
Open Kitchen's equipment-brand-agnostic technology easily integrates with clients' refrigerators, freezers, ovens, fryers, dish machines, HVAC, and more to deliver improvements across the enterprise. Monitoring equipment data and automating processes from the cloud makes everything easier—from ensuring compliance with HACCP food safety guidelines, to minimizing peak demand utility charges during the hot summer months.
The recognition from IoT Evolution World is the latest in a number of awards that Powerhouse Dynamics has received. For example, in 2022, Inspire Brands® honored the company with a Maverick Award as the company's most innovative equipment supplier.
About Powerhouse Dynamics
Founded in 2009 and acquired by The Middleby Corporation in 2019, Powerhouse Dynamics of Newton, MA is the leading provider of "Internet of Things" (IoT)-based solutions to connect, analyze and control equipment to deliver enterprise-wide operational efficiencies. To learn more, visit powerhousedynamics.com.
About Crossfire Media
Crossfire Media is an integrated marketing company with a core focus on future trends in technology. Crossfire Media has a partnership with Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC) to produce events and websites related to disruptive technologies. Crossfire Media is a division of Crossfire Consulting, a full-service Information Technology company based in New York.
About TMC
Through education, industry news, live events and social influence, global buyers rely on TMC's content-driven marketplaces to make purchase decisions and navigate markets. As a result, leading technology vendors turn to TMC for unparalleled branding, thought leadership and lead generation opportunities. For more information about TMC, please visit www.tmcnet.com.
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SOURCE Powerhouse Dynamics | 2023-07-18T20:06:58+00:00 | kcbd.com | https://www.kcbd.com/prnewswire/2023/07/18/powerhouse-dynamics-honored-innovation-with-2023-iot-evolution-product-year-award/ |
—Capital Will Help Enhance The Startup's Offering And Grow A Market-
Facing Team As It Expands Its Reach Within The Real Estate Industry—
NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Tongo—a FinTech company realigning income and expenses for the commission economy—announced it has raised $7 million in seed funding. The company will use these proceeds to expand product and team in its initial market of real estate, where Tongo empowers brokerages to offer agents on-demand access to pending commissions, which they can use like a line of credit to grow their business & stabilize cash flows. The round was led by MetaProp, with participation from New Valley Ventures, Good Friends, Launchpad, Elizabeth Street, Red Bike, Lab Ventures and Entrepreneur's Roundtable Accelerator. Tongo's fundraising to-date is $11 million.
"Traditional credit products are not built for today's commission economy. Their underwriting models prioritize steady, salaried incomes that work well with their monthly billing cycles. The combination of lower credit availability and strict monthly repayment generates an immense problem for tens of millions of self-employed people where income is more free flowing, such as in real estate and other commission-driven professions. It presents a huge opportunity for Tongo to create financial products that realign income and expenses," said Tongo's CEO Brandon Wright. "By effectively building a debit card for future income, Tongo gives agents an alternative to the credit ecosystem that reduces the volatile, cyclical nature of their income, and at the same time gives them a cost-effective source of capital to grow their business."
Tongo partners with real estate brokerages to offer their agents flexible, real-time and low-cost access to future commission income long before closing via a card-based product. The Tongo Smart Card can be utilized wherever debit cards are taken, and funds can be pushed directly into one's checking account. Once a commission is received, the borrower simply pays down the balance on their card. If a contract falls through, Tongo provides the borrower with the flexibility to pay down the balance the next time a commission is received. Tongo only gets repaid when an agent collects — whenever that happens next. Brokers no longer have to advance money to agents.
"The lumpy, irregular and uncertain nature of commission revenue defines the income patterns of many of the 3 million licensed real estate agents in the U.S., complicating their ability to invest in their businesses and manage personal expenses," stated MetaProp's General Partner Zak Schwarzman. "Tongo has developed a modern, elegant solution that eases this challenge, enabling agents to easily access future commission revenue on friendly, flexible terms with the swipe of a card. Tongo addresses a glaring gap in the consumer credit market for agents and is resonating equally strongly with brokerage firms, who are partnering with Tongo to offer a powerful and differentiated financial management solution that impacts their agents' lives and wallets."
"The commission economy is something real estate agents are intimately familiar with, and thousands of agents rely on transaction closings to provide commission income," shared New Valley Ventures' Managing Director Dan Sachar. "We know first-hand this growing part of the labor force needs better liquidity solutions to manage their budgets and lives. Tongo's next-generation platform provides a modern and easy-to-use approach for real estate agents."
ABOUT TONGO: Tongo works like a debit card on future income. Founded in 2021 by Brandon Wright, Luis Scull, John Macris and Patrick Waltinger, Tongo enables today's real estate professionals to invest in their businesses—and themselves—all year long, privately, while commissions are still locked up. Tongo gets paid back when agents get paid. Tongo's investors include leading names such as MetaProp, Good Friends, Launchpad, Elizabeth Street, Douglas Elliman via New Valley Ventures, Red Bike, Lab Ventures & Remarkable Ventures. To learn more, visit https://gettongo.com/
ABOUT METAPROP: MetaProp is a New York-based venture capital (VC) firm focused on the real estate technology ("PropTech") industry. Founded in 2015, MetaProp's investment team has invested in 150+ technology companies across the real estate value chain. The firm manages multiple funds for both financial and strategic real estate investors that represent a pilot- and test-ready sandbox of 20+ billion square feet across every real estate asset type and global market. The firm's investment activities are complemented by pioneering community leadership including the PropTech Place innovation hub, MetaProp Accelerator at Columbia University programs, global events NYC Real Estate Tech Week and Propel by MIPIM NYC, and publications Global PropTech Confidence Index and PropTech 101.
ABOUT DOUGLAS ELLIMAN INC.: Douglas Elliman Inc. (NYSE: DOUG) ("Douglas Elliman") owns Douglas Elliman Realty, LLC, which is one of the largest residential brokerage companies in the United States with operations in New York City, Long Island, Westchester, Connecticut, New Jersey, the Hamptons, Massachusetts, Florida, California, Colorado, Texas and Nevada. In addition, Douglas Elliman sources, uses and invests in early-stage, disruptive property technology ("PropTech") solutions and companies and provides other real estate services, including development marketing, property management and settlement and escrow services in select markets. Additional information concerning Douglas Elliman is available on its website, www.elliman.com.
Media Contact:
Elise Szwajkowski Marino, Vice President
eszwajkowski@marinopr.com
(212) 402-3495
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SOURCE Tongo | 2022-09-29T14:42:56+00:00 | wafb.com | https://www.wafb.com/prnewswire/2022/09/29/tongo-raises-7m-seed-funding/ |
The number of migrants illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border is lower than it's been since the first weeks of 2021 — and the Biden administration says its sharp limits on asylum at the border are a big reason why.
Now the administration's border policies are being challenged in court by immigrant advocates and immigration hardliners alike, with a crucial hearing about the new asylum rules set for today in California.
Under those rules, which took effect in May, there is one main legal pathway to seek asylum for migrants who are already at the border: through a mobile app called CBP One. But for migrants who cross the border illegally after passing through Mexico or another country, it's much harder to get asylum.
'I don't have anyone telling me it's going to be OK'
For those migrants at the border, that can mean an agonizing wait for an appointment.
"I want to do things legally right," said Liseth, who traveled alone from Venezuela all the way to Nogales, Mexico. She asked not to use her last name because she doesn't want to endanger her family back in Venezuela.
Those appointments are basically the first step toward applying for asylum — and being admitted into the U.S. while the legal process plays out. Every day, Liseth says, she sees other migrants getting appointments through the CBP One.
But not her. A few weeks ago in downtown Nogales, Liseth said she had been trying for a month to get an appointment through the app — with no luck.
"I feel bad because I'm alone," she said in Spanish. "I feel vulnerable, sad and overwhelmed being here alone. I don't have anyone telling me it's going to be OK, be patient, we will get an appointment to enter the U.S."
Still, Liseth decided it was better to wait for an appointment than to cross illegally — and she's not alone. Up and down the border, roughly 100,000 migrants are waiting in camps and cities, according to a U.S. government estimate, hoping for a chance to seek asylum.
Limits on asylum at the border
The Biden administration credits the CBP One app and the new asylum rules for the sharp drop in illegal border crossings in recent weeks. Last month, U.S. Border Patrol agents recorded just under 100,000 encounters between the ports of entry, the lowest total since February 2021.
"We are allowing migrants to claim asylum but placing what we believe are some common sense conditions on it," Blas Nuñez-Neto, a top immigration official at the Department of Homeland Security, said in an interview with Morning Edition in May.
The Biden administration is trying to restore access to asylum at the border, Nuñez-Neto said, after the Trump administration tried to block it altogether. DHS is allowing roughly 40,000 migrants per month to make appointments through the CBP One app.
"What we are really trying to do here is incentivize migrants to use safe, lawful and orderly pathways," Nuñez-Neto said. "But also, you know there has to be a consequence at the border for individuals who continue to cross irregularly despite having these options available to them."
But the administration's asylum policies are drawing criticism — from both ends of the immigration debate.
Immigrant advocates sue to block asylum rules
Immigrant advocates say the new asylum rule is unlawful because migrants are allowed to seek asylum anyway on U.S. soil. They argue it's creating a bottleneck by forcing migrants to use the CBP One app.
"It's really putting people between a rock and a hard place," said Chelsea Sachau, a lawyer with The Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project, a nonprofit in Arizona that's helping migrants to understand the new legal landscape.
"It's not respecting their rights to seek asylum. It's not giving them a fair process," she said.
National advocacy groups filed a legal challenge to the rule the day it took effect. They say it's all but identical to a Trump administration policy that was blocked in court, and they've gone back to the same federal judge in Oakland, California who ruled in their favor before.
The Biden administration disputes that this rule is the same as the Trump-era version, because it's paired with new legal pathways.
Immigration hardliners see 'a shell game'
That's not the only legal challenge the administration's new border policies are facing. There's also a case brought by Republican-led states, arguing the Biden administration is letting too many asylum-seekers into the country.
"When you report that illegal migrants, the numbers are down — that's a shell game. It's like a magic trick," Republican Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana said at a hearing in June.
Higgins and other immigration hardliners say the Biden administration is using the CBP One app to put a new name on the same flow of migrants as before, creating a so-called legal pathway that Congress never intended.
"This executive branch has redefined what an illegal entry is," Higgins said.
The White House insists it's on solid legal ground. But homeland security officials acknowledge that legal fights over asylum are likely to continue, even if the judge in today's hearing ultimately rules in their favor.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | 2023-07-19T10:30:16+00:00 | lakeshorepublicmedia.org | https://www.lakeshorepublicmedia.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-07-19/illegal-border-crossings-are-down-one-big-reason-why-is-now-part-of-a-court-fight |
NEW YORK (AP) — Two New York City hospitals have reached a tentative contract agreement with thousands of striking nurses that ends this week’s walkout that disrupted patient care, officials announced Thursday.
The nurses, represented by the New York State Nurses Association, walked out early Monday after negotiations with management ran aground at Mount Sinai Hospital, in Manhattan, and Montefiore Medical Center, in the Bronx. Each has over 1,000 beds and 3,500 or more union nurses.
Nurses began returning to work at both hospitals Thursday morning, with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul greeting returning nurses at Mount Sinai just before dawn.
Hochul, a Democrat, said that with the new three-year contract, “they’ll receive a well-deserved 19% pay increase here. Also better benefits, higher wages for those with higher education, and again, a working environment that allows them to focus on patient care.”
The union has stressed staffing levels as a key concern, saying that nurses who labored through the grueling peak of the coronavirus pandemic are stretched far too thin because too many jobs are open. Nurses say they have had to work overtime, handle twice as many patients as they should, and skip meals and even bathroom breaks.
The agreements with both hospitals include concrete, enforceable staffing ratios, the union said. The agreement with Montefiore also included what the union described as community health improvements and nurse-student partnerships to recruit local nurses from the Bronx.
“Through our unity and by putting it all on the line, we won enforceable safe staffing ratios at both Montefiore and Mount Sinai where nurses went on strike for patient care,” NYSNA President Nancy Hagans said in a statement. “Today, we can return to work with our heads held high, knowing that our victory means safer care for our patients and more sustainable jobs for our profession.”
The privately owned, nonprofit hospitals say they have been grappling with a widespread nursing shortage that was exacerbated by the pandemic.
“Our bargaining team has been working around the clock with NYSNA’s leadership to come to an agreement,” Montefiore said in a statement. “From the outset, we came to the table committed to bargaining in good faith and addressing the issues that were priorities for our nursing staff.”
The hospital said it focused on ensuring the nurses had “the best possible working environment, with significant wage and benefit enhancements” through the deal with the union.
“We know this strike impacted everyone — not just our nurses — and we were committed to coming to a resolution as soon as possible to minimize disruption to patient care,” the hospital said.
Mount Sinai said in a statement it was pleased to have reached a tentative agreement and that the strike was over.
“Our proposed agreement is similar to those between NYSNA and eight other New York City hospitals. It is fair and responsible, and it puts patients first,” Mount Sinai Health System said.
Several other private hospitals around the city reached deals with the union as the strike deadline loomed. The agreements included raises totaling 19% over three years.
Mount Sinai and Montefiore said before the strike that they had offered the same pay boosts. | 2023-01-12T13:04:11+00:00 | seattletimes.com | https://www.seattletimes.com/business/striking-new-york-city-nurses-reach-deal-with-hospitals/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_business |
Adds Extensive Executive-Level Leadership, Operations Expertise & Financial Experience in the Energy & Industrial Industries
HOUSTON, July 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Quanta Services, Inc. (NYSE:PWR) announced today the appointment of Scott Rowe to the company's Board of Directors. He brings extensive executive-level leadership, operations expertise and financial experience to Quanta's board.
David McClanahan, Quanta Services' independent Chairman of the Board, commented, "We are pleased to welcome Scott to the Quanta Services Board of Directors. He is an accomplished public company executive and director, with extensive energy and industrial experience. We look forward to working with Scott and are excited about the perspective he will provide to Quanta's board and to the company."
Since April 2017, Mr. Rowe has served as President, Chief Executive Officer and a director of Flowserve Corporation, a publicly traded developer and manufacturer of precision-engineered flow control systems that support global infrastructure industries, including energy, chemical, power generation and water management, and certain general industrial markets. From 2016 to 2017, Mr. Rowe served as President of Cameron Group of Schlumberger Ltd., an operating company of Schlumberger Limited, a publicly traded company that provides solutions and technologies to energy customers. Additionally, prior to Schlumberger's acquisition of Cameron International Corporation in 2016, he served in various roles of increasing responsibility with Cameron International, including as President and Chief Executive Officer from 2015 to 2016, as President and Chief Operating Officer from 2014 to 2015, as a director from 2014 to 2016 and as a division president from 2008 to 2014. Mr. Rowe also previously served as a captain in the United States Army and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Management and a Master of Business Administration degree.
About Quanta Services
Quanta Services is a leading specialized contracting services company, delivering comprehensive infrastructure solutions for the utility, communications, pipeline and energy industries. Quanta's comprehensive services include designing, installing, repairing and maintaining energy and communications infrastructure. With operations throughout the United States, Canada, Australia and select other international markets, Quanta has the manpower, resources and expertise to safely complete projects that are local, regional, national or international in scope. For more information, visit www.quantaservices.com.
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SOURCE Quanta Services, Inc. | 2022-07-18T20:35:35+00:00 | kwtx.com | https://www.kwtx.com/prnewswire/2022/07/18/scott-rowe-joins-quanta-services-board-directors/ |
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla., July 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Hundreds of Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) sorority members stood in their trademark pink and green colors outside Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park at Walt Disney World Resort late Saturday night, a day before the sorority's international convention began in Orlando.
The sorority members attended a private after-hours reception hosted by Disney at the park to kick off the sorority's 70th biennial conference known as the Boule. AKA Members posed in their organization's distinctive pink and green colors amid glowing pink and green lights.
During the welcome reception at Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park, the members experienced a night full of live entertainment, character interactions, culinary delights and sweet treats.
Established in 1908, AKA is recognized as the first Greek-letter organization for collegiate Black women in the United States. Currently the sorority has more than 300,000 members, including well-known past and present members such as poet Maya Angelou, actor Jada Pinkett Smith, singer Alicia Keys, activist Coretta Scott King, author Toni Morrison, actor Jada Pinkett Smith, singer Ella Fitzgerald and civil rights icon Rosa Parks.
More than 10,000 women are expected to attend the convention in Orlando from July 10-15.
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SOURCE Walt Disney World Resort | 2022-07-10T20:45:23+00:00 | witn.com | https://www.witn.com/prnewswire/2022/07/10/alpha-kappa-alpha-sorority-members-aglow-pink-green-disneys-animal-kingdom-theme-park-walt-disney-world-resort-ahead-national-convention-orlando/ |
Jeep is looking to take self-driving cars off-road.
The automaker on Wednesday released a short video clip of autonomous prototypes testing in Moab, Utah. The clip shows a pair of Grand Cherokee 4xe plug-in hybrids with added sensors tackling some of Moab’s famous trails with no human at the wheel. Jeep was vague on where these tests might lead, though.
“These advanced off-road driving systems will help more customers in more countries around the world join and enjoy the adventure,” Jeep CEO Christian Meunier said in a statement. “These features and technology will have real-life applications on and off the trail in a wide range of driving conditions.”
Neither Meunier nor Jeep provided more detail on what those applications might be, or a production timeline, though. An autonomous driving system designed for off-road use would likely face fewer regulatory hurdles than tech intended for use on public roads, however.
While the Grand Cherokee models used for these tests are based on a legacy platform, Jeep parent Stellantis has said it plans to bake advanced driver-assist capability into its future EV platforms. In late 2021, the automaker announced new software systems to be introduced starting in 2024 in Stellantis’ four dedicated EV platforms. One, called STLA AutoDrive, promises SAE Level 3 capability, meaning hands-off, eyes-off operation in certain conditions.
The first confirmed Jeep models that will use one of the dedicated EV platforms, and thus potentially incorporate some of this software, are the Wrangler-esque Recon and the Wagoneer S. Both are scheduled to be unveiled later this year, with production due to start in 2024.
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- Rezvani’s rugged Tank gains plug-in hybrid power | 2023-06-01T13:43:50+00:00 | kfor.com | https://kfor.com/automotive/internet-brands/jeep-testing-autonomous-driving-tech-for-off-road-use/ |
To-date, SIA Scotch Whisky has Donated Over $350,000 to Minority Entrepreneurs, Helping Them Challenge Conventions and Achieve the Unexpected
NEW YORK, Aug. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SIA Scotch Whisky, an award-winning spirits brand founded by first-generation Hispanic entrepreneur Carin Luna-Ostaseski, is bringing back The Entrepreneurial Spirit Fund by SIA Scotch for the second consecutive year. The groundbreaking initiative provides entrepreneurs of color with access to the capital and mentorship that will help them take action, build stronger companies and have a positive impact on their communities.
This year, the grant program will focus on growing businesses specifically within the brand's own world – the food, beverage, and hospitality sector [1]. This space has been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, and its small business owners continue to face massive barriers, such as adapting to consumers' ever-evolving preferences and spending behaviors, adjusting to increased at-home demand, and facing supply chain disruptions. As a brand built from the ground up, SIA Scotch Whisky truly understands the importance of supporting these often-overlooked small business owners along their entrepreneurial journeys.
"As an entrepreneur from a historically underrepresented and underserved community, gaining access to funding and mentorship during my startup journey was always an uphill battle," said founder Luna-Ostaseski. "The food, beverage and hospitality space is very competitive, and I know from firsthand experience how game-changing support can be. SIA Scotch Whisky was born out of my perseverance and passion, and to this day our purpose is to inspire other entrepreneurs of color to achieve the unexpected – just like I did. I am so proud of The Entrepreneurial Spirit Fund and its continued commitment to paying it forward."
However, success is not easy to come by. Entrepreneurs of color tend to face more obstacles when it comes to raising capital and are far more likely to get shut out of financing completely. Despite approximately 18.7% of all U.S. businesses being minority-owned [2], representing over 50% of new businesses started and creating 4.7 million new jobs, this group is still largely excluded in funding – receiving only a 2% share of venture capital annually over the last decade [3].
The Entrepreneurial Spirit Fund by SIA Scotch is inspired by Carin Luna-Ostaseski's entrepreneurial journey and launches in partnership with Hello Alice, a free online platform that connects its community of nearly one million small business owners with the capital, tools and education they need to grow their businesses.
"Entrepreneurs of color are an economic force in the U.S and recognizing their impact in our communities is of great importance," said Elizabeth Gore, co-founder and President, Hello Alice. "In our most recent survey, 89% of small business owners claim access to capital is limiting their business growth potential. Along with our partner SIA Scotch Whisky, we are excited to continue this groundbreaking grant program to help support this underserved community and provide the resources, tools and additional exposure that these businesses need to succeed."
The Entrepreneurial Spirit Fund by SIA Scotch will award $10,000 grants to 11 qualifying entrepreneurs who self-identify as people of color, for a total of $110,000. To apply, visit https://hialice.co/siascotchfund now through Sept. 26, 2022. To be eligible, business owners must be 25 years of age or older (as of November 1, 2022) and a legal U.S. resident. Businesses must be owned 51%+ by person(s) of color, a for-profit business producing less than $5M in annual gross revenue, not be an alcohol beverage wholesale or retail license holder or a business which makes/distributes/imports alcohol, and must operate and/or conduct business in at least one of the following states: CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, IL, MA, MN, NJ, NV, NY, RI and/or TX. For complete eligibility criteria and important restrictions, visit the application site and terms & conditions. The final grant recipients will be announced on Nov. 1, 2022, kicking off National Entrepreneur Month.
The Entrepreneurial Spirit Fund is a continuation of SIA Scotch Whisky's nearly decade-long commitment to donating a portion of sales to organizations that help support underrepresented entrepreneurs – the dreamers, movers and shakers who are shaping the future. When getting into the entrepreneurial spirit or when sipping on actual spirits, SIA encourages consumers of legal drinking age to drink responsibly.
About SIA Scotch Whisky:
SIA is an unexpected blend for the modern palate and everything you'd never expect from a scotch whisky. Since its launch on the crowdfunding site kickstarter.com in 2012 and appearing on shelves in 2013, SIA Scotch Whisky has been challenging conventions and inspiring others to achieve the unexpected. As one of the first scotch whisky brands in history to be launched by a Hispanic entrepreneur, SIA has an approachable taste profile that features warm vanilla, salty-sweet caramel, refreshing citrus, clover honey, buttery toffee, and just a hint of smoke. Distilled, blended, matured, and bottled in Scotland, SIA Scotch Whisky is a multi-award-winning brand, scoring an impressive 96 points at the Ultimate Spirits Challenge (2016) and a Double Gold at the prestigious San Francisco World Spirits Competition (2014) - and called "one of the best in its style" by Whisky Advocate Magazine (2015). SIA is delicious in cocktails, neat or on the rocks, and is best served in places and spaces where potential is poured and friendships are celebrated. Look for SIA Scotch Whisky on ReserveBar.com, as well as in your local liquor stores, restaurants, and bars. For more information follow us on Instagram @SiaScotchWhisky or visit our website siascotchwhisky.com.
About Carin Luna-Ostaseski:
In a terrific twist of fate, 1st generation Cuban American Carin Luna-Ostaseski set out to create a Scotch Whisky brand that would change the way people think about the category. She decided to seek these new horizons in the form of a grand tour of her local whisky purveyor – 300 bottles of whiskies and countless tasting events later, she became a dedicated student of this sublime spirit. Carin eventually left her 17-year career as a Creative Director and successfully funded SIA Scotch Whisky on kickstarter.com, pursuing her dream of becoming a successful entrepreneur and one of the first Hispanic people in history to create a Scotch Whisky company.
About Diageo:
Diageo is a global leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands including Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, Bulleit and Buchanan's whiskies, Smirnoff, Cîroc, and Ketel One vodkas, Casamigos, DeLeon and Don Julio tequilas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Tanqueray, and Guinness.
Diageo is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE: DGE) and its products are sold in more than 180 countries around the world. For more information about Diageo, its people, brands, and performance, visit www.diageo.com. Visit Diageo's global responsible drinking resource, www.DRINKiQ.com, for information, initiatives, and ways to share best practices. Follow Twitter and Instagram for news and information about Diageo North America: @Diageo_NA.
About Hello Alice:
Hello Alice is a free, multichannel platform that helps businesses launch and grow. With a community of nearly 1M small business owners in all 50 states and across the globe, Hello Alice is building the largest network of owners in the country while tracking data and trends to increase the success rate for entrepreneurs. Our partners include enterprise business services, government agencies, and institutions looking to serve small- and medium-business owners to ensure increased revenues and promote scale. A Latina owned company, founded by Carolyn Rodz and Elizabeth Gore, we believe in business for all by providing access to all owners including women, people of color, veterans, and everyone with an entrepreneurial spirit. To learn more, visit www.helloalice.com, as well as Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.
1 Food, beverage, and hospitality industry includes businesses who offer products and services such as: kitchenware, glassware, barware, cocktail mixers, at-home entertaining/party planning, food trucks, cafes, food and beverage blogs, recipe curation and more. Businesses which hold an alcohol beverage wholesale or retail license and those which make/distribute/import alcohol are ineligible. There is a strong preference for applicant businesses to be involved in the food, beverage, and hospitality industry, but not a requirement.
2 Source: U.S Census Bureau; Annual Business Survey 2020
3 Source: Hello Alice
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SOURCE SIA Scotch Whisky | 2022-08-01T13:55:08+00:00 | kcrg.com | https://www.kcrg.com/prnewswire/2022/08/01/sia-scotch-whisky-support-entrepreneurs-color-food-beverage-amp-hospitality-industry-with-return-entrepreneurial-spirit-fund/ |
A new report suggests ways Providence, Rhode Island, can atone for its extensive ties to the transatlantic slave trade and centuries of racism and discrimination by, among other things, establishing home repair funds, launching financial literacy programs and boosting aid to Black and Indigenous organizations.
Instead, it defines “reparations” as efforts that close the “present-day racial wealth and equity gaps,” and outlines 11 areas for the city to focus its reparations work, including criminal justice reform, neighborhood development, health equity and improving educational and cultural opportunities.
Providence’s reparations effort was launched the same year Rhode Island voters approved a ballot referendum getting rid of the words “and Providence Plantations” from the state’s formal name because of its slavery connotations.
The new report suggests creating a dedicated fund to support residents impacted by urban renewal policies that displaced and negatively impacted communities of color. It also calls for forgiving certain municipal court debts; ending police use of so-called “no-knock” warrants; decriminalizing consumption of alcohol in public; and creating a school curriculum based on the city’s research into its racist and discriminatory policies.
But the report doesn’t suggest how much money should be spent on the many specific initiatives it lists, or which should take priority over others. Mayor Jorge Elorza, who launched the reparations effort two summers ago and is leaving office at the end of the year, is expected to address next steps in the process Thursday, including how he proposes to spend $10 million in federal coronavirus pandemic funds the city has specifically earmarked for reparations-related work.
The report recommends limiting eligibility for reparations-related efforts to those with Indigenous heritage or ancestors originating from sub-Saharan Africa, residents of neighborhoods disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, and low income households earning less than 50% of the area median income.
Rodney Davis, chair of the commission, said in a statement that he hopes the report helps advance new city policies and programs and inspires outside institutions to also get involved.
“Our recommendations are centered on the objective of moving people, institutions, and businesses in a similar direction towards universal equity,” he said.
Last year, Elorza’s administration released a historical report tracing the city’s racist and discriminatory practices and their legacy, from colonial through modern times. The reparations commission has been meeting since the spring with members appointed by the mayor and city council. | 2022-08-23T23:17:10+00:00 | washingtonpost.com | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/rhode-island-reparations-report-suggests-programs-not-cash/2022/08/23/f49a839a-2331-11ed-a72f-1e7149072fbc_story.html |
Oath Keepers founder: Be ‘ready to fight’ after Trump loss
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hours after Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election, the leader of the Oath Keepers extremist group was discussing how to push President Donald Trump to go further in his fight to cling to power, according to messages shown to jurors Tuesday in his U.S. Capitol attack trial.
Prosecutors used Stewart Rhodes’ messages and recordings of him speaking from November 2020 to try to show that he had been working behind the scenes for two months to try to stop the transfer of presidential power before his followers attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Rhodes and four associates are facing charges of seditious conspiracy for what authorities allege was a detailed, drawn-out plot to keep Biden out of the White House that included putting armed teams on standby outside of Washington. Tuesday was the first full day of testimony in the high-stakes case that’s expected to last several weeks.
The five defendants are the first people arrested in the Jan. 6 attack to stand trial for seditious conspiracy — a rarely used Civil War-era charge that can be difficult to prove. Rhodes’ attorneys have said their defense will focus on Rhodes’ belief that Trump was going to invoke the Insurrection Act and call up the militia to support his bid to stay in power.
The messages were revealed during testimony of an FBI agent investigating the insurrection. In several messages sent around Nov. 7, 2020 — the day that The Associated Press and other news outlets called the election for Biden — Rhodes pressed others to refuse to accept the results and “bend the knee” to what he saw as an illegitimate administration. In one message, Rhodes urged his followers to get their “get your gear squared away” and be “ready to fight.”
In another — sent to a group called “FOS” or “Friends of Stone” that included Trump ally Roger Stone — Rhodes urged his fellow Oath Keepers to think of the ways early Americans had resisted the British.
“We are now where the founders were in March, 1775,” he wrote. He implored them to “step up and push Trump to finally take decisive action.”
“The final defense is us and our rifles,” Rhodes wrote to the group. “Trump has one last chance, right now, to stand. But he will need us and our rifles too.”
The evening of Nov. 9, Rhodes held a conference call with more than 100 of his followers to discuss the plan. It was secretly recorded by someone on the call and sent to the FBI.
Rhodes urged people on the call to go to Washington and let Trump know that “the people are behind him,” according to a recording played to jurors. Rhodes expressed hope that left-wing antifa activists would start clashes because that would give Trump the “reason and rationale for dropping the Insurrection Act.”
“So we have a chance to get President Trump to fight as Commander in Chief. If you’re going to have a fight, guys, you want to start now while he’s still Commander in Chief,” Rhodes told the group.
Rhodes said they would have some of their “best men bolstered up outside” — or “quick reaction forces” that he said would be “awaiting the president’s orders.” It needed to be that way because that gives you “legal cover,” Rhodes said on the call.
Rhodes’ attorney sought to show that prosecutors are cherry-picking messages from hundreds of chats on his phone. Defense attorney Phillip Linder pressed the FBI agent over whether he ever saw Rhodes encourage anybody to do anything illegal before prosecutors objected to the question.
“All we have is bombastic language,” Linder said.
Rhodes’ lawyers have said they will argue that their client can’t be guilty of seditious conspiracy because all of his actions were in anticipation of orders he expected were coming from Trump under the Insurrection Act. Even though Trump never did, Rhodes’ lawyers say he was merely lobbying the president to invoke the law, which gives the president wide discretion to decide when military force is necessary, and what qualifies as military force.
On trial with Rhodes, of Granbury, Texas, are Kelly Meggs, leader of the Florida chapter of the Oath Keepers; Kenneth Harrelson, another Florida Oath Keeper; Thomas Caldwell, a retired U.S. Navy intelligence officer from Virginia, and Jessica Watkins, who led an Ohio militia group.
Prosecutors showed jurors several items found at Caldwell’s home, including a notebook with writing about things like “comms” and “lookouts.” The FBI agent said that “was all indicative to us of some sort of an operation.”
Caldwell’s attorney, David Fischer, pressed the agent on whether the government has any witnesses who claim Caldwell had a plan to attack the Capitol on Jan. 6. The agent said it did not.
___
For full coverage of the Capitol riot, go to https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | 2022-10-04T22:34:22+00:00 | waff.com | https://www.waff.com/2022/10/04/oath-keepers-founder-be-ready-fight-after-trump-loss/ |
Company Internationally Recognized for Environmental and Responsible Gaming Initiatives
ATLANTA, June 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Scientific Games won three 2022 Communitas Awards for excellence in corporate social responsibility. The company was recognized in two environmental categories, sustainability and greening initiatives, as well as for responsible gaming.
Inspired by the vision of a better world, the Communitas Awards are an international effort to recognize exceptional businesses, organizations and individuals that give of themselves and their resources, and are changing how they do business to benefit their communities.
Internationally certified for environmental management, Scientific Games received a 2022 Communitas Award for Sustainability for its commitment to mitigating the company's impact on the environment across its global business, which spans five continents and includes major lottery instant game production facilities in Canada, Chile, UK, and the U.S.
The company also won a 2022 Communitas Award for Green Initiatives based on its involvement in a citywide green initiative with the City of Montreal, planting more than 75 trees on the Scientific Games Canadian campus to help improve the environment as well as residents' and employees' quality of life.
One of the first companies in the world to receive global certification as a Responsible Gaming supplier from the World Lottery Association, Scientific Games received a third 2022 Communitas Award for Responsible Gaming with its groundbreaking Healthy Play program. The Healthy Play tagline Have Fun. Do Good. Play Healthy." encapsulates the program's goal: to support lotteries in sustaining responsible growth and funding for good causes. Healthy Play helps lotteries educate the public and increase "lottery literacy" through the integration of Scientific Games' tools, initiatives and best practices.
Dena Rosenzweig, Chief Legal Counsel for Scientific Games who leads the company's Environmental, Social and Responsibility initiatives, said, "Conserving our planet's natural resources and protecting global ecosystems is a business-critical priority at Scientific Games. That's why we have company-wide programs and green initiatives that reduce energy usage, prevent pollution, recycle and reduce waste. We've also strengthened our commitment to being a socially responsible company by pioneering the Healthy Play program, and we will continue to help lotteries around the world educate their players about responsible gaming."
Scientific Games is the world's largest creator, producer and manager of lottery instant games and a global leader in lottery and sports betting technology systems, digital lottery games, mobile apps, and player loyalty programs.
Healthy Play™ is a trademark of Scientific Games. © 2022 Scientific Games, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Scientific Games is the global leader in lottery games, sports betting and technology, and the partner of choice for government lotteries. From cutting-edge backend systems to exciting entertainment experiences and trailblazing retail and digital solutions, we elevate play every day. We push game designs to the next level and are pioneers in data analytics and iLottery. Built on a foundation of trusted partnerships, Scientific Games combines relentless innovation, legendary performance, and unwavering security to responsibly propel the industry ever forward. For more information, visit scientificgames.com.
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SOURCE Scientific Games LLC | 2022-06-30T14:17:17+00:00 | kfyrtv.com | https://www.kfyrtv.com/prnewswire/2022/06/30/scientific-games-wins-three-2022-communitas-awards-corporate-social-responsibility/ |
Rents Rising Faster Than Home Prices in Almost Half the U.S.; Both Renting and Owning Unaffordable for Average Workers Throughout the Country; Renting Still More Manageable in Vast Majority of Markets
IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ATTOM, a leading curator of real estate data nationwide for land and property data, today released its 2023 Rental Affordability Report, which shows that the average three-bedroom rent is more affordable than owning a comparably sized median-priced home in 210, or 95 percent, of the 222 U.S. counties analyzed for the report.
Both renting and owning a three-bedroom home are significant financial burdens for households around the U.S., consuming more than one-third of average wages in most major housing markets. But average rents still require a significantly smaller portion of wages than major home-ownership expenses on three-bedroom properties.
That gap has emerged even as rents have risen faster than home prices over the past year in roughly half the nation.
The analysis for this report incorporated 2023 rental prices and 2022 home prices, collected from ATTOM's nationwide property database, as well as publicly recorded sales deed data licensed by ATTOM (see full methodology below). Those two data sources were combined with average wage figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (see full methodology below).
"What a difference a year makes," said Rick Sharga, executive vice president of market intelligence for ATTOM. "Last year our study concluded that it was more affordable to own than to rent in 60 percent of the markets analyzed. But with mortgage rates doubling, monthly payments for new homeowners rose by 45-50 percent compared to a year ago, even though home price appreciation has slowed down dramatically. This has made renter more affordable in the majority of markets, despite rental rates continuing to rise over the past year."
The report shows that renting is more affordable in most of the country following a year of mixed market patterns around the country, flowing from a rapidly changing housing market. Average three-bedroom rents climbed more than median sales prices on single-family homes in 46 percent of the markets analyzed. That happened at a time when a decade-long run of price spikes slowed considerably across the U.S., amid rising mortgage rates, high inflation, a declining stock market and other factors that cut into what potential buyers could afford.
Still, rents didn't go up fast enough to keep them from being the more financially viable option for workers earning average local wages in most markets. Average rents commonly consume a smaller portion of average wages than major home ownership by anywhere from 5 to 30 percentage points.
The patterns hold throughout the country, but are most pronounced in the most populous urban markets.
Rents rising faster than home prices in half the nation
Average rents for three-bedroom homes are increasing more than median prices for single-family homes in 103 of the 222 counties analyzed in this report (46 percent). Counties were included in the report if they had a population of 100,000 or more, at least 100 sales from January through November of 2022, and sufficient data.
The most populous counties where three-bedroom rents are rising faster than median sales prices for single-family homes are Cook County (Chicago), IL; San Diego County, CA; Orange County, CA (outside Los Angeles); Kings County (Brooklyn), NY, and Miami-Dade County, FL.
The largest 119 counties where sales for single-family homes are rising faster than rents are Los Angeles County, CA; Harris County (Houston), TX; Maricopa County (Phoenix), AZ; Dallas County, TX, and Clark County (Las Vegas), NV.
Widest affordability gaps between renting and owning in most populous counties
Renting the average three-bedroom home is more affordable compared to owning a single-family home in the nation's largest counties, with populations of at least 1 million.
Among 46 counties with a population of at least 1 million included in the report, the biggest gaps are in Honolulu, HI (average three-bedroom rents consume 66 percent of average local wages while single-family home ownership expenses consumes 140 percent); Alameda County (Oakland), CA (47 percent for renting versus 110 percent for owning); Santa Clara County (San Jose), CA (28 percent versus 83 percent); Orange County, CA (outside Los Angeles) (73 percent versus 125 percent) and Contra Costa County, CA (outside San Francisco) (49 percent versus 90 percent).
The only county with a population of more than 1 million where it is more affordable to buy than rent is Cook County (Chicago), IL (average rents consume 40 percent of average local wages while home ownership consumes 38 percent).
The biggest gaps among counties in the report with populations of less than 1 million are in San Mateo County, CA (outside San Francisco) (average three-bedroom rents consume 39 percent of average local wages while single-family home ownership expenses consumes 103 percent); Alexandria City/County, VA (outside Washington, DC) (46 percent versus 101 percent); Loudoun County, VA (outside Washington, DC) (44 percent versus 97 percent); San Francisco County (41 percent versus 92 percent) and Utah County (Provo), UT (37 percent versus 84 percent).
Renting three-bedroom homes difficult for average wage earners, but most affordable in South and Midwest
The report shows that renting the typical three-bedroom property requires more than one-third of average local wages in 174 of the 222 counties analyzed for the report (78 percent).
Among the 48 markets where average three-bedroom rents require less than one-third of average local wages, 44 are in the Midwest and South.
The most affordable counties for renting a 3-bedroom property are Jefferson County (Birmingham), AL (20 percent of average local wages needed to rent); Pulaski County (Little Rock), AR (23 percent); Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), OH (23 percent); Wayne County (Detroit), MI (24 percent) and Summit County (Akron), OH (25 percent).
Aside from Cuyahoga and Wayne counties, the most affordable counties for renting, among those with a population of at least 1 million, are St. Louis County, MO (25 percent of average local wages needed to rent); Allegheny County (Pittsburgh), PA (26 percent) and Philadelphia County, PA (26 percent).
The least affordable counties for renting are spread through the South, Northeast and West, including Kings County (Brooklyn), NY (126 percent of average local wages needed to rent); Indian River County (Vero Beach), FL (100 percent); Charlotte County, FL (outside Fort Myers) (84 percent); Monterey County, CA (outside San Francisco) (82 percent) and Riverside County CA (outside Los Angeles) (77 percent).
Aside from Kings and Riverside counties, the least affordable for renting among counties with a population of at least 1 million are Orange County, CA (outside Los Angeles) (73 percent of average local wages needed to rent); Palm Beach County (West Palm Beach), FL (71 percent) and Westchester County, NY (outside New York City) (69 percent).
South and Midwest also have most-affordable home ownership markets; least affordable are in West and Northeast
The report shows that major expenses on a median-priced single-family home requires more than one-third of average local wages (assuming a 20 percent down payment) in 206 of the 222 counties analyzed for the report (93 percent).
The most affordable markets for owning are Wayne County (Detroit), MI (24.1 percent of average local wages needed to own); Montgomery County, AL (27.6 percent); Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), OH (27.7 percent); Richmond County (Augusta), GA (28.7 percent) and Allegheny County (Pittsburgh), PA (29.2 percent).
Aside from Wayne, Cuyahoga and Allegheny counties, the most affordable for owning among counties with a population of at least 1 million are St. Louis County, MO (32.9 percent of average local wages needed to own) and Cook County (Chicago), IL (38.3 percent).
The least affordable markets for owning among those analyzed are Honolulu County, HI (139.8 percent of average local wages needed to own); Kings County (Brooklyn), NY (125.9 percent); Orange County, CA (outside Los Angeles) (124.7 percent); Monterey County, CA (outside San Francisco) (117.3 percent) and Alameda County (Oakland), CA (110.1 percent).
Aside from Honolulu, Kings, Orange and Alameda counties, the least affordable county among others with a population of at least 1 million is Queens County, NY (102.6 percent of average local wages needed to own).
Rents growing faster that wages in almost three-quarters markets
Average fair-market rents are increasing more than average local wages in 156 of the 222 counties analyzed in the report (70 percent), including Los Angeles County, CA; Cook County (Chicago), IL; Harris County (Houston), TX; San Diego County, CA, and Orange County, CA (outside Los Angeles).
Average local wages are growing faster than average rents in 66 of the 222 counties in the report (30 percent), including Maricopa County (Phoenix), AZ; Dallas County, TX; Clark County (Las Vegas), NV; Tarrant County (Fort Worth), TX, and Hillsborough County (Tampa), FL.
Home prices rising faster than wages in more than 90 percent of nation
Median single-family home prices are rising faster than average weekly wages in 207 of the 222 counties analyzed in the report (93 percent), including Los Angeles County, CA; Harris County (Houston), TX; Maricopa County (Phoenix), AZ; San Diego County, CA, and Orange County, CA (outside Los Angeles).
Average weekly wages are rising faster than median home prices in just 15 of the 222 counties in the report (7 percent), including Cook County (Chicago), IL; Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), OH; Westchester County, NY (outside New York City); Washington, D.C., and Jefferson County (Birmingham), AL.
Methodology
For this report, ATTOM looked at January-November (YTD) 2022 single-family home price data from ATTOM's publicly recorded sales deed data, as well as 3-bedroom average rental data for 2023, collected and licensed by ATTOM. This data was then analyzed for U.S. counties with a population of 100,000 or more and sufficient home price and rental rate data. The analysis also incorporated second-quarter 2022 average weekly wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (most recent available).
Rental affordability represents the average fair market rent for a three-bedroom property as a percentage of the average monthly wage (based on average weekly wages). Home-buying affordability represents the monthly house payment for a single-family median-priced home (including mortgage, based on a 20 percent down payment, plus property tax, homeowner's insurance and private mortgage insurance) as a percentage of the average monthly wage.
ATTOM provides premium property data to power products that improve transparency, innovation, efficiency and disruption in a data-driven economy. ATTOM multi-sources property tax, deed, mortgage, foreclosure, environmental risk, natural hazard, and neighborhood data for more than 155 million U.S. residential and commercial properties covering 99 percent of the nation's population. A rigorous data management process involving more than 20 steps validates, standardizes, and enhances the real estate data collected by ATTOM, assigning each property record with a persistent, unique ID — the ATTOM ID. The 30TB ATTOM Data Warehouse fuels innovation in many industries including mortgage, real estate, insurance, marketing, government and more through flexible data delivery solutions that include bulk file licenses, property data APIs, real estate market trends, property reports and more. Also, introducing our newest innovative solution, that offers immediate access and streamlines data management – ATTOM Cloud.
Media Contact:
Christine Stricker
949.748.8428
christine.stricker@attomdata.com
Data and Report Licensing:
949.502.8313
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SOURCE ATTOM | 2023-01-19T07:25:25+00:00 | wafb.com | https://www.wafb.com/prnewswire/2023/01/19/renting-more-affordable-than-homeownership-across-most-nation-2023/ |
MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Monday evening's drawing of the Wisconsin Lottery's "Badger 5" game were:
05-09-15-24-26
(five, nine, fifteen, twenty-four, twenty-six)
Estimated jackpot: $10,000
¶ Maximum prize: $45,000
MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Monday evening's drawing of the Wisconsin Lottery's "Badger 5" game were:
05-09-15-24-26
(five, nine, fifteen, twenty-four, twenty-six)
Estimated jackpot: $10,000
¶ Maximum prize: $45,000 | 2022-10-11T03:08:08+00:00 | ourmidland.com | https://www.ourmidland.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Badger-5-game-17500478.php |
Employer tech job postings rebound, increase 76,546 for the month; tech unemployment rate unchanged at 2.2%
DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., April 7, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Technology employment across the economy increased in conjunction with a higher volume of employer tech job postings, according to the latest "Tech Jobs Report" from CompTIA, the nonprofit association for the information technology (IT) industry and workforce.
Tech industry employment, covering all workers employed by technology companies, experienced a modest decline of an estimated 839 jobs last month. Telecommunications accounted for the largest share of the decline at -3,100 positions, which was offset by gains in cloud infrastructure, tech services and software.
Employer job postings for tech positions increased by 76,546 month-over-month, to a total for March of nearly 316,000.1 This represents the highest level of employer hiring activity as measured by job postings in seven months.
Technology employment across all industry sectors increased by an estimated 197,000 positions for the month, according to CompTIA's analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics #JobsReport data.2 The unemployment rate for tech occupations held steady at 2.2%
"As a forward-looking indicator the rebound in employer tech job postings is a notable positive," said Tim Herbert, chief research officer. "While caution is in order given the state of uncertainty, the data suggests segments of employers may be stepping back into the tech talent market."
Markets across the country saw increases in employer job postings for tech positions, led by New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta and Charlotte. The jump in hiring activity also extended to cities such as Arlington (VA), Huntsville (AL) and Plano (TX). Among states, California, Virginia, Texas and Maryland recorded the largest month-over-month increases in tech jobs postings.
Positions for software developers and engineers accounted for the largest share of job postings in March, but employers are also in the market for IT support specialists, systems engineers and analysts, IT project managers and cybersecurity analysts and engineers. About one in five tech jobs postings offer remote work or hybrid work arrangements as an option.
The "CompTIA Tech Jobs Report" is available at https://www.comptia.org/content/tech-jobs-report.
About CompTIA
The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) is the world's leading information technology (IT) certification and training body. CompTIA is a mission-driven organization committed to unlocking the potential of every student, career changer or professional seeking to begin or advance in a technology career. Each year CompTIA, directly and through its global network of partners, provides millions of people with training, education and certification. To learn more visit https://www.comptia.org/
Media Contact
Steven Ostrowski
CompTIA
sostrowski@comptia.org
630.678.8468
1 Labor market data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and employer job posting data from Lightcast may be subject to backward revisions.
2 Monthly occupation level data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics tends to experience higher levels of variance and volatility.
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SOURCE CompTIA | 2023-04-08T00:55:41+00:00 | wymt.com | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2023/04/07/tech-employment-solid-amid-signs-labor-market-cooling-comptia-analysis-shows/ |
NEW YORK, Sept. 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --
WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of the securities of Coupang, Inc. (NYSE: CPNG) pursuant and/or traceable to the registration statement and related prospectus (collectively, the "Registration Statement") issued in connection with Coupang's March 2021 initial public offering (the "IPO") of the important October 25, 2022 lead plaintiff deadline.
SO WHAT: If you purchased Coupang securities pursuant and/or traceable to the Registration Statement you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement.
WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the Coupang class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=8383 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email pkim@rosenlegal.com or cases@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than October 25, 2022. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation.
WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources or any meaningful peer recognition. Many of these firms do not actually handle securities class actions, but are merely middlemen that refer clients or partner with law firms that actually litigate the cases. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs' Bar. Many of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.
DETAILS OF THE CASE: According to the lawsuit, the IPO Registration Statement featured false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Coupang was engaged in improper anti-competitive practices with its suppliers and other third parties in violation of applicable regulations, including: (a) pressuring suppliers to raise prices of products on competing e-commerce platforms to ensure Coupang's prices would be more competitive; (b) coercing suppliers into purchasing advertisements that would benefit Coupang financially; (c) forcing suppliers to shoulder all expenses from sales promotions; and (d) requesting wholesale rebates from suppliers without specifying any terms relating to rebate programs, all of which served to artificially maintain Coupang's lower prices and artificially inflate Coupang's historical revenues and market share; (2) Coupang had improperly adjusted search algorithms and manipulated product reviews on its marketplace platform to prioritize its own private-label branded products over those of other sellers and merchants, to the detriment of consumers, merchants, and suppliers; (3) unbeknownst to its Rocket WOW members (a customer loyalty program for the Company's most engaged and frequent customers), Coupang was selling products to non-member customers at lower prices than those offered to its Rocket WOW members; (4) Coupang subjected its workforce to extreme, unsafe, and unhealthy working conditions; (5) all of the above illicit practices exposed Coupang to a heightened, but undisclosed, risk of reputational and regulatory scrutiny that would harm Coupang's critical relationships with consumers, merchants, suppliers, and the workforce; and (6) Coupang's lower prices, historical revenues, competitive advantages, and growing market share were the result of systemic, improper, unethical, and/or illegal practices, and, thus, unsustainable. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.
To join the Coupang class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=8383 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email pkim@rosenlegal.com or cases@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action.
No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff.
Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/.
Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Contact Information:
Laurence Rosen, Esq.
Phillip Kim, Esq.
The Rosen Law Firm, P.A.
275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Tel: (212) 686-1060
Toll Free: (866) 767-3653
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SOURCE Rosen Law Firm, P.A. | 2022-09-17T23:42:27+00:00 | wagmtv.com | https://www.wagmtv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/17/rosen-trusted-leading-law-firm-encourages-coupang-inc-investors-secure-counsel-before-important-deadline-securities-class-action-cpng/ |
BEIJING, Jan. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Spring Festival of 2023 is destined to be unique, as it will be a year of return, of remembrance and letting go, of a new start to a more vibrant future after the country has optimized its COVID-19 responses, gradually walking out of the cloud of the epidemic.
After COVID-19 disrupted the plan of many for family reunions during Spring Festival, the most important festival for the Chinese people over the last three years, the pent-up joy of returning home can be felt among millions of luggage-carrying passengers at airports and train stations eager to see their families, along with the return of the hustle and bustle of the Chinese Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival. Solidarity and hard work helped the country weather three years of arduous struggle against COVID-19, allowing it to let go of the fear and uncertainty that came with the coronavirus. As China's most important festival approaches, the country is roaring back to a more vigorous, shining future, and it is ready to leave the last three bumpy years behind.
Although the risk of COVID-19 still lingers, the massive travel rush has avoided the "darkest moment" of China's COVID-19 outbreak, with infections and severe cases already peaking nationwide. After shaking off stricter COVID-19 controls as the country has downgraded COVID-19 management from Class A to Class B, its economy is widely expected to take off, initially as a result of unleashed consumption vitality. Economists predicted that with Spring Festival bringing in strong momentum in economic activity, the rebound of China's economy should come before the second quarter of 2023.
A 34-year-old woman surnamed Chen from Central China's Hubei Province - where COVID-19 cases were first reported three years ago - still remembered the day when Wuhan imposed the citywide lockdown to cut off the coronavirus transmission, which coincided with the Chinese Lunar New Year of 2020.
"I was told to return to Beijing [where she lives] as the epidemic situation was getting severe. I saw many people like us leaving the province on the day that was supposed to be a time for family reunion," she said.
At local airports, she witnessed loved ones who had to suddenly separate due to the outbreak and elderly people who had to say goodbye to their children again after a year of separation, all of which became part of the country's collective memory of the arduous fight against COVID.
Three years later, China accumulated experiences and continuously optimized its epidemic response. With the arrival of chunyun, known as the Spring Festival travel rush, many young people from Hubei who work outside the province like Chen are now preparing to go home. "We deserve a true, happy reunion this Spring Festival," she said.
Mindy Li, a Chongqing resident who works in Shanghai, used to be anxious about returning to her hometown in Chengdu for Spring Festival. As a single woman in her 30s, she had been pestered by relatives about her relationship status. But this year, she went back home earlier. "After three years' absence, Spring Festival carries more weight for me. My parents are ageing in front of my eyes. I want to spend as much time with them as possible."
However, not everyone will be able to enjoy the happiness of reunion with family. A doctor surnamed Chen in a county in Chongqing will be working throughout the holiday. "I haven't been home for Spring Festival for three years. This will be my fourth year."
Chen said as the COVID-19 caseload continues to surge in her county, the hospital asked doctors to stay in their posts during the holiday. Chen said her hospital is now receiving five times more fever patients than in previous years.
"Sometimes we work more than 10 hours a day without rest. The patients are mostly old people," Chen said. She said she wanted to travel with her 3-year-old son during Spring Festival, but "I have no time, and it will be risky as I work in a hospital. So I will just hang in there for a while."
President Xi Jinping on Wednesday extended festive greetings to all Chinese people when he held virtual talks in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing with people from across the country ahead of Spring Festival.
Speaking with medical workers and an elderly patient at the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Xi said that facing this latest wave of COVID-19 infections, medical workers have worked long hours under heavy pressure and have come under an excessive workload in treating patients.
"We have now entered a new phase of COVID-19 response. Tough challenges remain, but the light of hope is right in front of us. Perseverance means victory," he said.
A safe holiday
According to official data, as of Wednesday, a total of 480 million trips have been made since the Spring Travel rush started on January 7, an increase of 47.1 percent compared with that of 2020, but still 47.3 percent down compared with the pre-pandemic level in 2019. It is estimated that a total of 2.1 billion trips will be made during the 40-day 2023 Spring Festival travel rush in China.
Many foreign media outlets have hyped that the massive travel rush will contribute to another wave of COVID-19 cases and lead to an increase in the official death toll.
An official from China's National Health Commission said at a Thursday conference that the number of patients in fever clinics, emergency rooms and with severe symptoms has already peaked. Nationwide, the number of severe COVID-19 cases in hospitals reached tapering point on January 5. The number of these patients decreased 44.3 percent on January 17, compared with the peak number.
Zeng Guang, former chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told the Global Times that "chunyun has avoided the darkest moment of China's COVID-19 outbreak, as it coincided with the time when COVID-19 caseloads in major cities have already reached tapering point after China optimized its COVID-19 response earlier last month.
As for the second wave, Zeng said that international data indicates that only 10 percent of the population who have been re-infected can be counted as a second wave, and that the data shows new variants have not yet resulted in a second wave in China.
Mi Feng, spokesperson for the National Health Commission, said at the Thursday conference that rural areas are the top priority for current anti-epidemic work in China, and called for proper arrangements to be made for medical resources and services for key groups such as the elderly and children in these areas during the Spring Festival holidays.
Zeng said that the rural areas witnessed the infection peak at the same time as big cities, but it is lingering for longer in rural areas as facilities there are relatively inferior and medicines may not be sufficient, while the influx of arrivals during Spring Festival will almost certainly exacerbate the situation.
He called for less developed places to build better connections with hospitals in big cities so that they can send their patients to better equipped hospitals for treatment in time. He also said that "as the infection wave in big cities is already ebbing away, doctors in big hospitals can help rural areas in person or via online treatment."
Strong bounce back
As the country has entered a new phase of COVID-19 response, despite tough challenges still remain, the Chinese economy is widely expected to roar back to a fast growth trajectory.
The first Spring Festival after China optimized its COVID-19 response will usher in a good start for consumption to drive the national economy, said Bai Ming, deputy director of the international market research institute at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.
Data from Cainiao, Alibaba's logistics branch, suggests that the orders it processes during Spring Festival is expected to grow 30 percent compared with the usual figure, and will consist mainly of liquor and gifts for Chinese New Year.
A report from major Chinese travel agency Ctrip shows that as of January 5, travel-hungry Chinese also are expected to spend 53 percent more on travel this Spring Festival, while bookings for tourism-related services have soared 45 percent compared with last year.
"Many predicted that the Chinese economy will only rebound in the second quarter of 2023, while I believe this recovery may come sooner because of the high rate of consumption. When household consumption takes off, it will warm up the overall economic atmosphere," Tian Yun, former vice director of the Beijing Economic Operation Association, told the Global Times.
Harry Lau, an imported wine merchant from Guangzhou, said he will only take one day off during Spring Festival. The COVID-19 pandemic over the past three years dealt a heavy blow to Lau's business, with orders halving last year. "This year, I am super busy, because families are reunited, people are going out again, and my orders are expected to return to pre-pandemic levels."
Looking back at the "tough" last three years, Lau said he feels lucky that he was able to persevere. "Hardship is the last thing we Chinese are afraid of. We've endured many tough challenges and have become stronger," Lau said.
Eager to end the interview, Lau said he "has no time to waste, as I want to make up for the previous sluggish years as soon as possible."
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SOURCE Global Times | 2023-01-20T10:51:49+00:00 | mysuncoast.com | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/01/20/global-times-spring-festival-hustle-bustle-back-heralds-vibrant-year-ahead/ |
MEXICO CITY, Dec. 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: VLRS and BMV: VOLAR) ("Volaris" or "The Company"), the ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) serving Mexico, the United States, Central, and South America, reports its November 2022 preliminary traffic results.
In November 2022, Volaris' capacity (measured in ASMs) increased by 19.5% year-over-year, while demand (measured in RPMs) increased by 18.8%; the result was a load factor of 88.0% (-0.6pp). Volaris transported 2.7 million passengers during the month, a 13.7% increase compared to November 2021. Demand in the domestic Mexican and international markets increased by 12.2% and 37.4%, respectively. Year-to-date, Volaris' demand increased 28.0% YoY, with load factor expanding 1.1 pp year-over-year, to 85.7%.
Enrique Beltranena, Volaris' President and CEO said: "Demand remains resilient and we are encouraged by our revenue management strategy. Forward bookings are solid, and we expect to maintain a strong load factor in the upcoming months. We maintain our flexible network strategy and will continue stimulating our markets with our ULCC model."
The information included in this report has not been audited, and it does not provide information on the company's future performance. Volaris' future performance depends on many factors. It cannot be inferred that any period's performance or its comparison year over year will indicate a similar performance in the future.
About Volaris:
Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A.B. de C.V. ("Volaris" or the "Company") (NYSE: VLRS and BMV: VOLAR), is an ultra-low-cost carrier, with point-to-point operations, serving Mexico, the United States, Central, and South America. Volaris offers low base fares to build its market, providing quality service and extensive customer choice. Since the beginning of operations in March 2006, Volaris has increased its routes from 5 to more than 200, and its fleet from 4 to 116 aircraft. Volaris offers more than 500 daily flight segments on routes that connect 43 cities in Mexico and 28 cities in the United States, Central, and South America, with one of the youngest fleets in Mexico. Volaris targets passengers who are visiting friends and relatives, cost-conscious business and leisure travelers in Mexico, the United States, and Central and South America. Volaris has received the ESR Award for Social Corporate Responsibility for eleven consecutive years. For more information, please visit www.volaris.com.
Investor Relations Contact
Ricardo Martínez / ir@volaris.com
Media Contact
Gabriela Fernández / gabriela.fernandez@volaris.com
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SOURCE Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. - Volaris | 2022-12-06T14:16:03+00:00 | ksla.com | https://www.ksla.com/prnewswire/2022/12/06/volaris-reports-november-2022-traffic-results-19-yoy-demand-growth-with-88-load-factor/ |
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska agriculture officials say another 1.8 million chickens must be killed after bird flu was found on a farm in the latest sign that the outbreak that has already prompted the slaughter of more than 50 million birds nationwide continues to spread.
The Nebraska Department of Agriculture said Saturday that the state’s 13th case of bird flu was found on an egg-laying farm in northeast Nebraska’s Dixon County, about 120 miles (193 kilometers) north of Omaha, Nebraska..
Just like on other farms where bird flu has been found this year, all the chickens on the Nebraska farm will be killed to limit the spread of the disease. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says more than 52.3 million birds in 46 states — mostly chickens and turkeys on commercial farms — have been slaughtered as part of this year’s outbreak.
Nebraska is second only to Iowa’s 15.5 million birds killed with 6.8 million birds now affected at 13 farms.
In most past bird flu outbreaks the virus largely died off during the summer, but this year’s version found a way to linger and started to make a resurgence this fall with more than 6 million birds killed in September.
The virus is primarily spread by wild birds as they migrate across the country. Wild birds can often carry the disease without showing symptoms. The virus spreads through droppings or the nasal discharge of an infected bird, which can contaminate dust and soil.
Commercial farms have taken a number of steps to prevent the virus from infecting their flocks, including requiring workers to change clothes before entering barns and sanitizing trucks as they enter the farm, but the disease can be difficult to control. Zoos have also taken precautions and closed some exhibits to protect their birds.
Officials say there is little risk to human health from the virus because human cases are extremely rare and the infected birds aren’t allowed to enter the nation’s food supply. Plus, any viruses will be killed by properly cooking poultry to 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
But the bird flu outbreak has contributed to the rising prices of chicken and turkey along with the soaring cost of feed and fuel. | 2022-11-27T21:39:34+00:00 | wate.com | https://www.wate.com/news/nexstar-media-wire/bird-flu-prompts-slaughter-of-1-8m-chickens-in-nebraska/ |
Texas mother shares secrets to making $5 dinners every night
HOUSTON - As inflation has driven up food prices by 10% this year, a Texas mother has figured out a way to make 5 dollar dinners every night. She shares her secrets with us.
MORE: Where to find Thanksgiving Dinner Deals amid high inflation
One of the most important ways San Antonio mom Erin Chase saves money on groceries is through what she calls Freezer Cooking.
"I have four boys," said Chase. "My oldest son is now 17, then 15, 12, and 9. So there’s a lot of food that runs through my kitchen."
That's why she started 5 Dollar Dinners, a website, blog, and newsletter, to help families like hers save on groceries. She starts by checking grocery store circulars and buying what's on sale, especially meat.
"I think with $5 dollar dinners, the first key is your protein cost. That’s 99% the most expensive part of a $5 dollar meal. So you’ve got to get your meat when it’s on sale," said Chase.
RELATED: Where you shop could cut your grocery bill by 33%
She also snaps up fruit, veggies, and other items on sale, too. Then she plans her meals for the week using those items, and others already in her freezer. That's what she calls Freezer Cooking.
"I’ll make three or four fresh meals with fresh meat, and pull two or three meals out of the freezer, because I know I got that meat when it was on sale," she explained.
To help others, Chase now offers classes on Freezer Cooking and an app, called MyFreezEasy, that helps with meal planning based on what you find on sale.
"So if you see chicken on sale, you go into the chicken category and pick a couple meals, and it will populate the shopping list for you, the recipes, and how to put it all together into the freezer," said Chase.
RELATED: High inflation has US consumers falling behind on their bills
She utilizes instant pots and slow cookers to make multiple meals at once, freezing the meals until she's ready to serve them. She adds things, like beans to ground beef or stew, to stretch her meat further.
She says it all helps to keep each dinner to $5.
"Over time, adopting this mindset and using this concept has literally saved our family tens of thousands of dollars," said Chase.
You can sign up for free weekly newsletters from 5 Dollar Dinners, and a free trial of the MyFreezEasy app, then plans start at $8 a month. | 2022-11-16T18:15:47+00:00 | fox29.com | https://www.fox29.com/news/texas-mother-shares-secrets-to-making-5-dinners-every-night |
The Mega Millions top prize has grown again to an estimated $640 million after there was no winner of the lottery’s latest giant jackpot.
The numbers drawn late Friday night were: 10, 24, 48, 51, 66 and gold Mega Ball 15.
The estimated $640 million jackpot in the next drawing would only be distributed to a winner who chooses an annuity paid over 29 years. Nearly all grand prize winners opt to take a cash payout, which for Tuesday night’s drawing is an estimated $328 million.
The jackpot is the seventh largest in the game’s history, Mega Millions said in a statement.
Four tickets matched all five white balls to garner the second prize level in the drawing. A ticket sold in South Carolina included an optional multiplier making it worth $2 million. Two tickets in California and one in North Carolina also were second-tier winners, Mega Millions said.
Despite the game’s long odds of 1 in 302.6 million, players continue to purchase tickets as the size of the grand prize grows.
The last time a Mega Millions player hit the top prize was April 18.
Mega Millions is played in 45 states as well as in Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. | 2023-07-15T16:14:55+00:00 | kxnet.com | https://www.kxnet.com/news/national-news/ap-mega-millions-jackpot-grows-to-640-million-among-highest-in-lottery-games-history/ |
Crosby starts 18th season with a bang, Pens top Coyotes 6-2
Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang joined former New York Yankee stars Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada as the longest-tenured teammates in major North American professional sports history.
Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang joined former New York Yankee stars Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada as the longest-tenured teammates in major North American professional sports history.
Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang started their 17th season together with a bang, helping the Pittsburgh Penguins race by the Arizona Coyotes 6-2 on Thursday night.
The longtime franchise cornerstones combined for two goals and four assists as they joined former New York Yankee stars Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada as the longest-tenured trio of teammates in major North American professional sports history.
Crosby began his 18th season by scoring his 518th career goal 1:22 into the first period. The Pittsburgh captain also had two assists, including one on Malkin's goal in the waning seconds of the second period that finished a sequence where the puck made its way from Letang to Crosby before eventually ending up on Malkin's stick.
Jake Guentzel, Jason Zucker, Bryan Rust and Kasperi Kapanen also scored for Pittsburgh. Letang finished with two assists. Tristan Jarry, who was limited to just one appearance during the Penguins' first-round playoff loss to the New York Rangers last spring, made 26 saves.
Nick Ritchie scored twice for the rebuilding Coyotes. Karel Vejmelka struggled early but improved as the game wore on to stop 47 shots.
Pittsburgh's pregame ceremony was cathartic for the sellout crowd following a few tense days in early summer in which Letang and Malkin's futures with the club were both unclear as free agency loomed. Letang ultimately opted to stick around on a six-year deal and Malkin followed suit shortly thereafter by agreeing to a four-year pact just hours before hitting the open market.
The signings sent a very clear message that new owners Fenway Sports Group — which purchased the club from Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle last fall — believes the Stanley Cup window for the 35-year-old Crosby and company remains wide open.
It will take months if not years to know whether it was the right move, but the early returns had a familiar feel.
Crosby needed all of 82 seconds to give the Penguins the lead, taking a pretty cross-ice backhand feed from Guentzel then ripping a shot over Vejmelka's glove. It marked the first time in Crosby's career he's scored Pittsburgh's first goal of the season.
Zucker, who dealt with various injuries last season, made it 2-0 less than 3 minutes later with by firing a one-timer from just above the right circle. Guentzel pushed the lead to three 5:12 into the first by flipping a shot into an empty net on the power play.
Arizona coach Andre Tourigny believes his team is in a better place than it was a year ago, when the Coyotes finished with the NHL's worst record. Maybe, but the Coyotes are likely facing another difficult year that includes playing 20 of their first 24 games on the road.
Arizona didn't win a game during the preseason and looked overmatched for the first 25 minutes or so before briefly giving the Penguins a scare.
Ritchie's first goal 16:10 into the second briefly quieted the sellout crowd but Malkin re-ignited it just before the end of the period when he pounded home a rebound off a Crosby shot to restore a three-goal lead.
Ritchie's second goal 4:46 into the third brought the Coyotes back within two. Jarry then withstood a serious push from Arizona before Rust — who like Malkin and Letang signed a lengthy new deal to stay in Pittsburgh — put it away with a goal from just outside the crease with 4:59 to play. | 2022-10-14T02:26:31+00:00 | wtae.com | https://www.wtae.com/article/penguins-coyotes-home-opener-crosby-letang-malkin/41617961 |
Walker’s chicken firm tied to benefits from unpaid labor
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - ATLANTA (AP) — As Herschel Walker campaigns for the U.S. Senate, he calls for society to help the downtrodden the way he says others helped him overcome mental health struggles. That includes those in the criminal justice system.
“If someone comes out of prison, they should have incentives set up that the person has learned a trade, and you give an incentive for a company to hire him so he can make a living for himself,” Walker said Aug. 17 in Kennesaw, Georgia.
Touting his own success, Walker added that it’s his “responsibility now to help.”
Yet federal court records reviewed by The Associated Press suggest Walker’s food distributorship has gotten a boost, through a firm he touts as a principal partner and supplier, from the unpaid labor of drug offenders routed to a residential rehabilitation program in lieu of prison.
Lawyers for participants in the program, an Oklahoma-based outfit named “Christian Alcoholics & Addicts In Recovery,” decried it in court as a “work camp” that profits from a “vulnerable workforce under the guise of ... rehabilitation services.”
It’s not possible to quantify financial gains Walker might have gleaned from undervalued labor. But links among his Renaissance Man Food Services, the processing giant Simmons Foods Inc., and the CAAIR program provide at least some contrast to Walker’s campaign pitch.
Walker is trying to unseat Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, in one of the nation’s marquee midterm elections. Their matchup could determine control of the Senate.
CAAIR began more than a decade ago sending residents to work at Simmons Foods Inc., a company Walker touts as a principal partner and supplier to his distributorship, Renaissance Man Food Services. State judges assign convicted offenders to CAAIR, letting them choose between the residential program or traditional incarceration. Simmons would contract for labor with CAAIR, whose participants were not paid.
U.S. courts have declared such arrangements legal. But many criminal justice experts are critical of the free-labor programs.
“Drug courts are typically a pretrial diversion program,” said Jillian Snider, a former New York City police officer and now criminal justice and civil liberties policy director at R Street, a center-right think tank based in Washington.
Snider described the ideal as “almost like an outpatient program” with professional counseling and skills training, plus some job responsibilities that include wages. Designs based more on work than rehabilitation and skills training, Snider said, are “unique mostly to Southern states.”
A federal lawsuit still pending against CAAIR and Simmons has detailed how some participants were allegedly pressured to work when injured, compelled to attend religious services, and threatened with imprisonment if their work was unsatisfactory. CAAIR, participants alleged in court, did not always provide necessary rehabilitative or psychiatric treatment, the kind that Walker has emphasized when he shares his personal story. CAAIR described its services in court filings as “a combination of work therapy and spiritual and religious counseling.”
Snider explained that “talking to professional counselors” and “being set up with real educational advancement opportunities and skills training” must be included for a “full program,” and that isn’t possible, she said, “if you’re working full-time in a chicken facility.”
Nonetheless, a trial court judge in 2020 rejected participants’ assertions that CAAIR violated federal labor law. An appeal is pending.
CAAIR CEO and co-founder Janet Wilkerson told The Associated Press she “never had any dealings” with Walker. She declined further comment, citing ongoing litigation.
Neither Walker nor Renaissance Man Food Services was named as a defendant. Walker’s campaign declined to comment on the matter, saying Simmons is not Walker’s company. A Simmons representative did not respond to inquiries.
Yet in Walker’s telling, Simmons is a key component of his success. On the Renaissance website, Simmons is the only supplier or partner mentioned by name: “RMFS joins with Simmons Foods to bring quality ... products to the retail and food service marketplace.” The website highlights one of its locations as Siloam Springs, Arkansas, where Simmons is based. The relationship dates back as early as 2006, according to Walker’s previous statements to media.
Renaissance advertises as a certified minority owned business — Walker is Black — that works with “supplier partners to meet the needs of our retail and food service customers.” That suggests a relationship in which Walker partners with food processing firms to act as distributor so that an end-line business is buying from a minority owned firm.
CAAIR, meanwhile, bills itself as a faith-based enterprise. Its programs launched in 2008 with six men, according to its website, and by 2015 housed 200 in three dorms.
Throughout the litigation, Simmons and CAAIR have defended their practices. But one thing has never been up for dispute: The men CAAIR sent to the chicken factories were not paid.
“Participants ... perform work without compensation at various nearby work-providers, including Simmons,” lawyers wrote in the program’s defense. “This requirement is no secret.”
In court filings, Wilkerson described her “clients” rather than employees. Participant signed documents stipulating CAAIR “did not offer (them) a job” and that they would “not receive wages.”
“Simmons pays CAAIR for the work performed by CAAIR participants at a rate well above minimum wage,” Wilkerson attested.
Wilkerson submitted examples of an “Admission Agreement” that promises “work training at a job site,” along with the requirement of “working at a designated job site.” The documents do not name any prospective companies, explain any jobs or detail any training.
Participants were “free to leave (the program) at any time,” the documents state. But such an action could result in “consequences from the criminal justice system for early departure.”
In a separate federal case against another not-for-profit rehabilitation program, Simmons again defended its practices in a 2020 “friend of the court” brief filed in support of DARP Inc.
Citing Simmons’ relationship with CAAIR, Simmons’ lawyers wrote that “CAAIR operates on the same basic model” as DARP to “provide vocational opportunities for those struggling” with addiction.
Participants worked “to achieve their own rehabilitation, not for the benefit of DARP” or any for-profit firm, the brief states. Further, the lawyers asserted that unpaid laborers receive a benefit beyond money: “a sense of self-worth and accomplishment.”
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Copyright 2022 WANF. All rights reserved. | 2022-10-25T15:34:05+00:00 | atlantanewsfirst.com | https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2022/10/25/walkers-chicken-firm-tied-benefits-unpaid-labor/ |
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation confirms that it has found the first deer in the state with a strange disease.
According to Wildlife officials, a white-tailed deer in the Oklahoma Panhandle has tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). A Texas County landowner reported the deer to the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation after witnessing it behaving abnormally. The deer was recovered near Optima and testing was conducted.
This marks the first case of CWD in a wild deer in Oklahoma. ODWC has activated the next stage of the CWD Response Strategy jointly produced with the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry.
“While this is unfortunate news, it is not unexpected since CWD has already been detected in every state that borders Oklahoma. We will be working through our response plan to ensure we can monitor potential spread and keep our state’s deer herd healthy,” said Jerry Shaw, Wildlife Programs Supervisor with ODWC.
CWD is an always-fatal neurological disease that affects the brains of deer, elk, moose, and other members of the cervid family, creating holes that resemble those in sponges. Wildlife officials say it’s important to note that CWD transmission from wild animals to people or to livestock has never been documented.
The Wildlife Department says it will continue monitoring for evidence of this disease within Oklahoma’s borders and will release additional information, including ways deer and elk hunters can help with detection and mitigation, as hunting seasons approach.
Additional guidelines or management plans will be distributed and well-advertised if determined necessary to further protect Oklahoma’s deer and elk populations.
For more information on the disease, hunting regulations, and proper disposal of infected animals, go to wildlifedepartment.com. | 2023-06-07T00:46:12+00:00 | kfor.com | https://kfor.com/news/local/odwc-activates-response-strategy-after-diseased-wild-deer-found-in-panhandle/ |
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We've placed cookies on your device to improve your browsing experience. They're safe and don't contain sensitive information. | 2022-12-29T18:34:58+00:00 | tj.news | https://tj.news/telegraph-journal/102038058 |
ERWIN, Tenn. (WJHL) — Two Georgia men are facing charges after local police say they targetted homeless people as part of a counterfeit check cashing conspiracy.
The Unicoi County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrests of Charles Vaughn Collins Jr., 36, and Anthony Stegall, 57, both of Atlanta.
According to the sheriff’s office, a joint investigation with the Unicoi and Erwin police departments was launched on Jan. 27 when someone tried to pass a counterfeit check at the Mountain Commerce Bank in Unicoi.
“Investigators determined that the attempt was a conspiracy involving numerous individuals believed to be from out of state, and utilizing homeless individuals to accomplish the act,” Chief Deputy Frank Rogers said in a release Wednesday.
Rogers said an organized group approached homeless individuals and asked them if they wanted to earn money for work.
“After the homeless individual would get into the vehicle different tactics are deployed to persuade or cause the homeless person to cash the check at banking institutions located along interstate highways,” Rogers said. “If the attempt was unsuccessful, or in the event of law enforcement notification, the organizers would simply abandon the plot and leave the homeless person holding the bag and make a swift get away.”
If the attempt was successful, Rogers said the group would travel to another bank to attempt the same scheme.
On Tuesday, the sheriff’s office, Unicoi Police Department, and Erwin Police Department were notified of an unsuccessful attempt at the Mountain Commerce Bank in Erwin followed by a second attempt at the branch in Unicoi. Investigators spotted a suspect at the Dollar General off Highway 173, but when Unicoi police attempted to conduct a traffic stop, the suspect fled, according to Rogers.
Unicoi officers chased the suspect onto Green Oak Road before the vehicle crashed. The driver, identified as Vaughn, was seriously injured in the crash and remained hospitalized as of Wednesday afternoon.
“Investigators found evidence in the vehicle which ties the driver to the bank fraud scheme, $11,100.00 cash as well as crack cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana,” Rogers said.
Vaughn is facing several charges, including criminal conspiracy to commit theft greater than $1,000, criminal simulation, forgery, possession of narcotics with intent to sell or deliver, and felony evading arrest.
A second suspect, identified as Stegall, was taken into custody at the Unicoi branch of Mountain Commerce Bank. Authorities have charged him with worthless check fraud, forgery, criminal conspiracy to commit theft greater than $1,000, and criminal simulation. | 2023-02-01T21:14:53+00:00 | wjhl.com | https://www.wjhl.com/news/crime/2-charged-in-unicoi-co-counterfeit-check-conspiracy-that-targetted-homeless-people/ |
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Despite battling injuries all season, the New York Yankees are still managing to pick up victories.
With AL MVP Aaron Judge sidelined after injuring his foot on Saturday, the Yankees got strong pitching and were able to use a little bit of small ball to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1 Sunday and take two of three games in the weekend series.
“Just a really good all-around effort. A lot of winning things were happening in that game,” manager Aaron Boone said.
New York plated runs in the seventh and eighth innings on soft-contract grounders before Anthony Volpe provided some insurance with a two-run homer in the ninth.
J.D. Martinez homered for the Dodgers, who dropped the final two games in the series.
Clay Holmes (4-2) pitched one inning to pick up the win, and Wandy Peralta got the last four outs for his fourth save.
It was a pitchers’ duel for six innings between the Yankees’ Domingo Germán and Dodgers’ Bobby Miller. The right-handers matched zeroes as the teams combined for only four hits in the first six innings.
Dodgers’ rookie Miller allowed only one hit in his six innings, becoming the first Dodgers’ pitcher since at least 1901 to allow one hit or fewer within his first three big league starts. The 24-year old right-hander struck out seven and walked two in his third start.
Germán went 6 2/3 innings and allowed one run and four hits, including Martinez’s solo shot to tie it at 1-all in the seventh. The right-hander has limited opponents to one run or fewer in four of his last six starts.
Jake Bauers — who was playing right field in place of Judge — scored the game’s first run in the seventh on Kyle Higashioka’s broken-bat grounder to short.
Bauers got aboard with a base hit then advanced to third when Brusdar Graterol threw the ball away on Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s bunt.
After Martinez’s homer, the Yankees retook the lead in the eighth against Evan Phillips (1-1). Oswaldo Cabrera drove in Anthony Rizzo with the go-ahead run with a slow roller that second baseman Miguel Vargas could only throw to first.
“It not being hit well helps when the fielders have to move a little. That’s what you’re selling out for. Good job by the base runners there,” Boone said.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said both balls could not have been placed any better by the Yankees’ batters.
“I don’t think they had a chance on both balls. The base runners had such a good jump. They were jam shots,” Roberts said. “There were a lot of things we did as far as giving away a couple bases on the defensive side.”
Volpe had two hits after being mired in a 3-for-38 slump his last 11 games. He extended the lead by driving Caleb Ferguson’s fastball over the wall in left-center in the ninth. It was Volpe’s ninth homer, which is second among AL rookies.
“We’ve got a lot of confidence,” said Volpe after the Yankees took four of six on the road trip.
BOMBS AWAY
Martinez evened it in the bottom of the inning with a solo shot to left-center. It was his 10th homer in the last 21 games.
Martinez has 20 homers against the Yankees, his third-most against any club. He has 35 against Baltimore and 23 vs. Cleveland. He is four homers away from 300 for his career.
MILLER TIME
Miller — the 29th overall pick in the 2020 amateur draft — looked like he might have a short outing after throwing 27 pitches in the first inning. He struck out three but also walked two.
Miller retired seven straight between the third and fifth innings before Volpe lined a base hit to center field with two out in the fifth.
“It felt really good. Been working on my slider a lot lately.,” said Miller, who threw 86 pitches, including 39 sliders. “They know I have a good fastball so I have to have my other pitches working as well.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Yankees: LHP Nestor Cortes is expected to be placed on the injured list Monday or Tuesday due to a shoulder issue. Manager Aaron Boone said Cortes has been slower to recover between starts and is likely to miss one or two starts. … LHP Carlos Rendon (left forearm strain) will face hitters on Wednesday.
Dodgers: OF Trayce Thompson was placed on the injured list with a left oblique strain. OF Johnny Deluca was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City.
UP NEXT
Yankees: Return home for six games starting Tuesday against the Chicago White Sox. RHP Clarke Schmidt (2-5, 5.01 ERA) has gone at least five innings in six of his last eight starts.
Dodgers: Hit the road starting Tuesday against Cincinnati. RHP Tony Gonsolin (3-1, 1.77 ERA) has gone 3-0 in his last four starts.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | 2023-06-05T23:01:21+00:00 | upmatters.com | https://www.upmatters.com/sports/ap-sports/yankees-score-runs-in-final-3-innings-for-4-1-victory-over-dodgers/ |
LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Houlihan Lokey Inc. (HLI) on Thursday reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of $65.2 million.
The Los Angeles-based company said it had profit of 97 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to $1.30 per share.
The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.10 per share.
The investment banking company posted revenue of $471.2 million in the period, also surpassing Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $420.6 million.
For the year, the company reported profit of $437.8 million, or $6.41 per share. Revenue was reported as $2.27 billion.
_____
This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on HLI at https://www.zacks.com/ap/HLI | 2022-05-12T22:15:11+00:00 | sfgate.com | https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Houlihan-Lokey-Fiscal-Q4-Earnings-Snapshot-17169166.php |
Suspects set themselves ablaze while attempting to set a building fire, officials say
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK) - Authorities in California say two arsonists were caught on camera accidentally setting themselves on fire.
Surveillance video reportedly captured the two suspects wearing dark clothing and pouring what appeared to be gasoline on the ground and onto the side of a building.
The Kern County Fire Department said it was initially called on Monday about a ground fire that was outside of a small business.
However, the surveillance video told fire officials a different story, showing two suspects trying to set fire to an immigration service business.
Authorities said the video showed one of the suspects catching fire after dousing gasoline on the building and igniting a flame.
“The footage is quite dramatic, and we hope that these individuals are identified quickly,” said Kern County Fire Department Capt. Andrew Freeborn.
Fire officials said crews extinguished the flames in about 10 minutes but there were no signs of the suspects involved.
According to the fire captain, smoke got inside the building, and firefighters were able to keep the flames contained to the garage area.
An industrial fan was burned in the fire along with a Ring security camera.
The immigration services owner said he is devastated regarding the fire.
The business owner said part of his services is to help file his clients’ taxes and with tax season nearing, the future of the business is uncertain.
Kern County fire officials are asking for the public’s help in identifying the two arsonists.
Copyright 2023 KBAK via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | 2023-01-05T02:58:55+00:00 | wymt.com | https://www.wymt.com/2023/01/05/suspects-set-themselves-ablaze-while-attempting-set-building-fire-officials-say/ |
Lowndes Co. Sheriffs Dept. investigating shooting on Dauphine Drive
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – A shooting occurred on Dauphine Drive, just off Highway 69, Thursday night.
Hawkins says a mother and her two children were inside their home when they heard gunshots.
They went outside to see a white four-door car turn onto Highway 69.
Deputies found shell casings at the scene.
A car and a home were struck by bullets.
It appears the shooters used a 9 mm and .40 caliber pistol.
No arrest has been made.
If you have any information on these shootings call Crime Stoppers or use the P3 Tips App. | 2022-06-25T00:21:31+00:00 | wcbi.com | https://www.wcbi.com/lowndes-co-sheriffs-dept-investigating-shooting-on-dauphine-drive/ |
CONNERSVILLE, Ind. — Authorities are searching for an elusive Connersville felon who is on the run after stealing a Union County Sheriff’s Department truck, according to Indiana State Police.
ISP said 45-year-old Steven T. Lakes is driving a black Ford F-150 with sheriff decals and no light bar. He should be considered armed and dangerous and may have a weapon, police added.
The Connersville Police Department said Lakes has several active arrest warrants for the battery of a public safety official and dealing methamphetamine.
Authorities noted that he has a history of evading arrest, including an incident Saturday evening in which officers served a warrant at a home in the 1300 block of Eastern Avenue but were unable to take him into custody. Police said they later found the home to have “several hidden rooms and crawl spaces.”
This is a developing story and will be updated one more information is available. | 2022-11-08T18:20:31+00:00 | fox59.com | https://fox59.com/news/indycrime/isp-police-search-for-connersville-felon-who-stole-union-county-sheriffs-truck/ |
HOUSTON, Nov. 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- KBR (NYSE: KBR) announced today it has been awarded two contracts totaling over $120 million to conduct advanced analytics, modeling, estimation, research, integrated program management, acquisition technical assistance, architecture trade studies, data science, and data management, in support of the U.S. government's evaluation of strategic space system acquisitions.
Under the terms of the contracts, KBR will develop analytic products and systems engineering services that inform investment decisions for major systems acquisitions, with an emphasis on spacecraft systems, information technology systems, and space system sustainment activities. Work is expected to be performed through 2027.
"We are excited to be a part of this significant project," said KBR Government Solutions U.S. President Byron Bright. "This win is indicative of KBR's strategic commitment to being a trusted advisor to the government in all aspects of space system acquisition."
We deliver science, technology and engineering solutions to governments and companies around the world. KBR employs approximately 28,000 people performing diverse, complex and mission-critical roles in 34 countries.
KBR is proud to work with its customers across the globe to provide technology, value-added services, and long-term operations and maintenance services to ensure consistent delivery with predictable results. At KBR, We Deliver.
Visit www.kbr.com
The statements in this press release that are not historical statements, including statements regarding future financial performance, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the company's control that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the significant adverse impacts on economic and market conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic and the company's ability to respond to the resulting challenges and business disruption; the recent dislocation of the global energy market; the company's ability to manage its liquidity; the outcome of and the publicity surrounding audits and investigations by domestic and foreign government agencies and legislative bodies; potential adverse proceedings by such agencies and potential adverse results and consequences from such proceedings; changes in capital spending by the company's customers; the company's ability to obtain contracts from existing and new customers and perform under those contracts; structural changes in the industries in which the company operates; escalating costs associated with and the performance of fixed-fee projects and the company's ability to control its cost under its contracts; claims negotiations and contract disputes with the company's customers; changes in the demand for or price of oil and/or natural gas; protection of intellectual property rights; compliance with environmental laws; changes in government regulations and regulatory requirements; compliance with laws related to income taxes; unsettled political conditions, war and the effects of terrorism; foreign operations and foreign exchange rates and controls; the development and installation of financial systems; the possibility of cyber and malware attacks; increased competition for employees; the ability to successfully complete and integrate acquisitions; and operations of joint ventures, including joint ventures that are not controlled by the company.
The company's most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K, any subsequent Form 10-Qs and 8-Ks, and other U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings discuss some of the important risk factors that the company has identified that may affect its business, results of operations and financial condition. Except as required by law, the company undertakes no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason.
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SOURCE KBR, Inc. | 2022-11-03T11:29:10+00:00 | wbrc.com | https://www.wbrc.com/prnewswire/2022/11/03/kbr-awarded-analytic-modeling-data-science-contracts-worth-over-120m/ |
WHL
All Times Local
Eastern Conference
Central Division
East Division
Western Conference
B.C. Division
U.S. Division
Note: Two points for a team winning in overtime or shootout; the team losing in overtime or shootout receives one which is registered in the OTL or SOL columns.
Friday's results
Moose Jaw 5 Brandon 1
Lethbridge 2 Winnipeg 1
Edmonton 3 Calgary 0
Red Deer 5 Saskatoon 1
Portland 6 Swift Current 3
Kamloops 7 Victoria 4
Tri-City 2 Everett 1
Seattle 7 Spokane 2
Vancouver 3 Kelowna 1
Saturday's results
Saskatoon 3 Calgary 2 (OT)
Moose Jaw 3 Medicine Hat 2 (OT)
Winnipeg 5 Red Deer 1
Prince Albert 4 Prince George 1
Victoria 3 Kamloops 2
Tri-City 6 Spokane 2
Portland 5 Seattle 2
Everett 4 Swift Current 3 (OT)
Kelowna 5 Vancouver 1
Sunday's results
Medicine Hat 6 Regina 4
Lethbridge 10 Edmonton 2
Winnipeg 5 Calgary 4 (OT)
Tri-City 3 Everett 2
Portland 4 Spokane 3 (OT)
Tuesday's games
Saskatoon at Brandon, 7 p.m.
Regina at Red Deer, 7 p.m.
Prince Albert at Victoria, 7:05 p.m.
Swift Current at Seattle, 7:05 p.m.
Wednesday's games
Saskatoon at Winnipeg, 7:05 p.m.
Moose Jaw at Lethbridge, 7 p.m.
Regina at Calgary, 7 p.m.
Prince Albert at Vancouver, 7 p.m.
Portland at Kamloops, 7 p.m.
Swift Current at Tri-City, 7:05 p.m.
Friday's games
Winnipeg at Brandon, 7 p.m.
Regina at Lethbridge, 7 p.m.
Moose Jaw at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
Prince Albert at Kamloops, 7 p.m.
Portland at Tri-City, 7 p.m.
Victoria at Prince George, 7 p.m.
Vancouver at Kelowna, 7:05 p.m.
Swift Current at Spokane, 7:05 p.m.
Everett at Seattle, 7:05 p.m. | 2023-01-30T08:42:53+00:00 | sfgate.com | https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/hko-whl-standings-17750625.php |
SAN FRANCISCO, June 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Delinea, a leading provider of privileged access management (PAM) solutions for seamless security, today announced the results of its own anonymous onsite survey of cybersecurity professionals attending the RSA Conference, being held this week at the Moscone Center, San Francisco. The survey of over 100 cybersecurity professionals asked attendees about their top concerns for cybersecurity in 2022, where they stand when it comes to cyber insurance and cyber hygiene practices.
Notably, the survey found that cloud security (37%) is the main cybersecurity concern in 2022, more than ransomware (19%) and remote workers (17%).
"Protecting digital assets in the cloud is becoming priority number one, reflecting a more proactive approach to cybersecurity," said Joseph Carson, chief security scientist and advisory CISO at Delinea. "As businesses become more reliant on the cloud for infrastructure, application development, and business process automation, security skills and solutions need to keep up. Securing privileged access to cloud infrastructure and workloads before attackers take advantage is imperative."
The survey also revealed that 80% of respondents claim their organization has not been breached in the past 12 months. This positive response may be due to the increased cyber hygiene practiced amongst employees. For example, the survey states that 59% of respondents claim to not use the same password on multiple accounts and nearly two thirds (66%) state they use multi-factor authentication (MFA) whenever available.
"Passwords should never be the only security control for accessing critical systems, applications, and privileges. By implementing MFA controls, it adds an extra layer of protection, should an attacker be able to compromise a password. MFA should be required not only at system log-in, but also at the point of horizontal and vertical privilege elevation," continues Carson.
When asked about incident response readiness, cyber insurance factored prominently with 41% of respondents saying their organization has or is strongly considering arming themselves with cyber insurance.
For this survey, Delinea polled more than 100 random RSA conference participants. For more information, please visit Delinea at RSA Booth S-1227 in Moscone South or visit https://delinea.com.
Delinea is a leading provider of privileged access management (PAM) solutions that make security seamless for the modern, hybrid enterprise. Our solutions empower organizations to secure critical data, devices, code, and cloud infrastructure to help reduce risk, ensure compliance, and simplify security. Delinea removes complexity and defines the boundaries of access for thousands of customers worldwide. Our customers range from small businesses to the world's largest financial institutions, intelligence agencies, and critical infrastructure companies. Learn more about Delinea on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.
© Delinea Inc. (formerly Centrify Corporation) 2022. Delinea™ is a trademark of Delinea Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
Contacts:
Brad Shewmake
Delinea
brad.shewmake@delinea.com
+1-408-625-4191
John Kreuzer
Lumina Communications
delinea@luminapr.com
+1-408-963-6418
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SOURCE Delinea | 2022-06-09T15:22:01+00:00 | wymt.com | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2022/06/09/delinea-onsite-rsa-conference-survey-reveals-cloud-security-top-cybersecurity-concern-2022/ |
MONTREAL, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Lightspeed Commerce Inc. ("Lightspeed" or the "Company") (TSX: LSPD) (NYSE: LSPD), the one-stop commerce platform for merchants around the world to simplify, scale and create exceptional customer experiences, today announced its participation in the Piper Sandler Growth Frontier Conference. Unless noted, listen-only audio webcasts and replays will be accessible at the scheduled presentation time on the Company's Investor Relations website at investors.lightspeedhq.com. Details for the event are as follows:
Powering the businesses that are the backbone of the global economy, Lightspeed's one-stop commerce platform helps merchants innovate to simplify, scale and provide exceptional customer experiences. The cloud solution transforms and unifies online and physical operations, multichannel sales, expansion to new locations, global payments, financing and connection to supplier networks.
Founded in Montréal, Canada in 2005, Lightspeed is dual-listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange (NYSE: LSPD) (TSX: LSPD). With teams across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, the company serves retail, hospitality and golf businesses in over 100 countries.
For more information, please visit: www.lightspeedhq.com
On social media: Linkedin, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter
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SOURCE Lightspeed Commerce Inc. | 2022-09-07T21:55:07+00:00 | witn.com | https://www.witn.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/lightspeed-participate-upcoming-investor-conference/ |
New Congress to convene, but will McCarthy be House speaker?
WASHINGTON (AP) - The new Congress opens with House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy grasping for his political survival, with the potential to become the first nominee for speaker in 100 years to fail to win initial support from his own colleagues in a high-stakes vote for the gavel.
Lawmakers convene Tuesday to a new era of divided government as Democrats relinquish control of the House after midterm election losses. While the Senate remains in Democratic hands, barely, House Republicans are eager to confront President Joe Biden’s agenda after two years of a Democratic Party monopoly on power in Washington.
But first, House Republicans must elect a speaker.
McCarthy is in line to replace Speaker Nancy Pelosi, but he heads into the vote with no guarantee of success. The California Republican faces entrenched detractors within his own ranks. Despite attempts to cajole, harangue and win them over — even with an endorsement from former President Donald Trump — McCarthy has fallen short.
The noontime showdown could very well devolve into a prolonged House floor fight, a spectacle that divides the Republican Party, weakens its leadership and consumes the first days of the new Congress.
“This is a lot more important than about one person,” said Doug Heye, a former Republican leadership senior aide. “It’s about whether Republicans will be able to govern.”
House Republicans will huddle behind closed doors early in the morning, ahead of the floor action, as newly elected lawmakers arrive for what’s traditionally a celebratory day. Families in tow, the members of the new Congress prepare to be sworn into the House and Senate for the start of the two-year legislative session.
A new generation of Trump-aligned Republicans are leading the opposition to McCarthy, inspired by the former president’s Make America Great Again slogan. They don’t think McCarthy is conservative enough or tough enough to battle Democrats. It’s reminiscent of the last time Republicans took back the House majority, after the 2010 midterms, when the tea-party class ushered in a new era of hardball politics, eventually sending Speaker John Boehner to an early retirement.
Typically it takes a majority of the House’s 435 members, 218 votes, to become the speaker. With just a slim 222-seat majority, McCarthy can afford only a handful of detractors. A speaker can win with fewer than 218 votes, as Pelosi and Boehner did, if some lawmakers are absent or simply vote present.
But McCarthy has failed to win over a core — and potentially growing — group of right-flank Republicans led by the conservative Freedom Caucus, despite weeks of closed-door meetings and promised changes to the House rules. Nearly a dozen Republicans have publicly raised concerns about McCarthy.
“Kevin McCarthy doesn’t have to 218 votes to be speaker,” Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., the chairman of the Freedom Caucus and a leader in Trump’s efforts to challenge the 2020 election, said in an interview with The Associated Press. “Unless something dramatically changes, that’s where we’re going to be.”
Late Monday evening, McCarthy met with Perry in the speaker’s office at the Capitol, a Republican aide confirmed on condition of anonymity to discuss the private session.
Yet the prospect of holdouts causing havoc on Day One has launched a counter-offensive from Republicans who are frustrated that the detractors threaten the workings of the new Congress.
A sizable but less vocal group of McCarthy supporters started its own campaign, “Only Kevin,” as a way to shut down the opposition and pledge their support only to him.
A viable challenger to McCarthy had yet to emerge. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., a former leader of the Freedom Caucus, was running against McCarthy as a conservative option, but was not expected to pull a majority. McCarthy defeated him in the November nominating contest, 188-31.
The second-ranking House Republican, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, would be an obvious next choice, a conservative widely liked by his colleagues and seen by some as a hero after surviving a brutal mass shooting during a congressional baseball game practice in 2017.
Once rivals, McCarthy and Scalise have become a team. Scalise’s office rejected as “false” a suggestion Monday by another Republican that Scalise was making calls about the speaker’s race.
McCarthy vowed to fight to the finish, going multiple rounds of painstaking floor votes -- a sight unseen in Congress since the disputed speaker’s race of 1923.
“It would be nice if we can be ready to go on Jan. 3,” said Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who is set to become chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. “But you know, if it doesn’t happen on the first ballot, that’s when that just pushes things back.”
Without a speaker, the House cannot fully form — naming its committee chairmen, engaging in floor proceedings and launching the investigations of the Biden administration that are expected to be core to the Republicans’ agenda.
The upheaval in the House on the first day of the new session could be in stark contrast to the other side of the Capitol, where Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell will officially become the chamber’s longest-serving party leader in history.
Despite being in the minority in the Senate, where Democrats hold a slim 51-49 majority, McConnell could prove to be a viable partner as Biden seeks bipartisan victories in the new era of divided government. The two men were expected to appear together later in the week in the GOP leader’s home state of Kentucky to celebrate federal infrastructure investment in a vital bridge that connects Kentucky and Ohio.
McCarthy’s candidacy for speaker should have been an almost sure thing. Affable and approachable, he led his party into the majority, having raised millions of campaign dollars and traveled the country to recruit many of the newer lawmakers to run for office.
Yet McCarthy has been here before, abruptly dropping out of the speaker’s race in 2015 when it was clear he did not have support from conservatives to replace Boehner.
One core ask from the holdouts this time is that McCarthy reinstate a rule that allows any single lawmaker to make a “motion to vacate the chair” — in short, to call a vote to remove the speaker from office.
Pelosi eliminated the rule after conservatives used it to threaten Boehner’s ouster, but McCarthy agreed to add it back in — but at a higher threshold, requiring at least five lawmakers to sign on to the motion.
“I will work with everyone in our party to build conservative consensus,” McCarthy wrote in a weekend letter to colleagues.
As McCarthy convened a New Year’s Day conference call with Republican lawmakers to unveil the new House rules package, Perry dashed off a fresh letter of concerns signed by eight others Republicans that the changes do not go far enough.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | 2023-01-03T11:51:09+00:00 | kttc.com | https://www.kttc.com/2023/01/03/new-congress-convene-will-mccarthy-be-house-speaker/ |
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DALLAS (AP) — Dallas Stars teenage rookie Wyatt Johnston is constantly asking questions and going over games with Joe Pavelski in all the time they spend together — which is most of the time.
The 19-year-old Johnston has been living all season with the Pavelski family, soaking up all he can from the veteran center who is twice his age at the rink or at home.
“I try to just kind of listen to him and learn from all of his experience," Johnston said.
They also watch game highlights together. And for the first time all season, after Game 2 of the second round of the NHL playoffs, those clips included a goal on which Pavelski and the rookie were both involved.
Pavelski got his fifth goal in two games since returning from concussion protocol when he slammed in the rebound of a shot by Johnston for the third Stars goal in their 4-2 victory over Seattle on Thursday night. Johnston also had his second playoff goal as Dallas evened the series at 1-1.
“I don’t know what they’re eating in the Pavelski household right now, but it’s working,” said veteran forward Tyler Seguin, who is the only Dallas player to win a Stanley Cup, and that was as a 19-year-old rookie with Boston in 2011. “Mrs. Pavelski is making some good food or something because they’re buzzing.”
The Stars and Kraken play Game 3 on Sunday night and Game 4 on Tuesday night in Seattle. The series then shifts back to Texas for Game 5 next Thursday.
Johnston stayed in a hotel room during training camp. But when the kid from Ontario made the roster, and team officials were trying to determine where he would live, Pavelski offered a room at home.
Pavelski is in his fourth year with the Stars after playing his first 13 NHL seasons in San Jose, where as a youngster he got helped by Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau. Pavelski was the Sharks captain over his last four seasons on the West Coast, when Peter DeBoer was his coach there.
DeBoer, now in his first season with the Stars, called Pavelski and Johnston “an interesting pair” and said he is having fun watching their interactions.
“Wyatt is just starting his career and Joe has done everything but win a Cup,” DeBoer said. “Joe understands the importance of the messaging in what he’s teaching Wyatt. I think Wyatt is going to appreciate that down the road probably a lot more than he does now. He’s a pretty, pretty smart kid, but I think he’s going to really get it probably 10 years from now when he looks back and goes, wow, I was lucky to be in that situation with that guy.”
After Game 2, DeBoer took a moment for a tangent about Johnston not being included as one of the three finalists for NHL rookie of the year. Johnston played all 82 regular-season games and his 24 goals were tied for the rookie lead with 20-year-old Kraken center Matty Beniers, a finalist.
"He just keeps doing it every night and does it different ways,” DeBoer said. “He also is great defensively. He’s out there with the (opposing) goalie out in the last two minutes of the game, he kills penalties for us. Not much else to say, just a great young player. ... Excited to see what what he’s capable of turning into.”
Johnston will turn 20 on May 14, which is Mother's Day this year — and the day between Games 6 and 7, if the series against the Kraken goes that far.
Right before the playoffs began, Johnston spoke about how amazing the Pavelskis have been and the impact they have had on the start of his career.
“I’ve learned so much about just being a pro and kind of day-in and day-out of being an NHL player,” Johnston said. “I can’t thank them enough for how much they’ve helped me throughout this year so far. Definitely made it a lot easier kind of adjusting to the NHL, adjusting to the lifestyle and just being in a new city.”
___
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | 2023-05-05T21:23:51+00:00 | ourmidland.com | https://www.ourmidland.com/sports/article/dallas-teen-rookie-johnston-lives-with-learns-18082147.php |
HONOR Magic5 Pro Automatically Captures New GUINNESS WORLD RECORDSTM achievement of the Highest Between The Legs Slam Dunk with its all-new AI Motion Sensing Technology
BARCELONA, Spain, March 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Global technology brand HONOR announced at Mobile World Congress 2023 that it has partnered with GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS TM to capture an official world record attempt. To celebrate the launch of the HONOR Magic5 Series, the two brands teamed up to challenge twice FIBA 3x3 World Champion and pro dunker Piotr Grabowski, a basketball player from Poland, to set a new GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS TM title for the Highest Between The Legs Slam Dunk.
A spectacular showcase of skills and creativity, slam-dunking is a popular sport derived from basketball where a player jumps through the air to force the ball downward through a basketball hoop with one or both hands over the rim. The challenge took place in London, UK, and saw Piotr jumping to the staggering height of 3.2 meters to complete the slam dunk, achieving a new GUINNESS WORLD RECORDSTM title. The impressive feat was automatically captured using the HONOR Magic5 Pro's new AI Motion Sensing technology, which is capable of automatically detecting the highlight moment of a jump, thanks to AI machine learning, capturing the frame in ultra-high definition and clarity.
"Sport enhances human spirit. We're delighted to have been able to record this breath-taking moment with our ground-breaking camera technology," said Ray Guo, Chief Marketing Officer of HONOR Device Co, Ltd. "By creating products that offer creative solutions, we want to motivate our consumers to unleash the magic within them all and strive to achieve extraordinary things."
"Basketball is part of my DNA. Each time I jump up to dunk, I'm pushing against the force of gravity and pushing myself to the limit. When I break records, it feels like magic. I hope this inspires people around the world to unleash their own power of magic." said Piotr Grabowski.
"We believe everyone has their own moment worth celebrating. In this attempt, timing and precision is everything. It is up to us to do justice to these extraordinary achievements and to portray the action in the best possible way," said Karen Gilchrist, the Vice President of TV and Digital Content from Guinness World Records. "We used the HONOR Magic5 Pro to capture the record-breaking moment in clear, ultra-fast speed and the results are unmissable."
The AI Motion Sensing technology[1] works by tapping into an AI network trained with more than 270,000 images, which enables the camera to recognize varied scenarios precisely, intelligently identifying the great moment to automatically capture the highlight shot. Powering this feature is the All-New HONOR Image Engine, with an upgraded intelligent AI Recognition technology.
Perfect for snapping live performances and sporting events, when enabled, this intuitive feature automatically detects facial expressions such as smiles and body movements such as jumping. Whether capturing someone jumping for joy or competing in a fast-paced sports tournament, the resulting action shots are crystal clear, empowering users to become better creators, anytime, anywhere.
Highlighting its commitment to delivering incredible camera capabilities, HONOR has invested heavily in developing AI algorithms that take photography on the HONOR Magic5 Pro to a whole new level. The HONOR Magic5 Pro has also taken the first place in the DXOMARK Smartphone Camera Ranking.
The HONOR Magic5 Pro will be available in global markets including UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Malaysia, Mexico. Shipping details for each market will be revealed soon.
About HONOR
HONOR is a leading global provider of smart devices. It is dedicated to becoming a global iconic technology brand and creating a new intelligent world for everyone through its powerful products and services. With an unwavering focus on R&D, it is committed to developing technology that empowers people around the globe to go beyond, giving them the freedom to achieve and do more. Offering a range of high-quality smartphones, tablets, laptops and wearables to suit every budget, HONOR's portfolio of innovative, premium and reliable products enable people to become a better version of themselves.
About Guinness World Records
What's the fastest game bird in Europe? This was the question that inspired the founding of Guinness World Records back in 1954. Starting with a single book published from a room above a gym, GWR has grown to become a global multi-media brand, with offices in London, New York, Beijing, Tokyo and Dubai.
Today, we deliver world-class content, not just through books, but via TV shows, social media and live events. Our in-house consultancy works closely with brands and businesses around the world to harness the power of record-breaking and deliver award-winning campaigns and business solutions. Through our in-house production arm, GWR Studios, we create standout content for broadcasters, brand partners and digital platforms. Whatever the medium, our ultimate purpose is to make the world a more interesting, fun, and positive place. To join this record-breaking community – visit guinnessworldrecords.com.
For more information, please visit HONOR online at www.hihonor.com or email newsroom@hihonor.com
https://community.hihonor.com/
https://www.facebook.com/honorglobal/
https://twitter.com/Honorglobal
https://www.instagram.com/honorglobal/
https://www.youtube.com/c/HonorOfficial
[1] AI Motion Sensing Capture supports an intelligent high-speed shutter, which quickly captures the wonderful moments of people smiling, jumping, etc., or motions of cats and dogs. The actual effect can vary depending on the scenarios. The standard version also supports this feature.
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SOURCE HONOR | 2023-03-01T09:23:03+00:00 | ksla.com | https://www.ksla.com/prnewswire/2023/03/01/honor-partners-with-guinness-world-records-record-breaking-moment-captured-honor-magic5-pro/ |
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Unified School District and union leaders said Friday they reached a deal on pay raises for bus drivers, custodians and other support staff after a three-day strike that shut down the nation’s second-largest school system.
The deal includes a series of retroactive raises going back to 2021 as well as pay bumps this coming July and January that will collectively hike worker pay by about 30%, said Max Arias, executive director of SEIU Local 99.
The deal also sets the district’s minimum wage at $22.52; provides a one-time $1,000 raise for any worker who was employed in 2020 in appreciation of their work during the COVID-19 pandemic; and creates a $3 million educational and professional development fund for union members, district Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said at a news conference.
Free health care will be provided for any employee working at least four hours a day and their families, he added, calling the deal historic and unprecedented in the nation.
“This agreement’s going to make a lot of superintendents very nervous,” he said. “And that’s a good thing. … Elevate the bar and, in the process, elevate the people.”
The deal “elevates the dignity, the humanity of our workforce, respects the needs of our students, but also guarantees the fiscal viability of our district for years to come,” Carvalho said.
He announced the deal alongside Arias and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. Both sides credited Bass, who took office in December, with helping reach the agreement.
The mayor has no authority over the schools but she does have a grandson in the district.
The deal must still be voted on by the school board and the full union, which represents about 30,000 workers also including cafeteria employees, special education assistants and other support staff. However it gives them most if not all of what they demanded and is expected to pass handily.
Those workers walked off the job Tuesday through Thursday amid stalled talks, and classes for some 500,000 students resumed Friday.
Members of United Teachers Los Angeles, the union representing 35,000 educators, counselors and other staff, joined the picket lines in solidarity, lending muscle to the walkout.
Teachers waged a six-day strike in 2019 over pay and contract issues, but support staff didn’t join and schools remained open.
This time Carvalho had warned parents that classrooms would close for safety reasons because both instructors and support staff were taking part. The strike ended up snarling schedules for many parents because schools had to find alternate ways to provide daycare and the meals offered on campuses.
The strike has shone a spotlight on the issue of underpaid workers who serve as the backbone of schools across the country.
The union said district support staffers earn, on average, about $25,000 per year and many live in poverty or must work several jobs because of low pay or limited hours while struggling with inflation and the area’s high cost of housing.
Carvalho agreed that what he called indispensable workers were being underpaid.
The deal came just days after the union accused the district of engaging in unfair labor practices. Arias noted that another contract must be negotiated next year but added: “There is no strike planned for the foreseeable future.”
“Thanks to the parents of Los Angeles and the students of Los Angeles and everyone who stood shoulder to shoulder with our members,” he said.
SEIU members have been working without a contract since June 2020, while the contract for teachers expired in June 2022. The unions decided last week to stop accepting extensions. | 2023-03-25T14:42:23+00:00 | everythinglubbock.com | https://www.everythinglubbock.com/news/national/los-angeles-schools-union-leaders-reach-contract-deal/ |
WADA says Russia found ‘no fault’ in Valieva doping case
MONTREAL (AP) — A Russian tribunal found figure skater Kamila Valieva bore “no fault or negligence” in a doping case that rocked last year’s Winter Olympics, the World Anti-Doping Agency said Friday.
The Russian skater won Olympic gold in the team competition in February before it was announced that a sample she gave two months before tested positive for a banned substance. The result was reported later because the laboratory which tested the sample was affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
WADA was “concerned” that a Russian anti-doping agency panel ruled Valieva should be disqualified from only one day of the 2021 Russian championships, where the sample was taken.
“The tribunal found that although the athlete had committed an Anti-Doping Rule Violation, she bore ‘no fault or negligence’ for it. As such, the tribunal imposed no sanction except for the disqualification of her results on the date of the sample collection,” WADA said in the statement.
WADA said it would review the ruling in full before deciding on further steps. WADA previously complained Russia was taking too long to reach a decision in Valieva’s case and sought to have it moved to the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport.
“Based on the elements of the case with which WADA is already familiar, the agency is concerned by the finding of ‘no fault or negligence’ and will not hesitate to exercise its right of appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, as appropriate,” WADA said.
When WADA made its earlier filing about Russia’s slow processing of the case, the court said WADA indicated it would push for a four-year ban.
The Russian agency, known as RUSADA, has not published the verdict. It has previously said it would not publish any findings related to the case because Valieva was only 15 at the time she tested positive.
RUSADA chief executive Veronika Loginova told Russian state news agency Tass that her agency could also consider an appeal against its own tribunal’s verdict. RUSADA has received only a short-form ruling containing the verdict and is still waiting for the full ruling, she added.
Depending on the eventual result of any appeal, the case could result in the United States being upgraded from silver to gold in the team event. No medal ceremony has ever been held for the competition because of the turmoil caused by Valieva’s case, and U.S. skaters have said they are frustrated by the delays.
CAS typically takes months to process cases. A previous CAS panel of judges allowed Valieva to compete in the women’s individual event at the Beijing Games even under suspicion of doping, in part because of her age. She placed fourth in the women’s competition as another Russian, Anna Shcherbakova, won the gold.
Friday’s announcement by WADA is unlikely to have a major effect on the figure skating season. Skaters from Russia and its ally Belarus remain suspended from international competitions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Valieva has been skating in Russian domestic events this season while the case was processed.
___
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Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | 2023-01-13T20:05:57+00:00 | ksla.com | https://www.ksla.com/2023/01/13/wada-says-russia-found-no-fault-valieva-doping-case/ |
GREAT FALLS — Great Falls will host "Flight Over The Falls," a military air show and open house, headlined by the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds aerial demonstration team. The Thunderbirds last performed in Great Falls in July 2017.
The entry-free event will be held at the Montana Air National Guard/Great Falls International Airport on Saturday, July 23, and Sunday, July 24, featuring aerial demonstrations both days.
And while the aerial performances will be on the weekend, the skies over Great Falls began roaring on Thursday, as the planes arrived ahead of the show and conducted some training.
Personnel assigned to the Thunderbirds typically have two-year commitments, but some - including Major Kyle Oliver - are in their third year due to the pandemic. He called himself one of the lucky ones getting to fly a little longer. He was inspired as a kid at an air show and now wants to do the same thing to other kids.
Oliver said, “This is my third season on the team, hired back in 2019. I haven't had a chance to spend much time here, so I'm really looking forward to the weekend. Looks like a beautiful place to go fly an air show - clear blue skies. I’m looking forward to it, and hope everyone enjoys it. ”
For them, it's all about the people they meet and the family they're a part of. The Thunderbirds only have a handful of planes that fly across the country but are made up of more than 130 personnel who all work as a team.
Staff Sergeant Jessica Krystof has been with the Thunderbirds for a year and a half and loves the people she meets and works with. She is in charge of making sure the planes and pilots are safe - and also loves inspiring others.
“As a crew chief, I am responsible for inspecting the aircraft before and after each flight. I'm in charge of any kind of servicing, like refueling, checking the oil, the hydraulic fluids, and any kind of maintenance that comes up, from changing tires to pulling engines. My favorite part of being a Thunderbird is getting to travel to across the country and getting to inspire children, especially little girls. For me personally, it's a lot of fun. It's a lot of days on the road but it's all worth it. This team is really like a second family, and it's kind of like a big family vacation.”
The event website says: "This event will surely thrill everyone during its two-day span, and it’s free and open to the general public. Static military and civilian displays and equipment will also be available for viewing."
The event is co-sponsored by the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base and the 120th Airlift Wing of the Montana Air National Guard.
Master Sgt. Devin Doskey of the Montana Air National Guard provided the following details:
Operating Hours
- Parking will open at 8 a.m. in the south area and on 120AW property for civilians with an invitation
- Gates to the Flight Line open at 9 a.m.
- Opening Ceremonies at 10:15 a.m.
- Air Acts end at 3 p.m.
- Flight Line closes by 5 p.m.
Traffic Plan
- Visitors arriving from Great Falls direction can access main parking via Gore Hill exit or travel to Ulm and take the frontage road to the parking area.
- Visitors arriving from the Helena direction can access main parking via the Ulm frontage road.
- After the show traffic will all route to Ulm until such time that local law enforcement deems that normal traffic flow will effectively move over the Gore Hill interchange
- The Great Falls Ice Plex will be offering a Park and Ride option.
- We are encouraging private organizations downtown to offer a similar service if they are able to help reduce traffic congestion
- There will be no centralized shuttle service as in 2017
- Law Enforcement will be in place to facilitate traffic flow
- Estimating between 35,000 and 50,000 person crowd size for the weekend
- Shuttle services will be provided from the main parking area to the security checkpoint and also on to the Flightline.
Aviation Acts
- F-18 Rhino Demo Team
- Jelly Belly aerobatics
- Third Strike Wing Walkers
- A-26 Invader “Miss Kay” with Firewalkers Pyro
- P-51 Mustang “Dakota Kid” with Firewalkers Pyro
- Undaunted Airshows with Firewalkers Pyro
- Ace Maker T-33 with Firewalkers Pyro
- Brad Wursten Airshows MX-2
- USAF Thunderbirds
Safety
- Event will be patrolled by a Multi-Agency law enforcement presence
- First Aid will be available and staffed by members of the 341st and 120th Medical Groups
- Emergency services will be available by our local healthcare agencies and Great Falls Emergency Services
- Aviation safety will be supported by the FAA, Ralph Royce Airboss Services, and the 120th Operations Group
NOTE: At this point, organizers have not said what time the Thunderbirds will perform - however, they are usually the final act to perform, so it likely they will perform between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.
The Thunderbirds last performed in Great Falls in July 2017. KRTV reporter Margaret DeMarco got the ride of her life in one of the jets: | 2022-07-22T17:14:47+00:00 | ktvh.com | https://www.ktvh.com/news/thunderbirds-ready-to-roar-over-great-falls |
BEIJING, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On June 23, Berry Oncology, a global leading company specialized in genomic testing and early cancer screening, announced the launch of its innovative one-time precision product HIFI Pan-Cancer Screening, which is an early multi-cancer screening product developed based on the company's proprietary HIFI technology platform. With one single testing, the product can accurately detect 6 high-risk and high-incident cancers in China that include lung cancer, esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, and colorectal cancer, with a global leading performance of 87.58% sensitivity, 99.09% specificity and 82% traceability accuracy.
Cancer has become a global public health challenge. According to the 2020 global cancer burden data released by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), there were 19.29 million new cancer cases and 9.96 million cancer deaths worldwide in 2020, while the numbers in China were 4.57 million and 3 million respectively in the same year, ranking the first in the world which has imposed a heavy disease burden on individuals and society.
The Healthy China 2030 Plan, issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, clearly states that early diagnosis and treatment of major high-risk cancers is highly encouraged, opportunistic cancer screening should be promoted, and the 5-year overall cancer survival rate in China is expected to be increased by 15% by 2030. In the recently released 14th Five-Year Plan for Bioeconomic Development, it also stated that it is necessary to incorporate advanced technologies such as genetic testing into disease prevention, and to carry out early screening for major diseases such as cancers, so as to provide precision solutions and decision support for individualized treatment.
NGS-based liquid biopsy technology has greatly improved the possibility of early cancer screening. On top of significant improvement in the overall testing performance, innovative liquid biopsy products for early cancer screening, taking HIFI Pan-Cancer Screening as an example, have accessible benefits of minimal invasiveness and user friendliness, which help increase the compliance of high-risk groups and create bigger clinical intervention window for patients with early-stage cancer to improve their survival rate, compared with traditional cancer screening methods such as tumor markers and imaging.
HIFI Pan-Cancer Screening is the first early screening product for multiple cancer types using whole genome sequencing (WGS) of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) worldwide. Compared with other technologies, this technology can capture early cancer signals in a wider range and reduce missed detection caused by individual differences and differences in molecular biological characteristics across various tumor types.
In addition, HIFI Pan-Cancer Screening is developed based on Berry Oncology's proprietary HIFI technology platform. The self-iterative HIFI technology platform can reduce the costs of product development and testing services, and thus making early screening for multiple cancers more affordable.
Since its establishment, Berry Oncology has been committed to the development of innovative liquid biopsy products for cancer based on the NGS platform. Today, the company has carried out product development covering the full disease course, from early screening and early diagnosis, companion diagnosis, minimal residual disease, to recurrence monitoring.
Zhang Kai, deputy director of the National Cancer Center and the Cancer Prevention Department of the Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, said, "With the innovative liquid biopsy technology, we can detect a variety of cancers at one time, making early diagnosis and early treatment more possible for patients, while providing new solutions for China to achieve the goals of cancer prevention and control. However, in addition to technology, the general public still needs to improve their awareness in self screening so that this new technology can be more widely used to truly increase early diagnosis rate and reduce mortality rate."
Zhang Ao, executive director of Qiming Venture Partner, said, "Qiming has been keeping close company to Berry Oncology since day 1, and has witnessed the upgrades of its HIFI technology platform and its determination in building the cancer prevention and treatment ecosystem. Early cancer screening is a high barrier industry, which examines both technical and execution capabilities of a team from the selection of technical route, the translation of theory to practice, the overall layout of the experiment and so on. The launch of the multi-cancer early screening product will further reinforce Berry Oncology's leadership in the early screening sector."
Zhou Jun, CEO of Berry Oncology, said, "Since its establishment, Berry Oncology has been dedicated to developing technologies and delivering products for early cancer screening based on the spectrum of malignant tumors, to help more high-risk people identify hidden risks and help more patients prolong survival time and improve quality of life. Moving forward, Berry Oncology will continue to optimize its technology system and iterate early screening products to deliver more advanced early cancer screening solutions in accordance with the actual market demand and environment. In the meanwhile, we will further our partnerships with industry players, universities and research organizations to co-build an ecosystem for cancer prevention and treatment that enables innovations more accessible."
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SOURCE Berry Oncology | 2022-06-23T15:59:27+00:00 | mysuncoast.com | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2022/06/23/berry-oncology-launches-hifi-pan-cancer-screening-multi-cancer-early-screening-product-detecting-six-high-risk-cancers-one-time/ |
The new service ensures Cymbio's customers get fast access to cash for their multichannel sales, and eliminates fin-ops overhead of drop ship and marketplace operations
TEL AVIV, Israel , Oct. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cymbio, the all-in-one digital sales growth platform for brands, announced today the launch of "Cymbio Finance," automating payment collection, reconciliation, and streamlining cash flow for multichannel drop ship and marketplace sales, enabling brands to get paid instantly for the products they sell online. These new offerings are being released 6 months after PayPal invested in Cymbio.
Today, brands that engage in multi-channel sales with drop ship and marketplace retailers have to contend with long net terms (affecting their cash conversion cycle) as well as significant operational and administrative overhead, including tracking invoices and reconciliation. Additionally, accounts receivables teams must manually manage invoices and payment requests for each channel, as existing financing solutions are not built for multi-channel digital sales.
Cymbio Finance is a fin-ops automation solution with a built-in financing service for brands, allowing them to get paid instantly for their drop ship and marketplace sales without having to add to their current operations. The service includes:
- Cash flow streamlining - Automated daily payouts for previous day's sales
- Reconciliation - Automatically manage incoming payments, and match invoices to simplify the reconciliation process
- Retailer and marketplace payment collection handling
- Reporting and analytics, for planning and improved operations
Unlike traditional retail financing companies, Cymbio is first and foremost a digital sales growth platform, connecting brands to marketplaces and retailers, onboarding and listing their products, managing inventory, orders and billing and helping the brands grow their revenues. The launch of an automated financing option into the product mix further strengthens Cymbio's ability to help brands grow their business. Cymbio is built to enable brands to connect, list and sell products across digital sales channels and now also finance brands' growth across all retailers and marketplaces that they wish to sell on.
"Cymbio's mission is to power digital commerce growth for the world's biggest and most innovative brands by enabling automated multi-channel commerce," said Roy Avidor, Co-Founder and CEO of Cymbio. "With the launch of Cymbio Finance, we are offering our brand partners a growth spurt opportunity, which will create a flywheel effect for them, as their multi-channel sales will now have the same payment terms of DTC sales, allowing for continued growth. Our early adopters have shortened their cash cycle by an average of 32 days, which is significant, especially in today's economy. Cymbio now offers a truly end-to-end solution for brands taking the multi-channel commerce approach."
"Our goal is to help brands grow, with hassle-free drop ship and marketplace operations," said Harel Karni, Product Lead at Cymbio. "Cymbio Finance solves multiple pain points in the financial flow and will allow brands to improve efficiency and liquidity, so they can put their money back to work faster."
About Cymbio
Cymbio is an all-in-one digital growth platform built for brands to manage and automate all processes, operations and collaborations with retail partners. From product data, to inventory, mapping, taxonomy, orders, documents, billing to cash flow management, reconciliation, payment collection to data and analytics. Cymbio's platform automates the various operations between brands and their retail partners, enabling any brand to sell on any retailer. With a laser-focus on helping brands achieve seamless growth and profitability, Cymbio has quickly grown its roster of 400+ tier-one brands using its platform, such as New Balance, Authentic Brands Group, Steve Madden, Marchesa, Camper, Micro Kickboard, and thousands of others and over 800 retailers. For more information, please visit https://cym.bio
Media Contact
Jolene Amit
VP Marketing at Cymbio
Jolene@cym.bio
+1 (215) 515-6644
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SOURCE Cymbio Digital Ltd | 2022-10-27T12:53:01+00:00 | newschannel10.com | https://www.newschannel10.com/prnewswire/2022/10/27/cymbio-launches-cymbio-finance-offering-next-day-payouts-automated-fin-ops-brands-multi-channel-sales/ |
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Three children were injured after being hit by a car on the east side of Columbus Monday afternoon, police said.
According to police, the accident happened at approximately 5:40 p.m. near the intersection of Krumm Avenue and East 6th Avenue.
Police said one victim was taken to Children’s Nationwide Hospital initially in critical condition, but later upgraded to stable condition. The two other victims were also listed in stable condition at Nationwide Children’s.
Due to the initial investigation into the crash, police believe the children were riding on a mini bike when they rode through a stop sign and then hit by the car.
The vehicle involved in the accident did stay at the scene, police said. At this point, police do not believe the driver of the car is at fault.
“Everybody started running toward kids and cars to see what happened and investigate more and upon looking, we saw broken legs, lacerations, yeah,” James Sams, a witness to the crash, said.
There is no further information available at this time. | 2023-06-27T14:27:02+00:00 | wdtn.com | https://www.wdtn.com/news/ohio/3-children-hit-by-car-in-columbus/ |
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Wildlife and environmental groups sued the Federal Aviation Administration on Monday over SpaceX’s launch last month of its giant rocket from Texas.
SpaceX’s Starship soared 24 miles (39 kilometers) high before exploding over the Gulf of Mexico on April 20. The rocket’s self-destruct system caused the nearly 400-foot (120-meter) rocket to blow up, as it spun out of control just minutes into the test flight.
An attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the plaintiffs, said the groups are suing over what they consider to be the FAA’s failure to fully consider the environmental impacts of the Starship program near Boca Chica Beach in South Texas. They asked the court to throw out the five-year license the FAA granted to SpaceX.
The FAA declined comment, noting it doesn’t comment on ongoing litigation. The agency is overseeing the accident investigation and has ordered all SpaceX Starships grounded until it’s certain that public safety will not be compromised.
Over the weekend, SpaceX founder and chief executive, Elon Musk, said his company could be ready to launch the next Starship in six to eight weeks with the FAA’s OK.
No injuries or significant damage to public property were reported from any of the rocket wreckage or flying pad debris. A large crater was carved into the concrete pad, as most of the rocket’s 33 main engines ignited at liftoff.
The launch pad is on a remote site on the southernmost tip of Texas, just below South Padre Island, and about 20 miles from Brownsville.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported last week that large concrete chunks, stainless steel sheets, metal and other objects were hurled thousands of feet (hundreds of meters) from the pad. In addition, a plume of pulverized concrete sent material up to 6.4 miles (4 kilometers) northwest of the pad, the service noted.
It was the first launch of a full-size Starship, with the sci-fi-looking spacecraft on top the huge booster rocket. The company plans to use it to send people and cargo to the moon and, ultimately, Mars. NASA wants to use Starship to ferry astronauts to the lunar surface as soon as 2025.
Joining the Center for Biological Diversity in the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, are the American Bird Conservancy, Surfrider Foundation, Save RGV (Rio Grande Valley) and the Carrizo/Comecrudo Nation of Texas.
“It’s vital that we protect life on Earth even as we look to the stars in this modern era of spaceflight,” the Center for Biological Diversity’s Jared Margolis said in a statement. “Federal officials should defend vulnerable wildlife and frontline communities, not give a pass to corporate interests that want to use treasured coastal landscapes as a dumping ground for space waste.”
Over the weekend, Musk said changes are being made at the launch pad to avoid what he called a dust storm and “rock tornado” at the next launch.
“To the best of our knowledge there has not been any meaningful damage to the environment that we’re aware of,” Musk said.
Musk has promised to make improvements to the next Starship before it flies. The self-destruct system will need to be modified, he said, so that the rocket explodes immediately — not 40 seconds or so afterward, as was the case with this inaugural run, he said.
His remarks were made to a subscriber-only Twitter chat Saturday night that was later posted by others online.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content. | 2023-05-01T21:06:46+00:00 | kxnet.com | https://www.kxnet.com/ap-science/environmental-groups-sue-faa-over-spacex-texas-rocket-launch/ |
Taylor Fritz 2023 Viking International Eastbourne Odds
Taylor Fritz enters the Viking International Eastbourne after his cinch Championships came to a close with a defeat at the hands of Adrian Mannarino in the round of 16. Fritz's opening match is against Mackenzie McDonald (in the round of 16). Fritz is the favorite (+275) at Devonshire Park International Tennis Centre.
Find all the latest odds for the 2023 Viking International Eastbourne and place your bets with a new user bonus from BetMGM.
Fritz at the 2023 Viking International Eastbourne
- Next Round: Round of 16
- Tournament Dates: June 23 - July 1
- Venue: Devonshire Park International Tennis Centre
- Location: Eastbourne, United Kingdom
- Court Surface: Grass
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Fritz's Next Match
Fritz will play McDonald in the round of 16 of the Viking International Eastbourne on Wednesday, June 28 at 6:00 AM ET.
Fritz is listed at -350 to win his next matchup against McDonald. Check out the latest odds for the entire field at BetMGM.
Taylor Fritz Grand Slam Odds
- Wimbeldon odds to win: +2800
- US Open odds to win: +3300
- Viking International Eastbourne odds to win: +275
Want to bet on Fritz? Head to BetMGM using our link for a bonus bet special offer for new players!
Fritz Stats
- In his most recent tournament, the cinch Championships, Fritz was beaten in the Round of 16 by No. 46-ranked Mannarino, 4-6, 6-7.
- Fritz has won two of his 23 tournaments over the past year, with an overall record of 48-22.
- Fritz is 6-3 on grass over the past year.
- In his 70 matches over the past 12 months, across all court types, Fritz has averaged 26.2 games.
- On grass, Fritz has played nine matches over the past 12 months, and he has totaled 28.9 games per match while winning 56.5% of games.
- Fritz has won 25.6% of his return games and 83.8% of his service games over the past 12 months.
- Over the past 12 months, in terms of serve/return winning percentages on grass, Fritz has won 86.3% of his games on serve and 26.4% on return.
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© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | 2023-06-28T03:43:01+00:00 | wnem.com | https://www.wnem.com/sports/betting/2023/06/23/taylor-fritz-viking-international-eastbourne-betting-odds/ |
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A U.S. congressional delegation has arrived in Kenya to meet with the new president-elect and the opposition figure likely to file a court challenge to his election loss in the latest electoral crisis for East Africa’s most stable democracy.
The new U.S. ambassador to Kenya, Meg Whitman, said the delegation led by Sen. Chris Coons also will meet with outgoing Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who has been publicly silent since the largely peaceful Aug. 9 election.
President-elect William Ruto is Kenyatta’s deputy president, but the two fell out years ago, and Kenyatta in the election backed longtime opposition figure Raila Odinga instead.
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Odinga has said he is exploring “all constitutional and legal options” to challenge his close election loss. His campaign has a week from Monday’s declaration of Ruto’s win to go to the Supreme Court, which then has 14 days to rule. Odinga has urged his supporters to remain calm in a country with a history of post-election violence.
Kenya’s electoral commission publicly split in chaos just minutes before Monday’s declaration, with commissioners accusing each other of misconduct. The four commissioners who objected to Monday’s declaration were appointed by Kenyatta last year.
The split came as a shock to many Kenyans after an election widely seen as the country’s most transparent ever, with results from the more than 46,000 polling stations posted online for the public to follow along. Public tallies, including one by a local election observer group, added up to a Ruto win with just over 50% of the votes.
The political transition in Kenya will have significant impact on the East Africa region, where Kenyatta had been working with the U.S. to try to mediate in Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict and promoting peace efforts between Rwanda and Congo. Ruto in his public comments this week has focused on domestic matters, not regional ones.
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The 55-year-old Ruto appealed to Kenyans by making the election about economic differences and not the ethnic ones that have long marked the country’s politics with sometimes deadly results. He portrayed himself as an outsider from humble beginnings defying the political dynasties of Kenyatta and Odinga, whose fathers were Kenya’s first president and vice president.
The 77-year-old Odinga has pursued the presidency for a quarter-century. He is renowned as a fighter and was detained for years in the 1980s over his push for multiparty democracy. He was also a supporter of Kenya’s groundbreaking 2010 constitution. | 2022-08-18T06:21:12+00:00 | bostonglobe.com | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/08/18/world/us-congressional-delegation-kenya-amid-election-crisis/ |
New episode of The Miles Group's "C-Suite Intelligence" podcast features Stephen Miles and Courtney Hamilton on how to reframe "The Great Resignation" into "The Great Transition"
NEW YORK, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- "Today, we're going to talk about what it means to successfully transition out of 'The Great Resignation:' How companies are successfully onboarding new employees; What it's like to welcome someone remotely; How to avoid 'Buyer's Remorse;' and What the best and worst practices are for leaders, employees, and those taking on senior roles in new companies," says Courtney Hamilton, Managing Director at The Miles Group.
"We know onboardings don't always go well. In fact, we have some data to suggest that something like 40% of people who've recently changed jobs are already looking for a new job," she continues.
In the latest C-Suite Intelligence podcast episode, "The Great Transition," released today, Hamilton joins host Stephen Miles, Founder and CEO of The Miles Group, to discuss the aftermath of "The Big Quit," or "The Great Resignation," referring to the scores of individuals who left or transitioned jobs during the pandemic.
One of the things they have observed, say Miles and Hamilton, particularly with leaders that they coach, is that many have turned over at least 50% of their teams. "We always say, 'new member = new team.' By definition, if you add one new person, you have a new chemistry, you have a new recipe for success."
Says Miles, "I think this is an important point: if you're leading that team, then the onus is on you to define 'new member = new team' as opposed to 'existing team with new member.' And I think a lot of leaders, just people in general, default into 'existing team with new member.' And it's hard to join that team. That's why we see derailment and failure rates that are way too high."
Miles continues, "The only business that you're in is the people business. And if you're really good at the people business, whatever you do is going to be better. Most people aren't good enough at being in the people business. And so, you can differentiate yourself, your function, your business, your company, by being better than other people at the people business. People will be attracted to you. Your brand as an individual leader will be attractive. Your brand as a company will be attractive. And that way you get the best people coming to you, as opposed to you having to always be out on the street trying to find the best person."
In this, the sixth episode of C-Suite Intelligence's second season, listeners will hear from Miles and Hamilton a deep download of strategic and practical tips for success as the pandemic waxes and wanes, but does not disappear.
For the full discussion, tune into "The Great Transition," released today on the C-Suite Intelligence podcast, available everywhere, including Apple, Google, and Spotify.
For more information, please contact Davia Temin or Trang Mar of Temin and Company at 212.588.8788 or news@teminandco.com.
CEOs running the world's top companies don't start out that way – they pull ahead of their peers with behaviors and practices that make them the "best of the best." Stephen Miles and the team at TMG coach some of the world's most successful executives, helping them continuously up their game even as business conditions grow more complex every day. Learn the secrets of the highest performers and use this intelligence to power your career. New episodes are released bi-weekly on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
TMG develops talent strategies for organizations, teams, and individuals – focusing on high-performance, world-class leadership. Through assessments and development, coaching, leadership transition planning, and organizational design, TMG helps clients cultivate exceptional talent from the C-suite to the next generation of leaders throughout the organization. Clients include many of the Fortune 100 as well as VC portfolio companies, firms in transition, and organizations around the globe and across industries. TMG has been featured in Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Forbes, Fortune, C-Suite, Entrepreneur, and Chief Executive. The firm is headquartered in New York City and operates globally. For more information, visit https://miles-group.com. Follow TMG on Twitter and LinkedIn.
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SOURCE The Miles Group/TMG | 2022-07-12T15:14:59+00:00 | ksla.com | https://www.ksla.com/prnewswire/2022/07/12/how-succeed-great-transition/ |
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer announced on Oct. 13 that a divided jury recommended life in prison without the possibility of parole as punishment for the Parkland school shooter on count four of first-degree murder.
Count four of 17 in the penalty phase is for the murder of Alexander “Alex” Schachter who Nikolas Cruz killed on Feb. 14, 2018, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, according to Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer.
Alexander, 14, a freshman, was in the 1200 building’s classroom 1216 when he was shot twice and he died of his wounds, according to Chief Assistant State Attorney Mike Satz.
Alexander played the trombone and the baritone. He was a member of the marching band, and he wanted to attend the University of Connecticut.
Dr. Rebecca M. MacDougall, who performed the autopsy, said during her testimony in court on July 26 that Alexander suffered fatal wounds to the chest.
Interactive graphic: Understanding the choices jurors made on the verdict form
Video of Max Schachter’s reaction to the verdict
Videos of some of the testimony in court related to his case:
Alex’s father, Max Schachter reads his victim impact statement
Alex’s stepmother Caryn DeSacia Schachter’s victim impact statement
Alex’s brother Ryan Schachter reads his victim impact statement
Dr. Rebecca M. MacDougall testifies about the autopsy
Interactive graphic on the penalty phase | 2022-10-16T03:11:13+00:00 | local10.com | https://www.local10.com/news/local/2022/10/09/parkland-school-shooting-verdict-count-3-in-penalty-phase-is-alexander-schachter/ |
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Garth Brooks is the latest artist to require a smartphone-free space at his Las Vegas residency starting May 18 at Caesars Palace.
According to the email from ticket broker Ticketmaster, the artist’s “Plus ONE” Las Vegas residency will be a “phone-free experience.” Concert attendees will be required to lock their phones in secured ‘Yondr’ cases. These cases will be unlocked after the event.
Additionally, phone-use areas will be designated in the venue where guests can use their devices before re-locking them when returning to the performance.
Ticketmaster says professional photos from the show will be provided to concertgoers via a QR code that will be passed out upon entrance to the venue.
“In our hyperconnected world, we provide a haven to engage with what you’re doing and who you’re doing it with. In physical space and real time,” said the Yondr website.
Phone pouches that can be locked are increasingly becoming a popular feature at performances both in Las Vegas and across the nation. According to a report by Variety, renowned rock artist Jack White and comedian Dave Chappelle have been pioneers in the usage of such pouches.
In April, a Texas middle school enacted a policy requiring students to lock their phones during school days. In May 2022, video of a nude scene from a Broadway play using the Yondr pouch was posted to the internet, causing the production company to ramp up its security efforts. | 2023-05-09T19:12:15+00:00 | texomashomepage.com | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/national-news/this-las-vegas-residency-will-be-a-phone-free-experience/ |
Collaboration Opens Prestigious Pathway for Students to Complete Culinary Arts Degree at École Ducasse in France
PARIS and CHICAGO, May 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- École Ducasse and Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts (Escoffier) announced today a new academic partnership offered to Escoffier students interested in pursuing their culinary arts degree with immersive study abroad program at École Ducasse campuses in France.
The partnership is an academic collaboration between Escoffier, the largest culinary school brand in the U.S., and École Ducasse, Culinary School founded by renowned multi-starred chef Alain Ducasse. As a result of the partnership, qualifying students now have the unprecedented opportunity to expand their education and techniques and learn alongside École Ducasse's renowned instructors at the Paris-based campuses' state-of-the-art facilities.
"We welcome Escoffier's next generation of talented students and designed these dedicated pathways to inspire and enhance their educational experiences by learning from our chef instructors, Meilleurs Ouvriers de France, craftsmen, and hospitality experts" said Elise Masurel, managing director, École Ducasse.
Escoffier students who have completed their associate degree or diploma program in culinary arts at Escoffier's Austin or Boulder campuses, including online distance learning programs, are eligible to enter the second year of Ducasse's three-year bachelor's degree in culinary arts and graduate from the prestigious culinary school in Paris, France.
"This is a partnership Auguste Escoffier himself would be proud of," stated Kirk Bachmann, Escoffier's Boulder campus president and provost. "This joint effort is an homage to Auguste's legacy of chefs supporting one another and always striving to learn and hone techniques," added Bachmann.
The École Ducasse and Escoffier partnership also includes a wide range of eight to nine-week long study-abroad educational programs for qualifying Escoffier students. Led by École Ducasse's culinary and pastry chef instructors, the immersive programs are designed to enhance core culinary programs and bring famed chef Alain Ducasse's culinary vision and French gastronomy to life for students during their stay in France.
For more information about the École Ducasse and Escoffier Study Abroad program, visit https://www.escoffier.edu/french-culinary-school/
About Auguste Escoffier College of Culinary Arts
Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts is the largest culinary school brand in the U.S. (based on comparable student population data currently reported in IPEDS). It is the only U.S. accredited institution, available through its Boulder campus, to offer 100 percent online culinary degrees which include culinary classes and real-world industry externships. Ranked in the top 10 culinary schools in the United States by USA Today and number one in the world by Chef's Pencil, the school's professional programs offer the proven combination of a classic and contemporary approach to modern industry skills training as well as sustainability-centered and business-focused curriculum. Escoffier offers Diploma programs for Culinary Arts, Pastry Arts, Food Entrepreneurship and Plant-Based Culinary Arts as well as Associate of Applied Science Degrees in Culinary Arts, Pastry Arts and Associate of Occupational Studies Degrees (AOS) in Culinary Arts, Baking and Pastry, Plant-Based Culinary Arts, Hospitality and Restaurant Operations Management, Holistic Nutrition and Wellness and Food Entrepreneurship. Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts in Boulder, Colorado is nationally accredited by the Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training (ACCET). Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts in Austin, Texas is nationally accredited by the Council on Occupational Education (COE). Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts is a Great Place to Work-Certified™ institution, a Newsweek Top Online Learning School and its Boulder (includes online programs) and Austin campuses are designated as Military Friendly® Schools. For more information: https://www.escoffier.edu/
About École Ducasse
École Ducasse is a network of schools founded in 1999 by multi-starred chef Alain Ducasse, dedicated to the transmission of outstanding French expertise and excellence in culinary and pastry arts.
École Ducasse runs three schools in France – Paris Studio, Paris Campus and the École Nationale Supérieure de Pâtisserie – as well as international schools with Manila Campus in the Philippines, Gurugram Campus in India, and Nai Lert Bangkok Studio in Thailand. All are united by a desire to share a passion for gastronomy with seasoned professionals as well as food enthusiasts, career changers and students. This broad portfolio of programs aims to meet all training needs: from short programs for experts or food enthusiasts to intensive two, four or six-month programs, to three-year undergraduate programs and bachelor's degree in culinary and pastry arts.
École Ducasse is part of Sommet Education, a worldwide leader in hospitality education. For more information: https://www.ecoleducasse.com/en
Media Contacts:
École Ducasse
Mrs. Anouck Weiss
Chief Communication Officer
Email: media@sommet-education.com
Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts
Patti Thomas
pattithomas8888@gmail.com
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SOURCE Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts | 2023-05-24T19:50:17+00:00 | kcrg.com | https://www.kcrg.com/prnewswire/2023/05/24/cole-ducasse-auguste-escoffier-school-culinary-arts-announce-degree-study-abroad-academic-partnership/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — A lowcredit score can hurt your ability to take out a loan, secure a good interest rate, or increase the spending limit on your credit card.
Some reasons for a low score are out of your control — such as unexpected medical debt or a lack of credit history.
Credit rating agencies are working to improve access to credit by giving people more time to pay medical bills before the debt appears in reports, and by removing other debt completely. They’re also making it easier to count rent, utility payments, and other recurring bills — a boon for those who need credit the most.
Here’s what to know:
WHAT IS A CREDIT SCORE AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
Put simply, a credit score is a formula that lenders use to decide how likely you are to pay back a loan. If you’re considered a risky bet, you will pay more to borrow or may not be able to borrow at all.
The factors that go into calculating your score are complicated, and advocates say it’s a positive that ratings agencies have started making it easier for consumers to prove that they’ll able to pay back money they borrow. It’s especially important for so-called “thin file” consumers — those with a lack of extensive credit history, who are often younger or lower income.
“I do see that efforts are being made in order to equalize the credit score,” said Rosalyn Glenn, a financial advisor at Prudential who focuses on expanding financial access. “For instance, adding rental payments to credit reports, because there is a segment of the population that rents and does not own. That’s exciting — because the score can give them an opportunity for better rates on things like insurance and loans. I do believe progress is being made there.”
WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH MEDICAL DEBT?
After conducting industry research during the pandemic, the three most-used credit rating agencies found that consumers with medical expenses were just as likely to be creditworthy as those without.
Effective July of last year, paid medical collection debt is no longer included on consumer credit reports, and the time period before unpaid medical collection debt appears is now a year, up from six months. That gives people more time to work with insurance and healthcare providers to pay off the debt.
In the first half of 2023, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion will also remove medical collection debt under $500 from credit reports.
When Jonnathan Alvarado, 25, was in a car accident this past year, he knew health expenses wouldn’t be the only hit to his finances. A landscaping contractor in Plainfield, New Jersey, who prides himself on careful financial behavior, Alvarado faced knee surgery at the beginning of his busiest work season, which hurt his productivity.
Alvarado said he only realized in retrospect the consequences for his access to credit. Even after insurance, Alvarado still owed in the vicinity of $1,200, which he took several months to pay off. During that time, his credit score dropped to 680, still considered good, but lower than it had been. When he finished paying the debt, it jumped to 775, the highest it had ever been.
It was only when Alvarado looked into what caused the decline and rebound that he learned the lingering medical debt had been responsible.
“A difference of almost a hundred points,” Alvarado said. “I would have paid it off sooner, if I had known.”
David Anthony, 43, who drives a service truck in Baltimore, only learned that medical debt was dragging his credit down when an employer pointed out the high interest rate he was paying on an auto loan. After looking into his score, Anthony disputed certain medical bills, some of which had been paid, eventually bringing his score up from the 500s to above 700.
“I got a great loan on the cars that I have now,” he said. “That first car — it was a 17 percent interest rate. That’s what raised the red flag to my employer.”
Anthony is now down to a single-digit interest loan.
HOW ELSE CAN I INCREASE MY CREDIT SCORE?
Although consumers have long been able to add rent and utility bill payments to their credit files, the bureaus have made these additions easier and less costly in recent years.
Experian, for example, has an option for consumers to opt into a service, “Experian Boost,” that counts these kinds of payments without charging a fee. (In some other cases, companies may charge the renter or landlord for the trouble of filing the additional information in credit reports, since it isn’t automatically included as a matter of course. Those who use the program often see an increase in their scores.
“You’re making a payment once a month for a service you receive — very much like getting a loan,” said Rod Griffin, financial health advocate at Experian. “What we found in our research was that those kinds of pieces of information do indicate that a person may be a better credit risk than their report might show if they have very little credit.”
For people with thin credit files or scores below 680, Experian sees an average increase in the neighborhood of 19 points, according to Griffin. Others might see their scores increase 12 or 13 points. About two-thirds of people see an improvement in their scores, but the tool helps even those who don’t build a longer credit history, Griffin said.
To use the tool, you give Experian permission to capture your monthly payment history and bank information — whether that’s a cellphone plan, water bill, streaming service subscription, or rent.
For Brandon Reese, 41, a financial planner in Dallas, Texas, it made sense for him to help his 20-year-old daughter, a nursing student in San Antonia, opt in.
“When she first opened a line of credit, her score dropped,” he said. “But with this, we were able to get it about 15 percent higher.”
Reese said he also advises his retired clients to use the programs.
“For older people, they have low credit scores, too, because they’ve paid everything off,” he said. “So their credit goes down. But now — Verizon, AT&T. Hulu, the Disney bundle, Netflix, your gas bill — fintech companies can justify those as payment histories.”
Tech companies that provide similar services to Experian Boost, either at low or no cost, have proliferated.
“That is now one of the number one things we encourage people to do,” said Silvio Tavares, CEO of VantageScore, another provider of national consumer credit scores. Like FICO, VantageScore uses the credit reports compiled by Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion to calculate a rating of credit-worthiness using its own algorithm. “If you’re engaging in credit-worthy behavior — like paying rent and utilities on time, you want to include that.”
HOW DO I OPT IN?
To include alternative credit information on your report, you have several options. One is to opt-in to ExperianBoost or Ultra FICO by going to the companies’ websites and granting permission for them to access your checking, savings, or money market accounts. This will allow the credit bureau or scoring company to analyze your spending, saving, and consistent payment histories. While other financial tech platforms provide similar services, these two options do not charge fees.
___
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. | 2023-02-22T15:56:05+00:00 | seattletimes.com | https://www.seattletimes.com/business/how-credit-scores-are-evolving-to-improve-access-to-credit/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_nation-world |
In the span of six days, four young people across the U.S. have been shot — one fatally — for making one of the most ordinary and unavoidable mistakes in everyday life: showing up at the wrong place.
A man shot and wounded two cheerleaders outside a Texas supermarket early Tuesday after one of them said she mistakenly got into his car thinking it was her own.
A group looking for a friend’s house in upstate New York arrived in the wrong driveway only for one of them to be shot to death Saturday night, authorities said.
In Missouri last Thursday, a Kansas City teen was shot twice after going to the wrong home to pick up his younger brothers, raising questions about the state’s “stand your ground law” and heightening racial tensions.
This type of gun violence is not rare, said Jonathan Metzl, who directs Vanderbilt University’s Department of Medicine, Health and Society. The shootings have drawn attention because they are so extreme and in such quick succession.
But they show how “stand your ground” laws have fueled a belief that people can use guns defensively “anytime they perceive a threat,” he said.
Below is a brief glance of each shooting and the ensuing criminal investigations in Missouri, New York and Texas.
THE SHOOTING IN KANSAS CITY
Honors student Ralph Yarl, 16, mixed up the address when he went to pick up his twin brothers on Thursday night. Instead of going to 115th Terrace, he showed up at the home of Andrew Lester, 84.
Lester, who is white, told police he had just gotten in bed when he heard the doorbell. Before answering, he grabbed his revolver. Lester said he then saw Yarl, who is Black, pulling on the storm door handle, something Yarl disputes, according to the probable cause statement.
Lester told police he thought the teen was attempting to break into the home and he was “scared to death,” the statement said. Without saying a word, Lester fired twice.
Yarl said the first shot struck him in the head, knocking him to the ground. As he lay there, the second bullet pierced his arm. Yarl told police he fled as the homeowner yelled, “Don’t come around here,” the statement said.
Lester was charged with first-degree assault Monday and turned himself in Tuesday.
Some civil rights leaders have called for a hate crime charge, but Zachary Thompson, Clay County prosecuting attorney, said first-degree assault is a higher-level crime with a longer sentence — up to life in prison.
The wounded teen is recovering at home, and his mother, Cleo Nagbe, said the trauma is evident. She told “CBS Mornings” co-host Gayle King that her son mostly “just sits there and stares and the buckets of tears just rolls down his eyes.”
Legal experts believe Lester’s lawyers will claim self-defense under Missouri’s “stand your ground” law, which allows for the use of deadly force if a person fears for his or her life. Missouri is one of roughly 30 states with such statutes.
St. Louis defense attorney Nina McDonnell said prosecutors have a strong case but the “stand your ground” defense is a “huge hurdle” to overcome.
But Ari Freilich, an attorney and state policy director with the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said nothing in the law “allows someone to shoot first and ask questions later when someone innocently rings a doorbell.”
THE SHOOTING IN UPSTATE NEW YORK
Kaylin Gillis, 20, was traveling through the rural town of Hebron with three other people Saturday night when the group turned onto a property that was not the friend’s house they were looking for, authorities said. They were met with gunfire in the driveway.
The group was trying to turn the car around when the homeowner, Kevin Monahan, 65, came out onto his porch and fired two shots, according to Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy.
One round hit Gillis, killing her.
They drove to the neighboring town of Salem, near the Vermont state line, and called 911, said Murphy, who noted the area has limited cell phone service.
Monahan was booked into the Warren County jail on a charge of second-degree murder. It wasn’t clear whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
Murphy said at a news conference Monday that there was ”no reason for Mr. Monahan to feel threatened.”
New York doesn’t have a “stand your ground” law.
THE SHOOTING IN TEXAS
A man shot and wounded two cheerleaders in a supermarket parking lot after one of them said she mistakenly got into his car thinking it was her own.
The shooting in Elgin, east of Austin, happened early Tuesday in an area that serves as a carpool pickup spot for members of the Woodlands Elite Cheer Company, team owner Lynne Shearer said.
Heather Roth said she got out of her friend’s car and into a vehicle she thought was hers, but there was a stranger in the passenger seat, KTRK-TV reported. She said she panicked and got back into her friend’s car, but the man got out of his vehicle and approached. She said she tried to apologize through her friend’s car window, but the man threw up his hands, pulled out a gun and opened fire.
Roth was grazed by a bullet and treated at the scene, police said. Her teammate Payton Washington, 18, was shot in the leg and back. Washington was flown to a hospital in critical condition.
Police arrested a suspect, 25-year-old Pedro Tello Rodriguez Jr., who is charged with engaging in deadly conduct, a third-degree felony. Online court records do not list an attorney for him. | 2023-04-20T07:38:56+00:00 | kdvr.com | https://kdvr.com/news/ap-top-headlines/common-mistakes-uncommon-reactions-in-3-separate-shootings/ |
Updated March 29, 2023 at 2:18 PM ET
Kate Davis' sophomore album Fish Bowl is told from the perspective of a protagonist named FiBo.
"In my mind, she's kind of like this dimension hopping voyager," Davis tells Morning Edition.
"The truth of it is, I was in a lot of pain and it was hard to be comfortable on Earth," she says. "It became very liberating and comfortable to just build a different world."
Davis — who studied classical music and jazz from a young age — played guitar, bass and keyboards on the album.
To hear the full story, use the audio player at the top of this page.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | 2023-03-29T18:32:38+00:00 | kunm.org | https://www.kunm.org/2023-03-28/kate-davis-searches-for-home-on-her-new-album-fish-bowl |
The newly elected government in Pacific island nation of Vanuatu encountered a serious problem from the very first day of its term on Nov. 6 — no one could use their government email accounts.
But then the situation got worse. Much worse.
Officials could not use any government computer services, from renewing a drivers' license to paying taxes or accessing medical and emergency information.
They were forced to turn to 20th century technology — pen and paper.
That's a major problem in a nation where the population of around 320,000 people is distributed across dozens of islands north of New Zealand.
"Imagine if in the U.S. or the U.K. or Australia, a new government has started and there's a whole changeover ... you can't even allocate email addresses to your new staff, you can't coordinate what's happening between ministers," Glen Craig, managing partner of the consulting firm Pacific Advisory, told NPR in a phone interview.
"We're the first country in the world that this has happened to. ... It's not a good time in Vanuatu, I can assure you," continued Craig, who also serves as chairman of the Vanuatu Business Resilience Council.
After more than three weeks of working on the problem, Prime Minister Alatoi Ishmael Kalsakau told local news outlets Wednesday that services were 70 percent restored.
However, the disruption continues.
Vanuatu's government officials first discovered suspicious activity on their networks, many of which are centrally connected, on Nov. 6. They revealed the breach to local media several days later, but have so far been fairly tight lipped about the extent of the damage, the possible culprits, and what's being done to recover service.
Some sources have suggested the attack was ransomware, in which cybercriminals break in and take data hostage in exchange for payment, though the government has not officially confirmed whether that's the case or addressed whether a ransom payment was made.
Vanuatu officials did not respond to NPR's requests for comment.
Although Vanuatu is not the first government to be targeted by a disruptive cyberattack, the length of the outage and the level of disruption may be unparalleled.
Additionally, the attack could be important geopolitically. Vanuatu is officially neutral, and maintains relationships with Western allies such as Australia as well as China. U.S. officials frequently describe China and its growing global influence as a key national security challenge.
The Australian government is on site helping local officials. Pat Conroy, Australia's minister for international development and the Pacific, told Vanuatu Daily in late November that Australia "sent in a team to assist with that disgraceful cyberattack and the response."
Cybercrime has become a global issue, costing governments and private companies billions of dollars through ransomware, extortion, email scams, and lost business.
Cybersecurity experts who have spoken with NPR in recent months have speculated that a strong response from the U.S. government to criminal cyberattacks in recent years may have prompted cybercriminals to shift their attention elsewhere. That includes recovering millions in Bitcoin ransoms and depriving cybercriminals of some of their profits, such as when the Department of Justice seized $2.3 million, about half, of the ransom paid by Colonial Pipeline to hackers in May 2021.
Other strategies include heavily publicizing intelligence on cybercrime, helping victims recover their files rather than pay ransoms, and extraditing cybercriminals from overseas to be tried in U.S. courts.
The Pacific region has been battered with an increased number of attacks recently, from a breach on Australian Telecom giant Optus, which exposed millions of sensitive Australian health records, to a ransomware attack on Papua New Guinea's government pay systems in October 2021. Australia's Cyber Security Centre reported in November that it received 76,000 cybercrime reports in the 2021-22 financial year, which ended in June.
It wasn't until Wednesday, that Prime Minister Kalsakau spoke about the breach in any detail. According to the Vanuatu Daily Post, he said partial access had been restored to government financial services, health procurement data, immigration and passport data, and, perhaps most importantly, emergency lines for ambulances, the fire department, and the police.
"In this recovery work, we are building back our government networks better and safer," Kalsakau is quoted as saying. "We are bringing systems online in a secure and contained environment with strengthened safeguards to ensure there is no risk of re-infection."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | 2022-12-06T14:42:29+00:00 | nepm.org | https://www.nepm.org/national-world-news/national-world-news/2022-12-06/the-pacific-island-nation-of-vanuatu-has-been-knocked-offline-for-more-than-a-month |
WASHINGTON — Senator John Hoeven, a member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (ENR), joined Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), ranking member of the ENR Committee, in introducing the Spur Permitting of Underdeveloped Resources (SPUR) Act.
This legislation would make key reforms and provide regulatory relief to increase domestic energy and mineral development, ensure federal lands remain open to productive uses and streamline permitting of energy infrastructure. The SPUR Act includes three permitting reform priorities led by Hoeven:
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Mineral Spacing Act, which would remove duplicative BLM permitting regulations and better respect the rights of private mineral holders.
North American Energy Act, a bill to prevent unnecessary delays for important cross-border energy projects, such as pipelines and electrical transmission lines.
Promoting Interagency Coordination for Review of Natural Gas Projects Act, legislation that would streamline and set deadlines for multi-agency National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews of natural gas projects needed to get energy to market.
“Meaningful permitting reform is long overdue in our country, and the SPUR Act will address the burdensome and costly regulations that are delaying critical energy, infrastructure and transportation projects across America,” Hoeven said in a press release. “Reforming the broken permitting and environmental review processes will create jobs, enhance our geopolitical competitiveness, and bring down costs for hardworking families through increased American energy production and greater energy security.”
“American energy can no longer be held hostage," Barrasso said in the release. "That’s exactly what’s happening under the Biden administration. Environmental extremists are manipulating a broken permitting process. The bills Senator Capito and I are introducing will fix this problem. We need to lower prices for American families and unleash American energy. The way to do that is to impose strict deadlines and stop endless litigation. We must also block the administration from hijacking the permitting process to kill worthy projects. Our current system stifles development and undermines American energy security. Americans still know how to build things. Today’s broken process won’t allow it. That must change.”
In addition to Hoeven and Barrasso, the SPUR Act is cosponsored by Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee and every Republican member of the ENR Committee, including Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.). | 2023-05-06T01:18:19+00:00 | willistonherald.com | https://www.willistonherald.com/news/oil_and_energy/hoeven-helps-introduce-comprehensive-permitting-reform-legislation/article_d41f75e8-eb64-11ed-a3dc-a78ca889f101.html |
Wichita State falls to Houston at Koch Arena
Published: Feb. 3, 2023 at 12:06 AM CST|Updated: 1 hour ago
WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - It felt like glory days early on inside Koch Arena Thursday night as Wichita State started out with an early lead over Houston.
But by the half, the Cougars would lead the Shockers 30-29.
Both teams traded narrow leads in the second half, but it was in the final three minutes that No. 3 Houston would pull ahead.
Playing their final game in the American Athletic Conference at Koch Arena, the Cougars walked away with the win, 71-60.
Copyright 2023 KWCH. All rights reserved. To report a correction or typo, please email news@kwch.com | 2023-02-03T07:30:15+00:00 | kwch.com | https://www.kwch.com/2023/02/03/wichita-state-falls-houston-koch-arena/ |
Vehicle Tires Designed for Extreme Temperatures in One Sixth Gravity on Crater-Filled Terrain
AKRON, Ohio, July 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NASDAQ: GT) supplied essential products for NASA's Apollo program, including the Apollo 11 mission which landed on the Moon 53 years ago today. The company will continue that tradition—focusing on lunar vehicle tires—by joining Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) in its development of a lunar mobility vehicle.
Since Apollo, Goodyear continued innovating alongside NASA to advance designs for a lunar vehicle tire. The team of companies intends to be the first to establish extended-use commercial vehicle operations on the Moon. Goodyear brings its vast expertise in a mission-critical component to traverse the lunar surface, tires.
"NASA's Artemis program to live and work on the Moon has a clear need for lunar surface transportation that we intend to meet with vehicles driven by astronauts or operated autonomously without crew," said Kirk Shireman, vice president of Lunar Exploration Campaigns at Lockheed Martin. "We're developing this new generation of lunar mobility vehicle to be available to NASA and for commercial companies and even other space agencies to support science and human exploration. This approach exemplifies NASA's desire for industry to take the lead with commercial efforts that enable the agency to be one of many customers."
Goodyear is drawing from its advanced airless tire technology used on Earth with micro-mobility, autonomous shuttles and passenger vehicles, to advance lunar mobility and withstand the challenging conditions on the Moon. The companies are already applying existing expertise to the project including testing concepts in lunar soil test beds.
"Everything we learn from making tires for the Moon's extremely difficult operating environment will help us make better airless tires on Earth," said Chris Helsel, senior vice president, Global Operations and Chief Technology Officer at Goodyear. "This will contribute to our end goal of enabling mobility no matter where it takes place. Just as important, it is an honor to write history with this prestigious company who knows how to make giant leaps in exploration and mobility."
The Apollo lunar rovers were purposely built for just a few days of use on excursions within five miles of their landing sites. Future missions will need to traverse rugged terrain over much longer distances while operating in greater temperature extremes. New tire capabilities will need to be developed for years of durability and even survive the night that sees temperatures of below -250 degrees Fahrenheit and daytime temps of over 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
Lockheed Martin leads this growing team by leveraging its more than 50-year-history of working with NASA on deep space human and robotic spacecraft, such as NASA's Orion exploration-class spaceship for Artemis and numerous Mars planetary spacecraft. The company will also manage the development of the program's commercial business operations and engagement with NASA and global space agencies. Lockheed Martin has also helped NASA explore every planet of our solar system, and continues to develop new technologies for future space missions.
Another teammate, MDA of Canada, recently announced its commercial robotic arm technology will be used on the human-rated lunar mobility vehicles. The arm will provide valuable contributions as support for astronauts as well as enabling greater functionality of the rover on fully autonomous missions.
Together, the teams are applying unique perspectives and shared expertise to new challenges and market approaches that are being considered for the first time. The companies expect to have its first vehicle on the surface of the Moon in time to support NASA's first landed mission that will have the first woman and first person of color walk on the Moon, currently planned for 2025.
About The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
Goodyear is one of the world's largest tire companies. It employs about 72,000 people and manufactures its products in 57 facilities in 23 countries around the world. Its two Innovation Centers in Akron, Ohio, and Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg, strive to develop state-of-the-art products and services that set the technology and performance standard for the industry. For more information about Goodyear and its products, go to www.goodyear.com/corporate.
About Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin Corporation is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 114,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. Please follow @LMNews on Twitter for the latest announcements and news across the corporation, and follow @LMSpace to learn more about the latest technologies, missions and people driving the future of space.
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SOURCE The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company | 2022-07-20T15:54:34+00:00 | wlbt.com | https://www.wlbt.com/prnewswire/2022/07/20/goodyear-joins-lockheed-martin-commercialize-lunar-mobility/ |
NEW YORK, Feb. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- LivePerson, Inc. (Nasdaq: LPSN), a global leader in Conversational AI, today announced the planned release of its fourth quarter financial results after the market close on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.
CEO Robert LoCascio and CFO John Collins will host a video webcast later that day, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. They will be joined by LivePerson AI team leaders who will share insights about the company's AI strategy, including product demonstrations and Q&A.
The video webcast can be accessed by logging onto the investor relations section of the Company's web site at Investor Relations | LivePerson, Inc.
If you are unable to participate in the live webcast, it will be available for replay until March 15, 2023. To access the replay, please visit the Company's web site at Investor Relations | LivePerson, Inc.
About LivePerson, Inc.
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SOURCE LivePerson, Inc. | 2023-02-18T00:20:00+00:00 | kxii.com | https://www.kxii.com/prnewswire/2023/02/17/liveperson-announce-fourth-quarter-2022-financial-results-march-1-2023/ |
Updated December 7, 2022 at 1:56 PM ET
A federal investigation found child labor violations involving more than a hundred teenagers at McDonald's locations in the Pittsburgh area, the U.S. Department of Labor said on Monday.
The fast food franchisee, Santonastasso Enterprises, illegally scheduled 14 and 15-year-old employees to work too many hours or work late shifts at 13 of its restaurants, according to officials.
"Permitting young workers to work excessive hours can jeopardize their safety, well-being and education," John DuMont, district director of the agency's wage and hour division in Pittsburgh, explained in a statement.
"Employers who hire young workers must understand and comply with federal child labor laws or face costly consequences."
In another case, officials said one minor under the age of 16 was allowed to operate a deep fryer that was missing a device to automatically lower and raise the baskets – a task minors in that age group are not allowed to take on.
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, working teens under 16 can't clock in for more than 3 hours per day or after 7 p.m. on school days. They are also limited to 8 hours on non-school days, and no more than 18 hours during a regular school week. The laws are more flexible over the summer when school is traditionally out. Between June 1 and Labor Day, teens can work as late as 9 p.m.
Restaurant owners John and Kathleen Santonastasso, paid a civil penalty of $57,332 assessed by the division for the violations, the department stated.
In a statement the couple said they "regret any scheduling issues that may have occurred at our restaurants." The Santonastassos added that they have since implemented "a series of new and enhanced processes and procedures to ensure employees are scheduled appropriately."
A McDonald's spokesman added: "While franchisees make local decisions for their businesses, including around labor and employment practices, they must comply with all state and federal laws, and we expect them to uphold our values in everything they do. McDonald's and our franchisees do not take lightly the outsized impact we can deliver – and therefore the profound obligation we carry – when someone works at a McDonald's, particularly as their first job."
Subway, Burger King and Popeyes restaurants in South Carolina were also fined earlier this year for similar child labor law violations.
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, restaurants have been struggling with ongoing labor shortages, with some, including McDonald's, cutting operating hours across the country, which can account for the longer hours and later shifts for minors.
Child labor abuses extend beyond fast food
But the restaurant industry isn't the only one breaking the law or exploiting child workers.
Last month, the Department of Labor found that the world's largest meat processing company's plant clean-up provider, Packers Sanitation Services, or PSSI, hired dozens of children between the ages of 13 to 17 to perform dangerous jobs in Minnesota and Nebraska that left some seriously injured.
Court documents state that young workers were hired for overnight shifts to clean dangerous equipment with caustic chemicals and to clean floors where animals are slaughtered. The department said evidence gathered during a monthslong investigation suggests that the company "may employ minor children under similar conditions at its other 400 operations across the country."
Meanwhile, in July, Reuters reporters uncovered violations at a Hyundai car-making plant in Alabama. Journalist Mica Rosenberg told NPR that kids as young as 12 and 13 were hired to work at a place called Smart Alabama LLC, a metal-stamping shop that is majority-owned by the Korean automaker.
The Department of Labor said that from fiscal year 2017 to 2021, officials have uncovered child labor violations in more than 4,000 cases involving more than 13,000 minors.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | 2022-12-07T20:05:53+00:00 | mainepublic.org | https://www.mainepublic.org/npr-news/npr-news/2022-12-07/mcdonalds-franchise-owners-are-caught-violating-child-labor-laws |
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — With all of the Fidos in forever homes, Hollydogs Greyhound Adoption, the nonprofit organization created in 1995 to save South Florida’s retired racers, has closed its doors.
The Bonita Springs shelter made the announcement on its Facebook page.
“Back in the early 90′s, we made a promise to all those greyhounds that had no place to go,” the statement read. “We promised that we will make it our mission to rescue and find homes for as many dogs as we could... till there were none left. And so we did, today after 27 years of greyhound rescue. ... It seems like a dream, but it is a bitter sweet dream.”
Silvana Rizzi-Cortella, founder of Hollydogs Greyhound Adoption, said the shelter will stay open to continue to assist dogs that need rehoming, but the greyhound kennel is officially closed. She said the shelter has saved “thousands” of retired racers over the years. She declined further comment Sunday.
Greyhounds had been running for profit in Florida since the early 1930s. Hialeah Park opened as a greyhound racing track operated by the Miami Kennel Club in the 1920s, even before dog betting was legal.
But in November 2018, the public no longer had the appetite to watch dogs run. An overwhelming 69% of voters cast ballots in favor of Amendment 13, which banned greyhound racing by the last day of 2020.
In 2019, Florida, which was the first state to legalize dog racing, was still home to 11 of the nation’s 17 remaining greyhound tracks, according to The Miami New Times. Some of the tracks over the years included the Mardi Gras Racetrack in Hallandale Beach, Magic City Casino in Miami, the Palm Beach Kennel Club and Biscayne Greyhound Park, which attracted scores of visitors.
Bob Levy, a former Plantation councilman and former Pembroke Park city manager, adopted 10 greyhounds over the years from Hollydogs Greyhound Adoption. “They are 45 mph couch potatoes,” he said. “As soon as they learn what a couch is, forget it, your couch will never be the same.
“They’ve been working their whole lives,” he said, and finally ready for some relaxation.
He said originally there was a shelter in Hollywood and only dogs that couldn’t find homes were sent to live out the remainder of their lives at the “gorgeous runs” at the massive property, which is near Naples. The Hollywood shelter eventually closed, he said.
Levy is a Dog Dad to two greyhounds now after taking in the very last greyhound at the kennel after Rizzi-Cortella posted a plea on the shelter’s Facebook page July 31 when the clock was ticking for it to close.
Levy’s newest dog is a 9-year-old whose racing name was Hallo Semaphore. Levy is now calling him simply Sema, which seems to be just fine with the former athlete.
“He’s sleeping in bed with me right now.”
Lisa J. Huriash of the South Florida Sun Sentinel wrote this story.
©2022 South Florida Sun Sentinel. Visit at sun-sentinel.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Here’s a cool chocolate treat you can only find in Hershey: Best Eats
‘Fantastic job’ or ‘too much’? Observers weigh in on the way Parkland prosecutor built his case | 2022-08-07T23:44:25+00:00 | pennlive.com | https://www.pennlive.com/nation-world/2022/08/with-no-clients-left-a-florida-shelter-for-retired-greyhounds-closes-its-doors.html |
LONDON (AP) — The BBC on Thursday apologized to the former nanny of Princes William and Harry over “false and malicious” claims made against her as part of a journalist’s attempt to obtain an exclusive television interview with Princess Diana.
Alexandra Pettifer, formerly known as Tiggy Legge-Bourke, appeared at London’s High Court Thursday for a public apology from the broadcaster over false claims that she had an affair with Prince Charles while working as his personal assistant in 1995.
Her lawyer told the court the allegations caused “serious personal consequences for all concerned.”
BBC director-general Tim Davie said the corporation has agreed to pay “substantial damages” to Pettifer. The broadcaster had “failed to ask the tough questions” about how the Diana interview was obtained, he added.
“I would like to take this opportunity to apologize publicly to her, to The Prince of Wales, and to the Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex, for the way in which Princess Diana was deceived and the subsequent impact on all their lives,” Davie said in a statement.
William and Harry have strongly criticized the BBC for its shortcomings after an investigation found that one of its journalists, Martin Bashir, used deceitful means to secure the explosive Diana interview in 1995.
In the interview, a major scoop for Bashir, Diana famously said that “there were three of us in this marriage” — referring to Prince Charles’ relationship with Camilla Parker-Bowles. Her candid account of her failing marriage with Charles was watched by millions of people and sent shockwaves through the monarchy.
Pettifer’s lawyer, Louise Prince, said the former nanny hadn’t known the source of the allegations against her over the past 25 years. But it now appeared likely that the claims arose as part of the BBC’s efforts to procure the Diana interview, Prince said.
The false claims — including an allegation that Pettifer became pregnant with Charles’ baby and had an abortion — appeared to exploit prior false media speculation, the lawyer said.
She said Diana confronted Pettifer about the allegation in late 1995, and told a member of the royal household that she had a hospital letter proving the abortion happened.
“As the allegation of an abortion was totally false, any such letter could only have been fabricated,” Prince said.
Davie said the broadcaster would never show the Diana interview again or license it to other broadcasters.
Pettifer said after the hearing that she was disappointed legal action was needed.
The BBC has already paid damages to Diana’s former aide as well as a former BBC producer who was dismissed after he alerted editors to faked documents that Bashir used to gain access to Diana. | 2022-07-21T15:33:23+00:00 | seattletimes.com | https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/bbc-pays-damages-to-former-royal-nanny-over-false-claims/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_nation-world |
NASHVILLE, Tenn., June 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- AgriCapture is working with rice farmers on over 20,000 acres across Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas to implement regenerative practices on their farms to produce Carbon-Neutral Rice. Conventional rice farming is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gases in the world – emitting 2.1 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually. This is equivalent to burning one billion tons of coal.
Rice production emits more greenhouse gases globally per year than the entire aviation industry. The AgriCapture program is expected to reduce over 100,000 metric tons of GHGs each year, starting in 2022. "We want to build consumer awareness of the difference between purchasing Carbon-Neutral Rice with zero GHG emissions and rice that contributes to climate change with a massive carbon footprint," according to Sami Osman, President of AgriCapture. " It's very exciting to see several major rice distributors and restaurant groups join us in supporting our farmers in this way."
AgriCapture takes a full cradle-to-gate life cycle analysis approach to quantify net GHG emissions. The GHG emissions associated with farming inputs, on-farm activity, post-harvest production, and transportation are all quantified by AgriCapture. "Farmers are becoming increasingly aware of the environmental impacts of certain rice growing practices, and AgriCapture is providing financial incentives to do things differently," said Texas rice farmer, Galen Franz.
AgriCapture's Carbon-Neutral Rice leverages the AgriCapture Climate-Friendly Rice Standard which provides guidance on rice cultivation techniques. For example, the standard requires mulching stubble into the ground instead of burning rice fields after harvest, which is a common annual practice in the United States. By mulching rice stubble into the ground months before the next cultivation period as an alternative to stubble burning, rice farmers can abate as much as 3.6 metric tons of CO2e per acre.
Missouri farmer, Jarrett Lawfield says, "It is a lot easier to do the right thing by the environment if we are financially incentivized. The yields will be the same or more. It just takes more capital and effort. I am willing to do it."
AgriCapture provides technology and data-driven agricultural solutions to climate change. The 92,000-acre Soil Enrichment Project, registered with the Climate Action Reserve, is quantifying, and verifying regenerative farming practices aimed at sequestering carbon and reducing GHG emissions to generate carbon credits.
AgriCapture Carbon-Neutral Rice creates a financial incentive for farmers to eliminate on-farm emissions from rice cultivation while allowing companies to fully eliminate their Scope 3 emissions and offer consumers a true carbon-neutral product. AgriCapture secures Climate-Friendly crop premiums for farmers to further expand regenerative agriculture as a solution to climate change. AgriCapture is based in Nashville, Tenn. More information is available online at www.agricapture.com.
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SOURCE AgriCapture | 2022-06-08T15:58:00+00:00 | kwch.com | https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2022/06/08/agricapture-certifying-80-million-pounds-carbon-neutral-rice-2022/ |
Request unsuccessful. Incapsula incident ID: 262000940023885991-67798502620927881 | 2023-01-26T23:22:00+00:00 | bizjournals.com | https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2023/01/26/trade-occupations-valley-skilled-labor-demand.html |
4-year-old boy is running to be national mullet champion
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (WITN/Gray News) - A North Carolina boy is hoping to become this year’s national mullet champion for kids in his age group.
Brantley Kirwin, 4, started growing his mullet in 2020. His parents said they have given him the option to cut it, but he is not interested.
Brantley’s love for his mullet helped him achieve 13th place in last year’s national competition.
And this year Brantley has already made it into round two with voting continuing on Thursday.
“Brantley enjoys shaking his mullet while supporting local bands,” his family shared. “He adores the attention from the ladies and loves our country and its military.”
More information and to vote for Brantley can be found online.
Copyright 2023 WITN via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | 2023-07-20T00:38:27+00:00 | kwch.com | https://www.kwch.com/2023/07/20/4-year-old-boy-is-running-be-national-mullet-champion/ |
Tiger Woods withdraws from Masters due to injury, organizers say
Tiger Woods will not resume his third round at Augusta National Sunday after the five-time Masters champion withdrew from the tournament because of injury.
A post on The Masters' Twitter account read: "Due to injury, @TigerWoods has officially withdrawn from the Masters Tournament after completing seven holes of his third round."
The golf great had endured a torrid start to his third round and the sound of the klaxon, which brought the third day of The Masters to an early end Saturday, may have been music to his ears.
On a cold and damp Saturday, with the rain pummeling down, Woods could be seen limping as he went about what looked like the painful and exhausting task of making his way around the hilly Augusta course.
When organizers deemed that the persistent rain made the course unplayable, Woods was nine-over for the tournament and six-over for the round.
Before the severe leg injuries suffered in a 2021 car crash, Woods had undergone multiple surgeries on his back. He displayed his usual grit and resilience to carry on on Saturday even though hopes of winning a sixth green jacket had long since faded.
Starting on the 10th hole, as organizers tried to get as much of the play completed as possible after the second round was suspended on Friday because of bad weather, Woods began with a bogey.
Video below: Tiger Woods Reflects on His Hall of Fame Induction
Neither the conditions nor his form improved much after that. Another bogey on the 14th and double bogeys on the 15th and 16th left the 47-year-old bottom of the leaderboard with the worst score of the day.
The five-time Masters champion had had little time to enjoy making the cut at Augusta for a record-equaling 23rd consecutive time, starting his third round a few hours after completing the second round.
The third round will resume Sunday at 8:30 a.m ET, with the final round expected to start at 12:30 p.m. ET, The Masters said in a statement.
Tournament leader Brooks Koepka was one of just 11 golfers to shoot under par before the end of play, the four-time major winner extending his lead over second-placed John Rahm to four shots. | 2023-04-09T14:10:03+00:00 | wisn.com | https://www.wisn.com/article/tiger-woods-withdraws-from-masters-due-to-injury/43546763 |
JEFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The nation’s top health official implored states to do more to keep lower-income residents enrolled in Medicaid, as the Biden administration released figures Friday confirming that many who had health coverage during the coronavirus pandemic are now losing it.
Though a decline in Medicaid coverage was expected, health officials are raising concerns about the large numbers of people being dropped from the rolls for failing to return forms or follow procedures.
In 18 states that began a post-pandemic review of their Medicaid rolls in April, health coverage was continued for about 1 million recipients and terminated for 715,000. Of those dropped, 4 in 5 were for procedural reasons, according to newly released data from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra sent a letter Friday to all governors encouraging them to bolster efforts to retain people on Medicaid. He particularly encouraged them to use electronic information from other federal programs, such as food stamps, to automatically confirm people’s eligibility for Medicaid. That would avert the need to mail and return documents.
“I am deeply concerned about high rates of procedural terminations due to ‘red tape’ and other paperwork issues,” Becerra told governors.
During the pandemic, states were prohibited from ending people’s Medicaid coverage. As a result, Medicaid enrollment swelled by nearly one-third, from 71 million people in February 2020 to 93 million in February 2023. The prohibition on trimming rolls ended in April, and states now have resumed annual eligibility redeterminations that had been required before the pandemic.
The new federal data captures only the first month of state Medicaid reviews from states that acted the most expeditiously. Since then, additional states also have submitted reports on those renewed and dropped from Medicaid in May and June.
Though the federal government hasn’t released data from the most recent reports, information gathered by The Associated Press and health care advocacy groups show that about 3.7 million people already have lost Medicaid coverage. That includes about 500,000 in Texas, around 400,000 in Florida and 225,000 in California. Of those who lost coverage, 89% were for procedural reasons in California, 81% in Texas and 59% in Florida, according to the AP’s data.
Many of those people may have still been eligible for Medicaid, “but they’re caught in a bureaucratic nightmare of confusing forms, notices sent to wrong addresses and other errors,” said Michelle Levander, founding director of the Center for Health Journalism at the University of Southern California,
Top CMS officials said they have worked with several states to pause Medicaid removals and improve procedures for determining eligibility.
South Carolina is one state that voluntarily slowed down. It reported renewing Medicaid coverage for about 27,000 people in May while removing 118,000. Of those dropped, 95% were for procedural reasons. In a recent report to the federal government, South Carolina said it removed no one from Medicaid in June because it extended the eligibility renewal deadline from 60 days to 90 days.
Michigan reported renewing more than 103,000 Medicaid recipients in June and removing just 12,000. It told the federal government that the state opted to delay terminations for those who failed to respond to renewal requests while instead making additional outreach attempts. As a result, the state reported more than 100,000 people whose June eligibility cases remained incomplete.
People who are dropped from Medicaid can regain coverage retroactively if they submit information within 90 days proving their eligibility. But some advocacy groups say that still poses a challenge.
“State government is not necessarily nimble,” said Keesa Smith, executive director of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. “When individuals are being disenrolled, the biggest concern … is that there is not a fast track to get those individuals back on the rolls.”
Arkansas officials have been at the forefront of defending Medicaid cuts. They contend that many people likely don’t return forms because they no longer need Medicaid.
People are “transitioning off of Medicaid” because “they are working, making more money, and have access to health care through their employers or the federal marketplace,” Arkansas Medicaid Director Janet Mann said earlier this month. “This should be celebrated, not criticized.”
Insurance companies that run Medicaid programs for states said they are trying to reduce procedural terminations and enroll people in new plans.
The Blue Cross-Blue Shield insurer Elevance Health lost 130,000 Medicaid customers during the recently completed second quarter, as Medicaid eligibility redeterminations began. Chief Financial Officer John Gallina said earlier this month that many people lost Medicaid coverage for administrative reasons but are likely to reenroll in the near future.
Leaders of the insurer Molina Healthcare told analysts Thursday that the company lost about 93,000 Medicaid customers in the recently completed second quarter, mostly due to eligibility redeterminations. Molina officials said they are trying to switch people who no longer qualify for Medicaid to one of the individual insurance plans they sell through state-based marketplaces.
Federal data for April indicates that some states did a better job than others at handling a crush of questions from people about their Medicaid coverage.
In 19 states and the District of Columbia, the average Medicaid call center wait time was one minute or less in April. But in Idaho, the average caller to the state’s Medicaid help line waited 51 minutes. In Missouri, the average wait was 44 minutes, and in Florida 40 minutes.
___
Associated Press writer Tom Murphy in Indianapolis contributed to this report. | 2023-07-29T13:13:21+00:00 | wboy.com | https://www.wboy.com/news/national/ap-paperwork-problems-drive-surge-in-people-losing-medicaid-health-coverage/ |
URBANA — A tumultuous period for Urbana High School football now includes a coaching change not long before the Tigers' 2022 opening game.
Edmund Jones is out as Urbana's coach after one season, which largely was spent in the junior varsity ranks.
Taking over the job on an interim basis is Curtis Blanden Sr., the 1995 News-Gazette All-Area football Player of the Year out of Danville.
Katherine Tellez, Urbana School District's director of marketing and communications, confirmed the change Friday.
"Urbana football coach Edmund Jones submitted his resignation, and it was accepted by the school district," Tellez said in a statement. "Effective Aug. 4, 2022, Curtis Blanden will take over as interim head football coach.
"Urbana starts practice Monday, Aug. 8, at 5 p.m. By mid-week next week, the current roster will be evaluated to determine if there are enough eligible athletes to compete in a varsity schedule."
The Tigers are scheduled to begin their upcoming varsity season on Aug. 26 by hosting Centennial. They're also expected to face Central in Week 5 — a game that could move to the Maroons' McKinley Field, if approved by the Champaign City Council — as well as Danville in Week 9.
Jones was hired as Urbana's coach in July 2021, with school board approval occurring in August. The East St. Louis native replaced Ordell Walker, who took a job as a Champaign Central assistant coach.
The Tigers contested one varsity game the following season, a 65-0 loss to Centennial in Week 1. Just a few days later, Urbana officials announced the program would opt for a junior varsity-only schedule to close out 2021, citing low athlete turnout as a key reason.
The Tigers also didn't play in any of their available six games during the condensed 2021 spring season.
"The numbers weren’t where we had hoped they would be," Jones told The News-Gazette this week.
In an interview last month, Jones said he anticipated "between 50 and 55" athletes on Urbana's 2022 roster, adding "half of that will be incoming freshmen."
Jones described the situation as more of a mutual decision when contacted by The News-Gazette.
"They wanted to move in another direction. I totally understand their justification for it, and I understand why they would do it," Jones said. "It’s not like I had the set the world on fire here."
"I would think that also, I was making some demands on a lot of people (that) I don’t think they were necessarily comfortable with," Jones added, saying this applied to both athletes and parents. "I think they just said, 'We’ll cut our losses here.'
"I felt like they had a great deal of respect for me. It just had not worked in the manner and timeframe we had all hoped for. It was no ill feelings or disrespect on either side."
Blanden is a Central Illinois Youth Football League board member and has served as a volunteer coach for the association. He also worked as an Urbana football assistant coach in the previous decade.
Blanden's son, C.J., is an incoming freshman with the Tigers. Jones, when speaking with The News-Gazette last month, listed the younger Blanden as a newcomer who had impressed him during offseason workouts. | 2022-08-05T16:19:10+00:00 | news-gazette.com | https://www.news-gazette.com/sports/jones-out-former-poty-blanden-in-as-urbana-football-coach/article_21295ec4-e065-5be9-a924-215d9ea05d3d.html |
NEW YORK (AP) — Even before Superstorm Sandy’s floodwaters surged over New York City’s Rockaway Peninsula, there was an air of decay in Edgemere, a far-flung seaside neighborhood long pockmarked with boarded-up homes and vacant lots with waist-high weeds.
When the water receded, even more of Edgemere’s homes lay in ruin. But there was hope, too, that in the rebuilding effort the predominantly Black neighborhood would finally get the boost it needed to recover from decades of neglect. In the decade since Sandy swamped the coast, those hopes have been dashed.
There is little sign of the development promised along block after block of worn homes, some long unoccupied. Meanwhile, mostly white communities further west on the peninsula have flourished, with recovery funds bringing new housing, businesses, places to gather.
“They tell me that we’re one peninsula — no, we’re not. It’s a tale of two peninsulas,” said Edgemere resident Sonia Moise, whose home filled with seawater during Sandy, her car carried off by the tide.
“You go west, what do they have? They have a skatepark. They have a dog park. They have concession stands,” Moise said. “What do we have? We have homeless shelters. We have hotels that house homeless people.”
When Sandy hit the northeastern U.S. coastline on Oct. 29, 2012, the storm did not discriminate as it caused about $65 billion in damage — much of it in New York and New Jersey. Luxurious vacation homes on the Jersey Shore were torn apart; small homes in working-class sections of Staten Island were submerged up to their eaves.
But the rebuilding effort has been anything but equal. The woes in Edgemere are a case study in disparities that play out across the U.S. after natural disasters: The billions of dollars in recovery money that pour in make their way last to, and have their weakest impact in, communities of color. In New Orleans, the remarkable post-Katrina recovery made for a whiter, more expensive city where poor Black neighborhoods still struggle. In Florida, there are already grumblings along rows of crumpled mobile homes that help has been swiftest in resort beach communities in the wake of Hurricane Ian.
Public spending after disasters has led to increased inequality, said Junia Howell, a sociologist at the University of Illinois in Chicago who researches race, housing and disasters.
“Communities that are whiter and wealthier actually are not only recovering from disaster, but in many cases, they’re doing better,” Howell said. “What you’re doing is giving resources to those who already have the most resources and further leaving everyone else behind.”
In Edgemere, the contrast is perhaps sharpest just to the west, in Arverne by the Sea. Like most of the Rockaway Peninsula — an 11-mile long sliver of barrier beaches that is home to around 124,00 people — both communities were almost entirely underwater after Sandy hit. But Edgemere residents say they’ve watched as Arverne and predominantly white communities got more help, and sooner.
There’s already a new grocery store and a Dunkin’ Donuts in a new commercial strip. Next door to Arverne, in Rockaway Beach, is a new skatepark, rebuilt after Sandy tore apart the old one. Construction of a community amphitheater is in progress.
Neighbors admit it’s not a perfect comparison. Some Averne investment was underway before Sandy. Six years prior, a $1 billion development drew more white families to the neighborhood — which is still majority Black, though that number is dropping — and sprouted 2,300 homes, some now being resold for as much as $1.7 million. The development was mostly unscathed by winds and flooding, prompting grumbling by Edgemere residents that their homes weren’t built to last.
What’s clear, community board leader Moise and others say, is that Edgemere has never gotten its fair share.
“We have been fighting for years to get the same thing that the rest of our surrounding neighborhoods have gotten. We have been ignored,” Moise said.
Unlike Arverne, Edgemere has no coffee shops or concession stands. Along Beach Channel Drive, the main thoroughfare, there’s a bodega and a Chinese takeout restaurant. Next door, a smoke shop is moving in. Up the street is a massive public housing project.
There’s little sign here of the Rockaways’ history as a beach resort community. The peninsula’s grand hotels didn’t survive into the automobile age. The 1950s brought urban renewal; officials tore down thousands of bungalows that were home to Black and Puerto Rican families, replacing some of that lost housing stock with high-rise housing projects while leaving other razed blocks to nature.
Edgemere and other communities on the eastern end of the Rockaways became dumping grounds for the city’s poorest residents, pushed out across a wide bay to the very end of the land, a 70-minute subway ride from Manhattan.
But just before Sandy, there was hope that things were getting better — even if neighboring communities were seeing faster progress.
Edgemere was growing. People were moving in. City officials promised to build some 800 new homes to fill vacant lots.
Sandy brought those small signs of hope to a halt. And residents say they saw a familiar story, with priority given to white neighborhoods around them.
The city says it’s working to bring change to Edgemere. Earlier this year, it finalized a development plan dubbed “Resilient Edgemere.” Every member of the community board urged the City Council and mayor to reject it. But the community didn’t have the political clout to stop it.
The plan includes vows of affordable housing near the beach, and high-rise apartments with 1,200 residential units above retail space. There’s $14 million earmarked to buttress the shoreline with an elevated berm to protect Edgemere against 30 inches of sea level rise, and $2.3 million to upgrade sewage and drainage lines.
But residents worry the low-income units will add to the neighborhood’s longtime burden of housing the poor. More than a quarter of Edgemere residents live in poverty, the highest among Rockaways communities, according to a recent state report that highlighted longstanding inequalities in the area.
Those who have money spend it elsewhere because the community has few amenities.
And while the plan’s shoreline work might be welcome news, many say it’s another case of being last in line. In other places along the peninsula, sand dunes were beefed up quickly to keep tides from intruding as they did during Sandy. Edgemere’s beach restoration only began weeks ago.
Instead of the city’s plan, community board members want more duplexes and townhomes to fit in with existing housing stock. They want a new school and grassy inland parks that could help absorb the next flood. They want amenities like the fully-stocked grocery stores found in neighboring, wealthier communities.
City officials insist they’ve made progress — they cite wetland restoration and the raising of 100-plus homes against flooding. Stretches of the wooden boardwalk have been replaced with a concrete promenade along the beach. Headquarters for a nature preserve is being built, but construction has limited community access to the boardwalk and beach.
Dexter Davis, a former NYC police officer whose Edgemere home was flooded with more than a yard of water during Sandy, says his community needs more than what’s outlined so far.
“The things that they pump into the other communities around us are more positive. They give them more leisure things, better quality,” Davis said. “Here, they do things — but it’s not up to the same par.”
Experts such as NYU sociologist Jacob Faber say it’s not just the storm or natural disaster that has affected Edgemere and other poorer communities — it’s the lingering impact of years of neglect.
“You have these geographically and socially and economically isolated communities that are in a position to just get hammered, over and over again,” Farber said.
__________
Associated Press writer Deepti Hajela contributed to this report.
Follow Bobby Caina Calvan on Twitter at https://twitter.com/bobbycalvan | 2022-10-26T05:18:28+00:00 | seattletimes.com | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/superstorm-sandy-legacy-recovery-far-from-equal-on-ny-shore/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all |
ANTAKYA, Turkey (AP) — The earthquakes that killed more than 39,000 people in southern Turkey and northern Syria produced more grieving and suffering along with extraordinary rescues and appeals for aid.
Here’s a look at key developments Wednesday from the aftermath of the earthquakes:
DEFYING ODDS AFTER NINE DAYS
A woman and her two children – a boy and a girl – were extricated from a collapsed apartment building in Antakya, Turkey, a full 228 hours after the first 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck in the early hours of Feb. 6. All three were taken to a hospital.
Rescuer Mehmet Eryilmaz said the woman, named Ela, asked what day it was when she was pulled from the wreckage.
“First, I held her hand,” Eryilmaz told Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency about reaching her in the rubble. “We talked, chatted and calmed (her) down. After that, we continued our work. … We are very happy; it’s the fifth life we saved.”
Eryilmaz, who is a member of a team trained to perform mine rescues, added: “She asked for water in the first place but we did not give anything before the medical teams intervened. She asked ‘What day are we on?’”
Health worker Ali Parlas, who treated Ela and her son and daughter, said the three were dehydrated but in reasonable condition.
The children’s names are Meysam and Ali, Eryilmaz said.
The rescues were exceptions to the grim work of locating the bodies of the remaining dead. The first earthquake and a 7.5 magnitude quake nine hours later destroyed thousands of buildings. Survivors and building experts have said shoddy construction contributed to the massive death toll.
ANKARA EXPRESSES GRATITUDE
Turkey’s foreign minister thanked the international community Wednesday for its support following last week’s earthquakes.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said 76 countries sent search and rescue teams to help Turkish personnel comb through collapsed buildings. Twelve of the foreign teams have returned home after completing their missions, he said.
“Of course, everything isn’t perfect. There were shortcoming, shortcomings in coordination in the beginning, but in a short time, the system was established,” Cavusoglu said of the emergency response.
The minister said 36,000 tents had arrived in Turkey from abroad to help shelter the tens of thousands of people left homeless and that another 51,000 were en route along with shipping containers that Qatar used to house soccer fans during last year’s World Cup tournament.
Cavusoglu said his government also was working to ensure “urgent housing needs” were met with the local production of tents and containers that would be used for temporary shelter.
Aid is also coming from ethnic Greeks in Cyprus who for nearly half a century have been locked in a dispute with Turkey.
British soldiers serving with a United Nations peacekeeping force in Cyprus helped to transfer aid donated by Greek Cypriots in the south of the ethnically divided island nation to the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north. From there, it is expected to be taken to Turkey for distribution to earthquake victims.
At least two dozen Turkish Cypriot students taking part in a volleyball tournament in the Turkish city of Adiyaman died in the quakes, while many other people from Cyprus remained missing.
SUFFERING IN SYRIA
Along with the more than 35,000 people killed in Turkey, nearly 3,700 deaths were confirmed across the border in war-torn Syria, where the quakes multiplied the suffering of residents who had endured 12 years of civil war.
The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric, said in a statement after visiting to Syria that “communities already devastated by the years of conflict are now being pushed beyond their limits.” She emphasized an immediate need for clean water.
While rescue teams from around the world went to help in Turkey, aid relief for Syria was slowed by demolished roads and by the tensions between rebel-held areas of the country and those controlled by the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The United Nations launched a $397 million appeal Tuesday to provide aid for nearly 5 million Syrians for the coming three months. That was a day after the global body announced a deal with Damascus to deliver U.N. aid through two more border crossings from Turkey to rebel-held areas of northwest Syria.
The needs on the ground remained daunting, with fiercely cold weather adding to the misery.
CRACKS AND AFTERSHOCKS
Orhan Tatar, general director of earthquake and risk reduction at Turkey’s disaster management authority, said that the earthquakes had produced a shift of about 7.3 meters in the ground and a massive crack of about 400 kilometers.
The two earthquakes took place on five faults and were followed by some 3,900 aftershocks, Tatar said, calling the number a “very serious” and “unusual” amount. The aftershocks have meant people in the affected areas could feel significant shaking every 15 minutes, the official said.
Tatar said billions of cubic meters of rubble would have to be removed. He also warned that heavy snow in some rural areas was creating a risk of avalanches.
___
Bilginsoy and Wilks reported from Istanbul. Menelaos Hadjicostis contributed to this report from Nicosia, Cyprus.
___
Follow AP’s earthquake coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/earthquakes | 2023-02-16T13:54:43+00:00 | localsyr.com | https://www.localsyr.com/news/international/ap-key-developments-in-the-aftermath-of-turkey-syria-quakes/ |
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Please enter a search term. | 2023-02-18T20:56:11+00:00 | upmatters.com | https://www.upmatters.com/tag |
Offering the Next Evolution in Payment Method Optimization
DURHAM, N.C., June 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Spreedly, the provider of the leading Payments Orchestration platform, today announced it has launched the first of its kind, complete vaulting solution for payments teams. Spreedly's Advanced Vault optimizes payment methods by combining modern lifecycle features and network tokenization with active management.
The Advanced Vault offers new levels of value over traditional payment method management. This additional offering transforms the traditional payments vault from a digital storage space into an adaptable, intelligent service that improves transaction success and maximizes the value of your stored payment methods.
"The many complexities associated with payments makes it one of the areas in a business most ripe for efficiency gains," said Jordan McKee, Research Director for Fintech at S&P Global Market Intelligence. "The most advanced merchants relentlessly pursue efficiencies across all aspects of their payment stack. This includes strategies that optimize the cost of acceptance, simplify payment operations, and provide actionable business insights."1
Built on Spreedly's PCI-compliant vault, the new offering combines a modern set of features for card lifecycle management and network tokenization with rules and configurations designed to optimize how your payment methods are stored, refreshed and utilized. This new technology will actively monitor and maintain payment methods, enabling customers to:
- Eliminate overpayment for unnecessary account updates
- Reduce duplicate payment methods
- Significantly improve data quality
- Automate best practices in vault management
- Decrease transaction decline rates
"It was clear that many of our current customers were incurring increased costs with their payment method retention strategies. The set of tools available, while valuable, required payment teams to create and manage the entire optimization process themselves," explained Justin Benson, CEO at Spreedly. "Advanced Vault is the latest example of how Spreedly has invested in solutions that optimize payments for customers and enable them to get the most out of their stored payment credentials. We are offering an easy way to incorporate industry best practices while still creating the opportunity for savvy payment teams to add rules and configurations to best meet their unique needs."
Benefits of the new Advanced Vault offering include:
Payment Method Lifecycle Optimization: Card details are kept up-to-date and "evergreen" using a combination of multiple, redundant AU services and network tokenization when available.
Active Management: Rules and configurations based on industry best-practices offer flexibility to suit each unique organization's needs. Active management of the payment methods eliminates needless costs and stale entries.
Enrichment of Payment Details: Further expansion of payment attributes including BIN, Payment Account Reference (PAR), fraud integrations, payment method redactions, etc. are being actively added to the solution.
Spreedly customers can enroll in the Advanced Vault and pricing is based on a tiered monthly fee per credential stored in the vault.
Learn more about Advanced Vault at https://www.spreedly.com/solutions/advanced-vault.
About Spreedly
Spreedly's Payments Orchestration platform enables and optimizes digital transactions with the world's most complete payment services marketplace. Global enterprises and hyper-growth companies grow their digital business faster by relying on our payments platform. Hundreds of customers worldwide secure card data in our PCI-compliant vault and use tokenized card data to enable and optimize over $45 billion of annual transaction volumes with any payment service. Spreedly is headquartered in downtown Durham, NC.
1S&P Global Market Intelligence, Demystifying payments optimization January 4 2023
Contact:
marketing@spreedly.com
888.727.7750
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SOURCE Spreedly | 2023-06-06T09:11:21+00:00 | kxii.com | https://www.kxii.com/prnewswire/2023/06/06/spreedly-launches-new-advanced-vault-solution/ |
Campari Group, owner of the iconic Wild Turkey brand, said Monday it will add to its Kentucky bourbon portfolio by taking a majority stake in Wilderness Trail Distillery.
The Italian spirits company said it will acquire a 70% interest in Wilderness Trail, a bourbon and rye whiskey producer in Danville, Kentucky. Campari will acquire the remaining 30% of the emerging whiskey producer in 2031 as part of the agreement.
The 70% stake is valued at $420 million. The deal for complete ownership is valued at $600 million, according to Campari.
The acquisition will be funded through a combination of available cash and bank term loans. The transaction is expected to close before the end of this year, Campari said.
“By adding the fast-growing super premium Wilderness Trail brand we further expand and premiumise our bourbon offering, priming it to become Campari Group’s second major leg after the aperitif portfolio,” said Campari Group CEO Bob Kunze-Concewitz.
Campari Group made a big splash when entering the bourbon segment in 2009 with its acquisition of the Wild Turkey brand and distillery in Kentucky.
By purchasing Wilderness Trail Distillery, Campari will significantly expand its production capacity and inventory to meet growth plans for its premium bourbons, the company said.
Launched in 2012, Wilderness Trail Distillery is expected to generate annual sales this year of $57 million, up 39% from the prior year, Campari said.
Wilderness Trail’s founders and current shareholders, Shane Baker and Pat Heist, said the deal will provide “the perfect foundation for the continued success of the Wilderness Trail brand and ensure it will be enjoyed around the world for years to come.”
In 2018, they launched Wilderness Trail Bourbon and Wilderness Trail Rye Whiskey. The portfolio expanded with the introduction of a high-end, silver label six-year and eight-year bourbon line.
Campari’s further expansion into bourbon comes amid strong sales trends for American whiskey, especially for higher-priced premium and super premium brands.
Combined U.S. sales for bourbon, Tennessee whiskey and rye whiskey rose 6.7%, or $288 million, to $4.6 billion in 2021, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. Exports for the American whiskey segment reached $975 million in 2021, up 15% from the prior year as whiskey producers try to fully recover after previously getting caught up in a trans-Atlantic trade fight. | 2022-11-01T11:48:55+00:00 | texomashomepage.com | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-campari-group-adding-to-its-kentucky-bourbon-business/ |
ATLANTA, March 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) will announce its first quarter financial results during a live conference call and internet webcast at 8:45 a.m. ET on Wednesday, April 26, 2023. Quarterly earnings results will be released in advance of the call and a press release will be posted on the Investors page of the company's website.
For electronic notification of earnings events, subscribe to NSInvest, Norfolk Southern's email distribution list for news releases on earnings and issues pertaining to the financial performance of the company.
About Norfolk Southern
Since 1827, Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) and its predecessor companies have safely moved the goods and materials that drive the U.S. economy. Today, it operates a customer-centric and operations-driven freight transportation network. Committed to furthering sustainability, Norfolk Southern helps its customers avoid 15 million tons of yearly carbon emissions by shipping via rail. Its dedicated team members deliver more than 7 million carloads annually, from agriculture to consumer goods, and is the largest rail shipper of auto products and metals in North America. Norfolk Southern also has the most extensive intermodal network in the eastern U.S., serving a majority of the country's population and manufacturing base, with connections to every major container port on the Atlantic coast as well as the Gulf of Mexico and Great Lakes. Learn more by visiting www.NorfolkSouthern.com.
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SOURCE Norfolk Southern Corporation | 2023-04-01T10:46:02+00:00 | kwch.com | https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2023/03/31/norfolk-southern-announce-q1-2023-earnings-results-april-26-2023/ |
A roundup of the week's most newsworthy consumer and retail industry press releases from PR Newswire, including Lobsterfest's return, Sony's new headphones, and more.
NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With thousands of press releases published each week, it can be difficult to keep up with everything on PR Newswire. To help journalists covering the consumer and retail industries stay on top of the week's most newsworthy and popular releases, here's a roundup of stories from the week that shouldn't be missed.
The list below includes the headline (with a link to the full text) and an excerpt from each story. Click on the press release headlines to access accompanying multimedia assets that are available for download.
- Kroger Announces Food Trend Predictions for 2023
Stuart Aitken, senior vice president, chief merchant and marketing officer, said, "Customers not only learned to cook during the pandemic, they grew to love it. In 2023, cooking at home remains a mainstay with customers gathering together to celebrate time lost and save money as inflation moderates. - Frank's RedHot® Launches New Fortnite Game: The Floor Is Flava
'The Floor is Flava,' a flavor-packed version of Fortnite's Floor is Lava challenge that is inspired by the classic kid's game, is set on an immersive chicken wing-shaped island and centers around a volcano that spews Frank's RedHot sauce (a.k.a. flava, because Frank's + Lava = Flava!) everywhere. - Red Lobster® Welcomes Back Lobsterfest®
During the highly anticipated celebration of all things lobster, guests will find there is something for every lobster lover on the menu with exciting dishes like NEW! Lobster & Shrimp Tacos and NEW! Lobster & Shrimp-Topped Sirloin, as well as a returning guest favorite, Lobster Lover's Dream®. - Leading Livestream Shopping Retailer QVC Collaborates with Tori Spelling and Jennie Garth on Home Décor Line
With a Beverly Hills-inspired energy and color palette, The BFF Collection presents a fresh spin on home décor and textiles. The debut collection will feature 11 home décor finds, including functional entertainment carts, storage ottomans, everyday trunks, apothecary jars, etched glass canisters, illuminated hurricanes, decorative pillows and throw blankets. - Sony Electronics Announces New Pressure-Free Headphones Specifically Designed for Runners and Athletes, Float Run
Sony's new off-ear headphones have a novel headphone style that positions the speaker near, but without touching, the ear canal, while leaving the ear safely uncovered while still delivering a rich sound experience. - Grubhub and Topanga.io Bring Zero-Waste Takeout to College Campuses
Reusable packaging on to-go dining hall orders is now available for The Ohio State University and Colorado State University students, with expansion to more campuses this year. - UltiMaker Launches the S7 - The New Flagship S-Series 3D Printer
The UltiMaker S7 builds on the award winning S-Series printers, with new features including an integrated Air Manager and a flexible build plate which takes ease-of-use and reliability to a new level. - The PEDIGREE® Brand Launches the FOSTERVERSE™ Program, Calling on Users to Foster Dogs Virtually and Combat Pet Homelessness
The FOSTERVERSE enables Decentraland property owners to foster real rescue dogs on their virtual land. To participate, landowners upload 3D avatars based on real-life dogs currently listed on Adopt a Pet™ onto their Decentraland property. - Leading DTC Solution for Alcohol Brands Speakeasy Co. Raises $6.8 Million Led by InvestBev
Brian Rosen, General Partner at InvestBev Group, said, "We are bullish on the long-term growth potential of alcohol e-commerce. Across all industries, companies highly value owning the direct consumer relationship, and Speakeasy allows alcohol brands to do just that, while layering on efficient fulfillment."
Read more of the latest consumer-related releases from PR Newswire and stay caught up on the top press releases by following @PRNcnsmr on Twitter.
Helping Journalists Stay Up to Date on Industry News
These are just a few of the recent press releases that consumers and the media should know about. To be notified of releases relevant to their coverage area, journalists can set up a custom newsfeed with PR Newswire for Journalists.
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For questions, contact the team at media.relations@cision.com.
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SOURCE PR Newswire | 2023-01-27T13:38:31+00:00 | kxii.com | https://www.kxii.com/prnewswire/2023/01/27/this-week-consumer-news-9-stories-you-need-see/ |
WIMBLEDON, England — Ons Jabeur is getting another shot at Elena Rybakina, a year after losing to her in the Wimbledon final.
The sixth-seeded Jabeur routed two-time champion Petra Kvitova 6-0, 6-3 on Monday in the fourth round at the All England Club.
“I’m probably going for my revenge,” Jabeur said on court. “It was a difficult final last year. It’s going to bring a lot of memories.”
Jabeur has been a Grand Slam runner-up twice — both times last year. After losing to Rybakina in three sets at Wimbledon, she lost to Iga Swiatek in straight sets at the U.S. Open — falling just short of becoming the first African or Arab woman to win a major tennis tournament in the sport’s professional era.
Two things jump out to Jabeur when she thinks about the Wimbledon loss to Rybakina, who represents Kazakhstan but was born in Russia.
“The fact that I was really exhausted like emotionally,” she began. “I wanted to keep pushing, but I felt little bit empty. Second thing, maybe what my coach kept telling me, to stick more to the plan, to do certain things, even though I was thinking something else in that match.”
The 28-year-old Jabeur hopes to “play more freely, just think about each point and not the results.”
Mission accomplished on Monday, when Jabeur felt free enough on Centre Court to execute a David Beckham-style — Jabeur is a fan of the England great — half-volley kick on a bouncing ball while up a set and 3-1.
The ninth-seeded Kvitova, who eliminated Jabeur in the first round at Wimbledon in 2019, dug herself a hole from the start, committing a double-fault and three unforced errors to hand Jabeur a service break in the first game.
Rybakina advanced Monday when Beatriz Haddad Maia retired from their match with a lower back injury with Rybakina leading 4-1.
“Now I’m feeling much better and more confident coming and playing on Centre Court,” Rybakina said. “It is different from the first round. I think it was just overall the atmosphere and the nerves to play the first match to get used to the grass, just to play some matches here. I think now mentally I’m much better. Physically also good now.”
In other women’s results, second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka reached the quarterfinals by beating No. 21 Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-0. The Australian Open champion will next face Madison Keys. The American, seeded No. 25, defeated 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2.
On Tuesday, top-ranked Iga Swiatek plays Elina Svitolina on Centre Court for a spot in the semifinals, and fourth-seeded Jessica Pegula faces Marketa Vondrousova in the day’s other women’s quarterfinal match.
___
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | 2023-07-10T21:49:28+00:00 | washingtonpost.com | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/tennis/2023/07/10/jabeur-rybakina-wimbledon-sabalenka-keys/39064d28-1f5f-11ee-8994-4b2d0b694a34_story.html |
MILWAUKEE, Wis. — In partnership with the NBA, Oreo is now selling themed cookies based on all 30 NBA teams!
That's right, you can buy Milwaukee Bucks-themed cookies for a limited time. The cookies launched Tuesday, just in time for NBA All-Star, 2023.
Each cookie has the team's logo and colors, and the cookie is covered in frosting! Oreo also has All-Star-themed cookies as well.
The cookies come in 12 packs for $40 plus delivery.
To see the cookies and place an order, click here. | 2023-02-08T14:39:49+00:00 | tmj4.com | https://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/oreo-releases-milwaukee-bucks-themed-cookies |
Linda G. Galeski
Nov. 4, 1950 - July 10, 2023
DULUTH, Minn. - Linda G. Galeski, 72, Duluth, Minn., died Monday, July 10, in Hilltop Healthcare Assisted Living.
Visitation will be from 1-2 p.m., followed by a memorial service at 2 p.m., Wednesday, July 19, at Park Hill Cemetery Chapel.
Arrangements by Sunrise Funeral Home and Cemetery. | 2023-07-12T15:00:26+00:00 | duluthnewstribune.com | https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/obituaries/obits/linda-g-galeski-5d0135ff67a60618cb3bf3a9-64adb0efc26b2f7fce91e99f |
Internet service providers have formally abandoned their attempt to overturn a Maine law that protects users privacy.
In 2019, the Maine Legislature passed a law that limits the ability of companies that supply Mainers internet service to sell their customers' personal information.
That could include browsing history, a user's location, financial, health information, even the content of communications.
Internet service providers sued to overturn the law.
State Attorney General Aaron Frey's office says in 2020, Federal Judge Lance Walker dismissed one claim that the state law was pre-empted by federal law.
The companies also made a First Amendment claim. This summer, Walker denied industry motions that would have limited expert witnesses.
The companies then agreed to drop their suit and pay the state $55,000 for the cost of defending its law.
Frey's office says the case was formally dismissed Friday. | 2022-09-07T12:36:27+00:00 | mainepublic.org | https://www.mainepublic.org/business-and-economy/2022-09-07/internet-service-providers-abandon-effort-to-overturn-maine-privacy-law |
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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Republican lawmakers on Tuesday narrowly advanced a plan to ban nearly all abortions in the state, despite opposition from abortion-rights supporters, who say the bill goes too far, and anti-abortion activists, who say it doesn't go far enough.
Chants from anti-abortion activists, such as "Let their heart beat,” could be heard inside the chamber as a committee wrapped up two days of testimony during which none of the more than 60 people speaking voiced support for the Republican-sponsored bill.
A top legislative Republican, Senate Majority Leader Mark Messmer, voted against it, lamenting the “near impossibility of threading the perfect needle” on the issue during a short special legislative session.
Indiana is one of the first Republican-run state legislatures to debate tighter abortion laws following the U.S. Supreme Court decision last month overturning Roe v. Wade. The court ruling is expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states.
While abortion-rights supporters oppose the Indiana bill's severe limits on access to the procedure, abortion opponents say it is too lenient with its exceptions and lacks enforcement teeth.
The committee voted 7-5 in favor of the bill after adding provisions under which doctors could face felony criminal charges for performing an illegal abortion, along with limiting the time period allowing abortions in cases of rape and incest to eight weeks of pregnancy for women ages 16 or older and 12 weeks for those younger than 16.
Cathie Humbarger, a longtime leader of the Fort Wayne-based Right to Life chapter, said the bill should be scrapped.
“It is totally unenforceable and as such renders it basically worthless,” Humbarger told the committee. “You can, and must, do better.”
More amendments to the bill could be debated by the full Senate on Thursday.
The measure would prohibit abortions from the time an egg is implanted in a woman’s uterus with limited exceptions — in cases of rape, incest and to protect the life of the mother. The proposal followed the political firestorm over a 10-year-old rape victim who traveled to Indiana from neighboring Ohio to end a pregnancy.
The case gained attention when an Indianapolis doctor said the child had to go to Indiana because a newly imposed Ohio law bans abortions if cardiac activity can be detected in an embryo or fetus, possibly as early as six weeks of pregnancy.
Indiana Republican Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray said legislators were discussing details on abortion limits that they never faced before Roe v. Wade was overturned.
“We’re recognizing that this is pretty hard work,” Bray said. “We’re working in earnest to try and find a path forward, listening to everybody that’s out there.”
Elsewhere Tuesday, a South Carolina judge denied a request to temporarily block enforcement of that state’s six-week abortion ban. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic and other plaintiffs had asked the judge for an injunction while courts determine whether the law violates the state constitution’s rights to privacy and equal protection.
In Louisiana, a judge rejected a request from state officials to lift his order blocking a ban while they pursue an appeal. That means abortions remain accessible in Louisiana.
__
Arleigh Rodgers 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 Rodgers on Twitter at https://twitter.com/arleighrodgers | 2022-07-26T20:04:42+00:00 | seattlepi.com | https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Indiana-Republicans-struggle-to-find-abortion-ban-17330377.php |
PRAGUE (AP) — The Predators’ new additions made a quick impact in the NHL’s first regular-season game.
Nino Niederreiter scored his debut goal for Nashville, which beat the San Jose Sharks 4-1 in the Czech capital on Friday night.
Kiefer Sherwood, another newcomer, became the first player to score this season, putting Nashville on top 1:01 into the game. Eeli Tolvanen also scored and Matt Duchene finished it off with an empty-netter.
“All of the new guys to our team obviously contributed a lot,” coach John Hynes said. “The style, the game they played really fits the identity we want to play.”
The teams will play again on Saturday at Prague’s O2 Arena as part of the league’s return to Europe for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tomas Hertl scored for San Jose in the first period, delighting the roaring crowd of 16,648 in his hometown. Tolvanen’s goal at 1:24 of the second put the Predators ahead to stay.
The Predators outshot the Sharks 32-31 while Nashville goaltender Juuse Saros stopped 30 shots.
Niederreiter and defenseman Ryan McDonagh were key offseason additions for the Predators, who are hoping to continue a run of eight straight playoff berths. That’s tied with Washington for the second-longest active streak in the league.
Niederreiter made it 3-1 late in the second period with his a one-timer off a feed from Dante Fabbro.
“To be honest, this trip has been very easy for all the new guys,” Niederreiter said. “We glued together very well. I mean they’re very welcoming, so I think it’s a big reason why we clicked on the ice.”
Sherwood scored on a rebound past goaltender James Reimer, who finished with 28 saves.
The 28-year-old Hertl, who recently signed a $65.1 million, eight-year contract to remain with San Jose, picked up a feed from Timo Meier and found the roof of the net just 6 seconds after a Sharks power play ended.
“It was a pretty special moment, obviously,” new San Jose coach David Quinn said. “We were a little bit inspired by that and we played better after that.”
Quinn was hired after the Sharks missed the NHL playoffs for a third straight season.
“I like some of the things we were doing but once they made it 3 to 1, I really thought there was a huge disparity in the way they played compared to the way we played,” Quinn said.
The Sharks converted on just 19% of power plays last season, and they struggled again on Friday, going 0 for 4 with the man advantage. Nashville also came up empty on four power plays.
ACROSS THE POND HOCKEY
This is the ninth season the NHL has played games in Europe, where it hopes to connect with fans in hockey-mad countries including the Czech Republic, Sweden and Finland.
Nashville played in Europe for the first time. The Predators were set to open the 2020-21 season in Prague against the Boston Bruins before the pandemic scrapped those plans.
The Sharks have contested four previous games outside North America. They faced the Columbus Blue Jackets twice in Stockholm and played two games against the Calgary Flames in Tokyo in 1998.
Friday’s opener was the first NHL game in Europe since the Tampa Bay Lightning and Buffalo Sabres faced off in Stockholm on Nov. 9, 2019.
The Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers on Oct. 4, 2019 were the last NHL teams to play in Prague.
The league’s 2022 Global Series will conclude in Tampere, Finland, where the defending Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche will face the Blue Jackets on Nov. 4-5.
NOTES
Friday’s matchup was the 29th regular-season game played in Europe and the sixth in Prague. … Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said Friday the schedule for next year’s games in Europe will be announced in “a relatively near future.”
UP NEXT
The teams complete the series on Saturday night.
___
More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | 2022-10-08T00:44:21+00:00 | everythinglubbock.com | https://www.everythinglubbock.com/sports/ap-niederreiter-scores-in-debut-predators-top-sharks-in-prague/ |
Throwing is in Charlee Morton’s DNA. Now a high school sophomore, Morton has had a shot or disc in her hand since she was in grade school.
Charlee estimates that her father, Brandon Morton, introduced her to shot put and discus throw events when she was in fourth grade. Since then, she’s become a national champion and 2022 IGHSAU State Track and Field Championships qualifier.
“I started, maybe, when I was in fourth grade, I would say,” Charlee said. “My dad was a throws coach. I don’t really remember how we started. I don’t know if he said, ‘Hey Charlee, do you want to throw?’ Maybe I brought it up to him. I don’t remember that situation exactly, but I started throwing young.”
Charlee and Brandon aren’t the only Mortons that throw. They’re both part of a larger dynasty. Charlee has four siblings, and all of them have experience hurling the shot and disc.
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Charlee is the oldest of the Morton bunch. Being the eldest sibling is a responsibility she takes seriously. Charlee loves to compete against her family, and they constantly push her to become a better thrower.
“So, I’m the oldest, and I have younger siblings,” Charlee said. “I think my brother (Beau) and I have a little bit of competition because he’s an eighth grader and we throw the same weights right now. So, we have a competition there, but I feel like, with me being the oldest, I’m trying to help lead them, help coach them, help show them the way because I know the rest of them really like it.”
The Morton siblings have always had an expert teacher in their corner. Brandon was a thrower in high school, and he went to hold coaching positions with Waukee and Hampton-Dumont-CAL’s track and field teams.
Though he has formally stepped away from coaching, Brandon still works with his children and some of HDC’s high school throwers.
“The Mortons are a big track and field family,” HDC coach Nikki Donnenworth said. “Their whole family has been working with Brandon since they were really, really little. We’re just happy that we kind of get to come along for the ride. He knows what he’s doing, and Charlee is finally in high school now. So, we’re really getting to see how strong she really is and how much work she’s put in all these years.”
With Brandon teaching her, Charlee went from newcomer to nationally prominent thrower in about five years.
In eighth grade, Charlee and Brandon traveled to Jacksonville, Florida, for a USA Track and Field meet. Charlee competed in multiple state and regional qualifiers before she ultimately earned a spot in Florida.
Charlee entered the national event with a lower ranking than she had hoped. She was No. 6 in a field of about 50 throwers. Charlee wasn’t satisfied with the number attached to her name, so she didn’t let it hold her back when it was her turn to participate in the shot put.
“I remember my dad telling me I could do it, I could get first because the length the other girls were throwing was beatable,” Charlee said. “I feel like that confidence helped me. So, I went into the meet, and my first throw was my best throw. I started off strong and ended up winning that meet. I was shocked. I had confidence, but I really didn’t think I could win a national meet. I think that really gave me a lot of confidence in myself.”
Charlee had an opportunity to participate in another national throwing event last year, but she opted out of the meet. She will, however, have another chance to compete in a high-profile competition next week.
Charlee qualified for the 2023 Drake Relays earlier this season. She knew she had the firepower to make it to Drake’s track in Des Moines because she hit the blue standard last year.
Charlee did not qualify for the 2022 Drake Relays despite the distance of her throws. She recorded her blue standard-length tosses after the qualifying period for last year’s event ended.
“I threw the distance after the cut off,” Morton said. “So, I could have made it last year. That kind of drove me. That was one of my goals for this year — make it to Drake in both events. Not being able to make it last year drove me even more to be like ‘I gotta make it this year.’”
Charlee blew past this season’s blue standards. Her longest throw in the shot put this season (42’ 7”) exceeded Drake qualifying length by nearly two feet. She bested the blue standard in discus throw by more than four feet with a toss of 132’ 2.”
Charlee attributes her success this season to a technique change she and her father decided to make before the season. For the first few years of her career, Charlee used a glide motion when she threw the shot. This year, she ditched the glide in favor of a pre-toss spin.
Charlee said she typically begins her offseason training in December. She added that this year’s workouts were designed to help her perfect her shot put spin.
“My dad and I had a plan, thinking that I was going to do a spin in shot put my sophomore year, maybe my junior year,” Charlee said. “So, during the offseason, I started working on it. I do it for discus, so I already knew how to do it. It was just transferring it over to shot put. We thought it would get me more power — using the spin over the glide.”
With her new technique at her disposal, Charlee is setting her expectations for the Drake Relays high. Charlee wants to finish inside the top five in both shot put and discus throw — even though the competition won’t be split up by school size or age.
Charlee isn’t afraid of the enormity and depth of the field she’ll be up against. She actually welcomes the challenge and looks forward to showcasing her abilities.
“As an athlete, I thrive under competition,” Morton said. “I love having competition. I feel like I’m really going to end up liking it because some of the meets here obviously aren’t as competitive as (Drake). I think I’ll throw better because of that competition.”
Charlee added that she used to be scared to throw in front of big crowds. She recalled that, last year at the state track meet, she felt pressured to throw well because there were so many fans in attendance.
Charlee has since adjusted her mindset, and she believes she is prepared to throw in front of lots of people at the blue oval.
“When I walked into (state) last year, it was kind of scary, at first,” Charlee said. “But I just loved it. I came back the second day, and I was like, ‘I just want to be here. The atmosphere is so great.’ All the people there, all the people cheering for different events — I just loved it there.”
Despite the success Charlee has found early in her career, she never hesitates to help her teammates. She and Brandon frequently host clinics for HDC’s other throwers. Charlee also guides her fellow Bulldogs with techniques at practice and workout regimens in the weight room.
“Charlee is out there every day, and her and the other two throwers we have are kind of working through what’s working or what’s not working,” Donnenwerth said. “It’s just fun to sit back and watch their conversations because it’s such a high level of intelligence of the sport. She’s been a huge help for her teammates, and they’ve been encouraging her as well.”
Charlee isn’t just a great teammate at practice and in the locker room. On the track, she’s willing to contribute in any way she can. Donnenwerth said Charlee has run some sprint and relay events this year to help the Bulldogs score more points.
HDC has just 14 girls on its roster. Thanks, in part, to Charlee’s efforts, however, the Bulldogs have racked up three top-five finishes this year.
“She is not slow,” Donnenwerth said. “She likes to get into races ... She fills some spaces for us in sprint events, and she holds her own. She wants to run in workouts, she wants to get faster. She knows her foot speed is huge in the ring.
“She really can put all that together. She understands that work she does with her speed and running will help her in (throwing events).”
Charlee will get her chance to compete in the Drake Relays on April 27. Girls’ shot put is tentatively scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. Girls’ discus throw will follow at 8:30 a.m. Friday. | 2023-04-21T12:01:14+00:00 | globegazette.com | https://globegazette.com/sports/high-school/track-and-field/high-school-track-and-field-hampton-dumont-cal-thrower-charlee-morton-ready-for-drake-relays/article_6b87135b-7a69-52b1-bf5d-692afc32bd20.html |
AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Tritium Partners ("Tritium"), a private equity firm investing in growth companies in the lower middle market, announced it held a final closing on its third fund, Tritium III, with $684 million of committed capital. The fund exceeded its target and represents a nearly 50% increase over Tritium's 2019 second fund. Tritium III received broad support from existing investors, who in aggregate considerably increased their commitment levels in this fund, as well as from several new, substantial institutional investors. The fund's investors include leading retirement systems, private pension plans, university endowments, foundations, diversified financial institutions and insurance companies. Tritium now manages nearly $1.5 billion of capital commitments across its funds.
For over 20 years, Tritium's founders have invested in companies with exceptional growth potential in industries where the team has significant domain expertise. The firm's investments will remain predominantly focused on internet marketplaces, supply chain and logistics, fintech and financial services, software, data and analytics, and tech-enabled business services companies. The team will continue its strategy of partnering with talented founders and executives who want to accelerate growth and build market-leading companies.
"We are extremely excited to have received such strong support from current Tritium investors and are proud of the new investors we have added," said Philip Siegel, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Tritium. "Tritium's limited partners share our belief that growth-focused investing in the lower middle market offers opportunities for those willing to do the hard work required to scale businesses with great potential."
The firm has completed 24 platform investments across Tritium I and II. Tritium has also completed its first three investments in Tritium III.
"Since closing our last fund, we have delivered substantial liquidity to our investors, grown our team and added several companies with exceptional potential to our portfolio," said David Lack, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Tritium. "We appreciate the confidence our investors have shown in us in this fundraise and are excited to continue our work for them."
"Our approach is to bring growth-focused strategic and operational experience to help the technology and services companies we back be better positioned for future success," said Matt Bowman, Managing Partner of Tritium. "Most importantly, we look forward to building strong partnerships and lasting relationships with founders and executive teams with this new fund."
Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP acted as legal counsel.
About Tritium Partners
Founded in 2013, Tritium Partners is a private equity firm focused on technology and services companies with exceptional growth potential. With nearly $1.5 billion of committed capital raised, Tritium actively partners with talented founders and executives to strive to build market-leading companies through high-growth strategies, while maintaining capital efficiency. Tritium's approach emphasizes creating long-term value through both strategic growth initiatives and acquisitions, with specialized expertise in internet marketplaces, supply chain and logistics, fintech and financial services, software, data and analytics, and tech-enabled business services companies. For more information, please visit www.tritiumpartners.com.
Media Inquiries
Caroline Luz
Lambert
616-258-5778
cluz@lambert.com
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Tritium is not making an offer or invitation of any kind by this release and in no event shall it be construed as a prospectus or an advertisement. No reliance may be placed upon the contents of this communication by any person for any purposes whatsoever. The Fund was offered and sold only to investors meeting certain qualifications, including "accredited investors" under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended. This release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws and regulations. Undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements and information, which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause results, performance or achievements to differ materially from anticipated future results.
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SOURCE Tritium Partners | 2023-01-27T12:25:13+00:00 | kswo.com | https://www.kswo.com/prnewswire/2023/01/27/tritium-partners-secures-684-million-third-growth-focused-private-equity-fund/ |
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DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Elites from politics, business, academia and the arts on Friday wrapped up the World Economic Forum 's annual conclave in the Swiss town of Davos — where worries about the war in Ukraine, a warming planet and a cooling global economy dominated discussions about the world's ills.
The 53rd edition of the weeklong gathering in the Alps drew notables like Ukraine's first lady, climate activist Greta Thunberg, and actor Idris Elba, plus hundreds of presidents, prime ministers, CEOs and other decision-makers who hashed out deals and voiced demands on everything from trade to tanks for Ukraine.
The meeting perennially draws criticism as a hub of power-mongers and money-grubbers seeking to rule the world, and this year was no exception. Longtime attendee and Kremlin critic Bill Browder launched a tirade about sitting out this year because the forum sought to triple the cost of his participation to $250,000.
Some deep-pocketed execs shell out upward of $1 million a year to be members of the WEF club.
It's anybody's guess whether an event that churns up pledges, promises and partnerships to help realize the forum's ambition of improving the world will bring any concrete progress.
Here's a look at some of the main Davos takeaways this year:
AID PUSH FROM UKRAINE
A Ukrainian delegation headed to the Swiss mountains to push for funding, weapons and other aid — capped with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy beaming in by video — for the war-torn country as the anniversary of Russia’s invasion draws closer.
First lady Olena Zelenska urged the power brokers in Davos ramp up support, saying in a speech Tuesday that “there is something that separates you, namely that not all of you use this influence, or sometimes use it in a way that separates you even more.”
Zelenskyy urged his allies to speed up the delivery of more advanced weapons in a keynote speech and later gave a veiled critique of major supporters such as Germany and the U.S. that have hesitated about sending tanks.
“There are times where we shouldn’t hesitate or we shouldn’t compare when someone says, ‘I will give tanks if someone else will also share his tanks,’” said Zelenskyy, who reiterated his plea Friday as Western allies met at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz — the only leader from the Group of Seven leading economies at Davos — has faced growing pressure to provide Ukraine with tanks but avoided directly answering the question Wednesday.
Germany will remain one of Ukraine’s top weapons suppliers, he said, and “we are never doing something just by ourselves, but together with others — especially the United States.”
CLIMATE CHANGE TAKES CENTER STAGE
While panel sessions spanned topics from green investment to greenwashing, Thunberg, Vanessa Nakate and other young climate activists brought the fire to the corporate VIPs and political leaders tuning into the talks.
The activists slammed the heavy-hitters at Davos for prioritizing short-term profits from fossil fuels over people affected by the climate crisis. Ugandan activist Nakate choked up during a roundtable with the head of the International Energy Agency, saying “leaders are playing games” with people’s futures.
She and Thunberg capped the week with a small climate protest Friday where activists hoisted signs saying, “There is no planet B" and chanting that “fossil fuels have got to go." It added a bookend: Dozens of climate activists — some with clown makeup — braved snowfall to demonstrate Sunday.
Even global financial leaders got heated about the climate.
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, when asked for one thing she would change to accelerate the net zero transition, said she would lock the U.S., China, India and European Union in a room.
“Let them out after they sign in blood a commitment to work together to save the planet,” she said to applause.
GREEN INVESTMENT RACE
A U.S. clean energy law that benefits American-made products such as electric vehicles got major airtime. Some worry about European companies getting shut out of the U.S. market and being denied green tech investment.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented a major clean tech industrial plan to ease the way for green industry subsidies and pool EU-wide projects that are boosted with major funding.
Some leaders called the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act a catalyst. U.K. opposition leader Keir Starmer says the law is “the single biggest opportunity we’ve been given for a very long time to transition, to take the jobs and opportunities of the future.”
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said in the same session Thursday that the world should be happy after years of telling the U.S. “to step up on climate change.’ Now, they are doing it.”
EU Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis says an EU-U.S. task force has a solution on EV tax credits but “many other areas" must be addressed.
The law doesn’t intend to hurt U.S. allies but get clean technology to scale quickly, Sen. Joe Manchin said.
To calm geopolitical unrest and help the environment, “you better be able to do it quicker, faster and better than any place in the world and then share it with your friends. That’s what we’re going to do,” the West Virginia Democrat said.
GLOBAL ECONOMY AVOIDS DISASTER?
Many bigwigs said economic expectations are improving from the train wreck they feared amid high inflation and slowing growth.
The IMF's Georgieva said inflation is heading down and the outlook for the global economy is “less bad than we feared a couple of months ago.” Likewise, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said, “It’s not a brilliant year, but it is a lot better than what we had feared."
In a panel Friday, both pointed to an expected rebound in China, which Lagarde said “most likely will be a positive for the rest of the world" but may boost inflation as the world’s second-largest economy consumes more energy.
After easing of COVID-19 restrictions, Chinese Vice Premier Liu said the country expects to see a major rise in imports, more investment by companies and return to regular consumption habits over the coming months.
“If we work hard enough, we are confident that in 2023, China’s growth will most likely return to its normal trend," he said Tuesday in an address in Davos.
Many economists had forecast recession in major economies like the U.S. and Europe at the beginning of 2023 as painfully high inflation fueled by the war in Ukraine led central banks to jack up interest rates that slow the economy. That may not materialize, with some forecasts signaling 0.5% growth this year in the U.S. and Europe, but those facing high prices may not notice.
Speaking to The Associated Press at Davos, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon offered some advice: “The important thing is what is going on in geopolitics around the world, not whether you have a mild recession or harder recession, etc.”
___
Bonnell reported from London. Associated Press journalists Masha Macpherson and David Keyton in Davos contributed.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of the World Economic Forum meeting at https://apnews.com/hub/world-economic-forum | 2023-01-20T14:47:35+00:00 | ourmidland.com | https://www.ourmidland.com/business/article/Ukraine-climate-economy-Takeaways-from-glitzy-17730446.php |
Mega Millions $480 million jackpot is among the largest in its history
Are you America's next lottery multimillionaire?
You'll soon find out if you're playing Friday's Mega Millions — the 10th largest prize in its 20-year history with an estimated $480 million jackpot. No need to grab the calculator: That's about $276 million in cash.
That jackpot grew by $40 million after Tuesday's draw of 4, 7, 10, 45 and 64, plus the gold Mega Ball 12, didn't produce a jackpot winner.
On Tuesday there were a total of 1,197,065 winning tickets sold, with prizes ranging from $2 to $1 million, the lottery said in an online release. A ticket sold in Illinois matched the five white balls to win the game's $1 million second prize.
A $20 million jackpot was last won on April 15, and since then, there have been more than 14.1 million winning tickets at all prize levels, including 24 worth $1 million or more, according to the lottery.
Only three other jackpots have been won in 2022 — a $426 million prize in California on Jan. 28, a $128 million in New York on March 8 and $110 million in Minnesota on April 12.
Even though your odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350, you know what they say, you can't win if you don't play. | 2022-07-15T20:37:31+00:00 | wisn.com | https://www.wisn.com/article/mega-millions-july-15-2022/40627380 |
DOVER, Del. (AP) — Delaware Gov. John Carney said Friday that he will allow bills legalizing recreational marijuana use by adults in the state and authorizing the establishment of a state-licensed and regulated cannabis industry to become law without his signature.
The Democratic governor's move marks a turnaround from last year, when he vetoed a legalization bill championed by fellow Democrats. That led to a failed veto override attempt by House Democrats.
Just last month, Carney’s office said he continued to have strong concerns about the unintended consequences of legalizing marijuana for recreational use, including the effects on young people and highway safety.
“I want to be clear that my views on this issue have not changed. And I understand there are those who share my views who will be disappointed in my decision not to veto this legislation," Carney said in a prepared statement Friday. “I came to this decision because I believe we’ve spent far too much time focused on this issue, when Delawareans face more serious and pressing concerns every day. It’s time to move on.”
“I remain concerned about the consequences of a recreational marijuana industry in our state," Carney added. "I’m concerned especially about the potential effects on Delaware’s children, on the safety of our roadways, and on our poorest neighborhoods, where I believe a legal marijuana industry will have a disproportionately negative impact. Those concerns are why I could not put my signature to either House Bill 1 or House Bill 2.
The legalization bill allows people 21 and older to possess up to 1 ounce (28 grams) of leaf marijuana, 12 grams of concentrated marijuana, or marijuana products containing up to 750 milligrams of the psychoactive compound THC. Possession of more than an ounce of marijuana and public consumption would remain misdemeanors. The bill also prohibits people from growing their own marijuana for personal consumption.
The separate industry-creation bill calls for state officials to issue up to 30 initial retail marijuana licenses, 30 manufacturing licenses, 60 cultivation licenses and five testing licenses. It includes special license pools for “social equity” and “microbusiness” applicants.
The Democrat-controlled Senate voted 16-4 last month for the legalization bill after it cleared the Democrat-led House on a 28-13 vote. The industry bill was approved by votes of 27-13 in the House and 15-5 in the Senate. The industry bill required a three-fifths supermajority because it creates a new tax in the form of a 15% levy on retail sales.
Veto overrides also require three-fifths votes in both chambers, meaning 25 in the House and 13 in the Senate.
Delaware Democrats have tried for years to legalize recreational marijuana use for adults. The marijuana bills are essentially the same as legislation considered last year, but the election of several progressive Democrats in November helped increase support for the legalization bill and gain the required supermajority for the industry bill. It also likely would have improved chances for overriding any vetoes by Carney.
GOP lawmakers have been mostly united in opposition to legalization, although three Republican House members voted for the legalization bill and two voted for the industry bill. In the Senate, the legalization bill received one GOP vote, while the industry bill passed on a straight party-line vote.
Opponents have argued that legalization and creation of a state marijuana industry will lead to increased marijuana use among teens and young adults that could affect their cognitive development, expose business owners to liability and result in more traffic deaths and injuries. They also say it will do little to eliminate illegal sales.
Supporters say neither bill changes laws regarding driving under the influence and that public consumption of marijuana would be prohibited. They also say employers will be able to test workers for marijuana and discipline employees for being under the influence at work. Supporters also argue that a state-regulated industry will reduce illegal black market sales, create jobs and generate more tax revenue.
To date, 21 other states have passed laws legalizing recreational use of marijuana by adults. | 2023-04-21T20:36:40+00:00 | daytondailynews.com | https://www.daytondailynews.com/nation-world/delaware-governor-drops-opposition-to-marijuana-legalization/5EQA4KLTIFFZNE7NXF2T2S2C54/ |
The effects of fentanyl are considered the cause of death for Adam Rich, the child actor known as “America’s little brother” for his role on the hit family dramedy “Eight is Enough.”
The former television star’s death this January has been ruled an accident by the Los Angeles County Medical-Examiner Coroner’s office, according to an autopsy report. Rich died in his Los Angeles home at age 54.
His stardom came at just eight years old as the mop-topped son raised by a widower newspaper columnist in ABC’s “Eight is Enough.” A limited acting career followed the show’s run from 1977 to 1981.
Rich had publicly discussed his experiences with depression and substance abuse in the months before he died. He tweeted in October that he had been sober for seven years after arrests, many rehab stints and several overdoses. He urged his followers to never give up.
He was arrested in April 1991 for trying to break into a pharmacy and again that October for allegedly stealing a drug-filled syringe at a hospital while receiving treatment for a dislocated shoulder. A DUI arrest came in 2002 after he struck a parked California Highway Patrol cruiser in a closed freeway lane. | 2023-06-24T18:11:09+00:00 | qcnews.com | https://www.qcnews.com/entertainment/fentanyl-ruled-as-the-cause-of-death-for-adam-rich-former-eight-is-enough-child-star/ |
Fox News host Laura Ingraham expressed outrage at the Republican Party after Herschel Walker’s loss in Tuesday’s Georgia Senate runoff election, which cemented firm control of the Senate for Democrats and served as a final rebuke of former President Trump during this year’s midterm elections.
“We felt this coming. To me, it never felt like the Senate Republicans wanted this guy in office. He was a Trump pick, they didn’t like that … but there wasn’t the intensity on the part of the Republicans as there was on the part of Democrats,” Ingraham said on her show shortly after Tuesday’s runoff had been called for incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock (D). “We have the same people in place in leadership. The same people in place, apparently, at the RNC [Republican National Committee], perhaps that’s not changing. We just keep doing the same thing over and over again. I’m pissed tonight, frankly. I’m mad.”
Walker’s loss was the final one by a number of candidates who had Trump’s midterm election backing but either underperformed — winning by less than expected — or lost outright to Democrats.
Leading Senate Republicans, most notably Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), did not embrace Walker as a candidate and spoke openly about “candidate quality” problems facing the GOP in this year’s cycle.
Trump’s endorsement also hung over House races this year, with the GOP netting only a slim majority in the lower chamber despite prognostications from many that a “red wave” was forthcoming.
Ingraham’s comments come as a number of conservative media pundits, including some on Fox News, have either blamed Trump for this year’s GOP midterm performance or suggested the party seek new leadership. Trump has announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination for president in 2024.
Last month, during an interview with The Hill, Ingraham did not answer a question about whether Trump should be the leader of the Republican Party, but said the conservative movement moving forward should be focused on populism more generally. | 2022-12-07T17:44:41+00:00 | qcnews.com | https://www.qcnews.com/hill-politics/foxs-laura-ingraham-after-herschel-walkers-georgia-loss-im-pissed-at-gop/ |
The Alabama Republican Party broke its fundraising record when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) headlined its annual winter dinner last week, as the rising conservative weighs a White House bid.
DeSantis’s appearance at the event helped the party raise nearly $700,000 and break attendance records with more than 1,700 at the dinner.
The previous attendance record was set when then-Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) visited in the summer of 2011.
Alabama Republican Party Chairman John Wahl said it was good for DeSantis “to get to know Alabama a little better.”
“And also for our state to meet one of America’s strongest conservative leaders, and someone that I think is going to be a central figure within the Republican Party for years to come,” Wahl said in a statement.
The party said that during his visit DeSantis focused on education and “common sense conservative values.”
DeSantis is making some of his first out-of-state trips to promote his new book. He made his first appearance in Iowa over the weekend and laughed off the idea that his visit to Iowa was the start of a presidential campaign.
DeSantis is set to headline a fundraising dinner for the New Hampshire Republican Party next month, another appearance in a state with an early presidential nominating contest. | 2023-03-13T23:32:31+00:00 | myfox8.com | https://myfox8.com/news/politics/hill-politics/desantis-headlines-record-breaking-alabama-gop-dinner/ |
LONDON, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Bloomberg announced today that GAM Investments, a leading independent pure-play asset manager, has adopted an integrated suite of Bloomberg buy-side workflow solutions to streamline risk and portfolio management across the enterprise. The suite provides GAM with the ability to seamlessly manage market risk exposure and liquidity and investment risk, notably with Bloomberg's new factor risk models.
Buy-side firms are increasingly looking for a technology partner that can help them manage portfolios and risks in a flexible and transparent way, generate alpha for clients and ensure they stay resilient in various market conditions.
Bloomberg's integrated buy-side workflow solutions enable GAM's traders, portfolio and risk managers to seamlessly manage strategies and portfolios throughout the full risk management process from pre-trade, intraday and end of day, to regulatory reporting. The offering covers asset classes ranging from simple cash assets to the most complex bespoke structures. It provides GAM with consistent and consolidated pricing and valuation services to assess and manage market risk exposure through a full revaluation engine, as well as liquidity and portfolio risks in all market environments.
David Dowsett, Head of Investment at GAM, said: "By working with Bloomberg we have access to robust and easily scalable solutions that enable us to streamline our risk management processes across asset classes and portfolios. This also helps us to facilitate even greater collaboration between teams, resulting in efficiencies from better decision-making to deeper insights."
Jose Ribas, Global Head of Risk and Pricing at Bloomberg, said: "Bloomberg's offering combines multiple complementary solutions – pricing, risk analytics, market data – that amount to much more than the sum of those parts. We're pleased to work with GAM Investments to provide them with our robust and flexible solutions, powered by the depth and quality of data and analytics that is synonymous with Bloomberg."
The solutions adopted by GAM include:
MARS, Bloomberg's Multi Asset Risk System, a suite of risk management solutions delivered on the Terminal and via APIs that enables front office, risk and collateral professionals to analyze trading and investment portfolios, manage portfolio exposure and market risk.
LQA, its Liquidity Assessment solution, uses Bloomberg's robust financial datasets to provide a quantitative evaluation of market liquidity that is calibrated daily to quickly capture changing market conditions across multiple asset classes. The solution is also available "as a Service" to enable seamless integration of liquidity analytics throughout an enterprise facilitating regulatory compliance, and enhanced risk management and investment processes.
PORT Enterprise, its multi-asset portfolio and risk analytics solution, which GAM has been using since 2020, allowing the firm to benefit from the new MAC3 GRM (multi-asset class global risk model), an advanced suite of risk factor models that delivers forecast accuracy for all types of portfolios, universes, and investment styles.
About GAM
GAM is a leading independent, pure-play asset manager. The company provides active investment solutions and products for institutions, financial intermediaries, and private investors through three businesses: Investment Management, Fund Management Services and Wealth Management. GAM employed 605 FTEs in 14 countries with investment centres in London, Cambridge, Zurich, Hong Kong, New York, Milan, and Lugano as at 31 December 2021. The investment managers are supported by an extensive global distribution network. Headquartered in Zurich, GAM is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange with the symbol 'GAM'. The Group has AuM of CHF 94.8 billion (USD 103 billion) as at 31 March 2022.
About Bloomberg
Bloomberg is a global leader in business and financial information, delivering trusted data, news, and insights that bring transparency, efficiency, and fairness to markets. The company helps connect influential communities across the global financial ecosystem via reliable technology solutions that enable our customers to make more informed decisions and foster better collaboration. For more information, visit Bloomberg.com/company or request a demo.
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SOURCE Bloomberg | 2022-06-29T09:11:25+00:00 | kwch.com | https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2022/06/29/gam-investments-streamlines-risk-management-with-bloomberg-buy-side-workflow-solutions/ |
HELSINKI (AP) — Lawmakers in Finland approved amendments Wednesday that will make it substantially easier for people to change their legally recognized gender in the Nordic country.
The amendments, which are expected to take effect as soon as possible, also abolish a provision that required transgender people to provide a medical certificate proving they were infertile or sterilized before the government would recognize their gender identity. That part of the existing law was intended to keep transgender individuals from having children.
Finland’s 200-seat parliament, the Eduskunta, voted 113-69 in favor of making the changes, which lawmakers fiercely debated in recent months.
The bill allows transgender individuals who are 18 or older in Finland to legally change their genders by self-declaration without having to supply a psychiatric assessment and the certificate on their ability to reproduce. To prevent misuse of the revised law, such requests only can be made once a year.
“By passing this act, Finland has taken a major step towards protecting trans people’s rights and improving their lives and right to self-determination,” Matti Pihlajamaa, Amnesty International Finland’s LGBTI rights advisor, said in a statement.
Prime Minister Sanna Marin has earlier said that getting the amendments approved was a priority for her center-left government still during the Cabinet’s remaining two months in office. Finland will hold general election in early April.
Spain approved legislation allowing gender changes by self-declaration last month, while the British government vetoed a similar bill that lawmakers in Scotland passed in December. | 2023-02-01T17:54:30+00:00 | wivb.com | https://www.wivb.com/news/world/ap-finland-approves-changes-to-transgender-laws-cuts-red-tape/ |
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut businessman who conspired with a now-former state lawmaker to steal federal coronavirus relief funds from the city of West Haven was sentenced Monday to eight years in prison for his role in the scheme.
A federal investigation found John Trasacco, 50, had conspired with former state Rep. Michael DiMassa to submit fraudulent invoices from two companies Trasacco controlled for goods and services never provided.
The list included thousands of items of personal protection equipment, billings for heating and air conditioning maintenance at several municipal buildings, COVID-19 supplies for the school board, and cleaning services for various city and school buildings, including one building that had been vacant and abandoned for years.
Federal prosecutors determined Trasacco's companies received approximately $431,982 from the scheme. A jury found Trasacco guilty on Dec. 2 of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. U.S. District Judge Omar A. Williams, who presided over Monday's hearing, has ordered him to pay $143,994 in restitution.
Trasacco was remanded to custody following Monday's court appearance. Once his prison sentence is complete, he must serve five years of supervised release.
Trascacco is the latest person involved in the scheme to be sentenced. Last month, Lauren DiMassa, 38, the former state lawmaker's wife, was sentenced to six months in federal prison for her role. Former city employee, John Bernardo, 66, was sentenced to 13 months in prison.
Michael DiMassa, a Democrat, served as an aide to the city, with authority to approve reimbursement of COVID-19 expenditures.
He resigned from that job and the General Assembly after his 2021 arrest. He has pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy charges related to the total theft of more than $1.2 million in coronavirus relief funds from the city and agreed to pay more than $1.2 million in restitution. His sentencing is set for this month. | 2023-04-03T21:33:40+00:00 | expressnews.com | https://www.expressnews.com/news/politics/article/businessman-gets-8-years-in-prison-for-theft-of-17876211.php |
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