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DETROIT — The Chevrolet Camaro, for decades the dream car of many teenage American males, is going out of production.
General Motors, which sells the brawny muscle car, said Wednesday it will stop making the current generation early next year.
The future of the car, which is raced on NASCAR and other circuits, is a bit murky. GM says another generation may be in the works.
“While we are not announcing an immediate successor today, rest assured, this is not the end of Camaro's story,” Scott Bell, vice president of Chevrolet, said in a statement.
The current sixth-generation Camaro, introduced in 2016, has done well on the racetrack, but sales have been tailing off in recent years. When the current generation Camaro came out in 2016, Chevrolet sold 72,705 of them. But by the end of 2021 that number fell almost 70% to 21,893. It rebounded a bit last year to 24,652.
GM said last of the 2024 model year of the cars will come off the assembly line in Lansing, Michigan, in January.
Spokesman Trevor Thompkins said he can't say anything more about a future Camaro. “We're not saying anything specific right now,” he said.
If GM revives the Camaro, it almost certainly will be electric, said Stephanie Brinley, an associate director with S&P Global Mobility. “It would be unlikely to see another internal combustion engine vehicle,” she said.
GM has said it plans to sell only electric passenger vehicles worldwide by 2035.
Brinley said the push to sell more electric vehicles makes it likely that all new muscle cars will be powered by batteries. But if there's still a mixed combustion and battery fleet on sale in 2030 or 2040, some gas-powered muscle cars could survive.
Thompkins said GM has an understanding with auto-racing sanctioning bodies that the sixth-generation car can continue racing. GM will have parts available and the Camaro body will stay on the race track, he said.
NASCAR said that because the Generation 6 Camaro was in production when GM originally got permission to race, it remains qualified to race in NASCAR Cup and NASCAR Xfinity Series races.
GM will offer a collector's edition package of the 2024 Camaro RS and SS in North America, and a limited number of high-performance ZL-1 Camaros. The collector's edition cars will have ties to the first-generation Camaro from the 1960s and its GM code name “Panther,” the company said without giving specifics.
GM's move comes as traditional gas-powered muscle cars are starting to be phased out due to strict government fuel economy regulations, concerns about climate change and an accelerating shift toward electric vehicles.
Stellantis, will stop making gas versions of the Dodge Challenger and Charger and the Chrylser 300 big sedan by the end of this year. But the company has plans to roll out a battery-powered Charger performance car sometime in 2024.
Electric cars, with instant torque and a low center of gravity, often are faster and handle better than internal combustion vehicles.
Stellantis, formed in 2021 by combining Fiat Chrysler and France’s PSA Peugeot, earlier this week announced the last of its special edition muscle cars, the 1,025 horsepower Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170. The company says the car can go from zero to 60 mph (97 kilometers per hour) in 1.66 seconds, making it the fastest production car on the market.
In addition, Ford rolled out a new version of its Mustang sports car in September.
The Camaro was first introduced in 1966, two years after Ford's wildly popular Mustang.
GM retired the Camaro nameplate in 2002, but revived it as a new 2010 model with hopes of appealing to enthusiasts and younger buyers. The 2010 version was similar to its predecessors, with a long, flat front and side “gills” that evoke the original, while still sporting a modern overall design.
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AP Auto Racing Writer Jenna Fryer contributed from Charlotte, North Carolina. | 2023-03-24T01:46:50+00:00 | wfmynews2.com | https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/nation-world/gm-to-stop-making-camaro/507-1059a075-3efb-4574-8d79-ddea06afe4d3 |
DENVER — Fans will descend upon Colorado for Taylor Swift's "Eras Tour" stop in the Mile High City this weekend. While Swift's 3-hour performance will most likely be the highlight of the trip, there's plenty Taylor-adjacent activities that will make anyone's time in Colorado worthwhile.
We've curated a list of Colorado activities that match each of Taylor Swift's eras.
1. "Taylor Swift" Era
Before she became a pop queen, Taylor Swift began her career as a country darling. So grab your boots, because we're two-stepping the night away at the Grizzly Rose. The country bar has been a staple music venue in the Denver metro since 1989 (don't worry, we'll get to that era soon.)
If you're looking to get your weekend started early, ladies drink free on Thursdays. Those with tickets to Saturday's Taylor Swift show can check out Stoney Larue at the Grizzly Rose Friday night. Bonus: Sunday nights are family nights, meaning all ages are welcome.
2. "Fearless" Era
Swift still held onto our country roots in her second album, but there was a noticeable slide into a more country-pop sound — a popular trend at that time in the 2000s. Her hair was curly, her guitar was bedazzled and the color palette was primarily gold tones. She was also young, meaning her songs revolved around high school love and friendships.
Like her music, those friendships have endured the test of time. Therefore, the best way to commemorate your "Fearless" era is to get permanent bracelets with your besties. Several boutiques offer the service, including Love Weld and Love Saro. You'll have a beautiful bracelet you can show off during the friendship bracelet trades at the shows!
3. "Speak Now" Era
We were "Enchanted" to hear Taylor's Version of this beloved album, which was released July 7. If you haven't had a chance to listen to all 22 songs, you'll have plenty of time as you hike the Enchanted Forest Trail Loop near Golden. It's a 3.5-mile loop and typically takes nearly two hours — just enough time to listen to the album all the way through.
4. "Red" Era
You most likely know "Red" thanks to the megahit "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together." Swift also released a music video for the song, which was filmed in one shot with one camera. In honor of the music video's style, we recommend taking a stroll through the Denver Art Museum. (Bonus points if you notice all of the red in the artwork.)
5. "1989" Era
Swift officially planted her flag in the pop genre with "1989." From "Style" to "Shake It Off," the album features uptempo songs you can't help but move to. Find a dance class and break out those dance moves like it's 1989! If dance classes aren't your thing, put on your favorite "1989" song and jam out while you get ready for the show.
6. "Reputation" Era
In 2016, media scrutiny of Swift reached a fever pitch. On top of that, drama between the singer and Ye — the artist formerly known as Kanye West — always seemed to make its way into the headlines. Swift disappeared from the public eye for more than a year, but burst back onto the scene in November 2017 with her powerful, revenge-based album, "Reputation."
Swift channeled all of her anger and frustration into this album. Therefore, the best embodiment of it is a rage room. The Denver metro has several rage rooms, including SMASH*IT Breakroom and Axe Whooping.
7. "Lover" Era
After releasing all of her anger in "Reputation," Swift took a 180-degree turn with "Lover." The album is reminiscent of how it feels to fall in love — giddy, positive and strong. The pop princess also leaned heavily into pastels — primarily pink — when it comes to the album's visuals. There's no better place to enjoy pastels than at the Denver Botanic Gardens.
8. "Folklore" Era
The imagery that comes to mind with "Folklore" can be summarized in several words — cardigans, braids and the woods. Thankfully in Colorado, this era is probably the easiest to obtain. All you have to do is find a quaint coffee shop in your favorite mountain town.
"Folklore" is different from Swift's previous albums in that the songs revolve around characters and their stories rather than Swift's own history. So while in the mountains, be sure to imagine a meet-cute between your own characters.
9. "Evermore" Era
"Evermore" is considered by most to be the sister album to "Folklore" since it was released a few months after. It continues that character-driven writing and ethereal sound. There's no better place to discuss "champagne problems" than over afternoon tea at the Brown Palace. Live music and light chatter fills the hotel lobby every day in an experience that's worth having at least once. It is a popular activity, so make your reservation ASAP.
10. "Midnights" Era
Meet me at midnight! Swift's most recent album release focused heavily on timing. So let's keep the theme going by spending the night at The Clocktower Cabaret. This charming venue is located underneath the Daniels & Fisher Tower in 16th Street Mall. You'll leave feeling very entertained — just in time for the concert of a lifetime. | 2023-07-13T14:50:45+00:00 | denver7.com | https://www.denver7.com/entertainment/colorado-activities-to-match-each-taylor-swift-era |
China closes zone around iPhone factory after virus cases
By JOE McDONALD
Associated Press
BEIJING (AP) — Access to an industrial zone in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou has been suspended after the city reported 64 coronavirus cases and workers who assemble Apple Inc. iPhones left their factory in the zone following outbreaks. The announcement did not say if the isolation of the Zhengzhou Airport Economic Zone was related to cases at the Foxconn factory. It said no one can enter or leave for one week except to deliver food and medical supplies. The government reported 64 confirmed cases had been found in Zhengzhou, a city of 12.5 million people. The ruling Communist Party is enforcing a “Zero COVID” policy that has closed areas throughout China to try to isolate every case. | 2022-11-02T08:27:24+00:00 | localnews8.com | https://localnews8.com/news/ap-national-business/2022/11/02/china-closes-zone-around-iphone-factory-after-virus-cases-2/ |
Maui firefighter critically injured after being swept into storm drain by floodwaters
By KITV Web Staff
Click here for updates on this story
KIHEI, Hawaii (KITV) — A Maui firefighter is in critical condition after he was swept away by storm waters.
Maui County officials say the firefighter was responding to reports of flooded homes in Kihei when he was carried by waters and got caught in a 4-foot-wide storm drain. He was then swept out into the ocean.
Other firefighters rescued him and he was transported to Maui Memorial Medical Center where he currently remains.
The firefighter has not yet been identified. So far, there have been no other reports of storm-related injuries to first responders or residents.
A Maui County spokesperson issued the following statement about this incident:
“[On Friday] afternoon a County of Maui firefighter responding with a crew to flooded residences in Kihei was caught in a 4-foot-wide storm drain and was carried by storm waters approximately 800 yards to where the drain emptied into the ocean. Firefighters and emergency personnel were able to retrieve the firefighter from the shoreline.
The firefighter was transported to Maui Memorial Medical Center in critical condition and remains under the care of physicians. Tonight the firefighter remains in critical condition.
Fire Chief Brad Ventura and Mayor Richard Bissen, Jr., immediately went to the hospital’s emergency room this afternoon to offer support to firefighters and family members who were there. We are focused on supporting the firefighter’s family and ask that our community join us in prayers for his recovery.”
The Maui Fire Department will investigate the cause of this incident.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform. | 2023-01-29T20:33:04+00:00 | localnews8.com | https://localnews8.com/cnn-regional/2023/01/29/maui-firefighter-critically-injured-after-being-swept-into-storm-drain-by-floodwaters/ |
Request unsuccessful. Incapsula incident ID: 8080000380138842655-357291191648127371 | 2022-06-22T22:02:49+00:00 | bizjournals.com | https://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/news/2022/06/22/ppp-forgiveness-surges-in-june.html |
CHICAGO, June 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- You may have heard that President Joe Biden underwent root canal treatment Sunday and concluded it on Monday, allowing him to get back to his schedule. According to Reuters, the procedure went well without any complications – as is most often the case with this extremely safe and effective procedure.
According to our 2022 public survey, the American Association of Endodontists found that 87 percent of Americans wish they had taken better care of their teeth. But it's never too late! With root canals in the news, the AAE would like to take this opportunity to share what you might not already know about the procedure. You may find these facts surprising.
- They are totally painless. That's right, root canals remove pain, not cause it, contrary to what you may have heard. They're the quickest, safest way to get you back to your normal schedule without missing a beat! Learn more here.
- They can resolve your dental trauma. Crack a tooth? Find an endodontist immediately. Cases of cracked teeth have surged following the COVID-19 pandemic, so everyone's chances of experiencing cracks in their teeth have increased in recent years. Learn more here.
- They can help you enjoy better overall health. That's right, a healthier mouth equals a healthier you. The 2022 AAE survey found that a whopping 77 percent of the public does not realize that poor oral health could be linked to heart attack; and 80 percent doesn't realize poor oral health could be linked to stroke. What's more: Research shared by the American Heart Association indicates that markers of bad oral health — including missing teeth and plaque buildup — are indeed associated with an increased risk of stroke. The researchers say their study adds to the current body of knowledge surrounding the link between poor oral health and negative health outcomes elsewhere in the body.
- An endodontist is your greatest ally for tooth pain. While all endodontists are dentists, less than three percent of dentists are endodontists. Just like a doctor in any other field, endodontists are specialists because they've completed an additional two or more years of training beyond dental school. Their additional training focuses on diagnosing tooth pain and root canal treatment and other procedures relating to the interior of the tooth. In many cases, a diseased tooth can be saved with endodontic treatment. For this reason, endodontists proudly refer to themselves as Specialists in Saving Teeth.
Facts like these underscore the importance of root canal treatment and saving teeth. And there's no one better equipped to save teeth than an endodontist. If you're experiencing dental pain like President Biden was prior to his root canal treatment – or if you would simply like to learn more about endodontists and root canal treatment – visit findmyendodontist.com today!
Journalists, to schedule an interview with an endodontist, email pr@aae.org.
About the American Association of Endodontists:
The AAE is headquartered in Chicago and represents more than 8,000 members worldwide. Endodontics is one of 12 dental specialties formally recognized by the American Dental Association. The AAE, founded in 1943, is dedicated to excellence in the art and science of endodontics and to the highest standard of patient care. The Association inspires its members to pursue professional advancement and personal fulfillment through education, research, advocacy, leadership, communication and service. For more information about the AAE, visit the Association's website at aae.org. For more patient focused information, visit findmyendodontist.com.
Contact:
Kim FitzSimmons, 312-872-0458
Elisabeth Lisican, 312-872-0460
View original content:
SOURCE American Association of Endodontists (AAE) | 2023-06-12T23:48:16+00:00 | wcjb.com | https://www.wcjb.com/prnewswire/2023/06/12/american-association-endodontists-highlights-4-facts-about-root-canal-treatment/ |
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BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets were mixed Wednesday after Wall Street rose on strong corporate profit reports.
Tokyo advanced while Shanghai and Hong Kong declined. The yen stayed near a two-decade low under 149 to the dollar. Oil prices gained.
Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 index rose 1.1% on Tuesday after investment bank Goldman Sachs, military contractor Lockheed Martin and others reported strong results.
Market sentiment is “looking positive so far amid forecast-beating earnings,” said Anderson Alves of ActivTrades in a report.
The profit reports helped at least temporarily offset investor worries that repeated interest rate hikes by U.S., European and Asian central banks to control inflation that is at multi-decade highs might tip the global economy into recession.
That concern has helped to drag U.S. stocks into a bear market, or a decline of more than 20% by the S&P 500 from its January high.
The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo gained 0.4% to 27,257.38, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.7% to 3,060.20. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 2% to 16,576.17.
The Kospi in Seoul declined 0.6% to 2,237.44 and Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 advanced 0.4% to 6,803.80.
India's Sensex opened up 0.7% at 59,357.90. New Zealand and Southeast Asian markets advanced.
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 gained 3,719.98 as 90% of the stocks in the index rose.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1% to close at 30,523.80. The Nasdaq composite advanced 0.9% to 10,772.40.
With no major economic data releases planned this week, investors focused on corporate earnings.
Goldman Sachs rose 2.3%, which helped to lift other lenders. Lockheed Martin jumped 8.7%, giving other military-related stocks a boost. General Dynamics rose 3.8%, Northrop Grumman gained 6.7% and Raytheon Technologies added 3.4%.
Johnson & Johnson slipped 0.3% after reporting solid financial result s but a narrowed forecast as it deals with a strong dollar cutting into sales outside the United States.
American Airlines, Union Pacific and American Express also report results this week.
In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude rose 44 cents to $90.47 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the price basis for international oil trading, advanced 41 cents to $90.44 per barrel in London.
The dollar rose to 149.44 yen from Tuesday's 149.21 yen. The euro declined to 98.30 cents from 98.50 cents. | 2022-10-19T07:02:51+00:00 | lmtonline.com | https://www.lmtonline.com/news/article/Asia-stocks-mixed-after-Wall-St-rises-on-17518790.php |
NASHVILLE, Tennessee — The former student who shot through the doors of a Christian elementary school in Nashville and killed three children and three adults had drawn a detailed map of the school, including potential entry points, and conducted surveillance of the building before carrying out the massacre.
Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake did not say exactly what drove the shooter to open fire Monday morning at The Covenant School before being killed by police. But he provided chilling examples of the shooter’s elaborate planning for the targeted attack, the latest in a series of mass shootings in a country that has grown increasingly unnerved by bloodshed in schools.
“We have a manifesto, we have some writings that we’re going over that pertain to this date, the actual incident,” he told reporters. “We have a map drawn out of how this was all going to take place.”
He said in an interview with NBC News that investigators believe the shooter had “some resentment for having to go to that school.”
The victims included three 9-year-old children, the school’s top administrator, a substitute teacher and a custodian. Amid the chaos, a familiar ritual played out: Panicked parents rushed to the school to see if their children were safe and tearfully hugged their kids, and a stunned community held vigils for the victims.
Rachel Dibble, who was at a nearby church where children were taken to be reunited with their parents, described the scene as everyone being in “complete shock.”
“People were involuntarily trembling,” she said. “The children … started their morning in their cute little uniforms, they probably had some Froot Loops, and now their whole lives changed today.”
The shooting led President Joe Biden to call again on lawmakers for stronger gun safety laws.
“Our message here is very, very clear: Enough is enough. We need to see action in Congress,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday morning on CNN.
Biden wants to continue bipartisan efforts like the Safer Communities Act and wants to pass common-sense gun safety laws, including a ban on “assault weapons,” Jean-Pierre said.
“We can’t do this alone. The president can’t do this alone. That’s how government works. Congress needs to take legislative action,” Jean-Pierre said. “It is time to show some courage here. It is time for Republicans in Congress to show some courage and to answer to these parents, to these families.”
Police gave unclear information on the gender of the shooter. For hours, police identified the shooter as a 28-year-old woman and eventually as Audrey Elizabeth Hale. At a late afternoon press conference, the police chief said Hale was transgender. After the news conference, police spokesperson Don Aaron declined to elaborate on how Hale identified.
In an email Tuesday, police spokesperson Kristin Mumford said Hale “was assigned female at birth. Hale did use male pronouns on a social media profile.”
Authorities said Hale was armed with two “assault-style” weapons, as well as a handgun. At least two of them were believed to have been obtained legally in the Nashville area, according to the chief. Police said a search of Hale’s home turned up a sawed-off shotgun, a second shotgun and other unspecified evidence.
The victims were identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, all 9 years old; and adults Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Mike Hill, 61.
The website of The Covenant School, a Presbyterian school founded in 2001, lists a Katherine Koonce as the head of the school. Her LinkedIn profile says she has led the school since July 2016. Peak was a substitute teacher and Hill was a custodian, according to investigators.
Founded as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church, The Covenant School is in the affluent Green Hills neighborhood just south of downtown Nashville that is home to the famous Bluebird Cafe, beloved by musicians and songwriters.
The school has about 200 students from preschool through sixth grade, as well as roughly 50 staff members.
“Our community is heartbroken,” a statement from the school said. “We are grieving tremendous loss and are in shock coming out of the terror that shattered our school and church. We are focused on loving our students, our families, our faculty and staff and beginning the process of healing.”
Before Monday’s violence in Nashville, there had been seven mass killings at K-12 schools since 2006 in which four or more people were killed within a 24-hour period, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University. In all of them, the shooters were males.
The database does not include school shootings in which fewer than four people were killed, which have become far more common in recent years. Just last week alone, for example, school shootings happened in Denver and the Dallas area within two days of each other.
Monday’s shooting unfolded over roughly 14 minutes. Police received the initial call about an active shooter at 10:13 a.m.
Officers began clearing the first story of the school when they heard gunshots coming from the second level, Aaron said. Police later said the shooter fired at arriving officers from a second-story window and had come armed with significant ammunition.
Two officers from a five-member team opened fire in response, killing the suspect at 10:27 a.m., Aaron said.
Late Monday night, police released about two minutes of edited surveillance video showing the shooter’s car driving up to the school from multiple angles, including one in which children can be seen playing on swings in the background. Next, an interior view shows glass doors to the school being shot out and the shooter ducking through one of the shattered doors.
More footage from inside shows the shooter walking through a school corridor holding a gun with a long barrel and walking into a room labeled “church office,” then coming back out. In the final part of the footage, the shooter can be seen walking down another long corridor with the gun drawn. The shooter is not seen interacting with anyone else on the video, which has no sound.
Aaron said there were no police officers present or assigned to the school at the time of the shooting because it is a church-run school.
A reeling city mourned during vigils Monday evening. At Belmont United Methodist Church, tearful sniffling filled the background as vigil attendees sang, knelt in prayer and lit candles. They lamented the national cycle of violent and deadly shootings.
“We need to step back. We need to breathe. We need to grieve,” said Paul Purdue, the church’s senior pastor. “We need to remember. We need to make space for others who are grieving. We need to hear the cries of our neighbors.”
Story by Jonathan Mattise, Travis Loller and Holly Meyer. Associated Press writers Kristin Hall, Denise Lavoie, John Raby, Stefanie Dazio, Beatrice Dupuy, Larry Fenn and Lisa Baumann, as well as researchers Randy Herschaft and Rhonda Shafner contributed to this report. | 2023-03-28T17:19:53+00:00 | bangordailynews.com | https://www.bangordailynews.com/2023/03/28/news/nation/nashville-shooter-plan/ |
SAN ANTONIO — A single flea bite sends a man to the hospital. One month later, he has no hands or toes.
Initially, his symptoms were similar to COVID or the flu. But one morning, Michael Kohlhof's family knew something was wrong when he woke up with his feet feeling numb.
The 35-year-old is from Houston. He came to San Antonio to take care of his mother after she got surgery on her foot.
About a week later, the family says Michael's mother was the one who urged him to run to the ER. That night, he went into septic shock.
"You'd rather be the one in the rare case scenario that wins the lottery, not that has a very unfortunate event happen to you," said Michael's brother Greg Kohlhof, who interviewed with KENS 5 via Zoom on his way to San Antonio from Houston.
One month ago Thursday, Michael was on a ventilator and intubated.
"He almost died once or twice," Greg explained. "They were worried about him being brain dead."
Doctors scrambled to see what caused Michael's condition to take a turn for the worse. The family learned it was typhus, an infectious disease spread to humans by fleas, lice and chiggers.
"The doctor said that this kind of typhus, which is only from a flea, comes from Southern California and Central to South Texas," said Greg.
Greg was told by doctors that most people treat the disease early after finding swelling or a rash at the bite mark. He says unfortunately, Michael never had those symptoms.
"With his symptoms being so general, I don't know if he would have went to the doctor," Greg explained. "He would have probably just tried to sleep it off."
July 10, doctors at University Hospital amputated both of Michael's hands.
Thursday, he lost his toes and the top half of his feet.
"How he is right now, I'm just amazed," said Greg.
Michael is a volunteer, a handyman, an art lover and part-time pet sitter. His passions center around his hands.
"Me and him talked about it. It's not your hands that do all these great things. It's your mind," Greg told his brother. "You'll just have to find a new avenue to exercise it."
For now, Michael is staying strong with a loving support group who never leaves his side.
"I think he also wants people to know this kind of stuff is out there. There are fleas, there are diseases, but just be cautious, be aware, don't be afraid to live your life," said Greg.
Follow-up surgeries are planned for Michael along with extensive therapy and rehab.
He does not have health insurance, so his family set up a GoFundMe where you can help pay for medical expenses.
Greg asks anyone who knows of a medical trial in prosthetics, or of a local amputee group, to contact the family. They welcome any resources Michael can get during this difficult time. | 2023-07-21T05:53:16+00:00 | wtsp.com | https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/community/single-flea-bite-sent-him-to-the-hospital-one-month-later-hes-lost-his-hands-and-toes-typhus/273-41dfbf51-bc51-4043-b9cb-8f3899793cc6 |
Strong Q2 Net Sales Growth Led by U.S. Refreshment Beverages and International
Full Year Net Sales Outlook Increased to 5% to 6%
BURLINGTON, Mass. and FRISCO, Texas , July 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (NASDAQ: KDP) today reported results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023, raised its full year constant currency net sales growth outlook to 5% to 6% and reaffirmed its guidance for Adjusted diluted EPS growth of 6% to 7%.
Commenting on the announcement, Chairman and CEO Bob Gamgort stated, "Our second quarter results demonstrated the strength of KDP's brand portfolio and our high-quality retail execution. We saw continued momentum in the U.S. Refreshment Beverages and International segments, as well as encouraging intraquarter developments in U.S. Coffee, where we expect a sequential recovery in revenue and a meaningful inflection in margins in the back half. On a consolidated basis, we continue to drive healthy growth while reinvesting in our business and are increasingly confident in our full year outlook, which now reflects even stronger underlying EPS results."
Second Quarter Consolidated Results
Net sales for the second quarter of 2023 increased 6.6% to $3.79 billion, compared to $3.55 billion in the year-ago period. On a constant currency basis, net sales advanced 6.1%, reflecting net price realization of 8.2%, only slightly offset by lower volume/mix of 2.1%. The resilient volume/mix performance reflected the continued strength of the Company's brand portfolio and in-market execution, as well as continued modest elasticities across most categories.
KDP in-market performance in the U.S. Liquid Refreshment Beverages (LRB) category remained strong, with retail dollar consumption2 advancing 10.7% and market share gains in categories representing approximately 85% of the Company's cold beverage retail sales base. The performance was led by CSDs3, seltzers, coconut waters, energy, apple juice and fruit drinks and was driven by Dr Pepper and Squirt in CSDs, as well as Polar seltzers, Evian, Vita Coco, C4 Energy, Mott's and Hawaiian Punch.
U.S. retail dollar consumption2 of KDP Manufactured K-Cup® Pods decreased 2.3% in IRi tracked channels in the quarter, and KDP Manufactured dollar share was approximately 79%. Total at-home coffee category trends during the second quarter continued to be impacted by greater consumer mobility versus the prior year, though the Company observed sequential improvement in category consumption towards the end of the second quarter, which continued into the third quarter. The single serve segment continued to gain volume share of the at-home coffee category throughout the period.
GAAP operating income increased 34.4% to $769 million, compared to $572 million in the year-ago period, reflecting growth in gross profit, as the strong net sales growth and productivity more than offset continued input cost inflation. Also impacting the comparison was the favorable year-over-year impact of items affecting comparability.
Excluding items affecting comparability, Adjusted operating income increased 4.4% to $873 million, including a strong double-digit increase in marketing investment, reflecting the strong growth in net sales and Adjusted gross profit, which more than offset transportation, warehousing and labor inflation. On a percent of net sales basis, Adjusted operating income was 23.0%.
GAAP net income for the quarter increased 130.7% to $503 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, compared to $218 million, or $0.15 per diluted share, in the year-ago period. This performance reflected a favorable year-over-year impact of items affecting comparability and the increase in Adjusted operating income, partially offset by a higher GAAP effective tax rate. Excluding items affecting comparability, Adjusted net income for the quarter advanced 7.0% to $596 million, and Adjusted diluted EPS increased 7.7% to $0.42.
Free cash flow for the second quarter was $295 million, reflecting lower operating cash flow and higher capital expenditures versus prior year.
During the quarter, the Company repurchased approximately 7 million KDP shares at a weighted average price per share of $32.34, totaling approximately $226 million. The Company has approximately $3.2 billion remaining under its share repurchase authorization expiring on December 31, 2025.
Second Quarter Segment Results
U.S. Refreshment Beverages
Net sales for the second quarter increased 11.8% to $2.3 billion, compared to $2.1 billion in the year-ago period, reflecting net price realization of 12.0% and a slight decrease in volume/mix of 0.2%. This strong performance continued to reflect the strength of the portfolio, including incrementality from recent innovation, and exceptional in-market execution, as well as the contribution from our sales and distribution partnership with Nutrabolt for C4 Energy.
GAAP operating income increased a very strong 19.1% to $629 million, compared to $528 million in the year-ago period, reflecting the net sales growth, productivity and a modest year-over-year benefit from items affecting comparability. These drivers were partially offset by continued broad-based input cost inflation and a significant increase in marketing investment. Excluding items affecting comparability, Adjusted operating income increased 18.1% to $646 million and, on a percent of net sales basis, totaled 27.7%.
U.S. Coffee
Net sales for the second quarter decreased 5.7% to $970 million, compared to $1,029 million in the year-ago period, reflecting net price realization of 1.6% and a volume/mix decline of 7.3%.
At-home coffee consumption in the quarter continued to be impacted by year-over-year changes in mobility, with sequential improvement in category volume trends observable each month of the quarter. Pod revenue declined 4.6%, driven by a shipment decline of 7.7% that primarily reflected mobility-driven category softness, the exit of some lower-margin private label contracts and an unfavorable comparison in the prior year during which the Company rebuilt trade inventory levels following supply chain constraints. On a trailing twelve-month basis versus the pre-pandemic Q2 2019 period, at-home pod shipments grew 16.9%, representing a mid-single digit compound annual growth rate (CAGR).
Brewer shipments totaled 9.9 million for the twelve months ending June 30, 2023, representing an 11.0% decline year-over-year. Compared against pre-pandemic levels represented by the twelve months ending June 30, 2019, brewer shipments grew 17.8%, representing a mid-single digit CAGR. Brewer shipments in the second quarter continued to be impacted by trade inventory adjustments, which the Company believes are now mostly complete, and slower discretionary spending for small appliances.
GAAP operating income decreased 15.3% to $250 million, compared to $295 million in the year-ago period, reflecting broad-based inflationary pressures, the decline in volume/mix and a significant increase in marketing investment. Partially offsetting these drivers were the benefits of productivity, higher net price realization and a modest year-over-year benefit of items affecting comparability. Excluding these items, Adjusted operating income decreased 14.6% to $292 million and, on a percent of net sales basis, totaled 30.1%.
International
Net sales for the second quarter increased 10.9% to $489 million, compared to $441 million in the year-ago period and, on a constant currency basis, net sales advanced 7.0%. This strong performance was driven by higher net price realization of 6.1% and volume/mix growth of 0.9%, and reflected broad-based momentum in both Mexico and Canada.
GAAP operating income increased a strong 14.3% to $112 million, compared to $98 million in the year-ago period, largely reflecting the benefits of the higher net sales, increased productivity and the year-over-year benefit of items affecting comparability, partially offset by inflationary pressures and a significant increase in marketing investment. Excluding items affecting comparability, Adjusted operating income increased 7.7% to $116 million and, on a percent of net sales basis, totaled 23.7%.
2023 Guidance
The 2023 guidance provided below is presented on a constant currency, non-GAAP basis. The Company does not provide reconciliations of such forward-looking non-GAAP measures to GAAP measures, due to the inability to predict the amount and timing of impacts outside of the Company's control on certain items, such as non-cash gains or losses resulting from mark-to-market adjustments of derivative instruments, among others, which could be material.
On a constant currency basis, KDP now expects net sales growth of 5% to 6% for 2023. The company's outlook for Adjusted diluted EPS growth of 6% to 7% in 2023 remains unchanged.
Investor Contacts:
Jane Gelfand
T: 888-340-5287 / jane.gelfand@kdrp.com
Chethan Mallela
T: 888-340-5287 / chethan.mallela@kdrp.com
Media Contact:
Katie Gilroy
T: 781-418-3345 / katie.gilroy@kdrp.com
ABOUT KEURIG DR PEPPER
Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) is a leading beverage company in North America, with annual revenue of more than $14 billion and approximately 28,000 employees. KDP holds leadership positions in liquid refreshment beverages, including soft drinks, specialty coffee and tea, water, juice and juice drinks and mixers, and markets the #1 single serve coffee brewing system in the U.S. and Canada. The Company's portfolio of more than 125 owned, licensed and partner brands is designed to satisfy virtually any consumer need, any time, and includes Keurig®, Dr Pepper®, Canada Dry®, Clamato®, CORE®, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters®, Mott's®, Snapple®, and The Original Donut Shop®. Through its powerful sales and distribution network, KDP can deliver its portfolio of hot and cold beverages to nearly every point of purchase for consumers. The Company's Drink Well. Do Good. corporate responsibility platform is focused on the greatest opportunities for impact in the environment, its supply chain, the health and well-being of consumers and with its people and communities. For more information, visit www.keurigdrpepper.com.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements contained herein are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws and regulations. These forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of words such as "outlook," "guidance," "anticipate," "expect," "believe," "could," "estimate," "feel," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "project," "should," "target," "will," "would," and similar words. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. These statements are based on the current expectations of our management, are not predictions of actual performance, and actual results may differ materially.
Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including the factors disclosed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings with the SEC. We are under no obligation to update, modify or withdraw any forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable law.
NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
This release includes certain non-GAAP financial measures including Adjusted gross profit, Adjusted operating income, Adjusted net income, Adjusted diluted EPS, free cash flow and financial measures presented on a constant currency basis, which differ from results using U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). These non-GAAP financial measures should be considered as supplements to the GAAP reported measures, should not be considered replacements for, or superior to, the GAAP measures and may not be comparable to similarly named measures used by other companies. Non-GAAP financial measures typically exclude certain charges, including one-time costs that are not expected to occur routinely in future periods. The Company uses non-GAAP financial measures internally to focus management on performance excluding these special charges to gauge our business operating performance. Management believes this information is helpful to investors because it increases transparency and assists investors in understanding the underlying performance of the Company and in the analysis of ongoing operating trends. Additionally, management believes that non-GAAP financial measures are frequently used by analysts and investors in their evaluation of companies, and their continued inclusion provides consistency in financial reporting and enables analysts and investors to perform meaningful comparisons of past, present and future operating results. The most directly comparable GAAP financial measures and reconciliations to non-GAAP financial measures are set forth in the appendix to this release and included in the Company's filings with the SEC.
To the extent that the Company provides guidance, it does so only on a non-GAAP basis and does not provide reconciliations of such forward-looking non-GAAP measures to GAAP due to the inability to predict the amount and timing of impacts outside of the Company's control on certain items, such as non-cash gains or losses resulting from mark-to-market adjustments of derivative instruments, among others, which could be material.
KEURIG DR PEPPER INC.
RECONCILIATION OF CERTAIN NON-GAAP INFORMATION
(UNAUDITED)
The company reports its financial results in accordance with U.S. GAAP. However, management believes that certain non-GAAP financial measures that reflect the way management evaluates the business may provide investors with additional information regarding the company's results, trends and ongoing performance on a comparable basis.
Specifically, investors should consider the following with respect to our financial results:
Adjusted: Defined as certain financial statement captions and metrics adjusted for certain items affecting comparability.
Items affecting comparability: Defined as certain items that are excluded for comparison to prior year periods, adjusted for the tax impact as applicable. Tax impact is determined based upon an approximate rate for each item. For each period, management adjusts for (i) the unrealized mark-to-market impact of derivative instruments not designated as hedges in accordance with U.S. GAAP that do not have an offsetting risk reflected within the financial results, as well as the unrealized mark-to-market impact of our Vita Coco investment; (ii) the amortization associated with definite-lived intangible assets; (iii) the amortization of the deferred financing costs associated with the DPS Merger; (iv) the amortization of the fair value adjustment of the senior unsecured notes obtained as a result of the DPS Merger; (v) stock compensation expense and the associated windfall tax benefit attributable to the matching awards made to employees who made an initial investment in KDP; (vi) non-cash changes in deferred tax liabilities related to goodwill and other intangible assets as a result of tax rate or apportionment changes; and (vii) other certain items that are excluded for comparison purposes to prior year periods.
For the second quarter and first six months of 2023, the other certain items excluded for comparison purposes include (i) productivity expenses and (ii) costs related to significant non-routine legal matters, specifically the antitrust litigation. Additionally, the non-cash changes in deferred tax liabilities related to goodwill and other intangible assets included an immaterial correction of an error during the second quarter of 2023 related to the valuation of the foreign deferred tax liabilities related to goodwill and other intangible assets.
For the second quarter and first six months of 2022, the other certain items excluded for comparison purposes include (i) restructuring and integration expenses related to significant business combinations; (ii) productivity expenses; (iii) costs related to significant non-routine legal matters, specifically the antitrust litigation; (iv) the loss on early extinguishment of debt related to the redemption of debt; (v) incremental costs to our operations related to risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, which were incurred to either maintain the health and safety of our front-line employees or temporarily increase compensation to such employees to ensure essential operations continue during the pandemic; (vi) the gain on the sale of our investment in BodyArmor as a result of the settlement of the associated holdback liability; (vii) the gain on the settlement of our prior litigation with BodyArmor, excluding recoveries of previously incurred litigation expenses which were included in our adjusted results; (viii) losses recognized with respect to our equity method investment in Bedford as a result of funding our share of their wind-down costs; (ix) transaction costs for significant business combinations (completed or abandoned); and (x) foundational projects, which are transformative and non-recurring in nature.
Constant currency adjusted: Defined as certain financial statement captions and metrics adjusted for certain items affecting comparability, calculated on a constant currency basis by converting our current period local currency financial results using the prior period foreign currency exchange rates.
For the second quarter and first six months of 2023 and 2022, the supplemental financial data set forth below includes reconciliations of adjusted and constant currency adjusted financial measures to the applicable financial measure presented in the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements for the same period.
KEURIG DR PEPPER INC.
RECONCILIATION OF NET CASH PROVIDED BY OPERATING ACTIVITIES TO FREE CASH FLOW
(UNAUDITED)
Free cash flow is defined as net cash provided by operating activities adjusted for purchases of property, plant and equipment, proceeds from sales of property, plant and equipment, and certain items excluded for comparison to prior year periods. For the first six months of 2023 and 2022, there were no certain items excluded for comparison to prior year periods.
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SOURCE Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. | 2023-07-27T11:56:28+00:00 | mysuncoast.com | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/27/keurig-dr-pepper-reports-q2-2023-results-raises-full-year-net-sales-outlook-reaffirms-eps-guidance/ |
MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Saturday evening's drawing of the Wisconsin Lottery's "All or Nothing Midday" game were:
03-04-06-08-09-12-14-15-16-19-21
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(three, four, six, eight, nine, twelve, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, nineteen, twenty-one) | 2022-11-05T19:33:05+00:00 | seattlepi.com | https://www.seattlepi.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-All-or-Nothing-Midday-17561181.php |
HORSHAM, Pa., Oct. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- MRA Group, a privately-held real estate development and client services firm, announced Phil Butler, Sr. has joined the ranks of Partner alongside Mike Wojewodka and founder Larry Stuardi.
"We are delighted to have Phil as a Partner in the firm. Phil has demonstrated unwavering integrity, exceptional real estate acumen, and a solid commitment to the growth of both the firm and our associates. His leadership has been instrumental to the continued growth of the MRA organization," stated Larry Stuardi, CEO of MRA Group.
Butler serves as Senior Vice President, and is a member of MRA's executive leadership team alongside Stuardi and Wojewodka, where he is primarily responsible for the oversight and management of MRA's operating & investment entities. With more than 20 years experience in real estate, Butler held leadership positions at Toll Brothers, CB Richard Ellis, and Ally Financial. Prior to joining MRA, Butler co-founded and served as managing principal of a real estate consultancy and development firm, where he focused on portfolio strategy, program management and urban infill development projects.
"Phil joined MRA Group only four years ago, but since day one he has acted like a partner and took ownership right away, which was refreshing for Larry and I," explained Executive Vice President Mike Wojewodka. "His strategic and operational prowess immediately added executive level capacity which has helped accelerate the evolution of the company allowing us to embrace new opportunities and expand our capabilities."
Butler serves on the board of Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia, Philadelphia Youth Sports Collaborative and NAIOP Philadelphia. He resides in Montgomery County with his wife and three sons.
MRA Group (MRA), based in Horsham, PA, is a privately-held, vertically integrated real estate development and client services firm servicing the healthcare, higher education and life sciences sectors. Founded in 1991 by president and CEO Lawrence J. Stuardi, MRA prides itself on maintaining the same high level of integrity and excellence that led to its recognition as one of the most respected real estate firms in the mid-Atlantic region. With over 30 years of value-add and ground-up development experience, along with providing a full suite of real estate solutions, to our clients, MRA has developed and continues to manage more than 4.5M square feet of medical, life sciences and office real estate, and has structured over $2B of financial transactions. A few recent and notable development projects include Chestnut Run Innovation and Science Park, Spring House Innovation Park, the Holy Redeemer Medical Building at 201 Veterans Way, the Lab at the University of Pennsylvania's Pennovation Works Campus, and TEK Park among others. Learn more at www.mragroup.net.
Media Contact: Melonie Butler Director of Marketing, MRA Group 856.278.0604 mbutler@mragroup.net
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SOURCE MRA Group | 2022-10-27T09:11:12+00:00 | uppermichiganssource.com | https://www.uppermichiganssource.com/prnewswire/2022/10/27/mra-group-welcomes-phil-butler-partner/ |
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military on Saturday shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast after it traversed sensitive military sites across North America. China insisted the flyover was an accident involving a civilian aircraft and threatened repercussions.
President Joe Biden issued the order but had wanted the balloon downed even earlier, on Wednesday. He was advised that the best time for the operation would be when it was over water, U.S. officials said. Military officials determined that bringing it down over land from an altitude of 60,000 feet would pose an undue risk to people on the ground.
China responded that it reserved the right to “take further actions” and criticized the U.S. for “an obvious overreaction and a serious violation of international practice.”
In its statement Sunday, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that “China will resolutely uphold the relevant company’s legitimate rights and interests, and at the same time reserving the right to take further actions in response.” China’s Ministry of Defense echoed the statement later in the day, saying it “reserves the right to take necessary measures to deal with similar situations.”
The presence of the balloon in the skies above the U.S. this week dealt a severe blow to already strained U.S.-Chinese relations that have been in a downward spiral for years. It prompted Secretary of State Antony Blinken to abruptly cancel a high-stakes Beijing trip aimed at easing tensions.
“They successfully took it down and I want to compliment our aviators who did it,” Biden said after getting off Air Force One en route to Camp David.
The giant white orb was spotted Saturday morning over the Carolinas as it approached the Atlantic coast. About 2:39 p.m. EST, an F-22 fighter jet fired a missile at the balloon, puncturing it while it was about 6 nautical miles off the coast near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, senior defense officials said.
The spectacle had Americans looking to the skies all week, wondering whether the mysterious balloon had floated over them.
On Saturday, Ashlyn Preaux, 33, went out to get her mail in Forestbrook, South Carolina, and noticed her neighbors looking up — and there it was, the balloon in the cloudless blue sky. Then she saw fighter jets circling and the balloon get hit.
“I did not anticipate waking up to be in a ‘Top Gun’ movie today,” she said.
The debris landed in 47 feet of water, shallower than officials had expected, and it spread out over roughly seven miles and the recovery operation included several ships. The officials estimated the recovery efforts would be completed in a short time, not weeks. A salvage vessel was en route.
U.S. defense and military officials said Saturday that the balloon entered the U.S. air defense zone north of the Aleutian Islands on Jan. 28 and moved largely over land across Alaska and then into Canadian airspace in the Northwest Territories on Monday. It crossed back into U.S. territory over northern Idaho on Tuesday, the day the White House said Biden was first briefed on it.
The balloon was spotted Wednesday over Montana, home to Malmstrom Air Force Base, which has fields of nuclear missile silos.
The Americans were able to collect intelligence on the balloon as it flew over the U.S., giving them a number of days to analyze it and learn how it moved and what it was capable of surveilling, according to two senior defense officials said. The officials briefed reporters on condition of anonymity.
The officials said the U.S. military was constantly assessing the threat, and concluded that the technology on the balloon didn’t give the Chinese significant intelligence beyond what it could already obtain from satellites, though the U.S. took steps to mitigate what information it could gather as it moved along.
Republicans were critical of Biden’s response.
“Allowing a spy balloon from the Communist Party of China to travel across the entire continental United States before contesting its presence is a disastrous projection of weakness by the White House,” said Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., tweeted: “Now that this embarrassing episode is over, we need answers from the Biden Administration on the decision-making process. Communist China was allowed to violate American sovereignty unimpeded for days. We must be better prepared for future provocations and incursions by the CCP.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., was more positive: “Thank you to the men and women of the United States military who were responsible for completing the mission to shoot down the Chinese surveillance balloon. The Biden Administration did the right thing in bringing it down.”
China has claimed that the balloon was merely a weather research “airship” that had been blown off course. The Pentagon rejected that out of hand — as well as China’s contention that it was not being used for surveillance and had only limited navigational ability.
The Chinese government on Saturday sought to play down the cancellation of Blinken’s trip. “In actuality, the U.S. and China have never announced any visit, the U.S. making any such announcement is their own business, and we respect that,” China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
The Pentagon also acknowledged reports of a second balloon flying over Latin America. “We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon,” Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement. Officials said the balloons are part of a fleet that China uses for surveillance, and they can be maneuvered remotely through small motors and propellers. One official said they carry equipment in the pod under the balloon that is not usually associated with standard meteorological activities or civilian research.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a question about the second balloon.
This isn’t the first time Chinese spy balloons have crossed into U.S. airspace in recent years, one of the officials said. At least three times during the Trump administration and at least one other time during Biden’s time as president they’ve seen balloons cross, but not for this long, the official said.
Blinken, who had been due to depart Washington for Beijing late Friday, said he had told senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi in a phone call that sending the balloon over the U.S. was “an irresponsible act and that (China’s) decision to take this action on the eve of my visit is detrimental to the substantive discussions that we were prepared to have.”
Uncensored reactions on the Chinese internet mirrored the official government stance that the U.S. was hyping the situation. Some used it as a chance to poke fun at U.S. defenses, saying it couldn’t even defend against a balloon, and nationalist influencers leaped to use the news to mock the U.S.
China has denied any claims of spying and said it is a civilian-use balloon intended for meteorology research. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that the balloon’s journey was out of its control and urged the U.S. not to “smear” it because of the balloon.
In preparation for the operation Saturday, the Federal Aviation Administration temporarily closed airspace over the Carolina coast, including the airports in Myrtle Beach and Charleston, South Carolina, and Wilmington, North Carolina. The FAA rerouted air traffic from the area and warned of delays as a result of the flight restrictions. The FAA and Coast Guard worked to clear the airspace and water below the balloon as it reached the ocean.
Television footage showed a small explosion, followed by the giant deflated balloon descending like a ribbon toward the water.
Bill Swanson said he watched the balloon deflate instantly from his house in Myrtle Beach as fighter jets circled around.
“When it deflated it was pretty close to instantaneous,” he said. “One second it’s there like a tiny moon and the next second it’s gone.” Swanson added that a trail of smoke followed the balloon as it dropped.
Associated Press writers Chris Megerian in Hagerstown, Md.; Tara Copp and Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington; Meg Kinnard in Columbia, S.C.; Kimberlee Kruesi in Nashville, Tenn.; Huizhong Wu in Taipei; and researcher Henry Hou in Beijing contributed to this report.
Zeke Miller, Michael Balsamo, Colleen Long, Aamr Madhani and Lolita C. Baldor of The Associated Press wrote this story.
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Wife pulled trigger for ‘shaky’ husband; then daughter did same for mom in suicide pact | 2023-02-05T14:31:40+00:00 | pennlive.com | https://www.pennlive.com/nation-world/2023/02/us-draws-threat-from-china-after-shooting-down-balloon.html |
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tom Brady will not go immediately from the playing field to the broadcast booth.
Brady told Colin Cowherd during Monday’s episode of “The Herd” on FS1 and Fox Sports Radio that he will not start his broadcasting career with Fox until the 2024 season.
The seven-time Super Bowl champion — who retired last week after a 23-year career with the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers — signed a 10-year deal with Fox last May to become the network’s top analyst when he decided to quit playing for good.
Brady said that he didn’t want to immediately rush into announcing and that he wanted to catch up on some other parts of his life.
“I think one thing about my career whether it was when I was drafted by the Patriots or signing agreements with the Bucs, I wanted to be fully committed and I never wanted to let people down,” Brady said. “I want to be great at what I do, and that always takes some time and strategizing and learning and growing and evolving. I have so many people to rely on that could support me in that growth too.”
Brady is expected to eventually join Kevin Burkhardt on Fox’s top team. Burkhardt and Greg Olsen will call their first Super Bowl on Sunday when the Kansas City Chiefs face the Philadelphia Eagles.
Fox, which is carrying its 10th Super Bowl on Sunday, also has Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans after the 2024 season. Brady is still not expected to be a part of Fox’s pregame coverage on Sunday.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL | 2023-02-07T05:27:52+00:00 | wivb.com | https://www.wivb.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-brady-will-not-move-into-fox-announcing-booth-until-2024/ |
Clay City beat Bethesda Christian 16-0 in five innings to win their third straight regional championship.
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Clay City beat Bethesda Christian 16-0 in five innings to win their third straight regional championship. | 2023-05-31T04:09:07+00:00 | wthitv.com | https://www.wthitv.com/sports/clay-city-wins-third-straight-softball-regional-title/article_5a532b22-ff66-11ed-a881-673c95226633.html |
NEW YORK (WPIX) – Top brass at the NYPD issued a memo on Thursday instructing all officers to wear their uniforms and prepare for mobilization following the Manhattan grand jury indictment of former President Donald Trump.
The internal NYPD memo, obtained by Nexstar’s WPIX, stated that officers of all ranks should perform their duties in uniform and be prepared for mobilization beginning Friday morning.
The NYPD and other law enforcement agencies have been on heightened alert since last week in anticipation of the looming grand jury decision in the Manhattan district attorney’s case.
Last Friday, a powdery substance and a threatening letter were found inside a mailroom at DA Alvin Bragg’s offices. The NYPD and environmental protection officials isolated and removed the suspicious letter, and testing “determined there was no dangerous substance,” Bragg spokesperson Danielle Filson said.
Bragg also acknowledged in a memo to staff that the office has been receiving offensive and threatening phone calls and emails. He thanked his staff of nearly 1,600 people for persevering in the face of “additional press attention and security around our office“ and said their safety remains the top priority.
The grand jury indictment stems from District Attorney Bragg’s investigation into Trump’s alleged role in organizing hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels made during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence claims of an extramarital sexual encounter.
The grand jury voted on Thursday to indict Trump, however, the charges laid out in the indictment remain unclear. It’s the first-ever criminal case against a former U.S. president and a jolt to Trump’s bid to retake the White House in 2024.
Trump, who has denied any wrongdoing and has repeatedly attacked the investigation, called the indictment “political persecution” and predicted it would damage Democrats in 2024. He is expected to surrender to authorities next week, though the details are still being worked out.
A spokesperson for Bragg said in a statement that his office has reached out to Trump’s attorney to coordinate the former president’s surrender.
“This evening we contacted Mr. Trump’s attorney to coordinate his surrender to the Manhattan D.A.’s Office for arraignment on a Supreme Court indictment, which remains under seal. Guidance will be provided when the arraignment date is selected,” the spokesperson said.
The sidewalks outside Bragg’s office were lined with police barricades on Thursday night. As security guards escorted the district attorney from the building to a waiting vehicle, someone on the street shouted “lock him up!”
The Associated Press contribued to this report. | 2023-03-31T02:12:39+00:00 | fox59.com | https://fox59.com/news/national-world/nypd-cops-ordered-to-patrol-in-uniform-prepare-for-mobilization-after-trump-indictment/ |
First 100 attendees will receive a $20 gift card to Cash Savers
OKLAHOMA CITY, Oct. 31, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Oklahoma Complete Health is mobilizing community resources to bring a free community screening event to Seminole County. Working with the Seminole County Health Department and the City of Seminole, Oklahoma Complete Health will host a community wellness event at the Reynolds Wellness Center on Nov. 4 from 2 to 6 p.m. The event is open to children and adults and the first 100 attendees will receive a $20 gift card to Cash Savers.
As the holiday season approaches, Oklahoma Complete Health is encouraging everyone to get healthy for the holidays with medical, dental and vision screenings. The event will provide preventive health screenings along with community resources like shelf-stable food distribution and formula and diaper distribution. Community Health representatives will be onsite to meet with participants to assess additional services needed.
"We are excited to organize this event for the Seminole community and bring access to preventive care and community resources on a large scale," said Clay Franklin, President and CEO of Oklahoma Complete Health.
Additional community organizations joining Oklahoma Complete Health for this event include Seminole County Health Department, Oklahoma Dental Foundation, Liberty Dental, Lion's Club of Seminole, OU Health, Community Market, Infant Crisis Services, Hunger Free Oklahoma, Seminole Nation, Seminole Library, and SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital – Shawnee, Seminole Campus.
Oklahoma Complete Health is a Care Management Organization that serves the needs of Oklahomans through a range of health insurance solutions. Oklahoma Complete Health serves our communities by focusing on under-insured and uninsured individuals through its federal insurance marketplace plan (Ambetter) and its Medicare Advantage Plan (Wellcare). Oklahoma Complete Health is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Centene Corporation, a leading healthcare enterprise. For more information visit www.oklahomacompletehealth.com.
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SOURCE Oklahoma Complete Health | 2022-10-31T13:12:06+00:00 | kxii.com | https://www.kxii.com/prnewswire/2022/10/31/oklahoma-complete-health-bring-mobile-medical-units-seminole-county-wellness-screening-event/ |
A man was arrested on several charges after authorities say he and his girlfriend shot at two people and attacked one with a tire iron inside a Gardere-area laundromat Friday.
According to an affidavit provided by the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office, 37-year-old Rontrell Nelson and his girlfriend, whose name has not yet been released, walked into the Gardere Coin Laundry just before 4 p.m.
Nelson's girlfriend immediately began to hit a female victim in the head with a tire iron, during which time Nelson, who was carrying a rifle, fired "multiple shots," one of which struck a male victim, the affidavit says.
Security camera footage showed the female victim shot back with a handgun as she tried to run but tripped, the document says. She was followed by Nelson, who continued to fire shots.
Nelson and his girlfriend then fled the scene in a tan four-door sedan, the affidavit continues, which was quickly stopped by EBRSO officers. Nelson was arrested and his girlfriend was taken to a hospital to be treated for gunshot wounds.
She was rushed into surgery and was not immediately able to provide a statement to police, the document said. The two victims were also hospitalized, although it was not immediately clear whether the female victim was hit by any of the bullets.
In an interview with detectives, Nelson admitted he and his girlfriend decided to go back to the laundromat with weapons after the female victim "snuck" his girlfriend in the same parking lot two days earlier.
Nelson, who was previously arrested in 2013 for aggravated assault with a firearm, faces two counts of attempted second-degree murder and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Charges for Nelson's girlfriend are pending, the affidavit said. | 2022-05-07T20:27:45+00:00 | theadvocate.com | https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/article_3b1b18a0-ce2f-11ec-97a1-afe8b19363fc.html |
The Chicago Bears returned to practice Wednesday to prepare for Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Soldier Field.
Here are four things we learned.
1. Quarterback Justin Fields sat out practice with an illness.
Bears coach Matt Eberflus classified Fields as “day to day” and said the second-year quarterback is improving. He expects Fields to play Sunday.
“He is in the building,” Eberflus said. “So he’s engaged and he’s obviously working through all of the plays.”
The only Bears quarterbacks participating in practice Wednesday were Nathan Peterman and Tim Boyle.
Fields missed the Nov. 27 loss to the New York Jets with a separated left shoulder. If he can play Sunday, it would mean a meeting with dynamic Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts.
Hurts told Philadelphia reporters that Fields “has always been a player that I’ve had a lot of respect for, at Georgia, at Ohio State, coming into the Bears and doing what he’s been able to do in this short time. He’s just continuing to climb. He’s a definite threat over there. So I know we have to be prepared for him.”
The Bears also practiced without wide receiver Chase Claypool, who played through a knee injury against the Green Bay Packers. Claypool was present at practice but stayed on the sideline during team stretching.
Claypool had five catches for 28 yards against the Packers, the most catches he has had since joining the Bears via a trade in November. Eberflus said Monday that Claypool is almost past his adjustment period.
“He’s in a good spot,” Eberflus said. “We’re looking forward for him to get better every single week.”
Offensive lineman Larry Borom (knee) and tight end Trevon Wesco (calf) also sat out practice.
2. Cornerback Kyler Gordon said he wants to showcase how he has grown over the final four weeks.
Gordon and safety Jaquan Brisker, second-round picks in May, returned to practice after missing the last two games with concussions. Gordon said it was his first concussion, and he dealt with headaches and “the cloudy, foggy feeling where it feels like you’re looking from a third-person type (of view).”
He doesn’t have the easiest test upon his return against an Eagles offense that features the dual threat Hurts (3,157 passing yards, 686 rushing yards) and wide receivers A.J. Brown (65 catches, 1,020 yards, 10 touchdowns) and Devonta Smith (66 catches, 775 yards, five touchdowns).
But Gordon said he’s up for “being thrown in the fire.”
“People talk about pressure, but I always talk about pressure being an opportunity,” he said. “You want to go out and play the best team. It’s really a chance for us to go out there and as a DB or as a whole defense just show what our whole group can do, what we’re capable of. So any opportunity to play a good team, I love it.”
Gordon, who has 55 tackles, four passes defended, an interception and a forced fumble in 11 games, said he doesn’t feel like he has played his best football yet, but “slowly and surely” he has added to his game and seen growth. And he believes he can grow more during the last month of the season.
“Using my athletic ability a little differently,” he said. “”Not just relying on it but using it within technique. I don’t want to just go about things and try to get by just being athletic. I want to be smart and intelligent and anticipate — which I know I am and I’m growing at that and getting more experience.”
3. Matt Eberflus said Mississippi State coach Mike Leach ‘made me better.’
Eberflus gave condolences to the family of Leach, who died Monday at age 61 after complications from a heart issue.
Eberflus was the defensive coordinator at Missouri for eight seasons when Leach coached and directed the offenses at Big 12 opponent Texas Tech. Leach went on to coach at Washington State and, at the time of his death, Mississippi State, which will play Illinois in the ReliaQuest Bowl on Jan. 2.
“The first time we played him, he beat us pretty good,” Eberflus said of a 52-38 Texas Tech win in 2002. “We got a chance to play him three or four more times after that during the course of my career there.
“What did I learn from that? How to defend the spread. How to defend that tempo style. I became a better coach by going against him. I really appreciate him for that.”
4. The Bears had to move practice from the Walter Payton Center because of a small fire.
Eberflus originally moved practice inside because of rainy, cold weather but planned to hold practices outside Thursday and Friday. A team source said there wasn’t any damage or injuries.
The Chicago Sun-Times first reported news of the fire.
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More than half of the bogus Georgia electors who were convened in December 2020 to try to keep former President Donald Trump in power have taken immunity deals in the investigation into election interference there, according to a court filing Friday and people with knowledge of the inquiry.
In addition, Craig Gillen, the former deputy independent counsel in the 1980s-era Iran Contra scandal, has been hired to represent a fake elector who could still face criminal charges, David Shafer, the head of the Georgia Republican Party. Gillen specializes in cases involving racketeering, which is among the charges being weighed by Fani Willis, the district attorney of Fulton County, Georgia.
Willis’ office has spent more than two years investigating whether the former president and his allies illegally meddled in the 2020 election in Georgia, which Trump narrowly lost to President Joe Biden. A special grand jury that heard evidence in the case for roughly seven months recommended more than a dozen people for indictments, and its forewoman strongly hinted in an interview with The New York Times in February that Trump was among them.
Ultimately, it will be up to Willis to decide which charges to seek before a regular grand jury, which she has said she will do after a new jury is seated in mid-July. Her case is focused in part on a plan to create the slate of electors pledged to Trump in the weeks after the 2020 election despite Biden’s victory in Georgia.
Lawyers for the electors have argued they were simply trying to keep Trump’s legal options open, though when they met on Dec. 14, 2020, three vote counts had all affirmed Biden’s win there.
Even before any indictments are announced, the legal jockeying in the case has become intense. In March, Trump’s lawyers sought to quash the special grand jury’s final report, most of which remains sealed.
In April, Willis sought to have Kimberly Debrow, then a lawyer for 10 of the 16 Trump electors, thrown off the proceedings. According to a motion filed at the time by Willis’ office, some of the electors recently told prosecutors that Debrow and another lawyer, Holly Pierson, had not informed them of offers of immunity in exchange for cooperation that prosecutors made last year.
Debrow responded with her own filing Friday, in which she called the accusation “completely without merit” and said she had made her clients fully aware, in writing, of what she called “generalized potential offers of immunity.”
Pierson — who, along with Gillen, represents Shafer — has called the district attorney’s assertions “entirely false.” Both Debrow and Pierson have been paid by the state Republican Party.
Debrow’s new filing also revealed that eight of her clients had been offered immunity deals and that all of them had accepted. At least one additional elector who is not represented by Debrow also has a deal in place, according to people with knowledge of the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity, as the investigation is ongoing.
Debrow said in her filing that two clients had not been offered immunity deals and now had new lawyers, though she did not name the clients. A recent filing from Cathy Latham, a fake elector for Trump who was the Republican Party leader in rural Coffee County, Georgia, revealed that she now has her own representation.
Latham played a key role in an effort by Trump allies to access voter data in her county after the 2020 election — another point of scrutiny in the investigation.
While all of the fake electors had long been identified by prosecutors as targets who could face criminal charges, three have been considered particularly vulnerable by those with knowledge of the investigation: Shafer, Latham and Shawn Still, a Georgia state senator who filed and later withdrew a lawsuit related to the vote count in Coffee County.
Still did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Willis’ office declined to comment. Her office alleged in a filing last month that some of the Trump electors have accused another of illegal conduct.
But in her motion, Debrow called the allegation “categorically false.” She added that the court “need not take defense counsel’s word for the fact that none of the electors incriminated themselves or each other — these interviews were recorded.”
It will be left to Judge Robert C.I. McBurney of Fulton County Superior Court, who has been presiding over the inquiry, to sort through the competing motions. | 2023-05-06T02:06:27+00:00 | seattletimes.com | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation-politics/most-fake-trump-electors-have-taken-immunity-deals-in-georgia-case/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_nation-world |
PETERSBURG, Va. (WRIC) — The Petersburg Police Department is currently investigating a shooting.
According to a tweet sent out by the department on Tuesday, Aug. 30, the shooting occurred on the 1800 block of Boydton Plank Road, near the Richmond-Petersburg intersection of I-85 and Route 460.
According to police, this is an active investigation. Anyone with information should contact officials at 804-861-1212 or by going to http://p3tips.com.
This is a developing story. Stay with 8News for updates. | 2022-08-30T18:48:29+00:00 | wric.com | https://www.wric.com/news/local-news/the-tri-cities/petersburg-police-actively-investigating-shooting-on-boydton-plank-road/ |
CHICAGO – U.S. cities already struggling to shelter thousands of migrants are calling for federal help and an end to Republican political gamesmanship over immigration, concerned that an expected increase in the number of people entering the country when pandemic-era asylum restrictions end on the U.S.-Mexico border May 11 will further strain their budgets and resources.
Chicago has long pledged to welcome migrants. But a tenfold increase in recent days has taxed resources. Migrants awaiting beds in city-run shelters are sleeping on floors in police stations and in airports surrounded by suitcases. They're depending on donors for food, medicine and clothing.
When border crossings increased last summer, Republican governors of border states bussed migrants to cities led by Democrats including Chicago, New York City and Denver, arguing that their own cities were overwhelmed. Texas’ Republican governor this week vowed to resume a program bussing new arrivals to Chicago and other cities.
More than 8,000 migrants have come into Chicago since August, according to city officials. Some came on busses mobilized by border states; others bought their own flights or got one subsidized by aid groups. The number of new arrivals slowed this winter to about 10 people per day. But toward the end of April, it grew to between 75 to 150 people per day.
“Our system is over capacity,” Brandie Knazze, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services told city officials Friday. “Make no mistake, we are in a surge and things have yet to peak.”
Major U.S. cities already were bracing for thousands of new arrivals when a rule that denies asylum on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19 expires May 11. But the uptick has begun sooner than Chicago officials expected, and they fear that bussing from Texas could further overwhelm them.
“We simply have no more shelters, spaces, or resources to accommodate an increase of individuals at this level,” Democratic mayor Lori Lightfoot wrote in a letter to Texas' Republican governor Greg Abbott on Sunday.
He replied in a letter of his own, promising to send more busses of migrants. He repeated calls for her to pressure President Joe Biden to prevent migrants from crossing the border, and noted that the influx already has strained Texas.
"As the mayor of a self-declared sanctuary city, it is ironic to hear you complain about Chicago’s struggle to deal with a few thousand illegal immigrants, which is a fraction of the record-high numbers we deal with in Texas on a regular basis," Abbott wrote.
While migrants tend to stay briefly in U.S. border cities on their way to other destinations, demands for temporary shelter, food and transportation have grown. El Paso, Laredo and Brownsville declared states of emergency ahead of the end of pandemic-related asylum restrictions next week.
Migrants taking shelter in Chicago police stations this week said they want to find work and provide for themselves, but need temporary shelter and assistance navigating a new country. But they have been caught up in the city's struggle to provide shelter to so many.
One of those families has been living on the floor of a police station on the city’s northwest side for eight days, sleeping on thin blankets provided by a local church and washing themselves in the station’s bathroom sink as they wait for available shelter space.
“Every day they tell us the same thing, there’s no shelter, that we need to wait,” said Ibo Brandelli, on Monday, who left Venezuela with his wife and their two daughters in January.
After surrendering to border authorities and gaining entry to the U.S. in late April, they connected with a community organization providing plane tickets and chose Chicago on the advice of acquaintances.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams called on the federal government last month to give the city more financial aid and asked the U.S. government to speed up work authorizations to people seeking asylum. The city has spent $817 million so far housing, caring for and providing services to migrants, at an average cost of $380 per household per day, according to the city's budget director.
More than 50,000 international migrants have arrived since the spring of 2022, taxing an already stretched shelter system. Under local law and court rulings, the city is obligated to offer emergency shelter to anyone who needs it. The city has tried creative solutions, like leasing out entire Manhattan hotels and setting up temporary shelters during the winter at a cruise ship terminal.
In Denver this month, officials announced that only immigrants with a formal application to stay in the U.S. will be allowed in emergency shelters. Most of those who have come to Denver since last summer would qualify, but immigrant advocacy groups say the policy will lead to more people living on the streets. Denver has spent nearly $13 million sheltering and supporting more than 6,000 migrants.
Victoria Aguilar, a spokeswoman for Denver Human Services, which now runs four emergency shelters for migrants attributed the change to a “lack of funding, lack of policy, lack of guidance from our federal government to be able to respond to this crisis appropriately.”
Chicago runs eight shelters dedicated to new migrants. City officials said they have struggled to find new spaces capable of housing more than 250 people and say they need federal and state help.
In the meantime, migrant families are finding shelter where they can.
Another Venezuelan family slept on the floor of a northwest side police station for nearly two weeks.
“What we want is stability for our children, stability for ourselves, for my children to be able to go to school,” said Yessika Chirino, who left Venezuela with her daughters, 15 and 5, seven months ago.
Chirino said she crossed the Mexico-U.S. border into Texas on April 11. A Texas organization helped her fly to Chicago.
She calls Chicago's non-emergency line every day asking about shelter openings.
“We don’t know what to believe anymore,” she said. ___
Associated Press writers Claire Savage in Chicago, David Caruso in New York and Thomas Peipert in Denver contributed to this report. | 2023-05-02T22:05:44+00:00 | local10.com | https://www.local10.com/news/politics/2023/05/02/cities-say-shelters-full-budgets-hit-by-immigration-uptick/ |
WARE, Mass. (WWLP) – The bridge on Palmer Road and Old Belchertown Road will be closed next week due to construction.
According to the Ware Police Department, the bridge on Palmer Road and Old Belchertown Road will be closed next week Monday through Friday from 6:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Vehicles will be allowed through the construction, but there will be significant delays. It is asked to use another route when traveling during those times if possible. | 2023-03-31T18:37:38+00:00 | wwlp.com | https://www.wwlp.com/news/local-news/hampshire-county/bridge-on-palmer-road-in-ware-closed-next-week-for-construction/ |
54% increase in year-over-year contract bookings, and international expansion
ATLANTA, Nov. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Utility today announced record revenue for the third quarter of 2022 of more than $11.6 million, a 37% increase in year-over-year revenue. The recurring component of the revenue continues to exceed 95% at EBITDA margins of 15%. Utility has seen steady quarterly growth through the year, with other notable third-quarter financial highlights including:
- 209% increase in contract bookings from Q2
- 54% increase in year-over-year contract bookings
- 45% increase in recurring revenue year-over-year
- 58% increase in year-over-year total company future contracted revenue
The company's new contract bookings and renewals totaled more than $25.7 million, with the addition of several new agencies to the Utility client roster, including the police departments of Michigan City, IN, Cartersville, GA, Pawtucket, RI, Kerrville, TX and New Iberia, LA. The strong quarterly performance was also supported by notable renewals with the St. Louis County, MO Police Department, Walton County, FL Sheriff's Office, Arlington, TX Police Department, Baldwin County, AL Sheriff's Office, Port Arthur, TX Police Department and Colorado Springs, CO Police Department.
Additional Q3 insights include:
- Utility's platform is actively managing more than 9.5 petabytes of media.
- Utility's platform managed the addition of more than 4.7 million incidents through the quarter, more than a 9% increase from Q2 2022.
- 99% of the incidents captured on the platform in the quarter were done so automatically, consistent with Client policy, without manual intervention.
- Utility's ALPR technology detected more than 3.34 million license plates during the quarter.
- Users played more than 875,000 videos, a 12% increase from Q2 2022.
- Total users on the platform surpassed 58,500.
- The platform was accessed more than 2.8 million times during the quarter.
The third quarter introduced international expansion of Utility's footprint into Canada in partnership with Field Forensics Canada (FFI). This milestone represents the first of many global expansion announcements as the company continues to grow. This focused investment brings ease and clarity to international organizations seeking policy-based, high speed data collection.
In addition, an expanded partnership with a global technology company now provides sourcing, fulfillment, and warranty support for the Eos by Utility™ body worn camera, offers increased scale for Utility as the company continues its accelerated growth and expansion into new markets and provides the team with a view into the Eos device roadmap with the opportunity to test new devices early in the product lifecycle.
With a focus on being the go-to source for education on both the company's technologies and more broadly evidence management applications and technologies, the Utility team produced multiple continuing education opportunities for law enforcement across the U.S., including a webinar with the National Sheriff's Association in which the company convened members of the Washington County Sheriff's Office and Dr. Troy Rogers to provide insight into supporting positive morale in law enforcement. And, in partnership with the FBI National Academy Associates, members of the Utility team and the Nampa Police Department shared their thoughts on evidence management in 2022, with a focus on critical features agencies should consider when selecting an effective digital evidence management system.
"We continue to attract new, solution-seeking clients through our differentiated value proposition, technologies and services," said Michael Nark, President and CEO of Utility. "The ongoing strength of our 2022 results, further underscored by those seen in Q3, combined with new partnerships and technologies, reinforce our confidence to achieve both our annual and long-term goals, and we look forward to finishing the year strong."
About Utility
Utility, the innovative technology-enabled service provider recognized for creating groundbreaking digital systems for frontline professions, provides a universe of intuitive products for effectively capturing, managing and releasing video evidence. Technologies include a variety of cameras, sensors and devices as well as situational awareness software solutions for law enforcement, first responders, transportation agencies and utility providers. To learn more about Utility and its technology solutions, please visit utility.com.
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SOURCE Utility, Inc. | 2022-11-15T20:33:06+00:00 | wymt.com | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2022/11/15/utility-inc-shares-record-third-quarter-2022-financial-growth-results/ |
Midterms are less than a week away. Here are the key races in Delaware
Delaware Democrats in the election next week are expected to retain control of every statewide and as well as their majority in the General Assembly.
There likely won’t be too many surprises on Nov. 8, when Delawareans cast their vote in the midterm elections. The limited polling in Delaware shows that Democrats have significant leads, due to support from women and voters in New Castle County, the most populated county in the state.
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT VOTING IN DELAWAREHow to vote early in Delaware's U.S. House, General Assembly and attorney general race
Still, below are some of the races to keep an eye on:
U.S. Representative
Lisa Blunt Rochester is once again expected to win reelection as Delaware’s sole U.S. representative. She faces off against Republican Lee Murphy, who has previously run against Blunt Rochester.
A University of Delaware Center for Political Communication poll recently found that 50% of registered voters said they will vote for Blunt Rochester, while Murphy garnered 33% of support. Murphy is showing strong support in Sussex County.
In the last two elections, Blunt Rochester has won by double-digit margins.
2022 MIDTERMS:3 takeaways from the Blunt Rochester-Murphy U.S House debate
Attorney General
Kathy Jennings is also expected to win reelection next Tuesday.
She faces off against Republican challenger Julianne Murray, who notably recently won the state Supreme Court ruling for vote by mail.
The UD poll found that Jennings leads Murray by a margin of 13 points, 53% to 40%. Despite this significant lead, the poll found that Murray is leading in Sussex County, which is the most conservative area in Delaware.
General Assembly
Every lawmaker in the General Assembly is up for reelection this year due to redistricting. Often in the midterms the party that doesn’t occupy the White House sees momentum, locally and nationally, and is able to win key races.
While Republicans are poised to likely take control of the U.S. House of Representatives, and maybe even the U.S. Sentate, it’s highly unlikely the party will make any significant dent in The First State.
“With Delaware such a blue state, there may be some insulation for a lot of these races,” said Paul Brewer, a University of Delaware political science professor.
For the House, incumbent Republicans Reps. Kevin Hensley and Mike Ramone represent the Odessa area and Pike Creek respectively. They are among the few Republicans to represent areas of New Castle County. In both districts, Democrats exceed Republicans in registered voters – yet there are a sizable number of voters not registered to either party.
Both are also facing progressive Democratic candidates, who have been endorsed by the Delaware Working Families Party.
Hensley, who has been in office since 2014, is being challenged by Terrell Williams, a veteran and public defender. Ramone, who was first elected to the House in 2008, is facing off against Frank Burns, a climate activist and bio-tech entrepreneur.
In 2020, Ramone had the narrowest victory among the House elections, winning by about 5 points.
EARLY VOTINGSussex County leads Delaware in early voting, beating New Castle and Kent combined
For the Senate, District 7, which includes Pike Creek and Lancaster Pike/Newport Gap Pike, could be a close race. The seat has flipped-flopped in recent years, with a Republican unseating the then Senate president pro tempore in 2016 to then lose to now Sen. Spiros Mantzavinos in 2020.
Mantzavinos won the 2020 election by less than 3-points. Campaign filings show Mantzavinos has significantly out fundraised his opponent. He now faces Republican M. Sherm Porter, a veteran and business owner.
Republican Ernie López retired this year from hisSenate District 6 seat. Rep. Steve Smyk, who represents the Milton area in the House, is running to take his Senate seat. He faces Democratic Russ Huxtable, who has a background in affordable housing.
In this district, which also includes coastal towns like Lewes, Dewey Beach and Rehoboth, registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a little more than 3,000 people. Yet voters not affiliated with either party make up about 25% of voters in the area.
Key races in neighboring states
Pennsylvania
The commonwealth likely has one of the most consequential elections with its U.S. Senate race. The outcome could determine the balance of power in the U.S. Senate, ultimately affecting issues like abortion rights and the economy, among others.
Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman faces Republican nominee Mehmet Oz. Though Fetterman has led most of the polls, the race has tightened in recent weeks.
For the governor’s race, Democratic candidate Josh Shapiro, the state attorney general, faces Doug Mastriano, who has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump. The far-right Republican has supported the former president’s lies that the election was stolen.
WHO WILL CONTROL CONGRESS?Graphics show key races to watch.
Maryland
Bestselling author Wes Moore is seen as the favorite to clinch the gubernatorial election in Maryland. He would become the state’s first Black governor if elected.
He faces Dan Cox, an ultra conservative who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump. Cox has also promoted the former president’s lies about the election. During the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, Cox tweeted that Vice President Mike Pence was a “traitor.”
Cox has been a right-wing member of the Maryland House of Delegate. Current Gov. Larry Hogan, who is a centrist, has called Cox mentally unstable.
U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen is also seeking reelection for his second term for his Senate seat. He faces Republican candidate Chris Chaffee. | 2022-11-03T09:48:26+00:00 | delawareonline.com | https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/politics/2022/11/03/neighboring-states-may-have-the-most-interesting-midterm-races/69614145007/ |
WFO MIDLAND/ODESSA Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Sunday, August 28, 2022
_____
DUST STORM ADVISORY
Dust Advisory
National Weather Service Midland/Odessa TX
826 PM CDT Sun Aug 28 2022
The National Weather Service in Midland has issued a
* Dust Advisory for...
Northeastern Andrews County in western Texas...
Eastern Gaines County in western Texas...
Borden County in western Texas...
Northwestern Howard County in western Texas...
Northern Martin County in western Texas...
Dawson County in western Texas...
* Until 900 PM CDT.
* At 824 PM CDT, a wall of dust was along a line extending from 10
miles northwest of Gail to 10 miles north of Ackerly to 17 miles
west of Lamesa to near Seagraves Airport, moving southeast at 35
mph.
HAZARD...Less than one half mile visibility with strong wind in
excess of 40 mph.
SOURCE...Doppler radar.
IMPACT...Hazardous travel.
This will impact many Highways and Farm to Market Roads across
portions of the northern Permian Basin.
Locations impacted include...
Lamesa, Seagraves, Ackerly, Gail, Lenorah, Lamesa Municipal Airport,
Luther, Los Ybanez, Tarzan, Sparenberg, Patricia, McKenzie Lake,
Tenmile, Knott, Vealmoor, Key and Klondike.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Blowing dust brings reduced visibility, leading to dangerous driving
conditions. If driving, avoid blowing dust if possible. If caught in
dense blowing dust, pull off the road, turn off your lights and keep
your foot off the brake.
Motorists should not drive into an area of blowing dust. PULL ASIDE
STAY ALIVE!
_____
Copyright 2022 AccuWeather | 2022-08-29T01:46:45+00:00 | expressnews.com | https://www.expressnews.com/weather/article/TX-WFO-MIDLAND-ODESSA-Warnings-Watches-and-17404027.php |
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A former U.S. national security adviser called for deeper interaction between his country and Taiwan during a visit Saturday to the self-ruled island, which has seen increasing military threats from China.
John Bolton, a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2024, said at a pro-Taiwan independence event in Taipei that national security teams from both sides must develop contingency plans on how to respond to actions Beijing might take, warning it would be too late once an attack occurs.
“And we have to tell China and Russia what the consequences are if they take actions against Taiwan. Not just in the immediate response, but over the longer term, to basically excommunicate China from the international economic system if it did take military actions against Taiwan or attempt to throw a blockade around it,” Bolton said.
Bolton, former President Donald Trump’s hawkish national security adviser, started his week-long trip to Taiwan on Wednesday. The visit reflects the importance of the island’s democracy as an issue in the U.S. presidential election next year amid heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing.
Taiwan and China split in 1949 following a civil war that ended with the Communist Party in control of the mainland. The island has never been part of the People’s Republic of China, but Beijing says it must unite with the mainland, by force if necessary.
The U.S. remains Taiwan’s closest military and political ally, despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties between them. U.S. law requires Washington to treat all threats to the island as matters of “grave concern,” though it remains ambiguous over whether American forces would be dispatched to help defend the island.
Bolton said the backlog of U.S. military sales to Taiwan is estimated to be $19 billion and it needs to be resolved.
“Part of that is a U.S. problem. Our defense industrial base is not as strong as it used to be. We need to improve that for global reasons, but particularly for Taiwan,” he said.
On Friday, the Taiwanese Defense Ministry said China’s military flew 38 fighter jets and other warplanes near Taiwan. That was the biggest such flight display since the large military exercise in which it simulated sealing off the island after the sensitive April 5 meeting between Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. China opposes any exchanges at the official level between Taiwan and other governments.
Later Friday, China’s People’s Liberation Army also issued a protest over the flight of a United States Navy P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine patrol aircraft through the Taiwan Strait, calling it a provocation that the U.S. “openly hyped up.” But the U.S. 7th Fleet said Thursday’s flight was in accordance with international law and “demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
Bolton is scheduled to join a banquet on Monday organized by the Formosan Association for Public Affairs, a pro-independence organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. Tsai will also attend the event.
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Find more of AP’s Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific | 2023-04-29T18:16:56+00:00 | pahomepage.com | https://www.pahomepage.com/news/us-ex-security-adviser-calls-for-closer-ties-with-taiwan/ |
NEW YORK, July 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Juan Monteverde, founder and managing partner of the class action firm Monteverde & Associates PC (the "M&A Class Action Firm"), a national securities firm rated Top 50 in the 2018-2021 ISS Securities Class Action Services Report and headquartered at the Empire State Building in New York City, is investigating La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co. (LJPC), relating to its proposed acquisition by Innovia, Inc. Under the terms of the agreement, LJPC shareholders are expected to receive $6.23 in cash per share they own. Click here for more information: http://monteverdelaw.com/case/la-jolla-pharmaceutical-co. It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you.
We are a national class action securities litigation law firm that has recovered millions of dollars and is committed to protecting shareholders from corporate wrongdoing. We were listed in the Top 50 in the 2018-2021 ISS Securities Class Action Services Report. Our lawyers have significant experience litigating Mergers & Acquisitions and Securities Class Actions. Mr. Monteverde is recognized by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star in Securities Litigation in 2013, 2017-2019, an award given to less than 2.5% of attorneys in a particular field. He has also been selected by Martindale-Hubbell as a 2017-2021 Top Rated Lawyer. Our firm's recent successes include changing the law in a significant victory that lowered the standard of liability under Section 14(e) of the Exchange Act in the Ninth Circuit. Thereafter, our firm successfully preserved this victory by obtaining dismissal of a writ of certiorari as improvidently granted at the United States Supreme Court. Emulex Corp. v. Varjabedian, 139 S. Ct. 1407 (2019). Also, in 2019 we recovered or secured six cash common funds for shareholders in mergers & acquisitions class action cases.
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SOURCE Monteverde & Associates PC | 2022-07-16T06:22:33+00:00 | waff.com | https://www.waff.com/prnewswire/2022/07/16/equity-alert-mampa-class-action-firm-announces-investigation-la-jolla-pharmaceutical-co-ljpc/ |
The January 2021 issue of Architectural Digest featured a remodeled $42 million San Francisco residence described as a Spanish Renaissance Revival palacio.
Accompanying photos detailed its opulence — mirrored pilasters, walls paneled with white onyx, remarkable views of the San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz Island and the Golden Gate Bridge.
One particularly impressive image showed a two-story central courtyard with several empty pedestals off to one side. The pedestals weren’t actually empty, though: The photo had been altered. Another version, discovered by reporters on the website of the home’s architect, shows ancient Khmer sculptures resting on the same pedestals.
The Cambodian government says those stone relics, depicting the heads of gods and demons, match a set that was looted years ago from one of the nation’s sacred sites. It is not known who modified the photo or for what reason, but experts interviewed for this story confirmed that the sculptures had been edited out of the magazine image.
The owners of the San Francisco mansion are lawyer and author Sloan Lindemann Barnett and her husband, Roger Barnett, an executive at a nutritional supplements company. The couple, who purchased the property through a limited liability company, did not respond to email and phone messages from reporters.
The Cambodian investigation into the family’s collection goes beyond one set of statues. The stone artifacts in the San Francisco home appear to have come from a larger collection of Khmer relics held by Lindemann Barnett’s billionaire parents, Frayda and the late George Lindemann. The parents’ collection appeared in an earlier Architectural Digest spread, in 2008, described as “one of the greatest collections of Southeast Asian art in private hands.” Those photos show their Palm Beach, Fla., home crowded with Khmer antiquities, many of which the Cambodian government suspects were looted. Two of them appear to match artifacts that rank among the country’s 10 most important stolen relics, the government says.
“Some of these statues are of enormous historical and cultural importance to Cambodia and should be repatriated as soon as possible,” said Phoeurng Sackona, the country’s minister of culture, who is leading efforts to reclaim thousands of lost artifacts.
“It’s not just art,” said Sopheap Meas, an archaeologist working with the Cambodian team. “We believe that each of these holds the souls of our ancestors.”
Agents from the antiquities unit at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have contacted the Lindemann family in recent years about its Khmer collection and there is no indication that the family plans to return the statues, according to two people close to the efforts who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the work is ongoing. The Lindemann family has not been accused of wrongdoing related to the artifacts. Frayda Lindemann did not respond to messages from reporters.
The discovery of the altered photo is part of a wider investigation by The Washington Post, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and Finance Uncovered, a journalism nonprofit, into the fate of thousands of relics linked to looters and art traffickers. As The Post and ICIJ previously reported, many of those treasures can be found in the collections of esteemed Western art museums.
The new reporting sheds light on the role of private collectors who acquire ancient items of uncertain origin and the opaque world of antiquities trading. Once out of their home country, stolen artifacts can be difficult to repatriate. With limited means to compel their return, authorities in victimized nations are largely reliant on help from law enforcement in the United States and other nations where the items end up. But such investigations are costly, are often seen as a low priority for overworked agencies and rarely lead to convictions, in part because owners may say they purchased the looted works unknowingly.
“This is a systemic problem” in the art market, said Domenic DiGiovanni, a former U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer specializing in antiquities. There is little incentive for dealers and private collectors to stop buying looted art, he said, and “having to return something, that’s just the cost of business.”
Asked about the edited image, Erin Kaplan, spokesperson for Architectural Digest, a Condé Nast publication, said by email that the magazine published a photo that did not show the relics because of “unresolved publication rights around select artworks.” Kaplan declined to say who altered the photo or clarify her comment about unresolved publication rights.
The ancient temple complexes of Cambodia are recognized as extraordinary feats of engineering and art. Three are listed as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO, and seven more have been tentatively added to the list.
For Cambodia, antiquities have economic as well as cultural value. In the year before the pandemic, tourism accounted for 18.7 percent of the nation’s GDP growth, according to World Bank statistics, much of it spurred by visits to the historic temples.
Yet nearly all of the major temple sites have been subject to pillaging, with a particularly destructive wave beginning in the 1970s, during the country’s civil war and genocide, when they were ransacked by organized networks associated with military groups.
While no one knows how many artifacts were stolen during this tumult, archaeologists believe thousands passed through dealers and wound up in museums and the private collections of some of the world’s wealthiest people.
To bring the Khmer treasures home, the Cambodian Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts has assembled a team of about 40 researchers, archaeologists, lawyers and art scholars. The effort is led by Phoeurng and Bradley J. Gordon, an American attorney for the ministry.
So far, the Cambodian team says, it has tracked more than 2,000 allegedly looted Khmer relics to museums and private collectors around the world.
The next step is persuading the holders of the antiquities to return pieces they’ve acquired. Authorities say that can prove difficult, especially when a collector has purchased them for hundreds of thousands of dollars or more.
Collectors should be required to prove that they have legal possession of their artifacts, the Cambodian authorities say, because the government has never issued export permits for Khmer sculpture — though in a few rare cases, Cambodian kings have given them as gifts.
To support their claims, Cambodian investigators have gathered information from former looters, archaeological excavations and, critically, from the computer files left behind by Douglas Latchford, a British antiquities collector. Prosecutors say Latchford was a key middleman between temple looters and wealthy collectors in Western nations. Investigators have shared some of his files with the reporting team.
For decades, Latchford presented himself as a scholar, benefactor and devotee of Khmer artwork, but he was indicted in 2019 for what U.S. prosecutors say was his leading role in the ransacking of Cambodian sites.
Last year, The Post and ICIJ traced dozens of Latchford-linked items to museums, galleries and private collectors. The Pandora Papers investigation also revealed offshore trusts that Latchford used to hold money and art.
Latchford died in 2020, effectively closing the case against him, but continuing investigations into antiquities he allegedly trafficked have opened a view into the secretive world of private collectors.
Billionaire Jim Clark, the co-founder of Netscape, an early web browser, offered rare insight into Latchford’s dealings in an interview with ICIJ and The Post this year.
Clark said he was vacationing in Southeast Asia about two decades ago when he was smitten by Khmer artworks. He paid Latchford about $35 million for dozens of pieces, he said. Cambodia’s culture ministry would later say that Clark’s collection was so important that it could fill an entire wing in the country’s national museum.
“I was freshly wealthy,” Clark said in the interview. “I was a bit naive. In those days, I just thought: ‘Wow, this is cool stuff — I’ll buy it for my apartment.’ ”
Latchford’s dignified manner made it easy to trust him, Clark said.
“I always assumed that he was a well-regarded expert because he had published these books, and he had documents from the Cambodian government honoring him,” he said.
Clark displayed the pieces in a Miami Beach penthouse he owned for a few years before moving them to a Palm Beach storage unit, where they remained for more than a decade.
“I kept wanting to bring parts of it out,” Clark said of the collection. But “the decorator we’d use for any place we had, he wasn’t excited about it.”
Last year, U.S. authorities working with the Cambodian recovery team approached Clark about relics in his collection believed to have been stolen. He voluntarily surrendered dozens of pieces that he’d acquired through Latchford.
Getting Khmer pieces back is seldom so easy, however, even when the Cambodian investigators can trace the history of the missing artworks.
The Cambodian investigation into the Lindemanns began with a tip.
Four years ago, one of Latchford’s business associates sent an email to Gordon, the American attorney working with Cambodian investigators. The email contained photos from a 2008 issue of Architectural Digest of a “dazzling” $68.5 million Palm Beach mansion. The magazine did not name the owners, but it was the home of Sloan Lindemann Barnett’s parents, George and Frayda Lindemann, then prominent figures in the art world, according to property records and news accounts.
Photos of the interior revealed an extensive collection of Khmer antiquities valued at $40 million or more, according to experts. From the photos, Cambodian investigators identified more than 20 statues that they suspect were looted.
The owners had designed a home that reflected the architecture of Southeast Asia, the magazine said. According to the article, the owners believed there was “karmic justice to installing their ancient stone warriors and divinities in an environment that recalled their birthplace.”
The Cambodian investigators soon came upon a longtime antiquities broker who they say became a key witness in their investigation of the Lindemann collection.
A slight, restless Cambodian man with — in his own words — “the smile of a tiger,” the antiquities broker acknowledged in an interview that he had been, essentially, an accomplice: Years ago, he helped transport a number of the allegedly looted pieces that appeared in the Lindemann living room to one of Latchford’s main suppliers. He also brokered deals involving looted antiquities and has helped in a U.S. antiquities investigation, Gordon said. The antiquities broker spoke to reporters for this story on the condition of anonymity because he fears for his safety. Cambodian investigators use “Jungle Cat” as a code name for him.
Several of the artifacts in the Palm Beach villa had been looted, the antiquities broker said.
“I loved this one the moment I saw it,” he said, gesturing to an image in the 2008 Architectural Digest photo spread.
He was pointing to a photo of a statue of a Hindu deity, Vishnu, in a reclining position. The figure lay across a stone platform, atop a snake, with its feet extended into the lap of a smaller, headless female figure representing his wife, the goddess Lakshmi. The Cambodian government says the statue was stolen from a temple that might be the royal tomb of the family of King Jayavarman IV, who ruled an empire that included present-day Cambodia and Laos more than a thousand years ago.
The tomb was located in Koh Ker, a former Khmer capital renowned among art scholars and thieves for its artworks. Master artisans carved larger-than-life sandstone sculptures of Hindu gods and goddesses to adorn the city’s sprawling temple complexes. According to local custom, each of these statues has a soul, and for centuries, worshipers went to the temples to make offerings and pray.
“It’s easily one of the most important statues in the temple, and probably all of Koh Ker,” Gordon, said about the Vishnu figure. “By having this in their collection, the Lindemanns essentially [had] the Cambodian equivalent of a sarcophagus stolen from King Tut’s tomb sitting in their living room.”
The statue was torn from its temple in the late 1990s by a criminal group run by a former Khmer Rouge soldier and then placed in an ox cart, wheeled 50 kilometers to a nearby town and transferred to a military truck, the antiquities broker said. At the Thai border, one of Latchford’s main suppliers bought the statue, he added.
Among the other pieces that the antiquities broker recognized from the 2008 feature on the Lindemanns’ Palm Beach home were the same stone sculptures of demon and god heads photographed years later in their daughter’s San Francisco mansion.
Another of the statues in the 2008 feature is so significant that the Cambodian national museum in Phnom Penh displays its empty pedestal.
The sandstone work represents Dhrishtadyumna, a celebrated warrior. It was part of a nine-statue set depicting a pivotal fight scene from a Hindu epic, scholars say. Most had passed through Latchford to prominent museums and auction houses, including New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, Calif., and Sotheby’s, and have been returned.
“It’s hard to overstate the importance of this statue to Cambodia,” Gordon said. “It belongs in the national museum.”
George and Frayda Lindemann had long been major forces in the art world, stewards of a collection of German Expressionist paintings and masterworks of avant-garde furniture.
It’s not clear when they became interested in Khmer art, but they traveled in 1997 to Southeast Asia, where they socialized with prominent figures in the region’s antiquities trade, according to Latchford’s files.
A photograph from that trip — also found in Latchford’s files, accompanying a friendly email addressed to Frayda — shows the couple posing in front of palm trees and blue sky in a group that included Latchford and Martin Lerner, the Southeast Asia curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Shortly after that trip, the Lindemanns donated two Khmer statues to the Met. According to the Cambodian investigators, a former looter said he had stolen the two pieces and sold them to one of Latchford’s main suppliers. Both statues remain in the museum’s collection.
The Met has said that it is “in active dialogue with Cambodian representatives” and has shared information about the statues’ origins.
“Our Museum has a long history of evaluating cultural property claims, and where appropriate returning objects based upon rigorous evidentiary review,” Kenneth Weine, a Met spokesperson, said in a emailed statement.
Lerner, who retired from the museum almost two decades ago, said that the trip to Southeast Asia was not sponsored by the museum but that he had encouraged the Lindemanns to donate the works. He described one of the statues as a minor work of “modest monetary value” and the other as being of interest mainly to scholars.
While Lerner said he doesn’t recall the history of the pieces, “they could have passed through Latchford’s hands. That in itself does not necessarily mean they were ‘looted,’” he said by email. “In their own ways, the two sculptures expand the scope of the Met’s Southeast Asian collections.”
George Lindemann died in 2018. The family’s Palm Beach home was demolished in recent years after hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin purchased the property.
It is unknown what has happened to most of the Khmer antiquities that were photographed inside, but at least some of the items appear to have been passed on to the family’s next generation.
In 2011, Sloan Lindemann Barnett and her husband purchased their 17,000-square-foot mansion in San Francisco. To revamp the property, they hired Peter Marino, a noted architect who had also designed George and Frayda Lindemann’s Palm Beach house.
A photo of the remodeled San Francisco home, posted to a page on the architect’s website as an example of his work, shows a set of Khmer god and demon heads in the mansion’s airy courtyard.
According to the antiquities broker dubbed Jungle Cat, the heads appear to come from a set that he sold to one of Latchford’s main suppliers based in Thailand. The relics had been hacked from the bodies of demons and gods standing on either side of a road leading to Angkor Thom, the capital city of a once-mighty empire that fell more than five centuries ago, he said.
Files from Latchford’s computer, obtained by Cambodian investigators, included an email to a colleague with a photograph of what appears to be those same heads, labeled “Lindemann Angkor Thom heads.” The email noted that “these were all stolen.” There is no indication that the Lindemanns were aware of the email.
Angela S. Chiu, an independent art scholar, examined the version of the photo of Lindemann Barnett’s courtyard that shows the relics. Chiu said two of the heads appear to match those that Latchford said were stolen, and the other two, obscured by palm fronds, are “possible matches.”
When that photo ran in the January 2021 issue of Architectural Digest, its caption mentioned “Southeast Asian sculptures,” even though none were apparent.
Hany Farid, a visual forensics expert at the University of California at Berkeley, examined the two versions of the photograph.
“These two images are clearly derived from the same source image,” Farid said.
Farid noted, among other things, that bits of leaves were missing in the published photo.
“There are small but consistent signs of air-brushing around the plant leaves in which small parts of the plant were air-brushed out along with the statues,” Farid wrote in an email. “It seems highly unlikely that two photos would be taken in succession without anything else in the entire room moving.”
The image is credited to photographer Douglas Friedman, whose website describes him as “a darling of the young international social set.” He did not respond to requests for comment sent to his agent.
Marino’s architecture firm said in a statement that it did not provide the photo to Architectural Digest. In mid-July, after reporters sent Marino a request for comment, the courtyard photo and others showing relics disappeared from his website.
Persuading museums and private collectors to return items for which they paid hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars is an uphill battle.
The first option for countries seeking to recover antiquities is simply to ask for and negotiate their return, according to lawyers familiar with such cases. That approach, however, typically works better with museums than with private collectors.
“Institutions have to consider the press and public scrutiny” that could come with refusing to cooperate, said Leila Amineddoleh, a lawyer who specializes in art and cultural heritage cases. “It’s different with private collectors.”
Another option for a foreign government seeking the return of antiquities held in the United States might be to sue in federal court, lawyers said, but foreign governments often shy away from such tactics because of the complications and legal costs, especially when they are facing wealthy collectors.
“The governments are at a disadvantage because they can’t outspend the collectors,” said Amineddoleh, who has represented Greece and Italy in their efforts to repatriate looted items. “Their budgets often don’t cover expensive litigation in the United States.”
Cambodia, like many other countries seeking the return of artworks, has chosen a third option: asking U.S. authorities to intervene. The United States is one of the few countries with an office dedicated to combating the illicit trafficking of antiquities.
Jim McAndrew, a former DHS senior special agent and expert in art and antiquities thefts, said that when U.S. authorities pursue such cases, they first ask for evidence that the items were looted. That would mean reviewing documentation and archaeological data and interviewing key witnesses, such as the antiquities broker helping investigators. The next step would be to seek information from current and former owners of the antiquity.
Even with solid evidence, though, winning a case in federal court can take years, partly because records establishing the origins of an antiquity are often incomplete or vague.
McAndrew, now a consultant whose clients include dealers and others who handle antiquities, emphasized that well-meaning collectors can make mistakes.
He noted that even renowned institutions — like the Fogg Museum at Harvard and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles — have returned some relics.
“I tell my clients, even if you see something really beautiful, if it doesn’t have enough information, just walk away,” McAndrew said.
And if you have something that turns out to have been taken illegally?
“Give it back.” | 2022-08-15T10:51:51+00:00 | washingtonpost.com | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/08/15/lindemann-cambodian-investigation-architectural-digest/ |
The 2023 Barracuda Championship Odds & Preview: Stephan Jaeger
Stephan Jaeger will play at the 2023 Barracuda Championship in Truckee, California at Tahoe Mountain Club (Old Greenwood), taking place from July 20-23.
Looking to place a wager on Jaeger at the Barracuda Championship this week? Keep reading for all the stats and odds you need to know before you make your picks.
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Stephan Jaeger Insights
- Over his last 20 rounds, Jaeger has finished below par on 14 occasions, while also shooting three bogey-free rounds and 14 rounds with a better-than-average score.
- He has recorded the best score of the day once while finishing with a top-10 score three times in his last 20 rounds.
- Over his last 20 rounds, Jaeger has finished within three strokes of the best score of the round once, and within five strokes of the top score of the day on nine occasions.
- Jaeger has posted one top-10 finish and two top-20 finishes in his past five appearances.
- Jaeger has finished with a better-than-average score in three of his past five tournaments.
- Jaeger will look to make the cut for the 10th straight event by qualifying for the weekend in this tournament.
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Barracuda Championship Insights and Stats
- Jaeger has had an average finish of 42nd at this tournament in four appearances, including a personal best 22nd-place.
- Jaeger made the cut in three of his past four entries in this event.
- In the past year, the Tour has played courses with an average length of 7,005 yards, 475 yards shorter than the 7,480-yard par 71 for this week's event.
- Tahoe Mountain Club (Old Greenwood) has seen an average tournament score of -6 recently, which is lower than the Tour scoring average of -5 on all courses in the past year.
- The average course Jaeger has played in the past year has been 205 yards shorter than the 7,480 yards Tahoe Mountain Club (Old Greenwood) will be at for this event.
- In the past year, the events he has played have had a scoring average of -6 among finishers, the same as the average at this course.
Jaeger's Last Time Out
- Jaeger was above average on the 16 par-3 holes at the John Deere Classic, averaging 2.88 strokes to finish in the 68th percentile of competitors.
- His 3.93-stroke average on the 44 par-4 holes at the John Deere Classic ranked in the 61st percentile among all competitors (the tournament average was 3.95).
- On the 12 par-5 holes at the John Deere Classic, Jaeger shot better than 97% of the field (averaging 4.17 strokes).
- Jaeger recorded a birdie or better on two of 16 par-3s at the John Deere Classic, better than the field average of 1.9.
- On the 16 par-3s at the John Deere Classic, Jaeger did not card a bogey or worse (the other participants averaged 1.6).
- Jaeger's six birdies or better on par-4s at the John Deere Classic were less than the tournament average of 6.4.
- At that last competition, Jaeger had a bogey or worse on three of 44 par-4s (the field averaged 4.8).
- Jaeger finished the John Deere Classic with a birdie or better on 10 of the 12 par-5s, bettering the field's average of 3.8.
- The field at the John Deere Classic averaged 0.6 bogeys or worse on the 12 par-5s, but Jaeger finished without one.
Barracuda Championship Time and Date Info
- Date: July 20-23, 2023
- Course: Tahoe Mountain Club (Old Greenwood)
- Location: Truckee, California
- Par: 71 / 7,480 yards
- Jaeger Odds to Win: +1600 (Bet now with BetMGM!)
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© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | 2023-07-19T01:07:21+00:00 | wlbt.com | https://www.wlbt.com/sports/betting/2023/07/22/stephan-jaeger-barracuda-championship-pga-odds/ |
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — The Latest from Wimbledon (all times local):
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8:40 p.m.
Desirae Krawczyk and Neal Skupski won the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Australian duo Sam Stosur and Matthew Ebden on Centre Court.
Krawczyk is American and Skupski is British.
Ebden will get another chance at a Wimbledon title this year in men’s doubles. He and Max Purcell reached the final.
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8:30 p.m.
Elena Rybakina represents Kazakhstan but was born in Russia. She says she lives “on tour.”
The 23-year-old Rybakina will play Ons Jabeur in the Wimbledon final on Saturday. She beat Simona Halep 6-3, 6-3 in the semifinals.
As she has progressed in the tournament, Rybakina has been answering questions about her Russian heritage. The All England Club has banned players from Russia and Belarus this year because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The 17th-seeded Rybakina switched to represent Kazakhstan in 2018. She competed at the Tokyo Olympics, losing the bronze-medal match to Ukrainian player Elina Svitolina.
She had said after her quarterfinal victory that her nationality switch was good timing because Kazakhstan was looking for players and “I was looking for some help. They believed in me.”
Rybakina is the first player from Kazakhstan to reach a Grand Slam final.
Asked if she lives in Moscow, Rybakina replied: “I’m based on tour because I’m traveling every week. I think most of the time I spend on tour. I practice in Slovakia between the tournaments. I had camps in Dubai. So I don’t live anywhere, to be honest.”
She said after her quarterfinal win: “I just want the war to end as soon as possible.”
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7:24 p.m.
Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from Wimbledon.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion has an abdominal injury and says he won’t play his semifinal match against Nick Kyrgios on Friday.
___
5:10 p.m.
Elena Rybakina defeated 2019 champion Simona Halep 6-3, 6-3 on Centre Court to set up a Wimbledon final against Ons Jabeur.
Both the 17th-seeded Rybakina and third-seeded Jabeur are first-time Grand Slam finalists.
Rybakina is the first Kazakhstan player to reach a major final. Jabeur is the first Arab woman to reach a major final and the first African woman to do so in the Open era.
The 23-year-old Rybakina is the youngest Wimbledon finalist since 2015 when Garbiñe Muguruza lost to Serena Williams.
Halep, the 2018 French Open champion, had reached the semifinals without dropping a set but was broken early in both sets.
The 30-year-old Romanian wasn’t able to defend her Wimbledon title last year — after the 2020 edition was canceled — because of a calf injury.
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3:50 p.m.
The second women’s semifinal match between Simona Halep and Elena Rybakina has started on Centre Court at Wimbledon.
Halep won the title at the All England Club in 2019. Rybakina has never been this far at a major tournament.
The winner will play Ons Jabeur in Saturday’s final.
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3:20 p.m.
Ons Jabeur advanced to her first Grand Slam final by beating Tatjana Maria 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 on Centre Court at Wimbledon in a victory that is also a first for Arab and African women.
The Tunisian is the first Arab woman to reach a major final and the first African woman to do so in the Open era.
The third-seeded Jabeur will face either 2019 Wimbledon champion Simona Halep or 17th-seeded Elena Rybakina in Saturday’s final.
In the deciding set, Jabeur twice broke her 34-year-old German opponent — who was a first-time Grand Slam semifinalist — en route to 5-0 lead.
This was Maria’s 35th appearance at a major tournament, and the 103rd-ranked player had never been beyond the third round previously.
The 27-year-old Jabeur and Maria are good friends — “barbecue buddies,” as the Tunisian said.
___
1:35 p.m.
The women’s semifinal match between Ons Jabeur and Tatjana Maria has started on Centre Court.
Neither player has ever been this far at a major tournament.
The winner will play either Simona Halep or Elena Rybakina in Saturday’s final.
___
1 p.m.
There will be at least one first-time Grand Slam finalist when the women’s semifinals finish.
Ons Jabeur and Tatjana Maria will play in the first match on Centre Court. Neither has ever been this far at one of the four major tennis tournaments.
Simona Halep will take on Elena Rybakina in the second match. Halep won the Wimbledon title in 2019 and the French Open the year before. Rybakina is playing at the All England Club for only the second time. She lost in the fourth round last year.
The women’s final will be played Saturday.
The men’s semifinals are scheduled for Friday. Novak Djokovic will face Cam Norrie and Rafael Nadal will play Nick Kyrgios for a spot in Sunday’s final.
___
More AP Wimbledon coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/wimbledon and https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | 2022-07-07T20:14:15+00:00 | wearegreenbay.com | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/sports/ap-sports/wimbledon-updates-womens-semifinals-next-on-centre-court/ |
Oscar-winning ‘Cuckoo’s Nest’ actor Louise Fletcher dies
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Louise Fletcher, a late-blooming star whose riveting performance as the cruel and calculating Nurse Ratched in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” set a new standard for screen villains and won her an Academy Award, has died at age 88.
Fletcher died in her sleep surrounded by family at her home in Montdurausse, France, her agent David Shaul told The Associated Press on Friday. No cause was given.
After putting her career on hold for years to raise her children, Fletcher was in her early 40s and little known when chosen for the role opposite Jack Nicholson in the 1975 film by director Milos Forman, who had admired her work the year before in director Robert Altman’s “Thieves Like Us.” At the time, she didn’t know that many other prominent stars, including Anne Bancroft, Ellen Burstyn and Angela Lansbury, had turned it down.
“I was the last person cast,” she recalled in a 2004 interview. “It wasn’t until we were halfway through shooting that I realized the part had been offered to other actresses who didn’t want to appear so horrible on the screen.”
“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” went on to become the first film since 1934′s “It Happened One Night” to win best picture, best director, best actor, best actress and best screenplay.
Clutching her Oscar at the 1976 ceremony, Fletcher told the audience, “It looks as though you all hated me.”
She then addressed her deaf parents in Birmingham, Alabama, talking and using sign language: “I want to thank you for teaching me to have a dream. You are seeing my dream come true.”
A moment of silence was followed by thunderous applause.
Later that night, Forman made the wry comment to Fletcher and her co-star, Jack Nicholson: “Now we all will make tremendous flops.”
In the short run, at least, he was right.
Forman next directed “Hair,” the movie version of the hit Broadway musical that failed to capture the appeal of the stage version. Nicholson directed and starred in “Goin’ South,” generally regarded as one of his worst films. Fletcher signed on for “Exorcist II: The Heretic,” a misconceived sequel to the landmark original.
Far more than her male peers, Fletcher was hampered by her age in finding major roles in Hollywood. Still, she worked continuously for most of the rest of her life. Her post-”Cuckoo’s Nest” films included “Mama Dracula,” “Dead Kids” and “The Boy Who Could Fly.”
She was nominated for Emmys for her guest roles on the TV series “Joan of Arcadia” and “Picket Fences,” and had a recurring role as Bajoran religious leader Kai Winn Adami in “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.” She played the mother of musical duo Carpenters in 1989′s “The Karen Carpenter Story.”
Fletcher’s career was also hampered by her height. At 5-feet-10, she would often be dismissed from an audition immediately because she was taller than her leading man.
Fletcher had moved to Los Angeles to launch her acting career soon after graduating from North Carolina State University.
Working as a doctor’s receptionist by day and studying at night with noted actor and teacher Jeff Corey, she began getting one-day jobs on such TV series as “Wagon Train,” “77 Sunset Strip” and “The Untouchables.”
Fletcher married producer Jerry Bick in the early 1960s and gave birth to two sons in quick succession. She decided to put her career on hold to be a stay-at-home mother and didn’t work for 11 years.
“I made the choice to stop working, but I didn’t see it as a choice,” she said in the 2004 interview. “I felt compelled to stay at home.”
She divorced Bick in 1977 and he died in 2004.
In “Cuckoo’s Nest,” based on the novel Ken Kesey wrote while taking part in an experimental LSD program, Nicholson’s character, R.P. McMurphy, is a swaggering, small-time criminal who feigns insanity to get transferred from prison to a mental institution where he won’t have to work so hard.
Once institutionalized, McMurphy discovers his mental ward is run by Fletcher’s cold, imposing Nurse Mildred Ratched, who keeps her patients tightly under her thumb. As the two clash, McMurphy all but takes over the ward with his bravado, leading to stiff punishment from Ratched and the institution, where she restores order.
The character was so memorable she would become the basis for a Netflix series, “Ratched,” 45 years later.
Estelle Louise Fletcher was born the second of four children on July 22, 1934, in Birmingham. Her mother was born deaf and her father was a traveling Episcopal minister who lost his hearing when struck by lightning at age 4.
“It was like having parents who are immigrants who don’t speak your language,” she said in 1982.
The Fletcher children were helped by their aunt, with whom they lived in Bryant, Texas, for a year. She taught them reading, writing and speaking, as well as how to sing and dance.
It was those latter studies that convinced Fletcher she wanted to act. She was further inspired, she once said, when she saw the movie “Lady in the Dark” with Ginger Rogers.
That and other films, Fletcher said, taught her “your dream could become real life if you wanted it bad enough.”
“I knew from the movies,” she would say, “that I wouldn’t have to stay in Birmingham and be like everyone else.”
Fletcher’s death was first reported by Deadline.
She is survived by her two sons, John and Andrew Bick.
___
The late AP Entertainment Writer Bob Thomas contributed biographical material to this report.
___
Follow AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/andyjamesdalton
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | 2022-09-24T03:44:58+00:00 | newschannel6now.com | https://www.newschannel6now.com/2022/09/24/oscar-winning-cuckoos-nest-actor-louise-fletcher-dies/ |
Ant-Man opens big at box office with $104M for 'Quantumania'
Phase five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe may have gotten off to a rocky start, but Ant-Man is bigger than ever at the box office.
"Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" opened with $104 million in domestic ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday, easily surpassing the box-office debuts of the previous two Ant-Man films. The Walt Disney Co.'s "Quantumania" added another $121.3 million overseas to give the pint-sized hero a $225 million global launch.
It's easily the largest opening of the year so far. And "Quantumania" did so despite an atypically poor reception for the 31st MCU film. "Quantumania," starring Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Evangeline Lilly as the Wasp and Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror, sits at 48% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the only MCU film to rank as rotten beside "Eternals" (47%).
Audiences also weren't thrilled with "Quantumania," giving it a "B" CinemaScore. "Eternals" is the only other MCU film to receive a CinemaScore that low.
Those scores will pose the biggest concern for Marvel as it continues to unroll phase five of the MCU, following mixed reviews for the post-"Avengers: Endgame" phase four of the comic-book franchise. Up next is "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" in May.
But good reviews or not, theaters hope "Quantumania" — the first blockbuster of the year — is a sign of things to come. After the turmoil of the past three years, there are some 30 more wide releases planned for 2023.
"It will feel almost in the coming weeks like a pre-pandemic moviegoing environment in terms of the marketplace," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for data firm Comscore. "That's very good news coming off a very tumultuous past two, three years. This is the start of a big many months for this industry. We've sort of been in the waiting room with holdovers like 'Avatar' and others."
The first "Ant-Man" launched with $57.2 million domestically in 2015, the smallest opening for any movie in the MCU. It ultimately earned $519.3 million worldwide. Its sequel, "Ant-Man and the Wasp," debuted three years later with $75.8 million and went to collect $622.7 million globally.
China was vital for both of those releases, with each topping $100 million there. But in recent years, particularly during the pandemic, fewer American movies have secured major releases in the heavily regulated Chinese market. Not since "Avengers: Endgame" in 2019 has a Disney release opened simultaneously in the U.S. and China.
Whether China will ever go back to those pre-pandemic numbers for U.S. movies, however, remains to be seen — especially as tensions continue to fester over the Chinese balloon surveillance program. "Quantumania" took in $19 million over the weekend in China.
In its 10th weekend of release, James Cameron's "Avatar: The Way of Water" remained in second place with $6.4 million. With $2.243 billion globally, Cameron's sci-fi sequel has now just surpassed Cameron's own "Titanic" — currently back in theaters for its 25th anniversary — as the third-highest grossing film ever. Now, only the 2009 "Avatar" and "Avengers: Endgame" rank above "The Way of Water."
Last week's top film, "Magic Mike's Last Dance" slid to third place with $5.5 million. The Channing Tatum sequel has collected $18.1 million in two weeks.
Landing in fourth was Universal's "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish," which has enjoyed an unusually long run in theaters as the top family option since late December. With $5.3 million over the weekend, it has totaled $167 million domestically and more than $400 million worldwide.
Only one new film went into wide release against "Quantumania." Open Road and Briarcliff Entertainment debuted "Marlowe," with Liam Neeson playing Raymond Chandler's classic private eye, in 2,281 locations. "Marlowe," though, only mustered $1.9 million.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," $104 million.
2. "Avatar: The Way of Water," $6.1 million.
3. "Magic Mike's Last Dance," $5.5 million.
4. "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish," $5.3 million.
5. "Knock at the Cabin," $3.9 million.
6. "80 for Brady," $3.6 million.
7. "Titanic," $2.3 million.
8. "Marlowe," $1.9 million.
9. "Missing," $1.7 million.
10. "A Man Called Otto," $1.6 million. | 2023-02-20T06:08:21+00:00 | wesh.com | https://www.wesh.com/article/ant-man-opens-big-at-box-office/42981557 |
Knights goaltender week-to-week with injury; veteran back
Updated February 11, 2023 - 4:13 pm
Adin Hill, in his sixth NHL season, is excited to be on a team with real playoff aspirations for the first time.
The goaltender is now going to have a large say in whether the Golden Knights stay in the hunt.
Hill will have an increased role for the foreseeable future after the Knights announced Saturday that rookie goaltender Logan Thompson is week-to-week with a lower-body injury. Thompson was hurt Thursday in the third period of a 5-1 win in Minnesota.
Coach Bruce Cassidy said he’s not sure when Thompson will return but does expect him back this season. That leaves the Knights’ net in the hands of Hill and veteran Laurent Brossoit, who was called up Saturday.
Cassidy said he wasn’t sure how he would divide playing time between the two. He hasn’t had many chances to watch Brossoit, who has spent almost all of this year in the American Hockey League after recovering from offseason hip surgery.
“Hopefully, (Thompson’s) a quick healer,” Cassidy said. “In the meantime, the good news is Hilly’s been playing well, so we’re not throwing in a guy there that’s lacking confidence. And LB’s been an NHL goalie. We’re not pulling up some kid that’s never played.”
Losing Thompson, whom center Jack Eichel called “the backbone of our group” Thursday, is a major blow to the Knights.
The 25-year-old was named an All-Star in his first full NHL season. He ran with the opportunity he was given after the team announced goaltender Robin Lehner would miss the season to have surgery on both hips.
Thompson is 20-13-3 with a .914 save percentage, a figure well above the league’s .906 average. He got injured Thursday moving to his left in his crease. Thompson grabbed his left leg before being attended to by a trainer and helped off the ice.
“LT’s done really well,” Brossoit said. “He’s been the rock that this team needed with me and (Lehner) battling through some stuff. He’s been great, and I feel for him.”
Hill is 11-5-1 with a .911 save percentage. He’s been especially strong since the nadir of his season, the Knights’ 3-2 shootout loss to Anaheim on Dec. 28. Hill only lasted 12:26 in that game before being pulled for allowing two early goals. The 26-year-old has a .934 save percentage in seven appearances since then.
Cassidy said he has liked Hill’s composure lately and his decision-making when it comes to playing the puck. His challenge will be maintaining that run in a larger role.
“I’m going to approach it the same way I have been all year,” Hill said. “Prepare the same way, do the same things off the ice. Nothing changes. Just maybe I play a bit more minutes.”
For Brossoit, this opportunity to be back in the NHL has been a long time coming.
His teammates recognized that by giving him stick taps at the beginning on Saturday’s practice. The 29-year-old has spent most of this season building his game back up with the Silver Knights after having surgery to fix an issue he said he’d been managing since junior hockey.
Brossoit was 8-11-3 in the AHL with a .909 save percentage. More important than the stats was how he felt. He said there are parts of his body he has “access to” that he didn’t before. That’s improved his mobility in the crease.
Brossoit, who is 42-41-8 with a .905 save percentage in his NHL career, wants to test his new self out.
“I’m really happy with the added potential that I think the surgery’s given me,” Brossoit said. “I’m just hoping that I can see that through.”
This stretch should be a good test for the goaltenders, who are both unrestricted free agents at the end of the year.
The Knights will also look to make their lives easy. Their defensive game has been sharp lately, and they’re up to first in fewest high-danger chances allowed per 60 minutes, according to the website Natural Stat Trick.
Keeping that up would go a long way toward keeping the Knights in first in the Pacific Division with their No. 1 netminder out.
“I feel like our D-men have done a really good job tightening up in front,” Hill said. “Any rebounds or any traffic, they’ve done a good job clearing.”
Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.
Up next
■ Who: Golden Knights vs. Ducks
■ When: Noon Sunday
■ Where: T-Mobile Arena
■ TV: AT&T SportsNet
■ Radio: KKGK (98.9 FM, 1340 AM)
■ Line: Knights -360, total 6½ | 2023-02-12T01:21:21+00:00 | reviewjournal.com | https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/goldenknights/knights-goaltender-week-to-week-with-injury-veteran-back-2727605/ |
Request unsuccessful. Incapsula incident ID: 418000470274823496-425780384620481481 | 2022-09-16T09:17:00+00:00 | bizjournals.com | https://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/news/2022/09/16/quiet-quitting-remote-pay-hybrid-culture.html |
By JOSH BOAK, MEG KINNARD and BRIAN SLODYSKO
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Democratic-controlled House Ways and Means Committee voted along party lines Tuesday to publicly release a report on Donald Trump’s tax returns, which the former president has long tried to shield.
Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., said supporting materials will be released along with the report. Texas Rep. Kevin Brady, the committee’s top Republican, raised concerns about privacy as the documents could contain information such as Social Security numbers.
The report could provide a fuller look into Trump’s personal and business finances, possibly revealing how much money he paid in taxes, what income he derived from foreign operations and whether his income was as large as the reputed multibillionaire has suggested.
The report comes after a yearslong battle that ultimately resulted in the Supreme Court clearing the way last month for the Treasury Department to send the returns to Congress. The committee received six years of tax returns for Trump and some of his businesses.
Democrats are under pressure to act aggressively. With just two weeks left until Republicans formally take control of the House, Tuesday’s meeting was an opportunity for Democrats to disclose whatever information they have gleaned on a figure who still shapes U.S. politics despite losing reelection in 2020.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Democratic-controlled House Ways and Means Committee met Tuesday to vote on whether to publicly release years of Donald Trump’s tax returns, which the former president has long tried to shield.
Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., has kept a close hold on the actions of the panel, which planned to vote on the release in a closed session that could span several hours. And if lawmakers move forward with plans to release the returns, it’s unclear how quickly that would happen.
But after a yearslong battle that ultimately resulted in the Supreme Court clearing the way last month for the Treasury Department to send the returns to Congress, Democrats are under pressure to act aggressively. The committee received six years of tax returns for Trump and some of his businesses. And with just two weeks left until Republicans formally take control of the House, Tuesday’s meeting could be the last opportunity for Democrats to disclose whatever information they have gleaned.
Republicans have railed against the potential release, arguing that it would set a dangerous precedent.
Before Tuesday’s meeting, Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, the committee’s top Republican, called any release of Trump’s tax records a “dangerous new political weapon” that “even Democrats will come to regret.”
“Our concern is not whether the president should have made his tax returns public, as is traditional, nor about the accuracy of his tax returns,” Brady said. “Our concern is that, if taken, this committee action will set a terrible precedent that unleashes a dangerous new political weapon that reaches far beyond the former president and overturns decades of privacy protections for average Americans that have existed since the Watergate reforms.”
Trump has long had a complicated relationship with his personal income taxes.
As a presidential candidate in 2016, he broke decades of precedent by refusing to release his tax forms to the public. He bragged during a presidential debate that year that he was “smart” because he paid no federal taxes and later claimed he wouldn’t personally benefit from the 2017 tax cuts he signed into law that favored people with extreme wealth, asking Americans to simply take him at his word.
Tax records would have been a useful metric for judging his success in business. The image of a savvy businessman was key to a political brand honed during his years as a tabloid magnet and star of “The Apprentice” television show. They also could reveal any financial obligations — including foreign debts — that could influence how he governed.
But Americans were largely in the dark about Trump’s relationship with the IRS until October 2018 and September 2020, when The New York Times published two separate series based on leaked tax records.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning 2018 articles showed how Trump received a modern equivalent of at least $413 million from his father’s real estate holdings, with much of that money coming from what the Times called “tax dodges” in the 1990s. Trump sued the Times and his niece, Mary Trump, in 2021 for providing the records to the newspaper. In November, Mary Trump asked an appeals court to overturn a judge’s decision to reject her claims that her uncle and two of his siblings defrauded her of millions of dollars in a 2001 family settlement.
The 2020 articles showed that Trump paid just $750 in federal income taxes in 2017 and 2018. Trump paid no income taxes at all in 10 of the past 15 years because he generally lost more money than he made.
The articles exposed deep inequities in the U.S. tax code as Trump, a reputed multi-billionaire, paid little in federal income taxes. IRS figures indicate that the average tax filer paid roughly $12,200 in 2017, about 16 times more than the former president paid.
Details about Trump’s income from foreign operations and debt levels were also contained in the tax filings, which the former president derided as “fake news.”
At the time of the 2020 articles, Neal said he saw an ethical problem in Trump overseeing a federal agency that he has also battled with legal filings.
“Now, Donald Trump is the boss of the agency he considers an adversary,” Neal said in 2020. “It is essential that the IRS’s presidential audit program remain free of interference.”
The Manhattan district attorney’s office also obtained copies of Trump’s tax records in February 2021 after a protracted legal fight that included two trips to the Supreme Court.
The office, then led by District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., had subpoenaed Trump’s accounting firm in 2019, seeking access to eight years of Trump’s tax returns and related documents.
The DA’s office issued the subpoena after Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen told Congress that Trump had misled tax officials, insurers and business associates about the value of his assets. Those allegations are the subject of a fraud lawsuit that New York Attorney General Letitia James filed against Trump and his company in September.
Trump’s longtime accountant, Donald Bender, testified at the Trump Organization’s recent criminal trial that Trump reported losses on his tax returns every year for a decade, including nearly $700 million in 2009 and $200 million in 2010.
Bender, a partner at Mazars USA LLP who spent years preparing Trump’s personal tax returns, said Trump’s reported losses from 2009 to 2018 included net operating losses from some of the many businesses he owns through his Trump Organization.
The Trump Organization was convicted earlier this month on tax fraud charges for helping some executives dodge taxes on company-paid perks such as apartments and luxury cars.
The current Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, told The Associated Press in an interview last week that his office’s investigation into Trump and his businesses continues.
“We’re going to follow the facts and continue to do our job,” Bragg said.
Trump, who refused to release his returns during his 2016 presidential campaign and his four years in the White House while claiming that he was under IRS audit, has argued there is little to be gleaned from the tax returns even as he has fought to keep them private.
“You can’t learn much from tax returns, but it is illegal to release them if they are not yours!” he complained on his social media network last weekend.
___
Kinnard reported from Columbia, South Carolina. Associated Press writers Michael R. Sisak and Jill Colvin in New York contributed this report.
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PARIS (AP) — France, Germany and Italy announced an agreement Tuesday for a new-generation European space launcher project as part of apparent efforts to better compete with Elon Musk's SpaceX and other rocket programs in the U.S. and China.
A statement from the three governments announced an unspecified amount of public funding for the plan, saying it would be based on market prices and economic conditions for each element of the project. The European Space Agency would award contracts to the companies involved.
The next-generation Ariane and Vega launchers will be used to boost Europe’s role in the commercial and government satellite markets, the French Finance Ministry said.
The governments also agreed to support development of European-made mini and micro rocket launch systems.
European government ministers are meeting with ESA in Paris this week. The agency is scheduled to announce its first new team of astronauts in more than a decade on Wednesday, with a focus on more diversity and what are expected to be the first disabled astronauts. | 2022-11-22T14:20:40+00:00 | ourmidland.com | https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/Europe-seeks-bigger-piece-of-space-market-with-17603340.php |
Biden leaning into global diplomacy to manage migration at US-Mexico border
WASHINGTON (AP) — On President Joe Biden ‘s first day in office, he handed Congress a legislative plan to modernize the nation’s immigration system.
It went nowhere, just like so many past overhaul attempts.
Meanwhile, the number of migrants illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border climbed to record highs and so did the backlog of cases in the nation’s immigration court system. Title 42 emergency health powers that allowed border officials to turn away many migrants were sure to end as the coronavirus pandemic eased. And Congress couldn’t agree on even simple questions like whether the U.S. should let in more people, or fewer.
So administration officials went looking outside the U.S. for solutions, seeking to portray immigration not as one of America’s most intractable problems, but as an issue for the entire Western hemisphere to address.
It was a shift in focus that plays to Biden’s faith in the power of global diplomacy, and one that also may hold more promise for making progress, particularly as smuggling networks increasingly steer migrant families from around the world up through the dangerous and often deadly Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama.
“No nation should bear this responsibility alone.” Biden said last year as he summoned the leaders of 23 nations attending a Summit of the Americas to come up with a shared plan on migration and security. “The economic futures depend on one another. Each of our futures depend on one another. And our security is linked in ways that I don’t think most people in my country fully understand.”
If the solutions for Biden are international, the politics are still domestic.
He’s running for reelection, and the border is a top issue for Republicans who portray him as soft on security. His involvement in immigration policy before he became president was relatively light. Prior to this year’s visit, he’d only been down to the 1,951-mile U.S.-Mexico border for a few hours during a 2008 campaign stop, and he played no significant role in past reform efforts in the Senate when he served there.
His foreign policy experience, though, stretches back decades from his years on the Hill and through his two terms as vice president, and that carries weight internationally.
“No other president who has sat in the Oval Office has the mileage, the understanding, the engagement that Joe Biden has had in the region. It’s just a fact,” said Arturo Sarukhan, the Mexican ambassador to the U.S. from 2007 to 2013. “That is an important add that Biden brings to the table.”
Sarukhan said Biden’s approach has focused on engagement and negotiation, by sending top leaders to the region for discussions, and through invitations to Washington. “Biden hasn’t put the gun to anyone’s forehead,” he said.
But immigrant advocates worry there’s a cost to the new approach that will likely be paid by migrants who are fleeing persecution and poverty in their homelands.
“I do think they are trying to manage migration, rather than end migration,” said Yael Schacher, director for the Americas and Europe at Refugees International. “But managing migration can also have human rights, terrible human rights, consequences. There’s a moral distancing — the possibility for wiping your hands of a problem if it isn’t at your door anymore.”
The makeup of those migrating has changed dramatically over the past two decades, bringing new challenges as well.
Those crossing the border used to be mostly Mexican men who were coming for work and could be easily sent back. Now, families are increasingly arriving from Guatemala, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Haiti, fleeing drought brought on by climate change as well as oppressive regimes.
It reflects a larger trend. UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency, estimates 103 million people are displaced globally — more than 1% of the world’s population.
“We are finding ourselves in a unique moment and we do have to understand it’s not a domestic issue, but a regional and global one,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, head of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, which helps migrants and refugees in the U.S.
The number of illegal U.S.-Mexico border crossings has been declining since new rules were put into place by the Biden administration on May 11, but it’s not clear yet whether the administration’s approach will be effective in the long term or whether it can survive legal challenges and a possible administration change in 2024.
Under the new rules, migrants are barred from asking for asylum if they cross through another country on their way to the U.S. without seeking protection there or fail to make an appointment to come to the U.S. through a new government app. If caught crossing illegally, they are barred from returning for five years and face criminal charges if they do.
But up to 30,000 Venezuela, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Cubans per month will be allowed into the U.S. to work legally if they come with sponsors. And as many as 100,000 immigrants from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Colombia will be allowed in if they have family members who are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.
The leaders of Mexico and several other nations had boycotted the June summit in Los Angeles over a decision to exclude authoritarian leaders. Still, it ended with a signed pact and set of principles that included legal pathways to enter countries, aid to communities most affected by migration, more humane border management and coordinated emergency responses.
Administration officials then set to work on new immigration rules that would take effect once Title 42 ended, with new directives that aim to expand legal pathways for entry while cracking down on illegal crossings, intertwined with actions by Guatemala, Ecuador and Colombia. They negotiated with Mexico. Canada and Spain to take in migrants who would otherwise be bound for the U.S.
Guatemala and Colombia will open regional hubs where people can go to make claims, with as many as 100 opening regionally. But Colombia and Guatemala fear the hubs might draw millions to their shores, and other nations are reluctant to sign on to host hubs for that reason.
Meanwhile, many migrants remain in limbo. Last week, advocates said the new migrant app was having major problems and that people were unable to get the OK to cross – some who desperately needed to get into the U.S., who were sexually assaulted and beaten by their captors over the border.
”Understand that what the people who are terrified to return to their home countries who are seeking asylum, they want to do this the right way so badly that they wait for an app that does not work,” said Priscilla Orta, an immigration attorney at Project Corazon. “And that is a lottery for their lives.”
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | 2023-05-23T16:59:37+00:00 | kaaltv.com | https://www.kaaltv.com/news/political-news/biden-leaning-into-global-diplomacy-to-manage-migration-at-us-mexico-border/ |
The cost of household goods and utilities is cutting into Americans’ budgets and creating further housing strife for many while the average tenant is already rent burdened.
Although inflation cooled annually in March, prices remain stubbornly high. Annual food prices increased by 8.5 percent, but they were only down from 10.2 percent in February.
Even so, consumer confidence reached a nine-month low this week amid fears of a looming recession, which the Fed reports is likely given recent troubles in the banking sector.
The average tenant is rent burdened
Tenants already burdened by soaring rent hikes are feeling the pinch of higher prices for household necessities like gasoline, food and utilities, Moody’s Analytics Deputy Chief Economist Cris deRitis told The Hill.
“Families have less income available to spend on housing after dedicating a larger share of their budgets to these other essential items,” deRitis said.
“Families have coped with these higher expenses by cutting back on spending where they can, moving to more distant or less desirable locations where housing is cheaper, delaying household formations, and increasing their borrowing,” he added.
A report released by Moody’s earlier this year shows the average renter now pays at least 30 percent of their income on housing.
Homeownership elusive even for families with two incomes
The current economy is making a moving target out homeownership even for families with multiple revenue streams.
Lakia Prue, a building manager in Washington, D.C., with more than 25 years of experience in the industry, told The Hill that she and her husband aspire to one day be homeowners. Yet conditions over the past several years led both to look for side-gigs, like baking, for extra income.
Prue said there’s also concern about monthly payments, adding that she wants to know exactly how much they will owe at the end of each month. And she does not want to take on a mortgage with an adjustable rate.
But she said she wants to be part of the American dream, and after living in the same co-operative apartment for 25 years she welcomes homeownership even if her new home might not have all the perks.
“It doesn’t have to have a garage. It doesn’t even need a driveway. If I can park my car at the curb, I’m blessed. But if I can pull up in a driveway, I’m winning,” she said.
Consumers are losing confidence in the market
And even as recent data shows inflation cooling, consumers are losing confidence. A survey released by The Conference Board on Tuesday showed that the group’s confidence index dropped to its lowest level since July 2022, falling for the third time in four months.
This means consumers are more pessimistic about the direction of the business and labor markets and expect conditions to worsen in the next six months, Ataman Ozyildirim, The Conference Board’s senior director of economics, said in a statement.
“Overall purchasing plans for homes, autos, appliances, and vacations all pulled back in April, a signal that consumers may be economizing amid growing pessimism,” Ozyildirim said.
Wobbly mortgage rates are impacting the market
Volatile mortgage rates have also hampered potential buyers and renters alike. Since the Fed began tightening its monetary policy to curb inflation, mortgage rates have soared.
At their height, the 30-year fixed rate mortgage rose above 7 percent after reaching historic lows during the COVID-19 pandemic. This has pushed payments too high for many prospective buyers and kept them in the rental market.
Despite the Fed’s continued tightening, mortgage rates leveled out at the end of March and through the first half of April.
But last week, the 30-year fixed rate mortgage suddenly jumped to 6.39 percent. And economists at real estate brokerage Redfin noted the upward shift pushed monthly payments for buyers to their highest level on record at $2,538.
A separate Redfin report found that nationwide median rents declined annually for the first time since 2020, which is attributed partly to renters tightening budgets while prices are rising elsewhere, Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather told The Hill.
“This is because renters have been pinched by inflation and are less willing to splurge on rent. Instead, renters are living with family or roommates instead of renting an apartment on their own,” Fairweather said. “This is a return to earth from the large jumps in rent that happened in 2022.”
And Moody’s expects rent growth to ease further as the year progresses and a construction boom of 1 million multi-family units enters the housing market.
“The number of single-family homes under construction isn’t quite as high but remains well above its pre-pandemic level as well. The increased supply will help to stabilize house prices and rents,” deRitis continued.
“Assuming no significant shock hits the economy, and the job market remains healthy, both headline and rent inflation should moderate significantly over the next 12 months,” he said. | 2023-04-26T20:34:54+00:00 | wdtn.com | https://www.wdtn.com/hill-politics/inflation-still-putting-housing-out-of-reach-for-many-americans/ |
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has denied granting a posthumous pardon to George Floyd for a 2004 Houston drug conviction.
The board made their decision known Thursday in a letter, which a reporter with The Marshall Project first made public, the Associated Press reported.
“After a full and careful review of the application and other information filed with the application, a majority of the Board decided not to recommend a Full Pardon and/or Pardon for Innocence,” the board wrote in the letter, the Associated Press reported.
The board did not say why they denied the pardon, the news outlet reported.
According to the news outlet, the board originally unanimously recommended that Floyd receive a posthumous pardon from Gov. Greg Abbott last October.
The pardon was first filed in April 2021, after the officer who initially arrested Floyd in 2004 was later indicted following a deadly drug raid, CNN reported.
But in December, they changed course, saying they found “procedural errors" in its initial recommendation in Floyd’s case, the news outlet reported.
Floyd's family can reapply for a pardon in two years, according to the letter, the news outlets reported. | 2022-09-16T20:34:45+00:00 | kgun9.com | https://www.kgun9.com/news/national/texas-parole-board-denies-posthumous-pardon-for-george-floyd-for-2004-arrest |
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — As sensors picked up the first signs of a strong earthquake jolting the Northern California coast, an alert was blasted to 3 million smartphone users telling them to “drop, cover, hold on.” It was hailed as the biggest test yet of the warning system since its public launch.
But the people most rattled by the magnitude 6.4 earthquake early Tuesday said the alert didn’t give them enough time to take cover as the temblor shook homes off foundations, knocked out power and water to thousands, and injured more than a dozen people.
Jimmy Eller, who was sitting in his parked Chevy Malibu while working as a security guard, said he was already in the throes of the violent quake when he noticed his phone had lit up with the warning. He was more focused on what was going on outside as street lamps began to sway.
“They were all wobbling, flashing on and off,” Eller said. “I could see breakers and wires in the distance flashing like lightning might look like. It was terrifying. You could see everything moving and shaking.”
The quake was centered near the small town of Ferndale, about 210 miles (345 kilometers) northwest of San Francisco. It was the biggest one the ShakeAlert early warning system has alerted for, since launching publicly in California three years ago.
“It’s really a groundbreaking, first-in-the-nation tool that hopefully saves lives,” said Brian Ferguson, a spokesperson for the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
ShakeAlert was developed by university researchers and is operated by the U.S. Geological Survey. It’s one of a handful of earthquake warning systems created in different parts of the world over the past few decades, including Japan and Mexico. But the new technology, which operates in California, Oregon and Washington, is not without its challenges.
Before alerts get sent to people’s phones, multiple seismometers have to detect movement below Earth’s surface. That information can then be processed to determine the earthquake’s location and magnitude. That process, from seismometer detection to an alert being sent, is all automated, said Robert de Groot, a scientist with the ShakeAlert operations team.
Some people received the alert with 10 seconds’ notice. Because of how the system works, those closest to the center of the earthquake may not have received an alert until they felt shaking, de Groot said.
Jen Olson, who lives in Arcata about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from the epicenter, said she was awoken by shaking and her phone going off at the same time. She’s not sure which woke her up first, but she said the loud noise and bright light from her phone probably helped her realize the severity of the quake.
Worried about her dog, who was asleep in a crate, she quickly got up and headed for the back door, to either stand in for shelter or to head outside if the house began to collapse.
“It might have taken longer for the shaking to wake me up if the phone hadn’t also been making a lot of noise,” she said.
Jay Parrish, the city manager of Ferndale, said he wasn’t aware of anyone getting the alert. Unlike a tsunami or flooding in which there is plenty of time to prepare for a potential disaster, he didn’t think an earthquake warning system could provide enough advance notice.
When told that the alarm sounded for some 10 seconds before the violent shaking, he said: “That might have saved one of my glass jars.”
It’s hard to pinpoint the reason why someone who should have received the alert did not without having more information, de Groot said. Some people may have turned off the notifications from Wireless Emergency Alerts, the same system run by the federal government that sends Amber Alerts to phones.
A glitch in an earthquake warning app for San Diego residents that relies on the system’s data falsely alerted people more than 650 miles (1,040 kilometers) away from the epicenter.
This was the first time the system alerted people in two states — both California and Oregon, de Groot said. There’s a study underway to explore alerting in parts of Alaska in the future.
Various apps use ShakeAlert’s data to notify people who could experience significant quake effects. People were alerted within a radius of about 250 miles (400 kilometers) from the epicenter of Tuesday’s Northern California quake, said Richard Allen, director of the Seismology Lab at the University of California, Berkeley.
In a 2021 blog post, the Seismology Lab explained why we don’t know when an earthquake will happen before it starts.
“The physical processes along an earthquake fault before and during a rupture are so complex that seismologists have all but given up on trying to achieve the elusive goal of predicting when a strong quake will happen,” it read.
The lab developed an app called MyShake that notified about 270,000 residents about the temblor.
“From a technical standpoint, I would say the system did a great job,” Allen said.
Allen said the next step is helping people understand the importance of dropping to the ground so that they do it automatically, which could help prevent injuries.
About 140 miles (225 kilometers) from the earthquake’s center, Anna Hogan, a student at California State University, Chico, was talking on the phone with her brother when an alert came through. She took cover. And while she didn’t end up feeling the earthquake, she’s glad she moved to a safer spot.
As someone who’s lived in earthquake-prone areas like Alaska and San Francisco, she knows the toll they can take.
“It scared me, yes,” she said of the alert. “But being able to shelter in place is better than not.”
___
Associated Press writers Brian Melley in Los Angeles and Kathleen Ronayne in Sacramento contributed to this report.
___
Sophie Austin is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on Twitter: @sophieadanna | 2022-12-23T00:33:45+00:00 | wric.com | https://www.wric.com/news/u-s-world/ap-california-earthquake-puts-early-warning-system-to-the-test/ |
Unlikely participant: Goose joins runners in half-marathon
Published: Apr. 13, 2023 at 4:03 PM CDT|Updated: 11 minutes ago
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Gray News/TMX) – Half-marathon runners in Missouri were joined by an unlikely participant over the weekend.
A goose was spotted trotting alongside runners in the Rock the Parkway half-marathon in Kansas City on Saturday.
A video shared by Jack Dolan shows the goose flapping its wings as it runs along the city’s historic Ward Parkway with a crowd of marathoners.
At first, the goose seems to keep up, but then it tries to race ahead of them.
This year’s first-place finisher was Josh Baden, with a time of 1:10:22.4, organizers said.
The Rock the Parkway half-marathon benefited Children’s Mercy, a nonprofit pediatric hospital in Kansas City.
Copyright 2023 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. TMX contributed to this report. | 2023-04-13T21:16:28+00:00 | waff.com | https://www.waff.com/2023/04/13/unlikely-participant-goose-joins-runners-half-marathon/ |
No serious damage after fire at Lakeway Elementary School in Littleton
No serious damage after fire at Lakeway Elementary School in Littleton
16TH THROUGH THE 18TH. THE SCHOOL IS EXPECTED TO BE ON AS SCHEDULED AT THE LAKEWAY ELEMENTARY IN LITTLETON TOMORROW. SO AFTER A FIRE THERE TONIGHT, YOU CAN SEE SOME OF THE PHOTOS FROM THE SCENE. CUSTODIAL STAFF WORKING. WHEN THEY HEARD THAT ALARM, THEY SMELLED SMOKE. SO THEY CALLED 911. THE FIRE WAS QUICKLY PUT OUT WITH NO SERIOUS DAMAGE, AS BELIEVE IT WAS STARTED BY
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No serious damage after fire at Lakeway Elementary School in Littleton
School is expected to be on as scheduled at Lakeway Elementary in Littleton on Friday after a fire Thursday night.Custodial staff members were working when they heard the alarm, smelled smoke and called 911. The fire was put out quickly with no serious damage. It's believed it was started by an unplugged lithium-ion battery in the office.
LITTLETON, N.H. —
School is expected to be on as scheduled at Lakeway Elementary in Littleton on Friday after a fire Thursday night.
Custodial staff members were working when they heard the alarm, smelled smoke and called 911.
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The fire was put out quickly with no serious damage. It's believed it was started by an unplugged lithium-ion battery in the office. | 2023-02-03T05:40:53+00:00 | wmur.com | https://www.wmur.com/article/fire-lakeway-elementary-school-littleton-nh-2223/42750737 |
Paulina Porizkova Stars in First 40th Anniversary Campaign, Debuting Today
FORT MYERS, Fla., March 3, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Forty and Fabulous. Fashion retailer Chico's is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a full year of surprises ahead. From their beginnings as a small gallery in Sanibel Island, Florida that celebrated originality and design, Chico's has evolved into a household name with a mission to prove that women can express their uniqueness through fashion regardless of age or their stage in life. And after four decades, over 500 boutiques and countless memories later, they're just getting started.
Four Fabulous Capsules
Today, marking this incredible milestone, Chico's unveiled the first of four Limited Edition 40th Anniversary Collection capsules. Known for their signature prints, each capsule will boast its own exclusive, limited-edition heritage print and a coinciding theme so customers will have the opportunity to collect all four prints throughout the year to cherish for years to come. All styles in these capsules feature the globally-inspired designs, quality, comfort and versatility that the brand has proudly created for the past four decades.
"We are looking forward to a year of celebrating this significant milestone with our customers. Their loyalty, support and intimate relationship with the brand is what continues to inspire us." - Chico's FAS SVP of Marketing, Leana Less
The Face of the Celebration
Alongside the first capsule from the 40th Anniversary Limited Edition Collection, Chico's unveiled the first 40th Anniversary Campaign starring iconic model, Paulina Porizkova. Porizkova recently published a series of intimate, compelling essays: No Filter that dives into the complexities of womanhood at every age. Shattering the notion of being defined by age, Paulina is the perfect reflection of the spirit of the Chico's brand.
"I just realized that women of a certain age become invisible in the world. And now my purpose is to shatter that notion. We should celebrate the second coming of age. Now it's our turn." says Porizkova
Capsule One: TRAVEL
The first capsule features 10 travel-friendly styles and coordinating accessories with a bold Ikat print sweeping the entire assortment. Inspired by a vintage Uzbekistan robe, the print was modernized and brought to life by Chico's in-house design team.
"I loved how dramatic the artwork was. To me, it represented the Chico's woman – she's bold, beautiful, and loves to be uniquely herself" says Chico's VP of Design, Melloney Birkett.
The collection introduces a new kimono silhouette, a vacation-ready maxi dress and fun details such as fringe bringing a fresh, modern flair to the brand's core aesthetic. New limited-edition items such as carry-on luggage, cosmetics bags, passport holders and luggage tags complement this travel-focused capsule and are ready for multi-destination travel with the versatility and functionality that Chico's is known for.
The first 40th Anniversary Limited Edition Collection is available online and in-stores to shop today, March 3, 2023. Prices range from $19.50 - $199.00.
ABOUT CHICO'S
ABOUT CHICO'S FAS, INC.
Chico's FAS is a Florida-based fashion company founded in 1983 on Sanibel Island, Fla. The Company reinvented the fashion retail experience by creating fashion communities anchored by service, which put the customer at the center of everything we do. As one of the leading fashion retailers in North America, Chico's FAS is a company of three unique brands - Chico's®, White House Black Market® and Soma® - each thriving in their own white space, founded by women, led by women, providing solutions that millions of women say give them confidence and joy.
Our Company has a passion for fashion, and each day, we provide clothing, shoes and accessories, intimate apparel and expert styling in our brick-and-mortar boutiques, digital online boutiques and through StyleConnect®, the Company's customized, branded, digital styling tool that enables customers to conveniently shop wherever, whenever, and however they prefer.
As of January 28, 2023, the Company operated 1,269 stores in the U.S. and sold merchandise through 58 international franchise locations in Mexico and 2 domestic franchise airport locations. The Company's merchandise is also available at www.chicos.com, www.chicosofftherack.com, www.whbm.com and www.soma.com. To learn more about Chico's FAS, please visit our corporate website at www.chicosfas.com. The information on our corporate website is not, and shall not be deemed to be, a part of this press release or incorporated into our federal securities law filings.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Alyssa Bleakley, SEQUEL
ableakley@sequel-inc.com
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SOURCE Chico’s FAS, Inc. | 2023-03-03T17:50:20+00:00 | live5news.com | https://www.live5news.com/prnewswire/2023/03/03/chicos-celebrates-40th-anniversary-with-limited-edition-collection-capsules-dropping-all-year/ |
The birds no longer sing, and the herbs no longer grow. The fish no longer swim in rivers that have turned a murky brown. The animals do not roam, and the cows are sometimes found dead.
The people in this northern Myanmar forest have lost a way of life that goes back generations. But if they complain, they, too, face the threat of death.
This forest is the source of several key metallic elements known as rare earths, often called the vitamins of the modern world. Rare earths now reach into the lives of almost everyone on the planet, turning up in everything from hard drives and cellphones to elevators and trains. They are especially vital to the fast-growing field of green energy, feeding wind turbines and electric car engines. And they end up in the supply chains of some of the most prominent companies in the world, including General Motors, Volkswagen, Mercedes, Tesla and Apple.
But an AP investigation has found that their universal use hides a dirty open secret in the industry: Their cost is environmental destruction, the theft of land from villagers and the funneling of money to brutal militias, including at least one linked to Myanmar’s secretive military government. As demand soars for rare earths along with green energy, the abuses are likely to grow.
“This rapid push to build out mining capacity is being justified in the name of climate change,” said Julie Michelle Klinger, author of the book “Rare Earths Frontiers,” who is leading a federal project to trace illicit energy minerals. “There’s still this push to find the right place to mine them, which is a place that is out of sight and out of mind.”
The AP investigation drew on dozens of interviews, customs data, corporate records and Chinese academic papers, along with satellite imagery and geological analysis gathered by the environmental non-profit Global Witness, to tie rare earths from Myanmar to the supply chains of 78 companies.
About a third of the companies responded. Of those, about two-thirds didn’t or wouldn’t comment on their sourcing, including Volkswagen, which said it was conducting due diligence for rare earths. Nearly all said they took environmental protection and human rights seriously.
Some companies said they audited their rare earth supply chains; others didn’t or required only supplier self-assessments. GM said it understood “the risks of heavy rare earths metals” and would source from an American supplier soon.
Tesla did not respond to repeated requests for comment, and Mercedes said they contacted suppliers to learn more in response to this story. Apple said “a majority” of their rare earths were recycled and they found “no evidence” of any from Myanmar, but experts say in general there is usually no way to make sure.
Just as dirty rare earths trickle down the supply chains of companies, they also slip through the cracks of regulation.
In 2010, in response to war in the Congo, Congress required companies to disclose the origin of so-called conflict minerals — tantalum, tin, gold and tungsten — and promise their sourcing does not benefit armed groups. But the law does not cover rare earths. Audits are left up to individual companies, and no single agency is held accountable.
The State Department, which leads work on securing the U.S. rare earths supply, did not respond to repeated requests for comment. But experts say the government weighs the regulation of rare earths against other green goals, such as the sales and use of electric vehicles. With ongoing negotiations in Congress, the issue has become increasingly touchy, they say.
Rare earths are also omitted from the European Union’s 2021 regulation on conflict minerals. A European Commission statement noted gaps in oversight of the supply chain stretching to Europe, and said “it is yet unclear how” a Chinese push to regulate rare earths will work.
With no regulation or alternatives, companies have quietly continued shipping rare earths without environmental, social and governance audits, known as ESG.
“What would be the result if now the world would say, ‘We want to do ESG audits on all rare earths production’?” said Thomas Kruemmer, director of Ginger International Trade & Investment, which does mineral and metal supply chain management. “The result would be that 70% of production would need to be closed down.”
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The story of rare earths is one of a naked grab for resources while leaving the wreckage to other countries.
The United States offshored its rare earths mining to China in the 1980s because of environmental and cost issues. China’s leader at the time, Deng Xiaoping, declared rare earths China’s answer to “oil in the Middle East.” Tens of thousands of Chinese in the countryside discovered that they could make more in a month of mining than years of farming.
For decades the industry prospered. China became the world’s foremost miner of rare earths. A Beijing magazine called the profits “more addictive than drugs.”
Then, stung by public criticism, officials in Beijing declared war on the country’s dirty industries, including rare earths mining. At a 2012 press conference in Beijing, a top Chinese industry official brandished photos of the devastation — pockmarked land stripped bare of vegetation.
Caught in the crossfire were miners like Guo, who asked to be identified by his last name only.
For years, Guo, a former car repairman, earned a handsome living after joining the booming rare earths industry in his native Jiangxi province. Then Beijing began enforcing some of the world’s strongest environmental laws, shutting down mom-and-pop operations like his. Chinese satellites now snap photos from space, hunting for hidden mines.
But even while the supply from China is now monitored, the global demand for rare earths is expected to explode by 300% to 700% by 2040, according to the International Energy Agency. The proposed Inflation Reduction Act in the U.S. would increase demand even more by subsidizing the sale of electric vehicles in one of the world’s largest markets.
“The disturbing reality is that the cash that fuels these abuses ultimately comes from the world’s fast-growing demand for these minerals, driven by the scaling up of green energy technologies,” said Clare Hammond, a senior researcher at Global Witness, which also conducted field work in Myanmar.
China is also responding to competition from Europe and its greatest rival, the United States, which has called its dependence on rare earths from China a “national security risk.” Concerned that its shrinking reserves could allow Western countries to break its stranglehold on the industry, China encouraged companies to look abroad.
“Environmental controls have become much stricter,” said a government trade researcher, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media. “That’s why imports have increased. It’s better to get rare earths from abroad.”
The Chinese foreign, industrial and environmental ministries and the Jiangxi regional government did not respond to requests for comment.
As mines in China shuttered, ore prices rose. In neighboring Myanmar, home to some of the world’s richest deposits of what are known as heavy rare earths, opportunity beckoned. Thousands of Jiangxi miners streamed across the border.
“It reminds me of the European colonial attitudes towards Africa,” said an industry analyst, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid damaging ties with the Chinese government. “You just can’t be relying on third-world-type mining practices in a dictatorship like Myanmar. It’s not sustainable.”
That does not bother Guo.
In 2019, he got a call. An old contact was opening up shop in Myanmar and needed a technician. Would he like to go?
Guo said yes, joining what he describes as a modern-day gold rush. He recounted primitive working conditions, including clouds of mosquitoes and nights spent burning logs in ramshackle cabins. The miners dug hundreds of feet deep with shovels and their bare, callused hands.
“I lived in a virgin forest, I lived like a savage,” he said.
He and other Chinese workers in Myanmar described a web of small, unlicensed private mines that sell to China’s big state-owned mining conglomerates – directly or through trade intermediaries. When cash changes hands, few questions are asked.
“I’m only responsible for digging the mountain up and selling it,” Guo said. “The rest is none of my business.”
Since 2015, imports from Myanmar have grown almost a hundredfold, according to UN trade data. Myanmar is now China’s single largest source of heavy rare earths, making up nearly half of the supply, according to Chinese customs data and expert estimates.
A few years ago, there were just two or three mines in Myanmar, then dozens. Today there are hundreds, and Guo guesses there may soon be thousands. At this pace, he predicts, it won’t be long before Myanmar’s rare earths are all gone.
But Guo cares little about preservation or politics.
“They talk about future generations, I’m talking about survival today,” he said. “We just see if we can make money. It’s that simple.”
__
There is a name for what Myanmar has become: A “sacrifice zone,” or a place that destroys itself for the good of the world.
The sacrifice is visible from the air, in toxic turquoise pools that dot the landscape covered by mountain jungles just a few years ago. Since rare earth clays in Myanmar are soft and near the surface, they can easily be scooped into these pools of chemicals. Satellite imagery commissioned by Global Witness showed more than 2,700 of these pools at almost 300 separate locations.
The leaching agents have tainted tributaries of Myanmar’s main river, prompted landslides and poisoned the earth, according to witnesses, miners and local activists. Water is no longer drinkable, and endangered species such as tigers, pangolins and red pandas have fled the area.
A villager who lives along a river some 15 miles from the center of the mining sites said his wife used to catch and sell fish. Now the few they can catch make them ill, so they must buy from elsewhere at higher prices instead. Every time he enters the water, his feet feel itchy.
“There are no fish along the creek, not even small fishes,” said the villager, who asked to be anonymous for his safety. “Everything went extinct.”
Militias are rampant in these northern forest frontier areas, with at least one tied to the Border Guard Force backed by the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw. After a coup last year, the Tatmadaw is under international sanctions for human rights abuses, which means the rare earths money it gets from the militia may be going into a violent crackdown against civilians.
With the armed militias in control, villagers have no recourse to defend their land.
When village leaders filed a complaint about the effects of rare earth mining and testing on land needed for black cardamom, walnuts and livestock, a high-ranking militia leader aligned with the Border Guard Force angrily summoned them. He said rare earth mining would proceed with or without their agreement.
“You, village leaders, should solve this issue,” he yelled as he pointed to the leaders, according to a recording of the January meeting obtained by Global Witness, which was shared with and verified by the AP. “Otherwise, I’ll have to start shooting and killing people. Do not underestimate me. I am not a child – this is not child’s play.”
The Myanmar military, militia-owned mining companies and militia leaders did not respond to requests for comment.
In the meantime, mining projects continue to get ever closer to the land villagers are trying to protect.
“We dare not complain,” said a villager, who also asked to be anonymous for his safety. “If we say something … they beat us. We don’t want to be in prison.”
The militias and warlords have turned Myanmar’s frontier with China into a modern-day wild west, with each tiny fiefdom demanding a cut of the profits that flow through its land.
“(The money) has to be going to people that are not nice people,” said an executive at a Chinese magnets maker, who declined to be named to speak on a sensitive topic. “There’s no way out of it.”
For Dong, a Chinese miner, the hundreds of dollars he hands to the armed men lining the roads in Myanmar are the price of doing business.
“To enter Myanmar, you pay,” he said, declining to give his first name to speak on a sensitive topic. “It’s all about the money.”
Dong said police have told him that the rare earths he extracts can only be sold to China, not to the Americans or Japanese, because they are China’s strategic resources. He is under no illusions about the damage from acids so strong that they corrode the shovels of his bulldozers and excavators – something he’d never seen before.
“This stuff is unbelievable,” he said. “It’s definitely polluting.”
___
As rare earths from Myanmar travel around the world, they pass through many hands.
The most destructive mining is for heavy rare earths, which are critical to make powerful magnets heat-resistant. Ores are trucked across the border from illicit mines in Myanmar to southern China, where state-owned companies buy them up in sacks by the thousands. Among them: Minmetals, China Southern Rare Earth, and Rising Nonferrous Metals.
Some 70% of China Southern’s rare earth ores came from Myanmar, with the rest from recycling, Jiangxi customs official Liu Jingjing wrote in a paper. China Southern, among the world’s largest processors of heavy rare earths, has no active mining in China, according to Liu’s paper. A company post highlighted how it is “seizing overseas rare earth resources” and “opening up” imports from Myanmar.
Minmetals, another major producer, warned shareholders in recent annual reports that it relied heavily on imports, as its one major mining project in China didn’t produce enough. Rising Nonferrous, the third company, wrote on their website in 2020 that their trading subsidiary had won approval from Chinese customs to import Myanmar heavy rare earth ores.
All three companies did not respond to calls, emails and faxes requesting comment.
Those companies in turn supply three major magnet companies: Yantai Zhenghai Magnetic Material, JL MAG, and Zhong Ke San Huan, public agreements show. Rising Nonferrous also supplies Guangdong TDK, a joint venture with Tokyo-based TDK, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of cell phone, laptop, and hard drive components and a supplier of Apple and Samsung. TDK and the magnet companies did not respond to requests for comment.
As the ore is transformed into magnets, it is separated, refined and melted, according to interviews with miners and magnet engineers. Along the way, materials from different sources often get mixed, making it difficult to track any particular shipment of rare earths from Myanmar to a specific batch of magnets.
Chinese magnet makers often don’t know where their rare earths come from because many multinational companies don’t ask, an engineer at one company noted.
“There’s never been like, where do you get your rare earth?” said the engineer, declining to be named to speak candidly. “There should be concern, but there’s no concern within the industry.”
The magnet companies go on to supply intermediaries like components manufacturers and trading companies as well as big brands. The rare earths can pass through many more tiers of suppliers before reaching a consumer.
“The transparency in this industry is just so poor that the companies don’t know,” said Kristin Vekasi, a professor studying rare earth sourcing at the University of Maine.
Among global carmakers, GM, Volkswagen, and Mercedes said they expect suppliers to adhere to codes of conduct and due diligence, and Mercedes added that they were designing new motors to eliminate heavy rare earths. Ford said they conduct audits and request suppliers to identify sourcing.
Hyundai denied using rare earths from Myanmar, and Stellantis said that “to the best of Stellantis’ knowledge,” their rare earth supply chains only involve operations in China. Some auto parts makers, including Bosch, Brose and Nidec, also said they were assured by the magnet companies that their components were free of rare earths from Myanmar. Others, such as Continental AG and BorgWarner, said they expected suppliers to adhere to their codes of conduct.
However, only an order from the Chinese government could force companies to separate rare earths from Myanmar and China, according to Nabeel Mancheri, secretary general of the Rare Earth Industry Association. The group is trying to build a blockchain-based verification to link up international customers with the Chinese companies “upstream.”
“Nothing exists on auditing the Chinese supply chain,” he said. “Downstream players simply rely on whatever certificate they get from Chinese companies.”
Among electronics giants, Samsung said they did not tolerate rights violations or environmental damage but did not answer other specific questions about their suppliers. Toshiba, Panasonic and Hitachi did not comment on suppliers but said they would suspend working with businesses violating human rights.
Thyssenkrupp said it had “initiated measures” to find out more about the origin of the minerals for its magnet supplier. Other machinery manufacturers like Mitsubishi did not respond.
Among wind turbine manufacturers, Siemens Gamesa, which has projects in the United State and Europe, said it audits immediate suppliers and is preparing to trace those further upstream. It said “supplier feedbacks” showed only rare earths from China. Other wind companies, like Xinjiang Goldwind, did not respond.
But Klinger, the expert on illicit minerals tracing, said the only way for a company to be certain to avoid rare earths from Myanmar is to have their supply chain “entirely outside of Myanmar, China and potentially outside Southeast Asia.” She said there are cleaner ways to mine, but they cost more – a huge hurdle in the cutthroat world of commodities.
Mike Coffman, a former congressman who pushed for the original U.S. conflict minerals rules a decade ago, said he would like to see an expansion of the domestic supply of rare earths minerals, which is now before Congress. And U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, introduced a measure this year aimed at reducing U.S. reliance on China for rare earths and other critical minerals.
However, alternatives are still a long way in the future. In 2022, the U.S. and Australian governments both backed domestic rare earths projects with multimillion dollar financing, but facilities are years and tons of metals behind China’s current capacity.
Other countries with rare earths deposits are reluctant to mine them. Greenland’s parliament last year voted to halt a rare earth mining project, and efforts to develop a promising deposit in Sweden stalled because of local objections.
In the meantime, villagers still protest in one area in northern Myanmar where the black cardamom and walnuts grow – for now. Standing in the green mountains under a tree, a villager made it clear why they continue to raise their voices even when there’s been no recourse for others just a few mountains away.
“They are mining rare earth everywhere and we are no longer safe to drink water,” she said. “There is nothing to support the children. Nothing to eat.”
___
AP researcher Si Chen, investigative journalist Martha Mendoza and AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report.
____
To contact the AP’s investigations team, email investigative@ap.org. | 2022-08-09T05:42:18+00:00 | seattletimes.com | https://www.seattletimes.com/business/the-sacrifice-zone-myanmar-bears-cost-of-green-energy/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_nation-world |
Kanye West’s account appears to be reactivated on Twitter shortly after Musk takeover
(Gray News/AP) – Kanye West’s Twitter account appeared to be reactivated Friday, not long after Elon Musk took over the social media platform.
The hip-hop artist, who now goes by Ye, had been blocked from Twitter for several weeks after making antisemitic comments, breaking the company’s terms of service.
Several groups, including his talent agency, have since dropped their association with West in recent weeks as part of the backlash from the posts.
Musk purchased the social media platform for $44 billion with plans to take it private.
The Tesla CEO tried to soothe leery Twitter advertisers Thursday by saying that he is buying the platform to help humanity and doesn’t want it to become a “free-for-all hellscape.”
The message appeared to be aimed at addressing concerns among advertisers that Musk’s plans to promote free speech by cutting back on moderating content will open the floodgates to more online toxicity and drive away users.
Now the shares have changed hands, Twitter is Musk’s to do with as he pleases and he could reopen the account of former President Donald Trump as well.
Copyright 2022 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report. | 2022-10-28T17:00:35+00:00 | atlantanewsfirst.com | https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2022/10/28/kanye-west-reactivated-twitter-shortly-after-musk-takeover/ |
LONDON (AP) — Health authorities in Europe, North America, Israel and Australia have identified more than 100 cases of monkeypox in recent days.
Officials around the world are keeping watch for more cases because, for the first time, the rare disease appears to be spreading among people who didn’t travel to Africa, where monkeypox is endemic. They stress, however, that the risk to the general population is low.
WHAT IS MONKEYPOX?
Monkeypox is a virus that originates in wild animals like rodents and primates and occasionally jumps to people. It belongs to the same virus family as smallpox.
Most human cases have been in central and west Africa and outbreaks have been relatively limited.
The illness was first identified by scientists in 1958 when there were two outbreaks of a “pox-like” disease in research monkeys — thus the name monkeypox. The first known human infection was in 1970, in a young boy in a remote part of Congo.
WHAT CAUSED THIS LATEST OUTBREAK?
Health officials are still investigating, but a top adviser to the World Health Organization said this week that the leading theory is that monkeypox was likely spread after sexual activity at two recent raves in Europe.
Dr. David Heymann, who chairs WHO’s expert advisory group on infectious hazards, said monkeypox can spread when there is close contact with someone already infected with the disease, and that “it looks like sexual contact has now amplified that transmission.”
Authorities in countries including Britain, Spain, Germany and Portugal say most of the known cases in Europe have been among men who have sex with men, but experts emphasize that anyone can be infected through close contact with a sick person, their clothing or bedsheets.
Scientists say it will be difficult to determine whether the spread is being driven by sex or merely close contact.
WHY ARE MOST OF THE INFECTIONS IN MEN WHO HAVE SEX WITH MEN?
It’s unclear, but the disease is no more likely to infect gay and bisexual men than anyone else.
“This may just be unlucky that (monkeypox) happened to get into this one particular community first,” said Dr. Jake Dunning, an infectious diseases researcher at the University of Oxford, who is also involved in treating cases in London. “It’s just that they are a community and by having sex with each other, that is how it’s spreading,” he said.
Other experts warn the disease could spread more widely if measures aren’t taken to stop the outbreak.
“Infectious diseases don’t care about borders or social networks. Some groups may have a greater chance of exposure right now, but by no means is the current risk of exposure to monkeypox” exclusive to men who have sex with men, said the CDC’s Dr. John Brooks.
WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS AND HOW IS IT TREATED?
Most monkeypox patients experience only fever, body aches, chills and fatigue. People with more serious illness may develop a rash and lesions on the face and hands that can spread to other parts of the body.
Most people recover within about two to four weeks without needing to be hospitalized, monkeypox can be fatal for up to 6% of cases and is thought to be more severe in children.
Smallpox vaccines are effective against monkeypox and anti-viral drugs are also being developed.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control recommended all suspected cases be isolated and that high-risk contacts be offered a smallpox vaccine. The U.K. is offering high-risk contacts the smallpox vaccine and recommending anyone who might be infected to isolate until they recover.
The U.S. has 1,000 doses of a vaccine approved for the prevention of monkeypox and smallpox, plus more than 100 million doses of an older-generation smallpox vaccine in a government stockpile, officials said.
HOW WORRYING IS THIS OUTBREAK?
Any outbreak of an emerging virus is concerning, but most of the cases have been mild and there have been no deaths so far.
Monkeypox also requires very close contact to spread, so it is not likely to prompt big waves of disease like COVID-19, which can be transmitted in the air by people with no symptoms.
Still, Britain’s Health Security Agency has said it expects to see new infections “on a daily basis” and WHO’s Europe director warned that the summer season of festivals and parties could spread the disease. Many of the cases being identified have no links to previous infections, suggesting the virus is already spreading widely.
On Tuesday, Germany’s Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said the outbreak “is not the beginning of a new pandemic” but needed to be contained quickly.
HOW MANY MONKEYPOX CASES ARE THERE TYPICALLY?
The World Health Organization estimates there are thousands of monkeypox infections in about a dozen African countries every year. Most are in Congo, which reports about 6,000 cases annually, and Nigeria, with about 3,000 cases a year.
In the past, isolated cases of monkeypox have been spotted outside Africa, including in the U.S. and Britain. The cases were mostly linked to travel in Africa or contact with animals from areas where the disease is more common.
In 2003, 47 people in six U.S. states had confirmed or probable cases. They caught the virus from pet prairie dogs that been housed near imported small mammals from Ghana. | 2022-05-24T15:14:13+00:00 | siouxlandproud.com | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/national-news/where-and-how-is-monkeypox-spreading/ |
LONDON (AP) — The U.K. will begin its autumn COVID-19 vaccination campaign in the coming weeks after authorizing booster shots made by Pfizer and Moderna that have been modified to target both the original virus and the widely circulating omicron variant.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said Saturday that it had approved the Pfizer vaccine for used in people age 12 and older after finding it was both safe and effective. The agency authorized the Moderna vaccine last month.
The government will offer the vaccine to everyone age 50 and over, as well as front-line health care workers and other groups considered to be particularly at risk of serious illness as the National Health Service prepares for a surge in infections this winter.
“These innovative vaccines will broaden immunity and strengthen our defenses against what remains a life-threatening virus,” Health Secretary Steve Barclay said in a statement. “If eligible, please come forward for a booster jab as soon as you are contacted by the NHS.”
Previous COVID-19 vaccines targeted the initial strain, even as mutants emerged. In the new “bivalent” boosters, half of the shot targets the original vaccine and half offers protection against the newest omicron variants. | 2022-09-03T23:32:55+00:00 | cbs4indy.com | https://cbs4indy.com/news/national-world/ap-international/ap-uk-to-begin-rollout-of-new-covid-19-vaccination-campaign/ |
Former LSU student slams LSU, other La. universities for sexual assault mishandlings
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - A woman who says LSU failed to protect her and others after she was raped on campus is sharing her story as part of a massive Title IX lawsuit against several Louisiana universities.
In 2015, Mayumi Dickerson told LSU she was raped in her dorm room by a man named Victor Silva. He had already been accused of sexual assault at the time and later transferred to two other Louisiana schools where he was reported for the same offense. He was arrested but never charged. Dickerson said not seeing anyone held accountable for the last seven years has been the toughest part.
“That universities can just pass on the problem from university to university and the assailant can get the degree that I’ve been struggling to get,” said Dickerson.
Dickerson added her grades dropped as a result of her trauma. She was eventually expelled from LSU for poor grades. She described the school’s response to her case as heartbreaking.
Dickerson is one of several people suing Louisiana’s universities. The lawsuit claims to lay out how each of the schools involved failed to follow a law passed in 2015.
“And I want to make sure that these universities, particularly LSU, under new leadership put a stop to the sexual assault that occurs on their campus,” said Dickerson’s attorney, Bakari Sellers.
The 2015 law mandates communication and coordination between Louisiana’s public universities and law enforcement. Those laws were strengthened in the legislature in 2021 after much frustration over the alleged mishandling of reports.
Dickerson said if she could say one thing to each president of the universities involved, it would be this.
“Think of your students as everyone under your purview as a family member. You don’t want what happened to me to happen to anyone in your family,” explained Dickerson.
We did reach out to LSU for an interview to respond to all of this. But because this is pending litigation, the university declined.
Click here to report a typo.
Copyright 2022 WAFB. All rights reserved. | 2022-08-26T01:23:01+00:00 | kalb.com | https://www.kalb.com/2022/08/26/former-lsu-student-slams-lsu-other-la-universities-sexual-assault-mishandlings/ |
SHANGHAI, Dec. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ – 111, Inc. ("111" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: YI), a leading tech-enabled healthcare platform company committed to digitally connecting patients with medicine and healthcare services in China, today announced its unaudited financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2022.
Third Quarter 2022 Key Results
- Net revenues were RMB3.35 billion (US$470.8 million), representing an increase of 0.1% year-over-year.
- Gross segment profit (1) increased by 21.6% year-over-year, with B2B segment profit increasing by 26.9% year-over-year.
- Total operating expenses were RMB282.7 million (US$39.7 million), compared to RMB341.4 million in the same quarter of last year. As a percentage of net revenues, total operating expenses decreased to 8.4% from 10.2% in the same quarter of last year, which reflected continuous improvement in our operation efficiency.
- Non-GAAP loss from operations (2) was RMB48.7 million (US$6.9 million), compared to RMB135.9 million in the same quarter of last year. As a percentage of net revenues, non-GAAP loss from operations decreased to 1.5% from 4.1% in the same quarter of last year.
Mr. Junling Liu, Co-Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of 111, commented, "Our business was negatively impacted by lockdowns in various cities and provinces during the third quarter. We have tried our very best to work with local governments as well as logistics companies to fulfill our customer/patient orders as these medicines are badly needed. Our net revenue for third quarter increased by 0.1% year-over-year to RMB3.35 billion, while our gross segment profit increased by 21.6% year-over-year. Non-GAAP loss from operations was narrowed to 1.5% of net revenues as compared to 4.1% in the same quarter of last year. We are also pleased to see our positive operating cash flow and overall cash flow for the quarter."
Mr. Liu added, "Our efforts to improve our margin profile continued to deliver positive results during the quarter. Our overall gross segment margin(3) as a percentage of net revenues improved to 6.0% from 5.0% in the same quarter of last year. B2B segment profit grew by 26.9% year-over-year, and as a percentage of net revenues, B2B segment margin improved to 5.5% from 4.4% in the same quarter of last year. We also improved B2C segment margin to 22.4% from 19.7% in the same quarter of last year. In addition, we continued to enhance our operation efficiency and total operating expenses as a percentage of net revenues decreased to 8.4% in this quarter from 10.2% in the same quarter of last year. We expect this momentum to continue as we scale, and meanwhile we will continue to focus on delivering best services to our customers/patients."
Third Quarter 2022 Financial Results
Net revenues were RMB3,349 million (US$470.8 million), representing an increase of 0.1% from RMB3,346 million in the same quarter of last year.
Operating costs and expenses were RMB3.4 billion (US$482.1 million), representing a decrease of 2.6% from RMB3.5 billion in the same quarter of last year.
- Cost of products sold was RMB3.1 billion (US$442.4 million), representing a decrease of 1.1% from RMB3.2 billion in the same quarter of last year.
- Fulfillment expenses were RMB100.2 million (US$14.1 million), representing a decrease of 0.4% from RMB100.6 million in the same quarter of last year. Fulfillment expenses accounted for 2.99% of net revenues this quarter as compared to 3.01% in the same quarter of last year.
- Selling and marketing expenses were RMB107.8 million (US$15.2 million), representing a decrease of 18.2% from RMB131.8 million in the same quarter of last year. We continued to see the improved sales efficiency and effectiveness. As a percentage of net revenues, selling and marketing expenses further reduced to 3.2% in the quarter from 3.9% in the same quarter of last year.
- General and administrative expenses were RMB46.1 million (US$6.5 million), representing a decrease of 13.1% from RMB53.1 million in the same quarter of last year. As a percentage of net revenues, general and administrative expense decreased to 1.4% in the quarter from 1.6% in the same quarter of last year.
- Technology expenses were RMB29.5 million (US$4.2 million), representing a decrease of 47.3% from RMB56.1 million in the same quarter of last year. As a percentage of net revenues, technology expenses accounted for 0.9% this quarter as compared to 1.7% in the same quarter of last year. We completed major tech development programs last year and believe that current spending reflected the appropriate amount of investment in technology.
Loss from operations was RMB80.7 million (US$11.3 million), compared to RMB175.4 million in the same quarter of last year. As a percentage of net revenues, loss from operations decreased to 2.4% in the quarter from 5.2% in the same quarter of last year.
Non-GAAP loss from operations was RMB48.7 million (US$6.9 million), compared to RMB135.9 million in the same quarter of last year. As a percentage of net revenues, non-GAAP loss from operations decreased to 1.5% in the quarter from 4.1% in same quarter of last year.
Net loss was RMB86.2 million (US$12.1 million), compared to RMB165.8 million in the same quarter of last year. As a percentage of net revenues, net loss decreased to 2.6% in the quarter from 5.0% in same quarter of last year.
Non-GAAP net loss (5) was RMB54.3 million (US$7.6 million), compared to RMB126.3 million in the same quarter of last year. As a percentage of net revenues, non-GAAP net loss decreased to 1.6% in the quarter from 3.8% in same quarter of last year.
Net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders was RMB96.8 million (US$13.6 million), compared to RMB252.9 million in the same quarter of last year. As a percentage of net revenues, net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders decreased to 2.9% in the quarter from 7.6% in same quarter of last year.
Non-GAAP net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders (6) was RMB64.9 million (US$9.1 million), compared to RMB213.4 million in the same quarter of last year. As a percentage of net revenues, non-GAAP net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders decreased to 1.9% in the quarter from 6.4% in same quarter of last year.
As of September 30, 2022, the Company has cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments of RMB865.9 million (US$121.7 million), compared to RMB943.2 million as of December 31, 2021.
Conference Call
111's management team will host an earnings conference call at 7:30 AM U.S. Eastern Time on Thursday, December 1, 2022 (8:30 PM Beijing Time on the same day).
Details for the conference call are as follows:
Conference Topic: 111, Inc. Third Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call
Registration Link: https://s1.c-conf.com/diamondpass/10026835-fg6ds.html
All participants must use the link provided above to complete the online registration process in advance of the conference call. Upon registering, each participant will then be provided with the dial in number, the Passcode, and the unique access PIN. This information will also be emailed to the participant as a calendar invite.
Please dial in 15 minutes before the call is scheduled to begin. To join the conference, simply dial the number in the calendar invite and enter the passcode followed by your PIN, and the participant will join the conference instantly.
A live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the website at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/kpnswevm.
A telephone replay of the call will be available after the conclusion of the conference call until Dec 8, 2022, 7:59 AM U.S. Eastern Time:
China: 4001209216
United States: +1-855-883-1031
International: +61-7-3107-6325
Conference ID: 10026835
Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
In evaluating the business, the Company considers and uses non-GAAP loss from operations, non-GAAP net loss, non-GAAP net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders, and non-GAAP loss per ADS, as supplemental measures to review and assess its operating performance. The Company defines non-GAAP loss from operations as loss from operations excluding share-based compensation expenses. The Company defines non-GAAP net loss as net loss excluding share-based compensation expenses, net of tax. The Company defines non-GAAP net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders as net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders excluding share-based compensation expenses, net of tax. The Company defines non-GAAP loss per ADS as net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders per ADS excluding share-based compensation expenses, net of tax per ADS. The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP.
The Company believes that non-GAAP loss from operations, non-GAAP net loss, non-GAAP net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders, and non-GAAP loss per ADS help identify underlying trends in its business that could otherwise be distorted by the effect of certain expenses that it includes in loss from operations and net loss. Share-based compensation expenses is a non-cash expense that varies from period to period. As a result, management excludes the items from its internal operating forecasts and models. Management believes that the adjustments for share-based compensation expenses provide investors with a reasonable basis to measure the company's core operating performance, in a more meaningful comparison with the performance of other companies. The Company believes that non-GAAP loss from operations, non-GAAP net loss, non-GAAP net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders, and non-GAAP loss per ADS provide useful information about its operating results, enhances the overall understanding of its past performance and future prospects and allow for greater visibility with respect to key metrics used by the management in their financial and operational decision-making.
The non-GAAP financial measures are not defined under U.S. GAAP and are not presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The non-GAAP financial measures have limitations as analytical tools. One of the key limitations of using non-GAAP loss from operations, non-GAAP net loss, non-GAAP net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders, or non-GAAP loss per ADS is that it does not reflect all items of income and expense that affect the Company's operations. Further, the non-GAAP financial measures may differ from the non-GAAP information used by other companies, including peer companies, and therefore their comparability may be limited.
The Company compensates for these limitations by reconciling the non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable U.S. GAAP measures, all of which should be considered when evaluating the Company's performance. The Company encourages you to review its financial information in its entirety and not rely on a single financial measure.
Reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable U.S. GAAP measures is included at the end of this press release.
Exchange Rate Information Statement
This announcement contains translations of certain RMB amounts into U.S. dollars at specified rates solely for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from RMB to U.S. dollars are made at a rate of RMB7.1135 to US$1.00, the exchange rate set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System as of September 30, 2022.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements constitute "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "target," "confident" and similar statements. Among other things, the Business Outlook and quotations from management in this announcement, as well as 111's strategic and operational plans, contain forward-looking statements. 111 may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Such statements are based upon management's current expectations and current market and operating conditions and relate to events that involve known or unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the Company's control. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any such statements. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, uncertainties as to the Company's ability comply with extensive and evolving regulatory requirements, its ability to compete effectively in the evolving PRC general health and wellness market, its ability to manage the growth of its business and expansion plans, its ability to achieve or maintain profitability in the future, its ability to control the risks associated with its pharmaceutical retail and wholesale businesses, and the Company's ability to meet the standards necessary to maintain listing of its ADSs on the Nasdaq Global Market, including its ability to cure any non-compliance with Nasdaq's continued listing criteria. Further information regarding these and other risks, uncertainties or factors is included in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and 111 does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law.
About 111, Inc.
111, Inc. (NASDAQ: YI) ("111" or the "Company") is a leading tech-enabled healthcare platform company committed to digitally connecting patients with medicine and healthcare services in China. The Company provides consumers with better access to pharmaceutical products and healthcare services directly through its online retail pharmacy, 1 Pharmacy, and indirectly through its offline virtual pharmacy network. The Company also offers online healthcare services through its internet hospital, 1 Clinic, which provides consumers with cost-effective and convenient online consultation, electronic prescription service, and patient management service. In addition, the Company's online platform, 1 Medicine, serves as a one-stop shop for pharmacies to source a vast selection of pharmaceutical products. With the largest virtual pharmacy network in China, 111 enables offline pharmacies to better serve their customers with cloud-based services. 111 also provides an omni-channel drug commercialization platform to its strategic partners, which includes services such as digital marketing, patient education, data analytics, and pricing monitoring.
For more information on 111, please visit: http://ir.111.com.cn/.
For more information, please contact:
111, Inc.
Investor Relations
Email: ir@111.com.cn
111, Inc.
Media Relations
Email: press@111.com.cn
Phone: +86-021-2053 6666 (China)
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SOURCE 111, Inc. | 2022-12-01T09:20:16+00:00 | live5news.com | https://www.live5news.com/prnewswire/2022/12/01/111-inc-announces-third-quarter-2022-unaudited-financial-results/ |
HAIFA, Israel, Nov. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ: ESLT) (TASE: ESLT) ("Elbit Systems") announced today that it was awarded a contract valued at $72 million to supply Hermes™ 900 Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and training capabilities to an international customer. The contract will be performed over a two-year period.
Under the contract, Elbit Systems will supply Hermes 900 UAS equipped with the SkEye™ Wide Area Persistent Surveillance system, SPECTRO™ XR multi-spectral Electro-Optical payload, Satellite Communication, Signal Intelligence (SIGINT) payloads and additional capabilities.
The Hermes 900 UAS has been selected to-date by more than 15 customers attesting to its competitive edge combining technological sophistication, reliability, open architecture and a solid growth path.
Yoram Shmuely, General Manager of Elbit Systems Aerospace, commented: "This contract is another vote of confidence in the Hermes family of UAS. We are witnessing growing demand around the globe for our unmanned solutions that are capable of effective integration with manned forces to address the rapidly evolving threats in all domains of operation."
About Elbit Systems
Elbit Systems Ltd. is an international high technology company engaged in a wide range of defense, homeland security and commercial programs throughout the world. The Company, which includes Elbit Systems and its subsidiaries, operates in the areas of aerospace, land and naval systems, command, control, communications, computers, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance ("C4ISR"), unmanned aircraft systems, advanced electro-optics, electro-optic space systems, EW suites, signal intelligence systems, data links and communications systems, radios, cyber-based systems and munitions. The Company also focuses on the upgrading of existing platforms, developing new technologies for defense, homeland security and commercial applications and providing a range of support services, including training and simulation systems.
For additional information, visit: https://elbitsystems.com, follow us on Twitter or visit our official Facebook, Youtube and LinkedIn Channels.
Company Contacts:
Joseph Gaspar, Senior EVP – Business Management
Tel: +972-77-2948661
j.gaspar@elbitsystems.com
Yaacov (Kobi) Kagan, EVP & Chief Financial Officer
Tel: +972-77-2946663
kobi.kagan@elbitsystems.com
Rami Myerson, Director, Investor Relations
Tel: +972-77-2948984
rami.myerson@elbitsystems.com
David Vaaknin, VP, Head of Corporate Communications
Tel: +972-77-2946691
david.vaaknin@elbitsystems.com
IR Contact:
Ehud Helft
Kenny Green
EK Global IR
Tel: 1-212-378-8040
elbitsystems@ekgir.com
This press release may contain forward–looking statements (within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and the Israeli Securities Law, 1968) regarding Elbit Systems Ltd. and/or its subsidiaries (collectively the Company), to the extent such statements do not relate to historical or current facts. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions about future events. Forward–looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions about the Company, which are difficult to predict, including projections of the Company's future financial results, its anticipated growth strategies and anticipated trends in its business. Therefore, actual future results, performance and trends may differ materially from these forward–looking statements due to a variety of factors, including, without limitation: scope and length of customer contracts; governmental regulations and approvals; changes in governmental budgeting priorities; general market, political and economic conditions in the countries in which the Company operates or sells, including Israel and the United States among others; changes in global health and macro-economic conditions; differences in anticipated and actual program performance, including the ability to perform under long-term fixed-price contracts; changes in the competitive environment; and the outcome of legal and/or regulatory proceedings. The factors listed above are not all-inclusive, and further information is contained in Elbit Systems Ltd.'s latest annual report on Form 20-F, which is on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward–looking statements speak only as of the date of this release. Although the Company believes the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements contained herein are reasonable, it cannot guarantee future results, level of activity, performance or achievements. Moreover, neither the Company nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any of these forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update its forward-looking statements.
Elbit Systems Ltd., its logo, brand, product, service and process names appearing in this Press Release are the trademarks or service marks of Elbit Systems Ltd. or its affiliated companies. All other brand, product, service and process names appearing are the trademarks of their respective holders. Reference to or use of a product, service or process other than those of Elbit Systems Ltd. does not imply recommendation, approval, affiliation or sponsorship of that product, service or process by Elbit Systems Ltd. Nothing contained herein shall be construed as conferring by implication, estoppel or otherwise any license or right under any patent, copyright, trademark or other intellectual property right of Elbit Systems Ltd. or any third party, except as expressly granted herein.
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SOURCE Elbit Systems Ltd. | 2022-11-14T08:31:15+00:00 | newschannel10.com | https://www.newschannel10.com/prnewswire/2022/11/14/elbit-systems-awarded-72-million-contract-supply-hermes-900-unmanned-aircraft-systems-an-international-customer/ |
San Antonio is one step closer in the development of a public park next to the historic Hays Street Bridge on the East Side.
The San Antonio City Council this week approved a $2.5 million contract to begin the construction of the Berkley V. & Vincent M. Dawson Park. The park is slated to include two skate parks, a park pavilion and open space that allows for park-goers to see Hays Street Bridge.
The 1.7-acre lot on North Cherry Street was previously at the center of a years-long battle over whether it should be turned into a public park or used by a developer to construct a multistory apartment building.
READ MORE: Hays Street Bridge activists score a bitter victory
The property was supposed to become a park before the city sold it in 2012, prompting activists to condemn the city’s decision.
Plans to build the apartment building were cancelled in 2019 after the Texas Supreme Court sided with activists, ruling that the city did not have “governmental immunity” and that activists could sue the city. The City Council ultimately voted to turn the lot into a park.
“Today’s vote was another pivotal step in the journey to realize the vision of community leaders, organizers, and historians to create a free, public park near the Hays Street Bridge,” Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez said in a statement. “We look forward to breaking ground on the project and following it through to completion.”
Gabriella.Ybarra@express-news.net | 2023-04-08T21:56:04+00:00 | expressnews.com | https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/san-antonio-park-historic-hays-17886298.php |
Amber Alert issued for 7-year-old Texas girl
BRYAN, Texas (KBTX/Gray News) - An Amber Alert was issued Wednesday afternoon for a missing child in Bryan, Texas.
Ana Cristina Torres Medina, 7, was last seen around 7:00 p.m. Tuesday in the 700 block of Scott & White Drive in College Station, Texas.
She is described as having brown hair and brown eyes.
Authorities identified Pedro Angel Aranda Jimenez as the suspect in the case, according to the Amber Alert.
Jimenez has a warrant issued for his arrest “related to this incident,” according to the alert.
Ana and Jimenez may be traveling in a 2005 Dodge Durango with Texas license plate number HBY0222. The vehicle may be headed to the U.S.-Mexico border.
If you have any information, contact Bryan Police at 979-209-5300 or dial 911.
Copyright 2022 KBTX via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | 2022-08-17T21:44:54+00:00 | kalb.com | https://www.kalb.com/2022/08/17/amber-alert-issued-7-year-old-texas-girl/ |
NEW YORK (AP) _ Pzena Investment Management Inc. (PZN) on Tuesday reported profit of $2.5 million in its second quarter.
On a per-share basis, the New York-based company said it had net income of 15 cents.
The asset manager posted revenue of $48.7 million in the period.
_____
This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on PZN at https://www.zacks.com/ap/PZN | 2022-07-26T22:33:35+00:00 | lmtonline.com | https://www.lmtonline.com/business/article/Pzena-Q2-Earnings-Snapshot-17330691.php |
Bravo is chugging along with “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” in the form of several additions to the show.
Two main cast members and two “friend” roles are being introduced in “RHONJ” season 13.
Danielle Cabral and Rachel Fuda step into the cast slots while Jennifer Fessler joins as a friend of the cast. See more about them below.
This is the first major addition to the cast since Jennifer Aydin (Paramus) and Jackie Goldschneider (Tenafly) joined the long-running reality series as housewives in season nine (2018).
This season, Goldschneider returns, but in a friend role and not as a main cast member.
Teresa Giudice remains the veteran cast member, a part of the main cast since its 2009 premiere and the only one remaining from that group.
Some of the new faces can be seen in the trailer for the coming season, which Bravo shared Wednesday.
Giudice’s big Jersey wedding to Louie Ruelas and supersized bridal hair feature prominently in scenes from the show, as does her rift with her sister-in-law Melissa Gorga and brother Joe Gorga (who were not part of the wedding). Guidice’s separate Bravo wedding special will air after Season 13 of “RHONJ.”
The upcoming season of the reality show, which starts in February (see tune-in info below), also sees the introduction of main cast member Dolores Catania’s Irish boyfriend, Paul Connell (her ex-husband, Frank Catania, is apparently none too happy).
Aydin’s relationship with her husband, Bill Aydin, suffers after his affair, and Margaret Josephs scraps with Aydin again.
Here’s a quick intro to the new cast members.
Danielle Cabral
“I’m over the top and extra,” Cabral says in the “RHONJ” trailer.
And she’s no stranger to reality TV.
Cabral, who was a guest at Giudice’s wedding this past summer, calls herself a “future Emmy winner.” She hails from Staten Island but has been living in Jersey.
The mother of two children she shares with husband Nate — daughter Valentina and son Dominic — has been the owner of the online children’s boutique Boujie Kidz since 2018. (She also calls herself “The Boujie Mama.”)
Before that, Cabral appeared in MTV’s “True Life” series in the 2006 episode “True Life: I’m a Staten Island Girl.” She later hosted for MTV.
Cabral also appeared on the former DIY Network’s (now Magnolia Network) “Family Under Construction” series.
In “RHONJ,” Cabral will address her strained relationship with her brother, Bravo says.
She will also attempt to broker peace between Teresa Giudice and Melissa and Joe Gorga.
Here’s Cabral’s “reel” video.
Rachel Fuda
Fuda, the other main “RHONJ” cast addition, is a mother of three — two young children with her husband, John Fuda, and her stepson, John’s teen son Jaiden, who she considers adopting in the show.
“I’m a total dictator mom,” she says in the “RHONJ” trailer. “There’s no democracy up in this b-ch.”
Fuda works for Valet King, the business she runs with John that provides valets, concierge staff, security, car washes and detailing. She also works with Fuda Tile, the business owned by John’s family.
In the series trailer, Margaret Josephs calls Fuda a “glamorous Tim Burton character.”
On “RHONJ,” Bravo says she has a skirmish with Jennifer Aydin but finds support in her allies, Josephs and Melissa Gorga. Fuda’s stepson, Jaiden, is friends with Gorga’s son Gino — that’s how the two wives got close.
Jennifer Fessler
Fessler, who goes by Jenn, is co-founder and CEO of F. Major, a line of high heels (tagline: “3 inches never felt so good”) that take a stab at comfort.
The mother and wife joins the show as a friend of the other wives via her pre-”RHONJ” friendship with Margaret Josephs.
Bravo says she’s got the filter-less outspokenness shared by so many other of the network’s stars.
In the Instagram post below, Fessler is seen with her counterpart, “RHONJ” veteran Jackie Goldschneider.
Jackie Goldschneider’s new role
After seeking treatment for her eating disorder, Tenafly’s Goldschneider, formerly a main cast member, is back on the show in a “friend” role.
The writer and former lawyer, mother to two sets of twins, has been addressing the change.
“When Bravo approached me about casting for season 13, I obviously was very excited to be a part of the show again because I love the show,” she tells People. “But my recovery was not in the place that I expected it to be. It was moving very slowly. I was still being triggered by stress and I still needed a lot of intense therapy.”
She says for many years, she had been coping with stress by self-soothing with food, restricting her intake as a means of feeling in control. Taking a less involved role in “RHONJ” allowed her to make better progress in therapy.
“Even though that was a really tough pill to swallow and it was hard for me to step back a little bit after having been such a big part of the show for so many years, I really knew that that was probably the best solution,” Goldschneider says.
“RHONJ” season 13 will premiere with a 75-minute episode 9 p.m ET/PT Tuesday, Feb. 7 on Bravo (streaming on Peacock the next day).
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Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com and followed at @AmyKup on Twitter. | 2022-12-22T05:12:47+00:00 | nj.com | https://www.nj.com/entertainment/2022/12/rhonj-adds-3-new-faces-for-season-13-trailer-introduces-jersey-wives.html |
Ervin Ronald Ratliff passed away on May 17, 2022 at the age of 73 in Great Falls, Montana. Born in Middletown, Ohio on January 18, 1949, Ron spent his early childhood years in Farmersville, Ohio. His family moved to Conrad, Montana where he became quite the athlete participating in football, baseball, basketball, and swimming. As a young man, Ron worked as a derrickhand in the oil fields of Montana and Wyoming. He met his wife, June, a telephone operator, while trying to locate the number for an ex-girlfriend. Turns out that call to the operator connected him with the love of his life. He joined the US Navy in 1976 and spent four years traveling the world.
Following his time as a sailor, he and June settled in Gig Harbor, Washington to raise their family. Through the years, Ron worked as an auto mechanic and truck driver. However, his favorite job was caring for his two children. He was Mr. Mom long before it was cool. He was a pro at packing school lunches with extra Oreos and shuttling kids around sometimes to the ski slopes instead of school. Ron also enjoyed traveling, playing poker, riding his motorcycle, scuba diving, and crime documentaries.
Ron is survived by his wife of 49 years, June, son Brandon Ratliff (Heather) of Belt, Montana, daughter Ronda Jensen (Mark) of Shelton, Washington, brothers Dean Ratliff (Linda) of Casper, Wyoming, David Ratliff (Sheila) of Bozeman, Montana, sister-in-law Shelly Hauge of Odessa, Washington and grandchildren Rylan, Lillie, Gunnar, Bo, Elsa, Gus and Eva.
To read the complete obituary and share condolences, visit the Schnider Funeral Home website. | 2022-05-21T16:06:36+00:00 | krtv.com | https://www.krtv.com/news/obituaries/obituary-ervin-ronald-ratliff |
Trump says CNN town hall appearance could turn into ‘disaster for all’
Posted/updated on: May 10, 2023 at 5:49 am(WASHINGTON) -- A day after being found liable for battery and defamation, former President Donald Trump is set to participate in a prime-time town hall on CNN on Wednesday -- after years of bitter battle with the cable network over its sharply critical coverage.
It's the first time the recently indicted and twice-impeached former president will appear on the network since the 2016 presidential campaign, with Trump as the first candidate CNN will provide a town hall setting to as part of a series of such forums during the 2024 presidential cycle.
On Tuesday, before the jury reached a verdict in the civil case alleging rape brought by E. Jean Carroll, Trump said that the event, moderated by CNN This Morning anchor and former CNN Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins, "could turn into a disaster for all, including me," but claimed in a post on his Truth Social media platform, "They made me a deal I couldn't refuse!!!"
A CNN spokesperson told ABC News that "No subject is off limits" as criticism mounted of both Trump and CNN.
The network has promoted the town hall, taking place at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire at 8 p.m. ET, as featuring Trump fielding questions from Republican and undecided voters.
Trump, who during and after his time in office had repeatedly blasted the network as "fake news," said CNN was "desperate to get those fantastic (TRUMP!) ratings once again."
Critics of CNN said it should not be giving Trump a live, prime-time platform -- "normalizing" him as just another presidential candidate -- and claiming it's part of new CNN effort to appeal to a more conservative audience.
"Jury finds Trump guilty of sexual assault. Great timing for the CNN Town Hall!" Norman Ornstein, a political scholar, said in a tweet on Tuesday following news of Trump being found liable.
The former president also is currently under multiple investigations into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
CNN has tried to rebut those critics' claims by stating it was only giving Trump -- the current GOP primary front-runner -- the same platform it would be giving other 2024 presidential hopefuls.
"This Town Hall is part of a longstanding CNN tradition of hosting leading presidential candidates for Town Halls and political events, connecting those running for office directly with constituents, as part of the network's robust campaign coverage," a CNN spokesperson said in a statement. "CNN is no stranger to these types of events and this Town Hall will be the first of many in the 2024 election cycle."
David Zaslav, the CEO of CNN's parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, said in a recent interview with CNBC that Trump's stature in the 2024 race warranted his appearance on the network.
"We need to hear both voices," Zaslav said.
The Great Task, a political action committee sponsored by former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, launched a new ad Tuesday it said was scheduled to air on CNN this week in New Hampshire "ahead of and during the former President's scheduled town hall on the network in the state."
The ad warns voters that "Donald Trump is a risk America can never take again," highlighting scenes from the Jan. 6 insurrection.
At the same time, some observers have highlighted the personal matchup between Trump and Collins, who earned a reputation for tough but fair coverage during Trump's tenure and who was once barred from a Rose Garden event after objecting to her questions.
Alyssa Farah Griffin, a panelist on ABC News' The View, and a former member of Trump's communications team, tweeted that Collins "is one of the toughest interviews out there. Anyone thinking that Trump will get away with lying without being called out needs to watch her past interviews. Honestly surprised he agreed."
Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. | 2023-05-10T13:22:23+00:00 | ktbb.com | https://ktbb.com/post/?p=1225098 |
LVMPD arrests 16-year-old accused of killing 1, injuring another on Fremont Street
LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department arrested a 16-year-old more than a week after shots rang out on the Fremont Street Experience.
Detectives identified the shooting suspect as Ruben Robles. Robles was arrested on Friday near the 3100 block of Nellis Boulevard.
Detectives say a fight broke out between several people around 2 a.m. on June 19. One of the suspects pulled out a handgun and began firing.
As officers responded on foot, they located two victims suffering from gunshot wounds. The victims were transported to UMC Trauma where one was pronounced deceased.
The victim who died was involved in the fight. FOX5 confirmed the second victim was visiting from Idaho and is recovering from his injuries.
Anyone with any information about this incident is urged to contact the LVMPD Homicide Section by phone at 702-828-3521, or by email. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers by phone at 702-385-5555, or on the internet.
Copyright 2022 KVVU. All rights reserved. | 2022-06-28T00:54:05+00:00 | fox5vegas.com | https://www.fox5vegas.com/2022/06/27/lvmpd-arrests-16-year-old-accused-killing-1-injuring-another-fremont-street/ |
Latest Research Underscores Importance of Digitalization, Core Operations to Success
PEARL RIVER, N.Y., Dec. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ACORD, the global standards-setting body for the insurance industry, today released its 2022 U.S. Property & Casualty Value Creation Study, which measures and analyzes value creation among the top 100 U.S. P&C insurance carriers over a twenty-year period. The study leveraged in-depth financial analysis, data-driven research, and interviews with industry leaders to assess carrier performance and the strategies that support success.
ACORD analyzed the 100 largest U.S. P&C insurers and the value they created or destroyed through both underwriting and investment, with the total value created by the top 100 over the study period totaling $182 billion. Carriers were then segmented into three categories based on their performance: Sustainable Value Creators exceeded the benchmark of required returns through both underwriting and investment activities; Hollow Value Creators met required returns through their investments but failed to generate value through underwriting; and Value Destroyers failed to generate sufficient value over the study period. Each group was further assessed to identify the strategies, tactics, and capabilities that lead to high performance.
"We see an increased emphasis on modernization, with the critical role of digitalization clearly understood across the industry," said ACORD President & CEO Bill Pieroni. "The COVID pandemic, and the resulting necessity for digitally mediated interactions, made even the most ardent digital skeptics accept the importance of digital capabilities. However, this also means that the bar is continually being raised for digitally mature carriers to stay ahead in performance metrics."
The updated study contains data and insights current as of this year. Key insights from the 2022 edition of the U.S. Property & Casualty Value Creation Study include:
- Advantages of scale: While scale and scope economies tend to be elusive across the global insurance market in general, ACORD's research did find that the largest carriers tended to generate more sustainable value in the U.S. P&C market. This is likely the result of being able to devote resources to consistent development and renewal of digital capabilities over the long term.
- Importance of talent: Sustainable Value Creators are clearly winning the "war for talent," a critical issue facing our industry. Insurers classified as Sustainable Value Creators, on average, had the highest levels of employee retention and satisfaction in the study. Moreover, colleagues at Sustainable Value Creators had the highest levels of productivity and corresponding value creation.
- Unsustainability of relying on investment: Lower investment returns over the past several months, compared to the average over the twenty-year period studied, impacted value generation across the industry. In a reversal over previous years, Sustainable Value Creators generated more value through underwriting than through investment. Many previous Hollow Value Creators failed to generate adequate value, and sank into the Value Destroyer category.
"These results highlight the risk of relying on investment returns to offset underwriting losses," Pieroni continued. "In this year's study, we saw the vulnerability of Hollow Value Creators to market fluctuations. This inevitable volatility of investment returns illustrates the peril of relying solely on investment-based value creation — it is not sustainable. It is necessary to generate value through underwriting as well."
The full 2022 U.S. Property & Casualty Value Creation Study is free to download for ACORD members. For more information or to download the white paper, please visit www.acord.org/research.
About ACORD
ACORD (Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development) is the global standards-setting body for the insurance and related financial services industries. ACORD facilitates fast, accurate data exchange and efficient workflows through the development of electronic standards, standardized forms, and tools to support their use. ACORD engages thousands of insurance and reinsurance companies, agents and brokers, software providers, financial services organizations and industry associations in more than 100 countries. ACORD maintains offices in New York and London. Learn more at www.acord.org.
CONTACT: Beth Jarecki
beth@lpendragonus.com
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE ACORD | 2022-12-15T15:16:03+00:00 | mysuncoast.com | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2022/12/15/acords-2022-us-property-amp-casualty-value-creation-study-highlights-key-drivers-high-performance-among-top-insurers/ |
Country singer Jason Aldean released a new music video this week touting how small towns wouldn't put up with the kind of riots and lawlessness many cities across the country faced during the summer of 2020.
With lyrics warning violent criminals, as well as those who disrespect law enforcement and the American flag to "try that in a small town," Aldean sings, "Yeah, ya think you're tough? Well, try that in a small town, see how far ya make it down the road. Around here, we take care of our own, you cross that line, it won't take long for you to find out, I recommend you don't."
Footage from smash and grab robberies and cities burning during the 2020 riots are shown in the background of the new music video for "Try That in a Small Town." The song's tough stance on crime and pro-Second Amendment messaging upset some liberals, who voiced their complaints on Twitter.
JASON ALDEAN SUFFERS FROM HEAT STROKE IN HARTFORD, RUNS OFF STAGE MID-PERFORMANCE
Gun control activist Shannon Watts of Moms Demand Action took issue with the lyrics since Aldean was on stage during the Las Vegas massacre in 2017.
"@Jason_Aldean- who was on-stage during the mass shooting at a Las Vegas concert in 2017 that killed 60 people and wounded over 400 more - has recorded a song called ‘Try That In A Small Town’ about how he and his friends will shoot you if you try to take their guns," she wrote.
Police reform activist Brittany Packnett Cunningham accused the singer of not telling the truth about shootings in small towns.
"Uvalde? Small town. VA Tech? Small college town. Newtown? Small New England town. Parkland? Small town that had just been voted Florida's *safest* town. Most mass shootings occur in *small towns*," Packnett Cunningham wrote, tagging Aldean. "Your listeners are dying," she criticized.
The activist claimed that besides being insensitive, the song was also racist.
"Just 1 look at the lyrics & you see that beyond this being so insensitive to the small town folks dying from gun violence, it is also just a racist dog whistle Invoking ‘urban’ crimes that we better not do in ‘his" (sundown) ‘town.’ This is for the ’what about Chicago??' crowd." she added.
Liberal podcast host Jim Stewartson fumed the country singer was "openly radicalizing his fans."
"This is one of the most dangerous, irresponsible videos from a mainstream artist I have ever seen," he wrote. "@Jason_Aldean is openly radicalizing his fans into white nationalist vigilante violence." The critic accused the singer of inciting violence and demanded the video be taken down.
JASON ALDEAN SAYS HE'LL 'NEVER APOLOGIZE' FOR HIS BELIEFS AFTER FAMILY GETS CRITICIZED FOR ANTI-BIDEN MERCH
Mississippi Free Press news editor Ashton Pittman also criticized Aldean for choosing a controversial location for filming the pro-law enforcement music video.
"Jason Aldean shot this at the site where a white lynch mob strung Henry Choate up at the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tenn., after dragging his body through the streets with a car in 1927. That's where Aldean chose to sing about murdering people who don't respect police," the journalist complained.
The country singer has received heat in the past for boldly sharing his political views.
In 2021, he received criticism from the left after his family was spotted wearing anti-Biden merchandise. Aldean told critics that he'd "never apologize" for his beliefs.
"I will never apologize for my beliefs or my love for my family and country," Aldean wrote on Instagram at the time. "This is the greatest country in the world and I want to keep it that way. #unapologetic." | 2023-07-18T17:50:53+00:00 | foxbangor.com | https://www.foxbangor.com/news/national/country-singer-jason-aldean-angers-liberal-activists-with-anti-crime-pro-gun-song-about-2020/article_d9a36401-36b8-5cec-ab80-b0cf245ba72c.html |
Indianapolis 500 Fast Facts
CNN Editorial Research
Here’s a look at the Indianapolis 500, known as “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
May 29, 2022 – The 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 is scheduled to take place.
May 30, 2021 – Helio Castroneves wins the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500 in front of approximately 135,000 fans, about 40% of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s capacity. It is Castroneves’ record-tying fourth career win at the track.
Other Facts
Known as “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.“
During the race, the cars attempt to complete 200 laps around the 2.5-mile track, equaling 500 miles.
The track’s current dimensions are much the same as when it was constructed in 1909.
The race is among the world’s best-attended single-day sporting events. It drew crowds of over 400,000 during the 1990s.
Currently 33 cars start the race in rows of three. In the past there have been as few as 21 (1916) and as many as 42 (1933).
With 35 starts, A.J. Foyt Jr. has the most starts of any driver.
Four drivers have won the race four times: Foyt Jr. in 1961, 1964, 1967 and 1977; Al Unser Sr. in 1970, 1971, 1978 and 1987; Rick Mears in 1979, 1984, 1988 and 1991; Helio Castroneves in 2001, 2002, 2009 and 2021.
The youngest winner is Troy Ruttman. He was 22 years and 80 days old when he won in 1952.
The oldest winner is Unser Sr. He was 47 years and 360 days old when he won in 1987.
Since 1936, tradition holds that winners of the race celebrate with a bottle of milk (with the exception of 1947-1955).
Race record time (200 laps/500 miles) – Tony Kanaan, May 26, 2013; 2 hours, 40 minutes and 3.4181 seconds; average speed was 187.433 mph.
Timeline
1906 – The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is founded by Carl Fisher.
February 9, 1909 – The Indianapolis Motor Speedway track is built when 328 acres of farmland northwest of downtown Indianapolis are purchased by Fisher and his partners Jim Allison, Frank Wheeler and Arthur Newby.
August 19, 1909 – The first automobile race takes place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Twelve thousand people are in attendance.
1911 – The first Indianapolis 500 takes place, with Ray Harroun winning in 6 hours, 42 minutes and 8 seconds. The race has been held annually since 1911, except for the war years 1917-18 and 1942-45.
1945 – The track is sold to Anton Hulman Jr.
1994 – A new open-wheel racing championship series, called the Indy Racing League, is launched, and includes the Indy 500 as the signature race. The first races are scheduled for 1996.
March 26, 2020 – It is announced that the Indianapolis 500, originally scheduled for May 24, has been rescheduled to August 23 due to the coronavirus outbreak.
August 4, 2020 – The Indianapolis Motor Speedway announces via Twitter that the race will take place without fans present.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved. | 2022-05-05T22:03:29+00:00 | keyt.com | https://keyt.com/news/national-world/cnn-national/2022/05/05/indianapolis-500-fast-facts-2/ |
WASHINGTON — The dust has settled from Saturday’s rain-delay debacle and the Mets have made the necessary roster moves for the continuation game against the Washington Nationals.
Left-hander Joey Lucchesi was the pitcher who started the second game of a four-game series on Saturday night, but he won’t be around to see the finish of it. The Mets optioned him to Triple-A Syracuse on Sunday morning and activated right-hander Dennis Santana, who will be the long man out of the bullpen with the team’s typical long reliever, right-hander Stephen Nogosek, starting the resumption of the Saturday game.
The Mets also designated right-hander Seth Elledge for assignment.
The Mets were not ready to announce their 27th man before the day’s action began, but it’s likely going to be left-hander Zach Muckenhirn, who is with the Mets in Washington and has a locker at Nationals Park. Left-hander Brooks Raley is able to be activated for the second game of a split doubleheader, potentially giving Showalter two left-handers in the bullpen for the first time this season.
“A lot of moving parts,” manager Buck Showalter said.
Lucchesi made a return from Tommy John surgery last month with a fantastic performance in San Francisco, one that was so good he called it the best of his career. But he wasn’t able to repeat that performance. He owns a 1-0 record with a 4.43 ERA in four starts, but in three starts against the Nationals, the Detroit Tigers and the Colorado Rockies — three teams in the bottom of their respective divisions — he posted a 6.70 ERA.
That doesn’t count his Saturday start when he allowed one run in the first inning before the game was suspended in the top of the third. It’s tough to blame him for that one run considering how hard it was raining when the game began. It was clear he was having trouble gripping the ball. At one point during the first inning, the umpires had to bring out a dry rosin bag.
“Yesterday was tough,” Showalter said. “He got a big double-play ball that kept us engaged in the game and it could have gotten away from him. I keep in mind the hurdles he has crossed over with surgery.”
Right-hander Carlos Carrasco is making a rehab start with Double-A Binghamton on Sunday and is expected to join the Mets soon thereafter. He will likely make a start in place of Lucchesi next week against the Cleveland Guardians.
() | 2023-05-14T17:56:16+00:00 | bostonherald.com | https://www.bostonherald.com/2023/05/14/joey-lucchesi-optioned-to-triple-a-syracuse-mets-activate-righty-dennis-santana/ |
As opioid epidemic rages on, Delaware and local groups will honor those lost to overdoses
When MaryBeth Cichocki's son died from an accidental overdose in 2015, all she wanted was a community that understood her grief.
There was no local support group specifically for parents who lost children to substance use disorder at the time, so Cichocki tried a general nonprofit-led group for grieving families. But whenever she tried to talk about her son Matt, all she got was judgment. Unlike the deaths of other parents' children who died of cancer or in car accidents, an OxyContin overdose was not seen as an "acceptable form of death," Cichocki said.
As the mother put it, "nobody brings casseroles" when someone loses a loved one to addiction.
RELATED:Delaware's overdose deaths are rising in Black community, downstate. What the data shows
Eventually, Cichocki stopped attending the support group. And then, at her husband's suggestion, she started her own: Support After Addiction Death. The group initially met in person each month at her church in Bear. Then, when meetings moved online because of the pandemic, Support After Addiction Death grew into a national support network.
But on Aug. 31, Support After Addiction Death will once again focus on the local community with an Overdose Awareness Day vigil in Cichocki's son's memorial garden outside Faith Lutheran Church at 7 p.m. Like in past years, parents can bring pictures of their children who died from overdoses and share their stories. The pastor will lead the group in prayer and play the guitar, and once it's dark out, attendees can light luminaries with their children's names on them.
"You just can stand there and feel like you are among parents who know your grief," Cichocki said.
MORE:What is 988, the new mental health crisis hotline rolling out in Delaware, nationwide?
Delaware officially designated Aug. 31 as Overdose Awareness Day last year, though the day has been recognized internationally since 2001. All flags in the state will be lowered to half-staff in honor of the lives lost to substance use disorder. Delaware consistently has one of the highest rates of fatal overdoses in the nation.
Despite the ever-rising death toll of the opioid epidemic, the stigma is still strong.
Substance use disorder and overdose prevention is still a "taboo discussion" in most settings, according to Delaware Community Response Teams co-chair Jackie Tomasetti. The organization works to spread awareness and share resources for overdose prevention.
However, the stigma and related "not in my community" perspective on addiction make a formidable barrier. Tomasetti said this makes it hard to even give out naloxone, the life-saving medication more commonly known as Narcan that can reverse an overdose.
OVERDOSE AWARENESS DAY 2020:On International Overdose Awareness Day, Delaware remembers those it's lost to addiction
"We all play a large part in our community, and our community is struggling," Tomasetti said. "Whether (people) know it or not, they've been affected."
This year, Delaware Community Response Teams is helping the addiction support group Face the Facts with its annual Overdose Awareness Day event on Aug. 26. Face the Facts was founded by Penny Rogers, who lost her son Vincente Tambourelli to a fatal overdose in 2017.
"The stigma is alive and well," Rogers said. "You think you're the only person in the whole world whose kid ... or spouse has this disease."
In reality, though, Rogers said that's not the case. She's built a community of people affected by addiction through her organization Face the Facts. At her third Overdose Awareness Day event on Aug. 26, she hopes to expand that support network even wider.
PENNY'S STORY:Delaware's heroin crisis: Federal state of emergency could help treatment
Members of the public — both those directly impacted by substance use disorder and those seeking to educate themselves — can come to Delcastle Park from 5-7:30 p.m. to learn about over 50 community resource organizations, including hospitals, outpatient resources, support groups and sober houses, according to Tomasetti. There will also be activities for children; food trucks; and keynote speakers, including U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester and professional skateboarder Brandon Novak, who is in recovery from substance use disorder.
"It can't just be about the ones we've lost," Rogers said. "It has to be about the ones we're trying to save."
How to find help
Delaware Hope Line: 833-9-HOPEDE for free 24/7 counseling, coaching and support, as well as links to mental health, addiction and crisis services. Resources can also be found on the Help is Here website.
Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: 988
SAMHSA National Helpline: 800-662-HELP (4357) for free 24/7 substance abuse disorder treatment referral services. Treatment service locators are also available online at findtreatment.samhsa.gov or via text message by sending your ZIP code to 435748.
Send story tips or ideas to Hannah Edelman at hedelman@delawareonline.com. For more reporting, follow them on Twitter at @h_edelman. | 2022-08-12T10:09:31+00:00 | delawareonline.com | https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/local/2022/08/12/delaware-overdose-awareness-help-honor-pandemic-epidemic-face-the-facts/65397670007/ |
SINGAPORE (AP) — Jin Young Ko won for the first time in a year at the HSBC Women’s World Championship and hopes this signals a new start from a year of battling injuries that cost her the No. 1 ranking.
Ko answered an early charge by Nelly Korda, held her nerve during a 58-minute storm delay late in the round and closed with three straight pars for a 3-under 69 and a two-shot victory Sunday.
Ko now has 14 career wins on the LPGA Tour, including two majors, along with 11 titles on the Korea LPGA. She called this win her “most important.”
“Because I had a tough year last year and fought with injury, and not good game and mentally tough and everything,” Ko said. “And then I won this week.”
Ko has been at No. 1 in the world ranking longer than any active player, and she was on top of the world when she won in Singapore a year ago. But then she began to struggle with her wrist, and even taking time off for rest late in the year didn’t seem to help. She now is No. 5 in the world.
Taking down an familiar foe in Korda only added to the moment.
“It’s always hard to play with Nelly, especially on Sunday,” Ko said. “We had a lot of times to play in 2021. She hits it farther than last year, I think, so I don’t look at her ball. It’s hard, but love to compete with Nelly.”
The 27-year-old South Korean began with a two-shot lead and opened with a birdie to extend the lead. Korda charged back with three straight birdies and closed to within one shot, only to make her lone bogey on the sixth hole. Ko eventually restored the lead to three shots.
Korda closed with a 69.
“Didn’t play really well but kind of didn’t really battle as much as I wanted to,” Korda said. ”I just made a couple kind of silly mistakes here and there. It was nice to finish with a birdie and be in contention again, be in the final group feeling the emotions and hopefully I can build off of that going into the next few events now in the States.”
Ko wasn’t paying close attention to the leaderboard and thought she had a one-shot lead when play was halted because of the weather. While in the clubhouse, she saw on TV that she had a three-shot lead with two to play.
“OK, let’s make par, play safe. But it was really hard to make par on 17, 18,” Ko said. “It’s a great honor to defend this title again.”
She is the first back-to-back winner of the HSBC Women’s World Championship and joins Inbee Park as the only multiple winner of the tournament.
Ko finished at 17-under 271 and earned $270,000.
Allisen Corpuz (69), Danielle Kang (68) and Ayaka Furue (67) tied for third at 14-under 274.
Lydia Ko, who took over the No. 1 ranking at the end of last year and already has won in Saudi Arabia this year, closed with a 74 and finished 12 shots behind.
The LPGA Tour is off for the next two weeks before resuming in Arizona.
___
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | 2023-03-05T22:46:47+00:00 | wdtn.com | https://www.wdtn.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-jin-young-ko-wins-lpga-singapore-by-two-strokes/ |
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Friday evening's drawing of the Louisiana Lottery's "Pick 4" game were:
6-6-8-5
(six, six, eight, five)
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Friday evening's drawing of the Louisiana Lottery's "Pick 4" game were:
6-6-8-5
(six, six, eight, five) | 2022-10-01T03:58:52+00:00 | expressnews.com | https://www.expressnews.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Pick-4-game-17479518.php |
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and Italian Premier Mario Draghi met in the Oval Office on Tuesday for a visit intended to showcase allied unity against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but it also provided a window into divergent approaches to the conflict.
Draghi said leaders should work toward “the possibility of bringing a ceasefire and starting, again, some credible negotiations.” He added that ”in Italy and Europe now, people want to put an end to these massacres and this violence, this butchery."
Biden did not echo Draghi's comments, and U.S. officials appear openly skeptical that there's a way to restart talks at this point.
Avril Haines, Biden’s director of national intelligence, testified earlier Tuesday that both Ukraine and Russia believe they can make progress on the battlefield at this point, so “we do not see a viable negotiating path forward, at least in the short term.”
She also said Russian President Vladimir Putin is prepared for a “prolonged conflict.”
The different tones over Ukraine reflect Italy’s geographic proximity to the war and deeper economic ties to Russia, which provides 40% of the country’s natural gas. There’s also growing skepticism in Italy about sending weapons to Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the U.S. has been ramping up its military assistance for Ukraine with bipartisan support from Congress, and administration officials have used more aggressive rhetoric when talking about the war. For example, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recently said the U.S. wants “to see Russia weakened to the point where it can’t do things like invade Ukraine.”
Biden and Draghi still emphasized their two countries' deep ties and their work on Ukraine.
“You’ve been a good friend and a great ally,” Biden said, adding that the allies had “all stepped up” to confront Russia.
Draghi responded by saying, “The ties between our two countries will always be strong. And if anything, this war in Ukraine has made them stronger."
Echoing comments that Biden has often made, Draghi added that Putin “thought he could divide us. He failed.”
Ali Wyne, a senior analyst with the Eurasia Group, said “shock-induced unity can be difficult to sustain" as the war continues.
“Geography means that the escalation of tensions between NATO and Russia poses a more immediate threat to Europe’s security than to America’s — and means, therefore, that de-escalation is a more pressing imperative for Brussels,” he said. “In addition, the more pronounced the externalities of the war become, including energy disruptions and food insecurity, the more pressure the American public and European publics are likely to place on their leaders to make a renewed push for a negotiated settlement.”
___
Associated Press staff writers Colleen Barry in Milan and Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report. | 2022-05-10T20:00:20+00:00 | sfgate.com | https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Italian-leader-urges-Ukraine-ceasefire-in-visit-17162948.php |
MILWAUKEE — With Halloween right around the corner, kids are getting their costumes ready and are excited about trick or treating. But with that, there are some safety precautions parents should consider before letting their kids run from door to door
For Alex and his son Mateo, Halloween is their favorite holiday. They love dressing up in family-themed costumes and handing out candy.
It's around this time of year when Alex reminds Mateo about being safe on Halloween.
"We always tell him to stay by our side. He does have an older brother so the older brother does help," said Alex.
According to safekids.org, children are more than twice as likely to be hit by a car on Halloween than on any other day of the year. Battalion Chief Dan Tyk with the North Shore Fire Department in Wisconsin says this is the time of year when drivers need to be extra vigilant in residential areas.
"We’re talking about young kids that are out excited about candy and heading from house to house excited about trick or treat. They may not be paying attention to following those street rules that so many parents teach their kids," said Tyk.
Some ways to ensure your kid is seen at night by drivers are by carrying glow sticks, wearing light-up shoes, using flashlights, wearing reflective tape, or putting stickers on costume bags. Other trick-or-treating advice is to remind kids not to dart out on the roadway, cross at corners and crosswalks, make sure their costume is the right size to prevent trips and falls, and remember masks can limit a child's visibility.
"Travel in groups when it comes to safety," said Tyk.
He also said parents should check their child's candy thoroughly, looking for puncture holes or broken seals.
"There are cases out there where fentanyl is starting to appear like candy, and the last thing we would want is inadvertently or maliciously something like that to end up in a candy basket for one of the kids trick-or-treating," said Tyk.
Parents should also talk to their children about an emergency plan. Popular trick-or-treating times are between 5:30 - 9:30 p.m. so be especially aware of kids during those times.
For more Halloween safety tips click here.
This article was written by Adriana Mendez for WTMJ. | 2022-10-21T15:07:40+00:00 | abc15.com | https://www.abc15.com/news/national/safety-tips-for-trick-or-treating-drivers-urged-to-watch-out-for-kids |
Conor Wagner joins company as senior vice president of investor relations and finance
IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- American Healthcare REIT, Inc., a self-managed, publicly-registered, real estate investment trust, announced today that Conor Wagner has joined the company as senior vice president of investor relations and finance. He reports directly to chief financial officer Brian Peay and is responsible for leading the company's investor relations department.
"Conor is another strong addition to our senior management team and brings with him extensive experience from the REIT sector," said Danny Prosky, chief executive officer and president of American Healthcare REIT. "His valuable perspective on both the public and private markets will be beneficial as we continue to pursue our strategic plan on behalf of investors."
Prior to joining American Healthcare REIT, Wagner was vice president of finance for Donahue Schriber Realty Group, a grocery-anchored and shopping center focused REIT, where he oversaw investor reporting and strategic finance activities. Wagner previously served in a similar capacity with publicly traded apartment REITs, AIR Communities, as senior vice president, and Aimco as vice president. Prior to Aimco, Wagner was an analyst on Green Street Advisors' residential research team, where he co-led coverage of the apartment and single-family rental sectors.
Wagner earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Master of Business Administration from Southern Methodist University. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
About American Healthcare REIT, Inc.
American Healthcare REIT, Inc. is a leading internally managed REIT that acquires, owns and operates a diversified portfolio of clinical healthcare real estate properties, focusing primarily on medical office buildings, senior housing, skilled nursing facilities, hospitals and other healthcare-related facilities. As of June 30, 2022, its total assets of approximately $4.5 billion consisted of 313 buildings and integrated senior health campuses owned and/or operated by the company that are located in 36 states, the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man, representing approximately 19.5 million square feet of gross leasable area. For more information, please visit www.AmericanHealthcareREIT.com.
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SOURCE American Healthcare REIT, Inc. | 2022-10-11T19:30:08+00:00 | witn.com | https://www.witn.com/prnewswire/2022/10/11/american-healthcare-reit-hires-new-head-investor-relations/ |
Police officer dies after funeral procession head-on crash
MCALESTER, Okla. (KXII/Gray News) - An Oklahoma police officer has died following a crash during a funeral procession for one of the department’s captains.
According to the McAlester Police Department, officer Joseph Barlow was involved in a head-on collision with a pickup truck on March 17 while escorting Capt. Richard Parker’s body from Tulsa to Wetumka.
Barlow was taken to a hospital in critical condition.
On Monday, the department announced that Barlow died from his injuries surrounded by family, friends and fellow law enforcement.
Barlow served in the Army before joining the police force and was proud to service the McAlester community, according to the department.
Last week, officials said that Parker died suddenly after serving the community for nearly 26 years.
“We ask that you keep Parker’s and Barlow’s family and friends in your thoughts as they continue to cope with these recent tragedies,” the department shared.
Copyright 2023 KXII via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | 2023-03-21T22:47:39+00:00 | atlantanewsfirst.com | https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2023/03/21/police-officer-dies-after-funeral-procession-head-on-crash/ |
Debt ceiling talks stuck, sides 'far apart' as June 1 deadline nears
WASHINGTON - House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Wednesday he was sending Republican negotiators to the White House to finish out debt limit talks, but warned that the two sides are "still far apart" as they try to reach a budget deal with President Joe Biden.
McCarthy said he remained optimistic they could make progress in hopes of an agreement before a deadline as soon as next week, when the Treasury Department could run out of cash to pay its bills. "We’re not going to default," said McCarthy, R-Calif.
Defiant, the speaker said "it's not my fault" that Washington was careening toward a crisis, pushing blame onto the White House for Biden's refusal to negotiate earlier as Republicans acted to slash spending.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) depart the U.S. Capitol following the Friends of Ireland Luncheon on Saint Patricks Day March 17, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
"I'm hoping we can make progress," McCarthy said. "I am not going to give up. "
Debt ceiling negotiations are locked on a classic problem that has vexed, divided and disrupted Washington before: Republicans led by McCarthy want to roll back federal government spending, while Biden and other Democrats do not.
READ MORE: Debt ceiling explained: Why it's a struggle, how the impasse could end
Time is short to strike a deal. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Wednesday that "it seems almost certain" that the United States would not make it past early June without defaulting. That would be catastrophic, as the government risks running out of cash to pay its bills as soon as June 1.
"We are seeing some stress already in Treasury markets," Yellen said at a Wall Street Journal event.
READ MORE: Who would be hit the hardest by a US debt default?
"Even in the run up to an agreement, when one does occur, there can be substantial financial market distress, we’re seeing just the beginnings of it," Yellen said.
The political standoff is edging the country closer to a crisis, roiling financial markets and threatening the global economy. Anxious retirees and social service groups are among those making default contingency plans. Negotiators are heading to the White House to resume talks at noon.
Cheered on by a hard-charging conservative House majority that hoisted him to power, McCarthy, R-Calif., was not swayed by a White House counter-offer to freeze spending instead. "A freeze is not going to work," McCarthy said.
"We have to spend less than we spent last year. That is the starting point."
The longstanding Washington debate over the size and scope of the federal government now has just days to be resolved. Failure to raise the nation's debt ceiling, now at $31 trillion, would risk a potentially chaotic federal default, almost certain to inflict economic turmoil at home and abroad.
READ MORE: Biden gets low approval ratings on economy, guns and more in latest AP-NORC poll
Dragging into a third week, the negotiations over raising the nation's debt limit were never supposed to arrive at this point.
The White House insisted early on it was unwilling to barter over the need to pay the nation’s bills, demanding that Congress simply lift the ceiling as it has done many times before with no strings attached.
READ MORE: Here's why a government default may be worse than a government shutdown
But the newly elected speaker visited Biden at the Oval Office in February, urging the president to come to the negotiating table on a budget package that would reduce spending and the nation’s ballooning deficits in exchange for the vote to allow future debt.
"I told the president Feb. 1," McCarthy recounted. "I said, Mr. President, you’re not going to raise taxes. You've got to spend less money than was spent this year."
Negotiations are focused on finding agreement on a 2024 budget year limit. Republicans have set aside their demand to roll back spending to 2022 levels, but say that next year’s government spending must be less than it is now. But the White House instead offered to freeze spending at current 2023 numbers.
By sparing defense and some veterans accounts from reductions, the Republicans would shift the bulk of spending reductions to other federal programs, an approach that breaks a tradition in Congress of budget cap parity.
Agreement on that topline spending level is vital. It would enable McCarthy to deliver spending restraints for conservatives while not being so severe that it would chase off the Democratic votes that would be needed in the divided Congress to pass any bill.
But what, if anything, Democrats would get if they agreed to deeper spending cuts than Biden's team has proposed is uncertain.
The White House has continued to argue that deficits can be reduced by ending tax breaks for wealthier households and some corporations, but McCarthy said he told the president at their February meeting that raising revenue from tax hikes is off the table.
The negotiators are now also debating the duration of a 1% cap on annual spending growth going forward, with Republicans dropping their demand for a 10-year cap to six years, but the White House offering only one year, for 2025.
READ MORE: Who is running for president in 2024? Meet the candidates
Typically, the debt ceiling has been lifted for the duration of a budget deal, and in this negotiation the White House is angling for a two-year agreement that would push past the presidential elections.
Past debt ceiling talks have produced budget agreements in which both parties have won some concessions in a give and take.
WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 23: U.S Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaks to Reporters as he arrives to the U.S. Capitol Building on May 23, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Republicans, however, are pushing additional priorities as the negotiators focus on the $100 billion-plus difference between the 2022 and 2023 spending plans as a place to cut.
They want to beef up work requirements for government aid to recipients of food stamps, cash assistance and the Medicaid health care program that the Biden administration says would impact millions of people who depend on assistance.
All sides have been eyeing the potential for the package to include a framework to ease federal regulations and speed energy project developments. They are all but certain to claw back some $30 billion in unspent COVID-19 funds now that the pandemic emergency has officially been lifted.
The White House has countered by keeping defense and nondefense spending flat next year, which would save $90 billion in the 2024 budget year and $1 trillion over 10 years.
McCarthy promised lawmakers he will abide by the rule to post any bill for 72 hours before voting, making any action doubtful until the weekend — just days before the potential deadline. The Senate would also have to pass the package before it could go to Biden's desk to be signed.
McCarthy faces a hard-right flank in his own party that is likely to reject any deal, and that has led some Democrats to encourage Biden to resist any compromise with the Republicans and simply invoke the 14th Amendment to raise the debt ceiling on his own, an unprecedented action the president has resisted for now. | 2023-05-24T22:39:32+00:00 | fox6now.com | https://www.fox6now.com/news/debt-ceiling-talks-updates-kevin-mccarthy-may-24-2023 |
WASHINGTON >> Vice President Kamala Harris will lead the U.S. delegation to the state funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe later this month, the White House announced today.
Harris will also visit South Korea on the Sept. 25-29 trip.
The White House said “her visit will honor the legacy of Prime Minister Abe and underscore the importance of his leadership in championing the alliance between the United States and Japan and advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
The trip marks Harris’ first official visits to both countries since taking office last year. Harris is set to meet with senior government officials and civil society leaders, and the White House said she will raise economic, trade and security interests during her trip.
Abe was shot to death in July on a street in western Japan by a gunman who opened fire on him from behind as he delivered a campaign speech. The 67-year-old Abe was Japan’s longest-serving leader when he resigned in 2020. | 2022-09-08T05:50:10+00:00 | staradvertiser.com | https://www.staradvertiser.com/2022/09/07/breaking-news/harris-to-lead-u-s-delegation-to-japan-for-abes-funeral/ |
The Cape Coral City Council says the city has too many self-storage facilities and is imposing a nine-month moratorium on accepting applications and giving permits for new ones.
Storage units account for 11% of commercial space in Cape Coral, and now city leaders are taking a step back to see how to regulate new ones. While such facilities are convenient for tucking away items you don’t use, they are also gobbling up commercial space.
Cape Coral has almost 1.5 million square feet dedicated to existing self-storage facilities, and developers have plans to double that. That’s close to 700 acres of commercial space just in storage facilities, the equivalent of 17 Edison Malls, including the parking lots that surround them.
A nine-month moratorium will give city leaders the time to look at the best places they should be located so the landscape of Cape Coral doesn’t start to look like a storage facility city.
WINK News spoke to Scott Moore, a developer who recently spent more than $800,000 on property because of the demand for storage units.
“We bought this property for roughly $870,000 in January,” Moore said. “Immediately went under contract with a construction company, give them a $1 million deposit and we’ve been proceeding through the process of securing a permit.”
Councilman Tom Hayden recognizes the demand because Cape Coral is growing fast, but he believes prime commercial space can be managed better.
“We got to find out, OK, what are the right corridors?” Hayden said. “What are the right spaces? Where should they go?”
The applications that are already being processed will go forward. However, no new applications will be accepted or processed until at least January 2024.
“We just want to make sure we’re putting them in the right places,” Hayden said. ‘We don’t want to give up our prime commercial frontage on the main corridors, where we know the businesses that, you know, we really want to bring here should be.”
“Just doesn’t seem fair with the amount of money that we’ve spent, the time, the manpower,” Moore said. | 2023-04-22T01:29:14+00:00 | winknews.com | https://winknews.com/2023/04/20/9-month-moratorium-on-new-self-storage-facilities-in-cape-coral/ |
COVID-19 federal emergency ending, industries impacted by COVID
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Based on current COVID-19 trends, the federal government is declaring the Public Health Emergency over by the end of the day Thursday, May 11.
Tests will get more expensive and vaccines will remain covered for the most part.
As for the cost of the treatment it will depend on your insurance coverage.
The Biden Administration will end the COVID-19 vaccine requirements for international air travelers later in the week.
This means starting Friday, May 12 passengers will no longer need to show proof of being fully vaccinated to board a flight to the United States.
Jim Caldwell with Baton Rouge Metro Airport said, “We are seeing a continual increase since the pandemic. We are probably near pre-pandemic levels.”
He says the interest to fly the open skies is definitely back after years of scaled-back travelers.
“This is probably the first year that demand as a whole will exceed pre-pandemic levels,” added Caldwell.
The end of the emergency also means the end of vaccination requirements for federal employees and contractors.
The national emergency allowed the federal and state governments to take sweeping steps to respond to the virus.
An industry that took a punch during the pandemic was restaurants.
Owner of Poor Boy Lloyd’s Freddie Taylor explained, “It’s not like it used to be. We used to have lines out the door but every now and then we have a good day.”
He says he did everything he could to keep customers coming in and ordering their favorite meals.
Taylor added, “We followed the rules. We kept separations. We had to set up tables outside. We made adjustments inside.”
He says it wasn’t easy and it took a lot of effort to even keep those doors open.
He credits his family and the loyal employees who stuck around but says staffing woes are still a thing post pandemic.
“Sadly, it’s the hardest problem,” said Taylor.
Surviving the unknown, Taylor says, has him even more optimistic about future business.
“Apartments are coming up everywhere you look that will bring in more people,” Taylor said.
Click here to report a typo.
Copyright 2022 WAFB. All rights reserved. | 2023-05-10T21:54:03+00:00 | wafb.com | https://www.wafb.com/2023/05/10/covid-19-federal-emergency-ending-industries-impacted-by-covid/ |
MOSCOW (AP) — American basketball star Brittney Griner is due back in a Russian court Thursday to resume a trial that was jolted last week when she abruptly pleaded guilty to drug possession charges.
With the U.S. government under pressure at home to do more to secure her freedom, the guilty plea could be an effort to expedite the court proceedings so any negotiations could move forward. A senior Russian diplomat has said no action could be taken by Moscow until the trial was over.
The Phoenix Mercury center and WNBA all-star was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport in February while returning to play basketball in Russia. Police said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage. In custody ever since, Griner, 31, faces charges that could bring her a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
In pleading guilty during the previous court hearing on July 7, Griner said she had no intention of committing a crime and had acted unintentionally because she packed for Moscow in a hurry.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have said they were doing all they could to win the release of Griner, as well as other Americans the U.S. considers “wrongly detained” by Russia, including former Marine Paul Whelan.
Washington may have little leverage with Moscow, though, because of strong animosity over its military operation in Ukraine.
Russian media have speculated that Griner could be swapped for Russian arms trader Viktor Bout, nicknamed “the Merchant of Death,” who is serving a 25-year sentence in the U.S. after being convicted of conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens and providing aid to a terrorist organization.
Russia has agitated for Bout’s release for years. But the wide discrepancy in the seriousness of their cases could make such a trade unpalatable to Washington. Others have suggested that Griner could be traded along with Whelan, who is serving 16 years in Russia on an espionage conviction that the U.S. has described as a setup.
The State Department’s designation of Griner as wrongfully detained moves her case under the supervision of its special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, effectively the government’s chief hostage negotiator. The classification has irritated Russia.
Asked about the possibility of Griner being swapped for a Russian jailed in the U.S., Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, the senior Russian diplomat, noted that until her trial is over “there are no formal or procedural reasons to talk about any further steps.”
Ryabkov warned that U.S. criticism, including the description of Griner as wrongfully detained and dismissive comments about the Russian judicial system, “makes it difficult to engage in detailed discussion of any possible exchanges.”
Griner’s detention has been authorized through Dec. 20, suggesting the trial could last months. Griner’s lawyers, however, said they expect it to conclude around the beginning of the August. | 2022-07-14T11:33:46+00:00 | wdtn.com | https://www.wdtn.com/news/u-s-world/brittney-griner-heads-back-to-russian-court-after-guilty-plea/ |
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Vanessa Bryant testified Friday that she was only beginning to grieve the loss of her husband, basketball star Kobe Bryant, and their 13-year-old daughter Gianna when she was faced with the fresh horror of learning that sheriff’s deputies and firefighters had shot and shared photos of their bodies at the site of the helicopter crash that killed them.
“I felt like I wanted to run, run down the block and scream,” she said, her tears turning to sobs and her voice quickening. “It was like the feeling of wanting to run down a pier and jump into the water. The problem is I can’t escape. I can’t escape my body.”
During her three hours on the witness stand in a Los Angeles federal court, where she is suing LA County for invasion of privacy over the pictures, Bryant said she had fought to get through both public and private memorials for her loved ones and seven others who were killed Jan. 26, 2020, and thought she was ready to really begin the grieving process about a month later. She was with friends and her surviving daughters, and holding her 7-month-old baby, when she received a call about a Los Angeles Times story on the crash-site photos.
“I bolted out of the house and around to the side so my girls wouldn’t see,” she said. “I was blindsided again, devastated, hurt. I trusted them. I trusted them not to do these things.”
Evidence presented at trial showed that a sheriff’s deputy showed a photo of Bryant’s body to a bartender as he drank, spurring an official complaint from another man drinking nearby, and that firefighters shared them with each other at an awards banquet. Others shared them with spouses. An attorney for the county said the photos had been taken only because they were essential for assessing the site moments after the crash, and that when LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva learned they were being shared, he demanded they all be deleted.
No photos emerged publicly, but Vanessa Bryant said she has constant worry that some still might.
“I live in fear every day of being on social media and these popping up,” she testified. “I live in fear of my daughters being on social media and these popping up.”
She said the thought keeps her awake at night as she lies next to her 3-year-old and her 5-year-old, and sometimes leads to panic attacks in which she can’t breathe.
Under cross-examination from J. Mira Hashmall, the lawyer representing LA County at the trial, Bryant testified that she had not received any medical diagnosis of having had panic attacks, or any mental health disorder, nor had she taken any medications for them.
She said she had talked to a therapist for about 18 months after the crash, but had not since.
“I feel like sometimes it helps,” Bryant said, “but sometimes it’s completely draining.”
Hashmall spent much of her 90-minute cross-examination going through the business roles Bryant now plays, including acting as president of her husband’s multimedia company, Granity Studios, overseeing the publication of one book he wrote and helping to finish and publish another, heading the foundation started for Kobe and Gianna, and establishing several other companies.
Hashmall suggested that Bryant’s ability to do all of this meant she was functioning well and was not overcome with fear and anxiety.
“It sounds like on top of everything else you’re juggling a business empire,” Hashmall said at one point.
“For me, it’s a labor of love,” said Bryant, who remained calm and composed during cross-examination.
She cried frequently, and laughed occasionally, during the questioning of her attorney Luis Li, who had her describe her life with her “proud girl-dad” husband and their daughters.
“He was just such a beautiful and devoted father,” she said.
Bryant chronicled the day of the crash, her anguish, and her frustration at trying to learn whether her husband and daughter were still alive after she initially heard from an assistant that there were five survivors.
She described Sheriff Villanueva coming into a room where she waited at Lost Hills sheriff’s station and confirming that her husband and daughter had been killed. He asked if there was anything he could do for her.
“I told him, if you can’t bring my babies back, then please secure the area,” Bryant said. “I’m concerned about paparazzi.”
“Did the sheriff tell you one of his deputies had already gone to the hill to take close-up pictures of crash victims?” Li asked.
“No,” Bryant responded.
During cross-examination, Hashmall said the deputy, Doug Johnson, who hiked through tough terrain into the hills in northern Los Angeles County to the crash site and shot the photos that were later shared, was only trying to use them to assess the situation.
“You can understand why he would want the same information you did,” Hashmall said.
“I don’t think you need to take close-up photos of people to determine how many people are on an aircraft,” Bryant replied. “I think he could have just counted.”
Bryant’s side rested its case after her testimony, which came on the eighth day of the trial. | 2022-08-20T16:21:39+00:00 | wwlp.com | https://www.wwlp.com/news/top-stories/ap-top-headlines/kobe-bryants-widow-says-crash-photos-turned-grief-to-horror/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — The wave of attempted book banning and restrictions continues to intensify, the American Library Association reported Friday. Numbers for 2022 already approach last year’s totals, which were the highest in decades.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” says Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. “It’s both the number of challenges and the kinds of challenges. It used to be a parent had learned about a given book and had an issue with it. Now we see campaigns where organizations are compiling lists of books, without necessarily reading or even looking at them.”
The ALA has documented 681 challenges to books through the first eight months of this year, involving 1,651 different titles. In all of 2021, the ALA listed 729 challenges, directed at 1,579 books. Because the ALA relies on media accounts and reports from libraries, the actual number of challenges is likely far higher, the library association believes.
Friday’s announcement is timed to Banned Books Week, which begins Sunday and will be promoted around the country through table displays, posters, bookmarks and stickers and through readings, essay contests and other events highlighting contested works. According to a report issued in April, the most targeted books have included Maia Kobabe’s graphic memoir about sexual identity, “Gender Queer,” and Jonathan Evison’s “Lawn Boy,” a coming-of-age novel narrated by a young gay man.
“We’re seeing that trend continue in 2022, the criticism of books with LGBTQ subject matter,” Caldwell-Jones says, adding that books about racism such as Angie Thomas’ novel “The Hate U Give” also are frequently challenged.
Banned Books Weeks is overseen by a coalition of writing and free speech organizations, including the National Coalition Against Censorship, the Authors Guild and PEN America.
Conservative attacks against schools and libraries have proliferated nationwide over the past two years, and librarians themselves have been harassed and even driven out of their jobs. A middle school librarian in Denham Springs, Louisiana, has filed a legal complaint against a Facebook page which labeled her a “criminal and a pedophile.” Voters in a western Michigan community, Jamestown Township, backed drastic cuts in the local library over objections to “Gender Queer” and other LGBTQ books.
Audrey Wilson-Youngblood, who in June quit her job as a library media specialist in the Keller Independent School District in Texas, laments what she calls the “erosion of the credibility and competency” in how her profession is viewed. At the Boundary County Library in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, library director Kimber Glidden resigned recently after months of harassment that included the shouting of Biblical passages referring to divine punishment. The campaign began with a single complaint about “Gender Queer,” which the library didn’t even stock, and escalated to the point where Glidden feared for her safety.
“We were being accused of being pedophiles and grooming children,” she says. “People were showing up armed at library board meetings.”
The executive director of the Virginia Library Association, Lisa R. Varga, says librarians in the state have received threatening emails and have been videotaped on the job, tactics she says that “are not like anything that those who went into this career were expecting to see.” Becky Calzada, library coordinator for the Leander Independent School District in Texas, says she has friends who have left the profession and colleagues who are afraid and “feel threatened.”
“I know some worry about promoting Banned Books Week because they might be accused of trying to advance an agenda,” she says. “There’s a lot of trepidation.” | 2022-09-16T22:45:22+00:00 | wwlp.com | https://www.wwlp.com/news/entertainment/ap-entertainment/ap-book-ban-efforts-surging-in-2022-library-association-says/ |
Interactive exhibition spotlights global brand's ultra-large Mini LED QLED displays, gaming monitors, mobile devices, smart home appliances, sustainability commitments and more
HONG KONG, Jan. 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- TCL Electronics, one of the dominant players in the global TV industry and a leading consumer electronics brand, is participating in CES 2023 from January 5th to 8th, 2023. Under the brand signature Inspire Greatness, visitors to TCL's 1,600 square meter booth in Central Hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center can experience TCL technology and full-category products first-hand.
The TCL CES exhibition booth is always one of the best ways to witness the company's continuous drive for innovation, with interactive areas showcasing headline-making products. This year's exhibits include its ultra-large-screen Mini LED QLED TV lineup and latest award-winning sound bars offering cinema-quality audio to further enhance the TCL home theater experience. Always striving to make 5G technology more accessible to more people, CES will also display TCL's most recent smartphones as well as demonstrations of augmented reality (AR) and new personal fullscreen viewing experiences. For the first time at CES, visitors will also be able to learn more about TCL's commitment to sustainability in the TCL Green area.
Immersive Home Theater Experiences
The incredible, immersive TCL home theater experiences on display at CES 2023 are the result of its dedication to continuously developing Mini LED technology. The exhibit includes its latest flagship Mini LED TV, an extra-large 98-inch Mini LED TV that displays content at its best. The XL screen engages many more Mini LEDs in its premium TCL TV displays. With at least 2,000 local dimming zones bringing high contrast and over 2,000 nits peak brightness to images, TCL's light control algorithm helps reveal every detail in very bright and dark area.
The home theater exhibit area will also showcase TCL's 75-inch to 98-inch premium QLED TVs, featuring Quantum Dot Color Technology, local dimming and stunning contrast. Gamers can explore TCL TVs with responsive low latency, motion clarity, and next-generation video gaming optimizations. And all visitors will want to experience the award-winning RAY•DANZ Dolby Atmos sound bars.
Connected Smart Home Lifestyles
Within the smart home lifestyle exhibit area, visitors can discover the 2023 FreshIN AC Technology, featuring the proprietary FreshIN Plus fresh air system that helps transport fresh air from outdoors to indoors. The upgraded FreshIN technology is more intuitive, with built-in sensors measuring air quality and displaying real-time results on a dashboard. Its powerful air engine helps increase oxygen and humidity levels with a capacity of up to 60 cubic meters per hour.
During CES, visitors can also try the newly unveiled TCL 40 Series smartphone, including TCL 40 R 5G, TCL 40 SE and TCL 408. Each device features enhanced NXTVISION display technology, long-lasting battery, and 50MP AI-powered camera, so entertainment is limitless all day and night. With the vision of 5G for all, TCL 40 R 5G packs a 7nm high performance 5G processor to keep ultra-fast connections at an accessible price. Ideal for long journeys and commutes, the TCL 40 SE has a 6.75-inch screen with dual stereo speakers for immersive video and audio, and an adaptive 90 Hz refresh rate display for an ultra-smooth visual experience.
The TCL exhibition also highlights upgraded NXTPAPER technology, as seen in the TCL NXTPAPER 12 Pro tablet, which provides 100% more brightness than the previous iteration of NXTPAPER to maintain sharp visuals and further filter out harmful blue light to care for user's eyes. When paired with the TCL E-Pen, it has an amazing paper-like smoothness for writing or drawing.
Visit TCL Booth at Las Vegas Convention Center
Date: January 5th-8th, 2023
Venue: Booth #16915 and #16937, Central Hall
About TCL Electronics
TCL Electronics (1070.HK) is a fast-growing consumer electronics company and a leading player in the global TV industry. Founded in 1981, it now operates in over 160 markets globally. TCL specializes in the research, development and manufacturing of consumer electronics products ranging from TVs, audio and smart home appliances. Visit TCL home page at https://www.tcl.com.
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SOURCE TCL Electronics | 2023-01-05T19:40:10+00:00 | witn.com | https://www.witn.com/prnewswire/2023/01/05/tcl-exhibits-innovative-technologies-home-theater-experiences-smart-connected-lifestyle-ecosystem-ces-2023/ |
BROOKLYN, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) –
Breanna Stewart scored 43 points Wednesday night to help lead the New York Liberty to a 99-95 victory over the Phoenix Mercury at Barclays Center.
Stewart scored 16 of the last 18 points for the Liberty. Along with her 43 points, she also added 12 rebounds and six assists.
The Liberty improves to 12-4 this season. | 2023-07-06T03:34:22+00:00 | localsyr.com | https://www.localsyr.com/local-sports/stewart-scores-43-points-to-lead-liberty-past-mercury/ |
Open Call: Delaware Theatre Company is bringing the joy this season
Operating a theater company, or probably any arts institution, over the past few years has felt like a roller coaster.
For months, we'd talk hypotheticals, plan options and run budgets, but couldn't start working on anything because predicting what COVID would bring in next three months proved impossible.
All of a sudden, we'd get a break of light. A grant for an outdoor concert series, vaccines becoming more readily available, clarity on union guidelines — followed by the whole company jumping into overdrive to try to make something beautiful, impactful, something that felt “normal” in a third of the time we would usually have.
Then halfway through that process COVID would throw us a new wrinkle and we'd have to pivot. Reconfigure. Figure out how to respond.
It's been incredibly challenging.
More:Open Call: Longwood bug expert wants you to ditch artificial turf, rethink your lawn
To add to all the uncertainty, there was staff turnover, and artists and collaborators had to make tough decisions about their futures in the business. I mean, how do you rehearse a romantic love scene in masks?! How does a theater company full of folks who are trained to build sets, sew costumes, sell tickets, and tell stories on stage administer 150 COVID tests every day for months on end, across multiple cities? How do we respond to patrons who won't attend if we don't do vaccine checks at the door … and to patrons who won't attend if we do?
We continue to feel enormous gratitude for the support we've received over the last couple of years —from individuals, our subscribers, our volunteers, from foundations, the city of Wilmington, the State of Delaware, and even the Federal Government. Without that support we would not have been able to keep the building we’ve called home since 1985 (and continue to serve the community that’s stood by Delaware Theatre Company since 1979!), and we certainly would not have been able to produce some of our most popular events over the last two and half years.
From Broadway to regional and community theaters across the country, ticket sales have been all over the map. We’ve learned that here in Wilmington, the popular shows sold extremely well, and the less popular ones saw historically low ticket sales. It seems (perhaps intuitively) that people are only willing to return for things that they are especially excited to see. In general, there's less willingness to take a risk on something unknown.
As a company that takes pride in being a home for emerging artists and new works, we remain interested in our audience’s feedback — be it via word of mouth or by keeping a close eye on ticket sales. With more than a few successful performances on our stage between last season and this, we are starting to creep closer to pre-pandemic audience numbers.
It’s a trend that encourages us to keep on keepin’ on.
More:Open Call: Delaware Institute for the Arts in Education marks 40 years of service
For the sake of our audience, our city, our culture and ourselves, we’re prioritizing joy this season.
Artistic Director Bud Martin and Executive Director Matt Silva have crafted a season that is celebratory and inspirational.
While we aim to delight those seated in the audience, this positive energy is reflected behind the scenes as well. Hearing the "Here You Come Again'' band rehearse classic Dolly Parton tunes during the day while I fill out expense reports at my desk has me smiling and toe tapping!
I think what’s really exciting about our season is the amount of heart it embodies. If you’ve seen "Here You Come Again,'' you saw music guide our protagonist, Kevin, through some really difficult times. I think it helps guide us too.
Our next show, "Black Angels over Tuskegee'' tells the story of six men embarking upon a journey to become the first aviators in the United States Army Air Forces during a tumultuous era of racial segregation and Jim Crow-era injustices in 20th century American history.
"Black Angels'' is an uplifting and inspirational story inspired by true events. The production movingly illustrates how the men unite in brotherhood to achieve a communal vision. We welcome "Black Angels Over Tuskegee'' to our stage from Oct. 2 to 30.
We hope you’ll join us and share in our joy. We can’t wait to welcome you back. Masks are optional this season, and whether or not you choose to wear one — we hope to see you smile.
Nathan Renner-Johnson is production and general manager of the Delaware Theatre Company.
Arts and cultural groups, answer our Open Call ...
More:Open Call: Arts & cultural groups, we want to hear from you | 2022-09-25T11:09:53+00:00 | delawareonline.com | https://www.delawareonline.com/story/life/2022/09/25/delaware-theatre-company-2022-2023-season-tuskegee-airmen/69512034007/ |
- 79% of hotel guests say hotel workers should be tipped; the workers say only 30% of guests actually do tip
- More than 70% of guests who did not tip during a recent stay would have if digital tipping was available
- Gen Z make for the best hotel guests, tipping and cleaning up after themselves more frequently
SAN FRANCISCO, March 2, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Canary Technologies, a leading hotel guest management system, conducted a survey of 1,000 recent hotel guests and 300 hotel workers to uncover guest tipping behavior in hotels. While tipping in the service industry is a well-established American custom and an essential part of worker wages, tipping in the hotel industry lacks transparency. The survey results show that tipping in hotels is less prevalent than other service industries. partly due to friction in the current tipping process.
The survey found many inconsistencies in reported tipping behavior. While 79% of hotel guests think hotel workers should receive tips, only 59% reported leaving one at their most recent hotel stay. However, hotel workers say that only 30% of guests actually tip staff members. In contrast, 99% of recent hotel guests claim to tip at restaurants when they dine out.
Approximately 70 percent of housekeepers said tips from guests have stayed the same or decreased over the past 5 years. In an increasingly cashless economy, about 60 percent of hotel guests claim to carry less cash than they did just five years ago. Correspondingly, the survey also found that a digital tipping solution would be a welcome tool that guests would like to use to tip hotel workers. More than 70% of hotel guests who did not tip hotel staff at their recent stay would have left a tip if digital tipping was offered.
The hotel industry faces the challenge of Increasing hotel employee wages and attracting labor back to the hospitality industry. Wages have already increased 25% since 2019, outpacing overall wage growth in the US. However, AHLA's 2022 survey found that 87% of hotels are still experiencing a staffing shortage, suggesting further wage increases may be needed to attract enough workers to the industry.
Canary's survey discovered that nearly 80% of current hotel workers say they would be more likely to stay with their current employer if their tips were increased. Additionally, 70% of hotel workers felt that hotel management teams actually have a duty to encourage tips to staff members. Hotel workers reported low pay as the most common reason for leaving the industry.
Other Key Findings
- Generation Z makes for the best hotel guests. They report cleaning up after themselves more frequently and thoroughly before checkout as well as being more likely to tip, with 62.5% leaving a tip at their most recent hotel stay (<12 months).
- However, Boomers tip more when they do tip. Only 56% of Boomers tipped at their most recent stay, but those who did tip left larger amounts than average.
- Business travelers are better tippers than personal travelers, being 15% more likely to tip.
"With no end in sight to the hotel staffing shortage, and clear indication from our survey that both hotel guests and workers desire better tipping options, digital tipping is more relevant than ever," said Bryan Michalis, Vice President of Marketing at Canary Technologies. "Digital tipping is a powerful tool that hotel management teams can deploy quickly and easily to improve staff retention. It also provides guests with a cashless method to do what they overwhelmingly report that they want - express gratitude to the workers who provide them with outstanding service during their stay."
To review the white paper with the report findings, click here.
Canary Technologies is modernizing the hotel tech stack with the first mobile web end-to-end Guest Management System and its award-winning Digital Authorizations solutions. Digitizing everything from post-booking through checkout, Canary is trusted by more than 20k hoteliers in more than 70 countries, including Four Seasons, Choice Hotels, Radisson Hotels and Ace Hotel Group. Canary's solutions help hotels eliminate paper processes, boost revenue with upsells, raise staff efficiency, ensure PCI compliance, improve the guest experience, and reduce chargebacks and payment fraud. Learn more at canarytechnologies.com.
Media Contact:
Liang Zhao
lz@vansary.com
Julia Wakefield
julia@vansary.com
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SOURCE Canary Technologies | 2023-03-02T13:01:26+00:00 | ksla.com | https://www.ksla.com/prnewswire/2023/03/02/canary-technologies-survey-finds-wide-discrepancies-national-hotel-tipping-habits/ |
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks to Bishop T.D. Jakes about investing in Black communities and ministering not only from the pulpit but also as an entrepreneur.
Copyright 2023 NPR
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks to Bishop T.D. Jakes about investing in Black communities and ministering not only from the pulpit but also as an entrepreneur.
Copyright 2023 NPR | 2023-04-09T14:13:40+00:00 | kosu.org | https://www.kosu.org/religion/religion/2023-04-09/bishop-t-d-jakes-on-investing-in-black-communities |
SANFORD, Mich. (WJRT) - In the Village of Sanford, progress is being made with $1.6 million in FEMA funds the community recently received.
And this time next year, they say, kids will be playing at the ball park that was leveled in the historic dam failure and flood of 2020.
We went there to show you that progress and learned how people in Sanford continue to come together two years later.
Construction is well on its way and community members are thrilled to see the progress. They say those FEMA funds truly mean the world to them as they say the ball diamond is the heart of the community.
“Behind us is the reconstruction of what our ball fields, playgrounds, sled hills, basketball courts, horseshoe pits, so this is the ultimate finish of cleaning up after the flood and so the community's very excited about it--you can't even quantify how good it feels,” said Sanford Village President Dolores Porte.
Progress being made after two years of rebuilding and is still ongoing.
“It's just the center of the community and it's very important that we get the park back and we're very thankful for Congressman Moolenaar's ability to get $1.6 million in FEMA funds to help us rebuild the park,” said resident and volunteer Even Burdick.
“This park has a lot to do with our community's culture and it's something everybody is excited to get back,” said Teresa Quintana, resident and volunteer.
Sanford residents Evan Burdick and Teresa Quintana both played major roles in the cleanup, rebuild and fundraising efforts following the catastrophe.
Quintina -- a cofounder of the effort "Sanford Strong"-- says there was a large gap between what FEMA originally allocated for the park and what it actually costs. So, the construction of the park was delayed.
“It makes me feel really good and there are people coming here every day, people watching the progress and it's looking really nice,” said Danny Dice, an employee of Sanford Village.
The grant will allow for extra ball diamonds and a new tee ball field, bleachers, a concession stand, basketball courts, a playground and more by next year. But the real silver lining lies the resilience of the community.
“So, what I saw is the best of humanity. Everyone came together with whatever skillset they had, whatever equipment they had,” Porte said.
Congressman Moolenaar's office says the extra funding comes as part of expanded federal cost-sharing for disasters that happened in 2020.
The Sanford Village president tells ABC12 that the dam should be fully restored by 2025. | 2022-08-10T00:28:52+00:00 | abc12.com | https://www.abc12.com/news/1-6m-in-fema-funds-aid-in-sanford-village-park-restoration/article_c7f481a0-181f-11ed-b2cd-57e128122251.html |
Some Vidalia onions recalled because of listeria fears
(Gray News) - Some people should take a close look at their onions before grilling this holiday weekend.
A&M Farms of Georgia announced a voluntary, limited recall of its whole Vidalia onions due to a possible listeria contamination.
The recall comes after the company detected listeria on a single pack line.
Consumer can spot the recalled Vidalias by the purchase location and the PLU sticker located on the skin: PLU no. 4159, Little Bear brand, the Food and Drug Administration said.
The items in question were sold in bulk in late June at Wegmans stores in the Rochester area, New York, in Massachusetts, and at the Erie West and Erie Peach Street Wegmans stores in Pennsylvania.
The onions were also sold in bulk at Publix stores throughout Florida and in Barrow, Clarke, DeKalb, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Hall, Jackson, Oconee and Walton counties in Georgia.
Consumers are advised to return the onions to the place of purchase for a refund.
Among the potential symptoms of listeria are fever, headaches, and abdominal pain.
Sam’s Club in North Carolina said it destroyed all 6-pound bags of the recalled onions in North Carolina before they were sold.
Copyright 2022 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. CNN Newsource contributed to this report | 2022-07-01T17:35:46+00:00 | wnem.com | https://www.wnem.com/2022/07/01/some-vidalia-onions-recalled-because-listeria-fears/ |
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An inquiry into a former Australian prime minister secretly appointing himself to multiple ministries recommended Friday that all such appointments be made public in the future to preserve trust in government.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would recommend his Cabinet accept all of the retired judge ’s recommendations at a meeting next week.
Albanese ordered the inquiry in August after revelations that his predecessor Prime Minister Scott Morrison had taken the unprecedented steps of appointing himself to five ministerial roles between March 2020 and May 2021, usually without the knowledge of the existing minister.
The extraordinary power grab came to light after Morrison’s conservative coalition was voted out of office in May after nine years in power.
His unprecedented moves are seen as part of a wider trend in Australian politics to concentrate power within a leader’s office at the expense of the British Westminster tradition of delegating responsibilities among ministers.
Albanese blamed a culture of secrecy within the former government for its leader’s extraordinary accumulation of personal power.
“We’re shining sunlight on a shadow government that preferred to operate in darkness, a government that operated in a cult of secrecy and a culture of coverup which arrogantly dismissed scrutiny from the Parliament and the public as a mere inconvenience,” Albanese told reporters.
“The actions of the former prime minister were extraordinary, they were unprecedented and they were wrong,” Albanese added.
Retired High Court Justice Virginia Bell in her inquiry recommended laws be created to require public notices of ministerial appointments be published as well as the divisions of ministerial responsibilities.
Morrison cooperated with the inquiry through his lawyers but did not personally give evidence.
Morrison, who is now an opposition lawmaker, maintains that he gave himself the portfolios of health, finance, treasury, resources and home affairs as an emergency measure made necessary by the coronavirus pandemic.
Morrison said his awareness of issues surrounding national security and national interest as prime minister had been broader than that of any individual minister or Bell’s inquiry.
“A prime minister, I sought to exercise my responsibilities in a manner that would best advance and protect Australia’s national interests and the welfare of the Australian people,” Morrison said in a statement on Friday.
“This was done during a time of significant challenge not seen since the Second World War and the Great Depression,” Morrison added.
Bell found that making Morrison a duplicate minister was unnecessary because an acting minister could be appointed within minutes of the original minister becoming incapacitated by COVID-19.
Bell found the reason Morrison appointed himself to most portfolios was his concern that “an incumbent minister might exercise his or her statutory powers in a manner with which Mr. Morrison didn’t agree.”
His only use of the secret powers had nothing to do with the pandemic. He overturned a decision by former Resources Minister Keith Pitt to approve a contentious gas drilling project near the north Sydney coast that would have harmed his government’s reelection chances.
Asset Energy, a company behind the project, is fighting Morrison’s decision in the Federal Court.
Asset accuses Morrison of bias and failing to provide procedural fairness when he blocked the project in March, court documents show.
Albanese on Friday declined to comment on Morrison’s decision because the matter was before the courts.
Bell found Morrison also wanted former Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s power to block foreign investments in Australia that were not in the national interest and former Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews’ power to cancel the citizenship of dual national extremists.
Morrison also considered giving himself a sixth ministerial portfolio — for the department of agriculture, water and environment — but did not proceed with the appointment, Bell reported. His reasons for not proceeding were not explained.
Bell found that there had been no delineation of responsibilities among the multiple ministers and there had been a risk of conflict if two ministers wanted to exercise the same power in different ways. Department bosses had been unaware that they were answerable to more than a single minister.
Frydenberg, who had been Morrison’s deputy leader of Liberal Party, was voted out of office at the May election without knowing the prime minister had also been a second treasurer.
Frydenberg described Morrison taking on the treasury portfolio as “extreme overreach,” in an interview published by Fairfax Media on Friday.
Bell found the secrecy around Morrison’s appointments was “apt to undermine public confidence in government” and “corrosive of trust in government.”
Opposition leader Peter Dutton has previously said his and Morrison’s Liberal Party would support legislation that would prevent a repeat of such a secret accumulation of power.
Albanese’s center-left Labor Party came to power at the last election with promises of more government transparency and accountability.
A bill to create a National Anti-Corruption Commission, a watchdog to investigate serious or systemic corruption within the public sector, passed the House of Representatives on Thursday and is expected to pass the Senate next week. | 2022-11-26T00:24:08+00:00 | kron4.com | https://www.kron4.com/news/world/ap-international/ap-australia-to-make-posts-public-to-avoid-repeat-of-power-grab/ |
EXTON, Pa., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE: WST), a global leader in innovative solutions for injectable drug administration, has recently released its 2021 Corporate Responsibility Report, reporting on the Company's environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance in 2021.
This is West's 6th annual CR Report, and highlights ESG successes from over the past year, including progress on environmental sustainability goals, diversity and inclusion, and success around the Company's philanthropic efforts. It also highlights some of the recognition received for its ESG performance, including placement in Barron's Top 100 Most Sustainable Companies, Corporate Social Responsibility Programme of the Year from Pharma Industry Awards in Ireland, and a Silver Stevie Award for Corporate Social Responsibility.
"At West, we are driven by our purpose to improve patient lives. We know that to fulfill this purpose effectively, we must consider our broader corporate responsibilities to the wide range of stakeholders we serve," said Eric M. Green, President, Chief Executive Officer and Chair of the Board. "Much of our long-term success can be credited to our focus on building a diverse team, putting quality at center stage, operating with integrity, giving back to our communities, managing our environmental footprint, and caring for the health and safety of our team members – all of these combined makes for a better performing company now and into the future."
Some of the key 2021 highlights include:
- ESG Governance changes, including the establishment of an ESG Steering Committee, new areas of priority focus for the future and additional oversight by West's Board of Directors
- Global waste to landfill for all West manufacturing sites continued to improve, with 85% of global waste diverted from landfill, up from 77% the prior year
- Both water and energy intensity ratios improved over prior year, meaning less energy and water is being used for each product produced
- 64% of West's Executive Team is made up of women and/or U.S. minorities
- 7 of West's manufacturing sites had zero recordable safety incidents in 2021
- Total employee giving increased by 72% from 2020
- Team member donations to West's Annual Global Food Drive increased by 56% over prior year
In addition to the CR Report, West also provides transparency in disclosure through alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Index, and the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
Please read the full CR Report here to learn more about West's commitment to ESG.
About West
West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. is a leading provider of innovative, high-quality injectable solutions and services. As a trusted partner to established and emerging drug developers, West helps ensure the safe, effective containment and delivery of life-saving and life-enhancing medicines for patients. With approximately 10,000 team members across 50 sites worldwide, West helps support our customers by delivering over 45 billion components and devices each year.
Headquartered in Exton, Pennsylvania, and in business for nearly a century, West in its fiscal year 2021 generated $2.83 billion in net sales. West is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: WST) and is included on the Standard & Poor's 500 index. For more information, visit www.westpharma.com.
All trademarks and registered trademarks used in this release are the property of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. or its subsidiaries, in the United States and other jurisdictions, unless otherwise noted.
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SOURCE West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. | 2022-07-12T20:12:52+00:00 | wlox.com | https://www.wlox.com/prnewswire/2022/07/12/west-pharmaceutical-services-releases-2021-corporate-responsibility-report/ |
Highlights Include Berlin Featuring Terri Nunn, The Sound of Music, and The Clairvoyants
PARKER, Colo., Aug. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Parker Arts recently announced their much-anticipated 2022-2023 show season. The season includes concerts by multi-platinum recording artist and Academy of Country Music® Award winner Sara Evans, rock and pop legends Berlin featuring Terri Nunn, Night Ranger and A Flock of Seagulls, legendary singer-songwriters Karla Bonoff and Lee Greenwood, and Emmy® Award winner John Tesh and his Big Band Live.
As always, Parker Arts is bringing top-tier musical theater to Parker, including performances of The Addams Family, The Sound of Music, and Jimmy Buffet's Escape to Margaritaville. Holiday classics are also returning to the PACE Center & Schoolhouse stages, along with A Slightly Wicked Holiday Show, featuring a cast of Broadway's best, and shadow dance team, The Silhouettes, from America's Got Talent: The Champions. Families are also invited to a special movie presentation of Elf in the PACE Center theater.
"We're thrilled to have such a great mix of acts this season," said Parker Arts Cultural Director Carrie Glassburn. "With so many different shows, from country and rock to shadow dance and musical theater, there really is something for everyone."
For tickets and more information, visit ParkerArts.org.
Check out the full season below:
- Uncharted Music Series: Carly Burruss
- Berlin featuring Terri Nunn
- Uncharted Music Series: Mary Fahl, formerly of October Project
- Friday Night Jazz: An Evening of Latin Jazz
- The Comedy Zone
- Katherine Dines of Hunk Ta Bunk Da
- The Clairvoyants Experience
- Night Ranger
- A Very Special Evening with Karla Bonoff
- Choir!Choir!Choir!
- Parker Symphony Orchestra: Czech, Please!
- Friday Night Jazz: So the Story Goes with Robert Johnson
- School of Breaking
- The Rocket Man Show
- Dry Bar Comedy
- The Addams Family, the musical
- The Rocky Horror Picture Show
- Paddington Gets in a Jam
- BoDeans
- Cheyenne Mountain Zoo ZOOMobile
- Sara Evans
- Lee Greenwood
- Uncharted Music Series: Rapid Grass
- The Silhouettes
- A Rocky Mountain Christmas
- The Boy Band Project Holiday Edition
- Holiday Movie: Elf
- A Slightly Wicked Holiday Show
- A Classic Parker Holiday
- The Nutcracker
- The Sound of Music, the musical
- The Pirates of Penzance—Opera Colorado
- Jungle Book
- Uncharted Music Series: Adam Ezra Group
- Parker Symphony Orchestra: Shakespeare in Love
- Friday Night Jazz: The Music of Nat King Cole with Robert Johnson
- Uncharted Music Series: Griffin House
- Justin Willman
- Celtic Steps
- John Tesh
- Friday Night Jazz: Ladies of Jazz
- Garrison Keillor Tonight
- Animal Farm
- A Flock of Seagulls w/Strangelove: The Depeche Mode Experience
- Piano Battle (Paul Cibis and Andreas Kern)
- Uncharted Music Series: Meaghan Farrell
- Parker Chorale: A Celebration of Rodgers and Hammerstein
- Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
- Yesterday & Today: The Interactive Beatles Experience (Beatles Tribute)
- KILLER? A Photographic Exploration (Amos Nachoum: Dispelling the Misconceptions)
- Cirque Kalabante: Afrique en Cirque
- Parker Symphony Orchestra: Arabian Nights
- Jimmy Buffett's Escape to Margaritaville
PARKER ARTS encompasses the many facilities and events that the Town of Parker's Cultural Department oversees, including a wide variety of local, regional, national and international, cultural, arts, scientific and educational programming and rentals. The PACE Center is home to a 534-seat theater, art gallery, event room, dance studio, culinary kitchen, and several classrooms. The historic Schoolhouse houses a cozy 200-seat theater, small art gallery, dance studio, and vintage classrooms. The century-old Ruth Memorial Chapel is on the National Register of Historic Places and is the perfect setting for small weddings, church groups or quiet meetings. For more information about Parker Arts, visit www.ParkerArts.org.
CONTACT:
Taylor Rosty
Lasso Digital
307.262.3646 | taylor@lassodigital.co
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SOURCE Parker Arts | 2022-08-02T03:25:06+00:00 | kcrg.com | https://www.kcrg.com/prnewswire/2022/08/02/parker-arts-announces-2022-2023-season/ |
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The shooter who opened fire at a Nashville private school has been identified as a 28-year-old Nashville woman, Police Chief John Drake confirmed Monday afternoon.
Drake said the woman, Audrey Hale, identifies as transgender and was also believed to have been a student at The Covenant School, the small Christian school where officers say she killed six people.
Hale was shot and killed by police minutes after they arrived on scene, Drake said.
When police entered the school’s first story, they heard gunshots coming from the second floor, police spokesperson Don Aaron said. They immediately “went to the gunfire,” he said, where they found the woman armed with two assault rifles and a handgun who was firing.
The responding officers on the second floor were part of a five-member team, according to Aaron. Two of those officers opened fire on the shooter.
“By 10:27 the shooter was deceased,” he said in a press conference Monday morning.
While police initially said the shooter appeared to be “in her teens,” police later confirmed she was 28 years old.
During a Monday evening press conference, Drake said authorities are still working to determine a motive but that detailed maps with information on surveillance and entrances were found after the shooting.
Hale allegedly entered the building by shooting through a side door, Drake noted, adding that the shooting was targeted.
A manifesto and writings believed to be related to the shooting are also being reviewed. Authorities have spoken with Hale’s father.
Female active shooters are rare, according to FBI data. Of the 61 incidents categorized as active shooting incidents in 2021, the FBI reported only one suspect was female.
A typical day at The Covenant School would see 209 students and approximately 42 staff members in attendance, according to police.
Three of those staff members and three students were killed Monday. No other major injuries were reported.
One officer reportedly sustained an injury from cut glass, but Aaron said he was not aware of any other injuries to officers. | 2023-03-27T21:35:57+00:00 | ktalnews.com | https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/nashville-school-shooter-ided-as-28-year-old-woman-former-student-heres-what-we-know/ |
JetBlue is going hostile in its bid for Spirit Airlines and asking shareholders of the low-cost carrier to reject a proposed $2.9 billion acquisition by Frontier Airlines.
JetBlue is going straight to shareholders with its offer in hopes of pushing the board of the Florida airline to the negotiating table. Shares of spirit jumped 17% before the opening bell Monday.
Spirit has rejected JetBlue's $3.6 billion offer twice already, saying antitrust regulators are unlikely to approve an offer from the New York City airline because of its alliance with American Airlines in the Northeast. The Justice Department is suing to block that deal.
JetBlue on Monday offered $30 a share in cash for each share held by Spirit investors, but said it's open to paying its initial offer price of $33 a share if the board at Spirit enters talks and provides data that JetBlue has requested.
It said that the lower per-share price is based on Spirit's unwillingness to share information it requested.
“The Spirit Board failed to provide us the necessary diligence information it had provided Frontier and then summarily rejected our proposal, which addressed its regulatory concerns, without asking us even a single question about it," JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes wrote in a letter. "The Spirit Board based its rejection on unsupportable claims that are easily refuted.”
Hayes said JetBlue is offering a significant premium in cash, more certainty, and more benefits for all Spirit investors.
The bid from Frontier Group Holdings Inc. would let Spirit shareholders keep 48.5% of the combined airline. It would give Spirit shareholders 1.9126 shares of Frontier plus $2.13 in cash for each of their Spirit shares.
Shares of JetBlue Airways Corp. fell slightly while shares of Frontier's climbed more than 3%.
Credit: Charles Krupa
Credit: Charles Krupa
Credit: Seth Wenig
Credit: Seth Wenig | 2022-05-16T12:47:39+00:00 | springfieldnewssun.com | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/nation-world/jetblue-goes-hostile-in-bid-for-spirit-after-2-rejections/Y7RZW3S3UFGUHFCXGFLZRK63XQ/ |
SHANGHAI, Dec. 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- China is redefining the word modernization, and as it does so the new-energy industry will play an important role, says Helena Li, president of global solar product business at Trina Solar.
As the world as a whole is striving to build a net-zero future, it is imperative that everyone work together, she says.
Li made the remarks in a speech by using four words as a reference point at the BloombergNEF Shanghai Summit held from November 29 to 30.
"The world is undergoing tremendous changes, and new energy is an important part of the energy mix," Li said.
"The first is consensus. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of the United Nations says that up to 3.6 billion people worldwide live in environments highly vulnerable to climate change. From the Kyoto Protocol signed in 1997 to the Paris Agreement signed in 2016, to China's achieving peak CO2 emissions before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060, proposed two years ago, the world has come to agree that addressing climate change and achieving carbon neutrality are a common cause for all humanity".
"The second key word is responsibility. In a way Trina Solar owes its very existence to the Kyoto Protocol. For it was this document that inspired the company's founder, giving us one of the world's first PV companies. Since Trina Solar was founded 25 years ago it has been firmly committed to its mission of "Solar Energy For All". For evidence of that we have shipped more than 120 GW of modules to more than 100 countries and regions, generating about 162 TWh of electricity from clean energy each year. From low-carbon products to green production and operation to the full implementation of an ESG strategy, Trina Solar shoulders its social responsibility by deeply respecting the ethos of sustainable development.
"Third, technology. We believe achieving carbon neutrality consists of four critical elements: PV power generation, energy storage technology, energy digitization, ultra-high voltage network. Trina Solar is resolute in its mission to promote the industry's entry into the 600W+ era and the all-round application of PV modules meeting the LCOE-oriented principle. The new-generation n-type modules based on the 210mm technology platform and n-type i-TOPCon cell technology, further reduce LCOE for continuous growth of renewable energy.
"And fourth, vision. We believe the new-energy and PV industries have incredibly good prospects. Although local carbon neutrality is a way off, Trina Solar is immensely proud of the role in making it happen and it has played over the past 25 years in offering smart solar energy solutions to the world. We are excited about the next 25 years, including the prospect of building a user-oriented PV ecosystem. At the same time, we are sober-minded as we face the responsibility with others in the industry of creating a net-zero future for all."
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SOURCE Trina Solar Co., Ltd | 2022-12-05T06:25:15+00:00 | kwtx.com | https://www.kwtx.com/prnewswire/2022/12/05/trina-solar-vows-build-net-zero-world-with-responsibility-technology-vision/ |
NORTH BETHESDA, Md. (AP) — Bernard Kalb, a former television reporter for CBS and NBC who quit his job as a State Department spokesman to protest a U.S. government disinformation campaign against Libya, died Sunday. He was 100.
His younger brother, Marvin Kalb, told The Washington Post that his death at his home in the Washington suburbs followed complications from a fall.
Bernard Kalb worked as a foreign correspondent for The New York Times, CBS and NBC, wrote two books with his more famous younger brother, and served as founding anchor and panelist for the CNN media analysis show “Reliable Sources.”
Always smartly dressed in a suit and orange tie often matched by an orange pocket handkerchief, Kalb was a tireless journalist who made virtually every overseas trip with five different secretaries of state before switching to the other side of the podium.
“You have a sense of being something of an eyewitness to the evolutions and eruptions of the decades since World War II,” he told The New York Times in 1984, when he became a spokesman for Secretary of State George Shultz during the Reagan administration.
“You have a historical memory to call upon and you see the trust of American foreign policy and other foreign policy,” he said. “And it seems to me the ability to punch up American priorities, cast of characters, issues and so forth are very valuable in this assignment.”
The disinformation campaign followed U.S. airstrikes that had hit Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s compound earlier in 1986 in retaliation for a Libyan-linked terrorist attack in Germany. It was designed to make Gadhafi think he was about to be attacked again. The Washington Post exposed the campaign, which the newspaper said included leaking false information to reporters and which Kalb knew nothing about.
“I am concerned about the impact of any such program on the credibility of the United States,” Kalb said at the time. “Anything that hurts America’s credibility, hurts America.”
New York Times columnist William Safire praised the resignation. “In his final official act, Bernard Kalb rose above ‘State Department spokesman’ to become the spokesman for all Americans who respect and demand the truth,” Safire wrote.
In 1992 Kalb became the founding anchor of “Reliable Sources,” which reported on reporters and how they handled stories. Co-host Howard Kurtz took over the show after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
In 1997 Kalb began moderating a number of panels and lectures on the press around the world for The Freedom Forum, a Washington-based foundation devoted to press freedom run by former Gannett Co. executives. He also served on a panel that monitored Israeli and Palestinian media for incitement to violence that was created as part of the failed 1998 Wye River land-for-security accord.
Kalb was born Feb. 4, 1922, in New York City, the son of Jewish immigrants. His father was a tailor from Poland, while his mother was from the Ukraine. He attended New York City public schools and graduated from New York’s City College.
During World War II he spent two years in the Army, working for a camp newspaper in the Aleutian Islands alongside editor Sgt. Dashiell Hammett, author of “The Maltese Falcon” and other detective novels.
From 1946 until 1961 he worked at The New York Times, spending four months in Antarctica in late 1955 and 1956 to cover Adm. Richard Byrd’s Navy expedition, Operation Deep Freeze. Later in 1956 Kalb was dispatched to Indonesia, where he developed a lasting love for Asian antiques and porcelain.
CBS hired him away from the Times in 1962 and sent him back to Southeast Asia, where he was well-known. He joined his brother covering the State Department in Washington in 1975, and they moved together to NBC in 1980.
At CBS Marvin and Bernard were known as “The Kalbs,” but Bernard lived somewhat in the shadow of his younger brother.
One widely circulated, but apocryphal, story had their mother calling the CBS foreign desk in New York and saying: “Hello, this is Marvin Kalb’s mother. Can you tell me where my son Bernie is?” But Bernard Kalb never seemed the least bit jealous, sometimes even introducing himself as Marvin’s “kid brother.”
Together they wrote an admiring 1974 biography of Henry Kissinger, “Kissinger,” and “The Last Ambassador,” a 1981 novel about the fall of Saigon.
Survivors include his wife, Phyllis, and their four daughters, Tanah, Marina, Claudia and Sarinah.
___
Associated Press writer Derek Rose contributed to this report. | 2023-01-10T00:38:50+00:00 | fox44news.com | https://www.fox44news.com/news/national-world-news/ap-bernard-kalb-longtime-foreign-affairs-newsman-dies-at-100/ |
Goals. We hear about them all the time. Goals at school. Goals at work. Goals for the new year. Goals for our finances, our love life and our status. Goals, goals, goals!
This is not a lecture on how to write a goal and stick to it. I want you to think about the goal that matters the most – your Soul Goal.
You may already be neck-deep in your life goals. You are probably already measuring them, tracking them and think you have everything under control. Yet, are you experiencing a little gnawing inside? Is there a tiny whisper nibbling at your heart? Has it been there for years, but you have hushed it?
That whisper is your Soul Goal. The good news is this is one goal you don’t have to write down, track or measure. You just need to listen to your heart because it is already there.
I believe the soul is the script of all we have been and all we will be. It has drama, action, comedy, heartbreak and love coded into this personal documentary. Yes, there is an intended outcome to the story. I believe the ending to your script is to successfully learn how to love yourself and others. The Soul Goal is our personal method of how we accomplish that.
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Have you always had a desire to paint, work with animals or heal?
If we are here to learn how to love ourselves and others and your inner desire is to paint, then you learn to love yourself by painting. By painting you create art that is a gift you can share with others. In doing so you touch their hearts. You love others by creating your art.
If your inner desire is to heal, you may become a doctor, nurse, counselor or Reiki Master. You love yourself by following your inner voice and by doing this you heal and love others. You touch their hearts. You love others by healing.
Do you see how this works? Your Soul Goal is the technique by which you reach the outcome of loving yourself and others.
Listen to your whisper. Pay attention to the gnawing. If it is unclear what your Soul Goal is – pay attention to when you feel the most alive, happy and content. This is the criteria for your Soul Goal. This doesn’t have to be difficult.
I am a writer and a speaker. While working through other careers in my life, the whisper and the gnawing was always there. I would attempt to incorporate snippets of my Soul Goal into my work. I would speak about my work topics and I would write heart-filled stories and give them as gifts. I knew when I was doing this I felt the most alive, happy and content.
My Soul Goal is simple. It is one line: To share my life lessons through speaking and writing. In the process, I love myself by doing what makes me feel the most alive. I love others by reaching out my heart to touch theirs.
I’m not suggesting you give up all of your other goals. School, work, family and life goals matter. I’m not suggesting you quit your job to become a starving artist.
What I am suggesting is that you listen to your heart as it whispers your Soul Goal. I am suggesting you find a way to incorporate this whisper into your life.
You don’t have to create ideas that you format into action steps and turn these into strategies and objectives. None of this is necessary. You can tiptoe into accomplishing your Soul Goal. Take a painting class one night a week. Volunteer at an animal rescue center or a nursing home. Whatever your whisper is calling you to do, find a place and begin.
Remember, your Soul Goal makes you feel alive, happy and content. It should be fun! It should bring you joy! It just takes loving yourself enough to do what your soul is asking you to do.
Pennie's Life Lesson: “When you fulfill your Soul Goal you feel alive, happy and content.”
Pennie Hunt was born and raised in Rapid City. She is the author of the book, “Love Your Life- NO MATTER WHAT -76 Tips to Journey Through Grief and Loss” and the book, “Love Your Life- NO MATTER WHAT -76 Tips to Live Life With Love and Gratitude.” She writes the blog, “From the Corner of Spirit & Brave.” She is a professional speaker and member of the National Speakers Association. www.PennieHunt.com Email: penniehunt@gmail.com | 2022-04-17T19:18:06+00:00 | rapidcityjournal.com | https://rapidcityjournal.com/opinion/hunt-what-is-your-soul-goal/article_e409e2a3-ac4a-577d-94e5-2d941e910857.html |
PHOENIX (AP) — Major League Baseball isn’t done tinkering with potential rule changes for the sport.
The league announced a series of experimental rules Tuesday that will be used in the Atlantic League this season, including a designated pinch runner, “double-hook” designated hitter rule and further limitations on a pitcher’s ability to make pickoff moves.
The designated pinch runner rule allows a player who is not in the starting lineup to be used at any point of the game as a substitute baserunner. The player who was subbed out, as well as the pinch runner, would still be able to return to the game.
The “double-hook” designated hitter rule allows teams to use the DH throughout the game as long as the starting pitcher throws at least five innings. If that doesn’t occur, the team loses its DH and the pitcher’s spot would bat for the remainder of the game. The rule was also used in the Atlantic League last season.
There’s also a single disengagement rule, which means pitchers can only take their foot off the rubber once per at-bat to attempt a pickoff or reset the pitch clock.
The Atlantic League is an independent, minor league that has been a designated MLB Partner League since 2019, helping the sport test new rules. Some of the rules have stuck and eventually been used in the big leagues, while others haven’t.
MLB has debuted a series of rules changes this season that were tested throughout the minors, including the Atlantic League. The new pitch clock has shaved about 30 minutes off game times through the season’s first three weeks, while limits on the infield shift and bigger bases have helped boost offense.
“We thank the Atlantic League for their continued partnership,” said Morgan Sword, MLB’s Vice President of Baseball Operations, in a statement. “In recent years, the ALPB’s experimental rules have aimed to emphasize athleticism, improved pace of play and other means of giving fans the game they want to see.”
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | 2023-04-19T09:23:02+00:00 | fox59.com | https://fox59.com/sports/ap-sports/mlb-uses-atlantic-league-to-test-more-rule-changes/ |
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — For Matthew and Lindsey Fuller, Wednesday was supposed to be one of the happiest days of their lives.
The couple and their son were moving from Utah to Kansas to their first home as Matthew Fuller prepared for his first job out of college.
What should have been a day to move heavy furniture, open boxes and look forward to the future turned into what can be described as a nightmare.
“We had everything written down of what room was going to have what furniture, and where our son, Henry, was going to sleep, and, and where his crib was going to be, and all his toys,” Matthew Fuller said. “And it’s hard to come here with nothing.”
He said a bright red truck and 26-foot trailer filled with his family’s belongings were stolen from a hotel parking lot in Denver. He fears several precious memories are gone forever.
“Our baby’s first outfits, our baby’s hand- and footprint clay molds, those are gone,” Matthew Fuller said.
But on their first day living in their new neighborhood, the couple said they were awed by all the support.
“I was thinking about how sad I was for the things that were gone, but I also felt so much love,” Lindsey Fuller said.
A GoFundMe account for the couple has raised more than $19,000 as of Thursday morning.
“They’re raising money already, they’re bringing gift cards by, they’re just lending support, they’re bringing cookies,” said Mike Huish, Lindsey Fuller’s father, who owns the stolen truck and trailer. “My heart just swells, to be honest with you, that these people are just so loving.”
“It’s hard to believe that there’s good people in the world when something like this happens to you, but the support like this just shows there are more good people than bad,” Matthew Fuller said.
The family said the hotel cited posted signage stating that the property is not responsible for damaged or stolen vehicles, while Colorado’s Aurora Police Department confirmed it was investigating. | 2023-06-01T21:08:31+00:00 | everythinglubbock.com | https://www.everythinglubbock.com/news/national/family-loses-everything-in-move-to-kansas-but-new-neighbors-step-in-to-help/ |
A group of prominent African-American leaders in Baton Rouge say they support in principle Superintendent Sito Narcisse’s recent forced reassignment of educators from their current schools to other schools in town with vacancies, but stopped short of a full endorsement.
“We believe in fair and impartial, equitable outcomes for all students in the East Baton Rouge Parish school system. Currently that is not the case,” said Rev. Dale Flowers, standing Wednesday at a podium in front of New Sunlight Baptist Church where he serves as pastor.
“Currently, disadvantaged children, African-American children are more likely to attend schools that have the least highly qualified or the least effective teachers,” continued Flowers, who also helps lead a church-based group called Prophetic Voices. “That has to change. We know that has to change and that’s what we stand up here today to say to each of you.”
Sateria Tate-Alexander, founder of Agile Planning Solutions, said inequities in Baton Rouge public education hurts children.
“This doesn’t just affect their education,” Tate-Alexander said. “This affects their quality of life and their education.”
The Wednesday press conference was a response to days of criticism of Narcisse’s recent decision to cut 230-plus specific job positions and tell those educators they need to find — or be reassigned to — a vacant position elsewhere. Upset parents held a protest last week and plan another protest Thursday before a 5 p.m. School Board meeting where Narcisse is planning to address concerns about the reassignments.
The leaders on Wednesday acknowledged that the rollout of the staffing changes, particularly how they were communicated publicly, was flawed. But they said the initiative still has laudable aims.
“It would be a terrible thing for the importance of the message to be lost due to the delivery of the message," said Rev. Raymond Jetson, chief executive catalyst of the nonprofit group MetroMorphosis.
Eugene Collins, president of the Baton Rouge branch of the NAACP, rattled off a series of statistics showing how African-American students in Baton Rouge typically go to schools with lower academic performance and less effective teachers.
“If we’re not willing to go to those schools and teach those underserved kids, the least of us, then something’s wrong with us as a community,” Collins said.
“If these teachers are going to leave the district and have a mass exodus because they don’t want to teach poor kids, something is not right with that,” he added.
Walter “Geno” McLaughlin, director of organizing and outreach for the New Orleans-based Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, was present but did not speak.
Other individuals and groups not present at Wednesday’s press conference, but in agreement include Preston Castille, a member of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education; Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church Pastor Fred Jeff Smith; Education Trust of Louisiana; YWCA Greater Baton Rouge, BRidge Agency; and Baton Rouge Black Chamber of Commerce.
Jetson credited the superintendent for taking a “first step” in addressing inequity in staffing at schools, but said more needs to happen and said Wednesday’s press conference is a way of starting that conversation.
“Our message is continuing to do the status quo even out of fear is not an option any more,” Jetson said.
Also speaking Wednesday was Dadrius Lanus. In addition to being a School Board member, Lanus is executive director of 100 Black Men of Baton Rouge. Lanus has been an advocate for raising employee pay and benefits, something that Supt. Narcisse also said he intends to press once an employee compensation study is completed this summer.
“We can’t ask (employees) simply to uproot their lives and change their livelihoods without having that conversation,” Lanus said. “Because as it stands our teachers earn less than the state average, the regional average and the national average.” | 2022-05-18T22:32:38+00:00 | theadvocate.com | https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/education/article_c4d1345a-d6e3-11ec-a574-e78ac093b5a7.html |
Greyhound racing nearing its end in the US after long slide
DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — Vera Rasnake laughed as she led a trio of barking, jostling dogs into the Iowa Greyhound Park, but her smile faded when she acknowledged that after 41 years of being around the sleek animals, her sport was teetering on extinction.
After the end of a truncated season in Dubuque in May, the track here will close. By the end of the year there will only be two tracks left in the country.
“It’s very hard for me to see this,” Rasnake said.
It’s been a long slide for greyhound racing, which reached its peak in the 1980s when there were more than 50 tracks across 19 states. Since then, increased concerns about how the dogs are treated along with an explosion of gambling options has nearly killed a sport that gained widespread appeal about a century ago.
A racing association found that betting on greyhounds plunged from $3.5 billion in 1991 to about $500 million in 2014. Since then, many more tracks have closed.
In some states like the dog-racing mecca of Florida in 2021, it was voter initiatives that ended the sport at the state’s dozen tracks. In others like Iowa, state officials allowed casinos to end subsidies that had kept greyhound racing alive as interest declined.
“Do I think the industry is dying? Yes,” said Gwyneth Anne Thayer, who has written a history of greyhound racing. But “it’s happening way faster than I thought it would.”
The Dubuque track closure and the end of racing in West Memphis, Arkansas, this December will leave racing only in West Virginia, where tracks in Wheeling and near Charleston operate with subsidies from casino revenue.
For some animal welfare groups, the industry’s collapse is the culmination of decades of work to publicize allegations of greyhound mistreatment. The group GREY2K was formed in 2001 and Carey Theil, the organization’s executive director, said he feels a sense of accomplishment now that the sport’s end seems within reach.
“This has become one of the signature animal welfare debates of our time,” Theil said.
GREY2K, the Humane Society and other groups have long argued that greyhound racing was cruel, including its longtime practice of killing dogs that weren’t deemed top racers, using drugs to enhance their performance, confining them for long periods and subjecting animals to the risk of injury on the racetrack.
Industry supporters note there now is a huge demand to adopt retired racers and deny that the other problems are widespread. They also contend that some don’t understand the love greyhounds have for running.
On opening day at the Iowa Greyhound Park in Dubuque, spectators packed into a spacious room that overlooked the track, sipping beers and mixed drinks as they pored over racing statistics before placing bets at kiosks or with attendants. They expressed disappointment that the track would close, lamenting the loss of an entertainment option in Dubuque, a city of about 60,000 known for its stately brick buildings and church steeples built on hills overlooking the Mississippi River.
Peggy Janiszewski and her friend Robin Hannan have for years been driving about three hours from the Chicago area to Dubuque to watch the racing. They typically bet only a few dollars on each race but are more interested in watching the dogs than counting their winnings.
“They’re beautiful. Like works of art,” Janiszewski said.
Bruce Krueger said he has been making the 170-mile (274-kilometer) drive from Milwaukee to Dubuque. He doesn’t believe the dogs are mistreated.
“I know some trainers, and they treat them like kings and queens,” Krueger said.
General Manager Brian Carpenter was 16 when he started working at the track in its second year and has remained 36 seasons until this, its final year.
He recalls the excitement when the track opened in 1985, a time when Iowa was mired in farm bankruptcies and much of Dubuque was struggling. Back then, thousands of people would attend the races, with buses of gamblers arriving every weekend from Chicago and Milwaukee.
“It was an exciting time and the track offered good jobs,” he said.
Opening day this year drew at least 1,000 people but smaller crowds are typical, especially on weeknights.
The Dubuque track was helped along by city and state funding, and after Iowa and other states began allowing casinos, the Dubuque operation was expanded to include its own casino.
Thayer’s book, “Going to the Dogs,” describes a sport with a colorful and often tumultuous history. From its beginning in the 1920s following development of the mechanical lure, the industry was continually pushing to allow for legalized betting state-by-state and to attract attention, with help from Hollywood celebrities, athletes and beauty pageant competitors.
At times, the sport drew more spectators than its more prominent rival horse racing. While considered seedy by some, it was mainstream entertainment for decades, Thayer said.
“People don’t realize how normalized it was in American culture for a long time,” she said.
Greyhound racing also is held in other countries, including Australia, Great Britain, Ireland, Mexico and Vietnam, but it is facing some of the same problems apparent in the U.S.
Although greyhound racing in the U.S. will be confined only to West Virginia, that state seems intent on retaining the sport, said Steve Sarras, president of the West Virginia Kennel Owners Association. The state’s two tracks run races five-days a week year-round.
Sarras said West Virginia legislators made repeated visits to his kennel and others to inspect conditions, and ultimately were confident the dogs are well treated.
“When you see it firsthand, you cannot fake how happy a dog is,” he said.
___
Follow Scott McFetridge on Twitter: https://twitter.com/smcfetridge
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | 2022-05-02T11:24:15+00:00 | wymt.com | https://www.wymt.com/2022/05/02/greyhound-racing-nearing-its-end-us-after-long-slide/ |
HAMILTON, Bermuda, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Paratus Energy Services Ltd. ("Paratus" or the "Company") today announced a trading update for the first quarter 2022 and updates on Paratus, its subsidiaries, and associated companies ("Paratus Group").
- Key Financial Highlights
1.1 Paratus
In the first quarter ending March 31, 2022, Paratus generated $54 million in revenue and $29 million in EBITDA[1]. As a result of the pre-packaged Chapter 11 restructuring on January 20, 2022, comparisons of revenue and EBITDA to the preceding quarter are not meaningful.
1.2 SeaMex Group
During the same period, Paratus' wholly owned subsidiary SeaMex Holdings, Ltd. ("SeaMex") and its subsidiaries ("SeaMex Group") generated $54 million in revenue and $30 million in EBITDA. Compared to the preceding quarter, revenue remained unchanged, and EBITDA decreased by 3.2%.[2] For the first quarter ending March 31, 2022, SeaMex Group earned an average contractual rate of $115 thousand per day with $705 million in contract backlog.
1.3 Joint Venture in Seabras Group
Seabras UK Limited, (a wholly owned subsidiary of Paratus) holds a 50% equity interest in its associated company and its subsidiaries ("Seabras JV"). In the first quarter ending March 31, 2022, Seabras JV generated $94 million in revenue and $43 million in EBITDA. Compared to the preceding quarter, revenue and EBITDA decreased by 3.1% and 23.2%, respectively. In the first quarter ending March 31, Seabras earned an average contractual rate of $208 thousand per day with $916 million in contract backlog.
2. Other Updates
1. SeaMex Group
Net Proceeds of $187 million from remarketing of PEMEX notes
On June 1, 2022, SeaMex exchanged approximately $196 million of outstanding Codificación de Pagos y Descuentos ("COPADES") into $196 million newly issued Petroleos Mexicanos ("PEMEX") senior unsecured notes due 2029 ("PEMEX Notes") under the financing mechanism as announced by PEMEX in March 2022. SeaMex has subsequently entered into a remarketing process to monetize the PEMEX Notes facilitated and managed by Citigroup. The PEMEX Notes were sold in two transactions during the remarketing process: $154 million PEMEX Notes were sold at 97.6% and the remaining $42 million PEMEX Notes were sold at 87.0%, each exclusive of remarketing fees and accrued interest. In aggregate, SeaMex received approximately $187 million in net proceeds from the remarketing of PEMEX Notes.
On July 28, 2022, Paratus entered into separate, privately negotiated transactions (the "Agreements") with the holders of its outstanding SeaMex Finance Ltd ("SeaMex Finance") 12% Senior Secured Notes Due August 2024 (the "Notes") to repurchase $152 million aggregate principal amount of the Notes (the "Repurchased Notes") for an aggregate cash repurchase price of approximately $170 million comprised of principal repayment, accrued interest, and call premium (the "Repurchases"). The Repurchases closed on July 28, 2022. Following the closing of the Repurchases, SeaMex Finance cancelled the Repurchased Notes, leaving approximately $69 million aggregate principal amounts of Notes outstanding. In connection with the repurchases, the Note Purchase Agreement was amended to, among other things, provide for fixed call premiums, which will reduce on a monthly basis, for the period of July 31, 2022 through February 28, 2023 as reflected in Schedule 4. After February 28, 2023, the call premium will stay fixed at 6.00% through February 29, 2024, and thereafter there will be no call premium.
As of June 30, 2022, SeaMex has $104 million accounts receivable outstanding from PEMEX.
Termination Notice of West Titania
SeaMex has received a termination notice from PEMEX regarding the West Titania jack-up, with an effective termination date of March 16, 2023. SeaMex is actively pursuing other opportunities in the market as well as continuing to engage with PEMEX on this matter.
Open Tax Audits
SeaMex Group has open tax audits with the Mexico Tax Authority for financial years 2014, 2016 and 2017, and has been notified by the Mexico Tax Authority of a potential tax liability for fiscal year 2014. With the assistance of its external professional advisors, the SeaMex Group is reviewing and evaluating this matter.
2. Seabras JV
Contract Extension of Sapura Esmeralda
Sapura Esmeralda's contract with Petróleo Brasileiro S.A ("PETROBRAS") has been extended until August 2022. Seabras is in advanced discussions with PETROBRAS to finalize a 2-year extension for Sapura Esmeralda from August 2022.
New Contract Award for Sapura Onix
Sapura Onix has been awarded a new contract by Enauta Energia SA in Brazil, in a consortium with Sapura Energy Brasil. The contract includes the installation of new subsea manifolds, subsea pumps, flexibles, jumpers, and umbilicals for three new wells, disconnecting the existing Early Production System (EPS), and re-routing existing flexibles and umbilicals to the FPSO Atlanta. The EPCI SURF award is for the Atlanta full field development in the Santos Basin, expecting to run from December 2023 to October 2024.
Schedule 1. Key Financial Highlights
Notes:
1. The second fiscal quarter of 2022 is expected to be disclosed before or at the end of September 2022.
2. For purposes of comparing the first fiscal quarter of 2022 against the fourth fiscal quarter of 2021, figures from SeaMex Finance, Ltd. are utilized for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2021.
3. Excludes intercompany debt and any amortization of fees.
4. Net debt is calculated as gross debt less cash and restricted cash.
5. Contract backlog takes into account West Titania's termination date of March 16, 2023.
6. The figures presented for Paratus do not include financials from Seabras as Seabras is not consolidated in the Paratus financial statements due to Paratus' 50% equity ownership of Seabras.
Schedule 2. Pro Forma Key Financials Post Early Repurchase of the SeaMex Finance Ltd 12% Senior Secured Notes Due August 2024
Note:
1. Pro forma Q1 2022 key financials show the effects of early repurchase of the SeaMex Finance Ltd 12% Senior Secured Notes Due August 2024 as if it occurred at the end of Q2 2022. The price of the call premium and amount of accrued interest have been adjusted to reflect the appropriate time of the illustrative paydown.
Schedule 3. Fleet Status Report
SeaMex Group
Seabras Group
Note:
1. The expiration date of West Titania reflects PEMEX's termination notice.
Schedule 4. SeaMex Finance Ltd 12% Senior Secured Notes Due August 2024 Revised Call Premium Schedule
Paratus -- Forward-Looking Statements
This release includes forward-looking statements. Such statements are generally not historical in nature, and specifically include statements about the Company's and / or the Paratus Group's (including any member of the Paratus Group) plans, strategies, business prospects, changes and trends in its business and the markets in which it operates. These statements are based on management's current plans, expectations, assumptions and beliefs concerning future events impacting the Company and / or the Paratus Group and therefore involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this news release. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, management's reliance on third party professional advisors and operational partners and providers, the Company's ability (or inability) to control the operations and governance of certain joint ventures and investment vehicles, oil and energy services and solutions market conditions, subsea services market conditions, and offshore drilling market conditions, the cost and timing of capital projects, the performance of operating assets, delay in payment or disputes with customers, the ability to successfully employ operating assets, procure or have access to financing, ability to comply with loan covenants, liquidity and adequacy of cash flow from operations of its subsidiaries and investments, fluctuations in the international price of oil or alternative energy sources, international financial, commodity or currency market conditions, including, in each case, the impact of COVID-19 and related economic conditions, changes in governmental regulations, including in connection with COVID-19, that affect the Paratus Group, increased competition in any of the industries in which the Paratus Group operates, the impact of global economic conditions and global health threats, including in connection with COVID-19, our ability to maintain relationships with suppliers, customers, joint venture partners, professional advisors, operational partners and providers, employees and other third parties and our ability to maintain adequate financing to support our business plans, factors related to the offshore drilling, subsea services, and oil and energy services and solutions markets, the impact of global economic conditions, our liquidity and the adequacy of cash flows for our obligations, including the ability of the Company's subsidiaries and investment vehicles to pay dividends, political and other uncertainties, the concentration of our revenues in certain geographical jurisdictions, limitations on insurance coverage, our ability to attract and retain skilled personnel on commercially reasonable terms, the level of expected capital expenditures, our expected financing of such capital expenditures, and the timing and cost of completion of capital projects, fluctuations in interest rates or exchange rates and currency devaluations relating to foreign or U.S. monetary policy, tax matters, changes in tax laws, treaties and regulations, tax assessments and liabilities for tax issues, legal and regulatory matters, customs and environmental matters, the potential impacts on our business resulting from climate-change or greenhouse gas legislation or regulations, the impact on our business from climate-change related physical changes or changes in weather patterns, and the occurrence of cybersecurity incidents, attacks or other breaches to our information technology systems, including our rig operating systems. Consequently, no forward-looking statement can be guaranteed.
Neither the Company nor any member of the Paratus Group undertakes any obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of these factors. Further, we cannot assess the impact of each such factors on our businesses or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to be materially different from those contained in any forward-looking statement.
[1] The figures presented for Paratus do not consider revenue and EBTIDA from Seabras as Seabras is not consolidated in the Paratus financial statements due to Paratus' 50% equity ownership of Seabras.
[2] For purposes of comparing the first fiscal quarter of 2022 against the fourth fiscal quarter 2021, figures from SeaMex Finance, Ltd. are utilized for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2021.
Enquiries:
Hawthorn Advisors
paratus@hawthornadvisors.com
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SOURCE Paratus Energy Services Ltd. | 2022-07-29T08:15:30+00:00 | mysuncoast.com | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2022/07/29/paratus-energy-services-ltd-announces-trading-update-first-quarter-2022-other-updates/ |
NEW YORK — Joe Musgrove got an earful — and didn't mind at all.
The San Diego Padres pitcher was working on a one-hitter and about to face the Mets in the sixth inning when New York manager Buck Showalter walked out to crew chief Alfonso Marquez.
Two minutes later, the umpire had a hand in each of the pitcher's ears, as if a magician about to pull out a coin.
“He’s not going to find nothing,” Musgrove remembered thinking to himself.
Showalter took the extraordinary step of requesting Musgrove be searched for banned sticky substances Sunday, a move many perceived as desperate gamesmanship that didn't throw the pitcher off track. Musgrove completed seven innings of one-hit ball, helping San Diego beat the Mets 6-0 in the decisive Game 3 of their NL wild-card series Sunday night.
“I feel kind of bad about it,” Showalter said. “He’s too good a pitcher, and they’re too good — without getting into a lot of things, the spin rates and different things that I’m sure you’re all aware of when you see something that jumps out at you — I get a lot of information in the dugout that — we certainly weren’t having much luck the way it was going, that’s for sure."
Musgrove, a first-time All-Star, had a 4-0 lead and had pitched to one batter over the minimum, allowing Pete Alonso's leadoff single in the fifth. After Showalter came out on the field, the umpires gathered between the mound and first. Marquez then went to the mound, searched Musgrove's cap and glove, then both ears.
“I mean I get it dude,” Musgrove said on the live television broadcast after the final out. “They’re on their last leg. They’re desperate. They’re doing everything they can to get me out of the game at that point.”
Fans yelled “Cheater!” at Musgrove, a member of the 2017 Houston Astros World Series champions that were found by Major League Baseball to have broken rules by using a video camera to steal signs.
Musgrove told The Associated Press this month he feels uncomfortable wearing his championship ring and wants “one that feels earned” with his hometown Padres.
“I tend to be a high road guy,” Padres manager Bob Melvin said. “Joe Musgrove is a man of character. Questioning his character, to me, that’s the part I have a problem with — and I’m here to tell everybody that Joe Musgrove is as above board as any pitcher I know, any player I know, and unfortunately that happened to him, because the reception that he got after that was not warranted.”
Umpires allowed him to continue pitching, and after striking out Tomás Nido for the second out, Musgrove made a gesture with his hand across his nose toward the Mets dugout.
After Brandon Nimmo's inning-ending lineout, Musgrove glared at the Mets dugout and third baseman Manny Machado threw up both arms in a gesture toward San Diego fans behind the dugout on the third-base side.
“It motivated me a little bit, man. It fired me up.” Musgrove said. “An opportunity to stick to 'em a little bit and stick it to the crowd. I took it, and then I had to get back to work.”
Musgrove threw the first no-hitter in Padres history, the first of a record nine no-hitters across baseball in 2021 that helped prompt a crackdown by MLB that June on the use of foreign sticky substances by pitchers to improve their grip.
Umpires now routinely check pitchers' gloves, hats and fingers for sticky stuff after innings. Marquez, a big league umpire since 1999, said he had been asked for only one similar spot check.
“All Buck requested was for us to check for an illegal substance, and that’s what the crew did,” Marquez said. “We checked him and we found nothing.”
The bizarre inspection, which caused a 3 1/2-minute delay, lit up social media.
“I guarantee Musgrove has Red Hot on his ears,” Milwaukee outfielder Andrew McCutchen tweeted. “Pitchers use it as mechanism to stay locked in during games. It burns like crazy and IDK why some guys thinks it helps them but in no way is it `sticky.' Buck is smart tho. Could be trying to just throw him off.”
Musgrove allowed one hit in seven innings with five strikeouts and one walk, throwing 59 of 86 pitches for strikes.
His 28 fastballs averaged 2,662 revolutions per minute through six innings, up from a 2,559 average, and their velocity averaged 93.9 mph, 1 mph more than during the regular season. His curve averaged 2,904, up from 2,722.
“There’s some pretty obvious reasons why it was necessary," Showalter said. ”I’m charged with doing what’s best for the New York Mets. If it makes me look however it makes me look or whatever, I’m going to do it every time and live with the consequences.” | 2022-10-10T13:06:34+00:00 | 9news.com | https://www.9news.com/article/sports/baseball/musgrove-ear-check/507-1aa483f6-8301-42a0-9c9a-ffca839d23b7 |
(The Hill) – Tucker Carlson is out at Fox News, which means the network now has a massive hole to fill in its formidable prime-time lineup.
It’s a high-profile job that promises to make whoever gets it more famous and powerful, and the network is buzzing a week after Carlson’s surprise exit over who might get the position.
Here are some of the names most likely to be in the conversation.
Jesse Watters
Watters is the odds-on favorite to replace Carlson at 8 p.m.
Waters, a star who has risen through the network’s ranks over the past several years, hosts a show in the hour preceding Carlson and is a leading panelist of the network’s top-rated debate show “The Five.”
A sharp-tongued conservative who, like Carlson, has proven willing to attack Republicans and Democrats, Watters would be a consistent successor to the former Fox star, providing an audience with tested populist takes and quirky nonpolitical segments.
The only downside to putting Watters at 8 p.m., from Fox’s point of view, might be how to replace him at 7 p.m.
That hour was previously home to a straight news program anchored by Martha MacCallum and could serve as the launchpad for the next prime-time hopeful at Fox.
Brian Kilmeade
Kilmeade had the tough task of filling in for Carlson on the night he was ousted from the network and the days immediately following his shocking departure.
“As you probably have heard, Fox News and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. I wish Tucker the best. I’m great friends with Tucker and always will be,” Kilmeade said last Monday night.
During a radio interview days later, Kilmeade offered a full-throated endorsement of the editorial direction of Fox, which is still reeling from a $787.5 million payment it made to Dominion Voting Systems to settle a defamation lawsuit stemming from former President Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election — which were echoed and amplified on Carlson’s program, among others.
“We’re strong as ever. … These are a bunch of people who think they can run this network, and they can’t,” Kilmeade said of the network’s critics.
A veteran of the network’s flagship morning program “Fox and Friends” who has been known to publicly spar with co-hosts, Kilmeade is a recognizable name and would be a safe choice to permanently host in prime time.
Kilmeade’s ratings last week replacing Carlson lagged significantly behind the departed host.
But if the network is looking for someone who will defend the former president and be willing to change his sleep schedule to do so, Kilmeade could be that asset.
Harris Faulkner
Faulkner hosts a daytime news and analysis program called “The Faulkner Focus” and is known inside and outside the network for her penchant for sparring with guests and contributors who appear on her program to discuss the news of the day.
Though she does not make regular appearances on Fox’s prime-time shows as often as other members of its deep roster, Faulkner could bring a fresh perspective and a new face to the channel’s evening lineup.
If Fox leadership were to choose her to replace Carlson at 8 p.m., she would notably join Laura Ingraham in making two-thirds of the network’s prime-time lineup female, bookending Sean Hannity’s long-running show in the 9 p.m. hour.
It remains unclear whether Faulkner, a news anchor, would be willing to make the jump to Fox’s “opinion side” as it is often referred to internally, but the prestige and money associated with a prime-time hosting slot could prove hard to resist.
Piers Morgan
Many everyday Fox viewers could easily forget Morgan collects a paycheck from Rupert Murdoch these days.
The bombastic host and interviewer recently inked a deal to host a show on British TalkTV and pen regular columns in Murdoch’s New York Post.
There is one defining characteristic of Morgan’s persona in recent years that would make considering him to replace Carlson more than complicated, however: His stance on Trump.
Morgan has in recent months lambasted the former president over his statements and rhetoric since leaving office while at the same time heaping praise on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who is widely expected to challenge Trump for next year’s Republican presidential nomination.
If Murdoch were to tap Morgan, who he recently referred to as a broadcaster “every channel wants but is too afraid to hire,” as a replacement for Carlson, it would be seen as a further escalation of tensions between the former president and the billionaire media magnate. | 2023-05-02T13:22:49+00:00 | pahomepage.com | https://www.pahomepage.com/uncategorized/who-will-replace-tucker-carlson-at-fox-news-here-are-some-top-contenders/ |
A young president at the U.N. General Assembly touted millennial status symbols like coffee, outdoor adventure and Bitcoin. Another admitted in front of the famous green marble that it was harder to govern a country than to protest in its streets. A foreign minister, once shunned for having only a bachelor’s degree, warned against indifference.
Shaped by the borderless internet, growing economic inequality and an increasingly dire climate crisis, the Generation Y cohort of presidents, prime ministers, foreign ministers and other “excellencies” is making their mark at the largest gathering of world leaders.
This week at the United Nations offers a glimpse of the latest generation of leaders in power, as a critical mass of them – born generally between 1981 and 1996 – are coming to represent countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa.
Some millennial leaders were making their debuts at the 77-year-old diplomatic institution built in the aftermath of WWII, while there were other notables who didn’t show up but had already arrived on the world stage. Those include Kim Jong Un, who took over the reclusive North Korea in his 20s, and the 36-year-old Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, who faced controversy recently for a video of her dancing at a private party that went viral.
Jennifer Sciubba, an author and political demographer affiliated with the Wilson Center, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, said many came into power buoyed by their generation’s disaffection for the status quo, and in that sense millennials and baby boomers are echoes of each other. One stark difference: Life by most measures was getting better after WWII, yet many young people today don’t harbor the same hope.
“A mistake would be to say, ‘Younger generations, they’re more liberal,’ and therefore we’ll see a turn to the left as these people come to the age of influence,” Sciubba said “They’re not monolithic. Dissatisfaction with the status quo — it can show up on either end of the political spectrum.”
Sciubba also noted that it was merely a matter of time before the millennials took their place in the world order. She said the definition of generations are “arbitrary, shorthand for us to understand people.” That’s a truth evident on the U.N. stage, where differing ideologies from the same Gen Y were on full display.
On Tuesday during the first day of the General Assembly, two young presidents shattered that myth of the millennial monolith when they spoke of their contrasting plights.
There was the 36-year-old president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, who used his air time to lick his wounds after citizens overwhelmingly rejected a new progressive constitution he had championed.
“As a young person who was on the street protesting not very long ago, I can tell you that representing unrest is a lot easier than producing solutions,” Boric said.
The failed proposal was set to replace a dictatorship-era constitution with a new charter that would have fundamentally changed the country to include gender equality, environmental protections and Indigenous rights. The stinging loss was not unexpected, with supporters blaming misinformation online for eroding support for it.
Chile’s youngest-ever president said the lesson he learned was that democracy is humbling.
“With great humility, I wish to tell you today that a government can never feel defeated when the people speak,” Boric said. “Because unlike in the past, when differences in Chile were settled through blood and fire, today, Chileans have agreed to face our challenges in a democratic fashion. And I’m telling you about this because I’m certain that one of the major challenges for humanity today is that of building democracies that really talk to and listen to citizens.”
Meanwhile, the selfie-loving El Salvador President Nayib Bukele – his glamorous wife and young daughter in the audience – said wealthy countries should not interfere with developing nations trying to chart their own paths. His speech came just days after the 41-year-old was accused of pushing toward authoritarianism when he announced he would seek re-election despite a constitutional ban.
In thinly veiled language and metaphor, Bukele pushed back against criticism his administration has received from the United States and European Union for concentrating power and more recently suspending some constitutional rights under an ongoing six-month state of exception.
“Because while on paper we are free and sovereign and independent, we will not really be so until the powerful understand that we want to be their friends, that we admire them, that we respect them, that our doors are wide open to trade, for them to visit us, to build the best possible relations,” said Bukele, whose current term ends in 2024. “But what they can’t do is come to our house to give orders – not only because it’s our house, but because it makes no sense to undo what we’re doing.”
Bukele, who is highly popular at home and on social media, later tweeted a video of his appearance on the conservative U.S. cable channel Fox News. The young president talked about his crackdown on powerful street gangs in which more than 50,000 people have been arrested. Recent polls have shown his actions have broad support even as human rights organizations within El Salvador and abroad say people are being arrested and jailed without evidence.
Rosario Diaz Garavito, the founder of The Millennials Movement, an NGO that works to engage young people in Latin America on the U.N.’s goals, said the diverging leaders both deftly disrupted the usual party politics at home and have proven to be among the most polarizing leaders in the region at a time when multilateralism should be embraced.
“We tend to go from the right wing to the left wing – all the time. And this is actually separating us,” Diaz Garavito said. “They have shown they can think differently, in different ways, but we need to now be able to find common ground as a region.”
Another thing united them: Neither wore a tie, opting for more causal attire to speak from the General Assembly podium, a place where virtually all male leaders stick to suits with ties or national dress.
As the first generation of digital natives, one constant theme in the political fortunes and misfortunes of millennial leaders emerged in the praise and peril of the internet and social media.
On Wednesday, Czech Republic Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský spoke at length about Russia’s war on Ukraine, and he also lamented how online disinformation was plaguing society while urging for “digital humanism” and solutions to preserve human rights on the internet.
“A lie is not an opinion. For far too long, we have overlooked the spread of disinformation directed against our common values,” Lipavský said. “Let us not forget the COVID-related disinformation. We had to learn the hard way when disinformation began to cost human lives.”
Just last year, the 37-year-old faced opposition from the country’s longtime president, who declared he didn’t want to appoint Lipavsky because of Lipavsky’s reserved attitude toward Israel.
What’s more, he noted, the millennial leader had only a bachelor’s degree.
___ Follow Sally Ho on Twitter at http://twitter.com/_sallyho and for more AP coverage of the U.N. General Assembly, visit https://apnews.com/hub/united-nations-general-assembly | 2022-09-23T17:55:33+00:00 | nwahomepage.com | https://www.nwahomepage.com/news/international/ap-international/ap-no-millennial-monolith-as-gen-y-leaders-rise-at-un/ |
GRAND BLANC TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WJRT) - Drivers on northbound I-75 through through Grand Blanc Township will no longer have to detour starting Friday.
Northbound I-75 right after the southern junction of I-475 has been closed since last May 5 as Michigan Department of Transportation contractors worked on a permanent replacement for a culvert that washed out in 2020.
An MDOT spokeswoman said crews are expecting to reopen I-75 tomorrow morning. That is a day earlier than the previously scheduled completion date of May 13.
Motorists should check the MDOT traffic map for the latest updates before traveling through the area.
The culvert under I-75 washed out in January 2020 following several days of rain and snow melt. That left the freeway pavement suspended in the air with no soil underneath to support it.
An MDOT contractor completed an emergency repair to the culvert and I-75 pavement right after the problem was discovered. This week's project involved removing the patch, lowering the culvert and rebuild the pavement to match the grade on either side.
The permanent culvert repair was necessary before MDOT contractors repave a larger stretch of northbound I-75 later this year. MDOT has not announced dates for that project. | 2023-05-12T01:07:29+00:00 | abc12.com | https://www.abc12.com/traffic/mdot-opening-i-75-a-day-early-in-grand-blanc-township/article_7556ab8c-f053-11ed-87a8-cb73c80a58b7.html |
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