text stringlengths 80 124k | date_download stringdate 2022-04-02 20:48:07 2023-07-31 23:59:06 | source_domain stringclasses 387 values | url stringlengths 21 528 |
|---|---|---|---|
Request unsuccessful. Incapsula incident ID: 8080000390187818498-421597044026640843 | 2022-07-05T22:53:09+00:00 | bizjournals.com | https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2022/07/05/9-meters-biopharma-moving-into-phase-3-study.html |
Though investigations of voter fraud in the 2020 election have found no evidence of tampering or fraud, many continue to believe the myth of the stolen election. In fact, as the Associated Press is reporting, people around the country are attending day-long conferences where conspiracy theories regarding the election are promoted by prominent speakers.
AP reporter Christina Cassidy is following the issue and highlights one event — billed as the Nebraska Election Integrity Forum, recently held in Omaha. She co-authored the article “U.S. election conspiracies find fertile ground in conferences.” She joins Here & Now‘s Robin Young to discuss these conferences and their effect on elections and public perceptions.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | 2022-09-26T20:04:58+00:00 | kgou.org | https://www.kgou.org/2022-09-26/conferences-spreading-conspiracy-theories-are-drawing-audiences-around-the-u-s |
Making your own compost not only saves you money but makes use of garden waste and kitchen scraps. An easy-to-use compost tumbler makes the process simpler by speeding up decomposition.
If you’re looking to avoid having a big, messy compost heap, this kind of composter is what you need. With the right compost tumbler for your backyard, your garden will soon be in full bloom.
In this article: Mantis Back Porch ComposTumbler, Miracle-Gro Dual Chamber Compost Tumbler and Lifetime Outdoor Double Bin Rotating Composter.
What is a compost tumbler?
A compost tumbler is a device used to compost organic waste, such as food scraps and yard waste, by rotating it on a regular basis. It consists of a drum or bin that is mounted on a frame that you rotate to mix the compost and promote aeration, which leads to faster decomposition.
Compost tumbler benefits
This type of garden composter has a range of benefits, plus there are plenty of benefits to composting in general.
- Reuses waste: Composting is eco-friendly because you’re turning your own garden and kitchen waste into something useful. If you’re looking to reduce the amount of waste you dispose of, composting is a great idea.
- Saves money: Quality compost can be pricey, but with a composter, you produce your own for free, so it doesn’t take long to pay for itself.
- Efficient composting: Tumblers provide better aeration and mixing than standard composters, which means organic waste decomposes more quickly.
- Less effort: They are easy to use and require less physical effort compared to traditional composting methods. There’s no need to turn your compost with a shovel or form, saving you both time and energy.
- Reduced odor: Rotating compost regularly lessens the chance of bad odors being produced. This is great for small yards, where you might normally prefer to avoid composting for fear you’ll smell it strongly whenever you’re out enjoying your backyard.
- Fewer pests: Tumblers have tight-fitting lids that keep out pests, such as rats and mice.
- Space-saving: Many tumbling composters are compact and can be placed in small outdoor spaces. They’re also great for patios, decks and other areas that would be suitable for a more conventional composter.
- Containment: Rotating composters keep compost contained, so they don’t make a mess. If you’re worried about an unruly or unsightly compost heap, you might prefer a tumbler.
What to look for in a compost tumbler
These are some of the features to look for in a compost tumbler:
- Capacity: Consider the size of the tumbler and how much compost it can produce. You’ll want it to make enough for the size of your yard.
- Dual-chamber design: Some tumblers have two chambers, which lets you start a new batch of compost while the older one is maturing.
- Material: Ideally, your composter should be made from durable, weather-resistant materials, such as UV-stabilized plastic or rust-resistant metal.
- Ease of use: Some tumblers are easier to use than others. Try choosing one with a smooth and easy-to-operate turning mechanism, a large door for adding waste and a locking mechanism to keep the compost contained.
- Aeration: Good aeration is crucial for composting, so look for tumblers with slats or vents to allow airflow.
Best easy-to-use compost tumblers
Mantis Back Porch ComposTumbler
If you’re looking for a high-end option, this is one of the sturdiest around. It is easy to turn and has a wide mouth and removable door, so it isn’t a pain to fill. It also comes on a wheeled stand so you can move it wherever you need it.
Sold by Amazon
Miracle-Gro Dual-Chamber Compost Tumbler
Thanks to the dual chamber design, you can have one chamber decomposing rapidly while you fill the other, so you never have to wait around to add waste. It’s extremely efficient, producing compost in just four to six weeks (or even less time when the weather’s hot).
Sold by Amazon
For those with small yards and minimal composting needs, this compact tumbler is an excellent option. You can choose from two capacities: 27.7 or 18.5 gallons. It’s easy to turn and made from BPA-free plastic with a locking lid to keep out rodents.
Sold by Amazon
The dual compartments offer a total capacity of 43 gallons and the option to compost continuously, making it a good choice for serious gardeners. It has a sturdy steel frame and is made from BPA-free plastic, so you don’t have to worry about it leaching into your plants.
Sold by Amazon
With an 18.5-gallon capacity, this is a great choice for small yards or people composting on a balcony or porch for houseplants or a handful of outdoor container plants. It’s well-balanced, so it rotates effortlessly. The sliding door locks to keep compost in and pests out.
Sold by Amazon
Providing excellent airflow, this tumbler turns organic waste into compost quickly and efficiently. It has two chambers for continuous use. It’s easy to rotate and at a convenient height for loading and unloading.
Sold by Amazon
RSI Riverstone Industries Maze Two-Stage Tumbler Composter
With its large handle, rotating this tumbler to turn your compost is a breeze. It has a large 65-gallon capacity and two chambers. The air vents are adjustable for faster or slower decomposition, so you can tailor the process to meet your needs.
Sold by Amazon
This 18.5-gallon single-chamber tumbler doesn’t take up much space. The sturdy frame is made from powder-coated steel.
Sold by Amazon
Lifetime Outdoor Double Bin Rotating Composter
The generous 100-gallon capacity makes this one of the largest tumblers on the market. It’s split into two 50-gallon bins, so you can always be composting. It turns easily and has several handholds placed around the outside of each barrel to make the process even simpler.
Sold by Amazon
Jora Composter JK 270 Compost Bin Tumbler
It might be pricey, but this heavy-duty composter is sturdy enough to last decades to come. It has dual chambers and is insulated to raise the temperature inside, which makes the composting process even speedier.
Sold by Amazon
Want to shop the best products at the best prices? Check out Daily Deals from BestReviews.
Sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter for useful advice on new products and noteworthy deals.
Lauren Corona writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
BestReviews spends thousands of hours researching, analyzing, and testing products to recommend the best picks for most consumers.
Copyright 2023 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | 2023-03-15T20:04:24+00:00 | texomashomepage.com | https://www.texomashomepage.com/reviews/br/lawn-garden-br/fertilizers-br/10-easy-to-use-compost-tumblers-for-your-backyard/ |
‘What madness looks like’: Russia intensifies attack in Ukraine’s Bakhmut
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces are escalating their onslaught against Ukrainian positions around the wrecked eastern city of Bakhmut, Ukrainian officials said, bringing new levels of death and devastation in the grinding, months-long battle.
“Everything is completely destroyed; there is almost no life left,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Monday of the scene around Bakhmut and the nearby town of Soledar.
“The whole land near Soledar is covered with the corpses of the occupiers and scars from the strikes,” Zelenskyy said. “This is what madness looks like.”
Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said Russia has thrown “a large number of storm groups” into the battle.
“The enemy is advancing literally on the bodies of their own soldiers and is massively using artillery, rocket launchers and mortars, hitting their own troops,” she said.
Russian troops alongside soldiers from the Wagner Group, a Russian private military contractor, have advanced in recent days in Soledar and “are likely in control of most of the settlement,” the U.K. Defense Ministry tweeted Monday.
It said that taking Soledar, 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of Bakhmut, is likely Moscow’s immediate military objective and part of a strategy to encircle Bakhmut.
But it added that “Ukrainian forces maintain stable defensive lines in depth and control over supply routes” in the area.
An exceptional feature of the fighting near Bakhmut is that some of the fighting has been around entrances to disused salt mine tunnels which run for some 200 kilometers (120 miles) underneath the area, the British intelligence report noted.
“Both sides are likely concerned that (the tunnels) could be used for infiltration behind their lines,” it said.
Several front-line cities in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk provinces have witnessed intense fighting in recent months.
Together, the provinces make up the Donbas, a broad industrial region bordering Russia that Russian President Vladimir Putin identified as a focus from the war’s outset and where Moscow-backed separatists have fought since 2014.
Russia’s grinding eastern offensive captured almost all of Luhansk during the summer. Donetsk escaped the same fate, and the Russian military subsequently poured manpower and resources around Bakhmut.
After Ukrainian forces recaptured the southern city of Kherson last November, the battle heated up around Bakhmut.
Taking Bakhmut would disrupt Ukraine’s supply lines and open a route for Russian forces to press on toward Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, key Ukrainian strongholds in Donetsk.
Like Mariupol and other contested cities, Bakhmut has endured a long siege, spending weeks without water and power even before Moscow launched massive strikes to take out public utilities across Ukraine.
The Donetsk region’s governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko, estimated more than two months ago that 90% of Bakhmut’s prewar population of over 70,000 had fled since Moscow focused on seizing the entire Donbas.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | 2023-01-10T11:52:11+00:00 | wlox.com | https://www.wlox.com/2023/01/10/what-madness-looks-like-russia-intensifies-attack-ukraines-bakhmut/ |
PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron announced a new-look Cabinet on Friday, with a new foreign minister part of the reshuffled line-up behind France’s first female prime minister in 30 years.
Three senior ministers — Gérald Darmanin at the interior ministry, Bruno Le Maire for economics and Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti — all survived the extensive shake-up for re-elected Macron’s second term.
Catherine Colonna, a career diplomat and, most recently, France’s ambassador to Britain, takes over the foreign affairs portfolio as France is deeply engaged in international efforts to support Ukraine against Russia’s invasion and isolate the Kremlin.
Led by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, who was named Monday, the Cabinet’s top priority will be trying to secure the parliamentary majority that Macron needs to implement the policy proposals that the centrist campaigned on in last month’s presidential election.
France’s parliamentary election to determine seats in the National Assembly is being held over two rounds of voting in June and parties on both the far-left and the far-right are trying to reduce Macron’s centrist majority.
The Cabinet appointments were announced by Macron’s office in a statement read aloud by an aide on the stairs of the presidential Elysee Palace, in keeping with tradition.
Black French scholar Pap Ndiaye, an expert on U.S. minority rights movements, was named France’s new education minister. Ndiaye was previously in charge of France’s state-run immigration museum.
In an Associated Press interview last year, Ndiaye said France has to fight racial justice by confronting its often-violent colonial past, noting that “the French are highly reluctant to look at the dark dimensions of their own history.”
Colonna replaces Jean-Yves Le Drian, Macron’s foreign minister throughout his first term. She is the first woman to head the Quai d’Orsay, the plush headquarters of French diplomacy on the banks of the Seine River, since Michèle Alliot-Marie’s short stint as foreign minister ended in February 2011.
The new government also has a new spokesperson, Olivia Grégoire. The former junior minister replaces Gabriel Attal and will be one of the administration’s most visible members.
The core cabinet of Borne and 17 ministers is evenly split between men and women. One of the new additions, Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, is also minister of the Olympic Games and the Paralympics, a new title ahead of the 2024 Summer Games in Paris. | 2022-05-21T12:38:18+00:00 | upmatters.com | https://www.upmatters.com/news/international/ap-international/frances-macron-appoints-new-government-for-2nd-term/ |
Updated January 11, 2023 at 4:52 PM ET
First lady Jill Biden had three skin lesions removed on Wednesday, two of which were found to be cancerous, but the cancerous tissue was removed and she was expected to return to the White House later in the day, her doctor said.
"The first lady is experiencing some facial swelling and bruising, but is in good spirits and is feeling well," said Dr. Kevin O'Connor, physician to the president.
President Biden accompanied his wife to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, just outside of Washington, and stayed with her for about eight hours, leaving after O'Connor's report was released. The president returned to the White House in the late afternoon, but the first lady planned to return separately later, the White House said.
Update from Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Physician to the President, following the First Lady’s Mohs surgery today: pic.twitter.com/2dxyDCCeeQ
— Vanessa Valdivia (@vvaldivia46) January 11, 2023
A week ago, the White House announced that the first lady would be having what's known as Mohs surgery to remove a small lesion above her right eye that had been found during a routine skin cancer examination.
Basal cell carcinoma was confirmed in that lesion, O'Connor said. "All cancerous tissue was successfully removed, and the margins were clear of any residual skin cancer cells," he said, noting the area will continue to be monitored.
Doctors found two more lesions while the first lady was at the hospital
When they were preparing the first lady for surgery, O'Connor said doctors saw a second lesion on Jill Biden's left eyelid, so they removed it too, and sent it for microscopic examination.
They also identified "an additional area of concern" on the left side of her chest, and removed a lesion there using Mohs surgery. Basal cell carcinoma was also confirmed in that lesion, he said, noting all cancerous tissue had been removed.
O'Connor said that basal cell carcinoma do not tend to spread, like other serious skin cancers do, though they can increase in size, making them harder to remove.
What is Mohs surgery?
The procedure was developed in the late 1930s by surgeon Frederic Mohs and is used to remove basal and squamous cell carcinomas, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation.
Basal cell carcinomas are the most common type of skin cancer, but they grow slowly, so are typically mild and can be very treatable if detected early, the foundation said.
First, surgeons will typically mark the site of a patient's biopsy and anesthetize the area to numb it. Patients are kept awake during the procedure.
The doctor then removes a visible layer of skin tissue from the area and takes it to the lab to be analyzed. There, they cut the tissue into sections, dye it and map out the area it was taken from. A technician freezes the tissue, further slices it thinly into horizontal sections and places it under a microscope for examination.
If cancer cells are present, another layer is removed from the surgical site and the process repeats until the cancer cells are gone.
Jill Biden has been a vocal advocate for fighting cancer
Elevating the fight to end cancer has been of Jill Biden's signature priorities as first lady. The White House has said she has been involved since four of her friends were diagnosed with breast cancer in 1993. In 2015, her son Beau Biden died from brain cancer.
A year later, when he was vice president, Joe Biden started the "Cancer Moonshot," a push to dramatic reduce the number of deaths from cancer. He and Jill Biden relaunched it last year.
The first lady frequently visits cancer research and treatment centers on her travels around the country to promote their work and encourage people to get screened. She also promotes the issue when she meets with spouses of global political leaders. In October, she launched a series of roundtables at a White House event with performer Mary J. Blige, and in November, she attended a World Series game in Philadelphia to help promote Major League Baseball's cancer initiative.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | 2023-01-11T23:08:40+00:00 | kcbx.org | https://www.kcbx.org/npr-top-news/npr-top-news/2023-01-11/jill-biden-had-three-skin-lesions-removed |
WASHINGTON (AP) — Tulip lovers have a new variety to choose from and it’s named for Jill Biden.
The first lady accepted her “Jill Biden” tulip from André Haspels, ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United States, during a ceremony at his official residence on Wednesday. The flower is reddish orange with fringed petals.
Biden delivered a toast and said she was honored to participate in the tradition.
“In this happy time, let these tulips’ dazzling orange be a reminder of the many springs our nations have shared, and be a beacon for the friendships we continue to strengthen today,” she said, according to her office.
The Dutch have named tulips after seven U.S. first ladies, starting in the late 1800s with Frances Folsom Cleveland, the wife of President Grover Cleveland.
Most recently, President George W. Bush’s wife, Laura, accepted her tulip in 2004.
“It was a very special ceremony because it doesn’t happen every day,” Haspels told The Associated Press in a telephone interview after the presentation.
Jill Biden is known to enjoy freshly cut flowers; she has a flower “cutting” garden at the White House.
The Dutch fondness for tulips dates to 1594, when botanist Carolus Clusius planted tulip bulbs in the garden at the University of Leiden, Haspels said. Since then, the Dutch have mastered the art of cultivating and growing many varieties of tulips.
The country also exports more than 450 million tulip bulbs to the U.S. annually, he said.
The tulip presentation ceremony was part of a Dutch Tulip Days celebration at the ambassador’s residence featuring tulips and bicycles, two things his country’s people are known for.
“We feel very honored that Dr. Jill Biden is happy to have a tulip named after her,” Haspels said. | 2023-04-06T11:48:43+00:00 | nwahomepage.com | https://www.nwahomepage.com/news/politics/jill-biden-accepts-tulip-named-for-her-by-the-netherlands/ |
Lacy Houle, Community Outreach and Resource Planning Specialist for the U.S. Department of Labor, joined us today to discuss what small business owners need to know about overtime and keeping employee work hours by the book.
The U.S. Department of Labor exists to ensure everyone receives fair and equal treatment in the workplace. Overtime violations are common, and Houle said covered, non-exempt, hourly employees must receive overtime pay for any time worked over 40 hours per week, which is time and a half. There are also exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
You can find resources for employers here. Guidance on overtime is available here. | 2022-11-08T22:50:44+00:00 | wishtv.com | https://www.wishtv.com/beo-show/small-business-owners-must-act-in-accordance-with-overtime-pay-rules/ |
SUPERIOR, Colo. — The temporary restraining order preventing the town of Superior from enforcing certain new gun restrictions does not impact similar restrictions in Boulder, Louisville and Lafayette.
Rocky Mountain Gun Owners (RMGO) sued the town of Superior in federal court following the town council's passage of new gun restrictions on June 7.
U.S. District Judge Raymond P. Moore granted RMGO a temporary restraining order preventing Superior from enforcing two of the town ordinance's new restrictions.
One part of the ordinance banned "illegal weapons." Another part bans certain assault weapons.
The ordinance defines "illegal weapons" as:
- Assault weapon
- Large-capacity magazine (holding more than 10 rounds)
- Rapid-fire trigger activator
- Blackjack
- Gas gun
- Metallic knuckles
- Gravity knife
- Switchblade knife
The ordinance also defines assault weapons as most "semi-automatic center-fire" rifles and pistols.
It spells out how assault weapons can be legally kept if owned by July 1, 2022, and if the person obtains a certificate to own the weapon by Dec. 31, 2022.
However, if a person inherits an assault weapon, they will have to make it inoperable, turn it in or get it out of the town of Superior.
"The Court is unaware of a historical precedent that would permit the Town of Superior to impose such a regulation that would, in reality, eventually ban all assault weapons," Moore wrote in the temporary restraining order.
"Just because you call something 'illegal' versus 'legal' in a statute doesn't answer the constitutional question under the Second Amendment," said constitutional law attorney Jessica Smith.
For instance, the state bans large-capacity magazines that hold 15 or more rounds. The Colorado Supreme Court upheld that ban in 2020.
Superior banned large-capacity magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.
"Is it common in the United States to have magazines that have 10 rounds? If the answer is yes, then you can't, without going through the Second Amendment analysis, ban it," said Smith.
Even though Superior has to stop enforcing those two provisions of the ordinance, the three other Boulder County cities that passed gun restrictions do not have to stop.
"In the meantime those laws are on the books. The temporary restraining order doesn't affect the other municipalities from enforcing their existing gun laws," said Smith. "It doesn't bode well for those laws if the plaintiff decides to sue or expand their lawsuit to include those."
RMGO Executive Director Taylor Rhodes told Next with Kyle Clark that the group was considering suing the other municipalities, but that expense was a concern. He said the group sued Superior since it was the first to pass the new law, and that if you win against one, all others will fall.
Moore relied on the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down a New York City law, which required gun owners to provide a specific need for carrying a gun outside of their home before they would be granted a conceal carry license.
"The way that the U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted the Second Amendment, and the direction that it's taken the Second Amendment, it is more difficult than it used to be to ban particular types of guns, particular types of accessories or weapons," said Smith.
One of the stated reasons that Superior passed the gun ordinance was because of the Boulder King Soopers shooting in 2021.
"The Court is sympathetic to the Town's stated reasoning. However, the Court is unaware of historical precedent that would permit a governmental entity to entirely ban a type of weapon that is commonly used by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes, whether in an individual's home or in public," Moore wrote.
Superior and the other three cities could try to re-write their laws, within the bounds of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision.
"It doesn't necessarily matter that the state of Colorado allows municipalities to go further than the state wants to go. The real question is does the municipality's law fall within the restrictions that are allowed by the federal Second Amendment?" said Smith. "The very easy example that courts seem to universally agree is that the states can bar felons, for instance, from carrying guns."
Superior's mayor told Next with Kyle Clark that the board will discuss this in the Monday council meeting's executive session.
"If Superior wants to fix its code, it can, and it could potentially moot this lawsuit and this decision," said Smith.
Boulder's mayor said that the city attorney was reviewing the temporary restraining order.
A Louisville spokeswoman said that there are no discussions to change the city's recent ordinance.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Full Episodes of Next with Kyle Clark | 2022-07-26T02:49:19+00:00 | 9news.com | https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/next/restraining-order-superior-gun-laws-doesnt-apply-neighboring-cities-colorado/73-dee0a098-580e-4f5c-9be9-6c40c02a63a0 |
MONMOUTH JUNCTION, N.J., June 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Acutis Biosciences is pleased to announce the opening of its state-of-the-art 60,000-square-foot facility in Monmouth Junction, New Jersey. Acutis Biosciences combines a multi-omics biomarker profiling approach with unparalleled data integration, thereby providing pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with the tools needed to advance clinical discovery. This unique approach builds on the expertise gained through its standard-of-care business, Acutis Diagnostics, which has processed over three million patient samples over the past seven years with turnaround times that have been consistently at the top of the industry.
Furthermore, the company has named Troy Tremaine as its Chief Commercial Officer. In this role, Mr. Tremaine will oversee commercial operations with an emphasis on collaboration and relentless dedication to clients' success. Mr. Tremaine brings over 26 years of experience within the life sciences and CRO industry. His extensive experience includes fostering strategic partnerships, implementing customer-focused programs, and growing complex businesses.
"I am honored to join Acutis Biosciences to lead the commercial team, build strong client relationships, and bring a new level of integrity and customer-focused service to the contract research market," said Mr. Tremaine. "Together, we will advance precision medicine to another level while delivering personalized solutions to support clinical trials and develop next-generation diagnostics."
Acutis CEO Jibreel Sarij added, "We are reimagining biomarker discovery at the intersection of DNA, RNA, and protein diagnostics and are rewriting the rules to champion our biopharma partners. Far too often, we have heard about the industry's dissatisfaction with CROs, whether it be slow turnaround time, incomplete data analytics, or missed opportunities to advance drug discovery with robust biomarker analytics. Moreover, we are investing in the machine learning AI tools that will become increasingly important in the interpretation of the complex data sets that our multi-omics analyses will yield."
Acutis Biosciences has developed specialized contract research services to enable biopharmaceutical companies to create value using a holistic approach to "next-generation multi-omics." The Company is rolling out the first set of genomic offerings along with immunohistochemistry assays and building out integrated analytics across DNA, RNA, protein, and broader multi-omics.
About Acutis Bioscience:
Acutis Biosciences is a biomarker discovery provider to biopharmaceutical companies with next-generation multi-omics biomarker analysis solutions powered by machine learning (ML) and AI. With technology platforms in genomics and histopathology for development and validation of state-of-the-art cancer molecular diagnostic assays, in oncology, immuno-oncology and infectious diseases, Acutis redefines conventions with a unique customer engagement model coupled to extraordinary science.
More info: www.acutisbiosciences.com
For more information:
Troy Tremaine
Chief Commercial Officer
Senior Vice President
ttremaine@acutis.com
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Acutis Diagnostics Inc. | 2023-06-13T16:28:42+00:00 | kswo.com | https://www.kswo.com/prnewswire/2023/06/13/acutis-biosciences-unveils-state-of-the-art-facility-perform-integrated-biomarker-data-analytics-services-welcomes-new-chief-commercial-officer-biopharma-market/ |
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somali authorities say a top leader of the al-Shabab extremist group has been killed in a joint operation by the Somali National Army and international partner forces.
Abdullahi Nadir had a $3 million bounty on his head by the United States and the Somali government described him as “one of the most important members of al-Shabab.”
He was killed Saturday in Haramka village in the Middle Jubba region, said the government statement issued Monday. He had been close to the former emir of al-Shabab, Ahmed Abdi Godane, and current leader Ahmed Diriye.
“His death is a thorn removed from the Somali nation, and the Somali people will be relieved from his misguidance and horrific acts,” the statement said, adding that Nadir had been in position to succeed the current al-Shabab leader.
Somalia’s president recently declared “total war” against al-Shabab, which has thousands of fighters and controls large parts of southern and central Somalia. The group supports itself in part by “taxing” or extorting residents, businesspeople and travelers, according to residents. | 2022-10-03T23:50:46+00:00 | wate.com | https://www.wate.com/news/national-world/ap-international/ap-somalia-says-a-top-al-shabab-extremist-leader-is-killed/ |
Announcements
The Graham Historical Museum Advisory Board will offer a historical walking tour of downtown Graham from 8:30 to 10 a.m. July 9.
Russell Compton, a local historian, will discuss the architecture and history of Graham.
The walk begins at the Graham Historical Museum, 135 W. Elm St. in Graham.
To register for this free activity, visit www.cityofgraham.com/historical-museum/.
Honors
The Junior League of Greensboro has named Rebecca Schlosser, Cheryl Callahan and Margaret Benjamin as the organization’s Women of Distinction for 2020-2022.
The JLG Woman of Distinction was established in 2013 to recognize a sustaining member who has demonstrated tremendous dedication to the JLG and community at-large.
Schlosser has served as president of the JLG Sustainers and was a founding member and donor of Women to Women, Greensboro’s first permanent community grant-making endowment for women and children. Her community involvement includes serving as president of the Guild of Family Service of Greensboro Foundation, as president of the Greensboro Symphony Guild, as chairwoman of the Symphony Presentation Ball, as chairwoman of the annual campaign for Hospice and Palliative Care, and as founder and chairwoman of the first Greensboro Oyster Roast for the Guild of Family Service in 2004. She has received awards for distinguished service from Family Service of the Piedmont and the guild.
People are also reading…
Before Callahan retired from UNCG in 2017 as vice chancellor for student affairs, she had celebrated a 40-year career in higher education and was recognized with the university’s Professional Achievement Award. She served as president and regional vice president of NASPA (Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education) as well as chairwoman of its Foundation Board, increasing donors by an overwhelming percentage during her tenure. In addition to serving as president of the JLG in 1991-92, she has volunteered with such community organizations as the Greensboro History Museum, the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association. She serves as the regional training lead for the Greater Carolinas Region of the American Red Cross.
Benjamin has been a member of the JLG for nearly 40 years and was recognized as a Woman of Influence at the JLG Leadership Summit in 2018. She serves on the UNCG Board of Trustees, is chairwoman of the public art endowment steering committee of the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro, and serves on the boards of the Greensboro Public Library Foundation and the Cone Health Cancer Center Advisory Committee. She has also served on the UNCG Board of Visitors, the Weatherspoon Arts Foundation Board and the Weatherspoon Arts Museum Advisory Board. In addition, she has volunteered as board chairwoman of the Greensboro History Museum, and with Preservation Greensboro and the LeBauer Park Steering Committee. For her national museum advocacy work, she was awarded the American Alliance of Museums Champion of Museums award in 2017.
Scholarships
The Greensboro Lions Club and Greensboro Lions Foundation have announced two levels of scholarship aid to two members of the Page High School Leo Club.
These awards are made to assist both in accomplishing their future educational goals and also to inspire them in their future volunteer service in their communities.
The first award at the silver level is to MacAulay Faircloth, who was vice president of Page’s Leo Club.
The second award at the gold level is to Yessica Santibanez, who was the president and guiding leader of the Leo Club this school year.
For information, call Mark Gaylord at 336-273-1797 or visit www.e-clubhouse.org/sites/greensboro_nc. | 2022-07-08T04:12:03+00:00 | greensboro.com | https://greensboro.com/lifestyles/club-happenings/article_c041b874-f7d1-11ec-b968-27ca10ea51e6.html |
WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) — A judge on Friday refused to dismiss the case against a man accused of killing six people and injuring dozens of others when he allegedly drove his SUV through a Christmas parade in southern Wisconsin last year.
Public defenders sought to have the case against Darrell Brooks Jr. dismissed in Waukesha County Circuit Court based a July 1 search of the defendant’s jail cell. Investigators and prosecutors were looking for information related to Brooks’ recent decision to change his plea to not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.
His attorneys say the warrant for the search was deficient and that the action violated Brooks’ attorney-client privilege.
In denying the motion, Judge Jennifer Dorow said the paperwork seized, photocopied and return to the jail cell was not privileged material.
Dorow also rejected a motion to suppress some statements Brooks made to investigators after defense attorneys argued that Brooks continued to be questioned after stating he wished to invoke his right to remain silent.
Brooks, 40, faces nearly 80 charges, including six homicide counts, in connection with the Nov. 21 incident in Waukesha. He pleaded not guilty in February, then in June changed that plea to not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.
At one point during the motions hearing Waukesha County District Attorney Susan Opper asked the judge to note that Brooks appeared to have been sleeping during the proceeding. Dorow ordered a break and when the parties returned to the courtroom, Brooks lashed out and yelled at the judge before he was surrounded by three deputies and taken from the courtroom.
On Thursday, Dorow granted a defense motion to dismiss six counts of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle against Brooks, saying a defendant can’t have multiple punishments for the same crime. | 2022-08-26T22:52:24+00:00 | upmatters.com | https://www.upmatters.com/news/defense-motions-denied-in-fatal-parade-attack-in-wisconsin/ |
NEW YORK, July 5, 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:
- ManTech International Corp. (MANT), relating to its proposed acquisition by funds managed by The Carlyle Group Inc. Under the terms of the agreement, MANT shareholders will receive $96.00 in cash per share they own. Click here for more information: https://www.monteverdelaw.com/case/mantech-international-corp. It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you.
- Turning Point Therapeutics, Inc. (TPTX), relating to its proposed acquisition by Bristol-Meyers Squibb Co. Under the terms of the agreement, TPTX shareholders will receive $76.00 in cash per share they own. Click here for more information: https://www.monteverdelaw.com/case/turning-point-therapeutics-inc. It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you.
- BioHaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Ltd. (BHVN), relating to its proposed merger with Pfizer Inc. Under the terms of the agreement, BHVN shareholders will receive 0.5 shares of New Biohaven and $148.50 in cash per share. Click here for more information: http://monteverdelaw.com/case/biohaven-pharmaceutical-holding-company-ltd. It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you.
- Manning & Napier, Inc. (MN), relating to its proposed acquisition by Callodine Group, LLC. Under the terms of the agreement, MN shareholders will receive $12.85 in cash per share they own. Click here for more information: https://www.monteverdelaw.com/case/manning-napier-inc. It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you.
- Hemisphere Media Group, Inc. (HMTV), relating to its proposed acquisition by a subsidiary of Gato Investments LP. Under the terms of the agreement, HMTV shareholders will receive $7.00 in cash per share they own. Click here for more information: https://www.monteverdelaw.com/case/hemisphere-media-group-inc. It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you.
- Covetrus, Inc. (CVET), relating to its proposed acquisition by funds affiliated with TPG Capital and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice. Under the terms of the agreement, CVET shareholders will receive $21.00 in cash per share they own. Click here for more information: http://monteverdelaw.com/case/covetrus-inc. 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.
If you own common stock in any of the above listed companies and wish to obtain additional information and protect your investments free of charge, please visit our website or contact Juan E. Monteverde, Esq. either via e-mail at jmonteverde@monteverdelaw.com or by telephone at (212) 971-1341.
Contact:
Juan E. Monteverde, Esq.
MONTEVERDE & ASSOCIATES PC
The Empire State Building
350 Fifth Ave. Suite 4405
New York, NY 10118
United States of America
jmonteverde@monteverdelaw.com
Tel: (212) 971-1341
Attorney Advertising. (C) 2022 Monteverde & Associates PC. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Monteverde & Associates PC (www.monteverdelaw.com). Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome with respect to any future matter.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Monteverde & Associates PC | 2022-07-06T05:20:40+00:00 | wymt.com | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2022/07/06/shareholder-alert-mampa-class-action-firm-is-investigating-merger-mant-tptx-bhvn-mn-hmtv-cvet/ |
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — The outspoken CEO of Qatar Airways lashed out Thursday at critics of his country hosting the upcoming FIFA World Cup, saying his nation will “always rub salt into the wound” of its adversaries.
Akbar Al Baker's comments show the increasingly confrontational stance of Qatari officials as the start of the tournament approaches on Nov. 20 and as the spotlight on the small, energy-rich country intensifies. Already, some nations and soccer teams have expressed concern over how Qatar manages its vast population of low-paid migrant workers and its stance on LGBTQ rights.
Speaking from Qatar's vast Hamad International Airport as officials unveiled an expansion there, Al Baker made a point to note it had taken Skytrax's Best Airport Award from Singapore Changi Airport in the last two years.
“We always rub salt into the wound of our competitor, and of course, our adversaries, as you can see the measure of the negative media campaign against my beloved country Qatar,” he said. “Because people cannot accept that a small country like the state of Qatar has won the world's largest sporting event.”
He added: “Congratulations to Qatar, my beloved country.” Some officials attending the news conference clapped in response.
___
Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. | 2022-11-10T09:12:24+00:00 | seattlepi.com | https://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/Qatar-Airways-CEO-knocks-World-Cup-critics-at-17573542.php |
Retired Major General Marcia Anderson is seen at Beloit City Hall in this file photo. She was speaking to veterans at an event in Beloit. Anderson currently serves on the Department of Defense’s Advisory Committee on the Investigation, Prosecution and Defense of Sexual Assault cases in the military.
Imbuing the spark of life with a bottle of spirits, USS Beloit (LCS 29) ship sponsor, Maj. Gen. Marcia Anderson, shatters the ceremonial champagne bottle against the bow of the ship during Saturday’s christening of the new US Naval vessel.
U.S. Army Major General Marcia Anderson, who grew up in Beloit, holds the crest of the USS Beloit. The crest was unveiled during a celebration of the naval ship Wednesday at ABC Supply Stadium.
Retired Major General Marcia Anderson is seen at Beloit City Hall in this file photo. She was speaking to veterans at an event in Beloit. Anderson currently serves on the Department of Defense’s Advisory Committee on the Investigation, Prosecution and Defense of Sexual Assault cases in the military.
Imbuing the spark of life with a bottle of spirits, USS Beloit (LCS 29) ship sponsor, Maj. Gen. Marcia Anderson, shatters the ceremonial champagne bottle against the bow of the ship during Saturday’s christening of the new US Naval vessel.
U.S. Army Major General Marcia Anderson, who grew up in Beloit, holds the crest of the USS Beloit. The crest was unveiled during a celebration of the naval ship Wednesday at ABC Supply Stadium.
BELOIT- Retired Maj. Gen. Marcia Anderson has worked with many people in her 36 years in the military and several of those people were dealing with sexual assault and harassment and mental health issues.
Now, the Beloit native is seeking to make a difference by being an advocate for suicide prevention, better mental health services and more awareness about about sexual harassment in the military.
Anderson spent a good share of her childhood in Beloit, attending Merrill Elementary School in Beloit as a child. She often returned to Beloit to see family and friends.
Anderson, who became the first African-American woman to be promoted to the rank of Major General in the U.S. Army Reserve in 2011, currently is a member of the Department of Defense’s Advisory Committee on the Investigation, Prosecution and Defense of Sexual Assault in the Armed Forces.
“I personally don’t know someone whose committed suicide, but I have a real space in my heart for people struggling with mental illness because I’ve had members of my family with the same challenges,” Anderson said. “It’s really difficult for people in the military because we have what I’ll just call that warrior ethos.”
Anderson adds that the army has been focusing on getting people to understand that getting help for mental health issues is not a sign of weakness, but actually a sign of strength. She said she wants those in the army to be good soldiers, but also healthy people.
“I would certainly say, if you join this organization, we’re going to take care of you,” she said. “Because we value you as a person. There’s so many resources available both in and out of the military for those who are currently serving.”
On the subject of sexual harassment and assault in the armed services, Anderson said the army has been working hard to find programs that address these issues.
“We were working hard (in the last few years of her service) to make sure that the leadership of any of those teams within our organization were aware of their roles and created a culture, an environment that was accepting of victims, and also did what was necessary to protect the rights of the accused,” she said.
Anderson said that the army has improved its processes for people to report sexual assaults and/or harassment and provide victims with a support systems like counseling. They’ve also provided opportunities for victims of assault or harassment to be moved to a different location from the accused offenders.
“I actually did encounter this in my time as a leader in the army,” she said. “Being a woman, I certainly was pretty passionate about this issue. I understood how young, female soldiers could be vulnerable especially when they’re away from home and they feel isolated. I really was hard on this when I heard about it.”
She adds that during her time in service, she made sure she provided training opportunities for soldiers to make sure they understood the importance of the issue and how Anderson has a zero policy for this behavior.
Anderson said in her 36 years of service, she felt her time was important. She recognizes that family members and potential military recruits recognize a culture change from civilian life to a military life.
“As I said, there’s a lot of resources and people supporting everybody along their journey,” she said. “I just think it’s an environment that is beneficial to young people even if they only serve for three or four years. They get an opportunity to grow in a lot of ways.” | 2022-12-05T04:32:42+00:00 | beloitdailynews.com | https://www.beloitdailynews.com/news/local-news/beloit-native-maj-gen-marcia-anderson-speaks-on-sexual-harassment-suicide-prevention-in-military/article_459c5738-71b0-11ed-84e1-93d7e5199f24.html |
Which gifts for teens are best?
Being a teenager is an exciting time, especially now with all the technology and devices designed to make the world open and accessible. That means it’s never been easier to find something that a teenager will enjoy. There are all kinds of options that would make good gifts for teens. You can give them all kinds of entertaining tech, provide them with essentials, or give them the tools to create something wholly new. But should you get them something functional or something fun? Honestly, you really can’t go wrong with either, especially if you choose one of the items on this list. Teenagers like things they can show off to their friends or things they can use to follow their passions, whether it be art, video games or fashion.
The 7 best cool gifts for teens
What you need to know: The Fjallraven Kanken brand is an ultra-popular backpack for kids from middle school to college. The excellent craftsmanship and simple design mean it will last for years no matter how rough you are with it. Your kids will love having such a trendy pack that they can show off to their friends.
What you’ll love: The material of this bag is extremely durable and easy to keep clean. It holds 18 liters, and it’s dirt-resistant, water-resistant and wipes clean. It’s also machine washable.
What you should consider: The backpack is simple and only has one side pocket, an outside pocket and a main compartment with a laptop sleeve.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
What you need to know: How often does your teen use their phone? They definitely run through that battery. But what if they’re out somewhere and it dies? You need to be able to reach them whenever, and they’ll appreciate being able to charge their phone no matter where they are.
What you’ll love: This pack has enough juice to charge your phone two times over. Despite its large charge capacity, the Anker Portable Phone Charger is extremely slim and easy to store in any pocket.
What you should consider: A complete charge takes about 5 hours to complete.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Fujifim Instax Mini 11 Instant Camera
What you need to know: The Fujifilm Instax Mini 11 is a film camera that immediately produces a printed photo. The image quality has that nostalgic Polaroid feel, and the little pictures are perfect for decorating a bedroom. Teens love it because they get to create memories with their friends and display them in an aesthetically pleasing way.
What you’ll love: The automatic exposure on this camera prevents under or overexposure, meaning it’s easier than ever to take clear pictures. It also has a built-in selfie mode with a mirror and special button to facilitate all those times when your teen snaps a photo of them with their friends.
What you should consider: It takes film to operate. The initial purchase comes with a few rolls of film, but you will eventually need more if you want to keep using it.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
What you need to know: The Nintendo Switch is one of the most popular video game consoles out right now and has access to some of the best games of the years, from “Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” to “Mario Kart 8” and a long list of cross-platform titles.
What you’ll love: The switch makes multiplayer easy and has a few different ways to play. It’s called switch for a reason. You can either play it as a console or a handheld, meaning you can take it with you anywhere you go.
What you should consider: The Nintendo Switch requires you to pay for the online service. Individual games cost around $60 each.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Bose QuietComfort 35 Noise-Cancelling Headphones
What you need to know: These headphones block out all outside noise. Meaning your teen can listen to their music, and no one else, with ease. It’s perfect for young music lovers that appreciate sound quality and like being able to ignore distractions.
What you’ll love: You can adjust how much noise you want to cancel between the three levels. It pairs with things via Bluetooth very easily and lasts up to 20 hours with one charge.
What you should consider: Some customers have reported difficulty with the noise cancellation only working in one ear. Bose is good about returns and repairs, though.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
MYNT3D Professional 3D printing pen
What you need to know: It’s a 3D printing pen! That means that whatever they can imagine, they can bring to life. From creatures to buildings and anything else, this 3D printing pen lets you sculpt with precision.
What you’ll love: It’s slim and precise. The pen itself takes up little space, while its design lets you control everything from the internal temperature to the speed at which it extrudes the plastic.
What you should consider: The pen is safe, but the end that produces the plastic is hot. Make sure your teen has a proper understanding of how to hold and operate it.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
What you need to know: The Oculus Quest 2 is the best VR headset on the market. It works like most game consoles and has an online store you can use to purchase all kinds of virtual reality titles, from “The Walking Dead” to “Beat Saber” and “Vader Immortal.”
What you’ll love: Do you want to be a Jedi? Or experience firsthand the zombie apocalypse? That and much more is possible with the Oculus Quest 2, which immerses you totally in whatever you want to play.
What you should consider: The Oculus Quest 2 is on the bleeding edge of video game advancement, but virtual reality has inherent drawbacks. It might cause motion sickness in some people.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Want to shop the best products at the best prices? Check out Daily Deals from BestReviews.
Sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter for useful advice on new products and noteworthy deals.
Sam Bramlett writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | 2022-12-07T22:08:43+00:00 | keloland.com | https://www.keloland.com/reviews/br/apparel-br/holiday-br/7-best-gifts-for-teens/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — A coalition of conservative-leaning states is making a last-ditch effort to keep in place a Trump-era public health rule that allows many asylum seekers to be turned away at the southern U.S. border.
Late Monday, the 15 states filed what's known as a motion to intervene — meaning they want to become part of the legal proceedings surrounding the public health rule referred to as Title 42.
The rule, first invoked by Trump in 2020, uses emergency public health authority to allow the United States to keep migrants from seeking asylum at the border, based on the need to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
It's set to end Dec. 21, potentially upending border enforcement as Republicans are about to take control of the House from the Democrats following midterm elections and are planning to make immigration a central part of their agenda.
The states argued that they will suffer “irreparable harm from the impending Termination of Title 42” and that they should be allowed to argue their position well before the Dec. 21 termination date.
Immigrant rights' groups have argued that the use of Title 42 unjustly harms people fleeing persecution and that the pandemic was a pretext used by the Trump administration to curb immigration. A judge on Nov. 15 ruled for the immigrants rights' groups, calling the ban “arbitrary and capricious."
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled in Washington that enforcement must end immediately for families and single adults. The administration has not used Title 42 with regard to children traveling alone. The judge later granted a request by President Joe Biden's administration to set a Dec. 21 deadline for his order to go into effect, giving the administration five weeks to prepare for the change.
The 15 states argued that states such as Arizona and Texas that border Mexico as well as other states away from the border will face more immigration if use of Title 42 ends. The legal filings lay out a timeline to argue the matter further.
If Sullivan’s ruling stands, it could have a dramatic impact on border enforcement. Migrants have been expelled from the United States more than 2.4 million times since the rule took effect in March 2020.
Sullivan's ruling appears to conflict with another in May by a federal judge in Louisiana that kept the asylum restrictions in place. Before the Louisiana judge's decision, U.S. officials said they were planning for as many as 18,000 migrants a day under the most challenging scenario, a staggering number. In comparison, in May migrants were stopped an average of 7,800 times a day, and that was the highest of Biden's presidency.
The ban has been unevenly enforced by nationality, falling largely on migrants from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador — in addition to Mexicans — because Mexico allows them to be returned from the United States. Last month, Mexico began accepting Venezuelans who are expelled from the United States under Title 42, causing a sharp drop in Venezuelans seeking asylum at the U.S. border.
The Biden administration initially deferred to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on keeping Title 42 in place, despite sentiment from some in the president's own party as well as activist groups who were skeptical about the public health necessity of the rule. In April, the CDC said it would end the public health order and return to normal border processing of migrants, giving them a chance to request asylum in the U.S. The Louisiana court then stayed that ruling only to have the Washington court last week put an end to the use of Title 42.
The 15 states that filed the motion to intervene are Arizona, Alabama, Alaska, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
___
Follow Santana on Twitter @ruskygal | 2022-11-22T15:21:13+00:00 | daytondailynews.com | https://www.daytondailynews.com/nation-world/states-move-to-keep-court-from-lifting-trump-asylum-policy/JRL55CNL3JEPNGFBPN7RASZGYU/ |
WJMN - UPMatters.com
Please enter a search term.
Thanks for signing up!
Watch for us in your inbox.
Subscribe Now
WJMN Local 3 | 2022-09-17T06:05:53+00:00 | upmatters.com | https://www.upmatters.com/reviews/br/sports-fitness-br/tennis-table-tennis-br/ |
2022 Second Quarter Highlights - comparisons to the prior year quarter
- Net earnings per diluted share increased 69% to $4.49
- Net earnings increased 59% to $1.3 billion
- Deliveries increased 14% to 16,549 homes
- New orders increased 4% to 17,792 homes; new orders dollar value increased 20% to $9.1 billion
- Backlog increased 16% to 28,624 homes; backlog dollar value increased 33% to $14.7 billion
- Total revenues increased 30% to $8.4 billion
- Homebuilding operating earnings increased to $1.9 billion, compared to operating earnings of $1.1 billion
- Financial Services operating earnings of $103.9 million, compared to operating earnings of $121.3 million
- Multifamily operating earnings of $0.7 million, compared to operating earnings of $22.4 million
- Lennar Other operating loss of $108.4 million, compared to operating loss of $54.1 million
- Homebuilding cash and cash equivalents of $1.3 billion
- Controlled homesites increased to 62%, compared to 50%
- No borrowings under the Company's $2.575 billion revolving credit facility
- Homebuilding debt to total capital improved to 17.7%, compared to 23.1%
- Repurchased 4.1 million shares of Lennar common stock for $320.6 million
MIAMI, June 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN and LEN.B), one of the nation's leading homebuilders, today reported results for its second quarter ended May 31, 2022. Second quarter net earnings attributable to Lennar in 2022 were $1.3 billion, or $4.49 per diluted share, compared to second quarter net earnings attributable to Lennar in 2021 of $831.4 million, or $2.65 per diluted share. Excluding mark-to-market losses on technology investments in both years and a gain on the sale of the Company's residential solar business in the prior year, second quarter net earnings attributable to Lennar in 2022 were $1.4 billion, or $4.69 per diluted share, compared to second quarter net earnings attributable to Lennar in 2021 of $923.6 million, or $2.95 per diluted share.
Stuart Miller, Executive Chairman of Lennar, said, "At this complicated moment in the market, we are pleased to report second quarter earnings of $1.3 billion, or $4.49 per diluted share, compared to $831.4 million, or $2.65 per diluted share for the second quarter last year. While our new orders grew 4% compared to last year's second quarter, we achieved a homebuilding gross margin of 29.5% and homebuilding S,G&A of 6.1%, leading to a 23.4% net margin, even as materials costs and wages have increased. Our home deliveries were 16,549 and above the high end of our guidance given at the beginning of the quarter."
"While our second quarter results demonstrate strength and excellent performance throughout the quarter, the weight of a rapid doubling of interest rates over six months, together with accelerated price appreciation, began to drive buyers in many markets to pause and reconsider. We began to see these effects after quarter end."
"The Fed's stated determination to curtail inflation through interest rate increases and quantitative tightening have begun to have the desired effect of slowing sales in some markets and stalling price increases across the country. While we believe that there remains a significant shortage of dwellings, and especially workforce housing, in the United States, the relationship between price and interest rates is going through a rebalance."
"Accordingly, we are laser focused on traffic, affordability, the quality of our backlog, along with cancellation rates and completed, unsold inventory levels which, to date, are both at low levels. Additionally, we are focused on balance sheet strength as we ended the quarter with $1.3 billion in cash, no borrowings on our $2.6 billion revolver and homebuilding debt to capital of 17.7%. Our balance sheet has never been in a stronger position than it is today."
Rick Beckwitt, Co-Chief Executive Officer and Co-President of Lennar, said, "During the second quarter, we continued to make progress on our land light strategy. This was evidenced by our controlled homesite percentage increasing to 62% from 50% year over year. This progress contributed to a return on equity of 21.4%, a 260 basis point improvement over last year's second quarter."
Jon Jaffe, Co-Chief Executive Officer and Co-President of Lennar, said, "During the quarter, our homebuilding machine continued to be intensely focused on production. Our cycle time during the quarter increased only slightly sequentially so it appears that the well documented supply chain issues have started to subside. Our quarterly starts and sales pace remained strong at 6.2 homes and 5.0 homes per community, respectively, in the second quarter."
Mr. Miller concluded, "We recognize that current attempts at guidance are tantamount to 'guessing' and not 'guiding.' Therefore, for our third quarter, we will give broad boundaries for deliveries between 17,000 to 18,500 homes and boundaries for gross margins between 28.5% – 29.5%. For the full year, we will leave our delivery expectations at approximately 68,000 homes and, at this time, will not provide updated guidance for other items. Recognizing that the Fed's actions are still quite fluid and responsive to inflation data, the housing market will rebalance supply and demand, and interest rates and purchase price as market conditions evolve. Nevertheless, at Lennar, we are operating from a position of strength, enabling us to continue to execute on our core strategies."
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
THREE MONTHS ENDED MAY 31, 2022 COMPARED TO
THREE MONTHS ENDED MAY 31, 2021
Homebuilding
Revenues from home sales increased 33% in the second quarter of 2022 to $8.0 billion from $6.0 billion in the second quarter of 2021. Revenues were higher primarily due to a 14% increase in the number of home deliveries to 16,549 homes from 14,493 homes and a 17% increase in the average sales price to $483,000 from $414,000.
Gross margin on home sales were $2.4 billion, or 29.5%, in the second quarter of 2022, compared to $1.6 billion, or 26.1%, in the second quarter of 2021. During the second quarter of 2022, an increase in revenues per square foot was offset by an increase in costs per square foot primarily due to higher material and labor costs. Overall, gross margins improved year over year as land costs remained relatively flat while interest expense decreased as a result of the Company's focus on reducing debt.
Selling, general and administrative expenses were $486.6 million in the second quarter of 2022, compared to $455.2 million in the second quarter of 2021. As a percentage of revenues from home sales, selling, general and administrative expenses improved to 6.1% in the second quarter of 2022, from 7.6% in the second quarter of 2021. This was the lowest percentage for a second quarter in the Company's history primarily due to a decrease in broker commissions and the benefits of the Company's technology efforts.
Financial Services
Operating earnings for the Financial Services segment were $103.9 million in the second quarter of 2022, compared to $121.3 million in the second quarter of 2021. The decrease in operating earnings was primarily due to lower mortgage net margins driven by a more competitive mortgage market, partially offset by an increase in rate lock volume and an increase in profit per order in the title business.
Other Ancillary Businesses
Operating earnings for the Multifamily segment were $0.7 million in the second quarter of 2022, compared to $22.4 million in the second quarter of 2021. Operating loss for the Lennar Other segment was $108.4 million in the second quarter of 2022, compared to $54.1 million in the second quarter of 2021. Lennar Other operating loss in the second quarter of 2022 was primarily due to mark-to-market losses on the Company's publicly traded technology investments. Lennar Other operating loss in the second quarter of 2021 was primarily due to mark-to-market losses on the Company's publicly traded technology investments, partially offset by the gain on the sale of the Company's residential solar business.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
SIX MONTHS ENDED MAY 31, 2022 COMPARED TO
SIX MONTHS ENDED MAY 31, 2021
Homebuilding
Revenues from home sales increased 26% in the six months ended May 31, 2022 to $13.7 billion from $10.9 billion in the six months ended May 31, 2021. Revenues were higher primarily due to a 9% increase in the number of home deliveries to 29,087 from 26,807 and a 16% increase in the average sales price to $472,000 from $406,000.
Gross margin on home sales were $3.9 billion, or 28.4%, in the six months ended May 31, 2022, compared to $2.8 billion, or 25.6%, in the six months ended May 31, 2021. During the six months ended May 31, 2022, an increase in revenues per square foot was offset by an increase in costs per square foot primarily due to higher material and labor costs. Overall, gross margins improved year over year as land costs remained relatively flat while interest expense decreased as a result of the Company's focus on reducing debt.
Selling, general and administrative expenses were $915.0 million in the six months ended May 31, 2022, compared to $865.4 million in the six months ended May 31, 2021. As a percentage of revenues from home sales, selling, general and administrative expenses improved to 6.7% in the six months ended May 31, 2022, from 8.0% in the six months ended May 31, 2021. The improvement was primarily due to a decrease in broker commissions and the benefits of the Company's technology efforts.
Financial Services
Operating earnings for the Financial Services segment were $194.7 million in the six months ended May 31, 2022, compared to $267.5 million in the six months ended May 31, 2021. The decrease in operating earnings was primarily due to lower mortgage net margins driven by a more competitive mortgage market, partially offset by an increase in rate lock volume.
Other Ancillary Businesses
Operating earnings for the Multifamily segment were $6.1 million in the six months ended May 31, 2022, compared to $21.5 million in the six months ended May 31, 2021. Operating loss for the Lennar Other segment was $511.6 million in the six months ended May 31, 2022, compared to operating earnings of $417.2 million in the six months ended May 31, 2021. Lennar Other operating loss for the six months ended May 31, 2022 was primarily due to mark-to-market losses on the Company's publicly traded technology investments. Lennar Other operating earnings for the six months ended May 31, 2021 was primarily due to mark-to-market unrealized gains on the Company's publicly traded technology investments and the gain on the sale of the Company's residential solar business.
Tax Rate
For the six months ended May 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company had a tax provision of $599.7 million and $570.2 million, respectively, which resulted in an overall effective income tax rate of 24.7% and 23.7%, respectively. The overall effective income tax rate was higher in 2022 primarily due to the expiration of the new energy efficient home tax credit.
Share Repurchases
During the second quarter of 2022, the Company repurchased 4.1 million shares of its common stock for $320.6 million at an average per share price of $78.20. For the six months ended May 31, 2022, the Company repurchased a total of 9.4 million shares of its common stock for $846.9 million at an average share price of $90.40.
Credit Facility
In May 2022, the Company amended the credit agreement governing its unsecured revolving credit facility (the "Credit Facility") to increase the commitments from $2.5 billion to $2.575 billion and extend the maturity to May 2027, except with regard to $350 million which matures in April 2024. The Credit Facility has a $425 million accordion feature, subject to additional commitments, thus the maximum borrowings are $3.0 billion.
Liquidity
At May 31, 2022, the Company had $1.3 billion of Homebuilding cash and cash equivalents and no borrowings under its $2.575 billion revolving credit facility, thereby providing $3.9 billion of available capacity.
Guidance
The following are the Company's expected results of its homebuilding and financial services activities for the third quarter of 2022:
About Lennar
Lennar Corporation, founded in 1954, is one of the nation's leading builders of quality homes for all generations. Lennar builds affordable, move-up and active adult homes primarily under the Lennar brand name. Lennar's Financial Services segment provides mortgage financing, title and closing services primarily for buyers of Lennar's homes and, through LMF Commercial, originates mortgage loans secured primarily by commercial real estate properties throughout the United States. Lennar's Multifamily segment is a nationwide developer of high-quality multifamily rental properties. LENX drives Lennar's technology, innovation and strategic investments. For more information about Lennar, please visit www.lennar.com.
Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: Some of the statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements," as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements relating to the homebuilding market and other markets in which we participate. You can identify forward-looking statements by the fact that these statements do not relate strictly to historical or current matters. Rather, forward-looking statements relate to anticipated or expected events, activities, trends or results. Accordingly, these forward-looking statements should be evaluated with consideration given to the many risks and uncertainties inherent in our business that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause such differences include the potential negative impact to our business of the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic; slowdowns in real estate markets in regions where we have significant Homebuilding or Multifamily development activities; supply shortages and increased costs related to construction materials, including lumber, and labor; cost increases related to real estate taxes and insurance; increased cost of mortgage financing for homebuyers, increased interest rates or increased competition in the mortgage industry; reductions in the market value of the Company's investments in public companies; decreased demand for our homes or Multifamily rental apartments; natural disasters or catastrophic events for which our insurance may not provide adequate coverage; our inability to successfully execute our strategies and our planned spin-off of certain businesses; a decline in the value of the land and home inventories we maintain and resulting possible future writedowns of the carrying value of our real estate assets; possible unfavorable losses in legal proceedings; conditions in the capital, credit and financial markets; changes in laws, regulations or the regulatory environment affecting our business, and the risks described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended November 30, 2021. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
A conference call to discuss the Company's second quarter earnings will be held at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. The call will be broadcast live on the Internet and can be accessed through the Company's website at investors.lennar.com. If you are unable to participate in the conference call, the call will be archived at investors.lennar.com for 90 days. A replay of the conference call will also be available later that day by calling 203-369-0110 and entering 5723593 as the confirmation number.
Lennar's reportable homebuilding segments and all other homebuilding operations not required to be reported separately have divisions located in:
East: Alabama, Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and South Carolina
Central: Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia
Texas: Texas
West: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington
Other: Urban divisions
Of the total homes delivered listed above, 44 homes with a dollar value of $15.8 million and an average sales price of $358,000 represent home deliveries from unconsolidated entities for the three months ended May 31, 2022, compared to 31 home deliveries with a dollar value of $9.9 million and an average sales price of $319,000 for the three months ended May 31, 2021.
Of the total homes listed above, 60 homes with a dollar value of $30.8 million and an average sales price of $514,000 represent homes in seven active communities from unconsolidated entities for the three months ended May 31, 2022, compared to 32 homes with a dollar value of $9.9 million and an average sales price of $373,000 in four active communities for the three months ended May 31, 2021.
Of the total homes delivered listed above, 69 homes with a dollar value of $25.1 million and an average sales price of $364,000 represent home deliveries from unconsolidated entities for the six months ended May 31, 2022, compared to 43 home deliveries with a dollar value of $13.6 million and an average sales price of $316,000 for the six months ended May 31, 2021.
Of the total new orders listed above, 104 homes with a dollar value of $48.2 million and an average sales price of $463,000 represent new orders from unconsolidated entities for the six months ended May 31, 2022, compared to 67 new orders with a dollar value of $23.5 million and an average sales price of $351,000 for the six months ended May 31, 2021.
Of the total homes in backlog listed above, 114 homes with a backlog dollar value of $51.7 million and an average sales price of $453,000 represent the backlog from unconsolidated entities at May 31, 2022, compared to 62 homes with a backlog dollar value of $21.4 million and an average sales price of $345,000 at May 31, 2021. During the six months ended May 31, 2022, the Company acquired 347 homes and 54 homes in backlog in the East and Central Homebuilding segment, respectively.
Contact:
Allison Bober
Investor Relations
Lennar Corporation
(305) 485-2038
View original content:
SOURCE Lennar Corporation | 2022-06-21T10:51:58+00:00 | kxii.com | https://www.kxii.com/prnewswire/2022/06/21/lennar-reports-second-quarter-2022-results/ |
HONOLULU — Mikala Jones, a Hawaii surfer known for shooting awe-inspiring photos and videos from the inside of massive, curling waves, has died after a surfing accident in Indonesia. He was 44.
Jones had gone out into the ocean Sunday morning during a trip to the Mentawai Islands off the western coast of Sumatra when his surfboard fin cut his femoral artery, said his father, dentist Dr. John Jones. The femoral artery is a large blood vessel in the thigh that delivers blood to lower limbs.
"He was a humble artist. His pictures were incredible," his father said in a phone interview from his Honolulu office on Monday.
Jones' Instagram account shows stunning images of waves curling around him from above while he crouches on his board. In some shots, a sunset or sunrise is visible through the curved wave opening in front of him.
Surf photographer Woody Woodworth, who said Jones took the best overall surf photo he had ever seen, said cuts from surfboard fins are common. Some surfers like to keep their fins sharp because they believe doing so will help them ride waves more precisely — but a fin can be like an axe or a cleaver when combined with a wave's power, he said.
"All the fins that I see are certainly sharp enough with the force of a wave, and pointy enough with the force of the wave, that slicing into somebody's leg would be very easy," Woodworth said.
The elder Jones took photos for surfing magazines starting in the 1970s, but mostly shot from the beach or snapped pictures of other people in the water. Not his son.
"He was interested in taking pictures while he's surfing of himself and the wave," he said.
Born in Kailua, Hawaii, Jones started surfing at about seven or eight years old and began competing in the 12-and-under "menehune" age group a few years later. He won two national championships as an amateur.
Later, he took on sponsors and traveled to surf spots in Tahiti, Fiji, South Africa and the Galapagos Islands. Photographers would shoot images of him and other surfers on the waves which would appear in photo spreads in surf magazines. Manufacturers of surf clothing and gear featured them in their advertisements.
In the 1990s, Jones began to experiment with taking first-person images of himself on the the water. Jones attached a camera to fabric fastener on his board and then held the camera under his chin while paddling out to waves lying on his stomach. He'd grab the camera upon standing and hold it behind himself to take pictures.
He began to use a GoPro after the lightweight cameras were invented and was eventually sponsored by the company. He used software to stitch together images from multiple GoPro cameras for 360-degree views.
Woodworth singled out one photo in particular for praise, calling it "beyond spectacular." The shot, which was featured on the cover of The Surfer's Journal, shows Jones in a wave tube with his left arm outstretched. The wall of the wave looks like a glass mirror, and it reflects both the sunlight shining into the barrel and Jones himself.
"It's 10 points on the surfing and 10 points on the photography technically and 10 points on the concept," said Woodworth. "This is like, hands down, the Olympic-winner-of-all-time photograph."
Jones was aware of the dangers that can accompany surfing, once having an out-of-body experience after nearly drowning.
"He was flying in the sky, and he looked down and his body was floating in the ocean," his father said. "And then he heard his daughters calling to him 'Daddy come home.' And then he went back down into his body."
He woke up on the reef, having been washed in by waves.
The femoral artery is the major source of blood for the leg, and a person can bleed to death very quickly if it's cut, said Dr. Martin Schreiber, a professor of surgery and trauma medical director at Oregon Health and Science University School of Medicine.
The common femoral artery is in the groin, so a tourniquet can't be tied to stop the bleeding, he said. Only applying large amounts of pressure will suffice, he said.
The elder Jones said he's tried to get his four children to wear wetsuits, helmets and other protective gear while surfing. Surfers are often told to use sandpaper to dull the edges if their fin is too sharp, he said.
"But they're stubborn, you know?" he said.
Jones is survived by his wife Emma Brereton and daughters Bella and Violet, who split their time between homes in Bali, Indonesia and Hawaii. In addition to his father, Jones is survived by an older sister and two younger brothers. His mother Violet Jones-Medusky died in 2011.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | 2023-07-12T09:34:36+00:00 | nepm.org | https://www.nepm.org/national-world-news/2023-07-12/mikala-jones-hawaii-surfer-known-for-filming-inside-waves-dies-in-surfing-accident |
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The Justice Department announced Wednesday that it will review the Memphis Police Department policies on the use of force, de-escalation strategies and specialized units in response to the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols during an arrest.
Meanwhile, a judge ordered that video footage and other information pertaining to the Nichols case that was expected to be released Wednesday must be delayed to give lawyers time to review it.
The Justice Department review was requested by the city’s mayor and police chief, the department said. In a separate effort, it will examine the use of specialized units around the country and produce a guide for police chiefs and mayors on their use, according to the announcement.
“In the wake of Tyre Nichols’s tragic death, the Justice Department has heard from police chiefs across the country who are assessing the use of specialized units and, where used, appropriate management, oversight and accountability for such units,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta.
The U.S. Justice Department has previously opened a civil rights investigation into Nichols’ death.
The city on Wednesday had planned to release about 20 hours of video and audio related to the arrest of the 29-year-old motorist who died Jan. 10, three days after his violent arrest. Chief Legal Officer Jennifer Sink mentioned the video release during a City Council committee meeting Tuesday.
But the release was put on hold Wednesday after a judge granted a motion to delay from defense attorneys for five officers charged with second-degree murder in Nichols’ death. The judge ordered that any release of video, audio, reports and city of Memphis employees personnel files related to the Nichols investigation, including the results of administrative hearings, must wait “until such time as the state and the defendants have reviewed this information.”
Once released, the additional video will add to the already-public footage from police body cameras and a surveillance camera that has given the world a detailed look at the police pummeling Nichols.
Blake Ballin, the lawyer for one of the five officers who have been charged, said the motion was intended to preserve their right to a fair trial and guard against the public release of evidence that could be “irrelevant, prejudicial, misleading or inadmissible.”
“It is vital that potential jurors do not form opinions or draw conclusions prior to hearing the actual evidence in this case,” said Ballin, who represents former Officer Desmond Mills Jr.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, the longtime civil rights activist who eulogized Nichols at his funeral, criticized the delay and demanded immediate release of the video.
“To tell the public you will release more evidence and then pull it back at the 11th hour only causes more frustration for a city still reeling from this senseless killing,” Sharpton said in a statement.
Officials have named six officers who have already been fired in the case, including Mills and the four others who have been charged. Those five officers’ own body cameras recorded them beating Nichols, propping the badly injured Nichols in handcuffs against an unmarked police car and then ignoring him as he struggled to stay upright. They have pleaded not guilty.
The six officers previously fired for their roles in Nichols’ arrest and beating were members of the Memphis police’s Scorpion unit, an anti-crime task force that residents have accused of violent tactics. Davis initially defended the unit after Nichols’ death but later disbanded it. Officers who were part of the Scorpion unit but were not fired have been moved to other units, Davis has said.
Police said Nichols was suspected of reckless driving when he was arrested on Jan. 7, but no verified evidence of a traffic violation has emerged in public documents or in video footage. Davis has said she has seen no evidence justifying the stop or the officers’ response.
Discipline for those involved in the arrest has extended to the Memphis Fire Department and the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, where two deputies have been suspended. The fire department said two of them “failed to conduct an adequate patient assessment of Mr. Nichols,” while the third, a lieutenant, remained in the fire engine with the driver.
The review of Memphis police’s use of force, de-escalation policies and specialized units will be handled by the Justice Department’s Collaborative Reform Initiative Technical Assistance Center, or COPS office. The office has been given more than $20 billion to advance community policing in the U.S., officials said.
The office will issue a public report outlining its findings and recommendations after the review is completed, officials said.
Also on Wednesday, the Justice Department found that Louisville, Kentucky, police have engaged in a pattern of violating constitutional rights and discrimination against the Black community following an investigation prompted by the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor. The 26-year old woman was fatally shot in her apartment during a police raid in March 2020. | 2023-03-08T23:39:35+00:00 | wboy.com | https://www.wboy.com/news/national/tyre-nichols-death-spurs-justice-department-police-review/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress' expected vote next week to overturn District of Columbia laws dealing with criminal justice and voting has created a political tempest in the nation’s capital — and reflects a contentious political dynamic that is playing out more broadly across the country:
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
Predominantly white legislative bodies are seeking to curb or usurp the authority of local governments in cities with large Black populations, particularly on issues related to public safety and elections.
Local activists decry it as the latest effort to undermine cities' ability to determine their own future.
U.S. senators — lawmakers from all 50 states — are expected to vote on a measure to reject a sweeping rewrite easing some penalties in the city's criminal code, approved unanimously last year by the District's 13-member council. The measure killing the local changes seems likely to pass despite the slim Democratic majority in the Senate, and President Joe Biden has indicated he will sign it.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
It's a fresh chapter in a tortured relationship between Congress and Washington’s local elected leaders, who have long complained about congressional interference in their affairs. Similar inroads on local authority are happening elsewhere around the country, often intertwined with issues of race.
In Missouri, the state House of Representatives has approved a bill that would effectively give Republican Governor Mike Parson control of the St. Louis police department. Last month, the same body voted to strip power from St. Louis' elected prosecutor.
In Mississippi, the state House has approved a measure to create a new court district in part of the capital city of Jackson with judges who would be appointed rather than elected. It also would expand areas of the city patrolled by a state-run Capitol police force.
The Mississippi Senate has voted to create a regional board to take control of Jackson's water system. Democratic state Sen. John Horhn calls that "a symbolic decapitation of Black elected leadership.”
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
Amir Badat, with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, draws a connection between the “seemingly discrete and unconnected events" in Missouri, Mississippi and Washington, D.C.
“I do think that there’s an overall, overarching connection between what we’re seeing, and that is predominantly white governments trying to exert control and authority over Black communities and large Black jurisdictions in the states.” He also pointed to the recent push by Georgia's State Election Board to review elections in Fulton County, which includes Atlanta.
“Here are all sorts of measures that we’ve seen in the elections context that really go to this, and now we’re seeing that pop up in other contexts, as well, like public safety," he said.
In Washington, the issue is strongly flavored by the District's deeply emotional quest for independence and statehood. Under terms of Washington's Home Rule authority, all District of Columbia laws are automatically reviewed by Congress.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
Although it has been decades since Congress completely overturned a District law, members of Congress regularly use budget riders to limit or influence those laws. Such riders have been used to block the District from using the city budget to help women seeking abortions or to create a regulatory framework for cannabis sales despite a referendum approving legalization.
In a separate item, the Senate next week also is expected to vote on whether to overturn a District law that would grant non-citizens the right to vote in local elections, as they are allowed to do in about 15 municipalities around the country. The prospects for that measure are unclear.
District officials seem resigned to the crime bill's rejection.
One Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, already has said he will vote to overturn the law. Another, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, is in the hospital. Hopes for presidential intervention were squashed this week when Biden stated that he would not use his veto if the measure reaches his desk.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
“It's done,” said District Councilmember Charles Allen in a Friday radio interview. “This is just the beginning of what we’re going to see Republicans being able to do.”
Allen, the former head of the council’s Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety, told WAMU's “The Politics Hour ” that Republican objections to the new criminal code are “not about substance” and mask a long-term plan to neuter the District of Columbia's political independence on a host of issues.
“The revised criminal code is tougher on crime than most of the state laws of the Republicans who are voting against it,” he said. “This is about nationalizing the politics of public safety.”
But the debate is complicated by the fact that Washington's own Democratic mayor, Muriel Bowser, opposes the new criminal code. Bowser vetoed the measure in January but was overridden by the council.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
In vetoing the measure, Bowser said she opposed provisions such as a reduction in the maximum penalties for burglary, carjacking, robbery and other offenses.
“Anytime there’s a policy that reduces penalties, I think it sends the wrong message,” she said in January.
Bowser has said she prefers that Congress stay out of the District's affairs, but her veto is frequently cited by critics in Congress as proof that the criminal code revision was out of step with mainstream Democratic thought.
On Friday, appearing on the same radio program, Bowser said the council ignored her input and had essentially fumbled the political dynamics — presenting a controversial measure before a newly Republican-held House of Representatives that may have been looking for an opportunity to step in.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
Bowser said it had been anticipated for months that Republicans would win control of the House in last November's midterm elections and that the council could have presented the revised criminal code last year, when Democrats were in control.
“Until we are the 51st state, we live with that indignity. And as infuriating as it is, it’s incumbent on all of us to make sure that we’re smart and strategic about getting our laws enacted,” she said. “This is not a new issue. The District having to navigate muddy waters with the Congress and the White House isn’t new.”
For residents such as Josh Burch, founder of Neighbors for D.C. Statehood, opposition is not surprising. The city, he said, is seen as “too liberal, too urban, too Democratic and too Black. All those things play a role in the paternalistic attitude that Congress, especially Republicans, have."
But he holds Democrats accountable, too.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
“Joe Biden did not have to do this. He could have vetoed it," Burch said.
He said overriding the revised criminal code won't make the city safer. Instead, he said Biden's decision was a matter of optics, so Democrats would not be painted as soft on crime ahead of next year's elections.
“I just know that as a lifelong District resident, when it comes to national politics I know we can trust no one," he said.
___
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
Emily Wagster Pettus in Jackson, Mississippi, and Summer Ballentine in Jefferson City, Missouri, contributed to this report. | 2023-03-03T23:40:32+00:00 | seattlepi.com | https://www.seattlepi.com/news/politics/article/dc-conflict-reflects-wider-efforts-undermining-17818967.php |
WFO MIDLAND/ODESSA Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Saturday, December 31, 2022
_____
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
HIGH WIND WATCH
URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Midland/Odessa TX
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
222 AM CST Fri Dec 30 2022
...HIGH WIND WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM SATURDAY MORNING
THROUGH SATURDAY EVENING...
* WHAT...West winds 40 to 50 mph with gusts up to 70 mph
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
possible.
* WHERE...Guadalupe and Delaware Mountains.
* WHEN...From Saturday morning through Saturday evening.
* IMPACTS... Travel could be difficult, especially for high
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
profile vehicles. Severe turbulence near the mountains will be
hazardous for low flying light aircraft.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Monitor the latest forecasts and warnings for updates on this
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
situation. Fasten loose objects or shelter objects in a safe
location prior to the onset of winds.
_____
Copyright 2022 AccuWeather | 2022-12-30T09:30:54+00:00 | seattlepi.com | https://www.seattlepi.com/weather/article/TX-WFO-MIDLAND-ODESSA-Warnings-Watches-and-17684921.php |
SALT LAKE CITY — Last Monday, a truck rolled into a reservoir in Summit County, Utah, with three little kids still inside.
Two kids made it out, but one boy was stuck inside until a retired park ranger saw what was happening and dove in to save him.
On Friday, 9-year-old Paxton no longer needed life support. Then on Sunday, he got to meet the hero who saved his life. The room was filled with happy tears for this sweet reunion at Primary Children's Hospital.
“A lot of laughs, a lot of thumbs-ups. Paxton actually gave a thumbs-up today,” said Kelley Carpenter, Paxton’s aunt.
Six days after Paxton was stuck in a sinking truck at Smith and Morehouse Reservoir, his family said he is getting better and stronger every day.
“We’re going to try to get him to eat some things, drink some water, probably try to get him up as he starts to get stronger and get him outside to get him some fresh air,” said Carpenter.
On Sunday, Paxton and the man who saved his life — a retired park ranger and emergency responder named Joe Donnell — exchanged a hug and reunited for the first time since that nearly tragic day.
“It was just the perfect outcome to a potentially bad situation,” said Donnell. “We were talking about going fishing — we got him a fishing pole and I said, 'As soon as you get out, man, we’re going fishing.'”
Donnell just happened to be close by when the truck was rolling down the boat ramp, and he had the skills to dive down to the submerged truck seven times to bring Paxton to the shore.
“The father kept saying, 'How can I repay you?' and I would just point to Paxton and say, 'That’s all the payment I need. He’s alive,'” Donnell said.
He also gave Paxton a special badge he was awarded when we worked the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.
“I had mine custom-framed, so I gave him that badge,” said Donnell. “I’ve had it years and I thought, 'He was saved by a park ranger, now he has a park ranger badge.' So I thought that was a pretty cool little gift."
Donnell’s wife and daughter were at the reservoir too when this happened, and they helped Paxton’s family, especially his siblings, after they were pulled out safely.
“So I grabbed the little girl and I took my jacket off, wrapped her in it, and sat down on the boat ramp and held her," said Timber Donnell, Joe’s daughter. "I held her so tight to my chest that she didn’t see anything."
A story that started with near tragedy brought strangers together and ultimately made them like family.
“The fact that Joe was there and never quit fighting to get Paxton, that was huge for our family," Carpenter said. "Joe will forever be part of our family and we are all just so thankful and grateful for him."
The family said that doctors expect Paxton to make a full recovery. They do have a long road ahead, but they said Paxton’s family will be by his side through it all.
This article was written by Mythili Gubbi for KSTU. | 2022-08-29T15:12:01+00:00 | fox17online.com | https://www.fox17online.com/news/national/9-year-old-who-nearly-drowned-at-utah-reservoir-meets-man-who-saved-him |
(Motor Authority) — A Chevrolet Camaro may seem like a less sensible choice than the bowtie brand’s Malibu sedan, but it’s actually cheaper to lease a Camaro than a Malibu right now despite a big difference in starting prices, according to CarsDirect.
As outlined in Chevy’s latest dealer leasing bulletin, leases for a 2023 Malibu LT (one rung below the top 2LT trim level) start at $289 a month for 24 months with $3,629 due at signing. That rate is available through Jan. 31 and assumes 10,000 miles of driving per year. The 2023 Malibu has a base price of $29,195 with destination, and this lease works out to an effective cost of $440 per month, according to CarsDirect.
Chevy is offering a better lease deal on the Camaro now. Customers can lease a Camaro LT1 coupe—with a 455-hp 6.2-liter V-8 and a 6-speed manual transmission—for $279 a month for 39 months with $5,259 due at signing. At an effective cost of $414 per month, the V-8 muscle car is less expensive to lease than the sensible sedan despite an MSRP that’s $8,600 higher.
Alternatively, a 2023 Camaro 1LT coupe (one step up from the base 1LS trim level) with the 2.0-liter turbo-4 engine can be leased for $319 a month for 39 months, with $4,489 due at signing. That works out to $434 per month, which is $6 less than the Malibu. The Camaro 1LT coupe also has a lower MSRP, however, starting at $28,295 with destination.
It’s worth noting that Chevy’s current Malibu lease offer is fairly weak. Even factoring in a $2,000 incentive for shoppers coming from non-General Motors leases, the Malibu LT is still more expensive to lease than a 2022 Honda Accord LX, which has an effective cost of $399 per month, according to CarsDirect.
Related Articles
- 2023 Carroll Shelby Centennial Edition Mustang honors 100 years of the automotive icon
- 2023 Aston Martin DBS 770 Ultimate debuts as the final DBS
- 2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray first ride: a big e-leap forward
- 2025 Bentley Continental GT spy shots
- Mercedes-Benz AMG SL 63 Motorsport Collectors Edition gets Petronas F1 paint job
More aggressive lease offers could help prop up Camaro sales despite a lack of major updates in recent years. Sales increased 12.6% in 2022 compared to the previous year, temporarily halting a years-long downward streak. Rumor has it that 2024 will be the Camaro’s final year in its current form, although the nameplate may get recycled for an electric performance sedan. With its end possibly near, good lease rates may not be the only reason to consider getting a Camaro. | 2023-01-22T17:29:57+00:00 | wnct.com | https://www.wnct.com/automotive/a-chevrolet-camaro-is-less-expensive-to-lease-than-a-malibu-right-now/ |
BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK, Texas (AP) — Authorities say a 75-year-old Houston man has died while hiking alone last week at Big Bend National Park.
The body of the man was found Thursday about a half-mile (0.80 km) from the start of a trail, according to Park Deputy Superintendent David Elkowitz.
The man’s name was not immediately released by authorities.
Officials were still trying to determine a cause of death but summer heat at the park can be extreme. On Thursday afternoon, temperatures along the trail where the man’s body was found exceeded 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius).
“Big Bend National Park staff and partners are saddened by this loss and our entire park family extends sincere condolences to the hiker’s family and friends,” Elkowitz said.
Officials at the West Texas national park say hikers need to be mindful of the dangers from the extreme heat and they should be prepared to carry and drink one gallon of water per day and should be off desert trails by noon.
Much of Texas this summer has faced both record-high temperatures along with severe drought conditions that have caused destructive wildfires. | 2022-07-24T18:07:12+00:00 | ourmidland.com | https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/Big-Bend-hiker-75-found-dead-amid-extreme-heat-17325650.php |
Pfizer beat first-quarter forecasts as revenue took an expected dip, but the drugmaker predicted a sales rally later this year.
The pharmaceutical giant said Tuesday that total revenue dropped 29% in quarter, as sales tumbled for its market-leading COVID-19 vaccine, Comirnaty. The vaccine brought in $3 billion in the first three months of this year compared to more than $13 billion in last year’s first quarter, when virus cases were soaring.
Both analysts and Pfizer have predicted that drop as the drugmaker shifts this year from supplying governments through big contracts to selling the vaccine on the commercial market.
The company said Tuesday that it also expects significantly lower sales from its vaccine and COVID-19 treatment, Paxlovid, in the second quarter compared to the first. But commercial sales are expected to kick in later this year, after leftover government inventory is absorbed.
Plus Pfizer also expects a revenue boost later this year from new product launches and fall vaccinations.
Both the vaccine and treatment have generated billions in revenue for Pfizer over the last several quarters and have easily become the drugmaker’s top sellers. But Pfizer also produces other vaccines and is expanding its cancer treatments.
Sales grew 4% to $1.6 billion in the first quarter from Pfizer’s Prevnar vaccines for preventing pneumonia and related bacterial diseases. Sales of Eliquis, which is used to prevent blood clots and strokes, also grew 5% to $1.87 billion.
The drugmaker’s research and development costs also climbed 9% in the quarter, as Pfizer prepared for some upcoming product debuts. The company expects to launch several products in the year’s second half, including a vaccine for the respiratory illness known as RSV.
Overall, Pfizer’s net income sank 30% to $5.54 billion in the quarter on $18.28 billion in revenue. Adjusted earnings totaled $1.23 per share.
Analysts expected earnings of 98 cents per share on $16.61 billion in sales, according to FactSet.
Pfizer also reaffirmed on Tuesday its forecast for full-year earnings to range between $3.25 and $3.45 per share. That forecast initially fell short of Wall Street expectations when Pfizer released it in January.
FactSet says analysts now expect earnings of $3.39 per share.
Pfizer said in March that it would spend about $43 billion to buy biotech drug developer Seagen, which specializes in developing cancer treatments. Company officials said Tuesday that deal remains on track to close either by the end of this year or in early 2024.
Shares of New York-based Pfizer Inc. fell 49 cents to $38.72 Tuesday afternoon while broader indexes also dropped.
___ Follow Tom Murphy on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thpmurphy | 2023-05-02T17:27:53+00:00 | fox44news.com | https://www.fox44news.com/news/business-news/pfizer-tops-q1-forecasts-vaccine-sales-slide-as-expected/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — New York City health officials are urging New Yorkers to wear masks in all indoor public settings as the city approaches “high risk” COVID-19 alert status.
Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan said Monday everyone should wear face coverings at all times in settings such as grocery stores, offices and building lobbies.
He said people at high risk of severe illness from the virus such as those over 65 should avoid crowded settings and nonessential gatherings.
The advisory is a recommendation and not a mandate. New York City Mayor Eric Adams said he is not ready to implement a mandate at this point.
New York City has been averaging around 3,600 reported new cases of COVID-19 per day over the past week. That's likely an undercount because it doesn’t include home tests. | 2022-05-16T20:41:41+00:00 | kjrh.com | https://www.kjrh.com/news/national/mask-up-in-indoor-public-settings-nyc-health-chief-urges |
BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union foreign ministers are zooming in Monday on tightening the extensive package of sanctions on Russia and looking at ways to add a ban on gold exports in hopes that the measures might finally start to have a decisive impact on the war in Ukraine.
The EU ministers also made a commitment to add another 500 millions euros in military aid to Ukraine’s war chest to beef up the defense of the nation.
The decision came after a video debriefing on the latest developments through a video conference by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who said he was “grateful” for the new funds, which brings the EU total to 2.5 billion euros but still urged the 27 nations to provide more.
“If anything needs to be continued, it is weapons deliveries,” said Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, insisting it was also essential to secure the port of Odesa enough to make sure grain shipments could resume. “And anybody who can who can do that, obviously, this is the main industrial countries of of the Western world. They have to step up with that.”
On restrictive measures, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said that at the moment “the most important thing is a ban on Russian gold,” which is Moscow’s second-largest export industry after energy. The Group of Seven leading industrial nations last month already committed to a gold ban, arguing that Russia has used its gold to back up its currency to circumvent the impact of several rounds of sanctions that nations around the world had already imposed on Moscow after its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.
The 27 EU ministers will also assess how they can tighten controls on exports of high technology to Russia for a possible decision later in the week.
____
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine | 2022-07-18T12:16:56+00:00 | fox59.com | https://fox59.com/news/national-world/ap-international/eu-foreign-ministers-zoom-in-on-tightening-russia-sanctions/ |
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif., Oct. 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Local children with disabilities will have a safe, inclusive and accessible environment to enjoy Halloween this year with a special Trunk-Or-Treat in San Bernardino.
The second annual Trunk-Or-Treat event is the result of a partnership between Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) and Southern California Resource Services for Independent Living (SCRS-IL) and will be held on Saturday, Oct. 15, from 5-8 p.m. at the SCRS-IL's San Bernardino office at 1950 S. Sunwest Lane.
"This is the only Inland Empire event serving our disabled community in the month of October," said SCRS-IL Chief Executive Officer Rudy Contreras, who organized the inaugural Trunk-Or-Treat in just 30 days last year after learning the community needed a Halloween activity for children with disabilities during the pandemic.
The Trunk-Or-Treat will feature carnival games, candy, accessible spooky mazes, snacks, refreshments, community resources and a vaccine clinic.
"Last year's event was a reopening of inclusivity, and this year, we're building on that with more sponsors, games, prizes, booths and even more community," added Contreras. "With partners like IEHP, we're able to make that happen and create safe, inclusive spaces that celebrate the diversity of our community."
Attendees who receive a vaccine at the event will receive a free cooler or beach chair, and IEHP members ages 6 and older who receive their first vaccine will be given a $50 gift card.
Grocery boxes will also be provided to the first 150 families in attendance.
"When community partners and organizations come together and support the needs of our neighbors and communities, we move one step closer to ensuring vibrant health to those we serve," said IEHP Independent Living and Diversity Services Community Health Representative Jose Solorzano. "It doesn't get any better than that."
For more information, visit https://www.scrs-ilc.org/trunkortreat.
With a mission to heal and inspire the human spirit, Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) is one of the top 10 largest Medicaid health plans and the largest not-for-profit Medicare-Medicaid plan in the country. In its 26th year, IEHP is supporting more than 1.5 million residents in Riverside and San Bernardino counties who are enrolled in Medicaid or Cal MediConnect Plans and has a growing network of over 7,800 providers and nearly 3,000 team members. Through dynamic partnerships with providers and community organizations, paired with award-winning service and a tradition of quality care, IEHP is fully committed to their vision: We will not rest until our communities enjoy optimal care and vibrant health. For more information, visit iehp.org.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) | 2022-10-10T19:08:46+00:00 | waff.com | https://www.waff.com/prnewswire/2022/10/10/iehp-supports-local-trunk-or-treat-children-with-disabilities/ |
CHICAGO, Feb. 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ryerson Holding Corporation (NYSE: RYI) (the "Company" or "Ryerson") announced today that its principal shareholder, an affiliate of Platinum Equity LLC (the "Selling Stockholder"), has commenced a secondary offering of 2,486,580 shares of its common stock (the "Offering") pursuant to a shelf registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). The Selling Stockholder will receive all of the net proceeds from the Offering. The Company is not offering any shares of its common stock in the Offering and will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of the shares offered by the Selling Stockholder.
In addition, the Company announced that it has entered into a share repurchase agreement with the Selling Stockholder pursuant to which the Company intends to separately repurchase 1,513,420 shares of the Company's common stock directly from the Selling Stockholder (the "Share Repurchase"). The Company expects to fund the Share Repurchase with cash on hand. The Share Repurchase is expected to be consummated concurrently with the closing of the Offering. Although the Share Repurchase will be conditioned upon, among other things, the closing of the Offering, the closing of the Offering will not be conditioned upon the closing of the Share Repurchase.
J.P. Morgan is acting as the sole underwriter for the Offering.
A shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (including a prospectus) relating to these securities has been filed with and declared effective by the SEC. The Offering is being made solely by means of a prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus. You may obtain these documents for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. When available, copies of the prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus relating to the Offering may also be obtained by contacting: J.P. Morgan, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, New York 11717, by telephone: 1-866-803-9204, or by emailing: prospectus-eg_fi@jpmchase.com.
This press release is for informational purposes only and shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of any securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.
About Ryerson
Ryerson is a leading value-added processor and distributor of industrial metals, with operations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and China. Founded in 1842, Ryerson has around 4,200 employees in approximately 100 locations.
Safe Harbor Provision
Certain statements made in this presentation and other written or oral statements made by or on behalf of the Company constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding our future performance, as well as management's expectations, beliefs, intentions, plans, estimates, objectives, or projections relating to the future. Such statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "objectives," "goals," "preliminary," "range," "believes," "expects," "may," "estimates," "will," "should," "plans," or "anticipates" or the negative thereof or other variations thereon or comparable terminology, or by discussions of strategy. The Company cautions that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and may involve significant risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may vary materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. Among the factors that significantly impact our business are: the cyclicality of our business; the highly competitive, volatile, and fragmented metals industry in which we operate; the impact of geopolitical events, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine and global trade sanctions; fluctuating metal prices; our indebtedness and the covenants in instruments governing such indebtedness; the integration of acquired operations; regulatory and other operational risks associated with our operations located inside and outside of the United States; the ownership of a significant portion of our equity securities by a single investor group; work stoppages; obligations under certain employee retirement benefit plans; currency fluctuations; and consolidation in the metals industry. Forward-looking statements should, therefore, be considered in light of various factors, including those set forth above and those set forth under "Risk Factors" in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 and in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Moreover, we caution against placing undue reliance on these statements, which speak only as of the date they were made. The Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances, new information or otherwise.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Ryerson Holding Corporation | 2023-02-24T12:29:36+00:00 | wymt.com | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2023/02/24/ryerson-holding-corporation-announces-secondary-offering-2486580-shares-common-stock-by-its-principal-shareholder-concurrent-stock-repurchase/ |
A fundraiser is set for this afternoon at Columbia’s Café Berlin to raise money for Dog Wild, which is a planned membership-based dog park with a bar.
Zimmer’s “Inside Columbia” magazine says today’s Petite Pup Patio social is Dog Wild’s first fundraising event. It’s from 4-6.
“Inside Columbia” reports the idea came from Rebecca Welly and her partner, who developed the idea during the COVID pandemic. Tickets today are ten dollars at the door and include two raffle tickets. | 2023-06-28T01:58:37+00:00 | kwos.com | https://kwos.com/2023/06/tuesday-fundraiser-will-benefit-planned-new-columbia-dog-park/ |
BOSTON (AP) — A former eBay Inc. employee was sentenced Tuesday to one year behind bars for her role in a harassment scheme targeting creators of an online newsletter that included the delivery of live spiders, a bloody pig mask and other disturbing items to their home.
Stephanie Popp, 34, of Louisville, Kentucky, who was eBay’s senior manager of global intelligence, was sentenced to prison in Boston federal court after pleading guilty to cyberstalking conspiracy and witness tampering conspiracy charges.
Stephanie Stockwell, 28, of Redwood City, California, former manager of eBay’s Global Intelligence Center, was also sentenced on Tuesday for her role in the scheme, but avoided prison time. She was ordered to serve two years of probation, with the first year in home confinement.
They are among seven former eBay employees who have pleaded guilty in the scheme targeting a Massachusetts couple — David and Ina Steiner — who angered eBay executives with coverage of the company in their newsletter, eCommerceBytes.
Stockwell and Popp reported to James Baugh, the former senior director of safety and security, who authorities say was the leader of the scheme.
Baugh was sentenced last month to almost five years behind bars. Another eBay executive who pleaded guilty in the case, David Harville, was sentenced to two years in prison.
Authorities say eBay employees — at Baugh’s direction — sent anonymous harassing and sometimes threatening Twitter messages criticizing the newsletter’s coverage of eBay. The couple then started getting disturbing deliveries at their home, including live insects and a funeral wreath.
At one point, Baugh recruited Harville to go with him to Massachusetts to spy on the couple, authorities say. They went to the couple’s home in the hopes of installing a GPS tracker on their car but the garage was locked, so Harville bought tools with a plan to break into it, prosecutors say.
Prosecutors called Popp one of the “most culpable participants” in the scheme. She was involved in all aspects of the harassment campaign and “knew both its full extent and the effect that it was having on its ‘rattled’ victims,” prosecutors wrote in court documents.
Prosecutors did not seek prison time for Stockwell, describing her as among the least culpable. While she was involved in the planning and sending of the packages, she had no part in the anonymous Twitter messages, prosecutors said.
Stockwell’s attorney said in court papers that Baugh manipulated, “terrorized and intimidated” her and others he supervised. Stockwell’s lawyer said all her actions were undertaken “at the direction of, or manipulation by, Baugh,” but she has “never wavered in her heartfelt remorse for having participated in this ludicrous scheme.”
“The seeds of the tragedy that unfolded at eBay causing havoc, heartache, and fear” for the victims “disseminated from Baugh’s bizarre, unorthodox and frankly, inappropriate and dangerous work environment,” Stockwell’s attorney wrote.
Popp’s attorney declined to comment on Tuesday. An email seeking comment was sent to a lawyer for Stockwell. | 2022-10-12T00:25:18+00:00 | seattletimes.com | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/ex-ebay-employee-gets-1-year-in-prison-for-harassment-scheme/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_nation-world |
One of the most storied horses in thoroughbred racing history, Funny Cide, died this week at the age of 23.
Small in stature, the feisty chestnut was an unknown when he was entered into the Kentucky Derby in 2003. Funny Cide faced 12-1 odds — the definition of a longshot. A New York state-bred horse had never won the big race.
But when the gates opened on that May morning at Churchill Downs, Funny Cide ran strong.
"I could not believe my eyes," one of his co-owners, Harold Cring, recalled in a 2007 interview with North Country Public Radio. "That's our horse out front. I kept waiting for something to fall apart."
Funny Cide held on to win. It was a life-altering moment for the horse's owners, a group of high school friends from a tiny town called Sacketts Harbor in northern New York who had taken up horse-racing as a hobby.
"We were just sitting around having a couple cocktails as we were often doing, and the idea came up to buy a horse," said Jon Constance, the village's former mayor and another of Funny Cide's co-owners. "From that day forward, our life has changed."
The Kentucky Derby win was also a pinnacle moment for veteran jockey Jose Santos, who retired in 2007. "I came all the way from Chile chasing a dream and I got the dream, you know, and I did it with Funny Cide," Santos said.
At first, the win in Kentucky seemed like a fluke. It was widely portrayed as a feel-good story about a blue-collar horse owned by a bunch of small-town guys who got lucky.
Then two weeks later at the Preakness Stakes, Funny Cide won again, dominating the field by almost 10 lengths.
In the end, Funny Cide wasn't able to capture the Triple Crown. A larger, more pedigreed thoroughbred called Empire Maker won the Belmont Stakes that year.
Still, it was an epic run. By the time Funny Cide retired in 2007, he'd won more than $3.5 million for his owners.
"Funny Cide just loved to run," Constance recalled in an interview with NPR this week. "He loved to get out there and loved to show the rest of them. He might have been small but he was powerful."
The former mayor of Sacketts Harbor said many of the horse's co-owners who experienced that remarkable year together still live in the village.
"We seldom go a week without going to somebody's house. We're all very close. And by the way, I live on Funny Cide Drive now," Constance said, noting that the village named a new street after their famous horse.
Funny Cide spent the last 15 years of his life in comfort at a horse farm in Kentucky before passing this week of complications linked to cholic.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | 2023-07-21T10:31:54+00:00 | wyomingpublicmedia.org | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2023-07-21/remembering-funny-cide-a-gutsy-longshot-of-a-horse-who-nearly-won-the-triple-crown |
(Motor Authority) Volkswagen Group in February announced it was considering spinning off Porsche to help raise funds for investment in the key areas of electric vehicles, self-driving technology, and software development.
A lot has changed since then. There’s the ongoing war in Ukraine, worldwide political strife, raging inflation, rising interest rates, an energy crisis, and stock markets declining across all sectors.
Despite these challenges, VW Group will go ahead with a planned initial public offering of Porsche in the fourth quarter of the year, Arno Antlitz. VW Group’s chief financial officer, said late last month during an investor presentation in Germany.
Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported VW Group is lining up investment banks to serve as underwriters of the IPO and is considering launching the IPO as soon as September, with an aim to list in October.
Bloomberg also reported in March that the IPO could value Porsche at 90 billion euros (approximately $90.6 billion).
Should the IPO prove successful, VW Group may follow it with an IPO of recently established battery company PowerCo. Speaking at the investor presentation, Antlitz said VW Group’s battery unit has been set up in a way to make a listing next year or 2024 possible. PowerCo is responsible for VW Group’s global battery activities and has announced plans for six battery plants in Europe and is considering establishing plants in North America as well. | 2022-07-20T20:03:27+00:00 | cbs4indy.com | https://cbs4indy.com/automotive/vw-group-sticks-to-porsche-ipo-plans-despite-stock-market-rout/ |
Wisconsin Supreme Court won’t order hospital to use ivermectin for COVID-19
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin’s conservative-controlled Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a hospital could not be forced to give a deworming drug to a patient with COVID-19.
The panel ruled 6-1 in favor of Aurora Health Care, with three liberals and three conservatives in support and only conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley dissenting.
The decision upholds a lower court’s ruling against Allen Gahl, who sued Aurora in October 2021 when doctors refused to treat his uncle, John Zingsheim, with ivermectin. Gahl was authorized to make medical decisions for Zingsheim and had researched the drug online after Zingsheim was put on a ventilator to treat COVID-19 complications.
Ivermectin became popular among conservatives after commentators and even some far-right doctors held up the antiparasitic drug as a miracle cure for the coronavirus and other illnesses. But the Food and Drug Administration has not approved it for use in treating COVID-19 and warns that misusing ivermectin can be harmful, even fatal.
Gahl obtained a prescription for ivermectin from a retired doctor who had never met Zingsheim or his medical team, but hospital staff said the drug did not meet their standards and refused to administer it. None of the information in the complaint Gahl subsequently filed against the hospital came directly from medical professionals, according to court documents.
The Waukesha County Circuit Court ordered hospital staff to give Zingsheim the drug but later modified its decision to say Gahl would have to provide the drug himself, as well as a doctor to administer it. An appeals court overturned that decision after Aurora’s attorneys argued a judge could not force a medical provider to give treatment they had determined to be substandard. The Supreme Court heard arguments in the case in January.
The Supreme Court agreed that the Waukesha County judge did not cite a legal basis for ordering the court to administer the ivermectin.
“We do not know what viable legal claim the circuit court thought Gahl had presented,” Justice Ann Walsh Bradley said in the court’s opinion.
The Wisconsin lawsuit is one of dozens filed across the country seeking to force hospitals to administer ivermectin for COVID-19. The drug is commonly used in cattle and also approved for human use to fight parasites and certain skin conditions. But some members of online alternative medicine groups have reported self-administering highly concentrated, veterinary grade ivermectin to treat illnesses. The FDA warns that self-administering the drug, especially in doses intended for animals, can be lethal.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | 2023-05-02T17:09:46+00:00 | kcrg.com | https://www.kcrg.com/2023/05/02/wisconsin-supreme-court-wont-order-hospital-use-ivermectin-covid-19/ |
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Will Zalatoris has a chance to join some illustrious company at British Open. It’s just not for the reason he would like.
Zalatoris is one runner-up finish from completing a career Second Slam — placing second at all four major tournaments. Jack Nicklaus has done it. So have Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson.
The difference is those guys have won majors galore, and the 25-year-old Zalatoris has never won any kind of tournament on the PGA Tour.
“I’m not even in double-digit majors, and we’re talking about me having four runners-up in majors here,” Zalatoris said. “I think I’ll take that résumé, but obviously I’d like to replace some of the silver medals with some gold medals.”
Advertisement
Zalatoris turned professional in 2018 and has played only nine majors, but he already is starting to make himself a constant contender.
He finished second at the Masters in 2021. Then he lost a three-hole playoff to Justin Thomas at this year’s PGA Championship and followed that with a runner-up spot at the US Open behind Matt Fitzpatrick.
Another second-place finish would put him in that breathtaking company. Palmer, Nicklaus and Watson all completed their Second Slams after having already won a major. The first to achieve the feat, Craig Wood, managed to finish second in each major before actually winning one at the Masters in 1941.
“For me, let’s just keep growing on this experience," Zalatoris said. "I’m obviously playing some nice golf.”
This week would be a good time to get that first win out of the way. Not only is it a major, but it's the British Open at St. Andrews on the 150th anniversary of the tournament.
For the game of golf, it doesn't get much grander.
“The excitement level this week is obviously off the charts,” Zalatoris said. “I’ve obviously been very close, specifically in the last two majors. But game’s in a great place and in a great head space. This is a lot of fun.”
Advertisement
The good times can be fleeting through four rounds on the Old Course, however. The bunkers, the hills, the hollows — all can cause havoc or make a champion.
Zalatoris is trying to absorb as much as he can before the tournament starts on Thursday.
“Once you’ve got it figured out, you don’t,” he said.
Zalatoris has played one British Open before, last year's tournament at Royal St. George's. He shot a 69 in the first round and withdrew with a injury.
Then came his close calls this year at back-to-back majors after finishing in a tie for sixth at the Masters.
Coming down from those high points has proven to be a difficult task.
“It’s funny. I don’t sleep that great Sunday nights,” Zalatoris said. “It’s not that I’m sitting there stewing, it’s just trying to come down from the adrenaline. While I’m playing it, I don’t feel it. When I was in those last couple holes against Matt or even in the playoff with Justin, I don’t feel that big of an adrenaline push. Obviously I want to win. I’m as focused as I possibly can be, but it’s the coming down for me that’s hard.” | 2022-07-12T22:35:12+00:00 | bostonglobe.com | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/07/12/sports/will-zalatoris-could-complete-golfs-second-slam-british-open/ |
ADDISON, Texas, May 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Authentix, the authority in authentication and information services, announced that it is in commercial production of the world's first CDI2 compliant banknote detectors including GemVision™, a CDI2 compliant fitness solution for the determination of banknote quality. The Common Detector Interface 2 (CDI2) is a banknote sorting machine and detector standard jointly established by the U.S. Federal Reserve and European Central Bank. The new CDI2 banknote sorting machine and detectors platform will provide unprecedented accuracy and speed for feature detection and fitness assessment of banknotes. Suspect banknotes and those not meeting fitness standards will be sorted for additional inspection or destruction, respectively.
In 2018, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, on behalf of what is now Federal Reserve Financial Services, contracted with Authentix to design, develop, and manufacture CDI2 compliant detectors, including a Camera System and Fitness solution, some of which have now moved into commercial manufacturing. Authentix, along with its primary development partner, Boulder Imaging, Inc., a Colorado based company specializing in machine vision and inspection solutions, has delivered the project on schedule and is looking forward to deployment of the GemVision™ technology in all of the Fed's cash processing centers throughout the United States.
This new CDI2 banknote detector standard provides unprecedented access to banknote data and images acquired during high-speed banknote processing. This is significant to Federal Reserve Financial Services as it will help to reduce the number of notes taken out of circulation prematurely. More intelligent banknote processing simultaneously reduces the cost of cash as well as its carbon footprint. The CDI2 standard also makes it easier for Central Banks to optimize processing environments by selecting their detectors from multiple suppliers. The new standard is further projected to be adopted industry wide by most Central Banks over the next several years and will provide far greater control for the processing of banknotes and make it easier to select best in breed detection platforms in the future. Additional capabilities of the CDI2 compliant detectors from Authentix will increase the efficiency of banknote processing and extend the life of notes in circulation by making more intelligent sorting decisions regarding banknote authenticity and fitness.
About Authentix
As the authority in authentication solutions, Authentix brings enhanced visibility and traceability to today's complex global supply chains. For over 25 years, Authentix has provided clients with physical and software-enabled solutions to detect, mitigate, and prevent counterfeiting and other illicit trading activity for currency, excise taxable goods, and branded consumer products. Through a proven partnership model and sector expertise, clients experience custom solution design, rapid implementation, consumer engagement, and complete program management to ensure product safety, revenue protection, and consumer trust for the best-known global brands on the market. Headquartered in Addison, Texas USA, Authentix, Inc. has offices in the North America, Europe, Middle East, Asia, and Africa serving clients worldwide. For more information, visit https://www.authentix.com. Authentix® is a registered trademark of Authentix, Inc.
About Boulder Imaging
Formed in 1995 with the launch of its proprietary HPDVR technology Quazar, Boulder Imaging later released its Vision Inspector suite of machine vision software. Vision Inspector is now utilized 24/7 in a multitude of industries and environments to provide machine vision inspection solutions for precision applications. Boulder Imaging offers a growing suite of integrated systems and software by leveraging machine vision technologies perfected for the defense, aerospace and industrial products industries. Boulder Imaging's inspection technology provides revealing visual data for a multitude of clients, from the manufacturing lines of flooring and ceiling tile producers, the precision printing of banknotes, and rugged wind farm environments.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Authentix, Inc. | 2023-05-12T13:42:58+00:00 | wymt.com | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2023/05/12/authentix-completes-development-banknote-industrys-first-cdi2-compliant-detector/ |
Latest addition to SunPower's Dealer Accelerator Program to accelerate adoption of SunPower solutions in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and beyond
Wolf River Electric now SunPower's third largest dealer
RICHMOND, Calif., April 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWR), a leading solar technology and energy services provider, announced it made a minority investment in one of the largest residential solar providers in Minnesota, Wolf River Electric. Through this relationship, Wolf River is expected to accelerate its already high growth trajectory in Minnesota alongside a growing presence in Iowa and Wisconsin, enabling the companies to serve more customers in the market and increase solar adoption in historically underpenetrated areas.
Today's investment makes Wolf River SunPower's third largest dealer. Wolf River will sell SunPower® solar, SunVault® battery storage, EV charging equipment and financial products on an exclusive basis for the next five years. The dealer's volume in the three states creates a significant net-new geographic coverage opportunity for SunPower to accelerate adoption in the Midwest. Wolf River also plans to use the investment to establish a dedicated warehouse as well as expand their sales and installation teams to rapidly grow and serve more homeowners.
"Our dealer accelerator program has proven successful in identifying high growth companies that, with some additional investment, can increase the speed at which they sell, finance and install solar energy systems nationwide," said Shawn Fitzgerald, Vice President of Corporate Development at SunPower. "With Wolf River on our team, we can expand our reach to ensure more homeowners in the Midwest have access to the savings and resiliency provided by clean energy."
Since its founding in 2014, Wolf River has built a profitable and high-growth business, achieving 235% revenue growth year-over-year in 2022. SunPower expects that Wolf River's volume will help expand its comprehensive suite of financial products providing homeowners more financing options that meet their needs whether cash, lease or loan. Additionally, Wolf River shares SunPower's value for delivering superior customer experience as a top rated solar company currently with a 4.8 star rating on Google.
"The success of our clean energy future depends on local businesses having access to resources and financing to move quickly and efficiently to serve the communities we work in," said Vlad Marchenko, CEO of Wolf River Electric. "SunPower's track record to deliver high quality, premium solar solutions is unparalleled. Their investment enables us to serve homeowners on a greater scale as well as create new green jobs in the Midwest."
SunPower's Dealer Accelerator Program provides high-potential solar businesses with capital financing and business guidance to meet the increasing demand for solar nationwide. Dealers in the program exclusively sell SunPower solar systems. They also offer SunVault battery storage and leverage SunPower Financial™ for a homeowner's financing needs.
Chardan investment bank acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Wolf River in this transaction, led by Elliot Gnedy, Director.
To learn more about SunPower's robust dealer network, visit https://us.sunpower.com/dealers-installers.
About SunPower
SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWR) is a leading solar technology and energy services provider in North America. SunPower offers the only solar + storage solution designed and warranted by one company that gives customers control over electricity consumption and resiliency during power outages while providing cost savings to homeowners. For more information, visit www.sunpower.com
About Wolf River
Wolf River Electric has been the Midwest's leader in residential solar installation for years. Here at Wolf River, we believe in a customer-first ideology that stems from the community we serve. We take pride in our community and offer solutions to any energy-related problem they may face.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, statements regarding expected business plans and product performance. These forward-looking statements are based on our current assumptions, expectations and beliefs and involve substantial risks and uncertainties that may cause results, performance or achievement to materially differ from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, regulatory changes and the availability of economic incentives promoting use of solar energy and fluctuations or declines in the performance of our solar panels and other products and solutions. A detailed discussion of these factors and other risks that affect our business is included in filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from time to time, including our most recent report on Form 10-K, particularly under the heading "Risk Factors." Copies of these filings are available online from the SEC or on the SEC Filings section of our Investor Relations website at investors.sunpower.com. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information currently available to us, and we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in light of new information or future events.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE SunPower Corp. | 2023-04-27T13:53:03+00:00 | wlbt.com | https://www.wlbt.com/prnewswire/2023/04/27/sunpower-invests-wolf-river-electric-expanding-solar-footprint-midwest/ |
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — Oakwood Schools is partnering with Oakwood Safety to provide another layer of protection for students who have experienced a traumatic event.
The district, with support from the Montgomery County Educational Service Center, is participating in the Ohio Handle with Care program.
The program is a collaborative effort between schools, law enforcement and mental health agencies aimed at ensuring children who are exposed to adverse events receive appropriate assistance and are successful at school, according to a release from the school district.
“Our internal Handle with Care initiative allows families to reach out to the Social Emotional Learning team as a way of requesting additional care and support for their student,” SEL coordinator Amy Samosky said. “Working with Oakwood Safety is an additional layer to this process to ensure the continuity of care for our students.”
Through the state program, Oakwood Safety will notify Oakwood’s SEL team if an Oakwood Schools student is exposed to violence or trauma. The student’s teachers will be alerted to the student’s name along with a message that simply reads “Handle with Care.” No specific information on the situation will be provided. Teachers can then observe the student and provide support as needed.
“While we will not be receiving specifics about the situation, knowing the student was involved in an adverse event will allow our teachers to be more mindful and intentional with the student. Our teachers have been trained to reach out to counselors or the SEL team should they observe behaviors that appear to be out of the norm for the student,” Samosky said.
If students need additional services, the district can work with the family to make sure the student has the tools and resources necessary to be successful in the educational setting despite the traumatic circumstances they may have endured, the release states.
Samosky said she believes this new tool will allow Oakwood Schools to partner with families and first responders to continue to do what is best for students.
“Having an internal system in which parents and caregivers can reach out to the district along with an external system in which the district will receive notifications from Oakwood Safety will allow us to meet the needs of the whole child, prioritizing social-emotional, physical and safety needs along with academic achievement.” | 2023-04-05T23:28:41+00:00 | wdtn.com | https://www.wdtn.com/news/local-news/oakwood-schools-to-provide-students-with-trauma-support/ |
Cognizant to enable Dutch communications provider to improve the stability of its cloud infrastructure, total cost of ownership and time to deploy new functionalities and services
TEANECK, N.J., Nov. 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cognizant (Nasdaq: CTSH) announced today that it has been selected by VodafoneZiggo, a leading provider of fixed, mobile and integrated communication and entertainment services to consumers and businesses, as its managed services partner to consolidate and support VodafoneZiggo's operations of IT and virtualized mobile network infrastructure. This will enable VodafoneZiggo to improve the availability and reliability of its communications services through proactive monitoring of infrastructure operations, more accurate planning, and with faster deployments of new services to its more than five million mobile business and consumer customers in The Netherlands.
As part of the five-year operations and maintenance agreement, Cognizant will harmonize and simplify the current on-premise landscape through increased levels of automation designed to reduce the total cost of ownership and enable more efficient onboarding of VodafoneZiggo's standard as well as containerized and virtualized NFV (Network Function Virtualization) infrastructure.
"Due to the ongoing growth in the demand for data services and digital customer experiences, we continuously aim to optimize our services to serve customers in the best way. This goes hand in hand with a strong drive to establish the best efficiency and effectiveness in our operations and IT infrastructure," said Diana Geels - de Koos, Lead for Cloud Infrastructure Tribe at VodafoneZiggo. "We have chosen Cognizant as a trusted partner with the experience and expertise to assist us with maintaining and improving the infrastructure underpinning our mobile network operations and deploy new functions and services at scale."
"We are proud to have been chosen by VodafoneZiggo based on a combination of our deep industry and domain expertise in infrastructure managed services for large-scale, global companies across various industries, including telecoms and communications," said Saket Gulati, Country Manager, Netherlands at Cognizant. "Due to our longstanding relationship and deep-rooted knowledge of VodafoneZiggo's challenges, we are confident that we will be able to support the company in meeting its next digitization targets and introduce a new level of stability to its IT infrastructure."
About VodafoneZiggo
VodafoneZiggo is a leading Dutch company that provides fixed, mobile and integrated communication and entertainment services to consumers and businesses. As of September 30, 2022, we have over 5 million mobile, over 3 million video and fixed broadband internet and approximately 2 million fixed telephony subscribers. Approximately 7,000 people are employed by VodafoneZiggo. Our offices are located in Utrecht, Amsterdam, Maastricht, Hilversum, Leeuwarden, Groningen, Nijmegen, Helmond and Rotterdam.
The VodafoneZiggo JV is a 50:50 joint venture between Liberty Global, one of the world's leading converged video, broadband and communications companies, and Vodafone Group, one of the world's leading technology communications companies.
About Cognizant
Cognizant (Nasdaq: CTSH) engineers modern businesses. We help our clients modernize technology, reimagine processes and transform experiences so they can stay ahead in our fast-changing world. Together, we're improving everyday life. See how at www.cognizant.com or @cognizant.
For more information, contact:
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Cognizant Technology Solutions | 2022-11-09T10:47:41+00:00 | wcjb.com | https://www.wcjb.com/prnewswire/2022/11/09/vodafoneziggo-selects-cognizant-strategic-partner-consolidate-its-services-it-infrastructure-virtualized-networking/ |
CLAYTON, N.M. — Thirteen weeks into her pregnancy, 29-year-old Cloie Davila was so "pukey" and nauseated that she began lovingly calling her baby "spicy."
Davila was sick enough that staffers at the local hospital gave her 2 liters of IV fluids and prescribed a daily regimen of vitamins and medication. This will be Davila's third child and she hopes the nausea means it's another girl.
Davila had moved back to her hometown of Clayton, New Mexico, so her kids could grow up near family — her dad, aunts, uncles, and cousins all live in this remote community of about 2,800 people in the northeastern corner of the state. But Clayton's hospital stopped delivering babies more than a decade ago.
Aside from being sick, Davila was worried about making the more than 3½-hour round trip to the closest labor and delivery doctors in the state.
"With gas and kids and just work — having to miss all the time," Davila said. "It was going to be difficult financially."
Then, Davila spotted a billboard advertising the use of telehealth at her local hospital.
In rural regions, having a baby can be particularly fraught. Small-town hospitals face declining local populations and poor reimbursement. Those that don't shutter often halt obstetric services to save money — even as the number of U.S. mothers who die each year while pregnant or shortly after has hit historic highs, particularly for Black women.
More than half of rural counties lack obstetric care, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office report released last year. Low Medicaid reimbursement rates and a lack of health workers are some of the biggest challenges, the agency reported. New Mexico Medicaid leaders say 17 of the state's 33 counties have limited or no obstetric care.
Those realities prompted the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, which is part of the Health Resources and Services Administration, to launch the Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies Program, RMOMS. Ten regional efforts nationwide — including one that serves Davila in northeastern New Mexico — have been awarded federal grants to spend on telehealth and creating networks of hospitals and clinics.
"We've never done this sort of work before," said Tom Morris, associate administrator for the office at HRSA. "We were really testing out a concept ... could we improve access?"
After joining the telehealth program, Davila didn't have to take the afternoon off work for a recent prenatal checkup. She drove less than a mile from her job at the county courthouse and parked near the hospital. As she stepped inside a ranch-style yellow-brick clinic building, staffers greeted Davila with hugs and laughter. She then sat on a white-papered exam table facing a large computer screen.
"Hello, everybody," said Timothy Brininger, a family practice doctor who specializes in obstetrics. He peered out the other side of the screen from about 80 miles away at Miners Colfax Medical Center in Raton, New Mexico.
The visit was a relief — close enough for a lunchtime appointment — and with staff "I've known my whole life," Davila said. She heard her baby's heartbeat, had her blood drawn, and laughed about how she debated the due date with her husband in bed one night.
"They're nice," Davila said of the local staff. "They make me feel comfortable."
Yet, Davila may be one of the last expectant mothers to benefit from the telehealth program. It is slated to run out of money at the end of August.
Care that 'really made a difference'
The day after Davila's prenatal checkup, Brininger sat at his desk in Raton and explained, "The closest OB doctor besides the one sitting in front of you who's working today is over 100 miles in any direction."
When the telehealth program runs out of money, Brininger said, he wants to keep devices the grant paid for that enable some patients to home-monitor with blood pressure cuffs, oxygen sensors, and fetal heart rate monitors "so they don't have to drive to see us."
The retired military doctor has thoughts about the pilot program ending: "I will hope that our tax dollars have been utilized effectively to learn something from this because otherwise it's a shame."
Because of the grant, 1,000 women and their families in northeastern New Mexico have been connected to social services like food assistance and lactation counselors since 2019. More than 760 mothers have used the program for medical care, including home, telehealth, and clinic appointments. In its first year, 57% of the women identified as Hispanic and 5% as Indigenous.
Jade Vandiver, 25, said she feels "like I wouldn't have made it without them."
In the early months of her pregnancy, Vandiver slept during the day and struggled with diabetic hypoglycemic episodes. Vandiver's husband repeatedly rushed her to the Clayton hospital's emergency room because "we were scared I was going to go into a coma or worse."
There, hospital staffers suggested Vandiver join the program. She eventually began traveling to specialists in Albuquerque for often weekly visits.
The program covered travel and hotel costs for the family. After months of checkups, she had a planned delivery of Ezra, who's now a healthy 6-month-old. The boy watched his mother's smile as she talked.
Without the program, Vandiver likely would have delivered at home and been airlifted out — possibly to the smaller Raton hospital.
Raton's Miners Colfax is a small critical access hospital that recently closed its intensive care unit. The hospital sits just off Interstate 25, less than 10 miles south of the Colorado border, and its patients can be transient, Chief Nursing Officer Rhonda Moniot said. Maintaining the hospital's obstetric program "is not easy, financially it's not easy," she said.
Moms from the area "don't always seek care when they need to," she said. Substance use disorders are common, she said, and those babies are often delivered under emergency conditions and prematurely.
"If we can get them in that first trimester ... we have healthier outcomes in the end," Moniot said, pulling up a spreadsheet on her computer.
At Raton's hospital, 41% of mothers who gave birth before the RMOMS program began failed to show up for their first-trimester prenatal exams. But over two years — even as the covid-19 pandemic scared many patients away from seeking care — the number dropped to only 25% of mothers missing prenatal checkups during their first three months of pregnancy.
"I was, like, oh my God, it really made a difference," said Moniot, who helped launch the program at Miners Colfax in 2019.
Funding dries up
Just a few weeks before Davila's checkup in Clayton, the New Mexico program's executive director, Colleen Durocher, traveled nearly 1,600 miles east to Capitol Hill to lobby for money.
Durocher said she cornered HRSA's Morris at an evening event while in Washington, D.C. She said she told him the program is working but that the one year of planning plus three years of implementation paid for by the federal government was not enough.
"Let's not let it die," Durocher said. "It would be a real waste to let those successes just end."
By April, Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) said he was impressed by the program's "lifesaving" work and asked for $1 million in the federal budget for fiscal year 2024. But the money, if approved, would likely not arrive before Durocher runs out of funding in late summer.
As the August deadline looms, Durocher said one obvious option would be to simply extend the grant. HRSA spokesperson Elana Ross said the agency cannot extend funding for the program. Each site, though, can reapply by offering to target a new population, include new hospitals or clinics, or provide services in a new area.
Of the 10 regional programs across the country, the one in New Mexico and two others are slated to end their pilots this year. Seven other programs — from Minnesota to Arkansas — are scheduled to end in 2025 or 2026. During their first two years, the 2019 awardees reported more than 5,000 women received medical care, and all three recorded a decrease in preterm births during the second year of implementation, according to HRSA.
The three initial programs also expanded their patient navigation programs to connect "hundreds of women to emotional support, insurance coverage, and social services, such as transportation and home visiting," agency spokesperson Ross wrote in an email.
New Mexico Medicaid's interim Director Lorelei Kellogg said her agency would like to "emulate" the program's care coordination among hospitals and health staff in other areas of the state but also alter it to work best for different Indigenous and tribal cultures as well as African American partners.
There is money in the state's budget to pay for patient navigators or community health workers, but there are no funds dedicated to support the maternity program, she said.
In the meantime, the program's funding is set to run out just days before Davila's baby is due in early September. In the coming months, Davila, like many mothers with an uncomplicated pregnancy, will have monthly prenatal telehealth visits, then biweekly and, as her due date nears, weekly.
"It's nicer to be able to just pop in," she said, adding that "it would be harder for the community" if the program didn't exist.
Still, Davila may be one of the last moms to benefit from it.
KFF Health News, formerly known as Kaiser Health News (KHN), is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.
Copyright 2023 Kaiser Health News. To see more, visit Kaiser Health News. | 2023-05-14T12:40:41+00:00 | kvpr.org | https://www.kvpr.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-05-13/this-telehealth-program-is-a-lifeline-for-new-mexicos-pregnant-moms-will-it-end |
(The Hill) – Seventy-one percent of Americans indicated support for labor unions in a Gallup poll released on Tuesday, the highest percentage since 1965.
The latest measure is a slight uptick from the 68 percent who supported labor unions when the survey giant polled the question last year.
Gallup has tracked union approval for decades, and support has gradually increased since 2009.
Support fell below 50 percent for the only time in 2009, but ever since has been improving to levels now not seen in more than a half century.
The increased support comes as workers at many major companies have pursued union campaigns.
A Starbucks store in Buffalo, N.Y., became the company’s first U.S. location to unionize in December, and more than 200 stores have since successfully held votes to join the union. Starbucks has battled many of those unionization efforts in court.
In April, workers at one of Amazon’s New York City facilities voted to become the first of the e-commerce giant’s U.S. locations to unionize.
Additionally, the first U.S. Chipotle store voted to unionize last Thursday in Lansing, Mich.
The new poll found that 6 percent of U.S. adults report that they are a union member, and 16 percent live in a household in which at least one resident is part of a union.
The results remain in line with Gallup’s range of between 14 percent and 21 percent of adults since 2001 who have said they live in a household with at least one union member.
President Biden has pledged to be the most pro-union president in history. He has hosted union leaders organizing at major companies and spoke at AFL-CIO’s convention in June.
“We’re seeing a resurgence of worker organizations and unionization,” Biden said earlier this month. “Where I come from, that’s a good thing, and it’s long overdue.”
The Gallup poll was conducted between Aug. 1 and 23 through a random phone sample of 1,006 U.S. adults. The sample is weighted to match national demographics, and the margin of error is 4 percentage points. | 2022-08-30T19:04:51+00:00 | wwlp.com | https://www.wwlp.com/news/national/support-for-labor-unions-highest-since-1965-poll-finds/ |
An innovative digital platform for solid dosage form design and development that reduces time and effort from core to coating.
HARLEYSVILLE, Pa., June 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Colorcon Inc. announces the launch of HyperStart C2C™, Smart Formulation Hub to provide its customers with formulation design for solid oral dosage forms. This exciting platform is built on the legacy of Colorcon's HyperStart® Formulation Service and harnesses the extensive data, experience and know-how to enable digital self-service and delivery of starting formulations and coatings for tablets. HyperStart C2C provides formulation recommendations, excipient choices, film coating options and color selection, along with integrated regulatory insights and process guidance.
From concept to commercialization, HyperStart C2C addresses the daily challenges that formulators face and uses algorithms to enable interactive formulation development from core to coating.
"HyperStart C2C is a breakthrough intuitive platform for formulators that empowers them to accelerate their product development process by reducing formulation iterations which saves time and cost, resulting in speed to market" says Dr. Ali Rajabi-Siahboomi, VP and Chief Innovation Officer at Colorcon. "We have brought together the science and expertise that Colorcon is recognized for and developed an innovative digital platform to eliminate time and cost-consuming trial and error formulation work".
This latest innovation demonstrates Colorcon's continued leadership in providing advanced online customer tools and service to support pharmaceutical development and complements best-in-class specialty excipients and film coating systems.
Annabel Bordmann, General Manager, Film Coating "at Colorcon we direct our agility and creativity to innovate and meet our customers' needs. The advances we've made with HyperStart C2C will revolutionize the market as it plays a vital role in boosting R&D productivity and provides immense value for our customers helping to commercialize their products faster".
Colorcon is committed to bringing to market innovative products and services that improve wellness through convenience, compliance and safety while delivering speed and efficiency and dependable performance.
Company Information
Colorcon is a world leader in the development, supply and technical support of specialty ingredients, formulated film coating systems, modified release technologies, and functional excipients for the pharmaceutical, nutritional and animal health industries. Our best-in-class products and technologies are complemented by our extensive application data and value-added services to support all phases of oral dose design, development and manufacture. Our focus on market issues and technology development has earned Colorcon an international reputation as a design and development partner of choice. That reputation is based on superior product quality, unparalleled technical support, extensive regulatory assistance and reliable supply from multiple locations. Colorcon has 11 manufacturing facilities, 25 technical service laboratories globally and more than 1400 employees exclusively dedicated to its customer base.
For more information, visit www.colorcon.com
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Colorcon | 2023-06-21T20:14:37+00:00 | wlox.com | https://www.wlox.com/prnewswire/2023/06/21/colorcon-inc-launches-hyperstart-c2c-smart-formulation-hub-accelerate-pharmaceutical-formulation-development/ |
Unlock all articles for $1.99
Already have an account? Login here.
When you click "Sign up", you will receive headlines and breaking news alerts to your inbox. By creating an account, you agree to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.
We've placed cookies on your device to improve your browsing experience. They're safe and don't contain sensitive information. | 2022-12-14T02:55:27+00:00 | tj.news | https://tj.news/telegraph-journal/102029442 |
Your Right to Know: Here’s to a more transparent 2023 for open government in Wisconsin
As ever, 2022 was a roller coaster year for open government.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court made it harder for requesters to recover attorneys’ fees for open records suits, but also issued a ruling to prevent outsiders from blocking responses to open records requests
Elections officials struggled under the weight of open records requests in the 2022 election season, but information about the Wisconsin Assembly’s investigation into the 2020 election was finally made public.
So what can Wisconsin officials do better in 2023? Plenty.
More:Here's why it may soon be costlier to seek some public records in Wisconsin
First, the Wisconsin legislature should pass a fix to the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s opinion in Friends of Frame Park v. City of Waukesha, which set a higher bar for requesters to recover their attorneys fees when they have to sue to get records.
The Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council issued a statement when the decision was issued, calling it a “body blow to the state’s traditions of open government” and expressing concern that it could deter lawsuits and lead to more delays in providing records.
A conservative law firm, the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, agreed. The law firm issued a policy brief proposing different solutions to the decision, including one similar to the fix made by Congress to the federal Freedom of Information Act. We hope the legislature and governor’s office pay attention.
Second, some agencies are experiencing backlogs in providing responses to records requests, in part due to staffing and funding challenges. Agencies should request more funding to fulfill their open records duties in the next budget process, and the legislature should give it to them. Doing so recognizes the open records law’s command that “providing persons with [government] information is declared to be . . . an integral part of the routine duties of officers and employees.”
This includes the Wisconsin Attorney General’s office, charged with enforcing and providing advice to the public about the state’s openness laws, and with fulfilling records requests made to the state Department of Justice. In the runup to the November 2022 election, both attorney general candidates said additional resources would help the office meet its open government obligations.
Now that the election is settled, Attorney General Josh Kaul should work to make sure these resources are requested, obtained and utilized. He should also consider separating the office’s advice-giving and records-fulfilling functions, so delays in one do not bog down the other.
Third, local governments, like agencies, can and should work on reducing the time it takes to respond to records requests and reduce or even waive fees for locating and producing records. To that end, the legislature should take up Gov. Tony Evers’ proposal to raise location fee thresholds from $50 — set in the early 1980s — to $150.
Local governments could also post more records online proactively, and take steps to ensure that exemptions that allow closed meeting sessions are not overused.
All levels of government in Wisconsin should resolve to have a sunny 2023.
Your Right to Know is a monthly column distributed by the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council (wisfoic.org), a group dedicated to open government. Christa Westerberg is the council’s vice president and a partner at the Pines Bach law firm in Madison, Wisconsin. | 2023-01-09T14:21:09+00:00 | jsonline.com | https://www.jsonline.com/story/opinion/2023/01/09/there-were-setbacks-for-publics-right-to-know-last-year-in-wisconsin/69785864007/ |
A church service, food and music and opportunities to volunteer are some of the ways Baton Rouge will be observing Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday.
The church service, followed by a peace walk and a "second line," will begin at 9 a.m. at Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, which has partnered with the Baton Rouge branch of the NAACP for a series of celebrations.
The peace walk will immediately follow the service at the church, at 185 Eddie Robinson Drive, with the second line led by the Soulistik Brass Band. The walk's route is planned to include historic landmarks such as the Lincoln Hotel, Webb’s Barber Shop, and the Purple Circle Social Club and will travel from the church to the BREC Expressway Park.
The celebration continues at Expressway Park with the MLK Festival of Service beginning at 11:30 a.m. and featuring music and food and performances that will include a Battle of the Bands between McKinley Senior High and Scotlandville Magnet High.
Other events on Monday include:
- The chance to paint public art designs at the Jewel J. Newman Community Center, 2013 Central Road, and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, 4000 Gus Young Ave., in two shifts: 8 a.m. to noon and noon to 4 p.m.
- A community cleanup at the Hartley/Vey Park at 1702 Gardere Lane, from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., followed by a Mural, Literacy and Community Resource Fair.
- A painting project at the C.B. Pennington Jr. YMCA, 15550 Old Hammond Hwy, noon to 4 p.m.
- "Baton Roots" community gardening at Capitol High School, from 8 a.m. to noon.
- Community garden building, in partnership with the Southern University Ag Center, at the Charles R. Kelly Community Center, 3535 Riley St., from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. | 2023-01-15T21:30:16+00:00 | theadvocate.com | https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/mlk-day-events-planned-throughout-monday-in-baton-rouge/article_0cd9b8ae-950b-11ed-9ba2-5b76a602ede0.html |
NEW YORK – The Rev. Al Sharpton has been called a lot of names in his public life: a hustler, a racist, an opportunist, a fraud, a rat, a jester.
He embraces at least one of the intended insults, a name often hurled by his critics on the right and the left: “Loudmouth.” That's also the title of a two-hour documentary about the national civil rights leader debuting at theaters in over 20 cities Friday.
Sharpton's brash and combative styles, deployed in his advocacy for victims and families seeking accountability over police brutality and racial injustices, are on full display as filmmakers trace his evolution from Brooklyn rabble-rouser to sought-after figure in the U.S. political arena. Sharpton said he hopes the film inspires up-and-coming generations of loudmouths to join movements against injustices in their own communities.
“You had to be loud because you were not invited to address the public,” he says in the documentary framed around a wide-ranging, sit-down interview.
The lean physique Sharpton sat for the interview dressed in a three-piece, tailored suit and tie — a noticeable contrast to the rotund, chain and medallion wearing young man in a track suit, who many older Americans may remember.
The documentary opens with the civil rights leader's 2019 birthday party, which was attended by A-list celebrities and top New York elected officials. The film concludes with a tearful Sharpton leading a prayer in 2021 after a jury convicted a white, former Minneapolis police officer for the murder of George Floyd. In between those bookends, viewers see an in-depth exploration of Sharpton's upbringing by his mother, Ada Richards Sharpton, mentorship by the Rev. Jesse Jackson and soul music icon James Brown, as well as his headline-grabbing activism in New York in the 1980s.
It's arguably the most nuanced look at the leader to date.
Directed by Josh Alexander and executive produced by singer-songwriter John Legend, “Loudmouth” has already screened at the Tribeca, Chicago, Philadelphia, Martha’s Vineyard and Denver film festivals. Its nationwide release comes at a “critical point" in U.S. politics, when divided government via the Republican-controlled House and the Democrat-controlled Senate could mean intensified activism around a civil rights agenda, Sharpton said.
“I think it's more needed now than ever,” he told The Associated Press, “the kind of direct action and work on the ground that create the climate for protest. It's going to double our efforts."
As he wraps up 2022, Sharpton reflected on what has been a mixed, yet consequential stretch in progressive politics. On one hand, the midterm elections showed larger than expected engagement among a younger generation of voters, which blunted a predicted “red wave” in state and federal offices. By that, Sharpton said he is encouraged.
On the other hand, violence via mass shootings this year, including the massacre of Black shoppers by a white supremacist gunman at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, woke many up to how intractable politics on guns and racial justice can be.
“I think that the shooting showed that we were not nearly as far as we thought we were going to go after George Floyd,” Sharpton said. “From the shootings in Buffalo, to the synagogue attacks, to the LGBTQ attack (in Colorado Springs), there's widespread violent hate out there.”
“We're going to have to have strong, hard enforcement legislation,” he added.
Alexander, the director, said whether viewers come out of the film loving or hating Sharpton, they will go away understanding what the leader was up against.
“If he’s saying the same things now that he’s been saying for decades, but now he’s celebrated and back then he was castigated, what does that tell us not about him but about the media ecosystem at the time?” Alexander told the AP.
Sharpton, 68, has been a go-to advocate for grieving Black American families seeking justice for nearly countless incidents that highlight systemic racism. Democratic politicians see him as a necessary ally for shoring up their credentials on racial justice issues.
It took Sharpton more than two decades to get there. Born in 1954 in Brooklyn, he showed promise as a preacher at age 4 and was ordained as a minister by age 10. At 13, Jackson appointed Sharpton as youth director of New York’s Operation Breadbasket, an anti-poverty project of the Rev. Martin Luther King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
By the '80s, a young adult Sharpton constantly courted controversy for using inflammatory language against his opponents. His most fiery rhetoric was reserved for the elected officials from whom he demanded action on cases of racial violence and police brutality.
“Loudmouth” relies heavily on footage from that period. The documentary highlights Sharpton's activism in the cases of Michael Griffith, a 23-year-old Black man killed in 1986 by white men outside a pizza parlor in the then-predominantly white Queens neighborhood of Howard Beach; Yusuf Hawkins, a Black teenager fatally shot in 1989 after being confronted by a mob of white youths in the historically Italian American neighborhood of Bensonhurst in Brooklyn; and most controversially, Tawana Brawley, a 15-year-old Black girl who in 1987 accused six white men, including police officers, of assault and rape in upstate New York.
A grand jury later found evidence that Brawley had fabricated the story. Although Sharpton was hardly the only prominent New York figure who believed Brawley’s story, many of Sharpton’s critics still bring up the case to discredit him.
“Later in life, I became more conscious,” Sharpton says in reflection in the documentary. “I saw Tawana, in many ways, like the Black mother I had that was fighting for kids. ... I saw in her a Black woman that Black men wouldn't stand up for, and I wasn't going to be the one to walk away from her. No matter how hot it got, I just wasn't going to do it.”
Sharpton told the AP that the documentary does a good job of dispelling the narrative that racism was largely a problem of the U.S. South.
“Racism was not just a Southern thing, it was a Northern thing,” he said. “But it was manicured racism, until we got out there and marched.”
___
Aaron Morrison is a New York-based national writer on the AP's Race and Ethnicity team. Follow him on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/aaronlmorrison. | 2022-12-07T17:25:49+00:00 | wsls.com | https://www.wsls.com/news/politics/2022/12/07/sharpton-says-film-debuts-at-critical-point-in-us-politics/ |
Health officials in the United Kingdom say that England is now on a course to possibly becoming the first country in the world to eradicate hepatitis C.
The country's National Health Service (NHS) says it has be able to successfully find and treat people with the virus, the Times in the UK reported.
The country has seen deaths from the virus fall by 35%.
According to officials, over 70,000 people have been cured of hepatitis C.
The virus can cause damage to the liver and even failure of the organ.
NHS officials say they expect to be able to wipe out the virus and its community spread by 2025, ahead of a World Health Organization (WHO) target. | 2022-12-30T02:35:16+00:00 | wsfltv.com | https://www.wsfltv.com/news/world/england-looks-to-be-first-country-to-eradicate-hepatitis-c |
Ever wanted to see yourself dunk like LeBron?
The NBA app could soon make that a reality. A new feature coming to the app lets users virtually sub in for a player during a live NBA game. Users would scan themselves to create their own avatar that overlays an actual player in real-time.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver introduced the app's new streaming experience at the NBA All-Star Tech Summit in Salt Lake City on Friday.
In an on-stage demonstration, Silver scanned the body of sports commentator Ahmad Rashad and pasted it onto that of the Utah Jazz's Talen Horton-Tucker.
"You'll be making all the same movements as he was, but it'll look like it's your body," Silver told Rashad.
Avatar Rashad is then seen running down the court in a pair of casual pants to complete a dunk in the place of Horton-Tucker.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver unveils streaming experience of the future via the NBA App - and you can be in it! pic.twitter.com/FKYJvskf0H
— NBA (@NBA) February 17, 2023
According to the app company Polycam, the NBA feature uses Polycam's LiDAR (short for "Light Detection and Ranging") technology to capture a person's 3D image to generate the avatar.
The NBA has yet to give a release date for the feature.
The in-app telecast also promises to offer a bunch of other new features, including more languages, celebrity commentary, the ability to move the game to virtual locations and integrated betting.
In the future, maybe that means you can put money on yourself to win an NBA game.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | 2023-02-19T10:39:57+00:00 | delawarepublic.org | https://www.delawarepublic.org/npr-headlines/2023-02-19/a-future-nba-app-feature-lets-fans-virtually-replace-a-player-in-a-live-game |
Poll: Democrats, Republicans share core values but still distrust each other
WASHINGTON - Americans on the right and the left have a lot more in common than they might think — including their strong distrust of each other.
A survey published on Wednesday finds that when asked about core values including fairness, compassion and personal responsibility, about nine in 10 Democrats and Republicans agreed they were very or extremely important. Yet only about a third of either group said they believed the same was true for the opposing party.
The results of the poll, conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago and the nonprofit group Starts With Us, reveal a stark truth at the source of the polarization that has a powerful grip on American politics: While most Americans agree on the core principles underlying American democracy, they no longer recognize that the other side also holds those values.
"This is a hidden opportunity for Americans to reestablish a sense of shared values," said Tom Fishman, chief executive at Starts With Us, a nonpartisan organization that works to bridge political polarization. Americans from both parties need to understand that they still share common values, he said, and to recognize their misconceptions about the opposing party.
Americans have a long tradition of quarrelsome politics, dating back to before the Boston Tea Party. But with the notable exception of the Civil War, a sense of unity has kept those forces of division at bay. Experts who study partisanship and trust say that while a certain amount of polarization is natural, it can become a significant problem when it's exploited by political parties or when one party no longer views the other as legitimate opposition but as an enemy.
A number of factors are cited as possible causes for an increase in division, including the decline and fragmentation of legitimate news sources, politicians who stoke distrust, and social media platforms that spread misinformation while too often sorting users into echo chambers where they seldom encounter an opposing view.
This loss of unity is tied to growing distrust in the media, government, science and public health while political anger has sometimes boiled over into hate speech or violence like that seen on Jan. 6, 2021, when supporters of then-President Donald Trump violently attacked the U.S. Capitol in a bid to overturn the Republican's 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
"When you get worried is when polarization turns into dehumanization — a sense that the other is somehow less than human, or evil, or unable to share your decent human values," said Nealin Parker, executive director of Common Ground USA, a group that works to resolve conflict by building trust among Americans. "That should be concerning to anybody, because those are the necessary psychological steps to doing harm to each other."
In the survey, respondents were asked to rate the importance of six principles: personal responsibility, fair enforcement of the law, representative government, government accountability, compassion and respect across differences, and learning from the past. In each case, about 90% of both Democrats and Republicans rated these values as very or extremely important.
When asked if members of the opposing party thought those values were very or extremely important, however, about two-thirds of respondents said no.
For example, while 91% of Republicans said they think it's very or extremely important that citizens should learn from the past to improve the country, only about a third of Democrats said they believed that to be true of GOP voters. And while only 31% of Republicans say Democrats believe government accountability is very or extremely important, 90% of Democratic respondents said they do.
The findings reflect a phenomenon known as "affective polarization," in which disagreements are based on animosity and a lack of trust instead of an actual debate over values or policy. Julia Minson, a professor who studies conflict and collaboration at Harvard University’s Harvard Kennedy School, said recognizing common values is a good start to bridging America's divides.
Too often, Minson said, "We ascribe negative things to people we disagree with. We see them as an adversary that doesn't want to be a partner. It's very much about emotions and trust and largely divorced from actual differences."
___
The nationwide survey of 1,003 adults was conducted May 11-15 using NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4.3 percentage points. | 2023-06-14T21:58:26+00:00 | fox6now.com | https://www.fox6now.com/news/democrats-republicans-share-core-values-still-distrust-poll-2023 |
(The Hill) – Verizon’s decision to drop One American News from its channel listings is raising questions about the future of conservative cable news networks that have sought to position themselves as competition to Fox News.
Before the 2020 presidential election, few news consumers had tuned into or even heard of the One America News (OAN) and Newsmax cable networks.
But the networks won outsized attention as both covered and supported former President Trump’s fight to contest his election loss.
OAN’s future is very much in question after Verizon last month became the latest major cable provider to cut it from its lineup.
In January, DirecTV announced it would not renew its contract with the San Diego-based channel following an aggressive pressure campaign from critics who argued the content on OAN was harmful.
A recent New York Times analysis estimated the two decisions could cost OAN a presence in some 20 million homes, and it is unclear how the channel will stay operational at the scale it had been during the period immediately following the 2020 election.
The network declined to comment on Monday.
Verizon has not said why the decision to drop OAN was made, but observers point to the network’s low ratings compared to the other major cable talk and news channels.
“There genuinely wasn’t a business case for these providers not just to be keeping One America News, but paying the carriers that they were,” said Angelo Carusone, president of the left-leaning media watchdog Media Matters for America, which participated in a pressure campaign to get OAN taken off the air. “Unless they get a cash infusion from a third party to operate, they can’t.”
Newsmax’s future seems quite a bit brighter, in comparison.
Just days after it announced it would drop OAN, Verizon renewed its deal with Newsmax. In an interview, network CEO Chris Ruddy told The Hill that “Verizon never made any issue of our politics whatsoever and never has.”
“What we’ve proven is that we’re here to stay,” Ruddy said of his network, which has recently hired Eric Bolling and Greta Van Susteren, former personalities on Fox News, to host shows in prime time. “A lot of people thought that our rise after the 2020 election was temporary.”
Newsmax and OAN’s ratings are dwarfed by those of the three leading cable news channels, CNN, MSNBC and Fox News.
Both channels have also seen their ratings drop in recent months, though the same is true for larger channels.
Nielsen data showed a 38 percent drop in weekday prime-time viewership for CNN in 2021, a 34 percent drop for Fox News Channel and 25 percent drop for MSNBC as viewers watched cable less with President Biden in the Oval Office instead of Trump.
Fox News’s prime-time opinion hosts dominate the conservative commentary world on television, averaging 2.4 million viewers nightly so far this year, beating Newsmax by more than 1,000 percent. Newsmax has only delivered 1 million viewers 17 times in its history, Nielsen ratings data shows.
In the conservative media space, experts say the emergence of OAN and Newsmax is evidence of an increasingly fractured political discourse on the right and the public’s widely-documented dissatisfaction with traditional media.
“We are at a point where we have never been before in terms of the number of choices consumers have to get their news,” said Rob Bluey, who oversees the conservative Heritage Foundation’s communications strategy and runs its media apparatus known online as The Daily Signal. “When it comes to digital media there’s any number of options. When it comes to broadcasting, obviously it’s a little more challenging.”
While Fox News has been covering Trump less than while he was president, the other smaller conservative cable outlets with Trump-hungry audiences have not backed off.
“If the current offerings don’t sit well with their politics, I would expect audiences to look for other, better-aligned sources,” said Natalie Stroud, the director of the University of Texas’s Center for Media Engagement. “As the 2024 election heats up, I suspect that we’ll see renewed interest in ideologically aligned sources.”
Part of what OAN needs to survive, others say, is promotion from Trump himself.
When Trump was president, he and his press secretaries would call on the outlet for questions at press conferences.
“I just wouldn’t put too much stock in the fate of OAN as meaning much one way or the other,” said Rich Lowry, the top editor at the conservative National Review. “I don’t think it ever really had much of an audience or much purchase, except for Trump occasionally trying to pump it up. I do think there are a lot of outlets that got a sugar high from the post-election environment … and such a premium for that kind of content among part of the Republican base. And I think that has faded out so maybe that’s part of what’s going on with OAN.” | 2022-08-02T16:08:13+00:00 | keloland.com | https://www.keloland.com/news/national-world-news/oans-troubles-spark-questions-for-conservative-cable-news/ |
Digital Trends, ZDNET, Rolling Stone, and Popular Mechanics reviewers laud Jackery's 2023 offerings
FREMONT, Calif., Feb. 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Jackery ("the company") proudly walked away from CES 2023 with awards and further recognition thanks to their inclusion in online "Best of CES" lists and reviews. Popular, tech-focused reviewers and thought leaders such as Digital Trends, ZDNET, Rolling Stone, and Popular Mechanics visited the Jackery booth at CES 2023 and got first-hand demonstrations of the company's latest products. Tech gurus left the booth impressed with the company's trendsetting in solar energy and energy efficiency and included them in their reviews and recommendations following the show.
Digital Trends excited about many of Jackery's offerings
Harkening the future of camping, the LightTent-AIR garnered the Best of Innovation Award at this year's CES and attention from Digital Trends. The reviewers were wowed by this one-of-a-kind portable tent fitted with flexible GaAs solar panels on its adjustable canopy to offer 24/7 green energy and how the tent allows campers to charge their gear overnight, making it easy to get up and go on the next adventure. Its sturdy design is provided by a self-supporting inflatable structure, and the waterproof and flame-retardant PVC-coated fabric ensures safety while staying in the great outdoors.
Likewise, reviewers at Digital Trends delighted in the Air-W's portability and versatility for almost any terrain or outdoor location and the capability to charge the LightCycle-S1 while driving. A marriage of green energy and mobility, the LightCycle-S1 can be towed by most vehicles so that it converts kinetic energy into electricity to charge its built-in battery pack. After 200 km, travelers have a fully charged battery that fascinated writers.
ZDNET recommends Solar Generator 1000
Impressed with the Solar Generator 1000's safety and reliability, ZDNET recently named it the best power generator overall in their roundup of similar products. With a 1002Wh output, the generator's capability of powering multiple electronic devices, such as a mini fridge or space heater, charmed reviewers. They commented on its many outlet options and different ports for charging phones and other appliances.
Rolling Stone dubs the Solar Generator 3000 Pro one of the Best of CES 2023
Green energy solutions are what consumers are looking for these days, and Rolling Stone was taken with the Solar Generator 3000 Pro's ability to help outdoorspeople enjoy nature while at the same time protecting it. Their Best of CES 2023 list pointed out the light, portable quality of the generator as well as its powerful input and its re-charge speed. They recommended the generator for anyone about to go on a trip who needs a large amount of power.
Popular Mechanics names Explorer 3000 Pro the Best Portable Generator
Adding to the media love for Jackery following their CES attendance was Popular Mechanics, which focused on the Explorer 3000 Pro's 3024 wh capacity. The well-established tech media included the generator on their Best of CES 2023 list and called it the best portable generator currently on the market.
Other media accolades
Other tech media outlets such as Brainnerd Dispatch and Android Authority sang Jackery's praises for their cutting-edge solar energy products. With all this coverage, 2023 is shaping up to be a year to watch out for Jackery.
For more information, please visit: https://www.jackery.com
About Jackery
Jackery, the world's leading innovative portable power and green outdoor energy solution provider founded in California in 2012, is a global top-selling solar generator brand born with a vision to offer green energy to everyone, everywhere.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Jackery Inc. | 2023-02-28T15:47:55+00:00 | mysuncoast.com | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/02/28/jackery-named-best-ces-2023-lists-by-tech-focused-media-following-trade-show-attendance/ |
Powerful solution to deliver complete investment management and policy administration service
WINDSOR, Conn., Oct. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSNC) today announced that Sanlam Life Insurance Limited, a member of the Sanlam Limited Insurance Group, the largest non-banking financial services group in Africa, and one of the largest life assurers in South Africa, has chosen SS&C for its best-of-breed technology and proven business process outsourcing capabilities as a single solution to provide end-to-end capabilities to administer a broad range of multi-asset, multi-region product types for their individual retail investors.
Glacier Financial Solutions Pty Ltd, an investment platform and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sanlam Limited (JSE: SLM) with more than R400 billion in assets under administration, will be the first business within the Sanlam Group to partner with SS&C. Glacier fully supports the selection of SS&C for its integrated investment management and policy administration capabilities in order to transform the firm's operations to run the full breadth and scope of their client accounts on a single platform.
"SS&C is renowned for its global expertise and stood out as the best choice to partner with us to support our local investment, international investment and life investment solutions requiring investment and policy administration. SS&C has the various components, breadth of solutions, scale and configurability required to deliver world-class administration solutions required to meet the diverse needs of our intermediaries and clients. We are very excited about the partnership and believe it will transform and significantly enhance our business offering, ultimately leading to better outcomes for our clients. We also take our relationships with AlexForbes and Absa Investment Management Services ("AIMS") very seriously. They have chosen us as their partners in the platform industry because we are one of the best, and this investment by Sanlam will ensure that we remain one of the premium investment platform providers in South Africa", says Khanyi Nzukuma, CEO, Glacier by Sanlam.
The expanded, comprehensive system capabilities will support the Sanlam Group's efficiency, product development and corporate growth goals, while enabling their clients to benefit from consolidated views and streamlined management across markets and products, including insurance policies, retirement funds and annuities, funds and unit trusts, and more.
"We are pleased to collaborate with the Sanlam Group on its digital transformation journey through our leading-edge technology and robust managed services," said Bill Stone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, SS&C Technologies. "Executives at both firms worked hard to develop a comprehensive solution to solve Glacier's challenges and conduct the necessary due diligence that ultimately sealed the decision to work together to deliver a great experience for all Glacier's platform users and clients."
About the Sanlam Group
Sanlam Limited is the controlling company of the largest non-banking financial services group in Africa, with business interests in India, Malaysia and a niche presence in certain developed markets. Sanlam Limited is listed on the Johannesburg, Namibian and A2X stock exchanges. Through its clusters: Life and Savings encompassing Retail Mass, Retail Affluent and Corporate business units; Sanlam Emerging Markets; Sanlam Investment Group; and Santam, the Sanlam Group provides comprehensive and bespoke financial solutions to institutional clients and consumers across all market segments. Sanlam's areas of expertise include life and general insurance, financial planning, retirement, investments, and wealth management.
Established in 1918 as a life insurance company, Sanlam has evolved into the largest non-banking financial services group in Africa through its diversification strategy.
Headquartered in South Africa, Sanlam has a direct stake in financial services entities in Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Mauritius, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, and Nigeria. The Group has a footprint of insurance operations in Morocco, Angola, Algeria, Tunisia, Ghana, Niger, Mali, Senegal, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Cote D'Ivoire, Togo, Benin, Cameroon, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, Burundi, and Lesotho.
Sanlam also has business interests in India, Malaysia and the United Kingdom and a niche presence in selected developed markets.
For more information on Sanlam, visit www.sanlam.com
About Glacier by Sanlam
Glacier by Sanlam is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sanlam, a leading investment platform in South Africa, providing a gateway to industry-wide asset manager solutions, and is a significant contributor to the Sanlam Group's success, administering over R400 billion in assets. Glacier offers access to a wide and holistic investment solution set, comprising both local and international investments, and for over 25 years Glacier has been passionate about growing and protecting clients' wealth.
For more information on Glacier, visit www.glacier.co.za
About SS&C Technologies
SS&C is a global provider of services and software for the financial services and healthcare industries. Founded in 1986, SS&C is headquartered in Windsor, Connecticut, and has offices around the world. Some 20,000 financial services and healthcare organizations, from the world's largest companies to small and mid-market firms, rely on SS&C for expertise, scale and technology.
SOURCE: SS&C
Additional information about SS&C (Nasdaq: SSNC) is available at www.ssctech.com.
Follow SS&C on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE SS&C | 2022-10-11T10:40:22+00:00 | kxii.com | https://www.kxii.com/prnewswire/2022/10/11/sanlam-selects-ssampc-consolidate-investment-administration/ |
NEW YORK, Feb. 3, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sycamore Partners, a private equity firm specializing in retail, consumer, and distribution-related investments, today announced that it has completed its acquisition of Lowe's Canadian retail business, which will now operate under the name RONA inc. With headquarters in Boucherville, Québec, RONA operates or services approximately 450 corporate and independent affiliate dealer stores under several banners, including RONA, Lowe's, Réno-Dépôt and Dick's Lumber.
"We are excited to announce that RONA is once again an independent company headquartered in Boucherville, Quebec," said Stefan Kaluzny, Managing Director of Sycamore Partners. "We are honored that Lowe's has entrusted Sycamore Partners to lead RONA into its next chapter and build upon RONA's 84-year history serving communities across Canada. We look forward to working with RONA's 26,000 associates and over 200 dealer partners to meet the home improvement needs of Canadian families, builders, and contractors."
"Today's announcement represents the beginning of a new chapter in RONA's long and rich history," said Tony Cioffi, President of RONA inc. "With Sycamore's support and expertise, we will continue to provide outstanding service and products for our customers' home improvement and construction projects."
About RONA inc.
RONA inc. is one of Canada's leading home improvement retailers and is headquartered in Boucherville, Québec. The RONA inc. network operates or services some 450 corporate and affiliated dealer stores under the RONA, Lowe's, Réno-Dépôt, and Dick's Lumber banners. With a long and rich history, RONA inc. has supported Canadians in their home improvement and construction projects since 1939. To achieve this, the company relies on a team of 26,000 employees, to whom it strives to provide an inclusive workplace where everyone is invited to contribute. RONA inc. is one of the Montréal region's Top Employers since 2021. As a result of its ongoing efforts in sustainable development, the company was awarded the Stratégie de développement durable Mercure in 2022 and is recognized as one of Canada's Greenest Employers. To learn more about the company, visit the website www.ronainc.ca.
About Sycamore Partners
Sycamore Partners is a private equity firm based in New York. The firm specializes in retail, consumer, and distribution-related investments and partners with management teams to improve the operating profitability and strategic value of their business. With approximately $10 billion in aggregate committed capital raised since its inception in 2011, Sycamore Partners' investors include leading endowments, financial institutions, family offices, pension plans and sovereign wealth funds. For more information on Sycamore Partners, visit www.sycamorepartners.com.
Contacts
Sycamore Partners
Michael Freitag or Arielle Rothstein
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
212-355-4449
media@sycamorepartners.com
View original content:
SOURCE Sycamore Partners | 2023-02-03T22:25:34+00:00 | wlox.com | https://www.wlox.com/prnewswire/2023/02/03/sycamore-partners-completes-acquisition-lowes-canadian-retail-business/ |
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ The winning numbers in Thursday morning's drawing of the Texas Lottery's "All or Nothing Morning" game were:
01-02-06-08-09-10-13-14-15-16-17-21
(one, two, six, eight, nine, ten, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, twenty-one) | 2023-01-12T17:17:05+00:00 | expressnews.com | https://www.expressnews.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-All-or-Nothing-Morning-17713373.php |
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The burly, bearded men belting out holiday classics have made the night before Christmas more than just a time this year to watch the Philadelphia Eagles try and slay the competition.
Lane Johnson, Jason Kelce and Jordan Mailata -- with a little assist from some melodic teammates -- have made a season already pretty jolly in Philly a bit more sweet-sounding with the release of their Christmas album, “A Philly Special Christmas.”
Yes, the album title is an ode to Old Saint Nick, in this case former QB Nick Foles and the trick play that helped the Eagles win their only Super Bowl in the 2017 season.
The trio of Eagles offensive lineman can sing about as well as they can pass protect -- Johnson might not even let Santa Claus down the chimney as he holds the record for most consecutive games without allowing a sack -- and an All-Star cast of musicians was assembled to record the album.
Leading the charge was Charlie Hall, drummer for the Grammy-winning band War on Drugs.
“If we’re going to do this, let’s make it meaningful. Let’s make it awesome,” Hall said. “It’s not a goof.”
While the tone is light, this is no novelty record.
“Oh, football players making a record, it’s like ‘Super Bowl Shuffle,’” Hall said with a laugh. “But no, this was born out of sincerity and a deep love and appreciation of music.”
The cover art features Johnson, Kelce and Mailata sketched in an homage to the Peanuts characters on the “A Charlie Brown Christmas” album and the songs are standards found on Christmas playlists.
“I did not think it was going to get to this level of quality,” Kelce said.
The guys in green sing “White Christmas,” “ Blue Christmas,” “Silent Night” and Eagles radio announcer Merrill Reese narrates “The Night Before Christmas.”
On the field, the Eagles play the Dallas Cowboys Dec. 24.
There’s a philanthropical slant to the album as well, with proceeds going to the Children’s Crisis Treatment Center in Philadelphia. More than $100,000 has already been raised.
Good luck buying the album, though.
Well, at least a vinyl copy, as previous pressings have quickly sold out. The last batch sold out in 120 seconds -- some albums are going for $4,000 on eBay -- and there’s one final order available on Friday. “A Philly Special Christmas” is of course available on streaming services and one song a week has been dropped each Friday leading to the full record’s release on Dec. 23.
The idea for an album was kicked around last year by Kelce and friends around last Christmas and former Eagle Connor Barwin used his music connections - War on Drugs have headlined the former defensive end’s charity show - to get the ball rolling. The album was recorded over several days at various Philadelphia-area studios this past summer.
“It’s 98 degrees and we’re recording a Christmas album,” Kelce said, wearing a Christmas sweater, Eagles Santa hat and holding a beer, in a making-of video.
Barwin served as an executive producer. The seven-song LP from Vera Y Records also features musicians from The Hooters, Dr. Dog and 98-year-old saxophone player Marshall Allen of Sun Ra Arkestra.
The recording team brought in a vocal coach to assist the Eagles as they made the transition from the huddle to the studio.
“That was the lesson in all this, just being game for something,” Hall said. “They’re like, ‘yeah, show me what to do. Show me how to be better and I’ll do it.’ Just totally coachable.”
Kelce, who dressed as a Mummer during the Super Bowl parade and s ang the national anthem at a 76ers game last season, channeled his inner Bruce Springsteen for the classic “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.”
Kelce bursts into laughter when the 25-year-old Mailata hits all the high notes of falsetto on the the “ I-I-I am dreaming of a white Christmas ” doo-wop part popularized by The Drifters.
“What Jordan did, you could call singing,” Kelce said. “What Lane did, you could call singing. I don’t know if you could call what I did singing. I’m very much just a yeller in certain tones.”
Mailata has the best pipes of the bunch and even competed on the Fox reality show “ The Masked Singer. ”
“Jordan could straight up quit football and be a singer if he wanted to,” Hall said. “But they’re all great. Their voices are like a reflection of their personalities. Lane has this incredibly soulful voice. If they were to get out of this line of business, Jordan would have no trouble finding a gig singing.”
Hall already felt the holiday spirit with the War on Drugs set to play three-sold out “ Drugcember To Remember” charity shows next week at the Philly rock venue Johnny Brenda's. The money raised goes toward The Fund for the School District of Philadelphia, a nonprofit that raises and coordinates investments into the Philadelphia public schools.
War on Drugs had just won a Grammy and were on tour in Australia in February 2018 when the Eagles beat the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl.
“It was like 10 in the morning and we all crammed into a hotel room and were screaming and throwing chairs out of excitement,” Hall said.
Now they're building Christmas traditions together.
“It's sort of a beautiful reminder that we're all just connected through life and music and friendship," Hall said.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL | 2022-12-15T20:41:06+00:00 | sfgate.com | https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Eagles-belt-holiday-hits-on-Philly-Special-17655978.php |
Program Recognizes Growth, Leadership, Achievement, and Community Service
ROCHESTER, N.Y., July 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Foundry Digital LLC ("Foundry"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Digital Currency Group ("DCG") focused on empowering a decentralized infrastructure with better capital access, efficiency, and transparency in digital asset mining and staking operations, announced that the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce and its Small Business Council affiliate selected CEO Mike Colyer as a Business Person of the Year Award finalist. The program recognizes outstanding contributions in the areas of growth, leadership, achievement, and community service.
Under Mike Colyer's leadership, Foundry has quickly become the largest digital currency company based in Western New York, providing clients across North America with various mining and staking products and services designed to support a decentralized future. Headquartered in Rochester with an upcoming office opening in Buffalo, its team has grown to more than 170 employees since its founding in 2019.
Before entering the crypto industry, Mike Colyer was an operational and commercial executive for manufacturing and distribution firms for more than two decades. In 2007, Colyer and his wife, Lisa, co-founded the Clairebear Foundation, a non-profit that supports families with sick children.
Colyer said, "I am grateful for this recognition from the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce and the Small Business Council. The true credit goes to the Foundry team for the work it has done in a short time to make a huge impact in the digital asset industry as well as in our community. I also congratulate my fellow finalists for the excellent work you and your companies do across the Rochester and Finger Lakes region."
Small Business Council President Sarah Compter said, "In a city long recognized for a handful of big corporations, it is really the small and midsize businesses that fuel Rochester's economy today. This summer, for the 39th year, the Small Business Council honors executives who lead with passion, grit, and perseverance."
Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Bob Duffy said, "Small and midsize companies make up the majority of businesses in our region, and leadership matters at organizations of all sizes. We congratulate this year's Business Person of the Year Award finalists and honor these people who are doing an exceptional job leading these successful businesses and driving our regional economy."
A subsidiary of DCG, Foundry Digital LLC was created to meet the institutional demand for better capital access, efficiency, and transparency in the digital asset mining and staking industry. Headquartered in Rochester, NY, Foundry leverages its institutional expertise, capital, and market intelligence to empower participants within the crypto ecosystem by providing the tools they need to build tomorrow's decentralized infrastructure. For more information, please visit foundrydigital.com.
Founded in 2015, Digital Currency Group is a global enterprise that builds, buys, and invests in blockchain companies all over the world. Today, DCG sits at the epicenter of the industry, backing more than 200 companies in 30+ countries. In addition to its investment portfolio, DCG is the parent company of some of the leading companies in the industry, including Grayscale Investments, Genesis Trading, CoinDesk, Foundry Digital, Luno, and TradeBlock.
View original content:
SOURCE Foundry | 2022-07-15T13:23:33+00:00 | kmvt.com | https://www.kmvt.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/foundry-ceo-mike-colyer-named-2022-business-person-year-award-finalist/ |
PARIS (AP) — A French citizen working in wildlife conservation has been released after being abducted two days earlier in northeastern Chad, France announced Sunday.
“France thanks Chadian authorities who worked towards the release,” the Foreign Ministry said, adding that French diplomats remain “mobilized” to help Jerome Hugonnot and his family.
Hugonnot was working for the Sahara Conservation Fund in Chad’s Wadi Fara province that borders Sudan at the time of his abduction Friday by unknown kidnappers, according to the Chadian government spokesman Aziz Mahamat Saleh. A number of armed groups operate along the Chad-Sudan border.
The Sahara Conservation Fund and its partners have spent years in Chad working to reintroduce a species of desert antelope known as the scimitar-horned oryx. | 2022-10-31T14:32:24+00:00 | cenlanow.com | https://www.cenlanow.com/international/ap-international/ap-kidnapped-french-conservationist-released-in-eastern-chad/ |
Sunset Loop Bar & Grill, a New Concept Celebrating Denver's Culinary Scene, to Open alongside Starbucks in DEN's Concourse B-East
NEW YORK, April 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- OTG, the hospitality group responsible for transforming the airport dining experience across the country, today announces the 2024 opening of two food and beverage concepts within Denver International Airport's United Airlines Concourse B-East. This initial entry into the Denver market will include the introduction of Sunset Loop Bar & Grill, a new concept curated specifically for Denver International Airport that celebrates the Mile High City's local food culture, as well as Starbucks, the beloved national coffee chain. OTG will also integrate its mobile-first technology, flo™ Xgen, within the Concourse B-East experience, which will aim to streamline travel for customers while easing operations on in-terminal restaurants.
"OTG is passionate about introducing new culinary concepts that echo the airport's sense-of-place and serve as a true extension of the community's food scene," said Rick Blatstein, CEO of OTG, "We are excited to partner with local community organizations and celebrate the chefs, farmers, brewers and purveyors that have turned Denver into the mecca of culinary innovation that it is today. Coupled with OTG's technology innovations, we're confident that Concourse B-East will be both a seamless and enjoyable experience for travelers and employees alike and assist Denver International Airport with its goal of serving 100 million annual passengers."
The one-of-a-kind Sunset Loop Bar & Grill will be an all-day dining experience offering elevated, health-conscious cuisine and traditional American fare, with a locally sourced menu overseen by Denver-based Chef Daniel Young ("Chef D"). Chef D has spent the past 40 years as a leading figure in the Denver food scene and is an expert in creating healthful meals that are high in protein and low in carbs and fat. His proficiency in nutrition led him to his current role of over 15 years as the personal chef of the Denver Nuggets. He is also renowned in the community for his philanthropic efforts.
"Food is my life's passion, and I'm fortunate to have built a vibrant culinary career right here in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, where we enjoy a wealth of healthy and sustainable ingredients," said Chef Daniel Young. "Whether you're departing from or passing through Denver, Sunset Loop Bar & Grill will be the perfect stop along your journey to experience a delicious selection of dishes and cocktails that truly reflect this region and all the natural resources it has to offer."
Chef D's dishes will be served in an open space inspired by the Denver sunset; warm woods, rich materials and elegant brass and black metal accents are set against a hand-painted tile mural depicting the Sunset Loop trails, the restaurant's namesake series of hiking routes found in White Ranch Park in Golden, CO. The centerpiece of the restaurant will be an expansive bar with over 30 seats. There, travelers will be able to relax and indulge in signature cocktails inspired by the city, as well as a rotating menu of beers from Denver's famous craft beer scene, including Colorado Cider Company, New Belgium Brewing Company and Lone Tree Brewing.
In addition to extensive bar seating and comfortable dining tables, Sunset Loop Bar & Grill will offer a sprawling, 67-foot-long market with locally sourced products and prepared foods for travelers in a hurry, as well as an adjacent communal seating area, where guests will be able to order dishes from the restaurant's menus while waiting at nearby gates. Anchoring the corner of Sunset Loop Bar & Grill will be a signature Starbucks with a sculptural build inspired by the natural rock formations found across the Colorado mountains. This singularly designed location will be fully outfitted with mobile ordering capabilities, ultimately allowing travelers to place their coffee orders in advance and cut down on time spent waiting in line. Customers can also rest assured that their coffee is a product of responsible farming and purchasing practices and a company committed to reducing its environmental footprint.
"We are excited to partner with OTG as they bring a fun, new concept to our airport," said DEN Senior Vice President of Concessions Pam Dechant. "We're always looking for ways to make traveling through DEN a breeze, and the ability to bring mobile ordering to our passengers takes service to the next level."
OTG's new hospitality concepts within Concourse B-East will be powered by its industry-leading flo™ Xgen technology, which enables customers to place their food and beverage orders through a mobile platform across all OTG restaurants and retail markets. From wherever the order is placed, the platform's contactless payment will allow users to complete their transaction with either a credit card, Google Pay, Apple Pay, Venmo, PayPal or their United airline miles, all with one click. OTG is thrilled to introduce this best-in-class technology at DEN with the goal of providing a safe, convenient and unparalleled customer experience, along with streamlined restaurant operations that allow for greater focus on the delivery of quality dishes and exceptional service.
About OTG
OTG develops and operates restaurants, retail markets and food halls in airports throughout North America. With more than 350 locations across 22 terminals in 10 of the world's busiest travel hubs, OTG continues to elevate the passenger-terminal relationship by merging state-of-the-art technology with farm-to-terminal dining, award-winning cuisine, carefully curated food and retail options, world-class hospitality, and a striking redesign of the terminal space. Founded in Philadelphia in 1996, OTG serves hundreds of millions of passengers annually. For more information, visit www.otgexp.com.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE OTG Management | 2023-04-26T18:19:57+00:00 | ksla.com | https://www.ksla.com/prnewswire/2023/04/26/otg-announces-expansion-into-denver-international-airport-with-new-farm-to-terminal-dining-concept-tech-enhanced-hospitality/ |
In January, a Marine gave an FBI agent in Pennsylvania eight small objects he'd brought home from Iraq. They were 5,000-year-old stone seals that had been looted from a site near Babylon. The FBI says it's the first recovery by its agents in the United States of looted cultural property from Iraq. Joel Rose of member station WHYY reports.
Copyright 2005 NPR | 2022-06-01T15:46:29+00:00 | knkx.org | https://www.knkx.org/2005-02-16/fbi-takes-possession-of-looted-iraqi-artifacts |
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate
WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored his 801st and 802nd goals to pass Gordie Howe for second on the NHL career list, and the Washington Capitals beat the Winnipeg Jets 4-1 Friday night to extend their winning streak to four.
Ovechkin scored into an empty net with a minute left in the third period to set off a wild celebration by teammates and a standing ovation from the crowd, which chanted “Ovi! Ovi!” Washington's longtime captain scored in the first period to match Howe's mark.
He's now 92 back of tying Wayne Gretzky's record.
“It’s nice to get it done at home, in front of our house, family, our friends — obviously fans,” Ovechkin said. “It’s a big thing.”
With Ovechkin now in sole possession of second place, the Capitals go into the break in a playoff spot and rolling but also hurting after losing another key player to injury.
Top defenseman John Carlson took a puck to the right side of his face on a shot from former teammate Brenden Dillon during the second period and skated off quickly, leaving a pool of blood on the ice. He did not return, and coach Peter Laviolette said Carlson was taken to a hospital for precautionary evaluation.
“Seeing Johnny go down in the third, early there, I think that was really tough for us all to see just because he’s certainly one of our leaders and someone we all look up to,” goaltender Charlie Lindgren said. “It’s never fun to see a guy go down like that. It was not good to see.”
Washington recently lost energetic forward T.J. Oshie to an upper-body injury and has been without center Nicklas Backstrom and winger Tom Wilson all season.
But Ovechkin and Co. have found a groove, winning nine of their last 10 games. This victory also included goals by Sonny Milano and Nic Dowd and 25 saves from Lindgren.
Ovechkin had an assist on Milano's fifth goal of the season. It's his 409th career multipoint game, passing Paul Coffey for 12th-most in NHL history.
Jets players all shook Ovechkin's hand after the final horn to congratulate him. Coach Rick Bowness was in attendance for another memorable moment nearly 17 years after being behind the Phoenix Coyotes bench when Ovechkin scored arguably his best goal after falling on his back.
“You know he’s going to score goals,” Bowness said. "Shows you his perseverance, his character, his work ethic. Good for him. Really, congratulations. He deserves that.”
Winnipeg's David Rittich became the 166th goaltender Ovechkin has scored on, and he finished with 23 saves in a game heavily tilted toward his end of the ice. Kevin Stenlund scored midway through the third period, and the Jets lost their second in a row.
Losing three of four did not stop the Jets from wanting to pay tribute to Ovechkin.
“He’s done so much for this league,” forward Adam Lowry said. "He’s a great personality and it’s just a sign of respect to really let him know we appreciate all he’s done for the league, all he’s done for us as players. The milestone, it’s an incredible accomplishment.”
NOTES: Capitals defenseman Erik Gustafsson extended his point streak to four games. ... The Jets scratched forward Cole Perfetti with an undisclosed injury. Michael Eyssimont took his place in the lineup.
UP NEXT
Jets: Host Minnesota on Tuesday in each team's first game after the Christmas break.
Capitals: Visit the New York Rangers on Tuesday.
___
Follow AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SWhyno
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | 2022-12-24T04:41:15+00:00 | sfgate.com | https://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Ovechkin-moves-into-2nd-on-NHL-goals-list-Caps-17675312.php |
One lucky lottery player is now a multimillionaire after claiming their massive $4 million prize Friday from a ticket they bought for only $10 in Massachusetts.
The $4 million prize was won from an “EMERALDS 50X” scratch ticket bought at the convenience store Richdale on Railroad Street in Andover, according to the Massachusetts State Lottery’s website. The award amounts to $2.6 million before taxes.
The odds of winning $4 million, the highest prize that can be won in “EMERALDS 50X,” are one in 5.376 million. The odds of winning $1 million, the second-highest prize that can be won in the lottery game, are one in 2.304 million.
To play “EMERALDS 50X,” a player can buy a scratch ticket for $10 and match any of the numbers on their ticket to any of the winning numbers to win the prize shown. Getting certain symbols, such as the “necklace,” “ring,” or “star,” can allow players to earn prizes automatically or multiply their prize amounts.
The person who took home the $4 million prize was not the only lucky lottery player in Massachusetts on Friday. Someone else claimed $100,000 from a “MILLIONS” scratch ticket bought at Quickeez Beer, Wine, and Convenience Store in Carver.
Earlier this week, on Thursday, there were three $100,000 “Mass Cash” winners in three different towns in Massachusetts. On Wednesday, 11 Powerball players in the commonwealth won at least $50,000, including three that won $1 million. On Tuesday, one lucky player in the state claimed their $5 million prize, and on Monday, a $100,000 prize was won off a ticket sold in North Billerica and a $200,000 prize was won off a ticket sold in Beverly.
Every day, the State Lottery releases a list of all the winning tickets sold in Massachusetts worth more than $600. Overall, there were 630 winning lottery tickets worth at least $600 sold in the state Friday, including 12 in Springfield, 32 in Worcester and 39 in Boston.
The two largest lottery prizes won in Massachusetts in 2023 so far were the $33 million and $31 million “Mega Millions” jackpots that were each sold a week apart in January.
The $33 million ticket for the Tuesday, Jan. 24 drawing was bought at a Stop & Shop in Belchertown. The winner of the monumental award claimed their prize on March 1 through the Skylark Group Trust.
The $31 million jackpot was won on Tuesday, Jan. 31. The winning ticket was bought at a Gibbs gas station in Woburn. The winner did not claim their significant prize until March 8 through S & L Trust. | 2023-07-22T15:08:36+00:00 | masslive.com | https://www.masslive.com/news/2023/07/massachusetts-state-lottery-winner-4-million-prize-won-from-10-ticket.html |
Expanded suite of services and expert team focused on transforming the business of healthcare
WASHINGTON, Dec. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Dentons Global Advisors, an elite multidisciplinary advisory firm, today announced an expanded suite of services and products focused on developing the capacity of healthcare delivery organizations, enhancing their standards of care and improving patient outcomes. The leadership team comprises prominent figures from the medical field with expertise in the science, medicine, infrastructure, technology, personnel and financing needs of healthcare ecosystems. Mehul Mehta, MD has been appointed Principal and Chair of the Health Solutions practice. Additionally, Mohan Chellappa, MD, Riaz Adamjee and Bruce Solomon have joined as Partners.
"We are assembling the best talent in the field to move at speed and at scale in this critical area," said Edward Reilly, Chief Executive Officer at Dentons Global Advisors. "By combining Dentons Global Advisors' global footprint and cross-functional capabilities with the subject matter expertise of this all-star team, we are uniquely positioned to assist healthcare systems, governments, the public interest community and private capital in improving healthcare outcomes."
This expanded offering builds on the extensive healthcare, pharmaceutical and life sciences industry expertise already found throughout Dentons Global Advisors, and includes spearheading innovations in integrated care networks, advancing digital health, developing workforce deployment models, improving medical education, advising around public health collaboration, enhancing medical research capacity, as well as providing government affairs and market intelligence support. Avoiding single-institution constraints, the offering utilizes an open platform model, bringing together bespoke solutions based on client need in partnership with leading clinical and academic entities.
The Health Solutions practice is led by highly credentialed experts, who have decades of experience in running complex health systems and managing transformative, sustainable and high-value global projects around the world. The senior team includes:
Mehul Mehta, MD leads the firm's Health Solutions practice. He brings decades of experience reforming healthcare delivery systems worldwide, with an emphasis on building capacity, creating and implementing sustainable healthcare models, and building research systems. Prior to joining the firm, he held leadership positions at Harvard Medical International and Partners Healthcare International, where he oversaw global strategy, program development and operations implementation in more than 30 countries.
Mohan Chellappa, MD helped found Johns Hopkins Medicine International (JHMI) in 1997 and played an instrumental role in establishing and growing Johns Hopkins Medicine's global initiatives and engagements since. Formerly as President of Global Ventures and Executive Vice President at JHMI, he helped develop international clinical consultancy activities, including around the use of information technology in healthcare. He also led the establishment of Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare, an innovative joint venture between Johns Hopkins Medicine and Saudi Aramco. Earlier in his career, Dr. Chellappa helped set up business ventures based on technology developed with the Institute of Systems Science in Singapore.
Riaz Adamjee was previously Director at Harvard Medical International, where he advised major medical institutions around the world on strategy, operations, expansion, technology, implementation and business development, all with a focus on improving healthcare outcomes. Among other projects, he oversaw all operations for the collaboration between Dubai Healthcare City and Harvard Medical International. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Adamjee was a Senior Client Partner with Revenue Architects. Earlier, he worked at the internet consulting firm Viant, Inc., the management consulting firm CSC Index, and Boston Children's Hospital.
Bruce Solomon has served in senior leadership positions at WellSpan Health, Stony Brook University Hospital, Cambridge Health Alliance, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and other renowned institutions. In these roles, he led efforts to promote coordinated care, improve operational performance and facilitate strategic affiliations. Earlier, Mr. Solomon worked at Harvard Medical International, where he led efforts establishing the cornerstone hospital of Dubai Healthcare City. His international health work also includes helping develop and expand healthcare delivery systems in Australia, India and Turkey.
The team also boasts other leading experts in the field including Gilbert Mudge, MD and Gary Gottlieb, MD.
"Our team is driven by helping clients build and transform healthcare delivery for tomorrow's needs today, with practical and innovative solutions," said Michael Warren, Managing Director of Dentons Global Advisors ASG. "This is a momentous opportunity to deploy innovative capabilities, tools and solutions that can support healthcare providers at every step of their transformation journey, from conceptualization to implementation."
This is a significant expansion of services for Dentons Global Advisors, which provides integrated strategic counsel and support for clients facing complex opportunities and challenges spanning commercial, reputational, financial, regulatory and governance dimensions.
About Dentons Global Advisors
Dentons Global Advisors is an expert-led advisory firm that provides integrated solutions for clients in an increasingly complex, regulated and interconnected business environment. Comprising Albright Stonebridge Group and a deep bench of communications, public affairs, government relations and strategy consultants, we help clients engage with governments and regulatory bodies, navigate public disclosures and transactions within the private and capital markets, and manage their reputations through critical moments of change, challenge or opportunity. Our relationship with Dentons, the world's largest law firm, means clients can draw upon integrated legal expertise and strategic advisory services when and where they need them. To learn more, visit dentonsglobaladvisors.com.
Contact
Melissa Marlette Kresse
Melissa.Kresse@dentonsglobaladvisors.com
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Dentons Global Advisors | 2022-12-12T17:52:10+00:00 | wafb.com | https://www.wafb.com/prnewswire/2022/12/12/dentons-global-advisors-announces-expansion-health-offering/ |
UPDATE: A woman killed in a crash Wednesday night has been identified.
It happened around 8:30 p.m. at the intersection of Eastern Avenue and High Street.
Alecia M. Garcia, 24, of Davenport, was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene.
A passenger was found trapped in the truck and transported to a local hospital. His condition was not released.
EARLIER UPDATE
We are working to get more details for you this morning on a serious car crash in Davenport on Wednesday night.
It happened around 8:30 p.m. at the intersection of Eastern Avenue and High Street.
Our Local 4 News crew saw someone on the ground and another person being taken away by ambulance.
There was some debris scattered throughout the street. Some homes in the area have damage to their front yards.
We’ll be checking with davenport police today for any new information about this crash.
This is a developing story. Stay tuned to Local 4 News, Fox 18 News and OurQuadCities.com for updates. Got a news tip? Forward it to Local 4 on Twitter or Facebook or download our app on your iPhone or Android phone. | 2022-09-22T20:08:16+00:00 | ourquadcities.com | https://www.ourquadcities.com/news/local-news/davenport/woman-killed-in-crash-identified/ |
North Korea fires more missiles as US flies bombers over South Korea
North Korea added to its recent barrage of weapons demonstrations by launching four ballistic missiles into the sea on Saturday, as the United States sent two supersonic bombers streaking over South Korea in a dueling display of military might that underscored rising tensions in the region.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the four short-range missiles fired from a western coastal area around noon flew about 80 miles toward the country's western sea.
The North has test-fired more than 30 missiles this week, including an intercontinental ballistic missile on Thursday that triggered evacuation alerts in northern Japan, and flew large numbers of warplanes inside its territory in an angry reaction to a massive combined aerial exercise between the United States and South Korea.
The South Korean military said two B-1B bombers trained with four U.S. F-16 fighter jets and four South Korean F-35s jets during the last day of the "Vigilant Storm" joint air force drills that wraps up Saturday. It marked the first time since December 2017 that the bombers were deployed to the Korean Peninsula. The exercise involved around 240 warplanes, including advanced F-35 fighter jets from both countries.
North Korea's Foreign Ministry late Friday described the country's military actions this week as an appropriate response to the exercise, which it called a display of U.S. "military confrontation hysteria." It said North Korea will respond with the "toughest counteraction" to any attempts by "hostile forces" to infringe on its sovereignty or security interests.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the participation of the B-1Bs in the joint drills demonstrated the allies' readiness to "sternly respond" to North Korean provocations and the U.S. commitment to defend its ally with the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear.
B-1B flyovers had been a familiar show of force during past periods of tensions with North Korea. The planes last appeared in the region in 2017, during another provocative run in North Korean weapons demonstrations. But the flyovers had been halted in recent years as the United States and South Korea stopped their large-scale exercises to support the former Trump administration's diplomatic efforts with North Korea and because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The allies resumed their large-scale training this year after North Korea dialed up its weapons testing to a record pace, exploiting a divide in the U.N. Security Council over Russia's war on Ukraine as a window to accelerate arms development.
North Korea hates such displays of American military might at close range. The North has continued to describe the B-1B as a "nuclear strategic bomber" although the plane was switched to conventional weaponry in the mid-1990s.
Vigilant Storm had been initially scheduled to end Friday, but the allies decided to extend the training to Saturday in response to a series of North Korean ballistic launches on Thursday, including an ICBM that triggered evacuation alerts and halted trains in northern Japan.
Thursday's launches came after the North fired more than 20 missiles on Wednesday, the most in a single day. Those launches came after North Korean senior military official Pak Jong Chon issued a veiled threat of a nuclear conflict with the United States and South Korea over their joint drills, which the North says are rehearsals for a potential invasion.
South Korea also on Friday scrambled about 80 military aircraft after tracking about 180 flights by North Korean warplanes inside North Korean territory. The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North Korean warplanes were detected in various areas inland and along the country's eastern and western coasts, but did not come particularly close to the Koreas' border. The South Korean military spotted about 180 flight trails from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., but it wasn't immediately clear how many North Korean planes were involved and whether some may have flown more than once.
In Friday's statement attributed to an unidentified spokesperson, North Korea's Foreign Ministry said the United States and South Korea had created a seriously "unstable atmosphere" in the region with their military exercises. It accused the United States of mobilizing its allies in a campaign using sanctions and military threats to pressure North Korea to unilaterally disarm.
"The sustained provocation is bound to be followed by sustained counteraction," the statement said.
North Korea has launched dozens of ballistic missiles this year, including multiple ICBMs and an intermediate-range missile flown over Japan. South Korean officials say there are indications North Korea in coming weeks could detonate its first nuclear test device since 2017. Experts say North Korea is attempting to force the United States to accept it as a nuclear power and seeks to negotiate economic and security concessions from a position of strength. | 2022-11-05T11:21:26+00:00 | wmur.com | https://www.wmur.com/article/north-korea-fires-more-missiles-as-us-flies-bombers-over-south-korea/41874591 |
(The Hill) — The Biden administration on Wednesday announced additional measures it will implement to respond to the expected fallout when Title 42 lifts on Thursday with the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency.
Administration officials have been preparing for months for the end of Title 42, a Trump-era policy allowing immigration officials to more quickly expel asylum-seeking migrants attempting to cross the border.
With the rule expiring Thursday and a surge of migrants at the southern border expected to follow, administration officials detailed a series of steps that fall under three broad categories: Enforcement, deterrence and diplomacy.
The administration will surge resources to the border to improve processing efficiency, a senior administration official said. The new steps being taken include sending 24,000 law enforcement personnel and 1,100 new border patrol processing coordinators to the U.S.-Mexico border.
President Joe Biden last week announced he would send 1,500 military personnel to the southern border to assist in an administrative capacity.
In another effort to improve efficiency, the administration is opening up regional processing centers in locations through Central America where migrants can determine in their home country whether they are eligible for a legal pathway of entry into the United States.
The administration intends to launch an online platform in the coming days where individuals can make an appointment at one of those processing centers, a senior administration official said.
For enforcement purposes, the administration will rely on Title 8, which allows for the expedited deportation of migrants who are encountered between legal ports of entry.
The administration will also place “significant conditions on asylum eligibility” for those who do not use lawful established pathways, a senior administration official said.
Administration officials also stressed that efforts to address a potential spike in individuals seeking entry to the U.S. will be a collaborative effort with international partners.
Biden spoke Tuesday with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador about various topics, including migration. Officials also pointed to the establishment of the Los Angeles Declaration, a document signed last summer by the U.S. and more than 20 other partners to “work together to address the migration crisis in a comprehensive manner.”
Biden was asked Tuesday by reporters about the impending end of Title 42 and said “it remains to be seen” how things will play out.
“We are doing all we can,” Biden said. “It’s going to be chaotic for a while.” | 2023-05-10T13:28:12+00:00 | fox59.com | https://fox59.com/news/national-world/biden-administration-outlines-added-measures-to-deal-with-expected-title-42-fallout/ |
(NewsNation) — ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith joined NewsNation’s “CUOMO” on Tuesday to discuss the sports world’s hottest topics: New York Yankees’ slugger Aaron Judge’s record-breaking 62nd home run, Tua Tagovailoa’s controversial head injury and a report of systemic abuse in women’s sports.
Smith said Judge’s American League record 62nd home run should come with no asterisk and said the Dolphins’ handling of Tua Tagovailoa’s head injury means “someone should be fired.”
Smith said when he heard about a new report that detailed systemic verbal and sexual abuse within the National Women’s Soccer League, it “did not surprise me at all … because we have been hearing about these stories for far too long.
“The cover-up doesn’t span a few weeks or a few months, it spans years,” Smith told NewsNation host Chris Cuomo. “Think about what happened at Michigan State. Think about what happened in various other places where you saw young females being mistreated, young females being groped, being touched, being sexually assaulted. We find out more and more and more about this.”
Smith called the Miami Dolphins’ handling of Tua Tagovailoa’s head injury “egregious” and called for someone to be fired in wake of the controversy.
“And this is the problem I think the Miami Dolphins have, you have a coach in Mike McDaniel who is a first-year coach, he’s doing a hell of a job, we don’t want to accuse anybody of doing anything wrong intentionally,” Smith said. “But the doubling down, the ‘we handled everything properly, we did nothing wrong. I completely co-sign with what procedural issues we followed.’ No. Can’t do that based on what we’ve seen here.”
Moments before Smith joined Cuomo, Judge hit his 62nd home run of the season, passing Yankees legend Roger Maris for the most home runs hit in a season in American League history. Yet, many believe Judge should be considered the all-time leader in both leagues, given every National League player to hit more than 61 home runs in a season did so while using performance-enhancing drugs.
Smith said it is clear Judge’s record requires no asterisk like those of National League sluggers Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, but added it feels hypocritical for the media pundits and league officials to criticize the records set by those who were using performance-enhancing drugs.
“Even though I’ve always been a critic of those who say that asterisk needs to be attached to these other guys, not to say that it didn’t, but you’re the network, you were collecting the money. You’re the league, you were collecting the money,” Smith said. “Then after you collect the money and the hype and all the hoopla that went along with it, then you want us to forget about the Barry Bonds, the Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa’s. I don’t like that. If you wanted to accept it and take the money, then take everything that goes with it. Put them in a Hall of Fame, just put an asterisk next to the name and call it a day.” | 2022-10-05T20:00:45+00:00 | cbs4indy.com | https://cbs4indy.com/news/national-world/smith-cover-up-of-abuse-in-womens-sports-spans-years/ |
WASHINGTON (Nexstar) – A potentially devastating economic shutdown was narrowly averted after Congress passed a measure forcing rail companies and unions to agree to a new labor contract.
While Congress was able to avert a rail strike, the labor contract lawmakers are forcing the unions to ratify leaves workers without paid sick time off.
Congress approved a measure to prevent a rail strike that could have brought the economy to a crippling halt, pausing the shipment of fuel, food and goods.
“The two sides have come together so we can avoid the shutdown, which would be extremely damaging to the country,” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said.
The bill forces rail companies and unions to sign a new labor contract that the Biden administration helped negotiate months ago.
“That was urgent and necessary to avert a catastrophic National Rail shut down,” Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said.
Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg added “nobody got everything they wanted in this negotiation. The companies moved. The unions moved.”
Some unions were opposing the contract over the issue of paid sick days for rail workers.
The U.S House passed a separate bill to add the paid sick leave to the contract, but that measure failed in the Senate.
“People who are working at dangerous jobs in inclement weather have zero paid sick leave. That is outrageous,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said.
However, President Biden says this contract isn’t the end of negotiations.
“Avoid the rail strike, keep the rails running, keep things moving and we’re going to go back and we’re going to get paid leave. Not just for rail workers, but for all workers,” Biden said.
While workers were asking for seven paid sick days, the rail companies say the reason they don’t get them is because the unions agreed to unpaid sick days in favor of higher wages and better short- and long-term disability benefits. | 2022-12-02T22:50:14+00:00 | cenlanow.com | https://www.cenlanow.com/washington-dc/congress-averts-catastrophic-rail-strike-amid-sick-time-concerns/ |
Severe thunderstorm watch issued for NW Wisconsin
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A severe thunderstorm watch has been issued for parts of northwest Wisconsin on Wednesday evening.
The watch is in effect until 2 a.m. on Thursday for areas along and east of the Minnesota border and Twin Cities metro.
Storms are expected to develop along the state border and move east into Wisconsin.
Most of the storms will stay on the Wisconsin side of the border, though parts of Minnesota's arrowhead could see some severe weather.
The air quality alert goes through midnight Wednesday for eastern and southern Minnesota. All of Wisconsin is also under an air quality alert through much of Thursday.
Looking ahead, Thursday will be muggy with a high of around 88 degrees. Some storms are possible in the evening.
Friday is looking warm with a high of 86 degrees. Saturday, which is the first day of July, will be toasty with a high of 87 degrees. Sunday will be hot with a high of around 90. Here's your seven-day forecast:
Stay safe with the FOX 9 Weather App
Stay Sky Aware through the day and Fourth of July weekend with the FOX 9 Weather App. Whether you are staying in one place or traveling, have your GPS locator on and your notifications turned on. If you drive into a warning, you will get an alert specific to where you are. Apple Download | Android Download | 2023-06-29T00:49:07+00:00 | fox9.com | https://www.fox9.com/weather/severe-thunderstorm-watch-issued-for-nw-wisconsin |
CHATHAM COUNTY, Ga. (WSAV) — A man was crushed to death while attempting to steal a catalytic converter from a local business, according to officials in Georgia.
On Tuesday, Mar. 7, officers with the Chatham County Police Department (CCPD) were called to Prestige Auto Sales around 9:15 a.m. after a deceased man was found under a vehicle in the car lot.
Police say evidence at the scene indicates that the man was killed while he was illegally removing a catalytic converter from the vehicle, and the vehicle fell on top of him.
The man was identified as 32-year-old Matthew Eric Smith. Arrest records show he had been arrested multiple times in Chatham County.
Chief Jeff Hadley of the Chatham County Police Department says the expensive metals found in catalytic converters make them a hot item for thieves to make fast cash.
Hadley believes one way to stop the problem is for state lawmakers to pass a law that makes it hard for people to buy or sell catalytic converters, like those proposed or passed in numerous other states.
“We normally don’t publicize every death investigation that we go to. Many are natural, it could be an overdose or something like that, but because of the uniqueness of this case,” Hadley said, adding that the police chose to share this case as a deterrent for anyone thinking about “go[ing] around stealing catalytic converters.”
CCPD said 39 catalytic converters were stolen in unincorporated Chatham County in 2022.
Catalytic converters, which help scrub pollutants from your engine’s exhaust, had become more and more attractive to thieves in recent years. Thanks to the increased prices of the precious metals used in the production — i.e, platinum, rhodium and palladium — an ill-gotten catalytic converter can “typically” fetch up to a few hundred dollars when sold to an unscrupulous recycling facility, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB). | 2023-03-12T02:01:56+00:00 | nwahomepage.com | https://www.nwahomepage.com/news/suspected-catalytic-converter-thief-crushed-to-death-at-georgia-car-lot/ |
CINCINNATI, Ohio — Heads or tails?
It didn’t matter to Joe Mixon.
The Bengals running back celebrated the 1-yard touchdown he scored late in the first quarter by performing a picture-perfect coin toss in the end zone surrounded by his teammates.
“The best thing about the celebration was actually the flip,” Mixon said, in between puffs on his Leather Rose cigar after a 27-16 win over the Ravens.
Recommended Bengals stories
No coin toss needed: Bengals beat Ravens 27-16 to end regular season
Baltimore waves the white flag before kickoff: Bengals vs. Ravens quick takes
The veteran was one of the first Bengals players who voiced their frustration earlier in the week with how the NFL handled the fallout from canceling the Bengals-Bills game. If the Ravens had beat the Bengals on Sunday there would have been a coin-flip to determine home-field advantage in the wildcard round.
That didn’t sit well with Mixon or his teammates and they wanted their first touchdown celebration to reflect their frustration.
“We felt that the league was trying to play us and it wasn’t fair, so at the end of the day we gave them what they want,” Bengals receiver Tyler Boyd said.
The idea for the coin flip started with former Bengals receiver Chad Johnson, who tweeted out the idea earlier in the week.
“Dear Bengals players, if you love me the way I love you guys when you score tomorrow someone has to flip a coin as their celebration & call tails,” Johnson tweeted.
Ohio bettors can wager now at FanDuel in Ohio and other sportsbooks in the state, including Barstool Sportsbook, Caesars and DraftKings.
Johnson also offered to pay any fines related to the incident, but Mixon didn’t know that until after he scored.
“Oh yeah, I’m hollering at him for sure,” Mixon said, with a laugh.
Johnson was fined $30,000 for using a poncho and sombrero during a touchdown celebration back in a 2009 game against Detroit. That was the same amount Saints receiver Joe Horn was fined for using a cellphone to celebrate a touchdown back in 2003.
Mixon did have to overcome one logistical hurdle.
“Where the hell am I going to hide a coin?” Mixon said. “I was thinking in my shoe, but nah, that’s going to be too long...I ended up sticking it in the side of my glove and it felt great.”
Mixon spoke with pride and even used sound effects to describe his quarter spinning through the air. He picked out the coin out on Saturday from loose change he said likely came from a trip to McDonalds or Chick-fil-A.
He told reporters his plan was to hand the quarter off to his teammates if they scored instead of him.
“It was a nice shiny one, it wasn’t dirty or nothing,” Mixon said. “It might have been brand new.”
It was an enjoyable moment for Mixon, but it couldn’t match the joy he took from watching his teammates celebrate their second straight AFC North title. Mixon, who was drafted by the Bengals in 2017, is one of the longer tenured starters on the team and went through four straight losing seasons upon arriving in the league.
Mixon took a moment to appreciate their achievement that was made even sweeter with how the team responded to the traumatic events they witnessed unfold last week.
“I thought we did a hell of a job coming together as brothers, really leaning on each other in hard times,” Mixon said.
Michael Niziolek covers the Bengals for cleveland.com. Follow him on Twitter @michaelniziolek, click here for more coverage.
If you or a loved one has questions and needs to talk to a professional about gambling, call the Ohio Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-589-9966 or the National Council on Program Gambling Helpline (NCPG) at 1-800-522-4700 or visit 1800gambler.net for more information. 21+ and present in Ohio. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler. | 2023-01-09T12:10:57+00:00 | cleveland.com | https://www.cleveland.com/bengals/2023/01/joe-mixon-mocks-the-nfl-with-one-of-the-most-memorable-touchdown-celebrations-in-bengals-history.html |
DENVER, Oct. 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE: PLTR) today announced that it was selected by the U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC) to support its prognostic and predictive maintenance and supply chain optimization efforts. AMC will utilize Palantir's software to support logistics in contested environments, improve equipment reliability, and advance supply chain optimization. The award totals $85.1 million over five years.
"We are excited to support the AMC's predictive maintenance and supply chain optimization efforts," said Akash Jain, President of Palantir USG. "Building upon our years of experience supporting the Army, we look forward to serving the logistics community and mission partners as they address such an essential aspect when operating in contested environments."
Palantir's software will be utilized to deploy an AI/ML capability that integrates high-volume maintenance, sensor, and supply data. Using a modular open systems architecture, this capability will provide a highly secured environment for AMC – and its mission partners – to develop, test, and deploy predictive maintenance models that can improve equipment availability and manage maintenance costs. AMC awarded the contract following an initial competitive prototype phase.
The system builds upon AMC's existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) and conditions-based maintenance (CBM) tools to provide a modernized operating capability that empowers users to take data-informed actions to more effectively leverage the Army's global assets.
Foundational software of tomorrow. Delivered today. Additional information is available at https://www.palantir.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements may relate to, but are not limited to, Palantir's expectations regarding the amount and the terms of the contract and the expected benefits of our software platforms. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified. Forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time those statements are made and were based on current expectations as well as the beliefs and assumptions of management as of that time with respect to future events. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which involve factors or circumstances that are beyond our control. These risks and uncertainties include our ability to meet the unique needs of our customer; the failure of our platforms to satisfy our customer or perform as desired; the frequency or severity of any software and implementation errors; our platforms' reliability; and our customer's ability to modify or terminate the contract. Additional information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties is included in the filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. Except as required by law, we do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise.
Media Contact
Lisa Gordon
media@palantir.com
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Palantir Technologies | 2022-10-06T12:25:51+00:00 | newschannel10.com | https://www.newschannel10.com/prnewswire/2022/10/06/palantir-selected-by-army-materiel-command-support-prognostic-predictive-maintenance-requirements/ |
Playing nine innings while trying to get to the bottom of whether Triston Casas, Boog Powell, or Moose Skowron is/was the first first baseman in MLB history to wear nail polish …
1. It’s probably an overstatement to suggest that Chaim Bloom’s future with the Red Sox directly correlates with Masataka Yoshida’s performance as a Major League Baseball rookie. This team has more variables, more players who theoretically could recapture old glory or flop like the 1996 version of Kevin Mitchell than any in recent Red Sox history.
But there’s no doubt about it: Bloom needs Yoshida to be, at the least, an above-average offensive player with patience and some pop, and it needs to happen immediately.
Advertisement
The Red Sox’ willingness to spend more than $105 million (including the posting fee) to land Yoshida blew away all other potential suitors, and they did so within hours of Xander Bogaerts’s departure. Yoshida was Bloom’s priority, and he’s the most intriguing player on the roster because of it.
I’m looking forward to watching him. He’d better be good.
2. Of all of the veteran question marks who either have a secure spot or are vying for one in the starting rotation, I’m most confident that Chris Sale will be a valuable contributor, with Corey Kluber some distance behind him, and James Paxton a great distance behind Kluber.
Sale looked like himself for his [checks notes] 5⅔ innings of MLB action last season before he suffered more freakish accidents than a secondary character in “Final Destination.” I’m convinced he will pitch like an ace again, at least until he falls through an open manhole or a rogue coyote blows him up with Acme dynamite or something.
3. Paxton hasn’t pitched in a major league game since recording four outs on April 6, 2021, with the Mariners. His recovery from Tommy John surgery has been arduous, and anything the Sox get from the big lefty is a bonus.
Advertisement
But Kluber is an interesting case. The two-time Cy Young Award winner (one more than Sale) was slightly below average for the Rays last season, finishing with a 4.34 ERA and 84 adjusted ERA in 164 innings. He strikeouts per 9 fell to a career-low 7.6. But his walk rate (1.2 per 9 innings) was the best in the American League and the best of his career.
If he can take on a similar workload for the Sox as a strike-throwing, middle-of-the-rotation starter, that’s a valuable pitcher.
4. It probably ended up this way more by desperation than design, but it is alarming how poor the Red Sox outfield defense could be. Descriptions of Yoshida’s defense make me think he’s going to give us Mike Greenwell flashbacks. Adam Duvall is a competent center fielder but better in right. And the right fielder, Alex Verdugo, isn’t even much of a left fielder.
The Red Sox’ best defensive outfielder, Kiké Hernández, is playing shortstop because Trevor Story’s elbow gave out and the team’s supposed interest in retaining Bogaerts was feigned.
The Red Sox have had so many highlight-making outfield trios in their history. This will not be among them.
5. It’s a failing of the organization (and multiple general managers) that the Red Sox have not developed an above-average starting pitcher since Clay Buchholz. (Some might say Jon Lester, but as maddening as Buchholz could be, he was magnificent for stretches.)
Advertisement
Here’s to Brayan Bello ending that drought. He has the best stuff of any Red Sox pitching prospect in years if not decades, and his competitiveness, confidence, and capacity for learning are also pluses.
He might go through some growing pains … but he also might end up being the most fun thing about the 2023 Red Sox.
6. Nice to see the name of 2012 Red Sox BABIP legend Pedro Ciriaco pop up among the team’s organizational moves this week. The former infielder was hired as a Dominican Summer League instructor, presumably specializing in Hitting ‘Em Where They Ain’t.
Ciriaco was one of the few rays of sunshine in ‘12, becoming something of a fan favorite with his knack for delivering a seeing-eye single whenever the Sox needed one. His BABIP (batting average on balls in play) was .352 that season — including .414 in July and .388 in August.
It wasn’t sustainable, but the Summer of Ciriaco sure was fun while it lasted.
7. I know there’s some fear that Rafael Devers might end up being pitched around, but I’m not especially worried about that affecting his production. He’s the type of elite hitter who will crush any mistake thrown his way.
If Yoshida (presuming his on-base skills translate) and Justin Turner (why does he remind me of Carney Lansford?) hit ahead of him, Devers should have plenty of opportunities to drive in runs, even more so if Duvall, who presumably will hit behind him, can come close to replicating his production of 2021, when he drove in 113 runs.
Advertisement
8. Though the bullpen would really be something if the brain trust had decided to keep Garrett Whitlock in a relief role, the additions of Chris Martin and Kenley Jansen should give Alex Cora a depth of quality options that he didn’t often have last year — especially if John Schreiber can repeat his unexpectedly excellent season.
The 28-year-old’s fuel tank hit empty at the end, but he still finished with a 2.22 ERA and 2.7 bWAR, second only to Devers among returning Red Sox.
9. And so we’ve reached the self-promotional part of the program. It was the privilege of my career to edit “The Boston Globe Story of the Red Sox,” a thorough collection of the paper’s finest Red Sox coverage through the team’s entire history.
Published by Black Dog & Leventhal, the book is 420 pages and includes hundreds of articles by the likes of Peter Gammons, Bob Ryan, Ray Fitzgerald, Leigh Montville, Dan Shaughnessy, and many, many other familiar bylines. The book launches March 7 but is available for pre-order now.
Chad Finn can be reached at chad.finn@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeChadFinn. | 2023-02-24T16:54:16+00:00 | bostonglobe.com | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/02/24/sports/nine-innings-with-red-sox-leading-off-with-masataka-yoshidas-importance/ |
SPRINGFIELD — Illinois voters will be asked in November to decide whether the right of workers to form unions and engage in collective bargaining should be enshrined in the state constitution.
The first clause of the amendment contains two sentences. The first would establish a “fundamental right to organize and to bargain collectively and to negotiate wages, hours, and working conditions, and to promote their economic welfare and safety at work.”
The second would prohibit the state or any local unit of government from enacting “any law that interferes with, negates, or diminishes the right of employees to organize and bargain collectively over their wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment and workplace safety.”
The provision is intended to prevent passage of any state or local “right to work” laws, which prohibit employers from requiring workers to be union members to keep their jobs.
The second clause states that the amendment would be controlling over another part of the constitution that spells out the powers of home rule units of local government, meaning those units of government would still be subject to the amendment.
Lawmakers approved putting the measure on the ballot during the 2021 spring session. The resolution passed both chambers with bipartisan support: 49-7 in the Senate and 80-30 in the House.
Like any constitutional issue, however, there is considerable disagreement over what those words mean and what effects they would have if the amendment is adopted.
The proposal is supported by several large labor unions, but it has drawn opposition from groups such as the Illinois Association of School Boards, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce and the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association.
To gather a sense of the arguments for and against the measure, the Illinois Associated Press Media Editors convened an online forum with Joe Bowen, communications director for a Vote Yes for Workers Rights, the only organized political committee campaigning on the issue. They also spoke with Mailee Smith, director of labor policy and a staff attorney with the Illinois Policy Institute, a conservative think tank that opposes the measure.
The questions came from representatives of the Daily Herald and Shaw Media.
Bowen and Smith were asked at the outset what they believe the amendment would mean and the implications of adopting it.
“The workers’ rights amendment will guarantee your fundamental rights in the workplace to organize and bargain collectively with your coworkers to negotiate for things like better pay, safer working conditions, and crucially, it will also protect Illinois voters from politicians who try to take away their rights in the future,” Bowen said.
He said it gives Illinois workers an opportunity “to vote for themselves on Nov. 8.”
“It will enshrine protections that most of us are already enjoying while extending protection to workers who don't currently have it,” Bowen said. “It will be a tremendous win for our workers as well as our entire economy and local communities.”
Smith, on the other hand, asserted that the amendment would apply only to public-sector workers because private-sector workers are already covered by the National Labor Relations Act, which would supersede any state law or state constitutional provision.
As a result, she argued that it would drive up local property taxes by giving public employee unions power to negotiate a broader range of issues, including “economic welfare,” which isn’t defined in the amendment or other state law.
“And it's not defined in other similar laws like the National Labor Relations Act,” she said. “That could mean things like the expansion of affordable housing or positions on rent abatement could be demanded by government unions.”
She also said the provision preempting right-to-work laws could have unintended consequences.
“It prohibits lawmakers, as the people's representatives, from ever enacting reforms or fixes,” she said. “So if lawmakers decide down the line, ‘Oh, wow, we didn't mean economic welfare to mean all of these broad subjects,’ they could never go back and define what economic welfare actually is because they'd be prohibited in the amendment itself from doing that.”
Bowen countered that the amendment has nothing to do with taxes but, instead, protects only the right of workers to organize and bargain collectively in the workplace.
If it were adopted, he said, it would apply uniformly statewide to all workers in both the public and private sectors. He also said it would protect workers from politicians who attempt to enact right-to-work laws, a reference to former Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, who tried unsuccessfully to push such legislation through the General Assembly.
Finally, he suggested that the rights spelled out in federal law could change or be repealed at any time, referring to the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned the right to abortion that had been established under Roe v. Wade.
“And I think it's critically important at a time when we don't know what's going to happen tomorrow – and we've seen a lot of unpredictability and rights under attack, both federally and here in Illinois – to make sure that these rights stay in a lockbox and that they're safe for workers for generations to come,” he said.
As a follow-up, the two were asked to identify what rights workers would have under the amendment that they don’t already have under existing law.
Bowen said the amendment would protect existing rights and extend them to “hundreds of thousands” of workers who aren’t covered under existing law. He said it’s important to guarantee bargaining rights now and into the future, considering “we spend almost half of our lives in the workplace.”
“Whether or not you have the ability to earn a good living, to stay safe on the job, it really impacts every part of your life,” he said. “So making sure that we guarantee these protections in the Illinois Constitution is critically important.”
Smith argued that elevating collective bargaining rights to the level of the constitution would put labor agreements beyond the reach of existing statutes that apply to public employee contracts.
“If a teachers union didn't want to have background checks as part of the job application process, the hiring process, they could write that into their contract,” she said. “It could keep government union contracts a secret. They could actually void the (Freedom of Information Act) law that requires government union contracts to be open to the public, simply by writing that provision into the contract.”
Bowen initially declined to respond to that assertion, but later in the discussion said, “I don't believe it's legally permissible to enter into a contract that violates state or federal law.”
Constitutional amendments have two paths to passage in Illinois. If the measure receives 60 percent of the vote from those voting on the question, it passes. But if it fails to reach the 60 percent threshold on the question but still musters “yes” votes from more than half of those voting in the election, it would still pass.
Election Day is Nov. 8, but early voting has already begun. More information is available at local election authorities. | 2022-10-05T15:59:01+00:00 | pantagraph.com | https://pantagraph.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/illinois-voters-will-decide-on-right-to-unionize-constitutional-amendment/article_e832f56e-4466-11ed-b649-2315f90d9326.html |
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bryce Harper powered his way through a postseason with crucial homers and big base hits that carried the Philadelphia Phillies from the last NL wild-card spot all the way to the World Series.
How much better might Harper have been without a torn ligament in his elbow?
Harper at last will have surgery next week to address the tear in the ulnar collateral ligament of his right elbow that forced the outfielder to spend the bulk of this season as designated hitter.
The Phillies knew surgery was on the table once Harper suffered the small tear in April, and their surprising postseason run only delayed the inevitable. It was a tradeoff the NL champion Phillies would take, of course, but the possibility looms large that Harper might not be ready for opening day on March 30 at Texas.
Phillies President Dave Dombrowski said Wednesday there was no timetable on Harper’s recovery until after the surgery, which is scheduled for Nov. 23.
“We have no prognosis, really, until he goes into the elbow and takes a look at it,” Dombrowski said of the surgeon. “We’ll have something at that time with the surgery and the anticipation something will happen. I would think it will slow him down for the season. We’ll know more next week.”
There are options: Harper could need Tommy John surgery (where a healthy tendon is used to replace a torn ligament) or he could face an easier repair of the existing ulnar collateral ligament. That won’t be known until he goes under the knife.
While pitchers can miss up to 18 months or worse with Tommy John surgery, hitters can make a more rapid return because they don’t have to throw. Still, recovery is needed and surgery could knock out Harper at least to the halfway point of the season. If it’s a repair, Harper might not miss much more than the first weeks of next season.
Harper last played right field at Miami on April 16. He had a platelet-rich plasma injection in his elbow in May and shifted to the designated hitter role. Harper met Monday with prominent orthopedist Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who determined the tear did not heal on its own, necessitating surgery.
“We always knew that was a possibility,” Dombrowski said. “We’ve known that for months.”
The elbow injury did little to slow Harper’s offense. The 30-year-old led the Phillies to their first World Series since 2009, where they lost in six games to Houston.
In late June, Harper suffered a broken thumb when he was hit by a pitch and was sidelined for two months. He still hit .286 with 18 home runs and 65 RBIs for the season. He was named NLCS MVP and hit six home runs overall in the playoffs.
Harper left Washington and signed a 13-year, $330 million free-agent contract with the Phillies in 2019 and won the NL MVP award in 2021. A seven-time All-Star, Harper was the NL MVP with the Nationals in 2015 and has 285 career home runs.
Dombrowski said Harper’s availability for the early part of next season may not necessarily affect his decision-making in the offseason. Nick Castellanos and Kyle Schwarber could DH, and so could J.T Realmuto if he needs a break at catcher.
“You don’t ever want to lose Bryce, you really don’t,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “He’s one of the best hitters in baseball, if not the best. We spent a lot of time last year without him. Guys responded. It gave opportunities to other people to step up and they did. While we will be missing him, and looking forward to getting him back, it’ll give somebody else an opportunity.”
The Phillies already have shed $75 million in payroll and could spend that cash on free-agent star shortstops such as Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts, Dansby Swanson and Carlos Correa.
Dombrowski and Thomson both tiptoed around their interest in the shortstops and insisted they would be fine with Edmundo Sosa playing there and Bryson Stott moving to second base. But the Phillies have spent each of the last several offseasons making big-money splashes, and this winter figures as no exception.
The Phillies’ $243 million was the fourth-richest in baseball and they owed $2.6 million in luxury tax penalties for exceeding the $230 million threshold. The threshold bumps to $233 million this season.
“You really would rather not be penalized, but I think we’re open-minded to having the best club we possibly can and see where it takes us,” Dombrowski said. “We’re going to push the needle to try to win. We’re close, right? We also want to be good for years to come, too. I don’t want it to look like we’re just going to sacrifice everything.”
Whatever the lineup looks like next season, the Phillies know they need a healthy Harper in there — eventually.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | 2022-11-17T14:05:02+00:00 | wate.com | https://www.wate.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-phillies-bryce-harper-to-have-elbow-surgery-next-week/ |
Gong's new Economic Pulse functionality surfaces when economic triggers are mentioned in customer interactions
PALO ALTO, Calif., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Gong, the Reality Platform™ leveraging artificial intelligence to transform go-to-market teams, today launched Economic Pulse™, new functionality within the Reality Platform that identifies, tracks, and alerts sales and revenue leaders when economic triggers are mentioned in customer conversations. Available today, Economic Pulse enables leaders to understand how these trends are impacting deals over time, spotting potential risk and allowing for quick action that can protect the health of an opportunity and overall pipeline.
In the current economic climate, it's more critical than ever for go-to-market teams to immediately understand how headwinds are potentially impacting deals, renewals, and revenue goals. This knowledge also enables leaders to better predict their business so they can make more informed decisions related to investments, hiring, and future growth. Economic Pulse provides leaders and teams with early warning signals appearing in conversations and enables them to analyze how economic conditions are impacting deal win rates and specific areas of their business over time, including by segment or vertical, deal stage, and team, among others.
Economic Pulse comes pre-packaged to detect common references related to economic uncertainty. Economic Pulse autonomously captures conversations, issues alerts, and gives leaders drill-down analysis to see what deals are actually at risk so they can take action before it's too late. The customer voice can be shared across the organization, increasing alignment and facilitating an organized response.
"In times of economic uncertainty, the last thing any business wants is to be caught by surprise when market changes impact their customers," said Gong Chief Product Officer and co-Founder Eilon Reshef. "Such blindspots could result in negative deal outcomes that could have been saved. Economic Pulse provides leaders an early warning system, helping unlock the reality of how their customers are actually faring and the analysis necessary to adapt and better serve them during this time."
Economic Pulse is rolling out immediately to all Gong customers and is included with their subscription at no extra cost. Economic Pulse will expand to include other customer touch points including email and instant messaging in the near future.
The Gong Reality Platform autonomously captures customer interactions into a single source of business reality. The platform then applies proprietary artificial intelligence and machine learning technology to automatically surface insights and recommendations at scale that enable companies to make reality-based decisions, resulting in increased operating efficiency and productivity to drive more successful outcomes.
For more information on Economic Pulse and the Gong Reality Platform, visit www.gong.io/product.
Gong unlocks reality to help people and companies reach their full potential. The Reality Platform™ autonomously empowers customer-facing teams to take advantage of their most valuable assets – customer interactions, which the Gong platform captures and analyzes. Gong then delivers insights at scale, enabling revenue and go-to-market teams to determine the best actions for repeatable winning outcomes. More than 3,000 innovative companies like Morningstar Inc., Paychex, LinkedIn, Shopify, Slack, SproutSocial, Twilio, and Zillow trust Gong to power their business reality. For more information, please visit www.gong.io.
View original content:
SOURCE Gong | 2022-06-29T13:09:14+00:00 | kcbd.com | https://www.kcbd.com/prnewswire/2022/06/29/revenue-teams-can-now-spot-early-economic-warning-signs-deals/ |
MIAMI, Aug. 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Elisa Juárez, ChenMed's first director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and Melissa Spain, ChenMed's first-ever Brand Love Manager were both named to Ragan's Top Women in Communications Awards List for 2022. Ms. Juárez was recognized as a "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Champion," and Ms. Spain was named a "Rising Star."
Ragan's Top Women in Communications Awards celebrates the female communications professionals whose dedication and contributions to the communications industry are making a significant impact in their day-to-day job and career, advancing the profession while accelerating growth for their organization.
Ms. Juárez' vision to create a culture of inclusion and create a sense of belonging at ChenMed helped earn her a spot on the Ragan's list. As a Latina leader, Elisa brings a unique approach to creating space for listening and giving a voice to team members. These insights paved the way for more inclusive company wide benefits including parental leave, and two additional paid holidays. Her efforts have led to the origination of a platform to honor and celebrate cultural moments and heritage months for team members across the country.
Ms. Spain's work is centered on love, a core value that is at the heart of ChenMed overall. As a member of the ChenMed culture team, her role is to inspire team members, patients, and communities by telling their stories, recognizing unsung heroes and building brand love. Some of the stories she played a role in elevating are ChenMed's emergency response to Hurricane Ida in New Orleans and ChenMed Cares, an employee relief program that allows team members in need to reach out for financial help and resources.
"We are so proud of Elisa and Melissa, and they work they do to help ChenMed team members feel a sense of belonging at work," said Stephanie Chen, chief legal and culture officer for ChenMed. "The fact that two of our employees were honored for their commitment to inclusion and love is a testament to the incredible talent we have serving our team members, our patients and our communities".
Ragan held a special award celebration on June 16 in New York City to recognize all the winners and their impressive work. The event featured a special keynote presentation from CBS Mornings' executive producer, Shawna Thomas.
ChenMed, headquartered in Miami, is a privately owned medical, management and technology company that delivers the high-touch and personalized primary care Medicare-eligible seniors need to enjoy better health. The company operates more than 100 senior medical centers in 14 states. Named one of Fortune 2020 "Change the World" companies, a "Most Loved Workplace" by Newsweek Magazine, and a certified Great Place to Work® by the Great Place to Work Institute, ChenMed brings concierge-style medicine and better health outcomes to the neediest populations. ChenMed brands include Chen Senior Medical Center, Dedicated Senior Medical Center, JenCare Senior Medical Center and IntuneHealthTM. Thanks to its leading healthcare technology organization, CurityTM, ChenMed was recently named a "Best Place to Work in IT" by IDG's Insider Pro and ComputerWorld.
Ragan Communications has been delivering trusted news, training and intelligence for more than 50 years to internal and external communicators, HR professionals and business executives via its conferences, webinars, training, awards, subscriptions and membership divisions. Its daily news sites—PRDaily.com and Ragan.com—are read by more than 600,000 internal and external communicators monthly.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE ChenMed | 2022-08-10T10:18:11+00:00 | kswo.com | https://www.kswo.com/prnewswire/2022/08/10/chenmed-culture-team-members-recognized-top-women-communications-by-ragans/ |
There are *** lot of similarities in the patterns that we're seeing at the volcano now to prior to 1984 is eruption and that is an increasing number of earthquakes below the summit of the volcano. Some indication of deformation or swelling of the volcano as the shallow magmatic system is receiving input of new magma When you look at at some development, including residential development that has occurred in the highest hazard zones in Hawaii. Those people should all be ready for such an eventuality and as we learned in 2018, things can happen quickly, volcano can change behavior quickly. The volcanoes in Hawaii produced these very large, wide volcanoes that are called shield volcanoes and that's because the composition of the magma um that's being erupted. There is very fluid, it's erupting fluid, hotter and drier magma's than hearsay in Alaska or at Mount ST Helens where the magma's are compositionally different. They tend to be stickier, um stiffer and then they have higher water content and so as the magma rises and the traps all the gas inside of it, so it's much more likely to explode. It's picking up in terms of unrest and this could lead to an eruption. We are not smart enough yet to give you an exact time frame for when that will happen, but we do know it will erupt again
Hawaii's Mauna Loa, the world's largest active volcano, is erupting for the first time since 1984
Updated: 7:50 AM MST Nov 28, 2022
The world's largest active volcano, Mauna Loa, is erupting for the first time in nearly 40 years, sparking an ashfall advisory Monday for Hawaii's Big Island and surrounding waters until 6 a.m. HST (11 a.m. ET).Up to a quarter inch of ashfall could accumulate on portions of the island."People with respiratory illnesses should remain indoors to avoid inhaling the ash particles and anyone outside should cover their mouth and nose with a mask or cloth," the National Weather Service in Honolulu warned."Possible harm to crops and animals. Minor equipment and infrastructure damage. Reduced visibility. Widespread clean-up may be necessary," it added.The eruption, in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, is not threatening downhill communities or flights to the Island of Hawaii, the Hawaii Tourism Authority tweeted Monday morning.Lava flows are contained in the summit area and do not threaten downslope communities, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said. Winds may carry volcanic gas and fine ash downwind."Based on past events, the early stages of a Mauna Loa eruption can be very dynamic and the location and advance of lava flows can change rapidly," the observatory said, adding, "If the eruption remains in Moku'āweoweo, lava flows will most likely be confined within the caldera walls."However, if the eruptive vents migrate outside its walls, lava flows may move rapidly downslope."The eruption began in Moku'āweoweo, the summit caldera of Mauna Loa, on Sunday around 11:30 p.m. HST (4:30 a.m. ET Monday), according to the observatory.Mauna Loa, which covers half the island of Hawaii, has erupted 33 times since 1843, the volcano's first "well-documented historical eruption," according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It last erupted in 1984, making this prolonged quiet period the volcano's longest in recorded history.The volcano has recently been in a heightened state of unrest, per the agency, which pointed in an update late last month to elevated seismic activity and increased earthquake rates.Earthquake activity increased from five to 10 earthquakes a day since June 2022 to some 10 to 20 earthquakes a day in July and August, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Peak numbers of more than 100 earthquakes a day were recorded on Sept. 23 and Sept. 29, CNN has reported.The increased activity prompted Hawaii Volcanoes National Park in October to close the Mauna Loa summit to all backcountry hikers until further notice, though the U.S. National Park Service said the main section of the park has remained open.
The world's largest active volcano, Mauna Loa, is erupting for the first time in nearly 40 years, sparking an ashfall advisory Monday for Hawaii's Big Island and surrounding waters until 6 a.m. HST (11 a.m. ET).
Up to a quarter inch of ashfall could accumulate on portions of the island.
"People with respiratory illnesses should remain indoors to avoid inhaling the ash particles and anyone outside should cover their mouth and nose with a mask or cloth," the National Weather Service in Honolulu warned.
"Possible harm to crops and animals. Minor equipment and infrastructure damage. Reduced visibility. Widespread clean-up may be necessary," it added.
The eruption, in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, is not threatening downhill communities or flights to the Island of Hawaii, the Hawaii Tourism Authority tweeted Monday morning.
Lava flows are contained in the summit area and do not threaten downslope communities, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said. Winds may carry volcanic gas and fine ash downwind.
"Based on past events, the early stages of a Mauna Loa eruption can be very dynamic and the location and advance of lava flows can change rapidly," the observatory said, adding, "If the eruption remains in Moku'āweoweo, lava flows will most likely be confined within the caldera walls.
"However, if the eruptive vents migrate outside its walls, lava flows may move rapidly downslope."
The eruption began in Moku'āweoweo, the summit caldera of Mauna Loa, on Sunday around 11:30 p.m. HST (4:30 a.m. ET Monday), according to the observatory.
Mauna Loa, which covers half the island of Hawaii, has erupted 33 times since 1843, the volcano's first "well-documented historical eruption," according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It last erupted in 1984, making this prolonged quiet period the volcano's longest in recorded history.
The volcano has recently been in a heightened state of unrest, per the agency, which pointed in an update late last month to elevated seismic activity and increased earthquake rates.
Earthquake activity increased from five to 10 earthquakes a day since June 2022 to some 10 to 20 earthquakes a day in July and August, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Peak numbers of more than 100 earthquakes a day were recorded on Sept. 23 and Sept. 29, CNN has reported.
The increased activity prompted Hawaii Volcanoes National Park in October to close the Mauna Loa summit to all backcountry hikers until further notice, though the U.S. National Park Service said the main section of the park has remained open. | 2022-11-28T15:28:59+00:00 | koat.com | https://www.koat.com/article/mauna-loa-hawaii-volcano-erupts/42083942 |
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s maritime agency said Monday it found a cannon shell believed to be from World War II on a Chinese-registered vessel and was investigating if the barge carrier was involved in the looting of two British warship wrecks in the South China Sea.
Malaysian media reported that illegal salvage operators were believed to have targeted the HMS Repulse and the HMS Prince of Wales, which were sunk in 1941 by Japanese torpedoes, days after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
A total of 842 sailors perished, and the shipwrecks off the coast of central Pahang state are designated war graves. Fishermen and divers alerted authorities after spotting a foreign vessel near the area last month.
The agency said it detained the vessel registered in Fuzhou, China, on Sunday for anchoring without a permit off southern Johor state. It said there were 32 crew members aboard, including 21 Chinese, 10 from Bangladesh and a Malaysian.
The agency said officials from the National Heritage Department and others will work together to identify the cannon shell.
Britain’s National Museum of the Royal Navy last week said it was “distressed and concerned at the apparent vandalism for personal profit.”
The maritime agency said it believed the rusty cannon shell was linked to the police seizure of dozens of unexploded artillery and other relics at a private scrapyard in Johor. The New Straits Times newspaper reported that the ammunitions were believed to be from the warships and that police conducted an on-site controlled explosion of the weapons.
Pictures and a video released by the agency showed a barge carrier with a large crane and heaps of rusty metal on board. Known as pre-war steel, the material from the two warships is valuable and could be smelted for use in manufacturing of some scientific and medical equipment.
It was not the first time that the two shipwrecks were targeted.
The New Straits Times reported that foreign treasure hunters used homemade explosives in 2015 to detonate the heavy steel plates on the ships for easy pickings. Other media said authorities detained a Vietnamese vessel involved in the looting of the wreckage at the time. | 2023-05-30T20:21:32+00:00 | upmatters.com | https://www.upmatters.com/news/international/ap-international/ap-malaysia-detains-chinese-barge-on-suspicion-of-looting-wwii-british-warship-wrecks/ |
FEMA leader highlights importance of advance planning and rapidly deployed temporary housing
HOUMA, La., June 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Speaking last week at the Texas Emergency Management Conference, Tony Robinson emphasized that advanced preparation often determines the ability of a community to recover from a natural disaster. Robinson, Region 6 Administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), cited the success of noncongregate sheltering programs after both Hurricane Ida in Lousiana and the devastating tornadoes in Kentucky. Noncongregate sheltering assures that survivors of a natural disaster have access to safe temporary housing until permanent housing is available in those communities.
Damon Donnell, a Conference exhibitor, has led major projects to provide noncongregate housing in both the Lousiana and Kentucky disasters. Donnell, Executive Vice President of Crosby Government Solutions, stated that people who have rapid access to stable temporary housing can quickly return to their normal activities.
"I've seen it happen time and again. People sometimes live in their cars or with family members for weeks or months after a major disaster. Once they settle into a more permanent situation, they quickly begin to reconstruct their lives," Donnell said.
Crosby Government Solutions is a recognized provider of disaster response and management services. Crosby has a nationwide reach; most recently they have worked with agencies providing disaster recovery services for Hurricane Ida in Louisiana—primarily in LaFourche and Terrebone Parishes--and the catastrophic tornado in Kentucky. Crosby also offers a range of field services in the areas of energy, environmental, infrastructure, program management, security, and UAV services. For more information visit Crosby's website at crosbygov.com.
For more information, email: info@crosby.com.
Telephone: 985 208-3508.
Visit crosbygov.com
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE CROSBY GOVERNMENT SOLUTIONS, LLC | 2022-06-08T21:22:35+00:00 | mysuncoast.com | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2022/06/08/rapid-access-temporary-housing-key-community-recovery-disaster/ |
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — De'Aaron Fox scored 32 points and Trey Lyles had eight of his 11 points in overtime for the Sacramento Kings, who outlasted the Minnesota Timberwolves 118-111 on Monday night.
Domantas Sabonis had 17 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out for the Kings, and Keegan Murray added 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Lyles took over for Sabonis at center and started the extra period with a 3-pointer. He dunked on Rudy Gobert for a three-point play and got wide open for another slam with 37.8 seconds left in overtime for a five-point lead to put the game away and give the Kings a split of this two-game set after a 117-110 loss on Saturday night.
Anthony Edwards had 33 points and eight rebounds for the Timberwolves, hitting the 30-point mark for the fifth time in the last six games. Gobert added 19 points and 14 rebounds.
Sabonis and Gobert locked in a classic big man battle, with neither player conceding an inch or a rebound. Gobert kept his cool far better than Sabonis, who was whistled for a technical after a missed contested layup that had him screaming at the officials about the no-call with 3:57 left.
Neither team led by more than five points for the entire fourth quarter, when Edwards went to work once again for the Wolves with three straight baskets for a 98-95 lead with 2:12 to go.
Fox is one of those clutch players too. He gave the Kings the lead twice with shots in the final 1:48 and had the chance to win it at the regulation buzzer, but his fadeaway fell short.
Sabonis fouled out with 51 seconds left in the fourth quarter with the Kings leading 103-99. Gobert made one of two free throws. Jaden McDaniels hit the game-tying 3-pointer with 13.5 seconds left.
This was one of those games when energy was going to be the most important ingredient with the rims on both ends in an unforgiving mood.
Gobert's dunk was the first basket to fall after the teams combined for eight misses to start. The Wolves were 5 for 20 from the floor until a 3-pointer by D'Angelo Russell, who missed his first three free throws. Russell had missed a total of twice from the line in his previous 13 games.
WILD WEST
The Kings are third in the Western Conference, on track to end an NBA-record 16-year absence from the playoffs, but they entered the evening with only one more win than 10th-place Utah.
The Timberwolves are nestled in between, one of several teams seeing their place in the standings fluctuate significantly from night to night, and the coaching staff has not missed opportunities to point that out to the players.
“Just trying to bring some context and relevancy to some things,” coach Chris Finch said. “I think it's important to recognize where you are.”
GHOST TOWNS
Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns has missed 32 games with a strained right calf. He was not sitting by the bench on Monday and posted an Instagram photo over the weekend showing his right foot in a walking boot.
“No setbacks at all,” Finch said. “Just part of the process.”
TIMES CHANGE
Three years and three days ago, the Kings stunned the Timberwolves by overcoming a 27-point deficit — they were still down 17 with 2:49 left in regulation — to win in overtime.
Only three players remain on each team's roster from that night. The only ones who saw the floor in both the Jan. 27, 2020 game and this one were Fox and Harrison Barnes for Sacramento and Naz Reid for Minnesota.
TIP-INS
Kings: SG Kevin Huerter went 5 for 19 from the floor and 2 for 12 from 3-point range in the two-game series. ... SG Deonte Burton was signed to a 10-day contract prior to the game, plucked from the G-League affiliate in Stockton.
Timberwolves: Backup SF Taurean Prince returned from a four-game absence with a sprained left ankle. He missed 20 games earlier this season with a shoulder injury. ... The Wolves shot 13 for 25 from the free-throw line.
UP NEXT
Kings: Visit San Antonio on Wednesday, the third game of a seven-game trip.
Timberwolves: Host Golden State on Wednesday, the third game of a six-game homestand.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | 2023-01-31T04:59:03+00:00 | expressnews.com | https://www.expressnews.com/sports/article/fox-lyles-help-kings-outlast-timberwolves-17752861.php |
More than a year after OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma reached a tentative settlement over the toll of opioids that was accepted nearly universally by the groups suing the company — including thousands of people injured by the drug — money is still not rolling out.
Parties waiting to finalize the deal are waiting for a court to rule on the legality of a key detail: whether members of the Sackler family who own the company can be protected from lawsuits over OxyContin in exchange for handing over up to $6 billion in cash over time plus the company itself.
This week — days before the one-year anniversary of the April 29, 2022, appeals court arguments on the matter — lawyers told judges that the wait is causing problems.
Lawyers on multiple sides of the case, including those representing Purdue, asked the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York to issue a ruling or provide an update soon, saying the efforts to use the funds to fight the opioid crisis can’t begin until the money can start to flow.
While it’s not unusual for an appeals panel to take a year or more from a hearing until it releases a decision, this case was originally fast-tracked by the court. At the hearing last year, there were signs that the three-judge panel might not rule unanimously.
A lawyer for creditors told a U.S. bankruptcy court in another filing this week that the wait is a problem for other reasons. The lawyer, Arik Preis, wrote that as long as the funds aren’t distributed, “the vast majority of more than $6 billion that could be put to use to abate the opioid crisis and compensate individual claimants continuing to accrue interest in Sackler accounts.”
While most of Purdue’s creditors have signed onto the settlement, the U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee is objecting.
With the case stretching out, the legal costs continue to mount, too. Purdue reported in a court filing that as of March 31, it had spent about $900 million on nonrecurring legal fees since it filed for bankruptcy in 2019 as part of an effort to settle its lawsuits.
Purdue’s proposed settlement is not the biggest in a series of opioid-related settlements in recent years that totals over $50 billion, but it is large and closely watched because of the blame many have given the company for its role in sparking the crisis with its marketing of OxyContin starting in the 1990s.
The settlement also is the only one so far where some of the money is to go directly to people who lost loved ones or years of their own lives to opioids. About 149,000 individuals made claims and could receive between about $3,500 and $48,000 each from the settlement.
One of them, Lindsey Arrington, does not know how much she’ll qualify to be paid. The Everett, Washington, woman whose substance abuse disorder began with OxyContin she used as a teenager, said money would be helpful.
“I’m 12 years into my recovery from addiction and I’m still cleaning up the financial wreckage,” she said.
There were debts, including paying back the Washington state government for assistance she should not have received because her son, now 14, was not living with her at the time.
And some money could help her relationship with him. “I owe it to him to use some of the money to do something for him or with him as a symbolic gesture of the time that we lost, that we could have had together had it not been what I was going through,” she said.
Stephanie Lubinski, one of about two dozen victims who testified at a hearing last year that Sackler family members attended by Zoom, doesn’t know how much she might be granted under the settlement either. In the grips of an opioid addiction, her husband, a former Minneapolis firefighter, killed himself in 2020.
Lubinski, who has cancer, hopes to have the settlement in hand while she’s alive so she can pass it to her adult children.
“It’s like by keeping it going and going,” she said, “we’re replaying all the emotions and suffering.” | 2023-04-29T23:37:28+00:00 | myfox8.com | https://myfox8.com/news/business/ap-business/frustration-grows-over-wait-on-oxycontin-makers-settlement/ |
- Brand new RTS title with a massive-scale war setting will come to global players on both mobile and PC.
- Trailer features gameplay footage and various in-game contents, showcasing high-quality graphics built on Unreal Engine.
- PD Minseok Seo said, "Players will be able to experience the quintessence of a strategy game, where the gameplay itself is the fun factor."
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., March 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- NCSOFT, a global premier game developer and publisher, today debuted the first trailer for the company's new mobile and PC title, 'Project G,' on its official YouTube channel.
Project G is the company's first real-time strategy (RTS) game, coming to global players. This brand-new IP is currently under development as a strategy game set in a massive-scale war. Each player will expand by accumulating limited resources and will also make use of different tactics in territory conquests between guilds.
The trailer features 100% real gameplay scenes with high-quality graphics currently under development, built on Unreal Engine. It showcases various game system details, including unique characters of different races, strategic combats executed with melee and ranged units, and tactical maneuvers of 'Dragons' and 'Strategic Arms' in objective and territory conquest wars. It also reveals in-game footage where battles between individual forces expand into massive warfare.
Project Director Minseok Seo said, "Building an RTS title upon NCSOFT's advanced technology accumulated with MMO-based massive-scale battle system, we aim to create unprecedented scale and quality that have not been witnessed in any other strategy games." He also added, "Players will be able to experience the quintessence of strategy games, coupled with various units and worlds unique to Project G, making the gameplay itself the fun factor for the players."
NCSOFT unveils new projects of various genres in development as part of NCing, the company's open R&D initiative. Next up, a video featuring a Project G developer's interview will be revealed to the global audience. More information on Project G and NCing is available on NCSOFT's official YouTube channel.
About NCSOFT
NCSOFT, headquartered in Pangyo, Korea, is the world's premier publisher and developer of massively multiplayer online games, including the critically acclaimed Aion®, Blade & Soul®, Lineage®, and Guild Wars® franchises. NCSOFT West is a division of NCSOFT that holds operating responsibilities for North America, Europe, South America, and Australia/New Zealand. More information can be found at www.ncsoft.com.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE NCSOFT | 2023-03-14T15:52:09+00:00 | kswo.com | https://www.kswo.com/prnewswire/2023/03/14/ncsoft-debuts-trailer-its-first-real-time-strategy-game-project-g/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats pushed their election-year economic package to Senate passage Sunday, a hard-fought compromise less ambitious than President Joe Biden’s original domestic vision but one that still meets deep-rooted party goals of slowing global warming, moderating pharmaceutical costs and taxing immense corporations.
The estimated $740 billion package heads next to the House, where lawmakers are poised to deliver on Biden’s priorities, a stunning turnaround of what had seemed a lost and doomed effort that suddenly roared back to political life. Cheers broke out as Senate Democrats held united, 51-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote after an all-night session.
“Today, Senate Democrats sided with American families over special interests,” President Joe Biden said in a statement from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. “I ran for President promising to make government work for working families again, and that is what this bill does — period.”
Biden, who had his share of long nights during his three decades as a senator, called into the Senate cloakroom during the vote on speakerphone to personally thank the staff for their hard work.
The president urged the House to pass the bill as soon as possible. Speaker Nancy Pelosi said her chamber would “move swiftly to send this bill to the president’s desk.” House votes are expected Friday.
“It’s been a long, tough and winding road, but at last, at last we have arrived,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., ahead of final votes.
“The Senate is making history. I am confident the Inflation Reduction Act will endure as one of the defining legislative feats of the 21st century,” he said.
Senators engaged in a round-the-clock marathon of voting that began Saturday and stretched late into Sunday afternoon. Democrats swatted down some three dozen Republican amendments designed to torpedo the legislation. Confronting unanimous GOP opposition, Democratic unity in the 50-50 chamber held, keeping the party on track for a morale-boosting victory three months from elections when congressional control is at stake.
The bill ran into trouble midday over objections to the new 15% corporate minimum tax that private equity firms and other industries disliked, forcing last-minute changes.
Despite the momentary setback, the “Inflation Reduction Act” gives Democrats a campaign-season showcase for action on coveted goals. It includes the largest-ever federal effort on climate change — close to $400 billion — caps out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors on Medicare to $2,000 a year and extends expiring subsidies that help 13 million people afford health insurance. By raising corporate taxes and reaping savings from the long-sought goal of allowing the government to negotiate drug prices for Medicare, the whole package is paid for, with some $300 billion extra revenue for deficit reduction.
Barely more than one-tenth the size of Biden’s initial 10-year, $3.5 trillion Build Back Better initiative, the new package abandons earlier proposals for universal preschool, paid family leave and expanded child care aid. That plan collapsed after conservative Sen. Joe. Manchin, D-W.Va., opposed it, saying it was too costly and would fuel inflation.
Nonpartisan analysts have said the 755-page “Inflation Reduction Act” would have a minor effect on surging consumer prices.
Republicans said the new measure would undermine an economy that policymakers are struggling to keep from plummeting into recession. They said the bill’s business taxes would hurt job creation and force prices skyward, making it harder for people to cope with the nation’s worst inflation since the 1980s.
“Democrats have already robbed American families once through inflation, and now their solution is to rob American families a second time,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., argued.
In an ordeal imposed on most budget bills like this one, the Senate had to endure an overnight “vote-a-rama” of rapid-fire amendments. Each tested Democrats’ ability to hold together the compromise bill negotiated by Schumer, progressives, Manchin and the inscrutable centrist Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz.
Progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., criticized the bill’s shortcomings and offered amendments to further expand the legislation’s health benefits, but those efforts were defeated. Republicans forced their own votes designed to make Democrats look soft on U.S.-Mexico border security and gasoline and energy costs, and like bullies for wanting to strengthen IRS tax law enforcement.
Before debate began, the bill’s prescription drug price curbs were diluted by the Senate’s nonpartisan parliamentarian who said a provision should fall that would impose costly penalties on drug makers whose price increases for private insurers exceed inflation.
It was the bill’s chief protection for the 180 million people with private health coverage they get through work or purchase themselves. Under special procedures that will let Democrats pass their bill by simple majority without the usual 60-vote margin, its provisions must be focused more on dollar-and-cents budget numbers than policy changes.
But the thrust of Democrats’ pharmaceutical price language remained. That included letting Medicare negotiate what it pays for drugs for its 64 million elderly recipients, penalizing manufacturers for exceeding inflation for pharmaceuticals sold to Medicare and limiting beneficiaries out-of-pocket drug costs to $2,000 annually.
The bill also caps Medicare patients’ costs for insulin, the expensive diabetes medication, at $35 monthly. Democrats wanted to extend the $35 cap to private insurers but it ran afoul of Senate rules. Most Republicans voted to strip it from the package, though in a sign of the political potency of health costs seven GOP senators joined Democrats trying to preserve it.
The measure’s final costs were being recalculated to reflect late changes, but overall it would raise more than $700 billion over a decade. The money would come from a 15% minimum tax on a handful of corporations with yearly profits above $1 billion, a 1% tax on companies that repurchase their own stock, bolstered IRS tax collections and government savings from lower drug costs.
Sinema forced Democrats to drop a plan to prevent wealthy hedge fund managers from paying less than individual income tax rates for their earnings. She also joined with other Western senators to win $4 billion to combat the region’s drought.
Several Democratic senators joined the GOP-led effort to exclude some firms from the new corporate minimum tax.
The package keeps to Biden’s pledge not to raise taxes on those earning less than $400,000 a year.
It was on the energy and environment side that compromise was most evident between progressives and Manchin, a champion of fossil fuels and his state’s coal industry.
Clean energy would be fostered with tax credits for buying electric vehicles and manufacturing solar panels and wind turbines. There would be home energy rebates, funds for constructing factories building clean energy technology and money to promote climate-friendly farm practices and reduce pollution in minority communities.
Manchin won billions to help power plants lower carbon emissions plus language requiring more government auctions for oil drilling on federal land and waters. Party leaders also promised to push separate legislation this fall to accelerate permits for energy projects, which Manchin wants to include a nearly completed natural gas pipeline in his state.
Still, environmental groups hailed the passage as a milestone. “Tremendous progress,” said Manish Bapna, president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council, in a statement.
___
Associated Press writers Chris Megerian in Rehoboth, Del., and Matthew Daly in Washington contributed to this report. | 2022-08-08T06:13:35+00:00 | wivb.com | https://www.wivb.com/news/dems-push-biden-climate-health-priorities-toward-senate-ok/ |
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s media regulator said Monday it blocked Wikipedia services in the country for hurting Muslim sentiment by not removing purportedly blasphemous content from the site. Critics denounced Islamabad’s action, saying it was a blow to digital rights.
Under Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws, anyone found guilty of insulting Islam or its figures can be sentenced to death, although the country has yet to carry out capital punishment for blasphemy.
But even allegations of the offense are often enough to provoke mob violence and even deadly attacks. International and domestic rights groups say that accusations of blasphemy have often been used to intimidate religious minorities and settle personal scores.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority says it blocked Wikipedia because a 48-hour deadline to remove the content was ignored, according to a spokesperson. “Such things hurt the sentiments of Muslims,” said Malahat Obaid, from the regulator.
She said Pakistani authorities are in talks with Wikipedia officials and the ban could be lifted if the platform completely removes anti-Islam content.
The Wikimedia Foundation on Saturday confirmed the ban, saying: “We hope that the Pakistan government joins us in a commitment to knowledge as a human right and restores access to @Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects promptly, so that the people of Pakistan can continue to receive and share knowledge with the world.”
Mohsin Raza Khan, a Pakistani social media expert, said it is easy to update or replace Wikipedia material deemed sacrilegious or offensive for Muslims — so blocking the site is not the answer.
“Pakistan’s media regulator and other authorities should try to find some viable technical solution to such problems as blasphemous content is available everywhere,” he said. “It is equal to a drop in the ocean of knowledge.”
The Lahore-based Digital Rights Foundation earlier called the Wikipedia ban an affront to Pakistanis’ right to access information and a mockery of the country’s commitment to uphold its human rights obligations.
In the past, Pakistan briefly banned TikTok twice for allegedly uploading “immoral, obscene and vulgar” content.
But the ban was later lifted after TikTok assured Pakistan it would remove immoral content and also block users who upload “unlawful content.” The app was downloaded millions of times in Pakistan when the ban was imposed in 2020 and 2021.
Also, in 2008, Pakistan banned YouTube over videos depicting Prophet Muhammad. Muslims generally believe any physical depiction of Islam’s prophet is blasphemous.
Also on Monday, Amir Mahmood, spokesman for Pakistan’s Ahmadi community, sought protection from the government, saying unidentified Islamists in multiple separate attacks have damaged Ahmadi places of worship in southern Sindh province and elsewhere in the country.
“The freedom of worship given to us by the constitution is shrinking,” he told The Associated Press.
The attacks, which took place over several days, caused no casualties, Mahmood said.
The Ahmadi faith was established on the Indian subcontinent in the 19th century by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, whose followers believe he was the messiah that was promised by the Prophet Muhammad.
Pakistan’s parliament declared Ahmadis non-Muslims in 1974. Since then, they have repeatedly been targeted by Islamic extremists in the Muslim-majority nation, drawing international condemnation. | 2023-02-06T12:58:19+00:00 | kfor.com | https://kfor.com/news/technology-news/ap-technology/ap-pakistan-blocks-wikipedia-for-hurting-muslim-sentiment/ |
Supreme Court rules against union in labor dispute involving truck drivers and wet concrete
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a dispute about the pressure that organized labor can exert during a strike, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday against unionized drivers who walked off the job with their trucks full of wet concrete.
The decision united liberal and conservative justices in labor’s latest loss at the high court. The lone dissenter in the case, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, said the ruling would hinder the development of labor law and “erode the right to strike.”
Justice Amy Coney Barrett, writing for the majority, said the union failed to take reasonable precautions to protect the company’s concrete when the drivers went on strike. Barrett wrote that the drivers for Washington state-based Glacier Northwest quit work suddenly, putting the company’s property in “foreseeable and imminent danger.”
“The Union’s actions not only resulted in the destruction of all the concrete Glacier had prepared that day; they also posed a risk of foreseeable, aggravated, and imminent harm to Glacier’s trucks,” Barrett wrote in a decision joined by four other justices. Three more justices agreed with the outcome in the case but did not join Barrett’s opinion.
In 2018, the court’s conservative majority overturned a decades-old pro-union decision involving fees paid by government workers. More recently, the justices rejected a California regulation giving unions access to farm property so they could organize workers.
Justice Samuel Alito wrote in a separate opinion in the Washington state case that the federal National Labor Relations Act protects the right to strike, but with limits. He said it “does not protect striking employees who engage in the type of conduct alleged here.”
In her dissent, Jackson wrote: “Workers are not indentured servants, bound to continue laboring until any planned work stoppage would be as painless as possible for their master.”
This case stemmed from contract negotiations in 2017 between Glacier Northwest and the local Teamsters union, representing the drivers. When negotiations broke down, the union called for a strike. Drivers walked off the job while their trucks were full of concrete, which must be used quickly and can damage the trucks if it’s not.
Glacier says the union timed the strike to create chaos and inflict damage. Glacier not only had to dump the concrete but also pay for the wasted concrete to be broken up and hauled away.
The company sued the union in state court for intentionally damaging its property; the lawsuit was initially dismissed.
The question for the Supreme Court was about how the case should proceed. Glacier said its lawsuit in state court should not have been dismissed at the outset. The union said Glacier’s lawsuit should only be allowed to go forward in state court if the federal National Labor Relations Board first found that the union’s actions were not protected by federal law.
Barrett wrote that because the union did not take reasonable precautions to protect Glacier’s property, the trial court was wrong to think federal law required dismissing the lawsuit. By “reporting for duty and pretending as if they would deliver the concrete, the drivers prompted the creation of the perishable product. Then, they waited to walk off the job until the concrete was mixed and poured in the trucks,” Barrett wrote.
Lawyers for the union had said that in this case the drivers were instructed to be conscientious when they walked off the job, to bring their full trucks back to Glacier’s facility and to leave the trucks’ mixing drums spinning so that the concrete would not immediately begin to harden.
Barrett said that argument wasn’t persuasive. “That the drivers returned the trucks to Glacier’s facility does not do much for the Union — refraining from stealing an employer’s vehicles does not demonstrate that one took reasonable precautions to protect them,” Barrett wrote.
In a statement, Glacier Northwest’s lawyer, Noel Francisco, said the decision “vindicates the longstanding principle that federal law does not shield labor unions ... when they intentionally destroy an employer’s property,”
“Our client is entitled to just compensation for its property that the union intentionally destroyed,” he said.
Darin Dalmat, a lawyer for the union, said in a statement that while the union was disappointed, “nothing in this decision will stop workers from exercising their federally protected rights to strike when necessary to achieve better wages, benefits, and working conditions.”
Dalmat said that in “this particular case, Glacier has found a way to prolong its meritless lawsuit” and get past a motion to dismiss. But, he said, he was confident that the union’s actions would ultimately be found to be protected by the NLRB.
The case is Glacier Northwest v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Union No. 174, 21-1449.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | 2023-06-01T18:33:25+00:00 | ksla.com | https://www.ksla.com/2023/06/01/supreme-court-rules-against-union-labor-dispute-involving-truck-drivers-wet-concrete/ |
WILMINGTON, N.C., Feb. 8, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Capital Pulse, a healthcare finance technology start-up that transforms the way healthcare companies access working capital, announced that Eric D. Hargan, Founder and CEO of The Hargan Group, has joined as a member of its Board of Directors.
Hargan served as Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from 2017-2021, as well as Acting Secretary in 2017-2018. As Deputy Secretary, he led the day-to-day operations and management of the department, as well as policy and strategy development. He previously served at HHS in similar roles during the George W. Bush Administration. Between his times at HHS, Eric was a practicing attorney specializing in healthcare regulation, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, and government relations.
Since leaving his post at HHS, Eric has joined the Boards of University Hospitals, Alio Medical, SIU Medicine, Tomorrow Health, and HealthTrackRx. Additionally, Hargan serves as an Adjunct Professor of Management at Vanderbilt and Fellow of the Center for Healthcare Market Innovation in the Owen Graduate School of Business and teaches at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management.
"I am thrilled to be joining the Board of Capital Pulse," said Hargan. "I believe the company is truly a first mover in healthcare finance. Its innovative, integrated platform for valuing and financing medical insurance claims has the potential to unlock billions of dollars in liquidity within the US healthcare system."
"We couldn't be happier that Eric has joined our Board," said Susan Estes, co-founder and CEO of Capital Pulse. "His expertise in Healthcare and Policy will be immensely helpful in guiding Capital Pulse as we bring our offering to market and deliver on our mission to help hospitals better access working capital, a vital financing lifeline."
Capital Pulse was founded in 2022 by Estes, a pioneering female financial leader and serial entrepreneur. As the first woman to run a US Treasury primary dealership, Estes has a storied career in the capital markets.
Estes, along with co-founders Dr. Alexandria Sakrejda and Josh Holden, created Capital Pulse in response to an increasing need from hospitals to access affordable working capital. The company's premise is that funding rates backed by medical insurance claims should reflect the credit of the underlying guarantor – the U.S. government or other highly-rated institutions – rather than the credit of the hospital or hospital system generating them. Capital Pulse uses secure cutting-edge technology to provide neutral and transparent medical claims scoring to providers, lenders and payers, unlocking liquidity in these undervalued assets.
ABOUT CAPITAL PULSE
Capital Pulse is a healthcare start-up that seeks to transform the way hospitals access working capital. The company's premise is that funding rates backed by medical insurance claims should reflect the credit of the underlying guarantor – the U.S. government or other highly-rated institutions – rather than the credit of the hospital or hospital system generating them. Capital Pulse uses secure cutting-edge technology to provide neutral and transparent medical claims scoring to providers, lenders and payers, unlocking liquidity in these undervalued assets. Capital Pulse is led by CEO Susan Estes, a serial entrepreneur with an extensive and successful track record in capital markets. A pioneering female leader, she was the first woman to run a primary dealership on Wall Street and was a member of the U.S. Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee (TBAC). To find out more, visit www.capitalpulse.com
View original content:
SOURCE Capital Pulse | 2023-02-08T16:40:43+00:00 | kwch.com | https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2023/02/08/former-deputy-secretary-us-department-health-human-services-hhs-joins-board-healthcare-finance-start-up-capital-pulse/ |
Local Christian camp hosts camp for families with autism
NEAR STEWARTVILLE, Minn. (KTTC) – Ironwood Springs Christian Ranch (ISCR) is a busy place to be this week as the organization hosts a summer camp for people with autism.
It’s known as the Fun in the Sun Family Autism Camp.
ISCR has been putting on the Fun in the Sun Family Autism Camp for several years now and attracts families from here at home and out of state.
This is one of two camps the ranch is offering this summer, with fun learning and family experiences that maybe haven’t been done before like ziplining, laser tag, STEM-related activities and much more.
The camp is completely accessible and inclusive, so every activity can be adapted to everyone’s development, taking into consideration physical and cognitive levels.
“What’s magical about this camp is that we provide experiences that families never thought they would do together,” ISCR Program Director Matthew Van Dixon said. “For instance ziplining: to see a child go down the zipline where parents say, ‘well they won’t even talk to anybody, go outside without somebody to support them, and here they are going down a zipline for the first time,’ it’s pretty magical to see them come out of their shell.”
Parents say they keep coming back because it feels more like family than just a camp.
“We keep coming back because it’s family to us,” parent Misti Hemann said. “I like coming out here and everybody’s the same, everyone’s got the same type of issues, you don’t get looked at funny when you’re out in public.”
“You know they can go down the zipline, and do some of the activities they’ve done for years but they always learn something new from it and I think that’s the great thing we see then reach a milestone that we never thought they could do,” parent Trish Mosser said.
Van Dixon says interest in the camp continues to grow each year, and he hopes to continue to provide additional camps in the future.
Copyright 2022 KTTC. All rights reserved. | 2022-07-19T00:28:21+00:00 | kttc.com | https://www.kttc.com/2022/07/19/local-christian-camp-hosts-camp-families-with-autism/ |
4 Patriotic Cocktails That Are Perfect For Celebrating America
Nothing says 'Merica like red, white, and blue cocktails.
Am I right?
We thought it would be fun to gather up a few recipes that taste as good as they look...and are fairly easy to make.
Well, 3 of the 4 are really easy.
The red, white, and blue margaritas are definitely labor-intensive, but worth it.
4 Patriotic Cocktails That Are Perfect For Celebrating America
Nothing says 'Merica better than a red white and blue cocktail. Here are 4 of our favorite cocktail recipes.
If you end up making any of these make sure you take a picture and share it with us using the My Country 95.5 App.
Get our free mobile app
16 No Cost And Low Cost Family Friendly Activities To Do In Central Wyoming
When you have children (and especially if you have a larger family) it can be hard to find fun things to do in Wyoming, while sticking to a budget. Here are 16 suggestions that are no-cost or low-cost and all of the activities are located in Central Wyoming. | 2022-07-01T20:32:59+00:00 | k2radio.com | https://k2radio.com/4-patriotic-cocktails-that-are-perfect-for-celebrating-america/ |
TrueCar Releases Analysis of October Industry Sales
Published: Oct. 28, 2022 at 9:00 AM EDT|Updated: 2 hours ago
Industry sales this month up 15% from a year ago
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Oct. 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- TrueCar, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRUE), the easiest, most efficient and transparent online destination for buying and selling new and used vehicles, expects total new vehicle industry sales to reach 1,165,658 units in October 2022, up 15% from a year ago and about on par with September 2022, when adjusted for the same number of selling days. This month's seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) for total light vehicle industry sales is an estimated 14.6 million, up 13% from October 2021. Excluding fleet sales, TrueCar expects U.S. retail deliveries of new cars and light trucks to be 995,808 units, up 9% from a year ago and down about 2% from September 2022.
"The sales pace has improved from a year ago though we expect it to be on par with the prior month when adjusting for selling days. With the backdrop of increased interest rates and sustained elevated pricing, the limiting factor for sales may be shifting from inventory to affordability," said Zack Krelle, Industry Analyst at TrueCar. "We are keeping a close eye on counter-measures to tackle affordability concerns."
"In October we're seeing Honda, Nissan and General Motors continuing to gain traction in sales, with last month's indication of positive growth materializing into this month," said Justin Colon, Vice President of OEM Solutions at TrueCar. "GM's huge push into electric vehicles is building momentum while the Malibu is currently positioned to capture sales as an affordability outlet."
Additional October Industry Insights (from TrueCar):
Total sales for October 2022 are expected to be up 15% from a year ago and about even with September 2022 when adjusted for the same number of selling days.
Fleet sales for October 2022 are expected to be up 64% from a year ago and up 11% from September 2022 when adjusted for the same number of selling days.
Average transaction price for new vehicles is projected to be up 3% from a year ago and slightly down from September 2022.
Total SAAR is expected to be up 13% from a year ago at 14.6 million units.
Used vehicle sales for October 2022 are expected to reach almost 3 million, down 13% from a year ago and even with September 2022.
The average interest rate on new vehicles is 6.3% compared to September 2022 at 6% and the average interest rate on used vehicles is about 9%.
The average loan term on a new vehicle for October 2022 is about 70 months and the average loan term on a used vehicle is about 71 months.
(Note: This industry insight is based solely on TrueCar, Inc.'s analysis of domestic industry sales trends and conditions and is not a projection of TrueCar, Inc.'s operations.)
About TrueCar
TrueCar is a leading automotive digital marketplace that lets auto buyers and sellers connect to our nationwide network of Certified Dealers. With access to an expansive inventory provided by our Certified Dealers, we are building the industry's most personalized and efficient auto shopping experience as we seek to bring more of the process online. Consumers who visit our marketplace will find a suite of vehicle discovery tools, price ratings and market context on new, used and Certified Pre-Owned vehicles. When they are ready, shoppers in TrueCar's marketplace can connect with a Certified Dealer in our network, who shares our belief that truth, transparency and fairness are the foundation of a great auto shopping experience. As part of our marketplace, TrueCar powers auto-buying programs for over 250 leading brands, including AARP, Sam's Club, Navy Federal Credit Union and American Express.
The above press release was provided courtesy of PRNewswire. The views, opinions and statements in the press release are not endorsed by Gray Media Group nor do they necessarily state or reflect those of Gray Media Group, Inc. | 2022-10-28T14:48:02+00:00 | wcjb.com | https://www.wcjb.com/prnewswire/2022/10/28/truecar-releases-analysis-october-industry-sales/ |
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate
WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court justices tend to wipe the slate clean at the start of a new term, the bruised feelings occasioned by tough cases eased by a summer break.
But this year, some justices are engaging in an extended and unusual public disagreement over the court's legitimacy following the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
The latest comments came Tuesday night from conservative Justice Samuel Alito, the author of the June decision that took away women’s constitutional protections for abortion. But the dust-up began months earlier with liberal Justice Elena Kagan, who has made a series of comments about the court's legitimacy. On Friday, she had said she was hopeful but reserving judgment on whether a court dominated 6-3 by conservatives can again find “common ground."
On Tuesday, Alito was answering a question at a forum at the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington when he said that “someone also crosses an important line" when saying "that the court is acting in a way that is illegitimate.”
“I don't think anybody in a position of authority should make that claim lightly,” he said without citing Kagan by name. Alito, who was nominated by President George W. Bush, joined the court in 2006. Kagan, picked by President Barack Obama, joined in 2010.
Polls show public trust in the court is at historic lows. A Gallup Poll released in late September found the level of trust and confidence in the judicial branch was at 47%, the lowest since the organization began surveying the public on the topic in the 1970s. It was 67% in 2020.
Speaking in Montana in July, Kagan said the court “earns its legitimacy” through its actions.
“Overall the way the court retains its legitimacy and fosters public confidence is by acting like a court, is by doing the kinds of things that do not seem to people political or partisan, by not behaving as though we are just people with individual political or policy or social preferences that we're, you know, making everybody live with,” Kagan said. She also said she wasn't talking about any particular decision.
Chief Justice John Roberts made his own public comments about the court's legitimacy in early September, defending the institution he has led for 17 years. “Simply because people disagree with an opinion is not a basis for questioning the legitimacy of the court,” he said.
But Kagan wasn't done, revisiting her legitimacy comments in appearances later the same month at Temple Emanu-El in New York and at Northwestern University. Then, in remarks at Salve Regina University in Rhode Island, she said the court should not be "wandering around just inserting itself into every hot button issue in America" and it especially "shouldn't be doing that in a way that reflects one ideology" or "one set of political views over another.”
Alito had also weighed in previously on the issue. In comments to The Wall Street Journal in late September he said that "saying or implying that the court is becoming an illegitimate institution or questioning our integrity crosses an important line.”
Another explosive matter that called into question how the court functions was the stunning leak of a draft of the court's opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson, the abortion ruling, nearly two months before it was officially issued.
Despite the extraordinary nature of the leak, the court has said little since about its investigation and whether anyone had been called to account for such a fundamental breach of court protocol.
Alito addressed that issue as well. “It was a grave betrayal of trust by somebody,” he said, without commenting on whether an investigation into the leak had concluded or identified the leaker.
He also said the leak made the justices who were thought to be in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade “targets for assassination" that "gave people a rational reason to think they could prevent that from happening by killing one of us.”
After the leak but before the final opinion came out, a man was arrested near the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, one of the justices who ultimately voted to overturn Roe v. Wade. The 26-year-old Californian called 911 himself to report he was having suicidal thoughts and planned to kill Kavanaugh. He was charged with attempted murder and has since pleaded not guilty.
The contentious debate over the court's legitimacy will not wane any time soon. The court will next hear oral arguments on Monday on whether to bar the use of race in college admissions. | 2022-10-26T20:38:08+00:00 | seattlepi.com | https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Supreme-Court-justices-spar-over-court-legitimacy-17536374.php |
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A house fire in northwestern Turkey believed to have been caused by a heater has left eight children and a woman dead, an official said Wednesday. The victims were Syrian refugees.
The fire broke out late on Tuesday in the first floor of a four-story building in the Yildirim district in Bursa province, Gov. Yakup Canbolat said.
The victims were six siblings aged between 1 and 10, their 31-year-old mother and two cousins aged 10 and 11.
Their father, who was not at home when the fire broke out, tried to rescue his family members but was affected by the smoke and hospitalized, according to the governor.
“Our fire extinguishing teams immediately rushed to the area and tried to put out the fire, but unfortunately, after the fire was extinguished, the picture (they saw) inside was saddening. We were deeply saddened,” Canbolat said.
“It’s a huge heartbreak. It's impossible to describe,” he added.
A preliminary inspection of the scene indicates that the fire was caused by a stove heater, Canbolat said.
Three neighbors were also hospitalized for smoke inhalation.
Turkey is home to 3.7 million refugees from Syria. | 2022-11-09T08:10:25+00:00 | lmtonline.com | https://www.lmtonline.com/news/article/House-fire-in-Turkey-kills-8-Syrian-refugee-17570294.php |
SPIELBERG, Austria (AP) — Charles Leclerc had kept putting on a brave face as success escaped him and tensions mounted at Ferrari in a run of five F1 races without a podium spot for the driver. After winning the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday, Leclerc’s beaming smile was back.
Leclerc faced a big challenge in the closing laps as his throttle was not working properly, making it more difficult to control his speed into turns.
It was a different story for his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz Jr., whose hopes of a second-place finish in Austria dramatically ended when his engine blew as he was catching Formula One world champion Max Verstappen’s Red Bull. Sainz got out as flames were licking his race suit. Unharmed, he sat on the grass to contemplate his bad luck.
Sainz won last weekend at the British GP, where Leclerc dropped from first to fourth. After missing out there, Leclerc bounced back to hold off Verstappen in Austria by 1.5 seconds for a third win this season.
It was Leclerc’s first victory since the Australian GP in April. After second place at the United States GP in May, Leclerc’s five races included two DNFs, two fourth places and one fifth.
“I kept being optimistic, but obviously hard races after hard races it felt like everything was against me,” said Leclerc, who also won the Bahrain GP. “Finally we had a breakthrough and it really feels good to have a win again.”
Leclerc said it was “very stressful” as the throttle issue persisted.
“I definitely needed that win, the last five races have been incredibly difficult,” the Monaco driver said. “It’s great that we’re finally having a normal race on my side.”
A relieved Leclerc sang along as the anthem played on the podium, then engaged in a Champagne-spraying joust with Verstappen. Leclerc didn’t forget Ferrari’s race director Laurent Mekies, either, dousing him with bubbly.
The mutual respect between Verstappen and Leclerc — both 24 years old and former fierce karting rivals — is growing.
“You guys were so fast today,” Verstappen said in the post-race cool down room.
“Yeah, we were very quick,” Leclerc replied.
Leclerc moved up to second overall but is still a distant 38 points behind Verstappen — 208 vs. 170 — with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez dropping to third. He retired after 26 of 71 laps after being hit on the opening lap when trying to overtake George Russell’s Mercedes.
Verstappen picked up a bonus point for fastest lap to go with the eight points he took by winning Saturday’s sprint race.
Lewis Hamilton finished third for Mercedes and secured a third straight podium place. Russell got a five-second time penalty for the Perez incident but placed fourth. Even more impressive since Mercedes had to repair both cars after a late crash in Friday’s sprint qualifying.
“Those are great points,” Hamilton said. “So thankful to the team for working so hard.”
After cutting out on Lap 58, Sainz’s car was burning and started to slide backward in the gravel as a marshal rushed toward it with a fire extinguisher.
“I saw the car was catching fire and at the same time I was trying to push the brake,” Sainz said. “I was calling the marshals to put something on the tires to stop the car rolling down. At some point, there was so much fire I just had to get out.”
He thinks things could have been done more quickly.
“It’s something we could look at,” Sainz said. “It wasn’t the easiest situation.”
The incident brought out a virtual safety car, causing Leclerc and Verstappen to change to fresh tires in case a real safety car came out.
Leclerc’s fifth career victory was one of his best. It was also a very welcome one after much confusion over team decisions.
Leclerc was exasperated at the British GP when his team kept him out on track rather than pit him for new tires during a late safety car, leading to Sainz’s first victory and discussion about team divisions within Ferrari.
This time Sainz was left with a bitter taste.
“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,” he repeated disbelievingly when his engine went.
Seconds later he had more pressing matters as the flames rose.
Verstappen never really looked like getting his seventh win of the season and his fifth overall at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, where legions of orange-clad fans roared him on at his team’s home race.
“It’s just a shame I couldn’t give them a win today,” he said. “We suffered with the tires. Still, second place is a good result.”
Esteban Ocon capped his 100th F1 race with fifth for Alpine ahead of Mick Schumacher, who is on a roll with Haas after securing his first career points with eighth place at Silverstone.
Lando Norris (McLaren), Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Daniel Ricciardo (Mclaren) and Fernando Alonso (Alpine) completed the top 10.
Leclerc had already overtaken Verstappen twice with clean passes to control the race. But with around 20 laps to go Verstappen led again after Ferrari pitted Leclerc and Sainz in quick succession.
But with only a small lead Verstappen was unable to hold out for long and Leclerc overtook smoothly.
Verstappen had started from pole ahead of Leclerc and Sainz. They almost collided as they chased each other in Saturday’s sprint race. By late Sunday afternoon, Sainz was being consoled in the team garage.
Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri bumped Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin into the gravel and got a five-second penalty. After emerging unscratched from a horror crash at the British GP, Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu placed 14th for Alfa Romeo.
___
More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | 2022-07-11T14:33:02+00:00 | myfox8.com | https://myfox8.com/sports/ap-sports/leclercs-smile-is-back-after-austrian-gp-win-sainz-unhappy/ |
NORCO, Calif. (AP) — An 80-year-old Southern California liquor store owner who opened fire with a shotgun and wounded a would-be armed robber this summer has died, the store reported Tuesday.
Craig Cope died Tuesday morning, and a memorial at Norco Market & Liquor will be held at a later date, according to a Facebook post. It didn’t mention a cause of death.
Cope was alone at the counter shortly before 3 a.m. on July 31 in Norco in Riverside County when a man in a ski mask came through the door, pointing a rifle and demanding: “Hands in the air! Hands in the air!” Surveillance video shows Cope firing one blast from the shotgun.
The gunman fled. Surveillance cameras outside the store caught him screaming “He shot my arm off, he shot my arm off!” as he got into a car and was driven away.
“I didn’t have time to be afraid” after the car with four robbers pulled into the parking lot, and some got out wearing masks and gloves and holding weapons, Cope told KTTV-TV.
One robber came through the door with what Cope said appeared to be a semiautomatic rifle.
“The guy pointed the gun directly at me. It was him or me,” Cope told the station.
Four men were later arrested at a hospital where the wounded suspect was being treated. The getaway car had been stolen in Las Vegas and contained stolen weapons, authorities said.
Cope was commended by the Sheriff’s Department. Video of the shooting made him a celebrity. People flocked to the store to photograph and congratulate him and to buy items, including a T-shirt with the slogan “Don’t Mess with Norco, We’ll shoot your arm off,” KABC-TV reported.
Cope had owned the store since 1976. After the shooting, he suffered a heart attack but recovered and returned to work before having a disabling stroke in October. | 2022-12-28T19:23:52+00:00 | everythinglubbock.com | https://www.everythinglubbock.com/news/national/ap-80-year-old-california-store-owner-who-shot-robber-dies/ |
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Charisma Osborne scored 11 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter to lift No. 17 UCLA to a 70-62 win over Washington on Saturday to close the regular season.
KiKi Rice added 15 points for the Bruins (22-8, 11-7 Pac-12 Conference), who pulled away by making 9 of 15 shots. Londynn Jones had 10 points as all 10 players scored for UCLA.
Haley Van Dyke scored 12 points for the Huskies (15-13, 7-11) and Elle Ladine and Hannah Stines added 11 each.
The Bruins scored the first seven points of the third quarter to take a 40-34 lead. Later, Rice made two free throws to make it 48-39. The lead was seven heading into the fourth quarter.
The Huskies pulled within 57-53 midway through the final quarter on a Ladine 3. Osborne then hit a jumper and a 3-pointer and had nine points in an 11-2 run for a 13-point lead with less than two minutes to play.
Washington shot only 39% but was 8 of 18 (44%) from 3-point range and 14 of 14 from the foul line. The Huskies had 17 turnovers. UCLA shot 48% with six 3-pointers.
UCLA led by 10 on a Jones layup late in the first quarter but the Huskies scored the last seven points to pull within 16-13. After a Bruins bucket to open the second quarter Washington scored seven more, taking a 20-18 lead on a 3-pointer by Ladine. Stines hit a 3 in the final minute of the quarter to give Washington a 34-33 lead at the break.
___
AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25 | 2023-02-25T23:51:23+00:00 | lmtonline.com | https://www.lmtonline.com/sports/article/osborne-leads-no-17-ucla-women-past-washington-17805940.php |
Pennsylvania trooper, suspect killed in shootout; 2nd trooper seriously wounded
LEWISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A state trooper and a suspect were killed Saturday in a shootout in central Pennsylvania, hours after the suspect seriously wounded another trooper, state police said.
Police in Juniata County said a man engaged troopers at about 12:45 p.m. near the Lewistown barracks and shot one trooper, who was taken to a hospital with serious injuries.
Authorities found the man shortly before 3 p.m. in Walker Township, about 21 miles (33 km) east of Lewistown. The shooter and a trooper were then killed during the resulting shootout, state police said in a news release.
The name of the trooper and the suspect who died and the name and condition of the wounded trooper were not immediately available.
Officials said Saturday evening there was no threat to the public.
Gov. Josh Shapiro and Col. Christopher Paris of the state police were at the hospital where the injured trooper was being treated, state police said.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | 2023-06-18T03:51:46+00:00 | wagmtv.com | https://www.wagmtv.com/2023/06/18/pennsylvania-trooper-suspect-killed-shootout-2nd-trooper-seriously-wounded/ |
Jane Doe whose remains were found in 1979 identified by police
WEST HAVEN, Conn. (WFSB/Gray News) - Police in Connecticut have finally identified a woman whose remains were found 44 years ago thanks to DNA and genealogy testing.
The West Haven Police Department said the skeletal remains of a woman were found in April 1979 on what was then the New Haven Water Company property located off Derby Avenue in West Haven.
The woman was known as Jane Doe for 44 years.
On Thursday, police announced that the woman’s remains were identified as Sarah Tatham Abbott, also known as “Sally” by her family. She was born Aug. 3, 1940 in Manhattan, New York.
With Abbott now properly identified, a preliminary investigation was conducted with police revealing that she was 29 years old when she disappeared from New Haven in July 1970.
Officials said the investigation into Abbott’s death did not provide any definitive conclusions as to her manner and cause of death.
Authorities said her cause of death will remain undetermined.
Anyone who may have information pertaining to Abbott is asked to contact the West Haven Police Department Investigative Services Division at 203-937-3905.
Copyright 2023 WFSB via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | 2023-07-06T21:12:40+00:00 | fox5vegas.com | https://www.fox5vegas.com/2023/07/06/jane-doe-whose-remains-were-found-1979-identified-by-police/ |
Magic vs. Bucks: Betting Trends, Odds, Records Against the Spread, Home/Road Splits
Published: Mar. 1, 2023 at 3:29 AM EST|Updated: 29 minutes ago
The Milwaukee Bucks (44-17) host the Orlando Magic (26-36) after winning 10 straight home games. The Bucks are favored by 9.5 points in the matchup, which begins at 8:00 PM ET on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.
Magic vs. Bucks Odds & Info
- When: Wednesday, March 1, 2023 at 8:00 PM ET
- Where: Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- TV: BSFL and BSWI
Check out the latest NBA odds and place your bets on this matchup with BetMGM Sportsbook.
Magic Betting Records & Stats
- The Magic have hit the over in 29 of their 62 games with a set total (46.8%).
- Orlando is 35-27-0 against the spread this season.
- The Magic have won in 21, or 41.2%, of the 51 contests they have been named as odds-on underdogs in this year.
- Orlando has a record of 2-3 when it is set as the underdog by +350 or more by bookmakers this season.
- The moneyline set for this matchup implies Orlando has a 22.2% chance of walking away with the win.
Magic vs. Bucks Over/Under Stats
Additional Magic Insights & Trends
- Orlando has a 5-5 record against the spread while going 6-4 overall in its past 10 games.
- The Magic have gone over the total twice in their past 10 contests.
- This year, Orlando is 17-14-0 at home against the spread (.548 winning percentage). On the road, it is 18-13-0 ATS (.581).
- The Magic put up an average of 110.6 points per game, just 0.5 fewer points than the 111.1 the Bucks give up to opponents.
- When it scores more than 111.1 points, Orlando is 23-4 against the spread and 18-9 overall.
New to BetMGM Sportsbook? We've got a great offer for new users! Be sure to use our link to get this fantastic first-time player promotion.
Magic vs. Bucks Betting Splits
Magic vs. Bucks Point Insights
Not all offers available in all states, please visit BetMGM for the latest promotions for your area. Must be 21+ to gamble, please wager responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, contact 1-800-GAMBLER.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | 2023-03-01T08:59:03+00:00 | wcjb.com | https://www.wcjb.com/sports/betting/2023/03/01/magic-vs-bucks-nba-betting-trends-stats/ |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.