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Black farmers make up a small, aging part of the farming population. Some worry traditions may die with them. So there's an effort in Mississippi to cultivate the next generation of Black farmers.
Copyright 2023 NPR
Black farmers make up a small, aging part of the farming population. Some worry traditions may die with them. So there's an effort in Mississippi to cultivate the next generation of Black farmers.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-28/cultivating-the-next-generation-of-black-farmers-in-mississippi | 2023-07-28T22:40:59 | 1 | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-28/cultivating-the-next-generation-of-black-farmers-in-mississippi |
Trader Joe's has recalled its frozen falafel for potentially having rocks in it, after it recalled two of its cookie products for the same reason recently.
The company's supplier informed them of the concern, and Trader Joe's said in a statement Friday that "all potentially affected product has been removed from sale and destroyed."
Customers who purchased the product should discard it or return it to a Trader Joe's location for a full refund, the company said.
The falafel, which is fully cooked and frozen, has the SKU number 93935 and is sold in Washington, D.C., and 34 states.
Last Friday, Trader Joe's said rocks could also possibly be found in its Almond Windmill Cookies and Dark Chocolate Chunk and Almond Cookies.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.kasu.org/money-economy/2023-07-28/trader-joes-recalls-its-frozen-falafel-for-possibly-having-rocks-in-it | 2023-07-28T22:41:00 | 1 | https://www.kasu.org/money-economy/2023-07-28/trader-joes-recalls-its-frozen-falafel-for-possibly-having-rocks-in-it |
Wayfair has officially kicked off its 5 Days of Deals summer sales event with discounts site-wide up to 70 percent off now through Aug. 1.
During Wayfair’s 5 Days of Deals sale, customers can get up to 70 percent off area rugs and wall art, up to 60 percent off bedroom furniture, mirrors and decor, up to 55 percent off living room seating and outdoor furniture, up to 50 percent off kitchen and dining furniture among other deals and discounts.
Wayfair is also offering up to 40 percent of fire pits and outdoor heating products. However, there seem to be a few of these particular items that are available with even bigger markdowns. All orders over $35 also qualify for free shipping.
For those looking to spend more time outdoors this summer and update their backyard haven, we’ve selected some of the best deals you can find on fire pits and outdoor fire places/fire tables during Wayfair’s 5 Days of Deals.
Check out these deals below. | https://www.al.com/shopping/2023/07/best-deals-on-fire-pits-and-outdoor-fireplaces-during-wayfairs-5-days-of-deals-event.html | 2023-07-28T22:41:00 | 0 | https://www.al.com/shopping/2023/07/best-deals-on-fire-pits-and-outdoor-fireplaces-during-wayfairs-5-days-of-deals-event.html |
DENVER — A police officer who placed a woman in a parked patrol car just before it was hit by a train in Platteville, Colorado, has been found guilty of reckless endangerment and third-degree assault.
Jordan Steinke, of the Fort Lupton Police Department, was acquitted of the last charge of manslaughter, according to The Associated Press. Steinke was one of two officers who went to trial over a crash that left Yareni Rios-Gonzalez seriously injured on Sept. 16, 2022.
The patrol car was parked by the intersection of U.S. 85 and County Road 36, KMGH reported.
Rios-Gonzalez suffered a traumatic brain injury and according to The Denver Post, she is suing over the treatment.
Rios-Gonzalez was arrested because another driver had reported that she allegedly pointed a gun at him during an alleged road rage incident, according to the newspaper. One of her lawyers, Chris Ponce, said that she pleaded no contest to misdemeanor menacing.
The other officer, Pablo Vazquez of the Platteville Police Department, had parked the cruiser on the train tracks.
Steinke reportedly testified that she did not know that the other officer’s patrol car was on the train tracks, which contradicted her body camera footage that showed two railroad crossing signs, the AP reported. She said she was focused “on the threat,” which was Rios-Gonzalez and her truck.
Steinke said that she placed Rios-Gonzalez in the patrol car temporarily because she believed it would keep her secure, which defense expert Steve Ijames testified is standard practice for high-risk traffic stops, the Post reported.
Steinke said she did not know the train was coming until before it hit, the AP reported.
“I never in a million years thought a train was going to come plowing through my scene,” Steinke said, according to the newspaper. | https://www.star945.com/news/trending/officer-who-put-suspect-patrol-car-that-was-hit-by-train-found-guilty-reckless-endangerment/SD43Z5GTS5DELKZASVMTHS5T4E/ | 2023-07-28T22:40:59 | 1 | https://www.star945.com/news/trending/officer-who-put-suspect-patrol-car-that-was-hit-by-train-found-guilty-reckless-endangerment/SD43Z5GTS5DELKZASVMTHS5T4E/ |
Montana train derailment report renews calls for automated systems to detect track problems
Federal investigators renewed their recommendation that major freight railroads equip every locomotive with the kind of autonomous sensors that could have caught the track flaws that caused a fatal 2021 Amtrak derailment in northern Montana.
But installing the sensors on the tens of thousands of locomotives in the fleet could be cost prohibitive, and it’s not entirely clear if one would have caught the combination of rail flaws that the National Transportation Safety Board said caused the crash near Joplin, Montana, that killed three people and injured 49 others. And rail unions caution that no technology should be a substitute for human inspectors.
The NTSB report laid blame in part on BNSF railroad, which owns the tracks, and “a shortcoming in its safety culture.” But it noted that even if track inspections had been more frequent, the severity of the problems may not have been noticed the day of the crash without devices and technology designed to enhance the inspections.
“It is unlikely that the track deviations would have been detected through the current track inspection process,” the board concluded in the report released Thursday. But “autonomous monitoring systems … have the ability to monitor track conditions and provide real-time condition monitoring that could be used for early identification and mitigation of unsafe track conditions.”
BNSF defends its safety record and said it already employs a number of the sensors that the NTSB is recommending. Spokeswoman Lena Kent said BNSF inspections meet all federal requirements, and the Fort Worth, Texas-based railroad is committed to timely maintenance, repair and replacement whenever issues or potential issues are detected.
But track problems have long been a safety concern for the NTSB, which can recommend but not mandate changes. In a 2021 report on the Joplin derailment, it attributed 592 U.S. derailments over a decade-long timespan to “track geometry,” which includes the distance between the rails and their horizontal and vertical alignment. Those issues were the second-leading cause of derailment in 2021.
Railroad safety expert Dave Clarke, the former director of University of Tennesse’s Center for Transportation Research, said it is important to remember that the NTSB doesn’t do any kind of cost-benefit analysis on its recommendations.
“If they think something is a good idea for safety they put it out there. In the real world there may be no way to economically or practically do everything NTSB recommends,” Clarke said.
Clarke said it’s also not clear that these sensors would have definitely caught the problems that caused the Montana derailment because none of the individual factors was severe enough to be considered a defect under Federal Railroad Administration rules. The NTSB said it was the combination of all those factors that caused the derailment.
The major freight railroads have more than 23,000 locomotives in their fleets, including thousands that have been put into storage in recent years as the railroads have overhauled their operations to rely more on longer trains that don’t need as many locomotives.
It would require a major investment to add detectors to every locomotive, although the Association of American Railroads trade group couldn’t immediately provide an estimate of how much each sensor costs. BNSF and the five other major U.S. freight railroads already spend roughly $23 billion every year on improving and maintaining their networks and investing in new equipment.
But attorney Jeff Goodman, who represented family members of the three passengers who died in the derailment, said he believes his clients would have lived if trains that had passed through the area before the Amtrak train had been equipped with these sensors.
Tracks will always bend or get out of sync because they’re exposed to the elements, but monitoring allows trains to know when to slow down and prevent accidents, he said.
“If the recommendations that the NTSB issued today were implemented prior to this tragedy, Zach Scheider and Don and Marjorie Varnadoe would all be alive today,” he said, naming the deceased family members of his clients.
Railroads have long resisted new regulations, Although there aren’t any rules requiring these automated inspection sensors or the thousands of trackside detectors they employ, railroads have spent millions developing the technology and installed them voluntarily to improve safety. But regulators are considering drafting rules for them in the wake of recent derailments.
An AAR trade group spokeswoman said that the type of sensors the NTSB singled out measure the force a locomotive exerts on the track and hasn’t proven as useful as other kinds of sensors railroads have developed.
“This technology has been difficult to maintain in real-world operations and lacks a strong correlation to track geometry defects,” Jessica Kahanek said.
Railroads are experimenting with a variety of technologies to find the best way to spot problems.
Another kind of autonomous sensor that can be installed on locomotives as well as the trucks inspectors use to ride along the rails can spot problems like misaligned track and wear on the rails by testing the track continuously.
Vehicle track interaction systems, like the ones the NTSB singled out, must be mounted on locomotives because they measure the force a train puts on the tracks.
Both kinds of sensors can help identify areas of concern for a human inspector to follow up on after computers analyze the data they generate. But the VTI sensors tend to be so sensitive that they flag areas where there aren’t true defects.
In the past, BNSF and other railroads have even petitioned the Federal Railroad Administration to get a waiver releasing them from some inspection requirements because they believe the track geometry sensors provide enough information that the frequency of human inspections can be safely reduced.
Federal officials approved a waiver allowing BNSF to reduce inspections on a couple of areas of its more than 30,000-mile (48,000-kilometer) network after the railroad successfully tested the devices for several years, but later declined to let the railroad expand that practice, including its tracks that cross Montana. BNSF took the FRA to court over that decision and the dispute is still pending.
Rail unions have opposed the waivers. They argue that while the new technology is helpful, it shouldn’t replace human inspections. Even with an interest in preserving jobs, they say safety is their primary concern.
Already, the unions say the widespread job cuts the major railroads have made — eliminating nearly one-third of all rail jobs over the past six years — have made it difficult for employees to keep up with inspection demands and meet all FRA requirements. The NTSB pointed out that the inspector responsible for the territory where the Montana derailment happened had worked an average of 13 hours a day in the four weeks prior to the crash.
Former NTSB director Bob Chipkevich, who spent years investigating rail crashes, said it often takes multiple derailments to force railroads to implement new safety technology.
One of the biggest recent advances in rail safety came after a commuter train collided head-on with a freight train near Los Angeles in 2008, killing 25 people and injuring more than 100. Congress mandated a $15 billion automatic braking system that stops trains when they’re in danger of colliding, derailing and other situations — but it took 12 years to complete.
“When there are safety issues that have been raised after multiple accidents that occurred again and again, the question is to the industry,” Chipkevich said. “Why haven’t you done it after all these years?”
___
Funk reported from Omaha, Nebraska, and Metz reported from Salt Lake City.
___
Follow Josh Funk on Twitter at www.twitter.com/funkwrite
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.kob.com/news/business-money/montana-train-derailment-report-renews-calls-for-automated-systems-to-detect-track-problems/ | 2023-07-28T22:41:01 | 0 | https://www.kob.com/news/business-money/montana-train-derailment-report-renews-calls-for-automated-systems-to-detect-track-problems/ |
Berlin's conservative mayor ran on a pledge to stand up for car drivers against encroachment from bicyclists. But bike-riders have pushed back, forcing the government to backpedal.
Copyright 2023 NPR
Berlin's conservative mayor ran on a pledge to stand up for car drivers against encroachment from bicyclists. But bike-riders have pushed back, forcing the government to backpedal.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-28/cyclists-and-car-drivers-in-berlin-fight-over-road-space | 2023-07-28T22:41:05 | 0 | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-28/cyclists-and-car-drivers-in-berlin-fight-over-road-space |
Brian Robinson Jr. led the Washington Commanders in rushing yards as a rookie in 2022 despite being shot two weeks before the season kicked off.
The former Alabama running back figures if he could do that after getting shot, think what he might do when healthy.
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“Not one time I felt like Brian Robinson,” Robinson said on Friday about the 2022 campaign. “That’s night and day from then to now, so people should expect a lot of great things to come when you compare all the things I did when I was limping around all year last year.”
On Aug. 28, the day after the Commanders’ final preseason game, Robinson was shot in the hip and knee when he was accosted by two armed teens seeking to steal his Dodge Challenger Hellcat in Washington, according to District of Columbia police, who reported Robinson wrested a gun away from one of the boys before being shot by the other.
After being shot, Robinson was taken to a hospital, where he had surgery before being released the next day.
The injuries caused Robinson to miss the first four games of the season. Robinson made his NFL debut on Oct. 9, went into the starting lineup the next week and played in 12 games before an injury kept him off the field in the season finale.
“I’m very grateful,” Robinson said. “There’s not a day that goes by that I’m not thankful and appreciative for everybody that was in my corner from the time everything happened up to this point, and I make sure I let everybody know every chance I get how much I appreciate them and how much I appreciate being here.”
Robinson ran for 797 yards and two touchdowns on 205 carries and caught nine passes for 60 yards and one touchdown as a rookie. Robinson had a three game-stretch during which he had 290 yards on 51 rushing attempts and five receptions for 53 yards and one touchdown.
RELATED: WHY WASN’T BRIAN ROBINSON JR. THE NFL COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR?
“I think we got to see it probably getting near the three-quarters of the way into the season,” Commanders coach Ron Rivera said on Friday about Robinson’s ability, “and then he got nicked up at the end with the thigh contusion. But I think we had a real good picture of what it can be.
“What we’re seeing now is a little more mature version of last year’s guy that went through camp. He’s still learning, he’s still growing and he’s still got a ways to go, but there’s a lot of promise, there’s a lot of excitement right now.”
Washington is working toward its season-opening game against the Arizona Cardinals on Sept. 10. Before that the Commanders will play the Cleveland Browns on Aug. 11, Baltimore Ravens on Aug. 21 and Cincinnati Bengals on Aug. 26 in preseason contests.
“I expect to have a great camp, and I expect to roll into the season with all the momentum in the world just coming off a strong camp,” Robinson said on Friday after Washington’s third practice of training camp.
A prep standout at Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa, Robinson joined the Commanders in the third round of the NFL Draft on April 29 after running for 1,343 yards and 14 touchdowns and catching 35 passes for 296 yards for Alabama during the 2021 season.
FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1. | https://www.al.com/sports/2023/07/brian-robinson-jr-feels-like-his-old-self-in-commanders-training-camp.html | 2023-07-28T22:41:06 | 1 | https://www.al.com/sports/2023/07/brian-robinson-jr-feels-like-his-old-self-in-commanders-training-camp.html |
Roller coaster with big crack has a second structural issue, inspectors say
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Another structural issue has been located with a large roller coaster that’s been closed for weeks since a large crack in a support column was discovered, a North Carolina agency confirmed on Friday.
A Swiss-based engineering company that designed and built the Fury 325 roller coaster at Carowinds, which sits along the North Carolina-South Carolina border, replaced that steel support column earlier this month, news outlets reported.
But the North Carolina Department of Labor, which inspects the ride and decides whether it can operate, said in an email that the agency has now been notified of a separate “weld indication,” which “could be either a break or a crack.”
“No certificate of operation has been issued nor do we have a timeline of when the certificate of operation will be issued for the Fury 325,” department spokesperson Meredith Watson said, referring other questions to Carowinds.
In a statement released Friday, Carowinds said it was conducting a full maintenance review of the ride while test runs are performed.
“During such reviews, it is not uncommon to discover slight weld indications in various locations of a steel superstructure. It is important to note that these indications do not compromise the structural integrity or safety of the ride,” the statement reads. “Once a repair is completed, it undergoes inspection and approval before the ride is deemed operational.”
Park staff closed Fury 325 on June 30 after a visitor pointed out the sizable crack. State Labor Commissioner Josh Dobson said earlier this month that the crack had been visible for at least a week before it was shut down.
Video of the coaster, which reaches 325 feet (99 meters) in height, had showed a key support beam bending with the top visibly detached as cars with passengers barreled by. The roller coaster runs at speeds of up to 95 mph (150 kph).
The department’s Elevator and Amusement Device Bureau said it had conducted its annual inspection of Fury 325 in February and only found a few signage issues, which the park quickly corrected.
Inspections by the park, the engineering company, a third-party testing firm and the Department of Labor have been ongoing. Carowinds has said it’s changing how it inspects rides daily, including the use of drone cameras to examine areas.
While the park straddles the border between the two states, North Carolina regulators inspect Fury 325 because its nearby entrance is in North Carolina.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.kob.com/news/business-money/roller-coaster-with-big-crack-has-a-second-structural-issue-inspectors-say/ | 2023-07-28T22:41:07 | 0 | https://www.kob.com/news/business-money/roller-coaster-with-big-crack-has-a-second-structural-issue-inspectors-say/ |
More than 600 Showrunner II Consoles on fitness equipment are being recalled because of a fire hazard.
The consoles have a wireless phone charger attached.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, an exposed area of the wireless charging board can come in contact with other internal wiring, posing a fire hazard.
These units included in the recall are aC4P, C4PAE, C4PBE, C4PES, C4PVC, C4PM, C4PMAE, C4PMBE, C4PMES or C4PMVC printed on a label located on the rear console cover at the connection point of console and cardio product base.
Consoles will need to be removed from the base to view the product number label.
The consoles are 16-inch Integrated Personal Viewing System (“PVS”) LCD Consoles for use with True Fitness exercise products, including treadmills, upright bikes, recumbent bikes, ellipticals and stepmills, created for commercial facilities. The model numbers for the fitness equipment include True Fitness Treadmill, Model TC900, True Fitness Stationary Bike, Model UC900, True Fitness Climber, Model VC900 and True Fitness Elliptical, Model XS1000.
Commercial facilities with these recalled products should immediately turn off and unplug the exercise equipment containing the console and contact True Fitness to receive a free replacement console.
The console containing the wireless phone charger with an uncovered mounting bracket is a component part of some True Fitness exercise equipment.
For more information, consumers can call True Fitness at 800-538-2740 between 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET Monday through Friday. Or online at www.truefitness.com/recall or www.truefitness.com. Click on “recall information” for more information.
©2023 Cox Media Group | https://www.star945.com/news/trending/recall-alert-consoles-fitness-equipment-recalled-due-fire-hazard/4H224XRZ4BEODHYDJJROGRT6MA/ | 2023-07-28T22:41:06 | 0 | https://www.star945.com/news/trending/recall-alert-consoles-fitness-equipment-recalled-due-fire-hazard/4H224XRZ4BEODHYDJJROGRT6MA/ |
With the WGA strike entering it's third month and SAG-AFTRA strike heading into its third week, L.A. workers reflect on what the Hollywood stoppage means for the local economy.
Copyright 2023 LAist 89.3
With the WGA strike entering it's third month and SAG-AFTRA strike heading into its third week, L.A. workers reflect on what the Hollywood stoppage means for the local economy.
Copyright 2023 LAist 89.3 | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-28/economic-anxiety-grows-in-los-angeles-as-hollywood-strikes-continue | 2023-07-28T22:41:11 | 0 | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-28/economic-anxiety-grows-in-los-angeles-as-hollywood-strikes-continue |
Trucking company Yellow Corp. is reportedly preparing for bankruptcy. Here’s what you need to know
NEW YORK (AP) — The fate of U.S. trucking company Yellow Corp. isn’t looking good.
After years of financial struggles, Yellow is reportedly preparing for bankruptcy and seeing customers leave in large numbers — heightening risk for future liquidation. While no official decision has been announced by the company, the prospect of bankruptcy has renewed attention around Yellow’s ongoing negotiations with unionized workers, a $700 million pandemic-era loan from the government and other bills the trucker has racked up over time.
Yellow, formerly known as YRC Worldwide Inc., is one of the nation’s largest less-than-truckload carriers. The Nashville, Tennessee-based company has some 30,000 employees across the country.
Here’s what you need to know.
IS YELLOW FILING FOR BANKRUPTCY?
Not yet. But industry experts suspect that a bankruptcy filing could come any day now.
People familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal that the company could seek bankruptcy protection as soon as this week — with some noting that a significant amount of customers have already started to leave the carrier.
Meanwhile, according to FreightWaves, employees were told to expect the filing Monday. Yellow laid off an unknown number of employees Friday, the outlet later reported, citing a memo that stated the company was “shutting down its regular operations.”
According to Satish Jindel, president of transportation and logistics firm SJ Consulting, Yellow handled an average of 49,000 shipments per day in 2022. As of this week, he estimates that number is down to between 10,000 and 15,000 daily shipments.
With customers leaving — as well reports of Yellow stopping freight pickups earlier this week — bankruptcy would “be the end of Yellow,” Jindel told The Associated Press, noting increased risk for liquidation.
“The likelihood of them surviving and remaining solvent diminishes really by the day,” added Bruce Chan, a research director at investment banking firm Stifel.
Yellow media contacts did not immediately respond to the Associated Press’ requests for comment on Friday. In a Wednesday statement to The Journal, the company said it was continuing “to prepare for a range of contingencies.” On Thursday, Yellow said it was in talks with multiple parties about selling its third-party logistics organization.
Even if Yellow was able to sell its logistics firm, it would “not generate a sufficient amount of cash to keep them operational on any sort of permanent basis,” Chan said. “Without a major equity injection, it would be very difficult for them to survive.”
HOW MUCH DEBT DOES YELLOW HAVE?
As of late March, Yellow had an outstanding debt of about $1.5 billion. Of that, $729.2 million was owed to the federal government.
In 2020, under the Trump administration, the Treasury Department granted the company a $700 million pandemic-era loan on national security grounds. Last month, a congressional probe concluded that the Treasury and Defense Departments “made missteps” in this decision — and noted that Yellow’s “precarious financial position at the time of the loan, and continued struggles, expose taxpayers to a significant risk of loss.”
The government loan is due in September 2024. As of March, Yellow had made $54.8 million in interest payments and repaid just $230 million of the principal owed, according to government documents.
Yellow’s current finances and prospect of bankruptcy “is probably two decades in the making,” Chan said, pointing to poor management and strategic decisions dating back to the early 2000s. “At this point, after each party has bailed them out so many times, there is a limited appetite to do that anymore.”
In May, Yellow reported a loss of $54.6 million, a decline of $1.06 per share, for its first quarter of 2023. Operating revenue was about $1.16 billion in the period.
A Wednesday investors note from financial service firm Stephens estimated that Yellow could be burning between $9 million and $10 million each day. Using a liquidity disclosure from earlier this month, Yellow had roughly $100 million in cash at the end of June, the note added — estimating that the company has been burning through increasing amounts of money through July.
“It is reasonable to believe that the Company could breach its $35 mil. liquidity requirement at any moment,” Stephens analyst Jack Atkins and associate Grant Smith wrote.
DID THE COMPANY JUST AVERT A STRIKE?
The reports of bankruptcy preparations arrive just days after a strike from the Teamsters, which represents Yellow’s 22,000 unionized workers, was averted.
A series of heated exchanges have built up between the Teamsters and Yellow, who sued the union in June after alleging it was “unjustifiably blocking” restructuring plans needed for the company’s survival. The Teamsters called the litigation “baseless” — with general president Sean O’Brien pointing to Yellow’s “decades of gross mismanagement,” which included exhausting the $700 million federal loan.
On Sunday, a pension fund agreed to extend health benefits for workers at two Yellow Corp. operating companies, averting a strike — and giving Yellow “30 days to pay its bills,” notably $50 million that Yellow failed to pay the Central States Health and Welfare Fund on July 15, the union said. While the strike didn’t occur, talks of a walkout may have caused some Yellow customers to pull back, Chan said.
Talks between Yellow and the Teamsters, which also represents UPS’s unionized workers, are ongoing. The current contract expires in March 2024.
“The financial struggles of Yellow are not related to the union and the contracts,” Jindel said, pointing to management’s responsibility around its services and prices. He added the union wages from Yellow are “lower than any competitor.”
WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF YELLOW WENT UNDER?
If Yellow files for bankruptcy and customers continue to take their shipments to other carriers, like FedEx or ABF Freight, prices will go up.
Yellow’s prices have historically been the cheapest compared to other carriers, Jindel said. “That’s why they obviously were not making money,” he added. “And while there is capacity with the other LTL carriers to handle the diversions from Yellow, it will come at a high price for (current shippers and customers) of Yellow.”
Chan adds that we’re in an interesting time for the LTL marketplace — noting that, if Yellow declares bankruptcy and liquidates, “the freight would find a home” with other carriers, which may not have been true in recent years.
“It may take time, but there’s room for it to be absorbed,” he said.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.kob.com/news/business-money/trucking-company-yellow-corp-is-reportedly-preparing-for-bankruptcy-heres-what-you-need-to-know/ | 2023-07-28T22:41:13 | 0 | https://www.kob.com/news/business-money/trucking-company-yellow-corp-is-reportedly-preparing-for-bankruptcy-heres-what-you-need-to-know/ |
Rapper Travis Scott released his latest album “Utopia” on Friday which features multiple artists on it including Beyoncé, Drake, and many others.
Scott’s album has 19 tracks on it, according to The Associated Press. It’s his first album in about five years.
Scott’s “Utopia” album is the “highly-anticipated follow-up” to “Astroworld” which was released in 2018, Rolling Stone reported.
Scott’s album features appearances from Beyoncé, SZA, James Black, Drake, the Weeknd, Bon Iver, and more, according to Rolling Stone.
The album was previously going to be celebrated with a live-streamed concert at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt but it was canceled due to “complex production issues,” Live Nation said in a statement obtained by the AP. But he did host a one-night-only release of his film, “Circus Maximus” at select movie theaters Thursday evening.
“Utopia” is his first album that has been released since the tragedy at his 2021 Astroworld music festival where 10 people died, the AP reported.
The festival took place in Houston and 10 people were killed in a crowd crush, according to CNN. Hundreds were left injured.
Earlier this year, a grand jury declined to file charges related to the tragedy at Astroworld against Scott, according to the AP.
©2023 Cox Media Group | https://www.star945.com/news/trending/travis-scott-releases-first-album-utopia-since-astroworld-festival-tragedy/54RUH7N4QNCKFLPFOAGCYRSCMY/ | 2023-07-28T22:41:14 | 1 | https://www.star945.com/news/trending/travis-scott-releases-first-album-utopia-since-astroworld-festival-tragedy/54RUH7N4QNCKFLPFOAGCYRSCMY/ |
Hulu's 'The Fool' gives a working class perspective of life in Los Angeles By Gabriel J. Sánchez, Sarah Handel Published July 28, 2023 at 5:48 PM EDT Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Listen • 4:16 Comedian and actor Frankie Quiñones talks about the second season of the show This Fool, now streaming on Hulu. Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-28/hulus-the-fool-gives-a-working-class-perspective-of-life-in-los-angeles | 2023-07-28T22:41:17 | 0 | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-28/hulus-the-fool-gives-a-working-class-perspective-of-life-in-los-angeles |
Recession? What recession? The Fed is still cautious, but big brands — Kimberly-Clark, Hilton, Visa, Chipotle, Coca-Cola — are singing praises to shoppers who seem un-swayed by their higher prices.
Copyright 2023 NPR
Recession? What recession? The Fed is still cautious, but big brands — Kimberly-Clark, Hilton, Visa, Chipotle, Coca-Cola — are singing praises to shoppers who seem un-swayed by their higher prices.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.kasu.org/money-economy/money-economy/2023-07-28/american-companies-report-surprisingly-high-spending-from-shoppers-despite-inflation | 2023-07-28T22:41:18 | 1 | https://www.kasu.org/money-economy/money-economy/2023-07-28/american-companies-report-surprisingly-high-spending-from-shoppers-despite-inflation |
Variety revises article on former CNN chief Jeff Zucker that was sharply criticized
NEW YORK (AP) — The entertainment publication Variety, under fire this week for an article it published about former CNN chief Jeff Zucker’s interest in his old employer, revised the piece on Friday to reflect some of the complaints about it.
None of its changes affected what was written about Zucker, however. He has called for the story to be retracted.
The article by Tatiana Siegel, which initially ran online Tuesday, depicted Zucker as badmouthing his successor at CNN, Chris Licht, while simultaneously trying to buy the news organization that fired him in early 2021. Licht’s unsuccessful run atop the struggling news network ended with his firing in May.
The dispute also points to the dangers inherent in the use of confidential sources by journalists. There are at least a dozen claims made in the story that Variety did not attribute to a named source that were denied on the record, either in the story or after publication, leaving it up to readers to decide who to believe.
“There used to be a time when Variety held its content and its reporters to a high standard of truth and facts in journalism, but those days are clearly over,” said Risa Heller, a spokeswoman for Zucker. “It is stunning to read a piece that is so patently and aggressively false. On numerous occasions, we made it clear to the reporter and her editors that they were planning to publish countless anecdotes and alleged incidents that never happened. They did so anyway. The piece is a total joke.”
Variety’s co-editor-in-chiefs, Cynthia Littleton and Ramin Setoodeh, said in a statement Friday that they have been carefully following the conversation about the story.
“The story was heavily vetted and deeply sourced,” they said. “Everyone included in the story was asked to comment and given the chance to respond. We stand by our reporting and our award-winning reporter.”
The piece is also critical of two reporters who have covered CNN, Tim Alberta of The Atlantic and Dylan Byers of Puck. Both of those news organizations complained of inaccuracies and, in the changes made on Friday, Variety added their specific denials.
Zucker’s team hasn’t sought to hide ill feelings toward Licht, but strongly denied he has tried to buy CNN.
The story begins with an anecdote about Zucker, “with tears in his eyes,” approaching David Zaslav in Miami Beach in March. Zaslav is CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, current owners of CNN, and Variety said Zucker complained that Licht was unfairly maligning him in the press. Zaslav wanted to know if Zucker was trying to assemble investors to buy CNN.
Byers, writing for Puck, said “multiple sources” said no such run-in at the Faena Hotel ever took place and Zucker’s spokeswoman said that anecdote wasn’t checked with them.
The story outlines several specific efforts made by Zucker, or on his behalf, to convince investors to join him in buying CNN. The story includes his denials: “Any allegation or insinuation that Jeff has made any effort to purchase CNN is unequivocally false,” Heller said. Zucker is now head of a private equity firm, RedBird IMI.
At one point, Variety also floated the theory that a secret group of investors was using Zucker’s name without his knowledge to approach Warner Bros. Discovery about buying CNN.
In a June 4 article, The New York Times reported that Zucker was not in talks to buy CNN, although “he has told some associates he would be interested in acquiring the network” if it came up for sale one day, the newspaper said.
The Variety article “struck me as utterly implausible and sophomoric,” Byers wrote for Puck this week.
Variety’s piece called Byers “a former Zucker disciple at CNN who, by his own admission, wrote about Licht incessantly and even took a victory lap after his exit.” The piece described Byers as a writer of “Zucker fan fiction” and criticized him for a conflict of interest in not disclosing in any of his articles that Zucker once had discussions about funding Puck, an online subscription news service.
In its revision on Friday, Variety quoted Puck’s co-founder, Jon Kelly, saying the discussions with RedBird were not disclosed by Byers because “Dylan was intentionally unaware of them.”
For The Atlantic, Alberta wrote a widely-read story that seen by many as being instrumental in Licht’s dismissal by Zaslav. Variety was critical of Alberta, and accused the reporter of using material in his story that he had agreed to keep off the record — a serious charge of malfeasance against a journalist.
As with Byers, Variety didn’t change what it had written about Alberta. But it added a paragraph to its story using some of what Alberta had written on social media, including a denial that he had used off-the-record material, and disputing Variety’s claim of how many times he had met with Licht while reporting the story.
The story was reposted on Variety’s home page. The only indication that it had been changed was a note at its end: “This story was updated on July 28 to reflect new statements from Kelly and Alberta.”
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.kob.com/news/business-money/variety-revises-article-on-former-cnn-chief-jeff-zucker-that-was-sharply-criticized/ | 2023-07-28T22:41:19 | 0 | https://www.kob.com/news/business-money/variety-revises-article-on-former-cnn-chief-jeff-zucker-that-was-sharply-criticized/ |
Marine scientists say record ocean temperatures have sparked widespread coral bleaching in the Florida Keys. The extreme heat and bleaching have been deadly — killing all coral on one popular reef.
Copyright 2023 NPR
Marine scientists say record ocean temperatures have sparked widespread coral bleaching in the Florida Keys. The extreme heat and bleaching have been deadly — killing all coral on one popular reef.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-28/scientists-fight-to-help-protect-the-florida-coral-thats-dying-from-heat | 2023-07-28T22:41:23 | 0 | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-28/scientists-fight-to-help-protect-the-florida-coral-thats-dying-from-heat |
PORSTMOUTH, N.H. -- A New Hampshire man celebrating his birthday on the ocean with his three daughters captured video of something so rare that even marine scientists are jealous - three humpback whales leaping from the water in near perfect unison.
"It was such an uplifting thing to see. Just incredible," Robert Addie said.
The Portsmouth man, now a home remodeler, spent decades on the water as a commercial fisherman in Massachusetts and Alaska.
In that time, he said he's seen thousands of whales.
But he never witnessed anything like Monday's whale encounter on a tuna fishing trip off Cape Cod.
The excursion with his daughters was for his 59th birthday, as well as to celebrate his safe return from a humanitarian aid trip to Ukraine where he came under heavy artillery fire.
During the fishing trip, he was trying to film some humpback whales about 300 yards (275 meters) from their boat and was having no luck, until he got what he called a "whale ballet."
"A triple breach is unheard of and a synchronized triple breach is even rarer," he said. "It's once in a lifetime.
Just very fortunate. I feel God shined down on me to allow me to to capture that."
To add to the thrill, seconds after the three whales breached and twisted through the air, a juvenile whale did the same thing. Whale experts later told Addie that the aerial maneuvers may have been an attempt to remove parasites or aid digestion.
He has another theory: "I have a feeling that maybe they were teaching or training" the younger whale.
Those same experts also know how rare the spectacle was.
"Even some of the whale experts that have reached out to me, they're all jealous because they've never seen it," Addie said. | https://6abc.com/humpback-whales-jump-in-unison-cape-cod/13563917/ | 2023-07-28T22:41:25 | 1 | https://6abc.com/humpback-whales-jump-in-unison-cape-cod/13563917/ |
With the WGA strike entering it's third month and SAG-AFTRA strike heading into its third week, L.A. workers reflect on what the Hollywood stoppage means for the local economy.
Copyright 2023 LAist 89.3
With the WGA strike entering it's third month and SAG-AFTRA strike heading into its third week, L.A. workers reflect on what the Hollywood stoppage means for the local economy.
Copyright 2023 LAist 89.3 | https://www.kasu.org/money-economy/money-economy/2023-07-28/economic-anxiety-grows-in-los-angeles-as-hollywood-strikes-continue | 2023-07-28T22:41:24 | 1 | https://www.kasu.org/money-economy/money-economy/2023-07-28/economic-anxiety-grows-in-los-angeles-as-hollywood-strikes-continue |
2 years after a woman and her dog were slain in an Atlanta park, police renew calls for public help
ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta police renewed calls Friday for the public’s help to try to solve the gruesome stabbing death of a woman who was walking her dog at a popular park two years ago, a killing that stoked fear across the city.
Katherine Janness, 40, was found just inside an entrance to Piedmont Park around 1 a.m. on July 28, 2021. She had been stabbed multiple times, and her dog, Bowie, was found nearby also stabbed to death.
Police still do not have a suspect.
“You may not have even been in the park that night, but if you’ve heard or saw anything that seems suspicious or just off, please notify us,” Lt. Germain Dearlove said at a news conference. “We will check and confirm every tip. Nothing is too small.”
Police have cast a wide net in the investigation, including looking at the victim’s background, he said. They have conducted numerous interviews but can’t say whether the killer knew Janness.
“It seems senseless to me,” Dearlove said of the slaying.
Janness, known as Katie, was a bartender at a restaurant near the park where she died, friends and relatives have said.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.kob.com/news/us-and-world-news/2-years-after-a-woman-and-her-dog-were-slain-in-an-atlanta-park-police-renew-calls-for-public-help/ | 2023-07-28T22:41:25 | 1 | https://www.kob.com/news/us-and-world-news/2-years-after-a-woman-and-her-dog-were-slain-in-an-atlanta-park-police-renew-calls-for-public-help/ |
Justine Kenin is an editor on All Things Considered. She joined NPR in 1999 as an intern. Nothing makes her happier than getting a book in the right reader's hands – most especially her own.
Juana Summers is a political correspondent for NPR covering race, justice and politics. She has covered politics since 2010 for publications including Politico, CNN and The Associated Press. She got her start in public radio at KBIA in Columbia, Mo., and also previously covered Congress for NPR. | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-28/the-implications-of-the-recent-coup-in-niger | 2023-07-28T22:41:30 | 1 | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-28/the-implications-of-the-recent-coup-in-niger |
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- With southeast Pennsylvania in an Excessive Heat Warning, experts advise many people, especially those in medically sensitive groups, to stay indoors.
However, not everyone has the option of staying indoors.
Rashaan Sadiq Smith is one of those residents. His livelihood depends on him being outside as he runs his business, Sadiq's Landscaping.
"I'm out here seven days a week," he said as he cut grass near Woodside Park neighborhood.
"Sun, snow, doesn't matter," he said. "I'll be there."
He works rain or shine. Lately, it's been a lot more shine with temperatures in the 90s and heat indices well over 100. But even in the sun, Smith wears a long-sleeved shirt and pants.
"The sun doesn't beat on me, it just beats on my shirt," he says of his preferred way of dressing.
Smith could be on to something, according to Dr. John Kowalski of Jefferson Einstein Health. He says landscapers are often well-equipped to stay outdoors all day.
"(The sleeves) protect them from the sun to some extent," he said. "But you can still become overheated."
Kowalski recommends people wear light-colored, reflective clothing that doesn't absorb the heat of the sun as much as dark colors.
"Try to dress in light layers," he said.
Doctors say the symptoms of heat exhaustion can sneak up on you, so you should recognize the signs your body gives you.
"The basic thing for people need to look out for is just being thirsty. That's one of the telltale signs of getting dehydrated," said Kowalski.
Dr. Christopher Valente, who is chief of the Pediatric Emergency Department at Reading Hospital, has seen instances where the heat sends more people to emergency rooms.
"Their skin will be either dry and red or cool and clammy. Generally, they'll feel nauseous, dizzy, lightheaded," he said.
Those are all signs of heat exhaustion which can progress to heat stroke.
"The patient starts to become confused or maybe they lose consciousness," Valente said while describing symptoms of heat stroke.
Having that type of medical episode could put people at risk for incidents that could land them in the office of orthopedic surgeon Dr. Rahul Shah.
"You get woozy from the heat and you start to have difficulty with your balance or ability to move, you could potentially fall," said Shah.
Those who are active in the heat know they need to hydrate. Brandon Cherry hydrated before spending more than an hour playing tennis on Friday morning.
"I started getting into coconut water," he said, adding that he also drinks water with a dash of salt in it as a way to replace what he loses through sweat.
"Sixty-five percent of our body is water," said Shah of the importance of hydration either through water or drinks with electrolytes.
"Drinking plenty of water is really, really important," said Valente.
But there are also things doctors say people shouldn't drink too much of on a hot day.
"Alcohol can definitely dehydrate you," said Kowalski.
Doctors say anyone taking medication should be aware that it could affect their ability to handle the heat.
They also share this tip to cool off quickly: take a wet towel and put it on your wrists, neck, temples, forehead and/or groin. Those areas have more blood vessels helping you to cool off quickly. | https://6abc.com/philadelphia-pa-excessive-heat-warning-signs-of-exhaustion-symptoms/13564762/ | 2023-07-28T22:41:31 | 1 | https://6abc.com/philadelphia-pa-excessive-heat-warning-signs-of-exhaustion-symptoms/13564762/ |
NPR's Juana Summers speaks with Gene X. Hwang about X (formerly Twitter) taking over his handle @x without informing nor compensating him.
Copyright 2023 NPR
NPR's Juana Summers speaks with Gene X. Hwang about X (formerly Twitter) taking over his handle @x without informing nor compensating him.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.kasu.org/money-economy/money-economy/2023-07-28/the-man-who-once-tweeted-as-x-wasnt-informed-when-the-company-took-over-his-handle | 2023-07-28T22:41:31 | 1 | https://www.kasu.org/money-economy/money-economy/2023-07-28/the-man-who-once-tweeted-as-x-wasnt-informed-when-the-company-took-over-his-handle |
A Bay Area man fatally stabbed a woman and posted video of it on Facebook, police say
SAN MATEO, Calif. (AP) — A man allegedly stabbed a woman to death in the San Francisco Bay Area on Wednesday and then posted a video of the slaying to Facebook, authorities said.
The footage helped police track down the suspect, who was later identified as 39-year old Mark Mechikoff. He was arrested about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of where the victim was found dead in a San Mateo apartment complex.
“While the motive for stabbing the victim is still under investigation, we do know Mechikoff mercilessly filmed the last moments of the victim’s life and posted the video to Facebook, then fled the area,” San Mateo police said in a statement.
Prosecutors identified the victim as Claribel Estrella. The San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office on Friday charged Mechikoff with a single count of murder with enhancements for inflicting great bodily injury and the use of a knife.
He appeared in court but did not enter a plea. His arraignment was postponed for a week while his court-appointed attorney is chosen, District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe said in an email.
Mechikoff knew the victim but the extent of their relationship was unclear and the motive was under investigation, the district attorney said.
The stabbing was first reported to the Nye County Sheriff’s Office in Nevada when a caller said she saw video of it on Facebook. The sheriff’s office “pinged” the phone number associated with the Facebook page and traced it to a large San Mateo apartment complex.
It was Mechikoff’s cellphone and his Facebook page and the video apparently has been taken down, the district attorney said.
Officers went door-to-door at the San Mateo apartment complex and found Estrella nearly three hours later inside a unit, authorities said.
Mechikoff was arrested two hours later in San Jose.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.kob.com/news/us-and-world-news/a-bay-area-man-fatally-stabbed-a-woman-and-posted-video-of-it-on-facebook-police-say/ | 2023-07-28T22:41:31 | 0 | https://www.kob.com/news/us-and-world-news/a-bay-area-man-fatally-stabbed-a-woman-and-posted-video-of-it-on-facebook-police-say/ |
NPR's Juana Summers speaks with Gene X. Hwang about X (formerly Twitter) taking over his handle @x without informing nor compensating him.
Copyright 2023 NPR
NPR's Juana Summers speaks with Gene X. Hwang about X (formerly Twitter) taking over his handle @x without informing nor compensating him.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-28/the-man-who-once-tweeted-as-x-wasnt-informed-when-the-company-took-over-his-handle | 2023-07-28T22:41:36 | 0 | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-28/the-man-who-once-tweeted-as-x-wasnt-informed-when-the-company-took-over-his-handle |
As Russia wraps up its high level summit with African countries Friday, just how much real influence does Russia have in the continent?
Copyright 2023 NPR
As Russia wraps up its high level summit with African countries Friday, just how much real influence does Russia have in the continent?
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.kasu.org/politics/politics/2023-07-28/seeking-stronger-economic-ties-vladimir-putin-wraps-up-a-summit-with-african-leaders | 2023-07-28T22:41:37 | 1 | https://www.kasu.org/politics/politics/2023-07-28/seeking-stronger-economic-ties-vladimir-putin-wraps-up-a-summit-with-african-leaders |
Trader Joe's issued a recall on Friday for its Fully Cooked Falafel, which may contain rocks.
The product has been removed from sale and destroyed, Trader Joe's officials wrote on its website.
It is sold in over 30 states including Illinois, North Carolina, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.
Officials went on to write that if anyone has purchased or received its Full Cooked Falafel they should not eat it.
Customers can discard the product or return it to any Trader Joe's for a full refund.
Customers with questions can contact Trader Joe's Customer Relations at 626-599-3817.
This is the third recall issued by Trader Joe's for some of its products in the last week.
On Tuesday, the store recalled two types of cookies that may also contain rocks.
Those cookies are Trader Joe's Almond Windmill Cookies and Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Chunk and Almond Cookies.
Then on Thursday, the store issued another voluntary recall for roughly 10,000 cases of Unexpected Broccoli Cheddar Soup, which suppliers said "may contain insects" in the broccoli florets. | https://6abc.com/trader-joes-fully-cooked-falafel-recall-product-contains-rocks/13564963/ | 2023-07-28T22:41:37 | 0 | https://6abc.com/trader-joes-fully-cooked-falafel-recall-product-contains-rocks/13564963/ |
Alabama authorities charge Carlee Russell for fabricating story about kidnapping, finding toddler
ATLANTA (AP) — Authorities in Alabama said Friday they filed criminal charges against a woman who confessed to fabricating a story that she was kidnapped after stopping to check on a toddler she saw walking on the side of an interstate highway.
Carlee Russell was charged with false reporting to law enforcement and falsely reporting an incident, both misdemeanors that carry up to a year in jail, Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis said. Russell turned herself in to jail Friday and was released on bond, he said.
“Her decisions that night created panic and alarm for citizens of our city and even across the nation as concern grew that a kidnapper was on the loose using a small child as bait,” he said. “Numerous law enforcement agencies, both local and federal, began working tirelessly not only to bring Carlee home to her family but locate a kidnapper that we know now never existed. Many private citizens volunteered their time and energy in looking for a potential kidnapping victim that we know now was never in any danger.”
Derzis said he was frustrated that Russell was only being charged with two misdemeanors despite the panic and disruption she caused, but he said the law did not allow for enhanced charges.
Russell, 25, disappeared after calling 911 on July 13 to report a toddler wandering beside a stretch of interstate. She returned home two days later and told police she had been abducted and forced into a vehicle.
Her disappearance became a national news story. Images of the missing woman were shared broadly on social media.
“We don’t see this as a victimless crime,” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said at a Friday news conference. “There are significant hours spent, resources expended as a result of this investigation.”
Marshall’s office was asked to handle the prosecution because of the attention the case received, Derzis said. Marshall said he intends to “fully prosecute” Russell and said his office will take into account the police investigation to see whether additional charges are warranted.
Russell, through her attorney, Emory Anthony, acknowledged earlier that she made the story up.
In a statement read by police on Monday, Anthony said Russell was not kidnapped, did not see a baby on the side of the road, did not leave the city and acted alone. He said Russell apologized and he asked for prayers and forgiveness as she “addresses her issues and attempts to move forward, understanding that she made a mistake in this matter.”
A message left Friday at Anthony’s office was not immediately returned.
Russell told detectives she was taken by a man who came out of the trees when she stopped to check on the child, put in a car and an 18-wheel truck, was blindfolded and was held at a home where a woman fed her cheese crackers, authorities said at a news conference last week. At some point, Russell said she was put in a vehicle again but managed to escape and run through the woods to her neighborhood.
“This story opened wounds for families whose loved ones really were victims of kidnappings,” Derzis said.
He said police have not determined where Russell went during the 49 hours she was missing. They plan to talk to the attorney general’s office about recovering some of the money spent on the investigation.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.kob.com/news/us-and-world-news/alabama-authorities-charge-carlee-russell-for-fabricating-story-about-kidnapping-finding-toddler/ | 2023-07-28T22:41:37 | 1 | https://www.kob.com/news/us-and-world-news/alabama-authorities-charge-carlee-russell-for-fabricating-story-about-kidnapping-finding-toddler/ |
Former President Donald Trump faces three new charges in the case accusing him of hoarding classified documents as a grand jury continues to investigate his role in trying to overturn 2020's election.
Copyright 2023 NPR
Former President Donald Trump faces three new charges in the case accusing him of hoarding classified documents as a grand jury continues to investigate his role in trying to overturn 2020's election.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-28/where-trumps-legal-issues-stand-as-he-sees-more-charges-in-classified-documents-case | 2023-07-28T22:41:42 | 0 | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-28/where-trumps-legal-issues-stand-as-he-sees-more-charges-in-classified-documents-case |
Justine Kenin is an editor on All Things Considered. She joined NPR in 1999 as an intern. Nothing makes her happier than getting a book in the right reader's hands – most especially her own.
Juana Summers is a political correspondent for NPR covering race, justice and politics. She has covered politics since 2010 for publications including Politico, CNN and The Associated Press. She got her start in public radio at KBIA in Columbia, Mo., and also previously covered Congress for NPR. | https://www.kasu.org/politics/politics/2023-07-28/the-implications-of-the-recent-coup-in-niger | 2023-07-28T22:41:43 | 0 | https://www.kasu.org/politics/politics/2023-07-28/the-implications-of-the-recent-coup-in-niger |
Biden openly acknowledges 7th grandchild, the daughter of son Hunter and an Arkansas woman
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Friday for the first time publicly acknowledged his seventh grandchild, a four-year-old girl fathered by his son Hunter with an Arkansas woman, Lunden Roberts, in 2018.
“Our son Hunter and Navy’s mother, Lunden, are working together to foster a relationship that is in the best interests of their daughter, preserving her privacy as much as possible going forward,” Biden said in a statement. It was his first acknowledgement of the child.
“This is not a political issue, it’s a family matter,” he said. “Jill and I only want what is best for all of our grandchildren, including Navy.”
Hunter Biden’s paternity was established by DNA testing after Roberts sued for child support, and the two parties recently resolved outstanding child support issues. The president’s son wrote about his encounter with Roberts in his 2021 memoir, saying it came while he was deep in addiction to alcohol and drugs, including crack cocaine.
“I had no recollection of our encounter,” he wrote. “That’s how little connection I had with anyone. I was a mess, but a mess I’ve taken responsibility for.”
The president, who has made a commitment to family central to his public persona, has faced increasing criticism from political rivals and pundits for failing to acknowledge the granddaughter. According to a person familiar with the matter, he was taking the cue from his son while the legal proceedings played out. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private matters.
Biden’s statement was first reported by People Magazine.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.kob.com/news/us-and-world-news/biden-openly-acknowledges-7th-grandchild-the-daughter-of-son-hunter-and-an-arkansas-woman/ | 2023-07-28T22:41:44 | 0 | https://www.kob.com/news/us-and-world-news/biden-openly-acknowledges-7th-grandchild-the-daughter-of-son-hunter-and-an-arkansas-woman/ |
FBI paints grim picture of AI as a tool for criminals: 'Force multiplier' for bad actors
The FBI is worried AI will help more bad actors write 'malicious code'
The FBI warned Friday that artificial intelligence is becoming the tool of choice for domestic and foreign criminals, and said the bureau is working to build up a capacity to fight this new threat.
"AI has demonstrated that it will likely have far-reaching implications on the threats we face, the types of crimes committed and how we conduct our law enforcement activities," a senior FBI official said in a Friday call.
"Criminals are leveraging AI as a force multiplier to generate malicious code craft convincing phishing emails, enable insider trading or securities fraud, and exploit vulnerabilities in AI systems making cyberattacks and other criminal activity more effective and harder to detect," the official added.
Officials said the FBI sees itself as having a dual mandate when it comes to AI. One is to protect U.S. citizens from disruptive AI attacks, and the second is to take steps to disrupt the sources of these attacks.
Those attacks can include the production and distribution of deepfake videos used to harass and extort victims, something one official said would become more commonplace as more AI systems are deployed. AI is also making it easier for criminals without any technical background to commit cybercrimes.
"AI has significantly reduced some technical barriers, allowing those with limited experience or technical expertise to write malicious code and conduct low level cyber activities," the FBI official said.
"For example, the FBI has observed the proliferation of fraudulent AI generated websites replete with engaging, engaging content postings and multimedia which are infected with malware and used to deceive unsuspecting online users," the official added. "Some of these sites or pages have more than a million followers and significant amounts of user engagement."
PENTAGON'S AI PLAN MUST INCLUDE OFFENSE AND DEFENSE UNDER HOUSE-PASSED BILL: ‘DOD HAS TO CATCH UP’
While this is something the FBI has observed, the official was unaware of any prosecutions related to this kind of activity. But the official said it’s "something that we’re actively investigating."
The official predicted that AI systems used by companies might also become a tool for criminals.
"As researchers have successfully demonstrated AI models are often vulnerable to a number of adversarial machine learning attacks, such as poisoning evasion, privacy attacks during both the training as well as the deployment phases of AI," the official said.
The official said the FBI is working closely within the federal government to disrupt these threats.
HOUSE TAKES STEP TOWARD AI REGULATION; GOVERNMENT STUDY ON ‘AI ACCOUNTABILITY’ DUE IN 18 MONTHS
"We're also engaging with industry and academia to better understand what current AI capabilities look like, and the types of harmful illegal outputs these models are capable of producing, such as the development of explosives," the official said, adding that companies have been "very receptive" to the idea of working collaboratively to fight these threats.
This week, Bryan Vorndran, assistant director for the FBI’s cyber division said in a speech in Atlanta that the FBI needs to keep working with the private sector if this threat is going to be mitigated.
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"Cyber threats must be tackled as a team, and private sector organizations have a big role to play," he said. "We know collaborating to establish best practices — and practicing them — works. We know information sharing, threat reporting, and awareness is also key to addressing these threats." | https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fbi-grim-picture-ai-tool-criminals-force-multiplier | 2023-07-28T22:41:49 | 0 | https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fbi-grim-picture-ai-tool-criminals-force-multiplier |
Former President Donald Trump faces three new charges in the case accusing him of hoarding classified documents as a grand jury continues to investigate his role in trying to overturn 2020's election.
Copyright 2023 NPR
Former President Donald Trump faces three new charges in the case accusing him of hoarding classified documents as a grand jury continues to investigate his role in trying to overturn 2020's election.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.kasu.org/politics/politics/2023-07-28/where-trumps-legal-issues-stand-as-he-sees-more-charges-in-classified-documents-case | 2023-07-28T22:41:49 | 0 | https://www.kasu.org/politics/politics/2023-07-28/where-trumps-legal-issues-stand-as-he-sees-more-charges-in-classified-documents-case |
Colorado officer who put suspect in car hit by train found guilty of reckless endangerment
DENVER (AP) — A Colorado police officer who put a handcuffed woman in a parked police vehicle that was hit by a freight train was found guilty of reckless endangerment and assault but was acquitted of a third charge of criminal attempt to commit manslaughter during a trial Friday.
Jordan Steinke was the first of two officers to go to trial over the Sept. 16, 2022, crash that left Yareni Rios-Gonzalez seriously injured.
Steinke testified that she did not know that the patrol car of another officer she was helping was parked on the tracks even though they can be seen on her body camera footage along with two railroad crossing signs. Steinke said she was focused on the threat that could come from Rios-Gonzalez and her pickup truck, not the ground.
Steinke said she put Rios-Gonzalez in the other officer’s vehicle because it was the nearest spot to temporarily hold her. She said she didn’t know the train was coming until just before it hit.
There was no jury in Steinke’s trial, which started Monday. Instead, Judge Timothy Kerns listened to the evidence and issued the verdict. Mallory Revel, Steinke’s attorney, didn’t immediately respond to requests by phone and email for comment.
Steinke, who was working for the Fort Lupton Police Department at the time of the crash, was charged with criminal attempt to commit manslaughter, a felony; and reckless endangerment and third-degree assault, both misdemeanors.
The other officer, Pablo Vazquez, who worked for the police department in nearby Platteville, is being prosecuted for misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment and traffic offenses. He hasn’t entered a plea yet. His lawyer, Reid Elkus, didn’t immediately respond to a request by phone for comment.
Vazquez pulled over Rios-Gonzalez on a rural road that intersects U.S. Highway 85 after she was accused of pointing a gun at another driver. Trains pass on tracks that parallel the highway about a dozen times a day, prosecutors said, and the sound of their horns is common in the area north of Denver.
Rios-Gonzalez, who suffered a traumatic brain injury, is suing over her treatment. She later pleaded no contest to misdemeanor menacing, said one of her lawyers, Chris Ponce, who was in court to watch the trial. Rios-Gonzalez did not testify or attend herself.
Steinke said she placed Rios-Gonzalez in the other police car temporarily because it was the nearest place to keep her secure, a move that is standard practice for high-risk traffic stops, said defense expert witness Steve Ijames. He also testified that in dangerous situations officers can become hyperfocused on particular threats and overlook things that turn out to be important in hindsight.
Steinke, who drove at around 100 mph (161 kph) at times on her way to backup Vazquez, testified that she was surprised to see him sitting in his vehicle when she arrived, rather than pointing a gun at Rios-Gonzalez’s truck. She said she quickly parked her patrol vehicle behind his and got out because it was the quickest way “to get a gun in the fight.”
Steinke also said she did not notice the tracks or the ground when she squatted down to arrest a kneeling Rios-Gonzalez along the tracks after the suspect was ordered out of her pickup truck.
When pressed by Deputy District Attorney Christopher Jewkes, Steinke replied, “I am sure I saw the tracks sir, but I did not perceive them.” She said she was focused on the suspect and the potential threat she posed and was “fairly certain” that the traffic stop would end in gunfire.
“I never in a million years thought a train was going to come plowing through my scene,” Steinke said.
The Weld County District Attorney’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request by phone for comment.
___
This story has been updated to correct that the officer was acquitted of the charge of criminal attempt to commit manslaughter, not manslaughter.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.kob.com/news/us-and-world-news/colorado-officer-who-put-suspect-in-car-hit-by-train-found-guilty-of-reckless-endangerment/ | 2023-07-28T22:41:50 | 1 | https://www.kob.com/news/us-and-world-news/colorado-officer-who-put-suspect-in-car-hit-by-train-found-guilty-of-reckless-endangerment/ |
'Impeachment Week'
Hunter Biden changed his plea from "not guilty" to "guilty" this week in Delaware Federal court after his deal fell through
You’ve heard of "infrastructure week."
The past week wasn’t quite "impeachment week" for House Republicans.
But it came close.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., went further on impeachment for President Biden than he had before.
THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO HOW HUNTER BIDEN'S LEGAL WOES COULD ACCELERATE AN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY
"This is rising to the level of impeachment inquiry which provides Congress the strongest power to get the rest of the knowledge and information needed," said McCarthy on Fox. "This President has also used something we have not seen since Richard Nixon used the weaponization of government to benefit his family and deny Congress the ability to have the oversight."
This suggests the House could prospectively launch an impeachment inquiry into President Biden over alleged ties to his son’s business dealings.
"When more of this continues to unravel, it rises to the level of an impeachment inquiry where you would have the Congress have the power to get to all these answers," said McCarthy.
In addition, McCarthy has more than cracked the door on impeachment with President Biden and maybe even Attorney General Merrick Garland.
"I would move to an impeachment inquiry if I found that the Attorney General has not only lied to the Congress, the Senate, but to America," said McCarthy said earlier this month about Garland and how his office handled the Hunter Biden case.
But while McCarthy talks "impeachment inquiry," he’s not ready to launch an actual impeachment inquiry.
"Define what this is right now," I asked the Speaker on Tuesday.
"We’re no different from where we were yesterday," replied McCarthy. "We continue to find more information.
But just the Speaker saying "impeachment" alters the fundamental equation.
McCarthy’s impeachment language impresses the hard right.
"When he does speak to impeachment, it carries a tremendous amount of weight," said Rep. Bob Good, R-Va.
I asked Good if the Speaker mentioning this "shifted the ground?"
"I don't think there's any question that him speaking to that has caused a paradigm shift," said Good.
The House must vote to launch an official impeachment inquiry. As per usual, this is about the math. It’s unclear if the House has the votes to do that. Let alone impeach the President. Or Garland. Or anyone else.
House Republicans are struggling to settle on exactly who they want to impeach.
"It's all of the above," said Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C. "Look at the evidence that we have."
Sometimes mentioned as impeachment candidates: FBI Director Christopher Wray and U.S. Attorney for Delaware David Weiss. Weiss handled the Hunter Biden prosecution. Another name: U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves.
IMPEACH BIDEN OR MAYORKAS? WHAT IT TAKES FOR 'IMPEACHMENT' PROCEEDINGS TO SUCCEED IN THE HOUSE
It can be hard to keep up.
Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., suggested that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is the "low hanging fruit."
A senior House Republican leadership source tells Fox that potential impeachment for Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is "the furthest along." Although that doesn’t mean that it’s that far along. It’s just that GOPers believe they have the strongest case against Mayorkas regarding the border.
Fox is told that this is something of a high-level "trial balloon." McCarthy wants to get a sense of what GOPers want to do. And most importantly, where the votes may lie for impeaching anyone.
Thus, the math.
A senior House GOP source says Republicans leaders will try to see "if there is one (impeachment) that could pass."
Keep in mind that House Republicans are only operating with a four seat majority. Threading the needle on anything as serious as impeachment is challenging.
"A lot of our members will make decisions on how well the argument is made," said a Republican leadership source.
The problem for the GOP is that there is a wide swath of Republican members in rock-ribbed conservative districts who would impeach Mr. Biden and many members of his cabinet "no matter what" said one GOP source. But actually executing a successful impeachment depends on the math.
There are 18 House Republicans who represent districts which President Biden carried in 2020. A vote to impeach any cabinet figure, let alone the President, could spell a political death sentence.
So, impeachment is out there – even if it isn’t.
This sounds familiar.
Rewind to late July 2019, following the House testimony of Special Counsel Robert Mueller about former President Trump.
Mueller didn’t exactly deliver the goods on Mr. Trump at what turned out to be an overhyped hearing.
So, Democrats began talking about impeachment – without acting on impeachment – as they entered the customary August Congressional recess.
In 2019, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., opposed impeachment for former President Trump – until she didn’t.
But, as we often write in this space around this time of year, beware the Ides of August.
In August 2019, Pelosi observed a sea change in her caucus. A number of moderate Democratic freshmen who represented swing districts altered their views on impeachment.
Political leaders must have their finger on the pulse of their Members. This is critical. Otherwise, they look like they are being led by their members – not leading themselves. After there were more revelations about former President Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Pelosi shifted her position.
McCarthy isn’t quite there yet on impeaching anyone. But he must be mindful of where his members are – and stay in front of them. McCarthy’s statements the past two weeks were efforts to "get in front" of his members, should the votes to impeach present themselves and there is a bona fide shift in that direction.
However, Fox is told that McCarthy is internally worried about overusing impeachment and protecting the institution of the House.
But all members on his right heard was "impeachment." And that’s all the red meat they needed to take into the August recess.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., says he would vote yes on impeachment. But Comer points out a stark fact.
"The Senate’s never going to remove from office," said Comer.
Democrats delight in the GOP impeachment milieu.
"Every week we hear a new member of the Biden administration that extreme MAGA Republicans are determined to impeach," said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. "The extreme MAGA Republican majority has nothing to show for their time in office but the peddling of conspiracy theories, facilitating hate against communities all across the country and figuring out who was going to be at the top of the list of their impeachment fantasies."
All of this could spell trouble if the GOP base expects too much.
"This is the danger, particularly for a Speaker, who has so far been trying to tamp down the impeachment expectations," said George Washington University professor Casey Burgat. "It seems like he's getting a lot of pushback within his individual conference to say, ‘hey, we have to escalate these investigations and impeachment is now on the table’ if it wasn't before."
So this will fester in August.
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House Republicans are planning more investigations over the next month. Burisma board member Devon Archer appears for a closed-door, transcribed interview on Monday. Burisma is the Ukrainian firm associated with Hunter Biden.
It wasn’t quite impeachment week. But some Republicans would like August to become impeachment month. | https://www.foxnews.com/politics/impeachment-week | 2023-07-28T22:41:55 | 1 | https://www.foxnews.com/politics/impeachment-week |
Black farmers make up a small, aging part of the farming population. Some worry traditions may die with them. So there's an effort in Mississippi to cultivate the next generation of Black farmers.
Copyright 2023 NPR
Black farmers make up a small, aging part of the farming population. Some worry traditions may die with them. So there's an effort in Mississippi to cultivate the next generation of Black farmers.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.kasu.org/societal-issues/societal-issues/2023-07-28/cultivating-the-next-generation-of-black-farmers-in-mississippi | 2023-07-28T22:41:56 | 1 | https://www.kasu.org/societal-issues/societal-issues/2023-07-28/cultivating-the-next-generation-of-black-farmers-in-mississippi |
Defense presses case that mental illness spurred Pittsburgh synagogue massacre
PITTSBURGH (AP) — A federal trial for the man who fatally shot 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue approached its conclusion Friday as the defense, trying to persuade a jury to spare his life, pressed its case that mental illness spurred the nation’s deadliest antisemitic attack.
Robert Bowers, a 50 year-old truck driver from suburban Baldwin, was convicted in June on 63 criminal counts for the 2018 massacre at Tree of Life synagogue. The jury has been hearing testimony in the penalty phase of the trial and will decide whether Bowers will receive the death penalty or life in prison without parole.
Prosecutors have presented evidence that Bowers was motivated by his hatred of Jewish people when he opened fire at the synagogue on Oct. 27, 2018, killing members of three congregations gathered for Sabbath worship and study. The defense argues Bowers has schizophrenia and acted out of a delusional belief that Jews were participating in a genocide of white people.
On Friday, a defense psychiatrist who met with Bowers 10 times for nearly 40 hours said Bowers saw himself as a soldier of God in a war in which Satan was trying to use Jewish people to bring about the end of the world. Dr. George Corvin, of Raleigh, N.C., said it was a delusion brought on by psychosis.
Corvin said Bowers continues to express delusional beliefs about Jews — “disgustingly so” — and that he is incapable of remorse. He said Bowers should be on anti-psychotic medication.
Bowers “has a belief that we’re at the end of a war that’s been going on for thousands of years,” Corvin testified. “He still envisions what he did as an unfortunate act of violence at the direction of God — that it will save lives. He believes he’s a tool for God. I know it sounds absurd. It’s psychotic.”
Corvin continued: “This is the result of a mental illness.”
Corvin was one of several defense experts who diagnosed Bowers with schizophrenia, a serious brain disorder whose symptoms include delusions and hallucinations. A neurologist testifying for the prosecution disputed that Bowers has schizophrenia, saying Bowers has a personality disorder but is not delusional, and that mental illness did not appear to play a role in the attack. Prosecutors have noted Bowers spent six months planning the shooting.
Also testifying Friday were Bowers’ aunt and uncle.
The uncle, Clyde Munger, said he visited with Bowers in prison because “he is my nephew and I love him.” He said he prays for Bowers every morning.
The aunt, Patricia Fine, was expected to the final defense witness. She said Bowers had a difficult childhood from infancy, describing the house where he lived as unsafe. She said he was a sad child and that she “was convinced” he would take his own life. A defense expert previously described Bowers’ early life as deeply unstable and said he attempted suicide several times in his teens.
Fine’s testimony was scheduled to resume Monday, with closing arguments and jury deliberations expected to follow.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.kob.com/news/us-and-world-news/defense-presses-case-that-mental-illness-spurred-pittsburgh-synagogue-massacre/ | 2023-07-28T22:41:57 | 0 | https://www.kob.com/news/us-and-world-news/defense-presses-case-that-mental-illness-spurred-pittsburgh-synagogue-massacre/ |
Updated July 27, 2023 at 3:40 PM ET
When The Sims came out back in the year 2000, it changed the gaming landscape. Here was a game made for everybody, a game that looked and played like real life, if only real life was a lot more fun.
It was such a big deal that even mainstream news outlets like us were talking about it. Dan Morris, former executive editor of PC Gamer Magazine, told NPR that part of its appeal was its familiarity and relatability. "It's sort of the part of us that always liked, you know, playing with dollhouses," he said. In a medium where players were usually confronted with science fiction and fantasy, it was the mundanity of The Sims' world that proved refreshing.
But while The Sims spawned many sequels, you can't officially buy the original, and even if you have it, it's not designed to run on modern systems. That fate, sadly, isn't an anomaly — most classic video games can't be played on today's hardware. A new study from The Video Game History Foundation finds that only 13% of titles produced before 2010 are available on modern platforms.
Games made before 1985 fare even worse, with only 3% still being sold. Salvador calls that period the "silent film" era of video games, when designers established the medium's basic grammar. "There's a very real danger," says study author Phil Salvador, "that in a few decades these games will be unavailable and unplayable to a wide audience." That concern took on new urgency this year, when Nintendo shuttered its 3DS and Wii eShops, taking whole generations of games off the market.
But why does it matter that we can't, for example, play the original Sims when its commercially successful sequels are easily purchasable? "That's like saying, well, you know, why do we need the original Psycho if we can get Gus Van Sant's remake of Psycho?" argues Salvador. "Video games are cultural history in the same way that film is cultural history or books or movies."
That history can tell you a lot about a video game, and the time and place it was born into.
In the early 1990's, Sega was a video game giant. But when they released their Sega Saturn video game console in America in 1995, it flopped. Many of the games on that system are now out of print. But fans are keeping its memory alive.
David Lee writes about the system and its games on the blog SegaSaturnShiro, which he co-founded. "I just really love the mystique of it," he explains. "I love how it kind of has this troubled and complex story." Games like Clockwork Knight, he says, have a colorful and chaotic visual style that felt uniquely 90's Sega. "It's just got a look to it, a visual charm to it, that's just very much of the time," he explains.
Fan communities have played a major role preserving video games, but official institutions are lagging behind. Phil Salvador argues that libraries also need the power to make these games and their histories more accessible to researchers. "I worry about the long-term future of video games [is] going to be if we have to sort of rely entirely on the fan community for this kind of documentation."
Kendra Albert at the Harvard Cyberlaw Clinic says that current copyright law makes that difficult, and video game companies want to keep it that way. "The rationale that the lobbying groups often come forward with is that this will harm the market for existing games," Albert says.
But Albert feels that this perspective is out of step with both the reality of consumer demand and the goals of preservationists. Preservationists want libraries to have more flexibility when it comes to making games available to researchers. For example, current copyright law makes it legally questionable to share video games remotely through software emulation. Games historians want access to the original titles, because companies change old games when they re-enter the market as remasters and remakes.
Professor Adrienne Shaw of Temple University, who founded the LGBTQ Video Game Archive, points to the game Baldur's Gate as an example. The 2012 remaster of the original game added same-sex relationship options for some of its characters. While the game became accessible to more players, it became a fundamentally different object to a researcher studying queer relationships in video games.
Albert and other advocacy organizations will ask the U.S. Copyright Office to exempt video games from some of these copyright laws when the appeals process begins this fall. Similar appeals have been denied in the past, leaving official preservation of the young medium in doubt.
James Perkins Mastromarino contributed to this story. contributed to this story
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.kcbx.org/2023-07-21/these-are-the-classic-video-games-you-can-no-longer-play-spoiler-its-most-of-them | 2023-07-28T22:41:58 | 1 | https://www.kcbx.org/2023-07-21/these-are-the-classic-video-games-you-can-no-longer-play-spoiler-its-most-of-them |
Donald Trump appeals judge’s decision to keep hush-money case in New York state court
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump asked a federal appeals court Friday to reverse a federal judge’s decision to keep his hush-money criminal case in a New York state court that the former president claims is “very unfair” to him.
Trump’s lawyers filed a notice of appeal with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan after U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein last week rejected his bid to move the case to federal court, where his lawyers were primed to argue he was immune from prosecution.
U.S. law allows criminal prosecutions to be moved from state to federal court if they involve actions taken by federal government officials as part of their official duties, but Hellerstein ruled that the hush-money case involved a personal matter, not presidential duties.
Trump’s appeal notice came at the end of another busy week of legal action for the twice-indicted Republican as he seeks a return to the White House in next year’s election. On Thursday, he was indicted on new criminal charges in a separate case in federal court in Florida involving allegations that he illegally hoarded classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which is prosecuting the hush-money case and fought to keep it in state court, declined to comment on Trump’s appeal.
Trump pleaded not guilty April 4 in state court to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to hide reimbursements made to his longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen for his role in paying $130,000 to the porn actor Stormy Daniels, who claims she had an extramarital sexual encounter with Trump years earlier.
Cohen also arranged for the National Enquirer to pay Playboy model Karen McDougal $150,000 for the rights to her story about an alleged affair, which the supermarket tabloid then squelched in a dubious journalism practice known as “catch-and-kill.”
Trump denied having sexual encounters with either woman. His lawyers argue the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses and not part of any cover-up.
He is scheduled to stand trial in state court on March 25, 2024. In the meantime, his lawyers have asked the state court judge presiding over the case, Juan Manuel Merchan, to step aside, arguing that he’s biased in part because his daughter does political consulting work for some of Trump’s Democratic rivals. Trump has referred to Merchan as “a Trump-hating judge” with a family full of “Trump haters.” The judge has yet to rule on the request.
In seeking to try the hush-money case tried in federal court, Trump’s lawyers have argued that some of his alleged conduct amounted to official presidential duties because it occurred in 2017 while he was president, including checks he purportedly wrote while sitting in the Oval Office.
Moving the case from state court to federal court would have significant legal and practical consequences for Trump. In federal court, for example, his lawyers could then try to get the charges dismissed on the grounds that federal officials have immunity from prosecution over actions taken as part of their official job duties.
A shift to federal court would also mean a more politically diverse jury pool — drawing not only from heavily Democratic Manhattan, where Trump is wildly unpopular, but also from suburban counties north of the city where he has more political support.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.kob.com/news/us-and-world-news/donald-trump-appeals-judges-decision-to-keep-hush-money-case-in-new-york-state-court/ | 2023-07-28T22:42:03 | 0 | https://www.kob.com/news/us-and-world-news/donald-trump-appeals-judges-decision-to-keep-hush-money-case-in-new-york-state-court/ |
Northwestern University fired head baseball coach Jim Foster on Thursday, days after the university let go of head football coach Pat Fitzgerald amid an investigation into hazing allegations.
Foster was "relieved of his duties effective immediately," Athletic Director Derrick Gragg said in an announcement posted to the university's athletics page.
Gragg did not give details behind Foster's termination but said "many factors were considered" before the decision was made.
"Nothing will ever be more important to Northwestern than providing its students a place that allows them to develop in the classroom, in the community, and in competition at the absolute highest level, and building a culture which allows our staff to thrive," Gragg said.
"As the Director of Athletics, I take ownership of our head coaching hires and we will share our next steps as they unfold," he added.
Northwestern Head Baseball Coach Jim Foster has been relieved of his duties effective immediately, Combe Family Vice President for Athletics and Recreation Dr. Derrick Gragg announced Thursday.https://t.co/C4HXwjJEE1
— Northwestern Athletics (@NU_Sports) July 13, 2023
Assistant coach Brian Anderson, a former MLB player who won a World Series ring with the Chicago White Sox in 2005, will take over as interim coach.
While it is unclear what led to Foster's termination as head coach, both The Chicago Tribune and 670 The Score reported that Foster allegedly led a toxic culture within the baseball program, as his alleged bullying and verbally abusive behavior led to a human resources investigation by the university.
670 The Score reported that Foster also allegedly made racist statements and discouraged players from reporting their injuries. When asked about this allegation by the Chicago radio station he denied all allegations, calling them "ridiculous."
Both current and former players and alumni told The Tribune that they alerted university officials of Foster's behavior before the start of the 2023 season. The university's investigation found "sufficient evidence" that Foster engaged in bullying and abusive behavior, The Tribune reported.
A Northwestern athletics spokesperson declined NPR's request for comment regarding the investigation and Foster's termination.
Foster was hired in June 2022 by the university, which went 24-27 this past season. Before his tenure at Northwestern, Foster was the head coach at West Point, where he led the Black Knights to four consecutive league titles and NCAA playoff tournament appearances.
News of Foster's termination comes days after the university parted ways with its long-time football coach, Pat Fitzgerald, following an investigation into hazing allegations.
The university announced it had previously suspended Fitzgerald for two weeks without pay after reviewing the investigation's executive summary. Though the university said there was no "sufficient" evidence that coaches knew about the misconduct from Fitzgerald, University President Michael Schill said Fitzgerald "should have known."
"Northwestern University is an extraordinary university with an exceptional athletics program. I am committed to ensuring that the misconduct that occurred in our football program never happens again anywhere in our university community," Schill said in a letter to the community.
Northwestern has yet to name Fitzgerald's replacement.
NPR's Dustin Jones contributed to this report. contributed to this story
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.kcbx.org/npr-top-news/2023-07-14/northwestern-baseball-coach-jim-foster-is-fired-days-after-football-hazing-scandal | 2023-07-28T22:42:04 | 1 | https://www.kcbx.org/npr-top-news/2023-07-14/northwestern-baseball-coach-jim-foster-is-fired-days-after-football-hazing-scandal |
Mobile homes turn deadly when tornadoes hit. This year has been especially bad, AP analysis finds
ROLLING FORK, Miss. (AP) — Many were not just killed at home. They were killed by their homes.
Angela Eason had visited Brenda Odoms’ tidy mobile home before. It was a place where Odoms, who had many tragedies in her life, felt safe.
In March, a tornado ripped through this small Mississippi town and people in mobile or manufactured homes were hit the hardest. Inside a mobile morgue, Eason, the county coroner, examined Odoms’ gaping fatal head wound. Odoms was found just outside of her collapsed mobile home that was tossed around by a tornado. Blunt force trauma killed her.
“The one place she felt safe she was not,” Eason said. Fourteen people died in that Rolling Fork tornado, nine of them, including Odoms, were in uprooted manufactured or mobile homes.
Tornadoes in the United States are disproportionately killing more people in mobile or manufactured homes, especially in the South, often victimizing some of the most socially and economically vulnerable residents. Since 1996, tornadoes have killed 815 people in mobile or manufactured homes, representing 53% of all the people killed at home during a tornado, according to an Associated Press data analysis of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration tornado deaths. Meanwhile, less than 6% of America’s housing units are manufactured homes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
While the dangers of tornadoes to mobile homes have long been known, and there are ways to mitigate the risk, the percentage of total tornado deaths that happen in mobile homes has been increasing. Part of the problem is that federal housing rules that call for tougher manufactured home standards, including anchoring, only apply in hurricane zones, which is most of Florida and then several counties along the coast. Those are not the areas where tornadoes usually hit.
Auburn University engineering professor David Roueche called manufactured homes in non-coastal places “death traps compared to most permanent homes” when it comes to tornadoes.
A DEADLY YEAR
The first tornado deaths this year were in Alabama in January, killing seven people, all in mobile homes. All but one were thrown at least 1,000 feet from their homes, with the seventh person thrown at least 500 feet, said Ernie Baggett, the former emergency management chief for Autauga County, Alabama. Less than 100 yards from where four of those people died was a permanent home that had little more than shingle damage, he said.
When the wind hits the mobile homes, “it’s like a house of cards. They just crumble,” Baggett said.
So far this year, at least 45 of the 74 people killed in the U.S. by tornadoes were in some form of manufactured housing when they died, according to NOAA data. Nine others died in site homes and the rest were killed in other places, such as in vehicles.
The manufactured housing industry — which disputes that there’s any disproportionate danger — insists on calling the structures manufactured homes if they are built after hurricane-based federal standards in 1976 and mobile homes if they are built before, saying age of the home matters. Federal housing officials use the term manufactured housing. Other people, including many researchers and residents, use the terms interchangeably.
More than 70% of the 8 million manufactured homes in America were built after 1976. Because a big chunk were built in the 1980s and early 1990s, 60% of all those homes were installed before increased federal standards were adopted in 1994, the industry’s trade group, Manufactured Housing Institute said.
TORNADOES DON’T HAVE TO BE DEADLY
Tornado experts say most tornadoes should be survivable.
“You just have to be in some structure that’s attached to the ground. And then no matter what the tornado throws at you, you have really good odds,” said NOAA social scientist Kim Klockow-McClain.
But in manufactured homes, even the weakest tornadoes are killing people in large numbers when they shouldn’t be, more than a dozen experts in meteorology, disasters and engineering told The AP.
More than 240 people in mobile homes in the past 28 years have died in tornadoes with winds of 135 mph or less, the three weakest of the six categories of twisters, the AP analysis found. That’s 79% of the deaths at home in the weaker tornadoes. It’s only in storms with winds higher than 165 mph where most of the at home deaths are in more permanent structures.
Auburn’s Roueche not only studies what happens in mobile homes during tornadoes, he grew up in one. What he sees over and over are mobile homes that fail from the bottom up because they are not secured enough to the ground, like permanent homes are.
WHAT HAPPENS IN A TORNADO
“The whole structure is rolling or flying through air. You’ve got dressers falling on top of you. You’ve got the entire structure that’s trying to crush you,” said Roueche.
That March evening in Rolling Fork, when the tornado roared through Ida Cartlidge remembered the air blowing so powerfully that she couldn’t breathe, the sounds of windows shattering and then utter mayhem.
“The only thing that’s holding a mobile home down are the little straps in the ground,” Cartlidge said. “It picked up the home one time, set it down. It picked it up again, set it down. It picked it up a third time, and we were in the air.”
The tornado hit Mildred Joyner’s mobile home so hard she felt the mobile home shake, heard the cracking sound of what she figured was her home coming apart and then she woke up in the hospital and her mother who was in the mobile home with her ended up paralyzed from the waist down.
The problem is worsening in the South because tornadoes have been moving more from the Great Plains to the mid-South in recent decades and will likely to continue to do so with climate change a possible factor, studies show. Alabama has the most tornado deaths by far.
Unlike the rest of the country, which usually has most manufactured housing in parks, the South has mobile homes scattered about the countryside in ones and twos, making central tornado shelters less effective and likely to be built, said Villanova University tornado expert Stephen Strader and Northern Illinois meteorology professor Walker Ashley.
THE IMPORTANCE OF ANCHORING
One thing scientists, emergency managers and the manufactured housing industry agree on is that anchoring mobile homes to the ground is key.
That requires expensive concrete or expensive tie down systems, said former Alabama emergency official Jonathan Gaddy, now a professor at Idaho State University.
“Why does that matter? Well, it explains why we haven’t fixed the problem with anchoring because nobody can fix the problem and still make money. That’s the bottom line,” Gaddy said.
“Anchoring matters and has been shown to be the difference between life or death,” Villanova’s Strader said in an email. “However, the MH industry seems disinterested in addressing this because it would make their homes more expensive.”
Manufactured Home Institute Chief Executive Officer Lesli Gooch said the industry is “very clear” about the importance of anchoring. “We also talk about making sure that a professional checks your anchoring systems on your manufactured home, especially on mobile homes built prior to (19)76,” she said.
“We’re very focused on making sure that there are minimum installation standards in the states,” Gooch said.
Northern Illinois’ Ashley said lack of state regulations and inspections, especially in much of the South, is a big problem.
Improvements in federal codes that went into effect in 1976, 1994 and 2008 make a big difference, Gooch said, arguing that the NOAA data the AP analyzed and that scientists use lump different ages of manufactured homes together and tar them with the problems of the oldest ones.
“I wouldn’t want your readers to misinterpret your data to suggest that living in a manufactured home is somehow more deadly than living in a site-built home because I would tell you that I don’t think that the data bears that out,” Gooch said.
Gooch pointed to manufactured homes in Florida, where tighter federal Housing and Urban Development safety rules apply because it is a hurricane wind zone. “Homes in Florida that are manufactured homes are performing better than what you see in the site-built world,” she said.
IT’S NOT GETTING BETTER
Several scientists and engineers said data, and history, show the situation has not improved.
“This is more of the handwaving- and misdirection-type statements that has come to represent the manufactured housing industry’s take on tornado and manufactured home safety,” Villanova’s Strader said in an email, with Northern Illinois’ Ashley agreeing.
“Our study of the Lee County Alabama EF4 tornado found that 19 of the 23 deaths were in manufactured homes (all built after 1994),” Strader said. “All of those deaths were due to a lack of anchoring or a floor-to-wall connection. There have been many prior studies that have illustrated that these homes are failing at lower wind loads than permanent homes.”
If Gooch were right, the percentage of tornado deaths in mobile homes would be going down with time and they are not, NOAA National Severe Storms Lab tornado scientist Harold Brooks said, presenting data that goes back to 1975. His data showed mobile home deaths between 1975 and 1984 were 43.6% of all at-home tornado deaths and the same figure was 63.2% for the past ten years through the end of May.
A contributing factor, Strader, Ashley and Roueche said, is that federal rules for anchoring only apply in hurricane zones, mostly in Florida. Those are not the areas where tornadoes usually hit. Instead, they hit inland where the weakest federal standards are, they said. Most of tornado-prone areas, including almost all of Alabama, Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas and Mississippi are in “Zone 1,” where safety and anchoring of mobile homes have the most lax standards.
“People are dying in new and old Zone 1 manufactured homes,” Roueche said in response to Gooch’s comments. Tornado homes throughout the country would be much safer if the coastal federal requirements applied everywhere, he said.
HURTING POOR PEOPLE MORE
One of the issues with mobile homes and tornadoes is that it is an intersection of risk and “different social vulnerability factors like poverty, even some issues pertaining to race, ethnicity, age,” NOAA’s Klockow said.
And it makes it harder for people to leave their mobile homes and head for a permanent shelter.
“I always think about the single mother who’s living in a manufactured home. It’s the middle of the night. She has three kids. Her car’s not starting correctly and all of a sudden here comes a tornado,” Strader said in an interview.
Officials tell her “to get to a storm shelter because our manufactured home isn’t safe,” Strader said. “Well, the problem there is that there’s all these factors up against them.”
Tornadoes pop down rapidly, which doesn’t allow meteorologists to give much warning, maybe 10 to 15 minutes. In many cases, the National Weather Service warns days in advance that the conditions are ripe for tornadoes, but that isn’t the same as warning that one has touched down.
University of Oklahoma social scientist Justin Sharpe, who studies disaster warnings, said with poor and disabled residents the key is to avoid warnings that simply say “get out now” and nothing else.
Instead, a couple hours before a tornado is possible, meteorologists should warn people to be packed up and ready to go at a moment’s notice later, Sharpe and Klockow-McClain said.
FINDING SAFER PLACES
A relatively new law in Alabama could help provide more shelters and be a model for other states. The law gives liability protection to buildings like churches and stores that open up in an emergency as a shelter if specifically-built shelters aren’t available.
When this year’s first deadly tornado struck just outside Montgomery, Alabama, Autauga County had about 30 minutes warning but no “safer places” to send people, the then-emergency chief, Baggett said. Seven people in mobile homes died.
The tornado continued into neighboring Elmore County, which had already set off its 30 warning sirens, used a mass notification system to make 16,772 calls to phones in the danger area and opened up 16 churches and other safer places.
People went into the temporary shelters. Homes were destroyed, but no one died.
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Associated Press photographer Gerald Herbert and video journalist Stephen Smith contributed to this report. Borenstein reported from Washington and Fassett from Seattle.
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Follow AP’s climate and environment coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment
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Follow Seth Borenstein, Camille Fasset and Michael Goldberg on Twitter at @borenbears, @camfassett and @mikergoldberg.
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Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.kob.com/news/us-and-world-news/mobile-homes-turn-deadly-when-tornadoes-hit-this-year-has-been-especially-bad-ap-analysis-finds/ | 2023-07-28T22:42:09 | 1 | https://www.kob.com/news/us-and-world-news/mobile-homes-turn-deadly-when-tornadoes-hit-this-year-has-been-especially-bad-ap-analysis-finds/ |
Updated July 21, 2023 at 6:03 PM ET
At this year's Latin Alternative Music Conference, thousands of people showed up to see Colombian rock star Juanes perform at Central Park's SummerStage – so much so that the show had to be shut down just two songs into his set.
Tomas Cookman, founder of the LAMC, says that turnout reflects the conference's biggest year yet. But it wasn't always like that.
The LAMC started 24 years ago when after crowding into panels at festivals like SXSW, Cookman looked around and realized: "We need a platform, we need a place where we can put together a bunch of different people to talk about where Latin music can go."
The alternative label, he says, wasn't so much meant to emphasize punk kids in heavy flannels as it was intentional about focusing on music, not getting radio play in the pop-oriented Latin market of the early 2000s. But as Latin music has blown up globally over the last two decades, Cookman says, the alternative has made its way into the mainstream – and not just because of the explosion of reggaeton (though he did find Bad Bunny's name once or twice on registration forms from past conferences).
"Whether it was a punk rock band from Buenos Aires or a hip-hop duo from Panama or a cool pop weird act from Madrid, they always found a place at the LAMC," Cookman explains.
The LAMC, in return, uses its Discovery Award every year to recognize artists breaking down misconceptions that there's one look or sound to Latin music. This year, there are two recipients: Dawer x Damper and Usted Señalemelo.
The first is a duo of Colombian brothers who released their debut LP, Donde Machi, last November. They play with Afro-futurism, hip-hop, dancehall, and several influences from Colombia's Pacific coast; Dawer x Damper are from the Aguablanca district of Cali, where many Afro-Colombian people from the Pacific regions move for better work and economic opportunities.
"So many cultures from around the entire country converge there, and thanks to that, the Aguablanca district is permeated with Black culture," says Dawer, aka Edwar Vergara.
Thematically, the brothers' lyrics focus on themes of social empowerment, love, and family – a never-ending reflection of how the private home life affects the public community and vice versa, they explain. They don't hesitate to shout out el barrio, the working-class neighborhood where they come from, and the community programs they say launched their artistic pursuits.
"There's no better way for us to be authentic than to take el barrio and wear it as a flag because if we came out denying el barrio, we were going to look like everything but our real selves," explains Damper, aka Luis Vergara.
The brothers played one of the several showcases at this year's LAMC, celebrating the 50th anniversary of hip-hop.
"For us, it's a huge source of pride to have [Afro-Latinidad] represented here, not just for representation's sake but from the consciousness of being a Black person in Latin America and in the music industry," says Damper.
Working in a completely different musical tradition, the other Discovery Award winners this year hail from Mendoza, Argentina: Usted Señalemelo is a trio of friends who've known each other since they were kids and maintain that playfulness in their artistic relationship.
"The name of the band is a tongue twister," says drummer Lucca Beguerie Petrich. "We love playing with words and giving each other nicknames, making stuff up...we thought it was funny because we were 12 when we named the band."
Fresh off the release of their album TRIPOLAR in May, Usted Señalemelo pays homage to Argentina's rich legacy of rock en español while pushing the genre's boundaries with poppy synths and lush orchestral arrangements that weave in and out throughout the record.
The contemplative lyrics came to fruition over several years and highlight the tensions between polar opposites – night and day, light and dark, men and women, explains vocalist Juan Mango. He credits producers Rafa Arcaute and Nico Cotton with elevating the project further.
"Working with two producers at that level made our compositions and our work grow tremendously," he says.
Usted Señalemelo played two showcases at this year's LAMC. The Discovery Award, on the heels of the album release and the beginning of their U.S. tour, is both overwhelming and affirmative of the band's years of hard work, says Petrich.
This year's LAMC allowed Dawer x Damper and Usted Señalemelo to perform in New York City for the first time – but it won't be the last.
"I think that's the beauty of Latin music today and why it's not so much a Latin boom. This is here forever," says Cookman.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.kcbx.org/npr-top-news/npr-top-news/2023-07-21/the-artists-shaking-up-the-industry-at-the-latin-alternative-music-conference | 2023-07-28T22:42:10 | 0 | https://www.kcbx.org/npr-top-news/npr-top-news/2023-07-21/the-artists-shaking-up-the-industry-at-the-latin-alternative-music-conference |
US announces $345 million military aid package for Taiwan
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. on Friday announced $345 million in military aid for Taiwan, in what is the Biden administration’s first major package drawing on America’s own stockpiles to help Taiwan counter China.
The White House’s announcement said the package would include defense, education and training for the Taiwanese. Washington will send man-portable air defense systems, or MANPADS, intelligence and surveillance capabilities, firearms and missiles, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters ahead of the announcement.
U.S. lawmakers have been pressuring the Pentagon and White House to speed weapons to Taiwan. The goals are to help it counter China and to deter China from considering attacking, by providing Taipei enough weaponry that it would make the price of invasion too high.
The package is in addition to nearly $19 billion in military sales of F-16s and other major weapons systems that the U.S. has approved for Taiwan. Delivery of those weapons has been hampered by supply chain issues that started during the COVID-19 pandemic and have been exacerbated by the global defense industrial base pressures created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The difference is that this aid is part of a presidential authority approved by Congress last year to draw weapons from current U.S. military stockpiles — so Taiwan will not have to wait for military production and sales. This gets weapons delivered faster than providing funding for new weapons.
The Pentagon has used a similar authority to get billions of dollars worth of munitions to Ukraine.
Taiwan split from China in 1949 amid civil war. Chinese President Xi Jinping maintains China’s right to take over the now self-ruled island, by force if necessary. China has accused the U.S. of turning Taiwan into a “powder keg” through the billions of dollars in weapons sales it has pledged.
The U.S. maintains a “One China” policy under which it does not recognize Taiwan’s formal independence and has no formal diplomatic relations with the island in deference to Beijing. However, U.S. law requires a credible defense for Taiwan and for the U.S. to treat all threats to the island as matters of “grave concern.”
Getting stockpiles of weapons to Taiwan now, before an attack begins, is one of the lessons the U.S. has learned from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Pentagon deputy defense secretary Kathleen Hicks told The Associated Press earlier this year.
Ukraine “was more of a cold-start approach than the planned approach we have been working on for Taiwan, and we will apply those lessons,” Hicks said. Efforts to resupply Taiwan after a conflict erupted would be complicated because it is an island, she said.
China regularly sends warships and planes across the center line in the Taiwan Strait that provides a buffer between the sides, as well as into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, in an effort to intimidate the island’s 23 million people and wear down its military capabilities.
Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for China’s embassy in Washington, said in a statement Friday that Beijing was “firmly opposed” to U.S. military ties with Taiwan. The U.S. should “stop selling arms to Taiwan” and “stop creating new factors that could lead to tensions in the Taiwan Strait,” Liu said.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.kob.com/news/us-and-world-news/us-announces-345-million-military-aid-package-for-taiwan/ | 2023-07-28T22:42:15 | 1 | https://www.kob.com/news/us-and-world-news/us-announces-345-million-military-aid-package-for-taiwan/ |
Updated July 27, 2023 at 10:10 AM ET
Confused about the economy? You're not alone.
At the start of the year, warnings of a looming recession seemed to be everywhere, like in this NPR story.
But so far, to the surprise of many experts, the economy has proven to be remarkably resilient.
In the second quarter, from April through June, the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 2.4% — that's a faster pace than Wall Street economists expected.
People have continued to spend money, on both goods and services, according to a Bureau of Economic Analysis reading released on Thursday. That includes housing and health care, vehicles and gasoline.
And, although the latest GDP number is an initial estimate — and may be revised --- the trend looks promising. In the first quarter of 2023, the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 2%.
Then there were comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at a press conference on Wednesday, when he said that the outlook of the economists, statisticians, and other experts working at the central bank has gotten rosier.
"Given the resilience of the economy recently, they are no longer forecasting a recession," he said.
So what gives? Does this mean recession fears are over?
Here's what you need to know about the state of today's economy.
Why are things looking better?
For two years, inflation has been the dark cloud hanging over the economy, but we're beginning to see patches of blue sky.
Annual inflation in June was just 3% — still above what the Federal Reserve would like, but a big improvement from a year earlier when inflation topped 9%.
What's more, this progress has come with very little pain in the job market, even as the Fed has raised interest rates in the most aggressive fashion since the 1980s.
The unemployment rate is currently 3.6%, close to a 50-year low. And employers are still adding a couple hundred thousand jobs every month.
Thanks to that strength, wages are now climbing faster than prices, so workers can actually buy more with their paychecks.
All of that is pretty encouraging and suggests there might be a wider path to the elusive "soft landing," in which inflation is tamed without a big jump in unemployment.
That seems contrary to what many were expecting?
Indeed. Economic forecasters have become significantly more optimistic.
A January survey by the National Association for Business Economics found just 42% of forecasters thought the U.S. was likely to avoid a recession in the next 12 months. When the survey was conducted again in early July, 71% of forecasters said a recession is unlikely in the coming year.
And you can see this improving outlook clearly on Wall Street. At the start of 2023, markets were bracing for a tough year, especially with a debt ceiling showdown looming.
There were rough spots, for sure. Investors were rattled in March by the collapse of some mid-sized banks.
But regulators stepped in, taking over Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank and then helping engineer the sale of a third failed lender, First Republic Bank, to JPMorgan Chase in May.
Then House Republicans and White House averted what would have been a disastrous debt default.
Those developments helped soothe a lot of nerves on Wall Street.
And more recently, investors have taken stock of the economy and they have been even more relieved it hasn't turned out quite as bad as they had first feared.
The result is that all three major stock indexes — the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 — are in bull markets, having gained 20% or more from their most recent lows.
On a conference call with investors this week, Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharf said what many forecasters are saying: "The U.S. economy continues to perform better than many expected."
So how are the experts looking at the economy now?
These days, the word that seems to be catching on in Wall Street and corporate suites is one that also starts with an "R": No, not recession, but resilient.
Economists at Goldman Sachs have been unusually confident among their peers that the Fed would be able to get inflation under control without triggering a recession.
But now, Goldman is sounding even more upbeat, putting the odds of a recession at just one in five.
"Why are we more optimistic?" asked Jan Hatzius, Goldman's chief economist. "To us the economy continues to look quite resilient."
And again, the strong job market is a big factor.
It's something echoed in Wednesday's comments from Powell.
"My base case is that we will be able to achieve inflation moving back down to our target without the kind of significant downturn that results in high levels of job losses," he told reporters after the Fed decided to raise interest rates by another quarter point.
So are recession fears gone now?
Not by a long shot.
Because inflation is still higher than the Federal Reserve would like, policy makers are widely expected to raise interest rates by another quarter percentage point this week.
These rate increases make it more expensive to get a car loan or to finance a business or to carry a balance on your credit card.
Moreover, the ripple effects of rate hikes come with a lag. It's possible that the pain usually associated with higher borrowing costs hasn't caught up with the economy yet ... but that eventually it will.
A number of forecasters — like those at Citigroup — still believe there's a recession on the horizon. It's just taking longer than expected to materialize.
Certainly there are some parts of the economy that are feeling a slowdown already. Manufacturing, for example, has been in a slump for a while.
Even though consumers are still spending money, they're spending more of it on services — like eating at restaurants or traveling — and less on stuff. As a result, factories, which make stuff, are feeling the squeeze.
And the prospect of a downturn in the job market is still possible. That would mean more layoffs than what the economy has experienced so far.
So how to navigate this uncertain time?
Unfortunately, despite all the recent positive news about the economy, this period of uncertainty will continue for both regular folks and CEOs alike.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk last week captured what many people are likely to be feeling about the economy.
"One day it seems like the world economy is falling apart, and the next day, everything is fine," Musk said on a call with Wall Street analysts. "I don't know what the hell is going on, to be totally frank. I wish I did."
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon was similarly unsure about where the economy is heading, noting there are "a range of outcomes" and urging investors to "take a deep breath" and hope for the best.
What are some of the things to watch?
Of course, experts will continue to closely scrutinize the key economic indicators, mainly inflation and the labor market.
Company profits will be another important gauge. So far, only a fraction of companies have reported earnings for the most recent quarter.
Another thing to watch is how companies are handling their debt. Many corporations borrowed money when interest rates were really low. How will they manage that when it comes time to refinance, likely at much higher rates?
Commercial real estate is another big question mark. There's a lot of unused space in office buildings because many people are still working remotely. What happens to the loans on that real estate, and what does that mean for banks that financed them — especially smaller, regional banks?
There are other potential speed bumps in the road. The extra cash cushion that many people piled up in the early months of the pandemic is being whittled away.
And payments on student loans that were suspended during the pandemic are about to start up again. That will leave less money in people's pockets to maintain that robust spending.
All this is to say, it could still be a very bumpy ride.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.kcbx.org/npr-top-news/npr-top-news/2023-07-24/could-the-u-s-still-see-a-recession-we-got-big-clues-this-week-on-where-its-headed | 2023-07-28T22:42:16 | 1 | https://www.kcbx.org/npr-top-news/npr-top-news/2023-07-24/could-the-u-s-still-see-a-recession-we-got-big-clues-this-week-on-where-its-headed |
Sen. McConnell plans to serve his full term as Republican leader despite questions about his health
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has repeatedly said he is “fine” since he froze up midsentence during a press conference on Wednesday. And now his office is trying to tamp down speculation that he might not fill out his term as leader because of his health.
In a statement, his office said McConnell appreciates the continued support of his colleagues and “plans to serve his full term in the job they overwhelmingly elected him to do.”
The statement, first reported by Politico, comes after McConnell, 81, has suffered health problems in recent months. At his weekly press conference this week, he froze and stared vacantly for about 20 seconds before his GOP colleagues standing behind him grabbed his elbows and asked if he wanted to go back to his office. He later returned to the news conference and answered questions as if nothing had happened.
When asked about the episode, he said he was “fine,” a statement he repeated in a hallway to reporters later that day. Neither McConnell nor his office would answer questions about whether he got medical help afterward.
Even as McConnell tried to brush off the concerns, the episode raised new questions among his colleagues about his health and also whether McConnell, who was first elected to the Senate in 1984 and has served as Republican leader since 2007, might soon step aside from his leadership post.
He was elected to a two-year term as leader in January by a large majority of his conference, despite an insurgent challenge from Florida Sen. Rick Scott. He would be up for re-election as leader again after the 2024 elections.
By then, he will have to decide also if he wants to run again for another Senate term. He is up for re-election in 2026.
In March, McConnell suffered a concussion and a broken rib after falling and hitting his head after a dinner event at a hotel. He didn’t return to the Senate for almost six weeks. He has been using a wheelchair in the airport while commuting back and forth to Kentucky. And his speech has recently sounded more halting.
But McConnell, famously reticent and often private about his personal life and health, has said very little about what is going on.
Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota said after Wednesday’s episode that McConnell’s job as leader calls for more transparency than it would for others.
“We should find out, you know, fairly soon what happened and how serious it is,” Cramer said. “But I don’t have to tell you, Mitch is also, as an individual, a pretty private guy. So we’ll see.”
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said he talked to McConnell on Wednesday night and he seemed “strong and alert.” But he said what happened at the news conference on Wednesday was disturbing to watch.
“Mitch is strong, he’s stubborn as a mule,” Cruz said. “My prayers are with them. I hope that — we’re going into the August recess — I hope he has time to fully recuperate.”
GOP senators who are seen as potential successors have been cautious in their reaction.
“He’s fine, he’s back to work,” said South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican and one of the senators standing behind McConnell when he froze up.
“I support Senator McConnell as long as he wants to serve as leader,” said Texas Sen. John Cornyn, another potential replacement.
Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the No. 3 Senate Republican and a former orthopedic surgeon, guided McConnell back to his office to rest during the news conference. Afterwards, he told reporters that he has been concerned since McConnell was injured earlier this year, “and I continue to be concerned.”
Barrasso then added: “I said I was concerned when he fell and hit his head a number of months ago and was hospitalized. And I think he’s made a remarkable recovery, he’s doing a great job leading our conference and was able to answer every question the press asked him today.”
Several other GOP senators projected confidence in the Republican leader.
“I do have confidence in his leadership,” said Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis. “At lunch yesterday, he spoke. He was completely on his game using numbers that were pulled out of his head and he was completely with it. So I don’t know what precipitated the freeze, but he’ll be careful to evaluate his own capabilities.”
Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall said he was “a little concerned” after the news conference.
“He said that he got a little overheated, a little dehydrated,” said Marshall, who is also a doctor. “That’s what it looks like to me. I can tell you, he’s got a strong, strong voice in our conference. He’s providing steady leadership. And I think he’s doing a great job as leader.”
McConnell had polio in his early childhood and he has long acknowledged some difficulty as an adult in climbing stairs. In addition to his fall in March, he also tripped and fell four years ago at his home in Kentucky, causing a shoulder fracture that required surgery.
The Republican leader carried on with his full schedule after the episode on Wednesday. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he spoke with his Republican counterpart at an event Wednesday evening for Major League Baseball owners.
“I said I’m so glad you’re here,” Schumer said. “And he made a very good speech.”
The Republican leader is one of several senators who have been absent due to health issues this year. Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, 90, was out of the Senate for more than two months as she recovered from a bout of shingles. And Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., 53, took leave for several weeks to get treatment for clinical depression.
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Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro and AP videojournalist Mike Pesoli contributed to this report.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.kob.com/politics-news/sen-mcconnell-plans-to-serve-his-full-term-as-republican-leader-despite-questions-about-his-health/ | 2023-07-28T22:42:17 | 0 | https://www.kob.com/politics-news/sen-mcconnell-plans-to-serve-his-full-term-as-republican-leader-despite-questions-about-his-health/ |
Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly are heading to the NL West-leading Dodgers in a trade with the White Sox
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers, who have made pitching a priority in advance of the trade deadline, announced Friday that they’ve acquired Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly in a trade with the Chicago White Sox.
The NL West-leading Dodgers will send outfielder Trayce Thompson, pitcher Nick Nastrini and reliever Jordan Leasure to the White Sox.
Lynn has been mostly underwhelming this season. The 36-year-old right-hander is 6-9 with a 6.18 ERA and leads the American League in earned runs (79) and home runs allowed (28).
But Lynn has 139 strikeouts in 115 innings and 10.9 per nine innings. In June, Lynn struck out 16 in a game against Seattle, setting a major-league mark for most strikeouts in a game by a pitcher with an ERA above 6.00.
He was an All-Star for the White Sox in 2021 and shortly after signed a $38 million, two-year contract extension that included a club option.
Lynn began the 2022 season on the injured list with a meniscus tear suffered in spring training. He returned in mid-June and finished the season with an 8-7 record in 21 starts and a 3.99 ERA. He recorded 121 strikeouts in 121 2/3 innings.
Lynn has spent most of his career in the AL. Besides the White Sox, he has pitched for Minnesota, the New York Yankees and Texas. He began his career with St. Louis, and missed the 2016 season with them after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
He won a World Series with the Cardinals in 2011, his debut season in the majors. The following year he earned his first All-Star berth.
Kelly returns to Los Angeles for his second stint with the Dodgers. The hard-throwing right-handed reliever recently returned from the injured list for elbow inflammation.
Kelly pitched for the Dodgers from 2019-21, winning the World Series during the pandemic-delayed 2020 season. He had a 3.59 ERA in 105 1/3 innings during that span.
Kelly isn’t the only former Dodger to land back in Los Angeles.
Earlier this week, the team acquired utilityman Kiké Hernández from the Boston Red Sox three years after he departed Los Angeles for the East Coast.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.kob.com/sports-stories/ap-baseball/lance-lynn-and-joe-kelly-are-heading-to-the-nl-west-leading-dodgers-in-a-trade-with-the-white-sox/ | 2023-07-28T22:42:23 | 1 | https://www.kob.com/sports-stories/ap-baseball/lance-lynn-and-joe-kelly-are-heading-to-the-nl-west-leading-dodgers-in-a-trade-with-the-white-sox/ |
Miguel Cabrera’s farewell tour makes a stop Miami, where his career started years ago
MIAMI (AP) —
Miguel Cabrera’s farewell tour has reached a special location.
The Detroit Tigers’ slugger is approaching the last two months of his major league career. And in his final season, Cabrera has received numerous tributes in visiting stadiums.
This weekend, the honors bring added significance.
The Tigers open a three-game series Friday in Miami against the Marlins. The 40-year-old Cabrera is returning to the city where he spent his first five seasons and is facing the organization that signed him shortly after his 16th birthday.
“It is very emotional because this is where it all started,” Cabrera, a native of Venezuela, said before Friday’s series opener. “To be back here is awesome.”
The Marlins brought up the then-20-year-old Cabrera two months into the 2003 season. Cabrera made an immediate impact, hitting a walk-off home run to help the Marlins beat Tampa Bay in his major league debut.
“I remember it well because in all the stadiums I’ve visited, that is the first video presented,” Cabrera said. “My teammates kid me because I was so skinny back then.”
It was a sign of things to come. Cabrera played a key role in the Marlins’ postseason run in 2003 that culminated with a World Series championship.
Cabrera was a four-time All-Star during his time with the Marlins. But the club, fearing it would lose Cabrera to free agency once he became eligible, dealt him to Detroit following the 2007 season.
“When I received that call, I had many questions on why I was being traded,” Cabrera said. “The club had a good young group and was growing tremendously. Had the group stayed together, we had a chance to contend for the division. They told me to be calm, that you’re going to a good club with a chance to win.”
Cabrera flourished in Detroit, becoming one of the game’s top hitters and a two-time AL MVP. In 2012, Cabrera won the AL Triple Crown, the first to accomplish the feat since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.
But the offensive production, which included four AL batting titles, declined as Cabrera reached his late 30s. Nonetheless, Cabrera reached the career 3,000-hit and 500-homer milestones over the last two seasons.
Now limited to a parttime role, Cabrera will play the three games against Miami. The second game on Saturday also will be promoted as Venezuelan Heritage Day.
“It is going to be great for me and my family,” Cabrera said of the ceremony,” Cabrera said. “You have to enjoy this moment, every second, every minute. After that, you prepare for the game and do your best to help our team win.”
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.kob.com/sports-stories/ap-baseball/miguel-cabreras-farewell-tour-makes-a-stop-miami-where-his-career-started-years-ago/ | 2023-07-28T22:42:29 | 1 | https://www.kob.com/sports-stories/ap-baseball/miguel-cabreras-farewell-tour-makes-a-stop-miami-where-his-career-started-years-ago/ |
NFL teams are adapting to unrelenting heat as training camps ramp up
HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — The sight of wide receivers Keith Kirkwood and Shaq Davis leaving practice early this week because of heat-related symptoms was nothing new for the New Orleans Saints, with the hot and humid Louisiana weather a test for even the best-conditioned athletes.
The unrelenting, record-breaking heat across the nation this year has made the opening of training camps even more challenging than usual, however, not only for the Saints but teams throughout the NFL.
Scientists have already calculated this will be the hottest July on record, with the Southwest and parts of the South especially hit hard. Most of the Midwest and East also have been affected. That means NFL teams have to be even more mindful than usual about keeping players safe while also getting as much work done as possible before the season begins in September.
Safety has been a centerpiece of the preseason since Minnesota offensive tackle Korey Stringer died on Aug. 1, 2001, after slipping and falling the previous day after a Vikings training camp practice. NFL teams at the time didn’t have medical training for exertional heat stroke.
Some teams are taking extra precautions this year, including more water breaks and early practice times.
“I don’t know all the science and all that stuff, but I do my best to understand it,” Saints quarterback Derek Carr said. “I’ve seen growth … from when I first came in the league to what we talk about now. It’s definitely a difference on the things we talk about, the way we practice, how long we do something … how much time you’re actually accumulating outside during the week.”
Carr is in his first season in New Orleans, so he’s acclimating to the wet, muggy conditions. He spent the previous three seasons with the Raiders in Las Vegas, where the air is dry but temperatures are considerably higher.
“It just feels like your skin is going to fall off,” Carr said of playing in Las Vegas. “It feels like it’s boiling.”
For their part, the Raiders have begun practicing at 8:30 a.m. to avoid the hottest parts of the day but still must contend with temperatures in the triple digits by the time they walk off the field.
The Raiders have an indoor facility but usually practice outside because it’s more spacious and the fields are grass rather than turf. Cool boxes are set up just off the 50-yard line near one of the three practice fields that players use, and coach Josh McDaniels said the team met before camp opened to discuss coping with the conditions.
McDaniels said the key was listening to medical professionals.
“They have a very scientific way to measure (weather and safety conditions) that I’m not really qualified to speak intelligently about,” McDaniels said. “But I understand when they tell me that we’ve entered into a zone where it’s dangerous to be out there with helmets, pads, etc., then we’ll do the right thing.”
Two warm weather teams avoid practicing in the heat altogether. The Arizona Cardinals use their indoor facility and the Dallas Cowboys hold camp in moderate Southern California.
Other teams, particularly those in the hottest parts of the country, have to adapt to the weather.
“The health and safety of the players is the most important thing for our team and our organization,” Houston Texans general manager Nick Caserio said. “Whatever we can do to help the players in that respect, that’s the most important thing. It’s going to be hot wherever you go, but you want to be smart.”
Caserio said some players wear hoodies and sweatpants so they can sweat “and let that heat leave your body. If you don’t, you can potentially be putting yourself at risk.”
For a second consecutive camp, coach Ron Rivera scheduled Washington Commanders practices for 9 a.m. as one way to try to beat the heat. A stretch of record temperatures last year contributed to several soft-tissue injuries, so the staff is taking further steps this time around, from more water breaks to a cooling tent that players are sent to if they begin to feel the effects.
“We’re constantly trying to get them to hydrate and get them focusing on hydrating prior to practice and post-practice,” Rivera said.
Other coaches take a different approach, knowing many early season games are played when temperatures are at their highest.
“You look at our first game against Pittsburgh last year here at home,” Cincinnati Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. “On offense, there were over 100 snaps and you played an overtime game. … We want our guys to be ready for that, and we feel like we will.”
Few players go as hard as Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby, who spent part of the offseason sparring with a UFC fighter. He said part of his preparation for the heat is building up the body before camp begins.
“You can’t just train in the air conditioning and then go out and feel like you’re going to be fine in the heat,” Crosby said. “So we’ve done back and forth. I’ve trained inside, I’ve trained outside this offseason, just doing a bunch of different things to get ready for training camp.”
Much is at stake in camp, so players want to be on the field far more than in the cooling box or on the trainer’s table. They’re fighting for starting jobs and roster spots, and those players know that coaches and general managers are watching to see who best battles through adversity.
“The job’s got to get done,” Miami Dolphins offensive tackle Kendall Lamm said, “with or without the heat.”
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AP Sports Writers Brett Martel in Metairie, Louisiana; Kristie Rieken in Houston; Mitch Stacy in Cincinnati; Alanis Thames in Miami Gardens, Florida; and Stephen Whyno in Ashburn, Virginia, contributed to this report.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.kob.com/sports-stories/ap-football/nfl-teams-are-adapting-to-unrelenting-heat-as-training-camps-ramp-up/ | 2023-07-28T22:42:35 | 0 | https://www.kob.com/sports-stories/ap-football/nfl-teams-are-adapting-to-unrelenting-heat-as-training-camps-ramp-up/ |
Super Bowl champion Chiefs hold hot, tough practice in 1st day of pads
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid watched his team work out in pads for the first time since their Super Bowl triumph last February and saw his players’ energy rise.
“Naturally it does that,” Reid said. “But I like the way they did it, how they got after each other.”
The defending champions ratcheted up the competition for an hour, 40 minutes in sweltering conditions as the heat index soared into the mid-90s.
The air wasn’t all that was hot, like when cornerback Dicaprio Bootle continued hacking at the football in the grasp of tight end Travis Kelce after a play. Cornerback Lamar Jackson raised eyebrows when he delivered a late hit on receiver Kekoa Crawford out of bounds.
Reid doesn’t mind trash-talking and spirited play as long as players keep their wits about them.
“They’re going to jaw,” Reid said. “It’s hot, humid, they’re going to jaw a little bit. As long as there are no punches thrown we’re all right.”
The Chiefs dug in during practice for three separate periods of 11-on-11, along with a nine-on-seven run session.
However, the most anticipated session in Friday’s practice focused on offensive and defensive linemen facing off in pass-rushing scenarios.
“It’s you mano a mano,” guard Trey Smith said. “All the technical details, every little piece matters. Being able to lock in those little seconds and get your job done.”
Linebacker Willie Gay said the hard, hot practice was tailor made for Reid. Although it was grueling, “I told the guys, as long as we continue to get better, it’s going to make the games and preseason even easier, and we’ll start winning,” he continued.
There’s rust to knock off whenever the pads first come on.
“You have some things that you got to clean up, some things you can be a little tighter technique-wise, but it’s always good to put the pads back on,” Smith said. “It’s always good knowing the season’s around the corner.”
Off the field, defensive tackle Chris Jones held out for seventh day and Reid, who hasn’t communicated with Jones recently, didn’t know when the holdout would end.
“We’re moving fast and furious even though he’s not here,” Reid said.
The 29-year-old-Jones is set to earn $19.5 million in base salary this season in the final year of a four-year extension signed in 2020. The All-Pro is seeking an extension that would make him the league’s second-highest-paid defensive tackle behind Los Angeles Rams star Aaron Donald, whose contract sports an annual average value of $31.67 million.
Jones has been fined $50,000 fine for each missed day of training camp missed, a total that’s grown to $350,000 00 so far. If Jones doesn’t report by Aug. 13, he will be assessed an additional fine of $1.147 for missing the team’s preseason opener against New Orleans.
NOTES: Linebacker Nick Bolton returned to practice Friday following a brief illness, but fellow linebacker Drue Tranquill exited practice early due to a sprained neck. Defensive end Mike Danna left with a strained calf while tight end Jody Fortson is undergoing further examination on a shoulder injury. Wide receiver Kadarius Toney expects to miss the remainder of training camp after surgery Tuesday for a torn meniscus.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.kob.com/sports-stories/ap-football/super-bowl-champion-chiefs-hold-hot-tough-practice-in-1st-day-of-pads/ | 2023-07-28T22:42:37 | 1 | https://www.kob.com/sports-stories/ap-football/super-bowl-champion-chiefs-hold-hot-tough-practice-in-1st-day-of-pads/ |
ANNISTON — Would anybody describe Wellborn's Jeff Smith as "joyful"?
Joyful isn't a word we typically would associate with someone like Smith, a former all-state linebacker who looks like he still could lay out a running back. The only difference is that these days he might need a little help getting up and would have to pretend it didn't hurt.
Joyful isn't a word we would tag to a man who's entering his 27th season as a varsity head football coach, which Smith is this season. After spending three seasons as offensive coordinator at Hueytown, he has put in six years as Ohatchee's head coach, six more leading Hueytown's program, and this will be his 15th at Wellborn.
Still, as the Calhoun County Quarterback Club hosted its annual high school football media day Friday, Smith looked upbeat, happy, positive — well, just plain joyful. He looks like the years on the job have strengthened him, rather than worn him down.
Afterward, Smith didn't confirm or deny that he's joyful, but he agreed he's about as eager to coach his players as he was during his first season on the sideline. It goes back to Mike Battles Sr., who was Smith's coach at Wellborn, and Bill Burgess, who was Smith's coach at Jacksonville State.
They had such an impact on him that he wanted to coach, too. They were especially meaningful to Smith because he grew up without a father. He said he never met his dad. Men like Battles and Burgess filled that role and influenced the type of adult he became.
"I wanted to give the same thing back," Smith said. "Look, is it easy all the time? Lord, no. It's not. But, you know what? If I'm making a positive difference in some of these young men's lives, that's why I'm doing it."
Smith has strong family ties, full of folks who support what he does. He's never on an island by himself.
His mother, Judy Smith, must be an incredible person.
"My momma never missed nothing," he said. "She went to everything. I remember when I was a kid playing in Ezell Park down in Anniston. It was pouring down rain. We were playing the Cobb Panthers, and I looked up there, and she's sitting in the pouring-down rain watching us."
His mother still supports her son's teams. For example, for years she has made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the kids to eat before every practice. She heads up the Wellborn prayer breakfast on the game-day morning.
"There's no man alive that I know of who can work like that woman," Smith said. "She's a working machine. People think I have a good work ethic, but they haven't seen nothing till they've seen my mother."
At home, Smith gets great support from his wife, Lisa Smith. They have three children: Judd Smith, 28; Leah Smith, 22; and Jett Smith, 21.
Smith calls Lisa an "old-school coach's wife." He said Battles and Mrs. Battles mentored them and gave them the lessons they needed to last this long as partners in their journey, which includes lots of high school football.
"My wife, there's no way we could've done what we've done and had the kids we've had without her," Smith said. "She's invaluable. If there's one person that I've got to have, it's her. She's been that good."
Judd serves as Wellborn's offensive coordinator. Jett, a former Jacksonville State player, will assist the school's junior high team.
"I'm very blessed," Smith said, before repeating three times: "Very blessed. Very blessed. Very blessed."
And as far as the word "joyful” goes, Smith acknowledges that it's easy to upbeat this time of year.
"This is what you've worked all year for, and now it's here," he said.
Then, adding that every player and coach should enjoy it, he said, "It'll be over just like that, before you know it." | https://www.annistonstar.com/free/mark-edwards-after-all-these-years-wellborns-jeff-smith-still-loves-coaching/article_07501902-2d89-11ee-838c-c331039ee998.html | 2023-07-28T22:43:15 | 0 | https://www.annistonstar.com/free/mark-edwards-after-all-these-years-wellborns-jeff-smith-still-loves-coaching/article_07501902-2d89-11ee-838c-c331039ee998.html |
It was another final grouping shootout last Sunday as the Calhoun County Tour ventured to the Links at Briarmeade in Glencoe.
For the second straight tournament, Ty Cole hung in there and won by a stroke to claim his third win of the year.
Cole and points leader Gary Wigington entered the final round after both shot an 8-under-par 63 to tie for the lead. Lurking one shot back was Jeremy McGatha and two strokes back was Tee Brown.
Wigington birdied three of the first four holes to get off to a great start and birdied No. 7 and No. 8 to finish the front nine at 5 under.
Wigington’s only bogey came at the 11th hole, but he responded with birdies at Nos. 13, 14, 15 and 18 to finish at 8 under for the opening round.
Ty Cole, who had won 23 Tour events, blazed the course for eight birdies and no bogeys to post his 63. He had five birdies on the back nine and three on the front nine.
On Sunday, Wigington eagled the first hole and birdied the second hole to get to 11-under par. Cole did not blink, as he birdied the first two holes to stay one shot back. The two entered the back nine tied at 11-under par.
McGatha struggled and ended the front nine at 6-under par and out of contention. Brown struggled, also, as he ended the front nine at 8 under.
Cole and Wigington, Sunny King partners, battled back and forth down the stretch. Cole birdied 17 to take a one shot lead and hung on for the win when they both parred the last hole.
Cole survived a potential disaster on the par-5 14th hole. His booming drive cleared the water by 50 yards but hit a tree and bounced all the way back into the water. Despite the penalty stroke, he parred the hole and stayed tied for the lead.
“I hit a great 7-iron to the center of the green and made the putt,” Cole said.
He added, “It is really a lot of fun playing with 'Twig’ (Wigington),” Cole said. “We battle like heck while we are out there, but we are partners in the Sunny King.”
Hole-in-one
Barry Milam banged home his first career ace last week at No. 5 at Cider Ridge. He used a 5-iron. He was playing with Lance Hubbard, Daniel Mitchell and James Davis.
Wayne Conner had a hole-in-one on No. 16 at Pine Hill.
Pine Hill two-man
The team of Minton/Toland shot 67 to win the Pine Hill monthly senior two-man in a tiebreaker last week. The team of Maddox/Irwin finished second with a round of 62 and the team of Robertson/ Whitley finished third with 63.
The team of Stancil/Cohealey won a three-way tiebreaker to win the first flight with 67. Anderson/Young won third place with 69.
Course news
Anniston Country Club (256-237-8412): There is a dogfight every Saturday and Sunday.
Freeman Fite won the Walker Reynolds Club Championship last week and David Sanders won the Senior Division.
The Sunny King Charity Classic will be played at ACC, Silver Lakes and Cider Ridge on Sept. 15-17.
Anniston Municipal, “The Hill” (256-231-7631): A round of golf, if you walk, is only $10 during the week and $12 on weekends. Add $14 for 18 holes if you want a cart. There is a special rate in place on Monday and Tuesday only — just $18 for all-day golf.
The 87th Calhoun County Championship will be Aug. 19-20. Andrew Brooks is the defending champion. The “Buddy Moore” Charity Classic will be played Sept. 9-10.
Cane Creek Golf Course (256-820-9174): Start time for the City of Anniston Cane Creek senior two-man dogfight is 9 a.m., with a sign-up time of 8:30 a.m. The next one is Aug. 7.
Cider Ridge Country Club (256-831-7222): Veterans — retired and active — can play for just $20 plus tax on the last Tuesday of each month. There is a monthly senior two-person scramble using tee times on the fourth Monday of each month. The cost is $35 a player and includes golf, cart and prizes.
Pine Hill Country Club (256-237-2633): There are several dogfights each week at Pine Hill. They are at 10 a.m. Wednesday, noon Friday and 9 a.m. Saturday. The Parking Lot Gang hosts a scramble each Thursday at 11 a.m.
Silver Lakes (256-892-3268): There is a two-man senior scramble the third Tuesday of each month with a 9:00 a. m. shotgun start. Entry fee is $70 or $60 with a 2023 Trail Card. Entry fee includes greens fee, cart fee, range balls, lunch and prizes. Eligible for participants ages 50 and older. | https://www.annistonstar.com/sports/golf/from-the-bunker-cole-wins-third-tourney-of-the-year/article_76455d06-2d82-11ee-98b1-57518e80753f.html | 2023-07-28T22:43:21 | 0 | https://www.annistonstar.com/sports/golf/from-the-bunker-cole-wins-third-tourney-of-the-year/article_76455d06-2d82-11ee-98b1-57518e80753f.html |
With more than 200 careers under her pink belt, Barbie has always been a hard worker. What can the types of professions Barbie's done tell us about women in the U.S. labor force? A lot, actually.
Copyright 2023 NPR
With more than 200 careers under her pink belt, Barbie has always been a hard worker. What can the types of professions Barbie's done tell us about women in the U.S. labor force? A lot, actually.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.kasu.org/money-economy/money-economy/2023-07-28/what-barbies-professional-history-says-about-women-in-the-labor-force | 2023-07-28T22:44:04 | 0 | https://www.kasu.org/money-economy/money-economy/2023-07-28/what-barbies-professional-history-says-about-women-in-the-labor-force |
Attacks against postal carriers are up, and so are mail thefts. The U.S. Postal Service has a new safety plan, but is it strong enough? This is occurring as the USPS tries to recruit more workers.
Copyright 2023 NPR
Attacks against postal carriers are up, and so are mail thefts. The U.S. Postal Service has a new safety plan, but is it strong enough? This is occurring as the USPS tries to recruit more workers.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.kasu.org/money-economy/money-economy/2023-07-28/with-a-rise-in-robberies-of-postal-carriers-its-a-dangerous-time-to-work-in-mail | 2023-07-28T22:44:06 | 1 | https://www.kasu.org/money-economy/money-economy/2023-07-28/with-a-rise-in-robberies-of-postal-carriers-its-a-dangerous-time-to-work-in-mail |
A malfunction in some Ford F-150 pickup trucks could cause drivers to lose control, prompting a recall affecting 870,701 of the automaker's top-selling vehicles.
The recall covers F-150 trucks from 2021 through 2023 with single exhaust systems in which a rear wiring bundle may contact the rear axle housing.
According to documents posted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Friday, this contact can cause the truck's wiring to short circuit, which can unintentionally activate the electric parking brake while a person is driving.
Drivers may see the parking brake warning light and a message in their vehicle's dashboard, even if they haven't activated the brake.
SEE MORE: New report lists the most and least recalled vehicles
Ford has received 918 warranty claims and three field reports in North America from August 2021 to July 2023. Of those, 299 reported unintended electric parking brake activation, with 19 happening while driving, though the company said it wasn't aware of any accidents or injuries occurring because of the recall.
Ford said it will start notifying vehicle owners by mail on Sept. 11. Owners will be instructed to take the affected trucks to a dealer to fix the wiring issue free of charge, as long as the remedy is done before Sept. 11 of next year.
The company has issued multiple recalls within the last few months, including for an air bag issue in other F-Series cars and a seat belt issue in some Broncos.
Trending stories at Scrippsnews.com | https://www.abc15.com/ford-recalls-more-than-870-000-f-150-vehicles-for-parking-brake-issues | 2023-07-28T22:44:24 | 1 | https://www.abc15.com/ford-recalls-more-than-870-000-f-150-vehicles-for-parking-brake-issues |
Berlin's conservative mayor ran on a pledge to stand up for car drivers against encroachment from bicyclists. But bike-riders have pushed back, forcing the government to backpedal.
Copyright 2023 NPR
Berlin's conservative mayor ran on a pledge to stand up for car drivers against encroachment from bicyclists. But bike-riders have pushed back, forcing the government to backpedal.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wvia.org/2023-07-28/cyclists-and-car-drivers-in-berlin-fight-over-road-space | 2023-07-28T22:44:28 | 0 | https://www.wvia.org/2023-07-28/cyclists-and-car-drivers-in-berlin-fight-over-road-space |
By the end of the year, the water level at Lake Mead is expected to be almost 20 feet higher than it was in January.
Future releases from Lake Powell to Lake Mead are expected to raise the lake another six feet, the Bureau of Reclamation forecast this week.
Just a few months ago, the lake, which is fed by the Colorado River, was only about 100 feet above what's called "dead pool" status, according to hydrologist David Kreamer at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
"If the lake goes down to a dead pool level, about 950 feet above sea level, no more water can go through Hoover Dam and go downstream to California, to the crops and the fields that are located there. And that would be a pretty tremendous impact, not only for the Southwest, but for the entire United States," Kreamer said in February.
Now Lake Mead, located near Las Vegas, is expected to be at 1,065 feet by the end of the year, compared with 1,047 feet in January.
As of June 2023, the lake was at 1,056 feet, according to Bureau of Reclamation data.
SEE MORE: Divers find more human remains at receding Lake Mead
Ben Burr, executive director of the Blue Ribbon Coalition, an organization dedicated to recreation and public lands, says this is good news.
"Everyone who is recreating at Lake Mead this year is having a far better year this year than last year," Burr told Channel 13. "A lot of the facilities are open now that were struggling to be accessible last year, and it's a blessing to have this much water."
Burr says while this is positive news, the lake is still low and conservation efforts need to continue. He says this buys the feds more time to come up with a plan for future conservation.
Colorado River water conservation has been a focal point in environmental efforts in recent years. A 20-year water shortage plan for the river was put into place in 2007, and recently, new plans have been in talks.
This story was originally published by Joe Moeller for Scripps News Las Vegas.
Trending stories at Scrippsnews.com | https://www.abc15.com/lake-mead-expected-to-gain-20-feet-of-water-by-end-of-2023 | 2023-07-28T22:44:30 | 0 | https://www.abc15.com/lake-mead-expected-to-gain-20-feet-of-water-by-end-of-2023 |
Federal highway regulators have proposed new fuel economy standards that would require cars to improve their fuel economy by 2% every year, and light trucks by 4% each year, through 2032.
Environmental groups say the new rules are insufficiently ambitious, given the urgent need to fight climate change. The major automaker trade group says it's reviewing the proposal.
Under the proposed standards from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, fleet-wide fuel economy for new vehicles would be pushed close to 58 miles per gallon by 2032. That's up from the 49 mpg required by 2026 under the current iteration of the rules. (Because of how fuel economy is calculated for these regulations, the actual miles per gallon drivers would see on the road would be significantly lower, even for compliant vehicles.)
Automakers face hefty fees when they fall short of fuel economy requirements, which are known as Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE, standards.
The proposal will be open for public comment for 60 days.
Rules come after EPA's ambitious push toward EVs
Vehicle fuel economy and emissions in the U.S. are regulated by three different bodies. California, a state with unique influence, sets increasingly stringent requirements that other states can choose to follow. The Environmental Protection Agency regulates vehicle emissions nationwide, including pollution and greenhouse gases. And NHTSA regulates fuel economy, with an original mandate of improving America's energy security by reducing reliance on oil.
At one point the three bodies coordinated to set shared standards, but they have since split back apart. But under the Biden administration, all three are pushing in the same general direction: EVs. Electric vehicles use no gasoline and have no tailpipe emissions, and even counting the emissions from manufacturing them and producing electricity, they are cleaner than similar hybrids, and significantly cleaner than conventional gas- and diesel-powered vehicles.
California is now pushing for 100% electric vehicles by 2035. As for the EPA, earlier this year it proposed standards for vehicle emissions that surprised the auto industry with their ambitious push toward electric vehicles. The EPA's standards, if approved, would result in electric vehicles making up 67% of new vehicle sales by 2032.
Currently, EVs make up just over 7% of sales. BloombergNEF recently projected they're on pace to hit 28% by 2026. That's rapid growth — but not on track to hit the EPA's target. Analysts have also found that even recent, significant announcements in charging infrastructure fall short of what a rapid transition to EVs would require.
Environmentalists and the EV industry largely celebrated the EPA's proposal, while the trade group representing legacy automakers has called the proposal "neither reasonable nor achievable."
As EVs increase, what about fuel economy?
The EPA rules were crafted so they would be essentially impossible to meet without producing zer0-emission vehicles. NHTSA's fuel economy standards, in contrast, have to be designed so they could be met just by making gas and diesel vehicles more efficient.
However, as manufacturers make more EVs, it will help them meet the fuel economy standards, which are calculated across a manufacturers' entire fleet.
Behind the new standards is a big question for the auto industry: how much money needs to be put into improving gas-powered vehicles if the future is mostly electric? Some automakers argue that money spent improving their gas-powered vehicles will just hamper their ability to switch to EVs. Currently, gas-powered vehicles are more profitable than electric ones for legacy automakers, and revenue from internal combustion vehicles is funding EV investments.
Environmental groups, meanwhile, say the industry needs to go electric and simultaneously make much greener gas-powered cars, given that gas-powered cars built today could drive for decades.
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, while still parsing the rules, noted that it appears "at first glance" like NHTSA tried to align its standards with the EPA's standards. On the one hand, the Alliance has objected to those standards as unrealistic. On the other hand, the group does strongly prefer for the various standards to match up as much as possible.
Early feedback from environmental groups, meanwhile, argued NHTSA should push for faster improvements in gas-powered vehicles.
"Given the pace of technological change and urgent need to conserve energy, it's clear that these standards could be even more ambitious than NHTSA's proposal," Dave Cook, senior vehicles analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists' Clean Transportation Program, said in a statement.
Faster improvement for trucks
One element of the proposal has long been a focus for environmentalists: Stricter standards for trucks.
U.S. vehicles have gotten significantly more efficient over time. However, many of those gains were effectively erased as larger vehicles, like SUVs, replaced fuel-sipping sedans on America's roads.
Vehicle standards have helped drive that improved efficiency. But critics have noted that by having looser standards for larger vehicles, those same rules also contributed to the increase in SUVs and trucks.
The proposed new fuel economy standards would require SUVs and pick-ups to improve at a faster clip than smaller vehicles because there is "more room to improve" the fuel economy of larger vehicles, as NHTSA puts it — and because improved economy in those vehicles will have a disproportionate benefit given their popularity and the amount of fuel they consume.
Large, feature-packed, not-very-fuel-efficient trucks are a major money-driver for the Detroit 3. General Motors and Stellantis (formerly known as Fiat Chrysler) have each paid out more than $100 million in fees for CAFE non-compliance over the last six years, according to NHTSA's public data.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wvia.org/news/business/2023-07-28/biden-administration-proposes-new-fuel-economy-standards-with-higher-bar-for-trucks | 2023-07-28T22:44:33 | 1 | https://www.wvia.org/news/business/2023-07-28/biden-administration-proposes-new-fuel-economy-standards-with-higher-bar-for-trucks |
Emotions are expected to run high next week when Lori Vallow Daybell is sentenced for the deaths of two of her children and her fifth husband’s previous wife.
Lori faces up to life in prison when she is sentenced on July 31.
SEE MORE: Scripps News finds red flags in review of child fentanyl overdoses
Back in May, the so-called "Doomsday Cult Mom" was convicted of first-degree murder in the deaths of 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and 9-year-old JJ Vallow, and for conspiring to kill Tammy Daybell.
She was also found guilty of grand theft. The childrens' bodies were found buried on Chad Daybell's Fremont County, Idaho property in 2020. Prior to trial, Lori's case was severed from Chad's. Chad is expected to go on trial on April 1, 2024.
Last month, Fremont County District Judge Steven Boyce ruled that only immediate family members of the victims would be permitted to speak at the sentencing hearing.
Expected to speak
The following family members are expected to speak on behalf of the victims:
-Colby Ryan, who is Lori’s oldest son and Tylee and JJ’s older brother.
-Kay Woodcock, who is JJ’s grandmother and JJ’s designated representative.
-Summer Shiflet, who is Lori’s sister and Tylee’s designated representative.
-Samantha Gwilliam, who is Tammy’s sister.
Other loved ones expressed interest in speaking on behalf of the victims, but Judge Boyce decided not to allow it because they were not immediate family members.
Tammy’s aunt, Vicki Hoban, was granted special permission to speak because Tammy’s mother passed away in June, but Lori’s legal team argued that an aunt is not a victim in this context, under Idaho law, and therefore should not be permitted to speak.
A hearing on the matter is set for July 26.
Daybell may speak in court
Daybell will also have an opportunity to speak before Judge Boyce reads the sentence.
She faces 10 years to life in prison on each charge of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Daybell could also receive between 1 and 20 years in prison on a grand theft charge.
She will not be sentenced to death, as Judge Boyce took that option off the table back in March. While she awaits sentencing, Lori is being housed at the Madison County Jail. After sentencing, she’s expected to be transferred to the custody of the Idaho Department of Correction.
It is believed that she will then serve out her time at the Pocatello Women’s Correctional Center. Lori also faces separate charges in Arizona in connection to the death of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow; as well as for allegedly conspiring to kill her ex-nephew-in-law, Brandon Boudreaux.
This story was originally published by Katie McLaughlin at Court TV, which will have live coverage of Lori Vallow Daybell's sentencing on July 31.
Trending stories at Scrippsnews.com | https://www.abc15.com/lori-vallow-daybell-sentencing-here-s-what-to-expect | 2023-07-28T22:44:36 | 0 | https://www.abc15.com/lori-vallow-daybell-sentencing-here-s-what-to-expect |
Trader Joe's has recalled its frozen falafel for potentially having rocks in it, after it recalled two of its cookie products for the same reason recently.
The company's supplier informed them of the concern, and Trader Joe's said in a statement Friday that "all potentially affected product has been removed from sale and destroyed."
Customers who purchased the product should discard it or return it to a Trader Joe's location for a full refund, the company said.
The falafel, which is fully cooked and frozen, has the SKU number 93935 and is sold in Washington, D.C., and 34 states.
Last Friday, Trader Joe's said rocks could also possibly be found in its Almond Windmill Cookies and Dark Chocolate Chunk and Almond Cookies.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wvia.org/news/business/2023-07-28/trader-joes-recalls-its-frozen-falafel-for-possibly-having-rocks-in-it | 2023-07-28T22:44:40 | 0 | https://www.wvia.org/news/business/2023-07-28/trader-joes-recalls-its-frozen-falafel-for-possibly-having-rocks-in-it |
Trader Joe's issued a recall on Friday for its Fully Cooked Falafel, which may contain rocks.
The product has been removed from sale and destroyed, Trader Joe's officials wrote on its website.
It is sold in over 30 states including Illinois, North Carolina, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.
Officials went on to write that if anyone has purchased or received its Full Cooked Falafel they should not eat it.
Customers can discard the product or return it to any Trader Joe's for a full refund.
Customers with questions can contact Trader Joe's Customer Relations at 626-599-3817.
This is the third recall issued by Trader Joe's for some of its products in the last week.
On Tuesday, the store recalled two types of cookies that may also contain rocks.
Those cookies are Trader Joe's Almond Windmill Cookies and Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Chunk and Almond Cookies.
Then on Thursday, the store issued another voluntary recall for roughly 10,000 cases of Unexpected Broccoli Cheddar Soup, which suppliers said "may contain insects" in the broccoli florets. | https://abc30.com/trader-joes-fully-cooked-falafel-recall-product-contains-rocks/13564963/ | 2023-07-28T22:44:42 | 0 | https://abc30.com/trader-joes-fully-cooked-falafel-recall-product-contains-rocks/13564963/ |
An Arizona man accused of trying to extort Georgia Tech by falsely accusing its men's basketball coach of sexual assault has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison, federal prosecutors said.
Ronald Bell, 57, of Oro Valley, Arizona, was sentenced Thursday to two years, nine months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said in a news release. Bell pleaded guilty in March to conspiring with his co-defendant, Jennifer Pendley, and a security guard at Georgia Tech, to the extortion scheme.
"Ronald Bell tried to extort Georgia Tech and ruin the reputation of its basketball coach," Buchanan said. "As federal prosecutors, we have a responsibility to the citizens of this district to pursue accountability and justice for crimes of sexual violence. But in this case Bell attempted to exploit the mission of our office, and law enforcement partners, to combat sexual assault through a brazen effort to enrich himself at the expense of Georgia Tech and a member of its staff. Bell has now been held accountable for his crime."
Bell demanded money from Georgia Tech in exchange for not reporting the fictitious sexual assault, the news release said. When Georgia Tech refused to pay Bell, Pendley filed a lawsuit claiming sexual battery, sexual assault, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The claims falsely alleged that a guard witnessed assault. Ultimately, the security guard admitted that his statements were false and that Bell asked him to lie to support the false claim against the university's basketball coach, Josh Pastner.
Bell told the security guard that the false accusation could be worth $20 million to Bell and Pendley and promised the guard a share of the money and a new Jeep, according to the news release.
Pastner, a former University of Arizona assistant coach, and the couple, who were once friends, have been entangled in litigation since January 2018. It started when Pastner sued them for blackmail and defamation. He accused them of falsely claiming he broke NCAA rules.
They in turn countersued, which is when they accused Pastner of sexually assaulting Pendley at a Houston hotel in 2016 when he was a coach at Memphis.
Georgia Tech conducted an independent investigation last year and found no basis for the sexual misconduct allegations.
It was not immediately clear if Pendley or the security guard face charges in the case. | https://www.abc15.com/media/v/content/7a9efb1563bc26d637cf30adaf25e517 | 2023-07-28T22:44:42 | 1 | https://www.abc15.com/media/v/content/7a9efb1563bc26d637cf30adaf25e517 |
The actors strike might cause the Emmys to delay its planned September broadcast. It would be the first such delay since the Emmys were postponed after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001.
Copyright 2023 NPR
The actors strike might cause the Emmys to delay its planned September broadcast. It would be the first such delay since the Emmys were postponed after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wvia.org/news/news/arts/2023-07-28/hollywood-strikes-may-cause-the-emmys-to-delay-its-planned-september-broadcast | 2023-07-28T22:44:43 | 0 | https://www.wvia.org/news/news/arts/2023-07-28/hollywood-strikes-may-cause-the-emmys-to-delay-its-planned-september-broadcast |
This month, members of the mid-Columbia River tribes set off from Oregon on an annual intertribal canoe journey to Seattle. It's especially poignant this year after a three-year hiatus due to COVID.
Copyright 2023 NPR
This month, members of the mid-Columbia River tribes set off from Oregon on an annual intertribal canoe journey to Seattle. It's especially poignant this year after a three-year hiatus due to COVID.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wvia.org/news/news/arts/2023-07-28/intertribal-canoe-trip-from-oregon-to-seattle-will-set-out-for-first-time-since-covid | 2023-07-28T22:44:43 | 0 | https://www.wvia.org/news/news/arts/2023-07-28/intertribal-canoe-trip-from-oregon-to-seattle-will-set-out-for-first-time-since-covid |
With more than 200 careers under her pink belt, Barbie has always been a hard worker. What can the types of professions Barbie's done tell us about women in the U.S. labor force? A lot, actually.
Copyright 2023 NPR
With more than 200 careers under her pink belt, Barbie has always been a hard worker. What can the types of professions Barbie's done tell us about women in the U.S. labor force? A lot, actually.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wvia.org/news/news/arts/2023-07-28/what-barbies-professional-history-says-about-women-in-the-labor-force | 2023-07-28T22:44:48 | 1 | https://www.wvia.org/news/news/arts/2023-07-28/what-barbies-professional-history-says-about-women-in-the-labor-force |
Lottery players will have another shot at a huge Mega Millions jackpot Friday night and a chance to break a stretch of more than three months without a big winner of the game.
The estimated $940 million prize has been building since someone last matched all six numbers and won the jackpot April 18. Since then, there have been 28 straight drawings without a jackpot winner.
The jackpot is now the eighth-largest ever in the U.S. It comes a little over a week after someone in Los Angeles won a $1.08 billion Powerball prize that ranked as the sixth-largest in U.S. history. It's still a mystery who won that prize.
Lottery jackpots grow so large because the odds of winning are so small. For Mega Millions, the odds of winning the jackpot are about 1 in 302.6 million.
The $940 million prize would be for a sole winner choosing to be paid through an annuity with annual payments over 30 years. Jackpot winners almost always opt for a lump sum payment, which for Friday night's drawing would be an estimated $472.5 million.
Winners also would be subject to federal taxes, while many states also tax lottery winnings.
Mega Millions is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. | https://www.abc15.com/news/national/the-mega-millions-jackpot-is-now-940-million-after-months-without-a-big-winner | 2023-07-28T22:44:48 | 0 | https://www.abc15.com/news/national/the-mega-millions-jackpot-is-now-940-million-after-months-without-a-big-winner |
NPR's Juana Summers speaks with Gene X. Hwang about X (formerly Twitter) taking over his handle @x without informing nor compensating him.
Copyright 2023 NPR
NPR's Juana Summers speaks with Gene X. Hwang about X (formerly Twitter) taking over his handle @x without informing nor compensating him.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wvia.org/news/news/business/2023-07-28/the-man-who-once-tweeted-as-x-wasnt-informed-when-the-company-took-over-his-handle | 2023-07-28T22:44:54 | 0 | https://www.wvia.org/news/news/business/2023-07-28/the-man-who-once-tweeted-as-x-wasnt-informed-when-the-company-took-over-his-handle |
APACHE JUNCTION, AZ — An Apache Junction police officer is thanking a young girl for finding his lost dog with a special gift.
Sgt. Pennington was recently out of town and while he was away, his beloved dog Bella wandered off.
A compassionate girl named Enzley rescued Bella, who had burnt paws when found.
An inspiring tale of kindness and community!💙
— AJ Police Department (@AJPoliceDept) July 28, 2023
While Sgt. Pennington was away, his beloved dog Bella wandered off and was found with burnt paws. Thanks to the quick actions of a compassionate girl named Enzley, Bella was rescued off the streets (1/3). #AJCommunity #AJPD pic.twitter.com/o0wJC99pu7
Pennington wanted to make sure Enzley knew how grateful he was.
So when Enzley paid a visit to the police department, Pennington surprised her with a new bike.
The department says Enzley's excitement was "contagious."
She made sure every officer could feel her excitement when she thanked Apache Junction officers for their hard work over the police radio. | https://www.abc15.com/news/uplifting-arizona/apache-junction-officer-thanks-young-girl-who-found-his-dog-with-new-bike | 2023-07-28T22:44:55 | 1 | https://www.abc15.com/news/uplifting-arizona/apache-junction-officer-thanks-young-girl-who-found-his-dog-with-new-bike |
Marine scientists say record ocean temperatures have sparked widespread coral bleaching in the Florida Keys. The extreme heat and bleaching have been deadly — killing all coral on one popular reef.
Copyright 2023 NPR
Marine scientists say record ocean temperatures have sparked widespread coral bleaching in the Florida Keys. The extreme heat and bleaching have been deadly — killing all coral on one popular reef.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wvia.org/news/news/environment/2023-07-28/scientists-fight-to-help-protect-the-florida-coral-thats-dying-from-heat | 2023-07-28T22:45:00 | 1 | https://www.wvia.org/news/news/environment/2023-07-28/scientists-fight-to-help-protect-the-florida-coral-thats-dying-from-heat |
On a hot summer day, in the Atlanta Dream practice facility, head coach Tanisha Wright is running drills and keeping her players motivated on the heels of a mid-season hot streak.
"How we approach our team in general is high accountability, it's one of our pillars. Not just as an athlete, but as an individual," said Wright.
The former player-turned-coach is in her second season as the Dream's head coach. Having been in their shoes for 14 years means she's someone the players can look to for leadership.
"I'm able to relate to them because I've been in their position before," said Wright.
This season, The Dream are on track to make the playoffs for the first time in five years, and the team just sent three players to the WNBA All-Star game. A big part of that success is Coach Wright.
She's a strong advocate for her players on the court, and one of nine female head-coaches in the league.
"It's a women's league so anytime you can have representation in leadership form, I think it's important so our players, and players across the league, can look around and see representation and opportunity," said Wright.
SEE MORE: Washington Mystics' Tianna Hawkins talks WNBA season, league growth
And she isn't the only woman in a key leadership role for the Dream.
In 2021, former Dream point-guard Renee Montgomery made history when she became the first former player to become an owner and executive of a WNBA franchise.
Along with co-owner Suzanne Abair, Wright says women have played a pivotal role in the team's recent success.
"Having Suzanne and Renee is really important," said Wright.
For years, players in the WNBA have been at the forefront of social justice battles. And in 2020, the Dream spoke out against then co-owner, former U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler after comments she made about the Black Lives Matter movement.
Players across the league called for her removal as a team co-owner. Loeffler sold the dream later that season, making way for Montgomery's stake in her old team.
And it wasn't just the team Loeffler lost. The Dream supported Loeffler's opponent in the 2020 election, Reverend Raphael Warnock — who ended up winning the Senate seat against the incumbent, flipping Georgia blue.
Wright says female leadership has also contributed to the team's healthy culture, allowing a safe space for players to learn and grow. That means going beyond the "W" in WNBA.
"We want it to be a culture where people feel comfortable to be themselves every single day," said Wright.
And whether it's a message to her current players or future generations, Wright says one thing will always be true: "You're gonna get out of it what you put into it — the more you put into it, the more the game will give you."
Trending stories at Scrippsnews.com | https://www.abc15.com/the-wnba-s-atlanta-dream-is-having-one-of-its-most-successful-seasons | 2023-07-28T22:45:01 | 1 | https://www.abc15.com/the-wnba-s-atlanta-dream-is-having-one-of-its-most-successful-seasons |
SAGINAW TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WJRT) - It was all a set-up.
That's the explanation from the attorney for the doctor who is accused of running over a protestor outside of an abortion clinic.
That doctor was formally arraigned today, charged with assault with a dangerous weapon.
This evening, his attorney is speaking out about what he says actually happened outside the abortion clinic.
He says this whole incident was planned to put Dr. Theodore Roumell out of practice.
The doctor was charged today and is free on a $20,000 personal recognizance bond.
The 87-year-old Roumell faces that one count of assault with a dangerous weapon, which is a four-year felony.
It was back on June 23rd outside the Women's Center of Saginaw and Flint in Saginaw Township when Roumell was pulling into the parking lot and allegedly hit Mark Zimmerman with his car, breaking Zimmerman's leg.
Zimmerman and the other people who sit in the property's right-of-way refer to themselves as counselors, people who attempt to engage women as they go into the clinic, hoping to tell them there are alternatives and options to abortion.
Others refer to them as protesters.
A security guard has been present for about two years when the clinic is in operation, and a security guard was present when this incident happened.
For the first time we are hearing from Roumell's attorney.
Matthew Norwood believes his client was set-up.
Norwood says,"They come to his business and protest in his face. They don't let his car enter the property, they lie in front and in back of the car. He can't get out of the car, they attack him. He has had his nose broken before and his lip split by these protesters."
Norwood says a protester getting injured was part of the plan, saying "They knew they were going to get hurt, and as soon as they were hurt, they ran to their personal injury lawyer who is opposed to abortion."
Norwood is referring to Robert Dunn, who will represent Zimmerman in a potential civil lawsuit against the doctor.
We reached out to Robert Dunn for comment, but we didn't hear back.
As part of his bond conditions, Dr. Roumell is to have no contact with Zimmerman or, as the court papers state, other protesters. | https://www.abc12.com/news/attorney-for-doctor-charged-with-assault-at-saginaw-twp-abortion-clinic-says-it-was-a/article_b1069370-2d8b-11ee-b4ed-ef1129053175.html | 2023-07-28T22:45:01 | 0 | https://www.abc12.com/news/attorney-for-doctor-charged-with-assault-at-saginaw-twp-abortion-clinic-says-it-was-a/article_b1069370-2d8b-11ee-b4ed-ef1129053175.html |
MT. MORRIS TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WJRT) - It's always great when former athletes give time back to their communities.
That's what Pistons guard Monte Morris did at Moses Lacey Fieldhouse.
"Man, it's amazing. It's surreal to have my own basketball camp," said Morris. "Kids wearing my name on their chest, me teaching them life lessons and not just basketball, it's fun to see."
Over 100 kids attended his basketball camp.
Flint basketball legend Mateen Cleaves was in the crowd and spoke to the kids about his basketball journey.
The former Michigan State guard and national says he was blown away by what Morris is doing for the community.
"It just warms my heart to walk in this gym and see what he's doing, him and his mom putting this camp together. Man, this is beautiful," said Cleaves.
Morris also hosted an autograph session after the camp, where even more of the Flint community got to chat with the former Beecher Buc. | https://www.abc12.com/sports/former-buc-pays-it-forward-monte-morris-hosted-basketball-camp-at-beecher/article_d9e49680-2d8f-11ee-b6fe-430fb77d8b12.html | 2023-07-28T22:45:07 | 0 | https://www.abc12.com/sports/former-buc-pays-it-forward-monte-morris-hosted-basketball-camp-at-beecher/article_d9e49680-2d8f-11ee-b6fe-430fb77d8b12.html |
New analysis finds that people in mobile or manufactured homes are more likely to be killed during a tornado than those in site-built homes.
The Associated Press analyzed tornado data going back to 1996 and found that 53% of all deaths at home during tornadoes occurred in mobile or manufactured homes.
But these mobile homes account for 6% of all housing units in the U.S., according to the Census Bureau.
In January, seven people died during a tornado in Alabama. All of those who died lived in mobile homes. Some of them were ultimately thrown more than 1,000 feet from where the building originally stood.
The worst damage done to a nearby site-built home, meanwhile, was some damage to its roof shingles.
Experts who study the effects of tornadoes on mobile homes told The Associated Press that the problems with mobile homes usually stem from weak connections to the ground, compared to the foundations of site-built homes.
When the bottom fails, the structure is free to move.
"The whole structure is rolling or flying through air. You've got dressers falling on top of you. You've got the entire structure that's trying to crush you," Auburn University engineering professor David Roueche told The Associated Press.
"You just have to be in some structure that’s attached to the ground," NOAA social scientist Kim Klockow-McClain said. "And then no matter what the tornado throws at you, you have really good odds."
SEE MORE: Tornado Alley Is Expanding, Hitting More Southern States Than Ever
The percentage of deaths from tornadoes in mobile homes is also increasing, a trend that may continue because of the way storms are shifting location in the U.S. Experts say new regions of the south are at increasing risk from tornadoes, because of altered weather patterns due to climate change and other factors.
Mobile homes in places like Alabama are often spread out, making centralized tornado shelters less practical. Tornadoes may also strike quickly, in a matter of minutes or seconds, which gives those in their path little time to prepare.
The experts who spoke to The Associated Press recommend extending federal rules that require better anchoring of mobile homes. There are laws in place for mobile homes in hurricane-prone areas, they say, that could make mobile homes everywhere safer if they were applied nationwide.
SEE MORE: Broken tornado sirens will be part of FEMA review in Congress
Trending stories at Scrippsnews.com | https://www.abc15.com/why-are-mobile-home-residents-more-likely-to-be-killed-by-a-tornado | 2023-07-28T22:45:07 | 1 | https://www.abc15.com/why-are-mobile-home-residents-more-likely-to-be-killed-by-a-tornado |
NPR's Juana Summers talks with MIT Technology Review climate and energy reporter Casey Crownhart about her latest reporting on innovations in air conditioning technology.
Copyright 2023 NPR
NPR's Juana Summers talks with MIT Technology Review climate and energy reporter Casey Crownhart about her latest reporting on innovations in air conditioning technology.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wvia.org/news/news/npr-national/2023-07-28/a-c-bill-high-this-summer-cool-innovations-promise-more-efficient-air-conditioning | 2023-07-28T22:45:08 | 1 | https://www.wvia.org/news/news/npr-national/2023-07-28/a-c-bill-high-this-summer-cool-innovations-promise-more-efficient-air-conditioning |
INDIANAPOLIS — Lawyers representing the man accused of killing IMPD Ofc. Breann Leath are trying to prove jurors have a bias when they know the state is seeking the death penalty.
Elliahs Dorsey was back in court Friday morning for a pretrial conference. He's facing a death penalty trial, but is seeking an insanity defense.
A death penalty jury expert from the Capital Jury Project testified that it's hard to find impartial death penalty jurors. That's why the defense wants the death penalty eliminated before Dorsey goes on trial.
Leath's parents were in court Friday. They spoke with 13News about the testimony they heard.
"We knew this was going to be a long, drawn-out, multiple-year initiation from start to finish. We knew that going in," said Leath's mother, Jennifer. "Unfortunately, sometimes you just have to sit through the nonsense to get through the end and this is something we have to check the box off to prove our case, then we will do it."
Dorsey is accused of shooting through a door and killing Leath when she responded to a domestic violence call on April 9, 2020.
He is expected to go on trial next February.
Leath was a mother, a military veteran and a well-respected IMPD officer.
"She is the example of the type of officer we want on this department," IMPD Chief Randal Taylor said after Leath's death.
Leath served in the Indiana National Guard and was assigned to the 387th Military Police Company at Camp Atterbury from March 2014 to April 2017, honorably discharged as a specialist. | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/crime/lawyer-of-man-accused-of-killing-officer-breann-leath-elliahs-dorsey-argues-jury-bias-when-state-seeks-death-penalty/531-92584d9c-820e-4bc9-9e37-e452ce4258a8 | 2023-07-28T22:45:14 | 1 | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/crime/lawyer-of-man-accused-of-killing-officer-breann-leath-elliahs-dorsey-argues-jury-bias-when-state-seeks-death-penalty/531-92584d9c-820e-4bc9-9e37-e452ce4258a8 |
Black farmers make up a small, aging part of the farming population. Some worry traditions may die with them. So there's an effort in Mississippi to cultivate the next generation of Black farmers.
Copyright 2023 NPR
Black farmers make up a small, aging part of the farming population. Some worry traditions may die with them. So there's an effort in Mississippi to cultivate the next generation of Black farmers.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wvia.org/news/news/npr-national/2023-07-28/cultivating-the-next-generation-of-black-farmers-in-mississippi | 2023-07-28T22:45:14 | 0 | https://www.wvia.org/news/news/npr-national/2023-07-28/cultivating-the-next-generation-of-black-farmers-in-mississippi |
SELLERSBURG, Ind. — An Indiana State Police officer is accused of driving a vehicle while intoxicated.
According to a press release, Senior Trooper Zachary Smith was arrested for operating while intoxicated (OWI) Thursday afternoon at his home in Floyd County.
Authorities said the investigation began when troopers from the ISP Sellersburg post went to Smith's home to drop off administrative paperwork.
When officers arrived they said they saw Smith pull into his driveway while driving his personal vehicle.
Smith was the only person in his vehicle, and officers allegedly saw "signs of impairment" as they spoke with him in his driveway.
Smith was then arrested for OWI, and taken to the Floyd County Jail.
Authorities said he is currently on administrative leave, pending the outcome of the OWI charge and internal ISP investigation.
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GET Videos on Demand | Watch WHAS11 on Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/indiana/indiana-state-police-trooper-arrested-driving-intoxicated/417-3a0202eb-a1da-4dfb-8dd1-e2a9a5872cb7 | 2023-07-28T22:45:20 | 1 | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/indiana/indiana-state-police-trooper-arrested-driving-intoxicated/417-3a0202eb-a1da-4dfb-8dd1-e2a9a5872cb7 |
After a month of record-breaking heat, are we past calling it a heat "wave?" NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Duke heat expert Ashley Ward.
Copyright 2023 NPR
After a month of record-breaking heat, are we past calling it a heat "wave?" NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Duke heat expert Ashley Ward.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wvia.org/news/news/npr-national/2023-07-28/dont-call-it-a-heat-wave-expert-weighs-in-after-a-month-of-record-breaking-heat | 2023-07-28T22:45:21 | 1 | https://www.wvia.org/news/news/npr-national/2023-07-28/dont-call-it-a-heat-wave-expert-weighs-in-after-a-month-of-record-breaking-heat |
HOOVER, Ala. — Authorities in Alabama said Friday they filed criminal charges against a woman who confessed to fabricating a story that she was kidnapped after stopping to check on a toddler she saw walking on the side of an interstate highway.
Carlee Russell was charged with false reporting to law enforcement and falsely reporting an incident, both misdemeanors that carry up to a year in jail, Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis said. Russell turned herself in to jail Friday and was released on bond, he said.
“Her decisions that night created panic and alarm for citizens of our city and even across the nation as concern grew that a kidnapper was on the loose using a small child as bait,” he said. “Numerous law enforcement agencies, both local and federal, began working tirelessly not only to bring Carlee home to her family but locate a kidnapper that we know now never existed. Many private citizens volunteered their time and energy in looking for a potential kidnapping victim that we know now was never in any danger.”
Derzis said he was frustrated that Russell was only being charged with two misdemeanors despite the panic and disruption she caused, but he said the law did not allow for enhanced charges.
Russell, 25, disappeared after calling 911 on July 13 to report a toddler wandering beside a stretch of interstate. She returned home two days later and told police she had been abducted and forced into a vehicle.
Her disappearance became a national news story. Images of the missing woman were shared broadly on social media.
“We don’t see this as a victimless crime," Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said at a Friday news conference. “There are significant hours spent, resources expended as a result of this investigation.”
Marshall's office was asked to handle the prosecution because of the attention the case received, Derzis said. Marshall said he intends to “fully prosecute” Russell and said his office will take into account the police investigation to see whether additional charges are warranted.
Russell, through her attorney, Emory Anthony, acknowledged earlier that she made the story up.
In a statement read by police on Monday, Anthony said Russell was not kidnapped, did not see a baby on the side of the road, did not leave the city and acted alone. He said Russell apologized and he asked for prayers and forgiveness as she “addresses her issues and attempts to move forward, understanding that she made a mistake in this matter.”
A message left Friday at Anthony’s office was not immediately returned.
Russell told detectives she was taken by a man who came out of the trees when she stopped to check on the child, put in a car and an 18-wheel truck, was blindfolded and was held at a home where a woman fed her cheese crackers, authorities said at a news conference last week. At some point, Russell said she was put in a vehicle again but managed to escape and run through the woods to her neighborhood.
“This story opened wounds for families whose loved ones really were victims of kidnappings,” Derzis said.
He said police have not determined where Russell went during the 49 hours she was missing. They plan to talk to the attorney general's office about recovering some of the money spent on the investigation. | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/nation-world/carlee-russell-charges-kidnapping-hoover-police/507-57a5c2ab-a857-45a3-9c87-5cd0a8138655 | 2023-07-28T22:45:26 | 1 | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/nation-world/carlee-russell-charges-kidnapping-hoover-police/507-57a5c2ab-a857-45a3-9c87-5cd0a8138655 |
With the WGA strike entering it's third month and SAG-AFTRA strike heading into its third week, L.A. workers reflect on what the Hollywood stoppage means for the local economy.
Copyright 2023 LAist 89.3
With the WGA strike entering it's third month and SAG-AFTRA strike heading into its third week, L.A. workers reflect on what the Hollywood stoppage means for the local economy.
Copyright 2023 LAist 89.3 | https://www.wvia.org/news/news/npr-national/2023-07-28/economic-anxiety-grows-in-los-angeles-as-hollywood-strikes-continue | 2023-07-28T22:45:27 | 0 | https://www.wvia.org/news/news/npr-national/2023-07-28/economic-anxiety-grows-in-los-angeles-as-hollywood-strikes-continue |
When you get a stomachache, you may reach for a glass of ginger ale to help feel better. It is a common home remedy for nausea or other gastrointestinal issues. However, some people online are wondering if their mom’s go-to cure actually works.
THE QUESTION
Does ginger ale help with stomachaches?
THE SOURCES
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration
- A study published in Nutrients in 2020
- Emma Slattery, RDN, in a post on Johns Hopkins Medicine
- A blog post by Matthew Goldman, M.D., on Cleveland Clinic
- Seagram’s
- Schweppes
- Canada Dry
THE ANSWER
While ginger root can help stomachaches, many popular brands of ginger ale do not contain any real ginger. The sugar and high carbonation may also worsen digestive problems.
WHAT WE FOUND
Ginger ale could help relieve stomachaches for some people, but only if it contains real ginger. A scientific review of more than 100 studies on the effects of ginger show moderate effectiveness in relieving nausea.
Emma Slattery, a registered dietician at Johns Hopkins Medicine, explains in a blog post that “eating ginger encourages efficient digestion, so food doesn’t linger as long in the gut.” This can help you cut down on bloating and constipation as ginger improves “the rate at which food exits the stomach and continues along the digestive process.”
But while “ginger” may be in the name of the fizzy drinks you find in stores, many brands of ginger ale do not actually contain any real ginger.
VERIFY looked at the ingredients list of Seagram’s ginger ale and found that the soda contains “ginger extract with other natural flavors.” Schweppes, Canada Dry and Great Value ginger ale do not include ginger in their ingredient list and instead only say “natural flavors.” According to the FDA, “natural flavors” can refer to a wide variety of ingredients whose “significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional.”
Ginger ale often contains large amounts of sugar, which may create further issues for your stomachache. In a blog post for the Cleveland Clinic, Matthew Goldman, M.D., says, “If a person has bloating, gas or indigestion, the carbonation and sugar may make it worse. Even diet ginger ale can be harmful because our bodies may not digest artificial sugars as well.”
Another aspect of ginger ale believed to assist with stomachaches is carbonation. But that might not be helpful for everyone.
Baptist Health explains, “Some people find that the bubbles in carbonated drinks help soothe an upset stomach, in part, by making it easier for them to burp and release stomach pressure. For others, gas and acidity can make matters worse.” Baptist Health recommends that you drink heavily carbonated drinks with caution if you are not sure how they affect you.
So how can you best take advantage of ginger’s soothing effects when you’re feeling sick? Cleveland Clinic recommends getting ginger root from the grocery store and mixing it with decaf tea or warm water.
Some ginger sodas do have real ginger in the ingredient list. Reed’s sells a ginger ale with 2 grams of ginger in a 12 oz bottle and ginger beer that contains 17 grams of ginger per bottle. | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/verify/health-verify/ginger-ale-no-help-stomachache-because-no-ginger/536-b21c22d9-743a-4f5a-a9d6-a570ef090627 | 2023-07-28T22:45:32 | 1 | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/verify/health-verify/ginger-ale-no-help-stomachache-because-no-ginger/536-b21c22d9-743a-4f5a-a9d6-a570ef090627 |
News National Hulu's 'The Fool' gives a working class perspective of life in Los Angeles By Gabriel J. Sánchez, Sarah Handel Published July 28, 2023 at 5:48 PM EDT Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Listen • 4:16 Comedian and actor Frankie Quiñones talks about the second season of the show This Fool, now streaming on Hulu. Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wvia.org/news/news/npr-national/2023-07-28/hulus-the-fool-gives-a-working-class-perspective-of-life-in-los-angeles | 2023-07-28T22:45:33 | 0 | https://www.wvia.org/news/news/npr-national/2023-07-28/hulus-the-fool-gives-a-working-class-perspective-of-life-in-los-angeles |
- Donald Trump appealed the recent denial of the former president's request that his pending New York state criminal case be transferred to federal court.
- Trump, 77, was indicted in late March by a grand jury in Manhattan Supreme Court on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to payments to his former lawyer.
- Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, gave a $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016 to keep her quiet about an alleged one-time sexual tryst with Trump.
Donald Trump on Friday appealed a judge's recent denial of his request that his pending New York state criminal case be transferred to federal court.
Trump, 77, was indicted in late March by a grand jury in Manhattan Supreme Court on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to payments made to Michael Cohen, his former personal lawyer.
The payments reimbursed Cohen, and then some, for the lawyer's $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels right before the 2016 presidential election, intended to keep her quiet about an alleged one-time sexual tryst with Trump. Trump had recorded the payments to Cohen as being for legal services.
Trump asked federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein to transfer his case from state court to U.S. District Court in Manhattan, arguing that because the records were created when he was president, the case properly belonged in federal court.
In a blunt decision July 19 denying the request, Hellerstein wrote, "Trump has failed to show that the conduct charged by the Indictment is for or related to any act performed by or for the President under color of the official acts of a President."
Money Report
"The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was purely a personal item of the President, a cover-up of an embarrassing event," the judge wrote.
Trump, who is the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is now asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit to overturn Hellerstein's ruling.
The case is being prosecuted by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. A state court judge has scheduled a trial in the case to begin late March 2024.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in the case. He also denies having had sex with Daniels.
Separately, Trump was criminally charged last month in Florida federal court with nearly three dozen counts related to retaining classified records at his residence at the Mar-a-Lago Club after he left office.
Prosecutors on Thursday added several charges to that case, alleging Trump and two co-defendants tried to destroy surveillance video at the club that captured the movement of boxes containing the records.
Trump also is currently under criminal investigation by federal prosecutors for his efforts to reverse his loss in the 2020 presidential election. A state prosecutor in Georgia separately is investigating him for similar conduct in that state. | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/business/money-report/trump-appeals-ruling-that-porn-star-payoff-trial-be-held-in-new-york-state-court/3305775/ | 2023-07-28T22:45:39 | 1 | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/business/money-report/trump-appeals-ruling-that-porn-star-payoff-trial-be-held-in-new-york-state-court/3305775/ |
Attacks against postal carriers are up, and so are mail thefts. The U.S. Postal Service has a new safety plan, but is it strong enough? This is occurring as the USPS tries to recruit more workers.
Copyright 2023 NPR
Attacks against postal carriers are up, and so are mail thefts. The U.S. Postal Service has a new safety plan, but is it strong enough? This is occurring as the USPS tries to recruit more workers.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wvia.org/news/news/npr-national/2023-07-28/with-a-rise-in-robberies-of-postal-carriers-its-a-dangerous-time-to-work-in-mail | 2023-07-28T22:45:40 | 0 | https://www.wvia.org/news/news/npr-national/2023-07-28/with-a-rise-in-robberies-of-postal-carriers-its-a-dangerous-time-to-work-in-mail |
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The latest news from around North Texas. | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/dog-days-of-summer-tiberius-and-bella/3305763/ | 2023-07-28T22:45:40 | 1 | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/dog-days-of-summer-tiberius-and-bella/3305763/ |
As Russia wraps up its high level summit with African countries Friday, just how much real influence does Russia have in the continent?
Copyright 2023 NPR
As Russia wraps up its high level summit with African countries Friday, just how much real influence does Russia have in the continent?
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wvia.org/news/news/politics/2023-07-28/seeking-stronger-economic-ties-vladimir-putin-wraps-up-a-summit-with-african-leaders | 2023-07-28T22:45:46 | 1 | https://www.wvia.org/news/news/politics/2023-07-28/seeking-stronger-economic-ties-vladimir-putin-wraps-up-a-summit-with-african-leaders |
Justine Kenin is an editor on All Things Considered. She joined NPR in 1999 as an intern. Nothing makes her happier than getting a book in the right reader's hands – most especially her own.
Juana Summers
Juana Summers is a co-host of NPR's All Things Considered, alongside Ailsa Chang, Ari Shapiro and Mary Louise Kelly. She joined All Things Considered in June 2022. | https://www.wvia.org/news/news/politics/2023-07-28/the-implications-of-the-recent-coup-in-niger | 2023-07-28T22:45:52 | 1 | https://www.wvia.org/news/news/politics/2023-07-28/the-implications-of-the-recent-coup-in-niger |
Former President Donald Trump faces three new charges in the case accusing him of hoarding classified documents as a grand jury continues to investigate his role in trying to overturn 2020's election.
Copyright 2023 NPR
Former President Donald Trump faces three new charges in the case accusing him of hoarding classified documents as a grand jury continues to investigate his role in trying to overturn 2020's election.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wvia.org/news/news/politics/2023-07-28/where-trumps-legal-issues-stand-as-he-sees-more-charges-in-classified-documents-case | 2023-07-28T22:45:58 | 1 | https://www.wvia.org/news/news/politics/2023-07-28/where-trumps-legal-issues-stand-as-he-sees-more-charges-in-classified-documents-case |
PHOENIX — The backup Uber driver for a self-driving vehicle that killed a pedestrian in suburban Phoenix in 2018 pleaded guilty Friday to endangerment in the first fatal collision involving a fully autonomous car.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge David Garbarino, who accepted the plea agreement, sentenced Rafaela Vasquez, 49, to three years of supervised probation for the crash that killed 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg. Vasquez told police that Herzberg "came out of nowhere" and that she didn't see Herzberg before the March 18, 2018, collision on a darkened Tempe street.
Vasquez had been charged with negligent homicide, a felony. She pleaded guilty to an undesignated felony, meaning it could be reclassified as a misdemeanor if she completes probation.
Authorities say Vasquez was streaming the television show "The Voice" on a phone and looking down in the moments before Uber's Volvo XC-90 SUV struck Herzberg, who was crossing with her bicycle.
Vasquez's attorneys said she was was looking at a messaging program used by Uber employees on a work cellphone that was on her right knee. They said the TV show was playing on her personal cellphone, which was on the passenger seat.
Defense attorney Albert Jaynes Morrison told Garbarino that Uber should share some blame for the collision as he asked the judge to sentence Vasquez to six months of unsupervised probation.
"There were steps that Uber failed to take," he said. By putting Vasquez in the vehicle without a second employee, he said. "It was not a question of if but when it was going to happen."
Prosecutors previously declined to file criminal charges against Uber, as a corporation. The National Transportation Safety Board concluded Vasquez's failure to monitor the road was the main cause of the crash.
"The defendant had one job and one job only," prosecutor Tiffany Brady told the judge. "And that was to keep her eyes in the road."
Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in a statement after the hearing that her office believes the sentence was appropriate "based on the mitigating and aggravating factors."
The contributing factors cited by the NTSB included Uber's inadequate safety procedures and ineffective oversight of its drivers, Herzberg's decision to cross the street outside of a crosswalk and the Arizona Department of Transportation's insufficient oversight of autonomous vehicle testing.
The board also concluded Uber's deactivation of its automatic emergency braking system increased the risks associated with testing automated vehicles on public roads. Instead of the system, Uber relied on the human backup driver to intervene.
It was not the first crash involving an Uber autonomous test vehicle. In March 2017, an Uber SUV flipped onto its side, also in Tempe when it collided with another vehicle. No serious injuries were reported, and the driver of the other car was cited for a violation.
Herzberg's death was the first involving an autonomous test vehicle but not the first in a car with some self-driving features. The driver of a Tesla Model S was killed in 2016 when his car, operating on its Autopilot system, crashed into a semitrailer in Florida.
Nine months after Herzberg's death, in December 2019, two people were killed in California when a Tesla on Autopilot ran a red light, slammed into another car. That driver was charged in 2022 with vehicular manslaughter in what was believed to be the first felony case against a motorist who was using a partially automated driving system.
In Arizona, the Uber system detected Herzberg 5.6 seconds before the crash. But it failed to determine whether she was a bicyclist, pedestrian or unknown object, or that she was headed into the vehicle's path, the board said.
The backup driver was there to take over the vehicle if systems failed.
The death reverberated throughout the auto industry and Silicon Valley and forced other companies to slow what had been a fast march toward autonomous ride-hailing services. Uber pulled its self-driving cars out of Arizona, and then-Gov. Doug Ducey prohibited the company from continuing its tests of self-driving cars.
Vasquez had previously spent more than four years in prison for two felony convictions — making false statements when obtaining unemployment benefits and attempted armed robbery — before starting work as an Uber driver, according to court records.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wvia.org/news/npr-national/2023-07-28/backup-driver-of-an-autonomous-uber-pleads-guilty-to-endangerment-in-pedestrian-death | 2023-07-28T22:46:04 | 0 | https://www.wvia.org/news/npr-national/2023-07-28/backup-driver-of-an-autonomous-uber-pleads-guilty-to-endangerment-in-pedestrian-death |
Hard hit Letcher County communities continue to bounce back
WHITESBURG, Ky. (WYMT) - Letcher County was one of the hardest hit communities in our region during the July 2022 floods.
Many communities felt the impact of that flood, and for one particular community, that was no different.
The Neon Days Committee hosted a community gathering at Tim Hall Memorial Park to remember those we lost, celebrate those who survived, and to bring people back together for a much needed night out.
Alberta Slone, who heads the committee, says that at one point after the flood, she wasn’t sure any of this would be possible.
“Days after the flood,” Slone said. “I walked back street and I had no hope. I had no hope. If you can honestly say that an individual has lost hope, I lost hope.”
Additionally, things continue to bounce back in Whitesburg, where Mayor Tiffany Craft extolled the virtues of those in her community and believes that brighter days are ahead.
You can watch the full interviews with both Alberta Slone and Mayor Craft below.
Copyright 2023 WYMT. All rights reserved. | https://www.wymt.com/2023/07/28/hard-hit-letcher-county-communities-continue-bounce-back/ | 2023-07-28T22:46:11 | 1 | https://www.wymt.com/2023/07/28/hard-hit-letcher-county-communities-continue-bounce-back/ |
The chair of the state’s Cannabis Control Commission took commissioners by surprise Friday when she announced in the middle of a regulatory discussion that Executive Director Shawn Collins is planning to leave the agency he has run since its inception and described the CCC as being “in crisis.”
Chair Shannon O’Brien said she wants to meet next week or the week after with her fellow commissioners to discuss Collins’ departure -- which has not been acknowledged by Collins, who was not made available to the News Service on Friday afternoon -- and how the CCC should proceed as it gets into the meat of its latest round of marijuana industry regulation revisions.
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O’Brien, the former state treasurer who came under scrutiny for her ties to a cannabis company soon after Treasurer Deborah Goldberg tapped her to chair the CCC last September, announced during Friday’s virtual meeting that Collins informed her in May that he planned to announce that he would leave the CCC at the end of this year and that he wanted to take 10 weeks of family leave beginning in September. O’Brien said she asked Collins not to make that announcement in May.
“It was a little bit out of the blue. I wasn’t sure, I said, ‘I would ask that you wait.’ We’re in the process of hiring a new chief people officer, we’re hiring a new general counsel, we are depleted in terms of some of our top management and staff to help us not only get through regulatory writing but to exercise the important responsibilities that we have,” she said Friday.
O’Brien said she spoke with Collins about his departure again Thursday and that he “further indicated to me that he planned on taking his family leave beginning on Monday.” That prompted the chair to consult labor attorneys and O’Brien said the expectation is that employees give their employer 30 days notice before starting family leave in most situations.
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“We are in crisis right now as a commission. We need to make sure that we know how to manage through this regulatory process,” O’Brien said.
Other commissioners appeared to be caught off-guard.
Commissioner Nurys Camargo said “everyone’s in shock” that O’Brien brought the topic up for discussion in public the way she did, and Commissioner Bruce Stebbins said he was “still trying to figure out where that fit into our consideration of the agenda and the work we have to get done.”
After Friday’s meeting, Commissioner Ava Callender Concepcion said she did not agree with O’Brien’s assessment that the CCC is “in crisis.”
“I think it’s a bit inflammatory, but you would have to speak to the chair in order to understand why, where that was coming from,” she said.
The CCC is in the midst of implementing the state’s new cannabis equity law, which aims to deal with some of the hiccups in the maturing industry, and has been busy working on revisions to the detailed rules for the industry in Massachusetts.
Collins was unanimously chosen in the fall of 2017 to lead the CCC as its inaugural executive director. Prior to that, he was an assistant treasurer who served as Treasurer Deborah Goldberg’s point person on pot during the debate over legalization and until oversight of marijuana was removed from the treasurer’s direct auspices by the Legislature in a rewrite of the 2016 ballot law.
Advertisement | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/28/marijuana/cannabis-marijuana-cannabis-control-board/ | 2023-07-28T22:46:11 | 1 | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/28/marijuana/cannabis-marijuana-cannabis-control-board/ |
Black farmers make up a small, aging part of the farming population. Some worry traditions may die with them. So there's an effort in Mississippi to cultivate the next generation of Black farmers.
Copyright 2023 NPR
Black farmers make up a small, aging part of the farming population. Some worry traditions may die with them. So there's an effort in Mississippi to cultivate the next generation of Black farmers.
Copyright 2023 NPR
This news story is funded in large part by Connecticut Public’s Members — listeners, viewers, and readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.
We hope their support inspires you to donate so that we can continue telling stories that inform, educate, and inspire you and your neighbors. As a community-supported public media service, Connecticut Public has relied on donor support for more than 50 years.
Your donation today will allow us to continue this work on your behalf. Give today at any amount and join the 50,000 members who are building a better—and more civil—Connecticut to live, work, and play. | https://www.ctpublic.org/2023-07-28/cultivating-the-next-generation-of-black-farmers-in-mississippi | 2023-07-28T22:46:11 | 0 | https://www.ctpublic.org/2023-07-28/cultivating-the-next-generation-of-black-farmers-in-mississippi |
Berlin's conservative mayor ran on a pledge to stand up for car drivers against encroachment from bicyclists. But bike-riders have pushed back, forcing the government to backpedal.
Copyright 2023 NPR
Berlin's conservative mayor ran on a pledge to stand up for car drivers against encroachment from bicyclists. But bike-riders have pushed back, forcing the government to backpedal.
Copyright 2023 NPR
This news story is funded in large part by Connecticut Public’s Members — listeners, viewers, and readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.
We hope their support inspires you to donate so that we can continue telling stories that inform, educate, and inspire you and your neighbors. As a community-supported public media service, Connecticut Public has relied on donor support for more than 50 years.
Your donation today will allow us to continue this work on your behalf. Give today at any amount and join the 50,000 members who are building a better—and more civil—Connecticut to live, work, and play. | https://www.ctpublic.org/2023-07-28/cyclists-and-car-drivers-in-berlin-fight-over-road-space | 2023-07-28T22:46:17 | 0 | https://www.ctpublic.org/2023-07-28/cyclists-and-car-drivers-in-berlin-fight-over-road-space |
HCTC president reflects on flood anniversary
HAZARD, Ky. (WYMT) - School officials are reflecting on the devastating flood that ripped through Eastern Kentucky a year ago.
President and CEO of the Hazard Community and Technical College Dr. Jennifer Lindon said this flood hit the heart of their service area that left 51 students without a home.
“It was a matter of not knowing where to turn,” Lindon said. “We were trying to help everyone all at once and the magnitude of it was just so large.”
Lindon said they lost a lot of communication outlets and could not get in touch with people.
“In some cases we were literally sending people over to a neighboring counties just to make sure that that person was okay,” Lindon said.
Not only did many of the students and faculty members lose their homes but one student from Knott County tragically died in the flood.
HCTC was also working with Appalachian Regional Hospital to provide support and opened facilities up as shelters.
The flood also led to a drop in enrollment as students were working on getting their lives back together.
Lindon said enrollment on average is around 3,800 students. However, enrollment during the fall semester following the flood was one of the lowest enrollments for the college on record at 2,556.
Lindon said the decrease of enrollment was no surprise and officials welcomed students to take time off to take care of what was more important.
”We realized right away that maybe it was not the time for our students to be in college,” Lindon said. “We realized first they had to make sure they had food in their stomachs, and that they had clothes on their backs and that they had a roof over their head.”
Enrollment during the spring 2022 semester increased to approximately 2,800, which Lindon attributes to the resiliency of Appalachia.
“I am so pleased with the amount of rebuilding that has taken place,” Lindon said. “It’s truly amazing. I believe that our Appalachian region is now more united and determined than ever before to make us a stronger Appalachia.”
The college was able to start a student emergency fund specifically for the flooding a week after the flood occurred. The fund was $120,000 and helped 172 students with checks of $500. The emergency fund also helped 17 faculty and staff members.
Copyright 2023 WYMT. All rights reserved. | https://www.wymt.com/2023/07/28/hctc-president-reflects-flood-anniversary/ | 2023-07-28T22:46:17 | 0 | https://www.wymt.com/2023/07/28/hctc-president-reflects-flood-anniversary/ |
Due to the risk of severe weather, the fireworks at the International Sand Sculpting Festival at Revere Beach this weekend have been postponed, State Police announced Friday.
The firework show, originally scheduled for Saturday, will now be on display Sunday at 9 p.m., State Police said in a statement.
The VIP Luau reception, a ticketed event to celebrate the sand sculpting festival, will also be postponed to Sunday and will run from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
The festival will remain open on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
For the most up-to-date event information, visit the event’s website.
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Maeve Lawler can be reached at maeve.lawler@globe.com. | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/28/metro/fireworks-revere-beachs-international-sand-sculpting-festival-postponed-sunday/ | 2023-07-28T22:46:17 | 1 | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/28/metro/fireworks-revere-beachs-international-sand-sculpting-festival-postponed-sunday/ |
After a month of record-breaking heat, are we past calling it a heat "wave?" NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Duke heat expert Ashley Ward.
Copyright 2023 NPR
After a month of record-breaking heat, are we past calling it a heat "wave?" NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Duke heat expert Ashley Ward.
Copyright 2023 NPR
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Your donation today will allow us to continue this work on your behalf. Give today at any amount and join the 50,000 members who are building a better—and more civil—Connecticut to live, work, and play. | https://www.ctpublic.org/2023-07-28/dont-call-it-a-heat-wave-expert-weighs-in-after-a-month-of-record-breaking-heat | 2023-07-28T22:46:23 | 0 | https://www.ctpublic.org/2023-07-28/dont-call-it-a-heat-wave-expert-weighs-in-after-a-month-of-record-breaking-heat |
One person was killed in a rollover crash late Friday afternoon on Interstate 95 north in Topsfield, according to Massachusetts State Police.
Serious injuries were also reported in the crash, but it was unclear how many people were involved.
A medical helicopter was first summoned to the scene but later canceled, said Trooper James D. DeAngelis, a State Police spokesman.
The crash occurred at the 71-mile mark, DeAngelis said.
That mile marker is located near the borders with Boxford and Middleton, according to an exit map.
The crash closed lanes on both sides of the highway, according to the state Department of Transportation.
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As of 5:15 p.m., three lanes on the northbound lane were closed and two lanes on the southbound side were closed, MassDot said on X.
Adam Sennott can be reached at adam.sennott@globe.com. | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/28/metro/one-dead-crash-i-95-topsfield/ | 2023-07-28T22:46:24 | 0 | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/28/metro/one-dead-crash-i-95-topsfield/ |
Ty Majeski scored his second pole of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season on Friday at Richmond Raceway.
The ThorSport Racing driver won the pole with a lap of 119 mph around the .75-mile Virginia short track.
MORE: Truck starting lineup
Point leader Corey Heim will start second for the Truck Series regular-season finale with a lap of 118.728 mph. He’s followed by William Sawalich (118.219 mph), Ben Rhodes (118.203 mph) and Matt Mills (118.048 mph).
Grant Enfinger, the only driver in the field with a Truck win at Richmond, will line up 13th with a lap of 117.076 mph.
The green flag is scheduled to wave at 7:46 p.m. ET. | https://www.nbcsports.com/nascar/news/richmond-truck-series-starting-lineup | 2023-07-28T22:46:25 | 0 | https://www.nbcsports.com/nascar/news/richmond-truck-series-starting-lineup |
LOS ANGELES — Two weeks into the the actors strike, Max Greenfield is urging the studios and their CEOs to return to the bargaining table.
“Be the heroes, come to the table, make a deal,” said Greenfield, who co-stars in the CBS sitcom “The Neighborhood.” “My hope is these guys get organized and have a real conversation with both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA so that we can get to a resolution,” he said, referencing the unions for the writers and actors, respectively.
Greenfield spoke at a charity ping pong event at Dodger Stadium on Thursday night, joined by his co-star Cedric the Entertainer.
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“We struck because our deal was up and it’s time to adjust to what has changed in the business. To make a minor adjustment feels disproportionate to what has obviously changed in a massive, massive way,” Greenfield said. “Until we feel like we’re getting fair compensation and we feel like we’re protected, this is going to continue to go on.”
Bryan Cranston, who had fiery words for Disney CEO Bob Iger at a New York rally on Tuesday, acknowledged things are “going very, very slowly.”
“Until we’re able to get back to the table, which we are more than willing to do and we’ve told them so, we want to keep talking through this strike,” he said. “We want to end this as soon as possible.”
On July 14, actors joined striking screenwriters who walked out in May. The stoppage has shuttered nearly all film and television production.
The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Writers Guild of America are striking for fair pay and protections involving the use of artificial intelligence, among other issues.
There has reportedly been no negotiating between the unions and the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers since shortly after the actors hit the picket lines.
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“I think when people realize that the artists are the people that are making this and nothing is going to get made without the actors and the writers, maybe that will force a little more flexibility in the negotiations,” Oscar-winning actor Casey Affleck said.
Actor and entrepreneur Danny Trejo urged the studios to look beyond Hollywood’s highest-paid actors and consider the financial plight of those working behind the scenes.
“One of the problems is people on top are making a lot of money right now and they don’t want to share,” he said. “We’ve got people that are in SAG that can’t even afford to live in LA. It’s like, wait a minute guys, we got to just be fair.
“Figure if one of your kids was trying to get into the movies and was working as an extra or just made it into SAG, they couldn’t live in LA,” Trejo said, imagining the offspring of a Hollywood CEO. “Oh no wait, yes they could. They could live in Beverly (expletive) Hills with you, punk.”
Trejo filed for Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy earlier this year and owes over $2 million in back taxes to the IRS, according to a report by KABC-TV.
“I make good money, but right now I’m buried in taxes, so I have to work that out,” he said. “This strike is killing me. I can’t pay what I’m supposed to be paying for my taxes, so man, imagine the guy that’s making $18 an hour and not working all the time.”
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Actor Holly Robinson-Peete, a SAG member since 1977, said it’s important for the actors’ union to communicate the economic issues behind the strike.
“We’re not just a bunch of spoiled people that want more and we’re greedy,” she said. “The majority of our union are people who are not working very often, can’t really make a living at this. It’s going to take an incredible amount of patience and messaging, and we just got to stick to it.” | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/28/nation/actor-max-greenfield-urges-studio-ceos-be-heroes-make-deal-hollywood-strikes/ | 2023-07-28T22:46:30 | 1 | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/28/nation/actor-max-greenfield-urges-studio-ceos-be-heroes-make-deal-hollywood-strikes/ |
With the WGA strike entering it's third month and SAG-AFTRA strike heading into its third week, L.A. workers reflect on what the Hollywood stoppage means for the local economy.
Copyright 2023 LAist 89.3
With the WGA strike entering it's third month and SAG-AFTRA strike heading into its third week, L.A. workers reflect on what the Hollywood stoppage means for the local economy.
Copyright 2023 LAist 89.3
This news story is funded in large part by Connecticut Public’s Members — listeners, viewers, and readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.
We hope their support inspires you to donate so that we can continue telling stories that inform, educate, and inspire you and your neighbors. As a community-supported public media service, Connecticut Public has relied on donor support for more than 50 years.
Your donation today will allow us to continue this work on your behalf. Give today at any amount and join the 50,000 members who are building a better—and more civil—Connecticut to live, work, and play. | https://www.ctpublic.org/2023-07-28/economic-anxiety-grows-in-los-angeles-as-hollywood-strikes-continue | 2023-07-28T22:46:30 | 0 | https://www.ctpublic.org/2023-07-28/economic-anxiety-grows-in-los-angeles-as-hollywood-strikes-continue |
The Colts signed free agent cornerback Isaac Taylor-Stuart, the team announced Friday. They waived cornerback Cole Coleman in a corresponding move.
Taylor-Stuart spent the entire 2022 season on the injured reserve list of the Cowboys. He signed with the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent following the 2022 draft.
He appeared in 32 games with 19 starts at USC and totaled 80 tackles, nine passes defensed and two interceptions.
Coleman signed with the Colts as an undrafted free agent following the 2023 draft.
He appeared in 42 games with 37 starts at Elon and totaled 281 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, one sack, nine passes defensed, three interceptions, four forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and one blocked kick. Coleman also registered three kickoff returns for 23 yards. | https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/colts-sign-isaac-taylor-stuart-waive-cole-coleman | 2023-07-28T22:46:35 | 1 | https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/colts-sign-isaac-taylor-stuart-waive-cole-coleman |
WASHINGTON — Nine senior Senate Democrats and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders urged the Biden administration Friday to withhold part of the United States’ annual military aid to Egypt for a third consecutive year, calling it important to keep up the pressure on President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on human rights abuses.
More than 20 leading US and international rights groups and think tanks separately made the same appeal, arguing that the US practice of holding back some aid was leading el-Sissi to make “limited, albeit insufficient " rights improvements in Egypt.
About a quarter of a $1.3 billion appropriation is at issue.
The request may be especially tough this year for President Biden, who is focusing on keeping countries around the world, including Egypt, aligned behind Ukraine as it battles Russia’s globally destabilizing invasion. Neither the State Department nor Egypt’s embassy in Washington immediately responded to requests for comment Friday.
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The letters, addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, serve as an opening round in Democratic lawmakers’ annual battle to trim aid funding as a way to pressure el-Sissi’s government to curb rights abuses.
The State Department’s annual human rights report has repeatedly faulted Egypt, even as an important strategic ally in the region, for extrajudicial killings and torture, detention of thousands of writers, reporters, advocates, and other political prisoners, suppression of news media and other abuses.
The Washington Post, citing secret US documents leaked online by a Massachusetts Air National Guard member, reported in April that US officials had talked Egypt out of secretly providing rockets to Russia. Egypt agreed instead to provide the United States with artillery rounds for transfer for Ukraine, the Post reported, citing another leaked document.
Congress in recent years has made the US payment of roughly $300 million of US military aid contingent on Egypt’s government showing progress on rights, although the State Department can partially override that, on national security grounds.
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While shared US-Egyptian security objectives make it important for the US to continue supporting Egypt’s military in general, the senators argued, “we can continue to support these objectives while enforcing the law to withhold $320 million in military aid to Egypt due to a lack of necessary progress on human rights.”
Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut led the letter. Richard Blumenthal, also of Connecticut, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Richard Durbin of Illinois, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin of Maryland, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Tim Kaine of Virginia, and Tom Carper of Delaware also signed.
“As the administration’s decision to withhold a portion of Egypt’s $1.3 billion appropriation for each of the last two years demonstrates, the bilateral security relationship can be effectively sustained at a reduced level of assistance while upholding our values,” the senators wrote.
The administration is expected to make a decision on the matter next month, although the legal deadline is Sept. 30.
Egypt’s jailing and silencing of critics have drawn international condemnation and are points of friction between the North African country and the West. That includes the United States, the Egyptian military’s most generous supporter.
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, PEN International and other rights groups and think tanks in the other letter Friday credited the Biden administration’s financial pressure with helping persuade Egypt to free more than 1,000 political detainees. At the same time, rights advocates say, Egypt has detained nearly 5,000 others, and renewed pretrial detentions of thousands more. (associated press)
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Biden fights back on impeachment threat
AUBURN, Maine — President Biden — buoyed by new signs the economy is continuing on the upswing — took a swipe on Friday at House Republicans’ flirtations with an impeachment inquiry, quipping that GOP lawmakers may decide to impeach him because inflation is cooling down.
Standing in a textile manufacturing facility in Auburn Biden pointed to inflation statistics that showed the US has the lowest rate of price increases among the world’s biggest economies. Though he was careful to say he was not taking a victory lap on the economy, Biden suggested that his Republican opponents in Congress may need to find a fresh line of attack against him because of improving economic circumstances.
“Maybe they’ll decide to impeach me because it’s coming down,” Biden said. “I don’t know. I’d love that one.”
Earlier this week, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy made his most direct remarks yet that GOP lawmakers could launch an impeachment inquiry into Biden over unproven claims of financial misconduct related to Hunter Biden, the president’s son. However, the California Republican has acknowledged privately that it’s too soon to know whether the president was aware of — much less involved in — his son’s financial dealings in a way that would rise to the level of impeachable conduct.
While McCarthy publicly floated the inquiry this week, the White House has engaged little with those efforts, instead focused on promoting “Bidenomics” and the president’s domestic agenda. Aides have repeatedly played down any inquiry as a hypothetical and pointed out the hesitation among McCarthy’s own ranks about pursuing impeachment against the president.
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Biden used the trip to Maine to sign an executive order that would encourage companies to manufacture new inventions in the United States. It was Biden’s first trip to the state as president.
The Democrat won three out of the state’s four electoral votes in 2020 and is seeking to shore up his support in the state. (associated press)
GOP quietly discusses what comes after McConnell
WASHINGTON — It has been decades since there was any real uncertainty at the top of the Republican Party in the Senate. But Sen. Mitch McConnell’s freeze-up at a news conference Wednesday at the Capitol, as well as new disclosures about other recent falls, have shaken his colleagues and intensified quiet discussion about how long he can stay in his position as minority leader, and whether change is coming at the top.
For months, McConnell, 81, the long-serving Republican leader from Kentucky, has been weakened, both physically and politically. The latest incident made those issues glaringly apparent: McConnell froze mid-remarks, unable to continue speaking, and appeared disoriented with his mouth shut as his aides and colleagues led him gently away.
Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 2 Republican, quickly stepped in behind the lectern and picked up where McConnell had left off, in a scene that underscored how the 62-year-old has positioned himself as the leader’s most obvious successor. It was a reminder that no one — even McConnell, who this year became the longest-serving Senate leader in history — is irreplaceable and raised questions about how long McConnell could continue to simply gut it out.
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Months ago, there seemed to be a developing race to succeed him among Thune, Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, the No. 3 Republican, and Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the former whip. But during McConnell’s extended absence earlier this year following a serious fall, Thune moved into the position of taking charge of the conference.
McConnell had a concussion in March when he fell at a Washington hotel during a fundraising event, and was absent from the Senate for weeks while giving almost no updates on his health status. Since then, he has had at least two more falls, one at a Washington airport and one in Helsinki, during an official trip to meet the Finnish president. His office disclosed neither, and has stayed mum about his medical condition since Wednesday’s episode, which some physicians who viewed video of it said could have been a mini stroke or partial seizure.
Last year, McConnell weathered a rare challenge to his leadership when Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., decided to oppose him and received 10 votes. Inthe past, McConnell has been named leader with no contest. (New York Times) | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/28/nation/biden-urged-withhold-some-aid-egypt/ | 2023-07-28T22:46:36 | 1 | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/28/nation/biden-urged-withhold-some-aid-egypt/ |